Tag: Eats

Bread & Butter Pickles Recipe From Sista Felicia

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

2 ½ lbs. pickling cucumbers
1 lb. white onions sliced very thin
2-3 Tablespoons of Kosher salt
1 ¼ Cups white distilled vinegar
1 Cup apple cider vinegar
2 ¼ Cups white sugar
1 Tablespoon mustard seeds
1 Teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
¾ Teaspoon celery seeds
1 Stick cinnamon
6 Allspice berries
1 Pinch of ground allspice
6 Whole cloves
1 Pinch of ground clove
½ Teaspoon turmeric

imageStep 1: Clean cucumbers and onions under running water to remove any dirt 

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Step 2: Slice cleaned cucumbers and onions 1/4 inch thick (discard the ends)

imageStep 3: Place sliced cucumbers and onions in a large bowlimageimage

Step4:  Sprinkle Kosher Salt or Pickling Salt over the cucumbers and onions, and toss well distributing the salt evenly (DO NOT use table salt)image

Step 5: Cover salted cucumbers and onions with a tea towel

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Step 6: Cover tea towel with several cups of ice

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Step 7: Place bowl in refrigerator for 3-4 hours

Step 8: Remove bowl from refrigerator (ice should be melted)

Step 9: Remove tea towel

Step 10: Strain mixture in a large colander

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Step 11: Rinse cucumbers and onions EXTREMELY well with clean water.

**Repeat rinsing 3-4 times

Step 12: Set rinsed/drained cucumber onion mixture aside

Step 13: Place vinegar, sugar, and spices in a 6 qt. pot and bring to a rolling boil

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Step 14: Carefully add Cucumbers and onions to boiling mixture

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Step 15: Stir mixture making sure all the cucumber and onions are coated with spiced liquid, and bring to a boil again

Step 16: Quickly remove pan from heat

Step 17: Sterilize canning jars, lids, and rings by placing them in a water bath

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Step 18: Boil jars, rings, and lids for 10 minutes

Step 19: Using long tongs carefully remove jars, lids and rings from water bath 

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Step 18: Place a kitchen towel inside of a cookie sheet and place hot /wet jars, rings and lids on top of towel. 

Step 19: Ladle warm bread and butter pickles into sterilized jars leaving a half inch space at top of each jar. Make sure all pickles are completely covered with liquid and there is a ½ inch space at top

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*Note: I use my grandmother Felicia’s Canning Cuff to fill my jars. I highly recommend picking one up at a kitchen store. It really makes filling the mason jars super easy and mess free!

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Step 20:Place a lid on each  jar and fasten with a  metal ring

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Step 21: Place sealed jars back into water bath and boil for 10 min

Step 22: Using long tongs, carefully remove mason jars from water bath, placing them back on cookie sheet lined with towel, and let them cool.

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**While they cool on towel, you should hear little popping noises. Don’t be alarmed that’s a good thing, it a sign that your jars have been properly processed!

Enjoy!

The Glamorous Sigrid Olsen Shares Her Incredible Pink Ginger Cocktail Recipe

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

At the last Nights On the Neck Sigrid was serving up these drinks and I will tell you it was probably the most refreshing delicious libation I drank all summer.  Try it for yourself this weekend while we still have some summer left!

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RECIPE:

1 part vodka

1 part sparkling water

1/2 part fresh ginger syrup*

splash cranberry juice

Mix and serve over ice.

* to make ginger syrup:

Cut very fresh ginger root into large chunks and cover with water. Simmer slowly on the stove for 30-40 minutes until the water is well saturated with the ginger. Strain through a sieve and discard the ginger pieces. Take the ginger liquid and combine with equal parts sugar (I use organic sugar). Simmer on the stove for about 10 minutes to dissolve the sugar and make a syrup. Cool before using. It may be stored in the fridge.

www.sigridolsenart.com
34 Rocky Neck Avenue
Gloucester, MA 01930

Snapshot 1 (8-12-2011 7-16 AM)

Video- THE HAPPY TACO FIRST LOOK!

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

On GMG- Of Course 🙂

The Happy Taco Is located on 375 Main Street right in front of Rose’s Marine and diagonally from the Hess Gas Station.
You can check out the website here-
www.thehappytaco.com

What’s New in Jenna’s Garden? Week Seven

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

What’s New in Jenna’s Garden?

Jenna Howard headshot

Pleasant Street resident Jenna Howard is providing updates on the chard, cauliflower and other vegetables growing in her plot at the new Burnham’s Field Community Garden. The reports and photos 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

Week Seven

Over the past few weeks I’ve been doing a lot of “housekeeping” in the garden. As you may have read in last week’s update, I had to re-stake the tomato plants and remove the squash from the garden. This left a lot of free space and possibilities for new additions.

On the right side of the garden you will see a small fence. This is simply three sticks (that I took from my yard) tied together with twine. This structure was made for the green beans with hopes that as they grow they will climb the fence. This should keep them from interfering with any of their neighbors!

green beans

The newest additions to the garden are Bright Lights Swiss Chard, cauliflower, Romaine Lettuce and Wooly Thyme. While the far end of the garden is looking very mature with 6+ foot tall tomato plants, the middle of the garden is filled with young plants that are just starting to grow.

You may also notice the wild-looking vine growing at the foot of the plot. That is a pumpkin that I grew from a seed! (Yes, I’m very proud to have successfully grown something from a seed!) It has been doubling in size every week. And this week I was so excited to see that a small green pumpkin has appeared!

new stuffpumpkinWeek 7

Basic Chicken Salad From Sista Felicia

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Basic Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

2 breast of chicken (skinless & boneless)

1 stalk of celery diced into bite size pieces

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoon mayo

3 cups water

Step 1: Place water, chicken breast, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt in medium size sauce pan over high heat cook until chicken is completely cooked through.

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Step 2: Remove chicken from pan and let rest in a bowl until cool enough to touch.

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Step 3: Slice celery lengthwise 3 times. Stack celery pieces together and chop into bite size pieces

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Step 4: Using your hands pull chicken apart into shredded pieces set aside

Step 5: Place the chicken into the bowl of Cuisinart chopper and add diced celery reaming ½ teaspoon salt and pepper.

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Step 6: Cover Cuisinart bowl and pulse 2-3 times

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Step 7: Open lid and add 2 tablespoon of mayo

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Step 8: cover and pulse chop 2-3 times or until chicken salad is the consistency you like

*Note, at this point add more or less Mayo to suit your taste buds! Try adding sliced almonds, sliced seedless grapes, or even try dried cranberries! As you can see my family enjoys a moist but not wet consistency

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Step 9: Place Chicken Salad into a air tight plastic container and keep refrigerated until ready to serve

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Enjoy!

chicken salad sandwich photos 002

Last week hot and feeling way too lazy to cook, I decided to head off to the market early in the morning to buy deli sandwich meat and snacks for the beach. Immediately after taking a # at the deli counter, I realized there were 5 people ahead of me and quickly had to think of a plan “B”, knowing my kids wanted to get to the beach by noon! I walked over to the cold chest storing the pre sliced deli meat, to see what my options were and was disappointed to find there was no pre sliced “Buffalo Chicken” ,(the only Deli meat my son will eat). I noticed small containers of prepared chicken, ham and egg salad. I picked up a “Small” container of chicken salad and my finger tip nearly burned completely off. Yikes! The cost of a small 15 oz. container was selling for $6.99. Seriously? Not to be cheap, but one can buy a whole chicken for less than that. Even a rotisserie chicken cooked for half that price. I placed it back on the self along with my laziness to cook, and added a package of 6, fresh chicken breast to my shopping cart. When I arrived home my MTMM kicked in(Multi-Tasking Mother Mode) … unloading groceries, packing up the beach bag, switching loads of laundry, along with prepping dinner, all awhile whipping up a batch of ridiculously easy chicken salad I have made for years. Lunch and dinner for 4 for under $10

Terry Weber Reports- Dining at Duckworth Bistro

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Enjoyed my first dinner at Duckworth’s Bistro this week, and it lived up to its reputation. In fact, after tasting one bite of the food, I completely forgot to take pictures of the appetizers before I completely devoured them (see picture of the remains of the mushroom soup). Believe me, I would have licked the plates if I didn’t think my dinner partner would be appalled :).

The service was sweet–Colleen our waitress was genuinely friendly, gracious and made our meal even better. About our meal, we shared a couple of appetizers: Creamy Mushroom Soup, Caesar Salad and Zucchini Fritters. The mushroom soup was a deep grey which I was not accustomed to, but it was the best mushroom soup I’ve ever had with a rich, earthy flavor. Jackie said her steak was perfectly cooked and delicious. The leg of lamb I had for an entree was tender, cooked exactly as I requested, and came with the freshest tasting mix of Lima and green beans.

Speaking of the beans, Colleen explained their great taste by telling us the beans came from a local Gloucester farm. Duckworth’s buys many of their ingredients at local farms including the Beacon Street Farm in Gloucester; Green Meadows Farm in Hamilton, and of course their lobsters are from Captain Joe & Sons. It was a great first time dining experience! We would have had dessert but we were too stuffed!

chef ken duckworthChef Rich Mandelbaumlamb and local beansmushroom soupsirloin

Joey adds-
It should be noted that Terry took these photos in the very low light conditions of the kitchen at Duckworth’s with the camera I recommended- The Canon Powershot s95. No flash and very natural looking photos! Excellent Terry!

The Burnham’s Field Gardener Series- Kathy Hegarty of St. Ann School

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

The Burnham’s Field Gardener Series

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

By John McElhenny
Burnham’s Field Gardeners – Kathy Hegarty of St. Ann School

Kathy Hegarty is a 5th grade teacher at St. Ann School, across Pleasant Street from the Burnham’s Field Community Garden. St. Ann students have a plot in the garden, which they visit almost every day to see how their plants are doing and learn where the food they eat comes from. “A hundred children have had their hands in this dirt,” Hegarty says. “It’s really making quite an impression and developing some lifelong gardeners.”

St. Ann School students around their garden plot at the Burnham’s Field Community Garden.

George’s By Night Saturday August 6th!

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Dean Salah Writes-

Our next George’s By Night event is Sat. Aug. 6th featuring the music of Frakie G.
w/ Mike Lindberg and Tony G. We will be serving a full course dinner featuring
grilled garlic chicken and summer veggies over penne. Seating is limited and tickets are
on sale at Georges. Festivities start at 6:30 and as always bring along your favorite spirits.
Tickets are $30 on a first come basis, and tables can be reserved for larger parties. If
interested reserve your seats at the shop.  978-281-1910,  thanks,  Dean

Sista Felicia Iced Tea (with directions this time)

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Ice Tea

Ingerdients:

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 complement any summer time meal.

Step 1:Combine water, sugar and mint in a large pot

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Step 2:Place pot over a high heat

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Step3: Bring to a rolling boil

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Step4: Select a flavor/verity of tea. I like to use tea pods simply to cut down on prep time, avoiding having to remove the paper

 

Step 5: Collect 36 tea pods or bags with paper tabs removed and set aside

Step6: Carefully remove pot from heat and add 36 tea pods to hot mint infused sugar water

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.Step7: Steep tea for 20 minutes.

Step 8: Using your hand or 2 large slotted spoons squeeze pods to extract tea

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Step9: Dispose used pods

Step10: Place 10 cups ice into a drink dispenser

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Step11: Cut 1 lemon in half

Step12: Squeeze the lemon into the drink dispenser directly over the ice and remove any seeds

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Step13: Carefully pour tea into dispenser and stir

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Step14: Fill a tall tumbler glass with ice and fill with yummy tea garnish with a sprig of mint or lemon or both!

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All photos Felicia and BJ Mohan

July 21, 2011 Seafood Throwdown Sugar Mag’s vs Classic Cooks Finale Filmed By Sandy Farrell

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Video- July 21, 2011 Seafood Throwdown Sugar Mags vs Classic Cooks Part III

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Video- July 21, 2011 Seafood Throwdown Sugar Mags vs Classic Cooks Part II

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

July 21, 2011 Seafood Throwdown Sugar Mags vs Classic Cooks Part I

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

It’s All About Sanibel Bean!

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

The very same day Lisa Ramos sends in this post about a place I’d never heard of in my entire life this dude walks in sporting a Sanibel Bean t-shirt.

If you don’t think it’s a small world you’re just plum crazy!

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I’m gonna have to stop in there next spring when I’m down on the Southwest Coast of Florida.

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