The Lobster Guy

Captain Tim Handrigan and the “COURTNEY ELIZABETH” are scheduled to appear tonight, Friday October 30th, at 10:00 PM EDT on the Discovery Channelʼs show DEADLIEST CATCH: LOBSTERMEN. The first episode aired October 16th and Captain Tim will be showcased throughout the season. Captain Tim Handrigan runs a local wholesale and retail lobster business out of Narragansett, Rhode Island. As a New England neighbor, Captain Handrigan was able to give TBF a quick but exclusive interview.

What uniquely qualifies you to prepare and direct the lobster operation?

I am qualified by time in the business. I grew up with salt water in my veins. When most people were at the beach, I was handling lobsters. I was brought up in this business from the bottom and worked my way up the hard way, by taking care of my boat, my traps, my crew, attention to detail and always trying to be the best I could be! I treat my land business the same way. I work seven days a week. I grade and pack lobsters every day with my employees. I never ask them to do anything I wouldn’t do. We want our customers to have a GREAT experience, and not be just another order number.

Do you like to cook at home and, if so, what do you make?

I do cook at home and I do a lot of cooking on the boat as well. I love a good steak on a hot grill, smoking ribs, linguine and clam sauce and of course lobster! My favorite lobster dinner has to be either lobster salad or a baked stuffed lobster, but seeing as I eat it everyday, its all good. Recently I’ve become a fan of bison. It makes the best burger you’ll ever have. You just have to be careful not to over cook it.



How has your business responded to the “new economy”?

Business has been stable in this economy, is the honest answer. I think we’ll all come out of this. Giving the customer great product, good value, timely service and excellent customer service will take you a long way.

Tell us something that most people would be surprised to find out about you.

I love to restore classic cars. So far I’ve only done one car, a 69 Mustang Mach One. I’ve been working on it for about 5 years. She is about 90% done. It gives you a break from every day stress. I don’t get to spend as much time as I want on it, but its cool to put something back to its original condition. It gives me a lot of satisfaction. I coach a lot of little league baseball with my son Connor, he’s twelve. I’ve coached and played competitive ball for years. I’m also a fan of air racing. Things that go fast. After being on boats for 30 years that go 7-9 knots, I have a need for speed!

And The Winner Is ...

Chef Peter McCarthy of EVOO in Somerville, MA and Za in Arlington takes a well-deserved swig of water after beating out the competition at EAT, DRINK & BE FAIR

From the moment Chef McCarthy's tasting touched our lips we knew it was a winner so we heartily agree with the panel of judges on this one. McCarthy’s cooking was honed at the legendary Seasons restaurant in the Bostonian Hotel, so the menus at his restaurants EVOO and Za evoke much of the innovative spirit of that dining room. His attention to detail is not lost, however, in his total gusto for life. In addition to his consistently high restaurant ratings he is also an avid pilot and sailor. Congratulations to Chef McCarthy whose modesty in a boisterous celebrity chef world is as refreshing as his cuisine.

As promised, here is the recipe for this award-winner. Don't be daunted, however. If you can roast the duck breasts the rest is easy.

Green Mountain Fair Trade Dark Roast Coffee Marinated Hudson Valley Moullard Duck Breast with Verril Farm's Parsnip Puree, Pete's Pickled Pumpkin, Royal Gala Apple and Espresso-Vanilla Chimichurri

Ingredients:

2 Moullard Duck Breasts
Dark Roast Coffee Marinade
Parsnip Puree
Pickled Pumpkin
Royal Gala Apples
Green Mountain Fair Trade Espresso-Vanilla Chimichurri

Dark Roast Coffee Marinade
1/2 cup Green Mountain Fair Trade French Roast Coffee Grounds
1/4 cup minced garlic
3 tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
2 tbsp Sherry Vinegar
1/2 cup Hot Green Mountain French Roast Coffee
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
2 tbsp Granulated Fair Trade Sugar

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Pour over duck breast; let marinade for at least one hour.

Espresso-Vanilla Chimichurri
3 shots of Green Mountain Fair Trade Espresso
2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
2 tbsp Minced Garlic
3 tbsp Minced Shallot
3 tbsp Chopped Parsley
2 Very Thinly Sliced Scallions
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Fair Trade Cocoa Powder
2 tsp Fair Trade Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Fair Trade Molasses
2 tsp Fair Trade Honey
2 tbsp Sherry Vinegar
3/4 cup EVOO
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

In a bowl, whisk all ingredients together.

You can download and print up the recipe here.

Wisconsin

Just a quick note this morning to acknowledge all of the people who email me every week from middle America and The Great Northwest. I was so happy to be quoted in Wisconsin's most popular online magazine, OnMilwaukee.com yesterday. I spend a lot of time emailing people from all over the world who are visiting Boston, looking for great restaurants and cool things to do. TBF has some great things coming up in the weeks ahead and we may even (nothing firm yet) be adding a very respected contributor to bring a whole new dimension to our pages. It's so exciting to be sharing food ideas and fun with everyone!

It was awsome to read that people all over America are turning to local food. There is a huge movement here toward neighborhood sources, fresh artisan food and real, quality ingredients.

The link to the article is here.

Eat, Drink & Be Fair, Part II

The Chefs get to work at their stations.

In Part II we will meet the chefs involved in the cook-off competition at the Eat, Drink & Be Fair event and their creations.


Chef Richard Garcia of Tastings Wine Bar and Bistro in Foxboro.


Chef Jay Silva of Bambara restaurant in Cambridge.



Chefs Peter McCarthy (foreground) of EVOO in Somerville and Will Gilson of Garden at the Cellar in Cambridge.


Chef Garcia in action preparing the sea urchin.


Chef station assistance.


Sea urchin coffee anyone?

Chef Garcia wins plaudits for the most daring, bold use of flavors in an unusual twist. "Coffee and Doughnuts" consisted of Sea Urchin and Green Mountain Coffee Vanilla "Cappuccino" with Lobster Beignets. The "coffee" was frothy and foamy like cappuccino but had the salty flavors of sea urchin.


Smoked sirloin of beef.

Chef Gilson prepared Fair Trade Tea Smoked Sirloin of Beef with Banana Squash Puree and Green Mountain Fair Trade Coffee-Sunchoke Gravy. The sirloin was perfect and the coffee-sunchoke gravy richly flavored.


A table of sirloin beef.


Duck breast dish.

Chef McCarthy prepared Green Mountain Fair Trade Dark Roast Coffee Marinated Hudson Valley Moullard Duck Breast with Verrill Farm's Parsnip Puree, Pete's Pickled Pumpkin and Royal Gala Apple and Expresso-Vanilla Chimichurri. Due to the sponsor of this event chefs were, obviously, asked to incorporate a coffee product. Chef McCarthy seemed to do this in the most subtle yet spectacular way.


Pork tenderloin.


Plating the pork tenderloin.

Chef Silva prepared Bacon and Green Mountain Fair Trade Coffee Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potato Puree, Fair Trade Vanilla Cayenne Glaze and Sweet Potato Chips. The crispy textures and subtle flavors here set this a bit apart from the others and worked well.

For dessert attendees could create their own Ben & Jerry's ice cream sundae with a choice of their fair trade flavors and sip Green Mountain Fair Trade Coffee.

In our next post we'll prividing TBF readers with the award-winning recipe!

Man Food

Rotini and meatballs.

OK so here is the long-awaited man food post. Yes, this is what I usually eat for dinner. We can't be gourmets all the time.


Grilled pannini.



Chili and home made corn bread.



Rare porterhouse, polenta and greens.



Chicken with creamed spinach, stuffing and mash.



Oiled, greasy Sandwiches!



Chicken stir fry, for those workout days.



Steak and ranch soaked salad.



Grilled chicken Caesar salad.


Lasagna!!



Pizza!


Nachos. A typical midnight snack, believe it or not.


Deep fried chicken tenderloin.

Eat, Drink & Be Fair, Part I

The crowd of eager foodies gather at Artists For Humanity in South Boston for the EAT, DRINK & BE FAIR event sponsored by Green Mountain Coffee.

October is not just about Halloween. It's also Fair Trade Month. I am a big believer in Fair Trade, which basically offers farmers, usually in smaller, underdeveloped countries in South America and in Mexico a fair price for their harvest, allowing them to earn a living wage for the first time in their lives. It helps provide a source of ingredients from smaller, family-owned farms resulting in a quality level that makes a world of difference for everyone, quite literally. It is the opposite of industrialized, manufactured food where corporations would rather buy up the small farms and add them to their acres of agribusiness so, as you can imagine, I am all for anything that promotes Fair Trade.

So, we were invited to the Eat, Drink & Be Fair event sponsored by Green Mountain Coffee. The event was held at the Artists for Humanity Center in South Boston, a wonderful organization in itself, and it was my first visit to this venue, a great choice for the event. We basically had tastings of all kinds of foods made with Fair Trade ingredients. Then, there was a cook-off championship by four local chefs, again all using Fair Trade ingredients. Here are some photos and descriptions of the tastings we enjoyed. It Part II we'll cover the competition and then for Part III see if we can't get the winning recipe for all our readers.


Serving at the mahi mahi station.



Fair trade mahi mahi tasting.

Slow poached sustainable mahi mahi in a white wine court bullion, chilled and garnished. Served with cold preserve chutney, horseradish (Vermont Butter Company) sour cream and local cranberry and apple compote.


Mounds of delicious rotini.

Tri-color rotini tossed with fresh organic tomatoes, capers, Vermont feta cheese, fair trade black olives and local fresh basil with a pinot noir red wine sauce.


Carving away at the tenderloin station.


A taste of tenderloin.

Roasted tenderloin of beef with Green Mountain Fair Trade Coffee demi glace, simply whipped Gary's Farm sweet potato.


A plate of haddock hors d'oeuvres.

Passed hors d'oeuvres included:

Gary's Farm Butternut Squash Risotto Arancini

Harvard Orchard Apple Stuffed Vermont Brie

Fair Trade Brined Free Range Chicken Sate with Preserved Local Peach Chutney

Fair Trade Pecan Crusted Local Haddock Dijon with Pecan and Crystal's Honey & Mustard

Atlantic Line Caught Yellow Fin Tuna Tartar on a Naan Bread Chip

As you can see, fair trade and sustainable foods can be quite sophisticated. Good for us, a creative opportunity for chefs and great for the farmers.

NECN Here I Come

At a private dinner party last week someone asked me if I was Billy Costa. I said no, I am his quieter twin brother Billy McAdoo. I don't see the resemblance but apparently they swore it up.


Billy Costa of KISS-108 and NECN's TV DINER.

Gillette Tailgate Cookoff Competition

My friend Anand sent in this video of Ming Tsai, one of my favorite local Chefs. I couldn't make it to this event due to the twenty-five other events I tried to get to but it was so cool that he sent it. Hope you enjoy!



Thanks Anand! Local food is good food and cranberries are made in Massachusetts.

Good Things Happen

... off on an unexpected week-long holiday/project/exciting adventure.

A bit of news to announce, however. I am proud to be asked on as one of the new writers for the London-based online magazine: Anglotopia. Watch for my debut post on Friday, October 23rd.

We have also moved The Weekly Agenda to twitter. Click on the link to find really cool food events in Boston and Europe.

Weekend Breakfast Idea

Skimming along at The Head of the Charles Regatta was cool. It really was a brilliant day of fun, but tiring. After dinner and a sleep we turned English muffins into French toast.



This week that cylindrical bread in the bakery section caught our eye. They call it English Muffin Bread. It is great as toast but we thought it would be perfect for french toast. Round bread, soaked in egg, gently fried. Bacon strips and dobs of butter. Cafe au Lait. How can one go wrong?



Blueberry maple syrup is the condiment of choice.


Sweet and salty, bacon and syrup.

Special thanks to Matty for helping with this post :)

Dinner Tonight

Caramelized scallops, dusted with fresh from the garden parsley and salt. The compote is medallions of polenta, fresh peas, pepper, onion, prosciutto and tiny cubes of asiago cheese.

Gourmet Today

As a follow-up to our last post on the death of GOURMET Magazine you may want to pick up a new recipe book just out at the bookstores as your own little memorial. Here's the information and a recipe from the publication.

Gourmet Today: More than 1,000 Recipes for the Contemporary Kitchen
by Ruth Reichl

Recipe
Cheddar Tomato Fondue
SERVES 4

ACTIVE TIME: 15 MINUTES START TO FINISH: 20 MINUTES

Unlike the usual versions, which require two or more cheeses and a vigilant eye, this fondue offers almost instant gratification. The addition of tomatoes keeps things interesting down to the last gooey bite.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup finely chopped drained canned tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
3 tablespoons dry white wine
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3/4 pound cheddar, coarsely grated (about 3 cups)
ACCOMPANIMENT: 1-inch cubes of French bread (from 1 baguette)
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: a fondue pot set

Melt butter in a 4-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat. Add tomatoes and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of liquid is evaporated, about 5 minutes. Stir together wine and cornstarch in a small bowl, then stir into tomatoes and simmer gently, stirring, for 1 minute. Discard garlic. Add cheddar by handfuls, stirring until completely melted.

Serve in a fondue pot set over a flame, with bread cubes and fondue forks.

Two More Casualties?

A call to the management of Herrell's Ice Cream, the longtime Harvard Square outpost for true homemade ice cream aficionados, confirmed it: they are not closed. Rumors did abound about a month ago on many local blogs that said they were closing but none really said where they got their information. Oftentimes restaurants that have had long, successful runs will announce their closing date so that all their local patrons from over the years can visit one last time. You may want to do that this week, however, as they will be shutting down for renovations and expansion. Management confirmed that they will be expanding into the space next door (where the sneaker store was) and will also be serving lunch and dinner with a liquor license. Apparently, it was no longer feasible to sell just ice cream out of this expensive retail space. They will keep the ice cream parlor open through next weekend for the Head of the Charles Regatta, perhaps longer, depending on traffic. So there you have it.



GOURMET Magazine, on the other hand, has been pulled off it's life support and died last week after sixty eight years of glorious living. Conde Nast Publications, once the Rock of Gibraltar of the periodical world, is apparently crumbling. They are reporting "drastic" losses in ad revenue and are being forced to slice, dice and chop a number of their most luxe publications. Rest in peace GOURMET.

Oktoberfest 2009

Where can punked-out teens, grandmothers, couples, hipsters, soccer moms with strollers, Harvard students and thousands of international visitors all hang out together for an afternooon of frivolity, food and fun? The 2009 Harvard Square Oktoberfest! Where else? We raced back from Maine (where it was more mobbed than July 4th and Labor Day combined) for this event as it is an annual favorite.




One of the many bands and musical acts performing.

This year brought far more musical acts, more, and better, vendors and the largest crowds I have ever seen at this event. Of course, the crisp, sunny Autumn day helped. Enjoy the photos everyone!


The Cuban sandwich from Chez Henri.

I have to say that this Cuban sandwhich, which Chez Henri is famous for, was our particular food fave here.


The freshly made kettle korn was a huge crowd pleaser.


Creme brulee anyone?


The Grafton Street beer garden was packed, as usual.






What is a festival without the colorful characters?




The Dunkin Donuts pumpkin latte samples disappeared in seconds.


Working off the calories with the Cambridge Rindge crew team.








What is Oktoberfest without the lederhosen?







The event is always kid friendly, family friendly and, really, everyone friendly!



And, of course, it couldn't be a Harvard Square crowd without a political statement!