P.G

I was recently at the boisterious boite The Beehive for a holiday party. While we were there, I ran into Dave Andelman of Phantom Gourmet fame. Yours truly went up to Dave and said the very eloquent statement "I watch you hungover on Sunday mornings!" I'm sure he was pleased to know that his show and his family has made such an entree into our lives.

Sheesh.

But, for all the randomness and restaurant babble that comes with the Phantom Gourmet, it's at least good for making me hungry on Sundays - that's a job done right. Right?

Snow Day(s)

If, like me and the majority of the Eastern seaboard, you were snowed in this weekend, you likely watched a lot of TV and ate some comfort food. We were affixed to the couch this weekend, literally only moving for satiation (cheeseburgers, chinese delivery, Whole Foods). We went through two-thirds of The Godfather trilogy, so we felt like we'd at least accomplished SOMETHING.

I think that snow makes me want comfort foods and I had a super craving for New England clam chowder...I just am particular about my chowder so I decided to make my own. Something full of veggies, not too creamy, but perfect clam/milkiness. Here is the recipe that I followed, compliments of Cooking Light.

4 (6 1/2-ounce) cans chopped clams, undrained
2 (8-ounce) bottles clam juice
4 bacon slices
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 garlic clove, minced
3 cups cubed red potato
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 parsley sprigs
1 bay leaf
2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup half-and-half

Drain clams through a colander into a bowl, reserving liquid and clams. Combine clam liquid and clam juice.

Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp (about 7 minutes). Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings in pan. Crumble bacon; set aside.

Add onion, celery, and garlic to pan; sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Add clam juice mixture, potato, and next 4 ingredients (through bay leaf); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until potato is tender.

Combine milk and flour, stirring with a whisk until smooth; add to pan. Stir in clams and half-and-half. Cook 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Top with bacon crumbles.

We had a side salad of marinated tomatoes and mixed greens and a crusty baguette - delicious. I now feel ready for the next snow day!

Feast of the Seven Fishes

For a long time now, I've been wanting to attend a celebration of the Italian 'Feast of the Seven Fishes". It is generally a Christmas Eve celebration, and not being Italian, I haven't been fortunate enough to experience this culinary spread. I was doing some recipe searching and found a local place that is having the celebration early and it's a who's who of Boston chefs (Pino, Marco, Dante, etc).

Local South End (and former North End) favorite Sage is hosting the event December 18 @ 6:30pm for $120.00. Sounds like a whale of a time to me.

Check it out.

Pre-party Tasca

Pre-party eats should have their own category defined as "small plates that will fill you up in case there is NOT food and not too heavy that you'll either fall asleep or have to limit your party grazing" - how hard is that to find?

This weekend, we had a party in Allston - a place I am none to familiar with, so did some research on pre-party dining options in that area. Settled on a little tapas place on Brighton Avenue called Tasca. Easy to walk into at 7:30 (always a plus) and sat down at a crammed little rickety table for four. While our service was far from good, the food was a nice option for our pre-party noshing. The plates are small (I mean, they are tapas) but they are hearty enough that sharing is easy and you don't need to order two of everything in order to get a taste. We ordered these six to share, though I've highlighted our favorites: patatas alioli, Gambas al ajillo, albondigas, caracoles, calamares fritos, empanadillas de queso de cabra.

Even if you love garlic, the gambas al ajilla is the most garlicky garlic dish I think I can remember. Word to the wise - NOT a date item. You'll be holding onto that "no kiss" rule a little while longer, if you do! The albondigas are these special little meatballs in a creamy, green peppercorn sauce topped with fried potato crisps - delicious. I hoped to love the goat cheese empanadas, but they were not crispy, but chewy and tough to cut or bite into. Sad day for the dish, because we all love goat cheese. The peppers they were served with were lovely, crisp and sweet in a perfect (though nontraditional) relish.

Service overall stunk - the food runner was the nicest one, refilling water glasses and bringing us more bread. Where was the server? In the bathroom reapplying her makeup.

Well, you win some and you lose some. I'd probably call this one a tie.

[care to make a case for Tasca? post!]

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