CHEWING THE FAT

         For us, fall starts bang on Labor Day.  That’s it for Andrew being at the beach.  His real estate business in the city totally takes over his every weekend.  We will be lucky if he gets to Bridgehampton once between then and Thanksgiving.  This…

At the Mercado Central in Santiago, you can dine on all the fresh seafood from the market… even if you’re not entirely sure what it is.          I’ve had the good fortune to travel to South America several times.  But I have only touched down…

       I’ve told you some of the story of Joanne Chang, the Harvard educated economist who threw in the towel and went on to open “Flour”, a Boston bakery and cafe that’s grown to three locations. That was between opening a marvelous pan-Asian…

Who can resist tomatoes that look like this? After I made these golden-seared chicken breasts with their moist center of plump ripe tomatoes, melted cheese and pungent garlic sauce, I wondered if I could call this an original recipe.  But when, exactly, is a recipe…

         One of the great joys of cooking for me is finding flavor combinations that work together beautifully even though they come from completely different cooking traditions.  That’s what this dinner does. It takes a wonderful Cajun dish from Bon Appetit  full of shrimp and…

         I was quite surprised to see that my Facebook Birthday reminders numbered 10 for this week.  It was by far the highest number I’d seen in a while and I wondered what on earth had caused this minor baby boom.  So I did some…

         As promised earlier this week, this Chewing the Fat is all about the phenomenal cookies Andrew baked for the Hampton Classic, our annual Horse Show that’s a fixture of our summer calendar.  People raved about them!  And small wonder.  Andrew went all out to…

Our Table Decor Yellow Calla Lillies and Horses Summer Corn and Scallop Salad adapted from Sylvia Lehrer Andrew’s Cookies and Michael’s Color Co-ordinated Devilled Eggs          The Grand Prix marks the end of The Hampton Classic Horse Show, one of the pre-eminent equestrian events in…

This gorgeous photograph is by Karen Wise.            Once in a great while, a cookbook transcends just being a repository of recipes and becomes something more:  It tells the story of a place and its people, of its unique culinary heritage and the food…

Almond Cake with Slivered Almonds and Marscapone Whipped Cream Almond Cakes in their “Hurri-Cakes” incarnation           The first time Andrew made this magnificently moist, indescribably rich almond-to-the-core cake, it was one of two birthday cakes he provided for a friend’s very Big Birthday.  The second…

Andrew and the Birthday Girl Last week was the 12th birthday of our godchild, Olivia.  Now since Andrew and I saw her within her first hours here on earth, it’s sometimes unbelievable that all those 12 years have passed with the speed of summer lightening. …

I have to admit, I don’t publish a recipe that doesn’t turn out right.  My whole premise is that if I can cook it perfectly, you can cook it perfectly.  So with all the 200 plus recipes on Chewing the Fat, if you can follow…

  If ever there was a moment for making these free-form rustic pastries, it’s right now.  The markets are bursting at the seams with the most beautiful stone fruits and berries of every description.  The peaches, nectarines and cherries are irresistible and this recipe is…

         Last weekend, we had close friends staying with us and this dinner really hit the spot.  It took no time at all to put together. In fact the whole thing took about 30 minutes.  The delicious and mildly coconut-flavored shrimp cooked took about 10…