A group of half a dozen for one of our private evenings this week – “more turf than surf” and not too spicy were my only instructions… and an interest in “different whites and unusual reds, particularly Bonarda”. We started off with one I’ve been playing with, a ratatouille tartlet – par-baked polenta and parmesan… Read More Party of 6
While Argentine food is not my first choice when it comes to teaching (I figure there are lots of folk teaching it here, I’m trying to offer something different), I do have fun introducing visitors to it in a way that makes it easy to access, and also giving it a bit of a perk-up… Read More We Do Like Our Empanadas…
I hadn’t set out to design an evening around the cruciferous vegetable family, it just sort of started to happen, and so while I didn’t make a point of it, our guests this last weekend had their fill from the family Brassicacaea, or Cruciferae. It’s a grouping of vegetables that’s probably more widespread than you’d… Read More The Crucifer Crucible
When I get a request for a bigger group to join one of our dinners, I have to give it some thought. We only have ten seats, so a group of five, six, seven, or more people, pretty much means that they’re going to dominate the conversation at the table. They may have full intent… Read More Family Dinner
I often get asked why I don’t review more of the restaurantes a puertas cerradas here in town. Inquiring minds apparently want to know, and I understand. Well, there’s two reasons, one logistical and one philosophical – who knew on a Sunday morning I was going to turn into a master from Trinity College? The… Read More Inside, Steak
It was hard to be anywhere in the western world and not be aware that the last week was the centennial of the ill-fated Titanic voyage. In the restaurant sphere, re-creations of the last “first class” dinner abounded, interpreted by one or another chef, and offered up with prices ranging from around $100 per person… Read More Dinner, No Icebergs
For those of you who like your vegetables, if you haven’t discovered London’s star chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes floating around the ‘net, it’s about time you do. For awhile, from December of 2008 on, he wrote a column for The Guardian, called “The New Vegetarian“, and some of the recipes that appeared each week were… Read More Yo Yo, Yotam
By request, another couple of classes from our Color Palate of Italy series. A couple of young women from South Africa taking a quick break here before heading on to their first jobs as cooks – one on a small yacht in the Caribbean, cooking for half a dozen people on week-long cruises, the other… Read More Basic Ingredients