A well-stocked cupboard is essential for turning out good meals in a crunch. Although I love to collect exotic dried beans at the farmers market, cooking them is usually a weekend activity. Thank goodness my mother-in-law, Cuban queen of beans, taught me that canned beans are a perfectly acceptable substitute … Read More
Eric Ripert, if you don’t know or if you haven’t lived on the east coast or if you’ve never seen Avec Eric or Top Chef, is the executive chef of Le Bernardin a four-star New York restaurant known for exceptional service and sublime French cuisine presenting exquisite foods from the … Read More
The holidays had their way with me and my vegetables. For nearly three weeks (and likely more) it was a race to the finish. On Christmas Eve Eve, down to the wire, in a mad wrapping session, locked up with scissors & tape, bows & paper, and a … Read More
[april]If you’re a food enthusiast like me and even if you’re not but you have been anywhere in the lifestyle news spectrum lately – like the second hour of the Today Show – you most likely have heard the lectures on family dining including that from a new book The … Read More
Do you have your very own holiday tradition? Something uniquely yours – perhaps it’s a themed meal or a religious ceremony or just a bouquet of annual depression – something you do each year to commemorate the season. My mother once started a tradition of serving ham hocks on Christmas … Read More