What Are Your Holiday & New Years Food Traditions? Features CTbites Shout Out Holiday Stephanie Webster December 22, 2009
Chef Talk: Osetra's Chef David Nivens-Lobster Spaghettini Features Chef Talk Norwalk Recipe Stephanie Webster December 21, 2009 Don't you always wonder what chefs make when they leave their throng of paying diners, kick back, and cook for themselves? Enquiring minds wanted to know, so CTbites asked top local chefs to share a holiday dish from their at home recipe box. This might be something they serve to their family at the end of the day or food that simply defines the season. We will be featuring these recipes throughout the month of December. We hope you try some of these meals in your home. You can be guaranteed they're good! Enjoy this delicious simple pasta entree from Chef David Nivens of SONO's Osetra. Read More
Cookies Part 1: Give the Gift of Homemade Cookie Dough Features Ask Chef Nicole Holiday Recipe Kid Friendly Dessert Nicole Straight December 17, 2009 Who doesn't appreciate a tin of cookies around the holidays? Well we've got some great tried and true recipes for cookies of all shapes and flavors. But before you pop these Coconut-lime Snowballs, Chocolate, Pecan and Orange Biscotti, Dark Chocolate Chewy Cherry Cookies, Lemon Snickerdoodles, or Chewy Kitchen Sink Oatmeal Cookies in the oven....why not gift without the heat? A gift of uncooked cookie dough allows the recipient the freedom to enjoy his or her cookies whenever desired. Plus YOUR gift won't go stale while your mail carrier or teacher attempts to consume the other 10 tins they received. Just wrap your dough in parchment, wax paper, or plastic wrap, and let your giftee know that it might be a good idea to get this parcel into the fridge as soon as possible. (Cooking instructions are helpful as well). For those of you who just want to bake up some delicious cookies, here are the recipes mentioned above. Read More
Shopping Guide: Green Foodie Finds for the Holidays Ingredients Fairfield Holiday Westport New Canaan Farm Fresh CTbites Team December 17, 2009 Analiese Paik, Founder of the Fairfield Green Food Guide is constantly scouring the farm stands and markets of Fairfield County for great green foodie finds. She has come up with a list of wonderful local products just right for the holidays. Happy shopping! Holy smoke!: The Willie Bird whole smoked turkey, formerly available exclusively through Williams-Sonoma’s catalog, is now available at Palmer’s Market in Darien. You can thank Richard the butcher for bringing in this famous all-natural, vegetarian fed bird from Sonoma, CA to grace your holiday table. Save yourself the shipping and head to Palmer’s Market at 264 Heights Road in Darien, just off exit 10 on I95 across from the Noroton Heights train station. They also have fresh Long Island duck! Read More
Butternut Squash Chevre Ravioli in Sage Butter Features Ask Chef Nicole Recipe Kid Friendly Nicole Straight December 15, 2009 Sure the cold weather brings fewer local fruits and vegetables, but have no fear, there's one versatile fruit (yes, it's a fruit) that you can count on in any season. I'm talking about the formidable squash, specifically the Butternut Squash that keeps us nourished with Vitamins A & C throughout the Fall and Winter months. This recipe for Butternut Squash Chevre Ravioli in Sage Butter falls into the category of elegant comfort food. You could include this dish in a dinner party menu or serve 'em up for a weeknight family dinner. The goat cheese and browned sage butter add nuance to your more standard squash ravioli and the result is remarkably delicious. These little pasta pockets look complicated but they are actually quite simple to construct if you follow my step-by-step video with added tips and tricks. Butternut squash chevre ravioli in sage butter Read More
Chef Talk: Da Pietro's Chef Scotti's Grilled Calamari Salad Interview Features Seafood Westport Recipe Christy Colasurdo December 14, 2009 Though better known around these parts for his inventive creations at DaPietro’s Restaurant in Westport, chef Pietro Scotti is all about tradition when it comes to the holidays. Leading up to Christmas, he bakes and decorates gingerbread houses with his kids, Tomaso, 7, and Lucia, 5, and sips festive hot cider with star anise, cinnamon and orange slices. He also bakes “Chicolino,” a bread with prosciutto and egg filling and a traditional sweet baked dessert that includes capellini pasta (go figure!), candied fruit, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Hailing from Ischia, a tiny fishing village in Italy, Pietro recalls fondly his family shopping excursions to the waterfront dock. There, his mother chose fish so fresh it was literally splashing around in buckets for his family’s “Feast of the Seven Fishes” Christmas Eve meal. When asked to provide CTbites with a favorite holiday recipe, Pietro chose this grilled calamari salad because it’s simple, clean and easy to prepare—a modern riff on a classic—but also because it reminds him of his childhood. Isn’t that what traditional holiday cooking is all about? Read More
Sensational Sweets @ Sweet On You Cafe & Bakery Ingredients Restaurant Catering Stamford Lunch Dessert Deanna Foster December 12, 2009 I love the challenge of baking: trying to get a light flake in a pie crust or the perfect crumb to a cake or the right texture for a chosen cookie. But mostly I love baking because when successful, it can bring such delight to those doing the eating, usually my friends, whom I enjoy making happy. So, it is rare for me to purchase baked goods as I feel I lose out repeatedly: once in the making, once again in feeling the love, and too often in taste, with overly sweet, overly greasy or overly heavy confections. However, baking requires time, and when you don’t have it you need a quality go-to bakery that will not disappoint. Happily, I discovered my go-to place last week: Sweet On You Bakery in Stamford makes heavenly confections that are beautiful and delicious, and frankly, better than I can make at home. Even if you don't live in Stamford this bakery is worth the trip. Read More
Homemade Holiday Gifts: Vanilla Sugar & Extract Ingredients Features Ask Chef Nicole Holiday Recipe Dessert Nicole Straight December 07, 2009 Tired of giving your teachers and hosts the same bottle of wine, gift certificates, or coffee table books? Why not make your own eatable holiday gifts this year? CT Bites makes gift planning easy with our ongoing December feature "Homemade Holiday Gifts." No, we're not getting out the hot glue gun. We're getting crafty in the kitchen with delicious gift ideas that everybody will enjoy: Homemade Vanilla Extract & Vanilla Sugar. Read More
Winter Essentials: Chocolat Chaud from "The Pantry" Ingredients Fairfield Specialty Market Kid Friendly Dessert Stephanie Webster December 02, 2009
GreenChic Recipe: Green Goddess Salsa Features healthy Recipe Farm Fresh Jennifer Spaide December 01, 2009 Jennifer Spaide is the Founder of Greenchic.com, and is dedicated to educating and inspiring individuals to lead healthy lives, starting with what they eat. She lives in New Canaan and is a registered nutritionist, cook, mom, and foodie. This recipe was developed for one of my readers who was looking for a healthy salsa to serve at a party..."something a little green." I was so pleased she had made the request because this Green Goddess Salsa has become one of my staples. It is packed with healthy ingredients and is amazingly nutritious. It also has a clean, fresh flavor that is perfect with homemade tortilla chips, with eggs in the morning, or served with grilled meats. Green Goddess Salsa Read More
Meet the Yeastie Boys @ Billy's Bakery in Fairfield Ingredients Bakery Fairfield Breakfast Comfort Food Dessert Marcy Shinbaum November 26, 2009 Those of us that live in the town of Fairfield have followed Billy’s Bakery from its tiny rustic beginnings to its current bright retail space like a pig snorting out truffles. We stop in and wander around wondering what doughy treats we will pick up, but really, we know exactly what we want before even stepping out of the car. The reason we wander is because it gives us an excuse to meander over to the sample basket and spread soft churned butter on slices of fresh baked bread. I’m not embarrassed to admit that on more than one occasion that sampling has been my lunch. I recently decided to stop into the bakery with a fresh eye, contemplating whether or not this local shrine was good enough to warrant a road trip from the far corners of Fairfield County. Read More
Cranbellinis: The Holiday Breakfast of Champions Features Cocktails Holiday Thanksgiving Recipe Elizabeth Keyser November 26, 2009
Stuffed: The Benefits of Stale Bread Features Holiday Thanksgiving Recipe Michael Mordecai November 24, 2009 Michael Mordecai is baker behind The Fairfield Bread Company and the wonderful "Flaxette." In giving thanks, respect is inherent. Our earth provides for us. We accept these provisions not with greed, but with appreciation. In celebrating food and the bounty of the earth, it is only right to respect the food by utilizing it to the fullest. Using leftovers to create new dishes minimizes waste of food and preparation time. Leftover stale bread has infinite uses. Hardened crusts and heels are transformed into delicious sweet or savory dishes. But now is the time to make stuffing. Use day-old (or 2 or 3 day-old) bread. Use what you have, crusts and all. If you must buy bread to make stuffing, buy a variety of day-old bread (or rolls) from a trusted bakery. The more varied the types of bread, the better the flavor, although one type will work: white, whole wheat, rye, pumpernickel, or sourdough. Read More
Ask Chef Nicole: Thanksgiving Side Dishes Features Ask Chef Nicole Holiday Thanksgiving Recipe Nicole Straight November 22, 2009 Thanksgiving is my all time favorite holiday, there’s no pressure to give gifts, and the whole day is about being together with people you love (or at least like very much) and think about all of the things I am grateful for. And of course, there’s the meal… When it comes to Thanksgiving, I must admit I am a bit of a purist. I want to know that this annual meal will taste exactly as it did last year and the year before that. The recipes I use are the ones my mother used and the ones her mother used. While I have made some small changes over the years (mostly to make life easier) the flavors are exactly the same as I remember them when I was young. My other favorite thing about Thanksgiving is the day after Thanksgiving sandwich, which is basically a little bit of everything (warmed just a little) stuffed between 2 soft pieces of white bread. When you make these recipes, be sure to make a little extra so you have enough for those yummy “day after sandwiches." Here are three of my favorites: Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Prosciutto, Chestnuts and Apple; Mapled Sweet Potatoes; Classic Cranberry Sauce. Read More
Cooking at Home: Radish Greens Features healthy Recipe Farm Fresh Elizabeth Keyser November 18, 2009 Elizabeth Keyser is a local writer living in Fairfield. Her work has been published in The New York Times, GQ, American Photo, The New York Post, Connecticut Magazine, as well as CT newspapers. She writes restaurant reviews and a food column for the Fairfield County Weekly. Radishes and chard were the last things growing in the garden. A creature had gnawed on one of the radishes, so it was time to pull them up. But I wasn’t just harvesting the root. I was eying their bright healthy-looking greens. Yes, you can eat radish greens. They contain more vitamin C, calcium, potassium and folate than the root, and while peppery, they’re mellower than the root. They say you can eat them raw, but I’m turned off by the fury-prickly texture. I make soup with them. Radish leaf soup is an old French recipe. You can find it in Larousse Gastronomique, but it’s easy enough to wing it. This is a quick soup. You’ll be eating in this mildly piquant green elixir in 30 minutes. Radish Greens Soup Read More
It's Breakfast Time: Eggs in Phyllo, Pita or Tortilla Cups Features Ask Chef Nicole Recipe Breakfast Kid Friendly Nicole Straight November 12, 2009 You wake up on Saturday morning. You're feeling guilty about feeding your kids frozen waffles every day this week. It's time to break out of the mould and try out a new recipe...something with a little pizazz. How about eggs? Boring you may say, but these are not just any eggs. This is an egg breakfast that comes wrapped in its own carb (in the form of phyllo, tortilla, or pita cups). With the addition of veggies, cheese, or meat you've got a whole meal in one tasty little package. They look complicated but they only take about 20 minutes, and your family will love the results. Eggs in phyllo, pita bread, or tortilla cups Read More
Whole Foods Market Opens in Milford Ingredients Events Specialty Market Opening Stephanie Webster November 11, 2009 You would have thought they were giving away TV's at the pre-opening party at Whole Foods Market in Milford. A line snaked through the parking lot as people clamored to get a glimpse of this new glittering grocery mecca. The new location officially opened its doors today with their customary breaking of the bread ceremony, and I kid you not when I say that Milford residents have one more reason to smile when they wake up in the morning. Read More
Wine Chat: Le Beaujolais n'est Pas Arrive Ingredients Greenwich Norwalk Ridgefield Specialty Market Wine Chat CTbites Team November 09, 2009 I am convinced that one of the best kept and most unfortunate secrets in the wine world is how good wines from Beaujolais actually are. Yes, that’s right–Beaujolais. The word itself creates a certain conundrum. It has been misappropriated and used as a gigantic ruse to convince the American wine drinking public that Beaujolais is actually that thin, fruit juicy froth that Georges Duboeuf has celebrated for years. Quel disastre! Let me break it down: red wines of all stripes are crushed during harvest (the vendange), racked and barreled to age. Some wines – like great Spanish Riojas don’t get released for 7-8 years after they are harvested. The wait is worth it and the wines benefit from age. Not Beaujolais Nouveau. Beaujolais Nouveau is crushed and rushed into the bottle mere weeks after being picked. And it tastes like it. What the heck was Dubouef thinking? Obviously he wasn’t. Read More
