Posts Tagged ‘5-star’

A few of these and I’ll be drunk dialing Ina at two in the morning to tell her how much I adore her!

Seriously, these are divine, and they make me think of my Nana Caila for two reasons. First, although she wasn’t a frequent cocktailer, Nana would enjoy an Apricot Sour every now and again, and my sister and I used to love sipping her sweet drink-o. And the second reason involves the maraschino cherry. When I was a little girl, Nana hosted almost all the holiday dinners at her big house in Pawtucket, and her standard first course was a halved, sectioned grapefruit on a fancy cut-crystal plate garnished with a cherry in the middle. I…

Category: Recipes

Here are the two finest compliments a dish can get:

1. “I don’t really like _______, but I loved this!”

2. “I love ______ and this was the best version of it I’ve ever had!”

And when you get both compliments on the same dish? You know it’s truly a winner!

Yes, both the skeptics and the die-hards waxed poetic about this ambrosial tomato soup. Zack was a pro making his first chicken-stock-based vegetable soup, gathering up tomatoes and basil at the Friday Farmers Market in East Hampton, and sending his dad around town for a food mill, one of the few kitchen gadgets we had neglected to buy initially.

Again, a simple process: simmer up the veggies…

Category: Recipes

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

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

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

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