CHEWING THE FAT

        As you can see, our farm stands are brimming with all kinds of beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables.  It’s a delight just to look at everything.  And, as Andrew pointed out, there’s a window of opportunity to combine two fantastic local ingredients into one…

          It was hard to imagine the depths of despair that a lot of people felt when, in the middle of last winter, one of our favorite restaurants abruptly closed their doors.  Not only that, but they auctioned off the contents of the place,…

        Andrew is the baker in our house but that was not always the case. For a long time, I did most of the cooking, including some predictable attempts at dessert.   Although I miss my Tart Tatins, they have been replaced by ambrosial Pavlovas, luscious…

        The Emilia region of Italy has long been considered the country’s gastronomic epicenter.  Similar to the position Lyons occupies in French gastronomes’ hearts, Bologna is said to be Italy’s gastronomic capital.  Given that such universally recognizable names like Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano-Reggianohail from…

        Have you seen the current crop of blueberries in the markets?  They  are truly enormous and so tantalizing that Andrew couldn’t wait to get home and make a batch of blueberry muffins.   He found an ideal recipe in Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook.   We’ve baked…

        I don’t know whether you’ve been following the histrionics that have been going on over the re-designed Bon Appetit.  The new editor, Adam Rapoport, has taken over from Barbara Fairchild, who bowed out when Conde Nast moved the magazine from California to New York…

        It’s been a long, rainy spring here.  But true to form, we’ve gone directly from complaining about the cold to exclaiming about the heat. It hit the 90s this week which is way too hot, way too early.  Our garden, however, has never looked…

        A stew for Spring may seem counter-intuitive but this one is quick and easy to prepare—to say nothing of how delicious it is. After starting with a quick sauté of diced pancetta and shallots,  I was quite surprised at how quickly the pork cooked…

In the pantheon of one dish wonders, it’s hard to beat a great Jambalaya, another of Louisiana’s culinary gifts to the rest of the world.  It is said that the first Jambalaya came out of the French Quarter.  It was an attempt to cook Paella,…

Farmers Market Asparagus Spicy Pork with Asparagus and Chile West 66th Street and Broadway The Farmer’s Market in Richard Tucker Square         We live in a very urban setting in New York and it comes as somewhat a surprise to visitors that there’s a thriving Farmers…

        Before making this dish, I checked on the status of one of my most favorite of all seafoods, Swordfish. By 1999,  the North Atlantic swordfish was on its way to oblivion.  Years of overfishing had led to dire predictions.  Undaunted by high mercury levels,…

        I’ve yet to find a recipe that comes close to the Shrimp Scampi that I grew up with. It was a dish that was so resolutely garlic-y, you could smell it coming up the driveway.  Later, when I lived in Italy, I found out…

As some of you may know, I am now writing a blog with www.Sokolin.com, a superb wine e-tailer which is located on the East End of Long Island.  From their 30,000 square foot ‘wine cooler’, they ship fine wine to collectors all over the world.…

Wednesday is the day New York foodies wait all week for. It’s Dining Out Day in the New York Times.  There’s a whole section to devour.  Restaurant Reviews, a column called “Off the Menu” which lists restaurant openings and closings along with chefs comings and…