Frame: Tools Of The Trade
I’m currently in the process of a little remodeling at my new condo: painting, organizing, decorating. It’s my goal to make my “office” the perfect place by the time I’m done, but in truth I think that if you’re a writer you should be able to write anywhere. You don’t need a fancy desk, paper-thin laptop, private room – all you really need is some paper and a pen (and some coffee). I take my paper with a side of Hemingway, bound in a moleskine notebook.
Moleskines are the recreation of the basic black notebook said to have been used by the likes of Van Gogh, Picasso, Chatwin, and Ernest himself. And I admit, there is something about writing or drawing in one that just makes you feel like more of an artist.
I’m in the market for a new moleskine, so I’ve been poking around the company website, and have discovered the following:
1. Moleskine has launched a line of Pac Man inspired designs, in honor of the famed yellow circle’s 30th anniversary.
2. Marc Jacobs is also getting into the act with a line of designs for moleskine.
Frankly, I think the patterns and the Pac Man defeat the purpose of the understated, back to basics nature of these notebooks. But I have to admit, this is kind of cool.
Frame: Roy Rogers
A story about my grandfather, who grew up in Malden, as told by my Aunt Judy, after she visited a war memorial:
“Your grandfather and his friend were sitting around drinking one night, and they said ‘Let’s go fight the Japanese!’ so they signed up. But then your grandfather was shipped to California- he never even left the country. Once I asked him, what did you do in the war? And he said ‘I played cards! I played cards with Roy Rogers!'”
And…scene.
Frame: And The Winner Is…
NOT ME! But I have to admit, as soon as I saw what is now the winning entry in the Local In Season Recipe Contest- Pumpkin Whoopie Pies- I knew I was in trouble. It also didn’t help to receive about 40 emails this week stating “I voted for you, but I really wanted to vote for the whoopie pies.” Thanks, friends.
As I’ve said again and again, I’m not a baker, but I have to hand it to the winner, Kathy Pastisteas- this recipe looks pretty foolproof. Maybe I will try some out after I eat my Baked Fall Vegetables with Thyme and Gruyere. Which, by the way, are delicious.
Congratulations Kathy!
Fluid: Army Navy at Clio
There comes a time to let down your guard. For some, that time is with a girlfriend/boyfriend. For some, that time is with our closest friends. For some, it is with our weekly therapist appointment.
And for some, it’s with the Army Navy cocktail at Clio.
- army navy
Frame: Have Your Cake and Eat It Too
This weekend an FoSB remarked that she is worried that she loves her career- which revolves around rowing- too much. She’s afraid she’s too passionate about crew. (Shortly after, another friend remarked that she thinks unicycles are showy…it was that kind of weekend.) My friend started out as a rower, took a job out of college that she didn’t really enjoy, and then quit to move back into what she was really passionate about. Now a coach and a recruiter, she is phenomenal at what she does. Her intellect and drive aside, it’s her love for what she does that allows her to excel in her career. In fact, I have several friends who have taken their zeal for crew and parlayed it into extremely successful roles in the rowing world.
my oar in the regatta - port for life!
There’s a lot to love about rowing, and I remember when crew was my life. There are many mottos in the rowing community, but one of my favorites is: “We do more before breakfast than most people do all day” – and I still think that’s true. This weekend, back in the boat for the first time in two years, surrounded by water, trash talk, and adrenaline, I was reminded of how intoxicating the sport can be.
I remember waking up at 4:30 in the morning, using muscle memory to pull on my clothes, drive to the river, and put the boats in the water. Some dark mornings, sitting in stern four and letting the sound of the water rouse me, I’d feel like everything I had done since the last time I’d been in the boat had been meaningless. Everything else was a space filler, a distraction until we could get back on the water.
alums win again!
Crew is not my life’s passion, but I was passionate about it for a long time. I don’t think my friend should be concerned that she feels so strongly about what she loves. I think she should feel extremely lucky to have found that thing, and proud that she has turned her passion into her career. For myself, I’m ecstatic to have turned my loves- food, writing, and now teaching, into my career. You can have your cake and eat it too.
have your cake and eat it too, especially for breakfast after a regatta
And now, some gratuitous shots of team mascot and the boathouse.
Reminder: Last day to vote!
Thank you so much to everyone that has already voted for me in the Local In Season Recipe contest. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, can still vote for my recipe (#3, Baked Fall Vegetables with Thyme and Gruyere) by clicking this link until tonight at midnight!
And in case you didn’t realize, this recipe contains an entire stick of butter. Do it for Paula Deen!
Feast: Sabella’s Plain White Box
The true test of a good ravioli is not necessarily the quality of its ricotta, texture of its dough, or ability to hold up under a heavy Bolognese sauce. It’s the box it comes in.
plain white box
The pasta at Sabella’s, (formerly Louise’s), knows it is good. In fact, it is so confident in its prowess as Best Ravioli in Boston that it goes incognito for fear of paparazzi. When you walk into their store in Revere, you come out with boxes so smug they don’t bear so much as a crest, symbol, or seal of their brand.
My favorite (and I’m sure Sabella’s biggest seller) is the cheese ravioli. Eaten for generations in my family, during holidays, special occasions, or just a Tuesday night, I was recently gifted with two boxes – a generous and delicious present. I’m not quite ready to make the season’s first meat sauce, so I made my next favorite- vodka sauce- and then readied the ravioli.
From frozen to perfectly done in just 6 minutes, my favorite thing about this pasta is the thickness of the dough. These ravioli are really substantial – they make you work for the filling- but it is this seal that keeps the ricotta from becoming watery and grainy (a serious downfall of many shoddy ravioli). The dough keeps the filling smooth and creamy, almost marscapone-like in texture, and maintains the integrity of its mild flavor. Satisfying enough that a box of twelve really does serve four, we’re looking forward to several more delicious meals at my house.
Food: Bruised Peaches Have More Flavor
It’s natural to want the prettiest peach, the biggest pineapple, or the greenest avocado. But often, the picture perfect examples of fruit are not actually the best tasting.
Here’s a secret: bruised peaches have more flavor.
Now, I’m not talking about mushy, mealy peaches. If your peach has thumb prints and worm holes, pick another fruit- apples are lovely this time of year. But if you find a peach that is smaller in size (large peaches are often too watery) and has some good give when you squeeze it in your hand, you know you’ve found a juicy winner.
Similarly, it’s ok if your avocado has a few soft spots. You can buy hard avocados and ripen them in a paper bag, but you’re better off finding one that is soft to the touch but on which indentations are not left in the skin after you give it a squeeze.
Now, pineapples are a different matter- once picked, they are as ripe as they are going to get. To determine which will taste the best, check out its “plates”- the hexagonal shapes that make up the exterior of a pineapple. The plates should be the same size all the way up to the stem, denoting that the fruit had enough time to mature properly and wasn’t picked too early.
check out those plates!
We all have our flaws. Maybe you laugh too loudly, or spend too much money on frivolous things. Maybe you don’t let people get close to you, or you get too close to people too fast. Maybe you only do laundry once a month, or you leave dirty dishes in the sink until they smell. Me? My car is always a mess and I have ugly feet (among other failings). But our flaws are what make us taste good. Don’t pick a fruit, a friend, or a partner that doesn’t have flaws. Bruised peaches have more flavor.
Reminder: Vote!
Just a reminder that you can still vote for my recipe (#3, Baked Fall Vegetables with Thyme and Gruyere) by clicking this link until tomorrow at midnight! Thanks to everyone that has voted thus far!
Feast: Immoderation at Menton
There are some days when you are so busy you subsist on just Twizzlers and coffee. There are some days when you cook a simple meal and revel in your burgeoning culinary skills. And there are some days when only decadence will do. When hedonism calls, Menton answers.
Named for a small French village near the Italian border, Menton resides on Congress Street in Fort Point, and is Barbara Lynch’s newest restaurant. Lynch, an incredibly prolific figure in the food world (responsible for No. 9 Park, Drink, Sportello, The Butcher Shop, and B&G Oysters), has entrusted Menton to head chef Colin Lynch, and after my recent visit I can easily say he did her proud.
One has two options at Menton: a four course Prix Fixe or a seven course Chef’s Tasting. While I’m sure the Chef’s Tasting is unparalleled, the prix fixe meal that we had actually turned out to be six courses- I couldn’t imagine stuffing one more bite into my mouth. It was one of those marathon meals, when you slowly drink wine and talk about everything and nothing, and periodically look up to a bevy of handsome wait staff, holding plates and silverware and curved pitchers full of sauce, who then, in unison, serve you.
And how, you might ask, does one start such a meal?
With butter soup, of course.
butter soup with poached lobster and caviar
The chef’s gift (not on the menu) of butter soup with poached lobster and caviar topped with honey foam now ranks as One of the Best Things I’ve Ever Eaten. It had a flavor similar to, but not as strong as a béarnaise sauce, with a much lighter texture. The addition of lobster and caviar was completely over the top, but certainly welcome.
foie gras
My next course, Chorizo Poached East Coast Halibut with yellow tomato velouté, cucumber and squash, was equally as impressive. The fish was cooked perfectly, but the real star was the veloute, which had such a depth of flavor it didn’t need any accompaniment. The chorizo was paper thin and had a smokiness that played well with the halibut. I have to admit I felt a bit smug over my choice for this course- the Sea Bream, while good, was nowhere near as exceptional.
halibut with chorizo
As if that weren’t enough, the staff brought over a pasta course (not pictured) as a brief respite before the main event. (I don’t remember much about the pasta, suffice it to say, it was good.)
Next was PT Farm’s Ribeye of Beef with sunchoke rösti, porcini, and sauce périgueux. The beef was tender and earthy, the mushrooms almost had the consistency of the foie gras, and I only wish I had been crass enough to ask my server to leave the pitcher of sauce at the table so I could have eaten the rest with a spoon.
ribeye
As with most tasting menus, by the time we got to dessert our palates were exhausted. Frankly, I was breathing hard I had eaten so much. But we pressed on- I had the Lemon Tart with blackberries and yogurt sorbet, which was lovely. However, I wish I’d gotten the Compressed Bartlett Pear, it was lighter and more unique.
lemon tart with yogurt sorbet
There was nothing not to like about this dinner, though keep in mind that decadence is usually pricey, and so is Menton. Just pretend you’re Dean Martin, and that you deserve it.
dean martin.
Frame: I’m a Finalist! Please Vote!
I’m lucky enough to be a finalist in the Local in Season Recipe Contest! Please click here and vote for my recipe by Wednesday at midnight! My entry is #3, Fall Vegetables with Thyme and Gruyere, which I wrote about last week and you can view here!
Frame: The Case For Charging Admission
I was really looking forward to Boston’s recent Local Food Festival. The day and the event had the makings of so many things that I love: local food, cooking demonstrations, interesting people, cool organizations, and perfect fall weather. It also had one thing I hate:
Hordes of people.
seriously?
Hordes.
I blame myself for forgetting that free food equals ridiculously bad behavior from the masses. I don’t know how this slipped my mind as I have worked at Earthfest on the Esplanade for the past three years and have literally had to bounce people out of a food sample tent, almost coming to blows over the “one sample per person” rule. But there it was, throngs of people stepping on my feet, pushing me over to get to the Grillo’s pickle table, shoving my friends and I farther and farther apart from one another.
grillo's
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I really, really wish that whoever was running this event had charged admission. Five or ten dollars for a ticket could have gone to support Slow Food, The Food Project, or Farm Aid, or they could have donated the money to the Greater Boston Food Bank. And it would have weeded out those that were just there for the free samples. As it was, I could barely get near most of the tents, and even though there were some really great things going on, I don’t think that 70% of the people there really cared. If they’d had to buy a $10 ticket, maybe they would have.
Rant aside, my favorite booth was Batch, a fantastic small batch ice cream operation running out of Jamaica Plain. By the time I got to their tent (around the middle of the event) they were out of every flavor except for Cinnamon and Chocolate Bits, which I never would have chosen otherwise. I was happily surprised- it was delicious. Run by Veronica Janssens and Susie Parish, Batch prides itself on making ice cream free of artificial flavors, artificial colors, and stabilizers. Prepared in small batch (obviously) production at Crop Circle Kitchen, so far they only have 6 flavors – Chocolate, Coffee, Vanilla Bean, Mocha Chip, Salted Caramel, and Cinnamon and Chocolate Bits. It’s definitely quality over quantity, but I’d say six is a pretty good number- I’d be perfectly happy to never taste another flavor. As I’ve seen with a lot of small companies, quality can be drastically diluted once they add more products or flavors to their line.
Other items of note:
Boston’s First Grilled Cheese Truck…
…and this picture of a cow.
Frankly, after an hour of being poked and prodded and unable to get near most of the tents, we had to tap out and get some beers nearby. Which turned out to be a pretty good alternate plan, after all.
beers are better than crowds
Fluid and Feast: Licor de Figo and Muqueca
Licor de Figo
One of the best people I know just gave me a fantastic present, straight from Brazil. Licor de Figo is alcohol infused with fig leaves, sort of the Brazilian answer to Limoncello (one of my favorite digestivos). The best part about this is that figs are in season right now, so I’m sure I can incorporate my Licor de Figo into something delicious. I’m thinking either a variant on Grilled Fig and Stilton Salad with Port Wine Vinaigrette (using LdF instead of/along with port wine) or a Fig and Almond Tart, so I can try whipped cream infused with LdF. But, I still need to resolve my immersion blender situation if I’m going that route.
I’ve been getting better acquainted with Brazilian food and drink in general over the past few weeks, and one of my favorites, Muqueca, has become even better when seen through a new set of eyes. Muqueca just moved to a new, larger location (right across the street from its previous spot), so it has less of an “I’m in my grandmother’s kitchen” feel, but it’s still homey. Try something from the juice bar- my favorite is the Blueberry Mix (blueberry, papaya and orange juice), and the fried yucca, then get whatever your server recommends. For us, the recommendation was the Mariscada: shrimp, crabmeat, mussels and squid with cilantro, tomato, onion and coconut milk, served with Farofa. Farofa, a popular side dish in Brazil, is a toasted yucca flour mixture. Muqueca’s Farofa has a grainy texture but a nice mellow flavor- kind of an acquired taste.
Mariscada
I don’t know enough about Brazilian food (yet) to say whether or not Muqueca is an authentic example of the cuisine, but I do know that the place is always friendly, unique (to me), and flavorful.
Fluid: Goose Island Honkers Ale
an average menu, except...
Every so often I come across a new beer in an unlikely place. This weekend, sandwiched between a beer that drinks like a meal and a hoppy ipa, I discovered Goose Island Honkers Ale. While I am skeptical of its brewer’s claim that it is “the beer you can trust,” I will say that it was malty, fruity, and easy to drink.
goose island honkers ale
I had never heard of Goose Island before, but apparently they are a father/son operation that has been brewing beer in Chicago since 1988, and have won awards at the Great American Beer Festival for fourteen years in a row. Good for you, Goose Island.
Frame: Clarification
For anyone that didn’t get my dad’s Dean Martin reference/SB comparison:
dean martin
dean martin
dean martin
dean martin
dean martin with wine?
hard to tell, but that's me, not dean martin
The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread 