Recipes

July 23, 2013 Boston

Boston Forklift Food Festival (Outside the Box)

Philanthropist Ted Cutler had a dream for Boston.

It was 2007. He had a dream of bringing a world class, city-wide arts festival to Boston. He had always loved the arts and envisioned a huge outdoor festival where all kinds of musicians would come together in one spot to perform over a course of several days. Best thing? The entire event would be free to the public.

Unfortunately, the recession of 2008 put these plans on hold for several years until 2011, when things began rolling again.

And then just last week, July 13-21, Boston put on its first annual Outside the Box Festival. Eight continuous days of various free performances in Boston culminated in a weekend that included a food "festival within the festival", called the Boston Forklift Food Festival. At this festival, celebrities chefs such as Ming Tsai, Todd English, and Jody Adams gave cooking demonstrations. Many other of Boston's well known restaurants and food trucks were also there, serving up small bites of all sorts of delicious food. Meanwhile, guests continue to enjoy various well known and up-and-coming bands performing at various outdoor venues around the city.

I was excited to be there - to be a part of history in some sense. It was an extraordinary event that meshed two of my passions together - my love of music and the culinary arts.

So even though the forecast of thunderstorms almost kept me from going, I am so glad that I decided to go. The music turned out to be an absolute blast, and the food was fun!

Of course, since this is a food blog, I'll focus on the food here. If you want to learn more about the organization, the musical acts, and the festival in general, definitely check out the Outside the Box website.

Onto the food!

Tickets cost $1 each and you purchased them at ticket stations around the area. The cost of dishes ranged from $1 to $5, and the size of portions varied a lot, so it was pretty easy to taste lots of different things (which was much more fun).

I thought the place would be packed, but it was actually very comfortable. Lines were never long - at most three to four people deep - and there was plenty of space to walk around. Perhaps the predicted thunderstorms (which never materialized) scared some people off (or maybe it was the Lemonheads Concert going on at the same time at Boston Common).

The weather was quite hot, and therefore gazpacho (or cold soups in general) was a very popular offering at multiple places. Everyone had their own spin on it. Legal Sea Foods took their normal gazpacho and added some pickled shrimp and jalapenos to it. Gourmet Caterers did a fun play on a margarita by adding a chili salt rim to the refreshing gazpacho.
There were plenty of savory, "meaty" choices for hungry people. Michael Schlow's Barrio Cantina (his new Mexican place in Fenway) served up mini chicken tacos (top left), while Ming Tsai wowed everyone with his $3 duck sliders (definitely one of the most talked about sandwiches at the event).

Shake Shack was grilling Shackburgers for only $3. And the line at this Shake Shack was definitely shorter than the line at any other Shake Shack I've ever seen. Boston Shuckin Truck were shucking raw oysters on demand and also selling scallop sliders. Savatore's was making arugula shrimp pizzas to order on a coal-fired grill for only $5 a pizza.

There were all sorts of sweet offerings, such as chocolate dipped fondue from the Melting Pot, fig tarts, cupcakes from Isabelle's Curly Cupcakes (named after Todd English's daughter), and chocolate bon bons from Artisan Bistro, one of the restaurants inside the Ritz Carlton. Batch Ice Cream's food truck was also parked there, doling out popular ice cream flavors like green tea and salted caramel. Mei Mei Street Kitchen had rhubarb shaved ice.

My most Memorable Bites

Andrew Yeo, the executive chef at the Ritz Carlton, gave a live cooking demonstration at the event showing people how to make johnny cakes. I visited his booth the day after and got to sample his lobster sausage over a johnny cake. It was definitely one of the more unique dishes I had at the event, and it was quite good.

He was also really friendly, telling me he had moved to Boston from the Ritz Carlton in Singapore where he had worked for ten years. I love Southeast Asian food, and I would be quite curious to see if his Asian background will influence any of his menu creations at the Artisan Bistro or other restaurants inside the Ritz Carlton group.

The best bang for buck - no question - was the Legal Seafoods tent, which was serving everything for just $1 each. Yep, that's right, get a huge cup of their famous clam chowder for only $1. The gazpacho (pictured above) was also the same price. At that price, you don't have to choose. Just get one of each!

Over and over, the entire evening, I kept hearing about how good the duck sliders at Ming Tsai's booth tasted. Ming Tsai's signature "red roast duck" is slow roasted, pulled, and served with crunchy slaw in slider buns. I believe this is a menu item at one of his restaurants, either Blue Ginger or his new downtown Boston restaurant Blue Dragon. He also served bison sliders and tofu sliders, which were not bad.

I have a soft spot for falafels, and the ones served by the booth titled "Taste of Israel and Boston Kabob" hit the spot. They fried the falafels on demand, so each bite was hot and crispy on the outside yet soft and moist on the inside.
Blind Boys of Alabama

While munching on all these delectable bites, I was able to catch the entire concert by the Blind Boys of Alabama, an incredibly talented group of gospel singers who energized the entire crowd with their uplifting and upbeat songs such as Amazing Grace, Way Down in the Hole, and Take the High Road. I marveled at their incredible music skills and loved how they energized the crowd.

I was really mad that my camera ran out batteries right at this point, but I was at least able to catch a short video of them singing. They sound incredible.

All in all it was a super fun event and a truly unique opportunity to enjoy so much quality music at such a large free festival. I'm thrilled that Ted Cutler's dream is becoming a reality.

Can't wait for next year!

Disclaimer: The event was free to attend, but I received complimentary tasting tickets. The opinions are my own.

July 20, 2013 Misc

Fun Lab Equipment in the Kitchen!

Recently Bryan has been complaining that we have no matching drinking glasses in the house.

I guess it's true. Our glasses are a random mishmash of cups I had from college, whatever's left from our original set of glasses from our wedding (many have broken in the past 10+ years), and other fun cups I've picked up along the way.

I was inspired to start hunting for beakers to use as glasses after being inspired in multiple places. A local Boston restaurant used 400mL beakers as drinking glasses. Another famous and popular restaurant in New York used an Erlenmeyer flask as a decanter.

Many of you might know that in a past life, I was an organic chemist. I spent years in the lab with these guys. They are über familiar to me and I definitely have a soft spot in my heart for all this lab equipment.

Seriously, labware is so much more sturdy than kitchenware. These glasses are constantly washed in industrial dishwashers daily. They are exposed to all sorts of chemical and temperature changes - ice baths, bunsen burners, hot oil baths . . you name it.

Most lab glassware is made with borosilicate glass (boron oxide and silica), which is more resistant to thermal shock compared to other types of glass. You can subject it to more drastic temperature changes and it won't crack.

For some reason getting chemistry glassware really appealed to my inner nerd, and Bryan seemed to think it was cool too, so we ordered a bunch of stuff.

I was so surprised how much lab stuff Amazon sells! And the prices are pretty reasonable too.

Why spend $30-$200 on a fancy wine decanter when you can get a super functional, sturdy, and cool looking flask for only $14? You won't even feel bad if you break it (though they are pretty sturdy!).

I'm partly writing this post because I was surprised how many other people out there in the world are just like me - they love nerdy science stuff! When I posted a couple initial photos online, I got a huge response. Many people asked me where I got all this stuff, so I thought I would write this post to summarize it all.

Links to the Glassware I Bought

5 Piece Pyrex Graduated Beaker Set (measuring cups?)
400 mL Kimax Beakers (drinking glasses) without spout
400 mL Pyrex Beakers (drinking glasses) with spout*
1000 mL Erlenmeyer Flask

* I did not purchase this one. I was debating between spout or no spout. For now I got the ones without the spout, but I thought I would provide links to both

Initial Thoughts
So far, I'm loving my new glasses. The taller "Berzelius" style beakers work perfectly as drinking glasses. You can even measure how much you drink each time! I've put them through the dishwasher a few times and they are holding up quite well.

I haven't tried out the Erlenmeyer as a decanter yet, but I'll let you know how that goes!

I plan to use the graduated beakers as measuring cups. You can never have too many measuring cups when you're cooking or baking. Plus they nest pretty nicely (though the biggest one doesn't quite fit the other three as smoothly).

It's time to switch to metric!

Disclaimer
If you purchased through any of the affiliate links within this post that lead to Amazon, I will get a small percentage of the proceeds.

July 17, 2013 Europe

Hibiscus

This is the first post in the Work Week in London series.

It's not everyday that you can say to a friend, "let's meet in London for dinner" - especially when both you and the friend live in Boston.

Which is why my dinner at Hibiscus was so delightfully surreal.

First of all, it just so happened that Bryan and I both needed to go to London for work. With a bit of advanced planning, we were able to arrange it so we could travel there together.

Then we found out that one of our really good friends from Boston was also going to be in London that exact same week. How weird is that?

So even though we see our friend all the time in Boston, we still thought it would be fun, if possible, to try to have one meal together in London. It wasn't easy to settle on just one restaurant, but after some hunting around, we picked Hibiscus based on its excellent reviews, convenient location, and availability of reservation.

Hibiscus started out in Ludlow, a market town about 150 miles northwest of London. Chef Claude Bosi, who trained in France with both Alain Ducasse and Alain Passard, ran the restaurant with his wife, Claire Bosi. The restaurant soon received a ton of recognition, including two Michelin stars.

In 2007 Hibiscus said good-by to the town of Ludlow and moved right into the center of London, giving many, many more Londoners a chance to try Chef Bosi's talented, creative, and edgy cuisine.

The menu is divided up into different types of tasting menus. You can do a three-course for £87.50 ($132 USD), a six course for £95 ($144 USD), or an eight course for £105 ($159 USD).

Lunch is significantly cheaper, with a 3-course for £34.95 ($53) or a "beefed up" three course with wine, petit fours, and coffee for £49.50 ($75 USD). You can even just get the "plat du jour" (plate of the day), which only costs £19.50 ($30 USD) or £24.50 ($37 US) with wine, petit fours, and coffee.

Bryan laughed when he saw the menu.

"Clearly this menu is priced to entice you to get the 8-course menu. Who would get the three course?"

He's right, in some ways. If you're going to pay $132 USD for a meal, why not shell out the extra $27 for 6 additional courses? At the end of the day, the small, incremental price differential is worth the significant increase in variety of dishes you get to try.

So, of course, we went for the 8-course menu (which, as it turned out, was more like a sampling of 14 different small bites).

We started out with several tiny little amuse bites that came out pretty much all at once. The Leek and Potato Tartlette (top left) were splashed with just a hint of anise flavor. The Polenta Mushroom Croquettes (top right) definitely hit the spot to whet the palate. The Cheese Gougeres were delicious - airy, delicate, and cheesy, though my friend still preferred the ones she's had in Boston.

Our first course was a Smoked Haddock Egg Custard carefully served inside of an egg shell. The custard was mixed with a rice veloute and curry oil. The entire dish was very rich, with strong smoky fish flavors dominating the entire custard.
The next course was a Mussels and Carrot Broth accented with cumin. The soup had very intense flavors, both of carrot essence and that deep, rich ocean flavor that comes from the mussels. The other guests really enjoyed it, though I personally found the mussel flavor to be a bit off putting (was I particularly sensitive to fish flavors for some reason that day?).

It was springtime, and thus many local spring vegetables made appearances. The next dish was a Lime and Spring Onion Ravioli served over a broad bean (also known as fava bean in the U.S.) mint mash and topped with fresh, shelled broad beans.
This next dish had an really unusual combination of flavors, but it worked surprisingly well. A single Seared Scallop was topped with a strong mustard sauce and served alongside a tart grapefruit apple gel. This was accompanied with a "pork pie" sauce and dotted further with a hazelnut Parmesan coffee sauce. This dish worked, and we were pleasantly surprised at the excellent combination of flavors.

Next we enjoyed a seared Sea Bream (a type of fish) with fresh spring morel mushrooms in a kaffir lime sauce.

At this point I was starting to feel pretty full, which is always unfortunately timed because it's usually at this moment that the heavier, more savory courses make their appearance.

Here was no exception, and our next course was Sweetbreads with Nashi pear (or Asian pear), grilled frisée, and a pear veal jus. The sweetbreads were fatty and juicy, which worked nicely with the brightness of the fruit themed accompaniments.

And finally, for the last course, we had Guinea Fowl, an odd looking flightless bird that sort of resembles a turkey. The fowl was stuffed with a coriander brioche filling right in between the crispy skin and the meat. This came with confit kumquat on the side, coriander mint jus, and an asparagus "risotto".

Technically if you count each amuse as a separate course, we had already had ten courses by the time we approached dessert. I was quite full, but then this gorgeous first dessert totally caught my attention. It's a fun play on s'mores with a cereal-like flaky pastry sandwiching "marshmallow" shaped cream. This dish was served with a compote of tiny strawberries, Sichuan pepper foam, and a celeriac jelly.

I actually enjoyed this one quite a lot.

The server was playful and mysterious for this next dish.

"Taste the yellow cream and try to guess what it is."

I took a small bite. It was sweet, creamy, and nutty.

"Chestnut?" I asked.

None of us got it right. You'll never guess what it was.

Asparagus.

That's right. We had an asparagus flavored cream as one of our desserts. I was really surprised. It actually works quite well as a sweet, creamy dessert. It is surprisingly nutty, and reminds me more of chestnuts than a green vegetable. This asparagus cream was served with paper thin meringue sheets decorated with jet black olive powder. The plate was further decorated with olive and lemon flavored "drops".

We're not done yet. The last dessert they brought was this airy chocolate. The texture is hard to describe, but just imagine something with the air pocket density of a sponge, but made of chocolate. My favorite was the caramel, but I enjoyed all three (white chocolate mint, caramel, and chocolate).

Yes, we were stuffed, but we managed to fit in one last bite - freshly baked madeleine cookies.

It was an unusual and almost surreal experience in some ways. Meeting up with a friend from Boston halfway around the world just to enjoy this one meal together. How often is it that three good friends can align their business trip dates that perfectly?

Hibiscus most certainly delivered on providing a solid, high-end meal in a lovely part of London. It was centrally located so we could all take the Tube (London's subway) and arrive with relative ease. If it's still early, you can definitely walk around that area after dinner. The restaurant is very close to Oxford Circus and not too far from Picadilly Circus or Leicester Square. All of these areas are fun, lively places where you can just walk around, shop, people-watch, and and just generally soak in everything about London.

I never tire of it.
Hibiscus

29 Maddox St
Mayfair, UK W1S 1

July 15, 2013 Appetizer

Mango "Ceviche"

Wow, is it hot or what?

We are experiencing a crazy, muggy, very humid heat wave here in Boston. It's been tough walking my normal 20-minute walk to work. By the time I arrive, I feel like I already need a shower and another change of clothing.

It's days like this that I really don't feel like turning on the stove, oven, or anything that could generate more heat. I crave something refreshing and cool, full of seasonal summer ingredients.

Thankfully, summer is blessed with an abundance of fresh produce. I'm reminded of my trip to Thailand not too long along (another very hot place!), where I took cooking classes and learned so much about the glorious variety of herbs, fruits, and vegetables available there.

Fresh produce market in Bangkok, Thailand

Just a couple weeks ago, P.F. Chang's asked me if I would be interested in designing an Asian-inspired dish based on summer ingredients featured in their new Summer Seasonal Menu. They are currently hosting a Flavors of Summer Sweepstake Pinterest contest where contestants can pin their favorite ingredients from the summer ingredients list for chances to win P.F. Chang's gift cards.

This list of summer ingredients most certainly makes me think of Thailand, especially ingredients like the green papaya, which I used to make Som Tam in Thailand; or fresh cilantro, Thai basil, and bean sprouts, which is often served with Pad Thai or other local dishes on the street.

Bean sprouts, lime wedges, and herbs from the most famous pad Thai restaurant in Bangkok

Inspired by my trip to Thailand as well as a meal I recently enjoyed, I decided to make a refreshing Mango Ceviche dressed with lime juice and topped with kaffir lime leaves, shallots, habanero peppers, and crispy pancetta.

Ceviche is usually a term reserved for seafood that's been marinated in citrus and seasoned with hot peppers. It's common in Central and South America. You often see white fish, shrimp, or scallops being prepared this way. Often the seafood is further tossed with onions and fresh herbs, like cilantro.

This dish is a playful take on that concept, since it's the mango that's being dressed with lime juice, shallots, and hot peppers. However, the texture of the ripe mango is similar to that of raw fish, so even though it's technically not ceviche, it very much embodies the spirit of a ceviche.

Thinly slice mango into slices roughly the size of a piece of sashimi. It's best to choose a really soft, ripe, and very sweet mango.

Squeeze lime juice over the entire plate of mango slices.
Tope the citrus-marinated mango slices with finely chopped shallots, finely chopped habanero peppers, and thin snippets of kaffir lime leaves. You can also use other herbs such as cilantro if you can't access the kaffir lime leaves. If you want an additional crunch, consider adding thinly sliced radishes, or even jicama. It's really quite flexible.

If you can't handle the heat of a habanero, you can instead substitute them with something milder (such as jalapenos), or something not spicy at all, such as a bell pepper.

A delicious addition is crispy pancetta on top, which I think totally makes the dish.

Crumble the crispy pancetta pieces and throw them on top.

Serve!

Absolutely perfect on a hot, summer day.

And I managed to use several of the ingredients on the summer menu ingredients list!

Mango Ceviche
serves 2

2 ripe mangos
1-2 kaffir lime leaves (or a few cilantro leaves)
juice of ½ lime
shallots, minced
peppers, minced or thinly sliced (habaneros, jalapenos, or just red bell peppers)
pancetta (1-2 sliced, cooked until crispy and crushed)

This is one of those recipes that you really almost don't need to measure, since the ratios are sort of up to you. Use your visual judgment as you probably won't go wrong.

Using a sharp knife, remove the skin of the mango. Using either a peeler or a sharp knife, carefully "shave" off thin pieces of mango about the size of a slice of sashimi sushi. Arrange the mango slices so that they fill up a layer on the plate. Squeeze the juice of ½ a lime over the mango slices. Top with finely minced shallots, thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves (or cilantro), finely minced peppers (habanero, jalapeno, bell), and crispy pancetta.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by P.F. Chang's. The recipe and all opinions are my own.

July 11, 2013 Fish

Olive Oil Poached Halibut with Garlic Spears and Fresh Peas (sous vide)

Summer is quickly slipping by me, and I feel like I have barely had a chance to really savor it.Part of it was my crazy June schedule, I guess. We went to Yellowstone with Bryan's parents (mesmerizing place, by the way - one of the top places to visit in the US, in my opinion) for a whole week. After that, it was two weekends in a row where we darted from coast to coast. First to attend a wedding of some friends in Seattle, and then off to another wedding in DC.Needless to say, the pile of unopened mail on my counter is spilling over and I am so behind on processing photographs.It's time like these that I'm grateful for simple meals that I can make at home. Meals which taste better than what I could get at most restaurants and don't necessarily restrain me to be "stuck" at a restaurant for hours.

This simple olive oil poached halibut relies on excellent ingredients to shine. The prep is extremely easy and the entire meal preparation can be done in less than 30 minutes. Just make sure you get the freshest, best quality fish you can find. We (or shall I say, Bryan) hand carried ours back from Pike Place Market in Seattle (along with our 20+ lb Copper River King salmon (!)), and paired it with local, seasonal farm vegetables that came straight from the farmers market.

Generously season the fish fillets with Kosher sea salt (or normal salt is fine too). You can use all sorts of herbs to add another element of flavor. I had a ton of fennel fronds from my CSA farm share, so I went ahead and used those, but you can just as easily used fresh thyme leaves, chervil, or even nothing at all.

The Sous Vide Supreme is not designed to vacuum seal liquids (unlike more expensive, professional machines), but you can approximate the effect by hanging your vacuum bag way below the machine. This keeps the liquids pretty much near the bottom and not much of it will escape when you seal the bag.

As long as the fish is mostly covered by a thin film of oil, you're good to go! Dunk the bags into your sous vide machine and "cook" at 113°F for about 15-20 minutes. This temperature is great if you want a rare, silky, almost melt-in-your-mouth texture.

If you want something firmer, you may want to increase the temperature. I have not tried other temperatures, but a lot of recipes online go as high as 140 °F, which I am guessing will result in a more "cooked" and flaky texture.

While the fish is cooking, we can prepare our veggies to go on top.

I love discovering new vegetables I've never tried before. That's why I decided to sign up for a farm share this summer. These gorgeous garlic spears, however, did not come from my CSA.

Instead I saw them selling in Seattle at Pike Place Market. Garlic Spears are the young shoots of the elephant garlic. It is actually more closely related to a leek than to garlic scapes, which comes from normal garlic.

I was so intrigued by these (especially after loving garlic scapes, garlic greens, and ramps so much the last few weeks), I just had to buy some to bring back with me to Boston.

I simple sauteed these spears along with some fresh peas from my farm share. No need to add any garlic, since the spears themselves already have a garlicky flavor. Simple salt and pepper will do.

Many people think that garlic spears taste like asparagus. The stems actually remind me more of Chinese long beans, if you can believe that. The flavor is very mild, but delicious. The flowering heads have more of a sharp zing to their flavor, sort of like raw garlic. The stems temper the spiciness, and the overall combination is very good.

After about 15-20 minutes, gently remove the fish from the bag (it will be super delicate and could totally fall apart on you if you are not careful), and place it on a plate. Pour a bit of the poaching oil over the fish. If you've chosen an intensely colored olive oil, it will look really pretty on the plate. Top with the sauteed vegetables (in my case, the garlic spears and fresh peas), and serve!

Olive Oil Poached Halibut with Garlic Spears and Fresh Peas
serves 3-4

1.5 to 2 lb halibut fillet
~ 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil per vacuum bag
herbs (e.g., fennel fronds, thyme, or chervil)
kosher sea salt (or regular salt)
pepper (optional)
fresh seasonal vegetables (I used garlic spears and fresh peas)

special equipment: vacuum sealer, vacuum bags, and a sous vide machine or something that approximates it (magic cooker, cooler, or an enameled cast iron Dutch oven).

This is a really flexible recipe, and again, the amounts are just estimates above. Your goal is to have the olive oil cover the fish. Since we are doing this in a vacuum bag, you don't need a ton of oil. The herbs are pretty much up to you. I had fennel fronds from my CSA box, and they added a nice, subtle flavor to the fish. Other herbs, like thyme or chervil, could work fine as well.

Season halibut fillets on either side with salt. Place the fillets in vacuum bags, making sure to keep them in a single layer. You want all the pieces to be roughly equal in thickness so that they will cook evenly. I ended up using two bags in order to achieve this.

Add olive oil and carefully seal the bag taking care to avoid letting oil get sucked up by the machine (see photo above for how best to do this). Place in a heated water bath (sous vide) and cook at around 113° F - 115° F. This will make fish on the rarer side. I've seen recipes that go as high as 140 °F. This will likely result in a more "cooked", flakier style fish. I personally loved the super soft, melt-in-your-mouth quality of the low-temperature cooked fish, but not everyone at the table shared my sentiments (some found it a bit too soft and mushy and wished for more substance).

Cook for about 15 minutes and up to 30 minutes if necessary. Gently (it is really fragile!) remove fish from pouch and set on a plate. Pour some olive oil over the fish for presentation.

Top with sauteed spring vegetables.

Serve!

July 10, 2013 Europe

A Work Week in London

I love going to London.

Yes, I am lucky that I get to go there on a pretty regular basis. My company has a site there and I work closely with many people there. As a result, I usually end up visiting the UK about once a year.

I never tire of visiting. Just being in London makes me happy. I get that nostalgic feeling whenever I see the "Mind the Gap" signs, the huge double decker red buses, and my favorite British cookies.

In the past, I've tried to use London as a spring board to visit other places in Europe. One year I appended a "weekend" trip to Greece with several friends from college following my business meetings in London. Another year Bryan met me on a Friday after my business trip and we flew to Rome for the weekend. In general, it's a great way to see Europe since you can fly to so many places from London for not much extra cost.

This year, however, various obligations back home made it hard for us to stay the weekend and take any extra trips. The London trip this year was short and sweet: Monday leave Boston; Friday arrive back.

Thankfully, we managed to schedule our business trips to London around the same time. So instead of visiting a new country, we had the opportunity to spend the week together in London and dine at some very cool places.

It seemed like everyone was going to London that week. One of our very close friends from Boston also happened to be there during the same time, in her case for a work conference. Schedules worked out and we were able to meet up for a fantastic two star Michelin meal together.

My favorite meal of the entire trip was at this gorgeous restaurant in Notting Hill, which is also currently ranked as the 13th best restaurant in the world by S. Pellegrino.

Of course, I was in London for work after all. The final night of our trip Bryan and I went our own separate ways with our respective work dinners.

My colleagues took me to a place they knew I would love. After all, my dinner at the sister restaurant was one of my favorite meals in London last year (enjoyed right before Bryan and I headed out to Rome the next morning!).

This next "A Work Week In London" series will be shorter than most of my trip series (alas, we were only there for three days, and my lunches were simple £2 sandwiches from the deli near the office), but I promise the restaurants and the food won't disappoint!

Stay tuned!

July 4, 2013 Washington DC

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July!

I've been traveling a lot around this great country of ours the past few weeks.

From hiking around the gorgeous canyons and geysers at Yellowstone National Park to buying a whole King salmon (!) at Pike Place Market in Seattle, it's been a crazy (but fun!) June.

Old Faithful Geyser erupts every 90 minutes

The 20-lb Copper River King Salmon that we bought from Pike Place Market.

I've always loved going to see the fireworks in Boston. The show is spectacular, synced to music played by the Boston Pops Orchestra. This year will be a bit bittersweet, as security is ramped up and tons of rules are set in place due to the bombings that occurred a few months ago.

This year, I won't be able to enjoy the celebrations with my local Bostonians. Instead, I'm at our nation's capital to attend a wedding and visit friends. For the first time ever, I'll descend upon the Mall like so many other Americans to actually see the fireworks in DC. I heard it's quite a show, so I'm looking forward to it (though also a bit anxious about the crowds!).

Hope you all have a wonderful fourth. Like so many others across America, I'm at a friend's house this afternoon enjoying your classic BBQ dishes - burgers, hot dogs, Taiwanese grilled corn (OK, maybe that's got a slight Asian twist to it!), and lots of salad.

Let the celebrations begin!

Yellowstone National Park steaming lakes

The Capitol Building in DC

July 2, 2013 Recipe

Roasted Beets and Fennel Salad

Last week I ate the most interesting sort of diet.

As you may know, I've just started receiving weekly boxes from my CSA at Siena Farms. In many ways, it's been super exciting each week to anticipate what kind of cool and unique produce will show up in my box. I haven't been disappointed yet!

However, it also started at a less-than-convenient time.

We've been traveling a lot in June. We visited Yellowstone earlier this month (fascinating and beautiful place, by the way), and then proceeded to fly to Seattle the following week to attend a wedding. On top of all that, Bryan left mid-week to go to New York for a business trip.

Which means I was left eating the entire box of vegetables myself.

It was good training, and sort of fun, actually. I became really disciplined about cooking as much vegetables as possible in order to eat as much of it as possible before we left for our next trip.

It was crazy. I ate two heads of lettuce and kohlrabi crunch salad for dinner one evening. Another evening, I made my mom's Asian crunchy broccoli stem salad. I even stayed up late at night roasting beets and fennel to make this salad for lunch the next day.

I ate so many vegetables. It was like a 95% vegetable diet (with a few nuts thrown in there).

I loved it and I felt amazing.

This beet and fennel salad is pretty easy to make. I didn't really follow a recipe. My main goal was to save as many steps as possible since I was cooking late at night.

Many recipes ask you to wrap up beets in foil and roast for an entire hour. Ever since I discovered how amazing beets can taste when you just chop them up and roast them, I've never gone back to the foil method.

This way saves time, and the beets are still delicious.

I think the best way to make this is to cube the beets, though they are extremely pretty when you slice them (if you have these gorgeous striped beets like the ones I got from Siena Farms). The discs are just more likely to dry out in the oven, which makes them a bit leathery.

I roasted the beets along with some sliced fennel bulb at 350 °F in the oven for about 30 minutes or so, or until everything seemed cooked and softened.

Toss with some salt and pepper to taste and decorate with fennel fronds if you wish.

This salad is oh-so-simple, super healthy, and delicious.

I doubt Bryan will go along with me on this 95% vegetable diet now that he's back from New York. It was fun while it lasted though.

Roasted Beet and Fennel Salad
3-4 medium sized beets
½ to 1 fennel bulb
~1 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
fennel fronds (optional)

I hesitate to put any exact amounts because this dish is so flexible. I personally did not measure, though if you look at the photos you'll realize that I used about four small beets and one fennel bulb. This was largely due to the fact that this is the amount I got in my CSA box! I hate to be so vague, but it is really up to you what amounts you want to make. I think 3-4 regular sized beets to a small fennel bulb is not a bad starting point, but feel free to adjust based on your preference!

Remove the green stems from the beets and cut them up into similar sized pieces. I usually don't bother peeling beets because I'm happy enough eating the outer skin as well (and I don't like wasting time). Cubes work the best to maintain juiciness, though slicing works OK as well.

Slice the fennel bulb into 1 cm strips. Combine beets and fennel strips with about 1-2 teaspoon olive oil (or use an oil spritzer if you are trying to avoid using too much oil) ensuring that all pieces are at least somewhat coated with oil. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine everything.

Roast at 350 °F for about 20-30 minutes, checking periodically to see when the pieces are done. Once finished, remove oven and let cool or serve immediately.

If serving as a cool salad, you can optionally add a splash of citrus for fun.

Enjoy!

July 1, 2013 New York

ABC Kitchen

This is the final and sixth post in the series A Casual Weekend in New York. Other posts include Frank Pepe's Pizza, Salumeria Rossi Parmacotto, Szechuan Gourmet, 15 East, and Angel's Share.

Are we crazy or what?

Bryan and I were en route to Australia for a family trip with his parents and sister. We had an overnight stopover in New York City - essentially 12 hours in New York. Bryan thought it would be fun to go all the way into Manhattan just for dinner.

Since our flight didn't arrive into JFK International Airport until around 8:30PM (and JFK is a good 45 minutes away from Manhattan) we made a 10:30PM reservation for dinner. I don't think I've ever had dinner so late in my life!

I felt like a real New Yorker.

We decided to visit Jean-Georges Vongerichten's wildly popular farm-to-table, locavore, sustainable, organic, things-are-recycled-or-reclaimed, environmental etc. etc. restaurant. On top of all that, it's located on the first floor of the ABC Carpet and Home department store.

We'd heard great things about it, and the location intrigued us.

Plus, we were starving. It was 10:30PM after all (how do New Yorkers eat so late?).

The waiter recommended several of the starters and seemed to have an affinity towards vegetarian dishes. I was personally intrigued by the entire menu too, especially the variety of interesting produce reflected on the menu.

We decided to try and order from every section of the menu, hitting each one (Market Table, Appetizers, Pastas, Main Course) with the exception of Whole Wheat Pizza, which we thought would make us too full.

We began with the Roasted Kabocha Squash Toast which came with fresh homemade ricotta and apple cider vinegar ($12). It was actually quite filling, and I wondered whether I should have eaten that and the bread.

The Ricotta Cavatelli came with ruby red shrimp, crushed tomatoes and chili crumbs ($18 for small; $27.00 for large). The homemade cavatelli was gorgeously chewy and the flavor of the pasta sauce was deeply flavorful and rich.

I was a bit disappointed with the Brussels Sprouts, which I wished to be just a bit crispier. It was OK, but I much preferred the version I make at home (all nice and crispy with touches of bacon).

The Fried Chicken, on the other hand, is one of the most popular items on the menu and was incredible. The skin was coated with some sort of light and airy batter - almost like corn flakes or crispy tempura. The chicken itself was wonderfully juicy. Bryan even said, "this is the best fried chicken I have ever had".

Wow, that's definitely saying something.

Our dessert, the Sundae, is one of their signature dishes and it's really good. Three generous scoops of salted caramel ice cream is served with candied peanuts, caramel popcorn, whipped cream, and a deep, rich chocolate sauce. ($13). It was excellent.

First Impressions
All in all, the food was all good, though none of it blew us away. I walked away a bit underwhelmed, especially considering how popular this place is (and how difficult it is to reserve!).

Sure, some of the dishes (like the fried chicken and the sundae), were excellent and probably worth a return trip. And the locavore focus is nice as well. You won't go wrong coming here.

However, I think there are many equally great (if not better) places to dine - both in New York and in Boston. It's most certainly enjoyable, though perhaps not quite worth the $80 round trip cab ride from the airport.

ABC Kitchen
Gramercy/Flatiron
35 E 18th St
New York, NY 10003

June 28, 2013 Boston

Good-by Radius

Tomorrow, June 29, 2013, is a sad, bittersweet day.

It is the last day for Radius, Michael Schlow's flagship restaurant in Boston. Radius announced in early May that it would not be renewing its lease of the large space it has in the financial district. We don't know too many details yet, but the word is that Chef Schlow plans on opening another restaurant (with a different name) not too far away, retaining pretty much the same team but with a new more casual and communal concept.

Chef Michael Schlow opened Radius in 1999 and soon won a plethora of awards, including the highly regarded James Beard Award for Best Chef Northeast, Best of Boston, and Best New Restaurant from Food and Wine Magazine - just to name a few.

It's known for having one of the best (and most expensive!) burgers in Boston, a gorgeous specimen piled high with fried onion strings, horseradish sauce, and Vermont cheddar cheese. Bryan and I first tried it in 2011 and loved it.

Radius has always been on Bryan's short list of places to try in Boston. Sure, we'd dined at the bar before and Bryan's had their burger for lunch numerous times. However, we'd never really had a full-on dinner there.

So imagine our surprise and excitement when Radius invited us to try dinner at the restaurant before it closed. Of course we immediately said yes.

Here's a look at the fabulous "Chef's Tasting Meal" we had.

The first course, a larger "amuse" of sorts, was a Chilled Carrot Soup made with ginger, curried brioche croutons, and Thumbelinas (a variety of carrot) decorated with a French parsley leaf. We both absolutely loved the soup. It was bright, sweet, and had very intense and pure carrot flavors ("carrot-y" as Bryan called it). We savored it slowly, not wanting our little bowl to end.

The next course was gorgeously plated and pleasing to the palate as well. Ahi Tuna (topped with just a tiny splash of sea salt) was served with hamachi tartare (delicious!), speck (a type of cured meat), Muscat grapes, and a huge red sorrel leaf. On the side, pepitas and a tiny bit of balsamic reduction sauce rounded out the plate.

The tuna was decent, though not nearly as flavorful as the tuna that you might get at a high-end sushi place. The overall dish, however, worked surprisingly well.

We gasped when the next course was served, partly because of the vivid black colors of the dish. This was Squid Ink Tagliatelle which was served with Brussels Sprouts and topped with a ginger foam.
On the side there were black crumbles of flavor, which added a nice, charcoal-like smokiness to the dish, though I'm not exactly sure what these crumbles were.

The pasta had good texture and overall the dish was well executed. Though it was quite rich (maybe a butter sauce of sorts?), the crunchy Brussels sprouts balanced out the richness nicely. Frankly, the foam didn't taste too much like ginger, and we questioned whether it was supposed to be something else.

The next course, the Seared Scallops, came with red quinoa, citrus pieces (orange, I believe), morel mushrooms, artichokes, and pea shoots. Overall, this dish was one of the more underwhelming dishes of the evening. The sauce for the quinoa was very buttery and rich - almost too buttery for my tastes. Thankfully, the scallop was still perfectly cooked (almost raw on the inside, just the way I like it!).

The Slow Roasted Halibut was served with an intensely green salsa verde, pickled fiddleheads, grilled white asparagus, and ruby streaks. The "ruby" streaks turned out to be this surprisingly spicy and flavorful sauce. It almost reminded me of a fragrant Chinese hot sauce in some ways. We both loved it. The salsa verde was herbaceous and also intensely fragrant. We didn't expect this dish to be so flavorful, but it was actually really good.

I'm not a huge fan of foie gras, so I did not really partake in this next course, which is an optional supplement to the Chef's Tasting Menu. The Trio of Foie Gras includes foie gras served three ways: foie terrine (left), seared foie gras (middle), and foie gras ice cream (right).

The terrine is made with a pancetta cap and served with walnut crumble, plumped raisins, and sassafras. The seared foie gras is served over a delicious toasted brioche (even I thought it was pretty awesome). The foie gras ice cream is served as part of a root beer "float".

Bryan's favorite course of the evening was the Smoked Collote of Beef, which was served with "pommes" Robuchon (yes, those famous velvety mashed potatoes from Joel Robuchon), morels, duck confit, ramps, and red wine jus.

The beef was gorgeously flavored with this intense smoky flavor that resulted from being cooked with hickory chips. Bryan even said, "this is the best beef dish I have ever had in a tasting menu."

Ever? Seriously? That's really saying a lot considering where we've even (though to be honest, I have to agree that typically I'm not crazy impressed with the beef course at most tasting menus).

The "famous" velvety mashed potatoes were just a tiny spread on the bottom of the plate, not nearly enough to really appreciate just how amazing these potatoes are. I guess you'll have to go to Las Vegas to enjoy that.

The cheese plate was another optional supplement you could add to the tasting menu. Bryan loves cheese so he's always happy to enjoy this added course. We had cheese from Mt. Alice, Blue Ledge Farm, and Pardou Ardi Gasna. The accompaniments were lovely, and the all of the cheese was pretty good.

For our palate cleanser, we enjoyed a first "dessert" of cherries in a chocolate shell topped with a light, lavender sorbet. The chocolate was nice and dark - not too sweet - and overall the dessert was nice, though a bit heavy as a palate cleanser.

We tried two different desserts. The Goat Cheese and Huckleberry Cheesecake was pretty mild. Though you could tell it was made with goat cheese, the goat cheese flavor did not overpower the dessert. This came topped with a small buckwheat "crust", huckleberry ice cream, a huckleberry glace, and tart lemon syrup.
We had the Pilon once before when we ate at the bar at Radius years ago. This classic dessert is one that easily pleases many palates. The bittersweet chocolate cone has a nice deep chocolate flavor, and is contrasted nicely by the rum raisins, maple fenugreek ice cream, and crushed peanuts. The combination of flavors works surprisingly well, and I enjoyed the textural contrasts between the ice cream, chocolate, and crunchy nuts.

Though we were stuffed, they came by with some final bites: strawberry cream over shortbread, chocolate cake, and a blood orange pate de fruits.

All in all, we had a fabulous time at Radius. The dishes we tried really reflect Chef Michael Schlow's talent in designing and executing dishes.

Though it's sad that Radius is closing, I'm sure Chef Schlow will continue to express his talent in whatever new venture he cooks up.

As for Radius's last day, diners who show up tomorrow on this final, special day for the restaurant after 9PM can enjoy free late night snacks and drink specials, part of what they are calling "last call."

For those who are dreading the disappearance of his famous burger, do not fear. Chef Shlow has promised "it will pop up somewhere soon." The burger will be doing a pop-up tour around Boston. I'll definitely keep you posted once I find out more details regarding where and when.

Best of luck to Chef Schlow and the Radius crew. We look forward to your next endeavor!

Radius
8 High St
Boston, MA 02110

Disclaimer: Radius paid for our meal and drink. All opinions are my own.

June 27, 2013 Boston

Garlic Scapes and Pistachio Pesto (with fresh peas!)

Hello garlic scapes! How I've missed you.

What are garlic scapes?

A garlic scape is the stem and unopened flower of a garlic plant. Garlic scapes taste like garlic, but are milder and sweeter. They remind me of spring ramps in a lot of ways. They make a great pesto, largely because (again) you don't have to separately add garlic cloves since the greens already inherently have that lovely, garlicky flavor.

I first encountered garlic scapes in my first ever CSA (back in 2009!), from ReVision Urban Farms, a great nonprofit program that works in conjunction with a women's shelter to teach women real life work skills.

I thought they were great, but soon realized they were impossible to find in a traditional super market. Farmer's markets are not always convenient to visit, so I just didn't have a chance to buy them or even see them for years.

Imagine how thrilled I was when I saw these beautiful, curly garlic scapes in my CSA box this past week (along with some fresh peas and other gorgeously colorful vegetables).

I immediately knew exactly what I was going to make.

This recipe uses pistachios as the nut, which is great because pistachios are among my favorite nuts in the world. I only had salted pistachios on hand, which is fine. Just don't add as much salt into the pesto itself.

I'm one of those inexact type of cooks that just likes to throw everything into the food processor - even the oil! I cut up the garlic scapes a bit so that they would fit. Otherwise, just throw it all in!

And then pulse until the pesto is well pureed. At this point, you can add salt and pepper to taste. If you used salted pistachios and a pretty salty Parmesan cheese, you may not even need to add that much salt.

You can set some pesto aside if you want for future use, such as spreading on top of toast, serving with roasted vegetables, or eating with potatoes. The possibilities are endless. I put half in the freezer and tossed the other half with some simple bowtie pasta.

Bryan and I then shelled the peas at the table and threw them straight into the pasta (yes, raw!). I loved how the sweet and slightly crunchy raw peas provided a fresh, summer-like contrast to the garlicky, herbaceous pesto.

Yum.

Enjoy!

Garlic Scapes and Pistachio Pesto (with fresh peas!)
source: adapted from epicurious

⅓ cup shelled pistachios
~ 10 garlic scapes (cut into sizes that can fit into your food processor)
⅓ cup grated Parmesan Romano cheese
⅓ cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
½ to 1 lb pasta (depending on how saucy you like your pasta!)
fresh peas, preferably still in the shell (optional)

Puree the pistachios, garlic scapes, grated cheese with olive oil in a food processor. Add salt and pepper to taste.

If making the pasta dish, cook pasta according to instructions. Toss hot pasta with the pesto sauce until well incorporated. Optionally mix in freshly shelled raw peas.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: the vegetables from Siena Farms were purchased at a discount price.

June 26, 2013 Boston

Dumpling Cafe {SNAPSHOT}

This is a {Snapshot} of Dumpling Café based on my recent experiences at the restaurant. The original post of this restaurant (written in 2010!) can be found here.

Dumpling Café is located in Boston's Chinatown and has a nice selection of Taiwanese dishes, Sichuan dishes, and various types of dumplings. It’s almost never as crowded as Gourmet Dumpling House (which invariably has a long line outside), even though there’s quite a huge overlap in the menus and the food is comparable in quality. Perhaps less people know about this place, partly because it’s just a tiny bit off the beaten path (5 minute walk from Gourmet Dumpling House).

I like it also because it’s fast. It’s as fast as Taiwan Café, which in my mind has always been one of the fastest restaurants in Chinatown. I swear, within 5 minutes of ordering, your food starts to show up on the table. We were trying catch a movie at Lowe’s Cinema once and came here for dinner beforehand. We were in and out of the restaurant in about 20 minutes. As long as you don't have to wait for a table, coming here could be faster than a fast food joint, and most certainly tastes much, much better.

Here's a look at some dishes we've tried during our past few visits.

“Sen Jian Bao” are flat buns filled with meat and vegetables that are pan fried to form a crispy edge. The best ones I’ve ever had were in Shanghai from a famous street vendor. These were still nicely pan fried and were reasonably tasty.

The xiaolongbaos (soup dumplings) are tasty here, and probably among the best ones in Boston (though they still pale in comparison to the ones available out west or in Asia). I much prefer the flavor of the crab roe with pork dumplings, though the pork ones are still not bad.

They are pretty huge (a negative in my book, because it's hard to put the whole thing in your mouth), and thus can be tricky to navigate. Definitely use a spoon and be careful! They are delicate and may break, and the soup inside is hot! I like to wait a bit before eating these, otherwise they seriously burn my tongue.

Steamed dumplings are fine - nothing particularly exciting, but they are reasonably tasty and not greasy at all.

The spicy fish dish (shui zhu yu) is bold, flavorful, and quite similar to the one at Gourmet Dumpling House, which is also quite good. Be prepared for the numbing sour zing from the Sichuan peppercorns, which are used quite liberally in this dish.

Beef with longhorn peppers is fine, though not particularly memorable.

Stir fried hollow heart greens with garlic (a simple dish I often like to order no matter where I am) were tender, flavorful, and light.

I enjoyed the rice cakes with pork and mustard greens (a classic Taiwanese combo), which were nicely flavored and not too greasy. It reminded me of simple home cooking.

A similar dish made with tofu sheets was simple and light – something I could imagine eating reasonably frequently. [yes, eating Chinese food out can be healthy!]

Overall, this restaurant usually falls on my short-list of places to visit when I’m in Chinatown. The food is good, the service is crazy fast, and the dishes are reasonably healthy. It's a nice option if other places have long lines. Keep in mind I’m a bit biased towards Taiwanese and Sichuan cuisine, so other restaurants on my short list would be places like Taiwan Café and Gourmet Dumpling House.

Dumpling Cafe
695 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02111

June 24, 2013 New York

Angel's Share (bar)

This is the fifth post in the series A Casual Weekend in New York. Other posts include Frank Pepe's Pizza, Salumeria Rossi Parmacotto, Szechuan Gourmet, and 15 East.

Who doesn't love a hidden secret?

Bryan's cousin Anne, who lives in New York, invited us to meet her at a special Japanese "speakeasy" called Angel's Share for drinks while we were in New York. Though technically "hidden", this bar is well-known among cocktail enthusiasts and has received a ton of press, accolades, and awards.

Rated the second best bar in America by GQ Magazine in 2010, Angel's Share is known for its creative hand-crafted cocktails meticulously made by its Japanese bartenders. It also boasts an extensive selection of wine, bourbon, scotch, whiskey, and sake.

I love anything Japanese, and thus was thrilled to check out this new bar.

There was just one problem.

Door to Village Yokocho

We didn't know that the bar was hidden.

While trying to find the place, we dutifully followed Anne's directions:

"The bar's address is 8 Stuyvesant St in the East Village, between Second and Third Avenue."

What happens is that when you enter the door at 8 Stuyvesant St. (door pictured above), you walk up the stairs to a loud, casual Japanese restaurant that looks like this.

It really doesn't look anything like a bar.

It turns out there's an unmarked door on the left which actually leads you into the hidden bar. We never would have found it had we not called Anne, who showed up a few minutes later and took us here.

Once you enter, you are greeted with this view.

The ambiance here is completely different from the bright lights and flashing red lanterns outside. Inside, the lighting is subdued and jazz music plays in the background.

Bartenders dressed up in tuxedo vests and ties expertly whip up handcrafted, Japanese-inspired cocktails.

It's almost like you are walking into a real speakeasy from the 1920's.

The bar is quite popular, and the later you come, the more likely it will be packed. Because of limited available seating, you may have to wait for a table (we did). Here you can see a steady stream of guests entering the doorway from the outside world.

The rules are strict here. Parties cannot exceed four people, and you can't stand at the bar. There's almost always a wait (it's very popular), but it's quite worth it, in my opinion.

We tried numerous cocktails between the three of us, and they were all incredibly good. I loved my drink, the award winning Speak Low (pictured on the left), which includes two kinds of rum (Bacardi Superior, Bacardi Solera), Osborne Pedro Ximenez sherry, matcha powder , and a splash of yuzu zest.

It was subtle, complex, and wonderfully refreshing.

Anne got the Serenity (pictured on the right) a house specialty made with citrus and herb-infused vodka, homemade lychee liqueur, fresh ruby red grapefruit juice, fresh lemon juice, and a dash of rose water.

Bryan ordered a really cool drink called the Daahoud, which consists of a mixture of Bulleit rye whiskey, Oloroso sherry, benedictine, and angostura bitters served with a Macallan soaked orange peel in a cinnamon and clove smoked glass.

Because we sat at the bar, it was fun to watch the bartender actually smoke the cinnamon and cloves in glasses right in front of us.

Overall, we had a great time at Angel's Share. Though I haven't visited that many bars in New York, I can easily say that this is by far my favorite bar in New York, and possibly the entire US (!). The drinks are fantastic, and the whole experience (especially sitting right at the counter) is fun. Prices are on the high side (cocktails average around $15 each), but well worth the cost.

Highly recommended.

Angel's Share
8 Stuyvesant St East Village
New York 10003

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June 21, 2013 Boston

Island Creek Oyster Bar (dinner)

Where should first time visitors to Boston eat if they only have a weekend in the city?Most definitely you have to try a lobster roll, clam chowder, and get some awesome east coast oysters at one of our several excellent oyster bars. My top choice would be Neptune Oyster (they have an incredible lobster roll as well as fantastic oysters). The biggest problem is that everyone loves Neptune Oyster. The place is quite small and they don’t take reservations.

So, if that uncertainty bothers you, I think my next favorite oyster bar is probably Island Creek Oyster Bar.

First of all, it’s in an awesome, oh-so-Bostonian location. It basically sits at the foot of Fenway Park, our storied baseball stadium.

Second, I love the space at Island Creek. The atmosphere is bright and airy, as tall floor to ceiling windows line an entire wall. A huge oyster bar sits along one of the corners, where you can choose from a huge assortment of oysters (from all over!).

And of course, the most important reason to come here? Amazing oysters, excellent seafood, and overall, just a really great place to eat.

Let’s start with the oysters. One of the owners, Skip Bennett, is also an oyster farmer from Duxbury. He helps supply the restaurant with super fresh oysters (which are fabulous, by the way). The restaurant always has a really good and interesting selection of oysters from all over, such as Maine, Prince Edward Island, and Washington.

One on occasion, we tried Island Creek oysters (of course), which were clean and briny. Moon Shoals were larger and sweet, but also saltier, creamy, and meatier than the Island Creeks. The Spring Creek oysters were lighter than the Moon Shoals but still pleasant. They were clean and less briny. Nausets had a much stronger "oceany" taste. They were quite salty and not one of my favorites. Finally, the Katema Bay, which was a very large oyster, was pretty sweet and also a bit "oceany"(again, not one of my favorites).

As I said earlier, overall the food is very good, and there are lots of seafood options. The Lobster Roe Spaghetti is one of their signature dishes. Chock full of fresh, New England lobster meat, this dish features fresh handmade pasta tossed with mushrooms and peas in a rich, buttery roe sauce.

The Seared Halibut we had one night was excellent, crisped beautifully on the outside yet still soft and tender on the inside. The accompanying gnocchi was deliciously chewy and served in a beautifully flavorful sauce.

Fried Monkfish Cheeks were paired with a bold sauce that was sweet, savory, and spicy all at the same time.

And then there are the little things that are cool - like the fact that the house made sparkling water is complimentary, or that the menu has items at all different sorts of price ranges.

Overall, this is a great place to visit if you want to experience great New England sea food in a contemporary casual setting. It’s not surprising that this place is extremely popular. If you do some, definitely make a reservation.

And be thankful that you can.

Cheers!

June 20, 2013 Greater Boston

Bobby Flay Burger Bar

I know, I know. Shake Shack is by far the most ridiculously popular burger place in town right now. Every single person with whom I have spoken has said the same thing – the wait is at least 45 minutes long, if not well over an hour.

Why am I not writing about that place yet?

Did I ever tell you how I hate lines?

Anyway, this post is not about Shake Shack, though it is about new burgers in Boston and also a chef whose food we have always enjoyed.

We were first introduced to Bobby Flay’s bold and flavorful Southwestern dishes from Mesa Grill, his popular restaurant at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Bryan, who has always loved Mexican food and has a weakness for anything bold and spicy, consider Mesa Grill one of his favorite stand-bys in Vegas. He almost always goes there when he has a chance.

Interesting, Bobby Flay first became famous through his burgers, more specifically his burger bar in New York. So of course, when we found out he was opening up a place here on the outskirts of Boston, we knew we definitely wanted to see just what caused such a hype around his burgers.

Bobby’s Burger Palace is a casual but stylish burger joint with colorful walls and a well designed layout. This one is located at the Burlington Mall (one of the biggest malls north of Boston), though the entrance is separate from the mall itself.

We went several weeks after opening, but the place was still super packed. The line went out the door and spilled onto the sidewalk, though it moved relatively quickly. I was really impressed with the quality of the service and the general cheerfulness of the employees in spite of the crazy crowds. The wait for the food was not too long, and everything moved along quickly and professionally.

You have all different sort of creative burgers from which to choose. You can opt to “crunchify” any of your burgers. This just means they add some really crunchy potato chips inside the burger. For fun, since it was so highly recommended, we both went ahead and “crunchified” our burgers.

Check out these onion rings! They are heavily battered and really crunchy. Although it was well executed, we both agreed that we preferred onion rings with less batter (more in the style of Kelly’s Roast Beef’s onion rings, not in the style of Burger King).

The burger, on the other hand, was very good. All the ingredients were really fresh and everything came out looking like it was assembled with great care. The burgers were cooked a perfect “medium”. They were juicy and flavorful, though they didn’t have much char (which was something I missed). I guess maybe the crunch of the chips make up for that lack of crunch from the char.

It’s not the best burger I’ve ever had, but then it only costs $8. In this price point, I think it’s a very good value and I can totally see why this place is so popular.

I probably wouldn’t drive out all the way to Burlington from the city just to eat this burger (we have plenty of excellent burgers in Boston), but if I happen to be shopping at the Burlington Mall and I don’t feel like spending a lot of money or time for a really solid meal, this place most certainly delivers.

How about a Mesa Grill in Boston next?

Bobby Flay Burger Bar
Burlington Mall
75 Middlesex Turnpike
Burlington, MA

June 18, 2013 Greater Boston

Golden Garden {Snapshot}

This is a {Snapshot} based on my recent experiences at the restaurant. The original full post of this restaurant can be found here.I wrote about Golden Garden several years ago when I first discovered this unassuming little restaurant on the border of Belmont and Cambridge. Even then I was thrilled at the discovery. It’s not everyday you find a Chinese restaurant that serves dishes that are from a region not typically well represented in America.I get excited when I discover dishes or flavor combinations I’ve never experienced before. This is how I felt about Golden Garden when I first discovered it.

Since then, it has become one of our regular haunts. Parking is usually a cinch to find, and there’s never a wait for a table. The food is very good and since it's from the dongbei region of China (northeast), it's just a bit different from the stuff you’d typically find in Chinatown. We also get takeout from them quite a bit, since they do deliver to our neck of the woods and they offer online ordering, which is really, really convenient.Here’s some of our favorite dishes.

This unusual dish called Sauteed Pork with Tossed Mung Noodle in Brown Sauce is something I’ve never had anywhere else, and I’m really not exactly sure what regional cuisine is represented here. Essentially, you have these thick, chewy translucent noodles (possibly handmade? They are so chewy I would hazard to guess they might be) tossed together with raw cucumbers, raw onions, thinly sliced sautéed pork, and this strong, mustard (almost wasabi-like) sauce. It’s a cold dish that’s very refreshing during hot weather. Bryan loves the strong wasabi kick, and I love the chewy glass noodles.

Another one of our favorites, which is not much to look at, is Sour Cabbage with Steamed Bacon. The cabbage seems to be pickled in some way, sort of like a Chinese version of kimchee soup, yet full of rich umami from the smoky bacon that’s part of the dish. This dish is warm, soupy, and also includes thin glass vermicelli noodles as part of the dish.

They also have the classic Sichuan dish Fish Filets Chinese Cabbage with Spicy Chili Sauce (literally translated as “water cooked fish” in Chinese - such a misnomer!). Pieces of white fish and cabbage are cooked in a flavorful, spicy, and numbing “mala” broth. It’s quite good here, and it’s one of the dishes we order on a regular basis.

I always like to get simple garlic-stir fried vegetables whenever I go to a Chinese restaurant. My favorite is the stir fried young pea shoots; Bryan loves the hollow-heart vegetable, sometimes called Chinese watercress. If we can’t get either of those we’ll often opt for the Baby Bok Choy, which is something I cook at home all the time.

Oh, I forgot to mention the best part. Their homemade dumplings are quite good and you can buy them frozen in packs of fifty dumplings. I find it to be superior to the ones sold in Chinese supermarkets. Sure they cost a bit more ($15 for a pack of 50), but it's still a bargain compared to ordering takeout. I like to pan fry these dumplings at home (yum).All in all, this is one of our stand-bys and we probably eat here at least once a month.

June 16, 2013 Chinese Recipes

Taiwanese Cooking Class with TAP + Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! I don't usually get to see my dad around Father's Day, but this year my parents decided to visit my sister and me in June. Not only did we get to eat my mom's awesome Taiwanese cooking, we also got to hang out with my dad, including actually giving him a Father's Day gift in person this year!

My dad's a teacher.

He's taught Chinese in high school since the 1960's, well before it was popular (or even existent in most high school). Heck, he was probably one of the first Chinese high school teachers in the whole state of Ohio.

In some ways I am a lot like my father. We are both energetic, animated, and love to tell stories. It's the perfect personality for a teacher - really. My dad's students love his crazy personality. Even though he's over seventy years old, I swear sometimes he thinks and acts like a kid even more than I do. He's totally young at heart.

Me, during the day I work as a patent attorney drafting patent applications, reviewing contracts, and giving legal advice. My day job is completely different than my dad's, even though we are similar.

This past weekend, I had a chance to see what it was like to be my dad, sort of. TAP (Taiwanese American Professionals) Boston invited me to teach a Taiwanese cooking class for them.

Me? In front of a classroom?

It wouldn't exactly be the first time. I traveled to Georgia Tech a little over a year ago to give a cooking and photography workshop at ITASA (Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Assocation). Last year, I did a similar workshop at BU with BAASIC (Boston University Asian American Student's Intercollegiate Coalition).

And I had a blast both times.

But this would be a dedicated cooking class. Instead of a photography workshop where we used food as a vehicle for teaching other skills, this essentially became my first all out cooking class.

We made four classic Taiwanese dishes.

Tea eggs (which we had to start right away since it usually takes a couple hours to cook!),
Chinese Chives with 5-spice Tofu, Matcha Mochi Cupcakes, and Taiwanese Meat Sauce over Rice.
Of course, we feasted on everything we cooked after three hours of slaving away in the kitchen.

I had never organized and executed this sort of class before. Thankfully, through the help of several of the TAP folks, the event turned out great! The students successfully created all four dishes well within our 3-hour time frame, and all the food tasted absolutely delicious.

I was so relieved and thrilled that it went so well.

Though this isn't anywhere close to what my dad does day-to-day, I felt like I got a tiny taste of what his teaching job must be like. It takes quite a bit of prep and energy, yet it's also energizing and lots of fun at the same time.

I can see why my dad's kept at it, even after four decades. (!)

I wish I could have taken more photos at the event, but I was so busy teaching, I forgot! I'm so used to usually being the photographer, the one who tries to capture all the moments of an event. It's weird for me not to have that many pictures from this class.

Thankfully, many of the folks at TAP Boston took pictures. You can check out all of their photos on their facebook page.

And here are the links to the recipes we executed that day:

Recipes Links:
Tea Eggs
Taiwanese Meat Sauce over Rice
Chinese Chives with 5-spice Tofu
Matcha Mochi Cupcakes

Below, please enjoy just a few of the photos that I did manage to take!

Sauteing shallots for the Taiwanese meat sauce.

Making Hello Kitty muffins.

Stir frying Chinese chives.

First look at the finished mochi cupcakes in the awesome commercial convection oven.

More photos.

And even more photos.
Digging in.

June 16, 2013 Asian

Matcha Mochi Cupcakes

There's a reason why I don't bake these on a regular basis at my home.I can't stop eating them.I've always been a big fan of anything made with glutinous rice. You name it: sticky rice (nuo mi fan), Chinese rice dumplings (zhong zi), Japanese mochi, and Chinese rice balls with red bean soup (tang yuan) - the list goes on and on. There's something about that chewy texture and the sweet flavor of pure rice that I just love.

So I avoid making these desserts normally.

But I had an excuse this time.

I had been invited by TAP, the Taiwanese American Professionals chapter in Boston, to teach a Taiwanese cooking class. It was an agressive schedule. We were going to pull off four dishes in three hours.

Considering that several of the dishes required 1-2 hours to cook, I needed to find a recipe whose total prep time I could shorten.

So after much experimentation in the kitchen one evening (in a dress, no less!), I worked out a way to shorten my original matcha mochi cake recipe by making little, much more manageable cupcakes.

They turned out beautifully during our cooking class and only took half the time to bake compared to the original mochi cake.

I think I'm sold on this new recipe.
There are a lot of ways to approach making matcha mochi cupcakes. First of all, the batter is a cinch to make because everything's liquid. There's no butter to cream or solids to melt. You just mix everything together in a mixing bowl and pour. You can seriously prep this in 5 minutes if you have all your ingredients on hand.

If you're short on time and want something that's really easy, you can make these muffins in paper muffin liners. The pros of this method is that there's no real cleanup, and the muffins transport nicely. The negative is that mochi is very sticky and will stick to the paper.

You may struggle slightly to get the mochi apart from the paper.

If you have a bit more time and are willing to put in the effort, you can bake them directly in muffin pans. Make sure to oil them well (we actually brushed the insides of each "well" with oil). If you have access to a convection oven, use it! You'll get nicer, more even browning and beautiful crispy edges.

Like this.

This cupcake is gorgeously browned and crunchy on the outside but moist and chewy on the inside.

It's so good.

In my mind, this is most certainly the preferable way of making these delicious little muffins. We made tons of these at the cooking class, and everyone was gobbling them up. It's serious addictive.

Of course, the paper liner way is also perfectly acceptable. You'll still make moist, chewy mochi muffins that are still irresistible.

You really can't go wrong either way.

Matcha Mochi Muffins
makes 2 dozen regular muffins or 4 dozen mini muffins

1 lb glutinous rice flour
2 T matcha powder
⅓ cup vegetable oil
2 cups milk
2 cups sugar
3 eggs, beaten

Combine all ingredients and mix until well combined. If using metal muffin pans (either mini or regular), brush the inside of each muffin "well" generously with vegetable oil. Bake at 350 ° F (convection, if possible) for around 15-20 minutes (mini-muffin pans) or 30-35 minutes (normal muffin pans). Please note that ovens may vary and you should start checking before the actual listed time is up. Test by inserting a toothpick or sharp metal object (e.g., a knife) into a muffin. If it comes out cleanly, it is done.

The muffins are easier to remove if you let them cool first. However, if you've oiled the pan well enough, they should just slide out.

Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Scene from the Tiny Urban Kitchen TAP Boston Cooking Class

June 14, 2013 Asian

Happy belated "Duanwu" (Dragon Festival) Day!

You won't believe this, but I "accidentally" ate "zhong zi", Chinese rice dumplings (or "bah-tzang in Taiwanese), on the right day without realizing it!

It's a rare occasion when I actually get to eat these amazing rice dumplings.

You see, they are a pain to make (yes, quite labor-intensive), and they're not that easy to find around Boston. Well, it's not easy to find ones that taste just like the ones my mom makes.

Anyway, as luck would have it, my parents are visiting Boston right now. I'm sure the main reason they are here is to visit my cute little almost-two-year old nephew. Nevertheless, I'm still thrilled to be able to see my parents so much more often now. It just so happened that they were staying with me this past Wednesday evening.

This past Wednesday (June 12, 2013) was the Chinese holiday called Duanwu Festival, also know as the Dragon Boat Festival. Those of you in Boston may know of the dragon boat races that occurred on the Charles River this past weekend.

Chinese people eat rice dumplings on this holiday in remembrance of a famous Chinese scholar, Qu Yuan, who was a poet and minister serving the King of Chu during the Zhou Dynasty (around 340 – 278 BC). He was much opposed to the power neighboring Qin State, and spent much of his life energy focused on how to defend against the Qin.

Legend has it that when he finally heard that the Qin troops had conquered Chu’s capital, he committed suicide by tying a heavy stone around his body and flinging himself into the river. The concerned townspeople, who loved him, desperately threw rice dumplings into the river so as to prevent the fish from eating his body.

To this day, people still eat rice dumplings on this holiday in remembrance of him.

My mom taught me years ago how to make these things, though I seldom make them myself at home because they are quite time-consuming. For the full tutorial and recipe, check out this blog post I wrote a few years ago, which gives step by step photo instructions on how to make these.

Happy Duanwu Holiday!

June 10, 2013 Boston

Siena Farms CSA - Week 1

I'm trying to be more healthy.

The winter was bad for me. I hurt my knee in August and then couldn't run for months on end. In fact, I'm still struggling to run. It hurts if I run on concrete, and even extended running on dirt still causes my knee to act up.

And then there's the lack of fresh, local produce here in Massachusetts during the long, dark winters.

It means I was less inspired to eat vegetables. And instead spent the winter playing around with my pressure cooker making dishes such as lamb osso bucco, lamb bolognese, and French lentil soup;
or used my sous vide machine making such beauties as a 36-hour Chashu Pork Belly.

But now there's really no excuse. Spring produce is exploding everywhere, and the longer days are finally motivating me to get out and exercise - even if it means doing low impact activities (yes, my bike is tuned up and ready to go!) or joining a gym and learning new things (pilates, anyone?)

As added motivation, I decided to join a CSA (community supported agriculture) this summer. In a CSA, you invest in a farm by paying up front for that season's share of their crops. Every week, they give you a portion of that week's harvest.

Now, if you've been reading my blog for a very long time (and I do mean very long time - I probably had like 100 readers back in those days), you may remember that I participated in a CSA with Siena Farms three years ago.

Since then, I've tried many other things. First, I tried another CSA that focused on more "everyday" vegetables. Though it was fine, I got bored quite quickly and decided I preferred to have a say in which vegetables I bought and cooked. The following summer I decided I would shop for my own groceries at farmers' markets every weekend.

Ha! That didn't work out so well. It actually takes a lot of effort to go to the market everyday! Or even on a regular basis. I think we ate out a lot that summer.

And finally this year, I decided I wanted to try the CSA thing again. I remember really enjoying my first CSA with Siena Farms because they introduced me to bunch of interesting and more "heirloom" varieties of vegetables that I'd never tried before.

You see cool vegetables like purple kohlrabi (it's sitting next to a green one, by the way, which you see much more often at markets);

baby French breakfast radishes (milder and sweeter than traditional radishes!);

and green garlic (very young garlic that's harvested before the cloves have matured). I wonder whether green garlic tastes like ramps?

They also provide plenty of nicely packaged mesclun greens, arugula, and braising greens, which are all washed and prepped, ready to cook or eat.

So nice!

This crazy green oak leaf lettuce is bigger than my head. There's going to be lots of salad this week.

And finally, a huge bag of pre-washed savoy spinach, which I cooked in the simplest way possible - just a quick stir-fry with some garlic, salt, and pepper. Oh, and a tiny splash of sesame oil for fun.

I'll be partnering with Siena Farms all throughout the summer and fall documenting everything I receive from the "Peak Season Farm Share" (as well as the fun dishes I cook with the bounty!). Stay tuned!

The entire share this week.

Disclaimer
I received a discount on the price of the CSA. All opinions are completely my own.

June 7, 2013 Michelin

15 East (NYC)

This is the fourth post in the series A Casual Weekend in New York. Other posts include Frank Pepe's Pizza, Salumeria Rossi Parmacotto,and Szechuan Gourmet.

There's a curse that accompanies exposure to really, really good food.

It takes awhile before you can adjust back to normal food.

It's always hard for us to eat sushi after coming back from Japan. I really think it's true. The best fish goes to Japan, and then the rest is doled out to the world.

This particular trip was difficult because we had just come back from a mind-blowing meal at Sukiyabashi Jiro with sushi master Jiro Ono, arguably one of the most famous and revered sushi masters alive.

So it was with slight trepidation that we ventured into 15 East, the first Japanese restaurant we would visit in the States after having many insanely good sushi meals in Japan.

15 East boasts one Michelin Star and is located, as its name indicates, on 15 East 15th Street in Union Square in Manhattan. Owners Marco Moreira and Jo-Ann Makovitzky hired Chef Masato Shimizu to take the helm at this restaurant. Shimizu has an impressive background, training for seven years in Tokyo under sushi master Rikio Kugo, who studied under Yoshino Suekichi, the famous Jiro Ono's teacher (!).

Yes, his sushi master and Jiro learned from the same guy!

Prices aren't cheap here. If you order individual nigiri, they cost between $5 and 12 a piece. That can add up very quickly. We instead went with a chef's omakase lunch for $32, which included seven pieces of nigiri and half a roll (yes, still quite expensive, but the quality is definitely top notch).

In our set menu, we got zuke (tuna), hamachi (snapper), Sama (needle fish), ika (squid), ebi (sweet shrimp), and two others I can't remember (maybe some sort of mackerel?).

Bryan decided to also try the "oh-toro" (fatty tuna) $12 and Hokkaido uni ($12) a la carte.
To round out the meal, we ordered some non-sushi items, such as these Seared Scallops, ($36) which were served over squid ink risotto along with spinach, Shitake mushrooms, and a soba flour cracker all mixed together in a flavorful sea urchin butter. Overall the dish was quite tasty, though we felt the scallops were just a tad overcooked beyond our liking. For the price, the portion size seemed quite small, which is why we were glad we also ordered the soba.We both loved the cold Soba Noodles ($15), a dish that was simple but very well executed. Fresh handmade and handcut soba noodles were tossed with ikura (salmon roe), caviar, uni (sea urchin), fresh wasabi, seaweed, scallions, and soy sauce. And I discovered a new dessert that I've totally fallen for - Mineoka Tofu. Have you heard of it? It's thick and creamy, with a texture sort of like creamy panna cotta or burrata cheese. It has a distinct soy flavor, which I love. It was served with this intensely deep and rich caramel sauce. It was heavenly and I savored each bite. I walked away thinking that was my favorite part of the meal.

Initial Thoughts
15 East is a very nice restaurant overall. The ambiance is very airy, bright, and pleasant. The service is excellent. The prices are high for the quantity of the food, but then this is a high-end Japanese restaurant in a prime section of New York. It's perfect for a business lunch, when someone else is paying.

Because we just came for lunch and only sampled a tiny bit of the entire menu, I feel like I haven't really had a chance to fully experience the creativity of Chef Shimizu's work. However, I can say that Chef Shimizu serves impeccably made sushi and high quality dishes overall. I like how the menu reserves a dedicated section for fresh handmade soba. I also loved the dessert. Though not quite Tokyo, it's still a perfectly pleasant experience.

15 East
15 E 15th St
New York, NY

June 5, 2013 Greater Boston

{Snapshot} Bergamot Spring Menu

This is a {Snapshot} of Bergamot. There are two previous longer, more detailed posts: A guest post by a friend as well as a follow up post that I wrote about a birthday meal we had there.

Bergamot is one of our favorite go-to places. It's only about a 5-minute drive (20-minute walk) from our house, so it's easy to head over there on a weeknight (or any other night, for that matter). Bryan and I think we go there at least 2-3 times a month (I know, crazy isn't it?). The menu rotates frequently (so we never get bored); the food and wine are fantastic (and reasonably priced); and you can't beat the friendly staff. Furthermore, we love the $39 for three courses deal that's always present. Who needs Restaurant Week? Plus, $1 oysters at the bar on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays.

You can see why it's become a favorite. Here's a snapshot of their recent spring offerings. Yum.

Yes, I love ramps, which could explain why I love this Chilled Ramp Soup ($12). Served with ham Salpicón, whole-grain mustard, and tempura bits, this refreshing soup is pungent yet extremely flavorful. I love the interplay of the textures from the meaty ham to the crispy tempura bits. I believe I have ordered this soup every single time since they added it to the menu. Their House-Made Charcuterie Plate changes frequently. Chef Pooler is always experimenting with one thing or another, and it's fun to try them time to time. Usually, there's some sort of pate, some sort of terrine, and sometimes various house-cured meats they've been making in the back. Here, I believe we have a sort of pig's head terrine?, definitely a pate of sorts, and honestly, I can't remember the last item. It may be made of rabbit, but I honestly can't remember. Bryan loves getting the Charcuterie Plate, and it's always very good.
I fell in love with this Champagne Mango Ceviche ($12) the first time I tried it at Bergamot. It's sort of a play on the word "ceviche" since there's actually no seafood in this dish. Instead, ripe mangoes are sliced in a way that sort of resemble raw fish (in texture), and then marinated in lime juice, similar to a traditional ceviche. Crispy prosciutto shards add textural contrast (as well as a salty, umami boost), and the Hawaiian chili gives the dish a nice kick.

This dish is awesome for the hot weather and I've definitely ordered this one more than once as well. In fact, I've even tried making a version of it myself (though mine has Kaffir lime leaves - a Thai inspiration!).
Their interpretation of Hush Puppies ($5) changes depending on the ingredients in season. Our version had sauteed onions and fresh English peas, though the current version on the menu seems to be made with maple syrup, scallions, and bacon. It's seriously an ever-changing menu!

Chef Keith Pooler grew up in Gloucester cooking all sorts of seafood, so he's a genius when it comes to any sort of fish. I love ordering the seafood dishes at Bergamot because I know Chef Pooler will do it right. Case in point: The Swordfish at Bergamot is soft and tender, not tough and steaky. I never knew I liked swordfish until I realized how good it tastes when cooked properly.

Ocean Trout, which tastes a lot like salmon, is served in a flavorful clam broth with fiddelheads, squid, aand chickpeas.
Another favorite is the Pan Seared Scallops with mushrooms, parsnips, and a parsnip puree. Bryan ordered the scallops the first time they came on the menu. I loved it so much (yes, he was kind enough to let me try a bite), that I ordered it for myself the next time we went. The scallops are gorgeously seared yet super tender on the inside - just the way I like it.

You can't go wrong at Bergamot, really. I think it's a restaurant that has nailed the perfect combination of excellent food, fantastic service, and reasonable prices. I find it easy to go back a lot because the menu changes constantly. Chef is always playing around with various seasonal ingredients, recipes, and new inspirations.

It's no wonder we go back so often.

Bergamot
118 Beacon St
Somerville, MA

June 4, 2013 Boston

Flour, Too

A couple weeks ago I was invited to a small party at Joanne Chang's Flour Bakery + Cafe in Back Bay to celebrate the launching of her second book, Flour, Too. Her first book, Flour, had been insanely successful and focused on all of the decadent cookies, cakes, and other baked goods that come out of Flour. This second book focuses on more of the savory side of the cafe: sandwiches, soups, salad, and still plenty of sweet baked goods - like breakfast foods!

Getting to this party was a bit harder than I had anticipated.

The moment I stepped out of the T, the rain started coming down, hard.

I had no umbrella, yet it was still a good five minute walk before I would arrive at Flour.

Why oh why didn't I take the T all the way to the Orange Line, which would have put me right in front of the restaurant?

Thankfully, it was relatively warm out, so I clutched my purse tightly next to my body - trying my best to protect my camera from the elements - and power walked as quickly as humanly possible.

Slosh slosh slosh.

Every red light intersection felt like an eternity as I wondered what kind of mess I would look like when I finally did arrive.

And then finally, a warm, welcoming door.

I hung up my sopping wet jacket and was greeted with this.

And this.

My mind immediately forgot about the woes I faced getting here. I couldn't wait to sample all the dishes from the new cookbook.

The party was held at Flour Back Bay (nicknamed "Flour 4"), which just opened January 2013. It's located not too far from Copley Square right next to the orange line stop, Back Bay. Silly me - I took the green line to Boylston and walked, which normally wouldn't be so bad had it not been raining so hard.

I briefly met Joanne Chang (she's so nice!) before I began exploring all the amazing food her team had prepared from the new cookbook.

These refreshing drinks were a great way to relax after my stressful walk over.

These cheese gougeres were awesome -crumbly, cheesy, and all-around sort of addictive. I must have eaten three or four of them.

I really enjoyed this chicken too, which was served with a flavorful Romesco sauce and fresh English peas. I can imagine this making a pretty tasty sandwich.

It was hard to try everything, so I didn't get a chance to try these other two sandwiches: Roast Lamb with Tomato Chutney and Rosemary Goat Cheese on top and Lemony Hummus with Cucumber, Sprouts, and Red Onion sandwich on the bottom.

This Buttermilk Fried Chicken was really, really good. I loved the strong, crispy edges, which were nicely seasoned. The chicken was juicy and super flavorful.

Mini-slider versions of the Spicy Turkey Burgers with Tomato Onion Jam in the cookbook.

These Spectacular Spiced Pecans were likely my favorite item of the night. This is especially surprising considering the fact that I actually don't like pecans. I stay far away from pecan pie; I pick out pecans from any dessert that includes them; and I otherwise avoid the nut completely.

These pecans were sweet, crunchy, and surprisingly spicy. They had this kick that just made you want to come back for more. Seriously, it would be the first thing I would try making from the book. And I'd try to apply it on all sorts of other nuts as well.

I heard amazing things about these Bittersweet Chocolate Espresso Terrines, and I really wished I would have tried one. However, I was getting pretty full at this point already. Furthermore, they were giving out little "take away" boxes to guests, who could fill up on stuff to take home.

So I decided I would take a box of fun bites to enjoy later. I could try some of the stuff I didn't have room to try here, and I could share some with Bryan, who couldn't make it.

Alas, things don't always turn out as planned.

As I waited inside the Back Bay T stop contemplating about the evening, a thin man walked up to me.

"Do you have any spare change?"

I sort of looked down at my feet, feeling torn yet not knowing what to do. "I'm sorry" I mumbled.

Then he looked down at my box of goodies.

"Can I have a cookie at least?"

I paused.

"Umm . . sure," I replied. I began to open the box.

"Can you just give me the whole box? I'm really hungry."

Weirdly tormented yet knowing it was the right thing to do, I handed the entire box over to the hungry man.

"Of course. Here you go, enjoy."

I walked home, empty handed.

It was a good reminder for me to remember to put everything in perspective. I didn't need any of that food, even though I would have really enjoyed it. This man was skinny, grumpy, and really, really hungry. He clearly needed it - otherwise he would not have begged me for it.

I really hope he enjoyed the food. Especially the huge pile of spiced pecans that I had taken, hee hee.

As for me, I am lucky that I walk by Flour Bakery + Cafe every week on my way to my singing rehearsal. It's my dinner every Wednesday night. Perhaps I'll have to ask them next time if they have any spiced pecans. If not, I can always bake my own from the book.

Thanks Joanne for inviting me to this awesome event! So glad to have finally met you in person!

Flour Bakery + Cafe
1595 Washington St
Boston, MA 02118

Disclaimer - all the food was provided by Flour Bakery + Cafe. All opinions are my own.

June 3, 2013 American

Fettucine with Asparagus, Spring Peas, and Morel Mushrooms

Ah ah ah CHOOO!!!

I managed to avoid getting sick for close to an entire year. I really thought I was almost invincible. I went plenty of days on way too little sleep; I spent the equivalent of days inside airplanes between my trips to Los Angeles, Tokyo, Australia & New Zealand, and Thailand; and I somehow forgot to get the flu shot this past winter.

And yet I was spared any germs.

That is, until now. Oddly enough, now that summer's here, my body finally decides to succumb to this annoying cold that consumes my sinuses and makes breathing not-so-fun.

Suffering temporarily like this for a few days gives me much sympathy to those who suffer from springtime allergies. I can hardly deal with this for a few days - I can't imagine having to deal with it for a whole season.

Anyway, enough about my current state. Let's think about more positive aspects of spring.

I've been making this simple pasta dish a lot. It's my go-to dish when springtime rolls around and all these gorgeous spring vegetables start to appear everywhere. I was inspired to make this dish when I spotted some gorgeous purple asparagus at the supermarket.

I love it because it's super easy, fast, healthy, and is infinitely flexible - my kind of dish!

I was extremely curious as to what happens to purple asparagus once you cook it. I knew that purple string beans turn green when you cook them, yet purple cauliflower retains its gorgeously dark hues.

BEFORE

AFTER

Here's your answer. These purple asparagus definitely lost a lot of their deep purple colors, although the little triangular tips are still purple.

Blanching is optional, since you can always just saute the asparagus with all the vegetables together in the frying pan.

For this dish, just saute your vegetables together with an aromatic (shallots or onions work really well). Once everything is reasonably cooked, just add your pasta, toss in some cheese and pasta water, mix it all up, and you're golden!

Optional but highly recommended, add a soft poached egg on top! I used a sous vide machine. Cook it at 62.5 °C for a runny yolk. Anything higher, your yolk will still be gorgeous velvety and spoonable, but it won't ooze out. Of course, you can always use traditional poaching methods to poach the egg if you don't have a sous vide machine.

Enjoy!

Fetuccine with Asparagus, Spring Peas, and Morel Mushrooms
Serves 2

½ lb pasta (dried)
1 T shallots (or onions), minced
10-15 morel mushrooms, washed and dried
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
2-3 asparagus spears, sliced at an angle into 1-inch pieces
¾ cup fresh English peas, shelled
Parmesan-Reggiano cheese, grated
salt and pepper
truffle oil (optional)

Heat up a pot of water and begin cooking pasta, keeping an eye on the time and taking it out when it's done.

Saute shallots and morel mushrooms over medium heat in butter and olive oil until the shallots are browned and the ingredients are fragrant (about 2-3 minutes). Add the asparagus and peas and saute for about 2-3 minutes until lightly cooked. Season with grated Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Toss in the pasta and add pasta water as needed to get the desired consistency of sauce. Serve drizzled with truffle oil (optional) and sea salt on top.

May 31, 2013 New York

Szechuan Gourmet (Midtown)

This is the third post in the series A Casual Weekend in New York. Other posts include Frank Pepe's Pizza and Salumeria Rossi Parmacotto.

It's a well known fact that Times Square itself is pretty much a culinary deadzone. As you walk between the huge M&M Store, the loud flashy billboards, and the hoards of people, you glance between your choices:

Should I eat at the Olive Garden, Planet Hollywood, or that huge McDonalds that overlooks the square?

Choices choices.

It wasn't until years later that I learned that if you just walked a few blocks away from Times Square, there were actually plenty of excellent places at which to dine. Much better choices.

On our last night in New York, we had to make a choice.
We had enjoyed a delightful lunch at one of our favorite Italian eateries. We knew we didn't have much time before our 7PM train back to Boston. Bryan was loathed to eat train food for dinner (do they even sell food on the train?), and he really didn't want to wait until midnight to eat in Boston.

So we had to find something relatively close - a place that wouldn't balk if we walked in with our casual dress and suitcases. After a not-so-brief search online (hey, these things are important!), we found the highly reviewed Szechuan Gourmet right on 39th street, only 5 blocks from Penn Station.

Perfect.

Szechuan Gourmet is not really a hidden secret in New York. It has a spot on Eater's coveted 38 Essential Restaurants list. The Food Network's show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" also featured Szechuan Gourmet's Crispy Lamb Filet on its show about Chopsticks. Frank Bruni gave this place two stars in his glowing New York Times review back in 2008.

We ordered some of our favorites Sichuan dishes, such as Braised Spicy Fish Filets with Napa Cabbage (literally "water-cooked fish" in Chinese), Ma Po Tofu, Stir Fried String Beans, and Stir Fried Shredded Potato.

Everything was quite good. The Mapo Tofu could have used a bit more Sichuan peppercorns, and the string beans were just at tad greasy. Overall, though, the flavors were decidedly authentic and full of intensity.

My favorite dish was the Stir Fried Shredded Potatoes (thanks to the recommendation from Frank Bruni in his New York Times review), which were delightfully crispy and surprisingly flavorful. They tasted more like a vegetable than a starch. It reminded me of a similar (but also different) dish I like to get in Boston.

Is it the best Sichuan food I've ever had?

Probably not, but then perhaps I'm a bit spoiled.

We have some pretty good Sichuan food here in Boston. In fact, well-known food writer Kenji Lopez-Alt from Serious Eats has even gone so far as to say "Boston's got Sichuan Restaurants that puts even the best in New York to shame, and that includes those in Flushing" (emphasis added). [source]

I haven't eaten at enough places in Boston or New York to make such a strong statement. However, I will say that this restaurant, which is pretty revered as far as New York Sichuan restaurants are concerned, is at least equal to the best places in Boston.

I'm not complaining. It's awesome that there's such a good place right in Midtown Manhattan. All in all, the food at Szechuan Gourmet is very good. The intense and authentic flavors from their ample use of Sichuan peppercorns was most certainly present. Their general command of flavors is good, and every dish was really quite enjoyable.

Best yet, it was fast, which is great when you're rushing to be on time for that train.

I'm sure I'll be back again . . . suitcase and all.
Szechuan Gourmet
21 W 39th St
New York, NY

May 30, 2013 Boston

Scampo Spring Menu {Snapshot}

This is a {Snapshot} of Scampo. The original, more detailed post can be found here.

Spring is in full force here and many restaurants are rolling out their spring menus. Scampo contacted me a couple weeks ago and asked me whether I wanted to try some of their new spring dishes. I've never really thought of Scampo as the type of place that changes its menu a lot so I was curious how they would incorporate spring ingredients into their current line up.

Mozzarella from the Mozzarella Bar with king crab, cocktail avocado & green mustard oil

We had a HUGE meal! They ended up giving us a nice mix of popular favorites (such as the appetizer shown above which was on the menu when I visited in 2011) as well as a great overview of their spring-focused menu.

I'll start with our favorite dish of the entire evening (from the Mozzarella Bar section of the menu): Mozzarella with Beef Carpaccio ($20)was fantastic. The carpaccio itself was super soft and flavorful. Bryan was extremely impressed with the excellent al dente texture of the uber-thin angel hair spaghetti, which can so easily be overcooked (and so often is!) due to its size. The spaghetti was delicious, tossed with spring purple garlic and hot red pepper. I loved it.
The Hand Cut Serrated Egg Pappardelle which came with a sauce of chervil, English peas, and pancetta ($14/$24) was rich, buttery, and flavorful but suffered in texture. The fresh pasta was wayyy overcooked - almost melt-in-you-mouth soft. I guess if you like really mushy pasta and don't enjoy chewing, it might not seem so bad. However, we tend to prefer pasta with a nice al dente bite, and thus we were a bit disappointed.

Scampo has a huge brick oven in the center of the restaurant and they cook plenty of cool breads, pizzas, and other items inside. This individual sized pizza (really, almost enough to serve 2 people) was topped with applewood smoked bacon cured in apple cider, smashed plantains, and ricotta cheese. Though unusual, it was actually pretty tasty and reheated nicely the day after as well.
Bryan love duck fat fries (he claims Michael Mina's restaurant in San Francisco offers incredible duck fat fries for free instead of bread!), so he was excited to see these Duck Fat Fries with Truffle Aioli ($9) on the menu. These were nice fries, and you could taste the fresh potato flavor in each stick, not something you necessarily experience in more processed fries. I wished they were a bit crispier, and we felt they were undersalted (easily remedied, of course). The truffle flavor was pretty faint - I'm not sure I really tasted it. I still give a significant edge to my favorite truffle fries on the other side of the river.

This next dish screams spring: Delicate Mushroom Gnocchi with Grilled Lobster Tail and Spring Ramps ($18/$28). The dish was solid - the gnocchi is quite starchy and soft (almost gummy), not my favorite type of texture. The flavors of the dish were nice, though it was tough to share the single, lone grilled ramp on top of the dish. I wished for a few more!Bryan really enjoyed the next entree, Blackened Flatiron Steak ($38) which came with fried polenta sticks and mashed sweet potatoes. The beef was super tender and cooked to a nice medium rare. The sauce was flavorful and overall the dish was quite good.Though this may not be the prettiest dish to look at, the Chilean Sea Bass ($36) surprised us. We had never tried oven-roasted sweet cabbage, but it was really, really good! It reminded us of the way we make Brussels sprouts at home - crispy, light, yet flavorful, just a tad bitter and sweet at the same time. Not surprisingly, the cabbage here is topped with crisped shaved Brussels sprout leaves, which may explain the association.

The fish itself was unusually sweet (almost like there was honey or something on top). It was OK, but I almost wished for a bit more umami to balance it out. The lobster risotto underneath was pretty tasty (though not particularly memorable).
We were pretty full at this point but we knew we had to try some dessert. This Chocolate Peanut Roulade was excellent. It's made with high quality dark chocolate and filled with a dark chocolate mousse. I found it to be just a tad sweet, but my other friend who loves chocolate desserts thought it was insanely good. I really enjoyed the peanut caramel on the side. The malted vanilla ice cream, though underwhelming on its own as far as ice creams go, worked well with the rest of the components. If you like anything with peanuts and chocolate, you can't go wrong with this dish.
The Lemon Sabayon Tart was already delicious on its own, but the accompaniments really made it shine. It comes with a blackberry Merlot sauce, blueberry ice cream, and a crunchy lime tuile. I loved the blueberry ice cream and had no trouble finishing it.

Thoughts
There's a reason why Lydia Shire is so successful in Boston - her food is very good and her restaurants are well run. Except for maybe the texture of the pappardelle, there were really no misses in the entire meal. We had many dishes that we enjoyed a lot. I would most definitely go back and just taste my way through the mozzarella bar - they are so fun!

The restaurant can get loud on busy evenings (we went on the Thursday right before Memorial Day weekend). They gave us a table a little further away from the bar so it wasn't too bad, but I could imagine wishing the noise level were just a bit lower if I were sitting in a different area.

Overall, though, we are fans of Scampo and have returned on numerous occasions. Bryan likes to take his out of town coworkers there because everyone always loves the food and the restaurant's got a cool history of being inside of a jail.

Disclaimer: Scampo paid for the cost of food. We paid for alcohol and gratuity. All opinions are my own.

May 29, 2013 New York

Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto

This is the second post in the series A Casual Weekend in New York. Other posts include Frank Pepe's Pizza.

I have a weak spot for these Italian markets-inside-of-a-restaurant (or is it vice versa?). After enjoying one of our favorite Italian meals ever at one of these quaint places in Rome, I longed to find something like that in the U.S.

Lucky for me, I live less than a five-hour train ride away from New York City, where these types of markets have been flourishing. We'd already discovered one favorite - a cozy, authentic Italian restaurant/market that sells incredible Italian goods (love their olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and bread!) as well as serves fantastic food.

I was thrilled to find another one of these types of places. This restaurant is unique because it comes out of a partnership between two very seasoned Italian entities: Chef Cesare Casella, a seasoned restauranteur and chef who earned his family restaurant in Italy its first Michelin Star when he took over as chef; and The Rosi family, who own Parmacotto, a specialty meats company in Italy.

It's no surprise that the salumi we tried here was among the best we'd ever had this side of the Atlantic.

Like a typical market/restaurant, Salumeria Rosi sells all sorts of Italian imports and various house made treats at the front counter.

You have your choice of a variety of antipasto ingredients.

Or maybe some of their house pasta or olive oil?

Of course, as I have mentioned before, the cured meats are the stars of the show. The selection changes daily and the menu can be an bit overwhelming if it's your first time.

I think the best way to experience as many as possible is to order a variety plate. We opted for the smaller size, which includes two of each kind. I think the larger plate includes three of each kind, which would be nice for larger parties.

We tried the following: Soppressato Picante, Soppressato Dolce, Finochioni (fennel), Chef's Signature Ham, Coppa, and Mortadella. Bryan's favorite was the Soppressato Picante, which had an intensely rich and deep flavor with just a bit of "funk" to it that he loved (yes, this is the same guy that loves blue cheese and the like). My favorite was the Finochioni, which was embedded with peppercorns for that extra little kick.

To give a semblance of being healthy, we ordered Chef Cesare's signature salad, Pontormo ($13), which consists of market greens tossed together with a soft-scrambled egg, guanciale and pancetta. It's hard to go wrong with that combination of ingredients, and the smoky, salty cured meats most certainly added a lovely dimension to this green salad.

We also ordered Sauteed Brussels Sprouts ($12), which was served with crushed garlic and crispy prosciutto di Parma D.O.P. Overall, the dish was fine but nothing particularly special.

According to our waiter, New York Magazine voted Salumeria Rosi's Lasagna ($15) as the "Best Lasagna in New York." The lasagna layers are filled with a pork and beef ragu and bechamel sauce. It's deep, rich, and quite satisfying to eat. The pasta sheets were a bit softer than I would have liked, but overall it was pretty tasty.

I personally preferred the Amatriciana ($15) over the lasagna. Amatriciana is a pasta dish that we saw constantly while we were in Rome. It's a gorgeously flavorful tomato-based sauce made with guanciale, Pecorino, and Romano. It's deeply rich and flavorful. The pasta, even though it wasn't freshly made, was a gorgeous al dente texture. I loved it.

The waiter strongly recommended that we order the grilled prime steak, Manzo ($17), which came with heirloom beans from the chef's farm in Italy. We were surprised that such a simple dish was be so good, but it turned out to be one our favorites. The steak was cooked perfectly, and the beans were incredible! They soaked up all the jus from the steak and were juicy and flavorful.

According to the Chef Cesare Casella, he started his own heirloom bean business after realizing that he couldn't find really good beans in New York in order to make some of his signature dishes.

We tried a series of cheeses to round out the meal. You can get cheese individually for about $8 each, or try a variety of three for $17.Finally for dessert, we shared Semifreddo ($9), a Parmigiano Reggiano parfait (essentially a frozen ice-cream-like block filled with toffee and nuts with a Parmesan crust), Prosciutto di Parma brittle, and peaches. It was unusual, but it worked. I was expecting it to be more savory, like the Parmesan ice cream we had in Rome. But this was still very definitively a sweet dessert.

Salumeria Rosi seems to be the only Italian market/restaurant of its kind in the Upper West Side. It's probably only about a 3-minute walk from my aunt's condo (lucky her!).

Overall, we really enjoyed our meal here. Dishes are all served in small plate form and cost around $15 each, so prices can quickly add up. Everything we tried here was quite tasty - it seems like you can't go too wrong with the food selection.

Despite all that, when it comes to food, we still give the edge to Il Buco Alimentari, whose pastas and secondi plates still stand as one of our favorites in New York. In fact, we went back to Il Buco for lunch the last day of our weekend trip.

However, Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto has a definite edge on the quality of the salumi. Everything we tried on that variety plate was seriously really, really good. Don't skip the salumi plate and definitely order something with their heirloom beans.

We liked our favorite cured meats so much, we walked up to the market after lunch and took some to take home with us.

And yes, we carried it all the way with us back to Boston. Yum.

Salumeria Rosi Parmacotta
283 Amsterdam Ave.
New York, NY

May 24, 2013 Restaurant

Frank Pepe's Pizza

Happy Friday! Yes, I know our "A Casual New York Weekend" series has just begun, but before we make it all the way to New York, let's visit a legendary pizza spot that you're bound to pass on your way to New York from Boston. Consider it a worthy stop (about halfway point?) if you're driving from Boston.

It's long been purported that New Haven has some of the best pizza in the world. The two most famous ones, Frank Pepe's and Sally's (opened by Pepe's nephew in 1938), are located just down the street from each other. Fans will argue tirelessly about which one they prefer more, but clearly both are doing something right if they have been able to stay in business and faithfully feed New Haven for so many decades.

It was hard for us to choose just one. However, on a late, late night while driving back from a road trip to Philadelphia, we decided to stop by Frank Pepe's to finally see for ourselves the hype surrounding this legendary pizza.
Though they are usually packed (waits of over an hour are not unheard of), we had arrived after 10PM, and thus largely had the place to ourselves.
The white clam pizza is one of their signature dishes. According to their story, Pepe's began by selling little neck clams on the half shell as an appetizer. It wasn't long before someone made the connection to put the clams on the pizza. A legendary pizza was born.

For some reason, we were a bit underwhelmed by the pizza. The clams were a bit dry, and although it was tasty, I wasn't sure what exactly the hype was about.

In fact, I may have enjoyed our other chicken, sun-dried tomato, and basil pizza a bit more. This pizza was juicier, the meat was more moist, and overall it had more substance.

The underside is not bad, with some decent leopard spots.

Overall, the pizzas were still quite good. It's fun to see a place with so much history attached to it. I love how it looks like it hasn't really changed since the day it opened, except for the number of photos of famous people that appear on the walls.

I'm not sure if I would drive all the way here just to have pizza. We have some pretty good pizzas in Boston. However, if I'm passing by (like I was this time), it's a perfectly suitable place to stop by for a nice lunch, dinner, or even late night snack.

If you're a Pepe's lover, please fill me in on why I missed out. Did I come at the wrong time? Did I order the wrong pizza? Or maybe I should have gone to Sally's? Please let me know, and perhaps I'll know better the next time I go.

May 23, 2013 New York

A Casual New York Weekend

You may be wondering why a title like "Casual New York Weekend" is followed by a photo of the opulent grand ballroom at the historic Waldorf Astoria.

I guess it's a bit incongruous for me say any trip is "casual" when Bryan has to bring his tux and I have to find some pretty dress. But really, that was as fancy as it got. After all, the whole ballroom thing was the "required" part of the trip. You see, I was in New York for business, attending a work dinner in that huge ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria. That part is the same every year.

In the past, we often made it a habit to check out the fine dining that this city has to offer.

But this time was different.

Perhaps it was because I had just spent over a week eating (and cooking!) like crazy in Thailand. Or maybe I was still "recovering" from the extended tasting menus from my Las Vegas trip earlier. Whatever the reason, I really just didn't feel like eating any loooong tasting menus.*

So we went a different route. We sought out some more casual places. We had "home-cooked" dinner at a cousin's home. We even managed to squeeze in a few old favorites.

We did fun things like visit the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), where they were temporarily exhibiting one of only four versions of "The Scream" by Edvard Munch. This pastel that you see behind me was sold in May of 2012 for just shy of $120 million USD. It set a world record for the most expensive painting ever sold at an auction.

It was temporarily on display at MoMA between October 2012 and April 2013.

We finally got to try this very popular Asian fusion spot famous for its Packman-shaped tempura and ghost shrimp dumplings.

We found a spicy and authentic Sichuan restaurant that was conveniently close to Penn Station. In fact, we showed up with our luggage before heading back to Boston via the Acela train.

This meal is technically not part of the same weekend trip, but we had stopped in New York for one night before heading off to Thailand (overnight flight connection). We went into the city just for dinner at this farm-to-table restaurant that's connected to a home good store.

We had some of the best salumi we've ever had at this quaint salumeria on the Upper West Side.

We couldn't leave New York without visiting one of our all-time favorite Italian spots. This ricotta salad with pea shoots and snap peas was phenomenal.

With the death of H&H, our old go-to place for bagels, we queued up at Ess-a-Bagel and tried a lovely smoked whitefish bagel sandwich. Yum!

And of course, sometimes nothing beats sharing a hearty, warm hot pot in the comfort of an inviting home with good friends.

Stay tuned for specific posts on many of the above restaurants!

*OK, I do confess that I did try (and failed) to get a reservation at Brooklyn Fare, but that's probably the only long tasting menu that's on my "totally wish I could try" list at the moment in New York.

May 22, 2013 Boston

80 Thoreau

"After you get off Route 2, run right on Walden Street, and then turn left on Thoreau."We chuckled a bit as we listened to ourselves talk, but we weren't making this up. These are actual street names in Concord, Massachusetts, a town about 45 minutes north of Boston. In fact, the legendary Walden Pond where Henry David Thoreau penned his famous book Walden is just down the street from our destination.

And yes, it's that Concord - the historic other half of "Lexington and Concord".

I was in a car with three of my other female friends. We were going out solo - without the husbands - to celebrate my friend Liz's birthday. We wanted to go somewhere special, yet we also had to take into the major consideration that Liz was very very (we're talking close to nine months) pregnant (aka no fancy sushi or grand wine pairings).

Our choices were immediately limited severely by the fact that Liz's birthday just happened to land on the day of Boston University's graduation.

Uh oh. Every single reasonably nice restaurant in Boston was booked solid. A brief search through Opentable gave very unsatisfying results.

Thankfully, Liz decided to go outside the box (and the city) and found us a reservation at 80 Thoreau in Concord. Yes, we would have to drive out a bit, but the reviews for the place were stellar, and Liz had managed to book us the most exclusive and special seats in the house.

Open since April 2011, 80 Thoreau is the brainchild of Ian Calhoun and Vincent Vala, two friends who vowed they would open a restaurant together someday while they were students at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration.

It didn't happen immediately. Ian spent some time in Paris before moving to New York. He finally returned to Massachusetts to study business at Harvard. Vincent spent time in Florida post- graduation before moving to New York to gain experience working with Thomas Keller at Per Se and Tom Colichio at Craft.

Finally, in 2011, they were able to come back to Concord, the historic town where Ian grew up, to open up their first restaurant. They brought on board Chef Carolyn Johnson, who has cooked at many top restaurants in Boston, such as Salamander, Icarus, and more recently, Rialto.

80 Thoreau is located right at the Commuter Rail station in Concord. Even if you don't have a car, you can take the commuter rail almost straight to the restaurant's door steps. 80 Thoreau sits right next to the train station. Some say you can even hear the rumble of trains going by on occasion (we did not hear any during our meal).

Though the restaurant's at the top of these long, menacing stairs, there's a nice elevator around the corner, which Liz was only far too happy to use.

The menu consists of New American dishes inspired by local and seasonal ingredients. Concord is actually near several farms, which allows the restaurant great access to some hyper local produce. Appetizers (or "first courses" as they are called on the menu) range from $8-$14 while entrees hover between $23-$31. There's also a bar and a bar menu, which includes both small "bar bites" ($4-$12) and "bar plates" ($14-$15) which could easily be dinner on a casual weeknight.

You can't tell from the photo, but the ambiance is lively and reasonably relaxed. The space is surprisingly large, with a reasonably sized bar area and two dining rooms.

The best seats in the house, however, are at the chef's counter. There are only four of these exclusive seats in the entire restaurant.

At the chef's counter, you get front row seats to all the action that's happening in the kitchen. It's fascinating to watch how a perfect steak is grilled, what steps are involved in making tempura lemon "confit", and why you need warm hands to form the perfect ice cream canelles.

I asked our server if there was another kitchen elsewhere, and she said no. You are seeing everything right in front of you (it's immaculate, might I add).

But the best part of the chef's counter is the access to the special Tasting Menu. The Tasting Menu is only offered on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with two seatings a day: one at 5:45, the other at 8:30. That's a maximum of 24 seats a week.

The menu changes weekly, is kept "under wraps" until service, and almost always features current seasonal ingredients created with extra oomphs of creativity. Because of the small amount of diners per week, the chef is able to use more luxurious ingredients and time/labor-intensive techniques to create some pretty unique dishes.

We couldn't wait to get started.

We began with a Pisco Sour amuse. It was bright, full of citrus, just a tad of a sparkle - a perfect way to begin the tasting menu.

Along with the cocktail came another amuse of these baby French Breakfast Radishes, which were smeared with herb-infused butter (sage, rosemary, and thyme).

"The cocktail's not too sweet," said my friend, Christina.

I'm not a huge fan of sweet cocktails in general, and I often find them to be too sweet. I agreed with Christina though, this cocktail was perfectly fine.

Christina and I are kindred spirits in some ways. We both have relatively small appetites and struggle with finishing tasting menus. We lamented about how oftentimes the last course in a tasting menu just doesn't taste good to us. It's not because it's actually a bad dish, it's usually because we are so full we have absolutely no ability to enjoy food by that point.

I told her my typical game plan, developed through the constant tasting menus I've experienced in the past several years:

1) Don't be afraid to start packing leftovers, even if you are only on course 3 of a 5-6 course tasting.
2) Eat slowly.
3) Don't fill up on bread.

Famous last words.

The freshly baked bread (whole grain and light sourdough) soon arrived. We found out it was from Iggy's in Cambridge and it was fantastic. We all especially loved the sweet, nutty wholegrain bread and couldn't get enough of it.

"I totally want to stop by Iggy's in North Cambridge and pick up a loaf of this bread."

Within ten minutes, not a single sliced of wholegrain bread remained on the table.

So much for my game plan.

The first official course, "Chilled Asparagus" came served over asparagus chèvre and topped with microgreens tossed in a truffle Merlot vinaigrette. Wild flowers from mustard and chives completed the fresh spring look of this dish.

The truffle aroma was intoxicating yet subtle enough that it did not overpower the dish. My friend Liz longed for more mustard flowers, which she felt added a unique grassy and forward element that enriched the rest of the dish beautifully.

"That is the best asparagus dish I've ever had in my life," said Liz.

The next dish was phenomenal, and my personal favorite bite of the evening. The lovely Smoked Scallop Raviolis were handmade and possessed that perfect soft but chewy texture. We couldn't get enough of that incredible scallop and potato filling.

After inquiring a bit more, we learned that the scallops are cured for two days with citrus, salt, sugar, and herbs before being smoked at very low heat over hickory chips for a long time.

We absolutely loved the intense smokiness of the scallops (it was almost like there was bacon in there, even though there was not!), which combined nicely with the potatoes inside the ravioli. The pea puree (and fresh peas!) added a lovely spring touch to the whole bite.

For our third course, we had the Seared Tilefish, which was so soft we could easily cut it with a fork. It was served over sea beans (a legume), a bed of sweet, creamy parsnip puree, and a "tempura confit lemon slice" (which we'd watched them fry earlier right in front of us!).

The flavors of this dish were quite good. We all agreed that the lemon was a necessary component in each bite, mostly for the tart balance that it brought to the dish, but also for the crunch.

The tasting menu was already screaming Spring! yet there was more to come. Our final course consisted of a Roasted Rabbit Loin that was artfully rolled up with mushroom risotto and ramp leaves with rabbit jus. This was served alongside various springtime components, such as braised morel mushrooms (yum), spring greens tossed with a chardonnay vinaigrette, and a deeply flavorful puree made from fava bean shells (can you believe that?), anise, and cumin. It was wonderfully earthy and even my friend Beata, who hates the taste of licorice, loved the fava bean puree.

The rabbit meat was admitted just a bit on the dry side, but the flavors of the overall dish were excellent. I even brought home some leftovers for Bryan to try (remember the game plan?), and he said the rabbit loin was his favorite course in terms of overall flavor.

For our "pre-dessert", we enjoyed a simple refreshing sorbet of muscat grapes over some cookie crumbs.

I'm a huge fan of olive oil desserts, so it's no surprised that I loved our final course. We had tiny little Olive Oil Rosemary Cakes which were served with extra virgin olive oil ice cream (yum!), olive oil powder, honey comb candy, and orange gel. Pastry chef Katherine Hamilburg, who used to work at Bergamot, is extremely talented and makes exquisite desserts.

I am so inspired to go home and make some olive oil cakes and ice cream. Heck, I might even whip out my molecular gastronomy kit and try to make some olive oil powder!

Overall Thoughts
We had a lovely time at 80 Thoreau. The staff was accommodating to our needs and took great care of us. They made a special virgin cocktail for Liz for the first course, and answered all her questions - everything from whether the cheese was pasteurized to the intricate methods used to make certain dishes. The food is excellent and I think chef Carolyn Johnson is doing a great job exhibiting New England's seasonal ingredients in a sophisticated yet approachable way. This is definitely one of the best meals I've had in the suburbs of Boston.

We did feel that the tasting menu moved a bit too slowly. We booked the 8:30 seating and didn't finished everything until close to 11:30PM. It's one thing to spend 3 hours enjoying a nine-course or twenty-three course menu. Five courses over three hours is most certainly on the slow side. If we weren't enjoying each others' company so much, we may have gotten a bit annoyed. I think we were the last people to leave the restaurant.

Other than that, the entire experience was quite pleasant and I can totally see why this place is so popular. There aren't that many options in this part of the city, and 80 Thoreau captures the winning balance of excellent food, attentive service, and a warm and friendly ambiance.

80 Thoreau
80 Thoreau St
Concord, MA 01742

May 20, 2013 Cambridge

Puritan & Co {SNAPSHOT}

This is a {Snapshot} of Puritan & Co. The original, detailed post about the restaurant as a whole is here.Bryan and I stopped by Puritan & Co. for the first time this year. We'd visited it a few times last winter, but it somehow fell off our radars for the first half of this year. Even though Will Gilson wasn't in the house (he was at the Nantucket Wine Festival all weekend), the rest of the staff held down the fort admirably in his absence. Service was great, the food was all very good, and we walked away wondering, "why don't we come here more often?"

We started with the citrus marinated scallop (as an amuse bouche), and it was fantastic. The scallop was so sweet, and everything just came together very nicely in that tiny bite. I really was wishing I had actually ordered the appetizer portion of that dish.Maybe next time.

We had a lovely starter soup that consisted of smoked pork belly, various beans, and a puree made out of . . . ramps perhaps? Alas, I cannot remember. I should have taken notes, but I did not. In any event, it was very, very good. We polished the whole thing off quite quickly. Of course, it was lovely to break that egg open and mix the yolk around with all the other flavorful elements of the dish.

We also tried a Crispy Pig's Head Torchon, which is made by mixing and rolling together various parts of a pig's head (organs are removed!) such as the cheeks, skin, etc. It was a tad rich for me, but Bryan enjoyed it quite a bit.

Black Pepper Pasta ($17) with dandelion greens, guanciale, and spring garlic was absolutely fantastic. I loved the bitterness of the dandelion greens (my first time trying it!) and the pungent "bite" from the garlic. The freshly made pasta was lovely as well. I would most definitely order this dish again.

We were flabbergasted at how "rare" the lamb was cooked (a very, very good thing) in our entree, called Lamb Three Way. It consisted of lamb belly, lamb loin, and I can't remember the third one, maybe lamb tenderloin? The entire dish was incredibly tender and not too gamey at all. I'm going to hazard a guess that it's American lamb, which has a much milder taste than New Zealand or Australian lamb. Overall, the dish was excellent, with a lovely balance of flavors from fresh, seasonal spring vegetables.If I go back, I definitely want to order more of that citrus cured scallop, as well as the pasta.

Gosh, I love spring ingredients.

Puritan & Co.
1166 Cambridge St
Cambridge, MA

May 20, 2013 Misc

Snapshots

What happens when your blog starts pushing six years old? (I know, hard to believe! Though I guess Tiny Urban Kitchen as an entity didn't start until 2009, but still!)

You start realizing that some of your posts, especially restaurant posts, are becoming more and more outdated. Restaurants often close, completely change their menus, switch up chefs, or go uphill (or downhill) in quality.

To sort of address this (and to avoid continually writing repeat posts about restaurants I've already featured), I've decided to start a new type of post on this blog, which I'll call "Snapshots."

Snapshots won't be like my typical restaurant write-ups, which are detailed and contain all sorts of important information about the chef, menu, history, space, and various other facts. Instead, Snapshots will usually be short, photo-driven posts about a restaurant I've already discussed at length in an earlier post.

I find it's a nice way of updating you on my thoughts regarding current, seasonal menus. It will allow me to share with you many more photos of gorgeous food that, in the past, would have just lived in my computer because I thought "No need to put it on the blog because I already wrote about this restaurant." You'll see more dishes from restaurants I tend to revisit.

I'll always label "Snapshots" as such so you'll know what kind of post to expect. And don't worry, I don't plan to stop writing and just post pictures from now on. I don't intend on Snapshots taking up a huge percentage of the blog. However, I do like having more ways to share information with you whenever I find something cool from a restaurant meal I've enjoyed lately.

I'll start with my first Snapshot this week, and will plan to add more whenever I think I have something that's share-worthy.

Hope you enjoy it, and feel free to give me feedback in anyway.

Jen

May 17, 2013 Pasta

Ramps Pesto

Perhaps I'm ignorant about food, or maybe the craze has just popped up recently, but I had never heard of ramps until about 2 years ago.

And it wasn't until last spring that I tasted ramps for the first time (at a restaurant) and proceeded to fall in love with that pungent, garlicky flavor.

And then it wasn't until this spring - just a couple weeks ago, in fact - that I finally saw them in the market. I pounced on my chance to pick up a few stalks so that I could finally, finally try cooking these gorgeous plants myself.

Ramps, also known as spring onions, wild garlic, or wild leeks, grow wild throughout the forests in Massachusetts and pretty much up and down the East Coast. These vegetables are one of the first things to pop up in the spring, and people go crazy when they appear for their short, short season.

Ramps are not really cultivated, so if you see ramps on the menu or the market, someone has gone out foraging for them. Some have expressed concern about the fanatacism surrounding ramps leading to over harvesting of the delicate plant. In fact, Quebec has outlawed the sale of ramps since 1995, called it a "threatened" species.

I think ramps are still growing healthily in many parts of New England. However, I wouldn't be surprised if there are patches that have been picked in an unsustainable manner.

With this knowledge and understanding about ramps, I approached my first (and likely only encounter) with ramps this spring with a heightened level of appreciation and awareness.

Ramps are both garlicky and "onion-y" - pungent, almost spicy, and very fragrant. I think they work super well in pesto because they act both as the green "leafy" agent and the strongly flavored "garlicky" agent.

I always hated peeling all those garlic cloves when making traditional basil pesto, so this saves a previously annoying step!

Making ramp pesto is super easy and there's really no "exact" recipe. Essentially, you need ramps, some sort of nuts, some sort of hard, salty cheese (grated, please), and oil. As for nuts, try using toasted walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, or almonds. You could also use pine nuts, the traditional nut used in basil pesto.

And that's it!

Throw everything into a food processor except the oil. Give it a whirl until you have a chunky puree.

Turn the machine back on and start adding the oil in a stream. Add enough until you are happy with the consistency.

You want a smooth paste.

The whole process takes all of 2 minutes, really.

Taste test it, though. You can add a bit of salt if you think it needs it (it all depends on how salty your cheese was). Alternatively, you could add more cheese too if you so desire. It's really up to you.

Once you're satisfied with the flavor of the pesto, you can do all sorts of things with it. You can freeze a portion of it for later use. You can throw a dollop of it in soup (yum!). You can eat it with bread, or you can serve it with pasta!

You can see what I chose to do. I eye-balled the whole thing and didn't really measure exactly. I just added enough pesto so that it nicely covered all the pasta I had made. If you have leftover pesto, you can always freeze the rest and eat it with crostini or a tomato mozzarella salad.

In my case, there was quite a bit of pesto (compared to pasta). I don't mind a saucier pasta at all, so I threw it all in. It's your call.

Enjoy!

Ramps Pesto
Serves about 2

1 bunch of ramps (see my photo below, maybe 10 small stalks?)
½ cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
½ cup nuts (many recipes use walnuts or pistachios; I had marcona almonds on hand, which worked fine)
~⅓ cup olive oil, give or take
optionally salt
1 lb fresh pasta

May 15, 2013 Dessert

Tab Tim Grob (Rubies in Coconut Milk)

This is the final of four dishes that I learned to make during my 4-hour cooking class at BaiPai Cooking School in Bangkok, Thailand. This is a mini-series that's part of a larger Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Scroll to the bottom of the post to see all the posts in this series.

These changes in the weather lately are driving me crazy.The teasing few days of warm weather we had last week (high of 80° F!!) flipped a switch within me. All of a sudden, I was decidedly done with winter. Over the weekend, I grabbed all my down jackets and wool coats and put then into storage. Same with the boots and winter gear.

Yesterday morning I walked out in a thin jacket and a short sleeved shirt, only to turn right around after walking outside in order to grab a warmer jacket.

But warm days are coming very soon. And before we know it, we'll be longing for relief from the hot weather.

On that note, we end our Thai cooking school series with one of my favorites. It's a dessert that's perfect for times when it's really hot outside. Served over ice, Tab Tim Grob is extremely refreshing and cool. The bright colors also make me think of summer.
"Tab tim" means rubies or pomegranate and "grob" means crunchy.

These gorgeously colorful "jewels" do indeed resemble pomegranate seeds in some way. Water chestnuts are covered in an ever-so-thin dusting of tapioca flour and then boiled briefly. What results is a perfect "seed" with a slightly crunchy center and a soft, clear outer layer.

I had never heard of this dessert before coming to Thailand. By the time I left Thailand, I was convinced it was one of my new favorite desserts from the country.

How to Make Rubies
Cut up water chestnuts into small cubes. If you are using the canned variety, soak them in water for 10 minutes first before soaking. Soak the water chestnut pieces in red grenadine or red cordial. You can also use dark red juices or red food coloring. [Please note that this step is merely for show. The color will not affect the flavor, and therefore if you don't want to use coloring, you can skip this step. [You can also use other colored cordials or food coloring, but then maybe you'll have to change the name to "emerald" or "sapphires" in coconut milk!].

While waiting for the water chestnuts to turn red, make your syrup and coconut mixture. Both are pretty easy to make. For the syrup, just bring sugar, water, and pandanus leaves to a boil over low heat. Let simmer for 15 minutes (no need to stir).Note: this syrup can last for up to one month in the refrigerator if you want to make a larger batch.

To make the coconut milk mixture, boil coconut milk and water together in a pot over medium heat. Keep stirring to prevent the oil from separately out of the coconut milk. You can optionally add pandanus leaves to the coconut milk as well if you want that flavor. Set aside once everything is melted and well mixed/incorporated.

After the water chestnuts have been soaking for one hour, they should nicely bright and red. You are ready to cook the "rubies"! Toss the soaked water chestnuts in tapioca flour until they are completely covered. Remove the powdered water chestnuts from the tapioca flour, shaking to remove excess flour.

Bring a pot of about 2 cups of water to a boil. Add the water chestnuts and count to 10. Stir once and wait until the water returns to a boil and the water chestnuts float to the top (about 20 seconds). Using a slotted spoon, remove the water chestnuts and dunk them into an ice bath.

Once you're ready to serve, drain the water chestnuts well with a slotted spoon, and place them in the bottom of a dessert bowl. Add syrup, coconut mixture, and crushed ice.

Tasting Time!
I fell head over heels in love with this dessert. The water chestnuts have this really unique texture where they are soft and chewy on the outside yet slightly crunchy on the inside. The sweet-salty combo from the slightly salty coconut milk base and the sweet pandan-infused syrup is seriously addictive. Even though I was beyond stuffed from an afternoon of eating Golden Bags, Larb Gai, and Pad Thai, and I still polished off my entire bowl of this refreshingly delicious dessert.

Throughout the rest of my short trip in Thailand, I desperately sought this out at restaurants.

I can't wait to make it at home again!

Tim Tab Grob (Rubies in Coconut Milk)

Water Chestnuts
30g peeled water chestnuts, boiled and diced
2 T red grenadine or cordial (or food coloring)
2 T tapioca flour

Syrup
½ cup sugar
¼ cup water
1-2 Pandanus leaves
(or 1-2 drops Pandan extract)

Coconut Milk
½ cup coconut milk
½ teaspoon salt

Soak water chestnuts in grenadine for 1 hour. If you are using canned water chestnuts, soak them in water for 10 minutes first before putting them in the red coloring liquid.

Meanwhile, heat the sugar, water, and pandanus leaves (torn to release flavor) into a saucepan. Bring to a boil over low heat and then let it simmer for 15 minutes.

In a separate saucepan, heat coconut milk and salt (and optionally torn pandanus leaves) to a boil. Continue stirring to prevent the coconut oil from separating out. Set aside.

After 1 hour, transfer red water chestnuts into tapioca flour and toss with flour until well covered. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and add the water chestnuts, cooking for 10 seconds. Stir and wait until the water boils again and the water chestnuts float to the top. Transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.

To serve, combine water chestnuts, syrup, and coconut mixture in a bowl and add crush ice. The amounts are flexible. Taste it and add more or less depending on how sweet you want it to be.

Enjoy!

This is the sixteenth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include:

Eats!
Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok?
Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok
Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I
Street Foods of Bangkok, Part II
Fun Fruits in Thailand

Cool Experiences
Maeklong Railway Market
Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak)

Cooking Classes + Recipes
Somphong Thai Cooking School
Som Tam (Papaya Salad)
Thai Panaeng Curry Chicken
Bananas In Golden Syrup
BaiPai Thai Cooking School
Golden Bags
Larb Gai (Laap Gai)
Pad Thai

May 13, 2013 Asian

Pad Thai (Phat Thai)

This is the third of four dishes that I learned to make during my 4-hour cooking class at BaiPai Cooking School in Bangkok, Thailand. I also learned how to make this at my cooking class at Somphong Thai Cooking School. This is a mini-series that's part of a larger Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Scroll to the bottom of the post to see other posts in this series.

It was one of the first things I asked during our cooking class in Bangkok.

"Do Thai people eat Pad Thai a lot?"

It's such a common dish here in the U.S. We see it in every Thai restaurant, from the cheap chains to the higher end ones. We even see it in Chinese restaurants sometimes. Do Thai people actually eat this dish? Or is it like the Thai version of "Chinese" crab rangoons, chop suey, and egg foo young?

Without hesitation, our instructor Nok replied, "Absolutely. I love this dish and eat it all the time. We bring it to potlucks, we eat it on the street, we make it at home. It is probably the dish we eat the most."

I learned how to make this dish twice while in Thailand. Both cooking classes offered it as one of the four courses. I also ate it numerous times while I was in Thailand.

I quickly learned that Pad Thai in Thailand is quite different from the Pad Thai in the US. I was surprised how similar the recipes from the two classes were (virtually identical), and how different (and so much better!) these were compared to the Pad Thai I'd eaten in America.
Pad Thai from Thip Samai, arguably one of the best Pad Thai places in Bangkok

There are several ingredients in authentic Bangkok street pad Thai that I don't typically see in my local US Thai restaurant: Chinese chives (or garlic chives), dried tofu (or bean curd), and salted turnips. Tamarind is also an essential ingredient that's used in the sauce base. Many recipes use lime juice or vinegar as a substitute, which really creates an all-together different tasting beast.

Pad Thai is one of those dishes where it's really important to make sure you have all your mis en place perfectly ready to go. There is a sizable amount of prep, but the actual cooking is fast, and if you're not ready with your ingredients, you could easily mess up the execution.

Here Koy from Somphong Cooking School demonstrates to a class of interested students just how quick the whole process is.

Once you've made sure to chop, dice, de-vein, and soak all necessary ingredients, make your sauce. It's pretty simple - just mix together chili powder, palm sugar, white sugar, fish sauce, tamarind juice (or tamarind paste + vinegar), and (optionally) oyster sauce. I say optionally because oyster sauce was present in one cooking school's recipe but not the other one.

Just a side note about tamarind. Tamarind is a pod-like fruit grown in tropical areas (see left photo below). It's got a very tart flavor and i9s often used in Thai recipes.

In Thailand, we bought fresh "wet" tamarind from the market (what she's holding in her left hand). Typically, you take this pulp, add it to hot water, and mash it up with your hands (see photo on right). After letting it steep for awhile, you can strain it and use the tamarind juice. I did a bit of searching, and it looks like you can purchase wet tamarind online if you can't find it in your market (though I'm pretty sure I've seen at least tamarind pods at Asian markets).

If you want to take a short cut, you can purchase tamarind paste in a jar. In this case, you can use the paste directly. In our recipe, we "diluted" the paste up with some added vinegar.

Once you're pretty certain you've got everything ready to go, it's time to get started!

(1) Add the aromatics (garlic, shallots) to your wok and heat until fragrant.

(2) Add the dried bean curd, salted radish, and shrimp and

(3) stir fry until the shrimp is cooked.

(4) Push the shrimp aside (or safer yet, remove the shrimp from the wok), and add the noodles and water (or stock). Stir fry until noodles are soft.

(5) Add the pad Thai sauce that you just made and stir well, allowing the noodles to absorb the liquid.

Now push everything aside to make room to fry the egg!

There are two options for what you can do with the egg. You can either break it up like the traditional way and mix it throughout. Or you can make it into a thin omelette with the pad Thai inside. Below I've shown both methods.

Traditional

Scramble the eggs inside the wok, breaking up the egg into small pieces. Add the Chinese chives and bean sprouts and stir everything together until cooked.

Transfer to a serving dish (yum!).

For decorative purposes, place the shrimp on top. Around the plate, add chopped cilantro, lime wedges, and a small spoonful each of sugar, chili powder, and peanuts. These three accompaniments allow diners to choose how sweet, spicy, or "peanuty" they want to make their Pad Thai.

Omelette

The omelette method takes the egg portion of the Pad Thai and wraps it around the Pad Thai noodles. This technique takes more skill, since it requires you to make a super thin omelette on the wok and then successfully wrap it around the noodles without it breaking!

First, you will need to add the Chinese chives and bean sprouts to the noodle mixture and stir fry until cooked. Once the noodles are done, push the cooked noodles to the side of the wok and add one egg (already beaten). Spread it out on the wok as thinly as possible by picking up the wok and turning it, using gravity to spread the egg.

Once the egg is cooked, wrap it around the Pad Thai like a burrito. This is most easily done by rolling the noodle pile (which you have tried to mold into the shape of your final product) back over the egg sheet, and then wrapping the edges around. This obviously takes some skill. If it's your first time making pad Thai, I might recommend trying the normal version first!

Serve with the same accompaniments (peanuts, chili, sugar, limes), but on the side.

Yum!

A few notes
I learned how to make this dish twice from two different cooking schools. Although most aspects of the recipes were very, very similar, there were a few difference that highlight parts of the recipe that are probably flexible.

1. Aromatics: one recipe used just shallots while another one used garlic and shallots. My guess is that either works, and you may even be able to substitute onions or even scallions if you in a bind.

2. Pad Thai Sauce: one recipe included oyster sauce while another did not. Traditionally, tamarind is used to contribute tartness to the recipe. This can come in different forms, such as tamarind juice or tamarind paste. At the first school, tamarind juice was used. At thesecond cooking school, tamarind paste was used, but then vinegar was also added, perhaps to give it some liquid and tartness?

3. Technique: As I mentioned before, this dish moves quickly. Our teacher at Somphong was skilled, and therefore was able to make everything in one pot by just quickly pushing stuff to the edge of the wok. At BaiPai, they recommended removing the shrimp at the beginning of the cooking process and then adding it back in later. For us less experienced cooks, I think that's a good idea because overcooked shrimp does not taste good at all.

4. The Wok: Though both classes used a simple wok to make this dish, some had said that a flat bottom pan is easier because it allows you to push parts of the dish aside without having them fall back into the pan. In Thailand, it seems like the most famous street vendors use a traditional wok, and they always just make the dishes to order. This is not a great dish to make in bulk.

I was thrilled to discover how accessible this dish was. I think the hardest part is obtaining all the authentic ingredients. In Thailand, we were able to get fresh tamarind and fresh rice noodles, which are harder to access in a normal supermarket here in the US.

I think most of these ingredients are available in Asian supermarkets, so I'm really excited to try making this soon at home in the US. I'll let you know how it goes!

Pad Thai
serves 1

Ingredients
1 T cooking oil
½ T minced garlic
½ T minced shallots
4-6 shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 T salted Chinese radish, chopped
1 T dried shrimp
1 T dried bean curd, cut into cubes

1 cup rice noodles (if using dried, soak in hot water first until soft)
1 T water
Pad Thai Sauce (see below)
1 egg

½ cup Chinese chives (cut into 2 cm strips)
½ cup bean sprouts

Accompaniments
2 T roasted peanuts, crushed
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 lime, cut into wedges
1 teaspoon chili powder
1tsp sugar

Pad Thai Sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ T white sugar
½ T palm sugar
1 T fish sauce
1 T tamarind juice or [4 teaspoon tamarind paste + 1 tsp vinegar]
1 T oyster sauce (optional)

If the rice noodles are dry, soak them in hot water for about 20 minutes until soft. Meanwhile, prepare the Pad Thai sauce by mixing together all of the ingredients in a small cup. Set aside.

In a wok over medium heat, cook garlic and shallots until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add the shrimp, salted Chinese radish, dried shrimp and dried bean curd. Stir fry until prawns are cooked.

Add the noodles and the water and cook until the noodles are soft.

Ad the Pad Thai sauce and mix well. Cook until the sauce is no longer liquidy.

Push the noodles to one side and add an egg.

Traditional Method: if you want to mix the egg up, scramble the egg and cook it. Once it's done, add the bean sprouts and Chinese chives. Stir everything together until cooked.

Transfer to a serving dish, and garnish with accompaniments such as cut lime wedges, sugar, chili powder, crushed peanuts, and cilantro.

Serve!

This is the fiftheenth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include:

Eats!
Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok?
Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok
Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I
Street Foods of Bangkok, Part II
Fun Fruits in Thailand

Cool Experiences
Maeklong Railway Market
Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak)

Cooking Classes + Recipes
Somphong Thai Cooking School
Som Tam (Papaya Salad)
Thai Panaeng Curry Chicken
Bananas In Golden Syrup
BaiPai Thai Cooking School
Golden Bags
Larb Gail (Laap Gai)

May 10, 2013 Meat

Larb Gai (Minced Chicken Salad)

This is the second of four dishes that I learned to make during my 4-hour cooking class at BaiPai Cooking School in Bangkok, Thailand. This is the fourteenth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Scroll to the bottom of the post to see other posts in this series.

When Bryan first found out he had to go to Thailand for a work trip, he thought he would starve.

You see, Bryan can't eat coconut milk. And he doesn't really like food that's sweet. His limited experience eating Thai food in the US lead him to think two things:

1) Thai food looks like Chinese food but tasted a lot sweeter (e.g., Pad See Yu versus Beef Chow-Fun)

2) Thai food is full of coconut milk.

Now, there are some elements of truth to some of his impressions. Coconuts are native to Thailand and coconut cream and milk are fundamental elements in many Thai dishes. Furthermore, Thai cuisine is all about the perfect balance of spicy, sweet, salty, and sour. This means "sweet" is inevitably one of those elements.

Jen with fresh coconut ice cream at Chatuchak Market

However, there are so many dishes in Thailand that don't fall neatly into one of those two categories. Thai food is extremely rich and diverse, incorporating influences from many different regions.

After arriving in Thailand, we both immediately fell in love with Isaan cuisine, the food from the Northern part of Thailand next to Laos. Certain things make this region's food particularly appealing to Bryan.

First of all, you just don't see the coconut milk based curries. It's not really a predominant part of Isaan cuisine. This works quite well for Bryan, who can't really tolerate coconut milk.

Secondly, the food is extremely spicy, which Bryan loves. The higher level of spice successfully balances out the salty, sour, and - yes, even sweet - aspects of a particular dish. Bryan didn't mind the slight sweetness in dishes we had in Thailand, and I think it's because everything was so balanced it didn't really stick out.

Maybe in the US Thai restaurants have to tone down the spice and increase the sugar, which messes with the perfect balance?

In any event, one of my favorite Isaan dishes (up there with Som Tam, the pounded green papaya salad), is Larb Gai. Also known as lop gai, lap gai, or laab gai ("larb" rhymes with "saab"), this refreshing salad is made with ground chicken, roasted rice powder, lime juice, fish sauce, and a load of gorgeously fragrant herbs, such as cilantro, mint, scallions, shallots, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves.

It's healthy, exploding with flavor, and just about the perfect mix of sweet, spicy, salty, and sour.

One of the key ingredients in this dish is the roasted rice powder that gets mixed together with all the other flavorful ingredients. In our class, the instructor showed us how to toast our own in a wok. She did mention that you could also do this in the oven if you want to make this in bulk.

Over high, dry heat, toss a 1:1 mixture of jasmine rice and sticky rice in a wok with fresh kaffir lime leaves and chopped galangal. Continue to mix until the rice is golden brown and the leaves begin to dry out. Grind in a mortar and pestle until it becomes a fine powder. You can also use a spice blender or food processor.

Set aside. [Note - can be prepared earlier since it keeps for quite sometime]

Over medium heat in a pan, cook the ground chicken in chicken broth and salt until the chicken is cooked. Break apart the ground meat while cooking.

Because we don't want to heat the lime juice (it becomes bitter), remove the pan from heat and add fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, chili powder, and the roasted rice powder. Mix well.

Mix in the shallots, cilantro, scallions, and mint leaves and toss together.

Serve with raw fresh vegetables, such as long beans or cucumbers. Optionally serve with sticky rice.

Enjoy!

Please note that the portions we made in our class were single sized portions, so I would most definitely double or quadruple the recipe if you want to make it for more people. I actually think this dish is reasonably flexible, and the amounts of herbs you add are pretty much based on personal preference.

Larb Gai
70 g ground chicken (⅙ lb)
¼ cup chicken stock
2 shallots, thinly sliced
cilantro, one large bunch
2 stalks of scallions, sliced
20 mint leaves

Sauce
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 T fish sauce
1 T lime juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 T roasted rice powder (see below)

Cook chicken with salt and chicken stock on a wok until chicken is cooked. Remove the wok from heat and add fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, chili powder, roasted rice powder. Mix well.

Add fresh herbs! Shallots, cilantro, scallions, mint leaves, and toss.

Serve with raw vegetables like cucumbers, raw long beans, and Chinese cabbage.

Roasted Rice Powder
¼ cup sticky rice
¼ cup jasmine rice
1 T chopped galangal
2 kaffir lime leaves (or lemongrass)

Heat on medium high heat in a dry wok (or oven) until leaves begin to dry out and rice begins to brown.Grind by hand in a mortar and pestle until fine.

Enjoy!

This is the fourteenth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok? and Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok, Maeklong Railway Market, Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak), Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I, and Street Foods of Bangkok, Part II, and Fun Fruits in Thailand plus posts about recipes from my cooking class at Somphong Thai Cooking School including Som Tam (Papaya Salad), Thai Panaeng Curry Chicken, Bananas In Golden Syrup, BaiPai Thai Cooking School, and Golden Bags.

May 9, 2013 Appetizer

Golden Bags

This is the first of four dishes that I learned to make during my 4-hour cooking class at BaiPai Cooking School in Bangkok, Thailand. This is the thirteenth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Scroll to the bottom of the post to see other posts in this series.

In my way-too-short five days in Bangkok, I packed in two cooking classes over two days where I learned how to make seven different Thai dishes.

Having very little exposure to Thai food before I traveled there, every new dish was a new adventure. I loved learning about the street food, fresh market produce, and dishes from various regions around Thailand. The cooking classes were great because they got me familiar with Thai ingredients and how to cook them.

Unfortunately, it's harder to get some of these ingredients halfway around the world. There are certainly some dishes that just won't be the same if I try to remake them here in the US.

However, other dishes will translate quite well across the ocean, and I think these deliciously cute little Golden Money Bags are definitely one of them. This particular appetizer relies a lot less on the distinct flavors of Thailand-specific ingredients. It's actually quite flexible, and therefore I think it can stand up to a lot of substitutions.

Better yet, they impressive to look at yet surprisingly really easy to make. I was floored how perfectly my little bags turned out, even though it was my first time ever making them!

Grind the white peppercorns, garlic, and cilantro root together to form a paste. We used the traditional Thai mortar & pestle, but you could just as easily use a mini food processor. If you don't have cilantro root, you can substitute with the leaves and stems. Add this to the ground pork, cilantro, chopped water chestnuts, onions, sugar, and soy sauce. Mix it up!

In Thailand you can easily buy fresh wrappers in the market. In the US, you will likely have to go to an Asian market (probably the frozen section) in order to get these spring roll wrappers. Let the wrappers defrost in the refrigerator, and then just make sure to keep them moist (e.g., store the wrappers under a wet paper towel while wrapping so they don't try out).

Wrap according to the steps shown above.

Tie up the golden bags using your green strips of Pandanus leaves. Use Chinese chives or scallions as a substitute. It is good to parboil your leaves before using them in this recipe. It makes them more flexible and prevents them from breaking when you try to tie them into a bow.

Heat up about 2 cups of oil to ~180 °C (~356 °F). One way to check whether the oil is hot enough for frying is the "chopstick test." Stick a wooden chopstick into the oil. If tiny bubbles form around the oil, it means the oil is ready.

Fry until golden brown (3-5 minutes?) and then remove to let cool. Ideally, place them on paper towels to cool a bit so some of the oil can drain off.

Because the bags are deep fried, it's nice to balance them out with something light and crisp, such as sliced raw cucumbers.

Serve with a sweet and sour plum sauce. Unfortunately, I don't have a recipe for the plum sauce. They just served it to us at the school.

Enjoy!

Golden Bags
makes 4 bags

Filling
20g minced pork
5 white peppercorns
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon finely chopped cilantro root
1-2 stalks cilantro, chopped
5g water chestnuts, chopped
5g onions, chopped
2 cups oil (for deep frying)
¼ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon soy sauce

Bags
4 spring rolls wrappers
1 Pandanus leaf, pulled into strips and parboiled
(note, if not available, can use scallions or Chinese chives, which don't need to be pulled into strips)

Grind the white peppercorns, garlic, and cilantro root together to form a paste (mortar & pestle or food processor). Combine with ground pork, cilantro, water chestnut, onions, sugar, and soy sauce. Mix well.

Wrap a spring roll wrapper around about 1 teaspoon filling and tie together with the Pandanus leaf.

Deep fry at 180 °C until golden brown.

Serve!

This is the thirteenth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok? and Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok, Maeklong Railway Market, Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak), Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I, and Street Foods of Bangkok, Part II, and Fun Fruits in Thailand plus posts about recipes from my cooking class at Somphong Thai Cooking School including Som Tam (Papaya Salad), Thai Panaeng Curry Chicken, Bananas In Golden Syrup, and BaiPai Thai Cooking School.

May 8, 2013 Asian

Baipai Thai Cooking School

This is the twelfth (!) post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok? and Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok, Maeklong Railway Market, Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak), Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I, and Street Foods of Bangkok, Part II, and Fun Fruits in Thailand plus posts about recipes from my cooking class at Somphong Thai Cooking School including Som Tam (Papaya Salad), Thai Panaeng Curry Chicken, and Bananas In Golden Syrup.

While Somphong Cooking School is a busy cooking school located smack in the middle of bustling Bangkok, Baipai Cooking School feels like an oasis set far away from the crazy crowded streets of the city.

It was day two of my cooking adventures. The previous day, I had spent 4 hours at the Somphong Cooking School in Bangkok learning how to make pad Thai, Panaeng curry, papaya salad, and bananas in golden syrup. I had learned so much about basic Thai spices from our fascinating market tour.

Just about an hour before this cooking class was to start, a van from the school came straight to my hotel to pick me up. It picked up one other couple (who turned out to be from Australia) before heading onto the highway towards the cooking school.

An hour later (traffic in Bangkok can be very bad sometimes!), we finally arrived.

The moment I stepped out of the van, I felt like I was at a resort or a spa. A sense of calm slowly came over me as I took a deep breath, enjoying the clean air out here.

Baipai is definitely a more "luxurious" cooking school. Upon arrival, they gave us each a key to a private locker where we could store our belongings. We were then given ice cold glasses of refreshing tea, a perfect antidote to the hot weather outside.

They handed out these traditional hats for all of us to wear since the sun was so strong outside.

"These are the types of hats they wear at the floating markets," said Nok, one of our instructors.

Instead of going to the local market, we took a brief walk around the little herb garden at BaiPai. There, Nok taught us the difference between galangal and ginger; kaffir lime and normal lime, cilantro and culantro, and many, many more.

Both of our instructors, Chef Phu on the left and Nok on the right, were great.

There were ten of us, and we all sat around this huge table where we all could watch Chef Phu as she demonstrated various cooking techniques. There was even a mirror above her workstation so we could watch (close up) what she was doing.

We learned the traditional way of making coconut cream. It's quite labor intensive! Before the days of machines, people manually carved out coconut shavings for the purpose of squeezing into coconut cream and milk.

We then got to try it for ourselves (see my hat picture above). It was hard work!
And then, it was time to start cooking. I'll definitely write more detailed posts about each of these dishes (including recipes!), but for now, here's a little preview.

Larb Gai, a Northern Thai Isaan style dish that consists of ground chicken tossed together with roasted rice powder, lime juice, fish sauce, and chilies.

Yes, we learned how to make Pad Thai (every cooking class seemed to include this one), but we also learned a neat new way of wrapping pad Thai with an egg. It reminds me of the ones they make at Thip Samai, arguably one of the best pad Thai places in Bangkok.

We made golden bags! I was surprised how easy it was.

And I discovered a new love for this dessert I'd never tried before - rubies in coconut milk. These are water chestnuts which have been lightly covered with a potato starch based coating. It is so tasty and utterly refreshing.

I really enjoyed my class at BaiPai Cooking School. The instructors were really nice, had excellent English, and really took good care of us. Compared to Somphong the location is a bit far out. However, it's nice that they pick you up at your hotel and take you back. It's just one less thing to worry about.

This class cost 2000 Baht, or about $60 USD. Still cheap by US standards, it costs about twice as much as Somphong. What do you get for that extra 1000 Baht? A more luxurious space, professionally printed recipe cards, and transportation to and from your hotel.

Between the two schools, I think the quality of education is comparable, and the dishes we made at both were absolutely fantastic. You really can't go wrong with either. For me, it was fascinating to compare the two different schools - everything from the differences in how they taught the same dish (Pad Thai) to the types of people that take classes at each school (Somphong had younger, more international crowd compared to the older, more American/Australian crowd at BaiPai).

Stay tuned for recipes and more step-by-step photos!

Photos of me courtesy of BaiPai Cooking School (I really liked how they took photos of us during our class and emailed us the files later on - definitely a nice touch).

May 7, 2013 Boston

A Dinner at Home with a Personal Chef (Matthew Harker)

I first met Jillian at a small cafe in Cambridge right near my workplace. She was a student at Harvard Business School, and her teammates had hatched up an interesting business idea that they were considering bringing to market.

It would be a marketplace matching up personal chefs with interested diners.

Personal chefs? Do normal, everyday folks hire personal chefs?

Jillian surprised me with their target price point: $25-$75 per person for a personal chef to come and cook a really nice meal at your home.

I could easily spend that much at a pretty ordinary restaurant.

The timing couldn't have been more perfect. I had recently sampled a phenomenal dinner from Chef Peter Ungár, an amazingly talented chef who has worked as a personal chef for years. I remember thinking, "wow, there are so many really, really good "hidden" chefs that live in Boston, and most of us have no idea who they are."

Jillian's team's business idea seemed to be a great way for this gap to be fixed. Just imagine - you log onto a website and search for personal chefs. They each give their bios, specialties, sample menus and prices. Better yet, there are user reviews associated with the chefs.

About two months after that initial conversation, Jillian contacted me to tell me that they were indeed about the launch the business, called ChefXChange. Would I be interested in trying the service out courtesy of them?

Who would say no to having a personal chef cook for you?

After a few back and forths, we booked Matthew Harker for small dinner at my home for guests.

Matthew Harker graduated from Johnson & Wales University and has been cooking professionally for about eight years. He's passionate about using local and sustainable ingredients. His extensive travels have exposed him to a broad range of flavors - he cooks Mediterranean, French, Southern, and even Asian!

Matthew called me the morning of our dinner just to confirm my address and any last minute details.

He arrived carrying several large insulated bags full of various containers. After just a bit of orientation in my kitchen, he got to work right away.

I'd never had a personal chef in my home before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was surprised how little I had to do. Aside from showing him where I kept some key pots and pans, he pretty much figured out everything else himself.

I guess when your job is to figure out other people's kitchens all the time, you get pretty good at it.

Before he started cooking, Matthew whipped out some Lemon Hummus he had made and a bag of fancy crackers. He wanted the guests to have something to snack on while waiting for their first course.

Soon afterwards, he took out some bread he had been warming up in the oven. We enjoyed this with his homemade Confit Roasted Garlic Butter, which was a hit with all the guests. They just couldn't stop eating it!

Meanwhile, Matthew began preparing some of the initial courses, such as the velvety smooth spring pea and ramp soup . . .

. . . and these lovely pan seared scallops wrapped in peppered bacon.

After about 15 or so minutes, we sat down and began with our first course: Seared Scallops with peppered bacon, minted pea puree, fired roasted pepper puree, and crispy ramps. This little starter was delicious. The scallops were cooked perfectly (nice and soft), and I liked how the bright minted pea puree and roasted red pepper puree balanced out the rich umami from the bacon and the scallops.

Matthew cleared our plates and began serving our next course, the Spring Pea Ramp Soup topped with roasted local oyster mushrooms, sauteed fiddleheads, a splash of creme fraiche. This soup was velvety and super smooth. Matthew said he strained it multiple times to achieve such a fine, creamy consistency. The portion size was quite generous, and I actually ended up saving some for lunch the following day (yum!). Since we were in my own home, it was easy to pack stuff up into my own containers and put it straight into the refrigerator.

For our main course, we had Grass Fed Beef Short Ribs braised in Malbec and served with a Parmesan polenta, asparagus, buttered carrot puree, and a short rib reduction. Chef Matthew had slowly braised these under low heat for 4-5 hours, and it showed. These short ribs were fork-tender, almost melt-in-your-mouth soft. The red-wine based sauce was on the salty side, but richly fragrant, with elements of anise, cinnamon, and beef jus.

The best part was that Matthew had cooked several extra short ribs, and he gave us all the leftovers, which was enough to feed us for at least two more meals!

As a special surprise, Matthew treated us to some of his "Champagne" Grapes. These grapes are carbonated inside, and taste fizzy when you bite into them! It was a great palate cleanser and segue into dessert.

I'm always afraid of fruit-based desserts because they are often too sweet for me. Thankfully, this Strawberry Rhubarb Tartin, which came topped with Tahitian vanilla bean gelato, was not too sweet at all. I really enjoyed the simple, yet well executed dessert.

All in all, we had a really nice dinner. Matthew was courteous, efficient, and cooked us a great, New England seasonally-inspired dinner. We had requested something a bit more custom and special, and he totally delivered. Matthew's cooking is solid, and we enjoyed every dish he made. His recipes are tried-and-true, perfected over years of practice. Don't expect anything super edgy, risky, or unusual. Instead look forward to well-executed crowd pleasers that are safe, established winners.

His menus on ChefXChange range from $38 to $50, though you can custom order whatever you want. This particular menu cost $90 per head (all inclusive).
Although I usually love cooking and hosting at my home, once in awhile it's nice to have someone else take care of everything for you. Bryan and I ended up taking advantage of the gorgeous weather outside that afternoon by walking 10 miles from our church in Lexington back home to Cambridge.

It was a carefree day. Instead of worrying about what to cook, getting everything on the table in time, and cleaning up the huge mess generated by all that cooking, I just made sure my kitchen was clean and ready for Matthew to use.

He took care of everything else, including leaving me with a spotless kitchen when he left about 2 hours after having arrived.

And me? I got to spend all my time just relaxing and hanging out with my guests, which was very nice.
Disclaimer: ChefXChange paid for this meal. All opinions are my own

May 4, 2013 New England Trip Report

Beautiful Vermont (King Arthur Flour Blog & Bake™)

It's easy to get caught up in the busyness of everyday life. Work deadlines, household chores, and never-ending errands that pile up.

And then something crazy like the Boston Marathon bombings occur, and it puts everything into perspective.

I flew back to Boston on the day the city was on lockdown as the police tried to hunt down the remaining bomber. I remember feeling nervous, scared, and really uncertain about whether I wanted to travel again. You see, I was scheduled to take a bus up to Vermont to King Arthur Flour's annual Blog & Bake™ event- a unique 2-day "retreat" where bloggers get together and learn how to bake at King Arthur Flour's headquarters in Vermont.

But all I wanted to do was to hunker down in the (relative) safety of my own house. The raw fear of getting onto public transportation in the midst of all that uncertainty was quite real for me.

Thankfully, things got resolved by the end of that surreal day, and the city slowly regained normalcy throughout the weekend.

On Sunday, I packed my bags and hopped onto a bus headed for Vermont.

And I am so, so glad I decided to come.

Vermont is gorgeous. Spending a few days in the quiet, peaceful countryside learning how to bake was exactly what I needed to get over the previous week. It was relaxing, therapeutic, and lots of fun. Heck, even my aching wrists got better from the days of rest away from a computer.

I learned how to bake many, many things, and I can't wait to share them all with you. We'll start a baking series here on the blog which will highlight all the fun things I learned how to make.

For now, here's a tiny, photo-journalistic peek at what I did those two days in Vermont.

Enjoy this beautiful state!

My fellow bloggers who also attended: Audra from The Baker Chick, Brandy from Nutmeg Nanny, Carole from Heirloom Meals, David from Spiced Blog, Erika from In Erika’s Kitchen, Eva from Adventures in Cooking, Jennifer from Bake or Break, Kate from Food Babbles, Katie from Healthy Seasonal Recipes, Marnely from Cooking with Books, Rebecca from Foodie with Family, and Tara from Ladies’ Home Journal.

Disclaimer
King Arthur Flour provided the lodging, food, and activities for Blog & Bake™ 2013. I paid for my own transportation.