.::|TheDish|::.

Ebay's The Inside Source

Last week, Ebay launched an online magazine called The Inside Source. According to Meredith Barnett, the sites editorial director, The Inside Source is targeted at the smart shopper “who is sophisticated, has a sensibility about fashion and lifestyle and may be familiar with eBay but maybe not the full extent of everything it has to offer.”

Within the Fashion, Tech, Pop Culture, Home & Garden, Entertainment, The Green Scene, and What's Hot Now sections on the site (called "Topics"), there's a variety of editorial pieces written by journalists and specialists highlighting the latest trends across many categories, which are somewhat like blog posts, with contextual links driving users to check out and hopefully purchase realated products on Ebay. Additionally, you'll find online interviews with noteworthy people within the various categories, also with links to purchase their favorite products on Ebay; a product endorsement so to speak.

So, I started to poke around on the site a little. Although the site is primarily focused on fashion, as clothes and accessories are Ebay's biggest revenue generators, there's definitely a lot of content across a broad range of categories. Considering the breadth of content, they do a pretty good job at organizing it and the site is easy to navigate; it feels a bit like an interactive gossipy glossy :). 

Being from Boston, the story on Barbara Lynch in the Home & Garden section attracted my attention. Since I'm a regular at some of her eateries here in town, I also immediately recognized the error in the first paragraph of the article: "her Boston-based company, Barbara Lynch Gruppo, owns a variety of food-related businesses in the area: critically acclaimed restaurant No. 9 Park; South End eatery B&G Oysters, which shares a space with fancy cocktail bar Drink...". Oops, not trying to be too critical here, but B&G and Drink are in 2 totally different neighborhoods.** Update - I left a comment regarding this, and they promptly corrected it, so props to The Inside Source for listening to their readers :) **

Overall, it's nice to give Ebay a voice, and being a bargain shopper myself, this site serves as a gentle reminder that I should run a quick Ebay search to see what I may find next time I am in the market for that special something. With sites like Gilt Groupe and Rue La La being front and center in the competitive discount online fashion retail space, I am curious to see how this site evolves and what it does for Ebay.com, and if they see ROI by attracting more of those savvy shoppers they are after.

Cranberry Port Sauce

This week in our kitchen it's about trying a couple new recipes, and we adapted one from the October issue of Fine Cooking Magazine (my ALL time favorite foodie read) that's worth writing about. The full recipe is for Roasted Cornish Game Hens with Cranberry-Port Sauce, however since I had just purchased a beautiful organic chicken, I decided to leverage just the sauce recipe to add some pizazz after roasting the fresh bird. It's simple to make, yet rich and complex; highly recommended for any poultry or pork.

For the sauce:
2 cups lower-salt chicken broth
1/3 cup ruby port
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 Tbs. minced shallot
1 Tbs. all-purpose flour
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine the port and cranberries for the sauce in a small bowl, cover, and let sit overnight (I let the cranberries and port it for an hour and the sauce was fabulous, so I bet if you let it sit overnight the cranberries are even more saturated with yummy port).

Heat the broth in a small saucepan. Heat the 1 Tbs. butter in a separate medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the minced shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallot is tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook, whisking gently, until it forms a thick paste, about 30 seconds. Strain the port through a fine sieve into the saucepan, reserving the cranberries (don’t press down on the berries). Whisk for about 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in the broth until the sauce is smooth, adjusting the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Simmer, whisking occasionally, until reduced by about one-third, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the reserved cranberries. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Just before serving, pour any accumulated juices from the hens, chicken or whatever you roasted, into the sauce. Serve the poultry or pork drizzled with the sauce.

Recipe adapted from: Fine Cooking 102, pp. 65
October 29, 2009
Photo: Fine Cooking, Scott Phillips

Franklin Cafe (Southie) - New Menu

The Franklin Cafe Southie has a fabulous, hearty new fall menu! I have had the Pan Seared Chatham Cod and it's SO delish! Check out the fresh tasty offerings, here:

Lobster Bisque $8

Organic Crispy Vegetable & Green salad $6 Sundried Tomato Caesar Salad
Pecorino, Brioche $8

Roasted Local Apple & Frissee Salad
Bacon, Spiced Walnuts $8

Crispy Pork Confit
Cranberry Jam, Spinach, Mint $8

"Baja Style" Fish Tacos
Chimichurri, Black Beans, Lime $9

Roasted Vegetable & Polenta Torte
Local Goat Cheese, Mushroom $8

Soy Marinated Organic Chicken Livers
Horseradish & Fennel Salad $10

Smokey Skillet Roasted Mussels
Warm Clarified Butter, Parsley $9

Wild Mushroom Mac N' Cheese
House-Made Ricotta, Thyme $8

Spice Grilled Tofu Steak
Indonesian Fried Rice, Farm Egg $16

Pan Seared Chatham Cod
Tasso Succotash, Green Garlic Sauce $19

Poached North Atlantic Salmon
Lobster & Butternut Risotto, Apple $20

Slow Cooked Domestic Lamb Shank
Brandy, Apricots, Rainbow Chard $20

Roasted Statler Chicken
Creamed Spinach, Chestnut Mushrooms $18

House-Made Potato Agnolotti
Braised Short Ribs, Pecorino $18

Grilled Prime Flank Steak
Spicy Cabbage, Coconut Rice $19

Broccolini $4

Hand Cut Fries $5

The Franklin Southie
Website
152 Dorchester Ave
South Boston, MA 02127
617.269.1003

Hours
Open Monday - Sunday
Dinner: 5:30pm - 1:30pm
Bar: 5:00pm - 2:00pm
Brunch: 11:00am - 4:00pm, Saturday and Sunday
Outdoor Patio in the Spring and Summer open until 10:00pm

Zaytinya, Washington DC

Rating: 4 forks

Our culinary adventures in our nations capitol also led us to another top-notch eatery, Zaytinya. Meaning "olive oil" in Turkish, Zaytinya features mezze, or small plates, from classical and contemporary Greek, Turkish and Lebanese cuisine. The power chef behind this trendy restaurant is James Beard award-winning chef José Ramón Andrés Puerta, better known in the culinary world as José Andrés; he's the man credited for bringing the "tapas"/small plates concept to this country. Muaaaah, thanks, José!

And the Zaytinya experience lived up to the hype and recommendations from friends, including Krista Kranyak, a friend and the owner of the fantastic Ten Tables restaurants here in the Boston area. We arrived to a kind 40 minute wait – much less than I had anticipated – and upon drifting towards the bar to wait for our table, our senses were teased by the sight and smell of the plates passing by. A couple seats cleared at the impressively large bar, we swooped in for a landing, and started on our international culinary adventure.

I am a sucker for good bread, and Zaytinya tops most, delivering freshly baked pita, still puffed-up and warm, with accompanying Greek olive oil and a vinegar drizzle. Despite our bartender's friendly recommendation to "save some room", we easily plowed through the first basket in no time. Whoops. We were rescued soon thereafter by a constant stream of mezze, including:

Baby Beet Salad
golden & candy cane beets, fennel, cress, feta, walnuts $7.00

Seasonal Mushrooms 

sautéed mushrooms, dates, toasted almonds $10.00

Octopus Santorini

grilled baby octopus, marinated onions, capers, yellow split pea puree $10.00

Veal Cheeks Manitaro
slow cooked, lemon chanterelle mushroom puree $11.00

Knisa Lamb Chops
grilled lamb chops, smoked yogurt, caper-dill salsa 
12.00

We closed out the evening with sweet perfection: Greek Yogurt with muscat soaked apricots, vanilla yogurt cream, apricot sorbet, and a pistachio powder. I am not usually a fan of the fruity desserts, however this was a total grand slam, and perhaps one of the top desserts to ever tantalize my tastebuds.

I'll be back, and I'd love to check out one of José Andrés other restaurants in the city: minibar by josé andrés, Cafe Atlantico, Jaleo and Oyamel.

Zaytinya
www.zaytinya.com
701 9th St NW
Washington, DC 20001
202.638.0800

Proof, Washington DC

Rating: 4 forks
This past weekend, my husband and I had the pleasure of visiting our nation's capitol. Aside from DC being an impeccably clean city, the home to our president and other political folk, and a cultural center with an impressive list of stellar museums, we have proof that DC is also becoming a culinary capitol; at least, that was my take from the two dining experiences we had over our weekend jaunt.

Friday night, we dined at Proof, per the recommendation of power couple and our company for the evening, Ben and Elizabeth (you may remember my recent post about Ben). Proof is classified as a wine bar, and therefore of course boasts an impressive list of worldly vintages, including a few prize bottles from the esteemed (and incredibly expensive) winery Screaming Eagle, topping out at a mere $5500/bottle. Yikes. Of course, there were plenty to chose from for us "common folk", unique small-batch wineries like Owen Roe (which we discovered at Brix in Boston) and also the 2006 K Vinters, Pheasant, Syrah, our table's choice for the evening, at $70/bottle.

Now, the food. Oh, where to begin. First off, it was absolutely divine, and I must say, Proof trumped many of the meals I have had in my hometown of Boston, by far; I'd say, from our short experience, that the dining options in DC are on par with those of NYC and San Francisco, though I would guess there's slightly fewer options to chose from. We kicked off the evening's feast with a board of soft and hard cheeses, paired with toasted nutty bread, an apple puree, pure natural honey, and Madjool dates and a accompanying plate of cured meats from their charcuterie menu, paired with fresh dijon and cornichons. Yum. Next, we shared a few appetizers from the menu:

Roasted Beets with Pea Shoots & Kaleidoscope Carrots 
sherry mustard vinaigrette, Stilton, toasted hazelnuts  $8 

Grilled Spanish Octopus
potato-chickpea salad, smoked paprika, piquillo pepper vinaigrette $13

Spicy Little Meatballs
goat cheese agnolotti, tomato fondue $10

Each were to die for, especially those little cheese agnolotti's, a fancy name for the-best-raviolis-ever. For dinner, the men both orederd-up the venison, which I don't see on the online menu; however us lady's opted for:

Honey & Spice Glazed Pekin Duck Breast
roasted jewel yam purée, pomegranate vinaigrette, grilled scallions $27

Duck & Pork Confit with Grilled Boudin
cassoulet of flageolet beans, spinach, herbed bread crumbs, lardons $25

And for dessert – I am surprised I can remember what we had after the self-induced food coma from tasting the above – we shared a warm carmel cake, and a serving of delicious homemade coconut sorbet.

If in DC, you must-must check out Proof; I can't wait to go back!

Proof
775 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
www.proofdc.com
202.737.7663

Opening Day: Market and the Living Room at the W Hotel

It's opening day in Boston! No, not the Sox, obviously, but rather the new, totally hyped-up, W Hotel is opening its doors to 2 soon-to-be urban hot spots: Market Restaurant and Living Room. I really don't know much about either, other than that the three-star Michelin chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten is the mastermind behind Market. I have never dined at his posh NYC restaurant, Jean-Georges, but hear it's stellar. From Daily Candy:

The menu is a simple yet elegant mash-up of French, Asian, and Italian flavors  (it’s Jean-Georges’s thing). The culinary god scoured Boston’s local vegetable markets and scouted Beantown fish mongers to supply cod with shimeji mushrooms and miso-yuzu broth and soy-glazed short ribs with apple-jalapeno puree and rosemary crumbs.

And as for Living Room, looks like it is in-line with other W lounges: comfy, clean lines, intimate seating, dark, probably with beats and lots of short black mini's. Here's some pics, thanks to Urban Daddy Boston:
 

W Hotel Boston
100 Stuart St
Boston, MA 02116
Website
(617) 261-8700

Mistral Opens for Brunch

I am baaaack! Didn't take long for me to miss my ramblings on TheDish! And what better way to hopefully regain my reader's loyal eyes than to share this amazing announcement:

Mistral is serving Sunday brunch! You must check out the menu!

Mistral has been a favorite upscale dining spot of mine for years; the food is always impeccable, the service top-notch, the atmosphere upbeat, and the bar crowd, well, let's say nothing short of entertaining. I was so excited to hear that they have just announced their grand entry this Sunday into the brunch scene, featuring over the top creations like White Truffle 3 Minute Duck Egg ($16) and Foie Gras Parfait ($9). They also have more *typical* selections for the less adventurous, like Classic Eggs Benedict ($15), Cinnamon French Toast ($12), and Belgium Waffles ($13).

Looks like my Sunday dining adventures may just have to span a little further than my hood. No complaints here!

Mistral
223 Columbus Avenue
Boston, MA 02116
Phone 617-867-9300
mistral@mistralbistro.com
Brunch starting Sundays Oct 25, 10:30am-2pm

DIY Wedding Project #1: Saplings Bring Nature Indoors

As I mentioned in my last post, this is the first of a few upcoming posts that will shed color on some of the personal touches that went into my nuptials.

When holding a outdoor wedding in New England, I think a tent is an imperative due to the erratic and unpredictable weather; you absolutely need a back-up plan. It’s worth focusing and investing time during your planning on some personal touches to add to the tent – to dress it up – as you may just be holding all the day’s events under that one roof. By way of some miracle, it really never rained on our wedding day despite a threatening forecast – a slight sprinkle that lasted a few minutes before the reception was it – but we were definitely prepped for that everything-in-the-tent back-up plan.

A wedding tent is really what you make of it. Without some thought, attention and beautification, it can be rather stale and uninviting. So one of our primary missions was to brainstorm ways to creatively outfit the tent with some individual touches that seamlessly carry the garden and nature theme indoors. We knew we had a lot of room to work with, as the tent was dual peeked with an impressive soaring ceiling.

My mom and I came up with a fun way to tie in the tent décor with the natural wooded surroundings. We headed into the woods and hand selected some old saplings that had fallen; the particular two we chose were quite tall – about 15-20 feet – with a thin trunk diameter, and balanced long branches. We dragged the trees out of the woods and up to the house by way of my mom’s roomy 1999 Volvo trunk, where we started our project. Here's the final result, and below it, the steps we took to get there.

1. We clipped off any remaining leaves on the branches using garden clippers (note to nature lovers, these trees were dead, so we were giving them new life!).
2. Picked up a dozen or so silk branches with blossoms, per tree, and a dozen or so sets of sill leaves, per tree, at Michaels’ craft store.
3. Using wreath wire (that skinny green wire that comes in spools) we attached the leaves and the flowers to the bare saplings by winding the wire around the stems. We left the branches a little sparse, as these were intended to be young trees just blossoming.
4. We attached the trees with bailing twine at the base of the thin trunk to the large poles that were securing the tent; we tried zip ties first, but the poles were too wide, but the twine worked just fine.
5. We then added some decorative tulle to the base of the trees where the twine held the tree in place; the tulle hung down, soft like a bridal veil, and covered up the base of the tree and the securing twine
6. Large canister lights for illuminating the tent were wired about half-way up the pole; we ensured the trees were not interfering with the light (it get’s pretty hot) but also positioned the branches above the lights to illuminate the trees from below.

The trees were a total hit with the guests, and pretty simple to assemble. I still have them, and really don't plan to use them again, so shoot me a note if you are interested in them for your big day!