Mac & Cheese Cook Off at Radio

On Friday, March 1, 2013, I went to Radio in Somerville with Sarah Sparks to gorge on mac & cheese. 

Nicole Tammaro hosted a Mac & Cheese Cook Off and Billy Joel cover night. This is the second live music/food competition she has done. The first one was a few months ago featuring chili and white trash music. We hope to see more live music mixed with food events, since those are two of our favorite things here at MassBytes!

We met up with Tony Gemba of BJP and MassBytes Food Quickie fame to eat our way through eight chef’s entries. We entered a small area set up away from the stage with a table of trays brimming with pasta and got to eating, while listening to some Billy Joel. Most of the dishes were delicious and unique. A few stood out in my mind as the best.

A buffalo mac & cheese with shredded chicken and blue cheese was amazing. It had a light buffalo sauce blended well with the chicken, pasta and cheese, not to heavy on any one flavor.

Another standout entry had chunks of prosciutto, with a thick creamy cheese sauce, and a hint of maple syrup. It was a hard choice but this one was my personal favorite.

One of the more interesting dishes was comprised of finely chopped broccoli, gorgonzola and topped with breadcrumbs. Quite different from the other flavors, and it really grew on me.

The final top one, in my opinion, was one of the simplest. Ziti with a thick creamy cheese sauce delivered a great traditional mac & cheese.

After we stuffed ourselves we submitted our ballots and waited for the announcement. The winner was the Buffalo Chicken mac & cheese, which was whipped up by Julia Nahmias of Food For The Band and a fellow contributor at MassBytes! Congratulations!

For more information about the music venue Radio: http://www.radiobarunion.com/

New Year's Turducken

Let me tell you about an adventure in a land far away called Canada. In this land, the people are far nicer than our Boston brethren, the air is crisp, and the cities are sparse. Myself and a small band of friends spent New Year’s in a cabin three hours west of Toronto this year. On our way there, we braved the typical dangers found in far off mystical lands: tundra wolves attacking our car, hallucination-inducing snow storms, and sleep deprivation. But it was all worthwhile for the feast awaiting us.

The chef

One of the highlights of the weekend was the preparation and cooking of one Turducken, spearheaded by our friend Marc. For those of you that don’t know, a Turducken is a chicken in a duck in a turkey with three kinds of stuffing. This Turducken was a bit different than most in that it was Cajun style, and also has a Cornish hen at its core.

The birds

There were a number of steps required in creating the Turducken. The recipe that was used was a modified version of Chef Paul Prudhomme’s recipe.

First up was the deboning, followed by making a stock out of the remains. This process took quite a bit of time, as deboning is no simple task.

Deboning

Next up was the preparation of three kinds of stuffing that would form the layers between the birds. Shrimp, cornbread, and sausage stuffing were the order of the day. All three stuffing’s had the same base ingredients of: green bell peppers, onions, garlic, celery, butter, and breadcrumbs. The cornbread stuffing was slightly different since it also had giblets mixed in, which gave a nice counterpoint to the sweet cornbread. Each stuffing was seasoned with Cajun spice blends appropriate to the main ingredient. They were all great on their own, but I think my favorite was the sausage for the spicy, smoky flavor it had.

Three kinds of stuffing

At this point, the prep was done for the evening and parts needed to be kept fresh. Lacking in sufficient indoor refrigeration, we turned to the frozen outdoors. The birds and stuffing were left buried in a snowdrift in hopes of attracting a bear that we could stuff the monstrosity into for an extra layer of decadence. Sadly, there were no bears waiting for us in our patented Canadian bear trap the next morning.

The stuffing and skewering took a bit of finesse. The meat of each bird was laid flat and slathered with stuffing. Starting with the Cornish hen, followed by the chicken, duck, and turkey, the birds were wrapped around each other and skewered shut.

Skewered

The entire affair was then put in the oven, and 8 hours later a golden Turducken was born. The chef carved it into slices starting from the center and we were ready to eat.

The first slice

Core sample

We topped it with savory gravy comprised of eggplant, sweet potatoes, onions, and stock. A touch of brown sugar, cream, and some spices completed the thick, tangy concoction.

The gravy

We all dug in and as soon as I had taken my first bite, I was in love. Each bite was moist and bursting with flavor. Even though one slice was enough to fill me up, I still wanted more. The stuffing mingled perfectly with the meats, adding an array of spicy and sweet flavors. Of all the home cooked meals I’ve had, the Turducken (hen) was up there. The process of everyone working together, along with the amazing taste, made for a fun experience.

The slice

The recipe was supposed to feed 24-30 people, but by the time the 12 of us were done eating, we had demolished about three quarters of it. For some reason we also had fettuccine alfredo, the perfect side to add to this meal of excess.

All together the preparation took two days, countless hours and involved five or so people between all the steps. I would highly recommend that everyone attempt making a Turducken sometime in their life, as long as they have a group of friends willing to help.

Cinquecento (by Kosta)

Steph Santos and I had a lovely evening last Thursday night at Cinquecento, a new Italian restaurant and bar that has taken up residence in the space formerly held by Rocca. The newly renovated interior gave off a very chic vibe, somewhere between a Brooklyn loft and a swank downtown bar.

Waiters were circulating with a few appetizers being served up on platters along with a bevy of drinks. One I quite enjoyed was a toasted piece of bread with pancetta and pear on top. It was a great treat and a number of other similar appetizers were floating around.

The red and white wine being served paired well with the appetizers. We also sampled two cocktails prepared specially for the opening. A Limencello based drink with some herbs and spices was a perfect blend with sweet and floral notes coming though and I hope it becomes a standard on the menu. I also tried a great Basil cocktail which added a bit of a bite to an excellent drink.

Our last tastes were small cups of panna cotta with blueberries on top which was my favorite; the custard/cheese cake like desert was scrumptious. It was accompanied by biscotti with anise seeds providing a very strong but tasty flavor.

While tasting we also got to chat with a number of people in the Boston food scene and had a great time. We talked a while with Will from a Boston Foodie; definitely check out his blog, it’s one of the mainstays of the foodie community.

The event was sponsored by Ferrari and Maserati and the guests got to gawk at the fancy cars outside that had been parked as decoration.

Overall we had an enjoyable evening at this new hot spot. We’ll be sure to check it out for dinner sometime soon!

Cinqucento

500 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA
http://www.cinquecentoboston.com

$3 Dollar Pizza at Salvatore's (by Kosta)

There’s a great new pizza deal in Boston at Salvatore’s Pizza.  For those of you with the late night munchies or just out on the town, Salvatore’s is offering 6-inch gourmet pizzas for $3 every night from 10pm to close. This may be the best pizza deal in Boston currently, especially since their two locations are in the Waterfront and the Theater District.

Massbytes was invited to a press event at the Salvatore's Waterfront location in anticipation of the debut of their new late night menu. I and Sarah Sparks had a chance to sample the various late night pizzas and a couple specialty desert pizzas, along with some cocktails concocted for the evening.

 We started off with a couple cocktails, the first being the ZZZtini, which was effectively a cosmopolitan, featuring vodka with a splash of lime, cranberry juice and triple sec. It was quite good and packed a punch. The other special was the Apersol Spritzer, which as the name reflects was comprised of Apersol, seltzer and orange, creating a very tasty and refreshing drink.

As we were trying the cocktails we excitedly dove into the array of pizzas that were laid out around the bar.  Each one of these pies managed to take old standbys and kick them up with the use of slightly different and very fresh ingredients. Right from the beginning these pizzas were winners. The crusts were hearty, yet thin and crispy like you'd expect from a wood-fired or brick oven pizza.

My favorite had to be the Sausage & Ricotta with banana peppers and fresh tomato sauce.  I’m always excited to see banana peppers on a pizza and the spiciness of them blended nicely with the rest of the pie.

Margherita pizzas are a classic standby on many menus and Salvatore’s take on it was light and fresh, mixing the simple ingredients of basil, tomato sauce, and fresh mozzarella into a great version of the classic.

The Spinach and Gorgonzola was another winning entry with fresh baby spinach and mozzarella blended with sharp gorgonzola and fragrant garlic bringing together a delicious, flavorful pie.

I’m a sucker for all sorts of fancy cured meats, and the Soppresata Picante pizza delivered.  The pie was covered in generous slices of spicy soppresata and then complimented with fresh mozzarella, pomodoro sauce, and parmigiano cheese, with a small drizzle of spicy honey, making a great combo of sweet and spicy.

The final entree and another of my favorites was the Chicken Pesto, comprised of roasted chicken, mozzarella, garlic and oregano, with basil pesto drizzled over the whole pie.  The pesto made this one of the most savory and tasty of the offerings.

The Vignola Cherry was a special treat, since the menu states you must be 21+ to try it.  One of the chefs told me how they had ordered dried bing cherries from Italy and didn’t know what to do with them, so they soaked them in raspberry vodka to rehydrate them, and the result was rather potent.  Combining these cherries with prosciutto, gorgonzola, and spicy honey on a white pizza made for a delicious and decadent end to the evening.

All of the pizzas were excellent and I would be hard pressed to pick any one as the best, it all depends on your tastes.  If you’re into cheap, delicious food, I definitely recommend a late night trip to Salvatore’s for pizza, it’s a steal!

Salvatore's: http://salvatoresrestaurants.com/


(Article Submitted by Kosta; Photos by Sarah Sparks)

Joe's American Bar and Grill on the Waterfront (by Kosta)

Joe's American Bar and Grill on the Boston Waterfront, classy family chain restaurant perfect for friends and family. Also a great after work destination for drinks, appetizers, and burgers while overlooking the harbor and North End. 

Sarah Sparks and I went out on a warm, rainy evening to try Joe’s American Bar and Grill on the Boston Waterfront.  Joe’s is a chain that has 12 locations across New England.  The décor was Americana in style, warm and welcoming with a mahogany wood motif.  The dining area gave the feel of a ship’s cabin, but not with the typical tackiness you can find in similar chains.  As we arrived we did notice that the music was rather loud, but not overbearing.  The view of the waterfront was beautiful, with full sized windows looking out over the harbor and North End.

Our waitress quickly came up and took our drink orders.  She was friendly and very attentive throughout the evening.  We started out with a drink called the Bee’s Knees ($9.50), which was excellent.  A simple cocktail featuring gin, honey and lemon, it was the ideal beverage for a warm day.  The lemon and honey combined well with the gin and was invigorating.

Our next drink during the meal was a Dark and Stormy ($8.50). It had just the right mix of spice and sweet from the rum and ginger beer.

Tour of Cheap Eats in Allston (by Kosta)

This entry will be part of an ongoing series about finding the most meals possible for 20 dollars across the various neighborhoods of Boston and it's surrounding towns.

Over the last couple weeks I went on a mission to eat as many meals as I could for $20 in Allston. I scoured the area for deals, cheap corners and shady alleys. I ran into quite a few food options that weren’t that great, but with a bit of hard work and luck I was able to eat seven meals at the places listed below.

ALLSTON

1. Padaria Brazilian Bakery is located near the corner of Brighton Ave and Harvard Ave right next to Blanchard’s Liquor Store. For the most part they only speak Portugese but they are friendly and you can explain what you want by pointing at the various pastries. I’m a pretty small guy, but I have a large appetite. Two small cheese buns and a stuffed meat pie will do for a quick lunch and only costs $2. The meat pie is a round, fist sized hunk of fried yucca and dough stuffed with ground beef, onions and other spices.

Photo by Badaria Brazilian Bakery

2. For $3.25 you can get a Bahn Mi at Pho Viet in the Super 88. While most people head to Chinatown for a good Bahn Mi sandwich, this gem in Allston has ones just as good, with the options of Grilled Beef, Grilled Chicken, Grilled Pork, Shredded Pork, Ham or Tofu. The large torpedo roll stuffed full off pickled carrots, onions, green peppers, cucumbers and grilled meats make for a filling meal.

3. Sakanaya on Linden Street is a fish market that also has a small sushi counter. The best deal on the menu is the donburi, a bowl full of sesame crusted, sweet sushi rice topped with a generous amount of sashimi, tuna, salmon or whitefish for only $4. That’s one of the best deals you’ll get for sushi in the area and it's very fresh.

4. Spike’s Junkyard Dog is an old standard here in Allston. If you’re eating on the cheap the $2.99 basic hotdog on a thick baguette will certainly fill you up, and you can even add a few kinds of relish, mustard or ketchup for no extra charge.

Photo by Sarah Sparks

5. Habanero Mexican Grill on Brighton Ave serves pupusas and tacos that are only $1.75 each. The pupusas are two corn tortillas stuffed with cheese and your choice of meat or veggies and then deep fried and grilled, making a gooey crispy snack. Another option is a taco with choice of meat or veggie topped with salsa, sour cream, cheese and lime. At $1.75 for either it makes a quick, small meal you can’t go wrong with.

6. Bazaar on Cambridge Street is a Russian market with an extensive deli in the back. Their Lamb Samsa ($1.60) is a decently sized turnover stuffed full of shredded lamb and leeks. They also sell a number of other savory pastries and meals that will only cost you between 2 and 4 dollars.

Photo by Bazaar

7. La Befana Pizzeria is some of the better pizza in Allston with good sauce and a good thin crust, a slice of cheese that is nearly a quarter of a pie will cost you $2.70.

Photo by La Befana Pizzeria

So there you have it, places to get some affordable and delicious food all within walking distance of each other in Allston.

Map of the Tour of Cheap Eats in Allston, MA:

View Tour of Cheap Eats Allston in a larger map with details.

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Fóumami Celebrates Buddha's Birthday

When you hear the term “Asian inspired,” you tend to think of all the Asian fusion restaurants that have sprung up in the last decade, mixing a variety of Asian cuisines with other fare. Michael Wang the owner of Fóumami has brought a new interpretation to the plate, opening a breakfast and lunch café in Boston’s Financial District. At Fóumami they serve up a unique take on the typical American lunch counter, drawing inspiration from an array of Asian cuisines such as Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Chinese.

Max and Dylan's with Kosta

Successfully creating fancier versions of standard bar food can be a challenge, especially in the downtown Boston area where a fast paced environment leaves little room for error.  Max and Dylan’s Kitchen and Bar has managed to blend typical bar food with a classier edge making for a very interesting experience.  They have taken classic standbys such as sliders, pizza, and mac & cheese and added their own twist, while also serving up an interesting array of unexpected appetizers alongside the standards.

As the founder of MassBytes and I walked into Max and Dylan’s I was surprised to see how it felt like walking into an outside patio inside a posh restaurant.  The building the restaurant is in used to be a home belonging to Nathaniel Hawthorne, and some of the old architecture is still evident.  The high vaulted ceiling make for a very aesthetically pleasing environment, but it can be rather loud during the busy lunch rush.

The lunch was started off with a round of drinks, a subtly mixed Dark and Stormy ($8.00), with just enough ginger to give a kick, but not overpowering.

The appetizers at Max and Dylan’s are one of the gems of this restaurant.  We were recommended the Buffalo Chicken Dip ($9.50) by our server and I have to say it may be some of the best I’ve ever had.  Served with flash fried tortilla chips and topped with jack cheese, it was very creamy and light, while still having that buffalo kick.  This is a must if you visit Max and Dylan’s.

The Blackened Scallops ($10.50) was another win.  They were crusted with a delicate orange-horseradish marmalade and seared perfectly.  The scallops themselves were tender and meaty, making them one of my favorite experiences of the meal.

 Two of the starters we tried were Asian inspired and did not disappoint.  The Lip Searing Rare Ahi Tuna ($11.00) maintained a balance between the spicy chili oil and the citrus soy dressing that made up the sauce.  The tuna was cooked to perfection with the outside seared and crispy and the inside rare and juicy.  The second Asian appetizer was the Steamed Shrimp Dumplings ($8.50) which had a good wrapper with minced, lightly spiced shrimp inside.  The spicy ponzu dipping sauce that came with them helped bring out the flavor of the dumplings.

Our first entrée, the Prosciutto Mac & Cheese ($13.00), was a unique take on a staple of classic bar fare.  The dish had a variety of flavors, though the truffle oil was a little overwhelming, somewhat masking the other flavors.  The cheese sauce was light but tasty.  Thickly sliced fresh prosciutto gave the mac & cheese a hearty flavor that helped balance the dish.  For those that may find these ingredients a bit intense, they had other variations that fell more into the traditional realm of mac & cheese.

If you aren’t too adventurous the Mini Kobe Sliders ($12.00) are a good compromise.  The beef was juicy and well-cooked and was reminiscent of a lazy summer backyard barbeque.  The toppings of lemon dressed greens, gouda, and balsamic onions added good texture but were overshadowed by the quality of the meat which was the centerpiece of this burger.

Our final entrée was the Beef Tenderloin Flatbread ($15.00).  This was the furthest deviation from the various flatbreads and pizza you generally find.  Thinly sliced tenderloin, leeks and truffle oil topped the crispy flatbread covered in mashed potatoes and a sharp cheese.  There were many contrasting and strong flavors that might not make this entree for everyone but Max and Dylan’s also offers a number of other less rich flatbreads.

For dessert we shared a monstrous slice of Red Velvet Cake ($9.00), from Peach’s & Cream Bakery, which easily fed two.  The cake was moist and rich and was held together with a cream cheese icing that blended well with the chocolate ganache drizzled across the whole piece.

The bottom line is that for a young professional in the downtown Boston area Max and Dylan’s is an upscale change of pace for lunch (or appetizers and drinks after work).