Thursday, August 30, 2001
California Chardonnays Under $10
There is no wine buy from Carol Berman this week. I am on vacation – so to speak. (I’m not live on the radio, but certainly working.) But I did not want you to miss the feature on California Chardonnays Under $10 on a wonderfully informative and well-written web-site called Tablewine.com. I know Roland Marandino, the man behind the site, and his work. Besides being a wonderful dinner companion and elegant writer, he is an extremely knowledgeable wine amateur. I use the word amateur in the true sense – a passionate lover. Read about his selections.
Tuesday, August 28, 2001
Back-To-School Potato Chip Cookies
I have a listener named Oma, which anyone who knows German will recognize as the word “grandma.” Her real name is Rosel, but she insists I call her Oma. “Everyone, and I do mean everyone, calls her Oma,” says her daughter Marianne. [more]
Wednesday, August 22, 2001
Bed and Breakfast (and more) in Naples
Giovanna Raffone is the woman you want to know when you visit Naples, not Naples, Florida, Naples, Italy -- Napoli, Napoli. [more]
Monday, August 20, 2001
General Tso's Chicken
I have been asked this question a million, zillion times: Who is General Tso and how do I make General Tso’s chicken? [more]
Friday, August 17, 2001
Sauteed Peppers with Olives
I am praying for peppers. Tomorrow is market day and I am hoping that I will finally find some colored peppers – red, yellow, orange, anything but green peppers, which are unripe peppers and have a completely different flavor. They taste green. Not sweet. [more]
Wednesday, August 15, 2001
Wine Buy: Tiefenbrunner Pinot Grigio
“She gets too hungry for dinner at eight. She loves the theater, but never comes late. ... ”
Am I singin about my Weekend co-host Joan Hamburg? No, I’m talking about a fabulous Pinot Grigio, the beautifully structured Tiefenbrunner Pinot Grigio delle Venezie 2000, this week’s Wine Buy. [more]
Monday, August 13, 2001
Nika Hazelton's Garden Vegetable Soup
Nika Hazelton died on April 15, 1992. She almost made it to 84 and almost to the end she had an indomitably youthful spirit. Her legacy of 24 cookbooks and innumerable magazine stories and columns will certainly keep her memory alive for a long time to come. For me, all I need do is prepare this soup to recall our good times together – many foreign food trips, "family" meals, and her famous and sometimes quirky dinner parties. [more]
Friday, August 10, 2001
Tsadziki
My Tsadziki is a sensation this summer. That’s the Greek word for cucumber and yogurt salad. I say “Greek word” because there are words in other languages for the same thing. A refreshing blend of yogurt and cucumber, often with garlic, generally with an herb, is made from India (raita) up through the Balkans. In Turkey, it is called cacik, pronounced ja-jeek. [more]
Wednesday, August 8, 2001
Hot Flash Backs
I usually am not bothered by the heat. I’m not about to plan a trip to Miami in July, but I can stand warm weather. Lately, however, the heat has been close to unbearable. The last thing I want to do is to be chained to my stove in 100+ degree weather. Still, I cook. I cook uncooked food, and some days, with the air-conditioning on, I even turn the oven on to take advantage of certain summer bounty. [more]
Saturday, August 4, 2001
Sangrita
I was recently asked on the radio about where to buy, or in which restaurant one can get Sangrita, a drink that is served as a chaser or sidecar to a shot of Tequila. The idea is to down one – the Tequila – then the other – the Sangrita. Or, if one must imbibe more politely, one takes sips of the Sangrita between sips of Tequila. [more]
Thursday, August 2, 2001
Wine Buy: Domaines des Cassagnoles
Carol Berman describes Domaines des Cassagnoles 2000, from Gascony, in southwest France, as “the perfect summertime wine.” Perfect is going a little far, but, for the price, it’s a gem. [more]
Wednesday, August 1, 2001
Tortoni
I will be teaching a class on Italian-American cooking – “Neapolitan Food and the Immigrant Experience” – at À La Carte in Lynbrook, Long Island, on Monday night, October 15. I have given a lecture on that subject before, but never before have I combined the talk with demonstrating some of our favorite Italian-American dishes. And I don’t mean meatballs and spaghetti. The menu is Caesar Salad, Penne alla Vodka, Chicken Scarpariello, and, for dessert, Tortoni. These are all foreign foods to someone from Italy. [more]
