Fast & Fancy: Tomatoes

Posted by Jennifer Sendrow

Of all the seasonal produce that shoppers eagerly anticipate, summer tomatoes top the list for their incomparable flavor and versatility. You might eat a ripe tomato out of your hand with a touch of salt, but it can just as easily become the basis for salads, dressings, salsas, soups, sauces, and preserves.

Chef Daniel Humm from New York’s Eleven Madison Park joined us on "Morning Living" today with two recipes that will take your tomato cooking to the next level: a simple soup and an elegant salad with grilled watermelon.

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Fast & Fancy: Respecting Rice!

Posted by Jennifer Sendrow 

In between cooking and hosting a television show about cooking, Alex Guarnaschelli has become one of our all-time favorite guests on Morning Living. Who can forget the time that she told our Thanksgiving hotline callers, “Never forget that the turkey is driving this bus, and we’re just the passengers”? She’s a chef with a wit as sharp as her cleavers.

Today she joined us for Fast & Fancy with two great recipes for rice. Truth be told, I’ve always thought of rice as a culinary b-side, with the hit song being the curry or stir-fry that goes on top. Alex calls rice “the little black dress” of the pantry, an all-occasion staple that goes well with everything and always looks good. I might be sold. Check out her fast basmati pilaf and fancy risotto and tell us if you’re ready to give rice a little respect.

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Fast & Fancy Plays Chicken!

Posted by Jennifer Sendrow

Obsessed with freshness and relentlessly creative, Chef Joe Dobias of JoeDoe in New York City serves a different menu every week, with anything from duck eggs to challah bread to lasagna. Today he dropped by Morning Living with just one thing on his mind: chicken. Check out his two Latin-inspired variations on the old familiar bird and you might just change the menu for your next feast.

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Fast & Fancy: Oysters

Posted by Jennifer Sendrow

If you read this blog regularly, you know that I love oysters. Chef Ethan Stowell also appreciates a good shellfish, just as any Seattle native rightfully should.

He serves plenty of local, seasonal fare in his four hometown restaurants -- Union, Tavolàta , How to Cook a Wolf, and the brand new Anchovies & Olives.  This morning he served up two recipes for my favorite mollusk: fast fried oysters and fancy raw oysters.

We wish Chef Stowell lots of luck at Monday's James Beard Awards, where he's up for best chef in the Northwest. Break a shell!

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Fast & Fancy: Viva Las Vegas with Paul Bartolotta

Posted by Jennifer Sendrow

After opening five successful Italian restaurants with his brother in their native Milwaukee, Chef Paul Bartolotta decided set up shop amid the bright lights of Las Vegas. It was a smart move, because his Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare  has been a shining star of the local dining scene ever since it debuted a menu of authentic Italian seafood back in 2004. We’re not just talking authentic technique either: the restaurant imports about one and half tons of seafood each week from Italy, selling dozens of different species every night.

Chef Bartolotta joined Morning Living’s live broadcast from the M Resort today to talk about two delicious ways to prepare one of the most affordable, ecologically sustainable, and versatile fish in the sea: mussels. If you can’t make it to Italy – or Las Vegas – at least you can get a taste of what’s cooking!

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Spring Peas Go Fast & Fancy

Posted by Jennifer Sendrow

Chef Jon Ashton, like the Beatles, hails from Liverpool. He didn't have any pop gems to share with us on Morning Living today, but his quick and easy recipes using English peas were a hit.

You don't have to follow Chef Ashton back to England to find English peas, that's just the proper name of the green peas in a pod that start appearing in markets this time of year. The taste of fresh peas in season can't be beat, but if you're short on time for shelling, you can still get tasty results if you use good quality frozen peas.

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Fast & Fancy: White & Green Asparagus

Posted by Jennifer Sendrow

It's the first day of spring! That means the days will start getting longer, gardens will start blooming, and white asparagus will finally be at the greenmarket.

Maybe you're not so excited about that last part, but over in Northern Europe it's a pretty big deal. In Germany, restaurants even design special menus for Spargelzeit, (which means "asparagus time") in appreciation of the rare, pale veggie that only comes out once a year.

Chef Franck Delatrain from New York's Café Centro decided to bring a little of that seasonal festivity stateside, and he joined us today on Fast & Fancy to share two of his favorite spring asparagus recipes.

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Fast & Fancy: A day of Irish eats!

Posted by Katie Macpherson

It's hard to believe, but St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner. So for this week's "Fast and Fancy" segment on Morning Living, we took a wee trip to Ireland-- well, actually, Ireland kind of came to us. Sharing his delightful Irish brogue and recipes was Bradley Aug-- a.k.a. "Chef Augie"-- from The Fitz restaurant at The Fitzpatrick Manhattan Hotel. Chef Augie shared several recipes that will keep an Irish theme going throughout St. Patty's Day -- Irish breakfast pizza, a traditional Irish potato dish called "champ," and even a chocolate Guinness drink to top it all off. As the Irish would say, "Sláinte!"

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Fast & Fancy had a little lamb!

Posted by Jennifer Sendrow

Spring is almost here, and for many cooks that means it’s time to put some lamb on the table. Roast leg of lamb is a traditional choice for Easter dinner because the holiday falls at the same time spring lamb comes into market. For an everyday meal, look for smaller cuts of this versatile meat, from the budget-friendly shoulder chop to the elegant rib rack.

Chef Damien Brassel from New York’s Knife+Fork joined us on Morning Living today with his own Fast & Fancy recipes for lamb: a quick cooking lamb loin and a slow-braised lamb shank.

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Attack of the Fast and Fancy Squid!

Posted by Jennifer Sendrow

Josh DeChellis is a chef who thinks globally. He’s cooked classic haute cuisine at the famed L’Arpege in France, mastered seafood with Rocco DiSpirito in New York, picked up some new tricks behind the stove in Singapore, and created two Japanese restaurants. His latest travels have taken him to Spain, where he was inspired to create the menu he’s now serving at New York’s La Fonda Del Sol.

Chef DeChellis joined us today on Morning Living with Fast and Fancy recipes using squid, an ingredient that’s very popular in the Mediterranean, yet only recognizable for most Americans when it’s breaded and fried: calamari. If you’ve never tried cooking squid at home, these simple dishes will definitely make you a fan of this affordable, sustainably-produced fish.

P.S. The image on the right isn't from Chef DeChellis but it's a nice squid salad from Martha!

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