Friends Food Review

Happy New Year!

 

Happy New year to All! After celebrating our first year as bloggers we are re-organizing our blogs. Over the next year, we will be reviewing at least one restaurant per month as well as one new food or cooking product. You will also see a slight re-design to the site which will bring more consistency to the three blogs featured.

Thank you for your support of Friends Food Review in 2010. We look forward to sharing more of our stories with you in 2011. One great meal, product or service at a time!

boudro's - a texas bistro on the riverwalk

 

I have been in San Antonio for the past few days for the Annual America's Small Business Development Center (ASBDC) Conference. This is a yearly educational conference where my colleagues and I receive educational credits needed for our counseling positions. Our group, the MA Small Business Development Center Network (MSBDC), always enjoys an evening together as part of our trip. It was decided we would go to boudro's and what a great decision.

With 20 people in tow, we converged on the restaurant at 6:30 PM on Thursday night. A few of us decided to have the featured drink called a "Prickly Pear Margarita". The frozen drink arrived with a margarita base and a red cactus pear puree. The flavor was sweet and tangy and extremely pleasing. Next, we ordered boudro's "famous guacamole". The best part of ordering the guacamole was watching Kee (our waiter) make it in front of us. A squeeze of fresh lime and orange, an avocado, cilantro, red onion and a salsa of roasted roma tomatoes and Serrano peppers. A little sea salt and freshly ground pepper and we had an incredibly delicious guacamole. The tortilla chips were lightly salty which complemented the guacamole. The best was when people were finishing the guacamole with their spoons.

The dinners included everything from Big Tails, Little Tails, Wood Grilled Atlantic Salmon, House Smoked Shrimp and Gulf Crab Enchilads (which had an amazing brown mole), Texas Filet of Sirloin, and my meal, Costillas de Res, braised beef short ribs. Everyone enjoyed their meals. Mine was delicious, the meat to my short ribs fell off the bone just using my fork. I also got to taste the enchiladas with the brown mole...very good!

We moved into dessert and enjoyed the suggestions of Creme Brulee, Warm Fresh Fruit Cobbler (apple and raspberry), and the double chocolate brownie layered with azteca and toffee ice cream. I think the best compliment is an empty plate and we had plenty of those!

We truly enjoyed boudro's and our waiter Kee deserves two thumbs up. It's worth making reservations and enjoying a wonderful evening of delicious food while you are visiting San Antonio. Have a prickly pear margarita, enjoy their famous guacamole, order one of their seafood or steak entrees and finish with one of the scrumptous desserts and of course...ask for Kee!

Blue on Highland Restaurant - An unexpected pleasure!

 

Last week, as Jeff and I were heading home from Bedford, we decided to get off on the Highland Ave exit and head into Needham. (Massachusetts for all those following!) We were looking for this little Italian restaurant we had eaten at a few years ago. As we drove further along Highland Ave, we couldn't find the restaurant. As I looked to the left, we passed a place called blue on highland. I took a left at the lights and came around the back of the building and parked. As I always say to Jeff, "Sometimes the best places are those you fall upon." We walked in and the place was buzzing, the atmosphere was great. It was definitely a neighborhood hang-out.  

Our waitress was phenomenal and we enjoyed a drink before we ordered the crispy calamari, the arugula salad and the white clam pizza. The crispy calamari appetizer was delicious and the spicy marinara definitely had a kick...but nothing my sauvignon blanc couldn't cool.

The salad was light and refreshing. The vinaigrette dressing was a perfect blend with the parmesan cheese and the bitterness of the arugula. We finished with the white clam pizza which was a great ending to our meal. The flat crust was thin and delicate, allowing a wonderful balance of clams and pancetta. Not too heavy, even with the white sauce.

We sat back and enjoyed the moment, the place were perfect. We couldn't have asked for anything better from a restaurant that fell out of the blue!

Container Gardens - Beauty and Function

  (Planters contain (beginning with white pot and clockwise) lemon thyme, lettuce/parley/swiss chard, thai and purple basil, arugula, rosemary and silver thyme.)

You may not have time or space to plant a garden, but you can have just as much fun with a contain garden. Find all your outdoor pots and plant an arrangement that can be as pretty as flowers. 

We have a 40 x 10 ft. garden which we just finished planting during Memorial Day weekend. We recently had some trees cut down which gave us more sunlight. We decided to expand the garden and cut another 10 X 10 ft. space which would give us more room for summer squash, zucchini and beans. By the time we were done we had planted 25+ tomato plants, 14+ eggplant, 12+ peppers, 3 types of beans, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash and more herbs as we had planted quite a few in our container garden. (See How to Build a Garden)

Our container garden started from an idea we saw at Briggs Nurseryin North Attleboro, MA. In their vegetable section they had an old rod iron bench which they had removed the seat. They lined it with a cocoa fiber liner and planted lettuce, parley and swiss chard. It was gorgeous...and functional. We went looking for a bench but had to settle for a table planter, but we did the same thing. We have lettuce, herbs, a few spare tomatoes and peppers planted in containers. We placed them in various locations in our yard giving color and design to bare spots.

If you don't have time or space to have a garden, consider growing plants in pots and containers. It's a great way to enjoy fresh herbs or vegetables during the summer season.

Casa Oaxaca - Authentic Mexican Cuisine

 

We recently returned from a trip to Washington, DC to visit some colleges with my younger son, Brian, as well as enjoy some of the interesting sites. After a long day at the Smithsonian Institute, the Capital and Arlington Cemetery, we decided we were craving Mexican food for dinner. I was cruising around the Open Table site for the DC area and clicked on the Neighborhood Gem tab and Casa Oaxacawas listed. In Oaxaca, Mexico, one of the most represented dishes from the area is Mole (pronounced Mo-Lay).  At Casa Oaxaca, moles are their specialty and they have six types that you are able to taste with chicken, beef, seafood or tortillas. It sounded very interesting.

We grabbed a cab and 10 minutes later we were seated in the restaurant. It was really quaint with orange walls and mexican design. When you start at a Mexican restaurant and the margaritas are delicious, it can only get better...which it did! (Try the Blackberry Margarita!)

Jeff thoroughly enjoyed the Atún en Mole Negro - Seared Ahi Tuna with Black Mole, Brian devoured the Mole Verde con costillas de puerco - Baby Pork Ribs with Green Mole and I did not want to share my Arrachera Oaxaqueña - Grilled Beef Steak with Black Bean and Guacamole. We all agreed...BEST Mexican food we had ever had.

So where do I start...

1. The guacamole was incredible, fresh, chunks of avocado, nice onion flavor with a great cilantro taste. Jeff was a little bummed, he thought he made the best guacamole, he had to concede.

2. I never told them how I wanted my steak cooked, it came perfectly cooked...medium rare and it melted in my mouth. Add the black bean dip with guacamole, I enjoyed every bite.

3. Brian was nervous about trying the green mole, thinking it would be too hot. It had the right heat, the meat fell off the bone, the combination was delicious. Brian licked his fingers.

4. Jeff's tuna was perfectly seared. The black mole had a little bit of sweetness with some chili heat. It worked well with the dish as Jeff ran his tuna through the mole with every bite.

We finished with the Churros Con Cajeta - Churros with vanilla ice cream and Flan Tradicional - Vanilla Flan. The churros were warm and crunchy with soft middles, we dipped the sticks in the ice cream forgoing spoons and using our fingers. The vanilla flan was smooth and delicious.

Leaning back in our chairs, this was a meal to remember. If you are traveling in the DC area, check out Casa Oaxaca, it truly is a neighborhood gem.