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Note: This post is not for the faint of heart.

There has been a lot of talk (some might call it hype) about Hungry Mother in Cambridge.  It was ranked #7 in Boston Magazine’s Best Restaurants Issue.  It has an impressive 4.5 stars (out of 5) on Yelp and a ranking of 92 (out of 100) on The Phantom Gourmet.  Well I am here to tell you, it is well deserved.  Go make your reservations now because you’ll need them and by the time you finish this post you’ll be wishing you were there now.

We arrived for our dinner and were promptly seated on time.  After a quick perusal of the menu (that’s all you need, it’s not a huge menu), we ordered our drinks and food in one shot.  The appetizers included fried oysters, squid and cornbread.  Now it was difficult to get my head wrapped about the oysters.  I always get them raw with horseradish and cocktail sauce and throw them back like candy.  Well, I’m a convert.  They were delicious.  Warm and crunchy without being overcooked and the remoulade was the perfect amount of tang to counter the Tabasco sauce drizzled on top.  The cornbread was good (pretty standard to be honest).  The squid was also delicious, not chewy and the accompaniments made the plate in my opinion.

Then there was the beer.  My friends had ordered a beer recommended by the waitress.  They loved it.  So she recommended two of their bottles (they’re 22oz each, so we split them). Well, I would like everyone to know, the Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project is going to blow up and take over the craft beer scene.  One sip of the Jack D’Or and I was sold.  Two sips and it might have taken over the #1 favorite beer spot.  Our friend who doesn’t even drink beer liked it.  We were so impressed my friends took the bottles home with them (which apparently according to one of the owners is a fairly frequent occurrence).

Ok…back to the food.  For dinner I ordered the Cornmeal Catfish, which came with andouille sausage and rice (which was clearly cooked in the wonderful wonderful sausage grease).  It was perfect.  The fried crust of the catfish was the right about of crunch, I can still taste it in my mouth.  We also got the collard greens side (nothing exciting) and the grits.  I love grits, and these were no exception.  Grits with ham and cheddar raised the bar.  Although the real winner of this meal was the chicken.  I know, I know.  Chicken?  I have no idea how it was cooked or with what, but I wish I could replicate it.  The inside was juicy and the roasted skin was one of the best things I’ve ever tried.  Plus, it was served with fiddleheads, which are baby ferns.  I had never had them (or knew one could have them) before.  They were really tasty (and form super cute little rings when cooked).

For dessert, we ordered the fig and pecan galette and the honey & buttermilk panna cotta.  The panna cotta was ok (not spectacular to be honest), but the galette, oh the galette.  I would compare it to a fancy, warm fig newton with ice cream.  Swoon.

I also think one of nicest parts of the meal was having one of the owners come over to our table.  The restaurant is over a year old at this point and clearly doing well, but he took the time to come over, make sure everything was alright and chat with us for a few minutes.  It showed the level of commitment and love for their place, which is always appreciated.

And finally, for the record, I did not eat again until 3 pm the following day.

Tartine Bakery.  I went in April while in San Fransisco with my best friend.  I went again earlier this month while visiting Silicon Valley.  I own the cookbook.  I love it.  (well I love the bakery…some of the items in the cookbook are complicated and/or require making multiple items, which I don’t usually have time for).

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…the Hi Rise Bread Co?  It might be tough with all of the election excitement, but it was the post just prior to this!…well it turns out a few days later the bread makes excellent French Toast.  Especially when consumed for dinner.

Also, in case anyone was wondering, the key to super awesome french toast is to add vanilla extract and flour to the egg mixture (in addition to the usual milk, cinnamon, and sugar).  The vanilla helps with the flavoring and the flour thickens the mix and makes it more adhesive.  Then of course tossing chocolate chips (Ghiradelli are a personal fav) and powdered sugar on top doesn’t hurt either.

As a side note, I owe everyone a write-up of my NY trip a couple of weeks ago, hopefully sometime over the weekend/early next week!

In a word: Zoning. Or lack thereof.  There are hidden pockets of stores and restaurants all over the place in Cambridge.  Of course it’s awesome when you find one of these fantastic places hidden away, but at the same time it’s frustrating if you don’t own a car. 

For example, a friend called me up this morning and wanted to go Hi Rise Bread Co. for lunch.  He had found the place through a friend.  This place was tucked away in Cambridge and only 3 miles from my apartment, but not too close to public transportation.  Since 6 miles was a bit of a lengthy walk, I hijacked my roommate’s car (which is completely justified because he went on a 2-week business trip and left me a sinkful of his dishes) and drove off.  

It was DELICIOUS.  I had a grilled sandwich with chicken, harissa, olive spread and tomatoes.  Heaven between carbs (which is basically heaven wraped in heaven).  The sandwich was a bit on the pricey side for a random Cambridge bakery ($10)…but in all honesty, I did not eat again for 8 hours.  I also bought myself a chocolate brioche roll.  It was tasty, but not as good in my opinion.  The roll was a bit on the drier side. 

I would never have found this place if my friend didn’t recommend it.  Who else has places to recommend in Boston/Cambridge/suburbs?

When some people get stressed, they withdraw and hide away in a corner, others like to complain about how busy they.  Personally, I either run or bake.  Since I ran 6.5 miles yesterday, I figured tonight it was time to put some loaves in the oven (not my oven people, get your mind out of the gutter).

The chilly weather led me to buy cranberries yesterday.  That of course left me with a bag of cranberries in my fridge (really, I never buy cranberries except at Thanksgiving!)  After a quick kitchen inventory and recipe investigation, Cranberry-Orange-Nut Bread seemed like the perfect Fall recipe.  It also gave me an excuse to try out the mini-loaf pans I bought recently.

Cranberry-Orange-Nut-Bread

• 2 c. flour (I used 1 c. white and 1c. whole wheat)
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/s tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 c. cranberries
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• 1/2 chopped nuts (I used pecans)
• 3/4 c. orange juice**

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F and grease the pans
2. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda together
3. Add the beaten egg, oil, orange zest and juice, stir
4. Mix in the cranberries and nuts
5. Pour into the pans and bake ~55 minutes (~30 minutes for the mini loaf pans)

I know you’re not supposed to cut bread while still warm…but it is delicious that way!

**Ok, I didn’t actually have 3/4 c of orange juice because I only had one orange and no juice in my apartment.  I was able to squeeze out approximately 1/2 cup of juice and then supplemented with 1/3 cup of milk and the recipe came out fine.