Found: Boston's Best Nachos

@Union - Allston, MA
http://www.unionallston.com/

Carbohyrates please...

     I love being able to say yes to spur of the moment brunch outings. Even when it comes to a $4 glass of fresh squeezed OJ. Seriously... fresh squeezed is the way to go. The other stuff shouldn't even be called orange juice. Anyway, I met Kevin for brunch at @Union one Saturday because I hadn't seen him yet since he moved to Boston. I've heard this place was good and it seemed decently priced and close to home. Right in the heart of hipster Allston, this place boasted big open windows, a bunch of tables, and a bright and colorful atmosphere. Their menu was pretty extensive too and they had a decent selection of specials. I ordered the orange blossom french toast, which was very simple and actually rather light. It didn't have much of an orange flavor other than from the orange wedges I squeezed onto it. However, the mix of the orange and a little syrup was delicious.
     I also ordered their homefries because yelpers said they were awesome. They were right. Nice big hunks of potatoes that were grilled, not fried, with some veggies. All great things.

----------

Joe's American Grill - Braintree, MA
http://www.joesamerican.com/
   

Spinach and artichoke dip

     Joe's exists many places throughout the city, but I had never been. After some siiiiick F1 racing for David's sister's birthday, we headed over to Joe's for dinner. It kind of had a similar fancy but casual feel to places like Cheesecake Factory and PF Changs. We sat outside on their beautiful patio as the sun mutated my ghostly skin. As an appetizer we ordered their spinach and artichoke dip which was amazing x 1000. Super creamy and salty (in a good way) and cheesy. They served it with tortilla chips and these crisp parmesan cheese chips. So good. I could've eaten just that for dinner. We also got their chips, guac and salsa, but it was pretty standard. The salsa was strange though.

Turkey burger

     For the meal I ordered a turkey burger. Big, fat juicy guy with fresh greens, tomato and onion on a buttery toasted bun. It was super satisfying, as was the salad that came with. The dressing on the salad was stellar too. It was a sort of lemon vinaigrette but was a little sweet.  I wanted some in a to-go bottle.

----------

Wolfe's Tavern - Wolfeboro, NH
http://www.wolfestavern.com/


 
  I'm going to write about this little place a) because I'll probably never be in this area again, and b)
because this french onion soup was delicious. It was super loaded with cheese that poured off the sides and melted to the edges of the pot. Crispy cheese always wins in my book. That is all.

----------

Pavlova - My Kitchen, Allston, MA

My pretty pavlova :]

     Frances told me a long time ago that Pavlova was her favorite dessert. So naturally, I wrote it down, lost it, and had to ask Melanie what the name was again when her birthday finally came around. This was my first attempt at a type of meringue and it was incredibly difficult. First of all, I didn't have white wine vinegar, and the only white vinegar that Trader Joe's had what white balsamic, I figured it would do, until I added it to the egg/sugar mixture and the whole thing smelled and tasted strangely like mushrooms. I thought I had ruined the whole thing, but put it in the oven anyway, hoping that the vinegar taste would cook out. 

     The kicker I think was that you're supposed to let it cool over night in the oven WITH the oven door cracked. I didn't know that the oven door was supposed to be cracked, and therefore when I got to my pavlova in the morning it was sticky. I attempted to bake it a little longer, but as you know that baking is all chemistry, that didn't really help me achieve the ideal texture... but I decided it would do. Honestly, it seemed to work out quite well. The sweet, melt-in-your mouth flavor of a meringue was there, and you really couldn't go wrong with the homemade whipped cream and fruit on top. It was a big hit, and Frances loved it. That was all I wanted :]

Pavlova

4 large egg whites, room temperature
Pinch of salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine sugar (I put mine in a food processor for a few minutes)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons white-wine vinegar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups heavy cream, whipped
Mixed fruits, such as raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, kiwis, bananas or whatever your heart desires.

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. In a tall bowl, beat egg whites and salt together until glossy peaks form. With mixer running, add sugar in three additions, beating until meringue is stiff and glossy. Sprinkle in cornstarch, vinegar, and vanilla. Fold to combine.

3. Mound the meringue in the center of a cookie sheet liked with parchment paper. Using a spatula, evenly spread meringue out towards the edges, forming a circle. Transfer baking sheet to oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 250 degrees. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

4. Turn off oven and let meringue cool completely in oven with the door cracked. When meringue is cool and completely dry (overnight is preferable), top with whipped cream and desired fruits.

----------

Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce - My Kitchen, Allston, MA

     Hayley mentioned the idea of a roasted butternut squash pasta sauce a long time ago, so when Meagan had extra leftover squash, I offered to make some sauce with it. I found this recipe on a blog called Teeny Tiny Foodie. I was really excited because roasted squash is great, and I could only imagine what would happen when you add in a bunch of herbs and some creamy ricotta cheese. It was just as good as I had expected, and then some! The only thing I would've done differently is I would've added a little bit more of the noodle water to thin it out a bit. It was pretty starchy the first time around. In my second serving though, I added some water to thing it out and it become a little easier to eat. While it may seem a little complicated, this was a great way to use up some butternut squash when you get a big one. Super tasty too. 

Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

½ roasted squash bulb, peeled and cubed
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 small onion, diced
1½ cups arugula
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
¾ teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 lb pasta of choice
½ cup reserved cooking liquid from the pasta
Olive oil, shaved parmesan or romano cheese and red pepper flakes, to taste

1. Over medium heat, sauté the onions, garlic and red pepper flakes with a pinch of salt until the onions are golden. Stir occasionally.

2. Add the arugula, another pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

3. In a food processor/blender/with an immersion blender blend the ricotta, squash, onion-arugula mixture, salt and pepper. Process on high for 1 minute or until it is smooth.

4. Add the reserved water from the cooked pasta, ¼ cup at a time, until your desired consistency is reached. Taste, and adjust seasonings.

5. Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta, mix and top with grated parmesan or romano cheese and enjo

----------

21st Amendment - Boston, MA

http://21stboston.com/

I give you Boston's best nachos!

     Knocked another one of Boston's best nacho places off my list! My mom and Jay came to visit a couple weeks ago and I met them downtown to walk around and show them the sights. I'll say... I wasn't upset when they asked if there was a pub around. They were thirsty and hungry, and I was (as always)... hungry. We were up by the state house, so immediately I thought of 21st Amendment and their nachos. IT WAS TIME. The moment had come and I'd get to try them. The inside of the 21st Amendment is very dark and old style pub-y. It reminded me of a place politicians downtown would come to. The local watering hole. The building itself was constructed in 1899, and the pub has been through a few different names, but it was a local hangout for some of the state workers.

Momma and I!

     So for the nachos. These were definitely THE best nachos I've had in Boston. Let me explain... The winning factors here were the mile high piles of guac and sour cream. I kid you not that had to be 3 avocados worth of guacamole and an entire tub of sour cream. It was amazing. The chips were great too. As I learned from a previous experience (I called them a couple years ago to see if they made their own chips), they were hand cut and fried corn tortilla chips. This made all the difference. The chips stayed nice and crisp regardless of the fact that these loaded nachos were piled high with melted cheese, grilled chicken, jalapenos, scallions and another generous helping of their fresh tomato salsa. Sometimes I don't like when salsa is added to nachos because it's generally pretty juicy and put the integrity of the chips at risk. But this salsa wasn't juicy, and had some great fresh flavors adding to the nachos. 5 star nachos. No doubt. 

----------

Russell House Tavern - Cambridge, MA

http://russellhousecambridge.com/

     Russell House Tavern is one of those restaurants I think about going to every time I think about going out to a restaurant. But then I remember I'm poor, and I choose someplace else. Honestly, Russell House Tavern won't completely break the bank, but I'm on a student budget. It's one of those restaurants you let your parents take you to when they come to visit. So that's exactly what I did. 

     It was too bad it wasn't warmer out because Russell House Tavern has a beautiful patio in an alleyway next to their restaurant. The downstairs definitely has a classy tavern vibe, with a lot of large incandescent light bulbs, bricks, and black and red accents. Very swanky looking place. We were seated upstairs near the bar, which kind of stunk because it was really loud. Either way, I was too excited about the food to care. 

     For an appetizer, we ordered their charcuterie board that had chicken liver pate (my favorite... love liver...so smooth),  smoked pork fillete (came cold under a layer of fat... a little strange), smoked fish rillette (my least favorite... too fishy), a sweet berry jam, and a few of their house-cured meats. All of these came with crispy, thin slices of bread (they have a technical term, but it evades me at the moments). While it was fun to sample all the different cuts of meat, a lot of them seemed to blend together, in that I couldn't tell the difference between them and couldn't recall the descriptions the waiter gave.

Charcuterie Board

     It was national pierogi day, and I was dead set on their wild mushroom pierogi, but they were out. Boo. Instead, I ordered their Smoked Lamb Belly Meatballs. These two precious meatballs came soaking in a roasted tomato sauce and topped with taleggio cheese and crispy sage. I always love the lamb-sage combo. They just compliment one another to well. The meatballs were super juicy, and the taleggio cheese was new to me. It had a mild, but almost fruity tang to it. It was delicious with the savory flavors of the meatballs.

Beet salad on the left, smoked lamb meatballs on the right.

 

     

    

     I also ordered their beet salad, which was another winner. It was very different than I anticipated, in that they had cut up the beets and mixed it with Vermont chevre (goat cheese as a binder) that allowed it to be formed into a patty. It came topped with candied pistachios, sprouts, dried cherries and stringy greens. I love goat cheese and beets together. Add a little sweetness from the cherries, and it's a winning salad. The whole thing was resting in a pool of a clear, bright green sauce, but I can't remember what it was (these are the moments I kick myself for not having written about places like this until weeks after my visit). Oh! They also served some sort of bread basket too and I hate that I can't remember what it was like. I do recall that they offered it with a small cup of what Jay and I swore was truffle oil. But the waiter said it was just garlic olive oil. I don't believe him. It had a different flavor, almost like that of oysters. Super interesting and delicious. I could've drank it (that's a lie). 

     I surprisingly said no to dessert, but I am glad Jay persuaded me out of that silly decision. We got the sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream, a toffee sauce, and "bruleed fig", which apparently is burnt fig. I can't say I pinpointed that flavor when I was eating it, but I also don't think I was aware of its presence. The toffee pudding was great though. It was served warm, and had a very rich and sweet toffee flavor. I was glad we split it. Great choice  :]

My mom and Jay with our Sticky Toffee Pudding  :]

Just Do It. Just Lick the Plate.

Flatbread Company - Somerville, MA
http://www.flatbreadcompany.com/

     Sometimes I do things that are fun and realize how much I dislike how busy life is. Doing something fun and enjoyable shouldn't seem like it's a rare occurrence or not the norm. I need to find a way to adjust my life. Find things that I have in excess and cut them off. Rearrange things. Make more time to enjoy things. Anyway... after many many attempts to meet up, Griff and I finally got together for some food at Flatbreads in Davis Square. He had told me eons ago that this place was good, and I have wanted to go ever since. Truth be told, I totally thought Flatbreads was a dive bar with a janky bowling alley or something. It's on a side street and is inside, what I thought was, a small brick building. I had no idea when I walked in that it was going to be so big and open. Directly in front of you as you enter are the bowling lanes. We didn't end up bowling, but the balls you use are really tiny. It looks super fun though and provides a great background noise for your meal.
     The dining area to the left is one huge room with a ton of wooden tables. All the table tops and seats are wood and metal and fit in with the rustic feel of the place. It was also relatively dimly lit, but there were a ton of colors all around that stuck out of the darkness. There were different colored lights that illuminated other objects throughout the room along with many signs painted in bright, vibrant colors. The main feature in the room, however, was the clay wood-fired oven and the stacks of wood next to it. You could see a nice roaring fire in the oven as the pizzas bubbled off to the side. One of the workers was almost always stoking the fire or putting in a pizza that had been prepared right next to the oven in their open kitchen area. It all had a very simplistic feel. My kind of place.

     Onto the food. To start we ordered one of their salads that was on special. It was their normal mesclun
and organic sweet lettuces, shaved roasted beets, and shredded pickled cabbage and carrots. There were supposed to be grape tomatoes in it, but I found zero. It was delicious anyway, so I didn't complain. I also don't recall the waitress saying what the dressing was, so I played my own game of guess the flavors. I definitely got some sesame seeds, and I thought it tasted rather asian. Gingery perhaps? Upon checking their menu out when I got home, I saw on their menu that they add toasted sesame seeds to their other salads and have a homemade ginger-tamari vinaigrette. I win. It was delicous. Truthfully the dressing was my favorite part. It was just so light and refreshing.
     For our first pizza, we ordered a small Somerville Community Flatbread with their wood-fired cauldron tomato sauce, organic caramelized onions, organic mushrooms, whole milk mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. The tomato sauce was the best part of this pizza. You can't often say that about a pizza.  It was perfectly sweet and chunky (another thing you can't often say about pizzas). I also loved that there were a ton of mushrooms all over the pizza.

          The second pizza was their sauce-less Homemade Sausage pizza with their own nitrate-free maple-fennel sausage, organic sulfate-free sundried tomatoes, caramelized organic onions, organic mushrooms, whole milk mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. At first I thought a sauce-free pizza was silly, but oh boy was this pizza delicious. I think not having a sauce allowed me to focus more on the toppings, and it truthfully wasn't necessary. The sausage had the texture more of cooked ground beeg, which I wasn't expecting. But it had this amazing sweet and maple-y flavor. The sweetness of the sausage plus what we believe was a subtle sweetness in the caramelized onions gave this whole pie a completely different flavor than any other sausage pizza I've had before. It wasn't dessert-like though, as you still got the savory flavors from the fennel in the sausage, the mushrooms and the sundried tomatoes. Gosh the flavor that those sun dried tomatoes took on when they roasted a bit and the edges crisped up in the oven was fabulous. Mmmm!

     One thing I really liked about their pizzas is that they let the toppings be the stars of the show. Now don't get me wrong, I love some delicious, melty cheese... but sometimes pizzas can have too much cheese and you may not get to experience what the toppings have to offer as much. You may not agree, but that's ok. But on both of these pizzas, I realized that I was able to notice little things about the flavors that I may not have noticed if it was loaded up with cheese. Like some of the herbs, the fact that the tomato sauce was chunky, or how I never realized I liked smaller pieces of mushrooms on pizza because you get some in every bite. 

     Oh and I didn't even mention the crust! The crust was incredible! They make an organic bread dough that they sprinkle with homemade garlic oil and blend of organic herbs. It was real thin on the bottom and got a little soggy the longer it sat, but it was still delicious. My favorite part was the crust around the edges. It seemed very different than pizza dough in that it was way more flavorful, much softer and more chewy. Almost like a deliciously chewy dinner roll you'd get in a bread basket at a restaurant. I wanted so badly to butter up the crust like my mom and I used to do when I was younger. 

     All in all, a great atmosphere, great company, and delicious food. I'd love to go back and try bowling with those small balls. Ha.


Greek Corner - Cambridge, MA
http://www.greekcorner.us/

     This restaurant adventure was another one of those week long discussions/decisions that Mary and I had.
Mary really wanted some Greek food, and well... it doesn't take much to persuade me. I know this place was on the Food Network at one point, and it was voted as Best of Boston 2008 for Greek Food. One of my old coworkers loves Greek Corner, and I've truthfully had some Greek salad and a grilled cheese from there before, but I've always wanted to go back for the real deal. Today was the day. We went directly after our Saturday workout so we could try all of the things. I was really excited to try some things similar to what Grandma Dini used to make and compare them.

     As an "appetizer" we ordered the Sampler Plate, which had dolmathakia, tsatziki, taramosalata, spinach pie, hommus, tabouleh, feta cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant salad and olives. This plate was presented with a large dollop each of hommus (Greek spelling), tsatziki, and the taramosalata and all the goodies were places on top of each spread. Dolmathakia are grape leaves, and they were pretty good! Even though they didn't have meat like my grandma's do, they were probably the closest I've had to what I consider "real" grape leaves in that they weren't absolutely soaked in olive oil. They were much lighter and very tasty. The tsatziki sauce was incredible! If you're unfamiliar, tsatziki sauce is a creamy sauce made with Greek yogurt, garlic, lemon, dill and cucumber. It's often paired with gyro meat, but truthfully, it's incredible to just dip pita bread or veggies in. The taramosalata was something new to me. It was basically a red paste that was red caviar blended with bread and spices. We couldn't really figure it out because it was such a smooth consistency leaving us to wonder where the "bread" was. It had such a great flavor that wasn't fishy, but more dill-y. The spinach pies were also amazing. They had some sort of a "dark" flavor that Mary pointed out. I noticed it too, but we were unsure what it was. Perhaps it was just a very rich tasting spinach. Man the phyllo dough though was so delicious, golden and flaky. The hommus was very different than I'm used to but still incredible. I can't pinpoint the flavors, but it had much less tahini and garlic kick in it, and it was a little thinner and more gritty than most hommus. The tabouleh was also a much better representation of my family's traditional tabouleh than I'm used to in that there was more of the 70% parsley and veggies to 30% wheat germ ratio. A lot of grocery stores and restaurants make it into more of a grain based salad with waaaaaay too much wheat germ in my opinion. Not Greek Corner though! They had great ratio, making it the light refreshing salad it's supposed to be. The eggplant salad was delicious too and was very light. It was kind of a mushy mix of eggplant, tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and lemon maybe? All of these things were served with pita bread that we dipped in all of the sauces individually, together, and in combination with the tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta. All of the flavors on this plate were phenomenal together. We were literally in shock.
     For the "meal" we split one Corner's Special Gyro with ground beef and lamb. It was served in a hot pita

bread with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, parsley and tsatziki sauce. One bite in, and I never wanted to eat anything else ever again. The meat was out of this world. It was cut in large hunks rather than thinner shavings. It was hot and the edges of the meat crisped up to give it a great flavor. It had some of the most amazing seasonings I've ever had in meat like this. I've always loved lamb thanks to my family, and this really hit home. The intense flavor of the meat went perfectly with the cool tsatziki sauce. Gosh and the pita it was wrapped in was so thick, warm, and grilled, providing the grilled and slightly burned in a few places taste. The whole gyro was the ultimate package. So so so happy with that choice.
 

   Instead of getting regular fries with our gyro we ordered a side of the Greek Fries which are big, thick-cut and long fries with the skins on. They're served with a little oregano, lemon juice and a ton of parmesan cheese practically poured on top. I couldn't really taste the lemon on them, but I was a huge fan of the parmesan that was warmed up by the fries. We dipped those fries in every sauce and dip we had left; the hommus, tsatziki, and the taramosalata. So many great flavors.
     For dessert we split one piece of baklava and one piece of what they call Galaktoboureko. Apparently the Galaktoboureko is a Greek pastry consisting of a semolina based custard that is wrapped in phyllo dough and topped with sweet syrup. This was served to us warm and was absolutely mind blowing. The texture of the insides kind of resembled a combination of bread pudding, custard and thicker tapioca. But it had a lightly sweet, eggy and vanilla flavor. The phyllo dough it was wrapped in was more moist than most phyllo dough you experience on things like baklava. The top and side of the dough was slightly more crisp, but the bottom piece of phyllo dough had soaked up a lot of the moisture from the custard and was much softer itself. Every bite was just as good as the last. We were so happy with this new discovery.

     The baklava was definitely one of the best pieces of baklava I've ever had. Splitting it made our individual pieces pretty small, but it still provided outrageous flavor. A lot of times when you get baklava, they're really
heavy, both physically and in your stomach. Often they can be really soaked top to bottom in thick honey... which is delicious... but after today I discovered that I like it much better when it's less heavy. I'm not exactly sure how they made it, but the top of this baklava had very little honey in it, allowing the phyllo dough to stay light and flakey. The bottom of the baklava was were the honey was, but even then it was much thinner than most honey, making it all a lot lighter and more enjoyable. The top of the baklava was sprinkled with a dash of cinnamon that I'm not sure is commonplace. Either way, I loved the flavor that the cinnamon added. Totally took it to a new level.
     This was such a great meal from start to finish. No complaints whatsoever.