New Restaurant Review–Bisq

While wondering around Yelp I stumbled across a new restaurant in Cambridge called, Bisq–a sister restaurant to the ever so popular Bergamot. Yelp only had a handful of reviews, so I figured why not be one of the first to review a brand new Boston spot.

Like many other restaurants, Bisq jumped on the small plates/tapas band wagon, which worked out nicely for my husband and I, since we love being able to try multiple dishes, all without looking like little gluttons.

First impression of the restaurant was that while it was quite small, it had a nice trendy vibe, with modern music, and an open kitchen.

We started out with the Bazz Hook-Up Board aka a charcuterie board. This was a nice start to our meal, it included Scrapple, Fried Head Cheese, Chicken Liver Mousse…a unique variety of items that many people are afraid to try!

Along with the charcuterie board, we ordered curried  brussels sprouts. These were incredibly delicious, but also quite different from your typical sprouts. They combined some sweet, some savory and some spice. The brussels sprouts were mixed in the curry sauce along with pineapple and cashews. This might sound like an odd combination, but it certainly worked and was one of my favorite dishes of the night.

Once we devoured these two items, our plates, forks and knives were refreshed and out came the Perogies. This is not something I would typically order, but I’m glad I did. They were served on top of a creamy white sauce and topped with a beer braised red cabbage.

Last but not least was our Pomegranate glazed Lamb Ribs. These were crispy, finger-licking good ribs. They were a nice change from the typical pork ribs and the pomegranate gave you a nice pop of sweetness.

When all was said and done, my husband and I were full and satisfied with our meal and enjoyed the creativity of the chef, but that being said, we would still place Bisq behind Spoke and Toro on our list of tapa style restaurants.

It’s a French Toast Kinda Morning

I love eggs, and pancakes can really hit the spot, but some mornings, I just want warm, eggy French Toast. French Toast is the perfect combination of custard, cinnamon, vanilla and sweet. One of the best things about French Toast is that it uses ingredients that you typically have on hand. To make French Toast extra special I like to add orange liquor to it!

Ingredients

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp of orange liquor (I like Grand Marnier)–optional
• 8 slices white bread

Start by beating the eggs and milk in a wide shallow bowl. I like to use a pie dish–it makes life easy.

Add in the cinnamon, sugar, vanilla and Grand Marnier and mix until combined.

Melt the butter in a skillet or griddle over medium high heat.

Dip each piece of bread in the egg mixture, shaking off any extra.

In the hot pan or on the hot griddle cook the French Toast until golden brown on the first side, and then flip and make it a lovely golden brown on the other side too.

Now, the real secret to French Toast is to warm up the syrup. I usually use the real deal–real Maple Syrup, and run the bottle under hot water, until it’s nicely warmed.

Add a sprinkle of powdered sugar on top, and you are ready to serve and enjoy this good food!

 

 

Whole Grilled Red Snapper

I took a trip to Cancun last summer, during which I feasted on fresh seafood. One item I remember, and still dream of, was the Red Snapper I had down there. I had it grilled, fried, in tacos….ah it was amazing. Well, with Wegman’s popping up around the Boston area, I was able to get my hands on a beautiful, fresh, whole Red Snapper!

Ingredients:

• 1 whole Red Snapper (you can interchange another type of white fish, if you like)
• 1 Lemon
• Dill
• Salt
• Pepper
• Oil

Start by rinsing the fish and patting it dry. Score the fish in a diamond like pattern. This will help the fish cook evenly and will also help crispy the fish. Oil the outside of the fish lightly, and generous salt and pepper the fish everywhere.

Slice the lemon and stuff the cavity of the fish with the lemon and dill. 

If you have a grill basket, then great! Oil the basket and also oil your grill grates before you turn the grill on. Fish skin is delicate and can easily stick, which is not what we want. We want crispy fish skin that is still on our fish!

Heat the grill till it’s smoking hot and center the fish on the grill. What I usually do is use high heat to crisp the outside of the fish, and once the fish is crisped nicely I cook indirectly for another 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of the fish. Just keep an eye on your fish…burnt fish is nasty!

Here’s my finished product, hot off the grill. Looks crispy and delicious right?

Squeeze a little bit of fresh lemon on to your grilled fish and enjoy!

…this is all that was left of this good food!!