Dealing their oats

April 9, 2008

Who would have thought that a fourth-generation farmhouse recipe from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, could turn into a hot new product? Joan MacIsaac and Irene Costello, both from Milton, took Joan's family recipe for oatcakes - thin, crisp, buttery oat cookies - and coined them Effie's Homemade Oatcakes after Joan's mother. The treats, similar to shortbread, are baked with natural ingredients ($6 for a package of 12) and are a perfect afternoon indulgence with a cup of tea. It won't be hard to imagine a backdrop of sandy beaches and the Atlantic coastline. Available at Wasik's Cheese Shop, 61 Central St., Wellesley, 781-237-0916; Verrill Farm, 11 Wheeler Road, Concord, 978-369-4494; and Fruit Center Marketplace, 79 Water St., Hingham, 781-749-7332 and 10 Bassett St., Milton, 617-696-5274, or go to effieshome made.com. - LISA ZWIRN

The hefty beef knishes ($5.25 for two) at Andreas' Mediterranean Cuisine have ground beef and potato stuffed into their rich pastry shell. Best eaten at room temperature or slightly warm, says manager Joey Hernandez, the pastries are among the Jewish-style dishes (along with brisket sandwiches and sweet-and-sour stuffed cabbage) featured on the menu of this homey restaurant in Chestnut Hill. The take-out case also features fresh grape leaves, hummus, and spinach pie, and a freezer is packed with quarts of mushroom barley soup and chicken stew. If you have any room after snacking on those knishes. Andreas' Mediterranean Cuisine, 1012 West Roxbury Parkway, Chestnut Hill, 617-327-2202. - LEIGH BELANGER

We've seen baking sheets, spatulas, molds, potholders, and mitts migrating to silicon. Now Fusion Brands of Atlanta has come up with a slick idea for poaching eggs using colorful little cups made of the weird-feeling stuff. Poachpods ($9.99 for two) resemble miniature coracles of the kind St. Brendan once sailed across the Irish Sea. They each hold a good-size egg. Rub them with oil, bring an inch of water to a simmer in a skillet, crack an egg into each floppy little boat, launch them in the water, and cover with a lid. Let them bob around for five to seven minutes, then turn them out. With care, you produce neat little mounds of eggy goodness that look beautiful on the plate. Prefer your eggs scrambled? That works too - maybe even better because you can add bits of ham or fresh herbs. The result - something like a mini soufflé - can be rather dramatic. Poachpods are dishwasher safe, something St. Brendan couldn't say of his sturdy craft. Available at Kitchen Arts, 161 Newbury St., Boston, 617-266-8701; Kitchen Outfitters, 342 Great Road, Acton, 978-263-1955; Gadgets, 671 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, 617-524-6800; Sur la Table, The Mall at Chestnut Hill, 199 Boylston St., Chestnut Hill, 617-244-0213. - STEPHEN MEUSE