Go Local Magazine - April 2016

Go Local Magazine is a local lifestyle magazine showcasing life around the Massachusetts/Connecticut line. Its mission is to improve the community by promoting the region (which includes Stafford Springs, Somers, Enfield and Suffield, CT; and Hampden, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow and Agawam, MA - and this territory will be expanding soon!) as a destination to live, play, shop and eat, and to showcase the citizens who make it great. 

Amy wrote the article on Enfield's newest cafe, For Love and Food (on page 20). Also, you can find a 2-page spread highlighting our Together, We Eat! contest-winning recipe and story on pages 40-41. 

Thinking of purchasing a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)? There's a great list of farms in the area that offer shares, including our favorite Simpaug Farms. 

You can get a free copy of Go Local Magazine at many businesses around these towns (go here for a list) or check it out online (here).

And - don't forget to tune in Sunday around 7:15 to see Amy on WTNH ABC Channel 8 doing her first live TV cooking segment.

Together, We Eat! on the Local News

Amy has been invited to showcase our award-winning Spring Onion and Ricotta Fresca Tart on our local (Connecticut) news.

Both appearances will be live cooking segments. The first will be on ABC 8 on Sunday, April 3 at 7:15 a.m. There was supposed to be one on NBC on Easter but it had to be postponed. Stay tuned for more info. 

Together, We Eat - O! The Oprah Magazine

The April issue of O! The Oprah Magazine is officially out. And in it are the results of Amy's photo shoot, along with a snapshot of us with our neighbor Barb, our award-winning Together, We Eat story and the now-famous Spring Onion and Ricotta Fresca Tart. Here's the VIDEO: http://togetherweeat.com/servingupspringwinners/.You can also find the recipe there.

And here's the much-talked-about spread:

Up next? Live cooking segments on our local ABC and NBC affiliates...coming soon!

A very special thank you to everyone on the Oprah and IKEA teams for creating this amazing experience for us and for making it so memorable. And congratulations to the first prize winners whose recipes look so delicious.

Tourtiere (Canadian Meat Pie) for Pi Day

Happy Pi Day, everyone! While Mr. Science Chris likes the symbolism behind 3/14 (or 3.1415....), Amy just looks forward to eating pie. And being French Canadian, she's always wanted to try Tourtiere, especially after seeing this recipe in Saveur.

We made a couple of adjustments to the Saveur recipe. For instance, since it was a weeknight, we used store-bought pie dough. We also tried a mix of ground meat - 2 parts pork to 1 part beef. We forgot to buy apple cider, so we put 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar into the cooking meat instead. And what we ended up with was a very interesting dish with lots of layers. It was definitely hearty, with all that meat and potatoes, but it also had beautifully warm spice flavors such as cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. And the aroma of this meat pie cooking? Just right for a cold, damp Monday afternoon. No wonder they eat this in Canada!

Tourtiere

Adapted from this recipe from Saveur

Ingredients:

1 refrigerated pie crust, defrosted

1 1/2 cups raw potatoes, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground pork

1/2 pound ground beef

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 medium onions, chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 bay leaves

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 egg, beaten

Lay the bottom pie crust in a 9-inch pie plate and set aside. Bring a large pot of water to boil, add salt, and boil the diced potatoes until they are tender. Mash and set aside. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the pork and beef and cook until no longer pink. Add the garlic, onion, and carrot, and cook, stirring often, until meat is nicely browned and vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in cider vinegar, celery seed, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and bay leaves. Continue to cook and stir until liquid is evaporated. Stir in mashed potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and allow mixture to cool completely. Preheat oven to 400F. Place the filling into the pie plate, smooth the top and cover with the top crust. Fold the crust under itself and crimp together with your fingers. Brush with the beaten egg and place in the oven. Bake for 50-55 minutes, until hot and golden brown.  

Grilled Pomelo "Steaks"

Do you know the pomelo? It's basically a really big grapefruit. In fact, its Latin name is citrus maxima. Love that. Chris came home with a huge pink pomelo the other day, saying he wanted to slice it and grill the slices. Pomelo "steak" and eggs!

He sprinkled the slices with demerara sugar and put them on a hot grill until they were warm and covered with pretty grill marks. Meanwhile, I cooked some eggs, bacon, toast and coffee for a deliciously big breakfast. The pomelo was sweet and juicy, with the perfect amount of char. Yummmm. Don't you just live for Sundays?

NOLA BBQ Shrimp 'n Grits

Our niece, P, is heading to New Orleans for spring break this weekend and boy, are we jealous. We haven't been since 2013, and Amy can feel it in her bones. It's an ever-present longing for her. Like Louis Armstrong's song goes, "Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?"

We met P for dinner to give her some trip tips - things to do, places to go, restaurants and bars to visit, must-eat dishes. You know the drill. And a few days later, no surprise, Amy had a yearning for Southern food. Her favorite New Orleans dish, in particular - BBQ Shrimp. 

We've written about BBQ Shrimp before (here, here, here). Amy tries not to make it too often, as it is an exceptionally rich (read: full of butter) dish. But at times like this, it's more of a need than a want. We usually gorge ourselves on shrimp and bread alone, but this time we made them over creamy cheesy grits. Oh yeah.

Note: Start the grits first, as they take slightly longer than the shrimp.

BBQ Shrimp 'n Grits

inspired by the recipe from Ralph's on the Park

BBQ Shrimp

Ingredients:

1 pound large fresh unpeeled (heads, tails, shell left on)

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

3 teaspoons Creole seasoning (such as Tony Chachere's)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary

2 tablespoons hot water

1/2 lemon, seeds removed

1 stick unsalted butter, chilled

Place shrimp in a large skillet. Add Worcestershire sauce, pepper, Creole seasoning, garlic, rosemary and water. Squeeze the lemon over the shrimp to add the juice, then put what's left of the lemon into the pan. Cook over high heat, occasionally stirring/tossing, until shrimp start to turn pink (about 2 minutes). Reduce heat to medium, then add butter, one tablespoon at a time, to the pan. Continue to stir and/or toss gently while adding the butter, until all butter is incorporated into the sauce and shrimp are fully, but not overly, cooked (2-3 minutes depending on the size of the shrimp). Serve over grits with crusty bread and lots of napkins. 

Grits

Ingredients:

3/4 cup stone-ground corn meal (aka grits, aka polenta)

2 cups chicken stock

3/4 cup half-and-half

4 tablespoons cream cheese (regular or whipped)

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (or to taste)

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until they are smooth and tender (about 10 minutes). 

Go Local Magazine, March Issue

Go Local Magazine is a local lifestyle magazine showcasing life around the Massachusetts/Connecticut line. Its mission is to improve the community by promoting the region (which includes Stafford Springs, Somers, Enfield and Suffield, CT; and Hampden, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow and Agawam, MA) as a destination to live, play, shop and eat, and to showcase the citizens who make it great. 

Amy wrote the article Udderly Fresh: Dairy from Smyth's Trinity Farm (Enfield) on page 11. Also, you can find our recipe for Guinness Glazed Chicken Wings (perfect for St. Patrick's Day) on page 38.You can get a free copy at many businesses around these towns (go here for a list) or check it out online (here).

Cans Get You Cooking!

Our favorite grocery store, Big Y, partnered with CansGetYouCooking.com to sponsor a recipe contest. The "Cozy Crockpot Recipe Contest" required that you submit your best crockpot recipe using at least two canned goods. We entered our Slightly Smoky Ham and Bean Soup (which uses canned tomatoes, canned chicken stock and two types of canned beans) and we won! Hurrah! Click here for the easy to make, light-on-the-wallet, hearty soup recipe.

Lady Doctor Lunch at Avert Brasserie

Amy writes:

Snow was falling softly on the sidewalk but it wasn't accumulating. Indeed, it was making things rather picturesque. So New England-y. I had taken a half day off of work for a couple of doctor appointments. The kind of appointments women have to do, and should do, annually. They are not fun appointments, like massages or mani-pedis. But they are necessary. And I am of the opinion that when you have to do something you don't really want to do, you should give yourself a reward. Instead of thinking of it as a chore, think of it as something to celebrate. 

And so I found myself in between the two appointments, which I had purposely scheduled for the same day, with plenty of time to take myself to a beautiful lunch. My second appointment was in the West end of Hartford, and as I am a big fan of classic French cuisine, I decided to (finally!) check out Avert Brasserie on LaSalle Road. My reward. 

The decor certainly evokes the streets of Paris, with charming light fixtures, exposed brick, and a zinc bar including the requisite stand of hard-boiled eggs. The ambience affirmed that I had made the right choice - I felt special here, having a grown-up lunch by myself in the middle of the day (yes, the clock was wrong...). It's the simple things, after all.

I started with a champagne cocktail and my server brought over some thick slices of crusty, chewy baguette with a luxuriously smooth, slightly salted butter. I decided to keep it old-school and chose the onion soup for my appetizer. It was full-bodied and tasty, with lots of caramelized onions beneath a crisp, melted topping of Comte cheese. A perfect start.

I had a much harder time deciding on my entree, as so many classic favorites appear on Avert's lunch menu: Moules Frites? Beef Bourguignon? Coq au Vin? Oh, who was I kidding. I was getting the duck - Duck Leg Confit, to be exact. The very well-balanced plate was served with green lentils and a frisee salad with a warm shallot dressing. The frisee was slightly bitter, but a touch of mustard seed in the dressing brought a pleasant pungency to each bite. The lentils were sweet and smoky, with a hint of spice that I couldn't quite place, but it very well could have been cinnamon. They sat atop a bed of diced green apples which offered a delightful crunch and sweetness. The duck was the star, though. That one perfectly confited duck leg had rich dark meat that was falling off the bone, crispy mahogany-colored skin, and none of the grease or oil that confit often has. I was in heaven, and I ate every bite, leaving nothing but bare bones.

My server suggested that I finish with a pot de creme, and I agreed with him; he's the expert after all. The dense, velvety pudding had deep chocolate flavor that paired so nicely with my last sips of Cote du Rhone. I knew my second appointment was ahead, so I also got a pot of tea, which came with a pale pink strawberry macaron. I ate that, too. I was full, but satisfied and happy with myself. I had another half hour to kill, so I walked around West Hartford Center, window-shopping and breathing in the cold winter air. With a lunch like that as a reward, I almost look forward to next year's appointments. Almost.

Rabbit Ragu with Pappardelle

Our typical date night is going out to dinner. It's just what we do, and we do it often. Probably too often. But anyway. Because there are so many great places near us, we like to try new places rather than become "regulars" at certain ones. And we are quite choosy, which means we hardly ever have a bad meal out. Not that it never happens, but it's rare. 

So it happens that when there's a holiday on which people tend to go out to dinner, we do not. We don't take that risk, because it seems those are the times when disappointment occurs and your special occasions become not-so-special. You choose the perfect place, get a reservation weeks ahead of time, browse the menu every few days, get your heart set on enjoying that amazing dish, with amazing service, in an amazing setting, having amazing conversation and...poof! The reality sets in. It's freezing cold. You have to wait 45 minutes for a table even though you have a reservation. They are out of that one dish you really wanted. Everything on the "special menu" is slightly more expensive than you remember. Your server is too busy to pay any attention to your empty glass, and it's too noisy to hear anything your significant other is saying. Not. So. Special.

All of this is to tell you that we stayed home for Valentine's Day. Our date that day was cooking together. We put on some music and spent much of the afternoon and evening in the kitchen. We made our own bread. We prepared pots de creme au chocolat for dessert. Chris used his new butchery book and butchered a rabbit perfectly, then we browned and shredded the meat to make a rabbit ragu using this recipe (because the New York Times knows what they're doing). While the sauce simmered softly on the stove top, we made and cut our own pappardelle. Rolling those long sheets of pasta was much easier with four hands! We opened a decent bottle of wine (at its retail price!) and enjoyed our entirely-from-scratch dinner in the dining room. We talked. We ate. We used cloth napkins. It was fun. It was romantic. And, God-willing, we'll do it again next year. You should, too.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE FOR RABBIT RAGU WITH PAPPARDELLE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES