Thoughtful Eating ~ A Food Blog

Christmas Eve Lunch and Christmas Dinner

2011-12-26T17:27:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the holidays can be a bit tricky when you want to spend time with more than one family. I split the holiday by visiting my parents on Christmas Eve and spending Christmas evening with Carlos and his dad. For Christmas Eve, my Dad cooked up his traditional octopus. However, he didn't quite remember how to make it so it wasn't quite like it was in previous years. It was still delicious though.

My mother made this vegetable rice with carrots, peas, olives, capers and mushrooms. It was delicious!

We had some fresh salad, Portuguese olives and bread with our meal. For dessert, it was pasteis de belem (egg custard cups) from the local Portuguese shop (not as good as mine though!).

Since I didn't do any cooking for Christmas Eve, I spent a lot of time planning a Christmas dinner. Most of the recipes come from My Colombian Recipes, a blog I recently discovered and adore. Lots of great Latin dishes there to try!

Appetizers were garlic stuffed green olives (from a jar) and homemade Black bean dip. I served the dip with tortilla chips. The dip was amazing and we scraped the bowl clean.

For the main meal, we had a fresh salad of sliced cucumbers and plum tomatoes along with chunks of avocado, dressed in lime juice, extra light olive oil, salt and pepper. I also made fried sweet plantains. Carlos isn't a big fan of sweet plantains cooked with sugar, so these were naturally sweet plantains that I just fried in canola oil. I've been experimenting with frying tostones so it was nice to try another way of frying plantains.

We also had Breaded Pork Cutlets. These were tricky because we didn't pound the meat enough so it didn't cook all the way through. I ended up baking them in the oven so they would be fully cooked. However, baking them made them soggy. Oh well. They tasted fine but I really wanted crispy cutlets.

For a starch, I had Arroz con Fideos (Rice with Noodles). I didn't cook the noodles enough. You are supposed to brown them in the owl so that they are more visible against the white rice. Oh well. Tasted fine though and it was a great side with the pork, salad and fried sweet plantains.

For dessert, it was Mango Flan. It didn't come out clean as I cut up some of the edges with a knife. I'm still learning how to make flans so I'm not quite there yet. This flan had Mango and sweetened condensed milk which made it different from other flans. It was like cheesecake in texture and flavor (almost). I have to say, this surprised me! It was absolutely delicious. I put a slice of lime on top just to make it look pretty. The caramel came out better than expected. I'm still very nervous about cooking caramel so it was nice to have a decent color on the flan from the caramel I made. The mango isn't very noticeable in the flavor though. It might be because I didn't have mangoes that were ripe enough or perhaps the sweetened condensed milk overpowered the mango flavor.

I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday!

Portobello Mushroom and Orzo Salad

2011-12-13T13:00:00.001-05:00

You know what I absolutely hate? Going to the grocery store with a list of ingredients to buy for a recipe and not being able to find that one crucial item you need! In this case, I wanted to make Real Simple's Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Feta and Almonds and I couldn't find barley, which was the bulk of the stuffing. Grrr!!! I had already purchased the Portobello mushrooms and green onions from Wilson Farm so I decided to improvise. I swapped the barley for cooked orzo. I had more dried orzo at home that I knew what to do with. Instead of almonds, I used some grilled corn. The result. Fabulous! A delicious orzo salad on top of roasted mushrooms. Carlos doesn't like mushrooms but he looked a bit jealous when he saw me diving into this plate of deliciousness. He asked for some and he enjoyed it, mushrooms and all!

Ingredients:

4 Portobello Mushrooms, stems and gills removed and tops cleaned

extra light olive oil

1 cup of dried orzo

2 ears of corn, grilled

4 green onions

juice of half of lemon

1/3 cup of extra light olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

crumbled feta

This makes enough for two people.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Clean the tops of your Portobello mushrooms, remove the stems and scrape out the gills with a spoon. Brush the tops with olive oil. Add to a baking sheet top-side-up and bake for 10 minutes. Then flip them over and bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

While the mushrooms are roasting in the oven, grilled your corn and bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the 1 cup of orzo and cook to package directions (about 6-8 minutes). Drain the water. Add the orzo to a bowl.

Cut the corn off the ears and finely chop your green onions. Toss with the orzo. Add the lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and mix.

Plate two mushrooms, top-side-down, and spoon half of the orzo salad over the top. Sprinkle some feta all over and dig in!

Pizza Monkey Bread

2011-12-11T13:00:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure where this recipe originated but the idea of making Pizza Monkeybread is genius! I wish I had thought of it. Monkeybread is a pull-apart bread which is generally sweet. What makes this a Pizza version is the pizza dough and the pepperoni and mozzarella cheese stuffing. Most other bloggers make their own dough and brush the stuffed pizza balls with garlic butter. I used a shortcut and made these with prepared frozen pizza dough. Also, I seasoned some light olive oil with garlic powder to make a garlic oil. I know this sounds ghetto but the garlic flavor is wonderful and I didn't see the need to make these with butter. Olive oil just seemed healthier.

2 bags of frozen pizza dough

slices of pepperoni, cut in half

mozzarella cheese

extra light olive oil

garlic powder

marinara sauce

I could give you measurements but honestly I don't know! Just buy a ball of mozzarella cheese (not packed in water) and chop it up or buy a small bag of shredded mozzarella. Half of a regular sized bag of pre-sliced pepperoni should do. For the Marinara Sauce, I use Newman's Own. For the olive oil I used Bertolli's Extra Light Olive Oil and for every 1/2 cup of oil I did about 1 teaspoon of garlic powder. If you have garlic-infused oil, or want to infuse your own oil with fresh garlic, by all means go-ahead!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

You'll need a bundt pan that's be greased with cooking spray or brushed with oil.

In a bowl, add some oil and garlic powder. Mix and set aside.

Break off pieces of the pizza dough into 1 inch chunks and roll into a ball with your hands. Create a well in the center with your thumbs and add 2 half slices of pepperoni and as much mozzarella as you can fit. Roll the ball and twist to close so you have a pizza dough ball and the filling is sealed in.

Dip the ball in the garlic oil and roll until lightly coated. Add to the bottom of the bundt pan.

Keep repeating this over and over again until you run out of dough. Make sure each of the pizza balls are uniform in shape and in size in relation to the others. Place them evenly in the bundt pan making sure you are creating even layers of pizza balls.

Add the bundt pan to your oven and cook for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Heat up some marinara sauce and serve it with you pizza dough. You can either the monkeybread as is in the bundt ban. Or let it cool for 10-15 minutes, then carefully remove from the bundt pan and serve on a plate or platter. I'm usually too impatient for that and I like to eat the pizza monkeybread while hot.

The prep is a bit time consuming. Carlos helped me assemble this last one. He had fun with the pizza dough and it was a nice thing to do together as a couple. Hope you'll try this modified version of a food blogger favorite!

A Not-So Dominican Breakfast

2011-12-05T13:00:00.001-05:00

Breakfast and Brunch are a big deal in the United States but not so much internationally. We have an entire culture of breakfast foods: cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, french toast, bacon, sausage, hash browns, eggs, coffee, tea, cakes, etc. But in other parts of the world, breakfast is completely different. When I would visit my father's family in Portugal, torradas (thick cut toast with butter) and galao (steamed milk with coffee and sugar) is the most common breakfast you'll find served at cafes. I asked my mother, who is from the Dominican Republic, what she would have for breakfast growing up. Dominican breakfast sometimes includes mangu (boiled and mashed plantains) topped with salami and cooked red onions (belch), or fried cheese with salami. The most common breakfast though was bread served with hot cocoa or coffee. I decided to pay homage to a simple Dominican bread and hot cocoa breakfast by expanding it into a full brunch.

Hot Cocoa (made from scratch)

Challah Bread Rolls (from Wilson Farm)

Mango Jam (from Goya)

Scrambled Eggs

Fresh Strawberries and Bananas, sliced

My mother told me that grandma made hot coca by melting some dark chocolate and water in a pan, then slowly mixing in some milk. She would then heat up the milk, stirring along the way, until the hot chocolate was done. I used Ghirardelli chocolate (dark), almond milk and a dash of cinnamon. The almonds in the milk gave the drink a nice nutty flavor. The big surprise with this meal was the mango jam. On a whim, I picked up a jar of Goya's Mango Jam and was pleasantly surprised by how delicious it was. It's got great mango flavor and isn't too sweet. With the challah rolls, they are divine. While this isn't a Dominican breakfast by any means, it did make me think differently about traditional breakfasts.

What kind of breakfasts did your parents grow up with? How do you switch up brunch?

Birthday Dinner at Casa Portugal - Take Two

2011-12-01T20:54:00.000-05:00

Last year Carlos took me out to dinner for my birthday. My choice restaurant was Casa Portugal in Inman Square (Cambridge, MA). This year? It was Casa Portugal again. The difference? This year he also gave me a new camera as a birthday present (along with a fabulous mini photo studio, more on that to come). So the pictures I took of our dinner came out far better than last year!

To start off, Casa Portugal always serves black olives, in a traditional Portuguese Olive Dish complete with a section for the pits, as well as a basket of broa, Portuguese corn bread, and bread rolls. Always so delicious! Carlos went straight for the bread rolls until I reminded him that he should be eating the Broa instead. Broa is very common in Portugal but is a rare treat here in the states.

Of course I had to have some Vinho Branco da Casa (House White Wine) with my Broa.

There were only two other couples when we arrived but when we left the place was packed!

We had some romantic moments of course.

Carlos asked me what he got last time he was there. I reminded him it was the Febras Grehladas (Grilled Pork). It comes in a spicy garlic sauce and is served with traditional Portuguese potatoes, rice and vegetables.

He was so hungry he couldn't wait to dive in!

My absolute favorite dish to get at Casa Portugal is Arroz Mariscada (Seafood Rice). It's a pot of rice with a tomato-wine broth which is topped with a half lobster, clams, mussels, shrimp, squid and scallops and served with a side of potatoes. OH MY GOD it is so delicious. My parents and I used to go to a seaside restaurant in Aveiro, Portugal and we would always get a family sized order of Arroz Mariscada. I have fond memories of this dish. This particular pot, although for one person, was too much food for me but I tried to eat as much as I could.

I tried not to let anything go to waste!

We couldn't finish dinner without ordering some traditional Portuguese chocolate mousse. The Portuguese have some secret talent for making chocolate mousse. It's so delicious.

Every bite is...

ectasy!

I was so glad to be able to celebrate another birthday with a superb dinner at Casa Portugal! It definitely made me nostalgic for Portugal.

A Dominican Feast for Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T16:40:00.000-05:00

Carlos and I headed to my parents house for Thanksgiving lunch. We dressed up in our best.

I asked my mother to cook a Dominican meal rather than a traditional American Thanksgiving. Carlos and I have a Thanksgiving lunch with my parents and a dinner with his family and frankly that's a lot of Turkey and fixings for one day. I'm not a big fan of the traditional Turkey dinner so it was great to mix it up.

A nice big pot of beans. My mom makes it with onion, carrots and bacon. Delicious!

A big pot o' rice. It is Dominican after all.

Slow cooked beef with peppers and olives.

My mom also cooked a Turkey breast and filled the cavity with stuffing.

I'm on a Pescatarian diet (which means I don't eat meat or poultry just fish and seafood) so my mother baked a Cod & Potato dish that has tomatoes. It's so delicious! Technically that's a Portuguese dish but who is counting?

Carlos tucked in his tie and was ready to eat!

There's my mom, the chef.

Even on my Pescatarian diet, I was a little lenient. I had the beans even though it had bacon and I had some stuffing with gravy. But I skipped the beef and Turkey. Carlos had plenty for the both of us.

My mom outdid herself and served up some homemade Baklava for dessert. Again, not Dominican. So far this is a Dominican-Portuguese-Greek-American feast!

We had some pumpkin pie along with the baklava.

Today is my birthday but yesterday we celebrated. Here is my birthday cake! Overall, it was a great Thanksgiving. I'm glad my mother cooked up the feast that she did. I'm so grateful for my family, for Carlos and for my life.

How was your Thanksgiving?

Whole Wheat Nut Pancakes

2011-11-08T13:02:00.005-05:00

Last weekend we had a freak snow storm that made the locals call the month "Snowtober". Snow is pretty unusual for October in New England but a full-on snow storm in October is even more rare. I was sick all weekend with bad migraines so on Sunday, instead of making my usual Sunday Brunch we headed to Bickfords Grille, a local restaurant chain that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was a nice treat and an excuse to get out of the house since I was trapped inside for most of the snow storm. Carlos and I got two plates with 3 whole wheat nut pancakes, 3 eggs, 3 sausages and 3 strips of bacon each. With hot tea on the side, it was divine. I kept dreaming about delicious that meal for days afterwards. So when a new Sunday rolled around, I decided to make my own version of Bickfords Whole Wheat Nut pancakes at home along with a side of homemade strawberry sauce and some sausage links. Not as good as Bickfords but it comes pretty close.

This recipe originally appeared in my Thoughtful Eats column at the Woburn Patch.

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups of whole wheat flour

1 tbsp of baking powder

2 tbsps of sugar

2 eggs

2 cups of low fat milk (or Almond or Soy milk)

1 tsp of vanilla

1/2 cup of finely diced walnuts

a few pats of butter

Makes about 8 pancakes

In a small pan, add your finely diced walnuts. Turn the heat up to low-medium and toast the walnuts until they start to become fragrant; about 3-4 minutes. Watch them closely so they don't burn. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder and sugar and mix. Then add the eggs, milk and vanilla and mix thoroughly until all the lumps have smoothed out. Heat up your griddle and grease with a pat of butter. Add a cup full of batter to your griddle for each pancake and sprinkle some of the toasted walnuts on top. Cook for a few minutes until the top of the pancake bubbles and pops then flip over and cook for a couple of minutes more.

Product Review & Giveaway ~ Yoplait Smoothie

2011-11-06T14:56:00.000-05:00

MyBlogSpark gave me an opportunity to try out the newest flavor of the Yoplait Smoothies: Chocolate Banana. I was pretty excited to try it because I have an affinity for banana yogurt and I love chocolate so I figured these were a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, I could not find them anywhere. I tried my local Target and various supermarkets and no one carries the Chocolate Banana flavor. Market Basket, my go-to super market, has stopped carrying Yoplait Smoothies altogether. Oh well.

I have reviewed Yoplait Smoothies in the past and today Carlos and I shared a Mango Strawberry Smoothie as a sweet treat after lunch (and a tough morning of cleaning). In my previous review of Yoplait Smoothies, I noted that when properly blended the smoothie is very smooth. It's quite delicious too although it has a slight artificial aftertaste. It's a bit pricey but it's the equivalent of making your own with fresh fruit or buying one at a local eatery like Panera. Maybe my area will start carrying the Chocolate Banana flavor soon so I can try it.

MyBlogSpark has given me the opportunity to give one lucky reader a Yoplait Smoothie prize pack! It includes a coupon for a free Yoplait Chocolate Banana Smoothie, a cushy travel neck pillow, a Lavender scented eye mask (with it's own bag) and a Yoplait Smoothie branded tumbler complete with straw. It's a pretty sweet package, perfect to use on a day in which you want to pamper yourself.

Contest rules and form below. Good luck! If you want to try out Yoplait Smoothie, download a $1 off coupon on their website.

Yoplait Smoothie Website
Yoplait Smoothie Facebook Page
Yoplait Smoothie Twitter

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Tervis Tumbler and Blueberry-Lemon Tom Collins

2011-10-24T13:00:00.000-04:00

As part of the FoodBuzz Tastemakers program, I was able to test out one of Tervis' Tumblers. According to the Tervis website, these Tumblers are made from high-quality polymer and are so impact resistant that it is very difficult to break them. They are sturdy enough to withstand heat or cold, can be used indoors and out and can be used in the dishwasher, microwave and even the freezer. I haven't done any tests with mine to see if these claims hold up but I'll take their word for it.

There are lots of different designs to chose from. Check out the Tervis website for more information. I had never heard of Tervis so I was surprised to see they have been around for 65 years. A lot of their Tumblers have designs printed on them. The one I received had FoodBuzz Tastemakers logo emblazoned on it. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of the design. I prefer simplicity and a clean appearance to my kitchen ware. I guess it's not that much different to having a design on your coffee or tea mug. So maybe it just takes some getting used to.

I used my Tervis tumbler to make Blueberry-Lemon Tom Collins. Most Tom Collins are made with lemon juice and served with a lemon slice. Some are topped off with a maraschino cherry. In my recipe, I enhanced the traditional Tom Collins by adding some freshly squeezed blueberry juice and some whole blueberries for garnish along with the lemon juice and lemon slice. It was delicious! My photos don't show the ice but please do put ice in the drink to keep it cool. My Tervis tumbler had just enough room to make one delicious Blueberry-Lemon Tom Collins. One thing I noticed is that I couldn't feel the cold of the drink when I held the tumbler in my hands. It's very insulated!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup of fresh blueberries

1 tbsp of sugar

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1-1/2 ounces of dry gin

soda water

ice

lemon slice & blueberries for garnish

You'll need cheesecloth for this.

Rinse your blueberries. Set aside a few for garnish and add the rest to a piece of cheese cloth and twist into a bundle. Hold the bundle over your tumbler and squeeze the juice out. It's okay if some pulp gets in. Wipe the tumbler's sides in case any blueberry juice spilled.

To the bottom of the Tumbler add the sugar, lemon guice and gin. Stir then add a couple ice cubes and fill up with soda water. Give it a quick stir then garnish with blueberries and a lemon slice. Enjoy while cold!

Simple Strawberry Sauce

2011-10-09T12:47:00.000-04:00

After several attempts at making a decent strawberry sauce, I finally nailed it! It came out smooth and thick with no big lumps. In previous attempts, I tried using cornstarch but that never worked. The cornstarch would never work it's way into the sauce the way I wanted and I would be left with all these white clumps that would never break up. I eventually realized that I needed to give the sauce time to thicken and cool on it's own. Once I allowed it to do that, I got a nice bowl of delicious strawberry sauce. It's easy to make as long as you have patience.

Ingredients:

One bag of frozen strawberries

1/4 cup of water

1 heaping tablespoon of sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons of vanilla

To a pot add the frozen strawberries and water. Heat over medium heat until the strawberries have completely thawed and are warming up. Add the sugar and vanilla and stir.

Continue to cook over medium heat stirring ever so often to help break up the strawberries. Once it starts to boil, turn the heat down to low-medium and allow the sauce to thicken to your desired consistency. Make sure to keep stirring regularly. You don't have to be with it the whole time just go back to it a lot.

Transfer the sauce to a bowl and let cool in the fridge. Stir every few minutes to release the heat. If you are impatient like I am, let it cool in the freezer! You still want this to be warm just not piping hot.

I served the sauce over Challah French Toast along with some ground flax seed and pure maple syrup. Made for a great Sunday brunch!

Navy Bean Soup with Kielbasa

2011-09-20T13:00:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you but I hardly ever follow all the steps and use all the ingredients in a recipe. Except for most desserts, recipes are flexible and changeable. You can add and take away based on your tastes, what's in your pantry or what you think will work. I found a recipe on Real Simple for Cannellini Bean Stew. It looked great but there were several things I didn't like about it. It didn't have any meat, I don't like cannellini beans, the recipe called for carrots 3 inches thick, there was no tomato product and there was no onion. And it was only stew because it had less than 2 cups of liquid, not because it was slow-cooked and thickened. So I swapped out the Cannellini beans for Navy Beans, made it a soup by using 4 cups of chicken broth, chopped up the carrots, added onion and squirted some tomato paste into the mix. I also topped it off with kielbasa. I asked my fellow Twitter foodies what kind of meat I should pair with this soup. The blogger at Cave Cibum recommended kielbasa. Inspired choice! The result was a pretty good soup. Next time I'll add a can of diced tomatoes for even more tomato! I served this with a side of hot rolls.

Ingredients:
4 carrots chopped
1 onion chopped
extra light olive oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp of tomato paste
4 cups of chicken broth
2 15 oz. cans of navy beans, rinsed
2 cups of fresh spinach
drizzle of your favorite vinegar (optional)
sliced Turkey Kielbasa
hot rolls

In a soup pot, heat up a drizzle of olive oil. Add the carrots and onion and cook until the carrots start to become soft. Add the garlic, bay leaf, tomato paste, chicken broth and navy beans. Bring to a boil then lower heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. While that's cooking, brown the sliced Turkey Kielbasa in a separate pan that's been preheated and has a drizzle of olive oil. Set aside.

To the soup pot add the fresh spinach and turn off the heat. Let the spinach wilt. Serve hot in a bowl and top with a drizzle of your favorite vinegar (if you want) and slices of kielbasa. Enjoy!

Simple Homemade Lasagna

2011-09-19T08:36:00.000-04:00

Some of the most difficult recipes to find are the most basic. What if someone wants to make a simple homemade lasagna? Nothing fancy, nothing with mushrooms, spinach or artichokes. Just cheese, meat, sauce and lasagna noodles. Here is my attempt to give folks a very basic recipe for a very delicious casserole. Read my recipe for Simple Homemade Lasagna at the Woburn Patch.

Big Pile of Green Beans

2011-09-16T17:36:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite things to is stick my hand in a big pile of green beans. If they are wet with morning dew from being recently picked, even better.

Autumn at Wilson Farm

2011-09-09T17:29:00.001-04:00

It's that time of year again.

Woodman's in Essex, MA

2011-08-31T13:00:00.001-04:00

We spent a Sunday looking at wedding venues and decided to stop at Woodman's in Essex for lunch before we ventured out. Boy is this place popular! There was a line out the door and down the street. The place was packed with folks hungry for some fresh and fried seafood. We didn't get anything fried because fried food can weigh you down especially if you have a lot of traveling to do, so with a thorough inspection of their menu we were able to put together a meal that was relatively healthy, filling and NOT fried.

Right in front of Woodman's is a large tank of live lobsters. They get transported to the brick-enclosed boiler right next to it. Carlos took a picture of this gentleman as pulled freshly cooked lobsters out of the boiler. You pick up your whole lobster order from him. There was a small table with little tubs of drawn butter, wooden lobster forks and bibs! Very cool set-up. I was considering getting a whole lobster but was a little annoyed that they didn't list a price.

Our line was pretty long but it moved fairly quickly. You order at the counter and they give you your receipt which has a number on it. You wait until they call out your number and your order is served in a large cardboard tray. While you are waiting, you can watch the poor folks in the kitchen as they fry, fry, fry away. On a hot muggy day like that day they must have been miserable.

There was a main dining area and an upper-level dining area (complete with bar). You have to stay in the dining area if you want to drink alcohol. Since we were not going to imbibe alcoholic beverages we decided to sit outdoors. They have numerous picnic tables underneath a big tent. The area overlooks a marsh. The view was nice but boy was it windy. When Carlos brought over the food, most of his potato chips had been blow away and onto the grass.

We ordered two corn on the cobs as a side. The corn was boiled which I dislike. They came with a container of drawn butter and we picked up salt and pepper packets to sprinkle over them. They were $2.95 each which I think is a total rip-off.

Carlos is not a seafood person. However he will eat fried calamari which there was none of at Woodman's. This makes complete sense because all of their seafood was local which made it super fresh. You won't find much squid in the waters of New England. He opted for the Steakburger medium-well. The burger ended up being so bloody that Carlos was surprised it didn't moo. It came with chips and a wedge of watermelon. I got the lobster roll which was $19.50 at that time. A mound of fresh, sweet lobster was piled upon a buttered and grilled roll. I was disappointed that there was no lettuce or tomato. It came with a side of chips.

A bit pricey, a bit windy, but we enjoyed our visit to Woodman's.

Gloucester House in Gloucester, MA

2011-08-29T13:02:00.002-04:00

Carlos and I were looking at potential Wedding venues a little while ago. We crammed in 5 visits into one afternoon with the final visit being to Gloucester House. Having dinner there was a nice way to end a long day.

See the Portuguese flag?!

The inside of the dining room was dark and romantic. Our visit was during dusk so it got darker as the evening progressed. While it did rain earlier that day, there were plenty of people on the porch having their dinner outside. I had fun people watching and I particularly loved watching people devour their lobsters.

Just up the road is the famous Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial. This little lamp, which provided us enough light to see our meal, was a nice little tribute to that memorial.

We ordered a pitcher of Sangria. It was delicious and weak enough that even after drinking the entire pitcher, neither of us were buzzed. We had a long drive home ahead of us so it was nice not to have to worry about driving home.

Carlos and I usually get Calamari as an appetizer but the menu listed it at $13.99 which was way too expensive for us. Because almost all of the appetizers were seafood, and Carlos only eats calamari, tuna and crabcakes, he decided to skip an appetizer altogether. I really wanted to try their Raw Oysters so I got two! I know that sounds like a piddling amount but this set me back $5.50! They were delicious and the experience reminded me that I need to eat Oysters more often. I'm definitely missing out.

Carlos got the beef steak tip kabobs which came on a bed of rice pilaf. The very nice waiter (I think his name was Kevin) brought it over with A1 sauce which earned him major points! Carlos loves A1 but always has to ask for it. The waiter was thoughtful enough to think of it ahead of time. Kudos to him! He was super nice and treated us very well. I wish more waiters were like him. (Hey, Gloucester House, give him a raise!)

I ordered the Shrimp Plate which was on that evening's Specials menu. The shrimp were delicious plump and sweet. I'm so used to butterflied shrimp that it's always a treat to eat shrimp like this! It was served on a bed of rice pilaf with a side of zucchini, summer squash, onions and tomatoes. Both of our meals came with a little container of Apple-Cranberry relish which was a very welcome palate cleanser.

We capped off the meal with a slice of freshly made Key Lime Pie. The crust was perfection and the filling was nice and creamy. Carlos loved it but I had mixed feelings. The filling tasted like soap to me. Carlos really wanted a Cappuccino but at $5.50 it was a bit too expensive. It does come with an amaretto cookie and a biscotti. We tried to get a cheaper cappuccino without the cookie and biscotti but that's the set price. Oh well.

Overall, Gloucester House had delicious food and very friendly service. The prices are a bit steep so if you come visit make sure you are ready to spend.

Mini Grilled Cuban Sandwiches

2011-08-27T13:00:00.002-04:00

Aren't these adorable? I really wanted to make cuban sandwiches but I didn't want to invest in large bread loaves because the bread I get is never right for pressed sandwiches, I didn't want to cook pork tenderloin and I didn't want to break out the panini press. Basically, I was being lazy. So I decided to make these mini versions instead using mini multigrain loaves. I get them in the frozen section of my local Market Basket. They come in bags of 8 and I bake them in the oven for about 8-10 minutes and let them cool before I use them in the sandwich. The mini loaves are already cooked (not raw frozen dough) so really all you have to do is reheat them. I assemble all the goodies and place them on a grill pan and put a smaller omelet skillet on top. It's a trick I learned with Rachael Ray when I used to watch her 30 Minute Meals cooking show. I serve these with corn on the cob and even though they are small, I only need two before I feel full! Yay for portion control! I hope you'll try these mini Cuban sandwich delights.

Ingredients:

8 frozen multigrain bread loaves, baked, cooled and sliced lengthwise
8 slices of Swiss Cheese
16 slices of ham (all-natural, no sodium nitrate or nitrite)
sandwich pickles
whole grain mustard

This makes 8 mini Cuban sandwiches

Heat up your grill pan to medium. If you don't like to heat it up dry, spray on a bit of cooking spray before you turn on the heat.

Assemble your sandwich. Add the two slices of ham (folded to fit), the smear on some mustard, cut a sandwich pickle in half and add the two pieces and then top that off with a folded piece of Swiss cheese. Top off with the other piece of bread. Add the sandwiches to your grill pan (in batches of 4) and place the omelet pan on top to press the sandwich down. Cook for about two minutes then flip over. You want to cook the top side (which is closest to the cheese) more for optimum meltiness. Cook for about 3-4 minutes then set aside. Repeat with the other 4 sandwiches. Eat while hot and enjoy with some corn on the cob. If you are reheating these for lunch, add to a toaster oven set at 375 degrees for a few minutes. Do not microwave!

Mint Lemonade

2011-08-25T13:00:00.013-04:00

I recently got some Mint Lemonade at Bittersweet in Woburn. It was so delicious and refreshing and the perfect blend of tart and sweet. The very nice ladies that work there told me they sweeten theirs with honey. I tried to recreate it but not matter how much honey I put into it, it wasn't sweet enough. Oh well!

Ingredients:
Juice of 6 lemons
a few mint leaves
6 cups of filtered water
1 cup of sugar
a sprig of mint and a lemon slice for garnish

Mix all the ingredients except for garnish. Add to a glass with ice cubes and top off with mint and lemon slice. The mint leaves start to fall apart so fish them out after a few hours. The mint flavor will stay there. To make this into a gallon to fill a gallon pitcher, just double the recipe.

If you are in the Woburn area, please go visit Bittersweet! They make some of the best desserts I've ever had.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

2011-08-23T13:00:00.001-04:00

I recently purchased the Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook facsimile edition. It's basically a reprint of the 1950 edition of the book. No updates, no changes, no contemporary recipes. The cookbook as it was back in 1950. I love reading all of the recipes and the section openers. Oh how cooking and eating has changed over the years. One of the sections features Breads and has various sweet breads including Cinnamon Rolls. I decided to make homemade cinnamon rolls with yeast and everything because I've never made them from scratch before. I was inspired by the picture cook book but ended up using the more contemporary version I found on the Betty Crocker website instead.

They came out pretty well. I love to improvise with recipes and for this one I really tried to stick to the recipe. The Betty Crocker recipe included tips for making this a day in advanced. I followed those instructions to a T. The one part I kind of skipped was the kneading. It said to knead the dough in flour for 5 minutes. I ended up kneading it for less than 30 seconds. Oops! They came out a bit flat and I'm sure it was because I didn't knead it enough. Oh well. I did everything else correctly and they tasted just fine. I included raisins and the original picture cook book suggested chopped nuts which I might do next time. Carlos and I had hot cinnamon rolls for Sunday Brunch with some scrambled eggs and iced tea. It was glorious. It's worth taking the time to make these from scratch. All the hard work is very rewarding when you get to eat the result.

Ingredients:

2 cups of all-purpose flour plus more for kneading and dusting

1/3 cup of sugar

2 packets of active dry yeast

a sprinkle of salt

1 cup of milk (I used almond milk)

1/2 stick of butter, partially melted

1 egg

baking spray

1/2 stick of butter, melted

1/2 cup of sugar

2 tsps of cinnamon

1/2 cup of raisins

1 cup of powdered sugar

2 tbsps of milk (I used almond milk)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsps of partially melted butter

Mix the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a bowl. Heat the milk until just before it becomes scalding. It should be very warm to the touch. Add the milk, butter and egg and mix in the dry ingredients. Beat with a handheld mixer for a minute, scrape the sides and beat for another minute.

Place the dough on a floured surface and knead by hand for 5 minutes. Grease a large bowl with baking spray, add the dough, spray a bit more on the dough and cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise for 1-1/2 hours.

In a small bowl, mix the 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Melt the butter separately.

Take the dough and add it to a floured surface. I use sheets of waxpaper to protect my countertop. Roll out the dough into a 15" x 10" rectangle. Measure it and make sure the dough is evenly distributed. Take the melted butter and brush it all over the surface. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the top evenly. Then sprinkle the raisins over the top. Roll tightly and carefully from the long side up. Cut into 12 slices about 1-inch each. Use a serrated knife.

Take a large baking dish and add the 12 cinnamon rolls making sure there is space in between each.

If you make this ahead, put the baking dish in the fridge overnight. Just make sure it's covered with plastic wrap. Let sit out for a couple hours before baking in the morning.

If you make this right away, let it rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350. Bake cinnamon rolls for 30-35 minutes. While the rolls are baking, add the powdered sugar, butter, milk and vanilla to a small bowl and mix. Remove the baked cinnamon rolls from the pan and let cool for a few minutes. Drizzle the glaze over the top. Eat while warm and enjoy!

Dinner with Mad Men ~ Iceberg Wedge Salad with Steak

2011-08-21T13:00:00.000-04:00

I remember on an episode of Mad Men, John Slatterly's character Roger Sterling is sitting at a booth in a restaurant, downing drinks with Don Draper and a prospective client. Sterling is trying to keep the prospective client seated so he and Draper can have some extra time to woo him into their advertising firm. The client doesn't want to say but Sterling insists and orders them all Iceberg Wedge Salads with blue cheese dressing and topped with bacon.

I did some research on the history of this particular salad and while Iceberg lettuce was very popular since the 1920s, this salad didn't appear until the 1950s and was popular through the 1960s. Iceberg lettuce was your standard lettuce. Nowadays, we use a variety of lettuces but at that time Iceberg was the default. So instead of just your average chopped salad with Iceberg, you can dress up a wedge in a fancy way by topping it with blue cheese dressing and bacon. I like to add chopped tomatoes and either scallions or chives too.

For dinner, I decided to pair the Iceberg Wedge Salad with a nice juicy Steak to round it out as a full meal.

Fun fact: Back in the day, people would put steaks on black eyes or bruises to reduce swelling. But did you know that they would also use frozen heads of iceberg lettuce as cold packs for injuries?

For the dressing, I made a point to choose Ken's Steakhouse Blue Cheese Dressing. Why Ken's Steakhouse? The original Ken's Steakhouse restaurant is situated on Worcester Road (Route 9) in Framingham, MA. I grew up in Natick which is the next town over. There is a stretch of that road that runs from Natick and into Framingham that used to be called the Golden Mile. When Ken's Steakhouse started in 1941 it was actually called the Starvation Mile. It became the Golden Mile when that area was built up with lots of fabulous places like the Jordan Marsh dome, Cinema 1+2, the original Shopper's World mall, Howard Johnson's, Monticello Inn and of course Ken's Steakhouse. If Don Draper drove down that Golden Mile, he'd see something that was the equivalent of the Las Vegas Strip. A lot of those places no longer exist but Ken's Steakhouse still stands strong supported by loyal diners and their separate condiment business.

And this after all is Thoughtful Eating. I put a lot of thought behind every dish I make!

Iceberg Wedge Salad

1 head of Iceberg, cut into 4 wedges and cored
Ken's Steakhouse Light Blue Cheese Dressing
4 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped
3 stalks of green onion, sliced

This makes 4 individual salads. Lay the wedge on it's side not on it's back. Otherwise it will rock and roll and make a huge mess of dinner.

To core the wedge, just cut off the bottom core part with a knife. The wedge should still hold together but be careful in case it starts to unravel. Top with blue cheese dressing, crumbled bacon, chopped tomato and sliced green onion. Serve with a petite New York style sirloin steak cooked medium or medium well. Enjoy with a dirty martini, if so desired.

Portuguese Festival in Woburn, MA

2011-08-19T09:41:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday, Carlos and I headed over to the Portuguese-American Recreation Club in Woburn. They were hosting their annual Festa de Nossa Senora do Monte (translated it reads Festival of Our Lady of the Mount). The festival had a shrine, raffles, food and beverages, dancing, music and even a clown. I'm half Portuguese and my father is from the area of Aveiro, Portugal. I've been to Portugal numerous times and I've even attended local Portuguese festivals. So I kind of knew what vibe to expect. But each festival is different and I was really curious about the food. So Carlos and I went to the festival with dinner in mind not knowing what Portuguese delights would be available.

We got their two sandwich offerings. A Bifana sandwich (left) which was a spicy pork patty topped with cooked onions and mixed bell peppers. This was so delicious we ended up ordering another one. The other sandwich on the right is just Linguica. Linguica is fine and all but I much prefer a Chorizo sandwich because that's what I grew up with.

We ordered a bowl of Favas. It was served in a tomato & wine sauce with chunks of linguica mixed in. I don't ever remember having Portuguese Favas so this was fairly new to me. The sauce was delicious but the Favas seemed undercooked. I really wanted to try the tripe but because Carlos was sharing everything with me (he won't try tripe) and it was cash-only and we had limited money I decided to skip it.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that Portuguese are potato connoisseurs. They can make a potato taste like the best potato you've ever had and I have fond memories of eating very delicious fries in Portugal. These were no exception. A side only cost a dollar and boy were they tasty.

Sumol! My all-time favorite soda. This is a classic Portuguese juice soda that is very popular in Portugal. Specialty Portuguese stores will sell it here and I sometimes like to indulge in a L'aranga (Orange) one. They didn't have that flavor so I got an Ananas (Pineapple) one instead. Still very good!

When sharing with Carlos, I need to fight to get my food otherwise he'll devour it all. Here he is about to devour a Malassade.

We got one Malassade which is a Portuguese fried dough dusted in sugar. The difference between this fried dough and other fried dough is that this one is eggy which makes the dough rich and moist. Delicious!

We had a wonderful time attending the festival and dining on some delicious Portuguese fare! We'll be back next year for sure.

Goya 75th Birthday and Giveaway

2011-08-15T13:00:00.034-04:00

I'm extending the deadline to 9/10 so you still have a chance to enter! See the original post below:

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I really love Goya. As a Latina, I grew up with Goya products because frankly Goya provides all the key ingredients needed for a variety of Latin cuisines. My mother is Dominican and she uses Sazon Goya, Goya Chicken Bouillion, Goya Sofrito, Goya Guava Jelly, Goya Beans (canned and dry in bags), Goya Olives and Capers and Goya Fideos on a regular basis. I like to buy the Goya Beans (the low sodium canned kind), their hominy, canned corn, canned tomato sauce, olives, capers, garlic powder, cinnamon sticks, frozen plaintains, corn meal, chicken bouillion and beef bouillion. Goya products are really inexpensive. I always check the Goya section first before I buy any spices, herbs, sauces, olives, capers, beans and rice before I pick up these products in another section of the store. Chances are, if they are in the Goya section they will be cheaper and better quality. I stopped using canned or boxed chicken or beef broth a long time ago. I buy a big box of the chicken bouillion packets. Each packet gives me 2 cups of chicken broth. With multiple packets in a $1.99 box, I save a lot of money and space by sticking to bouillion. I just make sure I dilute it with boiling water. Goya products take up a good amount of real estate in my pantry and I believe in their slogan, Si Es Goya, Tiene Que Ser Bueno (If it's Goya, it has to be good).

Goya is celebrating their 75th birthday this year! If you look for Goya products with the "Match Your Birthday" logo on them, buy them! Collect the wrapper or box! It'll have 1 number on it. If you collect enough that you can number out your birthday (for single digit months it works with 0X), then you can enter their contest to win $75,000. I've been keeping my canned bean wrappers but haven't been able to get my birthday or Carlos' yet. They also have various birthday contests. Find more info about it here.

Goya provided me with the opportunity to give away one of their recipe boxed sets. Each boxed set contains 6 booklets featuring a different type of Latin cuisine including: South America, Central America, the Carribean, Mexico, Spain and Latin Fusion.

Each booklet contains information about the different cuisines, a list of the staples of each as well as recipes which include some Goya products as ingredients. One side of the booklet is in English:

and the other is in Spanish! I had fun reading the Spanish version. I'm fluent but could always use an excuse to brush up on my Spanish reading skills.

To enter, just fill the form below and tell me which of Goya's products is your favorite. The contest ends SEPTEMBER 10TH! and is only available to US residents (because I have to mail this myself!). Good luck!

Full Disclosure: I love Goya. Goya contacted me about hosting this giveaway and provided me with 1 boxed set to keep and 1 to give away. I received no compensation and my love for Goya products is genuine.

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Dinner with Mad Men ~ Blue Hawaiian Cocktail

2011-08-13T13:00:00.004-04:00

Every July and August since 2007, I've been watching new episodes of Mad Men. I don't watch much TV but I sincerely love this show and will go out of my way to make time to watch it. This year there is no new season of Mad Men. To fill the void, I watched every single episode from the pilot to the last episode in Season 4. Mad Men is on my mind a lot this summer. I love the elegance, the style and the food. I've been taking careful notes about the food that is eaten and the many, many drinks that are had and will be trying to recreate them.

A while ago, I got the Mad Men Cocktail Culture app for the iPhone. At the time it was free and you could only make one cocktail, the Vodka Gimlet, with it. Now it's $0.99 and my free version merged with the paid version (I still haven't paid), and I can make virtual 60s style cocktails. The game has you read a recipe for a cocktail, then go through the steps of making it based on memory. It's pretty neat. You can skewer olives, pour the alcohol, shake the mixer, blend with a blender, etc. At the end, you can virtually drink it too and have as many as you'd like without worrying about getting drunk. Swell!

I was really curious about making the Blue Hawaiian which was inspired by the Elvis movie Blue Hawaii. I made it virtually a few times on the app but decided it was time to make it for myself in the real world.

Blue Hawaiian Cocktail

2 oz blue Curacao

2 oz of light rum

2 oz of cream of coconut

4 oz of pineapple juice

2 cups of ice

slices of pineapple

maraschino cherries

Makes two cocktails

Add the 2 cups of ice to the blender. You can get it a few early pulses to get it going. Add the blue Curacao, light rum, cream of coconut and pineapple juice. Blend until smooth. Pour into cocktail glasses and garnish with a slice of pineapple and a maraschino cherry.

Notes: If you are going to make this drink, make sure you are set on making it. I had to purchase a liter worth of blue Curacao because that's the smallest bottle my local liquor store had. After using a couple ounces, I don't know what I'll do with the rest of the bottle. I guess lots of Blue Hawaiians are in my future!

I didn't have any maraschino cherries because I forgot to buy a bottle. However, I had some black cherries so I took one, cut a slice in it and added it to the rim of the cocktail glass. It worked, but the result was not as pretty as it would have been with a bright red maraschino cherry.

Use cream of coconut. You can find it either in the Asian or Goya section of your supermarket. Don't think of substituting it with coconut milk or coconut water. You need cream of coconut which is thick and has the consistency of pudding.

I bought a large can of pineapple rings in juice. I used the juice for the cocktail and the precut pineapple rings for the garnish. I don't think it's worth buying a can of pineapple juice and a package of fresh pineapple rings (or a whole pineapple) when 1 can with both juice and rings is already available. It's cheaper too. Outsets the cost of that humongoid bottle of blue curacao!

Do you love Mad Men? Do you have the Mad Men Cocktail Culture App? Would you make a Blue Hawaiian cocktail?

Simple Steak & Pepper Kabobs

2011-08-11T13:00:00.003-04:00

Sometimes simplicity is absolutely necessary. Especially when it's the end of the week and you are too tired to put a lot of effort into that evening's dinner. I made these kabobs with petite New York style sirloin steaks which were really inexpensive at Market Basket. I bought a few packs, removed the the string and cut them into 1-inch chunks. Any tender steak will do. Just don't use something fatty and fibrous like beef chuck. Skewered with red, orange and green bell pepper, drizzled with olive oil then grilled on an indoor grill pan (you can grill these on your backyard grill if you have one), these were very easy to cook. I served them on a bed of rice pilaf. It made for a delicious meal.

Simple Steak & Pepper Kabobs

Ingredients:

3 or 4 petite New York style sirloin steaks
1 red bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
extra light olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (optional)
a set of bamboo skewers soaked in water for at least 20 minutes to prevent burning
cooked rice pilaf

Remove the string from the steaks and cut into 1 to 1-1/2 inch chunks. Core the bell peppers and cut into pieces that are roughly the same width as the steak chunks. Skewer the steak and the peppers. I do three pieces of each for each skewer. Season with salt and pepper if you prefer. This makes about 8-10 kabobs.

Heat up your grill pan. Drizzle the kabobs with olive oil. Once the grill pan gets really hot, add the kabobs. Cook for a couple minutes on each side. While the kabobs are cooking, cover the grill pan loosely with aluminum foil. This helps some of the heat circulate. Because not all of the meat gets face time with direct heat, extra circulating heat will help cook the meat more thoroughly. Cook until all sides of the meat are brown. Check one piece of beef to make sure it's cooked all the way through (or medium or medium-rare if you prefer that). Cook in two batches. Serve on rice pilaf.

Chicken Cashew

2011-08-03T13:00:00.019-04:00

Carlos and I did a one week experiment in which we ate dinners (which resulted in lunch the next day with the leftovers) that consisted of little to no carbs. No rice, no potatoes, no beans, no pasta, no bread, no nothing. I made this Chicken Cashew dish and added some extra vegetables and skipped the rice. It came out really well and was very easy to make. The original recipe is from Taste of Home magazine and I have modified it for my own purposes.

Chicken:

3 chicken breasts cut into 1/2 inch chunks

2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil

Vegetables:

2 cups of pea pods, snipped

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 red bell pepper, hulled, seeded and cut into strips

2 celery stalks, chopped

Sauce:

1/3 cup of chicken broth

1 tablespoon of cornstarch

1 tablespoon of honey

1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce

1 1-inch section of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

salt to taste

1 teaspoon of extra light olive oil

1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil

1 tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce

1/2 cup of cashews

I find it's easier to cut the chicken breasts when they are slightly frozen.

Add the sesame oil and soy sauce to the chunks of chicken. Mix and set aside.

In a bowl, whisk in the cornstarch into the chicken broth. Then add the honey, rice wine vinegar, hoisin sauce, grated ginger, salt, extra light olive oil, sesame oil and soy sauce. Whisk together.

In a wok or large skillet, heat up a bit of canola or extra light olive oil. Once it starts to sizzle, add chicken in batches and cook until nice and brown. Set aside. Add a little more oil and cook the vegetables just until they start to get a bit brown and their structure breaks down. You still want them to be a bit crunchy.

Add the chicken back to the skillet, toss in the cashews and stir in the sauce mixture. Cook for only a couple more minutes until the sauce thickens. Serve hot (with or without rice). Enjoy!