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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

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

02/21/13 • CLASSIC BEEF STROGANOFF Adapted from the Feb./March 2012 Fine Cooking  When I was growing up in Philadelphia in the 1970s beef stroganoff was the sort of thing my parents would serve at their dinner parties… or at least I think it was. Writing this, I realize the statement is based on an early memory, and we know how reliable memory is—particularly vintage ones. Be that as it may, I do seem to recall wakin

12/13/12 • HUNGRY-MAN’S HUNGARIAN-GOULASH Adapted from The Hamptons: Food, Family, and History, by Ricky Lauren (Wiley) Long before I recognized my mom for the excellent cook she is, it was my German-born grandmother who I held up as the master of all things kitchen-related. Her name was Freda Schloss (Nana Freda to me), and it was she who introduced me to things like herring in cream sauce, and poached eggs sp

10/25/12 • COMFORT FOOD, CUBAN-STYLE Adapted from the April, 2012 Saveur Many years ago, early on in my relationship with Alfredo, he took me to eat at an inexpensive Cuban restaurant on 8th Avenue—a narrow, brightly lit place called Havana Chelsea. This was to be my big introduction to Cuban cooking, the cuisine Alfredo had grown up eating, and it was something I was looking forward to. What I hadn’t anticipated, ho

02/2/12 • GLAZED PORK ROAST From the Dec., 2003 Fine Cooking (click here to view the recipe) For the last several years my preferred means of transportation around the New York City has been a scooter. The benefits (easy parking, rarely having to sit in traffic, speed!) are such, that even when the weather is wet and miserable and I know that riding will be no fun, I’m inclined to say the hell with it and brave whate

12/15/11 • BRACIOLE From Lidia’s Italy in America On Monday night I was part of a small group that was treated to a private tour of the Elizabeth Taylor collection (jewelry, clothing, doo-dads) being auctioned off by Christie’s. The sale itself kicked-off the following night with some of Taylor’s most famous baubles (among them the Elizabeth Taylor diamond, formerly known as the Krupp) and while I wasn’t surprised to

11/10/11 • SAUSAGE STEW From the Oct., 2011 Food & Wine I tend to think of stew as a uniquely American creation. This may have something to do with the fact that one of the first stews I ever knew and loved was a classic beef variety that the housekeeper at my dad and step-mother’s house used to make for us when I was a kid. Her name was Helen and while I can’t claim to ever having been one of her favorites (she

10/26/11  • REIGNING MEATBALLS From the Oct., 2011 Esquire (click here to view the recipe) In the last week I’ve eaten pork braciola at Frankie’s 570 (the new West Village outpost of Frankie’s Spuntino); a big bowl of papardelle with a braised rabbit ragu at a newly resurgent Morandi; a large marinara and cheese pizza at Tappo in Chelsea; and, from the Sunday Gravy stand located at Smorgasburg — the open air food mar

08/11/11 • PORK WITH A TWIST From the July, 2011 Martha Stewart Living (click here to view the recipe) I’ve never been much of a watermelon fan. This seems like an almost un-American thing to reveal, like sharing that you once burnt the flag in college or something, but there you have it. As a kid, the fastest way to end my enthusiasm at a cookout was to present a platter of watermelon, and it’s a sentiment I’ve carr