Now that we’ve passed Memorial Day and with it, the unofficial start of summer, that means local seafood is in full swing. There is no reason for you to purchase farm-raised fish for the next few months. Save that for winter. In the northeast this not only means less expensive seafood but also fresher fish that should not have been previously frozen. So make sure you read the signs in the seafood department. If the fish has been frozen it should state it on the sign. Yo

Before this week I had never been to Napa Valley but I knew a few things about the area. I knew it is really warm with almost no humidity. I knew it has great restaurants, the best known being The French Laundry. And I knew it has spectacular wine. But I really was not concentrated on the foodstuffs. Especially not the produce. Produce became my focus when I visited the St. Helena Farmers Market. There were so many varieties of fruits and vegetables I had never seen before. L

Heavy rain at the beginning of the summer and unseasonably cool temperatures this past month have made for an uneven fruit and vegetable growing season in New York this year. To put it bluntly, this has has not been a great year for some local produce. Berry season was a few weeks shorter than usual and we should be getting into peak season for local corn, but so far it has been very hit and miss. (Make sure you peel back the husk to see if the whole kernels extend all the

With about a month left in grilling season let’s talk steaks. And more importantly how to grill them. But first I want to tell you how to select the perfect steak. You have to start with a good piece of meat. I look for three things here: a bone-in cut with moderately abundant marbling that is about an inch and half thick. As most of you already know marbling equals flavor. What many of you probably don’t know is that there are grades within each grade of meat. For prim