Today I’m delighted to offer a Columbus Day recipe from chef Roberto Grazioli, executive chef to the Ambassador of Italy to the United States, Claudio Bisogniero, and his wife, Laura Denise. The Italian Embassy is a very popular place in Washington; people are eager to be invited to enjoy Italian delicacies, great wines, and good music. Claudio and Laura Denise are frequent and gifted hosts, whether at the embassy or at their residence, Villa Firenze. Villa Firenze is a grand estate […]
Mexican food is deeply complex, rich food that employs unusual pairings and exotic flavors, and, for me, it is profoundly, almost spiritually, satisfying. When I was in college, I studied for a semester in Puebla, where the specialty was mole poblano, a chocolate and chili sauce that is often served on poultry. I thought it would be disgusting, but it was startlingly different from anything I had ever eaten before, like food from another planet. I loved the experience of […]
I grew up on a grape farm in northeastern Ohio. It was an idyllic place with orchards and vineyards, green woods to play in, and a fishing pond ringed with wild roses. We lived on the farm with my grandmother until I was five, while my parents saved up to build their own house down the road. My grandmother used to make this soup whenever we had fresh dill in the garden. It was her variation on potato soup, which […]
It’s beginning to dawn on me that entirely too many of my food posts are desserts. This reflects my natural predilection for baking (as well, I suppose, as a personal preference for anything sweet). Like Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation, I believe you can never eat too many waffles with whipped cream. To redress this imbalance, I want to share a recipe adapted from Country Life magazine. If you’re not familiar with Country Life, it’s a British magazine that […]
My mother-in-law was not known as a great cook. Whenever she would offer to cook, my father-in-law would leap from his chair and say, “You look tired, Sal. Let’s go out.” That ploy seemed to suit everyone most of the time, but even people who claim not to cook usually have at least one dish they can prepare, despite their lack of interest or experience. For my mother-in-law, it was her beef brisket with potatoes and carrots. My husband still […]
