Say yes to beets!

Heaven knows how I get involved in some things or why, but for some reason I've become chummy with Aunt Nellie.  Who?  You know, Aunt Nellie the pickled beet lady.

Aunt Nellie is holding some kind of beet appreciation contest.  I'll paste the details at the bottom.  What caught my eye is that she is looking for possible cocktail recipes.  While very little surprises me, I can't recall anyone concocting a borscht based cocktail, let alone one with the beet syrup Aunt Nellie uses.  I'm not suggesting I wouldn't try it.  On the contrary, I would probably be the first in line.  It can be any worse than the Igor's bloody marys that the 24 hour bars serve on St. Charles Avenue.  In fact, I should suggest the bartenders enter this contest.

As for Aunt Nellie's parent company, I've only heard of three of their brands.  Aunt Nellie's beets, of course, and Libby's canned vegetables.  I remember Libby's from their annoying jingle so it served its purpose.  I thought Seneca made applesauce but apparently they've scaled back to the snack chip business.  Time marches on.

If you are interested in saying Yes! to beets, feel free to read below and enter.  What have you got to lose?

CONTEST BASICS:  Aunt Nellie's "Say Yes! To Beets" Recipe Contest June 15 - August 13, 2010 Submit all recipes to auntnellies@mpfood.com before 11:59 EST on 8/13/10 Recipe categories: Beverages/Smoothies: Includes cocktails, juice blends and smoothies Everyday Quick: Includes easy, everyday dishes for any occasion Special: Includes special occasion and holiday favorites Prizes include: $2,500 Grand Prize: One winner $1,000 First Prize: Three winners $500 Second Prize: Three winners

Click here or visit www.AuntNellies.com for Official Rules

   Aunt Nellie, you owe me a sawbuck.

Cheeseburger stir-fry

Sizzling Empire Lucky Jade Wok Garden's chef has really outdone himself working up unique dishes to appeal to the typical American palette, gourmets and adventurous eaters.  He seems to be using basic Chinese culinary methods and kitchen utensils with a brash combination of ingredients.

Chef's Selection Number 3.  CHEESEBURGER STIR-FRY.  100% USDA lean ground beef fried with a judicious mixture of lettuce, tomato, white onion, and slices of both kosher dill and bread and butter cucumber in a "special sauce."  Topped with additional shredded lettuce and cheddar cheese.  Served on crispy sesame noodles.  $10.95.

I usually head to Chinatown when I have a hankering for food from the Celestial Empire, but since Sizzling Empire Lucky Jade Wok Garden promises delivery, I might just give them a call.  I only eat Chinese food once or twice a year, so it may take me awhile to finish reading the menu and finally pick up the phone.

That fresh feeling

The farmers' market at Field's Corner stopped operating last week. No more fresh vegetables are for sale in the parking lot on the corner of Dot Ave and Park Street. Not to worry, spring is fast approaching. This doesn't mean there aren't fresh vegetables to be found in Dorchester. Everything is fresh in Dorchester, even the canned goods.

The farmers' market is a popular, warmer-month staple of Dorchester produce shopping but there is still Lambert's on Morrisey Boulevard. There is also the Stop & Shop down the road on Morrisey, the Stop & Shop at South Bay Center, the Shaw's Supermarket at Harbor Point, and the innumerable little grocery stores that offer seasonal fruits and vegetables imported from the depots in Newmarket and trucked across Boston to points-of-purchase. The Field's Corner farmers' market is nice because it is close to the Field's Corner T station and it is nice to bump shoulders with your fellow citizens while you dicker over the price of sweet potatoes and lettuce.

Few people where I live shop the big supermarket chains. There are plenty of smaller grocers that are still big enough to compete with the multi-state corporations. On Dot Ave, most of them have managers of Asian descent, mostly Vietnamese, but they offer the gamut of fresh food off vine or tree or out of the ground. Visiting these establishments can be a culinary eye-opener. There are many old, Irish household kitchens on Savin Hill and Pope's Hill that regularly use Thai chilies and bok choy as regular ingredients for their meals. If a city is a melting pot, Dorchester's stew pots certainly provide the proof. New dishes are being cooked up every day.

Ye Olde Grid-locked Grille

The ‘gridlock” in Gridlock Grille refers to the speed of the kitchen. This New London eatery with its ample views of the equipment rental concern across Coleman Street, is popular with a certain kind of gourmand who appreciates practicing patience as a sign of virtue. You can buy a nine pound lobster for $11.00 a pound, in season. Drinks are extra. Order in advance.

A party of four was seated in an empty hallway lined with windows. Rather than get a window booth, they were seated in front of the only brick column in the narrow room. The booth was set for two, the only one that was. After many rearrangements of drinks and menus, two more placemats and silverware were assembled on the table. The new placemats were printed with defective maps of the United States that confused the District of Columbia with the State of Maryland. Arrow Paper couldn’t sell them so the Gridlock Grille got them at a good price.

Salads came with the meals and the diners were treated to a baffling variety of iceberg lettuces matched with high-fructose dressing. No one finished their salads. The vinaigrette tasted like Kool-Aid crystals mixed with hydrogen peroxide. It tingled on the tongue.

The meals came out in a series spaced to make sure polite people are destined to eat cold food. The fry-o-lator was set on extra high so the frozen fish patty dishes came out first. The gentlemen who ordered fish, being gentlemen, waited for the ladies’ meals to arrive before they dove in with the energy their hunger required. Five or seven minutes passed. The third plate arrived. It was a salad made of iceberg lettuce, feta cheese and sliced, black olives fresh from the can. The waitress said it would just be a few more minutes before the fourth meal arrived.

So what had stumped the chef that it took so long for him to prepare? A boneless breast of roasted chicken without any more garnish than a baked potato fresh out of the steam box. What a meal. Luckily, the fry-o-lator was extra hot. The fried fish was still lukewarm in the middle. If the company wasn’t so good to be around, a terrible time would have been had by all. The fish was much like this review of the Gridlock Grille.

.myspace.com/whaleheadking.

Mad Dogs and New Londoners

There is no pug more threatening than the ugly mug of a hungry New Londoner. When New Londoners travel to the suburbs, when they eat at the Olive Garden or Appleby’s they don’t like the food. They usually push away the half-finished plates of pabulum. Besides McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and numerous Subway chains, New London is full of entrepreneurs handy with a spatula and a spice rack, No food out of a microwave will ever satsufy as much as fresh ingredients bought that morning and cooked under the broiler with devotion to craft.

New Londoners do things their own way, in ways they polished over the centuries since the city’s founding in 1646, You can tweak perfection, but you cannot really improved on it. New things are new, bur they are not better. If a New Londoner lacks patience, it is because he or she had perpspectve. If a New Londoner slavers, it is because he or she is rabidly hungry for something authentic and not out of a can. Give this beast steak, not dried nuggets out of a bag that make their own gravy when water is added.

You Have a Friend.

Agent 11 was having lunch at Bangkok City. He was sitting in the window since he was chilled and he wanted to bask in the sun. His back was to the dining room so that he could see the bustle on State Street.

Two young women were seated in the booth to his back. He had noticed them when he was seated by Jennie, who is one of the most pleasant waitresses in the city. The young ladies looked to be Connecticut College students. One had a thick head of blond hair tied into a tangled french braid. The other was a petite, oriental lady with a sleek bob. Over the course of lunch, Agent 11 was treated to the tragic tale of one of the ladies lack of friends. She honestly believed she had no friends and returned to this subject again and again in the course of twenty-five minutes.

Agent 11 couldn't tell which of the young ladies was so lonely. He was too busy tucking into his spicy squid with string beans (6 stars) and talking to his lunchtime companion to smoothly and discretly turn his head like an owl. When he had finished his meal, he fished in his pockets for the antidote to this unknown woman's dilemma. Drat the luck! His pockets were empty.

Agent 11, usually on top of his game, failed one of his repsonsiblities. He was fishing in his pocket for a bumper sticker to drop on the table. This sticker is one of Whalehead King's calling cards. It reads: You Have a Friend in New London, Conn. Under those bold words is the tagline 'www.whaleheadking.com." That is the kind of news a lonely person needs when they are alone in New London. One demerit for Agent 11.