If you’ve ever stopped at a gas station in Italy, pointed at one of the stacks of pre-made sandwiches and asked to have it pressed or toasted, you’ll be hooked on panini. They are amazing. More than likely, you may not be able to stop at a single panino. But you don’t have to travel to Italy. Now you can get your fix in the Southland at a growing number of establishments that specialize in the warm, crispy, irresistible sandwiches.

Please read the article…“Start the presses! Panini are here!”. For the Panini recipes: “Paninis you can make at home”. For some new haunts to enjoy a Panini: “Places to pick up panini”.

If you, like most of us, feel you don’t have much time to cook - let alone entertain or even have friends over - I have a few fast-fix strategies to make your next get-together a stress-free hit. Recently, I was put to the test when some out-of-town relatives dropped by for dinner on a moment’s notice. With about three hours to pull a meal together, I opted for fuss-free creations that looked appealing and tasted delicious, relying on my refrigerator, freezer and well-stocked pantry.

Read the rest of the article…“10 fast-fix favorites for stress-free get-togethers”

You may recognize Martin Yan, the celebrated TV host, restaurateur, chef and author of 26 cookbooks, who has been demystifying Asian cuisine for Americans for more than 25 years… He sprinkles his cooking presentations with lightning-fast knife skills, wit, humor and gusto. Home cooks can embark on a culinary journey through China enjoying Yan’s expertise and flair…

Please read the article for more…“Yan returns to the cooking spotlight”

I had the chance to do an article on Sherry Yard and her new cookbook. She is incredibly talented and I have enjoyed her creations for years. Here’s a link to the article: Desserts are sweetest way to punctuate a meal.

The Daily News has posted my article for this week’s food section. Check it out when you have a moment.
Personal chef Samantha Garelick sheds light on Hanukkah favorites

For this week’s main story, we put together a little competition. Let’s see what easy-to-make cakes a few popular pastry chefs could formulate into a good Valentine’s Cake recipe. But here’s the kicker, they had to use an off-the-shelf cake mix.
Most pastry chefs will tell you that they never use cake mix, instead making everything from scratch. So we probed their creativity in limiting them to only using a cake mix that a regular reader could get from the local grocery store.

While I don’t want to alienate anyone, personally, I thought the Tropical Coconut Cake was the best tasting, while the Soleil Frozen Dome was the most original creation amongst the four entries. Special thanks to all the participants, this story was a lot of fun!
For the full article, please read “So Easy, It’s Sweet.”, over at dailynews.com.