It’s Cinco de Mayo! I like a margarita that has a few, simple ingredients…and no sour mix. This is the one that hits the spot for me. My friends affectionately call it an “Algarita.” 3 oz. Patron silver tequila 1 oz. Cointreau orange liqueur 4 oz. pineapple juice juice of 1/2 a fresh lime, plus more for garnish Place ice in a cocktail shaker and add Patron, Cointreau, pineapple juice and a good squeeze of lime juice from 1/2 a lime. Stir well, then pour it into a margarita glass (salt rim optional) and garnish with a lime wedge. Patron silver always seems to be available, but use your favori ..read more

The 150th running of the Kentucky Derby is Saturday, May 4th, 2024, and although I’m not a big horse racing fan, I am a huge fan of the official drink: the Mint Julep! The Mint Julep is such a perfect, classic and historic bourbon drink, it seems silly to wait until Derby Day to have one. Of course, as any aficionado of spirits will tell you, there are as many right ways as wrong ways of making one. The first step in my Mint Julep is making the simple syrup. Learning from one of my old radio buddies, my pal Rick O’B, I infuse mint into my simple syrup to take my cocktail to the ..read more

I’ve made spinach pasta before, so I figured it couldn’t be that hard to make spinach pizza dough. It’s pretty much the same procedure: I combined about 3 cups of 00 flour (I like King Arthur) with a tablespoon of Kosher salt in my standing mixer.     In a Pyrex measuring cup, I poured in a cup of water and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds to bring the temperature to about 100 degrees. (Over 110 degrees will kill the yeast.) I added a tablespoon of dry active yeast to the water, and then a bit of sugar, mixing it well, and I let it sit for about 10 minutes until it started foa ..read more

Brining, the process of letting a hunk of protein soak in a salt solution for a few hours, is a great way to add flavor and moisture to any cut of meat. I brine these wings for 3 hours before using a sweet and spicy rub. They can be grilled or roasted in the oven.   The brine… 1/2 cup Kosher salt 3 tablespoons light brown sugar 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns 1 whole bay leaf 2 quarts water Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and heat until the sugar and salt dissolve. Remove it from the heat, and let it cool to room temperature. The rub… 1/4 cup light brown sugar 1/4 cup granulated ..read more

I’ve bought many burger presses in my day, and I’ve found that the meat gets stuck inside them after pressing, making removal somewhat difficult. Some presses have so many parts to them, they get lost in my cabinet or jam up the dishwasher. Frankly, every one that I’ve bought over the years was a waste of money. Chances are, somewhere in your storage area, you’ve got a wide mouth Mason jar with a metal top, composed of a flat lid and the band that goes around it and screws onto the jar top. As long as they’re not rusty, you can use them to make perfect quarter-pound burgers. If they are rusty ..read more

I moved to my current home in the fall of 2020. One of the toughest things to say goodbye to in my previous garden was my asparagus patch. Over the years, I had grown loads and loads of delicious asparagus, but sadly, there was no good way to transport that patch to my new place. I’ve got a much smaller garden space at my current home, a small ledge that gets full sun, and despite its limited size, asparagus is too important of a crop to leave out. So I bought a bunch of plants in the fall of 2020, and planted them. I got some beautiful asparagus ferns at the end of the season. The following s ..read more

I’ve never met a ceviche I didn’t like. Sometimes, nothing can stop a serious seafood craving like sushi, sashimi or ceviche. They require the freshest seafood and veggies you can get your hands on. And other than some fine chopping, they require little else. The acid in citrus juices basically “cooks” the seafood in a process very similar to applying heat, but when I use shrimp in ceviche, I place them in some boiling salted water first…although very briefly. This recipe is a great appetizer for you and your guests.   Crazy colored shrimp, thanks to blood oranges.   For the poachi ..read more

Fast food is a relative term. What we Americans think of as fast food is not what, say, the Italians think of as fast food. We think of drive-thru burger joints serving greasy, salty and fatty food. The Italians think fast food is something that simply doesn’t take all day to cook! If you can use the freshest of ingredients, and serve it in the time it takes to sip a half a bottle of wine while chatting with a friend, it’s fast food Italian-style. Years ago, we visited the island of Capri in Italy, and one of the dishes we enjoyed was an incredibly simple pasta and tomato dish called spaghett ..read more

It’s so easy to make your own mustard. And really good mustard. Mustard that hasn’t been sitting on the store shelf for a year. Mustard with real flavor. Once the mustard is made, you’re supposed to wait a few weeks before using, letting its heat mellow a bit. But I enjoy it right from the start. Feel the burn!   The great thing about this recipe is that you make it with your favorite beer, so use what you drink and you’ll have a mustard like no one else. I used Samuel Adams Boston Ale for this recipe. 1/4 cup yellow mustard seeds 1/4 cup brown mustard seeds 3/4 cup Sam Adams Boston Ale ..read more

Corned beef hash is actually a very simple thing to make. The most difficult part is the corned beef, especially if you’re curing it yourself. That process takes about three weeks…a long time to wait for a plate of hash!     If you have a package of already prepared corn beef that you bought at the supermarket, thaw it, and rinse it in clean, cold water. If you follow my corned beef recipe (I posted it a couple of weeks ago…you can search for it on my home page), do the same after three weeks of curing: wash the slab of brisket well, removing any seeds and spices that have wedged th ..read more