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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

NOTHING REMINDS ME MORE OF SPRING THAN SUGAR SNAP PEAS.  THEIR GREEN, BRIGHT FLAVOR STANDS ALONE, SO I TRY AND STAY OUT OF THEIR WAY, COOKING THEM BRIEFLY IN WATER AND BUTTER, THEN TOSSING THEM WITH BARELY SAUTÉED GREEN ONIONS OR, EVEN BETTER, GREEN GARLIC AND FRESH HERBS.  IN THIS CASE, TARRAGON. Click here to […]

YOU CAN STEAM BRUSSELS SPROUTS, ROAST THEM, DEEP FRY THEM, SERVE THEM RAW AS A CAESAR SALAD, AND, IN THIS CASE, SEAR THEM IN A PAN, THEN ADD WATER AND A DASH OF LEMON JUICE AND COOK TILL THEY ARE TENDER. THE NICE THING ABOUT THIS RECIPE IS THAT SEARING THEM, EVEN CHARRING A FEW, […]

USUALLY WHEN I COOK ZUCCHINI FOR PASTA, I BROWN IT IN OLIVE OIL, ADD GARLIC AND CHERRY TOMATOES AND TOSS IT WITH THE PASTA. HERE, THIN RIBBONS OF ZUCCHINI ARE MORE RAW THAN COOKED, TOSSED IN BUTTER, OLIVE OIL AND LEMON.

EVERYBODY’S GOT A RECIPE FOR POTATO SALAD.  SOME LIKE IT MIXED WITH MAYONNAISE OR TOSSED WITH ONIONS, RELISH OR CHOPPED PICKLES.  MY FAVORITE IS FRENCH POTATO SALAD OR A VERSION THEREOF.  NO MATTER THE VARIATION, THE ONE COMMON TECHNIQUE IS TO COOL OFF THE BOILED POTATO SLICES WITH COLD WHITE WINE, WHICH IS ABSORBED, LENDING […]

I FIRST LEARNED TO MAKE THIS PROVENÇAL CLASSIC FROM JULIA CHILD WHOSE RECIPE IS A VEGETABLE STEW, COMPOSED OF EGGPLANT, ZUCCHINI, RED PEPPERS, ONIONS, GARLIC, AND TOMATOES, WHICH ARE SALTED, DRIED, BROWNED AND LAYERED IN A CASSEROLE TO BE FINISHED IN THE OVEN. 

THIS DISH CAME ABOUT WHEN I DISCOVERED I DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH RADICCHIO FOR A SALAD, NOR PEPPERS FOR A SIDE DISH.  RADICCHIO, PARTICULARLY THE ENDIVE-SHAPED KIND CALLED TREVISO, MAKES A GREAT BITTER VEGETABLE SAUTEED IN OLIVE OIL AND GARLIC.  THE BELL PEPPERS AND CARAMELIZED ONIONS ADD SWEETNESS.  TOMATOES AND SPLASH OF VINEGAR ROUNDS OUT THE […]

THE WORLD IS DIVIDED INTO TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE:  THOSE WHO LOVE CALF’S LIVER AND THEMS THAT DON’T. CLEARLY, I’M IN THE FORMER CAMP.  IN FACT, I WILL STATE CATEGORICALLY THAT I LOVE ALL KINDS OF LIVER, INCLUDING CHICKEN, PORK, DUCK, GOOSE, AND MONKFISH.  BUT LET’S NOT GET AHEAD OF OURSELVES.