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...]
PORTERHOUSE STEAK DIANE
God bless moms. Having your very own special birthday dinner was an exhilarating acknowledgement that mom really did love you best of all, at least for one day each year. Beef fondue made me king every January 2nd. Down in Tulsa, come June 21st my friend Diane's mom Betty presented her princess with an ultra-elegant feast starring -- what else? -- Steak Diane! My … [Read more...]
ELSIE DE WOLFE’S RISOTTO TRIANON: THE ORIGINAL RICE-A-RONI
We owe so much to the wonderful Elsie de Wolfe, a.k.a. Lady Mendl... creator of professional interior design (with a little help from Henry Clay Frick and Stanford White), transforming the stink of Sutton Place's tanneries into one of Manhattan's most fashionable addresses, beloved for her charm and witticisms (on the Parthenon: "It's beige—my color!") and hostess … [Read more...]
IACONO FARM FRIED CHICKEN
There's no secret to this recipe for fried chicken -- it's the quality of the bird. East Hampton's Iacono Farm has been raising chickens in clapboard coops since the Truman administration. They (the chickens, not the Iaconos) spend their days scratching the dirt for bugs, blithely maintaining the pecking order under the sunny skies. Happy, healthy, delicious birds. The … [Read more...]
ST. LOUIS WORLD’S FAIR HOT DOGS
The impact of the spectacular St. Louis 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition still resounds lo these 108 years later. Among other splendors, the fair launched the careers of the hot dog (St. Louis World's Fair Hot Dog recipe here), the waffle cone, peanut butter, iced tea, cotton candy and Dr. Pepper. Sadly there are those who will dispute these culinary creds. I feel sorry … [Read more...]
POSOLE VERDE WITH MINI QUESADILLA CROUTONS
This recipe for Posole Verde hearkens back to my days in Mexico City, in the Super Olga Ochenta y Tres! show. Followers of this blog may tire of hearing about Super Olga. Sorry, but I'll never tire of telling tales of Mexico's Numero Uno Super Estrella. And this is her last mention in this post anyway. Posole is a savory soup made with big old hominy corn kernels. … [Read more...]
HOT DOGS SUPER OLGA
Olga Breeskin, Mexico's biggest, brightest, buxomest super estrella is honored in this recipe for bacon-wrapped grilled hot dogs. As followers of Spectacularly Delicious will recall, our younger years were spent treading the boards of the wicked, wicked stage. Mexico City's "Super Olga Ochenta y Tres" extravaganza might not be the most wicked credit on … [Read more...]
CLASSIC SHAD ROE WITH BACON
Who remembers Cole Porter's classic Let's Fall in Love? The one that starts "Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it... " And somewhere around verse three it goes "Why ask if shad do it? Waiter bring me shad roe!" Plenty more peeps have heard the song than enjoyed a plate of shad roe, so herewith is a recipe for Classic Shad … [Read more...]
COCK-A-LEEKIE
I've got a confession. I find many of the classic stewed meats in broth recipes rather lack-luster, even insipid. Apart from the odiferous hot mess of a corned beef and cabbage boil up, I find France's Pot-au-Feu, Italy's Bollito Misto, even Japan's Shabu Shabu... meh. Who'd a thunk the Scots would be the ones to create a superlatively satisfying melange of … [Read more...]