Tea and a Shameless Plug

Tea is a big deal in Europe, India, and the rest of Asia. Actually, it's a big deal everywhere outside of the U.S. To give credit where credit is due, the U.S. is catching on. There are all sorts of tea websites and tea catalogues (I would link you to Melissa's earlier post but I don't know how. Sorry) available, and even entire stores devoted to tea. This is very exciting for me. I do not believe there has been a day in my life (only slight exaggeration here) that I have not had at least one cup of tea. It is a part of my day, much like checking my email a zillion times.

Prince of Wales Tea was recommended by a friend - I like my tea with references. A little background: Prince of Wales tea was, not surprisingly, named after Edward, Prince of Wales (Edward VIII) who requested a "carefully blended tea." You don't know what that means? That's ok, neither do I. This particular tea blend contains Oolong, Assam, Gunpowder, and other varieties of tea leaves.

This is not a tea one drinks when in a rush. This is a tea that one needs to sit and think about - it is not a straightforward flavor. The first taste smoky, next up a slight tint of resin. It reminded me Lapsang Souchong, the diet version. The overpowering resin flavor in Lapsang was tempered in Prince of Wales, and the overall taste was softer and rounder but still quite distinct. This tea requires time and attention, so beware!

Yesterday, I had a cup of Prince of Wales my favorite mug.

And now, it is time for the shameless plug. I will never do this again, I promise, but bear with me because this is important. The mug is from an organization in Seattle, Chaya, one that my very close friend has devoted herself to for the last two years. And I mean devoted, wholly, and entirely. Chaya serves the South Asian women's community in Seattle, aiding victims and survivors of domestic violence, and striving to raise awareness of domestic abuse in the South Asian community. If you have time, take a look at the website.

That's it for my shameless plug. I feel not too guilty about it - it's not like I was selling that spray that's supposed to simulate hair. Do people actually buy that?

~AK

Happy Memorial Day!

From America's Most Beloved Ballpark! Have a hot dog to celebrate (you know I will)!
~Lissa

Last Sunday Night Dinner: Jonathan's Guest Post

Although I've been in the Sunday dinner rotation for awhile, I've only hosted dinner several times. The past two times I hosted I tried to do a typical Korean meal, which in the end turned out to be only semi-Korean. This is partly because I don't know where the Korean grocery stores are in the Boston area other than Super 88, which is more a pan-Asian grocery store (double shame on me). So when Lissa offered to drive me out to Framingham where she said there was an authentic Korean grocery store i.e. one where the proprietors speak Korean and only a few words of English, I figured this would be a good chance to cook some more authentic Korean food..
The main dish I was planning to cook is called japchae. Essentially it is a noodle dish with beef (bulgogi) and an assortment of vegetables. The noodles are clear and made from potatoes. Most japchae dishes include colorful vegetables like carrots, onions, green onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, etc. along with the beef. As it turns out, the Korean grocery store, Asinayo, had everything I needed. Although I understand Korean, I can only speak a few words (I was born in America), but when I told the clerk I was making japchae, she pretty much did the shopping for me. I got the necessary ingredients as well as a few extra items that would work as side dishes. One could say I was quite content when I left the store...there's nothing like shopping at truly authentic establishments.
Before I go any further, I want to say a few words about my experiences with Korean food. I grew up eating mainly Korean food all the time, compliments of my mother. Even at Thanksgiving dinner, next to the turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, there would be a bowl of steamed rice and some kimchee, almost to remind us that we were still Korean (I was blasting Public Enemy at the time). For me, Korean food is what you would call comfort food, and so I tend not to cook Korean food that often because I know I'll be eating a lot of it when I visit my parents. To be honest, I also know no matter how hard I try to cook Korean food, it will never be as good as mom's, but for the sake of the Sunday night dinner and Grey's Anatomy, I was damn sure gonna try.
After getting back from the Korean grocery store, I made a brief prep list and schedule for the next day. The last time I hosted, I grossly miscalculated how much time I would need, so I wanted to make sure I got a head start. Below is a picture of my schedule for Sunday, which I more or less followed. Anal retentive? Perhaps, but if I am to have a cooking disaster, I would rather it not be in front of people. I started in the morning making a salad dressing and chopping vegetables for the japchae dish. The salad dressing is a recipe I got from my mother (big surprise), and it is by far the best homemade salad dressing recipe I've ever had. I don't know if it has a name, but for now I'll just call it:


"Mom's Damn Good Asian Salad Dressing"

1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
2 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Whisk together all ingredients or add to a bottle and shake. Topping off the salad with sesame seeds and/or cochoo gado (crushed red pepper) is also a nice touch too.

For the japchae dish, there was a lot of vegetables that needed chopping, and since I don't have a mandoline, there was knife work to be done. Also, the dried mushrooms that I bought (shitake) needed to soak in cold water for an hour, and I had to blanch the spinach in boiling water. I chopped my way through red and yellow peppers, green onions, a white onion, a zucchini, and some carrots (you basically need to julienne the veggies). After the mushrooms were done soaking, I squeezed the excess water from them, and I did the same with the spinach after boiling it for 3-4 minutes. It is amazing how much spinach shrinks after blanching, and I realized that there was nowhere near enough spinach to use in the japchae dish. This was not a complete disaster though because I did have other green vegetables in the mix, and also because marinated spinach is a common side dish, as Lisa and Anna can attest to after our Korean feast at Wuchon House in Union Square. The marinade for the spinach is rather simple: minced garlic, sesame oil, sea salt, sesame seeds, and cochoo gadoo (crushed red pepper). I let that sit at room temperature in a covered bowl.
With the vegetables prepped for the japchae, I turned my attention to the meat. I took the easy way out on this one. The main meat dish in Korean cuisine is called bulgogi - thinly sliced ribeye beef that's marinated in sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, green onions, and if you want, rice wine vinegar. Whenever I visit my parents, my mom marinates a whole bunch of bulgogi, then freezes them down in Ziploc bags, in 1/2 pound aliquots (yes, I work in a lab too), and I get to take this back up with me to Boston. For the japchae, I pulled out roughly 1 1/2 pounds of bulgogi to thaw in the refrigerator the day before. All I had to do now was cut the bulgogi into smaller strips and cook it with the rest of the vegetables. Pre-marinated bulgogi is a beautiful thing, I must say. On that note, pre-marinated anything is a beautiful thing.
The next step is to sauté the vegetables and the bulgogi. For the vegetables, I sautéed them separately in vegetable oil and salt. Normally I would use sesame oil, but since I was seasoning the noodles with sesame oil, I didn't want to go overboard. I don't know about Chinese and Japanese cuisine, but when preparing Korean food, sesame oil is analogous to olive oil for Italian cuisine. I think it has a much stronger flavor than olive oil, so you have to use it in moderation. After I finished sautéing the vegetables and mushrooms, I cooked the bulgogi in a skillet and then set everything aside while I cooked the noodles. Because the noodles are so thin, they cook in about 5-6 minutes; it is important to rinse the noodles afterwards though because the noodles release a lot of starches and other preservatives that are common among dried noodles. Once the noodles are rinsed, I spent a fair amount of time with kitchen scissors chopping up the noodles because they are quite long. The noodle marinade consists of soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar, which I whisk together in a separate bowl then pour over the noodles. The noodles soak up the marinade very fast, but you have to toss the noodles to ensure the marinade distributes evenly.
With the noodles marinated, I was ready to add in the vegetables and the bulgogi. I tossed the vegetables with the noodles first and then separated a portion of that out for a vegetarian option, and then mixed the bulgogi with the other batch. Unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures at this time, which is why the pictures show the japchae half eaten. I covered the japchae with aluminum foil and placed it in the oven, which I kept at the "warm" setting while I moved onto the other dishes. Next up was a marinated tofu dish my mother made. I never really liked tofu until I had this dish, and I had made it the last Sunday dinner I hosted and people seemed to like it. One of the purchases I made at Asinayo was organic firm tofu which came as a block. You can buy soft tofu, but those tend to fall apart more easily when you sauté them and more useful in soups or stews. I chopped the firm tofu (dubu) into 1-inch squares, about a 1/2-inch thick. I fried them lightly on both sides in sesame oil, about 3-4 minutes a side over low-medium heat. The sauce for the tofu is pretty much the same as the other marinade:


1/2 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar (or to taste)
2 cloves minced garlic
1-2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
Crushed red pepper to taste
Finely chopped scallions or chives

Pour the marinade over the lightly sautéed tofu, and that's that. Those were the two main dishes for the dinner, with the japchae being the main course.
For side dishes, I served steamed rice, the marinated spinach, kimchee (pickled spicy cabbage), takuwon (pickled radish), kimchee mandoo (dumplings filled with kimchee), kim (dried seaweed seasoned with sesame oil and salt), and for people who wanted their food spicier, cochi jang (hot and spicy pepper paste). With the exception of the rice, I bought all these items at Asinayo. My mom does all her own pickling, so she has these huge pickling jars filled with kimchee and takuwon. In my case, the kimchee, takuwon, and cochi jang came straight out of the containers, while the kimchee mandoo were frozen and merely had to be pan-fried in some water for a couple minutes.

I was surprised to find the kim already seasoned in the package, which saved me some time. At the last dinner I cooked, the kim I bought was not seasoned, so I had to do it myself, with some help from Lisa. The seasoning consists of brushing both sides of the seaweed square with sesame oil, placing it on a sauté pan over low-medium heat and cooking it over about a minute or two per side. Afterwards, sprinkle both sides with salt, divide the square into fourths, and you're ready to eat. Although kim tastes good on its own, I also like to make a kind of seaweed wrap with them, where I'll take a square, place some rice in it, some kimchee, and some bulgogi, top it off with some cochi jang, wrap it up, and it's ready to go.
So that was the whole meal, start to finish. This was probably the most authentic Korean dinner I've ever made, although all the sides were store-bought and ready to eat. What this really means is that as long as you know where there's a Korean grocery store, then you can easily prepare a Korean dinner.

Japchae (Mom's version)
(This is a "loose" recipe in that you can use whatever vegetables you like in whatever amount you like. The version here doesn't include the spinach since that didn't make it into the dish)

1 1/2-pound package of potato noodles
A good sized handful of dried shitake mushrooms (pre-sliced if possible)
1-2 pounds bulgogi beef (sliced ribeye marinated in equal parts soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, with sliced garlic and scallions)
1 red bell pepper (thinly sliced)
1 white onion (thinly sliced)
1 bundle of green onions (cut into 1-inch pieces)
2 carrots (cut into thin strips)
1 zucchini (cut into thin strips)
Soy sauce
Sesame Oil
Sugar
Salt

1.) Slice vegetables into very thin strips or as directed above. Set aside
2.) Soak the mushrooms in cold water for an hour. Squeeze excess liquid from the mushrooms. Sauté mushrooms in sesame oil with salt and pepper over moderate heat, then set aside.
3.) Sauté vegetables in vegetable oil and salt over moderate heat (4-5 minutes). (Although I sautéed the vegetables separately, you can sauté them together to save time.) Set aside.
4.) Sauté bulgogi until beef is cooked all the way through (5-6 minutes). Set aside.
5.) Cook potato noodles in boiling water (6-7 minutes). Thoroughly drain and rinse noodles with water. With kitchen scissors, chop noodles up into smaller sizes (5-6 inches). Mix 1/2 cup soy sauce with 1/4 cup sesame oil and sugar to taste. You can adjust the amounts to your liking. Just make sure the noodles are evenly marinated with sauce.
6.) Mix vegetables, noodles, and bulgogi in a large bowl and serve.

Simple Is Beautiful

Pretty profound for a blog entry title, no? I think it can be applied to many things. In this specific instance, it was applied to something to eat with cheese. Always a noble cause, to be sure.
A tomato was included in my Boston Organics box. It was perfectly really ripe and smelled so good and I had about 5 minutes left before it turned into a rotten, organic mess. It needed special treatment. As always, with something that is good on its own, the most special treatment of all is letting it be. So with that in mind, I dressed the tomato with balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper, and home grown basil, and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, I had a moment of clouded thought that morning. In a panic that I would lose this tomato to time and rot, I put it in the fridge till I got home from lab. D'oh. Never ever is one supposed to put tomatoes in the fridge. I know this. Everyone knows this. They lose all their flavor, apparently in as little time as half of a day. Lisa later told me that if you put a tomato stem side down, it will slow the ripening. Wish I had known that...
It wasn't the worse thing I could have done. The tomato, cold shock and all, was still far better than what is normally sold at supermarkets. It was very juicy, with a very thin skin, and silky texture - there was non of the granular weirdness that store bought tomatoes sometimes have. The basil was deeply flavorful and the leaves were very tender. The baby leaves practically melted - there was much less chewing involved than with the adult, non home-grown and loved variety. Good olive oil made all the difference as well. So, you see, this was so very simple but so very good. Now I wish I could make over everything else in life in the image of this simple tomato...
~AK

Lovely Leftovers

Yes, I know, two words that rarely go together are "lovely" and "leftovers" (as a side note, I feel that lovely is used far to little as it is...), but this moniker was well earned last night. During the fall and winter months I crave soups, stews and casseroles. I will get into nesting moods where I'm Turning out steamy hot, rich and filling dishes for several nights in a row to stave off the numbing cold creeping its way through my less-then-well insulated attic apartment. In these moments, the freezer is my best friend. Hoarding away the leftovers of my cooking binges means that I can then return to enjoy that same meal another day.

So, last night I bravely stared into my freezer and started the long process of eating my way through these winter stores. It is impressive what I've managed to shove into the small freezer space I have. I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty convinced I have a 2/3 size refrigerator. Do they make these? I just know that I've had more space in previous apartments. Besides the frozen lunches (somedays things are just to hectic to make lunch - especially when your alarm doesn't go off and there's no hot water), I found meatballs, butternut squash soup, marinara sauce, sausage and white bean stew, minestrone, beef burgundy and many, many ripe bananas for baking. I chose the beef burgundy (in the Stonyfield Yogurt container, front and center). I had made this for a special Oscar's night dinner party in early March from The New Best Recipe. As usual from this cookbook, the dish was divine. The meat was succulent, tender and bursting with flavor and the additional step of carmelizing the pearl onions and mushrooms before adding them to the meat and sauce definitely lent depth to the dish overall. After re-heating and simmering while waiting for the potatoes to cook, the beef burgundy was just as good as I remembered it - maybe even a bit more tenderized after undergoing a freeze-thaw. The flavors and textures were completely intact, and served over freshly made garlic smashed potatoes, that meal provided me with a second night of hearty happiness.

Beef Burgundy (adapted from "The New Best Recipe", without permission)
This meal takes a considerable amount of time the first time around, but it is well worth the effort. Also, as I learned last night, it freezes extremely well - so tasty leftovers are always an option.

6 oz. salt pork, cut into 1/2 pieces, reserve rind (I used 6 oz. of turkey bacon, sliced thin as I was making it initially for someone who could not eat pork - worked wonderfully as an alternative)
10 sprigs fresh parsley, torn into quarters
6 sprigs fresh thyme
2 medium onions, chopped coarse
2 medium carrots, chopped coarse
1 medium garlic head, cloves separated and crushed, but unpeeled
2 bay leaves crumbled
1/2 t. black peppercorns
1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed (they say optional in the book, but I wouldn't agree. Cooking the mushrooms with the beef and wine really added a smoky depth to the braising liquid that was essential)
4 lbs. beef chuck roast, trimmed of fat and cut into 2 inch chunks
salt and ground black pepper
2 1/2 cups water
4 T. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1/3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 3/4 c. low-sodium chicken broth
1 bottle (750 ml) wine, red Burgundy or Pinot Noir (same grape, different production location)
1 t. tomato paste
Cheesecloth (don't forget this - it makes the process SO much easier)

(for the onion and mushroom garnish)
36 frozen pearl onions (about 7 oz.) (can use fresh if can't find frozen, just be sure to peel well)
1 T. unsalted butter
1 T. sugar
Salt
3/4 c. water
10 oz. white mushrooms, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 T. brandy
3 T minced fresh parsley leaves

1. Bring the salt pork and salt pork rind and 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Boil for 2 minutes and drain well. This is to blanch the meat and remove excess salt - if using turkey bacon you can skip this step if you'd like.
2. Cut two 22 inch lengths of cheesecloth. Wrap the parsley, thyme, onions, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, porcini mushrooms (if using) and blanched salt pork rind in the cheese cloth and set in a large ovenproof Dutch oven. (I would love a Dutch oven, but I don't have one - I used a large Corningware baking dish) Adjust the oven rack to a lower-middle position and set at 300F.
3. Put the blanched salt pork (bacon) in a 12 inch skillet and set the skillet over medium heat; saute until lightly browned and crisp. With a slotted spoon transfer the pork to the Dutch oven. Pour off all but two tablespoons of the fat and reserve. (If using turkey bacon you will have very little if any fat - use olive oil as a substitute) Dry the beef thoroughly with paper towels and season it generously with salt and pepper. Increase the heat to high and brown half of the beef in a single layer, until deep brown (about 7 minutes) and transfer to Dutch oven. Pour 1/2 c. water into the skillet to deglaze the pan, scrape with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits. When the pan is clean, pour liquid into the Dutch oven. Repeat, adding additional pork fat for the browning, with the second batch of beef.
4. Set now-empty skillet over medium heat and add the butter. When the foaming subsides, whisk in the flour until evenly moistened and pasty. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture has a toasty aroma and is the color of peanut butter, about 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in the broth and remaining 1 1/2 c. water. Increase heat to medium high and bring the roux to a simmer, stirring frequently until thickened. Pour mixture into Dutch oven. Add 3 c. of the wine and the tomato paste; stir to combine. Cover and place pot into the oven. Cook until the meat is tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
5. Remove the Dutch oven from the oven and transfer the vegetable and herb bouquet (in the cheesecloth - this is why you shouldn't forget the cheesecloth - otherwise you're separating by hand) to a mesh strainer over the pot. Press any remaining liquid back into the pot and discard the bouquet. With a slotted spoon, transfer the beef to a medium bowl; set aside. Allow the braising liquid to settle about 15 minutes, then, with a wide, shallow spoon, skim the fat from the surface and discard.
6. Bring the liquid in the Dutch oven to a boil over medium-high heat on the stovetop. Simmer briskly and stirring to ensure the bottom is not burning, until the sauce is reduced to about 3 c and thickened to the consistency of heavy cream (about 15 to 20 minutes).
7. Preparing the garnish: While the braising liquid is reducing, bring the pearly onions, butter, sugar, 1/4 t. salt and 1/2 c. water to a boil in a medium skillet over high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, shaking the pan occasionally, until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes (this can be done with the onions coming directly out of the freezer, may take a few more minutes). Uncover, increase the heat to high and simmer until all the liquid evaporates. Add the mushrooms and 1/4 t. salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid released by the mushrooms evaporates and the vegetables are brown and glazed. Transfer the vegetables to a large plate and set aside. Add the remaining 1/4 c. water to deglaze the skillet and add the liquid to the reducing sauce.
8. When the sauce in the Dutch oven has reduced, as described above, reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir in the beef, mushrooms and onions (with any accumulated juices), the remaining wine and the brandy. Cover the pot and cook until heated through. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and, if you'd like, sprinkle each individual serving with minced parsley.

I serve the beef burgundy atop mashed potatoes with roasted garlic. And, because I love the picture - here is my roasted garlic:

~Lissa

Vegetable Medley and Carrot Cake

Today, Boston's summer made it's first appearance. It was an absolutely beautiful day, 78F, with hardly a cloud in the sky. It is on days like these that I feel lucky to work slightly outside the city where we are surrounded by state park forest. Labmates and I spent our lunch hour on the picnic bench outside, rolling up sleeves and pants legs - turning our faces (eyes closed) upwards to catch each and every ray of the warm sun, sorely missed in our area for the last several months. It seemed to put a smile on everyone's face - the volleyball net went up and the grill was taken out of storage, filled with propane and made ready for summer service.
Yet, for some reason, I was not quite able to get in the mood. Most likely it's nerves. I present at lab meeting tomorrow morning and am a bit anxious about discussing my new project. As I drove home with the setting sun blinding me through the rearview mirror, I couldn't wait to get home and put that nervous energy to work making dinner... I find cooking to be a task that, once the menu is decided upon, takes enough energy and focus to prepare as to distract me from worrying or thinking about much else. It is a welcome calm away from my tendency to overthink most things in my life. About a week ago, while catching up on archives at The Accidental Scientist, I was reminded by one of the posts of a vegetable medley side dish my mother used to make to go along with any type of grilled steak or chicken. This sounded fresh and easy for dinner, and it would work further towards eating my way through the leftovers from last week's Boston Organics box. I mixed and matched from my rememberace of my mom's recipe and what Michelle had suggested to come up with a light summer-y meal:

Vegetable Medley (serves one)


1 large zucchini
1/2 large red onion
4 oz. grape tomatoes
2-3 cloves garlic
2T olive oil
salt
black pepper
red pepper flakes
1/4 c. parmesan cheese

To prepare vegetables, use a vegetable peeler to shave the zucchini into long, thin ribbons/strips. Include the peel. Discard the core and seeds of the squash. Slice the onion into very thin rounds, separate the pieces. Slice each tomato in half. Mince the garlic (or put through garlic press). Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is heated add the onions and zucchini. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to soften. Add tomatoes and cook through until onions are translucent. Toss with spices (to taste) and top with cheese immediately prior to eating. Accompany with a thick slice of crusty bread (if you have some, I just made a piece of wheat toast to go along).
Notes:
* I added my tomatoes along with the zucchini and onions initially because I love cooked tomatoes, especially when they get slightly saucy - but if you'd like to maintain the separation of the tomatoes from the rest of the vegetables add close to the end and just warm through.
* My mom also adds a can of sweet corn, drained and, rather than parmesan cheese, tops the medley with a layer of grated pepperjack. It's gooey and tasty, but definately not as light.
* Michelle used yellow squash and suggested vidalia onions as a red onion substitute


I sat down and consumed my vegetables while watching the Red Sox take on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Though I am a huge baseball fan, watching baseball on television is best done (in my opinion) while doing something else - you can keep up with the game and be productive around the house at the same time. Cooking dinner had definately bettered my mood, so I thought I should stick it out in the kitchen for the remainder of the evening.
I took into account two distinct criteria in deciding what to make next: 1) following the Great Pantry Purge of 2006 I wanted to make something that would use up more of the food I have horded and 2) baking seemed a good option - I could then feed the hordes at lab meeting tomorrow, putting them into a better mood (or food-induced stupor) while they are critiquing my new project. After weighing my options - and receiving distinct opinions from Ines - I chose Carrot Cake. I had everything on hand and it was the only cake I could think that could reasonably be eaten for breakfast.

I went immediately to the cookbook that has yet to fail me (or even instruct on anything short of amazing), The New Best Recipe, put together by the same team as Cook's Illustrated magazine. The short explanation is that the test cooks in the Cook's Illustrated kitchen decide what they want to achieve with a recipe (in this case, moist - not soggy - carrot cake without an oily, dense crumb), try every permutation of a recipe possible (oil versus butter, cake flour vs. all-purpose, differing cooking times and temperatures) to come up with the perfect combination of ingredients and steps to create exactly the dish they were looking for. Each recipe has an introduction that goes through what the expectations were and how they went about finding the "best recipe" for each entry. I have never cooked anything short of amazing from this book - I trust that gang implicitly. This cake was no exception (my changes are italicized).

Simple Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted from The New Best Recipe without any permission)

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour (I used 1c. whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour)
1 1/4 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 1/4 t. ground cinnamon (I like spices - I used twice the spice called for)
1/2 t. freshly ground nutmeg
1/8 t. ground clove
1/2 t. table salt
1 lb. carrots, peeled
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar (I used dark because it was on hand; tasted good)
4 large eggs
1 1/2 c. vegetable or canola oil

Preheat oven to 350F, adjust the shelf to the middle of the oven. Grease a 13x9 baking pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment (or wax) paper. Grease the paper layer as well.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices (including salt) in a medium bowl and set aside.
Grate the carrots. (I did this by hand because, despite the excess of kitchen gadgets I do have, the pile does not include a food processor, which is what the book recommends) Mix sugars and eggs together (either in a food processor or with an electric mixer - I do have one of these) until light and frothy, about 20 seconds. Add the oil in a steady stream, mixing until light in color and well emusified. Stir in carrots and dry ingredients until completely incorporated. Pour into prepared baking pan and bake until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean, approximately 35 minutes. Halfway through the cooking time, rotate the pan in the oven to get even baking. Remove once cooked through and let cook for at least 2 hours.
This is where the GPP (great pantry purge) came into play. I had a container of Duncan Hines cream cheese frosting that needed to be used - that was the end of my cake - topped it with a few slivered almonds and was on my way. However, I would strongly recommend their cream cheese frosting - it is divine:

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese, softened but still cool
5 T. unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 T. sour cream (the secret ingredient to amazing c.c. frosting)
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. powdered sugar (4 1/2 ounces)

When the cake is cool, mix together the cream cheese, butter, sour cream and vanilla until smooth. Add powdered sugar and mix together until well combined.
To frost the cake: Lift the cake out of the pan using the parchment/wax paper (using a knife to separate the edges of the cake from the pan if necessary) and invert onto a serving platter. Spread the frosting evenly over the cake surface, cut into squares and serve.


Note: After I completed my lab meeting this morning, the head of the lab commented, "She needs to present her stuff more often; that cake was good! Next time bring a different kind!"
Have a great holiday weekend! ~Lissa

Lab Picnic

Everyone has something they do that helps them get through the day. Some have secret chocolate stashes, some smoke, others drink heavily at breakfast... Oh. Is that just me? Kidding. Three guesses as to what I do... Yea. Eat. By 10:30AM Jonathan, Lisa, and I were ready for a pick-me-up. A really robust one,that can make you forget that you're sitting around a conference room table with an un-identifiable sticky substance permanently fused to its surface, and that the lab has much less oxygen than is minimal for supporting life... But I digress.

On the menu for this much needed lab break were a few things that Lisa and I got at the largest Whole Foods I have ever seen. Who would have thunk it? In the middle of Cambridge, stands a giant grocery store. In addition to the gorgeousness that were the produce, wine, and cheese sections were these two words: parcel pickup. I had never heard of this before. You buy things (many many things, in my case), hand them over to the nice lady at the register, pull your car around, and they put the bags in the car for you! How awesome is that? No more pushing the rickety shopping cart down the street, trying to steer around potholes... It was wonderful.

Again with the digressions. Sorry. Onto our purchases. The first up is sushi grade tuna (above). It was a very deep purplish-red, with no visible stripes of white, and absolutely no smell - which is always a good sign in fish. This particular well-chilled piece of tuna was served on the finest china lab had to offer (i.e. Dixie plate) with prepared wasabi paste and soy sauce. I cut the tuna up and was naive enough to think we would use forks to dip it into the soy sauce. That was just silly of me. Hands work far better. The tuna was very tender - there was hardly any chewing to be done. And the taste... I can describe the taste of many things, but I find that sushi stumps me. I think it's a very personal experience... especially when eating at Oishii, where we have been known to make less than appropriate noises. If you have never had sushi, I just don't know what to tell you. I would say it tastes of the ocean, but it doesn't (that's oysters). I would say that it tastes like fish, but it seems hardly related to cooked fish. Let's just say that more inappropriate noises were made... by me... and the morning improved markedly after the tuna was all gone.

But we still had the cheese! After the harassing the remarkably slim man behind the cheese counter at Whole Foods (how can one be slim when surrounded by cheese all day? Unless it makes you have nightmares... Sorry) Lisa and I settled on a Sottocenere with truffles, which you see pictured above. This is a semi-soft, aged cow's cheese, from Venice, Italy. It is aged in a grey ash rind and is, as I am sure you can tell from the picture, studded with fairly large pieces of black truffles. My whole fridge smelled of truffles after this cheese spent one night in it! Although we tried cheeses that had an almost overwhelming truffle flavor, this one was more subtle, although still rather potent, as evidenced by my now-fragrant refridgerator. The cheese itself is very mild and creamy, serving as a backdrop for the truffles. You can't really feel the truffle chunks, but the flavor permeates throughout. The conference room, albeit a less than ideal setting for a picnic, smelled of the woods, and happy people eating cheese with truffles at 10:30AM on a random Thursday. Sottocenere would greatly benefit from a big glass of full red wine, but we made do with bread. Maybe the next mid-morning-lab-pick-me-up will be a bottle of Barolo. Who knows??
~AK

Banana Bran Date Muffins

Let's back up a bit. Once a long, long time ago (actually 4 1/2 years) I picked up an moved across the country. Following a tearful goodbye with my college friends, I packed all I had and held dear and got into a moving truck and drove (with my father) from sea (San Diego) to shining sea (Boston). There was anticipation in that transition - naive excitement for what was to come - what new adventures grad school held in store (yes, I even laugh at myself now). At the other end of the journey was a beautiful ivy covered brownstone, my roomate then (and blogmate now) Anna and the beginning of a new chapter of my life (a long chapter).
However, situations change (and change). I've moved four times, including my arrival in Boston, and within a month I'll be making that five. I have been in my current home for almost two years and have enjoyed my space immensely. Yet, problems keep cropping up - having to use the oven as a heat source in the winter being relatively minor. The newest and, by far the most aggravating, is a complete lack of hot water one or two mornings a week. I usually make the best of the annoyance imagining that it is just a sign that I need more sleep - about 30 more minutes - while the water heater revives itself and gets ready for me.
This morning was a bit different. The same frustration (and profanities) when I discovered that there was no shower for me in the near future was present, yet when I returned for my extended shower-snooze I realized I was hungry - really hungry. I love a big breakfast - lots of eggs, cheese and oven-roasted potatoes - but those are weekend treats, best kept that way. Usually on a weekday morning I have a simple bowl of cereal or some fruit. Today, with my extra water-warming time, I baked muffins. Banana Bran Date Muffins, specifically. Sounds like work, but oh no - it was deceptively simple.
Due to the upcoming move, I've been trying to eat my way through my (very) overstocked pantry and refrigerator. I've been using my Boston Organics box as the source of fresh produce and challenging my creative culinary side to use up the excess groceries I've accumulated over time to supplement most of my meals. This has a two-fold benefit: not buying additional groceries saves money to pay the movers (I love my giant red couch, but I do want to keep my friends after I move) and consuming the pantry leaves me with less stuff to move in the end.

Believe me, my kitchen boxes will be stuffed enough with gadgets and cookbooks. In this vein, my banana bran date muffins used up bananas I'd been saving in the freezer for just such a baked goods occasion and two boxes of Jiffy bran-date muffin mix - four things down, 1024 food items to go (approximately). Again, ridiculously simple - but all in all, surprisingly tasty... and by the time I took them out of the oven, there was hot water for the shower while I let them cool!

Banana Bran Date Muffins (I doubled the recipe because I took the rest to lab - they will consume any and all baked goods left for them)

1 box Jiffy bran-date muffin mix
1 egg
1 very ripe banana

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease or add muffin cups to a muffin pan. Mix all ingredients together, the batter will be a bit lumpy. Add 1/4 c. batter to each cup. Bake 15-17 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins are golden and an inserted toothpick/knife comes out clean. Let cool for at least 5 minutes (or you will burn your tounge - I know). Will make 8-10 muffins.

Take to lab and watch hungry scientists devour 20 muffins in less than an hour (all that thinking burns a lot of calories, right?).
Lesson learned today? Eating a warm, cozy breakfast out the oven puts a smile on my face - so much better than cold cereal! ~ Lissa

Ode to the Fenway Frank

Last night I once more ventured down Yawkey Way and entered the hallowed grounds of Fenway Park to watch our beloved Boston Red Sox take on the Evil Empire (i.e. the NY Yankees). This night I was joined by Hannah and her brother Joel and sister Caroline. This was Caroline's first major league baseball game and we decided that if ever a girl would be converted into a baseball fan, nine innings in the bleachers at a sox v. yankees game would do it. This is the fifth year season that I've purchased what's known as a "Sox Pack" where you buy the same four seats to four different games throughout the season - these packs always include a Yankees game and this was it. Temperature at game time was a brisk 62F and once the crowd started chanting "Traitor" when Johnny Damon came to the plate I knew there was no better place for me to be at that moment in time.
Hannah, Joel and Caroline met me at our seats with a beer waiting, and by the third inning (and the fourth pass of the hot dog concession guy) I was ready for my Fenway Frank. It is a simple meal - a boiled hot dog (I do prefer grilled) on a white bread bun with Heinz ketchup and Gordon's musturd, but at the ballpark, nothing else will do. There have been other posts dedicated to the Doger Dog and Petco Park among the food bloggers that I've passed by, but historically it's hard to compare to eating (and the baseball, of course) at Fenway. Caroline continued the ballpark buffet with both frozen lemonade (brrrrr, who eats this when it's 50F outside?) and a pretzel. Unfortunately, I was too focused on us tearing up the Yankees to take many pictures...

Caroline was convinced. The normal drunk bleacher creatures were sitting right behind us keeping us entertained for the majority of the evening (until they started spilling beer down our backs). A few fights, the wave and a solid victory later and I think she's converted - and will hopefully be back for a game in July...
Baseball and hot dogs are the definition of summer to me and have been since 1987 when my dad took me to my first SD Padres game (hi dad!). Although it is still surprisingly cool here on the cusp of Memorial Day weekend (sort of nice to be able to sip your $6.25 beer slowly before it gets too warm) with the Red Sox winning, summer is definately on its way!

The Butcher Shop

I have been to Barbara Lynch's (of No. 9 Park fame) Butcher Shop in the South End before, but never armed with my brand new, food-inspired purchase. The Butcher Shop is directly across the street from another equally small, and equally excellent Barbara Lynch restaurant, B&G Oysters. The Butcher Shop, as the name would imply, really is a functioning shop, selling house-made charcuterie, neat things like fresh rabbit and duck, as well as some prepared foods until 8PM. By 8PM, it turns into the place to be. The wine bar with an extensive wine list at the front of the restaurant is always packed with every kind of fashionable person. The fashionable people waiting for one of the six or seven tables crowded around a huge butcher's block-topped table in the center of the room. This fashionable person waited with the ever-fabulous Kanchan, and her equally wonderful boyfriend, Shariff, around the table with a glass of Pinot, doing some truly excellent people watching. But more importantly, catching up. I haven't seen Shariff since January! Ridiculous. The attentive (and pixie-ish) hostess kept us apprised of the table situation, which was really nice of her considering the density of fashionable people in the restaurant on any Saturday night.
Once we were seated at a counter lining the front window, we began our evening with, well, more wine, but also with the Foie Terrine. There were two reasons for this choice: I cannot pass up foie gras, and the server recommended it. And right we both were. The terrine was served with toasted, buttered brioche and an apple cinnamon chutney. The terrine itself was a tender pink, with the telling layer of yellow fat sealing the top - believe it or not, a key finishing touch to any good terrine. The first taste of the brioche-chutney-foie gras combination was startling: it tasted just like apple pie! Really. The buttery brioche and the sweet cinnamon apples then gave way to the taste of melting, savory butter, which would be, of course, the foie gras. To say that it melted would not be an accurate description. It liquefied upon contact and spilled its richness throughout. So you see why I had to capitalize, and bold Foie Terrine?
We also had a salad, but frankly, I don't have the time to describe a salad. Although it was quite good, don't get me wrong.
Gnocchi are very frequently described as "little pillows" of potato-based pasta dough. Not until last Saturday night have I ever agreed with that description. These were by far and away the best gnocchi I have ever had (and I have been around the gnocchi block, believe me). They were light, almost airy, and silky smooth. There was none of the gumminess or heaviness that one so commonly encounters with common gnocchi. Oh no. These were different. Also lacking was the overwhelming nutmeg flavor that so many gnocchi-makers think is the "secret ingredient" that sets their dish apart. Little tip: it doesn't. These gnocchi dissolved in the mouth and did not overpower the sauce with their flavor. They really were "little pillows" that served as silken and subtly pasta-flavored vehicles for the rabbit ragout they were suspended in. Oh yes, rabbit ragout. The rabbit was in small pieces thus avoiding seeming bulky and falling outside of the category of a pasta accessory. The fresh peas sprinkled throughout were nice bites of firm green (I am big on the color contrast in presentations, have you noticed?) that helped to balance the richness of the dish. One last thing: the gnocchi were sprinkled (doesn't seem like quite the right word, does it?) with cracked black peppercorns.The occasional sharp burst of really, really fresh black pepper was an interesting contrast (again!) to the creaminess of the gnocchi and the surrounding tender rabbit. I really enjoyed my dinner, could you tell? On to Kanchan's choice. How I wish that I could actually describe this for you in detail, but sadly, I can't. The time has come for me to confess one of the few things that stand in the way of my eating professionally (it can be done!). I don't eat pork. It's ok to breathe out now. So, as much as I would like to relate the taste-related details of the caramelized, medium-rare pork chop you see in the picture above, I can't. Maybe Kanchan can comment on it? Hint, Kanchan. I can tell you that it was cooked to temperature, as I mentioned, and the sauce involved grapefruit. Pork is frequently paired with fruit, but rarely citrus. Although what do I know about that... Sad.
Proceeding directly to Shariff's choice, tenderloin with potato millefeuille. I am calling it millefeuille because that is what it looks like and I forgot what was written on the menu - sorry, I am still learning. Here, I felt a small change occur in my life. I actually enjoyed this steak. As Jonathan can attest, I have tried every steak every friend of mine has ever ordered in hopes of liking it. Why can't I just like steak?? Everyone else does. I feel left out. This steak was different from the rest. The texture was so smooth and soft that there was no effort necessary in chewing it. It tasted like essence of beef - and I don't mean this in a negative way. It was a concentrated taste of incredibly juicy meat, with just a hint of the metallic taste of blood. I really don't mean to be gross, but I don't think you can describe steak without mentioning the blood that makes it what it is. I will keep on trying other people's steak, but at the Butcher Shop, I would order it for my own.
A number of desserts were offered on the menu, most of them wisely kept in the "light" category. Above you see rhubarb, strawberry, and red wine soup. I wish I could remember the identity of the cream swimming on top, but by this point we were at the end of our second bottle of excellent Bordeaux. Maybe Kanchan remembers? The soup was smooth, and velvety - like a super thick smoothie. The astringency of the rhubarb was tempered by the strawberries, and the entire mixture was sweetened just to the point of remaining light and refreshing. It was the perfect conclusion to the meal.
But, as you may have guessed, the conclusion it was not. There were still chocolate crepes with Grand Marnier-scented marscapone. Although this dessert again contained a cream component, it avoided feeling heavy. The marscapone was light, almost the consistency of whipped cream. The pronounced Grand Marnier orange flavor played off the very, very subtle (ok, I didn't taste much) chocolate of the crepes and chocolate sauce. To be honest, if I had tasted a more robust chocolate flavor, I may have slipped into a full-blown food coma. So it's a good thing it was subtle.
I wish I could guarantee that the next visitor to the Butcher Shop will be able to try the things that I described here, but that is not likely. The small menu is made up daily. All but four of the house specials are different every night, allowing for fresh, seasonal food and maximal attention paid to each dish. I think it is time that I pointed out that we ordered and tried everything on the menu that night, save for one salad and maybe a couple of desserts. I am so proud of us.
~AK
P.S. I should probably mention that I lifted the picture of the restaurant from their website.

Dinner at the Tavern

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, some of the Sunday Night Dinner folks got together last Thursday for drinks and dinner at our favorite place, the Local Tavern. It was the first time out as a group since the advent of the blog so I excitedly took pictures of all the food (with excessive flash - yes, I know... I'm working on it) and we enjoyed our meal tremendously. We go to the Tavern a bit (me less than the others, but soon I will be living closer - watch out!) and always have a wonderful time. So, seeing that it is the local haunt rather than trying something new I feel like I'm in no position to rate/review the restaurant... rather, I just wanted to share some of the pictures of the extremely tasty treats that were on the menu last week...
We started with a goat cheese brulee appitizer... With the excessive flash I'm also going to have to remember to write down the food items I order in the future - my descriptions will be greatly lacking - please feel free to correct in the comments :)
The cheese had a sweet glaze that was carmelized across the top and garnished with roasted walnuts and accompanied by a watercress salad. For a cheese lover like myself - especially a warm, gooey goat cheese lover - it was simply heaven on a plate...

Anna and I both ordered the rock shrimp tacos (off the appitizer menu) for our entree. The tacos were more of a quesadilla shape (it's the Californian in me), but it served well to hold in the black beans, corn, tomatoes, succulent rock shrimp and cheesey goodness. The two tacos were complimented by an avocado and corn salsa.

As the sole vegetarian at our table (and choosing from only a few vegetarian options on the menu), Vidya had the fusili pasta.

Lisa ordered the much recommended (by the Tavern's owner, no less) scallops with lentils and asparagus. (Anna adds: the scallops were ridiculously good. really. perfectly done. or underdone, as the case may be.)

Both Jonathan and Jen ordered the meatloaf and mashed potatos. I never grew up eating meatloaf, so I have none of the horrible associations some people claim. It's still a bit of a novelty to me. This was amazing, melt in your mouth, can't stop eating even though you're bursting at the seams (full of shrimp tacos) meaty goodness... 'nuff said.

There was much wine to go along with the meal and a brief discussion of dessert. The Local Tavern does not offer a dessert menu mainly because there is an amazing bakery across the street that makes single serving offereings of delectable sweet treats. Unfortunately for us that night (but definately fortunate for my belly) Athan's had already closed for the night... That's ok - next time!

So, there's the recap of a Thursday night dinner... Good food, good wine, good friends and a great location - what more could anyone ask for?
Well, actually one more thing - for those who were there, I'd invite you to leave a comment with your own description of dinner - I can edit the post as it goes along to include all the differing perspectives (sort of a chain letter post?) ~Lissa

Aloo Gobi

I am a bad, bad blogger. I will post more frequently in the future, I promise. It's just that sometimes my real life (i.e. lab) gets in the way.
My last Boston Organics Box included a head of cauliflower - the most perfect one I have ever seen. It was huge and entirely unblemished - no brown spots or wilting of any sort. I wanted to do it justice. Since I am getting very tired of roasting vegetables (I think it is a cook's cop out - there is nothing easier) I decided to be a little more creative. The first thought I had was (no, not that I want wine) Aloo Gobi. This dish is on the menu at every North Indian restaurant on the planet (really, I checked). Aloo = potato, Gobi = cauliflower in Hindi. I know about 10 words in Hindi and they are all food items. I also know how to say "fat," as in person. Go figure.
There are many versions of Aloo Gobi. The one I went with is in the Indian cookbook Archna bought (see below). I was so incredibly proud of myself - I actually had all the ingredients I needed for this dish on hand. For someone who usually only has a water filter and beer in the fridge, this was a momentous occasion.
The recipe was super easy. It started as many Indian dishes do, by toasting cumin seeds in oil.
Once the cumin seeds started to turn brown and fragrant, I added onion, ginger, and green chili. The wall of smell that came up from the pan was so intense. It smelled like all of my friends' houses when I was growing up - a combination of the rich smell of warming ginger and a bit of spice from the chili. This is when I got really picture-happy. And happy in general. After frying the onion till golden, I added the cauliflower, potatoes and spices - turmeric (orange), ground coriander (light brown), garam masala (dark brown), and salt (white. duh).
After toasting the spices a bit and mixing them up with the potatoes and cauliflower (the picture at the very beginning of the post) I added a bit of water, covered the pan and cooked till the potatoes were soft. Garnished with a bit of cilantro and I was done. One could serve this with bread or rice (or naan, or chapatis, if you want to be all smart about it). I had it with bread for lunch. In lab. Did I mention that I made this when I went home during a three hour incubation, on a Saturday? Now that's multitasking. I am practically certain that not all Indian dishes are this easy to prepare. It is possible that Archna took pity on me and got the "Indian cooking for white girls" edition of the cookbook, but the final product made me very happy nonetheless. It looked right, which is always a good sign. The turmeric provided the yellow tint of the final product. The fact that not a lot of stirring is involved in this recipe allowed the vegetables to remain whole and not break apart. The potatoes were completely cooked through and soft but the cauliflower still offered a bit of resistance. The cumin seeds added the occasional crunch, the cilantro was the ever necessary spot of green freshness in a cooked dish (garnishes are often underestimated when cooking at home, I think). It all tasted as I hoped it would (!!) - none of the spices overwhelmed the ingredients, but complemented them. The cauliflower tasted as good as it looked in the box - love organics. If only my real life gave me a a little more time to play, I would expound upon my love for organic produce, but alas...

Aloo Gobi, from Food of the World, India by Beverly LeBlanc. (I didn't make her name up. That's really the name of the woman who wrote this Indian cookbook. Is that prejudiced of me? Like I said, this may be the white girl edition but it is still a great cookbook, in this white girl's opinion).

Just in case it is not obvious, the comments in italics are mine, and not those of Beverly LeBlanc.

Serves 4-6

4 tbsp ghee or vegetable or peanut oil (I may know how to say "fat" in Hindi, but there is no way I am going to cook with ghee. I draw the authenticity line at ghee. I used vegetable oil.)
1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 fresh green chili, seeded and thinly sliced (seeding chilis is for weaklings. No, I did not seed the chili.)
1lb cauliflower, cut into small florets
1lb large waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks. (I used baking potatoes [organic, of course] instead of waxy ones, like Yukon Gold. It made no difference.)
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp salt (that is a complete lie. I used at least 3 times that amount. You will have to taste as you go along.)
Fresh cilantro sprigs, to garnish

1. Add oil to skillet over medium high heat. Add cumin seeds and toast for about 30 seconds until they crackle and start to brown.
2. Immediately (it really says immediately in the book. very funny) stir in the onion, ginger, and chili and stir for 5-8 minutes until the onion is golden.
3. Stir in the cauliflower and the potatoes, followed by the coriander, garam masala, turmeric, and salt and continue stirring for about 30 seconds longer (If you stir for 40 seconds, it will still be ok, I promise. This woman sounds like a disciplinarian).
4. Cover the pan, reduce heat to the lowest setting, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Occasionally check that they are not sticking to the bottom of the pan. Stir in water, if necessary.
5. Taste and adjust seasoning. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.
~AK

Baked Miso Eggplant

In preparation for this week's Sunday Night Dinner, hosted by Jonathan (maybe we'll be able to convince him to guest post???) he, Laurie and I took a road trip out to Asinayo, a Korean food market in downtown Framingham. He got the ingredients he needed for tonight while Laurie and I spent the time exploring the aisles. We saw the biggest bags of dried mushrooms (of at least four different types) I've ever seen as well as salted jellyfish and cans of silkworm pupas. I really need to remember to bring my camera next time - it was a fun trip into a completely different culinary world. I ended up buying a packet of soba noodles and white miso (soybean paste). As we continued our road trip on the backroads returning to Boston we also sampled a sweet yogurt drink that the saleslady helping Jonathan out in the store had tossed into his bag as free samples - definately tasty - and no English on the bottle so I have no clue what it was called.
Upon my return home, I began on the bi-weekly attempt to creatively use up the contents of the organics box before it takes an all-natural, preservative-free turn for the worse. I succeeded with the main course of my dinner, however when I pulled out the strawberries that I had been so excited to see on Thursday, most were already covered with a thin layer of greenish mold. There was one small mold-free berry that I washed and consumed immediately. They were wonderful, but gone - in less than 48 hours.
Inspired by Rachel at Fresh Catering, I re-created her recipe for Miso-Glazed Baked Eggplant along with my own garlic braised spinach for a healthy, light dinner (in anticipation for the Korean feast tonight). I did not make many changes to the posted recipe - although next time I would double the recipe for the miso glaze just to be sure that there was enough to go around. I was left with a few naked rounds of eggplant because I ran out of the glaze too soon, but even with a few left-out pieces there was plenty. I used the savoy spinach from the vegetable box and washed it thoroughly. I heated 2T olive oil over medium-high heat in a thick-bottomed saucepan and quickly sauteed three cloves of thinly sliced garlic. Once the garlic was softened a bit (not more than two minutes), I added the spinach leaves and covered the pan. The water stuck to the leaves from washing was enough to steam the spinach over the next 5-6 minutes. Once steamed I uncovered the pan and let the excess liquid evaporate away and then mixed in salt, black pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper to taste. I thought the combination of the baked eggplant and spinach was quite nice, the freshness of the spinach cut through the glaze, which I found to be a bit rich - definately a keeper (especially now that I have a large container of white miso in the fridge).

I was still craving strawberries for dessert, even though my own supply had hit the skids. I did go get more - they were the perfect compliment to some vanilla gelato after soaking in a bit of dark rum (nothing specific - just a little dark rum, a pinch of turbinado sugar and the sliced strawberries soaking in the refrigerator for 2 hours or so - don't forget to add a bit of the liquid to the gelato along with the berries, it's the best part).
I have found a few more recipes for meals this week that should use up most of what I received in my box last week. I'm hoping they come out as nicely as this combination did. ~Lissa

This Week's Box

Arriving home from a fun but late night at the Tavern (more on this later - definitely), I was pleasantly surprised to find my Boston Organics box waiting on my doorstep. Yes, I knew it was being delivered yesterday, but after several glasses of wine and an amazing dinner I was distracted and had forgotten. It's nice that Anna and I get our boxes delivered on opposite weeks, so we can compare notes on what we get and get a chance to explore how the spring/summer produce season is shaping up. Also, I get the 2/3 vegetable:fruit selection and she is on the 50:50 plan. I'm much more of a veggie than fruit person (though this week I'm particularly excited about the fruit selection). Finding out about the service has been one of the best things I've discovered in Boston, though the boxes have been a bit sparse the past several cycles. It looks like things are looking up for the season though because it was a veritable cornacopia this time around.
So here's what this week's booty (ha) was: bananas, packham pears, valencia oranges, STRAWBERRIES (I'm so excited about this - you can't see them, they're hiding under the spinach - which I discovered after I took the photo), carrots, eggplant, grape tomatoes (yum), red leaf lettuce, russet potatoes, savoy spinach and a zucchini. Aside from the very plentiful salads I'll be eating all next week - does anyone out there have ideas of what I could put together with my goodies? I just read an amazing recipe yesterday on Fresh Catering for Chai-Poached pears and one of my all-time favorite comfort foods is creamed spinach, so ideas are starting to fly semi-fast and furious - certainly faster than my motivation to do lab work. Anyways, I'll keep it short and sweet... if it tastes good and photographs well you'll all be the first to know about my organic creations. Happy Friday!! ~Lissa

The Best Mango EVER

Much background information is necessary for you, attentive (I hope) reader, to appreciate the rich background and story of the mango you see making up my breakfast in the picture above. The life of the Champagne, or Ataulfo, mango, began a long long time ago - 1966 to be precise - on a plantation in Mexico, owned by a man named Ataulfo Morales (thank you, Wikipedia). Sr. Morales discovered a new species of mango on his land, possibly formed by cross-pollination. As a microbiologist, I make no claims of understanding what that means (here I pause to beg the forgiveness of my parents, who paid for me to take a botany class while at UVA - I retained nothing). This mango, named after Sr. Morales himself, was different than all those that were consumed before it. It had a very flat pit, with hardly any fibers surrounding it, making it markedly different from its closest relatives. The Champagne mango is longer and thinner than the standard varieties, with a thin, yellow skin which appears wrinkled when the fruit is ripe. As an aside, the mango is a drupe fruit, as are cherries and apricots, meaning it has a hard stone enclosing a seed.
So, how, do you ask, does the success (or luck) of Sr. Morales affect me, a grad student well off the well-beaten path? Well, it just so happens that many many years after its creation, this very special, and to me - novel, mango was included in my organic produce box delivered to my door on a bi-weekly basis, courtesy of Boston Organics. The picture of the latest box of organic fruit and veg is below. I just couldn't resist. See the mango?
It's in the bottom left corner, nestled next to a box of Olivia's herb salad mix, and the most perfect organic tomato (more to come on that!). Don't be scared. The plastic-enclosed football-looking thing in the top right is actually a painfully fresh loaf of Nashoba Brook organic whole wheat bread. To say that the bread was very good would not do it justice.
But I digress. Back to Sr. Morales and his fabulous creation. Or find. Whichever. It had been waiting patiently for me to discover it these alst few decades.
I only came to realize that this was, in fact, the best mango EVER after I had already dissected it and placed it atop my vanilla yogurt for breakfast. I took one bite of the deeply orange-colored fruit and paused in awe. It was intensely sweet, and creamy, and juicy all at the same time. It felt almost like I was eating a prepared mango custard. There were no fibers to chew around, no honking pit to fight when cutting the mango open. I just had to catch the juice as it ran all over my fingers and my countertop. Leave it to me to make a mango sound sexual. Is that sad? It was, in short, the perfect mango. Only after I realized that this was, indeed, the pinnacle of all that is mango (am I pushing it yet?) did I see that I had neglected to take a picture of the intact fruit up close, which is the reason for the empty mango skin perched atop my breakfast bowl (recognize the blue trim?). Combined with the picture of the organic box should give you an idea about what the whole, live fruit looks like. Needless to say, I enjoyed that morning's breakfast immensely, and hope and hope that there are more Champagne (Ataulfo) mangoes awaiting me in future Boston Organics boxes.
~AK

Stella

My very first, full-fledged restaurant review! How exciting. For me. And probably me alone.
The honor of the first review goes to Stella, where Kanchan and I dined following the parking/change/baked goods debacle described (in detail!) previously (can you smell the scientist in the air?). The room itself is beautifully designed with wide open space with high ceilings, a tall window lining one entire wall of the restaurant, and no color to be seen - the room was practically all white. The impression left on me was of someplace very clean and modern, but not uninviting. Kanchan and I started with a cocktail - the Camparinni. The main ingredients were Campari and grapefruit juice. It was very good - not too tart, not too sweet, with the freshly squeezed (!) grapefruit juice balancing out the bitterness of the Campari. And it was pretty! The picture above may not do it justice.
The unbearably adorable, flaming server (this was the South End, after all) took our order, and soon brought out our starters: roasted beet salad with goat cheese (left picture), and crudo misto with salmon and tuna (right picture).

The quality of the ingredients was the star in both of these rather simple dishes. The beets were so incredibly sweet : thinly sliced rounds of yellow beets, topped with diced red beets and creamy, fresh goat cheese. The dressing was plain so as not to distract from the abovementioned stars of the dish. Likewise, the marinated salmon and tuna in the crudo platter were tender and flavorful, but here, the dressing made all the difference. The first bite was surprising : tangy, yet not sour enough to overpower the flowery olive oil. The salad (lamb's lettuce?) and breadstick on top added color and texture contrast, but were not interesting enough to detract from the fish. After lingering for quite a while over the starters and cocktails, it was time for the main course.
I ordered entirely out of character for myself. Not only did I order pasta, but it was in a cream sauce! Yes, I ordered a cream sauce. And here it is!

Linguine in asparagus and truffle cream, topped with a poached egg. It was very rich. Almost too rich. I did not pick up the truffle flavor, but I will take the menu's word for it. As much as I absolutely hate to do this, I have to agree with Alison Arnett of the Boston Globe and her review of this very dish at Stella. Now normally, I would disagree with her on principle, but she got it right this time - I pretty much just tasted the cream. I think Kanchan may have won the ordering game this time. She had the spicy, saffron-flavored cioppino with every manner of seafood : squid, mussels, cod, shrimp... you get the idea.
They were not kidding about it being spicy! It was more heat than I expected, but not so much that it overpowered the saffron. The cioppino was a good order : the presentation alone was worth it. Check on the copper lidded vessel (of some sort). On a personal corkboard. Pretty cool, huh? I am a fan of accessories in restaurants. Makes it a bit more of an event than a simple dinner, no?
The presentation of the dessert, likewise, did not disappoint. Wait, did you really think we didn't order dessert? That's just silly. The chocolate mousse was served in a chilled martini glass and topped with almond biscotti cubes.
And check out Kanchan's tea pot! Did I mention that I like my dinner accessorized? The chocolate mousse had a very pronounced almond flavor - Kanchan thought that the combination of the almond cookies and the almond mousse was a bit much. I tend to agree. But to be honest, I was running out of taste buds at this point in our evening. You see, the linguine combined with the mousse is probably the most cream and butter I have ever consumed in one sitting in my whole life. Not kidding. The red wine did a fine job of cutting through the fat, but it did add to the aloofness : fat + wine = ... fill in the blank. I did not need the taste buds to appreciate the texture contrast between the mousse and the cookie - an absolute necessity in any creamy dessert, I think.
All in all, it was a great evening. The starters were fantastic, the entrees quite good, and the cocktails were excellent. I loved the atmosphere of the restaurant - its ambience, if you will - very open and modern yet inviting enough to linger for a comfortable three hour-long dinner. Wait, you mean people don't normally spend three hours at dinner?
~AK