Sweet and Sour in Boston

Happy Halloween!!!! Updates from a slightly disappointing Pigalle birthday dinner will come later today.

Today is JP's birthday and to celebrate we're going to Pigalle! Pictures & a review will be posted later!

Here's a nice email mailbag that Frank Bruni recently did:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/business/media/20askthetimes.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

Wish they would have said who the "foodie celebrity" was that was rude to the restaurant.

I'd give a recipe tonight, but there really isn't much of one. I made some rice, marinated some chicken strips in some World Harbor Jamaican Jerk Sauce and steamed some veggies in the microwave. I stir fried the chicken and the veggies and then just plated it over the rice. Simple and quick and easy dinner.

Not much has been going on, which means not many new posts. Work's been keeping me busy and having a bit of a cold takes my appetite down. Also, wedding planning is taking some of our free time too.

Anyway, on Friday night we had a few friends over for steak night. I wanted to take a lot of pics, but once the wine started flowing I kinda forgot about it. Here are a couple of pics though:




That first pic is of a sirloin as I sear one side. As mentioned before, I took this method of cooking steak from Alton Brown. It's the easiest way to cook steak and one of the tastiest. Basically you set your cast iron skillet in a 500 degree oven. I like to put it in once I turn on the oven, allowing the skillet to get up to a might high temperature. Whenever the oven is preheated, I give my steak a nice drizzle of oil (I used to use EVOO, but realized that the smoking point was too low, so now use vegetable oil) and sprinkle on some kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. I'll also add cumin and Montreal Steak Seasoning on both sides because I really like what they bring to the table. I try not to over-season though, because the steak should speak for itself. Then I take the cast iron out and place it over high heat on the stove top. I sear both sides for about 30 seconds each, then throw it in the oven for 3-4 minutes on each side. That gets me medium rare, but it really depends on the thickness of the cut.

I also made some of my famous spicy asparagus. These are really easy to make. Just toss the asparagus onto a saute pan over medium high heat. Toss in a few tablespoons of butter and kosher salt and black pepper. Then a few drops of habenaro sauce and cook until done...about 7 minutes. Really easy, and always a crowd pleaser. (Unless if I make it too spicy, then it can get bad...)

Our friend Jen brought a big salad and Annie brought some fried cheese balls with olives in the middle. Noah and Brooke brought some wine. And Cynthia brought some amazing brownies for dessert. Joey didn't bring anything, but that's ok because in the past he's provided so much that we'll let it pass this one time.

Overall, a damn good time. 2 sirloin shell steaks, 1 NY strip, and 1 rib eye were consumed. 2 large batches of homemade potato chips and 1 bunch of asparagus, along with some hummus and vegetable dip were also consumed. Along with 7 bottles of wine, and we had ourselves a mighty fine night.

Hello, I'm Annie, and I'm addicted to pumpkin. "Hi, Annie!"

Fall is my favorite season for two reasons, because I live in New England and it's gorgeous, and it means the return of pumpkin products. Anything pumpkin, I'm there. So when I read online about the three-course pumpkin pre fix menu offered at Temple Bar in Cambridge this week, I knew I had to go. Lucky for me, Abby was up for the challenge.

We met up at Downtown Crossing first to have a few pints at Kennedy's. Eh, it was a long day, and for me, going to Cambridge is like going to a different country, so the red line is easier to take after a few beers. We then headed off on our pumpkin adventure.

After getting off the train at Harvard Square, we headed down Mass Ave to Temple Bar. The wrong way. A kind (and good looking) shuttle driver for Harvard offered to take us the right way, and dropped us off a block away from the bar. The restaurant was nice, modern and cozy. I'd made reservations, but it wasn't crowded at all on a Tuesday night, so we would have been fine without it.

We were seated and ordered a bottle of sauvignon blanc. Yes, we got it because it was the cheapest wine on the menu, so what? It was good. The waitress soon brought out a bread basket. This too was good, if not basic: onion roll, corn bread, french bread.

The waitress then brought us an amuse bouche. It was a tiny ball of pumpkin risotto, with a dab of cranberry and a sprig of mint on top. It was very tasty (although, I must say, my pumpkin risotto is better!). It was fried like an arancini. A nice little bite.

Next was the pumpkin bisque, with an cider popover. Phenomenal! There was a definite bacon overtone to the bisque (no pieces, but definite taste), and, since I'm of the belief that bacon makes EVERYTHING better, I was happy. The popover was very good too. It had some sort of apples in the middle.

Next came the main course, duck with pumpkin gratin. Now, I've never had duck, but I've always imagined it to taste like dark meat chicken, only gamey. But I so love pumpkin that I was willing to try it for the sake of this menu. I was nervous, but Abby loves duck, so I figured why not. I was happily very wrong about duck. This was phenomenal. It was so rich and tasty and amazing! It wasn't gamey at all like I imagined. It was served over sauteed apples and onions, and a bite of duck with the apple was sublime. I'm not one for hyperbole, but I saw god in that duck. The pumpkin gratin was amazing too. I was a little curious to see how pumpkin and cheese would taste together...and it worked VERY well. So good!

For the last course, we had pumpkin souffle. We had to wait a little while for this, but it was worth it. The souffle was warm and spicy with a tasty burnt sugar ice cream on top. A great end to a great meal!


It was $35 for the three course menu (plus the amuse), and it was well worth it. I definitely got my money's worth!

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/wholedeal/index.php

Go here to print off a $5 off coupon. Might not sound like a lot, but it's saving money, especially whenever you are buying multiple steaks for steak night.