Restaurants everywhere come and go, and some just have facelifts. Cooks, too, do a lot of moving around as a way to move up the ladder and learn from other chefs in a business that sees more action than most. But even by industry standards, the South Shore restaurant scene is … [Read more...]
A bread baking revolution: No knead doughs
I’ve been contemplating writing a cookbook with a title along the lines of “I’m too tired to cook, but why don’t you come over for something simple to eat, anyway,” which should indicate the direction my culinary energies have been headed lately. So, you can imagine how near … [Read more...]
Mother love
I remember with the greatest love and amusement the years my mother spent struggling to keep track of what foods her three daughters liked. One would eat hot dogs, but only with catsup, while it was mustard or nothing for another. Plain pasta for one, sauced for the other two. … [Read more...]
Arthur & Pat’s summer shack
It’s the first sunny day since Arthur & Pat’s opened for the season, and we’re finally here for breakfast after a long winter’s wait. If you’ve never been to this Marshfield institution, go before the Food Channel discovers it and you can’t get in the door. It’s the … [Read more...]
A new market in Hingham
I’ve been trying to write about Hingham’s new grocery store, The Fresh Market, for a week and I keep circling a single point I can’t seem to get around. TFM is a chain out of North Carolina that opened its 94th store in its 18th state -- Massachusetts -- at the Hingham … [Read more...]
Cheap Eats in Hanover
I’m hanging around Cedar Café in Hanover, waiting for my order, when I idly ask how Nopi Karastamatis -- the mother of the family that owns the place -- learned to be such a good cook. “She’s Greek!,” the three people behind the counter chime simultaneously, as though on cue, as … [Read more...]
Fire bricks inside a Weber grill for pizza
I can’t tell whether what I did last weekend was clever or ridiculous. Inspired (obsessed?) by a recent revelatory and mouthwatering encounter cooking pizza in a friend’s wood-fired brick oven, I got to wondering if pizza could be cooked on a gas grill and come out better than … [Read more...]
Following flavor with Chef Maryann Saporito
It's a Thursday morning in Marshfield and I'm in the kitchen with Chef Maryann Saporito while she preps for dinner at her restaurant Hola Flatbreads and Tapas. Among other tasks, she's making a batch of filling for her chicken empanadas with corn and black beans. She has … [Read more...]
Wood-fired ovens in Hingham
Have you ever looked into a wood-fired brick oven for three straight minutes and watched a flat, raw pizza puff up into a bubbling cooked one in seconds? I just have for the first time, and it's spectacular! The baking happens so fast, it feels like you're seeing time-lapse … [Read more...]
Organic farming at Holly Hill Farm in Cohasset
Ever since Meryl Streep's public outrage over pesticide use on apples in the '80s, organic food has ignited a range of reactions in shoppers -- from allure and appreciation to confusion and distrust. Recent news that some of Whole Foods frozen vegetables are grown in China … [Read more...]
