This place is on the small side and has limited seating so in the future I would get my sandwich to go and eat it at Olmsted Park, weather depending of course.  Our first visit we were lucky to snag a seat and also lucky to go on a Saturday because its the only day of the week that they offer their two slow roasted pork sammies.  I chose the one with pork, sauteed broccoli rabe and sharp provolone on a toasted sesame seed roll which surprisingly did not need any condiments.  I think it was because the broccoli rabe was sauteed in garlic and some of those juices carried over as well as the sharpness of the provolone.  My man crow went for the roast beef which he raved about, I would have tried a bite except for the fact that I’m anti 1000 islands dressing.  Here’s a picture of our sandwiches, it didn’t come out that great because we were too anxious to mow down!

Since we were able to buy tasty beers at the store we didn’t hit up too many bars during our stay.  It seemed as though when people really wanted to get their drink on they went to an Irish style pub.  We hit up a couple of these before we stumbled upon my dream bar.  It was in Lyon and called The Beers and specialized in craft beers and charcuterie platters in a rustic two story building just steps away from the Rhone River.  It was fate that we found this hidden gem right when their happy hour started, pints for 3 euro and basic snack platters for 5 euro which included olives, pickles, baguette and sauscisson.  Deal of the century, if you ever find yourself thirsty in Lyon, head here!

I’m used to filling up on bread prior to my meal, then not having enough room left in my stomach to finish my plate.  Alex informed us that in France people eat baguette after their meal using it to wipe up the extra sauce and juices on their plate because the French never leave a morsel behind.  They also use the baguette in the cheese course which follows the main course.  After the baguette and cheese there is a dessert usually consisting of yogurt or fromage blanc.  My initial thought was that this routine was completely backwards but by midweek I began to really enjoy this style of eating, the dinner portions weren’t enormous and if you’re still hungry afterward there is always plenty of baguette and cheese to finish the job.

Even though I’m happy to be back in Boston there is a part of me that misses being in France.  Last night, with my jet lagged conquered, I decided to recreate a couple of dishes I enjoyed over there.  Neither of them are particularly “French” but that fact that I ate them there makes them french in my book.

Culinary treats I brought back, they confiscated my sauscisson at US Customs!

Roasted Chops with Apples & Red Cabbage and Carrot Slaw with Mustard Dressing
Preheat oven to 375.  Slice up an apple and onion, toss with olive oil, salt pepper and herbs (thyme or rosemary work well) and evenly distribute to the bottom of a baking dish.  Season the pork chops with olive oil, salt and pepper, then crush a couple of garlic cloves and run them over the meat.  Leave the garlic cloves and a sprig of herb on top of each chop and before baking add a splash of beer to the baking dish.  Cook for 30-45 mins (depending on the thickness of the cut) and let sit for another 5 minutes before serving with the roasted apples, onions, and drippings.

Pre-roasted chops

The slaw was a recipe that we enjoyed at the wedding dinner Alex’s parents had for he and Tara and I was very anxious to recreate this with the dijon I brought back to states.  This side is so simple and I ate it as a snack most of the work week.  Finely shred red cabbage and carrots and mix together in a bowl.  When you are ready to eat spoon some mustard vinaigrette on your potion and toss together.  For vinaigrette blend together 3 TBS french mustard, 2 TBS white wine vinegar or lemon juice, salt, pepper and enough olive oil until it reaches your desired consistency.

Monster Chicken Sausage Panini
4 links chicken sausage, butterflied and pan crisped on both sides
pesto (homemade our your favorite purchased variety)
combo of mozz and grated parmesan cheese
3-4 artichoke hearts, chopped
olive oil spray (trader joe’s makes a good extra virgin kind)
Focaccia
salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

Last year I acquired a cast iron pan with grates and a panini press (score!) but prior too that I constructed my own*.  Heat up the pan with the top panini press while you assemble the monster panini.  Cut the foccacia in half, spread a layer of pesto, then a layer of cheese, then the chicken sausage, artichoke hearts, and the final layer of cheese.  Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes if desired.  Spray the bottom of the pan with ev olive oil spray, put the sammy in and spray the top with olive oil before putting the press on.  Keep the heat at low-med for about 10-15 minutes until the cheese is fully melted.  Slice up like a pizza and serve to hungry guests!

You can always swap out the pesto for marinara and the chicken sausage for some veggies such as baby spinach or roasted red pepper.  The possibilities are endless, the thing that counts here is that it’s monster-sized.

*This is how you construct a make shift panini press: heat olive oil in a large skillet, add your sandwich, spray the top of the sandwich with olive oil spray, place a layer of aluminum foil over the panini then top that with a smaller skillet.  To weigh it all down and achieve the “press” put a tea kettle full of water on the top skillet.  The set up is not visually appealing  but it does the job!

Meat
Roasted Pork Shoulder
275 Degrees
6 hours
Dry spice rub of your choosing
–>I used a certain spice rub created by Ms. Maureen S. last xmas

When I started reading through this cookbook I realized that I would need a wok. My first wok was non-stick, and rusted after about 6 months where the Teflon peeled away. (gross!) When I lived in San Francisco there was this awesome store in Chinatown called The Wok Shop. I always went in there, but never bought anything- even though it is freakishly reasonably priced. Once I moved and started looking for woks online, I realized I had missed a great opportunity- this store is considered one of the best wok shops in the country, if not THE wok shop. Luckily for me they have a fairly straight-forward online ordering system.  I ended up with 1 handmade iron wok, a gas oven ring (yay! no more electric stove!), a two tiered bamboo steamer, and a Chinese-style pickling jar for my main squeeze all for under $50, including shipping. What a steal!…I appreciate the big warning on the ordering page “our products do not have lead.” Did they previously?!?

Dinner
Roast pork stir fry with kale
and julienne veggies
Place the wok over high heat, drizzle oil into the hot pan
Add julienne veggies, stir fry 1 minute
Add pork and kale, stir fry until warm
add a 1/4 c or so broth, cover and steam- serve with rice

We’ve had a tub of plan greek-ish (thick, but not quite thick enough to count as strained) yogurt in the fridge for about a week. We also had some cucumbers and some dill, along with a few lemons to boot. So, I made a little tzatziki sauce to eat with my Chinese food, and it was delicious.

Lunch/Dinner
Pulled pork sandys
We used Fornax sliced sourdough boule, but just about any hearty bread would do
smear mustard on one side of the bread and BBQ sauce on the other
place pulled pork on sandi, put pickles, or jalapenos, or any other treat on the pork
Slice cheese (we used Moz.) and make sandwich
Toast for 5 minutes until warm through and the bread is crispy

Dinner
Pork Chili
Chop: onions, carrots, potatoes and soften over heat with oil S & P
Deglaze the pan with some red wine, hopefully less crappy than the wine I chose
Add pork, cumin, chili powder, oregano, and full head of garlic, pressed
cook until the liquid is absorbed
deglaze with broth and bring to a boil
add tomatoes- simmer 30 minutes
Add red and white kidney beans- simmer 30 minutes

Who knows what creation will result from the leftover chili!

hot out of the oven

My man crow and I embarked on our first journey of homemade chicken pot pie.  Although we were both a little nervous the end product was a win for the books but we did experience the slight failure of forgetting to add the frozen peas.  Peas don’t make or break a pot pie but they do add a nice splash of green to drab colored winter veggies.  This will give me an excuse to make it the right way in the near future- hey maybe next weekend!

A while back (September 2009) VBar did a post on her Veggie “Crow” Pie creation that looked flavorful with the addition of tumeric and inviting for those who are weary of baking because it offered the option of a store bought crust.  I stuck closer to VBar’s rendition rather than the Contessa but of course still made some alterations.  First and foremost my pie contained chicken, this was a necessity for my MC.  I love fennel and asparagus but did not have any on hand, I did however have scarlet turnips which i was very excited to use, don’t they look like large beets!?  I blanched these along with diced regular and sweet potatoes and some cauliflower.  The remaining veggies added were the classic mire poix and some sliced crimini mushrooms.  All of those combined with some tumeric, paprika, herbs de provence (probably could have named it round the world pot pie) bay leaf, garlic, and white wine made this a meal for the senses.  I made a smaller version of this pie so I only used a half a stick of butter, 1/3 C of flour, and 2 Cups of veggie stock.

Once assembled I did the egg wash technique on the crust and added an extra sprinkling of sea salt, pepper and red pepper flakes on top and was sure to make some slits to give the bubbling contents a place to go.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes and then let set at room temperature for an additional 15-20 minutes before diving in.  Friendly reminder to those who wish to re-create: Don’t Forget the Peas!

My roasted chicken saga goes as follows:all day at work I was talking about roasting a chicken when I got home.  I probably told everyone in my office vicinity at least twice as well as my man crow back at the apt.  I got on my bike, rode down to harvest to pick up the infamous chicken only to find that they were all sold out.  Why do I always get my hopes up that this neighborhood store will have the one item I am counting on!!??  It’s happened to me numerous times in the cheese department but this is the first at the meat counter.  I swallowed my hostility, purchased the overpriced breast, and rode home determined to do what crows do best: improvise.

colorful veggies pre-oven roast

Roasted Root Veggies w/ Shredded Chicken in Gravy
For the Veggies:
Chop up what ever root veggies and aromatics you have on hand into equal sizes.  I used onions, carrots, celery, fennel, parsnips, potatoes (blue and fingerling), and whole garlic cloves.  Toss the veggies in olive oil, salt, pepper and freshly chopped thyme and oregano.  Pour veggies in to a baking dish and add about 1/4 C of stock to the bottom.  Cover with tin foil and bake in a 425 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes; the perfect amount of time to sip on some wine and casually prepare the chicken.  Once the chicken is ready to go in the oven you can remove the tin foil from the veggies and let both dishes bake alongside for another 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked and the veggies are tender.
For the Chicken:
Season the breasts with olive oil, salt, pepper, freshly chopped thyme and lemon zest.  Add some extra oil to the baking dish as well.  Place in the oven after the veggies have already gotten a 20-25 minute head start.  After about 30 minutes, transfer the breasts to a plate to let cool and place the baking dish on a medium low burner.  Add about a tablespoon of flour and whisk until the rawness is cooked off.  If you desire a little more richness in your gravy feel free to add a couple pads of butter.  Take the roasted garlic cloves (I used two) out of the veggie dish and squeeze the flesh into the gravy mixture and whisk to evenly distribute.  Pour in a splash of white wine to release all the browned bits on the bottom of the dish, then add enough stock till the gravy is at you’re desired thickness.  Let simmer on low while you shred the chicken breast with two forks.  Add the shredded chicken to the gravy and let mixture simmer on low for about 3-5 minutes.  Check for seasoning and serve with the roasted veggies.

When a roasting chicken is not available, this recipe can easily fill the void.

Last night we had a spectacular fire in our backyard thanks to my mancrow’s (MC) efforts of “getting all hippy and shit” by cleaning up our backyard and building an a-class fire-pit. All in all this lady had a great Saturday with holly-crow that was kicked off with a trip to Roslindale, the highlight of which was the discovery of a butcher shop right up the street! We each picked up some sausage, hand made by Tony himself! Most were cooked over the fire at the Archdale Estate that evening, but two hot links were stashed away for use during the week. I was planning on saving them for a nice meaty pasta dish later in the week, but after hearing my MC’s caws for help this morning, I knew I needed to sacrifice those plans for the sake of Sunday productivity.

This is a great breakfast recipe because breakfast for two can all be made in one cast iron- its fun to bring the whole pan to the table and scoop out the tasty morsels. For best results, make sure to use lots of fatty goodness of your choosing!

Breakfast for Two
2 eggs
about 1 1/2-2 cups of chopped potato
1 sausage link, out of the casing
1 small onion, diced
salt, pepper, chili powder
butter (or oil)
fresh herbs

Method: Cut the potatoes to small bite sized pieces. Chunks that measure 1-2 cm at the longest point would be best (or perhaps visualize 2-3 chunks per bite!). Melt 1T butter in the cast iron pan. Allow to froth a bit and place the potatoes in the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, as well as a light pinch of chili powder. Cook the potatoes until they are golden brown all around, and are just barely be fork tender. This will take the longest amount of time, so be patient, and find a temperature that is cooking the potato, but not burning the outside. At this point add the onions, and re-season. Let the onions sweat for a short period of time, and move the potatoes to one side of the pan. Cook the sausage in the other side, breaking it up into delicious morsels. After the sausage is cooked, move it over with the potatoes. Add 1t of butter to the pan, let it sizzle and pick up all of the sausage bits from the bottom of the pan. Crack the two eggs side by side in the open portion of the pan. It should be hot enough that the raw egg doesn’t wander off into the potatoes and sausage, but instead cooks on contact. Cook the eggs to your liking!

To serve: Sprinkle fresh herbs on the potatoes right at the end so that they don’t wilt or cook. The eggs might want some hot sauce, but hopefully the eggs and sausage won’t need anything!

Ready to dig into these lettuce wraps!

Get a load of these beauties!  I think it’s safe to say that everyone has tried a lettuce wrap of some sort at one point or another in their lives, but let me tell you, these puppies are super easy, and fresh crisp and delish!  With just a few simple ingredients, they’re fun to make and even more fun to eat. It’s not rocket science with these bad boys so be creative! Use what you got and improvise to your liking.

Get yourself some nice pieces of chicken, we used drumsticks because we had them, but any piece of bone-in (or out) chicken would work (keep the skin on for extra tastiness!).  Marinade the meat for anywhere from 30 minutes to over night in either a homemade, or store bought teriyaki sauce.  Slow cook the meat on your grill over medium heat until done.  Pull the meat from the bone and coarsely chop.  Thin slice the cucumber.  Tear off some pieces of Boston Lettuce (I find this type of lettuce works best because of its soft flexible nature).  Now you’re ready to go! Pile the chicken onto the center of a piece of lettuce, squirt on some sauce (we used a very delicious MisoMayo we found at whole foods) and top with a few slices of cuke.

VOILA

we liked them so much, I think we will be making these again tonight!

well this crow has been MIA for far too long! the past few months have been quite the roller coaster!  the boxes are almost gone and i FINALLY made my first meal in our new nest in Oakland, CA.  after a successful trip to COSTCO, our freezer is packed w/affordable organic chicken and turkey and the other night, i decided to give this recipe a whirl.

Turkey Meatloaf with feta and sun-dried tomatoes

ingredients:

• 1/2 C dried bread crumbs
• 1/3 C fresh flat leaf parsley leaves
• 1/4 C chopped oil packed sun dried tomatoes
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• 1/4 C olive oil
• 1/2 C crumbled feta
• S&P
• 1 lb ground turkey

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, adding the turkey last and stirring gently so as not to over work the meat.  Carefully pack the meat mixture into a loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes.  I used a meat thermometer to test the internal temp and it took my loaf more like 55 minutes to finish.

from Giada De Laurentiis’s Giada At Home