Date Night 3: Salts

(the photo above is from Salts' website)

One of the best meals I have had was at Salts in Cambridge in July of 2007, just after the chef, Gabriel Bremer, was acknowledged as a great chef by Food and Wine Magazine. Although I hesitated in returning to the same restaurant for my birthday dinner, memories of the place brought us back.

We were not disappointed. Our pleasure began with phone calls to make reservations. Analia Verolo is one of the kindest, most considerate hosts I have encountered. As an example, she called us at 7:30 to say that a table would be available at 8 (earlier than our 8:30 reservation) because she knew we wanted a table at an earlier time. Once we arrived her warmth settled us and made us feel truly welcome to the restaurant. The space itself is small (just about 15 tables) and elegant without being pretentious. From the moment I walked in, I left my “mommy world” behind and could just enjoy the meal.

Although so many possibilities tempted us as we reviewed the menu, we decided to once again have the Tasting Menu. Although it is described as a chance for the chef to create small versions of 5 courses, by the end of the evening we had eaten 8 (!) fabulous dishes. Needless to say I was full for the rest of the weekend.

What struck me again this visit was the preparation and artistry that goes into each course. As only a distracted mother would do, I left my camera at home, so I can’t do justice to the beauty of each dish. (The photo at top is from the Salts’ website.) But each element is clearly crafted over time and thoughtfully put down on each dish. And the reality is that each plate tasted as glorious as it looked.

I also appreciated how many of the items were from the Salt’s farm (owned by Gabriel Bremer’s father and located in New Hampshire), especially when the vegetables were so delicious even on a chilly November night.

I have listed each item below, using the original Salt’s description with extra details from my memory.

1. Amuse bouche of cauliflower soup with crushed cashews and raisins. This was one of my favorite dishes of the night. The soup was comforting and smooth, but the cashews added a wonderful contrast.

2. Heirloom beet and artichoke salad with toasted almond, preserved lemon, wild honey, and homemade farmers cheese. It included beet “paper” and amaranth micro greens. This was a nice starter and a nice twist on the ubiquitous beet salad. The Marcona almonds added a great saltiness and texture.

3. Truffle poached Pacific Sturgeon with heirloom potato gnocchi, pickled beets,
black truffle "caviar", and creme fraiche dill emulsion. It came with celery leaf microgreens. My husband loved this riff on a Slavic dish. It was perfumed with the truffle oil and was moist and flavorful.

4. Ballotine of free range Chicken with Salts farm honey roasted sunchokes,
baby carrots, artichokes, and candied lemon. This is one of Salt’s signature dishes and it is just delicious, capturing the essence of chicken with the most incredible crispy chicken skin. I particularly enjoyed the candied lemon peel which was a nice twist on lemon juice itself.

5. Painted Hills beef Sirloin with Salts farm heirloom potatoes, foraged grand trumpet mushrooms, and roasted onion soubise. This was served with Salts signature selection of salts (this time from Australia, France and Hawaii). The beef was moist, lean and wonderful. It was not as complex a dish as the others, and I am not sure I am a new fan of the trumpet mushrooms, but the meat was lovely.

6. Date semi-freddo/parfait; apple sorbet, apple/white chocolate mousse and a sugar cookie sable. This was fantastic. The apple sorbet tasted of the most delicious apple pie…without the pie. It wasn’t too sweet and was a nice transition from the beef.

7. "Chocolate Truffle" with texture cashew, coffee gelée, apricot, and cashew curry ice cream. This sounds odd, but was one of the best dishes I have ever had. The curry ice cream completed changed the taste of the truffle. The subtle spicing smoothed the richness of the truffle while bringing out the depth of the chocolate itself.

8. Mulberry pate a fruit and a macadamia nut and curry chocolate truffle. We ate this at home…we were just too full!

An Unassuming Noodle Haven: E O Noodle, Framingham

I have mentioned EO Noodle a number of times in this blog, but I thought it was time to do it justice. A very small and modest spot on Route 9 in Framingham, it is defined by its lack of pretentiousness. In fact, I think "charming" might be the best word to describe the atmosphere. The outside is so minimalist and the curtains so often pulled that a friend insisted they had closed. No. It is still open daily. Inside it is painted salmon with bright garish flowers on the wall. There are just a few tables and today, for example, my cup was chipped.

The menu never seems quite accurate. FoodieDaddy's sesame chicken was neither stir fried nor spicy as the menu noted. So, it is good to ask questions.

There is also only one main server. He is also the same man that answers the phone. And he is also the owner and cook. When it is busy, expect him to be abrupt, but when it is quieter, he will start up a conversation and even crack a smile. His gruff manner masks a very considerate man: when he realized FoodieDaddy wasn't going to eat a side order of soup (too spicy), he brought him another.


Clearly, we don't go there for atmosphere. We go there for the food and for the special touches that we have only found in Chinatown or at much higher end restaurants. For example, the spicy sauce on the tables is home made. And it is so, so good. Layered with flavor, simply calling it "hot" doesn't do it cover how delicious it is. The home made wontons (which are offered with pork or vegetable or to my husband's delight, chicken) are individually made. They are tender, moist and flavorful but also comforting. You can have them with any of 3 sauces (Dan Dan, a peanut sauce; a ginger sauce or a spicy soy sauce) and if you are very nice, you might even get 2.

My husband raves about the Mongolian style barbecue. Again, it is definitely not barbecued and I am not convinced they eat this in Mongolia. But it is incredibly well seasoned stir fry with chicken that is so soft it almost melts in the mouth. It is served with a great helping of vegetables and just enough sauce. You can have it with rice, but we always choose the noodles.

In fact, besides the addictive wontons, we really go there for the noodles. They offer 2 types of homemade noodles, thin and thick, and both are fantastic. They are tender, but yet have a bite. The Dan Dan noodles come with sliced cucumber, steamed spinach and just enough sauce. The sauce tastes of sesame seeds and soy, with barely any garlic and just a hint of peanuts. The "Meat Noodles" are made chicken while the "Peking Meat" noodles have pork. The "Meat Noodles" is one of my favorites: again, lightly cooked ground chicken in an incredibly flavorful sauce served over the homemade noodles.

I have also had the roast duck noodle soup which consisted of a large bowl of deeply flavored stock with fried shallots and large pieces of duck. I appreciated that when we took out the broth, the duck and the noodles were all packaged separately so they wouldn't be soggy at home. Again, another great touch. The Szechuan Spicy Beef Noodle Soup was very good, though it definitely wasn't spicy enough for my taste.

The place isn't perfect-sometimes the sauces can be a bit heavy or the noodles can be so covered in sauce that it is hard to enjoy them. (In the future I plan to ask them to always pack the noodles separate from the toppings.) But the prices are reasonable, the parking is easier than a trip to Chinatown and the noodles are always so, so good. Finally, since the portions are so generous, any trip to E.O. Noodle guarantees us a second meal the next day (and 2 less meals we have to cook!)

FoodieMommy Eats Happily...at a Food Court! The Super 88 Food Court

I have always had ambivalent feelings about taking my toddler to restaurants. On the one hand, I want to expose him to the pleasures of eating out while giving him the chance to learn how to behave at someone else's table. However, although I know a few great kid-friendly restaurants and I always arrive prepared (with a bag full of non-messy crafts and lots of food he will definitely eat), there is always the sense of anxiety that makes it difficult to fully enjoy the meal.

The solution? The Super 88 Food Court at 1095 Commonwealth Ave in Allston. First there is free parking. Sometimes you need to circle a bit, but you can almost always find a spot. Next, there is a huge area for sitting, so toddlers can easily roam and you don't have to worry about the noise factor. Finally, the incredible range of delicious (and affordable!) foods means that every member of the family can have dishes that meet their individual tastes while trying something new.

My favorites: First and foremost, Pho Viet.

Their beef soup is spicy and flavorful. I love that they always give you a few fresh herbs to put on top yourself. Their Banh Mi or grilled meat sandwiches are the epitome of a dish that is more than the sum of its parts. The fresh crunchy roll holds freshly grilled meat, pickled daikon and carrots, cilantro, peppers and a fabulous sauce. All for, drum roll please, $3.50! My favorite, though, is their homemade soy milk. It is as different from what you buy at the grocery store as real mac and cheese is to the boxed versions. It is light, incredibly flavorful and just sweetened enough. It cuts the spicy dishes, but is refreshing at the same time. I love it hot and cold.

Next, the Misono Grill for Korean specialties. This is owned by the same family who owns Apgujung in Newton Center. I particularly like the chap chae (sauteed clear sweet potato noodles and a sauce of soy sauce and sesame oil.)

I always go to the Dim Sum Chef. (The photographs at the top of this post are of their custard steam buns and shrimp har gao.) Honestly, it isn't up to the same caliber as Gitlo's down the street, but the parking is certainly easier and it is very, very good. I love that they have a photographic menu so you can see each item you are ordering, and that almost all items have a vegetarian equivalent. For example, they have vegetarian pork buns. Their steamed buns are moist, but I was most taken with the chicken and black mushroom on steamed rice. The portion was enormous and it had a subtle curry flavor. My husband loves the vegetarian rice noodles.


Kantin is the main Chinese food stall and is unique for its fantastic range of Chinese entrees, from congee to chow foon. You can get more standard Americanized Chinese food (chicken and broccoli) or more authentic dishes such as spicy salted tofu. The roast meats aren't as good as those I have had in Chinatown, but again, the convenience can't be beat.


Finally, I have had a few delicious dishes from Wisteria which offers Taiwanese food. They offer rice bowls that are wonderful.

Currently there is also an Indian food and Thai food, as well as frozen yogurt and bubble (tapioca) tea stalls. I haven't frequented those as often, but they are popular.

The Food Court is fun, it is easy, it is cheap, it is tasty and most of all, it is a place for kids to run around. Not sure it gets much better than that!

Rediscovering a Friend: The Victory Garden Cookbook

I have been known to read cookbooks to bed. I snuggle in, pull up the covers and with the same excitement that others read a new magazine or a great novel, I eagerly anticipate each recipe. I try to keep my buying to a minimum, especially now that I get so many of my recipes from the web. But there is one cookbook that I find myself returning to over and over. It is not glamorous. It is not sophisticated and it is definitely not low-fat. I can't even tell you when I bought the Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Morash, and in fact, my edition is from 1982. But I love it for many reasons. I can always count on simple, delicious recipes for an enormous range of vegetables. I also appreciate how Morash explains how to clean, store and cook each item in clear language. Since we have relied on getting our produce solely from the Dover Farm CSA this summer and fall, I have found myself facing a large number of less than familiar veggies. So, I have frequently picked up her book to help me decide how to cook fresh edamame, for great ways to prepare radishes and for new uses for shallots.

When Raphael and I returned home from the Dover CSA with leeks and celery root this week, I knew I could find some great recipes to prepare. I am not going to try to persuade you to try the celery root vinaigrette or the baked celery root for that matter. Neither were bad, but it seemed more like I was just tasting celery in potato form.

However, the two leek dishes were much more successful. First, I made a pasta omelet of sorts. Raphael loves his pasta, so I try to make a significant portion about once a week. I refrigerate the rest and serve it to him at least twice. However, I often end up with leftover pasta. One of my new staple dishes is to briefly reheat the pasta in a pan , then pour scrambled eggs over and cooked for a few more minutes over medium heat. This time I sauteed leeks first and then added the pasta and eggs.

It was delicious warm, as well as chilled the next day.

But the highlight was from the Victory Garden book. Titled, "Leek and Barley Soup" the original recipe calls a double step of cooking barley and for 1 cup of cream. As I am still trying to work off the post-partum pounds, I skipped the cream and the finished soup was still deliciously thick and rich. As for the barley, I cooked it with chicken stock in the rice cooker and it was chewy and perfectly cooked. I then simply sauteed leeks, shallots, onion and carrot in butter and olive oil on medium heat until they had softened. Raphael then helped me to use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the pot. He also enjoyed adding the barley and stirring until it was mixed in. Overall the soup was a wonderful fall soup-creamy and textured with the barley. It also reheated beautifully at work the next day. I couldn't quite persuade Raphael to eat it, but my husband loved it...

From An Amazing Batida to Zany Zebras: The Franklin Park Zoo and El Oriental de Cuba

The weather was perfect for an outing this weekend, so we headed off to the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston. And because any trip must be accompanied by great food, we were barely down the driveway before my husband asked, "So, where are we going for lunch?" And, I confess, I spent a good deal of time at the zoo pondering that question.

But first, the Zoo. Like many toddlers, my son loves animals. He has animal figures, animal pajamas, animal stories and he sings endless versions of "Do the Monkey" by the Wiggles. So when he recently asked to go to the zoo, we were more than happy to take him.

Although the Franklin Park Zoo is hardly an undiscovered paradise, I am embarrassed to admit that I didn't go until I was in my early 30s. However, it is fast becoming a favorite. First, it is amazing to actually get face to face with ostriches, kangaroos, wildebeest, giraffes, prairie dogs, tamarins, snakes, gorillas, lions, tigers, jaguars and ponies all in one day. As zoos go, this is also a particularly clean one and while not perfect, it certainly has the semblance that the animals are well taken care for. As my toddler is at that amazing place where he is curious about everything, it was a joy to watch him stare at and ask about each animal. But what I also love is the space for him to run and to just be a kid. They have a small area for young children to get closer to the animals, a farm with a petting area, a carousel and a park with climbing structures. The volunteers are knowledgeable and you can easily spend the day just learning from the people and information that is there. Finally, I appreciate, deeply, the diversity of the people who come there to enjoy the open space and fun experience. As an added bonus, it is also half price on the first weekend of each month!

You could easily spend a day there, especially if you brought a picnic. There is also the adjacent Franklin Park or nearby Arnold Arboretum to explore. And the Zoo itself does have food options but they range the gamut of hot dogs to reheated Uno's pizza.

So, by 1:00, I was still torn between Poppa B's in Dorchester (amazing fried chicken and cornbread), Piccos (pizza and ice cream in the South End) and, one of our favorites-El Oriental de Cuba. Realizing that Oriental was only about 10 minutes away, we headed there.
El Oriental is a pretty perfect restaurant-incredibly friendly servers, good prices and big portions of absolutely delicious food. Each time I have also been struck by how welcoming the atmosphere is to children, as well. The last time we were there, after asking about 2 dishes, the server actually brought us a taste to make sure that we and our son would enjoy it!

We always start with a batida, which is essentially a milk shake. They come in great flavors-from mango to guava to my favorite, passion fruit. This time we tried blackberry. It was tangy and delicious. No matter how caffeinated I am, I can never resist the cafe con leche-deep espresso with sweet, rich milk. As for the dishes-although they are known for their cuban sandwiches, I can return again and again for the chicken fricassee. Essentially cuban chicken stew, it is comfort food at its best. The chicken is falling off the bone tender. It comes with wonderful potatoes that absorb the delicious sauce. You get two choices with most main dishes. First, you will be asked if you want white rice or yellow. Do not, do not pass on the yellow. It is fantastic-full of tender pigeon peas (like, mild black beans), tomatoes and carrots. You will also need to choose between sweet maduros or fried tostones. My recommendation: get two main dishes and get one portion of each so you don't have to make such a hard choice in the first place.

This time we also decided to try the "fried chicken." Take any image of batter dipped chicken out of your head. Instead, as FoodieDaddy put it, the dish was more similar to boneless Chinese chicken wings...Cuban style! Pictured at the top of this post, these little bits were salty but also tender and addictive.

We have tried a few other dishes. I can't say I am quite as fond of the ropa vieja (shredded steak in a tomato based sauce) but it is definitely popular among friends. My son ordered a burger, but then promptly spent the meal inhaling the fried plantain chips, the maduros and all the pigeon peas to my complete delight.

The Most Delicious of Misshapen Muffins

I know that the thought of cooking with a toddler can bring images of messy countertops and unappetizing baked goods. But, I still melted the day that my 2 1/2 year old son asked me if we could cook together for the first time. "We make cupcakes, Mommy?" We had only cooked one other time, making somewhat edible chocolate cookies. The reality is that R's allergy to eggs definitely makes baking sweets a bit challenging. Once again, Baking Without Eggs by Rosemarie Emro came to our rescue. Rather than make cupcakes, in the interest of healthy cooking and eating, I made her applesauce muffins. (I still called them "cupcakes" and, luckily, at 2 1/2 R. doesn't yet know the difference!)

Just as I had done the first time, I prepared most of the ingredients in advance so that R. could do most of it himself, with minimal mess. So, after nap time a string of measuring cups were all laid out. R. was excited just to put the items in a bowl and stir. I let him add as many raisins as he wanted-really the perfect toddler item for baking. I realized that one of the joys of skipping eggs was that I had no worries about him liking the spoon, the bowl, the measuring cups-all of it!

The biggest uncertainty came when we finally had to pour the muffins in the pan. R. is in the typical toddler phase in which he insists that he does everything himself. And after all the cooking together, I wanted to give him the chance to make them from start to finish. I am not a perfectionist baker by any means, so it didn't take much for me to let go of any image of big beautiful muffins. Instead, I gave R. a spoon and a cup and let him measure and pour and fill. And he did a great job.

Of course I put them in the oven, but I turned on the oven light so he could watch them bake. And ultimately (and a big surprisingly), they were delicious. They were moist, lightly scented with cinnamon and apple and stayed fresh for a few days. And R. couldn't have been more proud.

Another Dover Farm Meal-Sauteed Greens and Chickpeas

As I wrote about in an earlier post, since the late spring, we have been members of the new CSA at the Dover Farm. Essentially, we own a share of the farm which means that we pay in advance, take on the risk of a farmer, but reap the wonderful benefits as the vegetables come in. Each week I have taken my sons on Tuesday afternoons to gather our week's produce. As our infant watches from his car seat, R. (my toddler) and I read the signs that tell us all the treats that are available. I pick R. up, and let him choose the cucumbers, weigh the tomatoes and place the kale gently in our bags.

It has been a unique, wonderful and fascinating experience on so many levels. I have loved watching my son grow accustomed to picking up organic produce directly at the farm. I have found it interesting to wonder how this year's corn crop will do and how the rain affected the tomatoes. One week we were welcome to pick organic raspberries and another week we were given a chance to chose from beautiful flowers.

This week I was also struck by an oxymoron-when I shop at the grocery store, I am greedy. I choose the best tomato with no regard for those who will follow. But at the CSA pick-ups, I want to be mindful of people who are coming after us. So, instead I choose the tomato that isn't quite ripe and leave the big cucumbers and zucchinis for others.

Finally, as a cook, I usually decide what I am going to make and then scout out the vegetables. I also tend to play it safe, buying broccoli and cauliflower, carrots and peas. But I have loved the challenge of being faced with a decent quantity of veggies that I didn't anticipate and don't use regularly in my cooking. Thus, leeks, rainbow swiss chard kale, Italian flat beans, many multi-hued beets, Thai basil and scallions have made their way into our repertoire (and into my toddler's growing vocabulary!)This week we collected more than I ever remember. We could choose from 6 different herbs, multiple types of summer squash and eggplant, scallions, leeks, kale, chard, tomatoes, beans, corn, carrots and big beautiful sunflowers.

At night, I prepared a new dish that we are all loving: I simply sauteed shallots and garlic in olive oil until they were softened. I added chopped swiss chard and kale (you could use any well-washed leafy green) and some chicken broth and let them simmer for a bit. Once it had cooked down (about 20 minutes), I added a drained can of chick peas, a chopped and cored tomato and some salt and pepper. (Red pepper flakes also make a great addition, but then neither my son or husband will eat them!) Last week we ate this over rotini. Tonight, I added some olive oil at the end and ate it warm with some fresh Italian bread. My toddler preferred me to pick the chickpeas out but he did try (and actually enjoy!) the kale. It was quick and easy and, when R. asked, "Where we get the kale, Mommy?", I could say, "At the farm!"