MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR WAS BY WAY OF MARCELLA HAZAN. I’D NEVER USED ANCHOVIES IN ANYTHING BUT A CAESAR SALD AND IT AMAZED ME HOW UNDETECTABLE THEY WERE IN THE FINISHED DISH, MERELY SERVING TO ENHANCE THE FLAVOR WITH A RICH UMAMI, BEFORE THAT WORD WAS COINED IN WESTERN COOKING. THIS BECAME ONE OF MY GO-TO DISHES.  NO ONE EVER GUESSED IT CONTAINED ANCHOVIES. (more…)

“HATES CALIFORNIA, IT’S COLD AND IT’S DAMP…” WHEN IT DOES GET COLD HERE OR ANYWHERE, NOTHING SATISFIES LIKE SOUP. THE FLAVOR IN THIS WHITE BEAN SOUP COMES FROM THE SMOKED HAM HOCK AND THE PARMESAN RINDS, WHICH I HORDE FOR JUST THESE OCCASIONS. YOU CAN SIMMER THE SOUP ON A LOW FLAME, BUT SIMMERING IT IN THE OVEN IS EASIER SINCE YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT BURNING ON THE BOTTOM AND ONLY HAVE TO STIR OCCASIONALLY. (more…)

THE CHASSEUR (HUNTER) IN CHICKEN CHASSEUR TELLS YOU IT CONTAINS MUSHROOMS, PROBABLY CHOPPED ONIONS, GARLIC, TOMATO AND WINE.  THE REST IS UP FOR GRABS. IN THIS CASE, THE MUSHROOMS, DRIED PORCINI, ARE THERE PURELY FOR FLAVOR — AN INTENSE, WOODSY FLAVOR — WHICH YOU CAN’T GET FROM FRESH BUTTON MUSHROOMS.  THERE’S A SLIGHT NOD TO TOMATOES IN THE FORM OF TOMATO PASTE, RED WINE TO ADD A BIT OF ROUNDNESS AND DEPTH, CIPOLLINI BECAUSE I LOVE CIPOLLINI, AND POTATOES TO SOAK UP THE FLAVORS AND SAVE YOU FROM HAVING TO MAKE A SEPARATE STARCH.  STILL, A CRUSTY BAGUETTE COULDN’T HURT.

Click here to download recipe

THE WOODSY FUNKINESS OF BROWN MUSHROOMS IS ENHANCED IN THIS SIMPLE PASTA DISH WITH A MIXTURE OF ANCHOVIES, HERBS AND GARLIC. I BORROWED THIS FLAVOR MIXTURE FROM MARCELLA HAZAN’S RECIPE FOR CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR. IT’S ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR CHICKEN DISHES I COOK AND NO ONE — I MEAN NO ONE — EVER GUESSES THE SECRET INGREDIENT, ANCHOVIES. YOU CAN CERTAINLY MAKE THIS DISH WITH SHIITAKE, WHITE, OR WILD MUSHROOMS, BUT IT TRANSFORMS ORDINARY MUSHROOMS INTO SOMETHING RICHER AND MORE EXOTIC.
Click here to download recipe

CELERY, WHICH PRIOR TO THE 16TH CENTURY WAS USED EXCLUSIVELY IN EUROPE AS A MEDICINAL HERB, IS A KIND OF WORKHORSE VEGETABLE.  PAIRED WITH CHOPPED ONION AND CARROTS, IT ADDS A GREEN NOTE TO SOUPS AND STEWS. IT’S INDISPENSABLE IN CHICKEN OR EGG SALAD.  A SUPPORTING PLAYER, CELERY IS RARELY FEATURED ON ITS OWN, AT LEAST IN THE WEST.  THE CHINESE KNOW BETTER AND SOME OF THE BEST SHRIMP DISHES I’VE HAD, SUCH AS JADE SHRIMP, ARE SIMPLY SHRIMP WITH CELERY AND GREEN HERBS.  HERE I’VE ADDED LEMON ZEST AND SCALLIONS.  STILL, IT COULDN’T BE EASIER TO MAKE AND ONCE YOU’VE DONE YOUR PREP AND MIS-EN-PLACE, THE TOTAL COOKING TIME IS ABOUT THREE MINUTES.  IT’S WHAT GIVES THIS DISH ITS BRIGHT AND LIVELY FLAVOR.
Click here to download recipe

I HAVE FOR THE MOST PART STOPPED EATING VEAL.  FIRST, BECAUSE THE MILK-FED VEAL WE GET IN THIS COUNTRY IS A PRODUCT OF THE CRUELEST KIND OF FACTORY FARMING, AND SECOND, BECAUSE FREE-RANGE VEAL– THE KIND YOU GET IN EUROPE– IS ALMOST AS RARE HERE AS IT IS EXPENSIVE.   (more…)

I WOULD HAVE POSTED THIS LAST WEEK, BUT FORGOT TO PHOTOGRAPH IT. LAST WEEK’S GUESTS WERE SO PLEASED WITH THE SALAD, HOWEVER, THAT I MADE IT AGAIN LAST NIGHT WITH SOME MINOR FINE-TUNING AND A DIFFERENT COMBINATION OF MELONS. THE PLEASURE OF THIS SALAD COMES, OF COURSE, FROM THE MELONS. THANKS TO GLOBAL WARMING MELONS ARE STILL IN SEASON AND WEISER FARMS HAS FEATURED A VERITABLE MELON CORNUCOPIA: CANTALOUPE, CANARY, GALIA, CHARENTAIS, AND WATER MELON. THE MELONS ARE SO SWEET THAT THEY CRY OUT FOR LIME JUICE. THE PROSCUITTO OR SERRANO IS BOTH SALTY AND SWEET. THIS IS AFTER ALL DECONSTRUCTED OR PERHAPS I SHOULD SAY RECONSTRUCTED PROSCUITTO AND MELON, BUT MUCH MORE FUN TO EAT.

Click here to download recipe

YES, THESE ARE AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK. AND I DON’T EVEN HAVE A GRILL. EXCEPT FOR A FEW MINOR CHANGES, THIS IS 95% JULIA MOSKIN’S RECIPE FROM THE NY TIMES. YOU MARINATE THE RIBS IN HOISIN SAUCE, GARLIC, SOY SAUCE AND OTHER SEASONINGS. THE NEXT DAY (OR FOUR HOURS LATER) YOU STEAM THEM SLOWLY ON A RACK IN THE OVEN, THEN FINISH THEM OFF AT A HIGHER TEMPERATURE. (more…)

I’M ACTING IN A PLAY WHICH OPENS THIS WEEK AT THE MATRIX THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES CALLED “JEWS, CHRISTIANS AND SCREWING STALIN” IN WHICH BORSHT PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE FAMILY HISTORY (BUBBY’S UNCLE WAS A BORSHT TASTER IN THE TSAR’S ARMY.) SO IT IS ONLY FITTING THAT I POST THIS RECIPE. BORSHT IS KIND OF A GENERIC NAME FOR ANY SOUP INVOLVING BEETS AND OFTEN CONTAINS MEAT, WHICH MAKES IT HARDIER THAN THE ALL-VEGETABLE VERSION I OFFER HERE. THIS PARTICULAR RECIPE WAS INSPIRED BY A LUNCH AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS IN THE JEWISH MUSEUM ON FIFTH AVENUE. IT WAS THICK BUT SMOOTH, NOT TOO SWEET, AND A TAD SPICY, MADE WITH WATER AND NOT STOCK. IT’S AS GOOD AS THE BORSHT I HAD AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS, MAYBE EVEN A BISL BETTER.
Click here to download recipe

MORELS, LIKE MOST WILD MUSHROOMS, ARE SEASONAL, DELICIOUS, AND EXPENSIVE, SELLING FOR $65 A POUND IN THE HOLLYWOOD FARMERS’ MARKET. SO WHEN THEY TURNED UP ON FOOD 52 FOR $35 A POUND, WHAT COULD I DO?  I MEAN WHO CAN RESIST A BARGAIN?  I LOOKED UP SEVERAL RECIPES AND THE MOST APPEALING WAS ONE BY LUDOVIC LEFEBVRE, MEANT TO ACCOMPANY GRILLED VEAL CHOPS (more…)

MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR WAS BY WAY OF MARCELLA HAZAN. I’D NEVER USED ANCHOVIES IN ANYTHING BUT A CAESAR SALD AND IT AMAZED ME HOW UNDETECTABLE THEY WERE IN THE FINISHED DISH, MERELY SERVING TO ENHANCE THE FLAVOR WITH A RICH UMAMI, BEFORE THAT WORD WAS COINED IN WESTERN COOKING. THIS BECAME ONE OF MY GO-TO DISHES.  NO ONE EVER GUESSED IT CONTAINED ANCHOVIES. (more…)

“HATES CALIFORNIA, IT’S COLD AND IT’S DAMP…” WHEN IT DOES GET COLD HERE OR ANYWHERE, NOTHING SATISFIES LIKE SOUP. THE FLAVOR IN THIS WHITE BEAN SOUP COMES FROM THE SMOKED HAM HOCK AND THE PARMESAN RINDS, WHICH I HORDE FOR JUST THESE OCCASIONS. YOU CAN SIMMER THE SOUP ON A LOW FLAME, BUT SIMMERING IT IN THE OVEN IS EASIER SINCE YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT BURNING ON THE BOTTOM AND ONLY HAVE TO STIR OCCASIONALLY. (more…)

THE CHASSEUR (HUNTER) IN CHICKEN CHASSEUR TELLS YOU IT CONTAINS MUSHROOMS, PROBABLY CHOPPED ONIONS, GARLIC, TOMATO AND WINE.  THE REST IS UP FOR GRABS. IN THIS CASE, THE MUSHROOMS, DRIED PORCINI, ARE THERE PURELY FOR FLAVOR — AN INTENSE, WOODSY FLAVOR — WHICH YOU CAN’T GET FROM FRESH BUTTON MUSHROOMS.  THERE’S A SLIGHT NOD TO TOMATOES IN THE FORM OF TOMATO PASTE, RED WINE TO ADD A BIT OF ROUNDNESS AND DEPTH, CIPOLLINI BECAUSE I LOVE CIPOLLINI, AND POTATOES TO SOAK UP THE FLAVORS AND SAVE YOU FROM HAVING TO MAKE A SEPARATE STARCH.  STILL, A CRUSTY BAGUETTE COULDN’T HURT.

Click here to download recipe

THE WOODSY FUNKINESS OF BROWN MUSHROOMS IS ENHANCED IN THIS SIMPLE PASTA DISH WITH A MIXTURE OF ANCHOVIES, HERBS AND GARLIC. I BORROWED THIS FLAVOR MIXTURE FROM MARCELLA HAZAN’S RECIPE FOR CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR. IT’S ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR CHICKEN DISHES I COOK AND NO ONE — I MEAN NO ONE — EVER GUESSES THE SECRET INGREDIENT, ANCHOVIES. YOU CAN CERTAINLY MAKE THIS DISH WITH SHIITAKE, WHITE, OR WILD MUSHROOMS, BUT IT TRANSFORMS ORDINARY MUSHROOMS INTO SOMETHING RICHER AND MORE EXOTIC.
Click here to download recipe

CELERY, WHICH PRIOR TO THE 16TH CENTURY WAS USED EXCLUSIVELY IN EUROPE AS A MEDICINAL HERB, IS A KIND OF WORKHORSE VEGETABLE.  PAIRED WITH CHOPPED ONION AND CARROTS, IT ADDS A GREEN NOTE TO SOUPS AND STEWS. IT’S INDISPENSABLE IN CHICKEN OR EGG SALAD.  A SUPPORTING PLAYER, CELERY IS RARELY FEATURED ON ITS OWN, AT LEAST IN THE WEST.  THE CHINESE KNOW BETTER AND SOME OF THE BEST SHRIMP DISHES I’VE HAD, SUCH AS JADE SHRIMP, ARE SIMPLY SHRIMP WITH CELERY AND GREEN HERBS.  HERE I’VE ADDED LEMON ZEST AND SCALLIONS.  STILL, IT COULDN’T BE EASIER TO MAKE AND ONCE YOU’VE DONE YOUR PREP AND MIS-EN-PLACE, THE TOTAL COOKING TIME IS ABOUT THREE MINUTES.  IT’S WHAT GIVES THIS DISH ITS BRIGHT AND LIVELY FLAVOR.
Click here to download recipe

I HAVE FOR THE MOST PART STOPPED EATING VEAL.  FIRST, BECAUSE THE MILK-FED VEAL WE GET IN THIS COUNTRY IS A PRODUCT OF THE CRUELEST KIND OF FACTORY FARMING, AND SECOND, BECAUSE FREE-RANGE VEAL– THE KIND YOU GET IN EUROPE– IS ALMOST AS RARE HERE AS IT IS EXPENSIVE.   (more…)

I WOULD HAVE POSTED THIS LAST WEEK, BUT FORGOT TO PHOTOGRAPH IT. LAST WEEK’S GUESTS WERE SO PLEASED WITH THE SALAD, HOWEVER, THAT I MADE IT AGAIN LAST NIGHT WITH SOME MINOR FINE-TUNING AND A DIFFERENT COMBINATION OF MELONS. THE PLEASURE OF THIS SALAD COMES, OF COURSE, FROM THE MELONS. THANKS TO GLOBAL WARMING MELONS ARE STILL IN SEASON AND WEISER FARMS HAS FEATURED A VERITABLE MELON CORNUCOPIA: CANTALOUPE, CANARY, GALIA, CHARENTAIS, AND WATER MELON. THE MELONS ARE SO SWEET THAT THEY CRY OUT FOR LIME JUICE. THE PROSCUITTO OR SERRANO IS BOTH SALTY AND SWEET. THIS IS AFTER ALL DECONSTRUCTED OR PERHAPS I SHOULD SAY RECONSTRUCTED PROSCUITTO AND MELON, BUT MUCH MORE FUN TO EAT.

Click here to download recipe

YES, THESE ARE AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK. AND I DON’T EVEN HAVE A GRILL. EXCEPT FOR A FEW MINOR CHANGES, THIS IS 95% JULIA MOSKIN’S RECIPE FROM THE NY TIMES. YOU MARINATE THE RIBS IN HOISIN SAUCE, GARLIC, SOY SAUCE AND OTHER SEASONINGS. THE NEXT DAY (OR FOUR HOURS LATER) YOU STEAM THEM SLOWLY ON A RACK IN THE OVEN, THEN FINISH THEM OFF AT A HIGHER TEMPERATURE. (more…)

I’M ACTING IN A PLAY WHICH OPENS THIS WEEK AT THE MATRIX THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES CALLED “JEWS, CHRISTIANS AND SCREWING STALIN” IN WHICH BORSHT PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE FAMILY HISTORY (BUBBY’S UNCLE WAS A BORSHT TASTER IN THE TSAR’S ARMY.) SO IT IS ONLY FITTING THAT I POST THIS RECIPE. BORSHT IS KIND OF A GENERIC NAME FOR ANY SOUP INVOLVING BEETS AND OFTEN CONTAINS MEAT, WHICH MAKES IT HARDIER THAN THE ALL-VEGETABLE VERSION I OFFER HERE. THIS PARTICULAR RECIPE WAS INSPIRED BY A LUNCH AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS IN THE JEWISH MUSEUM ON FIFTH AVENUE. IT WAS THICK BUT SMOOTH, NOT TOO SWEET, AND A TAD SPICY, MADE WITH WATER AND NOT STOCK. IT’S AS GOOD AS THE BORSHT I HAD AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS, MAYBE EVEN A BISL BETTER.
Click here to download recipe

MORELS, LIKE MOST WILD MUSHROOMS, ARE SEASONAL, DELICIOUS, AND EXPENSIVE, SELLING FOR $65 A POUND IN THE HOLLYWOOD FARMERS’ MARKET. SO WHEN THEY TURNED UP ON FOOD 52 FOR $35 A POUND, WHAT COULD I DO?  I MEAN WHO CAN RESIST A BARGAIN?  I LOOKED UP SEVERAL RECIPES AND THE MOST APPEALING WAS ONE BY LUDOVIC LEFEBVRE, MEANT TO ACCOMPANY GRILLED VEAL CHOPS (more…)

MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR WAS BY WAY OF MARCELLA HAZAN. I’D NEVER USED ANCHOVIES IN ANYTHING BUT A CAESAR SALD AND IT AMAZED ME HOW UNDETECTABLE THEY WERE IN THE FINISHED DISH, MERELY SERVING TO ENHANCE THE FLAVOR WITH A RICH UMAMI, BEFORE THAT WORD WAS COINED IN WESTERN COOKING. THIS BECAME ONE OF MY GO-TO DISHES.  NO ONE EVER GUESSED IT CONTAINED ANCHOVIES. (more…)

“HATES CALIFORNIA, IT’S COLD AND IT’S DAMP…” WHEN IT DOES GET COLD HERE OR ANYWHERE, NOTHING SATISFIES LIKE SOUP. THE FLAVOR IN THIS WHITE BEAN SOUP COMES FROM THE SMOKED HAM HOCK AND THE PARMESAN RINDS, WHICH I HORDE FOR JUST THESE OCCASIONS. YOU CAN SIMMER THE SOUP ON A LOW FLAME, BUT SIMMERING IT IN THE OVEN IS EASIER SINCE YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT BURNING ON THE BOTTOM AND ONLY HAVE TO STIR OCCASIONALLY. (more…)

THE CHASSEUR (HUNTER) IN CHICKEN CHASSEUR TELLS YOU IT CONTAINS MUSHROOMS, PROBABLY CHOPPED ONIONS, GARLIC, TOMATO AND WINE.  THE REST IS UP FOR GRABS. IN THIS CASE, THE MUSHROOMS, DRIED PORCINI, ARE THERE PURELY FOR FLAVOR — AN INTENSE, WOODSY FLAVOR — WHICH YOU CAN’T GET FROM FRESH BUTTON MUSHROOMS.  THERE’S A SLIGHT NOD TO TOMATOES IN THE FORM OF TOMATO PASTE, RED WINE TO ADD A BIT OF ROUNDNESS AND DEPTH, CIPOLLINI BECAUSE I LOVE CIPOLLINI, AND POTATOES TO SOAK UP THE FLAVORS AND SAVE YOU FROM HAVING TO MAKE A SEPARATE STARCH.  STILL, A CRUSTY BAGUETTE COULDN’T HURT.

Click here to download recipe

THE WOODSY FUNKINESS OF BROWN MUSHROOMS IS ENHANCED IN THIS SIMPLE PASTA DISH WITH A MIXTURE OF ANCHOVIES, HERBS AND GARLIC. I BORROWED THIS FLAVOR MIXTURE FROM MARCELLA HAZAN’S RECIPE FOR CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR. IT’S ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR CHICKEN DISHES I COOK AND NO ONE — I MEAN NO ONE — EVER GUESSES THE SECRET INGREDIENT, ANCHOVIES. YOU CAN CERTAINLY MAKE THIS DISH WITH SHIITAKE, WHITE, OR WILD MUSHROOMS, BUT IT TRANSFORMS ORDINARY MUSHROOMS INTO SOMETHING RICHER AND MORE EXOTIC.
Click here to download recipe

CELERY, WHICH PRIOR TO THE 16TH CENTURY WAS USED EXCLUSIVELY IN EUROPE AS A MEDICINAL HERB, IS A KIND OF WORKHORSE VEGETABLE.  PAIRED WITH CHOPPED ONION AND CARROTS, IT ADDS A GREEN NOTE TO SOUPS AND STEWS. IT’S INDISPENSABLE IN CHICKEN OR EGG SALAD.  A SUPPORTING PLAYER, CELERY IS RARELY FEATURED ON ITS OWN, AT LEAST IN THE WEST.  THE CHINESE KNOW BETTER AND SOME OF THE BEST SHRIMP DISHES I’VE HAD, SUCH AS JADE SHRIMP, ARE SIMPLY SHRIMP WITH CELERY AND GREEN HERBS.  HERE I’VE ADDED LEMON ZEST AND SCALLIONS.  STILL, IT COULDN’T BE EASIER TO MAKE AND ONCE YOU’VE DONE YOUR PREP AND MIS-EN-PLACE, THE TOTAL COOKING TIME IS ABOUT THREE MINUTES.  IT’S WHAT GIVES THIS DISH ITS BRIGHT AND LIVELY FLAVOR.
Click here to download recipe

I HAVE FOR THE MOST PART STOPPED EATING VEAL.  FIRST, BECAUSE THE MILK-FED VEAL WE GET IN THIS COUNTRY IS A PRODUCT OF THE CRUELEST KIND OF FACTORY FARMING, AND SECOND, BECAUSE FREE-RANGE VEAL– THE KIND YOU GET IN EUROPE– IS ALMOST AS RARE HERE AS IT IS EXPENSIVE.   (more…)

I WOULD HAVE POSTED THIS LAST WEEK, BUT FORGOT TO PHOTOGRAPH IT. LAST WEEK’S GUESTS WERE SO PLEASED WITH THE SALAD, HOWEVER, THAT I MADE IT AGAIN LAST NIGHT WITH SOME MINOR FINE-TUNING AND A DIFFERENT COMBINATION OF MELONS. THE PLEASURE OF THIS SALAD COMES, OF COURSE, FROM THE MELONS. THANKS TO GLOBAL WARMING MELONS ARE STILL IN SEASON AND WEISER FARMS HAS FEATURED A VERITABLE MELON CORNUCOPIA: CANTALOUPE, CANARY, GALIA, CHARENTAIS, AND WATER MELON. THE MELONS ARE SO SWEET THAT THEY CRY OUT FOR LIME JUICE. THE PROSCUITTO OR SERRANO IS BOTH SALTY AND SWEET. THIS IS AFTER ALL DECONSTRUCTED OR PERHAPS I SHOULD SAY RECONSTRUCTED PROSCUITTO AND MELON, BUT MUCH MORE FUN TO EAT.

Click here to download recipe

YES, THESE ARE AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK. AND I DON’T EVEN HAVE A GRILL. EXCEPT FOR A FEW MINOR CHANGES, THIS IS 95% JULIA MOSKIN’S RECIPE FROM THE NY TIMES. YOU MARINATE THE RIBS IN HOISIN SAUCE, GARLIC, SOY SAUCE AND OTHER SEASONINGS. THE NEXT DAY (OR FOUR HOURS LATER) YOU STEAM THEM SLOWLY ON A RACK IN THE OVEN, THEN FINISH THEM OFF AT A HIGHER TEMPERATURE. (more…)

I’M ACTING IN A PLAY WHICH OPENS THIS WEEK AT THE MATRIX THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES CALLED “JEWS, CHRISTIANS AND SCREWING STALIN” IN WHICH BORSHT PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE FAMILY HISTORY (BUBBY’S UNCLE WAS A BORSHT TASTER IN THE TSAR’S ARMY.) SO IT IS ONLY FITTING THAT I POST THIS RECIPE. BORSHT IS KIND OF A GENERIC NAME FOR ANY SOUP INVOLVING BEETS AND OFTEN CONTAINS MEAT, WHICH MAKES IT HARDIER THAN THE ALL-VEGETABLE VERSION I OFFER HERE. THIS PARTICULAR RECIPE WAS INSPIRED BY A LUNCH AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS IN THE JEWISH MUSEUM ON FIFTH AVENUE. IT WAS THICK BUT SMOOTH, NOT TOO SWEET, AND A TAD SPICY, MADE WITH WATER AND NOT STOCK. IT’S AS GOOD AS THE BORSHT I HAD AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS, MAYBE EVEN A BISL BETTER.
Click here to download recipe

MORELS, LIKE MOST WILD MUSHROOMS, ARE SEASONAL, DELICIOUS, AND EXPENSIVE, SELLING FOR $65 A POUND IN THE HOLLYWOOD FARMERS’ MARKET. SO WHEN THEY TURNED UP ON FOOD 52 FOR $35 A POUND, WHAT COULD I DO?  I MEAN WHO CAN RESIST A BARGAIN?  I LOOKED UP SEVERAL RECIPES AND THE MOST APPEALING WAS ONE BY LUDOVIC LEFEBVRE, MEANT TO ACCOMPANY GRILLED VEAL CHOPS (more…)

MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR WAS BY WAY OF MARCELLA HAZAN. I’D NEVER USED ANCHOVIES IN ANYTHING BUT A CAESAR SALD AND IT AMAZED ME HOW UNDETECTABLE THEY WERE IN THE FINISHED DISH, MERELY SERVING TO ENHANCE THE FLAVOR WITH A RICH UMAMI, BEFORE THAT WORD WAS COINED IN WESTERN COOKING. THIS BECAME ONE OF MY GO-TO DISHES.  NO ONE EVER GUESSED IT CONTAINED ANCHOVIES. (more…)

“HATES CALIFORNIA, IT’S COLD AND IT’S DAMP…” WHEN IT DOES GET COLD HERE OR ANYWHERE, NOTHING SATISFIES LIKE SOUP. THE FLAVOR IN THIS WHITE BEAN SOUP COMES FROM THE SMOKED HAM HOCK AND THE PARMESAN RINDS, WHICH I HORDE FOR JUST THESE OCCASIONS. YOU CAN SIMMER THE SOUP ON A LOW FLAME, BUT SIMMERING IT IN THE OVEN IS EASIER SINCE YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT BURNING ON THE BOTTOM AND ONLY HAVE TO STIR OCCASIONALLY. (more…)

THE CHASSEUR (HUNTER) IN CHICKEN CHASSEUR TELLS YOU IT CONTAINS MUSHROOMS, PROBABLY CHOPPED ONIONS, GARLIC, TOMATO AND WINE.  THE REST IS UP FOR GRABS. IN THIS CASE, THE MUSHROOMS, DRIED PORCINI, ARE THERE PURELY FOR FLAVOR — AN INTENSE, WOODSY FLAVOR — WHICH YOU CAN’T GET FROM FRESH BUTTON MUSHROOMS.  THERE’S A SLIGHT NOD TO TOMATOES IN THE FORM OF TOMATO PASTE, RED WINE TO ADD A BIT OF ROUNDNESS AND DEPTH, CIPOLLINI BECAUSE I LOVE CIPOLLINI, AND POTATOES TO SOAK UP THE FLAVORS AND SAVE YOU FROM HAVING TO MAKE A SEPARATE STARCH.  STILL, A CRUSTY BAGUETTE COULDN’T HURT.

Click here to download recipe

THE WOODSY FUNKINESS OF BROWN MUSHROOMS IS ENHANCED IN THIS SIMPLE PASTA DISH WITH A MIXTURE OF ANCHOVIES, HERBS AND GARLIC. I BORROWED THIS FLAVOR MIXTURE FROM MARCELLA HAZAN’S RECIPE FOR CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR. IT’S ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR CHICKEN DISHES I COOK AND NO ONE — I MEAN NO ONE — EVER GUESSES THE SECRET INGREDIENT, ANCHOVIES. YOU CAN CERTAINLY MAKE THIS DISH WITH SHIITAKE, WHITE, OR WILD MUSHROOMS, BUT IT TRANSFORMS ORDINARY MUSHROOMS INTO SOMETHING RICHER AND MORE EXOTIC.
Click here to download recipe

CELERY, WHICH PRIOR TO THE 16TH CENTURY WAS USED EXCLUSIVELY IN EUROPE AS A MEDICINAL HERB, IS A KIND OF WORKHORSE VEGETABLE.  PAIRED WITH CHOPPED ONION AND CARROTS, IT ADDS A GREEN NOTE TO SOUPS AND STEWS. IT’S INDISPENSABLE IN CHICKEN OR EGG SALAD.  A SUPPORTING PLAYER, CELERY IS RARELY FEATURED ON ITS OWN, AT LEAST IN THE WEST.  THE CHINESE KNOW BETTER AND SOME OF THE BEST SHRIMP DISHES I’VE HAD, SUCH AS JADE SHRIMP, ARE SIMPLY SHRIMP WITH CELERY AND GREEN HERBS.  HERE I’VE ADDED LEMON ZEST AND SCALLIONS.  STILL, IT COULDN’T BE EASIER TO MAKE AND ONCE YOU’VE DONE YOUR PREP AND MIS-EN-PLACE, THE TOTAL COOKING TIME IS ABOUT THREE MINUTES.  IT’S WHAT GIVES THIS DISH ITS BRIGHT AND LIVELY FLAVOR.
Click here to download recipe

I HAVE FOR THE MOST PART STOPPED EATING VEAL.  FIRST, BECAUSE THE MILK-FED VEAL WE GET IN THIS COUNTRY IS A PRODUCT OF THE CRUELEST KIND OF FACTORY FARMING, AND SECOND, BECAUSE FREE-RANGE VEAL– THE KIND YOU GET IN EUROPE– IS ALMOST AS RARE HERE AS IT IS EXPENSIVE.   (more…)

I WOULD HAVE POSTED THIS LAST WEEK, BUT FORGOT TO PHOTOGRAPH IT. LAST WEEK’S GUESTS WERE SO PLEASED WITH THE SALAD, HOWEVER, THAT I MADE IT AGAIN LAST NIGHT WITH SOME MINOR FINE-TUNING AND A DIFFERENT COMBINATION OF MELONS. THE PLEASURE OF THIS SALAD COMES, OF COURSE, FROM THE MELONS. THANKS TO GLOBAL WARMING MELONS ARE STILL IN SEASON AND WEISER FARMS HAS FEATURED A VERITABLE MELON CORNUCOPIA: CANTALOUPE, CANARY, GALIA, CHARENTAIS, AND WATER MELON. THE MELONS ARE SO SWEET THAT THEY CRY OUT FOR LIME JUICE. THE PROSCUITTO OR SERRANO IS BOTH SALTY AND SWEET. THIS IS AFTER ALL DECONSTRUCTED OR PERHAPS I SHOULD SAY RECONSTRUCTED PROSCUITTO AND MELON, BUT MUCH MORE FUN TO EAT.

Click here to download recipe

YES, THESE ARE AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK. AND I DON’T EVEN HAVE A GRILL. EXCEPT FOR A FEW MINOR CHANGES, THIS IS 95% JULIA MOSKIN’S RECIPE FROM THE NY TIMES. YOU MARINATE THE RIBS IN HOISIN SAUCE, GARLIC, SOY SAUCE AND OTHER SEASONINGS. THE NEXT DAY (OR FOUR HOURS LATER) YOU STEAM THEM SLOWLY ON A RACK IN THE OVEN, THEN FINISH THEM OFF AT A HIGHER TEMPERATURE. (more…)

I’M ACTING IN A PLAY WHICH OPENS THIS WEEK AT THE MATRIX THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES CALLED “JEWS, CHRISTIANS AND SCREWING STALIN” IN WHICH BORSHT PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE FAMILY HISTORY (BUBBY’S UNCLE WAS A BORSHT TASTER IN THE TSAR’S ARMY.) SO IT IS ONLY FITTING THAT I POST THIS RECIPE. BORSHT IS KIND OF A GENERIC NAME FOR ANY SOUP INVOLVING BEETS AND OFTEN CONTAINS MEAT, WHICH MAKES IT HARDIER THAN THE ALL-VEGETABLE VERSION I OFFER HERE. THIS PARTICULAR RECIPE WAS INSPIRED BY A LUNCH AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS IN THE JEWISH MUSEUM ON FIFTH AVENUE. IT WAS THICK BUT SMOOTH, NOT TOO SWEET, AND A TAD SPICY, MADE WITH WATER AND NOT STOCK. IT’S AS GOOD AS THE BORSHT I HAD AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS, MAYBE EVEN A BISL BETTER.
Click here to download recipe

MORELS, LIKE MOST WILD MUSHROOMS, ARE SEASONAL, DELICIOUS, AND EXPENSIVE, SELLING FOR $65 A POUND IN THE HOLLYWOOD FARMERS’ MARKET. SO WHEN THEY TURNED UP ON FOOD 52 FOR $35 A POUND, WHAT COULD I DO?  I MEAN WHO CAN RESIST A BARGAIN?  I LOOKED UP SEVERAL RECIPES AND THE MOST APPEALING WAS ONE BY LUDOVIC LEFEBVRE, MEANT TO ACCOMPANY GRILLED VEAL CHOPS (more…)

MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR WAS BY WAY OF MARCELLA HAZAN. I’D NEVER USED ANCHOVIES IN ANYTHING BUT A CAESAR SALD AND IT AMAZED ME HOW UNDETECTABLE THEY WERE IN THE FINISHED DISH, MERELY SERVING TO ENHANCE THE FLAVOR WITH A RICH UMAMI, BEFORE THAT WORD WAS COINED IN WESTERN COOKING. THIS BECAME ONE OF MY GO-TO DISHES.  NO ONE EVER GUESSED IT CONTAINED ANCHOVIES. (more…)

“HATES CALIFORNIA, IT’S COLD AND IT’S DAMP…” WHEN IT DOES GET COLD HERE OR ANYWHERE, NOTHING SATISFIES LIKE SOUP. THE FLAVOR IN THIS WHITE BEAN SOUP COMES FROM THE SMOKED HAM HOCK AND THE PARMESAN RINDS, WHICH I HORDE FOR JUST THESE OCCASIONS. YOU CAN SIMMER THE SOUP ON A LOW FLAME, BUT SIMMERING IT IN THE OVEN IS EASIER SINCE YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT BURNING ON THE BOTTOM AND ONLY HAVE TO STIR OCCASIONALLY. (more…)

THE CHASSEUR (HUNTER) IN CHICKEN CHASSEUR TELLS YOU IT CONTAINS MUSHROOMS, PROBABLY CHOPPED ONIONS, GARLIC, TOMATO AND WINE.  THE REST IS UP FOR GRABS. IN THIS CASE, THE MUSHROOMS, DRIED PORCINI, ARE THERE PURELY FOR FLAVOR — AN INTENSE, WOODSY FLAVOR — WHICH YOU CAN’T GET FROM FRESH BUTTON MUSHROOMS.  THERE’S A SLIGHT NOD TO TOMATOES IN THE FORM OF TOMATO PASTE, RED WINE TO ADD A BIT OF ROUNDNESS AND DEPTH, CIPOLLINI BECAUSE I LOVE CIPOLLINI, AND POTATOES TO SOAK UP THE FLAVORS AND SAVE YOU FROM HAVING TO MAKE A SEPARATE STARCH.  STILL, A CRUSTY BAGUETTE COULDN’T HURT.

Click here to download recipe

THE WOODSY FUNKINESS OF BROWN MUSHROOMS IS ENHANCED IN THIS SIMPLE PASTA DISH WITH A MIXTURE OF ANCHOVIES, HERBS AND GARLIC. I BORROWED THIS FLAVOR MIXTURE FROM MARCELLA HAZAN’S RECIPE FOR CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR. IT’S ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR CHICKEN DISHES I COOK AND NO ONE — I MEAN NO ONE — EVER GUESSES THE SECRET INGREDIENT, ANCHOVIES. YOU CAN CERTAINLY MAKE THIS DISH WITH SHIITAKE, WHITE, OR WILD MUSHROOMS, BUT IT TRANSFORMS ORDINARY MUSHROOMS INTO SOMETHING RICHER AND MORE EXOTIC.
Click here to download recipe

CELERY, WHICH PRIOR TO THE 16TH CENTURY WAS USED EXCLUSIVELY IN EUROPE AS A MEDICINAL HERB, IS A KIND OF WORKHORSE VEGETABLE.  PAIRED WITH CHOPPED ONION AND CARROTS, IT ADDS A GREEN NOTE TO SOUPS AND STEWS. IT’S INDISPENSABLE IN CHICKEN OR EGG SALAD.  A SUPPORTING PLAYER, CELERY IS RARELY FEATURED ON ITS OWN, AT LEAST IN THE WEST.  THE CHINESE KNOW BETTER AND SOME OF THE BEST SHRIMP DISHES I’VE HAD, SUCH AS JADE SHRIMP, ARE SIMPLY SHRIMP WITH CELERY AND GREEN HERBS.  HERE I’VE ADDED LEMON ZEST AND SCALLIONS.  STILL, IT COULDN’T BE EASIER TO MAKE AND ONCE YOU’VE DONE YOUR PREP AND MIS-EN-PLACE, THE TOTAL COOKING TIME IS ABOUT THREE MINUTES.  IT’S WHAT GIVES THIS DISH ITS BRIGHT AND LIVELY FLAVOR.
Click here to download recipe

I HAVE FOR THE MOST PART STOPPED EATING VEAL.  FIRST, BECAUSE THE MILK-FED VEAL WE GET IN THIS COUNTRY IS A PRODUCT OF THE CRUELEST KIND OF FACTORY FARMING, AND SECOND, BECAUSE FREE-RANGE VEAL– THE KIND YOU GET IN EUROPE– IS ALMOST AS RARE HERE AS IT IS EXPENSIVE.   (more…)

I WOULD HAVE POSTED THIS LAST WEEK, BUT FORGOT TO PHOTOGRAPH IT. LAST WEEK’S GUESTS WERE SO PLEASED WITH THE SALAD, HOWEVER, THAT I MADE IT AGAIN LAST NIGHT WITH SOME MINOR FINE-TUNING AND A DIFFERENT COMBINATION OF MELONS. THE PLEASURE OF THIS SALAD COMES, OF COURSE, FROM THE MELONS. THANKS TO GLOBAL WARMING MELONS ARE STILL IN SEASON AND WEISER FARMS HAS FEATURED A VERITABLE MELON CORNUCOPIA: CANTALOUPE, CANARY, GALIA, CHARENTAIS, AND WATER MELON. THE MELONS ARE SO SWEET THAT THEY CRY OUT FOR LIME JUICE. THE PROSCUITTO OR SERRANO IS BOTH SALTY AND SWEET. THIS IS AFTER ALL DECONSTRUCTED OR PERHAPS I SHOULD SAY RECONSTRUCTED PROSCUITTO AND MELON, BUT MUCH MORE FUN TO EAT.

Click here to download recipe

YES, THESE ARE AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK. AND I DON’T EVEN HAVE A GRILL. EXCEPT FOR A FEW MINOR CHANGES, THIS IS 95% JULIA MOSKIN’S RECIPE FROM THE NY TIMES. YOU MARINATE THE RIBS IN HOISIN SAUCE, GARLIC, SOY SAUCE AND OTHER SEASONINGS. THE NEXT DAY (OR FOUR HOURS LATER) YOU STEAM THEM SLOWLY ON A RACK IN THE OVEN, THEN FINISH THEM OFF AT A HIGHER TEMPERATURE. (more…)

I’M ACTING IN A PLAY WHICH OPENS THIS WEEK AT THE MATRIX THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES CALLED “JEWS, CHRISTIANS AND SCREWING STALIN” IN WHICH BORSHT PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE FAMILY HISTORY (BUBBY’S UNCLE WAS A BORSHT TASTER IN THE TSAR’S ARMY.) SO IT IS ONLY FITTING THAT I POST THIS RECIPE. BORSHT IS KIND OF A GENERIC NAME FOR ANY SOUP INVOLVING BEETS AND OFTEN CONTAINS MEAT, WHICH MAKES IT HARDIER THAN THE ALL-VEGETABLE VERSION I OFFER HERE. THIS PARTICULAR RECIPE WAS INSPIRED BY A LUNCH AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS IN THE JEWISH MUSEUM ON FIFTH AVENUE. IT WAS THICK BUT SMOOTH, NOT TOO SWEET, AND A TAD SPICY, MADE WITH WATER AND NOT STOCK. IT’S AS GOOD AS THE BORSHT I HAD AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS, MAYBE EVEN A BISL BETTER.
Click here to download recipe

MORELS, LIKE MOST WILD MUSHROOMS, ARE SEASONAL, DELICIOUS, AND EXPENSIVE, SELLING FOR $65 A POUND IN THE HOLLYWOOD FARMERS’ MARKET. SO WHEN THEY TURNED UP ON FOOD 52 FOR $35 A POUND, WHAT COULD I DO?  I MEAN WHO CAN RESIST A BARGAIN?  I LOOKED UP SEVERAL RECIPES AND THE MOST APPEALING WAS ONE BY LUDOVIC LEFEBVRE, MEANT TO ACCOMPANY GRILLED VEAL CHOPS (more…)

MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR WAS BY WAY OF MARCELLA HAZAN. I’D NEVER USED ANCHOVIES IN ANYTHING BUT A CAESAR SALD AND IT AMAZED ME HOW UNDETECTABLE THEY WERE IN THE FINISHED DISH, MERELY SERVING TO ENHANCE THE FLAVOR WITH A RICH UMAMI, BEFORE THAT WORD WAS COINED IN WESTERN COOKING. THIS BECAME ONE OF MY GO-TO DISHES.  NO ONE EVER GUESSED IT CONTAINED ANCHOVIES. (more…)

“HATES CALIFORNIA, IT’S COLD AND IT’S DAMP…” WHEN IT DOES GET COLD HERE OR ANYWHERE, NOTHING SATISFIES LIKE SOUP. THE FLAVOR IN THIS WHITE BEAN SOUP COMES FROM THE SMOKED HAM HOCK AND THE PARMESAN RINDS, WHICH I HORDE FOR JUST THESE OCCASIONS. YOU CAN SIMMER THE SOUP ON A LOW FLAME, BUT SIMMERING IT IN THE OVEN IS EASIER SINCE YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT BURNING ON THE BOTTOM AND ONLY HAVE TO STIR OCCASIONALLY. (more…)

THE CHASSEUR (HUNTER) IN CHICKEN CHASSEUR TELLS YOU IT CONTAINS MUSHROOMS, PROBABLY CHOPPED ONIONS, GARLIC, TOMATO AND WINE.  THE REST IS UP FOR GRABS. IN THIS CASE, THE MUSHROOMS, DRIED PORCINI, ARE THERE PURELY FOR FLAVOR — AN INTENSE, WOODSY FLAVOR — WHICH YOU CAN’T GET FROM FRESH BUTTON MUSHROOMS.  THERE’S A SLIGHT NOD TO TOMATOES IN THE FORM OF TOMATO PASTE, RED WINE TO ADD A BIT OF ROUNDNESS AND DEPTH, CIPOLLINI BECAUSE I LOVE CIPOLLINI, AND POTATOES TO SOAK UP THE FLAVORS AND SAVE YOU FROM HAVING TO MAKE A SEPARATE STARCH.  STILL, A CRUSTY BAGUETTE COULDN’T HURT.

Click here to download recipe

THE WOODSY FUNKINESS OF BROWN MUSHROOMS IS ENHANCED IN THIS SIMPLE PASTA DISH WITH A MIXTURE OF ANCHOVIES, HERBS AND GARLIC. I BORROWED THIS FLAVOR MIXTURE FROM MARCELLA HAZAN’S RECIPE FOR CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR. IT’S ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR CHICKEN DISHES I COOK AND NO ONE — I MEAN NO ONE — EVER GUESSES THE SECRET INGREDIENT, ANCHOVIES. YOU CAN CERTAINLY MAKE THIS DISH WITH SHIITAKE, WHITE, OR WILD MUSHROOMS, BUT IT TRANSFORMS ORDINARY MUSHROOMS INTO SOMETHING RICHER AND MORE EXOTIC.
Click here to download recipe

CELERY, WHICH PRIOR TO THE 16TH CENTURY WAS USED EXCLUSIVELY IN EUROPE AS A MEDICINAL HERB, IS A KIND OF WORKHORSE VEGETABLE.  PAIRED WITH CHOPPED ONION AND CARROTS, IT ADDS A GREEN NOTE TO SOUPS AND STEWS. IT’S INDISPENSABLE IN CHICKEN OR EGG SALAD.  A SUPPORTING PLAYER, CELERY IS RARELY FEATURED ON ITS OWN, AT LEAST IN THE WEST.  THE CHINESE KNOW BETTER AND SOME OF THE BEST SHRIMP DISHES I’VE HAD, SUCH AS JADE SHRIMP, ARE SIMPLY SHRIMP WITH CELERY AND GREEN HERBS.  HERE I’VE ADDED LEMON ZEST AND SCALLIONS.  STILL, IT COULDN’T BE EASIER TO MAKE AND ONCE YOU’VE DONE YOUR PREP AND MIS-EN-PLACE, THE TOTAL COOKING TIME IS ABOUT THREE MINUTES.  IT’S WHAT GIVES THIS DISH ITS BRIGHT AND LIVELY FLAVOR.
Click here to download recipe

I HAVE FOR THE MOST PART STOPPED EATING VEAL.  FIRST, BECAUSE THE MILK-FED VEAL WE GET IN THIS COUNTRY IS A PRODUCT OF THE CRUELEST KIND OF FACTORY FARMING, AND SECOND, BECAUSE FREE-RANGE VEAL– THE KIND YOU GET IN EUROPE– IS ALMOST AS RARE HERE AS IT IS EXPENSIVE.   (more…)

I WOULD HAVE POSTED THIS LAST WEEK, BUT FORGOT TO PHOTOGRAPH IT. LAST WEEK’S GUESTS WERE SO PLEASED WITH THE SALAD, HOWEVER, THAT I MADE IT AGAIN LAST NIGHT WITH SOME MINOR FINE-TUNING AND A DIFFERENT COMBINATION OF MELONS. THE PLEASURE OF THIS SALAD COMES, OF COURSE, FROM THE MELONS. THANKS TO GLOBAL WARMING MELONS ARE STILL IN SEASON AND WEISER FARMS HAS FEATURED A VERITABLE MELON CORNUCOPIA: CANTALOUPE, CANARY, GALIA, CHARENTAIS, AND WATER MELON. THE MELONS ARE SO SWEET THAT THEY CRY OUT FOR LIME JUICE. THE PROSCUITTO OR SERRANO IS BOTH SALTY AND SWEET. THIS IS AFTER ALL DECONSTRUCTED OR PERHAPS I SHOULD SAY RECONSTRUCTED PROSCUITTO AND MELON, BUT MUCH MORE FUN TO EAT.

Click here to download recipe

YES, THESE ARE AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK. AND I DON’T EVEN HAVE A GRILL. EXCEPT FOR A FEW MINOR CHANGES, THIS IS 95% JULIA MOSKIN’S RECIPE FROM THE NY TIMES. YOU MARINATE THE RIBS IN HOISIN SAUCE, GARLIC, SOY SAUCE AND OTHER SEASONINGS. THE NEXT DAY (OR FOUR HOURS LATER) YOU STEAM THEM SLOWLY ON A RACK IN THE OVEN, THEN FINISH THEM OFF AT A HIGHER TEMPERATURE. (more…)

I’M ACTING IN A PLAY WHICH OPENS THIS WEEK AT THE MATRIX THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES CALLED “JEWS, CHRISTIANS AND SCREWING STALIN” IN WHICH BORSHT PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE FAMILY HISTORY (BUBBY’S UNCLE WAS A BORSHT TASTER IN THE TSAR’S ARMY.) SO IT IS ONLY FITTING THAT I POST THIS RECIPE. BORSHT IS KIND OF A GENERIC NAME FOR ANY SOUP INVOLVING BEETS AND OFTEN CONTAINS MEAT, WHICH MAKES IT HARDIER THAN THE ALL-VEGETABLE VERSION I OFFER HERE. THIS PARTICULAR RECIPE WAS INSPIRED BY A LUNCH AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS IN THE JEWISH MUSEUM ON FIFTH AVENUE. IT WAS THICK BUT SMOOTH, NOT TOO SWEET, AND A TAD SPICY, MADE WITH WATER AND NOT STOCK. IT’S AS GOOD AS THE BORSHT I HAD AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS, MAYBE EVEN A BISL BETTER.
Click here to download recipe

MORELS, LIKE MOST WILD MUSHROOMS, ARE SEASONAL, DELICIOUS, AND EXPENSIVE, SELLING FOR $65 A POUND IN THE HOLLYWOOD FARMERS’ MARKET. SO WHEN THEY TURNED UP ON FOOD 52 FOR $35 A POUND, WHAT COULD I DO?  I MEAN WHO CAN RESIST A BARGAIN?  I LOOKED UP SEVERAL RECIPES AND THE MOST APPEALING WAS ONE BY LUDOVIC LEFEBVRE, MEANT TO ACCOMPANY GRILLED VEAL CHOPS (more…)

MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR WAS BY WAY OF MARCELLA HAZAN. I’D NEVER USED ANCHOVIES IN ANYTHING BUT A CAESAR SALD AND IT AMAZED ME HOW UNDETECTABLE THEY WERE IN THE FINISHED DISH, MERELY SERVING TO ENHANCE THE FLAVOR WITH A RICH UMAMI, BEFORE THAT WORD WAS COINED IN WESTERN COOKING. THIS BECAME ONE OF MY GO-TO DISHES.  NO ONE EVER GUESSED IT CONTAINED ANCHOVIES. (more…)

“HATES CALIFORNIA, IT’S COLD AND IT’S DAMP…” WHEN IT DOES GET COLD HERE OR ANYWHERE, NOTHING SATISFIES LIKE SOUP. THE FLAVOR IN THIS WHITE BEAN SOUP COMES FROM THE SMOKED HAM HOCK AND THE PARMESAN RINDS, WHICH I HORDE FOR JUST THESE OCCASIONS. YOU CAN SIMMER THE SOUP ON A LOW FLAME, BUT SIMMERING IT IN THE OVEN IS EASIER SINCE YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT BURNING ON THE BOTTOM AND ONLY HAVE TO STIR OCCASIONALLY. (more…)

THE CHASSEUR (HUNTER) IN CHICKEN CHASSEUR TELLS YOU IT CONTAINS MUSHROOMS, PROBABLY CHOPPED ONIONS, GARLIC, TOMATO AND WINE.  THE REST IS UP FOR GRABS. IN THIS CASE, THE MUSHROOMS, DRIED PORCINI, ARE THERE PURELY FOR FLAVOR — AN INTENSE, WOODSY FLAVOR — WHICH YOU CAN’T GET FROM FRESH BUTTON MUSHROOMS.  THERE’S A SLIGHT NOD TO TOMATOES IN THE FORM OF TOMATO PASTE, RED WINE TO ADD A BIT OF ROUNDNESS AND DEPTH, CIPOLLINI BECAUSE I LOVE CIPOLLINI, AND POTATOES TO SOAK UP THE FLAVORS AND SAVE YOU FROM HAVING TO MAKE A SEPARATE STARCH.  STILL, A CRUSTY BAGUETTE COULDN’T HURT.

Click here to download recipe

THE WOODSY FUNKINESS OF BROWN MUSHROOMS IS ENHANCED IN THIS SIMPLE PASTA DISH WITH A MIXTURE OF ANCHOVIES, HERBS AND GARLIC. I BORROWED THIS FLAVOR MIXTURE FROM MARCELLA HAZAN’S RECIPE FOR CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR. IT’S ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR CHICKEN DISHES I COOK AND NO ONE — I MEAN NO ONE — EVER GUESSES THE SECRET INGREDIENT, ANCHOVIES. YOU CAN CERTAINLY MAKE THIS DISH WITH SHIITAKE, WHITE, OR WILD MUSHROOMS, BUT IT TRANSFORMS ORDINARY MUSHROOMS INTO SOMETHING RICHER AND MORE EXOTIC.
Click here to download recipe

CELERY, WHICH PRIOR TO THE 16TH CENTURY WAS USED EXCLUSIVELY IN EUROPE AS A MEDICINAL HERB, IS A KIND OF WORKHORSE VEGETABLE.  PAIRED WITH CHOPPED ONION AND CARROTS, IT ADDS A GREEN NOTE TO SOUPS AND STEWS. IT’S INDISPENSABLE IN CHICKEN OR EGG SALAD.  A SUPPORTING PLAYER, CELERY IS RARELY FEATURED ON ITS OWN, AT LEAST IN THE WEST.  THE CHINESE KNOW BETTER AND SOME OF THE BEST SHRIMP DISHES I’VE HAD, SUCH AS JADE SHRIMP, ARE SIMPLY SHRIMP WITH CELERY AND GREEN HERBS.  HERE I’VE ADDED LEMON ZEST AND SCALLIONS.  STILL, IT COULDN’T BE EASIER TO MAKE AND ONCE YOU’VE DONE YOUR PREP AND MIS-EN-PLACE, THE TOTAL COOKING TIME IS ABOUT THREE MINUTES.  IT’S WHAT GIVES THIS DISH ITS BRIGHT AND LIVELY FLAVOR.
Click here to download recipe

I HAVE FOR THE MOST PART STOPPED EATING VEAL.  FIRST, BECAUSE THE MILK-FED VEAL WE GET IN THIS COUNTRY IS A PRODUCT OF THE CRUELEST KIND OF FACTORY FARMING, AND SECOND, BECAUSE FREE-RANGE VEAL– THE KIND YOU GET IN EUROPE– IS ALMOST AS RARE HERE AS IT IS EXPENSIVE.   (more…)

I WOULD HAVE POSTED THIS LAST WEEK, BUT FORGOT TO PHOTOGRAPH IT. LAST WEEK’S GUESTS WERE SO PLEASED WITH THE SALAD, HOWEVER, THAT I MADE IT AGAIN LAST NIGHT WITH SOME MINOR FINE-TUNING AND A DIFFERENT COMBINATION OF MELONS. THE PLEASURE OF THIS SALAD COMES, OF COURSE, FROM THE MELONS. THANKS TO GLOBAL WARMING MELONS ARE STILL IN SEASON AND WEISER FARMS HAS FEATURED A VERITABLE MELON CORNUCOPIA: CANTALOUPE, CANARY, GALIA, CHARENTAIS, AND WATER MELON. THE MELONS ARE SO SWEET THAT THEY CRY OUT FOR LIME JUICE. THE PROSCUITTO OR SERRANO IS BOTH SALTY AND SWEET. THIS IS AFTER ALL DECONSTRUCTED OR PERHAPS I SHOULD SAY RECONSTRUCTED PROSCUITTO AND MELON, BUT MUCH MORE FUN TO EAT.

Click here to download recipe

YES, THESE ARE AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK. AND I DON’T EVEN HAVE A GRILL. EXCEPT FOR A FEW MINOR CHANGES, THIS IS 95% JULIA MOSKIN’S RECIPE FROM THE NY TIMES. YOU MARINATE THE RIBS IN HOISIN SAUCE, GARLIC, SOY SAUCE AND OTHER SEASONINGS. THE NEXT DAY (OR FOUR HOURS LATER) YOU STEAM THEM SLOWLY ON A RACK IN THE OVEN, THEN FINISH THEM OFF AT A HIGHER TEMPERATURE. (more…)

I’M ACTING IN A PLAY WHICH OPENS THIS WEEK AT THE MATRIX THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES CALLED “JEWS, CHRISTIANS AND SCREWING STALIN” IN WHICH BORSHT PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE FAMILY HISTORY (BUBBY’S UNCLE WAS A BORSHT TASTER IN THE TSAR’S ARMY.) SO IT IS ONLY FITTING THAT I POST THIS RECIPE. BORSHT IS KIND OF A GENERIC NAME FOR ANY SOUP INVOLVING BEETS AND OFTEN CONTAINS MEAT, WHICH MAKES IT HARDIER THAN THE ALL-VEGETABLE VERSION I OFFER HERE. THIS PARTICULAR RECIPE WAS INSPIRED BY A LUNCH AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS IN THE JEWISH MUSEUM ON FIFTH AVENUE. IT WAS THICK BUT SMOOTH, NOT TOO SWEET, AND A TAD SPICY, MADE WITH WATER AND NOT STOCK. IT’S AS GOOD AS THE BORSHT I HAD AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS, MAYBE EVEN A BISL BETTER.
Click here to download recipe

MORELS, LIKE MOST WILD MUSHROOMS, ARE SEASONAL, DELICIOUS, AND EXPENSIVE, SELLING FOR $65 A POUND IN THE HOLLYWOOD FARMERS’ MARKET. SO WHEN THEY TURNED UP ON FOOD 52 FOR $35 A POUND, WHAT COULD I DO?  I MEAN WHO CAN RESIST A BARGAIN?  I LOOKED UP SEVERAL RECIPES AND THE MOST APPEALING WAS ONE BY LUDOVIC LEFEBVRE, MEANT TO ACCOMPANY GRILLED VEAL CHOPS (more…)

MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR WAS BY WAY OF MARCELLA HAZAN. I’D NEVER USED ANCHOVIES IN ANYTHING BUT A CAESAR SALD AND IT AMAZED ME HOW UNDETECTABLE THEY WERE IN THE FINISHED DISH, MERELY SERVING TO ENHANCE THE FLAVOR WITH A RICH UMAMI, BEFORE THAT WORD WAS COINED IN WESTERN COOKING. THIS BECAME ONE OF MY GO-TO DISHES.  NO ONE EVER GUESSED IT CONTAINED ANCHOVIES. (more…)

“HATES CALIFORNIA, IT’S COLD AND IT’S DAMP…” WHEN IT DOES GET COLD HERE OR ANYWHERE, NOTHING SATISFIES LIKE SOUP. THE FLAVOR IN THIS WHITE BEAN SOUP COMES FROM THE SMOKED HAM HOCK AND THE PARMESAN RINDS, WHICH I HORDE FOR JUST THESE OCCASIONS. YOU CAN SIMMER THE SOUP ON A LOW FLAME, BUT SIMMERING IT IN THE OVEN IS EASIER SINCE YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT BURNING ON THE BOTTOM AND ONLY HAVE TO STIR OCCASIONALLY. (more…)

THE CHASSEUR (HUNTER) IN CHICKEN CHASSEUR TELLS YOU IT CONTAINS MUSHROOMS, PROBABLY CHOPPED ONIONS, GARLIC, TOMATO AND WINE.  THE REST IS UP FOR GRABS. IN THIS CASE, THE MUSHROOMS, DRIED PORCINI, ARE THERE PURELY FOR FLAVOR — AN INTENSE, WOODSY FLAVOR — WHICH YOU CAN’T GET FROM FRESH BUTTON MUSHROOMS.  THERE’S A SLIGHT NOD TO TOMATOES IN THE FORM OF TOMATO PASTE, RED WINE TO ADD A BIT OF ROUNDNESS AND DEPTH, CIPOLLINI BECAUSE I LOVE CIPOLLINI, AND POTATOES TO SOAK UP THE FLAVORS AND SAVE YOU FROM HAVING TO MAKE A SEPARATE STARCH.  STILL, A CRUSTY BAGUETTE COULDN’T HURT.

Click here to download recipe

THE WOODSY FUNKINESS OF BROWN MUSHROOMS IS ENHANCED IN THIS SIMPLE PASTA DISH WITH A MIXTURE OF ANCHOVIES, HERBS AND GARLIC. I BORROWED THIS FLAVOR MIXTURE FROM MARCELLA HAZAN’S RECIPE FOR CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR. IT’S ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR CHICKEN DISHES I COOK AND NO ONE — I MEAN NO ONE — EVER GUESSES THE SECRET INGREDIENT, ANCHOVIES. YOU CAN CERTAINLY MAKE THIS DISH WITH SHIITAKE, WHITE, OR WILD MUSHROOMS, BUT IT TRANSFORMS ORDINARY MUSHROOMS INTO SOMETHING RICHER AND MORE EXOTIC.
Click here to download recipe

CELERY, WHICH PRIOR TO THE 16TH CENTURY WAS USED EXCLUSIVELY IN EUROPE AS A MEDICINAL HERB, IS A KIND OF WORKHORSE VEGETABLE.  PAIRED WITH CHOPPED ONION AND CARROTS, IT ADDS A GREEN NOTE TO SOUPS AND STEWS. IT’S INDISPENSABLE IN CHICKEN OR EGG SALAD.  A SUPPORTING PLAYER, CELERY IS RARELY FEATURED ON ITS OWN, AT LEAST IN THE WEST.  THE CHINESE KNOW BETTER AND SOME OF THE BEST SHRIMP DISHES I’VE HAD, SUCH AS JADE SHRIMP, ARE SIMPLY SHRIMP WITH CELERY AND GREEN HERBS.  HERE I’VE ADDED LEMON ZEST AND SCALLIONS.  STILL, IT COULDN’T BE EASIER TO MAKE AND ONCE YOU’VE DONE YOUR PREP AND MIS-EN-PLACE, THE TOTAL COOKING TIME IS ABOUT THREE MINUTES.  IT’S WHAT GIVES THIS DISH ITS BRIGHT AND LIVELY FLAVOR.
Click here to download recipe

I HAVE FOR THE MOST PART STOPPED EATING VEAL.  FIRST, BECAUSE THE MILK-FED VEAL WE GET IN THIS COUNTRY IS A PRODUCT OF THE CRUELEST KIND OF FACTORY FARMING, AND SECOND, BECAUSE FREE-RANGE VEAL– THE KIND YOU GET IN EUROPE– IS ALMOST AS RARE HERE AS IT IS EXPENSIVE.   (more…)

I WOULD HAVE POSTED THIS LAST WEEK, BUT FORGOT TO PHOTOGRAPH IT. LAST WEEK’S GUESTS WERE SO PLEASED WITH THE SALAD, HOWEVER, THAT I MADE IT AGAIN LAST NIGHT WITH SOME MINOR FINE-TUNING AND A DIFFERENT COMBINATION OF MELONS. THE PLEASURE OF THIS SALAD COMES, OF COURSE, FROM THE MELONS. THANKS TO GLOBAL WARMING MELONS ARE STILL IN SEASON AND WEISER FARMS HAS FEATURED A VERITABLE MELON CORNUCOPIA: CANTALOUPE, CANARY, GALIA, CHARENTAIS, AND WATER MELON. THE MELONS ARE SO SWEET THAT THEY CRY OUT FOR LIME JUICE. THE PROSCUITTO OR SERRANO IS BOTH SALTY AND SWEET. THIS IS AFTER ALL DECONSTRUCTED OR PERHAPS I SHOULD SAY RECONSTRUCTED PROSCUITTO AND MELON, BUT MUCH MORE FUN TO EAT.

Click here to download recipe

YES, THESE ARE AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK. AND I DON’T EVEN HAVE A GRILL. EXCEPT FOR A FEW MINOR CHANGES, THIS IS 95% JULIA MOSKIN’S RECIPE FROM THE NY TIMES. YOU MARINATE THE RIBS IN HOISIN SAUCE, GARLIC, SOY SAUCE AND OTHER SEASONINGS. THE NEXT DAY (OR FOUR HOURS LATER) YOU STEAM THEM SLOWLY ON A RACK IN THE OVEN, THEN FINISH THEM OFF AT A HIGHER TEMPERATURE. (more…)

I’M ACTING IN A PLAY WHICH OPENS THIS WEEK AT THE MATRIX THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES CALLED “JEWS, CHRISTIANS AND SCREWING STALIN” IN WHICH BORSHT PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE FAMILY HISTORY (BUBBY’S UNCLE WAS A BORSHT TASTER IN THE TSAR’S ARMY.) SO IT IS ONLY FITTING THAT I POST THIS RECIPE. BORSHT IS KIND OF A GENERIC NAME FOR ANY SOUP INVOLVING BEETS AND OFTEN CONTAINS MEAT, WHICH MAKES IT HARDIER THAN THE ALL-VEGETABLE VERSION I OFFER HERE. THIS PARTICULAR RECIPE WAS INSPIRED BY A LUNCH AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS IN THE JEWISH MUSEUM ON FIFTH AVENUE. IT WAS THICK BUT SMOOTH, NOT TOO SWEET, AND A TAD SPICY, MADE WITH WATER AND NOT STOCK. IT’S AS GOOD AS THE BORSHT I HAD AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS, MAYBE EVEN A BISL BETTER.
Click here to download recipe

MORELS, LIKE MOST WILD MUSHROOMS, ARE SEASONAL, DELICIOUS, AND EXPENSIVE, SELLING FOR $65 A POUND IN THE HOLLYWOOD FARMERS’ MARKET. SO WHEN THEY TURNED UP ON FOOD 52 FOR $35 A POUND, WHAT COULD I DO?  I MEAN WHO CAN RESIST A BARGAIN?  I LOOKED UP SEVERAL RECIPES AND THE MOST APPEALING WAS ONE BY LUDOVIC LEFEBVRE, MEANT TO ACCOMPANY GRILLED VEAL CHOPS (more…)

MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR WAS BY WAY OF MARCELLA HAZAN. I’D NEVER USED ANCHOVIES IN ANYTHING BUT A CAESAR SALD AND IT AMAZED ME HOW UNDETECTABLE THEY WERE IN THE FINISHED DISH, MERELY SERVING TO ENHANCE THE FLAVOR WITH A RICH UMAMI, BEFORE THAT WORD WAS COINED IN WESTERN COOKING. THIS BECAME ONE OF MY GO-TO DISHES.  NO ONE EVER GUESSED IT CONTAINED ANCHOVIES. (more…)

“HATES CALIFORNIA, IT’S COLD AND IT’S DAMP…” WHEN IT DOES GET COLD HERE OR ANYWHERE, NOTHING SATISFIES LIKE SOUP. THE FLAVOR IN THIS WHITE BEAN SOUP COMES FROM THE SMOKED HAM HOCK AND THE PARMESAN RINDS, WHICH I HORDE FOR JUST THESE OCCASIONS. YOU CAN SIMMER THE SOUP ON A LOW FLAME, BUT SIMMERING IT IN THE OVEN IS EASIER SINCE YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT BURNING ON THE BOTTOM AND ONLY HAVE TO STIR OCCASIONALLY. (more…)

THE CHASSEUR (HUNTER) IN CHICKEN CHASSEUR TELLS YOU IT CONTAINS MUSHROOMS, PROBABLY CHOPPED ONIONS, GARLIC, TOMATO AND WINE.  THE REST IS UP FOR GRABS. IN THIS CASE, THE MUSHROOMS, DRIED PORCINI, ARE THERE PURELY FOR FLAVOR — AN INTENSE, WOODSY FLAVOR — WHICH YOU CAN’T GET FROM FRESH BUTTON MUSHROOMS.  THERE’S A SLIGHT NOD TO TOMATOES IN THE FORM OF TOMATO PASTE, RED WINE TO ADD A BIT OF ROUNDNESS AND DEPTH, CIPOLLINI BECAUSE I LOVE CIPOLLINI, AND POTATOES TO SOAK UP THE FLAVORS AND SAVE YOU FROM HAVING TO MAKE A SEPARATE STARCH.  STILL, A CRUSTY BAGUETTE COULDN’T HURT.

Click here to download recipe

THE WOODSY FUNKINESS OF BROWN MUSHROOMS IS ENHANCED IN THIS SIMPLE PASTA DISH WITH A MIXTURE OF ANCHOVIES, HERBS AND GARLIC. I BORROWED THIS FLAVOR MIXTURE FROM MARCELLA HAZAN’S RECIPE FOR CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR. IT’S ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR CHICKEN DISHES I COOK AND NO ONE — I MEAN NO ONE — EVER GUESSES THE SECRET INGREDIENT, ANCHOVIES. YOU CAN CERTAINLY MAKE THIS DISH WITH SHIITAKE, WHITE, OR WILD MUSHROOMS, BUT IT TRANSFORMS ORDINARY MUSHROOMS INTO SOMETHING RICHER AND MORE EXOTIC.
Click here to download recipe

CELERY, WHICH PRIOR TO THE 16TH CENTURY WAS USED EXCLUSIVELY IN EUROPE AS A MEDICINAL HERB, IS A KIND OF WORKHORSE VEGETABLE.  PAIRED WITH CHOPPED ONION AND CARROTS, IT ADDS A GREEN NOTE TO SOUPS AND STEWS. IT’S INDISPENSABLE IN CHICKEN OR EGG SALAD.  A SUPPORTING PLAYER, CELERY IS RARELY FEATURED ON ITS OWN, AT LEAST IN THE WEST.  THE CHINESE KNOW BETTER AND SOME OF THE BEST SHRIMP DISHES I’VE HAD, SUCH AS JADE SHRIMP, ARE SIMPLY SHRIMP WITH CELERY AND GREEN HERBS.  HERE I’VE ADDED LEMON ZEST AND SCALLIONS.  STILL, IT COULDN’T BE EASIER TO MAKE AND ONCE YOU’VE DONE YOUR PREP AND MIS-EN-PLACE, THE TOTAL COOKING TIME IS ABOUT THREE MINUTES.  IT’S WHAT GIVES THIS DISH ITS BRIGHT AND LIVELY FLAVOR.
Click here to download recipe

I HAVE FOR THE MOST PART STOPPED EATING VEAL.  FIRST, BECAUSE THE MILK-FED VEAL WE GET IN THIS COUNTRY IS A PRODUCT OF THE CRUELEST KIND OF FACTORY FARMING, AND SECOND, BECAUSE FREE-RANGE VEAL– THE KIND YOU GET IN EUROPE– IS ALMOST AS RARE HERE AS IT IS EXPENSIVE.   (more…)

I WOULD HAVE POSTED THIS LAST WEEK, BUT FORGOT TO PHOTOGRAPH IT. LAST WEEK’S GUESTS WERE SO PLEASED WITH THE SALAD, HOWEVER, THAT I MADE IT AGAIN LAST NIGHT WITH SOME MINOR FINE-TUNING AND A DIFFERENT COMBINATION OF MELONS. THE PLEASURE OF THIS SALAD COMES, OF COURSE, FROM THE MELONS. THANKS TO GLOBAL WARMING MELONS ARE STILL IN SEASON AND WEISER FARMS HAS FEATURED A VERITABLE MELON CORNUCOPIA: CANTALOUPE, CANARY, GALIA, CHARENTAIS, AND WATER MELON. THE MELONS ARE SO SWEET THAT THEY CRY OUT FOR LIME JUICE. THE PROSCUITTO OR SERRANO IS BOTH SALTY AND SWEET. THIS IS AFTER ALL DECONSTRUCTED OR PERHAPS I SHOULD SAY RECONSTRUCTED PROSCUITTO AND MELON, BUT MUCH MORE FUN TO EAT.

Click here to download recipe

YES, THESE ARE AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK. AND I DON’T EVEN HAVE A GRILL. EXCEPT FOR A FEW MINOR CHANGES, THIS IS 95% JULIA MOSKIN’S RECIPE FROM THE NY TIMES. YOU MARINATE THE RIBS IN HOISIN SAUCE, GARLIC, SOY SAUCE AND OTHER SEASONINGS. THE NEXT DAY (OR FOUR HOURS LATER) YOU STEAM THEM SLOWLY ON A RACK IN THE OVEN, THEN FINISH THEM OFF AT A HIGHER TEMPERATURE. (more…)

I’M ACTING IN A PLAY WHICH OPENS THIS WEEK AT THE MATRIX THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES CALLED “JEWS, CHRISTIANS AND SCREWING STALIN” IN WHICH BORSHT PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE FAMILY HISTORY (BUBBY’S UNCLE WAS A BORSHT TASTER IN THE TSAR’S ARMY.) SO IT IS ONLY FITTING THAT I POST THIS RECIPE. BORSHT IS KIND OF A GENERIC NAME FOR ANY SOUP INVOLVING BEETS AND OFTEN CONTAINS MEAT, WHICH MAKES IT HARDIER THAN THE ALL-VEGETABLE VERSION I OFFER HERE. THIS PARTICULAR RECIPE WAS INSPIRED BY A LUNCH AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS IN THE JEWISH MUSEUM ON FIFTH AVENUE. IT WAS THICK BUT SMOOTH, NOT TOO SWEET, AND A TAD SPICY, MADE WITH WATER AND NOT STOCK. IT’S AS GOOD AS THE BORSHT I HAD AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS, MAYBE EVEN A BISL BETTER.
Click here to download recipe

MORELS, LIKE MOST WILD MUSHROOMS, ARE SEASONAL, DELICIOUS, AND EXPENSIVE, SELLING FOR $65 A POUND IN THE HOLLYWOOD FARMERS’ MARKET. SO WHEN THEY TURNED UP ON FOOD 52 FOR $35 A POUND, WHAT COULD I DO?  I MEAN WHO CAN RESIST A BARGAIN?  I LOOKED UP SEVERAL RECIPES AND THE MOST APPEALING WAS ONE BY LUDOVIC LEFEBVRE, MEANT TO ACCOMPANY GRILLED VEAL CHOPS (more…)

MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR WAS BY WAY OF MARCELLA HAZAN. I’D NEVER USED ANCHOVIES IN ANYTHING BUT A CAESAR SALD AND IT AMAZED ME HOW UNDETECTABLE THEY WERE IN THE FINISHED DISH, MERELY SERVING TO ENHANCE THE FLAVOR WITH A RICH UMAMI, BEFORE THAT WORD WAS COINED IN WESTERN COOKING. THIS BECAME ONE OF MY GO-TO DISHES.  NO ONE EVER GUESSED IT CONTAINED ANCHOVIES. (more…)

“HATES CALIFORNIA, IT’S COLD AND IT’S DAMP…” WHEN IT DOES GET COLD HERE OR ANYWHERE, NOTHING SATISFIES LIKE SOUP. THE FLAVOR IN THIS WHITE BEAN SOUP COMES FROM THE SMOKED HAM HOCK AND THE PARMESAN RINDS, WHICH I HORDE FOR JUST THESE OCCASIONS. YOU CAN SIMMER THE SOUP ON A LOW FLAME, BUT SIMMERING IT IN THE OVEN IS EASIER SINCE YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT BURNING ON THE BOTTOM AND ONLY HAVE TO STIR OCCASIONALLY. (more…)

THE CHASSEUR (HUNTER) IN CHICKEN CHASSEUR TELLS YOU IT CONTAINS MUSHROOMS, PROBABLY CHOPPED ONIONS, GARLIC, TOMATO AND WINE.  THE REST IS UP FOR GRABS. IN THIS CASE, THE MUSHROOMS, DRIED PORCINI, ARE THERE PURELY FOR FLAVOR — AN INTENSE, WOODSY FLAVOR — WHICH YOU CAN’T GET FROM FRESH BUTTON MUSHROOMS.  THERE’S A SLIGHT NOD TO TOMATOES IN THE FORM OF TOMATO PASTE, RED WINE TO ADD A BIT OF ROUNDNESS AND DEPTH, CIPOLLINI BECAUSE I LOVE CIPOLLINI, AND POTATOES TO SOAK UP THE FLAVORS AND SAVE YOU FROM HAVING TO MAKE A SEPARATE STARCH.  STILL, A CRUSTY BAGUETTE COULDN’T HURT.

Click here to download recipe

THE WOODSY FUNKINESS OF BROWN MUSHROOMS IS ENHANCED IN THIS SIMPLE PASTA DISH WITH A MIXTURE OF ANCHOVIES, HERBS AND GARLIC. I BORROWED THIS FLAVOR MIXTURE FROM MARCELLA HAZAN’S RECIPE FOR CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR. IT’S ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR CHICKEN DISHES I COOK AND NO ONE — I MEAN NO ONE — EVER GUESSES THE SECRET INGREDIENT, ANCHOVIES. YOU CAN CERTAINLY MAKE THIS DISH WITH SHIITAKE, WHITE, OR WILD MUSHROOMS, BUT IT TRANSFORMS ORDINARY MUSHROOMS INTO SOMETHING RICHER AND MORE EXOTIC.
Click here to download recipe

CELERY, WHICH PRIOR TO THE 16TH CENTURY WAS USED EXCLUSIVELY IN EUROPE AS A MEDICINAL HERB, IS A KIND OF WORKHORSE VEGETABLE.  PAIRED WITH CHOPPED ONION AND CARROTS, IT ADDS A GREEN NOTE TO SOUPS AND STEWS. IT’S INDISPENSABLE IN CHICKEN OR EGG SALAD.  A SUPPORTING PLAYER, CELERY IS RARELY FEATURED ON ITS OWN, AT LEAST IN THE WEST.  THE CHINESE KNOW BETTER AND SOME OF THE BEST SHRIMP DISHES I’VE HAD, SUCH AS JADE SHRIMP, ARE SIMPLY SHRIMP WITH CELERY AND GREEN HERBS.  HERE I’VE ADDED LEMON ZEST AND SCALLIONS.  STILL, IT COULDN’T BE EASIER TO MAKE AND ONCE YOU’VE DONE YOUR PREP AND MIS-EN-PLACE, THE TOTAL COOKING TIME IS ABOUT THREE MINUTES.  IT’S WHAT GIVES THIS DISH ITS BRIGHT AND LIVELY FLAVOR.
Click here to download recipe

I HAVE FOR THE MOST PART STOPPED EATING VEAL.  FIRST, BECAUSE THE MILK-FED VEAL WE GET IN THIS COUNTRY IS A PRODUCT OF THE CRUELEST KIND OF FACTORY FARMING, AND SECOND, BECAUSE FREE-RANGE VEAL– THE KIND YOU GET IN EUROPE– IS ALMOST AS RARE HERE AS IT IS EXPENSIVE.   (more…)

I WOULD HAVE POSTED THIS LAST WEEK, BUT FORGOT TO PHOTOGRAPH IT. LAST WEEK’S GUESTS WERE SO PLEASED WITH THE SALAD, HOWEVER, THAT I MADE IT AGAIN LAST NIGHT WITH SOME MINOR FINE-TUNING AND A DIFFERENT COMBINATION OF MELONS. THE PLEASURE OF THIS SALAD COMES, OF COURSE, FROM THE MELONS. THANKS TO GLOBAL WARMING MELONS ARE STILL IN SEASON AND WEISER FARMS HAS FEATURED A VERITABLE MELON CORNUCOPIA: CANTALOUPE, CANARY, GALIA, CHARENTAIS, AND WATER MELON. THE MELONS ARE SO SWEET THAT THEY CRY OUT FOR LIME JUICE. THE PROSCUITTO OR SERRANO IS BOTH SALTY AND SWEET. THIS IS AFTER ALL DECONSTRUCTED OR PERHAPS I SHOULD SAY RECONSTRUCTED PROSCUITTO AND MELON, BUT MUCH MORE FUN TO EAT.

Click here to download recipe

YES, THESE ARE AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK. AND I DON’T EVEN HAVE A GRILL. EXCEPT FOR A FEW MINOR CHANGES, THIS IS 95% JULIA MOSKIN’S RECIPE FROM THE NY TIMES. YOU MARINATE THE RIBS IN HOISIN SAUCE, GARLIC, SOY SAUCE AND OTHER SEASONINGS. THE NEXT DAY (OR FOUR HOURS LATER) YOU STEAM THEM SLOWLY ON A RACK IN THE OVEN, THEN FINISH THEM OFF AT A HIGHER TEMPERATURE. (more…)

I’M ACTING IN A PLAY WHICH OPENS THIS WEEK AT THE MATRIX THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES CALLED “JEWS, CHRISTIANS AND SCREWING STALIN” IN WHICH BORSHT PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE FAMILY HISTORY (BUBBY’S UNCLE WAS A BORSHT TASTER IN THE TSAR’S ARMY.) SO IT IS ONLY FITTING THAT I POST THIS RECIPE. BORSHT IS KIND OF A GENERIC NAME FOR ANY SOUP INVOLVING BEETS AND OFTEN CONTAINS MEAT, WHICH MAKES IT HARDIER THAN THE ALL-VEGETABLE VERSION I OFFER HERE. THIS PARTICULAR RECIPE WAS INSPIRED BY A LUNCH AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS IN THE JEWISH MUSEUM ON FIFTH AVENUE. IT WAS THICK BUT SMOOTH, NOT TOO SWEET, AND A TAD SPICY, MADE WITH WATER AND NOT STOCK. IT’S AS GOOD AS THE BORSHT I HAD AT RUSS AND DAUGHTERS, MAYBE EVEN A BISL BETTER.
Click here to download recipe

MORELS, LIKE MOST WILD MUSHROOMS, ARE SEASONAL, DELICIOUS, AND EXPENSIVE, SELLING FOR $65 A POUND IN THE HOLLYWOOD FARMERS’ MARKET. SO WHEN THEY TURNED UP ON FOOD 52 FOR $35 A POUND, WHAT COULD I DO?  I MEAN WHO CAN RESIST A BARGAIN?  I LOOKED UP SEVERAL RECIPES AND THE MOST APPEALING WAS ONE BY LUDOVIC LEFEBVRE, MEANT TO ACCOMPANY GRILLED VEAL CHOPS (more…)