favorite restaurant of all time
cyclops in the belltown neighborhood of seattle. $15-20. a neighborhood restaurant that changes its menu frequently, which i like to view as a desire to experiment with new kinds of food. in the summer of 2002 i had the most exquisite chocolate pot de creme: intensely chocolate, just sweet enough with no sour aftertaste, dense, flavored with grand marnier, with a curl of candied orange peel on top. oh, and did i mention that it was baked in a teacup? one small teacup - about a third of a cup in volume - was enough for two people. nothing i've had since has even compared.
favorite restaurant in boston/cambridge
pigalle. $36 (3-course prix fixe). i went there with two friends during restaurant week, and fell in love. a smallish restaurant with a great waitstaff. impeccable pacing of the meal, and the food was simple, but absolutely wonderful.
french
craigie street bistrot, harvard square area. $60 (appetizer, main course, and dessert). on the more traditional side, with very simple preparations and exquisite ingredients. the result is absolute food heaven. on the downside, it's also exquisitely expensive.
pigalle, theater district. see above. more modern than craigie street bistrot.
aquitaine, south end. $20-30 (appetizer + main course; desserts $8). more affordable, but very good. always busy, especially for sunday brunch, which is excellent.
the hamburger
joe sent me, between alewife and porter square. $6-10 (burger + drink). unfortunately more accessible by car than by anything else, but it has burgers as good as bartley's (if not better). it's also cheaper, although you may spend the saved cash on transportation. joe sent me is dominated by the bar - think massive plasma screens all over the place, showing football, basketball, baseball - and law and order. really good chicken wings. go here to escape the collegiate types.
bartley's burger cottage, harvard square. $10-14 (burger + milkshake). closer than joe sent me, with a longer menu (joe sent me has about 10 burgers). really good milkshakes.
pour house, boylston street near the pru. $5-8 (burger + milkshake, or appetizers + milkshake). go here more for the "collegiate atmosphere," milkshakes, and appetizers, not the cheap, prefab, cardboard burgers (half-price on saturdays).
aquitaine, south end. $10 (burger). sunday brunch burger is absolutely fabulous. the yuppie burger, too: on a toasted brioche bun with gruyere cheese. worth it, though.
indian
a taste of india on huntington ave near symphony hall. $20 (naan, appetizer, main dish). i think it's changed names, but it's still owned by the same people. best indian food i've had in boston, plus great decor. tiny, too, so it has a great, intimate feel (yes, i went there on a date).
bindhi bazaar, mass ave. good, serviceable indian food. some people say it's authentic, some people say it's not. at any rate, it tastes good.
fast food
wendy's, boylston street across from copley square. $3-5. i always get the same thing: a junior bacon cheeseburger, chicken nuggets with honey mustard sauce, and a frosty. cheaper, better fast food can't be found anywhere else. the added plus of the boylston street location is the second floor window area, where you can watch people go by on the street.
chinese
peach farm, chinatown. $7-13. for real chinese food. really cheap if you go with lots of friends and eat family-style.
mary chung, central square. $7-16. for american chinese food. i always have the peking ravioli (fried) with its exquisite, spicy ginger soy sauce, and the suan la chow show.
best decor and lighting
lumiere, in newton. $20-30. the whole room is white - but it's an off-white, and it glows rather than dazzling and blinding you. somehow it makes you feel happier.
pizza
picco, south end. $7-10 (just pizza). fabulously chewy-but-not-too-chewy, cracklingly-crisp-just-on-the-very-bottom crust. in short, the perfect pizza crust. good toppings, with specials every night, and great decor (including an upscale diner-like bar counter).
emma's pizza, kendall square. $7-10. great pizzas, but sometimes a little too thin crust for my liking. has a traditional, floury pizza crust, rather than the picco crust, which has a closer resemblance to foccacia.
note: all prices include tax and tip.
30 décembre 2004
29 décembre 2004
a foray into the world of grease
no, not the musical. i just had the best onion ring i've ever had in my life. allow me a moment to wax poetic about these onion rings: sweet, juicy white onions, encased in wonderfully crispy, perfectly salted, light-yet-has-a-bite batter. batter light enough to be a perfect foil to the onions - none of that heavy, doughy, breadcrumb-like stuff - but thick enough to coat the onions and not slide off. let that be a lesson to bartley's burger cottage, where i always get onion rings with my burger because i love onion rings - forgetting that their onion rings are worse than the raw awesome blossom my friends and i were once served at chili's. these onion rings were so perfect that no accompaniment was needed. the secret? club soda, chilled in the freezer for 10 minutes.
as it turned out, there were slices of eggplant - which, when you don't do anything to it, is a wonderful snowy color - and whole button mushrooms. the mushrooms were especially good - crispy on the outside, and juicy on the inside. it's not often that fried food tastes this good - that is, good enough to justify the damage to your heart.
no restaurant involved - just home.
as it turned out, there were slices of eggplant - which, when you don't do anything to it, is a wonderful snowy color - and whole button mushrooms. the mushrooms were especially good - crispy on the outside, and juicy on the inside. it's not often that fried food tastes this good - that is, good enough to justify the damage to your heart.
no restaurant involved - just home.
27 décembre 2004
grandma's birthday cake
after having swallowed too many bites of those awful carmel ice cream cakes, my sister and i began making our grandmother's birthday cake every year. for the past four years or so, we've made variations on the same cake for her birthday, which falls on december 26th.
this year would be no different from the rest; the desired cake would be chocolate with chocolate frosting, with cherries somehow involved in the whole shebang. i was away from my very infrequently updated recipe file, which contains the chocolate cake recipe from American Classics, one of the America's Test Kitchen cookbooks - which is, notably, different from the one in The Best Recipe. this recipe is my favorite chocolate cake recipe, and i have not yet found one to rival it. however, it was 25 miles away, so i consulted epicurious.com.
197 recipes later, i had chosen a cake - the chocolate layer cake with milk chocolate frosting. however, i wasn't particularly excited about a milk chocolate frosting, so i sifted through more icing recipes until i had a great idea. the chocolate frosting i've liked most during my years of baking experience is a chocolate frosting from Cook's Illustrated, specifically the whipped ganache that went with yellow cupcakes. when i made them last december, i slightly overbaked the cupcakes, and accordingly the combination was forgotten through the mediocrity of the overall result. however, the frosting had been fantastic - it was a regular ganache, but whipped.
what the whipping does is eliminate the problem of waiting for the ganache to set. after you make the ganache in the food processor, you whisk it over an ice bath until it loses its glossiness, and then beat away with an electric mixer. in under 5 minutes, you have a frosting that has the consistency of a buttercream frosting, but the wonderful taste of ganache.
the final cake was a four-layer cake, filled with the whipped ganache and a layer of cherry compote in the middle. the four layers come from two 9" cakes, each split in half and leveled. the nicest thing about the chocolate cake recipe was that it baked up quite flat, which seems to be a rarity these days. the result is a cake that is quite tall.
i was somewhat disappointed by the cake recipe; it was possibly slightly overbaked, but only by one or two minutes, and that it was overbaked in that small amount of time is really a shame. i would have liked to have made the American Classics chocolate cake, and would substitute that the next time i make a chocolate layer cake. however, the ganache was great, and there is a world of difference between the drama of a three-layer cake and that of a four-layer cake. people are always more impressed by the four-layer cake, even if it was easier to make, so if you are trying to impress, go for more layers. the next time i make this particular kind of cake, i would also probably fill it with two different kinds of chocolate mousse or something like that, to give it a little more luxe.
chocolate layer cake #1
cherry compote
2 jars cherries from trader joe's
1/2c sugar
1/4c amaretto
whipped ganache
note: multiply by 2 if you just want to frost the outside of the cake, 3 if you want to frost and fill it)
3/4c heavy cream
2T butter
6 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (your ganache is only as good as the chocolate)
1T cognac (or other liqueur)
2 9" chocolate layer cakes
[1] split the chocolate layer cakes in half: using a long serrated knife - preferably a bread knife - insert the knife into the side of the cake and continue cutting through the cake horizontally until you have the two halves. separate the halves and level them. repeat for the other layer.
[2] make the cherry compote: cut the cherries in half and place in a medium saucepan with about half of the liquid (a quarter if you're short on time). add the liqueur and sugar, and turn the heat to medium high. the idea is to bring the mixture to a simmer, and to simmer it until the liquid has very nearly evaporated. stir it fairly frequently, and more frequently towards the end, otherwise the mixture might burn. towards the end you may also want to turn the heat down to medium-low.
[3] make the ganache: chop the chocolate fairly small, then place in the bowl of a food processor. microwave the cream and butter in a measuring cup on high until bubbling, about 1 1/2 minutes. add the cream and liqueur to the bowl of the food processor and process until thickened, about 3 minutes. transfer to a bowl.
[4] whip the ganache: place the bowl in a large bowl with ice water + ice cubes in it, and whisk the ganache until it loses its glossiness, ~3-5 minutes. beat on low to medium speed with an electric mixture until the ganache holds peaks, about 3-5 minutes. try not to overbeat, as the mixture will curdle.
[5] place the bottom cake layer on the cake plate or platter, and spread with either ganache (if using) or other filling. top with another layer, and spread a thin layer of ganache on it. arrange cherry compote evenly on top. spread a thin layer of ganache on the bottom side of the next layer, then place on top of cherry compote. top the layer with desired filling (ganache or other) and then top with final layer. ice the top and sides of cake.
note: cake can be refrigerated, then brought to room temp before serving. if you are making a different filling than the whipped ganache, keep in mind that you should not reheat the ganache, so it should be ready only when you want to ice the cake. for example, if you were making a mousse filling, you would want to allow time for the mousse to set on the cake layer, in the refrigerator, so you would not want to make the whipped ganache until later.
[serves 12-14]
this year would be no different from the rest; the desired cake would be chocolate with chocolate frosting, with cherries somehow involved in the whole shebang. i was away from my very infrequently updated recipe file, which contains the chocolate cake recipe from American Classics, one of the America's Test Kitchen cookbooks - which is, notably, different from the one in The Best Recipe. this recipe is my favorite chocolate cake recipe, and i have not yet found one to rival it. however, it was 25 miles away, so i consulted epicurious.com.
197 recipes later, i had chosen a cake - the chocolate layer cake with milk chocolate frosting. however, i wasn't particularly excited about a milk chocolate frosting, so i sifted through more icing recipes until i had a great idea. the chocolate frosting i've liked most during my years of baking experience is a chocolate frosting from Cook's Illustrated, specifically the whipped ganache that went with yellow cupcakes. when i made them last december, i slightly overbaked the cupcakes, and accordingly the combination was forgotten through the mediocrity of the overall result. however, the frosting had been fantastic - it was a regular ganache, but whipped.
what the whipping does is eliminate the problem of waiting for the ganache to set. after you make the ganache in the food processor, you whisk it over an ice bath until it loses its glossiness, and then beat away with an electric mixer. in under 5 minutes, you have a frosting that has the consistency of a buttercream frosting, but the wonderful taste of ganache.
the final cake was a four-layer cake, filled with the whipped ganache and a layer of cherry compote in the middle. the four layers come from two 9" cakes, each split in half and leveled. the nicest thing about the chocolate cake recipe was that it baked up quite flat, which seems to be a rarity these days. the result is a cake that is quite tall.
i was somewhat disappointed by the cake recipe; it was possibly slightly overbaked, but only by one or two minutes, and that it was overbaked in that small amount of time is really a shame. i would have liked to have made the American Classics chocolate cake, and would substitute that the next time i make a chocolate layer cake. however, the ganache was great, and there is a world of difference between the drama of a three-layer cake and that of a four-layer cake. people are always more impressed by the four-layer cake, even if it was easier to make, so if you are trying to impress, go for more layers. the next time i make this particular kind of cake, i would also probably fill it with two different kinds of chocolate mousse or something like that, to give it a little more luxe.
chocolate layer cake #1
cherry compote
2 jars cherries from trader joe's
1/2c sugar
1/4c amaretto
whipped ganache
note: multiply by 2 if you just want to frost the outside of the cake, 3 if you want to frost and fill it)
3/4c heavy cream
2T butter
6 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (your ganache is only as good as the chocolate)
1T cognac (or other liqueur)
2 9" chocolate layer cakes
[1] split the chocolate layer cakes in half: using a long serrated knife - preferably a bread knife - insert the knife into the side of the cake and continue cutting through the cake horizontally until you have the two halves. separate the halves and level them. repeat for the other layer.
[2] make the cherry compote: cut the cherries in half and place in a medium saucepan with about half of the liquid (a quarter if you're short on time). add the liqueur and sugar, and turn the heat to medium high. the idea is to bring the mixture to a simmer, and to simmer it until the liquid has very nearly evaporated. stir it fairly frequently, and more frequently towards the end, otherwise the mixture might burn. towards the end you may also want to turn the heat down to medium-low.
[3] make the ganache: chop the chocolate fairly small, then place in the bowl of a food processor. microwave the cream and butter in a measuring cup on high until bubbling, about 1 1/2 minutes. add the cream and liqueur to the bowl of the food processor and process until thickened, about 3 minutes. transfer to a bowl.
[4] whip the ganache: place the bowl in a large bowl with ice water + ice cubes in it, and whisk the ganache until it loses its glossiness, ~3-5 minutes. beat on low to medium speed with an electric mixture until the ganache holds peaks, about 3-5 minutes. try not to overbeat, as the mixture will curdle.
[5] place the bottom cake layer on the cake plate or platter, and spread with either ganache (if using) or other filling. top with another layer, and spread a thin layer of ganache on it. arrange cherry compote evenly on top. spread a thin layer of ganache on the bottom side of the next layer, then place on top of cherry compote. top the layer with desired filling (ganache or other) and then top with final layer. ice the top and sides of cake.
note: cake can be refrigerated, then brought to room temp before serving. if you are making a different filling than the whipped ganache, keep in mind that you should not reheat the ganache, so it should be ready only when you want to ice the cake. for example, if you were making a mousse filling, you would want to allow time for the mousse to set on the cake layer, in the refrigerator, so you would not want to make the whipped ganache until later.
[serves 12-14]
the elusive, deliciously spicy christmas cookie
it has been three years and still jessica won't divulge the secret of her wonderful christmas cookies. every year i look forward to that little bundle of joy, which smells so happily of spices. in the past few years i've been able to exercise some restraint and bring some of the cookies home to share with my family, but it is true that i am partial to the star-shaped, pink-lemon-icing-adorned hazelnut butter cookies, as well as the gingersnaps. it is a mystery to me how gingersnaps can be so delightfully spicy. eat a jessica-gingersnap, and you are on the road to nose-tingling spiciness; you will exhale spicy CO2 while you eat the cookie.
i suspect that the source of this spice-joy is a liberal amount of ginger. bored at home, i set out to make an equally spicy cookie. while trolling epicurious.com for suitable recipes, i decided that since i was going to make christmas cookies, i might as well make a few different kinds. i settled on three recipes: gingersnaps, oatmeal cookies, and butter cookies.
i ran into trouble when i made the gingersnaps: we only had about a teaspoon of powdered ginger. i sadly replaced it with a combination of ground cloves, allspice, and cinnamon, but wondered how i would provide the mild bite of the jessica-gingersnap. i vaguely remembered something about black pepper in one of the recipes i had discarded during my search, and promptly added a small amount of black pepper.
that small amount of black pepper was enough to assuage my need for bite in my gingersnap, but in hindsight was probably not enough to actually make a difference. the gingersnaps were pretty, certainly, due to my anal tendencies, but were overpowered by the brown sugar. i wish i had added more black pepper, and less sugar. my quest for the jessica-gingersnap will have to be continued at a later time.
on the flip side, the oatmeal cookies (not a jessica-christmas-cookie variety) were quite good. they were supposed to have cardamom in them, which i would have liked to have tried, but we had no cardamom. again, i substituted extra cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and black pepper. i'll have to try the recipe again with cardamom. the cookies were best a couple days after, when the spices had matured a little, and i've always believed that the oatmeal cookie recipe on the back of the oatmeal canister doesn't have enough spices in it.
spicy oatmeal cookies
2 eggs
1 1/2t vanilla
1 to 1 1/2c raisins
1 2/3c flour
1t baking soda
3/4t salt
3/4t ground cardamom (replaced by more cinnamon when i made them)
1 1/2t ground cinnamon
1/2t allspice
1/2t cloves
2 sticks butter
1c dark brown sugar, packed
2 1/4c old-fashioned oats
[1] preheat oven to 350. sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices into a medium bowl.
[2] cream butter, then add sugar and beat until smooth. beat in eggs and vanilla.
[3] stir in flour mixture, then raisins, then oats.
[4] roll dough into small balls (about the size of a half dollar). using moistened fingertips, flatten cookies slightly.
[5] bake until cookies are golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.
[makes about 60 small cookies]
i suspect that the source of this spice-joy is a liberal amount of ginger. bored at home, i set out to make an equally spicy cookie. while trolling epicurious.com for suitable recipes, i decided that since i was going to make christmas cookies, i might as well make a few different kinds. i settled on three recipes: gingersnaps, oatmeal cookies, and butter cookies.
i ran into trouble when i made the gingersnaps: we only had about a teaspoon of powdered ginger. i sadly replaced it with a combination of ground cloves, allspice, and cinnamon, but wondered how i would provide the mild bite of the jessica-gingersnap. i vaguely remembered something about black pepper in one of the recipes i had discarded during my search, and promptly added a small amount of black pepper.
that small amount of black pepper was enough to assuage my need for bite in my gingersnap, but in hindsight was probably not enough to actually make a difference. the gingersnaps were pretty, certainly, due to my anal tendencies, but were overpowered by the brown sugar. i wish i had added more black pepper, and less sugar. my quest for the jessica-gingersnap will have to be continued at a later time.
on the flip side, the oatmeal cookies (not a jessica-christmas-cookie variety) were quite good. they were supposed to have cardamom in them, which i would have liked to have tried, but we had no cardamom. again, i substituted extra cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and black pepper. i'll have to try the recipe again with cardamom. the cookies were best a couple days after, when the spices had matured a little, and i've always believed that the oatmeal cookie recipe on the back of the oatmeal canister doesn't have enough spices in it.
spicy oatmeal cookies
2 eggs
1 1/2t vanilla
1 to 1 1/2c raisins
1 2/3c flour
1t baking soda
3/4t salt
3/4t ground cardamom (replaced by more cinnamon when i made them)
1 1/2t ground cinnamon
1/2t allspice
1/2t cloves
2 sticks butter
1c dark brown sugar, packed
2 1/4c old-fashioned oats
[1] preheat oven to 350. sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices into a medium bowl.
[2] cream butter, then add sugar and beat until smooth. beat in eggs and vanilla.
[3] stir in flour mixture, then raisins, then oats.
[4] roll dough into small balls (about the size of a half dollar). using moistened fingertips, flatten cookies slightly.
[5] bake until cookies are golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.
[makes about 60 small cookies]
and i thought i was spoiled at school...
friends at other schools always marvel when they hear how well i eat at school. nobody else is having cookie ice cream sandwiches made with cookies made from scratch, or spaghetti and meatballs from scratch. i really thought i couldn't be eating any better, until, of course, i came home for christmas.
either my parents are fattening me up hansel-and-gretel style, or they're happy to see me. i prefer to believe it's the latter. since i've been home, i've been treated to all kinds of wonderful things, including roasted butternut squash, orange zested pork and chicken, peppercorn-encrusted steaks, and this wonderful concoction that involves a soft, chewy cookie-dough base and a citrus-y cream cheese topping. and who would have thought udon noodles, fried until they're partially browned, with soy sauce and ketchup, could be so good? it boggles the mind. what's most surprising, though, is that this is all just dinner. lunch always involves other kinds of delights: dumplings (because as hard as i might try, i can never replicate my mother's dumplings), sandwiches, wraps that look simple but are unmentionably good. you wouldn't think that toasting the tortillas in a skillet before assembling the wrap would make such a difference, but it does. especially on a cold, wintry day when it's sunny and snowy, but cold as hell. a toasted tortilla stuffed with melty cheese, cool lettuce and tomato, ham and pepperoncinis is as good as it gets. you wouldn't think that deep-fried chicken dumplings could be so good, or that fried chunks of salmon could be so crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, either. but it all really is too good to believe, except that i believe it, and i will surely be sad to go back to school.
either my parents are fattening me up hansel-and-gretel style, or they're happy to see me. i prefer to believe it's the latter. since i've been home, i've been treated to all kinds of wonderful things, including roasted butternut squash, orange zested pork and chicken, peppercorn-encrusted steaks, and this wonderful concoction that involves a soft, chewy cookie-dough base and a citrus-y cream cheese topping. and who would have thought udon noodles, fried until they're partially browned, with soy sauce and ketchup, could be so good? it boggles the mind. what's most surprising, though, is that this is all just dinner. lunch always involves other kinds of delights: dumplings (because as hard as i might try, i can never replicate my mother's dumplings), sandwiches, wraps that look simple but are unmentionably good. you wouldn't think that toasting the tortillas in a skillet before assembling the wrap would make such a difference, but it does. especially on a cold, wintry day when it's sunny and snowy, but cold as hell. a toasted tortilla stuffed with melty cheese, cool lettuce and tomato, ham and pepperoncinis is as good as it gets. you wouldn't think that deep-fried chicken dumplings could be so good, or that fried chunks of salmon could be so crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, either. but it all really is too good to believe, except that i believe it, and i will surely be sad to go back to school.
20 décembre 2004
restaurant review : picco
i went to picco on saturday night with my parents, nora, and charles. picco is a pizza/pasta place on the first floor of the new apartment building at the east berkely side of tremont street - atelier 505, where nomar reportedly looked for an apartment before being traded to the cubs. it shares the first floor with a theater and another (larger) restaurant, sibling rivalry, where we went for nora's birthday back in november.
the restaurant itself is pretty small - it seats probably about 30 to 40. it's nicely designed inside, all warm colors in the dining area with a white-and-stainless steel kitchen area which is visible from the eating area. along one wall there is a counter and bar, and along the other parallel wall there are tables; the wall on that side has rows of small, clear glass votives with lit candles in them, reminiscent of a restaurant i went to in florence. the restaurant in florence had a rough-hewn ecru-colored stone wall on the inside that had candle-filled holes in it here and there, as if the holes were windows into a warm, firelit room on the other side. another detail from picco's kitchen was a white tiled wall scattered with red (as in RED) tiles here and there, just on one small expanse of the wall.
back to the food. the menu features salads, pizzas, sandwiches, and some pastas. we decided on the alsatian pizza (sour cream, bacon, caramelized onions, and gruyere cheese), the roasted vegetable pizza, and the penne with meatballs. i thought penne was an odd choice to go with the meatballs, but it was so good i let it go. the pizzas are larger than those at california pizza kitchen by about 3 to 4 inches in diameter, for the same prices. there isn't the same variety, but there are specials every night. the most spectacular thing about the pizza, which was pretty good, was the crust. that's the elusive bit that every restaurant reviewer likes to write about when reviewing pizza, isn't it? the crust at picco is thin but not too thin, very crisp on the very bottom but chewy. it actually resembles a sourdough bread in texture, but a ciabatta or foccacia in taste. it's nothing short of excellent. most pizza crusts are breadier, but this one was a pleasure to eat. it reminded me of jessica's bread, really.
the pizza toppings were pretty good, but not particularly memorable. i'm not sure how memorable a pizza topping should be, though. i have two favorite pizza toppings at the moment: a roasted butternut squash-caramelized onion-goat cheese pizza i had at veggie planet about three years ago, and the caramelized onion-fresh mozzarella pizza from bertucci's. i also recently had a pretty good pizza from cpk earlier this fall: roasted peppers, caramelized onions, and goat cheese. yes, i like goat cheese.
the alsatian pizza, by far the more exotic of the pizzas we ordered, was good but on the sweet side, which was unexpected; the jury's still out on whether or not the sweetness was good or not. the roasted vegetable pizza was good, but nothing to write home about. i think i would prefer pizzas more exciting than the ones that picco offers, but nothing as strange or purpose-defeating as clam pizza - as in the kind where the clams come in the shells, but on the pizza. perhaps if you have steel teeth and you like crunchy pizza...
the penne with meatballs was possibly the best i've had in a restaurant. the meatballs were on the spicy side, and likened to sausage by my parents, but i thought they were good. also not outstanding - i like meatballs best simmered in pasta sauce for a long time - but the tomato sauce was outstanding. the sauce clung to the pasta in just the right way - it wasn't too thick or too thin - and tasted like tomatoes.
oh, and for carrie especially: on the table before being served, bread was absent - in the place of gougeres! for the non-foodies: cheese puffs. essentially, cream puffs without the cream and with cheese added to the batter. they were absolutely wonderful, cute, fun to eat, and warm when we got to the table (and that, i think, is the most important part - i've always been put out when you go to a nice restaurant and they haven't brought the butter to room temperature before serving it to you).
finally, dessert. scharffenberger chocolate is the centerpiece of the desserts here: the brownies in the sundaes, in the souffle, and in the chocolate tart are all made with scharffenberger chocolate. those who know my chocolate tasting from a few years ago know that i don't like scharffenberger and el rey chocolates because i think they pack a weak chocolate punch, that i don't especially like valrhona (the darling of most pastry chefs), and that i rate callebaut first, then ghirardhelli a distant second. i came fully prepared to give scharffenberger chocolate a second chance - after all, it is the pet chocolate of picco, and scharffenberger has gotten very favorable reviews in the past year or so. i have to say that i was somewhat disappointed, and yet unmoved in my dislike of scharffenberger chocolate. it has always seemed slightly flowery, or fruity, or something that is less chocolaty than i would like. while the brownie sundae didn't suffer too much from this problem, due to the lovely flavor of the maple walnut ice cream, the chocolate souffle did. the souffle also seemed to have been slightly underdone - very liquidy except towards the outer edges.
you are probably wondering whether or not i would actually recommend picco to you. i think i would: the pizza is good and could eventually be excellent, and the pasta is great; all for pretty good prices ($8 for the pasta). i would definitely come back for the ice cream, if not the chocolate. add the general ambience (cozy and warm) and you have a winner. in the south end, where high-end dining dominates, picco is the equivalent of the neighborhood restaurant.
the restaurant itself is pretty small - it seats probably about 30 to 40. it's nicely designed inside, all warm colors in the dining area with a white-and-stainless steel kitchen area which is visible from the eating area. along one wall there is a counter and bar, and along the other parallel wall there are tables; the wall on that side has rows of small, clear glass votives with lit candles in them, reminiscent of a restaurant i went to in florence. the restaurant in florence had a rough-hewn ecru-colored stone wall on the inside that had candle-filled holes in it here and there, as if the holes were windows into a warm, firelit room on the other side. another detail from picco's kitchen was a white tiled wall scattered with red (as in RED) tiles here and there, just on one small expanse of the wall.
back to the food. the menu features salads, pizzas, sandwiches, and some pastas. we decided on the alsatian pizza (sour cream, bacon, caramelized onions, and gruyere cheese), the roasted vegetable pizza, and the penne with meatballs. i thought penne was an odd choice to go with the meatballs, but it was so good i let it go. the pizzas are larger than those at california pizza kitchen by about 3 to 4 inches in diameter, for the same prices. there isn't the same variety, but there are specials every night. the most spectacular thing about the pizza, which was pretty good, was the crust. that's the elusive bit that every restaurant reviewer likes to write about when reviewing pizza, isn't it? the crust at picco is thin but not too thin, very crisp on the very bottom but chewy. it actually resembles a sourdough bread in texture, but a ciabatta or foccacia in taste. it's nothing short of excellent. most pizza crusts are breadier, but this one was a pleasure to eat. it reminded me of jessica's bread, really.
the pizza toppings were pretty good, but not particularly memorable. i'm not sure how memorable a pizza topping should be, though. i have two favorite pizza toppings at the moment: a roasted butternut squash-caramelized onion-goat cheese pizza i had at veggie planet about three years ago, and the caramelized onion-fresh mozzarella pizza from bertucci's. i also recently had a pretty good pizza from cpk earlier this fall: roasted peppers, caramelized onions, and goat cheese. yes, i like goat cheese.
the alsatian pizza, by far the more exotic of the pizzas we ordered, was good but on the sweet side, which was unexpected; the jury's still out on whether or not the sweetness was good or not. the roasted vegetable pizza was good, but nothing to write home about. i think i would prefer pizzas more exciting than the ones that picco offers, but nothing as strange or purpose-defeating as clam pizza - as in the kind where the clams come in the shells, but on the pizza. perhaps if you have steel teeth and you like crunchy pizza...
the penne with meatballs was possibly the best i've had in a restaurant. the meatballs were on the spicy side, and likened to sausage by my parents, but i thought they were good. also not outstanding - i like meatballs best simmered in pasta sauce for a long time - but the tomato sauce was outstanding. the sauce clung to the pasta in just the right way - it wasn't too thick or too thin - and tasted like tomatoes.
oh, and for carrie especially: on the table before being served, bread was absent - in the place of gougeres! for the non-foodies: cheese puffs. essentially, cream puffs without the cream and with cheese added to the batter. they were absolutely wonderful, cute, fun to eat, and warm when we got to the table (and that, i think, is the most important part - i've always been put out when you go to a nice restaurant and they haven't brought the butter to room temperature before serving it to you).
finally, dessert. scharffenberger chocolate is the centerpiece of the desserts here: the brownies in the sundaes, in the souffle, and in the chocolate tart are all made with scharffenberger chocolate. those who know my chocolate tasting from a few years ago know that i don't like scharffenberger and el rey chocolates because i think they pack a weak chocolate punch, that i don't especially like valrhona (the darling of most pastry chefs), and that i rate callebaut first, then ghirardhelli a distant second. i came fully prepared to give scharffenberger chocolate a second chance - after all, it is the pet chocolate of picco, and scharffenberger has gotten very favorable reviews in the past year or so. i have to say that i was somewhat disappointed, and yet unmoved in my dislike of scharffenberger chocolate. it has always seemed slightly flowery, or fruity, or something that is less chocolaty than i would like. while the brownie sundae didn't suffer too much from this problem, due to the lovely flavor of the maple walnut ice cream, the chocolate souffle did. the souffle also seemed to have been slightly underdone - very liquidy except towards the outer edges.
you are probably wondering whether or not i would actually recommend picco to you. i think i would: the pizza is good and could eventually be excellent, and the pasta is great; all for pretty good prices ($8 for the pasta). i would definitely come back for the ice cream, if not the chocolate. add the general ambience (cozy and warm) and you have a winner. in the south end, where high-end dining dominates, picco is the equivalent of the neighborhood restaurant.
chicken gravy
and also for the recipe junkies, here is how i made the chicken gravy which i liked so much. again, like i did for the chicken stew, i eyeballed the amounts of things in this recipe, since i used what was around to make it. it was more of an experiment than an actual stated desire to have gravy for the chicken. you don't have to add pan drippings but it will make the gravy better. the nice part of the recipe is that you can make the gravy without ever disturbing the chickens as they roast - ie, you don't have to wait for the chickens to be done before making the gravy.
chicken gravy #1
butter
chicken innards from the package (heart, liver, neck, etc - pull the skin + gross vein off the neck and rinse all of the pieces with cold water; pat dry)
red wine
2 medium onions, diced
vegetable or chicken stock (about 3 to 4 cups)
pan drippings
cornstarch
balsamic vinegar
[1] heat a few tablespoons of butter in a large skillet on medium-high heat. when it stops frothing, add the chicken innards, and saute until some fond starts to develop. don't forget to turn the pieces over (tongs are easiest) to make sure they brown on all sides.
[2] when the fond is a rich brown but isn't burning, add a cup or two of red wine to the skillet. scrape the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon (NOT anything metal) to deglaze the pan. add some vegetable/chicken stock and let simmer. add some liquid from the chicken roasting pans with the baster.
[3] after about 15 minutes, remove the chicken pieces from the pan and discard (unless you want to eat them). add the onions and let cook until the onions are cooked through. if you want to be really fancy you can sieve the gravy before adding the onions, which will make your gravy smoother.
[4] if the gravy looks thin, put 1 to 2T cornstarch in a small bowl or cup and add an equal amount of water; stir with a fork to dissolve. add that to the gravy (do NOT skip the dissolving step) and stir; it should thicken right away.
[5] whenever you decide that you like the consistency of the gravy, add a bit of balsamic vinegar to taste (i think i added somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 cup) and let some of the alcohol cook off (~5 minutes?). taste and season with salt and pepper.
[makes ~3 cups gravy]
chicken gravy #1
butter
chicken innards from the package (heart, liver, neck, etc - pull the skin + gross vein off the neck and rinse all of the pieces with cold water; pat dry)
red wine
2 medium onions, diced
vegetable or chicken stock (about 3 to 4 cups)
pan drippings
cornstarch
balsamic vinegar
[1] heat a few tablespoons of butter in a large skillet on medium-high heat. when it stops frothing, add the chicken innards, and saute until some fond starts to develop. don't forget to turn the pieces over (tongs are easiest) to make sure they brown on all sides.
[2] when the fond is a rich brown but isn't burning, add a cup or two of red wine to the skillet. scrape the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon (NOT anything metal) to deglaze the pan. add some vegetable/chicken stock and let simmer. add some liquid from the chicken roasting pans with the baster.
[3] after about 15 minutes, remove the chicken pieces from the pan and discard (unless you want to eat them). add the onions and let cook until the onions are cooked through. if you want to be really fancy you can sieve the gravy before adding the onions, which will make your gravy smoother.
[4] if the gravy looks thin, put 1 to 2T cornstarch in a small bowl or cup and add an equal amount of water; stir with a fork to dissolve. add that to the gravy (do NOT skip the dissolving step) and stir; it should thicken right away.
[5] whenever you decide that you like the consistency of the gravy, add a bit of balsamic vinegar to taste (i think i added somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 cup) and let some of the alcohol cook off (~5 minutes?). taste and season with salt and pepper.
[makes ~3 cups gravy]
chickeny leftovers
on tuesday i spent much of the cleanup picking semi-raw chicken off the roasted chickens. by the fourth chicken i was tired of picking it off, and probably didn't pick it as cleanly as a hungrier person might have. i packed all of that chicken into a single tupperware the size of a large, flat brick, and stuck it in the fridge labeled "raw chicken."
unsurprisingly, on friday nobody had eaten any of it. i picked it up and it felt like a brick, too, as it was packed so tightly. i had wanted to make something with it for the past few days, but didn't want to buy anything to add to it, instead wanting to make something with ingredients we had around.
as happens with most good things, i started by sauteing some diced onions. i added leftover gravy, and then i added the chicken (which i had to pry out of the tupperware). now, what to do, what to do...we had a can of evaporated milk in the pantry so i added that, as well as some leftover fresh thyme we had from roasting the chickens. i kept adding milk until i realized i didn't really want to be eating milk with a little chicken, so i added rice. the rice needed more liquid and we didn't have any real chicken broth, so i gave in and made a few cups of chicken broth from bouillon. i then kept on adding whole milk as the whole thing cooked in order to keep the rice from sticking to the pot and burning. about an hour later on low heat, i had a chicken stew. pretty chickeny, thought it could have used more chicken broth instead of milk. and perhaps a little lemongrass, although i always like thyme. in fact, it really tasted like the filling for chicken pot pie (without the carrots, potatoes, and peas, and plus rice).
for the recipe junkies, here's the recipe, though it's rather general and also dependent on what you've got in your fridge. i think i used about a half-gallon of whole milk (or maybe a third).
leftover chicken stew #1
olive oil
4 medium onions, diced
2 - 3 cups leftover chicken, in pieces
1/2 pkg of thyme, leaves stripped from the stems (about 1 1/2 to 2T)
leftover gravy/roasted vegetables/whatever's in your fridge
1 can evaporated milk
a few cans chicken broth
whole milk
any other vegetables you want to throw in
2 1/2 cups short-grain rice (i really liked the rice i used...it's a short-grain California white rice, tomiko or tamiko or something like that)
[1] heat some oil in a large pot and saute the onions until translucent. add the gravy, let cook about 1 minute, then add the chicken pieces.
[2] add the can of evaporated milk, and whatever leftovers you want to put in.
[3] add a few cups of milk and some chicken broth. add the rice, and make sure there's enough liquid to cover the whole mixture. turn heat to low and stir the mixture frequently. add more milk or chicken broth when it starts to get too dry (the mixture will start to stick to the bottom).
[serves 8]
unsurprisingly, on friday nobody had eaten any of it. i picked it up and it felt like a brick, too, as it was packed so tightly. i had wanted to make something with it for the past few days, but didn't want to buy anything to add to it, instead wanting to make something with ingredients we had around.
as happens with most good things, i started by sauteing some diced onions. i added leftover gravy, and then i added the chicken (which i had to pry out of the tupperware). now, what to do, what to do...we had a can of evaporated milk in the pantry so i added that, as well as some leftover fresh thyme we had from roasting the chickens. i kept adding milk until i realized i didn't really want to be eating milk with a little chicken, so i added rice. the rice needed more liquid and we didn't have any real chicken broth, so i gave in and made a few cups of chicken broth from bouillon. i then kept on adding whole milk as the whole thing cooked in order to keep the rice from sticking to the pot and burning. about an hour later on low heat, i had a chicken stew. pretty chickeny, thought it could have used more chicken broth instead of milk. and perhaps a little lemongrass, although i always like thyme. in fact, it really tasted like the filling for chicken pot pie (without the carrots, potatoes, and peas, and plus rice).
for the recipe junkies, here's the recipe, though it's rather general and also dependent on what you've got in your fridge. i think i used about a half-gallon of whole milk (or maybe a third).
leftover chicken stew #1
olive oil
4 medium onions, diced
2 - 3 cups leftover chicken, in pieces
1/2 pkg of thyme, leaves stripped from the stems (about 1 1/2 to 2T)
leftover gravy/roasted vegetables/whatever's in your fridge
1 can evaporated milk
a few cans chicken broth
whole milk
any other vegetables you want to throw in
2 1/2 cups short-grain rice (i really liked the rice i used...it's a short-grain California white rice, tomiko or tamiko or something like that)
[1] heat some oil in a large pot and saute the onions until translucent. add the gravy, let cook about 1 minute, then add the chicken pieces.
[2] add the can of evaporated milk, and whatever leftovers you want to put in.
[3] add a few cups of milk and some chicken broth. add the rice, and make sure there's enough liquid to cover the whole mixture. turn heat to low and stir the mixture frequently. add more milk or chicken broth when it starts to get too dry (the mixture will start to stick to the bottom).
[serves 8]
finals dinners @ lmf
i organized finals dinners this semester, which went pretty smoothly although i'm not sure if everyone enjoyed their cooking team. i hope they did. here's what we had:
lundi / anna-miriam-v : chicken tarragon (chicken with a tarragon-cream sauce), tofu tarragon, spanikopita, and a pear tart. i really like miriam's chicken tarragon, and also spanikopita. pears i'm not wild about since i'm slightly allergic to them, but the crust was this great almondy, buttery thing which i'm afraid i didn't eat enough of. i have extremely fond memories of eating chicken tarragon and rice for lunch during the next few days.
mardi / luis-marissa-v : gorgonzola risotto with balsamic tomato relish, roasted chicken, potato salad, fruit salad. i fully admit that the potato salad was just a result of the menu needing a vegetable and my yen for potato salad. i may have been the only person to eat it. it really would have gone better with wednesday's menu, but i decided to slightly abuse my power. anyway, we were intending to make a sponge cake a la jessica (who made carrie's birthday cake - a sponge cake filled with tokay-marinated peaches and iced with whipped cream) but we didn't know the recipe and i had been too far behind in errands to get it. instead, since we had leftover fruit from diner de noel (more specifically, we had intended to make a fruit salad but didn't), we made a fruit salad and whipped cream. i'm not a huge fan of fruit salad (various slight allergies), so i had figgy pudding with whipped cream, which is really a fabulous combination. the gorgonzola risotto was actually better in the vegetarian version (veg stock instead of chicken stock), and i was really surprised by the favorable reception that the risotto got, given that it had the gorgonzola (a mild blue cheese) in it. (as an aside: is anybody else bothered by the phrase "bleu cheese"? we are in the US, and we speak english. "blue cheese" is the phrase, not the mangled franglais "bleu cheese.") the chicken, well, roasted chickens always give me problems. i took the temperature and it was still 20 degrees off, but the juices all ran clear. i took it out anyway, but the chicken in a few cases was really underdone. on the bright side, the gravy was quite good and i made a stew out of the leftover chicken a few days later.
mercredi / alice-luis-marissa : baguette sandwiches with egg salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, or roasted peppers and sauteed mushrooms. all with condiments (onions, tomatoes, lettuce, etc) and chocolate chip cookies and ice cream (or chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches if you wanted to be adventurours) for dessert. with whipped cream. this was probably my favorite menu of the week because of the chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches. ice cream had been on sale at peapod and it was good ice cream - breyer's - so i bought three boxes of it. surprisingly, the ice cream lasted three days. this was a nice easy menu for three people, and went pretty far in terms of people it fed - we had high turnouts for all of the finals dinners.
jeudi / cindy-marianne-nina : green salad, garlic bread, spinach lasagna (with and without pesto), chocolate cake with ice cream and whipped cream. marianne's spinach lasagna is great, and who would have thought pesto would be so good in lasagna? ok, maybe many people have, but not enough. another good impromptu combination was the garlic bread (made from some nice chewy bread from trader joe's) topped with lasagna. mmm... i was tempted to have more figgy pudding and whipped cream, but having already had chocolate cake and ice cream, my stomach said no. it did not, however, say no to half a piece of bread topped with lasagna about 15 minutes later.
lundi / anna-miriam-v : chicken tarragon (chicken with a tarragon-cream sauce), tofu tarragon, spanikopita, and a pear tart. i really like miriam's chicken tarragon, and also spanikopita. pears i'm not wild about since i'm slightly allergic to them, but the crust was this great almondy, buttery thing which i'm afraid i didn't eat enough of. i have extremely fond memories of eating chicken tarragon and rice for lunch during the next few days.
mardi / luis-marissa-v : gorgonzola risotto with balsamic tomato relish, roasted chicken, potato salad, fruit salad. i fully admit that the potato salad was just a result of the menu needing a vegetable and my yen for potato salad. i may have been the only person to eat it. it really would have gone better with wednesday's menu, but i decided to slightly abuse my power. anyway, we were intending to make a sponge cake a la jessica (who made carrie's birthday cake - a sponge cake filled with tokay-marinated peaches and iced with whipped cream) but we didn't know the recipe and i had been too far behind in errands to get it. instead, since we had leftover fruit from diner de noel (more specifically, we had intended to make a fruit salad but didn't), we made a fruit salad and whipped cream. i'm not a huge fan of fruit salad (various slight allergies), so i had figgy pudding with whipped cream, which is really a fabulous combination. the gorgonzola risotto was actually better in the vegetarian version (veg stock instead of chicken stock), and i was really surprised by the favorable reception that the risotto got, given that it had the gorgonzola (a mild blue cheese) in it. (as an aside: is anybody else bothered by the phrase "bleu cheese"? we are in the US, and we speak english. "blue cheese" is the phrase, not the mangled franglais "bleu cheese.") the chicken, well, roasted chickens always give me problems. i took the temperature and it was still 20 degrees off, but the juices all ran clear. i took it out anyway, but the chicken in a few cases was really underdone. on the bright side, the gravy was quite good and i made a stew out of the leftover chicken a few days later.
mercredi / alice-luis-marissa : baguette sandwiches with egg salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, or roasted peppers and sauteed mushrooms. all with condiments (onions, tomatoes, lettuce, etc) and chocolate chip cookies and ice cream (or chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches if you wanted to be adventurours) for dessert. with whipped cream. this was probably my favorite menu of the week because of the chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches. ice cream had been on sale at peapod and it was good ice cream - breyer's - so i bought three boxes of it. surprisingly, the ice cream lasted three days. this was a nice easy menu for three people, and went pretty far in terms of people it fed - we had high turnouts for all of the finals dinners.
jeudi / cindy-marianne-nina : green salad, garlic bread, spinach lasagna (with and without pesto), chocolate cake with ice cream and whipped cream. marianne's spinach lasagna is great, and who would have thought pesto would be so good in lasagna? ok, maybe many people have, but not enough. another good impromptu combination was the garlic bread (made from some nice chewy bread from trader joe's) topped with lasagna. mmm... i was tempted to have more figgy pudding and whipped cream, but having already had chocolate cake and ice cream, my stomach said no. it did not, however, say no to half a piece of bread topped with lasagna about 15 minutes later.
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