Butternut Squash and Apple Soup Recipe from Marcia Selden Catering Recipe Recipe Thanksgiving Soups Marcia Selden Catering November 23, 2019 We continue our merry Thanksgiving romp with a recipe from Marcia Selden Catering. The Seldens have cooked for, quite literally, thousands of hungry guests, and this is their go-to recipe for Butternut Squash & Apple Soup. It is incredibly simple to make and always a crowd pleaser. Make sure you garnish with the Pepitas. They add some nice texture to the creamy (dairy-free) soup. Read More
Brown Sugar Apple Pie Recipe from Judy’s Bar & Kitchen in Stamford Recipe Features Recipe Dessert Holiday Thanksgiving CTbites Team November 22, 2019 Chef Judy Roll of Judy’s Bar & Kitchen knows her way around a pie, and if you visit her spot in Stamford, you’ll know why she was asked for this recipe. Quite frankly, we selfishly wanted it for our own recipe rolodexes, but we thought we’d share. Aren’t we nice? Enjoy Judy Roll’s recipe for Brown Sugar Apple Pie. Read More
Sweet Potato Pie Recipe from Latin Chef/ Author Leticia Schwartz Recipe Features Recipe Thanksgiving Holiday Pie Dessert Leticia Schwartz November 21, 2019 Ok, I’m all about healthy cooking. The proof is in the book, Latin Superfoods. But this time of year is a little special! Let’s dig right into this Sweet Potato Pie, adapted from Gourmet Magazine. Go ahead and celebrate the old-fashioned way with family and friends. Growing up in Brazil, such a tart was not in the habits, and in fact it took some time for me to get the liking of it. But after 20 years of living here, let me tell you, I’m hooked! And Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays since it’s all about food, friends and family! Read More
Candied Kabocha Squash Recipe: Chef Emily Mingrone of Tavern on State Features Recipe Recipe Holiday Thanksgiving Cooking Entertaining CTbites Team November 09, 2019 For the next two weeks CTbites will be featuring a series of Thanksgiving recipes from local CT chefs. Some of these recipes will be family favorites, or dishes the chefs cook in their own homes. Others will grace the holiday menus found at your local restaurant. One thing is certain. They will all be delicious and worthy of a seat at YOUR table. Our second in this series comes from Chef Emily Mingrone of Tavern On State. Enjoy her recipe for Candied Kabocha Squash. Read More
Polenta Holiday Cookies Recipe from Chef Silvia Baldini Features Recipe Recipe Dessert Holiday Cookies Entertaining Silvia Baldini November 05, 2019 Crispy, crunchy, polenta cookies. The recipe was kindly gifted to me by my MIL Elisabetta. They have become a welcome tradition in my family. We make them a couple of weeks ahead of the holidays and keep them fresh in metal tin, lined with parchment paper. The mix of polenta and potatoes starch gives them a melt in your mouth texture. I like to dust them with a light coating of powder sugar and I enjoy them as treat with tea or when my sweet tooth requires a fixing. Read More
Halloween Treats: Part 2-Bloody Fingers in a Blanket Recipe Halloween Recipe Marcia Selden Catering October 22, 2019 In our second Halloween recipe installment, we venture towards the macabre with this recipe for Bloody Fingers in a Blanket (AKA chorizo in puff pastry). They look revolting, but they are quite the crowd pleaser. Serve these quick and easy recipe to kids or adults at your Halloween soirée. Read More
Halloween Treats! Part 1 - Chocolate Snake Pit Pots de Creme Recipe Recipe Recipe Halloween Holiday Marcia Selden Catering October 17, 2019 Halloween is around the corner, and in honor of this ghoulish holiday, Marcia Selden Caterers have created the perfect recipe for your Halloween party. Kids and adults will love this recipe for Chocolate Snake Pit Pots de Creme. Read More
Fried Green Tomatoes with Burrata & Figs Recipe Recipe Recipe Liz Rueven October 08, 2019 While juicy ripe tomatoes are on the wane, autumn provides an opportunity to experiment with firm green tomatoes. Don’t overlook these gems when you see them in the market. Once battered and fried, they’re a perfect canvas for arranging all sorts of cheeses, fresh figs and a swirl of balsamic glaze.Serve one of these compositions as an appetizer or a light lunch and watch your guests thrill to one of autumn’s underrated fruits.Thank you to Patti Popp, farmer at Sport Hill Farm in Easton, CT and Lori Cochran Dougall, Director of Westport Farmers’ Market, who introduced me to the wonders of green tomatoes. Read More
Yom Kippur Savory Mushroom Cheese Kugel Recipe Features Recipe Holiday Recipe Noodles Liz Rueven October 02, 2019 Yom Kippur*, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, is a day of fasting and praying. When the longest day of the year ends (at least for those who haven’t eaten for 25 hours) family and friends gather around a casual buffet that often includes a sweet noodle kugel. Sure, there are bagels and cheeses, cucumber salads and fresh fruit. But it’s the kugel everyone goes for first. Read More
Traditional Jewish Chicken Soup Recipe Via Kosher Like Me Blog Recipe Recipe Holiday Liz Rueven September 19, 2019 Sure, on Jewish holidays, we love to eat symbolic foods* like apples dipped in honey and moist round challah on Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year. But somehow, most families I know begin the feast with glistening chicken soup. Symbolic? Maybe only in the sense that it is an undisputed classic that signal the beginning of a family gathering. Traditional Eastern European chicken soup is very basic, with a plump 3.5-4 pound chicken (or chicken parts), one quartered onion, sliced carrots, celery, parsnips, and fresh dill and salt, at the heart of the aromatic, slow simmered broth.Consider this a foundational recipe, ripe for playing with, if you’d like to add some personal touches. Read More
Growing CT Beer At Fox Farm Brewery Features Ingredients Brewery CT Farms CT Beer Beer Local Artisan Local Farm Homepage James Gribbon August 25, 2019 Beer, as I've said so many times on this site, is food. Beer is a farm you can drink. It's an agricultural product that comes to us from fields of grain and leafy green hop yards, even down to the yeast brewers culture and grow from the skins of fruit in orchards. The massive proliferation of breweries in Connecticut - many of them less than five years old - means a huge uptick in the need for all these natural products. I wanted to take a look at how the rise of craft beer is affecting the state of agriculture in the Constitution State, and how breweries and farms are working hand in hand to create and restore the growth of Connecticut beer. This will be an ongoing series as summer days get shorter and we approach harvest time, but I thought the best way to start would be with a place that brings agriculture and beer together, and I started with at Fox Farm Brewery. Read More
Guide To Our Favorite CT Summer Farm Stands Ingredients Features Best of CT Farmers Market Farm Stand CT Farms Local Farm Farm to Table Maddie Phelps July 26, 2019 With the glorious warmth that summer brings to Connecticut comes a plethora of delicious fruits, vegetables, and other produce that are sure to highlight any and every meal of the season. If you’re looking to get a taste of the incredible produce CT offers when the temperature is at its hottest, you’ll surely want to make a trip to some local farm stands. As late July is upon us, however, the number of summer days left are ticking away at a startling speed. But fear not; your life just got a little bit easier. Some of the best summer farm stands in the state are listed below, ranging from the eastern most points of Connecticut to down in Fairfield County. All you have to do is find one that catches your eye and take the drive. Read More
Local Boxing Trainer Creates Hot Lady Hot Sauce Brand Ingredients Features Ingredients Hot Sauce Local Artisan Andrew Dominick May 28, 2019 The hot sauce market is stacked with thousands of brands trying to win over your taste buds and into your pantry, but few have roots right here in Fairfield County. Cue Hot Lady Hot Sauce, created by Adam Colberg, a Connecticut resident who grew up in Westport. For Colberg, hot sauce wasn’t always in his overall plan. “Before I graduated from Staples High School, I always embarked on different projects, I always did things differently,” he said. “I wasn’t ready for college, but I wanted to do something adventurous, so I joined the Marines.” His time in the corps, where he was a jet mechanic, granted him the opportunity to travel the world, including a tour in Spain. Read More
A Short History Of The Retro Cocktail: Post Prohibition Recipes Features Ingredients Cocktails Bar Education Mixology CTbites Team May 03, 2019 Bartenders, especially those involved in the “cocktail” world, understand the significant impact that Prohibition has had on the industries surrounding alcoholic beverages. Many consumers, however, are unaware of that impact. National Prohibition was rooted in political and religious belief systems, that sought to temper a vice, and legislate morality to a nation. Any time a product, that is in high consumer demand, is made illegal, a black market is created. Crime increases, violence increases, and eventually, the public demands action. It didn’t take long for the ridiculous idea to be repealed, and when Prohibition ended on December 5, 1933, the nation joined together in a collective sigh of relief, and a toast to better times ahead. Treatises have been written, documentaries have been filmed, and many a scholar has spoken about the nearly decade and a half that The United States of America suffered under the tyranny of Prohibition. What is sorely missing, however, is a definitive study of the decades following its repeal. And, maybe, that is because not much is ever said, outside of our small circle of bartenders, about what life in this industry was like before Prohibition was passed. Read More
SONO 1420, Small Batch Distillery Featuring Hemp Distilled Spirits, Opens in South Norwalk Features Ingredients South Norwalk SONO Distillery Cocktails Spirits Homepage Opening Kristin L. Wolfe April 20, 2019 It was a vote of 14 to 20.One hundred years ago in 1919 Connecticut State Senate couldn’t ratify the 18th Amendment which made Connecticut one of two states at the time to defeat prohibition. It was a real moment in history, and now a real moment for SONO 1420, the revolutionary new distillery making waves in the world of spirits. As far as everyone knows, they are THE only distillery around using hemp seed in its remarkable mash for whiskey as well as other parts of the plant for its flavorful and aromatic essence in gins, bourbons, and ryes. Read More
Hartford Flavor Company: Uniquely Delicious Botanical Liqueurs Features Ingredients Liqueur Cocktails Ingredients Hartford Specialty Market Kristin L. Wolfe April 17, 2019 It’s herbal, it’s floral, it’s natural, Oh MY. It’s botanical liqueur.Walking into Hartford Flavor Company is like walking into a place where all’s right with the world: it’s owned and operated by a smart woman, everything is natural, and it is as beautiful as a field of flowers should be. Or, it’s like a laboratory-meets day spa-meets fully-stocked bar. Take your pick.Anyway, I think you are getting my point. It is downright lovely and essential and all you think while touring around and talking to owner Lelaneia Dubay is, where have you been all my life? Read More
BD Provisions: Gourmet Bulk Food Shopping That’s Really "Out of the Box" Features Ingredients Shopping Specialty Market Grocery Store Newtown Ingredients Coffee Jessica Ryan April 16, 2019 Bulk shopping isn’t exactly a new concept – we’ve been filling the trunks of our cars and SUVs with oversized products from those mammoth box stores for years. But bulk shopping that’s zero waste is something we don’t often see. BD Provisions, in Newtown, takes this familiar concept and gives it a breath of fresh air with a new, environmentally friendly spin. Less is more, especially here. Less waste means more product which means greater savings and more fun, but you really need to head over to experience it yourself. At BD Provisions you’ll find 270 carefully curated products sold by the pound in massive sustainable containers. Products range from dehydrated and powdered superfoods. You won’t want to pass by the creative, flavored rice, quinoa and soup blends that will enhance any weeknight dinner. Of course there are plenty of healthy snack options from the most beautifully colored wasabi coated soybeans, beautiful and delicious dried, crunchy beets, spicy chick peas, a wide selection of nuts both raw and flavored. Gorgeous beans and pastas. Beautiful aromatic spices, a generous selection of the most beautiful tea blends. Read More
Red Chilaquiles in a Roasted Tomato & Guajillo Pepper Sauce Recipe by Lorenza Arnal Recipe Recipe Stephanie Webster April 10, 2019 Chilaquiles are a quintessential Mexican breakfast, usually served after long parties to take care of hangovers. Like enchiladas, they originated as a way to repurpose tortillas. The tortillas are fried and cut into triangles or squares, and are covered in sauce, melted cheese and a variety or toppings such as chicken, meat, eggs, crema, avocado and onions. When we arrive in Mexico to visit our family we most often start by eating chilaquiles. The server always asks if you want them verdes (in green tomatillo sauce) or rojos (roasted tomato sauce). I always go for the red ones, and when they ask if I would like that with chicken or with egg on top, I always respond “las dos cosas por favor…. “ Read More
Recipe: Zaragoza's Mixologist, Christine Short, Makes A Bobby Burns Cocktail Features Recipe Recipe Video Recipe Cocktails Education Kristin L. Wolfe April 04, 2019 Here's Christine Short from Zaragoza's in New Milford giving us a very smooth and silky Scotch Cocktail called the "Bobby Burns." This special drink is named after beloved Scottish poet Robert Burns, who is most notable for the poem which now makes up the lyrics for our favorite New Year's ditty, Auld Lang Syne. Short was recently a finalist for the CRAZIES Awards as Best Bartender in Connecticut, sponsored by the Connecticut Restaurant Association. and just one of five nominated in the state. Cheers! Read More
How New Haven’s Salsa Queen Became the State’s First Black Female Brewer (via CT Magazine) Features Ingredients Brewery CT Beer Beer Connecticut Magazine March 12, 2019 We love celebrating local CT entrepreneurs. Connecticut Magazine gives a shout out to this trailblazing woman who’s shaking up the primarily male dominated craft brewing industry. We also hear that Rhythm beer will be available at Chef Chris Scott’s highly anticipated Birdman Juke Joint in Bridgeport. Craft beer needs more diversity. The realization hit New Haven’s Alisa Bowens-Mercado five years ago while she was at a beer festival. She didn’t mean diversity in terms of more women and minority ownership of breweries; not yet anyhow. Back then she was thinking about diversity of flavor.At that festival, every beer she tried was either too hoppy or too sour for her taste. She felt the craft industry needed more approachable options for drinkers like her.“I want to make a beer that, when I go to a beer festival, that I can drink,” she told her husband.Four years later Rhythm Brewing Co. was born and Bowens-Mercado, owner of Alisa’s House of Salsa, a dance studio in New Haven, became Connecticut’s first female African-American brewer. This month, as she celebrates Rhythm Brewing’s one-year anniversary, the company’s flagship product, Rhythm Unfiltered Lager, is available at more than 200 locations across the state. Bowens-Mercado is also getting ready to start distributing it in the Bahamas. Read More
