DCFUD

Variation on a Salsa Verde

For some time now, I've been craving salsa verde. I don't really know why, or even what I wanted to do when I find it, but there was a clear deficit of the stuff in my life. Store-bought salsas are pretty much invariably disappointing, and the green varieties double so. They usually at double the cost too.

Traditionally, salsa verde is made with jalapenos, tomatillos, cilantro, and lime juice. I don't like jalapenos (or, at least, I prefer other sources of heat), the cilantro at the store wasn't so great, and I forgot to buy lime juice. As usual, I was not about to let this deter me.

I used:

3 tomatillos
1 cup (or so) fresh basil
3/4 cup Vidalia onion
2 Serrano peppers
2 cloves garlic
1 tbs olive oil
3/4 tsp celery salt
3/4 tsp turbinado sugar

First, preheat your broiler, with the top rack as far up as it goes. Now remove the papery husks from the tomatillos, and wash the sticky stuff from them. Now, slice them in half, and place on a cookie sheet with your peppers and unpeeled garlic. Put in the broiler, about 1-2 inches from heat. They should stay in until the tomatillos are slightly charred and falling apart, which takes about 10 minutes, but you should turn everything once halfway through.

While those are cooking, chop up your onion and measure the spices.

Once everything's cooked, take it out of the oven, peel the garlic and stem the peppers. Now, put everything into a blender or food processor and liquify. Adjust with salt, sugar, pepper, and whatever else you like, until you're happy. Remember - the flavors will be stronger once it has cooled and congealed a bit!

Serve with chips or on enchiladas or wherever you might want a very flavorful, slightly sweet but mostly tangy, heat. It also works very well as a pesto substitute if you use more basil.

Sous vide, Sans Frais

As anyone who watches Top Chef knows, cooking sous vide means cooking food sealed in a vacuum pouch, in a low-temperature water bath, for a long time. As anyone who has ever considered actually doing this knows, the "proper" way to do this - with special bags and a fancy, temperature-controlled water bath setup - is really expensive. I don't even have a vacuum food-saver, let alone a separate gizmo for water temperature control.

But I still wanted to try this sous vide business, and decided to see what I could come up with. I figured - my freezer bags are supposed to be microwave safe, why not lukewarm water safe? I also have a large pot and a candy thermometer which handily dangles from the side, measuring the temperature at about the center of the pot. The half-pound mahi hahi fillet I bought at the fishmonger today was just begging me to experiment.

I filled my large pot with water over a high flame and set up my thermometer. I stirred it around occasionally to make sure the temperature was even, and when it was at 125 (F) I reduced it to low heat, and made sure I could maintain it there while prepping the food.

For the marinade, I decided to go a bit Japanese, and used:

1/4 cup shochu (sake might be better, but I had shochu)
1/4 cup water (because shochu can be vicious)
1/8 cup light soy sauce
2 squirts of Sriracha
1 handful of chopped spring onions

I put all that, along with my fish, into a medium-sized (2-cup) freezer bag, and sealed it almost all the way. I then made my own vacuum by sucking the air out of the remaining open corner, pressing it shut as I did. Don't do this in front of your guests - it ~~might~~ will weird them out. Then, I dropped the bag into my pot and watched until the temperature rose back up to 125. Then, stirring occasionally and checking/adjusting the temperature, I let it cook for a little under 25 minutes (this was all, by the way, wild guesswork).

I opened the bag and served the super moist and extremely tender fish with jasmine rice. Let me tell you, this is a great way to cook. The flavors were amazing! I would use an even lighter marinade next time, because the fish really did just suck it all up - I even cut myself a few bites from the very center of the fillet and even there it was saturated with deliciousness.

Sous vide may become my new default way of cooking, when I'm not in a hurry. Fish cooks pretty quickly, but something like chicken or steak (which I fully intend to try!) will take a bit longer. But let it be known - this technique is not just for fancy-pants drama queens on Bravo. You too can use the principles to cook some really spectacular stuff at home.

Photoshop Failure #1

Thanks to Photoshop Diasters for this one...

There's something fishy about this picture...not quite sure if I can put my finger on it...

I have to wonder what this tastes like. I'm guessing either exactly like Special K or Honey Bunches of Oats. Possibly even a combination of the drippings of the scores of hefty women who work out there mixed with desperation and bad body images.

It's sweatastic!

Hank's Lookaround Cafe' Has Closed?

According to Dave Hughes of the comprehensive local media blog DCRTV.org, not only has Don Geronimo of the "Don and Mike Show" taken an early retirement, but his co-host, Mike O'Meara, has closed his self-named pub in Northern Virginia as well.

I had never been to O'Meara's, often referred to as "Hank's Lookaround Cafe'" of "The Larry Sanders Show" fame on the show, though I heard the nightlife was more memorable than the food. In fact I've been to Texas more in the past decade (four) more than I've been to nearby Manassas (two).

Don's departure from the show was expected - he'd announced months ago that he'd grown tired of the industry and regulations, though the retirement was thought to begin in another few weeks. O'Meara will continue on with the show, bringing back former producer Beth Ann McBride and keeping the rest of the crew.

Still, I can't wait to find out why O'Meara's restaurant has closed. I'll post more as I find out more.

Baskin-Robbins 31 Cent Scoop Night!

From Baskin Robbins' Facebook:

Mark your calendars, 31 Cent Scoop Night is back at Baskin-Robbins for the 2nd year!

On April 30 from 5 - 10 p.m., Baskin-Robbins will be reducing prices of ice cream scoops to 31 cents and paying tribute to America's firefighting heroes. Baskin-Robbins will be partnering with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and providing them with a $100,000 donation. The event will be held at Baskin-Robbins 2,700 stores across the country.

Bring your teammates, family, and friends to this special event. Would you believe 31 people can join in the fun for less than $10?!

If you need help finding a local store in your area, visit www.baskinrobbins.com/storelocator.

For full event details or to set-up a reminder for the event, check out www.baskinrobbins.com/31cent.

Mikuni Sacramento

I found myself recently in Sacramento (that’s the capital of California, kids) for a job interview, and walking around town I noticed more than a few sushi places. Being an absolute sucker for raw-fish-on-rice, I decided to try one. I very nearly entered a posh, high-end looking place, but just then a group of kids walked by and were discussing how it wasn’t good. Were they experts? I don’t know, but it was the only sign I had, so I decided to look farther.

Walking past another place, I noticed a quartet of Japanese-looking twenty-somethings (who were also speaking Japanese) heading inside to eat. Again, I had no idea if they actually knew anything about sushi, but it seemed as good a recommendation as any. So I went in. Funnily, I ended up going again the next day, when the person interviewing me suggested we go there for dinner.

On my first (solo) visit to Mikuni, I sat at one of the four sushi bars on the first floor of the loft-style restaurant, with all kinds of shiny objects and flat-screen TVs adorning the walls to entertain me. The atmosphere was … a bit too much. The overly-trendy aspect is mostly par for the sushi course, but a few notable oddities struck me. First of all, both times I was there, the staff would yell some kind of chant, which may have been in English or may not have been, in response to some periodic clue. A bit annoying, but quickly ignored and maybe if I was clued in I’d think it was fun. Secondly, the chefs all wore jackets covered in corporate sponsor ads, looking like a bunch of NASCAR vehicles, only in black and white. I asked my server, who was lovely, about it and she said it was just their “thing,” and that the sponsors did things like pay for the flatscreen TVs. I have to say: if I wanted to see commercials, I’d stay home and watch TV there.

That the sushi chef who greeted me appeared to be about 17 was odd, but he was nice there didn’t seem to be mass death occurring in his other customers. I forwent the extensive list of fruity $10 cocktails and $5 flavored teas in favor of the complimentary green, which while brewed a bit too hot*, was fine. Miso soup - OK, though a bit heavy on tofu and with no nori - is also complimentary, but you have to ask for it.

For my dinner I ordered the chef’s selection chirashi. The presentation was gorgeous - much more architectural than I usually expect, with the slices of fish layered and grouped like a little castle on a hill of rice, not just strewn about. And, it was delicious. The salmon and tuna (maguro) were excellent - full of flavor and just the right texture. The tako was a sliced a bit too thick, and the snapper was a bit rubbery, but those were my only real complaints. Oh, and the tamago was very very good too. My dinner was under $20 (plus tip) for a good sized plate of good sushi, which I regard as not too expensive.

The next night, we sat at a table and again refrained from the cocktail menu (it was an interview, after all!). We decided to share a chef’s selection sushi mix, a chef’s selection sashimi mix, and, on our server’s recommendation, a Train Wreck roll. The latter is one of the trendy, over-flavored concoctions I usually avoid, but it turned out to be pretty tasty. It was essentially shrimp tempura wrapped in rice and nori topped with unagi and a ‘spicy’ sauce. You could not taste the shrimp, but the unagi did just beat out the sauce to be nice. On the sushi and sashimi side, the shrimp (ameabi) was sweet and delicious, the eel (unagi) very good, and the yellowtail awesome.

There is other Japanese food (tempura, salads, etc.) on the menu, but we didn’t try those. We also opted not to have dessert, the limited options for which were mochi ice cream or some sort of chocolate sundae business that sounded an odd way to follow sushi (or tempura).

All in all, I had two good meals at Mikuni, at not a bad price. The service was pretty good, and unless you’re easily bothered by loud noise (and décor), it’s a comfortable place to be. So, if you happen to be in Sacramento, and craving sushi, it’s a good bet.

Mikuni
1530 J St
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 447-2111

* Generally, green teas are best brewed around 80 degrees C (180 F), too hot and they don’t taste as fresh or clear. Sadly, almost every place you get green tea in the US just uses boiling water (100 C/212 F).

Five Paragraphs of Unbitter Love

The greatest minds in human history have sought to explain love. Philosophers have tried to rationalize it. Politicians have tried to legislate it. Scientists have tried to quantify it. There's chemistry in the lab, but seldom holds up in field tests. We love non-humans - pets, for example, or cuddly baby pandas. For the masses that shuffle off to uninspiring jobs and lives, we openly admit love for our equally lifeless iPods, a particular book we're reading, or an outfit we're wearing. There's even love for a moment, such as sunset or the feeling of a cool rain on a warm day. Though with all these various categories of love, is it therefore possible to love a city? For after all, what really is a city but merely a collection of buildings, citizens, location and infrastructure? Does admiration for the beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge or the majesty of the Principal Financial Group's headquarters lend itself to love? Is love the quality that makes being a citizen of a certain city a source of pride for some? New Yorkers boast about the most minute of the Big Apple's attributes routinely. Perhaps it's more of an emotional response to a city's individual culture. Miami's party scene. Boston's sports fans. Chicago's pizza. Denver's outdoor lifestyle. These traits generate affection for an area.

If that's the case, then I love Austin, Texas. I'm not afraid to admit it. I would commit to Austin. 35 years of bachelorhood would be an afterthought if I could come home to a hot piece of urban ass like Austin every night. Austin is exactly what it appears to be - no games, no bull. No emotional baggage left over from its last relationship. Now, Austin has lived. It's stayed out too late a few times; it's experimented with substances; it's flirted with the athletes. It's gone out with the rich boys. It's dated the interesting quirky guys. Through it all, Austin is open, ready, and not afraid to play. Just like every cliche' ad on Match.com, Austin is comfortable in a dress or in blue jeans, works hard AND plays hard, and loves to laugh. And, like any good spouse, Austin is no joke in the kitchen, especially when it comes to barbecue, my favorite food group.

The capital of Texas has a very diverse dining scene, and I wasn't concerned about any of it. See, my love of good Texas barbecue is tangible and undeniable, and Austin is the center of that world. Austin has barbecue places like D.C. has Starbucks and L.A. has failed actors who work at Starbucks. However, the majority of Austin's `cue is actually good and talented, and moderately priced.

I just got back from a week at the SXSW festival in Austin, where pretty much every blogger, music journalist and indie rock band in the world was as well. Had the bomb gone off, Hannah Montana and the remaining Idolettes would have been the only recording artists left in America. The music fest was the number one reason I was there, but I can't deny the allure of slow-roasted critter on every block. Ribs, brisket, turkey breast, hot links - various types of marinades and spices. All of it designed to make your taste buds publicly renounce any barbecue born east of the Mississippi.

"But Five," if you've made it through my ramblings this far, you're asking, "which place should I go to if I find myself hungry and in Austin?" The answer is "depends on your mood." Are you in downtown and are looking for some good blues music, fantastic sausage and a killer apple crisp? Then go to Stubb's and tell Matisyahu "hello." If you're poking around Hippie Hollow by Lake Travis, and get hungry after Lance Armstrong dusted you on his training ride, then check out Smokey J's and enjoy the taste of their sweeter sauce mingling with their brisket and jerky. What if you're south of town and hungrier than Pac-Man? Then go to The Salt Lick in nearby Driftwood and go for the all-you-can-eat option. But, what if you just want to eat the best ribs in town? Then go to Rudy's. There are several locations in Austin, nearby Round Rock and along I-35 down to San Antonio. Perfectly smoked with a succulent spicy crust - just make sure you save room for their equally delicious turkey. And if that's not enough barbecue for you, then you're either Steve Raichlen or you need your thyroid checked.

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Austin earns 13 Whammies! out of 15 potential Whammies! One Whammy! was awarded for each of the following categories - food, cost of living, nightlife, affordable real estate, laid back attitude, bicycle friendliness, environmental sensitivity, decent job market, number of Rudy's locations in the immediate area (seriously, that stuff is crack) and incredibly cool people. The only Whammies! not earned were for the ungodly amount of hipsters (what is it about people who love indie rock and their inability to dress themselves?) and that the Fry's Electronics there is not nearly as cool as the ones in Southern California. But I'm willing to work with that.
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Pour some syrup on me!

I've met Jon Wye many times over the last couple of years at DC area street festivals, where he sells his crafted belts and buckles. He is friendly and fun to talk to. I recently found a sticker with his website address around my place, and revisited the site. He has some great food-related items!

I am drawn to the Waffle, Coffee, Cherry Pie, and Rooster (aka C*ck) buckles. The latter reminds me of Sriracha Hot Sauce, which I've heard referred to as "red hot c*ck sauce" by a friend of mine in Seattle, and yeah, she did have a bit of a potty mouth.

The Homemaker belt seems like a good match for the pie, coffee, and waffle buckles, and the Farmer Boy belt seems like good match for the rooster, waffle, and pie buckles, but solid color belts would work as well.

Jon has a way with describing his items:

"Waffle belt buckle with two pats of butter. For men or women who wish they could pour syrup on their crotch all day long but are prevented by social convention."

Vegan Veggies

Occasional Füddie SNH sends us this quick, vegan & gluten-free dish using lemon zest and tahini to make a delicious, creamy and tangy sauce.

Ingredients:
3 lemons
1 crown of broccoli
1/2 crown cauliflower
1 cup okra, chopped
Thin rice noodles (or other noodles)
1 Tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
2 cloves garlic
Almonds, roasted and chopped
Olive oil
Black pepper (fresh ground)

- Chop broccoli, cauliflower, and okra. Cut large florets in half, keep small florets. Set aside.
- Zest one of the lemons and set the zest aside.
- Juice all three lemons.
- In a small saucepan (cast iron works well*), heat 1 tbsp olive oil on low.
- In a steamer, steam the broccoli, cauliflower, and okra.
- Chop or crush garlic, combine with olive oil in saucepan. Increase heat to medium-low, sautee 5 minutes.
- Add lemon zest and sautée for another 5 minutes.
- Optional: Remove lemon zest and garlic cloves from the olive oil.
- Add lemon juice and tahini to olive oil, stirring until the mixture has a creamy consistency. Reduce heat to low and stir every few minutes until ready to serve.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the rice noodles. Cook according to directions on the package.

Once vegetables have reached desired tenderness, drain the noodles and vegetables. Serve noodles topped with vegetables, sauce, and almonds.

*If using cast iron for the sauce, be sure to rinse promptly after and re-season with oil right away. The highly acidic lemon juice can strip the pan of some of its seasoning/coating.

Food for Good

Remember everyone - today is Dining Out for Life day: going out for lunch or dinner at participating restaurants around DC today gets critical money donated to Food+Friends, an organization which delivers food to people who are too ill to get their own.

It's a great charity, and another excuse to eat out for lunch (and dinner!) is never a bad thing.

Florida Ave. Grill Brings Home Gold

It's probably not the recognition the gourmet gurus following Roberto Donna's brief Iron chef career are looking for, but fans of the Florida Avenue Grill will be thrilled to know that it won a spot in the Details magazine's Best Breakfasts in America list. The reviewers noted the classic, Southern-inspired fare and de rigeur employee sass as winners in the cross-country round-up. I love the place, so this recognition just validates and makes me happy!

Florida Avenue Grill
1100 Florida Ave. NW,
Washington, DC 20009
202-265-1586

Free Chili Day!

The Hard Times Cafe is offering a free bowl of chili all day today. We thought folks might like to know.

Hard Times Cafe
3028 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA
(703) 528-2233

Diagrammatic Chicken

Recipes are a funny thing. Some people live by them - they read and follow every instruction to the letter, obsessing over how many salt grains are in a “pinch” (is that the same as a “Pinch”?) or if a splash is more than one shake of the soy sauce bottle. Then there are people like my great-grandmother, who are probably aware that “teaspoon” has a specific definition, but wouldn’t admit it if asked.

I’m somewhere in between: I like recipes in theory, but am a bit inconsistent at actually using them once in the kitchen. It’s always nice to have some idea what you’re going to need from the store, and how long it’s likely to take, but once the cooking starts, I tend to let go of what’s written down in favor of what flavors or textures or colors strike me just then. Sometimes it works, sometimes it’s a disaster. Other people generally don’t hear about the latter, and that is not about to change.

But this is all subject to a bias, generated by how recipes have always been presented to me: a list of ingredients and instructions, neatly indented and punctuated, with notes in the margins and certain words circled or crossed out and written over. Upon seeing the image above on BoingBoing last week, I couldn’t resist.

First of all, it’s beautiful. Second of all (assuming there’s not much missing from the translations), it does just what I want a recipe to do: it gives me an idea, easily subjected to my own moods and whims. In deference to that concept, I’ll only give the highlights of my version.

I used all the ingredients in the diagram (except duck, I only had chicken), plus some tapioca starch. For the “1 cup sauce” I used about 3/4 cup soy sauce, and the rest was mostly Sriracha and some lime juice.

I fried the spices in sesame oil till they were fragrant, then added the chicken and, after a couple of minutes, my shitakes. After a while I added the sauce and beer (I used Kirin Ichiban, because it’s what I had), and when the chicken was cooked I thickened it with the starch.

I served it over white hominy, because I was too lazy to make rice, and that actually worked really well. It was a bit salty (maybe less soy sauce and more beer next time), but really delicious.

Any brilliant artists out there who want to make me very happy are encouraged to paint some recipes after this fashion - my kitchen has plenty of empty wall space!

The Lion in the Hotel

A couple of days before Valentine's Day, I took a date to Coeur De Lion in the Henley Park Hotel. It is a pretty little restaurant off to the side of the main bar. Yes, yes, I usually write about ethnic restaurants and dives – but not this time.

It was a cold, rainy night, and we were running early, so we hung out with some guests in the room to the right side of the front desk. That fireplace felt good. Then, off to the restaurant.

The service was very good, with Jamal (our waiter) spending some time with us without overdoing it. He did help us select the food and wine.

I ordered the jumbo shrimp as an appetizer. The chili flavored prawns were sitting on a pile of hummus. The lemon oil gave the dish a nice flavor. The strip steak with Yukon gold mashed potatoes, Vidalia onions, and baby spinach was cooked correctly (medium) and had a flavorful red wine sauce. The steak was actually huge; I only got through half of it.

My date was happy with the grouper with mushroom risotto and a salad. Ok…we did pick the wine to go with her dish. I drank Riesling with steak…I'll never get my food snob license now. ;)

We shared the seasonal fruit (which happened to be mixed berries with mint leaves) and the cheesecake with mango sauce. The berries were sweet and refreshing, and the cheesecake was fluffy, like a mousse.

Appetizers are $8-13, entrees are mostly in the $30's, and desserts are $8. We drank a bottle of Dr. Loosen 2006 Germany Riesling ($9 a glass and $28 a bottle).

With wine, it was about $120 for two. Ok…I'll admit it; I won the dinner at an event a few months ago. So, I cashed in my gift certificate and we had a great dinner in a fancy restaurant. You can't go wrong with that. But, yes I recommend the restaurant even if you are paying for your meal.

Coeur De Lion, in the Henley Park Hotel.

926 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington D.C. 20001
202-638-5200

Quick Lemongrass Chicken

Lemongrass is a great spice. It can be used in warm, soothing dishes as well as it can be in cold refreshing and hot jarring ones. I love to use it as a way of brightening up a recipe, much as I'd use lemon juice, although without the acidity or extra liquid. This dish is one I've been making, in one form or another, for many years - it's fast, easy, and pretty healthy.

Because this is a dish that's best made a bit thrown-together, everything here is approximate, and everyone should adjust to their own tastes and moods.

What you need:

1 3/4 chicken breast, cut into strips
1 tbs. garlic (minced)
1 tbs lemongrass, diced small
1 tbs light soy sauce
1 tbs oyster sauce
1 tbs rice wine (or cheap red, if that's what you've got)
2 serrano peppers, diced
Fresh basil

What you do:

Heat some oil to medium-high in a wok, and add the garlic and lemongrass, stirring until very fragrant. Then, add the chicken and let cook until it's about 3/4 done, about 3 minutes. Now, raise the heat to high and add your sauces and peppers, stir-frying for about a minute. Lower heat back to medium, and cook until the sauce is reduced about 80%.

Serve hot over rice, and garnish with basil leaves.

(Image from wiki-images)