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Italian Tuna and the Antipasto Plate

Somewhere between the former hospital of San Lorenzo and the Porta Nuova we began to wilt. The sun blazed. The children whined. The paintings we’d been to see had been uninspiring. And as usual, we’d gotten a late start so we were out during the mezzojourno – that time of day when all self-respecting Italians […]

Woodfired Soft Pretzels

I left the East Coast 30 years ago and, except for sporadic family visits, I’ve hardly been back since. The man can leave the East Coast but the East Coast doesn’t leave the man. One yearns for corner delis with fistfuls of amazing sandwiches, serious pizzas from pizza joints whose recipes have bridged generations. And […]

Gomasio Pretzels

As a boy growing up in Philadelphia, I loved soft pretzels. They were everywhere. At the ballpark, the school cafeteria, or the corner shop, there was always a heating cabinet with hot pretzels hanging. On the streets around every activity happening in center city vendors sold them from stacks on dowelled contraptions, keeping a few […]

Spaghetti Carbonara with Roasted Garlic

The woman at the desk was sympathetic but unable to help. ‘Ciao, ciao,’ she said into the phone. ‘Ciao,ciao. Ciao,grazie.’ She put down the phone and looked from my wife’s tear-streaked face to our children who were languishing on an empty trolley. ‘Well,’ she said to me, brightly. ‘You’ll have to go shopping!’

Sure […]

Crostini Three Ways: Red Pepper, Olive, and Chicken with Capers

Picture the setting: a big old castellated building thick with stonework southeast of Siena, surrounded by the Italian equivalent of a county park. Three women of ascending age have carved a restaurant out of two rooms on the ground floor, accessible through ancient doors near the car park. We Bullhogs have come here to dine.

[…]

Curried Red Beans with Carrots and Fennel

Here at Chez Bullhog, we love our beans. As a delicious comfort food, a hearty alternative to meat, or tender nuggets that suck up all kinds of exotic flavoring, they never fail to satisfy. And so when we learned that we could cook them the way people used to do it, with the bean pot […]

Wild Mushroom Bruschetta

My petite Scottish grandmother looked at me critically through the lenses of her silver-rimmed glasses. ‘You do what?’ Her voice was shrill. We were talking about hunting wild mushrooms.

Trawling the shops on New Hope’s main street some time later, we ended up in a slick store that sold cheeses and specialty foods. I […]

Cauliflower Stroganoff

A mainstay recipe of mine for years was beef stroganoff. Then along came mad cow disease and marriage to a vegetarian – not necessarily in that order and less certainly linked – and I had to come up with an alternative to my beloved beef. Enter the versatile cauliflower.

I found, almost by accident […]

Bialys: Little Loaves with a World of History

I’ve always liked bread that comes with a good story behind it, so when my friend Posy turned up at Chez Bullhog one rainy Saturday with a little book under her arm and a bright gleam in her eye, I perked up straight away. ‘Bialys,’ she said, excitedly poking at the book with her finger. […]

In the Winter Oven: Fire-roasted Potatoes and Parsnips

It’s dark by 5 p.m., and wintry but not too cold, an evening that could be medieval as easily as it is modern. Just the kind of night that’s perfect for a bright fire and a big pan of oven-roasted root veggies. All that’s needed to complete the scene are potatoes, parsnips, onions, a few […]

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