SUNDAY EATS

Finally, a day off after a long week. The weather could've been nicer, but considering it's Spring in New England, I should just be glad it's not snowing. Tom and I woke up fairly early and debated our breakfast options. I proposed going to the perenially packed Coolidge Corner favorite, Zaftigs. Since we'd get there at almost 9AM I figured there wouldn't be a line. But Tom shot down that idea. (which ended up being a good thing. As we drove by, we noticed a group of people standing outside, waiting to get in.) Instead, we went to Rubin's Deli, a little farther up Harvard Ave., closer to Allston. We drive by this place all the time, but since it's set in a rather nondescript building, we'd never been in. After a quick google search, we figured out that they were open for breakfast. (Actually, they open at 8 on Sundays). When we stepped inside, we found the place nearly empty. The only other diners were a couple sitting in a booth. A long deli counter lined one side of the restaurant, so we were confused as to whether we ordered at the counter or sat ourselves. Luckily, a waitress appeared and told us we could pick anywhere we wanted to sit. So I chose a comfy red booth. The decor in here seems to have come from the 60s, with the stereotypical Jewish Deli feel. But it was well maintained and quite comfortable.
After checking out the menu, I began to wonder why cream cheese was referred to as non-dairy and there wasn't any butter, just margarine. Tom then reminded me that we were at a Kosher establishment. I figured the bagels here would be great, so I ended up ordering a toasted bagel and a side of hash browns. Tom got the Challah french toast (which I also considered ordering, but he beat me to it) and a side of smoked salmon hash. As we waited for our food to arrive (and despite being only the second table there, it wasn't too speedy), I took note of the surroundings. This is definitely a casual, family run place, and they do most of their business on a take out basis. Plenty of orders were being picked up at the deli while we ate. I also checked out their sandwich menu, and I don't doubt that they would make some kick ass sandwiches.

But back to breakfast. Here are my hash browns.
They were ok, but I really do prefer hash browns with crunchy bits, which these lacked completely. I didn't photograph my bagel, but it ended up being an egg bagel and it was strangely sweet. It wasn't that great, so I was a little disappointed in that.

However, the star dish of the day was the smoked salmon hash. I'm not a huge fan of salmon anymore, having filled my lifetime quoting after working in a restaurant, but this was tasty. Cooked with eggs and potato, it was my favorite dish of the morning. Tom also enjoyed it quite a bit.

And here is his challah french toast. Again, I expected it to be amazing, but it was actually quite soggy, with a pudding like texture. (I really do prefer it when things are crisp and crunchy). As we finished our meal, more people would start to enter the restaurant, but even as we left, there were only 3 couples eating. The food here was well priced, just $20 for the two of us, but I don't think I'll be back for breakfast. I certainly would like to have a sandwich from them, tho.

After breakfast, we made our weekly pilgrimage to the Whole Foods. We hoped to miss the crowds, but even at 10am, there were still plenty of people there. I had several recipes in mind that I wanted to make. For Tom's birthday, he had received a number of Amazon gift certificates. And I had encourage him to spend them on new cookbooks. I was very happy with the new books, especially Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. It's quite comprehensive, and even encouraged me to use new ingredients. So for lunch, I made this simple salad garnished with shrimp. (The shrimp were made with Bittman's recipe). They ended up being quite tasty and if only we had some crusty bread, the shrimp could have been eaten alone with just that. If you've ever had tapas and enjoyed gambas al ajillo, it tasted a lot like that. The parmesean cheese that I added helped add some sweetness to the salad and I think it was great.

For dinner, I wanted to try out another Bittman recipe. This one was for extra crispy white fish fillets. Tom and I had purchased tilapia fillets earlier in the day, and they were perfect for this recipe. Also, earlier in the week, we had purchased bread from Clear Flour. I used the uneaten Italian loaf to make some spectacular bread crumbs. So here's my mis en place.You can see the plate of breadcrumbs, seasoned with some fresh herbs, salt and pepper, a plate of beaten eggs and a plate of flour. This was super easy. You coat the fillets in flour, then egg, then the bread crumbs and put them in a hot pan with olive oil. I also roasted some red potatoes with herbs to go on the side. Here's everything finished. The hardest part of the recipe is gauging when the fillets are ready. I had to keep poking and prodding and eventually took a knife and cut one open. Not great for presentation, but the fish was cooked perfectly and turned out delicious. I'll be trying out more recipes from these cookbooks (am flipping through Molto Italiano by Mario Batali today) and will report back on the results.