06/11/14 • BRAISED FISH “STEW”

06/11/14 • BRAISED FISH “STEW” From the Feb. 9, 2014 New York Times Magazine  It’s been such a long time since my last appearance here that I don’t really know where to begin. Aside from the general rustiness—and associated writer’s block—that seems to have set in after an absence of so many months, there’s the challenge of condensing into a few readable paragraphs what has undoubtedly been one of the mos
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01/09/13 • SHAVED ARTICHOKE SALAD

01/09/13 • SHAVED ARTICHOKE SALAD From the March, 2012 Gourmet Happy New Year everyone! I’m writing this from the west Coast—Malibu to be precise—one of the few places in the country where it’s above freezing (well above, in fact; it’s 70˚ today and the skies are clear if a little hazy). I feel almost guilty sharing that information, knowing the miserable conditions so many of you are enduring back east. I can’t imag
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12/12/13 • CRANBERRY-WALNUT-CLAFOUTIS

12/12/13 • CRANBERRY-WALNUT-CLAFOUTIS From Sunday Suppers at Lucgues (Knopf) Several Sundays ago what had been planned as a simple meal at home for Alfredo and me turned into an impromptu dinner party for six—a last-minute gathering calling for that additional flourish known as dessert. Time was limited, though, and so I turned to one of my favorite dessert-in-a-pinch options: clafoutis. Let’s start by addressing tha
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12/05/13 • MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE

12/05/13 • MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE From Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home I’ve gone back-and-forth about sharing this particular recipe with all of you—not because I don’t believe it’s one everyone should know about, but because it’s for salad dressing… and somehow that just seemed too minor to warrant its own posting. Except I know from experience how valuable the right salad dressing recipe can be. One or two good one
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11/20/13 • SHORTBREAD PECAN BARS

11/20/13 • SHORTBREAD PECAN BARS From the March, 1999 Gourmet I’ve made a lot of Thanksgiving dinners over the years, enough to know the importance of pre-planning and not being overly ambitious with the menu—something I’ve struggled with given my weakness for many of the dishes associated with this favorite meal. Practice has made me pretty good on the planning and strategizing end of things—I now know to cook
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11/06/13 • SAUTÉED BRUSSELS SPROUTS

11/06/13 • SAUTÉED BRUSSELS SPROUTS From the Nov., 2013 Bon Appétit I feel like I should preface this posting with a warning that I’ve just come off the red-eye from L.A., and if the text has you scratching your head at times, that’s the reason why. The reality is, though, that my whole world is about to change, so I better get used to rolling with things for a while—functioning on less sleep, doing multiple tasks at
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10/30/13 • JACQUES PÉPIN’S BEEF STEW

10/30/13 • JACQUES PÉPIN’S BEEF STEW From the April, 2007 Food and Wine Towards the end of last winter, as the days were getting longer and the damp, New York City chill was just beginning to loosen its pincer-like grip, I made a dish I’m often drawn to when it’s cold outside: beef stew. From this you might assume that stew is a particular favorite of mine, and it’s true that when said dish features a rich, robust sa
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10/18/13 • CHICKEN MARSALA

10/18/13 • CHICKEN MARSALA From the June, 2005 Gourmet Several weeks ago I purchased a bottle of dry Marsala wine in order to make this recipe for sautéed mushrooms. The resulting dish was a wonderful early autumn treat, but I have to confess that the real source of excitement for me was cooking with the wine I’d bought for the occasion—an ingredient I’d never worked with before. That may sound like an odd confession
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10/02/13 • SAUSAGE FRITTATA

10/02/13 • SAUSAGE FRITTATA From the Oct., 2013 Bon Appétit Unlike summer when my idea of the perfect breakfast is a bowl of Grape Nuts buried under a mound of fat blackberries, something about the arrival of fall puts me in the mood for a more substantial start to the day—the sort of meal that could power me through a game of touch-football if I was ever inclined to do such a thing (which, of course, I’m not). For t
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09/25/13 • SAUTEED MUSHROOMS

09/25/13 • SAUTEED MUSHROOMS From the Oct., 2013 Food and Wine Mushrooms can be a tough sell for a kid, particularly in their uncooked form when they’re just a little too spongy and strange for any but the most adventurous eater. I can remember the moment when that changed for me. It was around the big dining table at the house in northern Maine where my stepmother’s extensive family assembled every summer—one of tho
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