Entries in Boston (36)
what i nom today
Posted by
lei ann
in Blogging, Blogs, Boston, Delicious Baked Goods, Food, What I Nom Today
What I Nom Today ~ Now, if you were raised in Hawaii or know any better, when you go to the islands, don't bother asking for a donut. No one would know what a donut is. Now, if you ask for a MALASADA, nooooooooow you're talking, haole. A malasada is basically a holeless donut. If you give the local folks a donut, they're likely to say "Eh brah! No be cheap ah? I no like one big puka in my malasada!" (Or something like that...my pidgin is rusty these days). My point being...so, when I heard that the Cross Street Deli had malasadas available...and only Saturdays & Sundays...and you have to ask for it by name...they're not even listed on the board...you better believe this long-lost Hawaiian girl trucked her ass all the way to East Somerville for a taste of back home. Unfortunately, the malasadas here on the mainland weren't the same as I remember. These malasadas were huge disks of fried dough covered with sugar. Back home, a malasadas is more round, more compact, think a jelly donut but filled with more donut dough instead of jelly. In any case, it was still fried doughy delicious goodness, but just not the malasadas of my youth.
technorati tags: malasadas, Portugese, donut, doughnut, fried, dough
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what i nom today
Posted by
lei ann
in Asian, Blogging, Blogs, Boston, Chinatown, Food, Restaurants, What I Nom Today
What I Nom Today ~ On a cold, windy, rainy day such as this, nothing warms the heart and soul like a big bowl of pho tai. Just straight up pho tai...no meatballs, no brisket, no tripe, just the nice, thin slices of rare beef flank heaped upon the rice noodles. With generous garnishes of Thai basil, lime slices and squirts of hoisin sauce...mmmm. I want another bowl just thinking about it again :)
technorati tags: pho, tai, Vietnamese, soup, broth, noodle, beef
What I Nom Today, Yesterday and the Day Before ~ This weekend was the wedding of 2 really good, good friends right here in Boston. Where to start?
The rehearsal dinner at Mistral served up a wonderful tomato bisque with a little croissant crescent, a perfect medium-rare beef tenderloin (which I nomed too quickly before I could take a picture) with leek mashed potatoes and asparagus and a pot de creme trio for dessert of fresh fruit & creme fraiche, a creme brulee and a chocolate mousse!
The reception dinner at the Boston Harbor Hotel was a stand alone buffet along with "action stations" where the chefs are preparing the food in front of you. There was a mix of Middle Eastern olive dips and sides served with triangles of pita bread, an awesome seafood (shrimp, lobster and scallop) linguine, ham and pea risotto, LOBSTER risotto (sooooo yummy!), a cranberry stuffed chicken loin (also super tasty...my favorite...I shoulda gotten a double helping), grilled Mediterranean veggies and rack of lamb! Also, why go to the regular bar when there was a bar set up only for mojitos??? Oh yeah, a full-on mojito bar with flavors like raspberry, black cherry and mango! I was in minty heaven all night. For dessert, not only the 2-flavored wedding cake of carrot & chocolate raspberry, but another action station of BANANAS FOSTER! Oh hells yeah, only like mine and the groom's all time favorite dessert! They didn't flambé it in front of me though, but that's ok, I understand. However, I want everyone to note that I was first in line for that bananas foster! You better believe I camped out for that shiz!
Finally, the Sunday brunch still at the hotel, served up your standard mid morning menu, with just a little bit of extra flair to it. Eggs Benedict, scrambled eggs, bacon, grilled ham, home fries, crepes with mixed berry sauce, a gourmet cheese plate, smoked salmon, assorted muffins and other pastries (of course) and plenty of sweet, freshly sliced fruit!
All in all, not too bad. Then, again kinda ho-hum as I typically eat like this every day of the week :) Bwahahahahaha...yeah RIGHT!
technorati tags: wedding, rehearsal, dinner, brunch, reception, buffet, action, station
Well, I at last had the perfect opportunity to haul it all the way to Quincy to go to JNJ Turo Turo...when my parents came to visit me! Yup, that's right. Who better to take to Filipino food than Filipino parents? I'll admit, at first, I was skeptical. I thought the last thing they would want to eat is food they could cook themselves...after all, doesn't every Filipino cook think their adobo is the best? I thought they would skoff at me. Much to my surprise, they were quite willing to go. They were in fact, looking forward to it. Honestly, I think they just didn't like my other options for their last dinner here with me...Italian? Middle Eastern? Nah. We just had Vietnamese the other day. My parents aren't that worldly. If it doesn't come accompanied with white rice, they usually don't want it.
As soon as we sat down in the little dining area which was bright and clean and familiarly happy...as my mom perused the menu and her voice started speeding up in excitement over the dishes she was going to order...as plates with wicker chargers under them were placed in front of us (which I hadn't seen since I was a kid)...as all of this happened, I knew we made the right choice :)
So, of course ordering family style (because really, isn't there really anyway else to eat?), we all agreed on the following dishes. The afritada...oh, that's one of my absolute favorites that my dad cooks. The tomato sauce was soooo savory, the chunks of pork and potato cooked tender to perfection. I would have eaten more if MDH hadn't poured the rest of the sauce all over his rice and ate it like a big ol' porridge. The pinakbet...I'll be honest, not one of my favorites as a kid, but again, the vegetables were cooked perfectly (especially the eggplant and string beans), not too crisp, not soggy and the familiar taste of salty shrimp paste that I hadn't had for a long time, was a flavor I didn't realize I missed. It was wonderful and my mom wholeheartedly enjoyed it.
The pork skewers were also to die for. So moist and plenty of sauce...I wonder if it was beer tenderized as I watched my dad do it all these years. Must be. The pancit bihon was light, simple...a great addition to the more heavily flavored foods. I personally like bihon (the thinner, vermicilli-like noodles) instead of canton (the thicker egg noodles) much better...gee what a surprise I like thin better than thick...so this was a nice accompaniment.
Finally, it came down to dessert. My mother and I at this point were the only ones still eating...so of course we had none other than the most popular of Filipino sweets...HALO HALO! Now, I'm usually very particular about my halo halo. I like to put in the mixes myself because I usually like heavier on the bananas and tapioca, but less so on the sweet beans. I tell you what though...there are 2 things about JNJ Turo Turo's halo halo that made me want to stick my whole face in the cup and lick up the whole darn thing...they covered it a vividly purple taro ice cream (not all halo halo have ice cream on it, so this was GREAT and the taro flavor was sweet, but not too much) aaaaaaaand...they had small chunks of lecheflan in the halo halo!!! Oh it was brilliant...BRILLIANT I tell you. I can't believe I never thought of that before! I mean, the halo halo was already so creamy from the condensed milk and ice cream, but throw in the chunks of sweet custard, I was giddier than I had ever been as a kid again.
So, sorry Dad...while in my heart of hearts, you know I will love your cooking till the end of days. However, until you move into my house and be my own personal chef, at least I have someplace a little closer to me to get some fine Filipino food!
143 Water Street, Quincy, MA 02169
617.471.8876
technorati tags: Filipino, food, pancit, pinakbet, afritada, JNJ, Turo
