Dressing Room's New England Lobster & Mussels Features Chef Talk Seafood Recipe CTbites Team March 29, 2011 This classic New England dish is featured on the Dressing Room's dinner menu and is one I've always wanted to make in my own kitchen. Aromatic and satisfying, Chef Vaast's New England Lobster & Mussels is a great recipe for spring entertaining. The Dressing Room uses Wave Hill Bread for dipping, but The Flaxette would do the job nicely as well. Read More
Savor Cookies: This Aint Your Average Cookie Ingredients Farmers Market Dessert Liz Rueven March 25, 2011 Let’s play the association game. What comes to mind when you think of pomegranates, black olives, roasted leeks, cardamon, lavender? First thing to pop into your head? COOKIES?! Once you taste Andre Kreft’s savory shortbread cookie bites you may soon be thinking about some unusual ingredient and food pairings yourself. Kreft, a self taught artisan baker, launched SAVOR FINE FOODS only six months ago. He has created 12 flavors for his shortbread cookie bites that surprise and thrill with prominent flavors. Read More
Last Chance for Bishops Orchards CSA Ingredients Features Local Farm Farm Fresh Stephanie Webster March 24, 2011 Bishops Orchards is 30 spaces away from hitting their maximum number of CSA sharholders this year. If you have been contemplating being a part of the Bishop's Orchards CSA this year, don't miss your opportunity. They will be taking registrations online through this Sunday, March 27. There are 3 CSA options for you to choose; a Full Share, a Half Share and a Flower Share. The flower share is one you can either add onto a Full or Half Share, or participate buy into alone. Click here for more information. What is a CSA? CSA stands for "Community Supported Agriculture" and refers to a program where yourlocal farmer (Bishop's Orchards) offers a certain number of "shares" to the public. Each share entitles members to a weekly box of fresh-picked produce, discounts & specials Read More
Napa & Co's Sea Bass w/ Artichokes & Blood Oranges Features Chef Talk Seafood Recipe Stephanie Webster March 23, 2011 For my money, there is nothing better than being a fly on the wall in a top notch kitchen. Watching a talented chef doing what they love is akin to a trip to the opera (or maybe that's just me). I had such a experience when I asked Arik Bensimon, Executive Chef at Napa and Co. to share a recipe from his current repertoire. And what's a recipe without a proper beauty shot? For this, we had to make the dish. Join us in the kitchen for Chef Arik's Black Sea Bass with Chickpeas, Artichokes and Blood Oranges. Read More
"The King of Cheeses" Tasting @ Fairfield Cheese Co. Ingredients Events Specialty Market Stephanie Webster March 23, 2011
Chickens For All @ Audubon Greenwich Ingredients Features Events Local Farm Stephanie Webster March 22, 2011 Raising your own chickens is getting more popular each year and getting easier, too. For anyone who has had the pleasure of eating a fresh poached egg, still warm, straight from the coop, it's akin to the richest of savory desserts. Bright yellow yolks, firm whites...makes you think it's worth investing in some chickens. If you're nodding your head, read on for a great event we caught on The Fairfield Green Food Guide: On March 27th, get inspired to start your own coop and learn the basics of how to get started when Melina Brown, founder of the Southern CT/Westchester Backyard Poultry Meetup, and Derek Sasaki and Traci Torres, local experts and owners of Norwalk-based My Pet Chicken LLC, visit Audubon Greenwich to discuss the how-to of raising your own chickens. This event will include a short presentation, a screening of the acclaimed film, 'Mad City Chickens', and ample time for Q&A. Read More
Coffee Cupping (Tasting) @ espressoNEAT in Darien Ingredients Features Coffee Events Stephanie Webster March 20, 2011 Have you ever wondered why coffee houses bother with options at the brew bar? Do you think you could tell the difference between a $3 cup and a $6 cup if you tasted them side by side? Yes, much like wine, coffee has different varietals, single origin beans, as well as organic options. EspressoNEAT would like to invite you into their coffee obsessed world for an afternoon of sniffing, sipping, slurping, and spitting. (Nobody can handle all that caffeine at once.) They will be using a few handy tools to help keep track of what you're drinking and your discerning palate will never approach a cup of coffee in quite the same way. What: 1 hour cupping tutorial and coffee tasting Where: espressoNEAT 20 Grove Street, Darien When: DATE CHANGE!!! Saturday April 2nd @ 1PM Read More
Wine On The Water @ The Boathouse At Saugatuck Ingredients Restaurant Events Local Artisan Westport Wine Dinners Stephanie Webster March 18, 2011 Spring is a time for rebirth; a time to emerge from hibernation and celebrate new experiences. One of the most exciting new experiences I have recently come across is happening every Tuesday 7-9PM at The Boathouse At Saugatuck. Chef John Holzwarth is coming out of the kitchen and cooking in the main dining room for an immersive weekly wine tasting event, "Wine On The Water." Weather permitting, they will move this party to the beautiful outdoor riverside patio featuring a raw bar and seasonal nibbles. These evenings are geared towards wine appreciation and exploration and if you've had the opportunity to sample the wine list at The Boathouse, you know they have some very unique finds. @ $35 a person, this should become a weekly recurring event in your calendar. Read More
Cherry Pecan Granola via The Parsley Thief Features Recipe Breakfast katie vitucci March 18, 2011 I've been going through a granola obsession lately. I eat it for breakfast, sprinkled on low-fat Greek yogurt, with some agave syrup over the top. I was intrigued by this recipe from the new cookbook, Power Foods, (published by the people of Whole Living magazine), because it's packed with healthy ingredients...I love the addition of ground flaxseeds. I did adjust it quite a bit, because as written, it was a bit flat. I think they were going for a more healthy, low calorie take on granola & of course, I made it a bit less healthy. This is my take on it. Read More
Turning Wine into Water w/ Nicholas Roberts Ingredients Restaurant Events Wine Dinners Stephanie Webster March 15, 2011 On April 2, 2011, Nicholas Roberts Fine Wines & Nicholas Roberts Gourmet Bistro are uniting in a 3 hour gustatory explosion. It’s your opportunity to savor over 50 red-hot wines from Europe and South America while noshing on creations from Chef Rob’s (of Nicholas Roberts in Norwalk) spring menu. Why: Because thousands of children perish daily simply because they lack access to clean water. 100% of all door proceeds and 10% of all sales from the evening will be donated to Turning Wine Into Water, whose mission is making clean water available to some of the world’s poorest populations. The wine lineup will include: Read More
Lucky Corned Beef Hash via Sugar & Olives Features Holiday Recipe Breakfast Stephanie Webster March 14, 2011 If you can't make it out for St. Patty's Day, why not try enjoy a taste of the Irish in the comfort of your own home. Jennifer Balin of Sugar & Olives knows her way around a simple but tasty Corned Beef Hash, and what better to serve up on March 17th? Bonus: This recipe also features her "secret" for extra delicious overnight shredded hash browns. Check it out: Read More
Scoring Mexican Coke in Fairfield County Ingredients Specialty Market Dessert Stephanie Webster March 10, 2011
Macarons with Chef Emilie Ingredients Features Cooking Classes French Dessert Amy Kundrat March 09, 2011 Whether you are a hopeless Francophile or just a lover of confections, macarons are the pinnacle of dessert perfection. A cross between a tiny cake and a cookie, macarons boast smooth and delicately crisp exteriors that give way to light and pillowy interiors and are filled with sweet and occasionally savory fillings. In the right hands, they can be the miraculous result of a few deceptively simple ingredients of almond flour, eggs and sugar. Read More
Dressing Room Hosts Benziger Biodynamic Wine Dinner Ingredients Restaurant Wine Dinners Stephanie Webster March 08, 2011 On Wednesday, March 16th @ 7PM, The Dressing Room & Nicholas Roberts Fine Wines hosts the next in their series of wine dinners featuring Benziger Family Winery. Benziger is one of the finest biodynamic, organic vineyards utilizing only sustainable farming methods. The result is a portfolio of authentic and memorable wines. Their commitment to "practices that are good for the earth and the vine, good for the farm worker and the farmer, and good for our colleagues and our customers" mirror Dressing Room's mission precisely. The inspired menu reflects their enthusiasm for this pairing partner. UPDATE: We just got word that Mike Benziger will be is town to host the event himself. Check out the menu below: Read More
The Winner of the Pine Social Cocktail Contest is... Ingredients Events Stephanie Webster March 05, 2011
Friday Froth: The Beginnings Of Spring Ingredients Beer James Gribbon March 04, 2011 I absolutely adore Greek mythology. The creatures were probably the first aspect to grab my limited attention, but the imperfection and compellingly human nature of the gods, the odd sense of justice, the creativity and cleverness of classical civilization have never ceased to captivate me. "I, my, me" - isn't this supposed to be about beer? It will be, but first let me tell you about a youth named Narcissus. Born to a river god and a water nymph, the boy was impossibly beautiful from birth, and he knew it. Men and women alike threw themselves at Narcissus and all were rejected. Ovid writes: "Thereupon one of the scorned raised his hands to heaven and cried: 'So may he himself fall in love, so may he not be able to possess his beloved!' and Nemesis heard it." One hot day, Narcissus bowed down at a spring to drink and unwittingly fell in love with his own reflection. Unable to grab the object of his desire and unwilling to leave it, he wasted away to death by that spring, and in his place grew a yellow flower botanists call by his name. The rest of us call it a daffodil, and I noticed a bunch of them beginning to push up through the frosty ground this week. Spring is beginning, and with spring comes spring beers. Read More
Fat Cat Pie Co.'s Butterscotch Pudding Features Chef Talk Recipe Dessert Stephanie Webster February 28, 2011 Chef Robert Herlihy, Chef at Fat Cat Pie Co., puts out a darn fine thin crust pizza, but if you've never tasted his Butterscotch Pudding, you are missing out. This dessert has garnered a cult-like following amongst those in the know. Personally, the obsession stems from a subtle saltiness hiding under the smooth sweet pudding. I thank Chef Herlihy for sharing this recipe with us. If you sample this dish at Fat Cat Pie Co. or in the comfort of your home, let us know what you think. Read More
Friday Froth: Harpoon's Biblical Fish & Praise For A Saint Ingredients Beer James Gribbon February 24, 2011 So: who joined me at the Harpoon tasting event at Monster B's last Friday? Anyone? Bueller? I don’t know if it was the Harpoon or the fact that it was a Friday, but the place was packed like the gym in January. There or not, hit us up in the comments and tell us what beers you’ve been digging on lately. We encourage conversation around here, and we promise not to mock your affinity for Land Shark… much. Speaking of animals that have no business being on land, Harpoon launched its Leviathan series of craft beers in 2008 as “an exploration in brewing big beers for adventurous palates.” The series was originally intended as a 100-barrel, limited edition release, but the market responded with enthusiasm, and they’re back. The Imperial IPA, Baltic Porter, Saison Royale, and several more will be offered in 120-barrel batches this time, and in bottles as well. Read More
Chili Con Carne via The Parsley Thief Features Recipe Comfort Food katie vitucci February 24, 2011 I was given my first French oven {a.k.a. a Dutch oven, or an enameled cast iron pot} about 10 years ago, by my mother-in-law. For years now, a smaller version has been on my wish list...something more practically suited for a family of four & everyday cooking. So, when I recently won a gift certificate to a cooking store, I finally took the plunge & bought myself one! It's been sitting on my stove for a week now...bringing a smile to my face every time I look at it. I christened the pot with a lovely, Sunday roast chicken. Next up, I wanted to make some kind of stew, pot roast, or chili suitable for the cold, winter days we've been having. This Chili Con Carne recipe is what I decided on. Read More
