Tag: cheese

Simple Tomato Cucumber Salad

For years, when August brought me local tomatoes, I've chopped some of them with cucumber, scallions and herbs, dressed them with olive oil and vinegar, and enjoyed serving this fresh, healthy salad.

Recently I was talking to Fatima, a friend from Morocco, about the dish and she gave me her version. She uses lemon instead of vinegar. I'm a fan of lemon zest so I used both the lemon zest and juice and loved the result. In the photo (above) there is also some celery I found in the crisper and a sprinkle of my favorite Aleppo pepper over the salad.

It also has a mix of tomatoes. I cut up a big Cherokee Purple heirloom tomato and then added a few cherry tomatoes cut in quarters.

In the most basic version of this salad, you chop tomatoes, cucumbers, and scallions; season with salt, pepper, olive oil, and some kind of acid ingredient – vinegar, lemon, lime, etc. Then you can take it to what ever culture you choose.

Add some feta cheese, Kalamata olives, red onion, and green pepper with a sprinkle of oregano and you have a Greek version.

Dice tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and parsley and you have an I sraeli salad. Add garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, and lime– and it's salsa.

You can switch up the seasoning and have a different salad each day of the week. And, this base also takes on additions like cheese, beans, and legumes to turn it into a meal. All those lovely juices that come from the mix are perfect for dipping grilled slices of bread or tossing with toasted croutons to make a version of Italian panzanella!

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

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August 20, 2012
Goat Cheese and Olives: Quick & Easy Appetizer
We always have a log of goat cheese and some olives in our refrigerator. With these two staples, we can make a meal or an appetizer. One of our favorite ways to serve this combo was inspired by a menu item we had at the Top of the Hub many years ago.

Making it could not be simpler!
- Cut the goat cheese into large pieces, rounds, halves, wedges, or whatever shape suits your fancy.
- Arrange in the center of a bowl
- Surround it with olives
- Drizzle with a good extra virgin olive oil
- Splash with a few drips of balsamic vinegar
- Sprinkle with dried or fresh herbs (Herbes de Provence were used in the photo above)
- Serve with crackers, French bread, or our favorite– Iggy's Francese grilled with olive oil and rubbed with garlic.
We sometimes add red pepper for color or use tapenade in place to the olives. But you can let your imagination run, on this one. What would you enjoy surrounding some fresh, creamy goat cheese?

Here are more of our recipes posts

Here are more of our cheese recommendations

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Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

Vella Dry Jack Cheese: an American Treasure

Food Tips for Shakespeare on the Common

July 31 – Individual Goat Cheese Souffles – Recipe

Parasols Are Poppin' up All Over…
August 6, 2012
Goat Cheese and Olives: Quick & Easy Appetizer
We always have a log of goat cheese and some olives in our refrigerator. With these two staples, we can make a meal or an appetizer. One of our favorite ways to serve this combo was inspired by a menu item we had at the Top of the Hub many years ago.

Making it could not be simpler!
- Cut the goat cheese into large pieces, rounds, halves, wedges, or whatever shape suits your fancy.
- Arrange in the center of a bowl
- Surround it with olives
- Drizzle with a good extra virgin olive oil
- Splash with a few drips of balsamic vinegar
- Sprinkle with dried or fresh herbs (Herbes de Provence were used in the photo above)
- Serve with crackers, French bread, or our favorite– Iggy's Francese grilled with olive oil and rubbed with garlic.
We sometimes add red pepper for color or use tapenade in place to the olives. But you can let your imagination run, on this one. What would you enjoy surrounding some fresh, creamy goat cheese?

Here are more of our recipes posts

Here are more of our cheese recommendations

What's on your Summer Fun shopping list? Shop Amazon Everything You Need for Summer Fun and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

Vella Dry Jack Cheese: an American Treasure

Food Tips for Shakespeare on the Common

July 31 – Individual Goat Cheese Souffles – Recipe

Parasols Are Poppin' up All Over…
August 6, 2012
Vella Dry Jack Cheese: an American Treasure

We are students of cheese and admit to having a mental list of cheese we want to try. Vella Dry Jack has been on that list since we saw it on Steve Jenkins list, "American Treasures: the best American Cheeses" in his book Cheese Primer.

It is not widely available in this area. So when Penny saw it at Whole Foods on Cambridge Street, she grabbed a wedge.

This cheese has a wonderful history and others have told the story well, so we'll just link to those reports.

First, there is the family's own history on the Vella Cheese website. And, Janet Fletcher wrote about it in the San Francisco Chronicle: Vella Dry Jack's dark brown coat makes an instant impression.

The process that created that brown rind you see above is one of the interesting notes mentioned by most people writing about Vella Dry Jack. To protect and preserve the wheels, cheesemakers rub them with a mixture of oil, pepper, and unsweetened cocoa during the aging process.

This is a hard cheese with nutty, sweet, caramel tones. You can pick up a scent of chocolate, but not the flavor.

Dry Jack was originally sold during World War I as a substitute for Parmigiano-Reggiano. With the recent destruction of so much of the supply of Parmigiano by the earthquakes in Italy, we could find ourselves looking to California cheesemakers to create more of this rarer, dry version of Jack Cheese.

Related Posts:

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What's on your Cheese shopping list? Here are some great books about cheese. These make wonderful gifts for a cheese lover. And, when you shop Amazon from here, they put some coins in our tip jar.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

July 26, 2012
Vella Dry Jack Cheese: an American Treasure

We are students of cheese and admit to having a mental list of cheese we want to try. Vella Dry Jack has been on that list since we saw it on Steve Jenkins list, "American Treasures: the best American Cheeses" in his book Cheese Primer.

It is not widely available in this area. So when Penny saw it at Whole Foods on Cambridge Street, she grabbed a wedge.

This cheese has a wonderful history and others have told the story well, so we'll just link to those reports.

First, there is the family's own history on the Vella Cheese website. And, Janet Fletcher wrote about it in the San Francisco Chronicle: Vella Dry Jack's dark brown coat makes an instant impression.

The process that created that brown rind you see above is one of the interesting notes mentioned by most people writing about Vella Dry Jack. To protect and preserve the wheels, cheesemakers rub them with a mixture of oil, pepper, and unsweetened cocoa during the aging process.

This is a hard cheese with nutty, sweet, caramel tones. You can pick up a scent of chocolate, but not the flavor.

Dry Jack was originally sold during World War I as a substitute for Parmigiano-Reggiano. With the recent destruction of so much of the supply of Parmigiano by the earthquakes in Italy, we could find ourselves looking to California cheesemakers to create more of this rarer, dry version of Jack Cheese.

Related Posts:

One of our all time favorite cheeses was created by a cheesemaker from the Vella Family.

Rogue River Blue

Rogue River Blue, Amercian Cheese Society Winner

And, here are other items from our Cheese Tray!

What's on your Cheese shopping list? Here are some great books about cheese. These make wonderful gifts for a cheese lover. And, when you shop Amazon from here, they put some coins in our tip jar.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

July 26, 2012
Where to Pick up Great Food for Boston Summer Events

This is going to be a big week for events around Boston with both the July 4th Celebration on the Esplanade and the Tall Ships in the Harbor. If you want to pick up a picnic to enjoy at a summer event, we have some great links.

Along the Charles on July 4th, both sides of the river and all the bridges will be filled with fireworks fans. Here are some of the places where you can pick up a meal near an entrance to the Esplanade or close to Memorial Drive on the Cambridge side. You do need food while you stake out your spot for the big show.

The fireworks barges on the river.

Back Bay

Marlboro Market (map & reviews) has a deli counter where they make some of the best sandwich values in the area. Simple, hearty fare made to your specifications by the friendly crew behind the counter. Bonus, you can fill your cooler with soft drinks, chips, and anything else you need here. They even sell the coolers!

For an Indian feast stop into India Samraat and choose a selection from their menu that will add an exotic note to your picnic.

Update: Both India Samraat and L'Aroma Cafe have closed.

L'Aroma Cafe on Newbury Street is between the Arlington and Dartmouth Street footbridges to the park and offers a great selection of take-out.

A recent picnic from Bacco's

Bacco's Wine and Cheese is on St. James right off Arlington making it the perfect place to pick up a meal for either the Esplanade or The Boston Common. We love to scan the case, pick a salumi, a couple of cheeses, some rolls, and enjoy a meal on a shady bench.

Cambridge Central Square

This is becoming a true food destination and not just for all the great restaurants located there.

Central Bottle + Provisions will be open on the 4th and is great for those who'll be coming to the river from the North. They have a great selection of cheese, salumi, and an ever changing daily food selection.

On days other than this holdiay, you can add a great dessert to your basket from Flour Bakery next door. (We called and confirmed that Flour is closed on the 4th.)

Beacon Hill

Savenor's Market built its reputation on excellent meat but they have always offered a fine selection of other food. Now the Cambridge Market has a deli, and they are delivering "Grab & Go" sandwiches to the Charles Street store, so that you can pop in on your way to an event and walk out with everything you want.

Other favorite picnic pick-up locations for us from Charles Street are: The Paramount , Cafe Vanille, and Panificio.

Boston Common

There is now some good food right on the Common. You'll find a Clover Food Lab truck stationed by the newly restored Brewer Plaza for long hours each day. There is also The Frog Pond Cafe in-season with some very nice options.

Across from the Common is the Thinking Cup. This cafe has built a solid reputation on its outstanding coffee service but it also has great sandwiches and pastry.

Keep these in mind when you plan your Shakespeare on the Common evening this year.

Waterfront & North End

Gathering food in the North End is a regular habit of ours. We love Salumeria Italiana and will often pick up a quick meal from their offerings.

If we want prepared foods, we head for J. Pace & Son where they can fill your cooler with sandwiches, salads, calzones, and other Italian favorites. And, they also have shops in the West End and Seaport.

Along the Greenway, there is an ever changing collection of food trucks and carts for meals and snacks. They have a schedule posted here. You can consult our food truck tab to learn more about some of the rolling restaurants.

We've given you a start and told you about the places we go and enjoy. Tell us about your favorite places to enjoy an event or a meal, and where you love to go to pick up your food.

What's on your Summer Fun shopping list? Shop Amazon – Get Ready for Summer – Everything You Need and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

July 3, 2012
Union Square Swirl & Slice: Specialty Foods Market

The first Union Square Swirl & Slice: Specialty Foods Market is scheduled for tomorrow evening, June 14, 2012 from 5-8 pm. This new type of market will run each Thursday evening until September 20th.

Somerville has been in the forefront of providing new ways to reach the people who produce local food. This new market will be one more fun way to connect with wineries, cheesemakers, and specialty food producers.

What is Swirl & Slice?

The folks at Union Square Main Streets say, "The items at Swirl & Slice: Union Square Specialty Foods Market will be those you’d pack for a romantic, summer picnic or bring for a weekend away with friends. Wine, cheese, cured meats, breads, jams, pickles and other locally-produced, refined foods that typically take the back seat at other farmers’ markets will be the stars here. Bread and other baked goods, roasted nuts, and cut flowers are also expected to be among the offerings. Check out our amazing vendors here."

In addition to the opportunity to taste and purchase products at the market, there will also be live jazz. And, when you're ready to sit down for a relaxing meal, you'll have a wide selection of restaurants in Union Square. This sounds like the perfect place to meet friends, have some fun, and enjoy a summer evening.

If you go, come back and let us know what you think. We'll be following the news of this market and reporting back to you. Follow us on Twitter: @BostonZest for updates!

What's on your summer fun shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: istockphoto.com and sceenshot from Union Square Main Streets.

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

June 13, 2012
Love My Cheese Harp!

There are two kinds of cheese harps. This term is used for the wire cutter that cheese makers use to cut the curdled milk into the cubes that will separate from the whey and one day become cheese. It's also used for a handheld wire cutter that is the perfect way to cut open and enjoy pieces of a fully-ripe, soft cheese, like this Brebirousse Argental Petit.

I was trying to balance the harp on top of the cheese for a photo, but it works so well it began a gentle journey through the cheese.

I bought mine from a favorite cheesemonger, but I did find this wire cheese harp on Amazon that looks just like mine.

Here's more about that lovely piece of perfectly ripe cheese that we were slicing open.

And, here are more of our posts about cheese.

What's on your cheese serving shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

May 8, 2012
Mei Mei Street Kitchen: Food Truck Tracking

As these rolling restaurants expand their reach and numbers throughout the Boston area, we’re Food Truck Tracking– here's a profile of one of the newest additions to the food truck scene. -The BostonZest Team!

Name: Mei Mei Street Kitchen

Do you want to be the first kid on the block to try a new food truck? We do, so we were on hand for their first lunch service! Tell us what you think when you try the food from this team.

Truck Description: Bright White Truck with Yellow and Blue Graphics

Founding Team: Mei, Andy & Irene Li. (click on a photo for a larger version)

What’s on the Menu: They call it, "…Creative Chinese-American cuisine made from locally sourced, sustainable ingredients."

Drinks: Bottled water or Crimson Berry Iced Tea

Known for/must try/signature dish: It's early days, but we're betting they will have a problem taking the Beef and Cheese Dumplings w/soy-vinegar sauce off the menu. We returned for seconds.

They say: "We pride ourselves on serving humanely raised meat and some of the most creatively delicious street food out there. Handmade braised beef dumplings with red wine and cheese, yes please! Mac & cheese with Chinese spiced pork, enough said. Steamed pork belly bun with crispy crackling, seasonal pickles, sesame chili aioli and local apple hoisin sauce? Yup, we’ll treat you right. "

Nice Touch: They'll try to have something vegetarian on the menu every day. We noticed their careful attention to the needs of those with restricted diets. The counter has liquid sweetener to mix into your iced tea. And, there's a big bottle of Sriracha for those who want a bit more heat.

Philosophy/Mission: "Grow well, eat well, be well: It’s what we want for ourselves, our family, our business, and our guests." Here's what they are doing to back up these words.

History: They tell us, "We’ve taken food we have eaten and loved as children in the past, added modern elements and experiences of the present, and also incorporated practices that fit with our vision of how to do business for a sustainable future. With Andy’s many years in fine dining management, Mei’s experience as a successful entrepreneur and MBA, Irene’s time living on a farm and working as a line chef and our combined love of good times and great eats, we have crafted a deeply personal venture that we hope you’ll enjoy as much as we do."

Here's Steve Leibowitz ready to order another round.

Regulars say: We ran into Steve Leibowitz from www.hubfoodtrucks.com who works at Northeastern and was all smiles after his first Mei Mei meal. "I think it's fantastic!" he said. "I had the Beef & Cheese Dumplings and they were great." A friend of his, who had the same thing, offered the perfect description, "It’s like prime rib in a dumpling!”

And, a customer named Lisa went up to the truck and ordered, "One of Everything!"

Did you know? "Mei Mei" is Chinese for "little sister" and the founders are Andy and his Mei Meis.

They were treating customers to some wonderful French green tea macarons.

Order and Pick up routine: Step up near the back of the truck, next to the menu board, to order and pay. Pick up is on the other side of the window near the front door. They'll call your name when your food is ready.

Payment: Cash, Major Credit Cards, and LevelUp

Website: www.meimeiboston.com

Twitter: @meimeifoodtruck

Facebook: Meimeisk

Pinterest: Mei Mei Street Kitchen

Since the city food truck schedule is not up-to-date, right now, here's where to find Mei Mei!

For more of our Food Truck/Street Food coverage: click here. Or, anytime you visit BostonZest, you can click on the Food Truck/Street Food tab at the top of the page.

Link: Boston Food Truck Location Map

What's on your environmentally responsible shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

April 23, 2012
Riley’s Coat from Blue Ledge Farm, Vermont

Blue Ledge Farm's Riley's Coat is another of those cheeses we buy whenever we see it. Recently, on a walk home from a meal in Central Square, we stopped into Central Bottle Wine + Provisions and there it was again!

Somehow a lovely, raw goats milk cheese that was named after a dog sticks in our memory banks. In additon to talking about this cheese, cheesemonger Anne Saxelby suggests it would be great to be reincarnated as a dog at a cheese farm since those pups often get to eat the test batches!

Riley's Coat is a bit different each time we taste it. It's flavored by what the goats are browsing. Buying each new piece brings back memories of the last. And, even though we know the cheese and know it will be very good, we can't resist having a taste right there in the shop. Often, that nibble increases the size of the wedge we take home.

Related Posts:

Here's our Cheese Collection!

Here are a few of our favorite books on cheese. But, click here for many more choices over at Amazon.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

March 8, 2012