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...]
10 RULES FOR SPECTACULAR PAELLA
Once you get the hang of paella, which won't take long if you heed these simple guidelines, you will be able to spread your wings and fly with any combination of tasty enhancements that strike your fancy. After years of academic study (reading tons of recipes) and hands-on trial and error (lots of trial, minimal error -- I said … [Read more...]
FORAGED AND ORGANICALLY-FARMED MUSHROOM BOLOGNESE WITH HUMANELY RAISED, LOCAL, FREE RANGE, GRASS-FED BEEF OVER HAND-MADE ORGANIC HERB PASTA
What could be easier than this luxurious celebration of all that is good and right and honorable in the world of food? Well, pretty much anything, really. Still this recipe for an earthy Bolognese laden with the flavors of the forest floor, tossed with silken strands of pasta of impeccable integrity, brightened by sprightly herbs grown just as God … [Read more...]
THE PERFECT HOT DOG RECIPE
Consider, if you will, the ingredients in my recipe for perfect hand-crafted hot dogs: fresh beef chuck, fresh pork, fresh garlic, kosher salt, paprika. Now, please take a moment to review the ingredients in Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, a New York favorite: beef [unspecified], water, salt, sorbitol, sodium lactate, "natural flavorings" [?], sodium … [Read more...]
PORK PUTTANESCA (SSD #8)
This SSD (simply spectacularly delicious) Pork Puttanesca is not a recipe per se, it's really a concept that could apply equally well to chicken, fish, veal, eggplant, whatever your heart desires. This particularly evening thin boneless pork chops seemed appealing. As we all know, puttanesca sauce is Italian for "whore's style," presumably … [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...]
WHITE PINE SAUERBRATEN
A recipe for Sauerbraten incorporating white pine trees -- why? "Ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible." Americans of a certain age shall never forget this folksy wisdom drilled into our heads by Euell Gibbons in a TV commercial for Grape Nuts cereal in 1974. What Euell didn't say is that pine trees, other than the delectable pine … [Read more...]
SARDINIAN TUNA PASTA
This recipe for Sardinian Tuna Pasta was created a little while ago, during my research phase of gourmet pastas in advance of the big purchase of my pasta machine. (Check out Paglia y Fieno, Duck Two Ways.) Time has marched on since this dish made its debut. I'm sure everyone will agree from the pictures and a quick scan of the recipe that this is indeed a dish worth … [Read more...]
SOFT SHELL CRABS BALABAN’S
I never thought my Soft Shell Crabs in Black Bean Sauce recipe would have serious competition, but the rave reviews of Soft Shell Crabs Balaban's, e.g. "These might possibly be the best soft shell crabs ever!" are going to give the black bean sauce version a run for the money. Poking around for inspiration, the Googles unearthed an … [Read more...]
BERLINER CURRYWURST: ORIGINAL RECIPE
For those not yet familiar with currywurst, it's a favorite snack in Berlin with an ever-widening fan base, as evidenced by this window sign here in Manhattan. Though curry and German sausage might seem a strange combination, Laurie Colwin's timeless quote from Abraham Lincoln sums it up perfectly: "For people who like this … [Read more...]