Category: Eats

Sista Felicia’s Iced Tea

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

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Iced Tea

Ingredients:
10 cups cold water
3 ½ cups sugar
5 mint leaves (optional)
36 tea bags
10 cups ice
Juice of 1 lemon (optional)
Yields 6 quarts
Perfect for these hot summer days and nights. This Ice Tea is a delicious refreshing beverage, sure to compliment any summer time meal.

What’s New in Jenna’s Garden? Week 5

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Pleasant Street resident Jenna Howard has agreed to provide updates on the squash, peppers and other vegetables growing in her plot at the new Burnham’s Field Community Garden. The reports and photos will allow GoodMorningGloucester viewers to follow the garden’s progress with a weekly answer to the question, “What’s New in Jenna’s Garden?”

By Jenna Howard

Jenna Howard headshot

Week Five

After a week of high heat some of the veggie plants were looking a little wilted — especially the giant squash leaves. I made the unfortunate mistake of pruning some of its dry leaves. I learned a very important lesson when I later read that you should NEVER cut off squash leaves! There are three important reasons why you should not do this:  First, it opens the plant’s vascular system up to bacteria and viruses. Second, the squash leaves also act as a natural sunscreen for the fruit. Without the leaves they are susceptible to sun scald (like a plant sunburn). Lastly, the leaves not only shade the fruit, they also block the sun and make it hard for weeds to grow around the plant. So the moral of the story is: Don’t cut the leaves from your squash not matter how dry or wilted they look. I had to learn this lesson the hard way. I just hope it doesn’t affect my squash too badly!
On a positive note, we have an eggplant! Well, at least the very beginning stages of one.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Sugar Magnolia Spicing Up Seafood Throwdown for the Fourth Season Today At The Cape Ann Farmer’s Market

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Seafood Throwdown returns to the Cape Ann Farmerʼs Market at Stage Fort Park on
Thursday, July 21st at 4 p.m. This marks the fourth season for this popular cooking contest where the fish always wins and consumers are inspired to think about the role our fishing communities play in ocean conservation. Missy Sallah will once again brings her team from Sugar Magnolias on 112 Main Street to defend her undefeated title as the “Reigning Queen of Seafood Throwdown” for the fourth year. She will be competing
against Julie Ann Geary with the team from Classic Cooks Catering at 10 Blackburn Center. No stranger to cooking, Julie has been in the catering and cooking business for thirty years. We will again be joined with Steve Parkes and his popular demonstration of how to fillet a fish – successfully, Joey Ciaramitaro of Good Morning Gloucester, and Peter van Ness of GimmeSound.

Judging this event will be Loretta Lomba, director of the Chill Zone and a regular behind the Backyard Gardenerʼs table at the farmers market, a member of the Gloucester Fishermenʼs Wives Association and Heather Fraelick, a local foodie and fitness expert. The dishes created by Missy and Julie will be judged on taste, use of the whole animal, originality and presentation.

Seafood Throwdown is a brainchild of the partnership between the Cape Ann Farmerʼs Market and NAMA, the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance. Originally conceived as a tool to promote a Community Supported Fishery, or “CSF” here in Gloucester, the successful program has now expanded to over 20 CSFs throughout North America (visit http://www.localcatch.org for more details). The local CSF, Cape Ann Fresh Catch, is a project of the Gloucester Fishermenʼs Wives Association and is in its third year of operation and delivering to a far greater audience than just Cape Ann with 16 Greater Boston distribution points now being served.
As well as promoting the CSF concept, the Seafood Throwdown brings home the message that “Who Fishes Matters” and that principled choice driven by an educated consumer is a way of promoting needs of both ecological and economic realities. The Market opens at 3pm, the contest starts at 4pm and donʼt forget – the parking is free on market days.
A second Seafood Throwdown at Cape Ann Farmers Market is scheduled for August 11th. Once again this year the Seafood Throwdown season is being kicked off in New York at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket in Brooklyn. Other events are scheduled for New Bedford Working Waterfront Festival, Marthaʼs Vineyard, New Hampshireʼs Fishtival and the Common Ground Country Fair in Maine, amongst others. Visit www.namanet.org

Cape Ann Farmer’s Market Info

Cape Ann Farmers’ Market

Thursdays 3:00 – 6:30 pm at Stage Fort Park

free parking!

June 30 – October 13

Grandma Ethel Needs To Put Down the Crack Pipe

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

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Grandma Ethel’s Lobster Rolls Rock

A Recipe from Island Creek Oyster Bar

lobster roll!

It all started out innocently enough.  It seemed reasonable when you quickly scanned over Granny’s ingredient list and hey, I can even let a lobster roll that has celery in it ride without calling them out but there it was, looming.  The devil in the details-

PICKLES!!!!!!

Ingredients
4 1¼-pound lobsters, steamed
1 c. mayonnaise
½ c. pickles, diced small
½ c. celery, diced small
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. celery salt
2 tbsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. white pepper
6 tbsp. butter
8 hot dog buns

She was doing so well.

  • regular hot dog rolls- check
  • butter- check
  • mayo- check

But then the train veers off the tracks

Celery, lemon both no-nos, but the issue which is unforgivable here is glaring- the addition of goddamn pickles to a lobster roll.

Unforgivable.

Once again I will refer to a simply acronym which tells it all- KISS

Keep It Simple Stupid

There is no need to get all crazy just to be different.  You can understand how some bananahead out in California could make this kind of mistake.  But someone from the Northeast?

For shame!

At least it’s not as bad as last week’s debacle from the broads in California who tried to pass off a lobster roll using frozen lobster meat, celery, onions, lemon and jalefuckingpenos.

Or Bucky From Ohio who details a lobster roll made on a French baguette.

Granny must think she has Tiger Blood ala Charlie Sheen if she thinks sneaking such ridiculous ingredients like pickles into a lobster roll is gonna go unnoticed.

Not Here- Not Now Granny.  It’s Lobster Roll  Eatin’ Season and We Ain’t Gonna Let You Lead These Poor Unsuspecting Folks Down  A Lobster Roll Road Paved With Pickles Of All Things!

Here’s how to do it Grannycakes

Leonardo’s Chicken Kabob Sub

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Leonardo’s has been quickly climbing up my local sub shop rankings.

So crazy how many great places we have to get sandwiches.

Virgilios, Sclafanis, Destinos and Leonardos sit atop the leader board followed closely by at least 10 other very worthy other sandwich joints.

I think the way they toast their buns gives them a nice touch.

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This Weekend At The Topside Grill

Posted on by Joanne

Hey Everyone,

Saturday is the first Block Party of the summer! Come check out some of our delicious food and drinks and enjoy the festivities! Visit Ryan and Jen behind the bar tomorrow night and Antoine and Elizabeth every Saturday! Don’t forget about our delicious Sunday Brunch (11-3) every week! You have to try our Huevos Rancheros… So good! We also now feature light Jazz entertainment in the pub during brunch every week. This week we have Julie “voice of an angel” Dougherty playing! Hope to see you there…

Thanks,

Doug Silva General Manager

Topside Grill

50 Rogers St.

Gloucester, MA (978) 281-1399

http://www.topsidegrill.com

7th Wave Restaurant Review From A Completely Impartial Kim Smith

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Sunday night my husband and I tried a new restaurant (new for us, that is), the 7th Wave in Rockport on Tuna Wharf. Our son Alex is cooking there this summer. The hostess was lovely and Talia, one of the owners, greeted us at the front desk. We had made a reservation for 7:00 and were seated immediately on the upper deck, with the stunning view of Rockport Harbor and beyond.

7thwave

The atmosphere is lively, relaxed, and entirely kid-and family-friendly. The waitstaff was hardworking and alot of fun and our food came along very quickly, no waiting for anything, despite the fact that it was a full house.

7thwave2

Our son was working the grill, so we restricted ourselves to grilled items only. I had the surf (super delicious grilled shrimp) and turf (petite filet, cooked to perfection) and Tom, the fantastic grilled tuna. I am usually more of a chowder and lobster person and can’t wait to go again and try more items on the menu. The lobster rolls and lobster salads passing by our table were heaped high with lobster meat and the chowder looked creamy and hearty. Elaine, mother of Talia, and owner, stopped by our table to say hello and to chat. It’s a family-owned business and the restaurant is named the 7th Wave because of their seven family members. The Kahn family opened their doors in June 2009 and they had their busiest night ever, the Saturday night before we ate dinner there. It was great to hear about their thriving business and we are looking forward to many return visits! The menu and hours of operation are posted on their website. 7th Wave Restaurant, 7 Tuna Wharf, Rockport.

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Looking back toward Bearskin Neck from Tuna Wharf.

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Check Out Kim’s Blog Here

Video The Burnham’s Field Gardener Series Girl Scout Troop 523 From John McElhenny

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Burnham’s Field is the largest green space in central Gloucester. Recently there’s been a resurgence of pride in Burnham’s Field, including a new 20-plot garden. GoodMorningGloucester is now running a series of video profiles of the Burnham’s Field Community Gardeners. Here are their stories.

 By John McElhenny

Burnham’s Field Gardeners – Girl Scout Troop 523 in Gloucester

Members of Girl Scout Troop 523 in Gloucester (left to right) Courtney Ashwell (16), Kelly Biondo (14), Emma Thomas (15) and Sage Frankenstein (15) show how to add personality to a garden plot. (Hint: it involves several cans of brightly colored paint.) The girls, along with Troop Leader Diane Wolff-Thomas and fellow Scouts Emily Moore and Jessi Silva, are learning about gardening firsthand with their own garden plot.

 

Chickity Check It! Atwood Does The Mackerel Thing In Her GDT Column

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

July 12, 2011

Mackerel: Local, sustainable and good for us

Food for ThoughtHeather Atwood

In staying true to New England waters, Steve Johnson of Rendezvous Restaurant in Central Square, Cambridge, courageously puts fish on his menu that — oh no! — has bones.

Mackerel. Grilled to a charry crispness, dripping with olive oil, delicate filets lifting off of 8 inches of spiny vertebrae, mackerel.

In Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, just about anywhere but here, a serving of fish means a pile of bones on the plate. Residents of these countries make beloved meals with sardines, anchovies, pike, mackerel and herring.

After the jump you get the rest of the story and a recipe as reward

and when you’re done with that, check out Heather’s Fantastic Blog-

Food For Thought

GMG Series: What’s New in Jenna’s Garden? Week 4

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Pleasant Street resident Jenna Howard has agreed to provide updates on the tomatoes, squash and other vegetables growing in her plot at the new Burnham’s Field Community Garden. The reports and photos will allow GoodMorningGloucester viewers to follow the garden’s progress with a weekly answer to the question, “What’s New in Jenna’s Garden?”

Jenna Howard headshot

By Jenna Howard

Week Four

This week was THE week for tomatoes! The tomato plants are growing like wild — literally. I had to use gardener’s Velcro to keep the tomato plants in their cages and stop them from shading the other veggies. Lots of cherry tomatoes appeared this week. But even more exciting was the sight of the tomatillos. For those who aren’t familiar with the tomatillo, it is basically a tomato that grows in a green husk. Pretty cool, right? And these tomatoes are perfect for making salsa! Tomatillos are "self-incompatible," which means they need another tomato plant nearby for proper pollination. Lucky for my tomatillo there are plenty of others around which is probably why we already have so much fruit.

Here is a yummy salsa recipe using tomatillos. Enjoy!

Tomatillo Salsa Verde

Ingredients: 1 1/2 lb tomatillos, 1/2 cup chopped white onion, 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, 2 Jalapeño peppers (stemmed, seeded and chopped), salt to taste

First remove the papery husks from the tomatillos and rinse well. To roast the tomatillos: Cut in half and place cut side-down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place under a broiler for 5-to-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin. Put tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, chili peppers and sugar in a food processor and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Season to taste with salt. Cool in refrigerator and then eat up!!

What Is Wrong With People???? Another Lobster Roll Disaster From Some Broads In California

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

My buddy Heather Atwood forwarded me this shamockery of a lobster roll recipe.

I honestly don’t know where to begin in a critique.  I could probably do a whole ‘nother blog in addition to GMG with all these recipe’s from people who don’t know how to let perfection alone.

First the a small preview of the mess that  DENISE WOODWARD & LAUDALINO FERREIRA from EAT Boutique display as their lobster roll- (for the full sized picture I suggest you go to their other than the horrible lobster roll post, excellent food blog)-EAT BOUTIQUE!

Now just from the tiny sample of a picture above at EAT BOUTIQUE! you can imagine how any self respecting lobster roll lover would cringe when you see a lobster roll that has more green visible than lobster parts.

Any of you that have been with the blog from the beginning know how I feel about anything green touching a lobster roll.

A quote from my original post from July 3, 2008 as a refresher-

What I found was shocking and disturbing. It seems these mooks up in Maine have found a way to fuck up ruin a perfectly good lobster roll. Listen to me, under no circumstances should the words lettuce, paprika, French baguette, or celery enter the equation when speaking about lobster roll preparation.

So back to the mess in California and the EAT BOUTIQUE! version of a lobster roll.

This quote near the end of her blog post really gives you an idea of how unqualified they are to be writing about lobster rolls-

I like to use a live lobster, but have used frozen lobster tails, when I am in a pinch; both types are as equally delicious.

Really now????   You’re gonna go and say that frozen lobster tails are in any way shape or form equally as delicious as fresh shucked meat?  Oh No You Diin’t

oh-no-you-didnt

If stating that frozen lobster tails are just as delicious as fresh shucked lobster meat for your lobster rolls wasn’t enough wait ‘til you see what they use for ingredients-

There isn’t just one strike on their ingredient list, there are five, count ‘em five!

Among the list of ingredients on the Mrs Joey C lobster roll banned ingredients list which the author uses-

  • 1 – 1-1/2 pound live lobster (a frozen tail works as well)
  • 1 lemon, cut into quarters
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 jalapeno, seeds removed, minced
  • 1 celery stalk, minced
  • 3 green onions, minced
  • 1/8 cup mayo
  • 1/4 fresh lemon, juiced
  • Salt for sprinkling
  • 4 hot dog buns
  • Butter

If you didn’t already know, the highlighted ingredients in her list are all no-nos.

I understand that some strange folk like celery (for the crunch), but jalefuckingpenos?  Jalepenos????  This just strikes me as another food writer’s attempt to differentiate their dish, but what they obviously don’t get is that the beauty of the classic lobster roll is it’s simplicity.

I guess you have to give these poor misguided women a pass with them living in California and all with all those other fruitcakes. 

They  do some things right, like buttering the hot dog rolls and grilling them so they get a 2 on a scale from 1-10.

To do the right job refer to this original post from The Mrs’ recipe-

For the proper way to prepare a lobster roll see this post–

Lobster Roll Ingredients

Worls Greatest Lobster Roll

Has to be Cains mayo, and hot dog rolls so you can grill them to a golden brown with the salted butter.

Notice there is no lettuce, paprika, celery or any other filler. If anything else appears in your lobster roll, you have an inferior lobster roll.

steam the lobsters and shuck the meat

tear the meat into 1/2 inch chunks or so and mix with cains mayo

refrigerate

once lobster and mayo is chilled, butter each side of cheap hot dog rolls (the kind you tear apart)

you do not want to use any goddamn baguette or crusty overpowering roll

you want white bread tear apart soft hot dog rolls

once you butter the sides of the hot dog rolls with SALTED butter you pan brown the roll so its warm and golden brown

just barely browned but the roll should still be very soft

then load up your cool lobster/mayo filling into the warm soft buttery roll and you have yourself the perfect lobster roll

note- NO  LETTUCE- NO  CELERY-NO  PAPRIKA- NO FANCY CRUSTY FRENCH ROLL

Donna Ardizzoni Take Some Pics At The Cape Ann Farmer’s Market

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

All Photos From Donna Ardizzoni

Classic Cooks

Patty Guacamole

Waiting For The Bridge