Cooking

Recent Kitchen Experimentation

Jon — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 01:47:26 +0000

On a whim, I bought a bunch of rhubarb at the farmer's market this weekend, figuring I could find a tasty recipe for it. I found a rustic rhubarb tart recipe at http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/05/rustic-rhubarb-tarts/ -- I made a few edits to their recipe, though. In the pastry, I used one whole egg instead of two yolks, and a flour mixture of 1 cup cornmeal and 1 1/2 cups flour. I didn't have any cream, so I just used 2% milk instead. In the compote, I added dash each of cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and a 1/2 oz of dark rum.

Closing out Winter, Welcoming Spring

Jon — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 22:57:39 +0000

Last night, we had some friends over, serving our Pumpkin Raviolli using up the last of our pumpkin puree with an awesome beet-blood orange-fig chevre salad, fresh bread courtesy of the guests, and good wine and conversation courtesy of all involved. For dessert, I finally attempted my grandmother's strawberry shortcake, whipped-egg-risen cakes and all. It turned out well, but still a bit eggy (I used farm fresh eggs).

We ended the night with some creative Manhattans, and all was good.

Tonight, we continued on the celebrate-spring trajectory with a seared steelhead filet (with parsely, chives, lemon zest and a dusting of garlic and sage powder) served alongside some fiddle-head ferns which I blanched then sauteed with already-carmelizing onions and mushrooms in bacon fat. To both dishes, a dash of white wine was added.

In other words, I'm very happy it's spring. We've begun haunting the various nearby farmer's markets for any sign of garlic tails.

Brisket Success

Jon — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:14:06 +0000

I spotted some Stubbs' Moppin' Sauce in the Austin airport on the way back from SXSW. It was handily past the screening point, and I snagged it; having been unable to source it in DC as yet.

We finally got around to smoking up a brisket; and between increased patience, a smaller hunk of meat, and a better setup inside the grill itself, it all worked out. We got a great red crust around the outside and tender but juicy inside.

Arganica Week 3

Audrey — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:24:08 +0000

This week we received our third Arganica delivery (apologies for forgetting to take a picture and post about our second delivery, which included locally milled flour).

This week's delivery includes:

Farm Eggs
Pizza Dough
Roasted Garlic Linguini
Cremini Mushrooms
York Apples
Hydroponic Lettuce
Avocado
Parsley

When this 1-month trial is done (next week), expect a longer post on our overall experience.

Pumpkins!

Jon — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:51:56 +0000

The local market has a ton of wonderful pumpkins that we're trying out recipes with. This week was the warty "Galeuse d'Eysines," which I think will get turned into something sweet (though the pumpkin fries weren't half bad).

Fall Harvest

Audrey — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:12:44 +0000

This week fall arrived in full force in DC (actually, temperatures more like winter, but the first taste of cold anyhow...). We wanted to take advantage of the fall bounty suddenly available at Eastern Market, and so we spent most of our day preparing a tasty Italian-inspired fall harvest dinner (yes we began at 10 am by roasting said harvest vegetables...).

Menu for the week of Feb 22: N'awlins

Jon — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:29:28 +0000

In celebration of Mardi Gras, we're focusing on N'awlins style food

Sunday: Shrimp, Chicken and Andouille sausage gumbo with dirty rice

Monday: Steamed crab with old bay seasoned btter

Menu for the week of Feb 16

Audrey — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:54:15 +0000

This week's menu followed our weekend away, so we didn't do very much planning or an extensive market shop. I'll call this week "Simple Comfort Foods."

Monday - bread, cheese, and sausage leftovers from winestasting

Tuesday - big salad

Wednesday - taco night!!

Thursday - lox and bagels and latkes (aka Jew food night)

Friday - gourmet burgers

Menu for the week of Feb 9

Jon — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:12:34 +0000

Our plan for next week is all south of the border - Nicaraguan Gallo Pinto with pollo asado, enchiladas (half suizas style, half Lauriol Plaza-esque seafood enchiladas), gallo pinto leftovers (with fried cheese), and pupusas.

Menu for the week of Feb 2

Jon — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:56:55 +0000

The theme this week was "Mediterranean coast" - so we had southern French, Italian, and Middle-Eastern dishes.

Monday - Gnocci in a cream truffle sauce. When I finalize the recipe for this, I'll post it. It's heart-stopping in at least two ways.

Tuesday - Spiced, braised (in beer) lamb sausage with hummus

Wednesday - mediterranean dip night with hummus, spicy hummus, tzatziki, and muhummara with pita.

Thus and Friday - Manicotti topped with fresh pesto

Inauguration Week Menu

Jon — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:48:58 +0000

We celebrated Inauguration Week with Hawaiian and Chicago foods. Yes, we were too wimpy to try to make Kenyan.

Sat - Hawaiian ceviche - Poke, Peruvian-style ceviche, and Poisson Cru

Sun - Miso glazed cod with wasabi mashed potatoes and miso soup (Hawaiian-ish)

Menu for the week of Jan 25, 2009

Jon — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:41:31 +0000

In order to maximize what we can buy locally, we shop on Saturday morning for as much of our food for the week as is reasonable, at the neighborhood farmer's (-ish) market. To make that work, we try to set up our menu for the week before (sometimes, during) our market run. I'll try to post our menus (with recipes where we have them!)

January 25-30, 2009: Island Week