Tag: small plates

Salt Baked Squid = Salt and Pepper Calamari

Salt Baked Squid = Salt and Pepper Calamari

My very favorite food in the whole wide world is shell-on, salt baked shrimp from the Chinese restaurant Lee How Fook in Philadelphia, where my family has been dining for decades. It is light, crisp, crunchy, and salty, with a slight peppery tang, perfect with …

Crispy Bits – Fried Tofu with Spicy-Sweet Dipping Sauce

Crispy Bits – Fried Tofu with Spicy-Sweet Dipping Sauce

Of all of the characteristics that make a morsel of food desirable, crispy bits reign supreme. I love the texture and flavor they bring to my dishes. Diners search it out in all kinds of foods, from the curliest, folded over potato chip in the …

Small Plates Saturday Night – Chilled Avocado Soup with Seared Chipotle Corn and Lime Cream

Small Plates Saturday Night – Chilled Avocado Soup with Seared Chipotle Corn and Lime Cream

I’ve prepared small plates for my wife and friends on Saturday nights for years now, however it seems to have taken on more meaning during this coronavirus crisis. I always cook during the week, and the last couple of months were no exception. Since the …

A Little Bit of Spring and Summer Wrapped in a Winter Blanket – Larb Dumplings

A Little Bit of Spring and Summer Wrapped in a Winter Blanket – Larb Dumplings

I love eating larb in the spring and summer. The weather is just right for this Laotian meat salad, and it’s easy to make. It is light, refreshing, and healthy, wrapped in lettuce leaves, with tons of fresh herbs from the garden. It really is …

Chickpeas with Chorizo

Chickpeas with Chorizo

One of my favorite spots to eat in Huntington, NY, is the Argentinian restaurant Café Buenos Aires. The menu veers towards grilled meats. But that’s not why we eat there. My wife Marci and I go for the tapas. We sit at the bar, order …

The Year in Appetizers – Polenta Triangles with Fresh Mozzarella and Pesto

The Year in Appetizers – Polenta Triangles with Fresh Mozzarella and Pesto

As the New Year approaches, my attention turns to appetizers; they are the perfect way to celebrate New Year’s Eve. A wide variety of one or two-bite treats signifies the festivities of the evening and the abundance we all wish for in the New Year. …

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 …

Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus

Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus

I’ll eat asparagus any way I can get them, especially now, in late April when the spears are sticking their little heads up from the garden soil. Other than chives and few herbs, they are the first crop to emerge in my spring garden. And …

Summer Fruit Tart Cookies

Summer Fruit Tart Cookies

My mother’s summer fruit tart is one of my favorite desserts, as long as you leave out the garlic. Many years ago my wife Marci and I made a pair of fruit tarts, one as a thank you to our landlord’s family for some deed …