Last week, Mommy Niri of MommyNiri.com invited some Boston Bloggers to attend an event by the Macy's Culinary Council at the Macy's at Downtown Crossing. The event, which began at 5, was going to showcase a couple of Chef Tsai's recipes and he was going to talk through how he makes each one. A mini cooking show presentation by one of my favorite chefs? There was no way I was going to pass this up. I scooted out of work a few minutes early and arrived just in time to snag the last front seat.




Not only is Chef Tsai a phenomenal chef (in his own words, he "crushed Bobby Flay" on Iron Chef), but he's also incredibly smart and a great speaker. While showing the audience how to cook 2 fantastic summer dishes - Wok-stirred Vegetables and Rice Noodle Salad and Shrimp, Mango and Local Herb Summer Rolls - he gave us some great tips and told some funny stories. He swears by salad spinners to dry pasta, thinks champagne goes with everything, and one of the reasons he loves to cook is because he has the opportunity to change something in just 2 hours. He was engaging, creative and great about taking questions from the audience.



And after, I bought a copy of his newest cookbook and he signed the inside cover for me.  


It was refreshing to see a celebrity chef be so real with an audience; Chef Tsai is one of the, all too far and few between, genuine personalities in this industry. I am looking forward to eating at his restaurant in Wellesley, MA - Blue Ginger - time and time again.
After leaving Macy's, I headed over to Bar Lola on Comm Ave for dinner and drinks with some girlfriends. A Spanish tapas restaurant, with reasonable prices, and unbelievably delicious food. The 6 of us shared about 10 different plates, were stuffed at the end, and, with tip, each spent only $27.00. And yes, there was sangria involved.


We shared this delicious bread, enjoyed great company and had an attentive waiter. This was my first time at Bar Lola, but it definitely will not be my last. If anything, the bacon wrapped dates will keep me coming back for years! 
I hope you had a great weekend too! Eat at any great restaurants? Maybe stay in to avoid the heat and cook up something delicious at home instead? I'd love to hear about it!

Working in downtown Boston allows me to experience Restaurant Week lunches during the two Restaurant Weeks that Boston hosts each year (two weeks in March and two in August). In past years, Josh and I have eaten at some truly amazing restaurants (notably, Locke-Ober and Smith & Wollensky's) and, usually, Restaurant Week menus make sure to wow their guests. This year, of the three lunches that I enjoyed, two of them were fantastic and one was a bit disappointing.

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To start, I enjoyed an amazing meal at North 26 - at the Millenium Bostonian Hotel in Faneuil Hall. I went in on a quiet Tuesday afternoon, was able to sit at a table in the sun and was able to enjoy the book I was reading without being constantly bothered by the waitstaff. For my first course, I had the Baby Iceberg Salad, followed by the North 26 burger and then a trio of ricotta bites with chocolate dipping sauce for dessert. This was a great meal, with great service, and I can't wait to go back for dinner!

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On Thursday, I had my favorite meal of Restaurant Week at Jay Santos' (of Hell's Kitchen fame) Blue, Inc. - located in Boston's financial district. While they only offered the "light lunch" Restaurant Week option - only 2 courses - I got to start with one of their milkshakes made with liquid nitrogen! For my first course, I enjoyed the tuna tartare and for my second course I had the Blue Inc. burger - even better than North 26's! With the burger, I added a side of their truffle and gouda tater tots and they did not disappoint! I sat at the bar because the restaurant was jam packed, but the service was great - although the bar chairs weren't the most comfortable - Josh and I will definitely be headed back here in the near future!

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Finally, last week I wanted to squeeze in one more Restaurant Week lunch and decided to head over to Mija Cantina in Faneuil Hall. Full disclaimer - I have been here before for a quick dinner and absolutely loved it. The tacos that I had were amazing and the sangria was delicious. This trip, however, left me with a horrible taste in my mouth and made me wonder if I'll go back again. To begin with, their Restaurant Week menu is only about 5 items long - 3 for a first course and 2 for a second course - and if I hadn't wanted pork or chicken, I was out of luck. While the service was great, the food was really just subpar. My chicken tortilla soup was bland and my chicken enchilada was okay, but really nothing special. To me, the point of Restaurant Week is to create a fun menu that showcases some of your best dishes and talents and encourages guests to come back and pay full price for your more expensive menu items. Mija's dishes did exactly the opposite of this and I don't plan on heading back anytime soon.

Did you enjoy any Restaurant Week meals this year? If you're not in Boston, do they have Restaurant Week in your area? If they do, I highly recommend giving it a try!

Good Afternoon! Please excuse today's very late posting - it's been a busy one! Almost two weeks ago, my friend Kara and I got to spend our evening hanging out with one of our favorite cowgirls, Ree Drummond - The Pioneer Woman!


Okay, so by "hanging out" - I mean we went to hear her speak and then got to wait in line for over 2 hours to get our cookbooks signed and for me to act like a total awkward lunatic in front of her. I couldn't even make this up - it might have been one of the most awkward conversations of my life...

Me and Kara: Oh my gosh, we absolutely love you.
Ree: Oh, aren't you girls adorable!
Me and Kara: [awkward giggles]
Me: Can I ask you a question about one of your recipes?
Ree: Um... sure!
Me: So, I made your amazing cowgirl quiche back in November and we absolutely loved it but we couldn't quite figure out how to get it out of the pan.
Ree: You couldn't get it out of the pan?

And it pretty much just got more embarassing from there. Although, I did learn that using PAM Baking is better for non-stick purposes because it has flour in it. Who knew? Despite waiting in a very long line (until 9 pm!), almost dying of starvation, and having this seriously awkward encounter - Kara and I had a fabulous time! We love you Ree!

Ree listening to my absurd babble.

And of course, once you've officially made a fool out of yourself in front of one of your favorite "celebrity" chefs, the only logical next step is to cook one of her delicious recipes. So, without further ado, here's my take on Ree's Braised Short Ribs with (Instant) Goat Cheese Polenta.

First, you'll need to gather up your ingredients...


3-4 whole beef short ribs
1/4 cup flour
6 pieces of pancetta
olive oil
1 medium onion
3 whole carrots
2 cups red wine
2 cups beef broth
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs rosemary
salt and paper to taste

Take your dutch oven (I bought mine at Target for $35!) and place it on your stovetop and set your oven to 350 degrees so it has time to pre-heat.


Then, chop up your pancetta and toss it into the pan. Cook over medium heat until fully crisp.



While your pancetta is cooking, prepare your ribs by sprinkling them with salt and pepper and dredging them in flour.


Once your pancetta is cooked, remove it from the pan (you can set it aside to add later or simply toss it as I did) and add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to the pan. Turn the heat up high and brown the ribs on all sides - approximately 45 seconds per side. Then, remove your ribs and set them aside.


Next, turn your heat back down to medium and add the onions and carrots to your dutch oven and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.


Pour in your wine, taking time to scrape the bottom of the pan to make sure all of the flavor is in your carrots in onions. Then bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes.



Then, pour in the 2 cups of beef broth, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, to taste. Next, add your ribs back into the pan, almost submerging them in the liquid completely. Add your sprigs of rosemary and thyme on top.



Put your lid onto the pan and place into the oven (be careful, it's heavy!) and cook at 350 degrees for 2 hours. After 2 hours, reduce the heat to 325 and cook for an additional 40 minutes. Finally, remove them from the oven and allow them to sit for 20 minutes, with the lid on, before serving them. Of course, you can take a quick peek at the ribs if you want!


While they're resting (lid back on!), prepare your polenta.


If you're a better person than I am, you can use real polenta, but I'll take the instant stuff any day. It cooks in less than 3 minutes! Using 1 cup of polenta, goat cheese and butter, here's how you make instant goat cheese polenta:

First, gather your ingredients.


Then bring 2 cups of water to a boil.


Once boiling, add your cup of polenta and whisk it around. Almost instantly, you'll have polenta!


Continue to stir for a minute and then add 2 tablespoons of butter and your small log of goat cheese.



Mmm! Creamy deliciousness! And now you are ready for the final step - plating! First, place a heaping spoonful of the polenta on your plate.


Then, add the ribs - cutting them off of the bone before you place them on the plate. And by cutting, I mean gently pulling with a fork because they are that tender. Make sure you get some onions and carrots in there too. And then spoon a little bit of the wine/broth liquid over the top.


And then, enjoy! Your house will smell amazing, you will believe you are your own pioneer woman, and I promise that everyone you make these for will sing your praises - this is beyond delicious! You can also serve over mashed potatoes for almost equal deliciousness.

Have you made any of Ree's recipes? And are you as big a fan as my friend Kara and I are? I'm sure we're not the only ones! Happy Tuesday!