In the kitchen I originate very little. I’m an homage cook. I replicate and modify. One dish I’m proud of is a modified arrabiata pasta. Very modified. Extremely modified. Actually, it has little to do with arrabiata. The story: One year my wife and I had a long lunch in Montepulciano, the one in Tuscany…More
Monthly Archives: April 2019
The Red Gold–glorious chopped tomato
We’re talking tomato. Banish the can (or jar). Well, not entirely. But almost. You can and might and should make the red gold yourself. We buy a pizza dough from time to time. Flatten it. Stretch it. Roll it. You know where this is going. In my wife’s region of Italy (San Marino, Romagna, Marche)…More
Lovely Lowly Leftovers
Some dishes are better a day later. A vegetable stew, for example. Or a pork roast. My father-in-law used to say, “Non buttiamo via niente.” We don’t throw anything away. I think of him when I make a soup or a rice dish, or when I have sat down to a bowl of ribollita in…More
Zucchini Redux
I love them for their color, for the way they grace the table. Boiled and sliced, seasoned with a little olive oil, garlic salt, and pepper, available year around, zucchini are simply the best. Leftover, they are fit for a frittata or omelet. Lately I have been re-purposing them in a rice dish, another almost…More
Ferguson: A Reflection
“Hang on a second, pal.” When I heard those words, I knew I was in trouble. I was waltzing past the checkout counter in Pat’s Food Center, probably with my body turned conspicuously away from Jack Reins, a checker I knew; the way I also knew Clem, the checker at the next counter, whom my…More
from HFC News and Events
Retired English professor publishes his latest book of creative nonfiction.More
About the Parsley and Rivoltini
The parsley war continues. My wife and I disagree. The question is not whether to use it. We’re both parsley positive. The issue is when, during cooking or added afterward as a garnish. I’m during, she’s after. It has not always been thus. For many years we lived in perfect harmony, parsley-wise. Diced parsley was…More
Also Minerva
The phone rings at 7:00 a.m. That’s never good. I make an educated guess. “Dad?” “Tom.” My brother. They say she’s had a stroke, he tells me. It happened sometime after she went to bed last night. She’s breathing but that’s about it. “She probably can’t swallow,” he says. “There’s not much to be done…More