Tiny Urban Kitchen

Golden Garden {Snapshot}

2013-06-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

This is a {Snapshot} based on my recent experiences at the restaurant. The original full post of this restaurant can be found here.I wrote about Golden Garden several years ago when I first discovered this unassuming little restaurant on the border of Belmont and Cambridge. Even then I was thrilled at the discovery. It’s not everyday you find a Chinese restaurant that serves dishes that are from a region not typically well represented in America.I get excited when I discover dishes or flavor combinations I’ve never experienced before. This is how I felt about Golden Garden when I first discovered it.Since then, it has become one of our regular haunts. Parking is usually a cinch to find, and there’s never a wait for a table. The food is very good and since it's from the dongbei region of China (northeast), it's just a bit different from the stuff you’d typically find in Chinatown. We also get takeout from them quite a bit, since they do deliver to our neck of the woods and they offer online ordering, which is really, really convenient.Here’s some of our favorite dishes.This unusual dish called Sauteed Pork with Tossed Mung Noodle in Brown Sauce is something I’ve never had anywhere else, and I’m really not exactly sure what regional cuisine is represented here. Essentially, you have these thick, chewy translucent noodles (possibly handmade? They are so chewy I would hazard to guess they might be) tossed together with raw cucumbers, raw onions, thinly sliced sautéed pork, and this strong, mustard (almost wasabi-like) sauce. It’s a cold dish that’s very refreshing during hot weather. Bryan loves the strong wasabi kick, and I love the chewy glass noodles.Another one of our favorites, which is not much to look at, is Sour Cabbage with Steamed Bacon. The cabbage seems to be pickled in some way, sort of like a Chinese version of kimchee soup, yet full of rich umami from the smoky bacon that’s part of the dish. This dish is warm, soupy, and also includes thin glass vermicelli noodles as part of the dish. They also have the classic Sichuan dish Fish Filets Chinese Cabbage with Spicy Chili Sauce (literally translated as “water cooked fish” in Chinese - such a misnomer!). Pieces of white fish and cabbage are cooked in a flavorful, spicy, and numbing “mala” broth. It’s quite good here, and it’s one of the dishes we order on a regular basis.I always like to get simple garlic-stir fried vegetables whenever I go to a Chinese restaurant. My favorite is the stir fried young pea shoots; Bryan loves the hollow-heart vegetable, sometimes called Chinese watercress. If we can’t get either of those we’ll often opt for the Baby Bok Choy, which is something I cook at home all the time. Oh, I forgot to mention the best part. Their homemade dumplings are quite good and you can buy them frozen in packs of fifty dumplings. I find it to be superior to the ones sold in Chinese supermarkets. Sure they cost a bit more ($15 for a pack of 50), but it's still a bargain compared to ordering takeout. I like to pan fry these dumplings at home (yum).All in all, this is one of our stand-bys and we probably eat here at least once a month.

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

2013-06-16T14:00:00.000-05:00

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

My dad's a teacher.

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

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

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

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

Me? In front of a classroom?

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

And I had a blast both times.

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

We made four classic Taiwanese dishes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sauteing shallots for the Taiwanese meat sauce.

Making Hello Kitty muffins.

Stir frying Chinese chives.

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

More photos.

And even more photos.
Digging in.

Matcha Mochi Cupcakes

2013-06-16T00:12:00.005-05:00

There's a reason why I don't bake these on a regular basis at my home.

I can't stop eating them.

I've always been a big fan of anything made with glutinous rice. You name it: sticky rice (nuo mi fan), Chinese rice dumplings (zhong zi), Japanese mochi, and Chinese rice balls with red bean soup (tang yuan) - the list goes on and on. There's something about that chewy texture and the sweet flavor of pure rice that I just love.

So I avoid making these desserts normally.

But I had an excuse this time.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Like this.

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

It's so good.

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

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

You really can't go wrong either way.

Matcha Mochi Muffins
1 lb glutinous rice flour
2 T matcha powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups milk
2 cups sugar
3 eggs, beaten

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

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

Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Scene from the Tiny Urban Kitchen TAP Boston Cooking Class

Happy belated "Duanwu" (Dragon Festival) Day!

2013-06-14T00:08:00.002-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Duanwu Holiday!

Siena Farms CSA - Week 1

2013-06-10T21:14:00.001-05:00

I'm trying to be more healthy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So nice!

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

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

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

The entire share this week.

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

15 East (NYC)

2013-06-06T23:32:00.002-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

15 East
15 E 15th St
New York, NY

{Snapshot} Bergamot Spring Menu

2013-06-05T15:43:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's no wonder we go back so often.

Bergamot
118 Beacon St
Somerville, MA

Flour, Too

2013-06-03T23:00:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

Slosh slosh slosh.

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

And then finally, a warm, welcoming door.

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

And this.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Do you have any spare change?"

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

Then he looked down at my box of goodies.

"Can I have a cookie at least?"

I paused.

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

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

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

"Of course. Here you go, enjoy."

I walked home, empty handed.

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

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

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

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

Flour Bakery + Cafe
1595 Washington St
Boston, MA 02118

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

Fettucine with Asparagus, Spring Peas, and Morel Mushrooms

2013-06-03T16:46:00.000-05:00

Ah ah ah CHOOO!!!

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

And yet I was spared any germs.

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

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

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

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

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

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

BEFORE

AFTER

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

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

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

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

Enjoy!

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

1/2 lb pasta (dried)
1 T shallots (or onions), minced
10-15 morel mushrooms, washed and dried
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
2-3 asparagus spears, sliced at an angle into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup fresh English peas, shelled
Parmesan-Reggiano cheese, grated
salt and pepper
truffle oil (optional)

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

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

Szechuan Gourmet (Midtown)

2013-05-31T00:37:00.002-05:00

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

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

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

Choices choices.

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

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

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

Perfect.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scampo Spring Menu {Snapshot}

2013-05-30T12:45:00.001-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto

2013-05-29T00:45:00.004-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

You have your choice of a variety of antipasto ingredients.

Or maybe some of their house pasta or olive oil?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Related Posts
Il Buco Alimentari
Roscioli
Il Convivio
Sunday Night Suppers via Formaggio Kitchen

Salumeria Rosi Parmacotta
283 Amsterdam Ave.
New York, NY

Frank Pepe's Pizza

2013-05-24T08:55:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Casual New York Weekend

2013-05-22T23:56:00.001-05:00

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

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

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

But this time was different.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

80 Thoreau

2013-05-22T07:58:00.002-05:00

"After you get off Route 2, run right on Walden Street, and then turn left on Thoreau."

We chuckled a bit as we listened to ourselves talk, but we weren't making this up. These are actual street names in Concord, Massachusetts, a town about 45 minutes north of Boston. In fact, the legendary Walden Pond where Henry David Thoreau penned his famous book Walden is just down the street from our destination.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We couldn't wait to get started.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Famous last words.

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

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

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

So much for my game plan.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

80 Thoreau
80 Thoreau St
Concord, MA 01742

Puritan & Co {SNAPSHOT}

2013-05-20T22:44:00.002-05:00

This is a {Snapshot} of Puritan & Co. The original, detailed post about the restaurant as a whole is here.

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

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

Maybe next time.

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

We also tried a Crispy Pig's Head Torchon, which is made by mixing and rolling together various parts of a pig's head (organs are removed!) such as the cheeks, skin, etc. It was a tad rich for me, but Bryan enjoyed it quite a bit.
Black Pepper Pasta ($17) with dandelion greens, guanciale, and spring garlic was absolutely fantastic. I loved the bitterness of the dandelion greens (my first time trying it!) and the pungent "bite" from the garlic. The freshly made pasta was lovely as well. I would most definitely order this dish again.
We were flabbergasted at how "rare" the lamb was cooked (a very, very good thing) in our entree, called Lamb Three Way. It consisted of lamb belly, lamb loin, and I can't remember the third one, maybe lamb tenderloin? The entire dish was incredibly tender and not too gamey at all. I'm going to hazard a guess that it's American lamb, which has a much milder taste than New Zealand or Australian lamb. Overall, the dish was excellent, with a lovely balance of flavors from fresh, seasonal spring vegetables.

If I go back, I definitely want to order more of that citrus cured scallop, as well as the pasta.

Gosh, I love spring ingredients.

Related Posts
Puritan & Co.
Garden at the Cellar
Cooking Class with Will Gilson
Tomato Vine Tasting Tour with Will Gilson

Puritan & Co.
1166 Cambridge St
Cambridge, MA

Snapshots

2013-05-20T12:39:00.003-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jen

Ramps Pesto

2013-05-16T23:43:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And that's it!

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

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

You want a smooth paste.

The whole process takes all of 2 minutes, really.

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

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

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

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

Enjoy!

Ramps Pesto
Serves about 2

1 bunch of ramps (see my photo below, maybe 10 small stalks?)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1/2 cup nuts (many recipes use walnuts or pistachios; I had marcona almonds on hand, which worked fine)
~1/3 cup olive oil, give or take
optionally salt
1 lb fresh pasta

Tab Tim Grob (Rubies in Coconut Milk)

2013-05-15T00:12:00.000-05:00

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

These changes in the weather lately are driving me crazy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While waiting for the water chestnuts to turn red, make your syrup and coconut mixture. Both are pretty easy to make. For the syrup, just bring sugar, water, and pandanus leaves to a boil over low heat. Let simmer for 15 minutes (no need to stir).

Note: this syrup can last for up to one month in the refrigerator if you want to make a larger batch.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tim Tab Grob (Rubies in Coconut Milk)

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

Syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1-2 Pandanus leaves
(or 1-2 drops Pandan extract)

Coconut Milk
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp salt

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

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

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

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

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

Enjoy!

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

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

Cool Experiences
Maeklong Railway Market
Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak)

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

Pad Thai (Phat Thai)

2013-05-13T22:37:00.004-05:00

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

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

"Do Thai people eat Pad Thai a lot?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(3) stir fry until the shrimp is cooked.

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

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

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

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

Traditional

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

Transfer to a serving dish (yum!).

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

Omelette

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

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

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

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

Yum!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pad Thai
serves 1

Ingredients
1 T cooking oil
1/2 T minced garlic
1/2 T minced shallots
4-6 shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 T salted Chinese radish, chopped
1 T dried shrimp
1 T dried bean curd, cut into cubes

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

1/2 cup Chinese chives (cut into 2 cm strips)
1/2 cup bean sprouts

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

Pad Thai Sauce
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 T white sugar
1/2 T palm sugar
1 T fish sauce
1 T tamarind juice or [4 tsp tamarind paste + 1 tsp vinegar]
1 T oyster sauce (optional)

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

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

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

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

Push the noodles to one side and add an egg.

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

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

Serve!

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

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

Cool Experiences
Maeklong Railway Market
Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak)

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

Larb Gai (Minced Chicken Salad)

2013-05-10T00:05:00.001-05:00

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

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

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

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

2) Thai food is full of coconut milk.

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

Jen with fresh coconut ice cream at Chatuchak Market

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enjoy!

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

Larb Gai
70 g ground chicken (1/6 lb)
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 shallots, thinly sliced
cilantro, one large bunch
2 stalks of scallions, sliced
20 mint leaves

Sauce
1/8 tsp salt
1 T fish sauce
1 T lime juice
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp chili powder
1 T roasted rice powder (see below)

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

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

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

Roasted Rice Powder
1/4 cup sticky rice
1/4 cup jasmine rice
1 T chopped galangal
2 kaffir lime leaves (or lemongrass)

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

Enjoy!

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

Golden Bags

2013-05-09T12:31:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wrap according to the steps shown above.

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

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

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

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

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

Enjoy!

Golden Bags
makes 4 bags

Filling
20g minced pork
5 white peppercorns
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp finely chopped cilantro root
1-2 stalks cilantro, chopped
5g water chestnuts, chopped
5g onions, chopped
2 cups oil (for deep frying)
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp soy sauce

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

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

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

Deep fry at 180 °C until golden brown.

Serve!

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

Baipai Thai Cooking School

2013-05-08T01:17:00.003-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2013-05-07T13:58:00.002-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Beautiful Vermont (King Arthur Flour Blog & Bake™)

2013-05-04T16:31:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enjoy this beautiful state!

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

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