Chocolate Madness 2009

A pro-choice Charity event here in Boston. Patissiers and pastry chefs donating some goods for a good cause. Business cards and free confections. Oh my god.

My favorite things were:
- Beacon Hill Hotel and Bistro's amazing gianduja gelato with smoked salt, roasted almonds, and cacao nibs.
- Fiore's super dark, super moist chocolate torte with raspberry ganache.
- Picco's orgasmic mint chocolate chip ice cream: some amazing mixture of peppermint and spearmint essence, plus impossible thin ribbons of excellent dark chocolate. Sooo creamy. Unnngh. Really, really good.

Other good stuff included miniature chocolate tarts with vanilla cream and chocolate mousse; a chocolate ganache wedding cake that was so moist it was almost wet (rum?); and a chocolate layer cake with chocolate shavings, whipped cream, and dried cherries.

Bad stuff included a dry miniature chocolate-bacon cupcake, gritty chocolate bars, chocolate chip banana bread (wtf?), and chocolate baklava absolutely drenchedsoakingdripping in sugar syrup. Oh! Also, a terrible whoopie pie with gritty, minty, toothpaste-like filling, and a dry crumbly cookie exterior.

Good fucking fun. I was totally nauseous at points during and afterward. Cold water and cool evening air helped. Long walk to train station. Emotional support. Oddly, cooking smells from restaurants were helpful; maybe the smells stimulated my digestion, I dunno. But chocolate was my entire dinner yesterday. Whoa. I'm awesome. Surprisingly only a few other lesbos attended.

Jalisco Mexican Food in East Boston

Serving breakfast all day. Mostly Mexican people having lunch. Hole-in-the-wall place. Menu board in Spanish. Huevos Rancheros: three fried eggs (three!!!) with beans, rice, ranchero sauce, tomatoes, onions, and tortillas.

So the food came with a cup of icy horchata (a cinnamon-vanilla milk, often made with almond milk), and the portions were very generous. Everything was hot and ready to eat. No cheese anywhere, which I was excited about. After all, I had three fried eggs on my plate, and the beans were probably made with lard. Nobody needs cheese in that situation.

Beans and rice, sooo tasty. Fried eggs were perfect. Ranchero sauce did not contain meat, and was spicy red loveliness. Tomatoes were grilled, yes! Pushed the onion slices aside, no problem. Then there was this sauce caddy full of amazing salsas...a dark smoky salsa, a thick salsa verde, and a reddish-orange mild salsa. All the sauces were incredibly tasty, and I drizzled some on pretty much every bite I took. I keep thinking about eating the meal all over again, start to finish. It was exquisite pleasure. I could eat their beans and rice drizzled with a trio of salsas for weeks, maybe. I'll try a breakfast burrito next. I can't wait to go back and stuff myself. Connected to Wikipedia's entry on "horchata" is an entry for "jamaica", another flavor of agua fresca. Iced and sweetened hibiscus concoction, here I come! Pic from Wikipedia: jamaica and horchata agua fresca.

Jalisco gets two thumbs up, plus maybe they'll tell me how to make their salsa trio.

Sammich from Ula Cafe, Stony Brook

Well, I had been wanting to try some sammiches from Ula Cafe in the Sam Adam's brewery complex. Somewhere I read a positive review of their "limited edition" tuna and eggplant caponata sandwich. So I ordered a half-sammich on the phone and took a long stroll with Aster for a pond-side picnic. Plus water, and tangerine, of course.

This sandwich creation would have been excellent if it had been toasted. The tuna was a bit dry, and could have benefited from the melty unctuousness of sharp white cheddar. Also, the kalamata olive spread really overpowered the other flavors in the sandwich. I would order it again, but toasted, and without the olive spread.

Next time I might try their turkey with guacamole and bacon. Slab o' fat, what? I'd order another half-sammich, because that's a good picnic size with a piece of fruit and a beverage. They really packed in the tuna, so it was quite filling. The bread was sprouted wheat, and quite tasty. They seem to serve many of their sammiches on semolina bread, though. I would like to find out what that bread entails.

They also serve varying egg strata at Ula Cafe, so I'm interested in an early lunch or brunch there sometime.

Chocolate Chip Avocado Bread

Okay, so I made this bread (cake). I added Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of pecans. And. The bread (cake) totally rocks! and it's a cool color of green. It's rich and moist. The chocolate is super. I coated my loaf pan with butter and sugar, hoping for a sugary crust on the bread (cake), but alas...I think that doesn't work with nonstick metal pans. A little "well done" on the outside, so I won't do that next time. Butter, no sugar? Maybe add cinnamon? I like the slight smokiness of the Ghiradelli semi-sweet chips.

Here's the basic recipe for Avocado Bread (Cake) that I used, plus chocolate chips.

Stop & Shop and Dr. Guo

Oh, my god. I love my dentist, Dr. Guo! She looks about 22, tall and thin, with hands like feathers. She banters with her hygienist and together they sound like too earnest girls in a dorm, who just happen to both be employed in the dental field. They were both very gentle - verging on delicate - while cleaning and checking my teeth today.

AND I HAVE NO CAVITIES, TAKE THAT. Thank you, Vitali electric toothbrush! Thank you, Glide floss. Thank you, purple fluoride/mouthwash combination swish. Dr. Guo even commented on how clean my teeth were while she was scraping. Pride!

So then I walked to Stop & Shop, afloat on my cloud of Dental Pride. Of course I found the reduced produce, hidden away next to the smelly fish counter. When I'm not looking for it, I find it. They had decent apples, citrus, and eggplant. None of which I wanted today. There was a surplus of very withered asparagus, which could have been salvaged with extensive trimming. At any rate, I made a mental note for Mondays.

No dog treats on sale, so I purchased the four-pack of chewies again. In addition to beautiful collards for .79 a pound, I also tried a similarly priced bunch of lovely turnip greens. Bought another quart of on-sale light ice cream - mint chocolate chip! Why do they tempt me like this? It is sooo tasty, espesh with the thin chocolate wafers. UNNH, so good. Then they had 2 lbs of strawberries on sale for $3.99. Saved two dollars. I would not have bothered, but the berries looked very red and plump and glistening. And they smelled fragrant and sweet. So I went for it. Also, some chocolate-flavored silken tofu to be eaten instead of pudding! Shredded-oat cereal, my new breakfast interest. Only spent about $20 on good supplies.

Came home to skim the top off the ice cream, eat the penultimate square of my lasagna, and prepare my food for the week. Sauteed chicken tenders in olive oil, rosemary, and garlic; it turned out very tasty. Collards were low-maintenance and tasty per usual. I cooked the turnip greens in minimal oil and grease left over from cooking the chicken, and they are SCRUMP. I still have plenty of tangerines, plus a yogurt. And I still have baked potatoes from last week. So I'm set! I sampled the strawberries and they were better than I expected from a supermarket strawberry. Good times. Very excited about the cheap, extremely tasty turnip greens. Such a good deal! Let's have a pic of hard-working turnip greens (from www.all-creatures.org), shall we?

So, I am pleased with Stop & Shop. And my teeth are excessively clean and shiny. Awesome day so far. Now it's going to rain on me while I'm traveling to pizza in Eastie. FINE! I'll bring extra pants, hah.

Brutal Reality

So I was preparing my beautiful baby bokchoy and Chinese broccoli for some garlicky-oil wok time. I was feeling cocky about my frugal purchase of beautiful greens. I was washing them in the colander. Not a care in the world. When what should appear in the colander, but a large orange and black beetle-thing.

Yep, that was the sound of me screaming.

Now I am having trouble stomaching my hastily-prepared Plan B supper: sliced shitakes, potatoes in sesame oil, and a foached egg. I now have no edible greens. I can hardly palate my food for fear of eating insects. I love rinsed supermarket produce. I did not grow up on a farm. My hands are soft, pale little Poet hands. I'm not even sure I know how to shovel dirt. I am terrified of most bugs. Even typing "bugs" right now is making my skin crawl.

Tomorrow, back to brussel sprouts. Maybe some peppers. Or I could do enchiladas. Why are these mushrooms so goddamn slippery and chewy. Fuck you, Mr. Beetle. Fuck you.

Arugulance, Banh Mi

Viet-sandwich experience! The Banh Mi is often called a Saigon Sub, says Wikipedia. The salty-spicy tofu version was delicious. I look forward to trying similar concoctions, as well as the Vietnamese crystal rolls also on the menu! Sandwiches and crystals rolls may be the ultimate summer picnic fare. So many tasty things to look forward to - maybe mojitos as well? Might go well with cilatro/mint elements in rolls/sammich.

And here is an article defining the new word "argulance", from The Food Section blog. Food snobbery! I love this.

Review: Gourmet Dumpling House

I'm totally taking myself on a date this Friday. Here's the Boston Phoenix Cheap Eats review. Hurray! I hope I can slurp hot pork-flavored aspic without burning myself?!

---------------------------------------------------------

My solo date was super. The 3D Imax movie Under The Sea was delightful: cuttlefish hunting and mating and changing colors, striped catfish mobbing algae, sea turtles slowly munching on live jellyfish. All set to classical music, and Jim Carrey calmly narrating in Yoga Instructor voice. Good times! Oddly crowded in theater, but amazing weather.

After the movie, I walked around the Common. Reclined on the grass. Wandered into Chinatown. Found my restaurant, sat down. I chickened out of the aspic-filled soup dumplings, and ordered more traditional pork/leek pan-fried dumplings, along with sauteed bokchoy and shitake mushrooms. My dishes came, they were delicious. Very savoury. The pork/leek filling was juicy and hot, the dumpling wrappers were crisp. The bokchoy was tender-crisp, sweet, garlicky, and completely scrumptious. The shitake caps were chewy, garlicky, maybe gingery. I wanted to order more dishes for sampling, but just the two dishes I chose will provide me with an ample dinner of leftovers. Next time, though. I'm going for the aspic and something else crazy, I swear.

A group of female college students - maybe from Emerson - sat at a table near me. They were highly annoying, asking for diet Cokes, all with extra cups of ice on the side, and could they please pay the minimum charge amount split between two debit cards? Then they started talking about someone's infected hair follicle - or was it just a big pimple?

The girls saw my food arrive and proceeded to discuss it - all while I sat about a foot away from them. Then the most aggressive of the girls called out "Hey man, what is that?" and pointed to my platter of dumplings. I explained that they were pork dumplings. Thus followed a discussion about how one of the girls did not eat pork, so perhaps they could have the dumplings filled with chicken or beef.

Because there was obviously a magic dumpling machine in back, filling all the dumpling wrappers to order. Like maybe it wasn't just that red-faced Chinese woman wearing an apron and taking her bottled-water break.

Anyway, the girls entertained me by being so over-the-top annoying. I even felt slightly masterful of the situation. Even though I chickened out of the aspic soup dumplings! The waitress asked me in Chinese if I was finished, and I asked if I could take my food home. She looked surprised to hear that in English, but not in a bad way. I left a good tip. I would like to go back. It was a very small, very clean little restaurant, and it was filled with other people eating their lunch. Lots of Chinese people. The menu was virtually endless, and went from "beef with American Broccoli" to "sliced roasted pork heart" and "stewed duck webs with ginger".

Before I caught the train home, I stopped in at the Chinese grocery and bought a giant bag of baby bokchoy and a generous bunch of Chinese broccoli. Stir-fried greens with garlic, here I come!

I'm totally going back. I found an instructional video - from Video Jug - on how to eat Shangai Soup Dumplings! I'm so going back!

Strong Enough for Whisky and Candy?

Well, I finally lingered long enough in the liquor store to find the locked cabinet with the single malt scotches. I even asked for a recommendation, based on wanting to try something new, something not as awesomely expensive as the top shelf stuff, and something strong-flavored. So I got McClelland's Islay - super peaty, super smoky. I quite like it. Reminds me of lapsang souchong tea. And it's surprisingly smooth to drink. I look forward to the day that I can sample more expensive scotches, but this is diverting for now. I can now sip neat - I've graduated from ice! Hoorah.

Also, my Islay is a very nice counterpoint to Cadbury Mini Eggs. Though it's doubtful whether anyone else would agree with me on that point.

So apparently I have quite the family history of diabetes; it just keeps getting longer and longer. I am wondering if I should devote my life to fitness or nutrition or something. Like, get a degree in it and make my body a temple. Eventually sell my self-designed fitness equipment on late-night television infomercials! Like Tony Little's Gazelle! Like Bowflex.

Lasagna Redux

It's an official kick! I don't think I'll be able to eat a third round, though. This week I'll do multi-vegetable lasagna: zucchini, eggplant, Tuscan kale, baby portabellas. This will fill my 6-month quota for lasagna, I do believe.

Edit 1: Might be mediocre lasagna. I didn't have enough mozzarella for optimal coverage. Not sure how I feel about zucchini in any kind of casserole/lasagna-esque dish.

Edit 2: Of course, lasagna is better on the second day. I should have known! Quite tasty, though perhaps less filling than the 100% kale lasagna. The thinly-sliced eggplant is nice, but still would have benefited from more cheese.

Ate grilled cheese as my museum/concert/entertainment snack. I like this tradition of bringing my lunch on mini-adventures. Also, I continue to be obsessed with tangerines. Where have they been all my life? Extra juicy, extra tart-sweet. Super fragrant when peeled. Sexy fruit.

Recently had a chance to have a true diner breakfast - in East Boston! Who knew there was a public beach right off the T? Seriously. I need to get out more. Specifically to walk on the beach before the Beach Crowds repulse me. But I digress: Here's a picture of my diner breakfast, complete with perfectly over-easy eggs, uber-buttered white toast, home fries, and mediocre bacon. (I don't know why my eggs are always over-exposed in camera phone pics. Reflective white surface, I guess.)

Donut Muffins!

The internet is abuzz with word of a new creation: the donut muffin. Yes, a combination of muffin and delectable donut. Or is that doughnut? Whichever you prefer. I am intrigued, though wary - I am not a huge fan of muffins, but I will scarf a doughnut. You know, I just prefer that spelling. "Donut" seems too...corporate? Ew.

This recipe for Sugar-Crusted Donut Muffins is from a blog called BakingBites.

This recipe for Donut Muffins is from the Boston Globe!

And this little recipe for Kathleen's Doughnut Muffins went to town. I mean, it's from The Food Section.

Pictures of donut/doughnut muffins included come from BakingBites and The Food Section blog. Mmm.

A Sunday Sundae

Ordered a small sundae at Picco's in South Boston: mint chocolate flake, hot fudge, whipped cream, and nuts. Was expecting something slightly above average. I was most happily blown away by goodness.

My mint chocolate flake had a nice balance of spearmint to peppermint - very "green", very minty. The chocolate flakes melted easily on my tongue. Very good! The hot fudge was bittersweet and actually warm. The whipped cream was the genuine article. The "nuts" were toasted hazelnuts dipped in dark chocolate and rolled in powdered sugar. AMAZING. A perfect sundae for a perfect Sunday. I was glad to try it.

They had pizza and calzones on the menu, in addition to salads. My salad was over-priced for the size, and didn't have as many beets as I'd have liked, but I enjoyed the toasted hazelnuts. I'd say this place is best patronized for its desserts, beer offerings, and pizza/calzones.

Picco's Restaurant on Tremont.

What Does It Mean!

This morning, while slicing a chunk of lasagna for breakfast, and peeling my tangerine, something remarkable happened. It has never happened to me before. Does it portend a long life? Good luck? Something musical? I will give a full report later, when I know more.

Edit: I now believe the curly peel is a portend of good luck!

Lasagna

Gorgeous Tuscan kale, ricotta, mozzarella, an egg to bind, Amy's puttanesca sauce, Barilla pasta. And garlic! Initially I was afraid that mixing my ricotta, garlic, and egg with raw chopped kale would turn out a mistake. But it did not! This lasagna is delicious, though a little on the salty side due to puttanesca sauce. Ricotta's sweetness balances out the salt for the most part. Next time I would use a more basic tomato sauce, but I am not disappointed with this pan. I look forward to eating it throughout the coming week. Hurrah!

Hummus To Go

So I worked earlier than usual today, in this attempt to make myself indispensable and all. Left my brain in my warm pocket of a bed, and forgot the lunch that I had prepared the night before. Look, I got home at 11 pm and had to get up 6:30! I deserve some slack. Which is why I bought myself a chicken and pepper quesadilla from the cafeteria grill - and it was tastier than most things from the cafeteria. And pretty cheap, so I was thrilled.

I also picked up a Naval orange, and something I had never seen before: a two-tiered Sabra Hummus To Go container. The top container is filled with pretzel chips and the bottom container is filled with hummus. And may I just say that Sabra has been my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE pre-packaged hummus ever since I first experienced its superior mouth-feel. It is the sort of hummus a deity would eat.

And the little plastic containers with foil-peel tops are so adorable. I am an instant fan of this kind of packaging. They are the right size to be handy travel-size food/water dishes for Jackahuahua. The only negative part about this design is that many of my pretzel chips are broken.

Sabra Hummus!