Fried Artichokes

22 Apr 2016 14 Comments

by scolgin in On the Road, Recipes Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I heart artichokes. But I don’t cook them all that often. They are usually ridiculously expensive. However, a couple times a year, around the two harvests (spring and autumn), they will be abundant and cheap. And at those times, we eat a LOT of them.

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Compound that with my discovery at the local grocery store of the “wilted and cosmetically challenged” produce area, where I often find three or four slightly-over-the-hill artichokes packaged together for $.99, and we’ve been on something of an artichoke bender — steamed artichokes, artichoke dip, artichoke pasta, artichoke salad, artichoke soup… and my new favorite, fried artichoke. More

Rocking the Roman Easter

22 Apr 2014 23 Comments

by scolgin in Recipes Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I like to glom onto religious holidays that have interesting regional food traditions and make them my own.

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I’ve often been inspired by Saveur magazine, my favorite food rag. Such was the case all those years ago when I got issue #11, March/April 1996 (yes, I’m proud to say I was a charter subscriber to the publication in its first year), and there was an article on a traditional Roman Easter feast. More

King Seamus

10 Oct 2011 5 Comments

by scolgin in Recipes, Starlets, Yoga Students & Quinoa (stories) Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

My friend Paul lovingly calls me “Seamus.” But I know a real Seamus — how many people outside of Ireland can say that? (Do you know a Seamus??)


Our friend Seamus is a man with a lust for life. Once at a party at our home, I had grilled a Herculean pork shoulder. I was busy tending to guests, wine and so forth, and when I came out to the large table on our deck, Seamus was standing at the head in his flowing white cotton shirt, his long flowing dark hair and thick English accent — holding court, quaffing wine and gesturing grandly as he carved the pork shoulder, a scene that might’ve been pulled from the pages of Shakespeare. More