Thursday Sips &Nibbles

I am back again with a new edition of Thursday Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I highlight some interesting wine and food items that are upcoming. **********************************************************
1) Boston, more than most other cities of its size, is chock full of talented home and professional cooks who have had cookbooks published in the past year or two. Fruit Center Marketplace reached out to five notable cookbook authors who live and work within an hour of their two stores. The result is a full month of in-store cookbook sales and on-the-spot autographing by the authors.

Locations, dates and times vary, as shown below, and cookbook quantities are limited. There is no charge to meet and speak to these authors. Book sales will be available by cash or major credit card. Look for these culinary experts at the front of each store.

Amy Traverso
The Apple Lover’s Cookbook
Thursday, September 11
4-5 PM in the Milton store
Cost: $30 per autographed copy

Winner of IACP’s "Best Cookbook" award in 2012. Apple Lover's Cookbook celebrates the beauty of apples in all their delicious variety, taking you from the orchard to the kitchen with recipes both sweet (like Apple-Stuffed Biscuit Buns and Blue Ribbon Deep-Dish Apple Pie) and savory (like Cider-Brined Turkey and Apple Squash Gratin). It offers a full-color guide to fifty-nine apple varieties, with descriptions of their flavor, history, and, most important, how to use them in the kitchen. Amy is an editor at Yankee magazine.

Beatrice Peltre’
La Tartine Gourmand
Saturday, September 13
1-2 PM in the Milton store
Cost: $20 per autographed copy

What could be sweeter than life with friendship and food at its center? For Béatrice Peltre, author of the award-winning blog LaTartineGourmande.com, to cook is to delight in the best of what life has to offer. Welcome to a world where flavors are collected as souvenirs and shared as heirlooms, and where the dishes we create are expressions of our joie de vivre. With nearly 100 recipes and charming anecdotes, La Tartine Gourmande takes you on a journey, not only through the meals of the day but around the world, as Béa revisits her inspiration for each dish.

Leigh Belanger
The Boston Homegrown Cookbook
Wednesday, September 17
4-5 PM in the Hingham store
Cost: $30 per autographed copy

This cookbook features mouth-watering recipes from almost 30 top-name chefs and restaurants in the Boston area who subscribe to the philosophy that locally grown, sustainable foods taste best. Yes, you can recreate dishes from Ana Sortun, Kevin Long, Nuno Alves and Jody Adams ! Recipes are lavishly illustrated with colorful photos of the dishes, chefs, and local farmers from around the region who are dedicated to growing the best local foods.

Catherine Walthers
Kale, Glorious Kale
Book Signing Tuesday, September 23
1-2 PM in the Hingham store
Cost: $17 per autographed copy

Cooking Class Wednesday, September 24
5:30-7:00 PM in the 2nd floor café’ at the Milton store
$25 for 90-minute cooking class; cost includes an autographed cookbook

Now, with the guidance of cookbook author Cathy Walthers – whose other top sellers include Raising the Salad Bar and Soups & Sides – every home cook can explore the multitude of ways this most healthy of foods can be made into delectable and satisfying meals. From Baked Eggs over Kale in the morning to main courses like Chicken Braised with Kale and Cider, Kale, Glorious Kale, which hit bookstores on September 15, will be your complete guide to the greatest of green vegetables.

Paula Marcoux
Cooking with Fire
Saturday, September 27
12-1 PM in the Milton store
Also from 3-4 PM in the Hingham store the same day
Cost: $20 per autographed copy

Cooking with live fire goes way beyond the barbecue grill, says Marcoux, who is food editor of Edible South Shore. Rediscover the pleasures of a variety of unconventional techniques, from roasting pork on a spit to baking bread in ashes, searing fish on a griddle, roasting vegetables in a fireplace, making soup in a cast-iron pot, baking pizza in a wood-fired oven, cooking bacon on a stick, and much, much more. Includes 100 recipes for everything from roasted rabbit and fish chowder to baguettes and burnt cream.

2) Tryst Restaurant, in Arlington, will commemorate 10 years serving the Greater Boston community with a month-long celebratory menu featuring $10 signature dishes from Executive chef/owner Paul Turano. The big 10 anniversary specials will debut on September 1 and last through the end of the month.

In true Tryst fashion, contemporary American menu items will get a Turano twist—transforming them into the unique, yet approachable dishes that chef Turano has come to be known for. Diners can enjoy $10 items such as kale & Brussels sprout salad with toasted hazelnuts, parmesan, verjus vinaigrette, wild mushroom flatbread, braised pork belly buns with spicy cucumbers & root beer hoisin and shrimp tacos with avocado, red onion and aji crema, to name a few. The menu will evolve throughout the month so that guests can try something new every visit.

Tryst’s special anniversary menu will be available during dinner service from September 1-September 30.

For more information or to make reservations, please call Tryst at 781-641-2227

3) The Wine Connextion, in North Andover, will be hosting a luxury wine tasting of Michael David Winery wines with special guest Dave Phillips, Wine Owner of Michael David Winery. Guests can gather on Thursday, September 25, from 7pm-9pm to meet and have their wines signed by Phillips. This special tasting showcases Michael David Winery’s Luxury Lines Series including crowd favorites like their Rapture Cabernet, Lust Zinfandel, and their 2012 newly released Rage Zinfandel and Ink Blot wine series.

Michael and David Phillips, two brothers whose family has farmed in the Lodi region since the 1850’s, have cultivated wine grapes for nearly a century. Today the family continues to emphasize the importance of quality wines with unique and eye catching labels. Farming with future generations in mind, Michael David Winery has adopted some of the most progressive sustainable farming practices in the state. All 750 acres of the family’s vineyards are third party certified, with their 2011 vintage being certified sustainable.

This tasting is free to the public and, as always, walk-ins are welcome. Please note: Must be 21 or older.

4) Taberna de Haro is hosting a special tasting of Classic Spain on October 8, at 7pm. There will be a guest speaker, Colin Gent, Master of Wine with Europvin, importers of fine, traditional expressions of Spanish wine. Dan Hirschkop, Wine Director of Gordon's Fine Wines, will also be in attendance to take orders for purchases.

Menu
Manzanilla Papirusa Emilio Lustau
Manzanilla en Rama Emilio Lustau
Pinchos de Pescado - preserved mackerel, smoked bluefish, fresh crab - on olive oil toast, with voluptuous garnishes

Ullacia Txakolina 2013
Granbazán Ambar Albariño 2013
Fresh Cod with Basquaise sauce and clams

C.V.N.E. Reserva 2009
Contino Reserva 2005
Alubias de Tolosa - rich & fancy red beans

Alion 2009
Valbuena 5º Año 2008
Piquillo Peppers stuffed with braised lamb, sauced

Cost: $80 per person (plus tax & gratuity)
Reservations & pre-payment required. Call 617-277-8272 during evenings.

5) Chopps American Bar and Grill and Chefs Daniel Bruce and David Verdo are pleased to announce a delicious collaboration with Busa Wine & Spirits. On Thursday, September 18, at 6:30pm, guests will sample wines from the from the Pacific Northwest that have been paired with delicious small bites selected by Chef de Cuisine David Verdo and Chef Daniel Bruce, and everyone will leave with a $50 gift certificate to Long’s Jewelers.

Cost: $49 per person. To purchase tickets, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chopps-american-bar-and-grill-autumn-wine-tasting-tickets-12550792759.