Buffalo Rising Online

One of the reasons why July is one of my favorite months is because its sunny days and breezy evenings inspire me to create great food for the grill and simple, tasty desserts. Guercio's is one of the best places to pick up produce in the city, and that's where you'll want to head for today's main ingredient—the watermelon.

For the past 3 years, I’ve been hosting 4th of July celebrations in my backyard. I go crazy preparing salads, marinating meats and vegetables for the grill, baking beer bread, and of course, making my favorite 4th of July dessert: Watermelon-Tequila Granita. It somehow always ends up being one of the evening's icy-hot topics of conversation.

Granita is a refreshing and flavorful dessert that closely resembles sorbet or Italian ice. The difference between granita and these other flavored-ice desserts is texture. Granita is made of coarse, crunch…

This time of year is great for finding a variety of fresh produce, and what better place to patronize than a local farm? For residents of the University Heights district, doing so just got easier.

This Saturday, (June 30) a new Farmer’s Market will open, taking place in the parking lot north of Allen Hall on UB’s South Campus. The market will run every Saturday from 8 AM - 1 PM until October 13.

Located near the intersection of Main Street and Kenmore Avenue, the market should bring a new dimension to the area by offering locally grown produce to University Heights residents. In addition to fruits and vegetables, other products such as jellies and jams will be available.

Some of the confirmed vendors include Ieraci Farm of Lewiston, Independence Hill Farm of Friendship, Honey Bee Farm of North Tonawanda, and Nancy Bryant jams and jellies.

The market is a collaborative …

It's all about the dough. That is the basis of Karen Markiewicz's business, K Sisters Authentic Pierogi. "Because we use the old fashioned dough, made from sour cream, butter, and milk, you can put anything in them!" And they do.

At any given time there are approximately 18 different kinds of pierogi in the freezer. For the traditionally minded there are sauerkraut varieties, potato varieties, and of course farmer's cheese varieties. For the open minded palate there are fruit varieties (cherry, blueberry, prune), sweet potato, tomato with jalapeno, ricotta with spinach and roasted garlic, and the new breakfast pierogi containing eggs, cheese, and Canadian bacon. If that doesn't send your taste buds over the edge, the K Sisters are constantly coming out with new creations! The pierogi of the week when I visited was the enchilada pierogi, filled with a beef, bean, and cheese mixt…

Savor the Flavor, at the Broadway Market, intends to bring visitors and Buffalonians an assortment of WNY-centric foods for their next event. Sandy Stark, Taste of Home Magazine's Field Editor, will be there to kick off the ongoing event on July 7 at 11am.

This edition of Savor the Flavor will provide samplings of Chiavetta's, Rooties, LaNova, Bubbles Q Barbeque, Weber's mustard, Loganberry, beef on weck and of course chicken Wings. Along with the samples of each dish, guests will receive recipe cards and coupons. Former Wester New Yorkers often crave these native foods, so this is a great opportunity to indulge all at once and also take a bit of Buffalo with them when they leave.

This year, Savor the Flavor is working in conjunction with Buffalo Old Home Week beginning July 1, at the Central Terminal, going until July 8. BOHW is a week long celebration of Buffalo. The…

In May we were fortunate enough to be invited to the Broadway Market's Savor the Flavor demonstration. The monthly demonstrations, hosted by Sandy Starks and a guest, lead the audience through simple and interesting recipes, touching on an assortment of cooking techniques and featuring produce and meats from a variety of market vendors.

This visit took place the day before Mother's Day, and guest hostesses mother and daughter team Julie and Noelle Panepento, demonstrated a recipe that is a family favorite. Their recipe for NY Maple Syrup Glazed Chicken is shown in the accompanying video as well as being detailed below.

June 16th marks the date of the next installment of Savor the Flavor. Sandy Starks will present recipes along with guest host Alicia Meyers, caterer and former owner of Williamsville's "Cooking for All Seasons” cooking school. The class focuses on picnic fo…

Over 50 years ago, archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania discovered the tomb of the legendary King Midas. The burial chamber included the king’s remains along with the place settings for a banquet. Dated at around 700 BCE, these vessels represent “the most comprehensive Iron Age drinking set” ever found.

One of the most exciting discoveries made during this excavation was a set of three large vats used to hold the drink served at the feast. Each of these contained traces of the ancient brew, which were sent to UPenn for examination. At the time of discovery, the scientific methods were not yet advanced enough to determine much about the contents. Half a century later, however, Dr. Patrick McGovern was able to determine, with great certainty, the ingredients of the “Phrygian cocktail”.

Apparently, the drink of kings in Iron Age Turkey was a mixture of…

The other day I stopped into Wegmans for some rainbow trout and rapini. Wegmans isn't generally my first choice, but if you're looking for fresh veg and meat, it's one of the only one stop shops in town.

I digress.

After selecting my trout I moved on to the produce department, packed with slightly frantic after-work shoppers. There, next to the rapini, stood a luscious bundle of organic rainbow swiss chard, boasting it's outrageously glorious coloring like a proud peacock. How could I consider the (albeit delicious) rapini when compared with this breathtaking bounty.

According to the not always reliable Wikipedia, swiss chard was thus named to differentiate it from French chardon (also known as cardoons). It is a vegetable used frequently in Mediterranean cooking and offers a wealth of vitamins and nutrients…

One of my favorite summer activities is grilling in my backyard with friends. There is little more enjoyable than relaxing by the grill with a drink and taking in the evening, especially after a long day. Even if it isn’t a common practice in your household, this Memorial Day weekend is the perfect time to host a barbecue.

A trip to Willowbrook Farms Grocery, located at 92 Niagara Frontier Food Terminal (just across the street from the Clinton/Bailey Farmer’s Market), is ideal for those looking to stock up for such an event. The complex is massive, and there is a constant flow of trucks loading and unloading groceries packaged in food service-size quantities. The Food Terminal serves as a restaurant and food service supplier, but is also open to the public, allowing anyone to get wholesale prices on a wide variety of meat, canned vegetables, sauces, and much more.

The w…

A creative way to add a new touch to your cuisine this summer may be found in your own backyard- even if you haven’t planted any vegetables. Many common flowers are edible, and, when used properly, can add more than just decoration to your food and drink.

Now that lilacs are in bloom She has a bowl of lilacs in her room And twists one in his fingers while she talks. "Ah, my friend, you do not know, you do not know What life is, you who hold it in your hands"; (Slowly twisting the lilac stalks) "You let it flow from you, you let it flow, And youth is cruel, and has no remorse And smiles at situations which it cannot see." I smile, of course, And go on drinking tea. -T.S. Eliot, “Portrait of a Lady”

Perhaps, to the woman in the poem, you do not know life until you have tried lilac…

The Elmwood/Bidwell Farmer's Market will open for business this Saturday morning. For those of us looking to adopt a healthier lifestyle for the summer, now is the perfect time to get back to the “five-a-day” fruit and vegetable habit.

The Market offers food shoppers a chance to purchase locally grown and produced fruits, vegetables, flowers, and more. The average produce purchased from grocery stores travels between 1,500 and 2,500 miles between the time it is picked and the time it arrives for sale. Locally grown produce can be picked at the height of ripeness, and doesn’t suffer the negative effects of thousands of miles of travel.

Since the Elmwood/Bidwell Farmer's Market is a producer-only market (with no reselling allowed), there are no middlemen. If you are interested in the philosophy of the people who grow your food, you can quiz the farmers as you browse. I…

verē chocolates (pronounced “very”) have quietly made there way to Buffalo from NYC. Like most boutique chocolate, the packaging is impeccable and the flavor unique. Unlike most boutique chocolate, the product is gluten free and vegan friendly.

Often 75% cocoa is even a little dark for me, but the complexity of this simple confection was interesting and not at all bitter. Sweetened with just a bit of crystallized fructose, the palate is free to experience the full, naked flavor of chocolate. The texture is equally interesting; as soon as the indifferent square warms in your mouth it transforms into a velvety puddle, leaving your tongue awash with soft, smoky chocolate.

These little sweeties come two to a pack, wrapped carefully in small glassine envelopes. The sliding matchbox-style container is exquisitely designed, both architecturally and graphically.

verē also o…

While planning our Christmas dinner my daughter Devon asked if we could have a family dinner celebrating our family’s heritage. After a semester of school cafeteria food she had a yearning for some of Babci’s (Polish for Grandmother) home-cooked specialties such as pierogi, Golabki, creamy mashed potatoes and of course, Grandma Laurie’s famous cheesecake.

Gone were the chestnuts, roast turkey, green bean casserole and other traditional holiday fare. But, what transpired that Christmas Day was a trip down memory lane where we celebrated our family’s roots through food favorites and past celebrations and traditions.

Grandma Laurie made the cheesecakes for the Turgeon family restaurants using a recipe developed by the famous Turgeon brothers. The Turgeons are part of our extended family so I started making the cheesecakes whenever we all got together. Later, Devon and I…

Last week I had a lot of heavy cream left over from my pavlova adventure. Heavy cream is a tad on the expensive side, so I wanted to use it up. The best way that I know to use up heavy cream is to make one of the most beautiful things on earth. The truffle.

The French, in honor of the much-loved savory fungi that hogs root from the earth, developed the glorious chocolate truffle. Initially, they were oddly shaped and powdered with cocoa to look like dirt. But today the truffle is now a perfect little sphere of joy.

Who doesn’t love a truffle? I can’t imagine.

Chocolate truffles are easy to make, require few ingredients, and will impress even the most finicky eater. Additionally, I think it is virtually impossible to screw them up.

The other great thing about truffles is how simple it is to alter their flavor profile. The addition of peppermint, sea salt, nuts, la…

China Cola is the #1 natural cola sold in the U.S. In China, it is sold under the name “Future Cola”. Currently distributed by the makers of Reed’s Ginger Beer (yum!), it is widely available at local markets. I picked up the standard cola flavor and the cherry cola version at the Lexington Co-op where it can be purchased both in six-packs and by the bottle ($1.49).

In the past, American colas contained more natural ingredients and a smoother, milder flavor profile. The mass-production of colas made with natural ingredients is more expensive and less profitable for soda makers. Additionally, Americans have developed a taste for the sweet that cannot be quelled. Thus the current cola we find in our vending machines and supermarket shelves is a giant leap away from the way that cola was intended to taste.

I prefer China Cola to regular cola because it does not have…