Mark R. Vogel

Articles

  • The Fungus Among Us

    If you were a leprechaun what would use for an umbrella? I'll bet you never pondered that one huh? Well, according to the medieval... read more

  • FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

    Caviar. You either love it or hate it. For some it is an unctuous delicacy. For others it's overpriced, salty, fishy tasting goo. How does caviar... read more

  • FRENCH FOOD

    What comes to mind when you think of French cuisine? Lavish food? Cream and butter? Red wine? Pastry? Big price tag? There are many facets... read more

  • Food of Love

    Probably one of the most challenging nights to book a reservation at a top New York City restaurant is on Valentine's Day. Much like the churches... read more

  • Follow the Recipe

    Recipes. What would we do without them? Can you even imagine a cookbook without recipes? For most people, recipes are... read more

  • Fire Up the Grill!

    Nothing epitomizes summer cooking more than grilling. However, grilling can be very confusing. The more recipes, cookbooks, and... read more

  • Fiesta!

    How about a margarita party? Before we break out the blender let's discuss ingredients. The traditional margarita... read more

  • Fast Food

    A trend in America that is picking up speed is an increased interest on meals that can be made in a short amount of time. For us cooking buffs, that's...... read more

  • Excuse Me Waiter, My Soup is Cold!

    The year was 1917 and Louis Diat, (1885 - 1957), was the head chef of the posh Ritz-Carlton Hotel on...... read more

  • Easter Pie

    Every Easter when I was a boy I looked forward to my mom's Easter pie. An Italian tradition, "Easter Pie", as it... read more

  • Don't Be Chicken

    Tonight I'm roasting a chicken. I will fill the cavity with chopped onion, lemon, garlic, parsley, rosemary, salt and pepper. I will then... read more

  • Crabs are Delectable Summer Fare

    Although crabs are available year round in coastal areas, their consumption is most associated with...... read more

  • Cooking with Brains

    This afternoon my friend Scott dropped by for a visit. I was busy preparing a creamy spinach soup and soon we were... read more

  • Cooking Phobia

    Are you fearful of cooking? For some it is a mundane chore, to others a joyous hobby, and for some, an absolute... read more

  • Cilantro

    Cilantro is one of those foods that people either love or hate. Interestingly, the regions of the world where... read more

  • Christmas Bread Pudding

    Various pudding recipes, especially bread pudding, have been traditional Christmas dishes since the 19th century. Before discussing... read more

  • Chianti

    "I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti," asserts Dr. Hannibal Lecter in "Silence of the Lambs." Bizarre as his... read more

  • Celebrate Easter With Roasted Lamb

    Historically, feasting on lamb was a traditional means of ushering in the spring season. The natural breeding cycle of sheep produces... read more

  • Butter'em Up

    The other day I was in line at a supermarket's seafood department endeavoring to buy shrimp, when the guy after me cut in line and... read more

  • Breaking the Rules

    The other day I was having lunch with a friend of mine. A fellow epicurean, he frequents upscale eateries and possesses an above... read more

  • Braising Can Take the Chill Out of Winter

    I am not a winter person. But I must admit, there's nothing like a hearty winter meal followed by a good brandy or... read more

  • Bordeaux

    Bordeaux, (Bor-DOH), is one of the world's best wines. But Bordeaux's geography, nomenclature, grape varieties and... read more

  • Beauty is in the Taste Buds of the Beholder

    We have all been told that it is inner beauty, not outer beauty that counts. "Do not judge a book by its cover" asserts the... read more

  • A Noodle by Any Other Name

    The terms pasta, macaroni and noodles are often used interchangeably. But they are not... read more

  • All Choked Up

    Ok, connect these dots. What do artichokes and sexism have in common? Well, many foods in medieval and... read more

  • Alien Vegetables?

    How often has this happened to you: You go food shopping. You're planning out the week's meals in your head. You enter the... read more

  • Autumns Ambassadors

    The envoys of fall arrive to greet us well before the autumnal equinox. Gourds, which include... read more

  • Asparagus: The Herald of Spring

    Chefs and gourmets the world over eagerly await the arrival of spring. No other time of year can match the bounty of... read more

  • Acquiring Some Taste

    James Bond enjoys vodka martinis, quail eggs, Bollinger Champagne and Beluga caviar. A man after my own heart. An ardent connoisseur, he can... read more

  • A Bad Taste in Your Mouth

    How many times has this happened to you: You're invited to a friend's or relative's home for dinner. You're leery about what they're... read more

  • Get the Point?

    knife is to a chef as a scalpel is to a surgeon. They both have a myriad of other tools, but... read more

  • Getting Saucy!

    Sauce making is a cornerstone to successful cooking. A sauce can either make or break your dish. Ages ago, when... read more

  • Grandma's Biscuits & Gravy

    Once a year when I was a boy, my parents and I would visit my paternal grandparents at their farm in Virginia. Tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains in... read more

  • Hail Caesar!

    Few dishes have origins so embroiled in controversy as Caesar salad. The most widely accepted tale is that... read more

  • Happy as a Clam

    A clam is a mollusk, one of the two main classifications of shellfish, (the other being crustacean). Mollusks are... read more

  • Hill of Beans

    Beans belong to a large family of plants known as legumes. Legumes have pods with edible seeds. Other legumes include peanuts, peas, and lentils among others. The black bean is one... read more

  • Holiday Party Hors d'oeuvres

    Whether you call them appetizers, hors d'oeuvres, canapés, amuse-bouches, or amuse-gueules, they are the scrumptious... read more

  • Hot Little Farm in New Jersey

    Ask anyone where you're likely to find the largest variety of chile pepper plants in America and you're sure to... read more

  • How to choose the right cookware

    What factors entered into your last cookware procurement? Price is always a consideration. But were you influenced by the... read more

  • I Think, Therefore I Don't Eat

    The 17th century French philosopher Rene Descartes concluded that his existence was irrefutable based on the presence of his own... read more

  • Into the Frying Pan

    Sautéing is cooking food in a small amount of fat over high heat. A sauté pan, (a.k.a. skillet or frying pan), with straight sides is known as a... read more

  • It's the Great Pumpkin

    According to an Irish myth, one day a man known as "Stingy Jack" for his miserly inclinations had a drink with the devil. True to his name, Jack convinced the... read more

  • Let's Talk Turkey

    This Thursday is Thanksgiving and households across America will be preparing the traditional turkey. About 46 million turkeys will be... read more

  • License to Chill

    In the James Bond movie "Goldfinger," 007 is romancing the ill-fated Jill Masterson, (the woman Goldfinger kills by painting gold), when he notices the... read more

  • Liguria

    Liguria, a region of northwest Italy, is a 220 mile long, crescent-shaped area on the Mediterranean. Part of the Italian Riviera, it is bordered by... read more

  • Matter of Taste

    In the James Bond movie "Octopussy", Roger Moore, a.k.a., 007, is captured by the villain, an Afghan prince named Kamal Kahn. Seated at the dinner table with... read more

  • New Orleans Classics

    In 1604 the French colonized Acadia, the region surrounding present day Nova Scotia. Disputes with Great Britain over the... read more

  • No Whey!

    OK, picture this: The year is 6000 BC and you're a member of a nomadic tribe, probably in what is now modern day Iraq. For sustenance along the journey, your... read more

  • When Opposites Attract

    It's a lazy, rainy, Sunday morning and you want a no fuss lunch for the family. You've got cold cuts on hand so sandwiches become the obvious answer. As you... read more

  • Party Time!

    Recently I was recruited to do the cooking for a friend's birthday party. There were thirty guests expected. I was given only one directive... read more

  • Peas in a Pod

    Gregor Johann Mendel (1822-1884) was an Austrian monk famous for his seminal work in genetics. He uncovered a series of... read more

  • Red Wine and White Meat

    The fourth Thursday of November will always be Thanksgiving but if you're an oenophile, it's the third Thursday that you... read more

  • Rocket Man

    Arugula, also known as rocket, rucola, and roquette, is a spicy, bitter, and peppery salad green with diverse... read more

  • SEAR-ious Flavor

    Louis Camille Maillard (1878-1936) was a French physician and chemist. In 1912 he was researching how amino acids combined to form proteins. Serendipitously, he uncovered... read more

  • Send It Back

    The other day I went to lunch early at this nearby tavern. Seated at the bar, more interested in the... read more

  • So Good They Bring Tears to Your Eyes

    Onions are an indispensable commodity in cuisines the world over. They are highly versatile, lending themselves to a variety of... read more

  • So You Want to be a Chef

    Chefs often question, warn, or even outright discourage individuals from seeking to join their ranks. I believe this emanates from the... read more

  • Some Like It Hot

    Do you like hot food? I mean really hot food? Are you a chile head? Then let's talk hot peppers. Chile peppers, of which there are... read more

  • Spice Up Your Life!

    Every school kid is taught that Columbus discovered the new world. But few of them know why. Columbus was seeking an... read more

  • A Standard For All Seasons?

    Have you ever patronized a restaurant that doesn't have salt and pepper on the table? The assumption is that the food is already properly seasoned... read more

  • The Stock Market

    One of the first lessons of any cooking course is learning how to make stocks. Stocks form the basis of most sauces and soups. A stock is... read more

  • Sweet Tarts!

    OK Folks. It's time to get decadent. If you've got a sweet tooth, this one's for you. A tart is a ... read more

  • Sweet Taste of Success?

    The Sweet Taste of Success? Last night I ate at one of those all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets. I love those places. They usually... read more

  • Temperature Not Time is the Key to Cooking

    Many recipes furnish an oven temperature and time frame for roasted items. This can be fraught with inaccuracies. Cooking time is influenced by... read more

  • They're Grrrrreat!

    The Kellogg's Company, headquartered in Battle Creek Michigan, is the world's largest producer of cereals with annual sales over nine billion. Their cereal line is... read more

  • Unraveling the Complexities of Burgundy

    The term "Burgundy", in the minds of the American masses, has come to denote generic red wine. Mediocre restaurants often use the term to... read more

  • Unscrambling the Egg

    Which came first, the chicken or the egg, asks the ancient and proverbial question. Men have pondered this seemingly simplistic, yet intriguingly paradoxical query for... read more

  • Un-Wimpy Burgers

    One day I had a yen for hamburgers so I ventured to my local supermarket. I detest the supermarket pre-made patties. First, their quality is always... read more

  • Vampire Repellent

    Garlic. What would we do without it? Garlic's reputation precedes itself. And a ponderous reputation it is. Garlic has been alleged to... read more

  • What's in a Name?

    Pink peppercorns are not peppercorns. Common black pepper comes from black peppercorns, which along with green and white peppercorns, are all... read more

  • What's up Doc?

    One cannot picture Bugs Bunny without his ever-present carrot. While Bugs seems to favor carrots for purely hedonistic reasons, real rabbits prefer them because they are... read more

  • When Harry Met Saucy

    The other night at the restaurant where I work, the executive chef admonished one of the other chefs for not applying enough... read more

  • When Recipes Go Awry

    Have you ever watched some celebrity chef effortlessly whip up some yummy looking dish on TV? You then try the recipe yourself but... read more

  • Where's the Beef?

    Comprehending all the different cuts of beef can be a little confusing. For example, did you know that a strip steak, New York strip, Kansas City steak, club steak, shell steak, and top loin steak all come from... read more

  • Will the Real Strawberry Please Stand Up

    Saint Hildegard was a 12th century German abbess, (the nun in charge of a convent), who supposedly had prophetic and apocalyptic visions. The theological authorities at... read more

  • Woes of Dieting

    Millions of Americans are either on a diet or will start one at some point in their life. Weight loss and health are the... read more

  • Blanching 101

    Blanching is a cooking technique whereby food, usually vegetables or fruits, are briefly immersed in boiling, salted water, and then submerged in an... read more

  • Summer Salads

    "Salad is the kind of food that real food eats," proclaimed Alf, the furry alien sitcom character from the 80's. Clearly Alf's rebuking of... read more

  • Variety is the Spice of Life

    As I perused the soda section I encountered vanilla Pepsi, cherry Pepsi, Lemon Pepsi, caffeine-free Pepsi, and diet Pepsi. EVERYTHING but regular good ole fashioned... read more

  • Gourmet Food?

    What exactly is "gourmet" food? By the book, gourmet food is characterized by high quality, accurate preparation, and... read more

  • There's Something Fishy Going On Here

    "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime," asserts an old Chinese proverb. Well, not quite. There's one more... read more

  • Provence

    Provence (PRO-VAWNS) is the southeastern region of France on the Mediterranean Sea. Bordered by Italy on the east, Provence's diverse topography is characterized by mountains, valleys, beautiful beaches and ... read more

  • The Taste of Texas

    Because of its size, the gastronomy of Texas is analogous to a country, namely, a myriad of culinary influences that vary from region to region. Western Texans are best known for their... read more

  • No Substitutions Please

    Are you one of those people who frequently request substitutions when ordering meals in restaurants? You know who you are. All you "sauce-on-the-siders," ingredient changers, and... read more

  • Garden Variety

    Like many chefs, I enjoy growing my own herbs and vegetables. It's one of the many activities that I love about spring and summer. My garden consists of certain staples, a cast of regulars that I would ... read more

  • Red Meat, White Lies

    In Old English times, the term "meat" meant any edible food. During the medieval period this definition narrowed to only land animals. This inevitably arose out of ... read more

  • Popeye's Secret Weapon

    Spinach may have provided Popeye with superhuman strength, but its real life potential is far less lofty. In fact, its nutritional reputation is somewhat inflated. Spinach contains oxalic acid which ... read more

  • Wine & Dine

    Ordering wine in a fine restaurant can be intimidating and confusing to say the least. Perusing a typical wine list can be as daunting as the instructions of a do-it-yourself project. There are three ... read more

  • Turn the Dial to Broil

    Broiling is a dry heat method of cooking whereby a radiant energy source is located directly above the food. In other words, the food is underneath the ... read more

  • Caveat Emptor

    Recently I was browsing at a local supermarket pondering what to concoct for dinner. During my reconnaissance of the seafood department I spied a cache of blue point oysters in ... read more

  • Devilishly Good Food

    Not that I need an excuse to be naughty or indulgent, but with Halloween right around the corner I thought some wicked recipes... read more

  • The Root of the Matter

    Root vegetables are plants prized for their edible roots or stems. They include turnips, beets, radishes, carrots, rutabagas, salsify, parsnips, and ... read more

  • The Root of the Matter

    Root vegetables are plants prized for their edible roots or stems. They include turnips, beets, radishes, carrots, rutabagas, salsify, parsnips, and ... read more

  • Chef Charged with Wine Snobbery!

    I have been accused of being a "wine snob" on more than one occasion. In fact, I was belied as such twice in the ... read more

  • The Big Apple

    The apple is one of the most ubiquitous foods in the annals of mankind. Few foods are as prevalent in our history, mythology, and psychosocial culture as the ... read more

  • Custard's Last Stand

    You're making pastry cream for a banana cream pie for dessert tomorrow. Chilling it overnight should render it appetizingly ... read more

  • The Mousse is Loose

    A mousse is a rich, airy preparation that can be cold or hot, sweet or savory. The word mousse is French and translates as ... read more

  • On the Side

    When individuals contemplate what to make for their Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, there's 1/2s usually more indecision regarding the side dishes. After all, the Thanksgiving turkey is perfunctory and Christmas will inevitably...... read more

  • In the Thick of it

    Sauces come in a seemingly infinite number of styles. The ingredients, methods, and applications for sauces almost know no bounds. And while sauces certainly vary in terms of their viscosity, thickening them is an oft-needed...... read more

  • Champagne

    In the James Bond movie “Goldeneye”, 007 and the villainess are playfully racing down a scenic mountain roadway. Bond's passenger is a young female coworker sent by M to ... read more

  • Holiday Party Hors d'Oeuvres II

    The holidays are here again and that means cocktail parties and formal dinners. Either way that means appetizers. Welcome to the second edition of ... read more

  • The Double-Edged Sword

    I finally got fed up with the mouse droppings in my kitchen. Time had proved that the little varmint was not a transient visitor. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Mickey's day of reckoning had... read more

  • Chuck Wagon

    huck is the general term for the meat from the shoulder section of cattle. Cuts from the chuck tend to be tough with notable connective tissue and intramuscular fat. This is because these muscles are... read more

  • Cheers Comrade

    What comes to mind when you think of Russia? Communism? The Cold War? The Iron Curtain? As a chef and epicure, my first association is vodka! (And... read more

  • Timing is Everything

    One of the most daunting tasks for both the professional chef and the home cook is coordinating the preparation of multiple items so that they are completed at the same time. And it doesn't matter... read more

  • A Recipe for Success

    Harry S. Truman once pronounced: "I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it." The culinary corollary of this homespun wisdom would be: ... read more

  • Almonds

    The almond is one of the most popular nuts, not only in modern times but throughout history. Man has been consuming them since at least 10,000 BC and inevitably before. Almonds were one of the first ... read more

  • Comfort Food

    The other day I was at the office of a well known shipping company furious at their failure to locate my package. Finally my patience had reached its end and I stormed out empty handed. Angry and hungry, I made my way to a nearby ... read more

  • Suzette: Woman of Mystery

    Our story opens at a restaurant called the Café de Paris in Monte Carlo in the year 1895. Prince Edward of Wales, son of Queen Victoria and future king of England, was a regular patron. One day he and a party of other gentlemen and the ... read more

  • In the Nick of Thyme

    Last night I was sharing a bottle of Tuscan wine with my date as I pondered what to write for this week's edition of my column. I was only a few days away from my deadline and deep in the throes of writer's block. "Why not something on... read more

  • When Life Gives you Lemons...

    Where and when the lemon became popular in various parts of the globe is a controversial topic. While researching this article, I discovered that agreement amongst sources was, well, the ... read more

  • You Are How You Eat

    On the show Sex and the City, Kim Cattrall, who played the lascivious Samantha once quipped: "How we are in bed is how we are in life." Her theory being, that a person's love making style would be indicative of their general approach to ... read more

  • Poaching 101

    Poaching is a wet-heat cooking method whereby food is submerged in liquid and gently cooked. Shallow-poaching is a subtype of poaching in which the food is only partially ... read more

  • The Cost of Convenience

    The other day I hopped over to a well known pancake chain for a serious pig-out session. I ordered pancakes, an egg, sausage, hash browns, toast, coffee & OJ. Thirty-five minutes later when the food finally arrived, they forgot my toast, my OJ, and neve... read more

  • Tomatoes: Putting the "Tax" in Taxonomy

    In 1893 the United States had a 10% tax on imported vegetables but not fruits. John Nix paid his taxes on his tomatoes to a tax collector named Edward Hedden. One day Nix came across the... read more

  • To Complain or Not To Complain

    Unfortunately the answers to these questions return us to the subjectivity and capriciousness of the individual person's character. When the situation is not a no-brainer because it doesn't lie at one extreme or the other, we must then decide what we are... read more

  • Peel Out

    Numerous fruits and vegetables are peeled for a variety of reasons. Some must be peeled in order to be palatable, such as celery root or pineapple. Others have edible ... read more

Recipe Bite

Butter'em Up

by Mark R. Vogel Mark R. Vogel

The other day I was in line at a supermarket's seafood department endeavoring to buy shrimp, when the guy after me cut in line and...

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Member Review

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Skillet Strawberry Cookies

This is one of my favorite holiday recipes. My grandmother made these for me when i was a child. Although the red sugar will turn your fingers a delightful red, this is a sure sign for the kids that their favorite cookie is on the way!! Also, the coconut is optional. Delicious.

Almond Apricot and Chocolate Sandwich Cookies recipe
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