Filtering by Tag: Ingredients,Peruvian

Bartaco's Signature Libelula Tequila Now Available in CT + Margarita Recipe

Ingredients Features Cocktails Ingredients Mexican

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson

If you love Bartaco’s signature margarita we have great news… the tequila used to make their cocktail is now available for purchase in liquor stores across Connecticut!  Libelula tequila made its official debut in the Connecticut market in January 2017, but as the summer months approach it’s becoming more and more visible on shelves throughout the state.

“This is the exact tequila used to make Bartaco’s world famous margaritas!” says Curt Goldman, the Executive Importer of CNI Brands, longtime partner of Bartaco group.  “No change whatsoever!”


Nutty Bunny Non-Dairy Gluten-Free Frozen Dessert, Made in CT

Features ice cream Dessert Ingredients

Renee Weisz

When Pamela Aflalo decided to create a non-dairy, gluten-free, frozen dessert product, her idea was innovative, health-aware, and maybe a little nutty like her brand name Nutty Bunny. After her daughter, Sophie, developed a severe dairy reaction, Pamela’s culinary experience at the National Gourmet Institute and love for kitchen experimentation, especially for “vegan-izing” recipes, combined to establish her current full-time business.


Products We Love: SmashMallows Found At Balducci's

Ingredients Features Dessert Kid Friendly Kids Ingredients Homepage

Stephanie Webster

I'll admit, I'm late to the party on these 100% organic, all natural, crazy town delicious marshmallows. I stumbled upon SmashMallows at Balducci's today, but as it turns out, they have been written up by In Style, Cooking Light and even People Magazine, They are quite simply, the "Dom Perignon of marshmallows." Balducci's is currently carrying them in Mint Chocolate Chi, Toasted Coconut Pineapple, Strawberry & Cream, and Cinnamon Churo.  However, if you look online, there are three additional flavors worth an order: Root Beer Float, Meyer Lemon Chia, and Espresso Bean. 


Custom Meats, 100% Locally Sourced, Butcher Opening in Fairfield

Ingredients Features Butcher Fairfield Specialty Market Ingredients Homepage

Anna Bendiksen

Custom Meats, a 100% locally-sourced, traditional whole-animal butchery, is slated to open this spring at 1903 Post Road in Fairfield.

This next-door neighbor to Isabelle et Vincent French Bakery plans to serve non-GMO, nitrate-free, fresh meats raised on organic principles.

Sourcing beef, pork, lamb, and poultry from small farms in Connecticut and New York, everything will be cut and prepared in house, including dry-aged beef, sausages, and various prepared foods.  Farm-fresh local eggs, raw milk, and seasonal vegetables will also be offered.


Stew Leonard’s Limited Edition Chocolate Bunny Milk

Features Ingredients Dessert Kids Kid Friendly Holiday Homepage

Stephanie Webster

A half-gallon glass jug of Stew’s Chocolate Bunny Milk will be available for $5.99 starting in early April at all five 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.

Check for the Stew Leonard's location near you here. 


2017 Guide to Latin American Markets in Connecticut

Features Ingredients Special Dietary Needs Specialty Market Ingredients Latin American

Anna Bendiksen

The diverse cuisines that the cultures of Latin America gave the world are well represented in Connecticut. Markets in our state serve more than 540,000 Hispanic residents---and foodies of other ethnic origins who pass over Ortega taco kits for more enlightened fare. Whether you’re making corn tortillas from scratch, seeking beautifully ripe fruit at a great price, looking to pick up a luscious pastry, or preparing your grandmother’s mole, these stores are well worth the trip. Here’s your guide to Connecticut’s best Latin American markets.


Acuario Peruvian Seafood Restaurant Opens in Stamford

Restaurant CTbites Lunch Events Peruvian Seafood Stamford

Sarah Green

There’s a new Latin pulse beating on West Park Place in Stamford and it goes by the name ACUARIO (Aquarium, in Spanish.) Funky, warm and charming, the new Peruvian jaunt is the latest culinary jewel from the treasure box of Saida and Nicolas Oshiro, who opened the original ACUARIO in Port Chester in the 1980s. This new ACUARIO is in the worthy hands of Oshiro offspring, Eduardo, and his wife, Beth, and they know what’s cookin’. We’ve dined at ACUARIO twice and each time the restaurant has been packed, with many patrons speaking Spanish - ALWAYS a good sign.

La Esquina Opens in Stamford: Authentic Latin Cuisine Just Around The Corner

Restaurant Brazilian Delicious Dives Peruvian Stamford Latin American

Sarah Green

You know that little place, right around the corner? The one that serves just that dish you were craving? The one that serves food you just know comes from a parent or grandparent’s tried-and-true recipe? You know the place, your go-to joint, always reliable, where you don’t have to dress up and you don’t have to spend a fortune?  Well, “La Esquina,” literally, “the corner,” is just THAT place, serving up authentic South American yummies with home-style flare and flavors that impress.

La Esquina Latin Grill, right on “the corner” at 50 Hamilton Avenue in Stamford, is a labor of love for the young and extremely talented co-owner and head chef, Robert Monegro. Chef Robert grew up in Stamford with his Guatemalan mother and Dominican father, both chefs. He decided that after learning all he could by growing up in the kitchen of his parents’ restaurant, Flamboyant in Stamford, he would put his own mark on the culinary map of Fairfield County. And he is doing just that.

 


Annabelle's Natural Ice Cream Now Being Sold @ Gingerbitz in New Canaan

Ingredients Restaurant ice cream Ingredients Kid Friendly Dessert

Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger

In a town that offers the best gelato in Fairfield County, New Canaan has been void of the same quality ice cream. That has now changed as Gingerbitz on Elm Street is now selling scoops of Annabelle’s Ice Cream from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. When I heard the news I headed straight to Gingerbitz to sample.

Nestled alongside the cakes, pastries, woopie pies and the Stumptown coffee, Gingerbitz offers four rotating varieties. With the scorching temperature this past weekend, there were several people lined up to order a cone or a cup of the current selections; Triple Chocolate, New Hampshire Pure Maple Walnut, Raspberry Chocolate Chip and Salty Caramel. A quick look on Annabelle’s website describes the ice cream a “super premium, 16% butter fat, kosher®, natural ice cream with NO additives or artificial colors.”

Each of them were extra-creamy, dense and full of great flavors. The chocolate was my favorite. The richness of the chocolate was elevated by chocolate chunks and a dark fudge.


Strawberry Salad with Feta, Avocado and Toasted Almonds c/o Watson's Catering

Recipe Eating In Ingredients Recipe

CTbites Team

Strawberry Salad with Feta, Avocado and Toasted AlmondsIt's strawberry season here in New England, which means a full-on strawberry frenzy in the kitchen for us here at CTbites. Watson's Catering and Events has created this easy and delicious summer salad. If you still have a quart of strawberries leftover from your strawberry-picking adventures, this is where you'll want to put them to work.


Chocolate Pancakes with Bourbon Whipped Cream Recipe c/o Fairfield County Chef's Table

Features Brunch Norwalk Pancakes Ingredients Recipe

Amy Kundrat

Each week we will be bringing you a recipe from one of the restaurant's featured in Fairfield County Chef's Table. We are excited to kick it off with this beautiful stack of pancakes from one of our favorite brunch (and now dinner spots) Sugar & Olives in Norwalk. To sweeten this post, we have invited owner Jen Balin and Chef Jon Vaast to share some of their pancakes at our Westport book signing this Saturday. 

Sugar & Olives
21 Lois Street, Norwalk, CT 06851 | (203) 454-3663 | sugarandolives.com
Owner/Chef: Jen Balin and Chef: Jon Vaast

Chocolate Pancakes with Bourbon Whipped Cream Recipe


Fiesta Atlantic: Authentic Peruvian Fare in Stamfor

Restaurant Delicious Dives Peruvian Stamford Lunch Kid Friendly

CTbites Team

I’ve enjoyed food from many different countries over the years but funny enough, never from Peru. So with three friends in tow, I decided to try Fiesta Atlantic, a Peruvian restaurant in Stamford. Having eaten Venezuelan and Mexican, I expected a fusion of both. It turns out Peruvian food is indeed a melting pot of different cultures but surprisingly, the food is notable for its Italian and Chinese influences. In the 18th century, Lima was the financial center of a vast Spanish Viceroyalty. Chinese laborers and Italian settlers washed up on its South Pacific shores bringing their own spices and cooking techniques.