February 2008 archives

I recently got hooked on Le Grand Perdant 2. Unlike French cinema, which has a way of importing the best of America, French television has a way of importing the worst of America. Which often means reality shows. I have little patience for watching women named Bambi and Jennie compete for husbands named Tristan and Chad, but at least this one has a positive spin.

Even people voted off have achieved a personal goal of fitness and weight loss. So The Biggest Loser 2 isn’t necessarily The Biggest Winner. Call me sappy, but it’s nice to see a program where competitors support each other to achieve their goals.

I guess I’ve been away from the states for too long…I know, I know…pas américain!

Continue Reading Butterscotch Pudding Recipe…

One of the questions I’m rather frequently-asked is for romantic restaurant recommendations in Paris.

It’s not that I don’t go out to eat. It’s just that I don’t get asked out to romantic restaurants, so I wouldn’t know. Most of the time, I’m lucky if a paramour plops a falafel in my hands on the rue de Rosiers or I’m sharing a nasty bowl of stag stew with sex writers and rugby players—which someone commented made me look kinda ‘horny’.

Continue Reading Romantic Restaurants in Paris…

If I had to name my top three desserts, in that too-brief list would be Black & White Cookies. I can’t visit New York without having at least one per day, although it’s getting tougher and tougher to find a decent one there. On my last trip I found a lot of shrink-wrapped cookies, but there’s nothing like biting into a jumbo-sized fluffy disk of cake that’s been twice-smeared with chocolate and vanilla icing, left naked and exposed to the world, so the icing gets crispy. And when you bite in, the dry outside crackles a bit but the inside is still soft and the icing is just a touch gooey.

But trying to explain all that to a Parisian ain’t easy. Some things just don’t translate.

Continue Reading Black & White Cookies…

There’s a debate in the blogging community, that some of you may not be privy to—or more likely, give a hoot about—concerning gifts from companies. I’m always reading these things on bulletin boards, such as…“I’m really conflicted. Mercedes-Benz would like to upgrade the S-class sedan they gave me last year with a convertible, but if I accept it, does that compromise my integrity?”

And I’m, like, “Dude, take the upgrade!…and kill the blog!”

Not that I’d want to be apart from you for too long. But if it was me, I’d take the car, go on a very long trip, and when I came back, donate the car to charity and start a new blog.

(Reality Check Time: Figure out which of those previous statements isn’t true.)

Continue Reading Petrossian Caviar in Paris…

I don’t know where they get these, and I don’t really care. But if you stop in da rosa and don’t pick up a bag of them, you’re making a terrible mistake.

These little dusty ovals of chocolate enrobe a Marcona almond tucked in the middle and there’s just a touch for the smoky taste of pimente d’Espelette, the bright-red Basque chili powder that I like to sprinkle over everything from pumpkin purée to chocolate-peanut bark. Once I open the bag of Pimandes, it’s assured that the rest will soon be history.

To be honest, I wanted to show you the inside of one.

Really I did.

Continue Reading Pimandes: Chocolate Covered Almonds with Chile…

I’ve been doing a dance with my oven all week. We’ve been circling each other; it mocking me because I’m afraid of being nailed by the door.

I, on the other hand, have a thing about eating. Call me crazy.

So we’ve tentatively called a truce for the next few days until I can get a handle on things around here.

Because I also need to get a handle on the massive amount of kimchi I’ve got fermenting around here (and there’s more to come, if you can believe it…), I pulled up a great recipe that I’d tucked away from Arthur Schwartz’s website for Olympic Seoul Chicken.

New Yorkers will remember Arthur as the host of a popular radio program in the city for well over a decade and he’s knowledgeable about everything from traditional Neapolitan cooking to where to get the best babka in the Big Apple.

Continue Reading The Olympic Seoul Chicken Recipe…

This weekend, I’ll be featured in an episode of Diary of a Foodie.

Click on the link to watch the entire episode.