Friday Faves – Indulge Inspire Imbibe
I hope everyone enjoyed all the Harry Potter treats I shared this week. It’s bittersweet that the movies are coming to an end. I’m enjoying a Friday off this week (there was no way I was going to work after seeing a movie at midnight)! This week’s Friday Favs is another local blogger. I don’t remember where I met Daisy from Indulge Inspire Imbibe. Maybe the KAF trip last year? She’s such a fun person to be around. Daisy blogs about various things going on in her life, mostly focusing on food. I love hearing her take on a new local restaurant.
Hi Beantown Baker readers! My name’s Daisy and I am the author of food and lifestyle blog Indulge Inspire Imbibe. I am a Healthcare Financial Analyst by day currently residing in the great city of Boston. Constant requests by friends and family for restaurant recommendations prompted the start of my blog, so tales of dining out generates much of the content. Today I decided to write about one of my favorite sushi restaurants in the city. Come check out my blog if you like what you see and follow me on Twitter @Daisy_III!
I adore Osushi not only for their fantastic menu offering authentic Japanese cuisine with clean, fresh ingredients and bright flavors, but for their sleek stylish ambiance, their extensive sake menu and their overall consistency as an establishment.
The stylish single room interior embodies a timeless sophistication with modern edge. I’ve been visiting this Back Bay restaurant located at 10 Huntington Avenue inside The Westin Copley Plaza ever since I moved to Boston over 5 years ago. From dinner with out of town guests, to date nights, to lunching solo, to my most recent dinner with my sister, Osushi impresses year after year, visit after visit and the food remains reasonably priced to boot. Here is a look at what my sister and I noshed on just a few weeks ago.
We began with Popcorn Shrimp Tempura ($9) a heaping portion of lightly battered rock shrimp served with a creamy spicy aioli. A simple appetizer executed well proved an ideal start to the meal.
The Zuke Maguro ($12) contained cubes of tuna, mango and cucumber topped with wasabi micro greens served with a spicy wasabi vinaigrette. The sweet juicy mango and crisp mild cucumber were balancing elements of flavor which complimented but did not outshine the star ingredient in abundance, the fresh tuna. Onlookers next to us grew intrigued by this dish, (off the specials menu) and they were easily convinced from our rave reviews, that they would be ordering it as well.
Next we shared an order of Spicy Tuna Maki ($9) your classic tuna, cucumber and spicy aioli livened up with playful elements of potato crisp and cho-jung sauce.
The Fried Oyster Maki ($12) was summer in a roll, with an abundance of of crispy oyster highlighted by cucumber and mango wrapped in lettuce.
We washed our meal of appetizers and maki rolls down with a bottle of Hakushika Snow Beauty a delicate and well balanced Jumnai Nigori Sake. It was an enjoyable evening highlighted by smooth service and delicious food that touched on some classics while also feeling inspired and creative.
Where do you head in your city or town when the sushi craving strikes?
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I am of two minds on this post. On the one hand, my OCD really kicked in when I read that you had not followed Mark Bittman’s recipe but still decided to write about it. Seemed a bit sloppy for a nerd and an engineer. On the other hand, that is how Pasteur discovered Penicillin. Bittman is such a great cook, that I think he deserves better treatment; so I plan to do him the honor of making his recipe. I am not going to make the other two though!
Oops! Senior moment that – it was the Scottish scientist and Nobel laureate Alexander Fleming in 1928. Apparently, the Pasteur Institut ignored the work of a French physician, Ernest Duchesne, who in 1897 discovered the curative properties of the Penicillium Glaucum, a different mold than the one Fleming discovered, but in the same genus. Gotta love Wikipedia.
There are two tapioca recipes on the Minute Tapioca box. I always use the one for Fluffy Pudding, which calls for 2 cups milk and whipping the egg whites separately from the cooked milk with tapioca and egg yolk. I think you will find the pudding much improved over the basic recipe.
Also, the quality of the vanilla makes a huge difference in something like tapioca. Cooks Illustrated likes McCormick and I found this on amazon and at Sam’s Club in large bottles for very reasonable prices.
One other note: I find that CI has a sweet tooth: their recipes are sometimes too sweet for my taste, though they are a go-to source otherwise.
This is an interesting discussion. I tried the Kraft recipe today. I threw everything (except the vanilla) in the blender before putting it on the stove. I also added 1/2 tsp. salt and a bit more vanilla. I actually thought it was sweet enough already, though. However, I agree with your overall conclusion that it’s a bit boring. Well, at least it was easy. Anyway, next time I may a recipe using large tapioca. 🙂
Thanks for the comparison.