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I must admit I wasn’t exactly looking forward to making this recipe, chiefly because of the time-consuming frying process…times two for my ravenous crew. And although I like onion rings just fine, thankyouverymuch, I’ve never had one that would compel me to willingly stand over the stove and tend a pan of hot oil for half an hour.

That is, until now. Meet the Cornmeal Onion Ring.

Jake had been clamoring to make this dish for a couple of weeks now, and I finally gave in to that cute, pleading face. Together we cut the onions and soaked the rings in buttermilk for an hour. And then it must’ve been my lucky day, because David reluctantly…

Category: Recipes

If you’re lucky enough to have a bounty of zucchini in your garden or from the farmer’s market, this is a quick and tasty way to enjoy a bunch of it. Fresh zucchini is satisfyingly sweet, and Ina cautions not to crowd the pan here because you really want to sautè the veggies rather than have them steam. The onions add an extra burst of sweetness, and when you toss everything with grated parm, the result is a delicious, succulent side dish.

We ate this alongside one of the best entrés we’ve had all summer…but you’ll just have to wait til tomorrow to hear about that!

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Category: Recipes

Less a recipe than a blueprint, this is a simple, colorful, do-it-yourself snack to pick at with cocktails.

It’s a bit of a misnomer ““ you’re not putting butter on the radishes, you’re putting it on the baguette toasts. The crunchy, bright radishes are resting comfortably on a bed of sea salt, a few flakes of which stick to the cute, two-bite veggies as you pop ’em in your mouth. Temper the pungency with a yummy buttered baguette slice, and you’ve got a light, satisfying, pretty accompaniment to a nice glass of chardonnay.

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Category: Recipes

A picture’s worth thousand words, dontcha think?

Yes, they are as utterly scrumptious as they look. Yes, they are as rich and moist and chocolaty as they look. Yes, they are the best brownies ever.

And there’s nothing better to do with the best brownies ever than to share them and spread the love.

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Category: Recipes

Striped bass is a family favorite, so when we went to the funky aquaculture fish market at Cranberry Hole and found fresh stripers that had been caught that morning, we bit ““ hook, line and sinker.

Normally we grill it, and I make a topping I created a few years back out of a bounty of ripe tomatoes, onions, mint, parsley and a few other fresh ingredients. But this recipe, with shrimp and mussels, all roasted with a bouillabasse-like sauce in the oven, looked delish. When we found enormous Peruvian heads-on prawns at the store, we knew this recipe was meant to be. And it was also quite befitting that we finally saw Julie & Julia…

Category: Recipes

Two nights ago I had an unfortunate tomato incident. Seduced by all the gorgeous heirloom varieties popping up at roadside farmstands, Dave took the plunge and bought a dazzling variety: green zebras, brandywines, purple cherokees, some yellow babies too. With the early corn tiny, sweet and tender, we had our hearts set on whipping up our debut Corn and Tomato Salad of the season.

If Chocolate Chunk is my signature cookie, Corn and Tomato is my signature salad. The recipe is from “Cucina Simpatica,” the cookbook by Johanne Killeen and George Germon of AlForno in my old hometown, Providence, and we eagerly await the dog days of August when the corn is…

Category: Recipes

In one of my favorite scenes from the 1985 film Fletch, Chevy Chase as, well, Fletch, pays a visit to Gail Stanwyck at the tennis club and orders lunch: “I’ll have a Bloody Mary, a steak sandwich…and a steak sandwich, please.” If it was this truffled filet of beef sandwich? Heck I’d put two of ’em on Mr. Underhill’s bill too!

This is truly the magnum opus of steak sandwiches. A crunchy baguette slathered with truffle butter, then layered with medium-rare prime tenderloin slices, shaved parmesan and peppery baby arugula (followed by a Lipitor chaser!). There’s never a crumb left by my hearty carnivores when I make it.

Ina’s formula for cooking tenderloin is foolproof, and if…

Category: Recipes

Chocolate chunk cookies are my calling card. If you’ve ever been to my house, chances are you’ve seen my giant cookie jar brimming with the homemade treats, June Cleaver style. If you’ve invited me to dinner and I’m bringing dessert, I’ll probably have some cookies on me. Bake sale? Cookies. About to run a long, boring meeting? A tray of cookies makes it all the more tolerable. (Plus they make people smile.) Dave’s meeting with new clients? Cookies and milk break the ice. Parent-teacher conferences? I always bring a little baggie of them to the poor teacher who is inevitably strapped to her chair for the afternoon.

And nothing makes my boys happier than the sweet smell of…

Category: Recipes

I’ll just come right out and admit that I heart fennel. This is somewhat baffling to me, since I absolutely abhor licorice, and if you come within 20 feet of me with a disgusting box of Good n’ Plenty, I’m likely to throw a shoe at you. What that tells me, though, is that fennel doesn’t taste like black licorice ““ or at least what bad black licorice candy tastes like.

Fennel gets a bad rap. Since it doesn’t trot out of the produce department with nearly the same frequency as veggies in hot contention for Miss Popularity ““ say, tomatoes or cukes ““ supermarket cashiers are often stumped by the frondy white-green bulbs. More than once I’ve…

Category: Recipes

Okay, okay, pipe down now. I know this recipe isn’t from one of Ina’s books per se, BUT…it’s from Anna Pump, whom Ina calls her mentor. Anna’s specialty food shop, Loaves and Fishes in Sagaponack, is beloved here in the Hamptons, and her fourth book, “Summer on a Plate,” even has an endorsement on the front from Ina, who says, “No one has inspired me more than Anna Pump…” So that kinda counts, right?

Plus how could I not share the dish that all seven diners (including guest diner Uncle Dan) gave the maximum five stars?

So here’s the scoop. Yesterday afternoon we wound up at the Friday Farmers Market in the Nick & Toni’s parking lot…

Category: Recipes