I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and you are gearing up for a New Year’s celebration of your choosing! Pajamas by 8pm in front of a movie? Dancing the night away with a glass or two of champagne? Or maybe a family gathering with rounds and rounds of Blank Slate? One of those describes what we are hopefully doing this New Year’s Eve – I will let you guess which one 🙂
Well, although I haven’t posted nearly the number of posts of past years, The Kitchen Scout continues to provide a forum for me to connect with all of you wonderful individuals who choose to follow along with me on this journey. Thank you so, so much for continuing to subscribe to my musings, recipes, travel posts and everything else I manage to dream up along the way. It really does mean the world to me, and I am looking forward to more fun in 2024!
Before I get to my usual summary of posts from this past year, there are just a few more things I’d like to share with you. First, this super simple appetizer, modified from Ellie Krieger that I made for my cook group Christmas gathering last week. Dates filled with goat cheese and topped with a pistachio, mint and drizzled with an orange infused honey. Her original recipe call for figs, but I am a huge date lover so they were an easy swap and would make a great snack as well. PS, Ellie has a good podcast if you are interested…
For a surf and turf menu at our house, I made Ina’s Baked Shrimp Scampi using jumbo shrimp I bought from Captain Marden’s in Wellesley, Mass. These shrimp were unbelievably good and they made the dish. Such an easy and elegant main dish for a crowd…
On Christmas Day, I served these Spiced Roasted Carrots with Lemony Whipped Feta from Kale Junkie that my daughter enjoyed at her Friendsgiving this year. I would definitely make these again as they were beautiful to look at and full of flavor. I may cut back the amount of whipped feta, however as I had lots of leftover, despite doubling the carrots!
One of the best bites I have had all year was this Croissant Churro from Eva’s Little Kitchen in Bedford, Massachusetts. If you haven’t visited this tiny, but mighty bakery you must. My daughter and I went to a barre class with our good friends and this was our post work out treat with some coffee. It was rich and flaky like a croissant but had all the cinnamon notes of a churro or a good cinammon sugar donut, I can’t wait to enjoy another one!
And last, just last week we finally got a chance to go to Ilona in Boston’s South End with our daughter for whom it was her second visit! Ilona only takes reservations one day in advance and serves authentic dishes from the region between the eastern Mediterranean and the shores of the Black Sea. I think the biggest influence is the country of Georgia, although the menu offers dishes from other countries as well…
Cozy table for 3 which proved a little challenging for photos…
We started with Pikilla which was 3 dips served with manakish, a pita type bread topped with za’atar. Beet Tzatziki, Mouhammara and our favorite which was a Jalapeño-Feta dip…
Shopska Salad with tomato, cucumber, bell peppers, onion and feta which was fresh and delicious…
Roasted Cauliflower with Turmeric Yogurt Sauce, Celery and Pine nuts…
And the absolute show stopper, Crispy Eggplant, tempura style served with Pomegranate Yogurt and Minori Cheese. This was plate licking good and we would all go back for this dish alone…
We ordered a chicken kebab (good) and Hummus Shwarma that was ok, but disappointing as it was dry…
So I couldn’t leave on that note and decided despite our full bellies to order one more dish, a variation on Manti called Shish Barak. Fresh pasta dough is stuffed with seasoned lamb, pine nuts and onions and served in a yogurt sauce. This dish was also incredible and worth going back for as it was the flavor profile was seeking…
Definitely give Ilona a try if you haven’t!
Now, let’s round out this wrap up with a summary of my posts from this year!
All the recipes:
Shrimp and Farro Salad with Blistered Tomatoes
Sweet Potato and Bulgur Wheat Kufta
Spinach, Artichoke and Feta Squares
Restaurant Review of Moeca in Cambridge, Massachusetts
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!