Holi cow what a weekend.

Yeah, yeah, yeah I know, that was probably the worst pun you've heard in months and is borderline racially insensitive. What I can say? I can’t say no to a pun.

Inappropriate jokes asides, this really was a great weekend. I had been a little concerned that since becoming single again I was turning into a bit of a shut in. After this last weekend I am no long concerned J

Things kicked off Thursday night when my roommate and I met up with some friends for our weekly pizza night. Since we are all foodies to one degree or another we tend to try and mix things up between old favorites and new adventures. This weeks was a new adventure for me (though not for the rest of the group) when we went to the Lost Dog Café in East Falls Church.

 First off let talk about selection: The sheer number of pizza’s they had on the menu was almost overwhelming (something like 30 different named pizzas). This is often not a good thing as it means the restaurant tries to do too many things at one and does them all poorly instead of just focusing on a few things that they do extremely well. In this case they seemed to be able to do it all well.

After some pizza horse trading each of us got to try a piece of everyone else pizza. My roomy got the pit-bull which has Pastrami, ham, pepperoni, salami, red onions, jalapenos, basil, and oregano.  I will be ordering it next time we go as I love a good meat pizza and this was one of the better ones I have had.  I got the crab meat pizza (I was feeling adventurous) which consisted of Backfin crab-meat, onions, green peppers, and garlic butter with brie and mozzarella cheese. Paring the brie with the crab-meat was an excellent idea and the combo gave the pizza a unique east coast twist that I really enjoyed. Next time I’m going to ask if they can put a little old bay spice on the top. Unfortunately I can’t remember what our friend got, but it was good. 

What I liked the most about this place is the crust wasn't overly doughy (see my earlier post about how I loath thick crust pizza), though neither was it paper thin. Since I'm the only one in our little pizza group that likes paper thin crust this was a good compromise.  

Friday night rolled around and I had the opportunity to take a very nice girl I had recently met to the National Geographic Museum’s new pirate exhibit.

While I was waiting to meet her I saw this homeless guy going to town on homemade drums. Pretty cool way of earning a buck, props to him for being so creative (and yes, I did put some cash in his jar).

Having grown up on the stories about the fighting age of sail from Patrick O’Brian I have a deep love for ships, sailing, and pretty much anything quasi related to that period of history. The exhibit didn't let me down as it was filled will artifacts from the golden age of Privateering. There was even a part where you could practice knot tying!!!! Who knew being an eagle scout would come in handy on a date? I’m not so sure that my date is the museum going type but she humored my childlike enthusiasm (no small feet) so bonus points for her.  

Afterwards the plan was to go to Hanks Oyster Bar up by Dupont Circle to continue with the “ocean” theme of the date. Unfortunately when we got there the wait was an hour and a half long! (I should have known better). As both of us were starving and the thought of waiting another hour and a half for food was unpalatable (I tried to warn you guys), we opted to go next door to Trio. We ordered pretty much everything on the appetizer menu and while it was good, nothing was outstanding.

Saturday now: Up bright and early at 6:45 to go with my ward (local congregation) to the DC temple. While the trip was ridiculously early I was very glad I went and had a very good experience while serving there.

Changing (in my car) from my church clothes to a white shirt (bought that day) and shorts, I joined up with three friends to attend the DC Holi festival out in Potomac Maryland.  I had heard about Holi before but had never attended. Actually, I probably wouldn't have gone to this one except it was presented to me as a 5k run and seemed like a fun alternative to my normal Saturday 10 miler. There was no run but.....

IT WAS A BLAST!

I was covered head to toe in colored powder, it was in my ears (thanks Cat), in my hair, everywhere.

I learned quickly that the preferred method to applying color to someone else (you don’t do it to yourself) is rub it onto the other persons face or body (within reason) instead of throwing. This meant getting comfortable fast with having stranger touching you, but since I’ve spent a lot of time in China my personal space bubble is pretty non-existent anyways.

I got to bust out my DSLR for the first time in ages and even managed to get a couple of good shots! I think my personal favorite is when the whole mass tossed the colored powder up in the air all at once, so cool to see!

 People were running around laughing and tossing color, at one point I took a shot of blue right to the mouth, turning my teeth instantly blue.

After about two hours all of us needed to get back to real life and go be productive. So after ambushing another group of friends who had come late (we discovered the hugging is also an effective way to spread color) we went our separate ways.

After a long shower, there was so much color in my hair that my whole body was stained blue when I started to wash it out, I headed into work to grab my laptop and finishing a couple things. Afterwards I took a stroll through the capital mall to see the kite festival on my way over to Rita’s Italian Ice to get some frozen custard. I ended up getting their ice/custard mixed thingy, and while it was good I think in the future I will just stick with straight frozen custard.

Returning home I changed into my suit and tie and headed over to the Washington Masonic Memorial for a Copland concert that a friend was playing in. Having never been inside the memorial I found the venue fascinating and it is now on my list of place I need to go back to and explore in more depth. I am no mason and so a lot of the symbols were lost on me, but I am an analytic fellow and it I love a good puzzle. 

The concert itself was…..er…well the string and woodwinds did a fantastic job. I think the brass section may have gotten into the wine….. still, there was free dessert , my favorite of which was a small mini-pie shell filled with caramel and what I believe was marshmallow covered in chocolate. If only I had been able to find the person that made them and gotten the recipe!!! Ah well, probably better for my waist line anyways.  

Sunday was pretty laid back as it was Easter and with my family being in Ohio I chose to just hang out with friends. I did make Pizza dumpling, which consist of filling a Pillsbury biscuit with cheese and pepperoni and then covering it with an egg wash, Italian seasoning, and Parmesan and baking it. SOOO good! 

Unfortunately I’m also pretty sure that it’s absolutely horrible for you. Also, a friend of a friend made Brazilian limeade. I’m not really sure how to describe it other than to imagine normal limeade but made with milk. It was VERY good and something I want to get the recipe for.  

So yeah, this weekend was amazing in pretty much every way it could be. Looking forward to having more such weekends in the near future!

Seeking Understanding

Losing someone close to you is never easy. It is worse when it happens suddenly and to someone who is far too young.  I lost my best friend growing up this week. He was my twin brother in every way but genetically. We could go years without seeing each other and get together and find out that our interests had developed exactly the same way. We had the same quarks and love for trying new things. He was the smarter/taller/moral/spiritual one and I was the shorter/hyper/creative/rebellious one. When I found out on Monday that he had passed I had no reaction, no because I didn’t care but because my mind could not comprehend it.

I flew out to Salt Lake City to attend the funeral and be with his family, I am after all the unofficial third son. I knew that there was going to be a lot of sadness, but what I found was a family that had been brought closer together by a tragedy.  Instead of asking “God, why on earth would you let this happen” they turned to their faith and sought comfort from their father in Heaven.  I understand that to many this may seem like a simple fantasy for people who can’t handle reality. That turning to a God that allows bad things to happen is the height of naiveté.  If I may get a little more religious for a moment

“ 7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the ^apit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the ^bdeep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to ^chedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of ^dhell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee^eexperience, and shall be for thy good.” D&C 122: 7

I know what you’re thinking “seems like a heck of a way to give someone experience” and “even if there is a God, why would we need to experience these types of things? To what purpose do they serve?” Frankly I had very similar questions until recently.  In the case of my friend, his death was not “caused” by God, there was no lightening or fire from heaven, but rather it was caused by his and other people’s decisions as well some the random happenings that are part of living in this world. But on the other hand Heavenly father did allow him to return home. I sincerely doubt it was simply because God wanted to teach his family a lesson, rather I think the Lord made use of this tragic occurrence to teach both my friend’s family and myself some important lessons about life and what is important. While sitting and talking with my friend’s mom and sisters they made it very, VERY clear to me that my friends passing had reinforced the importance of family in a way they could never forget.  The youngest talked about all the things that are going on at school (she is a high school sophomore) that she thought were important. She now realizes how truly unimportant they really are.

I learned as well.  I learned the importance of keeping in contact with those you are closes with (something I am not very good at), and the kind of family I want to have when I am a father someday. I am convinced that my friends family was able to pull together so well because they had already built strong family ties before. They had made God a priority in their family and when the hard times came each of them already knew they could rely on each other and the lord. I want that for my family someday. I want to have the comfort of knowing that no matter what happens, my family will be close enough to each other and the Lord so that they can pull through it together.

This all being said, I don’t any of us who wouldn’t trade these lessons in for having Mike back. While we learn for these experience, that does not lesson the pain of them.

I helped carry his casket from the hearse to the grave. As I placed my boutonniere on top of the casket reality began to sink in. there was comfort as well in knowing that he had fought the good fight, he had stayed the course, and now he has been received into the bosom of the Father. Relationships are eternal. We are brothers now and forever. 

Steam Bathes and Irish Soul Food

It’s been a while since I last posted so I figured it was about time I change that.  It also helped that with in the last week I have gotten to do some pretty cool things and to eat at some pretty cool places.

Let’s start from last Saturday:

Both my Roommate and I have been going through rough patches in our lives as of late. For me it came in the form of a failed relationship and a rejection from the Navy’s Officer’s Candidate School mixed with paying 280 bucks to get my roommates car out of the impound lot. For my roommate it was in the form of being in a long distance relationship and the impending sequestration that will see him lose 20% of his salary.

So after agreeing that women are the root cause of all pain in the universe ( I kid I kid!) we decided we needed to have a “Man-date” and some decompression time. What did we decided to do on our man-date you ask? Well, we went to the spa.

“THE SPA????” 

Yeah I know how it sounds, but how about you let me explain before jumping to conclusions huh?  Anyways, let me explain that both my rommie and I and great lovers of Russian bathhouse (Banya). My roomie lived in Russia for about 2 years where public steam bathing is a way of life and I was exposed to it via the Schvitz in Cleveland (still the best Banya in the U.S.) Russian steam bathing (or Schvitzing for you Yiddish speakers) isn’t like the steam bath at your local gym or club. It’s about 50% hotter, though with less humidity that a normal steam room. There is also a cold pool (and it is COLD) that you take a dip in every once in a while to help tone and relax your body. Let me tell you, for a guy there is little else in this world that is as relaxing as going for a good hard schvitz.

Thinking that since we are in DC and there a TON of Russians here we figured it would be easy to find a Banya. Turns out there is only one place within 100 miles that comes even close to what we wanted. SpaWorld (see now why I said we went to the Spa) is a Korean bath house located out in Centerville. Having never been to a Korean Bath house I was a little hesitant, but it turned out that SpaWorld was just what we needed. At $40 bucks the entry fee is a bit high but I am told it’s pretty easy to get discount tickets. 

The first thing I noticed when we walked through the front doors was just how big and clean the place was. The Bath houses I have been in have generally been very small and utilitarian, But SpaWorld was large and pretty modern with free wifi and electronic keys that tracked all your purchases (for extra things like food or massages) so you don’t have to haul your wallet around.  Most of the staff’s English is only so so but they have plenty of people there that are native English speakers so it wasn’t intimidating at all. The first part (and probably the most important in my opinion) is the gender separated bathing rooms.  These are where the Saunas, steam rooms, hot tubs, Bade Pools (think GIANT Jacuzzi) and cold pools are. They’re gender separated because everyone is completely naked in these areas. Since this is pretty standard schvitzing/Banya procedure neither my roomie nor I were much phased by this.

Both the Sauna and the Steam room were near perfect, though they both could have been slightly hotter in my opinion, and I spent at least an hour and a half going from one to the cold pool (which at 60 degrees felt like ice, so in other words: perfect) to the other. I didn’t really get to try the hot tubs because they were full of bulky old Russian men who kept giving me hard stares if I ventured too close. Not saying that these dudes were Russian mafia or anything, but they definitely didn’t seem to want to share the hot tubs.  The Bade Pool (yep that is its actual name) was a pleasant surprise. As I said before, it’s like Jacuzzi that is the size of a large backyard pool. The jets are about 1000 times stronger than a Jacuzzi’s, so sitting at one of the many “stations” within the pool is like getting a full body massage for free. The water is only lukewarm which makes it perfect for the very end of your bathing when you’re trying to bring your body temperature back to something more normal.

Another part of the bathing area is the “scrub down” station. This is where workers use a VERY course towel to scrub off all the dead skin and dirt that you build up over time.  The processes feel like someone is using 4-0 steel wool to scrub your body and they scrub EVERYWERE. Being kinda of a wimp when it comes to pain it wasn't all that enjoyable, though my skin was certainly smoother than it has ever been. Probably not something I will do again, but it was worth the experience.

Beyond the bathing area is a co-ed communal area (clothes are provided for you to wear) with “poultice rooms” made out of different materials that are supposed to have medicinal qualities. In all honestly I found these to be little more that semi-hot saunas. I probably will not waste my time with them in the future. There is one room though that the floor is covered in a 2 inch deep layer of clay marbles which once you are laying on them feel pretty good. The room needed to be about 30 degrees hotter though.

Anyways, So once we had steamed ourselves into oblivion, my roomie and I decided that we needed grub. The first problem we ran into was that we were both so relaxed that even moving as far as to get to my jeep seemed to be an unnecessary burden.  Lucky for us there was a Korean restaurant right next door that seemed promising.

Honey Pig turned out to be a Korean BBQ joint that does table top preparation.  To put in terms that most people will understand think of it like Mongolian BBQ but done at your table instead of on a giant round metal griddle. We got the Bugogi and the Spicy Chicken and Oh.My.Gosh was it good! Per normal Korean BBQ there was a never ending supply of fresh lettuces leaves to rap the BBQ meat in and delicious pickled and spicy sides (their Kimchi was great) to put on top. I am fairly sure they mixed some crack in with the Bugogi seasoning, it was that good.  If the cooking plate hadn’t been scalding hot I’m sure we would have fought over who would get to lick it clean.

Once finished with our meal and resigned to the fate of having to return to the real world we made our way back to my jeep and forlornly drove home.

I will definitely be making a return visit to Spa world, though given the price it’ll probably have to be only a once a moth kinda of deal. And while I can’t complete attribute my change in attitude towards how things are going (Scripture study, faith, prayer, and plain old stubbornness have help me more than anything) I can say that it helped lighten my outlook for long enough for me to see how great the rest of my life is!

So will there be future visits to SpaWold? You better freaking believe it!

So that brings us to this Saturday.

First I spent the day at the Alexandria St. Patrick’s Day parade (not sure why they held it 2 weeks early). It was a lot of fun if cold, and I got a lot of good picture.

I also found this lady selling cupcakes on the sidewalk and figured I needed to try one for the sake of the blog. 

The cake itself was moist if a little on the overly dense side and had a good bitter chocolate flavor. The frosting was the winner though, not overly thick or sweet but with enough body and flavor as not to be over powered by the cake. I wish I had had the presences of mid to get the ladies business card…

Tonight a friend of both my roommate and I’s came into town. In keeping with the “Irish Heritage Month” theme we decided to hit up The Dubliner. This place has been a DC landmark for almost 40 years and puts on one of the best St. Paddy’s Day parties in the area. Back in the late 70’s and 80’s it was also rumored to be the hangout/meeting place for the IRA in the US (Irish Americans made up a major funding source for the IRA up until the mid to late 80’s), thought I’ve only hear that as rumor so it’s probably not true. Needless to say I've been wanting to try it out for a long time and I finally got my chance to go. 

Having been in my fair share of "Irish" pubs in my life time I had pretty low expectations in terms of atmosphere. Most "Irish" pubs here in the states are just college bars that put up a couple of Guinness signs  and possibly show a soccer match every once in a while. The menu tends to be limited to things like "Irish Stew" and "corn beef" both of which taste like they came out of a can. The first thing I noticed when walking into The Dubliner was that instead of blaring cheap pop music they had a live ban, and that ban was playing actually fiddle music. I love the fiddle and have been even known to tool about on one now and again, so finding real fiddle music with a Bodhran backing it up was a nice surprise. 

the next thing I noticed was the food selection. While not overwhelmingly large neither was it limited. It also covered the basics like corn beef and cabbage (a staple of Irish communities in the US until the mid 1900's) and Shepard's Pie, but expanded into uncharted territory with things like baked Brie and Mako Shark steaks. 

We ordered one of the baked Bries as an table appetizer. While portioned well for two it was clearly not enough for three people: 

We destroyed the cheese, bread, and fruit within five minutes, it was that good. Who's ever idea it was to pare the warm melted brie with the sweat tang of oranges and Pineapple is a genius. The almonds unfortunately didn't add to either the texture or flavor of the Cheese so I have to assume they were only meant as a garnish. In the end we all decided that we simply needed more, so we ordered another plate. 

While searching the menu I decided I really wanted to do something different. I skipped over both the stew and the Guinness burger and finally settled on the Beef O'Flaherty. The best way to describe the dish to say it was a kind of casserole with bread on the bottom with a layer of sliced roast beef, blue cheese, and home fries layered on top.

It was good, though a little on the dry side for me. Personally I would have added more of the melted blue cheese to add flavor and moisten the meat. The roast beef part was excellent though. 

My roommate got the Fish and Chips which he enjoyed thoroughly.

 I found myself singing along with the live band as they covered old favorites like "Whiskey in the Jar." This may have been a little embarrassing for my roommate and friend (I'm not a very talented singer) but I was having a grand old time. 

For dessert I went with the Bailey's Cheese Cake. 

 This was hands down one of the best cheesecakes I have ever had. Creamy and fluffy yet packed with flavor. Honestly I could have eaten the whole cake if they had let me. The one downside was that it did still have a slightly alcoholic taste to it, nothing overly offensive but noticeable to someone who doesn't drink like me. Nonetheless I will most definitively be ordering another slice next time I'm back there. 

So after about a month of hard times, Things are really starting to look up! Which means it's time to get back on the foodie trail and make some more restaurant discoveries......

Girls, Guns, Guacamole, Good Friends, and Greatness

You know what great about having a girlfriend who is also a foodie? You never have to go to a new restaurant by yourself again.

Life in and outside of the food world has been crazy but wonderful since the last time I wrote. To start off with the girl I took to Lebanese food agreed to go out with me again (she must have a thinking for unattractive nerds, it’s the only way I can think of that she would be willing to go on a second date). This time we went to a James Bond themed house party and had the time of our lives! The highlight of the evening food wise definitely was the “Mormon” martinis (cold milk served in a martini glass garnished with a chocolate chip cookie). There also was a whole room dedicated to taking Bond-esque movie photos, complete with props!

Later that week I ran out of time to cook my own lunch, so I tried the local sandwich shop by where I work. Wall Street Deli definitely has the feel of a chain deli (no idea if it is or is not, guess I should look into that) but I was pleasantly surprised by the value and taste. While far from the best deli sandwich I have ever had, that honor goes to Katzinger’s Deli in Columbus Ohio, the Thai chicken wrap had a good texture from the crushed peanuts and fresh veggies and a good level of spice to it. I wouldn't go out of my way to take someone there to eat, but I think it makes a good fall back if there’s nothing better around.

On Wednesday my Mom came into town for a conference at the Gaylord hotel in National Harbor. I really haven’t spent much time out there; normally the price tag is well above my level of discretionary spending.  Mom insisted she be allowed to take me to dinner, so I of course jumped at the opportunity.  We ultimately settled on Rossa Mexicano, unsurprisingly a Mexican/Latino joint.  What they did with the food was anything but unsurprising. We started off by having the “Autumn Guacamole”, which consisted of table side prepared guac in a stone bowl with the added ingredients of roasted apples, pears, and ground almonds. The basic guac was well balanced. I really prefer a lot of cilantro and onions in my guac, but I understand that most people find this overpowering. This kept a solid balance between the herbs and spices and was not too salty (a common downfall of guac IMHO). Add the pears, apples, and almonds were genius though. The sweetness of the fruit off set the inherent savor of the guac, giving it some very complex undertones that developed over the entire time you were eating it. The almonds, which didn't add much in the way of flavor in my opinion, did provide a good texture and crunch that is almost completely lacking from normal guac.

For my main course I went with the Goat Enchilada with Mole Sauce.  I have always been a fan of the bitter smokiness of good mole and the gaminess of Goat. Oddly enough up until this point I had never tried them together. It was delightful. The goad was cooked tender but no soggy and had enough flavor to stand up to the mole (which was very strong). The mole had a similar flavor to northern Chinese brown bean past mixed with Chinese BBQ sauce, I took me by surprise at first but I soon fell in love with it. What also surprised me was that there were more roasted fruits as well! I am normally deeply opposed to fruit on any meat besides pork, but found this to supply a subtle undertone like in the Guacamole.  The goat was gamy, but not over-overpoweringly so to my pallet. I would definitely get this dish again.

Saturday found my mother, my girlfriend (yeah, yeah, I made her a proper Bond girl) and me at George Town Cupcakes. This is still one of my favorite cupcake bakeries in DC, yes there is a lot of hype surrounding it and yes the lines are ridiculous, but they consistently deliver a moist and flavorful cupcake with frosting that is not over powering. I went for the pumpkin spice cupcake, which was delicious but almost too rich (if there is such a thing when it comes to cupcakes).

That same weekend my close college buddy Sterling was in town for his girl-friend's 21st birth day. In preparation of the absolute beating they were going to give their kidneys that night (and partly to mitigate it) they decided to go hit up Good Eats in Eastern Market. Using my superior mooching skills I managed to secure myself an invite to join them on what probably should have been a two person affair (I do love playing the third wheel). Good Eats is know for their thick milkshakes or malts and their burgers. Having already indulge my fat side with the Cupcakes, I opted to skip the milkshake for another day and instead try out their "Obama Burger." First off, this burger had Roquefort on it. Not cheep blue cheese from who know where's or limp swiss, but real, pungent, creamy, Roquefort. This by it self made this beef based bon bon something special. Unfortunately, for the 11 bucks I spent (I didn't even get fries with it!) I only got a very small sandwich which while delicious, what not worth 11 bucks. So while I through enjoyed the sandwich, I won't be going back. I don't mind paying an arm and a leg for good food, but it needs to be worth the arm and the leg that I payed!

Because of the nature of my job I was able to get my office to send me home for Thanksgiving, the drawback being I would be working over the entire holiday.  Since my Co-host, producer and Camera Crew had never been to Ohio before I had the opportunity to introduce them to the culinary pleasures Columbus has to offer. We started off with City BBQ, which is closely tied with Ray Ray’s BBQ pit for best BBQ place in town. Because it is a local chain the quality is much higher and consistent. They do what I will term as “Ohio BBQ” because it does not comfortably fit into any of the standard sub-divisions.  All the meat is first dry smoked and with sauce table side (everything from Carolina vinegar to K.C. sweet) if you want it. To me the chains signature item is their pulled pork. Juicy without being soggy (can’t STAND soggy meat), the pork almost always has a beautiful smoke ring and a dark bark. My normal order is a pound of the pulled pork and a couple of buns and their ‘cukes and inions. My compatriots opted to go with the mega platter which comes with basically everything they serve. They felt the ribs and (to my utter surprise) brisket was the winners of the meal. I‘ve always found their brisket a little bland and overly chewy, but to each his own I guess.

That next day I introduced them to the best Pho restaurant I have yet to be too. Lac Viet is probably the best kept restaurant secret in the city. Nestled quietly in an out of the way strip mall, the owner put out hot pho, ccu ri, and what every else he decides he wants to try that day for almost 10 years. One of the things he does that no one else does is Lamb Pho. While it’s not anything close to traditional (he learned to cook lamb from his brothers who went to college in central Asia during the early years of communist rule), the sweetness and spiciness of the Central Asian lamb mixes great with the pho broth and noodles. Honestly, at this point if I’m not having Lac Viet Pho I’m always a little disappointed. Happy to say that my co-workers felt the same way, though the owner forgot to bring out our Ccu Ri and when I asked him about it he told me he would make it next time (which pissed me off a bit, normally the service is better than that).

Saturday night found me hanging with my friends at my old fall back for good pizza, Hound Dogs! I always warn people when going there for the first time that it is the epitome of a “dive.” It’s poorly lit, loud, most of the tables and chairs look like they were recently used in a pro-wrestling match, and the service is generally pretty bad. But the pizza, Oh the pizza! If you are one of those health freaks that do not like greasy pizza please go somewhere else, you are unworthy to delight in the pleasures in this pinnacle of pizza perfection. The dough is not overly thick (I despise doughy pizza) and is slathered in a butter garlic and secret ingredient (which I’m 99% sure is crack cocaine) sauce that is out of this world. They have several different types of sauce ranging from your basic marinara to spicy, to a white feta sauce, to a pesto that is to die for. The ingredients are good quality though I would not go so far as to call them gourmet. Honestly, this is just a great restaurant to crash at with a group of your closes friends and sit and talk for a couple of hours. The bar adjoining it even has live music some night and sometimes it’s even good!

All good things must come to an end though, and the next morning found me back in the car driving back to the capital. Not that I’m too sad though, there’s still LOTS of food to be tried in DC, I just happen to know a guy…….

Going Lebanese

If I was a super hero my weakness would be food cravings. You never know when they will strike or what form they will take. When they do though they are all encompassing, invading you thoughts and your dreams.......

In case you haven't guessed by now, I went through a major food craving last week. It all began a week ago Friday. I was watching HESHE (How it Should Have Ended) on youtube and at the end of one of the episodes there was a reference to shawarma. So as I'm watching my brain goes, "hmmmm, we haven't had shawarma is a long time, that kinda sounds.......MIDDLE EASTERN FOOD CRAVING!" 

Armed with the power of my smart phone and the Yelp app, I found a close by middle eastern restaurant as quick as Newt Gingrich finds new wives (well, ok that a bit of hyperbole. I'm not nearly as fast as Newt). "Layla Lebanese Restaurant", hmmmm, I had never tried Lebanese food before. It being Friday afternoon a surmised that my chances of find a pretty dinner companion  (I abhor eating alone) were zip to nil . So I did the next best thing, I mooched. My roomie was just about to go out on a bike ride date and realizing that while he isn't the most beautiful flower on the bush, his date was. Sidling up to them, I carefully composed my face to hide my ulterior motives. "Hey, have you guys ever had Lebanese food?" I queried. "Because I was just thinking of trying out this restaurant but I don't know anything about Lebanese food." The girl's eyes light up, I smiled inwardly knowing I had already won. "I LOVE LEBANESE FOOD!!!!", music to my ears. With in seconds I had committed them to meet me at the restaurant, which also conveniently happened to be near the trail they were going to go ride. 

 

Cut to a hour later.

Wandering in the streets of Old town Alexandria, we searched desperately for the resistant. I could barely think over the sound of my brain's screaming "GIVE ME LEBANESE FOOD NOW!" I kept looking at my phone as the minutes ticked away, I had a set engagement that evening that I had to be at and my window for getting Lebanese goodness and making it home in time to shower and change into my Top Gun costume was quickly disappearing 

Lets just say I was pretty popular that night.

Finally, with the use of Google maps and a helpful hobo who wanted to tell us all about how the U.S. never landed on the moon, we found Layla's. Walking in the front door my nose was greeted with the strong garlic and cumin smells of Middle Eastern fare. I look down at my phone to see how much time I had so I knew what to order. My heart stopped, I only had 20 mins to get home and shower before I had to leave. My head swam, the delectable smells of fresh shawarma called to my soul. Doing everything in my power not to break down into tears under the strain I turned to my roomie and his date and explained the situation. With my head hung lower than a Chinese Communist official who has been busted for using his position to get filthy rich, I walked back to the Metro station and made my way home. 

The Craving didn't go away however. 

On Sunday though I was given the perfect answer to my problem. While in Sunday school I found myself sitting next to this very attractive girl. We had talked briefly a couple of times before and I had found her to be intelligent and able to keep up her end of the conversation (Two of my key requirements in dinner companions). I had been wanting to ask her on a date to get to know her better but had never found the chance (and by chance I mean guts/courage/cajones/whatever). All of a sudden my brain finally kicked in and I realized I needed to combine the two. To make a long story short, I didn't have the "chance" (again) to ask, but after some ribald encouragement from my roommates I called her and (to my utter surprise) she not only agreed to come but also said she would love to try Lebanese food.

The week dragged by as the ache for hommus and lamb gnawed at my soul. Finally, Friday night came. Meeting at the King Street metro station, we made our way down king street to the restaurant. After having to turn around once because I walked right passed it (again), we found ourselves in a cozy front eating area full of the delicious aromas of roasting chickpea and red meat.

The Interior of Layla's s done up dark wood paneling and a kind of warm sandstone color paint. the tables are small iron-work affairs with a pristine table cloth lade over the top. we had an excellent view out of the main window that faces  Kings Street, perfect for people watching while enjoying hommus and pittas. 

After perusing the menu we decided that we really just wanted one of everything.  So we started of by ordering the appetizer sampler. 

one of the best choices (in a series of awesome choices) we made that night

Starting in the upper left corner we have the stuffed grape leaves. At first look they seemed a bit small (not like the behemoths you get in Costco), luckily they packed a lot of taste. Even though they are a vegetarian dish, the had a almost bacon like, slightly acidic flavor. This was off set nicely by the mild licorice flavor of the grape leaves and the sweetness of the rice.  The crispness off the leaves also pared nicely with the moist and slightly chewy texture of the glutenous rice. Next came the hommus. This was the real winner for me. The hommus on the bottom left had olive oil and lemon juice mixed in, giving it a tartness I really enjoyed. The hommus on the back right had a rich-smokey flavor with a light bitterness I can't quite place. It was fantastic though and I couldn't leave it along for the rest of the meal. Both the spinach pies and the falafel were good but not impressive (my date disagreed on this point but since this is my blog I'm doin this my way) . The Tabouleh was also very good, though almost too acidic for my taste. spooning some on to a pita with some hommus was wonderful. The pitas were surprisingly delicate, and soon became cold and a little chewy.  when they first came out though, hooohh baby were they good.

After working our way about half way through our appetizers the main course came. We had both agreed that we wanted to get food we had never tried before. So giving up my dreams of sawahrma (though that just gives me an excuse to go back), I chose the Batenjan Mahshi while my date decided the salmon needed to be tried. We had already agreed on going "Family Style" so we each got to try both. 

Batenjan Mahshi

The Batenjan Mahshi almost have the constancy of watery marinara sauce. It had a very strong tomato flavor which (in my opinion) over powered the lamb and eggplant and made the dish unbalanced. The rice and pine nuts were excellent though, and mixing the stew and the rice together improved the overall flavor greatly. 

The star of our meal

Oh the Salmon! Beside being cooked tender perfection with just the right amount of blackening around the edges, the sauce was. to. die for! Not overly thick it had a creaminess something akin to cream cheese with a bitter and spicy edge (that I still can't identify) and LOTS of garlic. They call it Tahini sauce but my guess is it is something more akin to Greek yogurt. There were also highlight of cilantro and a little mint that really just put this fish over the top. I will be having this again next time I go (if I'm not getting Shawarma)

While I loved the fish (in case you couldn't tell), my date really dug the stew. In the end we both just laughed at our waitress when she asked if we wanted to box anything up (there was nothing left to box). 

But a dinner (or a date) is not complete without dessert and being a avid baker I wanted to try some of the cupcake offerings in Old Town. As we walked to the water front we found ourselves in front of Occasionally Cake. This old town home made Bakery keeps their selection small so they can focus on quality. We found ourselves drawn to the s'more cupcake and the raspberry amaretto. Both cakes were suitably fluffy and moist. The amaretto lacked flavor unfortunately, while the s'more cupcake was packed with it. in both cases the frosting was dense and not fluffy at all, which while visually appealing, make the cupcakes hard to eat. 

 s'more

 Amaretto 

As we walked back to the king street metro station we found ourselves enjoying looking into all the little shops on king street in old town. luckily I did not give myself another food craving, though I did add another 20 or 30 niche store to my list of place I want to go into and look around. The tree lights for Christmas had recently been hung, making the walk that much more beautiful. If I've said it once I've said it a thousand time: Old Town is amazing

some lights in Old Town Alexandria

When life hands you a Hurricane, make stew

I've made it through Hurricane Sandy! While the "super-storm" was bit of a non-event here, I have heard it has caused major damage in New Jersey and NYC.

After being sent home early from work because of the impending hurricane-apocalypse, I found myself with a whole day to myself, except I couldn't go anywhere because most places were closed. What the heck was I going to do? Well, I suppose I could have cleaned or done laundry, but that's not very interesting or fun and would have made one heck of a boring blog post. So, I decided to cook. One of my favorite rainy day recipes is Guinness Stew, which is a traditional thick Irish stew that has had Guinness added to it. Its easy and straight forward to make, yet the result is a hearty stew that has complex undertones of smokiness mixed with the sweetness of the meat and the bitterness of the Guinness. I especially love it with fresh baked bread, which conveniently enough my roommate Joel offered to make if I made the stew.

Step 1: Quarter 8-10 russet potatoes (skins on). Coarsely chop three stalks of celery and a three carrots (peeled). Add all the veggies to the bottom of a stew pot (I use a 12 qt. pot, but I think 8 qt. would be large enough). Place one bay leaf on top of the veggies/tubers. Set this to the side because now we need to focus on the most important part of this recipe: DA MEAT!

Step 2) Browning beef is probably the most important step in making stew. The drippings from the beef provide most of the flavor, so if you burn or under-cook the meat your going to have an uphill battle getting the stew to come out right. Now, I have been accused (un-justly I might add) of confusing my cultures. I know the picture looks like I'm using a Wok to brown the beef for my Irish stew. Let me assure you this is not the case, it is in fact a traditional Irish pan called a.......................

right, ok, it's a freaking Wok. Seriously though, it's by far the most versatile pan I own ( I cook everything from 西红柿炒鸡蛋 to hamburgers in that thing) and it makes browning meat very simple. Normally what I do is coat 4 lbs of stew beef (which you can get at the store in the fresh meat section) in flour mixed with a pinch of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Then I place a couple of table spoons of oil in the Wok, crank the stove to "high" and stir-fry the beef until it is well browned. I'll also add a bay leaf in with the meat for extra flavor. after the meat is good and browned I use a slotted spoon to transfer the meat to another bowl, leaving the drippings in the Wok.

Step 3) Then I stir-fry a whole chopped onion and three cloves (minced) garlic in the drippings and once the onions appear to become slightly transparent I'll through in around 1/2 oz. of beef broth to deglaze the mess. The I add everything that is in the wok to the stew pot with the vegetables and add the meat on top of that. Which should leave you with a pot that looks something like this:

Step 4) Now your probably asking yourself "wait, what the frick is all that extra stuff on top of the meat????" Well, they are the extra spices that I add to make my Guinness stew freaking awesome. Oh, what are those spices? That is a good question, not one that I am going to answer, but a good question none the less. Hey now, I slaved hard and long to come up with my own secret recipe! I'm not going to give it away just because you we're willing to waste 20 mins of your day to read my food based ramblings! I....hold on a sec........................

Ok, so I have just been informed by my lawyer (well, my border line alcoholic third year law student/para legal friend, which is close enough for me) that since I'm really only making minor alterations to a recipe I found on the net, I need to give proper credit to the original chef or else I'll be committing something called plagiarizer, what ever the heck that is.

That being the case I guess I'll have to tell you what all those spices are and share the link to the base recipe at the bottom of the page.

Here we go: Add on top of the meat: 1 (13 g) envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon creole seasoning, 1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning. Also toss some chopped up mushrooms.

Step 5) Now, I understand that there are people out there that are uncomfortable for a variety of reasons with cooking with alcohol. Being of Irish ancestry, personally I am uncomfortable not cook with alcohol, but that's a topic for another time. If your someone who really is against cooking with alcohol (in this case beer) I would suggest using a) Kaliber non-alcoholic beer or b) water. You won't get the same rich flavor as you would from using Guinness, but you also won't have to feel guilty either ( believe me, being of Irish Catholic heritage I understand guilt).

For the rest of you borderline alcoholics out there, pour 16 oz. of Guinness draft or stout on top of everything in the pot. Put the lid on and place the pot over a low flame for four hours.

Step 6) After four hours two things should have happened. First, your house/apartment/flat/trailer/whatever should smell amazing (if you neighbors arn't beating down your door in order to get a dinner invite then you did something wrong). and Secondly the stew should look something like this:

Step 7) Now I know your thinking "dang that's watery." That's why for the next 4 hours your going to let the stew simmer on medium low with the lid off so all that extra alcohol and water can evaporate off. Also you'll need to start stirring the pot every couple of hours so the bottom of the stew doesn't burn. After another four hours (and for me eight episodes of Escaflowne) later you'll have this:

I added a couple of hunks of the fresh pumpernickel that my roommate Joel made to my bowl. The two went together well. 

Step 8) EAT

 As I sat back and enjoyed my bowl of homemade awesomeness, Super-storm sandy raged outside my window. Well, raged might be a bit strong, it was more like "threw a temper tantrum." Either way though, I had fresh bread, fresh stew, and a guaranteed day off of work the following day, in other words everything d in my world was perfect.
And here is the promised link to the base recipe that I use: http://www.food.com/recipe/guinness-beef-stew-in-a-crock-pot-259913?oc=linkback

Old pics, new flavors

If you don't know what this is then you have my deepest sympathies! While these may appear to be just some humble chicken fingers let me assure you they are much, much more. Artisan chicken fingers does sound like a bit of an oxymoron, but Raisin' Caine's (or just Caine's to the initiated) has done it and done it well. The chicken fingers are all hand battered and fried when you order them, which means they are fresh from the fryer when you get them. The game changer is that little cup of sauce in the center of the picture. It's a little like "fry sauce" from out west in its texture, but tangier and has a slight spicy kick. To be honest, I suspect that there is either some crack or cocaine mixed it the sauce, it's that addicting! I've used it on everything from carrot sticks to bagels. Unfortunately Caine's hasn't expanded into DC yet, so the only way to get my fix is when I'm back in C-Bus.