The Princess Posse

Port 305 - Quincy, MA

    For Meagan's birthday dinner, she wanted to go some place on the water. The beach is her favorite place, so I set out to try to find somewhere with a beach nearby and a pretty view of the water from the dining area. I searched all throughout Boston, north of the city, and south of the city along the coast and finally decided on Port 305 in Quincy. I had never heard of this place, but it had outdoor seating and a nice view of Marina Bay. Once we got there, we all joked that this place couldn't really figure out who they were. Their menu had different sections for things like stir-fry, nachos, seafood, burgers, pasta, pizza and chicken wings. Although it was kind of odd, I figured it would probably have something for everyone. Plus, being just outside the city, I figured the wait would be less and the prices more affordable. The finally selling point was their page long list of martinis. I knew Meagan and Karl would be all about those.

The view from Port 305 (photo credits to Meagan)

     The restaurant sat along a really nice boardwalk that wound up and down around the marina and was lined with a bunch of different and lively looking restaurants. After strolling through a nearby park during sunset with pink "Princess" part hats on, Meagan, Karl, Jimmy, Dave, Alyse, John and I headed inside for food. Their outdoor seating was really nice, but we opted to sit inside because it was getting dark and a little chilly.
   

     For drinks, everyone passed around quite a number of different martinis, but the best (in my opinion) was Karl's espresso martini... which was surprising because I don't like coffee. It had a rich sweetness rather than a sugary sweetness and was smoother than some of the other martinis that had a little more kick. I was grateful that they all let me sample each martini because I clearly wasn't getting one of my own.
      For the appetizers (which I neglected to take photos of), we ordered a plate of the fried calamari to share and their bread with hummus. The fried calamari was pretty standard. It was served with lemon, plum tomato sauce and those delicious yellow peppers. It had a light breading on it and wasn't overly salty, which I was happy about. You really just can't go wrong with the calamari, lemon and pepper combo. Still nice and hot, the calamari had a great crunchy shell and tender insides. Their homemade hummus dip seemed more like just ground chickpeas minus the tahini. I'd say that without tahini, you shouldn't call it hummus... but that's just me. Regardless, it was tasty but was missing the little bit of sharpness that tahini provides. It was served with olives and their lemon and roasted garlic toasted banquette. The bread itself had a great garlicy flavor but was a tad too oily and hard for my liking.

Sesame Chicken Mandarin

     For dinner, I was set on a salad and ordered the Sesame Chicken Mandarin salad with mixed greens, those strange crunchy Asian noodly things and an Asian citrus dressing. If I had noticed that the chicken on the salad was deep-fried from the get-go, I probably wouldn't have ordered that salad. But oh buddy was that chicken amazing. I had been craving some sort of fried chicken for months, but was assuming that it was going to have to wait until after some upcoming spring racing. So this was quite the accidental treat that I really couldn't refuse once it was put in front of me (I know, I know... I sound pathetic because I just referred to a piece of fried chicken on a salad as a treat). The chicken was so tender and juicy and the breading maintained its crispness throughout the meal. The breading also wasn't your standard breading. It was darker and full of different spices that added another completely unique flavor to the salad itself. I could've done without the Asian noodle sticks (they seem flavorless and useless to me), but the citrus soy dressing was stellar. I think it had some ginger in it too which complimented the herb-y flavors of the chicken. That chicken though.... woah.

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Sweet Breakfast Rolls - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

Our assortment of breakfast rolls :]

     On the morning of Meagan's birthday, I decided to make her these chocolate breakfast rolls that we had discussed a few months back. I found them on a blog called Hummingbird High quite some time ago and was waiting for the perfect opportunity to make them. I had some leftover puff pastry in the freezer, so I figured this was it. The instructions were simple. Cut your puff pastry into 6 rectangles, line each with whatever ingredients you desire, roll it up and bake it for 15-20 minutes. I brought out all my jars of fixings, and we went to town. It was like food art. It was great. We had chocolate chunks, raisins, marshmallows, my Grandma's raspberry jam, strawberry preserves, peanut butter, homemade nutella (courtesy of Nonna), banana and apples. Some of the best combinations (I thought) were the peanut butter, banana and chocolate (duh); raspberry jam, chocolate and peanut butter; and the apple, chocolate and nutella. However, I'm 100% sure you couldn't make a bad combination with any of those ingredients. It was such a quick, fun and easy little morning treat.

Sweet Breakfast Rolls

1 (14 oz.) package frozen all-butter puff pastry, defrosted overnight in the fridge
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
a sprinkle of sea salt

Any toppings you desire (for example: chocolate, fruits, nut butters, jams, etc.)

1) Preheat the oven to 400 (F).
2) Cut your thawed puff pastry into 6 x 3 inch rectangles.
3) Add all of your fixings in the center of your pastry rectangle and roll up the puff pastry so that all the insides are covered. Flip the roll so that the seam is on the bottom facing the pan. If you leave the seam up, the puff pastry will burst open and it'll be more like a breakfast pizza.
4) In a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of water. Use a pastry brush to brush the beaten egg and water mixture on top of the rolls. Sprinkle with a dash of sea salt.
5) Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until puffed and golden. Keep a close eye on them because they may start to burn quickly.  Cool for 5-10 minutes and serve immediately. 

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Chocolate Cauliflower Cake - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

Chocolate Cauliflower Cake with Reeses Pieces Frosting

     The day after Meagan's birthday was Mary's birthday. I wanted to make her a treat, but wanted it to be healthy and unique. We like trying new things, and we both like a blog called Chocolate Covered Katie, so I decided to try out her Chocolate Cauliflower Cake. The cauliflower in this case is used as a replacement for a majority of the flour I believe. If you rice it up in a food processor it actually turns into a pretty fine "powder." A lot of the other ingredients in the cake were pretty standard though (I didn't use her sugar replacements though), so it looked just like any normal chocolate cake. For the frosting, I used Chocolate Covered Katie's recipe for a reeses pieces frosting. My frosting was a little bit more runny that it should've been (probably because I used Trader Joes peanut butter which is pretty liquidy to begin with), so I ended up adding a little powdered sugar and corn starch to thicken it up. It was quite an experiment, but I think it turned out great.
     I ended up making one larger cake for Mary and one two-bite cake for myself and a couple others to taste test (I had to try it). I liked the way that Mary described it. "It's one of those things that tastes better than it smells." It had quite a strong smell of cauliflower, but didn't taste overwhelmingly like cauliflower. Not like cauliflower has a strong taste anyway, but the cake only had a very slight veggie taste to it. If you didn't know that there was cauliflower in it, you probably would be able to tell something was different but might not have been able to guess what it was. I was pretty impressed with the frosting too. It was basically a sweet peanut butter and chocolate frosting without the feeling of eating straight sugar or sticks of butter. Mary said she loved the whole cake, so I'd consider it a success!

Chocolate Cauliflower Cake

3/4 cup all-purpose or pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 2 tbsp ground flax
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips or chunks
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 loosely-packed cups uncooked cauliflower
1/2 cup milk of choice
3 tbsp oil (or 3 tbs applesauce)

1) Preheat oven to 350F, and grease an 8x8 square  or medium sized round baking dish. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl, and mix well. 

2) Combine all liquid ingredients and the cauliflower in a food processor and blend until super-smooth, so there are no lumps. 

3) Pour wet ingredients into dry, and mix until just combined. Then pour into prepared pan and bake 30 minutes. Or, according to Chocolate Covered katie, you can bake only 14 minutes and then leave uncovered in the fridge overnight, and it’ll firm up and turn out like fudge! Let cool completely. 

Reeses Pieces Frosting

(Yields almost 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)
4-8 tsp pure maple syrup
2 tbsp cocoa powder
4 tsp milk of choice
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Blend everything in a small food processor. As I mentioned before, I added a little confectioners sugar at first, and then cornstarch to thicken it up a tad because my peanut butter was runny. Store leftovers in the fridge... or eat them. 
     

I Wanted the Chicken Pot Pie, So I Got A Salad Instead

Deep Dish Skillet Pizza - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

My cute mini skillet deep dish pizza

     I can't believe I've never thought of doing this before. I'm a huge fan of cast iron, and cooking a deep dish pizza in it is just genius. I stumbled upon this idea on a blog called Minimalist Baker and was intrigued. Truthfully, only basic instructions are necessary. You're totally free to create any type of pizza in any size that you desire. I used my mini cast iron skillet and some pre-made whole wheat crust from Trader Joes, but I'm sure making your own crust would be fabulous. For the toppings, I roasted some of my favorite veggies, cut up an Italian chicken sausage.

Deep Dish Skillet Pizza

1/2 pizza dough recipe (or 1 store-bought crust)
1/4 cup pizza sauce
1/2 cup mixed veggies of your choice (I used onions, red pepper, brussel sprouts, and mushrooms)
1/4 cup Mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup Monterey jack cheese

1) If roasting veggies, preheat oven to broil, toss veggies in olive oil on a baking sheet, and broil for 4-6 minutes on the top rack, tossing once for even cooking. Remove from oven and set aside.
2) Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
3) Coat a cast iron pan with olive oil and press your dough down into the pan and up around the sides about 1 to 1.5 inches. Let rest for a few minutes while preparing the rest of your toppings.
4) Sprinkle in a portion of your cheese, then add veggies and then sauce. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese, italian seasonings (dried basil, oregano, thyme, red pepper, etc.). Definitely do a base layer of cheese, but I'd say you can add the sauce before the veggies if you want.
5) Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese and sauce are bubbly. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting. 

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Chocolate Hazelnut Larabars - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

Chocolate Hazelnut Larabar ingredients (+cocoa powder)

Again... I was sick of paying money for bars when I knew I could make them for much cheaper. If you recall, I've made the Key Lime Pie and Blueberry Muffin Larabars before and they were stellar (well... the Key Lime ones were). After the struggles I went through making the Blueberry Muffin ones, I learned that you shouldn't throw everything in your food processor at once. It will sound like it's drowning. Pulse the nuts first, pour them out, and then pulse the dates. My little food processor still struggles with the dates because they're so thick and sticky, but as long as you get them mostly broken up and into a ball of mush, then you should be all good. Then at the end I mix all the ingredients together by hand and shape them into whatever I'm feeling. I found this recipe for Chocolate Hazelnut Larabars on a blog called Naturally Ella. These are super easy, have simple ingredients and are a great pre-workout snack!

Chocolate Hazelnut Larabars

2½ cups medjool dates, pitted
¾ cup almonds, toasted
¾ cups hazelnuts, toasted
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
¼ cup dark chocolate, finely chopped 

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Emmet's Irish Pub and Restaurant- Boston, MA
http://emmetsirishpubandrestaurant.com/

Steamed Mussels and Garlic Bread

     Per Dave's suggestion, Meagan, Dave, Karl and I headed over to Emmet's after a chilly evening ice skating on the Boston Common Frog Pong. With wooden decor and stained glass windows, this place is your standard Irish pub with the most delicious sounding Irish fare. The Shephard's Pie, Bangers and Mash, and Chicken Pot Pie were sweetly calling my name, but I had to remember I'm a lightweight. Instead, I opted for the Steamed Mussels. These were native New England mussels that had been sauteed in a succulent butter, garlic and white wine broth. They were a tad bit saltier than I would've preferred, but they were perfectly tender and had such a rich flavor (ahhh thank you butter). They were also served with their homemade garlic bread. I believe the bread was actually French bread, but in addition to garlic I think they added another red spice that I really liked. Paprika perhaps? I'm not sure. I couldn't place it. Maybe someday when I'm not trying to be 130 pounds I'll come back for the chicken pot pie with the mile-high, buttery pillowing crust.

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Towne - Boston, MA
http://towneboston.com/

   

The bartender's interpretation of
a Blue Lagoon

     Please just go to Towne's website (shown above). Look at how beautiful it is. Just look. As I walked into this place and the hostess directed me to my friends, I said to her, "IIIIII don't make enough money to be in here right now." She assured me I was fine and took me to meet Cheryl, Kate and Emma. These lovely ladies were a couple friends I made on an Ecuador trip back in 2007. Emma was in town from the University of Edinburgh in the UK for a conference that was taking place at Hynes Convention Center. Since Cheryl, Kate and I all live here, it was a great kick in the pants to get us all together again. It was such a fabulous night of reminiscing and story telling.
     To start off, Cheryl asked our waitress if their bartender knew how to make a Blue Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon was a drink we probably had one too many of in a surf town called Montañita on the coast of Ecuador. They held a very special place in our hearts. The bartender hadn't heard of such a drink, but she gave it her best shot and boy was it tasty. Definitely more delicious than the cheap ones we got along the unpaved streets of Montañita.
     We were quickly served a beautiful bread basket with great hunks of a soft and chewy bread. 99% of the time when restaurants served a bread basket, I want it to be warm. Cold bread is much less appealing. However, Towne served it cold, and I really liked it because the inside retained its moisture, and it was chewy. They also had these super long, pencil sized, hard, and garlicy breadsticks. They were salty and delicious, especially when dipped in either one of their spreads. I should've asked what they were, but I was distracted. I'm pretty sure one was a sort of sweet potato spread, but I'm unsure about the other. It was also orange. A mystery.

     Two days before a weigh in, I knew I was ordering a salad. I decided on their roasted kale salad with bay scallops, shallots, pepperoncini peppers, and a creamy soy dressing. As a whole, the salad was tasty, but it didn't seem much of a salad. Let me explain. The roasted kale was... just that... roasted and salted kale. I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting, but it didn't give me the fresh and healthy flavor I was looking for. Delicious... yes... just different. The "salad" idea was debatable also because I'm not sure I saw any shallots and only saw one super thin sliver of a pepperoncini pepper. True, I wasn't paying my normal amount of attention to my food because things were happening, so I may have just missed some of the elements of the salad. The scallops were also very tiny. Like the size of slightly larger marble. However, the way one side of each scallop had crisped up from how they'd been cooked completely made up for their lack in size. Their overall flavor was great, the crispy part was excellent, they were cooked perfectly and weren't chewy. The soy dressing was probably my second favorite part. I believe the dressing had been poured on the bottom of the plate as opposed to poured overtop the entire salad. I can't say I've ever seen that before, and I really liked it because it added just a slight soy/gingery flavor to each bite without feeling like the salad was doused in dressing.
     I can never go anywhere without trying other people's food... which is great. I'm not complaining at all. Cheryl shared her roasted cauliflower and broccoli which was amaaaaazing but I'm sure it was no longer healthy. The veggies had been doused in quite a bit of olive oil for roasting (probably too much), were fairly salted and covered in parmesan cheese. I love salt. I love cheese... especially when it crisps up. So this dish was delicious, but I couldn't eat too much because it was all so salty and rich.
     Emma also let me try her Duck Confit pizza. This, my friends, was a masterpiece. It was a flatbread square pizza with duck confit (duck cooked in fat), caramelized onions, figs, triple cream blue cheese and reduced balsamic vinegar. First of all, the duck was super succulent and tender. The cheese was so smooth and creamy, and, truth be told, I didn't even know it was blue cheese at the time. I didn't get the standard bite you get from blue cheese. I also didn't notice the figs. The sweetness I did notice was from what I believe was reduced balsamic vinegar. It was a thick, brown goo drizzled over-top the whole thing. It doesn't list this on the menu, but I'm sure it was on there. It's an unmistakable flavor, and it had such an great sweetness. If I do anything in life, I hope it's to learn how to reduce balsamic vinegar like that. The combining flavors from the duck, cheeses, onions and vinegar gave the pizza so many dimensions. Genius.

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Daedalus - Cambridge, MA
http://stagingpad.com/daedalus/

     I often wish I had more brunch in my life. It's such a great idea, and it's rare that one is disappointed with brunch. Mary was in town, and after not getting anything at Sunset Cantina on Friday night (I don't ever recommend watching people eat delicious Mexican food. It's absolute torture) and ordering a plain Greek salad that was very ho-hum from a place called Clarke's in Faneuil, I was really hungry and just wanted something tasty. We originally intended to go to The Boathouse for brunch, but apparently they're closed on a Sunday morning at 10:45... even though they have a brunch menu. Whatever. So we went right next door to Daedalus. Daedalus is a converted 2 story greenhouse with two bars and a rooftop dining area. Unfortunately it was too cold to sit outside, but we'll definitely have to come back sometime in the summer to try out the roof. The inside was very crisp and clean with cushiony leather booths, strange artwork resembling a swamp, funky incandescent light bulbs, standard jazz-y hold music echoing throughout the room and beautifully stained wooden tables. This place was very chic. I'm not sure if I know exactly what that word means, but I think that it fits.

Veggie Fritatta

      I still tried to stay smart healthy and ordered their brunch special Fritatta. I have to admit, I wasn't really sure what the definition of a fritatta was. I thought it was kind of like an egg-bake, but turns out it's a flat, Italian style omelette that's cooked in a cast iron skillet. Basically it's like an open faced omelette. This one was topped with roasted cauliflower, brussel sprouts, roasted red peppers and goat cheese. The eggs were truthfully just a medium onto which the roasted veggies were placed. They were the all-stars of the dish, in combination with the goat cheese. I feel like red peppers take on such a different flavor when they're roasted and Daedalus knew how to do it. It was almost like they were a completely different vegetable all together. The hunks of goat cheese were warmed up perfectly and became so soft and melty. It added such a rich flavor to an otherwise simple dish (not that that's a bad thing).
    At first I was happy that my omelette was served with a small side salad, because that meant I wouldn't be temped to eat a ton of their home fries (which generally always mean delicious things). But, as I should've expected, Meagan got full quickly... resulting in me finishing off her roasted potatoes and a little bit of her eggs benedict with lox. I always think about being adventurous and trying eggs benedict with lox, but I realized today that salmon in the morning just isn't for me. Regardless, the potatoes were perfectly roasted with just a slightly crisp outer layer and soft on the inside. They've got quite a few other things on this menu I'd love to come back and try for brunch... or lunch... or dinner.

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Chickpea, Feta and Parsley Salad - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

     I was a huge fan of this super fresh salad I found on a blog called Simply Provisions. The reason I was so
in love was also simple. This salad took me back to my Syrian roots. The chickpeas and garlic provided flavors like that of hummus, while the parsley and the lemon provided flavors similar to tabouli. Hummus and tabouli (in a pita) is one of the most delicious combinations on the planet, so it was no wonder that this salad recipe was stellar. The feta gave it a light creamy sauce, and the lemon juice a light freshness. It's worth noting that this salad was the best served immediately. I ate it throughout the week for lunches and it seemed as though the flavors weakened as time went on, so eat up!

Chickpea, Feta and Parsley Salad 

1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
Pinch red chili flakes
2 400g (14oz) tins of chickpeas
4 spring onions (scallions), green part only, chopped
1 cup chopped parsley
Juice of one lemon
150g (5 ounces) feta
Salt and pepper

1) Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook the red onion till lightly golden. Add garlic and chili and cook till the garlic is fragrant. Set aside to cool so it doesn’t melt the feta when you mix it in.
2) Drain the chickpeas, rinse and place in the salad bowl. Add crumbled feta, spring onion, parsley and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper. Add the cooled onion and garlic mixture and remaining oil and mix well.

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Royal Pastry Shop - Somerville, MA

http://www.royalpastryshop.com/index.htm

Carrot Cake from Royal Pastry Shop

     My coworkers are just too sweet. Literally. Nearly everytime they go to the store, they come back with a sweet treat for some. Oftentimes it's more than one treat because they couldn't decide. One day Melanie came back from running and errand and walked in with 2 big huge cake boxes. I knew they were cake boxes. There's no mistaking those. My eyes got super wide and she said "They're cakes for a birthday party after work, but don't worry... there's something for you on your desk." What a dear. She brought me back this precious little carrot cake. We had been talking about desserts the day before, and she remembered I had said I loved carrot cake. This little nugget was from a bakery on Cambridge St called Royal Pastry Shop. I'll have to go back on my own someday to take an inventory, but their carrot cake was stellar. I normally like the cake part of my carrot cake to have large pieces of shredded carrot and big walnuts, but the cake mix in this one was relatively fine. It was still delicious, however, just no visible chunks. The cream cheese frosting was out of this world. It was dense and not airy like some cream cheese frostings. I really liked this one because it was less sweet and more cream cheesy. Great cheese to sugar ratios happening here. I was so grateful for the midday treat. 

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Red Lantern - Boston, MA
http://www.redlanternboston.com/index.html

Meagan's great Instagramming skills make up for my lack of skills. 

     For Malcolm's birthday, he wanted to go to an Asian place called Red Lantern downtown. I had never been, but I heard you might drop a pretty penny or two if you chose to eat and drink there. I ate dinner before going, but was not opposed to sampling when I got there. Inside the huge wooden doors was an enormous dining area and bar. The tall ceilings were draped with sea shells and hundreds of hanging red lanterns. The whole restaurant had a very sophisticated and luxurious feel with all deep red hues and dark furniture. With the flicker of fire from their open kitchen, exposed brick walls and the rugged Asian art on the walls, I felt like I was in sophisticated urban China.

Lobster Rangoons

     Being the generous guy he is (even on his own birthday), Malcolm ordered some lobster rangoons for the table that were, hands-down, the best rangoons I've ever had. The insides were perfectly warm and had an awesome rich lobster flavor. It all just melted further in your mouth. Served with scallions and a sweet soy sauce, the rangoons had such a beautiful blend of succulent flavors from the cream cheese and lobster, contrasting textures of the crisp wonton shell and the creamy insides, and a hint of salt and sweet from the soy. Absolutely amazing.
     While there, I also sampled a piece of Malcolm's White Mountain Roll, some of the Duck Buns and had a sip of a Mai Tai. All of these things were amazing, but I don't feel as though I had enough sensory experience to give them the review they deserve. Aside from the fire alarm going off during the meal (which was rather hilarious), it was a great night out and super fun to experience a dining environment I'd wouldn't normally catch myself in by my own personal choice.

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Skillet Monkey Bread - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

PB&J Skillet Monkey Bread

     PB&J might literally be one of my favorite things to eat on this planet. No joke. I suppose it's the peanut butter really that gets me. I could sit for hours eating it out of the jar with a spoon. Sometimes I like to take a spoon of pb and then a spoon of jelly and let them mix in my mouth, and I'm not ashamed to admit that. It's a delicious combination. I originally found this recipe for PB&J Skillet Monkey Bread on a blog called Picky Palate. I really really like the idea, but I didn't want to use all the ingredients she used. I wanted it to be kind of like pb&j on toast rather than the super sweet treat she made it into. Plus, adding butter, heavy cream, and sugar to a recipe that's basically already loaded with sugar and fat doesn't quite seem like a good idea if I'm trying to stay in the same sized pants. So... I just took her idea of breaking up hunks of bread dough, throwing them in a lightly buttered pan, drizzling on some peanut butter and dropping on a few spoonfulls of jelly. Then I just baked it for 15-18 minutes or so. Poof! Perfection! Warm peanut butter is just the best.