It was one of those blustery wintry days on Cape Cod. The weather was nasty, and I felt like having a substantial, stick-to-your-ribs dinner, which to me means comfort food. I walked into the kitchen and spotted a box of cornmeal. Then I looked into the refrigerator and saw that […]

Pasta permutations You can make dozens of noodle dishes with a few basic recipes and lots of variations Most Americans view pasta as being fattening. This is because Americans overfeed themselves and guests, serving large portions, pulling away from the table stuffed and uncomfortable. The secret of serving pasta dishes, […]

For six months, I had been staring at a paella pan hanging alongside the cast-iron pans I wrote about in my last article. I acquired this unique pan on a long-ago photo shoot involving a recipe for paella, but had never used it since. Now was the time, I decided, […]

As a child growing up on Cape Cod, “organic” and “local” were one and the same. We bought free-range chickens and fresh farm eggs from Joe Rigazio’s farm on the other side of the bridge. Bill Atwood Jr., owner and chef of the Red Pheasant Inn in Dennis, chooses organic […]

Because my interest is food, travel is a culinary adventure for me. I’ve been to Italy several times and the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that I can only make a very general plan of what I want to do and eat, because once I get there I see and […]

Now more than ever, home cooks are filling their kitchens with the latest in equipment and gadgets. Perhaps some people are under the illusion that the ”latest” will make them a better cook – or is it just a status-symbol thing? Who knows, but I was inspired to write this […]

Guess who’s coming to dinner A menu of lobster, crostini and clam fritters sets the course for smooth sailing when (yikes!) an old love meets a new one. My guests at this dinner will be my ex-wife, who left several years ago, and my current partner of thirteen years. This […]

My introduction to grilling started when I was a very young child. My grandfather would place a large steak in a grill basket, take my hand and lead me down the narrow cellar stairs to the coal furnace that heated our home. Vegetables are grilled over direct and indirect heat […]

Feeding Aphrodite and Adonis You don’t have to be feeding Greek gods to make this romantic dinner for two A few generations ago, Valentine’s Day was heralded by the exchange of hand-written sentiments on lavender-or musk-scented paper, decorated with cupids, arrows, hearts, flowers and doves. In recent years, as the […]

Have you ever wondered how restaurant owners entertain? I decided to find out, so I asked Gilbert and Kolleen Pepin, owners of the wonderful 902 Main Restaurant in South Yarmouth, to come to my house and create the kind of dinner they themselves would host. John Murelle, far left, reacts […]