These Are My People

Playska - Somerville, MA
http://playska.com/

The Cvapi and the Balkan Chicken Boudin

     I'll always argue that the best way to get to know a city is by running it. Even when it's the city you live in, you'll see things you've never seen before. This is especially helpful when you're looking for new restaurants to go to. During a run a few weeks ago, I came across a new restaurant near Inman Square called Playska. I had never seen or heard of this place before but was intrigued by the letters on the window that said "Balkan inspired sandwiches." The Balkans consist of a bunch of countries in southeastern Europe including Albania, Croatia, Serbia and a few others, and since I have connections to eastern Europe and the middle east (and because I know it has the same as the German restaurant Bronwyn) I was eager to go. Stumbling across this place happened at the perfect time because Jake was coming in town and he left me with the task of choosing a place for lunch. I obliged... as I always do. To Playska!
     The restaurant was really tiny, hot and full of random antiques and art boasting the eastern European and Russian vibe. It had a relaxed atmosphere, like a small coffee shop, and only a few small tables. We agreed to split two sandwiches because it was far too difficult to pick. I chose the Cvapi, which had Bosnian style pork sausages, challah bread, feta, butter lettuce, red onion, cucumber pickle and yoghurt remoulade. The little pork sausages were my favorite. They weren't like the typical sausages you'd expect with a casing and the feeling of fillers and fat. They were more along the lines of a homemade sausage or ground meat formed into a tubular shape and chocked full of spices. These sausages tasted very clean, and similar to kofta, which is a middle eastern meatball type dish that my great grandma used to make with pepper, mint, allspice and other spices. They were savory but light and had a subtle freshness that went with the yoghurt remoulade that gets its flavor from yogurt, lemon, and dill. The sausages went perfectly with the feta, pickled cucumbers and particularly the thin, and stringy red onion. The bread was the second best part. It was a fat, wide and short challah bread bun with a slightly floury outside and a sprinkle of herbs on top. It was chewy and a tad bit sweet. All the different players in this sandwich were critical, and the added pickled potato wrapped in an aluminum foil ball was an added, peculiar treat.
     Jake's sandwich (that we split) was the Balkan Chicken Boudin, which had lemon and sumac chicken sausage, cucumber pickles, butter lettuce and a yoghurt remoulade. This sandwich had very similar flavors to mine, aside from the meat, which was a bit more mild with more of a lemon flavor. It still was delicious with the feta, but I wished it had the red onions as well.
     I couldn't leave without dessert, so I opted to try their danish-like pastries with tasty toppings on top. The pastry with the peanut butter in the middle was a little odd because the flavor of the peanut butter was different than I anticipated and it was crumbly, like cooked peanut butter. The other pastry was much better, thanks to marzipan, which is almond paste. Topped with little slivers of almonds, this pastry was light and sweet.
     I'd definitely recommend Playska to anyone passing through Inman, as it's quick, delicious, light and different! I've also read that they're considering rolling out a breakfast menu which is thrilling. Ooo!

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Jerk - Dorchester, MA
http://www.jerkdining.com/

Jerk chicken, collards and rice

     After Thanksgiving, I headed straight to school with all my baggage because I needed to get to class. Part of me was annoyed with the situation, but the other half of me was excited because it meant David would pick me up and we would probably go get food. We chose this random Jamaican place down in Dorchester called Jerk. I had been to a Caribbean place once before back in Lansing with Marc and it was delicious, so I was excited about this being similarly good. The restaurant was very plain inside with a handful or two of dark wooden tables, only a few decorations and a playlist that played a mix of Frank Sinatra, Jamaican music and the occasional pop song. The waiter was incredibly sweet, but it was next to impossible to understand what he was saying because his accent was so thick (which is totally fine... I'm not saying that was a bad thing).
     For the meal I got the jerk chicken which was basically 3 or 4 big hunks of chicken that had been completely infused and coated with the caribbean jerk sauce and flavor. So far in my experience with Caribbean food, it seems as though their approach isn't so much about getting the perfect chicken cutlet. Instead it comes off more as a cut the chicken into pieces, bones and all, and cook it as is approach. While I like the simplistic approach, it makes eating it a bit difficult because you're on the continual lookout for bones that'll puncture your gullet. Anyway, the chicken was incredibly tender, fell off the bones and had a delicious and delayed, subtly spicy flavor. As my sides, I got rice and the collard greens, which made the presentation quite lovely. The collard greens were fantastic too, primarily because the chunks of ham were abundant and it wasn't as sweet as some collard greens can be. I'm not a big fan of the sweeter collards. David's stewed chicken was very similar in taste with more bones, and his mac and cheese had an incredible crust. Definitely homemade. I can't say I'm jumping to go back, but it was a fun and delicious experience if you're looking for Jamaican food in Boston.

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Al Wadi - West Roxbury, MA
http://www.alwadiboston.com/

The best dipping oil on the left, grape leaves and hummus with a Lebanese beer that tasted like... beer.

     This was an impulse buy. Admittedly, not a bad impulse buy because food adventures are rarely
bad.  I saw a groupon for a Lebanese restaurant called Al Wadi and had to have it. I generally like to seize any opportunity I can to compare my great grandma and grandma's Lebanese cooking to anyone and everyone else's. Literal years after I purchased the groupon, I finally convinced someone (Jimmy) to come with me, since it was a little bit of a hike down to West Roxbury.
     We went pretty early (like a couple of old people), and we were one of 3 or 4 tables that were seated the whole time we were there. The restaurant was huge and beautifully decorated. There were a lot of reds, oranges, and tan colors, synonymous with desert hues I'd guess. There were also really beautiful, sparkling light fixtures and chandeliers, really putting me back into my great grandma's old house.
     Unfortunately, the food didn't live up to the atmosphere. We ordered the hummus with ground meat on top but the hummus was relatively unflavorful as well as the tablespoon of ground beef on top. It definitely was not as garlicy as grandma's and she uses ground lamb instead of beef, which is much much better. I was hoping for some warm, fresh baked pita, but they served microwaved cut up pita triangles. Yes I can tell.  I'd honestly rather have had them room temperature because then half of them wouldn't be crisp while the other is still soft.
     The grape leaves were probably the closest to grandma's grape leaves out of all other grape leaves I've ever tried (outside of those made by my family members). Generally when you get them from other restaurants. from hot bars in grocery stores, or in a can, they're soaked in oil and there's no meat. It's just rice stuffed in a grape leaf swimming in oil. Ew. My family has always steamed them so I was delighted to discover that Al Wadi had steamed their grape leaves AND stuffed them with ground lamb. Thank you thank you! They were delicious and served with an unnecessary cucumber yogurt sauce.... but still undoubtably delicious.

Kafta and kibbeh

     Strangely, my favorite part of the meal was the dip they served with the bread. It was good olive oil (you can always tell if you've got a high quality olive oil) and just za'atar I think. Za'atar is a middle eastern mix of spices including things like thyme, marjoram, oregano, sesame seeds and the most notable flavor from sumac. The sumac gives it a strong, earthy flavor I think and is unlike any other spice, in my opinion. Dipping the bread into the za'atar and oil was delightful and made me feel at home.
     For the meal I ordered the kafta kabob. Kafta is a meatball/meat log type dish that consists of ground meat (generally lamb, beef, chicken or pork) and mixed with onions and spices. These kafta were beef and lamb and were served on top of rice pilaf. The kafta were pretty tasty, but, as Jimmy pointed out, they were a little more tough and dryer that I think they should've been. I have concluded that Al Wadi wasn't making many things fresh. I understand that can be hard to do, but between the pita, my kafta and Jimmy's baked kibbeh, you could tell a lot of things had been reheated in the microwave or just reheated in an oven and dried out. The rice pilaf was ok, but I'm not a huge fan to begin with. It's just meh. I'd much rather have grandma's Syrian rice with cinnamon (sounds odd but it's fabulous).
     For dessert we ordered the baklava sampler which was decent. Sometimes baklava can be dry, and sometimes it can be too gooey. These were slightly more on the gooey side and shockingly sweet. While tasty, they could've benefited from being a little less soaked and sweet. However, they did offer both a pistachio and a cashew baklava which was different. I liked the pistachio best, but the cashew was still good.
     I think I'd pass up that Al Wadi groupon if I saw it again. It was worth the experience and worth a shot, but, at least in my case, any Lebanese restaurant has some pretty big shoes to fill in order to impress me.

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Cantina la Mexicana - Somerville, MA
http://www.cantinalamexicana.com/

Fajitas, eggs in purgatory, and a gordita from Cantina la Mexicana

     Well... this honestly wasn't the first time I've been to Cantina la Mexicana, and it won't be my last. This past year Gentle Giant did a fundraiser for the Walk for Hunger there, and I sampled their prickly pear margarita which was really unique. Definitely the best margarita I've ever had. Please try it if you can. I had a burrito then as well and was unfortunately not impressed. It's a big place up in Union Square in Somerville, but I've never seen much of a crowd. The waitstaff is super responsive and pleasant and well.... the margaritas.
     This time David, Rachel, Victor and I went after running the Somerville Jingle Bell 5k, and the food was much more exceptional that I anticipated. Admittedly, we were starving, but it was still fabulous. David and I ordered a gordita because I had no idea what that was, and he wanted to introduce me to his friend gordita. It basically came as a cornmeal tortilla (or what they called a pancake) and was topped with refried beans, chicken, melty cheese, lettuce, sour cream and a little dusting of more cheese. It was difficult to eat, but it was so delicious with the two textures of cheeses, sour cream and chicken and splash of cool fresh crunch from the lettuce.
     We also wanted to try one of their breakfast specials which was called... something. I cannot remember, their brunch menu isn't online, and no one else on the internet seems to have documented this incredible experience before. Maybe it was called swimming eggs? Either way, it was similar to eggs in purgatory. By that I mean that there is a tomato based sauce and the eggs are dropped into the sauce and cooked that way rather than frying them in a pan. This was so profoundly flavorful with a slight bit of heat. It was full of spices, peppers, onions, diced tomato and surprising chunks of chorizo while topped with cilantro and a crumbly cheese. It was served with some warm tortillas so you could wrap up some egg, sauce and the sauce treasures. Took Mexican brunch to a whole new level.
     Because 2 dishes were enough, we also got the grilled chicken fajitas. Although they didn't come to the table on one of those sizzling skillets that makes everyone else that didn't get fajitas jealous, they were still great. These fajitas were different in that you were given the grilled meat, grilled peppers and onions but also received fresh tomato, red onions, lettuce, and avocado. The mix of cold and warm fajita fillers was something I hadn't seen before and was super pumped about. Oh! And another cool addition was snap peas. They included snap peas into the vegetable mix that was grilled and they were delicious! What a pleasant surprise.
     Everything here was delicious and surprising in some way making for a really fun food experience. I'd definitely recommend Cantina la Mexicana if you're looking for unique, fresh Mexican food. I can't speak for the authenticity of it, but my taste buds sure don't lie.

Crunchwrap Supreme and Egg in a Onion Bowl. No explanation necessary.

Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme - 578 Washington St #3, Brighton

     I was beginning to dream of Taco Bell. Yea. It was going on week three of my mexican food cravings... when all of a sudden, I got the world's best idea. Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme. That was it. I had a date with my kitchen for Saturday, and it was going down. Now, this was kind of a Crunchwrap Supreme on steroids, but I'm ok with it. Tons of ingredients. Recipe here, description to follow. See the picture sequence at the bottom!

Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme

A few large tortillas

1/2 lb lean ground beef

Refried beans

1 or 2 tbs guacamole

A couple tortilla chips

Shredded cheese of choice or cheese sauce

1 Tbsp taco seasoning

1/2 tomato, diced

Diced onion

Diced orange pepper

Lettuce

Cilantro

1 Tbsp sour cream

1) First sautee up your ground beef. I used about a half pound and had plenty left over. I also added in some minced onions and orange peppers into the meat for a little excitement.

2) Add in 1 Tbsp of taco seasoning. Supposedly you should use 2 Tbsp of taco seasoning per 1 pound of meat. Upon beginning the cooking process, I realized I had forgotten to buy taco seasoning, so I just made my own:

        1 Tbsp chili powder

        1/4 t garlic powder

        1/4 t onion powder

        1/4 t red pepper flakes

        1/4 t oregano

        1/2 t paprika

        1/2 Tbsp cumin

        1 1/4 t salt

        1 t pepper (I used white pepper)

3) Steam your tortilla so it's easier to fold. 

4) Spread about a tablespoon or so of refried beans in the center of your tortilla. One ingredient at a time, add shredded cheese (or cheese sauce if you prefer), a scoop of your meat, tortilla chips, guacamole, cilantro, lettuce, tomato, and finally sour cream. 

5) Fold one edge of the tortilla in to cover the toppings and repeat as you work your way around the tortilla. My tortilla ended up being a little tiny, so I took a fourth of another tortilla and put it in the middle of mine to fill the whole. This way I could grill it without the toppings spilling out. 

6) Get a nice cast iron griddle or pan hot and set on medium heat. Press your beautifully wrapped gift with a heavy object to kind of press all the ingedients together and "seal" it closed. I used a bowl to press it down and then put a lid on top to keep heat it. I put the cheese side of the crunchwrap down that it could start warming up and melting as quickly as possible. Be careful not to let the tortilla burn, and flip it after about 4 minutes. 

This puppy was 10 times better than any crunchwrap supreme I've ever had at Taco Bell... which is maybe 3... but still. The cheese was gooey, the beans were warm, the chips weren't as crispy anymore (but that's ok), and the vegetables on top were still a little cool and refreshing. This was like a sushi experience, but mexican. Each bite had a ton of different flavors from all the spices, the vegetables, the meat, the cream. Oh man. And the tortilla was just barely browned and toasty on the outside and it held together just perfectly. I died and went to heaven.

Go ahead. Give it a shot! I guarantee it'll be worth it.  

                                                      

                                                 
Scrambled Eggs in an Onion Bowl - 578 Washington St #3, Brighton

     I seriously don't know how this hasn't been done before. Well, maybe it has, but I don't know why I have not seen pictures pasted all across pinterest for it... because it was the shiz. So the other day I was thinking about onions and breakfast...eggs specifically. Then... instant genius. What if I take an onion and put scrambled eggs in it? Woah. First problem: how do I cut the onion. I was thinking bloomin' onion style and pouring the eggs into all the little crevices, but that would be difficult. Then Margaret suggested just cutting an onion in half and pulling out a few layers on the inside. Perfect.
     So... here goes.

Scrambled Eggs in an Onion Bowl

1 large sweet onion
Finely diced vegetables of choice
Minced basil and cilantro
1 or 2 eggs
Splash of milk
Salt n peppa
Cheese of choice
Olive oil


1) Take an onion, cut it in half, drizzle it with a little olive oil, wrap it in aluminum foil and bake it for 30 minutes or until it's tender but still holds its form. Once out of the onion, pull out the center rings of the onion so that the rings that remain form a bowl (it's ok it there's a hole in the bottom of the onion if you cut the end off during preparation. That part remains flat on the bottom of your dish, so there shouldn't be much egg seepage out. 

2) Scramble an egg or two and add your veggies and cheese (I used orange peppers, mushrooms and freshly grated parmesan cheese). Pour the egg mixture into the onion bowl and fill it until it's almost overflowing.

3) Sprinkle some more cheese on top and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes or until the egg is set. You may have to bake it longer, depending on how large your onion bowl is and how much egg there is to cook. I used a small circular Pyrex dish. But any oven safe dish should work. Top with a little sprig of basil (if you're going for that professional look). Once out of the oven, let it cool for a few minutes before eating. 

     This little gem was phenomenal. The egg puffs up while in the oven, so it looks like a big muffin with an onion base. True, it takes some time to make, but they were delicious. I even used the middle rings that I pulled out as a second mini onion bowl. Bite sized scrambled eggs!

     Next time I'm thinking of adding a little balsamic vinegar to the onion while it bakes the first time. It could give it a little bit of a sweet taste. Could be good. Thoughts?

                                                 
Porthole Restaurant - Lynn, MA
http://www.portholerestaurant.com/

     Beach day success. Kenna, Sarah, Emily and I all went to the beach for Memorial Day and were just famished when we left. Not exactly... but why not eat? After searching across the country for the Porthole Restaurant, we landed a seat outside on the deck. Never have I ever been so confused by the staff of a restaurant. There were about 5,000,000 people working and they all seemed to be bipolar. Whatever.

     Probably one of the best parts of the meal was the huge loaf of bread they delivered to our table. It was a big puffy seeded loaf and came with a thousand butters and crackers. We ate every scrap.
     Something on the appetizer menu called Rumaki caught my eye. I had never heard of it, so I asked our absent-minded waiter. Supposedly it was broiled chicken livers with water chestnuts wrapped in bacon. Go ahead... make that grossed out face. But I had to get it. These little balls of death came to the table piping hot and served with cocktail sauce. Weird. I wonder if it's normally served with that or if they didn't know what else to serve it with. It was exactly what it said in the menu. I am a fan of chicken liver, so I enjoyed it. However, I don't think I could eat more than 2 without feeling like I needed to take a trip to the doctor.

     In an attempt to be healthy, I ordered Baked Stuffed Haddock. I failed to see the "Buttery crumbs and scallops" part in the description. The fish itself was good... and so was the absolutely butter soaked mountain of crumbs and scallops that it sat on. While delicious, picking that dish was probably one of the poorer choices I've made trying to prolong the health of my arteries.