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.

"Why are all the pictures on your phone of food!!" 

It's a question I get asked pretty often. In my defense not ALL the pictures on my phone are of food, just something like 85% of them are......

A couple years back a good friend of mine who is an avid blogger pointed out that given how much of my monthly budget I spend on food (I won't go into details, but lets just say that I have probably single-handedly  keep several mom and pops restaurants in business) I should start a food blog. It seemed like a really cool idea to me at the time, and a solid excuse to go food exploring. 

Four years and a relocation to DC later, my phone is over loaded with food pics but I have failed to write a single paragraph about any of it. So, I'm going to try and change that. If nothing else this should help free up from space on my phone..........

-M