Boston - Bricco

Our visit to Boston focused on visiting all the sites along the Freedom trail including the Old State House, Fanueil Hall, Paul Revere’s House, the Old North Church, and the Boston Commons.



One of our dinners was at Bricco, an upscale Italian restaurant located in North End. It is a busy restaurant with great outside views to watch people passing by and a pleasant place to get together with friends and socialize.



We started with an amuse bouche of a prosciutto-wrapped melon ball. Even though it was not the most creative or flavorful choice for an amuse bouche, it was still a tasty way to start our meal.



Next, we selected two of the special appetizers, both of which were excellent. We had figs stuffed with melted blue cheese and accompanied by thin slices of prosciutto and crusty bread slices. We also enjoyed a delicate Burrata cheese, which is a fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream and served with cherry tomatoes and arugula with balsamic vinaigrette.





For our pasta, we tried Cestini, hand-crafted baskets made of perfectly cooked al dente pasta, filled with sausage, radicchio and truffle fondue. The cheesy filling was delicious; however, I would have appreciated more sausage flavor, as it was almost non-existent. I also did not taste too much of radicchio here either. However, the accompaniments of creamy sauce with walnuts and the apple slices were very nice and complimented the flavors and the textures of the pasta well.



Our main course was fontina and pancetta-stuffed veal chop with grilled radicchio, chanterelle-stuffed twice-baked Yukon gold potato, and veal and mushroom demi sauce. The veal chop was juicy and, while it may not have been the best Italian preparation of veal we have had, the veal was flavorful and tasty.



The Tiramisú was pretty standard, with an overly large portion of mousse and a little cake soaked in coffee liqueur. The hard white chocolate sphere in which the Tiramisú was served was unique even if a little unnecessary.



Bricco boasts numerous accolades, and some feel it is the best Italian restaurant in Boston’s North End. The restaurant may not have merited the praise it has received, but we enjoyed our meal at Bricco, a good example of Boston’s Italian cuisine.

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If you have a great macaroni and cheese recipe or are thinking of creating a new one, check out this Macaroni and Cheese Recipe Contest at Tillamook. Tillamok will select six home cooks from around the nation to compete in the grand finale cook-off in October (all-travel-expenses-paid trip!).
Visit http://www.macaroniandcheeseandcheese.com/contest for more information and to submit your homemade macaroni and cheese recipes.

Plymouth – Weathervane Seafood Restaurant

We started our New England experience by learning about the pilgrims and visiting Plymouth Rock and a replica of the Mayflower ship.



At Plimouth Plantation, we explored the Wampanoag Village and the Pilgrim village where the actors dressed as pilgrims portray life in 1627.


When we were in Plymouth eight years ago, I had my very first whole Maine lobster in the Weathervane Seafood Restaurant in the harbor area.



The Weathervane Seafood Company started in 1969 as a little stand in the small town of Kittery, Maine and then opening restaurants in a few different locations in New England, including Plymouth. The lobsters were so good here that we had to come back.



Our return visit also included a taste of a special Mayflower beer from a local microbrewery. This amber ale was a delicious, pleasant surprise, and we preferred it to Sam Adams or other more well known varieties.



We started with a bowl of excellent New England clam chowder.



Of course, we had our delicious lobsters!



Our dinner at Weathervane Seafood Restaurant was very enjoyable and the fresh seafood was as good as I had remembered it.

Philadelphia – New Sights, Cheese Steaks, and 10 Arts by Eric Ripert

Our first and last stop of our driving trip on the East Coast was Philadelphia. Although we would stop here for a cheese steak on our way to New York or New England over the years, the last time we did any sightseeing in Philadelphia was back in 2000. This time we wanted to show our daughter the historical sights and so decided to spend more time here. Because my husband attended a university in Philadelphia, he knows the city pretty well so we didn’t do any research at all, assuming not much had changed. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find the historic area very different, newly renovated and with a lot more to offer than just the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.

First, we found a new, modern Visitor Center opened in 2001. The National Park Service now offers many programs here, including an introductory movie on Independence, interesting new exhibits and previously unavailable sites to tour, along with a fabulous calendar of live events and a detailed map of the historic district.



The Liberty Bell is housed in a larger building that opened in 2003, and in addition to the bell itself there are exhibits on its history and a movie about it to enjoy.



Even better, Independence Hall now featured an expanded, excellent ranger program, with additional exhibits that were not available before. These included Congress Hall, where the legislative government met in the early days of federal USA, and where John Adams took his sworn oath as a second president of the United States. Historic copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are now on display in the West Wing and well worth seeing. Other sites in the historic district have been renovated to include new features as well, including Franklin Court, the Todd House and Bishop White House, Carpenters’ Hall, the Declaration House where Thomas Jefferson lived while he wrote the famed document, Betsy Ross’ house, and many more.



There are also new museums constructed in the vicinity, such as the National Constitution Center, featuring a state-of-art interactive constitution hall and other interesting exhibits. In place of the old visitor center, there is a new Living History Center where one can venture on a Heritage Adventure tour of the historic district with a colonial character. It also includes a huge archeological facility in action.

For kids, there is a special junior ranger booklet and trading cards available at most sites. Story telling benches throughout the historic district feature “Once Upon a Nation”, where dressed up colonial characters such as Benjamin Franklin, Betsy Ross, and many others can be met and spoken with. Just this year, Franklin Square was opened featuring a carousel, mini-golf, and other activities for children. Philadelphia is a perfect place to introduce the kids to American history.



Some things don’t change, and a visit to Philadelphia is incomplete without having a cheese steak. We find our favorite cheese steaks at Jim’s Steaks on South Street.







Our best dinner in Philadelphia was at new restaurant by Eric Ripert, 10 Arts. The restaurant is located at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the downtown Philadelphia and is housed in a gorgeous room with marbled columns, high ceilings, and beautiful chandeliers. This chick bistro lounge offers “the market to table” cuisine featuring local and seasonal organic ingredients.



We started with a Wild Boar Prosciutto served on warm grilled flat bread and accompanied by sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, and arugula. We loved a touch of tangy citrus from the sauce that complimented the salty flavor of prosciutto.



Our second course was the Heirloom Corn Chowder, delightfully buttery and light, sweet with a touch of smokiness from a special sea salt and a bit of spiciness from cayenne pepper. We really liked the fresh and juicy Heirloom corn kernels in the soup.



Next, we tried the Pennsylvania Brook Trout, an excellent fresh local fish, accompanied by a baby bok choy. The sweet hazelnut brown butter sauce with tangy capers and hazelnut chunks perfectly complimented the delicate trout.



We also tried the Rabbit Paillard, lightly battered and fried, and served with a light salad of baby arugula, oranges, thinly shaved fennel, olives, and a whole grain mustard sauce. Although I thought that the breading could have had a bit more crisp to it, I found the rabbit delicate and very tasty.



For our dessert, we sampled deliciously light cinnamon sugar-coated tiny beignets served with a shot of chilled chocolate topped with salted caramel foam.







Philadelphia is better than ever, and for those with an interest in history it is a must-visit, fun place to spend some time!

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I am now officially back and will continue to report on our travel and dining experiences during the next few posts. I am also looking forward to catching up with everyone's blogs!

I would like to thank my guest bloggers: Lori at Fake Food Free, Olga at Mango & Tomato, Zerrin at Give Recipe, Erica at My Colombian Recipes, LK at Healthy Delicious, Eralda at The Split Pea, and Angie at Angie's Recipes for their fabulous guest posts!

I would also like to thank Ivy at Kopiaste for the Lovely Blog Award; Diana at A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa and Anthony Sepe at From A Dietitian's Perspective for Kreativ Blog Award!

Whey Honey Baton

Guest Post by Angie, Angie's Recipes

Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained, it is a by-product of the manufacture of cheese. Liquid whey contains lactose, vitamins, and minerals along with traces of fat.

Quark, a type of fresh cheese, is soft, white, un-aged, similar to fromage frais, and it has no salt added.

Recipe adapted from Then Handmade Loaf -- Dan Lepard

Whey:

150 g Quark 40% (or Fromage fraise)
500 g Fresh milk 3.5%

Dough:

1+1/2 tsp Fresh yeast, crumbled
300 g Whey (from above)
50 g Honey
500 g German #550 bio flour (white bread flour)
1+1/4 tsp Sea salt
50 g Unsalted butter, softened

Directions:

1. Whisk together the quark and milk in a medium bowl. Set aside in a counter at room temperature overnight. The following day, gently warm the sour milk so that curds form. Strain the sour milk for a few of hours through a sieve lined with cheese cloth set over a pot. The strained curds can either be seasoned with sugar (salt if preferred) and used as a spread, or to make a cheesecake.
   
   
   
   
2. To make a dough, whisk the yeast with whey and honey. Stir in half flour and salt to make a yeast batter. Leave the batter, covered, in a warm place for 30 minutes. Rub the butter into the remaining half flour, until it is evenly incorporated and the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
   
   
3. Stir the yeast batter into the butter-flour mixture. Combine together until a soft dough forms. Cover the bowl and leave for 10 minutes. Rub the work-surface with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and knead the dough for 10 seconds, ending with the dough in a smooth, round ball. Wipe the bowl clean and rub with 1 teaspoon of olive oil, return the dough to it, cover and leave for 10 minutes. Repeat the light kneading twice more, at 10-minute intervals, then leave the dough for 30 minutes until it has become soft and elastic.
   
   
   
   
4. Shape the dough into a baton (or a ball) and place it smooth-side down into a flour-dusted cloth. Leave it for about 1 hour at room temperature.
   
   
   
   Preheat the oven to 210C/410F. Upturn the dough on to a flour-dusted baking tray. Make a few of slashes over the top.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Bake the bread in the center of the oven for about 40 minutes or until the loaf is a good brown colour. Cool on a wire rack.

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Angie's Recipes is an interactive blog dedicated to sharing yummy & creative recipes, helpful cooking hints and tips. For more of Angie's fabulous recipes, please go to http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com.

Candied Kumquat Ice Cream

Guest Post by Eralda, The Split Pea

When I first saw kumquats at the grocery store, I thought they were miniature clementines. The name on the little package informed me otherwise and I started searching for answers online. This is how most of my food infatuations start: a quick passing glance through the aisles, innocently, with no intentions of buying anything other than what’s on the list I hold. Just when I was about to leave the produce section there they were, beautiful little orange bites waiting to be played with. I bought them not really knowing what to make with them.

In Albania the only small citrus fruits I had eaten were little green clementines my cousins and I would pick on our hike back to my aunt’s house after a long day at the beach. My dad warned us about the tummy troubles we would later have and that it was not good for the crops to pick not quite ripe clementines, but we had to learn the hard way. I gave up early clementine picking that summer and I was glad to find out that kumquats and clementines are not the same fruit.



So what does one do with kumquats? My husband likes to eat them raw. He says that they are “refreshing,” which I understand since it is devastatingly hot here in East Texas. Other recipes I found through research threw the little lovelies in cakes.



My mother makes a delicious desert with thick-skinned oranges that are usually in season in November. I am my mother’s daughter, so I immediately thought of making something similar to my mother’s candied oranges. I called and mom gave me some tips, not a recipe, because we don’t have recipes in our home, but guidelines: a little of this, a handful of that. Candied kumquats sounded perfect.

The next day a friend told me of a David Lebovitz article in Fine Cooking about ice cream making. I bought the magazine and read the article twice. Ice cream was churning in my head. I had a Joycean epiphany: Candied Kumquat Ice Cream. How can I describe its goodness? Creamy, sweet, tart, with a bitter, spicy hint. The chilled custard is a perfect match for the chewy candied kumquat. I am smitten! And you will be too. Give it a try. After all, it’s summer, so cold foods are in order, and you are not eating unripe clementines.



*Note: I used D. Lebovitz’ guidelines for the base ice cream recipe.

Candied Kumquat Ice Cream

For the Candied Kumquats:

Ingredients:

7 oz Kumquats (when diced in the method described below, they will be about 1 cup)
1 cup of water
¼ cup of agave nectar (substitute honey)
¼ cup granulated sugar
7 whole cloves
1 teaspoon of Saigon cinnamon (substitute regular cinnamon)

Preparation:

-Wash and dry the kumquats. Cut them in quarters and then cut the quarters again twice across, removing the seeds (see picture above).

-In a medium saucepan add the water, agave nectar, sugar, cloves, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.

-Add the kumquats and bring back to boil. Lower heat to medium and simmer the kumquats for about 7 minutes.

-Strain mixture over a bowl. Put the kumquats aside and return the syrup with the cloves back to the saucepan. Continue to simmer on medium low for another 7-10 minutes. The syrup will thicken and reduce to about ¼ of a cup. Remove syrup from heat and set aside to cool. Reserve it because it will be added into the ice cream custard.

For the Ice Cream:

Ingredients:

2 cups of heavy cream
1 cup of whole milk
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar
pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
¼ cup of kumquat syrup
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/3 cup of candied kumquats

Preparation:

-In a medium saucepan place 1 cup of heavy cream, the milk, sugar, and salt. Set over medium high heat, stir occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved, 4-10 minutes.

-In a large mixing bowl prepare a small ice water bath. Place a second mixing bowl in the bath and pour into the mixing bowl the second cup of heavy cream. Set aside.

-In a medium bowl whisk egg yolks. Add half of the warm cream mixture whisking constantly.

-Add the egg yolk mixture back to the saucepan and set it over medium low. Stir constantly until the custard thickens (until it reaches 170 F – you can use an instant meat thermometer), and the back of the spoon is coated by the custard (the custard is not runny). Make sure to not overheat it or it will curdle.

-Pour the custard in the bowl set over the ice bath and stir to combine well. Let cool.

-When the custard is no longer hot (below 70 F) add ¼ cup of the kumquat syrup and vanilla essence. Mix to combine, strain well, and refrigerate the custard at least 4 hours.

-Pour the custard in the ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions (my ice cream maker churned it in 25 minutes).

-Once the ice cream has set, fold into it 1/3 cup of the candied kumquats. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Ju bëftë mirë!

-E.

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Eralda is a food blogger from Albania, currently living in East Texas with her husband and her little boy. She writes The Split Pea, which is the place where here food memories of past meet the food experiences of the present. The kitchen “ is where I rest, learn, experiment; it is where the many parts of myself collide onto each other, like strangers in the street. They turn to look and meet a familiar gaze, a part of self that was missing, and in a moment of magic, they embrace, like perfectly married ingredients; they comprise a whole of many parts.”

Please check more of Eralda's recipes at The Split Pea.