Sandwiches are a perfect choice for weeknight meals and this generously-topped burger is one of my all-time favorites. My first official cooking job was in the mid-seventies at a bar in Ann Arbor, Michigan (where I went to college), called the Del Rio. They featured live jazz on weekends. It…
The balsamic vinegar in this recipe and you can use the regular old affordable supermarket variety provides a sweet and sour base and great depth of flavor to this very quick sauce. This sauce would go nicely on sautéed pork chops or a flavorful fish such as salmon or bluefish…
From The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen by Jacques Pépin (Houghton Mifflin, 2003) When we were kids, eggs were a staple on our table. Meat or poultry showed up there once a week at the most, and more often than not, our “meat” dinners consisted of a delicious ragout…
It’s summertime, the sun is blazing, and, if you’re lucky, you’re sitting on the beach or by the pool. But wherever you are, city or country, there’s one thing you want more than anything else: an ice-cold drink. This one fits the bill, especially if you take the trouble to…
This trio of summertime beverages can offer a time out from the latest heat wave. Try my Fresh Lemonade plain, with fresh berries, or crushed fresh mint. Special ice cubes intensify the flavor of my Watermelon Screwdriver and Frozen Café au Lait. The Fresh Lemonade recipe follows; you’ll find the…
This is my homemade version of the frozen coffee drinks that have become hugely popular at the gourmet coffee franchises in the last few years. As lip-smackingly good as the commercial concoctions, mine is also much lower in calories because it doesn’t use cream or half-and-half and it isn’t loaded…
This recipe lives in the breakfast chapter of Sara Moulton Cooks at Home (page 308) and it would be a great choice for Christmas breakfast or brunch, but I think it would also be great served as a dessert at an elegant dinner. My daughter Ruthie loves French…
This is actually an adaptation of a recipe by a very talented New York chef named Tom Valenti. Who (no pun intended) is known for his stick to your ribs cooking. We ran the recipe in Gourmet many years ago when he was the chef at a place called Allison…
Even though you can buy asparagus from South America out of season, I think of this easy meatless entrée as a sign of spring. Asparagus is tastier if you buy it locally and in season. All the thicknesses are fine with me – from pencil-thin spears to thick stalks. However,…