FOOD BRINGS US TOGETHER.
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As expected, the food just kept coming after I arrived in Chicago for Thanksgiving. More than anything, it was a wonderful few days spent with family and friends and left me feeling rejuvenated and ready to come back to a lot of work. Enjoy the photos! Two honorable mentions, besides my grandmother (who is responsible for all of the great cooking that happened on Thanksgiving day) to La Casa de Isaac in Highwood, IL and Orange Contemporary Brunch Restaurant in Chicago. Also, keep checking on the site this week– we’ve got some exciting posts on the horizon, and possibly a new contributor or two!
If you took any photos of pie in the last few days, don’t forget about our Pie cookbook contest!!
For DC residents and politicos country wide, the State Dinner is like the Oscars is for pop-culture junkies (of which I am one). Everything is scrutinized from the guest list to the arrival times to the outfits to who shows up with who. Confession: last night I even found myself going through the entire Huffington Post [...]
 Everything bagel with snapper salad, onion, and tomato. The past few days have been packed with great food. So much so, that I’m doing my weekly Eaten This Week a few days early. In case you missed last week’s entry, every Friday, I’m going to post a digest of the things that I’ve digested– the post will be mostly visual. Lots of food photography.
After kicking things off last Friday with a bagel topped with snapper salad, made by my co-worker’s wife (the one who is currently studying at Le Cordon Bleu and one of my companions at the Dogfish Ancient Ales Tasting Night), and a great sushi dinner in Boston, I spent last weekend in New York City, where I finally had the pleasure of meeting fellow blogger and Wesleyan alum, Megan, of Runner’s Kitchen. I took the Amtrak Regional to get to NYC, leaving Boston at 6:30am and getting into NYC a little bit before 11. An early morning, but well worth it. By the time I arrived, I had worked up quite an appetite.
While there, I met Megan and some other great college friends for a brunch (we were all starved by the time we sat down) at the Good Restaurant, 84 Greenwich Ave., in the West Village. I had a basil and goat cheese egg scramble on sourdough toast and topped with cherry tomatoes, asparagus & pesto. Delicious. I don’t know how they cook their eggs, but I have a feeling butter is involved, and it pays off! Other stand-outs included lemon-ricotta pancakes covered in strawberries and their “goodBread Basket” which we filled (you have a choice between several different bread selections) with Savory Cheddar Cornbread, The Best Pear Pecan Crumbcake, and Lemon Blueberry Bread.
The day ended with a beer at The Pony Bar, 637 10th Ave, in Hell’s Kitchen, a bar with its priorities straight (thanks, Megan, for the recommendation)– all craft beers, all the time. I started things off with a Double Simcoe IPA and finished with two Frostbite Pale Ales. All delicious.
Still hungry? Continue reading Eaten This Week: Almost Thanksgiving and Already Full
 Last Tuesday night, I had the pleasure of joining a co-worker, his wife, who is now a student at Le Cordon Bleu “in Boston” (well, actually, it’s located in Kendall Square, Cambridge), and their friend for a Dogfish Head Ancient Ales tasting night. The deal was unbeatable: six courses, seven beers, $60. As my friend’s wife explained, Le Cordon Bleu is able to sell food below cost in their restaurant, Technique, because it is subsidized by the school as a teaching establishment. I’m telling you, this restaurant will become one of Boston’s favorites once it is discovered (the school is only a year old). As you might expect from a culinary school restaurant, it’s not without its quirks, largely the result of waitstaff being trained on the job. The food is outstanding though.
What a meal. The beers were paired perfectly with the dishes, no small feat for working with Dogfish Head brews which are famous for presenting unique flavors, a trend which is especially true with their Ancient Ale selection. Dogfish’s motto is “Off-centered ales for off-centered people” and they continue to live up to their reputation for pushing the limits.
Still hungry? Continue reading Dogfish Head Ancient Ales at Le Cordon Bleu, Boston
 On Tuesday, I got an email from my best friend with the subject heading “I’m going on a diet.” He proceeded to outline a ridiculously long list of rules that he needed to follow. While I could get on board with some of them like cutting out refined sugars and starches, I had a hard time believing in a diet which tells you to cut out bananas and carrots but still allows steak and cream cheese (fat free of course). In my little vegan head (yes I know, lots of rules there), it just doesn’t make sense!
As the ever-supporting friend, however, I have decided to humor him, but also take this as an opportunity to educate (and maybe preach a little). When it comes to this friend, however, I know that no amount of preaching or anecdotal evidence will change his mind. He needs facts and he needs alternative solutions. In that spirit (and in response to Megan’s call for healthy pie recipes and Matt’s for pictures), I decided to provide him with an alternative dessert, which meets both his and my dietary mantras: free of refined of sugars and carbs for him and free of animals and unpronounceable ingredients for me. It also happens to have the added benefit of being a ‘one pot meal’ (which I know he likes) as all the work occurs in the blender and it involves no cooking.
I adapted this recipe from a raw strawberry tart from the Joy of Vegan Baking that I like to make in the summer. Knowing full well that vegan is scary enough and raw might just throw him over the edge, I amended the recipe a bit to include some ‘cooked’ ingredients, substituted the strawberry filling with pumpkin to make it more autumn friendly, and added some heart healthy fiber to boot. I’ve included a few tidbits on the nutrition of the desert at the end.
Still hungry? Continue reading On diets…
Today, Megan at Runner’s Kitchen is giving away a free Pillsbury t-shirt to the best (healthy-ish) pie concepts. At Eat With Me, we’re going to follow Megan’s lead, as usual, and offer a free copy of Ken Haedrich’s Pie (672 pages, 300 recipes, $27.95 value) to the person who submits the best digital photograph of a pie (either [...]
 Cupcakes from The South End Buttery is conveniently located on Albany Street, which runs adjacent to Boston’s South End, one of the city’s more racially and socioeconomically diverse neighborhoods. Boston’s neighborhoods have a way of stratifying themselves through self-segregation (and, unfortunately, the city has a history of problems with racism, although things seem to be improving). The South End lies between Back Bay, Downtown, Dorchester, and Roxbury and is one area that attracts a wider range of people. The more diversity an area has to offer, usually the better its food, and today’s post is a celebration of two of the South End’s best bakeries.
This week, I purchased a Canon PowerShot SD940 IS (Digital Elph) to help to carry the load while my other camera is in the shop. If you missed it, my tripod failed and sent my DSLR tumbling. A major bummer, but the camera shop that I use, Hunt’s Photo and Video in Harvard Square, has been extremely helpful about getting the repairs done. In the meantime, one of the benefits of my new camera is that it fits into my pant pocket, making it possible for me to be less intrusive when I’m photographing at restaurants and food events.
Still hungry? Continue reading Eaten This Week: South End Edition
 Happy Eaters For the past three months I have been engaged in what can only be described as an adventure in DC house hopping as I await a visa and my ultimate move to London. So far, I’ve subletted a gay man’s bachelor pad, room-sat for a friend while she was on vacation, shared a house with four girls and their pet snake, and even spent a few glorious weeks sharing my friend’s company sponsored room at the Westin.
I’m now on housing arrangement #5 and if I’ve gotten anything out of the experience it’s a better sense of my priorities when it comes to living environments. I don’t need the “clap on clap off” light switches from sublet #1. I do need a snake free environment (unlike sublet #3). I don’t need room service (although that was a nice perk at housing arrangement #4) I do need a stocked kitchen. Sublet number five covers all the bases and also comes with the nice perk of living with three friends who in addition to opening up their home to me have also opened up their kitchen. It’s perfect.
This weekend we decided to host “Friendgiving” which Mary so aptly described as “Thanksgiving without the Turkey.” In the end it was more Thanksgiving meets everyone’s favorite ethnic dish (but vegan never-the-less!) with curried cauliflower, squash soup, stuffing, beet salad and my personal addition enchiladas.
 Enchiladas: Pre-Sauce The mole recipe is amended from one included in Veganomicon, my favorite cookbook and one of the few things, which has traveled with me in my suitcase through all the moves. When it comes to the filling for enchiladas, I say get creative. This time I made one version with kale and sweet potatoes and another with mushroom and zucchini. In the past I’ve done black beans, squash, tofu, spinach and even broccoli. The mole is potent enough that you don’t need much spice so you can experiment with the veggies/beans. I’ve put my basic recipes below, but it would be great to hear what others have done too!
Still hungry? Continue reading “Friend Giving”
No, you didn’t misread the subject of this post. I’m sorry to say that there’s not going to be a moment when you go, “oh, thank goodness, these crabs aren’t really hairy”– because, these crabs are hairy AND they are a delicacy in Hong Kong. Today, in the spirit of Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern, I’m bringing you something which, although apparently delicious, might gross you out.
 My great friend Verman, a fellow Wesleyan Alum, was born and raised in Hong Kong and came to the states for high school and college. For citizenship and professional reasons, Verman has gone back to live in Hong Kong again, a sad change for her extensive network of friends in the United States (I use the term “network” because Verman has an incredible knack for bringing people together).
Anyway, my friends and I (group dubbed “The Travel Club”) had the pleasure visiting Verman in Hong Kong and another close friend in Vietnam at the beginning of this past summer– it was an odyssey! Of course, the primary goal of the trip was to see our friends, but it was also an incredible food experience. Not surprising as many of my friendships are at least partially built around food and eating together. Although it was a few months ago, I do have many great photos of the food that I ate on the trip and I’m sure I’ll integrate them into future posts. One of the photos, of tapioca with green tea ice cream, resides on the banner of this site.
Still hungry? Continue reading Hairy Crab
Photo credit: Dessine Moi un Objet
While I mostly post original content on this blog, I thought these edible salad tossers were too cool an idea not to include on our site.
If you are an advocate of eating everything on your plate, you can take the clean plate club to the next level (by eating your [...]
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