Category: Food: Recipes

Parker House Boston Cream Pie, To Go Please!

Boston Cream Pie comes up as a frequent topic on Trip Advisor’s Boston Board.

Visitors see this as a bucket list taste of Boston. I added my two cents to a recent conversation, where someone planning a visit asked if it was possible to get a piece of pie without eating a full meal at the Parker House. However, I decided that more research was needed.

Ed, Poppy, and I took a walk to the Parker House and found the gift shop that was reputed to sell the pie to go. It’s called Morsel’s and is located next to the 60 School Street (map) entrance to the Omni Parker House.

As you may know, the Parker House is said to have invented this creation. It’s so popular, that they have it ready to go in the coffee/gift shop attached to the hotel. It’s priced at $8, at the time of this post.

It was not on display when I went in, but signs in the window said they sold it, so I asked the woman behind the counter. She asked how many I wanted. “One,” I replied, and she went to a refrigerator to get the dessert.

“And, how many forks?” She tucked the two requested forks and a supply of napkins into a small bag that was perfect for carrying the cake in its protective, domed container. She was charming and had obviously mastered “Boston Cream pie to go” hospitality.

We took our Parker House Boston Cream Pie to the Brewer Fountain Plaza (map) on the Boston Common for tasting.

This famous confection was lighter than you might expect with a nice moist cake, moist cream filling, and a good chocolate coating. Ed liked the addition of coconut to the sides. The portion was large enough for the two of us to happily share. And, we cleaned the container right down to the last flakes of coconut.

How does it compare to our favorite version of this dessert from Flour Bakery? We still rank Flour’s version as our #1 in this area. Their non-traditional addition of coffee syrup makes for an even moister cake.

But, the Parker House Boston Cream Pie will be a welcome snack when we are looking for a sweet downtown. And, we’re happy that those who come to eat it as a part of their Boston experience are going to enjoy a very good version of this historic dessert.

By the way, if you’re one of our readers from out of the area or a baker who would like to recreate this classic, the Parker House has shared their recipe. Download Parker House Boston Cream Pie Recipe.

Related Post:

Flour Bakery’s Boston Cream Pie, A Big Hit!

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

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June 5, 2014
Trader Joe’s Pane Guttiau (Sardinian Parchment Crackers) Are a Hit!

We are enjoying Trader Joe’s Pane Guttiau so much that we’re afraid they might discontinue them. This often seems to happen to our favorite items at the tiny TJs on Boylston Street.

The staff tells us these are a big hit so maybe our evening snack of a few crackers with a bit of soft cheese will be safe for a while.

This is TJs version of the traditional Sardinian parchment bread called pane carasau or carta di musica we sometimes find in North End shops.

Those shown here in a photo for Wikipedia are large and round and often wrapped in paper packages.

Trader Joe’s version is cut into squares, packed in a box, and a bit easier to get home and serve. We find ourselves buying three or four boxes at a time, just in case …

These simple, light crackers are made in Italy with wheat, yeast, water, salt, and olive oil. They are wonderful by themselves with a glass of wine.

Some nights, we let a bit of soft cheese come to room temperature and spead the thinnest possible layer on the cracker. Remember, these are very thin and brittle, so warm cheese and gentle spreading does the trick.

This may be our favorite roof deck snack this summer. Can’t wait for a bottle of bubbles and a tray of cheese and crackers overlooking the Charles.

Our readers outside the Boston area, who don’t have access to a Trader Joe’s, might want to make their own version. Here’s a recipe along with a video that shows how much work it takes to handmake these delights.

Sardinian Flatbread from Italian Food Forever

A video version without measurements from Delicious Italy (Just the way a nonna would teach it.) Imagine the work when women hand rolled this bread in each step!

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny Cherubino and Center photo from this page of Wikipedia.

April 22, 2014
Trader Joe’s Pane Guttiau (Sardinian Parchment Crackers) Are a Hit!

We are enjoying Trader Joe’s Pane Guttiau so much that we’re afraid they might discontinue them. This often seems to happen to our favorite items at the tiny TJs on Boylston Street.

The staff tells us these are a big hit so maybe our evening snack of a few crackers with a bit of soft cheese will be safe for a while.

This is TJs version of the traditional Sardinian parchment bread called pane carasau or carta di musica we sometimes find in North End shops.

Those shown here in a photo for Wikipedia are large and round and often wrapped in paper packages.

Trader Joe’s version is cut into squares, packed in a box, and a bit easier to get home and serve. We find ourselves buying three or four boxes at a time, just in case …

These simple, light crackers are made in Italy with wheat, yeast, water, salt, and olive oil. They are wonderful by themselves with a glass of wine.

Some nights, we let a bit of soft cheese come to room temperature and spead the thinnest possible layer on the cracker. Remember, these are very thin and brittle, so warm cheese and gentle spreading does the trick.

This may be our favorite roof deck snack this summer. Can’t wait for a bottle of bubbles and a tray of cheese and crackers overlooking the Charles.

Our readers outside the Boston area, who don’t have access to a Trader Joe’s, might want to make their own version. Here’s a recipe along with a video that shows how much work it takes to handmake these delights.

Sardinian Flatbread from Italian Food Forever

A video version without measurements from Delicious Italy (Just the way a nonna would teach it.) Imagine the work when women hand rolled this bread in each step!

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny Cherubino and Center photo from this page of Wikipedia.

April 22, 2014
Trader Joe’s Pane Guttiau (Sardinian Parchment Crackers) Are a Hit!

We are enjoying Trader Joe’s Pane Guttiau so much that we’re afraid they might discontinue them. This often seems to happen to our favorite items at the tiny TJs on Boylston Street.

The staff tells us these are a big hit so maybe our evening snack of a few crackers with a bit of soft cheese will be safe for a while.

This is TJs version of the traditional Sardinian parchment bread called pane carasau or carta di musica we sometimes find in North End shops.

Those shown here in a photo for Wikipedia are large and round and often wrapped in paper packages.

Trader Joe’s version is cut into squares, packed in a box, and a bit easier to get home and serve. We find ourselves buying three or four boxes at a time, just in case …

These simple, light crackers are made in Italy with wheat, yeast, water, salt, and olive oil. They are wonderful by themselves with a glass of wine.

Some nights, we let a bit of soft cheese come to room temperature and spead the thinnest possible layer on the cracker. Remember, these are very thin and brittle, so warm cheese and gentle spreading does the trick.

This may be our favorite roof deck snack this summer. Can’t wait for a bottle of bubbles and a tray of cheese and crackers overlooking the Charles.

Our readers outside the Boston area, who don’t have access to a Trader Joe’s, might want to make their own version. Here’s a recipe along with a video that shows how much work it takes to handmake these delights.

Sardinian Flatbread from Italian Food Forever

A video version without measurements from Delicious Italy (Just the way a nonna would teach it.) Imagine the work when women hand rolled this bread in each step!

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny Cherubino and Center photo from this page of Wikipedia.

April 22, 2014
Bread Pudding, Sweet or Savory

Bread pudding is a wonderful way to use up stale or surplus bread. Since this household has a habit of buying too much bread when wonderful choices are in front of us, we need to make bread pudding more often than most people.

Sweet

The dish above is a sweet version made with Apple Pie bread we bought at the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market. It didn't need any additional sugar or spice in the custard mix, just a couple handfuls of raisins and a sprinkle of sugar on top to make a lovely, crunchy crust.

While you can make bread pudding from any leftover bread, we do love the batches made from specialty loaves from cinnamon swirl to more exotic offerings. And, these sweet versions can use up any fruit that might be in your larder. Apples, pears, bananas, and stone fruit all add their sweetness and nutrition to the mix.

We love adding dried fruits like raisins, apricots, or figs. You may want to layer those in the middle of the pudding or at least poke them down into the mix because they do tend to burn quicker than the custard cooks.

Savory

You can also take this cooking technique to the savory side and make a great breakfast or brunch dish or a supper that can be waiting in the refrigerator when you get home.

Specialty breads from a place like When Pigs Fly Bakery give you an easy way to go savory. Their Sicilian Green Olive & Hot Cherry Peppers bread just needs a bit of cheese and custard to make a quick meal.

Or, toss together any ingredients that you might put in a frittata. You could sauté onions, peppers, and sausage or ham then let it cool. Mix in some grated cheddar cheese, pour on the custard mix, and sprinkle the top with more cheese. Bake, and you have a wonderful, savory bread pudding.

We also make bread puddings from the sweet versions of breads from When Pigs Fly.

Recipes

Penny doesn't follow a recipe for bread puddings. She uses a ratio like the one offered by Michael Ruhlman in his wonderful book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking. It's twice as much milk as eggs. For example, two cups of milk to 4 large eggs (about 8 oz). Adding seasoning such as: salt, sugar, vanilla, or spices depends on the ingredients.

If you prefer to follow a recipe, here are a couple that seem popular and proven.

From AllRecipes.com Bread Pudding II - this has a very good video for someone new to the technique.

Maya Angelou's Bread Pudding from Epicurious.

Both sites have dozens for variations that could use up any spare ingedients you might have on hand.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Related articles

The Apple Lover's CookBook by Amy Traverso

The Proof is in the Bread Pudding

Chocolate Brioche Bread and Butter Pudding

February 25, 2014
Bread Pudding, Sweet or Savory

Bread pudding is a wonderful way to use up stale or surplus bread. Since this household has a habit of buying too much bread when wonderful choices are in front of us, we need to make bread pudding more often than most people.

Sweet

The dish above is a sweet version made with Apple Pie bread we bought at the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market. It didn't need any additional sugar or spice in the custard mix, just a couple handfuls of raisins and a sprinkle of sugar on top to make a lovely, crunchy crust.

While you can make bread pudding from any leftover bread, we do love the batches made from specialty loaves from cinnamon swirl to more exotic offerings. And, these sweet versions can use up any fruit that might be in your larder. Apples, pears, bananas, and stone fruit all add their sweetness and nutrition to the mix.

We love adding dried fruits like raisins, apricots, or figs. You may want to layer those in the middle of the pudding or at least poke them down into the mix because they do tend to burn quicker than the custard cooks.

Savory

You can also take this cooking technique to the savory side and make a great breakfast or brunch dish or a supper that can be waiting in the refrigerator when you get home.

Specialty breads from a place like When Pigs Fly Bakery give you an easy way to go savory. Their Sicilian Green Olive & Hot Cherry Peppers bread just needs a bit of cheese and custard to make a quick meal.

Or, toss together any ingredients that you might put in a frittata. You could sauté onions, peppers, and sausage or ham then let it cool. Mix in some grated cheddar cheese, pour on the custard mix, and sprinkle the top with more cheese. Bake, and you have a wonderful, savory bread pudding.

We also make bread puddings from the sweet versions of breads from When Pigs Fly.

Recipes

Penny doesn't follow a recipe for bread puddings. She uses a ratio like the one offered by Michael Ruhlman in his wonderful book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking. It's twice as much milk as eggs. For example, two cups of milk to 4 large eggs (about 8 oz). Adding seasoning such as: salt, sugar, vanilla, or spices depends on the ingredients.

If you prefer to follow a recipe, here are a couple that seem popular and proven.

From AllRecipes.com Bread Pudding II - this has a very good video for someone new to the technique.

Maya Angelou's Bread Pudding from Epicurious.

Both sites have dozens for variations that could use up any spare ingedients you might have on hand.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Related articles

The Apple Lover's CookBook by Amy Traverso

The Proof is in the Bread Pudding

Chocolate Brioche Bread and Butter Pudding

February 25, 2014
Bread Pudding, Sweet or Savory

Bread pudding is a wonderful way to use up stale or surplus bread. Since this household has a habit of buying too much bread when wonderful choices are in front of us, we need to make bread pudding more often than most people.

Sweet

The dish above is a sweet version made with Apple Pie bread we bought at the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market. It didn't need any additional sugar or spice in the custard mix, just a couple handfuls of raisins and a sprinkle of sugar on top to make a lovely, crunchy crust.

While you can make bread pudding from any leftover bread, we do love the batches made from specialty loaves from cinnamon swirl to more exotic offerings. And, these sweet versions can use up any fruit that might be in your larder. Apples, pears, bananas, and stone fruit all add their sweetness and nutrition to the mix.

We love adding dried fruits like raisins, apricots, or figs. You may want to layer those in the middle of the pudding or at least poke them down into the mix because they do tend to burn quicker than the custard cooks.

Savory

You can also take this cooking technique to the savory side and make a great breakfast or brunch dish or a supper that can be waiting in the refrigerator when you get home.

Specialty breads from a place like When Pigs Fly Bakery give you an easy way to go savory. Their Sicilian Green Olive & Hot Cherry Peppers bread just needs a bit of cheese and custard to make a quick meal.

Or, toss together any ingredients that you might put in a frittata. You could sauté onions, peppers, and sausage or ham then let it cool. Mix in some grated cheddar cheese, pour on the custard mix, and sprinkle the top with more cheese. Bake, and you have a wonderful, savory bread pudding.

We also make bread puddings from the sweet versions of breads from When Pigs Fly.

Recipes

Penny doesn't follow a recipe for bread puddings. She uses a ratio like the one offered by Michael Ruhlman in his wonderful book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking. It's twice as much milk as eggs. For example, two cups of milk to 4 large eggs (about 8 oz). Adding seasoning such as: salt, sugar, vanilla, or spices depends on the ingredients.

If you prefer to follow a recipe, here are a couple that seem popular and proven.

From AllRecipes.com Bread Pudding II - this has a very good video for someone new to the technique.

Maya Angelou's Bread Pudding from Epicurious.

Both sites have dozens for variations that could use up any spare ingedients you might have on hand.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Related articles

The Apple Lover's CookBook by Amy Traverso

The Proof is in the Bread Pudding

Chocolate Brioche Bread and Butter Pudding

February 25, 2014
Pulled Pork with Tart, Tangy Cole Slaw

Pulled pork is something we've normally enjoyed in BBQ restaurants since Penny is not about to try preparing it in our tiny urban kitchen. But, she did spot a package of pulled pork among the fresh packaged meals, mains, and sides at our local Trader Joe's, recently.

We tried it and liked it. Since the sauce is a bit sweet and mayo is outlawed in our food, Penny's solution was to balance the sweetness of the pork with a tart, tangy cole slaw.

In addition to cabbage, carrots, celery, and scallions, we added a finely shredded hakurei turnip purchased from farmer Michael Docter of Winter Moon Farm at the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market. Those are his carrots too! And, below you see him offering samples of the carrots and turnips.

The dressing was malt vinegar, salt, pepper, a bit of honey, and a handful of yellow mustard seeds. This slaw is best made the day before you need it. Letting it sit and pickle mellows out the raw vegetable flavors and allows the mustard seeds work their zingy magic. Just give it a mix a couple of times as it sits in the refrigerator.

Shredding

In case you were wondering, the shredder Penny was using is a very old, now considered vintage, Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. This syle has long since been replaced by new versions. Here's the current one – Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. (It is fun to see things you use all the time listed on ebay as vintage goods.)

This tool cuts in both directions so it makes quick work of the slaw preparation and it's easy to clean under a stong spray of water. Make sure you use a guard. It doesn't come with one but we use one from another mandoline. The guard also makes it possible to shred almost all of the carrots or turnips with only a thin scrap left behind.

Assembly

As you see in the photo, we used the bread we had on hand. Softer bread is the usual choice for a pulled pork sandwich but our kitchen staple is crusty artisan bread. This was a ciabatta from Trader Joe's. And, because of that crusty texture, we opted for open faced sandwiches. Messy, but delicious!

Pulled Pork Tips

We did heat the pork in the microwave. Penny breaks it up a bit before she cooks it and removes the occasional piece of fat. (Yes, fat is flavor, but there's plenty of intramuscular fat in this product.) She also makes an effort to get all the sauce out of the bag, squeezing it like a pastry bag.

In this review of the product from SFGate, one of the testers thought it was dry. That could be because a lot of the sauce was left behind in the bag or that the meat was not fully shredded and mixed with the sauce. It was the winner in this taste-off of six prepared pulled pork products.

Have you tried some of these fresh Trader Joe's products? What did you like or not like?

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

February 18, 2014
Pulled Pork with Tart, Tangy Cole Slaw

Pulled pork is something we've normally enjoyed in BBQ restaurants since Penny is not about to try preparing it in our tiny urban kitchen. But, she did spot a package of pulled pork among the fresh packaged meals, mains, and sides at our local Trader Joe's, recently.

We tried it and liked it. Since the sauce is a bit sweet and mayo is outlawed in our food, Penny's solution was to balance the sweetness of the pork with a tart, tangy cole slaw.

In addition to cabbage, carrots, celery, and scallions, we added a finely shredded hakurei turnip purchased from farmer Michael Docter of Winter Moon Farm at the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market. Those are his carrots too! And, below you see him offering samples of the carrots and turnips.

The dressing was malt vinegar, salt, pepper, a bit of honey, and a handful of yellow mustard seeds. This slaw is best made the day before you need it. Letting it sit and pickle mellows out the raw vegetable flavors and allows the mustard seeds work their zingy magic. Just give it a mix a couple of times as it sits in the refrigerator.

Shredding

In case you were wondering, the shredder Penny was using is a very old, now considered vintage, Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. This syle has long since been replaced by new versions. Here's the current one – Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. (It is fun to see things you use all the time listed on ebay as vintage goods.)

This tool cuts in both directions so it makes quick work of the slaw preparation and it's easy to clean under a stong spray of water. Make sure you use a guard. It doesn't come with one but we use one from another mandoline. The guard also makes it possible to shred almost all of the carrots or turnips with only a thin scrap left behind.

Assembly

As you see in the photo, we used the bread we had on hand. Softer bread is the usual choice for a pulled pork sandwich but our kitchen staple is crusty artisan bread. This was a ciabatta from Trader Joe's. And, because of that crusty texture, we opted for open faced sandwiches. Messy, but delicious!

Pulled Pork Tips

We did heat the pork in the microwave. Penny breaks it up a bit before she cooks it and removes the occasional piece of fat. (Yes, fat is flavor, but there's plenty of intramuscular fat in this product.) She also makes an effort to get all the sauce out of the bag, squeezing it like a pastry bag.

In this review of the product from SFGate, one of the testers thought it was dry. That could be because a lot of the sauce was left behind in the bag or that the meat was not fully shredded and mixed with the sauce. It was the winner in this taste-off of six prepared pulled pork products.

Have you tried some of these fresh Trader Joe's products? What did you like or not like?

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

February 18, 2014
Pulled Pork with Tart, Tangy Cole Slaw

Pulled pork is something we've normally enjoyed in BBQ restaurants since Penny is not about to try preparing it in our tiny urban kitchen. But, she did spot a package of pulled pork among the fresh packaged meals, mains, and sides at our local Trader Joe's, recently.

We tried it and liked it. Since the sauce is a bit sweet and mayo is outlawed in our food, Penny's solution was to balance the sweetness of the pork with a tart, tangy cole slaw.

In addition to cabbage, carrots, celery, and scallions, we added a finely shredded hakurei turnip purchased from farmer Michael Docter of Winter Moon Farm at the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market. Those are his carrots too! And, below you see him offering samples of the carrots and turnips.

The dressing was malt vinegar, salt, pepper, a bit of honey, and a handful of yellow mustard seeds. This slaw is best made the day before you need it. Letting it sit and pickle mellows out the raw vegetable flavors and allows the mustard seeds work their zingy magic. Just give it a mix a couple of times as it sits in the refrigerator.

Shredding

In case you were wondering, the shredder Penny was using is a very old, now considered vintage, Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. This syle has long since been replaced by new versions. Here's the current one – Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. (It is fun to see things you use all the time listed on ebay as vintage goods.)

This tool cuts in both directions so it makes quick work of the slaw preparation and it's easy to clean under a stong spray of water. Make sure you use a guard. It doesn't come with one but we use one from another mandoline. The guard also makes it possible to shred almost all of the carrots or turnips with only a thin scrap left behind.

Assembly

As you see in the photo, we used the bread we had on hand. Softer bread is the usual choice for a pulled pork sandwich but our kitchen staple is crusty artisan bread. This was a ciabatta from Trader Joe's. And, because of that crusty texture, we opted for open faced sandwiches. Messy, but delicious!

Pulled Pork Tips

We did heat the pork in the microwave. Penny breaks it up a bit before she cooks it and removes the occasional piece of fat. (Yes, fat is flavor, but there's plenty of intramuscular fat in this product.) She also makes an effort to get all the sauce out of the bag, squeezing it like a pastry bag.

In this review of the product from SFGate, one of the testers thought it was dry. That could be because a lot of the sauce was left behind in the bag or that the meat was not fully shredded and mixed with the sauce. It was the winner in this taste-off of six prepared pulled pork products.

Have you tried some of these fresh Trader Joe's products? What did you like or not like?

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

February 18, 2014