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My favorite markets - Russian Gourmet - 31 Dec 2008
This is the season where Northern food comes into its own. So check out this source.
Three years ago, Russian Gourmet set up just off the Rockville Pike on Nicholson Lane, behind the Exxon station and in front of Barry's Magic. Perhaps Barry waved a wand in the little market's direction. Because now there are five of them. read more...
Butternut Squash Soup with Spiced Pumpkin Seeds and Tart Apple - 31 Dec 2008
Ethan McKee, new chef at Notti Bianchi and Circle One Bistro, made this recipe when at Rock Creek at Mazza. It's a rich and rounded soup, low in calories, that loses nothing of its nutrition values. It all goes to show you don't need creams and butters to add body and depth to a recipe. read more...
Rules for drinking (and sex) to keep you out of trouble in 2009 - 31 Dec 2008
Could you - Buy a moose a beer in Alaska? Get a spicy Bloody Mary in Britain? Drink as a student abroad? Read on... read more...
New Year celebrations - something different - 31 Dec 2008
New Year traditions in other parts of the world. read more...
Ethan McKee - new Chef of Notti Bianchi and Circle One Bistro - 31 Dec 2008
Ethan McKee is taking over from Brendan Cox as Executive Chef at Notte Bianchi and Circle One Bistro. He's coming from Rock Creek Mazza, where this profile of the local Washingtonian took place. read more...
This week's ingredient - Scallops - 24 Dec 2008
It's a shame Americans haven't developed an appetite yet for a scallop's coral - that beautiful roe you see in the photo that's prized by French cooks... read more...
Broad Branch Market - one of my favorite markets - 24 Dec 2008
Tracy Stannard used to work for chef Carole Greenwood at Buck's Fishing & Camping. Now she owns and runs the Broad Branch Market which is what a neighborhood market ought to be. I remember it in previous hands as a run-down dump that sold good sausages. Sausages are still for sale. But picture a complete physical make-over. A bright and airy modest Dean & DeLuca crossed with the serve-yourself section like Whole Foods used to have for dried pulses, rice, nuts and such, plus an old-time ice cream parlor and wild, wild candy store to the side. read more...
The dish - Goings on in the capital - 24 Dec 2008
What's happening for New Year in and around the capital. read more...
Roasted Pennsylvania Pheasant Breast, Braised Red Cabbage, Maple Syrup Sweet Potato Mousse and Huckleberry Sauce - 24 Dec 2008
Peter Schaffrath, chef of the Hay Adams' Lafayette Room's recipe is a soothing but elegant cold weather dish. Though there are four separate elements, each is simple to cook. read more...
The Fishery - one of my favorite markets - 24 Dec 2008
It's hard to find a fishmonger in Washington DC where you can see the fish whole before it's filleted. It's a common practice in Europe where housewives gauge freshness by demanding to press the flesh, check the gills and look at the eyes of their approaching dinner before they decide to buy. So your best bet for assuring freshness is to buy fish from a source where the eating of fish is key to the culture. This is why I like The Fishery, a Korean-owned market. read more...
Chew On This: Hangover cures that work? Debunking the food myths... - 23 Dec 2008
It's official. A fry-up and an aspirin won't cure a hangover. New Year's Eve revelers, you have been warned. On the plus side, eating late at night doesn't make you fat. Debunking the myths... read more...
Seared Scallops with Nicoise Salad & Gribiche - 17 Dec 2008
Joe Palma of WestEnd Bistro's elegant take on a Salade Nicoise works as well for sweetbreads as it does for the scallops he calls for in this recipe. A shame we haven't developed an appetite yet for a scallop's coral - that beautiful roe you see in the photo that's prized by French cooks... read more...
Joe Palma - Chef de Cuisine of The Westend Bistro - 17 Dec 2008
Joe Palma’s recipe for getting a good culinary training is simple. “Find the best possible people you can work for and shut up.”
This became the Chef de Cuisine of the Westend Bistro’s game-plan once he’d discovered a passion for food. He earned money as a line cook while studying for degrees in Economics and Philosophy at the College of Charleston. read more...
This week's ingredient - Nems - 17 Dec 2008
This week's ingredient is a weird one for me. I always thought Nems were Vietnamese spring rolls. These banana leaf-wrapped packages call themselves Nem. But opened up reveal a spicy sausagemeat that needs to be deep fried. read more...
This week's ingredient - persimmon - 10 Dec 2008
Persimmons (not to be confused with the crunchier Fuju...) are now in season. Buy them when they feel like a soft boiled egg cracked into your palm - soft and saggy. Cut them open and scoop out the running flesh with a teaspoon. Or use them as a sauce over Greek yogurt or another fruit, like a baked apple. It's hard to say whether they have much flavor. But their color is heart lifting these gray days. The best sources for them - perhaps because the clientele understands the condition they should be sold in - are Middle Eastern and Asian markets. read more...
Chew On This: The most unhealthy $1 burgers? - 10 Dec 2008
If you believe that a $1 burger being pushed at you from junk food purveyors taking advantage of money fears induced by the economic slump is a good deal, at least pick the one that's least harmful to your health. Washington's non-profit Cancer Project has assessed their nutritional value and come up with a handy top 5 of the most bad for you. Or rather, bottom 5. read more...
Christmas - dreaming of a different one - 10 Dec 2008
"Christmas comes but once a year and when it comes it brings..." Uncle George (who'll take over the single malt whiskey if no-one stops him), Aunt Mavis (who's just decided to turn vegetarian), and all their dreadful children. It's enough to drive you crackers.
Give Christmas a new sparkle and celebrate someone else's - with Britain's Christmas crackers, Italy's Omino di Neve, Switzerland's Zimststerne, Jamaica's West Indian Black Cake and more... read more...
Provencal Fish Stew - 10 Dec 2008
This hearty fish stew from Jeff and Barbara Black - of BlackSalt and more - is a year-round meal in a bowl that's quick and easy to assemble. It's the backbone of regular orders to a Mediterranean fishmonger like the one in my photograph. read more...
Jeff & Barbara Black - From Addie's to an empire - 10 Dec 2008
The morning I went to interview Jeff and Barbara Black, owners of BlackSalt, BlackSalt Market and Addie’s, 6000 bottles of cabernets had cascaded from a falling wine rack to the floor at BlackSalt. The Blacks were in mourning. “It’s like leaving art work in the rain,” said Barbara. “This is what I’d call alcohol abuse.” read more...
This week's ingredient - quince - 2 Dec 2008
Quince season is short, so run out to a Middle Eastern market like Yekta or an Asian market like H Mart or Le Market, and pick out some of these yellow, pear-like and scented fruits to chop into a rough-on-the-tongue stewed puree or to make membrillo, the Spanish paste to eat with Manchego or Cheddar cheese, or for an exquisite translucent coral pink jelly to go with cold meats. read more...
The perfect Yorkshire pudding - 2 Dec 2008
A proper Yorkshire pudding must be 4 inches tall. It's official. The Royal Society of Chemists says so. The second key qualification is the cook must have Yorkshire blood. "It's the instinct of people born and raised in Yorkshire. You can tell if the cook has the right touch," scientist John Emsley told the BBC. Perhaps that's why my Yorkshire mother makes puddings like shoe leather - she was born in Kuala Lumpur. read more...
Chew On This: Alzheimer's and junk food link - 2 Dec 2008
Junk food linked to Alzheimer's? Fuggeddaboutit, do I hear you jest? Well, feed a mouse on a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol for nine months and you'll have a mouse with chemical changes in its brain that mimic Alzheimer's. read more...
Breads Unlimited - one of my favorite markets - 2 Dec 2008
No bakery does brown bread like Breads Unlimited. Whole Foods' brown loaves taste packed with unnecessary sugar. Firehook's are extremely dense. Heidelberg Bakery's brown bread is excellent - if you want a German or Northern European loaf. If you just want a gooey, chewy bread that makes about the best toast in town, head to Breads Unlimited.
It's in the Bradley Shopping Center on Arlington Road in Bethesda. The strip may look unprepossessing, but it's home to two of the Washington area's best treasures: Bruce Variety and Strosneider's. read more...
Lynne Breaux - Restaurant Royalty - 2 Dec 2008
Lynne Breaux’s office feels like a happy place to work. With funny food-reference stickers and ornaments, its waiting area gives the impression of the welcome lobby of a slightly dilapidated bed-and-breakfast establishment run by a warm-hearted and enthusiastic owner. As she sails through it to her office at the end, she introduces the visitor to the tiny, and smiling, staff of RAMW. That’s the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington that represents over 500 restaurants and bars in Washington, DC, the City of Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County and Prince William County. From 1992 she’s been on its board, and its president since 2001. read more...
Masa - the Mexican tamales dough - 25 Nov 2008
Masa means 'dough' in Mexican. It's the dense dough made from grinding fresh field corn. Its dense yellow hue comes from the addition of calcium oxide to the water in which it's boiled. The mineral softens the outer casing of the kernels, rendering the interior more nutritious. read more...
Frijoles refritos Zora's way - 25 Nov 2008
Zora Margolis's method for frijoles refritos - refried beans - is healthy. It doesn't involve frying the beans after they're cooked. read more...
Chew On This: Making sure 'organic' means organic - 25 Nov 2008
For anyone feeling at sea about how to make themselves heard on food concerns, now's your chance. The USDA has just released an agenda describing what they call 'significant and not significant regulations' being developed in its agencies. Two are of serious interest to anyone worried about the dependability of the National Organic Program (NOP)'s meat and dairy product certification.
Your paying over the odds for organic produce and products is no guarantee that they are in fact organic. read more...
This week's ingredient: the Longan - 25 Nov 2008
Longans are an Asian fruit clustered on a branch and looking like smoother lychees. Inside their flesh is translucent white around a dark stone, accounting for its name 'dragon eyes' for the way the pit shows through the fruit. read more...
Zora Margolis - making her own masa - 25 Nov 2008
When Zora Margolis cooks Mexican tamales, she makes the masa herself. That’s the spongy corn dough containing the stuffing. It may sound like no big deal. (She makes her own tortillas, too. And verduras escabeche - pickled vegetables. Everything at her Mexican feasts, in fact.) But you can’t get hold of the kind of fresh corn you need to make the masa anywhere in the greater Washington area. Huitzilopochtli knows, she tried. read more...
Halalco - 25 Nov 2008
While some of us may back off from offal (though both Joe Palma at Westend Bistro and Amy Brandwein at fyve report their sweetbreads are moving off the menu), those who like a good steak and kidney pie can find the necessary lambs' kidneys at Halalco. If that sounds like a forkful too far, choose the Halal duck. This Halal supermarket is like a holiday to somewhere south of the Bosphorus. read more...
Kosher rennet - 20 Nov 2008
Kosher rennet, sold in Halal markets as shangesh, is key to the making of a Kosher cheese. read more...
Lontong rice - 19 Nov 2008
Lontong is the name given to rice that has been wrapped in banana leaves for a long slow steaming that produces a sticky wad of rice for cutting into cubes and serving with Indonesian dishes like satay. read more...
Durian - ecstasy or seriously disgusting? - 19 Nov 2008
You can find Durian pretty readily these days, though they'll have been frozen, in Asian markets. South East Asians go delirious about them. For the rest of us the experience is either an acquired taste or one to be seriously avoided. read more...
Le Market/El Mercado - one of my favorite markets - 19 Nov 2008
I may just be about to betray my favorite market - H Mart in Merrifield. Just up from it where Gallows Road meets Route 50 is Le Market/El Mercado, a clean and shiny recent arrival stocked with treasures from South East Asia and Latin America. read more...
Chew On This: Will Obama eat right? - 19 Nov 2008
The two-year election campaign is usually a struggle for the contenders and their staff to keep their weight down to a minimum while sharing congenial meals with voters in every community they land in. But we read in Newsweek's behind-the-scenes report on the running of the campaign that while Hillary's willingness to accept the food she was offered exacerbated the willingness of her waistline to spread, the President-Elect actually lost weight. read more...
Andrew F. Smith - long-time food historian - 19 Nov 2008
If you’re ever stuck for a gift for a foodie friend who seems to own everything in the battery – de cuisine or pantry, here’s the perfect solution: Andrew F. Smith’s The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. A compilation of information from the brains and expertise of over 200 food specialists, you can dip in anywhere for nuggets that will keep you in cocktail party anecdotes, and serious information to drop with specialists from now until the cowpeas (see page 171) come home. read more...
Jonathan Seningren - using Heaven's prime ingredient - 19 Nov 2008
Manna from heaven may, according to Bible history, have come down from God to save his chosen people at their darkest hours of wandering the barren desert. But head down to Hook and anyone can sample it. Chef Jonathan Seningen is chopping it finely and sprinkling it over his dish of Wahoo with Juniper, Cilantro Oil and Grapefruit. read more...
Pork or Duck Rillettes - 19 Nov 2008
Rillettes are South West France spread of meats simmered slowly in herbs and wine then shredded and packed into preserving jars to make a rough country pate to eat with good strong bread and a munch of cornichons - those tiny French cucumber pickles. They can be made with pork, rabbit, goose or duck - or a mix of all four. read more...
Don't know how to carve a turkey? Watch this. - 19 Nov 2008
Don't know how to carve a turkey? Watch this video demonstration. read more...
Acai diet scam alert! - 13 Nov 2008
Be very careful in subscribing to some sites offering Acai as a weight loss product. EatWashingtonian Lisa sent me the following warning. If you follow her steps, it turns out some people have been subjected what may be a scam. read more...
York Castle Tropical Ice Cream: one of my favorite markets - 12 Nov 2008
One of my favorite markets for its exotic ice cream flavors. But owner Caroline Tay is also one of my favorite market people. Like me, she thinks Washingtonians should venture beyond the diamond for their culinary adventures. After all, her ice cream parlor is just at the top of 16th Street where it meets Georgia Avenue - a straight shot from the 7th Street NW Convention Center. And you can pick up a pint (or more) of her Pumpkin Ice Cream for Thanksgiving... read more...
Chew On This: Oatmeal for breakfast keeps weight off - 12 Nov 2008
No excuse now to avoid oatmeal in favor of Lucky Charms. Lower energy dense breakfasts (that's stodge to you and me), high in nutrients, not only help maintain a healthy weight but help with better food choices during the rest of the day. So says the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. read more...
Grappa - grappling with this Italian drink - 12 Nov 2008
This description of the potent Italian drink comes from Domenica Marchetti's cookbook, Big Night In, where it is part of her recipe for Bittersweet Mocha Grappa Torte with Walnuts. read more...
Domenica Marchetti - Italian home-cooking food writer - 12 Nov 2008
Domenica Marchetti would never recognize herself from this description: a woman who seems to have the secret of how to juggle the precarious work/homelife balance. An Alexandria resident, she has a 12 year-old son and a 10 year-old daughter yet she's also published two cookbooks. The latest is 'Big Night In' just released and nominated by Publisher's Weekly recently as one of only three top new cookbook picks - alongside Rachel Ray's latest tome. For the rest of us, she's someone to admire. But like so many working moms trying to be all things to all people, she says, "I feel the pressure when one [kid] forgets to study for a test, or they miss a math assignment. I feel I've let them down." read more...
Bittersweet Mocha Grappa Torte with Walnuts - 12 Nov 2008
Domenica Marchetti, author of Big Night In, from which this recipe is taken, says: "I can't even count the number of times that chocolate tortes have been a source of disappointment to this chocolate lover...either too liquored up, too jammy, too nutty, too dry, or too dense (giant chocolate truffle, anyone?). That's why I am so in love with this recipe; it delivers everything it promises."
So I tried it. And she's right. But the photo is of my version not her elegant one. Tidying up its overspill was a treat - I just ate the bits I sliced off for beautification... read more...
Affogato al caffe - 5 Nov 2008
Aside from serving a bowl of M & Ms at the end of a dinner, this is the easiest stand in for dessert you could find. And one of the most delicious. read more...
Chew On This: We just love our tartrazine - 5 Nov 2008
Of all the food dyes stuffed into what we eat, the shade of yellow created by tartrazine seems to cause the most allergic reaction. If you suffer from asthma or aspirin intolerance, or are feeding children, you - and the rest of us - had better be aware of what it's in. Which is a startlingly long list. Oh, and by the way, the UK's the Foods Standards Agency has called for its voluntary removal by 2009. FDA, are you listening? read more...
The dish - weekly goings on around the capital - 5 Nov 2008
The pick of what's on this week in food around the capital. read more...
Jodi Lehr - Queen of coffee - 4 Nov 2008
Once upon a time, Jodi Lehr might have been described as Roberto Donna’s Mary Poppins. Not that a woman as stylish as she could be pictured in clumpy shoes, squashed hat and dowdy brown coat, clutching a stout umbrella. (Check the Len Depas photo.) But the chef who some (me) might say was the father of Washington dining out as we now know it, would probably agree that without the careful ministrations of Jodi Lehr, he might have gone to pieces. read more...
Let's Meat on the Avenue - one of my favorite markets - 29 Oct 2008
Anyone from Colchester, the oldest recorded Roman town in England, would know butcher Steve Gatward comes from there. He wears the butcher's apron traditional only to Colchester, in red and white stripes. read more...
Leek and Potato Soup - 27 Oct 2008
Made with simple ingredients, Potage Bonne Femme is one of the great classics of French country cooking. This comforting autumnal soup is the version of David Ashwell, chef of Brasserie Beck. read more...
Filipino alternatives to chips - 27 Oct 2008
If you're not familiar with Filipino food, start with the snacks...There are bags of interesting things to crunch along with a cold beer and a good game on the TV that make a change from popcorn and chips. read more...
Founding Farmers - a restaurant goes green - 27 Oct 2008
Graham Duncan worked as a chef in Atlanta for 12 years before coming to D.C. to work at Founding Farmers, a restaurant owned by 40,000 farmers that has been designed and built to meet LEED certification standards. (That’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design to you and me.) read more...
Pork roasts - 27 Oct 2008
Pigs have been intensively farmed to produce a lean white meat. But in an effort to reduce its fat, pork has been turned into a meat that's tasteless and dry. Seek out a cut from a heritage breed, however, and you will have a different experience - pork as it should be. And it's a better life for the pig. read more...
Chew On This: Are your/her breasts shrinking? - 22 Oct 2008
Are your breasts shrinking? Then you're drinking too much coffee. read more...
Anchovies - 22 Oct 2008
One of the most unpopular fishes, anchovies are nevertheless the culinary equivalent of the Wonderbra. They add body to any dish and most opponents don't even know they're there if they can't see them. read more...
Art Smith - owner-chef Art & Soul - 22 Oct 2008
It's rare that I leave a cooking demonstration itching to go home and cook the dish I’ve just seen and eaten. Mostly I think I might cook it - someday. Art Smith’s buttermilk biscuits are the exception. Those biscuits aren't on the menu at his just-opened Capitol Hill restaurant Art & Soul so the recipe, from Back to the Table, is offered this week. But if its Macaroni Casserole is anything like the Macaroni Cheese he made for us, then you'll want to bring your comforter and pillow with you to curl up under while you eat it. read more...
Boarding House Biscuits - 21 Oct 2008
Art Smith's biscuits are so simple to make, quick and easy and so delicious to eat you have no excuse not to try. read more...
Paak Bangla Bazaar - 21 Oct 2008
Par-boiled basmati rice was only one of the intriguing ingredients on sale at the small Pakistani-Bangladeshi bazaar in Falls Church. read more...
Kosher markets, bakeries & restaurants - 16 Oct 2008
There are a wide number of Kosher markets and bakeries, as well as eateries offering most options from a casual pita to a Chinese meal, around the greater Washington area. read more...
Hot sauce - 15 Oct 2008
Even some gourmet diners are prepared to wreck their taste buds with lashings of hot sauce. It's addictive. read more...
Grains & pulses - 15 Oct 2008
We're at the point, as Michael Pollan keeps reminding us, where raising meat is becoming unsustainable and depriving the rest of the world of food. Asian cuisine tends to use it only in small amounts, as a flavoring. It uses grains and pulses for its protein supply. We should learn from this - they're delicious, and cheap. read more...
Filipino feasting - a menu unscrambled - 15 Oct 2008
If you find yourself at sea over a Filipino restaurant menu, here is an explanation of some of the most popular dishes. read more...
Chew on This: Alinea - Cirque du Soleil on a plate? - 14 Oct 2008
In Chicago this week, I've eaten a 'beef', a 'brat', several 'sammitches', a 'dawg' or three, and plan on a deep dish pizza before I leave. I've also eaten at award-heaped Alinea and Charlie Trotter's. And I confess I'm a tad stumped. read more...
Green Aspargus and Morels Fricassee with Organic Poached Egg - 14 Oct 2008
This recipe of Nicolas Legret, chef at The Willard Room, can be adapted to use cheaper mushrooms than morels. read more...
Nicolas Legret - chef of The Willard Room - 14 Oct 2008
It may be surprising to learn that it’s possible for a chef to get Michelin-star burn out. “You get tired,” says Nicolas Legret, executive chef at The Willard Room. He knows. He’s worked at several of France’s top Michelin-blessed two and three star restaurants, in Paris, in rural France and in Cannes. read more...
Thai produce to order from Thailand - 10 Oct 2008
You want to order fresh produce direct from Thailand? Apparently you can, at the Foodway in New Carrollton. read more...
A Slav-Scandinavian cafe - 9 Oct 2008
Fed up with being fed with burgers and steaks and hot dawgs? Looking for a change? Domku Bar and Cafe introduces a neighborhood not known for restaurants as well as an unfamiliar cuisine: Eastern European food in...Petworth! read more...
Fil mjolk - 8 Oct 2008
Swedish fil mjolk is a yogurt drink not unlike Russian kefir that's not difficult to make yourself. read more...
Cuban sandwiches - where to find them - 8 Oct 2008
Genuine Cuban sandwich is sliced across the vertical with a filling of roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, dill pickles, mustard and majo, a garlicky vinegar sauce. You don't have to travel to Miami to find the nearest. read more...
Banana flowers - display or food? - 8 Oct 2008
Sometimes called banana heart for their shape and color, banana flowers are vegetables, used from India right across South East Asia.
Remove all the outer leaves and curious white bracts till you reach the paler inside. If you need to steam them, you can microwave them wrapped in clingwrap. read more...
Wagshal's - one of my favorite markets - 8 Oct 2008
One of the downsides of supermarkets like Whole Foods and the Giant is that they cause the disappearance of the local purveyor. How many main street butchers are still in business around the country? Wagshal's, in Spring Valley, is one of the last. read more...
Amy Brandwein - chef of fyve - 8 Oct 2008
In 2007, Amy Brandwein, new chef de cuisine at fyve was nominated Rising Culinary Star for a RAMMY, the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington awards. Not bad for someone who only started cooking professionally aged 30. read more...
Chew On This: Pringles tweaks our charitable side - 8 Oct 2008
Here's a master stroke of marketing: just in case you're giving up Pringles in favor of no or healthier snacks, Pringles have come up with a reason this approaching holiday season to carry on munching: if we don't, we'll deprive a charity caring for children in hospitals across America. read more...
Chinese noodles & curd - 8 Oct 2008
While the argument rages over whether the noodle came from China or Italy (with the balance weighing for Marco Polo bringing it back from his travels), food historians actually contend it was introduced into Europe by the Arabs of Sicily and Spain. Whatever the truth, it's worth getting to know the different Oriental noodles, their properties and best uses. read more...
Chew On This: A call for food rationing in the developed world - 1 Oct 2008
If we don't limit ourselves to four modest portions of meat and one liter of milk a week, says a report by the Food Climate Network considered the most thorough yet, there's no way we'll avoid run-away climate change. read more...
Korean Korner - 1 Oct 2008
Though its produce section is lush with bunches of salad greens, mustard greens, bok chois and herbs, it's Korean Korner's meat counter that offers some interesting cuts. There's a short rib that's so thick it makes a foolproof braise. Spare ribs come in regular lengths as well as finger-food size. read more...
Yogurt - the good stuff - 1 Oct 2008
I'm in despair over American yogurt. It seems that any old fat-free white dairy solution can be called yogurt. Do its eaters know what they're missing? read more...
Michael Santoro - chef de cuisine at Blue Duck Tavern - 1 Oct 2008
The resume of Michael Santoro, new chef de cuisine at The Blue Duck Tavern, reads like a guide to good restaurants around the world. In England he’s worked at Heston Blumental's The Fat Duck and with bad-boy-but brilliant Tom Aiken, as well as Fergus Henderson. He’s been through the kitchens of the one-star Mugaritz Restaurant near San Sebastian, Spain. He’s worked at Mill’s Tavern in Providence, RI. He’s served as sous chef at the Michelin one-star Restaurant Gilt in New York. And before joining The Blue Duck Tavern he was chef de cuisine at Boqueria, a popular Spanish restaurant in Manhattan. read more...
Whiskey Cured Salmon Gravlox - 1 Oct 2008
This recipe from Michael Santoro, chef de cuisine at The Blue Duck Tavern, is really simple to accomplish and impressive to serve. Be sure to go over the flesh of the salmon with your fingers and a pair of tweezers to winkle out any tiny bones. By the way, the difference between "Whisky" and "Whiskey"? The former is the Scottish spelling, the latter the Irish. read more...
Home-made yogurt - 1 Oct 2008
It's not hard to make your own yogurt. And it tastes a good deal better than some of the big name brand stuff that passes itself off as plain yogurt in the supermarket. read more...
Dominican food unscrambled - 25 Sep 2008
Stuck puzzling over a menu of Dominican food? It's a cuisine well worth investigation. Here's what you will find behind the unfamiliar names. read more...
Dumpling sauce - 24 Sep 2008
Hisao Abe, owner-chef of Kotobuki's recipe is for a dipping sauce that goes well with dumplings. read more...
Hisao Abe - Owner-chef of Kotobuki - 24 Sep 2008
Chef Hisao Abe, who owns Kotobuki on MacArthur Boulevard, learned the art of sushi-making after years of watching, sniffing, tasting. read more...
Shri Krishna Grocery - 24 Sep 2008
Seductive, calming Indian music plays inside this modest market. So when you stop in front of a display of karhai bowls - wok-like pans that some say gave 'curry' its name - you sense that with a simple purchase of just one small one you'll turn out perfect Indian meals. read more...
Eggs better for you and the hen - 24 Sep 2008
Think hard about buying Cage-Free Hen eggs instead of regular eggs. There's not a massive amount of price difference. But there is a massive difference for the hens. read more...
Chew On This: 75 million more go hungry and we scoff fortified foods - 24 Sep 2008
920 million people are undernourished, and with the current financial crisis that figure will rise. Meanwhile our hunger in the U.S. for "functional foods" with their added nutritional values will push sales to $60 billion next year. Something wrong with this picture? read more...
French v. DC markets - 17 Sep 2008
This is a picture of Monsieur Arvouet who makes the best duck salami in the Dordogne. I miss it. It's always hard to adjust to shopping at home after a long, long holiday. This summer in France has wrecked my buying skills. Stocking up an empty fridge, I spent an hour in Whole Foods - and came out with a pint of milk. read more...
Chew On This: Bread from June is fresh? - 17 Sep 2008
This week Wegmans had to widen its recall of store-made bagels and bialys announced originally on September 10, because of the possible presence of bits of metal in them. Now the recall includes challah bread, bialys, rolls and bagels baked in store. More striking than the fragments of metal in the dough and how they got there is the information that the period the recall covers is from June 19 to September 11. Is bread from June 19 still hanging around the place? Yours or theirs? read more...
A happy Thanksgiving & Christmas turkey - 17 Sep 2008
It may seem early to think about your Thanksgiving turkey, but if you want to make your family happy with a turkey that's had a happy life, you should be ordering one now from a farmer whose fowl run free. It will leave a better taste in your mouth. A mass-produced turkey spends its condensed life immobilized by a breast Mae West would have envied, so top heavy it can barely walk. Killed by a cut to the throat, soaked in scaling water to make it easier for a machine to rip out their feathers, they're gutted while still hot then blast-chilled to cool them down.
Gravy with that, anyone? read more...
Roots - 17 Sep 2008
Roots is an organic supermarket with three branches locally that claims it is small enough to beat Whole Foods on price. read more...
Rapini - 17 Sep 2008
Rapini are an under-rated green. Peter Pastan, owner-chef of Obelisk and 2Amys' recipe gives these leafy stalks a chance to star - on their own or as a mildly bitter side vegetable that would go well with grilled meat. read more...
Peter Pastan - Owner-chef of Obelisk and 2Amys - 17 Sep 2008
Peter Pastan fell in love with Italy traveling across the country by train. It shows in the two different styles of his two very different Italian restaurants. read more...
Chew On This: Organics threatened by rising feed costs - 10 Sep 2008
One impact of the rising cost of food has been on organic meat and dairy farmers - who are leaving the market because they can't afford organic animal feed. Consumer demand for organic meat and dairy continues to grow. But supply is becoming limited as dairy, beef and pig farmers leave organic farming - some of them even leaving farming altogether. read more...
Rodmans - one of my favorite markets - 10 Sep 2008
Rodman's is a treasure trove of a store - a market filled with groceries, wines and beers at heavily discounted prices. Missing McVitie's Digestive Biscuits, PG Tips, South African chutneys, Indian ready-meals, Middle East jams? Ex-pats from and travelers to everywhere crowd the aisles in search of nostalgia-inducing products they desire the most. read more...
Brendan Cox - chef of DC Coast - 10 Sep 2008
Brendan Cox, late of CircleOne Bistro and Notti Bianche, has just been appointed as chef of DC Coast. He started cooking seriously while part of a college co-op. The school ran a Health Food Cooperative where, instead of living off the meal plan, students could make their own food. “I cooked for myself a lot and got that bug.” read more...
Roasted Peking Duck, Kohlrabi, Apples, and Chard - 9 Sep 2008
This is a dish to take you into fall and winter from Brendan Cox, late of Circle Bistro and Notti Bianche, now of DC Coast. While the duck is roasting in the oven, you have plenty of time to tackle the vegetables and the rich sauce. read more...
Butter - a good fat if it's good butter - 9 Sep 2008
Read what Brendan Cox has to say about butter in his profile. We make such a fuss about fat. Like everything else, don't have too much of it and aim for the best. Good butter is sometimes worth paying more money for. And look out for "Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes", by Jennifer McLagan, Ten Speed Press. read more...
Chew On This: USDA says 'No' to BSE testing - 4 Sep 2008
Hot on the heels of Chew On This of August 20’s report on new tests to detect BSE in cattle comes news that the government can prevent meat packers from testing their animals for mad cow disease. read more...
Mozzarella with the mostest - 3 Sep 2008
There's mozzarella and mozzarella. (And then there's bufala mozzarella, made in the authentic fashion of Southern Italy from buffalo milk.) read more...
Fricassée Catalane - 3 Sep 2008
Looking for a dish for friends that's a little different? Here's one you can put together at the very last minute if you've prepared the ingredients ahead of time. It comes from French chef Bernard Grenier, owner-chef of Bistro D'Oc. read more...
Bubble Tea Cafe - 3 Sep 2008
Bubble tea may be an acquired taste for anyone not from South East Asia. But give yourself a treat: acquire it. On the lower level of the Wheaton Mall, not far from the entrance to Target, is a dynamic young Asian couple who whiz around like dervishes making all manner of cold or frozen drinks, from fruit smoothies to milk shakes. But their Bubble Teas are where the fun is. read more...
Bernard Grenier - Owner-chef of Bistro D'oc - 3 Sep 2008
Bernard Grenier opened Bistro D’Oc after leaving La Miche in Bethesda. Eating there is an extension of any summer holiday in France. read more...
eatDordogne: Week 7, the end of summer - 3 Sep 2008
Final tally of duck consumption: 7 duck confits; 5 helpings of duck foie gras poelle, flash fried and served with a swirl of honey and balsamic vinegar; 1 duck roasted in red wine; 2 pots of duck rillettes; 1 helping duck cassoulet; 4 home-made terrines of foie gras; 1 large Quiche au Confit de Canard; 3 servings of foie gras brulée from Le Vieux Logis; 4 plates of duck gésiers (confited gizzards - no, they're very nice indeed); copious slices duck salami; copious spoonfuls of duck fat in the Pommes Sarladaises.
Feet definitely growing webs: it's time to come home. read more...
Curried Cauliflower and Fuji Apple Soup - 26 Aug 2008
You may think cauliflower doesn't have enough flavor to work with Madras curry powder. Just try this velvety, subtly spiced recipe from Barry Koslow, chef of The Mendocino Bar & Grille for a very elegant soup. read more...
Chew On This: CSPI wants dyes out of foods - 26 Aug 2008
In the 1990s I had an English friend whose small child suffered from petit mal - minor epileptic fits. Her doctor advised her to lay off any foods with colorings declared on the labels. The fits disappeared - until the family was posted to the U.S. when they returned with a vengeance, since many labels don't fully declare food content. Her pediatrician dismissed her questions about food colorings. read more...
eatDordogne: The diary of a summer, week 6 - 26 Aug 2008
Stéphane Pécal is an award-winning baker. He shows up at the farmers' night markets where local producers cook for you whatever they've grown or slaughtered, hours before the picnickers to fire up the stove for his bread baking. Pastries from the patissier at his Castelnau bakery are also on sale. Some of them are the result of failure, he says. He likes a good mistake. read more...
Foie gras and confits - 26 Aug 2008
Foie gras - food for the rich created out of torture? Why aren't we more worried about the state of battery hen farming? read more...
Napolean Bakery - 26 Aug 2008
It's always a pleasure to see people at work when you're not. At the Korean Napoleon Bakery if you look over the counter crammed with cakes colorfully decorated in butter creams with greetings, wedding figures, sugar babies to celebrate every occasion imaginable, you can see the bakers in the back making the goodies. read more...
Barry Koslow - Chef of Mendocino Bar & Grille - 26 Aug 2008
Before he took up cooking, Mendocino Grille chef Barry Koslow toured — casually — with a rock band. read more...
Chew On This: Test to detect BSE? - 20 Aug 2008
There may at last be a test to monitor at the point of slaughter the presence of BSE in a cow's brain or spinal cord. BSE - Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy - leads to Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans. First discovered in 1996 in the UK, up to now suspected and proven cases of the disease have been diagnosed in 166 people in Britain. read more...
Kabocha Soboroni - 19 Aug 2008
Kaz Okochi, owner-chef of Kaz Sushi Bistro, turns familiar squash into an unfamiliar Japanese food delight that makes an interesting appetizer or a side for more familiar American fish dishes or grills. read more...
Healthway - 19 Aug 2008
Long before Whole Foods, Healthway was in the area selling organic produce and natural foods. The branch in Annandale, pictured here, opened over 20 years ago. read more...
eatDordogne: The diary of a summer, week 5 - 19 Aug 2008
It's the week of the Tennis Club 'Mechoui'. This is an excuse for the eaters and drinkers of the area to hunker down in the newly refurbished (courtesy of EU donations) metal hut that constitutes the Tennis Club and tuck into a roast wild boar with copious amounts of Percharmant wine. It's all cooked by the village men of the club who only sometimes wield a tennis racket but can always raise a glass of whisky. Which they do at around 6 a.m. ceremoniously to toast the boar as they set fire to the pyre of logs beneath it. read more...
Spices in bulk - 19 Aug 2008
Christine, a recent Washington arrival from San Francisco, wanted to know where to find spices and herbs in bulk cheaply. Not at Whole Foods, for a start. Healthway, featured at the top of the page, has a wide range. But she did her own researches and came up with these answers, which she generously passes on. read more...
Kaz Okoshi - Owner-chef of Kaz Sushi Bistro - 19 Aug 2008
Once Kaz Okochi completed the fine arts course in Oklahoma he had come from Japan to the U.S. to take up, he headed home to enroll in the prestigious Tsuji Culinary Institute in Osaka. When he told its career counselor he'd like to cook in America, the counselor suggested he focus on becoming a sushi chef. read more...
Chew On This: Dirty dining in our restaurants - 13 Aug 2008
Washington's Center for Science in the Public Interest has come up with an intriguing proposal: public access to a restaurant's health-code grades. The recommendation comes in a report titled "Dirty Dining: Have Reservations? You Will Now", just published. read more...
Seared Salmon and Romaine Heart Salad - 12 Aug 2008
If you're looking for a change from the ubiquitous Chicken Caesar Salad, this salmon dish from Peggy Thompson, chef of DISH, makes an elegant and satisfying lunch at any time of the year aor a refreshing main course for a summer dinner. read more...
Spice Lanka - one of my favorite markets - 12 Aug 2008
There is a huge difference, says Chandra Malalasekara, between Indian food and the food of Sri Lanka. It's mainly in the spices. "Totally different," he says. He's the Sri Lankan owner of Spice Lanka, so he should know. read more...
eatDordogne: The diary of a summer, week 4 - 12 Aug 2008
We're overrun with snails. Fat, juicy slithering lumps of elastic, they ooze through the undergrowth. They munch their way through the cabbages, the melons, the zucchini in our potager, leaving the vegetables looking like someone has been at them with an acid drip. In revenge, and because nothing should go to waste, I took a leaf from their book and decided to eat them. read more...
Peggy Thompson - Chef of DISH - 12 Aug 2008
Peggy Thompson, chef at DISH, worked as a meeting planner before going to culinary school. Boredom inspired her to start a new career, and through it she found more than just good food. read more...
Chew On This: French women DO get fat - 6 Aug 2008
Whatever elegant Mireille Guiliano, who wrote "French Women Don't Get Fat" believes, they do. Half of all women in France between 35 and 74 and two thirds of French men are thought to be overweight, according to a study released in June. One fifth of all French adults are obese. read more...
New brunch blog - check it out - 6 Aug 2008
I like the brass of someonewho can sub-head his new blog, Yes, you can occasionally get a good brunch in DC. Log on to his blog at brunch dc and see where he's picked, and add your own suggestions. read more...
Peter Smith - Owner-chef of PS7s - 5 Aug 2008
In the family of executive chef and owner of PS7s, passion for food was passed down through the males. read more...
Scallop Boudin with Citrus Compote and Fennel Purée - 5 Aug 2008
This is a dish from Peter Smith, owner-chef of PS7's, designed to impress. But if you take it slowly and carefully it isn't as hard to produce as it may at first appear. The purée and the compote can be finished ahead of time and the boudin taken right up to the moment of poaching. read more...
Niralla Sweets - one of my favorite markets - 5 Aug 2008
When no-one's looking, specially not your mother, you can huddle low in your car outside Niralla Sweets munching on a hot samosa fresh from the bag and very slightly greasy, and dip it into one or the other of two sauces - a hot chili and a cool coriander yogurt. read more...
eatDordogne: The diary of a summer, week 3 - 5 Aug 2008
The wages clerk at the Town Hall has run away with a long-distance truck driver. She took the camper van she had won in a national lottery not some weeks before and headed south. The town is agog, not least because only she knew who on the public payroll is to be paid what. read more...
eatDordogne: The diary of a summer, week 2 - 30 Jul 2008
The local village came to dinner. The chief of police stood up and sang "Do you do you do you Saint Tropez" - one of those songs the French think are the coolest thing and leave foreigners baffled. read more...
Chew on This: Food marketing makes kids fat - 30 Jul 2008
Guess how much money the largest food and beverage companies in the U.S. are spending in marketing their products to children between 2 and 17? $1.6 billion. And you thought the food industry was doing its best to lower childhood obesity rates? read more...
Wegmans - one of my favorite markets - 29 Jul 2008
What a shame for central city dwellers that Wegmans is such a long drive away. It gives Whole Foods such a good run for our money. But then if it weren't and had to pay the high District rents, it probably wouldn't be able to maintain its good prices. Its organic section is competitive, too, and in its own zone which makes for easier shopping. read more...
Frozen custard v. ice cream - 29 Jul 2008
What's the difference between frozen custard, soft serve and ice cream? It boils down to - though not literally for each of these frozen desserts - a question of eggs and creamy milk. read more...
Summer cooking tips for guys - 23 Jul 2008
Mike Licht usually blogs on Washington culture and news events on NotionsCapital.com. But this week he offers some handy tips on summer cooking for guys who don't want to end up in the emergency room and whose partners don't want them to either. read more...
A slam poem on the side... - 21 Jul 2008
Poetry doesn't usually appear on food blogs. But this one - about the capital - is called White Chocolate - which is a food - by Sophia, a young formerly DC-based slam poet. Worth a listen... read more...
eatDordogne: The diary of a summer - 21 Jul 2008
This summer's first visitor has just left. And packed his sheets to take with him. He said he was a poet. He seems to have been a thief. He came shrouded in one of those family names from the lesser known Stans where groups of consonants are joined by a single 'y'. The prime attraction of the wife stowed at home may have been her own nation's lenient immigration policy. The village is now speculating what would have been behind this wanton act. Perhaps he's assessing the thread count by candlelight in the town on the freer side of the mountains backing up to his Stan to gauge how many nimble fingers can be put to the copying. At least they weren't a pair of the antique monogrammed linens. Before the advent of cheap air fares out of the UK and the Netherlands, you used to be able to pick these up at flea markets for less than the cost of a polyester set. Should I send him a bill? Perhaps they'll come back through the mail, laundered, packed into soft tissue and tied in raffia.
His visit meant the first of the summer's duck feasts. If you stay long enough in the Dordogne, you will leave with webbed feet. read more...
Chew on This: A fish industry collapses as American obesity rises - 20 Jul 2008
Unless we've had our head in the sand of our summer beach, the impact of the soaring cost of corn on the price of beef, pork and chicken won't have passed us by. But with corn and soybeans three times the price of two years ago, catfish farmers have begun draining their ponds, unable to keep up with the expense of feeding their stocks. This as Americans confess they're more obese than last year - and should be eating more healthily. read more...
Bob's Noodle House - 19 Jul 2008
One of the most delicious dishes at Bob's Noodle House looks like an early generation breast implant. It's an upturned teacup of grey-toned rice surrounding a stuffing of chopped meats. You'll find it in the appetizer section of this Taiwanese restaurant whose clientele is almost entirely Asian. read more...
Jewell Yam and Leek Soup with Chopped Chives - 19 Jul 2008
The honest orange tuber is turned into a colorful, silky soup under the magic wand of Nora Pouillon, owner-chef of Restaurant Nora. read more...
Nora Pouillon - Owner-chef of Restaurant Nora - 19 Jul 2008
Chef Nora Pouillon has been a force in the sustainable-sourcing, organic and slow food movements. At Restaurant Nora, she keeps pushing for change. read more...
Stella's Bakery - one of my favorites - 19 Jul 2008
Stella's Bakery is a bakery of European pastries, cakes and breads that's one of the best in the area. read more...
Chew On This: Drink even more red wine! - 8 Jul 2008
Wine drinkers looking for an excuse for another glass know that resveratrol in red wine is a good source of antioxidants. Now a group of Hebrew University researchers in Jerusalem have discovered that when you pair it with certain foods, beneficial polyphenols can avert the harmful effect of certain molecules that emerge during the digestive process. Chug down a glass of Pinot Noir or other red wine with your juicy steak and the mix of the two in the stomach will prevent the formation of harmful oxidizing toxins released from red meat and other high-fat foods while they're being digested. read more...
South African groceries - 7 Jul 2008
South African ex-pats or enthusiasts miss their Rooibos tea, their All Gold cans of Seville oranges and figs, their special chutneys. read more...
Ribollita - wondersoup or wodge? - 3 Jul 2008
He Who Must Sometimes Be Obeyed has strong views about stodge and wodge. So to eat the wonderful Italian Ribollita, a soup that is stuffed with soggy bread I have to hive off to Florence on my own. It's tragic what must be done in pursuit of favorite foods. read more...
Chew on This: Whose food healthier? Nature's or the food biz? - 3 Jul 2008
It used to be we asked no more of food than to make us feel full or cosseted or impressed by its skilful execution. Now we expect food to do more than just fill our stomachs. It’s got to have added value as a health remedy. We demand additives in the most unlikely of products, to cure us of existing frailties or protect us against the offset of new ones. It’s not enough to eat salmon or mackerel at least once a week to get our omega-3 fatty acids. We want them delivered by other means than a fish. read more...
Arrowine - one of my favorites - 2 Jul 2008
"I'm getting blackberries, I'm getting pepper, I'm getting tarmac, I'm getting $100,000 a year to talk about wine like this"...Some eonophiles can drive you bonkers. But if you want the right wine without a pretentious sales pitch, to go with an unusual lump of artisan cheese, head to Arrowine and get them both there. read more...
Graham Bartlett - Chef of Zengo - 2 Jul 2008
Graham Bartlett is executive chef of Zengo, where you can find almost everything from ceviche to sushi. He caught the “food bug” while traveling with his parents in Mexico. But Paris, not the States nor Latin America was where he went to learn the culinary arts. read more...
Chew on This: Peking Duck heart disease cure? - 17 Jun 2008
Your starter for 10: The latest magical ingredient to cut the risk of heart disease is --- what? That food coloring that turns Peking Duck its glowing chestnut red.
Didn't get the answer? Back to the bottom of the quiz. read more...
Chew on this: Sickening tomatoes - 16 Jun 2008
The tomato, that friendly fruit romantically called (by pedants, mostly) the love apple, has been almost as poisonous to 228 people in 23 states as the apple her stepmother proferred to Snow White. read more...
Alison Swope - Chef of Restaurant K by Alison Swope - 16 Jun 2008
When Andale, the Penn Quarter restaurant focusing on the foods of Mexico's Oaxaca state, closed at the end of summer 2006, it was more than usually distressing for Alison Swope, the executive chef and co-owner behind Andale. "Most of that staff had been together for 10 years," she says. Loyal followers of Swope's cooking were equally dismayed. There are few enough women chefs in Washington that it can afford to lose one, especially one of her caliber. read more...
Herbs for cooking - 15 Jun 2008
Unless you're cooking pesto sauce, Middle Eastern or Indian dishes on a regular basis, the bunches of herbs sold by supermarkets are usually so large the leaves spoil before you can use all of them. Here are some saving solutions. read more...
Pam Ginsberg - knife skills at the bone - 15 Jun 2008
Pam Ginsberg knows cows.
Or beef, to be more precise. And ham, and chickens. And sausagemeat, even. Pam Ginsberg is the butcher once drawing carnivores to her counter at Brookville supermarket on Connecticut Ave NW and now to be found at Waghal's Market in Spring Valley. read more...
Artfully Chocolate/Kingsbury Confections - one of my favorites - 15 Jun 2008
This is a rare photograph, according to Rob Kingsbury and Eric Nelson, owners of Artfully Chocolate/Kingsbury Confections. They're rarely found together, one of them holding the fort at the Alexandria store, the other manning the 14th St NW location, probably behind the bar area creating chocolate-based cocktails and drinks. read more...
Trent Conry - Chef of Ardeo - 15 Jun 2008
Texas-born Trent Conry of Ardeo/Bardeo likes spicy foods, big talk and an ever-changing menu. This summer, Ardeo's roof top tables are where to eat on a holiday that doesn't take you out of town... read more...
How to make fluffs & foams - 6 Jun 2008
Ever since Ferran Adria of El Bulli took his batterie de cuisine into the laboratory, we've been seeing as much smoke and foam as Hollywood's adventure and horror movies offer. And we've been just as pinned to our seats and bar stools by the experience, only without the screaming. The secret to the smoke is liquid nitrogen. But how about the foam? read more...
On The Road: 4 days in Portugal - 5 Jun 2008
Traveling north from Porto the mountains in spring are so thickly blanketed in egg-yolk-colored broom and purple heather there's no room for goats and sheep to graze. The wine is wonderful - spritzy enough to convince you you're just sipping a summer lemonade and light enough not to do too much damage. The food is less so. If you're catching fish this fresh, why not leave it to show off. read more...
Aulie Bunyarataphan - Owner-chef of Bangkok Joe's - 5 Jun 2008
We have her father to thank that Aulie Bunyarataphan is cooking, not designing clothes. (Though judging by what she has done with her restaurant, those clothes would look terrific.)
The owner and chef of Bangkok Joe’s, Bunyarataphan had ambitions growing up in Thailand of going to Paris to study fashion. But Papa didn’t approve. After she graduated high school, he sent her to live with a cousin in Reston, Va., to continue her education. read more...
Chew On This: Jamie Oliver pirated on the internet? - 4 Jun 2008
A 100-plus page file is dropping into e-mail boxes claiming to be a Jamie Oliver cookbook. It's not the first time it has circulated. It made its first appearance on the web in summer 2003. Now it's back. read more...
What is a mangosteen? - 4 Jun 2008
When Queen Victoria heard of the delicate scent-tasting splendor of the mangosteen of South East Asia, she promised to shower anyone who could bring a perfect example back to her plate with riches and titles. Arise, Sir, the owner of Don Nam #1 Supermarket!
Mangosteen are not unlike a lychee, a juicy translucent fruit trapped in separate segments inside a small globe of thick purple skin. read more...
Phyllis Richman - Queen of Washington restaurant reviews - 3 Jun 2008
Phyllis Richman pads barefoot across her front porch and curls up on the porch swing, tucking her red-painted toes beneath her. She smiles and rocks there like a very gentle version of the Cheshire Cat. She has good reason to smile. Retired now from years as The Washington Post’s restaurant reviewer and food writer, she’s been honored with the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington’s Duke Zeibert Capital Achievement Award. read more...
The Dairy Godmother - one of my favorites - 3 Jun 2008
At The Dairy Godmother I forfeited my usual effort to maintain distance from subject to greed. The afternoon I visited this Del Ray, Alexandria ice cream shop, the Dessert Of the Day (officially know as the DOD as opposed to the FOTD which is the Flavor Of The Day) was Rhubarb Cobbler, still warm from her oven. It called out for a scoop of her soft custard ice cream. Forget adhering to reporter dispassion. Not possible. read more...
Chew On This: Cow patting relieves stress - 2 Jun 2008
Feeling stressed? Go ride a tractor. Your anger and hostility levels, if you're harboring any, could diminish by 70 percent, not to mention those feelings of confusion and depression. These may slump by as much as 80 percent. read more...
Greenage tart - 2 Jun 2008
Greengages are little green plums. I found them recently at the Afghan Mini Market on Backlick Rd, Springfield and at Iransara, in the Peking Gourmet shopping strip, at 6039 Leesburg Pike. Buy ones that are soft only. But you can make this tart with any kind of plum - or with apricots or apples. It's quick, it's easy, it's mouthwatering. read more...
Loomi - what is it? - 30 May 2008
A loomi is a key ingredient in Persian and Middle East cooking. Some soups or stews - particularly Lebanese and Egyptian lentil soup - would be diminished without it. It's the loomi that gives them their sour flavor. read more...
Greek specialties - 30 May 2008
The closest large Greek community is in Baltimore, with its markets and restaurants. But Middle East markets stock plenty of Greek ingredients, and you can learn to cook it yourself. read more...
Tapioca unscrambled - 30 May 2008
Generations of British children grew up on the school dinner concoction Frog's Spawn, a milky dessert, damp and squidgy. It was their revolted name for Tapioca. One of those foods, like Sago Pudding and Rice Pudding, you either love or hate, those children almost without exception hated it. Such a shame. read more...
Eton Mess - 30 May 2008
With local strawberries coming into the stores, here's an easy English recipe to make the most of them. You get the stages ready ahead, to put together at the last minute. It's named after the posh private school of Princes and sons of parents with deep wallets near Windsor Castle - so convenient when Queen Granny wanted to visit William and Harry.
On the 'Fourth of June', a holiday with The Procession of Boats - the top crews row past in vintage wooden rowing boats (Brits find this kind of thing normal) - scholars and parents gather to celebrate the birthday of Eton's patron, King George III (the mad one - that's normal, too). Eton Mess is the pudding de rigueur. ('Pudding' is the posh English word for 'desserts' - a word that would never cross the lips of an old Etonian.) read more...
Salinas Oriental Store - 29 May 2008
You'll find a small selection of home-made Filipino snacks at this unassuming little market. But what's also interesting are the packaged snacks and what these say about different a culture's tastes. read more...
Grilled Mediterranean Sardines with Lemon and Olive Persillade - 27 May 2008
Now we're moving into grilling season, try this recipe of Danny Wells, chef at BlackSalt. Serve them with crusty fresh bread warm from the oven. The persillade is delicious over broiled chicken or lamb, too. read more...
Chew On This: Too little salt bad for the heart? - 27 May 2008
Remember the ‘Butter bad, margarine good – oops, wrong: margarine bad, butter good’ debate? Now salt is the victim of contradictory research. Studies have shown reducing salt intake could cut the long-term risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 35 percent. Last week, the Journal of General Internal Medicine reversed that conclusion, saying too little salt could increase the risk of CVD. read more...
The sweet corn van - 26 May 2008
You can find yourself in Mexico in the heart of Annandale, in the Columbia Pike car park of El Gran Palenque restaurant. It's there that the Elotes Asados Minutas van is parked, cooking and selling sweetcorn smothered in mayo, chili sauce and that grated Mexican cheese that can make your nostrils flare and your lips curl. read more...
Finocchiona salami - 26 May 2008
Finocchiona is one of those wonderful charcuterie meats you had to cross the globe to taste. A Tuscan salami from Florence and nearby, it's secret lies in the fennel seeds that flavors it. Now, if you go to the right source, you can find it around Washington. read more...
Belgian brasseries - 26 May 2008
You don't have to fly out to the tiny cobbled streets behind Brussels' Grand Place to find Belgian brasserie food. There are a number of restaurants that have opened just to serve moules frites, Trappist beers, and other Belgian specialties. read more...
Artisan Confections - one of my favorites - 25 May 2008
Chocolate as art - art as chocolate? Visit Artisan Confections, eat and decide. Native of Arlington Jason Andelman was the pastry chef at TenPenh for five years. A Fine Arts major from the College of William & Mary and an alum of the Culinary Institute of America, he left to pursue an even more artistic adventure - opening his own chocolate shop, Artisan Confections. Now he's making chocolates that look like jewelry. read more...
Pennsylvania Chicken Pot Pie - 21 May 2008
Kevin Villalovos, chef de cuisine of Cure Bar & Bistro's recipe, is comfort food that's elegant enough to serve at a dinner party. Plus it can be assembled in advance and cooked when the door bell rings. The picture is of some of the American salts he uses in his brines and cures. read more...
Cure Bar & Bistro - 21 May 2008
Kevin Ray Villalovos, Chef de Cuisine of the newly opened Cure Bar & Bistro, works wonders with salt. He's using it to cure salmon, to salt meats and to season his home-made garlic sausage. read more...
Cream unscrambled - 20 May 2008
The friendly cow all brown and white
I love with all my heart:
She gives me cream with all her might
To eat with apple tart.
Not great poetry (would you believe it's by Robert Louis Stevenson?) but a great sentiment. And there are so many different kinds, with different uses. read more...
New Zealand eatery - 20 May 2008
EatWashington doesn't cover many restaurants. (I haven't got the money to review them properly...) And I haven't actually eaten at this one. But there are few enough sources for anything New Zealand in the capital I couldn't ignore Cassatt's. You'll have to review it for me. It calls itself a Kiwi Cafe - and a Gourmet Bistro and its card reads "Where restaurant meets coffee shop". read more...
Chew On This: USDA against private BSE testing - 20 May 2008
Sometimes you have to wonder whose interests the United States Department of Agriculture represents. The USDA currently tests around one percent of slaughtered beef cattle for BSE. Creekstone Farms Premium Beef doesn't believe that is anywhere near enough. It tests every single one of its Black Angus cattle for BSE - bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which the Brits, its first known victims, call Mad Cow Disease. Creekstone pays for the testing itself. You'd think the USDA would applaud its public spirit and safety drive. No. It took Creekstone, a Kansas meat packer, to court to prohibit the company from running private tests. And won the case. read more...
Nummy nummy mushrooms - 20 May 2008
This recipe of Jamie Oliver's comes from food blogger Orangette. The photo, with Kim O'Donnel, the Washington Post's food blogger buying, is of the mushroom lady who sells at Penn Quarter farmer's market on Thursdays after 3 p.m. and at Dupont Circle on Sundays, though she doesn't man it herself. You'll find her, too, at the Arlington market. Her morels were $20 for one of those green boxes. But Morel Season is so short...Other mushrooms are less expensive. Stompy Boots' recipe uses cheap ones. The title is her own. Jamie calls it Sliced Mushrooms with Fresh Mozzarella and Thyme read more...
Brian McBride - Chef of The Blue Duck Tavern - 19 May 2008
Changes at The Blue Duck Tavern. Michael Santoro is joining Executive Chef Brian McBride (pictured) as Chef de Cuisine. He used to be at Manhattan's Boqueria. He's worked in top experimental kitchens, like Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck in Bray, England, and at Basque restaurant Mugaritz near San Sebastian. For the BDT's summer menu he's created crispy frog legs and sweetbreads with rhubarb and glazed white asparagus; rack of lamb and confit of breast with chickpea puree and rosemary jus; braised rabbit and homemade pasta with prunes and black olives; smoked and pastrami spiced duck breast with confit of leg as well as homemade gnocchi with marinated porcini and poached egg. read more...
Filipino Home Baking & Grocery - 19 May 2008
Triangle Lane in Wheaton is an international food court in itself. One of the little markets tucked away is Filipino Home Baking & Grocery. It's a modest place with a very small selection of fresh produce. But it's filled with groceries essential to Filipino cooking. read more...
Chew On This: Obese blamed for food and climate crisis! - 16 May 2008
Breaking news 5.16.08: The World Health Organization predicts the global obese population will double to 700 million by 2015. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has calculated the obese consume 18 percent more calories than average. Therefore they're driving up food and fuel prices. How? They provoke an increased consumption of oil by the agriculture and transport industries harnessed to supply their demand for food! Wow. That's quite a twist on the discussion. But it's reported by prestigious journal The Lancet. read more...
Vegan bakeries - 14 May 2008
Hard to believe you can make a seductive cake without eggs or cream or butter. But there are a number of bakeries around town doing just that. And there's nothing homespun in how they look either, for those of you who think 'vegan' means food that looks and tastes like a hand-knitted sock. But look at Cake Love's bundt cake, right. read more...
Ramadan pastries explained - 13 May 2008
During Ramadan especially rich pastries and desserts are made. Considered restorative and nourishing, you can find them until the end of Id al-Fitr, which is the name of the three days of feasting that follow the end of the fasting period. read more...
Broa de Milho - 13 May 2008
Broa de Milho is a corn bread much loved by the northern Portuguese. The harshness of the soil made wheat growing hard, so bakers made a loaf that is four parts corn to one part stone milled buckwheat. read more...
Thai Market - one of my favorite markets - 12 May 2008
Peter Gosak used to be a banker, until one of his clients told him he was going out of business. So Gosak bought him up - and he and Silver Spring's Thai Market have never looked back. read more...
Korean hot pots - 12 May 2008
Cooks in search of low calorie meals that are stimulating to eat could turn to the Korean hot pot. read more...
What is gluten? - 12 May 2008
Gluten is the natural protein surrounding kernels of wheat, barley, rye and oats. It's what makes