Great Bento at Yasu in Brookline!

Thinking about lunch today we had two things in mind - something Asian and something cheap. A Bento box lunch special was precisely what we needed. Having good memories of a meal here some time ago, we headed to Yasu, a Korean, barbecue and sushi restaurant in Coolidge Corner.

The choices for the lunchbox special are pretty straight forward - a few Korean dishes, some sushi combinations, tempura, and a couple of teriyaki dishes. Each comes with a bowl of Miso soup, a salad, rice, and a "chef's choice" surprise. All average around $9, with the exception of one of the sushi selections. I opted for the kalbi(갈비), which is marinated beef short ribs in a "special sauce". Chris went with the spicy pork (돼지불고기), which is fairly self explanatory. After slurping up our miso, which was very good, I was very pleased to see a big bento box chock-full of delicious-looking things headed my way!

In addition to the chosen dish, rice, and salad were 3 pieces of california roll, a noodle salad, and what seemed to be fried orange chicken. The marinated beef was delicious and served alongside the bone it came off of. The "special sauce" was soy-based but I'm not sure what else was going on in there, maybe some ginger, garlic, etc. The "chef's choice" was, indeed, orange chicken with little pieces of baby corn and scallion, and though it was a little bit cold, it was very good. The sushi was pretty standard, and the noodle salad was nice - stir-fried cellophane noodles served cold with little bits of vegetable. It may have been japchae.
Chris' pork was also very tasty. It wasn't super spicy by any means but the thinly sliced pieces of fried pork definitely spent some time with hot chili peppers.

All in all it was a very successful lunch for a total of $24 for two including tax and tip. I'm looking forward to returning!

Goose Island Sofie Belgian Style Ale

Going back to my parents' house in Illinois for the holidays, I am always excited to indulge in local beers I can't typically find back home in Boston. One of my favorite Chicago-based breweries, Goose Island, recently came out with a line of vintage and vintage reserve ales. Thanks to my sister's boyfriend's attempt at buying my affections with beer, I had the opportunity to try two of them, Matilda and Sofie.
While I thoroughly enjoyed both of them, Sofie came out on top. Described as a beer for champagne drinkers, which I certain am, Sofie is a "tart, dry, sparkling ale" with a "subtle, spicy white pepper note, a hint of citrus from the orange peel and a creamy vanilla finish". It was incredibly light and refreshing and had that lovely slightly musky Belgian taste about it. A little more pricey than the standard Goose Island brews, it is certainly worth the extra couple dollars. Rumor has it that Brookline's Public House Provisions had it in stock, but I fear the store has since shut down for good. Regardless, I look forward to trying to rest of the line of new ales Goose Island has to offer wherever I may come across them!

Mamie Eisenhower's Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Every year around this time, it seems I am given or happen upon this recipe. Supposedly, it is Mamie Eisenhower's very own Pumpkin Chiffon Pie. After reading the ingredients and directions, I decided this year, I would give it a shot. It looked extremely easy and hey, if it was good enough for the President, it's good enough for me. It only took a few minutes to whip up (I confess I used frozen pie-crust) and I let it chill for a few hours before diving in. To my delight it was great! Below is the recipe in case you need something quick and easy for this Thanksgiving or for a Fall dinner.

Mamie Eisenhower's Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Ingredients:

1 env. plain gelatin

4 tbsp. cold water

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs, separated

1/2 cup milk

1-1/2 cups canned pumpkin

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. allspice

3 tbsp. granulated sugar

1 baked 9" Pie Shell

Directions:

Soak gelatin in water for about 5 minutes. Combine brown sugar, egg yolks, milk, pumpkin, salt and spices in top of double boiler. Cook over boiling water, stirring until thickened. Remove from fire. Add gelatin, stir until thoroughly dissolved. Chill until mixture begins to set. Beat egg whites quite stiff; gradually add sugar while continuing to beat until stiff. Fold the meringue into pumpkin mixture. Pour into baked pie shell and chill until set.

Marilyn Monroe's Stuffing Recipe

The NY Times today published an all but forgotten stuffing recipe from an unlikely cook. Marliyn Monroe. The recipe appears in a new book entitled, "Fragments" about Monroe. The Times adapted it slightly for measurements and it appears here. You can read the full article here.

Commonwealth Quality

The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources has launched a new program that will help consumers know that their food was grown and packaged in the Commonwealth. Look for this seal on the products you buy and know you are supporting local producers and helping to keep your carbon footprint lower.

For more information, read on: <http://www.mass.gov/agr/markets/commonwealth_quality.htm>.

Geoffrey's opening soon in the Back Bay

A few months ago we went to Geoffrey's in Roslindale. We loved it. So, we were excited to hear that they were going to be opening up a new location in the South End/Back Bay where Laurel used to be.

As we walked by today, carpenters were busily working, and "opening soon" signs were in the windows. We are looking forward to opening day...

Make Your Own Herbs de Provence

It always bothered me that in the U.S. if you wanted herbs de Provence you were going to have to first, spend half a month looking for them and then, after you found them, spend way too much money to buy a small pinch of them. After going to Provence and seeing how cheap the mixes are there, I was even more annoyed. Well, I have found a solution. I decided to make my own. You can buy dried herbs online for relatively cheap. I chose to use Mountainroseherbs.com and was very happy with the quality (plus they mostly sell organic!). For around 20 dollars (plus shipping) I was able to make over a pound of Herbs de Provence. Williams-Sonoma sells the same thing for 18 dollars an ounce! If I had bought that amount of herbs de Provence at Williams-Sonoma, it would have cost me over $300! Below is the recipe I used to create my mix (most mixes in America include basil but I noticed in France, the majority do not... so I stuck with the traditional mixes I saw):

4 oz Summer Savory

4 oz Marjoram

4 oz Rosemary

4 oz Thyme

1 oz Lavender (you can leave out the lavender if you want as a lot of mixes don't have it but there's something about the scent of lavender that's just "oh-so-Provence")

Boston Food Market

Let's hope this actually happens. They've been talking about it for a long time. This will be great for Boston!  Read the Boston Globe article here.

image credit: Utile Design via Boston Globe

Read the Boston Globe article here.

Teton Brews

While shopping for beverages here in Idaho, we came across some local microbrews at the grocery store from the Grand Teton Brewing Company and the Snake River Brewery. Our choice was clear. We realized HOW local some of these were when on the way back home, I looked over and saw that the Grand Teton Brewing Company is right up the road from the house!

Apart from the one that says "Alaskan," these beers are crafted very close by in Victor, Idaho or Jackson Hole, WY. As you can see, we got an assortment. They were all very good, but our favorite was the Lost Continent Double IPA, a special brew with three lbs. of hops in every barrel. It was delicious and surprisingly citrusy. 


My two other favorites were the Snake River Lager and the Snake River Pale Ale. The Old Faithful Ale was also noteworthily good. 

Boston Food Truck Festival

Apparently, there is a Food Truck Festival in the works!

More info here: Boston's 1st Annual Food Truck Festival

Here is a blurb from the Boston Herald

>>Citysearch Boston and SoWa Sundays are trying to corral the Hub’s burgeoning food truck scene into one location next month.They’ve put out the call for food trucks to participate in Boston’s First Annual Food Truck Festival.
The event is scheduled for Aug. 8 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at 500 Harrison Ave., the South End location for the outdoor SoWa bazaar that runs from May to September. <<

Macaron Party

Earlier this year, we had a macaron-making party. It was our first time, and we were a little nervous; but, in the end, we had some fantastic little pastries. It is definitely worth the effort. Here are a few snapshots.

Macaron Party

A Peek at Menorcan Cuisine

A bit over a week ago I had the opportunity to spend a wonderful weekend in Menorca, one of the Balearic Islands off the East Coast of Spain. Settled at different points by Phoenicians, Arabs, Catalans, French, and English, among other peoples, the island's gastronomy reflects a wonderful mix of cultures and traditions and of course all the wonders the Mediterranean has to offer.

The spiny lobsters that come to the Balearic coasts are renowned as some of the Mediterranean's tastiest, especially those caught between Mallorca and Menorca. Though prepared in a variety of ways, the most famous by far is the Caldereta de Llagosta, a simple but outstanding lobster stew not unlike the French Bouillabaisse. At around 60€ for 500 grams (plenty for two people to split) it is certainly on the pricier end of things, but in my experience totally worth it.
Fornells, a small fishing town on the island's north-central coast is said to be the place to get it, so naturally we enjoyed our stew there at Es Port, a restaurant just along the port.

With seafood on a Mediterranean island you really can't go wrong - grilled razor clams, raw cockles, broiled angler fish, and squid both stuffed and fried were among the delicacies we constantly indulged in. If I were to pick a standout after the caldereta, however, I'd have to say that the garlic prawns from Café Balear on the port of Ciutadella were a cut above, so incredibly flavorful and tender I could have eaten 10 kilo's worth.

Moving onto products from land, perhaps the most well-known product would be Maó cheese, shown here with Sobrassada, a sausage typical of neighboring island Mallorca. The cheese is made from cow's milk and sine 1985 has had its own denominación de origen (guarantee of origin) and is protected by a regulating council. We tried three varieties of it - the younger cheeses are more rich and creamy and perfect with a bit of honey on bread or with black pepper and olive oil - the older, harder variety is more akin to parmesan. Another delicacy further inland would be Menorcan roast suckling pig. Being on the western coast outside of Ciutadella certainly didn't stop us from having this at "Sa Caldareta" down the street. The skin was probably the best pig skin I've ever had - thick as bacon but crispy like a potato chip, certainly my daily serving of fat in one bite, but absolutely mind-blowingly delicious.

Menorca is also known for its sweets, our favorite being "amargos", a wonderful crispy-on-the-outside but chewy-on-the-inside almond-flavored cookie. Other options are carquinyols, little crispy bite-size biscotti, and pastissets, flower-shaped cookies often filled with sweet jelly. Lastly you have ensaïmada, a circular almost phyllo-like pastry whose name comes from the saïm, or pork lard, from which it is made. They come in all different sizes, some as big as 2 feet wide, and can be either sweet or savory, filled with chocolate paste and dusted with powdered sugar, or filled with local pork sausage. We devoured a maybe 20-inch chocolate one in two sittings :-)

Finally, a trip to Menorca is not complete without going through one or two bottles of Xoriguer gin, a local gin unusually produced with wine alcohol. When 18th Century British soldiers arrived along with their taste for gin, they decided to try to make their own using imported juniper berries and alcohol distilled from grapes. The result was a gin unlike any other! The best and most traditional way to drink it is in a cocktail called the pomada - take a hearty dose of xoriguer over ice, then simply add a sparkling lemonade - Fanta will do. Alternatively you could use fresh lemon juice with a bit of soda water and simple syrup. I can't even tell you how many of these I had during my week there - so refreshing and delicious, and perfect when I want something a little different from my summer standby the gin and tonic. Needless to say I will be bringing at least one bottle of this back with me as I've never seen it in the states! We were lucky enough to visit the Xoriguer distillery in Maó and see them make the gin ourselves, not to mention help ourselves to free tasting of all the company's other products, from rose liqueur to Menorcan pastis!

I will most definitely be returning to the Balearic Islands at some point in my life, if not just for the food!

Firenze: Biscotti

A plateful of delicious Italian cookies we just got from Paszkowski in
the Piazza della Repubblica (which has been in Florence since 1846).

The little cantucci are Florence's version of biscotti.

The little bow-tie shaped cocoa shortbreads have inspired us to add
that shape to our repertoire.

Crostini Toscana

In Florence: Crostini with pâté of chicken liver.

Delicious.

First Negroni in Italy!

NEGRONI

1 part gin

1 part sweet vermouth

1 part bitters, e.g., Campari

Châteaubriand de bœuf

P had the Châteaubriand served with rosemary-roasted potatoes and
ratatouille.

Agneau à Monaco

Agneau with sage gnocchi and sautéed haricots verts.

It was fantastic!

Côtes de Provence

Provence's rosés are perfect for a Summer day!

Ah, Provence!

Local olives, local wine: a perfect apéro! ...and all for 5€!

Crema catalana

Which came first? Crema catalana or crème brûlée?

This version of crema catalana from Cuines Santa Caterina in Barcelona
was excellent.