Second Dinner

Dinner tonight was a flop. We tried a new recipe- chicken and broccoli casserole from The Six O'Clock Scramble Cookbook. I think the word "casserole" should have warned me off, but I wanted to try it. The Six O'Clock Scramble Cookbook is somewhat hit-and-miss with us. The positives are that the recipes are easy, relatively inexpensive, healthy, and tasty-sounding. The negatives are that the recipes tend to not produce enough food to feed my husband (who eats A LOT, although you wouldn't know it from looking at him), and they tend to be somewhat bland. I think the blandness is in part so the recipes appeal to kids, since the hook of the cookbook is quick, family-friendly dinners. The recipes are somewhat adventurous, given these constraints, but I often find that I need to add a teaspoon of salt to any recipe from that cookbook, because the author almost never includes it in the recipe. We don't eat that much salt at our house; we eat far less than most people. There are some real winners in that cookbook, though. The chicken tikka is a favorite of ours, and there's a spinach noodle bake that is also very tasty. I sometimes bulk it up for my husband by serving a fried egg on top.

Knowing what I know about the overall blandness in these recipes, I decided to punch up the flavor. I sauteed onions to add in with the chicken and broccoli, and when I made the sauce to pour over the chicken, broccoli, and onions, I added lemon zest and salt. I also mixed in a tablespoon of butter into the breadcrumb/shredded cheese mixture that we put on the top before baking.

I didn't think it was that bad, but my husband hated it. He forced himself to eat a small portion. Then we went for a walk, with the idea that he might be able to pick up second dinner for himself. We walked to Harvard Square, and walked around a lot before finally settling on The Garage, which is this food court type building. I had ice cream at Ben and Jerry's (still better than Emack and Bolio's), and my husband had a burger at Flat Patties. Although I liked the fries, which were thinly cut and well cooked, the burger didn't go over so well. I am not sure what the problem was, only that he didn't like it, although he ate almost all of it. He said he might be in a picky mood. I said that he was only allowed to reject one dinner per night! He came home and had a bowl of Weetabix. My opinion of Weetabix is a whole other post.

Barefoot Contessa Roundup

My favorite TV chef/cookbook author is Ina Garten, AKA the Barefoot Contessa. I have all her cookbooks, and back when I didn't have cable, I would schedule my trips to the gym around the Food Network's TV schedule just so I could watch her show. I find her hypnotic to watch, and her recipes almost always work. If you've ever made anything by Rachael Ray, Paula Deen, or Nigella Lawson (the worst offender of them all- I have never had a Nigella recipe come out really well, and I have tried a number of them) The few times when I have been displeased with them, it was because I screwed around with her recipe, or didn't measure things exactly. You can play fast-and-loose with some recipes, but Ina Garten's are written the way they are for a reason. This means that even if a particular direction sounds crazy, you can trust her and follow it anyway.

There are a few quirks about her recipes that I have learned and must work around, however. First, she is a self-professed cilantro hater, so she never adds it to her recipes. I am of a different mind on this subject, so I will put it in dishes that I think would benefit from it. Second, she loves orange flavor as much as she hates cilantro. Many of her recipes have orange juice in it. I don't mind it, but am not crazy about it (I prefer lemon), so often I find that I can cut the amount of orange juice in about one-fourth, and occasionally leave it out altogether, with no adverse effects. Third, she seems to like black pepper. I usually try to put the specified recipe amount, but it can be a little spicy for my husband. Just FYI.

Periodically, I go through her cookbooks and do an inventory of all the recipes that I have made. I will make this list for you now, complete with a five-star rating system. Well, five-asterisk, really. I highly, highly recommend buying her cookbooks, although if you keep a close eye on the Food Network site, you can often find recipes for many of the dishes listed here, but grab them while they're up; the site only keeps Ina's recipes available for two weeks after they appear on her show.

Rating system:

* - Didn't work. Probably my fault.
** - not bad, but a lot of work, and I would think twice before making this again
*** - really, really good
**** - excellent, amazing
***** - stand-out favorites of ours

Cookbook code:

BCC - The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, published 1999
BCP - Barefoot Contessa Parties!, published 2001
BCFS - Barefoot Contessa Family Style, published 2002
BIP - Barefoot In Paris, published 2004
BC@H - Barefoot Contessa At Home, published 2006

Barefoot Contessa Completed Recipe Inventory

Beverages

• Fresh lemonade (BCC) ****
• Herbal Iced Tea (BCFS) ***

Appetizers

• Green Herb Dip (BC@H) ***
• Honey White Bread (BC@H) *** although I think my yeast was old. I haven't totally perfected the art of breadmaking yet.

Soups

• French Onion Soup (BCC) *** I did tinker with this just a little (no veal stock), but it came out great nonetheless.
• Gazpacho (BCC) *** I am not normally a gazpacho person, but my husband is, and this was quite good.
• Fresh Pea Soup (BC@H) ****

Salads

• Curried Couscous (BCC) *** I did add more yogurt, I think.
• Orzo with Roasted Vegetables (BCP) **** I used a half-pound of feta instead of 3/4 lb. It was still really good.
• Brown Rice, Tomatoes, & Basil (BCFS) **** Easy and incredibly good.
• Salad with Warm Goat Cheese (BIP) ****
  Avocado and Grapefruit Salad (BIP)***** I cannot tell you enough how good this salad is.
• Chicken Salad Sandwiches (BC@H) ** Minus the sandwiches. I screwed up on this too- I made it too salty, I think.
• Guacamole Salad (BC&H) *****

Vegetables

• Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Apples (BCP) *** I left off the apple topping and cut back the orange juice to a couple of tablespoons. A little sweet for my husband, but I loved it.
• Sauteed Cabbage (BCP) **** Yeah. It's that good. You think it's going to be smelly and cabbagey, but it is really good. I think the black pepper makes this dish.
• String Beans with Shallots (BCFS) ***
• Zucchini with Parmesan (BCFS) ** It was okay. Easy, but okay. I would make it again, but not mind-blowing.
• Garlic Sauteed Spinach (BCFS) ***
• Sagaponack Corn Pudding (BCFS) ***
• Broccolini & Balsamic Vinaigrette (BC@H) ***

Main Courses

• Indonesian Ginger Chicken (BCC) ***
• Filet of Beef (BCP) **** Super easy. I didn't make the gorgonzola sauce.
• Asian Grilled Salmon (BCP) ** This was really my screw-up. I made half the amount of salmon, but kept the marinade the same. The marinade is really very good, but if you don't keep it proportional, the marinade is overwhelming. I would definitely make this again, but you have to find good salmon, and also I would make sure not to make the same mistake with the marinade, however tempting.
• Chicken Chili (BCP) *** It takes some work to roast all the chicken breasts (it's not going to be as good with frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts from Trader Joe's freezer section), but it is a damn fine chili. It's not your typical chili, though, just FYI.
• Sunday Rib Roast (BCFS) **** She tells you to start with your oven at 500 degrees. Just do it. Be sure you have a meat thermometer. If you don't have a self-cleaning oven, Dawn Power Dissolver is great for getting off the baked-on grease that will burn and set your smoke alarm off if your oven isn't clean when you start cooking.
• Chicken Stew with Biscuits (BCFS) * This recipe has the bad fortune to be the worst one we've ever made. However, my husband and I have NEVER successfully made anything resembling chicken pot pie, so we still blame ourselves. We tinkered with the recipe a bit, but not so much that it should have turned out that badly. We blame our chicken pot pie curse, because apparently we have one.
• Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic (BIP) ** This was better the second day, but the immediate reaction was that it was a lot of work for a recipe that was fine, but... a lot of work.
• Roast Duck (BIP) ****
• Rack of Lamb Persillade (BIP) ***
• Salmon with Lentils (BIP) *** for the salmon, **** for the lentils
• Lemon Fusilli With Argugula (BC@H) *** This is best fresh, not the next day.

Desserts

• Outrageous Brownies (BCC) **** You can easily cut this in half and make it in a 13" x 9" pan.
• Chocolate Buttercream Cake (BCC) ****
• Chocolate Ganache Cake (BCP) **** I made it in cupcake form, as given on the Food Network site. The recipe in the cookbook is for a whole cake. I used Midnight Moo chocolate syrup from Trader Joe's (no high fructose corn syrup in it) instead of the can of Hershey's syrup that the recipe lists.
• Lemon cake (BCP) ***** This is a persuasive cake. We have used it to "butter up" people to get favors.
• Peach Raspberry Shortcakes (BCP) *** Just the shortcakes, though. I used them for strawberry shortcake.
• Old-fashioned Apple Crisp (BCP) ***, but the crisp topping gets ****. Be sure to cut back the orange juice. I almost certainly used different apples than the ones used in the recipe. I like Jonagold apples for my baked apple desserts.
• Deep Dish Apple Pie (BCFS) * I think this was probably my fault too- too much orange juice. I didn't even measure it, just splashed it in. However, I have another great recipe from the Food Network kitchens that I just use instead, so I have never tried this one again. Also, this recipe calls for Granny Smiths, which don't produce my favorite results.
• Tiramisu (BCFS) ***** Another five-asterisk recipe. This recipe is especially good if you can get the savoiardis from Trader Joe's, which sadly, I can't anymore. The ones from Whole Foods just aren't as good. Still fine, but not as good. I always make this dessert for dinner parties.
• Homemade Marshmallows (BCFS) ** Good, but not worth the effort. Making these was a very sticky process!
• Plum Raspberry Crumble (BIP) **** BUT I didn't use plums or raspberries. I used this recipe as a guide to make blackberry crumble. Same crumble topping as the apple crisp. That crumble topping is definitely *****.

Breakfast Foods

• Challah French Toast/Pain Perdu (BCFS/BIP) **** These two recipes are almost identical, but one uses challah, and one uses brioche.

Full tummies, high spirits

Today was a day of exploration. First stop was at Hi-Rise Bread Company on Brattle St. in Cambridge to pick up a loaf of bread. I decided on the potato bread, and decided to get a mini sandwich cookie and a lemonade. The lemonade was fantastic! Much better than the lemonade I had last weekend at a farmer's market in my husband's hometown, which tasted like chemicals, not real lemons. The Hi-Rise lemonade was lemony fresh, tart and had just enough sweetness. The sandwich cookie was also really good. The chocolate cookies had a tiny hint of coffee flavor. So good. I will definitely go back.

Then we decided to go walk around Boston Common and the Public Garden. I fed the ducks, which I wasn't supposed to do, but I didn't see the signs that said not to feed the duck until AFTER I had already finished feeding them. Oops. I quit when one goose started slowly advancing on me. Geese are scary!

We decided to try to have dinner on/around Newbury Street, but one of the problems with this plan is that you end up paying for the rent on Newbury Street rather than your food. We looked at a few different places; Parish Cafe (not on Newbury, but on Boylston), Stephanie's on Newbury, and Upper Crust. We rejected Parish because we weren't in the mood for sandwiches and weren't excited about the other food on the menu, Stephanie's for being too expensive and not really inspiring enough for us to forgo eating at Central Kitchen, which was our backup plan, and Upper Crust because I wasn't in the mood for pizza. We decided to head back to Cambridge to Central Kitchen, but not before we got some ice cream. We went to Emack & Bolio's, because we hit that before we got to J.P. Licks. I have to say.... not as good as Christina's in Inman Square. Not nearly. It was too sweet, the texture was a little gritty, and it didn't have the rich flavor that Christina's ice cream has. I also missed the unusual flavors that Christina's has- flavors like Burnt Sugar and Mexican Chocolate. I am going to stick to Christina's, I think. I will still give J.P. Licks a try if I come across another one.

We then took the #1 bus back down Mass Ave to Cambridge, and had dinner at Central Kitchen. Central Kitchen is remarkable for its casual upscale environment in a sea of dumpy-looking, gritty retail. We split a half-dozen oysters, and I got the mussels and my husband got the rib-eye steak. All of it was amazing. It's a little on the pricey side, but the food is really good and the portions are reasonably sized, so overall, a good deal.

Yogurt Cucumber Soup

Many cultures have some kind of yogurt/cucumber mixture. India has raita, the middle east has jajik, and Greece has tzatziki. The combination of creamy tang and refreshing crunch seems to have near-universal appeal.

I made a really delicious yogurt and cucumber soup today. My mother-in-law made one when we visited them this weekend, and I wanted to recreate it.

2 English cucumbers, peeled and cut into chunks
2 1/2 cups plain yogurt (any fat content)
2 cups water
2 tsp salt
2 cloves of garlic, crushed or rough chopped
1 1/2 T fresh dill
1/2 t dried mint (optional)

Combine ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Chill and serve cold.

Here is another yogurt/cucumber recipe, if the idea of cold soup is unappealing.

Cucumber yogurt salad

1 English cucumber, diced in 1/2-3/4 inch pieces
1/2-3/4 cup of Greek Yogurt (any fat content, but obviously, the fattier the yogurt, the tastier it will be... I won't lie)
1 T chopped fresh dill
1/2 - 1 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. This recipe really is better with Greek yogurt, which despite my whinging, I can buy at my local Trader Joe's.... but only the plain kind, not the flavored kind. Traditional yogurt is not as tangy, and is also watery. If you can't get Greek yogurt or don't want to pay the extra money for it (if you have a TJ's, it's definitely worth it), at least strain your yogurt by putting it in cheesecloth in a colander for several hours. You can also use good paper towels if you don't have cheesecloth.

Chacarero

A few weeks ago, I took the T to Downtown Crossing to check out that famous non-food-related Boston institution, Filene's Basement. Well, it was everything that I had been promised. Too bad it is closing down, although I understand the closing is temporary.

I took the opportunity to grab a sandwich at Chacarero. Chacarero started as a food truck, which is automatically endearing in my book! I am not a huge sandwich fan, but these are pretty good. How can you not love something with avocados, green beans, and beef? The small sandwich was still too enormous to eat in one go, so I just kept eating it whenever I was hungry for the rest of the day. The sandwich bread doesn't really hold up that well for more than a few hours, but it was still fine. Great food, and a great food story of an immigrant who gained success by hard work and a good product.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do??

Trader Joe's, don't make me break up with you.

We had a particularly disappointing trip there this week; we walked out with 2 bags of groceries only, and paid over $66 for them. What?? This seems ridiculous to me. I probably would not have paid more than $40 for those 2 bags in California. We went to Whole Foods next, and we took our Trader Joe's receipt in to compare prices. Trader Joe's still won on the dairy front (mostly- heavy cream was cheaper at Whole Foods, but milk, eggs, and specialty products like creme fraiche and mascarpone cheese were cheaper, while shredded cheese was the exact same price), but the produce prices were mostly comparable, and sometimes a tiny bit cheaper. Other products were on par. Trader Joe's, it is a sad day when Whole Paycheck is competitive with your prices! Since Whole Foods has better produce, I have to wonder why exactly should I shop at Trader Joe's? They aren't carrying the unique products that I really loved out in California and their prices aren't really much better than anywhere else. It's close enough to where we live that I will still shop there, but if I had to seek it out, like I did back when I lived in the Washington DC area, I probably wouldn't bother at all.

1369 Slides

I stopped at 1369 Coffee House (so named because their first location was at 1369 Cambridge St.) on my way home from the public library so I could get one of their frozen slides, which is basically a fruit icee type beverage. They come in coffee and fruit flavors, and they are the perfect sweet refresher during a muggy walk through Cambridge. They are also good for drinking while studying! I had the peach slide a couple of weeks ago, and tried the mango today. I think I prefer the peach; it's not as sickly sweet as the mango, although both actually taste like fruit, not like an artificial chemical mess.

1369 is the kind of neighborhood coffee place that attracts all types, which is fitting for a place located right in the heart of the People's Republic of Cambridge. You see everyone from the preppy, business-casual middle-aged men having some kind of meeting, to the woman working on a macrame cover for a glass bottle (?) to students to people who, while they may not be homeless, sure could use a shower (sometimes this category includes the people behind the counter too... not always, but sometimes). There is something for everyone at 1369- coffee for the coffee lovers, snacks for the hungry, oodles of exotic teas for the tea lovers (this is me), and even free wi-fi for the students and internet junkies. Not many neighborhoods in America have a hub, but I think that if there is a hub of the Central Square neighborhood (aside from the T stop), 1369 just might be it.

Cali v. MA: Grocery Store Throwdown

Although I am really thrilled to be back on the East Coast, I will say that there is one thing that California does right. Besides weather. That's grocery stores. I am not talking your Safeways, or your Albertsons, which are generally pretty crappy, and not as clean or nice as the Star Market or Shaw's that I have visited. I am talking everything else. This is the state where Trader Joe's started, after all.

One of the reasons why we decided to move to Boston over other places was the grocery stores, NO LIE. In Boston, you throw a rock and hit 2 or 3 Whole Foods Markets. They now have Trader Joe's here as well. However, we still haven't adjusted to some of the East Coast differences. Here's what we miss:

• Most of all, the Trader Joe's flavored Greek yogurts. You can get the Mediteranee 8.5% milkfat yogurts at Whole Foods, but they are not as good. My husband practically lived on the Greek yogurts (which are not the same as the Fage yogurts that are plain, but have the little compartment of flavoring on the side, like honey or cherry puree). On my first visit to TJ's here, I went to the manager and begged him to carry them. Apparently this really is a East/West divide here, in terms of suppliers. My next step is to write a letter to headquarters. I am totally serious.
  
• The tasty salsas at TJ's. There just aren't that many. However, I can just go back to making my own in the food processor, something that I used to do, but I got out of the habit because good salsa practically grows on trees in California.
  
• The olive bar at Whole Foods. I have only been to two so far, but I miss being able to go to the olive bar and pick out a bunch of olives of different varieties. I need to scope out the one out by Fresh Pond. Maybe they will have enough square footage to have an olive bar. The Whole Foods between Central Square and Inman Square has a little antipasto bar with some olives, but they don't have the green olives stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes! You can buy those olives at the Whole Foods in Cambridgeport, though. I highly recommend them; they are terrific!

All in all, that is a pretty short list. I have noticed that food is more expensive here, but I am not sure if that is an overall issue related to the Boston metro area, or if we would pay less if we were out shopping somewhere like Lexington or Stoneham.

We have found some great shops, though. Russo's in Watertown is terrific. Their huge selection of produce is reasonably priced (even if everything else isn't), and also high quality. They also have a lot of other gourmet products including homemade pasta and sauces and nice looking bakery products. Plus they sell plants! Also in Watertown are not one, not two, but three Armenian grocery stores! I am still debating which one is the best, but I am leaning towards Massis right now, just because of their most awesome baked goods. I don't think I'll ever make choreg again, as long as I can buy it at Massis!

I still have to try out the farmers' markets. There are a lot of local farms around, so I am hoping that the offerings are good, even if the growing season is short.

Boston Eats

Three weeks ago, I moved from the Organic/Local Food Capital of the World (California, that is) to Boston. I am crazy, crazy, crazy about eating, so the first thing in any new place that I am most attuned to is the opportunity for food consumption. Eating is also what sticks out in my memory the most. When we visited Boston during the winter to see if we wanted to move here, we pulled up to the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, and I said, "Hey, I've eaten here!" I had a great meal at Henrietta's Table when I visited a friend of mine at Harvard during our college years. I remember almost nothing else about that visit (well, I also remember being incredibly excited to see the ducklings statues... Make Way for Ducklings was one of my favorite books as a child), but I remember eating at Henrietta's Table.

Food was good in California. Really good. How will Boston stack up?