4.10.2007

Worst Slice


There's no question that the Salted Cod has a weakness for pizza, and as a new contributor I felt obligated to blog this slice. If you didn't know already, Regina is Boston's best. Unfortunately, this is only true when you visit the original Thatcher Street location in the North End. I was on my way to a concert on Lansdowne and opted for the food court in the Pru, and made the worst pizza decision of my life. Their first mistake was choosing to not re-heat my slice and instead throwing it in one of those lame cardboard slice-shaped boxes. Lame. Second mistake, ordering two slices. I know good pizza when I see it, and I definitely was not seeing it. But my hunger got the best of me and there I was, sitting in the filthiest food court of one of the bougiest malls with two soggy, under-cooked slices in two hideous (and rather wasteful) boxes. As I was picking at the remains of my room temperature cheese, I realized I actually had a better slice of Regina at the Holyoke Mall. Man. The obvious moral of this pizza tale of woe is always stick with the original. And, for your own amusement here is a collection of me suffering through this poor meal choice.

4.09.2007

Red Velvet

As the newest member of the Salted Cod (and the only one with the patience for baking), I was inspired to make a red velvet cake from the delicious cupcakes found at Tonnie's minis. The recipe is quite basic, mainly consisting of cocoa, vinegar, buttermilk, lots of sugar and of course red food coloring. The most important step in baking this cake was creating a paste of unsweetened cocoa and 1 oz. of food coloring to be folded into the batter. As seen in the photos below, the color becomes freakishly red after a few turns.


In the end I realized that the red velvet formula is far more superior as cupcakes. Don't get me wrong, this cake was baked with love and definitely gave me my chocolate fix, but I think because of its intense sweetness it fairs better in smaller doses.



4.08.2007

The Salted Cod gets sauced


sample size
Originally uploaded by t8074.
Almost.



The Salted Cod recently took an unexpected field trip to the Harpoon Brewery this weekend. Harpoon gives tours of their Boston brewery Tuesday through Saturday. It's not so much a tour but more of a beer tasting and information session. No reservations are necessary just show up at one of the specified tour times. Your host talks about each beer Harpoon brews in pretty good detail, while the massive mob is trying to get as many free samples as possible.

The Salted Cod tasted the UFO which is an unfiltered Hefeweizen style beer with lemony overtones. The Salted Cod says this is an excellent summer brew giving house favorite Hoegaarden some stiff competition. Also sampled and pictured on the right is the Harpoons 100 Barrel Series. As explained by our host the 100 barrel series is a special opportunity for their brewers to make something they really enjoy in small batches. This beer is based on a Danish Style Farmhouse Ale they tasted in Denmark. Our guide said Harpoon actually flew the Danish Brewer over to help them craft this beer in its true form. It's a good beer with a lot of different flavors going on.

It's a recommended visit if you have the chance and it's free!

4.04.2007

Yoshi's


Sometimes the Salted Cod is too lazy to cook.

Hey, it happens to the best of us. With Yoshi's down the street it happens to the best of us about once a week.

Fast Food (in another part of the world)

Falafel pita's are definatley one of my favorite vegetarian entrees. Who can resist that stuffed pita?

Step 1 - Make some grilled pita's


Step 2 - Make some falafel


Step 3 - Put it all together and enjoy*


*Excluded steps - making of homemade cucumber yogurt sauce. Adding of toppings of tomato, lettuce, pickels and hot sauce.

4.03.2007

Happy Birthday to The Salted Cod!


The Salted Cod turns one year old today!!

It has been a good year for food, people have become more conscious of where the food they eat is actually coming from. This is actually The Salted Cod's 50th post as well. We have had well over 1000 vistors to the site since our first post. For this upcoming year my goal is to post at least one entry per week.

I would like to thank Steve for a lot of the behind the scenes prep work, he has helped to make this an enjoyable experience for me. I would also like to thank Lisa for her endless help with kitchen cleanup.

Support your farmers market this summer. Join a CSA, try to eat food that was only grown and or produced within a 100 mile radius of your home.

I love getting comments so keep them coming, and if you have any suggestions for the upcoming year let me know.

Eat local, eat less and eat fresh.

Local Harvest
Michael Pollan's resources for "sustainable eating"

Thank You
The Salted Cod

3.23.2007

Tacos Al Pastor




Ok, so Steve and I have been on mission to make some authentic tacos similar to those back in the Southwest. We bought the masa mix and we were determined to make out own tortillas. It turns out you really do need a tortilla press to get the right. We tried and tried but it just wasn't quite the same. They tasted right but they looked like little mongrels. We stewed some pork for a couple of hours in this extra spicy chili sauce/stew I brewed up. We had tons of fresh lime to squeeze on, diced red onions, cilantro and some fried mexixan queso, and diced tomatos. it was a hell of a lot of work for this dinner but well worth it. Eat your heart out taco bell.

Spaghetti Regine Ragu


Pork Rib Ragu, with these huge hollow spaghetti tubes. Never seen them before, I found them in a small italian market in Somerville. The ragu was extremely flavorfull while the pasta was a bit clumsy. In the end it was damn tasty as you can see.

South Face Farm


Tried a new maple house...
South Face Farm in Ashfield. The owner Tom was a nice fellow his sugaring technique was a bit too modern for me. Overall not the greatest experience. After the extra long wait in the freezing cold we were seated inside the dining room which was a step up from a barn. The syrup was very light and not too robust in flavor. One oil can per table seemed quite sparingly as well for six people. The pancakes we're heavy, the fritters we're great. Paper plates and plastic silverwear all around. The pickles we're soggy too. Next time I'm going back to Gould's.

Irish

2.15.2007

2.14.2007

Happy Valentines Day!


I was hungry last night and attempted to make pita bread. It wasn't quite as good as store bought. Well it definatley wasn't as good as store bought. The finished product was hollow somehow though. This one pictured is a special V-Day Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce pita.

Pita Pockets


1.20.2007

Frenchie


Homemade french toast with homemade bread.

1.18.2007

I knead some bread


For months now there has been a bread machine in one of my cabinets and tonight I decided it was time and I invested in a $4 bag of bread flour. The recipe for a basic white loaf was simple, I dumped everything in the machine and came back two hours later to a round loaf of bread. It actually tasted great. Good for the simple breads but I still miss my crusty long loafs. I calculated I could make 9 loafs from that one bag of flour bringing my costs to about $0.50 a loaf. Not bad.

1.17.2007

Balsamic!


A bottle of Balsamic...
This is my balsamic lemon chicken.
The chicken is dredged lightly in flour then peppered on the heavy side. Fry it up, remove it from the pan, and pour out excess oil. Deglaze the pan with some balsamic vinegar and the juice of half a lemon. Now you've got some excellent sauce for that chicken mini-portobello’s and baby spinach.

1.14.2007

Fiesta Mac n Cheese

This is my Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Mac n Cheese!



Idealy this dish should be made with freshly roasted green chilies from you know where. In this case it's quite hard to find them this time of year in the northeast. I went with some poblano peppers. I oiled them quite heavily and roasted them over an open flame on the stove.

I then went ahead and made a standard mac n cheese recipe. I chopped up the roasted poblanos and a small amount of chopped cilantro and added that into the cheese sauce. On top I substituted in fresh chopped tortillas from the "Frontier" in ABQ. Delicious.
Next time more peppers...

9.06.2006

Eggies


There were two eggplants just sitting there and I was bored.

8.28.2006

Slice

This is Boston's 2nd best slice.

8.22.2006

Farmers Market Caprese


This was the best caprese of the summer right here. My own grown basil, zebra heirlooms from Kimball fruit farm and Mozzarella di Bufala Campana from Italy.

8.19.2006

TC Lando's


No surprise here, this place is like the holy grail of steak and cheese sub shops. I have been lucky enough feed my belly with one the these since the shop was in Maynard way back in the day. A damn tasty steak & cheese that has been known to cause cravings in people as far away as Rapid City and Los Angeles. A no thrills shop that you get what you pay for (that is a mini sub pictured be warned.) The only steak and cheese that I know of where the steak is chopped small. It almost melts in your mouth like a little bit of steak and cheese heaven.

8.14.2006

What's for dinner


Leek ravioli
Originally uploaded by t8074.
Dave's fresh pasta goat cheese & leek ravioli with sage brown butter.

8.08.2006

MV Bakery


mvbakery cupcake 3
Originally uploaded by t8074.
I stopped in for breakfast at the MV Bakery and grabbed a great croissant. later that day it was a homemade cupcake. great moist yellow cake with a mountain of frosting housed in an original container.

Beach dog


Beach snack
Originally uploaded by t8074.
yeah, same place as the slush. Nothin' fancy.

Beach slush


Beach slush
Originally uploaded by t8074.
Nothing better than homemade lemon-lime beach slush. Cheap satisfaction on a hot day. Found this good stuff biking from Oak Bluffs to Edgartown on the main drag.

Beach clams


Fried Clams
Originally uploaded by t8074.
Oh man so much good food packed into such a small harbor. These whole belly clams are from that little shack on the right on the way to Menemsha harbor.

Lobster Roll


Lobster Roll
Originally uploaded by t8074.
The glorious Menemsha fish market lobster roll. Still warm dripping with butter and lemon.

Dippin Donuts

Holly Smokes! Two indie donut shops in a row!! This place "Dippin Donuts" Has great cinnamon donuts, with a nice powdery cinnamon-sugar coating. They also serve homemade bagels which are great but...after touring NYC I was very disappointed to see them just shove a tiny cream cheese container and a knife in my bag. You take the time to make the bagel, how about getting some good cream cheese and putting it on for your customers as well. Still worth checking out.




7.18.2006

Flemmings Donut Shack


Tasty homemade donuts in East Dennis Massachusetts.

6.24.2006

Cape Cod Grapes

The Salted Cod decided to stop for a quick drink to quench his thirst as he was driving to Race Point beach. Located just a stones throw from Route 6, Truro Vineyards is worth the stop.

Go with a friend and for $5 a piece you get to taste all 10 wines Cape Cod's only vineyard has to offer. Sara Hutchings the local vineyard guru was more than happy to pour us a few before the lunch hour. Sara was extremely knowledgeable and super friendly explaining everything from the vineyards landscape to the buttery effect oak barrels bring to wine. I have to admit this was my first time doing a tasting and it was damn fun. We got to hang out in the warm Cape Cod sun analyzing each variety the vineyard offers. Sara was good at keeping me on my toes by helping me pinpoint flavors and attributes of each wine.

The Salted Cod's wine of choice was their "Cranberry Infusion." Bottled in a killer lighthouse it's great for summer sipping, who can say no to that! The runner up was the 2002 Cabernet Franc. It was hard walking away only purchasing one bottle but hey I'll be back...

6.01.2006

What's for dinner?


This is actually a two part series becuase some people are still afraid of fish. The substitute for this evening is a wonderful bourbon marinated chicken skewer. (They had salmon envey though let me tell you!)

What's for dinner?

Wild Sock eye Salmon, summer rice, local asparagus & pea shoots!