Though we are best known as intrepid gastronomic voyagers, taking our taste buds to the very corners of the globe to bring you, fortunate reader, the tastiest and most authentic delights from obscure and far-flung kingdoms, we’re also (in the same way that Clark Kent was also a brown-suit sporting hack when not moonlighting in [...]
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Posted in Arezzo, bolognese, carrots, celery, chicken stock, duck, Florence, flour, game, Garlic, guanciale, hearty, herbs, indulgent meal, Italian, Italy, Meat, Montalcino, Montepulciano, mushroom, mushrooms, noodles, Olive Oil, Pasta, philosophy, porcini, Recipes, sauce, tomato, tradition, travel, Tuscan, tuscany, wine on Jan 23rd, 2010
It might be generational, or, perhaps, philosophical, but there are, on the one hand, those who enjoy and appreciate handmade things, and the art and craft they require to make, and, on the other, those who prefer their things machine-made, reliable, and standard. The ‘things’ here could be quite literally anything. My father, who, to [...]
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Posted in America, Argentina, brandy, Buenos Aires, butter, chives, cream, England, grilled, grilling, indulgent meal, Italian-American, Meat, mushroom, mushrooms, New Jersey, porcini, restaurant, rosemary, sauce, travel, turnip, vegetables on Sep 24th, 2009
New Jersey, it’s like a cross-section of the entire United States stuffed into a very small area — fenced-in by heavy industry, ugly sub-divisions, peaceful tidal bays and relaxing shore towns — but with its own very distinct character. And, if you drive around it long enough, you’re bound to see some pretty interesting stuff. This goes [...]
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Posted in basil, black cod, fish, mint, morels, mushroom, mushrooms, mushy peas, peas, Potato, Recipe, white fish on Jun 12th, 2009
We’ve had such a cruddy spring here in NYC and it’s hard to believe the summer solstice is just a week and a half away. Luckily, it’s been chilly and wet during the work week and sunny and warm at the weekends. It doesn’t make you feel that much better, though. You can’t fully get [...]
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Posted in butter, crimini, easy, egg, Europe, French, Italian, Jacques Pepin, Jeffrey Steingarten, mushroom, mushrooms, quick meal, Recipe, Recipes, truffles on May 3rd, 2009
In several of his well-known paeans to Provence, Peter Mayle describes, both lyrically and at great length, his love affair with the black truffles of that region. Sometimes couched as a cloak-and-dagger chase involving bizarre and nervy rendez-vous’ along dimly-lit back roads, or illicit dealings with “men with dirt under their fingernails and yesterday’s garlic [...]
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Posted in blogging, butter, cheese, food TV, Italian, mushroom, mushrooms, Pasta, porcini, ravioli, Recipe, sage, shallots, tortellini, tortelloni on Apr 29th, 2009
“When the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on the world…” Recently, I’ve been noticing many, many food blogs posting recipes utilizing a certain brand of pre-made “fresh” pastas: nothing like a Foodbuzz promo to bring the best out of the food bloggers. Many came up with very creative recipes using [...]
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Posted in broccoli raab, crispy, fish, healthy, lemon, lower fat, mushroom, mushrooms, Olive Oil, onions, Recipe, Recipes, skin, vegetables on Feb 8th, 2009
How many times can one person write the word crispy in one post title? Guess five times was enough. Now how many times can one person write crispy within a post? Word count at the end of this post – I know you’ll be on the edge of your computer chair. Seriously, the other night I was [...]
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Posted in asparagus, Bon Appetit, cheese, cold cuts, comte, cream, crimini, easy, egg, Gourmet, gruyere, healthy, mushroom, mushrooms, petite jurassic, pie crust, puff pastry, ricotta, salami, soppressata, tart, tomato on Sep 29th, 2008
In recent years, I’ve become a food magazine junkie. I’ve pretty much ordered every single one over the past 10 years (no Rachael Ray & Martha Stewart mags don’t count in my world) and found that only a small handful are worth reordering (ahem, Saveur, Gourmet, Cucina Italiana, Food & Wine). One that I keep [...]
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Posted in anchovies, basil, cream, eating, Genoa, Genovese, herbs, Italian, lunch, mushroom, mushrooms, nuts, Olive Oil, Pasta, pine nuts, Recipe, Recipes, restaurant, sauce, tourism, travel, walnuts on May 10th, 2008
There are a handful of things that have made Genoa famous, amongst them pesto and Christopher Columbus. Interestingly, in all the many, many stories told by Scheherazade (to persuade the emir not to have her killed) in the Arabian Nights, the only European city to be mentioned is Genoa. And, when you visit the city [...]
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Posted in asparagus, butter, cheap meal, cheese, easy, egg, Garlic, Jacques Pepin, leek, mushroom, Olive Oil, Pasta, quick meal, Recipe, Recipes on Nov 29th, 2007
Wow… that title is a bit long, but it’s the best description I could come up with. This meal is absolutely delicious, quick and cheap. It is adapted from our favorite master chef – Jacques Pepin. On his PBS show Fast Food My Way (WATCH IT!!!), Jacques creates seemingly difficult and creative dishes in no [...]
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Posted in braised, dining, easy, eating, Garlic, healthy, Jacques Pepin, lamb, lower fat, Meat, mushroom, mushrooms, onions, pressure-cooker, Recipe, Recipes, rosemary, safety, savory, shanks, thyme, water, wine, winter on Sep 18th, 2007
So maligned are pressure-cookers that it seems almost sacrilegious of a food blog like this, that likes to extol the virtues of fresh ingredients and traditional cooking methods, to even consider adding a recipe that calls for using one. Undaunted, here we are flaunting convention and defying the culinary thought-police once more with a recipe [...]
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Posted in French, kidneys, mushroom, offal, Recipe, Recipes, tradition, travel, unhealthy, veal, wine on Aug 27th, 2007
…Don’t be put off by their rather acrid smell and make either of two delicious dishes! When we first encountered veal kidneys we were enjoying the beginning of what was to be one of the greatest meals either of us had ever eaten. It was a six-course marathon, running the gamut from tiny, delicately-prepared pots [...]
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