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Boston Globe – July 2, 2003

This week's Boston Globe is like a mini-vacation at the seaside...Rhode Island, Cape Cod, etc. Enjoy!

Clam shacks serve up a taste of summer

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The clam shack as we know it - a seasonal place serving simple fare - is the product of the 1920s, says Dojny. That's when three elements - good refrigeration, automobile travel, and the perfection of the commercial deep fryer - came together.

Table Talk at the Tip of the Cape

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Lora Brody, who lives in a house she and her husband recently built on the Charles River in Waltham, talks about friends and food sources, like the Atlantic Spice House in Truro and the town's fall festival, which includes ''saffron-scented cod and tomato soup.'' She praises Cottage Street Bakery in Provincetown and its ''dirt bomb,'' a cinammon-and-sugar-covered muffin. She tells of Cape memories of a long-gone duck farm in East Orleans, offering a grilled duck breast recipe with blackened onion relish.

Getting hooked on regional seafood
Wines to drink with seafood

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Boston Globe – July 9, 2003

A taste of the Alps in Vermont

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It's a joke perhaps only the most serious cheesemakers could pull off. John Putnam enjoys feeding European visitors slices of processed orange cheese. ''You should see their faces,'' he says. He does it because his visitors aren't expecting the kind of cheese that Putnam really makes here: nutty rounds of Thistle Hill Farm Tarentaise, handmade to certified organic standards, in the style of Alpine cheeses in France.

The open-faced sandwich: a savory slice of Danish culture
Wine dinners are moving outdoors this summer.
Recipe: Smoked trout spread with potatoes
Freeze-dried fruit is a fresh trend in the world of breakfast cereal

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Boston Globe – July 23, 2003

Well, the Boston Globe Digest is back (and so am I!) but it’s slim pickins this week.

But I suspect that everyone at the Boston Globe's food section must be vacationing in Nantucket: the section is mostly one-paragraph updates of truly local goings-on in the Boston area, and a few assorted recipes. If that’s your idea of heaven (it’s sure not mine), the front page of Boston’s food section is here.

And here are direct links to a couple of notable features:
A case of romance

Quote

Vintages is a tiny jewel box of a shop, which seems to have room for everything except run-of-the-mill wines. It's a true boutique where every bottle is hand-picked, and the focus is high-quality, off-the-beaten-path properties. That means many of the labels will be unfamiliar. ''Our goal is to present a selection of wines from producers that are among the best in any given region,'' says Broege. ''An ideal wine shop is one where you get as excited about an $8 spaghetti wine as about a first-growth Bordeaux. It's not an elite thing.''

This loft kitchen is open for entertaining (third in a series on “renovated kitchen designs for people who really cook.”
Ethnic dishes liven up Lowell's annual music fest

[jmcgrath]

alacarte, on Jul 24 2003, 07:36 AM, said:

Quote

Vintages is a tiny jewel box of a shop, which seems to have room for everything except run-of-the-mill wines. It's a true boutique where every bottle is hand-picked, and the focus is high-quality, off-the-beaten-path properties. That means many of the labels will be unfamiliar. ''Our goal is to present a selection of wines from producers that are among the best in any given region,'' says Broege. ''An ideal wine shop is one where you get as excited about an $8 spaghetti wine as about a first-growth Bordeaux. It's not an elite thing.''

Vintages may be a tiny jewel box of a shop, but it is also a jewel. Where else on the East Coast can I find El Molino Chardonnay? I don't think they stock much $8.00 spaghetti red.

Jim

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Boston Globe -- 7/30/03

Globe staff writer Alison Arnett on how Boston-area patrons are clamoring for more late-night dining options in Boston, driven by trend-setter Franklin Café, which serves until 1:30 a.m.
Never too late
Where the party never stops

Andrea Pyenson on “Entertaining for a Veggie Planet,” written by Didi Emmons, co-owner of Veggie Planet restaurant in Harvard Square's Club Passim. Recipes include blueberry cardamom coffeecake, mango slaw, hip dip (a spicy edamame and cilantro puree), and watermelon lassi.
A world of entertaining with veggies

Writes wine correspondent Stephen Meuse: “The days when pink wines got no more respect than pink flamingoes is now well behind us. A younger, savvier generation knows these wines are crisp, dry, and uncomplicated. As late summer turns up the heat and humidity, roses have no peer.”
In the pink

Sheryl Julian lauds Glad Press ‘n Seal.
Galen Moore loves the golden saffron pasta at Capone Food in Somerville.

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Looks like the Boston Globe food section staff still is on vacation.

This week’s section includes a lengthy and evocative feature on Victoria Abbott Riccardi, author of the culinary memoir ''Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto.'' Includes a sidebar on Kaiseki Cuisine. Recipes include green tea soba with shredded vegetables; cold seasoned tofu; dashi (comprises three ingredients: water, dried kelp, and dried bonito flakes); and egg and dashi custard.

Quote

Riccardi is making chawan-mushi, an egg and dashi custard, in small ceramic Japanese bowls she brought back. Using chopsticks, she places an uncooked shrimp beside a scored shiitake mushroom ''because the visual part is just as important.'' The custard is part of tea kaiseki (pronounced ky-seh-kee), the elaborate small dishes - bite-size appetizers, really - that precede the traditional tea ceremony.

Japan was a study in subtlety by Naomi R. Kooker, Globe Correspondent

Also:
Gold, plated: Alison Arnett praises golden beet carpaccio at Olives, in Charlestown.

When wine comes in a carafe, less is often more
Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent, makes an excellent point.

Quote

You may want a taste of white wine with your first course and red with the main course. One bottle of each can be too much. Order by the glass and you're often limited to the least interesting items on the list - and a whopping bill, as all restaurant patrons who order by the glass a lot know.

This nettlesome problem has been solved by Tony Maws, chef and owner of Cambridge's Craigie Street Bistrot, a 42-seat neighborhood restaurant near Harvard Square. Inspired by an age-old French idea, Maws now serves wines by the carafe.

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A week's worth of Globe Food stories .... read it with the faucet running & pretend it's the call of the Atlantic shore....


Glass notes: Cultivating a distinct sense of place(By Michael Apstein, Globe Staff)

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Location, location, location. The French insist that the place where the grapes are grown determines the character of the wine, which explains why they always use place names, such as Bordeaux, for their best bottles. California's Robert Mondavi revolutionized wine marketing by naming his best wines by the variety of grape from which they were made, such as merlot. Thirty years later, Mondavi and other wineries have realized that location does indeed matter and have come full circle by adding geographic names to the label of their varietal wines.

Fishing for a new gig (By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff)

On the water for the summer, a chef contemplates his own restaurant

Recipe: Steamed littlenecks with potatoes(adapted from Steve Johnson)

Quote

The sprinkles start about 7 a.m. Half an hour later, when Steve Johnson unties his single-hulled 18-foot boat from the dock behind the Back Eddy restaurant, rain is falling steadily. Johnson, a dedicated fisherman, shrugs. "What's a little rain?" he asks….

This is Johnson's summer to fish, and he's taking full advantage. In June, he stopped cooking at the Blue Room in Kendall Square -- which he's selling to partners Deanna Briggs and Nick Zappia -- and headed south to a boat he's had here since 1997. After seven years of a partnership that revived the Blue Room and put it squarely in the first circle of Cambridge restaurants, Johnson is shifting gears and heading out on a solo venture. But that's in the future. For now he's sticking close to the cool, blue waters off Buzzards Bay.

Garlic breath is welcome here (By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent)
Organic farm's versatile crop inspired 'festival that stinks'

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The air is thick with the penetrating scent of 1,000 pounds of mature garlic bulbs. This year, Ricky Baruc, his wife, Deborah Habib, and their 4-year-old son, Levi (who adores garlic bread made from his parents' crop) will harvest 14 varieties at their organic farm, Seeds of Solidarity.

Garlic thrives in the Northeast, where cold winters coax the bulbs into dormancy, and sudden springs jolt them into vibrant life.

…..It started with Baruc and Habib and five friends sitting around a table talking some years ago. Thus began the Garlic & Arts Festival, now in its fifth year. Held in September, the event, billed by its founders as "the festival that stinks," drew 3,500 visitors last year. Habib asks, "What other plant is completely edible -- seeds, stalks, bulb, flower?"

Recipe: Aioli-- adapted from ``Cooking with Lydie Marshall.''

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A few of my favorite things this week from the Boston Globe: lobster rolls, summertime heirloom tomatoes, and beer floats (hold the root).

Finding the best lobster rolls on Cape Cod -- By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

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It tastes best when the temperature is warm, the ocean is nearby, and at least a few grains of sand have worked their way between your toes. Variations in a lobster roll's basic ingredients can either elevate it to star status or reduce it to a soggy mess. Most people like big chunks of meat -- and only meat -- in their rolls. Four or 5 ounces is typical. Other lobster roll experts say they can't live without the crunch of finely chopped celery. Mayonnaise -- commercially made is what most cooks use -- holds the salad together, but there should not be enough to soak through the roll.

Finally, there is no better packaging than a soft, buttered roll that is toasted on a griddle just enough to produce a light, golden crust.

Pearl Oyster Bar lobster roll

Mmmm….lobster rolls. (say it with a Homer Simpson inflection, that’s the stuff. That’s “bug in a bun” to you, Jinmyo.)

Study of farmed salmon opens a controversy -- By Beth Daley, Globe Staff
This thoughtful article adds to a topic already discussed widely here on eGullet.

Quote

This month, an environmental group released a study showing that farmed salmon harbored high levels of toxic PCBs. No one should eat the pen-raised fish more than once a month, the Environmental Working Group warned, and not at all if wild salmon with fewer of the contaminants could be bought.

The scoop on salmon, however, is not so clear cut and the report has unleashed a wave of controversy over how much is safe to eat. Two federal agencies have wildly disparate PCB fish consumption guidelines. Scientists argue whether the benefits of heart-healthy salmon outweigh the PCB exposure. Others beg for a little perspective: Even more commonly consumed foods -- butter and brown gravy among them -- have at times tested higher for PCBs than farmed salmon.

He likes to spread a little taste of honey -- By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff
The menu at J.P.'s Dogwood Cafe highlights honey, including grilled vegetables with honey vinaigrette and fried cheese and honey and lemon chicken with fried sage.

Heirloom tomatoes are anything but regular -- By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

Quote

In a tomato-centric universe, Tom Ashley's Dancing Bear Farm would be paradise. In this tiny rural village, tomato plants outnumber people by about 10 to 1. Ashley grows 270 varieties of organic tomatoes, which sprawl in every direction.

Now, that’s my kind of neighborhood.
Recipe: Heirloom tomato and romaine salad

Hold the root: the Guinness ice-cream float. Another Homer Simpson moment.

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Here's the Boston Globe Digest for 8/27/03:

Kabul's lively restaurant scene caters to expatriates By Victoria Burnett, Globe Correspondent

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Lai Thai is doing a swift business, and the restaurant is not alone. The horde of expatriates that streamed into the Afghan capital after the fall of the Taliban regime floods the city's burgeoning restaurant circuit nightly. While Afghanistan still faces challenges as the country struggles to rebuild after a quarter-century of war, the capital's restaurant scene is one bright spot.

Down East and south of the border By Letitia Baldwin, Globe Correspondent
Article about Latin American migrant workers in Maine, “the least ethnically diverse state in the country.” Author marvels at “an old RV with ‘Comida Mexicana Familia Vazquez’ emblazoned on the side,” where proprietor Romana Vasquez cooks Mexican food to accommodate the seasonal workers:

Quote

The fare at this makeshift restaurant is chiles rellenos, roasted poblano chilies stuffed with soft white cheese; tostadas, crisp-fried tortillas layered with refried beans and shredded chicken; and other homestyle Mexican dishes. Neatly clad in a button-down shirt and suede cowboy boots, 40-year-old Augustin Villafuerte helps himself to some of Vazquez's chile de arbol sauce, which is made with tomatoes and dried red chilies, and sits down at a picnic table shaded by a blue plastic tarp.

The founder of Williams-Sonoma implements change in the kitchen By Naomi R. Kooker, Globe Correspondent

Profile of Chuck Williams, 87, founder of the 235-store Williams-Sonoma chain. (If you’re wondering, the first store was opened in Sonoma, north of San Francisco, hence the name.)

The high life By Necee Regis, Globe Correspondent
Extolling the joys of rooftop dining in the city.

A handful of berries can better your health By Bev Bennett, Globe Correspondent

Out of the pie, into the burger By David L. Harris, Globe Correspondent
Al Bushway, a food scientist at the University of Maine, became something of a celebrity thanks to his idea to mix wild Maine blueberries into hamburgers.
(supplemental reading: see the eGullet thread on blueberry burgers.)

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The Boston Globe Digest is here for Wednesday, Sept. 3.

Oh, fudge. By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent
Plus recipes for:
Chocolate fudge
Mamie Eisenhower's fudge (includes marshmallow fluff!)

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Rich and unabashedly sweet (a little goes a long way), fudge is quintessentially American. Believed by some to have been the result of a confectionary accident -- a candy that didn't harden -- fudge is often showcased at county fairs. And it's not always chocolate; the word can refer to any soft, creamy candy. Penuche (puh-NOO-chee) might have been introduced by Fannie Farmer in her "Original 1896 Boston Cooking-School Cook Book," says Haber. In "Oh, Fudge! A Celebration of America's Favorite Candy," Lee Edwards Benning traces its origin to Wellesley College around 1905. At its purest, penuche is made with brown sugar, cream, and butter and is slightly firmer than chocolate fudge.

What's in that wrap? The answer is a touch away By Galen Moore, Globe Correspondent

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Au Bon Pain is fast food, but with goat cheese, European-style breads, and fancy wrap sandwiches. At this national chain, you know what you're eating, thanks to nutrition kiosks now installed at 130 cafes in the Northeast and Midwestern states (you can also go to www.aubonpain.com/nutrition.html).

Raising the raw bar By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

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The horseshoe-shaped curve in the center of the room at Great Bay, the spiffy newcomer in Kenmore Square, is the restaurant's raw bar. Diners wielding chopsticks are taking bites of a delicate striped bass ceviche as they chat with one of the chefs. Others sample little lobster rolls on ersatz hot dog buns. Another couple tastes local fluke sashimi. There's a buzz of interest each time the door opens. Will it be TV chef Ming Tsai, in after a Red Sox game where he threw out the first ball -- or someone less known but just as glitzy?

The place to be these days is at the bar -- but only if it's raw. The raw bar is a hybrid, merging the centuries-old popularity of eating raw oysters and clams as fast as the shucker can open the shells with the newer fondness for tasting Japanese delicacies at a sushi bar. The new raw bars take both of these concepts one step further: They serve some sushi; lots of seafood, both cooked and raw; and clever little dishes that might showcase -- in several bites -- the chef's talent. A chef is always behind the bar preparing and talking about the food, bar hours extend later than the dining rooms they're connected to, and trendy new Crayola-colored cocktails abound. All of this adds up to a formula that mints money for bar owners.

And, if you really, truly haven't had enough of Rocco's: The reality behind 'The Restaurant' By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

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Boston Globe Digest -- Sept. 10, 2003

Green thumbs and great cooks By Letitia Baldwin, Globe Correspondent

Descriptive profile of Chase’s Daily in Belfast, Maine. “Part restaurant and part farm stand”

See view in September By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

On dining al fresco in Providence, R.I. Restaurants mentioned include Olga’s Cup and Saucer, and the Gatehouse.

Food brings the family together Reunion is a time to share stories, Italian recipes
By Clifford A. Wright, Globe Correspondent

The author recounts a recent reunion of his extended Italian family, and the joys of eating Italian food.

Putting their hands to making cheese By Sheryl Julian , Globe Staff

Quote

WESTON, Vt. -- When Mark and Gari Fischer left their loft in New York's Chelsea section almost 20 years ago for greener pastures, they didn't imagine themselves worrying about 75 East Friesian sheep, coyotes in the pasture, and washing and turning wheels of ripening cheese.

Life at the 45-acre Woodcock Farm is hectic, but after many years here trying to make ends meet, sending cheese to a well-respected Vermont cooperative, and then four years ago starting their own label, the Fischers finally see the rewards. Last month, Woodcock's Weston wheel, an aged cheese made from sheep's milk in the style traditional to the French mountains, took a first place in the American Cheese Society awards.

There's sugar in these hills By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent
Highlight/punchline: at the breakfast rush, the proprietor’s daughter refers to this pancake joint as “Polly’s Panic Parlor.”

Quote

SUGAR HILL, N.H. -- Tiny Sugar Hill has a sweet secret: At the crest of a hill overlooking the Franconia range is Polly's Pancake Parlor, a shrine to the classic breakfast. With its quaint decor, the red storefront is an icon of country living.

Ratatouille celebrates summer vegetables By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

[pattimw]

Boston Globe- 9/17/03

At B&G Oysters, each bite is a pearl by Wesley Morris and Amy Graves, Globe Staff

Review of Barbara Lynch's new oyster bar in the South End.

Tiny and Briny by Allison Arnett, Globe Staff

Profile of the opening of Barbara Lynch's new oyster bar (see above) and a preview of her upcoming butcher shop/wine bar across the street.

L'Espalier celebrates 25 years of invention by Galen Moore, Globe Correspondent

Quote

In the late 1970s, Boston was in the midst of a culinary renaissance. L'Espalier, which was located on Boylston Street, was one of the first restaurants where the owner, who was also the chef, was chasing his own perfection.

Where Sushi meets the All you can Eat Buffet by Clea Simon, Globe Correspondent

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Unlike most sushi bars, Minado is wedged between a Recreation World and a Party City. One of a growing East Coast chain of pay-one-price Japanese seafood buffets, the restaurant, tucked into Natick's Sherwood Plaza, is more of a toy chest than a jewel case.

Southern Cooking is King at Helma's by Kathy Shorr, Globe Correspondent

Quote

"We start making biscuits at 5 every morning," Teresa Stroud says. "Everything is home-cooked. We do homemade meatloaf and pork barbecue. We slow-cook our own meat, then pull and barbecue it." A sampler of the homemade desserts includes coconut pie, chocolate pie, Almond Joy pie (with coconut and chocolate), banana pudding pie, and various flavors of chess pie. Chess pie is a traditional Southern recipe that has cornmeal in the filling, "so it forms a crust when it bakes," Teresa says.

Cooking Classes Aren't Standard Fare by Allison Arnett, Globe Staff


Profile of ethnic cuisine cooking classes in Boston.

A Treat Worth Cheering for by Leigh Belanger, Globe Correspondent

Quote

You won't find whoopie pies on many restaurant menus or in upscale bakeries. You're more likely to discover recipes in community cookbooks. These disks of devil's food cake with rich, gooey filling are stubbornly ungourmet. Whoopie pies, named for the yelps of joy they've been known to elicit, are an old-fashioned dessert with Northeastern origins.

[pattimw]

Best of BitesSeptember 24, 2003

Challah tasting from area bakeries

Bowled over by Comfort fare

Review of DeVille Restaurant

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The DeVille Restaurant and Lounge is located inside King's bowling lanes and billiards, Patrick Lyons' hot new downtown spot. This is not your mother's bowling alley. There are 16 gleaming lanes, four of them tucked away separately ("The Kingpin Room") for private parties. Small red lights frame each lane, and scoring is electronic -- all you do is bowl. Four 3-foot TVs hang over the lanes, the better to watch the Sox while bowling. The place even has its own "bowling operations manager," Rory Lockowitz, who at 27, still wears his 12-year-old "lucky" bowling shoes, held together by tape. (If you drop in, ask him to roll a strike. He seldom misses).

The last word on luxe is Lydia's

Review of Lydia Shire's restaurant, Excelsior

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In a phone interview, Shire says she wanted a "lusty, big friendly menu," and at its best, the food under her chef de cuisine Simone Restrepo fulfills her wish. Buttered butternut squash soup gives the essence of the vegetable on the tongue and then tops that with a blast of butter topped with sage-infused creme fraiche. The effect is richness -- you feel a little sheepish ingesting what must be spoonfuls of calories but can't resist another spoonful and another. A robust salad of Vidalia onions, arugula, a soft pot cheese, and roast bacon leaves the indelible impression of the bacon -- basically fat, but great tasting.

Ming's new dynasty

Article about Ming Tsai's new show on PBS called "Simply Ming"

How the apple crumbles

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An apple crumb pie is the perfect match of velvety cooked slices and a tender streusel. Pulled from the oven, sliced into thick wedges, and served warm, the crumb pie, with its crust nearly splintery from layers of butter baked through it, is irresistible.

Where you can pick apples

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Sorry for the delay - here are two weeks' worth of Globe Food Sections

A Sumptuous Meal on a Shoestring Budget

Local chef designs a hearty meal for guests with a budget of $40.

Pho that Goes with the Flow

Review of Pho Lemon in Cambridge.

Crab Cakes meet chowder in Fine Setting

Review of the Gatehouse Restaurant in Providence.

With Planning and Staples, Dinner Need not be a Chore

Cooking tips for the harried chef.

A Whole New World of Frozen Food

Ethnic food options in the freezer case.

"Buy local" bill Aims to help Orchards, Farms

New legislation may require state institutions to buy local foods from farmers.

Sumptuous surrealism at the Hartwell House


Review of the Hartwell House in Lexington.

[alacarte]

Boston Globe Digest for October 22, 2003:

Muscle teas -- “Power teas” for businessmen – “a new ritual that has been popping up in big city hotels,” such as the Four Seasons Hotel. “The fancy finger food is designed to appeal to executives who don't have time for lunches or long business dinners.”

(I don't know anyone in the business world who would meet for tea, do you?)

Cracker makers chip away at fat content (David L. Harris)

Quote

Crackers without hydrogenated oil are popping up on supermarket shelves on the heels of the Food and Drug Administration's recent actions requiring the listing of trans fat content by Jan. 1, 2006.

Make your meals mythic with pomegranate seeds (Galen Moore)

Quote

Pomegranate season lasts until December. It began earlier this month with the harvest of a bigger, sweeter, and darker variety than had previously been available.

Blending for a bigger stage (Steven Meuse)
Sakonnet's winemaker wants to raise his vineyard's profile a notch with a prestigious reserve label

Quote

To make room in the cellar, the 2002 vintage now held in tanks or resting in oak barrels will find its way into bottles. It sounds straightforward enough, but it's a moment that confronts winemakers with a crucial decision: how to efficiently utilize multiple lots of wine to create a final blend that consumers will find harmonious and satisfying. In French, this is called assemblage. It's proof that every bottle of wine is really a bottle of many wines.

This year Sakonnet's assemblage falls to its new wine making director, Christian Butzke. The German-born Butzke, 40, was lured to the Rhode Island estate last year from a tenured faculty position in the prestigious viticulture and enology department at the University of California at Davis. "I'm not that interested in operating a New England winery," says Butzke. "I want Sakonnet to play on a bigger stage.”

Also, a companion piece on Sakonnet:
A great wine means finding right balance

[TPO]

The Boston Globe – Oct. 29, 2003

Carrying a torch for this so-easy-to-make dessert

This article has a nice description of how crème brule is made, plus a “where to buy” key for culinary torches. Unfortunately, this is the one kitchen gadget no one in my family wants me to have. My history of knife injuries has made them suspect burn injuries would result from the torch.

Quote

Considering its popularity in restaurants, you might think creme brulee is difficult to make at home. Actually, this mixture of cream, milk, vanilla, egg yolks, and sugar is a snap, much easier than baked custard or pudding, which involve stove-top cooking.

Recipe: Crème brule

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Now starring: panna cotta

Before crème brule became the popular menu item, there was panna cotta. Many chefs have not forgotten this dish, and make this silky dessert with pleasure.

Quote

Panna cotta: Literally cooked cream. A mixture of cream, milk, sugar, and gelatin, brought to a simmering point and then poured into molds to set." This is Anna Del Conte's definition in "Gastronomy of Italy." It doesn't sound like much -- until you eat a spoonful.

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A toast to roast chicken

Comfort food… or food seduction? You decide.

Quote

Most of us don't think of chicken as a seductive bird, but then seduction often happens when we least expect it. With its crackling skin, luscious, juicy meat, and inviting aromas, a whole roast chicken can be downright spellbinding.

Recipe: Roast chicken with vegetables

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Hold it

The silicone potholder. It’s already on my shopping list.

Quote

They not only protect your hands when it's time to pull something out of the oven, they do triple duty as trivets and jar openers. This is the same material used on the new, popular rubber spatulas. It's heat resistant to 675 degrees, slip resistant, and flexible. When these potholders get dirty, they go in the dishwasher.

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Steak optional

Some different steak sauces are now available at grocery stores.

Quote

They go with steak, of course, but they're also well matched with grilled chicken or poached fish and are especially delicious in scrambled eggs.

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A lighter hue in northern Italy

Quote

Everyone knows that Tuscany is one of Italy's greatest locations for a glass of red wine. Friuli (or Friuli-Venezia Giulia, to be precise), in the northeastern corner of Italy, is the home of the country's best whites.

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Go nuts with this squash

Set aside your thoughts of pumpkins for the moment, and think about butternut squash for a moment.

[TPO]

The Boston Globe – Nov. 5, 2003

Spreading the word: According to chefs and bakers, European-style butter is better. Now it's also widely available.

By Galen Moore, Globe Correspondent

Many of us left margarine behind a long time ago. Now butter has competition again – only instead of less fat, the new butter in town contains even more fat.

Quote

In 1923, Congress officially defined "butter" as "containing not less than 80 percent by weight of milk fat." European butters, by contrast, must contain at least 82 percent. You might not think it's a great difference, but many European butters get up to the low 90s in butterfat content, where conventional American butters rarely get above 84 percent. You can taste the difference on your bread.

This article includes a recipe for shortbread cookies

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This contest is a wrap

By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

Last week, Salem High School held its second annual wrap contest. Students piled tortillas with a variety of ingredients, and 12 students won prizes. The contest encourages students to try healthy food alternatives, as well as ethnic foods many had never seen before.

Quote

When the first lunch bell rang, the contestants queued up at the starting line, their challenge spread out before them. Bowl after bowl and platter after platter were piled high with tortillas and lavash; more than a dozen meats; 12 cheeses; chicken, seafood, and noodle salads; and a host of diverse ethnic ingredients.

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SHORT ORDERS

Sauerkraut season

Quote

Pucker up to taste this autumn staple when Miletic teaches four variations of the sour cabbage delicacy he learned in his homeland [Serbia]. The results go home with the students.

It rises above the rest

Quote

Most sandwich shops have yet to realize the paramount importance of good bread. But Roslindale Square's Fornax is ahead of the curve. The bakery turns out hot grilled sandwiches on bread baked fresh every morning.

Get on the stick

Quote

Caramel apples are autumnal treats that shouldn't only be enjoyed by those young enough not to care whether their faces get sticky. Soft, salty-sweet caramel with a crisp, tart, juicy apple is a sublime, even sophisticated, pairing of tastes. And when was the last time you ate one?

Drinking coffee makes you crafty

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According to a recent Maxwell House survey, 71 percent of Americans don't toss their coffee cans once the last pot has been percolated. Instead, they come up with clever ways to recycle the ribbed tin containers: Flower pots, tool caddies, and coin banks are the most popular uses.

Confessions of a foodie: I save coffee cans for making steamed Boston brown bread.

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There’s more than one way to make an authentic meatball sub

By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

Many disagree on what makes a classic meatball sub. The bread, sauce and cheese are all up for discussion. One thing is certain, however. No matter how you fix your sub it isn’t going to be a true Italian meatball sub because in Italy, meatballs and bread don’t mix.

Quote

The fact is, although Italians eat meatballs (called polpette), when the round, meaty nuggets in tomato sauce are ladled over spaghetti or tucked inside a sub roll, it's purely American. "You'd be hard pressed to find meatball subs in Italy," says Guy Martignetti, owner of the North End Italian grocery store Salumeria Italiana. "You'll find little meatballs in some special Italian soups, and we eat meatballs for dinner served with a side salad, but Italians don't mix them with pasta or pile them on a sandwich."

The article includes a meatball sub recipe and a sidebar where the cooks at five sandwich shops offer their opinions on what makes a meatball sub great.

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You’ll make them melt

This article by Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven reminds us that a sandwich comprised of grilled meat and cheese can make a delicious and satisfying meal.

Quote

Sandwich presses have made croque monsieur spinoffs regulars on the weekly supper table. But those with a yen and no equipment can fashion a fine toasted cheese the old-fashioned way: in a skillet with another skillet on top.

The article includes a recipe for turkey croque sandwiches.

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For Pine Street Inn, a labor of love

Three Hingham friends gather once a month to prepare a wonderful meal for 80 to 100 less fortunate women.

Quote

For these friends, cooking and serving food to those less fortunate is rewarding -- and they have fun while they're at it. It's more work than writing out a check, says Belknap, but "it's more satisfying than just donating money."

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A woman’s place is in the brewery

Quote

History is packed with babes in beerland: the Sumerian brewing goddess Ninkosi; the 12th-century nun Hildegarde von Bingen, who wrote a treatise on using hops to keep beer from spoiling (she was later sainted); and the industrious brewsters or alewives, the women who made almost all the beer in Britain until the 1500s.

[TPO]

November 12, 2003

The blooming of Cambodian cuisine

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Lowell, MA has the second largest Cambodian community in the country. And that means delicious, authentic Cambodian food is part of that community.

Quote

Like many cuisines that have sprung up around a community, this food connects Lowell's Cambodians to a faraway place, and is a bridge to their new homeland.

Quick Khmer pork with green beans recipe

Loc lac (marinated beef with lime sauce)

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Everyone goes bananas for this fruity bread

By Kristen Paulson, Globe Correspondent

Quote

The scent of baking banana bread seems to evoke universally comforting childhood memories, so the humble bread has a huge nostalgia factor.

I've been obsessed with finding the perfect banana bread for a while. It's odd, because as a kid, I turned up my nose at my mother's banana muffins. I knew they were made from spotty, overripe rejects.

Banana bread recipe

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Baking from the pros

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

Cooks from beginners to serious home chefs will find something in the five cookbooks discussed in this articles.

Quote

The first frosts are sweeping across New England. And on cold afternoons, it's powerfully comforting to turn on the oven, haul out a bag of flour, and plunge into the season's new baking books. This year's crop has substance and style, holding forth the promise of glamorous desserts. There are also plenty of homespun goodies, so you can still bake the old-fashioned way and lick the mixing bowl afterwards.

Popovers recipe

Chocolate marquise recipe

Marble cake recipe

Grandmother's apple cake recipe

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SHORT ORDERS

A chip off the old block of chocolate

Quote

The very sturdy chocolate chipper, which boasts six heavy chrome-plated steel prongs set into a hardwood handle, is easy to use and makes the chopped pieces uniform. All you have to do is set the chocolate on a cutting board and push the prongs into it.

Varietals are the spice of life

Quote

Liquor is undoubtedly quicker. But Trader Joe's is selling a dandy new candy that may satisfy your inner wine snob.

New book is a treat for dog owners

Quote

Canine cuisine will mix with literature on Dec. 2, when author Susan Orlean and cookbook author Sally Sampson discuss their new book, "Throw Me a Bone" at the Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge.

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Stay tuned for next week:

Quote

The Food section's Thanksgiving issue is coming out next Wednesday. We've been testing roasting pans to see which one suits the big bird best, tasting New World wines, and finding faithful recipes from cooks around town. Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven will offer their favorite holiday menu. On Monday, Nov. 24, a special Food section will give you a vegetarian solution for turkey day, another festive menu, a recipe for foolproof gravy, and other holiday nuts and bolts.

[TPO]

November 19, 2003

Special food section coming next week

Quote

A special Food section next Monday, Nov. 24, will feature a vegetarian solution for Thanksgiving, another festive menu, and desserts from two professional bakers.

There will be no Food section on Nov. 26.

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From Bird to pie: Get busy early in the week so Thanksgiving Day isn't too hectic

By Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven

Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven got together for a pre-Thanksgiving turkey experiment to streamline the operation. They offer some good tips for making your Thanksgiving less stressful.

Quote

Timing is everything Thanksgiving week. Since oven space is a problem in most kitchens, we compensate by preparing a lot of dishes completely the day before. The turkey is timed so that it is ready an hour before you want to carve it (it's perfectly fine resting in a warm spot during that time). All the side dishes can go into the oven during that last hour. We bake them together at 400 degrees -- and completely ignore what the recipe instructs. A lot of dishes in one oven can bring the temperature down. If something is browning too much, you can cover it with foil.

Recipes include: Olive spread, Lavash crackers, Buttered green beans with toasted almonds, Roasted potatoes and onions, Challah and dried cranberry pan stuffing, Sugar pumpkin puree, Corn flake stuffing, and Chocolate pecan pie with chocolate-wafer crust.

The pictures in the Globe are really nice, and Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven were the food stylists for them.

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SHORT ORDERS

Bread that rises to the occasion

Quote

This Thanksgiving, I know what I'm thankful for. Brioche. Bakeries aren't open on Thanksgiving Day, and if it weren't for brioche, there would be nothing wonderful for breakfast after the bird goes into the oven.

Pretty as pie

Quote

Thanksgiving pie is too important for a plain-Jane pan. The French company Emile Henry makes beautiful ceramics, including a deep 9-inch pie plate with fluted edges (about $32). The plate comes in several bright colors, including cobalt blue, a leafy green, and a brilliant red. Your apple and pumpkin pies will look smashing.

A berry happy Thanksgiving

Quote

Thanksgiving always brings out the great cranberry debates: canned vs. homemade, jellied vs. whole berry. This year, can the can and try something a little different. Lynn-based New England Cranberry Company is making an all natural Colonial Cranberry Sauce ($4.95).

Temperature control

Quote

You might want to think twice about relying on pop-up thermometers that come with the big bird. Pop-ups often don't do what they're supposed to do. A turkey can be done before the thermometer tells you it is. So a meat thermometer is a must-have in the Thanksgiving kitchen.

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A turkey that is worth its salt

Quote

Brining, which simply put means bathing your bird in heavily salted water, ensures moist and thoroughly seasoned meat. But if brining a Thanksgiving turkey is intimidating -- even finding a pan big enough to immerse an 18-pound bird can be nigh impossible -- you would probably like the taste of a kosher turkey. One of the steps in the poultry koshering process is to heavily salt and then rinse the birds. You can save yourself the process and still have a moist turkey that will delight your guests.

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Picks of pans for holiday cooking

By Jean Kressy, Globe Correspondent

If you’ll be buying a roasting pan this year, check out this article for some good information and recommended brands.

Quote

Roasting pans, like ovens, are meant to last a lifetime. The pan should be large enough (about 16 by 13 inches) to hold the holiday bird and have two handles that are easy to grasp and are sturdy enough to lift a hot, heavy, stuffed bird out of the oven.

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It's easy to please with mashed potatoes

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

Despite Ms. Chang’s assurance that you can get excellent mashed potatoes with a fork and a wooden spoon, I’m not giving up my ricer.
QUOTE: It's hard to imagine a food more comforting -- or easier to make -- than mashed potatoes. A perfect vehicle for sauces and gravies, but irresistible on their own, mashed potatoes can emerge from a kitchen that has nothing more than a pot, a fork, and a wooden spoon. If you long for a decent bowl of mashed, it's just foolish to turn to a box of reconstituted flakes.

Recipe for Creamy mashed potatoes

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[TPO]

November 24, 2003

A feast that’s not for the birds

By Clea Simon, Globe Correspondent

Quote

"When I go to my mom's," says Terra Friedrichs, "she'll make vegetarian things for me and my sister. But there will be the centerpiece: the turkey. And I think, that's odd, because shouldn't the centerpiece be the harvest?"
When Friedrichs, an Acton resident, plays host, the table is a colorful smorgasbord of fruits and vegetables: "Squash, potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, wine! Corn, peas, carrots -- and pie," she says. "That's enough for me."

Recipes:

Vegetarian stuffing

Vegetarian mushroom gravy

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Underneath its tough exterior, the pumpkin has a heart of gold

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

Quote

Pumpkins are as welcome a sight in the kitchen as they are on the front stoop this time of year. Roasted seeds are a treat, and bakers prize the fresh, moist, carroty flesh for muffins and pies.

But in savory dishes, pumpkin has its own venerable history in this country, including feeding early settlers -- they called it "pompion." Their orange globes were stewed over an open fire for nearly a day.

Recipe: Late-autumn pork and pumpkin stew

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A tried-and-true festive menu

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

Quote

Architect Joan Wood has been cooking Thanksgiving dinner for more than 30 years, sometimes for a dozen guests, at other times for 25. Delicious edibles, brought or cooked by guests, flow through the house like good conversation.

Over the years, the South End resident has developed her own classics, which her friends and family have come to count on as surely as the changing of the seasons. She makes chicken-liver pate as an appetizer, apple-sausage stuffing for the bird, cranberry-apple sauce, a spinach souffle, mashed potatoes, a ring of gougere puffs, and, of course, the turkey. "I think Thanksgiving is the best holiday," says Wood. "There's no pressure except to get it done, which I always do."

Recipes:

Chicken liver pate

Cranberry-apple sauce

Spinach soufflé

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No bones about it, this bird makes the cut: A plastic surgeon takes on turkeys with his scalpel

By Michael Prager, Globe Staff

Quote

Carving turkey the traditional way has never been a strength for Harvey Baumann, a plastic surgeon who practices in Providence. "I get one or two good slices, and then it looks like an explosion in a meat factory," he says. "It's embarrassing. Here you are a surgeon and you can't carve a turkey."

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Recipes:

Apple and Medjool date croustade

Quote

Judy Mattera's croustade begins with a homemade date jam simmered in port and apples roasted with lemon juice and cinnamon. These are layered on a baking sheet with sheets of phyllo dough, then baked and cut into squares.

Hot-water chocolate gingerbread

Quote

Suzanne Lombardi makes this cake every year for her family's Thanksgiving. The recipe is her twist on the hot-water gingerbread from an 1896 copy of Fannie Farmer's "The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book." Hot water is stirred into the cake batter just before baking. It makes the cake very moist. Use a hand-held electric mixer or a stand mixer with the whip attachment, if you have one.

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[TPO]

December 3, 2003

Back to the good times: This year's events are more modest, but restaurants revel in the party mood

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

When the economy hits companies – and individuals – holiday parties can be the first thing cut from the budget. But for Boston area restaurants, the Christmas party season is looking good.

Quote

After two years of drought, restaurant owners are especially anxious that this season be festive -- and fully booked. So far, the news from the field is encouraging. Julia Anderson, director of sales at Locke-Ober, says initial inquiries about party bookings started in July, and by now the restaurant's many private rooms are more than 80 percent booked for December.

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Just what the maestro ordered: Keith Lockhart's favorite ice cream is in the mail

Quote

"A lot of musicians are very passionate about food," says Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart. "Music and food are both great sensual pleasures, and they tend to go hand in hand."

His freezer contains his favorite ice cream, shipped from Ohio to Massachusetts, so you can only imagine what’s in his refrigerator.

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Is that Prada? No, it's chocolate.

By Bridget E. Samburg, Globe Correspondent

Quote

The dainty half-ounce bags are inspired by the likes of Prada, Burberry, and Pucci. Almost too cute to eat, Wali's confections are the ultimate gift for women who love all things chocolate and will never have enough handbags.

If you’re thinking chocolate shoes are next, Aliya Wali’s Choco Choco House is already thinking about adding it to the product line.

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Stir a quick sauce in a pot and call it macaroni

Quote

Mac and cheese is one of America's great home dishes -- the companies that package it in a box can tell you that. We've tossed cooked pasta with heavy cream and cheese to make an easy version, and the result is good and quite rich, but it doesn't have the stick-to-your-ribs character of regular mac and cheese.

Recipe: Stove-top mac and cheese

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SHORT ORDERS

Delicious darlings

Quote

The jewels in the crown of holiday citrus are clementines.

The best come from Spain and North Africa and are available through March, sold in their characteristic 5 pound crates.

A big wad -- of cash

Quote

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the bubble-blowing cartoon characterwith an eye patch (there only to make him look distinctive), Bazooka Bubble Gum is offering a $50,000 prize inside one lucky pack.

Almond joy

Quote

Called the "queen of almonds," prized Spanish Marcona almonds ($7.95 to $10.99 per pound) have been showing up at specialty markets and are flying out the door.

If you think regular almonds are addictive, you won't know what to do with yourself with these.

The perfect opening

Quote

For the first time since the familiar can opener was perfected in 1925, there is a way to open metal tins without the sharp edges nicking and cutting theless sure-fingered. The safety can opener, also known as a "lid lifter," pries the lid off the can from the side.

Pressed on time

Quote

Don't try to call ahead to the South End's Miami Cafe for your Cuban sandwich ($5). "If I had made this sandwich when you called at 11, it would be a soggy mess by now," owner Angela Bello sharply reprimanded a customer who arrived an hour after ordering his sandwich.

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Cookies make a chocolate statement

By Lisa Yockelson, Globe Correspondent

Quote

The swarthy style of a brownie square or bar, in all their moistness, meets the luxury of a dense chocolate cake in this easy drop cookie, which I have been fine-tuning for some time now.

Recipe: Rich and fudgy chocolate cookies

[TPO]

December 10, 2003


The high end of the kitchen

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Looks like my friend with a $300 stainless steel toaster isn’t so odd after all.

Quote

The young moderns -- affluent couples in their 30s and 40s who bring a designer's eye to everything -- have been outfitting their kitchens with high-style European and American appliances in the last six years or so, designers and architects say. And suddenly that ratty old coffeemaker or the toaster oven your mother gave you or the seldom-used waffle iron from the discount kitchen store doesn't quite cut it.

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Hot-water chocolate gingerbread

This recipe is a reprint from the November 24 issue, which had a problem with pan size.

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Produce by the numbers

Wishing your produce was labeled as conventionally grown, organic or genetically engineered? Wish no more – the labels often are already there.

Quote

PLUs consist of four or five digits and cannot be scanned. They allow retailers to track how well individual varieties are selling. But they can also tell consumers how a fruit or vegetable was grown.

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When it comes to Alsatian wine, Trimbach does it their way

By Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent

Quote

In 1626, King Charles I had yet to sign the Massachusetts Bay Charter. In Europe, Catholics and Protestants were locked in a murderous war. And in Alsace, a narrow strip of land nestled between the Rhine and the Vosges Mountains, Jean Trimbach, a Protestant, was establishing himself in the wine business.

Nearly 400 years later, the House of Trimbach in Ribeauville is one of the world's best known family-owned wineries, making around 100,000 cases of stylistically distinctive white wines from traditional Alsace varietals.

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Real men make sausages: A group of friends uses pork, spices, and old family recipes in a yearly ritual


By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, while most people are picking at the last of the leftover turkey, Jeff Pizzeri and Mario Castagna gather with their friends and make lots of sausage.

Quote

By noon, which is more than six hours after they started the project, the sausage-making crew in the basement of Jeff Pizzeri's home has already gone through several hundred pounds of pork. By the end of the day, the 11 friends, decked out in white aprons and latex gloves, have made over 1,600 links and 50 porkettas, a highly seasoned pork roast.

Recipe: Pork and sausage ragu

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The young and the hungry: Late nights during exams lead to a student feeding frenzy

By David L. Harris, Globe Correspondent

Finals. The ultimate excuse for junk food. Fortunately, kids today have a bit more disposable money and can escape the books at a local pizzeria. I had to get by with chocolate donuts and coffee.

Quote

Late-night fuel takes on special importance this time of the year when college students put studying into high gear in the weeks and days before finals. So places like this dimly lit hangout attract crowds of young needing a break from the books. Around college campuses, there are more options than ever, from delivery to takeout to quick and inexpensive late-night dining. Still, while most eateries in this student-driven city close shop at midnight (if not, earlier), T. Anthony's is somewhat of a rarity.

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A gift of ceramics or glass will bowl over your favorite cook

By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

If you’re in the market for just the right bowl to be functional as well as beautiful, Andrea Pyenson has some suggestions.

Quote

When I moved into my first apartment, my mother went to a flea market and bought me a mustard-colored stoneware bowl with rose and cream stripes. Inside, the glaze is speckled with black. Spaced evenly along the rim are thumbprints, my favorite feature.

For years, it was the only bowl I would use to mix batter. Most of my recipes had come from my mother or grandmother, and the bowl seemed to fit with the food.

I built a collection around that pottery, and there are probably other cooks who would appreciate a beautiful bowl. Make that bowls.

[TPO]

December 17, 2003


The sweet shapes of Hanukkah

By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

Text

Quote

Suzi Johnson grew up in Princeton, N.J., with a Hanukkah tradition that included her mother and two sisters. Every year at the start of the eight-day holiday, the four would bake and decorate cookies.

The bakers have changed to include Johnson’s children as well as the children’s friends and their parents. As the kids grow, they take the process a bit more seriously.

Quote

As they decorated, the girls concentrated on the detail. "The cookies are much more elaborate and intricate than in past years," noted Epstein. "Now they can spend up to two minutes on one cookie," she said. When they were younger, "they'd rush through one and run off."

To make the same sugar cookie dough the Johnson family uses, check out this recipe

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It was a year of classic comfort

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

Quote

As in recent years, comfort reigned supreme on the cookbook scene this year. But it took a more traditional turn, highlighting classic techniques and tried-and-true recipes.

Chang goes on to discuss over a dozen cookbooks released this year, including Cooking at Home With the CIA: Essential Techniques and Recipes for Creating Great Food; Good Food No Fuss: 150 Recipes and Ideas for Easy-to-Cook Dishes; The Way We Cook: Recipes From the New American Kitchen; Lost Recipes: Meals to Share With Friends and Family; A Flash in the Pan: Fast, Fabulous Recipes in a Single Skillet; and many more.

Bourbon pecans

Coq au vin

Meatloaf with ketchup sauce topping

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Nun has cheese down to a science

By Jennifer Schuessler, Globe Staff

Mother Noella Marcellino received the 2003 French Food Spirit Award this year.

Quote

The award springs out of the year Mother Noella spent in France on a Fulbright grant in the mid-1990s, clocking more than 35,000 kilometers in her quest to document samples of the hundreds of microorganisms that have thrived for centuries in France's cheese caves. These, she argued passionately on a recent drizzly afternoon here, are an endangered natural habitat, threatened by heavy-handed regulation and the spread of industrial cheesemaking. "To us, it may be just an old cheese rind," she says. "But it's also a whole environment."

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Get a leg up on lamb

Quote

We agree with French cooks that a perfect Sunday dinner is a leg of lamb bathed in garlic, dusted with fresh rosemary, and roasted with potatoes until the meat is pink and succulent. Lamb leg doesn't take long to cook, but something about the large joint suggests a grander dinner than you might have in mind. That's where leg of lamb steaks come in. Thickly sliced off the center of the leg -- right at the point where the shank half meets the sirloin half -- lamb steaks are oval with a round bone right in the center.

Recipe for Leg of lamb steaks with mint sauce

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Simple spaghetti adds spice to supper

As an Italian-American, I can vouch for this one. This recipe is similar to one of the true comfort meals in my family, one we make when time is short and hunger levels are high.

Quote

Spaghetti aglio olio e peperoncino has the austere look of a dish prepared in a dorm room hot pot, but this Italian classic packs a warming combination of garlic and crushed red pepper flakes, items in stock in even the barest of cupboards.

Recipe for Spaghetti with garlic, oil, and crushed peppers

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A cooking class in Thailand offers an education in eating

What happens when a connoisseur of ready-made dinners takes an authentic cooking class in Thailand?

Quote

I reached for a chunk of tofu and began dicing it. I did the same with Chinese chives. I chopped away, satisfying myself I was making progress, and she watched as I drew perilously close to my fingers on the other side of the large knife. "Stop!" she commanded, and then gently explained, without making me feel like a complete dolt, the proper way of using a knife -- that is, holding it close to the blade and keeping at least one finger on the side, for control.

Spicy cold noodles with chicken

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Meeting a family through its food

By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

Quote

In 1996, Judy Bart Kancigor began asking relatives for their recipes in order to be able to pass them along to the next generations. What started as a tribute to her family evolved into "Melting Pot Memories" three years later, a self-published cookbook with 600 recipes.

"People I didn't know began ordering multiple copies," says Kancigor on the phone from her home in Fullerton, Calif. The accidental author has since sold 8,000 books.

Smoked salmon cheesecake

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Variety adds spice to this barbecue

By Diane Daniel, Globe Correspondent

Quote

Someday there could be a Q near you. But for now, Scott Howell and his two partners are focusing the growth of their outstanding Q-Shack barbecue joints in the South.

Howell, 40, earned celebrity chef status here with the upscale Nana's, one of the area's foodie favorites. After he bought the building that Nana's is in, he found himself with additional space and decided to go downscale in price and ambience, but certainly not in quality.

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[TPO]

December 24, 2003


The Boston Globe just got last week’s food section online. Better late than never.


Dishes that are easy to prepare can make the holidays brighter

By Leigh Belanger, Globe Correspondent

Quote

It may be the centerpiece of the table, but the food is secondary. What we really want for Christmas is a good, easy time, lots of laughs, and, of course, peace on Earth.

Recipes include Potato Gratin with Leeks, Ham, and Gruyere; Sautéed Quail with Sesame, Soy, and Orange; and Orecchiette with Bitter Greens, Golden Raisins, and Pine Nuts.

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This pro's bowl has peppers in it

Quote

You could say that the Patriots' season has been one long hot streak, but vice chairman Jonathan Kraft, 39, has a hot streak of his own that goes back to childhood.

He's a jalapeno man. He likes them on eggs, on crackers, or on burgers, pickled or plain.

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Sultan's swings in a new location

By Galen Moore, Globe Correspondent

Quote

Huge kettles bubble on back burners. Rows of broad platters are on display, piled with velvety stuffed eggplants and a cascade of golden artichoke fritters.

Ozcan Ozan has moved his popular Sultan's Kitchen, once a Broad Street storefront, to a new, lighter location a block away on State Street. In the 22 years he's been serving his exotic Turkish food in the Broad Street space, which was essentially a cafeteria setting, Ozan expanded three times, always maintaining the self-serve system. Finally he had to leave because the old location was being replaced by a high-rise. When that opens, Ozan will have the option to move back in with a full-service Middle Eastern restaurant.

Recipe for Swooning imam (Imam bayildi).

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[TPO]

December 31, 2003


Auld lang syne in a flash

Pulling together a last-minute cocktail party is simple

By Tony Rosenfeld, Globe Correspondent

Quote

You can still plan an impromptu New Year's Eve, but you'll have to work fast. Get out a can opener for chickpeas that will become hummus, cut up boneless chicken to turn into brochettes, toast a few nuts with aromatics.

The requirements for a cocktail party are simple: The food should be small enough to eat daintily and sophisticated enough to match the celebration. And you shouldn't go to undue expense for either the hors d'oeuvres or the drinks. 

Recipes include:

* Chicken brochettes with mint-yogurt sauce
* Hummus with rosemary pita chips
* Roasted nuts with thyme and brown sugar
* Shrimp rolls with spicy peanut sauce

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Time is the essential ingredient for making authentic cassoulet

By Naomi R. Kooker, Globe Correspondent

There are debates about what makes an authentic cassoulet, but two things remain undisputed – it’s a labor of love, and it’s worth the time.

Quote

The dish that causes such devotion takes days to prepare (weeks if you're making your own preserved duck or goose, one requirement of a cassoulet). The word cassoulet literally means a dish you prepare and serve in a cassole, a kind of bowl. Most cooks use haricots beans, which are dried white beans; aromatic vegetables such as onion, carrot, and celery; and meats that include lamb, pork, sausage, game, bacon, and duck breast.

Cassoulet recipe

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SHORT ORDERS

Sparr of wonder

Quote

The tradition of regional sparkling wine remains strong in France, where local variations are often described as cremant. In Alsace, a rosy aperitif made with pinot noir rivals the pinks of Champagne.

A real catch

Quote

Since 1978, Ducktrap River Fish Farm has been smoking salmon over local cherrywood in Belfast on the Maine seacoast. The company's translucent slices of salmon ($10.99 for 8 ounces) are mild in taste and creamy in texture, a result of fruitwood smoke. 

Campfire optional

Quote

Winter s'mores are even more fun than their summertime kin. Pop open the Champagne and toast the new year.

Peas offering

Quote

Wasabi peas are very crunchy, slightly sweet, salty, and hot, which makes them pretty wonderful in one hand when a glass of something sparkling is in the other. 

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A few precautions make eating beef safer

Quote

Although US agricultural officials are downplaying the possibility that any tainted beef was distributed, buyers can follow certain steps if they're worried. First it helps to understand a little about the parts of the animal that can transmit the disease.

Mad cow in animals -- which can result in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans -- can be transmitted by ingesting material from the brain, nervous system, and internal organs of infected animals.

Cuts from the muscle of cows -- steaks such as chuck, sirloin, T-bone, filet mignon, and round; roasts such as eye of the round and rump and pot roasts -- pose little risk, according to agricultural officials. However, ground beef -- unless it is marked as ground from a specific muscle cut -- can include various parts and pieces of the animal. One way to ensure safety is to grind your own hamburger from a muscle cut or have a butcher grind it for you.

Two things got me to start grinding my own beef. One was reading “Fast Food Nation,” the other was seeing them do it on America’s Test Kitchen. Once you’ve tasted freshly ground meat, it’s hard to go back to store bought – even without the mad cow threat.

Hamburgers recipe

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Egg white omelets are fluffy and forgiving

Quote

Our friends laugh about our egg white omelets. Tasteless, they say (without tasting them). Then they regale us with stories about perfect buttery omelets and where they were eaten. Cafes in Paris usually enter the conversation at that point. Egg white omelets have no romance about them. They are the furthest thing from French excess and Parisian cafes that you can get. But a child can make one. Egg whites, it turns out -- unlike their whole-egg counterparts -- are very forgiving.

Recipe for Mushroom and onion egg white omelet

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[TPO]

January 7, 2004


Hold the white

People are talking about the latest low-carb diet -- a regimen that cuts colorless foods from the menu -- but what does it really entail?

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

This diet is not as hard as Atkin’s, but you can still bug your waiter for a substitute for the baked potato offered with dinner.

Quote

January dawns and Americans hop on the scale and vow to diet. Low carbohydrate regimens -- Atkins, South Beach, and Zone -- may still reign, but the new up-and-comer is the no-white.

Not a published diet with its own guru, no-white is a word-of-mouth phenomenon. A woman across from me at the hairdresser announces that she and her husband are eating no white, that is, eliminating granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, even pasta. The 20-something daughter of a friend, living on her own for the first time, says she and her boyfriend have given up white, in this case sugar, processed foods, and potatoes. A local realtor says she hasn't had white flour or sugar since September. All say they're losing pounds and feeling great.

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An international reputation

In France and India, lentils are a savory staple

By Leigh Belanger, Globe Correspondent

Quote

Lentils are burdened by bad associations that belie their potential -- the pot of soup that always seemed to be simmering on your mother's back burner, the vegetarian lentil loaf that invariably showed up at your potluck dinners and ended up in the back of your freezer. But then there are the tiny, slate-colored lentils called du Puy. A popular side dish in French bourgeois cooking, they appear on winter menus when the other flavors on the plate are big, deep, and often rich.

I’ll eat lentils cooked just about any way, but these recipes for Wild Salmon over Lentils and Red Lentils with Cauliflower look particularly good.

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SHORT ORDERS

Chopping broccoli

Quote

Think of a bowlful of steamed broccoli florets as a blank canvas. Almost anything dresses it up, as long as the flavors are bold enough to stand up to the strong taste of the little buds. 

A winning wheat

Quote

Going whole grain sounds easier than it is. Many whole wheat loaves contain only enough whole wheat flour to tint them a darker color, with the high percentage of white flour practically negating the advantages of complex carbohydrates. And finding a whole wheat loaf that isn't too dry can be difficult. When Pigs Fly, the York, Maine, company that bakes hearty sourdough loaves of Tuscan wheat, six grain, and cinnamon raisin, recently added a 100 percent whole wheat high-fiber bread, which is chewy, almost nutty-tasting, and delicious -- especially toasted. 

The cure for what ails you

Quote

During flu season you'll feel better if you sip soup. And you'll feel good about yourself if you eat something healthful. At Betty's Wok & Noodle Diner, one large, secure takeout carton contains noodles in chicken broth, laden with vegetables and spiked with Asian- and Latin American-inspired sauces. 

No sugar on top

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Sugar-free desserts are hard to find in restaurants. And delicious sugar-free desserts? Nearly impossible. Those who seek them, whether in the name of dietary restrictions or simply in the annual battle to overcome holiday weight gain, know that the road to the perfect sugar-free sweet is paved with disappointment.

Focus on farming, food

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Farmers, educators, and other agriculture experts will participate in a conference on sustainable agriculture and organic food this month and next month. Entitled "The Power of Choice: Restoring the Health of Our Community and Local Economy by the Foods We Choose," the gathering will feature Sally Fallon, author of "Nourishing Traditions," Donald Bixby, author of "Rare Breeds Album of American Livestock," Joan Gussow, author of "This Organic Life," Eliot Coleman, author of "The New Organic Grower," and Joel Salatin, author of "You Can Farm."

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Size of portions, wiser choices as important as number of carbs

By Bev Bennett, Globe Correspondent

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Carbohydrate reduction is the current "magic pill" for weight loss. Look on restaurant menus and supermarket shelves and you'll find an array of low-carbohydrate options. But low-carbohydrate plans actually sabotage your weight-loss efforts in several ways, according to nutrition experts.

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[TPO]

January 14, 2004


Testing: 1, 2, 3: Form, function, and fine food come together in the newly built America's Test Kitchen

By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

This article is worth checking out for the photos alone. It’s quite a kitchen.

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Working with Boston-based William Wilson Associated Architects, Kimball, test kitchen director Erin McMurrer, and other staff members spent three months planning and designing the new kitchens. And even though the space is rather grand -- five or six good-sized home kitchens would fit into it -- Kimball wanted the area outfitted with equipment and appliances that are accessible to everyone. As he explains, "We're trying to cook on what people have at home."

I’m hoping for recipes that will utilize my six wall ovens and 223 linear feet of counter space.

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In the vanguard at a friendly co-op

By JoeAnn Hart, Globe Correspondent

They no longer require members to unload produce and now you shop for what you want instead of getting a bag of food, but the heart of this co-op hasn’t changed since it first began in 1974.

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At the beginning, the first members pooled their resources to buy fruits and vegetables directly from the New England Produce Center in Chelsea. Every week they took turns calling in the order and picking it up, dividing the haul in one church basement or another. The original fistful of dollars has grown to $1.44 million in sales a year, with 700 member-owners and a staff of 15. The co-op building, a former boat shed, was bought in 1985 with loans and a tag sale.

Recipe for Maggie’s Stuffed Grape Leaves

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SHORT ORDERS

Sweet on sour

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Sunday breakfasts are not always planned events. On wintry weekends, you might roll out of bed with a hankering for pancakes only to discover that the recipe you'd thought about making calls for buttermilk. Our grandmothers kept it on hand, but we're not so inclined. Don't send anyone out in the snow to search for it, though, because Saco Cultured Buttermilk blend makes a fine substitute.

Under its spell

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"Yely's Co Feesh P" read the letters on the broken awning. The real name of this Jackson Square store -- which isn't even a place you go for a cup of joe -- is Yely's Coffee Shop. Rotisserie ovens crank out roast chicken, and the aroma wafts three blocks away. Perhaps that's all the marketing this little gem of a place needs.

With fronds like these

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Slippery and crunchy, briny and sweet, seaweed salad is not just a side dish, it's an addiction. You can get your fix in saucer-size doses at just about any sushi restaurant -- Oishii in Chestnut Hill offers a crave-worthy version.

Under its spell

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This is the time of year when you look for heat anywhere you can find it -- even in the salt shaker. Morton's Hot Salt ($2.99) has a smoky chipotle flavor with a subtle buzz of cayenne. Sprinkle it on your food in place of ordinary table salt and you'll have an easy way to spice up a dish. 

Recipe for Turkey Burgers

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An egg in your shrimp soup warms both bowl and soul


By Sheryl Julian & Julie Riven, Globe Staff

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The pot that simmers on our back burners most nights contains chicken and vegetables or just vegetables in a well-flavored chicken-based broth. If supper on these arctic nights is going to consist solely of soup, we figure, the pot should contain plenty of protein. With the same reasoning -- that your bowl should be hot, nourishing, and very filling -- you can simmer a heavenly stock from shrimp shells, left after peeling the firm shellfish. Instead of discarding the shells, simmer them with aromatic vegetables, tomatoes, and a little hot chili paste and the mixture will warm your soul and clear your sinuses. The shellfish and Chinese pea pods cook briefly in the shrimpy liquid, and each is served with a poached egg.

Recipe for Shrimp Broth with Snow Peas and an Egg.

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Join the club of those who love these chewy cookies

I have been on a quest for a good macaroon recipe for as long as I have been baking. Maybe I’ll give this one a try.

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LaCount's recipe begins with commercial almond paste, which he uses for speed and ease. For best results, use the paddle attachment on a heavy-duty mixer so the paste, egg whites, and sugar become smooth and sticky. You can make them the professional way -- with a pastry bag and round tip -- or shape them off the end of a teaspoon. A sliced almond pressed on top will make any irregularities disappear.

Recipe for Mini Macaroons

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Fast food moves beyond the burger: Chains look toward health with new items


By David L. Harris, Globe Correspondent

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A number of major chains have recently turned to salads, healthier sandwiches, even fruit, and their websites have been reformulated to allow for nutrition and ingredient information. For the most part, fast food establishments are trying to overhaul their image of being a repository for all things unhealthy. It seems to be working. Over the past year, fast food companies reported a 16 percent growth in servings of main dish salads, according to the market research firm NPD Group.

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Beyond the region's fads, a burst of Yucatan flavors

By Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

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Dietary fads are inescapable, even on vacation. Trendy young Cancuneses (as well as New Age American and European ex-pats) swear by the nutritional benefits of ``chaya.'' Native to the Yucatan peninsula, the plant twines like a bean, grows as rapaciously as kudzu, and tastes rather like a cross between spinach and mint.

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[TPO]

Boston Globe -- January 21, 2004


A recipe for luck: Chinese families dine on foods that will bring good fortune

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

When it comes to the Chinese New Year, preparations start early and food items have a purpose.

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By now, the dumplings should be ready to pan fry or slip into boiling water; the chicken bought live in Chinatown has been dressed for roasting; the black moss seaweed is on hand, along with black or shiitake mushrooms. When the Chinese New Year begins tomorrow, ushering in the Year of the Monkey, a holiday season of feasting begins -- with purpose. Although most holidays feature special dishes, Chinese families take it one step further, eating certain foods to bring wealth, happiness, and good fortune.

Pan fried noodle cake with beef recipe adapted from “China Express.”

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Her success has been easy as pie: A bright, little Somerville shop showcases Renee McLeod's specialties


By Clea Simon, Globe Correspondent

Renee McLeod started making pies when she was nine years old and never stopped.

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McLeod's Providence childhood (where she got the nickname of Petsi -- pronounced "Pete-sy") may have taught her the basics of crusts and sweet pies. But she's the first in her family to venture into savory pies, like her Brunswick-stew-inspired Southern turkey pie with its okra and sweet potato accents. These toothsome tarts, some sized for a main course, others (like her vegetable and cheese tartlets) for appetizers, set Petsi Pies apart from typical bakeries. The bright little shop has already won a following. Folks drop by for morning coffee and muffins, scones, and croissants, then return on the way home for a ready-made entree or dessert. The shop offers "Pie-O-U" gift certificates as well. Demand has been high enough that she recently expanded her six-day work week.

Chai-spiced apple pie recipe adapted from Petsi Pies.

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A couple's gourmet dreams put on hold: Legislative hurdles delay store opening


By Erica Noonan, Globe Staff

Winchester, Massachusetts is the future home of The Spirited Gourmet -- neighborhood wine and specialty food store – if owners Chris and Elena Benoit can jump over one big hurdle.

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Neither suspected that the state approval necessary to sell beer, wine, and liquor would be anything but a rubber stamp. "We thought that because everyone was in support of us -- the Board of Selectmen, Town Meeting, and the Chamber of Commerce -- that we would be able to get a license," Chris Benoit says.

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SHORT ORDERS FOR THE YEAR OF THE MONKEY

'Dim Sum' makes Chinese food kids' stuff

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Wondering what to buy that hard-to-please toddler for Chinese New Year? "Yum Yum Dim Sum," a board book by Woods Hole artist and author Amy Wilson Sanger is the fourth in publisher Tricycle Press's "World Snacks" series.

I want my baby bok, baby bok

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Baby bok choy is the younger, slightly sweeter, and tenderer version of its grown-up equivalent, which is a type of Chinese loose-leafed cabbage (also called Chinese white cabbage). The oval, dark green leaves on a bunch of baby bok choy should be crisp and blemish-free, and the white stalks will remind you of celery, but without that fibrous, stringy quality. 

Ravioli raves

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On a slow weekday afternoon at Mary Chung restaurant, a place many MIT students consider their cafeteria, the waiters gather around a platter of seasoned ground pork at a corner table. Gossiping and dipping their fingers into porcelain bowls of water, they fold the meaty filling into wrappers, making birdlike wontons and neatly crimped "Peking ravioli" (otherwise known as pot stickers).

Wok this way

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The invention of the nonstick wok has taken the frustration out of stir-frying. No more scorched oil from thin aluminum pans, no more vegetables drowning in oil so they won't stick.

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[TPO]

Boston Globe, January 28, 2004


Buying fine wines has brought him a lifetime of stories

By Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent

In 1953, Robert Haas fell in love with France and made wine buying his life’s work.

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This year marks the 50th anniversary of Haas's first trip to Europe. His immigrant grandfather had opened the family shop as a Park Avenue grocery at the turn of the 20th century. From the outset, the young Haas was an innovator, establishing a pattern of buying estate-bottled wines directly from the families who made them, rather than from middlemen or brokers, known as negociants.

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A young cook takes his place in a tony hotel kitchen

By Galen Moore, Globe Correspondent

This article describes the high school students who benefit from the Culinary Apprenticeship Program offered by the Anthony Spinazzola Foundation as well as the program itself.

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Rosario, 21, was born in the Dominican Republic. His family came here when he was 7. He found his way to this tony hotel four years ago through the Culinary Apprenticeship Program of the Anthony Spinazzola Foundation. Since 1997, the program has been placing Madison Park graduates in 10-week apprenticeships at a handful of Boston's high-end restaurants. (This year, students from Blue Hills Regional Technical School Canton are also eligible.) When the students finish, the program pays tuition for Bunker Hill Community College's culinary program and helps the chefs-to-be with everything from career counseling to selecting clothes for a job interview.

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Fueling a party to watch the big game

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

With the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl, it can be difficult to decide which regional foods to serve.

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If you think that eating regional foods might bring the team luck, make a fish chowder and accompany the bowls with oyster crackers or common crackers. Luckily, North Carolina's specialty -- barbecue -- is nationally loved. Moreton Neal, who writes a food column for the Raleigh (N.C.) Metro magazine, says "barbecue is the big thing," and there is controversy over every detail, right down to the dressing for the accompanying coleslaw. In the western part of her state, she says, it is vinegar-based, while in the east, mayonnaise is preferred.

Jasper White's fish chowder

Braised chicken

Steven Raichlen's beer can chicken

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SHORT ORDERS

Fragrance and finesse at the last minute

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One day recently, when the cod in the fish case looked particularly inviting, Sheryl bought a skinless, boneless fillet cut from the neck end (the tail end is thinner and too easy to overcook). She was expecting company, and the fish seemed like a good idea, though she had no plans for how to cook it. It was one of those Saturdays when the best-laid plans went awry and there was no time to prepare much of anything.

Recipe for Cod cooked in its own juices with ginger and tomatoes

Swine of scrimmage

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There's no better time to eat pigskin than during a football game. Fried and puffed, pork rinds are the snack food loved by Homer Simpson, George H. W. Bush, and scores of Texans. 

Glass up your act

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Europeans have long known the pleasures of drinking wine and beer from stocky, substantial glasses that feel solid in the hand and are less fragile for everyday use than delicate stemware or towering Pilsner glasses. 

Full of Beans

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For a superb bowl of chili, head to East Boston, where Boston's Best Beef Burger makes a Midwestern-style bowl thick with tiny morsels of ground beef and no beans ($2.99 a pint). In Harvard Square, the Greenhouse Coffee Shop ladles up a steak-tip chili that just needs a little salt to be top-flight ($3.10 a cup). A vegetarian version of the famous dish ($4.95 a bowl) is offered at Johnny's Luncheonette, in Cambridge and Newton. And in South Boston, Salsa's Mexican Grill serves a spicy cup dotted with yellow potatoes, pinto beans, and whole chipotle peppers ($3.50 a cup).

Pure popping pleasure

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Head for the snack aisle of any supermarket and you'll see rows of boxed popcorn to microwave. Most of those commercial brands offer acrunchy way to eat salt, sometimes with the extra bonus of saturated fat and various mysterious additives. 

Leave room for a Bossche Bol

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Imagine a homemade eclair in the shape of a softball, filled with real whipped cream and dunked in thick, rich dark chocolate ($2). That's a Bossche Bol. At Banketbakkerij Jan de Groot, rows of the little round guys positively gleam behind glass counters and in display cases in the window along the street.

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Ben's chili and hot dogs have time-tested appeal

By Mara Vorhees, Globe Correspondent

In 1958, Ben and Virginia Ali started Ben’s Chili Bowl.

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So began a neighborhood diner that evolved into a D.C. institution. Located in the Shaw district at 12th and U streets NW, Ben's Chili Bowl sits in the heart of what once was "Black Broadway," a strip of clubs and theaters where strains of jazz echoed in the streets. "The Bowl" soon became a favorite -- both for locals and for stars playing the "chitlin' circuit." Everyone from Duke Ellington to Miles Davis to Nat King Cole stopped in.

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New hot chocolates mix taste, tradition

By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

Take a sip of the hot chocolate at L. A. Burdick's in Harvard Square and you'll wonder if it isn't simply chocolate that has been melted and poured into an oversized cup.

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[TPO]

Boston Globe – February 4, 2004


Pasta is full of carbs, but that doesn't matter

Tomatoes or cream? Here's your guide

By Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent

If you’re confused about what shape of pasta to serve with which sauce, Debra Samuels has help. Make sure you check out the pasta guide with photos.

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We may not have the choices available in Italy, but gone are the days when only spaghetti, macaroni, and lasagna were available, and when brands in our markets only offered American-made noodles. Now we have popular Italian pastas made by Pastene, De Cecco, Barilla, and Delverde, along with artisanal and regional pastas. Gone, too, is the notion that sauces are made from tomatoes, cream, or pesto. Now there are dozens of mixtures to toss with your noodles.

Recipes:

Spaghetti with garlic and anchovy sauce

Tagliatelle in mushroom cream sauce

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Grab a can opener; then make the sauce

By Julie Riven, Globe Correspondent

Salvatore Sanzo opens cans instead of peeling and seeding fresh tomatoes. This is good advice when time is short – or when summer tomatoes still are months away.

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In a small area that is half the size of most American kitchens, Salvatore Sanzo is preparing tomato sauce in his restaurant, Dal Baffo. The counter isn't lined with ripe tomatoes but rather with an assortment of cans taken from an adjacent storeroom. Once he's made the sauce, salsa di pomodoro, Sanzo will toss it with pasta, use it as a topping for pizza, adorn veal cutlets lightly breaded and fried, and stir it into zuppa di crostone -- a fish soup brimming with clams, mussels, and octopus.

Recipes:

Tomato sauce

Zuppa di crostone

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At area restaurants, change is on the menu

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Things are changing so quickly, our favorite restaurant might change in the time it takes you to drive over there.

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Reinvention is the model this year, and the gossip mill has been busy keeping track of what's going on. Some restaurant owners are doing the equivalent of gutting their space, renaming it, and redoing the concept and menu.

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SHORT ORDERS

Hot pot

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"Don’t worry about the color. It’s not too spicy," announces Seoul Food’s owner, Clara Byun, as she lays down a steaming hot bowl of brilliant red yukae jang.

Hooked on caviar

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With its breathtakingly high price tag and prestige, caviar has an intimidating reputation. As a result, too few people have indulged in the delightfully sensual experience of eating it. Salty, rich, and satisfying, caviar is a true pleasure. Now that there has been an increase in production in the United States, caviar is more affordable than ever.

Quick, healthy baby food

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For many new parents, making baby food from scratch can seem like a complicated, time-consuming project. The Fresh Start Kit from Fresh Baby ($35) offers a simple system for making a week’s worth of food in less than 30 minutes.

From books to beans

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David Strymish has long been known for the cookbooks his company sells at New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton Highlands, via catalog, and online at www.ecookbooks.com. Now the president of Jessica's Biscuit has extended his reach to coffee beans, namely Biscuit Brand Coffees ($7.99 per pound).

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Move over, Cotes du Rhone

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Now, with the price of many Cotes du Rhone wines exceeding the magic $10-a-bottle tag, Cotes du Ventoux will become a familiar name for those looking for delicious, well-priced reds. Made from the same Mediterranean blend of grapes as Cotes du Rhone -- primarily grenache, syrah, and cinsault -- the Cotes du Ventoux wines are typically lighter. 

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Low-carb fight swirls around pasta makers

By David L. Harris, Globe Correspondent

Some pasta makers are rushing to meet the low-carb demand, while other are trying to fight back against the low-carb craze.

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Fad or not, Atkins and the no-carb movement have become a hot topic at pasta companies, where sales have been stagnating or declining for the past few years.
Although the late Dr. Robert Atkins recommended "controlled carbohydrate" pasta in his bestselling book, he wrote that if dieters want the real thing, they could cook pasta al dente, reducing the absorption rate of carbohydrates into the bloodstream.

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After 30 years of good taste, Maison Robert says au revoir

By Sheryl Julian, Globe Staff

A 30-year era will come to an end next week when French restaurant Maison Robert closes its doors.

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For 30 years at Maison Robert, even the most ordinary foods have achieved this kind of status, as waiters stepped into the background and the polished tableware hardly seen outside France was filled with classic French dishes: thick chops from a rack of lamb with rosy rounds of meat, beef and venison beautifully rare, if that's how you wanted them, served with intense, syrupy sauces of stock and wine.

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