It's official: This recipe for Coffee-Toffee Pecan Pie is a winner. A Blue Ribbon winner in the fiercely competitive Malibu Pie Contest, one of the most celebrated culinary happenings in all of Hollywood, greater L.A. and beyond. Except perhaps in certain circles in Orange County and Beverly Hills, where apparently the housewives neither bake nor consume pie. At least not … [Read more...]
MARIO BATALI’S PANINI PAN
Weighing in at a hefty 16 pounds, this panini pan gave me pause when I saw it piled with various other detritus of questionable value on a clearance table at Bed Bath & Beyond. I figured it was probably a returned item because there was no packaging, just a hastily scribbled price tag. An orphan left on the door step … [Read more...]
STUFFED SQUID FLORENTINE STYLE: AN ED GIOBBI CLASSIC
This recipe for Stuffed Squid Florentine Style comes to us from Ed Giobbi's Eat Right, Eat Well, The Italian Way. In continuous print since first published in 1985, Ed inscribed our copy in 1991 though it's taken me lo these 20 years to undertake this intriguing and completely satisfying recipe. The correct Italian name for this dish is Calamari Ripieni … [Read more...]
JULIA AND SEAN’S OVEN-ROASTED PLUM CAKES
I wouldn't dream of laying claim to a shared recipe for Oven-Roasted Plum Cakes with the venerated Julia Child had not we shared a brief but meaningful and personal bonding over memories of Croquembouches past and meatballs present in what was to be the twilight of her career. And because this recipe as published in Baking with Julia … [Read more...]
THE KING OF STEAKS’ STEAK SAUCE RECIPE
James Jefferson Kelly, who arrived in New York City in 1874 as a 14 year old stowaway from Ballinsloe, Ireland rose to prominence and fame as New York's "King of Steaks." This is his original steak sauce recipe, passed down through subsequent generations who, while holding true to the noble culinary standards of the House of Kelly, … [Read more...]
TRUCHERO DE AMOR (LOVE TROUT)
Love is many-splendored thing indeed when you share this scrumptious crab meat-stuffed Love Trout drenched in a lemony beurre blanc. The recipe for Truchero de Amor comes from one of the odder cookbooks I've come across lately, "Making It -- A Cookbook for Lovers: Elegant and Simple Cooking for Two as Taught by the … [Read more...]
LIBERACE PROSCIUTTO SCAMPI
This lavishly embellished Scampi Prosciutto recipe from the culinary maestro and gifted showman Liberace is quite different from any scampi I -- and daresay you -- have ever come across. Is it any wonder? Only a naif would expect Liberace to whip up a simple sauté of shrimp with garlic, wine and lemon juice. In today's world, … [Read more...]
SMOKED SALMON PIZZA DELUXE: 100 MILES.COM INSPIRED RECIPE
Smoked Salmon Pizza is one of the signature iconoclast recipes that launched Wolfgang Puck's Spago into the gastronomical stratosphere. Wolfie's a wanderer, though, and props to him for turning his unique flavor compositions into an international lifestyle brand. Wait -- "international lifestyle brand" -- did I just … [Read more...]
BALLYMALOE STEAK AND OYSTER PIE
County Cork's Myrtle Allen and her Ballymaloe cookbooks and cooking school are the source of this recipe for a deeply delicious Steak and Oyster Pie. But before assumptions are made let me 'fess up: the shamrock embellishment atop the puff pastry is my own Irish-American embellishment. . As most know, our March 17th bacchanals are an American invention. On the old … [Read more...]
TURDUCKEN SAUSAGE: ORIGINAL GOURMET RECIPE
Until now I'd thought that the monster that is Turducken (a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken) sprang fully-formed from the head of Chef Paul Prudhomme, a Zeus and Athena kind of thing. Probably due to the go go days of ragin' Cajun cuisine, when everything was blackened-this, Zydeco-that, and we cared about the difference … [Read more...]