Rick Rodgers

Rave Review for SHARE

2017-01-04T13:54:30Z

Rave Review for SHARE

January 04, 2017

In a few weeks, my latest cookbook collaboration, SHARE with Chopped regular Chris Santos, and one of world's top chefs, will be released. Publisher's Weekly just printed one of the best reviews I've ever received for a book. It is thrilling when a reader totally gets what you are trying to accomplish with your work, and I'm pleased the this project's purpose was embraced in such an enormous bear hug. Here it is:

Santos, known for his communal approach to dining (evidenced by his N.Y.C. eateries, Stanton Social, Beauty & Essex, and Vandal), extends his philosophy to a broader readership, in this outstanding collection guaranteed to appeal to all palates and skill levels. Whether readers are aiming high (chicken liver focaccia with braised shallot-rioja marmalade) or low (crab corn dogs with Old Bay aioli), Santos has them covered in this inventive collection. The book is thoughtfully curated and hits all the right foodie notes (red velvet waffles with cream cheese sauce; sliders made up of three types of beef and bacon, topped with a riff on Russian dressing and cola-braised onions) without alienating newcomers or novices. Instructions are clear and to the point; the emphasis is on flavor rather than culinary showmanship and arcane ingredients. Santos is a master craftsman and has assembled one of the most solid compilations of approachable, inventive fare in recent memory. His work deserves space on any respecting foodie’s bookshelf.(Feb.)

Patti LaBelle's Moist and Spicy Gingerbread

2016-12-15T00:11:14Z

Patti LaBelle's Moist and Spicy Gingerbread

December 14, 2016

I love my job! I'm not saying it is easy. Anyone who works in the cookbook business will tell you that it is creative, fun, interesting, challenging, inspriing...but easy, it ain't. My clients are a very diverse group, and I've cooked with everyone from fashion guru Lilly Pulitzer to the lovely Lisa Oz, a couple of TV's most notorious housewives, and some incredible singers who just happen to be incredible cooks. (I'm thinking Frankie Avalon and Patti LaBelle.) For the holidays, I am going to sneak-preview this recipe from the fabulous Miss LaBelle for her wonderful gingerbread, to be featured in Desserts LaBelle, coming out in April 2017. Because, come on, we all love a little spiced gingerbread at this time of year. Read on...

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Lemon Meringue Cake

2016-02-15T15:22:39Z

Lemon Meringue Cake

February 15, 2016

When winter has dug in its heels, it is time to enjoy citrus desserts. We had a lemon tree in our backyard in California, so I didn’t buy a lemon until I moved to New York. Now I get Florida lemons at the supermarket, although every lemon dessert I make comes with extra nostalgia on top. Here is a cake I recently developed for a big dinner party—to say it was a hit would be a gross understatement.

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Salt-n-Pepa's Ultimate Super Bowl Hot Spinach Dip

2016-02-01T13:45:02Z

Salt-n-Pepa's Ultimate Super Bowl Hot Spinach Dip

February 01, 2016

You may think that calling ANYTHING "the ultimate" is just hyperbole. Nope. How do I know? Personal experience. It was given a test by a bunch of hungry billiard-players at Salt-n-Pepa's house. Yes, THAT Salt-n-Pepa.

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Limoncello Pound Cake from Frankie Avalon

2015-10-24T13:19:58Z

Limoncello Pound Cake from Frankie Avalon

October 24, 2015

My co-authored effort with Frankie Avalon, The Frankie Avalon Italian Family Cookbook, has just come out. It is jam-packed with wonderful Italian-American recipes, and that means food for everyone in the family to savor again and again. This recipe for a sweet-tar, moist limoncello pound cake is based on the one from his Mom's recipe box. I am never without a bottle of limoncello in the freezer--it is a refreshing way to end a meal, and a wonderful ingredient in desserts like this. Hmmm. Just writing this makes me want to bake one again. The recipe follows...

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Moist and Cakey Cornbread with Fresh Corn

2015-08-23T19:39:59Z

Moist and Cakey Cornbread with Fresh Corn

August 23, 2015

I often swap (swipe?) recipes with (from?) my dear friend Beth Hensperger, who has written almost as many recipes as I have over the years. OK, we're neck and neck. But the main reason I bring up the Babe of Baking is cornbread. Both of us were raised on a not-very-authentic version of the Southern classic that used canned corn as the moistening agent. This cheap and cheerful ingredient was always in my family's kitchen cupboard, and it never occurred to me to turn my nose up at it. (I was certainly raised to eat with was put in front of me, anyway, with the exception of liver and onions.) The canned corn infused my Mom's cornbread with straight-off-the-stalk goodness. So, here it is the end of the corn season, and I overbought (as usual) at the market. Faced with a mountain of corn, it struck me that I could puree some kernels with sour cream to approximate the canned corn, and go from there. Here's what happened...

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Berry Meringue Slices

2015-07-02T14:49:43Z

Berry Meringue Slices

July 02, 2015

It's been over a dozen years since I first had this perfect summer dessert while researching my KAFFEEHAUS book in VIenna. At Hans Diglas's cafe, one of the most venerable spots in the center of the city near St. Stephen's, I saw a big tray of layered cake in an old-fashioned metal baking pan, topped with red currants and meringue. Hans shared the recipe for the book, and I adapted it for more readily available blueberries. Is this the perfect Fourth of July dessert? I think so!

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Portuguese Pork and Garlic

2015-05-12T16:01:53Z

Portuguese Pork and Garlic

May 12, 2015

I am the human equivalent of a mutt, with roots in Hawaii, Portugal, Ireland, Liechtenstein, and Spain. Each branch of the family identified itself through its cooking, and with two Portuguese grandfathers, that country's cuisine showed up a lot. Where I grew up in California, in the East Bay, has a huge Portuguese community. Recently, on a FB page celebrating my California hometown of San Lorenzo, there was a big discussion about one of our "local" specialities--vinho d'alhos.

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Chicken Savoy

2015-05-04T12:13:25Z

Chicken Savoy

May 04, 2015

Chicken Savoy is a popular dish at many Italian restaurants in my area. How popular? There are people who call it “the unofficial state dish of New Jersey.” Mamma mia! Take that Italian hot dog! (Don’t know what an Italian hot dog is? I’ll tell you later…)

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Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding

2015-04-26T14:03:32Z

Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding

April 26, 2015

When you have lemons, make lemonade. When you have beautiful, fresh-off-the-farm, golden yolked eggs with gorgeous, naturally hued, make…rice pudding. The eggs were a gift from my friend and cooking teacher Sue Sell, and they were so pretty that it was difficult to find the resolve to crack them open. (Check out the photo to see how the yolks contributed to the yellow color in the finished dessert...and yes, that is a feather.) But why rice pudding?

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"Divorced" Sicilian Pizza

2015-04-25T13:41:16Z

"Divorced" Sicilian Pizza

April 25, 2015

Mixing culinary metaphors isn’t really my thing, and I like my cooking straight-up authentic (and tasty). But, last night I applied a Mexican cooking tradition to my Italian pizza. No, I didn’t just add jalapeños.

Enchiladas can be sauced in many different ways—rancheras, molé, suizas, verdes, and more. A dish of enchiladas sauced with two different sauces is called enchiladas divorcadas, or divorced. I couldn’t decide what topping to make for our Friday night pizza, having tomatoes, broccoli, ricotta, and mozzarella at hand, and I didn’t want to do a mash-up. My solution was to make divorced pizza—a white broccoli on one side, and tomato and mozzarella on the other.

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Easter Meat and Cheese Pie

2015-04-05T13:07:51Z

Easter Meat and Cheese Pie

April 05, 2015

Here's another Italian specialty that I've learned to make in the last few years...perhaps proving that you can teach an old dog new tricks. It's meat and cheese pie, an Easter specialty loaded with cold cuts to celebrate the return to eating meat after a Lent-long fast. My version is based on the one from Patsy's Italian Family Cookbook. I spent many hours at Patsy's watching Chef Sal and his crew making their old-school dishes that have made the restaurant famous for over 70 years. My version is actually streamlined, as I used a four-cheese pizza mix and sliced cold cuts instead of the individually prepared ingredients. The dough is easy to make, thanks to instant yeast (you don't have to worry about the water temperature). The pie goes by many names--Pizza Gaina or Pizza Chena (both dialect variations of Pizza Piena, which is Italian for "filled pie") or Pizza Rustica. No matter what you call it, it is delicious. I am always surprised at how easily is comes together.

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Tommy Bahama's Famous Piña Colada Cake

2015-04-04T13:02:04Z

Tommy Bahama's Famous Piña Colada Cake

April 04, 2015

More than baked ham, more than roast lamb, my must-have Easter dinner tradition is coconut layer cake. Its annual appearance on our holiday table goes back to my childhood. My mom and our neighbor Ardi thought nothing of staying up all night designing 3-D cakes, and Easter always featured a funny bunny with white jelly bean teeth and shredded coconut fur. (Yes, the fur and frosting was often tinted with food coloring.) I'm all-grown up, and now I prefer my coconut cakes for their flavor rather than their cuteness factor. When working on TOMMY BAHAMA'S FLAVORS OF HAWAII, I recreated the piña colada cake that is a favorite at their restaurants. This is a truly fabulous cake, with a white chocolate mousse frosting, tender yellow cake, crushed pineapple, and a generous splash of rum. (If serving to kids, use non-alcoholic rum-flavored beverage syrup.) Peden + Monk from FLAVORS OF ALOHA, available only at Tommy Bahama stores, restaurants, and www.tommybahama.com.>

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Zeppole for St. Joesph's Day

2015-03-19T13:26:08Z

Zeppole for St. Joesph's Day

March 19, 2015

I'm not Italian. Not a drop. But I have worked with some incredible (one might even say iconic) Italian cooks, including Sal Scognomillo at Patsy's Restaurant in New York City (Sal would want me to say, "NOT the pizza place!"), Frankie Avalon, and Carrabba's Restaurants. When I lived near Hoboken, I bought my zeppole at none other than Carlo's City Hall Bake Shop, then, as now, the Cake Boss's place. I have cooked and eaten so many zeppole that I must have achieved Honorary Italian Status by now. Here is my recipe, featured in the new Patsy's Italian Family Cookbook, which is available for preorder at amazon.com, and will be published on March 24...just in time for Italian Easter!

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Spicy Wings for Super Bowl

2015-01-29T19:17:18Z

Spicy Wings for Super Bowl

January 29, 2015

No one has ever accused me of being a sports fan. I'm the guy in the group who could care less about the game on TV, as long as the food is GREAT. Last year, when Super Bowl came around, I was working on Tommy Bahama's FLAVORS OF ALOHA cookbook, and developing recipes from the Pan-Asian repertory. These wings were a huge hit, and now they are my go-to recipe. Korean wings are often deep-fried, but I prefer this baked version, which still yields tender wings with crispy skin (yet without the hassle of hot oil). The Korean chile paste is surprising not incendiary, and gives a nice glow without torching the inside of your mouth. I usually buy it at an Asian grocery store, but I was surprised to see it at my Mom's local Safeway in the California suburbs. And the paste lasts forever! Two words: Make these.

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