Easter is a very traditional meal here in Yonkers and, as we do most years, we had ham, a gratin of potatoes with gruyère, and, in a radical departure from past years, we had our house version of succotash... lima…
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Hot 'n' Spicy Peanut Noodles with Broccoli
I had half a can of full-fat coconut milk.
I also had some cilantro that needed to be used, and a head of cabbage that I'd sliced into for the St. Patrick's Day colcannon...
Garlic, sriracha, limes, soy, angel hair…
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Faux Merguez Pizza
Ten months away from my pizza stone over the past year sent me on a bit of a bender... and soon after my return from Connecticut, I fell into a Lost Weekend of Pizza...
The most surprising incarnation: I had…
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Tuna Steak with Ginger Garlic Soy Sauce and Scallions on A Bed of Sesame Cauliflower
I was wandering through the fish section of my local Stew Leonard's, lamenting the high price of fish even in a store with good prices... when I saw a sign announcing tuna steaks "frozen at sea..."
They looked good, and…
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Cauliflower with Brown Rice and Cheese Velouté
Interesting conundrum...
I, for reasons unknown, had a craving last night for one of my early '70s standby dishes: vegetables in cheese sauce. I know! But bear with me...
Of course, the idea of a gloppy mess of cheddar in…
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White Pizza with Goat Cheese, Arugula, Kalamata Olives, Onions and Red Pepper
The pizza craving hit hard yesterday... but few of the usual suspects were lurking in the pantry. What's a cook to do? No mozzarella, no fresh herbs (endless winter in Yonkers)...
But wait!!!
I have arugula, I have onions, and…
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Panini with Leek and Potato Soup
I wanted to make panini to go with some frozen leek and potato soup I'd thawed... But the gods were against me. The remaining bit of fresh mozzarella was anything but fresh (and you know me... I never let anything…
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Babette's Feast
It was quite a night in our house on the Hudson last night... Charlie, keeper of the TV schedule, discovered that there was to be a showing on TCM of a truly great film: Babette's Feast, which won the…
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Home: The Best Burger Joint
Last month, every time I left my apartment in Storrs, I had to pass this crazy little hamburger joint. Now generally, I don't eat hamburgers that I haven't made myself. I like knowing what went into my burgers... especially what…
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Pizza with Hot Italian Sausage and Sage
One of the tough things about being out of town working, especially in a small college town, is the omnipresence of pizza. As you all know... I could eat pizza 24/7/365. But it has to be my pizza...
I hate…
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Lima Bean Curry with Chicken
I'm home! In my own kitchen!!! So, for days I have been cooking like a crazy man... and absolutely loving it...
But I owe all of you an apology: between opening and performing Much Ado, teaching classes for the…
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Chicken Saltimbocca with Shallot, Mushroom and Marsala Sauce, Mustard Haricot Verts, and Wild Rice
Our very old friend Steve Martin...
Oops...
A dear friend we've known for a very long time - Steve Martin, managing director of Arizona's brilliant theatre company ChildsPlay - was in town recently for a conference, and that seemed a…
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Fresh Pasta with Wild Mushrooms
I really, REALLY wanted to make a wild mushroom sauce for some pasta I had just made, but my favorite store, somehow, was out of wild mushrooms.
AND... they were also out of dried wild mushrooms...
What's a hungry mycology-mad…
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Swimming in Trimmings (Beef and Pork Sauce with Carrots, Garlic and Herbs)
One Friday while I was working in the test kitchen, the weekend clean-out of the fridges netted me a number of scraps from trimming various cuts of beef and pork. There weren't enough large pieces to do anything with the…
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Much Ado About Dinner
So, just for fun...
Thought you might enjoy seeing this invitation for last Sunday's big event here in the snowy woods of northeastern Connecticut, where I was the "host" of a dinner for Connecticut Rep subscribers...
We had a great…
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