Eat Drink Laugh Love

Andreas and I found ourselves with a babysitter Friday night and no plans.  We were thinking about a movie, but I hate spending my babysitter time on a movie, especially if we can’t fit dinner around it.  So we decided to just go to dinner to someplace new.  Towne Stove & Spirits was opened last year in a huge space in the Hyne’s Convention Center in the Back Bay.  It’s co-creators are Lydia Shire and Jasper White, so I was really excited to try it.  I tend to avoid reviews once I decide to go somewhere because I like to go in unspoiled.

We got there early and sat in the bar for a cocktail.  The bar is in the front of the restaurant and has floor to ceiling windows so you can watch the action on Boylston St.    Our table was ready right at 8:00pm and we were brought into what we found out was one of three dining rooms (three bars, too).  Nice dining room, not really crowded, with high ceilings and the big windows.

I really liked the menu – we had a hard time deciding what to get, but knew right away we wanted to try the lobster popovers.   Now, I have to digress to say that we really enjoyed our meal, but were a tad put off about how fast our meal took.  1.5 hours from apps to dessert.  Maybe it was our fault, because we did order pretty quickly, but it’s a Friday night and it’s a nice restaurant.  I would have liked to have had a little more time between courses, all I’m saying.

Anyhoo, we ordered pre-dinner drinks and put in our order for the popovers.   We had no sooner got our drinks when the popovers came out.  There were two nice-sized popovers filled with lobster meat (claw and a bit of tail) with a great sauce.  It was really decadent and delicious.

We placed our entree orders when our drinks came and also ordered our wine.  The server suggested the wine (Meritage blend) and it was quite good and reasonably priced.   That came during our appetizers, which was fine because we wanted to let it breathe.  It didn’t have much time though because our entrees came out almost as soon as our appetizer plates were cleared.

For our main courses, Andreas got the Wagyu skirt steak – served “xtreme” style with wasabi & hot green garlic.  The flavor was not at all overpowering and Andreas really enjoyed it.   I got the duck served with pureed parsnips and a savory cherry sauce.  There was a deliciously crispy duck leg and thigh and sliced duck breast served medium rare.  I loved it!  I’m such a sucker for crispy duck.  We got two sides – french fired potatoes and crisped green beans with ginger and white soy. The french fires were chunks of potato cooked so they were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  They were served with a house made aioli and ketchup.  The beans were awesome.  It was a really healthy portion, so we had them for dinner the next two nights as well.

Dessert was my old stand by: flourless chocolate cake served with homemade strawberry ice cream.  Impossible to go wrong with this dish.

So, I guess I would say that we had a great meal and would recommend giving it a try, but take your time ordering.  We definitely weren’t rushed during dinner, so I think the issue is a question of better timing from the kitchen.   It’s just a bummer when you plan for a nice evening out and your done by 9:30pm.  I guess we could have gone out for a drink or something, but we are old.

I’m taking the blog out of it’s self imposed hiatus to talk about a fantastic recipe that the four of you who read this need to know about.

I’ll cut right to the chase:  Butternut Squash tacos with spicy black beans. These were, by far, one of my favorite things I have made in a long time.    I loved these so much that I made them for Monday dinner, ate them for Tuesday dinner, ate them for Wednesday lunch AND dinner and I still wasn’t sick of them.  The squash is roasted with nice smoky cumin and chili.  The beans add a bit of punch with the jalepeno and serrano pepper.  I used a can of diced tomatoes, and topped them with avocado, plain yogurt, and feta cheese.

For my vegetarian, gluten-free, and even vegan (if I skip the cheese) friends:  I now have a great dish to make when you come over!

I’ll also try to blog more than once every four months.  That is all.

Let me count the ways…

1)  You make me want to be a better eater.  As I walk through your doors, all I can see are beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables.  Most of them I’ve never heard of, but everything is displayed so nicely and look so wonderful that I am overcome with the feeling that I would really like an ugli fruit.

2) Your sandwiches.  The eggplant parm is a treat.  The turkey pesto is the only lunch meat sandwich I missed while pregnant.  The meatballs rival my Aunt Mary’s.  Waiting in line for a sandwich can be a headache, but it is totally worth it.

3)  Your cheese selection.  The display is right in front of the sandwich counter, so while I am waiting for my sandwich I look at artisan cheeses, local cheeses, stinky cheeses, etc.  It is the only place I know that carries a wasabi goat cheese that rocks.

4)  Your aroma.  Depending on the day, I can walk in and smell something baking in the bakery section.  Or chickens roasting.  Or the flowers that surround the store on a spring day.

5)  Your bakery, flower shop, deli, and prepared foods.  Yes, all of this exists in one perfect store.

6)  Last but not least, your salad bar.  Crazy as it sounds, this is the best feature to me.  It is not often that I crave salad, or feel fully satisfied after having one, but this bar does it all.  The salad I make there is the perfect salad to me:  a combo of red leaf and romaine lettuce, cucumbers, shredded carrots, grilled chicken tenders roasted zucchini, summer squash, peppers and onions, grape tomatoes, corn, peas, feta cheese, and homemade croutons.  Oh, and the BEST balsamic vinegarette in the world.  This dressing is only available at the salad bar, you can’t buy it.  I don’t know how they make it, it’s not oily and it’s not creamy.  It’s thick and tangy.  Also, their feta cheese is fantastic.  It’s creamy and crumbly.  Again, they don’t sell it in the store.  I eat every bite of this salad and miss it when it’s gone.

There is a lot more to love about this store, but I’m tired of typing!  If you haven’t been there yet, please go.  You may want to avoid the weekends, because it gets crazy, but it is definitely worth the trip.

Russo’s

560 Pleasant Street
Watertown, MA

It was Dorchester Restaurant Week a few weeks ago and a few of us decided to take advantage of it.  I’ve talked about restaurant weeks before – three courses for around $30.00.

88 Wharf has been for about a year and a half.  The restaurant is located in the Milton Landing condo complex, which is situated along the Neponset River.  We went after receiving another 10 inches of snow, so I can’t speak to the location.

However, we enjoyed our meals so much that I’ll come back in the summer to see the views.

I’ll cut to what was ordered by my group.

First Course:

• Tuna Poke
• Bread Salad
• Lobster Bisque
• Arancini (this wasn’t on the restaurant week menu – Andreas went off the menu)

Main Courses:

• Short Rib Bolognese
• Goat Cheese Ravioli
• Duck Confit Risotto
• Flat Iron Steak (again, Andreas – the rebel)

Dessert

• Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding
• Cheesecake

We all loved our meals and the portions were very good.  I was able to take my bolognese home and have awesome leftovers the next day.  I also just have to talk about the fantastic snack that we all shared before our courses came out – truffled potato chips.  Homemade potato chips served with a truffle aioli.  I would go back to this restaurant, sit at the bar, drink beer and eat these until I burst.

If you live in the area, support your local business!  You will not be disappointed.

If you’ve read most of my posts, you may have noticed that I almost never talk about baking. That’s because I cannot bake.  Orshould I say, couldn’t bake?  You see, in the past two days I have had two successful baking events.

The back story: my mother and sister are fantastic bakers.  It’s not even worth it to try to compete with them.  The few times that I have attempted to bake, whether it be muffins, cakes, brownies, scones, or biscuits, there have been failures. Massive failures.

Muffins, biscuits, and scones usually come out like bricks.   I actually once made boxed brownies that never actually cooked. How does that even happen?

Now, I don’t really want to be a baker, but it would be nice to mix up a batch of biscuits or muffins when the mood strikes.  And when you are snowed in for days at a time, the mood usually strikes.

Last night we made homemade chicken soup and we didn’t have any bread or rolls to have with it.  I was also out of bisquick, which is usually the only way I can make biscuits.  I looked around the Internets and found a recipe that sounded good and pretty easy.  It didn’t require me to knead the dough, which was key.  The dough went into muffin cups and when I took them out of the oven they were beautiful!  They rose, were crunchy on the top and moist in the center.  Kat loved them!  She’s eaten one with every meal since.

So today (day two of snow-in) I was feeling pretty good about my baking ability.  We didn’t have anything sweet in the house, and this is never a good thing.  If I’ve learned anything from this winter it is to make sure you have salty snacks and sweets in the house.  You need something to get through the day.

Where was I?  Oh yes, sweets.  I had all of the ingredients to make brownies using the Kitchen Aid recipe that comes with the mixer.  My friend Steven has had terrific luck with this recipe and I’ve been there when he’s made them, so I knew it was pretty easy.  Well, let me tell you, these brownies are wonderful!  They actually came out moist and chewy and not at all cakey.   I’m too lazy to post the recipe tonight, but will do so soon.

As wonderful as my successes have been, I can only hope that this crazy snow pattern stops because I’m going to gain 15 lbs using my new talent!

Andreas’s roommate from grad school is moving from Florida to Cambridge with his girlfirend and they were in town this weekend looking for an apartment.  If you aren’t from the Boston area, you may not be aware that since their arrival on Wednesday, it has snowed 8 inches and we are now experiencing the coldest weather we’ve had in six years.  They’ve been living in South Florida, so it must have been quite the change for them.   They were kind enough to say that they were actually enjoying the weather.

Anyhoo, we wanted to get together with them while they were here and decided the best time for all of us would be Sunday brunch.  They were staying in Kendall Square, so we thought it would be easier for us to come to them.  First thing we thought of:  The Blue Room.  If you haven’t been, it has one of the best brunches in the area.

If you are looking to order off of a menu, this place isn’t for you.  It’s a buffet, but the cooks are right behind the serving area putting out fresh food almost continually.  You can start out with salads, including tossed greens with a pineapple vinaigrette, octupus, and artichoke & fennel.  There was a creamy spinach soup, avocado quesadilla, braised beef brisket, ribs, homemade pork sausage, bacon, salmon, eggs, pancakes, and home fries.  There was also a table filled with breads, pastries, and desserts.  For $23 it is a downright bargain.   Of course we started out with bloody mary’s because what is a brunch without one?

There are two seatings at 11:00am and 1:00pm – definitely make reservations.  It was a great treat to see Jason and meet Carla, and to have a great meal!

OK, maybe I’m the last one to know this, but you can do so much more with a pork tenderloin than put it in the oven!  This past weekend, we decided to clean out the freezer and found a tenderloin we bought during a buy one get one free sale.   We had just roasted a chicken the night before, so I wanted to do something different with it.

I went through my cookbooks for inspiration and found a recipe that sounded great and easy:  Pork Piccata.  And as a bonus, we had all of the ingredients!   We’ve made other kinds of piccata, but I never thought to use pork.  See the recipe here as it was printed in the cookbook.  I changed up the sides and served it with butternut squash risotto and sauteed kale.  It was a wonderful meal, filled with great flavors.

That was Sunday.  Now, when I made this recipe, I only used one of the tenderloins that came in the pack.  It was more than enough and I didn’t want to have too many leftovers.  So I needed to use the other one before it went bad.  I was in the mood for chili and thought I could find something that called for pork instead of ground beef or chicken.  Well, I hit the jackpot with the chili recipe I found!  Andreas thought we were in for an interesting dinner when I added black coffee, honey, and bourbon to the pot, but three hours later we were enjoying one of the best pots of chili I have ever made!  Please try this recipe.  You will not be sorry.   I halved the recipe, but we still had leftovers for lunch today, which was awesome because it was a snow day and a perfect time for leftover chili.  Next time I make it, I think I’ll make a full batch.  It is that good.

In fact, I don’t know if I’ll ever roast a tenderloin again!

The Burger King near my house has a banner that advertises the latest specials.  This week they are promoting the Original Chicken Sandwich.  I can’t believe that I’m about to admit this, but every time I see this, my mouth waters.  See, the original BK chicken sandwich is, in my mind, the perfect fast food sandwich.  Back when it was a regular on the menu and I ate at fast food restaurants, I would alway get this.  The chicken was so moist.  The bun was always soft.  The amount of mayo on the bun was perfect.  The lettuce was kind of gross, but it was easy enough to take off.

Sadly, I will never have this sandwich again.   I know too much of calories, fat, sodium, etc. to enjoy this as I should.  This got me to thinking about other food stuffs that I love, but will never enjoy because of the guilt attached.   There aren’t too many, I don’t know if this is a good thing, or a bad thing.   In no specific order:

• Steak and cheese sub with mushrooms, onions, and mayo
• Andy Capp’s cheddar fires or hot fries
• Quarter Pounder with cheese
• Anything at KFC.  This kills me, because that bowl thing looked delicious
• Planters Cheez Balls. Well, they don’t make these anymore so I can’t say that I wouldn’t eat them if they were available.
• Sausage, egg and cheese croissanwich from BK
• Fettucine Alfredo

What about you?  Any foods you’ve given up even though you really enjoyed them?

We are eating our way through the top 50!  It’s funny – we haven’t been out in months and then we went out two weeks in a row.  And then yesterday my parents watched Kat so we could go see Harry Potter during the day.  We are really living it up!

OK, back to project top 50:  51 Lincoln.  I had heard good things about it, but it’s in Newton, so it was off our radar before.  It’s not often that when we can go out, we chose to not go out in Boston.  Going out in Newton, just doesn’t seem as exciting.  Well, thank goodness for this list, because this is one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time.

The company, of course, helps.  We went out with my friend, Christine and her husband, Tim.  It was out first couple outing and it was a big success.  It is so much fun to go out with people who enjoy food and wine as much as Andreas and I do.

The restaurant itself is located in a nice neighborhood (all neighborhoods in Newton are nice, actually) and it was bustling!  The little bar area was packed, but we were able to sit at our table early.  Turns out there is a downstairs room that they typically use for private party, but open up on weekends when they get busy.  It was much quieter and more austere than the upstairs room, which was a little shocking, but we settled in and were fine.

We started out with a pre-dinner drink – rose champagne for everyone, but Andreas, who went with his beloved IPA.  The menu was really creative and we had a lot of questions for our great server.  Christine did a great job in ordering the wine for us and it went perfectly with all of our dishes.

We all ordered a first course.  Andreas got the good ole House Made Charcuterie Selections.  This included a coffee flavored sausage that was fantastic.  It was served with delightful crispy toasts.  Christine got the Classic Caesar Salad that was beautifully presented and was served with this incredible homemade crouton with cheese in the center. It was huge and delicious.  Tim got the soup, which I believe was a corn chowder.  It looked lovely.  I got the most interesting appetizer I have ever had at a restaurant.  It was a pan seared watermelon steak served with a sort of sauteed vegetable and feta cheese.

What is a watermelon steak, you ask?  It is a large piece of watermelon cut into filet shape, seasoned with salt and pepper and other seasoning and pan seared.  It sounds so strange, but it was actually quite delicious!  The feta was the perfect accompaniment as it added a bit of saltiness to the sweetness of the melon.

Onto the main course:  All of the meat was naturally raised and the produce is what is available seasonally.  In fact, in looking online now for the food descriptions, I can see that the dishes are all a little bit different from when we there almost three weeks ago. Suffice it to say that this will not be the most fleshed out description of the dishes.  :)  Christine and Andreas got the steak; Tim had the roast chicken and I got my restaurant favorite, duck.  Everything was fantastic, and we all pretty much licked out plates clean.

For dessert, I had the vanilla bean custard and Christine got the creme brulee.  Both were wonderful.

I know I have a lot of restaurants to get to, but I think I’ll be going back to this place before I get through the rest of the list. At this point, that’s about the best compliment I can give a restaurant!

While I love the classic beef and bean chili, sometimes I’m in the mood for something a bit lighter, but with a similar flair.  I’ve been looking for a chili recipe made with white beans and chicken for a while and could never find one that sounded good to me.   Well, my search is over! This recipe is exactly what I was looking for.  I love that it uses boneless chicken thighs.  They are my new favorite ingredient.  They add so much more flavor than chicken breasts and can cook a lot longer and not become dry.  And my little Weight Watcher point calculator tells me that they are the same points! I love when deliciousness happens guilt free.

I made this exactly as written and I don’t think it needs any adjustments.  My friend made it and used milk instead of cream and I don’t think she lost anything.  I think you could probably use plain yogurt with the same result.

Enjoy!