Category Archives: Recipes

Sunday Photo – Guajillo Oil

This is so easy, but so good and so useful. Guajillos are tasty Mexican dried chiles that pack a moderate punch and a lot of flavor. The oil and the remaining residue are both useful ingredients adding sweet and spicy [...]

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Lucy’s Tartiflette – A Plum Recipe – Rustic French at its Finest

When my son, L.J. and I were recently in Lyon for the Bocuse d’Or we had the distinct honor, luck and pleasure to have been invited for dinners not once, but twice at the home of my friends Lucy and [...]

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Sunday Photo – Simply Delicious!

These candy-like fresh Nantucket bay scallops, from Pura Vida Seafood purchased at the Saratoga Farmers Market, are soooooo delicious raw, they require nothing else. I wanted to provide a little something to enhance them, but I did not want to [...]

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StarChefs ICC 2012 – Bitters Sweet: Cocktail Culture Invades Pastry – Plinio Sandalio

As a culinary novice with an essentially nonexistent knowledge of mixology (I can name a choice few cocktails and that’s about it), I arrived at Plinio Sandalio’s workshop on the morning of my first day at the ICC with little [...]

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Sunday Photo – Meat in the Gravy

In an Italian-American household in Brooklyn, NY, the Sunday maccheroni with “meat in the gravy” was sacred. Unfortunately, as we have grown older and away from our roots, the Sunday tradition has evolved into a rare event. It is, however, [...]

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Il Chiasso’s Stuffed Sardines

Living in upstate NY, when I get good quality fresh sardines, it is such a rare event, I tend to just cook them simply on the grill. On the island of Elba, off the Tuscan coast of Italy, fresh sardines [...]

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Italy With My Son 2012 – Spaghetti With Sea Urchin

Fresh sea urchin is one of life’s great treats. I love its creamy coolness and coffee-like flavor. At Il Chiasso, the chef, Dido made delicious spaghetti with sea urchin. Following are photos of what he did.

The local sea urchin and [...]

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Italy With My Son 2012 – Simple (But So Delicious) Fried Sardines on Elba

Sardines have a bad rap in the United States. Perhaps, that is because we rarely get to see or eat top quality supremely fresh sardines. They are one of life’s simple pleasures and a backbone of cucina povera, the inexpensive, [...]

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Sunday Photos – Piquillos

Spanish canned foods are legendary and deservedly so. Amongst my favorites are piquillo peppers. These uniquely flavored peppers are sweet and profound when roasted, peeled and canned. They are great alone, but sublime when stuffed.
These were stuffed with fresh goat [...]

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Sunday Photo – The Bordelon Cocktail

My wife and I recently had a few friends over for dinner and as I was perusing through the new 75thAnniversary Edition of Mr. Boston Official Bartender’s Guide (Mr. Boston: Official Bartender’s & Party Guide) by Jonathan Pogash and Rick Rodgers, [...]

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