DIGEST: Boston Globe Food Section

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Boston Globe – December 21, 2005

Color outside the box

Kitchen equipment is perking up

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

This year's prize gift for the kitchen is a colander, one of those utilitarian objects punched with holes used to drain pasta. Before you scratch your head -- isn't pasta so yesterday? -- you should know that the colanders, in enameled metal, come in apple green, azure, lemon, tangerine, pumpkin, chocolate, and more. Much more.

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More than one fish egg in the sea

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

When Anya Zelfond was growing up in Moscow, caviar was no big whoop. ''I'm embarrassed to say this, but every week we had it," she says. ''We just got the tins, and they hung out in the refrigerator."

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With pastries, they pass along Italian tradition

By Emily Schwab, Globe Correspondent

Three generations of the large Italian-American Scavotto family gather at Diane and Jeff Kehoe's house every year to make cannoli. All day, everything is bigger, louder, and more energetic than usual.

Recipe:

* Cannoli with ricotta filling

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Her latkes are infused with flavors of India

By Sena Desai Gopal, Globe Correspondent

Tara Tennebaum owns Azalea Catering in Jamaica Plain, where she also teaches Indian cooking. She makes seven kinds of vegetarian latkes -- one with smoked eggplant and another with spinach and chickpeas -- that combine an age-old Jewish dish with East Indian ingredients.

Recipe:

* Eggplant latkes

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In the Market: Polenta

What it is, how to use it, and where to buy it.

Recipe:

* Soft polenta

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A melt-in-your-mouth holiday treat

These tender, buttery balls are gently laced with pecans and tinged with vanilla. The small cushions of dough, which bake into mellow and dainty mouthfuls, add a starlike quality to the holiday cookie plate.

Recipe:

* Pecan butter balls

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He nurtures his staff, and family, with food

Mermelstein runs a network of outpatient mental health centers in Newton, Lowell, and Chelmsford, with another scheduled to open in Fitchburg early next year. When he started Comprehensive Outpatient Services Inc. 18 years ago, there were 12 staff members; today there are 80. To keep up with the amount of food he needs to prepare, he starts cooking around Columbus Day, freezing items as he goes.

Recipe:

* Hanukkah cookies

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Boston Globe – December 28, 2005

Chowing down with the hound

Jim Leff, a founder of the food-obsessed website Chowhound, explores the culinary delights of Framingham and Worcester

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

Jim Leff lives to eat. Well, eat and play jazz trombone. OK, eat and play jazz trombone and proselytize about food. When he's not at a gig or scouting for the next best Cubano, Leff, 43, is writing about food or managing Chowhound (www.chowhound.com), the wildly popular website he and a partner founded. As its self-proclaimed Alpha Dog, Leff oversees a cult of some 800,000 hounds who every month post messages on everything from a pizza-by-the-slice joint to a hip new boite.

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Fizz the season with a celebratory bottle

By Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent

Whatever you decide, stocking a case or two of all-occasion sparklers is a great idea, and not just for the holidays. Those cheery bubbles have a way of perking things up, and that welcome percussive pop is everyone's signal that the party's begun.

Includes six recommendations

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A world of elegant nibbles make a New Year's party sparkle

Recipes:

* Mushroom tart

* Ecuadorean shrimp ceviche

* Triple chocolate peanut butter torte

* Smoky white bean spread on croutes

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SHORT ORDERS

Baked to order

On New Year's Day, exhausted -- dare we say hung over? -- hosts with guests who stayed the night could use a little help getting breakfast on the table. Thanks to the Robinhood Free Meetinghouse restaurant in Georgetown

Salt-roasted clams

Parsons sprinkles the raw clams in their half shells with oregano, garlic, lime juice, and olive oil. He covers them with a mixture of bread crumbs, Spanish air-dried chorizo, and sauteed onions. The mixture, he says, ''forms a nice, delicate crust." The clams are placed on a bed of kosher salt, then broiled.

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Confections for a sweet start to the new year

By Lise Stern

On any given day, Tim Fonseca might make 50 different sweet components for his desserts. Between two restaurants, special functions, and room service, the Four Seasons' executive pastry chef has his hands in a lot of butter and eggs.

Recipe:

* Gingerbread spice cake

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A talented young baker hopes to make a career in pastry arts

By Heidi Rose Lamirande, Globe Correspondent

For most 18-year-olds, the new year is a time to get ready to return to class and enjoy the independence of college life. But for Rebecca DeAngelis, school is not an option right now. The young baker, who is preparing for a career in pastry arts, has a lot of learning to do in the kitchen.

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Keep the bubbles in the bubbly

By Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent

Devices aimed at preserving bubbles in wine have taken a simple approach: Stop the opening with a closure that keeps the gas from escaping.

Includes pros and cons of four stoppers

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Boston Globe – January 4, 2006

Express grain

Fast ways to eat well when you want to cook healthy

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Whole grains grabbed the nutrition headlines in 2005. This year, the news isn't what contains whole grains, but how to get them in their simplest form onto the dinner table.

Recipes:

* Winter vegetable casserole

* Cauliflower dum

* Vegetable stir fry

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These dishes are an antidote to holiday indulgences

By Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent

In their place sit neatly labeled containers boasting bulgur, short- and long-grain brown rice, and quinoa. We're determined to get our pre-holiday waistlines back if it kills us, and whole grains seem to be the quick route.

Recipes:

* Spicy popcorn

* Pilaf-style quinoa

* Pilaf-style coarse bulgur

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Brown rice

What it is, how to use it, and where to find it.

Recipes:

* Brown rice the long way

* Pressure cooker brown rice

* Bulgur salad on hearts of romaine

* Jeweled brown rice salad

* Fried (brown) rice

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Lhasa Cafe brings Tibet to Western Mass.

By Jonathan Levitt, Globe Correspondent

Thondup Tsering and his wife, Dolma, opened the cafe, named for the capital of Tibet, a year and a half ago to provide a center for the three dozen Tibetan families in Western Massachusetts and to educate Westerners about Tibetan culture.

Recipe:

* Tibetan-style spring rolls

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Rich and savory, sauerbraten is worth the wait

By T. L. Lavelle, Globe Correspondent

Literally ''sour roast," sauerbraten is actually both sweet and sour. And though the preparation does take a week, this prized dish does not require the cook's attention the entire time. After all, you do very little while the meat marinates. Your work is to turn the beef twice a day.

Recipe:

* Sauerbrate

* Red cabbage

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Boston Globe – January 11, 2006

Cute on a bun

Bite-size burgers are adorable, and they're all the rage

Mini burgers, which measure about 3 inches wide, are one more piece of the nation's fascination with all things cute: the Mini Cooper, iPod nano, palm-size cameras, and miniscule women's handbags. On the table, says James Oliver Curry, the dining editor of TimeOut New York, ''It's part of the small plates craze." 

Includes a list of places in Boston to get a good mini burger.

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How they began

Mini burgers: what goes into them and where they're great.

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An American burger in Tokyo

By Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent

Pass the neighborhood shrine, pass the smell of charcoal-roasted fish, pass the sushi shop, pass a noodle spot. Then comes a surprise: The unmistakable aroma of grilled burgers and fries from a restaurant a few doors down.

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In a real pickle, and loving it

For the owners of two area businesses, everything's coming up cucumbers

By Jonathan Levitt, Globe Correspondent

Five years ago, Rosenberg began shopping at the Davis Square farmers' market in Somerville, close to where he was living at the time, and started putting up produce in his kitchen. After various jobs teaching, working with growers, and managing a retail bakery, the Brown graduate was searching for a meaningful livelihood. He never considered pickles -- either as a job or a means to social change.

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Rice pudding worthy of the gods

On the second day, this rice pudding is simmered as an offering to the gods. If the milk and the rice in the pot boil up over the pan, so, too, will lives overflow with abundance of food, wealth, and happiness. (The Tamil word ''pongal" means to overflow or to boil over.) Using rice flour, women of the household draw designs on the ground near the entrance of the house.

Recipe:

* Sweet pongal pudding

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Sweet and meaty, down to the bone

The chef prefers St. Louis-style ribs to baby backs. St. Louis-style ribs have longer, meatier bones, which are more flavorful and become meltingly tender after slow cooking; the smaller baby backs are more tender and cook faster.

Recipe:

* Maple-glazed pork ribs

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This gooey British pie is worth the wait

By Jane Dornbusch, Globe Correspondent

At the Hungry Monk, a restaurant in Jevington, 70 miles south of London, Nigel Mackenzie and Ian Dowding slapped some caramelized sweetened condensed milk, sliced bananas, and whipped cream into a pastry crust and created a dish that's as familiar and widespread in England as Mississippi mud pie is here.

Recipe:

* Banoffee pie

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In the Market: Grapefruit

What it is, how to use it, and where to buy it.

Recipe:

* Grapefruit and avocado salad

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Eating their words

Jessica's Biscuit catalog lists its current 10 best-selling volumes

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Boston Globe – January 18, 2006

And on Sundays, she cooks some more

In her new cookbook, Suzanne Goin lays out leisurely weekend meals

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

Ever since opening the restaurant in 1998, Goin and company have departed from the regular menu on Sundays, offering up an informal chef's-choice approach for a fixed price. The concept didn't catch on at first, but then became one of the busiest nights of the week. ''It went from, 'Why can't I have more choices?' to 'Oh, it's good to not have choices? Oh, OK,' " she says.

Recipes:

* Braised beef short ribs with Swiss chard

* Chocolate stout cake

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Recipes:

* Chicken on a bed of vegetables

* Blood orange, date, Parmesan, and almond salad

* Potato puree

* Guinness ice cream

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She'll teach your kids to cook

By Emily Schwab, Globe Correspondent

Dempster, 32, has been teaching cooking classes for kids ages 3 to 12 for two years. Though she's not professionally trained, Dempster has been cooking since she and her two siblings helped out in the family kitchen in Malden. Now she cooks at home with husband Brian and visiting nieces and nephews. When she takes her show on the road, she does home parties and classes at community recreation centers.

Recipe:

* Gingerbread kids

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In the Market: Chestnuts

What they are, how to use them, and where to buy them.

Recipe:

* Chestnut soup

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Joy of Baking: Sweet scents enhance a rich pound cake

By Lisa Yockelson, Globe Correspondent

The luscious scent of spices -- a medley of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves -- become an intriguing enhancement to a rich pound cake batter.

Recipe:

* Aroma-of-spices pound cake

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Two chefs give meatloaf new life

By Mara Zepeda, Globe Correspondent

To recover from his dark meatloaf memories, Simmons, convinced of the dish's unexplored potential, set out to create a palatable version. What resulted is his famed chipotle meatloaf, a spicy favorite that has been a staple of the Parish menu for the past 12 years.

Recipes:

* Turkey meatloaf

* Chipotle meatloaf

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Swedish anchovy dish is a smorgasbord must

By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

No proper smorgasbord would be complete without cured salmon gravlax, many kinds of herring, and other fresh, pickled, or smoked fish. ''Swedish people eat a lot of fish," says Ann-Kristin ''Anki" Cowen.

Recipe:

* Janssons frestelse (Jansson's temptation)

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Boston Globe – January 25, 2006

Just like Lao Lao used to make

Creating Chinese dumplings is all in the family

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Dumplings filled with pork and Chinese chives, with spinach and tofu, or with shrimp are a mainstay of Northern Chinese cooking. Around Chinese New Year, which begins Jan. 29, the little steamed bundles of dough are especially in demand for family celebrations. Wang's, where 1,500 dumplings are made daily, is a lively place this time of year.

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A noodle master gets in the swing

By Diana Kuan, Globe Correspondent

Almost all noodles served in Chinese restaurants in the United States are machine-made. That makes Noodle Alcove, which has kept the handmade tradition, something of an anomaly. Diane Ly, her husband, Joe Zhang, and his younger brother Ken emigrated here from the Fujian province in southeast China, where their family members owned restaurants specializing in hand-pulled wheat noodles. The couple opened Noodle Alcove in 2002 after they discovered that most noodles here are factory-made.

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Throw a dumpling party, let the guests do the work

By Kimberly W. Moy, Globe Correspondent

After guests have been offered something to drink, bring them into the kitchen and let them put the little packets together assembly-line style. Have the filling and wrapper ingredients lined up on the counter, the steaming pot ready, give some basic instructions, and watch the party unfold.

Recipes:

* Mushroom dumplings

* Chinese dumplings

Boston-area restaurants where the dumplings are made in-house:

* Oh my dumpling

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Joy of Baking: In a French classic, meringue sails on a sea of custard

By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

Offer ile flottante as a dessert to someone who is not in a French bistro and you might be met with a quizzical look. Mention floating island and you may strike a chord of recognition. This homey dessert -- meringue floating on a heavenly rich vanilla custard sauce, topped with caramel -- goes by several names.

Recipes:

* Floating island

* Floating island pudding

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About plonk

This is the first installment of a monthly column on $10-and-under wines we call ''plonk." The word plonk began as British slang for the cheapest drink served and is now widely used to mean simple, inexpensive bottles. ''Plonk of the month" is a sequel to Plonkapalooza, a wine feature that ran in Food in October in which 50 bottles were tasted.

Plonk of the Month: New wave Spanish reds

Includes five $10-and-under red wines from Spain.

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In the Market: Quail

What it is, how to cook it, and where to get it.

Recipe:

* Quail with cider

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Six simple rules for better, more satisfying wine drinking

By Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent

But when it's time to consider how you're going to do a better job of buying and enjoying wine in 2006, we suggest you give some thought to implementing some (or all) of our rules for drinking better and buying smarter.

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Menuspeak: Sunchokes

Jerusalem artichokes, it turns out, have nothing to do with Israel, which is why you're likely to see them more accurately described on menus these days as sunchokes. This tuber from a sunflower variety (its original name may have come from a misinterpretation of the Italian ''girasole," which means sunflower) has a mildly earthy flavor and the texture of jicama or water chestnut, leading chefs to use it raw in salads or to cook it like a potato.

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Boston Globe – February 1, 2006

Ready, click, eat!

Students study their meal delivery options

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

Nine Emerson College students put websites that offer local restaurant delivery to the test.

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Dried corn is a sweet discovery

By Jonathan Levitt, Globe Correspondent

For 105 years, Cope's golden yellow caramelized corn has been processed and dried in the same plant in Pennsylvania Dutch country. John Cope began the business in 1900 and was one of the first farmers in Lancaster County to dry corn. Cobs are harvested in the summer from a mixture of super sweet yellow varieties. In the middle of winter, when there's no fresh corn around, this sweet treat tastes like the real thing.

Recipe:

* Creamed dried sweet corn

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Sofrito gives food a rich Latin accent

By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

De Haro is making sofrito, the basis of many Spanish dishes she and husband Julio offer at their restaurant, Taberna de Haro. ''A sofrito is about getting extraordinary flavors from ordinary ingredients," she says, and it's ''a natural way to add sweetness, richness, and complexity." 

Recipes:

* Spanish sofrito

* Stuffed squid with caramelized onions

* Pollo al chilindron

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Mixing mushrooms makes a festive and flavorful dish

In this mushroom ragu, the caps are coarsely chopped and simmered with dried porcini, garlic, Marsala or red wine, and fresh thyme. At the end of cooking, a ladle of the mushroom mixture is pureed with Parmesan cheese, which is stirred back into the ragu to thicken it slightly and add a mellow element to the sauce.

Recipe:

* Mushroom ragu

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For sweet winner, toss dried fruit into the mix

Not just any bread. Rather, a lightly sweetened yeast bread accented with dried fruit.

Recipe:

* Fig, golden raisin, and date focaccia

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Exotic mushrooms

Where they are, how to use them, and where to buy them.

Recipe:

* Sauteed shiitake caps

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Boston Globe – February 8, 2006

Win a heart with chocolate

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, we put six mail-order cakes to the test -- and found a few that had us swooning

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

Suitors may feel compelled to stick with chocolate candies, but some dessert aficionados can't resist the idea of cake: layer cake, mousse cake, or fudgy chocolate tortes. And if they're ham-handed in the kitchen, they might be tempted to order out. Websites galore promise to send chocolate cakes to customers, with shipping options (sometimes pricey) that guarantee delivery by this Hallmark holiday.

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Charcuterie holds cure for run-of-the-mill meals

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

In a world of three-step recipes and take-out mania, a book on making sausages, pates, and prosciutto at home seems an unlikely hit. But ''Charcuterie, The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing," a detailed -- even fussy -- manual for making products that can sometimes take months to get to the table, is on best-selling cookbook lists.

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SHORT ORDERS

Koo Koo kachoo

Their inviting new spot serves strong coffee, fudgy brownies, and a bunch of lunch items including koo koo ($6.95), an Iranian dish of eggs baked with spinach, parsley, dill, scallions, and fenugreek.

Middle East treat

It's a new ice cream-esque dessert ($3.99 for a pint), based on recipes that Booozah owner Karim Raad gathered on trips to the Middle East, where booozah is the word for ice cream, and techniques he learned in gelato school.

Digging for truffles

Sometimes, easy on the taste buds isn't enough. On Valentine's Day, opt for something easy on the eyes and light on the wallet as well. Target's Choxie Artisan Truffle Tiles come in a variety of mouthwatering flavors including citron caramel, passion fruit, champagne, and raspberry pomegranate.

Standard decor, standout fare

Next time a powerful pizza craving hits you in North Cambridge, head to Marco's Pizza & Grill.

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In the Market: Pineapple

What it is, how to cook it, and where to buy it.

Recipe:

* Pineapple upside-down cake

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The life of the party? Chocolate.

By Bridget Samburg, Globe Correspondent

A chocolate tasting does not involve wolfing down ordinary supermarket bars. Instead, the ancient confection is savored and swirled in the mouth. The increasingly popular chocolate party involves an expert and a group of eager tasters.

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Sifting through sweet complexities

By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

In the last decade, choosing chocolate has become more than just a matter of picking out an ordinary candy bar. And it certainly isn't just milk, white, or dark anymore. Today's chocolates tell you the percentage of cocoa powder they contain. And if they're filled, it might be with an unexpected flavor like grapefruit caramel or habanero chili. In fact, chocolate, one of life's simple pleasures, is now confusing.

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Recipe:

* Caffe Umbra's fudge torte

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Making the best of a bland situation

We admit it. We here at the Taste Kitchen have a grudge against store-bought salsa. It's just so . . . gloppy. So tomato paste-y. So meekly spicy. So blah. And yet we buy it time and time again -- for nachos, burritos, and late-night tortilla-chip dipping. Salsa is one of the most popular condiments purchased in America, after all, right up there with ketchup and mustard. And who are we to buck the system?

Recipe:

* Rustic roasted tomato salsa

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Boston Globe – February 15, 2006

First things first: Have breakfast

By Leigh Belanger, Globe Correspondent

But while the coffee-and-doughnut breakfast has its place, and nutritionists admit it's better than nothing, a full breakfast sets the tone for the day. When you wake up in the morning, says Korcek-Ramirez, ''you've fasted all night and your body has no new fuel." To regulate blood sugar and other functions, your body requires a steady supply of nutrients from food. Skipping breakfast or waiting a long time before eating makes your blood sugar drop, often resulting in headaches, fatigue, and irritability.

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Reinventing the meal

Doug Organ has turned his upscale Arbor restaurant in JP into the funkier and more affordable cafe D

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

Soon after opening in 2002, Arbor became a darling of critics, who rhapsodized about this California transplant's way with Mediterranean flavors and ranked his restaurant alongside the city's best. The crowds followed -- for a while. Eventually, though, busy weekends were leading into moribund weeknights, and by last year, Organ knew something had to change.

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Keep eating right, nutritionists say

Experts find new study on low-fat diet misleading

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Dieters are wondering if they should throw out their scales and give in to fatty foods or switch to a higher-fat low-carbohydrate regime. And the real quandary: Does it pay to eat well?

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This big, rich beer is a winter wonder

By Ann Cortissoz, Globe Staff

Many American brewers have their own interpretations of the style, variously called imperial stout, imperial Russian stout, or Russian imperial stout. Two of the tastiest local examples are made in places where the wind comes in cold and raw off the North Atlantic -- Martha's Vineyard and Portsmouth, N.H.

For more information:

* Don't say ''nyet"

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SHORT ORDERS:

Creamy on the inside, crunchy on the outside

Adding polenta to what is basically a molten chocolate cake, says Marisa Iocco, executive chef of Mare in the North End, ''turns a sophisticated chocolate dessert into something Italian and fun." 

Recipe:

* Chocolate polenta souffles

In the Market: Celery

What it is, how to use it, and where to find it.

Recipe:

* Celery and celery root salad

Tuna poke

If tuna tartare sounds too, well, European, there's always the Hawaiian version: poke. Traditionally made with raw fish, seaweed, and kukui nuts, poke (pronounced ''PO-keh") is ubiquitous in Hawaii, where street vendors and hotel chefs and home cooks all have a version. Here in the lower 48, the specialty sees every treatment imaginable.

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Comfort food meets the Caribbean in this spiced-up classic

Searles is preparing an island favorite, macaroni pie. It's a spiced-up version of macaroni and cheese, and it might not seem like a dish one would associate with the Caribbean. But it is extremely popular in Barbados, says Searles, and it's served everywhere, from the humblest homes to the fanciest restaurants.

Recipe:

* Bajan macaroni pie

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In Maine, fishermen go deep for a delicacy

By Jonathan Levitt, Globe Correspondent

This is high sea urchin season, and much of this harvest will end up in Japan, where sea urchin roe, or uni, has been a delicacy for centuries. With a hard, leathery shell and sharp spines, the sea urchin doesn't look like a delicacy. Once cracked open, though, the urchin is overflowing with edible gonad, and it is this reproductive tissue -- orange and glistening, spread out like segments of a clementine -- that people fuss over. 

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Boston Globe – February 22, 2006

Table manners

A tale of long waits, cellphone yakkers, no-reservations policies, bar stool hogs, and other dining pet peeves

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Let's talk about manners. Not the napkin-on-the-lap variety or which fork to use. But diners' pet peeves at restaurants, which often hinge on who gets the good seating, the difficulty of getting a table on a busy Saturday (with a no-reservations policy in place), and establishments' favoring of celebs and friends.

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Sowing the seeds of good gardens

By Jonathan Levitt, Globe Correspondent

Fedco Seeds, the no-frills gardening cooperative, has become wildly successful by reintroducing obscure varieties of vegetables, trees, and flowers, and selling them to gardeners all over the country. When gardens are dormant, and New England residents are bundled up or shoveling snow, it's seed-ordering time.

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Anger sizzles over seasoning used in McDonald's fries

By Lylah M. Alphonse, Globe Staff

As news broke last week that the fast-food giant has been using wheat and dairy ingredients to flavor its fries for years, people in the celiac and autistic communities were up in arms.

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SHORT ORDERS

Plonk of the Month: Southern french reds

In the sunny French south, a region where the Romans first planted vineyards, reds are typically blends of several grape varieties -- juicy grenache provides the flesh and syrah or mourvedre the bones. As the variable 2003's give way to the balanced 2004's, it gets harder to make a mistake. But don't be afraid of an '03 -- the best will show unusual concentration and richness.

In the Market: Navel oranges

What it is, how to use it, and where it's good.

Recipe:

* Spinach and navel orange salad with feta cheese

Think big, store small

Cooks with limited drawer space have fewer reasons to fret. Thanks largely to the expanding use of silicone in kitchen-tool technology, things that normally have tall profiles can flatten for storage.

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Teaching kids their way around a kitchen

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

A student in Kids Can Cook, Jasmine has been learning her way around a kitchen. And last week at the Metropolitan Club, she started learning her way around a restaurant, front and back of the house alike.

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Gumbo is always part of the celebration

By Edouard Fontenot, Globe Correspondent

Our annual Mardi Gras party -- the High Hair, High Hat Ball -- will unfold as it always has in my Jamaica Plain home. And there will certainly be gumbo, because a tragedy is just as much call for a pot of gumbo as a celebration. The two are not always mutually exclusive.

Recipe:

* Shrimp and okra gumbo with smoked sausage

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Recipe:

* Penne with bell peppers

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Boston Globe – March 1, 2006

If you can make it there, you can sell it anywhere

Ray's New York Bagels bring the taste of Manhattan to supermarkets across the nation

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

The idea was intriguing enough that Ray Leonard and Amy Tormey were able to get the bagels into supermarket freezer cases in their home region of New England soon after the company began six years ago.

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At this wine store, try before you buy

By Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent

At the Wine Gallery on Route 9 near Brookline Village, general manager Wes Narron refers to his gleaming, 6-foot-high Enomatic wine dispensing units, collectively, as ''the wine jukebox." Stationed toward the back of the store, the three Italian-made carousels put a total of 48 wines at the disposal of customers, dispensing free 1/2-ounce pours at the push of a button.

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These German dumplings are simply satisfying

By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

Making spaetzle is pure, unadulterated fun. When the batter is dropped into boiling water, it magically forms little squiggles, clumps, and strands in seconds, which turn plump as the tender morsels float to the surface. The mini German dumplings are the preferred accompaniment to stews and roasts.

Recipes:

* Spaetzle

* Cheese spaetzle

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No more takeout: The kids are cooking dinner

By Kate Barreira, Globe Correspondent

Instructor Jo Horner seems to like the challenge of getting teenagers to try new things. ''There are a few plain foods they know they like, and that's all they'll eat," Horner says. By the second class, one mother already sees a difference.

Recipe:

* Mesclun with strawberry dressing

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In the Market: Parsnips

What they are, where to find them, and how to use them.

Recipe:

* Parsnip puree

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Stacking them up

Five Globe staff members blind-tasted seven packaged supermarket bagels, all plain, three bought frozen, and all heated in an oven but not toasted.

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A mix of spicy and sweet

The earthiness of winter baking sets it apart from spring's sweetness and light. The season built on bittersweet chocolate, nuts, dried fruit, apples, pears, and spice is also when classic crinkled and crunchy molasses cookies are welcome in the kitchen.

Recipe:

* Ginger and molasses cookies

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Parisian dishes you can actually make at home

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

Cookbook review:

The Bistros, Brasseries, and Wine Bars of Paris: Everyday Recipes From the Real Paris

Recipe:

* Roast chicken with cauliflower

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Boston Globe – March 8, 2006

Sit down and check it out

It's a restaurant. It's a superette. It's Vinny's in Somerville.

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Vinny's seems like a secret, if not a terribly well-kept one. Fans have been whispering for years about the Italian restaurant hiding in back of an East Somerville superette. It gets mentioned on Chowhound, its subs make local ''Best of" lists, and even the Phantom Gourmet is on the case.

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Aw, shuckers: Miami hosts oyster-opening event

By Necee Regis, Globe Correspondent

It sounds like a meeting of Sopranos-style gangsters, but these were 15 oyster shuckers from all over the United States, arriving to compete in the 2006 Seminole Hard Rock and Mohegan Sun Shuck Off. The knives they held are the tools of their trade.

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Short orders

* Hold everything

* Tongs 'n' chic

* Carry on, and carry out

* Pick pasta, select sauce, save money

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Demystifying grits for the Northern palate

By John S. Forrester, Globe Correspondent

That may be changing. Hash browns and home fries continue to be the favorite at Boston breakfasts, but grits are beginning to appear on some menus, as breakfast sides and in dinner entrees, showing that area chefs and their patrons are willing to give the humble grain a try.

Recipe:

* Grits with shrimp paste

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In the Market: Cinnamon

What it is, how to use it, and what to look for.

Recipe:

* Cinnamon rice pudding

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Moussaka, straight from Greece

By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

When Markopoulos moved here from Greece 14 years ago, he wanted to perpetuate the culinary traditions he was raised on and ''duplicate the foods from home." At his 8-year-old restaurant, Ithaki Mediterranean Cuisine, Markopoulos insists that authentic Greek dishes like moussaka, pastitsio (another casserole of pasta, meat sauce, and white sauce), and baked lamb remain true to their heritage. He might fiddle with other recipes -- tweaking them to appeal to American tastes, cutting back on frying and excess oil -- but he leaves the classics alone. Especially when he got his recipes from his mother.

Recipe:

* Moussaka

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Sauce picks and sauce pans

By Devra First, Globe Staff

Five Globe staff members blind-tasted six jarred tomato sauces, all marinaras.

[TPO]

Boston Globe – March 15, 2006

Umami

Two cookbook authors hope to demystify the little-known fifth taste

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

For the uninitiated, umami (oo-MAH-mee) is the fifth taste, sometimes described as savory or meaty, and distinct from salty, sour, sweet, and bitter. Think of the uniquely round, satisfying taste found in cured or braised meats, aged cheeses, mushrooms, and mature red wine, and you may start to get the idea.

For more information: Where's the umami?

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In soda bread, one ingredient makes all the difference

By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

Kathleen Regan knows what she wants in a perfect Irish soda bread: ''Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, not too sweet, with a healthy amount of raisins," she says. She also knows what she doesn't want: ''No caraway seeds. None of the breads in my family have that."

Recipes:

* Mary Burke's Irish soda bread

* Helen Mahoney's Irish soda bread

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Short Orders

* Dream time

* Irish bread in a box

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In the market: Broccoli rabe

What it is, how to use it, and how to buy it.

Recipe:

* Broccoli rabe

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Confit preserves a French tradition

By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

Before refrigeration was common, duck confit was prepared by thrifty French cooks with a windfall of freshly killed birds. In the last decade, the dish been elevated to classy menu fare.

Recipes:

* Confit of duck

* Duck confit with white bean ragout

[TPO]

Boston Globe – March 22, 2006

'Bom gusto'

In Everett, Brazilian restaurateurs are going beyond barbecue -- and helping revitalize downtown

By Leigh Belanger, Globe Correspondent

As the Brazilian communities around Boston develop, so do services that cater to them. If you've been to a Brazilian restaurant in the Boston area, chances are it was a churrascaria, where meats turn on spits over a smoky charcoal grill. Or it was a buffet, where hot and cold dishes are sold by weight. Or a combination of the two. But the array of food is becoming broader and more diverse.... These new establishments, and the crowds that follow, are helping to revitalize neighborhoods like downtown Everett.

For more information:

* Brazilian eateries abound around Boston

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French bread, Framingham location

By Emily Shartin, Globe Staff

B&R offers classic French breads and croissants, plus a range of American-style confections, including scones and muffins, all baked on-site.

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This flavorful cut of beef doesn't make the cut at restaurants

By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

It's all in the cooking and slicing. ''Flank steak is best when it's not cooked past medium-rare, so you have to like your meat that way," explains Murray. What's just as important is how the steak is sliced. Milton's Kinnealey Meats manager Victor Ferrini explains that flank steak must be sliced thin, on an angle, and across the grain so you're cutting through the tough fibers.

Recipes:

* Pan-fried flank steak

* Sicilian-style braciola

* Chimichurri sauce

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When life gives you bad wine, make vinegar

By Jane Dornbusch, Globe Correspondent

It was a fascination with that process, and with the mother's teeming bacterial life, that led Wellesley resident Allan Engel to take up vinegar making some years ago. Engel is also an oenophile who often found himself with odd bits of unconsumed or undrinkable wine.

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In the Market: Tofu

What it is, how to use it, and where it's good.

Recipe:

* Tofu ginger soup

[TPO]

Boston Globe – March 29, 2006

Is this Italy? No, it's Vermont.

Old World methods allow Maplebrook Farm to craft the freshest mozzarella

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

Within a week, she had convinced 10 Boston-area stores to carry the cheese. The next week she took 20 balls, and after that 60. Soon Scheps was staying after hours to keep up with her orders. Within a year, he and Englert decided to go into business, and Maplebrook Farm was begun, offering ''handmade mountain mozzarella."

Recipe:

* Crostini with roasted vegetables and fresh mozzarella

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Rich, gooey, old-fashioned desserts are on the menu all over town

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

But a wave of nostalgia is sweeping the sweet terrain. Some pastry chefs seem to be taking their cues from the old-fashioned drugstore fountain. Others reach right into the candy stash to create desserts that might remind us all of after-school treats.

Recipe:

* Brownie sundae

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Short Orders

Ice that's nice for everyone

That's why Marblehead-based Mountain Herbal Foods created Alpine Ice, infused with herbs, fruit, tea, and other all-natural flavors. It provides another option for those who avoid sweets with dairy, egg, soy, wheat, or nuts.

Glass with class

Now Riedel has brought its sparkle to the mass market with a new line of glassware designed exclusively for Target. Vivant, as it's called, includes stems for red, white, and sparkling wines, plus one dedicated to pinot noir (thank you, ''Sideways").

Meatless meze

Okra, eggplant, green beans, artichokes -- even onions -- are elevated to luxurious levels. And rather than occupying the fringes of the quick lunchtime meal, vegetables at Sultan's Kitchen can be the meal. Many are braised with shallots, carrots, herbs, and olive oil, a method that fills them with the rich, filling, and savory qualities of a main course.

Chip away

The chips from George's Bakery in Methuen are light, toasty, and hard to resist, made from the bakery's own pita bread in flavors such as Parmesan, garlic, and Cajun.

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In the Market: Cannellini beans

What they are, how to use them, and where to find them.

Recipe:

* Cannellini soup with tomato and Swiss chard

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Luscious lasagna like Mama used to make

By Andrea Pyenson, Globe Correspondent

On Sundays, dinner at Marco is family-style, with a different menu from the rest of the week's. ''It's comfort food, like what your mom would make," says Matt Abdoo. At least, it's like what the chef de cuisine's Italian mother would make. Which is one of the reasons lasagna is a staple here.

Recipes:

* Ricotta lasagna

* Lasagna Bolognese

[TPO]

Boston Globe – April 5, 2006

The incredible edible Cape

Couple leaves the corporate world behind to promote the region's bounty

By Jonathan Levitt, Globe Correspondent

Two years ago, the Langelands left their corporate jobs to publish Edible Cape Cod, a quarterly magazine full of recipes and profiles devoted to the grass-roots promotion of local foods. The couple was the first East Coast publisher of a rapidly expanding group known as Edible Communities.

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Sweet or savory, kugel is a holiday favorite

By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

For what is essentially a simple pudding, kugel gets a lot of play in Jewish cookery. That's particularly true during Passover, the weeklong holiday that starts April 12 with the first Seder, which commemorates the Jews' Exodus from slavery in Egypt.

Recipes:

* Mushroom, onion, and farfel kugel

* Potato kugel

* Festive fruit kugel

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Short Orders

* Caesar salad, topped with tofu

Tofu-based dressing isn't unheard of, but what about tofu croutons? At Veggie Planet in Harvard Square, the Caesar salad ($5.86 for a small) has both, but no raw eggs, anchovies, or conventional croutons.

* Good to go: Family food

Floating Rock in Revere has been in the Sok family for 25 years, says Jenny Sok, whose cousins turned the restaurant over to her family a little more than a year ago.

* Who put their cheese in my butter?

To simplify a complicated process: churned cream becomes butter and curdled milk forms cheese. But in at least one instance, the line between butter and cheese is blurred, namely in an Italian butter made from cream that rises from the milk that becomes Parmigiano Reggiano.

* Eating well, feeling good

Anything that makes the lives of children living with cancer more enjoyable is a step in the right direction. That's why Dana-Farber has collaborated with the Massachusetts College of Art to offer ''What's Cooking: Fun Recipes for Family Wellness."

---------------

Love them tender? Try a stew.

Many cultures have a version of this dish, in which tough, meaty cuts of beef or pork are simmered until tender. Short ribs fall into this category, as do pork ribs.

Recipe:

* Korean short rib stew

---------------

In the market: Turkey sausage

What it is, how to cook it, and where to buy it.

Recipe:

* Spicy turkey sausages with garlic and clams

---------------

Mocha cake is simple and stunning

The Passover table often boasts a flourless chocolate cake, which is a stunningly simple confection.

Recipe:

* Flourless mocha cake

---------------

Macaroon delight

Recipes:

* Almond macaroons

* Coconut macaroons

* Chocolate coating for macaroons

[TPO]

Boston Globe – April 12, 2006

Pass the pernil. Save room for the tarta.

Several families gather to celebrate the Easter holiday and its specialties from throughout the Spanish-speaking world

By Anastacia Marx de Salcedo, Globe Correspondent

It's 11:30 a.m. on a Sunday before Easter and Fátima Serra, Douglas Massidda, and their two children are the first arrivals -- and only 30 minutes late. Fátima balances a large, flat copper pan with steam escaping from under its foil cover, which is keeping warm a Spanish omelet.

---------------

Recipes:

* Mojito

* Tostones

* Spanish omelet in roasted red pepper sauce

* Tarta de Santiago

* Roast leg of pork

---------------

For Oleana chef, spices are the spice of life

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Ana Sortun rolls a narrow wooden rolling pin over a plastic bag filled with coffee beans and cardamom pods. As she crushes the mixture, scents of both perfume her small, open kitchen. Outside glass doors, spring snow is drifting onto lawn chairs and covering the jonquils. Inside, as Sortun makes Arabic coffee pot de creme, it smells like a sunnier clime. Spices do that.

---------------

Short Orders

* A Tam Tam twist

If you're looking for the perfect nosh -- a little salty, a little sweet, and kosher -- Manischewitz may have just the thing. Old standby Tam Tam crackers are getting a delicious new identity.

* This chicken takes sides

The Fish n' Chicken is a busy West Quincy takeout spot, where neighbors seem to bump into one another often. Part of Common Market Restaurants, a small food service empire just off of I-93, the Fish n' Chicken is one of three counters in a food court on one corner of the street.

* Drink your vegetables

Needham resident Karsten Robbins came up with this tempting ''nutrition-on-the-go" drink. Marrying cucumber juice with a blend of 12 vegetables, both Smashing Tomato and Spicy Tomato raise the bar for veggie drinks, offering three full vegetable servings in each 10-ounce bottle ($2.69).

* Don't eat a Peep

If you've had it with Peeps and jelly beans, an Italian confection called cannellini ricci will break up the predictable Easter goodies. Cannellini beans are an Italian staple, and ricci is Italian for sea urchins.

---------------

In the market: Globe artichokes

What they are, how to use them, and where to buy them.

Recipe:

* Stuffed artichokes

[TPO]

Boston Globe – April 19, 2006

A shot at perfection

Espresso fanatics are drawn to coffee shops in Boston and New York that stress training and technique

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

Posted at Simon's Coffee Shop in Porter Square is a list entitled ''Fifty things to improve your espresso production." Written by Nick Cho, a revered Washington, D.C., cafe owner, it includes everything from the easily understood (''use fresh beans") to coffee-geek technicalities (''insert the portafilter with enough torque to create a good seal with the portafilter gasket").

---------------

Living with a gluten-free diet

By Wendy Fox, Globe Correspondent

Boddy, 27, a social worker who lives in the South End, was diagnosed last month with celiac disease, a condition that prevents the body from digesting gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. She and Cohen, a sixth-grader in Westford who was diagnosed at age 3, and legions of others who suffer from the condition cannot eat anything containing those three grains. That rules out regular bread, cereal, cookies, crackers, pizza, pasta, and even many soups, prepared foods, and condiments. Instead, they eat bread made with bean and tapioca flours, cornstarch, and xanthan gum. They buy pasta made with amaranth flour. They mix ripe bananas with soy and potato starch flours to make banana bread.

Gluten-free recipes:

* Gluten-free banana bread

* Gluten-free popovers

For more information:

* Guides to making food the gluten-free way

* Information, support for celiac sufferers

* Dining tips for those with Celiac disease

---------------

In the market: Eggs

What it is, how to use it, and where to buy.

Recipe:

* Stove-top coddled eggs

---------------

Gamey squab is a great splurge

By Lisa Zwirn, Globe Correspondent

For those who like rich, gamey-tasting meat, squab is the perfect bird for a splurge or celebration. The birds, technically young pigeons, are bred for their meat. Slightly bigger than Cornish hens, these pigeons aren't the same breed overrunning city parks.

Recipe:

* Roast squab

[TPO]

Boston Globe – April 26, 2006

The way they cook, more or less

A memorable platter of rustic porkserved without fanfare or explanation

By Sheryl Julian, Globe Staff

This curious presentation turns out to be a plump pork shank, and when sliced off the bone, it has that melting quality that comes from a long, slow braise in wine. The meat looks familiar, and I remember that this is ''stinco" (Italian for shank), a dish I ate years ago at the late Julia Child's house in Cambridge.

---------------

In the markets of Palermo, vendors share deliciously imprecise recipes

By Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent

I traverse the warren of vendors and happen upon a butcher selling all the cuts of beef you don't recognize, as well as the innards. A fishmonger cuts thin steaks from local Mediterranean swordfish for a popular dish made with seasoned breadcrumbs. Giuseppe Bronte grabs the stem of a gigantic green-yellow broccolo, a variety of cauliflower, with his rough hands and hacks off the thick stem.

---------------

Craft brewers adopt a can-do attitude

By Ann Cortissoz, Staff Globe

That's why some Colorado brewers had a good chuckle in 2002 when Cask, a manufacturer of brewing equipment in Calgary, Alberta, faxed them about the idea of canning their beer. ''We laughed," says Dale Katechis, owner of the Oskar Blues brewpub in Lyons. ''We were making full-bodied craft beer, and the idea of putting it in a can was ridiculous."

---------------

An ice cream machine that has the scoop

By Emily Schwab, Globe Correspondent

But the folks at MooBella have invented a third. All you have to do is press a few buttons and a hard-packed frozen treat -- in your choice of flavor and mixed-in topping -- is on its way. A MooBella machine is even faster than the speediest scooper. In about 45 seconds, it mixes, aerates, and flash-freezes a liquid concoction into a sweet, creamy dessert.

---------------

You can tell where they're coming from

By Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent

In reality, even perfectly drinkable plonk doesn't often deliver enough information to the palate to make this possible. So, when you do come across some real character in a little wine, it's something special.

---------------

In the market: Spinach

What it is, how to use it, and where to buy it.

Recipe:

* Spinach frittata with potatoes and feta

---------------

Recipes:

* Minestrone soup

* Pasta with cauliflower, currants, and pine nuts

* Toasted breadcrumbs

* Stinco di vitello (Veal shanks)

* Eggplant escalivada

* Paella

* Sardinian chickpea salad

* Fresh berry bismarck

* Raspberry-filled sugar cookie hearts

[TPO]

Boston Globe – May 3, 2006

Add a pinch of testosterone

Food writing is big business these days, and men are digging into the subject with gusto

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

The new wave of books are wide ranging -- from serious studies of our society through food, such as Michael Pollan's ''The Omnivore's Dilemma" (see related story), to adventure-style romps like ''Heat," New Yorker writer and former literary editor Bill Buford's chronicle of three years as a kitchen slave in superstar Mario Batali's restaurants.

---------------

Michael Pollan traces four meals back to their beginnings in 'Omnivore's Dilemma'

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

Pollan traces three food chains -- what he calls industrial, organic, and hunter-gatherer -- from source to table. He tries to track commodity corn from an Iowa field to a McDonald's drive-through; calculates the environmental cost of organic asparagus flown from Argentina to his local Whole Foods Market; cooks a dinner from chicken killed, eggs gathered, and corn picked off one Virginia farm; and prepares another from a wild pig he killed and mushrooms he foraged in California.

---------------

Strike while the waffle iron is hot for brunch

By Leigh Belanger, Globe Correspondent

This breakfast treat has popped in and out of fashion in the last 100 years (it's in now). And though waffle irons might be tucked into the recesses of a kitchen cupboard, when they're pulled out, dusted off, and heated for the traditional batter, they're a welcome sight to everyone in the household.

Recipe:

* Raised waffles

---------------

In the market: Instant ramen

What it is, where to buy it, and how to cook it.

Recipe:

* Kimchi ramen

---------------

Dress gnudi up with vegetables

By Jonathan Levitt, Globe Correspondent

Easier to get right are ricotta gnocchi and their brazen little sister, gnudi (literally naked, similar to ravioli filling without the pasta), which are flavored with cheese rather than the potatoes and flour of gnocchi. In Italian, gnocco means dumpling, but the gnudi, made with ricotta, are more like little pillows.

Recipes:

* Spinach and ricotta gnudi with fava beans and cherry tomatoes

* Ricotta gnocchi with brown butter and asparagus

---------------

Taste kitchen: We all scream for ... light ice cream?

Could there be a light ice cream that would still taste rich, creamy, and satisfying? We decided to find out.

Reviewed:

* Breyers Light, Double Churned, creamy vanilla

* Haagen-Dazs Light, vanilla bean

* Edy's Slow Churned Rich & Creamy Light, vanilla bean

* Healthy Choice Premium Low Fat Ice Cream, vanilla

* Hood Light Ice Cream, creamy vanilla

[TPO]

Boston Globe – May 10, 2006

Paying the price to avoid the bottle

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Wine is flowing at restaurants and bars, say restaurateurs, but it’s being poured one glass at a time. And drinking by singles is getting pricier. Where less than a decade ago, a glass of the house white or red might have set a diner back $4 or maybe $6, now even suburban restaurants start at $10 and climb to over $15 a glass.

---------------

Here's where to go for individual pours, and why

By Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent

Uncorking a good by-the-glass wine list takes more than a swirl and a sniff. Bottles that find their way to the part of the list where you can order your wine one glass at a time have to meet several criteria: They have to be priced right by the wholesaler, be popular with customers, and work well with menu items. There also needs to be a balance between old favorites and new tastes. Glassware counts for something too -- as we learned.

---------------

Made on Sundays, good all week

By Leigh Belanger, Globe Correspondent

Celia Grant extracts the Scotch bonnet chili pepper from a simmering pot of beans and holds the soggy thing up for inspection. It's intact, but a few more minutes in the pot and it could've broken open, its seeds strewing their numbing heat through the finished dish. She's making rice and peas, a popular Jamaican dish she learned from her mother.

Recipe:

* Rice and peas

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In the market: Radishes

What they are, how to use them, and how to buy them.

Recipe:

* Radish salad with cucumbers and avocados

---------------

Joy of baking: A colorful confection perfect for any party

This jewel of a cake, made with voluptuous ingredients, is bright, buttery, and tangy, a dreamy confection for serving with fruit and cream at a graduation party or wedding shower.

Recipe:

Luxury lemon cake

---------------

As the popularity of organics grows, Wal-Mart jumps in

By Christine MacDonald, Globe Correspondent

With double-digit price premiums over conventional goods, organics make up one of the most profitable segments of the highly competitive supermarket industry.

[TPO]

Boston Globe – May 17, 2006

They brake for burgers

Authors and road food experts Jane and Michael Stern take a by-the-bun tour of Connecticut

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

A few cheeseburgers between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. is nothing. Besides, they need time to talk about their new memoir, ''Two for the Road," which departs from their usual approach by taking readers right along for the ride. ''People have this idea that all we do is eat and we never fight and it's always a sunny day and the food is always wonderful," Jane says from the passenger seat of Michael's copper Infiniti SUV, which the Connecticut residents take on road trips when they're not flying long distance and renting a car.

---------------

Food is spice of Greek film

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Greek cuisine would seem to be a natural for a food-centric film, as evidenced by the newly released ''A Touch of Spice," by Greek filmmaker Tassos Boulmetis. Already a success in his native country, and now playing at the West Newton Cinema, ''Spice" tells a tale of exile and longing when politics force a Greek family to leave their beloved Istanbul for Athens.

Recipe:

* Greek meatballs with bulgur in tomato sauce

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Customers eating up this kitchen expansion

By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent

Then, seven years ago, Lamson & Goodnow began to expand its kitchen and housewares line -- exploring silicone products, woodware, and renewable-resource products; a factory outlet showcased all this. ''We expanded three times," says president Kurt Zanner. The latest expansion culminated last month with the opening of Lamson & Goodnow Cutlery and Kitchen Tools retail store here.

---------------

In the market: Watercress

What it is, how to use it, and where to buy it.

Recipe:

* Seared scallops with watercress and shiitakes

* Cress and potato soup

---------------

Rhubarb broadens its horizons

By Leigh Belanger, Globe Correspondent

But Verrill, who uses rhubarb with both blueberries and raspberries -- as a topping for vanilla cheesecake, a sauce to spoon over yogurt, or a chutney to serve with pork or chicken -- says that the spring stalks can be used in a much broader way. Known as ''pie plant," and part of the vegetable family, rhubarb can appear on the savory table with meats and poultry.

Recipe:

* Rhubarb compote

---------------

Fiddleheads play a big part in local cuisine and economy

By Jonathan Levitt, Globe Correspondent

Fiddleheads, the coiled fronds of ostrich ferns, pop their bright green heads out of the ground around the same time that dandelions begin to flower. They look like the scroll on the head of a violin, hence the name, with a papery chaff in the circles and a taste like the best asparagus you've ever eaten.

[TPO]

Boston Globe – May 24, 2006

At barbecue school, the heat is on

It's almost Memorial Day, which means it's time to dust off the Weber and check outall the must-have tools, techniques, and marinades. Let the grilling begin.

By Jonathan Levitt, Globe Correspondent

Keady is on the board of directors of the New England Barbecue Society, which is hosting its second hands-on cooking school. This year, about 30 students have gathered in early May at the Maynard Rod and Gun Club to learn the finer points of briskets, rubs, and baby back ribs.

---------------

This beer can be used as a flotation device

By Ann Cortissoz, Globe Staff

Scoop creamy vanilla into a pint glass filled with a sweet, heavy, dark beer such as Mackeson's Triple Stout. The roasted, chocolatey flavors and the alcohol bite blend with the sweet vanilla to produce an incredibly rich, tasty concoction.

Recipe:

* Beer floats

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Her bakery is hot property

By Emily Schwab, Globe Correspondent

The Watertown-born baker has carted her mixers all over the place. She opened a shop in the same spot in 1996, expanding on a bakery she owned in Needham. Then she sold Needham, then Belmont, and joined the opening crew of the former Copa Cafe in Lexington. When she left that team, she went to work for her mother, Sonia, at her real estate firm next to Vicki Lee's former Belmont bakery.

Recipe:

* Morning glory muffins

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For egg cookbook writer, the chickens came first

By Deborah Kops, Globe Correspondent

Golson is the author of the recently published ``The Farmstead Egg Cookbook" (St. Martin's Press). She started keeping chickens 10 years ago and , as her flock and egg supply grew , began experimenting in the kitchen, making dishes for her two young sons and her husband, Steve. Now, ``the girls," as the hens are called in the Golson household, provide the family with much amusement, good stories, and photo opportunities (www.hencam.com ), and, of course, basketfuls of eggs for the breakfast, lunch, and supper table.

---------------

In the market: Mackerel

What it is, how to use it, and how to buy it.

Recipe:

* Marinated grilled mackerel

---------------

A flattened bird makes for more even cooking

Nothing speeds up grilled chicken like opening up the bird and flattening it, helping the parts cook more evenly. But tell a group of home cooks to butterfly a chicken, and the less confident among them will probably blanch. Doesn't that involve fancy knife work?

Recipes:

* Grilled chicken with lemon and garlic

* Barbecued chicken thighs

---------------

O'Neill puts family over food

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Molly O'Neill has many moments in her new memoir -- and softens them with humor. That's not to say she sugar coats her family history as the eldest and only girl in a tribe of five boisterous brothers in Columbus, Ohio, where she became her mother's ``deputy mom." A well-known food writer whose column appeared in The New York Times Magazine for a decade, and who has written several cookbooks, O'Neill's latest volume is ``Mostly True: Memoir of Family, Food, and Baseball." 

Recipes:

* Barbecued spare ribs with apricot-ancho glaze

* Grilled T-bone steaks with thyme-garlic paste

* Vegetable kebobs with bagna cauda dressing

[TPO]

Boston Globe – May 31, 2006

Made in Vermont: Pane e Salute celebrates Italian food

By Sheryl Julian, Globe Staff

Pane e Salute is a classic Italian tavern, or osteria, that celebrates the authentic food of many regions in Italy. You canorder a little pizza with a crust so thin you wonder if it's a cracker, or large shrimp still in their shells -- with heads and tails intact -- clustered on the plate without a sauce, beside braised escarole.

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Made in Vermont: Handmade cheese takes center stage

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

The idyllic pastoral setting represents a new commercial reality for Vermont: Ann will craft the milk from these sheep into artisanal cheeses. With fanciful names like ``Vermont Dandy" and ``Ewe Jersey," the cheeses are headed for the nearby Brattleboro Farmers' Market and top restaurants in Boston and New York.

For more information:

* Say cheese

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Made in Vermont: Whole grains get a makeover

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

In fact, the initials represent the flours used in each batch: barley, spelt, whole wheat pastry flour, and traditional whole wheat. All these grains are far more commonly associated with hearty, heavy loaves of bread than with fudgy confections or flaky pastry, but King Arthur is out to change that perception, or at least make a dent in it. In the wake of new awareness of the benefits of whole grains -- they show up in the USDA's new food pyramid, for one -- the bakers at the nation's oldest flour company are determined to find appetizing ways to bake with them.

---------------

In the Market: Asparagus

What it is, where to buy it, and how to cook them.

Recipe:

* Asparagus soup

---------------

Think simple for this summer's best wines

By Stephen Meuse, Globe Correspondent

We'll be looking for something bright and uncomplicated, unencumbered by oak of any kind, stimulating as a stiff breeze. Candidates need to ace the aperitif test, be super with a sandwich, and with a pasta salad. We'll want good acidity and some lively fruit too -- but most of all we'll want something we can buy by the case, drink from day to day, and never tire of.

For more information:

* Cool and crisp

[TPO]

Boston Globe – June 7, 2006

Big red

Science and business combine to produce large and luscious strawberries

By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff

Local strawberries tend to have much more flavor than the California variety we get almost year-round. And while some New England berries that will ripen this and next month are larger than others, what distinguishes ours is that they look and taste real, like the berries our grandmothers used to grow.

For more information:

* Pick-your-own strawberry farms

Recipes:

* Freeform strawberry tart

* Strawberry summer pudding

---------------

She relishes the multitask at hand

By Joe Yonan, Globe Staff

Joyce Goldstein knows multitasking. As she segments oranges for a seafood salad, then cuts squid into little rings, she also has an eye on spicy salsa rossa bubbling away on the stove. She wants to thicken the tomato sauce before she spoons it over a slice of goat cheese, or caprino, nestled in some greens.

Recipes:

* Farro salad with garden vegetables

* Shellfish salad with oranges and fennel

* Goat cheese with spicy tomato sauce

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They're not as easy to make as they are to eat

By Jonathan Levitt, Globe Correspondent

Easy as they are to love, the dreamiest chocolate chip cookies can be an exercise in frustration. Because they are so simple, every step and every ingredient must be carefully considered.

Recipes:

* Crispy chocolate chip cookies

* Chewy chocolate chip cookies

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In the market: Ricotta

What it is, how to use it, and where to buy it.

Recipe:

* Cannolo (ricotta) tart