A Passover Staple This is the only recipe I’ve come across that measures up to my grandmother’s. The matzoh ball has the perfect balance: light enough to float, dense enough to be a good “sinker.” When I make it as a main course, I serve the chicken in sixths with the skin and bone, adding… Read More →
Don’t be shy. Ask your butcher for venison hearts. Out of venison? Substitute lamb, calf or ox heart if you like. Most meat markets can easily accommodate these special orders. Cooking wild food is not about trying to cover up the unique flavor of game meats and birds, it’s about accentuating them, pairing them and… Read More →
Inspired by Spring Flavors By Gerard Craft
An Artisanal Cajun Salumeria Adjacent to chef Donald Link‘s famed Cochon (a.k.a. the Cajun restaurant of your dreams), Cochon Butcher is a sandwich shop, wine bar and salumeria specializing in Louisiana-style housemade charcuterie, terrines and sausages. Link is bringing back traditional old-world techniques and authentic Cajun flavor with the andouille, boudin, tasso and head cheese (among… Read More →
An Artisanal Cajun Salumeria Adjacent to chef Donald Link‘s famed Cochon (a.k.a. the Cajun restaurant of your dreams), Cochon Butcher is a sandwich shop, wine bar and salumeria specializing in Louisiana-style housemade charcuterie, terrines and sausages. Link is bringing back traditional old-world techniques and authentic Cajun flavor with the andouille, boudin, tasso and head cheese (among… Read More →
Fool-Proof Comfort Food I make my family a version of this practically fool-proof savory pork dish a few times a month. Paired with simple mashed potatoes and sauteed Brussels sprouts, it makes for perfect cool-weather comfort food. Pork and apples have been a winning combination for centuries, so braising pork in apple cider is a… Read More →
A Twist on the Classic Italian Dessert By Gail Simmons
Add this one to your weeknight rotation. Last weekend, KitchenAid invited Gail Simmons and I to their Chicago showroom to host a cooking demonstration. Lucky for us, Gail was willing to share her recipe for this flavorful noodle dish that should be in every cook’s repertoire.
Cantonese-style Street Food I first tasted this traditional southern Chinese recipe when I was in Guangzhou, and I was instantly hooked. Serving this dish in the Thai style, with lettuce wraps and vegetable garnishes, seemed the way to go. Once skewered you can grill, sauté, fry, poach or broil them—just make a double batch of… Read More →
One of My Favorite Argentinian Dishes Braise the rabbit in red wine until it falls off the bone, then grill it for an amazing smoky flavor.
A Refreshing Tropical Fruit & Herb Punch Here is another recipe from my KitchenAid demo in Chicago this past weekend. The fresh herbs help cut the sweetness of the fruit, while the lime and serrano chile give this adult beverage a refreshing kick.
Crab, Lobster, Shrimp & Rice Stew This is one of the recipes I demonstrated at the KitchenAid event last weekend with the lovely Gail Simmons. This asopao (stew) is Trinidad-inspired, but it fits neatly into the Flo-ribbean cooking genre. This asopao is pure Trinidadian magic. Don’t be shy about passing plenty of extra limes and hot… Read More →
Vermicelli con le Vongole Salsa Rossa By Lidia Bastianich Pasta with clam sauce is my grandchildren’s favorite, and I get no greater enjoyment than watching them slurp down the pasta with the juicy clam sauce. Vermicelli, a type of very thin spaghetti, cooks as quickly as the clams do, so have your ingredients ready and… Read More →
Tempura the Right Way Something about expertise thrills me, which is why I love the tempura restaurants in Tokyo so much. Understanding that every piece of fish and vegetable needs to be cooked one at a time and served separately makes for a heck of an eating experience, and so does making the sauce and… Read More →
A Quick Weeknight Meal Serve this simple dish with sauteed spinach seasoned with garlic and a healthy grain such as quinoa.
A Vibrant Raw-Fish Salad I first tasted this dish on the island of Cat Hai, off the Vietnamese coast. My crew and I fell into a small restaurant that was really the front porch of a family home. They walked us out back to their “kitchen,” pointed at a few raw ingredients and looked at me.… Read More →
She’s Got Your Goat Located in the heart of the West Loop restaurant corridor, Girl & the Goat is one of Chicago’s most popular eateries, and for good reason. Chef/owner Stephanie Izard, the energetic always-smiling winner of Top Chef season 4, is taking an iconic alternative protein and putting at the top of her menu, with… Read More →
She’s Got Your Goat Located in the heart of the West Loop restaurant corridor, Girl & the Goat is one of Chicago’s most popular eateries, and for good reason. Chef/owner Stephanie Izard, the energetic always-smiling winner of Top Chef season 4, is taking an iconic alternative protein and putting at the top of her menu, with… Read More →
Reaffirm Your Faith in the Cupcake Last summer was officially the end of the cupcake era for me. A great food to be sure, but all the stores, TV shows, magazine articles and books that shot up too fast, too soon and too frequently ruined cupcakes for me. Then one day on the road, a friend of… Read More →
Thai-Style Pig Brains Grilled in Banana Leaf By Andy Ricker
Louisiana Country Cooking On the road one day in New Orleans, I spent some time in the Crescent City Farmers Market and got a lesson in étouffée-making from the doyenne of Louisiana home cooking, Poppy Tooker. Étouffée is a riff on the old French verb “to smother,” and while there are as many recipes for… Read More →
Simple and Versatile by Paul Virant Pickled fennel is one of my favorites, it was one of the first pickles on the menu at Vie in August of 2004.
I call this yakitori style because of the sauce — because yaki means chicken and tori means skewered grilling, and this dish is neither! But the simmering nage (broth) that you bathe the duck in reminds me of yakitori bars all over Japan. The cooking technique for the duck can be used to great effect in other recipes too, and the only mistakes… Read More →
Inspired by Peter Dale By Adam Roberts Chorizo is a magical ingredient, the kind of thing that makes your food taste way more accomplished without asking anything of you beyond just buying it. D’Artagnan sells a good-quality chorizo that is readily available; just make sure you’re buying Spanish chorizo, which is already cooked, and not… Read More →
This simple dinner is deceptively complex. You can have dinner on the table in 15 minutes and the flavors are crazy good. My family and I love Mexican food—it’s one of the world’s truly great cuisines. This dish is often seen in the Yucatán, in Veracruz and in-and-around oceanfront communities, but for any indefatigable travelers who… Read More →
Southern-Style Seafood Stew By Chris Hastings
Memories of my Grandmother’s Kitchen By Sean Brock This simple Appalachian recipe for cornbread is inspired by Ronni Lundy. It doesn’t have flour or sugar in it. You can really taste the flavor of the corn. I ate cornbread every day during my childhood. Food like that evokes so many memories. Every time I tear… Read More →
A Hearty Soup From the Italian Alps This is my interpretation of a soup my dad and I had in the early ’70s in the Italian Alps. In winter, local families would cook food all day, offering dishes in trencherman-size portions to hungry skiers seeking a seat by a fire and a hearty meal. These… Read More →
No Need for Filler This is my favorite crab cake recipe. If you don’t overmix and don’t pack your mounds too tightly, you will experience pure, unadulterated crab cake heaven. I like ones that don’t have a lot of filler, no minced red pepper, no parsley—none of the usual crap that chefs typically ruin a… Read More →
My Cure for Cold Weather Blues This is one of my favorites. It’s a bacon and onion filling bound with soft, ripened goat cheese and a ballsy Gruyère, poured fairly shallowly into a delicate pâte brisée. Pay attention while you make the tart crust; it’s one you can adapt for a thousand fillings. Add some sugar… Read More →
