Friday Froth: 12 Connecticut IPAs And A Sweep At The 2018 Blind Beer Awards Features Ingredients Friday Froth Beer CT Beer Events James Gribbon April 27, 2018 Being a beer writer, as you'd expect, has its perks. For a few years one of these was being chosen to serve on a panel of expert judges at the Connecticut Blind Beer Awards, a competition between a dozen local beers which takes the popularity contest aspect out of the equation by serving each from unlabeled, color-coded taps. The event is held each year at the Blind Rhino in South Norwalk, and while brewery representatives are on hand in case their brewery wins one of the awards, they are sequestered away from public view in the bar's basement to bottle share, play beer pong, and perform impromptu interior decorating with some cans of spray paint they found, until the Experts Choice and People's Choice are handed out. I had no formal connection with the awards this year, attending instead as a civilian, and drank all twelve of the CT beers on tap. Here is how that went. Read More
CT Guide To Raw Milk: Why Raw and Where To Buy in CT? Features Ingredients Ingredients Farm to Table CT Farms Local Farm Luke Shanahan April 19, 2018 I submit that raw milk might just be the most real of all foods. Start with the fact that milk is the only food created specifically to feed something. (Honey doesn’t count, as the pollen honey is made from has its own agenda.) Synonymous with nourishment, raw milk is the first food most human beings—all mammals—ingest. And raw milk, for it to be free of any off flavors and to be safe to drink, requires painstaking care to produce. Every little step in the process matters.The subtle and intricate flavors in raw milk, the very opposite of the one-note flavor of pasteurized milk or, worse, the waxy cardboard taste vacuum of skim, come from the undenatured biocomplexity in unpasteurized milk. When I read chemists-for-hire claiming, on behalf of big commercial dairy, that there isn't that much nutritional difference between pasteurized and raw, I choose to trust my palate. Well, my palate and the biochemists who say that the difference is real and considerable. Read More
Ivy’s Gourmet Offers Completely Unique Granola You'll Want To Eat All Day Features Ingredients Ingredients Local Artisan Breakfast Sarah Green April 03, 2018 Move over, all you factory-produced, sugar blasted, oat-heavy granolas - there’s a new-chew in town. It’s just about that time of year when your pantry could use a purge so make some room for Sarah Tamm’s small-batch delights; time to stock up on IVY’S GOURMET granola. With a predominance of fruits, seeds and nuts as the base for all her granola blends, Tamm uses dynamic spice combinations to brighten the palette and creates interesting flavor profiles - both sweet and savory. Sure, you can purchase Chocolate Almond or Cinnamon Raisin if the “norm” is what rolls your oats. But why not be daring and try something out of the ordinary? Curry Cashew, by chance? Strawberry Rosewater? Sarah Tamm has created bold and satisfying artisanal granola, sold in several sizes from snack to bulk. Read More
Mrs. Leonard’s Naked Ham with Maple Pecan Bacon Glaze Recipe Features Recipe Recipe Holiday Stephanie Webster March 27, 2018 Stew Leonard’s Naked ham is sourced from local farms in Pennsylvania and is antibiotic and hormone free. Mrs. Leonard loves to serve her Easter ham with a sweet glaze that includes maple syrup and brown sugar, making this dish a delightful combination of sweet and salty. She has shared her recipe below, but don't feel like you need to save this dish for Easter. Ham is great any day! Read More
Stew Leonard’s Chocolate Bunny Milk is BACK March 20th Ingredients Features Specialty Market Holiday Ingredients CTbites Team March 16, 2018 Yup...It's back for Easter. A half-gallon glass jug of Stew’s Chocolate Bunny Milk will be available for $5.99 starting on March 20, 2018 at all six Stew Leonard’s locations. Stew Leonard’s signature farm fresh milk is mixed with creamy milk chocolate to create a sweet, irresistible chocolate milk that tastes just like a classic chocolate Easter bunny. Stew Leonard’s milk is delivered fresh to our stores from award-winning dairy farms in upstate NY and is free from artificial growth hormones (rBST) and antibiotics. The milk will only be available for a limited time. Read More
Local Ingredients: The Araucana Egg, A Wild Blue Wonder Features Ingredients Ingredients Local Farm Specialty Market Luke Shanahan March 06, 2018 Writer Luke Shanahan contemplates the virtues of a truly excellent fresh egg with Lloyd Allen of Double L Market. Consider the egg. Any serious cook knows its singular importance in the kitchen. Many cooks—serious and novice alike—remember the egg as the first thing they ever learned to cook. In the book The Next Course, rock-&-roller chef Marco Pierre White, who at 33 became the youngest cook ever to be awarded three Michelin stars, reveals his country side when he suggests that scrambled (gulls) eggs with celery salt served with mayonnaise—an emulsion of egg yolk, acid and oil—may be a worthy last meal on earth. (Here's a handy list of local CT farms that produce fresh eggs.) Read More
Shell & Bones Clam Chowder Recipe: Happy National Chowder Day! Recipe Features Recipe Seafood CTbites Team February 25, 2018 In honor of National Chowder Day (yes, that's a thing), we asked Chef Arturo Franco Camacho of Shell & Bones in New Haven CT to share his recipe for their very delicious Clam Chowder. The recipe is delightfully simple but is layered with flavors that create a deeply delicious rich chowder. Read More
CT Bartenders Share their Margarita Recipes for National Margarita Day! Recipe Features Cocktails Holiday Bar Recipe Homepage Stephanie Webster February 22, 2018 Oh yes it is! My favorite day of the year, National Margarita Day, has arrived. Those who know me, know that when I sidle up to the bar, those working on the other side need not even ask for my order. It's always the same...and it's always a Margarita. Truly, it's the perfect cocktail, and just right for every season. Plus, tequila has been proven to actually have health benefits. Lime, tequila's most trusty companion, is bursting with Vitamin C which we all know helps us recover from illness. Anejo tequila, made from 100% agave, is known to help reduce bacteria and relieve sore throats, and agave helps to fight diabetes. There are so many reasons to embrace and celebrate the Margarita. Do it right with these recipes from local bartenders including: El Segundo, Mézon, Geronimo Restaurant & Tequila Bar, Barcelona, Bartaco, Marcia Selden Catering and Festivities. Read More
Cheesemonger Subscription Box Launches From Fairfield & Greenwich Cheese Co. Ingredients Features Cheese Delivery Service Home Delivery Gift Guide Stephanie Webster February 01, 2018 Fairfield & Greenwich Cheese Company have introduced a subscription cheese box service that curates small batch, artisan and traditional cheeses and delivers them, freshly cut, to the doorsteps of food lovers across the nation.Cheesemonger Box will curate a selection of small batch and traditional American and European cheeses for monthly home delivery, launched this winter as the first cheese subscription service of its kind.Founders Laura Downey and Chris Palumbo, co-founders and owners of Connecticut cheese shops Fairfield & Greenwich Cheese Company, are launching the service with the goal of “spreading the cheese love across the country” and empowering customers to “become the expert” on artisan cheese. Read More
Macho Nacho Burgers Recipe from Marcia Selden Catering Recipe Recipe Burgers Marcia Selden Catering January 30, 2018 Can you say Mexican Food Porn? We can with our yum on demand Macho Nacho Burgers. Serve these bad boys at your Super Bowl Party and your guests will go gaga! (View the recipe below.) Read More
Friday Froth: Hanging Hills Brewing Co. Proves Rock And Roll Means Well Ingredients Features Brewery Beer CT Beer Hartford James Gribbon January 26, 2018
CTBites On The Boat: Grace & Darkness Oyster Stout Release And Oyster Roast At Half Full Brewery, Jan. 21 Features Ingredients Beer CT Beer Brewery Seafood James Gribbon January 07, 2018 We'd left the dock in South Norwalk in utter darkness to harvest oysters in one of the oldest, most productive oyster fisheries in America. Jordan Giles of Half Full Brewery in Stamford shucked a few on the steps of the Grace's pilothouse and handed one to me. The Copp's Island oyster had been at the bottom of the Sound minutes ago.The "Why" is tripartite: I've always loved oysters (and can apparently add them to skiing and air travel on the list of things I'll wake up at an evil hour for), I had never been on an oyster boat, and Half Full brewery will host their second ever Grace&Darkness oyster stout can release and oyster roast on Sunday, January 21 at noon. These oysters were to be the main attraction. Read More
Snow Day Recipes: I Have to Feed You All Day? Features Recipe Pizza kids activity Recipe Kid Friendly Marcia Selden Catering January 04, 2018 Snow day: You’re rudely awakened at some ungodly hour by your phone informing you that yes, indeed, there is no school today. Two thoughts run through your mind, “Great, I get to go back to sleep”, followed immediately by a more frightening thought, “I have to feed them all day?!” Relax, we’ve got you covered even if you didn’t brave the market the day before to properly stock up on supplies. First things first, make yourself a cup of coffee, it’s going to be a loooong day. Second, assess what you have in the house. Assuming you have some eggs, why not make these fun eggs in a cup to start the day? Then you can kick them out to shovel the driveway knowing at least they’re fueled up. This is a great recipe because you can use whatever you have laying around to mix into these egg-mom-muffins, get it?! Follow up with our recipes for: Kitchen Sink Stir Fry & Simple Pizza Dough. Done...You've made it. Read More
Gingerbread Recipes for Gingerbread Houses & Cookies via Sweet Lisa's Recipe Features Holiday Recipe Kid Friendly kids activity Kids Bakery Dessert Stephanie Webster December 22, 2017 'Tis the season, but when you get tired of shopping, take a break with your family, and enjoy some leisurely holiday baking. Sweet Lisa’s Exquisite Cakes has mastered the art of gingerbread (as you can see above), and they have been kind enough to share their recipes for Gingerbread Cookie Dough as well as a special (slightly more structurally sound) Gingerbread for Houses. It's a fine line when it comes to gingerbread.If you decide to embark on a house of your own, please share it with CTbites and send us a photo. Read More
Holiday Bar Cart Tips + Poinsettia Spritz Cocktail Recipe (sponsored post) Recipe Holiday Cocktails Recipe Catering Entertaining CTbites Team December 18, 2017 The Holidays are here...time to entertain. A well-stocked bar cart is an essential ingredient in any successful holiday gathering. Here's some tips from Festivities Catering to ensure that your holiday entertaining is festive, fun and filled with style. Holiday Cocktail Cart Tips:1. Create a "signature" drink that can be made in batches. Have some pre-made in pitchers that can easily be poured into glasses as guests arrive. We suggest a Poinsettia Spritz Cocktail. Poinsettia Spritz Cocktail Recipe: 3/4 cup vodka, 1 1/2 cups cranberry juice, 2 ounces St. Germain, 3/4 cup prosecco, cranberries & rosemary for garnish. Serves 6. Read More
Stew Leonard's Christmas Cookie Milk Back For The Holidays Ingredients Features Holiday Specialty Market Ingredients Kid Friendly Kids Stephanie Webster December 14, 2017 Stew’s Christmas Cookie Milk will be back in stock at at all Stew Leonard's stores in Connecticut this week. This is the second consecutive year they’ve sold this special milk. Stew Leonard's Christmas Cookie Milk is sweet, creamy milk that has the same flavor as a sugar cookie that’s been dunked in milk. It comes straight from award-winning dairy farms in upstate NY and is free from artificial growth hormones (rBST) and antibiotics. This milk goes from the farm to each of our stores in as little as 24 hours. Stew Leonard's Christmas Cookie Milk is available only for a limited time and is sold in a ½ gallon glass container for $5.99. Read More
Celebrate Chanukah w/ Spinach Feta Latkes c/o Kosher Like Me Blog Recipe Recipe Holiday Homepage Liz Rueven December 12, 2017 Many students can tell you the connection between the miracle of oil in the Chanukah story and why we indulge in deep fried latkes (potato pancakes). Here, Westport blogger, Liz Rueven, focused on a lesser known story as she created these Greek inspired spinach and feta latkes with a savory creamy topping. (Read her complete blog post here) Read More
Pan-Roasted Cauliflorets With Pine Nuts & Raisins Recipe via Match Restaurant Features Recipe Recipe Thanksgiving Stephanie Webster November 22, 2017 Looking for a simple but delicious last minute Thanksgiving side dish? After eating this off the menu at Match Restaurant, we asked Chef Storch to share his recipe with CTbites. We are working on this in our kitchen right now. I hope you try it in yours. Enjoy Match Restaurant's Pan-Roasted Cauliflorets With Pine Nuts and Raisins. Read More
Maple Praline Pumpkin Pecan Pie Recipe via South End's Chef Martschenko Recipe Recipe Thanksgiving Dessert Stephanie Webster November 21, 2017 While many of our readers have family traditions when it comes to Thanksgiving, we, at CTbites, feel it is important to add a newcomer to the recipe box each year. For 2016, we offer you a classic developed by South End's Chef Nick Martschenko. His recipe for Maple Praline Pumpkin Pecan Pie may become your family's go-to dessert. If you decide to cook this in your home next week, let us know what you thought. Maple Praline Pumpkin Pecan Pie Recipe Read More
Hearty Bean Chili Recipe via Terrain Garden Café Recipe Recipe Comfort Food Stephanie Webster November 21, 2017 It's that time of year...Chili season. Although, truly, is there ever a BAD time for chili? This recipe, from Terrain Garden Café's Chef Jessica Bengtson, offers up a meat-free approach to the traditional chili. She has even provided a list of ingredients you can find at your local farmers' market. Enjoy this recipe for Hearty Bean Chili. Read More
