08/21/2008

Top 10 spots for fried clams
Is there any food more evocative of summer in New England than fried clams?

08/20/2008

Alan Rosenberg: South County’s best ice cream
Back when my wife and I reviewed restaurants for The Journal, we also wrote stories in which we chose, through lengthy and arduous research, the region’s best pizza, hamburger, all-you-can-eat chicken and mall food.

Chef’s Secret: Pearl Burger brings fond memories
First Valerie wrote:

THE BLACK PEARL MINT SALAD
THE BLACK PEARL MINT SALAD

Chefs warm up to idea of frozen fish
In this era of globalization, restaurant menus from New York to San Francisco boast fresh fish with distant origins: blackfin tuna from Tobago, mahi-mahi from Hawaii and black grouper from the Bahamas. But a group of chefs and food service vendors (aware that such jet-setting comes at a heavy environmental cost) is promoting a radical shift in practice: Increase the amount of fish that is frozen at sea so it can be transported by ship or truck instead.

COCOA-ORANGE CEREAL AND NUT CLUSTERS
COCOA-ORANGE CEREAL AND NUT CLUSTERS

It’s shrimp, so don’t get any big ideas
Cucumber-tomato salad and rice pilaf

No-bake snacks can taste good and be good for you
Let the buyer beware when it comes to purchasing lunch box snacks at the grocer. Many are loaded with sugar, fat, salt or all of the above.

GRILLED LEMON-HONEY SHRIMP SKEWERS
GRILLED LEMON-HONEY SHRIMP SKEWERS

Stuffed peppers on the grill? Here’s how
Inexpensive disposable foil loaf pans offer an easy way to cook and serve these cheese-stuffed grilled peppers. This recipe also works with jalapeno peppers, but some people won’t be able to handle the heat.

Discover hidden gems
To learn more at home about Providence’s hidden food gems, visit the city’s providenceri.com/nm and there you’ll find “The Neighborhood Markets Program,” an economic development project.

American Dream Street, Part 1
Broad Street is a colorful roadway with plenty of murals appearing on the sides of its buildings as it stretches from Providence to Cranston. It also has an amazing number of thriving food enterprises run by friendly, hard-working people who came from places far and wide.

Food Notes
This week and weekend

GRILLED STUFFED PEPPERS
GRILLED STUFFED PEPPERS

08/17/2008

Backyard barbecue? Don’t forget the fruit
When talk turns to a summer cookout, usually ribs, burgers, steaks and chops are the obvious choices. But once the coals have cooled to an amber glow, that’s when it’s time for the true stars of the cookout show to shine — fresh fruit.

08/14/2008

In today’s economy, what you need is a good cheap drink
With the economy nose-diving and costs rising, what we all really need is a good, cheap, drink. Try an inexpensive white wine. Cool, crisp and refreshing, white wine may be the one thing that gets you through those hot nights when you’ve cut back on the air conditioning and swapped out steak and sushi for wienies and baked beans.

08/13/2008

Pizza from the garden: Squash flowers don’t have to be fried to be delicious on this bright and colorful heirloom pie
If you’ve ever wondered what to do with all those squash flowers that sprout in the garden or are sold in markets at this time of year, Ray Filippone has one answer. Filippone makes a summer pizza topped with the flowers from zucchini, yellow squash and even pumpkin plants that the rest of us might enjoy during these dog days of summer. “It’s a nice way to enjoy the flowers without putting them in batter and deep-frying them,” he said.

ASPARAGUS AND THYME BUTTER
ASPARAGUS AND THYME BUTTER

NAKED RIBS
NAKED RIBS

CHILLED BLUEBERRY SOUP
CHILLED BLUEBERRY SOUP

SQUASH FLOWER PIZZA
SQUASH FLOWER PIZZA

ANNA’S ZUCCHINI PIZZA
ANNA’S ZUCCHINI PIZZA

BANANA BROWN SUGAR BUTTER
BANANA BROWN SUGAR BUTTER

ROASTED GARLIC AND SUN-DRIED TOMATO BUTTER
ROASTED GARLIC AND SUN-DRIED TOMATO BUTTER

Key to perfect grilling: Keep it simple
Every time I turn around, there’s another gleaming, stainless steel gas grill. At my hardware store, of course, but they’re even at my grocery store. It seems like you can’t call yourself a cook unless you’ve got a grill.

Summer Memories
When I was a girl, summer meant blueberries. And blueberries meant agony.

TUSCAN GRILLED CHICKEN
TUSCAN GRILLED CHICKEN

INDIAN-SPICED GRILLED LAMB
INDIAN-SPICED GRILLED LAMB

Butter’s compound interest
Compound butters are an easy and flavorful way to add panache to any meal.

NEW ORLEANS STYLE REMOULADE
NEW ORLEANS STYLE REMOULADE

CLASSIC REMOULADE
CLASSIC REMOULADE

Wine: White-hot choices for summer sipping, beyond Chardonnay
Summer is when people turn to white wines — and these days, that doesn’t have to mean Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

Chef’s Secret: Great crab cakes in Woonsocket
Denise Panichas wrote:

CRAB CAKES WITH DUELING REMOULADES & MICRO GREENS
CRAB CAKES WITH DUELING REMOULADES & MICRO GREENS

Asian must-have: Fish sauce
Try it: Fish sauce is an indispensable ingredient in southeast Asian cooking. This amber-colored liquid has a very pungent, fishy aroma that is moderated with cooking. The sauce is made by salting and fermenting fish, usually anchovies, and draining off the liquid. Some fish sauce brands contain sugar as well.

Food Notes
This week and weekend

08/10/2008

Bakers reveal sweet secrets about the chocolate chip cookie
Too bad sainthood is not generally conferred on bakers, for there is one who is a possible candidate for canonization. She fulfills most of the requirements: (1) She’s dead. (2) She demonstrated heroic virtue. (3) Cults have been formed around her work. (4) Her invention is considered by many to be a miracle. The woman: Ruth Graves Wakefield. Her contribution to the world: the chocolate chip cookie.

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour

08/07/2008

A festive mood, a touch of Italy in Newport
NEWPORT — On a recent Wednesday night, the dinner crowd at Sardella’s Italian Restaurant was nearly bursting out the door. Would-be diners kept trooping in right up to 9:30 and not only because it was the Live Jazz Night in the smallest of the dining rooms, just off the bar, or because you can get a dinner-for-two special Monday through Wednesday for $24 with a dozen menu selections and a bottle of wine.

08/08/2008

DINING OUT - Asian delicacies in a flash
Pei Wei is that casual, fast and affordable kind of restaurant that is so in demand today.

08/07/2008

Dining Out: When the credits roll, head for Chatters
What a great idea to set up a restaurant and wine bar at the movie theater. Sometimes there's just no time to eat first, and most of us don't want to make popcorn and Junior Mints our dinner.

08/14/2008

Shore bets for summer dining