Every Meal Counts

I have long been a fan of Tyler Cowen's site, so today's talk sounds interesting. A friend passed this email on to me, and I am -of course- sharing it with you...

You are invited to a free book talk on "Every Meal Counts: How to Find the Best Food in Washington, D.C." by Tyler Cowen, author of Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist, on Tuesday, October 30, 2007, at 6:30 p.m. in the first floor auditorium of the Cleveland Park Branch of the DC Public Library, 3310 Connecticut Ave., N.W.

Mr. Cowen is also the author of an online guide to "Ethnic Dining in Washington, D.C." A book sale and signing courtesy of the Trover Shop will follow the program. Free to the public; no reservations required. For further information, call the Cleveland Park Library at 202/282-3080.

Sprouting

Winter is coming. And if you're anything like me, that means that the color will all drain out of your life, leaving you a sad withered husk of the once-vibrant person you usually are. My most recent solution? Growing sprouts on the kitchen counter. Having something green and growing helps one stave off the SAD. As an added bonus, the quickest sprouts will grow in three days, giving you a much-need boost of almost-instantaneous gratification.

Growing sprouts at home not only gives you the satisfaction of eating them for literally pennies but you can also turn up your nose at the Yes!/Whole Foods/Eastern Market/Giant/Safeway/military/industrial complex.

The pictures show mung beans (59 cents at the Asian Market) which are the same sprouts used in all your favorite pan-Asian stir-fries. Though you can eat them straight up, I prefer to cook with them. If you're looking for something a little more direct-to-the-sandwich, you can sprout alfalfa, brassica (anything in the broccoli family), or mustard. Even the biggest dried legumes can be sprouted, including lentils, dried peas, and dried chick peas. Be sure to pick only the most-complete kernels if you go this route: I had one batch of dried peas go terribly wrong because only about 50% were undamaged enough to actually sprout.

The super-market-beatingest part about this is the drop-dead simplicity. You put in about three minutes of set up time, then 30 seconds a day for a couple of days and mother nature does all the heavy lifting.

First: get yourself a jar. I use a wide-mouthed mason jar because I had one hanging around. That's science. Next, fashion a breathable top that will allow water entry and egress, but still holds your sprouts in. I use cheesecloth, which is perfect since you can just screw the jar lid over it. You are now prepared to buy seeds. On my first-ever attempt, I sprouted alfalfa from a seed envelope I bought at Fragers. Once you've gotten hard core you too can order specialty blends from organic farmers growing happy healthy seeds in California. Part of the fun is buying tablespoons of different random seeds from your local bulk-purchase location and seeing which sprout and how fast.

Once you have the seeds, bung them in the container and soak them in tap water for 8-12 hours. The next morning, drain and rinse them once or twice until the water runs clear. Drain a final time, throw a towel over the container so that no light enters, and run off to do the million other things the day requires. Over the next couple of days repeat the rinse-and-drain cycle once in the morning and once at night.

One day you'll realize that the sprouts are the exact size you want them. Leave them uncovered to green up in the pallid winter sunlight (it doesn't take much light to fire up their little chloroplasts). After that, eat them with abandon. Whatever you don't eat out of hand can be transfered into a baggie and thrown in the fridge. They'll keep for about two weeks I'm told, although mine have never avoided predation so long!

This was written by guest Füddite EJG.

Natalia's Elegant Creations Update

I want to thank DCFUD reader, Gary, for this comment to my article about
Natalia's Elegant Creations:

I just wanted to give a shout-out to
Natalia's Elegant Creations new location in Falls Church. I'm vegan and I like rich, flavorful, fresh-baked desserts. Before Natalia's, basically my only two choices were make them myself or schlep over to Sticky Fingers in Columbia Heights.

-Gary

For the Bacontarian in you!

I know there must be plenty of Bacontarians reading DCFUD. For you hearty folks, I would like to draw your attention to one of my favorite t-shirt designs, from Dieselsweeties!

Apparently bacon and eggplant is a good combination - for clothing. :)

The Five Paragraph Bitter Wedding Food Critic

As my lifelong friend Joe drove away with his new bride Kassy on Saturday, so ended my "Season of Taffeta." Four weddings and a bachelor party in Vegas, all compacted in the past seven weekends. Combined with my ongoing project of helping a friend shoot a little indie flick on the Eastern Shore and helping my mom move to Phoenix, Arizona, I haven't had much time to dine the way I'd like. You know...with table service. Servers without nametags and flair. Menus that don't have backlighting and value meals. Without getting smooshed between great aunt Hilda and flatulent uncle Marty at table number 8 asking me "why ain't choo married yet?"

Still, I can't complain too much - there are positives abound with so many weddings. My friends are demonstrating their love and commitment. There's usually a lot of food and drinks. Bridesmaids are usually attractive. Aunt Hilda and uncle Marty reaffirmed my decision to avoid all family reunions. And I learned things that will come in handy should I decide to get married, or put in a bid for that mail order Russian bride.

1) Caterers at a wedding should always have one vegan/vegetarian dish. No matter how carnivoiristic the bride and groom may be, there's always at least one person who won't eat the chicken or the fish. It's a nice gesture, and veggie options are often cheap.

2) Open bars are all well and good, but the bar should not be the only place to get drinks, especially at a reception with lots of young children. The smartest thing I've seen in a while was a "Kid's Drink Stand" where they could mix and match their favorite flavors for juices and waters, and let the adults have the bar to themselves.

3) Wedding cakes may be gorgeous, but they are simply not practical. Tiered cakes can be messy, difficult to move and store, and require a dedicated cake cutter after the initial bride and groom slice. Some people want big pieces of cake, others just want a little bit with extra frosting. To eliminate that hassle, do what Joe and Kassy did, as pictured above: wedding cupcakes and canollis. Minimal mess, easy storage, and ready-made serving sizes.

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The 5PBWC gives 8 Whammies! to the weddings I went to this fall. 2 Whammies! for each groom being level-headed, 2 Whammies! for each bride not morphing into Bridezilla, 2 Whammies! for tasteful bridesmaids' dresses, and 2 Whammies! for each open bar, because, frankly, I wasn't interested in juice.
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Faux Pho

You can’t always get what you want, the cliché goes, but I’ve found that I can usually improvise to get what I need. I wanted pho. Hot, spicy, sketchy-meat filled pho. Sadly, I’m 15 miles from the nearest acceptable option, in the middle of midterms, and flat broke.

Lucky for me, I had some (faux?) pho bullion cubes leftover from a previous (and abortive) attempt at making the stuff myself, so I wondered if I couldn’t whip up something close enough. What I ended up with only resembled the real thing in its flavor undertones and hot-soupness. I probably should have added some more star anise.

The good news is, despite not being what I really wanted, my soup was delicious and satisfied my craving for hearty comfort food. Here’s what I used:

2 pho bullion cubes (Chay brand);
3 cups water;
A bunch of mixed dried mushrooms;
Some frozen (thawed) veggies - snow peas, broccoli, onion, kale;
About a pound of frozen (thawed) mahi-mahi;
Hot red pepper flakes;
Fresh basil (about 10-12 leaves);
A splash of Mirin;
Some stale sourdough bread.

Yeah, I keep some strange stuff in my pantry.

Here’s what I did:

I boiled the water to dissolve the pho cubes, and reduced the heat to medium for a slow boil, adding the mushrooms. Then I added the veggies, which I’d resuscitated from cryo-stasis in the microwave, and the fish (thawed in a cold water bath and cubed). I let the mix return to a boil, and after a few minutes tasted it and decided hot pepper flakes were in order. So I added a few shakes.

While that boiled away (for about 12-15 minutes), I prepared my serving bowl by turning the bread (as I had no noodles handy) and making croutons - tear up and bake about 5 minutes at 450 degrees - and tearing the basil into it. When the fish was cooked through (flaky and white, not grey and hard or à poil as you’d eat it normally), I ladled some into the bowl.

I added soy sauce and fish sauce and sriracha, but even without them, the flavor was good. It would have been nice to have fresh lime and bean sprouts too, but oh well. I was happy! The sourdough was actually the nicest surprise: it really set off the soup’s flavors. Has anyone ever seen or made sourdough pasta? That might be a good thing for me to keep around.

Mmmmmmmm, Dawgs!

After an evening wandering the venues of Adams Morgan, I will admit to being partial to a hotdog, eggplant fries, and a drink from Mdawg. And, they have a special that lets you have that combination for about $6.

Ok...you don't have to get eggplant fries, but my friends who are not eggplant eaters (*gasp*) actually liked them. I hear that the sweet potato fries are very good, but they tend to run out often so I can't vouch for them myself. I tried the tater tots and fries, both of which are what you would expect. I prefer the eggplant fries myself. So...hop to the fixin's bar, use some of the sauces, and doctor yourself up an mdawg.

They have some interestingly named options (which aren't part of the $6 special) that you can choose from, including:

The Oy
The BJ
The Chubby
The Lady
The Glove
The French
The Virgin

Anyone else sensing a sexual theme here? ;) You can read the descriptions of those dawgs by clicking here.

It is tasty stuff, and they are open until late. So...after a weekend evening of naming the fish in the tanks of The Reef, Drinking "666's" in Heavan and Hell, or singing karaoke in Roxanne...you might need a Jumbo Slice alternative. :)

Yes, I know...when you are drunk enough, jumbo slice is heaven. The New Yorker in me is skeptical but I do aspire to get that drunk one day! Ok, maybe not! :) Until then...an mdawg or two will do. :)

When Veggies Go Bad...Really Bad

From Framebox.de - maybe those kids who hate vegetables are on to something - they're Aliens.

Follow the link above for a great detail shot.

I don't even want to hazard a guess as to what salad dressing goes best with this. I'm guessing something acidic.

Link to this awesome, yet terrifying art found via Dark Roasted Blend.

Fall Pasta

Sometimes, when you cook something haphazardly, and the results are … haphazard. On rare, wonderful occasions, they are delicious and satisfying and worth repeating in a more orderly fashion. It’s October - properly fall now - and my first proper dish of the season was one of these delightful surprises; I’ll make it again without a doubt, and a bit of advance planning will make it even more amazing.

I love fall: the weather cools and the season’s earthy flavors make a nice letting down from summer’s exuberance before winter’s deeper and richer ones. My favorite fall ingredient of all is probably the most iconic, at least in the States: pumpkin. At the farmers market this week, I spied the first batch, rich orange with spiky grayish-brown stems, and bought two. It’s not yet cold enough here for my pumpkin curry, so I looked for another idea. Drawing from vague memories and, as I am in fact still a grad student, what was really cheap, I also purchased some really beautiful beets, and fresh sage.

Come dinner-prepping time, I was in the mood for pasta. How could I make my pumpkin-y schemes fit this new craving? Another memory flickered through my mind, this time of a creamy squash pasta, somewhere in DC, many years ago. Funny how I can remember things like this, but not the names and dates needed for my communications exam…

I messed about for a while, but ultimately this is what I used:

1 medium pumpkin, cut into 1-ish inch chunks (about 3 cups worth);
2 large beets, cleaned and similarly cubed;
1 pound whole wheat penne;
7 cloves garlic, chopped;
12 fresh sage leaves, torn into bits;
½ cup light cream;
½ cup milk (2%);
Sriracha;
Fresh-grated Parmesan;
Olive Oil;
Salt and pepper.

What I did:

I prepped everything as above. Ideally, I’d have pre-roast the beets halfway, but I am lazy so I just microwaved them for about 9 minutes; this softens them up so they can be sautéed with the pumpkin, saving some time. Once that was done, I added both beets and pumpkins to a pan over medium-high heat, with a bunch of olive oil and some salt. I sautéed them until everything was tender, but not quite fully done, and removed to a bowl, where I stirred in about half of the chopped garlic and sage.

While that was cooking, I boiled my pasta, adding a small piece of beet to that pot to make the pasta pink, because I was feeling that cheeky. When the pasta was slightly under-done (just before proper al dente), I drained and put it, along with the sautéed pumpkin and beets, into a large pot over low-medium heat. Then I mixed in milk, cream, and the rest of the spices. As it heated, I slowly added Parmesan until it was a bit gooey, but not super-cheesy (I didn’t want mac+cheese). Finally, I added sriracha, salt and pepper.

I served it with a bit more Parmesan on top, and it was fantastic. The pumpkin and beet really sing together, especially with all that dairy to mellow the beets’ sharpness. I’ve been enjoying the leftovers ever since, and found that adding some chicken chorizo really kicked things up, both in terms of flavor and fillingness.