Thanksgiving Holiday Smokin’ w/ Corinne Trang Features Entertaining Holiday Thanksgiving Recipe CTbites Team November 21, 2011 Corinne Trang, author of The Asian Grill, and local Fairfield County resident, is back with some holiday recipes that will get you eating out of the traditional Thanksgiving box. Thanksgiving is a holiday my family adopted when we moved from France to the U.S. in 1978. And eating turkey on that day meant that the bird would never be seen again at our Christmas table as tradition dictated in the past. Our new American holiday quickly became another excuse to get together with family and friends and eat all day until our stomachs would burst. In that way, we were no different than other families joyfully eating their way through a 20-pound plus bird, side dishes, and desserts, except that… Read More
Ad: Thanksgiving Dinner @ Artisan Restaurant, Southport CTbites Team November 21, 2011 Looking for a great Thanksgiving meal, but don't want to cook? Artisan Restaurant in the Delamar Southport hotel is offering guests a three-course pre fixe farm to table menu. Their traditional Thanksgiving feast will include appetizers, entrees and desserts using the freshest produce selections and seasonal ingredients from local Connecticut farms. Read More
A Good Crêpe is Hard to Find...A Guide to FC Crêpes Restaurant Fairfield Norwalk New Canaan Lunch Kid Friendly Dessert CTbites Team November 20, 2011 I’m tough on crêperies. I can’t help it. I’m constantly comparing their crêpes to the ones of my French childhood summers spent in Brittany, the northwest peninsula of France and the crêpe’s birthplace. My great-grandmother made them in her two room farmhouse –– she poured the mixture of buckwheat flour, salt and water onto a billig, a hot, round, buttered, grill surface, then with her rozell, a small toothless rake, she spread this batter into a fifteen-inch-round sphere the thinness of butterfly wings. As the batter bubbled there and the edges browned, she coaxed the half cooked, wobbly, crepe onto her long, wooden spatula and flipped it over, intact. The crêpe continued cooking this way until completely golden, signaling to her to scrape this fragile delicacy gently off the billig with her spatula. From here she held the hot crêpe between her fingertips and the spatula. She then placed it onto a waiting plate, setting the crêpe down with the same carefulness as though she was putting a drowsy baby onto a pillow. Read More
Match's Jack Daniels Whipped Sweet Potatoes Features Entertaining Holiday Thanksgiving Recipe Matt Storch November 20, 2011 Thank you to Chef Matt Storch of Match Restaurant in South Norwalk for this next Thanksgiving recipe, Jack Daniels Whipped Sweet Potatoes w/ Brown Butter, Maple Syrup & Goat Cheese. Excuse me...I think I may have just drooled on my keyboard. If you're looking for a less boozy side dish (Lord knows why this would be), check out Matt Storch's recipe for MATCH's Luscious Whipped Potatoes. Light and creamy, these are sure to please guests of all ages...even that sister-in-law who never smiles. Read More
Roasted Pumpkin & Squash Soup via Dressing Room Features Entertaining Holiday Thanksgiving Recipe CTbites Team November 18, 2011 Everyone's favorite winter harvest holiday is soon upon us and it's time to start lining up those Thanksgiving recipes. While some have tried and true favorites passed down from generation to generation, my family is slightly more A.D.D. (attention deficit disorder) about the whole affair. Every year becomes an "exciting" opportunity to test out new dishes (some savored...some spit out) and pave the way for new traditions. We have however found that the best recipes often come from our local chefs. Hence, CTbites brings you the first in a series of Thanksgiving recipes from the Fairfield County chefs you know and love, starting with Executive Chef Jon Vaast of The Dressing Room. Enjoy! Read More
Bread Pudding w. Bourbon Pecans & Butterscotch Features Entertaining Holiday Recipe Dessert katie vitucci November 18, 2011 When I saw this recipe in the November issue of Bon Appétit I knew I would make it. I thought maybe as a Thanksgiving dessert. But, it turns out I couldn't wait that long and made it the day after it arrived in my mailbox. Of course the fact that it was a bread pudding comprised of pecans, and bourbon, and butterscotch sold me. More than all that though, I was intrigued by the use of poppy seeds in this dessert. Poppy seeds in bread pudding? Well, yes. And - they work. The little bits of black splattered among all the other rich, creamy goodness add a nice crunch and texture. Read More
Friday Froth: Seasonal Brews Ingredients Friday Froth Beer James Gribbon November 18, 2011 The following Froth column was originally scheduled to run last week but got sucked into a worm hole. Pardon any time related ambiguity. Congratulations to those of you who are now able to read this after having been gracefully ushered back into the 19th[strikethrough] 21st century by our benevolent dictators at CL&P. There's a scene in Gladiator where Djimon Hounsou's character sees the Roman coliseum for the first time and says "I did not know men were capable of such things." I imagine that's a little what it's like to use an oven or turn on the lights after a dozen days whose rhythms were controlled by the Sun's rise and fall; writing notes on the back of a wooden shovel with a lump of coal by candle light, that kind of thing. The long nights of the winter can now once again be banished by the sorcery of compact fluorescent bulbs, but some elements of the wintertide are to be embraced, like seasonal brews. Read More
Food 52 @ Darien Library Nov. 28 Amy Kundrat November 18, 2011 Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, co-founders of the site Food52.com and authors of a new FOOD 52 cookbook will be speaking and signing books at the Darien Library on Monday, November 28 at 7 p.m. This event is held in conjunction with Barret Bookstore. Their site food52.com is a celebration of the best home cooks in the country. Over the course of 52 weeks, they ran recipes competitions on the web site and that year-long exercise has turned into The Food52 Cookbook. Read More
The Wine Mapp Opens in Greenwich Ingredients Greenwich Specialty Market Wine Chat Wine Tasting Jessica Ryan November 17, 2011 The Wine Mapp, a unique wine and spirits boutique, recently opened its doors in Greenwich. The store is nicely sized, cozy and intimate. There’s a feeling of warmth at The Wine Mapp that eludes the larger competitors. The store is owned by Allyson and Charlie Do of Norwalk. It was Charlie who first had the idea of opening up such a shop after visiting a restaurant in New York City where a waiter came out with a list of wines that were stored on an electric tablet of some sort. He knew, at that moment, that he was going to open a wine shop that would incorporate technology - more specifically, he knew he was going to incorporate the iPad to give customers the best possible shopping experience. Read More
Invite: Gourmet Cheese Selection from 109 Cheese & Wine CTbites Invites CTbites Team November 16, 2011
Butter & Herb Roasted Turkey with Madeira c/o Fine Cooking Features Entertaining Holiday Thanksgiving Recipe Fine Cooking / Anna Thomas November 16, 2011 Opening up the latest issue of Fine Cooking, we found it impossible to take our eyes of the cover. So who better to kick off our series of Thanksgiving Day recipes than the good folks at Fine Cooking who came up with this amazing-looking recipe and have let us share it with you. So if you've got the bird in your sights but are lacking inspiration, here is one recipe you may want to consider. Butter & Herb Roasted Turkey with Madeira Serves 10 to 12, with a good probability of leftovers Read More
Swiss Chard Calzones Features Entertaining Farmers Market healthy Recipe Melissa Roberts November 15, 2011 As we creep into November, the look of the greenmarket changes. More gourds, potatoes, and with the exception of collards and kale, less greens. I’m ready for a seasonal change but part of me is still holding onto warmer months past and long to see some leafy goodness. This week at the Imperial Avenue market I spotted some gorgeous rainbow swiss chard. Now chard and I have a history, one in which I could never imagine a future promoting it. Growing up in suburban New York, my parents maintained a good sized garden where swiss chard thrived; in fact, took over. Mom and dad couldn’t give it away fast enough, and the stuff that remained made its way to our dinner table just about every night. Later in life I renewed my relationship with chard. At Gourmet, our Executive Food Editor couldn’t stand the stuff, but to her credit, she was open minded enough to know that other people enjoyed it--or at least should eat it, and because I had more than a passing familiarity with it, chard crept into a few recipes I developed at the magazine. Read More
Ad: Order Turkey = Raise $$ for Wakeman Farm CTbites Team November 15, 2011 Graze is opening up ordering on our delicious, fresh (never frozen) Misty Knoll Farm free-range turkeys to supporters of the Wakeman Town Farm in Westport. The turkeys are $4.50 a pound. There are 100 available. First-come, first-served. Ten percent of the proceeds of the sale of these turkeys (and anything on our Thanksgiving Menu) is going to support Westport's Wakeman Town Farm. When you order, please use the code WAKEMANTURKEY so we can apply the promotion to the farm. Please request approximate number of pounds and Graze will deliver your turkey fresh (not frozen) to the farm for Thanksgiving. Misty Knoll will provide a turkey as close in weight to your request as possible, within a small range. A good rule of thumb is 1.5 lbs. per person (this allows for leftovers; 1lb/person without leftovers). Pickup is at Wakeman Town Farm, 134 Cross Highway, Westport on Monday, Nov. 21 from 2-6 p.m. Email us @ grazedelivered@gmail.com or call 1-888-WE GRAZE to reserve. Or, place your entire Thanksgiving order online at Graze Read More
Say Good Bye to Doc's Cafe in Westport (w/ a Party!) CTbites Team November 14, 2011 Longtime Westport favorite, Doc's Cafe, will close this Saturday as the building is being torn down for development. But fear not, before they close the doors Docs will be throwing a party to say "thank you" all of their loyal customers on Saturday November 19th between 3-6 p.m. Complimentary coffee, espresso drinks, beer, wine, hors d'oeuvres and sweets will be served. Plus...read on for info on a possible move. Native Texan and longtime Westport resident Yvonne Dougherty opened Doc’s Café in September 2000, and her eclectic, family-friendly coffee shop has been a fixture in the town’s Saugatuck neighborhood ever since. Yvonne fell in love with the coffee business in the mid-nineties while serving as an entry-level barista at Juba’s, a small café housed in the former Peter’s Bridge Market space. Over the past decade, Doc’s Café, buoyed by a loyal following of commuters and lunch patrons, has served tens of thousands of expertly crafted cappuccinos, lattes and cups of their signature French roast blend, Sledgehammer. Read More
GotChef Gourmet Food Truck in Milford Features Restaurant Food Truck Italian Milford CTbites Team November 13, 2011 Biagio’s Barone’s is reinventing the wheel. Literally. His GotChef gourmet food truck, which is parked on the Eastbound side of the Milford, CT Metro North Station, is turning the mobile canteen concept on its head. From Monday through Friday, 11:00am-8:00 pm, and Saturday 3-7pm, Chef Biagio and his crew offer up-all natural, creative, delectable cuisine out of his neon yellow restaurant-on-wheels. You won’t find the typical taco, BBQ-grilled cheese-Belgian waffles-cupcake food truck fare on the GotChef menu. His selections, which vary with the season and change daily, are comparable to anything you can find in an upscale Italian bistro. Some of the recent chalkboard specials include: Capesante Farcito (Stuffed Scallop with Lobster, Shrimp, Sweet Bread Lemon Stuffing in a Scallop Shell, drizzled with Lemon Gremolata), Homemade Pumpkin Gnocchi, Slow Roasted Short Ribs--served over a mushroom truffle risotto, Wild-Grilled Salmone Agrodolce-- topped with a pineapple Sweet and Sour sauce and served over balsamic glazed green beans, and an Osso Bucco Read More
leFarm's Bill Taibe Opening Waterfront Restaurant in Westport Stephanie Webster November 11, 2011 Ever since the doors of leFarm opened in Westport, the question has been asked of Bill Taibe…so what's next? leFarm fans need wait no longer for news of Bill Taibe's second Fairfield County culinary venture because work is well underway at Taibe's new stomping grounds in the Gaults' newly constructed Saugatuck River complex. This renovation project aims to revitalize the area and with Craft Butchery a stone's throw away, Batali across the street and Bill Taibe as the anchor tenant, I'd say they are on the right track. So, what's the concept? Another leFarm? No, Bill has other intentions for this new waterfront haven. While leFarm defines casually refined upscale dining, this new venture will be simply casual. Leveraging the proximity to the Saugatuck River, this new menu will feature seafood as the guiding force. Read More
Napa & Co Celebrates 5 Years in Stamford Restaurant Stamford Stephanie Webster November 10, 2011 Opening a restaurant takes guts. Developing a compelling concept, finding the right chef and training a strong team is no small feat. Mary Schaffer and her husband Charles Morgan, owners of Stamford's Napa & Co, make all of this look easy. As they celebrate their 5 year anniversary, Napa continues to stay true to the guiding principles under which it was founded: "a celebration of the bounty of our land...wine country cuisine made from organic, farm-fresh ingredients and artisan products at their seasonal peak." They were innovators in the farm-to-table movement before it was trendy to talk about it, and 5 years later, under the leadership of Chef Arik Bensimon, Napa & Co's kitchen is serving some of the best tasting food in Fairfield County. The secret ingredient to their success? Here's what Napa has to say: Read More
