BostonZest

Ancienne French Baguette from Clear Flour: A Best Bite

With a dedicated bread-a-holic in residence, we have tried all the recommended baguettes in the Greater Boston area. Our favorite is from Clear Flour Bread. While we pick up their regular baguette when we see it at Whole Foods or another shop, we will go out of our way to get their darker, richer Ancienne style.

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This bread deserves a slide show to flaunt its star power. Click on any thumbnail to open any photo in the space above. 

On their site, Clear Flour describes it as, "rustic french baguette with a very open texture & a fully caramelized crust for those seeking bold crunch and mildly sweet flavor." It's always the first item we order at the bakery or at their stand at the Brookline Farmers' Market.

Important tip: This bread is not available until after 1pm so plan your shopping trip with that in mind.

When the poster, doctorandchef, over on Boston's Chowhound board asked for the areas's best Parisian-style Baguette, Penny quickly nominated the Ancienne French and it won applause from the locals. (That conversation also discusses other wonderful, local, favorite baguettes.)

Some of the criteria doctorandchef requested were: 

"1) a crisp (yes, I want crisp!!) and light crust
2) proper reddish brown hue
3) open crumb structure with a creamy appearance
4) chewy texture
5) firm enough that when you break the baguette in half, it makes noise, yet soft enough that it doesn’t break apart completely
6) Smell of wheat..." 

We've tried to show these characteristics in the photos above. 

What's your favorite Boston area baguette? Have you tried the Ancienne from Clear Flour? If so, let us know what you think.

Related Posts:

Cherry Tart Season at Clear Flour Bakery: A Best Bite

Clear Flour Pain Meunier or Miller's Bread

Clear Flour Bread– Clearly Artisan, Clearly Charming...

Brookline Farmers' Market - Thursday is Market Day

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Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Cherry Tart Season at Clear Flour Bakery: A Best Bite

We had finished lunch in Kenmore Square and were looking at the dessert menu. Nothing was tempting me but I knew that temptation was quietly waiting behind the counter at Clear Flour Bread in Brookline. 

I leaned over and whispered to Ed, "Clear Flour." His eyes lit up and we were soon on a Green line B train to Packard's Corner where we filled a shopping bag with baked goodness.

While bread may be in their "official" name, Clear Flour is one of our favorite places to buy pastries. They usually have a country tart. The fillings are seasonal. On this visit our choices were cherry or peach/plum. 

Related Posts:

Clear Flour Bread– Clearly Artisan, Clearly Charming...

Clear Flour Pain Meunier or Miller's Bread

What's on your Summer Fun shopping list? Shop Amazon Everything You Need for Summer Fun and support this site!

Details:

Clear Flour Bread

178 Thorndike Street, Brookline, MA 02446-5844 (map) 

(617) 739-0060

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Brasserie JO's Salade Niçoise: A Best Bite

Brasserie Jo at the Colonnade Hotel is a wonderful spot for a hearty lunch. Ed's favorite there is the Salade Niçoise with medium rare tuna.

Each part of this dish gets the attention needed to make the whole an outstanding version of this classic French brasserie salad. The tuna is trimmed and tender, grilled with that balance of rare and sear that marks a good grill cook.

The greens are crackling fresh, the kind Ed would eat without dressing, by the handful, if he were in his own kitchen. Green beans, potatoes, pickled onion, chopped eggs are all allowed to let their personalities shine. 

The next time you're hungry for a big, big salad, think about giving this one a try. Or, at the bar, you can share it with a friend followed by their famous profiteroles with a giant pour of chocolate sauce for dessert.

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Details:

 Brasserie JO‎

120 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02116 (map)
The Colonnade Hotel‎
(617) 425-3240
www.brasseriejoboston.com‎

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Artu's Roasted Lamb & Eggplant Sandwich: A Boston Essential

The "Agnello Arrosto" or rotisserie leg of lamb with marinated eggplant sandwich at Artu in the North End and on Beacon Hill is one of those menu items that you really should try if you want to understand the range of Boston food options. 

"Agnello Arrosto" or rotisserie leg of lamb with marinated eggplant sandwich at Artu

After some sandwich chatter on Chowhound, we stopped by the bar at Artu on Prince Street and ordered this Boston classic. It's one of those old favorites that slipped off our mental menu list.

This side of the sandwich showed the lamb better.

This experience gave us the idea of changing our Food: Best Bites category to Food: Best Bites & Boston Essentials. We'll be covering more area classics, like this, in the months ahead. It will give us a perfect excuse to forgo the new and visit old favorites. 

If you are new to Artu, you should know that they have a reputation for making customers happy by letting them customize their food when possible. The Chowhounds have added things like provolone, roasted pepper, and broccoli rabe to their Artu selections.

What you get if you go for the straight-off-the-menu version is a soft grinder-style roll, filled with a pile of thinly sliced lamb off the rotisserie, moistened with a bit of au jus, and covered with strips of slightly spicy, marinated eggplant. 

Add a nice big pour of a Primitivo or Chianti and you have a great meal.

Related posts: More of our Food: Best Bites & Boston Essentials.

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Details:

Artu (North End)

6 Prince Street, Boston, MA 02113 (map & reviews)

(617) 742-4336

Artu (Beacon Hill)

89 Charles Street, Boston, MA 02114 (map & reviews)

(617) 227-9023

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny  Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We reserve the right to edit ads out of comments.

Coppa Italian Grinder: A Best Bite

This is what Coppa serves up when you order their version of an Italian Grinder. (It's actually only half of what they serve, they split the sandwich onto two plates for us.)  

(Have you been to Coppa? What's your favorite menu item?)

The menu describes this as, "Italian Grinder / Salami, prosciutto, mortadella, provolone, pickled cherry peppers, oil and vinegar $13." They don't mention the quality of the cured meat that goes into the sandwich or the care they take in preparing every aspect of it. 

The focaccia is tender and light. It contains the meat without weighing it down. It captures the condiments and holds them in place. You won't find yourself wearing this grinder.

Each of the sandwich components is freshly sliced as each Italian Grinder is prepped. Coppa's mesmerizing Berkel slicer produces waves of meltingly thin salumi, prosciutto, and mortadella.

Meat and cheese are softly piled on the waiting bread. (This is a popular menu item. This loaf would be divided into more than one sandwich.) 

While waiting for the meat to join the party, the condiments have already begun slowly seeping into the fococcia.  

And, as you can see, our cuisinier managed to cut our sandwich in half without crushing all that lovely filling. 

Anyone can make a grinder, but it takes a place like Coppa to create one that has your mouth watering when you think about it the next day.

Ed loves his cured meat naked, on a plate, in lazy piles. But, he was quick to warm up to this well-balanced combo of fine salumi at our favorite South End comfort spot. I'm betting he'll want half of mine the next time I find it on the Coppa menu. (You know I'm going to order it again!)  

Related Posts:

Friday Lunch at Coppa, an Italian Seduction

How to Extend >>> Your Birthday!

And The Winner is....

What a Weekend!

Are you ready to begin enjoying the art of salumi outside of sandwiches? You can learn more about cured meats and the traditions behind them in these books.

Meat. Salt. Time. Salumi Master Cristiano Creminelli

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing

Salumi: Savory Recipes and Serving Ideas for Salame, Prosciutto, and More

And, when you shop Amazon from here, you keep BostonZest coming your way!

Details:Coppa

253 Shawmut Avenue, Boston, MA 02118-2178 (map)

(617) 391-0902 ‎

www.coppaboston.com 

Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: © 2011 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Clear Flour Pain Meunier or Miller's Bread

Sunday, we stopped at Marshall's Fenway Farm Stand after our El Pelon lunch. In back of the register, they have a rack of Clear Flour Bakery breads and one of our favorites, Pain Meunier or Miller's Bread, was on hand. 

Clear Flour explains this bread on their site, "each step of taking grain to flour is used: cracked wheat, whole wheat flour, wheat germ & white flour."

You can see bits of those wholesome ingredients that become something memorable in the hands of these master bakers. 

Ed calls it a perfect palette for whatever you want to create with it. But, he also loves it all by itself. The crust is not brittle but just nicely chewy. Its has a soft crumb with the accent of an occasional crunch from the whole grain. Toasting it gives you a another flavor profile. "Its a great whole grain bread for someone who wants to eat healthier but doesn't enjoy heavier, grainy breads," Ed said.

Penny found a great story online about Pain Meunier by Didier Rosada. "This miller's bread is shaped to appear like a kernel of wheat and was developed to honor the link among farmers, millers and bakers." Clear Flour does theirs in a loaf pan, but the crease in the center might be a nod to the traditional shape. 

If you want to try to make it yourself, that post includes a recipe. Of course, this is for those readers who can't get to Clear Flour Bakery, or one of the places that sells their Miller's Bread.

We like the crease. It makes the bread easy to share with friends when we do a group visit to the bakery. We can buy half a loaf at the Brookline Farmers' Market! (And, if you're in line alone at the bakery, you can probably cut a deal with someone else to split a loaf or two of bread, so you can both buy a variety.)

We are forunate to have such a great artisan bakery in our area. And, take a look at what they have planned for Thanksgiving week!

Do you know a baker who would love to make room for a KitchenAid Pro 450 Series 4-1/2-Quart Stand Mixer or some new attachments? This one will do a lot of kitchen tasks and earn its keep on the counter. 

Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: © 2011 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Handmade, Garlic, Fennel, Sausage Sandwich from The Dining Car

Some great food value is coming off Boston Food Trucks like The Dining Car. Mobile chefs are creating menu items from scatch in ways that make a real difference. This sausage is some of the best we've tasted, and if they sold it in a store, it'd be our choice for all Italian sausage recipes.

Notice that our favorite snack of Crispy Cauliflower was sold out, again. So, we decided to share the new sandwich for an afternoon nibble.

Naturally, being a very service-oriented crew, they asked if we'd like it cut in half. 

The mixture of onions, cabbage, and peppers was a treat. The seasoning was done with a deft hand.

For more of our Food Truck/Street Food coverage: click here. Or, anytime you visit BostonZest, you can click on the "Food Truck/Street Food" tab at the top of the page.

Related Post: DIning Car- Food Truck Tracking

Link: Boston Food Truck Location Map 

Link: Havard University Food Truck Schedule (The Dining Car hangs there too!) (Map to that location)

(Don't make a special trip to Cambridge based on this schedule, to this date it has not been reliable. Check the truck on Twitter or Facebook to confirm.)

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Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: © 2011 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.