Recipes

September 12, 2011 Boston

Scampo

There are at least two reasons to visit the Scampo if you're in Boston.

First, it's housed in the storied Liberty Hotel, a former prison that's rich with all sorts of history. The former Charles Street Jail housed prisoners from 1851 to 1990. The US district court ruled in 1973 that the jail violated the constitutional rights of the prisoners because of terrible overcrowding.

Massachusetts General Hospital now owns the property and opened a luxury hotel in the space in 2007. They have maintained some of the original architecture, so it's quite fascinating to see the former jail decked out in luxury finishes.

Of course, architecture and history alone would not be enough reason to visit a restaurant. The second reason to visit Scampo is that it's another restaurant by Lydia Shire, probably one of the most well known chefs in Boston. A driven woman who worked her way to the top during a time when male chefs dominated the industry, Lydia Shire continues to wow us with her current empire, which includes the venerated classic Locke-Ober, the trendy Towne Stove & Spirits (opened this past year), and Scampo - the ever so popular restaurant inside the Liberty Hotel.

It's hard not to be impressed by your surroundings right when you enter the Liberty Hotel. The high ceilings of the former jail fill you with a sense of wonder and fascination at the same time. Scampo is in the lower level of the Liberty Hotel, which also houses the new American restaurant Clink.

The space at Scampo is trendy, lively, yet cozy and warm at the same time. A huge open kitchen sits at the center of the restaurant. You can watch chefs preparing pizzas in the brick oven or baking their homemade naan.

The restaurant is decidedly Italian, although it draw influences from both the Mediterranean region as well as the Middle East.

For example, we enjoyed an interesting edamame (? or was it pea?) puree with Italian breadsticks. Naan-like bread is also cooked in tandoori ovens.
We started with this lovely lobster appetizer that came with fresh avocados, thinly sliced radishes, and a fried plantain chip on top.

Razor claims with house made gnocchi, potato chips, and basil were sweet, fresh, and perfectly seasoned.

Roasted Suckling Pig
A special only available on Fridays, the generous portion of the "roasted suckling pork" was juicy and had perfect crispy skin (not unlike Peking duck!). It was served with fresh handmade pasta (Bryan's favorite!) and asparagus.

For dessert we tried the "house made cookie plate - chef's whim" and the tiramisu. The cookies are great because you can easily take them home if you can't finish them.
We definitely enjoyed our meal at Scampo. In fact, we could definitely see the resemblance between Scampo and Lydia Shire's other restaurant that we've tried, Towne Stove & Spirits. Everything we tried was solidly executed and had great flavors. Ingredients were top notch, and overall the meal was quite enjoyable.

The menu is quite interesting, and there are still so many things we haven't tried. For example, they have a mozzarella bar full of their house made mozzarellas. You can even try a mozzarella tasting where you sample burrata, buffalo, house made, and quark mozzarella. I'm so curious to try that. There are also many types of pizzas, including Lydia Shire's famous lobster pizza (named best pizza in Massachusetts by the Food Network).

All in all, Scampo has excellent food and a great atmosphere. I'm looking forward to my next visit, hopefully soon!

Scampo
215 Charles St
Boston, MA 02114

September 7, 2011 Taiwan

All Things Taiwanese

Eating shaved ice with various mochi toppings at Ice Monster in Taipei

"lı́ hó bô? chiah-pá-bô?"

Taiwanese was the "secret" language that my parents used when my sister and I were growing up. While they spoke Mandarin Chinese to us, they spoke Taiwanese to each other all the time.

I still sound like a wako lang (foreigner) when I attempt to speak Taiwanese. However, my parents' plans for a secret language totally failed. Kids absorb languages like sponges, and we were no different. Surprisingly, though I never spoke a word of it growing up, I can actually understand quite a bit of Taiwanese. This proved to be quite useful many times in my life - talking with relatives in Taiwan, ordering Taiwanese food at restaurants, and just getting around in the streets of Taiwan.

Why all this focus on Taiwan all of a sudden?

I'm pleased to announce that TaiwaneseAmerican.Org, a foundation dedicated to all things Taiwanese American, has published an interview with Tiny Urban Kitchen today at their site. Check out the interview here!

As one who grew up relatively isolated from a large Asian American community, I think sites like these are great for helping fellow Taiwanese people connect and share the love of their country, heritage, and culture.

In the spirit of the interview, I've gathered all my Taiwanese content and put them together on a few pages dedicated to Taiwan. Definitely check out the recipes page (where you'll find mouthwatering recipes for Taiwanese classics such as bawan, lo ba bng, and batzhang), as well as the restaurants page, which describes Boston Taiwanese favorites as well as other restaurants I've visited in Taiwan and elsewhere.

Enjoy!

TAIWANESE TAIWANESE
RECIPES RESTAURANTS

A typical Taiwanese breakfast from Yong He Soy Milk Shop

September 6, 2011 Boston

Antico Forno

LINGUINE AL FRUTTI DI MARE
Linguine pasta with clams, mussels, calamari and shrimp sautéed in a plum tomato sauce baked in parchment paper $21

The North End is one of our favorite eating neighborhoods, and I write about it frequently on this blog.

However, I've realized that most of the places I've described are more suited for special occasions. The ever-so-quaint-and-charming Mamma Maria (inside of a lovely townhouse overlooking the square) is wonderful for a first date (or even a proposal!). The elegant Prezza is great for a snazzy work dinner or a special celebratory meal. These establishments undoubtedly serve some of the best Italian food in Boston, and you'll pay a pretty penny for the experience.

What about good, solid everyday Italian? The type you can enjoy on a random Friday night without breaking the bank?

Time and time again, Bryan and I have met friends at Antico Forno, a casual, boisterous and friendly restaurant which serves excellent food in a very inviting and kid-friendly environment. The best part? - the surprisingly reasonable prices that come with such high quality food in this prime location.

IL MARINARO
Sautéed shrimp with smoked mozzarella, fresh cherry tomatoes, topped with fresh arugula $16.50

Antico Forno does a lot of things well, but one that stands out is their authentic brick oven pizza. The crust, which is of medium thickness, has just the right amount of substance when you bite into it. It's charred perfectly on the outside yet has a satisfying "chew" to it. The nice variety of pizza toppings are fun to try and have all been really good.

CARCIOFI E PORCINI
Artichoke hearts, imported Italian porcini mushrooms, fresh homemade mozzarella, fresh cherry tomatoes, finished with white truffle oil

I have always loved the combination of mushrooms with artichoke hearts. Antico Forno steps up their version a notch by using porcini mushrooms and drizzling white truffle oil on top. This pizza reheats beautifully and I definitely enjoyed it a few more times after taking our leftovers home!

MARGHERITA
Fresh homemade mozzarella, plum tomato sauce and fresh basil drizzled with extra virgin olive oil $13

I really like the Margherita with its simple flavors. It's also a great pizza to order for kids since it's essentially a glorified cheese pizza.

RIGATONI ALLA BOSCAIOLA
Rigatoni pasta sautéed with mushrooms, sweet peas, onions, Italian ham in a plum tomato mascarpone sauce $17

Of course, their pastas are fantastic as well. They offer many homemade pasta dishes (such as the linguini-based ones), as well as those made with dried pasta, which are all cooked perfectly al dente. I especially love the rigatoni all bascaiola (pictured above). The marscapone cheese adds just the right level of creaminess to round out the fragrant tomato sauce. Bryan's favorite is the frutti di mare (pictured at top), which is made with fresh homemade linguini. Generous chunks of fresh mussels, clams, shrimp, and squid are sautéed together in a plum tomato sauce and baked in parchment paper (in the huge brick oven!). The resultant sauce sings of the sweet combination of seafood flavors and fresh tomatoes. It's a real bargain at $21.

CALAMARI FRITTI Semolina crusted fried calamari with mixed greens drizzled with a citrus honey vinegrette $14

The deep fried calamari (squid) was fine - nothing particularly special but it was enjoyable. We liked the generous portion size and the fact that it came with a little side salad (to offset the guilt!).

Restaurant Week
The second time we went this summer happened to be during Restaurant Week. You know how I feel about Restaurant Week in general, so I was a bit dubious. However, the menu offering looked promising so we decided to take the risk and get one order from the Restaurant Week menu. Everything else came from the regular menu.

Arancini
The food quality was pretty good, though I'm not sure how much of a "deal" you're actually getting. The first course was a huge arancini, which is sort of like a stuffed, deep-fried risotto ball. This particular one was filled with shrimp, peas, and cheese and slathered with a marinara sauce. It was pretty tasty, though I personally still love the one at Basta Pasta more.

Homemade Fettuccine with Beef Bolognese Ragu
The second course was a tiny portion of bolognese pasta. The texture of the homemade pasta was good, and the sauce was hearty and flavorful. The portion size was much smaller than their typical entrees.

Strawberry Gelato

Dessert was a simple scoop of gelato, which was OK but nothing special.

General Thoughts
Although the food in the Restaurant Week menu was fine, I feel like diners really miss out on the best that Antico Forno has to offer if they stick with the simplified menu. Honestly, the prices at Antico Forno are so reasonably, there's really no reason to go with the Restaurant Week menu. Our frutti di mare pasta was only $21 but was probably about three times larger than the Restaurant Week portion of the bolognese pasta.

I would suggest just going with friends, ordering a few pizzas, appetizers, pastas, and desserts to share. You'll end up paying about the same as "Restaurant Week" but getting a much better meal (and really a much better idea of the best that Antico Forno offers).

I'm a fan of this place, and it's the first place we think of when parent friends as for a "kid-friendly" restaurant in the city. The ambiance is lively and loud. No one will care if a baby starts to cry or if a child starts fussing. The restaurant has a nice supply of high chairs in the back and has several kid-friendly menu items (though there isn't a kids menu per se).

Everything we've tried has been solid, and there have been several standouts. Definitely try the frutti di mare if you like seafood, or give the rigatoni all bascaiola a try. You can't go wrong with the pizzas either. Over all, it's an excellent choice for a casual, reasonably-priced, and delicious Italian dining experience right in the heart of the North End.

Antico Forno
93 Salem St
Boston, MA 02113

September 1, 2011 Misc

Ten Years Ago Today

Ten years ago today I married my college sweetheart.

Our first dinner out together was the result of a lost "bet" over a game of ping pong (or was it pool? how weird that our memories fade so quickly as we get older). Mind you - it wasn't the first "bet" that had been lost. I lost the first time, but cooked a simple dinner of sauteed chicken and broccoli with rice as my "payment." When Bryan lost, he "paid" by taking me out to a nice dinner on Newbury Street.

Sneaky sneaky.

Our first real date was at Icarus, an iconic South End establishment that finally closed in 2009 after 31 years. We saw Phantom of the Opera afterwards.

Pre-dating days . . ."just friends"

Though we were poor college students, Bryan never failed to treat me lavishly during our years of dating. By the time we graduated from college, we had enjoyed nice meals at places such as Julien's (formerly in the Langham hotel - now closed), Aujourd'hui (formerly in the Four Seasons - now closed), and Hamersly's Bistro, among others.

Bryan proposed on a mountain top amidst beautiful fall foliage in October. If you ever plan on visiting Boston, definitely come in October. It's by far the prettiest month here. We were married 11 months later, right in Boston overlooking the Charles River, the Zakim Bridge, and Beacon Hill.

And here we are, ten years later.

A little older, a little wiser, and just as happy.

Sure, we may not always agree on everything (people think we're opposites) . . .

But hey, opposites attract and complement each other. Thanks for being a wonderful partner all these years. I look forward to many more decades to come.

So how are we celebrating? Bryan treated me to a spa treatment at Canyon Ranch Spa this afternoon. Tonight, we will be having the full menu degustation here. Happy Anniversary!

August 30, 2011 Misc

Hurricane Irene Reflections

Sky darkens quickly as Irene approaches

It's been an odd couple of weeks.

I feel the earth move . . .
First there was that weird earthquake in Virginia that could be felt all the way here in Boston. I was sitting in my chair staring intently at my computer when all of a sudden I started to get dizzy.

I hastily took massive gulps of ice cold water, thinking "there's gotta be something wrong with my head." (I'm a hypochondriac in that way)

After about 5 seconds, the dizziness stopped. Moments later, loud utterances of the word "5.8 earthquake!" erupted in the hallway, all of a sudden clarifying everything.

Then there was Irene
Less than a week later, a new natural disaster decided to pay us a visit. First the governor declared a state of emergency. Then the MBTA, our public transportation system, decided to close completely on Sunday. Even church services were canceled.

So what did we do this weekend?

We had family time.

Really, really nice family time.

I invited my mom (who's in town to help my sister with the new baby), my sister, my brother-in-law, and (of course), their new baby, along with a few friends to enjoy a crazy ambitious home-cooked Italian feast.

We began with some house cured gravlax which I had made from Copper River Sockeye salmon from Costco (only $5.99/lb - fabulous deal for such amazing fish!). I love this Thomas Keller recipe - as long as you start with really high quality fish, the end result is addictively delicious.

I love pairing the salty gravlax with a mild creamy cheese (I used farm cheese last time and marscapone this time). We had it with these hazelnut and cranberry "raincoast crisps", just like last time.

Next, we had a lovely Insalata Caprese salad (tomato, basil, and mozzarella), with a twist! We swapped out normal mozzarella with burrata, a decadent, cream-filled mozzarella that I just absolutely love. Nothing beats farm-fresh tomatoes, creamy burrata, and chopped basil leaves tossed with extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of coarse sea salt.

Absolutely heavenly.

While hanging out in the North End (Boston's Italian district) last weekend, we found a little market selling whole black truffles. That black truffle was the inspiration behind our next dish: homemade fettuccine tossed with a Parmesan / olive oil sauce and topped with shaved, black truffles.
Artichokes, mushrooms, salmon
We followed that with another pasta course of homemade fettuccine (from Capone's in North Cambridge) with artichokes, olives, tomatoes, and salmon.

I can't really take credit for this entree. My food-loving friends Peter & Chia Chi came over and cooked right in my kitchen. I love simple dishes like this, where classic Mediterranean components like garlic, artichokes, olives, and tomatoes come together so synergistically to create a perfect melange of summer flavors.

It was absolute delicious and paired perfectly with the lightly seared Copper River sockeye salmon pieces.

Finally for our main coure we had pork osso bucco topped with gremolata over saffron rice. I typically make this dish with veal. However, I was unable to find veal on such short notice so I substituted with pork shank instead. The flavors are fantastic with pork, although I may try to use a more tender cut of meat next time. Some parts were a bit tough and could have used either a longer cooking time (I stewed for 3 hours) or some sort of tenderizing.

The Whole Italian Feast

It was seriously a crazy feast. All we did that day was chill, eat, hang with family, and watch the heavy downpour outside our windows. It was a quiet reminder of how small and powerless we really are in this world.

Thankfully, we didn't lose power, although many in Boston were not so lucky (700,000 without power at the peak of the storm!). The next morning - more reminders . . .

Hope the rest of you fared OK during the storm.

Though we were inconvenienced, I am thankful that the day turned out to be rather uneventful.

In some ways, crazy weather like this forces us all to slow down, ignore the crazy activities that usually dominates our lives, and just . . . chill, reflect, and relax.

It's refreshing in a lot of ways, and I enjoy the forced break once in awhile (another reason why I love snowstorms).

Alas . . . back to our regularly scheduled, busy lives.

Recipes from this Post
House Cured Gravlax
Veal (or pork) Osso Bucco

August 25, 2011 Appetizer

"The Best Guacamole Ever"

Unsettled.

That's probably an understatement of how I have felt the last few weeks. We have been waiting for furniture to arrive, which means more waiting before we can unpack everything else. We're still living out of boxes, finding stuff only when we really need it.

For example, my elusive cappuccino frother still refuses to surface, which means I've been drinking straight espresso for the last two weeks.

It has also been really hard to cook without a kitchen that's completely set up. It's even harder to blog about cooking, which may very well explain the dearth of cooking posts lately.

Yet I feel like I'm running out of time.

The growing season here in Massachusetts is pretty short and August is one of the best months in which to get fresh produce. Typically, I love perusing farmers markets this time of year.

What? It's almost September??! Where did the summer go?

*sigh*

So even though I'm not fully unpacked; even though I'm not sure where all my jars, cans, and other random foodstuff will eventually go; I resolutely decided that I would use the kitchen tonight and try a new recipe that involved lots of vegetables.

My good friend Livia, a avid blogger herself (though not about food), is a New Mexican native. A self-proclaimed "guacamole snob/evangelist," Livia saw my post about an amazingly chunky and simple guacamole I had tried at a restaurant.

This guacamole was a far cry from the creamy, smooth guacamole that you typically see. Instead, it was almost like an avocado salad, filled with generous chunks of avocados tossed lightly with a splash of lime juice, a few tomatoes, and some aromatics. It was refreshingly delicious.
Livia was quick to point out to me that she approved of this type of guacamole. In fact, she doesn't really care for the smooth creamy (almost sour) kind that she often sees outside of New Mexico. Chunky style all the way.

I was thrilled when Livia offered to share with me her recipe for guacamole, which, in her humble opinion, is "the best guacamole ever :)".

Though that email from her is now nearly three years old (I know, time flies, but three years is a bit ridiculous), I am so glad I finally decided to make this. It really is super simple and tastes delicious.

You'll never go back to the "processed" creamy stuff again. 🙂

Thanks Livia!

The Best Guacamole Ever
Livia Blackburne
Serves 2-4

2 avocados (Hass preferred)
1 medium sized tomato, chopped
⅛ red onion, finely minced
1 garlic clove, finely minced
juice from ½ a lime
cilantro to taste, finely chopped
onion or garlic salt, to taste

With a spoon, scoop out the avocado flesh (medium sized scoops) into a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and gently mix the ingredients with a spoon. There is no need to mash the avocados. Instead, as you mix with the spoon, the avocados will become creamy with chunks of avocados mixed throughout.

Enjoy!

August 23, 2011 Greater Boston

Oga

The suburbs in Boston are mostly a mystery to me.

I live in Cambridge, work in Cambridge, and more often than not, eat out in Cambridge. I am very familiar with the restaurants within a 5 mile radius of me. However, if you ask me where to eat out in the burbs, I very well may just give you a blank stare.

A couple weeks ago, we suddenly found ourselves hanging out in the suburbs A LOT.

Why?

Virtually all of the furniture stores in Boston have staked out a spot in the Natick/Framingham area. This area (about 15 miles west of Boston) is really a mecca for furniture shopping. Since we had several rooms to fill with furniture, we drove out west repeatedly many a summer night.

One day, as we hemmed and hawed about which bed to buy (Crate &amp; Barrel? Jordan's Furniture?), we concluded that perhaps some calories would be most helpful in clearing our minds for this important decision.

After a little bit of research on our phones, we settled on Oga, a pretty well-known Japanese restaurant just 1-2 miles away from all the furniture stores.

Any semblance of furniture on our minds quickly vaporized as we settled into the calm, zen-like atmosphere of the restaurant. The decor and ambiance were lovely, making it very easy to relax. We decided to sit at the sushi bar to get the full, authentic experience.
Service was excellent, and pretty soon Bryan had a cold, Sapporo reserve in his hand. Moments later, a simple, amuse (compliments of the chef!) arrived. I was pleasantly surprised that Oga would be daring enough to serve free octopus to everyone. I personally really enjoyed this sweet and slightly tart marinated octopus salad.
Salmon Avocado Salad 鮭アヴォカドサラダ - $11.00
Avocado, crab stick, cucumber, and flying fish roe, mixed with mayo, then wrapped in thinly sliced fresh salmon

Next came our appetizer, the salmon avocado salad. The mayonnaise-based salad (more like a slaw if you ask me) came creatively wrapped in slices of fresh salmon. It's hard to go wrong (in terms of flavor) when you mix together avocados, crabstick, and flying fish roe. As expected, the salad was tasty and I enjoyed the salmon on top. Though solid, I didn't think the salad was particularly interesting, so I would probably order something different if I came back.

We were quite impressed with the overall quality of the sushi. The menu had a nice variety of fresh fish choices. We ordered toro (of course!), which was delicious.

The other nigiri we ordered (e.g., yellowtail, among others), were all very good. In general, the prices of sushi here are a bit lower than similar calibre stuff in the city. We were very pleased with all of the nigiri that we had.B-52 Maki $11.00
Yellowtail rolled w/ Crab Stick, Avocado, Cucumber, Scallions &amp;amp;amp; Flying Fish Roe, in a Double Layer Tempura Roll

We also ordered a few rolls for fun. The menu has huge selection of creative rolls. It reminds me of places in the city like Fugakyu or Ginza. This isn't a surprise, considering that co-owner Toru Oga also co-founded Ginza.Red Eye Maki レッドアイ $10.00
This interesting roll (the Red Eye Maki) consists of tuna, mozzarella cheese, asparagus &amp;amp;amp; garlic chips topped with pickled jalapeno and wispy threads of red pepper. Although the cheese sounded a bit weird, Bryan and I decided to take a leap of faith and try this roll since it sounded so unusual.

Heh, it was the first (and last time) that we tried cheese inside of nigiri. It's just plain weird, and I personally don't care for it. I do like fusion sushi, but in my mind, cheese doesn't work well inside of maki rolls. I will skip this next time I come.
They had various types of uni, including domestic uni and uni from Hokkaido, Japan. The Japanese uni was crazy expensive ($15 a piece), and frankly, was decent but still had hints of that stinkiness that I dislike about uni. Super fresh uni should be sweet and creamy, with no hints of stinkiness. I would skip this, especially at these prices!

Delicious Sushi at Reasonable Prices
Overall Bryan and I were very pleased with our experience at Oga and we would go back in a heartbeat if we were (again) shopping for furniture in the area. It definitely is quite comparable to the better sushi places in Boston. Presumably because of its suburban location, it is able to offer excellent sushi at prices that are just a bit lower than what you'd find in the city.

The menu is quite extensive and there are so many things left to try. Oga has quite a few non-sushi dishes as well, such as teppanyaki, donburi, and various noodles. If I lived nearby, this would most definitely become a regular haunt.

Highly recommended.

Oga
915 Worcester St
Natick, MA 01760

August 19, 2011 Review

Photobooks

I value memories . . . a lot.

I'm a sentimental sucker who can't let go of anything. With this move, I've gotten all sad about bidding farewell to my old condo, a place filled with so many memories. After all, this was the first home that Bryan and I ever shared together. We have so many memories of good times with friends, family, and each other.

Similarly, I have a hard time throwing away trinkets and mementos from trips, weddings, and other experiences in my life. While helping me pack for this move, one of my good, practical-minded friends admonished me every time I tried to keep some piece of junk for "memory's sake."

"Take a picture of it and throw it away!"

Sigh - I do love photography, but does a picture always replace the physical memento?

Well, I haven't quite gotten to that level of detachment from all my things. However, the ability to take photos and make scrapbooks has helped ease that pain. Now I tend to put ticket stubs, museum pamphlets, and foreign coins into dedicated scrapbooks for each trip.

But how does that work in the digital age? Does a picture of a ticket stub really replace the actual ticket?

Just a few weeks ago, Kodak partnered with Foodbuzz to give some bloggers an opportunity to try out their photo book-making services. I've never actually made a real-live book from any of my photos before, even though I've always considered it.

So, I decided to try commemorating my China trip with a photo book from Kodak.
I must say I was pleasantly surprised at the wonderfully simple user interface. The online program is set out to look just like the book. You upload your pictures and then it automatically creates a beautiful book for you.
Of course, you can always go back and customize it, but I like how you have the option of quickly creating a really nice book if you don't want to spend the time painstakingly designing your own book from scratch.

If you do want to customize it, you can resize and move photos around pretty intuitively by dragging and dropping here and there. think I spent about 10-15 minutes whipping up this book. I did some minor tweaks and readjusting after auto-generating a book. I uploaded my photos from my computer, but you can upload automatically from facebook as well, which could convenient for some.

I was really really pleased when I received my book in the mail yesterday! The shipping was super fast - I received the book three days after I submitted it.
The pages are thick, the colors are spot on, and overall the book just feels like it's really high quality. In hindsight, I think I would have picked hardcover instead of softcover. There's something about hardcover that just makes a photobook seem that much more professional.
Nevertheless, I was quite pleased with the outcome. I've been carrying the book around with me everywhere because I love showing it to people. My particular book (which had close to 40 photos) cost around $50 to make, so it's not by any means cheap. However, you can always make smaller books or books with less pages to bring the cost down. Additionally, they often have discounts, so you can probably get away with making one for a lot less than full price.

In fact, Kodak and Foodbuzz have partnered to give readers a 40% discount off a medium hardcover or a large Photo Book. Just click here to redeem. Offer expires August 31, 2011.

Epilogue
I'm still keeping some of my sentimental mementos around. However, I'm also willing to let go and throw away more stuff. It's a learning process, but a good one to exercise every once in awhile. There's nothing like a move to force one to reconsider the importance of every piece of "stuff"!

Will I stop making physical scrapbooks? Probably not, but I still love the ability to make gorgeous photobooks for friends and family. I think they make fantastic gifts. 🙂

Disclaimer: I got a $40 discount on my book through the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program

August 16, 2011 Harvard Square

Daedalus

Our summers here in Boston are so short, I am always on the lookout for great outdoor dining options during these precious few months. Ideally, the outdoor space would be away from loud cars &amp;amp;amp; buses; the restaurant would be conveniently close by; and (of course!) the food would be excellent.

It's a slight bummer that I did not really discover Daedalus until I moved to the other side of Harvard Square. The rooftop patio, great vibe, and good food clearly demonstrate why this place won Best of Boston - Neighborhood Restaurant in 2010.

Bryan and I decided to try Daedalus recently while shuttling back and forth between our new place and our old place. The weather was gorgeous that day, and I had heard about the amazing rooftop deck, so we decided to check it out.
According to Bryan, they have a pretty nice selection of beers on tap. Bryan ordered this Oregon beer called Drifters, which we both really liked! It appeared quite popular, as everyone around us seemed to also have a Drifters glass in hand!

Soup du jour - $3.95

Since it was a hot day, I started with a cold gazpacho, which was pretty good. I think I still like the one I had at East Coast Grill the best (I still dream about that gazpacho!). Nevertheless, this one was chunky and flavorful, though possibly just a tad salty for my tastes (I am a bit salt-sensitive!)
Artichoke Hearts | 9.95
Panko-crusted artichoke hearts tossed with parmesan cheese served with horseradish cream sauce

This interesting appetizer was new to both of us - panko crusted fried artichokes!

These were really good! Nice and crunchy on the outside yet hot and juicy on the inside. I loved the umami boost that the Parmesan added. Of course Bryan loved the peppery horseradish sauce that accompanied the appetizer.

Cajun Fried Calamari 13.95
With roasted corn salsa, baby greens, parmesan cheese + citrus vinaigrette

The Cajun calamari salad was perfecty fine - no rocket science here, but everything was very well executed.We definitely thought the portion was quite generous.

Blackened Haddock Fillet | 17.95
Topped with cucumber, red onion, cilantro + mango salsa served with black beans, rice + chorizo

Similarly, the blackened haddock dish was also fine. It was a jambalaya of sorts topped with a haddock fillet and mango salsa. I had ordered it because I was still dreaming about an amazing cod dish I had enjoyed at Bergamot a few nights ago. This doesn't compare with that one, but it's still OK - perfectly fine for a casual weeknight meal, especially at this price point.

Chocolate Explosion | 7.95
Warm flourless chocolate cake with crème anglaise, chocolate sauce + vanilla bean ice-cream

The server told us that the Chocolate Explosion was the most popular dessert, so we went with that one. This one is classic - your basic flourless chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Again - not the most unique or creative dessert, but it was well executed and quite tasty.

Concluding Thoughts
This is a great place for very reasonably priced, solidly executed food. The restaurant has two stories plus a rooftop deck, so I would imagine that there is plenty of seating available. I wouldn't necessarily call it a destination restaurant, but it's a fantastic neighborhood option with great beer, enjoyable food, and one of the best rooftop decks I've ever seen.

Daedalus
45 ½ Mount Auburn St
Cambridge, MA
02138

August 12, 2011 American

Ten Tables (Cambridge) Bar Menu

Nuts, Olives, and Pickles

I'm still a long way away from being completely unpacked. Thankfully, my new place is starting to look like a real home, not just a storage facility for boxes.

It's surprisingly different living here.

Our old place faced a major road. We had completely gotten used to the background roar of subways, constant hum of city buses, and occasional shouts from the slightly inebriated spilling out of nearby bars. It gave the neighborhood character; in some ways, we never felt alone.

Our new place is on a leafy residential street which is super quiet. I couldn't get over the eerie silence that first night. It felt like I was camping in the woods, even though I was less than a 10-minute walk away from Harvard Square.

Another difference? We have less restaurants close by. Whereas before we could walk just one minute to our favorite local haunt, now we have no restaurants on our residential street. Help! What to do?

Why hello, Ten Tables! I didn't see you tucked inside that residential complex right on Craigie Street.

I'm so glad you decided just recently to add a bar and also a bar menu. The timing could not be more perfect for our move into the neighborhood.

Equinox Farm Baby Dandelion Greens with Crispy House-smoked Pork Belly, Hazelnuts & Pickled Ramp Vinaigrette

I first met David Punch at (of all places) the bar at Bergamot. David Punch is the co-owner and executive chef at Ten Tables Cambridge. The day we visited, he had just opened up the new bar and was introducing the bar menu in the form of a fun little six-course tasting menu. Of course we were curious to see what it had.

We began with a nice assortment of classic bar treats with an upscale twist (pictured at topb of post). The olives were delicious (I loved the variety), and both the seasoned nuts and pickles were house-made. The second course - pork belly dandelion greens salad (pictured above) - was also fantastic. The pork belly was cooked perfectly, and I really enjoyed the textural interplay between the crisp greens, crunchy hazelnuts, and juicy charred pork belly.

Blue Crab Beignets with Spicy Remoulade Sauce & Lemon
These little beignets were Dave's creative interpretation of a crab cake, and we both liked it a lot.

Prosciutto wrapper melon
Dave sent these out as a free mezzo - a sort of palate cleanser that came in between courses.

Vermont Rabbit Meatballs with Fava Beans, Ricotta Dumplings, Garlic Chives & Pistachio
These meatballs were hearty and flavorful, with a deep, meaty sauce that went perfectly with the house-made ricotta dumplings.

Artisanal Cheese Board with Cherry Jam & Toast
The cheese board was fun, and later we found out that Dave got some of these at Formaggio Kitchen, the famous cheese shop that Julia Child loved (and which is also now in my hood!)

Sticky Apricot Pudding with Vanilla Creme Fraiche
We absolutely fell in love with this dessert. It was dense, rich, and had a wonderful deep, caramelized flavor. It was a perfect way to end such a great meal.

I am definitely looking forward to visiting this place more now that it's a quick stroll from my new home. The food is excellent, and the prices are not too bad. It's a popular place though, so don't be surprised if you are unable to get a reservation on a Friday or Saturday night. It's pretty hard to find parking in the surrounding neighborhoods (it's all residential permit parking), although they do have a small parking lot right in front.

I will always miss my old haunt (which was so convenient and so close). However, I am thrilled there is such an excellent place that's still so close.

Ten Tables

5 Craigie Circle

Cambridge, MA 02138

August 10, 2011 Boston

Boston Restaurant Week (and the mushroom kit winner!)

Restaurant Week entree at Erbaluce

Boston Restaurant Week
It's here again. Boston Restaurant Week this year is August 14-19 and August 21-26. Two-course lunches are $15.99; three-course lunches are $20.11; and three-course dinners are $30.11. Check out the full list of restaurants at the official site here.

I've had mixed experiences during Restaurant Week, with more negative ones than positive ones. However, sometimes I'm surprised, so you never know.

I would definitely avoid Restaurant Week on busy nights, such as Fridays and Saturdays, because more likely than not, the restaurant will be overwhelmed, the staff will be stressed out, and service and quality will suffer.

Here are links to my past Restaurant Week experiences:

Erbaluce
Henrietta's Table
KO Prime
Sorellina
Uni Sashimi Bar

house smoked salmon pastrami from Henrietta's Table restaurant week menu

Below is the full list of participating restaurants that I've reviewed. The ones with asterisks describe an actual Restaurant Week dining experience. For a full list of restaurants I've reviewed (including non-Restaurant Week options) click here.

Aragosta
Asana
Beacon Hill Bistro
Bergamot
Bina Osteria
Blue Room
Capital Grille
Erbaluce
EVOO Restaurant
Fugakyu
Grafton Street Pub &amp;amp; Grill
Henrietta's Table**
KO Prime**
Legal Sea Foods (only Park Square &amp;amp; Copley are participating)
Lucca Back Bay
Mamma Maria
Mare
Market by Jean-Georges
No. 9 Park
Oceanaire Seafood Room
Oishii Boston
Radius
Rialto
Russell House Tavern
Sandrine's Bistros
Sel de la Terre (Natick)
Sel de la Terre (Back Bay)
Smith &amp;amp; Wollensky at Boston's Castle
Sorellina**
Tango Restaurant
Taranta
Tapeo Restaurant &amp;amp; Tapas Bar
Taranta
Trattoria di Monica
Uni Sashimi Bar**
UpStairs on the Square

MUSHROOM WINNER!

Congratulations to "Digital Printing" who won the Giveaway! Digital Printing said,

"Wow mushrooms are always delicious. You can have a lot of simple recipes out of it yet flavorful. I have also a homegrown mushrooms and I already made several recipes. One of the reasons why I also love eating mushrooms is that,it's helpful in losing weight!"

Please e-mail me and let me know your address so we can send you your kit! Thanks everyone else for playing. 🙂

August 8, 2011 Misc

The Worst Pictures You'll See on this Blog

Moving is hard work!

I apologize for the lack of activity on this blog this past week. It has been nothing short of absolute craziness. I spent about 2 weeks packing up 10 years worth of built-up stuff, and then proceeded to spend the entire weekend trying to unpack to a level that was at least livable.

Please excuse the graininess of these photos! My computer is still not unpacked yet. We finally just got internet this past weekend. You'll just have to live with iPhone pics for now. 🙂

On top of all that craziness, my sister had her baby last night!

Talk about a crazy week!

Anyway, I promise I will pick a winner for the giveaway very soon. Meanwhile, please enjoy a few snapshots of my new slightly-larger-than-before (though I actually think I have less storage space) tiny urban kitchen.

The sous vide machine, espresso machine, and soda stream, hanging out on the counter (along with some egg creatures).

Gas stoves! I've never cooked with gas in my life! I'm a bit afraid of the flame, but people who have gas swear by it and tell me I won't ever go back to electric.

Only time will tell . . .

🙂

Bonus! Can you find the Totoro in the first pic?

August 3, 2011 Review

Sauteed "Homegrown" Oyster Mushrooms + Giveaway

It's been virtually a decade since I've moved.

Moving back when I was in college (or even post-college) was easy. You would pack up your stuff into crates and then just drag them to the nicer dorm room down the hall (or up the elevator). No furniture, no kitchen equipment - just clothing, books, and maybe a computer or other knick knacks. Even post-college, my move hardly involved furniture or kitchen stuff. Instead, I just sold my furniture to the next roommate moving in.

Man, let me tell you, it's so much harder to pack up 10 years worth of accumulated stuff.

I've been packing for over a week, and I feel like the end is nowhere in sight. Alas, sadly that means I've done very little creative cooking. This past week I've been raiding the freezer and the refrigerator, scraping together random meals in a vain effort to clear out my fridge before I have to move it.

Meanwhile, during all this frantic packing, I have been quietly growing mushrooms in my living room.

Mushrooms? Indoor tiny urban garden? really?

The folks at Back to the Roots were kind enough to send me a sample box of their own indoor mushroom garden growing kit. This stuff's really fun! It's easy, fast, and the resultant mushrooms are really delicious.

Once you take the pack out of the box, you cut a few slits, and then submerge the bag in water overnight.

Put back in the box, and just mist it twice a day.

After about 5 days, I started to see something! See the little white bit near my fourth finger?

Once it starts growing, it goes fast! Here it is, the morning of Day 6.

When I came back from work, it had visibly grown more! This is afternoon of Day 6!

Two more days later, it was close to being complete! Here's Day 8.

By day 9, they were clearly ready for harvesting. In fact, I think it let it go a bit too long because the edges were starting to dry out. Gorgeous aren't they?

Since I was furiously trying to eat whatever was in the freezer, I invited a friend over and the three of us (my friend, Bryan, and I) enjoyed two sous-vide steaks, bacon-wrapped scallops, fresh tomatoes from Hay Market, and oyster mushrooms sauteed in the residual steak browned bits in the pan (yum!).

These oyster mushrooms were wonderfully nutty and (of course) ultra fresh since I "harvested" them literally right before cutting them up and throwing them on the grill pan. It was a great complement to the random "whatever-meat-I-have-in-the-freezer" meal.

I think these kits are a great idea. They'd be a fun gift for anyone who cannot have a garden. It's a fun project for kids as well. Best of all, you are rewarded with fresh, delicious, "locally grown" mushrooms at the end. The soil inside is composed entirely of spent coffee grounds (currently from Peet's Coffee!). The box has two side, so you can harvest two bunches of mushrooms from each kit.

Back to the Roots has kindly offered to give away one mushroom kit to a lucky Tiny Urban Kitchen reader. For those of you who don't win, you can still buy the kits on their website. You can get 10% off your order by using the discount code: mushrooms4me10. To get 20% off, "like" Back to the Roots on facebook.

To enter, please comment below telling me your favorite mushroom dish. For one additional entry, please either "like" Back to the Roots on facebook or follow them on twitter. Please write a separate comment for each entry. For facebook or twitter, please leave your twitter handle or facebook link in the comment below so I can check.

Right now, if you post a picture of your kit on their facebook page, they will donate a kit and a sustainability curriculum to an elementary school of your choice.

Contest closes this Friday, August 5th at midnight EST.

Good luck!

Disclaimer - I received this kit to try for free from Back to the Roots

July 29, 2011 Asian

Pho Hoa

I've been missing out all these years.

I'd always heard from my sister (and my brother-in-law, among others) that the best Vietnamese food in Boston is in Dorchester. I guess for one reason or another, I've mostly kept to my microcosm here - Cambridge, with bits of the North End, downtown, and occasional jaunts to the suburbs. Heck, the South End even feels too far away even though there's tons of interesting restaurants there.

Thankfully, thankfully, my sister decided to take the entire family down to Dorchester after her graduation to try some Vietnamese food from her favorite haunts.

Yes, I know this is a chain, but . . . wow! Fresh ingredients, very reasonable prices, and a brand new, beautiful space. It's no surprise that Pho Hoa grew as quickly as it did.

Pho Hoa is a chain of Vietnamese restaurants that started in California and is now all over the world. They have locations all over Asia (Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Macau), in Canada, and spread throughout the US (Georgia, California, Boston, and Utah, just to name a few). The restaurants are franchises but all have similar menus and philosophies ("health conscious choice").

We were immediately impressed with the freshness of the ingredients. You won't see any limp bean sprouts or tired vegetables here. My brother-in-law also noted that they carry the more unusual rau ngò gai, or thorny coriander or sawtooth herb alongside your more typical Thai basil and bean sprouts.

Bún Gà Nướng
Grilled chicken with vermicelli, pickled carrots and daikon, beansprouts, and peanuts. You toss this together with a fish-sauce based broth. Absolutely delicious.

Bún Thịt Nướng Chả Giò

Pork, pork skin, and tiny spring rolls on top of vermicelli.

Bryan got a RAW(!) beef noodle pho, something he had never seen in Boston up to this point.

Essentially, they give you raw slices of prime beef, which you just dip into the hot soup!

Bryan loves rare meat, so he was thrilled.

For dessert, they had ice cream from Christina's on the menu! Yes - we are talking about the uber famous ice cream shop in Cambridge. Of course, we were thrilled. I tried the green tea ice cream and it was definitely much better than what you typically get at an Asian restaurant.

I had a lot of fun at Pho Hoa and I would definitely return. There is another location in Chinatown, which I have not tried. I'm hoping it's just as good as this one. I hate to say it, but Pho Hoa has replaced Le's & Pho Pasteur as my favorite pho place in Boston (though Le's still holds a special place in my heart just because it's so close to home and is such a great cheap dining option in Harvard Square!)

This post is part of a larger series dedicated to my sister, Patricia, and describes meals we had when my parents came to town for her graduation. Other posts in this series:

Joyful Garden
Moves and Changes

Pho Hoa
1370 Dorchester Ave
Dorchester, MA 02122

July 28, 2011 Greater Boston

Joyful Garden

This post is part of a larger series dedicated to my sister, Patricia, and describes meals we had when my parents came to town for her graduation.

You would never ever have expected to find good Chinese food here. I mean, really . . . we're inside a very ordinary-looking hotel/inn. The front lobby reminds me of an extended stay suite, with dated furniture, tired wallpaper, and a bright neon green sign that screams "Joyful Garden!"

How would anyone ever think of coming here - much less dine here?

And then you peer in a little bit closer. Surprise! The place is teeming with Chinese people? Large round tables are filled with Grandmas, kids, and people of all ages engrossed in lively conversation. Cantonese can be heard all over the place.

Could it be? A secret Chinese haven inside of a Days Inn in the middle of Brighton, Massachusetts?

The first clue in support of authenticity is the all-Chinese menu. My sister was dying to come back here with my parents because she couldn't read the menu the first time she came. Sadly, she was stuck with the English menu, with lovely choices such as Sweet & Sour Pork, Chicken Lettuce Wraps, and General Gau's Chicken. The Chinese menu is quite different, with exotic ingredients such as sauteed frog legs ("spring chicken" as they call it), a plethora of lobster dishes (I don't even see lobster on the English language menu), and great value "banquet" type multi-course meals where you can get set menus for 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 people ($29.95, $59.99, $98.88, $168, and $199.99 respectively).

Because we had a big table of people, we ordered the 10 person meal but substituted a few of the dishes to suit our personal tastes (i.e. my sister's tastes since this was her graduation meal!)

We began with this interesting soup - "Fish Maw Soup with Crab." Fish maw is actually the air bladder of a fish, and has a soft, spongy texture. If you didn't know what it was, you might think you were eating some kind of interesting sea plant. Bryan and I love this soup, though the texture may be an acquired taste! The soup here was decent, though we thought the same soup at Victoria Seafood was more flavorful.

The next dish was interesting as well - baby bok choy, Shitake mushrooms, and dried bamboo hearts. The texture of the bamboo hearts was also spongy, and definitely reminded me of fish maw (except that it was vegetarian and a significantly finer). I liked how it soaked up all the flavorful umami of the mushrooms and others.

I've always loved these fried taro nests, and this one was classic. The dish was decent - the seafood wasn't the highest quality, but overall it was alright.

When I'm to lazy to make my own golden pan fried noodles at home, I can find them at most Cantonese restaurants. These noodles came with a flavorful sauce and were nicely crispy.

I love the idea of a crab sauce over spinach - ingenious! This is one of my favorite dishes, and I thought they did a reasonable job executing it.

Pi Pa Tofu is another favorite of mine - these are essentially fried balls of minced shrimp and tofu. We weren't sure if there was actually shrimp in this one, but it was still pretty tasty, though maybe not the best I've ever had.

This simple steamed fish with ginger and scallions was quite good. It all comes down to freshness, and the fish here tasted sweet, clean, and delicious.

My sister loves these sweet, red spare ribs (jin du pai gu), so we swapped out another dish for this one. It's not one of my favorite dishes (half the time at restaurants I don't even touch it when it's ordered). However, I tried a bite, and it was alright.

General Thoughts
Overall, Joyful Garden is a surprising oasis on this stretch of Soldiers Field Road. I would have never expected to find pretty good Cantonese food in such a unique place. Word of mouth seems to be what brings the hoard of Chinese people here.

It's not my favorite Cantonese restaurant in Boston, but it's definitely authentic and pretty solid. They have nice banquet packages that are reasonably priced and generously portioned. It's a great place for large groups because they have all those big round tables plus there's plenty of parking. I can't comment on the food off the English menu because I've never tried it.

Just make sure you order from the Chinese menu! Bring a friend who can read Chinese or try blindly ordering one of the banquet set menus and be pleasantly surprised!

Joyful Garden
234 Soldiers Field Rd
Brighton, MA 02135

July 26, 2011 Boston

Aragosta Bar & Grill

There's nothing more relaxing than sitting outside on a nice day, looking out into the ocean (or some other pretty view), and enjoying a delicious meal with friends or family.

Whenever it's nice outside, I can't resist seeking out restaurants that offer pleasant outdoor dining experiences. My absolutely favorite thing to do is to walk to such a place, enjoy fantastic food, and then walk home. Ideally, the walk would be very pleasant and last about an hour long (yes, I love walking).

During "good" weather months (in Boston we'll stretch this to include the cool spring, nippy autumn, and summer days that are not unbearably hot or humid), Bryan and I regularly walk to the North End, enjoy some of our favorite restaurants, and then walk home via the Public Garden, Boston Common, down Newbury Street, across the Harvard Bridge (aka "Mass Ave Bridge") back to Cambridge. By the time we've reached home, we've "walked off" the big dinner, had nice long conversation, and enjoyed beautiful scenes from downtown Boston. It's truly one of my favorite things to do.

One drawback to this regularly planned dinner outing is that none of our favorite restaurants in the North End offer outdoor seating. Accordingly, when I was invited to a blogger event at Aragosta Bar & Grill (in Battery Wharf, virtually steps from the North End), I was intrigued at the idea of dining on Italian food while facing the ocean.

Truffle Rigatoni And Cheeses, Warm Goat Cheese Fondue; Hand Crafted Selection Of Salumi, Capponata, Hot Cherry Peppers, Crusty Bread

Aragosta Bar & Grill replaces Sensing inside the Fairmont Battery Wharf hotel and just opened in April. Chef David Daniels, who previously worked at places such as Stephanie's on Newbury and the Federalist, brings to the table food inspired by his first generation Italian-American parents with "a Mediterranean flair and a fine dining twist."

I arrived late at the event, and therefore missed out on a few of the appetizers. Nevertheless, I had a chance to try some of the cured meats (shown above), which were delicious.

Small dishes continued to come out, one at a time. I was stuffed when I left - I can't imagine how I would have eaten everything had I arrived on time!

Orecchiette, Broccoli Rabe, Pancetta, Capers, Preserved Lemon
It was exciting to try pastas that were clearly homemade. The texture of this orecchiette was chewy and fun to eat. The flavors were pretty good.

Pappardelle Bolognese, Veal Cheek & Ox Tail Ragu, Porcini Powder
Similarly, I loved the beautiful presentation of the pappardelle Bolognese, although the flavors of the sauce did not blow me away.

Slow-cooked lamb shoulder, gnocchi, asparagus, and rosemary citrus sauce

Seared Tuna, Roasted Fennel, Marcona Almonds, Golden Raisin Puree

Apple pie with marscapone ice cream

It was a beautiful day, and I absolutely loved sitting outside, sipping a prosecco while enjoying some cool hangout time with other bloggers.

General Thoughts
The space at Aragosta is beautiful, and if you're looking for fresh pasta paired with lovely views of the water, this is not a bad place to go. As far as Italian food goes, it's still several steps below our favorite places in the North End, so I would dine at the North End instead if you're looking for the best Italian food. Having said that, the water views are great, and the food is still pretty enjoyable. You can always cross the street and head down Hanover Street after dinner for some lovely pastries, either from Mike's, Modern, or other wonderful bakeries in the area.

Aragosta Bar & Grill
3 Battery Wharf
Boston, MA 02109

Disclaimer - this blogger event was paid for by Aragosta Bar & Grill

July 25, 2011 Misc

Tiny Urban Tidbits #20: Moves & Changes

MOVES

It's been a hot hot week hasn't it?

Those of you in the East Coast (and probably most parts of the nation) can commiserate with me. I had the fun job of walking home the other day (about 1 mile) carrying a load of empty boxes.

Why boxes?

We're moving!

Don't worry - I'm not moving that far. I'm moving just a couple miles down the road. I'll still be in Cambridge, so the nature of the content of this blog won't really change at all.

A few things I look forward to in the new place:

1. A window in the kitchen! - finally, my cooking shots will look so much better with the benefit of natural sunlight!
2. A bigger (but still small by suburban standards) urban kitchen
3. A tiny urban garden - maybe I can plant some herbs now!

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks as I've been packing like crazy (sorry if the blog seems to have slowed down a bit). Bryan and I have also been shopping for all sorts of furniture. Honestly, when we first got married, we set a pretty low budget for furniture. When the money ran out, we just stopped buying furniture, even if we didn't have everything yet. This is why we've gone 10 years without even a headboard on our bed. Yah . . so we have a lot of catching up to do!

CHANGES
It's been a crazy busy year for our entire family.

Please meet my sister, Patricia, the inspiration behind my next series of posts.

My sister's got a TON going on right now! Not only did she complete her Ph.D. this past year, she's also expecting her first baby really soon (hello diapers and cribs!). In a normal year I only see my parents a few times a year (usually during the holidays). This year, I'll be blessed to see my parents a lot more. First, they came to attend my sister's graduation earlier this summer. Later, when my sister has her baby, my mom will come again!

As you can tell, my sister and I have lots of fun together.

My next food series will feature the various meals we enjoyed throughout Boston with my family while they were here for Patricia's graduation. Here's a sneak peek at the upcoming posts! Can you guess any of the places?

They say the best Vietnamese food in Boston is in Dorchester. I finally had a chance to try one of these places with my family when they came for Patricia's graduation. It was the first time we experienced pho with actual raw beef (served table side) that you just dip into the soup!

We enjoyed a fun barbeque at Patricia's backyard where we tasted the ever-so-delicious Copper River Salmon on the grill.

We had surprisingly solid Cantonese food (this place is one of those "best kept hidden secrets places") at a Chinese restaurant inside of a Days Inn right outside of Boston!

My sister's favorite banh mi shop is also in Dorchester (right on Dorchester Ave). At her baby shower, every single guest got to enjoy one of these flavorful sandwiches. YUM . . .

Here's to you sis! Can't wait to meet the little one!

July 21, 2011 Salad

Kohlrabi Crunch Salad

I love summer for so many reasons. Living on the East Coast, you really have a super short window in which to soak in the sun, eat outside, and enjoy fresh local produce.

This is my third year participating in a CSA (Community Support Agriculture). The first year, I bought a share with ReVision Urban Farms, which is a great nonprofit program that works in conjunction with a women's shelter to teach women real life work skills. The vegetables were fantastic, and it was my first time experiencing a farm share.

Last year, I signed up through my workplace with Siena Farms, whose beautiful produce is also used by the likes of Oleana, No. 9 Park, Menton, Market by Jean Georges, Upstairs on the Square, and Hungry Mother.

This year, my company decided to switch farms, mostly because people did not like having to deal with the various exotic vegetables that came out of Siena Farms (even though I personally loved experimenting with it all!).

So, this year I've been enjoying my share from Silverbrook Farms. It's been fun in a different way. They give us farm fresh eggs, jams, cheeses, along with fresh vegetables from their farm.

Recently, we received a few stalks of kohlrabi, one of my favorite summertime vegetables.

Kohlrabi is in the same family as cabbage, and related to broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts. The texture is crunchy, not unlike broccoli stem, but better!

Most kohlrabi you see in the supermarket does not come with the leaves attached. My guess is that the leaves draw water away from the bulbous part, thus reducing the shelf life of the kohlrabi itself. At farmers markets you are more likely to see the entire plant, which is cool because you can eat the leaves too (more on that in another post!).

My favorite way to enjoy kohlrabi is just to eat it raw, tossed with some salt, sesame oil, soy sauce, and a sprinkling of crushed red peppers. Remove the tough outer skin (I used a knife, but you could try using a peeler), and slice into thin matchsticks. Toss with salt and sesame oil to taste. You can add soy sauce and a bit of minced garlic too if you'd like, though it's not necessary. Sprinkle with a bit of crushed red pepper flakes.

Eat immediately, or store in the refrigerator overnight for even better results.

A perfect, summer treat.

July 20, 2011 Greater Boston

Amelia's Kitchen

Amelia's Kitchen feels like a true, neighborhood restaurant. It's been in the Teele Square Somerville neighborhood since 1995, opened by the Delio and Amelia Susi who came from the Abruzzi region of south central Italy. Their menu consists of family recipes that Amelia brought over from Italy. Amelia passed away in 1994, but her husband and son continue to serve her special family recipes.

From the moment we entered, we felt like we were visiting someone's home. The man who served us (he acted like the owner - but we were not sure), was so friendly and hospitable, we immediately felt at ease in this cozy little Italian restaurant.

The olive oil that came with the bread was a bit unusual, filled with roasted onions and mixed with balsamic vinegar.

CAPRESE
Vine ripe tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, basil drizzled with extra virgin olive oil

Caprese salad was fine - nothing particularly unique about it. I wouldn't have minded less balsamic (or maybe even no balsamic), but that may be more personal preference.

TOASTED RAVIOLI
Toasted raviolis with ricotta and basil stuffing served with marinara dipping sauce

I thought the toasted raviolis were fun and pretty good. I'd never had ravioli served this way - slightly breaded and toasted until crispy. It was a nice little appetizer, and we enjoyed it, perhaps more for the novelty, but also for the taste.

LASAGNA ABRUZZO
House made pasta sheets layered with ground beef, mozzarella cheese, and marinara sauce

The lasagna was pretty solid, generously stuffed with ground beef, cheese, and overflowing with tomato sauce.

TIRAMISU
House made with ladyfingers, layered mascarpone cheese, and espresso

CANNOLI
House made ricotta cheese filling in a crisp cannoli shell, topped with powdered sugar

RUSTIC APPLE GALLET
Imported open face apple pie, served hot, and topped with vanilla bean ice cream

The waiter/(owner?) convinced us to try a flight of desserts. These desserts were fine - nothing special, but not offensive either. They definitely pale in comparison to the North End.

Overall, we had a fun time at Amelia's Kitchen - more from the cozy, atmosphere and the warm and welcoming host than the food itself. Now don't get me wrong - the food's solid, homemade, and definitely beats out 90% of your typical Americanized suburban Italian restaurants. However, when matched up against our favorite North End restaurants, it's still got a ways to go.

Nevertheless, Amelia's Kitchen is a fun and intimate setting in which to enjoy a solid Italian meal. They often have promotional deals on Restaurant.com, which make a meal there a very good value. The waiter did try to get us to order a lot, so you may end up spending more than you had planned if you listen to all his suggestions.

Though I wouldn't necessarily call it a destination restaurant, it's definitely a fine place to visit if you live in the area or happen to be there for some other reason.

Amelia's Kitchen
1137 Broadway
Somerville, MA 02144

July 18, 2011 Dessert

Easy Homemade Mochi

mochi (n) a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous flour pounded into a paste and molded into shape (source: Wikipedia)

I've always had a weakness for the chewy texture of rice cakes. It doesn't really matter what form these rice cakes take. I'm just as happy chewing on savory stir-fried Chinese rice cakes (chao nian gao) as I am snacking on sweet Japanese mochi.

The traditional method for making mochi is time-consuming and labor intensive. First glutinous (or sweet) rice is manually ground, soaked, and then steamed. This mound of cooked rice is then pounded vigorously for 10 minutes until it becomes one big, sticky mass. Finally, this mass is hand-kneaded until it becomes the desired texture.

It's no wonder virtually no one in America makes mochi at home.

Thankfully, with the help of modern technology, there are much easier ways of making mochi at home. I've chosen to even skip the pounding step. Although it yields a mochi that is less dense, it's still sweet, chewy, and quite enjoyable.

Hard to beat for just 15 minutes of work. 🙂

Easy Homemade Mochi
¼ cup water
¼ cup Mochiko (glutinous rice) flour
1-2 T sugar (optional)

Mix together water, flour, and sugar in a microwave safe bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave on high for about 2 minutes. The previously liquid mixture should be solid now. Typically the plastic wrap will expand while heating (creating a bubble on top of the container) and then it will shrink and become concave once you take it out (due to the rapid cooling air inside the container).

Remove from microwave and let cool.

Be careful when removing the plastic wrap! The steam is very hot!

I like to use a glass Pyrex container with plastic wrap for microwaving because I know it will retain the moisture inside. I once tried making it with a plastic lid and I think too much moisture was lost, resulting in a hard, rubbery mochi. Of course, I'm sure some of you (me included!) feel a little nervous about microwaving with plastic wrap. If you have a microwave-safe lid that seals, I would definitely try that. At the end of the day, you just need to make sure no moisture escapes!

You can now scoop out your desired size and cover with potato starch, peanut sugar, kinako (roasted soy bean flour), coconut flakes, or cocoa powder.

Alternatively, take out the entire piece and cut up into squares with a knife.

That's it!

You can easily make peanut sugar with a mini-food processor. Just put plain, dry-roasted peanuts and sugar in a food processor and pulse until it becomes a powder. I never actually measure, but I try to eye ball a ratio roughly 1:1 by volume.

Alternatively, you can grind peanuts and sugar in a mortar and pestle by hand, the way my mom used to do it when we were growing up!

If you are ambitious, you can try making mochi sushi!

Check out my posts on how to make mochi nigiri and mochi maki rolls. These are super cute, and not too hard to make! They work great for parties. 🙂

July 15, 2011 Cambridge

Thelonious Monkfish

I'm so ignorant when it comes to my knowledge of jazz musicians. That's exactly why when I first saw that the new restaurant in Central Square was going to be called Thelonious Monkfish, I thought the founders were out of their minds.

Then I found out that Thelonious Monk was actually a really famous jazz musician.

Ahhh! - the fish symbol with the musical staff makes sooo much more sense now!

I've felt for a long time that there's been a dearth of good Asian restaurants in Cambridge, especially Central and Harvard Square. So, when Thelonious Monkfish opened with the promise of reasonably priced sushi and Southeast Asian food, I definitely wanted to check it out right away.

Satchmo Roll
spicy tuna, poached shrimp, yellowtail in cucumber wrap with ponzu sauce ($13.95)

I stopped by for lunch with a friend a couple weeks after the restaurant had opened. By that point, positive Yelp reviews had made the place quite popular, and it was packed right at noon on a Tuesday. I had to wait about 10-15 minutes before I could be seated. You could tell the staff was a bit harried, still not accustomed to dealing with such heavy crowds.

Temper Tantrum Maki
tuna, cucumber, scallions & chili sauce $6.50

We decided to try the sushi, since that's something that's really hard to find in Central Square. I ordered the chirashi while my friend got the Temper Tantrum Maki. We shared the Satchmo Roll, since that looked interesting as well.

Chirashi
assorted sashimi on a bed of seasoned rice $12.95

Honestly, the sushi was rather underwhelming. The Satchmo Roll was bland (the fish itself didn't have much flavor), and the workmanship in the maki was a bit sloppy. The chirashi was average - I guess for only $12.95 I shouldn't expect something amazing, but I didn't really enjoy my meal that much. My friend enjoyed her Temper Tantrum Maki, so I'm guessing at least the chili sauce added some flavor to the otherwise bland fish.

Drunken Noodles $10.95
flat rice noodles, onions, green beans, basil leaves, and hot peppers stir-fried with your choice of chicken, beef, pork, tofu or shrimp

On a more positive note, I ordered a bunch of their Southeast Asian dishes for take out another evening. The menu had a wide variety of choices, so I tried several curries as well as classics such as Pad Thai, Drunken Noodles, and Rad Na.

Chicken Green Curry $10.95
I was actually quite pleased with our food. The delivery came right on time (I ordered using Seamlessweb), and the food was pretty enjoyable. The dishes were well-seasoned and flavorful yet not too salty nor greasy.

Glass Noodle Pad Thai
cellophane noodles stir-fried with egg, chicken, shrimp, crushed peanuts, bean sprouts, lime juice, & tamarind juice

I had invited a group of 5 people over, and everyone seemed to really enjoy the food. The curry coconut-based sauce was so good that one of my guests asked to take it home to eat with rice, even though all the meat and veggies were essentially gone!

Beef Red Curry $12.95
The prices are quite reasonable, and a pretty good value considering the ambiance of the restaurant, the location, and the type of food.

Clover Honey Pork Rad Na
wide flat noodles are pan-fried till lightly caramelized with clover honey marinated pork, carrot, egg, chinese kale & served in a mild gravy
This dish intrigued me because it sounded interesting. Check out that super wide noodle!

Overall Initial Thoughts
I'm pretty happy about this new Asian fusion addition to Central Square. The area definitely could use more Asian food, and Thelonious Monkfish fits the bill as a pleasant sit-down restaurant with reasonably-priced food. Based on my initial experiences, I'd probably skip the sushi and instead opt for one of the Thai dishes. Having said that, I think my opinion is still premature. I've had other friends visit the restaurant and speak rather positively about the sushi. I'll probably go back and give the sushi one more try before making just drastic decisions. 🙂

Thelonious Monkfish
524 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02139

July 13, 2011 Greater Boston

Machu Picchu Charcoal Chicken & Grill

Fried plantainsSame food, half the price?
Years ago my family visited San Francisco as tourists for the first time. We did all the classic touristy things: walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, ride the famous trolley, and marvel at the sheer size of the biggest Chinatown in the US.

We found a fantastic hole-in-the-wall restaurant with simple formica tables, super bright fluorescent lights, and incredible food. The best part? It was super cheap.

One our second day there, the waiter told us that a much fancier Chinese restaurant upstairs served exactly same food but charged twice as much. Of course, the decor and service upstairs were much nicer, but the food was identical. In fact, it came out of the same kitchen.

We chuckled, feeling like we had found some amazing secret about which the clueless, duped tourists upstairs had no clue.

In reality, we never did confirm or validate the waiter's statement. He played to our instinctive values - the desire to get a good deal.

Whenever a successful (and expensive) restaurant opens a more casual joint with the same trade name, people tend to get excited (think Jean George or Daniel Boulud), thinking that they can get something amazing for much cheaper.

Yucca Fries

The owners of Macchu Picchu Charcoal Chicken & Grill began with a highly successful Peruvian restaurant in Union Square (also called Macchu Picchu). After moving that restaurant to a bigger space, they opened up a simple, casual rotisserie at the old location.

Peruvian Chicken

Their namesake dish, of course, is the Peruvian chicken, which costs $15.99 for a whole chicken. It's marinated for 24 hours in their secret blend of spices and then cooked over charcoal. It's juicy, flavorful, and definitely quite enjoyable.

We only got take-out, so I can't comment much on the ambiance of the restaurant or the service. Nevertheless, the chicken is definitely very good, as well as the classic fried plantains and the yucca fries.

Classic Peruvian cookies called Alfajores - these were filled with caramel and were absolutely delicious.

I hope to someday return to try the larger, sit-down restaurant, which has a much bigger menu, full bar, and takes reservations. Until then, I'm perfectly happy relishing in the memories of the simple yet delicious menu items at the more casual counterpart down the street.

Machu Picchu
307 Somerville Ave
Somerville, MA 02143

July 11, 2011 Boston

Erbaluce

Every couple months, I check out a new restaurant with a small group of food-loving women from my church. We kicked off our first meeting by dining at Henrietta's Table (good old New England style cuisine). We then moved onto ethnic places, such as authentic Mexican cuisine at Angela's Cafe and the more adventurous Senegalese food at Teranga in the South End.

And then it was time to decide where to go next.

We were intrigued by stories we had heard of a little, cozy Italian restaurant that focused on fresh, local ingredients. It was a restaurant in a tiny corner in Bay Village, the area between Back Bay and the South End. The menu changed daily.

It had received rave reviews from critics and diners alike.

Why, oh why did we choose Restaurant Week, of all weeks, to try this place first?

The food's excellent here. But I would definitely order outside of the Restaurant Week menu, which was a minor disaster.

Duxbury razor claims steamed Trieste style green peppercorns, fennel, and white wine beets

We absolutely loved the razor clams (which, by the way, were not part of the Restaurant Week menu). They had a rich, yet clean flavor, and worked beautifully with the accompanying vegetables. Almost everyone at the table agreed this was a favorite.

The Restaurant Week 3-course menu began with a simple salad starter, which was fine, but nothing particularly exciting.

Vellutata of organic parsnips with house smoked cod 12

We decided to order the "vellutata," a rich soup that was also off the regular menu. We were shocked at how LARGE the bowl was. This soup was the least popular of the bunch, probably because the sweetness of the parsnips overpowered the entire soup. There didn't seem to be enough salt nor umami to balance the sweetness.

Homemade fusilli with housemade burrata cheese, tomatoes, and basil
We all concluded that the pastas, which were all homemade, were excellent. I loved the chewy texture of the fusilli, and naturally I absolutely loved the beautiful combination of burrata, tomatoes, and basil.

Homemade gnocchi with veal ragu
Similarly, the housemade gnocchi was also delicious. The meat ragu was rich and flavorful.

Risotto stuffed jumbo Maine crab
The biggest failure of the night was the dramatically presented crab entree. It was part of the Restaurant Week menu, and essentially was quite undercooked. The risotto was still hard (almost crunchy) inside, hardly acceptable from a textural perspective. I wonder if the kitchen was just overwhelmed and thus undercooked this entree.

Eggplant dessert

Thanksfully, we were partially redeemed with the dessert.

Have you ever heard of eggplant being served as part of a dessert? We sure hadn't so were intrigued by this item. Besides, the waiter told us that eggplant has more nicotine than the tobacco plant. Although his exaggeration was inaccurate (it's actually second after the nicotine plant), the fact that eggplants had nicotine was new to us, so it was still an interesting fact.

This layered dessert was actually pretty good. It was definitely a new way to enjoy eggplant!

The other dark chocolate dessert, which reminded us a bit of brownies, was pretty good - nicely dark and chocolate-y.

Though we had no room, we enjoyed a dew mignardises. I preferred the simple chocolate dusted truffles to the interesting chewy sesame balls.

Overall, I can definitely see that Erbaluce is able to make some fantastic dishes. We all loved their pasta dishes, and some of the appetizers, like the razor clams, were absolutely phenomenal. I like how the menu changes every day, which means you never know what to expect if you return.

The ambiance is romantic, the menu is good, and overall, the cooking is excellent. I would definitely consider returning . . . just not during Restaurant Week.

Erbaluce
69 Church St
Boston, MA 02116

July 8, 2011 Chinese

Chinese Wok Starter Kit Winners!

Hi everyone!

Happy Friday! I'm thrilled to announce the winners of the Chinese Wok Starter Giveaway, sponsored by Nina Simonds, author of the popular cookbook Spoonful of Ginger.

Congrats to the following!

Lillie_Amelia who said "Hunanese spicy fish! And any form of lotus root."

The Culinary Lens who said "I guess my favorite is not a dish but rather a Dim Sum brunch"

Alexis, who said "Xi hong shi chow ji dan! Stir fried egg and tomato. I ate it nearly everyday when I lived in China and I really ought to learn how to prepare it!"

Chris Yang, who said "Chinese red braised fatty pork belly!"

The Nervous Cook, who said "Pan-fried noodles! Oh my goodness, I haven't had pan-fried noodles in so long, and I love them so, so much. This looks heavenly -- I would NEVER have thought to broil the noodles to make them crunchy! Thanks for introducing me to Nina's work: I am looking forward to following her & trying out some of her other dishes. I bet she's covered my favorite go-to Chinese comfort food: Egg-drop soup!

Please email me at jen{at}tinyurbankitchen{dot}com to get your prize!

Thanks for playing!

For those of you who didn't win, you can still pick up Nina's book Spoonful of Ginger for some great accessible Chinese recipes and feel like a winner when you cook cool dishes like the one below. 🙂

Have a great weekend!

July 6, 2011 Appetizer

Homemade Gravlax (Copper River Sockeye Salmon)

It's all about the quality of the fish.

I received my second shipment of Copper River Salmon this week. If you missed my first post explaining the background of this beautiful, luxurious salmon from Alaska, check it out here.

Last month I got Copper River King salmon, which is prized for its fatty, succulent flavor. It was seriously the best salmon I'd ever had in my entire life. This month I got a shipment of Copper River Sockeye salmon, a fish known for its naturally deep red hues and intense flavors.

I had two fillets, so I decided to try something a little different this month.

Why not try making my own house-cured salmon?

Wow. So easy to make, yet so elegant and fancy at the same time. This dish presents beautifully and takes only about 15 minutes of active work to prepare. It's simple, popular with guests, and super enjoyable to eat.

First thing's first - make sure your salmon is really really FRESH! I cured mine the day I got it. Just remember, you won't be cooking this at all! Treat it as you would any other raw fish.

There are countless ways you can make cured salmon. At a minimum, you need salt and sugar. The rest is just flavoring agents. This particular version uses citrus zest alongside a 1:1 mixture of coarse salt (e.g., sea salt or kosher salt) and sugar.

Remove the skin on a 2 lb filet and cover both sides with the zest/sugar/salt mixture. Cover up with foil and weigh down the salmon with something heavy (e.g., jars, cans) for at least 8 hours.

When you open it, you'll notice that the salmon lost a lot of water! Osmosis!

Rinse the salmon well and dry. The curing process deepens the already unusually red hue of the Sockeye salmon. The filet itself becomes much denser.

Take your sharpest knife and slice thinly at a diagonal against the grain.

Serve with your favorite toppings. We tried a mixture of either a dill sour cream mix or creme fraiche and caviar. Both were absolutely fantastic. For even more detailed step-by-step pictures of this entire process, check our my original post on this recipe.

Citrus Gravlax
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
½ cup coarse salt (I used sea salt)
¼ teaspoon freshly-ground white pepper
½ cup sugar
1 salmon filet, skin removed - (around 2 lbs)
1 ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 ½ teaspoon grated orange zest
1 ½ teaspoon grated lime zest
1 ½ teaspoon grated grapefruit zest

Remove skin from the filet. Set aside this skin for another purpose. Combine salt, pepper, sugar, and zest in a bowl and mix well. Line a large tray with foil. Spread out half of the mixture onto the foil. Place the salmon on salt mixture. Cover the other side of the filet with the remaining mixture. Wrap tightly and put weigh down with another tray, preferably filled with heavy jars or cans. Let marinade overnight (or at least 8 hours).

Remove salmon from marinade (a lot of liquid will have come out). Rinse under cold water and pat dry. Thinly slice and serve with crackers, creme fraiche, and (optionally), caviar. Alternatively, serve with a sour cream/dill dip.

Enjoy!

Salmon with Prunier caviar and Cloumage creamy cheese curds

House cured gravlax with sour cream and dill

Disclaimer:
I received the salmon filet for free from the Copper River Salmon Association.

July 5, 2011 Europe

Papa Galos - Oceanview Dining in Santorini

It was our last day on the gorgeous island of Santorini in Greece.

Up until this point, we had dined on pretty simple food: delicious chicken gyros for lunch and grilled seafood for dinner.

For this last day, we wanted something a bit more special. We asked the inn owner, "can you recommend a place with really good food and a great view?"

He paused and then chuckled.

"The places with the best views do not have good food, and the places with the best food do not have the best views."

We decided we could forgo the best views in exchange for really good food. He recommended a lovely place in Oia called "Papagalos." Only a five minute walk from where we were staying, Papagalos was the perfect place to enjoy our last meal out in Greece.

Though the restaurant is not right on the ocean, it still has a lovely view. Honestly, I think there are very few places in Oia with a bad view. After all, most of the buildings in the entire town are perched off of a high cliff overlooking the ocean. Sure, we were set a bit back, but you can still see the water quite clearly.

Frst thing's first - fresh bread accompanied by olive oil and olive tapenade!

We then enjoyed house made meat balls in a tomato-based sauce served with freshly baked pita bread, rice, and a fresh yogurt sauce.

Here's another stewed lamb dish served with a beautiful side of hummus.

These creamy sauteed oyster mushrooms were simple yet delicious.

My favorite! Halloumi cheese (I'd never tried it fried!) served over beautifully grilled vegetables. This was one of my favorite dishes.

We spent our final day just walking around the peaceful island.

The scenery is stunning in Santorini, to the point of seeming unreal sometimes . . .

I woke up super early before my 9AM flight my last morning to catch the sunrise.

Good by Santorini. I'll surely miss you . . .

This is the last post in the larger Greece series.
Greetings from Greece!
Sweets in Greece
Gyros, Souvlakis, and Pitas, Oh My!
Tavernas - Everyday Dining in Greece
Eating in the Greek Isles - Santorini

July 1, 2011 Europe

Eating in the Greek Isles - Santorini

A trip to Greece is incomplete without a visit to the Greek Islands of the Cyclades.

I'm typically a city-sort of person. I love walking in bustling areas, taking in the energy of the people, the buildings, and (of course!) the food. I enjoyed Athens a lot. It was rich with history, full of culture, and had great food.

Having said that, I can see why most people flock to the islands when they visit Greece. The scenery alone is absolutely phenomenal. Furthermore, after a few days in Athens (which can start to feel crowded, polluted, and overwhelming), the Greek isles are a much needed oasis from the craziness of it all.

For this trip, due to limited time, I only visited one island - Santorini.

Despite the short duration of my trip, I absolute will never forget this magical place.

Thira

The island is small, with the two major towns (Thira and Oia) perched high on top of the steep cliff. You get gorgeous ocean views from almost every building on the island.

Oia

The town we stayed in, Oia (pronounced ee-ya), is well known for its blue-domed white buildings. It's also known as the location for one of the most beautiful and romantic sunsets in the world.

One of my favorite experiences in Santorini was hiking the six-mile trail between Thira and Santorini. The scenery is breathtaking throughout (rolling hills, expansive ocean, a gorgeous sunset) plus the exercise is refreshing (can you see us walking in the picture?).

Of course, by the end of that hike we were famished. Though we had already traversed six miles, we made another tiring and steep descent down to the bottom of the island. You can see the steps leading all the way down to the oceanside.

We ate at a well-known seafood shanty with prime outdoor seats facing the famous sunset. Essentially, you pick out your fish and they grill it for you.

In Greece, fish is served with the head and tail (though they do filet it for you!). The preparation is simple (grilled with a splash of lemon), but very good. We also tried some traditional Greek appetizers, such as Greek salad and roasted eggplant. We also had deep fried tomatoes, which is a specialty of Santorini (known for its tomatoes).

Overall, we enjoyed our meal very much. Because we were visiting off-season, the fish was not as fresh as we would have liked (we saw some cloudy eyes while picking out fish - never a good sign!). Nevertheless, we enjoyed our meal immensely, and our waiter was super nice. In fact, he was so nice that he drove us all back up the "mountain" to our hotel at the top so we wouldn't have to climb the steep stairs ourselves.

We slept very very well that night.

This post is a part of a larger series on Greece
Greetings from Greece!
Sweets in Greece
Gyros, Souvlakis, and Pitas, Oh My!
Tavernas - Everyday Dining in Greece

June 28, 2011 Allston

Bon Chon Chicken

Korean fried chicken.

It's crunchy, savory, slightly sweet, and spicy all at the same time. The skin is paper thin, the fat having been mostly rendered out of it (not unlike Peking duck!). It's almost always served with pickled radish, and most people like to enjoy it with beer or soju (Korean distilled alcoholic beverage, sort of like vodka).

Bon Chon Chicken is one of the most popular South Korean chains that serves this addictively delectable snack. Korean fried chicken differs from American fried chicken in that the skin is smooth, there is a slight glaze covering the chicken, and it's much less greasy.

The stuff reheats amazingly well, and (of course), tastes even better straight out of the fryer.

Lucky for us Bostonians, Bon Chon Chicken finally opened up in Boston in 2009 (first inside another restaurant Privus and then on its own in 2010 when Privus closed).

I'm a bit of a latecomer on this one, but I finally had a chance to try Bon Chon Chicken more than a year after it opened.

Of course you have to get the fried chicken - that's what they're known for! My friend and I got a small order of the chicken as an appetizer. You can either order the "soy garlic" (slightly sweet) or the "hot spicy" (self explanatory!) one. Although both are good, I can only take so much of the spicy one before I need to take a break! Therefore, for all practical purposes, I like the soy garlic one better. Plus, that slightly sweet glaze is irresistible!

If you're not a fan of fried chicken, the restaurant has a lot of other standard Korean and Japanese options. On the Korean front, you can order classics such as bulgolgi, kalbi, bi bim bap, and seafood pancake. On the Japanese front, you can order a variety of sushi and sashimi as well as cooked dishes such as okonomiyaki, katsuu-don, and takoyaki (octopus balls).

Honestly, it's an extensive menu, of which only a small portion I have tried!

Overall, we were quite happy with our food. The fried chicken, of course, is the true star. However, I thought the other dishes were quite enjoyable as well. The bi bim bap was tasty and the seafood salad was decent. In general, the prices were quite reasonable (most items were in the $10-$15 range), and the restaurant is (overall) a pretty good value for what it delivers.

Bon Chon
123 Brighton Ave
Allston, MA 02134

It's still not too late to enter the Chinese Wok Kit Giveaway!

June 27, 2011 Europe

Tavernas - everyday dining out in Greece

This is part 3 of a longer Greece Series. Please see bottom of the post for hyperlinks to the rest of this series.

While in Athens, we ate almost exclusively at casual, local places called "tavernas" (ταβέρνα). A taverna is sort of like our equivalent of a pub - a small, casual restaurant that serves local, Greek cuisine. Prices are usually quite reasonable, and the atmosphere is decidedly very Greek - traditional Greek music or even Greek dancing is not unusual.

In the touristy parts of Greece (e.g., Plaka), there are tavernas everywhere trying desperately to get your business. They are not shy, and they will stand outside their storefronts fearlessly beckoning you to enter.

We decided that any place that's super aggressive must not be very good, so we took care to do our research and sought out well-reviewed places. Not surprisingly, the places we chose (which were all very good), did not have a single aggressive person standing outside trying to get people to come in.

The first place we visited was a lovely restaurant called Psarras, which bills itself as Plaka's oldest restaurant. It's situated up the hill (towards the Acropolis) and serves authentic, traditional Greek fare.

I love the traditional Greek salad, which consists of a base of tomatoes, peppers, and onions topped with olives and a big chunk of feta cheese, A simple drizzle of extra virgin olive oil serves as the dressing.

We ordered a classic "oven baked lamb and potatoes," which is a common Sunday dinner dish in Greece.

Moussaka
This very traditional Greek dish consists of 1) layers of thinly sliced eggplant on the bottom, 2) ground lamb sauteed with onions, garlic, tomatoes, and spices in the middle, and 3) bechamel sauce or custard on top. The entire, hearty entree is baked and then served with a flavorful sauce.

Our second night in Athens we visited yet another taverna in the Plaka where we sampled even more traditional Greek dishes.

Grape Leaves!
You see stuffed grape leaves (dolmadakia) all over America, and you see them in Greece too! I love grape leaves, so of course I enjoyed these delicious rice stuffed grape leaves, which were served with olives and lemons.

The fried fish dish initially looked pretty boring. "How is this any different from Fish & Chips?"

The secret is completely in the sauce. The fish came with a generous side of this lovely garlic sauce, called skordalia (αλιάδα), that was absolutely delicious. The sauce is simple - pulverized garlic with olive oil, mashed potato, and an acidic component (either lemon or vinegar). It sort of reminds me of aoili or allioli from other European countries. It worked beautifully with the fish and we actually couldn't stop eating it!

The fried calamari was good - nothing particularly special or different, but decent.

Here is a lamb dish that (I believe) was topped with cheese. Flavorful, rich, and hearty on a cold rainy night (yes, so sad, but it rained in Greece several days while I was there!).

This baked eggplant dish was much richer than we had expected, though it was quite good.

Fresh fruit with cinnamon - a surprisingly simple but perfect ending to a satisfying meal.

This post is a part of a larger series on Greece
Greetings from Greece!
Sweets in Greece
Gyros, Souvlakis, and Pitas, Oh My!

June 24, 2011 Europe

Gyros, Souvlakis, and Pitas, Oh My!

Note - I think the word "gyros" above should be souvlakis!

One of the my favorite parts of travel is the opportunity to sample the local, casual cuisine.

I've always been a huge fan of street food. I feel like I get to know the culture on a much deeper level when I experience what the locals are having, not what's being served at the local Michelin star restaurant (though those are fun for different reasons).

In Athens, we stayed right inside the Plaka, a cute, historical area right at the foot of the Acropolis. The neighborhood consists of narrow cobblestone roads and tight buildings all scrunched up next to each other. It's a charming, very walker-friendly area full of restaurants, shops, and cafes. Frankly, I wouldn't stay anywhere else if I were visiting Athens.

After "hiking" up the hill in the morning to see the Acropolis and surrounding sites, we were famished by lunchtime. What lovely Greek food could we find in the Plaka?

My friend is a Rick Steves junkie and swears by his book for all her European travel. Rick recommended a few restaurants in and around the Plaka that were inexpensive and quite tasty. We decided to eat at one called Thanasis, right on the edge of the Plaka in an area called Monastiraki square.

Since the weather was nice, we ate outside. The restaurant is huge and seats probably over a hundred. The place was packed with locals and tourists alike.

The freshly made pita bread all over Greece is so good. It's soft, warm, and just downright addictive. Even though we were full, we couldn't help but continue to munch on the bread!

Greek Salad
One thing we quickly learned about Greek salads - they have no lettuce! Frankly, I much prefer the salads in Greece compared to the "Greek salads" we get here in the US. I love the chunky mixture of fresh ingredients - tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, and olives. No filler! Of course, you must drizzle on some gorgeous olive oil plus add a nice chunk of feta cheese.

"Cheese" salad
We thought we were getting a real salad when we ordered the "cheese salad." Instead, it's more like a whipped feta spread, which was good, but hard to finish without eating too much bread!

We then ordered a bunch of things on the menu to try. It's great fun traveling with a slightly bigger group because you get to try so many more things! My favorite from that meal? The chicken souvlaki, which was absolutely incredible. It was among the best chicken I'd ever had - hot, juicy, tender, and full of delicious spices.

Similarly, the lamb sausage souvlakis were juicy, perfectly seasoned, and delicious as well.

I guess it takes a lot of muscle power to carry so many gyros all day long!

Fries just seem to be a part of every culture! In Greece, they put fries inside the gyros!

It's easy to find souvlakis, gyros, and the like all over Greece. At most of these shops, you can choose between various types of meats. Here in a tiny place near the bus stop in Oia, Santorini, we have a choice of lamb (left) or chicken (right). You can see pita bread grilling at the right of the rotating meat.

Here are some chicken gyros we had at another street side gyro place in Oia, Santorini.

Back to Athens!
After enjoying a nice lunch in the Plaka area, you can just walk around and enjoy the ancient sites of Athens. There's so much to see within walking distance of the Plaka.

Old Roman style ruins.

You can't forget the Acropolis (which is just up the hill . . .)

And surrounding buildings . . .

This post is a part of a larger series on Greece
Greetings from Greece!
Sweets in Greece

June 22, 2011 Restaurant

Cafe Sushi

This is a conversation that Bryan and I often have.

Bryan: What do you want to do for dinner tonight?

Jen: hmmm . . . I dunno, what do you want to do?

Bryan: well, it's Sunday . . .

Jen: It's SUNDAY!!

Jen starts jumping up and down in excitement. Bryan smiles in amusement.

Why am I so excited that it's Sunday? Well, on Sunday evenings, my favorite hyperlocal sushi restaurant has nigiri sushi for $1 a piece.There's hardly ever a wait, the sushi is good, and it's less than a five minute walk from home.

edamame
If we're feeling like we want to eat something green to offset all that protein (and carbs!), we'll often start with a simple order of boiled edamame (fresh soy beans).

Nigiri Sushi - $1/piece
The great thing about the special is that you can order a la carte - essentially you design your own menu. Bryan and I typically order salmon (sake), yellowtail (hamachi) and mackerel (saba). I usually like to have a piece of egg (tamago) while Bryan loves his sea urchin (uni).

mackerel

tamago

unagi

uni

As part of the $1 Sunday sushi special, they also reduce the prices of many of their other rolls. We love coming on Sundays so much, we basically never come on any other day of the week.

Cafe Sushi mostly focuses on sushi. In fact, their facebook page provides the latest updates on what kinds of special fish they have imported from Japan. They often have really interesting offerings - the other day I tried a salmon belly special (completely with a light touch of ponzu sauce some other flavors) that was really really enjoyable.

Rainbow roll

The chef can actually make some pretty interesting things. They host special tasting menus every so often (I've never actually tried one, though others have). The closest I've come is I've tried the whiteboard specials, which are pretty good and definitely different from your run-of-the-mill nigiri.

In front, a few more exotic ones: uni (Santa Barbara sea urchin) and monkfish liver

Of course, non-raw fish eaters have a few options, such as various types of teriyaki, yakiniku, as well as a number of vegetarian rolls.

I like the sushi at Cafe Sushi. Of course, it doesn't compare at all to the best sushi in Boston, and I've lately been intrigued by another place that offers $1/piece sushi that's supposed to be fantastic.

Nevertheless, for a casual Sunday evening dinner that's conveniently close, reasonably healthy, and perfectly enjoyable, I really can't think of many better options.

UPDATE: I just found out that the Sunday $1 sushi deal is NO LONGER AVAILABLE as of June 26, 2011. So bummed, and so sorry!

Cafe Sushi
1105 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02138

It's still not too late to enter the Chinese Wok Kit Giveaway!

June 20, 2011 Asian

Garlic Chicken with Golden Noodles + Giveaway!

Ever since I was a kid, I've always loved "liang mian huang," the (literally) "two-faced" pan-fried noodle dish that you see at every Cantonese restaurant. Although the sauce-drenched center of the noodle "cake" usually had more flavor, I always opted for the crunchy, edge pieces.

I was thrilled when I discovered a recipe for this exact dish in A Spoonful of Ginger, a multiple award-winning Chinese cookbook by Nina Simonds.

Nina Simonds is a dear family friend and I've known her for as long as I can remember. She's also a wildly successful cookbook author, having won multiple awards (James Beard Foundation Book Award, IACP Cookbook Award just to name a few) and named in Newsweek Magazine as one of "America's Top 25 Asian Hands."

Nina has studied cooking extensively in Asia. Her cookbooks take classic Asian recipes and adapt them in a way that's simple, delicious, and suitable for the Western kitchen (and often Western supermarkets!).

I had never considered making golden pan-fried noodles myself at home. I always assumed I needed some hot wok or some fryer or something (nothing a tiny kitchen would have!). Nina has adapted the traditional Chinese method for the Western kitchen by making use of the broiler function of an oven.

Ingenious!

First, boil some thin egg noodles (I used ultra thin angel hair pasta, which worked great). After draining the pasta, toss in sesame oil and safflower oil, and then broil for about 10 minutes.

Flip over (this was the hardest part!) and then broil the other side for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. You can then leave the noodles in the oven on warm until your are ready with the rest of your dish.

Saute chicken briefly in a hot wok until it is no longer raw. Set chicken aside.

Clean the wok and then saute the aromatics (onions, garlic, and ginger) followed by the vegetables (in this case, snap peas).

Once everything is cooked, add back in the chicken, add the premixed "sauce" (oyster sauce, broth, wine, etc), and then toss to combine.

Throw all this on top of the crispy noodles and serve!

What dramatic presentation!

I like this particular recipe because it teaches a core technique that you can apply to a wide range of dishes. In the book, Nina briefly discusses how she loves cooking this dish during the winter because the dish is very "warming" (this book is focused on the Chinese concept of ying and yang [warm and cool] and how it applies to food). In the summer, however, she will substitute the beef with chicken or seafood and add many more vegetables.

GIVEAWAY!
I am thrilled to tell you about an exciting giveaway! In celebration of the re-release of her popular award-winning cookbook, A Spoonful of Ginger, Nina is hosting a giveaway contest where she's giving away TEN Chinese cooking starter kits! Better yet, she's promised to give away an additional FIVE starter kits specially to Tiny Urban Kitchen readers!

This kit is loaded with tons of useful supplies for someone who's just getting started with Chinese cooking.

A 14-inch rolled steel, heavy-gauge wok with wooden handles
A dome lid that fits perfectly in the wok, transforming it into a steamer or braising pan (not pictured)
A Chinese shovel that is designed to conform to the sides of the wok, making tossing food in the pan a breeze
A traditional Chinese handled strainer with a mesh wire basket that is used to scoop food out of a pan of hot oil or water and is an excellent strainer.
A steamer rack that fits perfectly into the bottom of a wok or any pan and holds a heatproof plate or bowl which contains the uncooked food.
A set of handsome, jet-black chopsticks
An autographed copy of the newly-reissued, best-selling cookbook, A Spoonful of Ginger, which won both the James Beard and IACP cookbook award for health

To enter you must complete all three of the below:

1. Follow @SpicesofLife on twitter
2. Retweet tweets containing #SpoonfulContest (you can do this automatically if you enter through her contest site here
3. Leave a comment below telling me your favorite Chinese dish!

Contest Ends ~~June 25, 2011~~
Update! The contest has been extended until JULY 2, 2011. Additionally, Nina is giving away an additional 4 wok kits plus 5 additional "runner ups" will get a free copy of the book!

GOOD LUCK!

For full details and to sign up, go to Nina's contest site here.

Garlic Beef (or chicken!) with Golden Noodles

Adapted from A Spoonful of Ginger by Nina Simonds

1 ½ lb boneless chicken

Marinade
3 ½ T soy sauce
2 T rice wine or sake
2 T minced garlic
1 T cornstarch

¾ lb thin egg noodles (vermicelli or angel hair)
1 ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil mixed with 1 teaspoon safflower or corn oil
5 ½ T safflower or corn oil
2 T minced garlic
1 ½ T minced fresh ginger
1 ½ red onions
¾ lb fresh snap peas
2 T rice wine or sake

Oyster Sauce
1 ½ cup classic chicken broth
6 T oyster sauce
1 12/ T rice wine or sake
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 ½ T corn starch

1. Cut chicken into thin slices on the diagonal. Put the slices in a bowl, add the Marinade, and toss lightly to coat. Let marinate for 20 minutes.

2. Boil noodles according to the box instructions until tender. Drain in colander. Rinse lightly to remove starch, and drain again through a colander. Pour the toasted sesame oil-safflower oil over the noodles and toss to coat. Spread the noodles out on a large baking sheet.

3. Heat broiler until very hot. Place the noodles 3 inches under the broiler ad cook for about 20 minutes, until they are golden brown. Flip them over with a spatula and brown on the other side. Cook until golden brown. Turn off the broiler and keep the noodles warm in an oven on low.

4. Heat a well-seasoned wok or large skillet, add 3 ½ T of oil, and heat until nearly smoking. Add chicken slices, and stir-fry over high heat until they lose their raw color and separate. Remove with a handled strainer and drain in a colander. Clean the wok.

5. Reheat the wok, add the remaining 2 T oil, heat for about 20 seconds, and add the garlic, ginger, and red onions. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, until the onion is soft. Add the snap peas and rice wine, and stir-fry for another 2 minutes, or until the snap peas are almost tender. Pour in the premixed Oyster Sauce and stir-fry until it thickens, taking care to prevent lumps. Add the cooked beef, and toss lightly in the sauce. Place the browned noodles on a platter and scoop the chicken and snap peas on top. Serve.

Disclaimer
Nina Simonds is a family friend whom I have known for decades. I received one of the starter cooking kits for free.

June 16, 2011 Europe

Sweets in Greece

Today we begin our series on Greece!

Some of you may remember my brief "greeting post" from Greece back in April. I apologize it's taken me this long to share the details of that trip with you. Traveling is great fun and all, but it really makes one fall behind on . . . life, I guess.

Thankfully, summer is a great time to catch up on a lot of things, including some of my long-overdue trip reports! Please enjoy this series on a fascinating region I know so little about . . . .

In the US, we tend to associate the well-known Greek pastry, baklava, with a particular form: layers of phyllo dough interspersed with nuts, oil, and honey. In fact, this ancient dessert* appears all over Greece in so many different fun and unexpected shapes and sizes.

We saw this egg-roll form of baklava in Delphi, where the server told us the cylindrical shape was characteristic of the region. These were delicious - thin, flaky and crispy on the outside yet substantially nutty, sweet, and moist on the inside.

We stumbled upon this caterpillar-like walnut baklava in a tiny bakery outside of Athens. [They were only OK - a bit dry].

This layered one looks a bit more like the kind that we're used to seeing in America. This version was unique because it was made with pistachios!

I've never seen this before! Chocolate baklavas!

Another popular dessert we saw was kataifi, a shredded vermicelli-like phyllo dessert. The thin-wispy "noodles" are mixed with nuts and honey, not that dissimilar from baklava except for the texture.

Ekmek Kataifi is a version of kataifi that combines the shredded vermicelli with gorgeously creamy custard. I much prefer this version!

I was thrilled to see Ekmek gelato (something I'd never seen before), and had to try some.

Ekmek Gelato

Of course, one of the most classic desserts (found ALL over the place) is Greek yogurt with honey. I have always preferred the thick, creamy texture and flavor of Greek yogurt (full fat, please!), so I was thrilled when I saw it everywhere in Greece. Every restaurant offers it as a dessert option. If you don't want to eat at a restaurant, you can pick up tubs of it at any convenience store or market.

And it's sooo good everywhere. Thick, creamy, slightly tart - it goes perfectly with sweet honey or fresh fruit.

Our breakfast in Santorini every morning (don't mind the Hob Nobs! I brought them over from London!)

Ahhhh . . Santorini . . .

*it's been around since the 1500's and an earlier version was even spotted in a Chinese cookbook from the 1300's!

June 15, 2011 Guide

Las Vegas Eating Guide

I have finally compiled all my Las Vegas posts into one place. I go to Las Vegas at least once a year, so over the past few years I've built up a nice collection of posts. There's a ton of good dining in Las Vegas, and list below only scratches the surface of all the great food options in this unique city.

Nevertheless, I do try to seek out well-reviewed places that are known for food, so most (if not all) of the places on this list are restaurants that I highly recommend.

Note - the list below includes all restaurants I've visited. Not every single one has a post associated with it. I have tried to write short snippets about the restaurants without blog posts.

Don't forget to check out the photo gallery (with live links to related posts) below!

What are your favorite places in Vegas? Please share in the comments below!

RESTAURANTS BY LOCATION

Aria
Blossom (high end Chinese)
Julian Serrano (Spanish)

Palazzo
Carnevino Riserva Steaks
Carnevino

Venetian
Tao Asian Bistro
B&B Burger & Beer
Sushi Samba
Bouchon (lunch/brunch)*
Bouchon Bistro (dinner)*
Bouchon (bakery)
B&B Ristorante
Enoteca San Marco (Venetian) [no longer open]
Table 10

Caesars Palace
Spago by Wolfgang Puck
CUT steakhouse
Mr. Chow
Serendipity 3
Beijing Noodle No. 9
Mesa Grill (Bobby Flay)
Raos
Spago Cafe
Max Brenner
Il Mulino

Bellagio
Harvest by Roy Ellamar
Lago by Julian Serrano
Le Cirque*
Jean Philippe Patisserie
Picasso**
Bellagio Buffet - probably the most famous (and one of the best) buffets on the Strip, complete with all sorts of luxurious items from around the world.
Olives - we actually thoroughly enjoyed our sandwiches here for lunch (great Cuban!), though the Boston location left a bit to be desired.

Cosmopolitan
Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill
é by José Andrés
Jaleo (Jose Andres)
Scarpetta (Italian)
China Poblano
The Wicked Spoon

MGM Grande
L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon (update)*
Joel Robuchon (The Mansion) ***
Joel Robuchon (The Mansion - Menu Degustation)***
L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon*

Monte Carlo
Yusho

Mandalay Bay
Libertine Social
Aureole*
RM Seafood

Delano
Rivea Alaine Ducasse

Wynn
Wynn Buffet - one of the best buffets on the Strip and priced quite reasonably considering what you're getting.
Alex - now closed. This two-star Michelin restaurant was opulent, beautiful, and had incredible food. Bryan still says the best seared fois gras he's ever had in his life was at Alex.
Tableau - sunny and pleasant, this elegant spot in the Wynn Tower Suites has little "extras" such as providing a little stool for me for my handbag. The brunch is excellent (think Kobe beef and French toast, for example).

Off Strip
Bazaar Meats by Jose Andres
Red Rock Casino & Resort
Downtown Las Vegas
Chada Thai & Wine
Lotus of Siam (updated) - Thai
Lotus of Siam
Lee's Sandwiches

PHOTO GALLERY



China Poblano	RM Seafood

Bouchon (Bistro)	Bouchon Bakery

Jean Philippe Patisserie	Picasso

Carnevino	Serendipity

Raos (2011)	Mesa Grill (2011)

Joel Robuchon (The Mansion)	Beijing Noodle No. 9

Raos	Mesa Grill (Bobby Flay)


B&B Ristorante	Enoteca San Marco (Venetian)

June 14, 2011 Greater Boston

R.F. O'Sullivan & Son

Here's a little known fact.

I've never had a cheeseburger.

OK, just kidding. Well, sort of. This was actually a true statement for most of my life. In fact, all throughout college as I was dating Bryan (who kept trying to get me to eat one), I maintained the same position. I always ordered hamburgers ("no cheese, please") because I honestly believed I wouldn't like the cheese. I half jokingly would mutter, "I'll have a cheeseburger when I turn 30."

Well, when that day finally came, Bryan made me stand by my promise and organized a birthday party for me at R.F. O'Sullivan's.

Jen's order - hamburger with bacon

R.F. O'Sullivan (often called just "O'Sullivan's) is a popular pub in Somerville that serves up a huge variety of thick, half-pound burgers. Owner Frank Sullivan's mantra is, "don't squish the burgers!" Squishing causes the juices to run out, resulting in a drier burger.

The burgers at O'Sullivan's are piled high and are themselves very tall. In fact, small-mouthed people like me have a pretty hard time taking a full bite of the burger!

Bryan's rare "Swissroom" burger

Frank O'Sullivan personally likes his burgers rare, so he's not afraid to serve them that way. Bryan orders rare (I usually go for medium rare), and they do a pretty good job of cooking it (i.e. they don't overcook it).

The menu is pretty vast, and (sort of like at Bartley's) you have your choice of more interesting burger toppings such as blue cheese & black pepper, jalapeno, or tomato & mozzarella (just to name a few). There are also many classic combinations, such as the "Swissroom" (Swiss cheese and mushrooms), the "Italian" (peppers, onions, and cheese), and your basic bacon topped hamburger.

The "Swissroom"

The ingredients are fresh, the prices are quite reasonable (around $8 for a burger), and the food is pretty good. The fries are super thick cut (straight from potatoes, skin and all!), and the onions rings are pretty good too. You can get half and half (fries + onion rings), if you want.

We still think the burgers are a significant step below our favorites (like those are Bartley's, Craigie on Main, or other steak houses), but then perhaps it's not really a fair comparison. I mean, some of these steak houses are making their burgers out of ground prime steak, while Tony Maws from Craigie on Main uses grass-fed beef mixed with bone marrow to make his $18 burger. Honestly, for the price, these are perfectly fine burgers and definitely have a cult following in this city.

On a related note - Bryan (loyal Californian at heart!) still favors In & Out Burgers to these, though he says he likes O'Sullivan's a bit better than Five Guys.

And what became of my epic "first" cheeseburger experience? Well, it was OK. Anti-climatic, really. The cheeseburger from R.F. O'Sullivan's is pretty good and definitely holds its own. However, did you notice from the photo above that I'm back to ordering hamburgers? Nothing against cheese and all, but I guess I just like hamburgers better . . .

R.F. O'Sullivan & Son
282 Beacon St
Somerville, MA 02143

June 13, 2011 Italian

Pasta with Sausage, Kale, and Tomatoes

I love learning new cooking techniques from my favorite chefs.

Earlier this year, I attended a fun "Tomato Vine Dining Tour" sponsored by Muir Glen at one of my favorite restaurants, Garden at the Cellar. Will Gilson, who (until recently) was the head chef there, shared with us how he uses canned tomatoes in the winter time to carry him through when doesn't have fresh produce.

Better yet, he shared one of his pasta recipes with us that involves sausage, kale, and (canned) tomatoes.

What I love best about this recipe is his use of egg yolks and lemon zest in the sauce. Deceptively simple, these hidden ingredients elevate an otherwise simple olive-oil sauce to new and more complex levels of depth and flavor.

I wish I had orecchiette on hand (it would have made for such better photos). Nevertheless, spaghetti still works reasonably well (though it doesn't catch as much sauce as a pasta with more nooks and crannies would).

This recipe is reasonably flexible, and I don't see a problem with switching out kale for another vegetable or changing pasta shapes (although some pasta shapes do work better than others). I do think it's important to keep most of the other ingredients, including the aromatics (onions/garlic), the Parmesan cheese, egg yolks, and lemon zest.

Seeing as fresh, locally grown tomatoes are not yet available in Boston yet, it's not that much of a sin to use organic canned tomatoes, right?

Enjoy!

Orecchiette with braised kale, fire-roasted tomatoes and grilled Italian sausage
Source: Will Gilson on behalf of Muir Glen

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Servings: 6

3 Italian sausages (about ¾ pound)
1 pound uncooked orecchiette (tiny disk) pasta
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
Grated peel of 1 medium lemon (2-3 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
¼ cup finely diced onion
2 bunches kale, washed, rough chopped (about 6 cups)
2 cans (14.5 ounces) fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

In nonstick skillet, cover and cook sausages over medium heat about 15 minutes or until no longer pink in center. When cool enough to handle, cut into ½-inch slices.

Cook and drain pasta reserving ½ cup of hot pasta water. In 1 ½-quart saucepan, use wire whisk to vigorously stir eggs, egg yolks, lemon peel, salt and pepper, then slowly beat reserved hot pasta water into egg mixture. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly for about 10 minutes until sauce is creamy and thickened.

In nonstick skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook garlic 1-2 minutes or until garlic becomes toasted. Add onion, kale and tomatoes; cover. Cook 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until kale is wilted. Remove from heat. Stir sausage, pasta, kale mixture, Parmesan cheese and sauce into large bowl.

Disclaimer: The Muir Glen canned tomatoes in this post were provided by Muir Glen

June 10, 2011 Cambridge

Emma's Pizza

How in the world did I let this blog exist for so long without telling you about my favorite pizza place?

It's not like I've never gone there in the past few years. Maybe it's because it's so dark in there I was never satisfied with my pictures. Or maybe it's because I always order the same thing so I had a hard time writing a proper post about the rest of their menu. Whatever the reason, I'm terribly terribly sorry.

So let's not wait any longer.

Now, I know pizza can be a very polarizing topic, and everyone has an opinion about how an amazing pizza should taste. Personally, I've always had an affinity for super thin, crispy crusts and interesting toppings. I also love local, cozy restaurants that are fun and full of character.

Emma's is the perfect combination of all of those things.

How so?

First, the food is fantastic. They offer a nice selection of sandwiches, salads, and (of course), pizza. Their pizza's delicious ultra-thin crust and interesting toppings elevates it above most pizzas in the area. Second, the ambiance is cozy (tight!), friendly, and full of character. Their walls are adorned with all sorts of fun pizza paddles (see first picture above) designed by members of the Emma's community, both customers and employees!

Emma's is not newcomer to the neighborhood. In fact, Emma's has been in Cambridge since the 1960's, when Emma and her husband Gregory moved the restaurant from Revere Beach to Huron Ave. A couple years later, it moved to Hampshire Street, where it has been ever since. It has changed ownership a few times, but the core essence of the pizza (and the restaurant) remain.

We almost always order the "Famous Fling" salad ($7.50), which has baby spinach, Granny Smith apples, blue cheese, red onions, almonds, and their special (and secret) house dressing. I love how the almonds and apples add a textural component to the salad that makes it much more interesting. I also love the secret dressing and wish I knew how they made it!

The antipasto is also quite good, and includes sliced prosciutto, dressed baby arugula, roasted red peppers, hot pepperocinis and shaved Parmesan cheese. ($9.95)

Pedro's Guacamole and baked pita chips ($8.95)

The pizzas here are the stars. The crust is super thin, with the crust almost resembling a cracker. You can choose between whole wheat or normal crust, and you can also choose between Traditional Sauce or Garlic Rosemary Sauce (definitely worth trying!). The seemingly simple pepperoni pizza takes you by surprise with its inclusion of hot cherry peppers, which gives a gloriously spicy kick. Unusual ingredients like roasted sweet potatoes and goat cheese work surprisingly well on a pizza. You can also design your own pizza, and choose from a wide variety of toppings such as cilantro, crispy smoked bacon, sliced red bliss potatoes, thyme roasted mushrooms, and many, many more.

Our favorite (the pizza we order every single time), is "number 4" ($20.75 for a large) which has crispy smoked bacon, roasted Yukon gold potatoes, cilantro, dried cranberries, and mozzarella. I love the interplay between the smoky and salty bacon, the sweet cranberries, the creamy potatoes, and the herbacious cilantro. For some reason, it just works. Really really well. I never tire of this pizza, and I find it's almost always the most popular one whenever I order a variety of pizzas from Emma's.

Overall I love this place.

It's a small restaurant, and they don't take reservations, so be prepared to wait if you come during peak times. They have a nice takeout window up front, so you can always order take-out instead if you don't feel like waiting. As for pizzas, I personally highly recommend "number four," though I actually think most of their pizzas are quite good. You really can't go wrong here. 🙂

Emma's
40 Hampshire St
Cambridge, MA 02139

June 8, 2011 Recipe

Sous Vide Cooking

Parts of this post have been published before in my Culinary Tour Around the World - Sous Vide style post. However, I thought it would be useful to write a separate post dedicated to the general art of sous vide, sort of as a reference point. Enjoy!

Although cooking in a water bath has been a technique that’s been around since medieval times, it wasn’t until the 1970’s that sous vide, a method of cooking food under vacuum in precisely temperature-controlled water baths, was invented in France. It would not be adopted in the US until 2000, when Daniel Boulud learned this fascinating technique from French chef Gerard Bertholon.

With the recent popularity of food shows and celebrity chefs, this method has taken the cooking world by a storm. In fact, many fine dining establishments across America now use this technique.

Despite its popularity in restaurants, it has not really caught on at home. A quick search of Amazon.com only yielded a handful of books about sous vide cooking at home, many of which published within the last two years.

"Sous vide" literally means "under vacuum" in French. Sort of a misnomer, this method of cooking actually involves two parts. Food is first sealed under vacuum in a plastic bag and then cooked in a water bath set at a very precise temperature.

Sous vide cooking has a lot of interesting benefits. First, because you can precisely control the temperature of your water bath, you won't overcook your food. This is great for restaurant cooks who can't always predict exactly when something needs to be served. You can keep a steak at 130° F (medium rare) for hours in that water bath and take it out to sear just moments before the guests arrive.

Second, this technique allows you to obtain textures of food you could not obtain with traditional cooking. I'll go into this more later, but a sous vide egg has an beautiful velvety creamy texture that is difficult to obtain with traditional methods. Likewise, you can cook shortribs at a low temperature for hours, softening it until it is melt-in-your-mouth tender yet still medium rare at the same time!

Finally, sous vide cooking, in many instances, allows you to reduce significantly the amount of cooking liquid you use. You can marinate with just a small amount marinade in the bag. Similarly, you can confit a piece of meat with just a small amount of fat, unlike the traditional method where you needed to submerge the entire piece of meat in a pot of melted fat.

You can rig your own sous-vide system with a magic cooker, beer cooler, or a cast iron pot. I've tried the magic cooker method, with great success. Alternatively, if you're not the tinkering type, you can use a professional unit, such as the SousVide Supreme

I've played around with sous vide quite a bit on this site, so I thought it was time to compile them all in once place. I've done everything from hacking my own sous vide system out of a Chinese magic cooker to cooking an entire luxury meal, complete with Thomas Keller and David Chang recipes, out of sous vide.

My general thoughts?
In general, sous vide is a great fool proof method for cooking meat in a way that does not overcook it. My steaks have come out perfectly each time, and I honestly don't use any other method anymore, not even my previously dearly beloved oven to pan sear method.

Scallops come out great via sous vide, and salmon is delicious as well. We thought chicken was pretty good too, although Bryan doesn't think it's any better than a really good poached chicken. Octopus cooked sous vide is velvety and smooth - a far cry from its rubbery beginnings. Lobster is good cooked sous vide, although I don't think I necessarily thought it was better than normal steamed or boiled lobsters.

Vegetables, such as potatoes, taste fine cooked sous vide but I really didn't notice that much of a difference from normal cooking. I think in these cases it's just easier and more convenient for restaurants to cook vegetables sous vide. For the home cook, I don't think it makes a big difference.

The Biggest Disadvantages?
Space and time are the biggest disadvantages of sous vide cooking. Space because all these extra gadgets really take up a lot of space! Between the Sousvide Supreme's large footprint and the wide Foodsaver, I hardly have any space left to chop meat and vegetables!

Secondly, most things take much longer using the sous vide technique. I cook my steaks for at least 45 minutes, and some things could take even longer. It takes a lot less time to just throw a steak on a grill. It's your call whether you have the time on a weeknight to cook using this method.

Furthermore, at home you have to cook everything serially. Unlike in a restaurant, where there may be various different water baths going at different precise temperatures, I only have one machine. If you're cooking a meal that contains multiple sous vide components, often they need to be cooked at a different temperatures.

Although there may not be much active work that needs to be done, you need to be VERY WELL ORGANIZED and plan ahead in order to pull off such a multi-course meal. Otherwise, you very well may run out of time!

Safety
The US food code recommends that raw or unpasteurized food not be held at temperature between 41°F (5°C) and 130°F (54.4°C) for longer than four hours. Anything longer than that will give harmful pathogens a chance to multiply to possibly dangerous levels.

On top of that, one particular hazard that relates specifically to sous-vide cooking are bacteria that can proliferate in anaerobic (oxygen-free) environments. Salmonella, Clostridium botulinum, E. coli, and Listeria can multiply to dangerous levels in the anaerobic conditions of a vacuum pack when held at temperatures in the "danger zone" (40°F (4.4°C) and 140°F (60°C).

What's the practical application of this? Be VERY CAREFUL when handling raw foods that will be cooked sous-vide. Basically, treat the food as you would any raw meat product. Make sure you purchase very fresh meat, and keep meat refrigerated until just before cooking. Similarly, if you plan on storing sous-vide cooked food after cooking, cool the cooked meat immediately in an ice bath to bring the temperature down below the danger zone as quickly as possible. Finally, don't cook meats at temperatures in the "danger zone" for more than four hours.

sous vide cooking

Sous Vide Posts

BASIC
Sous vide Steak
Sous vide Chicken
Sous vide Scallops
Sous vide Salmon
Sous vide Octopus
Sous vide Lobster

FANCIER
36-hour Sous Vide Chashu Pork Belly
Grilled Steak with Mint, Cilantro, and Lime
Rack of Lamb with Morels, Asparagus, and Mustard Seed
Lamb Loin with Chili, Mint, and Mustard Seed (inspired by Grant Achatz)
Molecular Gastronomy with an Asian Twist
Duck leg confit, Pomme Sarladaise, Fried Hen Egg, and Frisee Salad (Thomas Keller)
Confit of Liberty Pekin Duck Leg (Thomas Keller)
Duck Fat Fried Potatoes (Pommes Sarladaise)(Thomas Keller)
48 hour Short Ribs with Dashi Braised Daikon (David Chang)
Spaghetti Carbonara with Sous Vide Egg (Inspired by Marcella Hazan)

EQUIPMENT
Sous vide cooking uses up a lot of gadgets, counter space, and money! Here's my set up in my kitchen:

Update! I now typically use the Nomiku Precision Cooker (affiliate link!) unless if I am making large volumes of food, like 2 dozen sous vide eggs, for example. In those cases, I still opt for the larger SousVide Supreme (10 L), which is great for entertaining since it can hold a lot of things in one go. On the other hand, it takes up quite a bit of counter space, which isn't so tiny kitchen friendly.

At the time I got my Sous Vide supreme, the smaller, cuter, (cheaper!) SousVide Supreme Demi wasn't available yet. Had it been available, I would have considered it. Currently, I sometimes find it a pain to heat up so much water just to cook one piece of meat. A smaller Demi, even though it doesn't hold as much, would work much better for small kitchen folks like me who are usually cooking for just 2 people. It comes in all sorts of colors, like black, blue, and red (my favorite!).

For vacuum sealers, I have a version of the above pictured FoodSaver {update - I've switched to this newer version, which I love), which I bought at Costco (it probably has a slightly different model number at Costco). You can buy the bags either online or at Costco as well.

Once you have the machine and the vacuum sealers, all you need is a recipe and some food to cook!

RESOURCES
Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide by Thomas Keller
Sous Vide for the Home Cook by Douglas Baldwin

Enjoy! I'll continue to add posts to this list as they come. 🙂

June 8, 2011 New York

Bouchon Bakery (New York)

We end our New York series with a place I always visit every time I come.

Yes, I know I probably sound like a broken record at this point, especially considering that I've already written posts about its sister bakeries, both in Napa Valley and Las Vegas. But I really really like this bakery!

And, for the sake of completeness, I really should have all three on my blog, right?

Besides, who doesn't want to look at pictures of more lovely and delicious baked goods? 😉

This Bouchon Bakery is located up on the third floor of the Time Warner Building one floor down from its famous cousin. Sound familiar? The original Bouchon Bakery is also located just down the street from its super famous cousin.

The lines are long, but manageable and move quickly!

It's hard to decide what to get, but I like their TKOs (Thomas Keller Oreos), macarons (I'm boring but vanilla is actually my favorite!), and their bouchons (mini-chocolate cork shaped brownies).

Bryan likes the nutter butter (two peanut butter cookies with peanut butter cream in the center!) , chocolate croissant (excellent chocolate inside!), and the maple bacon scone (sweet and salty - soooo good!). Though I've hardly come close to trying all that they sell, everything I've had so far has been excellent. You wouldn't expect anything less from Thomas Keller.
Time Warner Building
On the other side, you can order sandwiches and sit down for a casual lunch.

If you've already eaten (which I usually have),you can grab a baked good, a coffee, and wander the rest of the Time Warner Building. There always seems to be some sort of art exhibit going on, which is fun to explore. The last time we were there, they had a bunch of cool Dali art on display (and for sale!!! Does anyone want to spend $50k on a tree?).

I think this tree costs several hundreds of thousands of dollars . . . .

If you can't finish everything while at the bakery, you can always take some to go.

Update: A NEWEST Bouchon Bakery just opened up at One Rockefeller Plaza! Looks like my trio of Bouchon posts is not complete! I must visit the fourth one the next time I'm in New York!

Other posts in this series

Momofuku Milk Bar
Momofuku Ko
Eleven Madison Park
Marea (lunch)
Marea (dinner)
Eataly

Peter Luger Steak House
Eating in New York (again)

Bouchon Bakery
10 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019

June 6, 2011 Fish

Copper River Salmon (King)

Congratulations to Erin from Long Island who won the California Giant Berry Farm Giveaway. Erin said "I love to dunk strawberries in Ulker Golden (like Nutella, but better!)." Thanks all for playing!
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After seven long months of waiting, fresh Copper River salmon is finally here!

What's so special about it?
Copper river salmon come from the Copper River in Alaska, a 300 mile long 1-mile wide river in Alaska that is well known for its salmon runs. Each year 2 million salmon swim upstream (climbing over 3000 feet in elevation!) to their spawning grounds up north.

Exactly three weeks ago (on May 16, 2011 to be exact), the the 2011 Copper River Salmon season officially opened. The fisherman have been out in the city of Cordova (right near Prince William Sound on the map), catching salmon for this season's harvest. Currently, they are catching Copper River King (or Chinook), which is seriously among the most prized salmon in the world. It's known for its high oil content (yay omega-3!) and juicy rich flavor.

Map courtesy of Copper River Salmon Organization

Sustainability
All wild fish from Alaska is sustainably harvested. The Alaska Constitution mandates that fish "be utilized, developed and maintained on the sustained yield principle."

As a result, fishing is highly regulated by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Biologists collect data about the numbers of migrating fish throughout the season. This number governs the times and dates at which fisherman can actually fish.

The Copper River King season runs from mid-May to about late June, which means we're right in the middle of it now!

I recently had a chance to try a beautiful super fresh filet (right off the boat!) of Copper River King.

Oh My Goodness.

It was seriously the best salmon I'd ever had in my entire life.

When something is intrinsically so delicious, there's no need to add a ton of other flavors to it. I simply sprinkled on a generous amount of kosher salt and pepper.

Since my parents were in town this weekend, we ended up having a barbecue at my sister's place. She and her husband actually have a nice deck and grill, so I was able to try my hand at grilling (something I never get to do in my tiny kitchen!).

I found great grilling instructions on Cooks Illustrated, which is what I used.

After making a nice fire with charcoal (sorry, my brother-in-law took care of this part so I don't know more detailed instructions), wipe the grills with a canola oil-soaked paper towel. Grill the salmon filet skin side down until the skin starts to shrink and turn black, about 2-3 minutes. Flip over to the other side and grill until the fish is opaque throughout yet translucent at the very center.

Of course, if you like your salmon a bit more rare, you can dial down the grilling time accordingly. Note: if you're salmon filet is less than 1.5 inches thick, subtract 30 seconds off of the time cooking times.

Slice and serve!

My brother-in-law grilled some delicious onions, zucchini, and asparagus to go with this fantastic meal.

And the fish?
Like I said earlier, this is definitely the best salmon I've ever had. It was fatty, succulent, flavorful, and grilled up beautifully. The skin was crispy and I loved the way the fat melted in a way that made the filet even better. I've always loved King salmon the best, but I think this particular type of King salmon blows other ones away.

After re-grilling a bit longer

Cooked Salmon taste Good?
Although I typically love salmon raw, in this case, I think Copper River King tastes just as good cooked. The fish has so much fat content that it doesn't become dry at all even after becoming fully cooked. It's juicy, flavorful, and simply incredible.

I absolutely loved it and am totally going to go out and look for some more!

Copper River Salmon Sleuth
I have been given the awesome yet challenging task of being a Copper River salmon sleuth this summer in partnership with the Copper River Salmon Organization. I'll be covering the Boston area mostly. I'll be keeping updates on a separate Copper River salmon page (click here to see the page). You can also click the "Salmon" tab at the linkbar at the top of the blog.

Feel free to check back often! I'll also try to tweet and post updates on Facebook as I find them.

Good luck finding some!

Disclaimer:
I received the salmon filet for free from the Copper River Salmon Association.