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SPICY SOY TUNA TACOS | Live the Live ™
Whenever I serve these tuna tacos to friends, I always get requests for the recipe. It requires a bit of setting up, but you can put it together right before serving to your guests...or yourself. I use sushi grade tuna for this dish, which is easily found in small frozen "bricks" at Whole Foods or…
DIY TACO SEASONING | Live the Live ™
It's so easy to make taco seasoning at home. So why would you buy the spice factory floor sweepings they use for packaged taco seasoning sold in supermarkets? I'm not a huge fan of Mexican cuisine, but every once in a while, I crave a good taco. My tacos don't resemble most, but that's OK.…
MAKE YOUR OWN COCKTAIL ONIONS | Live the Live ™
I love onions! Raw, sautéed, caramelized, yellow, Spanish, Bermuda, Vidalia, Texas Sweets, scallion, pearl, Crimini, Walla Walla...they can do no wrong. In fact, my family gave me the Lithuanian nickname: "Ponas Svogūnas." ("Mr. Onion.") I also love vodka martinis! So if I'm going to buy a top shelf vodka like Stoli Elit or Chopin, I'm…
ASIAN-STYLE ROASTED PORK | Live the Live ™
I love pulled pork, or pork roast...cuts that use inexpensive, fatty cuts of meat that are full of flavor as long as you roast them low and slow. A very special cut of pork! I recently received a gift of a very fancy cut of pork: Spanish Iberico, where the pigs roam freely, feasting…
AWESOME BAKED CHICKEN | Live the Live ™
Years ago, I created an all-purpose sauce that worked with a variety of dishes. Because it has a base of mayo, mustard and ketchup, it's awesome on burgers and fish...on lobster and crab salads and shrimp cocktail...and just about anything else you can think of. So...I called it Awesomesauce. And though I got tired of…
COCKTAIL SAUCE WITH A KICK | Live the Live ™
I'm old school. When a cold seafood tray, filled with oysters, shrimp, clams and lobster arrives at the table, I always choose the cocktail sauce to go with it. Mignonettes are OK, but nothing makes me happier than a cocktail sauce with enough horseradish in it to curl my nose hairs! We slurp down more…
STICKY MAPLE BALSAMIC RIBS | Live the Live ™
Sometimes the best ideas come from out of nowhere. I had 5 lbs. of beautiful St. Louis-style heritage Berkshire (also known as Kurobuta) pork ribs thawing in the fridge, and I knew I wanted to create a new sauce or glaze with them, but I was feeling less than inspired. Our food-loving friends, Don and…
SWEET POTATO CORNED BEEF HASH | Live the Live ™
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…
EASY FRIED GULF SHRIMP | Live the Live ™
I love fried shrimp. It’s like seafood candy. And I’ve got a really easy method of making it. For me, the secret to great fried shrimp is a light batter. I’m not crazy about the heavy, almost pancake mix-like batter that is used in some restaurants for shrimp or onion rings. As I looked through…
FRIED GREEN TOMATOES | Live the Live ™
Every year, I still have a lot of green tomatoes on the vine as the summer comes to an end. Fried green tomatoes are the tasty solution to the problem. It's a really simple process of slicing the tomatoes, seasoning them with salt and pepper, dusting them with flour, dipping them in egg, and then…
ASIAN DIPPING SAUCE FOR DUMPLINGS | Live the Live ™
A great dipping sauce for Chinese dumplings, known as Jao-Tze, needs to be more than just a bowl of soy sauce. Sure, if you're having sushi-grade raw fish, you may want to keep it simple with a gentle dip of high-quality soy sauce to preserve the subtle flavors of the fish, but sometimes you want…
OVEN-ROASTED PLUM TOMATOES | Live the Live ™
Now's the time to head to your local farm stand and pick up a bag of gorgeous plum tomatoes, before the season is gone! And this is what you do with them... These are not sun-dried tomatoes. They're better, because fresh plum tomatoes are still moist after roasting, with a bit of that magic tomato…
ASIAN BACON | Live the Live ™
Sometimes the happiest of cooking accidents happen with bacon. My original plan was to make Chinese-style honey ribs for dinner. But instead of pulling a nice rack of ribs out of the freezer, I accidentally took out a slab of pork belly. I only realized my mistake after I thawed it, so I decided to…
TRAVELING WITH CHILDREN: A BIG THUMBS UP | Live the Live ™
Before our daughter was born, my wife and I traveled the world. We got engaged in Paris. We honeymooned in Thailand. We swam with dolphins in Moorea. We rode camels along the Mediterranean in Morocco. So when our daughter was born, many of our friends thought our traveling days would be over. One…
SEMI-PORTUGUESE KALE SOUP | Live the Live ™
I live just down the road from Fall River, Massachusetts, and New Bedford, Massachusetts, two thriving proud Portuguese communities. In middle school, my daughter had to take mandatory Portuguese language classes. We've got dozens of authentic Portuguese restaurants in the area, and even a well-stocked supermarket with its own bacalhau (salt cod) room: Portugalia Marketplace,…
A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR… | Live the Live ™
I recently rediscovered a story I wrote a couple of years ago, after my trip to New Zealand. I had hopes of getting it published somewhere, with no luck. So, what the heck...I'll reprint it here, adding a few photos to help with the story. A Guy Walks Into a (New Zealand) Bar… I recently…
GUANCIALE: A CRUCIAL CARBONARA INGREDIENT | Live the Live ™
Pork is magical. And though I’ve loved pork chops and store-bought bacon all my life, it’s only been in the last decade that I’ve learned to appreciate other cuts of pork and how they’re prepared. Guanciale is one of those meats, and it's a key ingredient to a classic Italian dish: pasta carbonara. Looking at…
COLD CUCUMBER SOUP | Live the Live ™
What do you do when the hot weather kicks in and the cucumbers start taking over your garden? Make soup! The original cucumber soup recipe comes from Ikies Traditional Houses, a wonderful hotel in the beautiful town of Oia in Santorini, Greece. After a long, hot day of exploring the island, we would settle down to a…
A CLASSIC LITHUANIAN COLD BEET SOUP | Live the Live ™
It's interesting that an Eastern European country that is as far north as Newfoundland has one of the most refreshing cold summer soups of any country in Europe. It's a cold beet soup called Šaltibarščiai (pronounced shul-tih barsh-chay) and it's classic Lithuanian cooking at its best. No summer was complete without my Mom's Šaltibarščiai on the table,…
BBQ CHICKEN AND BBQ CHICKEN PIZZA | Live the Live ™
I grill year-round. I'll stand in 3 feet of snow to get smoked ribs just right, if I have to. Through years of tireless experimentation, I've come up with a barbecue sauce that I can be proud of. I prefer a slightly sweet and tangy barbecue sauce, and it works really well with pork or…
GARDEN TOMATO CONSOMME | Live the Live ™
The definition of a consomme is: "a clear soup made with concentrated stock." I might add "mind-blowing" to that sentence, especially with this recipe. The key to success-- and this is crucial--is to use absolutely garden-fresh, in-season ingredients. If you try this with greenhouse or supermarket tomatoes, you're just wasting your time. 4 1/2…
PANCAKES MADE WITH FRESH RICOTTA | Live the Live ™
These pancakes are made from fresh ricotta cheese, whether homemade or store-bought. Light as air...and really delicious! I've made a few batches of fresh ricotta cheese in my day, but when my daughter has a craving for pancakes at the last minute, a good-quality store-bought ricotta cheese will do. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I…
“MEXICAN” CHICKEN WINGS | Live the Live ™
I've got dozens of chicken wing recipes, but even so, sometimes I just want something different. I decided to take my favorite taco seasonings recipe and adapt it to chicken wings. Caramba! One of the tastiest wings I've made in a long time! This is such an easy and delicious recipe to make, even for…
GARDEN-FRESH GAZPACHO | Live the Live ™
When it's done right, gazpacho is one of the most delicious summer soups you'll ever have. The secret, of course, is using super-fresh veggies. That's why I crave it at the first sign of a vine-ripened tomato in my garden or a local farm stand. When my tomato plants have dozens of ripening fruits on…
A REFRESHING CUCUMBER COCKTAIL | Live the Live ™
Sometimes, a cool adult beverage is just what you need after a long day of yard work. The cucumber plants in my garden have started producing, so it's time to make this refreshing cocktail! 4 fresh cucumbers, peeled and seeded Small ice cubes 1 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves 2 teaspoons granulated organic…
APPLESAUCE | Live the Live ™
It's not often that my daughter spends extended time at my house, so when I asked her for a food shopping list, and she said she was craving applesauce, I went out and bought a few pounds of organic apples to make my own. Applesauce is so easy to make, I don't know why people…
THE EASIEST PICKLES YOU’LL EVER MAKE | Live the Live ™
I don't have the patience to boil Mason jars and lids and all that. But I love me my pickles, especially when this year's garden cranks out so many cucumbers! This is such an easy way to make great pickles, it's almost unbelievable...and no water is needed! The salt extracts just enough moisture to make…
ONE-UPPING A STOLI DOLI WITH VELVET ELVIS | Live the Live ™
The inspiration for this incredibly easy to make cocktail is the famous Capital Grille Stoli Doli. I think I've done it one better with my Velvet Elvis. A Stoli Doli is simply Stoli vodka that has been infused with fresh pineapple. If you sit at the bar at the Capital Grille, you won't be able…
ZOOKEENEE BREAD | Live the Live ™
I’m pretty good at keeping the zucchinis in my garden harvested on a regular basis, so they don’t get too big. But once in a while, I miss one, and it gets to be huge. That’s when it’s time to make zucchini bread. I was recently told that zucchinis are green...summer squash is yellow. I use…
TASTY BITES IN MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE | Live the Live ™
Been away from the blog for a few days... I recently drove up to Maine to pick my daughter up from the Hardy Boat in New Harbor, a ferry that takes you to and from Monhegan Island, about 10 miles offshore. My daughter spent a week there with her mom, and we decided we'd take…
TWO MOST EXCELLENT BARBECUE SAUCES | Live the Live ™
I grill year-round. I'll stand in 3 feet of snow to get smoked ribs just right, if I have to. Through years of tireless experimentation, I've come up with a barbecue sauce that I can be proud of. I prefer a slightly sweet and tangy barbecue sauce, and it works really well with pork or…
CHAR-GRILLED CLAMS | Live the Live ™
Ever since I had char-grilled oysters in New Orleans, I’ve been obsessed. I’ve made them at least once a month since I’ve been back. But the other day, I went to my local seafood store and I saw some beautiful clams, and I thought: Why not try those on the grill? I had some friends…
MOJITOS BY THE PITCHER | Live the Live ™
It's that time of year when friends are coming over, and you want to make one drink you can serve everyone, rather than playing bartender all night. This one hits the spot. There's only one thing better than a freshly made mojito...and that's a pitcher of freshly made mojitos! Organic raspberries and blueberries are in…
SLOW-COOKED COFFEE-RUBBED BRISKET | Live the Live ™
Fourth of July weekend means it’s time to do some serious barbecue! When I smoke my brisket low-and-slow in my smoker, I use a coffee steak rub that I developed a couple of years ago. It gives a deep, rich crust to the meat that is just fantastic. Depending on the size of the brisket,…
GRILL FOR REAL THIS JULY 4TH: DITCH THE GAS AND GO FOR THE HARDWOOD | Live the Live ™
I find little or no difference between the stove in my kitchen and an outdoor gas grill...so I don't own one. I can make a perfectly delicious steak by searing it in a cast iron pan on the stovetop, then finishing it in a hot oven. So, for me, if the real reason for outdoor…
MY HERRING HACK | Live the Live ™
Back from a trip to Poland and Lithuania with my daughter, where I literally ate my weight in herring. I know a lot of folks aren’t as crazy about herring as I am. But I was raised in a Lithuanian home, and it was everywhere. Growing up on Long Island, outside of New York City,…
DEVILED EGGS WITH BBQ CHICKEN AND COLE SLAW | Live the Live ™
I was away on a fantastic trip to Poland and Lithuania with my daughter for a couple of weeks, and I'll be posting some of our food finds soon. Meanwhile, enjoy this summer favorite. If you're trying to think of something new and interesting to bring to the July 4th celebration, this is it. It…
BABY BELL PEPPERS WITH FRESH CORN STUFFING | Live the Live ™
I came up with this crunchy appetizer years ago, when I needed a tasty bite for one of our summer parties. I wanted something fresh that highlighted the veggies of the season, so when I spotted these baby bell peppers in the supermarket, I got the idea. Baby bell peppers 6 ears fresh corn,…
MILK LIQUEUR | Live the Live ™
I call this a milk liqueur, because I remember my Mom made it when I was younger, and she called it "pieninis likeris" (milk liqueur) in Lithuanian. But a good friend of mine, knowledgable in all things alcohol, said that it's not much different than a "milk punch," something that was common in New Orleans.…
CHICKEN PARMIGIANA | Live the Live ™
After making a batch of this for my daughter this week, I got a bunch of requests for the recipe. So here we go! Chicken parmigiana, much like pizza, is a bit more difficult to make than you might think. Sure, there's plenty of crappy chicken parm out there, made with processed frozen chicken cutlets,…