Fruits and Vegetables

Cookbook Tester: Hudson Valley Mediterranean by Laura Pensiero

Watermelon fennel salad with bluefish dijonnaise​ Hudson Valley Mediterranean is written by Laura Pensiero, the chef/owner of Gigi Trattoria in Rhinebeck, NY, and Gigi Market in Red Hook (not Brooklyn), NY. Pensiero presents the Hudson Valley as the "Napa of the East," and the book's recipes, ... More >>

Revisit: The General Greene

​ A few blocks east of Ft. Greene Park, the General Greene and its ice cream cart are a prominent fixture of the DeKalb dining scene. The General Greene came out of the paddock at a trot last August, then vaguely disappointed everyone with interesting-sounding food that was often poorly execu ... More >>

At the Greenmarket: Tomatoes, Pimientos de Padron

Incredibly sweet, low-acid cherry tomatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm​ Despite the tomato blight, the juicy fruits are plentiful at the Union Square Greenmarket right now, and not all of them will cost you your first-born child. Quality New Jersey beefsteaks and brandywines are go ... More >>

Recipe Improv: Goat, Prunes, and Smoked Paprika With Craftbar's Lauren Hirschberg

Give this man some goat​Welcome to Recipe Improv, in which Fork in the Road throws three disparate ingredients at a chef to see what he or she can come up with. (Check out the full series here.) This week's contestant is Lauren Hirschberg, chef de cuisine at Craftbar. Hirschberg has worked hi ... More >>

Recipe: Make Jawn Chasteen's Summer Tomato Salad

​Tomato blight may be our own faults, as Dan Barber put forth in today's Times op-ed. But, according to Jawn Chasteen, the executive chef at The Sea Grill, the severe early blight has also allowed us to more fully appreciate just how precious the juicy fruits are. "The current blight has brou ... More >>

Vegetarian Delights of NYC: Bharwaan Mushroom at Bhatti Indian Grill

​These stuffed mushrooms ("bharwaan" means "stuffed") from Bhatti Indian Grill have more going for them that the butter-sodden Western version of the dish. Cooked over a very hot open fire, the fat mushrooms get soft and caramelized around the edges. The caps are stuffed with a thin smear of f ... More >>

Long Green Eggplants Cause an Uproar

​ Looking more like Indian snake squashes (or pods from another planet!) than eggplants, these veggies created a stir at the Friday Union Square farmers market. Eggplants are slow-growing, often taking three months from seed to mature fruit. So, the heyday of the eggplant season tends to be A ... More >>

Recipe: Twilight Summer Gazpacho

​ Caution: This delightful soup can only be eaten by the water at sunset. (Click to illuminate) Hop on your bike and ride furiously to the nearest farmers market. You have just enough time to make Fork in the Road's summer twilight gazpacho before the sun sets--and nothing goes better with th ... More >>

Oh, Lord: Gwyneth Paltrow Roasts a Chicken

It's fine that Gwyneth Paltrow likes to roast a chicken--who doesn't like a nice roast chicken with potatoes? It's fine that she says she's de-boning it when she's really just butterflying it, that she only uses Maldon sea salt, that she uses the word "gorge" for "gorgeous." But honestly, Gwyneth, ... More >>

Cookbook Tester: The Iraqi Cookbook by Lamees Ibrahim

Iraqi zucchini and eggplant stew Our Man Sietsema has recently written about Iraqi food (and two weeks ago reviewed the first "out" Iraqi restaurant in the city)--good reminders that the country has a rich culinary tradition, and has much more going on than constant strife. Just two months ago, In ... More >>

Cookbook Tester: Quick and Easy Korean Cooking

Left: Sauteed eggplant; Right: Spicy buckwheat noodles topped with boolgogi Quality, accessible, authentic Korean cookbooks are hard to come by. Ably filling that gap is Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee's Quick and Easy Korean Cooking, which just came out in March. It's filled with more than 70 recipes, most o ... More >>

At the Greenmarket--Berries Galore

Berry season is in full swing at the Greenmarket right now. Practically every farmer's stand is overflowing with blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries, not to mention our favorite berries of all, cherries, which can be found in three varieties: beautiful yellow and blush Raniers, ... More >>

Cookbook Tester--Marcus Samuelsson's New American Table

Samuelsson's vegetable soup Last week, we brought you a recipe from Marcus Samuelsson's first book, The Soul of a New Cuisine. Samuelsson, of Aquavit, has a new cookbook coming out this October called New American Table. The new book is quite different from the first, which focused on the flavors ... More >>

Cookbook Tester--Marcus Samuelsson's The Soul of a New Cuisine

Malata Aquavit's Marcus Samuelsson has a new cookbook coming out this October, called the The New American Table. After a flip-through, it looks like the recipes are more home-cook-friendly than those in his last book, The Soul of a New Cuisine. That's the book we're cooking from today--a fat, beau ... More >>

The Early Word--Bklyn Larder

Rapini and ricotta sandwich Andrew Feinberg and Francine Stephens, the owners of the cultish pizza place Franny's, have opened a new specialty foods and sandwich shop, Bklyn Larder. I stopped in yesterday, on opening day. The shelves are stocked with a rather twee selection of goods--sherry vine ... More >>

Things We Hate--Green Bell Peppers

Why do green bell peppers even exist? They are simply unripe red bell peppers, inferior in every way to their ripened brethren. Green bell peppers are bitter and thin, and hard to choke down. Red bell peppers, on the other hand, are sweet and plush, and when cooked, turn lush and silky. How many t ... More >>

Sriracha, Spotted Everywhere

While eating with my in-laws at a stodgy fish restaurant in suburban Massachusetts, I asked the waiter for Sriracha, almost just to see what he would say. But he nodded knowingly, and brought out a dish of the red, garlicky hot sauce. That's when you know that Sriracha has hit the mainstream. That, ... More >>

Indian Mangoes Back in Stores

Every year about this time Indian mangoes appear in Queens South Asian grocery stores, including Patel Bros., and cause quite a stir. They're smaller, greener, sweeter, darker-fleshed, and creamier than the Mexican and Central American mangoes--which often have a red coloration--that you might ... More >>

Flash in the Pan--Nicoise-ish Salad

Flash in the Pan: quick, easy but not-dumbed down recipes. Finally, finally it feels like spring--time to eat something refreshing and bright tasting. This dish has many of the elements of Nicoise salad, with the addition of chickpeas, so let's call it Nicoise-ish. Nicoise-ish Salad Yield: 2 s ... More >>

Circo's Recipe for Inzimino Di Calamari

Just as promised in our weekly dining newsletter, we bring you Chef Benny Bartolotta's recipe for Inzimino Di Calamari, one of Osteria del Circo's featured $6 Tuscan tapas available on the bar menu. Yield: 4 servings

Lamb à la Blanc

Bar Blanc's newish executive chef Sebastiaan Zijp shares the recipe for his Braised Lamb Shoulder Pappardelle with Shiitake Mushrooms, 24-Hour Tomatoes, Black Olives, and Basil. For the braised lamb: 2 lbs of lamb shoulder 1 large carrot, quartered 1 large onion, quartered 1/2 head garlic, split ... More >>

Oil Change

Getting bored with the ol' EVOO? Lately, we've been sauteeing, pan searing and drizzling with avocado oil instead. It's the vegetable oil with the highest smoke point - around 520 degrees F - so you can turn on the heat without getting smoked out of the kitchen. Because it's made of avocados, it bo ... More >>

Sripraphai at Home

The plastic tubs of various spice pastes for sale in the Sripraphai refrigerator are always especially alluring--potions that might allow me to produce Sripraphai-like brilliance in my own kitchen. The other day I went by and grabbed two of them: num-prek-ta-dang, and a tamarind sauce (both $4). Th ... More >>

JoeDoe Delivering Conflicted Jews

Newish East Village restaurant JoeDoe (45 East 1st Street) is now offering delivery (how convenient that Mother Nature provided such heavy snowfall for the occasion). The limited delivery menu is available from 5pm to 11pm nightly. It features five preciously named sandwiches, like the Conflicted Je ... More >>

Recipe: Chef Ji Cha's Bibimbap

New York chef Ji Cha grew up in her father's theater-district Korean restaurant and always knew she wanted to be a chef. She recently appeared on the current season of Hell's Kitchen, and was one of the most talented members of the woman's team, before an injury forced her to leave the show. Today, ... More >>

What They Ate: The Obamas' First State Dinner

While much of America was watching this years' Oscars, with its awkward montages and musical numbers, on Sunday night, the Obamas were, of course, hosting their first state dinner for the country's governors and their spouses. A staff of ten, including White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford, ... More >>

Tapas Recipe: Esqueixada

This recipe for Esqueixada--salt cod with onion, tomato, peppers, and olives--was one of my favorites from Chef Sixto Alonso's tapas class at the International Culinary Center. Like many tapas dishes, it's pretty simple, relying on a relatively small number of well-sourced ingredients combined with ... More >>

Good Things: Canned Fish, Beet Kimchi

Two snacks that I have eaten lately and loved: This is wild-caught, Portuguese mackerel (skinless, boneless) packed in a zesty Portuguese piri-piri sauce. When you lift up the fillets, you see a couple of red chiles floating in there, as well as carrot, cucumber and clove. This is for fishy fish lov ... More >>

Flash in the Pan: Harissa Salmon, Chickpea Mash

Flash in the pan: a new feature with extra simple, original recipes.Harissa, the North African chile paste, is one of the best things to have around the kitchen when you need to make a quick, tasty dinner. Rub harissa under chicken skin, put a dollop in mashed sweet potatoes, or spread it on a gril ... More >>

Cookbook Tester: Floyd Cardoz's Shrimp Gumbo

An unusual gumbo: Toasty, rich and spicyFloyd Cardoz, the exec chef at Tabla, was recently named a James Beard semi-finalist in the Best Chef: New York City category. I love Tabla, but eating from Cardoz's cookbook, One Spice Two Spice, a lot easier on the wallet--although you've got to do the work ... More >>

Recipe Improv: Chicken Liver, Paprika and Kale

Today, we're playing recipe improv with German-born chef Martin Brock. Brock launched his New York career under Gray Kunz at Café Grey, and he is now the executive chef at Atria, the recently opened re-invention of Grayz. The improv ingredients: Chicken liver, smoked paprika, kaleUsing our improv i ... More >>

Weekend Special: Recipe for the World's Greatest Veggie Burgers

If there's one thing vegetarians still crave from the world of meat, it's hamburgers. But the frozen patties they pull from supermarket freezer cases are the palest of imitations - rubbery hockey pucks of textured vegetable protein (TVP) laced with rancid-tasting onion powder and mystery fats. Unles ... More >>

Recession Recipes: Hot, Cheap, Easy Soup

On a cold night, you just want something hot, cheap and easy. Like soup. Being low on cash doesn't mean you have to eat packaged ramen every night--this Spicy Chickpea-Chorizo Soup is deeply flavorful, especially good for chile and garlic lovers. Each serving costs about $4, more or less depending ... More >>

Hearty Krishna Cuisine in Jersey City

New vegetarian restaurant hits Jersey City's Newark Avenue

Incredibly Cheap Eats: Buon Pane Focaccia

The World's Most Beautiful Carpaccio

Greenmarket Thanksgiving Soup, Spiced Up

Autumnal Soup from Cercle Rouge

Recipe Improv: John Fraser Thanksgiving Special

A New Crop of Dosas

Staten Island gets its first South Indian spot

Sietsema: A Short History of the Eggplant

Old Italians Get Back to the Land in Howard Beach

Vintage Irving's Salad for Salad-Haters

Make Il Buco's Crudo at Home

What's For Dinner?

Yes, We Have No Tomatoes

Recipe Improv with Alexandra Guarnaschelli

Allioli, Allioli Everywhere at Macondo

Latin street food gets dressed up for the LES

What's For Dinner?

Taco Trucks in Sunset Park

Street food al fresco on Fourth and Fifth Avenues