June 2011
2 posts
17 tags
Summer Shortcuts for an Easy Breezy 4th of July
I always have great foodie plans for a fantastic Fourth of July celebration the likes no one has ever seen. I create sketches in my head of tall trees dripping with tiny white lights and an shabby chic chandelier hanging from old sailors’ rope over a perfectly mismatched collection of faded, painted chairs and a table so enticing guests would linger for hours. I create menus that’d...
14 tags
5 Days of Garlic Gold
Herbed Popovers made glorious with a gremolata-inspired infusion of Garlic Gold olive oil and herbed garlic nuggets.
About a month ago, I was talking to my big brother — the one who could sell ice to an Eskimo — and he was going on and on (and on) about this great new brand called Garlic Gold. He was so engrossed in highlighting every delicious detail of their hand-crafted olive...
April 2011
1 post
11 tags
Late for Easter
Ready to assemble: Beef Wellington gets a healthy flip with lamb loin and vegetarian pate.
I woke up yesterday and my first thought was, “Holy Thursday! Easter’s Sunday.” I don’t know how this realization escaped me. I actually prepared and photographed my Easter menu weeks ago. I was aware that last Sunday was Palm Sunday and all my Jewish friends are eating in...
March 2011
3 posts
9 tags
St. Patty's Day, Light and Easy
This easy St. Patrick’s entree of salmon glazed with Guinness Extra Stout saves time and calories — leaving you a little extra (time and calories) to drink more beer! Photo: Bruce Winland
I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day a little early this year by bottling beer and eating a little corned beef at the requisite Irish pub. Now that I feel like I need to spend the rest of the...
10 tags
Altitude Cooking With Attitude in Vail Valley
The Minturn Saloon in Vail Valley, Colorado is all about pleasing its customers. Special duck quesadillas made just for Word of Mouth on a recent trip out west were surprisingly delightful. Photo: Bruce Winland
For a flatlander like me, the simple act of breathing at 10,000 feet can sometimes be, well… a great feat. Now add in making breakfast, cooking dinner, drinking beer and, oh yeah,...
17 tags
Mix It Up for Mardi Gras
The sickly sweet Hurricanes made from a Kool-aid-like powdered mix don’t hold a candle to the delicious original made with passion fruit syrup.
When I think of New Orleans — as I often do — I think of great music, beautiful architecture, indulgent food, warm and inviting people… and Mardi Gras. And when I think of Mardi Gras and its wonderfully colorful traditions, I...
February 2011
4 posts
13 tags
Award Season... Southern Style
Chef Vishwesh Bhatt gives collard greens an unexpected spin with peaches and Andouille sausage. Photo courtesy of SNACKBAR.
While we’re on the subject of award season, I received an exciting email the other day from a friend who is the (lucky) wife of James Beard Award winning chef, John Currence. John is a fabulously inventive chef and restauranteur who helms the City Grocery...
13 tags
Black (and White) Ties for Oscar Night
Black and white farfalle (bow-tie) pasta take center stage among the stars on Oscar night.
I admit it. I’m a sucker for pasta (what Italian girl isn’t?). But when they’re as stunning as these Zebra Farfalle, how can anyone resist? I found these gorgeous black and white striped gems at a gourmet paradise in Chapel Hill, NC called A Southern Season. They were stand-out...
25 tags
Sweets for Your Sweetie
Classic popovers stuffed with pistachio creme brulee. Be bad for once and have them for breakfast! Photo: Abdi Aminlari for 3 Photographers. Styled by Michelle Druskinis.
Is it me or has Valentine’s Day has become an advertiser’s dream? I know it’s been forever since retailers take down the Christmas lights and immediately paint their stores red and pink and splash the...
29 tags
Super Bowl Sunday? Stuff It!
New City Chicken — my adaptation of a Pittsburg classic — is a homemade pretzel stuffed with tender honey mustard chicken.
It’s that time of year again! More than 1/3rd of the U.S. is getting rocked by weekly winter storms and everyone’s got a fever… Super Bowl fever!! Thursday is the official kick-off of Super Bowl XLV Weekend in Dallas, Texas. There’s...
January 2011
2 posts
24 tags
Cooking for a Cause
Seared jumbo scallops from The Lobster Place get a lift from pumpkin, sweet potato and coconut puree and a tasty garnish of fresh goat cheese and peptias toasted with Saigon cinnamon.
I’ve never needed a reason to cook but this past weekend took on special meaning when I catered a three-course dinner on Manhattan’s Upper West Side — all to support Breastcancer.org. Facebook...
8 tags
Snow Day in NYC = Smiles and Comfort Food
A comforting lunch at Nelson Blue in NYC. Steak and cheese pie sourced from the famous Down Under Bakery (DUB) in Brooklyn.
I love snow days in New York. The city’s wrapped in a lazy silence that somehow puts an extra spring in my step. There’s an energy that’s less frantic than usual and, at least until the dirty snow melts into messy puddles in the crosswalks, everyone...
December 2010
4 posts
9 tags
Party Perfect
A signature drink (or two) gives a party sizzle, acts as a conversation starter and eases bar set-up. Here, Sour Cherry Gin and Sake Martinis are garnished with spicy homemade marshmallow and Bing cherries. Strawberry nectar waits for a pop of bubbly. Photo retouched by 3 Photographers.
With New Year’s Eve just a day away, I find myself, once again, scrambling for ideas for an...
20 tags
So Nice I Posted Twice - Sicilian Feast of the...
Arancini with Spicy Crab Marinara. Photo: Paul Giannini
Last year, I created a modern Italian small plates menu to celebrate the Italian Christmas Eve tradition, The Feast of the Seven Fish. I liked the menu so much, I thought I’d repost and add some more recipes. Enjoy and happy holidays to you and yours!!
8 tags
A Christmas Bark That's Good For A Bite
Salted Chocolate Bark with Macadamia Nut Brittle. Photo: Bruce Winland.
This holiday season seemed to creep up on me before I even had a chance to put away my Halloween decorations. The tree is up but the Christmas cards are still neatly stored in a box and the presents are just a thought. With one week left, there’s not a lot of time to sample new menus and spend hours in the kitchen...
28 tags
Mofungo... please!
Mofungo Rellenos Mixto, a delicious Puerto Rican dish (here stuffed with mixed seafood), from Seasons Restaurant in Rincon, PR. Photo: Bruce Winland.
It’s that time of year again. Christmas trees on every street corner, holiday decorations and tourists everywhere you look. Visions of dancing sugar plums and all that glitters. You’d think I’d be chomping at the bit to...
November 2010
3 posts
8 tags
And Don't Forget The Sides...
Our Thanksgiving table typically boasts an array of delicious root vegetable dishes. Here, I’ve cut down on prep time and clean up by combining them into one dish. Earthy parsnips and turnips are sweetened with apples, roughly mashed and finished with truffle oil in this delightful combo. Even turnip haters will love this dish! Use your favorite root vegetables for a personal twist.
Just a...
13 tags
For Those About To Roast...
Turkey with all the trimmings is on just about everyone’s menu this Thanksgiving. Whether you’re a traditionalist or want to try something a little out of the ordinary, family, friends and lots of laughs will always upstage the bird!
Hats off to all you cooks who set out to put the perfect Thanksgiving dinner on the table. It’s always been my favorite family holiday and the one holiday I’ve...
9 tags
Sometimes It's Good To Be A Tool
Mike offers old-world knife sharpening service on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. His two rescue “guard” dogs complete the package.
A great athlete never blames his equipment for a bad performance. The same can be said for a good cook. My mother can ice a cake in nano-seconds with a common butter knife. And, my grandmother hand rolled delicate homemade pasta without the use of...
October 2010
1 post
16 tags
Harvest Time Tricks and Treats
The bounty of the harvest on Long Island’s North Fork.
The trick: Word of Mouth’s been hiding.
The treat: We’re back!!
It’s been a busy time in Word of Mouth world — gathering, tasting, experimenting, creating. But mostly, I’ve been wearing my marketing hat in a media position that offered a mad frantic, but interesting, mix of food, entertaining, DIY and home design brands. Happily,...
July 2010
1 post
7 tags
Sweet Blueberries Top A July Fourth Fete
This simple and rustic galette is a quick and delicious alternative to a classic Fouth of July cake with strawberry stripes and and a blueberry square for the stars!
I miss the six blueberry bushes I inherited when I bought my 1927 craftsman/classic stucco home in New Haven, CT. I hope they’re still there and the new owners are enjoying fighting off the preying avian and wild deer to...
June 2010
3 posts
5 tags
Fourth of July Party...
Try out this simple Fourth of July menu — works for 4 or 40. And don’t forget the sparklers!
Despite the fact I come from a long line of pretty good cooks and bakers, I didn’t come to food preparation early or innately. In fact, I didn’t spend much time at all in the kitchen except as a way to pass through it before running outside to play some game that left me...
7 tags
Welcome Summer with Sweet Cherry Treats
Relax apres-beach or boating with a Sweet Cherry Margarita… or two.
Nothing says summer like a big, fresh handful of juicy sweet cherries. While they are absolutely perfect fresh, they’re also versatile and fun in a number of sweet and savory snacks, mains, sides and, yes, even cocktails. Once the season hits, I travel almost everywhere with my trusty cherry-pitter because I know,...
3 tags
Righteous Rhubarb
Rhubarb strikes a nostalgic chord for me. It reminds me of lazy summer days visiting my Aunt True and Uncle John in Manchester, CT. They had, what seemed to me back then, a storybook home. It was a 100+ year-old white three-story colonial house with black clapboards located on Main Street (yes, Main Street!). It had a white picket fence, a red brick walkway and a big American flag waving...
May 2010
5 posts
8 tags
Perfect Brownie Bites
Perfectly bite-sized brownies get jazzed up for Memorial Day Weekend with vanilla bean ice cream, Dulce de leche, juicy raspberries and home grown mint.
One of my earliest childhood memories is of my mom baking brownies in the kitchen. Decadently fudgey and always perfect, I loved watching her make them almost as much as I loved eating them. And how I miss the guilt-free pleasure of eating...
9 tags
Poblanos, Radishes and Manouri, Oh My!
Stuffed Poblano peppers prepared on the grill make a fun appetizer or side for a casual Memorial Day barbecue.
You know summer’s coming fast when the air conditioner at work breaks down and you get so hot and delirious that you imagine your co-workers are actually laughing at your jokes, your boss thinks you’re brilliant and you’ve just come up with the perfect, fail safe plan...
3 tags
Deep Fried Poached Eggs
A creative spin on poached eggs. Poached eggs and sausage rolled in English muffin bread crumbs, deep fried and served over a frisee salad with lemon vinaigrette.
As a New Yorker, if you don’t “do” brunch, you’re doing something wrong. Here, we’ve expanded Sunday brunch, originally conceived as a combination of breakfast and lunch for the after-Church crowd, to...
2 tags
Lettuce Please You... On the Grill
Grilled Boston Bibb Lettuce with Blue Cheese Buttermilk dressing.
Last weekend, I flew down to Raleigh, NC for a family celebration combining birthdays and Mother’s Day. I had hoped to do all the cooking since I was the only cook who didn’t fall into a celebratory category. Dreaming of a large kitchen and a beautiful, big outdoor space for grilling, I came armed with great ideas...
5 tags
It's Cinco de Mayo
Simple guacamole and delicious margaritas. The perfect start to your Cinco de Mayo celebration.
Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone! I’ve been a little busy outside the kitchen for a change so today’s fun fiesta is a welcome respite. Thanks to the people at Cuervo and Corona (with a little help from college bars everywhere), Cinco de Mayo is now recognized and celebrated nationally...
April 2010
3 posts
10 tags
The Challenge: Chinese Sausage
I got a little overzealous at Chelsea Market and created a Purple Sweet Potato Frittata with Fresh Garbanzo Beans, Ramps and Chinese Sausage. Here’s to over-zealousness!
After a recent dinner at the apartment of some friends, S offered up a couple links of Chinese sausage along with a challenge: “See what you can make with this,” he said. S is an accomplished chef so simply...
5 tags
Olive Oil Poaching
Olive Oil Poached Shrimp with Indian Spices is served with a side of orzo and kale.
When I hear the word “poach,” I often think back to my hometown and the woods of my youth where, before I got to my private trails and secret forts, I’d pass beat up tin signs warning, “No Poaching.” What did the owners of the land have against eggs, I wondered until my parents...
6 tags
The Incredible Edible Easter Egg
Easter Eggs dyed with food coloring give you more control over color.
I love decorating Easter Eggs… dipping plain white eggs in cups of beautiful colors mixed with vinegar and water, getting crazy with designs using wax or even painting a blown egg. I’m by no means an artist but there’s something therapeutic in controlling the transformation of the eggs and placing them in a...
March 2010
7 posts
7 tags
Ham or Lamb for Easter?
Lamb roasted with herbed butter, shaved artichoke salad with wilted arugula and english peas and pea fritters hip up a classic Easter Dinner. Mini mascarpone tarts with prosciutto and asparagus (far background) make for easy and delicious starters.
Baked Ham is the Easter meal of choice in my family. And, while the cooks got better at perfecting a dish that, when I was little, was so awful we...
7 tags
What's Got Your Goat?
Curried goat makes a delicious and impressive meatloaf. Serve it with sauteed kale and great northern beans flavored with a dash of red pepper flakes.
Or should I ask, “Who’s got your goat?” Either way, goat was certainly the last thing on my mind as I strolled (or should I say elbowed) my way through the Union Square Green Market this past weekend. In the mood for some...
8 tags
Not Quite Ready for Springtime Players
This almost springtime soup blends rich Jerusalem artichokes with with hothouse kale and asparagus.
They say March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb but the first day of Spring here in New York came blazing in like a big giant beach ball. Hello short shorts and flip flops. Every single New Yorker was outside on the sidewalk, in parks or hanging out of bar and cafe windows that had so...
4 tags
Move Over Irish Soda Bread, There's a New...
Start and end your St. Patrick’s Day with these delicious Guinness Stout Muffins.
They say everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day and I’m all for everyone joining the clan on this festive day! Like so many of our holidays, St. Patrick’s Day – or Lá Fhéile Pádraig – started out as a Christian holiday to celebrate the popular patron saint (AD 387 – 471). St. Patrick’s Day became a feast...
8 tags
Irish Fusion
Corned Beef Glazed with a Plum Mustard Sauce pairs perfectly with a nice Guinness Stout — just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.
In my early days, I awoke one St. Patrick’s Day to find my usual sugary breakfast cereal (probably Peanut Butter Captain Crunch) replaced with a big bright green bagel covered in butter. And there, in my very own kitchen, Irish-Jewish fusion was born! That...
12 tags
Salt Cures All Ills
Sea salt, harvested from all over the world, comes in many different tastes, textures and shapes. Clockwise from Top left: Kosher Salt, Australian Pink Salt Flakes with Brush Tomatoes, Kilauea Black Finishing Salt, Sel Marin de Guerande, Mongolian Rock Salt, Bolivian Rock Salt.
I’m a little late to the party but I just picked up Mark Kurlansky’s excellent book, Salt: A World History. I am...
19 tags
Roll Out the Red Carpet... Award-worthy Recipes...
Best performance by a cheese in a pudding. The star of the show… Parmesan pudding and piquillo pepper relish topped with caramelized cocoa nibs piled high on petite crackers.
Can you feel it? The buzz is in the air, plans are being made, office pools are getting started. NO, it’s not March Madness (yet)… it’s the 83rd Annual Academy Awards. Who are you wearing?! Truth be told, I will be...
February 2010
8 posts
4 tags
Soup It Up
Hearty Tuscan Sausage & White Bean Soup is the perfect cure for a blustery day.
It’s snowing. Again. Big, fat, beautiful, fluffy flakes. It’s the snow of my New England childhood, the snow of every school kid’s fantasy. Yet, here I am, all grown up in New York City, with several pairs of 3-plus inch heeled boots and my favorite pair of snow boots busted beyond repair. What’s a girl to...
6 tags
What's In Your Fridge?
Pan-fried eggplant, walnuts, and cheese melt into each other and make a tasty topping for a quick meatless tart. Photo: Abdi Aminlari for 3 Photographers.
It’s the time of year that, for me, no matter what door I’m standing in front of, I’m not wild about what’s inside. Well, okay, I’m mostly referring to my closet and my refrigerator but you get the picture. The closet is full but there’s...
4 tags
Blood Oranges... Food of the Goths?
The Morro blood orange is most commonly grown in the U.S. but the Tarocco from Sicily and Spain’s Sanguinello are also popular varietals.
The blood orange may not have the most appetizing name but its gorgeous burgundy color and amped up citrus-with-a-hint-of-raspberry flavor elevate the fruit to godly status in my winter/spring kitchen. The orange gets its name from the crimson or...
12 tags
Mardi Gras and the Ubiquitous King Cake
A royal breakfast. A King Cake stuffed with a pecan raisin filling is the perfect way to start Fat Tuesday!!
Laissez le bons temps rouler! It’s Mardi Gras! New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro, Venice, Nice, Cologne… these are just a few of the many cities that take this colorful celebration to dizzying heights. However, straight on the heels of a Saints Super Bowl win, no one is celebrating this...
19 tags
In the Mood: Aphrodisiac Foods
Dried Calimyrna Figs are thinly sliced into a heart shape for a sexy starter to a romantic Valentine’s dinner. And don’t forget the bubbly!
I’m not sure green M&M’s are what the Greeks had in mind when they coined the term, “aphrodisiac,” but lust-enhancing food and ingredients have played a big part in every culture’s culinary kitchen since...
20 tags
Feed the Love: Cooking for Two on Valentine’s Day
The scent of this sweetly-spiced short rib will have you swooning before you even leave the kitchen. Photo: Abdi Aminlari for 3 Photographers. Styled by Michelle Garcia.
“The sight of lovers feedeth those in love.” - Shakespeare from As You Like It
Once again, Shakespeare nails it and nothing brings this sentiment more to light than Valentine’s Day. When you’re in love, nothing fills you...
23 tags
Lighter Than Air: Savory Beignets
Roasted Beet Beignets are perfect on their own or as a companion to shrimp, scallops or oysters. Photo: Abdi Aminlari for 3 Photographers.
I’m obsessed with beignets. And it’s not just because I’m crazy about all things New Orleans this Super Bowl week. Well, okay, maybe it is, but really, how can you not love those lyrically puffed packages of delicousness? In the U.S.,...
27 tags
Stand Up and Get Super Bowl Crunk
Crunken Chicken Super Bowl style. Marinated in beer and bourbon and grilled with a bourbon molasses bbq sauce, this chicken is sure to make you get up and move!
Okay, so I’m not actually advocating you go out and get “crunk” on Super Bowl Sunday, but you can get crazy inspired with your Super Bowl party. I am really excited that my team has made it to the big game. Finally,...
January 2010
10 posts
11 tags
DIY Sauerkraut
Shredded purple cabbage is ready for the fermentation process. It will be sauerkraut in 1 week.
I had some leftover cabbage from last week’s test kitchen — duck nachos with pineapple-jalapeño slaw. I thought about stuffing the cabbage with a ground turkey mixture or whipping up my mom’s delicious coleslaw recipe. Then I got busy and tired. And then I got inspired. I started thinking...
10 tags
What the Duck?!
Duck Nachos with Pineapple-Jalapeño Slaw. Photo by Abdi Aminlari for 3 Photographers.
A while ago, when I was contemplating ideas for future posts, I came across a recipe for cassoulet – a slow-cooked bean and meat dish with origins dating back to 14th century France. This particular rendition called for duck confit and that, somehow, got me thinking of duck tacos and how interesting they...
10 tags
Street Food Adapted: Hot Tamales
An assortment of tamales purchased on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Photo: Abdi Aminlari for 3 Photographers.
I fell in love with tamales long before I ever actually tasted a tamale. In my little corner of New England, I had never even tried a taco until I was 14 and tamales were just the stuff of legends told by kids whose parents transferred from exotic places like California and Texas...