Flavorful, Fresh & Fast: Dorado Tacos and Cemitas

Looking for a meal that meets the following criteria?

1) Extremely delicious
2) Extremely fresh & flavorful
3) Extremely reasonable
4) Extremely friendly & welcoming staff
5) Extremely earth friendly

I've got the perfect recommendation for you - Dorado Tacos and Cemitas! I've been to Dorado a number of times and everything I've tried has been fantastic. From summer dining outside:

Ensenanda Tacos

To warm and comforting dinner inside:

Two taco plate with rice, beans, and roasted jalapeno

Steak Cemita, Ensenada Tacos, chips, guacamole,
 and watermelon agua fresca.

I know they have taco and cemita in their name, but you shouldn't skip over the quesadillas. Packed with the perfect balance of filling & cheese, they are crispy and wonderful.  And pickled vegetables and spicy tortilla chips are a spicy kick to the taste buds.

A few weeks ago, I enjoyed a delicious brunch with the Boston Brunchers crew at Dorado Tacos & Cemitas in Brookline. The hubby and I were quick to comment and snagged seats for this month's Mexican brunch. Thanks to Dorado for opening early for the brunchers - we had a wonderful time! The hubby and I paid for our brunch - and it was money extremely well spent.

We've been to Dorado once before for brunch, and this was a great opportunity to try it again. We had a strategy this time. The sunny day + big windows + hot and spicy food = South of the Border temperatures! So we decided to skip the hot drinks and go with something iced along with our brunch. During the summer, the featured agua fresca was watermelon lime. It was so good that I recreated it at home (I made a huge pitcher and finished it in two days.  For the winter they have switched to the equally refreshing cucumber lime agua fresca.

Homemade Watermelon-Lime Honey Agua Fresca

The hubby decided to order a loaded breakfast quesadilla filled with eggs, cheese, spicy portobella mushrooms, and rice and beans. No side dishes needed - it was all inside.

Breakfast quesadilla with eggs, spicy portabella mushroom, black beans, and rice

I love side dishes, so I opted for the huevos rancheros. Two corn tortillas topped with sunny side up eggs, salsa ranchera, queso fresco and a generous sprinkling of scallions and cilantro. To bump up the spice even more, I ordered the patatas bravas on the side. Crispy, salty outside and smooth and creamy inside they are completely addictive.

Huevos rancheros with patatas bravas

So don't miss out on this neighborhood gem. In addition to their affordable menu prices, they also offer standing weekly specials like all-you-can eat chili Mondays, $1.99 fish taco Tuesdays, and more! Weekend brunch runs from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.  If the promise of freshly made food with fresh ingredients isn't enough of a draw, A 2 taco plate or 2-filling quesadilla plate will set you back just $6.25 + tax on a regular day. Add on a beer, wine, or Mexican soda and you'll have a filling meal for under $10. Check out the full menu over on their website.

Food is Fun: A Weekend of Delicious Eating

Winter in Boston means fighting the desire to stay inside to cook, watch movies, and snuggle up under a warm blanket on the couch.  Last weekend I had two great events to motivate me to get dressed up and head into the city. Both events were at fabulous Boston hotels and filled with delicious food and delightful company!

My extravagant winter weekend started on Saturday at the 5th annual Gamma Phi Beta Boston Alumnae Chapter High Tea. A group of alumnae met at the Taj Boston for an afternoon of mini sandwiches, rich pastries, and great conversation.

Our group loves tea at the Taj. The service staff is fantastic and we always have a wonderful experience. The Taj Royale is a manageable amount of treats (if you didn’t eat lunch!). My absolute favorite is always the egg salad sandwich. Thankfully you don’t have to share anything as they give you one of each item. No worrying that you won’t get your favorite!

While the sandwiches are delicious and paired well with my vanilla earl grey, it’s the pastries that really steal the show. They are decadent and some are topped with gold leaf. The lemon curd is rich, tart, and creamy and it was hard to put down. On top of cherry scones it was even better! Renee could make a meal of scones, clotted cream, and strawberry jam alone. She talks about them for days before tea. You can see her setting up her photo shoot below.

Some of the ladies at the table didn’t polish off their pastries like me….and we took home delicious packages for a late night snack!

After an indulgent tea, I went to bed without dinner. The next morning I woke up excited for my second adventure of the weekend. I decided that a fabulous brunch deserved an equally fabulous outfit and got myself ready to head downtown. I skipped breakfast to leave more room for total food overload. My destination was The Langham Hotel for the City Brunch in Café Fleuri. I met up with 14 fellow food lovers, the Boston Brunchers to experience the extravagant Sunday brunch.

Thanks to the Langham, my brunch was complementary. I did splurge on a delicious grapefruit mimosa ($9) and made sure to leave a generous tip for our fantastic server, who asked us why we weren’t live blogging through the meal. Our answer? We were too focused on food to think about blogging or tweeting while eating! I was not required to ‘review’ brunch and the opinions below are my honest thoughts about my meal.

If there is one breakfast food I love more than eggs, it is smoked salmon. The City Brunch did not disappoint when it came to salmon offerings. I started with the house smoked maple cured salmon topped with finely diced eggs and red onions. My next stop for salmon was the rolled-to-order sushi station. The salmon nigiri was a beautiful shade of coral and melted in my mouth. Ask my table mates, I had at least 2 pieces of salmon on my plate at all times. Even for dessert (salmon nigiri and a chocolate chili brownie). Just look at the beautiful offerings:

One of the other unique offerings at brunch were the hot out of the fryer beignets. After one bite I can see why they pass these out one at a time. If they were on the buffet everyone would overdose on them! The sugary exterior enclosed a light, airy, steamy interior. I savored each bite with a cup of hot coffee making it last as long as possible.

I think I finished the meal having taken at least five trips to the buffet. Some trips resulted in just one or two items and I ended up not finishing all of my dessert. The chocolate croissant bread pudding with caramel sauce was a decadent end to the meal, but it was almost too rich for the amount of food I had already consumed.

More fun than the food was the company! The Boston Blogger scene is filled with friendly, unique, creative, and fun people! No matter who ends up at your table, the conversation is lively and enjoyable. It was great brunching with everyone!

Top photo, left to right: Justin, Katie, Meghan

Bottom photo, left to right: Emily, Athena, Renee, Brian, Bianca, Sarah

After a lavish brunch most people would head straight for the couch and spend the afternoon in a supine position. When it comes to food adventures, I am not like most people. I don’t regularly have the car in the city and wanted to take advantage of it. Renee nicely agreed (well, I was her ride home) to join me for a trip over to Central Bottle Wine and Provisions and Flour Bakery and Café. I love the Blue Room (same owners as Central Bottle) and chat with Central Bottle on twitter, so I knew we were in for a great experience. Of course you can’t visit a wine & cheese shop and not taste the cheese. There was house marinated goat cheese, aged gouda, creamy cow’s milk cheese and more. I chose a tangy little Bijou Goat Cheese from Vermont and Renee took home a wedge of mimolette and Cabot clothbound cheddar. It was impossible to leave without picking up wine also.

I spotted a red that looked interesting – Marche Rosso Fontezoppa. I chose it because I know that I like the grapes in the blend (50% sangiovese, 40% cabernet, 10% merlot). Another bonus, it was $11! When it came time to pick white, I had no idea what I wanted. Thankfully I was able to explain my likes/dislikes to the friendly staff who presented me with four different options in my desired price range. I haven’t opened that bottle yet, so I’ll save it for another post. I paired the red with a variety of dishes and it was dry, coated my tongue (which I love), and kept me going back for more. I paired it with a grilled goat cheese, fig, and lavender sandwich and a hearty bowl of lentils with a garlicky balsamic vinaigrette.The flavor paired well with the bold flavors in the food and was perfect for a cold wintery day.

And of course I should mention what delicious treats I got at Flour! I was so full from brunch it was hard to decide. Since the hubby didn't enjoy either of the meals (he did get the leftover tea pastries), I picked something I knew he would like. I took home two beautiful cornmeal lime cookies. They were the perfect combination of sweet and tart. The lime glaze on top was amazing - I need to try to make that at home!

Now you can see why Healthy Snacks Wednesdays are so important! When you know you have a lot of weekend eating on the schedule you have to be more healthy during the week. Don't forget to enter the giveaway for two vouchers for your choice of Veggie Patch products. You can enter through Tuesday night.

What fun food adventures do you have planned for this weekend? I hope they are delicious!

Date Night in the Suburbs

Last Friday night we decided to go out for a date night. But we didn’t have tickets for any events, no movies looked good, and bowling is a little far. The hubby came up with the idea to do a progressive dinner – appetizers at one restaurant and dinner at another. It sounded like a great idea! We live out in the suburbs (Framingham/Natick area), so there are plenty of restaurants from which to choose. After some brainstorming, we headed over to the Natick Collection (i.e. Mall) for what I will dub the inaugural Mall Crawl. As you start the holiday shopping season this would be a fun way to take a break from your shopping lists!

I took all the photos with my iPhone, which is not ideal for dim lighting. 

Our first stop was at Sel De La Terre. We snagged the last two seats at the bar and settled in for our appetizer course. We started here because they offer a great $1 bar menu every night. Not only are the bar bites delicious, you can try them all without breaking the bank. The hubby ordered a ginger ale on the rocks and got a glass of Grenache while we decided what to eat. We chose the tuna tiradito, mushroom arancini, soup shooters and a cheese plate (not part of the $1 menu). The tuna slices were perfectly seared with a lime and pineapple vinaigrette. We ordered two orders of arancini and got four perfectly crisped pieces. The inside was filled with the creamy mushroom risotto that I love to order off the main menu. We choose the pumpkin pear bisque for our soup shooters. The creamy, smooth soup was served in perfectly sized espresso mugs. The cheese plate ($9) contained an assortment of goodies. Accompanying the blue cheese, semi-soft sheep’s milk cheese, and soft brie cheese were pear slices, grapes, figs, quince paste, honey and three slices of fresh bread. Each bite was delicious and we wiped the plate clean. After we polished off all of the dishes we paid our tab and headed out for the next stop in our adventure. I didn’t get any pictures of our delicious food – the mood wasn’t right for photos.

We walked over to the Met Bar and Grill, but decided that their dessert menu sounded more appealing than splitting a burger. We continued down the corridor to the next stop. The next restaurant we encountered was PF Chang’s. We spotted two open seats at the bar and sat down next to other suburbanites enjoying a night out. To go along with the restaurant theme I ordered an Asian Pear Mojito (Bacardi Limon and fresh mint with a hint of pear).  We did what everyone does when in PF Chang’s; we ordered the obligatory chicken lettuce wraps.

While we waited we debated how many heads of lettuce they go through in a given night and looked around at the crowd. And it was fantastic. We spotted teens dressed up in ridiculous outfits, college kids out for drinks, and families with overtired children just trying to get through their meals. The teenage outfits were the best. At one point, 15 teenage girls paraded out in mini mini-skirts, super high heels and tight tops. As they passed the bar, everyone swiveled in their stools and watched with a look of “how did they get out of the house wearing that?!?” The consensus of the bar was that they must have changed in the car. But really, who are you trying to impress at PF Chang’s? It made for a good laugh. After we finished up our lettuce wraps we headed back out to the Met Bar and Grill for dessert.

By the time we got back to Met Bar the place had almost entirely cleared out (it was about 9:45). We had our choice of spots at the bar and plopped ourselves down into two very well padded leather bar chairs (most comfortable of the night!). After reviewing the menu the hubby decided on pumpkin cheesecake with candied cranberries, spiced pecans, and maple cookies. I ordered up a Met Mocha shake, liquored up. The bartender blended up chocolate ice cream, caramel sauce, espresso, and espresso vodka and dusted the rim in espresso grinds before serving. It was more liquid than the milkshake texture I was expecting but it was still delicious. I wish I had ordered a side of salty fries to go with it (I always loved ordering fries with Frosty’s at Wendy’s).

As we finished up our dessert we discussed the sit-down restaurants that didn’t make the cut for our first mall crawl. Next time we’ll think about how to incorporate these places into the mix – Cheesecake Factory, Nordstrom Bistro, California Pizza Kitchen, and Friendly’s. Well, maybe not Friendly’s….

We had a great time, spent about the same as if we’d done dinner in one place. We parked in the garage and didn’t have to worry about driving from place to place. And we got to do some fabulous people watching. Another bonus was that the Celtics game was on at every bar. So next time you are stuck with no ideas about what to do and where to eat, don’t forget about the mall! It’s more than just Auntie Anne’s, Panda Express, and Sbarro!

A Lovely Day for Local Food

Saturday was a beautiful day in Boston. There was a slight fall chill to the air, but the sun was shining and the sky was bright blue. The perfect weather for the Boston Local Food Festival (BLFF) at the Fort Point Channel. The festival spanned the area between the Congress Street and Northern Avenue bridges. The Harborwalk was a great space for the event - self contained yet spacious (at least before the crowds arrived!)

The festival celebrated all things related to local food. Farms, entrepreneurs, established businesses, restaurants, markets, services, local food resources and more. The festival was free and open to all, and I joined in the fun representing Local In Season. I met up with Jonathan Ross-Wiley (co-founder) and Lizzy Butler (fellow writer) to set up our booth and get ready to talk local food all day.

I've been having a blast getting involved in the local food scene over the last year. I was always interested in local foods and locally owned businesses, but have significantly changed the way we shop and eat. We shop at the farmer's markets first and use the grocery store as our second stop. It really kicked off after I started tweeting and launched my blog. I started following local food folks and one day got a tweet from @localinseason saying, "Hi there...We are wondering whether you would have interest in being a contributing writer for us."

I was so flattered and had just made a Thanksgiving feast with most of the ingredients from the farmer's market. My first 'published' article was an original recipe and celebrated a locally grown ingredients (red kuri pie). Since then I've been visiting markets, meeting farmers and vendors, and having a fantastic time! Thanks to Jon and Patrick for inviting me to be a part of the team!

Now back to the festival. There was delicious local food every where you looked. From the metch at Seta's Mediterranean Foods to salted caramel ice cream at Batch Ice Cream to fresh pasta from Nella's Pasta to Pumpkin Pie soda from Maine Root Sodas.  Here are a few culinary treats I sampled during the festival. There wasn't time (or stomach capacity) to try everything! But now I have a list of places to visit on my food adventures.

Besides the local food, the best part of the BLFF was getting to see all of these wonderful food people in one place. From fellow food bloggers to many of the local food producers and even some of my new classmates!  The crowd estimates for the day are anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000. We had a lot of those people stop by to learn about Local In Season, enter a fall recipe into our recipe contest, and sign up for the new monthly LIS newsletter.

Our booth was right next to the butchering demos - which were fascinating to watch. Although one woman was not so thrilled - and decided since I was the first person she saw that she would let me know that I should be disgusted with myself for allowing such behavior to take place at the festival (guess she thought it was the Local In Season festival?).  I had a good laugh and got a few pics of the Saveneur's team butchering the goat, which they auctioned off for charity.

It was a truly a lovely day for local food. As Mayor Menino said at the festival, this new local food wave in Boston is great to see and its great to see the little entrepreneurs and little food businesses out there.

Mayor Menino checking out the festival.

It was great to see many of my local food friends in person. If you are looking for other great reads, be sure to visit them!

Kimmy of Lighter and Local
Michelle of Fun Fearless in Beantown 
Megan of Delicious Dishings
Meghan of Travel, Wine and Dine
Robin of Doves and Figs
Amy of Poor Girl Gourmet
Brian of A Thought for Food
Katie of Once Upon a Small Boston Kitchen
Fiona of A Boston Food Diary
Kathy of Kathy can Cook

I look forward to events celebrating the local food scene in all its glory. So get out there and visit your farmers market, support locally-minded restaurants and businesses, and most importantly enjoy some delicious foods!

Calories Consumed with Friends Don't Count

This is not a restaurant review - I leave those to the professionals! This is a recap of a fabulous night with some of my blogger buddies. When I first got on twitter and blogging last year, I "met" some Boston food bloggers and Jessie organized dinner to get everyone together to meet and talk food in person. We had a fun dinner at Cuchi Cuchi and kicked off new friendships! (You can check out a fuzzy photo of our evening via JQ Lounge).

Fast forward to this summer and restaurant week. I have mixed feelings about restaurant week, some places do it great and some are like hanger steak factories. But with all the new restaurants around town, I decided that I wanted to give it a try. I saw Jessie tweet about restaurant week and quickly sent her a note. We both got busy creating our restaurant lists. The criteria: new to us and not a shellfish/pork heavy menu. We went through about 40 restaurants each and agreed on Sportello - Barbara Lynch's fancy-ish diner in the Fort Point Channel. With an attendee list of a few of my favorite bloggers, the evening was sure to be a blast!

Nothing says summer restaurant week like a Nor'Easter! We all put on our rain boots and braved the elements to cross over the windy bridge to Sportello. Upon opening the door we were welcomed by the warm, comforting smell of browning butter. Really, is there a better smell?

We started off with a bottle of Rosato and a toast to good food and friends. Then we got down to decisions.

The menu was full of fresh, seasonal ingredients and each dish sounded mouthwatering. While we pondered the great choices, we were served whipped ricotta with olive oil and figs. The bread was sturdy, topped with sesame seeds, and had a wonderful buttery flavor.

A nice touch was the amuse bouche sent out to us from the kitchen sent. Fresh pink salmon, horseradish crema, finely diced chives, and a mini green garnish!

The first course was a unanimous choice by everyone - corn soup. It was lusciously smooth and rich. We asked our server if there was cream - she said no - just corn and olive oil which helped achieve that smooth velvety texture. We all cleaned our bowls, using the bread to get every last drop of soup, oil, and scallion. Here's what food bloggers do at dinner - Alicia from The Clean Plate Club documenting course one. To see the resulting picture, visit her blog.

I could write a series on the steak entree during restaurant week. I always order it. Some places do it better than others, and this was one of the best. It was not until our server brought out the meal that I realized that she didn't ask how I'd like the steak prepared. I like that! The chef knows the meat, knows the dish, and I trust that they serve it at the optimal level doneness. It was pink in the middle, a little crispy on the outside. What I loved about all the courses was that the portion size was just right. I didn't feel like I was struggling to finish and I definitely didn't think that the portions were skimpy. And I really liked the plates...and glasses, and the whole vibe). The diner feel was cozy, comfortable, and I felt very much at home.

In tribute to Alicia's blog - we were all members of the clean plate club!

Dinner was delicious and we laughed off all the calories! Or, as Alicia wisely says, "Calories consumed with friends don't count." Words to live by! 

Alicia, from A Boston Food Diary and Alicia from the Clean Plate Club

Me with  Katie from Once Upon a Small Boston Kitchen

Thanks Katie for the photo of Alicia and Fiona and you and me! I love your new camera!!

Fiona with Barbara Lynch (over her right shoulder!)

We all found a little more room for dessert. I opted for the chocolate bread pudding. It was served with caramel that tasted like it was poured straight from the pan onto the plate. It was buttery and just a little salty.  It was the perfect accompaniment to the dark, almost bittersweet, chocolate bread pudding. I kept saying I was going to stop eating, but who was I kidding? It wouldn't be very nice to waste any food!

It was a wonderful night! It was great to see everyone offline (links to their take on the evening or their blog):

Jessie (How2Heroes)
Katie (Once Upon a Small Boston Kitchen)
Fiona (A Boston Food Diary)
Alicia (The Clean Plate Club)
Peter (http://peteypumpkin.wordpress.com/)

I can't wait to head back down to try Sportello's regular menu, and stop downstairs for a cocktail at Drink.  I am especially looking forward to seeing and meeting more blog friends in person!

Avi's Delicious Dinner Party

A good friend of ours recently hosted a dinner party - great company and great food! He went online to find some recipes and put together a stellar menu. When I asked him to confirm the date, he replied with the date and jokingly said, "So - you know how to cook, right? :)". I asked if he really did want my help and he assigned me some side dishes to go with his main courses.

A quick note, I've known Avi for about 9 years. Of the time I've known him, one year was college, 2 years he was away in grad school, and 5 years he was in Israel. This was really the first time I've had the opportunity to experience his cooking skills. Now that I have, we'll be suggesting dinner at his place more often.

Avi's Dinner Party Menu

Goat Cheese in Grape Leaves with Tomato and Olive Salad

Balsamic Blue Cheese Salad
Bread and butter

Sumac Skirt Steak with Pomegranate Reduction

Eggplant Parmesan

I went to the Natick Farmers Market in the morning to get ingredients for my contribution to the menu. I picked up some baby spinach and some fresh rigatoni from Fior D'Italia. My side dishes:

Sauteed Baby Spinach with garlic and pine nuts
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat
Add garlic and cook for a few minutes, until garlic is fragrant (but not brown)
Reduce heat to low
Add 1 lb. of washed baby spinach leaves (you may need to add in batches)
Cook until spinach is just wilted
Toast pine nuts before serving and sprinkle on top

Fior D'Italia rigatoni with artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomato pesto
I cheated and used store bought ingredients to go with the pasta.

Cook pasta according to the package directions
Drain and return to the pot
Add about 1/4 cup of pesto, tossing well
Add 1 can of rinsed and roughly chopped and toss
Reheat before serving

For dessert I also cheated and used a Trader Joe's vanilla cake mix to whip up some chocolate chip cupcakes for dessert.

I asked Avi to tell me some interesting stories about cooking, and he thought that everything was pretty normal. He stopped by Christina's in Cambridge to pick up sumac for the steak, went to the grocery store to get his ingredients, and set the table before starting to cook.

A few other notes from Avi about the preparation:

If you want to cut down the expense of the dish (pomegranate juice and skirt steak are both pretty expensive), you can try to make it with pomegranate syrup. Pomegranate syrup is already reduced juice, but a lot cheaper and it will keep forever. Using it allows you to skip the whole reduction step. This will cut about 20 minutes from the preparation. It is hard to find, although Christina's had it in stock. You can also use sirloin or rib-eye steak instead of skirt-steak. If you're good, and have the steak already coated with the sumac, the grape leaves / goat cheese already dipped in oil (both can be done a day or two in advance), you can probably pull off both those dishes and the blue-cheese salad in less than 30 minutes of work.

When we arrived, he was hard at work in the kitchen finishing up the meal. The laptop was out on the counter and he was watching a video on how to properly layer the eggplant in the baking dishes. While we started on the salad course, he put the rest of the food in the oven to warm up for the main course.

Everything was absolutely delicious. The steak was cooked perfectly and I will be adding the pomegranate reduction to my favorite sauces list. It was tart, tangy, and just a little sweet. As an engineer, and probably without even thinking about it, Avi arranged everything symmetrically on the plate (or on matching plates).

I think we polished all the food, except for the giant dish of pasta I brought over. After dinner we tried out a new-to-us game called Pit (turns out it was first sold in 1904!) We traded commodities and laughed off a few of the calories from the cupcakes and icing.

It was a great evening and we're just waiting for the next invitation!