It seems everyone is on some sort of green juice or smoothie kick these days.

“We, as a culture, are waking up to the fact that our diets are not doing us any favors,” says L.A.-based natural food chef Julie Morris. “We’re tired, we’re overweight, we’re getting very serious diseases that are largely preventable and diet-related. So because of that, we’re turning away from cupcakes and going more toward trends that can actually enhance our life, such as smoothies.”

Morris speaks from experience. As a college co-ed she dealt with chronic fatigue, which prompted her to research superfoods and start experimenting in her own kitchen.
“I had such good results in terms of improving my own energy and mental clarity, I realized I wanted to make it a part of my lifestyle.”

The 32-year-old spent the last decade creating recipes, including the 100 delicious blended drinks in her new book, “Superfood Smoothies.” Here, she shares one of her favorite blends, mint chip.
“I like it because it has several cups of frozen spinach, but you don’t taste it at all,” says Morris. “It tastes like something you’d get at an ice cream shop.”

Mint chip smoothie
Makes two 18-ounce servings

Ingredients
•    2 cups frozen spinach
•    2 cups frozen bananas
•    1⁄4 cup raw cashews
•    3 tablespoons cacao nibs
•    2 tablespoons (packed) fresh mint leaves, minced
•    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•    2 cups rice milk     (original variety)
•    1⁄2 cup coconut water
•    Sweetener, to taste (optional)

Directions: Blend all the ingredients together until smooth. Taste and sweeten as desired.

The post Super smoothies by Julie Morris appeared first on Metro.us.

The mercury in our thermometer is finally on the rise, which means that patio dining around town is similarly peaking. We sought out two new, out-of-the way patios to get in on the action.

Benefitting from the advantage of height, the Sinclair’s second floor deck is hidden from Harvard Square street traffic. Though still a recent addition to the ‘hood’s culinary scene, their menu has already become a drunken night’s best ally — namely their disco fries, soaked in American cheese sauce and scattered with jalapenos.

The club’s offerings extend beyond late-night snacks, however. They’ve got a full menu with sophisticated seafood dishes like crisply battered oysters garnished with pickled celery, which adds an intriguing flavor twist to the shellfish standby. Take advantage of the new patio — which boasts hardwood pine tabletops, twinkling lights and a playlist spun by knowledgable staffers — to nosh on such summery dishes.

Meanwhile, in another square, al fresco diners will delight in communally-inspired nibbling at Kendall Square’s Belly. The lovely little wine bar opened just last fall and is embarking on its first patio season. The Blue Room’s little sister shares its brick-shrouded, basement level patio, but its space feels wholly separate and more casual.

Their Charcuterie, made in-house, and cheese platters are perfect sharable snacks. New to the menu is a fried chicken dinner, also for sharing. Fixings include biscuits with locally-made honey and a bitter slaw of radicchio, cucumber, fennel, and thyme. All the fixings of an urban picnic beneath stars.

The post [Nosh On] Urban Picnics: Dine in the great outdoors — kinda — on these “hidden” new patios appeared first on Metro.us.

There’s a lot to be said for counting calories and eating nutritious, home-cooked meals. There is even more to be said for beer cupcakes garnished with bacon. Philly has officially become a foodie town, with delicious new treats being rolled out everywhere we look. Here are a few to try this weekend.

Brunch

Lamb belly hash

Now that acclaimed chef Mike Stollenwerk, formerly of Fish, is helming Branzino’s new 2,500-square-foot kitchen, the menu is getting more interesting. Even better, the Italian restaurant just added brunch hours on Sundays. We’re intrigued by the lamb belly hash with fried eggs, and the BYO Bloody Bar Branzino plans to add very soon. Bloody Mary, anyone?
Branzino
261 S. 17th St.
215-790-0103
www.branzinophilly.com

Lunch

Chinese/Vietnamese hoagie

This isn’t your mama’s Wawa shortie. The concoction ($4.95) is Vietnamese restaurant Mi Dac Ky’s take on a banh mi, a Vietnamese sandwich, but layered with boneless Peking duck for a Chinese twist. You’ll also be biting into duck liver pate, cucumber, carrots, cilantro, and jalapenos for kick, all on a French baguette. The newly opened restaurant just joined a bunch of other Vietnamese spots in the New World Plaza in South Philly.
Mi Dac Ky
6th St. and Washington Ave.
267-239-5169

Dinner

Braised short rib tacos

These Smokin’ Betty’s tacos started life as a special, but lucky for us they were popular enough to earn a spot on the permanent menu. Bite into a perfect mash up of refried black beans, cheddar cheese, chipotle aioli, avocado, crispy shallots and, of course, braised short rib, on flour tortillas with a side of cherry tomato salsa ($18).
Smokin’ Betty’s
116 S. 11th St.
215-922-6500
www.smokinbettys.com

Dessert

“Drunkin’ Elvis”

Get in line for Ms. Goody’s newest cupcake creation, debuting today in advance of Philly Beer Week. The “Drunkin’ Elvis” ($3) features chocolate chip banana cake infused with Well’s Banana Bread Beer. It’s frosted with peanut butter buttercream and topped with a chocolate-covered piece of bacon. It comes with a napkin to wipe away the tears of joy.
Ms. Goody Cupcake
838 East Passyunk Ave.
215-334-2253
www.msgoodycupcake.com

The post 4 new things we want to eat right now appeared first on Metro.us.

It seems that after two years roving the mean streets of Boston as food truck Go Fish!, mobile eats mastermind Brother Trucker has decided that burgers are where it’s at. Thus, their transformation into the brand new teeth-baring, bacon-ketchup-toting, burger truck that is Bone Daddy’s Burgers — currently on the loose, and possibly heading your way. That’s right, we said Bacon. Flavored. Ketchup.

Bone Daddy’s Burgers has issued a challenge to health-conscious, light-lunching diners city-wide — to which we scoffed “bring it on.” But herein lies the problem: the siren song of the Jack Dog , a fearsome 100% beef hot dog roughly the size of a child’s forearm. A very large child’s forearm. This monster comes wrapped in applewood-smoked bacon, deep-fried, slathered with cheddar cheese, and topped with a caramelized onion, roasted garlic, and jalapeno relish. You want it, bad. But are you man enough to take this dog down a mere few hours after breakfast? (You are, we assure you.) To psych you up, we’ve laid out the five stages you must successfully hurdle before your turn at the counter. Familiarize yourself accordingly.

1. Denial
Pshh, you don’t want the Jack Dog! You are a paragon of lunch purity, swearing by the power of dry romaine lettuce and the occasional crouton. Hot dogs are for kids anyway. You’re already here, though, and it really would be a shame… No. You’ll have the quinoa and black bean burger.

2. Anger
It appears the quinoa burger comes sans bacon. Where is the bacon wrapped quinoa? You decide that you hate quinoa and send it dirty looks from your place in the line. How does one even pronounce quinoa, you wonder?

3. Bargaining
You’ll run an extra mile at the gym later, and eat fruit or something, you tell yourself as you watch self-satisfied customers walk away, Jack Dogs clutched in their greasy hands. Maybe you’ll kind of awkwardly gallop to the T stop instead of walking? The lavender lemonade they’ve got on their beverage menu counts as a plant, obviously. The three people in front of you all just ordered Jack Dogs and are looking very pleased with themselves. Could you be like these people?

4. Depression
Your lack of lunchtime cojones is starting to bum you out. You can smell the sweet, caramel-y, crispy bacon from your spot in a line that is starting to feel interminable and the aroma floods you with nostalgia for the bygone days of your childhood, when you would have crushed this thing without hesitation. You’d never even heard of quinoa back then.

5. Acceptance
Screw it. You will absolutely go back to work smelling faintly of garlicky relish — and you might even get some of it on your shirt — but these are sacrifices you have already decided to make. You stride proudly up to that counter — from behind which heavy metal blasts, bolstering your confidence — and announce to all who give a damn that you shall indeed have one Jack Dog. With a side of bacon salt and truffle fries, because you have no fear! It arrives in all its messy, succulent glory, and you take woozy pride in the knowledge that you have joined the ranks of the Bone Daddy Burger warriors. Well done, Grasshopper.

Take on the beast! Visit brothertrucker.biz/bone-daddys-burger or follow @BrutherTrucker for daily locations.

The post The Five Stages of Lunch at Bone Daddy’s Burgers appeared first on Metro.us.

Don’t consider yourself a beer drinker? The Urban Grape, purveyors of one of the best wine and spirits collections in this town, is set to prove you wrong with their new curated craft beer program, Urban Hops.

When Urban Grape opened its flagship Chestnut Hill location in 2010, beer certainly had a place on the shelves, but it was a small one. Opening the next store in the South End last year meant more shelves carefully stocked with choice vino, but also a renewed chance to delve into the beer world.

“When we opened the second store, we noticed that our customers were really looking for that next level,” says beer manager Ben Bouton. “So, Urban Hops is our way of giving it its own program and really dedicating ourselves to craft beer. It’s an industry that has experienced incredible growth in the last few years.”

Co-owner Hadley Douglas says she and husband TJ are learning just as much from Bouton as the customers are.

“For us, beer was just beer,” she says. “We love it, but St. Pauli Girl was always the craziest thing that we drank. We knew we wanted to have beer in order to be full-service, but we’ve been really blown away by how much the field has expanded. Customers are going back and forth across the aisle, and they’re looking for the same things in beer as they are in wine.”

“I think that’s what’s fun about it,” Bouton adds. “It can be a casual thing, or it can be something elevated.”

Bouton is currently working on the second stage of his Cicerone certification (a sommelier-esque program for beer) in order to better serve Urban Hops clientele.

“The more I know, the better I can help someone find something they’ll love,” he explains. “People are really starting to think about beer in a pairing sense too, it’s not just wine anymore.”

If your ability to describe your taste in beer stops at “in a can,” don’t worry. Bouton says that all newbie craft brew heads need remember is to stay open-minded and a little bit ballsy. It’s his job to wade through the collection and find exactly what you didn’t even know you were looking for, so don’t feel pressured to impress.

“The first thing that’s important for novice beer drinkers is a willingness to try something different,” Bouton explains. “Something like a Notch pilsner is totally accessible to a Bud drinker. These lighter, easygoing beers don’t require you to sit there and ponder it. There’s always a place for that.”

And don’t sweat it if Bouton tells you a beer has phenomenal notes of charred wood and spruce, a hint of boysenberry, and just a whiff of orange peel, and you get home and smell, you know, beer. Training your palate for maximum enjoyment takes time. Think Rocky, only instead of running along the train tracks, you get to try as many different wines and beers as you can.

“It’s incredible when you’ve been trying all these wines or liquors or beers, and suddenly, something clicks, and you’re like, ‘I DO get that note of coriander in there!’” Bouton says. “My beer palate has improved so much because of the wine in this store. When you’re trying such great, quality product at all different levels—$8 wines to $400 wines—you’re educating your palate immensely.”

Beers are set up a little differently than the wine, which is grouped by intensity. They toyed with organizing them progressively, but, as Bouton points out, it becomes confusing for some when Guinness—with its murky dark color— shows up at the front of the line as a light beer. In the South End location, bottles are arranged by region.

“The main idea is that both sides are curated,” Douglas says. “On the wine side, you won’t find the most typical brands, but you’ll find people with great stories or great growing practices who are putting out the best wine that they can. Same with beer—it’s about learning all about the brewers and what they’re doing, and why they’re doing it.”

Bouton’s curating style definitely has an edge to it. Half of the colorful labels are unrecognizable to many, having arrived from far-flung corners of the world. The local section plays host to a few tried-and-true favorites; Night Shift, High & Mighty, Notch.

Bouton’s current crush is a sour beer made with Barbera grapes out of Italy, fittingly called BeerBera, which will be making its way to their shelves soon; Douglas is partial to the $7 Tall Boy 4-pack of Bitburger (a beer that rescued her on a particularly sweltering New York day last August) and the Brunehaut Blond Ale, a gluten-free beer.

“It’s a phenomenal time to be getting into craft beer,” Bouton says, and Douglas nods. “The only limitations are what people can think of.”

On Sunday, May 19, both the South End and Chestnut Hill locations will host craft beer festivals to celebrate the official launch of Urban Hops. You can get your (tasteful) drink on, learn a little something in the process, and bring home a few newcomers to your fridge. And the tastings are free!

If you go

The Urban Grape Chestnut Hill
7 Boylston St., Chestnut Hill
617.232.4831

The Urban Grape South End
303 Columbus Ave., Boston
857.250.2509

The post With Urban Hops, the Urban Grape has found the cure for what ‘ales’ you appeared first on Metro.us.

If there’s one spirit that most of us associate with the warmer seasons, it’s rum. That’s because most of it is produced in the tropical island climates we spend all winter longing for around here. While we can’t necessarily transport ourselves to the Caribbean or Latin America on a whim, a trip to RumBa at the InterContinental Hotel offers a more cost-effective — and immediate — fix.

With the opening of their summer patio season right around the corner — and a recent expansion of the waterfront fixture just completed — now seems like as good a time as any to set sail on the molasses seas.

A second, 10-seat bar and numerous high top tables were recently added to the space, which now overlooks the Fort Point Channel and the Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum (those dudes knew a thing or two about rum, as you might recall). They probably didn’t have as many to choose from back then as we do today, though. RumBa has some 100 options from around the world on their lengthy menu, including many from lesser-known regions that should come as a pleasant surprise to drinkers with palates accustomed to a more narrow repertoire of silver and spiced rums.

A recent visit found us drinking our way through the sip-able Guatemalan silver Montecristo and the Clément V.S.O.P. Rhum Agricole Vieux. The latter, a Martinique, agricole-style rum made from sugar cane juice and aged for at least four years, contains hints of dry caramel and light pepper. Continuing this progression, we moved on to the deep spice and tropical banana notes of Guatelmalan Ron Zacapa 23 (then the staff favorite), ending our makeshift tropical journey with their new, must-try sipping rum, the Venezuelan Diplomatico.

“This is the stuff dreams are mad of,” bartender Marshall McGlynn enthused. You wouldn’t want to use the latter two spirits in a cocktail per se, although RumBa’s menu has plenty of Tiki classics marrying the two to choose from. The Boston Mama — a play on poolside standby the Bahama Mama — is made with Bacardi 8 and Bacardi 151, plus coconut, coffee liqueur, lemon and pineapple juices, and fresh grenadine. It will put you in your beach chair, to put it bluntly. McGlynn, like most of the staff here, is both knowledgeable and capable, ready to serve as your cruise director through a world of rum you didn’t know even know existed — or the one you’ve been dreaming about returning to for months.

If you go

RumBa at the InterContinental
510 Atlantic Ave., Boston
617-217-5041
intercontinentalboston.com

The post Thursty: Take a tropical booze staycation at newly expanded RumBa appeared first on Metro.us.

You likely already know that a total deprivation diet won’t keep you skinny long-term — and who could go through life without dessert? With waistlines in mind, Lisa Lillien, aka Hungry Girl to her legions of readers and Food Network followers, just released her eighth book, “Hungry Girl 200 Under 200: Just Desserts.” We chatted with the bubbly recipe whiz and got her best tips for how to enjoy the sweet stuff without totally going overboard.

Think beyond the box
If you’re looking to shave some fat and calories from a traditional cake mix, ignore the instructions, Lillien says. From whipping up Funfetti cake with club soda to using pumpkin instead of oil, eggs and butter, “there are great shortcuts,” she says.

Make ingredients do double-duty
Lillien makes pie crusts with Fiber 1 cereal and mini desserts with eggroll wrappers, wonton wrappers and tiny phyllo shells, which she calls “just brilliant because they’re low in fat and calories and are great vehicles for your dessert items.”

Jazz up your fruit
Hungry Girl calls herself a “fruit maniac” (she eats a Fuji apple every day!) But if fruit just isn’t your go-to, you can find ways to make it sweeter.

“I like to take pineapple, grill it and drizzle a little bit of reduced-fat caramel on it,” she says. Also big in Lillien’s house: fun with apples. “I do so many weird things to my apples,” she says. “I will chop them up and shake them in a bag with cinnamon, I throw them in the microwave like that, I make baked apples with diet soda — I have so many recipes in that book where you just cook some chopped apples in a pot with a little bit of cornstarch, a little bit of water and a tiny bit of sugar and cinnamon and you make it into like a gooey apple pie filling and put it in so many different places.”

Enjoy in moderation
When Lillien goes out to eat, “if a big, gooey dessert shows up I’ll stick a fork in there,” she says. “I don’t really deprive myself fully, but I indulge in moderation. If I’m at a place where I love the pretzel bread and I’ve had a piece of pretzel bread, I probably won’t eat the dessert also. It’s a give and take.”

Trying to lose weight?

Be accountable
This is Lillien’s top piece of advice, she says. “If you know something is your weakness, don’t have it in front of you. Don’t keep it in the house. I’m a chip lover. I try not to eat it too much because I’ll overdo it. Ice cream is not my go-to treat but if I have a pint in the house and I stick my spoon in it I’ll eat three servings at a time. So keep portion-controlled stuff in the house.”

Skipping meals backfires
“Don’t skip meals because people tend to get really hungry,” she says. “I know for me, especially when I’m on the road … I [don’t] want to be ridiculously hungry and reach for the wrong thing within an hour or two.”

Her snack pick

Quest bars
“They’re loaded with protein, loaded with fiber, they’re low in sugar, they really are filling they’re very satisfying. I love them so much. They’re a favorite of bodybuilders — everybody is obsessed with what they’re made of and the stats on them, but for me it’s like, usually if I eat a bar I am hungry afterwards, and those I’m not hungry. They’re with me all the time when I travel.”
$2.39 per bar or $25 for a box of 12, GNC stores

Tasty recipe

Freezy PB Pie Cups

You’ll Need: 12-cup muffin pan, foil baking cups, large bowl, electric mixer
Prep: 15 minutes Freeze: 3 1⁄2 hours

1/12th of recipe (1 pie cup): 134 calories, 6g fat, 132mg sodium, 16g carbs, 0.5g fiber, 8g sugars, 4g protein

Ingredients
1⁄2 cup reduced-fat creamy peanut butter
4 ounces (about 1⁄2 cup) fat-free cream cheese
1⁄4 cup powdered sugar
1⁄2 cup light vanilla soymilk
One 8-ounce container Cool Whip Free (thawed)
3 tablespoons mini semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Line a 12-cup muffin pan with foil baking cups.

In a large bowl, combine peanut butter with cream cheese. With an electric mixer set to medium speed, beat until uniform.

Reduce speed to low. Continue to beat while gradually adding powdered sugar, followed by soymilk. Beat until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes.

Fold in 1 cup Cool Whip until uniform. Evenly distribute mixture among the cups of the muffin pan.

Spread remaining Cool Whip over the mixture, and sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Freeze until firm, at least 3 1⁄2 hours. Mmmm!

MAKES 12 SERVINGS
134 calories per serving

Get more recipes in Lillien’s new book, “Hungry Girl 200 Under 200: Just Desserts.”

Follow Meredith Engel on Twitter @MeredithAtMetro

The post Sweet secrets from Hungry Girl appeared first on Metro.us.

Chef shuffles at beloved neighborhood joints tend to be a gamble for loyal patrons — often as not new blood at the kitchen’s helm results in unwelcome changes on the menu. If, however, you’re Jeremy Sewall — the culinary mastermind behind Eastern Standard, Island Creek Oyster Bar, the imminent Row 34, and Coolidge Corner’s Lineage — you have a knack for matching chefs with kitchens. Proof of this is Alex Sáenz, Sewall’s latest pick for chef de cuisine at Lineage.

Sáenz, who grew up in Lima, Peru, and South Carolina, brings classic Southern touches to the menu — think fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits, pimento cheese on the burgers — and infuses his dishes with a few Peruvian flavors to spice things up. Keeping in Lineage’s tradition, Sáenz nails dishes that manage to be both challenging and comforting to the palate at once. Each plate is brilliantly logical in its components, but has one distinct showstopper (aji Amarillo peppers gracing a ceviche, sauce gribiche zinging up a plate of asparagus) woven into each bite. This means you can’t always put your finger on why every course is blowing your mind — you just know that it’s been blown.

Sáenz was most recently executive chef at Ten Tables’ Provincetown outpost; he officially took the helm at Lineage late this past February. So far, frequenters of the neighborhood mainstay can’t seem to get enough of the new menu, and Sáenz says he already feels a tremendously vocal support from the restaurant’s regulars. We sat down with him before a recent service to find out what he makes of his new digs.

Do you have anything specific you’d like to achieve during your time at Lineage?
For me, it’s all about branching out into a new neighborhood. I’ve cooked in several areas around Boston, but never Brookline. Plus, Jeremy has such an amazing following, and I wanted to see what it was like to be a part of that world. The farms that we work with, and the fishermen…a lot of people don’t get to tap into these specific vendors like he does. It’s just been so cool to have people know and trust him, and say to me, “You’re part of the family now,” just like that. I’ve worked with great chefs before, but Jeremy is just one of those people around town who really commands a lot of respect. Mostly, I’m just looking forward to getting to know the people of Brookline and surprising them a little bit.

How would you describe your relationship with Chef Sewall?
He’s just the nicest guy, of course. It’s funny, I actually interviewed for the head position over at Island Creek Oyster Bar when it opened, and Eastern Standard way back when, so we had met a few different times. It was one of those things that every time he looked at me he was like, “You’re not quite ready. Not that you couldn’t handle this, but you just need more time.” I had been doing a lot of fine dining, and he was looking for a little more relaxed of a style. He told me to keep doing what I was doing, and I did. Our rapport now is great, because there’s an understanding there. The fact that he trusts me to be here, and put something on the table that still resembles his vision, is amazing.

I would imagine it’s always difficult for a chef to release the reins to someone new.
It takes time to let go, definitely, and that’s the key that any chef will tell you: it’s hard to let go. This place has a reputation after seven years. But he knows my background, and he knows I’m not going to ruin that.

What’s the major difference between Lineage and any other restaurant you’ve worked for?
The family here is the first thing that comes to mind. Most restaurants have a lot of turnover in the kitchen, the front of house, managers, but all of these guys have been here for years. I’m the new guy. The way this place runs, it’s clear that there’s a serious standard that’s been set. The other restaurants I’ve worked in, they’ve wanted me to bring in my own style and change things up, and here, I mean, I could if they wanted me to, but it doesn’t need it. It’s such a smooth machine. The level of camaraderie is fantastic, and it’s stronger here than I’ve felt anywhere else.

Do you have a favorite dish on the menu at the moment?
I’ve been carrying the shrimp and grits with me for a very long time, and every time I put it on a menu, I’m always nervous about what the reaction will be. It’s such a simple thing, and people seem to gravitate to it, but I always worry if people will think it’s too pedestrian. Aside from that, this time of year is unbeatable. Ramp season! I think we have ramps in every dish right now. [laughs]

What’s the secret to perfect grits?
Patience, absolutely. We cook them for three or four hours, and we add a good amount of cheese and butter to make it creamy. Being a Southern kid, butter is number one! Besides that, you can’t beat getting good product from good people. You really don’t have to do much to it when the quality is there.

The post Lineage adds a branch to their family tree: Talking business with new chef de cuisine Alex Sáenz appeared first on Metro.us.

Japan’s popular standing restaurants, where patrons eat food by former Michelin restaurant chefs for a fraction of the cost of a seated restaurant, are about to hit New York.

Michio Yasuda, an executive director at Oreno Corporation, which owns and runs 18 restaurants in Tokyo, hopes New Yorkers who are happy to drink while standing at bars will also be happy to eat while standing.

“Only a tiny portion of people can afford to eat at Michelin-starred restaurants, but those who earn a modest income should also be able to try high quality food,” said Yasuda.

In Tokyo’s standing restaurants, which include French and Italian establishments in the posh Ginza district, diners can enjoy dishes like tender beef tournedos with foie gras, with an average meal costing about 4,000 yen ($39.30), around the cost of drinks and snacks at a simple Japanese-style pub.

Now, Oreno Corporation plans to open a standing, gourmet Japanese restaurant in New York, taking aim at diners who yearn for sushi without the bill climbing into three figures or more.

“Japanese food at a top-rated place in New York is so expensive. We want to completely change that,” said Hiroshi Shimada, a chef who set up a gourmet standing Japanese restaurant in the Ginza after leaving the Michelin three-starred Japanese restaurant Azabu Yukimura.

Shimada said some modifications may be made to the food to suit American tastes.

“For example, we might add just a tiny bit of butter to our dashi soup stock. Or take Japanese simmered dishes like niku jaga – meat with potatoes – and serve them with bread, like a stew,” he added.

Details remain to be worked out, with the company is looking at sites in midtown Manhattan, with an eye to opening by the end of the year. Despite the pricey real estate, a meal is likely to cost $30 to $40. And there will be VIP seats, but at an additional cost.

The post Michelin for the masses: Japanese standing restaurant coming to New York appeared first on Metro.us.

Some call Red’s a sports bar. And sure, they do have plenty of sports memorabilia — old photos and the like — adorning the North Falmouth spot’s walls, and chicken wings and hot dogs on the menu. But the Sea Crest Beach Hotel’s year-round restaurant has deeper roots in the athletic community than that. Red’s pays warm tribute to its original co-owner, Red Auerbach, the one-time Celtics coach and president. Auerbach’s family donated the aforementioned sports mementos, including a collection of vintage letter openers and a saucy little bottle opener in the shape of a nude siren.

But with Old Silver Beach’s glorious white sand stretching out just beneath the restaurant’s open windows, Red’s ambiance is more laid-back seaside dining than rowdy sports bar. While Chef Daniel Kenney’s menu proffers much in the way of familiar, casual eating (fish and chips, baked cod, a simple steak) it never slips into the mundane. One of the best dishes on the spring menu is a big bowl of plump PEI mussels steamed in a chardonnay, shallot, garlic and basil broth. A sprinkling of pepper flakes adds subtle spice to an herb butter that thickens and forms a substantial dip for crusty bread.

A rosy-centered filet mignon comes topped with wonderfully crisp asparagus (dusted with a fine flavor-unobtrusive crumb) and sits atop tender, roasted sweet potatoes. A zinfandel-spiked jus infuses the dish with sweet notes without the expected heavy woodiness of a standard red wine gravy.

Crème brûlée is crème brûlée, right? It’s become routine, almost déclassé, in its ubiquity on dessert menus. How spoiled we are that it’s no longer exciting. Until sometimes it is. Kenney’s is a light brûlée, the custard creamy-sweet and rich in vanilla. A dollop of tangy, tart cranberry and passion fruit compote provides both an exciting contrast and a superb complement. Perhaps the sport here is the pursuit of the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Red’s Restaurant
350 Quaker Rd., North Falmouth
508-356-2111
seacrestbeachhotel.com

The post Falmouth restaurant Red’s is much more than a sports bar appeared first on Metro.us.

To get your own Jazz Age soiree off to a good start, you’ll need a good drink in your hand. Put on your best flapper dress or fedora and get the party started.

The post PHOTOS: Make these ‘Great Gatsby’ inspired cocktails appeared first on Metro.us.

Cooking for mom this Sunday? Mauricio Banchieri of Puro Wine in SoHo — which specializes in wines from Chile— picked out three bottles to complement your grand culinary effort.

Brunch
Calcu Rosé, $17
“A blend of Malbec, Syrah and Petit Verdot, it’s floral with subtle notes of citrus, raspberry and fresh spice. It is a versatile wine that pairs equally well with cheese, fruit, seafood, eggs and grilled chicken.”

Lunch
De Martino Legado Reserva Chardonnay 2011, $17
“Aromas of almond, melon and peach make this perfect for an afternoon meal. Its bright acidity and apple, citrus and caramelized peach flavors work perfectly with salmon, shrimp and chicken.”

Dinner
2009 Tamaya Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature sparkling wine $30
“Made in the traditional Champenoise method, this sparkling wine spends more than two years in the bottle, developing wonderful ticklish bubbles. Aromas of green apples, pears and acacia flowers — with just a touch of brioche and hazelnut — make it a lovely aperitif and fabulous for dinner. Enjoy with lobster, sea bass, king crab or sea scallops — a meal fit for a queen.”

Wine class
Puro Wine offers classes where mom can taste wines, nosh on appetizers and receive discounts on bottles. $39, 161 Grand St.
212-925-0090

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The thrill of truly great street food is in its simplicity and its immediacy. The rush of a hurried transaction, little to no words needed, is the ultimate hallmark of exploring an unknown land. It’s exhilarating — a feeling waiting in line at your regular lunch joint doesn’t usually elicit.

Lucky for would-be travelers, Chef Louis DiBiccari has a solution for the pangs of noontime wanderlust and hunger: TR Street Foods, a worldly speed-demon of a lunch counter tucked alongside his Fort Point flagship, Tavern Road.

Just over a week in existence, the menu is already in its fourth incarnation. It’s loaded with bursts of flavor from far-flung corners of the globe — Moroccan turkey kebabs, red miso-grilled eggplant, za’atar (a Middle Eastern mix of herbs and spices) — alongside some comforts of home. DiBiccari is a loyal native of the North Shore, and pays tribute with a stellar steak and cheese .

The idea for a non-traditional lunch service manifested during his time spent in Spain, Italy, France, and —  finally —  in Mexico. There, he watched a trio of women hand-rolling tortillas for quesadillas cooked over a fire beneath an upside-down garbage can, filled with the best braised chicken he’s ever tasted. “I came back here, and all I found myself wanting to do was find things that were reminiscent of that,” he says.

At peak lunch hour a line of people snakes around a table laden with jars of Herb Lyceum honey and soaps, clamoring to read the chalkboard menus. The service has the speed and feel of a bustling street stand, with air-conditioning.

The price points, combined with the staggering quality of the ingredients, makes TR Street Foods one of the best lunch options for the neighborhood, tied only with the food trucks parked in Dewey Square five minutes away. It would seem that we have grown very fond of eating with our hands.

A sausage and mushroom calzone, studded with fontina cheese and kale, is wrapped in a gloriously grease-stained and crinkly brown paper and radiates heat. A tangy beet and cauliflower salad, one of many accompaniments, is laced with horseradish and currants, slight heat playing off the cool, earthy beets.

He explains that he wants to channel the street-corner panini stands of Italy and the rotisserie half-chickens of Nice, but he also understands that for many people, a few bites of meat on a stick does not lunch make. He has since beefed up the menu with more sandwiches, salads, and sides, and emphasizes that they are in no way trying to “out-chef” themselves. Street food should be messy, satisfying, and above all, casual.

For DiBiccari and his crew, the experience has been one where anything goes. Inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere, and he says the menu is only a small sampling of the ideas brewing in the kitchen.

“I’m surrounded by people who grew up in all of these countries,” he says, gesturing to the open kitchen where a few cooks are quietly prepping for dinner service. “Whatever I haven’t seen, I just ask them, and suddenly we’re all equally a part of this process.”

The post Go globe trotting on your lunch hour with TR Street Foods appeared first on Metro.us.

It’s traditional to allow a new opening a few weeks to get up and running before going in to review. This gives them time to work out any kinks before they’ve opened “officially.” Which would be all well and good if they weren’t, you know, still officially accepting currency for their services in the meantime. That courtesy mostly applies to the food side of things anyway; a kitchen is a tricky beast with a lot of moving parts and a lot of new dishes to learn. A bar, on the other hand, is a bar, and the staff has presumably been making these cocktails at other bars for years. In the case of Sterling’s — the brand new State Street “cocktail bar” and restaurant — presumably at one of the Glynn Group’s many other properties like Dillon’s, Clerys, or Granary Tavern.

A lot of work seems to have gone into the newly renovated space’s interior. It’s a small but sophisticated feeling room, with views overlooking Quincy Market. Meant to be an after work haven for the Financial District happy hour and late night downtown crowd, it takes a 60s inspiration for its décor – a swinging, jazzy soundtrack and iconic Boston black and white prints (plus fedoras inexplicably stacked on the back bar) – and its cocktails. Their website announces the theme as a “tribute to the time when cocktails were part of a lifestyle.” The echoes of that “Mad Men” era in the name are expressed literally on the menu, with drinks like a Mad Men Mule, and a Ginger Joan, both of which are made with…actually, it doesn’t matter.

On a recent visit I sat down next to an older couple complaining about the Old Fashioned, that quintessential, period-specific cocktail. “This is horrible,” the gentleman said, sending it back. ‘Wow, what a bunch of jerks,’ I thought, eyes rolling. ‘I better try one.’

He was right. I’ve had a lot of Old Fashioneds in my day, but never one that somehow tasted bitter, brothy, and savory at the same time. I don’t even know how that happens. Was the fruit off? Switching to a Gin Fizz — made with gin, simple syrup, lime juice, egg whites and soda — proved, amazingly, even more disastrous. Instead of an appropriately lengthy, vigorous dry shake (meaning, before the ice is added) of the ingredients, here a half-hearted, seconds-long wet shake made for a thin, flabby and ultimately undrinkable mess. A Manhattan, on the other hand, was shaken to within an inch of its life. None of which exactly conjured the glory days of the cocktail.

Instead, it all brought to mind another cocktail-minded decade, the 2010s. You remember those days, right? Back when all the phony craft cocktail bars were opening around town.

The post [Thursty] Sterling’s aims for ‘Mad Men’ vibe, this man just leaves mad appeared first on Metro.us.

With just a few more weeks to go before beach body season, we thought we’d share exclusive recipes from Gwyneth Paltrow’s latest cookbook ‘It’s All Good’- specifically ones from the ‘Body Building Menu’. Because if this meal plan is what helped 40-year-old Gwyneth get a ‘22-year-old stripper’s butt’, maybe it’ll do the same for us. And have you see “Iron Man 3″? She looks amazing, even when the girl is literally on fire.

RECIPE: Protein-packed breakfast: Leftover quinoa with egg, kale and scallion

Cooked quinoa is a great, useful staple to have on hand at all times, especially in the morning.

Serves 1:
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely minced
2 large leaves of kale (stems discarded), finely shredded
½ cup perfectly cooked quinoa
Coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
A poached egg or olive oil fried egg
1 scallion, white and light green parts only, very finely sliced

Method:
Heat the oil and garlic over medium heat in a small skillet until the garlic begins to soften, just 1 minute. Add the shredded kale and cook, stirring now and then, until the kale is wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the quinoa and cook, stirring until warmed through, another 2 minutes. Season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper. Place the mixture in a shallow bowl or on a plate, top with the egg, and sprinkle with the scallions. Add a final grind of black pepper if you like.

RECIPE: Post workout protein-packed snack: Body Builder Smoothie

Packed with vitamins and minerals from the green powder, made sweet with a date and creamy with almond milk and banana, this super high-protein shake will set you up for your day or workout and is also a great recovery beverage to enjoy right after your workout.
Serves 1:

Ingredients:
1 serving whey protein powder
1 serving greens powder
1½ cups cold unsweetened vanilla-flavored almond milk
1 date, pitted
1/3 banana

Method:
Blend everything in a powerful blender and drink immediately.

RECIPE: Elimination Diet + Vegan Lunch: spicy sweet potato soup with chipotle + coriander

My gosh, this is the perfect soup…with the southwestern flavors and its creamy, rich texture without the dairy, you’ll really feel as if you’re having a treat. For a bit of extra texture, pan-fry a few pieces of sweet potato in a bit of olive oil with toasted ground cumin or coriander and slide them onto the finished soup before serving.

Serves 4:
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large red onion, finely diced (about 1 ½ cups)
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 sprigs of cilantro, leaves reserved for garnish, stems tied together with a piece of kitchen string.
¾ teaspoon cumin
Coarse sea salt
1 ½ teaspoons chipotle in adobo (or more if you like)
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (about 6 cups)
6 cups vegetable stock

Method:
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, cilantro sprigs, cumin and a heavy pinch of salt and cook, stirring now and then, until softened, but not browned, 10 minutes.
Add the chipotle and the sweet potatoes and stir to combine. Add the vegetable stock to the stock and turn up the heat. Once the soup comes to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until the sweet potatoes are very soft, about 30 minutes. Remove and discard the cilantro. Carefully puree the soup in a powerful blender. If you want a really refined, smooth texture, you can pass the pureed soup through a fine-mesh strainer. Garnish each bowl with a few of the reserved cilantro leaves.

Afternoon snack: A handful of soaked raw almonds

RECIPE: Protein Packed Dinner: Turkey Meatballs

No food makes me feel more comforted than spaghetti and meatballs, and that’s always been the way. I have moved from pork and veal to the turkey variety in an on-going effort to clean up my diet, but my meatballs still have dairy (cheese), gluten (bread crumbs), and egg. One afternoon, we devised this incredibly easy, incredibly god ‘friendly’ version that still does the trick.

Serves 4: (makes 2 dozen golf ball-sized meatballs)

Ingredients:
1 small onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
8 fresh sage leaves
8 large fresh basil leaves
Leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme
Leaves from a 5-inch sprig of rosemary
¼ cup Italian parsley
1 large handful of arugula roughly chopped
1 pound ground turkey
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 cups tomato sauce
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Method:
Combine the onion, garlic, herbs, and arugula in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until very finely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl along with the turkey, salt, and pepper. Use your hands to thoroughly combine all the ingredients, then roll the mixture into golf ball-sized meatballs.
Place the tomato sauce in a large pot set over low heat and let it get warm.
While the sauce is warming, heat the olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the meatballs, in batches if necessary, until they’re browned all over, 2-3 minutes on a side. Transfer the browned meatballs to the simmering tomato sauce and partially cover the pot. Let the meatballs cook gently for ½ hour, carefully stirring every now and then to make sure they’re cooking evenly. Serve hot with your favorite gluten-free pasta, a pot of polenta or even on their own alongside some broccoli rabe

—-

We asked Osteopathic Physician, Dr. Habib Sadeghi, who wrote the foreword for “It’s All Good,” to tell us his top five foods for optimum health

1. Organic green vegetable juice: “You can’t find a more potent, highly packed nutritious food, full of minerals and antioxidants that are immediately assimilated by the body. Avoid store juices. They’re loaded with added sugars and pasteurized, which destroys the enzymes and damages the vitamins.”

2. Lacto-fermented foods: “Yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kim chi and beet kvass supply large populations of “good” bacteria to your intestinal track. These probiotics boost your immune system.”

3. Dairy: “Raw, unpasteurized dairy provides valuable nutrients for healing and maintenance. Switching from cow to goats milk can make a big difference because the protein molecules in goat’s milk are much smaller and easier for humans to absorb.”

4. Berries of any kind: “They’re packed with antioxidants. Unfortunately, berries are some of the most heavily sprayed crops, particularly strawberries, so only buy organic.”

5. Wild caught sockeye salmon and grass-fed beef: “Fish oils from wild caught salmon with no risk of heavy metals are extremely important for brain function and anti-aging. Small amounts of beef are important for B vitamins and iron.”

The post Recipes from Gwyneth Paltrow’s ‘It’s All Good’ appeared first on Metro.us.

UPDATE: Eater now reports that the Rosebud may remain open longer than previously stated. Originally slating Mother’s Day — May 12 — for their last day, a representative from the Rosebud now says they will remain open for at least “the next month or so” ….and maybe longer?

ORIGINAL STORY: Another one bites the dust. Eater Boston confirmed Monday that Woodward at Ames has officially closed its doors. The downtown gastropub served its last meal Sunday, according to a hotel employee.

The Woodward joins the ranks of a crop of Boston mainstays shuttering as of late, including Rosebud Diner, the longtime Davis Square spot that hosted live music, open mics and more. According to the Somerville Patch, Marty Bloom (founder of now also defunct-Vinny T’s restaurants) has purchased the Somerville eatery and has plans for a major upgrade in the near future. Eater reports that the ‘Bud has slated May 12 (Mother’s Day) as their closing date (a good spot to take Mom out for her big day, perhaps?)

Another FiDi eatery, restaurant heavyweight Michael Schlow’s Radius, will also close its doors June 29. Schlow decided not to renew the lease on the upscale downtown restaurant, according to the Globe, but plans to open a like-minded new establishment elsewhere soon. Schlow’s seen a particularly swift turnover rate of late — most recently in the seemingly overnight transition of his Fenway restaurant Happy’s Bar and Kitchen into Mexican joint Barrio Cantina.

What does all this change mean for Boston’s dining scene? We’re hoping only bigger and better things, but only time will tell.

The post Woodward at Ames closes, joining ranks of recently shuttered Boston eateries appeared first on Metro.us.

We’re all familiar with the concept of comfort food. Must be why chefs Ken Oringer (Clio, Toro, Coppa) and Ming Tsai (Blue Ginger, Blue Dragon) — along with Governor Patrick, Mayor Menino and ARAMARK food services — have put together Boston Bites Back, a fundraiser to both bring together the community in the wake of recent tragedy and raise money for Boston Marathon bombing victims.

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience,” said Tsai, in a press release. “This event is an occasion for Bostonians to reconnect over food, mingle with chefs and honor our city’s inspiring resilience. It’s an opportunity for Bostonians to literally ‘bite’ back.”

Tickets for the big food fest fundraiser — to be held in Fenway Park — are pricey ($200 General Admission) but the price is worth both the cause and all the tasty bites from a host of talented chefs attendees will get to sample. Boston Bites Back will be held Wednesday, May 15 from 6-10 p.m.

Only 5,000 GA tickets will be sold, as space is limited. Those with fatter wallets can spring VIP tickets ($1,000) that grant access to an exclusive party in Fenway’s EMC Club. Only 200 VIP tickets will be sold. All attendees can enter an online auction leading up to the fundraiser for a chance to score swag like dining experiences from  Tsai and Oringer and more.

The post Food for the Soul: Boston Bites Back fundraiser just announced appeared first on Metro.us.

When we met Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack and Veronica Gonzalez-Smith, the lovely sisters behind cooking blog Muy Bueno, they were simmering a batch of spicy red sauce for chilaquiles, as part of a demonstration for the cookware brand Princess House. After our third helping, we had to get their recipe. Here, Gonzalez-Smith tells us why it’s the perfect dish the next time you host brunch.

Why are chilaquiles so great for brunch?
Chilaquiles are great because they are a little bit of breakfast and a little bit of dinner all wrapped up in one spicy classic Mexican recipe.

What sides or drinks pair well with the dish?
Frijoles de la olla, or refried beans, are always great. As far as drinks, try the agua de Jamaica (hibiscus tea) recipe on our site.

How do you keep the chips from getting soggy?
There’s really no way around the soggy chips issue; however, when you make them at home and you eat them immediately after serving, you can kiss sogginess goodbye. If you want to avoid the soggy chips for, say, a brunch, you might try keeping the red sauce warm, and then your guests can just assemble when they are ready to eat them.

Ingredients
For the red chile sauce:
•    8 ounces California or New Mexico red chile pods
•    6 cups water
•    6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
•    4 cloves garlic
•    1 tablespoon salt

For the chilaquiles:
•    8 corn tortillas
•    1 tablespoon canola oil
•    2 cups red chile sauce
•    1 cup shredded queso quesadilla or Colby cheese
•    1⁄3 cup diced green or red onions
•    4 to 8 eggs, cooked any style

Chilaquiles Rojos

For the red chile sauce:
1. Remove stems, seeds and veins from the chile pods. Place in a colander and rinse well with cool water.
2. Add the chiles to a large pot and add enough water so they are just covered. Bring water to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the chiles over with tongs to make sure they soften evenly. Drain cooked pods and allow time to cool down before blending. Discard water.
3. Fill blender with three cups of water, half of the cooled chile pods, three tablespoons flour, two cloves garlic and half of the salt. Blend until smooth. Strain sauce through a fine sieve to remove skins and seeds; discard skins and seeds. Repeat blending and straining process with remaining water, pods, flour, garlic and salt. If necessary, season with more salt.
Makes 6 to 7 cups.

Tip
This sauce can be made in advance and kept in airtight containers in the refrigerator or freezer. Red chile sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week or frozen for up to six months.

For the chilaquiles:
1. Cut corn tortillas into quarters. In a large skillet, heat oil and fry corn tortilla pieces until crunchy. Lower heat to low.
2. Add red chile sauce and mix only long enough to coat all the tortillas. Top with cheese while still over low flame and cook just long enough for cheese to melt.
3. Remove from heat and sprinkle with onions. Serve with eggs any style.
Makes 4 servings.

The post Chilaquiles recipe from Muy Bueno appeared first on Metro.us.

Spring fever is in the air, perfect for Cinco de Mayo, that curious Mexican-American holiday—more of an excuse to explore a little “crazy juice” and eat tasty Am-Mex food than a holiday, really. Sombrero dusted off, Metro sups south of the border, spiritually speaking, seeking out Boston’s Cinco de Mayo fun.

In the Back Bay, the folks at Tico —a suave take on Mexican dining and drinking that focuses on tapas and small plates — will let their hair down with a Cinco de Mayo patio party, complete with a pig roast. To wash down said el puerco con “fixings,” they’re tapping a keg of Dos Equis (included in the cover). Once that’s run dry, normal bar prices resume — so drink your money’s worth!
Cover: $20 per person. 2 p.m.-6 p.m. 222 Berkeley St. 617-351-0400. ticoboston.com

In Davis Square, the Painted Burro and its recently expanded adjacent Burro Bar is the place for margaritas on tap. Yes, on tap (steady there banditos). For Cinco de Mayo, they’re serving up a special cocktail: the Mexican 75, a riff on the classic French 75. Instead of gin and champagne, it includes mescal shaken with triple sec, lime juice, and Somerville-made St. Elder liqueur. That little brain bomb is finished with sparkling white wine. Pair that with empanadas filled with in-house made chorizo or zucchini and collard green stuffed tacos.
No cover. 219 Elm St. Somerville. 617-776-0005. thepaintedburro.com

But where’s the mariachi band? On the Waterfront, Rosa Mexicano has DJs spinning tejano and a live band playing intermittently, noon through closing. Their brand new patio Cantina Bar launches that same day and a special Cinco de Mayo menu will be available indoors and out. The brunch-to-supper menu will include huevos fritos y carnitas  — pork and ancho chile hash, fried eggs, habanero mustard jam — and torrejas de miel rellenas — cinnamon and castabel chile crusted brioche with a mascarpone stuffing. Sip mezcal infused Bloody Maria and pitchers of Pasión Picante, a sweet and spicy margarita made with 1800 silver tequila, passion fruit, fresh lime, ginger, and habañero. Ole!, indeed.
 No cover. 155 Seaport Blvd. 617-476-6122. rosamexicano.com

Just can’t wait to get the party started? Head over to the Fireplace in Brookline for Cuatro de Mayo, when they’ll be putting a tequila twist on their bi-weekly “Fireside Chat,” a casual seminar and tasting series. For this edition, they’re pairing four top-shelf Don Roberto tequilas with tasty small plates while a tequila aficionado imparts knowledge — and no doubt amuses tequila-tickled attendees.
$25-$30. 3 p.m.-4:15 p.m. 617-975-1900, fireplacerest.com

The post Ole! Here’s where to get your tequila fix this Cinco de Mayo appeared first on Metro.us.

Thanks to the folks at CookingPlanit.com, you no longer have an excuse to not host that dinner party this weekend. The food planning website gives everyone – from first time cooks to professional chefs — the opportunity to prepare healthy meals with simple step by step instructions. Users can choose from a long list of detailed recipe options and replicate them using the ingredients they have in their own kitchens.

Emily Wilson, the “Resident Food Wizard” at CookingPlanit, is the mastermind behind some of the site’s most popular dishes. Along with providing innovative meals for the website, Wilson sought out to make the cooking process as simple as possible for novice chefs by focusing on thorough procedures. “When you’re watching a cooking show for example, they’re giving you real life demonstrations,” says Wilson. “We tried to take that idea of real life instruction and include it in step-by-step instructions [on the website].”

Try out one of Wilson’s favorite recipes, Mexican Tortilla Pizza, below and many others on CookingPlanit.

Ingredients:
- Fresh Lime Juice (3 tablespoons)
- Iceberg Lettuce (1 ½ cups)
- Green Onion (1/2 cup)
- Roma Tomatoes (2)
- Cheddar Cheese, shredded (2 cups)
- Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded (2 cups)
- Sour Cream (3/4 cup)
- Black Olives, sliced (1/3 cup)
- Refried Black Beans, canned (1 can, 14 ounces)
- Enchilada Sauce (1/2 cup)
- Chili Powder (2 teaspoons)
- Garlic Powder (1 teaspoon)
- Paprika (1 teaspoon)
- Cumin (1/2 teaspoon)
- Kosher Salt
- Vegetable Oil (1/2 cup)
- Flour Tortillas, 8” (8 toritllas)

Serves 4

1. Cut the root end off the head of lettuce. Stand upright on this flat end and cut in half down the center. Remove the core from 1 half, lay it flat and slice crosswise into long strips. Cut strips into 1/2 inch pieces to measure the indicated amount.
2. Cut the ends off the green onions and peel away any loose or damaged outer layers. Rinse under cold water and dry thoroughly. Thinly slice the green onions to measure the indicated amount.
3. Core the tomatoes and cut into 1/4 inch dice.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, combine sour cream, chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder and lime juice. Season with salt, then refrigerate until ready to use.
5. Heat a medium saute pan over medium heat. Pour in vegetable oil so the bottom of the pan is covered in an even layer, then let warm.
6. Set a baking rack on top of a sheet pan, then set near the stove for the cooked tortillas.
7. Once oil is warm, add a tortilla. Oil should sizzle when tortilla is added. Press the tortilla down with a spatula as it cooks, flattening any bubbles that form. Once edges turn golden brown, flip and cook until the other side is also golden brown and tortilla is crispy, about 1-2 minutes total. Transfer cooked tortilla to baking rack and sprinkle with salt while warm. Repeat with all tortillas. If oil seems too hot, remove pan from heat for a few minutes to let cool in between batches.
8. Preheat the broiler on high.
9. To build the “pizzas,” place half the tortillas on a clean sheet pan. Spread an even layer of refried black beans on top of each one, being careful not to crack the crispy tortilla. Scatter 2 tablespoons of tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of green onion over the black beans.
10. Spread the sour cream mixture over the remaining tortillas, being careful not to crack the tortillas. Flip these over and place on top of the tortillas with black beans, green onion and tomatoes.
11. Spread enchilada sauce evenly over the top of each Mexican tortilla pizza. Also sprinkle cheddar cheese and Monterey Jack cheese over the top, and divide the black olives and remaining green onion over the cheese.
12. Place the tortilla pizzas under the preheated broiler and cook until the cheese is melted, about 3-5 minutes.
13. After pizzas are out of the broiler, scatter the chopped lettuce evenly over the top of each, then cut into quarters.
14. Transfer the Mexican tortilla “pizzas” to each dinner plate and serve warm.

The post Culinary Tips with CookingPlanit appeared first on Metro.us.

Whether you’re tired of the restaurant scene,or you are just looking for a quick and interesting meal in the city that’s not going to break the bank, a good food truck will definitely satisfy your needs.  Here are a few picks from Boston, Philly, and NYC.

The post PHOTOS: Food trucks around town appeared first on Metro.us.

Patrons that head to any area Iron Hill get a Burger Month Bonus, when they eat any five of the 31 burgers of the month. If you eat five, you get $15 off your next purchase. Click here for the full list of burgers — there’s a different sandwich featured for every day of the month.

The first one that caught our eye was May 1, the Chip Kelly Burger. The new Eagles coach already has his own meat monster. The Chip Kelly Burger boasts Oregon blue cheese, red onion confit, crushed potato chips and mushroom spread.

The post Iron Hill Brewery introduces the Chip Kelly Burger appeared first on Metro.us.

With so many bars turning their attention to the craft of the quality cocktail, it can be easy to assume that the concept has saturated the bar market. That’s not true, sadly, and — depending on where you live — it can be hard to track down a well-made cocktail in your neighborhood. There’s no reason why you have to actually leave the house to drink in style, however. A new online teaching program called Drink Skool, created by some of the most respected names in the beverage industry, cuts out the middle-man and gives you the basics on how to turn your own bar into a craft cocktail haven. And unlike most DIY home-improvement projects, the worst that can happen here if you screw up is you get to make another cocktail. Sounds like a win-win.

Drink Skool is “definitely for consumers who have some enthusiasm and have some base knowledge about spirits and cocktails, or bartenders that are getting started, but not anything above that,” one of the partners, Doug Frost (also of the industry standard advanced training program Beverage Alcohol Resource — and one of the more renowned wine experts in the world) explains. “What we’ve tried to do, is distill it — sorry for the pun — into bite-sized chunks so people can go, ‘Ok I got that.’” As Frost points out, mixing a perfect cocktail isn’t exactly rocket science; it’s all about following a recipe and locking down a few standard techniques, all of which the — totally free — course walks users through online with a sense of fun and a sense of humor. “I would hope the outcome of what we’re doing is someone will go, ‘This isn’t that hard,’  buy a few a things and start making their own cocktails,” says Frost. “There’s no reason they can’t.”

Among the program’s lessons are the basics of mixing a cocktail, learning how to taste and appreciate the differences between types of spirits, and important bar techniques like muddling.

It’s an attempt to demystify the concept of mixology, Frost says. “I’m hoping that people will take some time to try a couple of techniques, at least for their favorite cocktails, and end up recognizing that there’s no great mystery in this,” he explains. “Instead it’s about measuring, buying better quality products, and using fresh ingredients. You don’t cook with canned stuff and expect it to taste wonderful.”

Get Skooled:

Right off the bat, there are two crucial things home cocktail enthusiasts need to learn, Frost says. First is the difference between shaking and stirring. Get a stirrer, he says, anything will do, but a nice long-handled spoon is best. “Learn to stir so you don’t break the ice up, and all you do is chill down the drink.” Shaking is for when you want a cocktail to be light and airy because it has bubbles in it; learning to know which recipe works best with either technique is a fundamental place to start. Also of primary importance, he says, is freshness — what he calls “the foundation of what has changed mixology in the U.S.” There’s no substitute for fresh juice, he asserts. “If somebody’s squeezing fresh juice, it’s mind-blowing what happens to flavor of that cocktail as opposed to a mix.”

The post THURSTY: Home Remedy: Drink Skool raises the bar for boozing in sweats appeared first on Metro.us.

It’s that time again, folks. Come Saturday, a fleet of the best and brightest food truckers culled from Boston and New York City will set up camp on the Greenway and go head-to-head in this spring’s Food Truck Throwdown. Admission is free, and if last October’s star-studded bout was any indication, the chance to chow down en masse should by no means be missed.

“Both cities have some fantastic trucks,” says Mei Mei Street Kitchen co-founder Irene Li. “Not only do we get to eat each others’ food, but we also get a little time to talk, compare notes and learn from one another.”  

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  View Slideshow

  PHOTOS: Food trucks around town

The sibling-run Mei Mei Street Kitchen joins a roster of trucks armed to the teeth with talent — outdoor lunchers can count on appearances by favorites Bon Me, KickAss Cupcakes, Chubby Chickpea, and Roxy’s Grilled Cheese, among others.

“The last Throwdown feels like it happened ages ago,” Li says. “We’ve put dozens of new items on the menu since then, so we really tried to look at all of our dishes and pick the ones that are the most streamline-able and the most delicious.”

“Plus, we started making bacon,” she adds. “Expect lots of bacon.”

Included in a judging panel packed with local culinary luminaries and enthusiasts is Jamie Bissonnette, chef and owner of Toro and Coppa.

“Eighteen trucks… daunting. I am afraid I’ll miss something,” he says of the challenges that arise when faced with a Greenway littered with gourmet fare. “Judging this will be more about the cohesiveness of the foods, styles and overall flavor.”

Roxy’s Grilled Cheese founder James DiSabatino, the winner of last year’s Best Truck Design, is more than ready for the influx of meals on wheels. “The city didn’t allow food trucks three years ago, and now we have trucks from other cities visiting. That’s really cool in my book,” he says. “But, we still plan on kicking their a—es in the Throwdown.”

Last fall’s event fed more than 1,000 hungry city-dwellers, a wave that nearly brought the Roxy’s team to their knees. Not this year, DiSabatino assures. To boot, the grilled cheese experts will be offering a category dedicated to one event sponsor: Maker’s Mark. According to DiSabatino, “it’s going to knock some socks off.”

“It’s a food revolution. It’s changing the way people dine in urban areas,” he continues. “It had to happen.”

2013 Food Truck Throwdown
Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
The Greenway (between State and India streets), Boston
Free admission
foodtruckthrowdown.com

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One year ago, ten-year-old Scottish schoolgirl Martha Payne made headlines for blogging about her school meals and challenging food kids eat every day. At first, her primary school in Lochgilphead, western Scotland, forbade her from taking photos of what was on the lunch menu. But after her blog NeverSeconds went viral worldwide, the school gave in and announced all students would be given unlimited servings of fruit and vegetables.

Today, Payne is using her media success to champion food causes and raise money for a Mary’s Meals, a charity dedicated to support projects aimed at the poorest communities of the world to prevent child hunger.

The little blogger-activist told Metro how the internet and social media have been essential in helping others, and invites kids to be altruistic and visionary.

Q: How did you face the critics when you reported your school food in your school?

A: It was hard at times because not everyone was happy I was blogging. I did have permission from the school so I kept at it and didn’t give in. Because I was always honest it made it easier to face people.

Q: How did you realize the food in your school was unhealthy?

A: I live on a small farm and we grow some of our food. My food at home is very different. The food at school is very processed and I think simpler food is better.

Q: Now you support other kids worldwide. Can you tell us a little bit about that work?

A: My grandfather was a volunteer for Mary’s Meals and I have grown up knowing about it. Before my blog I made soaps and sold them to raise money for the charity. When someone commented on my blog that I was lucky to get any school lunch at all I decided to tell the readers about Mary’s Meals. I am glad I did!

Q: Do you consider yourself a role model for kids?

A: I didn’t plan to be a role model but if kids decide to do more to be heard and for others then I am happy!

Q: How would you encourage other kids and teenagers to join to this cause?

A: Kids are really good at sharing and getting along. We do it everyday in the playgrounds at our schools. We should remember we are the experts at that. Because of the internet we can share beyond our playground and countries. Also, don’t be scared to start a blog. You can change what you write without smudges, you can say what you care about and you can publish it!

Q: How important is social media for you?

A: My dad tweeted once about my blog and that’s how it started becoming famous. It is so quick to share stories that they can travel very fast. People do care about what children eat and about children that can’t get enough.

Q: Which is your favorite gadget?

A: My camera! I don’t have any other gadgets and use the family laptop to blog.

Q: Do you already know what are you going to study when you grow up?

A: I think I’d like to be an author or a journalist or a runner. Maybe I could be all three!

The post Child food blogger Martha Payne: ‘Thanks to the internet we can speak out’ appeared first on Metro.us.

Oh hai Spring, there you are. We sort of felt like you’d been avoiding us for awhile. Called your cell, and it went straight to voicemail. Heard you were hanging around with some hussies from out of town. But you’re here now, and that’s all that matters. We totally forgive you for giving us the cold (so, so cold) shoulder this past month because the minute you come around, we just feel all warm and happy and better about life in general. Damn, you know how to play it, Spring.

And while we know we really should be playing hard to get, we’re just way too excited that it might actually be getting balmy around these parts. Which is why we went ahead and rounded up some of our favorite places in this town to eat and booze al fresco. Which are basically our two favorite things to do al fresco.

The Sinclair
It might be jumping the gun to call this one of our favorites, as the Harvard Square restaurant/music venue just unveiled their brand new patio — which, according to Grub Street, has “seating made from “teak-like tropical hardwood,” with lots of twinkly lights” — two days ago. But judging from what we’ve seen from the Sinclair already (slammin’ cocktails, those delicious deviled eggs, uhh mimosa flights with brunch) we have a feeling this patio is going to be seeing some serious action this season. (Pour one out for our homie Tavern on the Water — the no-defunct Charlestown waterfront restaurant would have topped this list.)

Daedalus
Always a safe bet (if you get there earlier enough to beat the crowds). Daedalus’s roof deck seating is prime real estate for Cambridge folks who like to eat and drink tasty things in the sun.

The Rattlesnake
If you’re looking for outdoor hanging across the river, Brian Poe’s Boylston Street joint will do the trick. Just be prepared to wait on a line during rush hours because table seating on their roof deck is pretty competitive. (You might also try to snag a stool at their outdoor bar.)

The Landing
If you don’t mind battling for bar space with the hordes of thirsty after-work bros that crowd this waterfront patio like it’s having a fire sale on Vineyard Vines, you’ll be rewarded when you find yourself face deep in one of their enormous fishbowl cocktails.

Tia’s
Right down the dock from the Landing this after work meat market is a similar bro-magnet but offers more seating options. But less fishbowls.

Deep Ellum
If you’re in Allston, the only patio you need to know about is this one. Like most outdoor drinking spots in this town/on this list, tables are limited but it’s totally worth it to wait it out. Cozy, twinkling lights for atmosphere, killer cocktail and craft beer lists. You’re all set. Plus, you can hop over to the Model for dirt cheap PBRs once the sun goes down and you’re feeling chilly.

The Field
The Central Square pub’s back patio is no-frills but it’s one of our favorite places to sit awhile and drink an icy cold pint or five. Gets great sunlight too, if you get there early enough.

Eastern Standard
Sure, the views aren’t tremendous (unless watching packs of drunk Sox fans stumbling towards the T is your idea of a good view) but we’ll still frequent ES’s patio for delicious bar bites and an impressive cocktail menu. Plus, okay, the people watching can be amusing.

Charlie’s Beer Garden
Charlie’s Kitchen’s beer garden is big enough to accommodate crowds and is one of the chiller open air boozing locales on this list. Head over here if the Sinclair’s new patio is at capacity…or you just want to throw back some beers with your buds.

Atlantic Beer Garden
You really can’t go wrong with any place that has the words “beer” and “garden” in their name. And the outdoor seating is great here…if you can get it. Unfortunately, ABG’s upper deck is swarmed by sun-seeking tourists, most days. if you don’t feel like waiting out the line, try Whiskey Priest next door (tends to be ever-so-slightly less crowded) or Legal Test Kitchen down the street.

Have a favorite patio or out-of-the-way outdoor spot we missed? Let us know in the comments – this is a list that can never be too long. Never.

The post Spring has finally come to Boston: here are ten patios and roof decks where you can drink al fresco appeared first on Metro.us.

It must have seemed like a good idea at the time.

An American fan of the video sharing website Liveleak asked a fellow member, based in Finland, to send him a can of a traditional Scandinavian delicacy, surstromming.

In case you’re wondering, that’s fermented herring. And according to Japanese scientists, surstromming has one of the most putrid food smells in the world. That’s why it’s normally eaten outdoors, as this group of men, and a boy, from Andrews, Texas, found to their cost. (WARNING: Contains VERY STRONG LANGUAGE).

The Texans, armed with a gigantic bag of blue chips, bravely open the can, sent by Liveleak user Louhe-87 from Finland – and within seconds of opening the fish, the Americans find that the Japanese scientists were not kidding about the smell.

The results, as the appalling odor of rotten herring spew out, are hilarious.

The herring are traditionally caught in April and May and then fermented in brine until July when the canned fish, by now thoroughly stinking, is released for sale. It’s a huge shopping and cultural event – similar to the release of Beaujolais Nouveau in France – in countries such as Finland, Norway and Sweden, where surstromming is considered a delicacy.

The post Hilarious video of Americans getting their first taste of surstromming – the world’s stinkiest food appeared first on Metro.us.

America’s go-to weight management program turns 50 this year, and what better way to celebrate than with some of their delicious, guilt-free bites. That’s right, have another cheese puff— or three. To commemorate the milestone, Weight Watchers put out a new cookbook containing over 280 of their most-loved recipes with, of course, their PointsPlus values.

Make these adorable cheese puffs — perfect for your next party.

Recipe: Cheese puffs

SERVES 15
Vegetarian

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated fat-free milk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

¾ teaspoon dry mustard

¾ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground pepper

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 egg whites

½ cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Looking for an easy crowd pleaser? Look back to this sixties classic cocktail-party staple. Crispy on the outside with creamy centers, they’re irresistible morsels. Even better, you can make them in advance, freeze them, and reheat them at the last minute.

1 Bring the milk, butter, mustard, salt, and pepper to a boil in a medium saucepan; reduce the heat to medium. Beat in the flour and Parmesan cheese with a wooden spoon, stirring vigorously, until the mixture leaves the side of the pan. Cool for 10 minutes.

2 Adjust the racks to divide the oven into thirds; preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line two baking sheets with foil and lightly coat with nonstick spray.

3 With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs into the flour mixture until well blended. Sift in the baking powder, then add the egg whites and continue beating until the mixture is glossy and smooth. Beat in the cheddar cheese on low speed until just combined.

4 Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag or a plastic food-storage bag with a corner cut off. Pipe into 1-inch mounds, spacing 1 inch apart. (You can also pipe the mixture into 11/2-inch-long “fingers,” if you prefer.) You should have about 75 puffs or fingers. Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch, 22 minutes. Serve hot or warm.

per serving (5 puffs): 96 Cal, 4 g Total Fat, 2 g Sat Fat, 37 mg Chol, 255 mg Sod, 9 g Carb, 0 g Fib, 6 g Prot, 147 mg Calc.

PointsPlus value : 3

 Good Idea
To freeze the cooled puffs, place them on a baking sheet in the freezer until firm. Transfer to zip-close freezer bags and freeze for up to two months. To reheat frozen puffs, arrange on baking sheets. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven until hot and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes.

The post Weight Watchers 50th Anniversary cookbook appeared first on Metro.us.

Boston has its share of award-winning chefs and Kristen Thibeault, chef/owner of Lynn-based vegan catering company Kombu Kitchen, recently joined their ranks. Thibeault proved she could hold her own among chefs of all creeds when she won San Pellegrino’s Almost Famous chef competition in Napa,  a mainstream cooking competition.

Which is proof that it’s no longer weird to be vegan. Thibeault, 46, became vegan following successful treatment for cancer (uterine and breast). Indeed, the American Cancer Society recommends a plant-based diet.

The proof of in the vegan pudding lies in savvy preparation and intoxicating flavor, as is found in Kombu’s pumpkin polenta with apple compote. The sweetness comes from Thibeault’s custom blend of Stevia, raw agave, and xylitol, with just a hint of maple and molasses. Spicing combines cinnamon, cardamom, clove and nutmeg, enhancing the sweeter notes nicely.

The competition-winning dish was porcini crusted  “sweetbreads” made of seitan — which is compressed gluten, the protein mostly found in wheat. Kombu Kitchen’s current menu includes sautéed-glazed tempeh, another protein source, but made from fermented soybeans. It’s paired with vegetable crudités and a creamy textured Tuscan bean dip lightly seasoned with basil.

If you want to go even greener, you might try the Green Goddess soup (which sounds a bit, um, super-groovy, I know) — a lovely spring soup of green beans, broccoli, spinach, kale and herbs. And if this all sounds a bit earthy, know this: you’ll be getting a dose of tasty vitamin oomph with each dish.

Kombu Kitchen | 20 Wheeler St. Lynn | 617-939-9138 | kombukitchen.com 

The post Nosh on: Kombu Kitchen caters to the vegan crowd appeared first on Metro.us.

The opening of Spoke Wine Bar in Somerville late last month continued the increasingly fine food and drink-centric neighborhood’s expansion. In other words, Davis Square just got a little Davis Squarier. It’s a welcome addition. The space, with 12 tables brushing up against a 10-seater bar that sweeps back toward a small open kitchen, is a little joint that thinks big in its sourcing of unique wines and a full, dynamic bar program.

“When we first started training, and talking about spirits and cocktails, the first thing I said is that when you walk into a bar, it’s obvious right away when it doesn’t have a point of view, doesn’t know who it is,” bar manager Cali Gold explained. They’re first and foremost a wine bar here, but they’re also a bar that’s committed to serving beers you can’t find elsewhere, along with well-crafted cocktails. There’s no doubt that Gold can back up her latter point. She comes to Spoke after a few years at Drink in South Boston, the city’s preeminent cocktail bar for those who know that a whiskey slopped into a glass of coke is not a cocktail.

She, along with the rest of the staff, is extraordinarily knowledgeable on the wine list as well. Ultimately though, said Gold, the bar here is what you make of it. “We’re all about adapting to the different environments that the guests create,” she said. “Whether they want to taste through all the white wines and decide what’s best — or tell me what they’ve had in the past and I can whip out a craft cocktail that I know.”

This being a wine bar, however, I stuck to an array of well-chosen glasses — although the very rare Mezcalero #4 proved hard to resist. Many of the glass pours are Italian, complementing the kitchen’s steady output of charcuterie and cheeses. The Vigneto Saetti Lambrusco was a highlight — tart, crisp, cold, and effervescent — as was Valle dell’Acate Frappato, a complex wine with a nose of hibiscus and notes of both black pepper and black cherry.

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