Kitchen Disasters - Bad Eats

Fortunately, complete and utter disasters in the kitchen have been pretty rare for me. There was the ragu I tried to make for the Talbot Allens in washington, which ended up in the trash after I cooked the meat to an internal temperature of nuclear, resulting in small black nuggets of ground beef and pork in a sour sea of boiled red wine (thankfully I whipped up another sauce before they got home for dinner!) And the time I followed Mark Bittman's recipe for pan-fried beets (essentially, a giant beet latke) ended up as a sweetened lump of oily flour. But generally things have worked out for the best.

The other day, though I got inspired by an episode of "Good Eats" on the food network, in which Alton Brown prepared "Butternut dumplings" (read: Butternut gnocchi) in sage-brown butter sauce. The recipe looked pretty straightforward, and our CSA already had provided us with the squash and the sage.

The first step was to halve and roast the butternut squash, along with some potatoes. Check - it tasted delicious when it came out of the oven.

Next I mashed together the squash and the potatoes with some egg and spices. Seemed pretty easy.

That's when things got ugly. The recipe directed me to add 1 1/2 cups of flour to the mixture to form a dough. On TV, Alton Brown in fact got away with a little less than this, and ended up with a nice sticky dough that he easily formed into dumplings.

However, after a cup and a half, I still had squash-potato gruel. So I added another cup of flour, and then another. At this point I turned the "dough" out onto a floured board, but it was so sticky and moist that I couldn't work with it at all, so I had to return it to the bowl. I repeated this entire operation a few more times. Ultimately, I must have used at least 5 cups of flour. So by the time I shaped the dumplings and cooked a couple, they tasted like wood pulp. The final result: a very pretty but utterly useless orange mass of gluten, in the garbage can.

I did learn an important lesson: always read the comments to online recipes! I'm not the only one who ended up dumping the dumplings.

11in11

Noah Galuten writes a food blog called Man Bites World, in which he chronicles his attempt to eat a different type of food every day for as many days in a row as he can. And by different type he means food from a different ethnic tradition. So a five day stretch might consist of Mexican-Filipino-Thai-Hamburgers-Ghanaian.

It definitely helps to live in Southern California to pull that kind of thing off, though I imagine you could do it without too much difficulty in NYC or the bay area, or less so in Boston, DC, or Chicago.

Anyway, for Day 73: Chinese, he decided to combine his project with a friend's annual event: the 11 in 11. What is that, you ask?

So what’s 11-In-11? Well, for the past five years, folk hero Jason Bernstein and his cousin Mark have been setting up a one day a year event where “…we visit 11 food establishments in 11 hours and devour 11 mini-meals.”

Sounds like an awesome thing to do, if you have 11 hours, $50 or $60 and 3000 calories to spare. I'm not sure why 11 is the magic number, but viv and I were just brainstorming 11 different restaurants within walking distance each representing a different ethnic food. Once the weather warms up, we'll brave the inevitable tummy-ache and give it a shot.

2008 Election Night party

Now that Inauguration Day is coming up, an overdue recap of our election night party is finally here!

We invited a few friends to our place to watch the election returns, and in addition to the Obama-themed cupcake pictured above, Ben carved an Obama pumpkin as well:


The cupcakes were only ok - we used Bittman's recipes for chocolate layer cake and buttercream frosting from his "How to Cook Everything" (older edition, with the yellow cover). The cake itself turned out dry, which was annoying because I had misread the (poorly drafted) cake recipe the first time and threw out the first batch of cake batter. The frosting was DIVINE and will be my go-to buttercream frosting -- it was a race between when I would finish mixing up the frosting and when I would finish all the frosting from my multiple tastings. I smoothed on the frosting (not an easy task, despite watching Magnolia Bakery's videos on how to frost a cupcake) and Ben decorated the cupcakes with the blue and red icing stripes. Next time, I think I'll use Duncan Hines' cake mix for the cake batter and skip the homemade cake part!

Here's a picture of the cupcakes together - very cute!



We had quite a spread on offer, as well. See pictures below.

We made hummus, Mark Bittman's Rosemary-Lemon white bean dip, olive tapenade, pesto pasta with broccolini and italian sausage (vegetarian version also available), caramelized onions and brie on a baguette, and a chard frittata. We also served crackers, crudites, sliced baguettes from Clear Flour Bakery, salmon rounds (smoked salmon and creme fraiche on crackers), cheeses, mortadella, niman ranch salami, soppressata, proscuitto di parma, and buffalo wings from Wings Over Brookline. The next time we host a shindig, I'll go easier on the pork/meat products - we had several vegetarians/non-pork eaters and I've got to do a better job cooking for people who don't eat like me.

The end of the tomatoes

We didn't get a frost here in Boston until the last week of October, and we actually had some temperatures in the mid-high 60s just before then, so we left our tomatoes on the vine until pretty late into fall. We brought them all inside about a week and a half ago, and, amazingly, they all ripened - even the ones that resembled little hard green rocks.

They tasted pretty good, but didn't remotely compare to their height-of-summer predecessors, so we made a little November bruschetta (some left over pesto spread on the toast helped to boost the flavor). Luckily our basil plants are still producing!


posted by bc (from viv's account)

Wednesday dinner

We had some leftover bread and italian meats (thanks Russo's) from our election day party, and this turned out to be a delicious way of using them up!

Toasted Italian Sandwich
-olive tapenade
-prosciutto
-sopressata (similar to salami)
-shaved Unie kaas cheese (basically, gouda)
-salt + pepper
-a couple shredded basil leaves
-->I piled all the toppings on one slice, and then put it in a toaster oven (laying the other slice next to it) on the 'toast' setting until the cheese melted. I drizzled a little olive oil on top of the cheese right before eating. delicious!)

Brussels Sprouts w/mustard vinaigrette
-brussels sprouts, halved, stemmed, and steamed until just tender
dressed with:
- c.1 tsp mustard
-a glug of E.V.O.O.
-s+p
-splash (really just a few drops) red wine vinegar

Windsor Dim Sum

On Saturday Ben and I wanted soup dumplings, so we ventured out to Chinatown. We barely missed out on two street parking spots and had to fork over $10 to park at the Beach St. garage. It was a good reminder of why we never go to Chinatown unless we take public transportation!

We tried going to Gourmet Dumpling but the restaurant was packed and the wait too long. Instead, we headed over to Windsor Dim Sum, a new-ish place on Tyler St. near Shabu-Zen. Windsor isn't your typical dim sum restaurant, like Hei La Moon or China Pearl (two of my favorites if you're seeking the steam carts pushed by old Chinese ladies experience). Instead, you order what you want and the waiters bring your dishes out to you (presumably, everything is cooked/made to order). Ben and I were starving and basically, we ordered the entire menu. We had har gao (shrimp dumplings), shu mai (shrimp and pork dumplings), gou choy gao (shrimp and chive dumplings), turnip cake, soup dumplings, tripe, spare ribs, har cheung (shrimp in rice noodle), shrimp-stuffed eggplant, steamed U-choy with oyster sauce, and salted fish and ground pork on rice. It was A LOT of food and the waiters seemed impressed that we were able to eat most of it. (Granted, we did take a lot of leftovers home for Grandma to enjoy.)

The dim sum was *pretty* good, but nothing special. Would we go back? Maybe on a Wednesday at 6pm when other places aren't serving dim sum. The soup dumplings were just ok, and they did not come with soup spoons or the ginger-vinegar dipping sauce. I'll stick to China Pearl and Hei La Moon during the morning hours, that's for sure. I also think we've been spoiled by Gitlo's, another made-to-order dim sum place in A-B on Brighton Ave. We can walk there (no need to drive to Chinatown and search for parking) and the dumplings are more creative. Sometimes, service can be slow and the place is tiny, but for convenience, taste and creativity it really can't be beat. It might be a little more expensive than the Chinatown places, but I'm a huge fan of Gitlo's (even more so when they actually have creme brulee...I had it once and since then they've always been out).

I hope folks like the new layout. Ben gets all the credit!

Recent adventures in the kitchen

Since Ben's chard adventure, it's been more exciting experiments in the A-B! A-B stands for Allston-Brighton, a part of Boston that's overrun with college students (and also where I grew up and where we live now). Last week Ben made the most amazing roasted beet and fennel salad, courtesy of Mark Bittman. I'm not sure what he dressed the salad with, but it was yummy! The beets and fennel came from our winter CSA share. After roasting, the beets tasted incredibly sweet - practically no "dirt" taste at all! (Oddly enough, I like the "dirt" taste, since that flavor is what makes beets so unique to me.) The fennel was raw - sliced thin and tossed with the roasted beet slices. Served on top of couscous, it was a yummy and complete meal. We probably should've taken a picture, but I was too lazy (and eager to start eating) to get the camera.

What else have we eaten from our CSA share? Ben's been making awesome and simple salads -- lettuce greens, empire apple slices, herbed goat cheese from the Vermont Butter & Cheese Co., and toasted pecans. The lettuces and empire apples came from the CSA - we've been lucky that our lettuce has remained fresh for over a week now. Our guess is that the lettuce lasts longer because it was picked fresh from a local farm and didn't have to travel in a refrigerated truck to a store and then to our house.

On Friday, we were lazy and ordered take out from our fave Thai place, Rod Dee near Coolidge Corner. We had yellow curry duck, shrimp pad thai, and Indonesian fried rice. Despite the scarcity of duck in the curry, the dish was delicious. I am not a huge fan of pineapple in curry, though -- it's just too sweet and the texture is weird!

On Saturday we went to K's place in Watertown for good food, good drinks and even better company. We celebrated D's 31st b-day and brought over a bottle of champagne so that the couple can celebrate in style upon moving into their new house. We had a great time and I'm glad we left when we did - otherwise I would have fallen asleep on K's uber-comfy sectional. At K's I tried a couple of rieslings (K's fave) and a rose wine, and all three were too sweet for my tastes. I'm a little worried that by the time I turn 40, I won't be able to drink anything sweeter than bourbon, which does NOT bode well!

Sunday, we duked it out with two hundred other shoppers at Russo's in Watertown. Ben and I had a huge shopping list - we're hosting an election party this Tuesday night - and the store was incredibly crowded. I'm so glad we found about about Russo's, but now we won't go anywhere else for cured meats. The selection isn't huge, but their prosciutto di parma is only $15/lb. and it's reliably delicious! The broccoli rabe looked great today, so I picked up two bunches and made our fave soup which includes broccoli rabe, white beans, potatoes and sausages. The potatoes were Yukon golds from our CSA; the sausages were De Pasquale's (via Russo's) sweet italian and the white beans 1/2 home cooked and 1/2 canned. Before starting the soup, I cooked some dried cannelini beans (local - I think - from Baer's in Mass) with a couple bay leaves. It took a few hours, but the result was sooooo much better than the canned stuff! I need two cups of beans for a rosemary-lemon zest-white bean dip for Tuesday's party, and had an extra cup or so of cooked beans that I tossed into the soup with a can of beans. The recipe is from Rachel Ray and the Food Network, but it's seriously one of my go-to soups now.

I probably spent 5 hours in the kitchen today (I also made a huge batch of pesto since we got two great-looking bunches of basil at Russo's), but hope all the prep work will pay off for Tuesday. Ben and I have a fun menu planned and it should be good times on Election Day.

Chard, vaguely Middle Eastern/South Asian style

Chard is beautiful and delicious, but I'm a little bored with the way we usually cook it (simmer garlic in olive oil, add chard, add some stock, cover).

I was hoping to cook it in sort of a Tuscan style today, but we didn't have any white beans. Instead, I started tossing things in--half an apple, some dried currants, some curry powder--and it came out pretty well, I think (and viv agrees).

Here's the "recipe" (more or less):
Ingredients
1 small bunch chard, roughly chopped
1 large shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
c. 1 tsp curry powder
c. 1 tbs dried currants
1/2 apple, in chunks
olive oil
s + p

Directions
1. Saute shallot and garlic in oil over medium heat, until very lightly browned
2. Add chard, and cook until it reduces to about half its normal size
[If I were to do this again, I would add about 1/4 water here and cover, to make sure the chard gets completely tender; then remove the cover and cook off the water]
3. Add apples and currants, and curry (to taste - you may need more depending on how much chard you have and how strong your curry powder is) and cook until heated through and the apples are tender (though don't let the apples lose their shape and start to dissolve)
4. throw in a splash of white wine or sweet vinager or lemon juice to lighten things up
5. eat!

I think a little crunch--some pine nuts or walnuts--would probably be good as well.

[photo from flikr user M P G]

Places and Recipes to Try

Places to Try:

Helmand, Cambridge, MA - Afghan

Matt Murphy's Pub, Brookline, MA - Irish pub food and Wednesday trivia nights


Recipes to Try:

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Beef and Guinness Stew

Voulez-Vous Poulet Avec Moi?

The frustrating part of learning how to blog is figuring out how to make user-friendly posts and also how to use blogger. I just wrote a post about tonight's dinner and ended up deleting the whole thing by accident. It's probably the most frustrating thing that could happen to you while blogging, besides losing your entire blog!

Back to the topic at hand - Hainanese chicken! I have no idea where it's from--Hainan?--haha--but it is practically a national dish in Singapore. You take a whole chicken, poach it and then cook rice with the chicken stock from the poaching. It's typically served with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, but we had some baby bok choy and pea pod shoots that Ben picked up from the Allston farmer's market, so we sauteed those instead and served them on the side.

You start with a whole chicken -- ours came from Whole Foods. They carry a line of whole organic chickens from Petaluma, CA (awful food mileage, I know) that comes with all the bells and whistles -- organic, free range, hormone free. You poach it and shred/slice the chicken. The rice is cooked with shallots and garlic, and the chicken stock is used as the cooking liquid. The result is an intensely chicken-flavored rice, and delicious, perfectly cooked chicken. The chicken is served with cilantro and a salt-scallion-ginger dipping sauce. All we have to do now is strain the leftover stock and freeze it for next time. Tonight's chicken started with leftover stock from the first time we made it :) The theory, according to the NY Times, is that the chicken flavor gets more intense as you repeat. The recipe is below -- courtesy of Mark Bittman of the NY Times. Ben is a little obsessed with Bittman and his "The Minimalist" series. We even have his "How to Cook Everything" cookbook. I think a lot of his ideas/recipes are overrated, but this recipe was one I picked out and it's a home run! The picture above is from the first time we made it.

Ben wants to add that when you cut up the chicken on a cutting board and leave the carcass, the juices congeal and the remnants are so rich it tastes like turkey. Yup, that's my husband.

RECIPE: The Minimalist: From a Chinese Island, a Chicken for Every Pot (September 17, 2008)

Ingredients:

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 whole (3- to 4-pound) chicken, trimmed of excess fat

Several cloves smashed garlic, plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic

Several slices fresh ginger, plus 1 tablespoon minced ginger

1/2 cup peanut oil, or neutral oil, like corn or canola

3 shallots, roughly chopped, or a small onion

2 cups long-grain rice

1/2 cup minced scallions

2 cucumbers, peeled and sliced

2 tomatoes, sliced

Chopped fresh cilantro leaves

2 tablespoons sesame oil.

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Add chicken to pot along with smashed garlic and sliced ginger. Bird should be completely submerged, but only just. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let bird remain in water for 45 minutes to an hour, covered, or until it is cooked through.

2. Remove chicken from pot, reserve stock, and let bird cool to room temperature. Put half the peanut oil in a skillet over medium heat; you may add trimmed chicken fat to this also. When oil is hot, add remaining garlic, along with shallots; cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring, until glossy. Add 4 cups reserved chicken stock and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover; cook for about 20 minutes, until rice has absorbed all liquid. Stir in salt and pepper to taste.

3. Make a dipping sauce of remaining oil, ginger, half the scallions and a large pinch of salt.

4. Shred or chop chicken, discarding skin. Put rice on a large platter and mound chicken on top of it; decorate platter with cucumbers, tomatoes, remaining scallions and cilantro. Sprinkle sesame oil over all and serve with dipping sauce.

Yield: 4 to 8 servings.

Belmont Farms CSA and our first CSA haul

Here's a picture of part of our haul today!

This afternoon, Ben and I picked up our first winter share of veggies from Belmont CSA! CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and the concept for CSA shares is that in return for investing in a local farm through the purchase of a share, you get a portion of that farm's bounty throughout the growing season. Belmont CSA's winter share is a growing collective among three farms, and the Belmont CSA acts like the agent for the other two farms. There are lots of good reasons for supporting local farms and sustainable agriculture -- we'll probably post about that later on.

At the Belmont farm, we had a great time walking through the field - they are still growing lettuces, leafy greens like kale and collard greens, leeks, broccoli, cauliflower, and root crops like radishes.

Here's some pics of the farm.






It's amazing that you can still grow food in the Boston area in late October, when evening temperatures oftentimes dip into the late 30s. We sipped on apple cider and pondered which variety of apple to take home. Included in this pick-up was 10 lbs. of apples, and we chose Empire apples. We also picked up a pumpkin from Sergi Farms next door to the Belmont CSA -- Ben's going to carve the Obama campaign symbol into it. We'll post pictures once the pumpkin is carved!

Our bounty from the CSA is below. (We put everything on our kitchen floor to get everything in one frame!) Besides 10 lbs. of apples, included in our share today was 45 lbs. of produce -- swiss chard, escarole, lettuces, green and red peppers, napa cabbage, leeks, harukei turnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, beets, parsley, acorn squash, delicata squash, butternut, sugar pumpkin, spinach, carrots, daikon and fennel! We are storing the squash, onions, sweet potatoes and potatoes in our back stairwell and hope they won't go bad hanging out back there.

Subtle