Holiday Nibbles

I don't know what it is about December, but even the most reclusive of curmudgeons end up throwing a party. As it is, I've got something going on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of every weekend leading up to Christmas. I know, boo effing hoo. J and I have sensibly decided to sit December out for entertaining and let those with saner heads than we host events. However, I am not so out of the holiday party loop that I can't bring the perfect cocktail party snack to a gathering - my version of the Union Square mixed nuts. This is the perfect party food. It allows guests to just nibble and converse. No balancing of plates and no utensils involved. I love the aromatic spiciness of it. This mixed nuts recipe has been around the block. Both Ina Garten and Nigella Lawson have their versions. I based mine on Nigella's, but went crazy with different flavors. The core of the mixed nuts is the brown sugar and rosemary. On that, you cannot compromise.

So get about six cups of a variety of nuts. I usually do a mixture of cashews, almonds, and Brazil nuts. And to save money, buy them in bulk. Both Whole Foods and Yes Natural Market have bulk nuts (oooh dirty). Roast the nuts at 350 degrees for about ten minutes until they are slightly browned around the edges. In a bowl combine 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary, a pinch of cayenne pepper (to taste) and two pinches of paprika. Mush it together with your fingers so that everything is well distributed. In a large wok under low heat, melt a tablespoon of butter and a teaspoon of sesame oil. Add the brown sugar mixture and stir until the brown sugar and butter are combined. Add the roasted nuts and toss as if you are tossing a salad. Make sure that every nut is slick with the buttery sweetness of the brown sugar and butter. As a final touch, add a tablespoon of maple syrup and toss some more. When everything has been coated with the butter-maple syrup-brown sugar turn off heat and pour into bowls for serving.

Hobart: Australian for fish

“Put a shrimp on the Barbie” has somehow become the quintessential American phrase to describe Australia. Which makes no sense at all. First of all, Australians mimic their mother country in using the word ‘prawn’ to describe those crunchy crustaceans. And second of all, it’s impossible to imagine an Australian eating anything but fried potatoes covered in sweet chili sauce, or reheated, plastic-wrapped meat pies. Oh, and really really mediocre and expensive fusion.

Alright, that’s not true, every once in a while there’s a food gem. But in general it’s back to hunter/gatherer basics as Australians desperately try to ward off scurvy.

With one huge exception. Hobart, capital of Tasmania is possibly the best place in the world to eat fish. And to prove it, this one-time penal colony fronts a ridiculous number of restaurants for such a small population.

Every single fishing pier is covered with fish restaurants: fancy restaurants, fresh fish and chipperies, a sushi bar, fish markets, and barges tied up to the sides of the docks selling, yes, more fish and chips. Even restaurants not lucky enough to own waterside space tout curried scallop pies, huge fish menus, yet more fish and chips, and signs boasting their own private suppliers.

Here, as in all of Australia, the trick is to stay simple. All snobbiness aside, anything more complicated than frying or boiling seems to confound most Australian chefs. The open scallops and poached blue-eye at the swank behemoth Mures Upper Deck, are fantastically unmemorable, but the fish and chips at Fish Frenzy on Elizabeth Street Pier are perfect: hot and slippery and crunchy; covered in fresh beer batter or crumbed (which apparently means ‘covered in crumbs’).

The locals seem to know which is freshest among the barges at Constitution dock, so I suggest going for wherever the lines are longest. Flippers has some sexy crumbed Travelly and battered blue eye, while the barge second to the end has crumbled everything, chips covered in a buttery curry sauce, and Cadbury ice cream delivered fresh from the factory just outside of town.

Steer clear of anyone selling ‘shrimp’; they’re definitely not Australian.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!


As my friends are probably tired of hearing, I think of Thanksgiving as a sortof gateway between the season of guilt (beginning with Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) into a season of unfettered greed, crass commercialism, and selfishness: the winter Holidays. You see, after Thanksgiving comes what a good friend calls Black Friday, which is the biggest shopping day of the year in the US, when retailers can best count on getting in to the black. And then there are all the historical fallacies and political nightmares surrounding this holiday.

When you come right down to it though, Thanksgiving is about food. Every family has its own traditions, its own recipes - some secret, some not - and its own idiosyncrasies. My family gathers, en masse, at the home of whichever relative calls it first - this usually happens around Passover, because whoever hosts doesn't have to worry about driving home, and gets the best/most leftovers - sits around a big table, drinks too much wine, eats too much...errrr....everything, and talks a bit too much about politics. A true Washington Thanksgiving!

Which brings us back to the food. Pictured above is something I wish I'd thought of, or at least seen earlier: a gelatin turkey. Technically, yes, it's a Cornish game hen, but these details certainly do not diminish the comedic potential and horrified reactions my relatives would have if I brought such a thing. She used lite evaporated milk and a bit of green food coloring to cloud and tint watermelon Jell-O, though from my previous experience making brain Jell-O, you can use cottage cheese, too (if you like your turkey chunky, that is).

What are your favorite things to make for Thanksgiving??? Leave your recipe in the comments.

My traditional Thanksgiving contribution, however, is Pecan Pie, largely because I'm the only cooking member of my family who doesn't find it revolting. My recipe is ridiculously easy, and goes something like this:

1 9-inch unbaked pie shell (buy frozen if you must, but be clear a graham cracker one will. not. work.)

3 eggs (you can use egg beaters -- no problem)
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons rum
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup shelled pecans (halves are fine)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Beat eggs in a medium-size bowl until they are light-colored and fluffy.

Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, salt and four tablespoons of the rum and stir by hand with a spoon until the
Sugar is dissolved and the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Stir in the butter and pecans. Pour into the pie shell and bake for 40
minutes or until a knife inserted in the filling comes out clean.

Let cool; you can reheat at about 150 degrees 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with whipped cream, to which you have added the remaining two
tablespoons of rum and the tablespoon of sugar.

When I make whipped cream, I generally add about 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla.
This is not necessary, but I think it gives a nice touch.

Dark rum probably works best with this pie, but any kind will do.

Date and Poppy Scones

A couple of weeks ago, while planning for the vaguely-infamous Brunch 2.0, I came across Clotilde’s recipe for yogurt scones, which looked both intriguing and easy enough for my measurement-impaired style of baking. You see, I have a very short attention span for following directions to a tee. I think it’s genetic: my great grandmother famously vexed her daughter – my grandmother – by keeping her ‘recipes’ on slips of paper that listed ingredients and quantities mostly unrelated to the way she made things. My grandmother simply doesn’t seem to use recipes, and so on. Consequently, my attempts at baking have a habit of being disastrous. Surprisingly, I thought these scones, based loosely on Clotilde’s, came out pretty tasty.

~1 ¾ cup flour
- Just under 7 tsp white sugar
- Just over 2 tbs. butter, (at room temperature)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 135 ml plain yogurt, plus three tablespoons later on
- 2 Tbsp milk
- A small handful of chopped dates and ¾ tsp poppy
seeds.

(Yields 8-ish scones.)

- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Line a cookie sheet with wax paper, and dust it with flour.
- In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar and baking powder.
- Cut in the butter until the whole lot is crumby-looking.
- Add the measured yogurt and milk.
- Mix the dough until it gets doughier, adding the additional yogurt as you go until it has a nice doughy consistency.
(Apparently you’re not supposed to over mix the dough, but since I don’t really know what this means I ignored it.)
- Once the dough is the right consistency, fold in the dates and seeds.
- Fold in a few more dates and poppy seeds, because what you have probably isn’t enough.
- Smoosh dough into a ball and place on floured wax paper, then press it down with your hands (or something more elegant, like a rolling pin, if you must).
- Cut into as many pieces as you like.
- Sprinkle some more seeds and date bits on top of each one (I actually for got to do this, but it would’ve been a good idea).

- Put in the oven for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven – they probably aren’t done yet.
- Panic, but then take the opportunity to brush some melted butter on to them, which you probably should have done in the first place, and put them back in for another 5-10 minutes or so.
- Remove from oven, let cool a bit (but not too much), and serve with strong coffee and mimosas.

If you prefer a more traditional approach to baking, please refer to WRC's previous recipe and prnounciation guide.

Image shamelessly lifted from NM.

Sette Bello

Franco Nuschese, the owner of Georgetown's possibly-too-chic-for-its-own-good staple, Café Milano, and DuPont’s new-ish Sette Osteria, wanted to leave the city and tackle the less formal suburban market with a more unconventional assortment of Italian fare. Unconventional, that is, for American (and particularly DC) tastes. To promote this new venture, Franco's friend and AU professor Gemma Puglisi assigned her senior business undergrads to be Sette Bello's PR machine. Two of her students contacted me (hi Tony and Rob!), and set me up to talk with corporate chef Domenico Cornacchia and later with Franco, who invited me along to try out his new place.

Sette Bello opened in Clarendon this October, to less fanfare than one might expect, but judging from the crowd on its second Thursday of operation, enough fanfare indeed. I had a bit of trouble finding the entrance, which is not actually on Wilson Blvd., but on Highland Street - maybe the suburbs are just too complicated for this city boy. It is more or less directly across the street from the Clarendon Metro, which makes it super-convenient. For the 'burbs.

The entrance leads to a square foyer, where a cheery hostess and manager Brian Scott greeted me, apologized that Franco was stuck in traffic, and escorted me to the bar. This place is bloody huge. The bar is very pretty, but due to its size and highly styled appearance, feels a bit cold and sterile. Amazingly, it is not as noisy as I'd expect such a cavernous space to be.

I sat at the very pretty bar, and ordered a Sapphire martini, because, well, it'd been a rough day. The martini was served in its own shaker - you shake and pour your own - which is cute, but very messy. Condensation quickly soaked my cocktail napkin, and made pouring the second time more difficult. I drank my martini(s), and ate some tasty olives provided as bar snacks (no peanuts here). The bar staff is lovely; they seem to be having fun. Rumor, however, has it that they may not be.

Franco arrived midway through my cocktail adventures, and instructed a host to bring me over to his table when I'm ready. I finish my drink, pay up - cough$16plustipcough - I expect to pay $8-10 for that drink in Dupont, and Clarendon is ever so not Dupont. Yes, you could call it two martinis, since it certainly filled the glass twice, but I didn't order - or, frankly, want - two martinis.

Sitting at the bar, I did not partake of Sette Bello’s main gimmick - "Italian Sushi" - which would be better recognized and more appetizing to me if it were just called "crudo" like in normal places, but from what I saw at other tables, it did look really good. Particularly intriguing were the Ostriche con Limon - oysters prettily arranged on a large shell with lemon confit - and the lovely looking Trittico di Salmone - a trio of cured and tartare salmon, with salmon roe and salsa verde. An interesting note is that Franco doesn't like (Japanese) sushi. Adamantly so, in fact. Crudo is very different than sushi, and it is the kind of food Franco and Domenico remember from their native Italy. Why they needed to use the word 'sushi,' when 'crudo' would have been crystal clear, is a mystery for the ages. Or the PR department. Either way, I would’ve been happy to try any of it. I just didn’t.

Sette Bello
(703) 351-1004
3101 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA 22201

After settling up at the bar, I was led by an eager young hostess back to the main dining room, which makes sort of an "L" with the bar area, and is really ginormous. It's a bit gaping, and consequently cold, but I don't find it as unwelcoming as Rockwell does. I also didn’t notice the surveillance camera, which would have really bothered me and, retrospectively, really does bother me. The booth Franco and I shared was comfy, with a pretty distressed copper-colored tabletop. The plates have a very pretty but vaguely Oriental look about them. They are very pretty, but I'm not sure why they are here.

Franco is very genial, and seems quite excited to share his new place. He’s also always ‘on’ – selling his restaurant to me, hassling his servers, and greeting other friends of his who were there for dinner. That’s his job, and he’s very good at it; it just struck me as funny. He came to DC over 15 years ago to open a restaurant for someone else, but now Sette Bello is the third in his own restaurant empire. He says that coming to a restaurant should be almost like going to theater - a good show. He's rough on his servers, even (perhaps especially?) with me at the table. The ones tending our table are lovely, attentive (Franco is the boss, after all), and one was also damn cute. Cute waiters who give good counsel on my orders go very far in my world; more on that later.

Franco selected the wine, Terruzzi Terre Di Tufi, and ordered a platter of cold cuts for us to share. The wine was quite nice, light and crisp with some apple to it. It pairs beautifully with the cold cuts, which I highly recommend, if only for the ubriacone, a gorgeous cheese that's aged in fermented grapes. The other remarkable cheese was a light (in texture), sweet, powerful gorgonzola.

For starters, I did have a raw dish: tuna tartare with fennel and jalapenos. I know, déjà dull, but I figured I'd try something for which I had a fair basis of comparison. It was really good - fresh, sweet and tangy...I am a sucker for fennel.

My main course was the Cappelli - round pastas with 'buttons' in the middle filled with a bright pink pureed beets, dressed in a very tasty gorgonzola sauce. Again, this was really nice. The portion felt small, but only because the tuna had been fairly large; it was, realistically, a perfect size. The pasta itself is butter, rich, and just a touch al dente. Fraco ordered something from the chef, and while it looked and smelled good, it isn’t on the menu, so I won't discuss it here.

Then, there was dessert. Looking at them menu, I again decided to go with something for which I had a basis of comparison: the tartufo. The cute waiter took my order, but smiled and said that while he would bring me that, he also wanted permission to bring me something else: the gianduiotto alle nocciole. I agreed, much to Franco's contentmentglee. I also ordered an espresso.

The desserts arrived with the espresso. Not after the espresso, not before: at the same time. This seems to be a problem at 90% of the places I go. The espresso is bitter and thick, but light on crema. Whatever, as it is caffeinated, I'm happy. The tartufo is, like everything else, beautifully presented, with a candy garnish sort of like a model galaxy sitting on top. The thing itself, unfortunately, is unremarkable. Not bad - it's really hard to make anything with chocolate bad - but nothing I'd order again. I stopped after a few bites to try the gianduiotto. I understand fully why the waiter insisted that I try it: a write-up ending with that tartufo is guaranteed to be lukewarm at best. This, however, Is. A. Bloody. Good. Dessert. Chocolate, nuttiness, and some more chocolate.

My feelings on Sette Bello are mixed, which is pretty rare for me. I feel I really ought to go back, especially now that they've been open a while, which is part of why I took so long to publish this, but I haven't. Nothing I had was not good, and some of it (the cappelli, the gianduiotto) was excellent. It's not even that it's too expensive - despite the ridiculous martini mortgage valueprice, the food menu is not unreasonably priced. My cappelli was listed as $15 (for the record, Franco generously picked up my tab, which only affects my opinions in as much as I had a wine and second espresso I would not otherwise have had). I really want to like this place – I love crudo, and I love pasta, and I don’t mind the cold, gaping space as much as I expected to, since it's not too loud. But, I think it's the greatness/distance question: if I lived in Clarendon, I would probably have been back a number of times.

I recommend Sette Bello to those in the mood for something a bit different in their Italian restauranting, especially if you’re already on that side of the river. They menu will change seasonally, and so next time there may be new and exciting options on it. I’m sure I’ll be back there at some point, but must admit I’m unlikely to really go out of my way for it.

Totaly local smoothie

Of all the cheesy gimmicks a restaurant can come up with, having really really good food isn’t a bad one. Filling this niche is The Ugly Duck Out of Swansea, Tasmania, pop 529. As one of the few places in Australia not to major in frozen meat pies, Ugly Duck uses local organic products (sheep) to amaze stupid American tourists (us).

Here’s a recipe suggested to us by the Duck’s Mark for a Banana Smoothie…interpreted slightly for those of us who don’t have a neighbor with beehives.

Ugly Smoothie

Combine in a food processor:

• About 1 cup of fresh plain yoghurt- the extra creamy Greek-style stuff if you can.
• 1/3 cup of honey: Tasmanian leatherwood if you can, anything sweet if you can’t.
• A peeled banana.
• Maybe 2 ice cubes. One if it’s a biggy. Just enough to cool things down. That’s my addition, actually.
• A pinch of cardamom
• Cover with milk, but not too much- you can add more later if it’s too thick.

Process on low until everything’s smooth. Then slurp it like it’s the first non-fried food you’ve had in weeks. Which it might be.

Single-ingredient histories

Plenty of things can only exist in a vacuum. Anti-matter. Hell yeah, that stuff doesn’t like being around other stuff. Picking up really hot chicks. Apparently it can only happen in the absence of anyone who can back you up when you boast about it later.

So it’s no surprise to see the current trend of food books: ingredient specialization. Not for these, the concept of focusing on one cuisine, one preparation, or even one dish. The idea of this genre is to choose one specific ingredient X and show how X, and X alone, has sculpted the human race into what it is today.

They each sound pretty convincing. After all, lots of ingredients are universal, and food, or lack of it, has probably had a much greater impact on history than we realize. But there just can’t be a dozen different ingredients where each is the only one to affect human experience. No really, I took high school physics.

Now, I appreciate that taking a sensationalist stance is, academically speaking, the only way to get tenure. But this doesn’t need to be a culinary version of the mêlée over which culture first found America (currently in the running: Basque, Flemish, Chinese, Viking, Spanish, Portuguese, Scottish, and of course, folks from Atlantis). Let’s just calmly sit down and agree that the food most responsible for human history is going to be water.

Salt . Mark Kurlansky argues that salt is the sole cause for early agriculture, trade routes, wars, and modern law. With recipes.

The Hive. Bee Wilson argues that honey is the sole cause for early agriculture, trade routes, wars, and modern law. With recipes.

History of Bread. Bernard Dupaigne argues that bread is the sole cause for early agriculture, trade routes, wars, and modern law.

Cod. Mark Kurlansky argues that cod is the sole cause for early agriculture, trade routes, wars, and modern law. Yes, it’s the same guy who wrote salt, so he must know that they can’t both be right. The only mitigating fact is I think, historically, folks used a lot of salt on cod.

Looking for a menu online?

I don't know about you, but if you are a foodie and übergeek like myself (and my fiancé), you probably use the internet to do your research on the restaurants you potentially want to visit. This of course involves the ubiquitous google search for your favorite place, to look at their website and menu offerings. I've come to realize that not every restaurant has a webpage or menu online, and now Menupix tries to fill the void. Search by neighborhood and/or cuisine to find the address, type of cuisine, whether it delivers or not, and its menu (if available).

DCFud on the Road: Dining At Disney

Nothing can make you scream “Vacation!” more quickly than the prospect of a FREEEE hotel, so when my sister was tapped to present a paper at an engineering conference in Orlando, I quickly hopped on for the ride. The result was four manic days and four late nights in what bills itself as the most magical place on earth.

But for me, magic can’t be present without good food, so my sister and I made trying new (and often overpriced) restaurants a part of our Disney experience. No chicken fingers for this crew! Here are some of the results.

bluezoo:: Restauranteur Todd English of Olives fame has a trendy, largely-seafood place stationed in the Dophin Hotel, at which we were guests. The place isn’t cheap - Mandy and I dropped $75 each for two entrees, an appetizer and wine. But the place has a cool vibe and the food is prepared with care – beef tenderloin is juicy and flavorful, mahi-mahi is light and well-accented. Side dishes were unremarkable, and the whole place had a bit of a style-over-substance feel, but it was still a great meal.

Wolfgang Puck Café. Fans of the California legend have their pick of options in Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island – the cafeteria-style Express, the mid-priced café and the upscale dining room. We took two trips to the in-between option and were more than satisfied with both. Pumpkin ravioli was artfully dressed in a brown butter sauce with a balsamic glaze. Sushi was fresh; red snapper was jazzed up with a delicious pesto. My favorite was the rosemary roasted chicken, in which I practically consumed my weight. The place has jazzy drinks and killer desserts – two delicious offerings were a thick carrot cake and an unbelievable pumpkin cheesecake on a chocolate crust. Avoid the calamari – it’s nothing special and the sauce is underwhelming; plus you’ll want to save room for the rest of your courses.

Mexico: Located in Epcot World Showcase, Mexico’s a must-stop location, but it’s more for atmosphere than food. Take some time for the river ride and browse the shops, but the Mexican food isn’t going to overwhelm you (the salsa in particular is rather flavorless). I recommend big frozen margaritas and a bowl of tortilla soup for snacking and soaking up the scenery.

Kona Café: If you want the chance to ride the monorail and take a Magic Kingdom breather, it’s fun to take a short ride over to the Polynesian hotel and check out the premises. We decided to have lunch at Kona Café, but the experience was pretty mediocre. The Wasabi Bloody Mary is a better idea in theory than in practice, and the drink-in-a-pineapple, while impressive-looking, is pretty ice-heavy. The Asian Noodle Bowl is essentially bland Pho, though the teriyaki fried steak provided a tangy crunch. Serviceable, but not a stop to remember.

Kimono’s: Another hotel destination, this one in the Swan. Kimono’s is a sushi bar/karaoke place, and it’s an elegant, chill way to spend the evening (though the “chill” portion depends on who’s behind the microphone). Kobe beef and duck satee is satisfying, the sushi does its job, and their noodles put Kona’s to shame.

Paulimoto's, Tyson's Corner

I'm not quite sure how long it's been open, but Amelie and I decided to check it out this past Friday. The decor is reminiscent of Morimoto's in Philadelphia insofar as the wave theme has carried over into Paulimoto's. We were expecting a bit more, I suppose, because the Morimoto's in Philly is really something else in terms of appointment and furnishings. Paulimoto's is more spartan and industrial- open ducts, naked woods and solid brown bakelite-like tables.

Paulimoto's advertises that it serves Chinese and Japanese food. The menu reads a lot like PF Chang's except the Japanese (Morimoto-inspired supposedly) dishes are a bit more fusion-ey. We decided to skip the Chinese and go for the Japanese and that was a wise decision. We looked around at the other tables' orders and the Chinese looked less-than-exciting.

We started with an agedashi tofu which was very good, and we also decided to order lettuce wraps (just like PF Chang's), because we just can't get enough of them. The lettuce wraps are identical to the ones at the other Asian bistro to include the "special sauce" that they put together for you.

We ordered three robatayaki just to see how they were here and they weren't very good. I should say the Kobe beef one we got was very good, the asparagus was ok, and the scallops were down right awful. I honestly thought they served us dried scallops on sticks.

For the main course, I got the miso black cod and Amelie got the tempura halibut with spicy miso. Luckily, both the entrees were well above the quality of appetizers. The miso cod had enough miso to flavor the entire cod steaks and the halibut was lightly fried in cubes and served with a spicy miso sauce on the plate. Both were served (as are all entrees) with brown rice (you can get white rice if you want). We did also order a side of wasabi mashed potatoes because Amelie had never had them before, but neither of us liked it so we didn't eat it. Too buttery, and for my palette, butter plus wasabi equals not good.

So all in all, the Japanese entrees were very good, particularly considering they were about $16 and you're in a shopping mall. The appetizers, ehh... not so good. The Kobe beef robatayaki was good though. The Chinese choices were nothing extraordinary from what I could tell and I wouldn't go there to eat Chinese anyway. If you've been to the Morimoto's in Philly, you'll recognize the inspiration of a couple of the entrees, but aside from that and the Morimoto sake, there is no clear influence of the Iron Chef here. Total bill for two appetizers, three robatayaki, two entrees, one side dish, and three Pellegrinos was $80. Not too shabby.

Definitely make a reservation if you want to go, otherwise you will wait a long time for a table. Also, as of the time of this writing, they didn't have their liquor license yet so we couldn't have any Morimoto sake.

Pauli Moto's Asian Bistro
Tyson's Corner Center
703-556-7777

Just eat the Kangaroo

You’re ecologically sensitive when it comes to coagulated animal protein. You purchase only free-range organic beef and Kosher chicken. You chew on venison jerky, and wax ecstatic over ostrich whenever Whole Foods has it in stock.

And yet, even the head of Sierra Club isn’t as ecologically minded as an average Australian. There are recycling boxes next to each and every public garbage can and Tasmania is all set to become the first plastic bag-free state in the world. Add to this the perfect meat source: almost no fat, low in environmental impact, sustainable, organic, free range, and tasty. I am in fact talking about Kangaroo.

Oh don’t look at me like that. You’ve defied your Disney conditioning enough to eat venison, and these tasty marsupials don’t even have their own cutesy movie.

Culling of natural predators has resulted in a huge overpopulation. They have few of the parasites and diseases present in domestic animals like cows and sheep, and, while animals with hooves kill off vegetation and cause erosion, the famous kangaroo bounce keeps soil healthy. It’s practically our duty to barbeque, roast, and sauté these furry meat-bags.

Five species of kangaroo are currently harvested in Australia by small, local suppliers. It’s the type of cottage industry that would make any hippie proud. Even conservation groups agree that upping kangaroo farming would help out with environmental revitalization efforts.

And anyway, it’s juicy and tender and tasty, and really good. The American Heart Association agrees, but more for the low fat content and high vitamins. And it’s coming soon. Oh yes. It’s helping out with the “Russian Meat shortage”. It’s surging in Europe thanks to the Foot and Mouth epidemic a few years ago. And now, the US.

Finally, an Australian export that doesn’t wear a silly hat. Try some, extra rare

Ongoing Battle of Cheap Eats

Just in time for the influx of cold-weather tourists to our fair city, CNN has compiled and posted a list of "cheap" places to eat well in DC. These sorts of lists seem designed to generate controversy, but hey - we don't shy from controversy around here. My take on the entries on CNN's list about which I know anything:

2. Ben's Chili Bowl. I love it, and I fully support sending tourists there very late at night: we need to thin the herd!

3. Lauriol Plaza. Why does this place consistently make every single "cheap eats" list in DC?? It's in no way cheap, the lines are awful, and the food is just so-so. You can so infinitely better at Dos Gringos, Mixtec, or any of the tiny Salvadorian and Ecuadorian places on the Hill. Ugh!

7. Leftbank. Whuuuh? It's expensive. I've never had good service (OK, I've only been twice, but still...). The food is so-so. It's expensive. We also don't need any more tourists on 18th street.

8. The Diner. See 7, above, except I love a few of the servers.

10. Moby Dick House of Kabob. Now we're talking. Except, uhm, it's really a carry-out place.

Where would you send visitors on a budget? Please distinguish where you'd send people you like (Oohhs and Aahhs for mac+cheese) versus people you don't like (Anacostia Park for sunset).

Hostel Cookery

The theft of food has a long and glorious history: Jean ValJean did it. Huckleberry Finn did it. And who could forget the classic knee-slapper, ”What are the first three words in a Hungarian cookbook? ‘Steal a chicken’”.

So it is unsurprising to that those of us who have spent the last two years sleeping at camp sites, hostel dorm rooms, and on one occasion, a beach, a very specialized form of cooking has evolved. This is hostel cooking, and it’s the most regional form of cuisine because each region has different foods to steal. And by steal, I mean ‘take without paying for’.

Let’s be fair. Lots of countries won’t allow fruits and vegetables over the state borders, and it can be better to carry only light, non-perishables like powdered soup and rice anyway. Hostel cooking is a cuisine that relies on having spent your last dollar on weird foreign beer the night before.

Basically, every hostel worth its pool table has a ‘Free Food shelf’. Some hostel stoves are coin-fed, and many places make you rent the cutlery. At some you even have to battle a giant German rugby player to be allowed at the sink. It’s in this classic tradition that we proudly give you the following recipes. They take 7 minutes, can be eaten out of the pot they were cooked in, and, most importantly, cost less than 2$ if you do it right. You’re on your own for the Rugby player tho.

Buy: 1 small white onion, and one 6-pack of eggs

Stolen spaghetti stew
This is the most basic of hostel dishes and it relies on one thing: carrying a large supply of powdered Chinese egg soup with you at all times. You can get the stuff for 50 cents at any Asian grocery store (I prefer the one in Rockville, but there’s one in Chinatown, and plenty of others all over the place). It’s really just beef or chicken bullion thickened with a little corn starch.

Start with whatever the required amount of water, cold in a pot. Add in the powder, and place it on low heat. Dice up the onion and toss it in. Add some of the ubiquitous spaghetti found on every free food shelf. If there isn’t any for free, find someone else’s groceries and either 1) steal a couple of strands, or if you think that will be too obvious 2) carefully break all the ends off of the entire pack, about half an inch down. That way, they all end up the same length, albeit shorter. Bring to a boil. Crack an egg into a rented cup and beat it a bit, then whisk it into the stew with a fork. Instant paradise in a bowl.

Really Deviled eggs
Take the eggs and hard-boil them. When you’re sure they’re ready, boil them for another few minutes, and then plunge them into cold water for a bit. Peel and slice each egg carefully in half and remove the yolks with a spoon. Locate some mayonnaise and some mustard. Grey Pupon is the best, but really anything on the free shelf will do.

Now just start adding whatever you can find to the yolks: a scoop of mayo, a scoop of mustard, whatever salt and pepper’s around, hot sauce, chili’s if it’s an Asian country, curry if it’s India (or England). Squish it all together with a fork to make a smooth yellow paste, and then scoop it back into the egg white cups using a spoon. Eat until you feel sick. Trade the onion to the Rugby player for a beer.

The Search for Great BBQ: A Clip Show Special

Several weeks ago, our own CZ posted a review of Capital Q BBQ, the lastest in a series of BBQ-related reviews we've done here on DCFUD and elsewhere. We're always in search of the latest and best BBQ. Given that some of us haven't eaten decent BBQ in at least six months, we thought we'd do what all good food lovers to do, and lust for BBQ experiences through our past writings and the writings of others. So, listed below for your pleasure, is our own BBQ link edition, including our reviews of local-ish BBQ and reviews from other great local sites.

Since BBQ always inspires such great feedback, we'd like to encourage our readers to provide their own views on the "best BBQ" in the greater DC area. And provide us with the links we missed, as we desperately need to read about more local BBQ.

• Capital Q BBQ (DCFUD, September 2005) - "Portions were fairly large, overall the BBQ was good, but not the best. I think Rocklands' ribs are better, but I want to go back already. Especially for their hot links."
• Old Glory (The Kitchenette, September 2005) - "Old Glory has the friendly Fourth of July ambiance a bewildered student needs to gradually get oriented back to campus life. forget delicate tablecloths or fancy hor d'oeuvres-- eating here is messy and fun. it's only a matter of time before i find remnants of the meal underneath fingernails while daydreaming in class tomorrow."
• Riedel's Restaurant (Metrocurean, September 2005) - "Memphis, South Carolina, Kansas City and Texas-style homemade sauces are available to dress your 'cue. (Metrocurean notes the absence of her native North Carolina sauces—both vinegar-based and tomato-based—but I won't hold it against them.)"
• Rocklands BBQ (Ceno Ergo Sum, September 2005) - "At Rocklands, they slow cook the meat over hickory and then bring it up to temperature later, after you place your order. This ensures that your order is hot, but also still tender and juicy. They also go to the trouble of splitting the ribs and breaking the whole chickens into individual serving sizes before wrapping them up for you."
• Lefty's BBQ (DCFUD, November, 2004) - "The consensus is that out of all the BBQ places our crack team has tried, including Rocklands; Old Glory; Dixie Bones; Urban BBQ; Red, Hot, and Blue; and Johnny's, Lefty's Barbecue holds the current title of best BBQ in the metro D.C. area. At least, that is, until the next trip."
• All the BBQ in Town (The Washington Post, July 22, 2004) - The Washington Post reviews local BBQ, and ends up dubbing The Rib Pit as the best in D.C. "The Rib Pit is the real thing. A wood-fired smoker built of white glazed brick dominates this tiny carryout on 14th Street NW, in Petworth. The immediate neighborhood looks a bit rough, and a bulletproof partition separates employees from customers. But these are perhaps the best ribs ($16.90 a slab) to be found in the District."
• Johnny Boy's (DCSOB/DCFUD Team, November 2003) - "The pulled pork was certainly up there on the list, but not the most amazing I've ever had. RJ3's ribs were scrumptious, but did not live up to the hype that had been promised. Either way, it was worth the drive, although possibly not for a second time."

UPDATE: Reader JM points to a place we seem to have missed: Levi’s Port Café (1102 8th St. SE). The City Paper gives this relative newbie high marks; what do you think?