The End of the Semester is a Perfect Time to Start a Food Blog

Well, in one way, I suppose. Starting out with summer cooking gives me a chance to refresh my memory and get back in the swing of cooking. It'll also give me a chance to expand my repertoire, and actually write down some of my recipes! This last thing will be especially important, since I'm going to be starting a "little black cookbook" for my boyfriend, Matchstick, which he'll be able to use in our kitchen escapades next semester. Lucky [Hampshire!] boy's going to be living in a Mod, so he'll have a full kitchen, a far sight better than the mini one I'll have in Brown. So, we're anticipating plenty of fun once we're back, and I'd expect we'll have a few fun culinary adventures when he comes to visit me in July.

So, on to the main topic[s!] of the Premier Post~!


Hard Boiled Eggs

An old standby, and one of the best snack foods. Yet, for some odd reason, I know how to fry eggs, but didn't know how to boil eggs until just recently. I'd expect many people "know how to make hard boiled eggs," but don't do it quite properly, at least judging from my childhood memories of rubbery eggs and grey yolks. But those problems are for troubleshooting. First, the procedure! After comparing several methods, this is what I've come up with. It works well in my electric kettle, so I'd expect it works well on a stovetop too.

You have to allow enough space between the eggs so the water can bathe them, so I only cook four or five at a time.

• Put eggs in the kettle and cover with water
• Bring to a boil on the highest setting. On a stove, you probably shouldn't go quite full bore.
• Allow to boil for one full minute
• Unplug the kettle and allow the eggs to sit for twelve to fifteen minutes. I usually go for 12 minutes
• After the eggs have been let to sit in the hot water, drain the water and cover the eggs with cold water. Swirl them, then drain and refill with cold water

And that's how to make eggs! When they're opened (I like to cut them open then scoop out the meat), they should not have an eggy odour. The yolk should be light yellow and of a uniform consistency. The yolks should not be grainy, but almost creamy; the whites should be tender.

If the yolk takes on a grey or greenish tint, especially on the outside where it meets the white, it's a sign that the egg has been cooked too long. Reducing the time it sits in the hot water should solve the problem. If the yolk is grainy, it means it was boiled too long or too hard. This kind of treatment will also cause a grey layer on the outside of the yolk. An eggy smell and rubbery white mean that the egg was cooked too long. Reducing the time the eggs sit in the hot water should take care of this problem, too.

Lots of people insist on salting their eggs, but I've just been eating them as-is. They're quite good, really. I prefer to cut the egg in half, then use a spoon to first eat the yolk, and then the white, separating it carefully from the shell.

Fresh Side, a review

So, on Friday, which was the 16th, Matchstick took me out to dinner at Fresh Side, which bills itself as "a little eatery and tea place." As Matchstick says,"it's awkward if you've slept with the waiters, but the food's good[sic]." So, yes, one of my former...uh...paramours...works at Fresh Side, but usually works backend. That night, of course, just to make things interesting, he ended up being our waiter! *cough* So, yeah. But drama was avoided, and we enjoyed our meal quite a lot.

Of course, when I say "our meal," I really mean, "our meal and a portion of some other stuff too." The place was absolutely packed, and the entire staff was completely discombobulated and out of their minds because of it. We ordered pad thai with chicken and Thai basil cellophane noodles with chicken, and also some Edo tea rolls. The first time 'round something somewhere went toes-up and we ended up with vegan pad thai and Peking pasta. They both looked, smelled, and tasted quite nice, but alas were not what we ordered. Our order was eventually set aright, and our tea rolls came out, and we ordered a pot of Moroccan mint tea.

The tea was not what is customarily thought of as Moroccan tea, that is to say it was not a strong, decocted green tea diluted with mint tea and sweetened. It was, rather, a combination of gunpowder green tea and mint tea, steeped in sweet water. It was delicious, and actually went quite well with the meal. The pot was, however, a little too small to warrant the price. The tea rolls were rice with a wheat wrap, topped with peanut sauce and crushed peanuts. They were quite good, although perhaps a bit unwieldy. The wrappers themselves were a little too chewy, but the flavour made up for it. There was allegedly cilantro in the rolls as well, but I couldn't taste it.
The pad thai was delicious, rich, and spicy. Matchstick added a little peanut sauce to it, and the combination was quite good, although in my opinion the rich sauce was perhaps a little overkill. The noodles were cooked perfectly. They did have a tendency, however, to stick together and clump. The chicken was rather bland; it was obvious that it was boiled separately.
The Thai basil noodles were cooked perfectly, and not at all sticky. They had a faint dark green colour from the basil, and there were whole basil leaves mixed in. They had a strong, delicious scent, and the flavour of the basil was very strong. The basil was wonderfully complimented by ginger, onion, and spinach. While their method of slicing the ginger was perhaps not as refined as would be expected from a chic Asian-fusion restaurant, the large, crunchy slices of ginger provided a bright and refreshing contrast with the dark and pungent flavour of the basil. The chicken was rather better than in the pad thai, but it had obviously been parboiled separately and then finished in the sauce. It was a little less flavourful than one would expect, and slightly dry. But, that was a minor detain in an otherwise spectacular dish. It was very filling.
All three dishes made wonderful leftovers.

The restaurant itself is very cute, and nicely decorated. Their glassware is quite nice, water ("But it's tap water!" Matchstick cried. "They could have at least boiled it." Ah, OCD is so cute) in wine bottles or spring-capped bottles, nicely curved vodka shot glasses for tea cups... The atmosphere of the place is private, even though it can get quite loud on a busy night. The prices are pretty decent. Matchstick says of it, "definitely a nice place to stop by." I highly recommend it.