Latest news with #SherylJulian
Boston Globe
22-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- Boston Globe
How to improve the foods we eat
Advertisement What started me down this path of betterment was a recent bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. While the ingredients seemed of good quality, it was easy to identify how the sandwich could be improved. The bacon slices were thick and nicely browned but not crisp. The small omelet round was tender but plain. I wanted the cheese to be melty-gooey. And the bun was too soft. Overall, the sandwich lacked flavor; a schmear of spicy sauce would have taken it from so-so to super. Get Winter Soup Club A six-week series featuring soup recipes and cozy vibes, plus side dishes and toppings, to get us all through the winter. Enter Email Sign Up A Waldorf salad. The Boston Globe/Globe Freelance My fix-it thoughts wandered to other sandwiches and salads that often disappoint. Like tuna salad that needs less mayo, a squirt of lemon juice, a liberal sprinkling of black pepper, and something crunchy like diced celery or cucumber. Advertisement Chefs like Michael Scelfo can teach us how to jazz up our meals. Scelfo is the chef-owner of Harlow Hospitality Group, which operates Alden & Harlow, Waypoint, Longfellow Bar, and Josephine. The small plates at Cambridge's Corn pancakes at Alden & Harlow in 2014. Essdras M. Suarez/Globe Staff Take the restaurant's Pickled Corn Pancakes. The dish was inspired by the little corn cakes Scelfo's mother used to make when he was young. 'I grew up in a humble home, and we didn't have extravagant ingredients,' he says. The chef's pancakes, made with pickled corn and cornmeal, are paired with flash-fried shishito peppers, a drizzle of maple syrup, and a sprinkling of popcorn for whimsy and crunch. 'There's heat, sweetness, crunch, a touch of acidity from the pickled corn, and a buttermilk yogurt base for creaminess,' he says. 'It came together in an organic and unexpected way and became a signature dish.' Scelfo's plate of grilled broccoli revolves around smoky flavors, which reminds him of the barbecue he loved in Kansas City, where he grew up. He grills broccoli until it's lightly charred, makes a puree of roasted butternut squash, smoked cashews, and Middle Eastern spices, and finishes the dish with a drizzle of honey and crumble topping of smoked sheep's milk cheese and cashews. Again, diverse ingredients, flavors, colors, and textures mingle on the plate. Advertisement One of the chef's newer dishes showcases New England oysters: He fries the bivalves and plates them with a creamy potato puree and sweet pickle vinaigrette, a riff on a mignonette commonly served with raw oysters. For 'freshness and lightness,' he scatters lightly dressed herbs (dill, tarragon, chervil, parsley, chives) on top. Sheryl Julian's 2-Hour Pickled Sweet Onions. Sheryl Julian Speaking of pickles — sour, sweet, dill, spicy, fermented, or vinegar-brined — home cooks should be using them more liberally and more often. Honestly, the Whopper and Big Mac have the right idea. Mix chopped pickles into chicken, turkey, egg, and tuna salads and add slices to meaty sandwiches for a punch of acidity. Make your own quick-brined pickles from sliced cucumber, carrot, radish, What chefs like Scelfo demonstrate with their well-designed dishes is the interplay of the five tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami (savory). While other factors, such as aroma, temperature, textures, and spiciness, also impact flavor, the five tastes are the key building blocks. You're not necessarily striving for balance, because Here are some tips on flavors and seasoning: To add sweetness to a dish, use sugar in various forms and size crystals, maple syrup, honey, fresh and dried fruits, jam, and chocolate. Sweetness will soften bitter and sour flavors and also mellow spicy heat. For saltiness, add salt, soy sauce, olives, Parmesan, and other aged cheeses. Salt is not only a seasoning, it enhances other flavors. Think salted caramel or chocolate, and how bland most foods are without a dash of salt. Sourness and acidity come from citrus fruits, cranberries, vinegar, pickled vegetables, and dairy foods, such as plain yogurt, sour cream, and buttermilk. Scelfo says chefs are always adding 'brightness' to dishes, often with a splash of lemon juice. Acidity helps balance sweet, spicy, and salty foods. Think of that wedge of lime accompanying many spicy meals. For bitterness, there are bitter greens/leaves, such as arugula, watercress, mustard greens, escarole, and radicchio, as well as beer, wine, dark chocolate, and coffee. Some people love bitter foods, others hate them, but bitter notes bring a welcome contrast to many foods and beverages. Umami is the savory taste of meat, mushrooms, aged cheeses, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, fish sauce, and miso. It adds depth and savory richness to many of our meals. For those of us who are textural eaters, crunch and chew are as important to good eating as flavor. 'Nuts are a great way to add texture to a lot of dishes,' says Scelfo. Crunch can also come from toasted breadcrumbs or croutons, crumbled potato or tortilla chips, and chopped vegetables. For bright-juicy crunch, use crisp lettuce, pickled vegetables, cucumbers, celery, bell pepper, fennel, and cabbage. Advertisement And then there is the world of spices — from floral and earthy to spicy-hot, to perk up our meals — without which our food would be quite bland. Many of Curio's mixes are associated with a specific country or region. 'We like to honor the origins of where the spices and herbs are coming from, but you're not restricted to how you use them,' says Cheney. You can even mix two blends together, such as adding spice or floral tones to herb mixtures. A spice flavor wheel created by Claire Cheney, owner of Curio Spice Co. Handout photo from Curio Spice Co. Cheney explains that you can vary the flavor of everyday foods by alternating the spices. 'If you make a big batch of beans, you can use a different spice mix every night to flavor them,' she says, suggesting accents like Korean BBQ, Indian, and Mexican. She recommends adding spice blends to citrus dressings for salads and vegetables as well as drizzling over cooked meats and fish. Some spices work well with sweet foods. Cheney describes the Sichuan Five Spice blend (star anise, cinnamon, coriander, clove, and Sichuan pepper) as 'very aromatic,' pairing well not only with pork dishes, but also stewed fruits and chocolate in brownies, cakes, and pudding. Another blend, Zenu Spice, inspired by Colombian flavors (including passion fruit, coriander, and chilies), can be stirred into rice pudding, custards, and fruit salads. Advertisement Finally, of course, there's heat, as in spicy-hot, not temperature. According to Scelfo, 'every dish needs a little bit of back heat.' His go-to, an easy option for home cooks. too, is crushed red pepper, but he also uses thinly sliced jalapeno and other fresh peppers and hot sauces. The popular condiment, chili crisp, as well as kimchi, add piquancy and umami to all kinds of foods, including fish, chicken, eggs, and grain bowls. Scelfo's recommendation to home cooks is simple: Start with quality ingredients based on what you can afford, use a variety of flavors, strike a pleasing balance of acidity and richness, and add something crunchy or chewy for contrasting texture. The chef wants us to stop thinking that good, flavorful food is difficult or expensive. Why this matters, says Scelfo, is, 'We eat a lot. Bringing interest and unexpected nuance to your cooking makes food much more pleasurable.' Lisa Zwirn can be reached at . Lisa Zwirn can be reached at
Boston Globe
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
The South End's Kaia offers fresh takes on Aegean classics
An herb bouquet follows the ladolemono to finish the whole fish tableside at Kaia. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Advertisement What to eat The menu offers a small list of raw fish selections, a few caviar-related items, a dozen meze, and only two fish entrees, so don't expect a raft of surf and turf. The grilled fish was sea bream on the night we went (the variety changes with availability), and comes boned and butterflied, brushed with honey and a lemony vinaigrette. At the table, the server snips a small bouquet of fresh herbs onto the fish so scents of mint and oregano come your way. With big white flakes and slightly sweet flesh, the fish is exquisite. Broccolini on the meze menu is bright green with light green dabs of broccoli crema and white dabs of aioli. The slender florets are deliciously crunchy at the tips. Spanakopita, the popular spinach and phyllo dough pie, is nothing like you've seen before. This clever take on the classic is a courtly version of a peasant dish. It looks like a multi-layered rectangle of lasagna, with a crisp top, leeks tucked in with the feta, and a little truffle aroma. For dessert, goat's milk ice cream is unmistakably and pleasantly goat-y, perfect with roasted berries; a juniper and honey semifreddo with nutty praline and a spoonful of icy tea granita is delightful. Advertisement The broccolini at Kaia. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff What to drink The wine list is 100 percent Greek, so it's likely there will be much here that is unfamiliar. Don't let that faze you. It's a terrific lineup, showcasing the best contemporary (and occasionally avant garde) Greek wines available in our market. The expression 'if it grows together it goes together' was never more applicable. So be bold. The takeaway Every server at Kaia wants to make you comfortable. The buff tone-on-tone dining room with white stone, wood accents, and creamy upholstery is calming (even when the noise level rises). The food, all meant for sharing, is beautifully plated, waiters know what they're doing, and you come away feeling like you've had a European experience. A night here doesn't come cheap. 370 Harrison Ave., South End, , 617-514-0700. meze, caviar, and crudo dishes $18-$98; fish priced by weight, $75 to $90 for grilled, $90-$110 for bourdeto (fish prepared four ways). Kaia in the South End. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Sheryl Julian can be reached at
Boston Globe
01-04-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Books and tools of the trade for novice bakers
' ' All ' ' ' ' ' ' ' Advertisement ' ' ' Note: Most books are available at the library or on used book sites. TOOLS Baking sheets Basic pans (8-inch square, 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, 9-inch springform, muffin pan) Bench scraper Bowls Digital scale and measuring cups Ice cream scoops (for cookies, muffins, scones) Oven thermometer and food thermometer Parchment paper Pastry brush Ruler Silicone spatulas and metal offset spatula Sieve Zester Whisk Wire rack Wooden spoons and kitchen spoons Note: Before you buy anything, check out thrift shops, which carry many gently used items. Sheryl Julian can be reached at
Boston Globe
01-04-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
A ninth-grader dreamed of a mixer — and the baking community delivered
This is why I like a When I posted a note on Instagram (@sheryljulian) telling the Advertisement Then the meanies came in swinging. Here's the A simple Lemon Olive Oil Loaf Cake (see recipe) is one that novice bakers can make in a bowl without a mixer. Sheryl Julian for the Boston Globe Nonsense, says Suzanne Lombardi, a professional baker who has only ever used a KitchenAid. Lombardi is the founder of At one of her first professional kitchen jobs, there were 20-quart and 60-quart mixers, but also a 5-quart they could move around easily. That's when she got the idea that she wanted one. Lombardi is self-taught. When she was coming up, 'there was no internet, so you couldn't just Google something or watch it on YouTube.' She wants to pass on some things to help the young baker. Her list of essential books and equipment (see related story) is short, and includes mastering simple techniques for cookies, loaf cakes, bars. That will dictate what size pans you need. Advertisement Miller ( Her advice for novice bakers: 'Go to trusted sources. There are so many recipes on the internet, but if you're starting out, you don't know if you have a good recipe or a bad recipe.' She offers a simple Lemon Olive Oil Loaf Cake (see recipe) that novice bakers can make in a bowl without a mixer. Laura Raposa of Bakers she follows include Joy Wilson ( Advertisement At her Foodsmith shop, Raposa has hired many young bakers in the decade she's been in business. Everyone in her shop must use a scale, rather than measuring cups, for its precision. Hanna Feldman, who writes the typefoodie blog, had a KitchenAid mixer she wasn't using and donated it to a 14-year-old girl who is teaching herself to bake. Sheryl Julian You'll find both cups and weights on the popular blog, By day, she works in the pharmaceutical industry. In her sideline, she doesn't market herself as a low-carb or low-sugar recipe creator. If a cookie is diabetic-friendly, she says, it's because she knows what's in it. Feldman got her first KitchenAid mixer as a college graduation gift from her sisters. It's part of the Artisan series, a 5-quart tilt-head stand mixer. When she moved to various apartments with roommates, she didn't want anything to happen to it, so it stayed in the box for years. Once she got married and was in an apartment with her husband, Jake Feldman (her mother-in-law is We met for coffee and moved the box from her car to mine. 'It's been sitting in my office for two or three years,' she says. 'I didn't want to sell it. I thought it would find its way somewhere.' Advertisement It's going to the 9th-grade girl who wished on a star. Could she get by with a bowl and a spoon? She's doing that now. Is an expensive, second-hand stand mixer necessary to make simple cakes and cookies? Of course not. But I don't agree with those who say she shouldn't have it. 'Everyone should support a youth's interest,' someone wrote on the Threads post. 'It's for the good of the village. I wish ppl would figure that out.' Sheryl Julian can be reached at
