Tue
27
Apr '10
Fri
18
Sep '09
Brasserie Beck
Step into the doors of Brasserie Beck and it’s like you’ve hopped on board a train to Brussels. White marble floors dotted with bistro-style tables and chairs, clocks that display the times of various countries across the world set the ambiance. Pass by the bustling open kitchen to watch the chefs prepare a multitude of delicious looking meals – smells wafting through the air – and you will likely have your inspiration for your meal.
Continue reading "Tale of Belgian Beer and Food Adventure in DC…and the BEST fries EVER!" »
Wed
16
Sep '09
While the cupcakes look innocent enough… Looks can be deceiving.
This last weekend I set out to bake cupcakes. I received a request for chocolate cupcakes to be exact, and I thought strawberries would be a good complement to the chocolate cake.
Hey why not have a chocolate cupcake with strawberry frosting and top it with some chocolate covered strawberries (as a play on the chocolate and strawberry components of the cupcakes).
The idea was flawlessly executed in my head. Chocolate cupcakes can’t be too difficult – only – I didn’t have a recipe that I liked. So I looked it up and found a recipe for Magnolia Chocolate cupcakes. This recipe featured real chocolate, so I decided to give it a try.
Continue reading "Confessions of My Chocolate Cupcake Fail" »
Fri
11
Sep '09
A Photo Essay:
Farmers Market weekends have been my latest obsession. There’s just something exciting about picking out your fruit and vegetables from the farmers markets, coming home with your swag, and figuring out what you’re going to do with it -
Here are some menu items from my weekend adventures.
Dinner 1:
Panzanella Salad - 4 different varieties of seasonal Tomatoes, cucumbers, genovese basil, Italian Pane Bread, tossed with red wine vinegar over a fresh bed of mixed greens.
Italian Style Hanger Steak – Steak marinated in balsalmic, rosemary, garlic, then dusted with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
Roasted Seasonal Veggies - roasted red Peppers, Zucchini, Eggplant, garlic in olive oil, fresh genovese Basil, salt, pepper, red pepper grilled
Berry and Yogurt Parfait - Fresh Raspberries and Blackberries with Vanilla Yogurt
Dinner 2:
Baja Style Fish Tacos – Mahi (from TJs) Beer Battered and pan fried, topped with marinated cabbage, pico de gallo with local “celebrity” tomatoes, zesty yogurt lime sauce, and freshly made poblano pepper hot sauce
Carne Asada Tacos – Skirt Steak topped with cilantro, onions, fresh pico de gallo, poblano pepper hot sauce and a touch of lime
Fresh Multi-Colored Corn with Cilantro Lime Butter
Not pictured: Matcha Green Tea Sponge Cupcakes with Fresh Raspberry whipped cream topping.]
Not all my endeavors were a success – While veggies and fish are easy enough, I get overzealous with the cooking of my steak and often overcook it. Hanger and Skirt steaks (both the prime ingredients for my two farmers market meals) are tough to handle because even a little over cooking can result in tough meat. In both my meals my meals were an exercise for the jaw and the temples…
Hopefully I’ll have better execution next time! But this also made me more appreciative for those masterfully cooked pieces of hanger steak at Ray’s…
Thu
10
Sep '09
Morou – The Next Iron Chef contender and owner of the former Farrah Olivia–opened a new Italian restaurant with his brother Amadou. www.korarestaurant.com. Apparently Amadou is an accomplished Italian chef with some street cred.
Fri
21
Aug '09
As you can see from my blog – every Friday I have this dilemma – where to eat for the night. My Friday meal is in many ways my reward. For working hard and getting through the week, for eating healthy at home most nights, for staying disciplined, for keeping a positive attitude; and it is also conducive to my favorite activity – a Good interactive conversation with good friends. The prospect of great food, and great times with even greater friends excite me. And I always take a few hours on Friday thinking up the PERFECT dinner spot to fit the occasion. It ranges from holes in the wall to hipper spots, but regardless this decision is always a tough one for me. For this, I dub these Friday night contemplations Fat Fridays.
Here’s a piece of my mind:
Fri
21
Aug '09
Gamasot – The Korean Secret Cure for Hangovers
Sullungtang (설렁탕) has long been one of the cures for Hangovers in Korea. Eat this and your headache, your nausea, your overall “shitty’ feeling will go away, says every Korean adult. Other remedies include Honey water (꿀물) and Hyejanggook (해장국). Though this belief is not validated by scientific evidence, when I’m hungover, I immediately seek the comforts of a bowl of steaming sullungtang to calm my stomach. It may be a placebo effect – the soothing look of the milky broth and the calming feeling I get from the warm broth coating my stomach from the harsh alcohol – but I’m a firm believer in this cure.
Continue reading "For the Hungover, the Hungry…Some Korean Hangover Secrets" »
Tue
11
Aug '09
BBQ Stop #2 Dixie Bones –
Oh Dixie bones. Hardly expected to find this southern gem in the midst of Woodbridge car dealerships. But alas, you were there all along.
Fri
7
Aug '09
BBQ Searching begins! Firin up my Tastebuds at Columbia Firehouse
Last week I decided to start my quest for BBQ. And somehow I ended up killing two birds with one stone.
Stop #1:
Columbia Firehouse –
Although this isn’t a BBQ-focused restaurant, their southern menu with great prices flying under the banner of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group sold me. Up to the challenge were their smoked babyback ribs with Pulled Pork BBQ, Potato Salad, pickled peppers & fried green tomato.
Continue reading "BBQ Search: Firing Up My Tastebuds at Columbia Firehouse" »
Fri
31
Jul '09
Craving For some Juicy, Smoky, Fall-off-the-Bone BBQ!!!
I used to have this ritual at Syracuse. Every time my college sweetheart would make a trip to the tundra to visit me, I’d plan to make a stop to Dinosaur BBQ – a Syracuse institution and probably some of the best BBQ I’ve had to date. We’d drive there – rain, shine, BLIZZARD, sleet – park next to probably 20 different choppers/Harleys – and walk in a daze into the sweet smell of smoky, slow-cooked bbq. My mouth would water as I’d picture the pink, juicy, fall off the bone meat – slathered in their perfectly spicy, tangy, smoky, slightly sweet BBQ sauce – only to be reminded by the waitress… “It’s going to be about 2 hours hon, so sit tight.”
Continue reading "Brisket, Pulled Pork, and Ribs – Oh My!" »
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