DIGEST: Boston Globe Food Section

[fresco]

Alacarte,

The Boston Globe's piece on what to get a Dad who cooks bears an uncanny resemblance to the condescending stuff that used to pour forth from newspapers in advance of Mother's Day...

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/162/food...he_stove+.shtml

[alacarte]

this is true.... looks like feminism worked: equal sap for equal sexes

[alacarte]

Boston Globe – June 18, 2003

For Trillin, eating locally is a passion

''I've never done what my family called grown-up food writing,'' says Trillin, whose latest collection of pieces is ''Feeding a Yen: Savoring Local Specialities From Kansas City to Cuzco'' (Random House). Instead of dissecting how a dish is made or critiquing food, Trillin concentrates his reporting skills and a dry wit on the search for Cajun boudin, for instance, or for Ecuadorian ceviche, or for the tiny peppers of Galicia, Spain. Just an excuse to eat, he calls it. But in each search he always finds the passionate people.

''Writing about eating is really another way to write about people,'' says Trillin, who is savoring a bowl of oatmeal in a downtown hotel cafe. ''I love oatmeal,'' he says, but he rarely eats it except in hotels. ''It seems like a hotel dish.''

Cobblers: Make the most of the short-lived strawberry season

Tastes of Saigon in Bangor

Malay cuisine is a spicy mix

Asparagus bread pudding Not my cup of tea, but perhaps someone out there will enjoy this recipe.

[fresco]

Thanks, alacarte. Trillin is a treat, no matter what he chooses to write about.

[alacarte]

Boston Globe – June 26, 2003

A kitchen renovation can create quite a stir

I am a producer for a national radio show and pride myself on my booking capabilities. I've signed up global terrorism experts, a former major league baseball commissioner, and the first American to summit Mount Everest twice. How was it possible that I couldn't get a contractor?

In desperation, I made my first costly mistake: a kitchen consultant.

A fine brew

To call The People's Pint a brew pub that serves food (which it is), is to leave out many ingredients. At a time when local and organic produce is all the rage at upscale and urban restaurants, and living off the land, or ''sustainable agriculture'' is the new ecology movement, this six-year-old business is a paradigm of both - and without any pretensions.

Housekeeping for newbies

The efforts of domestic diva Martha Stewart notwithstanding, home arts is a neglected field these days. Once mom would have schooled a prospective bride or a newly independent son on how to stock the pantry and plan meals. Home economists would buttress those efforts with high school courses and even give out phone advice. And the novice would study the ''about the kitchen'' chapters in ''The Joy of Cooking'' or ''The Fannie Farmer Cookbook,'' and end with weekly menu suggestions.

Grilled veggies can make your sandwiches sizzle

Deluxe burger is a Vermont local special

edited for "bassackwards" quotes

Edited July 30, 2003 by Fat Guy (log)

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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

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

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

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

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]

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.

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.

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)

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)

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'

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

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.

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

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.

[alacarte]

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

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

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:

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.)

[alacarte]

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!)

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

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

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

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.”

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

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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

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

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

"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

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

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

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

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

[pattimw]

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)

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)

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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:

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

"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

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

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

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

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

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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