Anthony Bourdain recently came out with his first cookbook (Appetites: A Cookbook) in a decade. You may have heard or read some interviews with him during the fall – that's how I heard about it. I decided that it was a good Christmas present for Ed as I knew he

I enjoy making a cocktails to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Usually it involves Irish whiskey or beer. This year I’m sharing a Gimlet recipe that’s pale green (thanks to the key lime juice) and made with Irish gin. It’s unclear where the Gimlet got its name. Perhaps it’s named for British Royal

Happy 6th birthday to Riegl Palate! It doesn’t seem possible that I’ve been posting a new recipe to my site each week for the last six years (never missing a week). Today’s post is number 351. There are so many wonderful things about writing a food blog. It forces me to

Back when Ed and I first started dating we used to enjoy dinners at the Iberian, a wonderful, now long gone Spanish restaurant on Long Island. Early on we perfected recipes for both red wine and white wine sangria – inspired by those fabulous meals. Back then we used other ingredients such as fruit, sugar and brandy

We kicked off the unofficial start to summer (Memorial Day Weekend) with a happy hour at Radnor Hunt. In addition to spending time with friends, we also got to test out some new cocktails that had just been added to the menu. Ed enjoyed the ‘Mockingbird’ so we thought we’d

Happy 7th birthday to Riegl Palate! In keeping with tradition, I’m sharing a recipe for a chocolate cake (in this case it’s actually a tart) with you to celebrate. In seven years, I’ve never missed a weekly post and it’s hard to believe that today’s post is number 404.

I knew I was onto something years ago when I started to make this biscotti and various members of Ed's family told me it was some of the best they'd ever had. This was a huge compliment coming from a family of Italians who take their Italian cookies and pastries very seriously! More recently Carolyn

A recent food challenge in the Riegl kitchen involved a bottle red wine that we decided was better to cook with rather than drink. I’ve been thinking autumn for the last few weeks despite the thermometer wanting to hold onto summer temperatures, so went searching for a red wine-based pasta sauce.

I’ve been thinking about yummy eggplant chips that we had at Amis in Devon, Pennsylvania (near Terrain) since we ate there in the spring. They were crispy pieces of eggplant, sprinkled with manchego cheese and mint and a drizzle of lavender honey. Ed has made pasta with sautéd eggplant

When it comes to cooking a good steak in our house, we usually keep it pretty simple. We like to salt it like you’re treating a road before it snows (thank you, David Chang!) then cook it using our sous vide machine and finish it on the grill. This Turkish-inspired

It’s strawberry season in Pennsylvania! It’s short-lived so you’ve got to get them while you can. I was on a mission last weekend when I went to Growing Roots Farmers Market in Malvern having enjoyed some wonderful strawberries at my parents’ house the night before. It was

My parents recently returned from Italy where they enjoyed a few Aperol Spritzs along with the sights. They thoughtfully texted pictures of their drinks to us – a strong desire to photograph food/drinks must run in the family. Since their return I’ve been seeing more references to Aperol than ever

This is not a post about making clothes for vegetables – although that would be entertaining. This recipe was inspired by a recipe I found in New York Times Cooking for Marinated Grilled Vegetables. While many of the ingredients are the same – the big difference

Ed and I love Middle Eastern food. Recognizing that it encompasses many different countries and cuisines, we enjoy trying different restaurants because they all prepare things a bit differently. One of our favorites is Damas Mediterranean in Exton, Pennsylvania (for my local friends, it is in the same shopping

Chicken Shawarma

It’s likely that this time of year your garden may have a plethora of zucchini. Why not make up some yummy zucchini bread – maybe even double the recipe so you can freeze some for the winter months? The zucchini makes this bread so unbelievably moist and makes a great partner to the walnuts and

It’s been about a decade since we invested in a Vitamix blender. Prior to that I’d use our KitchenAid blender maybe once a year. It’s been the opposite with our Vitabmix – it gets used almost daily for smoothies, salad dressings, soups and so much more. I used the word

Growing up, I’m fairly certain that the only time I ate beets was when my stepmother, Peggy T, made her delicious beet salad. It’s not to say that I didn’t like beets, I just don’t think that I came across them much. As an aside, I did encounter them in college –

Happy 5th birthday to Riegl Palate! In keeping with tradition I’m sharing a chocolate cake recipe with all of you in celebration (the closest I can get to sharing an actual cake). The idea for Riegl Palate began back in 2010 but it took

During the summer of 2021, we did a complete renovation to our kitchen. We had a wonderful experience with both our designer and contractor. I like to think that our designer, Mike Katz of Paradise Custom Kitchens, knew our needs better than we did. Little did we know that we

I just started reading Stanley Tucci’s newest book, Taste: My Life Through Food. It is on a long list of potential books for book club and even if it doesn’t make the short list, how could I pass up a title like that? I regret not

Spring is the time for asparagus and especially if you have access to locally grown asparagus. This is a great recipe to showcase one of springtime’s best vegetables. With only a few ingredients, it’s important that you seek out the best ingredients. Look for the freshest asparagus. Medium-sized spears work best for

I have been making a variation of this shrimp for so long that I don’t recall where I got the recipe nor could I find a written copy of it. This is my go-to shrimp when I don’t have much of a plan as I typically have all of the ingredients on hand.

When I was first introduced to traditional tabbouleh (or tabouli) in the 1990s I made it from a box. In addition to the bulgur wheat there was a pack of dried ingredients – parsley, mint, garlic, etc. I didn’t realize at that time how easy it was to make it from scratch using

Traditionally a bisque is made with shellfish and heavy cream, so technically this isn’t a bisque. However it is rich and creamy like a traditional bisque, so I’m making an exception. It contains no dairy – it gets its creaminess from vegetables and beans. There has been a lot of talk in

In this recipe, breakfast meets salad and makes for a great casual dinner. This is a French bistro classic and one that we often return to. This recipe comes from Gordon Hamersley’s Bistro Cooking at Home (2003). Hamersley’s Bistro was a Boston favorite from 1987 to 2014. Sadly

Ed and I have considered joining a Community Supported Agriculture Farm (more commonly referred to as a ‘CSA’) for years. This year we’ve been focused on trying to vary the types of vegetables in our meals so this summer seemed to be the right time to take the plunge. I’m happy to report

Nobody in our family does a green salad like my stepmother, Peggy T. It’s a well known fact. So much so that Ed rarely eats salad in our house unless Peggy makes it. It all changed last fall when I suggested that Ed ‘own’ salad making and that perhaps Peggy could give him

Imagine my surprise when I looked at the Herbes de Provence that I had purchased at a market in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence only to find that there was no lavender. I did a bit of research and learned that Jean-Baptiste Reboul was the first to document recipes from Provence in a cookbook. The last edition

When I think of iced tea, one of my oldest memories is having it at McDonald’s (a place I have not been to in a very long time). For my childhood palate, it was just the right balance of brewed tea and lemon (with no sweetener). Back then having caffeine didn’t affect my

I have seen many watermelon-inspired drinks this summer. It’s not quite at the pumpkin spice level, but certainly more than I remember in summers past. I have enjoyed a refreshing non-alcoholic watermelon lemonade and a watermelon Bellini (with Prosecco) perfectly suited for brunch. I found a small seedless watermelon that

I have Emily to thank for reminding me that in December 2021 I purchased not one but two bottles of crème de cassis with the intent to make a Kir Royale. I put them in our bar and promptly forgot about them. Who is Emily, you might ask? I

If you haven’t had Romesco Sauce, you are in for a treat. It’s a chunky sauce made with red peppers, tomatoes, nuts, spices and vinegar. It has a fabulous color, great texture and most importantly, a wonderful flavor. This sauce is originally from the province of Tarragona in Catalonia, Spain – along

If I had a hunting lodge I would have this soup on hand all winter long. The flavors are woodsy and rustic – that's what makes me think of a hunting lodge. The stars are sweet potatoes, chestnuts and brandy. When they meld together they create a complex taste that resembles mushrooms but nary a mushroom is on the ingredient

For many the holidays mean cookie baking time – that is definitely the case in our house. Each year I make three or four batches of my signature cookie, Chocolate Chip-Pecan-Oatmeal Cookies, around Thanksgiving and freeze them. I then share them with family and friends throughout December. We did

A few weeks ago I wrote about visiting two local lavender farms in the same week. Today I’m going to focus on the second one I visited – Warwick Furnace Farm in Glenmoore, Pennsylvania.

I am in the more horseradish, the better camp. Where are you? I love the immediate/short lived hit of spice and heat rather than long term burning mouth from chili peppers. The nice thing about this recipe is that you can adjust the amount of horseradish to your liking. My Aunt Jayne

In honor of Women’s History Month, I bring you a hot tea-based cocktail using Lady Grey tea. You’ve probably heard of Earl Grey tea as it’s one of the most popular English tea varieties. This tea is most likely named for