Category Archives: Food

Irish Brunch at Tommy Doyle’s

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Some weekends you just need to go out for breakfast, either the fridge is empty or you’re slightly hungover and cooking isn’t on the agenda.  So you go out.  Typically when these occasions arise BF and I will walk up the street and go to either the Deluxe Town Diner or Uncommon Grounds, sipping large cups of coffee and eating more food than we can physically hold.  But we always miss bloody marys and breakfast cocktails at DTD or Uncommon so sometimes we motivate and go further afield – hopping the 71 and riding it into Harvard Square for a dimly lit quiet bar.  We head for these bars with the thought of an iced bloody mary and delicious breakfast food.  So we went, BF and I, into Harvard Square for brunch at Tommy Doyle’s.  We had initially planned to head to Tommy Doyle’s for a late lunch after going on a Tour of the Harpoon Brewery but we were hungry as we left our apartment at 11.  So a quick google search later we learned that Tommy Doyle’s had just rolled out brunch!

We hopped the bus and headed into Harvard for brunch at Tommy Doyle’s.  We walked in and they told us we could sit anywhere.  Immediately a waitress with a lovely irish lilt came over and handed us menus.  BF and I both ordered bloody marys, a jalepeno infused one for him and a cucumber one for me.  The bloody marys were delightful with fresh horseradish flavor.  The cool cucumber bloody mary was perfect for a hot summer mid morning drink and BF’s tasted delightfully of the jalepeno flavors.

After receiving our bloody marys we ordered our brunch entrees.  For BF a traditional Irish Breakfast with over easy eggs and for me an order of Eggs McManus.  We basically inhaled the brunch leaving the plates empty and a bit buzzed.  The Eggs McManus was fantastic with Irish bacon and perfectly poached eggs.

BF’s Irish breakfast offered a wide range of delicious breakfast foods, most of them meat and starch.  While hard to share (because we are just occasionally not very good at that) I loves TOmmy Doyle’s fro brunch, and the best part?  Our bloody marys came FREE with the purchase of a full brunch meal.  We spent $26 and got and amazing brunch fro two people and we’re already planning a return brunch trip 🙂

Tommy Doyle's Irish Pub on Urbanspoon

Honeyed Nectarine Oatmeal Pancakes

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Sometimes you need to make delicious food on a rainy Sunday morning, it’s something that makes all gloomy days brighter.  I love these pancakes on any weekend morning, they are nutty and wonderful with a flavor that is only enhanced by the addition of nectarines and a cup of delicious coffee.  I don’t make these often, and usually save them for a special occasion when someone who leans toward gluten-free food is coming to my apartment for brunch, but when I do make them there are very rarely leftovers.

Specifically, I made these pancakes over Easter weekend when BF’s parents were visiting.  His dad was bowled over, I’ve been getting a weekly email for this recipe to be posted since.  There are various reasons this post didn’t go up earlier, bad pictures being the big one but also a lack of oats in my house as a contributing factor.  But, when there were finally oats in my house (again) and time was on my side I made these gems but, of course, I modified them to be better than the ones I had been making.  I added nectarines.  I would have added peaches but when I went to Russo’s the peaches were unripe and hard as rocks, so I grabbed white nectarines which were fragrant and perfectly ripe.
I made these pancakes thinking there would be leftovers for a “later-in-the-day” snack, what a fool I was.  When topped with nectarine infused maple syrup BF couldn’t stop eating them, and I liked them spread with a bit of butter and rolled up like a crepe.  The nuttiness of the oats really enhances the whole pancake, please use the oat flour – you really won’t regret it, the pancakes are still light and fluffy even in their gluten-free state.  Yes, you have to prepare for these pancakes, but it’s totally worth it.  After sitting overnight in buttermilk the oats break apart and offer a tenderness that absorbs the honey making them not to sweet and decadent without actually being decadent.  Make these for a friend, they’ll love you for it.
Honeyed Nectarine Oatmeal Pancakes
Adapted from The Inn at Fordhook Farm via Orangette
Note: I make these pancakes entirely gluten-free by using oat flour and I like them better that way.  I also use honey instead of refined sugar since I feel like it really brings out the flavor in the oatmeal.  I laid thin slices of nectarine on top of these pancakes but next time I make these with a stone fruit I’ll probably just chop the fruit and add it to the batter.
2 cups Buttermilk
2 cups Old Fashioned Oats
1/2 cup Oat Flour
2 Tbs Honey
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
2 large Eggs
1/2 cup Butter, melted and cooled
1 Nectarine, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
The Night Before:
Combine the buttermilk and oats in a medium sized mixing bowl, stir, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
The Next Morning:
Remove the buttermilk and oats from the fridge and set it aside.  In a second bowl whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Add the honey, eggs, and melted butter to the oats and buttermilk mixture, mix until fully combined.  Add the dry ingredients to the liquids and stir until fully combined.  Fold in the nectarine pieces.  The batter will be thick.  Warm a skillet/griddle to a medium-high heat and brush/spray it with vegetable oil.  Drop the batter onto the griddle by scant 1/4 cup fulls onto the pan.  Cook the pancakes until bubbles start to form on the edges and the underside is lightly browned.  Flip the pancakes and cook the second side until it is browned.  Repeat, until all the batter is gone.  This makes 12-15 pancakes.  And they are delicious.  Serve the pancakes warm, with real maple syrup (I chopped a second nectarine and added it to my maple syrup, it was amazing).  You will definitely not be sorry for the time these took.  I promise.

Cheesy Grits

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It’s Saturday morning and as I hang out at home I am, of course, thinking of breakfast.  I think of all things breakfast on the weekends – eggs and homefries, pancakes, scones, and muffins (and whatever else seems relatively breakfast-y, pie anyone?).  I like to take the time to make a breakfast that will satisfy BF and I through out most of our weekend days so our breakfast is usually large and late  (neither of us even starts to get hungry until 10 am or so, which means the actual breakfast isn’t consumed until around 11).  It’s on these late weekend days that I, more often than not, turn to eggs – they are quick and easy and fill me up so completely that they’re always perfect.

Now, down to grits.  My big sister (who lived with me from Jan-March of this year) introduced me to grits as hangover food.  She would come in late Friday and come Saturday morning when she rolled out of bed BF and I were starting to contemplate our breakfast and Meghan would suggest grits.  As one who had never really had grits before I found myself thinking they would be hard to make and not very good.  I was wrong about that.  The grits big sis made were swoon worthy in every way – creamy, rich and topped with an over easy egg.  They were luxurious.

Since my sister moved out I still buy grits by the carton and stock up on cheese and garlic powder. Making grits is so remarkably simple and it hits the spot; especially after a night spent a bit too late at the bar.  I am still having trouble with poached eggs, so I won’t try to explain that to you – instead, if you can poach an egg do it because the grits are fantastic with a poached egg, if not then just fry an egg gently until the white sets and use that.  Either way it will be a breakfast fit for whoever you want to serve it to.

Cheesy Grits
Adapted from the back of the Quaker Grits box.
Note: I almost always make this with whatever cheese I have on hand but my favorite, by far, is the Cabot Coop Garlic and Herb Cheddar.  It made the best grits I have ever eaten and it is what I will recommend here.

2 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup grits
6 oz (about 3/4 cup) grated Cabot Coop Garlic and Herb Cheddar cheese
1 tsp garlic powder (use less if you aren’t a garlic fan)
1/2 tsp onion powder
dash of salt

In a medium saucepan combine the water and salt and bring to a rolling boil.  Once the water is boiling add the grits slowly – I recommend having them in a one cup measure and pouring them in over the course of 30 seconds or so while stirring with the other hand to keep the water moving, otherwise everything gets clumpy and that’s just sad.  Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pan and leave the grits alone for 12 minutes.  Look at them.  If they are thickened nicely after ten minutes they are done.  If they still look a bit runny leave them on the heat checking them every minute or so.  Remove the grits from the heat and add the garlic powder, onion powder, and cheese.  Stir completely.  Cover the grits and set them aside for the cheese to melt while you cook your eggs.  Split the grits between two bowls (this makes two as a breakfast entree four as a side) and top them with a twist of fresh ground pepper and a pat of butter.  Put your over-easy eggs on top and dig-in.  Delicious.  I find it’s best when the egg yolk is stirred into the cheesy grits. The best.  Ever.

Pomflower Cocktail

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Let’s talk hot, shall we?  I know that if you live south of the New England you are not really phased by the really hot temps.  But I am.  I’m kind of a pansy when it comes to all forms of extreme temperatures – below 20 degrees give me a book, a warm blanket and a cup of cocoa and tell me when it’s warm again.  When it’s stiflingly hot though – there isn’t a lot I can do aside from try not to move too much.  I know that there are actual ways to combat being hot (drink lots of water, take a cool shower, stand in front of the AC unit until your skin goes numb, etc) but these are only temporary solutions.  They seem to not really solve the problem.

The best way to “beat the heat” that I have learned this summer came on a whim of inspiration the same night I made that delicious focaccia bread.  The visiting friend hadn’t brought much with her when she came down since we had planned an epic day of cooking.  What she did bring though was crucial to our choices that evening – a bottle of prosecco.  Now I have a confession – I prefer cava or prosecco over actual champagne every time, I don’t know a lot about wine but I find a nice cava (Freixenet anyone?) far superior to most sparkling wines.

As we chilled the prosecco (she had brought Lunetta) I started to peruse my cabinets and fridge wondering about cocktails and mimosas.  I eventually settled on this cocktail.  I have heard a lot about elder flower liquor recently around the interwebs and on an impulse bought a nip of it to taste, also I thought the bottle was really pretty.  I tried it alone, not really sippable, but with prosecco and some POMWonderful it was divine.  The complexities of the elder flower liquor really shone with the sparkles of prosecco.  And the way the bubbles burst on your tongue makes these cocktails a lovely hot summer evening drink for me.  I found them indulgent and refreshing, a combination I plan to hold onto for a while longer.

Pomflower Sparkling Cocktail
Note: I made that word up.

1/2 oz Elder flower liquor (such as St. Germain)
1 oz pomegranate juice (such as POMWonderful)
2 oz chilled Prosecco or Cava (I love this with Freixenet but your favorite will probably work too)

Add the elder flower liquor and pomegranate juice to the bottom of a champagne flute and swirl them for a minute to mix.  Top the glass with the chilled sparkling wine.  Serve these with a crostini, or just some tasty bread, while sitting on a porch at sunset.  Marvel at the pinkness of the cocktail and share.

Note: POMWonderful gave me the pomegranate juice to use, but all the opinions here are my own and I would buy the POM juice again to make this cocktail alone.

Rosemary and Olive-Oil Focaccia

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Have you ever planned a perfect meal and gotten all of the ingredients only to realize at the last minute that you forgot something crucial?  Have you ever decided to forgo your whole meal because you forgot that thing, or worse go without?  I have.  And everytime I feel that way I yearn for the thing I had planned for.  This happened to me recently with a darling friend when she came to Boston for a day of cooking, visiting, and drinking (we made the most magnificaent mimosas which I will share soon).  As we wandered through H-Mart looking at quirky and adorable bowls and spoons I offhandedly mentioned my lack of eating much tofu in my life.  My formerly vegan friend immediately demanded we get tofu, coat it in nutritional yeast and make sandwiches with it.  I said fine and she went on a tofu and nutritional yeast hunt.  Do you know how hard it is to find nutrional yeast?  The only place I found it was Whole Foods on River St, seriously, why so anti-vegan?

We arrived home laden with bags of H-Mart shopping, China Fair (a kitchen supply store in Newton) shopping, and some groceries from Star Market.  But we had forgotten bread for our sandwiches.  We cursed our lack of wherewithal and I said that I would make some, since I had all the ingredients and I do so love to make bread.  Also we were done with the being out part of the day and just wanted to cook and in general make a big kitchen mess.

I pulled out my Flour cookbook and turned immediately to the Rosemary and Olive-Oil Focaccia recipe.  I bought this book at the end of April and I have already made this focaccia dough a handful of times (like 4) for pizza.  It is the perfect recipe for pizza dough with its soft airiness, and as a foccacia it was DREAMY.  I loved sandwiches on it, good thing too as I wasn’t such a fan of the nutritional yeast coated tofu (sorry, S – maybe if we had fried it up in some butter I would have liked it more).  We made our sandwiches with tofu and there was still half a loaf of bread, ooh excitement.  I saved it, squirrelled away in a big ziploc in the pantry and the next day made the most heavenly prosciutto sandwiches on that bread.  Who knew?

Please take the time to make this dough – you won’t be sorry and your dining companions will thank you.  Focaccia is a nice way to “swank” up those humdrum sandwiches you’ve been carting to work and it’s totally flexible; next time I’m going to stud it with sundried tomatoes and top it with some fresh grated asiago.  Swoon.

Rosemary and Olive Oil Focaccia
Barely adapted from the Flour cookbook by Joanne Chang, it’s practically perfect as is, and mine wouldn’t be at all adapted if I kept bread flour around.

1 3/4 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 tsp active dry yeast
3 1/2 cup All Purpose flour
1 1/4 cup bread flour (this is my only modification, I don’t keep bread flour around so I used AP, it was wonderful)
3 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbs sugar
3/4 cup olive oil
Cornmeal
2 Tbs Rosemary, roughly chopped

Combine the water and yeast together and allow the yeast to get foamy (about a minute of sitting).  If your yeast does not foam and just sits at the bottom of the water try again with slightly warmer water, if your yest still isn’t foamy it’s dead and you need new.  Once your yeast is activated and happy pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.  Add the flours (if you are using both, if not then just use 4 3/4 cup of AP flour), 1 tsp of the salt, and sugar and turn the mixer on low, allowing the dough hook to bring the whole thing together.  When the dough is a shaggy ball drizzle 1/2 cup of the olive oil into the bowl.  Continue to knead the dough until it is a smooth ball – 4-5 minutes on a low speed.  When the dough is smooth and supple turn the dough ball into an oiled smooth bowl.  Cover the bowl with a lightly oiled piece of plastic wrap and let it rise somewhere war (70-80 degrees) until doubled in volume.  Once the dough is risen you can do two things with it: either, split it in half and make two pizzas (NOMNOM) or make focaccia bread.  To make the focaccia bread turn out the dough onto a 10″x15″ cookie sheet spread with cornmeal.  Stretch the dough until it fills the cookie sheet and pock mark it with your fingertips.  Brush the top of the focaccia dough with the 1/4 cup of olive oil and sprinkle the salt and rosemary on top.  Bake the focaccia at 425 degrees farenheit for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown and puffed.  Eat this focaccia as sandwich bread, it’s one of the best things you will ever do.