So, last Friday Matchstick and I went out to dinner, since I got my last paycheque from work in the mail. We'd been to Antonio's a few nights before, so we wanted to try something different. Arigato was a little out of our price range, and Fresh Side was bound to be crowded...where to go? I remembered that there was a little Thai place just down the alley by Antonio's, so after some short deliberation we decided to try it out.
Thai Corner is actually in the plaza off Main Street, but it's quicker to take the little (and I do mean little! It's exactly wide enough for one person) alley next to Antonio's. It's next to a little pho shop, which is also on my list of places to try, but rather farther down. Entering Thai Corner, you're greeted by brightly coloured walls, photos of Thailand, and paintings and silhouettes. The place is rather small, and probably always sounds busy. One of the things I liked about the layout of the restaurant is that you can catch a glimpse of the kitchen from the "audience," which is somehow comforting in a small eatery (and the sight of fresh rice coming out of the steamer made me do a little happy dance inside). The menu is large enough to provide variety, and do a good job of explaining exactly what is in each dish.
Matchstick and I both got varieties of curry. We were told that his was of medium heat, while mine was the hottest they served. He had gang kari with chicken, while I had gang bha with beef. The dishes were presented well, with heaping portions of fresh jasmine rice. The gang bha had the appearance of a clear broth, the vegetables in it were cooked just right--tender crisp. The beef was tender and had absorbed the flavour of the curry. While the heat of the curry did grow as I ate, it wasn't as hot as I had hoped.
The gang kari was a yellow curry, of mild spice. It had the characteristic sweetness of yellow curry (or rather, the sweetness I tend to expect), and the potatoes in it had absorbed quite a lot of flavour. The spices could, however, suffer to be toned up quite a bit. The vegetables and chicken were cooked well, and were flavourful.
The issues we had with both curries were the thinness of the curry and the portion sizes. Thai curries are, in general, quite thin, more like soups, but these were just a little thinner than I am accustomed to. The upside of this, I suppose, is that the sauce was more readily absorbed when it was poured over the rice. As for the portions, they were decent, but could definitely do with a little bulking up. They needed more everything, but most of all more meat (I guess that's my American prejudice coming through *laugh*).
The rice was perfectly cooked, and plentiful. You cannot believe how happy it made me to finally have a bowl (well, it was on a plate...) of good rice. Fragrant, sweet, neither too soft nor underdone...The DCs are absolutely incapable of cooking rice and pasta, so when I get to have the real thing it's amazing. Thai Corner definitely understands the importance of rice, and more importantly can prepare it well.
In all, although it wasn't spectacular, Thai Corner is a nice little place. It definitely deserves another visit--I haven't had their pad thai yet! While perhaps a little too tame in terms of flavour for those familiar with Thai cuisine, it's definitely a place everyone can enjoy. Yes, even poor college students; the prices are quite reasonable. Go check it out if you're in the area!
Of course, being the bottomless pits that we are, Matchstick and I were hungry a few hours later. The kitchen in the mod was...disgusting, and the sink was piled so high with EVERYONE ELSE'S DISHES that we couldn't even reach the tap for water... The obvious solution, of course, was to order Wings (prime food for college students: cheap, yummy, and ubiquitous! Just look around for "Wings over *insert town name here*")--a honey barbecue DC-10 and large fries. Yum yum! Saturday we had a big production and cleaned the kitchen. It was fantabulous, by which I mean we both wanted to kill his flatmates afterwards. We reclaimed all his implements, and all was good.
Saturday, we visited a farm stand near Hampshire, which was awesome fun in the mud (he wore his "hooker boots," since they're the only waterproof shoes he owns. Four inch heels!!). We bought a large container (I want to say quart) of little tomatoes--about golf ball size--a butternut squash, and six little sugar pumpkins. We haven't done anything with the pumpkins or squash yet (pumpkin soup is on the agenda!!!), but we did start on the tomatoes. Let me just say that they're absolutely heavenly. I need to go back before the season ends and buy myself some! Maybe even try preserving a few...I should try to find the New York Times recipe. Anyway, those little fuckers are so juicy and sweet it's hard to keep yourself from having another...and another...and another... Matchstick's been making BLTs with them. Sounds so delish!! I hope we'll be able to enjoy plenty of good produce from that farm stand before the season ends. Samhaintide is coming up fast, and the season doesn't last too much longer after that!
Showing posts with label Fresh Side. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fresh Side. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
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.
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.
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
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.
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