Salty Pig

          I recently tried the Salty Pig on a Sunday night for their Sunday supper menu. We

tried most of the meats, cheeses, and spreads by creating a custom board and then

finished with some pizzas.

 

          Our board included Prosciutto, lamb shoulder, chicken liver mousse, marcona

almonds, fig spread, lavender honey, manchego (aged Sherpa milk, rich and buttery),

stravecchio (aged cows milk, sweet and nutty) and one more soft cheese that I can't

remember. All boards come with housemade pickles and toasted slices of bread (which

they keep bringing if you finish the first basket).

 

          My favorites were definitely the lamb shoulder and chicken liver mousse, and I

loved the mustard marinade on the pickles!

 

          We tried two kinds of pizza (a white pizza with broccoli rabe not pictured) and­ the house special made from the days pig parts (mostly Prosciutto) and topped with a fried egg. This was topped with arugula and whole grain mustard (there may have been a tiny bit of cheese but I couldn't taste it). This was the first time I've had pizza with mustard for a sauce, but it was perfect with the cured meat.

          Overall I enjoyed the meal at Salty Pig, it was perfect for a quick casual Italian
dinner and some of the best charcuterie in town.

Quick and Easy Ramen Recipe & $10 off Groceries

The other day my coworkers and I decided to check out the new H Mart at lunch, and planned to order ramen to go from Sapporo in the food court. I love the Sapporo in Porter Square (specifically the spicy miso ramen with pork), so I was psyched to find one so close to the office. Sadly, when we got there we realized they don't do takeout and after being disappointed for the rest of the day I decided to make my own.

Instacart

I had a lot of ingredients on hand already, but not everything I needed so I placed a quick Instacart order just before I left work. Before I get into the recipe, I NEED to tell you about this amazing new service I've just started using! If you sign up using my link your first order is $10 and free delivery.

Instacart is a grocery delivery service that's new to the Boston area. They work with Shaws, Whole Foods, Harvest Coop, Market Basket, and Costco (stores vary by location) and delivery is either $3.99 or free (advertised as $3.99 but they often have specials). You can schedule a delivery in advance for a specific time or just place an order to be delivered within the next two hours. For me, ordering just before I leave work times it perfectly so my groceries are delivered shortly after I get home. I've never paid the $3.99 delivery fee, but the service helps me save money in a couple of ways so I'd be glad to pay it anytime they aren't offering a special.

Here's how Instacart helps me save on groceries:

1. I can order from Market Basket. This store is ridiculously cheap and where I grew up buying groceries (it's much more popular in NH and North of Boston). The closest one to South Boston is Somerville, and I've heard horror stories about how busy it gets. To me it's not worth making the drive over, but I'll gladly pay someone else $3.99 to do it for me! One week's worth of groceries including fresh meat, cheese, produce and some pantry items was only $55 - about 1/2 of what I would have paid most other places. 
2. The app keeps a running tally of what you've selected so far, which makes me think twice about some of the extras I'd normally throw in like a gourmet $7 chocolate bar I wouldn't really want to eat after looking at the calories. 
3. You can search for items and compare them all side by side, you see brand price, and whether it's organic or not. 

This is not a sponsored post, and I was not approached or compensated by Instacart in any way - I'm just that excited about the service and think everyone should try it (if only for the $10 in free groceries!)

Now for the Ramen Recipe!

Ingredients (4 servings):

• 4 cups of reduced sodium chicken broth
• 2 servings of ramen noodles (I used rice noodles which worked out well, and this makes the dish gluten free)
• 1 lb ground pork
• 1/2 small onion minced
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons miso
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste
• Your favorite veggies (I just used spinach)

1. Toast  the onion, garlic, and ginger in 1/2 the sesame oil for about 5 minutes then add the ground pork. Season with salt and red pepper to taste.

2. Bring chicken broth to a boil and add the rest of the sesame oil, plus salt and pepper to taste

3. Reduce heat to low and add miso (this is very important, boiling miso will ruin the delicate flavor)

4. Cook noodles according to directions

5. Add noodles, pork, and veggies to the broth and serve

May 2014 Roundup

          I'm starting a new series where I round up the best dishes I've tried all month - this way if you didn't have a chance to read all of my posts you'll know which restaurants and dishes are MUST HAVES! Here are this month's in the order I tried them:

          The lamb meatball sandwich at TR Street Foods: The photo doesn't do it justice; you'll be craving this warm pita with spicy harissa, yogurt, and tender lamb for weeks after!

          The rotisserie chicken from Liquid Art House. Seriously the best chicken I've ever had; these chickens are fed from the scraps of Thomas Keller's garden. A recent globe article sums it up best - these chickens eat better than you!

          The mini falafel at Oleana - I loved every dish on the vegetarian tasting menu and thought it was one of the best values for a tasting menu in the city. It was hard to choose a favorite dish, but if I had to it would be these mini rollups.

          Poutine from DuckFat in Portland Maine - the fries are fried in duckfat, topped with duck gravy, cheese curds, and a fried duck egg. Pure indulgence, and this dish alone is worth a trip to Portland.

          What are the best new restaurants or dishes you've tried this month? Tell me in the comments section!

Duck Fat, Portland Maine

          This weekend on Memorial Day, the bf and I headed up to Portland for the day. We decided to try Duckfat, a casual sandwich shop that came highly recommended by a couple of different people. Aside from amazing sounding paninis like pork belly and duck confit, they specialize in duck fat fried fries. It was packed at 3PM, and we got what appeared to be the only open spot. 

         

          Most of the seating is counter style, with this fun magnetic poetry board you can play with while you wait for your food. It definitely kept me entertained!

 
         We started with some poutine - duck fat fried fries topped with duck gravy, cheese curds, and a fried duck egg. This was just as indulgent as it looks!



           Going in I was deciding between the pork belly or duck confit panini, but when I saw the special I had to order it - lamb sausage with roasted red pepper, feta, cucumber, and mint. The bread was perfectly crisp, and the thin sliced sausage allowed for just the right balance with the toppings. I finished every bite, and was happy with my decision.
 

          The bf enjoyed his panini, ham and gruyere on rye with sourkrout, and whole grain mustard; almost like a reuben.



          For dessert we had to try the duckfat fried doughnut holes with caramel and spicy chocolate sauce. I don't care how full you are, there is always a special place for dessert - especially when doughnuts are involved. Again, we cleaned our plates and both preferred the rich caramel.

           Portland has tons of great restaurants, but I would definitely go back to Duckfat on my next trip. It's the perfect casual lunch spot with a creative menu and affordable beer and wine list.

Basho

          I tried Basho Sushi in the Fenway recently, and despite a few minor issues (the kitchen was slow and one dish didn't come out how we ordered it) I enjoyed the sushi and would go back.

          The bf loves his dumplings and rolls, so of course we got a couple of each! There were lots of creative rolls on the menu; my favorites are always torched or crunchy, and there were plenty of these to choose from.

Steamed Shrimp gyoza

Steamed Pork shumai

Crazy roll - shrimp tempura, avocado, cucumber & spicy mayo;

Crunchy roll - fried onion, cucumber & spicy tempura crumb wrapped w/ salmon, tuna, tobiko, salmon roe & mango sauce

          My favorite was the sashimi dinner, which was $25 for an assortment of the most popular sashimi. This was a great value; all of the fish was high quality and fresh. The plate included tuna, salmon, yellowtail, bluefin, tomato, crab stick, and some type of octopus or squid. My favorite was the yellowtail with the spicy peppers but the salmon was a close second and just melted in your mouth. 

          I would go back to Basho for the sashimi alone, although I enjoyed the rest of our meal. It's definitely one of the best values in the city, and the quality is on par with some of the more upscale sushi spots.

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Oleana

          My friend and I went to Oleana the other night, and it was the first time for both of us. Everything looked so good that we asked for the bartender's recommendation. He suggested we share the four course vegetarian tasting menu ($40) and order a couple of extra courses. I'm not vegetarian, and it's only been recently that restaurants like Oleana have helped me appreciate the "genre". It's dishes like these that make me think (albeit briefly) that I actually could become vegetarian.

          We started with a basket of fresh bread served with whipped feta with sweet and hot peppers. The peppers were actually whipped into the feta, so you got the combination of all three flavors in every bite.

Whipped Feta with Sweet & Hot Peppers

        
          Next was the asparagus grilled perfectly, and served with a corn and cheese fondue, black garlic, and honey. The addition of popcorn on top added a nice crunchy texture.

Asparagus, Toasted Corn Fondue & Black Garlic Honey

          The spinach falafel was my favorite dish, these were served on top of two open faced pieces of lavash with yogurt sauce, pickles, and beets. We rolled ours up and ate them like mini sandwiches.

Spinach falafel with tahini, yogurt, beets, and crinkled cress

          The next dish was another favorite and one of the most creative - chickpea terrine with apricot, pistachio and tahini sauce. It was similar to a hummus, but much lighter and creamier. 

Chickpea Terrine— Apricot, Pistachio & Tahini Sauce

          The spring pea salad was one of the lightest options, and full of bright fresh flavors. It was a perfect spring dish!

Spring Pea Salad with pickled sunchoke and almond crumbs

          The Turkish cheese pancake was probably the most universally appealing, and would be a great dish for non-vegetarians or less adventurous eaters. How can you go wrong with warm cheese baked inside Phyllo dough??

Turkish cheese pancake with Za'atar

           The next dish felt like one of the most creative - maybe because I hadn't heard of fideos before this - but they were crispy fried noodles with a little bit of a kick. 

Spicy Fideos, Chick Peas, Swiss Chard & Orange Aioli

          I was too full to eat more than a bite of the tart, but the strawberry drink was perfect after such a filling meal!



Rhubarb fennel sharbat, white chocolate tart, roasted strawberries


          I enjoyed everything I tried at Oleana and would definitely go back. The $40 tasting menu may be the best value for a tasting menu in Boston. It was advertised as four courses, but there were more like 5-6. Although it's designed for one, there was enough food for two to share!

Brunch at Ribelle

          I've been wanting to try Ribelle for awhile, and finally made it in for brunch with the bf this past weekend. The menu is extremely inventive with lots of smaller plates to share. At our servers recommendation we shared one sweet, two savory dishes, and a side. We tried to mix a few of the more adventurous dishes with others that seemed more within our comfort zone.

                    Bomboloni + cinnamon-sugar, espresso pastry cream - these were miniature balls of fried dough served warm with espresso cream. They were definitely my favorite, and I would love to have these for breakfast or for dessert after dinner!

          Potato raviolo + beef hash, salsa verde, ketchup, yolk - This was one of my favorite dishes - I've had raviolo with egg yolk before but never with the addition of the braised beef and mashed potato. The combination was amazing, savory comfort food at its best!



          We also tried the sesame buns with panelle (Sicilian fritters), calabrian chili mayo, and lettuce. These are popular street food in Sicily, but unlike anything I've every tried!



          Of course no brunch would be complete without bacon - this dish came with peameal bacon and a potato cake (like hashbrown). which is made from boneless pork loin rather than pork belly. It's much leaner, and tastes almost like thinly sliced ham.



           I enjoyed the brunch at Ribelle and appreciated the creativity of all the dishes. There's definitely nothing like it in Boston, and can't wait to come back for dinner!