Category: Eats

My Turn To Ask…………Would you please vote for my recipe?

Posted on by laurielufkin

I entered the Pillsbury Monthly Recipe contest and the theme this month was appetizers.  My recipe Tuscan Splendor Spinach Braid was chosen out of hundreds of recipes as one of the top ten finalists vying for $2500.00.

Would you please vote for my recipe every day until December 1st—yes, seven days from now–and I could win $2500.00 for me and Lily!  You do have to register to vote on the Pillsbury site but you do not have to select to receive emails from them.

Here is the link to vote: https://generalmills.promo.eprize.com/bakeoff/?WT.ac=HP_Left_Feature_Picture_MonthlyChallenge

Here is the recipe and a (lousy scanned) photo:

INGREDIENTS
1        can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations® refrigerated
seamless dough sheet
1/3    cup refrigerated black olive tapénade (from 7 oz container)
1        box (9 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed to drain
1/2    cup crumbled goat (chèvre) cheese
3/4    cup julienne cut sun dried tomatoes in oil, well drained
1        egg
1        teaspoon water

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Unroll dough. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press into 12×9-inch rectangle.

2. Spread tapénade in 3-inch wide strip lengthwise down the center of dough leaving 1-inch edge on both ends. Layer spinach evenly over the tapénade. Top with cheese then layer with tomatoes.

3. With scissors or sharp knife, make diagonal cuts 1 inch apart on long sides of dough rectangle to within 1/2 inch of filling. Alternately cross strips diagonally over filling. Turn ends of braid up and press to seal. In small bowl, beat egg with water. Brush over top of braid.

4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. To serve, cut into slices.

Thank you all for your support and votes!

RUSSELL’S FLORIST

Posted on by Frankie Gentile Jr.

Russell’s Florist is a family owned and operated stand-alone brick and mortar business. Eric and Maria Russell are both natives to Gloucester and have lived and worked within their community their entire lives. With rich family roots in Gloucester, Russell’s Florist, leaves you with a familiar feeling of comfort each time you call or visit their store. With Eric’s artistic touch and Maria’s cheerful manner, you are sure to be satisfied whether you are ordering a simple birthday bouquet or planning your daughter’s Gala Wedding. Another great thing is….they have a coupon for FREE Delivery……So order your flowers today…..and say hello to Maria and Eric….

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GMG Cookie Contest- The Bean and Mammaw Say Bring It On!

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

It’s official.

When picking up my mom at the airport  for the holidays her and the Bean made a pact to enter Laurie and Sharon’s GMG Holiday Cookie Baking contest on December 3rd.

The Bean just loves to cook with my mother.  They both need to have busy hands and love to create so this will be something special for them to do together.

I guess this excludes me from the judging. 🙂

How many of you are planning to enter?  How many of you have children in your life and are looking for some actrivity to do together?  Well come on down to Browns Mall and enter-

Click this text for the details

GLOUCESTER DEPOT

Posted on by Frankie Gentile Jr.

Happy Tuesday!!

There are a couple of guys that started a restaurant called the Gloucester Depot that sits across the street from the train station. These guys create great dishes and are two of the nicest guys I have met. I have ordered food here MANY times and used the great coupons that they have offered. Not only do they have three fantastic coupons, but they have specials everyday. One of my favorite days is $4.00 Large Sub night on Tuesday Nights. You can actually get a Large steak tip sub with cheese, peppers and onions toasted for only $4.00. Seriously – how can you beat that!! Below is the specials each week:

MONDAY – Small Cheese Pizza – $3.99

TUESDAY – Any Sub – $4.00

WEDNESDAY – 1/2 Off All Pasta Dishes

SATURDAY – Large Cheese Pizza – $4.99

EVERYDAY – 2 Large Cheese ONLY $10.99

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Do You Make The Best Holiday Cookies Around and Want To Prove It?

Posted on by Sharon

Click the poster above for all the information you’ll need to enter your best cookies!

Prize List-

Just a little sneak peek at the prizes for the 1st Annual Good Morning Gloucester Holiday Cookie Contest.

This is NOT a complete list and the items will be gathered into baskets for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners, and then a basket for the child/family entry:

a fabulous goodmorninggloucester beer stein

a bottle of vodka & rum from Ryan & Wood ( you must be 21 or older to accept this part of the prize)

6 cookbooks personally selected by me

baking/candy making items

adorable little note cards and mini journals

3 Books about the building of the Schooner Lannon, one for each basket

1 music CD from Captain Stan and Daisy Nell

a cruise for two gift certificate from Essex River Cruises,

tee shirts from Essex Marina and Click Marketing Tools (me)

cookbooks from Chronicle (from Michelle Curreri) & Rockport publishing

lots of baking supplies and festive holiday decorating stuff

AND MORE IS STILL COMING IN!
family/youth basket that contains the following so far. Most of this basket was assembled by one of the judges, Jannine Fisk because she is a nice person!:

Cookie press

1 book about the building of the Schooner Lannon

2 Cookie cutters: Christmas tree, candy cane, gingerbread boy (Wilton comfort grip)

Brown sugar

Flour

Unsweetened cocoa powder

Baking powder

Mint baking chips

Milk chocolate chips

Toffee chips

Two small hardbound cookie cookbooks

Foil baking cups, sweetened condensed milk

Small deck of Kids Magic Trick cards

Gift certificates for a family meal/activity on Cape Ann-from Sharon Lowe

Please come on down on Thursday to Brown’s Mall and enter! Remember, your entry fee of $5.00 and two non perishable food items goes directly to The Open Door!

Passports Wine Dinner Pics From Eric Lorden

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

click this text for the Passports Wine Dinner Slide Show

Passports Wine Dinner Pics From Eric Lorden, originally uploaded by captjoe06.


PASSPORT To Your Tummy!!!!

Posted on by Frankie Gentile Jr.

Opened in 1995, Passports continues to be a local and visitor favorite, specializing in creative cuisine from around the world. Menu features include, popovers to start, local seafood, steaks, lamb chops, and international specialties. Passports is known for its fine dining in a casual atmosphere, along with the biggest selection of beer & wine on Cape Ann. I must say that I had the BEST Rueben Sandwich there ( I am not sure it is still on the menu, but it was fantastic!) Mondays deal of the day is a FREE appetizer at Passports!! Come on down and say hello to Eric ( he is the big boss ).

 

CLICK TO VIEW PASSPORT MENU

CLICK TO BUY A PASSPORT GIFT CERTIFICATE

 

CLICK FOR FREE APPETIZER!!!!

 

 

1st Annual Good Morning Gloucester Holiday Cookie Contest!

Posted on by laurielufkin

Do You Make The Best Holiday Cookies Around and Want To Prove It?

Here’s your chance!

1ST ANNUAL GOOD MORNING GLOUCESTER HOLIDAY COOKIE CONTEST

When:  Thursday, December 3rd (Ladies Shopping Night in Gloucester).  Entry turn in 4-5:30 pm, judging begins at 6:00.  No prior registration necessary

Where:  Brown’s Mall, 186 Main Street, Gloucester

Why:  Because we want to find the best cookies around, support the Open Door Food Pantry this holiday season and have fun with food at the same time in a contest that does not involve giant burgers or fiery foods for a change.

Entry fee: $5.00 and two non perishable food items to be donated to the Open Door.

Your entries will be judged on the following criteria by qualified food professionals and local notables, all with excellent taste buds:

Taste 40%

Appearance (of cookies and overall presentation) 20%

Texture 20%

Overall Appeal of cookies 20%

Prizes will be awarded as follows:

1st place, individual entry

2nd place, individual entry

3rd place, individual entry

One 1st place prize for a youth/family entry.

The prizes will be fabulous and available for viewing when you drop off your entry the night of the event–trust us on this one–and the bragging rights are just an extra!

And now, the particulars:

You may decorate and garnish your entries with holiday flair as desired, 12 cookies per plate please.

You may enter as many different cookie submissions as you wish but you must pay an additional $5.00 and two more non perishable food items for The Open Door per entry.

No professional bakers/chefs allowed to enter please.

No mixes allowed.  All entries must be from scratch.

Three legible copies of recipe must accompany all entries. Please include name, address and telephone number on the back of each sheet.  Recipes become the property of www.goodmorningloucester.com and may be reproduced.  If your recipe is not original (your personal creation), please attribute its origin.

Judging will begin promptly at 6:00 and will conclude when all entries have been judged

You do not have to be present for announcement of the winners, but it will be more fun if you are.

The decisions of the judges are final.

All cookie entries will be packaged and donated to The Open Door the night of the event.

Remember this nice soup recipe? It’s a Winner Winner Chicken Soup Dinner!

Posted on by laurielufkin

Remember this nice soup recipe from a few weeks ago?  Well, I know it’s not a giant Christmas tree made from lobster pots, but this is pretty exciting to me!  I have posted the recipe again for you but scroll down past the recipe to see what I won!

Pesto Kissed Tuscan Chicken and Olive Stew

3 bone in chicken breasts with skin, trimmed
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup fennel, diced
1 cup sweet onion, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
1 ½ teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1-15.5 oz can diced tomatoes in sauce
2 bay leaves
5 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup pitted olives of your choice (not brined) drained and cut in half
1-1lb 13 oz can navy or small white beans, rinsed and drained
8 tablespoons prepared basil pesto

Shredded parmesan cheese (optional)

Heat the oil in a heavy 7 quart Dutch oven over medium heat.  Season chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper and place them skin side down in hot oil to brown, turning frequently to prevent scorching.  Brown the skin and remove breast to a plate.

To the pot, add the fennel, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary and saute until vegetables are translucent, about 5-minutes. Sprinkle in flour and stir until flour turns slightly brown, about 2 minutes.  Stir in the tomatoes, stock, tomato paste and bay leaves and the browned chicken to the pot.

Bring the mixture to a low boil and then reduce the heat to low.  Allow the chicken to cook, uncovered but submerged, until cooked through, about 25 minutes.  Remove the chicken to a cutting board and allow to cool to a workable temperature.  Remove skin and bones from breast and cut or pull chicken into bite sized pieces.

Remove bay leaves from pot, add beans and olives and allow broth to thicken and reduce slightly.   When broth is thickened, return chicken to the pot, stir and re-season with salt and pepper to taste.  Bring soup back to a simmer. Ladle soup into serving bowls and drizzle with one tablespoon prepared basil pesto and top with shredded cheese.  Serve immediately.

It won me this!

This is an Emile Henry 7 quart Dutch Oven!

Here is the link to my winning recipe and those of my equally as talented cooking pals Sally and Deborah who came in 2nd and 3rd–check them out!

http://www.calolive.org/TheCaliforniaOliveCommitteeCookingCookingArticlesThreeTalentedChefsarePotLucky.aspx

It has been along “dry spell” since I have won anything in any of the many recipecooking contests that I enter so hopefully, this will start another winning streak!  If you make the soup, please let me know what you think and thank you all for your nice comments when I see you out and about.

More recipes to come!

Gift Certificates

Posted on by Frankie Gentile Jr.

Need to purchase a Gift Certificate for a Birthday, Anniversary or Christmas Gift? Haven’t had time to get to the mall for a gift and the party is tonight? Is there a blizzard outside, and you do not want to go and find parking at the Causeway just to buy a Gift Certificate? Well…….You have come to the right place. Do you know you can purchase Gift Certificates to all your favorite restaurants from the comfort of your home or office on Udine4less.com. Its as easy as 1 – 2 – 3-4-5:

1. Log On To Udine4less.com

2. Find the restaurant you would like to purchase a gift certificate for

3. Click on the gift certificate logo

4. Enter your Credit Card info

5. Click the Link and Print your Gift Certificate

This is a feature that should make your life less stressful. Just for example, I needed a gift for my kids teachers last christmas, but did not have time to shop before the last day of school before vacation. I went to my computer, bought two gift certificates, printed them on the computer and put them in a card for my kids teachers. The great thing about it is you can buy them for any denomination that you like, with a minimum of 10 dollars. So keep this in mind with the holidays coming – its a great gift, and easy as 1-2-3-4-5.

LoGrasso’s Cafe Bistro

Posted on by Frankie Gentile Jr.

LoGrasso’s Café Bistro, an amazing Italian-American Eatery. Sound good..? If you’ve eaten here before then you know how special this place really is. If you haven’t then you must give it a try. LoGrasso’s is, and has been, family owned since 1987. Your chef for the evening and every evening is owner and proprietor, Sal LoGrasso himself. His homemade recipes will amaze and entice your taste buds, with secret ingredients only his mother knows, “and maybe his wife” who is also there night after night to welcome you to their bistro. LoGrasso’s serves an array of appetizers, entrees, specials, salads and home made sweets. So today LoGrasso’s is the GMG Deal Of The Day!

Click To View LoGrasso’s Menu

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FEVER PITCH- AND THEN THERE WERE TWO!!!

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

If you haven’t watched any of the videos thus far from the GMG Farm Bar and Grille Hot Wing Challenge you owe it to yourself to look at these final ones.  It is where things reach climactic levels filled with suspense, drama, chaos and the conclusion.

Bonus Recipe! Holiday Fresh Fig and Spiced Apple Pie

Posted on by laurielufkin

Yummm…..pie….

I wanted to share this one with you to offer a bit of an alternative to traditional Thanksgiving pies.  Fresh figs are in the grocery stores right now and this combo of apples, figs and dried cranberries is terrific!

There will be a new episode of Inspired Cooking airing on Cape Ann TV tonight at 8:30–thought it was airing last week but it didn’t so I hope you will tune in.  The recipes for tonight’s show were posted last week and can be found here.  Make sure to check out my adorable prep cook!:

https://goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/what-to-do-with-your-thanksgiving-leftovers/

Holiday Fresh Fig & Spiced Apple Pie

CRUST:
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup butter flavored shortening
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

FILLING
1 tablespoon quick cooking tapioca
16-18 fresh figs, stems removed and sliced horizontally into 1/8″ circles
5 tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fresh orange zest, finely chopped
3 tablespoons heavy cream, divided
½ cup sweetened dried cranberries
2 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into small pieces
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 egg yolk (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make crust using your favorite method and place one crust into a glass pie pan. Trim any overhanging crust to re-roll later, if desired, to decorate the top of the pie. Sprinkle tapioca on to bottom of crust and spread some of the sliced figs in a single layer covering the bottom of the crust.

In a large bowl, combine apples, flour, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt, vanilla extract, orange zest and 2 tablespoons heavy cream and stir gently until apples are coated.

Over the figs, layer ½ of the apples into the pan. Cover apple layer with the dried cranberries. Layer the remaining apples over the figs and top apples with remaining figs. Scatter butter on top of fig layer and top with remaining pie crust. Trim, seal and flute edge.  Cut slits or shapes in several places in top crust. If desired roll out reserved crust and cut decorative shapes to enhance the pies appearance. Use egg yolk as “glue” to adhere decorations to top crust. Brush top crust with remaining heavy cream, sprinkle with granulated sugar and place pie in preheated oven.

Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. After 40 minutes of baking time, cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Remove from oven and allow to rest for at least ½ hour before slicing. Enjoy with ice cream, whipped cream or just by itself. Enjoy!

Round Five Gets Underway At The GMG Farm Bar and Grille Hot Wing Challenge

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

WHEN IN ROMA……..EAT!

Posted on by Frankie Gentile Jr.

Udine4less_LOGO2So I Wasn’t sure if I was going to much of anything today, seeing how I was up late last night tossing and turning after watching the Patriots somehow give that game away last night to the Colts. I am not sure how many of you watched the game till the end, but WHAT THE BLEEP HAPPENED!!!!!! Ok, had to get that out of my system.

Anyway – There is a new restaurant in town called Roma Pizza and Subs down on the Boulevard. There has been a few restaurants in this spot the last couple of years, but I think that this one has a chance to stick around for awhile. They have a great menu as well as daily specials and soup of the day. The two owners are Pat and Ray, and they seem to fit right in. They have a Family deal that will feed the whole family, and the place is spotless. I am attaching a few deals so that you can give them a try. ENJOY!!!

CLICK TO VIEW ROMA MENU

GMG_Deal Alert

romaphoto

roma-familydeal
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romapizzasoda
CLICK TO PRINT AND ENJOY
roma free soda
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Round 4- One Million Scoville Units Videos

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Round Four jumps up from 235,000 scoville heat index units to 1,000,000

Passports Chef Erik Lorden Prepares Haddock For A Gloucester Times Cooking Show

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

 

Passports Chef Erik Lorden Prepares Haddock For A Gloucester Times Cooking Show, originally uploaded by captjoe06.

4.7 MILLION SCOVILLE UNITS!!!!!!

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

 

4.7 MILLION SCOVILLE UNITS!!!!!!, originally uploaded by captjoe06.

Team Doe- Re- Me Represents!
Fandemonium!
Impartial Judge Paul Morrison- "PAULLL!! WHERE'S PAUL?"
Team Chupo
Special Thanks To The Rabbit and Lauren From North Shore Magazine
Big Lar Developing A Huge Fan Base!

George’s Coffee Shop Breakfast Boats

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

That’s a whole lotta goodness right there!

George’s Coffee Shop Breakfast Boats, originally uploaded by captjoe06.