This magnificent Lobster Cascade centerpiece rising from a platter of Oysters à la Russe Impérial is lifted directly from TV's classiest soap opera, Downton Abbey. Poor Lady Edith, jilted bride, humiliated and bed-bound with despair, bleakly regards a spinster's future. Whilst recognition of her reduced status tearfully dawns, staff scurry to erase all traces of the annihilated … [Read more...]
OYSTERS A LA RUSSE IMPERIAL
OYSTERS A LA RUSSE IMPERIAL Recipe 2 doz. fresh oysters on the half shell 2 plum tomatoes 2 scallions, minced (white and green) juice of 1 lemon 1 T. horseradish 1/4 t. Tabasco 1/4 t. sugar splash of vodka s&p Susan Sarfati, CEO of G.W.S.A.E., said "we need to create 'safe harbors,' places that encourage courageous, open, and honest exchanges where people can … [Read more...]
MEYER LEMON AND CLEMENTINE MARMALADE
A while back an unexpected cardboard box from San Francisco arrived just before Christmas. Inside was a passel of humongous Dungeness crabs on ice which were promptly transformed into the Silver Palate's sublime crab mousse. Filling out the shipment was a bunch of large Meyer lemons plucked from my friend's small backyard on the sloping hills of the Mission neighborhood. (I … [Read more...]
THE TRIUMPH OF GLUTTONY
Could there ever be a more tantalizing recipe name than Triumph of Gluttony cake? I think not. Director Luchino Visconti's 1963 classic The Leopard stars Bert Lancaster as Don Fabrizio Corbera, Prince of Salina; Claudia Cardinale plays Anglica, a maiden so ripe she practically exudes sweet juices from her heaving bosom, and studly bad boy aristocrat Tancredi is brought to … [Read more...]
RECIPE: TRIUMPH OF GLUTTONY CAKE
FOR THE CAKE: 8 eggs, separated 2 t. vanilla extract 1 1/2 c. sugar, divided 1 c. flour 1 c. corn starch 1/4 t. salt zest of one lemon Preheat oven to 350º. Prepare two 9" cake pans: butter and flour bottoms and sides. Line the bottom with parchment and butter and flour the paper. Beat egg whites with salt until soft peaks form. While continuing to beat the … [Read more...]
DUCK PROSCIUTTO
The gold-leaf thin slices of Prosciutto de Parma ethereally draped over sweet summer melon. Nutty, satiny smooth Jamon Iberico or salty shards of Smithfield ham tucked in soft buttered buns. The noble swine, clown of the barnyard, terror of the forest, generous provider of robust haunches that yield to the alchemy of master curers, we are indebted for these the crowning … [Read more...]
READERS’ CHOICE: 2012 BEST READ AND MOST LOVED RECIPES
Here at Spectacularly Delicious we strive to present a little bit of something for everybody -- in the USA and the big wide world beyond. With our 2012 readership growing in such far flung reaches as Fiji, Laos and Azerbaijan perhaps, just maybe, we are inching along toward that goal. So let's close out the year with a look at the most popular stories and recipes visited by … [Read more...]
CROWN ROAST OF HOT DOGS
Long has the Crown Roast of Hot Dogs haunted my culinary imagination. It first caught my eye ages ago in my hometown paper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; the recipe and photograph clipped but never actually prepared. Years later this refrigerator magnet found its way into the kitchen with the vintage photograph depicting a most glorious version, nestled in a ring … [Read more...]
PINK GRAPEFRUIT CAMPARI DUCKLING
Eons ago there was a little homemade sorbet stand on 7th Avenue, down around West 10th Street. It was not much more than a shack, crammed between two other small buildings. The shack has long since disappeared. Now there's a glamorous NY Sports Club perched upon a Gourmet Garage taking up that block. Gone but not forgotten, that little shack, at least by me. Those were … [Read more...]
10 BEST GIFTS FOR COOKS
Here are our favorite foodie gifts with easy links to purchase. But whatever you might be shopping for make this Christmas extra-special (for SpecD that is) and always enter Amazon.com via the ad link on the right hand side of this page. 1. Paderno Stainless Steel Truffle Shaver ($46) -- although one might not often have the pleasure of blizzards of truffle slivers … [Read more...]