New England Clam Chowder in a bread bowl. Click for the recipe on Jenny Brule’s Finding Tasty Blog.

Davidson-based chef and writer Jenny Brule says she’s been missing her friends in Boston lately, and that usually makes her pine for foods they once enjoyed eat together on Cape Cod. She did two things: Booked a flight to Boston and made a huge pot of New England clam chowder.

“My girls and I ate double servings of the warm, creamy stew, as we sat around our worn, wooden kitchen table and I and regaled them with stories from my childhood summers spent on Cape Cod,” she writes on her Finding Tasty blog.  Read the full story

Chef Joe Kindred of Rooster’s in Charlotte will be grilling at Saturday’s Burgers & Beers event at Davidson Farmer’s Market.

It’s grilling season – both in our backyards and in downtown Davidson this Saturday, when Davidson Farmer’s Market and Summit Coffee will host Burgers and Beers. The event will help kick off the local Independence Day celebrations. Meanwhile, this weekend brings a grand opening of the patio at Fireside Bar & Grill, a new eatery off West Catawba Avenue in Cornelius.

BURGERS AND BEER

On Saturday, June 29, from 10 am to noon, the Davidson Farmer’s Market and Summit Coffee will present Burgers and Beers in celebration of the Fourth of July, one of the biggest and best grilling times of the year. Read the full story

It’s berry season, time for this Berry Tarte with Mascarpone Filling. (Nikki Sawyer Moore photo)

I may be a bit slow when it comes to pop culture, but I make a mean all-butter pastry crust.   Click here to see my video demonstration of how to make this Mixed Berry and Mascarpone Tart on the “Charlotte Today” show last week.  I show how to make the buttery  pastry dough for this dessert in seconds using a food processor.  I even include some tips for rolling out dough without the frustration.  It’s worth viewing.

For those that like it old school, read the original post for this recipe by clicking here. Read the full story

Flatiron Kitchen & Taphouse in Davidson will introduce Sunday brunch on June 30, with a menu that includes a Flatiron Eggs Benedict, a Wildcat Omelet and Buttermilk Pancakes. Meanwhile, we have notes this week about seafood and pastries at the Eden Street Market, Father’s Day specials at The Melting Pot, and a fall class in the mountains taught by our own columnist Nikki Sawyer Moore. Read the full story

These grilled peaches make our mouths water. (Nikki Sawyer Moore photo)

We are moving this month.  We close in just under a week on our first home.  It’s perfect in every way imaginable.  A small bungalow in a beautiful historic neighborhood, it’s got tons of character.  It’s the place where we will start our family and I’ve already spent hours thinking about decorating the rooms and deciding what vegetables I’m going to grow in the backyard. Everything is falling into place except for this packing thing.

I started with a few boxes last week.  I unloaded a book shelf and it went fairly quickly.  My enthusiasm wavered a bit as I finished packing up 15 boxes of cookbooks and wrapped the gazillionth piece of glassware in bubble wrap.  I hope we have lots of parties at our new house – we certainly have the glasses to do it. And as for my 15 boxes of cookbooks, I pray I stay in my chosen profession otherwise I certainly deserve hoarder status. Read the full story

Chris Coleman of the Market Kitchen cooked a chicken and sweet potato hash during the Davidson Farmer’s Market Winter Chef Challenge last November. He’s back Saturday for the Breakfast of Champions. (David Boraks photo)

Local chefs will be preparing local food at Davidson Farmer’s Market this Saturday morning for another in the market’s popular Breakfast of Champions series. This “Taste-Nic,” as organizers are calling it, will be a fundraiser for both the market and the Davidson-Cornelius Child Development Center, the area’s only sliding-scale child care center.  The event is  this Saturday, June 8, from 9-11 a.m., at the market grounds off Main Street, next town Town Hall.

Chefs and their menus will be:

• Joe Kindred, Roosters Kitchen, who will be making sweet potato hash with onions, sausage, eggs.
• Chris Coleman, The McNinch House, Breakfast salad over grits with steak, roasted beets, greens, pickled peaches.
• Jenny Brule, who writes the Finding Tasty blog, breakfast bruschetta on baguette, various cheeses, eggs, basil and garlic.
• Betsy Verhey, Meals Ministry and chef at the Davidson-Cornelius Child Development Center, French toast with creamy ricotta, peaches, mint.
• Andres Arboleda, Boutique Chef Services, Belgian waffles with granola.

Read the full story