Mystery Meet: Myers + Chang

Bostonians- have you heard of Mystery Meet?  I first heard about it on my friend Daisy's blog.  I was extrememly jealous and I didn't want to miss out on the next one!  So I started following Mystery Meet on twitter and I heard about the event and when tickets went on sale, I knew I had to snag one.  And I ended up snagging the FINAL ticket.  Score!  Mystery Meet (run by Seth Resler) organizes a tasting menu at popular restuarants all over the city for foodies.  Twenty foodies (mostly bloggers) meet at a restuarant and enjoy a dinner together.  We get five hints before the event.  Here's what they were...
Hint #1: It's located South of the Charles River
Hint #2: It's family style dining.
Hint #3: The chef was really on top of her Stuff this summer

Hint#4: The chef ran every Boston marathon from 1991 to 2006
Hint #5: The owners, both Harvard grads, met while working together at Rialto

I didn't get it until I typed the last two into Google.  I love Google- you can really figure out anything.  Of course it was Myers + Chang!  

I had been wanting to try this place out and was excited.  I emailed Daisy right away to see if she scored a ticket and she had.  So we met up for a pregame drink at Gretchen and Daisy's favorite place- Deluxe in the South End.  

After our very strong and delicious drinks- we walked to Myers and Chang.  We arrived five after 7:30 and there were only two remaining seats.  We introduced ourselves to those around us. I had the pleasure of meeting Bianca from Confessions of a Chocoholic,  Cynthia from Wicked Tasty Harvest, and Emily from Angry Little Chemist. Immediately, I ordered a delicious drink- (China Star $9 with sparkly prosecco, lychee, black currant). 

I love prosecco and love lechee.  This drink was fabulous.  Before long, the dishes started showing up. But first, a pic of Daisy and I!

First up:

This was my favorite dish, and it was the first.  I love the combo of noodles, chicken, and cilantro and I thought I didn't like cilantro.  This dish changed my mind! Next up:

 I loved this dish as well.  The crunch, the meat, the veggies- delicious!

This was also a fabulous dish.  Love mussels and I especially loved the lemongrass sauce.

These ribs were fall-off the bone tender.  I'm usually against ordering anything that you have to really use your hands to eat- wings, ribs... I don't eat them out in public.  I don't usually think its classy even though we all know I'm not the classiest girl in the world.  But these ribs were wow.. so tender and so delcious.  I loved this dish!

Looks pretty right?  This was my least favorite dish.  Something in here was incredibly bitter.  I usually love brocolli rabe, but this wasn't for me.  But honestly, by the time this came around, I was stuffed anyway.  There were a couple other dishes and tons of desserts but I couldn't eat anything else.  I was full and tired!

If you want to see the desserts, check out Daisy's page!  The highlight of the evening was meeting Joanne Chang in person! She came over to thank us for coming and she was so nice!

Overall, this night was a lot of fun.  I do wish I got to talk to more people (note to self, arrive early so you can sit in the middle of the table!) but it was a great event.  Thanks Seth for setting it up.  See you all at the next Mystery Meet!  And if you a Bostonian who is interested in joining us at the next one- follow Mystery Meet on twitter so you follow the updates! Thanks Seth for a wonderful and delicious evening!

Cape Cod Weekend!

Over the weekend, Dave and I, along with my brother and his wife Natalia went to our friends Laura and Pete's Cape House.  It was such a relaxing weekend and we had so much fun! Friday night we headed over to Chapin's in Dennis.

We waited for almost two hours, but it was worth the wait.  I got a hot lobster roll (again- I'm addicted- missed my post on Neptune Oyster's hot lobster roll? Check it out here.)

After waiting for so long I think I could have eaten my arm so I really didn't spend much time enjoying this.  I spent much more time stuffing it into my mouth as quickly as possible. I was hungry! It was really good- not as good as Neptunes but it also wasn't nearly as expensive (Neptunes is $25!) After dinner, we headed back to the house and passed out pretty quickly.  On Saturday we woke up and went to the beach!

Most of us read and hung out in the sun... but one of us just couldn't sit still....

 Mike (my brother) did gymnastics and nearly broke his back several times. (I love the picture of Pete reading while Mike is doing headstands in the sand).
Then we decided to bury his wife Natalia in the sand.  Yes, us siblings can't sit still very long.

Aww, true love. 
Saturday night we made tons of food and stayed in- 1.35lb lobsters each, grilled corn on the cob, and an Orzo Salad. But first- oyster shooters (made by hubby Dave and Pete!)

Now these are my kind of shots! Then we played with and cooked the lobster, made the orzo salad and the corn on the cob.

And then time to eat!

Laura made the Orzo salad and it was AMAZING.  It's a Giada recipe and you should definitely make it!  Click here if you want the recipe.


After dinner, we enjoyed beers over the campfire and... yep, you guessed it... S'mores!
Step One: Add marshmallow to stick after you've stuck the stick into the fire for a few seconds. Then put it into the flame!

Be careful, the 'mellow doesn't catch on fire- if it does, blow it out!

Once marshmallow is slightly melted, add it to a graham cracker with a couple pieces of Hershey's chocolate and enjoy!

Mmmmm, I want one, NOW! 

And that was our weekend!
PS- Laura is the cutest pregnant girl ever- don't you agree?!? And she's 7+ months pregnant!

NYC Marathon Training Week 6

The week went okay. I was REALLY sore after Body by Jake until Wednesday.  I took off Monday, and Sunday but I probably didn't get enough distance in.  I know I need to get over and stay over 30 miles for the week but sometimes I'm working against the clock! Here's the detials:

Date: Tuesday August 3
Route/Workout:  Treadmill, Speed- 3 miles at 5K pace with 400 rest
Mileage: 5.5 miles
Total Time: 55 minutes

1 mile warmup- 10 min pace (6.0MPH, 1.0 incline)

1 mile at 7:42 min

400 Rest (walk, slow jog)

1 mile at 7:34

 400 Rest (walk, slow jog)

1 mile at 7:25 (OH YES)

1 mile cooldown

Date: Wednesday August 4
Route:  Treadmill, Recovery Run, Read entire new Runners World on Treadmill : )
Mileage: 5 miles
Total Time: 46 minutes
Avg Pace: 9:13

Date: Thursday August 5
Workout:  30 min eliptical, stretching

Date: Friday August 6
Route:  Ran ALONE : ( along the Charles at 8AM (already close to 90 degrees)
Mileage: 11 miles
Total Time: 1:47:48
Avg Pace: 9:48

Mile Splits and Mile Thoughts:  

Mile 1-8:47 starting off feeling good going over Mass Ave Bridge

Mile 2-9:07 still feeling alright

Mile 3- 9:18 going into Brighton, regretting wearing a tshirt instead of a tank

Mile 4- 9:24- Turning in Watertown onto Storrow and see a water fountain- so exicted!

Mile 5- 9:37- Cross bridge back to Memorial, Stop at gas station to buy water, continue on Memorial
Mile 6- 9:21- Are we done yet? Thinking there is no way I am going to hit 15 on my own

Mile 7- 9:19- Cross over Mass Ave Bridge back to Storrow

Mile 8- 9:50- hit water fountain, take some walking breaks

Mile 9- 9:58- Bridge closed on 28 near Muesem of Science for commuter rail, wait 5 min in hot sun until opens up, stopped watch 

Mile 10: 9:50 -Dying, taking walking breaks, can't wait to be done, run out of water, blisters hurting Mile 11: 13:13, Stopped to check on my blisters, didn't stop watch, finally cross Mass Ave bridge back to my gym! Contemplate doing 4 more miles on the treadmill but decide to call it a day.  Long Run Fail.

Date: Saturday August 7
Route:  Ran with my brother on the Cape in 90 degree weather at 5pm
Mileage: 3.68 miles
Total Time: 33:21
Avg Pace: 9:04

Mile Splits: 8:44, 9:14, 9:21, 8:54

Total Mileage for the Week: 25.18

CSA Week 7 & Vegetable Crepes!

CSA Week 7 was last Wednesday and here are my goods!

Peaches, Blueberries, Tomatoes, Corn, Lettuce, Kale, Broccoli, Spring Onions, Zucchini, Cucumber, Light Purple Eggplant and a purple pepper!


And with these delights, I made Summer Vegetable Crepes inspired by Eating Well! I got home at 8:30pm on Wednesday and wanted dinner fast so I cheated a bit and bought store bought crepes.  This is one of those meals where you can use whatever veggies you have on hand.  Here's the ingredients:

Ingredients:
1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh chives, divided, plus more for garnish
3 tablespoons low-fat milk
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped zucchini
1 1/4 cups chopped green beans
1 small eggplant
1 small pepper
1 small spring onions
1 cup fresh corn kernels, (from 1 large ear)
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 9-inch “ready-to-use” crêpes
Instructions:
Stir sour cream, 1/4 cup chives, milk, lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl until mixed. Set aside. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, green beans and corn, eggplant and pepper and cook, stirring, until beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Reduce heat to low; stir in ricotta, Monterey Jack, the remaining 1/4 cup chives, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook, stirring gently, until the cheese is melted, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. To roll crêpes, place one on a piece of parchment or wax paper (or leave it on the piece of plastic separating the crêpes in the package). Spoon one-fourth of the vegetable-cheese mixture (about 3/4 cup) down the center of the crêpe. Use the paper (or plastic) to help you gently roll the crêpe around the filling. 

Place the crêpe seam-side down on a dinner plate. Repeat with the remaining crêpes and filling. Serve each crêpe topped with 2 tablespoons of the reserved sauce and more chives, if desired.

This was a fast dinner and I love the ricotta mixed with the vegetables. Be careful rolling the crepes though because if you fill it too much, the crepe breaks easily!


I have a lot more to post in the next couple days- Week 6 of Marathon Training, my amazing Cape weekend and tomorrow nights Mystery Meet at Myers and Chang!

Creative Recipes with CSA (or Farm Fresh) Produce!

Well here's a recap of everything I've cooked since Saturday.  Warning, this will be a long post! Turkey, Kale and Pinto Bean Enchiladas, Spicy Corn Cakes, Blueberry Zuchinni Bread, Proscuitto Wrapped Cod with Green Sauce, Potato Chips, and Polenta Pizza Squares.


So lets start with the Enchiladas.  These beauties were inspired by a new blog I discovered: Cate's World Kitchen.  I love Cate's recipes and she's a runner who qualified for Boston! Anyway, I took a picture of the ingredients We Are Not Martha style before I started.  I always try to remember to do this, but I usually forget. I used store--bought enchilada sauce and ground turkey... Cate's were vegetarian. So for ingredients we have...

Turkey, Kale and Bean Enchiladas
Ingredients:
93% Lean Turkey
Shredded Cheese ( you only need a handful or two)
1 tablespoon of pre-minced garlic
1 Onion, diced
2 zuchinnis, shredded
1 jalapeno, diced (remove seeds)
1 bunch of Kale
1 Can of Pinto Beans
1 Container of Enchilada Sauce (or make your own)
6 flour tortillas- I used Jalapeno Cheddar Mission Wraps
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add the olive oil and jalapenos and stir for a minute. Add the zucchini, cumin and salt. Cook for about 3 minutes, then add kale and stir until soft. In another skillet, brown the turkey. Remove the first skillet from heat and stir in black pepper, the pinto beans and a few tablespoons of enchilada sauce. Mix together the Kale Mixture and the Turkey Mixture.  Taste and season with more salt and pepper if necessary. Put together the enchiladas, prepare the tortillas by warming them in a hot skillet for about 30 seconds per side. Spoon a thin layer of enchilada sauce over the bottom of a greased 13 x 9 pan. Form the enchiladas one at a time: Put a few spoonfuls of filling in a tortilla, roll up and place it in the pan. Pour the remaining sauce evenly over the top and sprinkle with cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for an additional 10. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Check out these guys! They were spicy, FILLING and delicious. Nice little twist on a classic enchilada and a good use for my CSA Kale and Zucchini.

Here you can see the filling starting to leak out the sides....

Alright moving on to Spicy Corn and Sweet Potato Cakes, also adapted by Cate's World.


Below is my shredder attachment on my food processor.  My friend Joanna asked what the shredder attachment looked like so I wanted to show you this amazing piece of machinery. It shredded all my sweet potato in minutes.  This would have taken me probably a half hour to shred and most likely I would have cut myself like I usually do using that damn box grater....

Spicy Corn and Sweet Potato Cakes
Ingredients:
2 ears of corn (or 1/2 cup frozen corn)
1 tsp olive oil
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 jalapeno, minced (ribs and seeds removed, if desired)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed with half of the can pureed until smooth
2 cups sweet potato, peeled and coarsely grated (1 medium sweet potato)
1 egg
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Cut the kernels off the corn and saute in the oil until tender. Set aside to cool. Stir all ingredients (including corn) together until uniformly mixed. Pat into 4″ patties on parchment or silpat-lined baking sheets. Bake at 475 for about 30 minutes or until set. Cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then serve.


This recipe used my corn, zucchini, and eggs from my CSA! I added hummus to these and put them in a wrap on Sunday.


Also over the weekend I made Closet Kitchens Blueberry Zucchini Bread. 
I don't think I baked this long enough. Use his recipe! 
I was able to use TWO CSA goodies- Blueberries and Zucchini!

Monday night I made something absolutely fabulous.  I really think you should all try this green sauce.  I wish I could say this genuis green sauce was my idea, but sadly, it was also Kevin's over at Closet Kitchen. 
I made Prosciutto Wrapped Cod on Asparagus Green Sauce. Doesn't it look almost restaurant worthy?

Prosciutto Wrapped Cod on Asparagus Green Sauce

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic (chopped)
1 leek (finely sliced)
1/2 pound asparagus (cleaned, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces)
1 cup arugula/spinach mix
salt and pepper to taste
2 (6 ounce) cod fillets
salt and pepper to taste
4 thin slices prosciutto
1 tablespoon oil

Instructions:

Melt the butter in a pan. Add the leek and garlic and saute until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Simmer the asparagus in a small amount of water until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Add the Spinach/Arugula mix and cook until wilted, about a minute. Puree the leeks, asparagus and greens in a food processor. Place the sauce in a pan on low heat to keep warm. Season the cod with salt and pepper. Wrap the prosciutto around the cod. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the fish and cook until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer the cod to a baking dish. Bake in a preheated 450F oven until the fish has finished cooking, about 5-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

So in this recipe, I used leeks, and arugula from my CSA.  This sauce was unbelievable and I definitely want to use it in more dishes.


And I wanted to make fish and chips... so I made potato chips on the side.  Of course, these didn't get done until we were done eating the fish but thats besides the point, right? I made these on a baking sheet with salt and pepper and olive oil.

Alrighty, now on to another more colorful dish.  My dinner from last night.  (PS- Does Alrighty remind anyone else of Sex and the City? Anyone?)  Another recipe I saw from Cate's World: Polenta Crust Pizza. 

Polenta Crust Pizza
Recipe:
(adapted from Cates World)
1 cup corn meal
3 cups skim milk
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp olive oil
pizza sauce and toppings
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Put a Silpat on a cookie sheet. Stir the corn meal, milk, and salt together in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens enough to pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat and stir in the olive oil. Let cool for about 2 minutes, then spread evenly over the Silpat with a rubber spatula. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until set. Top with pizza sauce and desired toppings (I used tomato sauce, ground turkey I had left from the enchiladas, banana peppers, cheddar cheese, onions, prosciutto and feta cheese...I think thats all, I pretty much cleaned out the fridge with this recipe) and bake until cheese is melted. Cut into squares to serve.

I served this with a CSA salad of tomatoes, spring red onions and cucumber. 

I just made Summer Vegetable Crepes and I will post that recipe another time.  Past my bed time!

NYC Marathon Training Week 5

Felt great on this week.  Started the week with 8 miles mainly because I ate way too much food over the weekend.  Ran 3.5 the next day because I had time to kill after work and Gretchen was going to the gym.  Wednesday I did an awesome ladder speed workout that I loved.  I love speed workouts like this!  Took Thursday and Friday off and then ran with a crew on Saturday morning from my friend Nancy's house.  It was an awesome run and I felt great! Here are the details....

Date: Monday July 26, 7:30AM 
Route:  Treadmill
Mileage: 8 miles
Total Time: 1:12:57
Avg Pace: 9:07


Date: Tuesday July 27, 6pm
Route:  Treadmill, running next to Gretchen!
Mileage: 3.5 miles
Total Time: 30 minutes
Avg Pace


Date: Wednesday July 28, 7:30AM 
Route:  Treadmill- Speed Workout!
Mileage: 6 miles
Total Time: 54:50
Avg Pace: 9:05 pace
Details here, but awesome speed workout- loved this one! 400, 600, 800, 1200, 800, 600, 400 all with 400 rest at 5.5MPH and at 1.0 Incline


Date:Saturday July 31, 6:30AM 
Route:  Therapy
Mileage: 15.60
Total Time: 2:33:35
Avg Pace 9:48
Details:  Ran with Nancy, our friend Leslie (who I ran with last year on my first 19 miler when I fell TWICE) and Erin.  It was a party!  Erin wasn't feeling amazing on the run but we started together so we were going to finish together! I felt so good on this run, I felt like I probably could have run a 20 miler.  It didn't hurt that the weather was in the high 60s and not the high 80s.  Overall, I'm really happy with this run and am looking forward to more long runs.  I loved the route we did too.  Through my home town and into trails, around lakes, etc.  Nance and I bought water at mile 4 and carried the water with us then refilled at Mile 10 and Mile 13.50. I really tried not to stop the watch at all so you can see the mile splits are highest when we stopped at water.  We did also stop a few times to encourage our running friend Erin who was struggling so the times are reflective. But we all have bad days so its good to be there for each other.
Splits:
Mile 1: 9:38, Mile 2:9:52, Mile 3: 9:41, Mile 4: 11:35 (water stop at DD), Mile 5: 9:32, Mile 6: 9:40, Mile 7: 10:27, Mile 8: 10:28, Mile 9: 10:05, Mile 10: 11:08 (water stop), Mile 11: 9:52, Mile 12: 9:53, Mile 13: 9:47, Mile 14: 9:42, Mile 15: 10:35, .60: 8:09
Oh then after I felt so great that Nancy and I decided to Body By Jake onDemand.  Killer workout.  It was 45 minutes of circuit full-body training.  I am still SO Sore!  But I know I need to do more workouts like this.


Total Mileage for the Week: 33.10!