recipe

Vegetable Butcher puts an edge on the harvest

Vegetable Butcher puts an edge on the harvest

Posted on by Pat and David
The vegetables that announce each season “give us little moments to celebrate,” says Cara Mangini, the author of The Vegetable Butcher, published earlier this year by Workman Publishing. Mangini is proprietor of the “produce-inspired” restaurant Little Eater and its companion Little Eater Produce and Provisions in Columbus, Ohio. They are located in the historic North Market (59 Spruce St.; restaurant 614-670-4375, grocery 614-947-7483; littleeater.com) Mangini describes herself as on a mission to honor and support the work of farmers by “putting vegetables at the center of the plate.” She certainly made a good case during a recent meal at Harvest Restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts (44 Brattle St.; 617-868-2255; harvestcambridge.com), where she collaborated with Harvest executive chef Tyler Kinnett. The meal featured recipes from her book...Read More

Finish Line Festival ratchets up the outdoor barbecue

Posted on by Pat and David
The Lexus Gran Fondo riders found a fine feast awaiting them. Lexus ambassadors and retired racers Christian Vande Velde and George Hincapie led the 100-mile riders coming to the finish line in Chatham. All the riders arrived hungry, and the Finish Line Festival cookout trumped even the best backyard barbecue. Lexus augmented the chefs of Chatham Bars Inn by inviting the brewery at Blackberry Farm and Lexus Master Chef Dean Fearing (fearingsrestaurant.com). The dean of Dallas dining lent a little longhorn swagger to the party. With his sons on hand to help serve, Fearing loaded up plates with lobster tacos and smoky brisket tacos with a tangy, piquant sauce. On the side were his classic cowboy beans and cole slaw. “I thought, here we are...Read More

Kitchen garden at Chatham Bars Inn is really a farm

Posted on by Pat and David
Chatham Bars Inn stays Cape Cod's gastronomic top dog because it grows its own food in Brewster on the north side of the Cape. The entire operation covers eight acres. Crops grow on four acres, with about a third of the crops in massive hothouses. “It's tricky to grow on Cape Cod,” says farm manager Josh Schiff. “The weather is unpredictable and the soil is poor.” As a result, the farm grows some of its most temperature-sensitive crops inside greenhouses, including a forest of tomatoes that fruit from May into December. “We start everything from seed,” Schiff explains.“We grow tomatoes and lettuce in compost with hydroponic irrigation.” More sprawling crops, such as cucumber, summer and winter squashes, and pumpkins spread across plowed fields. The farm...Read More

Lexus Gran Fondo speeds onto Cape Cod

Posted on by Pat and David
“Think of it as a party on wheels,” said Chatham Bars Inn general manager John Speers. He was speaking over cocktails on the inn's wrap-around front porch. “Our kind of gran fondo always incorporates food and wine.” The Lexus Gran Fondo launched in high style on Memorial Day weekend. The cycling and gastronomic events all centered on the historic inn at the elbow of Cape Cod. The luxury car brand has long supported other cycling events. But Lexus pulled out all the stops for this first Gran Fondo under the company name. A team of Lexus-affiliated professional riders led the 100-mile ride on Saturday from the XV Beacon (xvbeacon.com) hotel in Boston to the Chatham Bars Inn (chathambarsinn.com). Less ambitious riders could opt for 50-mile...Read More

Chefs can win 10 weeks of free black truffles

Posted on by David
Australian black truffle season has begun. Chefs who want to get a little inventive also have the chance to win an entire season's supply next summer—a pound of premium black truffles per week during the roughly 10-week season. I was dubious about the Aussie product until I went there, saw how they were grown, and spent a few weeks experimenting with them. We tend to think of truffles as a fall and winter product. They are. It's just that fall and winter in Australia are flipped from fall and winter in the northern hemisphere. Thanks to speedy air shipment, it's feasible to serve freshly shaved black truffles with sweet corn, tomatoes, and all those other great summer crops. Available June through August, they're not just...Read More

Grill 23 bar menu demonstrates steakhouse evolution

Posted on by Pat and David
Grill 23 in Boston's historic Salada Tea building launched 30 years ago to make sure that the business guys in Back Bay had a proper steakhouse where they could seal new ventures over a big, juicy slabs of beef. It's still under the same ownership, but left the old steak-and-martini steakhouse formula behind years ago. With its succession of smart and inventive chefs, Grill 23 keeps refining what a steakhouse should be. These days the kitchen operates under corporate culinary director Eric Brennan, and just last week he launched an ambitious new bar menu with a party (above). Since Grill 23 has only had a discreet bar area since 2014, the restaurant isn't locked into tradition. The new menu is a smart cross between steakhouse...Read More

Eating like George Martin on Montserrat

Posted on by Pat
I don't know what Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Sting, or Eric Clapton liked to eat when they came to relax and record on Montserrat. But George Martin was particularly fond of a good pork tenderloin with creamy mushroom sauce. In the late 1970s, Martin was seduced by the unspoiled beauty and tranquil pace of life on the tiny Caribbean island. He opened AIR Studio in 1979, and for about a decade a steady stream of the top names in the music business came here to record with the producer extraordinaire. Almost 80 albums were created on Montserrat before AIR closed in 1989 after the destruction of Hurricane Hugo. But Olveston House, Martin's breezy and unpretentious island retreat, remains. Martin and his family would enjoy the...Read More

Montserrat rum cake is a deep, dark mystery

Posted on by Pat
I felt pretty certain that most of the folks on Montserrat would have given me the shirt off their backs if I had needed it. But even during the high-spirited days of the week-long St. Patrick's Day festivities, that generosity only extended so far. No baker, it seems, is willing to part with her recipe for rum cake, the Montserrat version of the dark West Indian cake that is so different from the paler, less robust spirit-soaked fruitcakes that Europeans and Americans make. I had my first taste of the dense, almost fudge-like treat in my hometown of Cambridge, Mass., supplied by Bernadine Greenaway, one of the many Montserratians who live at least part of the year in Boston. Bernadine makes cakes for family and...Read More

Goat water hits the spot on Montserrat

Posted on by Pat
Montserrat's St. Patrick's Day parade—a whirl of colorful costumes and steel drums—doesn't kick off until 3 in the afternoon. That leaves plenty of time for checking out the entertainment and crafts booths at the Heritage Village in Salem—and for eating. The aroma of jerk chicken cooking on outdoor grills fills the fairgrounds, but the most popular dish is “Goat Water.” Montserrat's national dish, it's a spicy Caribbean take on Irish stew. I gravitated to the stall of Virginia Allen, who managed to tend her big pot of goat water without spilling a drop on her beautiful traditional outfit made with a signature Madras fabric of green, orange, and white. In addition to serving goat water at festivals, Virginia makes the dish every Friday and offers...Read More

Montserrat celebrates St. Patrick with Caribbean verve

Posted on by Pat
I never found anyone serving green beer during the St. Patrick's Day Festival on the island of Montserrat. But local ginger beer, I quickly discovered, is a perfectly good substitute. One of 14 United Kingdom Overseas Territories, Montserrat is the only island nation (besides the Emerald Isle) where St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday. And I have to say that Caribbean style adds real flair to the celebration of Ireland's patron saint. The 5,000 or so Montserratians who inhabit this island in the British West Indies take their Irish roots seriously. Just ask any of the Allens, Sweeneys, Buntins, Farrells, O'Garrs and O'Briens who trace their roots back to the 17th century Irish indentured servants who made a new life here after putting in...Read More