You might hear the name The Rockin Chicken (TRC) and think it’s yet another really good chicken-themed joint, like West Hartford’s Chicken Citizen & Donuts, Wethersfield’s El Pollo Guapo, Newington’s Rooster Co. or the Elm City’s Hot Haven Chicken. But you’ll see it’s actually so much more. Since TRC opened in June, 2016 on Franklin Avenue in Hartford, it has been my go-to for Peruvian food, long one of my favorite cuisines.
TRC is owned by Dr. Miguel A. Colán and his wife, Kate. The genial couple doesn’t just own the business but the building as well. For Miguel, a Hartford chiropractor, it was an almost-weekly family tradition growing up in Lima to visit pollerias a la brasa, popular local restaurants specializing in charcoal rotisserie chicken. TRC grew out of his desire to recreate that dining experience for Hartford-area restaurant-goers.
If you’re lucky enough to live anywhere near a farm that grows strawberries, be sure to venture out to pick your own. When you tire of having sweet, ruby tinged juice staining your fingers, and you can tear yourself away from eating every other berry you bend to pick, head home to bake these easy and classic strawberry shortcakes.
Thank you, Christy Colasurdo and Tracey Medeiros, for sharing this recipe from their just released cookbook, The Connecticut Farm to Table Cookbook; 150 Home-Grown Recipes from the Nutmeg State, June 2015. This beautifully photographed book is a celebration of the local and seasonal. Although it highlights CT. chefs, the recipes are suitable for all die-hard locavores anywhere.
This recipe can be made with regular, conventional orange carrots, but spring-dug rainbow carrots from the farmer’s market are a colorful celebration of time and place like no other. Seasoned with a pistachio dukkah (an Egyptian nut-herb-spice blend traditionally made instead with hazelnuts, plus sesame seeds, coriander, mint, cumin, and salt and pepper), the flavors are both unexpected and familiar. Crème fraîche, with its creamy, sour finish is the icing on this proverbial carrot cake. Fresh microgreens complete the dish, offering more visual and textural contrast.—Lauren Braun Costello
I have been making this dough for so long, I do not even remember where it came from. It has been my kids’ favorite since they were small, and it still is now that they are all grown up ;-). It is essentially foolproof, and takes no time to whip up. Because I wanted to represent as many vendors from The Westport Farmers’ Market as possible, and make it as close to a one-stop-shop recipe, I added some flour I had on hand from Kneads Bakery, and it worked. So this just goes to show…who says you can’t shop local + seasonal in the Northeast in March?!?
The latest Video Recipe Book from the Jacques Pépin Foundation features over 40 culinary luminaries and will be available March 9th. After a successful Vol. 1 release, The Jacques Pépin Foundation, (JPF) an organization that enriches lives and strengthens communities through culinary education, proudly debuts Cook with Jacques Pépin & Friends: Vol 2. This Video Recipe Book features over 40 lauded chefs across the country including Marcus Samuelsson, Ingrid Hoffmann, Michael Voltaggio, Rick Bayless, Michael Symon, Carla Hall, Diego Galicia, Traci Des Jardins, and, of course, Jacques Pépin.
Each dish and drink featured in Cook with Jacques Pépin & Friends includes a personal, instructional video as well a printable recipe. The Video Recipe Book is available to all JPF Members, and in addition to Vol. 2., members can access Vol. 1. Combined, nearly 100 recipes and more than 12 hours of video instruction live on the Membership site. Every JPF Membership directly supports community-based culinary training programs nationwide that provide pathways to individual empowerment, better health and employment. Membership starts at $40 per year.
This recipe for Mexican Hot Cocoa Bombs is from the winter issue of Connecticut Food and Farm Magazine, written by Juli Mancini, Recipe Developer and Food Stylist, who is obsessed with the visual organizational of all things edible, botanical, and chocolate.
Hand made with solid chocolate, these decadent Mexican hot chocolate bombs produce an unrivaled cup of rich cocoa. Hot chocolate bombs are hollow hand crafted chocolate spheres, placed in a mug with a pour-over of hot milk or coffee. Bombs are packed with surprise confections, slowly exposed as the chocolate melts from the heat of the liquid. Mexican hot chocolate bombs are a fine place to start, especially if you love a spicy twist, but personalize your own creations to taste. It’s simple to marble the chocolate for a really beautiful look. Simply package in cello-bags or stack in Mason jars and you have the perfect Valentine gift - unexpected, entertaining, and delectable.
Tis the season for, yup, you called it…SQUASH. Chefs around CT are busily creating new ways to use this seasonal bounty and Genee Habansky of Herbaceous Catering, has come up with this recipe for Butternut Squash “Alfredo” with Crispy Prosciutto. We feel strongly that the addition of prosciutto to just about anything vastly improved the dish, and this Squash Alfredo is no exception. Make it at home and let us know what you think. You can find all the gorgeous squash you could ever need at The Westport Farmers’ Market, or at any local farmers’ market near you. Support local!
Lauren Braun Costello is a local chef and author. You can find her @itslaurenofcourse.
This stuffed cabbage features kasha (coarse buckwheat groats) loaded with a rainbow panoply of sautéed root vegetables of your choosing. Unlike a traditional sweet and sour stuffed cabbage that is braised in a tomato sauce, this recipe calls for neither additional cooking after the wilted cabbage leaves have been stuffed, nor for a sauce. The result is a vibrant dish that highlights the crunch of the cruciferous cabbage. Make this dish entirely vegan by cooking the kasha without an egg.
CTbites recently partnered with Taco Daddy’s Chef Mo Major to help promote Milton’s new Cheesy Cheddar Crackers (which are really rather delicious). We asked Chef Major to create a Crunchwrap with the addition of these snackables, and in 30 minutes he came out of the kitchen with this ridiculously tasty recipe for a Cheesy Cracker Crusted Fried Chicken & Waffles Crunch Wrap. Guess what? Now you can make it at home. Enjoy!
What’s cooking people? The Westport Farmers’ Market and Sue Smith from Prime Health Style, have a great vegetarian recipe for the pasta lovers out there. Cavatappi is the Italian word for corkscrew, hence the name of this spiral-shaped, macaroni-like pasta. It’s ideal for use with a thick sauce, here paired with a zesty carrot pesto. This vegetarian recipe creates a tasty and satisfying summer one-dish meal, or can be served as a side dish. See notes below for easy vegan and gluten-free substitutions.
When peaches hit the summer market in CT there are plenty of reasons to celebrate. I love everything about them: their seductive fruity fragrance, their juicy sunny flesh and most of all, their versatility.
In this easy quinoa salad, peaches lean more savory than sweet, making this the perfect accompaniment to grilled fish or chicken. But remember that quinoa is a complete protein on its own so feel free to make this the whole meal and be done. I'm already dreaming about this salad for breakfast with some luscious creamy goat cheese or salty feta.
Episode #4 of our Chefs At Home series is here…and it’s a heathy, simple and delicious recipe you can make all summer long. Chef Anthony Rinaldi, formerly Exec Chef at Kawa Ni in Westport, currently the Chef for Greenwich Country Day School, has been having some fun in his kitchen with this recipe for the Chia Seed Pudding. This recipe has 15 grams of protein and is easy enough for any kid to make themselves! Get your kids cooking and enjoy!
Wanna up your chicken game? Check out this tasty recipe for Spring Vegetable Chicken Fricassee from The Westport Farmers’ Market and Herbaceous Catering. When you purchase your ingredients locally….they just taste better.
Readers, Diners, New Quarantine Couch Potato-Turned-Chefs! Get Ready to tune into our new IGTV Weekly Series COOK THE BOOK.
Join trained chef and beloved Connecticut Cookbook author, Anna Francese Gass (Heirloom Kitchen 2019), as she makes her way one through some of the most delicious recipes in the recently released CTBites e-cookbook: Connecticut Chef Recipes for Restaurant Relief
Starting this Wednesday June 24th @8PM Gass + a weekly featured Guest Chef will bring the book alive and further whet your appetite and drive to get in the kitchen. This week
So, grab your aprons, your whisks, and the new e-cookbook (should we still plug here? for fun, great food, and to continue supporting our state’s wonderful restaurant industry.
June 15th is NATIONAL LOBSTER DAY! Yup…It’s a thing. To celebrate, we asked Chef Arturo-Franco Camacho of Shell & Bones Oyster Bar and Grill in New Haven to send over one his favorite lobster-y recipes. Whip up some of these Lobster Cakes and celebrate the revered Day of Lobster. Enjoy!
In this week’s History Happy Hour 21st century New Haven bartender Tim Cabral demonstrates The Martinez, the father of the Gin Martini.
Here’s a little history…In the mid-19th century barkeeps evolved into mixologists, creating unique cocktails and codifying those long in existence. The most famous of these new-breed bartenders was Jerry Thomas who, as a young man, trained in New Haven and went on to own saloons all over the country. He also penned a world-famous bar tending guide with recipes that is still in use today.
Among the drinks Thomas is said to have developed is The Martinez, a mix of vermouth, gin, bitters and maraschino which he included in his guide. Over time, a version featuring gin, vermouth, and an olive was developed into the modern-day Martini.
Even the most devoted meat eaters cannot deny the deliciousness of this “Meatless Monday” recipe. Shiitake mushrooms are the best fungi choice to make a crumb-coated base for tomato sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan because they are firm and hold their shape. The following recipe outlines versions both to shallow fry and bake the shiitakes. You can choose even the breading: fresh breadcrumbs are exceptionally good, but panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) adds a super crunchy textural element, for the taste buds and the eyes.
This week on the History Happy Hour, bartender Craig Ventrice shares his recipe for The Sherry Flip, popular in 18th century taverns and quaffed by the likes of George Washington.
