09/10/13 • SALSA VERDE From the June, 2011 Bon Appétit Even though summer isn’t officially over for another eleven days, what with New York City kids now back in school, and the sun rising ever later (I’m sure there was more light when I took Sid and Lily for their morning walk last week!), I’m already finding myself nostalgic for the season that’s not quite over. With that in mind I thought I’d share with you

09/03/13 • FIG AND ALMOND CAKE From the Wed., Aug. 21st edition of The New York Times This past weekend got off to a sweet start with a visit to Briermere Farm in Riverhead, NY, a farm stand on the north fork of Long Island with a well-deserved reputation for turning out some of the East End’s very best pies, as well as for having one of the largest pie selections anywhere. On the day we visited I counted 27 varietie

08/27/13 • CREAMY ZUCCHINI SOUP From the Sept., 2013 Food & Wine Soup is one of those food groups that as a rule fail to excite me. With the exception of a really cold winter’s day when a hot bowl of soup suddenly seems like a good idea, soup is usually the last thing you’ll find me eating (the one exception is my longtime Chinese restaurant favorite, hot and sour soup—something I’ll happily consume in any kind o

08/21/13 • TOMATO PIE From the Aug./Sept., 2013 Garden & Gun Every year around this time I begin to recognize with an internal thud that the season of fun is fast coming to an end. I seem to arrive at this realization later than most (many of my friends and family have been wringing their hands over this indisputable fact for weeks already) but eventually the truth creeps in, even for me. And so once again only a

08/06/13 • BLUEBERRY HAND PIES Adapted from the July, 2013 Bon Appétit For a multitude of reasons I won’t bore you with, the last few weeks have slipped into hyper-drive, making it difficult for me to sit down and write a proper posting, much less get home in time to turn on the oven. My hope is that in the coming days there will be some sort of planetary realignment and I’ll begin to see a few rays of light pe

07/25/13 • FRENCH GREEN BEAN SALAD A few weeks ago my dear friend Scott joined me for a weekend in East Hampton. Actually, it would probably be more accurate to say that I joined him, since even though he was nominally my houseguest, in my handicapped condition (still crutched and booted, I’m afraid), and with Alfredo traveling for work, I needed Scott to help me with a variety of tasks, not least of which was the 10

07/17/13 • SPICED LAMB PATTIES Adapted from the June/July, 2013 Fine Cooking The heat is on here in the northeast, and in a sustained way I can’t remember experiencing before. Or maybe I just have a short memory for discomfort… though I tend to like summer weather, a sentiment I’m definitely not experiencing this time around. More likely it’s a combination of the temperature being higher than usual, and the fact that

07/11/13 • ASIAN CHICKEN SALAD Adapted from the May, 2013 Bon Appétit Have you noticed how some of the cooking magazines have a page or two each month devoted to reader requests for favorite restaurant dishes? Well this is the spot where I would have included one of those myself, except that the recipe I’ve been wanting to bring to you, or more precisely the restaurant associated with it, is not the sort that believe

06/26/13 • SALMON WITH CREME FRAICHE From Fine Cooking, issue 57 Well folks, it’s been nearly two weeks since my Achilles’ surgery and I’m happy to report that I’m pain-free and back in “the boot.” This is an infinitely more appealing option than the splint I left the hospital in as it allows for the possibility of airing your foot out once in a while, and of wearing something other than gym shorts and sweatpants. Re

06/18/13 • PEACH OLIVE OIL CAKE From the June, 2013 Food & Wine A few weeks ago I had a misshap while playing tennis: I lunged for a ball, felt a pop in my right calf, fell, and limped off the court trying to convince myself that I’d simply pulled a muscle. But after several days of dragging my leg around like a piece of lumber, I was forced to confront the reality that it was something more serious—an instinct c