PASTA WITH ASPARAGUS AND SAUSAGE

Posted: April 19, 2026 in asparagus, Carnivore!, cheese, Food, Italian, pork, Recipes, sausage
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When my daughter hangs out with me, I always ask her what she wants me to cook for her, and there are a few “Dad” recipes that are her favorites. This is one of them, especially when fresh asparagus is available. And as any parent will tell you, if your kid is craving a dish that has vegetables in it, count yourself lucky–and make it!!
Prepping asparagus is easy, and you don’t need a knife to cut off the woody bottoms of the stalks. Simply bend the stalks at the bottom and they will naturally snap off at the right point.
4 mild Italian sausages, sliced into pieces 1/2″ thick
1 lb. penne pasta
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 cup chopped fresh trumpet mushrooms (white button mushrooms work, too), optional
2 cups fresh asparagus, sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 clove garlic, passed through a garlic press
1 cup homemade chicken broth
6 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Have the pasta water salted and boiling, and add the pasta, cooking until just a bit more undercooked than al dente.
Heat a large pan, and drizzle in some olive oil. Sauté the sausage pieces until browned and cooked through, but not overcooked. Remove the sausages from the pan and place them in a separate bowl. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat left behind in the pan.
Place the pan back on stove and sauté the onion until translucent. Add the garlic, and sauté for 10 seconds. Add the sage, and saute for 10 seconds, stirring. Add the chopped mushrooms and saute for a few minutes, then add the chicken broth, and simmer until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Pour the contents of the pan into the bowl with the sausages.
Return the pan to the stove, add a little more olive oil, and on medium heat, sauté the asparagus pieces. Cook them until they are al dente, not too soft. Once the asparagus has reached this stage, return all the contents of the sausage/mushroom bowl to the pan to heat through. Drain the pasta, and add it to the pan as well, combining all the ingredients. If it looks too dry, add a little pasta water to the pan. Season with salt and pepper.
Make sure you serve this hot, with grated Parmigiano Reggiano on top, and drizzle lightly over the top with extra virgin olive oil.

INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL IN PORTO, PORTUGAL

Posted: April 17, 2026 in Uncategorized
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I spent my first two nights of my vacation in Porto, Portugal, driving up from the airport in Lisbon along the West Coast, fortifying myself with double espressos, as I had been on the overnight flight from Boston just a few hours earlier.

The streets of Porto were extremely busy, partly due to the regular traffic there, and partly due to the fact that there’s an awful lot of construction going on in that city. I was told that they were putting in new subway lines, and the construction had been going on since Covid. It made getting to my hotel a bit difficult, but once I was there and the valet took my car away, it was nothing but comfort.

Nice to not only have a beautiful room to crash in at the end of the day, but a great bar for that last drink of the night. Breakfast the next day was at the hotel and in typical European style, it was an excellent buffet with many choices.

I was surprised to find that Portugal has a wonderful selection of gins. I tried several of them on my trip.
Breakfast

HARD ROCK CAFES IN PORTUGAL

Posted: April 17, 2026 in Uncategorized
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When I travel, I do like to go off the beaten path and eat like a local. But I’ve also got a nerdy American tourist side to me, and I try to go to every Hard Rock Cafe I can find on my journeys. Portugal has two of them: one in Porto, and one in Lisbon.

My rule for visiting Hard Rock Cafes is simple: have a drink at the bar, then get the shot glass. My trip to Portugal brought my total up to 24!

Hard Rock Cafe in Porto
That’s an actual car hanging from the ceiling at the Hard Rock Cafe in Lisbon.

The Hard Rock Cafes I’ve been to, as far as I can remember: New York (the original on W 57th St. and the current in Times Square), Boston (now closed), Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago, Phoenix (now closed), Orlando, Miami, Maui, New Orleans, Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, Cayman Islands, St. Thomas (now closed), Bangkok, Paris (now closed), Rome, London (the original), Warsaw, Athens, Porto, and Lisbon.

ELEMENTO, PORTO, PORTUGAL

Posted: April 15, 2026 in Uncategorized
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My second night’s dinner, after my day-long tour of the Douro Valley, did not disappoint!

Elemento is a live-fire restaurant, just a stone’s throw from the Hard Rock Cafe in Porto, and it was fun to sit at the bar where you could watch all the chefs work to create some very unique dishes.

A series of starters for the tasting menu. They bring you a wooden box with all the utensils you’ll need throughout your meal.
A beautiful piece of beef after a couple of seafood dishes. And it was hiding an ingredient I haven’t seen in a long time…
Crosnes! (Also known as Chinese artichokes.) Found mostly in Asian and French cooking, my first taste of them was at a high-end French restaurant in Quebec City many years ago.
They look like little caterpillars, but it’s a root veg that is really tasty and crunchy. (A relative of mint.)
I grew some in my garden for several years. You don’t see them in the US very often.
Two desserts, because one’s never enough!

DOURO VALLEY, PORTUGAL

Posted: April 12, 2026 in Uncategorized
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No matter where you drive in Portugal, you’ll see grapevines and olive trees. But the Douro Valley is special, and I wanted to really enjoy it all: the food, the wine, the scenery—without any hassles. So I signed up for an all-day tour. Our guide knew all the back roads, had tons of great information, and took our small group around in a comfortable van, allowing us not only to enjoy the incredible UNESCO heritage site scenery, but also drink some great wine from small family vineyards without worrying about driving. And I made a few new friends along the way.

Our first sip of Vinho Verde was at this wonderful tavern in Amarante.
A boat trip on the Douro River made this scenery look even more spectacular.

It was great to experience the roads of the Douro Valley without having to drive! I highly recommend signing up with one of the many tours, but pay a little extra and go with the small vans that hold a maximum of eight or 10 people. It’s a much better experience, and you just might make a few friends along the way.

PICKLED ASPARAGUS: THE NEW SEASON

Posted: April 10, 2026 in asparagus, pickling, Recipes
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I moved to my current home in the fall of last year. 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 space 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 this spring, and planted them. And now I have to wait. They say you’re not supposed to harvest asparagus for at least a couple of years to let the new bed establish, but I found that pretty much impossible to do…I have to have at least a bit of a taste.

Hoping to get some spears next season!

In the meantime, I can only look back at my previous success with asparagus…

The home garden is already showing signs of activity. Overwintered dill and arugula seeds are sprouting. And cool weather seeds that I’ve sown early: peas, turnips, radishes, and others are doing the same.

asparagus2013

Asparagus is really easy to grow. You just need the space, and the plants practically do the rest.
Space them about a foot apart, and before you know it, you will have a vast network of tasty stalks sprouting through the soil every spring. They are so much better than anything you can buy in a supermarket.
In the start of the growing season, the stalks don’t even make it into the house. I cut them and just eat them straight out of the garden. Eventually, they make the move to the kitchen, where I love to simply place them on a baking sheet and drizzle a little olive oil over them. Salt and pepper…and then in a 400-degree oven until they’ve caramelized.
Sometimes I toss some tasty chives with blossom buds on top of the asparagus and roast.

In the past, I’ve had I so much asparagus that I just didn’t know what to do with them all. So I started pickling them…a really easy process that ensured I had delicious asparagus well into the summer.

Several bunches of asparagus spears
2 cups white vinegar
1 cup cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 cups water
20 peppercorns
Garlic cloves, peeled
Kosher salt (1 teaspoon per quart-sized Mason jar. Use less for smaller jars.)
Bring the vinegar, water, sugar and peppercorns to a boil. Set the pan aside.
Trim the bottom of the asparagus spears so that the spears are just slightly shorter than the height of the quart-sized Mason jar you will use. Or cut them into pieces that will fit smaller jars.
Pack the jars as tightly as you can with the asparagus spears. (They will shrink when processed.) Add the garlic clove and 1 teaspoon of salt to every quart-sized Mason jar…less for smaller jars.
Fill the jars with the vinegar mixture and seal them tightly.
Process the jars for 10 minutes. Let them cool before placing them in the refrigerator. If you know you’re going to eat all the asparagus in the next week, processing isn’t really necessary.

DOES YOUR PEE SMELL FUNNY WHEN YOU EAT ASPARAGUS?

Asparagus has a sulfur-containing compound identified by scientists as methyl mercaptan. A colorless gas, this compound is also found in blood, feces, garlic, eggs, cheese and even skunk secretions. Another ingredient found in asparagus is asparagine. Present in foods like dairy products, seafood, poultry, fish and nuts, this amino acid is known to have a distinctive smell when heated. To metabolize both methyl mercaptan and asparagine, your body needs to break these compounds down and it’s this breakdown that’s responsible for your urine’s strange smell.

Since both methyl mercaptan and asparagine are associated with the sense of smell, there is debate over which ingredient is actually responsible for the asparagus-urine phenomenon. It could be one, or both.

Many people claim that, regardless of asparagus consumption, their urine does not smell. There are multiple theories about that as well. The first claims that everyone’s urine is in fact affected by asparagus, but only about half of the population have the specific gene that is required to smell the change. On the other hand, the second theory states that only half of the world’s population has the gene that’s required to break down the compounds found in asparagus and, if the body doesn’t break them down, no smell is emitted. In fact, one study published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology found that only 46 percent of British people tested produced the odor while 100 percent of French people tested did. So whatever the reason, asparagus will forever be known as the vegetable that makes your urine smell strange.

FIRST NIGHT IN PORTO, PORTUGAL

Posted: April 8, 2026 in Uncategorized
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I’m back from my trip already! I guess I had such a great time, that I didn’t get a chance to post more photos! My first night in Porto, I had dinner at a wonderful steak restaurant called Cumplice Steakhouse and Bar, just a short walk from my Intercontinental hotel, and just a few blocks away from the Mercado do Bolhão.

What I was about to realize was that the food and the people everywhere in Portugal, are wonderful. Although I spent almost a year on Duolingo, trying to learn some basic Portuguese, they easily spot an American tourist from a mile away and most know the English language. So I never felt completely lost.

Negroni
Beef tartare
A perfect steak
Side roasted veg
Dessert with port wine
And a little more port wine!
A bit jetlagged, but happy.

PORTUGAL: PORTO

Posted: March 29, 2026 in Uncategorized
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Porto is the first stop on my trip, and I always try to visit the old market in town. Mercado do Bolhão did not disappoint!

Yep, these are what they look like. Traditional to inspire fertility. Or so I am told. You can find them in many places in Portugal. They come as a pastry or more like a cookie.

PULLED PORK ARONCINI

Posted: March 26, 2026 in Uncategorized
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I was minding my own business, watching an episode of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” on Food Network. Guy Fieri went from a barbecue joint to an Italian restaurant. Pulled pork at the BBQ place, arancini at the Italian. Then it hit me….

It just so happened that I had slow-roasted a pork shoulder that day. It just so happened that I had an opened box of Arborio rice I wanted to use up. It just so happened that I had several containers of homemade chicken stock in the freezer, an open bottle of white wine in the fridge, already opened packages of mozzarella and Parmigiano Reggiano, and a small container of ricotta. And I just made a batch of tomato sauce from my garden tomatoes.

I mean, come on! This recipe practically wrote itself!

First, I made the risotto. There were 3 cups of Arborio rice left in the package, so I used it all up…

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups Arborio rice
2/3 cup dry white wine
10 cups (or so) homemade chicken broth
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano

I brought the chicken broth to a low simmer in a saucepan.

In a large skillet, I warmed the olive oil and rice over medium heat for a few minutes.
I added the wine and sautéed for another minute or two, until it had been absorbed.
I added the hot broth to the rice about a half-cup at a time, stirring until the broth absorbed completely each time before doing more.

I continued adding the broth a half-cup at a time and stirring until it was fully absorbed and the rice was Al dente and creamy, not mushy. This usually takes about 20 minutes…and you don’t always have to use up all the broth.

I removed the pan from the heat, and stirred in the Parmigiano Reggiano.
I set it aside and let it cool.

In a saucepan, I warmed the tomato sauce up.

Meanwhile, I chopped the mozzarella up into small cubes, a little bigger than a 1/4″ square.

I took the pork out of the fridge, and finely chopped up about a pound of it. I didn’t know if I would need that much, but it was a good start. I added about a 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese to it, mixing well, making it into a paste.

Using a scoop, I made small meatballs out of the pork mixture, pushing a cube of mozzarella into each one before rolling it into a little meatball.

Then, scooping up some of the cooled risotto with my hands, I molded it around the meatball, forming a larger rice ball, setting aside on a tray.

I used plain gluten-free breadcrumbs in this recipe to keep it GF, but regular breadcrumbs are just fine. I like to make my own breadcrumbs by toasting GF bread and then putting it in a food processor. This gets it to a crumbly stage. If I want it fine, I move the breadcrumbs to a blender to grind it down to almost a powder, first adding oregano, parsley, basil, salt, pepper, granulated garlic and granulated onion, then blending well.

With the oil in my fryer hot and ready to go at 350 degrees, I roll each rice ball in the egg, and then the seasoned breadcrumbs.

Then I place them gently in the fryer, being careful not to overcrowd them.

I fry them until they’re golden brown.

I place the fried arancini on a wire rack to cool, sprinkling them with sea salt while they’re still hot.

ASIAN STYLE GRILLED CHICKEN THIGHS

Posted: March 25, 2026 in Uncategorized
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Chicken thighs are the best: their fat content makes them perfect for the grill because they don’t dry out like chicken breasts do. And I always leave the skin on for extra crispy flavor. I bought a package of chicken thighs the other day and decided to go Asian with my flavors, baking them in the oven so that they cook evenly, and then finishing them off on the grill to get that delicious smokey flavor and char.

I marinated the chicken thighs in the sauce for several hours before cooking. If you have the opportunity to marinate them overnight in the fridge, that’s even better. Just remember that if you want to use the marinade as a dipping sauce later on, divide it in half from the very beginning. Use half to marinate the chicken, and save the other half for later. If any of the marinade touches raw chicken, you can’t use it as a dipping sauce. (Salmonella!) So keep them separated.

 

3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup Chinese chili garlic sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mixing well. Use half of it to marinate the chicken, and save the other half for dipping sauce or brushing on to the chicken later.

The Bell & Evans chicken thighs that I bought came in a package that works perfectly for marinating. One less thing to clean up!

If you’re cooking the same day, let the chicken marinate at room temperature for three hours. If you’re marinating overnight in the fridge, let the chicken come to room temperature before cooking.

 

Preheat the oven to 325°.

 

Place the chicken thighs on a sheet pan and bake until they are cooked through.…but not overcooked. If you’re not using the grill, place them under the broiler and watch them carefully, as the sugars in the marinade could burn. Give them some nice char.

If you’re using the grill, light a fire and spread the coals so that you have a medium-hot flame. Grill the chicken thighs until they have a beautiful char on them, being careful not to burn them. Brush more of the marinade on them as they cook, if you like.

Serve the chicken thighs with the dipping sauce on the side.

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