Boston Sock in a Toaster

Meatloaf

2011-10-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

I discovered this recipe last year around halloween time, i had originally planned to make a mummy meatloaf. But I lost interest and just tried the meatloaf instead. Ihave to say this dish is easy and delicious and it reheats well for sandwiches or just for eating with leftover potatoes.

Ingredients
½ lb ground beef
½ lb ground buffalo
½ lb meatloaf mix (I get this at stop and shop it's ground veal and ground pork mixed together)
1 slice bread, stale or toasted and left to harden I stick it in the Cuisinart mini prep plus till it’s crumbs
1 egg
1 small yellow or white onion , finely chopped
1 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup whole milk

Sauce
6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed firm (to taste)
1/2 cup ketchup

1. Combine meat loaf ingredients and place into a 8x8 glass baking dish.
2. Smooth out top.
3. Sauce: Combine sauce ingredients and pour on top and sides of meatloaf. I also use a fork to poke holes in the meatloaf to make sure that the sauce gets everywhere.

4. Bake at 350°F about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until done. 170F with a meat thermometer.

The Zack and Katie project:: Swordfish

2011-04-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

I used to HATE fish. I mean hate it. And I would never even consider making it at home. But then I got older and my tastes changed. Now, I don't hate fish, I am cautiously optimistic about it. I mean there are some yummy fishes out there and there is a lot of unexplored potential for cooking! The first thing I cooked at home was salmon, made in my oven with plenty of butter and dill and garlic, that recipe ( which I will share sometime) is delicious but not exactly falling on the good for you side of eating. So, when I tried Swordfish at a restaurant, and realized I LOVE IT, I decided to try and make it at home. This delightful swordfish preparation goes well with some white rice and grilled asparagus.

1/2lb swordfish cut into steaks

For the marinade
1 cup dijon mustard
the juice of two lemons
a handful of dill
4 cloves of crushed garlic

-Mix the marinade in a tupperware container that will fit all of the swordfish.

- Salt and pepper the swordfish. Then submerge it in the marinade, make sure that it is completely covered even if you have to spoon some of the marinade onto the top of the fish. Leave for an hour. Then grill until cooked to your desired liking.

YUMMY

Chicken Pasta Salad

2011-04-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

This one is a regular staple around our house when I feel like I need to eat "healthy". Of course, healthy means something different for everyone. I hate to eat healthy so in my opinion if the food is: grilled, doesn't contain cheese, or involves more than one vegetable then I've achieved a healthy meal. I'm also not a big fan of salad, but in this one all of the veggies are offset by yummy chicken, pasta, and a lovely dressing that, frankly I could probably put on everything and be happy about. This one isn't too bad and it feeds 2 people for multiple days so, I think it can go in the healthy category.

Chicken Pasta Salad
1 red pepper cut up into bit sized pieces
1 yellow pepper cut up into bit sized pieces
3 carrots (I use a peeler to create shreds but you can cut them however you like)
3 stalks of celery cut on an angle to form bite sized pieces
1 package of baby spinach
1 package or one large ball of fresh mozz ( cut into tiny pieces)
1/2 box/bag of rotini pasta
2 chicken breasts
Brianna's Real French vinaigrette (though you could use any tangy vinaigrette dressing)
white wine vinegar

- Boil the pasta. (Make sure that you put olive oil into the water before you add the pasta, this is going to sit for a little while so you want to make sure it's not too sticky.) Drain the pasta when you feel it's reached its desired doneness and then, run cool water over the pasta, set aside.

- Marinate the chicken breasts in a mixture of 1/2 dressing and 1/2 white wine vinegar for 10-30 minutes. Then cook the chicken breasts on a medium to low heat until they are done, add more white wine vinegar if the liquid cooks off.

- Cut up the chicken into strips.

- Place the pasta and all the veggies into a large salad bowl and combine, add in the spinach and combine. Toss with the desired amount of salad dressing.

-Place the pasta, veggie, and dressing mix onto plates or into bowls for serving, add chicken and fresh mozz to individual plates. Enjoy!

Herb and Mustard Roast chicken

2011-03-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

Roasting chicken can be a daunting prospect, there is prep work, and lots of cook time and basting. And the molesting of the chicken is downright well... gross. Particularly if you want to do it right, you really need to get in between the skin and the flesh.
However the rewards are well worth all of the problems. You can feed many people, and often enjoy leftovers. Like last night. I fed me, my husband and our friend Ken, and we will definitely be enjoying chicken pot pie made from the leftovers.

Roast chicken with mustard and herbs de provance.

I have no clue where I found this one. Somewhere on the interwebs but its deliciousness is only augmented by its simplicity.

1 onion sliced into 8ths
4 cloves garlic crushed
1 lemon sliced
1 stick of butter softened
1/2 cup of dijon mustard
4 T of herbs de provance
4 T salt
2 T pepper
2 chickens

combine the mustard, butter, and herbs de provance until they form a paste (ew I know but necessary). Set aside. Work your hands between the skin and the flesh of the chicken. then rub the skin with pepper and salt. make sure you make the membrane between the core of the chicken and the legs. put some of the paste between the skin and the flesh and using your hand over the top of the skin, smooth out the paste so that it covers the flesh of the chicken under the skin. make sure to put some on top of the legs. Sprinkle the skin of the chicken with salt and pepper and lightly rub some of the paste over the skin, this will be harder to get to stick so just do the best you can. Stuff the chickens with the onion, garlic and lemon. pour some chicken stock inside the chicken. Then place inside the oven at 345 for an hour. After an hour baste with the juices under the chicken or with chicken broth. then cook for 2-2and a half hours, basting every 30-40 mins.
when the chicken is ready (around 170 degrees on a meat thermometer) remove the chickens from the oven and let them sit for 5 mins on the rack of the roasting pan. Then transfer them to a cutting board to sit for another 10-15 mins before they are ready to carve. ( make sure the cutting board has a groove for the juices to run into. scrape the pan with a spatula making sure you get all of the brown bits. Then, pour the contents of the pan through a sieve into a gravy separator, pour the dark brown liquid into a skillet and cook on medium heat until thickened ( you can add arrowroot to thicken the gravy).
Serve with your favorite sides and enjoy!!

Yeah, so I've been gone a while

2011-03-07T10:05:00.000-08:00

So I haven't posted in a while. And I realized that aside from my insane work hours lately, the major reason is that I haven't been taking pictures of my food. So, I've decided to take the pressure off and food blog without pictures or with minimal pictures for a while. I think I'll concentrate on the writing and the food and if pictures happen then hooray. So, having said that I move forward hopefully with a lot more blogging in the future. Tonight we're haveing roast chicken... I might even write about it.

Products that will knock your socks off: Back to Nature's Fudge Mint cookies

2011-03-01T17:12:00.000-08:00

This new feature on my blog is inspired by my love of Cocoa Metro. I needed somewhere to share some of the wonderful products out there that have simply knocked my socks off. These are items that my friends will hear about constantly until they try them. It can be a beloved flavored olive oil or a new bottle of Gin anything goes as long as I love it and want other people to give it a shot. For this first installment I offer a cookie to rival the infamous thin mint. Back to Nature's Fudge Mint cookies.

Are you tired of waiting for girl scout cookie time to roll around to get your thin mint fix? Did you miss the little darlings as they came around with their delicious wares this year? Well, then these cookies are definitely for you. I picked them up on a whim the other day when I was trying to fulfill a chocolate-mint craving without baking it myself. These cookies are, dare I say it, even BETTER than thin mints. They are fresh and they don't taste processed or preserved at all. There is no waxyness in the fudge surrounding the cookie. Not only that, but these cookies have a wonderful crispy crunch that many store bought cookies lack. That crunch combined with the melt in your mouth fudge and perfect dark chocolate mint combination makes for one heck of a satisfying cookie. I highly recommend these for anyone who has a love of chocolate and mint together. I found these at Stop and shop, but they are also carried at Whole foods. Next time you are craving chocolate and mint, give these a try I think you will be pleasantly surprised ( and then you will eat an entire box in one sitting :)

Chocolate anyone

2010-09-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

It was recently brought to my attention that there are people who don't know about the Chocolate Brunch at the Langham hotel. Well, you're in for a treat. The chocolate brunch happens every Saturday from Fall to Spring at the Langham and it is always a little bit different. Imagine a huge room filled with every chocolate delight you can think of. Now imagine that there is also a crepe stand and cotton candy. And you might be coming close to the Langham's chocolate brunch experience. This year I was invited to a preview event we got to sample some of the experimental goodies planned to roll out at this years brunch. This event was eclipsed only by my visit to the brunch itself when I went with family about a month ago. We went for my cousin's birthday. It was amazing. The preview allowed me to know just what chocolate delights to head for. Sometimes all of that chocolaty goodness can be overwhelming. I mean that's a lot of chocolate. And the waiters will give you strategies on what beverages to drink to get the most out of your experience (I usually go with sparking water and tea). This year they changed it up a bit, adding different textures and tastes to the normal array of cakes, tarts and crepes. There was ice cream, cotton candy and even some options that included a savory element.
My favorites were the banana chocolate bacon tartlett. Not flavors I expected to go together but man were they delightful, the salt in the bacon kept the banana from being too sweet and veered the whole thing into a totally different taste direction. The crepe station was as always amazing and the people working it were deligtful as people asked for different combinations of crepe batter and fillings. Mine was chocolate crepe batter with mixed berries and grand manier, which they lit on fire! I love some fire with my Saturday morning chocolate. Another favorite was the chocolate and passion fruit mousse cup. The tart intensity of the passion fruit mingled perfectly with the smooth creaminess of the chocolate and the tiny crunchies on the top added the perfect texture addition. Another favorite was the raspberry mousse creamy and tart it added a palate cleansing interluded between bites of bitter, rich and creamy chocolate treats. New this year, there was also a truffle bar. These are lovely, the flavors are inventive and the chocolate is such a high qualtiy that it just melts in your mouth leaving residual flavors that will have you craving them again in a week. (Well, I was anyway.) And of course, anyone who gives me fresh cotton candy in the middle of the city is a winner in my book. So, my assessment is GO to the Langham Hotel Cafe Fleuri's Chocolate Bar. Bring your girlfriends, your parents, your boyfriend. Just go. You won't be disappointed.

Javajavajavajava

2010-09-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I somehow snagged an invitation to a Starbucks coffee tasting. I tasted the Galapagos blend. To be honest much of what was going on was a little over my head. The coffee we drank was brewed on the Starbucks Clover machine. Which I have ignored up until now because I feel like if I ordered a Clover coffee and asked them to put chocolate in it they might give me a sarcastic look. However, as a woman who normally likes her coffee light and sweet I can say that this Galapagos stuff is really good. After sampling it straight without sugar at Starbucks (believe me this alone is a shocking development) I brought a bag home and brewed it in my tiny one cup french press. It was really good! The coffee itself is rich without being overpowering more of a medium roast than a bold and intense roast. It has chocolate undertones and the aroma is intoxicating. It was great alone or with a touch of sugar and just a splash of milk. Or it became a rich delightful treat with a spoonful of Starbucks mocha powder and a little more milk. I have to say as someone whose never gone in for gourmet coffee before I may have been converted by this rich and chocolaty Starbucks blend. Thank you cavecibum for getting me invited and thank you Bjorn for such a delightful experience. I recommend this coffee blend to anyone who likes their coffee with a hint of chocolate

The Zack and Katie project: Zucchini Bread

2010-07-26T08:28:00.000-07:00

When I was in college, every morning for breakfast I would go down to the campus coffee shop and have an iced mocha and a big slice of zucchini bread. I loved that bread and nothing I have had since (though to be honest not a lot of coffee shops or bakeries sell zucchini bread) has compared. So this year when I pulled an enormous zucchini out of my garden I was determined to make zucchini bread (what I'm going to do with all the yellow squash I have no idea).
This is my first attempt. I picked this one specifically because it doesn't have any cow dairy so that it will be perfect for the Zack and Katie project. And I think it came out deliciously, even if I do say so myself.

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups zucchini, skins on and shredded
1 T vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Beat eggs until foamy. Add sugar, oil, zucchini and vanilla. Beat well. Combine dry ingredients then slowly incorporate them. Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Sprinkle the tops with decorating sugar or pecans. 1 cup of Chopped pecans or 1 cup of chocolate chips, or 1/2 a cup of both can also be added to the batter before putting it into loaf pans.

The Zack and Katie project: Shrimp and Sausage skewers

2010-07-19T14:41:00.002-07:00

This meal was inspired by my friend Melody. I wanted to make something new one night but I had no inspiration. So I asked my friends what they wanted to eat. Mel responded with Strawberry Spinach salad and baked oven fries. So all I had to come up with was the meat. Out came the most recent issue of Bon Appetit and a promising Shrimp and Sausage skewers recipe. I was even more excited when I realized that this could be a Zack and Katie project meal. I am not normally a spicy kind of gal so I wanted to add another dimension to this meal. So I picked up some Orange apricot marmalade at the same shop where I bought the sausage and glazed half of the skewers with that. This meal is more filling than you would expect and stands up just fine when only paired with some corn, or a simple salad. But you can go all out and make potatoes and veggies to go with it as well.

Shrimp and Sausage Skewers adapted from Bon Appetit

¾ cup olive oil

4 large garlic cloves, pressed

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme + 1 T dried thyme

3 teaspoons smoked paprika

6 teaspoons Sherry wine vinegar

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1 1/2 lbs uncooked extra-large shrimp (13 to 15 per pound), peeled, deveined

4 pieces of pre cooked sausage 1-inch-long pieces

12 cherry tomatoes

12 2-layer sections of red onion wedges

1 jar of orange marmalade or other sweet preserve

Special Equipment

6 long metal skewers

6 long bamboo skewers soaked in water

Whisk oil, garlic, thyme, smoked paprika, Sherry wine vinegar, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper in medium bowl to blend for glaze. Transfer half of glaze to small bowl and reserve for serving.

Alternately thread shrimp, sausage pieces, cherry tomatoes, and sections of onion wedges on each skewer. Arrange skewers on large rimmed baking sheet. DO AHEAD Can be made up to 6 hours ahead.

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush 6 of skewers on both sides with glaze from 1 bowl. Brush the remaining 6 skewers with the orange marmalade. Grill until shrimp are opaque in center, turning and brushing occasionally with more glaze or marmalade, 6 to 8 minutes.

Arrange skewers on platter. Serve with remaining bowl of glaze and marmalade.

The Zack and Katie project, Gluten free AND Onion free

2010-07-17T16:00:00.000-07:00

You all may know about my GFF by now, well, having her involved in my life gives me a good excuse to be creative when I'm coming up with new menus. Over the years I have developed a variety of different menus that can be pulled out at the mere mention of a dinner party. Vegetarian menus, no red meat menus, no chicken menus, no pork menus, no gluten menus, no vegetable menus, no spice menus, I am even working on some no onion menus. The only group I haven't really had to accommodate thus far is vegans. And I really hope I don't get any vegans cause if I can't cook with dairy along with all of the other restrictions, I will be one sad chef. So, this one falls into the no gluten and no onion menus. It is also part of my 45 minutes or less collection of easy and attractive dinners. So here it is. The polenta recipe is adapted from cooks illustrated.

Marinated Shrimp with Parmesan Polenta
For the shrimp
2lbs large shrimp, uncooked shelled deveined and rinsed in cold water
1/2 cup Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine (cooking wine is fine)
juice of one lemon
3-4 large garlic cloves pressed/diced
2 Tbs minced fresh parsley
dash salt
dash pepper
2 dozen bamboo skewers soaked in water

For the polenta
7 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
Pinch baking soda
1 1/2 polenta ( I use quick polenta)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Ground black pepper
butter (can use a non dairy butter like substance.
2 cups parmesan cheese (can use pecorino romano)

For the shrimp
combine all ingredients in a bowl. add the shrimp and let sit for an hour. DO NOT LET THEM SIT for longer than an hour and 15 minutes or they will start to cook in the citrus juice.

let bamboo skewers sit in water for 10 minutes while the shrimp are marinating.
Skewer the shrimp there is no real rhyme or reason to this though I usually try to stick the skewer two times through each shrimp to ensure stability.

grill the shrimp for 5-10 minutes on each side or until they look done.

For the polenta
Bring the water to a boil
once the water is boiling, add the salt and the baking powder ( this helps keep the polenta from clumping)
Then slowly pour in the polenta while stirring. Make sure you keep stirring until all of the polenta is thoroughly wet. Continue to stir continuously for 1 minute
then turn down the heat and leave the polenta to simmer for 5 mins stirring occasionally. pour in the cheese and incorporate. turn off the heat and stir in the butter.
It is now ready to serve.

Put big spoonfulls of the polenta in the bottom of a regualr or salad bowl. Then liberate the shrimp from the skewers and arrange on top of the polenta.
garnish with leftover parsley.

The Zack and Katie project

2010-07-06T11:09:00.000-07:00

I've been absent for a long time I know, and this post doesn't even have pictures. What the hell. But I am back for a very specific purpose. Bwecause my brother in law is getting married to an absolutely lovely girl. For their wedding I've decided to put together a cookbook. And the only way it will get done is if I hold myself accountable to the internet. :) So over the next several weeks I will be posting as often as I can about different recipes that are going into this book. Some will have pictures, some won't whatcha gonna do, we are working on a deadline here people.
If anyone out there who reads this has recipes that meet the following criteria please link me to your blog or send me the recipe. I am desperate to give my soon to be sister in law as many recipes as possible.
The recipes cannot contain:
Apples or any apple by product
Cow dairy
onions or green onions (shalotts are ok onion powder is not)
Yellow squash.
I know its a strange list but she is allergic to all of these things which makes eating out miserable, so I'm trying to make eating in more fun.

No post today while I get myself organized but from tomorrow on, posts can come from anywhere any time, and if a few non cookbook related posts happen, well then we know I'm back into blogging. :)

BACON GUN

2010-02-21T10:05:00.000-08:00

I swear to god this is how this piece of bacon came out of the pan and ended up on the plate. There is no manipulation here. I felt the need to share this with everyone.
Back to my crack scones and bacon. mmmmm... bacon.

Coconut cupcakes

2010-02-18T21:24:00.000-08:00

Normally, my cupcakes have two speeds. Chocolate and vanilla. Now don't get me wrong, I have about three different chocolate and vanilla cupcake recipes appropriate for all occasions. But recently I have decided that I am a Baker, with a capital B. I think this means that I need to be willing to try new things even if they aren't what I would eat, and I should especially try them if they are outside my normal comfort zone. So when my mother-in-law Julie (who I adore) said she wanted coconut cupcakes for her choose anything birthday confection my brain immediately said, challenge accepted!

After much searching through cookbooks and the lovely internet, I found that Martha Stewart's cupcake recipe was the most highly recommended. So onto her site I went. And aside from a few modifications, these are some damn fine and lovely cupcakes. First try out they came out light and fluffy and moist and kinda perfect. With just enough coconutty flavor. Martha's recipe calls for sweetened coconut shavings to be added to be batter but I forgot them, however, I think the cupcakes are better for the omission. I think the coconut would weigh them down and make them too sweet instead of the just sweet enough that they come out without the coconut. If you want to add the coconut in I would take away 1/4 of a cup of the sugar.

But I haven't even gotten to the interesting part of this story yet. The icing. Like cupcakes I generally have two icing flavors, VERY chocolate and vanilla. You will never see the recipe for my icing on this site because there simply isn't one, and it changes every time I make it. butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla and milk are utilized in varying degrees that depend on everything from the weather to whose coming to dinner.
I thought that the coconut cupcakes required something a little different in the icing department, something outside my comfort zone. So, I decided to try Martha's 7 minute icing.

There are times when I believe Martha to be the genius everyone else does. When one of her recipes that is so easy comes out perfectly. Better than you ever thought something like that could taste. I also appreciate her genius around Halloween, cause she's just as crazy about it as I am but she has a lot of time and money on her hands to make it AWESOME.

And then there are the times when I truly believe that Martha is THAT grandmother. You know, the one who says she's given you the recipe for her famous sugar cookies, but has deliberately left out or mislabeled the key ingredient so that when you make them they come out like CRAP. Then she gets to say that only SHE can make them "the right way" (I speak from experience here folks.) This is how I felt about Martha while attempting to make her 7 minute icing. This was an unmitigated disaster. First, I misread the directions and added the sugar to the egg whites too soon. Then I got the sugar and the egg whites to the appropriate soft peaks, but when I added the sugar syrup it turned into lots of tiny pieces of hard sugar inside a meringue like icing. Yummy/dangerous. (I was later informed by my pastry chef friend that this happened because the sugar had gotten just a little too hot. Apparently you have to be careful with sugar, yet another reason I have no interest in making candy.)

By this point I had wasted half a dozen eggs and was cursing everything from chickens to Martha. And I was running late for the birthday dinner the cupcakes were meant for.

So, I ventured down another path, one I am more familiar with, one that did not involve any cooking in my icing prep. A simple cream cheese icing, not something in my everyday repertoire because my husband hates cream cheese with a burning fiery passion. but the random recipe I found on the internet was flawed so I embarked on a cream cheese frosting journey that I think turned out rather well. Thankfully the successful execution of the cream cheese frosting returned me to my normal zen baking state and I will undoubtedly be back in the kitchen this weekend for some new adventure rather than asking my husband if we can order out again so I can have time to recover from the trauma.

Here is the coconut cupcake recipe along with an approximation of the cream cheese icing recipe (play around with this one until it feels right)

Coconut cupcakes ( Adapted from the Martha Stewart recipe)

Makes 2 dozen

3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup plus 4 tablespoons coconut milk
8 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups shredded sweetened coconut (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans and one small 12 cup mini muffin pan with paper liners.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt
Using an electric mixer beat butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy
Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl, huge if you have it, you will be folding in egg whites.
( Yes you have to clean your mixing bowl which sucks but, In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form.
Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining egg-white mixture. the batter will be pretty light and fluffy. This is one instance where I would recommend actually scooping the batter into the cups rather than using the old plastic bag piping trick, the cupcakes turn out rougher if they have to be transferred this way. Again, messy and a pain, but better in the long run.
Bake for 18 to 25 minutes depending on your oven. These go from liquidy to done pretty quickly so watch that you don't over-bake them.

Cream cheese frosting this one is all me baby
1 block cream cheese
12 Tablespoons butter
1 and a half -2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 Tbs+ coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt

Throw room temperature, butter and cream cheese into the mixer with the vanilla and salt. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 a cup at a time alternating with the coconut milk until the desired flavor and texture are achieved.

After you have iced the cupcakes pour some sweetened coconut flakes into a bowl and roll the iced tops of the cupcakes into the coconut. This makes for a great snowball presentation.

Ham and cheese croissants at home, you never need to go to Au Bon Pain again

2010-01-25T16:01:00.000-08:00

Every year for MLK weekend my husband goes on a family skiing trip. I am invited every year, I even went one year but it was so freaking cold the break fluid in my car froze. NOT OK!

So last year, when I was still recovering from hip surgery, my friend Pam stayed with me all weekend. It was awesome, one of the best things about that weekend was that she made croissants. I had never thought of croissants as a thing you made at home. They are something that you buy. That was the end of my ruminations on croissants. Then she made them for me and I was in love. I honestly don't think I had eaten a croissant since sampling her delectable creations.

So, this year for christmas breakfast when I was wracking my brains for something delicious to make, I settled on croissants. I figured ( as I do with many of our more adventuresome food prospects) if Pam can make them then maybe I can too. She makes things less scary when I watch her effortlessly pull off pastries or create a loaf of bread from nothingness.
For my first foray into pastry making I decided that we would have plain, chocolate, and ham and cheese croissants, I even went so far as to purchase special cheese and ham.

Then the fateful day before christmas arrived and my husband and my friend April, who was visiting from out of town, marveled as I beat the crap out of not one butter block, but two. ( The first one crumbled and I forgot the flour.) As I beat the butter into the dough, Nathaniel asked, "Is that it? Are you done?" To which I replied, "No, I have to let it sit for two hours and roll it again, and then do it again, and then shape the croissants and let them sit in the fridge for 10-16 hours." To which my husband who knows me as a woman of little to no patience replied, "Yeah, right."

But, as the day wore on, and we watched an entire season of Big Bang Theory, I continued to get up every few hours and roll out the dough and carefully fold it back in on itself and let it sit in the fridge. You would think with all that work when it came time to cut the dough that I would be extra careful. Nope!

I didn't pay attention to the directions ( after 12 hours I can't be expected to pay attention to directions right?) And instead of cutting mostly rectangles ( for the chocolate and ham and cheese) with only a few diagonal pieces for the regular croissants I cut way too many rectangles. So I decided to dedicate most of my rectangles to the chocolate croissants and only a few to the ham and cheese and to risk dribbling by adding ham and cheese to some of the diagonal cut pieces. Then we waited, And as we opened presents the next morning buttery goodness puffed and baked away in the oven. It turns out that the leaky meltyness happened in the rectangular ham and cheese croissants where the triangular cut ones had a perfect distribution of savory goodness.

Would I recommend making these every day? No. But I would recommend keeping yeast in your fridge because these are perfect for a New England snowed in weekend when there is nothing to do but bake, watch TV, and enjoy being snowed in.

Croissants (I totally lifted this recipe from Cave Cibum but I don't think she'll mind :)
3 cups plus 2 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp instant or rapid rise yeast (about 1 1/2 packets)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup warm milk
3 sticks unsalted butter
1 large egg, beaten
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (optional)
4 small pieces ham ( about 1/2 an inch thick)
4 slices of muenster cheese.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine 2 3/4 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. With the mixer at low speed and the dough hook installed, slowly add milk and mix until the dough begins to pull together, about 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-low and mix until dough becomes sticky and elastic, about 8 minutes. If the dough isn't forming roughly into a ball by about 5 minutes, add 1/4 cup more flour, 1 Tbsp at a time. Scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl and put the dough into a lightly greased bowl. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Lay out a large sheet of parchment paper on a counter. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of flour on the parchment, then lay the 3 sticks of butter side by side on the flour. Sprinkle 1 more Tbsp of flour on top of the butter, then top with another sheet of parchment. Working with a rolling pin, gently pound the butter until it is softened and the flour is incorporated. Roll butter into a 12-inch square. Keeping the butter in the parchment, refrigerate for 1 hour.

On a floured surface, roll out dough so that the butter square will fit diagonally in the center. Place the butter in the center of the dough in a diamond shape, with the corners of the butter at the middle of the sides of the dough. Fold the dough over the sides of the butter so that they meet in the middle and press to seal shut. Roll the dough out to a 14-inch square, sprinkling on more flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Once dough is rolled out, fold the square into thirds, like a letter, to form a rectangle, then fold that rectangle into thirds to form a small square. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Roll out the dough again, lightly dusting with flour to prevent sticking. Repeat the previous folding process, folding the dough into a rectangle and then a square. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper (rimmed baking sheets are best). Roll the dough into a 20-inch square. Cut the dough into two halves down the middle.

For regular croissants, cut each half into 3 rectangles, then cut each of those pieces diagonally into 2 triangles. Cut a small slit into the wide end of the triangle, then gently roll the dough, starting at the wide end and moving towards the point. Place the croissants on the baking sheet and curl the arms around to form the crescent shape.

For chocolate croissants, cut each half into 6 even rectangles. Place a tablespoon of chopped chocolate at one end, then roll the dough up around it into a log shape. Arrange on the baking sheet with the seam on the bottom.

For ham and cheese croissants cut each half into 3 rectangles, then cut each of those pieces diagonally into 2 triangles. lay the cheese slices down first starting at the wide end of the triangle and placing them to about halfway to the tip of the triangle. If you are using deli cheese slices you want to cut them in half lengthwise so they don't stick out the sides when you roll the croissant. Then, place the ham at the wide end of the triangle ( 2-3 strips about 1/4 of an inch wide and 2-3 inches long).Then gently roll the dough, starting at the wide end and moving towards the point.

Loosely cover shaped croissants with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 to 16 hours.

Preheat oven to 400°. Brush the croissants with egg wash and place the sheets in the oven, using both racks. Bake until golden, 18 to 22 minutes. Rotate and switch the baking sheets halfway through baking. Serve warm or at room temperature. For chocolate croissants, wait until the croissants have cooled, then drizzle with melted chocolate.

Cocoa Metro

2010-01-21T09:24:00.000-08:00

Ok, so last week I was browsing with a friend at Russo's when I noticed one of my favorite things. Chocolate milk in a glass bottle. Intreigued, I of course bought a bottle of the thick silky looking concoction. When I got it home I opened it right away and poured a little into a glass. I have to say, this stuff is AMAZING. It's thick and packs enough rich chocolaty punch to satisfy even the most demanding chocolate craving. My husband compared it to melted Haagen dazs ice cream. And then, this morning, after french pressing a pot of godiva coffee, another chocolate lovers delight, I decided to try Cocoa Metro in my mocha. Best decision ever!
In fact, it was so delicious that I was inspired to march right up stairs and write about its awesomeness. So, In conclusion if you are a chocolate fan, a mocha fan, a milk fan or a fan of amazing feats of foodie goodness, go out and buy a bottle of Cocoa Metro, you won't regret it.

I have a confession to make

2009-12-08T21:02:00.000-08:00

OK, I have a confession to make. I got a job. Not a real full time leave my house job. But a freelance work like a maniac for two weeks and then recover for a week job. My friends only get to see me intermittantly and I think I might be getting sick from the stress. The job will be more stable though probably more stressful in the New Year but I wanted to explain the absence. I am going to try to blog at least once a week from now on, for those of you who are left to care. This week will be pot roast with whipped potatoes, but not until tomorrow ( while I am waiting for my work to be released into my custody) .
Thank you for being patient and I hope to be a better blogger from now on.
Onward to the holiday season.
-Me

Easy creamy lemon pasta

2009-10-04T22:58:00.000-07:00

This one is so easy that I honestly didn't believe it the first time I tried it. In fact, I have complicated it significantly since I first tried the recipe. I really wanted a light fresh cream sauce, and I was astounded at how easy this is. The lemon juice actually curdles the cream turning it into this lovely light and lemony cream sauce. The thyme is the perfect accompaniment. And depending on what you add into this one, this recipe can take as little as the amount of time it takes to cook pasta.

Creamy lemon pasta

Enough pasta for 2 people
1 cup cream
2 tsp lemon juice
Lemon zest from 1 lemon
3 tsp thyme
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Pecorino Romano cheese for garnish

-Saute the lemon zest and the thyme in the olive oil for 2-3 minutes.
-Add in the cream and cook until it is reduced a little.
-Add in lemon juice.
-Season to taste with salt and pepper.
-Coat pasta with sauce.

Serve with any of the following.

-Chicken breasts cooked with lemon juice and thyme cut into small pieces.
-Slightly wilted baby spinach
-Sliced proscuitto ( I recommend you add this to the sauce at the last minute)

Or you can do what I do and add all three. The great thing about this recipe is that you can add any or all of the ingredients above to accommodate any number of picky palates.

Forays into gourmet looking cooking

2009-10-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

While I was in California this August I spent some time with my brother-in-law's fiancee. I have always liked her and was happy to get a little time alone with her. Recently, she found out that she has a rare bundle of allergies (the condition has a horribly unpronounceable name but for the life of me I can't remember what it was) that slowly makes her esophagus close up. When it closes too far they have to inflate a balloon in her throat in order to make it open up again. Now, I haven't experienced this myself, but I'm told that not only does this suck royally but it is also dangerous and can lead to tearing of the esophagus. Not good. So her only real recourse is to take steroid inhalers and avoid the foods that cause the problem.

You may think well, that's obvious you know you're allergic to something avoid it. But here's the problem. There is no way to tell what she is allergic to without having expensive allergy testing done. Also, some of the things that are bad for her are so common that they are almost impossible to avoid. Like onions. I know I would have a problem living without onions I can only imagine how hard it must be for her. Now luckily she can eat the biggies, dairy, meat, and gluten are all ok.

When we were in Cali we went out to Maggiano's for dinner and poor Katie had to order her own specialty things to eat. Though, the chef did seem pleased to finally have a chance to do something out of the ordinary. One of the things he made was a modified crab cake that was simply delicious so, knowing that I am a foodie, Katie turned to me and asked if I could figure out how this was made. I took a few bites to figure out the main ingredients involved and decided to give it a try once I was home.

This is a really easy light and flavorful appetizer and this recipe makes enough for around 5 people. You can make it as casual or fancy as you choose. Not only is it good for someone allergic to gluten or onions but my shellfish loving father is going to be extremely excited about this as well.

Crab a la Katie
1/2 cup minced fennel
1/2 cup finely chopped red pepper
12 finely sliced basil leaves
12 oz lump crab
1/2 juiced lime or lemon
Roughly 1 tsp old bay seasoning to taste
Dash of garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 or 2 grinds of pepper
2 avocados 1 chopped or mushed 1 sliced into arches

Mix seasonings with crab and set aside. Saute peppers and fennel in olive oil for 2-3 minutes at medium heat. Turn down heat, add in crab, heat through. Transfer to medium bowl, add avocado and combine. Mold inside biscuit cutter/tin can etc
Serve with avocado slices.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Katie!!

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Saugus - Angela's Coal Fired Pizza

2009-09-26T22:47:00.000-07:00

We’d heard some interesting things about Angela’s Coal Fired Pizza in Saugus, but frankly, this Bostonist hasn’t really sat down for just pizza and wings since she was in college (except of course for the occasional trip to Regina’s in the North End). So last week when we were out in the Saugus area we decided to check it out. Now a sit down restaurant that only serves pizza and wings seemed a little limited and frankly we were expecting a greasy hole-in-the-wall kind of place. But we were pleasantly surprised from the moment we walked in the door.

Angela’s high ceilings, spacious seating, and comfortable modern furnishings gives it both a trendy and family friendly feel. The open kitchen at the front of the restaurant makes it so that a perpetual aroma of coal-fired pizza wafts over diners as they await their delicious meal; making the anticipation even sweeter. Each table has a funky black pizza stand in the center to remind you what’s important. The outdoor patio is decorated with modern bar-height tables and chairs and small circular stands, just big enough to put your drink on, have been attached to a row of trees that give diners shelter from the building next door. The area feels secret and secluded even though it is right off Route 1.

The pizza is simply spectacular, as one would expect it to be in a sit down restaurant that has decided to specialize. But this pizza was particularly impressive. The pizza has just the right amount of cheese. Not too much, not too little, and the cheese runs throughout each piece of pizza both on top of and underneath the toppings. The thing that struck us in particular was how wonderfully melty and gooey it was. The toppings were generous on each piece but not overcrowded, and the crust was incredibly crisp on the bottom and provided a nice firm support for the toppings and cheese. The sauce is the perfect finisher for this fantastic pizza; salty and just a little bit spicy but not too chunky or runny.

The wings were another amazing surprise. No buffalo, crispy, hot, or sweet and sour here. You are only given two options: small or large. These wings are incredible. The meat simply falls off the bone and each bite is infused with lemon, garlic, rosemary, and who knows what other wonderful ingredients. The wings are served atop a tasty piece of focaccia and have sweet delicious onions heaped on top.

The wings and pizza aren’t the only things on the menu, there is also an extensive and very tasty looking wine and beer menu. Honestly, this may now be this Bostonist’s favorite pizza in the greater metropolitan area. Even though it is seriously out of the way, we will definitely be headed back out to Saugus soon to partake of this awesome new find.

Anglea’s is located on Route 1 in Saugus, they also have a location in Tyngsboro. You can check out their menu their website.

This post originally appeared on the Bostonist.

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Waltham—Joe Sent Me

2009-09-17T22:45:00.000-07:00

The first time this Bostonist saw Joe Sent Me it was winter. It looked like just another bar from the outside, pubby and cave-like in the winter snow. At the time we were worried about being cold and were doing much of our drinking inside our own house to avoid having to interact too heavily with outside’s frigid temperatures and piles of snow. However, a couple of weeks ago Joe Sent Me located on Main Street in Waltham got another look. Always on the lookout for any restaurant with outdoor seating to take advantage of the brief months of lovely Boston weather, we noticed a chalk board outside of Joe Sent Me proclaiming in bright red letters Patio Open. Immediately intrigued we vowed to try it before the climate turned south again. Well, we did just that last week with a friend for a late lunch.

The patio is open, airy, and pleasantly decorated, a little gem hidden in the back of this fine Waltham pub. You wouldn’t even know it was there if you didn’t notice the sliver of sunlight peeking through the back of the pub.

Joe Sent Me is your typical pub, benches and barstools abound on the inside and it’s a great place for trivia or an after-work drink with co-workers or friends. Their beer selection is varied and they even have Magner’s on tap for those of us who prefer their bubbles with a little apple flavor. Their mixed drinks are also quite tasty and well balanced. Not too much mixer or alcohol so you feel like you’re getting your money’s worth while sipping at something that doesn’t taste like jet fuel. The real surprise here was the delicious food menu.

We ordered a burger with bacon and caramelized onions and a pressed chicken sandwich with red peppers, cheese, and ranch dressing. The burger was juicy and perfectly cooked. And the saltiness of the bacon and the sweetness of the onions really complimented the juicy umami of the burger. The pressed chicken was a solidly put together sandwich with bread that was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The chicken was sliced, white breast-meat, well trimmed and juice with a lot of flavor. The red peppers, cheese and ranch dressing balanced each other out to create a truly deliciouscombination of flavors. None of the flavors were particularly overpowering by themselves but together they created a sandwich that was truly hard to put down.

Each sandwich came with a delightfully sour dill pickle wedge, the accompanying fries were appropriately crispy and salty, and we were pleasantly surprised when offered a set of condiments that included malt vinegar for the fries. Prices are reasonable and the food and drinks make Joe Sent Me a great place to hang out for an evening, in the winter or summer.

Joe Sent Me also has a location in Cambridge. You can find directions to either location and a menu on their website.

This Post first appeared on the Bostonist

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs, Needham: Blue on Highland

2009-09-11T20:02:00.000-07:00

This Bostonist hasn’t spent a lot of time in Needham. After the fantastic experience we had at a little restaurant there called Blue on Highland, though, this suburb is definitely on our map. We picked this restaurant on a whim, wanting something nice, nearby, and not too expensive. The menu at Blue on Highland is simple but contains a little bit of everything. From burgers and pizzas to filet mignon and chicken scaloppini, there is a delicious option for everyone.

One wall of the restaurant is covered with a tall multi-panel painting done entirely in blues and blacks, presumably to reinforce the name of the restaurant. The facing wall contains some fun abstract art. These pieces give the place the feel of a hip gallery and restaurant all rolled up in one.

The first thing that really caught our attention was the specialty martini menu, which contained items like a raspberry lime rickey and a pomegranate cosmopolitan. The raspberry lime rickey was amazing, with just enough raspberry flavor to have you smacking your lips but not so much that the drink became cloying or overpowering. The fresh lime juice did a great job of cutting the raspberry and orange liquors and the champagne added a tiny bit of bubbly that made it really taste like a raspberry lime rickey.

The night we visited we tried the crab cake with Cajun remoulade and arugula. This huge crab cake somehow managed to be more meat than breading, while still holding its shape. The remoulade was tangy and just a little bit spicy which perfectly accented the salty richness of the crab cake and the sharp bitterness of the arugula was a refreshing addition to the plate.
For entrees, we tried the steak frites and a swordfish special. These were both unexpectedly exceptional. The steak was tender, perfectly cooked, and the red wine demi glaze was so savory and well balanced that each bite had to be stirred around in the extra sauce. The fries were crispy and not greasy at all with just the right amount of salt, and our waitress automatically brought tiny sides of ketchup without us needing to ask. The real surprise on the plate was the perfectly crispy and flavorful sugar snap peas. This Bostonist has never had cooked snap peas that tasted so good!

The swordfish special was simply amazing. The balsamic glaze was so tangy and sweet that after one bite our mouths were watering for more. And the meaty steak of swordfish was perfectly paired with the light bitterness of fresh arugula and a salty base of white beans combined with fresh fall vegetables. We really hope this becomes a regular menu item!

This meal made such an impression that we immediately went out and recommended the restaurant to friends looking for a nice night out. The restaurant doesn’t take reservations for fewer than five people, and the booths are a little small if you have tall men in the party. But the awesome food, open atmosphere and friendly and knowledgeable wait staff more than makes up for these little shortcomings. You can find the menu and directions on the website.

The Great Galette Experiment of Aught Nine - take 1

2009-09-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

So here is a picture of my first try at a galette. I had just been blackberry picking with some friends and all I had was nectarines in the house. So instead of raspberry and peach for my first try I made blackberry and nectarine. I know not the same thing, but I was using what I had at hand.

First I went in search of a tart dough. I ended up (as I so often do lately) turning to my America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book. I found a recipe for Rustic free form tart dough. Perfect! exactly what I was looking for. And it was easy. Combine ingredients in the cuisinart and then form a ball and refrigerate. With the America's Test Kitchen instructions it was also wasy to roll out between two pieces of parchment paper. Hooray!

As I was flipping through the book I found a recipe for a free form apple tart. Better and better I thought, I'll just adapt this for stone fruit and berries. Then I looked to the side of the apple tart recipe and there was a stone fruit and berries variant.

Oh America's Test Kitchen sometimes you way overcomplicate things sometimes but how I love you anyway.

Suprisingly, I managed to mess up the fruit in this tart worse than the tart dough. I forgot to add the sugar until the fruit was already on the crust, and I didn't have any corn starch so the runnyness had begun way before the tart even started cooking.

The result of my first galette ever was a soggy bottomed, slightly too tart tart with crust that was a little too salty. I also rolled out the crust too thick so the crust to fruit ratio felt a little unbalanced. Perhaps two smaller galettes next time.

Upon tasting it my husband was quick to inform me that the dough wasn't sweet enough and why hadn't I put more sugar on top of the crust like they did in the bakery?

I informed him that beggars can't be choosers and to eat his galette before I took it away from him. He did and I promised to try again later on in the week.

Here is the original recipe that I used: It should be interesting to see how this changes over the coming weeks!

Free Form Summer Fruit Tart ( adapted slightly from the Cooks Illustrated Website and the America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book)

Dough

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces), plus additional for work surface

1/2 teaspoon table salt

10 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks), cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

4 - 6 tablespoons water (ice cold)

Fruit Filling

1 pound peaches, nectarines, apricots, or plums

1 cup berries (about 1/2 dry pint)

½ cup tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons corn starch

Instructions

1. Note: The amount of water that the dough will require depends on the ambient humidity; in a dry environment, it may need more water, in a humid environment, less. The dough can be made ahead and refrigerated overnight or tightly wrapped in two sheets of plastic wrap and frozen for up to one week. If at any point the dough becomes soft, sticky, and dificult to work with during rolling, chill it until it becomes workable.

2. For the dough: In food processor, pulse flour and salt to combine, about three 1-second pulses. Scatter butter pieces over flour, then pulse until texture resembles coarse bread crumbs and butter pieces about the size of small peas remain, ten to twelve 1-second pulses. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon water over mixture and process 1 second; repeat until dough begins to form small curds and holds together when pinched with fingers. Empty dough onto work surface; dough will be crumbly (if dough has large dry areas, sprinkle additional 2 teaspoons water over dry areas and incorporate by gently fluffing entire amount of dough with fingers). Using bench scraper, gather dough into rough mound about 12 inches long and 4 inches wide (mound should be perpendicular to edge of counter). Beginning from farthest end, use heel of a hand to smear about one sixth of dough against work surface away from you. Repeat until all dough has been worked. Using bench scraper, gather dough again and repeat. Dough should now be cohesive. Form dough into 4-inch disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until cold and firm but malleable, about 1 hour.

3. For the filling: During last 30 minutes of chilling, prepare fruit. Halve and pit stone fruit and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges. Gently wash and dry berries. Combine fruit in medium bowl (you should have about 3 cups); set aside. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.

4. To assemble and bake: (If dough has chilled longer than 1 hour and is cold and hard, let stand at room temperature 15 to 20 minutes before proceeding.) On large sheet of parchment paper lightly dusted with flour, roll dough to 12-inch round about 3/16 inch thick, dusting with flour as needed. (If dough sticks to parchment, gently loosen and lift sticky area with bench scraper and dust parchment with additional flour.) Slide parchment and dough onto baking sheet and refrigerate until cool and firm yet pliant, 15 to 30 minutes (if refrigerated longer and dough is hard and brittle, let stand at room temperature until pliant).

5. Toss the fruit with sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and corn starch.

6. Remove baking sheet with dough from refrigerator. Mound fruit in center of dough, leaving 2 1/2-inch border around edge. Carefully grasp one edge of dough and fold up outer 2 inches over fruit, leaving 1/2-inch area of dough just inside of fold free of fruit. Repeat around circumference of tart, overlapping dough every 2 to 3 inches; gently pinch pleated dough to secure, but do not press dough into fruit. Working quickly, brush dough with water and sprinkle evenly with 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake until crust is deep golden brown and fruit is bubbling, 50 to 55 minutes. Cool tart on baking sheet on wire rack 10 minutes. Using offset or wide metal spatula, loosen tart from parchment and carefully slide tart off parchment onto wire rack; cool until warm, about 30 minutes, or to room temperature, about 1 hour. Cut into wedges and serve.

The Beginning of an idea.

2009-09-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

So at the beginning of August my husband and I went to California for a variety of reasons.
1. To visit his extended family
2. To celebrate the engagement of my brother in law to a wonderful woman
3. To celebrate my cousin in law's engagement to another lovey gal
4. To visit our friends Brett and Cicely in San Francisco
5. For me to visit my friend April in LA

Now this is a lot to accomplish in one trip and the trip was a long one. I was out of town for 11 days and I traveled to Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, and Gilroy before finally returning home. I hope I can avoid living out of bags like that for a little while, unless of course someone wants to send me to Italy, in which case, bring on the bags.

But anyway, the trip to Cali wasn't much of a food journey or I would tell you all about it. Mostly I ate a lot of breakfast and had few real foods of note. There was one dinner at a little french restaurant in San Fran that was fantastic and made me want to experiment with cooking rabbit and cassoulet, more on those as winter approaches.

But the real stand out food from that trip was a peach and raspberry galette that we had at a little bakery down the street from our friend Brett's house called Destination Baking Company. Before I say more, a note about my husband. I love him dearly but he honestly doesn't care about food. No desserts or dinners really thrill him and for him to even comment on something means that it really impressed him. For him to gush about something has only happened a handfull of times in the 11 years that we have been together.

He loved this galette, and he hates peaches. He was simply blown away by the goodness of this dessert.

So of course I had to try and recreate it when I got home.

Unfortunately pies and tarts are not my forte. give me chocolate and I will make you something fantastic, but my expertise is a little lacking when it comes to tarts and pies.

So this was going to be a challange for me. I will leave you with a picture of the amazing galette I will be attempting to recreate over the coming month and promise more updates on this experiment in the near future. In fact, I think I will go try my hand at some tart dough now...

Julie and Julia inspired bruschetta.

2009-09-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

Before I went to see Julie and Julia I prepared. I knew I was going to come away from the movie craving good food. So I marinated a flank steak and bought all of the ingredients for rosemary garlic roasted potatoes and green beans with caramelized shallots and sliced almonds to accompany the tender steak. However, what I did not prepare was an appetizer.

If you asked what struck me about the movie I will go on about Meryl Streep's delightful portrayal of Julia Child. And how I connect to this movie because my Mom used to watch Julia Child all the time. She had all of her shows on tape and she would watch them over and over again on her kitchen television while making dinner. I have the infamous Mastering the Art of French Cooking and to this day I find it ridiculously intimidating because it seems like my mom made all of her complex and interesting dishes straight from Julia's book.

Now, if you ask me what struck me about the food in the movie I will go on ad nauseaum about how I want to de-bone a duck and stuff it with meat and cover it with pastry and then cook it. I really want to give this one a try (though honestly I worry about my ability to de-bone a duck and I have informed my friends that I will require a support staff to help me when I finally decide to make this ridiculously awesome dish).

The other food that caught my eye for immediate re-creation was the bruschetta. We talked about the bruschetta all the way home. And how good it looked. So when my foodie friends and I got home we took one look at the enormous bounty of yellow tomatoes in my garden and decided that we should go ahead and make some ourselves. So, one trip to the grocery store later and we were in my kitchen. One person toasting the bread in a skillet while the others chopped tomatoes, basil, onions, garlic and fresh mozzarella and tossing them with olive oil balsamic vinegar salt and pepper.

This is a fantastic appetizer and while the toasting the bread in the pan is a little more complicated than my normal method of shoving it in the toaster oven with some butter on it, the pan toasting with olive oil is MUCH better than the other version. I may never be able to make easy bruschetta again.

Colorful Summer Bruschetta
8 yellow pear tomatoes diced
2 medium red herloom tomatoes diced
10 basil leaves sliced very thinly in a chiffonade
4T Balsamic vinegar
4T Extra Virgin Olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 cup very small balls of fresh mozz
1 clove garlic minced very tiny

9 slices of nice bread (sourdough, rustic, baguette, something crusty)
4T Extra virgin olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and toast the pieces of bread. Set aside

Place all of the ingredients for the tomato topping in a large bowl and mix them together until everything seems sufficiently coated in vinegar.
Spoon the topping over the toast and serve immediately (the toast will get soggy if it sits too long).

BON APPETIT!

Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

2009-08-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have a confession to make. Until this year I didn't really understand the plight of the gluten free. In the last few months I've really started hanging out with my GFF Kris. And I realize what a giant pain in the ass it is to be unable to eat gluten, particularly when all of your friends are crazy bakers. Here we are making at least one different baked good a week and nothing for our poor gluten free friend. So, when she informed me that she loved strawberry rhubarb crisp I decided to kill two birds with one stone and cook with rhubarb for the first time and give some gluten free baking a try.

An apple crisp was the first thing I ever learned to bake on my own without my mother looking over my shoulder telling me how to do it. I must have checked the recipe a hundred times and it still came out wrong the first time. My second apple crisp was when I discovered that I could trust my instincts and successfully improvise a good recipe. All of this to explain why a crisp seemed like the safest place to try something new.

I actually made this for a 4th of July party so that there would be something gluten-free to eat. Yeah I know I'm a little behind in the blogging.

Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

For the crumbly topping:

3/4 cup gluten free baking mix
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sliced almonds
8 tablespoons butter cold
1/2 tsp salt

For the fruit:

3 cups strawberries sliced
1 1/2 cups rhubarb sliced thin
the juice from one lemon
1/2 cup of white sugar
pinch of corn starch ( to hold it together)
2Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the strawberries, rhubarb, lemon juice, sugar, vinegar and corn starch in a bowl and then pour them into a 9x9 baking pan.

For the topping combine all of the dry ingredients and then work the cold butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers until it sticks together when pinched, larger chunks of butter are ok, they will provide pockets of buttery goodness. Pour the crumble mixture on top of the fruit. Sprinkle some extra sliced almonds on top for good measure.

Bake for 20-35 minutes, the fruit will be bubbling and the crispy topping will be brown.

Happy eating to all of those out there with gluten intolerance.

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Woburn—Masa

2009-08-28T09:30:00.000-07:00

This Bostonist got her first brief taste of Masa at the Taste of the Nation event in April. They were serving duck empanadas from their downtown location, a unique dish that really stood out in a night of outstanding food. So, when we discovered that there was a Masa in Woburn and that they were serving a restaurant week menu during the entire month of August, we couldn’t resist. The décor is pleasant and well planned, an obvious southwestern flare expressed in intricate brass wall hangings; providing a great topic to fill any lulls in conversation. The place was full, though not packed, when we visited and the lively light fixtures and fascinating art gave the room a cheery and welcoming atmosphere.
Initially excited by the promise of ½ liter pitchers of sangria for 5 dollars and 5 dollar margaritas, we were delighted to find a prix fixe menu that provided a decent showcase of what this fabulous restaurant has to offer.

The appetizer was a delicious, BBQ short rib quesadilla with truffle crème fraiche and fig salsa. This was an amazing combination of textures and flavors. The beef was tender and sweet with just a hint of salty cheese which contrasted beautifully with the crispy tortilla and the light hint of crème fraiche. The real surprise on the plate was the fig salsa, wonderfully sweet dried figs infused with quite a bit of smoky kick.

The steak frites with guajillo bourbon sauce were a slightly different take on an old standby. The steak was tender and the bourbon sauce provided a subtly spicy and sweet accent and an excellent dipping sauce for the crisp salty frites. The chili lime arugula salad rounded out the plate by adding a fresh touch, the tang of the lime cleansed the palate as it cut through the lingering flavors of the bourbon sauce.

We ended our pre-fix menu with a molten chocolate cake. The cake was not quite molten, more soft and nicely rich and chocolaty. The vanilla ice cream was very light, the perfect accompaniment. Surprisingly the fresh raspberry sauce stood out above the other items on the plate, pleasantly intense with the perfect balance of sweet and sour.

Overall Masa was a great dining experience; the staff was friendly and accommodating. The sangria was very tasty, though more fruit juice than wine, and the margaritas were a decent size for five dollars and by contrast deliciously potent. We highly suggest concentrating your dining on Masa’s southwestern dishes since this seems to be where they really shine. Masa’s menu is available on their website, as well as directions and special events.

This Post originally featured on Bostonist.com

I'm Baaaack

2009-08-25T23:17:00.000-07:00

After a long trip to California and two weeks of getting myself back together I have tons to blog about. There will be plenty coming in the next few weeks from recipes to reports about awesome things I encountered in California. Not to mention the great galette experiement. Oh September, who ever thought you could hold so much interest. So stay tuned, or have your google reader remind you when I update whatever works.

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Waltham—In A Pickle

2009-08-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

If you’re not interested in IHOP, it can sometimes be a struggle to find a decent place that serves breakfast on week days. While many restaurants will happily serve you brunch on the weekends, or in some cases just Sunday, it can be difficult to find somewhere to grab breakfast before work or on a random week day. While this Bostonist first visited In A Pickle looking for a new lunch option with a friend from out of town, as soon as we entered we knew that this was a restaurant that specialized in breakfast.

The recently updated menu is enormous, offering everything from omelets and M&M pancakes to Cobb Salad and Crispy Chicken Wraps. So it does a great job of catering to people with varying tastes. While some people might call In A Pickle a greasy spoon, the décor feels like a combination between a diner and a submarine, this Bostonist has not been greased out by anything she has eaten there.

One of the first things we tried there were the Banana Pancakes. The slices of slightly under-ripe banana are caramelized by their contact with the hot grill. The pancakes are light, moist, and sweet and the banana adds a dark caramel tang to make each bite perfectly balanced, no syrup required. We were distressed to discover that the new menu added chocolate chips to their banana pancakes. But upon tasting this new iteration we discovered that the chocolate chips make these already wonderful pancakes even better, adding a light cocoa accent to the already amazing mix of flavors. These pancakes are so good that they even survive being taken out and eaten at home!

The omelets at In A Pickle are light and fluffy and fully loaded with any combination of fillings you can imagine. As far as sandwiches go, they recently introduced a few new options including the delicious Grilled Apple Bacon and Cheddar sandwich, a panini that is a delightful combination of sweet apples, smoky bacon, and salty cheddar all grilled in between thick tangy slices of sourdough bread.

On weekend mornings In A Pickle can be so packed that a line heads out onto main street, sometimes there is even a waiting list, but during the week, or on weekends after noon you can usually slip in to a table right away. In A Pickle offers both breakfast and lunch options from 6am—3pm and you can check out their extensive menu online. Everything on the menu is also available for take-out. In A Pickle is a great place to get breakfast or lunch in-house or on-the-go next time you have a hankering for fantastic pancakes head on over to In A Pickle on Main street in Waltham you won’t be disappointed!

This post originally featured on Bostonist.com

Tavolo in Dorchester Quite a night

2009-07-17T13:14:00.001-07:00

When I received an invitation for a Blogger dinner at Tavolo in Dorchester my initial response was, "Oh it's in Dorchester, maybe not." I don't usually head out that way and the thought of traversing the dreaded I93 was not a pleasant one, and I would hate to find a new favorite restaurant in a place I never frequent. But I figured good food and fun with good people was worth the hike.

Of course it took me a week to get around to writing about it but whose counting. If you're not paying attention you might miss Tavolo as you drive down Dorchester Ave it is inconspicuously located in a huge brick building that feels more like a home of offices than a fine dining restaurant. In fact I almost drove right past it. The inside feels like a comfortable family eatery with a slightly avant garde decorator. The the room we were seated in had floor to ceiling chalkboard walls covered in awesome doodles from a local artist. Every time I looked up I saw another thing to make me smile. And the lighting fixtures hanging from the ceiling were so interesting that they kept coming up as topics of conversation all night long.

This dinner was meant to be a showcase of the non-pizza fare that the restaurant has to offer as it moves away from a simple pizzeria and into the realm of fine dining. One awesome thing about dining with food bloggers is that I was not the only person taking pictures when the food arrived. It was really nice to be among others trying to get the perfect shot and swapping picture taking tips.

But I digress, onward to the food!
We started with a watermelon feta salad which was refreshing and accented by chopped mint and basil leaves. Now I'm not normally one for watermelon salad but this was stupendous. The feta was a perfect salty accent to the watery sweet melon and the mint and basil were surprisingly good fresh accents.
Next we were treated to some of the tenderest lightest gnocchi I have ever had with pancetta, pecorino, and local fava beans. The gnocchi was a perfect texture, not too chewy or hard and the chewy salty pancetta really went well with it. This was also a great showcase for the fresh beans and definitely gave me ideas for the future. I think this was my favorite dish of the evening I was really sad when I had finished this dish I could have kept eating it all night.
They brought out some house meatballs to accompany the gnocchi and these were stupendous. I am seriously picky about my meatballs and these passed all of my tests. They were mouthwateringly good. Salty and meaty with the right amount of umami and a clearly superior blend of meats combined with the simply succulent tomato sauce made for the perfect meatball. You can get them as a side order, with pasta or pressed in a panini (something I would really like to sample) If you don't try anything else on Tavolo's menu give these a try!
The next thing on the menu was a swordfish involtini. I really like swordfish though I forget about it from time to time and this was definitely a reminder of the amazing things you can do with swordfish. I've never thought of swordfish as a light and delicate dish. The only way I've ever seen it served is as a steak, so when they presented me with a thin cut of fish rolled around a mash of fontina cheese, garlic and parsley and adorned with a light sauce and sliced tomatoes, I was sceptical. But it was love at first bite. This was amazing, the cheese and garlic really brought out the meatiness of the fish while the delicate cut made it surprisingly light and the flavor combination was unforgettable salty, rich and meaty with the slight tang of tomatoes to cut any possibly fishiness. This was really a wonderful dish and yet another instance of me wanting to eat an entire plate of just this. I was finished with the tiny portion before I even realized it and I kind of mourned the loss of the that amazing flavor.
I got over my disappointment pretty quickly when I noticed that duck was the next thing on the menu. I adore duck, it is really one of my favorite things so I was really excited to see it on the menu. It was perfectly cooked and served with a little bit of current jam, currents tartness always go really well with the rich meatiness of duck and this was no exception. I disagreed with the faro and green beans that were served with it though. The faro was an odd texture to go with the duck and it had an overly earthy aftertaste. The green beans were fine, but not quite cooked enough or salty enough for my taste.

We ended the evening with coffee and a grilled blueberry pound cake with whipped cream and blueberry sauce. I actually split a coffee with a friend because it was late and I wanted to get home but then be able to get to sleep afterwards. I have to say this was great coffee, well balanced and not bitter at all. Though pound cake and blueberries aren't my favorite things. This was a nice light end to the evening and the grilling of the cake was a stroke of genius. There was a light caramelizing of the sugar around the edges of the cake that gave it the perfect texture and flavor, and the light flavor of blueberry cleansed the palate and left me feeling full and satisfied but not over sugared.
Overall I would recommend Tavolo, if for nothing other than the meatballs. I did notice that almost nothing on the menu we sampled was indicated on the regular menu, but I would definitely go back and sample anything on their regular menu. This was a really fantastic meal and I would recommend this place to anyone.

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Cambridge—Stone Hearth Pizza

2009-07-17T11:06:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it can be hard to take a gluten-free friend out to lunch or dinner. Pubs usually deal in foods that are fried with some sort of flour-based batter, any kind of sandwich is automatically off the menu, even salad dressings can sometimes be a dicey prospect and almost all Italian food is right out. Yet this Bostonist recently accompanied her gluten-free friend to a little pizzeria in Cambridge called Stone Hearth Pizza and discovered a new world of deliciousness, with a side of tasty gluten-free fare. Stone Hearth Pizza has locations in Cambridge, Belmont, and Needham; and is dedicated to providing customers with organic and local fare whenever possible. If you download a menu from their website you can see all the local farms they support, even their beers and wines are local.

Their dedication to local businesses spills over to their customers. What originally brought us to their door was the promise of their gluten-free pizza crust, which it turns out is crispy and light, without a hint of the grittiness that can sometimes accompany gluten-free bread products. Clearly, someone worked hard to get the consistency of this crust just right.

The restaurant's Neapolitan style fire-grilled pizzas are both inventive and well put together without an overabundance of any one ingredient, which creates a nice balance of flavors. The cheeses are fresh and well blended, and in this Bostonist’s opinion, their sauce is just right: not too sweet and not too salty.

There are several pre-imagined options available on their menu, or if you’re in the mood to be creative, just go ahead and make your own concoction from their extensive ingredient list.

The sandwiches at Stone Hearth are just as noteworthy as their pizzas. While the restaurant does not carry gluten-free sandwich bread, these sandwiches really prove that a good sandwich is all about the ingredients. Wraps are not normally this Bostonist’s thing, but it looked so delicious that she had to give it a try, and the chefs were very accommodating when we wanted to add fresh mozzarella to our California wrap. And wow, was it worth the risk!

The California wrap is a simple enough sandwich with romaine lettuce, grilled chicken, avocado, shaved red onions, and lemon Dijon dressing. Somehow the food artists at Stone Hearth Pizza managed to make this simple sandwich into something spectacular; all of the ingredients were chopped very finely and then mixed together with the dressing so that every bite contained a little bit of everything. The wrap was fresh and chewy; it (thankfully) lacked that slightly stale taste and texture that often afflict wraps. The most amazing thing was the avocado, clearly cut fresh as the sandwich was being made because it didn’t exhibit any of the watery loss of flavor that can happen with a pre-cut fruit. Somehow they managed to mush it just enough so that it still maintained enough integrity to not dribble out of the wrap but instead to cling perfectly to every other ingredient to hold the sandwich together. Every bite of this huge wrap was a joy and we kept eating it long after we were full just for the flavor of it.

Stone Hearth Pizza also offers baked pastas, both standard and gluten-free, and some very tasty salads with amazingly good homemade dressings.

The Stone Hearth Pizza in Cambridge delivers to areas of Cambridge and Somerville, so check in with your local Stone Hearth Pizza to see if they deliver to you. We highly recommend this gem to everyone and are happy to be able to suggest a gluten-free pizza option to our gluten intolerant friends who are missing their pizza fix.

This post originally appeared on the Bostonist

Ricotta, Peas, and Bacon Oh My!

2009-07-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

I found the idea for this dish on tastespotting. But once I started playing with it I definitely made it my own. This is quite possibly the easiest dinner I have ever made and one that my annoyingly critical husband actually really liked on the first try. I added in the hazelnuts after my husband proclaimed that it, had a nutty flavor, it gives the pasta a nice added crunch.

5 pieces of bacon
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup peas
2 tsp lemon thyme
3 handfuls of arugula
1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts (chopped in a food processor)
1/2 a package cooked penne pasta
grated Pecorino Romano cheese

fry up the bacon until it is to your preference ( both crispy and chewy works) remove the bacon so that it can cool for a minute. Pour off about half the bacon fat and add 1/4 cup of water. Add in the peas and simmer for about 5 minutes. Crumble the cooled bacon into smallish pieces and then add the bacon, ricotta, thyme and hazelnuts stir until thoroughly mixed, then add in the pasta and stir until incorporated. Finally, spoon into a pasta bowl and mix in the arugala, sprinkle with the romano.

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Newton—BOKX 109

2009-07-09T12:45:00.000-07:00

Ask for a steak recommendation in Boston and people will be climbing over one another to tout the virtues of their favorite steakhouse. From downtown favorites like K.O Prime and Grill 23 to slightly more out of the way options like the Capital Grille in Newton and Natick’s Metro 9 there’s no shortage of great steak options in Boston or the suburbs. Nestled on the ground floor of the Hotel Indigo, located just off I-95 in Newton, BOKX 109 is a fun steak house with a curious name. The first perk of trying this suburban gem is their free valet parking, simply let the nice gentlemen park your car and only worry about the tip. The restaurant is very comfortable, furnished in rich browns and oranges with soft lighting and lots of windows. The kitchen is open with a long, tall chef’s table located right next to it where larger parties can watch all the action. On the other side of the dining area is a small lounge and bar which provides access to the luxurious pool and patio. While BOKX 109 certainly maintains a sophisticated feel, the stuffiness that is often the trademark of a good steakhouse is happily missing. Instead, BOKX 109 offers a fun, chic option for people interested in getting their steak in the suburbs.

BOKX 109 has an innovative way of presenting their menus, printed on brown paper bag material and then folded around their napkins which are super-absorbent dish towels. BOKX’s starters come in three options, Snax, BOKX of greens, and sides. While the sides are clearly meant to go with the steaks, one side is more than enough for an appetizer. Among the actual appetizers, the crab cakes are the standout; three large crab cakes are served atop an apple and a celery root slaw which is divine. The salty, crispy crab cakes are filled with lots of chunky crab meat seasoned to perfection and topped with a light mustard sauce. The slaw was a pleasant surprise and its fresh, sweet taste was a truly different complement to the exemplary crab cakes.

The pear salad was a well balanced light starter with plenty of soft grilled pears served cold, which was surprising but quite good. The sprinkling of pecans added an occasional spicy crunch complimenting the simplicity of the greens and sherry vinaigrette dressing.

BOKX offers entrées in two ways, BOKX cuts with a la carte sides, and American Prime meals with meat and sides included in the price. For her BOKX cut this Bostonist tried the 189, a 10oz tenderloin with sides of truffled potato tots, mac and cheese, creamed spinach, and lobster risotto shared among fellow diners. The chefs at BOKX 109 really know how to cook a steak! A perfect medium, the juicy succulent steak arrived topped with delightfully crispy onion strings. Slightly crispy and salty on the outside and tender on the inside, this is one steak that doesn’t require extra sauces or seasonings; though BOKX 109 does offer a selection of additional sauces for two dollars each.

The sides are a little smaller than usual for a steak house, but at seven dollars apiece they are reasonably priced accompaniments for the steaks, and four sides is definitely enough to feed three people. The mac and cheese is very different; a stringy cheese layer on top conceals pasta sitting in a soupy cheese sauce underneath. This is not your traditional mac and cheese but this lighter version goes really well with the steak and keeps you from getting too full to finish your entree. The spinach was delicious, the shallots and fennel compliment the creaminess of the spinach to give it a very balanced and rich flavor. The lobster risotto was unremarkable, though filled with big chunks of lobster, the flavor is bland and the dish is very heavy. The tater tots, while an interesting idea and the side dish this Bostonist was most interested in tasting, were bland, not salty enough, and too hot to eat for most of the meal, additionally, the ratio of mushiness to crispiness was way too high.

For her second visit, this Bostonist tried the hanger steak with garlic butter and frites. The steak was tender and juicy and the addition of the garlic butter was amazing. Each bite was better than the last as the butter melted a little bit more to blend with the natural juices of the meat. But the real surprise on the plate was the frites. Instead of your standard thin fries, these were shoe string thin pieces of salty, crispy potato, like canned potato sticks only fresh and delicious; we simply couldn’t stop eating them.

Desserts are clearly not the strong suit at BOKX 109. The best things on the dessert menu are the shooters, and even they aren’t great. The dessert shooters are small shot glasses of desserts for three dollars each. It’s an interesting idea that allows people to finish their meal with a little something sweet without stuffing themselves or breaking the bank. The mud pie was by far the best of the four and the only thing we can really recommend on the dessert menu.

However, if you aren’t in the mood for dessert, just ask your waiter for your complimentary dish of cotton candy. The delivery of the cotton candy seems to be a little unclear, on one visit it was brought with our check like a giant fluffy after-dinner mint. Our waiter informed us that they do it every night with every table. However, the next time no cotton candy was forthcoming until we asked for it. We do highly recommend asking for it because BOKX 109 actually has a cotton candy machine on the premises and they make it fresh for every table. This novelty added greatly to our appreciation of this restaurant and their dedication to being a slightly different steak house.

While the prices at BOKX 109 aren’t cheap, they’re not bad for a steak house. And portions of most items are large enough that sharing is possible.

If you’re looking for a more casual dining experience grab a bite at the bar/lounge and enjoy one of BOKX’s inventive and tasty cocktails. For example, the Pineapple Caipirinha is a delightful summer drink with imported rum and pineapple. For those of you who like your martinis, be warned they do have blue cheese stuffed olives, so be prepared to indulge.

For larger groups looking to indulge in a little outdoor dining, make a reservation at one of BOKX 109’s outdoor cabanas. You can enjoy the full menu in the comfort of your own private poolside cabana. The cabanas seat up to eight people and are open all summer long, weather permitting.

Finally, as a nod to these economic times, and in celebration of summer, BOKX109 is offering a three course pre-fix menu for $20.09. You can find the menu on their website, along with directions and some other summer deals.

Overall, while BOKX 109 is not our absolute favorite steakhouse, it is definitely worth regular visits for the food, the drinks, and of course the cotton candy.

This post originally appeared on Bostonist.com

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Arlington—Mr. Sushi

2009-07-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

Eating sushi in the suburbs can be a harrowing prospect. People tend not to want to try new sushi places because of the potentially disastrous results. For some reason, eating sushi downtown feels safer: perhaps the big awnings and plethora of other restaurants we know and trust makes the risk seem smaller.

Mr. Sushi in Arlington is more than a safe bet for dining in the raw; in fact, it’s by far this Bostonist’s favorite Japanese restaurant. Mr. Sushi offers options for every appetite. Classic maki rolls (with the rice on the outside) are small enough to be eaten in a single bite, but not so small that you feel cheated. The less common nori maki rolls (wrapped with seaweed on the outside) are crisp and never rubbery. Mr. Sushi also offers a great variety of nigiri sushi—or, as this Bostonist likes to call it, big slabs of fish laid on rice. These staples are accented by several interesting specialty rolls, like the Caterpillar (an eel maki roll with avocado laid over the top) and the Dragon (a California roll draped with slabs of eel), to name a few. Mr. Sushi also offers several vegetarian rolls, so the place is great for accommodating a large group with different eating habits. The sushi is always fresh and tasty, and nothing that we've tried has ever had an overly fishy flavor.

Even the cooked sushi shines. The shrimp tempura roll, which can suffer from sogginess in the hands of a lesser chef, is always crispy and never greasy or overcooked.

If sushi isn’t your thing, Mr. Sushi also offers a great variety of Japanese dishes. The chicken teriyaki is tender and sweet with salty undertones and topped with crunchy sesame seeds that add a slightly nutty note. The dish comes with an abundance of vegetables and is served with plenty of sauce to pour over the rice. If you’re feeling hungry, try the dinner plate, which includes with rice, miso soup, and a small salad. The chicken Katsu is a crispy delight with a uniquely flavored sauce that is mostly salty with just a hint of sweet.

Overall, the prices at Mr. Sushi are decent: meals like the chicken teriyaki and the chicken Katsu come in under 20 dollars and leave you satisfied. The sushi is reasonably priced, and the rolls are decently sized in addition to being well balanced and delicious. While the décor is nothing special, Mr. Sushi has plenty of space to accommodate big groups, as well as small, cozy tables and booths for more intimate dining. The wait staff is always courteous and knowledgeable, and the service is swift and pleasant.

Located in Arlington Center (691 Massachusetts Avenue), Mr. Sushi is open seven days a week for both lunch and dinner. Parking can sometimes be a problem on weekend nights because of the Mass Ave. location, but circling the block a few times will usually land you a space. If you aren’t in the mood for dining in, Mr. Sushi delivers within the immediate area and provides take-out, which this Bostonist can tell you generally survives the trip very well. Mr. Sushi also has a location in Brookline at 329 Harvard Street.

While Mr. Sushi doesn’t have a website, the restaurants provide mostly standard sushi and Japanese fare, so you can guess your options until you’re able to drop by and pick up a menu. Don’t forget to check out the weeknight sushi deals; you can often get a free maki roll with the purchase of a specialty roll, and Mr. Sushi has even been known to host all-you-can-eat sushi nights!

Ikea

2009-06-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've always wanted to try Ikea's meatballs, I've heard friends rave about them for years. So when a friend wanted to head to Ikea to spruce up her new diggs we deiced that at about hour 3 we needed a lunch break. The swedish meatballs were addictivly bad. Not the disturbing concoctions of my grade school caffeteria (the only other place I've ever had swedish meatballs). Instead these were both bland and mouthwateringly tasty at the same time. When the lovely lady behind the counter served them up I thought there's no way I was going to eat all of those meatballs but after five minutes they were gone. I can't remember what they normally come with but I ordered them with pasta which was frankly unnecessary I could have just eaten the meatballs with gravy and the strange lindgon berry sauce that accompanies them. I have to say I'm really glad I tried Ikeas meatballs if for no reason other than that now I want to try to make them myself. I mean hey, if Ikea can do it so can I.

Quesadillas!!

2009-06-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

The one thing I really wanted for Christmas was a panini press. It is one of the few kitchen appliances I didn't have and the foodie in me was rabid about having one. So, my husband decided that he would accommodate this desire,despite our complete and utter lack of space. So voila, panini press. I use it for everything. Is it raining? Then cook the grilled chicken inside. don't want to fry those hamburgers, go ahead and stick them on the panini press. And the grilled cheese sandwiches, oh the grilled cheese sandwiches. I will never be able to eat one that has simply been cooked in a frying pan again.

After months of blissfully enjoying the wonderfulness of my panini press, I decided to get creative the other night when my husband called out quesadillas as a response to the age old question; "What do you want for dinner." These beauties not only tasted better than the ones you bake in the oven they looked beautiful. I felt like I was in a restaurant.

Quesadilla Paninis
2 chicken breasts cut into thin strips
1 medium yellow onion
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 packet old el paso taco seasoning
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1 tsp goya
1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 four tortillas

1/2 cup grated monteray jack cheese
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

in a small bowl cover the chicken strips and onions with olive oil, then evenly sprinkle them with seasonings. Next throw everything in a pan and cook until the chicken is cooked and the onions are translucent. Spread half of the chicken and onions evenly over one half of a tortilla. Cover with cheese and fold the tortilla in half so that the chicken and cheese are encased in tortilla. Place the tortilla on the panini maker until the cheese is melted. Repeat with the second tortilla. Serve with guacamole and sour cream.
Yum!

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Waltham—Taqueria Mexico

2009-06-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

If you live in the Waltham area, it’s likely that you have passed Taqueria Mexico a number of times and never really noticed it. Tucked away at the end of Charles Street a block away from where it connects to Moody, Taqueria Mexico is a hidden gem worth finding.

We originally discovered it while in search of Mexican food that didn’t require an hour wait (like Margaritas down the street). A quick Google search revealed this small Mexican place that we had been driving by for months.

The décor at Taqueria Mexico isn’t going to win any awards. The restaurant is filled with basic booths and tables and lightly decorated with authentic touches. There are two televisions playing all the time, though they are usually tuned to Spanish language channels. The focus at Taqueria Mexico is the food. They boast an extensive menu with the first page consisting entirely of a la carte items like tacos, quesadillas, burritos, and nachos. Almost everything offered on this first page is under nine dollars, sometimes even under five; however, several of these items are small and it’ll take a couple of them to fill you up. The rest of the menu features a mix of authentic Mexican and Tex-Mex fare such as enchiladas, fajitas, ceviche, and a slightly disturbing tongue plate. These larger entrees won’t break the bank either, most items on the main course menu cost fewer than eleven dollars.

All of the food we’ve tried at Taqueria Mexico has been delicious. Some of our favorite entrees are the crispy chorizo taco and the tasty taquitos. The tender, salty chorizo meat, nestled inside a crispy shell and topped with lettuce and sour cream, may seem simple—but the complex flavor of the chorizo makes this taco a must-order no matter what else you’re getting for dinner. Eight small taquitos—crunchy corn tortillas wrapped around lightly seasoned chicken and topped with sour cream and guacamole—can easily become an appetizer for a table of four or most of an entrée for one. The nachos are good, though the enormous pile of toppings makes the chips go soggy quickly. The pollo enchiladas with poblano sauce are well rounded and filling with a rich combination of flavors. The chicken is moist and salty under the rich muddy flavor of the spicy poblano sauce.

Though the restaurant doesn’t serve hard liquor, it does offer a variety of beers, as well as some tasty sangria which is also fairly cheap. There's a small outdoor seating area, a rare commodity in Waltham, though it will have to stop raining before it becomes practical again. (Things are looking up on this front!)

Overall, Taqueria Mexico provides good solid Mexican food at a great price. The resturant can be crowded on weekend nights but the wait is seldom more than 15 minutes. Take-out is available. You can find the menu on the restaurant's website.

This post was originally featured on the Bostonist

Sometimes you just don't want a traditional breakfast

2009-06-21T17:37:00.000-07:00

And this weekend when that happened to me, instead of making my husband take me out to Brunch, I decided to save some money and make an interesting brunchy concoction on my own. I was craving two things, eggs Benedict, and some kind of breakfast tart, like a quiche but less eggy and more other stuff. So, I started out trying to make the eggs benny. And as always, I found that for some reason the creation of a workable hollendaise sauce eludes me. I don't know why but I am just not capable of getting that sauce right. So, amidst my frustration I decided to try for the tart.
Puff pastry was the tart base of choice, so I took a sheet of puff pastry and built up the sides so that there would be a well for ingredients to sit in the middle. I wanted a kind of egg base, so I combined eggs and a little bit of cream and then used it as an egg wash for the puff pastry wall and then poured the rest in the middle, on top of the eggs I put,some torn up thinly sliced prosciutto. Then I added caramelized onions, pecorino Romano cheese, dubliner cheese, and aged Pecorino Romano. I topped the whole thing off with some very thin slices of tomato and then baked the whole lot at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. The results were spectacular. A delicious and filling breakfast tart with different complex flavor combinations in every bit. The butteryness of the puff pastry combined really well with the sweetness of the caramelized onions and the saltiness of the prosecutor coupled delightfully with the sweet tartness of the tomato slices. And underneath it all the eggs and cream created a light quichey texture for the whole tart. Overall I would call this breakfast an unqualified success. Hooray for experimenting!

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Needham—Pizzapalooza

2009-06-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

Finding good pizza in Boston can be a complicated business. While some pizzerias focus solely on baking a good pie, others provide more well-rounded fare in the form of tasty sandwiches, paninis and pasta. From greasy to gourmet, you can find almost anything if you know where to look.

Pizzapalooza in Newton has a lot to offer the hungry diner. Their pizza is fairly good, if a little too heavy on the sweet sauce and light on the cheese for this Bostonist’s taste. Not quite deep dish and not quite thin-crust, Pizzapalooza’s pies come across almost like the best French bread pizza you’ve ever had, with a crunchy base topped by lots of chewy dough. You can order a whole pizza or get it by the slice. One of the best (if worst for your health...) things about ordering in the shop is that each slice is a quarter of a pizza!

Individual slices tend to be available in classic flavors, like cheese and pepperoni. However, their pizzas really shine when the chefs get creative in the kitchen. On our most recent visit, we sampled the Hawaiian (pineapple and prosciutto) as well as a creative concoction involving Italian sausage, ricotta, and caramelized onions. The Hawaiian is a perfect balance of sweet pineapple and salty prosciutto, with neither overpowering the other as can often be the case. The Italian sausage, ricotta and caramelized onions combine to create a really complex flavor; the sweet and salty Italian sausage is complimented by the sweetness of the onions and both are surprisingly well accompanied by the creaminess of the ricotta.

But pizza isn’t the only tasty treat you can find at Pizzapalooza. In fact, this Bostonist first fell in love with the restaurant's Panini sandwiches. The Panino Pollo is a simple Panini containing fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, and a balsamic marinated grilled chicken breast. But the first bite tells you that this is no ordinary sandwich; the sliced Italian ciabatta bread is clearly fresh-cut for each sandwich. And all of the ingredients perfectly complement one another, right down to the sprinkle of Pecorino Romano that adds a salty, tangy accent to the sandwich and gives it the final nudge from good to great. Finally, the toasting method leaves the sandwiches a perfect combination of crunchy on the outside and warm and gooey on the inside. The Pollo is, in this Bostonist’s opinion, one of the best paninis in the area.

Another notable menu item is the “Pizzapalooza Cruiser.” This on-the-go option is like a rolled-up piece of pizza but without all the mess. Pizzapalooza uses its regular pizza dough, wraps it around a variety of ingredients, and then bakes them to perfection. The Maserati is a portable collection of complimentary yet complex flavors. Sweet Italian sausage, salty pepperoni, and melty mozzarella cheese are well accented here by Pizzapalooza’s sweet tomato sauce; and best of all this treat is wrapped up and ready to eat!

Though Pizzapalooza is not this Bostonist’s favorite spot for pizza every day, the pizza is good enough to keep us interested. However, the thing that keeps us coming back is the paninis. If you are a fan of crunchy bread and high-quality, high-taste ingredients, then you might want to give the Panini Sandwiches over at Pizzapalooza a try. For your first time we highly recommend eating on their patio instead of getting take out. This sandwich experience is worth savoring!

Originally posted on the Bostonist.

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Belmont—Angelato

2009-06-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

For lunch in the suburbs this Bostonist is always in search of one thing: a better sandwich. Forget fruit plates and salads, sandwiches are what lunch is all about. A good sandwich can be special because of so many things: the bread, the meats, the condiments, the cheese. And each sandwich shop is unique in the way they combine these ingredients making it worthwhile to visit as many as possible to find the best sandwich options. This Bostonist has been known to drive as much as half an hour out of the way just to fill a particular sandwich craving and Angelato; a small sandwich shop, Italian deli, and geltaria in Belmont has become one of those detours. The first time we sampled Angelato's wares was after visiting Silk Road BBQ across the street. We noticed Angelato because we were in the mood for something sweet to finish off our lunch. Angelato is the company owned shop of the Angelato foods the company who makes Firenze frozen desserts which means that they have fresh local made gelato ready for serving in the shop. The hazelnut chocolate gelato alone was well worth the trip out to Belmont. The gelato had a rich dark chocolate flavor without being too bitter or too sweet, and the small pieces of roasted hazelnut were the perfect addition—an occasional textured surprise hidden in the smooth creamy goodness.

As if that weren't enough to make a detour into Belmont, they also have sandwiches. The thing that makes the sandwiches at Angelato great is the unique pairings of flavors in their specialty sandwiches. Of course they have the old standbys, the caprese, the chicken parm, the meatball, and the ever popular make your own option. But it's the specialty sandwiches that shine at Angelato. Unfortunately, the really interesting sandwiches aren't listed on the online menu, but instead are on signs hung up around the deli counter. One sandwich in particular comes to mind, it has an unruly name but the sandwich consists of chicken salad, bacon, and honey mustard. This Bostonist was skeptical when she ordered this interesting combination but has since come to crave this unique flavor combination. The base of this sandwich, a shredded chicken salad, provides a nice smooth texture that is pleasantly interrupted by salty crunchy bits of bacon, while the honey mustard adds a sweet sharp tang that makes each bite a delight.

The other sandwich we sampled involved a breaded chicken cutlet, cheddar cheese, bacon, and ranch dressing. Another unexpected combination this sandwich was the ultimate salty richness. The creamy ranch dressing paired perfectly with the moist chicken cutlet and the cheese and bacon added perfect salty accents.

While this Bostonist has yet to try a sandwich based on cold cuts, the deli meat at Angelato looks top notch and the fact that you can purchase the meats individually leads us to believe we will be trying the "Three Honeys" sometime soon. So the next time you're looking to calm your sandwich craving head out to Belmont and give one of Angelato's creations a try, you'll be glad you did.

Chicken Pasta Salad

2009-06-09T10:17:00.000-07:00

This is an old favorite that I had completely forgotten about until the warm weather, and a desire to eat a little better, forced me to go looking for new and different recipes.
Now I hate dieting, I have problems controlling how much I eat, I am almost incapable of not giving in to cravings and I LOVE chocolate. So I don't think of what I am doing now as dieting, more eating better.The biggest problem I am having with eating better lately is my seemingly unending craving for pasta. I hadn't had pasta more than three times in three months and then suddenly I just couldn't live without it. So, instead of pasta sauce, or my husbands oh so helpful suggestion chicken parm we went with chicken pasta salad.
This one is really easy so here goes.

Chicken Pasta Salad
1 red pepper cut into long strips and cut in half
1 yellow pepper cut into long strips and cut in half
4 carrots (peeled and then shredded with a peeler)
4 stalks of celery (shredded with a peeler)
1 package of baby spinach
4 medium balls of fresh mozzarella cut into 1 in pieces
2 chicken breasts marinated in the same white wine vinaigrette dressing you are going to use on the salad then cooked in a skillet and grilled and cut into strips.
1/2 a package of pasta cooked
6 tablespoons white wine vinaigrette such as Brianna's french vinaigrette or as it's known in our house, the one with the artichoke on it.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl mix!this can be stored overnight, but if you plan on doing so add the spinach right before you serve it because it can get soggy.

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Natick —The Met Bar and Grill

2009-06-04T12:19:00.001-07:00

Since the Natick Mall turned into the Natick collection there have been a lot of changes. The stores are more expensive, there are a whole lot more of them, and the food court has suddenly lost its appeal due to the plethora of new restaurants that have opened up in the mall. New options include P.F. Changs, Cheesecake Factory, or Sel De La Terre if you’re feeling fancy. However, sometimes, when you’re at the mall or sitting around at home, you just want a good burger. On those days may we recommend the Met Bar and Grill in the Natick Collection.

The Met Bar and Grill is an offshoot restaurant to The Metropolitain Club steakhouse in Chestnut Hill. While the Met Bar and Grill has an extensive menu; including salads, pastas, and steaks; the main reason for visiting them, in this Bostonist’s opinion, is their burgers. In addition to their regular menu, the Met Bar and Grill has a specific Met Burger Bar menu. This no nonsense menu has one side entirely dedicated to burgers, including the signature burgers and the make your own burger options. On the opposite side of the menu are classic burger options such as fried onion strings, sweet potato fries, and heavenly shakes.

There are two different signature burger categories, continental and international. Burgers from both of these categories are delicious and a little bit different. Options like the LA (avocado, bacon lettuce, tomato, sprouts, and roasted garlic mayo) or the Athens (Tzatzki, feta, cucumber, tomato and hummus) are interesting and always satisfying. While their signature burgers are a reliable yet still interesting one stop order, the make your own burger option is the way to go for picky and adventurous eaters alike. They have more categories and toppings than this Bostonist has ever seen on a burger menu. Meat options range from kobe beef to a veggie burger and you can make it a double or turn your burgers into minis. You can go bunless in a bowl or add pan seared foie gras to your burger. Almost anything you can think to put on a burger is an option here. The base price of the burger is centered on the type of meat you choose and all of the extras are individually priced from .25 cents for dill pickles to 8 dollars for the foie gras. The burgers are a decent size and they all come with a small order of fries and a pickle. This Bostonist is always impressed at the juicy rich flavor of the burgers and the chef’s ability to always cook them perfectly. Never under or over cooked the Met Bar and Grill really knows its burgers.

This Bostonist highly recommends starting out your meal with the basket of “onion rings”. Rings in name only these fried onion strings are simply amazing, the right ratio of onion to batter topped with the perfect amount of salt. The basket is big enough to feed at least three people as an appetizer. This Bostonist also swears by the shakes. The shakes are made to order at the bar, which makes it easy for them to execute the ingenious option of having your shake “liquored up”. Under the description of each shake is a suggested alcohol pairing. However, these shakes are well worth the calories even without the alcohol. These shakes are surprisingly light while maintaining the richness and flavor of a classic milkshake. They’re the perfect accompaniment to some amazing burgers.

The Met Bar and Grill takes reservations every night except Saturday when you need to have a party of six or more to snag yourself a guaranteed table. This surprising policy makes The Met Bar and Grill a great place to stop for food if you’re at the mall or just craving a good burger. You can take a look at the Met Bar and Grill’s menu or check out the décor at their website.

OOOH, its a Cake

2009-06-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

Yes it is a cake. A delicious banana bunt cake. This recipe originally came from a fellow blogger.
Though I have tweaked it a bit here and there to make it my own and I just love this recipe. It combines a wonderful way of using old bananas with one of my favorite things, Dark Rum. The other great thing about this cake is that it gets better the longer it sits on your counter which is always a plus in my book. The little bit of rum added into the batter brings out the rum in the glaze better. While I am not normally an alcohol and cake person I was shocked at how well the banana and rum flavors went together.

Banana Rum bunt cake

1-3/4 cups packed brown sugar
2/3 cup butter
3 eggs
3 medium very ripe bananas, mashed
1 container chiobani vanilla greek yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon plus a little more Dark Rum
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray

For the icing
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
3 tablespoons dark rum
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Beat brown sugar and butter at medium speed of a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs beating until well-blended.

Combine banana, yogurt, vanilla, rum, and cinnamon in a bowl; set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixer running at low speed, add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with banana mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Pour batter into a 10-inch bunt pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. make sure to check it because it can go from soupy to burned easily if you aren't paying attention. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Combine powdered sugar, rum, and melted margarine; stir until smooth. Drizzle over cake.

I stored this one on a covered cake plate, I think this helps the cake mature better.

And we're back. with Potato Salad

2009-06-01T10:27:00.001-07:00

I admit, I was a little off my game in May. The only posts I really managed to get through were my posts for the Bostonist. But this is a new month and I am going to blog if it kills me.
So, to start off what should be summer ( its around 62 here in Boston) I made my favorite type of summer treat. Potato Salad. Now some people don't like potato salad, maybe its the eggs, maybe its the mayonnaise, maybe its the onions, but I love it! And I've spent some serious time taking my mom's potato salad and jazzing it up with innovations from friends and cookbooks until I have a potato salad recipe that is solely my own. So without further adieu, here's my potato salad.

Red Potato and egg salad (serves 6)

12 small red potatoes
1 small red onion
a small bunch of fresh chives or scallions
5 eggs
4 stalks of celery
mustard
mayonnaise
red wine vinegar
celery salt
salt
pepper
sugar

Finely dice the celery and onion and set aside.Prep the potatoes by peeling off any eyes or unappealing looking skin. You can leave the rest of the skin on for texture. Slice the potatoes into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces and boil them until they are just soft enough for a fork to pierce them. Don't let them get too soft or you will have mashed potato salad.Then transfer them to a collander
While the potatoes are boiling, hard boil the eggs (around 12 minutes after the water is boiling). Peel the eggs and transfer them to a small bowl. Smush the eggs into tiny pieces with a fork ( as if you were making egg salad). Then add mayo, mustard, celery salt, and red wine vinegar until you have achieved a kind of watery but very intensly flavored egg salad. If you think you have enough mustard, add a little more.

Next pour the egg mixture over the still slightly warm potatoes and mix thoroughly, then add the onions and celery. And finally, using scissors cut small pieces off of the chives and mix them in until they are relatively uniform throughout. Then season to taste with salt, pepper, mustard sugar and red wine.

I do appologize for not having specific measurements for the different flavorings but I swear it is different every time. If I come up with something consistant I'll update it here.

Garnishing Tip: If you get the chives out of your garden, you can use the flowers as a garnish!

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Needham—Spiga

2009-05-28T11:33:00.000-07:00

Quattro Formaggio Risotto from Spiga

Last week this Bostonist had the pleasure of attending the grand re-opening for Spiga, a wonderful taste of the North End in Needham. Spiga really touts two separate menus: a lunch menu, filled with delightfully simple paninis and delicious wood-oven grilled pizzas; and a dinner menu featuring more complex fare, like the wonderfully rich spinach and ricotta ravioli in an intense duck ragu. Last week’s grand re-opening festivities featured items from both the lunch and dinner selections.

This Bostonist had the opportunity to sample a number of Spiga’s most delectable dishes at the event. In the lunch category, tiny paninis offered delightfully tender prosciutto and perfectly salty salami in homemade Italian rolls. While the paninis were very tasty, their miniaturized size makes it difficult to predict how filling the regular-sized sandwich would be.

Tiny Panini from Spiga

Samples of two different lasagnas were passed around next. A meat lasagna featuring parmesan cheese, housemade noodles, and Spiga’s own bolognaise sauce was such a hit with this Bostonist that she was dreaming about it two nights later. Their excellent bolognaise is a combination of veal, lamb, chicken liver, and beef, all items that are fantastic on their own, but combined in this sauce they are heavenly. The sauce is perfectly balanced--none of the meats are overpowering—and the flavor is the perfect accompaniment and accent to the tender homemade pasta. This Bostonist would be happy with just a bowl of Spiga’s pasta and bolognaise sauce, which by the way is one of the dishes available on the dinner menu. There was also a vegetable lasagna that was just brimming with a variety of tender vegetables, layered between Spiga’s housemade noodles, and topped with a very light and yet creamy béchamel.

An appetizer from the dinner menu, the sea scallops in a roasted garlic confit was a truly amazing dish. The scallops were perfectly cooked; not too soft and not chewy at all, they were pan seared to provide a nice, salty crust on the top and bottom of the scallop. The slightly sweet roasted-garlic puree was an inspired choice to pair with the scallops; the slightly sweet rich flavor of the confit was the perfect contrast and accompaniment to the saltiness of the scallops.

While the risotto at Spiga changes nightly, the one this Bostonist sampled was delightful in its simplicity. Quattro Formaggio Risotto with spinach features a blending of pecorino, mozzarella, and parmesan, which gave this risotto its rich creamy flavor. A hint of goat cheese added just a little bit of extra tang that made this a dish worth raving about.
Spiga’s signature dessert is its bread pudding. Now, this Bostonist isn’t normally a fan of bread pudding but decided to give it a try due to all the hype. And it was amazing! With texture more like custard than a bread pudding, this sweet and tender dish is perfectly accented with a salty caramel sauce. This Bostonist was so enamored with the bread pudding that she went back several nights later just to eat dessert!

The dining room‘s soft lighting and elegant decorations provide a romantic atmosphere perfect for a night out. Of course, the vibrant wait staff and the inspired patio seating make this a great destination for groups as well. Or, if you aren’t in the mood to eat in, Spiga also offers a takeout menu so you can enjoy these delicious dishes from the comfort of your own home. We ordered from Spiga a few nights later and we were pleasantly surprised at how well the food traveled and how fast the service was.

Spiga’s wonderful cuisine can be attributed to its new executive chef, Marisa Iocco, of Mare and Umbria, who took over the restaurant in April of 2009.

Bread pudding with Salty Caramel Sauce from Spiga

Though Spiga can be a little hard to find--it is hidden in a little circle off of Highland Street in Needham--it is close enough to the highway to be convenient but far enough away not to be bombarded by the sounds of speeding cars. Spiga’s delightful cuisine and welcoming atmosphere makes it a suburban destination that we highly recommend.

Spiga’s menu is available online at their website.

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Wellesley—Tutto Italiano

2009-05-21T11:30:00.000-07:00

This Bostonist was first introduced to Tutto Italiano while working across the street in Wellesley several years ago. The big red sign above the door was intriguing and the hype from coworkers even more so. As suckers for a good sandwich, we wandered over one afternoon to give them a try. The atmosphere of this little piece of Italy in America is very casual. Tutto’s wares are displayed simply; letting the quality and variety of products speak for themselves. The focal point of the shop is the enormous meat counter that stretches along one entire wall of the shop. Behind this counter is where the magic really happens.

Tutto Italiano has a fairly simple menu, with some standard sandwiches listed on a chalkboard to the left of the counter. Tutto Italiano encourages people to mix and match their delicious imported meats and cheeses to create new and wonderful taste combinations; but in the capable hands of Tutto’s staff even staple sandwiches have never tasted so good. All of the sandwiches are made with either sliced Panella bread or a crusty Italian sub roll; both of which are fresh baked and exclusive to Tutto Italiano. The Panino sandwich takes mouthwatering pats of fresh mozzarella and combines them with juicy tomato slices and whole basil leaves. The Panino de Parma takes this classic sandwich one step further by adding the freshest and most tender Prosciutto de Parma this Bostonist has ever tasted. Though we’ve never tasted their tuna personally, others tout it as heavenly.

In addition to amazing sandwiches, the deli counter also sells Italian delicacies such as Banana Peppers stuffed with Provolone & Prosciutto; Grilled Marinated Artichoke; Stuffed Olives (Gorgonzola, feta, provolone, garlic); Sun-dried Tomatoes; and Grilled Marinated Eggplant. You can even purchase slices of any of their delectable Italian meats and cheeses to take home and enjoy.

In addition to their mouthwatering sandwiches and deli counter options, Tutto Italiano also offers a wide selection of gourmet Italian foods including imported olive oils, pastas, and sweets. Their frozen section features items like amazing pizza dough, stuffed shells, and some truly spectacular prepackaged gelato.

Parking in Wellesley can be difficult, so be prepared to walk. A hefty line can sometimes build up at lunch time and occasionally they run out of bread if you visit later in the afternoon. Despite these few hiccups, Tutto Italiano is definitely worth the trip. We highly recommend picking up a sandwich and enjoying it in one of the many green spots in Wellesley.

While researching this article, this Bostonist discovered that Tutto Italiano actually exists in five Massachusetts locations from the North End to Lakeville, Mass, so you can get your sandwich fix no matter where you live. If you are looking for a delicious, genuine Italian experience, Tutto Italiano is the place to go.

This Post first appeared on the http://bostonist.com/2009/05/21/stuff_to_eat_in_the_suburbs_wellesl.php.

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Waltham—Solea

2009-05-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

Solea is my husband's favorite restaurant and one of mine. We used to drive from Malden just to have their amazing duck in berry sauce. I can't recommend them highly enough.

Halfway down Moody Street, a yellow awning above a wall of tall windows marks the entrance to Solea, Waltham’s only tapas restaurant. The large menu can accommodate even the choosiest of diners, and the festive yet cozy atmosphere makes Solea the perfect spot for a large party or a quiet date night. Recently renovated to offer even more seating for the weekend dinner crowd, Solea also features a cozy bar with smaller tables for folks who just want a quick bite while waiting for friends, or who want to augment their drinking experience with some delicious small plates.

Solea is an old favorite of this Bostonist, who used to make the forty-five minute trek out to Waltham at least once a month just to have dinner there. The sangria, both white and red, is a must-order—not too fruity and not to bitter—and comes in pitchers as well as by the glass. You often forget how much you’re drinking because it pairs so perfectly with the food.

And what food it is! Normally, an order of three tapas per person is sufficient. However, the great thing about Solea is that if you realize you’re still hungry you can always order more. The food turnaround is fast and efficient, and despite complex orders placed by multiple diners, the courteous and knowledgeable wait staff has never gotten this Bostonist’s order wrong.

While all the offerings are tempting, there are a few dishes this Bostonist cannot leave without sampling. The sizzling garlic shrimp and the goat cheese with tomato and basil are usually some of the first items to arrive. Tiny shrimp float in a sizzling bowl of garlic oil alongside delectably thin slices of salty garlic and chili peppers, all waiting to be scooped up and heaped atop a piece of dense bread. The tomatoes and basil are thinly diced and baked into a soft puddle, topped with a warm baked goat cheese also deliciously accompanied by Solea’s dense bread slices.

The next tapas to come out are often the artichoke and spinach fritters and the collard greens with pine nuts and golden raisins. While this Bostonist believes that Solea does everything well, one thing that they are exceptional at is sauces. Their artichoke and spinach fritters are crispy on the outside and spongy on the inside, with the spinach and artichoke incorporated so perfectly that there are no strange texture interruptions. But the real star of this dish is the sauce: this Bostonist doesn’t know exactly what is in the sauce but its creamy texture and salty-sweet flavor is the perfect accompaniment to the fritters. You find yourself dipping every bite. The collard greens are still a little crunchy but cooked enough to keep them from being leafy; their bitterness pairs perfectly with the sweetness of the raisins, and the pine nuts give the whole dish an added dimension by adding a completely different texture.

The final dishes to arrive, or at least the last ones this Bostonist eats, are the grilled chorizo and the roasted duckling with berry sauce. The chorizo is delightfully salty and Solea grills it to perfection, a little crispy but mostly tender and completely flavorful. For those of you who don’t like a lot of spice, don’t worry; these babies are as mild as they come. The roast duckling is the dish this Bostonist ends with every time. Again, the Solea chefs show their sauce chops by creating one of the best berry sauces this Bostonist has ever tasted. Blackberries seem to be the main ingredient but there must be something else as well to make this sauce as complex as it is. The perfect balance of tart and sweet, the sauce compliments the salty, meaty flavor of the duck in ways that defy explanation. This Bostonist can’t recommend it highly enough; it is truly one of our favorite dishes.

The dishes described above are by no means the only things to order at Solea--everything is a treat. We recommend you try everything since you never know when you’ll find a new favorite.

In addition to the standard fare Solea’s chefs regularly try out new tapas so don’t forget to check your menu for the new items. Their desserts are tasty and well paired to the cuisine. This Bostonist highly recommends the chocolate almond cake with fresh berries and whipped cream and the crepe with a vanilla cream, fresh berry and dulce de leche filling if you can find the room after all of those tapas.

Once afflicted with the popular Boston no-reservations rule, Solea has eased up in recent years and now accepts reservations by phone and through open table. This Bostonist highly recommends Solea for any gathering from small and intimate to large and boisterous.

You can check out their menu on their website http://www.solearestaurant.com/home.

This post originally appeared on the Bostonist.

Chocolate Madness at the Cyclorama

2009-05-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday April 29, this Bostonist had the honor of being a guest judge at this year’s Chocolate Madness event, hosted by NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts. Judges were asked to arrive early so that they could get their duties out of the way before the main event. After being handed our categories and escorted to the appropriate tables the judges set about to chose winners in each category: Into the Aether: Heavenly Stars of Showcase and Fancy Cakes; Out of the Fire: Fresh from the Oven; Down to Earth Mother’s Contemporary Candies; Flowing Water: Spoonfuls of Puddings, Ice Creams and Sorbets; and Light as Air: Sweet Treats to Go. Judges were asked to assess items on taste and originality. But the biggest perk of being a judge was the early access to all of the goodies. Once our judging duties were completed we were allowed free reign of the chocolate floor. At first this Bostonist was reticent to disrupt the aesthetics of the displays but volunteers and chefs assured us that it was alright and from then on it was a chocolate free for all.

More than twenty tables of unique chocolate creations were present at this year’s event and each one was surprisingly different from the next. On one side of the room South End Buttery was pouring Tarragon mochas down an ice luge, very tasty with a truly spectacular presentation. This Bostonist’s favorite of the evening was the Harvard Sweet Boutique’s Vanilla Sea Salt Caramel Brownies. While it sounds like there is a lot going on in this dessert everything blended perfectly, the caramel was chewy and the brownie soft and smooth while the salt accentuated both the chocolate and the caramel bringing the intensity of the overall flavor up to unforgettable.

Other memorable discoveries included Better Batch’s Sweet Bites cookies. The Fleur De Sel Caramel sweet bite was an amazing flavor combination, the cookie was crunchy with a smooth chocolate filling and a dollop of caramel on top sprinkled with salt. This cookie truly achieved the perfect balance of salty and sweet, it was being talked about all around the room. The chocolate framboise sweet bite was a softer chocolate cookie with a rich creamy filling topped with a raspberry. The tartness of the raspberry really accented the sweet richness of the chocolate without overpowering it. Canto 6 Bakery also impressed with a yummy chocolate cookie that was both rich and chewy. The tastiest cupcake offering, in this Bostonist’s opinion, was the chocolate cupcake with butter cream icing. The icing was so light, buttery, and delicious that we were a little concerned about it melting if the room got too warm so we helped out by eating several of the moist and chocolaty cupcakes. We ended the night with popcorn, caramel, and chocolate clusters from Care’s Bakery and Catering, definitely something this Bostonist would pick up again; it was a nice balance of crunchy, salty, and sweet.

As people began to pour in at seven-thirty this Bostonist was beginning to really ride the sugar high, so we decided to call it a night after a little people-watching. There was so much chocolate that by the end of the event this Bostonist felt like she was sweating chocolate and there was a general consensus of the need for drinks, how convenient that the Beehive was next door to provide such libations.

Overall this was a great event; a lot of fun with a great staff of volunteers for a good cause. All of the volunteers were really knowledgeable and happy to help judges and guests alike. Also, at $45 a ticket, it was well worth the chocolate coma. We highly recommend this event for chocoholics and those that love them.

This Post originally appeared on the Bostonist

Appologies

2009-04-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that I haven't been as frequent with my posts this past week. I'm headed to Florida on Saturday and I have a lot to do before my husband and I will be anywhere near ready to leave.
In the meantime, here are some pictures from a barbeque fest I recently hosted for a friend's birthday. Basically, we picked up some BBQ sauce from Blue Ribbon in West Newton and grilled some chicken breasts. We then shredded the breasts and poured in the BBQ sauce and left the whole thing to marinate for a couple of hours. This was a really great way to do homemade BBQ for a bunch of people. I also made cornbread, salad, green beans with butter and the drink for the evening was fresh lemonaid with vodka. I highly recommend this menu if you have a bunch of peole since it was easy to do and easy to make into a buffet style meal. I wish I had gotten a picture of the full spread it looked awesome.

I leave you with a picture of the three different BBQs complete with sauce until I have a chance to post about the spice cake I made for this event.

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Newton—Taste Coffee House

2009-04-23T11:57:00.001-07:00

Word of mouth is what brought this Bostonist to Taste Coffee House, while running errands in Newton. Taste is raved about by foodies and locals alike—and for good reason. Their pastries and breads are all local, hailing from Iggy’s in West Cambridge, and everything else on the menu is made in-house from the finest ingredients. Above all else, Taste is dedicated to brewing delicious coffee, which means that they only brew quality beans from local roasters such as George Howell and Barismo. The owner, twenty-four year old Nikolas Krankl, is also the barista—and a fine one he is too. He recently placed 2nd in the Northeast Regional Barista Competition a fact that is proudly displayed in a bright homemade sign behind the barista station.

In addition to good food and great coffee, Taste offers customers a comfortable, down-to-earth atmosphere. Absent are the disinterested baristas and annoyed customers that plague other coffee shops. At Taste, everyone seems truly happy to be there. Upon entering, you find your eyes drawn to the chalkboard wall menu boasting everything from breakfast to crepes and sandwiches. Then, of course, there’s the coffee. The small coffee menu is behind the bar, and can sometimes be a little difficult to see or read while standing in line. However, don’t be deterred. Taste is definitely the kind of place where, if you want it, you can probably get it, whether or not it’s on the menu. Small tables and chairs invite customers to take a load off while they wait, enjoy their coffee and a bite, or just sit and hang out with a laptop or a friend. Despite their limited space, Taste encourages customers to make themselves at home by offering a small collection of board games. If all of this wasn’t enough to make Taste a favorite, the shop also serves beer and wine! And what about the coffee, you ask? Well, the latte that this Bostonist sampled was both artistic and delicious, and the iced mocha was the perfect blend of coffee and chocolate—not too sweet and not the slightest bit bitter. We will definitely be going back to enjoy a fantastic cup of Joe with friends soon.

Original posted on the Bostonist.

Chili Take 2 : White Chili

2009-04-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

Now, I have been wanting to try this one for years and I've never gotten around to it. All of the pictures I have seen have just made me drool though, so I was determined to give it a try. For this one I didn't follow a specific recipe, there are some aspects of the Kerrygold recipe in there as well as some others that I found. Mostly, if I liked the idea I put it in there. My biggest problem, it wouldn't thicken, so I ended up taking a trick from one of the premade chili kits I had and added a packet of masa ( or corn flour) this stuff worked perfectly and I ended up with a nice thick chili that was colorful and delicious.

Three bean Chicken chili

1 lb. chicken breast, cubed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large white onion, diced
1 yellow pepper diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 small can of mild green chiles (with liquid)
1 can Great Northern beans, drained
1 can navy beans
1 can cannaleni beans
28 oz chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
green tobasco for kick

Heat the olive oil in a deep sauté pan. Sauté the onion, garlic, celery, and pepper together. When onions and celery are soft, add the chicken and sauté for a few minutes. Pour in the beans, broth, and chilis. Bring the contents to boil and season to taste with salt and pepper and add the rest of the seasonings. If it is not thickening, use a tablespoon of Masa (corn flour).Reduce to simmer and cook for 45 minutes until the liquid thickens to desired consistency. Serve with jack cheese and tortilla chips or fritos.

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Wellesley — Susu Bakery

2009-04-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

Wellesley isn’t exactly what people think of when they are looking for a suburban food destination. The perception is that it’s difficult to get to by car or T, the people tend to be a little on the snobby side, it’s a dry town, and well, everything is really expensive. But this Bostonist has found a few gems that are well worth the trek out to Wellesley, and Susu bakery is one of them. Tucked away in a corner of Wellesley center, Susu is a sophisticated bakery with an elegant flare. Their delightful dining room boasts large tables with big comfortable chairs and booths, perfect for a lunch with the

girls or a quiet moment to yourself. Their lunch menu is simple but covers most of the basics with soup, salad, quiche, and sandwiches. Their chicken salad is particularly fine and will have you craving more about a week after your first taste, but come early, as they do run out of it. Despite the delicious lunch fare, the real attraction here is the baked goods.

This Bostonist considers herself something of a cupcake expert. She’s tried cupcakes from establishments all over town, and from Sweet to the South End Buttery, all have been disappointing. All, that is, except Susu. Here, the chocolate cupcakes are just the right balance of chocolate and sweet. They are neither so dry that they crumble nor so moist that they are sticky. The vanilla cupcakes are equally noteworthy - light and fluffy with just the right amount of vanilla, not overpowering. The cupcake feels like it might float away. In a world of mediocre frostings, Susu’s stands high above them all. The chocolate is a perfect balance of sugar and cocoa, and the vanilla has a wonderfully smooth texture and a taste that will have you straining not to lick it right off the top of the cupcake. And if you’re a coconut lover, you owe it to yourself to try one of the coconut cupcakes. All of these delicious little treasures translate into full cakes flawlessly, and cute decorations on cupcakes become elegantly designed cake masterpieces when translated to full size.

But cupcakes aren’t the only thing you’ll find at Susu. Their scones, cookies, and brownies are also well worth the trip. This Bostonist even had a passion fruit tart topped with meringue once that was such a perfect balance of sweet, tart, and fluffy meringue that she has never looked at passion fruit the same way.

While pricey, this is Wellesley - Susu is well worth the trip and the expense for the hig h quality of baked good with elegant attention to detail. This will remain a favorite of this Bostonist for a long time to come.

Chili round 1 vegetarian chili

2009-04-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

I know this is not the best picture but come on, its vegetarian chili

I admit it, I've always been intimidated by chili. My mom made a pretty good one, my Stepmother makes a great one and mine has always fallen short. So, in honor of my friend Ron, this Friday I set out to make a decent chili. I had three different types in mind. A vegetarian chili, for my veggie friends, a white chili, and a regular kidney and black bean chili. Thanks to foodgawker and tastespotting I had plenty of recipes to choose from so I took the ingredient list of the five recipes I thought most promising and I set out for the stores. First hurdle, the chilis. In recipes, people label their chilis things like hatch chilis and medium/ small mild chilis or chipolte chilis are bandied about with little regard in most chili recipes.

The problem with this.... the grocery stores, even the nice specialty ones, label their chilis, chilis. That's it, sometimes their green or occasionally jalapeno, but other than that a girl is on her own. Now, I'm not a big spice fan but I figure that there is a reason that chili's typically go into these things. As a woman who used to shun Mushrooms and has since discovered their usefulness as flavor enhancers (though I still think texturally they are vile) I made a decision to stick with the chilis. However, in light of the overwhelming plethora of options I have to say I chickened out and went for the little ortega cans that said mild on them. Still, you gotta admire me sticking to my principals right. :)

Anyway on to the chili. This exercise started out very precise. I began with the vegetarian chili, my closest veggie friend is a picky eater and not a big spice woman herself so I wanted to make sure that I took great care with this one and made it right. Hence, the starting chili. I measured everything very precisely, and made sure that all of the ingredients were chopped very finely. I added them according to directions and I even bougth fake meat for her.
Well, the veggie chili turned out very well, thank you very much and I am a general veggie hater. I even added the fake meat and, you know what. It didn't really taste like anything but it sure texured like ground beef.

Here's the recipe:

2 Tbsp + 2 tsp (40 L) extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, diced
two 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
two 15 oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
one 28-oz (794 mL) can diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp (30 mL) tomato paste
1/4 cup salsa, mild
2 Tbsp
1 tsp (5 mL) cumin
1 tsp (5 mL) dried oregano
one package of fake ground meat of your choice

Instructions

Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the oil and onion. Saute for 3 minutes or until the onion is translucent.
Add the carrots, red pepper and garlic. Saute for 2 minutes.
Add the black beans, kidney beans, tomatoes, tomato pasta, salsa, chili powder, cumin, oregano and basil. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the carrots are cooked.
Add the package of fake meat. Serve.

Easter

2009-04-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

This Easter we went to my friend Pam's house, which was great because I didn't have to make dinner. Instead I got to volunteer for dessert. The request from my host was " something fruity". So I decided to give a strawberry tart a try. (I also made cupcakes because there were going to be kiddies there.) I found this recipe on Tastespotting and I was astounded at how easy it was.

The first major hurdle; I didn't have a 10 inch tart pan with a removable bottom, I only had an 11 inch one. On my first try I figured, what's the difference, but the tart shell ended up coming out really thin, so the second try I made a double batch ( not easy in a standard cuisinart) and pushed as much as I thought necessary, the rest of the dough I pressed into little tart shells just to see if it would work, it did. The next problem was the cooking time, at 350 degrees, it needed 20 minutes, 25 burned it.

I have to say I have never worked with Mascarpone cheese before and I really enjoyed it I will definitely be trying to find more places to incorporate this newfound ingredient into my life. I even took the filling and tweaked it for another purpose (more on that in another post).

The only other problem that I encountered was my strawberries. They were distinctly out of season, and thus too tart and watery. The solution? Powered sugar tapped through a sieve over the berries before they were placed on the tart.

I made the crust the night before and let it sit out so that it would be ready for topping when I got up the next morning and it worked out really well. I highly recommend this dessert for dinner parties or any social gathering really. It is really easy to make and looks absolutely lovely.

• 3/4 cup sliced almonds

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1 cup flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

• 1 teaspoon almond extract

• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

• 2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

• 8 ounces mascarpone cheese

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 cups fresh raspberries or strawberries

Preheat oven to 350F. In a food processor, pulse almonds and granulated sugar until finely ground, being careful to stop before they turn into nut butter. Add flour and salt and pulse to blend. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. With motor running, add egg, egg yolk, and almond extract and whirl until dough comes together. It will be sticky but that's ok.

Press dough evenly into the bottom (not the sides) of a 10-in. tart pan with removable rim. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, then remove rim. You can let this sit overnight to cool and it will be fine in the morning.

IMelt chocolate in the top of a double boiler, stir in 2 tbsp. cream. Spread chocolate on crust and let cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat remaining 1/2 cup cream to firm peaks ( no worries if you over beat it it'll still be fine). Beat in mascarpone, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Spread on chocolate-coated crust. Arrange strawberries on top. Serve tart immediately or cover with plastic wrap and chill up to overnight

Original recipe found on Berkley Cooking.

C is for cookie

2009-04-09T16:56:00.001-07:00

I know I should be making cookies shaped like bunnies, chicks or easter eggs at this time of year, and that might come later on this week, but all I really want is a chocolate chip cookie. So last night after I made dinner and settled my husband in with his video game I did just that. These aren't particularly inventive, heck they aren't even my usual recipe, just good old nestle toll house chocolate chip cookies. Sometimes its best to just stick to the basics. More baking adventures this weekend as I prepare for Easter at my friend's parents house.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups Nestle chocolate chips

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each additionand and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs: Waltham, Biagio

2009-04-09T16:45:00.000-07:00

At the end of Moody Street, on the other side of the bridge from many of the regular Waltham haunts, there is a brick building nestled along the water. This old building used to house a fire station, but now it is home to Biagio, one of Waltham’s best Italian restaurants. Normally, when people talk of Moody Street they sing the virtues of the great Thai food, Pub food and Indian food that can be found there. Italian food is better left for the North End. But if you live in any of Waltham’s neighboring towns or even if you don’t, you owe it to yourself to pay Biagio a visit.

Their menu is an affordable mix of reliable Italian classics, Chicken and Eggplant Parmesan, Veal Saltimbocca, with complex and interesting options, like their Roasted ½ a Statler Chicken and Fig and Mascarpone Ravioli. Their delightful sauces and pastas are served in huge portions, perfect for sharing with friends or taking home for tomorrow night’s dinner. Their Fig and Prosciutto Crostini appetizer is so inventive and flavorful that this Bostonist has considered stopping in just to partake of this culinary delight. Biagio’s desserts are just as delicious and generously portioned, they reheat really well too, so don’t feel bad if you eyes are bigger than your stomach.

If you’re interested in a little bit of party with your dinner there is a comfy bar, lounge, and dance area upstairs for people who want to mix it up a bit. Their drinks are definitely worthwhile and are cheaper than you’d expect.

Prices are average, though well worth it for the quality and amount of food you receive. You can check out their menus here: http://www.biagiowaltham.com/dinner.html

So, next time you’re in Waltham, Newton, Weston, Natick, Framingham, or Watertown and you don’t know what to do for dinner, why don’t you give Biagio a try, it’s well worth the trip.

This post marks the first of my weekly Stuff to do in the Suburbs series over at Bostonist.

Iced Tea

2009-04-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm on a diet. Now, anyone who has been reading my blog knows that this is a ludicrious endeavor. For a woman who is addicted to chocolate, red meat, and carbs going on a diet is like an exercise in torture. So, let me rephrase, I'm trying to take things in moderation and make some positive changes in my eating habits. There, that sounds better. :)
Part of the diet is drinking more liquids in an attempt to stay hydrated etc... The problem with this is that while I am alright with water, I mean I understand it is a necessity and what not, for the most part, I get tired of drinking it in a hurry. So, what's a girl to do when she needs to hydrate in a low calorie way but is seriously tired of drinking water? Brew up some iced tea!

I started making iced tea on a regular basis several months ago, originally at my husband's request and then later because it provided flavor and thirst quenchingness without the calories of sodas or vitamin water. My usual method was to boil up a big pot of water and then pour the water over about 10 teabags in my biggest tea pot an then let it sit for several hours, pour over ice and you're all set. The big problem with this is the time it takes and the strength of the tea, it never got strong enough unless you left it brewing over night.

So, for my birthday, my husabnd bought me an iced tea maker. this ingenious device brews the tea hot but then deposits it into a pitcher filled with ice. Presto, iced tea. This isn' t a very original idea but I simply love it. And I highly recommend buying this one, Hamilton Beach 40911 2-Quart Electric Iced Tea Maker, to anyone who makes a lot of iced tea.

Taste of the Nation Boston. A whole lot of awesome in one place.

2009-04-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

Forks!

Let me start out by saying that my friend Pam over at Cave Cibum is good to me. Recently, she was invited to this year’s Taste of the Nation Boston event at the Hynes Convention center and she somehow managed to get me invited as well. And oh my god, what an amazing event. Managed by Share Our Strength, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America, this year’s Taste of the Nation Boston boasted more than seventy of Boston’s finest restaurants, over forty wineries, and Bombay Sapphire drinks galore. To put it simply this event is foodie freakin heaven.

Now up until this Thursday, I had has only attended convention center events with the word fair tacked on at the end think: investment fair, job fair, school fair. So as I entered the Hynes I really didn’t know what to expect. We were offered VIP passes, meaning that we could enter at 5:30, and have full access to the VIP room. Being industrious foodies we of course arrived early, and checked our coats with the lovely volunteers.

As my friend Pam and I entered the convention hall, we were bombarded by fantastic smells and sights. In front of us was a veritable sea of chef’s stations and serving tables. Steam wafted from skillets and griddles around the room as complex culinary delights were created in miniature right before our eyes. It was an amazing site. This was the first instance that I turned to Pam and said ‘Wow, this is messed up, I can’t believe we’re here, for free. You rock.” She probably got tired of hearing this because as the evening progressed and I got more Bombay Sapphire drinks in me I said this more and more.

We were greeted by someone handing out glasses of preseco, a wonderful way start to any evening. Then we wandered off to the left, drawn by the cheese displays. There was a truffle company, that for the life of me I can’t remember the name of but they had some wonderful truffle oils and honey.

The Vermont Butter and Cheese Company was right at the front of the room with their elegant presentation of cheeses. They displayed four different goat cheeses and some fantastically creamy butter, the woman who was explaining the cheeses and butter informed us “This butter is 86% fat, the way butter should be.” Amen sister! The soft almost brie like Bijou is a ripened goat cheese that was very flavorful though a little too pungent for me. However the creamy Crottin, a younger version of the Bijou, had a light and subtle flavor that would work equally well as an addition to a salad or served on its own with some nice bread.

For my friend Ron, a Ziggurat of Cheese

Iggy's Bread sculpture

In the background, behind the din of clanging pans, sizzling food, and people having a great time wound the melodies of the Cassavettes a young Boston based band. The band was placed on a stage at the back of the convention hall and surrounded by, well, food coma tables. You could see people drifting in and out of the seats throughout the night, pausing to enjoy the music and contemplate if they had reached their limits. The addition of live music to this event made it extra special and the band was really a great choice, their upbeat music kept the crowds awake and flowing throughout the evening.

Though a fantastic event overall, the evening was a bit overwhelming. There just aren’t that many situations where you get to wander around a large room where people hand you food and drink with little to no prompting, so remembering everything that was consumed is frankly impossible. However, there were a few standouts worth mentioning.

Masa, a southwestern inspired bistro located in the South End and Woburn, brought their tapas A game with their duck empanadas and chocolate barbeque sauce. At the Gargoyles booth they were serving a black truffle soup with potato foam topped with beet pollen which produced a really complex flavor, the soup was rich and meaty, almost overwhelmingly so, but the potato foam calmed the richness of the soup while the beet pollen added a little extra kick to finish off the flavor. Davios delivered a light springy dish with their spring pea and fresh ricotta ravioli with lemon butter, grape tomatoes, and micro pea tendrils. ChocoLee grabbed our attention with their beautiful display of gourmet chocolates we stopped for a moment to savor rich almond marzipan coated in dark chocolate and the sinfully good salted chocolate caramels.

Yummy Duck Empenadas

Amazing Chocolates

Black Truffle Soup

Despite all of these inventive offerings, the restaurant table that stood out the most for this Bostonist was Lobby. While they presented a simple table, no frills or special gimmicks, Lobby’s food spoke for itself. A salty duck quesadilla with fresh guacamole and a sweet and spicy butternut squash soup with ginger were simple elegant fare done right. While all of the restaurants mentioned above have earned a visit from this Bostonist, Lobby’s delicious offerings have earned them first place on the list.

Duck Quesadillas

Last but not least we must mention the overabundance of alcohol that was available, well everywhere. Bombay Sapphire Gin, Stella Artois, and Harpoon Brewery were some of the sponsors to provide drinks to this foodie shindig. There were Beer stations set up throughout the event and glasses sporting the Stella Artois and Harpoon logos were spotted on several occasions. Bombay Sapphire was serving up Raspberry Tom Collins, Sapphire Royales and Gimlets. And while the evening started with tiny plastic martini glasses, by the end they were filling up wine glasses with their surprisingly delicious cocktails. Not interested in Beer or Liquor? That’s ok, wine and water were abundant as well. There were ziggurats of wine glasses strategically placed at the entrance and near the band, allowing easy access for anyone wanting to sample the offerings of the abundant wine tables.

GIN! in Raspberry Tom Collins

There was also a silent auction, raffles, and an ingenious ducky auction. The ducky auction was so intriguing we almost bought one. The idea is simple, for 25 or 50 dollars, guests could buy a small rubber duck, they came in a variety of costumes, which would enter you in an auction for some great prizes, and even if you didn’t win you’d go home with a duck! All of the proceeds of this event go to fight childhood hunger in America.

The Cambridge Culinary academy was present everywhere with their tables of French cakes in the main hall and their chafing dishes of inventive gnocchi dishes in the VIP tent. While these imaginative students made some amazing gnocchi, unfortunately they’re baking skills were a little lacking. Tiramisu shouldn’t taste citrusy, citrus cake shouldn’t be bland, and the chocolate cake with pears was a bizarre combination that frankly wasn’t very well thought out. Though I do have to say they had some seriously cool baked sculptures.

Yes Folks It's a Rooster

And a Flamingo!

Overall, this was a fantastic event. Well planned out and executed. Chefs, volunteers, and guests alike all enjoyed sharing in their love of great food and drink and everyone seemed to be having a genuinely great time. While the ticket prices are steep, $85-95 for general admission passes and $135-145 for VIP tickets, this event is worth the price. Though this Bostonist advises skipping the VIP tickets in favor of the cheaper general admission passes, the VIP room was a nice distraction but the separate band packed into the small VIP space made it too crowded and loud to really enjoy the extra drink and food perks. This is a great event for a great cause, we highly recommend this event for foodies and non-foodies alike.

portions of this post were originally posted to the Bostonist

One heck of a week

2009-04-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, this has been one heck of a week. I started writing for Bostonist, started a paying freelance writing gig, attended Taste of the Nation Boston and worked out so hard I could hardly move. And those are just the interesting things that have happened this week.
I feel like I've been run over by a freight train. So with all of that I really haven't been blogging much this week. But the weekend is here and I might actually have some time, while my husband plays video games on the couch next to me. Look out for a post about Taste of the Nation, a rediscovery of an old favorite recipe and a new weekly column over at the Bostonist.
Thanks for being patient while my life settles!

Restaurant Week Wrap Up

2009-04-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

March 27th marked the end of 2009's Winter Restaurant Week. Over the course of the past two weeks, this Bostonist visited several restaurants to take advantage of the occasion. A few of them delivered everything that Restaurant Week promises: a great value and delicious food. Unfortunately, several others were more than a bit disappointing. In a year with such a rough economy, you would expect that Restaurant Week would be a time for local eateries to go all out, giving customers a good reason to remember them once the great deals have ended. Instead, several places that we visited offered slow, mediocre service and dull, uninspired menus.

For those of you who may be uninitiated in the ways of Restaurant Week, here's how it works. Restaurants around the city agree to join in the week and offer a special deal, providing pre-fix three course meals: just $33.09 per person for dinner and $20.09 for lunch (get it, because it's 2009!).

A great strategy for picking the best restaurant week deals is to compare what a dinner or lunch at a restaurant would normally cost you and then compare it to the Restaurant Week price. If you are coming out at least ten dollars ahead, than go ahead and book yourself a table. These great deals often allow new customers to try cuisine they couldn’t normally afford, and usually it turns out well for restaurant and diner. This year, sadly, too many restaurants did not bring their A game to the table(s), leaving us a little disappointed.

At Marliave, a recently renovated restaurant in Downtown Crossing, our dinner took over three hours from start to finish. Sometimes that's a good thing, but in this case most of that time was spent with nothing more than water glasses gracing our table. Even given ample time to prepare, the restaurant still managed to mix up our appetizer order. Following that unfortunate experience, another well-established Boston restaurant—we, uh, "won’t tell" which one—brought out a calculator at the end of the meal to scold us on our tip giving skills. Needless to say, we won’t be returning to that place anytime soon, if ever. Restaurant Week is a time to show off and attract new customers, not slack off (or mouth off) and drive them away.

Fortunately, there were many other restaurants that did a great job of creating coherent, well-thought-out menus for their restaurant week guests. Clink at the Liberty Hotel in Cambridge and Radius in the Financial District are two great examples of Restaurant Week standouts. These thoughtful establishments will be seeing this Bostonist again soon, despite their high regular prices.

Overall, this Winter’s Restaurant Week offered a great variety. More than 200 restaurants were participated in the deals that spanned from March 15th through the 27th. Many restaurants even overlooked their usual practices and opened up Saturday nights to Restaurant Week guests. Several places also offered the newly introduced light lunch—two courses for fifteen dollars—in an attempt to entice workers out of their cubicles. While this Winter’s Restaurant Week was surely a success (online reservations were impossible to get for many places even three weeks in advance), some Boston restaurants need to learn that, in this economy, a bad first impression leads to lost customers. Reputation alone is no longer enough to pay the bills.

originally posted on the Bostonist

Recap- Homegrown's Cambridge Soup Swap

2009-03-31T12:30:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday at Atwood’s Tavern in Cambridge, Bostonist attended our first official Soup Swap, hosted by Homegrown.org. A website founded by Farm Aid to help spread their message, Homegrown.org provides a community for people dedicated to supporting small, local farms, home gardening efforts, great cooking, good fresh food, and a connection to the source of our food.

This Saturday marked the second soup swap in the Boston area run by Cornelia Hoskin of Homegrown.org. The last swap in January was hosted in Cornelia’s home and was reportedly a roaring success. This spring’s swap was moved to Atwood’s to ensure enough room for the participants hoping to stock up on enough soup to last them through the rest of the cold weather.

The concept behind the swap was simple: everyone participating in the swap was asked to make six quarts of soup and separate it into six different containers, preferably quart sized Ziplocs. At the swap, they got to choose six other quarts of soup. Thus they left with the same amount of soup they arrived with, but now six different varieties instead of just one. In addition to their soup for swapping, participants were also asked to bring a can of soup or a monetary donation for the Greater Boston Food Bank.

This Bostonist forgot to label her cream of broccoli soup, but Cornelia was prepared with a pile of Post-its and pens. As people trickled in, the soups were placed on a central table and momentarily forgotten while people mingled. Everyone was really friendly and of course shared a love of cooking and good fresh food. Recipes were swapped, occupations discussed, drinks drunk, and new friendships were made by all. Once all of the participants had arrived, the soups became the center of attention. Each participant drew a number and, once the order was established, people were asked to participate in The Telling of the Soup. This tradition involves the chefs telling the rest of the group anything about their soup that they feel is important to share, such as the ingredients, the recipe’s origin, or even a personal story about making the soup.

After The Telling of the Soup, people were encouraged to go up and pick their six new soups. There was an abundance of vegetarian options at this swap, and this Bostonist ended up with a little bit of everything from zucchini leek to sixteen bean vegetarian soup.

In addition to the soup, participants also left with Homegrown buttons and a map of the Boston area’s local community gardens. Overall this was a great gathering, with great people and over the course of the afternoon, there was talk of some more summer based swaps like a salsa swap and an ice cream swap, so keep your eye on the Homegrown website for more info on future swaps and other events. If you are interested in hosting your own soup swap, go here.

Originally posted on the Bostonist

Restaurant Week: What the Heck

2009-03-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to Locke Ober, known as a Boston food legend. However, last week we had an unfortunate experience. While the food was mediocre and the service not that great (one of the waiters kept pouring my sparking water into the glass of someone who was drinking regular water while we were telling him not to).There was a particular incident that my friend Pam wrote about, where the waiter brought out a calculator on us and asked if we had meant to leave him a 10 percent tip, it turns out that the tip might have been a little low though 10 percent is a bit of an exaduration. After talking to us like we were children for a couple of minutes he left us with our credit card bills and the cash and told us we could "work it out". And I found it even more offensive that he waited until my husband had left to go pick up the car to reprimand us. The implication that the incompetent women couldn't handle divvying up the check was not lost on any of us. That waiter is lucky that we didn't remove the tip we had given him.
needless to say their poor service and food performance has left me boycotting Locke Ober and telling everyone I know to do the same.

I'll post a wrap up of other restaurant week visits as well as my take on this years restaurant week in general tomorrow.

Freezin some Strawberries

2009-03-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

In the middle of all of this Restuarant week hoopla I took a couple of minutes to get back to my inner chef and froze some strawberries that were about to go bad. I just rinsed them, sliced them and placed the pieces on parchment paper on a cookie sheet in the freezer. I am really exited about the fresh tasting smoothies that are going to come my way this week. More pictures and recipes to come as soon as I have time to make them!

Restaurant Week Clink

2009-03-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday I visited Clink at the Liberty Hotel to sample their restaurant week menu.
This was by far the best restaurant week dinner that I have had this season. Their menu was obviously well planned and their ingredients were seasonal and fresh. I really enjoyed the parsnip and pear soup. and the braised short ribs over polenta was tender and delicious. Each course was well paired to form a coherent menu that flowed very well from one dish to the next. The meal ended with an apple, cranberry cobbler that was one of the best I have had outside of my own house, the fruits were perfectly cooked and topped with a crust that seemed to be a cross between puff pastry and pie crust, flaky and light but with a rich buttery flavor.

While the drinks at clink looked delicious, most of their specialty drinks came in at about 14 dollars making them a little pricy for a night out. The restaurant has a suprising amount of light and does a great job of incorporating the small jail touches into their light decor.
I highly recommend Clink and will be returning soon.

Counteracting the health benefits of celery

2009-03-24T15:47:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday I tried my first Restaurant Week lunch. I went with my friend Pam to the Melting Pot downtown. I like fondue but haven't really had it that much, it tends to be expensive and my husband isn't a huge fan so, we don't go that often. I was very excited at the huge menu that the Melting Pot was offering to their guests. There were multiple cheese options and almost their entire compliment of dessert fondues were available. There was no option for the entree course but, they offered their broth fondue, which is what I would have chosen anyway.
I thoroughly enjoyed the cheese course, cheddar and Swiss cheeses, mixed with garlic oil and spices. The green apple was delicious in the cheese as was everything else. The broth was good but, it took a long time to cook everything, and while this is a great thing if you're trying to eat slower, I was bored with sticking my food in a vat to cook by the end. However, the broccoli was delicious when cooked in the broth.

Finally, we come to my favorite part, the chocolate! My friend Pam isn't a big fan of the marshmallow so we went for the standard dark chocolate fondue. While the chocolate was delicious, it was the dipping items that really got me excited. I actually said, " Oh my God, are those freaking Rice Crispy Treats?" when they brought the tray by. While the options also included strawberries, bananas, cheesecake, pound cake, brownies, and marshmallows, the Rice Crispy treats and strawberries were by far my favorite. The best part... our waiter casually inquired about our favorites and then he brought a whole plate of extra goodies for free. Which is apparently their policy for all of the courses. :)

For twenty dollars this was a fantastic value. I completely recommend it for lunch or dinner for restaurant week. If you are thinking of going during the rest of the year, I would recommend just going with the cheese and the chocolate or just the chocolate.

Overall, I had a great experience at the melting pot and plan on attending their ladies night in the near future!