Here’s an easy way to elevate a quick lamb chop dinner — though this coffee/fresh herb rub is also quite tasty on beef, too! Recipes: Meat: Coffee-Crusted Lamb Chops You can also use this dry rub for an entire rack of lamb, or on your favorite cut of beef. Serves 2. Quantities are easily multiplied for [...]

Today is apparently National Rum Day — a fact that, just a few years ago, would have sent a shiver down my spine as I flashed back to some none-too-pleasant episodes in college where a few too many rum & cokes left me weepy and sick in the bathroom… Fortunately those days are long behind me, [...]

I’ve been tasting a bunch of inexpensive California Merlots this week, and, frankly, don’t have anything nice to say about any of them. Maybe the last few will pleasantly surprise me over the weekend… But I’m hedging my bets with a batch of these irresistably crunchy, almond- and lemon-flecked biscotti to serve as a simple [...]

If you have a special Chardonnay and are looking for a killer dish to pair it with — check out this recipe from the September 2002 Bon Appetit for Pasta with Lobster, Wild Mushrooms and Cream. I made it recently and it was luxuriously delish. Using lobster tails is an easy cheat — less expensive (and all [...]

Sometimes grilling is an activity to feed a crowd — burgers, hot dogs and the like — and a slew of bargain wines is the order of the day. Then there are those evenings when you have a couple of well-marbled, bone-in ribeyes (for example) and you plan on sharing the feast with just that one [...]

I know, I know, there are people who get bent out of shape when I “relegate” Zinfandel to being a BBQ wine. But I really don’t mean it as an insult. To me, this is what the grape is meant to do — just fulfilling its noble destiny if you think about it. Cuz really, [...]

Skip the boring, bottled cocktail sauce the next time you have a shrimp boil – instead add one (or more!) of these quick and flavorful dipping sauces to elevate the whole thing to flat out fabulous! Recipe: Sauce: Nuoc Cham This mouthwatering dipping sauce is a cinch to make – and combines the mouthwatering citrus and [...]