Passover Treats from Rosie's Bakery

I didn't grow up in a Kosher family. A little bit in the spirit of keeping Kosher, we didn't cook pork products in the house, but you can bet we were eating bacon and sausage at restaurants - and especially Alice's inimitable pork-filled Peking ravioli at Mandarin Taste. But every year when Passover rolled around, we'd dutifully celebrate two Seders and eat only Kosher-for-Passover food for eight days. I don't remember doing a strict removing and burning of all the chametz in the house - the forbidden leavened foods - but we'd keep all the kitchen cabinets closed and slowly eat our way through the boxes that accumulated across the counter: boxes of matzoh, egg kichel, those little jelly fruit slices, and other traditional Passover goodies of questionable quality.

My favorite Passover food is undoubtedly my mom's breakfast fried matzoh. Others call it matzoh brie and make it mushy, but we'd keep the matzoh fairly solid and crunchy with just a quick swipe under a running faucet. Now that I don't live at home, I can never make it quite as well on my own, and there's no one around to force me to drink a tall glass of apple juice with every portion. (I'll leave you to piece together that connection on your own.) But whenever I smell eggs frying, even if it's French toast being cooked, I immediately think of fried matzoh.

I'm also a fan of egg kichel - airy little cookies with sugar on top. In general, though, Passover foods - and especially baked goods - are notoriously bad. I won't go into a whole discussion of foods that are prohibited during Passover, but in a general sense, most leavened things are out, and many Jewish families (mostly Ashkenazi) also omit rice and corn. This knocks out everything containing corn syrup, which, in the processed food world, is pretty much everything.

When a representative from Rosie's Bakery reached out to me to see if I'd sample their line of Passover goods, I was a little worried that I'd be disappointed, but I like Rosie's and figured that if anyone can make Passover desserts taste great, it'd be them. Fortunately, they succeeded, so I wanted to share my recommendations based on the products I tried. Rosie's Passover menu is available in stores for the duration of the holiday, but to pick up an order on Sunday 3/24 and Monday 3/25, you must place it by 5 PM tomorrow, Monday 3/18.

First up, the Passover Brownie ($2.75 each): not only is this brownie outstanding for Passover, it is the best brownie I've had in ages. (This isn't too surprising to me as I had previously found Rosie's non-Passover brownies to be excellent as well.) From the cracked, crispy bits on top to the fudgy, melty interior, the Passover brownie thoroughly impressed me. You will probably not regret ordering a whole platter of these - unless you eat them all at once, that is.

At first glance, I thought this was a Passover version of a half-moon (aka black-and-white) cookie, but one bite in, the extreme almond flavor (and lack of white icing) gave it away: it's a Chocolate-Dipped Almond Macaroon ($2.65 each). Nope, it's not one of those chewy little mountains that Manischewitz sells in large tins that people either love or hate, and that's a good thing. This soft, sweet cookie reminded me of the almond cookies I occasionally get at bakeries in Chinatown, and the chocolate dip added a little something extra. Like the brownie, this macaroon made me think, "This is delicious!" rather than "This is delicious...for Passover food."

The Chocolate Coconut Macaroon ($2.65 each) may not be the most attractive baked good, but its taste makes up for it, provided you like coconut (I do). This one tastes most like a Passover item to me and does conjure up thoughts of those Manischewitz macaroons, but not in a bad way. If you like fudgy cookies packed with coconut, you'll love this.

The Chocolate Caramel Matzoh Crunch ($19.95/pound) was the only one in the bunch that didn't completely wow me, but I think that has more to do with the fact that I'm not a huge caramel fan. I did manage to eat quite a lot of it, and it went something like this: "Too sweet! But wait, I need another bite to make sure." (And repeat.) The texture's great, a gradient that starts chewy on the caramel side, gets crunchy in the middle, and ends with the smooth chocolate on the opposite side. I'd probably be happier with just plain chocolate-covered matzoh, but those with a sweet tooth for caramel will adore this.

The Chocolate Delirium ($5.50 small, $32 large) is appropriately named as its richness will make your eyes roll back in your head as you slowly take a bite, and then another, and then another...at least that's what happened to me. This flourless cake is decadently rich, and I could only handle a few bites at a time. True chocolate lovers may sneak away from the table with this only to be found later whimpering in a corner and covered with melted chocolate.

So, I guess it's possible to make excellent Passover baked goods after all. I'll definitely still be found munching on box after box of commercially-produced egg kichel, but without hesitation, I can also recommend Rosie's Bakery's Passover menu.

Disclosure: Rosie's Bakery provided me with complimentary samples of several of their Passover menu items. While I agreed to post a review of the products, positive coverage was not guaranteed, and all opinions expressed in this post are my honest thoughts.

First Impressions: Fogo de Chao

"You had me at 'Meat Tornado,'" said Joel (quoting his hero, Ron Swanson) when I asked him whether he'd like to partake of an evening of endless meats on sticks, a preview dinner for the newly opened Boston location of Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chão. For the record, I said nothing about meat tornados or tournedos, but anything after the word "meat" is generally a blissful blur anyway.

The 26-location chain was founded in Brazil in 1979, and the 320-seat Boston location opened to the public this past Friday in the The Palm's former space at the Westin Copley (plus a little extra on the side). The total renovation and build-out cost? $8 million. On Wednesday, I stopped by to shoot some interior photos for Eater - the place looks pretty snazzy - and on Thursday night, Joel and I joined hundreds of diners for a complimentary preview dinner.

As I've admitted in the past, I generally don't have high expectations for most chains, but I was cautiously optimistic that this would at least equal the one Brazilian steakhouse experience I'd had in the past at a different chain (delicious but overwhelming). If you're a meat lover, it's hard not to enjoy it. The details vary amongst restaurants like this, but in general, servers (who are also the chefs) bring skewers of various meats to your table and slice portions off right onto your plate. You guide the timing by flipping a card to green or red to request more meat or to take a break. There's a salad bar and sides to help fill you up with non-meaty things as well.

I was particularly impressed with a few things at Fogo de Chão (keeping in mind that this was a complimentary press/friends/family dinner, of course). First, the salad bar - it was actually good. Forget Iceberg lettuce and wilted, unappetizing veggies. Everything was fresh and colorful, and there were even some nice cheeses and cured meats. The salad bar is included in the all-the-meat-you-can-eat price ($46.50/person for dinner), which also includes a bunch of side dishes. If a vegetarian somehow gets stuck going here with you, he or she can eat from the salad bar for $28.50.

Secondly, the service was like a well-choreographed dance. It all seemed effortless. We hardly saw the same server twice; different people handled drinks, sides, and clean plates, while an endless stream of chefs handled the different cuts of meat. Perhaps there were a few too many times when a server showed up to check on us, but we always had what we needed (and more), and everyone was friendly and knowledgeable about the menu.

Thirdly, the caipirinha, a traditional Brazilian cocktail...well, I'm a sucker for a good caipirinha. It's like a mojito, but even better. These were the perfect mix of sweet and sour and boozy, and by the middle of the meal, I couldn't tell if I was lightheaded from the drinks or if I slipping into a meat haze. Probably a little bit of both.

Finally, and most importantly, the meat was outstanding. I can hardly recall which cuts we tried at this point, but I remember particularly loving a perfectly rare bottom sirloin (fraldinha) and lamb (cordeiro). The chefs ask which temperature you prefer and then slice off the appropriate portion. We were told that the chefs get a feel for which tables like which cuts of meat and meat temperatures, and as the night progressed, we did have more chefs approach us with the rarest cuts still available.

The sides were great, too. I was a huge fan of the caramelized bananas and easily could have made a meal of those. I also loved the pão de queijo - warm cheese bread - a Brazilian treat that is fortunately (or dangerously) also available right in my neighborhood at Fortissimo Coffeehouse. And we were given the most heavenly toasted cheese at the start of the meal. That one doesn't seem to be on the menu, but hopefully it'll make a repeat appearance.

My advice for health and comfort - but not for getting more than your money's worth of meat, if that's what you want to do - is to start the meal leisurely with a nice big salad. Enjoy the pão de queijo and side dishes liberally, and flip your card to red after each portion of meat arrives rather than loading up your plate with every meat in the room, devouring it all quickly, and then getting even more. And skip dessert. It's unnecessary and forgettable.

Fogo de Chão is definitely not an experience I'd recommend for frequent visits, but it's a fun special occasion place. Maybe not for date night, though. You won't feel romantic after participating in this meat orgy. There's no way to avoid the meat coma. It'll probably become a meat hangover the next morning.

Next month, I'm playing a small role in an independent film as well as doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work, so in preparation for the very intense week of shooting in early December, I'm spending November getting into peak physical condition, which includes cutting way back on my meat intake. Fogo de Chão was the perfect farewell-to-meat dinner.

A Bacon-y, Cake-y, No. 9 Park-y Birthday

The dreaded September 1st move has kept me away from the blog for a few weeks; there are still boxes to unpack, but we're making progress! Aside from unpacking and cooking a lot, we've been playing as much Cards Against Humanity as humanly possible, because we're horrible people. (Think "Apples to Apples" but offensive. It's pretty much the best game ever.)

Since I've been gone awhile, I'll use the next couple weeks to catch up on some long overdue posts and some very long overdue posts. I had a very delicious birthday weekend back in June, so I might as well start there and relive the glory.

On the day before my birthday, I was invited to attend a bacon competition and judge a cake competition. Not a bad way to kick off the celebration, right? Here are some photos from the Bacon Takedown in Somerville, part of a series of nationwide "takedown" events. (More recently, Somerville also hosted the Heaven and Hell Takedown - ice cream and hot sauce, two of my favorite things. I'm not sure how I didn't manage to squeeze this one in my schedule.) It was great to run into some other bloggers there: Sarah from Can You Cookie, Jessica from Oh Cake, and Leah from Oh Baby, Boston, who were all competing, as well as Katie and Rich from The Skinny Beet, who were judging the bacon dishes.

In the end, it was a bacon caramel that won both the people's choice and the judge's first place award. It was definitely one of my favorites. (In fact, in general, I definitely preferred the dessert uses of bacon.)

Just a few hours later, I found myself on stage at the Middle East Downstairs, being presented with cake. Lots of cake. Happy birthday to me. It was the Boston Cake Experiment, part of another national tour of cook-offs, and it was kind of insane being a judge as I had to sample something like 20 cakes.

Photo from Brooklyn Food Experiment on Flickr 

I've been on stage at the Middle East Downstairs one other time, but under very different circumstances: my band was releasing our debut album to a sold-out crowd in early 2011.

Both experiences were pretty awesome.

That wasn't it for the birthday festivities, though. The real feast was still to come. A few days earlier, I had heard that Google+ was giving away some tickets to a Zagat-sponsored six-course cocktail dinner at No. 9 Park, one of those restaurants that's always been on my "I'd-really-like-to-try-this-but-it's-out-of-my-budget-and-there-are-probably-other-fancy-restaurants-I'd-try-first" list. I got to work on a reviewing spree on Google+ in order to enter the contest and ended up winning a pair of tickets to the event, which conveniently took place on my actual birthday. (Joel was really let off the hook planning anything this year!) Turns out our dear friends Jon and Kathy (Kathy Can Cook), also horrible Cards Against Humanity-loving folks, were also attending.

The menu was challenging for me; one course, for example, was a terrine of foie gras. Ethical issues aside, I really don't like the taste or texture of foie gras, and more generally I can't get by the revulsion I feel towards the texture of terrines, pates, and the like. I think it might have something to do with the time my grandfather tricked three-year-old me into trying a scoop of chopped liver. He told me it was chocolate ice cream. It did not end well. Overall, though, the food was quite good. My favorite course was dessert #1 - or a palate-cleanser, I suppose - a Pimm's Cup-inspired concoction of sorbet and gel. The pig's tails were also amazing.

The cocktail pairings were intense. Some of my favorite ingredients made an appearance in the earlier drinks (Hendrick's gin, Chartreuse, mescal, root beer). With later courses, the drinks entered into the brown, bitter realm, which seemed very appropriate for the restaurant and the menu; I'm just not really into the ryes, bourbons, and bitters.

LANGOUSTINE EN GELEE ~ American caviar, summer vegetable consomme, XO sauce
Paired with a cocktail of Hendrick's gin, tomato, Chartreuse, Bisol Prosecco

TERRINE OF LABELLE FARMS FOIE GRAS ~ hops granola, bacon jam, pain au moutard
Paired with a cocktail of Del Maguey Vida mescal, root beer, falernum, Helles Schlenkerla Lagerbier

GLAZED PIG'S TAILS ~ macerated watermelon, fresh chili, hibiscus
Paired with a cocktail of Tequila Ocho Reposado, truffled sangrita 

GRILLED VERMONT QUAIL ~ corn, chicken-fried duck liver, buttermilk dressing
Paired with a cocktail of bourbon au foie gras, bittered Old Monk rum cordial, Campari 

VEAL LOIN EN CREPINETTE & WILD BLUEFIN TUNA ~ artichokes en barigoule, sauce tonnato, olive oil crushed potato
Paired with a cocktail of "La Gitana" Manzanilla sherry, Willett rye, Velenosi Visciole, Cynar, ponzu 

PIMM'S CUP ~ lemon, cucumber, ginger

AMARETTI CHEESECAKE ~ strawberry, rhubarb, tarragon
Paired with a cocktail of Old Overholt rye, Kubler Absinthe, Peychaud's bitters, egg

Not a bad way to celebrate the unexciting, non-milestone birthday that puts me squarely in the mid-to-late twenties zone.

Disclosure: My admission to each of these events was free. I was invited to attend the Bacon Takedown as a blogger and the Cake Experiment as a judge, and I won my way into the No. 9 Park dinner by writing a large quantity of reviews on Google+ Local. Nonetheless, everything expressed in this post reflects my honest opinions.

Mango Lime Ghost Chili Tofu Bites at Peace o' Pie

After lobster rolling around Harvard Square on Sunday, I had an extra hour to kill before a friend's birthday festivities at Deep Ellum. Earlier that day, I had seen an intriguing Facebook post from Peace o' Pie, the vegan pizza place right by Deep Ellum. They had a special: tofu bites in a mango, lime, ghost chili sauce. Serendipity. Always on the lookout for ways to bring my taste buds' hatred of me to fiery new levels, I knew how to kill the hour.

I walked to the counter and ordered my tofu bites, eliciting a slight eyebrow raise from the cashier. "They're very spicy," she warned. I was excited.

There were no open tables, so upon receiving my food, I wandered outside and crossed over to the mostly-concrete "park" in front of the fire station. Sitting alone and surrounded by construction and traffic, I gingerly picked up the first battered, bited-sized piece, making sure to keep one hand absolutely clean for the inevitable nose and eye-wiping that would soon take place.

The first bite: exceptionally light, tasty batter. Perfect tofu texture. A slight hint of mango. Then, the familiar caustic burn of the pepper, not too bad at first, but lingering, then building. After a few deep breaths, trying to cycle some non-existent cold air into my mouth, I moved on to a second bite, and then I grabbed for my iced tea. Liquid, of course, actually makes spicy pain worse as it spreads the heat around, but the cool temperature of the tea provided some relief, albeit brief.

As I slowly made my way through several more bites, I waited for the familiar euphoria to set in, the light-headed high and feverish chills that make ultra-spicy food worth it for those who crave it. It didn't happen. The bites were strong enough to burn, but not so strong that they brought about the euphoric relief. They were trapped somewhere in the frustrating middle ground, somewhat painfully spicy with very little payoff. That's when I realized that I was sitting alone in a sad-looking park, torturing myself for no good reason. Extreme spiciness requires three things for an optimal experience: good flavor behind the burn, the aforementioned euphoria, and people with whom to share the challenge. These were pretty tasty (and I'd definitely recommend trying them if you're into ghost chili), but since I stupidly grabbed these alone and on-the-go, the experience lacked the fun of trying East Coast Grill's Pasta from Hell with a table of friends or serving my super spicy dark chocolate peanut butter cookies to (willing) victims.

Then it was time for drinks at Deep Ellum, and all was good. The only lingering memory of the ghost chili bites was a slight persisting tingle on my lips. No signs of pain.

...until 3 AM, at which point I woke up feeling like this:

If you do happen to venture to Peace o' Pie to try these out, I highly recommend also ordering the cheesy bread (not real cheese - everything there is vegan). I didn't get it this time (although I should have), but from a previous visit, I remember loving it.

An Evening of Ice Wines and Seasonal Desserts at Finale

When I received an invitation to attend an ice wine and dessert pairing at Finale, I immediately accepted. Ice wine is a guilty pleasure of mine, one in which I rarely indulge due to the relatively high price of even a small bottle. It’s an expensive product due to the process: the grapes used in ice wine are frozen while on the vine, allowing for a much more concentrated sweet wine - but in a much smaller quantity.

At this event, we were given the opportunity to taste a 2006 Jackson Triggs Vidal (Niagara, Canada), a 2009 Renwood Amador Ice Wine (California), a 2006 Selaks Marlborough (New Zealand), a 2009 Cooper Mountain Vin Glace (Willamette Valley, Oregon), and a 2006 Inniskillin Vidal Ice Wine (Niagara, Canada). While I found every wine to be exceptionally sweet and delicious, it’s the last one that I pounced on when our table divvied up a missing guest’s glasses.

After living near the Finger Lakes for five years, I was hoping to see a New York wine or two - upstate New York produces some fantastic ice wines - but Niagara is not too far off.

Finale’s Executive Chef Nicole Coady presented each wine and dessert and described how she figured out the pairings. The Jackson Triggs was paired with Finale’s signature cheesecake, and the next three wines were paired with a strawberry frangipane tart, key lime tart, and lemon tart respectively. We ended with a spoonful of a creme brulee with the Inniskillin. While all pairings worked well, the first was probably my favorite; the texture and flavor of the cheesecake was exquisite. (One of the secrets to the flavor is the type of vanilla. Chef Coady launched into an extended discussion of the merits of different types of vanilla, such as Madagascar or Mexican. I might be remembering this incorrectly, in which case my cheesecake will never be this delicious, but I believe it’s Mexican vanilla that she uses in Finale’s cheesecake.)

Each of the tarts was enjoyable, particularly the key lime and lemon, but they seemed a bit redundant. I would have loved to try some non-tart desserts, maybe something chocolate. The final bite, the creme brulee, was the weak spot; the texture was a bit off, and the presentation didn’t allow for the best part of eating creme brulee, breaking the torched sugar crust.

Overall, I found the event to be educational, fun, and most importantly, delicious. Finale puts on similar events several times a year, usually at a cost of $30 per person. The next event will be a craft beer and dessert pairing on May 8th and May 15th. (One of the beers on the docket is Aventinus, a personal favorite of mine.) Visit http://www.finaledesserts.com for more information about this event and other upcoming events.


Disclosure: I received a comped ticket to this event. Nevertheless, all opinions expressed are my own.