Honor the Earth: "Retake Our Plates" Film Series Ingredients Education Events Stephanie Webster March 25, 2010
What Makes Great Chili? Where to Sample in FC? Ingredients Features Events Recipe Comfort Food Stacy Lytwyn Maxwell March 24, 2010 Stacy Maxwell is the author of the upcoming book, El Cheapo Gourmet—Thinking Outside the Restaurant Box: The Best Homemade Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner in Connecticut. Chili with…corn? Absolutely….That’s what some of the evening’s guests at this past winter’s Connecticut Audubon Society Center’s Adirondack Night felt about the three corn-laden crock pots full of chili while others at the event felt: absolutely not! Without doubt, the bright, sunny specks of color added aesthetic appeal to the Adirondack, Sweet and Vegetarian-style dishes that provided the main fare for one of three major annual fundraisers. Of course, when the palate is involved, beauty amounts to beans. As I sampled a cup full of chili while chilling next to a guest who was also hankering down on his eats, I commented, “Perhaps the corn in the chili is a Yankee tradition.” While chewing intently on the kernels, he shrugged off my assumption, saying, “This belongs somewhere in northern New York—far north.” Chidings in the chili world are not new. Back in the 1980s, I was part of a television crew Read More
Want A Free Kitchen Makeover? New TV Show Casting CT Features Events Stephanie Webster March 19, 2010 Do you have a friend or loved one who has a real passion for cooking but is trapped in an outdated, nonfunctional or just plain ugly kitchen? Now's your chance to nominate him/her to receive a kitchen worthy of a gourmet chef for free! We are currently casting dynamic homeowners who love to cook but are in desperate need of a completely new kitchen. We're also looking for you. ..our accomplice in this mission. If selected, you would help our team install a state-of-the-art kitchen for the frustrated foodie in your life. ACT NOW. They're casting the series IMMEDIATELY! RIVR Media is based out of TN produces shows for DIY, HGTV, Food Network, Animal Planet, A&E, etc. They are casting homeowners in CT, or cities that are within an hour or so of NYC (ex. Stamford, Greenwich, Darion, etc). This is a “reality” show – one similar to those on HGTV or Extreme Home Makeover on ABC. Good luck! If you're interested in nominating a cook and being a part of our exciting new show, please email them the following information: Read More
Green Gourmet To Go in Bridgeport Ingredients Features Bridgeport Organic Elizabeth Keyser March 19, 2010 Originally written for the Fairfield Green Food Guide. It’s way too soon to change the name to Green Rock, but Black Rock is getting greener. Green Gourmet To Go, offering local, organic vegetarian and vegan meals, will open on Fairfield Avenue in April (yes I know the photo says March, but dates slip). The attractive little storefront, with its soothing celedon walls and coppery silk curtains will offer healthy and environmentally conscious hot and cold lunches and dinners. Chef-Owner Linda Soper-Kolton was a lifelong food lover and dedicated home cook before she decided to attend the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City. The recent NGI graduate is inspired. She wants makes to make eating healthy meals easy and approachable. “I’ll serve burritos, but healthy burritos,” she said in a recent interview. Think burritos filled with sweet potatoes, kale, black beans and grains. Her Dixie burger is made from black-eyed peas and sweet potatoes and served with chipotle sauce. Her hummus and avocado wrap gets punch and crunch from shiitake “bacon” crisps. Read More
GourMom's Homemade Organic Salsa & Simmer Sauce Ingredients Organic Specialty Market Recipe Farm Fresh Kid Friendly Liz Rueven March 18, 2010 Sarah Galluzzo waits with great anticipation for the ground to thaw and the spring to arrive in CT. OK, we are all yearning for spring.... but her product depends on it! GourMom's USDA certified organic salsa and simmer sauce is her scrumptious creation. She is committed to using LOCAL and CERTIFIED ORGANIC ingredients for this chunky, choc full o'flavor salsa. As a salsa enthusiast, I was enthralled by her story and her product. We chatted at the Pantry in Fairfield, one of her retail outlets, and she explained about the launching of this super local, super delicious product. Her excitement was contagious as she shared her story. In 2008 Galuzzo decided to get serious about selling her salsa and test the market. She had been dubbed "GourMom" by friends and family Read More
Kid-friendly Cooking Project for Stir-Crazy Adults Kids Bites Features Holiday kids activity Recipe Kid Friendly Jennifer Spaide March 15, 2010 For those of you with functioning ovens and kids home from school, here is a tasty time consumer. For creative great tasting "homemade" cookies in a pinch, try this shortcut from Jennifer Spaide of Greenchic.com. As a chef it’s important to know your weaknesses in the kitchen. And I am fully willing to admit that mine is baking. If it’s more complicated than emptying a mix into a bowl, cracking a few eggs, and whisking, don’t expect me to do it well. So you can imagine the panic that pulsed through me when I was asked to bake cookies for some gift baskets. What, me? Really?! But I was up for the challenge… or the cheat. Don’t tell, but I decided to pull a Sandra Lee and take some “semi-homemade” help from the grocery store by purchasing premade sugar cookie dough. I chose an all-natural brand because it’s a little healthier (no trans fats or high fructose corn syrup). With the basic batter under control, and a little stress off my shoulders, I was free to get creative with the flavors & fillings. I decided to make three different kinds of cookie: Chocolate Cherry Almond, Ginger Sesame Coconut, and Orange Fig Thumb Drops. These recipes are so simple it's genius (not to toot my own horn, but “Toot toot”). Read More
Great Wines for $15 & Less: Uncorked Event + Contest Ingredients Education Events Westport Wine Chat Stephanie Webster March 12, 2010 After a successful Restaurant Week, the Westport-Weston Chamber of Commerce is preparing for their next event, The Chamber-Uncorked, A Food and Wine Experience taking place on March 25th @6pm. The concept for this wine focused event will be “Great Wines for $15 and Less,” proving that fabulous wine does not need to break the bank. Wine enthusiast and shop owner Robert Appell of Westport's new Bottles Wine & Spirits, will be acting sommelier for the evening, lending his expertise to the tasting. Naturally, where there is wine – there is food! The cuisine for the evening is a virtual tour around the world, and will complement the diversity of the wine. There will be sushi presented by Matsu Sushi, BBQ from Bobby-Qs, Indian cuisine from Bombay, Caribbean dishes by Blue Lemon, an Italian bounty table by Collyer Catering, and sweet treats by CakeSuite. Here comes the fun part: Testing one’s wine knowledge, a pricier wild card bottle of wine will be poured among the many others for folks to see if they can taste the difference. Plus, a common food ingredient will be used by all of the restaurants/caterers – again, challenging one’s palate. Guess the wine, and receive the bottle. Guess the secret ingredient and receive a basket full of all things delicious! Read More
Ask Chef Nicole: Latin Roasted Pulled Pork Features Ask Chef Nicole Chef Talk Recipe Kid Friendly Latin American Nicole Straight March 11, 2010 I don't know about you, but in my family, the one meal that is unanimously savored is pulled pork. With three kids, it's a minor miracle if nobody turns their nose up when we sidle up to the table, but everybody loves the shredded, juicy, tender "other white meat." Sweet, spicy, savory...any way you make it, it's good. We traditionally go BBQ style, but eager for a change from the vinegary sweetness of this recipe, I asked Chef Nicole to come up with an alternate version. She suggested this spicier cousin, Latin Roasted Pulled Pork. What I like about this recipe is that it requires almost no work and you don't need a slow-cooker to make it. Sure, you can use yours if you own one, but when we taste-tested this recipe I quickly realized I didn't miss the equipment. If you are cooking for kids, just leave out the jalapeno. It still tastes great. Note: If you are looking for a quick BBQ pulled pork recipe, check out the Screamin' Meanie Pulled Pork Bites from our Halloween party snacks post. Latin Roasted Pulled Pork Read More
School is Back in Session @ Fairfield Cheese Company Ingredients Education Fairfield Specialty Market Stephanie Webster March 08, 2010 Fairfield Cheese Company classes are back in session and school has never been this delicious. Whether you are a cheese novice looking for a an introduction to the basics, or a cheese-aficionado seeking to expand your knowledge on a specific variety, they've got the class for you. I jumped at the chance to attend one of these sessions back in October and spent some time with owners Laura and Christopher who lead these entertaining and informative evenings. If you would like some background on Fairfield Cheese Company, check out our review, "Cheese 101." With wine pairings from Harry's Wine & Liquor, this is the perfect way to break out of that dinner-and-a-movie date night rut. If you attend any of the classes below, let us know what you think! Cheese School Class Schedule-Spring 2010 Read More
Taste Testing the NEW Sono Baking Co. Cookbook Ingredients Bakery Cookbooks Education Norwalk Dessert Deanna Foster March 06, 2010 A good cook book is like a map. It takes you to places in the kitchen you couldn’t have gone with out it. A great cook book is like a navigation device. It not only gives you the maps, but shows you points of interest along the way and tells you how to get back on track if you veer off course. The Sono Baking Company Cookbook is a great cookbook and it's on sale March 9th! From its thick, glossy pages to its gorgeous photos and instructive recipes, this book is an inviting and engaging kitchen travel companion. The first thing you notice about the Sono Cookbook is its beautiful photos. Much credit to Ben Fink, who makes the food pop off the page and look so stunning and real you’re surprised you can’t reach into the book and pick up the pastry brush to glaze a tart on the Table of Contents page. When we decided to do a tasting as part of the book’s review Read More
CTbites Shout Out: What's Your Guilty Food Pleasure? Ingredients CTbites Shout Out Stephanie Webster March 04, 2010 Ok CTbites readers, we all have our guilty food pleasures... a secret stash you hide in the back of the pantry, or a fast food stop you make mid-day when your kids aren't in the car? Here's what our contributors have hankerings for. What do you crave? Stephanie Webster: I've got a serious problem with S'mores. I make them in the toaster oven with dark chocolate...Also anything with bacon and grilled onions. Marcy Shinbaum: SALT SALT SALT! A great piece of artisan bread, well toasted, lightly buttered, and heavily salted. Perfection. Jennifer Spaide: My guilty pleasure is Fish Filet sandwiches from McDonalds... extra tartar sauce please! They are one of the worst things on the menu to order, and I don’t do it often, but they have a magical way of making me feel like a kid again. Damn you Micky D!!! Read More
Chef Talk: Barcelona's Spicy Lobster Salad Features Chef Talk Seafood Recipe Stephanie Webster March 04, 2010 Here is our second installment from the Barcelona Cookbook, Spicy Lobster Salad. This recipe will have you craving those Summer lobster runs to Massachusetts. It is simple, fresh and delicious, but has a little kick giving it that signature Barcelona flair. Spicy Lobster Salad Read More
Local Artisan: Making Maple Syrup with Mark Harran Ingredients Local Artisan Dessert Neil Gluckin March 02, 2010 Neil Gluckin is a writer, communication consultant and local food advocate who lives in Wilton, CT. He explores the links between food, self and community in his blog at forageprimeval.com. After firing up the generator that runs the vacuum pump, Mark Harran watches intently as liquid begins to flow through plastic tubing connected to a sleek spout protruding from the trunk of a tree. We are a long way from wooden buckets, tanks of sap on horse-drawn sleds and rustic smoke-filled sugar houses, but Harran is aiming at the same result: maple syrup, the addictive nectar that Americans have been distilling from the sap of the sugar maple since the legendary Chief Wokis first struck a tree with his tomahawk and made it weep sweet tears. A 30-year veteran of the food industry, Harran, now retired, has returned to his roots. He grew up on a farm in upstate New York that hung buckets from 5,700 taps, and he lives on one now, in Litchfeld, where he does the same thing albeit on a smaller scale. In addition to being a private farmer, he also serves as President of the Maple Syrup Producers Association of Connecticut. Read More
A Guide to Fairfield County 2010 CSAs Ingredients Features Delivery Service Local Farm Organic healthy Farm Fresh CTbites Team February 26, 2010 Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a means for consumers to buy a share in a farm's seasonal production directly from the farmer. Consumers benefit from buying local, farm fresh, high quality produce at an attractive price and farmers benefit from pre-selling the harvest. It’s a clear win-win. CSA members typically pick up their weekly shares at the farm or a location in their community, but a new CSA option is delivered to your door! Community pick up locations generally involve a small volunteer commitment, perhaps two hours per season, during which the site is readied and broken down for weekly share distribution. CSA membership is not for everyone because in such a partnership arrangement, the consumer shares both the bounty of the farm's harvest and some of the risks inherent in farming. We have lost so much farmland in Connecticut that less than one percent of our residents earn a living by farming. Eat well, support your local farmer and do your bit to preserve farmland by buying a CSA share in one of our precious organic or IPM (Integrated Pest Management) farms. Back in January I announced that it was CSA registration month and shared that two organic farms were expanding and had opened their lists to new CSA families: Sport Hill Farm in Easton and The Hickories in Ridgefield. The CSAs from these two farms quickly sold out. The good news is that there are still a few CSAs open for new subscribers, but you should act quickly if you want to secure a share. Read More
Superior Snacking: BlueBelle Premium Granola Bars Ingredients healthy Kid Friendly Dessert Liz Rueven February 24, 2010 For some time now I have been making special trips to a Doc's, a Westport coffee house, just to purchase their hand made BlueBelle Granola Bars. I would look for any excuse to drive down their street in the hopes of finding my favorite flavor. Always on the hunt for talented small local producers, I recently tracked down the owner of BlueBelle Premium Granola Bars, Westport's Jerri Graham, to learn more about her take on this popular snack. Jerri's mission is to create healthy bars that are delicious, satisfying and enhance over all well being. She takes simple, nutritionally dense ingredients and combines them such that each one is identifiable and discernible. She is a creative soul with great business integrity, who understands the importance of a product to both enhance one's health and thrill the palate. There are currently 4 variations on the bar, all using the same base of organic oats and oat flour. The choices are Lemon Ginger, Fruit and Nut, Cherry Cranberry Almond and Chocolate Coconut, Read More
Roasted Beet & Watercress Salad w/ Toasted Walnuts Features Ask Chef Nicole Chef Talk healthy Recipe Stephanie Webster February 23, 2010 People are often daunted by the prospect of proper beet handling and cooking. Personally speaking, I always order them when dining out because I lack the will to cook them at home. Recently, I sat in on one of Chef Nicole's cooking classes, where Balsamic Glazed Roasted Beets with Toasted Walnuts & Grapefruit Over Watercress was on the menu. Watching the simple preparation of this delicious dish helped me turn the corner. Beets can be found year round at your local grocer although the small tender beets are generally in season only from June through October. High in nutrients and low in calories, these sweet earthy root vegetables are great solo or in salads like the one below. The acidity of the balsamic vinegar and the grapefruit work well to counterbalance the sugary beets, while the toasted walnuts provide great texture and crunch. Make this dish for your next dinner party or as a light healthy lunch. Balsamic Glazed Roasted Beets with Toasted Walnuts and Grapefruit Segments Over Watercress Read More
Ask Chef Nicole: Asian Turkey Vegetable Potstickers Features Asian Ask Chef Nicole Chef Talk kids activity Recipe Kid Friendly Nicole Straight February 18, 2010 Chef Nicole has mastered the art of the kid-friendly recipe that works just as well the adults in the crowd. These Asian Turkey Vegetable Potstickers are a perfect hands-on activity for all ages. Personally, all that folding took me right back to those origami craft projects from my younger days. These little GBD packages are deceptively simple to make and very tasty. We also have a vegetarian version below. Try 'em in your house and let us know what you think. Asian Turkey Vegetable Potstickers Read More
Raising The Bar On Eating Locally...Don't Miss FRESH Features Education Events Going Green Farm Fresh CTbites Team February 17, 2010 Analiese Paik is the Founder and Editor of The Fairfield Green Food Guide. She is devoted to raising awareness for eating locally and incorporating sustainable food into your family's daily routine. Analiese organized a sold out screening of the documentary FRESH last August. If you missed it, on February 27th, you have a second chance to see this film. Details are below: You are invited to a very special screening of the documentary food film FRESH on Saturday, February 27 from 2:00-4:30 pm at Audubon Greenwich. Immediately following the film, a panel of prominent members of the local/sustainable food movement will discuss the critical role we each play in supporting local farms and creating a local market for sustainable products and offer practical ideas about small but important steps we can take to join and strengthen this grass roots movement. Please join us afterwards for complimentary organic wine and local cheese in the exhibition area. A special educational program for children ages 5 and up is being offered free of charge so the whole family can enjoy an afternoon at the beautiful venue. Read More
Chef Talk: Barcelona's Gambas Al Ajillo Features Chef Talk Recipe Stephanie Webster February 13, 2010 Barcelona has long been a Fairfield County favorite for authentic and distinctive Spanish Tapas. All of their locations share that perfect festive vibe, and the cocktails, well they're worthy of their own post. When the Barcelona Cookbook came out last Summer, I was incredulous that I could recreate the flavors that emerge from their kitchens. Sure, these recipes don't come with music and engaging bartenders, but the food tastes great. These Gambas Al Ajillo are the first of four recipe we will feature from Barcelona Wine Bar. Enjoy! Gambas Al Ajillo Read More
