Recent Blogposts

It Pays to Have Friends Who Are Hunters and Gatherers – Seared Tuna with Sesame Seeds

It Pays to Have Friends Who Are Hunters and Gatherers – Seared Tuna with Sesame Seeds

The other day I thought we were going to pick up a pizza for dinner. But late in the day, my wife called to tell me that our friend (and her co-worker) Carl had just given her a huge hunk of fresh-caught, sushi-grade bluefin tuna 

Lazy Summer Supper – Tomato Salad with Olives and Fresh Mozzarella

Lazy Summer Supper – Tomato Salad with Olives and Fresh Mozzarella

It’s the end of August, I’m feeling lazy, and it’s too hot for serious cooking in the kitchen. As tomato season is in full swing, we will not suffer. That means we’re eating lots of delicious, healthy tomato salads. They are quick and easy to 

Garden Overflow – Sautéed Green Beans with Fried Shallots

Garden Overflow – Sautéed Green Beans with Fried Shallots

One problem with a big garden is that when one type of vegetable is ripe, you are swamped with it. I know, I know, if all our problems were only this big and serious. Cue the violins. When I experience this garden overflow, I share 

How To Get Your Kid To Eat Vegetables – Herbed Vegetable Dip

How To Get Your Kid To Eat Vegetables – Herbed Vegetable Dip

Children don’t always eat their vegetables. With my son it was no problem; he would sit silently in the back seat of the car during long trips, for example, munching an entire feed bag full of raw vegetables. My daughter Ariana…well, not so much. I 

Tea Smoked Chicken

Tea Smoked Chicken

No matter the quality, children don’t always appreciate the foods their parents eat. That was certainly the case with my brothers and me, and some of the foods our father cooked. It was especially true of tea smoked chicken. As wisps of smoke from burning 

Grilled Vegetables – A Summer Staple

Grilled Vegetables – A Summer Staple

Summer demands simple food, and grilled vegetables fit the bill. I sometimes look at the prepared foods in the big glass case at a supermarket or pork store or deli and see piles of sad, limp grilled vegetables. They don’t look at all appetizing and 

Smitty’s Wings

Smitty’s Wings

I never met Smitty, but his presence has been in the kitchen since I met my wife. Long before I learned to make Buffalo wings, my wife taught me to make Smitty’s wings. He was her college friend, now long lost, and he used to 

Larb

Larb

On a hot summer day like today, I want a dinner that I can cook quickly and without too much effort. But quick and easy doesn’t have to mean bland. That’s where larb comes in. Larb (laab, lob) is a Laotian and Thai ground meat 

Anyone Can Make a Good Antipasto

Anyone Can Make a Good Antipasto

Anyone can make a good antipasto. You don’t even have to know how to cook. Just visit a pork store. When I moved to Long Island, I had no idea what a pork store was, pork not being a major part of my diet. But 

Sweet Treats – Sugar Snap Pea and Corn Salad

Sweet Treats – Sugar Snap Pea and Corn Salad

Mid June brings my favorite garden vegetable – sugar snap peas. They are sweet treats hanging on six-foot tall vines getting more plump with each passing day. As soon as they form I want to pluck and gobble them up, but I know I am