80 Thoreau... Soooo good

A month ago, I went with my family for dinner at 80 Thoreau in Concord Ma. Set in an unassuming shopping area in the center of Concord, as you approach you would never think that you were about to enter a amazing farm to table gourmet dining experience. 80 Thoreau is an amazing space with beautiful dark wood beams, high ceilings, sky lights, cozy booths, and a gorgeous dark wood bar. It's split into two rooms with 3 separate areas; a bar area, a smaller cozier dining room, and then another dining room next to the open kitchen where you can watch delightful dishes take shape.

80 Thoreau is dedicated to using fresh local ingredients, as a result the menu is constantly changing. Chef Carolyn Johnson, formerly associated with Rialto and Icarus, really does an amazing job of getting the most out of her fresh seasonal ingredients.

I LOVE it when a restaurant brings an amuse-bouche and this one was a tiny radish cut in half topped with garlic scape butter and garnished with a little edible flower. I'm normally not a huge radish fan, but this was a delightfully fresh and seasonally appropriate little bite to start the evening.

For appetizers, 3 out of 4 people at the table opted to start with the gnocchi accompanied by nettles, prosciutto, and I believe a garlic scape purée. The gnocchi were tiny, fried, crispy pillows of deliciousness. I've had two different preparations of gnocchi there now and both times were delightfully memorable. All of our plates were wiped clean by the time were through. The fourth person chose an artichoke white bean soup with capers which was rich, creamy, and a great way to highlight the favors of early summer.

For dinner I had Rohan duck breast with cherries, walnuts, and kale. I'm not in love with kale but this treatment was enough to make me rethink my position. The dish was topped with crispy salty kale chips and the kale itself was really the perfect texture; a little chewy but not too chewy and mixed with the cherries and walnuts every bite was a great balance of sweet and salty with just a touch of bitter thrown in with the walnuts. The duck was shockingly light and went perfectly with all the sides. I was so excited about the duck that I forgot to take a picture of it.

We had two different desserts, The chocolate Bete Noir, a delightful chocolate cake, I would bet flourless. The cake itself was both smooth and dense. I'm a huge chocolate fan and this was one of the best chocolate cake options I've had in Boston or the suburbs. it came with a mint julep ice cream that was very good. It was a light ice cream with a texture somewhere between creamy and icy. The mint flavor was light and sweet but in no way overwhelming. There was a candied mint leaf on top, it was a beautiful touch that made me exclaim "Yes that is a candied friggin mint leaf. I love it here!"

The second dessert consisted of roasted strawberries, a light olive oil cake, and ice cream with a side of lavender honeycomb. I love honeycomb. I have to admit that I stole most of it before my fellow diners got to it. As a rule, I will always default to chocolate, but this was a great spring/summer desert, perfect consistency with flavors that are a light fresh touch and not overwhelming. The perfect end to a delicious meal.

80 Thoreau is honestly one of my favorite restaurants in the greater Boston area.  I can't recommend it highly enough. I didn't cover drinks in this post because honestly the wonderful things that come out of their bar deserve their own post, and I intend to visit for drinks and write that post soon. I highly recommend 80 Thoreau for any occasion I hope you'll go out and give it a try!

Cool summer memories and a simple delicious sorbet

When I was little, my mom had a real gourmet ice cream maker. It hadits own refrigerating element, so no cranking or rolling or salted needed! This was back in the dark ages when NO ONE had an ice cream maker that froze on its own. There was no Williams Sonoms at the mall where you could conveniently find any kitchen gadget you wanted. the internet did not yet exist. 

This thing was a hideous shade of yellow and weighed 1000 pounds. My father would complain every summer when he lugged it from its winter spot in the basement to the cleared off spot on the counter that would be its summer home.

Little me called my mom a gourmet, making things that no other mother would attempt. Weird concoctions that no one had ever heard of made a regular appearance in our kitchen. She often had strange mushrooms soaking on the counter that I would poke at, a disgusted look on my face. My favorite "gourmet" treat of my mothers was the most coveted treat of summer... Grapefruit sorbet. This sweet, tart, and overall delightful dessert was a favorite of the whole family including all of the grandparents. Like so many other things that were a family favorite, my mom would always make a big deal about it, enlisting me to squeeze the pink juicy grapefruits, and letting me drink the extra juice. When she turned the ice cream maker on we would all flee from the horrible racket. She was fond of telling us  "That thing could wake the dead." It was so loud that it would often drive my father and I out of the house; him for chores, me for pool time or playing in the yard. When the sorbet was ready, it was scooped out slowly and with reverence into one of our seldom used Tupperware containers. We each got a spoonful but had to wait for a bowl until it had solidified (cleverly on my moms part that was often after dinner). My mom seldom wasted her homemade sorbet on  burgers or porkchops. So, sorbet often accompanied what my mom would call a "summer outside meal." Which translated to something too messy to eat in her pristine kitchen. In our world that meant tacos or lobster. The delight of the special dinner was heightened by the anticipation of the sorbet cooling in the freezer. The first bite is like a burst of flavor hitting your tongue. To this day I'm always shocked at how good this simple recipe is. It is by far my favorite frozen treat. 

Grapefruit sorbet

2 cups fresh squeezed grapefruit juice

1 cup simple syrup 

For the simple syrup, combine 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water in a sauce pan. Heat on low until the sugar has dissolved. 

Cool the simple syrup in the fridge for several hours or overnight. 

If you don't start with refrigerated grapefruit squeeze the grapefruit and let cool in fridge for several hours or overnight. 

Combine the simple syrup and grapefruit juice in the container of a  self freezing ice cream maker. Set for approx 40 minutes (though they're all different so check on it periodically and add more time if needed)

Scoop sorbet into container and let set in freezer for 2 hours. That is the sweet spot and the perfect time to eat it. It will keep in the freezer for a few weeks but when you're finished with it take a piece of wax paper and push it down on the top of the sorbet. This will help keep it from freezer burning. 

Lobster and corn "risotto"

So I would have sworn that I got this recipe from cavecibum but I can't find it on her site. Or mine, so I guess I haven't written about this before. I made this dish up last summer when I was more into the eating healthy than I was in any way about writing about it. This dish could be as simple as butter, corn, lobster, seasonings, but I had some stuff to use ( leftover stuff from other people's farm shares, I thought I had more time on my hands this week to make dinner ingredients) so I went with more of a kitchen sink approach. I have to say it came out deliciously and is a wonderful not too bad for you summer meal. The fresh corn is definitely what makes this and the sweet cherry tomatoes are just icing on the cake, I don't think this meal would work nearly as well with less fresh ingredients so this is a summer meal if I've ever seen one.

The meat from 2 lobsters pre-cooked (I just get them to steam lobsters for me at the store)
the corn cut off of 4 ears of corn
1 cup fresh peas ( optional)
1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
4 tablespoons of butter
a splash of heavy cream (though light will work too if you have it)
a sprinkle of fresh chives
1T extra virgin olive oil

heat up the olive oil, add in the cherry tomatoes and cook the cherry tomatoes until they're a bit warm ( you can add some basil at this point too if you want. Add in 2T of the butter. Add the peas. Cook the peas for 5 minutes. Add one more T of butter add in the corn. Cook the corn and peas for another 5 minutes, add the splash of heavy cream. Finally, add the last pat of butter and the lobster meat and chives, stir and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Makes 3 servings

Ok, so apparently I lied

I recently said that I was going to make this more of a lifestyle blog. Well, apparently I lied because the next day I went out and made another blog... called All Purpose Geekery to cover all of the lifestyle items that I could possibly want to discuss. And since I started that blog I have blogged twice on here, about food. I know. It's weird. What is going on? Well for now I think I'll keep the food over here ( unless it is geeky food then a crossover might occur) and all the other stuff over there. I did make something tonight that I totally forgot to get a pic of but it might be worth recreating because frankly it was TASTY I will tell you it involved ricotta and figs but no more for now. This week, we have some food adventures to new places and a BUNCH of work to do for my day job so I might not be posting as much as last week, but hey, I also want to see if I can keep this trend going so you never know. :)

Friday's outing to get my book signed by Joanne Chang!

This past friday I headed to the Copley Square William's Sonoma for a book signing and demonstration by one of my favorite local chefs, Joanne Chang. Her new book Flour Too came out less than a month ago and I picked my signing date within the first couple of days of the release of the calendar. Her first book, Flour, is one of my favorite cookbooks, containing some daring stuff that I didn't think I would every try. Her recipes are complicated and definitely require a good read-through before you get started, a point Chef Chang emphasized during her demonstration on Friday. I don't know that I would recommend a lot of them for beginner bakers. But I have to say that I have never made something out of the Flour cookbook that was not universally loved. In fact, last year when my parents came to visit, I made her chocolate cream pie specifically for my father, a man who might be called a chocolate pie aficionado by some, and he declared it the best he has ever tasted. He even asked if I could make it for them when they come to visit me again this year. A few years ago I even baked outside the box to make a king cake out of the brioche recipe in Flour and it was better than anything I ever tasted when I lived in New Orleans.

Clearly, I was excited about the release of Flour Too. Now, while Flour is a collection consisting almost entirely of desserts, Flour Too tries to cast a wider net, showcasing some of Chef Chang's talents in the savory arts. There are sections containing breakfast items, lunch, dinner, party, and of course additional dessert gems. I for one was particularly excited to see the BLT recipe that I recently fell in love with off of the Flour Bakery menu.

Chef Chang demonstrated how to make gougeres, a savory cream puff that is actually a favorite of my husband. I've always been too intimidated to make them because they seemed complicated and easy to mess up. However, they seem like the easiest thing in the world as Chef Chang chatted amicably to the crowd, pausing every once in a while to show us what this or that stage of the batter should look like. She even offered up the first tip that I've ever heard in real favor of using unsalted butter over salted butter; it's fresher!

After the delightful demonstration, Chef Chang signed books for everyone. She was courteous and gracious throughout, listening to stories, chatting up people, commenting on compliments, and posing for pics. I was fond of her for her food and her cookbooks before this encounter but now I'm doubly fond of her for her great attitude and pleasant demeanor. It was really a delight to meet her and I can't wait to dive into some of the inspirational goodies contained in Four Too!

Nostalgia in my coffee cup

As I procrastinate from doing work today I decided I need a snack. Though since I'm currently on a slight diet my snack options are limited. I can have some fruit or meat but that's what I'll be having for lunch in 2 hours, so that's completely unappealing. One small indulgence I allow myself a few days a week is to swap out my between breakfast and lunch snack with a sugary coffee. I just picked up a new bottle of cocoa metro ( if you haven't tried this delicious chocolaty treat run to your nearest Whole Foods and pick some up). My plan was to just make a mocha but then I remembered that I had a bottle of coffee mate girl scouts caramel and coconut creamer in the fridge. SO I decided to add some of that to the cocoa metro mocha. WOW! I think this was the best idea I've had in ages. I've had the coconut caramel creamer by itself in coffee a few times now and I've been meaning to write about it because it makes a delicious cup of coffee. But combining it with the chocolately goodness of the cocoa metro just threw my coffee over the top. If you like Girl Scout cookie Caramel Delights or if you enjoy your coffee sugary and desserty I highly recommend this new addition to the Coffee-Mate creamer family.

Changes

Sadly my blog hasn't been getting the attention it deserves over the past few years. Work and life keeps getting in the way of trying new recipes let alone writing them down. So I've decided to make a change. I'm going to morph this into more of a lifestyle blog. Rather than just food, I'm going to write about food, and my many geeky past times, which include, nails, reading, gaming, and other crafty and random goodness. This is an experiment. If it turns out that I hate it I might go back to food or I might find that I love writing about other things and do a branch out blog. We'll see hopefully if nothing else this will get me writing again. Ok I'm off to workout and maybe get some work done. Till later

Our favorite new fish... Talapia

This is a recipe so easy my husband can make it and if you know my husband you know that's saying something.I highly recommend making the polenta and the snap peas before cooking the fish since it cooks quickly.


Ingredients:
1 large skinless Talapia filet per person ( these can come out a little small so we will sometimes get 3 filets for the two of us)
lemon olive oil
Extra Virgin Olive oil ( around a Tablespoon)
around a Tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme
salt and pepper
A little fresh lemon juice

Sugar Snap peas ends picked off ( enough for 2 people)
1 Tablespoon of butter
salt

Polenta from here.

For the Snap peas:
Bring a pot of water to a boil
Once the water is boiling throw the peas in and blanch for 2-3 minutes. Pour into a colander once the water is drained, put immediately back into the now empty pot, throw in the tablespoon of butter and toss it all about until the peas are coated . Sprinkle with salt. Cover and set aside.

For the Fish:
Rub the fish down on both sides with the lemon olive oil, I just use my fingers but you could use a brush. Then sprinkle on both sides with the thyme, salt, and pepper.
Pour the EVOO into a high sided sauce pan and let the oil heat up. If you want you can add a little bit of the lemon olive oil to this mix. Once the oil is starting to shimmer, place the fish in the pan. cook on one side until there is almost no pink left to the fish and you can see browning around the edges of the cooking side. Then flip and cook for another 3 minutes. Once you've plated the fish I like to add a generous squeeze of lemon.

Polenta!

While trying to lose some weight, I found that cutting carbs made a huge difference in my progress. I also learned that I can't live without carbs. So I decided to change the type and amount of carbs that I eat instead. Sandwiches for lunch made way to platters of meats, cheeses and veggies. Pasta dinners were decreased in frequency and wherever possible pasta was changed to multigrain high protein pasta. Potatoes were turned into Sweet potatoes and rice has been mostly eleminated ( except when I make stir fry). We've also added a lot of Polenta into our diet. It's not too bad as carbs go, and it doesn't contain too many calories as long as you keep to an actual serving size, AND you can have it multiple nights in a row possibly in different forms. While I haven't perfected the fried polenta cake yet, this plain old polenta recipe is enough for a side dish for 6 people and is pretty easy and quick to make.
(note this is a smaller portioned update to a previous polenta recipe, but I make it so often that I felt it deserved its own post.

Polenta!
3 3/4 cups water
1  teaspoons table salt
Pinch+ baking soda
3/4 cup polenta ( I use quick polenta)
1 tablespoons unsalted butter
Ground black pepper
1 cup pecorino romano


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.

Chicken Ricotta Eggplant, otherwise known as healthier chicken parm

2 chicken breasts pounded as flat as you can get them
2T basil olive oil
2T olive oil
2 cups Classico tomato sauce
1 large japanese eggplant sliced thin or two smaller ones
1/4 cup part skim ricotta divided into two servings
1/2 cup mozz cheese, shredded ( enough to cover the chicken)
salt and pepper
2 servings (118 grams) barilla plus rotini pasta

Brush each side of each piece of eggplant with olive oil. Place on a pan lined with grill foil or lined with foil brushed with olive oil. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Roast for 10-15 minutes in a 450 degree oven. You're looking for cooked and maybe crispy pieces of eggplant but not burned ones.

Pound the chicken flat. Use a drop of basil olive oil  on each side of the chicken breast and rub it into the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Grill the chicken ( you can also bake the chicken at 350 degrees for 20 minutes). Place the chicken on a baking sheet lined with grill foil or foil brushed with olive oil. smear 1/8 of a cup of the ricotta over the chicken until the top of the chicken breast is covered with ricotta. Then place the pieces of eggplant on top of the ricotta, then cover the eggplant with the 1/2 cup of pasta sauce. Finally top with shredded Mozz cheese.  bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Then switch to broiling for 3-5 minutes ( you want the cheese to get a little brown on top.

Boil the pasta, ( making sure to measure out an exact serving ) and then combine pasta with pasta sauce.

Serve with pasta, veggies, or a salad.


approx 500 calories per serving w/o pasta
approx 860 calories with pasta and 1/2 a cup of pasta sauce

Fantastic Berry Sauce

There is a local restaurant Solea . They make a roast duck leg and breast with a berry sauce that I LOVE. I sometimes have a hard time not licking it off of the plate. When I decided to learn to make duck I decided to make up my own version of this sauce as well. All of the people who have tried my sauce say that it's like Solea's only better. That may be because they love me but I honestly have to keep myself from drinking this stuff straight. :) Enjoy!

Berry sauce. 
1 cup of pom wonderful pomegranate juice 
3/4 cup of Pama pomegranate Liquor 
1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar 
2 packages blackberries
2 packages raspberries 
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1T honey 

Combine the pomegranate juice, Pama, and Balsamic Vinegar. Let simmer for 5 minutes until a bit of the alcohol has cooked off. 

Add in the berries and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until the blackberries are starting to break down. You can encourage the berries to break down by smushing them a little.
Once the berries have broken down, strain through a fine mesh sieve. Use a rubber spatula to get all of the pulp possible off of the berries. (Warning, this will take a little while and might hurt your wrist, if you can get a helper to relieve you for a couple of minutes do it!) Discard the seeds once you are certain you aren't going to get anything out of them. Then clean the sieve and strain one more time to make sure you haven't missed any seeds. Return to the original pan, again make sure there are no seeds in there. Set the heat to low to heat the sauce up. Add honey or lemon juice to taste, you want it to be tart enough that your mouth waters but still with a sweet edge to it. 


This makes a crapton of sauce, but it freezes really well so you can use it later, this stuff is great on duck, butternut squash, on top of a baked brie and I'm sure it has many other uses as well.

Butternut Squash Puree

This is a combination of my own original recipe and some advice I got from a chef at a food event. This swirled with my berry sauce is a beautiful addition to any holiday table and it's also delicious and pretty good for you for those of you looking for a side dish that won't pack on the extra pounds.


Butternut squash puree

2 butternut squash 
2 T olive oil
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2-3T honey 
3-4T light cream 
dash of nutmeg
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 
Line a baking sheet with grill foil, or regular foil brushed with olive oil.
Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds. Brush the flesh with olive oil. Place the squash halves skin side up on the baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes or until a fork can pierce the flesh easily. Let the squash cool until you can remove the skin. Place the flesh in a bowl and use an emersion blender to puree ( you can also use a blender, or Cuisinart). Once the puree is smooth, you can mix in the honey, cream, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg to taste. You want a nice rich puree with some character. 

Foolproof Roast Duck

Pic to come when I find it on my hard drive.

This year for Christmas I made a duck. Oh I've done it before, heck it's practically a specialty of mine at this point. But this year I made it on Christmas Eve for my in-laws and my husband. Just the four of us. It was lovely. I've made this recipe a bunch of times but I never write it down. So that's what I'm doing this time over the next few days you'll get the whole recipe complete with butternut squash puree and an approximation of the berry sauce I make which is good on meat and veggies alike. Enjoy and Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, Happy Holidays to everyone else and a Happy New Year to all.


Foolproof Roast Duck
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary chopped
2T of salt
2T fresh ground pepper
a whole duck

Preheat oven to 425.
Rinse the duck with cold water inside and out. Use a pruning knife and your fingers to work your way between the skin and fat of the duck and the flesh of the duck, this will be a difficult and delicate procedure but totally worth it. Once you have a space between the duck flesh and the fat rub the flesh with salt, pepper, garlic, and rosemary. Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic, and rosemary over the outside of the skin of the duck and use the remains of the spices to season the cavity of the duck. Use a paring knife to make shallow pricks everywhere but drumsticks. Don't forget the areas where the thighs join the body.  Use a light touch with paring knife to gently crosshatch skin's top layer on breast side to facilitate release of fat. Be careful not to cut all the way through skin into flesh. Place in roasting pan breast side up. Roast for 50 minutes. Remove duck from oven and Tilt duck to drain, pouring juices from cavity into roasting pan. Flip the duck using two forks, tongs or turkey lifters. Roast for another 50 minutes. Flip one last time and roast breast side up for another 40-50 minutes, if it looks done it probably is, you want it to be 165 degrees on a meat thermometer.

Roasted butternut squash soup

A few weeks ago or a month I don't remember now. Someone invited me to a soup pot luck. I was feeling lazy the day I was asked so I planned on stopping and picking up soup at New England Soup Factory. However, at the last minute my obsessive nature kicked in and I decided that I needed to make soup. I was feeling really obsessed with Roasted butternut squash soup in particular so I set out to find an easy recipe to make. Then I got worried about it coming out wrong so I of course made another soup but that is for a different post.
Of course Williams-Sonoma came through with an easy recipe. The recipe below is adapted from this one.

2 large butternut squashes, each 1 1/2 to 2 lb.
olive oil
6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
4 large shallots, chopped
8 fresh sage leaves, shredded
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock or canned broth
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Ground nutmeg, to taste, if needed
Pinch of sugar, if needed
1/3 cup hazelnuts
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 400°F.

Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Then, brush the flesh with olive oil and place skin up flesh down on a baking pan covered with tin foil ( if you can find grill foil I highly recommend it). Roast until they feel somewhat soft to the touch and a knife penetrates the skin easily, about 45 min-1 hour. Remove from the oven and, when cool enough to handle remove the skin.

While the squashes are cooling, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant and the skins have loosened, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and, while still warm, place the nuts in a kitchen towel. Rub the towel vigorously to remove the skins; do not worry if small bits of skin remain. run them through a food processor for a couple of pulses to chop them up.

In a large soup pot saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Add the shallots and the sage and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are tender and translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the stock and squash pulp, raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for a few minutes to combine the flavors. Remove from the heat.

Use an immersion blender to smooth out the soup ( alternatively you could blend the soup in batches in a food processor or blender but this soup is practically made for an immersion blender.  Reheat gently over medium-low heat. Season with salt and pepper. If the squash is starchy rather than sweet, a little nutmeg will help. If the nutmeg does not give the proper flavor balance, add a pinch of sugar. This is a nice basic butternut squash soup but, if you want to add a little kick  you can add some fresh ginger to taste before you blend the soup.

The hazelnuts are meant to be an optional garnish but I personally refuse to eat this soup without them.

Charcoal Guidos

 The closing of the upper crust left a bit of a thin crust pizza gap on Moody street. Well, this week a new restaurant stepped up to fill that gap. Charcoal Guido's opened for lunch and dinner this past Wednesday. I managed to get there with some friends on Saturday night ( not our best choice timing wise).

The decor is very cute well put together and the bar looks really great, the top shelf of liquors is even bookended with two bottles of skull vodka, a touch that definitely gave me a smile. For such an epic looking bar the drink list was a bit of a let down, hopefully something they will work out in the coming months.

We started with the lamb skewers and Arancini. The lamb skewers were simple and delicious, definitely a must get for meat lovers. The Arancini was very good as well nice and crispy on the outside with the right amount of soft rice and melty cheese on the inside. Then we moved onto the pizzas which were excellent. We were a table of 4 and we split 3 pizzas leaving 1/2 a pizza of leftovers. We tried the prosciutto, the sausage and ricotta and the diavola. The prosciutto was a lighter treat with a no sauce pizza crust topped with salty prosciutto, slightly sweet thin slices of cheese and lightly dressed arugala. The ricotta and sausage was a pizza overflowing with high quality italian sausage melt in your mouth ricotta, tomato sauce and caramelized onions. While this one lost something in the structural integrity department the flavors were perfect. I didn't try the Diavola but my friend who did was extremely happy with her choice to add it to our table. There were also tasty looking salad, pasta and entree options that we didn't end up partaking in on this trip but will definitely try next time we stop in. The prices are pretty good with our entire meal coming out to around 70 dollars for 4 people though none of us partook of the alcohol offerings.

This brand new restaurant definitely still has some kinks to work out in the logistics department the waiting area is small, the putting your name in for a table process is disorganized, there are no reservations,  it's VERY loud, the space could benefit from some experimenting with the table placement, and they haven't quite worked out a take out option yet.

However, the quality of the food does making dealing with these inconveniences worth it. Just maybe stay away on Friday and Saturday nights until they have themselves together a little bit more.
All in all I am very excited about this new addition to Moody Street and I'm also excited to check out their lunch menu ( I'll update here once I do).

The Gaff

Photo courtesy of the Gaff website http://www.thegaffbar.com/

I'm not normally a bar kind of Gal, but I've been to the same bar twice this weekend, so it might be time to talk about it. The Gaff is a little bar on Moody street that I absolutely adore. It's cozy and not too loud, and while it usually does decent business it's never packed. When you sit down there is always a fresh bowl of popcorn to munch on and right next to the front windows there are two couches which are just perfect for me and my friends, we can lounge, hear one another and have our drinks while looking out the window. We love them so much that we have started thinking of them as our couches since they are almost always open when we go in.

The drinks are excellent and very reasonably priced and they have my second favorite cider ( Samuel Smiths). They also have a huge beer selection and at least one cider on tap. What's not to love?! Oh and did I mention they make a good burger, a tasty hot dog, and FRIED PICKLES. The Gaff is also conveniently located across the street from Tempo, Habaneros, and a new restaurant ,Charcoal Guidos, (more on that place tomorrow) so if you find yourself waiting for a table and wanting a drink to pass the time it's a great option. I fully intend to spend more time there in the coming months and I highly recommend it. But if you do decide to visit. Stay off our couches :)

The Annwich ( a flatbread chicken sandwich)

PIC TO COME NEXT TIME I MAKE THIS

So I make this sandwich using the grill. My husband has named it the Annwhich (which if you know my husband is totally him. :) It's based on the Navajo sandwich from Cheesecake factory but... a bit better for you and pretty darn addictive if I do say so myself.

The Annwich


For the chicken:
3 chicken breasts
1 tbs olive oil
goya
garlic powder
crushed rosemary


For the bread:
1 package store bought pizza dough divided in half
shredded asiago cheese just enough to sprinkle on the pizza dough while it cooks

For the spicy mayo:
1/2 a cup olive oil mayo
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried crushed rosemary
dash of goya adobo with pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder

For the final sandwich:
1 package arugula
1 avocado sliced thin

Start with the chicken. Toss the chicken in the olive oil and then add enough goya, garlic powder, and crushed rosemary so that both sides of the chicken are evenly coated. Grill the chicken for approximately 15 minutes ( around 7 minutes per side). Check to make sure the chicken is done you can always put it on for longer if need be.

For the bread. Oil the grill. Then stretch the pizza dough into two pieces, they can be any shape, but try to keep the anomalies symmetrical ( you're going to be cutting these in half later). Place the shaped pizza dough on the oiled grill. Sprinkle with asiago cheese. Grill for approx 5 minutes on one side ( you can take a peek and see if the grilling side is appropriately browned if not leave on for a little longer). Flip the dough and sprinkle this side with asiago cheese. Grill for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat when finished.

For the mayo, place all ingredients in a bowl and stir. I find that sometimes I need more chili powder or paprika, the proportions indicated above are approximate, season to personal taste.

Now you're ready to assemble the sandwich. Cut the bread in half whichever way the bread pieces will fit together best (this is where the symmetrical anomalies come in) spread with mayo. Line one side of the bread with chicken and then top with avocado pieces. Top with arugala and cover with other half of bread. Cut the sandwich in half. VOILA yummy Annwichy goodness.


total calories per serving approx 450 calories ( though we try to only eat 1/2 of the sandwiches and then save the other 1/2 for the next day)

Breakfast

Breakfast is the bane of my existence. I mean sure I've been known to indulge in the occasional weekend pancake or eggs Benedict but that is usually consumed well after noon and enjoyed only when someone else makes it for me. However, when I started trying to lose weight this summer I realized that breakfast is a necessary evil. Since I hate it I didn't mind just closing my eyes and bearing it while kick starting my metabolism with such vile treats as a 90 calorie packet of cottage cheese or some really yummy (note the sarcasam) egg whites. I started out on just protein because everything I read from low glycemic index advice columns to weight loss books suggested that kick starting your metabolism works better with protein and no sugar. Eventually I relented and added some "Gasp" fruit. Making it cottage cheese and blueberries or egg whites and strawberries.

Then, women's health showed me that I could ( occasionally cause I am still trying to cut back on carbs) eat something delicious for breakfast. Vans makes a series of not to bad for you frozen waffles, even the light ones are tasty and they all have some protein in them. Best part, the light ones are only 140 calories for 2 waffles. The twist is that you then add protein to the mix with some almond butter, but we're not done, drizzle some honey ( just a little) over almond butter and add some chopped strawberries and a few raspberries on top and POOF, you have a delicious and not too bad for you breakfast. If you make both waffles and use two tablespoons of almond butter (a serving) plus 1/4 cup of strawberries and raspberries the whole thing comes to. 364 calories for the whole kit and caboodle. However if this feels like too much you can have 2 egg whites and 1 waffle for just 216 calories ( this breakfast is totally worth 216 calories, it will keep you full for hours and is good fuel for a workout as well as a long morning at work) and the prep time is only about 15 minutes. I just wanted to share this one since it is so easy and was such a wonderful addition to my morning routine.

Black bean and turkey soup

I know I haven't been here in a while and I don't know how often I'll be able to update but I've gone through some changes in the past few months. I've started eating... healthily. I know I know what the hell. But I had a health scare and decided I needed to lose some weight. While I am perfectly happy working out to lose weight that never quite does it for me, even if it is a big part, so I had to make some diet changes. But not an actual DIET. Recently one of my friends suggested that maybe I should start writing about my new recipes because well, I've become a better cook in the past few years and I'm all about discovering new delicious stuff that maybe isn't quite as bad for me. So here is one I found online and made on a whim last night. I think it turned out pretty good and we'll definitely be making it again. Adapted from food and wine magazine
 1/4 pound sliced bacon, cut into bits (around 6 slices)
 1 onion, chopped
 1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
2 teaspoons dried oregano
 2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1 3/4 cups canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree (one 15-ounce can)
1 quart canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
1 2/3 cups drained and rinsed canned black beans (one 15-ounce can)
 1 pound of leftover roasted turkey breast cut into 1 in cubes
 10 ounces spinach, stems removed, leaves washed and cut crosswise into strips 

In a large stainless-steel pot, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pot. If you use center cut bacon I found that you don't have to drain off the fat. Reduce the heat to moderately low. Add the onion to the pot and cook, stirring, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, cocoa, Tabasco sauce, oregano, salt, pepper, tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the black beans and turkey to the pot. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the bacon. You can add the spinach in at this point and cook for a minute, or if you aren't planning on eating all at once you can add the spinach to the very hot bowls of soup and let them wilt in the bowls so you don't have wilty spinach in your leftovers. Serve with grated cheddar cheese and fritos or Tostidos. If you want to make it a little lighter eliminate the toppings. Serves 2 dinner portions and 2 lunch portions or 3 large dinner portions. Approximately 300 calories per serving

Meatloaf

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.