Photo: AurélienS/Flickr
Public Radio Kitchen would like to wish each of you celebrating Christmas a beautiful and delicious holiday!
See you in the New Year, and don’t forget to leave out a tasty something for that Guy in Red.
Some of WBUR's bakers (photo: Sue McCrory)
Yesterday, about a baker’s dozen of our colleagues here at WBUR participated in the first-ever WBUR cookie swap. Underwriters, reporters, members of Admin and an engineer, we were a representative group.
And the cookies? Dee-lish! And varied: biscotti, morzoletti, chocolate gingerbread men, cardamom crescents and (apparently amazing-tasting) no-bake cookies made with peanut butter and oatmeal.
We scanned the recipes to share them with you. Meanwhile, check out the recipe for “Tri-Color Swirl” cookies — an utterly festive part of NPR’s annual Cookie Day — after the jump. Enjoy!
Photo: courtesy of Kosher Camembert
Those are no ordinary jelly donuts you’re drooling over.
Those are home-made Hanukkah sufganiyot, deep-fried and sugar-dusted rounds of dough filled with jelly (or custard) after frying — the frying commemorative of the miracle of the Temple oil.
Though she produced no miracle, local blogger Gayle of Kosher Camembert did call her evening making those perfectly-shaped sufganiyot “special.” She spent hours frying. Below, Gayle recounts the fry in celebration of Hanukkah this week, and shares her recipe.
Gayle Squires
Kosher Camembert
As many of you probably know, the Hanukkah story centers around oil. There was a battle and a victory and a temple to be restored, and oil for the menorah that lasted eight days instead of one. We light candles for eight days, adding a candle for each night.Traditional Hanukkah food is all about the oil and frying – latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts).
This year, I started celebrating the night before the first night of the holiday. I didn’t light any candles, but I could have said a shehecheyanu — the blessing traditionally recited on the first night of Hanukkah, other holidays, and special occasions. This was a special occasion alright. Because I fried. And I never fry. Continue reading
Photo: Bordecia34/Flickr
LOCAL BITES
Planning to Eat Chinese this Saturday?
Then dine in good company with the New Center for Arts and Culture at the comedic Moo Shu Jew Show. It’s an evening of Jewish-inspired stand-up comedy, centered around a five-course meal. Where? Where else but at a Chinese restaurant, “where Jews feel most at home” at Christmas time (their words, not ours). Catch it all, starting at 6pm, at the Hei La Moon restaurant, Boston. Tickets purchased in advance cost $5 less.
Getting out on Christmas Eve, Berkshires-style
Turn the indoor marathon of holidays preparations (all that shopping, wrapping, cooking, holiday-partying, etc.) into an outdoor breath of fresh air. Join The Trustees of Reservations at Bartholomew’s Cobble all day on Saturday for a walk about and a cup of hot chocolate.
Local Foods Gift Basket
Here’s a clutch, last-minute gift idea. It’s edible, it supports local food producers and it’s a click away: four different “Taste of Massachusetts” gourmet gift baskets offered by the Mass Specialty Foods Association, in conjunction with Pemberton Farms of Cambridge.
Need some menu ideas for the holiday week, right into New Year’s?
Plan ahead for New Year’s
If you’re still crazy busy this week but know your New Year’s party is looming, book mark this site: how2heroes has an entire section devoted to holiday recipes that will keep you plenty busy and inspired, plus earn you the title “this year’s host/hostess-with-the-most-est.” Continue reading
Photo: trondn/Flickr
I remember my first taste of prosecco. It happened in the Fall of 1999, when I led a walking tour for Butterfield & Robinson in Italy’s northeastern Veneto region, home to the twin prosecco-producing towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, famous for their dry, sparkling DOC wine.
I honestly don’t remember the vintner or year. But I was hooked. Back in Rome, then back in Boston, I shared bottles of prosecco with anyone I guessed would like it. This was pretty much everyone: ex-pat friends living in Italy (hooked); my parents and siblings (hooked); American friends and their parents (same).
I even hand-carried bottles to my new boyfriend’s parents (now my in-laws), who run a country bar in Northern Ireland and prefer a brandy or freshly poured Guinness as their drink of choice. Call me gutsy, but I was confident. HOOKED.
Point is, I never was alone in my love for prosecco. Nowadays, the taste for it is stronger still: “Prosecco is on fire in the U.S. and Canada.” So says Enore Ceola, Managing Director of Mionetto Prosecco USA, in an interview for Wine & Spirits Daily published last week. Mionetto considers itself the leading brand of prosecco in America and the only one to offer “tiers” of prosecco for both price and wine style.
Ceola adds, “In northern Europe it’s kind of crazy what is happening there with prosecco, too. So, it’s not just a phenomenon in the U.S., it’s also a phenomenon in Western Europe.” In other words, lots of folks are drinking the proverbial Kool-Aid: in this instance, though, it’s bubbly, white and comes from the Veneto. Continue reading
Tender Pork Taco at Tico (Photo: Susanna Bolle)
We tend to associate winter with slow-cooked comfort foods — roasts, stews and such. They’re great, of course, and satisfy our need for extra-caloric oomph when temperatures dip.
But why not switch things up a bit this winter with a really tasty taco? Joshua Smith, the chef at Tico in the Back Bay, has just the thing: Tender Pork Tacos with a spicy chile sauce.
You can braise the pork shoulder, which will satisfy any need for low, slow, cold-weather cooking; then add a little spice to heat things up and remind you of warmer temps and sunnier times. At Tico, Smith makes a lot of different types of tacos, but this, he says, is the standout. “It’s pretty much the perfect taco.” (Recipe after the jump.) Continue reading
Photo: Tamara Eden/Flickr
Happy Hanukkah to all our readers who will be celebrating tonight! We wish you a beautiful, peaceful — and, of course, a delicious — series of nights.
Photo: katerha/Flickr
Today on Here & Now resident chef Kathy Gunst culls through the best cookbooks to give and to get this holiday season, and treats us to a fail-proof, yuck-proof version of that traditional dish, creamed spinach with fresh nutmeg. Gorgeous.
The outdoor Hay Market, Boston (photo: Anas Qtiesh/Flickr)
If you’re interested in state efforts to develop an indoor year-round farmers market near the site of historic Hay Market, you’ll want to listen to the report filed this morning by WBUR’s Delores Handy of Morning Edition.
Delores reports on the most recent steps towards realizing the market and speaks with a representative group of ‘stakeholders’ — a third-generation Hay Market vendor, a resident of Beacon Hill and Commissioner of Agricultural Resources Scott Soares.
The state is currently seeking proposals from potential developers and operators of the new public market, and the hope is for the market to open in approximately a year.
Fort Independence from South Boston Point (photo: Courtesy of Boston Public Library)
If you haven’t cracked the Winter edition of Edible Boston, you’re in for a treat.
For those of you who don’t subscribe or haven’t yet picked up a copy from your local food purveyor, settle for a read-through online, for this edition is indeed sumptuous, both in terms of content and graphics. A taste:
John Lee of Allendale Farm writes a brief, thoughtful musing about the “crush” to be ‘local’ and the real pressure he feels it placing on both field and farmer. The history of ginger is recounted, leading to a concise telling of New England’s traditions and a handful of gorgeous recipes. Home-brewing, cold-weather cocktails, coffee (Arlington’s Barismo), chocolate (EH Chocolatier), the bounty and the stories behind Massachusetts farmers markets, and local farmers grappling with the challenges of succession– Edible Boston offers more than enough to feed the mind, the body and the soul.
One of the features that particularly caught our eye, however, was Brian Samuels’ The New Southie, a food-lover’s log and photographic essay about the neighborhood of South Boston. Southie has such a fierce, historic, eminently Boston character. But did you know of the artisanal food-related businesses that have cropped up there? They’re flourishing, creating a nuanced local profile for Southie that now includes speciality shops, slow food and craft beer.
So, treat yourself this weekend! Both to news of the local bounty in South Boston and the rich bounty of our local food producers chronicled in this season’s issue of Edible Boston.