Food: Fall Market Tour Part 2: Brookline
There is a real industry difference of opinion on where to put that apostrophe.
The Brookline Market thoroughly trumps last week’s market at Central Square. It would have to, with twenty plus booths, vegetables, fish, meat, flowers, baked goods, and more. If Central Square Market was a 4, Brookline is a 10, and not just because the weather today was so fantastic.
Across from the Coolidge Corner Arcade, this market runs every Thursday from 1:30pm “until dark,” and it is packed- for good reason.
The market is almost more of a fair than a place to pick up some vegetables for dinner, featuring local artists, an ice cream stand, and everything you could need for a week’s worth of meals. Cheese, eggs, bread, pies, you name it, they have it.
Just some of the vendors there today:
Capri Farms, Clear Flour, Enterprise Farm, Cook’s Farm and Bakery, Stillman’s at the Turkey Farm, Bob’s Turkey Farm, Middle Earth Farm, and this guy, who makes art out of cabbage:
Exciting as those cabbages are, the award for unique item of the day goes to the Maxixe, a Brazilian cucumber that I had never seen before. I’m not sure if I believe the sign saying it is similar to a regular cucumber, however.
ma-what-who?
This market also wins because it sells one of my favorite things, Raspberry Lime Rickeys. You can get home-made ice cream or a sundae if you prefer.
If I lived in Brookline I would shop at this market every week, if only to take in the cheerful atmosphere. As it is, I will probably try to go back on any Thursday that I can get there before dark.
i'll admit it, i feel a little weird buying cod off the street.
pies, cookies, and a guy with a beard.
who can turn down a pot pie?
very high quality produce
Frame: Emails with DoSB
From Dad: Subject: SB Blog
Kate, Why do you always have a glass of wine in your hand when you are photographed? – Dad
From Kate: Why not?
From Dad: No reason, Dean Martin!!
Quality Dean Martin reference aside, you’re right Dad. It is more than a little gauche to have so many photos with such high alcohol content. My excuse lately is that I’ve been going to events that focus around wine. I mean, the purpose of a wine tasting event is to … taste wine, yeah? Hence, pictures of me holding a wine glass. Though frankly, as they say, wine and I could talk or not talk for hours, event or not. But just for you Dad, here is a picture of the two of us, with me holding a different, though similarly beloved beverage.
SB and DoSB, a rare coffee that didn't include papers
Feast: SB and the Central Bottle Chef Event
Since Central Bottle opened last year, it has become my favorite place in Cambridge – and I like a lot of places in Cambridge. Owners Dave and Maureen Rubino (who I met last night), Liz Vilardi, and Nick Zappia have been players in the Boston food scene for years already. Vilardi and Zappia are co-owners of The Blue Room, and Maureen was previously the long-time GM of East Coast Grill and is married to Dave, an architect who designed Central Bottle. Each time I go in I’m greeted by an enthusiastic member of the staff, and it’s clear that this place is run by people who are truly excited to be doing something they are passionate about.
Along with wine, Central Bottle sells beer, cicchetti, cheese, bread, olive oil, various sauces and jams, and charcuterie. On Thursday nights they become a wine bar (you can order a tasting flight), and they frequently put on cheese classes or tastings. And, once a month, they have a Guest Chef Tasting. Last night I attended the sold out event featuring Barry Maiden from Hungry Mother (my other favorite place in Cambridge), and neither myself nor my enthusiastic partner were disappointed.
SB at central bottle
One of my favorite parts about events at Central Bottle is that you eat and drink over their wine racks. The racks appear to be wooden (SB doesn’t know anything about those kinds of things) but are topped with glass, and the act of standing over them instead of sitting down at a table makes me feel like I’m right back in Florence, standing at the bar and relaxing.
tasting information sheet
Last night’s event featured three wines paired with three small tastes. First, a white- Borgo Buon Natale Primogenito (2002, $11/bottle). Light, clean, and mineral forward, it was an excellent compliment to the Smoked Bluefish Pate over Iggy’s Sourdough Sesame Crisps*, topped with what I believe was shaved garlic. Though I don’t normally reach for fish spreads, this was excellent and my favorite cicchetti of the evening.
bluefish pate
The second course was a Trenel Fleurie Cru Beaujolais (2005, $21), paired with a Country Style Pate- smoked pork loin on a baguette with whole grain mustard and house made bread and butter pickles. The pairing brought out the smokiness of the pork but didn’t turn bitter when the pickles hit your tongue.
country style pate
The last course was an Il Ghizzano Rosso Toscano (2008, $17), the heaviest (but I thought the smoothest) of the wines, served with a Mushroom Duxelle in Puff Pastry with Gruyere. This was my favorite complete pairing of the night, I could have eaten ten of the pastries and had far more than the tasting glass of wine.
mushroom duxelle
There was a silky bon bon type of treat at the end of the event, but I don’t recall exactly what it was- suffice it to say, it was a perfect end. I will say that my date was still starving after the event (remember, it is a tasting, not a meal). If your date gets cranky at the end of a Central Bottle Chef Event, promise them dinner at Central Kitchen or The Blue Room. If you go when the event starts at 6, you will be done in plenty of time for a 7:30 reservation, and already loosened up for the rest of your evening. Come back the next day to buy your favorite wine, say hi to Maureen, and spend a few minutes wandering around the racks.
*The reason I have all of the information about the cicchetti is because a lovely woman, whose name I did not get/can not remember (Rachel?), was nice enough to write it down for me. Thank you!
Frame: La La Love You
SB is honored that one of her best friends has asked her to speak at her wedding. Even though the wedding is a month away, in true SB fashion I am already marinating on what to say during my toast.
SB and the bride
To prepare this kind of speech, some people might turn to books of poetry for help. But I’m not exactly the type of woman who’s comfortable with a bunch of rhyming nonsense or grandiose descriptions of unrealistic, hyper-perfect relationships. I don’t mean to denounce poetry or love poetry as a genre- there is some lovely verse out there, but it is just not my style, especially when I don’t want some Elizabeth Barrett Browning “How do I love thee” foolishness.
my poetry
Others might turn to the bible. But I think the bride might actually vomit if I stood up and starting prosthelytizing: “Love is patient, love is kind…” Plus, I would start laughing uncontrollably – the bride and I are not bible verse people. Also, the bride is Jewish. So the bible is definitely out.
my bibles
And then of course, there are song lyrics- the cool man’s poetry. The bride and groom are music people, so this choice could actually work, if it wasn’t so ridiculously cliché. I did think about this possibility for awhile, but the best I could come up with was the Pixies “La La Love You” – the lyrics get right to the point:
i love you, i do
i love you
all i’m saying pretty baby
la la love you, don’t mean maybe
But just saying those lyrics out loud would be really boring. And I’m not going all Lloyd Dobler at the wedding.
my song lyrics
So, as you can see from the pictures, I’ve turned to what I love – food – for some inspiration. Which is not to say that I will be reciting “A Recipe for Love” at the wedding (gag). But thinking about my passion(s) and what drives me to love them some days/hate them others has given me clarity on points I want to make during my toast. One of which is that love, like one’s passions in life, is undeniable. You can’t help it, predict it, stop it, or change it. You can just hope that you and your partner have the balls and the bravery to see it through.
I probably will not say “balls” in my toast. I probably will say “bravery.”
french fries with the balls and the bravery to be poutine.
This is not a theme wedding in the vows given while scuba diving/bridesmaids dressed in Renaissance Faire outfits/hidden Mickey Mouse faces on the place settings sense. But there is a theme, and it is around this that I am going to craft my toast.
“Just two people, giving it their best shot.”
Food: It’s Fish, Not Jaws
In my line of work I run across a large section of the population that is literally terrified to cook fish. I can understand- a lot of fish is pricey and there’s less room for error with fish than with other proteins. If you over-cook your beef or chicken, it’s usually still edible, but if you trash an expensive fish you have to order pizza AND you feel like you’ve wasted money. But fish really doesn’t have to make you feel bad about yourself, I promise.
We’ll start off easy with this recipe for Marinated Sea Bass with Vegetables. To address the price issue, I’ll recommend that if you don’t want to shell out for fresh fish you avail yourself of the now plentiful frozen vacuum packed options. For this recipe, I chose a piece of Chilean Sea Bass (if that’s too daunting you can substitute halibut or cod, but I’m recommending CSB because it’s not as delicate or easy to over-cook as other fish). For any of these frozen sealed options, the best way to thaw them is to put them (still in the package) in a small bowl and run cold water over them for 20 minutes. This is how professionals thaw previously frozen fish.
thawing
Next, marinade your fish. You can either buy a marinade that you like, or you can make one (recipe at bottom of post).
Let your fish sit in the marinade for at least 20 minutes, 30 is better. Because Chilean Sea Bass is an oily fish, you won’t need any oil to cook it with this marinade- another bonus point for fish.
marinading
This is basically a stir fry operation, so start by steaming whatever vegetables you’re going to want to add later (carrots, snap peas, mushrooms, sprouts, whatever). Then put these aside- you will warm them up later in the same pan in which you’ve cooked the fish. Fish won’t wait around once it’s done, which is why you want to get your vegetables dealt with first.
Cut the fish in equal sized chunks, then put them in a non stick pan, along with the marinade. Cook over low-medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring steadily. This will cause the marinade to thicken and stick to the fish. You’ll see the fish start to flake at the ends when it is approaching the right temperature (about 10 minutes).
marinade has reduced, fish starting to flake
When this happens, turn up the heat for the last minute of cooking time- the marinade will almost caramelize on your pieces. Remove the fish from the pan, leaving the marinade.
At this point, add your vegetables to the pan and finish them up in the sauce. I’m not really partial to rice, but if you like it, it makes a good accompaniment. I prefer to use a package of chinese noodles, cooked for a few minutes with the vegetables, or to forgo the starch altogether.
Put your vegetables and starch in your bowl, top with fish. Voila.
Thai Lime Ginger Marinade:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ginger, grated
juice of two limes
Mix together and let sit for at least one hour before adding fish.
Frame: A Cautionary Tale
jp licks
Here’s what happens if you order coffee at JP Licks, which, by the way, has an entire section of their menu board devoted to coffee. This section is a fake out.
waiting.
1. The ice cream scooping guys will go in the back to find someone that actually knows how to make coffee. This person will come out and start fiddling with the machine. You will pay for your coffee, and then stand expectantly at the counter, waiting. The coffee person will call someone else over when the machine doesn’t seem to be working. The machine will start making noise and s-l-o-w-l-y producing coffee.
still waiting.
2. Being that you are used to Starbucks, where order to drink arrival time is pretty darn quick, and that you actually know how to use an industrial coffee maker yourself, you will get pretty annoyed pretty fast. You will hear all of the people behind the counter comment on how slowly the machine is making coffee. Your companion will have already finished their ice cream and be starting to get annoyed that you ordered coffee that is apparently impossible to make at JP Licks.
happy!
3. Your coffee will finally be ready and you will be so happy! Your companion will be relieved.
not happy.
4. You will take one sip and realize the coffee is really, really bad and definitely not worth the wait. But damnit, you will drink it anyway.
*pictures are a very realistic re-enactment of actual events.
Fluid: Alibi
alibi (stock photo from web)
I’ll admit, it is possible that last night’s favorable impression of Alibi (part of the Liberty Hotel) was colored by the following:
1. I know one of their very eligible bachelor bartenders.
2. Our extremely attractive and phenomenally capable table waitress took care of us by giving the most impressive withering look to the most obnoxious “I’m from Harvard Business School so it is ok if I harass you endlessly” man- she deserves a standing ovation for saving me the trouble.
3. The crowd had a median age of approximately 14 years older than myself, thus making me feel younger and more attractive.
4. The music they played was all straight out of my first year of college, also making me feel younger. (I realize 3 and 4 are related.)
Positive prejudices aside, my first trip to Alibi was a lot of fun. Definitely a scene, but it was good for a celebration, which is why I was there. Having a table is preferable, as the bar and outdoor area were unbearably crowded by 10pm. But, the wait staff is fantastic and a spin around the floor makes you feel pretty unbeatable. As a friend observed, “it’s nice that this is a bar for unattractive people too.” Meaning, I’m sure, that it was a surprisingly diverse crowd. All I know is that table/bottle service is well worth it, the music is good, the doormen are at your service (once you are inside- if you have to wait in line, screw it- go across the street to Beacon Hill Pub instead), and the bartenders work hard. Wear good (read: hot) shoes, bring your game face, and enjoy the view.
Frame: Pudding Stone and Dog Soup
view from blue hills
Today I went on a hike in the blue hills.
It was not super grueling, but when your companion starts off the hike by saying “this first part is the hardest part” and then immediately says “no, i’m lying,” you should be grateful for the water you brought.
Today didn’t have much to do with food, but I did learn about pudding stone, and there was a dog turning frantic circles in a puddle (stirring up dog soup).
not pudding stone
Tonight, a celebration at Green Street and more.
Feast and Fluid: Guest Chef Night: Central Bottle and Barry Maiden
wine bar night at central bottle (from website)
I’m sure that Barry Maiden’s three small plates with wine pairings will be well worth the cost and wait, but equally as impressive as the food and drink is always the atmosphere at Central Bottle. It’s not really news that this place is fun- they were named Best Wine Shop in Boston Magazine several months ago and continue to garner well deserved attention.
barry maiden. he's cute AND he can cook.
Feast: Fall Farmer’s Market Tour, Part 1
I’m kicking off the fall with a tour of local farmers markets*, one of my favorite things.
Today, I packed up my umbrella and visited the Harvard Square Farmer’s Market, just outside the Charles Hotel. The location is fitting, as the Charles hosts Jody Adams, chef at Rialto and staunch supporter of using local and seasonal ingredients. (Personally I prefer Henrietta’s Table -also at the Charles- a little more low key and less expensive, but still seasonal/local focused.)
There were eight stands, and a fair amount of local produce – Coy Brook and Kimball Farms. Hi Rise bakery and Big Sky also had a tent, and there was a general refreshments area. Hi Rise is right around the corner, so I can see why they were there, but in general it seemed like too rainy of a day for bread and baked goods to live outside and maintain any kind of integrity. The produce, however, was great.
I had never seen speckled roman tomatoes before, and whenever I see a new-to-me vegetable, I get excited. I think that will be a criteria for an eventual ranking of these markets- having something unique.
speckled romans in front
Kimball Farms was hands down the best tent, with a great selection of fall squash (and I appreciate their use of IPM), but Coy Brook did have great flowers.
dahlias.
All in all, the Harvard Square market was good, not great. Preliminary criteria for future ranking:
-Variety of booths
-Quality of offerings
-Unique-ness factor: does it have something no other market has? Or something I have never seen before?
*It is possible I will stretch the term “farmer’s market” to encompass apple picking venues or pumpkin patches, fair warning.
Food: Cheap and Dirty
I never feel like take-out.
Well, I guess that’s not entirely true. I like take-out (and by take-out I mean getting cheap, greasy food delivered) with friends, when its inconvenient to cook or I’m in a festive mood. With a group of people it seems like it has a purpose. But take-out by myself seems empty. Having someone bring me food feels like a cop out, especially when I know I can make most anything I could get delivered better than it will arrive (read as: most take-out is not very good, not “I think I am the world’s best chef”). But, while it’s rare that I don’t feel like cooking at all, there are times when I don’t feel like making a big production.
Maybe I feel a little under the weather.
Maybe I’ve worked an exceptionally long day.
Maybe the big shots invited me out for post-meeting drinks (and man, they can drink). Or it was trivia night and by the time I got home I couldn’t order pizza if I wanted to. Maybe both.
Whatever the cause, this cheap and dirty meal is quick, filling, and indulgent without leaving you full of remorse the next day. Plus, it just tastes good. The ingredients are simple, and you probably have them in your house already:
cheap, and so easy it makes you feel dirty
Chicken Broth, plus salt.
Short Pasta (my preference is ditalini or pastina, but you can use anything short – orzo, shells, fusilli)
Parmesan cheese. I always have this fresh to grate, but the green can would work fine.
If you have it, a tablespoon of lemon juice.
Boil water. Cook pasta. Put pasta in broth. Add lemon juice if you want. Dump liberal amounts of cheese into bowl. Add more cheese. Stir. Eat.
Voila.
Fluid: Hold Me
Wrong.
Frame: Tomatoes and the End of Summer
I love tomatoes. I love fall, and the change of seasons. I love good writing and nice pictures. Here is a taste of all of those things, except the actual tomato.
The Cheat: A Hot Tomato, by Sam Sifton
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/magazine/05Food-t-000.html
Excerpt: “It is time to eat them, these sunsets of the season, then put away our flip-flops and face the fall.”
Roma
by Matthew Dickman
Last night my neighbor was looking a little enlightened,
you know, the way bodies do
after spending the afternoon having sex
on an old couch while responsible people are suffering
with their clothes on in cubicles and libraries.
He had that look vegetables get
in really nice grocery stores where the tomatoes aren’t just red
they’re goddamn red!
He was like that. Like a glowing, off-the-vine Roma
sitting in his living room picking pineapple off a Hawaiian pizza
and telling me about his father who was a real mother
fucker. I ask him if he still loved his dad, or if he loved him more
now that he is dead. Sure, he says, I love anything that’s dead.
Someone’s hand floats up onto the beach
while the body is still lost below the current, a vase of lilacs
turned brown, the black archipelago of mourners marching
up the hill. My neighbor is there to greet each of them
with a box of chocolates and a barbershop quartet in the background.
When my father died, he says opening a beer, he was no longer
my father. He was no longer a man. It’s easy to love things
when they’re powerless, like children and goldfish.
This is the way with enlightened people. They say things
that are so infuriatingly simple when the world is not.
So I put down my Pepsi and pull out the big card.
What about Hitler? I ask. You can’t love Hitler!
My neighbor puts a piece of pineapple on his tongue like a sacrament,
sucks the juice out of it, chews it up, then turns
his head slow like a cloud and says I can love anybody I feel like loving.
And I say that’s ridiculous.
And he says what’s ridiculous is that you don’t. And there he is again,
shining in the grocery store, pulling the bow off
the heart-shaped candies and putting one softly into his father’s mouth.
Food: Don’t be afraid of the big bad Kale
Did you know that kale is pretty much the best thing that you can eat? It has more protein than meat, more calcium than milk. It has more nutrients per square inch than any other food. And it is delicious. Since I was not the head chef for my latest encounter with kale, I can’t take credit for its perfection in a Moosewood Restaurant recipe of Garlicky Greens with Polenta and Tomato Sauce, but I can say that I did an excellent job removing the leaves from the stems of quite a lot of kale.
In general, people seem hesitant to try kale because they don’t know how to cook it, and truthfully, it can go awry and put you off. But a fail safe method is this:
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet or pot. Add kale (leaves torn from stems and chopped, or, buy the pre-cut kale). Cook (while stirring) over medium heat until wilted and tender. You can add garlic, lemon, white wine, whatever flavor that you would like, about 1 minute after you start cooking the kale (once it has reduced and given you more room in the pan).
Go out and eat some kale. It’s good for you.
Food: 7 Tips From MoSB
I’ve mentioned that SB is not a baker. Baking requires too much equipment, too much precision. There are measuring cups and spoons and mixers and teeny tiny amounts of things that, when altered a teeny tiny amount, mess everything up. For me, it is a lot of work for very little (and often very inedible) pay-off.
My mom, on the other hand, is a fantastic baker. This is MoSB:
SB and MoSB. This is not how we dress when she is baking.
I’ve watched my mom bake many times, and brownies are something she can make in her sleep. After countless bake sales, birthdays, and care packages, her recipe (which I am not going to give out here, even though MoSB believes that recipes are to be shared) still stands up. What follows are some tips from MoSB, on baking brownies.
Tip #1: Line your baking dish with Baker’s Joy and parchment paper. This is a relatively new addition to the process, and after listening to MoSB expound on the merits of this system and then watch her struggle to get the parchment into the pan, exclaim “what the hell?” when it wasn’t working, and then finally have to weight down the dish with bowls to get it to stick, I’m not sure if this is a tip everyone needs to use.
"What the hell?"
Tip #3: When a recipe calls for many eggs, crack each one separately, so that one bad egg won’t ruin the whole bunch. This is something that my mom taught me years ago, and when I do cook with eggs, I use this tip.
Tip #4: Use ingredients you trust. While my mom and I are both proponents of using high quality ingredients, if she all of a sudden decided to drop a ton of money on Callebaut chocolate for the brownies, they just wouldn’t be the same. And, as I mentioned, it could change the entire chemical make-up of the dessert, causing a shift in tectonic plates, a meteor shower, and the eventual arrival and take-over of Earth by zombies. Don’t mess with a good thing.
Tip #5: “All in all, this makes for a messy kitchen.” -MoSB
In other words, just make a mess when you are baking. Don’t try to wash the plates as you go, as I always do (I get a kick out of having everything clean by the time I’m actually ready to eat, sue me). While my family jokes that my mother uses every single utensil, bowl, and implement in the house when she cooks, we can’t deny that the finished product is always fantastic.
A delicious mess.
Tip #6: A ceramic knife is really helpful when cutting brownies, as it will cut straight through and not drag crumbs. You can also use a plastic knife, but you can get a good quality ceramic knife for under $10, so might as well invest.
Tip #7: Always leave the spatula for SB. It’s just no fun if you don’t get to lick the bowl.
The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread 