Scrambled Heaven

Happy Holidays everyone! So now that I'm back after a very short holiday break I decided to put up my first cooking post. ( I want to apologize for the quality of these pics, but I was using my iPhone and also trying to cook at the same time.) This is the time of year when the cornucopia of goodies starts to show as my pants button screams for relief from my expanding waistline. From savory to sweet, it's hard to resist the allure of holiday snacking in between feasts.

Being one to never skip breakfast, I like to keep the "gravy train" going with a rich tasting plate that doesn't match the caloric and carb intake of last night's 5 slices of pie-fest. So for me, just a simple plate of scrambled eggs (done right) with a little bit of toast and perhaps a little leftover champagne with grapefruit or orange juice keeps the holiday spirit going.
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In my humble opinion, there's just about nothing more rich and flavorful than a perfectly cooked egg.... so my education to this point has taught me to simply, "not ruin it!" I don't like to add a lot of stuff; rather, just enough to highlight the flavor already there. As Thomas Keller says, "Take your time. Take a long time. Move slowly and deliberately and with great attention." I think this is especially true when cooking scrambled eggs. I've developed this technique for making scrambled eggs from numerous sources and recipes and I think I'm satisfied that this may be the best way.

Note: I'm just going to explain my technique so cream can always be substituted for milk and cheddar cheese can replace Havarti, etc. Just go low (heat) and slow and whatever you add or subtract should be fine.

Step 1: In a cool nonstick pan crack 2 eggs per person. Place a small pad of butter onto the eggs, this will melt as you start to stir later on and it will add a nice velvety touch. I also like to put a tablespoon (per 2 eggs) of milk or cream in as well. Don't use any oil or butter in the bottom of the pan because you don't want to saute it!!!

Step 2: Turn the heat onto medium-low and slowly stir the eggs using a plastic cake spatula. Be sure to run the spatula against the bottom of the pan so the egg doesn't start to stick to the bottom.

Step 3: Keep stirring until the eggs start to coagulate into little lumps. This is going to take a pretty long time. You may feel that the heat is too low, but don't turn it up and don't stir too fast. Eggs are very high in protein and high heat and high protein aren't good dance partners if you want a soft texture.

Step 4: After a while you will notice that there is very little "liquid" egg left and you are able to push it all to one side of the pan and most of it will generally stay there. This is the point where you are going to season the eggs and add cheese if you want. You want to wait until now to season them because if you do it beforehand, the salt will break down eggs and you wont get the right consistency.

Season with salt (a good sea or kosher salt) and just a little bit of fresh cracked pepper. I also like to put just a little cheese at this point. I like a mild cheese like Havarti or Munster. I find Cheddar a little too sharp for the delicate egg.

Step 5: Keep moving the eggs around so nothing burns. Once you don't see anymore liquid, immediately plate the eggs. You can also put a little sea salt on top at this point and let it melt ever so slightly. I like to serve it with toast and maybe a side of fruit.

Hopefully you'll like this technique for making scrambled eggs as much as I do. Happy holidays!

Hospital Food: A Re-introduction

Okay so it's been far too long since my last post. I apologize but I have several good excuses. One of which is that two very good friends of mine just had their first child!!

So shortly after their beautiful new son was born I went to the hospital to visit and share a meal. When my friend said they were going to order hospital food I was ready to politely decline, but ended up acquiescing. But wow was I surprised! The chicken pot pie had nice chunks of fresh chicken, a flakey crust and just the right amount of creamy to chunky ratio.

Since when does hospital food taste good? Was it because I was at the world renowned Brigham and Women's Hospital? Maybe. After getting back home I decided to do a little research and I found that a lot of people think hospital food (usually the perennial butt of bad food jokes) has been getting better.

It seems hospital food might be getting better beyond the confines of just The Brigham. Chowhound has a message board devoted to hospital food "where you live". Another website entitled, "Hospital Food", recently cropped up- along with a corresponding facebook page of course.

And why shouldn't food at a hospital be tastier? Noone really wants to be in a hospital and bad food probably only adds to the discomfort. Even more, the biochemical benefits of fresh and nutritious food have health effects that are even more important for those receiving treatment for and recovering from illness. There is even a group called Health Care Without Harm that has launched a campaign to implement healthier food options in health care facilities across the nation.

All of this got me thinking (usually a bad thing) that it's interesting how important food can be in our lives. Food can mark a celebration like a wedding or birthday. It can be the catalyst for that first date and the beginning of a special relationship or just a night hanging out with friends. It also can be the trigger to bring back nostalgic memories of holidays at home or favorite vacation spots or trips to the shore. And of course, it's the source of our energy and ability to stay healthy.

With all that said as I look back, maybe the quality of the hospital food wasn't necessarily better... but the sharing of a meal with friends and family in the presence of a beautiful new life- can make even the most drab of foods... taste divine.

Coffee addicts celebrate!!!

An article in the December 14/28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine conducted a meta-analysis which found that high intakes of coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and tea are associated with a reduced risk for type 2 diabetes.

The meta-analysis covered 18 studies, enrolling a total of 457,922 participants, reporting on the association between coffee consumption and diabetes. Of these, 6 (N = 225,516) also reported estimates of the association between decaffeinated coffee with diabetes, and 7 studies (N = 286,701) also reported estimates of the association between tea and diabetes.

As a self-professed "generation 'bucks-er", I think any legitimate reason to not give up my morning cup of joe is all the reason I need. Huzzah!

Farmer's Market: Marshall's Fenway Farmstand

Marshall's Fenway Farm Stand had it's grand opening today! It's located at 1345 Boylston St. and open 7 days a week, 9am-7pm Sun - Thurs / 9am-8pm on Fri & Sat.

For those who live in the Fenway neighborhood, their only alternative is Shaws and it goes without saying that the Fenway Shaws severely lacks in the fresh produce department. I really do think that most people would love to eat fruit and vegetables if it was fresh, accessible and affordable. When it comes to trying to eat healthy and cut out everything hydrogenated... Marshall's is a welcome sight.

They had some fruits, vegetables, breads and deserts and a pretty nice frozen food section with meats and pastas. The price point is similar to Whole Foods, but I was told that only a few of the items were organic or even from a farm. Either way, the competition is a welcome sight and a good use for the empty garage where Goodyear used to be.

Oh and they do have monkey bread which combined with a glass of apple cider, is my quintessential new england snack.

Good luck Marshall's Fenway Farm Stand!

1st up: Lansdowne Pub

Last night I met up with a friend after work for a late night meal at the newest local watering hole in the Fenway neighborhood, Lansdowne Pub, right off of Lansdowne Street. In a city where Irish Pubs outnumber McDonalds, it takes a lot to stand out.

I've been here a couple times before and I have to say: it's probably the best Irish Pub in Boston. As soon as you walk in out of the shadow of Fenway Park, you notice something right off the bat: the furniture! So I was told by our waitress that all the furniture was shipped directly from Ireland and I believe it. Rich dark wood with plush red velvet chairs and a very good sized bar area.

The beer selection is pretty good and they have the usual suspects on draft, Guinness, Smithwicks, etc. They also carry Anchor Steam, which is one of my favorite beers and haven't seen it too much on tap around here, so for that reason alone, Lansdowne is worth it.

The Shepard's Pie is definitely quality but I wouldn't say the best I've ever had. Every time I go there, the server swears by the crisps (potato chips) that are hand made and come with a Gruyere cheese dipping sauce. For some reason, it just doesn't do it for me. The cheese sauce is really runny and ends up falling off the crisp so you barely get any cheese. Is a good cheese to crisp ratio important? Maybe I'm being too picky.

In any case, my go-to is the Pork Chops in an apple cider glaze. It comes with a blue cheese disk, which is like an oval mozzarella stick- but with much more flavor. The chips (fries) are also amazing and you can get anything from cheese to curry to mushy peas as a topping. The only thing I would change about the chips is that they put all the "toppings" in side ramekins and don't quite get the mountain of cheese fries effect. I dunno maybe it's nostalgia or the carnie in me, but I prefer my cheese fries piled high underneath gobs of good stuff.

So last night I decided to try something I had never gotten before (mostly because I was always so full after the fries and pork chops). The Guinness Float is a pint of Guinness with two scoops of creamy vanilla ice cream..... yeah it's good. It's hard to beat a great Irish Pub and Lansdowne sets the benchmark for me, especially because it's only a couple blocks from my apartment.

The only negatives are that they are really focused on live "music" and they don't serve Irish Breakfasts for dinner. On most week nights they have local bands or live band karaoke. I find that having to yell at your server so they can hear you can be a little annoying, and it's hard to have a real conversation with anybody so I don't think I'll be taking any first dates there. And yeah I admit it, I'm a breakfast guy. If I could have breakfast for every meal of the day, I wouldn't complain so it's a little disappointing that they don't serve Brinner (breakfast for dinner).

In this case, location and convenience will trump the northeastern university electronic funk sensation and lack of Brinner so I give Lansdowne a pretty solid lobster mac 'n' cheese rating.

Lobster Mac 'n' Cheese

Hi,

So I just watched the final episode of Top Chef last night and was relatively happy with the result- probably because I made a bet with my friend that Michael would win over Brian. I have to admit, I was a big Kevin fan, but he did lack the technical and creative skill set the Voltaggio brothers had.

During the show, my friend was hungry and all she had in the fridge was some romaine lettuce for a salad. So she took the romaine out, sprinkled some almonds onto it and dressed it with a bottled balsamic vinaigrette. She asked if I wanted some and I gave her a sorta stink eye look. I thought to myself, now why not put some watermelon in there, maybe some feta cheese and maybe a raspberry vinaigrette instead of boring balsamic... now THAT would spice it up a notch!

Okay so what the hell is wrong with me? When did I become Jeffrey Steingarten? And worse, how the hell do I know who Jeffrey Steingarten is!?! (He's that angry food critic on iron chef America).

In today's world of 10-14 hour work days and my nervous twitch that invariably leads me to check and re-check my iphone for work email, food has become the one consistent hobby I have left. Most social evenings with friends center around good food and drink and it's always exciting to try some place new (although having a go-to classic spot is just as key). But something I've realized is that good food and drink doesn't mean lobster and a bottle of kistler and cheap eating doesn't need to be a subway $5 footlong.... although I love both. What I'm really looking for is something in the middle aka my lobster mac 'n' cheese.

I've tried to do a couple blogs in the past and just didn't have the energy to keep them up. Probably because I talked about politics, law, and health care which is what I do all day. I think this blog has a better shot at sustainability because food is something completely different from what I do.

I'm hoping this blog will be helpful and fun for other people like me out there and would love suggestions along the way.

Cheers and Bon Appetit!

-Andy