Boston Marathon 2009!

(photo credit: USA Today)

So this is not a food-related post. However, I just had to share some pictures with you from my day at the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon! For those of you unfamiliar, the Boston Marathon is the most prestigious marathon in the world, the one that all runners strive toward. It is historically rich, and always such a blast!! Here in Boston, it is a spectator sport. It is a state holiday (no school, no work!), and everyone takes the opportunity to cheer on the runners.

There are lots of charity teams that run. In 2007, I was training for the marathon, raising money for the American Liver Foundation in memory of my father who passed away from liver cancer in 2006. However, I hurt my knee and was unable to run. This marathon is very close to my heart, and it means so much to me to be present and cheer on those runners!!

Here are some pictures from the day, near the finish line in downtown Boston...

Running barefoot! Couldn't get the photo quick enough.

This poor girl's legs just gave out underneath her, and these fellow runners picked her up!

Definitely some characters out there... running 26.2 miles in a costume.

The famous Rick and Dick Hoyt, father-son team. Rick is the son, he has cerebral palsy. Dick is the father, he is 68 years old and has been running in this fashion with his son for decades! He also does Ironmans with his son, swimming with his son in tow in a Boston whaler boat, biking with his son on a specially designed seat on the bike, and of course, running a full 26.2 miles, while pushing his son in a specialized wheelchair. Amazing!!

Semper Fi! Lots of military folks out there, even some running in full fatigue, combat boots, carrying gear! This is significant to me because my brother-in-law is in the Marines and recently back from his 2nd tour in Iraq.

Lots of people ran for Children's Hospital Boston, and look at the kids who got to go along for a ride across the finish line!!

Amazing man running with a prosthetic. He was fast!!

Another amazing prosthetic runner!

Keizo Yamada, 81 years old. He was the 2nd Japanese man to win the Boston Marathon, in 1953. He has run every single Boston Marathon since 1995. This is his final year. Farewell, Yamada-san.

And last but not least, my dear dear friend Nairi, who ran her first marathon, and finished beautifully!! I am SO PROUD of her!

Honey Wheat English Muffin Bread... YUM!

Eating bread makes me happy. Making bread frightens me. My first attempt didn't turn out as great as I'd like, nor did it look anything like the original recipe's picture. That recipe was a yeast-less, no-knead bread. This time, I thought I'd take it one step further and make a yeast no-knead bread. This recipe is from Andrea's Recipes, and is for Honey Wheat English Muffin Bread. This time, I think I succeeded!

I started by combining the whole wheat flour, part of the all-purpose flour, yeast, baking soda, and salt.


In a small pot, I heated up the milk, water, and honey. I think I heated it a bit too much, and had to wait for it to cool down so I wouldn't kill the yeast!!


I added the milk mixture to the dry ingredients, and mixed (by hand! I don't have a hand or stand mixer. Sad, I know). I added the rest of the all-purpose flour, until the dough became stiff. It gets very sticky!!


I put the dough in a greased loaf pan, sprinkled with coarse cornmeal (or in my case, doused the pan with cornmeal.... I used way too much!). I sprinkled a bit more cornmeal on top.


I covered it with cooking-spray-coated plastic wrap, covered that with a towel, and set it aside in a warm area of the kitchen for 60 minutes. With 15 minutes left in this process, I pre-heated the oven to 375 degrees. Look how much the dough rose... doubled in size!


I baked for exactly 25 minutes, and immediately turned it out onto a cooling rack (or in my case, the thingy in the microwave. Sad, I know). It turned out lovely and crispy on the outside, and smelled just wonderful. I had to let it cool just a tiny bit before I cut into it, but it was really hard to wait!!!


I don't know exactly what makes it English muffin bread, but who cares what it's called, it's delicious!! I had to brush off most of the cornmeal, because as you can see, I overdid it.


I love love love love this bread! I love how easy it is to make, how it involves no kneading at all, how comforting it makes the kitchen smell, how it is sweetened with honey and contains part whole-wheat flour. It is soooo tasty with a bit of SmartBalance spread! It's perfectly crusty on the outside, and warm and chewy on the inside. I just hope it stays this way for the next few days... if it lasts that long! I hope you love this as much as I do.



Honey Wheat English Muffin Bread
from Andrea's Recipes
makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup water

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), combine 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour, all the whole wheat flour, yeast, salt, and baking soda.
2. In a saucepan, combine milk, water, and honey. Heat to 105-115 degrees, or until warm. Make sure it isn't too hot, or it might kill the yeast.
3. Add to the dry ingredients, and stir well.
4. Add the rest of the all-purpose flour, and mix until the dough is stiff. You may not use all of the remaining flour (I did use all of it).
5. Grease a loaf pan, and sprinkle it with coarse cornmeal (emphasis on "sprinkle").
6. Spoon the dough into the loaf pan (it will be sticky!). Cover with a piece of plastic wrap that is sprayed with cooking spray.
7. Cover with a towel, and set aside for 60 minutes in a warm draft-free area.
8. During the last 15 minutes of rising, pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
9. Uncover the dough, bake for 25 minutes, or until golden and the crust sounds hollow.
10. Immediately turn out onto cooling racks. Slice, serve warm with some buttery spread, or toast it! Enjoy!

Egg white frittata

D's family is in town, so we've been quite busy, with little time to cook! However, I did get a chance to make a quick breakfast this morning, and although I only took one picture of the final product, I thought I'd share with you!

I am a big fan of breakfast, especially eggs. I decided to make an egg white frittata with lots of delicious vegetables. I started with some chopped bell pepper (red and green), sliced spring onion, and some fresh spinach leaves. I sauteed these in a large oven-proof pan until tender. In another bowl, I whisked together 12 egg whites, S&P, milk, and grated parmagiano reggiano cheese. I added the egg mixture to the pan, and threw the whole thing in the oven until the eggs were set. Then I added slices of fresh mozzerella on top, and put the pan under the broiler until the cheese melted.

It was a deeeelicious breakfast! I could eat one of these every single morning.


Egg White Frittata
serves 4

Ingredients:
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 spring onion, just the bulb, sliced
1 to 2 cups fresh spinach leaves
12 egg whites
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup grated parmagiano reggiano cheese
S&P
olive oil

Directions:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350degrees.
2. In a large, oven-proof pan, heat some olive oil. Add the vegetables and cook until tender.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk, cheese, and S&P.
4. Add the egg mixture to the pan.
5. Put the pan in the oven. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the egg is cooked.
6. Add some sliced mozzerella on top. Turn on the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese melts.
7. Slice, serve, and enjoy!

Feel free to experiment with whatever vegetables you like, or even some breakfast sausage or bacon!

Mmmm.... meatballs...

Ah, meatballs. Simple, satisfying, so comforting. I recently discovered a new food blogger (and an amazing one, at that), E. Lee of Bacon Concentrate. She's funny, clever, a great photographer, and obviously, a great cook. One of her recent recipes that inspired me is her Lamb Meatball recipe. Indeed they are verrrry tasty!

As I type this, my kitchen/dining room/living room (ok basically the whole condo) smells like glorious meatballness. I am hungry. So very hungry. But I must make it to the gym before I devour them. Must... resist... meatballs...

So, these lovely morsels of meat started with some finely chopped onion and green bell pepper. I definitely did not chop these fine enough... I think they were a bit too big.


I combined the lamb, beef, onion, bell pepper, breadcrumbs, cheese, parsley, and S&P into a large bowl.


Then I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup as a guide to make the meatballs uniform in size. I ended up with 21 meatballs.


Hello, little meatballs!


I browned them in a large pan...


And as they finished browning, I transferred them to another pot that had about 2 cups of the tomato sauce, plus the chopped garlic.


As an aside... I did not use pasta sauce for this. Rather, I got two large cans of crushed tomatoes, and added a bit of S&P and sugar to each, to make my own tomato sauce!


Back to the meatballs... after they all browned, and were all transferred to the other pot, I added the rest of the tomato sauce, and gently stirred. To get the bits off the bottom of the pan that the meatballs browned in, I added a bit of tomato sauce and basically deglazed it, then added that to the other pot. I let the meatballs simmer on low-ish heat for maybe 30 minutes or so. Note to self: Use a bigger pot next time. I almost burned down the kitchen! You can see how the sauce is almost overflowing!


As I said before, your kitchen will smell so luxuriously good. Try not to do this right before going to the gym. It can be disastrous!!! These meatballs are juicy, and bursting with flavor. I cannot wait to eat them as leftovers!


Bacon Concentrate's Lovely Luscious Lamb Meatballs
from Bacon Concentrate

Ingredients:
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 lb ground lamb
1/2 lb ground beef
1/3 cup grated parmagiano reggiano
1/3 cup grated pecorino romano
S&P
1/3 cup breadcrumbs (I used whole wheat)
1/8 tsp nutmeg (I grated mine fresh)
1 heaping cup minced fresh flat leaf parsley
6 cups your favorite pasta sauce (or like I did with crushed tomatoes)
3 large garlic cloves, crushed
olive oil

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients (except pasta sauce, garlic, oil).
2. Form into meatballs. As a guide, you can use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to ensure uniformity, or use a small ice cream scoop.
3. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat, and brown the meatballs on at least two sides (I always find it difficult to brown an entire spherical object).
4. Use caution when turning the meatballs; make sure they are not sticking! You want them to stay as cohesive as possible.
5. In a separate large pot/pan (make sure you have a lid), add 2 cups of the pasta/tomato sauce. Add the garlic.
6. Transfer the meatballs to the sauce as they brown, using a slotted spoon to drain the excess grease.
7. When all the meatballs are done browning, drain most of the grease (this is important! I neglected to do this, and nearly killed myself with grease splatter).
8. Add 1 cup of the pasta/tomato sauce to the pan to deglaze the bottom of the pan of its brown bits. Add this to the pan/pot with the meatballs.
9. Cover the meatballs with the remainder of the pasta/tomato sauce. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
10. Remove the lid, and simmer for 10 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken. And get ready for your kitchen to be covered in tomato sauce splatter.
11. Serve with pasta, or crusty bread, or polenta, or solo! ENJOY!

Leftover red cabbage... eek!

My yakisoba recipe called for red cabbage, which I had never cooked with before. I bought a head of cabbage, and ended up using only about a quarter of it! I did not want to waste a perfectly good head of cabbage, so I had to figure out what to do with it!!

I knew that cabbage had kind of a bitter taste, and thought it would be best if it were cooked down or braised to mellow it out. I found some random recipes for braised cabbage and decided to just wing it!

We had gotten some pork tenderloin medallions, and apples, so I had the idea to make a red cabbage and apple side dish to go with the pork! First I sliced up an apple...


And the bulb of a vidalia onion...


I sauteed these together until the apples softened a bit. Then I added about a half a head of the red cabbage, roughly chopped...


And cooked this down until the cabbage started to soften. I added a bit of cider vinegar, as well as a tiny bit of sugar to balance it all out. I stirred to combine, covered it, and let it go for maybe 15 or 20 minutes. When it was done, the color had bled into the apples and onion, and left the dish looking like one big purple mess!!


D seasoned the pork medallions with olive oil, S&P, and put those puppies on the grill pan...


Look at those grill marks!


D also sauteed some vidalia onions with sliced white button mushrooms, just as an additional vegetable side dish.

Everything turned out pretty good, and each component complemented each other quite well! The apples in the cabbage dish softened nicely and added a slightly sweet note to the dish, which balanced out the bitterness of the cabbage. Also, the apples paired well with the pork.

Overall, I'm unsure if I'll use cabbage too frequently in the future.... but for this dish, it worked out just fine! If you have any ideas for cabbage, red cabbage in particular, do let me know!


Red cabbage and apples

Ingredients:
1/2 head red cabbage, roughly chopped
1 bulb vidalia onion, sliced
1 apple, sliced
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp sugar
S&P

Directions:
1. Saute the onion and apple in some olive oil in a large pan, until softened.
2. Add the cabbage, stir and cook for a few minutes.
3. Add the vinegar and sugar, stir.
4. Cover, let cook for 15-20 minutes, until the cabbage is softened, but still a bit crispy.
5. Season with S&P. Pair with some grilled pork. Enjoy!

Caution: Red cabbage tends to stain things, like the cutting board!

Yakisoba -- Stir-fried Japanese Noodles

I am constantly in awe of other food bloggers who are so multi-talented with their photography and culinary skills. This time around, I'll be replicating a recipe developed by the amazing Marc of [No Recipes]. Marc is truly gifted at his art, as you can see by the high high high quality of his photos, and the equally high quality of his recipes. This recipe is for Spicy Yakisoba, which is a Japanese stir-fried noodle dish.


As Marc explains in his blog posting, yakisoba does not use buckwheat soba noodles, as the name may suggest, but rather, egg noodles. At my local Japanese market (Kotobukiya in Cambridge, MA, which sadly has succumbed to the recession and is closing for good next month), I was unable to figure out which dried noodles were the correct ones. But, I found these fresh non-dried yakisoba noodles that I figured would work.

I prepared my vegetables by roughly chopping the purple cabbage, slicing the onion, washing the bean sprouts, and slicing up the carrot (using my newly acquired mandoline! I love it!).


I seasoned my shrimp with salt and pepper...


...and seared them in a little bit of olive oil in a hot pan, until they just turned pink.


After taking the shrimp out of the pan, I added a bit more oil, and added the vegetables. I stir-fried these around a bit until they got nice and tender. Then I added the garlic and scallions.


I added the noodles, then a couple of tablespoons of water to ensure the noodles didn't stick together too much.


I added the donkatsu sauce (in all its thick, rich, sweet, saucy glory), and the gochujang (Korean chili paste).


And mixed it all around, making sure the sauces were thoroughly incorporated. I also added the shrimp back in, and stir-fried it all around. I wanted the noodles to get a little crispy! I added a drizzle of sesame oil, even though Marc's recipe does not call for it. I just love its nutty flavor!


As you can see, I kind of over-did it with the amount of yakisoba I made. I actually doubled Marc's recipe, and clearly I was overzealous. Even with a 12" pan, there was way too much food in that pan! Nonetheless, it turned out very tasty! I topped it with some furikake (seaweed/bonito flakes/sesame seed seasoning), and I pretty much devoured it within a few minutes. Yum!



Shrimp Spicy Yakisoba (double recipe)
courtesy of Marc from [No Recipes]

Ingredients:
oil (I used olive... probably should have used canola)
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (or some other meat)
2 cups roughly chopped cabbage (I used purple)
2 cups bean sprouts
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 cup shredded carrots
20 oz cooked thin Asian egg noodles (yakisoba noodles)
4 scallions, sliced thinly on the bias
3 cloves of garlic, minced
6 Tbsp donkatsu sauce
2 Tbsp gochujang (or more, if you like it spicier)
sesame oil
pepper
furikake (seaweed/bonito flakes/sesame seed seasoning)

Directions:
1. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Cook them in a hot pan with oil until just pink. Remove shrimp from pan.
2. Add a bit more oil to the pan. Add the cabbage, onion, bean sprouts, and carrot. Cook until the vegetables are tender.
3. Add the garlic and scallions. Then add the noodles, along with a few tablespoons of water to loosen the noodles.
4. Stir and cook this until the water is evaporated and everything is mixed well.
5. Add the donkatsu sauce and gochujang. Stir together thoroughly to ensure the sauce is equally distributed.
6. Add the shrimp back into the pan. Add a drizzle of sesame oil and some pepper. Stir, mix, incorporate all ingredients into the sauce.
7. Cook for a few minutes to get the noodles a little bit crispy.
8. Serve with a bit of furikake sprinkled on top. Enjoy!!

The best pizza in Boston -- Santarpio's!

Sure, Boston isn't known for its pizza... not like New York or Chicago. But, there are a few hidden gems around the city that, in my opinion, have a lot to offer. You will find that every food review in Boston presents the same duel: Santarpio's versus Pizzeria Regina. Santarpio's is in East Boston, while Pizzeria Regina's original location is in the North End (aka Little Italy). It has always been my opinion that Santarpio's wins hands-down! It remains a solo location (Regina has opened several locations.... it's become sort of commercialized), and it has retained its "charm", shall we say, with its dark interior, questionable health-code violations, and sticky tabletops.

My friend Nairi and I have been coming here for quite some time now, usually for lunch. Although they offer excellent grilled meats, including homemade sausage, we always opt to split a nice pizza. This time, we got a half cheese - half mushrooms and peppers.


The pizza is just smothered in cheesy goodness! I think it's the sauce that makes it distinct -- it's sweet, tomato-ey, and just delicious. The vegetable toppings are buried underneath the cheese.... and the cheese is browned so nicely!


Of course, in addition the sauce, the quality of the crust is very important. Santarpio's crust is thin, crispy, and sprinkled with crispy semolina. This particular pizza unfortunately had a soggy center, which does not happen every time, but the crust was generally delicious. It was simultaneously crispy and chewy. Yum!!!


Not to mention, the price is right! For a pizza with these toppings, and two sodas, the total came out to only $15.50. Yeah! A bargain!

If you're ever in Boston looking for an off-the-beaten-path, genuine Boston restaurant, definitely head over to Santarpio's. The pizza is delicious, the grilled sausage/lamb is delicious, and the service is so-so (but what do you expect, it's East Boston!). But, it is well worth it!!!