Food: November 2008 Archives

Unless you have a hankering for IHOP, there are few places in this city where you can get quality breakfast throughout the day. Luckily, the Paramount on Charles Street serves breakfast all day long, for just those times when you need to feed those cravings.

A friend of mine brought these into work the other day and completely wow'd the office. If you're looking for an alternative to traditional pumpkin pie, check out these Gooey Pumpkin Bars...

Every time this Bostonist sits down with a porter or a stout, eyebrows rise in surprise all around her. Is that little girl taking on that big dark beer all by herself? Does she really like strong beers like that? Does she know that's going straight to her hips? Is that a porter of some kind... or a Guinness?

We personally can't imagine skipping our mom's classic holiday stuffing for a fancier restaurant version, even if it came drenched in truffle oil and served atop the Naked Chef himself. But if there's one thing we've learned over the years, it's that no matter how much therapy you've endured, how many times you've explained what "vegan" means to your hapless relatives or how well you think you've brined that bird, things can and will still go awry on Turkey Day. And some of us are just too lazy to cook. So rather than ending up in Denny's like the sorry dad in The Santa Clause, you can stash away this info on restaurants serving up truly happy meals on Thanksgiving. (You'll probably want to make a reservation for the big day in advance--just in case. And here's the Denny's restaurant locator if you forget to plan ahead.)

Tacos are traditionally a low-cost food, but gourmet tacos in a sit-down restaurant can be hard to find. Tremont 647 in the South End has recently instituted $2 Taco Tuesdays, and their offerings definitely fill this gap.

You might think that making mashed potatoes is almost as easy as boiling water. But how many of us has had lumpy spuds or mashed potatoes so gloopy that they could be used as wallpaper paste? I won't go as far to say that there is an art to making a good batch, but there certainly are a few things you can do to help yourself become the Mashed Potato Master...

Are you one of the masses that horde their bottle caps with the intention of doing something really cool with them some day, but now just have two of those giant cheese puff (or caramel corn) containers full of them hiding under your desk? We sure were, until just recently. We gathered our cap containers and covered a full-size coffee table with caps, creating various designs and color patterns. We then covered the whole thing in glass, and set our next beers atop the gorgeous result (pictured at right). And aren’t we smug about it?

Run by transplants from Cork, Ireland, this is the closest Boston has to the chip shops that are so easy to find across the pond. The menu is pretty basic - fries and battered things like fish and sausages. You can order a la carte or put together a supper with a main, fries, and a choice of peas, coleslaw, curry, or gravy. The fish (pollack) supper, shown above, is gigantic for only $8.95 - you really need to be starving to be able to put all this food away. The fish is flaky and steaming inside the crisp crust, and the hand cut chips are superbly crunchy on the outside and smooth on the inside. They're best enjoyed piping hot, though, as they lose some of their integrity as they cool. The Battery also offers Irish drinks, like Club Orange and Club Lemon, Lilt, Lucozade, and Ribena, if you want a truly authentic meal.

Have you always wondered how to make the perfect mashed potatoes? Do you struggle to find just the right gift for your boss or a co-worker? If so, join me here every Saturday at noon from now until 12/20 where each week a new holiday recipe will be featured. November's recipes will focus on Thanksgiving dishes (including a super tasty alternative to pumpkin pie) while December will have a few homemade gift ideas and tasty cookie recipes you can share with your friends and family.

If your team won the election Tuesday, you know that there’s no better way to celebrate than by clinking some cool brews together. The question is always what kind. With Barack Obama as our president elect, there’s no question. No, we don’t know his favorite beer, but we do know our favorite political ale: Hop Obama!

It has always baffled this Bostonist that the only coffeeshop in Washington Square is a zoo-like Starbucks, with lines out the door and a riot of strollers, dogs and SUVs parked constantly outside. With so many affluent, cosmopolitan, liberal-leaning residents nearby, we thought, an independent coffeeshop serving better coffee in a more genteel setting would be warmly welcomed.

Now this is beer.Anyone who reads this blog knows I’m in love with the Oskar Blues Brewery from Colorado. Not only do they make Dale’s Pale Ale, the tastiest IPA on the planet with my name on it, they only make their beers available in cans! Take that beer snobs! Not just any cans, mind you, but cans from the Ball Co. Back in the day, the Ball Brothers bankrolled Ball State University in Indiana. Guess where I went to school?I’ve written about my namesake beers a couple of times and have also enjoyed the Old Chubb and Gordon varieties as well. Note to self: Must write about those.Imagine my surprise when I was in Gordon’s Fine Wine and Culinary Center in Waltham, Mass., recently and discovered a new beer by the Oskar Blues boys. Ten Fidy is a pitch-black Imperial Stout. Think Guinness is black? Think again. This stuff is black as night - black as the devil’s soul!The initial “What the hell is this?!” reaction quickly gives way to a silky, delicious realization. This might be the color of hell, but it sure tastes like heaven to me! Imagine super smooth roasted bittersweet chocolate. And at 10% alcohol, this isn’t polite, watery nonsense beer.If anyone still doubts that good beer can come from a can, Oskar Blues will change your mind!Drinks are on me!Post contributed by Dale Cruse. Cruse is a website developer who is helping to change the wine world. He likes to eat, he likes to drink, and he likes to write about both at Drinks Are On Me.

Everyone knows that Finale, with four locations in the metro Boston area, is a great place for fancy desserts (albeit slightly pricy). But did you know they also serve up tasty lunches at a reasonable price?