Tracking some new funky grooves. Stay tunes. That’s not a typo.
This last week the local School of the Museum of Fine Arts hosted one of its annual art sales so Brian and I went down to see it. There were works hosted on the walls of a big gallery, a stand of jewelry, and racks upon racks of other works in the lobby. It was like going to a free gallery with a huge variety of styles - not only were there student works but also alums and affiliated artists.
This one by Elli Crocker particularly caught my eye. Bird of Paradise (Sacred Geometries) is a beautiful mixed media work delicately painted/drawn on drafting film. This semi-opaque super-slick surface made the colors really pop off the surface, and their waxiness gave the work a real body and juice. I love this work and the others in this series are equally worth checking out.
- Emma
[video]
There are few things tastier in this world than a lovingly-made duck. And after a tip off from our friends we knew exactly where to get some in Boston: Savenor’s. So after a cool run around East Boston we tumbled into the tiny hole-in-the-wall market and gawked at their selection of exotic meats: antelope, alligator, ostrich were all common stock. However, even with our courage and wallets gathered up, we chose the relatively mundane duck leg as our meat of choice to take away last night.
As this was our first foray into cooking duck - after having seen it done many ways, many times before - we decided to try and find the most simple way to approach it. We scored the skin side and seasoned it with salt and pepper, then seared it, skin side down on an oven proof skillet. After a bit of turning to brown it evenly on both sides we put it in our 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes to cook through. You really have to think about the bulk of meat that you’re cooking in order to cook it all the way. This we all based off a couple or recipes, including this one from Mark Bittman.
The meat was juicy and the skin crisp. We paired it with some fried mashed potatoes + pork belly and sauteed kale. Brian also created a lovely gin martini:
Thyme and a Half
3 oz New Amsterdam gin 1/2 oz dry vermouth splash of Nikka whiskey (Japanese) stirred over ice with minced thyme served up with lemon twist
I’m sorry folks, this here is not a wine glass. Yes, you can stack it, but I would stack wine glasses as much as I would stack bath tubs. For $3 at Crate & Barrel it’s a steal… a stackable steal.
Emma made a Finnish super-pancake. Thick and gooey, they are delicious. Straight up, homie. (Find the recipe here… but you might have to brush up on your Finnish.)
This is a must-have fridge. Honestly, no. It’s a must-have beer fridge. No! It’s a must-have kegerator!
![Gyoza [aka dumpling, potsticker… “Chinese ravioli”?]
Made gyoza (used this recipe by Mark Bittman) the other day for lunch - they were the seemingly perfect solution to burn through some of the cabbage we’ve gotten from our farm share. These are vegetarian so they include ginger, cabbage, shiitake mushroom, and soy sauce. Alas, 1/2 head of cabbage down, 3 1/2 heads to go. Heads will roll!](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvti7vBw0B1r1s3bko1_r1_500.png)
