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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.…
SHEET PAN EGGS | Live the Live ™
When you've got 20 people showing up at your house for breakfast the morning after hosting a 165-person party the night before, you want to make it all as easy as possible for yourself. Sheet pan eggs are the answer! I pre-cook everything but the eggs the day before...I caramelized some onions, cooked sausage patties…
A “SAFE” HOLIDAY EGGNOG | Live the Live ™
I get requests for this recipe every year. It's absolutely delicious! Let's face it: there's no such thing as healthy eggnog. This recipe is absolutely delicious but is also a heart attack in a glass. I updated this recipe a couple of years ago so that you don’t need to worry about salmonella (because you're…
CAULIFLOWER WITH A BROCCOLI SAUCE | Live the Live ™
If you want a double bang for your veggie buck, this is it. I based this recipe on a similar one from Jamie Oliver. It's a great side dish with any main course, especially a steak or roasted chicken. And it's up to you...if you don't want to do any chopping, you can easily use…
FANTASTIC FRIED SHRIMP | Live the Live ™
Great fried shrimp is like sea candy...you just can't get enough. This recipe is easy and really delicious. Never use anything but wild-caught American shrimp! 1 lb. wild-caught USA shrimp 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I use Cup4Cup GF flour to keep it gluten-free) 1/2 cup yellow corn meal 2 tablespoons Paul Prudhomme Seafood…
LAMB (OR CHICKEN) WITH A MUSTARD/MAPLE MARINADE | Live the Live ™
This is an easy marinade to make and, depending on what meat you prefer, works for both. I marinated and roasted both lamb and chicken with this marinade, and both worked great. So if you're not as big a fan of lamb as I am, no worries. The key to the success…
MY ESPRESSO MARTINI | Live the Live ™
Years ago, I gave my self an important research project: Create your own version of the perfect espresso martini. It took painstaking research, which required drinking many espresso martinis in many a bar on my travels. My favorite version came from a bartender working at Knave, the lobby bar at the at the former Le…
ANOTHER APPLE PIE RECIPE | Live the Live ™
There are a million apple pie recipes online, and people argue whether they should go with an all-shortening or all-butter crust, or even a crust with a combination of the two. I used to be a half-butter, half-shortening guy, myself. But over they years, I've become an all-butter guy, because quite frankly, shortening is nasty.…
ZA’ATAR ROASTED CARROTS WITH LABNEH, PISTACHIOS AND MAPLE SYRUP | Live the Live ™
Recently, my daughter and I visited Pittsburgh, and we really enjoyed a meal at an Argentinian restaurant, Balvanera. Interestingly, there was one dish on the menu that seemed more Mediterranean than Argentinian: roasted carrots on a bed of labneh. We enjoyed it so much, I made it my mission to find a recipe similar to…
LITHUANIAN KOLDŪNAI (PIEROGIS) | Live the Live ™
I think I spent half of my childhood in the kitchen, watching my Mom and grandmother make koldūnai (kohl-doo-nayh), the Lithuanian version of a pierogi, by hand, at lightning speed. They would roll a simple dough into a log about 1" in diameter, then cut it into 1" pieces, twirling each piece between their fingers…
THE PERFECT PRIME RIB ROAST | Live the Live ™
This is a great way to impress your guests at a holiday dinner or any big celebration. (We're actually having it for Thanksgiving, because my family doesn't want turkey!) Buying a large roast is not an inexpensive proposition, so I wanted to be as sure as possible that it was going to come out right.…
ALL ABOUT THE CLASSIC VESPER MARTINI | Live the Live ™
The holidays mean guests are coming over, and everyone will be enjoying more cocktails than usual. Here’s the story of a classic. Last year, I took a trip to London with my daughter, and we checked off quite a large list of things we wanted to do: trips to Oxford and Stonehenge, museums, the theater,…
ONE-PAN ROASTED CHICKEN AND VEGGIES | Live the Live ™
I recently saw what I thought was a pretty clever idea of taking a cabbage and slicing it into thick, steak-like pieces, laying them flat in a pan, and then placing marinated chicken on top of them to roast in the oven. The juices from the chicken would flavor the cabbage as it all cooked.…
WHISKEY SLUSH | Live the Live ™
This is my version of a holiday drink I was introduced to me by my mother-in-law from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This classic is loaded with sugar. But then...so is everything else around the holidays! 9 cups water 2 cups sugar 4 “Constant Comment” tea bags 12 oz. frozen OJ concentrate 12 oz. frozen…
ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH CRANBERRIES | Live the Live ™
With Thanksgiving around the corner, I'm sharing my favorite holiday dishes I post every year around this time. My Mom loved that nasty, gooey cranberry log that oozes out of the can. It would hit the bowl with a splurt and would wiggle for about an hour. I'm more than happy to avoid that and…
CLASSIC PARKER HOUSE ROLLS | Live the Live ™
The holidays on on our minds already. Time to start bringing out the recipes... What's a Thanksgiving dinner without Parker House rolls? Parker House rolls are one of my all-time favorite treats. They're so light and delicious because milk and melted butter are used to make the dough. I'd make and eat them every weekend…
ROASTING A TURKEY ON A WEBER GRILL | Live the Live ™
With Thanksgiving on everyone's mind, I'd like to share my recipe for what I consider to be the perfect turkey. I often get asked if I deep-fry my turkey for Thanksgiving. I think it's way too messy and time-consuming for nothing better than an "OK-tasting" bird. I lived in the South for a few years,…
CAULIFLOWER “STEAK” WITH MEAT SAUCE | Live the Live ™
Cauliflower seems to be the "it" veggie these days. You'll find it riced to take the place of rice or mashed potatoes, in a crust for pizza, and now, the dish du jour is a cauliflower steak. All you need to do is to slice the cauliflower into thick, steak-like pieces, and then bake them.…
BRINING A TURKEY | Live the Live ™
Since I'm moving this week, it's probably a good time to focus on my annual Thanksgiving posts.... I get requests to publish my holiday recipes every year, so, with Turkey Day just days away, let's get it started... If people complain about your turkey being dry, you need to brine it before cooking. No matter…
“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…
PORK TENDERLOIN SOUP WITH CHICKPEAS AND KALE | Live the Live ™
Pork tenderloin is a lean cut of meat that can dry out easily when roasted. It's usually just a couple of inches around, and over a foot long...a shape that can easily go from juicy to overdone in just a few minutes if you're not watching it carefully. This recipe really is based on what…
MARINATED LAMB LOIN AND CHOPS | Live the Live ™
Lamb is such an underrated meat. It was one of the things my Mom cooked really well, so I grew up loving it, and was never bothered by the gaminess of it. If the gaminess does bother you, look for American lamb. If gamier meat doesn’t bother you, go for the gusto and get grass-fed…
BANG FOR THE BUCK BOOZE | Live the Live ™
There seems to be no end to the bourbon craze, and until it does end, I’m constantly looking for new bargains. For example, for a long time, my go-to bourbon was Eagle Rare 10 Year Old, which I could get for about $32 a bottle. It’s now up to $80 a bottle in some places.…