HOCR Bender

John Harvard's - Cambridge, MA
http://www.johnharvards.com/index.shtml

     The Ringhams really are great people. After Dave and I raced in the Head of the Charles on Saturday (which was awesome btw), his parents took us plus Karl and Gelinas out for foods in Harvard Square. We went to a bar/restaurant called John Harvard's. Established circa 1638, this place is know for it's "Honest food, real beer." Supposedly it's rather well known, because it was practically in a basement but was crowded. The lighting was really dim, the music was at a respectable level, the MSU game was on and I wanted cheese sticks. I ordered this beautiful platter that had fried ravioli, mozzarella sticks, and fried zucchini. It was exactly what I wanted but couldn't get myself to put in my body before HOCR. The mozzarella sticks were absolutely perfectly fried. Crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside, but not so hot that the melted cheese burns your face off when you bite into it. The ravioli was delicious too. The cheese inside was the perfect temperature too. It was basically just like normal ravioli but with a little crispness on the outside. Muah!
    For dinner I got a half pound smokehouse burger and big fat steak fries. Let me just say, I think this was the first time I think a restaurant has ever cooked the burger like I ask. I like it a little pink, but most places seem to think that still means well done. Regardless, this burger was amazing! Everything on it seemed to have a smoked flavor without being overwhelming. Adorning the precious burger was a little smoked gouda, chipotle mayo, and beer braised carmelized onions  I really liked the way the slight heat of the mayo complimented the whole ensemble. It all worked so well together. On numerous occasions, I found myself just starting into the deep abyss of the burger in awe of it's deliciousness.

Jim's Deli - Brighton, MA
http://www.jimsdelibrighton.com/

     I've been wanting to go to Jim's Deli since we moved into our new apartment in Brighton. I bike by it everyday and it just seems like one of those amazing family owned places that has a bunch of loyal customers. I had also been wanted a big fat sub with tons of meat and melted cheese. I called before I left and Jim assured me they could toast the sub and melt the cheese. It was not an issue I was taking lightly. Upon entering the little deli, I was surprised at how it was laid out. It kind of seemed like a high school cafeteria with trays and baskets of silverware. You line up along the counter, tell the man what you want, they dish it out and you proceed down the counter to the drinks, cookies, and register. However, the food here was nothing like the kind from your typical cafeteria. I ordered a sub with corned beef and pastrami and had them toast the bun, grill the thick sliced deli meats, and melt the cheese on top. While it was all cooking, I couldn't help but eye the huge bbq briskets (cooked for 5 hours in the oven, Jim said), the roasted chickens, and the italian sausages nestled in a bed of cabbage, onions, and peppers. I wanted it all, but knew I'd spend $30 here if I didn't restrain myself. I did let them convince me to get the homemade mac and cheese though. It was delicious. Really creamy with those spiral noodles and browned cheese on top. MMM! The beautiful man at the register also convinced me to get a huge blueberry muffin, which Jim cut in half, buttered, and stuck on the grill for me. The edges crisped up so nicely and gave a little burnt butter taste. It was fabulous. Finally my sub came out and I took all my food to the sunlit booth by the window. The sub literally only had meat, cheese and spicy mustard. At first I contemplated taking it back up and asking for some lettuce and tomato, but there was just so much flavor packed in the meat, cheese and mustard sitting in between the toasted bun, that I decided I wanted nothing else to distract me from it's flavor. It was exactly what I had wanted. The atmosphere was homey, so I just sat there for a while basking in the sunlight and the glory of being full for once. Definitely going back.

So much food, so little time.

Smoken Joe's - Brighton, MA
http://smokenjoesbbqboston.com/


     Well, I've got a good deal of deliciousness to catch up on. I can't seem to stay on top of it (that's what she said). This may have been a bad choice. But it was Saturday night after a long week of difficult practices. I had ribs on the brain all week. My body just yearned for sweet bbq. I got out of work late, met up with my roommates and Alyse, and we scurried over to Smoken Joe's on Washington. We tried to get there before 9 so we didn't have to pay cover because a band was playing (ended up having to pay just for being there... caution). Either way. Corn bread was calling my name. The sweet potato fries looked amazing. The smell of beef brisket lingered in the air. This place had to do it right. I could just feel it. It took Alyse and I forever to decide. Did I want the 2 or 3 meat platter. Ugh. I went with the two. One of the meats I chose was of course the ribs. They were Memphis style pork ribs rubbed with Joe's special rub, smoked with hickory chips in their open pit until tender. They fell off the bone just like I like them. There wasn't too much sauce. It was perfect. Exactly what I had been looking for. The second meat was called "burnt ends." Basically it was the ends of a beef brisket chopped, re-smoked in Memphis sauce and piled on a piece of Texas toast. The toast didn't do much for me, but there was so much flavor in each chunk of meat. I would definitely recommend it. Sweet bbq, yet just enough of the burnt flavor to not be overwhelming. And the meat was tender as ever. This meat overload came with cornbread, and of course I chose the two sides with the most cals. Sweet potato fries and mashed potatoes (I thought about the mac n' cheese but the waitress said it wasn't homemade... lame). Overall win... except for the lead singer of the band. She was... well... not pleasing. She seemed to like Frake though. Made him uncomfortable. Hehe.


T's Pub - Boston, MA
http://www.tspub.com/

     I need to go back a couple Mondays ago. I had been dreaming about wings for two weeks. I seriously.... found the best place to get wings. I'm not joking. Now, I've had good wings, but these set a new standard. I had been hearing about this place called T's Pub. It's a bar that serves 25 cent wings on Monday nights. I had heard they were good, but for 25 cents, figured they would be decent but not amazing. I am very happy to say I was way wrong. 20 wings. I took 5 home. I can eat a lot. Goes to show you how big they were. They were probably some of the largest wings I have ever eaten.

     The only downside is they only have 3 kinds of wings. Buffalo, teriyaki, and T's style. The T's style was my favorite. Old Bay style, rubbed wand roasted wings, lemon wedge and ranch dipping sauce. I don't care for ranch... but oh my heavens. The outside was absolutely perfectly crispy and the inside was so moist and amazing. Sometimes you can tell when restaurants use cheap chicken because it's super fatty and greasy, but these weren't. Another plus side to these was that they weren't covered in batter. Their crispness came from the skin. It was unlike any other wing I've ever had. Buff's Pub (supposedly the best wings in Boston) has nothing on T's Pub. 






Sweet Basil Orzo - 578 Washington St. #3, Brighton, MA

     In my quest to find lower calorie, filling meals, I picked up some orzo. Not so low cal, but I had heard it was good. It was the night before pieces so I wanted to eat some iron and I had a lot of spinach. If you don't know, orzo is a kind of pasta in the shape of a large piece of flattened rice. I think it has a really cool texture and is delicious. More surface area than pasta. More taste opportunities. I don't really have an official recipe for this, because I kind of threw it together. I shall call it sweet basil orzo.


1/2 cup orzo
balsamic vinegar
fresh basil and parsley leaves
pine nuts
butter
fresh grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
spinach
orange pepper
olive oil
garlic




1) First heat a pot of water and cook your orzo as the instructions call for, or basically as you would normally cook pasta. At the same time in a skillet, sautee some orange peppers in a little olive oil. 
2) In a small pan, melt a little butter and slightly brown a tablespoon or so of pine nuts. Make sure you watch them closely because they burn really easily. 
3) In another small saucepan, heat up a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. I'm not sure if there is a technical way to reduce the balsamic vinegar, but that's what you're aiming for. I kind of heat it up quickly and then turn down the heat a little to let it continue to reduce and thicken up. 
4) In a mini cuisinart, combine the browned pine nuts, a handful of basil and parsley leaves, your reduced balsamic vinegar, a handful of chunks of parmesan cheese, a minced garlic clove, salt and pepper. I added a drop of olive oil too. Puree it until you have a nice, mildly thin paste. 
5) At this point, add the spinach to the pan of orange peppers and just let it wilt a little. 
6) Once the pasta, peppers, and spinach are all ready, combine the sweet basil paste with the orzo and mix until it spreads evenly throughout. I saw sweet because the reduced balsamic vinegar is now mildly sweet and delicious. Kind of like candy. Next, add in the peppers and spinach for a yummy, healthy, and filling dish. 


Lemon Cajun Whiting - 578 Washington St #3, Brighton, MA
  

     Fish have really been getting the shaft in my diet. I was starting to feel bad. I bought some Whiting filets and thought about how to prepare them all day at work. By the time I got home it was too late and I was too lazy, so the fish would have to wait until the next day... which turned out to be for the better. Before I left for work the next day I pulled a filet out to thaw. I put it in a plastic bad and just started adding things that seemed like they may be delicious. 


Whiting filets
Lemon wedges
Basil and parsley
Cajun
Cayenne pepper
Salt and black pepper
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Olive oil
Dried chilis


Here is a spotty narration of what I did. I first cut up a couple lemon wedges, squeezed the juice into the bag, and threw the rinds in anyway. I also added cut up basil and parsley (yes I know I use a lot of basil and parsley in my dishes... it's what I have, ok?), a sprinkle of cajun, cayenne pepper, fresh ground black pepper, salt, onion powder, a little garlic powder and a dash of olive oil. Right before sealing up the bag, I remembered I still had some dried chili peppers from my uncle. Last time I used these babies, Marc and I could breathe fire after making our own chili paste for some Schezwan noodles. That was after not removing any of the seeds. I learned my lesson that time, so I removed the seeds this time... well.... a few of them, chopped up the pepper and added it to the bag. It had to be a little hot, I thought. I let all the spices and such sit on the thawing fish in the fridge while I was at work. Anticipation built throughout the day. When I got home the fish was all thawed and ready for the grill. I diced up a few onions and mushrooms to put on the grill too and cooked up a Harvest Grain Blend I bought at Trader Joes. It has red and green quinoa, baby garbonzo beans, and Israeli couscous. Delicious and different. Simply enough, after 15 minutes or so on a medium to high heat, the fish was flaky and done. I can't say I've ever had fish like this before. It had the acidity of the lemon, yet spicyness of the peppers and cajun/cayenne pepper. But it wasn't overwhelming in the least. It was almost refreshing and very clean tasting. I was unsure about how I'd like the skin on the one side of the filet, but putting it on the grill gave it such a good smokey/slightly burnt taste. Yummy I say! 


Post Head of the Kevin Lamb Stew - 578 Washington St #3, Brighton, MA

     I knew I wanted to make soup on Saturday, but had no idea what kind. It was going to have potatoes, carrots, and barley, but I wasn't sure what type of meat. I wanted something on a bone. Ya know... for that whole adding more flavor idea. Once I had all my main ingredients from Trader Joes and Whole Foods, I was on the hunt for a butcher shop. While I didn't find an actual butcher shop... oh boy... did I find a goldmine. It's called Bazaar and it's a Russian grocery store with Eastern European influences. It was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! There we soooo many different types of cheeses, fresh breads, cakes and pastries, sausages, candies, meats, fish, and hot dishes. They're prices for produce were so much cheaper than other grocery stores. I couldn't read  what at least half of the products were because they were all in Russian. This place was blowing my mind. I was a kid in a candy store. I found a cheese called Uglich Cheese and had to get it because it was basically my last name with just the first 2 letters switched. Along with this cheese I bought 3 links of smoked sausage and fresh "Crusty" bread. Putting all three together in one bite later at home was just phenomenal. THEN I found lamb ribs and knew that's what I wanted for my stew. On to the recipe. Well... there really isn't much of a recipe. 


Head of the Kevin Lamb Stew


Lamb Ribs
Carrots
Potatoes
Celery
Cabbage
Yellow onion
Garlic
Bay leaves
Salt and pepper
Fresh basil and parsley
Rosemary
Barley

     First, put on a pot of water and heat to a low boil. I added the 6 ribs right from the get go to create a yummy broth. Add in a couple halved garlic cloves, a ton of rosemary, salt and pepper, and 2 bay leaves. Let the meat and broth simmer for 2 hours or so. Cut up the potato into inch cubes and the onion into larger pieces. I feel like there should be a word for exactly how to cut them up, but I'm not a culinary expert yet. Cut the carrots into 3 inch long pieces and then slice each piece at a diagonal. Also cut up the celery into inch long pieces and rip up the cabbage into slightly large pieces. It will break up as it cooks. Add the potato, carrots, cabbage and celery to the pot after your broth has been simmering for the 2 hours. Side note: the ribs I used actually had a lot of fat in them, so before I started adding vegetables I pulled off some of the fat, but left the meat on the bones. Wait another hour or so and add in the basil, parsley and cabbage. Finally, 40 minutes before you're planning to serve the soup, add in a cup or two of rinsed whole barley. The barley is going to expand, so add as much as you plan to have in proportion to the amount of broth you currently have. Salt and pepper to taste, if you wish. This recipe is very much so an "add as much as you think you'll need/want" kind of recipe. That's one thing I'm starting to learn about soup. It's pretty hard to screw up. Another side note: Since there seemed to be quite a bit of fat/oil from the ribs, I removed the thin layer of chilled oil/fat the next day after it had been refrigerated. I'd suggest finding meat with not a lot of fat. Either that or remove some of the fat before you add the meat to the pot. Enjoy!

Sometimes I take post racing treats too far...

Shelburne Farm - Stowe, MA  
http://www.shelburnefarm.com/

              All week I've been battling with myself about this 6k we were having on Saturday morning. I was trying to eat the right things, drink enough water, take multivitamins in addition to my normal butt kicking at RBC. One thing that was helping me get through the week was knowing Saturday also meant cider and donuts. Emily planned a trip for the HPG women to go to Shelburne Farms in Stow, MA. Supposedly it was 20 miles inland, but I had no idea where we were going. It turned about to be a really cute farm with a bunch of stuff for kids to do and rows and rows of apples. I think it may have been the first you-pick orchard I had been to, so that aspect was pretty cool. We picked a bunch of apples including Empire, McIntosh, Fuji, Macoun and Cortland. I'd say around half of the apples I picked didn't make it to the bag... because my mouth got in the way every time. Odd. I think my favorite were the Macouns. Anyway, considering this blog sticks to kitchens, I must say that the cider donuts here were probably some of the best I've had. They were different. I'm not sure how they incorporate the cider part into the donut (in the batter?) but however they do it works. These were freshly fried, covered in cinnamon and sugar and handed to you in a super hot bag. Maybe that's why they were so good. They were perfectly warm and fluffy. I ate 3. I also got a granola raisin cookie. It was awesome. It was more chewy than cookies I normally make, but I'd like to try making something like that one day.

Boca Grande Taqueria - Brighton, MA
http://bocagrande.ypguides.net/

     Dave keeps raving about the tamales at this place on Washington. There's always people in there, so as my second reward for the 6k, I wanted a big, fat, stupid burrito full of rice and meat. I knew I had to try a tamale... at some point... but the lack of anything fried in my diet for the past couple weeks needed to end today too. I already had second dinner plans. So I just went with the normal size burrito. They had so many different kinds of meat you could choose from including Pineapple chicken, carnitas, chorizo, grilled stead, etc. Chorizo always seems to intrigue me. It was in those stuffed quahog clams my mom and I got at the Barking Crab that one time. It was great. I love the spicyness. Not too much. Yet, I still don't really know what it is. Sausage? Pork sausage? What spices give it that flavor? What processes does it go through? One day I'll remember to look it up. Either way, the chorizo they put on this burrito was....not soupy... but not like chunky of chicken. It was kind of in a thick stew form with chunks in it. I was confused but not concerned. It was still probably going to be good. It was. It gave the burrito such a good flavor as the juice ran through out, soaking into the rice and such. I had the man add lettuce, a tomato herb salsa, rice, and beans. It was simple, but just what I wanted. Such density wrapped up in a steamy tortilla... mmm! Once the brick was securely in my gut, I moved on to location #2.

The Proper Slice - Brighton, MA

        Recognized by their unique logo and black pizza boxes, The Proper Slice was always happening every evening. Malcom had gotten a chicken pesto pizza from there once before but I only tried a tiny tiny piece. I needed to experience it on my own with more substance at some point. This wasn't the time though. On my way to the Boca Grande I checked out their menu and they had fresh cut french fries tossed in sea salt for $4.  I ordered them to go so I could eat them with my organic ketchup. I opened the box at my kitchen table and the steam rolled out. I was pumped. This was happening. They were amazing. Generally I think my favorite french fry type is crispy on the outside but fluffy on the inside. But then I have fries like these and get confused again. Some were crispy, but some were.... not. Yet still awesome. A lot of them had browned giving them that burnt flavor, similar to burnt cheez-its minus the cheese (I love the burnt ones). One thing I liked about these were that they were real. They really did freshly cut them. They had fried this whole batch just for me and it had to be 5 potatoes worth. I had to force myself to stop. They tasted like potatoes... not like fries. Does that make sense? It's kind of how the watermelon flavored candy doesn't really taste like real watermelon. Sometimes fries don't actually taste like potatoes. They taste like fries. Weird I know. But some part of the flavor of these brought me back in an instant to the broasted potatoes from The Chicken King in Pontiac, MI. My dad and I used to go there all the time in my middle school years. It was our place and the broasted potatoes were our favorite. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a little sentimental while eating these fries because the flavor took me back to a different time.
         Malcom said he was going to have salad for dinner, but I heard him ordering pizza from his room. Sneaky. He told me I had to have some. He had ordered the one pizza I was drooling over while reading the menu and waiting for my fries earlier. It was bacon and potato with a garlic oil base, shredded sharp cheddar cheese with bacon, red bliss potato scallions and a sour cream drizzle. This wasn't pizza. It was art I tell you. First of all, the crust was phenomenal. It was on the thin side but not soggy at all like some other thin crust pizzas come. It was crispy and almost crumbly. No not crumbly, just perfectly crispy. I want to say it was airy, like a sponge but that's probably completely wrong too. Anyhow, it was perfect and mind boggling at the same time. Then the bacon. This wasn't the generic crumbly/itty bitty chunks of bacon you get normally on pizza. This bacon was cut into CHUNKS. Nice size chunks. It made biting off a piece with bacon on it so much more enjoyable because you had to chew it longer. Had more time to enjoy the flavors of the bacon. It seemed like quality bacon too. Not very greasy or fatty. Mostly meat. I had noticed while in the restaurant how they seemed to use a lot of quality oils and seasonings and such. You didn't see the milky white plastic containers full of mysterious yellow goo that most pizza places use. It made me proud to be supporting these people. The entire pizza was also covered with slices of the red bliss potatoes. They were done just right and made the pizza twice as filling. The scallions added a refreshing freshness to the pizza and the sour cream brought it all together. It seems to do that a lot. Or maybe when it just comes to bacon potato pizza and burritos. Maybe the crust was a little crumbly. Ugh... I can't figure out how to describe it. Needless to say, I was very excited and appreciative that Malcom made me eat some of his pizza because I had been dreaming about getting pizza there since we moved in.