If you are throwing a small New Year’s Eve party, say for twelve people or less, one dilemma faced is what food to serve. The drinks are no problem since we all know champagne will be drunk. But food is another matter. It’s key that you, the host, does not find themselves stuck in the […]
Archives for 2015
Prime Rib, the Most Extravagant of Christmas Dinners
December 17, 2015 by Leave a Comment
There’s no doubt that a standing rib roast of USDA Prime beef is an extravagant Christmas presentation. It’s a center piece—and it’s expensive. The standing rib roast in the picture, a 3-rib approximately 8-pound USDA Prime piece of beef cost about $250. Because of the enormous expense of prime rib you must pay close attention […]
Give Christmas A Sicilian Spin With Hearty Tummala
December 9, 2015 by 2 Comments
Families all seem to have their own Christmas classics — roast turkey, baked ham, crown roast or pork, or prime rib. Many Italian-Americans will have lasagna or a feast of seven fishes. One spectacular preparation for a change of pace is to follow some families and make the classic Sicilian Christmas tummàla. Tummàla is a […]
Using History to Create Inventive Dishes–Stuffed Lamb with Amaretti
November 30, 2015 by Leave a Comment
I first became fascinated with the role of the Arabs in Sicily after a trip to that island in 1983. There were noticeable Arab influences in everything from palaces, to bridges, to woodwork, to architecture, as well as a curious feeling to the local Sicilian food—not all of it, but some of it—which felt “Arab” […]
Beignets for the Holidays
November 24, 2015 by Leave a Comment
A wonderful starter for a holiday dinner are beignets, the light and airy morsels of bake dough that can be stuffed with a variety of fillings. They’re easy to make and perfect to serve when family and guests are arriving and milling around having their wine, beer, or eggnog. The beignets themselves can be made […]
Go Green With 3 Bright, Simple Thanksgiving Sides
November 16, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Thanksgiving is surely a time for gastronomic excess, but at the same time, unless your children are adult cooks as mine are and the work is joyfully parceled out, the task of cooking Thanksgiving dinner can become burdensome and stressful. But dinner, especially the Thanksgiving sides, shouldn’t be stressful. When I was a kid, I […]
Start Your Thanksgiving Turkey Gravy Now!
November 10, 2015 by Leave a Comment
This week is a good week to prepare the turkey stock for the turkey gravy you’ll have on Thanksgiving. Everybody loves gravy on their turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing so you shouldn’t relegate it to a secondary food. Treat the gravy with respect. It all begins with a turkey stock which you can make now […]
Roast Chestnuts and Sausage for A November Pasta Dish
November 4, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Suddenly it became quite cool as November arrived. There’s a feeling that we need to change. We pull out sweaters and we clean out the frig of its summer foods, for instance, the leftover grilled sausage from our last grill party. This preparation is strictly a leftover meal for a cool November day using previously […]
Baked Spanish Rice Do-it-Yourself
October 27, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Most people think a Spanish rice dish is called paella. But paella is just one kind of Spanish rice dish and in fact a paella is cooked in a paella, the name of the large metal pan used to cook the dish over a burner, and not in a casserole. In Spain, a baked rice […]
The Trick to One-pot Halloween Dinners
October 20, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Outside of the candy that the kids collect, Halloween may be the only American holiday that is not associated with a particular feast or recipe. In fact, I didn’t know until recently that Halloween wasn’t celebrated in America until the late 19th century when Irish immigrants brought the Oct. 31 celebration to the United States […]
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