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When it's too hot to cook

On dog days, you have to cook something quickly on the grill, in a skillet, or whatever you do when you want a quick blast...

More in Dishing

Restaurants

A fine focus on a meal done right

  The well-crafted menu at 80 Thoreau lets the ingredients shine.

Traditional Vietnamese

At Pho Le Vietnamese Cuisine, the menu is large, the waitstaff is helpful, and the portions are hot and hearty.

Area Four warms to MIT/tech crowd

Diners at Area Four can enjoy dishes cooked in two wood-fired ovens in the dining room.

Globe critic

Devra First

The latest reviews from The Boston Globe's restaurant critic.

• Reader Q&A (June 22)

• Email critic Devra First

By the Glass Columns

Wines with New England roots

The Fourth would be a good time to explore how far New England wines have come.

99 Bottles columns

Happy 25, Harpoon

Rich & Dan’s Rye IPA is a bold beer, amber in color with aromatic hops bursting from the head.

The Recipe Box Project

We're looking for favorite dishes that people grew up on, that were served at family suppers, that tell a story with links to New England. Email us at recipebox@globe.com.

• Discuss and share tips

(Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

Till cooking do us part

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes - no, not the baby - then comes jockeying for position in the kitchen. But wait! Isn’t cooking together good for a relationship?

• Tips and recipes for newlyweds and other cooking newcomers
• • Recipes Un-fried rice with soft-cooked egg
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  • Peaches and cream
• • Roast chicken with vegetables and pan sauce
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  • Raspberry fool

Pork loin on the grill and in a Cuban sandwich

This dressy cut is usually sent into the oven for a slow roast. It’s time to try pork loin on the grill, which means you do a kind of grill-roasting.

• Recipes Grilled pork loin with mustard crust and grilled potato planks
• • Roast pork Cubano with cilantro-lime mayo
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  • Shopping list

• • • More Recipes Bulgur salad
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    • Portobello mushroom burgers
  • • Seared salmon with leeks and peas
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    • Fettuccine
  • • Roast hake with tomatoes and peppers
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    • Fish rolls
  • • Citrus marinated chicken kebabs
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    • Greek salad
  • • Asian dipping sauce
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    • Brown rice
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    • Gratin topping

The sweets of ‘Harry Potter’ cast a spell

Filled with descriptions of food, the “Harry Potter’’ series by J.K. Rowling stimulates the imagination and often the stomach.

A fish stew, New England to the core

A milky chowder should not be a mush and it should not be overly rich. While many people enjoy chowders that you can stand a spoon in, the thinner broths are far more appealing.

• Recipes Fish chowder with saffron
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• Milky fish chowder
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• Oven chowder

The best of dark chocolate, bar none

Dark chocolate is all the rage. So much so that supermarkets are putting out their own house labels, Trader Joe’s packages a brand, and companies like Hershey’s are in on the act. We decided to taste.

A story frozen in time

Gavin Weightman’s book “The Frozen Water Trade: A True Story’’ details Boston native Frederic Tudor’s role in harvesting ice from ponds around New England and building worldwide interest in chilled drinks and cold food preservation.

A frank discussion in Fenway

Jose Magrass, 32, a lifelong West Roxbury resident and Red Sox fan, figured out a way to attend every home game for free: In 1998 he became a Fenway Park food vendor.

• Discuss Your favorite hot dog toppings

• Blog recipe Cucumber and yogurt raita
• LET'S EAT Quick oil crust
• LET’S EAT Linguine with clams
• Short orders Grill papers infuse food with woodsy flavor
• Short orders Auguste Escoffier’s ‘Le Guide Culinaire’ reissued in hardcover
• Short orders Emack & Bolio’s delivers ice cream pizza in a motorcycle with sidecar

RECIPES

More in food and dining

• Short orders Grill papers infuse food with woodsy flavor
• Short orders Auguste Escoffier’s ‘Le Guide Culinaire’ reissued in hardcover
• Short orders Emack & Bolio’s delivers ice cream pizza in a motorcycle with sidecar
• Taste Kitchen The best of dark chocolate, bar none
• The Recipe Box Project A reader sends us oven fish chowder
• A fish stew, New England to the core
• LET’S EAT Linguine with clams
• The sweets of ‘Harry Potter’ cast a spell
• LET'S EAT Quick oil crust
• Cover Story Newlyweds figure out who rules what aspect of the kitchen they both live in
• Sunday supper and more Pork loin on the grill and in a Cuban sandwich
• Milky fish chowder
• BOSTON Food trucks to offer healthy options
• Product Reviews A cut above for food prep
• 99 Bottles Craft brewers are producing some stellar lower-alcohol content beers