When things are really hectic at work, as they are now, even a hardcore food fanatic like myself doesn’t always feel like cooking. Or perhaps you’ve had a heavy lunch or midday dinner and feel like a light dinner. Or you’re looking for something to serve an easy and convivial … Read More
Pollo alla diavola (“Devil’s Style” Grilled Chicken)
Pollo alla diavola, or Devil’s Style Grilled Chicken, is a simple and deliciously spicy way to grill chicken. Ingredients Serves 4-6 1 chicken, preferably free-range Olive oil Salt Red pepper flakes The juice of 1/2 lemon Directions Begin by butterflying a young chicken: cut away the chicken’s back bone with … Read More
Risi e bisi (Venetian Rice and Peas)
Sweet, fresh peas in their pods can be hard to find, but when I spotted some in a local market I grabbed them up to make a delicious Springtime dish from the Veneto: risi e bisi, or rice and peas in Venetian dialect. Although it resembles a risotto, the technique … Read More
For a May Day Picnic: Fave e pecorino (Fava Beans and Pecorino)
Fave e pecorino —fava beans and pecorino— is not really a “dish” at all, you just set out the fava beans, in their pods, and a hunk of pecorino cheese. Each diner opens the pods for themselves and eats the raw fava beans they find inside with a bit of pecorino, washed … Read More
Aïoli with Spring Vegetables
While versions of it are made around the rim of the western Mediterranean, from Spain all the way to Sicily, this garlic sauce is best known in its Provençale incarnation known as aïoli. It is a commonplace to refer to aioli in English as garlic mayonnaise, but it is really … Read More
Tagliata d’agnello (Lamb Tagliata)
One of my favorite ways to make steak is called tagliata or, to be more precise, tagliata di manzo. The word ‘tagliato‘ means simply ‘cut’ or ‘sliced’, and manzo means beef. The dish is, quite simply, sliced steak, grilled rare, arranged over a bed of arugula and dressed with olive … Read More
Spargel mit Sauce Hollandaise und Kartoffeln (Asparagus and Potatoes with Hollandaise Sauce)
This dish brings me back to my Vienna days: white asparagus and potatoes with hollandaise sauce. The appearance of asparagus in the markets of Vienna, as elsewhere, is a harbinger of Spring. Austrians (and Germans) have a thing for white asparagus. They prefer it to the green kind that is … Read More
Frittata ai carciofi (Artichoke Frittata)
The frittata is one of those categories of dishes, like risotto, where the main ingredient, in this case egg, can act as a foil to an almost infinite variety of flavors, being it meat, fish or vegetable. So by learning a single technique, you open up a whole new culinary … Read More