Shakshuka…a delightful way to start (or end) the day

My son visited last night. He attends University in Toronto and has been integrating himself with various cultures including the middle east, the Mediterranean, and especially Israel (he lives with a Jewish family). He offered to make this dish and since having another chef in my kitchen is a rarity, I offered him the stove.…

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Fried Green Tomatoes (aka Winter Caprese Salad)

If you have a bunch of these at the end of the summer…             Then turn them into this with this proven, basic recipe that I call a Winter Caprese Salad. It was one of the appetizers used at the President’s Address at the end of the summer in “New…

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Milanese Chicken Thighs in Red Wine Sauce

This recipe comes from the book, “Great Women Chefs”, by Julie Stillman, published over a decade ago (Turner Publishing Inc.) and features America’s top female chefs of the time. This one is from Teresa Rovito, who at the time had just opened “Le Streghe” in New York (1994), to honor recipes of her Italian youth.…

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How do you reheat steak without cooking it further?

If you’re like me, having left over steak leaves a lot to be desired. If you cooked it perfectly the first time, then any further cooking will turn it into charcoal or thereabouts. If you try pan frying but that just turns even the best medium-rare steak into well done in seconds, especially if you…

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Baked Haddock with Creamy Crab Sauce

I had an urge for a creamy crab sauce. That’s what started it. Then, I realized I had to have the sauce with something. Enter the Haddock. Brushed lightly with lemon olive oil and baked at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, the Haddock is a perfect vehicle for the Crab sauce to enhance.…

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Roasted Sausages & Grapes

  This is actually not a gourmet dish but rather a staple, comfort food example from Tuscany.  Popular at grape harvest, Italians use grapes right from the vineyard. It has a nice balance of richness with sweetness that is pulled together by balsamic vinegar. My kids loved this dish when I discovered it about 25…

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Spinach and Ricotta Gnudi with Tomato-Butter Sauce

Since my wife and I are foodies, our recent trip to Curacao included hitting one of the ten top ranked restaurants (according to Trip Advisor) each day we were there (we managed eight). So when I came home, my first gourmet night was a little nerve-racking: How could I compete with the extraordinary dishes we…

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Lemon Chicken Scallopini with Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce

In my bestselling novel, New York Fried, various international delegations visited the complex in Oswego, N.Y., to experience the new technology that would revolutionize internet around the world. While there, Chef Artichoke Hart (also an ex-CIA trainer), was tasked with feeding the visitors. His idea was to offer a traditional dish native to their country…

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Fish Tacos with Secret Sauce

So simple it’s ridiculous. Which begs the question “How can restaurants charge $13-15 for a dish that you can easily make yourself for a fraction of that price?”. Of course, we could gourmet it up by making our own “secret” sauce but why bother; the restaurants don’t. A good dill and lemon sauce (found in…

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Turkey scallopini in lemon sauce

This dish was inspired by our new friend, Chef Massimo Zingaro Fidale, on our recent visit to Italy. His simple but oh-so-delicious Veal Scallopini in Lemon Sauce was so tasty I couldn’t stop thinking about it. However, as usual, I changed it; Canadianized it if you will. In my version, I use turkey scallopini and…

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