Welcome to Flavor Buffet! Hooray!

Restaurants, recipes, hosting your friends, and a splash of travel. This week’s selections have it all! Plus, there’s a bonus and Snacks! is back. Enjoy!

1. It’s no secret that we’re fans of Yotam Ottolenghi. His cookbooks are filled with beautiful photographs and incredible recipes; every one we’ve made so far has been a success. His new book, Simple, has a very cool, and helpful, format, but still the same fabulous foods! It even includes suggested recipe combinations for various types of gatherings - how convenient!

Take a look at this awesome list of sixteen Ottolenghi recipes that are great, quick-to-make classics as well as a few from his latest collection. I’ll meet you in the kitchen! 😉

2. Going out to eat in Boston lately is a pretty joyful experience as there are countless options from every cuisine, every price point, and all sorts of awesome atmospheres. However, is it possible to make the dining scene here even better? Say, making it a rival to the New York restaurant world? That’s a tall order.

I’m not so sure, but this author has a few suggestions and ideas about how that idea could possibly happen, fairly soon.

3. Full disclosure: I’ve never been to Berkeley, California. 😬 Have you? It’s pretty high on my list, especially now that I have this guide to some of the best spots to eat, including Chez Panisse (“the birthplace of the Farm-to-Table movement,”) which is also where Samin Nosrat (of Salt Fat Acid Heat fame) spent part of her career.

I’m keeping this piece bookmarked and saved since a trip out west sounds even more appealing as the weather changes and sunshine seems to be a little less frequent. 

4. Entertaining is not exactly...easy. Having friends over for dinner, while a nice gesture and really fun, can be somewhat of a daunting task. Until now!

In her latest column for Party Tricks, Bon Appétit online, Alison Roman explains how easy entertaining at home can be, and should be, when certain elements of the meal are made by someone other than you. Read: you don’t have to make every single dish served from scratch every time you have company. I’m all ears. 😎

5. Boston magazine has graced us again (finally!) with their list of Top 50 restaurants! Now, these are all in/around Boston, but why not take a look? It’s an awesome list featuring the city’s best, including some longterm greats as well as newcomers that are making big waves in the Beantown restaurant scene. Happy to say I’ve been to a few that made the list! 🤗

Bonus!

If you weren’t aware that the World Series is underway, then I have no words. We’re cheering on the Red Sox in our house and we’re pretty psyched with how the series has gone so far.

However, no matter who wins, apparently some entertaining food-related bets have been going on between the two teams’ cities. Check out these entertaining wagers between Boston and LA via the link below.

Snacks! 

Recipes I found this week that I’ve bookmarked and thought you may want to as well.

While we shouldn’t shove seafood aside just because it’s cold out, I admit it does happen. Here’s a recipe to ensure it won’t; and will make sure it’s on the weeknight rotation. Grab this rice bowl with flaky cod recipe, here!

I’ve never met a meatball I didn’t like. There. I said it. I cannot wait to add these sheet pan meatballs with salsa verde to our roster of meatballs (yes, that exists) that flash through my mind often. Grab the recipe, here!

A recipe that’s labeled gluten free? I would never. But maybe this time. I usually avoid the ones labeled as such because I’d rather adjust it to be gluten free (or notice that it’s already GF - ha!) than specifically find one that’s “safe.” But this gluten free Apple and Oat Muffin sounds kind of good. It’s so seasonal! Check out the recipe, here!

As the holidays near and I’m trying to enhance my baking skillz, this “shortcut puff pastry” may be a trick I need to master. It seems far faster than other recipes I’ve read on the same item which means that holiday baking, coming up so soon, may be easier than I expect! Check it out, here!

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Gluten Free Mollie D | Eat, well.