My Chicken Kiev Recipe is a rumination of the classic, kitschy delicacy as it might have been served at the grandest tables of 1930s Pasadena, where well-dressed Haute Society gathered after a day of the men playing polo down at the club, as the wives watching bemoaning the troubles of securing appropriately subservient servants. Well-dressed and self-satisfied, a good … [Read more...]
ST. LOUIS HILL MEAT RAVIOLI
St. Louis's Italian neighborhood is called the Hill, home to an abbodanza of old-world tradition and treasure like the Volpi Salumeria, America’s oldest and most prestigious manufacturer of hand-crafted, authentic Italian meat products. As the USDA didn't lift their ban on Italian prosciutto until the 1980s, props to the … [Read more...]
FAT ELVIS ICE CREAM
The King is dead. Long Live the King! Young Reese Shirey, an industrious 20 year old student at the University of Alabama, has created this cool creamy homage to the King. A decadent concoction perhaps, yet like the Lord of Graceland, this treat is as sweet as Elvis was to his mama, and and sexy and southern and a bit eccentric. And a reminder to … [Read more...]
ST. PATRICK’S DAY SAUSAGE: CORNED BEEF, CABBAGE, POTATOES, CARROTS
Corned Beef and cabbage, potatoes and carrots: St. Patrick's Day on a plate, reimagined and reinvented with this original recipe for St. Patrick's Day Sausages. Before setting out, consultation with the parents was in order. We got on the horn for an "ideation session" -- my office's preferred euphemism … [Read more...]
PUMMELO MARMALADE: ORIGNAL RECIPE
Winter's citrus season provides so many opportunities for delicious marmalades it's practically criminal not to take advantage of the bounty. There ought to be a law! Case in point: this recipe for Pummelo Marmalade. I'd never dealt with these big babies before, never having really met one up close. They look like freakishly large grapefruit. … [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...]
PAGLIA E FIENO: GOURMET RECIPE
Dinners at 405 Park Road were very old-school. The five Sullivan boys were blessed with a tireless mother who without fail whipped up three squares a day. Hot breakfast (eggs and bacon, cream of wheat, pancakes, French toast), brown paper lunch bags at the ready; "afternoon snack" of home made cookies or brownies during grade … [Read more...]
HONEY BROILED GRAPEFRUIT: SSD RECIPE #1
With Honey Broiled Grapefruit comes the launch of SSD -- Simply Spectacularly Delicious. This category is reserved for glorious concoctions that don't merit full-blown "recipe" status (the recipe in the headline is for SEO purposes). When the title of the dish is pretty much the recipe I think there are other books and websites better … [Read more...]
ART DECO CHRISTMAS COOKIES: THE CHRYSLER BUILDING
If you can't come to New York City for the holidays, why not bring a little of Manhattan chic to your holiday cookies plate? These Chrysler Building sugar cookies in all their art deco splendor could be just the thing. This clever cutter was in a set of NYC architectural landmarks I got ages ago. Never throw out a cookie cutter! You never know... When the time … [Read more...]
POMEGRANATE CHICKEN THIGHS: SHAH OF IRAN
Working on this pomegranate theme, I wanted to create an extra-special, super tasty main dish. My efforts paid off! This recipe for pomegranate chicken thighs was such a regal treat I've dedicated it to a couple of really classy royals, The Shah of Iran and his glamorous Shahbanu Farah Diba. At the risk of going a little Marge Schott on … [Read more...]