As part of our dinner conversation last night: off the beaten path spots for the M&M road trip. Tips from around the table:
1) Middendorf’s in Pass Manchac, Louisiana. You’ll never get a better fried seafood platter and its thin-filleted fried catfish — made with the same recipe since 1934 — is famous. I just […]

M&M have arrived, providing us with a reason to celebrate and the main ingredient for the feast: grass-fed beef from the Hearst Ranch in central California. Laurie Sue will join us, so we’re preparing a leisurely dinner for five, with lots of delicious food and lots of time for meandering conversation. Last night, Val and […]

Damnit! It turns out that I can’t do a major website relaunch and keep my whole house out of whack with my do-it-yourself realist painting workshop. Too much chaos! Website work wants order! Okay, break down the still life, resked the whole thing after the launch and visit of M&M next weekend.
On the M&M visit […]

The vine is going to town! And …

Ajax is getting into his daily summer sunbath routine.

Sweet and yummy onion tart for spring! 1) Two pounds of onions, red, white and yellow. Four tbs. olive oil. Three sprigs fresh thyme. Brown slowly and gently for 30 minutes or more. Let the mixture cool. 2) Roll out a little pate brisse to a diameter of about 14 inches and slide it onto […]

… and masters sushi rice to create our Sunday lunch of Spicy Yellowtail Handrolls!

Wow, things are suddenly so busy here — only time to bang out a roundup.
Doing: With Val’s hot, under-the-hood stylings, I’m redesigning a new and streamlined CaliforniaAuthors [sketch], with a simultaneous rework of thenightnote [sketch]. Also: I’m still on board with Claudio, helping him with the lightning-fast launch of his dream practice. While he works […]

I recently started using a new knife — an old knife I used to use all the time, one I learned to cook with.

For a long time now we’ve had a nice set of kitchen knives. We use them all constantly, and I’m pretty adept. But they’re not the kind of knives I started with.

Yup, that’s what the doc says it sounds like Val has and my slightly scratchy throat and slightly achy joints don’t bode well. Today, I had an already scheduled doctor’s visit with my cool new doc — who is an MD with a specialty in integrative medicine — and so I talked to her about […]

I make no claim that these are Rome’s best restaurants — I have had some crazy good meals in Rome at restaurants whose name I can’t even remember. One with Laurie on our last night in Rome, after I was pickpocketed, and she — with her supreme graciousness — picked up the tab for a […]

Wee! Seven free Triple Grande Non-fat Lattes and my fame touted on the blackboard. I guess the benefits of being a crabby regular are becoming clear. Thank you my barista friends!

Recently I had a hankering for something my Mom used to make when I was about 12 or so — fritters made with greens and cornmeal. We don’t outright fry things very much, but it’s good clean food, and tasty:

1 bunch fresh chard (or kale, collard greens, mustard greens, any moderately tough green. Spinach is […]

Michelle whipped up a pot of Red Beans tonight and said it would be interesting to see how other cooks in the M&M universe prepared this traditional New Orleans dish. So, as requested, here’s my recipe (with props to my Auntie Rita Dell):
1 lb. Red Beans (If you can get Camillia brand, that’s where it’s […]

Okay, because it is the season, I’ll just come out and say it: I am not ready to turn my body into the fat-burning machine I know it can be. It’s not that I don’t know how. Back in the beautiful day, I was taught The Way by extraordinary trainer (now doctor) Claudio Carvalho and […]

Click play to enjoy the show. Coming soon: the latke recipe.

Hate that tune? To lose the audio, mute the sound on your computer.

Yum! Potato Latkes with gobs of caviar and creme fraiche. Served with orange wedges and a nice sake. Coming soon: a seven fishes slide show and Kate’s new Latke recipe. Have a merry day!

Here is another beautiful example of Andrew’s photoshop woodcut technique. It is the perfect illo for tonight’s Feast of Seven Fishes Menu. Laurie brought the Fish Feast — The Seven or Nine or Thirteen Fish Feast — with her when she moved from New York, where she was introduced to the venerable Italian-American tradition by […]

I watched this BBC series that aired on PBS when I was in my late teens and really enjoyed it. I think I identified with the working class heroine, who with pluck and ambition and foibles a-plenty, creates a grand life on her own terms. I mean, pluck, ambition and foibles were about all I […]

Val’s beautiful yellowtail sashimi served over a bed of paper-thin slices of daikon radish and daikon greens sauteed with anchovy and garlic. Served with big sections of Cara Cara oranges. Condiment: Tabasco. Heavenly. Food of the gods.