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“COPE” CHOPS: FEEDING HUNGRY DJs FOR ALMOST 4 DECADES! | Live the Live ™
I just came back from a trip to my hometown of New York City, where I saw some old radio friends. It reminded me of this awesomely simple grilled pork chop that dates back to my early years in radio on Long Island. "Cope" chops are the creation of my radio buddy, Marc Coppola, who…
OYSTERS ROCK-A-FELLOW | Live the Live ™
My dog, Fellow, passed away last year. He almost made it to his 15th birthday, but he had a good, long life. He would always hang out in the kitchen while I cooked, so I decided to name this dish after him. Good boy. The original Oysters Rockefeller recipe is a closely guarded secret, created…
THE BACK EDDY, WESTPORT, MA | Live the Live ™
One of our favorite restaurants, The Back Eddy in Westport, Massachusetts, is open for the 2025 season! On the waterfront on the Westport River, they've been serving fantastic fresh seafood for years. Smoked salmon appetizer. When the weather gets warmer, they open top their outdoor seating area, which includes a long dock with extra seating,…
THE STORY OF “NAVY STRENGTH” GIN | Live the Live ™
Starting in the mid 1700's, sailors in the British Navy were given a daily ration of rum. They called it a "tot," and the practice of daily "tot" distribution lasted for almost 200 years, until July 31, 1970. When it ended, not only were there many sad British sailors, but there was also a vast…
THAI MARINADE AND DIPPING SAUCE | Live the Live ™
I really love the flavors of this recipe, and the great thing is that you can use it as a marinade and a dipping sauce--not just for beef--but a dipping sauce for grilled chicken, dumplings, anything. It's that good. Make more than you think you'll need because you can keep it in the fridge for…
STUFFIES: A NEW ENGLAND CLASSIC | Live the Live ™
Every year for the past 7 years (not counting Covid year), I've hosted a BOYZ weekend at my house. and this year's no exception. It's coming up in a couple of weeks! One of my sure-fire all-time favorite appetizers is stuffies. My recipe is a twist on ones I enjoyed at a local restaurant, The…
TRACK 15, A NEW FOOD COURT IN PROVIDENCE, RI | Live the Live ™
Yesterday, my daughter and I had the chance to check out a brand new food court before it opens this Tuesday in Providence, RI. It's called Track 15, and it's located in the 1898 Central terminal Building where the old Historic Providence Union train station was located many years ago. More recently, this space in…
“BEAUTY AND ESSEX,” NYC | Live the Live ™
On the lower east side of Manhattan, you walk into what looks like a pawn shop. And it is, in fact, a real shop where you can buy what's on display. But go through the back door, and it opens up into an exciting dining experience created by Food Network chef Chris Santos, who grew…
SMOKED WHITEFISH SALAD | Live the Live ™
Growing up in NY, I was introduced to smoked whitefish, herring, and lox at an amazing deli just down the road from my parents' house. Smoked whitefish salad was readily available, but it had a lot of mayonnaise and filler. It’s a lot of work making it at home, but worth it. Whole smoked whitefish…
STEAK AU POIVRE | Live the Live ™
A classic French beef dish, Steak au Poivre is the perfect example of delicious simplicity. If you love pepper, you can make this wonderful dish with just a few ingredients. My personal twist was to use black peppercorns instead of the green peppercorns that are often used, and I also added porcini mushrooms to the…
RAGU BOLOGNESE | Live the Live ™
Fettucini alla Bolognese has been my daughter's favorite Italian dish for years. The recipe isn't difficult, but like many great dishes, it depends on the best quality ingredients you can get your hands on. I like to use a combination of ground beef, ground veal and ground pork in my Bolognese recipe. But I don't…
A FABULOUS FISH BAKE | Live the Live ™
Those who say that cheese and fish don’t go together, haven’t tried shrimp scampi, a tuna melt, or even a McDonald’s filet-o-fish sandwich! Hearty and satisfying, this dish is all comfort. As I researched this recipe, I found versions that had potatoes or pasta. I wanted a lower calorie and lower carb option, so I…
CORNED BEEF IN TIME FOR ST. PATRICK’S DAY | Live the Live ™
Now’s the time to start prepping your brisket for corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day! Before every St. Patty's Day, supermarkets are full of packages of processed corned beef in preparation for the big celebration. But, interestingly, corned beef isn't really an authentic Irish dish. The phrase "corned beef" was coined by the British, and…
MY VERSION OF NEW ORLEANS-STYLE BBQ SHRIMP | Live the Live ™
Mardi Gras is less than a week away!! Here's a great dish from New Orleans... One of my favorite dishes to come out of New Orleans is Barbecue Shrimp, so on a visit to the Crescent City a couple of years ago, I had to make a stop at the place where it all started.…
JAMBALAYA | Live the Live ™
Fat Tuesday is 2 days away! Laissez les boss temps rouler! Back in the 80's, I worked at a radio station in Mobile, Alabama. My New York buddies thought I was crazy to move to the South, but that's where the job was. When they realized that I was only a 2-hour ride from New…
CAJUN CHICKEN BREASTS | Live the Live ™
Fat Tuesday is coming up! This is a great recipe to cook up if you've got friends coming over. Let's do some Cajun-style cookin'! Poo-yah! I garonteee! I lived in Mobile, Alabama, back in the late 80's, and if you asked the locals, they'd quickly tell you that Mardi Gras originated in Mobile, not New…
PERFECT BANANA BREAD: WITH OR WITHOUT THE GLUTEN | Live the Live ™
This is one of my favorites because it not only tastes amazing, it freezes really well. My original banana bread recipe blog is featured directly below. It's awesome. But if you follow a gluten-free lifestyle, no worries. My gluten-free version of the recipe, at the bottom of the page, is so good, you won't miss…
A TWIST ON THE NEGRONI | Live the Live ™
Years ago, I sampled a negroni-inspired cocktail in Cleveland, Ohio, dining at chef Jonathon Sawyer's The Greenhouse Tavern. (Sadly, it’s no longer there.) The dishes were deliciously creative, and I had this mind-blowing cocktail that inspired me to buy a small oak barrel and start cask-aging everything I could get my hands on at home. The…
MOM’S MEATLOAF MAKE-OVER | Live the Live ™
A snowy day in New England today. It's time to make some meatloaf! Few dishes scream out "comfort food" like meatloaf. My Mom's meatloaf was awesome, and she'd cut a huge slab of it onto my plate, with fantastic butter-loaded Pennsylvania Dutch egg noodles on the side. I couldn't stop eating it. I never thought…
SHRIMP WITH A TOMATO AND FETA SAUCE | Live the Live ™
I love the combination of tomato sauce and feta, and this dish, served over some pasta, will have you licking the plate. 8 oz. (or more!) feta cheese 1 can (28 oz.) whole tomatoes, ground into sauce 1 lb. (about 24) medium-sized wild-caught American shrimp, peeled and deveined 1 medium onion, chopped juice of…
KRUSTAI, A LITHUANIAN TREAT | Live the Live ™
Krustai, also called Zagarėliai in Lithuanian (known as Chrusciki in Polish...and sometimes called Angel Wings), are basically strips of fried dough, sprinkled with powdered sugar. What makes them different than your basic funnel cake is that the recipe uses egg yolks to make the batter richer. They're simple and absolutely delicious, especially if they're served…
GUILTLESS FRIED FISH | Live the Live ™
It's always a challenge when you're watching your calories. Fish is a great source of protein, and I love it sautéed in a little butter and olive oil with Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic seasoning on it. But let's face it, that gets old after a while, and we all know there's nothing tastier than fried…
HOMEMADE BELGIAN WAFFLES | Live the Live ™
My daughter wanted something special for breakfast a few Saturdays ago, and she brought a ready-to-mix box of Belgian waffle mix out of the cupboard. I read the instructions, and it required using the entire box, which made 10 gigantic waffles...way too much for us to eat in one sitting! I figured there had…
A CHEATER’S MEXICAN STREET CORN | Live the Live ™
I didn't mean to cheat...honest. But I wasn't thinking when I bought my corn in the supermarket, and I bought ears that were already shucked. Classically, Mexican street corn is made by throwing unshucked ears of corn on the grill to cook them. So I improvised. I took the shucked ears of corn, placed…
BARBECUE SAUCE DU JOUR | Live the Live ™
Even if it’s too cold to grill outside, a nice barbecue sauce can make you feel like it’s summer! I've probably got a dozen really great barbecue sauce recipes. But these days, it seems I'm always gravitating toward this one. It's sharp and vinegar-based so it has that acidic kick, and goes great with beef…
PAN PIZZA, TWO WAYS | Live the Live ™
I got my first restaurant job when I was 17, working at Pizza City East, just down the street from my childhood home in Plainview, NY. It wasn't a great job, but I learned an awful lot about food preparation. It's where I opened and tasted my first clam on the half shell. It's…
AWESOME MUSSEL FRITTERS | Live the Live ™
Good news if you're on a gluten-free diet. These fritters can be made GF! And they're delicious. I have both recipes--gluten-free and the original--below! They key ingredient in making a good fritter batter is beer. But until recently, there weren't many gluten-free beers to choose from...and the ones that were out there tasted like crap.…
THAI-INSPIRED SWEET-N-SPICY CHICKEN | Live the Live ™
I love chicken because it reheats really well for leftovers. When I make this recipe, I make a good amount to last me through the week. These sweet, spicy and sticky Thai-inspired chicken wings and drumsticks are just delicious! 6 lbs. chicken pieces 1 1/3 cups soy sauce 1 cup fresh cilantro 4…
SWEDISH MEATBALLS | Live the Live ™
This was an interesting choice by my daughter for Christmas dinner, but it came out great! It's definitely not diet food, however, as you'll see. We cooked up some twice-baked potatoes and stir-fried broccoli to serve on the side. Lingonberry jam can be found at better supermarkets or you can easily buy it online. Using…
THE SAZERAC: CLASSIC COCKTAIL OF NEW ORLEANS | Live the Live ™
If I asked you to name a cocktail that defines New Orleans, you might say The Hurricane. After all, it's a tourist favorite at the famous Pat O'Brien's on Bourbon Street. But the official cocktail of New Orleans is the Sazerac, a potent concoction that was created early in the 19th century by Antoine Amédée…
CLASSIC CACIO E PEPE | Live the Live ™
There are a handful of Italian dishes that can be considered classics. They don't require dozens of ingredients...just a few quality ingredients prepared in a particular way. We all know their names: Pasta alla Carbonara...Fettuccini Alfredo...and Cacio e Pepe. Carbonara requires pasta, guanciale, egg yolks, black pepper and a hard cheese (Pecorino Romano…
PORK CHOPS WITH FRESH FENNEL | Live the Live ™
Despite gardening for almost 50 years, I sowed and harvested my first batch of fennel last season. Having received a recent shipment of heritage Berkshire pork chops, I thought it was time to get creative. This is a rustic Italian-style recipe that works great for pork and fennel... 4 good quality pork chops, medium…
BAKED RAVIOLI | Live the Live ™
Baked ziti, lasagna, and baked ravioli are all “cousins” …slightly different versions of basically the same dish. Yet each one is unique, and it’s fun to change them up when you’re in the mood for something gooey and cheesy. I made this recipe recently, when my daughter invited some friends over, and they wanted…
THAI GRILLED STEAK | Live the Live ™
This is a really delicious grilled steak full of wonderful Thai flavors. You do need to marinate it overnight, so keep that in mind. The overnight marinating is key to the intense and unbelievable flavor of the beef. The original recipe called for skirt steak, but I didn't have any in my freezer. I did…
WHITE BEAN SOUP WITH FENNEL AND PORK | Live the Live ™
The original recipe for this white bean soup used bits of bacon. But it just so happened that I was planning on slow-cooking a pork shoulder in my smoker today. When the smoked pork met the white bean soup, it was a match made in pig heaven! (Of course, it would work with brisket or…
CANTONESE DUCK | Live the Live ™
This recipe can be used on either bird. I based it on s basically my love of Peking duck. Last week, I went home to Long Island, and I stopped by one of the great food stores of my life: Miloski's Poultry Farm in Calverton, NY. I've been coming to Miloski's since I was a kid.…
CURING AND SMOKING BACON | Live the Live ™
Happy new year! The last two days have been busy, and I somehow missed out on National Bacon Day, December 30th! Let's face it: there are few foods as magical as bacon. Add bacon to just about any dish you’re preparing, and it elevates it to incredible new heights of flavor. The BLT is possibly…
PORK RIBS WITH BLACKBERRY BARBECUE SAUCE | Live the Live ™
I've seen a lot of recipes lately that feature barbecue sauces made with berries. I'm a fan of a sweeter barbecue sauce, so this was right up my alley! The first time I made it, I didn't have any chicken or beef stock on hand, so I used veal bone broth, which was pretty intense.…
OVERNIGHT OATS | Live the Live ™
The popularity of overnight oats seems to come and go. Now I'm finding more and more articles about it again. I suppose cooler weather makes us think of oatmeal, but to be honest, I'm not a fan of hot cereals. I wake up at 4AM for work every day, so to have something tasty and…
THE PERFECT COFFEE STEAK RUB | Live the Live ™
If you're like me and you grill outdoors year 'round, this is for you. But in case of nasty weather, this works indoors as well. I rarely order beef at a restaurant, because I can usually make a better steak at home. For one thing, I use humanely raised grass-fed beef, something few restaurants offer.…