Food

By Linda Bassett In Italian vernacular, the phrase “are una frittata” translates as “to make a mess.” But on the table, that mess becomes delectable. Quite different from a mess of grits or a mess of catfish, a frittata brings beaten eggs together with whatever the cook imagines for a quick meal  — breakfast, lunch or dinner. Often likened to an omelet, a plain frittata happily doesn’t require risky flipping for perfection. It puffs up to golden glory and interior creaminess with a quick trip…

By Linda Basset On winter weekends, I like to thumb through old cookbooks searching for old treasures. I might want to revive one of grandma’s recipes, renew it or tweak it for the present day. I just struck gold: Chicken Marbella. In the last two decades of the past century, home cooks made this a dinner party go-to. Kind of show-off-y, chicken is surprisingly combined with pitted prunes, green olives and capers in a roasting pan. Originally created at Manhattan’s Silver Palate food shop back…

By Linda Basset Deep in winter, we snuggle in to keep safe from storms and wind and flu symptoms. Fireplace, candles, wool blankets, thick books, soft flannel pajamas. A pot of bone broth on the stove. Brother is the new hot winter trend. CURRENT PHOTO / LINDA BASSETT A recent phenomenon, bone broth is the next step in the evolution of stock: meaty bones simmered with fresh herbs and vegetables, bolstered with a shot of that “fifth flavor” element umami, to cheer it on. Simmering…

I’ve never made beef Wellington. This refined entrée’s popularity rose and fell with the Gilded Age. Julia Child revived it in “Mastering the Art.” A whole generation of mid-century hostesses made it the core of fashionable dinner parties. Creating this showpiece is time-consuming, labor-intensive. And now it’s back. When Current editor Leigh Blander emailed a query about 2026 goals and resolutions, I’d already been mulling the culinary challenge. Just because it was there. (Like Kilimanjaro.) I analyzed recipes from Julia to James to Gordon. As…

Here we are just before “Resolution Day” again. As always, I look to different cultures that cook some type of beans as a wish for prosperity and good health in the upcoming year. Many rely on beans, once used as money. Beans and rice. Black-eyed peas. Lentils and sausage. Beans were often dried to sustain people throughout the harsh winter. They gave rise to culinary superstitions, through generations. One year, I combined a few. Eating lentils while walking up a staircase backward was hilarious. So…