Sou’wester Ham Giveaway from Darden Farms
by Jenna on February 26, 2012
Sou’Wester is located at the Mandarin Oriental hotel at 1330 Maryland Avenue, SW.
Darden Farms is located at 16249 Bowling Green Road in Smithfield, VA.
{ 0 comments }
Free Sangria & Prizes at Jaleo!
by Chad on February 23, 2012
After nearly 20 amazing years of sharing the story of Spain, Jaleo begins a new chapter and José Andrés invites Washingtonians to celebrate with him and include 50 of their friends! Everyone is invited to come to Jaleo located at 480 7th Street NW in the Penn Quarter from now until renovations begin on Sunday, February 26th to say farewell to the old Jaleo as ThinkFoodGroup prepares to transform this celebrated tapas destination restaurant. Take a picture in front of Jaleo’s iconic mural with the Flamenco dancer, post this picture to Facebook, tag Jaleo Tapas Bar, and receive a free pitcher of sangria when Jaleo in DC reopens in dramatic fashion.
Everyone who posts and tags will automatically be entered into a drawing by José Andrés for a chance to win a private, all-inclusive, Sunday brunch for 50 friends at the new Jaleo!
For all the details, terms and conditions, please visit Jaleo’s website for more information
{ 1 comment }
District Kitchen in Woodley Park
by Jenna on February 13, 2012
District Kitchen's Menu
District Kitchen has a great wine list and we each started with a glass of Talbott Chardonnay and Pinot Noir respectively. For appetizers Julie selected the grilled beet salad with goat cheese foundue and toasted pecans. This is one of her favorite combinations of food so it was a no brainer when she saw it on the menu. I went for something a little mysterious– the shirred organic egg with a potato and forest mushroom hash. The beet salad was very disappointing. We both felt the beets were completely flavorless and the goat cheese fondue didn’t do much to counter the flatness of the dish. However, the egg was pleasantly delicious. It was served in a small cast iron skillet and I immediately took the spoon to crack open the runny yolk in order to mix it with the other ingredients. It was a really tasty combination that was hearty yet vegetarian. I would recommend this appetizer to anyone dining at District Kitchen.
Organic Shirred Egg at District Kitchen
For entrees I ordered the seared scallops and Julie went with the market steak. The scallops were incredibly flavorful, well cooked with the perfect brown sear on top, and really delivered a well balanced dish. I loved the asian salad on the plate which had a light and unique dressing, and the scallops were served atop a grapefruit butter sauce that provided a citrusy component that I couldn’t get enough of. Also on the plate was a gingered squash puree which was awesome. Overall, this was a fantastic dish. On the other hand, Julie’s main course was yet again a slight disappointment (sadly she just didn’t seem to order as well as I did). The steak was served over a green salad with a twice baked potato and a carmelized onion sauce on the side. The steak was well seasoned, but she had requested it to be prepared rare. While the color on the inside appeared red and as if it was cooked properly, there was absolutely no juice coming from the meat (as if it had been drained) which made it dry and not as enjoyable as it could have been. However, that carmelized onion sauce was divine on or off the steak and we each were picking at it with our utensils so it did not go to waste.
Scallops with asian salad and gingered squash puree at District Kitchen
Up to this point I was feeling pretty good about my meal, but my friend was not having as good of a food experience so we decided dessert was a must. Two desserts. We went for the apple buckle with pistachio ice cream and the chocolate cream cheese parfait. Both were quite good but we loved the apple buckle which was hot and had huge chunks of pistachio atop the ice cream making for a sweet and crunchy dessert that was very satisfying. The parfait was served in a small mason jar and was quite dense and rich, but the shortbread at the bottom of the jar helped to cut the intensity. The desserts delivered and we ended the meal on a positive note.
Desserts at District Kitchen
Perhaps the most surprising was the check that arrived at the end of the meal. While we did order wine, two appetizers, two entrees, and two desserts I guess I just didn’t expect it to be $76 per person (before tip). I am happy to pay that price at a high-end restaurant downtown but it seemed like an expensive meal for a casual neighborhood spot. I’ll sum up the meal with some pros and cons.
Pros: Atmosphere, organic egg, scallops, carmelized onion steak sauce, desserts, great wine selection, nice staff
Cons: Tasteless salad, dry steak, large tab
I’d definitely go back, but I’d be a bit picker with my ordering and be sure to ask a lot of questions. I think District Kitchen is off to a solid start, but given that our meal was a bit inconsistent from one side of the table to the other, it might take a few more weeks for them to get their footing.
District Kitchen
2606 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20008
www.districtkitchen.com
{ 1 comment }
DC American Lamb Pro-Am: “Rack of Lamb” Meatballs
by Chad on February 10, 2012
EatMore DrinkMore is participating in the DC American Lamb Pro-Am. Ten local food bloggers received a beautiful boneless leg of lamb from Border Springs Farm and were challenged to prepare a great lamb dish for their readers. Four bloggers will be chosen to participate in the DC American Lamb Pro Am on March 4th, where they will be paired with a local DC chef and will prepare their dish for over 100 guests at the Hotel Palomar. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VOTE – We need your vote!!
I started a tradition a few years back where I cook an elaborate meal for my father’s birthday. I love to cook, so it was a great excuse to break out a fancy cookbook and make a decadent meal for my family. Cost is never a concern. Lobster? Wine? Why not? The first time I cooked my father’s birthday meal I prepared several days in advance, pouring over Thomas Keller cookbooks to perfect a lobster mac & cheese and a beautiful rack of lamb. Unfortunately, as the day of the big meal came there was a snow storm and my neighbors were treated to an elaborate Thomas Keller meal instead of my parents. We rescheduled, and my dad absolutely fell in love with the lamb chops I prepared from Thomas Keller Ad Hoc at Home.
Every year since, his only requirement when I cook a nice meal for him is that I make him a rack of lamb, be it father’s day, his birthday, or any other random occasion (like Sunday). I must admit, I have made the herbed crusted rack of lamb several times, and it’s honestly the best lamb dish I have ever had. The problem is that rack of lamb is not cheap. It’s delicious, but it’s more of a special occasion meal rather than a random weeknight meal.
When I received word that we were using a boneless leg of lamb for the DC American Lamb Pro-Am, I decided that I wanted to play with the flavors from the herbed crusted rack of lamb in a new way. I had the butcher grind up the leg of lamb into several pounds of freshly ground lamb which made it much easier to deal with. For those of you who might try this recipe at home it is helpful to know that ground lamb at $9.99 a pound is far more economical that rack of lamb which comes in at $18.99 a pound at my local butcher.
Britt and I decided to take all of the flavors that we love from the Thomas Keller recipe and incorporate them into the best lamb meatball you’ve ever had. We tweaked the recipe enough to make it our own. You know what goes great with lamb? Pita. So what did we do? We smashed Stacy’s Pita Chips and mixed them with panko bread crumbs for our meatballs. Have you ever had a pita encrusted fried herbed honey mustard lamb meatball? Unless you were at Britt’s Super Bowl Party, the answer is probably no. You’re missing out. We threw this recipe together in 30 minutes and I assure you it is much better than anything you would find in a Rachel Ray cookbook.
To make sure the meatballs cook all the way through, first bake the meatballs in a 375 oven for 20 minutes.
Now that the meatballs have been browned and cooked in the oven, it’s time to fry!! We rolled each meatball in some all purpose flour, then dipped the meatball in an egg wash and covered the meatball in the dry panko/crushed pita chips mixture.
Heat the canola oil to medium high and light fry each meatball. Be careful! These will cook up quickly and can burn easily.
Serve with pita and a dollop of the greek yogurt sauce below!
“Rack of Lamb” Meatballs -
- 1 # Ground Boneless Leg of Lamb or Lamb Shoulder
- 1/8 C Dijon Mustard
- 2 T of honey
- 2 cloves of garlic confit – minced*
- Salt/pepper
- 2 large handfuls of Stacy’s Pita Chips – crushed in a ziptop bag
- 1/4 bunch of flat leaf parsley – chopped
- 3 sprigs rosemary – chopped
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
- Flour
- Canola Oil
Greek Yogurt Sauce:
- 1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt
- 2 T of Dijon Mustard
- 1 T of Honey
- Chopped Parsley
- 1 T of whole grain mustard
- Salt/Pepper
“Rack of Lamb” Meatballs
1. Combine the lamb, parsley, 1 egg, mustard, honey, rosemary, garlic confit, salt, pepper, and a handful of the finely crushed pita chips. Depending on the amount of lamb you use, you may need more or less pita chips to absorb the liquid in the meatballs. You’re looking for a loose moist texture.
2. Bake the meatballs in a 375 oven for 20 minutes
3. Let the meatballs cool for a few minutes and then it’s time to fry! Roll each meatball in flour, then an egg wash, then the panko/pita chips mixture.
4. Heat canola oil to medium high and lightly fry each meatball until just golden brown.
5. Serve with greek yogurt sauce.
Greek Yogurt Sauce
1. Combine all ingredients. Taste and adjust to your liking.
Garlic Confit Recipe (from Ad Hoc at Home – Thomas Keller)
1 Head of Garlic peeled with root ends removed
Canola Oil
Place all of the garlic cloves in a small sauce pan and cover with an inch of canola oil. Cook for about 40 min on low, small bubbles should slowly rise to the surface and the garlic should not brown too much. Stir every 5 minutes. When the garlic is done, it should be soft and be able to be pierced with a knife. Keep the oil/garlic mixture in an airtight container.
**If you don’t have time to make the garlic confit you can just saute several cloves of minced garlic in oil for a few minutes.
{ 5 comments }
Side tripping to Manila Masa 14 Style
by Britt on February 3, 2012
For the month of February only, Masa 14 will be featuring a special menu of dishes derived from Manila in the Philippines. This localized menu is the first in a series that will be released quarterly and will each be available for one month throughout the coming year.
I recently had the chance to taste my way through the menu and thouroughly enjoyed it. Diners can pick and choose items from the Manila menu while also selecting menus of the standard menu. Here are my recommendations for dishes and cocktails to try out this month.
Cocktails:
Calamansi Shandy- A twist on a traditional shandy served with calamansi nectar, house-made sours and san miquel lager. Very refreshing.
Cebu Martini- Light and dark rums, pineapple, coconut water and calamansi nectar. This had a very different taste than I was used to but it was fun and different. Not too sweet.
Dishes to try:
If you are looking for something crispy, fried and decadent go for the Lumpia de Dizon. More or less a spring roll with pork and shrimp wrapped in bib lettuce with herbs served with sweet chili sauce
For a traditional noodle dish go for the Pansit Palabok. I loved how the noodles and veggies had a slight char and the wide-range of ingredients at first seemed a bit over the top were actually delicious when eaten together. Clear noodles, blue crab, pork belly, boiled egg and chicharonnes.
My absolute favorite, was the Bangus. Steamed whitefish was stuffed with raisins and fish mousse and wrapped in ham. The outside was crispy and salty and the inside was mild and sweet. So delicious.
Next up? Brazil!
{ 0 comments }
Curried Cauliflower Soup
by Britt on January 26, 2012
Curried Cauliflower Soup
I love cauliflower. I love it chopped up for snacking, in curry dishes, steamed and to many people’s dismay, pickled and eaten straight from the jar. I’ve been like this since I was a child and I just can’t get enough of the stuff. So, in honor of Chad’s paleo adventure and my love of this often overlooked veggie, I came up with this delicious soup recipe.
Curried Cauliflower Soup
(serves 5-6)
1 head of cauliflower broken into small sections
1 yellow onion diced
3 cloves of garlic roasted
2 tablespoons of olive
1/2 can of light coconut milk
1 container of veggie broth (Trader Joes is my favorite)
2-4 tablespoons of red curry paste depending on your spice tolerance
1 tsp of turmeric
Sauté onions and chopped roasted garlic in a large pot
Add cauliflower and cover with broth – increase heat
Add coconut milk, curry paste and turmeric
Cook until cauliflower is softened
Transfer cauliflower and broth in batches to a blend. Puree
Return puree to the pot and salt if necessary
Serve hot with a cilantro garnish
{ 0 comments }
Blue Duck Tavern Continues to Shine
by Jenna on January 25, 2012
In late 2011 Chef Brian McBride left the Park Hyatt after opening Blue Duck Tavern in 2006 to move forward with a new venture. In his place they have named Chef Sebastien Archambault who most recently was executive chef and partner in Los Angeles at L’Epicerie Market. Prior to that Sebastien was the executive chef of RH Restaurant at the Andaz West Hollywood Hotel and he has also worked under world renowned chefs such as Alain Ducasse and Jean-Francois Rouquette in Paris. Working as his Chef de Cuisine is John Melfi who most recently worked at Vidalia down the street in Washington, DC. The new team is now in place and after my meal last night where I was invited to taste numerous dishes on behalf of Heather Freeman Public Relations (some currently on the menu and some that are soon to make their way into the mix), I am wowed by the amazing flavors and classic elegance of the cuisine that is offered at Blue Duck Tavern. A few highlights from the tasting menu:
- Seared Foie Gras: Apple raisin scone, quince butter, cider gastrique. The perfect sized portion of foie in order to curb the richnees, and paired with the scone it really delivered.
- Crispy Veal Sweetbreads: Aged mac n’ cheese sauteed field mushrooms, veal jus. This dish is the ultimate when it comes to comfort food. Fried food over cheesy pasta. It doesn’t get better than that.
- Braised Goat: wood fired flatbread, eggplant jam, minted lableh, arugula. The Mediterranean flavors worked so well with the tender goat which I spooned onto the flatbread making small delicious bites.
- Wood Burning Oven Roasted Maine Scallops and Mussels: lemon sauce. Simple, yet beautifully cooked.
- Field Mushroom Risotto Arborio: Shaved parmesan cheese, arugula. This was so creamy and wonderful and the truffles added a decadent flavor to the dish.
- Wood Burning Oven Friend Wagyu Culotte of Beef: Red wine braised shallots. Such a classic and delicious preparation.
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts: Cranberries, thyme. Brussels sprouts are one of my favorite vegetables, and the sweetness of the cranberries was a welcomed addition.
- Hand Cut BDT Triple Fries. Enough said.
- Mango, Cranberry, and Macademia Nut Crumble. This dessert was wonderful. The fruit was so fresh and sweet and and the crumble added just the perfect amount of texture with each bite.
- Peppermint Ice Cream. Topped with chocolate sauce and t