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chefs & restaurantsnews

Hood Soup Boutique Truck Comes to Providence with soup from Chef Ben Lloyd of Tazza

by David Dadekian December 9, 2012
written by David Dadekian
Hood Soup Boutique

Hood Soup Boutique

On Tuesday, December 11 through Thursday, December 13, Hood is bringing the Soup Boutique, Inspired by Hood Cream, a touring food truck sampling chef-created soups featuring Hood Cream, to Providence. From 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Soup Boutique will be in downtown Providence offering free soup samples, one from a recipe created by Executive Chef Ben Lloyd of Tazza.

You can track the truck on Hood’s Facebook page and on Twitter using the hashtag #HoodSoupTruck where you can also enter to win a Hood Soup Boutique prize package, which includes a $100 restaurant gift card, coupons, cookware, and a cookbook. In addition, Hood is donating one dollar to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank for each soup sample distributed.

Providence tour schedule:
December 11th & December 12th: Greater Kennedy Plaza (across from the Biltmore Hotel, City Hall)
December 13th: Grant’s Block area, on Westminster Street (between Union Street & Eddy Street)

Below is the full press release from Hood.

HOOD® PARTNERS WITH TOP CHEFS FOR SOUP BOUTIQUE INSPIRED BY HOOD CREAM

Public to Enjoy Chef-Created Soups During Food Truck Tour in Boston, Portland and Providence

HP Hood, the leading dairy brand in New England, today announced the launch of the Soup Boutique, Inspired by Hood® Cream, a touring food truck sampling chef-created soups featuring Hood Cream. From November 26th through December 13th, Hood will be sampling these hot, delicious soups at select locations on specific dates in Boston, Portland and Providence. Each stop will offer two soup selections – one original recipe created by a leading local chef based in that stop’s city, and one classic Hood soup recipe prepared by Chef Jonathan Dunn of Lavishly Dunn Catering. Fans can follow the truck on Facebook and on Twitter by using the hashtag #HoodSoupTruck for a chance to win a Hood Soup Boutique prize package each week of the tour. In the spirit of holiday giving, Hood is donating one dollar* to a local food bank in each city for every sample distributed.

“Top New England chefs have used Hood Cream in their recipes for decades, and with our Soup Boutique everyone can get a taste of how Hood’s high-quality Cream products can elevate a dish,” said Lynne Bohan, Vice President of Public Relations, HP Hood LLC. “During this holiday season, we’re also proud to be assisting organizations helping those in need.”

Soup Boutique, Inspired by Hood Cream, will offer cream-based soup samples Monday, November 26th through Thursday, December 13th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., rain or shine, in the following locations:

Boston, MA: Monday, November 26th – Friday, November 30th
• Monday, November 26th – Government Center
o Featured chef: Chris Coombs, Deuxave/dBar
• Tuesday, November 27th – Harvard Square, Cambridge
o Featured chef: Eric Gregory, Grafton Street Pub and Grill
• Wednesday, November 28th – Dewey Square
o Featured chef: Chris Coombs, Deuxave/dBar
• Thursday, November 29th – Harvard Square, Cambridge
o Featured chef: Eric Gregory, Grafton Street Pub and Grill
• Friday, November 30th – Government Center
o Featured chef: Chris Coombs, Deuxave/dBar

Portland, ME: Tuesday, December 4th – Thursday, December 6th – Downtown Portland
• Featured chef: Jeff Landry, The Farmer’s Table

Providence, RI: Tuesday, December 11th – Thursday, December 13th – Downtown Providence
• Featured chef: Ben Lloyd, Tazza Caffe

Featured chefs will meet and greet guests during select times throughout the tour, and Hood representatives will hand out recipe cards and coupons for Hood Cream products so visitors will be able to recreate the chef’s restaurant-quality soups in the comfort of their home. For each bowl of soup sampled, Hood will donate one dollar* to local food banks.

To participate in the Soup Boutique giveaway, post a response to the question “In what dish do you love using @HPHood Cream?” to Twitter using the #HoodSoupTruck hashtag or share your response on to the contest tab on Hood’s Facebook page. One lucky winner will be selected each week to receive a Hood Soup Boutique prize package, including a $100 restaurant gift card to that week’s chef’s restaurant, Hood Cream coupons, cookware and a Hood New England Dairy Cook-Off® cookbook. Entries are limited to one per person, per week.

To learn more about Hood and to read official contest rules, visit Hood.com/soupboutique. You can also follow Hood on Twitter at @hphood or become at fan at facebook.com/HPHood.

December 9, 2012 0 comment
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chefs & restaurantsnews

Gracie’s Offers Kids’ Tasting Menu for the Holidays

by David Dadekian December 1, 2011
written by David Dadekian
Local Catch Fish & Chips with triple cooked potatoes, cole slaw and green tomato tartar sauce

Local Catch Fish & Chips with triple cooked potatoes, cole slaw and green tomato tartar sauce

Gracie’s restaurant in downtown Providence is now offering a three-course kids’ tasting menu during the holiday season. Executive Chef Matthew Varga and Pastry Chef Melissa Denmark designed the kids’ menu using the same philosophy behind Gracie’s main dining menu: “offering the freshest ingredients to reflect the flavors of the season.” Varga said, “I always have a blast cooking for kids because we were all kids once. My inspiration for this menu is all the things I loved to eat when I was a kid. Broccoli Mac & Cheese—I grew up on that. Meatloaf—my father, he’d be very proud of my meatloaf. And my mother [would make] fried mozzarella. That’s a thing we always had around when I was growing up. The menu’s really reliving my childhood. It’s a great time.”

In order to check out that “great time,” my family went to dinner at Gracie’s this past weekend to sample several of the kids’ menu items. My daughters are a bit young to clean their plates, which was fine with us adults since that meant we could get a taste of all those childhood memories. From an adult perspective I offer these notes on the menu items my children had. The Mozzarella Arancini, fried mozzarella with a marinara dipping sauce, was a big hit and from the adult perspective, beautifully presented. The Chicken Noodle Soup was really hearty and the croutons added a wonderful crunch alongside the abundance of noodles.

I could’ve made a meal out of the mozzarella and a big bowl of the soup alone, but then I would’ve been very sad to have missed the Mac & Cheese that was so homey and crunchy. There was broccoli in the dish for health and color, as well as lots of big chunks of bacon for, well, bacon! The other kids’ second course we tried was the Meatloaf which my father and I could have easily polished off had it not been my daughter’s dinner. It may be a kids’ menu item, but the whole plate said Gracie’s with perfectly peeled and cooked carrots and onions, and deliciously creamy mashed potatoes.

As for the third course, desert, unsurprisingly I didn’t manage to get a bite of either the Milk & Cookies or the Brownie Sundae. My daughters enjoyed everything which would be the endorsement I’d want. Pastry Chef Melissa Denmark had the best last remark when I asked her about the menu, “It’s a good time to be a kid.”

There are three choices in each course of the kids’ menu: First Course of Baby Greens Salad, Mozzarella Arancini or Free Range Chicken Noodle Soup; Second Course of Rotini Mac & Cheese, Local Catch Fish & Chips or Blackbird Farms Meatloaf; Third Course of Milk & Cookies, Brownie Sundae or Gracieʼs Crème Brûlée. The cost per child is $25. For more information or to make a reservation, see www.graciesprov.com.

Mozzarella Arancini with San Marzano marinara sauce, micro basil

Mozzarella Arancini with San Marzano marinara sauce, micro basil

Milk & Cookies with choice of milk, chocolate milk or hot cocoa

Milk & Cookies with choice of milk, chocolate milk or hot cocoa

A table at Gracie's with Mozzarella Arancini and Free Range Chicken Noodle Soup with aromatic vegetables, homemade focaccia croutons

A table at Gracie's with Mozzarella Arancini and Free Range Chicken Noodle Soup with aromatic vegetables, homemade focaccia croutons

Baby Greens Salad with housemade buttermilk ranch dressing, Yukon potato chips

Baby Greens Salad with housemade buttermilk ranch dressing, Yukon potato chips

Blackbird Farm Meatloaf with smashed red potatoes, roasted carrots and onions, thyme gravy

Blackbird Farm Meatloaf with smashed red potatoes, roasted carrots and onions, thyme gravy

Rotini Mac & Cheese with cheddar mornay, broccoli, house smoked bacon, herb crust

Rotini Mac & Cheese with cheddar mornay, broccoli, house smoked bacon, herb crust

December 1, 2011 0 comment
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chefs & restaurantsnews

A Visit to Trafford for Newport Restaurant Week, November 4 – 13, 2011

by David Dadekian November 1, 2011
written by David Dadekian
Trafford's Mussels Frites

Trafford's Mussels Frites

Newport Restaurant Week, November 4 - 13, 2011Newport Restaurant Week (NRW) begins anew this Friday, November 4, at over 55 restaurants in Newport & Bristol Counties. Diners at participating restaurants get to enjoy three-course lunches for $16, and three-course dinners for $30, from the 4th through November 13. In talking with the NBCCVB about this year’s Restaurant Week we decided to do something a little more interesting than just writing about the events and listing restaurants. Here we have a sneak preview of some items on the NRW menu at Trafford, a restaurant at 285 Water Street in Warren that’s not only a NRW first-timer, but also almost brand new, having opened a little over four months ago.

To read the rest of this post please continue at the NBCCVB’s From Stem to Stern blog.

November 1, 2011 0 comment
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cooking

Charcutepalooza May: Grinding: merguez and Mexican chorizo

by David Dadekian May 15, 2011
written by David Dadekian

CharcutepaloozaSometimes, as the poet Burns wrote, “the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry.” That isn’t to say I didn’t grind meat for this month’s Charcutepalooza challenge. Nor is it to say the final product wasn’t very tasty. It’s that, well, things went awry. Which is why there are only two “before” photos of my sausage making and none of the sometimes-food-porn that I make of the final product (see February’s “The Salt Cure: bacon & pancetta” for glistening pork love).

I love making sausage. I’ve been making it for years. Even when I lived in a studio apartment and only had a tiny kitchenette, I kept a food processor on what ridiculously little counter space I had and would pulse up all kinds of sausage patties. Since then I’ve graduated to a KitchenAid mixer and the very first attachment I bought was the sausage making kit. Which isn’t perfect, I know, but unless you’re going to buy me this beautiful beast, I don’t want to hear it. So when I saw that May’s Charcutepalooza challenge was grinding, I wanted to come up with something that was an additional challenge for me.

Usually I would play with recipes, experiment with different flavors and try something different in the mix. Something that would set me off on a new path. However, having made both merguez and chorizo in the past from Ruhlman & Polcyn’s Charcuterie recipes, I knew that for me they are two of the most bulletproof recipes in the book. I really like them both the way they are (though in typical I-must-do-things-in-the-kitchen-my-way fashion I’ll admit to doubling the red wine and nixing the chilled water in the merguez recipe). So I headed downstairs to the freezer and perused our inventory whiteboard attached to the door to see if it would spark some improvisation.

I knew it would be goofy to share that I have a whiteboard attached to our standalone freezer listing the contents of the freezer, but I didn’t realize how weird it would be describing it.

In the freezer we have a lot of lamb. I love lamb. My grandmother used to make us rib chops all the time and ground lamb is very common in many Armenian dishes. I really love lamb fat too, and we had a few pounds in the freezer, so I decided to use it instead of any pork fat this time out. Then I saw on the whiteboard that there was still some lamb offal left from the lamb I got for Christmas, and since there are very few ways I could sneak half a lamb heart and a liver into my family’s meals, they seemed perfect for sausage. I took from the freezer the lamb fat, heart and liver, along with some pork shoulder and liver, and a bag of corn cobs. Then I meticulously removed the items from the inventory whiteboard of course.

I left the meat items on the counter so they would thaw just a little bit, but not entirely as I wanted them firm to grind. I put the corn cobs into a pot of simmering water to make broth as I had this spring dinner vision in my head. I also stuck the KitchenAid grinder attachment and bowl in the freezer to chill. A couple of hours later I had this bowl of meat, fat and offal.

Clockwise from top: lamb liver, pork liver, pork shoulder, lamb fat, half a lamb heart

Clockwise from top: lamb liver, pork liver, pork shoulder, lamb fat, half a lamb heart

The corn broth had developed nicely so I added a couple of pounds of diced potatoes and some salt and went back to my sausage making. First up, merguez with the lamb heart, liver and fat. I had about 500 grams of heart and liver so I created a quick ratio to the amount of meat called for in the Charcuterie recipe and figured out the amount of fat and other ingredients I needed. Then I began grinding. Here’s where I first realized this might not be the best idea I’ve ever had. Everything ground up fine, I mixed in all the herbs, spices and wine and it certainly smelled like the same merguez I’ve made before. But it didn’t look right. The liver and heart were just too soft and I shouldn’t have thought to treat them like meat. As I tweeted to my friend Janis, the end result looked like an “unattractive meat slurry.”

Not to be deterred I heated up a saute pan, sprayed on a little non-stick cooking spray, took out a #20 disher and dropped two scoops of the liquid sausage into the pan. Kind of like meat pancakes. I cooked them for a few minutes on each side, and while the end result still looked kind of unappealing, it tasted exactly like good, spicy lamb sausage. I made the rest of my merguez-cakes before moving on to the chorizo. The pork ground up much tighter and behaved more like ground meat because of the shoulder. Also the pork liver was a lot more dense and meatier than the lamb liver. I added in the rest of the lamb fat too for texture.

Grinding away, the blurred shapes are arm movement during the long exposure

Grinding away, the blurred shapes are arm movement during the long exposure

So maybe things had gone awry, but I was back on track and having fun grinding. It was then that I realized how much time had passed, dinner wasn’t ready yet, my wife Brenda was hungry and also a little curious about the amount of blood and meaty substance that now covered a lot of our kitchen counter. She was also a tiny bit concerned about the fact that I had prepared sausage for dinner out of a bowl that looked like it had meat batter in it. So instead of taking the time to stuff the chorizo into casings, I whipped in the herbs, spices and liquid, turned the whole thing out onto a huge sheet of parchment paper, rolled it up tight into a 4″ diameter tube, placed it on a sheet pan and stuck it in the freezer. The next day I quickly sliced the chorizo tube into 1/2″ rounds and put those into bags in the freezer, keeping one out to fry up and make sure it tasted like chorizo, which it did.

So I completed the May challenge with two sausages that tasted great. The chorizo I’ll use in all kinds of dishes, maybe even frying up a slice for a quick snack or putting a round on the grill during the summer. The merguez? That went into our late dinner which was: Corn Broth with Potatoes and Freshly Sliced Schartner Farm Asparagus, Accompanied by Floating Rounds of Merguez.

Lawyer-poet John Godfrey Saxe said, “Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made.” I’m sure there are hundreds of Charcutepalooza posts out today that disprove that quote. Thanks again to Cathy Barrow and Kim Foster. This month you inspired and challenged me.

May 15, 2011 0 comment
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