Tag Archives: the copycat chef

My friend Jib Girl served this clever passed dessert/hors d’oeuvre at a recent barbecue and was the envy of all the other cooks at the party. They may look like sliders, but they’re actually cookies assembled to look like mini hamburgers. Since they’re assembled from store-bought cookies and ingredients, they’re easy to make en masse for a crowd. Think of them as a very kid-friendly summer BBQ contribution.

Photo: Daniela Denaro

Be forewarned: Make this recipe once, and you may be asked to bring them to every party going forward. (more…)

This recipe is based on one that appeared in Bon Appetit this spring for an Easter menu. That soup was served hot, but fresh peas and mint seemed to call out for the cold soup treatment. This summery combination also benefits from the addition of cumin, a riff on a side of sugar snap peas with cumin and mint that once graced the table at the beloved bygone Grange Hall on Commerce Street.

Now that peas are in season in the Northeast and available at the Union Square Greenmarket, there’s no reason to fall back on the frozen kind. Pick up a pint of fresh shelled peas and you can easily make this simple but elegant first course. (more…)

Mayonnaise is the one ingredient that has the biggest effect on calories and fat content in salads like this one. Unless you have high cholesterol, however, there’s no reason to cut it out completely. Organic mayonnaise like Trader Joe’s contributes a lot of flavor and creamy texture even in small amounts. Just mix the salad well and you won’t be able to tell the difference.

I have a bunch of potted herbs from the Union Square greenmarket; whenever I’m making a dish like this one, I just snip a mixture of herbs and throw them in. If you don’t have tarragon, you can use a mixture of thyme, sage, etc. to taste. (more…)

This traditional New Orleans dish is great during a heat wave – or an average 95-degree summer day in Louisiana. Almost all the work is done by the food processor. It’s a favorite at Galatoire’s, where locals come in from the noonday heat to feast on cold seafood salad.

This recipe has been slightly northern-ized and modernized to incorporate more widely available ingredients (country Dijon instead of Creole mustard) – as well as my own preference for nice seasonal lettuce, not the shredded iceberg of yore.

Remember: support the American shrimping industry! Use wild-caught, domestic shrimp, which is strictly regulated compared to imported shrimp. (more…)

Food bloggers – they’re everywhere! Including, as it turns out, at our own Easter brunch, where I had the pleasure of re-meeting Kristen Taylor, who posts delicious  photos of food on her blog kthread. She was nice enough to share a photo of the meal, below, which included lamb, asparagus, and a spring greens frittata.

It’s always a good idea to have a vegetarian option when friends are coming over for a meal, because you never know who’s going to show up and what their dietary restrictions might be. A frittata made with an oniony mixture of spring greens seemed like the perfect way to ring in the new season. Of course, when I actually started to make it, I realized I’d forgotten the original recipe card, grabbed from the vegetable section at Whole Foods, so I’d have to wing it. Here is the resulting frittata recipe, cooked entirely on the stove top using a technique from Mark Bittman. (more…)