DIGEST: Boston Globe Food Section

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Boston Globe – December 8, 2004

Bar hopping for energy

They're popular, but are they any better than peanut butter?

By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff

Grocery shelves are bulging with energy bars -- row after row, box after box of shiny, colorfully wrapped blocks packed with protein and vitamins, dressed up in flavors such as toffee chocolate chip, caramel nut blast, and oatmeal raisin crisp. And shoppers, pressed for time, desperate for energy, and in need of something that can be kept in a desk drawer and eaten between meetings, are scooping them up in increasingly record numbers.

Energy Bars: How They Taste

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Cooking up culture for Hanukkah

By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

Hanukkah celebrations in Black's home have a multicultural feel that goes beyond the influence of her years in Israel. She has always kept a kosher home. Her husband is not Jewish but observes his wife's culinary traditions. Their daughter attends JCDS, Boston's Jewish Country Day School, in Watertown. ''Our holidays are about respecting and understanding who we are and other cultures. The way we celebrate incorporates traditions of my childhood and young adulthood and my husband's childhood home." 

Hanukkah recipes:

* Latkes

* Sephardic-style cauliflower latkes

* Vegetarian Yemenite soup

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World Table: Full of flavor

Tucked in beside a carwash on a busy block in Allston Village is Bazaar on Cambridge. The clean, wide aisles are bursting with produce, deli preparations, and other goodies from Europe, Romania, Russia, Armenia, Greece, and the Middle East.

Good to Go: Good eggs

A hungry person will have a hard time at Mariposa Bakery. Decision making is never easy on an empty stomach, and everything here looks so good. On a recent stomach-grumbling late morning, we ordered an egg salad sandwich ($5.95). 

Mint condition

Like Laurel goes with Hardy and gin goes with tonic, chocolate goes with peppermint. The great candy duo is here for the holidays in the form of King Leo Bark ($22.99 for a 16 ounce tin), a confection of layered Belgian dark and white chocolates topped with crumbled peppermints.

It lays down the law

Though he or she may not know it yet, what the cook in your life wants for Hanukkah is a book called ''How to Keep Kosher: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Jewish Dietary Laws" (William Morrow, $24.95). This guide to the dietary laws is an excellent primer for those who want to adhere to them, but it's also a worthwhile read for those who are simply interested in Judaism and food.

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Chefs' books offer 3 takes on American cuisine

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

Some chefs' cookbooks try to capture the glamour and high stakes of the restaurant experience. Others proselytize about the type of cooking the chef has become known for. Some coyly purport to offer what chefs ''really" cook for themselves, at home. This year's chef-written cookbooks span the gamut, but a distinct emphasis seems to be forming around one central question: In our diverse nation, what counts as ''American" cooking? This year, three very different chefs are blazing trails to the nation's heart through its stomach.

Cookbooks include:

* Coastal Cooking With John Shields: 125 of the Best Recipes From the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf Coasts, and Hawaii

* The Fearless Chef: Innovative Recipes From the Edge of American Cuisine

* Patrick O'Connell's Refined American Cuisine: The Inn at Little Washington

Edited December 8, 2004 by TPO (log)

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Boston Globe – December 15, 2004

Sugar and spice and everything nice

By Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven, Globe Staff

Standing rib roast is a spectacular dish, so grand it seems just right for a holiday menu. Sliced thick, the beef covers enough of the dinner plate so you have to spoon the side dishes right onto the meat. But the ample presentation is only part of the thrill. The taste is also magnificent. Marbled and tender, standing rib tastes like beef used to taste.

Recipe:

* Standing rib roast with pan juices

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Mix cocktails in the comfort of your home

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Stir the cocktail craze into the maelstrom of entertaining at home and what do you get? Maybe panic. It's stressful enough for hosts who have to make food, decorate the house, and figure out where to put the ice and how to stash the coats. It's no longer enough to lay in wines and chill beer and let guests serve themselves in little plastic cups.

Recipes:

* Candy cane martini

* Crantini

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Furnishing shoppers with comfort food

By Clea Simon, Globe Correspondent

Johnny's has run away to join the circus. The funky luncheonette that once livened up Harvard Square and still draws diners to its comfort-food menu in Newton Centre has gone for the big top -- or at least the big spectacle. Past the trapeze, within the roar of the musical fountains, and just beyond the huge and brightly colored State House constructed entirely of jellybeans, the playful '50s era design of Johnny's Luncheonette (think Pee-Wee Herman meets the Jetsons) looks, well, almost at home. 

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Good to Go: Super bowl Sunday

At Restaurante Montecristo, they only offer beef soup on the weekends. That's OK, because a Sunday afternoon is the perfect time to cruise over to Central Square in East Boston. One recent sunny Sunday, teens gathered on corners were teasing one another, mothers were pushing strollers and window-shopping, and almost everyone, it seemed, was speaking Spanish. 

Counter Point: Better than boxes

If you're one of those lovely people who bakes cookies to give as gifts during the holidays, we have the perfect way to present them. Forget the flimsy paper plates or expensive dishes that have to be returned. At $6.99 each, these cute, old-fashioned glass cookie jars are affordable enough to give away, not to mention the perfect way to showcase your beautiful gingerbread men.

Without Reservation: Heat included

The Miracle of Science, the converted-garage-turned-bar-and-grill, has been a neighborhood institution in Cambridge's Central Square since 1991 -- and with good reason. Devotees claim the burgers are among the best in town. The friendly service, casual atmosphere, and reasonable prices draw businesspeople, locals, and students from nearby MIT. 

Joy of Baking: This holiday treat not short on flavor

The big, buttery flavor of shortbread, at once tender and lightly crunchy, is a holiday baker's dream. A restrained ingredient list and simple method catapults this cookie into the realm of the irresistible.

Recipe:

* Shortbread

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When in space, don't let the sauce float off the plate

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

News last week that the astronauts aboard the International Space Station have been asked to cut calories to prevent shortages brings up the question of what the two astronauts, one American and one Russian, are living on up there. And how much dieting do they have to practice to make supplies last until more arrive late this month?

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Recipes:

* Cheddar popovers

* Glazed carrots

* Potato-rosemary tart

* Walnut-raisin spice cake

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Boston Globe – December 22, 2004

Good for the goose: a bath in beer

By Ann Cortissoz, Globe Staff

The German raconteur's favorite Christmas dish, not surprisingly, is a plump goose basted with a strong German beer. At the end of cooking, the skin on the bird is very dark and crisp, and the gamy meat quite moist. Typically, says Dornbusch, Germans pair their strong beer with a rich, heavy fowl, but they also like the brew with a fatty fish at the holiday table. "They have a Christmas goose or a Christmas carp," he says.

Recipe:

* Beer-basted Christmas goose

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Strong, smoky, and seasonal

Cortissoz reviews four strong beers.

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Counter Point: Shaking with laughter

Now that you've decided to amuse your guests with big cocktails in outsize martini glasses, you might as well make them break into giggles with Restoration Hardware's polar bear shaker ($19.99 for a 16-ounce shaker; $31.99 for a 38-ounce bear). 

Your treat

Finding just the right little gift for the food-obsessed is a challenge, unless you drop into the North End's Dairy Fresh. Long a destination for bakers because of the large supply of nuts, dried fruits, and other sweet essentials, Dairy Fresh also carries candies of all kinds, fine chocolates, olive oil, cocoa, a vanilla and sugar grinder ($5.99), a cinnamon and sugar grinder, a cinnamon grinder, spicy cocktail almonds ($6.99 for 10 ounces), and, for young ones, Kinder Cioccolato, little packets of milk chocolate ($2.49) to stash under the tree.

World Table: Where the buffalo roam

For the cheese lover in your life, pick one perfect, unusual whole cheese. Set it on a handsome plate or tray and provide a knife and crackers or sliced baguette. As a final fillip, add a card describing the cheese and its origins.

Counter Point: Deck the halls

'Tis the season to make cookies, and 'tis the job of the Christmas Cookie Deck ($13.95) to make the baking both convenient and fun. Pop this deck into someone's stocking and hope it's a gift that keeps on giving -- in the form of treats for you. Each card offers a recipe for a different holiday sweet and a photo of the finished confection, with 50 recipes in all. 

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Joy of Baking: Sink your teeth into homemade candy

Homemade fudge, toffee, caramels, and other traditional holiday candies have joined nostalgic items such as hand-crank ice cream machines and eight-track players. No one seems to make them anymore.

Recipe:

* Vanilla caramels with sea salt

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Joy of Baking: Ginger brings warmthto the holiday kitchen

''Gingerbread has a distinct New England heritage," says food historian Barbara Haber. ''Every New England cookbook going back to the 1700s has gingerbread recipes." Gingerbread evolved in England when flour was first milled, she says. As soon as settlers in this country could get flour, they added whatever spices they had on hand and made cakes.

Recipe:

* Gingerbread

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Boston Globe – December 29, 2004

Imported or domestic, white or rose, sparklers can add pop to the evening

Champagne, which can only be produced from chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier grapes grown in the Champagne region, about 100 miles east of Paris, remains the benchmark for bubbly. Everything else is simply sparkling wine, despite the appearance of the word Champagne on the label of some California versions. The falling dollar and increased worldwide demand for Champagne has increased prices for Americans so that last year's $25 nonvintage Champagne now carries a $35 tag. And with vintage and super premium Champagnes going for $70 to $150 a bottle, it's time to look elsewhere for the holiday party.

Michael Apstein reviews eight affordable bottles of bubbly.

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Toast the year with luxury

New Year's Eve party fare has to accomplish the almost impossible -- appear spectacular and be delicious but not tie the hosts to the kitchen.

Recipes:

* Spicy shrimp with avocado

* Spoons of Nantucket Bay scallops

* Pita pizzas with Jack cheese

* Whole-wheat lavash crackers

* Salmon tartare on wonton crisps

* Fresh and smoked salmon rillettes

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Good to Go: Doubly good

At the end of the movie "The House of Yes," the loony matriarch of a dysfunctional family tells an unwanted houseguest, "There are croissants in the kitchen. They're filled with something; I don't remember what. You can take yours in the cab." Last we checked, croissants were best used to keep people around, not send them packing.

Counter Point: Pig out on pate

Pierre the Pig tops these blunt knives ($12 for two), which are intended for pates, of course, but can be used for cheeses and other spreads.

Counter Point: I'll eat to that

Love is the universal language, but a festive drink and a bite to eat speak to just about everyone, too. Clink glasses to that understanding while serving snacks on Williams-Sonoma's sweet little plates ($39 for a set of six).

Joy of Baking: Compote perks up pound cake

Pound cake, not surprisingly, derives its name from the original recipe, which called for a pound each of butter, sugar, flour, and eggs. Recipes have been modified and manipulated over the years, but the sought-after result of any combination of ingredients is a firm, moist cake that is a treat on its own or a perfect canvas for a topping.

Recipe: Cornmeal pound cake with dried fruit compote

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Those who crave caviar no longer have to go wild

By Emily Schwab, Globe Correspondent

Regardless of provenance, these salted fish eggs are served -- in their purest form -- on a bed of ice and scooped right from the tin with a tiny, nonmetallic spoon onto a toast point or blini (a miniature buckwheat pancake). Often the spoons are made of ivory or bone, both more time-consuming to craft than metal and therefore just as luxurious as the fish roe. This accouterment just adds to caviar's elite image, and so does its association with Champagne. When it's time to celebrate, pop the corks and pass the caviar.

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Fish rillettes, the new tapenade

By Susan G. Aaronson, Globe Correspondent

This French pate is a centuries-old tradition, first made with meat trimmings that might include pork, duck, rabbit, or goose. The end result, as you can imagine, is quite rich and loaded with flavor.

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Popcorn is a guilt-free treat for the ages

By Bridget Samburg, Globe Correspondent

The smell and pop of corn can bring back all sorts of fond memories. Families have long enjoyed popcorn together, beginning in the late 1800s, and during the Great Depression bags could be purchased for 5 to 10 cents, which made it a treat even for those with little money. Today, Americans consume 17 billion quarts of popcorn each year.

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Which brand makes the best batch?

We tasted several varieties of popcorn and found that there is a difference in texture and size between the kinds of kernels. If your kernels aren't popping, the corn may have dried out. Try putting popcorn in the refrigerator overnight or add a few drops of water to the corn and let it sit overnight. If all else fails, head to the store for a fresh supply.

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Sweet, salty, and straight from the kettle

Three years ago, Lala and Scott Boyers started making kettle corn as a treat for friends. This sweet and salty corn is often available at fairs, but the couple were popping it in their Shrewsbury garage. Now, under the label Boston Poppers, the corn is made in an industrial-size kettle behind Lala Java, a coffeehouse the Boyers own in their town. The fresh kettle corn is sold at the cafe and to some local farm stands (Wilson Farms in Lexington sells it).

Edited December 30, 2004 by TPO (log)

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Boston Globe – January 5, 2005

Good bread starts the day -- and year -- on the right note

Delicious and better for you, whole grains are hitting the supermarket shelves

By Leigh Belanger, Globe Correspondent

Artisan bakers have been perfecting hearty loaves since the back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s. The generation that made its own bread for decades is now turning to Cambridge-based Iggy's Breads of the World, the Maine company When Pigs Fly, and other natural bakers. Once you get used to the firmer, chewier texture and earthy taste of these breads, it's hard to turn back.

Photo Gallery: Five delicious locally made, whole grain breads

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Good health means going with the grains

By Bev Bennett, Globe Correspondent

Powerful disease prevention may be as close as your supermarket shelf. Whole grains such as whole wheat, oats, brown rice, and barley reduce the risk of conditions ranging from heart disease to diabetes. People who consume at least three servings of whole-grain foods a day may lessen their chances of developing metabolic syndrome, which is characterized by high blood pressure, low HDL (good) cholesterol, high blood fats, and poor blood sugar control.

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A pot of soup that is a way of life

In Portugal, the hearty caldo verde is both daily meal and long-standing tradition

By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

Caldo verde is the perfect hearty and aromatic bowl for a wintry evening. ''In Portugal, we ate soup every day," says the Portuguese-born Silva, who remembers many bowls from her childhood. Soup was inexpensive and a good way to ensure that everyone ate vegetables. Each region in Portugal makes a kale soup, explains Silva, and every young woman is taught by her mother how to slice rolled kale into chiffonade, which are fine shreds, with a sharp knife.

Recipe:

* Caldo verde

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Without Reservation: Do the forbidden

"Forbidden rice" has an exotic, titillating name -- and a prized flavor. Food lore says that this ancient grain, often considered an aphrodisiac, was once eaten by Chinese emperors. The rice is a black, medium-size grain, and it's on the menu at Pho Republique in the South End. It's served with grilled teriyaki king salmon and banana fritters ($22). 

World Table: Curry in a Hurry

Thai food doesn't have to mean takeout. Although fiery, creamy Thai curries can be labor- and ingredient-intensive when made from scratch, a little jar of Thai Kitchen curry paste ($3.49) turns what might have been time-consuming into something instant.

Good to Go: It's fulfilling

This year's ream of resolutions is a lot like last year's. The top three are the same: Lose 20 pounds, be more productive, be nicer to people. It's daunting. Trying to banish snacks, the snooze button, and snippiness is like rolling a ball uphill. We're going to start with a raspberry smoothie ($4) from Dorchester's Common Ground Cafe. Wholesome meals in a glass, these smoothies are made with milk and honey, bananas, and frozen berries.

Without Reservation: S'more for you

Gooey toasted marshmallows. Stacks of Hershey's chocolate bars. Crisp graham crackers. Campfire s'mores have delighted generations. For those without a fireplace or at the very least a gas range, toasting those marshmallows until they're golden brown can be impossible. The sandwich chain Cosi (pronounced "cozy") now offers a do-it-yourself s'mores treat -- right at your table ($6.79 serves two). 

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Good oatmeal is fast but not instant

By Susan Reilly, Globe Correspondent

Getting a good bowl of oatmeal does not mean that you have to be tethered to the stove, with one eye on the pot and the other on the clock. This healthful morning cereal -- while offered in a plethora of artificially flavored instant versions -- is really only best when made from old-fashioned oats or steel-cut oats. But there are ways to stir a pot of hot porridge and still get the family out the door in the morning.

Recipe:

* Old-fashioned oatmeal

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Advance preparation makes brunch easy

Cold, raw Sundays are a perfect time to gather friends at your table for a hearty buffet-style brunch. Time-tested dishes, which you can make the night before, are the easiest way to entertain.

Recipes:

* Sausage fromage

* Praline French toast

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Krispy Kreme leaves a hole in her heart

By David Mehegan, Globe Staff

My friend Miss Julie is down in the dumps about what's happened to Krispy Kreme. ''I think it's too bad," she says with a frown, ''but probably predictable."

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Boston Globe – January 12, 2005

The sensitive guy's grape

Inspired by 'Sideways,' wine drinkers are finding a soft spot for pinot noir

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

I had my first taste of pinot noir many years ago at an Oregon winery, and it has been a favorite of mine ever since.

“Sideways,” the independent film about two friends' escapades while wine tasting along California's Central Coast, jumped from a niche film to a hit over the last few months. As the film's popularity rose by word of mouth, interest in wine, and especially in pinot noir, is also gaining momentum.

Pinot picks

We asked four wine experts what pinot noir they like to share with friends. Here are their choices.

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Food bloggers chronicle their delicious obsessions

By Ethan Gilsdorf, Globe Correspondent

Weblogs, or blogs, are akin to online journals. But they also include links to favorite sites and resources, a way for readers to comment, and an archive for discussions and disagreements (careful what you post). Armed with digital cameras, keyboards, and easy-to-use software, gourmands can now create online shrines to beloved or dreaded aspects of the culinary realm: a memorable visit to a Parisian patisserie, a cool must-buy fondue pot, or a warning to skip an overpriced bistro. There are blogs for beer or pizza and blogs based around themes like ''18th Century Cuisine" or a single city, such as Saigon. Some are written by chefs and other food professionals.

Pick a peck of food blogs

From the hundreds of food blogs out there, we've chosen a selection of some of the best. Once you visit one, you'll find columns of links to dozens of others. Soon you'll be traveling from one food crossroads to another. Remember to leave a trail of bread crumbs.

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Old diner car gets a new lease on lunch

By Denise Dube, Globe Correspondent

As a child John Harmon dreamed of owning a small business. Last year the 40-year-old CPA finally stopped 15 years of counting beans and started offering them at an old diner most recently called Viv's, and before that Uncle Lester's and The Little Red Diner. The classic car was destined for condemnation by the local board of health until Harmon saved it in March of 2003.

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Counter Point: China flair

China Fair, the funky, no-frills dishware, cookware, and gadget Goliath has everything -- for fantastic prices. If it isn't there, you don't need it. Stacks of white, blue and white, and even gold-leaf-rimmed dishes (starting at $1.99) are on open wood-frame shelving.

Juice season

It can be hard enough to get kids to eat fruit at the peak of the season, much less in cold weather, when only citrus and bananas are available. Trader Joe's frozen mango chunks ($1.99 for a 24-ounce bag) might help the situation. Combine half the bag with 4 ounces of juice in a food processor and you have an instant, creamy, refreshing snack -- or breakfast -- for four.

Good to Go: It could change your life

For us, brown rice and tofu used to be a punch line. But we're determined to make the combination a way of life. We're convinced that, together, the hearty rice and pressed soy curds will shrink our waistline and generally improve our lives. At ChoCho's, a Korean (with Japanese, Thai, and other Asian dishes) place in the Porter Exchange Mall, it was exciting to find Kimchi Soon Tofu ($7.95), a fiery stew filled with pickled Napa cabbage and creamy soft tofu.

The un-Martha

Their warmth is relatively sincere, their dishes relatively low maintenance. They embrace the use of frozen peas and don't seem inclined to lie about stock sales. They are the un-Martha. The staff of ''Everyday Food" -- the new spin-off show of the cooking magazine of the same name, itself a spin-off of Stewart's omniuniverse -- is merely interested, as its members say time and again, in guiding you to prepare food that's ''quick, easy, and delicious": sesame noodles, chicken enchiladas, sauteed snap peas with radishes.

Winter warmer

Nowadays, the stewed fruit my grandmother served in a footed glass dessert bowl with heavy cream is just as welcome as it was when I was a girl.

Recipe:

* Warm winter fruit compote

Fruit center makes for cake pearfection

Most of the fruits in the market don't look great this time of year, but pears can still be fragrant and juicy. Anjou, Bartlett, and Bosc may be the most recognized varieties, and Comice pears have been gaining popularity. Round and chubby, Comice have a firm fiber and succulent taste that work well in baking.

Recipe:

* Pear cake with brown sugar frosting

Baked polenta creates a stir

Italian cooking wasn't on fashionable restaurant menus when Julie's mother stirred a big pot of creamy polenta and offered it to the family with a hearty beef stew. She learned the dish from her Eastern European mother-in-law -- polenta was common on many tables outside Italy because it was so inexpensive to make.

Recipe:

* Baked polenta with tomato sauce

Around Town: Now is the season for citrus fruits

Winter may be the lean time for fresh vegetables and berries, but it's actually prime season for citrus fruits. The Harvest in Harvard Square, Cambridge, will take advantage of this in a citrus dinner on Jan. 19.

World Table: Perfect as a meal, or an appetizer

The Vietnamese dish bo nuong la lot (beef rolls in pepper leaves, above), which is made with ground beef and lemon grass, is shaped into cylinders, wrapped in greens, threaded on skewers, and grilled. Though these beef rolls are served as one of the courses of the special, multi-course meal called bo bay mon (beef seven ways), and offered in restaurants throughout Vietnam, they make a meal in themselves or are perfect as appetizers.

Recipe:

* Beef wrapped in pepper leaves

Edited January 15, 2005 by TPO (log)

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Boston Globe – January 19, 2005

Just like mom used to make

For some cooks, family recipes are for serving, not sharing

By Leigh Belanger, Globe Correspondent

Before Kaki Trimble loaned out her book of family recipes, she removed two: Bourbon balls, chocolate-covered candies that her mother makes every Christmas, and a family friend's 22-step mint julep recipe, which Trimble always serves at her annual Kentucky Derby party. Those stay in the family.

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WAKING UP to white tea's pleasures

Subtle, soothing brew may have powerful health benefits, too

By Clea Simon, Globe Correspondent

Though this has been common knowledge in Asia for centuries, Westerners are finally catching on. The beverage is in enough demand here that the Republic of Tea offers unbleached round bags filled with ''Emperor's White Tea." The canister reads: ''Rare white tea buds from China's Fujian Province." Tea shops around town are also serving it more and more as it gains popularity.

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Loaves and wishes

Fans of Iggy's Bread of the World may be dismayed to learn that the bakery's Arlington Street store in Watertown has closed. Fear not, bread lovers. Iggy's isn't gone, it's just relocated the storefront to its Cambridge factory.

Cyber steaks

Determined to bring the steakhouse experience to your door, Grill 23 & Bar has started selling prime beef online. Chef Jay Murray buys beef for the restaurant and its new Online Butchery from two family-owned ranches in Arizona and California, where cattle are raised without antibiotics or hormones. 

Salad days

The frizzy lettuce called frisee in French is wispy and slightly bitter, the perfect base for a Dijon vinaigrette, crisp bacon lardons, and a poached egg -- at least that's the way you get it in cafes all over France.

Good to Go: A slice worth speaking up for

At Veggie Planet, you have to speak into a microphone when you place your order. It makes sense, kind of, since the vegetarian pizzeria does share space with a music venue (Club Passim). 

World Table: When is stir-fry a pancake?

There are pancakes, and then there are pancakes. A Japanese version is called okonomiyaki and is unsweetened, filled with shredded cabbage, bits of briny seafood, slivers of meat, and pickled red ginger. When cooked, okonomiyaki -- literally "as you like it-fry"-- is served with a tangy glaze

Recipe:

* Okonomiyaki

Joy of Baking: American as apple pie, with an old English twist

Why a once-popular dish recedes into the annals of forgotten cookery, unable to make the leap into the next century, is a mystery. Marlborough pie is one example, an old English treat made with ingredients that are readily available and bought daily for other confections. Once a colonial dessert that made good use of apples, eggs, and cream, it's believed to be a forerunner of pumpkin pie, with its custard base.

Recipe:

* Marlborough pie

Glass Notes: 2002 really was a great year

One measure of a great vintage is to see how less prestigious wines turn out. By that yardstick 2002 is a fabulous vintage in Burgundy.

Recipes:

* Moroccan spicy lentils

* Chess pie

* Brisket and onions

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Boston Globe – February 2, 2005

The wired generations

Frothy coffees and sweet energy drinks make caffeine a drug for all ages

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

We are a coffee culture, a phenomenon that stretches from generations who remember the Great Depression, when coffee was a nickel, to today's middle schoolers, who converge after school for frothy caramel-laced lattes.

We love coffee for its sociability -- and the caffeine jolt, of course. 

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Things are looking rosy

By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

Smell a blood orange and, even through its rind, floral tones mixed with citrus and berry aromas penetrate your senses. The skin's slight scarlet blush announces that the fruit is nothing like its plain cousins. The taste is unmistakably citrus, but the brilliant garnet flesh has pleasing sweet-tart raspberry tones.

Recipes:

* Moroccan blood orange and date salad

* Chicken thighs with blood orange sauce

* Blood orange vinaigrette

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Without Reservations: Land of polenta

Picture a very large plank -- 6 feet long and 3 feet wide --set on a table and covered with creamy yellow polenta and red sauce. Around the edges of the table are country-style side dishes such as rabbit, veal stew, pork belly, sausages, cabbage, and broccoli rabe. This isn't Abruzzi in central Italy, but rather Amelia's Trattoria in Cambridge. 

Around Town: A Brazilian twist

Let's face it: Chicken salad is usually ho-hum. An old standby on nearly every diner or deli menu, the salad at its plainest consists of diced white meat, chopped celery, and mayo. Fancier venues include walnuts, curry -- even grapes. At A. Russo & Sons in Watertown, you'll find Brazilian chicken salad ($5.98 per pound) with a flair and a distinctly international flavor, made with nearly a dozen ingredients.

Say it with candy

Until now, M&M's haven't had much to say. Their sweet, crunchy shells were printed with the minimalist letter "m," and we were happy. Now, however, we have ways of making them talk. The candy's manufacturer has rolled out MY M&M's ($9.49 for an 8 ounce bag; minimum order four bags), which come in an array of colors and can be printed with the message of your choice.

Good to Go: Eat your veggies

We're more than two weeks into attempting to follow the USDA's new dietary guidelines, and our body is still adjusting to the levels of fiber we're feeding it. Our friends say the same thing. Still, they don't complain when we drag them on vegetable-seeking odysseys, like a recent one to Roslindale Village.

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Wings of desire

By Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven, Globe Staff

If you're hosting a Super Bowl crowd, you know already that the occasion calls for quantity cooking. Anxiety breeds hunger. We think there are other requirements for watching the game: Something substantial and nourishing should be ladled into bowls (chili is the obvious choice) and the evening should boast a typically New England ingredient. To that end, you could put out a large wedge of aged cheddar or some locally-made chips, offer tiny lobster rolls, oysters on the half shell, and clam chowder. But you need a menu that isn't as fancy, that gives your assembled fans what they're really looking for: tons of wings. And the local ingredient? Glaze them with maple syrup.

Recipes:

* Beef and bean chili

* Maple-glazed chicken wings

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How to eat like an Eagles fan

By Rick Haggerty, Globe Correspondent

To get a true sense of what Philadelphians might be enjoying as they hope for their 22-year championship drought to end on Super Bowl Sunday, check out these dishes, which are as distinctly Philly as any Donovan McNabb jersey-wearing "Iggles" fan.

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Boston Globe – February 9, 2005

Capturing the soul of Sichuan

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Zheng Hu's slender fingers pull a few tiny, fuchsia seeds from a DHL bag marked with Chinese characters. These peppercorns have just arrived from Sichuan, the region in China famed for its spicy food. ''This one is not bitter," she explains. ''The flavor is just what it should be."

Recipe:

* Chinese pot stickers

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Joy of Baking: Confections of a happy baker

For Valentine's Day, Greg Case's sweets are all hearts

By Lisë Stern, Globe Correspondent

At the Bakery Case, goodies are displayed on an antique oak sideboard with the drawers pulled out to accommodate loaves of lemon-apricot and pecan-cinnamon tea breads. A chocolate-glazed orange bundt cake stands under a glass dome, and glass jars display stacks of oversized cookies, including chocolate and espresso, peanut butter, and oatmeal-raisin.

Recipe:

* High Hat chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese filling

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SHORT ORDERS

Frisky business

If your taste in Valentine's Day messages is a little racier than ''Be Mine," the South End's Flour Bakery + Cafe has a cookie ($1.50) for you. It began in 2001, when pastry chefs who were tired of piping ''You're So Sweet" and ''I Love You" over and over on the heart-shaped sugar cookies blurted out something risque instead, and Flour owner Joanne Chang went for it. 

Good to Go: Apple of your eye

Between the Big Dig construction and the shop's steam-fogged windows, you might not see Maria's Pastry Shop, a North End bakery and confectioner. You'd miss, then, chocolate-dipped biscotti, sheet-pan pizza, rows of buttery cookies, and marzipan candies ($1.25 each), which Maria Merola and her sister, Enza, make by hand.

Without Reservation: Perfect pancakes

Scallion pancakes -- a simple blend of hot water, dough, and fresh scallions, pan-fried to a delectable crunchiness -- are sold by street vendors throughout Shanghai in China. You need travel no farther than Shanghai Restaurant & Bar, on the edge of Chinatown, for a scrumptious version of this much adored dish ($4.25). 

Counter Point: In a pinch

Those of us who didn't grow up making dumplings as part of a Chinese New Year feast might need a little help shaping the tasty treats, which symbolize wealth and prosperity for the Year of the Rooster, which starts today. Williams-Sonoma has a nonstick dumpling mold ($3) to crimp wonton dough into the traditional half-moon shapes. 

Luscious chocolate mousse is no yolk

Chocolate mousse is a throwback French dessert, a sweet that uses egg yolks, beaten whites, and whipped cream to turn dark chocolate into something both very rich and very light. 

Recipe:

* Dark chocolate mousse with shaved chocolate

When serving olives, mix it up

From ''The Jimtown Store Cookbook" (HarperCollins), which is filled with good ideas, come these marinated olives. Use a variety of olives or just one kind. It takes several days for the flavors to mellow, and then the olives are good for about 2 weeks. 

Recipe:

* Marinated olives

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Savoy cabbage saves the day

At a time of year when it can be a struggle to find fresh vegetables, a head of Savoy cabbage, with its mild, sweet flavor, is welcome. Cabbage is said to be one of the earliest known vegetables, and it has fed the poor for centuries. Yet despite being rich in vitamin C and fiber, the vegetable is mostly known for emitting an off odor while cooking.

Recipe:

* Savory Savoy cabbage pie

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Partygoers get mashed

By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

Nina Mayer's favorite meal is meatloaf. So when Mayer, a district manager for Coach, and her husband Stephen, an oncologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, wanted to celebrate the renovation of their Newton home in January with 30 friends, there was no debate over the choice of entree. The accompaniment, they decided, would be mashed potatoes. The caterers came up with the presentation: a mashed potato bar.

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Boston Globe – February 16, 2005

Seize the moment for Maine shrimp

By Jonathan Levitt, Globe Correspondent

In December, fisherman Dick Bridges hauls his lobster traps out of the water and rigs the Sea Queen 2, his 40-foot lobster boat, for shrimping. Until the end of March, Bridges will prowl the icy waters of Penobscot Bay in search of northern shrimp. Also called Maine shrimp or sweet shrimp, these tiny shellfish are prized by chefs.

Recipes:

* Boiled shrimp in their shells

* Spanish sauteed shrimp with garlic

* Shrimp ceviche

* Recipe #1: Simple Shrimp Scampi

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First Draft: This brewer's sounds and suds are sweet

By Ann Cortissoz, Globe Staff

Skiers and snowboarders who speed past this quirky southern Vermont town on the way to the moguls of Mount Snow don't know what they're missing. To those who love a good pint of beer, however, Brattleboro is a year-round mecca, and the object of their devotion is McNeill's Brewery.

Cooler heads prevail

You can buy 22-ounce bottles of any of McNeill's beers to take home from the brewery -- except the Bucksnort Barleywine -- though supplies vary. Grab what you want from the Snapple cooler and pay at the bar as you leave.

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SHORT ORDERS

World Table: Stocked markets

The small but well-stocked Agora in Brighton lives up to its name (the word means "market" in Greek). Shelves are bursting with honeys, jams, and delicacies, including the vegetarian stuffed grape leaves by Palirria ($2.99 for 10 ounces). An extensive olive bar lines one wall, where the popular Kalamata shares space with the lesser known Alphonso and many others ($3.99 to $4.99 a pound).

Counter Point: Saucy server

You've made an impressive stir-fry of vegetables or you've brought home sushi -- and you decide to serve it with soy sauce. You can't bring the whole bottle to the table, and heaven forbid if you just present the impossible-to-open packets. Here's the antidote to all that

Reservation: Meatball mania

The meatball song that kids love to sing indicates that a sneeze was the catalyst for driving the meatball from the table to the ground outside, where it later blossomed into a meatball tree. Even if someone were to sneeze, the giant meatballs ($3.95 for two) at Anchovies bar and restaurant in the South End will not be rolling off the table, on the floor, or out the door.

Good to Go: Better than OK

In New England, people don't think about okra, or if they do, they picture something unpleasant. It's different in the South, where cooks know what to do with the vegetable: They fry it. Or they stuff it, or they add it to gumbo at just the right time. In Turkey, "you get okra at the bazaar, fresh every week, and you see it in every home," says Erkan Barin, manager of the Brookline Family Restaurant, a Turkish establishment in Brookline Village. 

Healthy Plate: In short supply, almonds are a treat to eat

Bakers and nut lovers may have to find a new nut to nibble. Because of the recent weather-related problems in California, all almonds are in slim supply. The situation is even worse for raw almonds. These are the nuts generally used in biscotti, almond croissants, and other confections, and eaten by consumers who prefer their nuts plain.

It's fun discovering cauliflower's bright side

Unlike Brussels sprouts, which seem to require butter, or broccoli, which shines brightest when stir-fried with oil, cauliflower likes to be alone. Salt and pepper, sure, but this is not a demanding vegetable.

Recipe:

* Spinach-cauliflower soup

We Cook: Very thin pita pizzas

This is the sort of hors d'oeuvre you can make with a couple of pita rounds, some cherry or plum tomatoes, and a little cheese -- of any sort. All you need is a hot oven.

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Boston Globe – February 9, 2005

Pastry school is in

Chef Delphin Gomes is now teaching in Cambridge

By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

In the world of culinary training, comprehensive pastry courses are hard to find, and great teachers -- accomplished chefs who are not only exacting but generous with their knowledge -- are also unusual. So when Gomes moved Delphin's Gourmandise School of Pastry from Marblehead to its new home at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts last month, he was opening up possibilities for many would-be bakers.

Recipe:

* Lemon madeleines

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Making lunch better is elementary in Bedford

Cafeteria menu plan wins national attention

By Emily Schwab, Globe Correspondent

As any parent will tell you, what kids want to eat and what is good for them are not always the same. Beth Dushman is one parent who understands. "What kid isn't going to choose junk?" she asks. "You'd wonder about them." Luckily for Dushman, her son Sam is a first-grader at the Davis Elementary School here, where junk food is just not an option. Not only that, genuinely healthy choices are the rule, from whole-wheat bread products to low-sugar yogurts.

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SHORT ORDERS

Good to Go: Full of beans

After our almost three years of sharing a freezer with vegetarians, meat substitutes have become a pet peeve. Their flabby uniformity, their freezer hogging, their brightly colored boxes, their silly names -- it's too much to bear, even for soy lovers like us. 

Go nuts for a good cause

Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you feel like ingesting large quantities of them, and on those days, a KIND Fruit + Nut bar ($1.99) is just the ticket. The Fruit & Nut Delight bar is packed, packed, with peanuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, and walnuts, along with dried fruit, pear juice, honey, and puffed rice. 

Without Reservation: Gelato with a jolt

True ice cream lovers are not hindered by snow or freezing temperatures. Winter calls for an affogato, an Italian dessert of gelato drowned (the literal meaning of "affogare") in warm espresso. The perfect finale to any meal, this light duo quenches two post-dinner cravings in one pop: caffeine and sugar.

Eating with Friends: Sweet, tart, and perfectly prepared

Like colorful bangles studded with red stones, this fruit salad -- layered segments of pink grapefruit and oranges plus chunks of yellow pineapple -- is punctuated with bright red dried cranberries.

Recipe:

* Layered citrus salad

We Cook: Enchiladas are Oscar favorites

A long night in front of the television requires good food, of course, but also something you can eat on your lap without fuss. For the Oscars on Sunday, we nominate a Tex-Mex dish a colleague brought to a party recently.

Recipe:

* Cheese enchiladas

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College students get recipes for success

Chef teaches real-world skills

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

The eight seniors are taking part in Mount Holyoke's ''Passport to Reality" series, which is offered to graduating seniors during January term between semesters. Those who participate receive friendly coaching on life skills critical to a smooth entry into the ''real" world: How to fix your car, manage finances, dress for a job interview -- and cook. Sadowski, who has written three cookbooks and manages Mount Holyoke's main dining hall, teaches the hour-long cooking segment.

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Boston Globe – March 2, 2005

You found a new place? It must be Italian

For local diners and restaurateurs, everything's coming up risotto and arancini

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

We are swimming in a sea of Italian. Eat out every night for a week at a new or fairly new restaurant and you could order all risotto all the time. More than a dozen trattoria-style places have opened or are planned, from the South End to Southborough.

Recipes:

* Pasta with herb pesto

* Restaurant risotto

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Shabbat connects past to present

By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

Jewish families who weren't finishing work or activities early enough on Friday nights to sit down for a traditional Sabbath meal are now coming up with their own solutions to celebrate.

Recipe:

* Chicken Marbella

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SHORT ORDERS

Counter Point: Baby, it's cold inside

There'll be no more dashing from couch to freezer to top up thatbowl of ice cream. Now there is a better way to keep your favorite flavor cold. A sand-cast, aluminum chiller from Lunares of San Francisco comes with its own scoop, hanging conveniently from the side.

Good to Go: Supersize me

We never knew meatballs could be so funny until one night, while perusing the menu at Wing's Kitchen in Chinatown, we saw a plate of them arrive at a table across the dining room. 

Spill the beans, make the soup

The Women's Bean Project makes easy work of offering a steaming bowl of soup on a chilly day. The 15-year-old nonprofit organization, which is based in Denver and helps women in need become self-sufficient, offers dried bean soup mixes in 13-ounce packages ($6) signed by the assembler.

Vine included

After you taste sun-dried raisins on the vine, you may never pick up raisins in a little red box again. Grown in the Mojave Desert, in Cadiz, Calif., these naturally dried flame seedless grapes could not be more appealing.

Around Town: Event benefits tsunami victims

South Asian-inspired food, dance, and music will help raise money for children affected by last December's tsunami at a benefit tomorrow night at the State Room downtown. The event, called uniCHEF, will include more than 25 chefs.

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Flavorful chutneys add to the taste of India

By Elizabeth Bomze, Globe Correspondent

At Harvard Square's Tanjore restaurant crocks of tamarind, onion, and mint chutneys brighten appetizers such as the cumin-spiced potato and vegetable patties called aloo tikki.

Recipe:

* Eggplant chutney

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Eating with Friends: The simple route to roast chicken

By Tony Rosenfeld, Globe Correspondent

But if you're looking for a great roast chicken instead of an ordinary one, this simple dish can be a little more complicated than it appears. A great bird has very crisp skin and moist, succulent flesh with lots of flavor. The goal is to overcome any obstacles to this end without upsetting the dish's simplicity. That, after all, is the thing that makes the chicken so endearing in the first place.

Recipes:

* Roast chicken pieces with rosemary stuffing

* Mushroom and sun-dried tomato sauce

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Recipe:

* Cod in saffron broth with chorizo

[TPO]

Boston Globe – March 9, 2005

A vibrant balance

Nina Simonds infuses healthy disheswith energizing spices and intense flavors

By Jonathan Levitt, Globe Correspondent

Simonds is most comfortable with a blazing hot wok or a bamboo steamer full of dim sum. But she also appreciates her microwave, regularly orders pizza, and considers prepared chicken noodle soup from Whole Foods a household staple. In her refrigerator, bottled ketchup and store-bought flour tortillas share the shelves with dried shrimp, tamarind paste, and daikon pickles.

Recipes:

* Pan-roasted salmon with minty snap peas

* Vietnamese hot and sour scallop soup

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The poetry of eating at Prose

A meal at this Arlington storefront is no ordinary dining experience

By Erica Noonan, Globe Staff

And because this is no ordinary restaurant, different rules apply. Diners should behave as if they were at a dinner party. At someone's house, you wouldn't demand a side order of rice when your hostess is serving kuri squash. And you wouldn't rush out to catch a movie down the street before the chocolate sour cream cake came to the table. And don't wonder out loud why the food is taking so long. Have another glass of wine and a bite of sourdough bread. The food comes when it comes.

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SHORT ORDER:

Good to Go: Boiling point

The French have their pot-au-feu, the Italians their bollito misto. The Irish version, with which many of us are familiar, sounds slightly less lyrical: boiled dinner. The boil of corned beef, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes typifies Irish food's thrifty ways, and like its counterparts, is humble, tasty, and satisfying.

Counter Point: Too cool for school

In old-fashioned school cafeterias, trays might have been loaded with steaming mounds of spaghetti, orange quarters, and cartons of chocolate milk. The mint-colored plates of yore have long since been traded for styrofoam versions, but they represent a time when there were fewer choices, lunch companions were quick to laugh, and recess was just a bell's ring away.

Cake for all

These days, there's no easy birthday dessert for your child to share with friends at school. Many schools are no-nut zones, and many kids have dairy or egg allergies. But Cherrybrook Kitchen, a new local cake-mix company, has a solution. Its four cake and cookie mixes ($3.99 to $5.29) are kosher and vegan, and mixes such as the chocolate cake can be turned into cupcakes as well.

Without Reservation: Some like it hot and sour

Many diners believe you can judge a Chinese restaurant by its hot and sour soup. At Zoe's Gourmet Chinese Cuisine, the favorite cure-all bowl ($2) is a delicious indication of the freshly made dishes that will follow.

Seafood sampler

The following restaurants and seafood providers are participating in the Ocean's 11 event next Monday. Contact the individual restaurant for reservations.

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Good taste, good worksat Danish Pastry House

By Emily Schwab, Globe Correspondent

Sometimes a Danish is just a Danish. But sometimes a Danish can be more than just soft, buttery dough and sweet custard cream. At the Danish Pastry House in Watertown, not only have the owners hired and imported two Danish pastry chefs for the kitchen, they are giving back to the local community as well.

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Ocean's 11 event focuses on conservation, cuisine

By Emily Schwab, Globe Correspondent

At the event, dubbed Ocean's 11, restaurants ranging from Grill 23 & Bar in Boston to Lumiere in West Newton will use such varieties such as Australian barramundi, Peruvian mahi mahi, and California red abalone to create dishes to be featured that night at the restaurants. Ocean's 11 is being organized by the Seafood Choices Alliance, the Chefs' Collaborative, and the New England Aquarium.

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Special Irish dishes for St. Patrick's Day

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

St. Patrick's Day has so many devotees that the celebrations are hard to hold to one day. This year, the Irish festivities begin almost a week early.

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It's not a souffle -- it's an obsession

By Jennifer Wolcott, Globe Correspondent

One diner ordered the porcini souffle -- an eggy mixture made with the prized Italian mushrooms -- as an appetizer, and again for the main course. Another customer called to request six takeout servings of the souffle for her husband's 50th birthday, and even though Il Capriccio restaurant doesn't offer takeout, they succumbed to the pleading on the phone line. Some people drive out from Boston several times a month just for a taste of the earthy dish.

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Dried porcini pack plenty of flavor

By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

Dried porcini are different but no less fascinating than the fresh version, writes Italian cooking authority Marcella Hazan in her book ''Marcella's Italian Kitchen." The popular dried mushroom, a favorite among Italian cooks, is perfect for seasoning the kinds of warming foods we might be craving about now, such as risottos, pasta dishes, soups, and sauces.

Recipes:

* Fettuccine with mushroom ragout

* Porcini paste

* Porcini souffle

Edited March 13, 2005 by TPO (log)

[TPO]

Boston Globe – March 16, 2005

Michael Conlon's full plate

With 5 restaurants to juggle, he's a man on the move

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Michael Conlon swings through the door, greets his partner working in the kitchen, grabs a soft drink and a cup of coffee, and sits down to talk. The Paramount is one of the five restaurants he owns with various partners, and, like the others, this Charles Street institution has changed since he bought it, in 1995. ''The old Paramount was known as a greasy spoon," Conlon says of the restaurant, which originally opened in 1937 and was in need of renovation. But the place had history, and he and partners Michael Bissanti and Joe Greene thought that with a makeover and better food the Paramount could have promise.

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Can you get a good bagel in this town?

By Tom Warhol, Globe Correspondent

Yet, if you want a good bagel in this town, -- a traditional, chewy bagel with a hard crust, not a roll with a hole posing as a bagel -- pickings are slim. It takes a little effort to unearth the true gems.

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SHORT ORDERS

Without Reservation: Modern Irish

St. Patrick's Day conjures images of slabs of pink corned beef, cabbage, and boiled potatoes -- what many might think of as ''Irish food." Wrong. This is traditional American Irish food. Contemporary Irish cuisine is far more sophisticated.

Counter Point: All bottled up for St. Patrick's

Even if you're not Irish, you're in luck this St. Patrick's Day, because Smithwick's ale is finally available in the United States. Smithwick's (the W is silent), beloved by visitors to the Emerald Isle, is a smooth, clean, creamy reddish-brown ale brewed at the St. Francis Abbey in Kilkenny. 

A taste of Italy in Jamaica Plain

Charles Fiore calls his authentic Italian pastries "comfort food." In the warmth of his bright orange and yellow storefront in Jamaica Plain that is filled with ricotta pie, rum cake, buttery cookies, cannoli, and "lobster tails" -- light confections made with four kinds of sweet cheese -- you can see why.

World Table: From one pot, a bounty of Japanese flavors

In the family of Japanese one-pot wonders -- sukiyaki among them -- the standout dinner is yosenabe, a mixture of seafood, chicken, tofu, glass noodles, and vegetables.

Recipe:

* Yosenabe

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Joy of Baking: Oranges make winter sweet

By Lisa Yockelson, Globe Correspondent

A burst of cold-weather citrus, bright and sparkling, adds an extra dimension to cakes and cookies. Lemon is usually the flavor luminary, its tang complementing a confection's sweetness. But oranges are another staple of winter, and they too make a perfect flavoring for baked goods.

Recipe:

* Sour cream orange cake

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Penzeys has a nose for selling spices

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

Penzeys Spices built its business on the willingness of mail-order customers to take a risk on something that many would understandably want to sniff in advance. But as it has grown from a one-man operation into a 210-employee business, the Wisconsin company has been launching one or two brick-and-mortar stores every year since the first one opened in 1994 in Milwaukee.

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Boston Globe – March 23, 2005

A taste to celebrate

Delicious and versatile, lamb is often reserved for festive spring suppers. But why eat something so good only once a year?

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

If they do eat lamb, the season is probably spring, when lamb's connection to Easter and Passover intersects with agricultural cycles and an urge to celebrate new life. Not surprisingly, the industry thinks lamb is ripe for a comeback and deserves more than an annual place at the holiday table. The American Lamb Board has spent more than $5 million on a marketing campaign that started in 2002 to promote domestic lamb, while marketing divisions of the American Sheep Industry Association have teamed up with counterparts in Australia and New Zealand, which dominate global production. 

Comparing lamb

We gathered 10 people for a tasting of three semi-boneless legs of lamb from Australia, the United States, and New Zealand, all available in Bostonarea stores.

Recipes:

* Lamb on pita with mint chutney and cucumber raita

* Pureed pea soup

* Roast leg of lamb with baby potatoes and pan juices

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Baked to perfection

At Somerville's La Contessa, the prized ricotta pies have a longstanding following

By Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent

Amid these confections are the bakery's prized ricotta pies, their light brown crust embracing a sweet filling, which dominate one of the glass-fronted display cases. Felix Sabatino and Annette Serrao, the lively brother-and-sister team who own La Contessa, are getting ready for Easter. Between 500 and 600 pies will emerge from the bakery's ovens.

Recipe:

* Pizza dolce di ricotta

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Keeping currant

There's a new fruit juice in town, and it, too, boasts a combination of addictive flavor and high levels of antioxidants. Now that a ban in the United States has been lifted, Connecticut's Maple Lane Farms is growing black currants, which had been imported from Europe, where the little fruit shows up in juices, jams, liqueurs, and tea.

Without Reservation: Top banana

As pastry chef of the Metro-olitan Club, the new Chestnut Hill restaurant, Retus fashions many appealing confections , including individual banana cream pies in which brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and pecans meld with a heavy custard lightened with banana puree. 

Relish is still hot

It's not hip, or new, or even all that nice to look at, but sometimes a dollop of relish really hits the spot. And the kind made by Howard Foods, based in Danvers, has stood the test of time. John F. Howard started the company in the barn behind his Bradford home in the 1890s, and he peddled his condiments from a wheelbarrow. More than a century later, the basic recipes haven't changed.

This pizza is no Greek myth

A friend of ours believes that healthy plants in a pizza place are a sign of good pie. It might not be an infallible theory, but in the case of Despina's Place, a 40-year-old Back Bay restaurant, he's right.

Joy of Baking: Biscuits to brighten the morning mood

By Lisa Yockelson, Globe Correspondent

This biscuity scone, an upgraded brioche, is a quick delight, leavened with baking powder, laden with raisins, tinged with cinnamon and nutmeg, and topped with either cinnamon-sugar or an easy glaze.

Recipe:

* Cinnamon-raisin biscuits

Heading Out: Gala salutes Julia Child, supports scholarship

The tributes to Julia Child, who died last August, keep on coming. The Vermont chapter of the American Institute of Wine and Food plans a gala April 2 to honor the late French Chef at The Equinox in Manchester Village. 

Glass Notes: There's good value in Rhone's robust reds

France's Rhone Valley remains a popular place to find robust red wines for dishes such as roast leg of lamb. The region's famous Chateauneuf du Pape towers above its peers in name recognition, but other villages, such as Vacqueyras, Gigondas, and Lirac have equal stature in the official appellation controllee classification. Because they lack the renown of the celebrated wine, these bottles can be great values.

Edited March 24, 2005 by TPO (log)

[TPO]

Boston Globe – March 30, 2005

Ding dong, the craze is dead

At the height of the fad, 9.1of Americans were on a low-carb diet.Today the number is 4.4. If you're one of the millions embracing good things again, have we got some recipes for you.

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

When low-carb mania peaked in February 2004, about 27 million Americans (or 9.1 percent) were following Atkins, South Beach, or another regimen that shuns potatoes, pasta, bread, and rice, according to the NPD Group, a market-research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y. Then the number started slipping throughout the year, plummeting to 2.4 percent by December, understandable during a holiday season not known for dietary discipline, and has edged up to 4.4 percent, still only half what it was a year ago.

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Recipes:

* Spaghetti alla carbonara

* Panmario (Italian rosemary bread)

* Gratin Dauphinois

* Paella with mussels and shrimp

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The adaptable, capable caper

By Kara Newman, Globe Correspondent

Tiny, briny, olive-green capers can carry the load in flavoring dishes with other strong tastes such as mustard, onions, butter, even spicy peppers. The tiny buds add a warm, mildly acidic, and slightly salty presence in bistro-style dishes served on evenings that are still chilly enough for hearty fare.

Recipes:

* Tuna with spicy pepper sauceand capers

* Roasted red peppers with raisins and capers

* Caper mayonnaise

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SHORT ORDERS:

The hole story

If you like to read books that give you an intense craving for sweet, fattening, artery-clogging snacks, by all means, pick up a copy of ''The Donut Book" ($14.95). Author Sally Levitt Steinberg has doughnuts in her blood -- her grandfather invented the doughnut-making machine in 1920 -- and she sinks her sweet tooth firmly into the topic for nearly 200 pages.

Good to Go: The custard cure

Around the same time we realized we couldn't afford to fly to Rio for a week this winter, a friend who moved here from Brazil brought us a box of pastries. They came from her favorite place, Bread and Company in Everett, which offers quindim ($2), a sweet, eggy custard that trembles on a coconut crust.

Counterpoint: Shine on

You don't need to keep a bar to love Bar Keepers Friend. There are stains aplenty in the modern kitchen to keep you reaching for this powdered cleanser ($2.95), which dates to 1882. The special acid has an industrial smell that takes some getting used to, but it's easy on sewage systems and hard on stains.

Iranian influence

When Iran-born Moe Khalaj bought the shop seven months ago, he kept the name, renovated the store, and added goods from his homeland. They include melt-in-your-mouth organic dates the size of half dollars, tiny organic figs, vegetable pickles, honey, tea, pomegranate juice, jam, pistachios, and all kinds of nuts, lentils, dried beans, and five basmati rice varieties.

Craigie Street's Maws honored

Tony Maws, chef and owner of Craigie Street Bistrot near Harvard Square, has been named one of the best new chefs of 2005 by Food & Wine magazine.

Chefs cook up diabetes awareness

A galaxy of chefs will create Asian dishes for ''A Spoonful of Ginger" benefit on April 5, spotlighting the Asian American Diabetes Initiative of the Joslin Diabetes Center.

It's in the bag

Grilled cheese becomes a fuss-free dish when it's made in a toaster. Thanks to Toastabags -- sandwich-size nonstick bags that fit into an ordinary toaster -- you can make your favorite grilled-cheese treat without special equipment, or even a skillet.

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What's for lunch? French food

By Emily Schwab, Globe Correspondent

Using a short-term grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Healthy Choices initiative and donations from local companies (Iggy's Bread of the World in Cambridge donates their breads), Idell is introducing the food of Provence to middle school students. The ingredients that characterize this cuisine of southern France exemplify the Mediterranean diet and are already familiar to most students, many of whom learn French in the classroom as well.

Recipe:

* White bean soup with tomatoes and pistou

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Vending machine is a healthy choice

By Leigh Belanger, Globe Correspondent

The Perkins students are participating in a taste test sponsored by Stonyfield Farms, the New Hampshire-based yogurt company. The products are being tested for the school's new vending machine, which will come compliments of Stonyfield's Healthy Vending Machines program, initiated by the company in 2003 as a response to the increase in obesity among school-age children.

[TPO]

Boston Globe – April 6, 2005

The best seats in the house

Restaurant patrons bring their favorite seats to the table

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

The right table for the right occasion is an obsession with some diners who are very particular and very knowledgeable, especially in places they frequent. ''If I've ever been in a restaurant before," says Timothy B. Kirwan, managing director of the Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Square, who's familiar with many in Boston, ''I usually request a certain table." 

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A little bit of Spain at your table

Bite-size tapas can make dinner feel like a meal in Madrid

By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

Tapas were first introduced here in the 1980s, but the Spanish word is now used to describe almost any appetizer offered in small portions in a bar or cafe. Authentic tapas are as cultural as they are culinary. They incorporate a style of eating and a way of life that represents the best regional cuisine Spain has to offer -- in bite-size pieces. It's a style that seems to fit nicely into our own culture, where getting to taste lots of morsels on small plates, instead of tucking into a large serving of food, has become more and more appealing.

Recipes:

* Chorizo a la sidra (Chorizo braised in sparkling cider)

* Tortilla Espanola (Spanish potato omelet)

* Espinaca a la Catalana (Sauteed spinach with pine nuts and golden raisins)

For more information:

* In search of ingredients

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Short Orders for the Home Opener

Extra sprinkles, hold the relish

Hot dogs, along with peanuts and Cracker Jack, are the quintessential ballpark food. Steaming hot dogs, of course, on a soft, squishy, bun. And you choose the toppings. Well, now ballgame dogs can be cold, too. Straight from the freezer, in fact. 

Fish taco fit for a world champ

We've been wondering: where would Johnny Damon eat? We'd like to make a case for El Pelon, a tiny taqueria on Peterborough Street that serves the best food in the Fenway vicinity. They make a mean fish taco ($5), and if Damon sat at one of the outdoor tables, he could keep an eye on the park.

A taste of victory

Better start planning your lineups for the seventh-inning snack. The newest offering from Coca-Cola will quench your thirst and serve as a visual reminder of the recent World Championship victory. Meet the limited-edition commemorative Red Sox Coke, in an old-fashioned glass bottle (six 8-ounce bottles for $3.99). 

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World Table: Chefs are musseling in on the magic of curries

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

Real curry comes in as many variations as there are cooks from Southeast Asia. The blended layers of spice, sweet, and sour in a homemade curry powder remain a revelation, nothing to do with the dusty yellow mix on the spice rack. Curried mussels, relatively unknown in the West, but a favorite in the coastal regions of the South China Sea, are another revelation. Two New England restaurants are using the magic of curry to transform Prince Edward Island mussels into a crowd pleaser: a briny treat embraced by a tropical idea.

Recipes:

* Curried mussels in tamarind broth

* Thai curried mussels

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Family Supper:

* Enchilada pie with sausage and eggs

[TPO]

Boston Globe – April 13, 2005

Enter a sushi chef, exit an entrepreneur

With help from the professional kitchen at Nuestra Culinary Ventures, cooks turn dreams into businesses

By Betsy Block, Globe Correspondent

Modeled after a similar program in Colorado, NCV offers a fully stocked, nonprofit commercial kitchen, along with business and legal advice, to area residents who want to cater or produce specialty foods (though the program is available to anyone with a recipe and a dream). Kitchen rental fees start at $22 an hour for Boston residents in off-peak hours and go to $35 an hour for non-Boston residents who want to cook during peak times. There's also dry storage, and fridge and freezer storage is available on both a temporary and longer-term basis.

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The fight over foie gras intensifies

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Lately, the fight has been heating up, with proposed legislation that would ban foie gras production and sales in several states, including Massachusetts. There have been public spats between chefs and protests outside restaurants, including picketers marching last month in front of Beacon Hill's No. 9 Park and Clio in the Eliot Hotel. Protesters argue that the feeding methods used to fatten ducks in order to make their livers richer are inhumane.

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A new year's feast from Tamil Nadu

By Sena Desai Gopal, Globe Correspondent

Cuisines evolve for many reasons, including geography. In India, the topography in the north made it open to invasions, while the southern peninsula remained more protected by water. The cooking reflects these differences, with the northern style incorporating many foreign influences and the south remaining truer to its roots.

Recipe:

* Rasam (Lentil soup with pepper and cumin seed)

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SHORT ORDERS

Counter Point: Buying a toaster to make toast? Don't be silly; it's a status symbol

By Bev Bennett, Globe Correspondent

That begs the question: What can a ''professional" toaster do that an ordinary one cannot? Some do have snob appeal, but others are functional and can cook your dinner. In fact, companies prefer to call the new toaster a ''countertop oven."

An attractive offer

Whether practical or prestigious, the new countertop ovens and toasters are available now or in the near future.

We Cook: A roasting chicken is a simple pleasure

When guests are expected, we think about making all kinds of fancy meals, and one by one, we eliminate them in favor of a plump roast chicken, a dish it's hard to tire of. Certainly whole birds are available year round, but like everything else in the kitchen, roast chicken seems to have a season. You need an evening with a slight chill in the air, so the windows are still closed, and the house fills with the unmistakable smell of roasting poultry.

Recipe:

* Chicken roasted on caramelized onions

Family Supper: Deviled eggs

You'd be surprised how many famous American chefs were raised around very simple food prepared by mothers, grandmothers, and aunts. ''In Mother's Kitchen: Celebrated Women Chefs Share Beloved Family Recipes" by Ann Cooper and Lisa Holmes (Rizzoli), the authors tell lots of stories about women in the food world and capture some of these basic meals. 

Headline

Headline

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Haddock is a prized catch

By Rachel Ellner, Globe Correspondent

Haddock prices are going down as the supply goes up. Hank Soule, general manager of the Portland Fish Exchange, says, ''We think that in terms of freshness, steady availability, and especially price, haddock will be one of the best seafood values for consumers over the next five years."

Recipe:

* Seared haddock with caramelized parsnips, bacon, and Brussels sprouts

[TPO]

Boston Globe – April 20, 2005

Midnight in the vineyard of good and evil

The documentary 'Mondovino' portrays a stark divide in the world of winemaking

By Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent

It's curious that for all its vaunted mystique, wine has so far proven a feeble source of inspiration for literary and cinematic imaginations. What distinguishes ''Mondovino," Jonathan Nossiter's documentary film, which opened here last week, from anything that has gone before (including the mischievous ''Sideways") is its wholehearted devotion to the subject. For once, wine and the people who earn their living from it are truly front and center, not just scenery. It's doubly disappointing then that so little -- apart from the scenery -- is particularly appealing here.

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No disguising Reichl's impact with memoirs

Former New York Times restaurant critic tells all in 'Garlic and Sapphires'

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

''Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise" (the Penguin Press), out this month, is the tale of her time as the most important restaurant critic in the country. Besides the dish about newspaper co-workers and restaurateurs, the book at its core is Reichl's account of her attempt to dine anonymously at restaurants on the lookout for her. 

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Chefs bring their expertise to Harvard

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

Harvard Business School students got a lesson in empire building last week, when three nationally known New York-based restaurateurs talked about the philosophy, commitment, and money it takes to turn a chef into a ''brand."

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SHORT ORDERS

Lunch fit for a farmer

At City Feed and Supply, a corner grocery in Jamaica Plain, the Farmer's Lunch sandwich ($5.49) is served on a bacci roll, which is about as big as a boccie ball and tough to wrap your maw around. 

The taste of Provence

Soupe au pistou, which originated in Provence, in the southern part of France, is a traditional bowl. But like some of the cooking in the region, the soup is a little bit of both France and Italy.

Recipe:

* Soupe au pistou

They're on a roll

The Bombay Club recently introduced India's most popular fast food, kathi rolls, and they are selling almost as fast as franks at Fenway. The kathi roll is essentially a hot wrap rolled with chicken tikka ($7.50) or the Indian cheese called paneer ($7), along with sauteed onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and spices.

Hellman's, but healthier

Good old Hellmann's is what mayonnaise purists use when they don't make their own -- in other words, what everyone uses all the time. Now the best-selling mayo in the United States (sold as Best Foods west of the Rockies) comes in a healthier form: the first nationally distributed mayonnaise made with canola oil. 

Good for wood

A butcher-block countertop is a hardworking thing of beauty: You can chop right on the surface without reaching for a cutting board and the wood won’t dull your knife. But the counter requires maintenance, specifically regular oiling, to keep the wood lustrous and to prevent cracking. Enter Bee’s Oil, a product by Massachusetts company TreeSpirit, which turns this chore into a meditative pleasure.

Turn ritual into adventure

The Passover holiday, which requires baking without flour, provides little incentive to improve upon tired recipes when you only make them once a year. But some bakers are always on the lookout for a fudgier brownie, a chewier almond macaroon, a fancier cake, or a flourless chocolate confection.

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Matzo and chocolate,a sweet Seder treat

''Passover desserts tend to lack the sparkle and excitement of the rest-of-the-year desserts because of the dietary restrictions imposed by the Passover holiday," says Brookline resident Ellen Helman, the ''Uncommon Gourmet," author of three cookbooks.

Recipes:

* Triple chocolate explosion cake

* Coconut cocoa cake

* Chocolate-covered matzo

* Passover brownies

* Almond macaroons

[TPO]

Boston Globe – April 27, 2005

Sweet spring parsnips are rooted in tradition

By Nancy English, Globe Correspondent

Many hardy vegetables turn toothsome after a hit of frost in the fall, but few besides parsnips can weather a winter in the ground and come out after the thaw at their prime. From the Pioneer Valley to the latest harvest from the Crown of Maine Organic Coop near the Canadian border, the tapered white roots are being harvested as the fields thaw.

Recipe:

* Parsnip soup

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Contest finalists and judges discover the value of pie

By Lisë Stern, Globe Correspondent

Boston cream pie is a tradition as common here as cod, clam chowder, and baked beans. So on a bright sunny Sunday recently, five bakers from three New England states brought their old-fashioned confections to the Boston Park Plaza to be judged at the second annual Great American Bake Sale, cosponsored by the hotel and Share Our Strength, which raises funds for hunger relief.

Dessert's history in no longer a history

Recipe:

* Maria Arsenault's Boston cream pie

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Three users find Web-based pyramid anything but simple

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

The pyramid, updated for the first time in 13 years, reflects such modern nutritional principles as the benefit of whole grains and low-fat dairy products, a variety of fruits and vegetables, and lean meat and fish.

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For RDs, expertise results from a steady diet of work and study

By Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent

An RD can take the mystery out of instructions for a diabetic, make it easy for a heart patient to follow doctors' orders, and teach people to adjust to new situations, including allergies, menopause, and pregnancies. In some instances, a registered dietitian is the next stop after the doctor's office.

An alphabet soup of nutrition

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SHORT ORDERS

Good to Go: Dim sum brightens midday

As the fascination with small plate dining churns on, let's not forget about dim sum, the Chinese meal -- often eaten midday -- that features a head-spinning variety of diminutive choices. At Dim Sum Chef in Allston's Super 88 food court, the tender steamed spinach and shrimp dumplings ($2.75) were filled with a fresh, fragrant stuffing.

Without Reservation: Lobster roll reversal

Not that we don't love a traditional New England lobster roll, with its perfectly toasted bun and just the right balance of mayonnaise, celery, and lobster. But sometimes it's nice when someone thinks outside the bun, as it were. Tempo restaurant, a new American bistro on Waltham's restaurant row, does just that with its Asian-style lobster roll.

Legal stays No. 1 in Zagat's Boston survey

Bostonians think poor service is the most irritating part of restaurant dining. They'd like more places that serve Mexican food. And they're paying more for eating out than before. All of this comes from the ''Zagat Survey 2005/06 Boston Restaurants." The annual guide was published today.

If you go...

Wisconsin Dells is 55 miles north of Madison, Wis. The lowest round-trip air fare between Madison and Boston at press time was $276 on Continental Airlines.

Recipe:

* Chocolate cake

[TPO]

Boston Globe – May 12, 2005

Not just for ladies who lunch

MoMA has elevated the museum restaurant. Can Boston do the same?

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Mobbed since its opening in February, the Modern is helping make the Museum of Modern Art the place to see and be seen. Instead of the usual desultory cafeteria space or the ladies-who-lunch ambience of most museum restaurants, the Modern, open daily, has its own entrance, a lively bar scene, a big-name Alsatian chef, and, behind it, Danny Meyer -- arguably the most successful restaurateur in the United States.

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Going crazy for Bernard's crustaceans

David Marks has a soft spot for a seasonal crab delicacy

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

Marks has many favorites: chicken soong with lettuce leaf; shrimp with roasted black beans, garlic, and shallots; and crispy fish with Hunan sauce. But he has a soft spot for the fried crab.

Recipe:

* Soft-shell crab sandwiches

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Almonds and pine nuts give cookies crunch

By Lisa Yockelson, Globe Correspondent

The coupling of nuts and creamy butter is a natural one, as the essential oils in nuts are highlighted, developed, and intensified by sweet, premium butter. In a cookie dough, this pairing is accentuated, and you need little more than golden egg yolks, aromatic extracts (two, in fact, for a nice juxtaposition of taste), flour, and sugar to build a delectable sweet. Fresh from the oven, their tops sparkly with a soft coating of sugar, these cakey tea cookies adorned with almonds and pine nuts should be in every baker's recipe archive.

Recipe:

* Almond and pine nut cookies

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SHORT ORDERS

Indian spices meet Chinese techniques

At the popular Ashland restaurant Chennai Woodlands, which specializes in South Indian dishes, manager Parthi Ramanujam says that there is a lot of demand for Indian-Chinese food. Indian-Chinese cuisine emerged as a result of the migration of Chinese to the Indian subcontinent many decades ago.

Recipe:

* Hakka noodle stir-fry

Another cheesy love song

Most crushes are painful and unrequited. But the fact that we're sweet on a cafe and not a person makes it easier to divulge. The moment we stepped out of a misty rain into Rachel's Kitchen, we were smitten.

They don't even scratch the surface

We use tongs for so many kitchen chores -- turning steak or chicken, serving pasta, even what you might call toss-frying. Until recently, though, we could only use them with our heavy-duty pans, not with the cheaper nonstick ones, which forced us to revert to a plastic spatula or wooden spoon. Then OXO came to the rescue with a version of its comfortable, easy-locking tongs that features nylon heads.

It's like room service for your home

Sometimes even the most energetic urbanites like to stay in and veg, but they still need sustenance. That's where a kind of universal room service to tend to your needs would come in handy. On a somewhat smaller scale than universal, Night Owl Deliveries, formed by three Northeastern grads, has partnered with a convenience mart, Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream, and about a dozen Boston restaurants, including Symphony Sushi, Spice King, Cappy's Pizza & Subs, and Lollicup Tea Zone (for your midnight fix of tapioca pearls). 

There's proof of spring in this bread pudding

Bob Sargent of Arlington's Flora grabs asparagus, a seasonal favorite, and whatever else is available at the market to pair with a savory bread pudding. ''I always have at least one vegetarian entree on the menu," says the chef and owner. ''And this is enough of a dish to satisfy as a meal."

Recipe:

* Asparagus and fontina bread pudding

[TPO]

Boston Globe – May 18, 2005

Everymom preps for her dream

After weight loss, she vies for Food Network stardom

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

If this is the juggling act of Everymom, then Locketti, 32, seems to have it down: cooking healthy meals, trying to get her family to eat them, and staying in shape, all while managing a career. But for Locketti, the stakes are higher. As one of the finalists on the Food Network's upcoming reality show, Locketti also wants to prove that her philosophy of healthy cooking with decadent touches can translate into such entertaining television that her name becomes synonymous with the show's title: ''The Next Food Network Star."

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Reservations are just a few mouse clicks away

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Can the modern problem-solver -- the Internet -- help? With the click of a mouse, we can shop for a flirty skirt, buy groceries, schedule our social lives. Now we can arrange to eat dinner at 154 establishments in the region. OpenTable.com, the largest online reservations service, says that more than 10 million diners made reservations through its operation since 1998. The San Francisco-based company sells both hardware and software to restaurants.

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SHORT ORDERS

A hot reason to skip chips

Peppadews might be the next potato chips. Pickled and packed into jars, they look like tiny candy apples, and the first sensation on the tongue is sweet. Then suddenly the palate registers a quick kick of chili heat. By the time the sweet-hot sensation reaches the brain, your hand is reaching for the next one.

A sweet force

Kellogg's wants fans to have their ''Star Wars" and eat it too. ''Stars Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" opens tomorrow, and the cereal giant is marketing four movie tie-ins: ''Star Wars" Cereal, ''Star Wars" Pop-Tarts, ''Star Wars" Fruit Snacks, and, from its Keebler Foods subsidiary, ''Star Wars" Fudge Shoppe Cookies. 

This pub's birthday is a hoppy occasion

Hoppy, refreshing India pale ale is America's favorite beer style, says Watch City Brewing Company's head brewer, Aaron Mateychuk. So when he was thinking about what to brew to mark the pub's ninth birthday, he decided to pull out all the hops and give his patrons a birthday present: four deliciously different IPAs.

Diners offer some tasty tips

Across the country, diners are eating out more often, spending more, and drinking more than last year, according to an OpenTable.com survey of more than 3,000 customers (about 400 diners in each of eight cities). 

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Good in many dishes, rhubarb shines as dessert

By Jennifer Wolcott, Globe Correspondent

Cooks like Goar welcome these rose-colored stalks with gusto. No longer just America's ''pie plant," as it was named in this country during the 1820s, rhubarb is enjoyed in both sweet and savory dishes.

Recipes:

* Strawberry-rhubarb cobbler with candied-ginger topping

* Rhubarb compote

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PEM kitchen offers some Chinese food for thought

By Emily Schwab, Globe Correspondent

When the Yin Yu Tang house was occupied by a family, chickens and ducks would have roamed in front and vegetables would have been grown in a plot outside of town. Fish would be swimming in ponds in the interior courtyard, hams would be hanging in the sun to dry, and the women in the household would have walked to the nearest stream to clean food for all the meals.

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Young hosts are a key ingredient for Food Network's success

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

''Our hosts are young, our subject matter is oftentimes young, and then there's our music and the way we package shows," said Kathleen Finch, senior vice president for prime-time programming. The network would not release detailed demographic information, but it says it beats any other ad-supported network in annual subscriber growth. As of April it was available in 87 million subscriber households, up by almost 3 million from a year ago. Viewers of its daytime ''In the Kitchen" block are largely women, Finch said, but its prime-time ratings are more evenly divided between the genders.

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Get past the attitude and 'About Time' has much to offer

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

But candor has suffused the cookbook shelf and is here to stay. Michael Schlow, the chef and co-owner of Radius, Via Matta, and Great Bay, is no exception. His debut cookbook, ''It's About Time," treads heavily on the line between refreshing and ingratiating prose. The dosage of autobiography is high. Fortunately, when it comes to food, Schlow's instincts are surefooted, his compositions thoughtful. Most of his maneuvers adapt freely to ordinary kitchens, even if the recipes could have used some professional editing.

Recipe:

* Chicken breast with spicy zucchini and snap peas

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Recipe:

* Shrimp and avocado saladwith lime dressing

[TPO]

Boston Globe – May 25, 2005

Muscle-Beach Food

A day at the shore calls for a cooler full of rejuvenating fare.

By Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven

A day at the beach can be so exhausting. To overcome the enervation, the cooler needs to be packed with food that is exhilarating enough to rejuvenate the troops. 

Recipes:

* SHRIMP SEVICHE WITH CAPERS AND TARRAGON

* CHICKEN SALAD WITH RED GRAPES AND GRANNY SMITH APPLE

* CUBAN SANDWICH

* GREAT GARBANZO SANDWICH

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SHORT ORDERS

Dog days

Although you might have friends who've been grilling wienies on the front stoop since early April, Memorial Day weekend is the first big hot dog weekend of the year -- grill or no grill. At Beantown Dogs, the wieners are snappy, all-beef Pearl dogs, steamed, tucked into a buttery, grilled bun, and filled with all manner of toppings. 

A truly meaty tome

If you get bratwurst confused with bockwurst, spare ribs with short ribs, and flank steak with skirt steak, you could use the ''Field Guide to Meat" (Quirk Books, $15). Author Aliza Green details hundreds of cuts of beef, veal, pork, lamb, game, poultry, cured meats, and sausages, all in an easy-to-carry format that echoes an Audubon nature guide.

Have a ball with this grill

Now that you've celebrated opening day and settled into a new season of baseball drama, why not work on your inner ''sausage guy"? This baseball-theme charcoal grill ($49.95) travels well to tailgate parties and rooftop gatherings. The steel structure weighs less than 10 pounds and has a lid that locks for easy transport and storage. 

Spring is in the air

The folks at Formaggio Kitchen roll out their big Weber kettle grill every spring and set up shop in front of the popular cheese and gourmet food emporium.

This pub's birthday is a hoppy occasion

Hoppy, refreshing India pale ale is America's favorite beer style, says Watch City Brewing Company's head brewer, Aaron Mateychuk. So when he was thinking about what to brew to mark the pub's ninth birthday, he decided to pull out all the hops and give his patrons a birthday present: four deliciously different IPAs.

[TPO]

Boston Globe – June 1, 2005

First sushi, then the world

Raw fish and olive oil? Eel layered with Caribbean flavors? Absolutely, say a new wave of Japanese restaurateurs who are taking their traditional cuisine global.

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Toru Oga is working at warp speed. He piles greens on top of a pool of miso sauce on a curved, segmented plate, then picks up a long knife to cut gleaming cubes of tuna to place atop the greens. Instructing his cooks in Japanese, the chef and owner of Oga's Japanese Cuisine here reaches for a shot glass of pale green okra soup and places it in the other side of the plate. Bits of dark tuna marinated in soy peek from the bottom of the glass. Oga carefully garnishes the soup with salmon roe and sea urchin, then sprinkles the tuna cubes with pine nuts and thread-thin strings of red pepper.

Know your uni from your unagi

Try something new

Chefs are pushing the envelope on Japanese cuisine. Here are some places to sample new-wave creations.

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These classic sandwiches are a custom with American diners

By Leigh Belanger, Globe Correspondent

We poked around some of Boston's delis, restaurants, pubs, and sandwich shops in search of this American fare. There is such a thing as a bad Reuben, we discovered, and now we know what makes a successful club (crisp and simple). We identified a PB&J trend on menus across town, found melty Monte Cristos, and renewed our ardor for Cubanos. We heard about mushroom Reubens and clubs made with smoked salmon and brie. We encountered an entire cookbook devoted to variations on the BLT. We finally realized that every sandwich, even those with assigned ingredients, is open for customization.

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SHORT ORDERS

Grilling Season: This tender squid wins over skeptics

Tsardounis marinates the squid in olive oil, lemon rind, garlic, and parsley. Then he grills it quickly so it remains tender. Finally, he tosses it with just-wilted baby arugula, to offer mild pepperiness, and salty chopped green olives. On the plate, the Mediterranean-style salad sits in a ring of hummus, which adds creaminess.

Recipe:

* Grilled squid with arugula, olives, and hummus

Company’s Coming: Gnocchi are potato perfection

Gnocchi are easy to make. They just have to be watched carefully as they cook so you make ethereal dumplings rather than leaden lumps. Good gnocchi (pronounced nyok-kee) can be shaped from flour or semolina, but made with potatoes they're as rich and sensual as mashed spuds.

Recipe:

* Potato gnocchi with peas and parsley

Two great tastes

Oil and water may not mix, but citrus and oil make an exciting pairing, especially with California's delectable Meyer lemons. 

Not your mother's Pyrex

After 90 years in business, Pyrex is going upscale. Its new Simple Elegance line comes in two patterns -- one with kicky dots, the other in rippling waves -- that turn the versatile glass dishes into surprisingly stylish serving pieces. 

Ramp it up

From Nova Scotia through the mountain ridges of Appalachia, ramps have long been plucked and enjoyed as a spring tonic. With their pungent scent and sweet, spicy flavor, these wild plants are a sure way to clear the cobwebs of winter. Lately, the scallion look-alikes have been popping up in produce markets and on seasonal menus.

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The good times are on a roll with this New Orleans classic

By Julia Bonar, Globe Correspondent

Whatever you call it -- grinder, hoagie, or sub -- it's the perfect warm weather meal: cheese, vegetables, meat, and bread in a cool, hand-held package. The muffuletta is New Orleans's take on the grinder and one of the most satisfying of America's regional sandwiches. Besides deli meats, it's made with marinated artichokes, a fresh roasted pepper, and a salty paste, like a pesto, of basil and olives.

Recipe:

* Muffuletta

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A culinary misfit's 'Notebook'

By Jonathan Levitt, Globe Correspondent

Alice Berlow couldn't care less about fad diets or fads of any sort, vanilla-scented foam, or mastering a brunoise. The voice behind National Public Radio's ''A Cook's Notebook," Berlow is a culinary misfit, a self-taught home cook living in her own world of cravings and simple pleasures. The food that she eats and writes about is soulful and comforting: roasted marrow on toast, grilled quahogs, deep-fried smelts washed down with dark beer.

Recipes:

* Caesar salad

* Meatloaf

Edited June 6, 2005 by TPO (log)

[TPO]

Boston Globe – June 8, 2005

You call this cooking?

For the time-pressed and hungry, pre-prepared ingredients mean dinner's in the bag

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

Gone are the days when Bryant, 28, would have poked through supermarket produce, found what looked freshest, and carried it all back to her Back Bay apartment to start washing and cutting. That was before she discovered that Trader Joe's had done it for her, with a container of pre-washed, pre-cut vegetables dubbed Asian Stir-Fry Mix. Add bottled teriyaki sauce and you practically have a meal.

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Consumers have red tide jitters

By Alison Arnett and Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

In restaurants and seafood markets across the area, customers worried about red tide are asking more questions. So far, demand for seafood hasn't dropped. State officials say that all seafood currently on the market is safe to consume, since beds are closed as soon as samples show that red-tide concentrations are at or near toxic levels.

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Kick off summer with a little sparkle

By Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent

But before you pop the cork on that $30 bottle of nonvintage Champagne during this season of weddings and graduations -- or just for some cool back-porch sipping -- give some thought to the alternatives. After all, the world of sparkling wine extends well beyond the stately chateaux of France's Rheims and Epernay.

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Good recipes are easy to find,but their ingredients aren't

By Meg Colton, Globe Correspondent

Meg Colton, an eighth-grade student at Hingham Middle School, reviews The International Cookbook for Kids by Matthew Locricchio and Marshall Cavendish.

Recipe:

* Country-style pork

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SHORT ORDERS

Take them for a spin

The new spinner from Zyliss makes cleaning greens so easy and -- dare we say it? -- fun that you may actually find yourself making more salads than ever.

SOS benefits from a seven-course meal

A culinary traveling show hits Cambridge on June 16 when UpStairs on the Square holds a gala dinner as part of a seven-city Share Our Strength (SOS) campaign to combat hunger.

A better cracker

Hydrogenated oil is the lifeblood of a tasty cracker, so finding one that tastes good without it is a rare thing indeed. Not only are there none of those much-maligned trans fats in these new Late July sandwich crackers ($3.79 for a 6-ounce box; $5.49 for a tray of 1.5-ounce packages), they are also organic, and filled with thin layers of organic peanut butter or organic cheddar cheese.

Cod with a crunch

Arbor, the Mediterranean restaurant in Jamaica Plain, offers a parsley-crusted native cod ($22) that's fresh, flavorful, and just right for this time of year. The boneless fish is coated with parsley and the Japanese bread crumbs called panko, then pan roasted until crisp for a satisfying texture and crunchiness.

Sparkling wishes

You don't need a degree in fizzics to figure it all out, but you may need a bit of help sorting through what's on the shelves. The best guide to these pop stars is likely the staff at your local wine shop.

Recipe:

* Salmon with morels and peas

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Look closely is the morel of the story

By Nancy English, Globe Correspondent

Finding mushrooms in the woods requires training, since the fungi lie tucked into the messy ground. But stare long enough and you'll be amazed. Morels, cone-shaped and full of little fissures like ocean coral, wavy as a naked brain, just might pop up in the suburban garden mulch with their promise of a fine dinner.

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Heirloom treasures are a find at farmers' markets

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

The sequence never changes, but the selection does. This year should see a tidal wave of new and unusual produce at local farmers' markets. Diversity is the hot new trend: Armenian cucumbers, pea tendrils, purple potatoes, squash blossoms, amaranth, and water spinach are in the lineup.

From farm to city and town

More than 90 farmers’ markets are operating statewide this summer. Most begin this month or early in July and stay open through October. Below are the markets closest to Boston; the complete list is at www.state.ma.us/dfa/massgrown/farmers_markets.htm.

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Flash-frozen pastries are baked fresh in the morning

By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

At Carberry's commissary here, a new flash-frozen method has been implemented, so that croissants and other baked goods can be mixed and shaped, then frozen briefly until the confections are cold and solid.

Frozen breads are more than just a half-baked idea

While Carberry's is flash-freezing their confections when they are shaped but not yet baked, many companies partially bake their creations before freezing and distributing them to vendors, a process known as par-baking. This can have mixed results, depending on the originating bakery.

Edited June 11, 2005 by TPO (log)