Natural sunlight can’t be counted on for food photography, at least until we get back to T-shirt weather again. The Skirt Steak Bruschetta post from September 14 featured this not awesome photo:
Decidedly Not Awesome
So I went to Home Depot and got an “Ecosmart 100 watt True Color” bulb. At Staples I got a piece of white foam board. The total outlay was around $12.
I think these two photos are a step in the right direction:
Is part of still-life photography making sure it doesn't look like a face?
Not terrible. The flash wasn’t needed, which was an instant improvement. A tripod and some kind of light diffuser would likely help (probably tracing paper for the diffuser, also purchased at Staples.) On the bright side, I spent less than 5 minutes on it, I’d guess these are the results you get for that time input.
The shadows are still pretty dark on this one:
Note the dark shadows. However, it has the advantage of *not* looking like a face.
If you find yourself in Boston, as I have been a lot lately, and you live in a city with an ahead of the curve dining scene, as I am blessed with in Seattle, you find yourself stuck in a rut in choosing restaurants. Don’t get me wrong, Boston has some fantastic places at the higher end of the price range and some great places at the lower end (inset plug for Sunset Grill and Tap in Allston – great burgers and entrees and a killer beer selection), but there isn’t a ton in the moderately priced sit-down category that is worth writing about. One of those places is Hungry Mother, located in Kendall Square in Cambridge, right near the Kendall Square Cinema.
On an unassuming corner near Kendall Square lies what may be the best restaurant in Boston.
Hungry Mother is the kind of place I have been looking for in Boston – small bites run around $5, apps run around $10 and entrees from $20 – $25 on a small and ever changing seasonal menu. While small, the menu really does cover something for everyone, including the vegetable inclined. Most of the dishes are “southern influenced”, but are really updated versions of southern home cooking – the kind of things that your southern grandmother would easily recognize and would order and probably say, “Damn, that is better than I used to make.” Meat is really the focus here though and that is where I went with my menu selections. They source locally as much as possible
I started with the Warm Beef Tongue on Toast and was just blown away. If you don’t like beef tongue or have never tried it, try this one. What came out was essentially an open-faced steak sandwich in a small bite. On a thick slice of lightly toasted baguette, you get perfectly tender, thinly sliced beef tongue, slathered with Dijon mustard and quite possibly the best gravy ever and topped with melted Swiss. I honestly could have eaten this all night and been happy, it was that good. I don’t know how particularly southern it was, but hell, I would kill for one right now.
I then moved on to what was called Lamb Pancetta. I was both skeptical and intrigued by it and after a recommendation by the waiter (and passing up the Green Tomato Gazpacho), I went for it. They took a lamb neck, de-boned it, flattened it, cured it as you would pancetta, rolled it and cooked it. This lead to a perfectly seasoned piece of meat with crispy exterior and a melt in your mouth unctuous interior that could not have a better contrast – and a very mild lamb flavor. Coupled with hominy and an out of this world jus, I found myself practically licking the plate clean as I devoured the dish.
In a delirious state from the deliciousness of the first 2 courses, I eagerly awaited my main course – the fried chicken. As I couldn’t decide between 4 out of the 5 entrees (I ruled out the catfish as it is really not one of my favorites to eat), my waiter steered me toward the fried chicken. He told me it is their most popular dish and it is not on the menu all the time and when it is, it usually sells out quickly. I am particular about my fried chicken, but with a glowing recommendation like that, I had to try it. What I received was one of the best fried chicken meals ever – a half chicken perfectly with a perfectly crispy breading on the outside and mouthwateringly tender and juicy on the inside. The chicken had obviously been given a long soak in buttermilk and you can taste it, adding a slight tang to the salty, crunchy, tender chicken. This bird needed no additional seasoning. My common complaint about buttermilk soaked chicken is that you never taste the buttermilk – not a problem here. The dish came with some simply cooked greens topped with a house made pepper vinegar which could not have been better.
Sadly, I was stuffed and did not try any additional sides or deserts.
I would be amiss if I didn’t talk about the service. Hungry Mother has the kind of service you would expect in a much higher end restaurant; the attentive wait staff (I didn’t see any table who ordered a bottle of wine one have to fill their own glasses) with a great knowledge of the menu (and pairing drinks with the food) without being too intrusive, were stellar and paid attention to the little things – changing the silverware between courses, clearing plates, filling glasses, etc., all while handling a small but packed dining room; it was a true team effort on their part. Dining solo can lead to lousy service and that was definitely not the case here – I never once felt rushed or like they didn’t want me there despite a line out the door when I left the restaurant at 9:30 (I was there for nearly 2 hours). This was probably one of the 10 best services that I have had at a meal.
In addition to the food, Hungry Mother also has a full bar with a small specialty cocktail list and a small but solid beer and wine by the glass selection as well as a nice wine list covering both new and old world at just about every price point. You are going to want to make a reservation in advanced – this place is always packed.
Overall, I was floored by how good this meal was, so good that I will honestly say that, in 12 years of living in Boston and 8 years of traveling back there, this was the single best meal I have had in the city. Hungry Mother would fit right in with the Seattle dining scene and I would highly recommend going to Hungry Mother as hungry as possible, with as many people as possible and order as much as possible. You won’t be disappointed.
Top: Leftover skirt steak cut into smallish pieces and brought to room temperature.
Middle: Red onion, mushroom, red pepper, and balsamic. The vegetables were sauteed (basically melted) in olive oil over low heat for about an hour, then cooled.
Bottom: Still warm garlic rubbed bruschetta coated with a spoonful of horseradish sour cream. The temperature contast was nice.
It’s getting late in the year and the natural light is fading by dinnertime. A plan “B” for photography may be in order.
Yesterday, I received my copy of Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal by Jennifer McLagan. I haven’t made it all the way through the book yet, and I will post a review when I finally do, but I do want to share a quote that was in the book by M.F.K Fisher
People who feel that a lamb’s cheek is gross and vulgar when a chop is not are like the medieval philosophers who argued about such hairsplitting problems as how many angels could dance on the point of a pin. If you have these prejudices, ask yourself if they are not built on what you may have been taught when you were young and unthinking, and then if you can, teach yourself to enjoy some of the parts of the animal that are not commonly prepared.
The quote makes more sense as you read the book. Jennifer’s talks about her experiences eating some poorly prepared things as a child and how she in situations later in her life ended up eating the same things with an open mind, falling in love with them. It is not a bad attitude to take in both eating and life.
So many times I have tried things later in life that I hated as a kid – mushrooms and mustard come to mind; I would never eat them when I was younger now I rank them among my favorite foods on the planet. You won’t love everything that you try, but you are probably missing out on some things that you will probably love.
Skirt steak, zucchinni, red peppers, yellow peppers, and halved baby bok choy. (Skirt steak not pictured.) The vegetables were marinated in soy, worchestershire, sesame oil, sambal oelek, and honey.
There is lots of really cool culinary related stuff happening in September and October in the Seattle Area. Here are my picks for your viewing pleasure:
September 9 – 11th – Hopfest at Brouwer’s Café in Fremont. Hoppy beers paired with hoppy animals, what more can you want.
Saturday September 17th – Mobile Food Rodeo behind the Interbay Whole Foods. Tickets in advance for $7 or $10 at the door. There will be 20+ food trucks, all of the usual suspects and 3 trucks from Portland. Check out my review of the last time they had a paid event like this here.
Sunday September 18th – Eat A Bug at the Burke Museum. Before you go EEEWWW! Don’t knock it before you have tried it. Bugs are actually quite tasty (try a silkworm – they taste like mulberry), extremely healthy and raising bugs as food is better for you and the environment than the factory farmed meat and veggies in your fridge.
Wednesday September 28th – Craft Beer + Food at the Yacht Club at Lake Union. A pairing of food and beer with 10 restaurants and 10 breweries from the Seattle Area. Probably worth the $30 for admission.
Sunday October 2nd – The Original Mobile Chowdown in West Seattle. Not to be confused with the Mobile Food Rodeo, this one is free. Same general lineup as the Rodeo. Saturday October 8th and Sunday October 9th – Great Pumpkin Festival at Elysian Brewing in Georgetown. This year there will be 40+(!!!!) pumpkin beers. Can’t wait for this one. Tickets are available here, here or here.
Monday October 10th – my man crush, Alton Brown, returns to Seattle at the University Bookstore at 7 PM to promote his new book. Not a great venue and a really small space, so I will be getting there early.
Saturday October 22nd and Sunday October 23rd – the Northwest Chocolate Festival returns to the Seattle Center. Two days of chocolate overindulgence. Tickets available here.
Just inside the city limits of Mount Vernon lies a very non-descript warehouse looking building that houses the fairly new facilities of North Sound Brewing. North Sound has been open for roughly a year and was an unknown quantity to all those on the trip, making this a must stop location.
The Beer – North Sound had 8 beers on tap when we got there, a sort of something for everyone lineup of the usual suspects – Blonde, Brown, Hefe, IPA, Stout, etc., so we got a couple of samplers to try. Overall, I would say the beers are above average – some of my favorites were the IPA, which had a nice, balanced hoppiness, the Brown, which was a refreshing malty beverage and the Stout , which had a rich, chocolatly presence with a smooth finish. The true standout here, however, was the Cherry Wheat. This beer was not a “beat you over the head with cherry flavor” beer, but a much more restrained, very good Wheat beer with a tease of cherries on the back of the palate. This beer was a huge surprise. You drink it expecting cherries but what you get is a crisp and refreshing, easy to drink Wheat up front with the faintest hit of cherries at the end, giving you a happy ”wow” sensation. This beer was consensus the favorite beer on the trip and really made me wonder why more Northwest brewers are not doing something like this. The distribution for North Sound is keg only and I can honestly say I can’t think of a single place in Seattle where I have seen their beers, so you need to get some growlers to go. Heck, you should drive to Mount Vernon just to get a growler of the Cherry Wheat. Their beers gain a prestigious 5 tulips out of 5.
The Atmosphere – unlike every other place we visited which were brewpubs, North Sound is a tasting room, so there is no real pub feel here. Located in a converted warehouse, the indoor seating contains several tables and a counter and the outdoor patio has a number of picnic tables for your imbibing enjoyment. It is a really straight forward, pleasant location but nothing to really right home about. You can bring in your own food and they have someone selling BBQ in the parking lot frequently, so there is no reason you couldn’t spend a few hour enjoying the fine beers that North Sound produces. Overall North Sound blows in at a 3.5 (out of 5) on the Beaufort Scale.
Dog Friendliness – Having a big patio meant we could bring the pooch to sit with us, which was a huge plus. North Sound has an enclosed parking lot, so it gives you a chance to stretch Rover’s legs without having to deal with the busy street out front. There is no real covered space outside if you wanted to leave the pup outside when you went in for a beer, but that is a minor quibble. North Sound is a great spot to bring your four legged friend and enjoy a beer – 4.5 chases of the tail out of 5.
A winding drive from Anacortes down SR20, across Deception Pass, brings you to Whidbey Island and the sleepy little hollow of Oak Harbor, best known for being the home of Naval Air Station Whidbey. Lesser known is that there is also a brewpub in Oak Harbor right on Route 20 – Flyer’s Brewing.
The Beer – Back when Flyer’s first opened, they made great beers – innovative, tasty and worth seeking out. That was not the Flyer’s we experienced. They listed only 6 beers on tap – Blonde, Hefe, IPA, Amber, Brown and Porter, not exactly a killer lineup, but liking their beers, I was ok with that. We found out they only had 4 of the 6 – the Blonde and IPA were not available (I remember the IPA being pretty good). After ordering a sampler, none of the beers were particularly memorable. Sure they were all drinkable, but I wouldn’t run out to find any of them. The Porter was the best of the bunch and it was pretty mild with faint hints of chocolate. The Brown and Amber were so subdued that you could have had them interchangeably without missing a beat (or being able to tell which was which). The hefe had slight citrus overtones, and considering it was a warm, sunny afternoon, was the beer of choice when we ordered the pitchers. Flyer’s has their beers available in 22 oz. bottles at most better bottle shops, but I am not sure if I would go out of my way to seek them out. The lack of selection and lackluster beer made me think that they might be on their way out of the brewing business. As a whole, the beer was not well received by the group – 2 propellers out of 5.
The Atmosphere – Flyer’s from the outside looks like a converted Pizza Hut – right on the corner of a major intersection. Don’t let the outside fool you. The inside has a nice bar area and the dining area is quite sizeable. The restaurant is decorated with an aviation theme (as you would expect), but restrained enough that you don’t feel like you are at TGI McFunster’s. The real highlight was the outdoor patio, which was nearly as large as the dining area and completely packed (as was the dining area, but not as crowded). On a warm, sunny day, being outside was a big bonus – 5 Warm Fronts out of 5.
Dog Friendliness – Flyer’s is a dog’s perfect spot to enjoy a brew with her people. The big outdoor deck is spacious and has plenty of places you can hitch up Fido and with a separate entrance; you can bring the pooch right to the table with you. There were plenty of dogs in the outdoor space and the staff was very happy to bring a water bowl. Flyer’s fetches a score of 5 squeaky toys out of 5. Good girl. Stay.
That was sort of the original plan anyway. It evolved into some disparate stuff:
The “appetiser”:
Crab Rangoons – Wonton wrappers filled with cream cheese, crabmeat, and minced chives. The filled wrappers were deep fried in canola oil at about 350-360 degrees. (Cream cheese to crab meat ratio was loosely 2:1.)
Entree #1:
Grilled Margerhita Pizza – The dough for this pizza was the Mario Batali dough, scaled to 1.5c flour, posted here. The dough was made the day before and allowed to rest in the refrigerator overnight. A 14.5 oz can of Muir Glen Fire Roasted tomatoes and some fresh oregano got buzzed up in the blender. (This was the perfect amount for this pizza and the pizza that came after it.) Fresh “cherry-size” mozzarella was placed on paper towels and squished between two sheet pans to remove much of the water, then torn into smaller pieces. After the pizza was removed from the heat it was topped with about 8 large (torn) basil leaves.
Entree #2:
Proscuitto and carmelized red onion pizza – This dough was started two hours before dinner using the Smitten Kitchen “simplest” recipe with a little honey added, scaled to 1.5c flour, posted here. 1/3 of a red onion was thinly sliced, then slowly cooked down with basalmic vinegar. The pizza was topped with, in order, the sauce, onions, mozzeralla, and a generous amount of proscuitto de parma. The heat needed to be reduced to low about halfway through to allow the proscuitto to cook a little more.
Poor photo of a good pizza -- food doesn't like flashbulbs.
We finished with corn, soaked in the husk then grilled over medium heat, then non-grilled fruit.
Good food, good beer, nice night, good company, good times.
FlatbreadGarden 