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MY BEEF STROGANOFF

Posted: January 14, 2026 in Uncategorized
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Beef Stroganoff is a classic dish that I remember from my childhood. It’s easy to make and really satisfying, and you can add or remove ingredients as you wish to make it your own.


This is a recipe that is easily changed to accommodate your personal tastes, so feel free to do so. For example, the classic recipe uses sliced white mushrooms. I had some dried porcini in my stash–much more intense in favor–but I like that, so I used them. Classic stroganoff uses egg noodles. I went with bucatini pasta. And the beef is usually a cut like flank steak, but I like using beef flap. Just be sure to slice the meat thinly and against the grain to keep it really tender.

This recipe makes a lot, so feel free to cut the ingredients in half for a smaller batch.

And if your family doesn’t like mushrooms, substitute some good beef broth to get extra flavor.

 

2 lbs. beef flap, trimmed and cut into thin strips
1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter
1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
2 cups sour cream, at room temperature
salt and pepper

 

Place the dried porcini in a sauce pan with about 1 1/2 cups of water. Set it on high heat and let it boil until the liquid has reduced to about 1/2 a cup. Set it aside. When it has cooled a bit, strain off the liquid into a glass and chop up the mushrooms on a cutting board.


 

Melt a couple of tablespoons of the butter in a large pan, and start browning the beef in small batches, placing the cooked beef in a bowl on the side while you add more beef to the pan. Don’t overcrowd the pan or the beef will steam and not brown. It may take a few batches to get all the beef cooked.



 

Once the beef is done, in the same pan, toss in the chopped onions with a little more of the butter and sauté until they’re translucent. You can add some of the mushroom liquid to the pan now, to deglaze it and remove some of the yummy bits stuck to the bottom.




Add what’s left of the butter to the pan, then add the mushrooms and the tarragon. Season well with salt and pepper and add the rest of the mushroom liquid, being careful not to pour out any grit that may have settled to the bottom of the glass. Cook until it has thickened a bit.


 


 

You can stop preparations at this point until you’re ready to serve your guests.

Place the pasta in a pot of salted boiling water and cook until al dente.

When the pasta is almost done, return the pan with the mushroom mixture to medium heat, and add the sour cream to it, mixing well. Add the beef and any juices that are in the bowl with it, mixing well.




  

Drain the pasta and serve the beef stroganoff immediately, seasoning with a finishing salt, like Maldon.


 

 

A LITTLE SPICE IS NICE CHICKEN

Posted: January 11, 2026 in Uncategorized
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I’m always goofing around with different spice blends, especially with chicken, because I probably cook it more than any other meat. Very often, I’ll just change up the blend depending on my mood, or what I first see when I open up the spice cabinet.

This was one of those days. But it came out great!

This time, I used a whole bird, and I spatchcocked it before seasoning and cooking. Spatchcocking is the process of cutting down both sides of the backbone of the chicken, so you can lay it flat in the pan. This way, the bird cooks more evenly. (Always save the backbone for future chicken stock.)

In many cases, before I season a piece of meat, I rub it with oil to help the seasonings stick. This time, I tried something a little unusual: I rubbed it all over with maple syrup! Then I seasoned both sides of the bird well.

Season both sides of the bird, after rubbing it with maple syrup.

1/4 cup brown sugar.
1/4 cup sweet paprika
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 tablespoon granulated onion
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon mustard powder
Maple syrup

Combine all the ingredients, except the maple syrup, in a bowl.

Spatchcock the chicken. Spread it out flat in a pan.

Rub the chicken all over with the maple syrup.

Rub all sides of the chicken with the spices and put it back in the fridge until one hour before cooking.

One hour before cooking, remove the chicken from the fridge and season again, if you think it needs it. Preheat the oven to 325° and bake until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°.

A little char is good! Cooking at a higher temperature may cause the sugars to burn.

BEEF STEW WITH PUFF PASTRY

Posted: January 7, 2026 in beef, Food, Recipes
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I was craving my recipe for a venison stew with puff pastry but I didn’t have any more venison in the fridge (I get it from a friend that hunts), and I didn’t want to drive 30 miles to the nearest Whole Foods, my only source for all-butter puff pastry dough.

So I decided to use beef, and stay local, by buying good ol’ Pepperidge Farms puff pastry (made with shortening) from my nearby supermarket. The final dish was pretty darn good after all!

My original venison stew dish was pretty intense, using dark beer and adding mushrooms to the mix. The venison was wild, not farmed, with a gamier flavor. This recipe turned down the intensity a bit, but the flavors were all there: I used a combination of a lighter beer and homemade chicken stock. I used beef London broil instead of venison. And I left out the mushrooms, adding more carrots, onions, and celery.

olive oil
3 lbs. beef, cubed into 3/4″ pieces (I like London Broil)
3 yellow onions
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or through a press
6 carrots, sliced thin
6 celery stalks, sliced thin
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
16 oz. chicken stock (preferably homemade)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 bottle beer (I had a Pilsner Urquell sitting around)
12 oz. grated cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 box (17.3 oz.) frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed for 40 minutes
1 raw egg, scrambled

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Heat a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and add the onions. Sauté them until they’re translucent, and then add the garlic. Stir it around for 10 seconds.

Add the carrots and celery, a teaspoon each of salt and pepper, and the fresh thyme. Stir, cover the pan with a lid to help wilt the veggies, and cook for a few minutes.

Heat the chicken stock in a separate saucepan to boiling, then turn the heat off.

Meanwhile, add the butter to another frying pan and melt it. Add the flour to the butter, and whisk it all together until you’ve got a light roux. While whisking, slowly add the chicken stock to the pan with the butter and flour, and let it thicken. Keep stirring to avoid lumps. Set it aside.

Remove the lid from the veggie pan and pour the veggies into a large baking pan (I like a lasagna pan). Using the same frying pan you cooked the veggies in, add 2 more tablespoon of olive oil and brown the beef cubes. You may need to do this in several batches if the pan isn’t big enough. (You don’t want to steam the beef. You want to brown it.)

Scoop the beef cubes out of the frying pan, placing them in the baking pan with the veggies, leaving the oil and drippings behind, then add another batch of beef to the frying pan. Only once all the beef is browned, do you pour the entire contents of that pan into the baking pan with the veggies. Mix everything well.

Add the bottle of beer to the baking pan and mix well.

Add the thickened chicken stock to the baking pan and mix well.

Before cooking.

After 90 minutes of cooking.

Cover the baking pan with foil or a lid and place it in the oven. Cook for 90 minutes.

After 90 minutes, remove the foil from the pan, give it all a stir, and place the foil back on the pan, returning to the oven for 60 minutes more.

After 60 more minutes of cooking. Still a bit watery, so I need to reduce it.

After 60 minutes, remove the foil from the pan and stir again. It should be thick, like a stew. At this point, if your stew is still watery, pour it into a large pan on the stovetop and heat to reduce it. If it looks good, pour it into the pan anyway so you can clean and dry the baking pan for the next steps.

Add the cheddar cheese to the stew once it looks nice and thick, and mix well. Turn the heat off the stovetop.

Wash and dry the baking pan you used, and then butter the inside of it well.

Take the thawed puff pastry sheets and gently roll them with a rolling pin until they’re about 1/8″ thick. Then use 1 sheet to line the bottom and sides of the baking pan, saving the second sheet for the top.

Before rolling…

…and after.

Pour the stew from the pan on the stovetop into the baking pan with the puff pastry sheet lining the bottom and sides.

Then gently lay the second puff pastry sheet over the top of the stew, tucking it in if necessary.

Take the scrambled egg and brush the puff pastry with the egg wash.

Bake in the 375-degree of oven for about 45 minutes, or until the puff pastry is golden brown.

I like to serve peas on the side with this dish, rather than putting them in the stew, to keep them turning into mush.

Mashed potatoes optional!

PASTA WITH FIVE CHEESES

Posted: January 4, 2026 in Uncategorized
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Al Forno in Providence, RI, is a legendary Italian restaurant that was established in 1980 and has graced the pages of many a food magazine ever since. Chefs Johanne Killeen and George Germon made it a culinary destination, creating dishes that many have copied, but never equaled. 

One of those creations was the grilled pizza. These days, you can find grilled pizzas just about anywhere in the country, but it was Al Forno that started it all.

Sadly, George Germon passed away in 2015, but the restaurant continues. And although the menu offers a wide variety of dishes, the one my daughter and I crave–that isn’t on the menu–is their 5-cheese pasta dish. It’s not baked ziti. It’s not lasagna. It’s something way beyond.

 

Taking the recipe from one of Johanne and George’s cookbooks, my daughter and I decided that we would re-create this magical dish at home as best we could.

One element obviously missing in our home is a wood-fired oven, something Al Forno uses.

And looking at their list of 5 cheeses (mozzarella, Pecorino Romano, fontina, ricotta and gorgonzola), I found that gorgonzola was a bit of a surprise. Having had the 5-cheese pasta dish at least 4 times at Al Forno, I never detected even a hint of blue cheese. In fact, if I would have, I don’t think I would’ve ordered it again. So we chose to remove the gorgonzola and add another favorite, sharp provolone, instead. It turned out to be an excellent choice.

 

Other than that, we stayed true to the recipe, using shell pasta because that’s what we always got at the restaurant.

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup chopped canned tomatoes in heavy puree (San Marzano’s, if you can get ’em)
4 oz. thinly sliced mozzarella cheese
1.5 oz. grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1.5 oz. coarsely shredded Fontina cheese
1.5 oz. grated Provolone cheese
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt, plus more for the pasta water
6 fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
1 lb. conchiglie (medium shell) pasta
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, sliced thinly
Shavings of raw scallion for garnish (optional)

Preheat the oven to 500°, or as close to it as your oven will get.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients except the pasta and the butter. Stir well to combine.

Drop the pasta in the boiling water and parboil it for about 4 minutes. Drain it in a colander and add it to the ingredients in the mixing bowl. Combine it well.

Divide the pasta mixture into small ceramic dishes, or just use one large baking dish. You want it to sit in a relatively shallow 1-inch layer.

 

Dot the top of the dish with the butter, and bake it until it’s bubbly and brown, about 7 to 10 minutes at 500…a little longer at lower temperatures.

Funny how help arrives when it’s all about pasta and cheese!

It’s the creamiest, cheesiest pasta dish you’ll ever have…and everyone will fight over those little charred pasta shells!

Optional: When I ordered this dish at Al Forno, they would top it with thin shavings of raw scallion on top. I loved that touch and do that at home as well.

 

JUSTANOTHERRIB RECIPE

Posted: January 2, 2026 in Uncategorized
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Yeah, it’s cold outside. But sometimes, only ribs will do.

The classic “Adams Ribs” episode of M*A*S*H is one of my favorites. Hawkeye’s speech about the city of Chicago said it all: “Chicago. Hog butcher for the world. Toolmaker. Stacker of wheat. Player with railroads and the nation’s freight handler. Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders. Sandberg knew, Radar. Spareribber for the universe! Maker of meat on a bone! The home of the pigsicle! Give me your tired, your poor… your cole slaw.”

There’s a million ways to make great pork ribs….and only a few ways to really ruin them. So, yeah, here’s another rib recipe. But it’s good.

I like using Berkshire pork St. Louis style ribs. They’re fattier than beef ribs, so I don’t have to worry as much about them drying out. I always remove the skin on the back of the ribs before rubbing them down with my spice rub.

 

Rubbed-down ribs. I let them sit for an hour at room temp before smoking.

8 to 10 lbs. pork ribs
spice rub (see below)
barbecue sauce (see below)

 

Spice rub

2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon salt (I like using fine sea salt)
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon celery seed (not celery salt)
1 tablespoon granulated onion

 

Combine all the spice rub ingredients. I like to grind the celery seed in a spice grinder before mixing with the others, so that I don’t get crunchy bits.

If the pork rib slabs are long, cut them in half so they’re easier to work with (and so they fit in the smoker!)

Rub the ribs with the spice rub, and place them in a 250° oven or smoker. Place a pan of water underneath to keep them moist and to catch any grease that drips down. I use an electric smoker, so during those 3 hours of cooking, I add hickory chips once an hour.

 

After 3 hours of smoking with hickory chips. I place one rack on top of another, brushing them with sauce, then wrapping them in foil.

 

While the ribs are cooking, it’s time to make the barbecue sauce. I like a citrus-based, sweeter sauce, and this time, I had some mandarin oranges in the kitchen. But you can easily substitute regular oranges, lemons, limes or even grapefruit for this recipe.

1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup mandarin orange juice (or other citrus juice)
zest of 2 mandarin oranges (or other citrus)
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon hot sauce (I like Frank’s Red Hot)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

 

Brushed with sauce before wrapping in foil for the last 2 hours of cooking.

 

Remove the ribs from the smoker, place them individually on a piece of aluminum foil, and brush them with the barbecue sauce on all sides. Wrap them completely with the foil and place them on a baking sheet in a pre-heated 250° oven. Cook for 2 hours more.

Why cut them into individual ribs when you know you’re going to eat the rack anyway?

 

 

 

 

 

NEW YORK STYLE CHEESECAKE

Posted: December 31, 2025 in Uncategorized
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Happy new year! If you’re not dieting, this is a great way to start the new year! 😆

This recipe is not only delicious, but it results in a perfectly cooked cheesecake with no cracking.

One of the keys to a great cheesecake right is placing it in a water bath while baking. But if the springform pan allows water in (and they all do), it creates problems. The solution is to foil-wrap the springform pan really well.

But first, the crust…

1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, from 12 whole crackers
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 375° and set an oven rack in the lower middle position.

Here’s the crucial part: Wrap a 9- or 10-inch springform pan with one large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil, covering the underside and extending all the way to the top so there are no seams on the bottom or sides of the pan. Just to make sure, repeat this process with another sheet of foil for insurance. This keeps the water bath out of your cheesecake, so do a thorough job of it!

Then spray the inside of the pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar, and salt. Stir until it’s well combined. Press the crumbs into an even layer on the the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, until set. Remove the pan from the oven and set it aside.


 

32 oz. (four 8-oz. blocks) cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups sugar 
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon packed lemon zest, from 1 lemon
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, from 1 lemon 
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 large eggs 
1/2 cup sour cream

 

Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. Boil some water.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and flour together on medium speed until just smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to be sure the mixture is evenly combined.

Add the vanilla, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt. Beat on low speed until it’s all just combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed until incorporated, scraping the bowl as necessary. Mix in the sour cream. Make sure the batter is uniform but don’t over-mix it.

By now, the oven should be cooled to 325°.

Set the cheesecake pan in a large roasting pan. Pour the batter on top of the crust. Pour the boiling water into the large roasting pan to come about 1 inch up the side of the cake pan.

Bake until the cake is just set, 1 hour and 30 minutes to 1 hour and 45 minutes (the cake should wobble just a bit when the pan is nudged). Remember: the cake will continue to cook outside of the oven before it cools!

Carefully remove the roasting pan from the oven and set it on a wire rack. Cool the cheesecake in the water bath until the water is just warm, about 45 minutes.

Remove the springform pan from the water bath and discard the foil. If necessary, run a thin-bladed knife around the edge of the cake to make sure it’s not sticking to the sides (which can cause cracks as it cools), then cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to cool for at least 8 hours or overnight.

After 8 hours, remove the sides of the springform pan. I like to serve the cheesecake right from the base of the pan. I’ve found that trying to remove the pan base only messes up the crust.

The secret to slicing beautiful pieces of cheesecake is to slice with a sharp knife, rinsing it in warm water and wiping it dry between every slice. 

AN UPDATE: I recently tried this recipe again, only to realize at the last minute that I lost my springform pan when I moved a year ago! All I had was a (relatively new, non-stick) baking pan, so I figured I’d give it a try. I knew my ingredients would taste good. I just didn’t know if I’d be able to get the cheesecake out of the pan!

The good news is: it cooked properly and tasted great!

The bad news is: it was a bit messy slicing it and removing it cleanly from the baking pan.

But baking a cheesecake without a springform pan can be done!

WHISKEY SLUSH

Posted: December 28, 2025 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, Food, mixology, Uncategorized
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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!

Whiskey slush

9 cups water
2 cups sugar
4 “Constant Comment” tea bags
12 oz. frozen OJ concentrate
12 oz. frozen lemonade concentrate
2 cups whiskey (I use Crown Royal)
7-Up or Sprite

Boil the water and sugar, making sure the sugar dissolves. Turn off the heat and steep the tea bags in the liquid for 10 minutes. Discard the tea bags.

Add the OJ, lemonade and whiskey. Mix well, then pour it all into a freezable container with a lid. Freeze.

To serve: Scoop the slush out of the container (it doesn’t freeze solid) and mix it in a tall glass with 7-Up.

If you’re concerned about all that sugar, you can use a sugar substitute in the mix, and diet soda at the end. Some stores also carry low-sugar juice concentrates.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH TOMATO, GARLIC AND OLIVES

Posted: December 24, 2025 in chicken, Food, Recipes
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I was craving comfort food, and I didn’t want to go to the store, so I looked in the pantry and fridge for tasty ingredients, and went this route. There are many similar versions of this dish out there, using different cuts of chicken–or a whole bird cut up. I just happened to find a great deal on organic drumsticks at the store, so I went with that. But you should use any cut of chicken that is your favorite.

 

It takes about an hour to prepare this dish from start to finish, so it’s something you could even cook on a weeknight…and it’s certainly easy enough to double the recipe if guests are coming over.

 

It starts in the pan!

 

Traditionally, this is cooked in a large cast iron skillet, started on the stovetop, then placed in the oven. I choose to cook mine in a baking pan that fit my smaller convection oven, so I started everything on the stovetop, then made the transfer to the baking pan.

 

Now that the chicken has seared, we start the veggies.

 

If I’m on a diet, calories matter. Chicken drumsticks aren’t all that bad in the calorie count: about 100 calories for a medium-sized drumstick (whatever medium is)…and that’s with the skin on. No need to get into exact gram weight measurements here, but the real calories come later when you add a starch to the dish. It does go really well with pasta, rice or potatoes. (My choice would be fresh Italian bread to really sop up the sauce!) But alas…I had none of those. Just a salad on the side.

I go with organic ingredients whenever possible, especially kale, which is on the “Dirty Dozen” produce list almost every year. It gets sprayed a lot.

 

If sodium is not a problem for you, add more olives!

 

3–4 lbs. organic, pastured chicken drumsticks (about 12 medium)
salt, pepper and paprika
olive oil
2 small yellow onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, squeezed through a press
1 teaspoon each: dried oregano, parsley, and thyme
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock (homemade is best)
dry white wine (optional)
1/4 cup olives, sliced in half (I like green olives from Greece)
4 cups organic chopped kale (optional)

Pre-heat an oven to 350 degrees.

Season the chicken drumsticks with salt, pepper, and a bit of paprika.

Put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a hot pan. Add the chicken to the pan, and sear the drumsticks on all sides, getting them nice and brown. It’ll take about 10–15 minutes.

Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and add the chopped onions to the same pan. Let them cook for a few minutes until they’re translucent, then add the garlic. Let the garlic cook for about 10 seconds, then add the oregano, parsley, and thyme. Now add the tomato paste and stir it all around, cooking it for just a minute to caramelize it and give it more flavor.

Pour in the can of tomatoes and the chicken stock, stirring well. (A splash of wine is optional at this point.) Add the olives and let the sauce cook for a few minutes.

 

The sauce is all happy, and ready for the baking pan.

 

Pour the sauce into the baking pan. Add the chicken drumsticks to the pan, nestling them in the sauce. (I like to roll them around in it to cover all sides.)

Place the pan in the oven to cook.

After 30 minutes, remove the pan from the oven, and remove the drumsticks from the sauce, moving them onto a plate.

 

It looks like a lot of kale, but it withers down. Remember: go organic!

 

Take the kale and place it in the baking pan, tossing it around in the sauce. The sauce is hot, so the kale will start to wither and meld into the sauce in about a minute.

 

The kale’s withered down, and the chicken goes back in.

Now return the chicken drumsticks back to the baking pan, nestling them in the sauce again. Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and let the pan rest in the oven until you’re ready to serve.

Turn the oven off, but keep the door closed to keep the chicken warm.

 

Where’s that bread?…

THE BEST OF TWO CLASSIC PASTA DISHES

Posted: December 21, 2025 in carbonara, fleur de sel, Food, guanciale, Italian, pork, pork jowl, pork jowls, Recipes
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Spaghetti alla Carbonara and Fettuccine Alfredo are my daughter’s two favorite pasta dishes. When she couldn’t decide which one she wanted for dinner one night, I decided that she’d get both! (Yes, I spoil her rotten!)

 

 

The addition of chicken and peas made for a more balanced plate. This is now one of my go-to dishes when guests arrive, since many parts can be prepared ahead of time.

 

fullsizerender-4

 

Start with the chicken…

The breading for the chicken is bread that I’ve toasted, crumbled and put into a food processor to make breadcrumbs. I get a lot more flavor this way than using store-bought breadcrumbs from a can. I add flour to it to lighten it up.

For a  gluten-free version, I buy Udi’s gluten-free bread, toast it, and put it in the food processor to make delicious GF breadcrumbs. Then I add it in the same proportions as listed in this recipe with GF flour.

1/2 lb. chicken breasts, cut into 1″ pieces
1 egg, scrambled
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon granulated onion
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
olive oil, for frying

Scramble the egg in a bowl. Cut the chicken into pieces, and add them to the egg, making sure they get evenly coated. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine the bread crumbs, flour, parsley, oregano, basil, garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Fill a pan with about an inch of olive oil. Heat to medium-high, for frying.

In batches not to overcrowd the pan, take the chicken pieces out of the egg and toss them in the bread crumb mixture, shaking off the excess. Place them carefully in the hot oil and fry on both sides until golden. Since they’re small pieces, they should cook all the way through easily. Drain on a plate covered with paper towels. Do this with all the chicken and set it aside. Try not to eat it all before you make the rest of the dish! (This chicken can also be eaten as is–these are my daughter’s favorite nuggets–or used with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese to make a delicious chicken parmigiana.)

 

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The carbonara factor…

Many recipes for Spaghetti alla Carbonara use pancetta or bacon. But the original recipe calls for guanciale: cured (but not smoked) pig jowls, or cheeks. It’s easy enough to find in a good Italian food store, but I cure my own. I buy raw heritage Berkshire pork jowls from a farm that raises the pigs humanely, and cure the jowls for about 3 weeks in a combination of salt, pepper and fresh thyme leaves. Then I rinse them, pat them dry, and cut them into portion-sized pieces, wrapping them individually and freezing until I need them. It’s a lot of work, but to me, totally worth it.

3 oz. guanciale

If the guanciale is frozen, let it thaw just a little, then cut it into the smallest cubes you can manage. Place it in a pan and cook them until they’ve browned and crisped beautifully. Keep an eye on the pan, as guanciale can burn easily. Use the fried meat bits for this recipe and save the fat for flavoring a future dish! Set it aside.

 

The Alfredo sauce…

Despite what you get in crappy restaurants like Olive Garden, Alfredo sauce should not be runny or soupy. It should cling to the pasta and be rich in flavor. My Alfredo sauce is based on a recipe from the legendary Italian cookbook author, Marcella Hazan.

1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons butter
Fleur de Sel or sea salt
1 lb. pasta, fresh or dried
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
freshly ground black pepper

 

Put 2/3 of the cream and all the butter in a large saucepan that will later accommodate all the pasta. Simmer over medium heat for less than a minute, until the butter and cream have thickened a bit. Turn off the heat.

Drop the pasta in a bowl of boiling salted water. (Use gluten-free pasta, if you like.)  If the pasta is fresh, it will take just seconds. If it’s dry, it will take a few minutes. (Gluten-free pasta takes a little longer.) Either way, you want to cook the pasta even firmer than al dente, because it will finish cooking in the pan with the butter and cream. Drain the pasta immediately when it reaches that firm stage, and transfer it to the pan with the butter and cream, tossing the pasta gently for a few seconds to coat.

 

 

Turn the heat under the saucepan with the pasta on low, and add the rest of the cream, all the Parmigiano Reggiano, and a bit of pepper (no salt because there’s plenty in the guanciale and cheese.) Toss briefly until the sauce has thickened and the pasta is well-coated.

 

At this point, you don’t want the pasta to get too dry, so you add…

1 cup of frozen peas

…tossing gently to warm them through. Also add the cooked guanciale at this time.

 

With or without chicken, it’s delicious!

 

 

Plate the pasta in a bowl or dish and serve the chicken alongside.

 

 

 

 

 

THE CLASSIC SCORPION BOWL

Posted: December 19, 2025 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, mixology
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It had been a while since I made one of these, and my inventory of booze had changed a little bit. But the end result was still quite tasty.
First, the older recipe… And then the newer one below.
Most of the recipes for a Scorpion Bowl I found on-line don’t match the one that I’ve been using for many years. This recipe comes from a bartender (whose name I can’t remember–too many Scorpion Bowls, I guess) from a long-gone Chinese restaurant, China Garden, that was in Warwick, Rhode Island. A car dealership (Inskip) now stands in that spot. This is the best Scorpion Bowl I’ve ever had…and continue to have!
Make sure to use top shelf booze for this or you’ll be a “Suffering Bastard” the next morning! (A little Chinese restaurant drink humor…)

Look carefully, and you may see the flame coming out of the volcano! Hope I don’t need to tell you not to drink the 151 while it’s lit! And yes, it’s an old photo: Disaronno Originale hasn’t been called Amaretto di Saronno for a long time!

2 oz. light rum (I use Don Q silver)
2 oz. dark rum (I use Mount Gay)
1 oz. gin (I use Bombay Sapphire)
½ oz. brandy (I use E&J)
½ oz. Disaronno Originale
½ oz. Cointreau
6 oz. Pineapple juice
6 oz. Orange juice
½ oz. Bacardi 151 rum for the little cup in the volcano

In a blender half-full of ice, add all the alcohol, except the 151 rum. Add the pineapple juice and the orange juice.  (Use less if you like it stronger.) Give the drink a quick 1-second pulse in the blender, and pour it with all the ice into Scorpion Bowl or a very large glass or bowl. If you do have a Scorpion Bowl with the volcano in it, add the 151 rum to the bowl in the volcano. If not, you can mix the 151 into your drink.

 

Although all the proportions remain the same, my newer version had a few different brands than the old recipe.

My dark rum choice this time was a Rhode Island-based rum called Thomas Tew.

I went with the user-friendly Ford’s gin.

Grand Marnier is an excellent substitute for Cointreau.

And Gozio Amaretto is a real almond liqueur. Dissaronno strayed from their almond recipe decades ago, opting for cheaper stone fruits.

Proportions remain the same as the old recipe.

A long straw is good is you’re lazy.

Don’t drive!

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