I’m moving into a new house soon and I find myself dreading one thing more than any other – packing my kitchen. Every time I move find myself putting it off until the last minute. I keep convincing myself that if I pack something too early – my world will collapse. I just know that in the next two weeks, in spite of my packing, errand running and collapsing on the sofa with a beer and fast food because I’m just too damn tired to cook – I will absolutely, …

Never met a dumpling I didn’t like. I’ve made chicken and dumplings at my mother’s knee. I’ve had dumplings in Prague with wild hare stew and in Vienna with roast boar. Once at a little restaurant along the Danube in Germany, the dumplings were served alongside a chunky soup of mushrooms, potatoes, carrots and venison swimming in red wine. I’ve dropped dough atop a thick beef stew made in a Dutch oven and cooked with the coals of a campfire. Dumplings with soup are bliss. But I’d never had the soup inside the dumpling.

Tomatoes are my absolute favorite fruit. And nothing excites me more that finding nice heirloom tomatoes in the market. As a kid I never really appreciated the lumpy, weird-looking tomatoes my grandfather fawned over in the garden – but one taste is enough to remind me of what a real tomato is all about…

Since I began cooking, I’ve graduated from hand-me-down wooden cutting boards to commercial boards of high-density polypropylene. But the idea of a massive butcher block in my work space has always been appealing to me.
Joy befell me when I finally got my hands on a big, end-grain hardwood block from Catskills Craftsmen. This thing is big (17”x17”x3”) and heavy (20+ lbs), and is now parked squarely front and center on my counter. Two weeks in, and I’m still looking for opportunities to hear that great “thunk” from my 10” Henckel’s …

You love different ethnic cuisines, I know you do. But sometimes it is difficult to walk into a place for the first time, especially if you’ve never tried that kind of food before, right? Well, if you are new to Ethiopian cuisine, Desta is a good place to start. Ethiopian food is spicy, eaten with your hands and great to share. Get over yourself and walk in.

I’ll admit it – I’m not a kitchen gadget guy. I’m very much of the Alton Brown,  no single-purpose tool camp. Though probably less because of Alton Brown, and more because of an endless parade of  worthless garlic presses in the nineties…
So perhaps it’s because I watched Fight Club for the 942nd time last night that the words of Tyler Durden were ringing in my head this morning when I turned on the television:  “The things you own end up owning you”. Aside from the more obvious reasons, why pray …

Aceto balsamico tradizionale is the greatest of vinegars: Balsamic. Use it for your best salad dressing. This one can spice up even iceberg lettuce.