Not only is it fun to say (it's rather cartoon-like, don't you think?) Chicken Fricassee is good to eat and easy to prepare. A fricassee is a bit like a stew but isn't quite as heavy. Typically considered more of a southern preparation, the fricassee traditionally features chicken and is served in a creamy wine sauce. This version features carrots, asparagus and scallions or ramps making it a perfect meal for those no longer......

Bostonist says welcome to Magdalena Kennedy, a new food writer who brings you real-deal Italian recipes straight from her Grandmother. She makes them with her grandmother's friends, "M" and "A," and adds pictures should you want to try them on your own. When I was little, I used to watch my grandmother cook. She didn’t write anything down, so neither did I. I thought I’d learned her recipes, kept them in the muscle memory of......

Bostonist doesn't know many people who dislike delicious & elegant food-but we DO know lots of people who dislike making it. To some, the words "homemade" and "elegant dinner" combined in the same sentence sends waves of panic through their bodies. Even the thought of it puts unnecessary pressure on the cook to make involved and elaborate dishes which they think are sure to WOW! their guests. But sometimes, less is more. For more......

Don't have tickets to opening day at Fenway? Well, Bostonist can't help with tickets, but we can definitely help with the food. The Lower Depths Tap Room is located on Commonwealth Avenue in Kenmore Square, only a few short blocks from where all the action will be tomorrow. No matter how busy it gets in the neighborhood, though, this bar and restaurant stays relatively peaceful. It's no sports bar - while there are two......

Don't knock this pizza until you try it-be a little adventurous and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised! Yummy! I made it for dinner tonight for me and a guest, and there is not one slice left... Make it easier by using pre-bought dough from your local pizzeria or grocery store. For more of Lisa's recipes visit her blog Transplanted Taste Buds.......

Interact Friday, April 4 The Estate 9:00 pm, $20 Back in the wild green foothills of my youth, I used to attend parties by a group called Complacent (now called TheDanger). This was in pre-9/11 New York City where hundreds of people gathering in an abandoned warehouse in DUMBO (on the tip of Brooklyn overlooking the Manhattan skyline) wasn't considered a reason to call in the Dept. of Homeland Security. These parties were the closest......

Mike of The Food Monkey has joined Bostonist to share his thoughts about cooking, food history, restaurant trends, and any other Epicurean issues. He promises to discuss what tastes good, but not always what is in good taste. For more on consuming the opponents and other food news, go to The Food Monkey website. To contact Mike, go to the Food Monkey's contact page. A few months ago I visited Agave during one of my......

Speed's Hot Dogs was spotlighted as a top dog by the Wall Street Journal. Raymond Sokolov waxes rhapsodic about his discovery in a Roxbury parking lot, which he deems "untrendy": Speed confides that he marinates the dog, supplied by a local company called Pearl, in apple cider and brown sugar. Then he grills it over charcoal. Actually, this octogenarian entrepreneur lets his young apprentices handle the dogs under his watchful eye. They also toast the......

Surrounded by Harvard University offices in the Holyoke Center Arcade, Oggi Gourmet offers a change of pace... and taste. Oggi serves up fresh pizzas, salads, and sandwichs in a hip and comfortable atmosphere. A variety of tables spill out into the concourse, where the wide windows let in plenty of light, and the chairs are comfortable enough for leisurely lounging over your meal. At first look, Oggi seems like a regular pizza joint -......

We're not sure how or even when exactly it happened, but somewhere along the way, cupcakes became the hottest trend in cafes and bakeries around the country. What we are sure of, though, is that we've always loved the cupcake and therefore we don't really care who brought them back. Though it's easy to find chic upscale cupcakes these days, there's nothing better than a dark, moist chocolate cupcake covered in chocolate buttercream. Recipe......

Mike of The Food Monkey has joined Bostonist to share his thoughts about cooking, food history, restaurant trends, and any other Epicurean issues. He promises to discuss what tastes good, but not always what is in good taste. For more on consuming the opponents and other food news, go to The Food Monkey website. To contact Mike, go to the Food Monkey's contact page. The Taste of the Back Bay is this coming Thursday, March......

Mike of The Food Monkey has joined Bostonist to share his thoughts about cooking, food history, restaurant trends, and any other Epicurean issues. He promises to discuss what tastes good, but not always what is in good taste. For more on consuming the opponents and other food news, go to The Food Monkey website. To contact Mike, go to the Food Monkey's contact page. Foodie Fight to Benefit the Jacques Pépin and Julia Child Scholarship......

Dale Cruse, who writes Bostonist's "Drinks Are on Us" and the site Drinks Are on Me, has been nominated in the 2008 American Wine Blog Awards' "Best Graphics" category. And we'd love it if you could take a few minutes to vote for his blog. Not only does Cruse's site look good, but you'll get invaluable advice on food, drink, and general connoisseurship. You can vote for several different wine blogs until 12:01 am......

Almost every family has traditions surrounding the holidays and typically they incorporate food. Thanksgiving equals turkey, Christmas perhaps a beef roast of some sort, and for Easter the answer is almost always ham (or a pork roast). While the rest of us gather around the table with eyes bigger than our stomachs could ever be, there is a set of people who lag behind for they know their fate before they even pick up......

Mike of The Food Monkey has joined Bostonist to share his thoughts about cooking, food history, restaurant trends, and any other Epicurean issues. He promises to discuss what tastes good, but not always what is in good taste. For more on consuming the opponents and other food news, go to The Food Monkey website. To contact Mike, go to the Food Monkey's contact page. I was born and raised Jewish, but upon arriving at Taste......

Bostonist heard on Universal Hub that Bartley's Burger Cottage in Cambridge added a "Spitzer" burger to the menu. The picture on Bloggin With Mr. Cooper says the burger is "hot, sexy, and you save $4,291.01." Said burger is indeed hot. Bostonist called Bartley's and learned the burger is "cajun-spiced" with bleu cheese topping. Do you think that's hot or sexy? Funny, but, DO NOT WANT. Image of Bartley's Burger Cottage from AntyDiluvian from photos......

Has that stack of takeout menus grown unmanageable? Did you forget which pizza place has the best pepperoni? GrubHub can solve that problem for you. All you need to do is type in your address, and you'll get a list of all the dining establishments that will deliver to your home, along with their menus. When you open an account with GrubHub, you can even keep a virtual menu drawer with Past Orders, Favorite Menus,......

Mike of The Food Monkey has joined Bostonist to share his thoughts about cooking, food history, restaurant trends, and any other Epicurean issues. He promises to discuss what tastes good, but not always what is in good taste. For more on consuming the opponents and other food news, go to The Food Monkey website. To contact Mike, go to the Food Monkey's contact page. Taste of the South End It's time again for the Taste......

Tastes like bad chicken to us! Stop & Shop has pulled the following items because they might be tainted with listeria: Breaded Chicken Cutlet (labeled GB BRD CHIX CUTLETS or GB BR CHIX CUTLTS) Chicken Marsala (labeled GB CHIX MARSALA) Grilled Lemon Chicken (labeled GB GR LEMON CHIX or GB GR LNI CHCKN) Grilled Teriyaki Chicken (labeled GB GR TERIYKI CHIX or GB GR TRYKI CHICKN) The recall applies to any of these products sold......

Mike of The Food Monkey has joined Bostonist to share his thoughts about cooking, food history, restaurant trends, and any other Epicurean issues. He promises to discuss what tastes good, but not always what is in good taste. For more on consuming the opponents and other food news, go to The Food Monkey website. To contact Mike, go to the Food Monkey's contact page. It’s that time again. Time to spin the wheel and......

Recipe and tips to make Shrimp Bisque after the jump. Post contributed by Lisa Dacundo. Image from Wikimedia Commons. For more of her writing, visit her blog, http://www.transplantedtastebuds.blogspot.com. ...

Unfortunately the world of vegan gourmet dining is a small one, with most restaurants concentrated in the Veg-friendly cities of New York, San Francisco, and Portland. While visiting San Francisco, Veggiest was able to dine at Millennium, which is consistently rated among the very best veg restaurants in the country. Everything about the experience was impeccable, the decor, staff, wine, and of course FOOD, were all top-notch. We dined on avocado and endive salad,......

The days are getting longer. The nights are getting shorter. Layers of clothing are slowly coming off and you're getting thirsty. Luckily local wine whiz Chris Campbell (left) has a few wine suggestions to slake your thirst. First, German Riesling. Campbell says when enjoyed in the spring and summer, this varietal becomes not only enjoyable, but thought provoking. "Try a dry, light, Kabinett style," he said. "Its low alcohol and high acidity has my attention,"......

Be warned, Starbucks addicts and people who like free bathrooms: The coffee shop will be closed tonight between 5:30 and 9:00 for an emergency training of its employees, or "baristas," as they are known. In a city where the Starbucks vs. Dunkin' Donuts battle rages, Dunkin' Donuts is staking its claim by cutting prices on its small drinks to 99 cents until 10:00 pm, WBZ reports. Dunkin' Donuts is declaring coffee war, and it's......

Mike of The Food Monkey shares his thoughts about cooking, food history, restaurant trends, and any other Epicurean issues. He promises to discuss what tastes good, but not always what is in good taste. For more on consuming the opponents and other food news, go to The Food Monkey website. To contact Mike, go to The Food Monkey's contact page. Last night marked the opening of the Oceanaire Seafood Room on 40 Court Street......

Music Atlas Sound, featuring Bradford Cox going solo during Deerhunter's hiatus, hits the Middle East tonight, riding a wave of praise for his new project. Cox's hometown weekly, Atlanta's Creative Loafing, raves, "Let the Blind contains Cox's most haunting and sad songs to date. It throbs with delirious depression, and is bursting with powerful, barely contained emotions." For those of you who can handle strong emotions in the bleak winter, Cox is your fella.......

When a fast-food restaurant has a name like UBurger, the first choice is, obviously, to order a hamburger. And UBurger definitely has plenty of choices when it comes to burger toppings. But the hidden delicacy on the menu is the chicken. The marinated, grilled chicken breast is a fast-food of dreams. While most chain burger places use chicken that doesn’t always look like chicken, the meat at UBurger is always a whole chicken breast,......

Wait--can you hear that? No? Close your eyes and listen carefully: A warm breeze gently rustles the palm trees and drifts over your tan skin. Sparkling blue waves crash into stark white sand; in the distance you hear hula music and laughter. Aloha! You've arrived… Ok, so maybe you can't hop a plane to Hawaii today, but you can take a vacation from the beef stew and pasta you've been eating all winter. This Mahi......

Bostonist tips its hat to one of our food contributors, Mike Prereau, aka the Food Monkey, who has written of his adventures in cuisine on this site in the past. Today, his quest to find a good burrito appeared in the Globe. Along with the intrepid Jonah Feld of The Burrito Blog and John Liu, the group sampled burritos from Boca Grande, Anna's Taqueria, Qdoba, Boloco, and Chipotle to see what filled the tummy and......

Like your beer with chocolate? We like beer IN our chocolate. With its natural chocolate notes, Guinness stout is the perfect fit for these chocolate cupcakes, lending them a light texture and rich flavor. And here's the icing on the cake: With their thick dollops of cream-cheese frosting, the cupcakes look like little frothy pints.Important: Make sure to follow the recipe in the order it's presented.Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes1 12 oz bottle Guinness stout1 1/2 sticks......