Good Eats in Boston

Guess what? I'm in Boston. Guess what else? I've got food on the mind. Here's some good stuff I ate over the last couple of days...

Legal Seafood in the airport really delivers, especially for terminal fare! Way better than McDonalds or Chili's To-Go. I'd give the chowder a "7" for the clam chunks but it was lacking in heft and seasoning. Their crabcakes were pretty good, too, but they've got nothing on The Original Pierre Maspero's in New Orleans. Nothing. I'm sort of a crabcake snob but I couldn't tell you my criteria. It's just good, better, or best.

Sourdough makes my heart sing. As does butter served room temperature. I'm a bit of a butter snob, too. Cold butter is high on my list of restaurant pet peeves...right under the dreaded half-serve ( where only half the people get their food and awkwardness ensues- We'll wait for yours...no really, go ahead and eat... are you sure? )

 This was the Funghi  pizza at Pasta Beach where I ate way too much, drank way too much ( iced tea) and waddled all the way back to my temporary home. Also, they had beautiful paint colors- striped cream and grey with colorful coastal art. They also had very fresh and tidy looking desserts but unfortunately I had no more room. Oh well, I have four more days here to practice belly space management!

Lately with a side of Candor

I’ve lost a lot of sleep lately with anxiety manifesting itself in the form of interior decorating. Paint color to be exact. It’s been a year since we moved in and it’s time to finish this madness. Do you know how many shades of white have been invented? Too many. You see, it took a long time for me to even get to white. And, even so, it’s now turned to vanilla cream or canvas. Though, hazy sky and urban putty keep creeping in and laughing at me behind my back.

I’ve now employed my friend, Sindy, to help navigate my twisted style preferences of the day. She’s pretty handy since she accepts payment in the form of rugs I buy but no longer like or for which I have no more room. Her weapon of choice is asking me what I like. And, that’s the problem.

I like so many things, I can’t narrow it down. My husband’s patience and our funds are wearing thin with my failed attempts. I’m starting to think the problem is that I’ve been lacking the courage to determine what I don’t like in order to rule crap out. I’m not really one for passing judgment easily which is a trait I usually value in myself. The down side is an extreme undermining of my self-judgment, as of late. So, I told this to a therapist and she ended up telling me all about herself for a full half-hour and told me I should be doing this and should be doing that, which included her recommending I get a colorful couch like hers which happened to be a repeating pattern of montaged Monet. This is when I decided I didn’t need to go back to her despite her slow, concerned insistence that I was going through sooooo much and should really see her for the duration of my free sessions I get through work. Bottom-line, that couch was fugly. And, there it was. The spark of hope that I could make a judgment and be completely okay with it.

I didn’t think about that again until today but that freedom to judge, to make mistakes, to try and try again is precisely what I love about cooking. It’s up to me. If I screw up, there’s another meal in a few hours to try again. Some mistakes are beautiful. Sometimes, I enjoy just being surrounded with gorgeous ingredients. I don’t obsess. I just flow. This is the same feeling I have when traveling with Aubrey. Judgment without fear or guilt, knowing that whatever way we decide to turn, wherever we decide to sleep, however we get there, we’re gonna love every second of it. Maybe it’s not so much the knowing but the decision to love every second of it that counts. Maybe its allowing something to be without definition. Damn. I’m already better than my therapist.

So, that was the lately and here’s the candor...

My parents are getting divorced after about 30 years together and it's messing with me in weird and deep ways.
So, interpret my decorating dillema as you will.

Also, I sorta hate writing this blog. Not so much the idea of writing, because I love writing. And, not so much the topic of Aubrey, food, and travel, because I love these, too. In fact, these are things I am most sure of in my entire life. It’s more about what the idea of this blog meant to me. I approached this thing with extreme ambition, over-thought, and under-execution. Sorta like decorating… hmmm?!?

I took tap lessons when I was younger and got really mad at my instructor because she made me shuffle, ball, heel all flippin’ lesson when all I wanted to do was go Shirley Temple on her ass. It wasn’t that I thought I was advanced. I loved learning. I was just really embarrassed at displaying my lack of skill in front of everyone in the meantime… I wanted to learn in private.

Confession: I used to watch my traffic counts daily. If that's not the cart before the horse I don't know what is. I fantasized about being the next Pioneer Woman. This is embarrassing to admit but I bet I’m not alone in this feeling, especially among the many budding food bloggers out there. The internet is the great equalizer. Anyone can make it in the age of reality stars and American Idol, after all. So, I picked a name. I picked a theme. I picked a differentiating factor. I felt regret for not having a comprehensive business plan or the time to conduct the necessary market research. In other words, I turned this into a work ambition and I started to hate doing it. I hate the disappointment I feel when my posts are lame, when my voice is forced, or when I hear the ring of inauthenticity in my tone. I hate the guilt I feel when I don’t post. Ugh.

I don’t know what I’m doing in the kitchen any more than I know what I’m doing when I travel or when I’m buying rugs or paint or trying to figure myself out. I’ve just embraced enjoying the process and the beauty of the kitchen and travel  (I’ll get there with the others.) I don’t like writing like I know anything and for some reason I've felt compelled to write this way. I much prefer learning as I go and now I’m feeling comfortable doing it out loud without boundaries or embarrassment. I don't know if you'll see changes but I'll feel changes so that's good. Trusty 44 followers... thanks for taking this journey with me. I’m deciding to have some fun with it now. Also, please don't worry about me unless I start posting videos like this:

Pizza

 

I decided to quit buying Naan for my pizza endeavors and just started making my own. I've done P-Dub's Basic Pizza Crust and it's pretty tasty. I'm still working out the kinks on how to make it crispy on the bottom but, generally it's pretty perfect (Someday, I'll quit being lazy and I'll dig out my pizza stone.) Today, we incorporated kale which was weird but I felt really healthy afterward, despite the massive cheese intake. Total combo included kale, tomatoes, red onion, crimini mushrooms, minced garlic, sundried tomato, and basil pesto base. WHY NOT? It was great.

Bread and Butter

Sometimes I get mad cravings for delicious crusty bread lathered in expensive butter that's so delicious it tastes like cheese. This is one of those times. I'm too lazy to go start myself a round of 5 minutes a day bread or the go to No-knead so I'm just gonna satisfy myself by checking out these loaves of days gone by...

 Ugh. No satisfaction. Must start on that "year of the perfect crust" thing...

Po Boys for President

This is a Po Boy. You will find such things if you randomly hop in a car and drive to New Orleans for New Year's Eve or Groundhog's Day or whatever other time strikes your fancy. You will become overwhelmed with the number of "authentic" cajun restaurant offerings and you will want to pull off the highway and get some gumbo in your belly, pronto. I would encourage you to wait. Stake out your options. Look for something real. And, by "real" I mean real good. To do this, you may need to venture a little further off the highway than within sight of the exit. You may need to drive in circles a little bit. You may need to stop and call for directions even though you have three iphones at your disposal and a gps. You may even find that you've passed the place... once or twice. You may accidentally mistake it for an abandoned convenience station. You may realize it WAS a convenience station. At this point, you must go in.

 This  is Robbie G's in Alexandria, LA and I found it ALL BY MYSELF. Okay, Yelp is a helpful tool for this and I am a huge fan but I'm gonna go ahead and claim credit for this because Yelp only got us so far. It got us a name of a place where the "locals go." I had the daring nerve to seek it out and call it my own. I even used their toilet ( which is located " 'round back.")

Mr. Robbie G came out of the back himself, apron on with spatula in pocket and said "Whadyallwan?" We asked. And, we received.

Yum. Get yourself a Po Boy at your earliest convenience like these fine folks. I recommend it with cheese ( as I do for most things.)

New Year, New Word

Once upon a time, I was was way into scrapbooking. Well, more accurately, I was really into buying scrapbook supplies. Anyway, through this process, I became a  follower of the  "one little word" challenge known to the scrapbook community. I liked the idea of having a simple guide to help me remember what's important and be able to document my life accordingly. It soon became evident that the one little word challenge was deeper than a page layout. Thus, Aubrey and I started picking a word every year. For example, our year of "Experience" led us to sacrifice buying home comforts and we saved up like crazy to take a European adventure. Our year of "Be" led us to figure out what makes us tick and brings us peace so we literally moved to a new town. For 2011, we have chosen the word "story." We aren't exactly sure what this means yet... or, more specifically, how this will manifest itself. It's a pretty powerful concept to me. Also, it's compelling because there is no clear direction. What will the story be? I don't know but I want to be presently aware of the actions I take and the contributions I make that develop my own narrative. To me, it's the opposite of "summary." A story is something I've consciously contributed to as both a participant and an observer. Maybe I'll have a story of the year I finally learned how to make baguettes. The story doesn't start if I don't get up and grab some flour. Maybe it's something bigger than perfect crust. I don't know. I'm looking forward to where our word and our story will take us this year.



Now, with all that said, we got a jump start on adding to our personal narrative. We pretty much recruited a buddy, hopped in a car, and celebrated the new year New Orleans style. Stories about that are to come...(yeah, this is a food blog, so expect a bunch about food.)

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

I baked cookies and didn't burn them which is good because these happen to be Aubrey's favorite cookies. 

Me: Aubrey, how would you describe the cookies I just made?

Aub: Good.

Me: No, like if you had to describe the flavor?

Aub: Delicious.

Me: No, I mean, so I could tell people what they taste like?!?!?

Aub: Extra delicious.

Ugh. Let's just give some background info-- I'm not a huge white chocolate fan and I couldn't classify "White Chocolate Macadamia Nut" as my favorite cookie, despite Aubrey's insistence that I just need to try one every  time we go to Subway. I have tried one. Many times.  And, I still don't choose it.  With that said, I ate about 14 of these in 10 seconds flat. Or, maybe over the course of two days, but, I could have and that's the point. Yay for perspective.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies ( a.k.a. The best cookies I've ever made)
Makes about 4 dozen ( Adapted from recipe found at allrecipes.com)

Ingredients 

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla extract.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl; gradually stir mix into the creamed mixture. 
4. Fold in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Perfect Roast Chicken

Really. That's all there is to it.

Perfect Roast Chicken
 Not adapted at all from the amazing, Ina Garten.


 Ingredients
Inocoupon
1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken - I highly recommend organic. It is so choice.
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
1 bunch of Thyme plus 20 sprigs
1 lemon, halves
1head of garlic, halved crosswise
2 Tbsp. melted butter ( 1/4 stick)
1 large yellow onion thickly sliced
4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks on a diagonal
1 bulb of fennel cut into wedges, tops removed
Olive Oil

1.Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry.
3.Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic.
4. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.
5. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.
6. Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. 7.Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

Note: I highly recommend using a roasting pan that allows all sides of the chicken to be exposed, otherwise your skin doesn't get so crisp and golden. 

Sourdough, Wild Mushroom, Bacon Stuffing

If you're like me and already thinking about Christmas dinner, you might be itching to try a new  accompaniment dish. Then again, you might have more important things to think of than a side dish for a meal two weeks out but, this is a food blog so, odds are you're like me and already wondering what the crap you're gonna do to make the holidays special. I'll tell you what you can do. Make this stuffing already and be quick about it.


Okay, there's nothing really quick about this. I think the loving care you put into cultivating the perfection of every morsel is worth it and will be totally be noticable by your guests...well, assuming they take the time to chew versus inhale because, folks, this has bacon in it. Oh yeah. And, three types of mushrooms. And, lots and lots of tart sourdough and herbs and all things good in this world. And, bacon.


Sourdough, Wild Mushroom, Bacon Stuffing
Adapted slightly from original Bobby Flay version( Featured on Throwdown episode with our very own, Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients

1 1/4 pounds sourdough bread, crusts trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 12 cups)
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, coarsely chopped
1/2 pound oyster mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced  ( NOTE: If you have no money like me, do 1 lb of cremini, 1/4 pound oyster and 1/4 pound shiitake--- you'll save bucks and not sacrifice much flavor.)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 pound slab bacon, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 to 5 cups homemade chicken stock or low sodium canned chicken broth
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley


1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Spread the bread onto a large baking sheet (or 2 smaller baking sheets or 4 extra small baking sheets) in an even layer and bake, stirring a few times, until lightly golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Remove and let cool. Once cooled, put the cubes into a very large bowl.

3.Increase the heat to 375 degrees F. Combine the mushrooms in a large baking dish or baking sheet, toss with 3 tablespoons of the oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven, stirring several times, until soft and goldeny brown, about 25 minutes.

4.While the mushrooms are roasting, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large high-sided saute pan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and the fat has rendered, about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels.

5. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the rendered fat in the saute pan and place back on the stove over high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add 3 cups of the chicken stock and the herbs, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer.

6. Add the mushrooms to the bread, and then add the onion/stock mixture, egg, salt and pepper, and gently stir until combined. The dressing should be very wet, add more stock as needed. Scrape the mixture into a buttered 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue baking until the top is golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Note again: You want the dressing very wet but be careful not to go crazy. This stuff absorbs moisture like crazy and before long, you're stuff will look "very wet" but really be a swamp which tacks on a lot of cooking time and makes the flavor much saltier. Still good, though, so do whatever you want.

House Salad

Aubrey and I recently enjoyed a dinner at Caz's Chowhouse, a newish downtown eatery in the Brady district. In addition to having a cool and cozy atmosphere (fireplace, brick walls, exposed bulbs, dark wood, vintage decor... right up my alley) they also have inspired my new favorite salad. Essentially, it's their house salad which features sliced granny smith apples, mixed greens, feta cheese, and sugared walnuts with their lemon herb vinaigrette. I dug it but felt it needed something a little sweet to round out all the tartness that the sugared walnuts just couldn't handle. I had some dried apricots and voila! Also, I had to whip up a lemon herb vinaigrette which is quite different from theirs but still tasty. Give it a go. Also, go to Caz's and order the Chicken and Biscuit. I give you permission to eat it all in one sitting.


Lemon-Herb Vinaigrette ( best applied to our House Salad - quantities are approximate)
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
2 tsp. Red Wine Vinegar
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. salt ( depending on how you like it)
1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp. Herbs de Provence ( or, seriously, whatever herbs you feel like adding. Tarragon would be good... or basil!)
1/2 tsp. white sugar

Optional- I read a recipe that was basically this but added a dollop of dijon mustard without the sugar. I think I'll try this next time.

Mix together and drizzle on salad. Eat it.