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Blue Ribbon Barbecue

Marcia July 4, 2010 Banter, Restaurants 0
Blue Ribbon Barbecue

Blue Ribbon Barbecue, Arlington, MA

Blue Ribbon Barbecue
908 Massachusetts Avenue
Arlington, Massachusetts
(781) 648-7427

I’ve generally been unenthused by Fourth-of-July festivities or culinary fare. The advent of the day often depresses me because it’s the day I realize one-third of the summer is already gone, in many cases wasted away with missed opportunities to soak in sun or enjoy the longer days. And fireworks — a series of short-lived, superficial bursts of color—just aren’t intriguing enough for me to endure crazed, screaming, or drunken crowds. Aimee Mann touched on similar sentiments in her song “4th of July”:

Today’s the fourth of July
another June has gone by
And when they light up our town I just think
what a waste of gunpowder and sky

—from “Whatever,” 1993, The Imago Recording Company

Food-wise, for much of my teenage and young-adult life Independence Day meant a paternally imposed and catered under-the-back-porch cookout. The event was attended by my sister Bea and me and sometimes the family cat, with my mom “joining” us from the family room, just beyond the backdoor screen. Also present were the ol’ gnarly picnic table — which took up half the makeshift patio under the porch, the underside of which was laced with spider webs and other nests of nature (the locale was dark, dusty, and grimy, but definitely shady!) — charcoal-grilled hot dogs and burgers, buns, rolls, cole slaw and potato salad from DeMoulas/Market Basket, assorted beverages, and the ubiquitous squeeze bottle of Plochman’s yellow mustard. To thwart insectile attempts to join the feast, exposed food received additional shade in the form of a screen-food-dome-thingy most likely purchased from a Walter Drake or Lillian Vernon catalog. There was usually a fly swatter close by.

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Eating our way through Portland, Maine

Marcia June 10, 2010 Restaurants, Travel 1

For this post I’m writing from memory as old as a week or older; please forgive the lack of sensory detail as I write about our fine and not-so-fine dining experiences in Portland, Maine.

West End Deli

The West End Deli, 133 Spring Street, Portland, Maine

West End Deli, Spring Street, Portland. This photo is from Google maps; when we visited the deli, there were tables and chairs, not benches, on the sidewalk.

On Memorial Day we arrived at the Portland train station on the Amtrak Downeaster at about 2:35 and were quite ready for a long-awaited lunch. On the cab ride to the hotel, we kept our eyes pealed for potential luncheon sources. Just seconds from the hotel, we both espied a small storefront with tables, chairs, and a few patrons munching away. As we approached on foot, the sidewalk chalkboard sign boasted what would prove to be a most delightful lunch choice—the special of the day, the Roslin. This sandwich wrap contained, if I remember correctly, turkey, avocado, black beans, and apple salsa. I usually eschew the wrap part of wraps, opting instead for the “in-a-bowl” versions. But today, I wanted, and ordered, a wrap. I’m on vacation, dammit! A spinach wrap to be precise. It was the spunky tartness of the green-apple salsa that made this wrap memorable in a very good way. Gary ordered a quesadilla wrap and liked it.  We ate at the outdoor tables, as the seating inside was cramped. West End is a deli-grocery store; we walked to the back to the deli to order our sandwiches and whatnot, took the slips of paper that detailed our orders, grabbed our bottled drinks from the refrigerated foods section, and paid the kind lady at the front register.
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Rallying for Roll-ups! Part 3: Rugelach

Marcia March 31, 2009 Banter, Recipes, Restaurants 0

A year or two ago my friend Kate presented me a shoe-box-sized plastic container of rugelach. She said it was so easy to make; she found the recipe in a magazine — no-fuss rugelach via refrigerated pie crust dough!

In a word: EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I thought her rugelach was rich, flaky, and fruity — it took much effort to NOT devour the entire containerful in one day. Gary agreed it was mighty tasty.

So, onto my roll-up-only menu it went. I found what I believed to be the right recipe on realsimple.com. Now you read that recipe and tell me what to do with the walnuts and raisins, because the recipe certainly doesn’t. Interestingly, the same recipe at realsimple television does say what to do with the nuts and raisins, but for some reason says the yield is 12 rugelach, though the original recipe says 22. Does anybody proofread or test these recipes?

This is Real Simple's photo; my pastries went straight to the trash bin. . .

This is Real Simple's photo; my pastries went straight to the trash bin. . .

Anyway . . . the sprinkling, unfolding, rolling, spreading, sprinkling, rolling, and slicing steps went well. Except that for one log I forgot to add “half” each the walnuts and raisins, and, oh yes, I had also decided that one-sixth of a cup of jam did not cover a the dough very well AT ALL, so I put on about twice as much each time. What harm could that do?

After the rugelach baked for barely five minutes, the jam oozed out of the swirls, congregated on the cookie sheet, and bubbled into a dark, gooey glue. I had to wait for the rugelach to cool before attempting to scrape/cut/trim the black, crispy lacquer from each piece while maintaining its structural integrity. It didn’t go well.

Well, I thought, at least there would be YUM. But actually there was no YUM. Not YUCK, just YAWN. This rugelach tasted sorta like jam baked in refrigerated pie dough. I’d have to ask Kate for the recipe she used. In the meantime, time was scarce, so we headed to Whole Foods to seek sweet rolled-up anythings, preferably freshly baked. Failing that, it would be off to the convenience mart for HoHos.

At Whole Foods, in the spirit of stubborn menu stick-to we passed over a couple of nice-looking jelly or swiss rolls in favor of prepackaged rugelach. Though this rugelach tasted better than the trash-bin inhabitants–we could detect some butter and cream cheese in these somewhere–they were still disappointing. Not the WOW we were looking for.

Turns out, the recipe I had tried WAS the recipe Kate swore by. She’d made it so many times, in fact, to so many rave reviews she had at the ready her list of preparation tips:

  1. Line the cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
  2. Spray the foil with a nonstick cooking spray (Pam)
  3. Sprinkle the cinn/sugar mix all over the foil
  4. Use Pillsbury pie rounds.
  5. Use a thin layer of jam/preserves
  6. Use a lot of raisins/walnuts
  7. Cut the log at a slight angle

This should help. There is always a lot of goop that comes out. It’s so yummy though. Good luck!

I’ll be taking votes: Should I try the Real Simple recipe again, or next time attempt a full-scale decadent cream-cheese laden version?

Za restaurant’s pizza and salads show off fresh ideas and ingredients

Marcia February 17, 2009 Restaurants 0

Za
Fresh and creative pizzas and salads
138 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, Mass.
www.zarestaurant.com

Za's specialty pizzas feature unexpected topping combos

Za's specialty pizzas feature unexpected topping combos

My husband and I were eagerly anticipating a Valentine’s Day dinner of gourmet pizza. We’d kept our occasional pizza yearnings at bay for many months, but we had planned a February splurge, V-day being the perfect excuse (hey, pizza’s red, right?). We were saddened to hear one of our fave pizza parlors, DiMio’s of Cambridge, had closed. Hopefully, we thought, Za might be able to lessen the loss.

We had called ahead for a spot on their waiting list but got there early anyway, and so we sat on a side bench while we waited for our seats. I felt bad for the dining couple we were practically sitting on top of while we waited: breathing room was minimal in this corner of the restaurant. After waiting only 10 minutes or so, we were seated.

The Za waitstaff was helpful and friendly, despite the full house and tight quarters.

Although several of Za’s pizza concoctions were intriguing, with themes such as mac ‘n cheese, ham sandwich (with dill pickle slices!), and salmon fillet with fontina and capers, we veered toward the conservative: he with mozzarella and tomato with additional toppings of sausage, caramelized onion and portabella mushrooms, me with the specialty pizza of portabella mushrooms, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, roasted garlic, and goat cheese ($10.50, if I remember correctly). Had we discussed or choices before ordering, I’m sure we’d have adjusted our overlapping selections.

The salad menu also lured us in with claims of farm-fresh vegetables, though our waiter did point out that in the dead of winter, the salad offerings are not as varied as they are in the spring and summer months. Again, I was interested in several of the salads, but went for the conservative iceberg lettuce, grated carrot, and blue cheese. Gary went for the slightly more seasonal greens, dried cranberries, and walnut mix. We both loved the mixtures and the freshness of our salads. I was distracted, though, by the description of a roasted sweet potato salad I noticed on their specials blackboard after I had already ordered. I wish I’d seen it earlier; I would have ordered it! The guy who seated us said the blue “specials” menus he handed us had the same specials that were listed on the chalkboard. He was wrong!

So, the salads were a success, and the iced tea — earl gray — was pleasantly fragrant, not too harsh. I enjoyed it without sweetener. Very refreshing.

The pizzas, however, were disappointing. Gary found little to sing about with his pizza, rating it merely “not bad.” I, too, had hoped for a little more zing from my ‘Za , but even the several dozen cloves of roasted garlic could not wake up this bland pizza. I did like that they were very generous with the portabella mushrooms–nice big chunks, not just slices–but was saddened that the roasted red peppers I was so looking forward to were barely noticeable. It was almost an afterthought: “Hey, where’s are my peppers? Oh, are those ten little pimentos my peppers?”

In a nutshell: Salads great, pizza just okay. But we will make a trip back later this year to sample their spring or summer menu. I swear I’ll order more adventurously next time, or at least make sure there’s one topping on my pizza I’ve never had on pizza before. But it probably won’t be a dill pickle.