Tag: cooking

Seta’s Spinach Pie Is Absolutely Delicious!
One of our regular Copley Farmers' Market stops is at the Seta's Mediterranean Foods stand. It's fun to chat with Chef Seta Dakessian and trade cooking tips and ideas.

Recently, we added a slice of spinach pie to our order. Now, it's a new favorite and we'll be having it for lunch on market days. As always Seta has taken a classic item, made it with the freshest local ingredients, seasoned it perfectly, cooked it just right, and made it her own.

The ingredient list looks long, but if you read carefully it's really just spinach, feta, and onion, seasoned with some lemon juice, salt, pepper, and Aleppo pepper that's baked in phyllo. In Seta's hands this turns into a lovely lunch.

You can find Seta's Mediterranean Foods at the following farmers' markets:
- Tuesday & Friday: Copley Square, Boston
- Tuesday & Thursday: Dewey Square, Boston
- Wednesday: Davis Square, Somerville
- Saturday: Union Square, Somerville
Thanks to everyone who hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support. It doesn't cost you any more but they put a few coins in our tip jar.

What's on your fall shopping list? Click here for fall season savings over at Amazon.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

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September 17, 2012
Txakolina Extends Summer Fun

We discovered Txakolinas a few years ago and really enjoy these light, bright Basque wines. They're a perfect match for the type of foods you crave on a warm summer night. This particular one is Txakoli Ameztoi. It's one of those rare wines that actually has the flavor of fresh, green grapes. It might also remind you of a green apple– dry, crisp, refreshing, and thirst quenching.

Here's a link to a New York Times article, by Eric Asimov, on Txakolinas including this one. And he gives this note on pronunciation, "In Basque it is mostly rendered as Txakolina (pronounced chock-oh-LEE-nah), but almost as often it shows up as Txakoli (CHOCK-oh-lee)."

Txakolina, a Tongue-Twisting Name for Simple Pleasure

Only 10.5% alcohol makes them easy to enjoy.

By the way, we love to explore the food of a region with a wine. Over the years we've built a pretty good cookbook collection. One of our key reference books for Spanish food is 1008 Recipes by Simone and Inés Ortega. It's sort of the Joy of Cooking of Spain.

What's on your food lover's shopping list? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Screengrab courtesy of Alimentum

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

Basque Country Supper: Recreating Happy Memories

Some help Basque Phrases

Why you should visit the Basque country (part one)

Edible Boston Fall 2012 Issue Around Town Now!

Alimentum is Our Friday Link

September 10, 2012
Txakolina Extends Summer Fun

We discovered Txakolinas a few years ago and really enjoy these light, bright Basque wines. They're a perfect match for the type of foods you crave on a warm summer night. This particular one is Txakoli Ameztoi. It's one of those rare wines that actually has the flavor of fresh, green grapes. It might also remind you of a green apple– dry, crisp, refreshing, and thirst quenching.

Here's a link to a New York Times article, by Eric Asimov, on Txakolinas including this one. And he gives this note on pronunciation, "In Basque it is mostly rendered as Txakolina (pronounced chock-oh-LEE-nah), but almost as often it shows up as Txakoli (CHOCK-oh-lee)."

Txakolina, a Tongue-Twisting Name for Simple Pleasure

Only 10.5% alcohol makes them easy to enjoy.

By the way, we love to explore the food of a region with a wine. Over the years we've built a pretty good cookbook collection. One of our key reference books for Spanish food is 1008 Recipes by Simone and Inés Ortega. It's sort of the Joy of Cooking of Spain.

What's on your food lover's shopping list? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Screengrab courtesy of Alimentum

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

Basque Country Supper: Recreating Happy Memories

Some help Basque Phrases

Why you should visit the Basque country (part one)

Edible Boston Fall 2012 Issue Around Town Now!

Alimentum is Our Friday Link

September 10, 2012
Txakolina Extends Summer Fun

We discovered Txakolinas a few years ago and really enjoy these light, bright Basque wines. They're a perfect match for the type of foods you crave on a warm summer night. This particular one is Txakoli Ameztoi. It's one of those rare wines that actually has the flavor of fresh, green grapes. It might also remind you of a green apple– dry, crisp, refreshing, and thirst quenching.

Here's a link to a New York Times article, by Eric Asimov, on Txakolinas including this one. And he gives this note on pronunciation, "In Basque it is mostly rendered as Txakolina (pronounced chock-oh-LEE-nah), but almost as often it shows up as Txakoli (CHOCK-oh-lee)."

Txakolina, a Tongue-Twisting Name for Simple Pleasure

Only 10.5% alcohol makes them easy to enjoy.

By the way, we love to explore the food of a region with a wine. Over the years we've built a pretty good cookbook collection. One of our key reference books for Spanish food is 1008 Recipes by Simone and Inés Ortega. It's sort of the Joy of Cooking of Spain.

What's on your food lover's shopping list? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Screengrab courtesy of Alimentum

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

Basque Country Supper: Recreating Happy Memories

Some help Basque Phrases

Why you should visit the Basque country (part one)

Edible Boston Fall 2012 Issue Around Town Now!

Alimentum is Our Friday Link

September 10, 2012
Cooking Sweet Corn: Microwave, Grilling, and Elote!

If you’re still tossing your sweet corn into a pot of boiling water, you may want to consider the alternatives.

For years, I’ve been steaming our corn. I want all that flavor on our plates not tossed away in the cooking water! But recently, I saw an America’s Test Kitchen video on how to microwave corn “in the husk” that results in perfectly silk-free ears on the plate

When I told friends, they laughed because most of them had been microwaving corn for years. (As you can see, I don’t think microwave when it comes to cooking.) But most of them had also been husking the corn before they cooked it, so they did find the video helpful.

Grilled Corn & Elote

If the resident grill master is making supper, you can toss the corn (husk and all) right on the grill and get some of that lovely pop-corney caramelization going. We don’t have a safe grill space so I used a combo method to make the elote in the photo.

Elote is a favorite Mexican street food that has been showing up in Boston restaurants. A very popular version is served at Toro in the South End. There, it’s called “Maiz Asado con Alioli y queso Cotija.”

To make my version, I microwaved the corn for 2 minutes an ear (following the method in the video) and then popped the cleaned ears into a cast iron skillet to give them some color. I cut the ears in half for easier eating and stuck each half with a wooden chopstick.

Then come the toppings. Around here, most places seem to slather the corn in mayonnaise and then season. But in different Mexican cultural regions you might use butter, sour cream, crema, or citrus juice to moisten the ear.

Once you have a wet surface, you can add a Mexican cheese like crumbly Cotija Anejo, or substitute your favorite grated cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or a nice salty feta. Seasoning is the final step and that can include anything from salt to chili powder. I love a bit of smoky ancho chili powder on mine! Lime wedges, served on the side, are traditional.

If you’re having a party, you might set up all the toppings, salad-bar style, pass the cooked corn to your guests, and let them create their own version of elote.

What’s on your Summer Fun shopping list? Shop Amazon Everything You Need for Summer Fun and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

Something to Cook: Grilled Mexican Street Corn

The Seafood Grille at The Waterford Inn, Provincetown

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Cook Fresh Corn on the Cob in Your Microwave [Video]

August 13, 2012
Cooking Sweet Corn: Microwave, Grilling, and Elote!

If you’re still tossing your sweet corn into a pot of boiling water, you may want to consider the alternatives.

For years, I’ve been steaming our corn. I want all that flavor on our plates not tossed away in the cooking water! But recently, I saw an America’s Test Kitchen video on how to microwave corn “in the husk” that results in perfectly silk-free ears on the plate

When I told friends, they laughed because most of them had been microwaving corn for years. (As you can see, I don’t think microwave when it comes to cooking.) But most of them had also been husking the corn before they cooked it, so they did find the video helpful.

Grilled Corn & Elote

If the resident grill master is making supper, you can toss the corn (husk and all) right on the grill and get some of that lovely pop-corney caramelization going. We don’t have a safe grill space so I used a combo method to make the elote in the photo.

Elote is a favorite Mexican street food that has been showing up in Boston restaurants. A very popular version is served at Toro in the South End. There, it’s called “Maiz Asado con Alioli y queso Cotija.”

To make my version, I microwaved the corn for 2 minutes an ear (following the method in the video) and then popped the cleaned ears into a cast iron skillet to give them some color. I cut the ears in half for easier eating and stuck each half with a wooden chopstick.

Then come the toppings. Around here, most places seem to slather the corn in mayonnaise and then season. But in different Mexican cultural regions you might use butter, sour cream, crema, or citrus juice to moisten the ear.

Once you have a wet surface, you can add a Mexican cheese like crumbly Cotija Anejo, or substitute your favorite grated cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or a nice salty feta. Seasoning is the final step and that can include anything from salt to chili powder. I love a bit of smoky ancho chili powder on mine! Lime wedges, served on the side, are traditional.

If you’re having a party, you might set up all the toppings, salad-bar style, pass the cooked corn to your guests, and let them create their own version of elote.

What’s on your Summer Fun shopping list? Shop Amazon Everything You Need for Summer Fun and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

Something to Cook: Grilled Mexican Street Corn

The Seafood Grille at The Waterford Inn, Provincetown

Vella Dry Jack Cheese: an American Treasure

Cook Fresh Corn on the Cob in Your Microwave [Video]

August 13, 2012
Cooking Sweet Corn: Microwave, Grilling, and Elote!

If you’re still tossing your sweet corn into a pot of boiling water, you may want to consider the alternatives.

For years, I’ve been steaming our corn. I want all that flavor on our plates not tossed away in the cooking water! But recently, I saw an America’s Test Kitchen video on how to microwave corn “in the husk” that results in perfectly silk-free ears on the plate

When I told friends, they laughed because most of them had been microwaving corn for years. (As you can see, I don’t think microwave when it comes to cooking.) But most of them had also been husking the corn before they cooked it, so they did find the video helpful.

Grilled Corn & Elote

If the resident grill master is making supper, you can toss the corn (husk and all) right on the grill and get some of that lovely pop-corney caramelization going. We don’t have a safe grill space so I used a combo method to make the elote in the photo.

Elote is a favorite Mexican street food that has been showing up in Boston restaurants. A very popular version is served at Toro in the South End. There, it’s called “Maiz Asado con Alioli y queso Cotija.”

To make my version, I microwaved the corn for 2 minutes an ear (following the method in the video) and then popped the cleaned ears into a cast iron skillet to give them some color. I cut the ears in half for easier eating and stuck each half with a wooden chopstick.

Then come the toppings. Around here, most places seem to slather the corn in mayonnaise and then season. But in different Mexican cultural regions you might use butter, sour cream, crema, or citrus juice to moisten the ear.

Once you have a wet surface, you can add a Mexican cheese like crumbly Cotija Anejo, or substitute your favorite grated cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or a nice salty feta. Seasoning is the final step and that can include anything from salt to chili powder. I love a bit of smoky ancho chili powder on mine! Lime wedges, served on the side, are traditional.

If you’re having a party, you might set up all the toppings, salad-bar style, pass the cooked corn to your guests, and let them create their own version of elote.

What’s on your Summer Fun shopping list? Shop Amazon Everything You Need for Summer Fun and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

Something to Cook: Grilled Mexican Street Corn

The Seafood Grille at The Waterford Inn, Provincetown

Vella Dry Jack Cheese: an American Treasure

Cook Fresh Corn on the Cob in Your Microwave [Video]

August 13, 2012
Cabbage & Kielbasa Stir-Fry: Keep it Simple in the Kitchen
Once you master the stir-fry technique, you can take it out of Asia and transport classic combinations from other cultures to the land of delicious in a wok or large skillet. How about Eastern European Cabbage & Kielbasa as a stir-fry with some apples and onions tossed in for accents?

That's a new favorite around here. And, in keeping with my attempt to get some of you cooking without exact recipes, I'll tell you how I made it and you can ad lib around my theme.
- I sliced up a big, sweet onion and sautéed it in olive oil in my All-Clad Nonstick 12-Inch Fry Pan.
- I cut a ring of kielbasa into slices and added those to the onions to brown a bit and give off its fat and garlicky flavor to the pan. (I used a pork kielbasa but you can buy what you like: lite, low fat, turkey, etc.)
- As the onion and kielbasa started to color a bit, I added a sliced apple. (Use what you have– I had Granny Smith. Peel it or not, that's up to you.)
- Finally, I chopped and added a small head of cabbage (from the Prudential Winter Farmers' Market) to the pan, added some white wine, a few turns of black pepper, and stirred up the whole thing. I covered it and waited a few minutes for the cabbage to become wilted but still toothsome in places.
We had it with a hearty multi-grain bread.

Sometimes I substitute gin for the wine and add four or five crushed juniper berries to the dish. You could also add a can of crushed or diced tomatoes.

What changes will you make to this basic recipe? Let us know if you try it and how it turned out for you.

Related Posts:

Here are more of my non-recipe recipes and a few with traditional details.

Need some Valentine's Day gift ideas? Click over to Amazon and do some planning, and if you do buy something there, they'll put a few coins in our tip cup.

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: © 2012 Penny Cherubino
January 23, 2012