Fruits and Vegetables

"Hot and Sweaty" Meatball Eating Contest

Easy Eats: Summer Cobb Salad

​When I'm deciding what to make for dinner, the first place I head is the produce section of my local market. Checking out what's new, what's fresh, and what's in season is always inspiring. And last night, I saw so many fruits and vegetables in that category I was tempted to buy one of everything ... More >>

Top 10 Easy Grilled Side Dishes for Fourth of July

​Fourth of July is right around the corner, which means getting your friends together in your backyard for a little bit of grillin' and chillin'. Hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, and barbecued pork are all the norm for this meatcentric holiday. And that stuff is all fine and good -- everyone loves h ... More >>

Mediterranean Fruit Flies Found in Boca Raton; Fruits & Veggies Threatened by Outbreak

​Medflies are back in South Florida and posing a serious outbreak, according to Dept. of Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson. He deems the threat from the Mediterranean fruit fly, first discovered in Boca Raton traps over the weekend, "disturbing." Not since 2002 has South Florida ... More >>

A Complete Idiot's Guide to: Gallo Pinto

John Linn​The Costa Rican specialty gallo pinto was one of my favorite parts of visiting the Central American country. I ate the stir-fried rice and beans just about every morning in Costa Rica, often accompanied by eggs, fruit, cheese, fresh tortillas, and sour cream. There's nothing like enjoyin ... More >>

Food Event on the Radar

​• Himmarshee Bar and Grille and Whole Foods are like two peas in a pod. The pair are teaming up yet again for a beer dinner on April 26 that will feature local and national craft brew. Sample masa-crusted Chimay cheese along with local Holy Mackerel ale, maple-chipotle braised pork belly with D ... More >>

Are Organic Produce Clubs Cheaper Than Supermarkets? We Buy Both to Find Out

Photos by Eric BartonThis week's delivery from Annie's.​Two weeks ago, I signed up for Annie's Organic Buying Club, which works under the slogan: "making organics affordable for everyone." Annie's is part of a trend these days, with companies popping up across the country that promise to deliver f ... More >>

The Complete Idiot's Guide to: Matzo Ball Soup

Last week, we discussed my only love for Passover: brisket. OK, so maybe I lied, because I do have strong ties to matzo ball soup, which we serve by the gallon at my Passover Seders. Flickr: Josh Bousel​ It's the only form I can tolerate matzo in. In its most natural form, I am completely disgus ... More >>

Spring is Here: Radish and Blackberry Salad

John LinnRadish and blackberry salad with parsley and goat blue cheese is spring on a plate.​This past Saturday was the official start date of spring, which means a whole new crop of produce is coming into season. A trip to any farmer's market is proof enough. All those fresh vegetables and bright ... More >>

The Verbal Nosh: Chatting With James Beard Nominee Zach Bell of Café Boulud

Bell has methodically worked his way up to lead chef at Cafe Boulud, where Daniel's standard of excellence is the brass ring.

In a Professional Kitchen, Doing Two Jobs is Everyday

Photo by Flickr user mummalu​Patty Canedo is a pastry chef at a famed, private country club on Palm Beach and writes weekly about her kitchen exploits.Its 8:20 a.m., and the kitchen is already filled with the sound of knives running across cutting boards, sizzles from sauté pans, and the walk-in ... More >>

The Staff at Todd English's Wild Olives in Boca Raton Needs Some Reining In

It's Harvest Time in Lake Worth

​Farmers' markets are a wonderful thing: politically, ecologically, economically, and gastronomically correct. We love the idea of them; we love the quality product we can get at them.  What we don't do is shop a whole lot at them. After all, most farmers' markets are open only on weekends, u ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes: Udon Soup From Sushi 1

Photo by flickr user k18a.​ As a countdown to the Best Of Broward Palm Beach 2010, coming in May, Clean Plate Charlie is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in South Florida. Send your own nominations to John.Linn@BrowardPalmBeach.com.

It's Cold Outside, So Let's Get Stewed

Photo by Flickr user ulterior epicure​When I was a kid growing up in the Northeast, cold weather was good news. I'd get outdoors early to enjoy the snow and chat up cute girls in puffy down jackets. And I'd spend the entire day outside, trying to stay upright on my minibike while running wide open ... More >>

Dish Deconstructed: Baked Halibut

John Linn​This delicate fish is so simple, even the most inexperienced cooks can make it. Start with inch-thick fillets of the fleshy white fish -- fresh is best, though even the frozen packages available at Publix are of decent quality. Just be sure to defrost properly by placing the fillets in t ... More >>

Sampling RA Sushi's New Menu

Jarret StreinerRA's signature "RA"ckin' shimp, sweet onion salmon sashimi, RA chips and salsa, and kaisen ceviche in the center.​By Dori ZinnThe Outback of maki rolls RA Sushi unveiled it's new menu this week. All three South Florida locations - Palm Beach Gardens, Pembroke Pines, and South Miami ... More >>

Anatomy of a Bad Meal at Latitudes Beach Cafe

John LinnMiso sea bass at Latitudes: Oh, the humanity.​Last week I checked out Ron Duprat's restaurant in the Hollywood Beach Marriott, Latitudes Beach Cafe. I high hopes for Duprat's food after catching the Haitian-born chef on this season of the Bravo series Top Chef, even if longtime critic Gai ... More >>

Shepherd's Pie: Meaty Perfection in a Pan, or, Proof that the English Really Can Cook

Photo by Flickr user mitchenall​For a time, when I was a lad growing up in New York, I went to an obnoxiously upscale grade school called St. Bernard's (pronounced with Connecticut lockjaw of course, as in BERnerd's, not BerNARD'S). I still have a copy of the school's Christmas card from when I wa ... More >>

Michelle Bernstein's at the Omphoy First Impressions

Michy B looking dead sexy in the kitchen.​Last weekend, perhaps Miami's best-known restaurateur, Michelle Bernstein, made the trip up north to Palm Beach and debuted her new restaurant, MB at the Omphoy. From her days at Tantra and Azul to the opening of her flagship restaurant, Michy's, in 2005, ... More >>

Stealing From the Restaurant: Tuna Burger with Teriyaki Aioli

Bill Citara​When John Montagu, First Lord of the Admiralty and avowed Satanist (!), asked his valet to slap a hunk of meat between two slices of bread in 1762, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich could hardly have known that almost 250 years later a restaurant in Boca Raton would nestle a juicy slab of gr ... More >>

I'm Eating What?! Stuffed Cabbage in a Can

When I was a kid, I remember my mother packing lunches in a brown paper bag and throwing in a little note on my napkin throughout grade school. As I complained of embarrassment, the notes disappeared, as did the carefully prepared cream cheese and sliced green olive sandwiches. They were replaced b ... More >>

NuVal System Separates the Good From the Bad

Yogurt: full of calcium, vitamins, and candyA new online site called the NuVal Nutritional Scoring System gives you the skinny on your favorite fatty snacks, using  an easy 1 to 100 scoring system to rate those Pringles and the YoCrunch cookies and cream Oreo yogurt you've been stuffing your fa ... More >>

Vietnamese Banh Mi Meets All-American Burger

Photos by Bill CitaraOK, so if you tried out last week's little lesson on pork-stuffed shrimp, you've got three-fourths of a pound of ground pork, rather assertively seasoned with black pepper, garlic, cilantro, and fish sauce. What do you do with all that pig? Well, you could freeze it for cramming ... More >>

The World's Most Perfect Sandwich is Made of Leftovers - UPDATED

And you thought the best thing about Mother's Day was the satisfaction you get from making your mom feel like the most special lady on Earth, for at least the course of one homemade brunch. Actually, the best part is the leftover bacon - enough fatty, crispy slices of swine so as to be able to creat ... More >>

Hyatt Launches New Burger Joint, I Swear

Customers love the Hyatt's new hamburgers.I'm not hallucinating, I promise. As if we hadn't said quite enough about hamburgers on this blog, I just got word that the Hyatt Bonaventure in Weston is introducing a new Burgers and Brews menu at their Banyan Restaurant, where they've put together a lineu ... More >>

Movie of the Week: Tortilla Soup

Raquel Welch and Hector Elizondo Today begins our Cucina Verite Movie of the Week (see our list of upcoming films to watch along with us), and in honor of Cinco de Mayo, we start with Tortilla Soup.First, a little trivia about Maria Ripoli's 2001 film. (1) The beautiful culinary scenes were choreogr ... More >>

Eats for Under $7: New York Steak Pizza at Pizza Rustica

via pizzarustica.comYou've never had a pizza like the kind they sling at Pizza Rustica. Sure, they serve the staples -- pepperoni, margherita, supreme, and Hawaiian -- but they specialize in gourmet pizzas not found at most joints. Take their Con Vegetable, for instance: eggplant, zucchini, squash, ... More >>

Gaia Ristorante: The Full Story

As Short Order reported last week, Gaia Ristorante, the latest venture of seasoned restaurateur Tom Billante, has opened at 101 Ocean Drive (Hilton Bentley Hotel)-- which I erroneously cited as the site of Billante's last Ocean Drive venue, ViVi. In fact, Prime Italian has moved into that space, and ... More >>

Soup is Good (and Warming) Food

You may have noticed that it's colder than a witch's teet outside. I mean, I really enjoy these few months where flip flops and Bermuda shorts aren't required attire lest you suffer heat stroke, but come on... 40s? That's not what I signed up for, folks. So last night, feeling frosty and miserable o ... More >>

Karu & Y Tries Again

I could never get it straight: Was Karu the restaurant and Y the lounge, or vice versa? No matter now, as the reopened venue's newly christened restaurant name is Seecomar's at Karu & Y, which I thought was a misspelling of Seacomber's until I saw that the new owner's name is Clive Seecomar. Kar ... More >>

Post Holiday Depression Diet

If you're like me after the holidays, a person who routinely has trouble pushing herself away from the table**, you're feeling fat and broke. So I looked up some traditional Depression Era recipes, hearkening back to the days when everybody was skinny because they ate so much cabbage, noodles, beans ... More >>

Last Minute Thanksgivings

I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for you schmucks who haven't given one second's thought to what you're doing for MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY -- since personally my 2008 Thanksgiving has been in planning and development since last May. I've ordered (and received) my absurdly expensive Heritage turkey, I ... More >>

Event: Cooking with Les Dames d'Escoffier

Food Without Fire: Raw Food at Whole Foods

Adventures in Tailgating, Part 2: Beer Braised Sausage Hoagies

UPDATED: Gold Medal Wine Tour Stops in at Two Chefs Too

Michael's Genuine Offers a Prix Fixe Menu

Booze Hound - Chef Allen's

First Bites

Summer Q-Tips

Dean Max's Heirloom Bloody Mary

Burger King Pitches Penny To Tomato Pickers

A Little Bellyaching

Yes, We Have Guacamole

But try the puff pastry too at El Chamol

New Year’s Dinner Options

Mile High Michy’s

The Riptide Guide to Summer Fruit

Fruitful Reverie

Cézanne can have his apples. These artists go for the watermelon, even when flies are circling.

Best Bar Food

Big City Tavern