A twist on the classic tomato pie pizza to usher in Pizza Season.

This October here in Baltimore has been a little cooler than it has been in recent years, so we brought out the Baking Steel on a recent Friday to start pizza season now rather than wait even a few weeks for it to get really cold and gloomy. For this time around, I kept it…

Trenette alla carrettiera with roasted garlic inspired by Made in Sicily.

This pasta dish is kind of a North-meets-South Italy mashup, as the trenette pasta shape originated in Genoa and Liguria, while the pasta sauce is one that is distinctly Sicilian. I went with the trenette for this particular dish because it’s been one of my favorite types to make recently; I received a trenette cutter…

Pan-fried trout filets with Giada De Laurentiis’s pea puree.

One skill I’m really working on in the kitchen right now is getting better with breaking down whole fish, but I will admit that if given the opportunity, I will still go with filets if they are available. This is particularly true with trout, because trout are small, have tons of pin bones , and…

Moorish-spiced chicken thigh salad with pistachios and citrus-yogurt dressing inspired by Spanish Diner in Mercado Little Spain.

We’re in the throes of August, and thanks to climate change, the heat this summer has been incredibly intense and therefore I’m fully in line with Michael about not turning on the stove until late September at the earliest at this point. This of course means that our Tuesday chicken thigh dinners have transferred to…

Recreating Boqueria’s Last Train to Priorat cocktail at home.

About a block and a half away from where we like to stay in Manhattan sits the Boqueria West 40th Street, easily one of the best places to get a bite to eat and a good drink in Times Square proper. More often than not I’m successful in convincing Michael to get a little more…

Fettuccine with prosciutto di Parma, Irish butter, and basil inspired by American Sfoglino.

I have to admit–ever since the decision came down two weeks ago (as I write this) about Roe v. Wade, my creative output has stalled. I was so thankful that I had already procured all of our groceries the day before for the week because the idea of having to think about what to make…

José Andrés’s Catalan sausages with pressure cooker beans.

If you travel out of New York City on Amtrak these days, you’re likely to end up in the Moynihan Train Hall part of Penn Station. Taking over what was the Farley Post Office Building, it’s a beautiful, soaring structure meant to be reminiscent of the old Penn Station that was knocked down in favor…

Quail simmered in white wine with garlic, sage, and rosemary, inspired by The Silver Spoon.

Quail is not something we have a lot, but it’s one of those proteins we’ll turn to if I’m seeking inspiration and we’ve recently have had everything from meatballs to cutlets to go along with my Sunday pastas. If you’re a fan of the dark meat on chicken, then you’ll love all of the quail,…

Crêpes with pickled ramp crème fraîche and scallions.

In Tom Colicchio’s cookbook Think Like a Chef, in his recipe for pickled ramps he suggests that you can make a really good sauce for fish by spooning a few teaspoons of the ramp pickling liquid into creme fraiche. I thought about this recently after I made my most recent batch of pickled ramps, and…

RampFest 2022: revisiting all of the hits made with my favorite spring vegetable.

It’s funny how much happiness $20 can buy, at least when it comes to acquiring five bunches of ramps at the Union Square Greenmarket during our trip to New York in April. To say I doted over those ramps in the hotel room–which, for the record, was kept at a very cold temperature to basically…