Category: Eats

New Discovery- Cold Brewed Coffee

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

If you’ve been a GMG fan for any amount of time you know about my coffee obsession love.  I usually have a cup of coffee when things start to slow down in the morning around 8:30AM and then maybe another one in the afternoon so I can try to stay awake when I get home and spend some quality time with the family.  To say that I enjoy my coffee is an understatement.

With the soaring temps and humidity of last week coupled with being extraordinarily busy sometimes I can’t get to one of our local coffee shops and make coffee down here at the dock.  I’ve been using a french press since last spring and the results have been fantastic.  You can see the demonstration video I made when I first got the French press by clicking the video below-

A while back I saw an article on Lifehacker about making cold brewed coffee (as an aside if you haven’t bookmarked or put Lifehacker into your Google Reader you ought to, it rocks)

Anyway I tried making cold brewed coffee last night.   You need a little time  but it is ridiculously simple and the results are outstanding.

I took my travel press and loaded it up with three heaping teaspoons of ground coffee and filled it up with room temperature spring water, screwed the lid on and placed it in the fridge just before leaving work last night.  This morning I pushed the plunger down, poured the refrigerated coffee into my cup and fixed it just as I would a hot cup of coffee.

Fantastic!  They say more bitterness is extracted from the coffee beans with increased temperature so by using the cold brewing method you still retain that oily creamy texture of a good cup of french press coffee but without the bitterness.  Not having to use a paper filter also doesn’t sap the mixture of those coffee bean oils which get taken away with a paper filter.  You also don’t need to ice it which would dilute your coffee because it has been in the fridge all night.

I highly suggest this method if you are a coffee freak lover like me.

4:45AM Wednesday August 26, Dunkin Donuts Still Dark Due To Gloucester Water Situation

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Dunkies is still closed as of 4:45AM this morning.  Cape Ann Coffee on Bass Ave is open with drive through convenience as well as Donut Jims.  Pleasant Street Tea and Coffee Company is operating also.

4:45AM WEdnesday August 26, Dunkin Donuts Still Dark Due To Gloucester Water Situation, originally uploaded by captjoe06.

Dunkin Donuts Still Dark 4:45AM 6/26/09
Dunkin Donuts Still Dark 4:45AM 6/26/09
Dunkin Donuts Water Ban Signage
Dunkin Donuts Water Ban Signage

Lobster Meat At Cruiseport

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Portside Grille At Cruiseport has been packed every single day.  One of the recurring things I’ve been noting when soliciting feedback from people about the Block Parties is that people really love alfresco dining.  Other than the Block Parties there are a few places you can really enjoy this type of dining around town -the Cruiseport unique-to-Gloucester sliding open frontage to the waterfront, Lobster Pool Restaurant in Folly Cove, the Rudder, the Studio, Latitude 43 deck and the Gloucester House.

Hopefully some group of downtown business owners get together and find a concensus as to how they would like to close Main Street to vehicular traffic on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the summer.  Gloucester Crossing will be opening soon.  It is of my opinion that the Downtown business owners really ought to start thinking about soliciting the city for the street closures as a way to differentiate and make Downtown Gloucester the destination it has been developing into.  They just need to take it to the next step.  It wouldn’t have to be a Block Party every summer weekend night but if the Block Parties showed anything it was that Gloucester is a social city and given the opportunity to see and be seen people will show up.

Lobster Meat At Cruiseport, originally uploaded by captjoe06.

Snoop Maddie Mad Enjoys An Alexandra’s Bread Cobble

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro
Every day when I get home Snoop Maddie Mad asks me the same question.  “You have cobble?”  I try to swing down and get them for her and The Bean a couple times a week.  They are soft and chewy and they keep the girls busy tearing through them for about 20 minutes.

Snoop Maddie Mad Enjoys An Alexandra’s Bread Cobble, originally uploaded by captjoe06.

Alexandras Bread Cobbles
Alexandra's Bread Cobbles
Alexandras Bread Cobble
Alexandra's Bread Cobble

Dahlias All Natural Granola At Cape Ann Farmer’s Market

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Dahlias All Natural Granola At Cape Ann Farmer’s Market, originally uploaded by captjoe06.


The Rudder Lobster Tank

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Here’s The Rudder Restaurant’s Lobster Tank During The Rudder Reconstruction Last Winter-

And Here it Is Now In Action

The Rudder Lobster Tank, originally uploaded by captjoe06.

Dahlias All Natural Granola At Cape Ann Farmer’s Market

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Dahlias All Natural Granola At Cape Ann Farmer’s Market, originally uploaded by captjoe06.

Dahlias All Natural Fruit and Nut Granola
Dahlias All Natural Fruit and Nut Granola
Dahlias All Natural Banana Chocolate and Walnut Granola
Dahlias All Natural Banana Chocolate and Walnut Granola

Dahlias All Natural Granola At Cape Ann Farmer’s Market

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Dahlia is a childhood friend of the Mrs.  I caught up with her at The Cape Ann Farmer’s Market yesterday where she was selling her all natural granola for the first time in Gloucester.

As a hard core Diabetic she set out to develop something that she could eat that would be tasty and good for you while messing around in the kitchen with her beautiful daughter.  The result is her line of Dahlias All Natural Granola.  Look for the video with Dahlia at 1PM

Dahlias All Natural Granola At Cape Ann Farmer’s Market, originally uploaded by captjoe06.

News From The Rudder Restaurant With Jeannie Boland Video

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro
click to play video
click to play video

Jeannie Boland From The Rudder

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Look for our interview with Jeannie at 8PM tonight.

Doesn’t it look like that lobster with the red lobster bands over Jeannie’s left shoulder is planning an attack?

To View The Rudder Reconstruction Slide Show Click This Text

Jeannie Boland From The Rudder, originally uploaded by captjoe06.

The Mrs’ Lobster and Corn Chowder

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

One of the Mrs’ good friends recently had a baby so she whipped up a batch of lobster and corn chowder and brought some over to her last night.  I got a bowl for myself too.  It was decadent.

The recipe is from Barefoot Contessa (the Mrs has all her books and is a huge fan).

Here is the recipe online-

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lobster-corn-chowder-recipe/index.html

The Mrs’ Lobster and Corn Chowder, originally uploaded by captjoe06.

Frustrated Part II

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

So Saturday in the morning I had decided what I was going to have for lunch at around 10:30 AM.   It was going to be a certain burger from a restaurant that is very close to our dock.  I have had a couple of meals at this particular place before and had good experiences with the food.  The service was hit or miss but due to the convenience factor of being so close to our dock and it being so busy down here at lunch time I wanted to try to put this joint into my regular lunch rotation.

I looked down the harbor and the coast was clear at 11:45AM so I called the telephone number which had apparently been recently changed because the one it lists in the yellow pages does not connect to this certain business.  The phone rang and rang and rang and finally someone answered.  I told them the certain burger I would like and the guy on the phone tells me that the kitchen wouldn’t be open for 10 minutes.  There was no offer to take the order and come pick it up in twenty minutes, just that I couldn’t place the order.  So I call back in ten minutes…..no answer.  Call back the same number again, same result- no answer.  Out of frustration and stubbornness because I had this certain burger stuck in my mind that I wanted for lunch I continued to call about 10 more times and they didn’t pick up the phone once.

Skip forward to Sunday, the very next day.  Determined to give this place another shot I call at 12:05PM figuring they will be serving lunch on a weekend in Gloucester after 12:00PM.  No boats were coming down the harbor so I figured I’d have that ten minute window to order, have the burger prepared and get right back to the dock.

I get someone on the phone-success!

So the person takes my order and I ask how long it will take and he says 40 minutes.  40 MINUTES???  For a burger?  At noon?  In 40 minutes I was going to be up to my ass in lobsters and I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the burger let alone get away to pick it up.  So I had to decline after I explained my dilemma to the order taker and they offered no other choice.

So even though I’m trying my hardest to give this business my money, it just doesn’t seem like they want it.

Ughhhhh!!!!!.  It’s too bad because the food is pretty good and it would be super convenient for a daily lunch trip for take out, but how many times can you give a place a shot without feeling foolish yourself for wasting your time trying?

Barbara Koen’s Downtown Tomata Garden 09

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Barbara Koen grows tomatas downtown in front of her her shop The Dress Code.  This year’s crop looks pretty hearty.

Barbara Koen’s Downtown Tomata Garden 09, originally uploaded by captjoe06.


Chili Choice Behind The Scenes

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro
click picture to view video
click picture to view video