RECIPES
A broccoli crown for a head of cauliflower - In Los Angeles Johnny Carson's show, 'Carson's Corner' was in its last 13 weeks. They hired and then fired a director every week until Ron Winston came on board...
A Tomato Salad - Already getting depressed about the rapidly approaching end of tomato season!
Acquacotta - 'cooked water' - Tuscan Tomato and Pepper Soup - In a large heavy pot, heat 1/2 cup of olive oil. Sauté 3 sliced onions until soft and transparent. Add 3 cloves of garlic and...
An Omelet - I need to look up the specific dates to flesh out this account but it is generally accurate. Long ago (we are talking the 50's) Leslie Stevens and I went down to 1 Fifth Avenue...
Bacon-wrapped Dates Stuffed with Chorizo - I had been to Spain several times and had been totally seduced by the bar scene in Madrid. The line-up of thirty or so incredibly delicious small tasty tastes to accompany thirty glasses of wine...
Baked Peppers - Cut peppers - green, red, yellow, orange - into quarters lengthwise and remove the seeds and membranes. Toss with olive oil and arrange in rows...
Bananas Flambé - Years ago I did a cooking demonstration on Bristol TV. When told we would be doing Bananas Flambé one of the techs said, 'Sounds like the name of a hooker!'
Berta - Sometime in the early sixties, I was with friends in a little bar in Taxco. The owner was famous for her tequila cocktail...
Brandied Chicken Liver Paté - In 1953, Roger Stevens invested in a play called 'Bullfight' It opened in January of '54 at the Theatre deLys on Christopher Street. I was the producer...
Broccoli stems - Cut off the woody bottom, peel and slice the rest. (The surface is convoluted so take a bit of time.)
Bubble 'n' Squeak - Roughly mix cooked shredded cabbage and mashed potatoes. Sauté some chopped onions in olive oil or butter or bacon fat...
Ceviche - In 1963 I was invited to join friends for a visit to Mexico. There were five of us in a four-place plane and our former-crop-duster pilot...
Chicken Kiev - But that last time was memorable because Mel Brooks saw us, came over saying, 'Do you mind if I work your table?'
Chicken Normandy - Just back from the tiny French village of Crepon. Except for a 10' X 12' bar and a one-room factory/store where the owner creates a wonderful array of umbrellas, the stone town is dominated by Ferme la...
Chilled Melon Soup - I have always loved prosciutto - in a crusty sandwich with tomatoes and peppers and olives and cheese, wrapped around grissini or pork tenderloin, or sharing a plate...
Choucroute garnie - A little country inn and a restaurant, River House has always been a real estate dream: river front, mountain tops, conservation easements, tree-hugging restrictions...
Chunky Gazpacho - It must have been the early nineties. Enjoying a visit with Marthann Masterson and her friend Louise, of Ouisie's Table in Houston, I made the routine pre-dinner call to the Glendale Springs Inn...
Coconut-encrusted Ice Cream - The ice cream reminded me of Wil Wright's in Los Angeles in the fifties. The very best full fat ice cream. I was told by the shop-keeper that my favorite was also Marlon Brando's favorite - coconut with caramel sauce...
Cranberry Kissel - This traditional Russian dessert can be made with any berries, with currants, even rhubarb...
Eggs softly scrambled with cream and sherry - A snowy weekend in Montreal In the mid 1950s, brunch with a young psychologist named Lee Salk...
Escargot Butter - I might never have tried snails but for the beautiful French restaurant on Connecticut Avenue in Washington...
Fat Quesadillas - In a non-stick skillet, warm one side of large flour tortillas in olive oil. Oil side up...
Fish Chowder - In Spain I watched my friend cook a fine kettle of just caught fish, which he finished with the most delicate noodles. Back home with cooler weather, potatoes will suffice.
Hamburger - Back in 1961, Quarter-back Y. A. Tittle was traded to the New York Giants from the Forty-Niners just before Del Shofner was acquired from the Rams....
Herb Butter - The Troutdale Dining Room, the very first restaurant in a list too long, opened on April 13, 1976. The sign as one approached Troutdale, Virginia, was a beautifully weathered old gray door with letters my father and I...
Lemon soup - another of those cold ones! Don’t despair, cool weather is on the way! - Heat 6 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade of course, with 1/4 cup long-grain rice and a teaspoon of salt. Cook until rice is tender...
Lena - A big hunk of Italian bread, cut lengthwise, filled with fried eggplant, veal and peppers, tiny meatballs, tomato sauce and cheese...
Linda Muffin - Growing up in Ashe County, everyone had a 'cookstove,' and everyone made biscuits...
Mushroom Strudel - My friend Susan Tomaselli grows, at least used to grow, beautiful oyster mushrooms. Sometime in the '80s she invited me to a wild mushroom festival in Telluride...
Mushroom Vol-au-Vent - Saute finely chopped shallots in butter, add mushrooms, salt and pepper of course, then a splash of sherry. Add heavy cream. Reduce a bit....
Mushrooms - When I moved from New York back to my Great-Grandpa's farm in 1973, I looked for mushrooms at the West Jefferson A&P. You mean TOADSTOOLS?
Mustard Greens - ust after moving back to Grassy Creek, my mother and I somehow ended up with a mountain of mustard greens. What to do...
Omelet filled with mushrooms, scallions and cheese - Sauté sliced mushrooms in butter. Heat omelet pan. With a fork beat 2 eggs with salt and pepper and a tablespoon of chopped scallions...
Onion Sandwiches - Cut very thin Pepperidge Farm white bread into circles, maybe an inch and a half. Butter them generously...
Pan Bagna - In 1956 I produced a play called 'The Lovers' in which Joanne Woodward starred. It was her first play on Broadway and she was beautiful...
Peanut Butter Sticks - With the loss of our incredible sycamore tree, it is hard to concentrate on recipes. But Johnny Burleson recently asked for this one...
Pheasant - Remove the cores from Belgian endives, cut across into half inch slices and marinate with vinaigrette...
Pickled Mushrooms - Clean a pound or more of lille white Champignons, cut the stems off even with the base...
Pomegranates - Sixty years ago - somewhat grown up and traveling in Spain - my first encounter was when those juicy red seeds appeared atop my salad...
Potato Pie - Make a batch of pâte brisée, known to most of us as pie dough. In the bowl of the processor, pulse two and a half cups of flour with a stick and a half of cold butter cut into..
Purple Raspberry Ice Cream - Another birthday and another Winefest under our belts! Given the pretty white tents provided by Hauser, we were prepared for the severe thunderstorms being forecast...
Ratatouille - The waiter recognized me. I ordered ratatouille topped with grilled sweetbreads, and a half bottle of Far Niente. And Jeremiah Tower came to sit with me until my lunch was served...
River House Bread Pudding - Inspired by one served at Noble's Grille many years ago...
River House Bread Pudding - We hear they make a great bread pudding down in New Orleans. Here is ours...
River House Omelets - After-theatre parties in New York in the sixties frequently starred Rudolph Stanish, his three omelet pans and half a dozen fillings...
Rummy Rice Pudding - It was rare that we ate rice when I was a little girl. When we did, it was dessert, laden with milk and sugar. Now, in my view, plain rice needs a lot of help to make it worth eating...
Salade Niçoise - Lightly toss boiled potatoes, steamed green beans, artichoke hearts and asparagus spears with your favorite vinaigrette...
Salsa d'Estiva - Many years ago I was lucky enough to be invited to visit a friend on the island of Elba. Outside every door was a big pot filled with tomato plants in full fruit, another big pot full of basil...
Sauerkraut Stew - Salt and pepper and flour 4 pounds of beef short ribs. Brown in oil. Add 1 pound of onions, coarsely chopped and 1 pound of celery, sliced, and 6 cloves of garlic...
Sauerkraut Stew - Rub 4 pounds of beef short-ribs with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Brown on all sides in oil. Drain the oil. Add 1 cabbage, shredded, 6 carrots, peeled and roll-cut...
Sautéed Filet - Cut filet of beef into 3/4 inch cubes. Sauté quickly in that herb butter...
Shells and Shelled Peas - Back in the 50s - the 1950s, not mine - playwright Leslie Stevens, photographer Alex Singer and I made lots of excursions outside of New York City looking for the kind of
Shrimp à la Grecque - Twenty some years ago, long before there were whole cookbooks of 'sheet pan' recipes
Simple Brown Sugar Icing - My mother was the best! Valedictorian of her 1924 graduating class, she went to Appalachian State Teachers College that summer. In the fall...
Simple Strawberry Ice Cream - When I was a very little girl, perhaps two or three, we moved to a small house in Dog Creek, N. C. On one side was the garage where my father was to work by himself, repairing trucks and old cars...
Spiced Blueberry Butter - In a heavy pot, combine 4 cups of blueberries, 4 cups of diced peeled apples, 2 cups of white sugar and 1 cup of light brown sugar. Tie a couple of cinnamon sticks...
Strawberries Romanoff - The studio had insisted on at least one "name" and Doris Day took the part Janice Paige had played in the New York production...
Summer's End - Cut a seedless watermelon into 3/4 inch cubes. Puree half of them in a blender and mix with lemonade which has been liberally spiked with vodka...
Thai Rice Sauce - Lunch on the terrace at the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok was an event, bright sunshine, sudden pouring rain and steamed sea bass that was both delicate and incendiary...
Tomato Salad Squared - In the food processor, purée 4 or 5 cloves of garlic with a teaspoon of salt. Peel, seed and chop 2 big ripe beefsteak type tomatoes...
Tomatoes à la Crème - We peel the tomatoes but the elderly French gentleman who first served these to me did not...
Tortilla Española - Cook thinly sliced onions in ample Spanish olive oil until tender. Do not brown. (A non-stick skillet may be the pan of choice in this country.). Remove with a slotted spoon and cook thinly sliced potatoes in the same oil. Sprinkle with...
Tumbet - Heat an inch or two of olive oil in a wide pan. Cook four or five cloves of garlic gently, without browning, to flavor the oil. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve. Next three or four potatoes...
Tuna Carpaccio - Pound thinly sliced sushi grade tuna between two layers of food film until almost see-through. Place on a plate still in the wrap. It doesn’t matter if...
Veal Scallops - When I read "Portnoy's Complaint" I smiled and chuckled a bit. My husband, on the other hand, laughed so hard he literally fell out of bed!
Vichysquash! - We have such a repertoire of cold soups! From the ubiquitous vichyssoise, with tribute to the legendary chef Louis Diat, to friend...
White Grape Ice Cream - I think it was 1976, shortly after we opened The Troutdale Dining Room. My mother and I were invited to lunch at nearby Ripshin...