Lillian Hellmann’s Empanadas

Lillian posed for Blackgama Mink
for which she was roundly criticized. 

The late Wendy Wasserstein

         Before you think I am fixated on Lillian Hellmann, Playwright, Author and Memoirist, I feel compelled to admit that you may be right.  Lillian Hellmann’s Pot Roast, which I shared with you earlier this month, opened the door to my reading “An Unfinished Woman” (Little Brown & Co. 1969)  This book was the first in what became a three-volume collection of memoirs.  The version that I read contained an introduction by the playwright; Wendy Wasserstein and I’ve leaned heavily on it to write this post.  Ms. Wasserstein’s tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek commentary is hilarious.  She points out that in “An Unfinished Woman” Lillian reminisces about virtually every famous person you’ve ever heard of.  But what struck Ms. Wasserstein was the number of times that Lillian encountered these people just days before their demise.

To Montreal again and to Iron Chef Chuck Hughes' newest hit “Le Bremner” plus his incredible recipe for Beef Short Ribs with Cambozola

  

         Andrew and I felt as if we already knew Chuck Hughes before we even arrived at his latest Montreal venue, “Le Bremner”  (361 Rue St. Paul East, Montreal H2Y 1H2 Tel: 514-544-0466 ) in the heart of Old Montreal.  We’d been following Chuck for months on his Cooking Channel Show “Chuck’s Day Off”.  The premise, if you haven’t had the pleasure, is that Chuck, a extremely affable (and extremely attractive) chef invites all manner of people he knows to eat a lunch he’s prepared specifically for them at his other Montreal hot spot, “Le Garde Manger” (408 Rue St. Francois Xavier, Tel:514-687-5044).  We get to watch the cooking. His guests ranging from his fellow amateur Hockey team players to the local firemen to the guy who delivers the linen to the restaurant get to do the eating.  It’s great television cooking because Chuck exudes energy and passion and infuses his cooking with ‘lick the screen’ dishes you salivate over just watching.  To say that Andrew and I both had mancrushes on Chuck would likely be an understatement.  And meeting him up close and personal just sealed the deal.