Friday, January 27, 2012

Cooking with My Butcher's Help

I love to cook especially with fresh, local ingredients.  Now that we have Craft Butchery at Saugatuck Center in Westport, I especially like to eat what I cook.  Ryan Fibiger, the owner, sources organic, pasture raised and grass fed animals from local sustainable farms.  He brings in the whole animal and every part, from nose to tail, is used.

Ryan and the two other butchers who work along side him can tell you where the animal has come from and will butcher exactly what you need and how you want it.  I love knowing the source of what I'm eating and feel good that I can trust what I am putting in my body.
Just recently, I walked in and asked Ryan for short ribs. He cut them right in front of my eyes, fresh as can be. I got an excellent product and an education. Back home, I slow roasted the ribs with wine, carrots, garlic, onion, tomato and added parsley at the end.

The smell and the taste were phenomenal.  I served the ribs on top of stone ground grits with white cheddar cheese with  a side of dandelion greens. My husband and I could not stop eating it, but I made sure I saved a serving for my friend, Juliet.
I've enjoyed eating lemon-rosemary roasted chicken made with their free range chickens, veal meatballs with their organic ground veal and even pizza with their sage sausage. I am getting hungry just thinking about the goodness of Craft Butchery's products.








I better get busy making dinner, but first I'm on my way Craft Butchery to see what my butcher can suggest.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Celebrating Local Seafood at "The Whelk"

Last Thursday night, my husband Gil and I were invited to a sneak preview of Bill Taibe's new seafood restaurant, The Whelk, in Westport's new Saugatuck Center.  The ever creative Chef Taibe is featuring sustainable seafood from local and regional sources. Like at his LeFarm restaurant, Bill concentrates on where his ingredients are coming from.  He gets to know and builds a relationship with the people whose hard work brings food to his kitchen.  For example, Bill and chef de cuisine Dan Kardos, went out on Norm Bloom's oyster boat to see how he seeds, farms and harvests oysters around the Norwalk islands.

The result is unmistakable--fresh, sweet, local bivalves you can enjoy raw or cooked at the Whelk.

In his inimitable manner, Bill Taibe kept his sea-centric snacks coming all evening.  We really loved, the barbecued clams, blackened pollock sandwich with spicy slaw and the poutine which is grilled octopus and squid with french fries topped with beef gravy.  And my husband especially loved the lamb burger with meat from Craft Butchery.

 
The perfect complement to these delicious and surprising dishes was the fresh Bitter Hound made for me by Raffa.  It has Tito's Vodka, grapefruit juice, bitters and tonic poured over ice.

Although perfectly satisfied with our savory dishes, Bill did not want us to leave without dessert, which was a  cream filled chocolate whoopee bar, and we were happy to oblige.

Bill and his team are gearing up for the opening scheduled for the end of January and after sampling his creations, the calm, casual and fresh restaurant interior and his delightful staff, he is sure to satisfy customers for a long time to come.  Bill's understated and calm demeanor comes through in the atmosphere and in the people he works with.  What a great addition to Westport's culinary community.  Thank you Bill!

 And if you are wondering what a whelk is, I had to look it up myself.
 It's a sea snail!



Monday, January 16, 2012

On the Road with Pinkki

It's been deeply gratifying to receive the support of so many people for my project, "Cookies for a Cure". Pinkki, a cookie developed by Andre Kreft of Savor Fine Foods, hit the road in October to raise funds for Breast Cancer Research. For each bag sold, Andre, William Raveis and I make a $16 contribution to the WRRE Breast Cancer Research Fund.

We unveiled the program at the Westport Farmers Market in October and response to the cookie itself and to the donation program was very enthusiastic.

Encouraged by the response, we took Pinkki on the road in December. "Cookies For a Cure" was invited by Mitchells in Westport to take part in a special evening to benefit breast cancer. Customers experienced a delightful evening of shopping and in the process made a donation to pinkaid (Mitchells program to support services for local women in need) and Cookies for a Cure.
Pinkki is so delicious that once people taste it, they jump at the chance to make a donation through their purchase. Men are some of the biggest supporters of Cookies for a Cure, including Bill Mitchell himself.





The evening at Mitchells resulted in 100 bags sold and raising $1600 for WRRE Breast Cancer Research Fund. Word of mouth spread the news of Pinkki and other merchants took in bags to sell in their shops. Cookies for a Cure are being sold by Soleil Toile, Effi's Salon and
 Lynne Ostilly Collections in Westport.

Andre and I are grateful for everyone's support. If you want to join a baker and a realtor in the fight against breast cancer, buy a bag of Pinkki!