ArcaMax

With four sons ranging in age from 12 1/2 to 30, I always look forward to Father's Day. And even though I often enjoy preparing food at home for my boys and my wife Gelila, I'm happy to say that all of my offspring enjoy cooking themselves -- especially my second son, Byron, who completed a culinary degree and has joined the ...Read more

I love watching the seasons change through the produce I see in the farmers' market. Even in Southern California, where I live, it's amazing to witness new crops arriving as those of previous months begin to disappear. Those market stall offerings are among my primary inspirations as a chef.

Right now, springtime is drawing to a close as summer...Read more

I enjoy celebrating the start of the warm-weather grilling season by encouraging you to make a big impression when you cook outdoors. But let's face it: Sometimes, at the end of a busy workday or week, you want to relax and enjoy a great meal by simply tossing some burgers, steaks, chops, chicken, kabobs or fish on the grill.

That doesn't mean ...Read more

"Go big or go home!" You're probably familiar with that popular expression, which some accounts say started in the 1990s with an ad slogan here in Southern California, where I live.

That phrase often makes sense to me when talking about cooking. But I don't interpret it to mean serving huge portions. Instead, I believe in making big impressions...Read more

The actual calendar start of summer is still weeks away. But as far as the movie industry is concerned, the hottest months have already begun. We've entered that time of year when, week after week, we're bombarded with so-called summer blockbusters. Each Friday brings the latest fantastical superheroes, marauding monsters, dazzling 3-D animation...Read more

If there's one important cooking lesson I learned from my mother, it's that you can always do little things to make a recipe you like into something even better. Thinking back to afternoons spent watching her at work in our home kitchen, I can see her always tasting and adjusting seasonings, often quickly improvising based on a seasonal ...Read more

What makes a recipe food lovers refer to as a classic? It has to taste delicious and, of course, look beautiful. It should satisfy the other senses, too, offering enticing aromas, pleasing textures, and even delightful sounds. A classic should also stand the test of time, regardless of whatever food fads may come or go.

I'd like to add another ...Read more

When anybody asks me whether Austrians like asparagus, I can answer them in one simple word. "Spargelzeit," which means "asparagus time."

Imagine a country where spring's arrival is announced not just by flowers but also by market baskets brimming with asparagus. Everyone there rhapsodizes especially about white asparagus, shoots grown covered ...Read more

For many of us, Easter is the perfect spring holiday; a celebration of rebirth and a beloved time for families to gather together around the table. I'm sure many people are reading this and thinking about what to cook for a holiday brunch, so I'd like to offer one of my favorite classic recipes for the most symbolic Easter ingredient in the ...Read more

Spring break is almost here. If you have school-aged children or grandchildren, you've probably been thinking about how you'll keep them busy. Some people have booked family trips, while others have planned one-week springtime camp sessions. But for most of us, I suspect, the week winds up being a day-to-day thing, with play dates, trips to ...Read more

Although you can find artichokes in markets most of the year, right now is their absolute peak of season. So I thought I'd share a recipe that features artichokes in one of my favorite preparations, as the featured topping for a very simple pizza that complements the vegetable with some flavorful homemade chili-garlic oil, fresh herbs, ...Read more

One of the happiest benefits of the farmers' market revolution is the fact that food lovers get to discover products that not so long ago were unknown or unavailable. Seeing beautiful piles of produce in a market stall and talking with the people who grew them encourages cooks to try vegetables or fruits that they may once have been wary of ...Read more

It sometimes puzzles me that people make resolutions only once a year, at the start of the new year. Why shouldn't we be able to resolve to improve our lives the other 364 days?

Of course, I understand that a new year holds special significance. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be ready to recognize inspirations for enhancing our health, for ...Read more

We chefs enjoy a unique perspective on the way people eat. As well as playing our part in creating trends, we just as often observe how public opinions change on particular ingredients, food combinations and cooking styles. We know what people love to eat, and what foods they might be avoiding. And, over the course of years and decades, we see ...Read more

Some recipes deserve to become standards; dishes you find yourself cooking and serving again and again, no matter the time of year or the occasion.

To achieve that kind of status takes a rare combination of characteristics. The ingredients have to be easy to find. The cooking process has to be fairly uncomplicated. And the finished dish has to ...Read more

Last month's record-breaking polar vortex may be over, but it's very likely that the weather where you live is still keeping you in indoors on the weekends. It's a perfect time of year for cooking foods that warm you and sustain you. After all, in times past, when people wanted to chase away the cold they gathered around the glowing hearth.

I ...Read more

I first learned to cook in a kitchen ruled by two strong, loving women: my mother and grandmother. They were both amazing cooks, and all these years later my mouth still waters when I think about the food they prepared.

They weren't fancy about our daily food. Though they both knew how to prepare the finest traditional Austrian dishes, they ran...Read more