Kathy Can Cook

Fried Chicken, for Breakfast

2012-02-12T10:18:00.000-05:00

I had my first experience with chicken and waffles on Easter Sunday 2011. BF's family was visiting and in lieu of having a big Easter dinner we opted for brunch so they could drive the four hours home afterwards. I did some research and narrowed our choices down to four - The Biltmore, Russel House Tavern, East Coast Grill, and Lord Hobo. Ultimately we went for The Biltmore which was perfect. Lots of natural light a decent bloody mary and, oh yeah, CHICKEN AND WAFFLES. Two full sized waffles and what looked like half a chicken graced my plate that morning, I barely ate half of it but it gave me a brunch epiphany.

See, before this eye-opening brunch I hadn't really considered chicken and waffles an option - I thought it seemed like a weird slightly off-putting combination because I've always been a fried chicken and savory sauces kind of girl. As soon as I tried that crisp chicken skin and tender waffle piled together and doused in maple syrup, I knew - this was my kind of brunch meal. This is savory and sweet without being too much of either, it's decadent - so eating it feels like a celebration and it pairs perfectly with a bloody mary.

So I tried it on a Saturday morning when B came over for brunch. She made the waffles (pumpkin-yogurt ones, recipe coming soon), I dredged and fried the chicken, and BF made the bloody marys. We ended our meal completely stuffed and thankful our most strenuous activity for the rest of the day was putting together a puzzle and chatting. Saturday should always be full of good food, great friends, and relaxation I think. I sent B home with enough leftovers so that she had dinner later and was able to still have enough at home so BF and I could as well, we ate it all that night.

I won't lie. Fried chicken takes patience, also an instant read thermometer, but it's worth it. that crisp crust and soft fall apart chicken is one of the greatest things in the world. Paired with a good (grade B) maple syrup and a perfect bloody mary it's breakfast heaven. True. Story.

Fried Chicken
Adapted from Bon Appetit February 2012 issue.
Note: This recipe makes one full 3 lb chicken, but I just used thighs because, while I can butcher a full chicken I'm not very good at it. So I got three pounds of bone-in thighs instead. This worked perfectly. I also subbed in one cup of whole wheat flour for the regular in the dredge, I ran out of all purpose, and it worked great - I'll probably do it again.

1 3 lb whole chicken, or 3 lbs chicken pieces, either way it needs to be bone-in

Dry Rub
1 Tbs coarse kosher salt
2 tsp fresh cracked pepper
1 1/2 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper (don't worry these aren't spicy)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

Dredge
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1/2 cup water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbs cornstarch
1 Tbs kosher salt
1 Tbs fresh cracked black pepper

The night before breakfast - create the dry rub by mixing all of the ingredients together. Rub the chicken pieces evenly with the rub and set them in a covered bowl in the fridge overnight.

The morning of breakfast - pull your chicken out of the fridge an hour before cooking to allow it to come to room temperature, so it doesn't drop the oil temp too much. In a bowl combine the buttermilk, egg, and water - whisk until well combined. In a second wide flat bowl (I used a pie pan and it worked great) combine the flours, cornstarch, salt, and pepper - you can sift these together to combine them or just give them a gentle whisk to get everything evenly blended. In a large cast iron skillet (I used my enameled dutch oven and it was wonderful) bring about 3/4" of your preferred brand of frying oil (BA recommends peanut, I like safflower) up to 325-350 degrees Fahrenheit (I used my candy thermometer, but any deep frying thermometer will work). Remember to check your oil temp periodically throughout cooking to make sure it is staying consistent, it may get a little high or low depending on the temp of your chicken. When your oil is heated and your chicken is not cold start the dredge. You should try to maintain the same hand for each dip - one hand for chicken to liquid to flour, the other had for flour to oil - trust me this will make the process much tidier. Dip each piece of chicken completely in the liquid mixture then the flour mixture, make sure to fully coat each piece. Place the chicken gently in the hot oil one piece at a time - Do Not Crowd the pan - I cooked about three thighs at once, anymore and the chicken would have been touching. Turn each piece of chicken every 1-2 minutes, to ensure even crisping and brownness until an instant read thermometer shows an internal temperature or 165, about 12 minutes. Move the chicken to a draining rack to cool for a couple minutes (three is good) then serve with warm maple syrup. Delicious. This is definitely a meal to share. Enjoy!

Hazelnut-Chocolate Biscotti

2012-02-01T12:39:00.000-05:00

I love to make homemade food gifts. I find it rewarding to give someone something I made from scratch specifically for them. One of my best friends and I were preparing to swap Christmas gifts and had both decided that homemade was the way to go. So I started hunting for recipes. I had initially wanted to make biscotti for my step dad as a Christmas present, but he was on a diet - the idea for homemade biscotti lingered though. I went through all of my cookbooks searching and narrowing recipes for the delectable coffee pairing until I found the one that would be perfect for B. A cinnamon-chip biscotti was calling my name. I swapped in some chocolate chips for the cinnamon and I was good to go.

I have a confession to make - I don't really care for biscotti, I find it too dry and hard most of the time, leaving me with a sore roof of the mouth and an unpleasant after taste. But homemade biscotti is entirely a horse of a different color, it's tender while still firm and left me craving more with every bite. B loved it - or said she did to save my feelings :P But in all seriousness there are some things I will change about my next batch - I'll coarsely chop the hazelnuts because whole was just too much and I'll leave out the chocolate chips - they were delicious but they also made it just not pretty. I'll just dip them in ganache next time instead, besides that will give a better cookie to chocolate ratio.

Regardless - you should probably take an afternoon and make these, soon. They're that good. Like overgrown chocolate-chip cookies and they're just perfect with a good cup of coffee. Perfect.

Hazelnut-Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito which I borrowed from Megan and love!

Note: The original recipe calls for cinnamon but I really wanted a Nutella feel to these so I omitted the cinnamon. I also cooked mine for slightly less time than they called for because I prefer a more tender biscotti. Also, the original recipe calls makes 24 huge biscotti - I would make them a bit smaller next time and have changed the recipe below to indicate that. I also nixed brushing egg whites on top of the fully cooked biscotti log before drying them. It felt unneccessary to me and mine were toally fine without it.

1 1/3 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cup blanched hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 3/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment. In a small bowl whisk/sift the sugar, baking powder and salt until fluffy. In the bowl of an electric mixer cream the eggs and sugar mixture together until it's ribbony - about 45-60 seconds. Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated - 5-10 seconds. Add one half of the flour and beat to combine. Add the second half of the flour - mix until everything is just combined - about 30 seconds. Add the nuts and chips (if using) on low speed, mix until evenly distributed. Turn the dough out onto the parchment lined baking sheet and separate it. Shape one log into a 12 inch log 2 inches across and 3/4 inch think. Do the same thing with the other log on another baking sheet. Bake the logs for 20-25 mins, until firm to the touch but not hard (I cooked mine about 18), then let them cool on the pan for 10 mins or so, until handle-able. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Cut the logs into 1/2-3/4 inch slices, however wide you like your biscotti, I'm more on the half inch side myself. Lay the sliced biscotti back on the baking sheets cut sides up/down and bake them for 20-25 mins, until they are firm (again if you want more tender biscotti don't cook them as long on this step, 18 mins is what I did). After the biscotti are cooked remove them from the oven and let them cool fro at least five minutes on the pan before transferring them to a wire rack. Let the cookies cool completely before eating/storing them. These will keep for about two weeks in an airtight container. They are fantastic dipped in a jar of Nutella for dessert.

Scenes from events

2012-01-20T14:22:00.000-05:00

I am a very busy girl - over booking myself more often than not to come home in a stupor late at night to a BF that desperately misses me (after working late nights at HIS job). So sometimes I attend pretty amazing events and just don't have the time to write about them in depth here - but I still have pictures of these events, because I go with the best of intentions to share them. Below are some highlights of meals I've eaten over the past few months because these are plates you simply MUST try if you are around these restaurants when they are serving them.

September saw me attend a blogger dinner at Lil' Vinny's in Somerville (which is sadly closed now) where I had a stunning bolognese and a truly fabulous ceasar salad (I know, I was surprised too).

October was truly packed with events that I just didn't have the time to share but, again some highlights!

Remember when I went to Harbor Sweets and then told you all about the awesome Sweet Sloops? I also went to Adriatic Restaurant and Bar that night where I was blown away by Goat Cheese Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms, the best pumpkin Ravioli I have ever tasted, and a wonderful almond tart stuffed with nutella and topped with house made hazelnut gelato. I also managed to convert Megan into a crispy fried sage leaves convert here ;).

My second big event of October was with the lovely Renee when the Boston Brunchers turned 1! This event was a huge success, where we came away with lovely (read GIANT) swag bags packed to the gills with some of the best gifts I've ever been given. Seriously our sponsors for that event were FANTASTIC and they all gave us very generous gifts, from cook books to cookies to gift certificates. It was fantastic. And the food wasn't bad either :) The highlights of the meal for me were the amazing oyster shell wall at Island Creek Oyster Bar and the pastries.

My last little ode to fall happened at the tail end of October on a sunny Saturday with the fantastic Bernadette (old and very dear friend, she's known BF since pre-school!) and a great many other fabulous bloggers. We all went for a grand adventure at the Privateer Rum Distillery in Ipswich. It was here that I fell hopelessly in love with this rum and their handcrafted cocktails, the Light and Stormy and the William Tell. Both are addictive and refreshing cocktails, which I could drink a lot of. Seriously. See my previous post on dark and stormy cookies to read about my ginger obsession. And the Privateer rum is sippable. Look for it, try it you'll see, and probably be a convert like me.

Antonio Bakes Pear-Gingerbread Cake

2012-01-05T12:43:00.000-05:00

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a fantastic brunch hosted by Harvard Common Press in their publishing offices - where there were many shelves of impressive cookbooks to encourage my kitchen obsessions. One of the first books that caught my eye was Gadgetology, a cookbook for kids about cooking with specific tools that are in most kitchens (mixing bowls, whisks, spatulas - stuff like that). As a child I had the Klutz Kid's Cooking cookbook and, in theory, it was great but the best recipe in the whole book was for homemade play dough which isn't even edible so when I saw Gadgetology I got excited.

I have a nine year-old brother, Antonio, who can usually be found in the kitchen with my mom - mixing things and in general getting in the way. More than anything I have wanted to get him a good kids cookbook for a long time - I wanted him to have a book full of reliable recipes and consistent easy to understand directions that he could refer to and cherish for a long time. So while at HCP I perused Gadgetology and, to my great delight, found it to be exactly what I was looking for. When Adam kindly offered me a copy I did a little happy dance and started plotting.

When I got home that afternoon I showed the book to BF and explained my plan, we would get 'Tonio a bunch of cookware to go with Gadgetology and then cook with it while my fam was visiting for the holidays. As plans go it was pretty brilliant and I was able to come up with what I thought were some fundamental kitchenware pieces - nesting bowls, measuring cups and spoons, a paring knife and blade sheath, a small bar board, and some bamboo utensils. So Christmas came and 'Tonio was basically bouncing to open his big box under the tree, which I had packed to the gills with his individually wrapped Christmas presents. He was ecstatic.

Fast-forward a couple days later and 'Tonio and I are the first people up so we scurry to the kitchen and start perusing Gadgetology. There were quite a few recipes that we thought looked good - Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce and this Gingerbread Cake being at the top of the list. We went with the cake - it looked breakfast-y and a great use of the excess pears we had around. It was perfect - spicy and filling, and with the pears it seemed healthy as a breakfast option :) I loved this cake, but the actual cook ('Tonio did all the work, I was merely a guide and did some of the more challenging stirring) thought it was a little too spicy and asked that next time we decrease the ginger. He also asked for more powdered sugar topping, so I think his priorities might have been a bit skewed.

Antonio's Pear-Gingerbread Cake
Adapted from Gadgetology by Pam Abrams

1 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger ('Tonio recommends only 1 tsp if you don't like it too spicy)
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) Unsalted Butter, softened to room temp
1/3 cup Molasses
1/3 cup Boiling Water
1 Large Egg
1 Bosc Pear, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
Confectioner's Sugar (for topping)
Whipped Cream (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour an eight inch square pan. Sift flour, ginger, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl, set aside. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together, we just used upper arms and a whisk but a hand mixer would also work here. Add the molasses and boiling water the the sugar-butter mixture, mixing well. Stir the egg into the wet mixture making sure it doesn't scramble. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until everything is just blended, 25-30 strokes by hand. Fold the pear pieces into the batter until evenly mixed in. Pour the mix into the pan and bake for 30 mins until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the fully cooked cake to cool for five minutes in the pan and then flip it out onto a cooling rack to cool another ten minutes. Dust the cooled cake with confectioners sugar, we made a crosshatch pattern with paper towels and it was pretty neat. Share the cake with all of your family and make sure to let them know just how awesome a cook you are. Especially if you're nine :)

Orange Sparklers and a Giveaway

2011-12-30T11:53:00.000-05:00

So, I'm just going to say it - I love Freixenet - I have loved them since this past summer when I tried it in cocktails and then, later, when I made my own cocktails with it. So it's no surprise to anyone that when Freixenet emailed me asking if I wanted to give you, my lovely-wonderful-enthusiastic-awesome readers, a little Freixenet Friday (FF) holiday pack I gave them a resounding yes. When I suggested that I pair the little FF holiday pack with my self created cocktails - they were for it! So here goes.

A couple Sundays ago one of my dearest friends came over to help trim the tree and in general get into the holiday spirit. Since neither of us is a nog girl, but you can't trim a tree without a little booze (right?), we grabbed a bottle of Freixenet that was chilling in the fridge and raided the liquor cabinet for additions. There was Grand Marnier sitting there - tempting us to drink it like nothing else. It seemed holiday-esque so we added it to out cava. It was perfect! The fruity, citrus flavor of the Grand Marnier only enhanced the flavors of the cava. To top the drink off I added a little swirl of orange zest (I really need a zester so I can get pretty curls).

We drank the entire bottle in this fashion - while trimming the tree and watching my new kitten get up to many crazy antics, including racing from room to room as though being chased by a murderer. Much giggling was had and fun shared, here's to hoping simple Freixenet holiday cocktails and trimming the tree with good friends becomes a tradition!

Now the fun bit! Freixenet wants to give one of you a holiday gift pack which includes some very pretty fluted glasses (I'm tempted to enter, I could totes use some sparkling wine glasses) and a social survival guide full of useful tips - like what to bring as a hostess gift, or how to get that spilled wine stain out of your pretty party dress. Seriously, this book is full of handy tips, I have one - it sits on the kitchen shelf by my Emily Post!

So - here's the deal, because I know you want to win this pretty pack! Go over to Friexenet's website and tell me which of their cocktails or recipes you want to try this holiday season. That's it - no facebook, no twitter, just one comment telling me what cocktail you want to try. I think the Poinsettia sounds especially delicious ;)

A Visit with Vianne Chocolates

2011-12-14T12:00:00.001-05:00

I love chocolate of all sorts. I will eat chocolate anytime, its familiar and comforting in a nostalgic way. I love that first bite into a handmade chocolate that makes my mouth want to do a jig, or the soothing way chocolate melts at body temperature. I am convinced that chocolate would solve most problems and that nothing else calms most ills. I have been lucky enough to test this theory time and again in all situations and at all times. I love it.

I periodically get the opportunity to eat chocolate like this, decadent dark chocolate with additions that make me swoon and one weekend day I had an opportunity like that. On the afternoon of July 30th I was given the fantastic opportunity to sit down with the totally charming Valerie, owner and chief candy-maker-extrordinaire of Vianne Chocolates. Vianne Chocolates is one of the specialty vendors at last year's Boston Local Food Festival and then I only briefly met her as I showed her to her booth. As I sat down to interview Valerie she gave me a marvelous linen bag full of goodies!

I immediately fell in love with the sketch on the bag and all of the packaging. Made by a South End artist these little sketches are a fun and creative way for Valerie to show her local love, and does she have local love. This girl hails from the wilds of New York and tries as hard as possible to incorporate local produce, jams, herbs, whatever into her chocolates. From using Kate's of Maine butter (yay, totally rocking the Maine pride) to using mint she grew herself (!) and sourcing her more obscure spices from Christina's Spices in Inman Square, Valerie is all about keeping as much as possible local and sustainable!

I also love when companies and businesses choose pet charities that they are passionate about, this is especially true with Vianne and the Pug Bars. These pug bars, aside from being insanely cute, are for a GREAT cause. Of every bar that is sold Valerie donates 25 cents to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, how great is that? So not only does Vianne source as much as possible locally, they support a local charity too! And if saving animals doesn't lessen the guilt of eating this fantastic chocolate than nothing will. ;)

Now, then onto the best part. Let's talk about the chocolate. As I sit here eating the beautiful pieces of candy that were to lovingly stashed in my snazzy bag I am abuzz with excitement. My first chocolate is the Strawberry Balsamic (one of Valerie's favorites), with it's creamy white chocolate center, rich dark chocolate coating and generous sprinkle of strawberry dust I am in heaven, glowing with the thrill of perfect chocolate that only enhances the flavor of strawberries with each savored bite. Chocolate number two is the Green Fairy, an entirely different chocolate than the strawberry balsamic but still totally swoon worthy and, by far, my favorite. The green fairy is, as the history of it's name would suggest, an Absinthe spiked truffle that is one of those tongue-dancing-a-jig sort of chocolates. The crisp chocolate shell followed by the spicy and herbal ganache is a totally mesmerizing experience. I could sit here and give you a play by play of all the chocolates that were bestowed on me but instead I will encourage you to come to the Boston Local Food Festival on October 1st and try them yourself. And if you see me around grab me a green fairy :)

I wrote this post for the Boston Local Food Festival blog back in the fall, however if you are struggling for a some good Christmas gifts Vianne Chocolates will definitely fit the bill of that person with a sweet tooth.

*All photos in this post are courtesy of www.viannechocolat.com.

Dark and Stormy Cookies

2011-12-12T09:43:00.000-05:00

I love a nice spicy ginger beer, something that leaves a lingering heat in the back of my throat. Now pair the spicy ginger beer with a nice dark and spicy rum and a touch of lime and I will be there. A dark and stormy is a perfect drink at pretty much any time of year - in the winter it's got that kick from the ginger beer warming you from tip to toe and in the summer serve it with a big glass of ice and it's insanely refreshing. I've always been a little bit obsessed with the dark and stormy - maybe it's because i'm just obsessed with that gingery bite and the warmth of the rum. But I do know that more than anything since that first sip of dark and stormy I've wanted it as a cookie - not too sweet an with a nice crunch. Never did I imagine this.

I created these cookies on a whim - they had been germinating in my head for a VERY long time but the timing was never quite right. I couldn't find the right base recipe or I was out of ginger, there was always something missing. And then, this year I signed up for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap (you can sign up to do it next year here) that Julie and Lindsay organized - a monumental collection of bloggers coming together to pack cookies in boxes and ship them all around the country was a perfect excuse to do what I wanted to do - try recipes and make dark and stormy cookies! So I did what any responsible adult that grew up in a household of cooking will do, I called my mom.

I asked for a recommendation as to what sort of base to make while flipping through my copy of Cook's Illustrated Cookbook and came across a recipe for Glazed Lemon Cookies - a slice and bake that looked easy enough and that I had all the ingredients for (win). So I threw the recipe out there - what if I used this recipe and swapped out some flavors for others, did Mom think it would work? She said yes and then goodbye in rapid succession (she had to go to the farm for turkey time).

So, without further ado - Dark and Stormy cookies inspired by my tendency to be a bit of a lush and encouraged by a great many people along the way.

Dark and Stormy Cookies
Adapted from the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook recipe for Glazed Lemon cookies and the glaze recipe for Cornmeal-Lime Cookies from Flour by JB Chang.

Cookies:
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbs grated Lime zest (about 1 lime)
2-3 Tbs finely minced candied ginger
1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
12 Tbs unsalted butter - cut into 1/2 inch cubes and chilled
1 large egg yolk
1 Tbs good ginger beer (Reed's has a great spice, or Barritt's if you want to stay classic)
2 Tbs dark spiced rum (I adore Kraken - there's an octopus on the bottle but it also happens to be awesome)

Glaze:
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 Tbs rum
1 Tbs ginger beer
Zest of one lime (optional)

In a food processor combine the sugar, zest, and ginger, pulse until the sugar looks a little damp - about 7 pulses, this will be a little bit sticky. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder to the sugar mixture, pulse until fully combined - about 10 pulses. Add the butter cubes and pulse until the whole thing looks like fine cornmeal - 15 pulses should do it. In a small bowl mix the egg yolk, ginger beer, and rum together until fully combined, pour this into the food processor, run the processor for another 20-25 secs until the whole mixture starts to come together in a ball. When the dough has come together turn it out onto a parchment lined counter and gently knead whatever loose flour is still a bit loose into the dough. Form the dough into a log 12-14 inches long by 2 inches wide. Wrap this log in parchment paper and stick in the fridge for two hrs or up to two days, on the inverse if you want to cool your cookies quickly you can also stick this log in the freezer for 45 mins - but be careful with this as it can get far too firm if left too long. Once the cookies have firmed up, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and pull the cookies out of the cold place. cut the cookies into 3/8 inch wide rounds and arrange them on 2 baking sheets about an inch apart, they don't spread if they have firmed up enough in the fridge. Bake the cookies fro 12-16 mins, mine took twelve, rotating the pans halfway through baking so that they are on different shelves of the oven and back to front. When the cookies have golden brown edges and have puffed a bit in the center they are done. Pull them from the oven and allow the to cool completely.

For the glaze mix the confectioner's sugar, rum, and ginger beer together in a small bowl, the mixture should be quite runny. Line the counter under your cookie racks with parchment paper. Using a pastry brush paint the glaze onto the tops of the cookies, in two layers (the first should pretty much soak right in). While the glaze is still liquid sprinkle lime zest on the tops of the cookies, only do this if you are eating the cookies that day or else the lime gets a bit overpowering. Now go and share these with someone who loves rum and ginger as much (or more so) than yourself. they will say thank you.

Small Plates at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar

2011-12-04T18:06:00.000-05:00

This post has been brought to you by kathycancook's very own "BF", who also sometimes writes in his own blog.

A few weeks back, Kathy was invited to a blogging event at Fleming's to experience their new small plate menu items. These type of events more-often-than-not fall into the category of "fun, but gastronomically unremarkable" (even more so when the restaurant is a national chain), so I considered passing on this one, but decided to tag along as a plus-one, aiding with pictures and review-related-thinking-activity-things. What I can report back is pleasant surprise. We were treated to a series of dishes, each one vying for my affections by exploiting my different culinary vices. Like children, I could not choose a favorite and had to eat each one multiple times. As such, I'm going to review each dish briefly so as to avoid gross keyboard-unfriendly drooling.

First up on this new lineup is the Filet Mignon Skewers. The skewers were cooked perfectly (rare-medium-rare for-the-win) and was accompanied by "the Sauce". The Sauce is comprised of two-parts Gorgonzola, one-part bacon, and thirteen-parts jackalope magic. After being the first to taste it, I promptly (and secretly) snuck around the room looking for anything I could dip into it so as to maximize the relocation of whatever Sauce that was present from cold, unfeeling porcelain dishes into my stomach. Assume from this point forward, that all the other dishes I tried were first consumed as they were intended, and then again with gratuitous amounts of the Sauce drizzled all over.

Next came the Sliced Filet Mignon. Let me just re-iterate again here how perfectly this and all the other meat was cooked. My experience has been that most places (including steakhouses) have difficulty hitting that rare-medium-rare sweet-spot – Fleming's nailed it each and every time (and let's face it, if you're eating over-cooked meat, you might as well not bother).

I'm not a huge fan of chops as a finger food, but these lamb chops were delicious and accessible.

Let's also not forget the seafood offerings. We tried their tempura-breaded lobster, shrimp skewers, Ahi tuna skewers, and scallops. Full disclosure: I am not a seafood fan, save for very few, very specific exceptions. I tried each of these dishes, and was surprised to enjoy each one – they were actually on par with my all-time favorite, steak (which is nearly blasphemy in my book).

We wrapped up with espresso and white chocolate-covered chocolate truffles, which were their own kind of heaven.

I won't lie, I was surprised by the quality of Fleming's dishes. While I don't consider myself a particularly discerning foodie, I recognize the difference between "pretty good" and "fantastic". If the quality of these dishes are what can be expected at every visit, I'll be adding Fleming's to my list of regular places to eat.

Please Note:

We were also treated to red and white variations of wine, though I don't feel terribly qualified to judge them. I enjoyed them plenty, but wine is one of my regular blind spots. The event was complementary, but as is the norm here at kathycancook, our opinions are our own.

BF's Nintendo Cake

2011-11-28T11:25:00.003-05:00

So, Nov 20th was BF's 27th birthday. Not a significant birthday really - it's not a milestone or anything, but this year is a special one for him. He's accomplished a lot and this past year has taught him how to be stronger and patient with all aspects of his life so I wanted to celebrate it. As a gift he got (or rather is getting because it's still not here) the 25th anniversary edition of Zelda: Skyward Sword, so I decided his birthday cake should be Nintendo-themed. I started to plan this cake in March; It's a classic Nintendo Entertainment System, for those not in the know, and it has his favorite Zelda game in the cartridge slot, The Legend of Zelda, which is also the first Zelda game.

I made the cake of Brown-Butter Rice Krispie Treats and a family carrot cake recipe that I always make him. I purchased the fondant; its just the Wilton brand because I wasn't sure how to make it and didn't want to mess up BF's birthday cake for my first test. But now that I have worked with fondant, (a first!) I will probably do it again, and may even try making it myself, maybe with marshmallows next time. We'll see. Below is my photo step-by-step of the whole process from start to finish.

From start to finish creating this cake was a lot of fun, but next time I think I'll try to make it on a day other than BF's actual birthday. It was a lot of work and took a fair amount of time because I just wasn't prepared for how hard it was going to be to work with the fondant and keep the cake a surprise. Also, banning BF from the kitchen for his entire birthday was kind of mean; he wasn't able to come in and get snacks or anything. Thankfully two of his best friends were visiting, so they played Settlers of Catan while I finalized cake sculpture.

[Editor's Note: The game "cartridge" was removable as well; instead of blowing out candles, I blew into the edible game cart in hopes that would get the system to start. And for the record, I do not recommend eating game controllers, no matter how vintage they may be. All in all, truly outrageous.]

Harbor Sweets Worth the Trip

2011-11-23T21:32:00.000-05:00

It's no secret to anyone who has spent time near me that I am a chocolate fiend. I'll grab the Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar just as easily as I will reach for the high-end and well made chocolates. That's not to say I'm not discerning - I am, my ideal chocolate is dark with nuts in it (but not too many) and has a high cocoa butter content, but if my ideal isn't available (which sometimes happens) I'll reach for that Hershey bar without thinking twice. Luckily for me I recently had the chance to eat some high quality chocolate and watch it made from scratch right in Salem, MA by Harbor Sweets Chocolates.

Harbor Sweets is a totally enchanting chocolate shop that makes an effort to make chocolates by hand with care. When Harbor Sweets invited the Boston Bloggers over for a tour and tasting I was not expecting what I got. We were greeted at the door by a large tray of chocolates with all of the chocolates that Harbor had to offer, I chose a Sweet Sloop (Harbor Sweet's signature chocolate). As Megan chose her chocolate I wandered a bit of the shop which actually looks out over the area of Harbor Sweets where the Sweet Sloops are made!

HS makes chocolates by hand, from the copper kettles that they cook the almond butter crunch for the Sweet Sloops to the people standing on the line to add the line to the sails of the sloop everything is given careful attention. Watching everyone work there was a wonderful experience and made me want to eat more of their chocolate. I loved knowing just how much effort and though went into a single one of my chocolates.

Now, the chocolates - they were fantastic (far and away greater than any Hershey bar, I assure you). I don't much care for white chocolate but the Sweet Sloop - a triangle of almond butter crunch covered in white chocolate with a base dipped in dark chocolate and crushed pecans is, without a doubt, one of the most delicious things I've eaten in quite a while.

As our tour guide brought us around the workshop I felt spoiled and indulgent, the rich chocolate scents everywhere were magnificent. We (Megan, Kevin, and I) saw everything from start to finish, from tempered chocolate, to filled molds, to the cooling room. There was the giant perfectly scored table where THOUSANDS of sweet sloops had been cut and those copper kettles. There were entire rooms where people hand fed chocolates onto conveyor belts and wrapped candies. I was enchanted and wanted to live in this Willy Wonka-esque wonderland of chocolate.

I left Harbor Sweets full of chocolate and with a goodie bag to boot. I will definitely be back to this New England gem to get more of their wonderful chocolate. And you should totally go check them out too! They're on twitter and offer full (and insured) shipping of all of their chocolates from their online storefront. Go on, give them a try and yes they do ship internationally, in case you were curious.

My tour of Harbor Sweets was complementary but, as always, my opinions are my own.

Fudgy Brownies with a Swirl

2011-11-08T13:31:00.000-05:00

So, here's the thing. I love these brownies and I tend to swirl them with whatever I have on hand - Biscoff spread, ooey-gooey caramel, peanut butter, sea-salt flakes - basically anything that will lend itself to chocolate. I am partial to the swirl of Biscoff spread - it's a little bit cinnamony and a whole lot of tasty that makes the chocolate much less decadent and totally sinful. I found these brownies before I even started blogging and immediately made them to BF's groans of general brownie dislike.

The crux of a good brownie, I have taken to thinking, is that it must contain some sort of balance and MUST MUST MUST have mad quantities of butter inside. They should also be an soft brownie, one specifically designed to be fudgy and dense - but still fully cooked. These are that magical brownie that falls between overly rich and heavy and cake. They are moist and addictive.

That first batch of brownies was plain, with a sprinkle of Maldon flaky sea salt. Brownie batch number 2 was a swirl of peanut butter and a sprinkle of sea salt. Batch number 3 was a swirl of Biscoff and batch number 4 had a caramel swirl. All of the brownies had their pros and cons - salty lovely caramel, creamy lush Biscoff, peanut butter, and the simplicity of a well chosen salt. These would probably also lend themselves to a swirl of Nutella if that's your thing.

Regardless, you should probably make these brownies, for yourself or just to give to a friend who needs some cheering - as long as they like chocolate!

Fudgy Brownies with a Swirl
Adapted from Bake or Break (I think, this recipe has been floating around my apt for a while). I have modified the recipe so use more unsweetened baking chocolate (because I have an excess) and I cook mine a little more than she suggests. I have added directions to swirl ingredients in but I will leave it up to your discretion as to what that swirl you choose, if any.

10 Tbs unsalted butter
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (dutch processed will be richest)
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup peanut butter, biscoff spread, caramel sauce, dulce de leche (whatever)
1/2 tsp sea-salt

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9" round or square pan, if you want to get really fancy you can line it with parchment paper (a tutorial can be found here). In a small-ish (microwave-safe) bowl, or in a double boiler, melt the unsweetened chocolate and butter together until well blended, about 45 seconds in the microwave stirring every 15 secs or so. Allow the chocolate/butter mixture to cool slightly. One at a time add cocoa powder, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and flour - making sure to fully incorporate each ingredient before moving to the next. Pour the batter in to the prepared pan. If you are adding a swirl to your brownies you will do that now, drop tablespoonfuls of your swirl (Peanut butter, biscoff etc) into the pan strategically and gently swirl them in with a knife making sure to not get too close to the edges of the pan or scrape the bottom. Sprinkle the salt onto the top of the swirled batter. Bake for 30-40 mins, until the edges are set and the middle is set (but not necessarily firm), at this point a toothpick inserted into the center will come out with a bit of batter (though it shouldn't be much). Cool the brownies at room temp for 20-30 mins, I like these brownies when they're warm from the oven but if you want it less gooey stick it in the fridge. The brownies will still be rich, but less messy. These go fast, especially if you like brownies.

Brunching to Bursting at Local 149

2011-10-30T22:04:00.001-04:00

The Drinks of Local 149

Some weekends are quiet and you do nothing, and some weekends you are forced into doing that. I recently experienced the phenomenon of forced relaxation after significantly overeating at Local 149, in South Boston. Between the amazing drinks and the multiple courses that they served us I arrived home barely able to stand and promptly slipped into a day-long food coma. Please don't misinterpret this as complaining, please. My time at Local 149 was filled with some of the best brunch food I've eaten in a very long time. And the best sangria (a white-peach and mint number) I've ever had the pleasure of trying. This was a culinary journey involving the best of brunch, so now I offer you - Food Porn. Full of decadence and over-indulgence, I assure you the trip to the Southie is definitely worth the effort.

Farmer's Plate

Island Creek Oysters with Raspberry Migonette

When I first got to Local 149 with Renee, we were early (about 15 mins early) so we sat at the bar and both ordered cocktails. Renee ordered a House Mimosa (sparkling wine, OJ and pom) and I went with the Danish Bloody (a solid Bloody Mary topped with house made pickles). We sat and chatted while the rest of the brunchers trickled in - Jess, Megan, Amanda, Audrey, and Marie - to name a few! Local 149 set up our table and lo and behold - another drink!

Chicken and Waffles with Blueberry Rosemary Syrup

House Made Duck Sausage

This time it was the Thai Young Coconut Cocktail (and since my dining companion was pregnant that baby was all mine!). After that the food was coming out of the kitchen faster than we could eat it and the drinks just kept coming out. Ten courses and three drinks later (among them a second bloody mary, apparently I can drink!) I was rapidly approaching food coma and desperately in need of a nap. My photo recap is below. My favorite thing - the breakfast pizza with quail eggs, bacon, 3 different cheeses, arugala, and a crispy seed covered crust! My least favorite thing - the Lobster McMuffin, it was like 6 inches tall and I was so stuffed when it came out that it wasn't even appealing to me.

Breakfast Pizza

Toast to Life and Bacon

My verdict? Go to Local 149!!! Drink the sangria, especially if it's warm out and I don't care when it is - get the pizza. It's fantastic and great for sharing. Also take a moment to appreciate the intended kitsch - mismatched mugs and fun flatware help the atmosphere of a place with high end food relax and become a family affair.

Yorkshire Pudding with Sausage Gravy

Chocolate Malt Shake

Yeast Risen Pumpkin Bread

2011-10-23T11:30:00.001-04:00

Photo taken by Rachel Leah Blumenthal of Fork it Over, Boston and Boston Food Bloggers

There are some days that are just plain nasty. It's cold outside, or rainy, and all you really want to do is stay in, huddle up to a toasty oven and bake while reading a good book. As fall sets in I am encountering more and more of those days. Days where the rain outside makes everything gray and the world seems like it would be much more appealing in my warm and cozy, down comforter covered bed with a good book. As I am home more on rainy days trying to come up with creative ways to spend my time that don't involve replaying Diablo 2 (which is AMAZING) I head for the oven and my baking bibles - Flour, Boston Cooking School, the internet - whatever strikes my fancy and I bake a lot, usually more baking than BF and I can eat on our own, happens in the colder weather. It's an obsession, also - I tend to bake so I don't have to turn up the heat!

This pumpkin bread was baked on one of those gross, rainy autumn days that kept me tied to my apartment and fidgety. BF had been asking me to make monkey bread so I went to the pantry hunting for a recipe (really the only recipe I use, the one from Smitten Kitchen) but it was a white monkey bread, I wanted mine to be pumpkin - so I did what I always do when I don't have a recipe for something, I called my mom. After a discussion on the rain, yes it was raining in Maine and Boston (such craziness!) I got around to my question; can I sub in pumpkin for a liquid in bread or did she have a yeast bread recipe with pumpkin? She paused, reprimanded my little brother and then proceeded to consult her wall of cookbooks. As Mom searched her cookbooks I searched the net - to no joy, seriously the internet makes me a sad panda sometimes. Mom however, was victorious - nestled in the pages of the King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook was a recipe for yeast risen pumpkin bread, what joy! I flipped over the monkey bread recipe and wrote down ingredients and steps. I was ready.

So I measured, mixed, kneaded, waited, shaped, waited, baked and ate. Making yeast risen bread is one of my favorite activities and on a rainy day it was perfect. And this bread? I made it three ways - as a cinnamon roll (which I sent to work with BF), a plain loaf of pumpkin bread, and monkey bread (of course). I think the cinnamon raisin bread was the best usage of the dough and next time I will not try to make it stretch so far. The monkey bread was dense and over cooked :( and the plain loaf lacked the oomph I was looking for. But the cinnamon-raisin bread? it was bread gold; rich and sweet without being cloying. It was decadent and totally fantastic.

Yeast Risen Pumpkin Bread
Adapted via Mommy from the King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook
Note: This makes two full loaves, don't try to stretch it into three unless you're making mini loaves anyway. I adapted this recipe a little bit out of necessity because I realized I only had one egg, so this is mine after the one egg change.

For the Bread Dough
1 1/2 cup milk, at 110 degrees (should be just warm to the touch)
1 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs yeast
1 Egg
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (I always use One Pie, made in Maine of Maine pumpkins :)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 cups all purpose (AP) flour
1 Tbs salt
3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups AP flour

For the Cinnamon raisin swirl
1/4 cup butter melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2-1 cup raisins

In a large bowl combine the milk, yeast, and sugar and allow it to get bubbly (2-3 mins). Add the egg, butter, brown sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix until everything is fully incorporated and smooth. Add the 2 cups of flour and salt to the liquid mixture. It should look like a thick brownie batter at this point (but orangey as opposed to dark chocolatey). Add the additional flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough is no longer sticky and is in a nice dough ball. Knead this dough ball for 3-4 minutes - until it is smooth and elastic. Allow the dough to rest for 3-4 minutes then briefly knead it again. Put the fully kneaded dough into a large, clean, oiled bowl, cover it with either plastic wrap or a bread towel (one with no terry on it), and let it rise until doubled in volume. This takes about two hours. Maybe you should go watch a movie? And since it's October I will suggest Zombieland, because it's fun.

After your dough has risen go ahead and punch it down, you know you want to. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured countertop and split it into two halves with a sharp knife (or counter scraper if yours is sharp like mine). Move one half of the dough over to the side. Roll the second half of the dough out until it's about 9" wide (this should be the height of your bread pan) and 15" long. Using a pastry brush, spread half of the melted butter onto the rolled out dough. Sprinkle the melted butter with half of the brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins. Starting on the 9" edge roll the dough up. Tuck in the ends and place the loaf in a well greased pan with the seam side down. Repeat with the second loaf of bread. Cover the shaped loaves and let them rise a second time, this time for just half an hour or so to let the gluten calm down.

Place the bread loaves in a cold oven preheating to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, cook for 15 mins. Turn down the temp to 375 and leave the loaves for 20 mins. The loaves will be a nice golden brown when done. When the bread is still hot rub butter over the top, this will keep the bread from getting too hard and dry and it will also infuse it with butter, which is AWESOME. Eat this bread as breakfast or a late night snack, maybe with some Doves and Figs jam?

A Weeknight at Bergamot

2011-10-09T16:01:00.000-04:00

In August my big sister decided that BF and I needed to go to Restaurant Week with her, she didn't care where we went as long as it offered a restaurant week menu and affordable wines. I searched the restaurant week website and twitter looking for recommendations. I found Bergamot. I've heard lots of wonderful things about them, both RW and regular menu meals. So we went - a table was acquired, wine was ordered, and delicious eating ensued.

Marinated Tomatoes and Peaches

Stinging Nettle Gnocchi - Roasted Cherry Tomato, Pattypan Squash, Shimeji Mushroom

Herb-Crusted Picnic Pork Shoulder - Braised Escarole, Shiitake Mushroom, Red Onion, Macerated Tomato Fondue

Cobbler - Oatmeal Tuile, Honeyed Stone fruit, Goat Cheese

Carrot Cake -Rum-Soaked Raisins, Cream Cheese Frosting, Crispy Carrot

Our meal at Bergamot was lovely - all fresh and local ingredients presented beautifully. The heirloom tomato salad was perfectly flavored and well composed, seriously those peaches were pretty. I loved my meal - the gnocchi was just right, chewy and pillowy, though it could have been a little less salty. And BF's pork was surprisingly moist and delicious to all of our surprise. Also - that cream on the cobbler plate, it's whipped goat cheese. Swoon.

So when March 18-23, 25-30 comes around and you are looking for somewhere to visit for Restaurant Week go try Bergamot. It's worth your time. :)

Bananas Foster

2011-09-19T09:00:00.002-04:00

So. Here's the thing about bananas foster, I hadn't had it until just recently when Brian blogged about it. His blog was full of fond memories of flambe-ing in the new year with bananas foster and family. Touching and pretty much the best idea of how to bring in a new year ever, fire and sweets - yes please. I got all the stuff and made it for BF and I to ring in the new year, that first time I messed it up, my sugar crystallized because I heated it up too quickly and it separated a little bit from the butter, but it was tasty and the fire was mighty attractive :).

So I tried it again, when a friend came over for dinner later in January, and again when my big sister was living with me. It was a simple and fast dessert, something that tasted like it was a lot of work but wasn't and it took at max 10 minutes to come together in a magical and oh-so-satisfying buttery way.

Recently, my sister came over for dinner on a night when we were supposed to go out, we got lazy and decided youtube videos were a much more entertaining prospect than dinner somewhere we couldn't be loud and ridiculous. So I did what any sensible person with a pretty bare fridge would do, I ran up the street to Arax for some dinner essentials; cauliflower, red pepper and pasta quick easy dinner fixings. As I was getting ready to leave the store, and lamenting that I had missed the black figs they had on sale, one of the owners asked me if I could use some overripe bananas. I said sure, thinking that I could make banana bread or a banana smoothie. He handed me 14 bananas. Not only was going to make banana bread and a banana smoothie but the strawberries I had just purchased for dessert were going in the fridge and bananas foster was dessert. I went to the liquor store and got some nice dark rum and headed home.

When my big sister got there for dinner we ate - pasta with cauliflower and asiago. Then we (she, BF and I) watched the Old Spice you tube videos with Fabio and Old Spice Guy (for the record, I'm in the Fabio camp here). We giggled a lot and then I suggested we make dessert. Big Sis perked up and asked what I was making, I told her and walked into the kitchen. She followed begging me for the recipe. I handed her my camera and told her that she could I would blog it if she would take pictures of the process. Done. So here it is - Bananas Foster with my big sister's blessing and BF's whole hearted approval.

Bananas Foster
Adapted from My Food Thoughts
Note: Be careful as this is addictive, it can serve four people but two will polish it off just as easily.

1 stick butter, unsalted
1/2 cup dark brown sugar (I prefer the stronger flavor of the dk but light is fine if you want it less caramelly)
1/2-1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
4-5 ripe bananas, peeled and cut into managable pieces, I like sixths
1/4 cup rum (I used Kraken, because it's got an octopus on the bottle)
vanilla ice cream or greek yogurt (for serving)

In a wide skillet melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted add the brown sugar and cinnamon, stir well. I find it's best to sort of spread the brown sugar around the pan in a sprinkle as opposed to adding it in a lump to the middle, that will make it not blend with the butter. Once the brown sugar and butter are incorporated add the banana pieces. Cook one side of the bananas for about one minute then flip them and cook the other side. They will be a nice caramel color. Have a second person in the kitchen turn out the lights, for dramatic effect. Add the rum. Light it on fire. Watch the rum burn off in pretty blues and oranges, be careful to keep anything flammable (like yourself) well away at this point. Turn the lights back on. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or plain greek yogurt to a bowl. Scoop as much of the bananas foster onto it as you can eat. Eat it all. Then sneak back into the kitchen for seconds. or thirds. I won't tell. I promise.

Blogger Brunch at Om

2011-09-17T13:17:00.001-04:00

One of the perks of the Boston food blogger community is the many resources I have at my disposal for hanging out with friends and eating delicious food. Brunch at OM was no exception to this rule. When Renee posted the July Blogger brunch was going to be at Om in Harvard square I did a bit of a jig. I've been eyeing Om for a while and desperately wanted to get in and try something there.

Fast forward to the day of the brunch. I woke up with what can best be described as a mid-winter cold- runny nose, tight chest, coughing; the whole bit. But I persevered. I was going to that brunch gosh darnit. Even if I had to take cold medicine to do it, so I searched our cabinets and found one dose of outdated cold medicine. I took it anyway and caught a slightly earlier bus into Harvard, where I got more cold medicine at CVS and took a dose of that, all not expired and such. At this point I was a bit foggy, apparently even if the cold medicine is outdated you should only take one dose, who knew?

Megan and I walked into Om to see a beautiful wall of cascading water and a serene interior. We were led to an upper level and given seats directly by huge windows, a very considerate seating on the side of Om, Thanks!

As the rest of the brunchers started to trickle in a waiter came over and announced that he was going to bring us all a complimentary lychee mimosa, on hearing this I paled a bit and asked for one of the non-alcoholic drinks on the menu, figuring (I assume correctly) that my double dose of cold medicine and champagne would be a horrific combo. He brought me a blood orange soda. It was amazing. I heard all around the table that the mimosa was pretty astounding too, but that soda was perfect, full of vitamin-C and so fresh I felt like I was eating a blood orange instead of drinking it. PERFECT.

Then came the food. Oh, the food. Just because I was on some cold medicine does not mean I couldn't appreciate what was basically the most perfect piece of french toast I've EVER eaten. Crispy and brown on the outside and perfectly custard on the inside - I was in french toast heaven, with a chocolate and banana filling inside, I could have eaten a LOT more of that french toast. But there was still so much more to try! There were lemon pancakes with orange honey butter - I was on the fence about these I felt that were undercooked and not very good, but I adored that orange honey butter.

For my main meal I chose the duck confit hash with poached eggs and spicy tomato sauce. When I am ridiculously stuffed up I love to eat spicy foods, it's actually one of the only times you will find me seeking out things with a kick, I love the feeling of being able to breathe fully after eating something with spice and the way it stands out so clearly in terms of flavor. This dish was phenomenal I loved the play of the slightly salty hash, the yolk of the poached egg and the heat of the sauce, it worked sooooo well together. I nearly finished it (impressive as my appetite was pretty near nil)!

So, brunch at Om? Yes you should probably go and if you don't do liquor get one of the mocktails. Mine was insanely delicious. Also, the best part? To get a meal and a drink (alcoholic or no) is $15. That's it. An entree and a bloody mary in Harvard Sq for $15? Sign me up.

This brunch was provided free of charge to me through the Boston Brunchers, but all opinions here are my own.

Tasty Tuesday Peanut Butter Cream Pie

2011-09-06T10:00:00.001-04:00

Last month Jennie lost her husband suddenly to a cruel stroke of fate. She is a food blogger who tells stories beautifully and seems always able to capture a feeling in a single photo. Our entire community stood up for her - sending virtual hugs through twitter and leaving comments on her blog that were heartbreaking. A week later Jennie asked that the food blogger community make this pie in honor of her late husband. It was his favorite and as such meant a lot to her that we would take the time. We all made a pie. Some were donated, some were brought to family functions, and some were eaten quietly in a thoughtful moment. This pie was eaten quietly as I sat with BF and tried to remember to be grateful for the small things that I am given everyday.

The food blogger community is wonderful, with it's constant support and care. We all feel for Jennie's pain even if we don't understand it. There were hundreds of pies made in her honor. Virtual hugs and support were lifelines that we sent her way, lifelines sent to someone we barely knew and who had changed lives in the time she has blogged passionately and sincerely. I was amazed at the pies that were made and blogged and even more amazed when last week Bloggers Without Borders was launched with its first fundraising effort going towards Jennie and her family in this trying time as she battles daily to figure out her life without her partner.

A Chat with the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance

2011-09-04T09:29:00.000-04:00

It's a sunny April afternoon and I'm chatting with Niaz Dorry the PR rep for the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA). When the initial email of possible blogging topics went out I snagged NAMA for a couple different reasons, if you have read my blog much you know that I'm originally a Maine girl and grew up on the coast so the NAMA's whole goal of sustainable fishing resonates with me.

I have spent the better part of my life watching lobster men (and women) struggle to stay afloat literally, making barely $2.50/lb off the boat for the gourmet crustacean that sells for upwards of $15 down here in Boston. These are people that sign on for a hard life where the boats are frequently jury rigged and all out wars over good lobster grounds are had. In Lubec (pronounced lou-beck. If you live there you are a Lubecker, FYI) where there are excellent lobster grounds (compliments of the Bay of Fundy and epic tidal waters) there are heated arguments over the fishing lines daily; Canadians from Campobello Island and Lubeckers both want to lay claim to a tiny strip of fierce tidal waters that gather lobsters like no one's business. These waters are pretty fruitful still but not what they once were. About 10 miles from Calais, ME where I went to high school is St Croix Island, a first epic fail at European colonization. When people were left on St. Croix they were left there by someone who had seen the Bay of Fundy being fished - in the early 1700s it was said that you could WALK from Maine to Nova Scotia on the backs of the cod in the bay. This was obviously a hyperbolic statement but the point stood, there was a lot of cod, now there are regulations on fishing it and you're lucky if you even see one.

When I get on the phone with Niaz I start to discuss my background with her - the strife of my hometown and the fishermen there with these very stories that I have seen constantly. She's been there. She knows of a sardine factory close by that was shut down in October. Being a fisherman is hard and NAMA is there to back them, working to change policies and create communities of fishermen that work together to fish safely and diversely. NAMA's ultimate goal is to have a successful marine biodiversity in local waters and to help local economies connect with local fishermen.

NAMA is working together with communities and fishermen to change policy and create successful small local fishing and sales practices. They offer a lot of opportunities for fishermen to offer their wares and present a central area that aggregates local Community Supported Fishery (CSF) shares (find your local CSF here and there are a TON of recipes on how to use the fish in that CSF here). They are traveling all over New England teaching and talking about fishing to communities, hosting Seafood Throwdowns and being a resource to those small towns that need to see a policy change.

NAMA will be at the Boston Local Food Festival on October 1st as both a sponsor of the festival and to host a Seafood Throwdown. What exactly is a Seafood Throwdown, you ask? HAHA, I say. The Seafood throwdown is a competition wherein two local chefs are given - a secret seafood ingredient, $25 and 15 mins to shop the market stalls for ingredients. It's exciting, it's delicious, and it's oh-so-much fun. Last year saw delicious results and I expect this year to be no different. So come to the Boston Local Food Festival and show your support for local fisheries, local chefs and some nice competition!

If you have any questions at all about NAMA, it's goals, or just want to donate you can visit the website at http://www.namanet.org/ and I know they love to educate and answer questions! So give them a call or email and pick their brains.

All images are courtesy of NAMA's website at http://www.namanet.org/

On Childhood and Irene

2011-08-28T14:12:00.000-04:00

Today brought with it a wistful moment of nostalgia and a sense of home that I wasn't expecting. I've been tracking Irene in a oddly focused way since hearing she was going to come have a visit in the lovely hamlet of Watertown, MA thinking it would be a fun reprieve and a good excuse to stay in all day and watch tv or read. I didn't anticipate opening windows to smell home and have a sense that I was ten again and running through blueberry fields come crashing down on me.

If you know me, you know that I grew up in the middle of a 50 acre low bush wild blueberry field in rural Downeast Maine. You know that I am passionate and obstinate about my blueberries and refuse to eat any other berry than those that hail from Maine.

As a small child one of my favorite parts of the summer was the time when there were local high-schoolers trudging away in the fields trying to rake berries so they could replace their wardrobes for the school year. I would lay a blanket out in the backyard of our big farmhouse and read in the sunshine while everyone else toiled away in the fields getting sunburnt and turning purple. On those long whiling August days I would always lift my head and stop, staring over the rakers bent double and moving slowly down their rows. I could smell the berries around me - the alcoholic slightly fermented berries, the leaf-litter of the warm ground below, the spice bugs that were inevitably stepped on, raked or just panicked and let off a puff of smell (something between nutmeg, clove and walnuts). It was all there carried to me on the wind that blew over the crest of the hill we lived on. It was always the same. The smell was a constant for me that will always mean home.

Photo via: boston.cbslocal.com

Imagine my surprise when I woke this morning and opened the window to listen to the rain when I could smell blueberry fields in Watertown. I was home. I was nostalgic for fresh berry pie and long hay fields that tickled my legs. I wanted to be a kid again, home watching the blueberry rakers and reading a novel by Roald Dahl in the sunshine. I felt like I'd been given a gift and a reminder to appreciate the small things. So this hurricane that has admittedly caused many stress and heartache has caused me an indescribable amount of joy. Just for bringing me this spicy-sweet-earthy scent and reminding me of sunshine and the carefree-ness of childhood.

Craft Brew at the Boston Local Food Festival

2011-08-24T12:30:00.010-04:00

Photo Credit: http://www.bostonlocalfoodfestival.com/

Beer. We all (ok, most) love it. From a hearty stout in the depths of winter, to a citrusy summer ale - beer soothes stressful days and always makes sitting in the sunshine better. Is there really anything better than a well-made craft brew? I'm so glad you agree with me! Now, let me discuss how I plan to celebrate this fondness for beer (and other imbibe-ables) at the Boston Local Food Festival.

Those of us over at BLFF central have spent the past year garnering feedback and working to create a second truly awesome event for the city of Boston to enjoy even more than they did last year. With that in mind, we have set up another (drumroll, please) BEER TENT! We took all of last year's feedback and applied it to this year's event (our space is bigger!) and we will have scheduled tastings, during which time tasters can drink and hang, but afterward they can go back out and enjoy more of the awesomeness that is BLFF.

What is craft brew, you wonder? Our definition of craft brew over here at HQ is small-batch, locally sourced and alcoholic (because what fun is brew without the wickedness?) bevvies for the 21+ set. We currently have Cambridge Brewing Company, Watch City Brew, Poverty Lane Orchards, and Blue Hills Brewery on board and will keep you updated with more brewers as we receive confirmations. The tastings will be 2 oz pours for as long as your ticket allows you to hang out in the Daily Catch Seaport Outdoor Grotto (otherwise known as our tasting venue).

So, what's the scoop on imbibing in all of this delicious craft brew awesomeness, you wonder? Well, aren't you lucky that you're here. Craft brew tastings will be in three two hour blocks (11-1, 1:30-3:30, 4-6) so if you have your eye on one of those blocks, you should make sure you follow @bostonlocalfood on twitter and facebook so you can be the first to see when craft brew tickets go on presale :). Each block will be capped at 225 tickets so GET YOUR TICKETS EARLY. Remember, we SOLD OUT of tickets last year, so don't be the sad kid when you go to get tickets day of and they're gone. That's no fun for you as you walk around the festival getting thirsty and wishing for a brewski (while your friends are merrily tasting their afternoon away). Just saying.

So come to Boston Local Food Festival, have a beer, chat up a local (and truly amazing) brewer of the beverage you are imbibing and have an AWESOME time. I know I will.

Reminder: The Boston Local Food Festival runs for one day only! October 1, 2011 from 11 am to 5pm. It will be a lot of fun, look for more information about it here in the near future!

Irish Brunch at Tommy Doyle's

2011-08-18T13:49:00.000-04:00

Some weekends you just need to go out for breakfast, either the fridge is empty or you're slightly hungover and cooking isn't on the agenda. So you go out. Typically when these occasions arise BF and I will walk up the street and go to either the Deluxe Town Diner or Uncommon Grounds, sipping large cups of coffee and eating more food than we can physically hold. But we always miss bloody marys and breakfast cocktails at DTD or Uncommon so sometimes we motivate and go further afield - hopping the 71 and riding it into Harvard Square for a dimly lit quiet bar. We head for these bars with the thought of an iced bloody mary and delicious breakfast food. So we went, BF and I, into Harvard Square for brunch at Tommy Doyle's. We had initially planned to head to Tommy Doyle's for a late lunch after going on a Tour of the Harpoon Brewery but we were hungry as we left our apartment at 11. So a quick google search later we learned that Tommy Doyle's had just rolled out brunch!

We hopped the bus and headed into Harvard for brunch at Tommy Doyle's. We walked in and they told us we could sit anywhere. Immediately a waitress with a lovely irish lilt came over and handed us menus. BF and I both ordered bloody marys, a jalepeno infused one for him and a cucumber one for me. The bloody marys were delightful with fresh horseradish flavor. The cool cucumber bloody mary was perfect for a hot summer mid morning drink and BF's tasted delightfully of the jalepeno flavors.

After receiving our bloody marys we ordered our brunch entrees. For BF a traditional Irish Breakfast with over easy eggs and for me an order of Eggs McManus. We basically inhaled the brunch leaving the plates empty and a bit buzzed. The Eggs McManus was fantastic with Irish bacon and perfectly poached eggs.

BF's Irish breakfast offered a wide range of delicious breakfast foods, most of them meat and starch. While hard to share (because we are just occasionally not very good at that) I loves TOmmy Doyle's fro brunch, and the best part? Our bloody marys came FREE with the purchase of a full brunch meal. We spent $26 and got and amazing brunch fro two people and we're already planning a return brunch trip :)

Honeyed Nectarine Oatmeal Pancakes

2011-08-09T15:08:00.000-04:00

Sometimes you need to make delicious food on a rainy Sunday morning, it's something that makes all gloomy days brighter. I love these pancakes on any weekend morning, they are nutty and wonderful with a flavor that is only enhanced by the addition of nectarines and a cup of delicious coffee. I don't make these often, and usually save them for a special occasion when someone who leans toward gluten-free food is coming to my apartment for brunch, but when I do make them there are very rarely leftovers.

Specifically, I made these pancakes over Easter weekend when BF's parents were visiting. His dad was bowled over, I've been getting a weekly email for this recipe to be posted since. There are various reasons this post didn't go up earlier, bad pictures being the big one but also a lack of oats in my house as a contributing factor. But, when there were finally oats in my house (again) and time was on my side I made these gems but, of course, I modified them to be better than the ones I had been making. I added nectarines. I would have added peaches but when I went to Russo's the peaches were unripe and hard as rocks, so I grabbed white nectarines which were fragrant and perfectly ripe.

I made these pancakes thinking there would be leftovers for a "later-in-the-day" snack, what a fool I was. When topped with nectarine infused maple syrup BF couldn't stop eating them, and I liked them spread with a bit of butter and rolled up like a crepe. The nuttiness of the oats really enhances the whole pancake, please use the oat flour - you really won't regret it, the pancakes are still light and fluffy even in their gluten-free state. Yes, you have to prepare for these pancakes, but it's totally worth it. After sitting overnight in buttermilk the oats break apart and offer a tenderness that absorbs the honey making them not to sweet and decadent without actually being decadent. Make these for a friend, they'll love you for it.

Honeyed Nectarine Oatmeal Pancakes

Adapted from The Inn at Fordhook Farm via Orangette

Note: I make these pancakes entirely gluten-free by using oat flour and I like them better that way. I also use honey instead of refined sugar since I feel like it really brings out the flavor in the oatmeal. I laid thin slices of nectarine on top of these pancakes but next time I make these with a stone fruit I'll probably just chop the fruit and add it to the batter.

2 cups Buttermilk

2 cups Old Fashioned Oats

1/2 cup Oat Flour

2 Tbs Honey

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

2 large Eggs

1/2 cup Butter, melted and cooled

1 Nectarine, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

The Night Before:

Combine the buttermilk and oats in a medium sized mixing bowl, stir, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

The Next Morning:

Remove the buttermilk and oats from the fridge and set it aside. In a second bowl whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the honey, eggs, and melted butter to the oats and buttermilk mixture, mix until fully combined. Add the dry ingredients to the liquids and stir until fully combined. Fold in the nectarine pieces. The batter will be thick. Warm a skillet/griddle to a medium-high heat and brush/spray it with vegetable oil. Drop the batter onto the griddle by scant 1/4 cup fulls onto the pan. Cook the pancakes until bubbles start to form on the edges and the underside is lightly browned. Flip the pancakes and cook the second side until it is browned. Repeat, until all the batter is gone. This makes 12-15 pancakes. And they are delicious. Serve the pancakes warm, with real maple syrup (I chopped a second nectarine and added it to my maple syrup, it was amazing). You will definitely not be sorry for the time these took. I promise.

Cheesy Grits

2011-07-23T10:18:00.001-04:00

It's Saturday morning and as I hang out at home I am, of course, thinking of breakfast. I think of all things breakfast on the weekends - eggs and homefries, pancakes, scones, and muffins (and whatever else seems relatively breakfast-y, pie anyone?). I like to take the time to make a breakfast that will satisfy BF and I through out most of our weekend days so our breakfast is usually large and late (neither of us even starts to get hungry until 10 am or so, which means the actual breakfast isn't consumed until around 11). It's on these late weekend days that I, more often than not, turn to eggs - they are quick and easy and fill me up so completely that they're always perfect.

Now, down to grits. My big sister (who lived with me from Jan-March of this year) introduced me to grits as hangover food. She would come in late Friday and come Saturday morning when she rolled out of bed BF and I were starting to contemplate our breakfast and Meghan would suggest grits. As one who had never really had grits before I found myself thinking they would be hard to make and not very good. I was wrong about that. The grits big sis made were swoon worthy in every way - creamy, rich and topped with an over easy egg. They were luxurious.

Since my sister moved out I still buy grits by the carton and stock up on cheese and garlic powder. Making grits is so remarkably simple and it hits the spot; especially after a night spent a bit too late at the bar. I am still having trouble with poached eggs, so I won't try to explain that to you - instead, if you can poach an egg do it because the grits are fantastic with a poached egg, if not then just fry an egg gently until the white sets and use that. Either way it will be a breakfast fit for whoever you want to serve it to.

Cheesy Grits
Adapted from the back of the Quaker Grits box.
Note: I almost always make this with whatever cheese I have on hand but my favorite, by far, is the Cabot Coop Garlic and Herb Cheddar. It made the best grits I have ever eaten and it is what I will recommend here.

2 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup grits
6 oz (about 3/4 cup) grated Cabot Coop Garlic and Herb Cheddar cheese
1 tsp garlic powder (use less if you aren't a garlic fan)
1/2 tsp onion powder
dash of salt

In a medium saucepan combine the water and salt and bring to a rolling boil. Once the water is boiling add the grits slowly - I recommend having them in a one cup measure and pouring them in over the course of 30 seconds or so while stirring with the other hand to keep the water moving, otherwise everything gets clumpy and that's just sad. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pan and leave the grits alone for 12 minutes. Look at them. If they are thickened nicely after ten minutes they are done. If they still look a bit runny leave them on the heat checking them every minute or so. Remove the grits from the heat and add the garlic powder, onion powder, and cheese. Stir completely. Cover the grits and set them aside for the cheese to melt while you cook your eggs. Split the grits between two bowls (this makes two as a breakfast entree four as a side) and top them with a twist of fresh ground pepper and a pat of butter. Put your over-easy eggs on top and dig-in. Delicious. I find it's best when the egg yolk is stirred into the cheesy grits. The best. Ever.

Pomflower Cocktail

2011-07-17T09:18:00.000-04:00

Let's talk hot, shall we? I know that if you live south of the New England you are not really phased by the really hot temps. But I am. I'm kind of a pansy when it comes to all forms of extreme temperatures - below 20 degrees give me a book, a warm blanket and a cup of cocoa and tell me when it's warm again. When it's stiflingly hot though - there isn't a lot I can do aside from try not to move too much. I know that there are actual ways to combat being hot (drink lots of water, take a cool shower, stand in front of the AC unit until your skin goes numb, etc) but these are only temporary solutions. They seem to not really solve the problem.

The best way to "beat the heat" that I have learned this summer came on a whim of inspiration the same night I made that delicious focaccia bread. The visiting friend hadn't brought much with her when she came down since we had planned an epic day of cooking. What she did bring though was crucial to our choices that evening - a bottle of prosecco. Now I have a confession - I prefer cava or prosecco over actual champagne every time, I don't know a lot about wine but I find a nice cava (Freixenet anyone?) far superior to most sparkling wines.

As we chilled the prosecco (she had brought Lunetta) I started to peruse my cabinets and fridge wondering about cocktails and mimosas. I eventually settled on this cocktail. I have heard a lot about elder flower liquor recently around the interwebs and on an impulse bought a nip of it to taste, also I thought the bottle was really pretty. I tried it alone, not really sippable, but with prosecco and some POMWonderful it was divine. The complexities of the elder flower liquor really shone with the sparkles of prosecco. And the way the bubbles burst on your tongue makes these cocktails a lovely hot summer evening drink for me. I found them indulgent and refreshing, a combination I plan to hold onto for a while longer.

Pomflower Sparkling Cocktail
Note: I made that word up.

1/2 oz Elder flower liquor (such as St. Germain)
1 oz pomegranate juice (such as POMWonderful)
2 oz chilled Prosecco or Cava (I love this with Freixenet but your favorite will probably work too)

Add the elder flower liquor and pomegranate juice to the bottom of a champagne flute and swirl them for a minute to mix. Top the glass with the chilled sparkling wine. Serve these with a crostini, or just some tasty bread, while sitting on a porch at sunset. Marvel at the pinkness of the cocktail and share.

Note: POMWonderful gave me the pomegranate juice to use, but all the opinions here are my own and I would buy the POM juice again to make this cocktail alone.

Rosemary and Olive-Oil Focaccia

2011-06-26T15:50:00.000-04:00

Have you ever planned a perfect meal and gotten all of the ingredients only to realize at the last minute that you forgot something crucial? Have you ever decided to forgo your whole meal because you forgot that thing, or worse go without? I have. And everytime I feel that way I yearn for the thing I had planned for. This happened to me recently with a darling friend when she came to Boston for a day of cooking, visiting, and drinking (we made the most magnificaent mimosas which I will share soon). As we wandered through H-Mart looking at quirky and adorable bowls and spoons I offhandedly mentioned my lack of eating much tofu in my life. My formerly vegan friend immediately demanded we get tofu, coat it in nutritional yeast and make sandwiches with it. I said fine and she went on a tofu and nutritional yeast hunt. Do you know how hard it is to find nutrional yeast? The only place I found it was Whole Foods on River St, seriously, why so anti-vegan?

We arrived home laden with bags of H-Mart shopping, China Fair (a kitchen supply store in Newton) shopping, and some groceries from Star Market. But we had forgotten bread for our sandwiches. We cursed our lack of wherewithal and I said that I would make some, since I had all the ingredients and I do so love to make bread. Also we were done with the being out part of the day and just wanted to cook and in general make a big kitchen mess.

I pulled out my Flour cookbook and turned immediately to the Rosemary and Olive-Oil Focaccia recipe. I bought this book at the end of April and I have already made this focaccia dough a handful of times (like 4) for pizza. It is the perfect recipe for pizza dough with its soft airiness, and as a foccacia it was DREAMY. I loved sandwiches on it, good thing too as I wasn't such a fan of the nutritional yeast coated tofu (sorry, S - maybe if we had fried it up in some butter I would have liked it more). We made our sandwiches with tofu and there was still half a loaf of bread, ooh excitement. I saved it, squirrelled away in a big ziploc in the pantry and the next day made the most heavenly prosciutto sandwiches on that bread. Who knew?

Please take the time to make this dough - you won't be sorry and your dining companions will thank you. Focaccia is a nice way to "swank" up those humdrum sandwiches you've been carting to work and it's totally flexible; next time I'm going to stud it with sundried tomatoes and top it with some fresh grated asiago. Swoon.

Rosemary and Olive Oil Focaccia
Barely adapted from the Flour cookbook by Joanne Chang, it's practically perfect as is, and mine wouldn't be at all adapted if I kept bread flour around.

1 3/4 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 tsp active dry yeast
3 1/2 cup All Purpose flour
1 1/4 cup bread flour (this is my only modification, I don't keep bread flour around so I used AP, it was wonderful)
3 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbs sugar
3/4 cup olive oil
Cornmeal
2 Tbs Rosemary, roughly chopped

Combine the water and yeast together and allow the yeast to get foamy (about a minute of sitting). If your yeast does not foam and just sits at the bottom of the water try again with slightly warmer water, if your yest still isn't foamy it's dead and you need new. Once your yeast is activated and happy pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the flours (if you are using both, if not then just use 4 3/4 cup of AP flour), 1 tsp of the salt, and sugar and turn the mixer on low, allowing the dough hook to bring the whole thing together. When the dough is a shaggy ball drizzle 1/2 cup of the olive oil into the bowl. Continue to knead the dough until it is a smooth ball - 4-5 minutes on a low speed. When the dough is smooth and supple turn the dough ball into an oiled smooth bowl. Cover the bowl with a lightly oiled piece of plastic wrap and let it rise somewhere war (70-80 degrees) until doubled in volume. Once the dough is risen you can do two things with it: either, split it in half and make two pizzas (NOMNOM) or make focaccia bread. To make the focaccia bread turn out the dough onto a 10"x15" cookie sheet spread with cornmeal. Stretch the dough until it fills the cookie sheet and pock mark it with your fingertips. Brush the top of the focaccia dough with the 1/4 cup of olive oil and sprinkle the salt and rosemary on top. Bake the focaccia at 425 degrees farenheit for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown and puffed. Eat this focaccia as sandwich bread, it's one of the best things you will ever do.

Wagamama and Why I Don't Write Restaurant Reviews Often

2011-06-24T14:42:00.002-04:00

I don't write many restaurant reviews here and that's not because I don't eat out (I do, more than my bank account would like) but because a restaurant really needs to have a wow factor for me to acknowledge it here. You don't want to read about the meal I had where the steak was overcooked and the potatoes pitch perfect - anyone can write that for you, or tell you in 7 words, in real life. For me to want to take my time to blog something I have to be over the moon about it and in this case I am. Confession, I have always been a bit over the moon about Wagamama. I like it as my guilty pleasure comfort food restaurant where the food is consistent and fresh, and like any other "chain" restaurant I can rely on my order, I like that sometimes.

MMM. Wagamama Glazed Ribs. Fall off the bone tender.

My first experience with Wagamama was FIVE years ago in Convent Garden London on a warm evening. I don't remember my main course but I remember the ice cold Kirin in my hand and the way it commingled with the salty softness of edamame as I popped them one bean at a time from their pods and onto my tongue. I remember adoring the big communal tables and the raucous rugby team that was sitting next to us (BF, BF's Aunt and I) as we ate our big bowls of noodles and broth. It felt right. We ate at that Wagamama twice over our one week stay in London, twice. When I came home I longed for the noodles I had had and the edamame. We went back to our small college town in rural Maine gushing about Japanese noodles from our trip to London, when not six months earlier we had been in Japan (and had not come home gushing about the noodles, possibly I should return).

Suribachi Chicken Wings - Sweet and Spicy, FORTHEWIN

I waited patiently for my return trip to the lovely British city - I wanted more noodles, needed them. Then on the phone with BF's Aunt we were told Wagamama had opened a branch in Boston. I lit up like a Christmas tree and we came down for a visit. I ate lots of edamame and ginger-scallion noodles, perfect on that cold January afternoon. Fast-forward a couple years, BF and I have just graduated from college and are looking into moving out of Maine, we chose Boston as it was familiar and we had family here. Jobs were acquired and as we settled into a routine which included Wagamama, especially in the winter after a long day at work. It was comforting food that left us full and happy without emptying our wallets or threatening late fees on our student loans. It felt like an indulgence and wasn't really.

Chicken Katsu Curry, the Katsu Curry is, hands-down, my favorite thing on the menu.

Now I am here, a blogger and occasionally someone who is lucky enough to get to eat those favorite things of mine for free and with favorite people. Tonight was one of those times. And when the hankering for Wagamama hits you just can't ignore it, you might make those noodles or that curry feel neglected, and that, my friends, would be very sad indeed.

Bloggers Who Rock! Megan and Amanda. Aren't they the cutest?

*Wagamama provided this meal free of charge to me but all opinions based here are strictly my own.

Pomegranate - Lime Chicken

2011-06-18T08:53:00.000-04:00

I love roast chicken. It's simple and requires minimal effort. So I try to remember that and roast them occassionally. This want to roast chickens is encouraged by my mom who manages to give me at least one bird everytime I see her, to be fair she has connections that leave me with a mighty tasty and local bird.

This is an especially simplistic chicken to cook and I love the method of cutting it down the breastbone and splaying it open. I won't lie I was entertained by this method simply becasue I learned of it as spatchcocking the chicken and it was a phrase that amused me greatly. There's something very fantastic and decadent about this chicken - but it's neither, I didn't even rub butter on this little bird before roasting it! I roasted this chicken because a: I had it and it needed to be used up and b: I had a LOT of POMwonderful juice in my fridge (not that I'm complaining, that stuff is delicious). I loved it. BF loved it; which is an accomplishment as he so rarely likes chicken and, in general, thinks it's boring. This was a great mid week dinner paired with a simple side salad - seriously the simplest, some fresh greens (from Kimball Farms, keepin' it local here) with vinaigrette on it. But it felt decadent.

Since there's only BF and I our meals are typically very small with few leftovers (well I aim for that, most of the time) and roasting a whole chicken always leaves the "but what about the leftovers" question dangling; but a pomegrante glazed chicken was just too tempting an idea to pass up. We probably would have sipped the pan juices if we'd had the space after the actual food, they were that good. And the leftovers made a fantastic chicken salad the next evening.

Pomegrante-Lime Roast Chicken
Note: This is an entirely original recipe from ME! But I encourage you to make it for yourself, maybe with lemon, or some thyme.

1-8oz bottle POMwonderful, pomegranate juice
1 Lime, cut in half
1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt
1- 4-5 lb roasting chicken, gizzards removed and cut down the breatbone

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a roasting pan, I like the oval ceramic dish I have from Ikea but anything that's about 2" deep and will hold your spatchcocked chicken will work a 13"x9" pan should do it, splay your chicken out rib side down, so all the skin is facing up. Rub the chicken all over the skin with 1/2 of the lime, making sure to squeeze all the juice out onto the bird. Cut the second half of the lime into rounds that look like wheels (see my picture) about 1/4" thick and place them all over the bird. Pour the pomegranate juice on the chicken evenly making sure to coat everything with the juice. Sprinkle the whole thing with salt. Roast for 20-25 minutes per pound until the juices run clear, basting once about half way through with the pan juices. When it's fully cooked the chicken will smell delicious and doesn't need any work, aside from eating. Serve with the pan juices and a side salad of greens you got at the farmer's market.

A bit from BF on Poutine and a Giveaway winner

2011-06-06T13:10:00.000-04:00

BF is an aficianado of all things French-Canadian, including poutine and slightly bastardized French (he frequently pronounces oui as "waaaaay", though I am under the impression this is just to annoy me :p). He was brought up in a tiny town in Northern New Hampshire where he could throw rocks across the border and spent a couple winter carnivals in Quebec City freezing his tuckus off and wishing he was old enough to drink a cane of liquor with his poutine. We both went to Saus and ate delicious food recently, this is his review (ode really) of their poutine.

Occasionally, a US eating establishment will claim to serve that most elusive and seductive of Canadian dishes: poutine. Ever the optimist, I inevitably order the dish, only to have my skepticism validated by whatever laughable forgery is placed in front of me. For me, poutine is a sacred dish, and must not be desecrated by a chef's “interpretation”. Because you see, just as there is only one true way to pronounce the dish's name (hint: it involves Quebec's singularly unique pronunciation of French syllables), there is only one way to prepare True Poutine: Fries, canned beef gravy, and cheese curds. No, you may not substitute for another “lighter” type of cheese. No, you may not use seasoned fries or “potato wedges”. And god help you if you try to use homemade gravy; it comes in a can for a reason. If you want to add any other ingredients, that's fine, but don't call it poutine. This is how my various Quebecois friends' mothers had prepared the dish throughout the entirety of my childhood and if it was good enough then, it's good enough now; gooey, health-ravaging decadence and all. The only flexibility in poutine preparation lies buried in the ongoing conflict between the schools of 'thick-fries-absorb-gravy-better' and 'thin-fries-are-crispier'.

I mention all this because I had pretty much resigned myself to the idea that I would never taste the delicious glory of poutine without traversing the border into French Canada. But against all odds, Saus has thoroughly trounced that expectation and delivered unto the world a damn fine US-located poutine dish. They do opt for the aforementioned thin-fries-are-crispier philosophy, which is a little easier to manage than the more fickle 'thick fries' (which become soggy and disappointing if not cooked just right), but what really shines here is, unsurprisingly, their sauce. While they cover the wide range of tastes with their fry dips (see Kathy's comments on these; I still long for the day when I can purchase bulk quantities of their garlic-and-butter-suffused “Vampire Slayer”), they resist the temptation to force these innovations on their poutine and instead present it as it should be: with traditional, thick, savory brown gravy, just the way Nature always intended. In fact, I'm seriously re-considering the 'gravy must be canned' requirement. About the only qualm I have with their poutine is their naming choice, implying that it is a Belgian dish. While I accept that continental cross-pollination occurs with cuisine as a regular course of action, I simply cannot think of poutine as anything other than firmly Canadian. But I won't quibble over titles, because call it what they may, it looks, tastes, and just plain feels like the classic comfort dish of our northern brothers. And in my book, that's an unprecedented feat.

Also, The winner of the Saus giveawy for a $15 gift certificate is comment 15! Congrats Kimmy! You should email/text/IM/DM/Tweet/smoke message me when you get a chance :)

Saus, a love letter to frites and a Giveaway!

2011-06-02T23:15:00.003-04:00

Belgian Sized Frite with a Deep Fried Egg

Dear Fries -
You and I go way back. I've loved you since those first homemade fries that my mom made came out of the fry daddy - soft, tender, and tasting of fresh potato; you were delicious. So I did what any sane person who is terrified of hot oil would do; I started to hunt for THE PERFECT FRY. I thought that it was a hopeless venture, perpetually leading me to fries that were overcooked or soggy. I wrote emails to my sister extolling the virtues and failures of fries ranging from mediocre, to unpalatable, to acceptable. Then in January, there was hope. I saw a tweet from @saus_boston; there was a Belgian frites shop opening three blocks from my office. I started to dream of the fries I ate in Europe - delicious morsels cooked in good quality lard and covered by at least five different toppings, all of which seemed to involve some sort of curry flavor. This was what I had been searching for all along.

Saus - From the Top:

Cheddar Duvel, Bleu Cheese (special), The Bost-onion

I waited patiently for the storefront to open, scouring local blogs and publications for an opening date and longing for fries that I could eat forever. I waited and waited until, finally, an opening date was set - a menu was hung on the website (eatfrites.com), and there were rumors of Saus opening in March. Then it was there. A tweet said the elusive shop was open and I made plans with BF, Amanda, and her hubs to go for fries. We started with some soda - root beer and cherry cream soda from Virgil's, chose an exorbitant number of sauces (I think six) and gorged on a dinner of frites. These were perfect fries - crispy on the outside and fluffy within. They were hot without burning my tongue, and with every dip of fry in unique saus, whether it be the Cheddar Duvel or the humble homemade mayo, I was in heaven. I don't think we spoke for ten minutes while fries were consumed. We were in states of pure bliss. Fries, gourmet sauces, and to top it all off, a crisp root beer. I wanted to move in.

Belgian Waffle with: Lemon Creme, Berry, Salted Caramel, and Nutella Saus

Then we realized there were Belgian-style waffles. Allow me to reiterate that: BELGIAN-STYLE WAFFLES. It was June after college graduation, and BF and I were running around Brussels looking for just one late-night waffle shop that would serve us. And there, in front of Manneken Pis, was one such place, an open window being run by a couple teenage girls just ready to close up shop for the night. We asked for one waffle with dark chocolate and tipped them one euro for being open and willing to hold off closing for us (and we got extra chocolate). As I ate my waffle, I fantasized about eating more and was sad that it was our last night in this town of publicly urinating statues. Now we were home, and finally after three years of longing for good waffles, there were some nearby. And they fit the criteria - crunchy, fluffy, saus-y and all around swoon-worthy (seriously, you should probably just get the Nutella saus to drink, or bathe in, as one friend suggested). I left Saus that night in a dreamy state of full, telling BF that we will be going back - sooner rather than later, when the cheese curds were in (they hadn't gotten their delivery yet) and we could try the poutine.

So, dear humble french fry, I've finally found the one of you that is king. Stick around will you? My belly can hold more than a single batch of fries and I (along with BF) will be back for more, especially with those perfect saus-es (saus-ies? saus-i?). You should probably make sure you keep around your friend, the waffle, too. One without the other may be like Peanut Butter without Jelly at this point.

Love, Kathy and BF

Now the fun part! You have read through my review of Saus and have drooled over my pictures right? Of course you have. After my most recent visit to Saus I stopped and asked one of the owners, Renee, if they wanted to team up with me to give one of my readers some frites. She loved it! So we hashed out some details. I'm giving away a $15 gift certificate so that one of my lucky readers can go there and try the frites and waffles themselves! Yum! You can enter three ways, leave me a comment telling me for each entry:

1) Go to the Saus website and leave me a comment saying which dip you would most like to try, you can also check their twitter feed for a rotating dip, or two. (Mandatory)
2) Go to Facebook and like Kathy Can Cook and Saus and leave a comment (optional)
3) Follow @kathycancook and @saus_boston on twitter and tweet
"I want to try frites and waffles thanks to @saus_boston and @kathycancook! #eatfrites" and leave me a comment that you did (optional)

All entries must be received by Monday June 6 at 12 Noon. The winner will be announced by 5 pm that day!

Baked Asparagus and Chickpeas

2011-05-29T13:30:00.001-04:00

Spring has finally moved in and is rapidly approaching summer here in Boston and I am simultaneously thankful and irritated. The thankfulness comes of knowledge of fresh and local produce that will soon be gracing my table and kitchen and the irriation comes of horrible spring hayfever. I know we all have it on heavy pollen days - the runny nose and itchy eyes come with the territory, but just once I would like to smell the lilacs and not sneeze for the rest of my walk home. But the produce - that I can get behind. With the city's seasonal farmer's markets starting up I'm getting impatient for food that tastes fresh again.

On a recent trip to the Dewey Square Farmer's Market I was thrilled to see Kimball Farm with bunches of asparagus for $5 each. They were good and I was excited to be seeing produce that is creeping closer to home as the ground warms and green things start to explore the world. With the fresh asparagus comes the hope of greater things coming soon - tomatoes that taste like tomatoes (gasp), peppers that I want to eat, and fresh herbs that I'll add to some greens (which you can get at your market now thanks to cold frames and awesome farmers), add a squirt of lemon juice and call it dinner. But we're not quite there yet. For now I have some root vegetables left over from the winter and this farm fresh asparagus - the first sign of summer actually coming to stay.

I love asparagus, especially the tender green shoots that are no bigger than a pencil and burst with a sweet and green flavor; it's filling and delicious. I basically turn BF and I into vegetarians while asparagus is in season, buying it in quantities that make most people look at me strangely, and gently roasting it with chickpeas at least twice a week. I'm obsessed. And it's soooo worth it. We aren't vegtarian eaters usually - add a sausage or some chicken to our meals and we're happy campers but this roasted asparagus dish is fantastic and when I made it the other night as a quick meal, BF asked me to make it again. I was so surprised you could have knocked me down with a feather, a quick and easy meal that's cheap and delicious - oh yeah I'll make it again (and again and again).

The best part of this "meal" if you want to call it that, is that it's virtually effortless - remove the bottoms of the asparagus, cut it into finger lengths, and toss it with some oil and spices. It's a meal! Veggies! Protein! I suppose you could do it as a side, but it's delicious on it's own. I like it with sweet potato fries - which is a great way to use up the tail-end of those wintered-over potatoes that are hiding out anyway.

Baked Asparagus and Chickpeas
1 bunch asparagus, woody ends broken off and cut into 2 -3 inch pieces
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt (any coarse salt is fine here, it doesn't need to be kosher)
1/2 tsp garlic powder, to taste (rosemary is nice here too, or whatever other spices you're in the mood for)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees farneheit. Add the asparagus and chickpeas to a 2 inch deep baking dish (I use a 13x9 glass pan) and drizzle the olive oil and balsamic over them. Gently toss the asparagus/chickpeas with the oil and balsamic (this can be done in a bowl if you are not confident of your abilities to keep them in the pan). Add the salt and spices and give everything a final toss to evenly distribute the spices. Stick the pan in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the asparagus is tender and a little wilty. The asparagus will be fantasic and the chickpeas crisp up so much that you will chase them around your plate until they're gone. I promise. This makes a great entree meal for two (with sweet potato fries, of course) or as a side for more. Deee-licious.

Marx Foods Citrus Juices and a Mocktail to make with them

2011-04-29T16:49:00.002-04:00

I love seltzer water, especially when the weather is turning warm and my porch is cleared of the winter's detritus. There's something so refreshing about sipping a lightly sparkling drink that is enhanced by a squeeze of fresh citrus juice and some ginger that I find sinful on Spring days when the sunset is lingering and the trees are bursting into life again. This is a mocktail that I created for those evenings that linger when the kitchen is warm and you just want to sit on the porch and read.

A friend was recently up for a blogger challenge over on the Marx foods website, so I went to give him my support by clicking a button and then I was caught in a website FULL of fabulous gourmet goods that I hadn't heard of. I checked out the Marx blog and wandered over everything until I stumbled across a blogger offer - for juices. Three of them - Yuzu Juice, Kabosu Juice, and Sudachi Juice. They were all foreign to me and looked decadent in their squat brown bottles. I emailed the PR guy (Justin) and asked for a sample - at worst I wouldn't like them right?

I liked them, all three of the juices offered a variation on lime juice - fairly sour but with subtle undertones. In my naivete I had assumed these juices would be palatable for sipping - they were not, unless you can sip lime juice or have a miracle berry. But they were delicious, and offered a depth of flavor that plain lime juice lacks.

The Yuzu had a bright lime flavor with undertones of tangerine (oh yeah, i'm about to get all taster snobby here, it's kinda fun and silly). I want this juice in vinaigrettes on fruit salads. The Kabosu juice seemed to be the sweetest of the three. I like it for it's lemony flavor with a fantastic aftertaste of cantaloupe - yeah cantaloupe, it had that honey melon flavor. Totally Decadent. There's a reason this was the juice to grace my mocktail. And then there was the Sudachi. This was my least favorite of the three juices, it is very tart and I found it hard to separate any other flavors over the tartness. Maybe in a simple syrup it would be better? Maybe? I felt like I was sucking on a lemon with some grapefruit juice thrown in there to taunt me with another flavor. It lacked the depth of flavor that I found with the other two juices.

I suppose you could add a bit of your favorite vodka to this drink to make it more of an adult soda - but why would you tamper with a good thing? And with no alcohol you can feel decadent without going overboard when you drink this on a hot saturday afternoon and read from your newest obsession.

Kathy's Ginger-Kabosu Soda
Note: I've been adding these juices to a lot of things where I would regularly add lime or lemon juice but this soda is my favorite, and garnished with the fine slices of kumquat and a shave of ginger these were dressed up from refreshing to classy enough to serve at a dinner party.

1 Thumb sized nub of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced into coins
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
6 oz Club Soda
2 oz Kabosu Juice (If you can't use that Lime would work too)
Ice
1 Kumquat cut into rounds, for garnish (optional)

In a small saucepan bring the ginger coins, sugar and water to a boil. Allow them to simmer gently until the sugar dissolves - 2 minutes, maybe. Remove the pan from the heat. Let the ginger steep in the sugar water fro at least 5 minutes - more time will make the ginger flavor stronger. Strain the ginger out of the syrup when the ginger flavor has saturated the syrup enough. Reserve this ginger for garnish. Let the syrup cool. In a pint glass, combine the ginger syrup, Kabosu juice and club soda. Stir Gently. Add ice if you like. Garnish with slices of kumquat and some of the candied ginger from the syrup. Enjoy while sitting on a deck in the sunshine, reading, or playing a video game.

I was given these juices to try and review for free by Marxfoods.com, but all opinions and comments are my own.

Passover Challenge: Flourless Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

2011-04-27T18:55:00.002-04:00

A while ago twitter was all abuzz about a passover potluck and it sounded amazing. I wanted in and immediately started to plan my Seder challenge meal with the salt of the plate by creating a Flourless Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Drizzle. I immediately emailed Cara saying I was in and what I was bringing; she has a great description of the meaning of the Seder plate over on her blog if you want to learn more (after all, Knowledge is Power!). I ended up (sadly) missing Cara's Seder potluck, but I still made the cake because, regardless, we all need a little more chocolate in our lives, right? Then I searched for my flourless chocolate cake recipe - which is sort of like trying to find a needle in a haystack (my loose recipes are about 6" of stacked paper and in no semblance of order... someday I'll work on that).

The recipe I wanted was a symphony to dark chocolate - a pound of chocolate, espresso, eggs, butter, and sugar in a single bowl mixed. So Simple and So Delicious. I love rich, dark, chocolate decadence but I can only take it in small portions so I make this cake once or twice a year, if I'm even motivated for that. I have friends who can't "do" gluten so I try to accomodate them, and most of the time succeed, which is how I came to hunt for this particular gem in the first place. I know two people that should avoid the binder that we all know and love and it is with them in mind that I try to go "gluten free" occassionally here on the blog.

Now, this cake; the first time I made it was with a lovely raspberry coulis that was bright and tangy to cut the richness of the cake. This time I made a dark, intense caramel that married with the flavors of the cake in an entirely different way, making each bite more decadent than the last. It's quite a lot like eating a well-made candy bar, but without the hassle of having to bite on the chocolate; this cake just melts away, leaving you with an urge for a big glass of milk or some sharp and well-spiced tea.

Kathy's Flourless Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Drizzle
Note: This cake is rich and dense; plan to eat small pieces of it at a time. Having a sauce to drizzle over it makes it less intensely rich. I also have a tendency to use the darkest chocolate I can find without it being unsweetened so if you used something less dark, it could be less rich. Either way, it's delicious in a celebratory way, and it's surprisingly quick to mix but takes some time to cook.

Flourless Chocolate Cake
1 lb of semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into coarse hunks (I recommend at least 55% cocoa since this really needs the fat)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup espresso
16 Tbs (2 sticks) butter, softened and cut into 1 Tbs pieces
2 Tbs cocoa powder
8 eggs
1 Tbs vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease a 9" springform pan with butter. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. In the large bowl of a food processor, pulse your chocolate until it is a coarse crumb texture - this take about a minute. Add the sugars and pulse until everything is an even, sandy texture. Turn the food processor on and gently stream in the HOT espresso; this will melt the butter and allow the whole thing to come together. Allow this to run for a couple of minutes to make sure it's smooth and the chocolate is fully melted. Add the cocoa powder, then the butter pieces one at a time to the running food processor. Process until smooth and fully incorporated - about 30 seconds. Add the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, pulsing the FP between each egg to incorporate them fully. Pour the mixture into the lined and greased springform pan. Place the springform on a cookie sheet (in case of leakage) and bake for 50-60 mins. The top of the cake will be puffy and a little cracked when it's done; the center of the cake will still jiggle a bit. Pull the cake from the oven and set it on a rack to cool for at least an hour - if you don't allow this resting period and try to pull the springform off early you will have crumbs; they'll be tasty crumbs, but they'll just be crumbs. After the cake has set up, remove the outer ring of the springform pan. You can level the cake now if you would like to, or if you are like me, you can not worry about that and flip it onto a plate and watch the middle make a crater. If you do level the cake, you should probably flip it over so the pretty side is facing up. Chill it overnight or for at least 3 hours in the fridge. Serve chilled and drizzled with copious amounts of salted caramel sauce.

Salted Caramel Sauce
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Note: Mine is darker than hers, I liked the "nuttier" flavor of the darker sugar and I added a little corn syrup to keep the caramel from crytallizing. Since I wouldn't eat all the caramel for a bit I wanted to be able to reheat and use it at my leisure - a little corn syrup made that easier. If you are hesitant about corn syrup, David Liebovitz talks about it over on his site and you can see more there, but for all intents and purposes it can be left out here if you feel it should be.

1 cup sugar
1 Tbs light corn syrup
6 Tbs high quality salted butter. I used Kerrygold and it was divine!
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs of heavy cream at room temp; fresher is better if you can get it.

Add the sugar and corn syrup to a medium sized sauce pan and whisk them while they gently come to a simmer over medium heat. This takes about 5 mins, sometimes less if it's humid out. Cook the sugar to a dark copper color (it's better to have a light bottomed pan here so you can see the sugar change colors). Whatever you do: DONT LEAVE YOUR SUGAR UNATTENDED, it's a little twit and will burn if you walk away for even 0.2 seconds. Remove the melted caramelized sugar from the heat and add the butter all at once, immediately. This will simultaneously melt the butter and cool down the caramel enough to add the cream without it all siezing on you. Whisk the sugar/butter mixture until everything is evenly distributed. Add the cream all at once. The caramel will foam; it's okay, that's why you used a largish pan (you did use a largish pan right?). Continue to whisk the sauce until it all comes together. Serve it immediately over your rich, dark, flourless chocolate cake or take it to the darkest corner of your apartment and eat it with a spoon while calling it "my precious" and... wait sorry, that's not right. You should probably try to share. Everyone will love it after-all. This stores for 2 weeks or so in the fridge. If you refrigerate it and find the caramel too firm, you can microwave it for about 30 seconds to soften it up again.

Baking for Bloggers Bake for Hope

2011-04-25T15:27:00.001-04:00

Do you ever look at the delectable treats I blog and wish you could have them? Now you can! Well, you can have my Brown Sugar Sugar Cookies anyway. With bidding from May 4-6 Boston/Mass based bloggers Cara and Jen have organized Bloggers Bake for Hope!

Doesn't that look like something you would love to have? There are A LOT of local bloggers baking for this shindig too, so if caramel-ly delicious brown sugar sugar cookies don't appeal to you maybe Amanda's Cream Cheese Coffee Cake, Renee's Cape Cod Cranberry tart, or some Sea Salt Nutella Fudge from Katie will. I've got my eye on some Crusty Rosemary Sea Salt bread. It's all going to be fantastic and it's all for a GREAT cause. So go, bid and get someone you love something delicious (yourself included, since you love you too, right?). I'm looking forward to giving away some of these cookies and hope that you'll come bid on them when the bidding starts!

A Boston Blogger evening at UFood Grill

2011-04-20T21:56:00.001-04:00

If you read other Boston based food blogs you will have noticed a flurry of blog recaps of a dinner at UFood Grill, a couple of weeks ago. I was there that night. These are my favorite things that I tried. Even now, weeks later I still want one of those smoothies. Enjoy.

The bistro salad was DIVINE.

The UFood Unfries - they were fantastic and not FRIED.
Go UFOOD!

Steak tips - tender, delicious and paired with
simply whipped sweet potatoes. Bliss.

The UFood Turkey Burger - Moist and delicious
in ways I was not expecting. Eat This!

YUM. Smoothie.
This is the "Berrylicious"

Yum More Smoothie,
this time Passionate Peach

Wildberry Tart Frozen Yogurt - So Good!
I wanted it to be warmer out just so I could justify seconds

A couple of notes about UFood: they make a concerted effort to be health conscious in everything they make, most of the food is fantastic, they are accommodating, and they try to serve locally-sourced products! I love that. They were fabulous hosts, and even set out extra entrees that were full-sized for us to photograph. They are a locally owned company that makes delicious "un-fries" on the go. What more do you want out of your fast food? Now go UFood it up, have a smoothie and a turkey burger. Bring me with you.

*This meal was entirely complimentary from Ufood Grill but all opinions posted here are my own.

Thai-Peanut and Black Bean Chili

2011-04-10T10:05:00.002-04:00

I went to college in a minuscule town in Western Maine. While school was in session it felt like there was a town of about 15k when school was not in session there were about 3000 people in the town. My school was wonderful with small classes and professors who knew your first name it was the place you wanted to go after going to high school in an even smaller town, a stepping stone toward more. But it was the town I was most enchanted with. There was a cafe where I worked for a brief period, there were the brick structures of campus covered in English Ivy, there was the river I rode a giant blowup dinosaur named Lottie down one summer day - meandering slowly on it's way somewhere I never went (Mexico, ME maybe?), and there was Soup For You.

In my senior year of college I took most of my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, in class until 4:15 or so on Thursday and then later that evening from 6-9. So in that little interim period from 4-6 I always walked downtown to Soup For You, ordered one of the daily soups (there are always 6 - 3 vegetarian options and 3 omnivorous options) and a coffee and sat in a booth and read, or chatted with friends there. It was one of my favorite semesters, and I always hoped for this soup to be on the menu, especially on warm spring days.

Maybe I loved Soup For You because it was charming - with hand painted tiles and quirky-ness everywhere, or because they knew that I loathed soup-spoons so always gave me one of the miniature ones they held behind the counter for little kids, but I think the biggest reason I loved it is that it was introduced to me by a community. That community was full of some of the strongest women I've ever met, and I am still close with several of them now. They were my coworkers in the Women's and Gender Studies Center, a work study job that is by far the best job I've ever had. We held potlucks together, went to lunch, stayed well past or scheduled times just to hang out, published a literary journal called Ripple that focused on women in writing, we wrote poetry and we read. I associate this soup with those girls.

My first day in the Women's and Gender Studies Center saw me, terrified (as usual) meeting everyone and trooping around the grand (read 2 or 3 streets) downtown of our little college town when one of the girls piped up that there was Thai Peanut and Black Bean Chili and Soup for You and they probably still had Corn Muffins. So we stopped. We all ordered the same thing 8oz of the chili and a corn muffin, then we sat down. The warm spring sunshine on our backs and excited about our upcoming events and the new issue of Ripple. So this soup is camaraderie for me, it's comfort somewhere new, and it's friends and mentors. It's my history. It's also a Soup for You specialty and totally made the internet fail me. So this is as close an approximation as I can get. Eat it with friends and a corn muffin.

Soup For You inspired Thai-Peanut and Black Bean Chili
Note: I love this soup and would eat it every day if I could. It's also quite close to Soup For You's version, which is so exciting to me, since I can't find anything half as good in Boston.

Olive oil
1 Medium white onion, finely diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs Ginger Juice, or 2Tbs fresh grated ginger (I LOVE GINGER, you may not so go lighter on this if it's not your flavor)
1/2 red pepper, finely diced
2-3 medium carrots, sliced thinly into coins
1 can full fat coconut milk
zest of 1 lime
zest of 1 lemon
2 cans of black beans, 1 drained and 1 with liquid
1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (use more, less, or none depending on the heat you like)
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup dry roasted unsalted peanuts
handful of cilantro (optional)

In a large pot heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper, carrot, and if you are using fresh ginger add that too and allow them to soften, stirring occasionally - this should take about 5 minutes. Add the coconut milk and the zests and stir to combine. Make sure you get everything in the pot evenly distributed throughout the coconut milk and allow the whole pot to come to a gentle simmer. Add the black beans and red pepper flakes then allow the pot to come back up to a simmer, allow it to simmer like this for 10-15 mins. Add the peanut butter and allow the chili to come to another simmer. If you think your chili is a little thin you can add more peanut butter, but that is up to you, regardless stir the peanut butter in well - it s the star flavor here. Add the dry roasted peanuts and let them cook for 10 minutes or so - you want them to be warm but still have crunch. Serve the chili with a corn muffin on the side and a sprinkling of cilantro on top. Don't ever look back. Its vegan and delicious. Win.

Whipped Feta Dip and Pita Chips

2011-04-04T19:32:00.000-04:00

So, about a month ago I got together with Megan and Amanda for an awesome and truly delicious Bake Date. We ate croissants and pop tarts, drank hot cocoa, and played a ton of banana grams (if you haven't played that game you really should, it's super fun and lots of indignation will happen). I also made some dips and homemade pita chips to make our bake date not kill us with sugar. At least that was the plan. I made two dips actually but I'm only going to write about one of them - ever probably, number two was not good.

A while ago (after blogger brunch at Dorado Tacos actually) I ended up hitching a ride to Russos with Renee and we talked about whipped feta dips. Batting ideas back and forth over the ways feta could be used to make a dip and which feta would be best for it. She ended up making one with beets (which is a fabulous shade of pink and I totally need to make). And I made one with roasted red peppers (unbeknownst to her, admittedly, but it was this conversation that inspired me to actually try it). I chose roasted red peppers because in the handful of times I have gone to Sofra I have gotten this mezza as an appetizer and it makes me giddy, fresh pita chips and some of this dip and I'm set. Give me a book and I'll read, and munch, for a good long while (well until the dip is gone anyway).

The pita chips were merely an experiment to see if I could do it. There was no recipe to go by, just an idea that if I was spending $2.50 per bag on pita chips wouldn't it be better to make them myself? I was right. It was worth it. They were delicious, and I was lucky I was able to save any pita chips and feta dip once BF tried them. Both the chips and dip were so remarkably simple I'm surprised I hadn't tried them sooner. Now I strongly recommend you try them too.

Kathy's Pita Chips
Note: This recipe just deals with one "bag" of pitas but you can easily make more. It's also a very fast process so don't go wandering too far while the chips are baking.

2-3 pocket pitas, cut into triangles and separated (I get mine at Arax where they get fresh breads delivered daily but wherever you can find the pita go for it, Thomas' is a decent nat'l brand)
olive oil
garlic, salt, rosemary, whatever you like... cinnamon and sugar would be very good

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees farenheit, make sure you let the oven come up to temperture - it is critical with these chips or else they're wilty (trust me, I got impatient so I threw the pitas in the warming oven and was hugely disappointed in the results). While the oven heats cut your pitas into good chip sizes, I recommend basically making a pizza with 8 slices so you have triangles... or an approximation of them. layer the pita "chips" in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet and spray/brush/drizzle olive oil on the pitas. I use a regular spray bottle I picked up at the grocery store for this and it gets the job done, it's not nearly as good as having a Misto (hey family *nudgenudgewinkwink*) but it works in a pinch. Sprinkle whatever spices you like on your chips, I like mine with salt, rosemary, and garlic powder but I think cinnamon and sugar would be awesome, though they wouldn't go with the feta dip (maybe a slightly sweeter spiced cream cheese dip, like frosting, eh?). Put the chips in the oven for 3-7minutes, checking them every minute or two for doneness. DON'T WALK AWAY. These go from done to burnt in literally 10 seconds, but are worth it. When the chips are a nice light-medium brown pull them from the oven and let them cool on the pan, this should only take a couple minutes. Then eat them with the following dip. Unless you made the cinnamon-sugar ones, then you're on your own :P

Roasted Red-Pepper Feta Dip
Note: I made this after eating it at Sofra. It's delicious. If you don't have a food processor get it, if only to make this dip, though I suppose it could be made in a blender. If you were watching it. Also, a note about feta - get it fresh, it tastes worlds better and is very easy to get in the Boston area - ANY middle eastern market will have it, I know of 4 places in Watertown that do. Another feta note, I recommend using Bulgarian Sheep's milk feta for this (it's not as salty as the cow's milk, maybe the brine is different? Anyone know?) but if you can't find that - rinse your cow's milk feta to lose some of the saltiness, the second time I made this dip I used mostly cow's milk and didn't rinse which left me with overly salty dip which needed to be modified, a lot.

1/3-1/2 pound Bulgarian feta - this is more creamy than cows milk/domestic feta if you can get it. It is the superior choice.
1-2 whole roasted red peppers, without skin and cored, in oil if you purchase them
1-2 Tbs Oil, from the peppers, or Olive oil
1-2 pieces of Roasted tomato, if you have them if not don't worry but they lend great flavor
1/2 tsp garlic powder or 1 small clove fresh garlic, more if you want the garlic strong

Break the feta up into large-ish chunks (the size of a clove of garlic is good) and add them to the bowl of a food processor, incidentally I cannot recommend enough that you get a food processor - they are so wonderful from grated potatoes for latkes to this decadent dip they get the job down extraordinarily well. Chop the roasted red pepper into 4-6 pieces enough so that the processor doesn't hate you. Add the pepper, roasted tomato, and garlic to the feta. Turn the food processor on for 10-15 seconds, then check the consistency of the dip - is it stilla little chunky - whip it some more, is it still a little thick - add a bit of oil. Add the oil in a slow drizzle while the food processor is on, much like making pesto, until the dip has reached the consistency you want - I like my dip a little stiff but soft enough to pick up with a pita chip, this is about 1 tbs - more if the feta is dry. After mixing in the olive oil taste the dip - does it need salt, most likely no but if your feta is tangy it may, is it salty? If you find your dip salty I was able to neutralize that fairly easily with some plain yogurt about 1/4 cup. The important thing for this dip is that you keep trying it until the flavor is what you like, since you will be eating it and having to throw this sort of thing away is sad. It will be orange, that's ok it's still delicious. Eat it while, of course, playing Bananagrams with friends.

Leek and Bacon Bread pudding

2011-04-04T09:05:00.000-04:00

I am a guest poster over on Alicia's super delicious blog.
I made fantastic Leek and Bacon Bread pudding for her! Go Check it out!

Thoughts On Kathy Can Cook Turning One

2011-03-25T11:56:00.001-04:00

Last week was my blogiversary. And I just let it pass with no fanfare. I realize that I don't blog as often as I, or you, my readers, would like me too. I'm working on that. Kinda. But I just wanted to use my blogiversary to say thanks.

I started this blog after much thought about grad school as a way to determine if food was an obsession (absolutely) or just a passing fad (totally sticking with it, this love of food and I are permanant). I wanted to make sure sinking 40k into my love of food would be a wise decision. I did not expect to make friends and find such a network of support. When I started this blog I was also lonely - to a fault, I was scared of the big crowds of this city and missed my small hometown with it's big blueberry fields and few people. I wanted the safety of friends around me all the time. I started this blog when I had like 3 people I saw on a regular basis (coworkers discluded) and I was debating moving because I was so unhappy.

Then I went to a Boston Local Food Festival meeting where I met Michelle, Robin and Jon and realized that Boston had an amazing and supportive food community. I went from knowing virtually no one, to being able to chat all day (probably to my detriment and BF's irritation) about food, culture, news, and whatever else I thought of. My eyes were opened. I've spent the past year cooking a lot, putting on more butter weight than I should, meeting simply stunning people, and learning from all of you, commentors, bloggers and friends. I've started swapping canned goods with people (most notably Brian and a debacle involving nearly-missing Blood-Orange Curd).

So thanks Boston Food Community, for giving me a reason to keep blogging and to stick around. Thanks for reintroducing me to a city that is now firmly home, where I get together for cookie swaps, brunches and bake dates with friends. Where bananagrams is played ALL. THE. TIME. And where spring now means I have another birthday to celebrate (my own and Kathy Can Cook's), which means more cake and another reason to eat out. I appreciate everything this community gives me - from support on bad days to photography lessons. You've all made me a better and less fearful person.

Now I think I need a cupcake, or at least a cookie.

Squash and Apple Soup

2011-03-19T12:21:00.001-04:00

I know that the winter squash obsession has passed for most people, but I'm still obsessed. The sugars in those hardy winter squash are really coming into their own right now, making the squash really shine and work so well with whatever you want to add to it! I like my squash soup with a fall fruit (in this case, apples) because I feel like it really fills out the flavors and lightens the heavier squash components. I don't roast my squash for soup; I feel like it takes too much time and I can just cook it down in water (or stock if you've got some laying around), keeping all of those delicious juices right in the soup pot. I also feel like it leads to a smoother soup. It also has the added bonus of NOT burning my hands, which is "handy" (yes, I went there - don't judge me).

My dining companions (also known as BF and Big Sis) and I enjoyed this soup with sandwiches of baguette, salami, and brie, which were out of this world and were a fantastic accompaniment.

Squash soup isn’t one of those soups I remember eating as a child; it wasn’t even on my radar until I became obsessed with sunshine squash and soup a couple of years ago. Such bright, cheerful little squash need to be soup. They are vibrant and they have a fantastic flavor. But I could be biased. Also, I bought the one I used for this soup at an adorable honor system farm stand with a drop box for the money! I love honor system stands in general, but one where I can stand in a little mud and pick out my favorite squash from the pile – those are the best.

Squash-Apple Soup
1 Medium Winter Squash (I like sunshine squash but butternut or hubbard will work too) (1 1/2-2 lb) peeled, cored, and cut into 1” cubes
1 Asian Pear (Pear-Apple) peeled, cored, and cut into 1” cubes
1 Macintosh Apple (Cortland will also work but a tart apple is key) peeled, cored, and cut into 1” cubes
1-2 tsp Garam Masala seasoning (to taste)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
4-6 Cups Water or stock
Sour Cream/Creme Fraiche/Mascarpone Cheese/Greek Yogurt (for garnish, optional)

Put squash and apples into a large pot and add just enough water/stock until it comes to the top of the squash/apples but doesn't cover them. Heat the pan over med-low heat and let it simmer, stirring occassionally until the squash is soft (15-20 mins). When the squash has begun to fall apart, add the spices and stir well to fully incorporate them. Taste the soup - add additional spices as you like. Allow the soup to simmer for another 10-15 minutes for the flavors to come together. You can serve the soup chunky if you like texture, or you can use an immersion blender/food processor/blender to make it velvety smooth. Serve in large bowls with a dollop of your cream of choice (my favorite is Greek yogurt, preferably Cabot).

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes

2011-03-06T08:41:00.002-05:00

Mmm cheesecake. It's creamy, it's sweet without being cloying, and it's delicious. Always. So when a friend came to work lamenting the "oreo cheesecake" she had gotten at Mike's, saying that it was merely chocolate cake with some wierd creamcheese filling, I started plotting these little delights. She lamented the Mike's cheesecake in August or so and I made her these in November; enough time for her to totally forget about that disappointment :)

My first challenge for these was to determine just what exactly I was going to do for the cupcakes and as Twitter was alive with Joanne Chang's Flour cookbook and it seemed to be THE cookbook everyone was using. I determined that I needed to make her oreos. So I found the recipe on Boston.com thanks to Joanne Chang herself directing me to it (super thanks!). And started plotting. I had a vision of cheesecake with a full oreo base, until I realized that making all those oreos was just way more work than I was willing to put in ;P
So I just made the cookies, sans filling, and put them in my mini-cheesecake pan as crust. They were delicious, and will definately be made this way again!

The cheesecake was a breeze, after a quick phone call to my mom (the bible of all cooking questions and head-full of random and mostly useful information), I had a cheesecake recipe that worked with what I had in my pantry/fridge. I was giddy. I started cooking on Sunday around 1pm. I finished cooking around 8pm. I was exhausted, but it was worth it. Homemade Oreos, dark chocolate cheesecake, vanilla cheesecake, dark chocolate cheesecake. Delicious. And perfect. My coworkers certainly thought so!

Oreo Cheesecake
Note: I've made a lot of cheesecake. This one is very simple. Try it. If you want to make a full-sized cheesecake follow all of the directions below but replace the oreo cookie with a cookie crumb crust and bake the cakes for an additional 10-15 minutes. Also, I used the Flour recipe for my oreo cookies in the bottom of the cheesecake. I baked the cookies according to the recipe, did not fill them, then cut them to size and dropped them into my mini spring-form pan.

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1-8oz pkg cream cheese, full-fat, softened to room temp
1 1/2 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream, separated
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 Fahrenheit. Melt the chocolate chips over low heat. Beat the cream cheese and sugar together until creamy. Add 1/2 cup of the Greek yogurt or sour cream and the eggs to the cream cheese-sugar mixture. Beat this until smooth. Pour 1/3 of the cheesecake batter into another bowl and add the vanilla to this bowl. Mix well. Add the melted chocolate to the larger quantity of cheesecake batter (roughly 2/3 of the whole batter). Mix well. In a mini-spring-form pan (or a cupcake tin lined with paper cups) drop the cheesecake batter over the homemade oreo cookies, alternating chocolate-vanilla-chocolate for an oreo look. Pouring your batter gently over the back of a spoon (to disperse it, like making a layered cocktail) will keep the layers from blending together. Put the cheesecakes in the oven. While the cheesecakes cook, combine the rest of the yogurt/sour cream (1 cup) and the 2 tbs of brown sugar to make a glaze. Remove the cheesecake from the oven (about 10 minutes into baking) and glaze them with the yogurt/brown sugar mixture. Return the cheesecakes to the oven for another 15-20 minutes, until they are light golden brown. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow them to cool completely; overnight or at least 6 hrs is ideal. Serve them to someone who loves sweets, they'll be over the moon about them. I swear it.

Baked Eggs, Simple and Delicious

2011-02-27T10:17:00.004-05:00

I love breakfast foods. All of them. Eggs, home fries, French toast, pancakes, cinnamon buns - bring it on. So one day when I was home sick with a cold, I wanted breakfast, and not cereal-and-milk breakfast but homemade breakfast, preferably with veggies and cheese. But I was sick, I had a cold and just didn't have the energy or desire to make myself an entire omelet for breakfast, so I baked an egg.

I never realized just how simple baked eggs could be and are. The most strenuous part of them is some light chopping to get all of the vegetables to a uniform size. I dug around in the fridge and unearthed some cocktail tomatoes, half a red onion, some red pepper, scallions, sour cream, cheese, and half-and-half I was good to go and eggs were on the menu. I did as much of a jig as my cold ridden self would allow and proceeded to perform some light chopping, I layered everything in an adorable bake-able mug (seriously, isn't this Cambell's soup mug awesome? I've had it since I was eight!) and baked it. Magical.

At this point I have made these baked eggs in many different forms but my favorite part of them is that they're still eggs, so they're versatile and can be made into a whole meal. Also this is great for cleaning out those tail-ends of vegetables that have been lingering in the crisper and need to be used up.

Kathy's Baked Eggs
Note: The best part about this recipe is that it is so easy to make for more than one or just one person. I make it for BF and when I just don't want to cook, it's easy and delicious. I like this a lot with fresh tomatoes but it's flexible - my recipe below is what I usually add to it, but the important part is to make sure you have a good amount of veggies in the bottom of your mug.

1 12oz bake-able mug or ramekin
1/2-3/4 cup of medium chopped vegetables or meat (I like tomatoes, red peppers, onion/scallions and some ham)
1-2 oz of grated cheese (cheddar is delicious but whatever you have on hand will work; again this is all about cleaning out leftover ingredients)
1 dallop of sour cream or greek yogurt (use whichever you already have/like better; they both work)
Cream, milk, or half and half
1-2eggs (depending on how hungry you are)

Preheat your oven to 350. Lightly grease the inside of the ramekin or mug you plan on using. Layer the vegetables in the bottom of the mug (I like onion, pepper, tomato). Add the cream/milk/half and half until it meets the top edge of the vegetables (this is different depending on the vessel). Then add the sour cream or yogurt. Gently crack the egg or eggs into the mug/ramekin; careful not to break the yolk. Sprinkle the egg with a little salt and pepper and then add the grated cheese. Bake for twenty minutes. Allow the mug/ramekin to cool slightly before eating it. Makes a perfect lazy dinner or brunch dish. Actually I am going to make it right now! Happy Sunday!

Nesting Spice Cookies

2011-02-24T21:44:00.000-05:00

I love gingersnaps. I love the crackly sugar coating and the way it yields to a cookie that is sharp and spicy. I love the depth of ginger, molasses, cinnamon, and clove when they get together for a party. I love the crunchy snap of the cookie as it crumbles onto my tongue. I am obsessed. So when I saw this King Arthur Flour blog post about nesting cookies, my thoughts went to spice cookies and all I needed was a reason to make them, which was conveniently delivered in the from of a Merchant Marine friend stuck in Florida and another friend nursing a cold in Minnesota.

These gingersnaps are my thought of a perfect cookie and I have never found their equivilent. These are the same recipe we used in my high school culinary class. We used to sell cookies around the school every other Friday and there was one teacher who requested a bag of a dozen every time; how could we say no to that?

The snickerdoodles are also divine; I don't have the passion for them that I have for the gingersnaps but how can you not love a cookie that is rolled in cinnamon sugar? More crackle! More soft yielding sugar! More cookie perfection! I used Smitten Kitchen's recipe for snickerdoodles, so you can just go over there and snag it if you want to make these; I totally recommend it.

These nesting cookies will become your favorite cookie the way they became mine. The instant the pans were cooled, the sharp gingersnap married so well with the neutral snickerdoodle that the whole cookie experience became transcendental. My sister couldn't keep her hands off of them! As I tried them for the first time, I said (to the general apartment), "Frack, I've found my favorite cookie and it takes twice as much work as any other cookie!" I then proceeded to eat two more of them before remembering I was giving them away, hem-hem.

These cookies were visually stunning, with the warm gingersnap color and the bright snickerdoodle. Now if I could just find a way to foist off more of them on people I know. Anyone need a care package?

Nesting Spice Cookies
Based on an idea I read about on the King Arthur Flour Blog
These Crinkly Molasses Cookies are from my Introduction to Baking book from high school (which still has safety sheets for the Hobart in it. Ah love).
The snickerdoodles are from Smitten Kitchen, I add an additional tsp of cinnamon to the dough when making it as well as dipping the cookies in cinnamon sugar.

The most important thing to note for these cookies is to make sure they are of a consistent size; use the same cookie scoop for both sets of dough (or at least matching scoops). Also make sure the cookie cutter is metal and sharp (the cookies will be very hot, so plastic will not work so well).

Ellie's Crinkly Molasses Cookies
Makes about 3 doz large cookies (about 3 inches across) and 6 doz small cookies (about 2 inches across).
1 1/2 cups softened unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup demrera (raw) sugar (recommended but regular sugar works too)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit. Cream the butter and sugar together with a flat paddle in a stand mixer over med speed or with a hand mixer at medium speed. Add the eggs and mix to combine. Add the molasses and mix evenly (my trick: put a little canola oil in the measuring cup and let it cover the whole inner surface. Then add your molasses. The molasses will slide right out and it won't be so hard to clean!). Measure half of the flour, the spices, and baking soda into a sifter and sift them together into the bowl. Sift the second half of the flour into the bowl. Mix the dry ingredients in until evenly incorporated, the dough will be a lovely nutty brown. Put the demrera sugar in a pie plate, allowing it to evenly coat the bottom. Using a standard cookie scoop (I like 1 1/2 Tbs), scoop the dough out of the bowl into same size balls and drop them into the sugar, coating them completely. Bake the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet for 8 mins for smaller cookies, and 12 mins for larger ones.

If you want to make nesting cookies (like mine, sooooo pretty and fun):
Make a second batch of cookies that are a different color, I recommend these ones from Smitten Kitchen.
Cook 2 trays of equal amounts of cookies at the same time (I liked to do 8 on each sheet) and pull them out of the oven about a minute before they are done. Using a metal cookie cutter, cut your desired shape out of the middle of each type of cookie, swapping centers to create a nested effect. Return the cookies to the oven for another minute so the centers set. Delicious. Send/give them to a friend in need of a pick-me-up they will appreciate it.

Blogger Brunch at Dorado Tacos and Cemitas

2011-02-17T08:52:00.001-05:00

I know it's been almost two weeks since we actually ate this meal, but it was so delicious that I've been just reading the recaps (also I didn't have any of my own photos; all of these are borrowed from other people's posts, with permission of course).

Photo Courtesy of Brian of http://www.thegringochapin.blogspot.com/

On a bright sunny Sunday after a night of insane thunderstorms, I hitched a ride with the lovely Renee over to Brighton for brunch at Dorado Tacos. We parked and wandered a little bit, Renee introduced me to Kupel's Bagels (This establishment really should be much closer to my apartment) and then we headed into Dorado. We took our seats and then looked at the menu. A bright little cafe filled with sunshine and energy, I was in love instantly.

Photo Courtesy of Renee of http://www.eatliveblog.com/

I ordered a coffee and doctored it up accordingly (one sugar two creams) and started to drink it. It was perfect coffee, dark and rich without the charaacteristic bitterness that dark roasted coffees can have; this boded so well for my future meal. As the rest of the brunchers trickled in I was excited to see Brian, Amanda, Megan, Lara, and Meesh as well as to meet Kimmy and Jacki (if only briefly).

Photo Courtesy of Renee of http://www.eatliveblog.com/

Once the avengers had assembled, we all collaborated to fight off the bad guys (i.e. eat brunch) and it was PERFECT. I ordered the Huevos Rancheros with Patatas Bravas and there just isn't anything better than Patatas Bravas. Nothing. They are spicy, crunchy, and all-around spectacularly delicious. I realize I talked about my love of Patatas Bravas before, but these were better. These were spicy enough that I couldn't finish them and needed backup (thanks Brian!), but in a responsible, I'm-sad-these-won't-be-good-cold kind of way. And the Huevos - I don't think there is a better breakfast food. Queso fresco - yes! Perfectly fried eggs - yes! Wonderfully spicy salsa ranchera that kept the whole thing together - absolutely! Perfect company to chat with - you know it. I ended up needing an agua fresca to cool down with; my boring Mainer mouth was just not prepared for that spice, but it was by far, one of the best brunches I've had in a while.

Now to go back for lunch... or dinner... or both. Ah the possibilities. Thanks to Renee, as usual, for organizing this shindig. A huge thanks to Dorado Tacos for hosting us so well; opening an hour early to accomodate us while having huge grins and good naturedness about everything. And to the Boston blogger community as a whole - without the awesome community we have here, the oppurtunities for sweet blogger meetups like this would be nil, and that would be very sad. Now, I think I need a taco.

Dorado Tacos is located at 401 Harvard Street in Brookline and is accessible via Green Line or the 66 bus.

French Onion Soup

2011-02-10T12:43:00.068-05:00

I love carmelized onions. I love the smell of them as they cook slowly in my kitchen and permeate my entire apartment with essence of onion. They are wonderful. I have been trying on and off for the past couple of years to make French Onion Soup; sometimes with mediocre results, sometimes with decent results, but nothing had that 'wow' factor. That experience of trying French Onion Soup for the first time; something rich, decadent, and smooth, paired perfectly with a good crusty bread and those browned cheese bits that should always crust up the edges of the bowl or crock. I stumbled across this recipe in the same Cook's Illustrated: Soups and Stews issue that I found those heavenly drop biscuits. After such consistent bad/mediocre luck with this soup, I tried this new recipe, thinking at worst I would only waste a few onions; no harm no foul. It was perfect. Velvety and rich; I could have been back in the Paris cafe where I ate French Onion Soup and watched the square in front of me bustle in the late June evening. It was that good.

This does take some time to make, but most of it involves babysitting the onions while they infuse everything around you with their scent. I made it on a cold day (actually it was the day before Boston Food Blogs officially launched) and again on our most recent snow day; it was a perfect winter warmer. I love that I can precook the onions the night before I want the soup cutting my preparation time down to an hour or so the next day. I also just love to watch that cheese bubble under the broiler. It's so satisfying to pull out a perfectly browned and bubbly soup to serve a guest (or that boy that does really sweet things for you, like edit your blog posts).

This soup is now a house favorite and given the choice, BF will choose it as the Kathy-cooks-all-day option for dinner (if I am letting him choose something I'm willing to cook all day that is). Also I think I may have converted my decidedly un-french-onion-soup-loving sister with this little wonder.

Kathy's French Onion Soup
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated: Soups and Stews pretty heavily. I use red wine instead of sherry. Also, I use only chicken stock (more for convenience than any other reason) instead of their recommended beef and chicken combo.

3 Tbs unsalted butter
2 large leeks,washed and sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
4 medium yellow onions, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inche wide half moons
2 medium red onions, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch wide half moons
8 cups of dark stock, I use a dark chicken stock, but you can use half chicken and half beef if you prefer
1/2 cup red wine
1 1/2 cup water
1-2 springs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 slices good crusty bread (I'm obsessed with the Russo's Rustic Artisan loaf, which is a nice ciabatta)
2 cups grated Jarlsburg cheese (You can use something else if you prefer just get full fat content and a softer grate-able cheese)

I just got a mandoline (and it was a super cheap one that isn't terribly awesome) but it made the whole french onion soup process a lot less tedious, so splurge on yourself and get a mandoline, if nothing else than for onions. Preheat the oven to 325. Add the sliced onions to a heavy bottomed not non-stick (this is actually important) pot with the butter. I used my Le Crueset stock pot and it was perfect.

Put the pot full of onions and butter into the oven, covered, and leave it alone for 45 mins or so (if you forget for a few minutes, that's ok; this step is really forgiving). Pull the onions out of the oven and give them a quick stir; they should be starting to reduce in volume at this point and become translucent. Put the pot back in the oven with the cover on a bit of an angle to allow steam to escape. Leave it alone for another 30 minutes then pull it out and stir again; this time the onions should be starting to turn a nice golden brown. If you think they're cooking too quickly go ahead and turn the oven down to 300 and if they are still just translucent (no golden color yet) go ahead and punch up the temp on your oven to 350. Continue to cook and stir your onions in this way until they are a deep brown without actually burning, it takes between 2 1/2 and 3 hrs depending on the oven (Note: If you are pre-baking, let the onions cool and put the carmelized onions in the fridge until you actually want to put the soup together).

Once your onions are carmelized, put them on a medium burner on the stove top and allow them to build up a crust on the bottom of the pan (takes me 5-6 mins of stirring for this to happen without burning). De-glaze these good crusty bit by adding the wine and scraping at the bits gently with the back of a wooden spoon; they should come right off with the wine. Cook the wine down and get the brown onion crusty on the pan bottom again. This time de-glaze with water - about 1/2 cup. Perform the water deglaze another 2 times to really make sure you get the full flavor out of the onions.
Add the stock and thyme to the deglazed onions and let it come to a simmer over medium-low heat. Keep this low simmer for 20-30 minutes so that all of the flavors have an oppurtunity to meld. Taste for salt and flavor; add salt if needed. Remove from the heat.

Toast four slices of your favorite crusty bread. Ladle the soup evenly into heatproof crooks, lay the toast on top, and sprinkle 1/4 of the cheese over top. Broil the whole she-bang for 5-7 mins until the cheese is bubbly and crispy brown. Watch it like a hawk; everything burns crazy-fast under the broiler, and burnt cheese is just not as good as browned and bubbly cheese. Serve it with a spork. Enjoy it with the rest of that bottle of red wine you opened; by now it should be prefectly aerated :)

Simple Lentil Chili

2011-02-07T15:13:00.003-05:00

I've been posting a lot of heavy recipes recently: breads (like this one and this one), cream soups (like this one), and cookies. And I know that it doesn't make those New Year's Resolutions that everyone is still trying to hold onto any easier, especially now that their shininess has worn off (my New Year's resolution is to blog more, so far I have maintained my average of one post per week. Resolution fail). But this recipe should help to get you back on the "healthy eating" bandwagon with its lack of added fat, and if you make it with vegetarian stock, it's vegan!

I like cold weather because it leaves me with an urge for soups, stews, and chili (so. much. chili.) which is great, BF loves all of these things - for the most part they fill us up quite well and are inexpensive, not to mention perfect snuggle-up eats. Winter in New England always makes me wonder what it would be like to be a hermit permanantly; cozying up to my stove for the better part of the day and whiling away my evenings watching tv/playing video games with BF. Wouldn't that be the life? Instead, I work a day job and have to fight icy sidewalks when I walk to and from work every day hoping that today isn't going to be the day I have to walk to work in a blizzard (which has happened twice so far this winter). This chili is an ode to staying warm after walking in a snowstorm to get in the door and collapse relieved on the floor in a puddle of snow boots and wet coats. This is the reason I am excited to go home and eat.

There aren't any pictures for this post (not from lack of trying mind you). I've made this chili twice in the past two weeks and each time have been so excited about eating it I forgot to take pictures. So there you go. It's kind of unpretty colors anyway, so no loss! But it's delicious, hearty and warming without any of that eating-lots-of-butter guilt; also it's lentils so it's filling and fast!

Simple Lentil Chili
Adapted (pretty heavily) from the Whole Foods website
Note: The WF version of this soup is vegetarian and wonderfully healthy, but I thought it was pretty bland so I added a bunch of extra spices (see below). Also, if your stock is not homemade it may be pretty salty already so taste your chili before adding salt.

1 bag brown lentils (the dried ones that are in abundance at the supermarket)
1 onion, chopped medium-fine
1 sweet red pepper, chopped medium fine
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced (more if you like things garlic-y)
2 cans of diced tomatoes (I really like the fire-roasted ones!)
8 cups of broth or stock (I used chicken because I had it on hand, but whatever you have will work well)
2-3 Tbs Chili powder, to taste
1-2 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp worcestershire sauce (optional)
1/2 tsp salt, or more to taste or soy sauce (trust me)

Bring 1 cup of stock or broth to a boil over medium-high heat and add the onions and garlic. Cook them in the broth until the onions are translucent; about 3 minutes. Add the red pepper and cook it until tender, another minute or so. Add the cans of tomatoes, the rest of the broth, and the spices (chili powder, cumin, and worcestershire sauce) and bring the whole pot to a low boil (another 5-7 minutes), stirring occasionally so the vegetables don't stick. Once your broth has reached a steady boil, add the lentils, stir to incorporate, and cover the pot. Turn the heat down to medium low or low and simmer the whole thing, stirring about three times until the lentils are tender and plumped up (20-25 mins). Try the chili now; if it needs some salt add a couple dashes of soy sauce or 1/4 tsp of salt. If you need salt allow the soup to simmer for another 5-10 mins for the flavors to merge. If you didn't add salt take the chili off the heat. Serve this chili topped with great gobs of sour cream, a sprinkling of chopped cilantro (if you like it), and some grated cheddar cheese. It is happy in a bowl. Real life. Also, this dish is marvelously low-fat; well, that is, if you use low fat sour cream and cheese (though I never get low fat anything!).

Cheddar Broccoli Soup

2011-01-31T19:31:00.001-05:00

I love cheese. I love to eat anything with substantial amounts of cheese in it. This soup is no exception to that rule. It's like mac and cheese, but without any of that finicky mac in the way ;). As a child I remember being obsessed with the Cup-a-Soup Broccoli-Cheddar soup and at one point, within the past couple of years, I finally got to try it, to great dissatisfaction - this was one of the things I wanted out of this soup; that sense of perfect creamy-cheesy-perfection that comes with trying a cheese soup for the first time.

I recently talked about my current love of soups, stews, anything hearty I can cook in a pot and have excess leftovers from; this was one of those soups. It's rich and creamy in all the right ways. I made it when it was especially cold and icky outside, rainy and gross right at the end of November and BF loved it. It warmed and filled us up. It was rich and thick - a perfect accompaniment to Pie Pan Focaccia Bread.

When I ate this soup as a child, from that little foil lined Cup-a-Soup packet, I thought it would be impossible to make, but as I finally got around to reading a recipe (Cabot Coop twitter feed was great for inspiration), I realized just how simple it was. A roux, some milk, stock, broccoli and cheese and there was magic, in the form of broccoli cheddar soup. Bliss.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Adapted from Cabot Coop's Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Note: I recommend a sharp cheddar, but nothing that will overshadow the broccoli, or else the broccoli loses some of it's sweetness. Also, I'm sure you could use low fat milk here, I just don't because I prefer everything to threaten me with a coronary.

2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour
2 cups whole milk
2 cups shredded cheddar (I really like Cabot New York Style Sharp, a Monterey Jack is also very nice)
4 cups of stock (I used chicken, but vegetable is also delicious)
4 cups of broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan and add the flour (make a roux). Whisk the butter and flour together until they are fully blended (about 30 seconds). Gradually add the stock until it and the roux are fully combined; this should take a minute or two. Add the broccoli and the milk. Let the whole mixture come to a simmer and leave it there for 10-15 mins, until the broccoli is tender. Add the cheese and stir, letting it melt and thicken the soup. Using an immersion blender, regular blender, or food processor, puree one quarter of the soup (or more if you want it silky smooth and lush). Serve immediately with grated cheese sprinkled on top.

Pie Pan Focaccia Bread

2011-01-26T21:30:00.001-05:00

There's something satisfying about having a quick and delicious go-to bread in the house. This is mine. I like fresh warm bread, as a snack or an accompaniment to a meal. Warm and fresh bread is delicious. I don't make my own pizza dough for this as it's one of those things I typically make on a weeknight when I'm feeling lazy and a premade ball of pizza dough is one of those things I try to have on hand at all times. It's easy and totally delicious; sort of instant gratification food.

Everytime I make this it prompts BF to poke his head in the kitchen and sniff hopefully asking, "Focaccia?" I almost always answer in the affirmative. I am totally guilty of eating too much bread. I like it with pasta, soup, stew, quiche; in short everything. I think it's a quick way to bulk up a meal and still keep it delicious. Admittedly, I've been known to make this particular concoction on a weekend afternoon as a snack for watching a movie or just because I want something savory and what's around doesn't work for me.

This is a morph of the breadsticks my mom used to make when we were kids, which were always super crispy and delicious in a denuded pizza kind of way, but this is an entirely different creature. This focaccia grew up from breadsticks (which I almost always overcooked) and my Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza with its crispy and delicious bottom. This is decadent but so-so-so good. Swoon-worthy. I keep thinking that someday I will make something on here that takes less than a tablespoon of butter/oil, but what fun would that be? Eat this fresh from the oven and share it. It's simple and fast.

Pie Pan Focaccia Bread
Note: This is not a classic focaccia bread, with the cornmeal and flatness, it's pretty pouffy. But that's ok. Also it cuts well with kitchen shears if you have them.

1 pre-made pizza dough (I prefer to get it from Russos in Watertown)
2-3 Tbs fresh green scallion pieces, fresh basil bits, or sundried tomatoes (whatever you're in the mood for)
1 tsp coarse kosher salt (I use Diamond)
1 tsp garlic powder (alternatively use some fresh minced garlic, but the flavor will be harsher)
1 handful of shredded asiago/provolone/mozzeralla cheese
1-2 tbs olive oil

Preheat the oven to a searing hot 450 degrees farenheit. Pour the olive oil into a deep dish pie plate or round cake pan. Add the dough ball to this oil coated pan and cover all the dough with oil. Poke the dough all over so it looks dimpled consistently. Sprinkle salt, garlic powder, and scallion/basil/tomato on the dough. Cover with the shredded cheese and toss the whole thing in the oven for 15-20 mins until it's brown and the cheese is melted. If you are responsible you will wash the dishes now; if you are me you will probably be more likely to go play a round of Mario Kart or beat level 1-1 in Super Mario Bros 3. I have an inanimate love, its' name is Nintendo Wii. I can admit that with pride even. Is anyone else as stoked for PAX East as I am?

Cheddar-Scallion Drop Biscuits

2011-01-16T09:20:00.001-05:00

It's January and I'm in full hibernate mode with soups and stews overloading my stove and palette. I love them creamy, brothy, rich and thick; I'm there. One thing I love even more than a good soup is bread to go with it though (see here for an example). Last year, on an impulse, I bought the Cook's Illustrated Soups and Stews magazine and found this recipe for drop biscuits. Its simple, it's delicious and I am obsessed with these biscuits.

I love biscuits and have since I was a small child. Biscuits meant that there was soup or something delicious to eat, usually slathered in butter. Then I was obsessed with some Pillsbury ultra flaky ones that peeled apart into layers (which I may have loved simply by dint of the fact that they looked like pages stacked together and baked). But as I (and my palette) grew up and learned more about baking I grew away from the Pillsbury biscuits in a tube and started to look for a perfect biscuit recipe. My sister obsessively made some from The Joy of Cooking but I found them a bit dry and wasn't a fan. So I kept searching.

I got this issue of Cooks Illustrated for the ramen recipe (which I still haven't tried; I really need to get some good miso) but instead found this little gem regarding perfect drop biscuits. I tried it, thinking that at worst it would cost me some flour and buttermilk. These were perfect, flaky and chewy without being messy or crumby. These are flexible; I used them later to make shortcakes by adding some extra sugar and cinnamon and I almost always add a handful of good quality cheddar cheese and a few spices. I love a recipe that is flexible like this and will move to be whatever I want. Also there is none of that classic cutting butter in. An ingenious method involving melted butter and really cold butter milk makes really consistent butter chunks evenly distributed into a simple flour mixture.

Cheddar-Chive Drop Biscuits
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated: Soups & Stews

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup scallions, chopped finely
1/2 cup good quality cheddar cheese (I used Cabot)
1 cup buttermilk (straight from the fridge and v cold)
1 stick (8 Tbs) butter, melted and allowed to cool a little bit

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, baking soda, scallions, and cheese to a large bowl and whisk them until evenly mixed (5-6) stirs. In a separate bowl, or a 2 cup measuring cup, mix together the melted butter and buttermilk. It will look lumpy and it will not be pretty, that's ok. It will taste delicious. Add the butter/buttermilk to the dry ingredients and stir with a fork until just mixed, again 5-6 stirs. Scoop out the biscuits onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush some additional melted butter or some milk on top of the biscuits or sprinkle some extra cheese on there. Bake them for 10-12 mins. They will be a light golden brown and totally delicious. Enjoy these biscuits with whatever you want; I like mine at breakfast with an egg and some hollandaise or served with whatever soup I've made most recently. Perfect.

Baking Cookies for Swapping

2011-01-12T14:11:00.002-05:00

A note for all of you with those good health conscious January resolutions. I'm sorry. I try to avoid those resolutions. There's something about butter and sugar that makes my life need more of them. And these practically perfect cookies won't really help you stick to those resolutions at all. But they are delicious and so rich you can't really eat more than one or two of either. :)

I hosted a cookie swap in mid-December and in a terribly haphazard way forgot to put these recipes up for the greater blog-reading world (all of you fantastic readers) to make for yourselves... until now. These are both truly delicious cookies - decadent in all the right ways. But I'm a fan of chocolate, so I'm probably a little biased. Also BF goes over the moon every time I make these macaroons, to the point where he has started to learn the recipe so he can make them for himself when I'm not around. Love it!

Mountain Top Coconut Macaroons
I have no idea where this recipe came from but it's awesome. I dipped it in chocolate and it was better.

4 large egg whites
1 cup white sugar
dash of salt
3 cups shredded coconut (I try to use a mixture of half finely shredded and half coarse, but use what you've got on hand)
1/2 cup flour (I used cake flour because I had it but all-purpose is fine)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2-1 semi-sweet chocolate, melted
Finely shredded coconut, for sprinkling

In a stainless steel bowl over a pot of simmering water (or a double boiler if you're fancy like that), whisk together the egg whites, sugar and salt until they are warm to the touch and frothy/creamy. The sugar will be fully melted and everything should be a uniform white color. Remove from the heat. Add the vanilla, flour, and coconut and stir to combine; it will be sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for an hour or two until the mixture is firm.

Once your cookie dough is firm, preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets with parchment. These cookies are a little sticky and parchment can do double duty here to hold the cookies after they have been dipped in chocolate, so I strongly suggest that you use it.

Using a small cookie scoop (about 1 Tbs) scoop the cookies onto the parchment. They don't really expand, so they only need 1"-1 1/4" between the cookies; enough so that if they do spread they aren't stuck together. Bake them for 10-15 mins, until the tops are golden brown.

Allow the baked cookies to cool for about 15 mins so that they are cool to the touch and then dip the tops in the melted semi-sweet chocolate. Immediately sprinkle a few shreds of coconut on top of the chocolate and let them harden (20-30 mins). ENJOY!

Jackson Pollock Lace Florentines
Adapted from The Fannie Merritt Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook, circa 1959 (best one!)
My favorite part of these cookies is getting all Jackson Pollock with the chocolate. Spatter painting - it's for more than just canvas.

2 1/4 cups oatmeal, I use old fashioned oats and give them a pulse in my food processor
2 1/4 cup dark brown sugar (Fannie calls for light but I prefer the deep caramel tones of the dark)
3 Tbs flour (I think you could safely add oat or another kind of flour here; its mostly so the sugar has something to hold it together)
1 tsp salt
1 cup melted butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup melted semi-sweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, mix the brown sugar, oatmeal, salt, and flour together until evenly combined. Add the butter and stir to coat everything. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Drop in teaspoonfuls onto a parchment lined baking sheet at least two inches apart, these spread (a lot) so don't be stingy with space. Bake until lightly browned, about 7 mins. Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheet then move them to rack once they have set. Be careful, these cookies will burn you directly from the oven, complements of molten sugar.

Once the cookies are cool to the touch, crowd them onto a wide flat surface and go all Jackson Pollock on them with the melted chocolate; leave swirls (if you like fancy) or spatter paint them! It's up to you! Have fun! I love this part.

Eat them delicately. They will crumble and be luscious. They will melt in your mouth the way a good piece of caramel should, but they'll make you feel a little bit okay about it. After all, they are oatmeal cookies, right?

Bangin' Blueberry Pesto Chocolate Cupcakes

2010-12-29T23:21:00.005-05:00

At the beginning of December Local in Season tweeted about Pestos with Panache holding a recipe contest and I was intrigued. I quickly investigated and emailed /tweeted Lauren, the owner of the company, saying I would love to participate. She replied quickly and offered to send me a pesto of my choice for my recipe. I was delighted. Many of my blogger friends have been using the Pestos with Panache in their cooking recently and I had been dying to try it. Lauren shipped it out and I waited patiently for my Pesto to arrive. I chose the blueberry pesto, something I have a bit of an obsession with given my upbringing in blueberry fields, and while Lauren checked in with me everyday to see if I'd gotten my pesto, I started to get excited. What was I going to make with this pesto, something savory or sweet? Something classic, like a pesto cream sauce, or something brash and outlandish? I chose outlandish.

Maybe it was the blueberry balsamic vinegar sitting in my pantry calling out for usage, maybe it was me falling in love with these litte vegan (without the pesto) gems in October, maybe it was that first whiff of pesto as I unpacked it moments before I left to host the Boston Blogger Cookie Swap and I thought of chocolate and blueberry layered and married together, but I like to think it was all of these things at the same time. Blueberry is one of those flavors that makes me five again, running through a hot field to my mom and being reprimanded for wrecking the berries. I love the memories that I get from the blueberry flavor and the spiciness makes these worthy of mention. So here it is - my spin on an accidentally found (and promptly inhaled with non-vegan frosting) vegan chocolate cupcake.

Kathy's Bangin' Blueberry Pesto Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Note: These are adapted from a food.com recipe that I found. They are also the most wonderfully moist cupcakes I've ever eaten and so fast to make. It's a dream.

Cupcake Ingredients
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup oil (something with a neutral flavor, I use vegetable but any without a strong flavor will work)
1 cup water
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar (I use the Blueberry Balsamic from La Roux kitchens, thanks Sarah!)
2 Tbs Bangin' Blueberry Pesto, from Pestos with Panache

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit. Add all of the dry ingredients to a medium sized bowl and mix them until the cocoa is distributed evenly. In a two cup measure, combine the water, oil, vinegar and pesto. Stir until the pesto is broken up and even (it'll look a little like a vinaigrette). Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix until everything is evenly mixed and smooth; 20 or so stirs by hand is good. You should be able to hear the vinegar and baking soda sizzle a little bit. Separate the cupcake batter evenly into a 12 cup cupcake pan; I used some super adorable silicone bug cupcake liners I got for Christmas (Thanks Mandi!), and bake for 15 to 20 minutes (about one short chapter in Harry Potter, if you read like me); they'll bounce back to the touch or an inserted toothpick will come out clean when they're fully cooked.

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
1 8oz block of cream cheese, softened
6 Tbs unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 cups powdered sugar

Mix the butter and cream cheese until fully combined and fluffy. Add the salt and stir to incorporate. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and stir to fully combined. Gradually 1/4 - 1/2 cup at a time, continually adding powdered sugar until the frosting is the consistency and taste that you desire (I don't like my frosting terribly sweet so I usually err on the less sugar side of things). Smear large dallops of frosting on your chosen receptacle, spoon, cupcake, spoon, spork, pancake, spoon, fork... (Umm, yeah - Hi my name is Kathy and I have a cream cheese frosting addiction). Eat it messily. Maybe like BF. [Editor's Note: The young unshaven gentleman in question was so enamored by the delicious cupcake, that he attempted to eat it in a single, high-velocity bite.]

Blogger Cookie Swap

2010-12-25T11:10:00.001-05:00

I can't believe it's Christmas already. BF and I have spent about 12 hours in cars over the past few days and now that we are finally in Syracuse, NY we are relieved. We spent all last week in a whirlwind of events, shopping, baking, and generally making our last week at home seem like a blur. We started the week off on Sunday afternoon in Harvard Sq overwhelmed by the choices and fine tuning that Christmas gifts for our immediate family entailed. And those sneaky secret Santa gifts for the rest of the family - those were absolutely terrible as well but for different reasons, challenging to pick out when you only see someone once a year. When we did eventually emerge from Harvard Square empty handed and irritated with each other we realized the Christmas tree was crooked, and proceeded to enact a scene from the Christmas Story while trying to fix it.

Monday and Tuesday were quiet in comparison to the rest of the week, hanging out at home inert watching movies and generally chilling. But then it was Wednesday, there was a cookie swap (hosted by myself) coming up and I had no cookies yet. I panicked and made an excess (6 dozen, give or take 2), Jackson Pollock Florentines and Mountain Top Coconut Macaroons (recipes forthcoming I forgot the hard copies on vacation :0), they were delicious, I also used this opportunity to dip peanut butter balls in chocolate (since I wasn't cooking enough that evening as it was - ha-ha).

Thursday was the grand adventure however - the Boston Blogger Cookie Swap! This was my first ever cookie swap and it was awesome. I started the evening by packing up my car with all the things I was bringing (plates, napkins, index cards for cookie id, Sharpies et c.) and then driving into Harvard to meet the lovely Elizabeth and then head to Whole Foods, who had kindly offered their community room as a space for us to use (Thanks, David!). We arrived at WF to see Lara waiting patiently for us with a bag of cookies and her phone out, tweeting (Yay, Boston bloggers who tweet!). We went in and I set up. As more bloggers trickled in cookies started to appear making us all hungry and eager for delicious. Mmmm Cookies.

We all sampled everything and decided our favorite was Lara's Oatmeal Brown Sugar all the way (a cookie I wouldn't feel guilty eating for breakfast!). It was so much fun to sample all of the cookies and then bring them home! I loved attending, and hosting, the cookie swap and I am hoping to make this a Boston Blogger tradition in the coming years. How else are you able to try such awesome cookies without making them? All of the cookies were truly delicious too, trying to choose a favorite wasn't easy there were Egg-nog cookies (Thanks Poor-Girl Gourmet!), Coconut Snowballs, Chestnut Cookies, meringues, biscotti, and so many more! A huge thanks to all the bloggers who participated in the Swap it was super fun to get to hang with you all one on one in a less hectic setting!

Thanks also goes out to my Big sister who came and acted as designated photographer, so I was able to have photos while still being social. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and eats some magnificent cookies (try these salted caramel thumbprints, they are awesome! Tania made them for the swap)!

Christmas Traditions and Peanut Butter Balls

2010-12-16T09:23:00.000-05:00

I know it's almost Christmas when I am checking the weather every hour hoping for snow and I start the annual plea for a Christmas tree with BF. Fall has officially gone the way of the dodo bird for this year and the blustery streets of the financial district are making me wish for those hot humid days of this past summer.

Christmas is also a good excuse to cook, and I cook everything, well it feels like it. Growing up we used to have what was called a "dipping party" at a friend's house. There was a big group of local women who hand made, rolled, and dipped roughly 1500 chocolates to give away for the holidays. My mom, my sister and I always went - I hung out with friends and avoided the dipping of chocolates, my sister was meticulous, and all of the adults laughed alot and drank a bit. It was always a lovely evening this one night that really set Christmas off, it was usually the last day of school before the holidays and all of us kids were far too rambunctious so we were bundled and sent outside to play in the snow, it was delightful and almost always ended in tears (mine, mostly).

But I still remember the chocolates, I remember coming back inside tearstreaked and cold to the warmth of the kitchen and the smell of melted semi sweet chocolate and paraffin wax and knowing that everything would be alright. I would then grab a freshly dipped candy with chocolate still melty and pop it in my mouth before a parent saw, they always did. Those chocolates were the best too- Peanut Butter balls, Needhams, Rum Balls, peppermint patties, they were Christmas in a coat of chocolate. As I licked the melted chocolate off my fingers I always grabbed an undipped candy and went back outside; renewed and fortified to be picked on by my older sister and her friends.

These Peanut Butter balls are Christmas to me in the way very few things are. With one bite of these little gems I feel like I'm in a time warp and I'm 11 again, the youngest of five kids trying to all fit on one long tobaggan and falling off because I was made to sit on the back. We weren't really a family of holiday tradtions, sure we put up a christmas tree and trimmed it; me demanding that my ornament (this really terrible thing covered in pink and opalescent netting) be on the highest branch it could be. But this candy is what makes it for me. The smooth Peanut Butter center, if you make it with crunchy peanut butter it isn't christmas - it's just candy, enrobed in the rich semi-sweet chocolate. But it's not just the flavor and texture of the candy it's the process, watching Christmas movies and rolling Peanut butter balls or dipping the chocolates and leaving drops on the kitchen floor. It's messy and it's totally wonderful.

Peanut Butter Balls
Note: When I made these I was actually short about 3/4 of a cup of Peanut Butter so I subbed in some Hazelnut Cream (like Nutella but no chocolate) and they are fantastic. I also went a little bit lighter on the Conf sugar (I said it was for sweetness but more accurately they were dry and sweet enough already).
This recipe halves very easily so have at it (pun intentional). Otherwise plan to give these away as gifts, makes about 10 doz.

1 Cup (2 sticks) soft butter, (very soft butter like you can whip it into delicious peaks soft)
4 Cups smooth Peanut Butter, In my most recent batch I added 1/2 cup of organic PB which gave great texture to the PB Balls
2 Tsp Vanilla
1/2 Tsp salt (less if your butter is salted)
3-4 Cups of Conf sugar
1 12-oz bag Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (I get the Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa)
2-3 shavings of food grade paraffin wax

Cream together the peanut butter and the butter until everything is even and smooth, I find that you will get a few chunks if you heat it a little bit (about 20 secs) everything will soften and you'll have a much easier time of mixing it. Add 3 cups of confectioners sugar and mix in completely, if your dough is crumbly (and it will be) it's ok add up to 1 cup more conf sugar depending on how sweet you want your PB Balls to be (I like 3 1/2 cups). Add the vanilla to the crumby conf sugar, pb and butter mixture and knead it a little bit. Your hands will be covered in the mix but it will all sort of magically come together (this can be done with a dough hook as well but try not to use the flat paddle as it will over-aerate things). Stick this pb dough in the fridge to firm up. After 3-5 hours in the fridge your dough should be firm. Using a teaspoon scoop out bits of dough and roll them into balls (I suggest a line up of Christmas movies to watch, my favorites were always the stop-motion Rudolph the Reed Nosed Reindeer and A Walt Disney Christmas) . If you want yours to be larger then do them larger (a small cookie scoop works well), I like them as single bite snacks. Put the balls back into the fridge once they have been shaped and leave them to sit overnight or for at least 4 hrs.

In a double boiler (I use a ceramic bowl set over a pan of water) melt the chocolate and the paraffin until it is smooth, takes about 5 minutes. The chocolate will run off the spoon in a steady stream when it's ready and will look a little bit thin. Dip your cold PB balls into the melted chocolate using either a toothpick in the top of a fork (I've recently been of the fork mindset, it's better for the environment and its less work), shake them briefly (to remove excess chocolate) and then put them on waxed paper in a cool place to harden (takes about an hour). And eat them. Like popcorn. For three days. Then give the rest away as you realize you have eaten 5 doz peanut butter balls and there's still 5 doz more left. Nom.

Blogger Events and a Cookie Swap!

2010-12-11T10:02:00.003-05:00

This past week has been a little crazy but worth it. Monday and Tuesday were busy with work and Wednesday/Thursday were busy with Bloggers!

On Wednesday I went to this little shindig (these photos are not mine, I forgot my camera - Bad Blogger, I know! Brian of A Thought for Food took these) over at Whole Foods on River Street, where they introduced us to the WF version of three buck chuck, a delightful wine called Three Wishes set to release very soon, a wonderful warming winter brew made by Cisco Breweries in Nantucket called Santa's Beered, and an absolutely stunning Red made in Spain with a delightful back story. And let's not forget the cheese! The specialty department member, Sean, who was sitting at the cheese table, was helpful and offering up delicious ways to both serve and prepare goat cheese. There was a Peppadew spread that I literally wanted a spoon for. A huge thanks to David over at Whole Foods on River Street for organizing and inviting me to come. It was totally delicious and I had a wonderful time! Also thanks go to Megan for giving me a ride to the event! So exciting to finally meet you, Brian, Tania, Meghan, Athena and so many others that evening! And to catch up with Robin, Liz, and Daisy!

On Thursday, I went to yet another Blogger event, this time it was at Clover Food Labs in Harvard Square. A big Christmas tree surrounded by trains welcomed us as we all trickled in for a cookie tasting! The Chief Cookie Girl (and President), Carol, of Geoff and Drew's, had kindly offered to give all of us local bloggers the special treat of a divine sample of their decadent (and local!) cookies. These cookies were fantastic. Let me tell you.

A little backstory: Liz of Free Food Boston got a chance to go and visit the Geoff and Drew's factory back in November and shortly afterward emailed a bunch of us local bloggers offering the wonderful opportunity to try some of their product. And ten of us were very enthusiastic to go and eat cookies, but honestly who isn't? These cookies were delicious. I was especially in love with the Oatmeal Cranberry which was a perfect texture and had some lovely warming spiciness, which is saying something as I am usually not an oatmeal cookie fan at all!

Geoff and Drew's started as a late night warm cookie delivery service in Brighton (Wouldn't that be the best? They would get most of my paycheck, for serious). And grew into what they are today, a world-class cookie ordering and packaging enterprise, full of cool features like cookie wedding cakes and some other really awesome stuff! In need of a quirky holiday gift and can't think of anything for that person with a sweet tooth? How about Santa's Shorts stuffed to the gills with cookies! And I can even offer you a 20% discount on these little snacks if you use the coupon code: BLOG20. For serious people, try them. They are truly (and deliciously) homemade.

There were ten of us and I think we ate 20 or 25 cookies before most had had dinner. I'm just saying these were delicious. WORTH IT. Thanks to Liz, Geoff and Drew's, Carol, and Clover these cookies were well fantastic! Also it was great to finally meet, Fiona and Katie (even though we had met on the T on Tuesday which was AWESOME! She also just celebrated her first Blogaversary so go over there and give her some love!). And to see Liz, Rachel, Meghan, Megan, Daisy, and Jen again!

Bloggers: I am hosting a Cookie Swap at the Whole Foods on River street next Thursday the 16th. Swapping to actually start at 6:30. It'll be awesome. Email me if you want in or I never received a confirmation from you! It's going to be AWESOME. I swear.

Tide Mill Whole Chicken Soup

2010-12-06T18:01:00.002-05:00

In my previous post, I mentioned my nasty-all-consming-really-gross head cold. Honestly, it was just a cold, but I'm kind of whiny and the thing that I love most when I'm sick is soup, so I made some. Chicken soup to be precise, with one small whole chicken from Tide Mill Organic Farm! This was, by far, the best chicken soup I've ever eaten. [Editor's Note: Agreed] And while, yes, it made my entire apartment smell divine, it also just hit the spot and made me feel better when I felt awful.

On my afternoon of staying home from work sick, I remembered a 2.5lb chicken in my freezer and the need to get it out of there (a very good choice on my part as the 2.5lb chicken was replaced by a 15.5lb turkey after Thanksgiving). I pulled the chicken out and rifled around in the fridge, emerging victorious with parsnips, leeks, celery and carrots. Such fortuitous finds (I hadn't been to the grocery store in a bit; that I had any veggies in the fridge that were still good was a surprise!).

I threw my whole (frozen) chicken, 2 of the leeks cut into 4 inch lengths and rinsed, half stalks of celery, 3 crushed and peeled garlic cloves, split parsnips and lengths of carrot all into my trusty 6 qt Le Creuset Stock pot (I love this pot, BTW), covered the whole thing with water, and walked away. In about half an hour, my apartment started to smell divine, even through my stuffed-up nose; I couldn't wait for the soup to finish. So here it is, a basic and delicious chicken soup. And it will make you feel better if you aren't feeling well. I swear.

Kathy's Homemade Whole Chicken Soup
Note: I didn't add any starch to this soup with it's initial making, but the second night I added rice and it was wonderful, so maybe try that if you want it to be more substantial and less brothy! Alternatively, you can use premade broth and poach a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts in it, then shred them to get the soup without the homemade stock.

For Soup Broth
1 small whole chicken (2-3lbs)
3 whole leeks rinsed and green ends trimmed, cut into 3 inch lengths
2 parsnips, ends cut off and cut into 3 inch lengths
3 cloves whole garlic smashed with a knife
2 whole carrots, ends trimmed and cut into 3 inch lengths
2-3 stalks celery, rinsed and cut into 3 inch lengths
water to cover (4 cups)

Add the chicken (sans gizzards) and all of your vegetables to a stock pot and cover in water. Turn your burner on low-med and let the whole thing simmer for 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Everything will smell amazing. Remove the chicken from the broth to a cutting board to sit for a minute and cool. Strain the broth from your pot into a bowl reserving both the liquid and the strained out solids, I love a metal mesh strainer for this, it can handle the heat and is super cheap! Return your solids to the pot you initially had them in, leaving the broth in a clean pot. Skin your chicken and remove whatever meat you want from the bird. Add the skin and chicken carcass to the pot you put the strained out vegetable solids in, cover this with more water and let it come to another simmer. You can reserve this broth for another soup later, or freeze it; it's pretty great for that.

For the Soup
Meat from 1 small chicken, shredded or 2 chicken breasts (3 thighs) poached in broth and shredded
4 cups of broth
1/2 red pepper cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 green pepper cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup celery, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2-3 carrots cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 leek, rinsed/cleaned and cut into 1/2 rounds
2 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
1/2 cup rice or egg noodles (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, sauté the leeks, onions and garlic over medium heat until fragrant and soft (3-4 minutes). Add the celery and carrots and sauté until soft (another 3-4 minutes). Add the peppers and stir until soft (1-2 minutes). Add the broth and chicken and let the whole thing come up to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste and lower the heat to low and continue to simmer for another 15-20 minutes. If you are adding the rice/noodles, do that now and let them cook through. Serve this soup with a pat of butter on top and a big spoon. It's comforting and delicious for the cold and flu season; bring it to someone that's sick. They'll appreciate it. I swear.

A Visit to Tide Mill

2010-11-30T22:55:00.002-05:00

I've been a bit MIA for the past couple of weeks, and I am truly sorry about that. From an incredibly nasty cold and what seemed like a birthday every other day (okay not every other day, but it felt like it; I've celebrated 5 birthdays this month), to the Thanksgiving holiday, I've barely had time to check my email, let alone check in here. But here I am, finally, after the madness and driving that going home for the holidays entails. There was little traffic and there was still Maine and my parents house that sits just inland enough to be warm and not too windy. And there was a farm. Tide Mill Organic Farm to be specific.

Tide Mill Farm is a wonderful place where they go carol to the cows and host an autumn ball. My mom has been working at Tide Mill for about three years now and always comes home with stories; a chicken with a crooked beak that was terribly friendly (they named him Crooked Beak and hand fed him) or having "tea-time" to break up one of the long turkey slaughter days. My mom only helped with turkey slaughter this fall, but was there this past spring for a lot of the chicken slaughter, helping with seedlings, and to see newborn piglets.

Tide Mill Organic Farm has been run by the Bell Family for nine generations in Edmunds, Maine. The sixteen-hundred acre farm property sits right on the coast and makes me jealous of the views that the cows get from their pasture.

My mom and I drove the three miles over to Tide Mill on Thanksgiving morning to meet Hailey, the oldest of Carly and Aaron's children (she's ten) making ice cream while Carly was putting her turkey in the oven. Carly and I chatted for a bit while my mom and Henry (the youngest at five years old) churned the ice cream and Paige (eight) bounced around creating a face on a red cabbage.

Then my mom brought me around the farm a bit. I met Llary the Llama,

many adorable piglets covered in spots,

and calves of all ages, from newborns (one to three weeks old and soso soft)

to some that were three months old!

They were all so cute, I couldn't stop taking their pictures!

Tide Mill Organic Farm is a working farm that has been nationally recognized as a Bicentennial Farm. They are also a presence at the Common Ground Country Fair that is hosted in Unity, Maine every year. Tide Mill Farm also provides produce, and coordinates local items from COMOC (Crown of Maine Organic Cooperative), Gardenside Dairy, and Jessica Zanoni's dairy products, etc. for the local co-ops in the area (which includes Calais, Lubec, and Machias) and their products can be found weekly in health-minded stores from Belfast to Bar Harbor and Calais. They are a great farm and a great presence in Washington County, teaching locals about local farming and sustainability.

Tide Mill farm raises their own pigs, cows, chickens, and turkeys. The farm also grows crops, hosts a small farm stand on Saturdays in the summer, and sells seedlings at the Whiting Village store at the end of May. They sell raw organic milk on the farm and you can buy their milk pasteurized in Maine as part of the Maine's Own Organic Milk (MOOMilk) project. Also if you are in need of a wreath for your holiday season, why not check theirs out? If you want to learn more about them, check out the website and email them, they're always willing to answer questions and want to help you learn more about what they do!

A huge thanks to Carly, Aaron, and the rest of the Bell family for letting me come wander and also to my mom for acting as tour guide! It was great to meet the calves, piglets, and Llary; and even better to use the produce in some of our Thanksgiving dishes! I can't wait to come back next summer and see everything alive and green!

(Bell family photo courtesy of Tide Mill Organic Farm's own site)

Blogger Brunch At East Coast Grill

2010-11-16T12:22:00.003-05:00

On Sunday morning, in lieu of nursing the tail end of a cold, I went to Blogger Brunch. Frankly, this was a great decision! Everything at this particular Blogger Brunch had wonderful spice. Also, I got to spend some time with and meet some fantastic people: Robin of Doves and Figs, Karen of Gourmet Recipes for 1, and Elizabeth of Free Food Boston just to name a few! BF and I arrived late to the brunch, so we missed the first round of appetizers (I was way looking forward to that banana-guava ketchup!) But managed to get the second and third rounds which included a Banana Rellena (Muy Caliente!), a Smoked Pork Stuffed Banana with Inner Beauty Hot Sauce:

And wonderful Monterey Jack Grits with molasses-glazed Grilled Banana, Pinapple, Jalapenos, Toasted Pecans and Crispy Smoked Bacon:

Boyfriend and I were both hopelessly in love with these grits and left stating that we would order them as full meals with a poached egg in the future. They were perfect, though neither of us has really had grits [Editor's note: I have too had them before! In the South even!], so we aren't true judges of southern cuisine but these were heaven and with a piece of the pineapple, it was love in your mouth.

Then came the entrees:

I got a Breakfast platter "In the Style of the Yucatan" which was cheesy Scrambled eggs, Black Beans n' Rice, Mango-Avacado-Hearts of Palm Salad, Sweet Fried Plaintains, Salsa Roja and a warm Flour Tortilla. I loved the salad and the Plaintains, but my eggs were a little bit dry.

BF got Cornbread Crusted French Toast With Orange Marmalade, Tropical Fruit and Real Vermont Maple Syrup. Two thumbs way up to ECG for the real syrup here, you just showed a couple of New England kids that we can have real syrup if we just look hard enough. Also the French Toast was delicious (I stole some!).

A big thank you goes out to our servers Robin and Arthur who were accomodating and delightful throughout the whole adventure. You were patient with 20+ foodies who had questions and wanted to photograph everything; Kudos! Also a huge and grateful shout out to Renee who orchestrated this whole event, you are awesome! If you haven't seen her blog yet, go check it out! This was a great Boston Foodie Outing and I can't wait to attend some more of them!

Weekend of eating out (Part 2)

2010-11-15T12:20:00.001-05:00

After my indulgent and delicious dinner at Dali, my weekend of eating out continued with an adventure to New Hampshire to meet up with BF's family for lunch and geocaching in Plymouth, NH. I had started to come down with a cold the night before and throughout the whole meal I just wanted to be in bed. I ate about 4 bites of the whole meal, being careful the whole time to not actually touch anything that was in a communal dish or plate.

I've eaten at the Common Man restaurants fairly often while I've been with BF; his mom tends to thoroughly enjoy the food at their restaurants and they consistently have wonderful service. Saturday's lunch was no exception. We met up in the parking lot of The Common Man Inn and Spa and went inside to a funky dining room full of rustic charm and a truly awesome chandelier.

There was a large block of cheddar cheese and a basket of crackers as soon as we walked in the door. We were seated immediately and the server took our drink orders with a smile and recommendations. I got hot cider to soothe my sore throat and BF's mom ordered the Carrot Cake - a mix of cider and caramel vodka amongst other things. The hot cider was delicious, perfectly spiced, and felt fantastic on my raw throat.

Next came the appetizers: Poutine made with Gouda was the star of the show.

Mussels simmered in a white wine sauce were a little overcooked but the sauce was creamy and rich - perfect for bread dipping.

As for main dishes, BF ordered the Sugar Shack burger - which he described as anti-climactic (I trust his judgement; he is my resident burger aficionado).

I ordered the Chicken Melt - also anticlimactic and terribly dry.

Next time: I'll stick to the mixed drinks and toddies; they were delicious. And I've never had a bad dinner meal at their locations, but maybe skip the lighter lunch fair.

Dinner at Dali

2010-11-14T16:21:00.003-05:00

On Friday night Boyfriend and I (finally) went out or our anniversary. We've been together for 6 years and have marked every year that passes with another awesome meal to celebrate us. This was a tradition I started in our first year when we were both broke and I threw us a picnic on my dorm room floor; cheese, sparkling cider, and grapes. It wasn't fancy, but it was delicious. After that, it was The Boiler Room - a small place near our school that specialized in gourmet "American" cuisine (which sadly, is now closed). But then we moved to Boston and its suburbs where there were more options and the food was even better. Last year we went to the Soiree Room at Upstairs on the Square, where I ate a perfect amuse-bouche of stuffed brussel sprouts while our attentive server helped us choose a perfect wine to pair with our meals. This year BF took the reins and chose our anniversary dinner dining destination, and he made a very good choice. He chose Dali - a place full of just my kind of whimsy; there was something to scope out everywhere you looked. From the ridiculous smiling boar to the tiles in the table, I was caught in the feel of the place.

In our slightly cramped quarters (the hostess sat us beside a large family which could have been easily averted as there were many other open tables at the time) we started the evening off by ordering a liter of the house Sangria which was delicious and made for a wonderful companion drink for the whole meal. Our server was charming - answering questions and helping us with pronunciation when we faltered with the Spanish words. Even though we were sometimes left wanting (they didn't give us a wine list when we were seated) he came back to the table with a smile and help as often as possible.

We started our meal off with the Plato Mixto, a large plate of Serrano ham, manchego cheese, olives and roasted red peppers. This was delightful and a perfect opening to what soon became a delightful and languid meal. Our second plate was the Alcachofas Rellenas, mushroom stuffed artichokes, which were good but next time I may try something different (I could taste that the artichokes were canned and the tinny taste was distracting). The mushroom cream sauce was delicious and I wanted that as a dip for my bread. Our second dish was the Butifarras con Brevas - Pork Sausage and Figs. The fig sauce for this was especially delicious and I found myself taking small bites of the sausage just so I could dip them in the sauce more than once!

Dish number three was Patatas Bravas which were absolutely wonderful! The crispy potato and spicy tomato sauce topped with a creamy alioli made me giddy with happiness, though I do love a fried potato so I may be a touch biased. Our final plate was pato braseado - which was made from locally sourced duckling in an absolutely stunning mixed berry sauce; I was full yet still kept reaching for more of that sauce.

Next time: I will call ahead; apparently they don't take reservations but have "preferred" seating if you call ahead. [Editor's note: Reservations over phone only before 6 pm, "preferred" seating after 6pm if you sign up at the restaurant in person. Call ahead for full details.] I will definitely order the Sangria, it was delicious. I will order that duck again, twice. And I will take my time. Which was possibly my favorite part of the whole experience; I didn't feel rushed at all, I was at a table-for-two for an hour and a half and I didn't feel hurried, which left me in a good mood. Even though there was a family beside me and the hostess forgot the wine list, my gripes were small in comparison to the leisure the dinner gave me.

Sunshine Squash Butter

2010-11-11T11:01:00.002-05:00

I love winter squash. I love all of it. And I love all the different ways you can eat it - baked, mashed, soup-ed, stuffed, and pureed into a thick and luscious spread known as Pumpkin Butter. I know that Sunshine Squash isn't a pumpkin at all, but it is a winter squash and pumpkins are winter squash. Also people tend to know what something will taste like a little more if you say you made "pumpkin butter", as opposed to "winter squash butter". (Author's Note: I was going to put an image of Winter Squash here but I didn't like any of them, so here is Boyfriend's Hallowe'en pumpkin instead)

I am a stress cook; well, sometimes I'm a stress cook. I made this batch of [insert something cozy and sweet here] butter after a spectacularly bad day at work. I was cooking to relax - chopping, peeling... it was soothing and exactly what I needed to do the evening I made this butter. I also tackled granola and creme brulee that night. The granola rocked but I overcooked the creme brulee (curses!). I also don't have a stellar amount of pictures here, because the actual night that I made the butter, I wasn't photo-ing, just cooking to cook,which is something I simultaneously like and don't like. I need to form good cooking habits right now, with the top two being a) dishes while I cook, because they are always so sucky after and b) take pictures throughout, from start (raw ingredients) to finished product and serving. These are both fairly tricky for me because I'm kind of lazy and messy. I tend to get my hands covered in flour/butter/squash; then I don't want to touch my camera. Anyone know a helpful person willing to come take pics while I cook free-of-charge?

Anyway - the pumpkin butter was delicious and hit the spot on that night, when I needed something warm and sweet to offset the bitter taste of my work day.

Winter Squash Butter
Note: I made this with a Sunshine Squash because it's what I had on hand, but any flavorful winter squash will do; Kabocha or Sugar Pumpkin would undoubtedly be lovely. Also, the spices are in portions I like. If you want your butter to be more like pumpkin pie, add more clove and less cinnamon. Also, you can just throw in some pumpkin pie spice in place of all the spices; just remember to punch it up with some extra cinnamon.

1 medium winter squash- cored, peeled, and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
Apple Cider- get it as local and as fresh as possible, about 2 cups
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 cup dark amber Maple Syrup. Again local is better and if you can't get real maple syrup, use 1/4 cup molasses

In a deep pot (or a dutch oven if you are lucky enough to have one) put the squash and just enough cider to come up to but not cover it. Bring it to a simmer and cook until soft and falling apart (15-20 mins). Remove the pot from the heat. If you have an immersion/stick blender, use it to puree the squash apple mixture until it is smooth with no lumps. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a regular stand blender or a food processor; just do it in batches again until it's smooth and even. Return the squash puree to the heat and add the spices and syrup. Stir everything well and bring it to a simmer. Simmer the pot, uncovered if you dare (it gloops and splatters) for about twenty minutes. The mixture will start to thicken and be spreadable when it's ready. And you're done. Serve it while warm on vanilla ice cream or cold on yogurt. This is wonderful as a spread for breads too. Basically I love it, ALL THE TIME. Actually I'm going to have some... right now. Ta-Ta!

Warm Quinoa Salad

2010-10-30T14:27:00.004-04:00

With Boston's recent spate of July in October I wanted salad for dinner. Simple right? But I am forever getting salad ingredients and not using them, so there are frequently no basics, like lettuce, in my house. Ever. I'm just not that kind of salad girl. I'm much more a fan of a nice pasta salad covered in vinaigrette or German potato salad. But I didn't want either of those things and the ingredient on everyone's lips (well blogs) recently has been quinoa.

I get that quinoa is a delicious grain, I even get that it is very helpful, full of nutritional value and makes everything taste wonderfully nutty, but the thing about quinoa is, my mom. My mom went through a phase when I was younger where she was obsessed with those little curly grains - they were in everything, sautees, soups, salads, even granola (which I now realize was fantastically delicious). I grew to hate it. I loathed it on principle the way a sullen teenager will; it's sort of funny to me now to think about it. I started to hide the quinoa so she couldn't use it; I was terrible. Then I graduated, and she discovered more grains; sesame seeds and flax among them.

It has taken me a long time but I've finally come back around to the idea of quinoa in my cooking. For me it started with this post on quinoa salad from Michelle over at Fun and Fearless in Beantown, and most recently, from this post, by the lovely ladies over at We Are Not Martha. Both of these salads were cold salads cooked and left to cool before eating, but I wanted mine to be warm. I also wanted it to remind me that it was fall and local fall produce was still kicking around and ripe for use; apples, carrots, winter squash. I had a plan and I was excited.

So, on my way home from work on Tuesday, I stopped at the Dewey square farmers market looking for three things: winter squash (Boyfriend actually put the kibosh on the winter squash though; apparently I've been making us live on it... which may be a bit true), sweet bell peppers, and onions. So I wandered a bit in the sunshine and wind, grabbed a bunch of scallions and found PURPLE BELL PEPPERS! I got two for my salad, thinking that the color would be a lovely addition to the orange carrots and green scallions. I was set. I grabbed a train to Alewife and excitedly oggled my farmer's market purchases.

Warm Quinoa Salad
Note: This is all mine. I wasn't expecting it to be, but it is; so much a kitchen sink recipe, that it was great and delicious. This salad can be made vegeatrien by skipping the chicken and cooking your quinoa in vegetable stock or water (I'm pretty sure this is also very good).

1 cup quinoa, uncooked
2 chicken thighs, boned and skinned
2 cups carrots, apples, winter squash, beets (hard roast-able veggies)
2 cups green beans, ends trimmed and blanched
2-3 scallions, the green part only, chopped
3 1/2 cups of water
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped into medium-small pieces
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbs olive oil
Cranberry Wensleydale, chopped (optional but delicious)
Dried cranberries (again, optional but delicious)

Chop all of your roasting vegetables into 1/2 inch pieces, put them in a lightly greased baking dish and roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until tender. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring the water, chicken thighs, and garlic to a simmer. Poach the thighs until they are fully cooked. Reserve the poaching liquid and chop the chicken into chunks; toss it into your main salad bowl. Blanch your green beans and toss them in with the chicken. Check the poaching liquid for the chicken - if it is 3 cups you are good to go. If not, bring the liquid up to three cups. Bring this to a boil and add the quinoa, simmer 15 mins over medium heat, and drain. Add the quinoa to the chicken and green beans. Pull your vegetables out of the oven; are they done? Good. Add those too, and give the whole thing a good toss. Add the dried cranberries (if you're using them) and the scallions. Let it sit for a minute. Combine the olive oil and vinegar in a lidded jar and give it a good shake (I've actually started to use a milk frother for combining vinaigrettes; it's awesome). Toss the whole salad with the vinaigrette dressing and serve while it's still warm. Sprinkle the cranberry Wensleydale over the top and serve in big bowls with bread, if you're into that. The Wensleydale will melt ever so slightly while you eat, and will add just the right texture consistency to make the whole thing sing. I bet goat cheese could do the same thing. Let me know if you try it! Eat the salad while watching a Gossip Girl marathon with girlfriends and being appalled at some of this season's clothing; seriously, when did the 80's decide to throw-up on Serena?

Goat Cheese Pizza

2010-10-27T19:24:00.001-04:00

I love pizza. It's always delicious and it's always in season. Pizza is one of those foods that I think of when I need comfort food - cheese pizza to be precise. I know that I posted Deep Dish Pizza here a while ago but this isn't that - this is classic thin crust eat half of it and feel a little bit sick pizza. I made this with the intention of not blogging it, so there aren't too many photos but it doesn't matter. It was divine pizza. Promises.

I made this pizza originally when I (to my great surprise) found goat cheese logs for $5 each at the local markets in Watertown - seriously if you haven't been to Arax Market on Mt. Auburn St go (now if at all possible, I can wait). I snagged one and then sat, stumped, trying to figure out what to do with 10 oz of goat cheese. I could bake it with some swiss and cream but I needed more, I needed to take advantage of the flavor and texture, i needed the tang of goat cheese to hold up on it's own. Probably with something sweet to balance it. And, perfection! I found pizza dough and a great and simple pizza (possibly closer to the French Flammenkuche) showed up in my kitchen.

Boyfriend loves his pizzas white, at least when I make them from scratch for him; he loves Olive Oil, Olives, Spinach, Basil, and the occasional sprinkle of sun-dried tomatoes; he's easy. But I like a lot of varied things on my pizza and his is typically a tad dry for me - if nothing else I need cheese, because isn't it just foccaccia bread without cheese? So here was my idea - use the cheese as a sauce! With the spread-ability of a slightly warmed goat cheese, I was hooked. As I rifled through my cupboards and fridge, I came up with one smallish red onion, a little bit of broccoli, a roasted red pepper, and prosciutto. And there it was.

Ahh, the glory of pizza! I love to make pizza because I can plan for it and make something decadent, or I can make it on the fly with whatever's in my kitchen/pantry; just now I was thinking that this would be fantastic with some peaches, added a-la-that-peach-sandwich that Katie over at The Small Boston Kitchen made, or figs, if you've got those. Though I may just go make it for myself with some apples, pancetta, and winter squash; because, well, yum.

Goat Cheese Pizza
1 pizza dough, pre-made is fine, but get a ball of dough and stretch it yourself
4 oz goat cheese, warmed slightly
1/2 roasted red pepper, diced to 1 inch pieces
1 small head of broccoli, separated into small florets
1 small red onion, sliced
2-3 slices prosciutto, chopped into 1 inch pieces
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, preferably with a pizza stone inside it. Heat olive oil in a medium pan and sauté the onion until soft, about 1-2 mins over med heat. Add the broccoli and continue to toss/move the vegetables every 15-30 seconds until the broccoli is wilted and the onions are transparent (3-5 mins). Remove this pan from the heat. stretch the pizza dough so it's the size of the pizza stone/the thickness you want. Spread the goat cheese over the body of the pizza as you would tomato sauce, though a little more gently is wise here since the dough could rip! Sprinkle your now-cooled broccoli and onions over the goat cheese, and add the roasted pepper and prosciutto. Bake in the hot oven for 10-15 mins, until the crust is an even brown on the bottom and the top is starting to brown. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 5-10 mins. Enjoy with a nice white wine and strawberry, fennel, and spinach salad. Eat it feeling less guilty than you usually do about pizza, because the cheese isn't greasy at all!

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup for the Big Kids

2010-10-17T10:36:00.006-04:00

I love the fall. I love the cold and the wonderful excuse it makes for me to crank the oven up and bake, or the way that cold also makes me think of nothing but soup for endless days. So, naturally this is something for both of those fall loves, baking and soup - because what's a good soup without something warm and bready to dip into it? These pretzels started as an idea - germinating in the recesses of my brain as away to make yeast bread and maintain the deliciousness that is a fresh soft pretzel. I have made them time and again since they first showed up in the issue of Bon Appetit where I found them. And the soup - the soup is a symphony of tomato - it was the perfect late fall soup, especially with the plentiful amount of late summer tomatoes on the farmer's market recently.

When childhood memories come up for me I usually see some sort of florescent mac and cheese or the time when I was 6 and made my mom Spaghetti-O's for dinner, so the whole grilled cheese and tomato soup thing is just not something I ever ate as lunch on a cold fall Saturday. But here I was - friday night, clean kitchen, and tomato soup and grilled cheese were on my mind, so I morphed it. I created my favorite pretzels but riffed them with some cheap grated cheese stuffed in and roasted tomato soup - a little more decadent than Campbell's but damn, that was divine. And while I am not usually a fan dipping my pretzels in anything but mustard, they were perfect in their cheese-filled goodness as something to dip in this soup.

I know I already talked about my love of soft-pretzels recently, but is there anything better, seriously? With their rich dark crust and that heady soft interior - it's one of my favorite taste and texture combinations. And these ones are great because they are a little bit sweeter and darker than the average bear - something to do with brown sugar, and let's face it brown sugar makes everything so-much-better. The tomato soup was a really wonderful set of flavors - dark, with the roasted flavor, but still so light as to marry brilliantly with this pretzel.

I won't tell you that pretzels are an easy feat; they're not - you need patience to make pretzels with the two risings and the par boiling in beer/baking soda/brown sugar but it's totally worth it. So here you go - take the time to make these - you won't regret it or feel like your Saturday was wasted. I promise.

Cheese Stuffed Pretzels and Roasted Tomato Soup
Note: These are superb together but don't be afraid to make them separately. Also I've recently been thinking that the pretzels would be great with some sort of cream cheese filling. If you try it, let me know how it goes!

Roasted Tomato Soup
8 large tomatoes, cut into eighths (about 4 lbs)
salt and pepper
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion quartered
1/2 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme

Line tomatoes and onion on a large parchment paper lined baking sheet (cut side up) and drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, until the tomatoes have started to caramelize. Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes. In a large pot, add a little more olive oil and sauté the garlic over med heat for 2-3 mins. Add the thyme and rosemary, and saute for another 30 secs or so. Add the roasted tomatoes and onion to the garlic and herb oil and stir it all together. Let the whole thing come to a simmer and, using an immersion blender, pulp it all together until it is smooth and even. If you don't have an immersion blender, just let the soup cool and blend it in batches in either a blender or food processor. Serve warm, garnished with some fresh basil and grilled cheese (or cheese stuffed pretzels) on the side.

Cheese-Stuffed Pretzels
Adapted, fairly closely, from a recipe in Bon Apetit, March 2009
Dough
1/2 cup warm water (you should be able to hold a finger in it for about 5 secs and it should feel warm)
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp packed dark brown sugar
3/4 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
2 cups flour, if you have bread flour go ahead but All purpose is just fine
1 1/2 tsp salt, I used kosher
Oil, for the bowl and rising dough
2 Oz shredded cheese (cheddar is better, next time I'll probably use fresh, grated, extra sharp cheddar)

Mix the yeast into the hot water and let it rest for about 5 minutes, until bubbles start to form and you get a nice "yeasty" (that's a very technical term there, you see?) smell. Add your buttermilk and both sugars to the yeast mixture, mix well. In a large bowl, mix flour and salt together with a wooden spoon. Create a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the yeast mixture gently. Stir this in until fully combined (this is sometimes a little bit sticky). Oil the bottom and sides of a clean bowl and scrape your dough mixture into the bowl. Drizzle some oil on top of the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and put it in the refrigerator to rise; about an hour, until it's puffy and about half again as much.

Poaching Liquid
1/4 cup amber beer (I used Shipyard Pumpkinhead but any amber would do - something like Magic Hat No. 9 is good)
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 Tbs vegetable oil
1-2 Tbs pretzel salt (for sprinkling post-poach)
Water to make the liquid 2 inches deep. Depending on the pot, this varies - the less water you need, the more flavorful your crust, but don't skip it!

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Bring the beer, water, baking soda, dark brown sugar, and vegetable oil to a simmer in a reasonably large wide pot - I use a soup pot which is great, but a dutch oven, if you have one, is a solid option here too. Remove the risen pretzels from the fridge and prepare to poach! I find it easiest to poach these knots using a slotted spoon and poaching one pretzel at a time. Place one pretzel gently in the bowl of the spoon and lower it into the liquid. Let it poach on each side for 30-45 seconds and then place it on a parchment lined baking sheet. Do this for all eight pretzels. Sprinkle cheese stuffed pretzels with more of the cheese filling, and regular pretzels with coarse or pretzel salt. Put them immediately in the oven! These can't dawdle around on the counter while the oven preheats, the poaching liquid will seep in and cause the salt to melt resulting in a gummy pretzel (this is bad)! Bake the pretzels for 12-15 minutes in the middle of your oven, if your oven heats unevenly make sure you rotate the baking sheet or some of the bottoms will be burnt. Let the pretzels cool for 10 minutes (if you can) and enjoy. These are particularly good the next day!