small bites…the smoothie addition

A couple of months ago I bought Bella Cucina’s Rocket Blender, it’s a 17 piece set which is really just two different blender caps and a bunch of cups for that smoothie party you’ve always wanted to throw. People throw smoothie parties right? Sure. I bought it because one, it was pretty inexpensive and waaaay smaller than a real blender and two, all those cups meant I could leave a few at my office and lose a few and still not run into a situation where I didn’t have any cups around. score.

Anyways, this is the perfect blender for smoothies. I would put smoothies right up there with quiche in the foods every bachelorette ( and bachelor’s for that matter) should have in their kitchen toolbelts.

My style, for breakfast and sometimes lunch (though as a lunch option, I’m always hungry again like an hour later) I mix in a bunch of frozen berries, mangos, bananas or whatever kind of fresh of frozen fruit I have on hand and then sneak attack!!….toss in a good handful of green leafy lettuce, kale or spinach. TRUST me, the fruit especially berries, completely masks the taste of the greens! In one smoothie, I can have a full cup of greens and a full cup of fruit and it simply tastes like a yummy fruit smoothie. Sometimes I go wild and add a little honey or agave to sweeten, maybe even a little bit of flax seed oil for some extra omega goodness. Oh I know….didn’t think smoothies could be so outrageous did you! One warning- sometimes depending on the greens and fruits you use, the smoothie turns a gross color- like brownish, greenish, reddish sludge color. Looks gross, but trust me again, tastes delicious. When this happens, I recommend taking it to the office and drinking in front of your coworkers to freak them out.

Option 2 for smoothies- make milkshakes. Or what I’m drinking now- 1 and half cups vanilla gelato (gelato has less fat than ice cream, still fat there though so don’t get crazy), about a few teaspoons of cocoa-chili powder (sometimes you can buy this already mixed in the spice isle, if not, just mix a good cocoa powder with a few dashes of hot chili powder- it’s a nice little kick) and a tablespoon or two of Patron Cafe (coffee tequila…A-MAZING). blend, drink, sigh with contentment.

end scene.

why Jamie Oliver is awesome.

It was really only a matter of time until Jamie Oliver’s show Food Revolution would make me tear up.  Some would say I get a bit over emotional sometimes….there’s an oft remembered college incident involving my roommates and then boyfriend walking in on me watching ET alone one afternoon…bawling my eyes out. Whatever, I’m not ashamed!

But no seriously, this is different. Food Revolution will move you unless you don’t have a heartbeat. Jamie took his healthy foods program to a highschool in West Virginia on last friday’s episode. Did you know french fries count as a vegetable in schools? Gross. Jamie worked with a group of teens who were passionate, inspiring and brave. It’s fascinating to see all the dynamics at play in bringing radical change to not only the food served in schools but the entire approach to health and diet in a community. You can watch the latest episodes here and sign the healthy food in US petition here.

My blog isn’t the bastion of healthy eating; a brief scan of the menus I describe reveals quite a love affair with eggs, butter, cheese and chocolate…and steamed dumplings…oh steamed dumplings. Yet in spite of this, I believe very passionately in eating real food made with real ingredients, in supporting local farmers and local restaurants, and enjoying the pleasures of good food in moderation.

Jamie Oliver’s show is bringing the importance of healthy living through mainstream media in an enlightening and entertaining way. The effectiveness of this can’t be overstated in building awareness and creating connections between the concept of healthy eating and people’s own lives. First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Campaign further elevates this critical cause to a national policy issue and can mobilize a country to change our whole viewpoint on quality of life. I know I sound optimistic, perhaps even Pollyanna-ish, but when you see first hand the damage done by poor quality food and unhealthy attitudes towards diet and exercise, you can’t but hope for a better alternative.

I have several brothers and sisters in grade-school and high-school, and I feel passionately that they and every kid in this country should have healthy and affordable food everyday at school. When I think of the horrible things I ate in school lunches, I shudder! Chili cheese dogs, french bread pizzas, chicken patties, chicken wings….had it not been for the food my mother made at home, I probably wouldn’t have had a veggie until I was 20.

My poor eating habits continued well into college; when left to my own devices I just didn’t want to make good choices. I have a high metabolism, put on weight slowly and have a small frame,  a blessing sure, but I also don’t always know when to stop. I ate and drank more than my share of toxic foods and toxic alcohol, and by the time I was 22, I developed high cholesterol and fat deposits on my liver. I didn’t look overweight, I didn’t smoke or do drugs. But I was already causing serious damage to my organs.

Four years later, I’ve made huge changes to my lifestyle. I still have a high metabolism and a commendable appetite, but I learned my own limits. My indulgences are small and my drink orders short. With the help of a fantastic health coach, Sarah, I finally got to a place where I look forward to the fruits and veggies on my plate just as much as the desert that follows. I discovered a passion for dance and now exercise almost every day…realizing that once I found an activity that I loved, it wasn’t work anymore. I don’t know about my liver or my cholesterol, mainly in part because I’m afraid all the changes I made maybe didn’t do anything. But that’s changing too….I’m ready to find out now and know that if I don’t check how I’m doing, I’m not giving myself the care I deserve. Of course, I still slip from time to time, but I don’t allow myself to feel guilty. I just put myself back on track and move forward.

I think our country is really at a sea change, as we’re becoming more passionate about sustainable food sources, ethical farming and agricultural practices, and re-framing our collective consciousness around not just quality of food but quality of life.

Rock on Jamie Oliver and everyone else committed to supporting better food and better living to kids, schools and all the rest of us.

adventures in home cooking….

i.e. I spent too much money lately and need to eat at home and make my own lunches this week. well, at least as much as possible..hehe.

In times like this, when you have reached if not far exceeded your budget for dining out, it’s good to turn to some easy recipes that go a long way and don’t require a trip to the grocery store. For me, that recipe is quiche.

I know sounds crazy right? However, there are somethings I will ALWAYS have in my fridge and those things are eggs, cheese, milk of some kind (cream, half and half, almond milk, regular milk…something), and some kind of frozen vegetable most likely spinach or asparagus. That’s pretty much all you need for a good quiche, with the exception of pie crust. Actually, you can make crustless quiche (just put cheese on the bottom to form a crust like bottom) and Betty Crocker even has a recipe that requires pretty much just canola oil and flour and really isn’t that bad. It’s no Grandma’s pie crust, but it’ll do in a pinch.

So really to make a quiche, just see what you have left in your fridge to add to the milk, egg and cheese. Sausage, sure. Onion, ok. Ham, you bet. Broccoli, why not? Chorizo, spice it up! Go with what your gut tells you.

This week I had the luck of having smoked salmon and frozen asparagus in the fridge! And herbed goat cheese! Oh my! I got a little fancy on the last shopping trip…weeks and weeks ago. But everything was still well within it’s freshness date, and I’ll admit I’m the kind of person who buys smoked salmon and goat cheese in lieu of practical things like cereal and bread. Whatever.

I also managed to have some frozen pie crust in the freezer from Whole Foods…whole wheat! It was really good!

You won’t believe how easy this was guys….

I whisked 4 eggs with a cup of milk, a dollop of sour cream, cilantro, salt and pepper. I microwaved frozen asparagus and chopped it into bite size pieces. I opened the package of smoked salmon and chopped it into bite pieces. I opened the package of herbed goat cheese and chopped it into bite size pieces.

I took a 5 minute break to have a glass of water and catch my breath from all the hard work.

I spread the salmon, asparagus and goat cheese in the pie crust. I poured the egg mixture on top. I gave the pie a gentle shake..very gentle…to get the liquid down through the salmon and such layer. I put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour. Or just until the center was just set, which could have been more or less time than that.

I let it cool. Then I ate about a third of it. Then I felt a little gross for eating that much. Then I decided not to care.

I am having a piece right now for dinner. Yum. Quiche, it’s the single lady’s back up plan.

Mmm….Meaza…more please!

Meaza bills itself as the best Ethiopian restaurant in Falls Church and the surrounding areas….I would amend that statement and say Meaza is the best Ethiopian restaurant in the entire DC, MD and VA states….at least.

Now, those of you in the District and higher may be saying to yourselves, “Falls Church? Why would I go ALL the way to Falls Church when I can get Ethiopian food from at least 10 different restaurants in DC?”

Because it kicks those other restaurants in the pants, that’s why. [I have to note here though that there are GREAT Ethiopian places in DC and MD, and I've good meals at fair prices in all of them, and they're run by some of the friendliest small business owners you will find. So  just eat more Ethiopian food and spread the love. But go to Meaza for the best.]

So anyways, hop in your car or rent that Zip Car you’ve passed by 20 times and thought, hmm that might come in handy. Falls Church is a short journey for food like this.

So Meaza, first off, the place is huge and very banquet like. There’s a full bar, there’s a store attached, there’s cool Ethiopian art and a cardboard cutout of Obama, which obviously adds a sense of occasion.

The staff is very friendly, and the place is pleasantly crowded with couples, friends and families. The menu is expansive and, note this, prices are low. I don’t mean “low for DC” which really means expensive, but not eyes bulging out of your head because you just paid $30 for a salad. It’s actually inexpensive. I went with two friends, we each had drinks and ordered a huge amount of food for the table and with tip my tab was just over $20.

But enough about ambiance and prices, let’s talk food shall we? My friends and I made the wise choice of opting to share a combination platter. For me, Ethiopian menus have a lot of choices, and I often forget the names of things I like or want to try all of it, so combo platters are my best friend. We also added Gored Gored to our meal, which is cubes of lean beef mixed with Ethiopian butter (kind of like clarified butter), awaze (a paste of hot pepper with garlic, ginger and other spices), onion and green pepper. Gored Gored is one dish (kitfo is another) you can get with raw meat, I’m on the fence here. I’ve seen a few travel channel shoes, including Anthony Bordain at maybe this very restaurant (?) eating raw beef Ethiopian dishes and raving about how good they are. I’m willing to try, but we chose to go the conservative route and had medium beef…which was really more rare anyways. AND AMAZING.

Gored Gored is SPICY. Really, my mouth was on fire. But I found that shoving large chunks of injera bread into my mouth really helped that. You get plates full of this gallette(sp?) (a buckwheat crepe) that you use as your utensil…you tear off a piece small enough to hold with your fingers and use to scoop up bits of food. It’s messy, but you get better at it as you go along. This bread is so wonderful. You will love it. You will also love Gored Gored, once you get past the flames of hot chili pepper, you will encounter the most flavorful, tender beef and be very glad you ordered it.

The rest of the combo plate is very delicious too, curries, vegetables, lentils, all very richly seasoned and spiced and yummy. Everything is mushy. It’s not the most visually appealing meal, but get over that stat and enjoy what promises to be a truly eye-opening and memorable flavor trip!

Big props to Meaza.

Sidenote #1- check out the website www.meazaethiopiancusine.com for lots of fun facts about the history of the restaurant, photos, menus and coffee tradition. there are no prices on the menu, but don’t let that worry you, it’s extremely affordable.

Sidenote#2- I’d like to take this opportunity to share my full proof method of finding the best global cuisine in your area. Ask Cab Drivers. Particularly, cab drivers from the countries of the kind of restaurant you’re looking for…that part is important. DC cabbies are chatty and friendly if you are the same to them. I’ve had great conversations with them and have actually learned alot from them, food related and otherwise. In the case of Meaza, I was talking to a cabbie from Ethiopia about where to go for food in DC. Upon hearing where I had been, he promptly told me I was going about it entirely wrong and needed to immediately visit Meaza- “the best Ethiopian where all the Ethiopians eat”. Hot damn he was right.

Sidenote #3- this post marks a return to the blog after a prolonged absence. I don’t have a good excuse, but I do have an excuse along the lines of being really busy at work, distraction and laziness. I certainly haven’t stopped going out to eat..heaven forbid. so, I’ve got a lot to catch up on here. Hope you’re still interested and thanks for coming back! And thanks Nic for being my Meaza model below

small bites

you guys! I just realized I did that whole post about Teaism and DID NOT talk about the salty oat cookies. THE SHAME I FEEL.

Oh my god, Teaism maybe, probably, I don’t really know but why not just say they did, invented the salty oat cookie. If you have never had one, stop eating any other of kind of cookie immediately and make or buy some. Salt plus cookie is food love.

Teaism’s salty oat cookies come in oatmeal raisin and chocolate chocolate. Of course, I prefer the chocolate one, it’s a chocolate cookie with oats and chocolate chips, with sea salt sprinkled on the top. The oatmeal raisin is pretty delicious, I don’t even like oatmeal raisin cookies, but I like these. Shoot, I’m getting really hungry now. Anyways, the salty oat cookies are really big, thick crunchy ones and a delight with your tea! They’re more like a shortbread texture which I think works well with the tea.

As a side note, I love these cookies so much I make a variation of them of at home. I adapt a recipe adapted by Smitten Kitchen from Cook’s Illustrated for “crisp salted oatmeal white chocolate cookies”. You can find the recipe at Smitten Kitchen (she is a fantastic, awe-inspiring food blogger known for gorgeous photos) here. I prefer to use chocolate chips instead of white chocolate and bake them a little bit less so they’re a bit more chewy. These are in frequent demand among myself, friends, coworkers you name it.

Phew. ok, glad I covered that. I would have been deeply embarrassed to neglect these cookies.

Coming down the pike soon, I blog about my DC Cupcake Tour and last night’s dinner at the BEST Ethiopian restaurant in the tri-state area.

i believe in teaism.

Hello friends!

Wow, it’s been a while since my last full blog entry. The SnowMyGod of 2010 seems to finally be over,  and I ‘m channeling cherry blossoms and sunshine to bring on better weather. At night I fall asleep dreaming of the days of summer, sunning myself by the pool and drinking mai thai’s with little umbrellas.

Anyways, I digress. Teaism.

Ahhh.

Teaism is such a lovely place. I’ve been to two of its three locations in DC, Dupont and Penn Quarter. Same food, but I think a totally different atmosphere. The Dupont one is smaller, as such cozier, and has a very warm and fuzzy kind of vibe. I’ve found in several small restaurants in Dupont that there is this really effortless, relaxed assurance that you’re going to just enjoy yourself, you can linger as long as you like, have that second glass or that second slice, and all is well in the world.Teaism is one such place.

Penn Quarter Teaism has a pretty different feel. It’s much larger and loses some of the cozy, quaintness vibe, which I think would be out of place admist the Penn Quarter power lunches anyways. Instead, it offers us something more spacious and serene. Think muted but warm paint colors, a subtereanean dining room that creates a natural quiet, and a koi pond. No really, there really is a koi pond full of koi fish. It’s awesome.

So depending on your mood that day, you may decide to visit Teaism in Dupont or Penn Quarter, or if you’re feeling adventerous for me, go visit the one in Lafayette Park and post in the comments section about it!

Now the important business. The FOOD.

Obviously, teaism is serious about its tea. There are lots of choices. I have to admit I love the Darjeeling they sell so much that I’ve never ordered anything else. What can I say, sometimes I’m a creature of habit. So it’s up to you my friends, to live wild and go crazy with the tea menu.

But really, that Darjeeling is awesome. And you get your tea in pretty Japanese style tea pots, or in a giant pottery mug. yum!

The first meal I ever had at teaism was naan bread with sugar and cinnamon. Something so simple, yet so delicious. The naan bread was perfect, warm and chewy with just the slightest crispiness on the top, and when you butter naan bread and put cinnamon and sugar on it….oh you have done something very awesome.

On a recent trip, I sampled the breakfast menu and ordered scrambled eggs and tea-smoked salmon. Heaven!! The eggs were fluffy and light and seasoned with cilantro. The tea-smoked salmon was lox-style, and oh wow some of the best smoked salmon I’ve ever had, it tasted just faintly tea-like, but had the salty, super fresh and smooth taste of a perfect lox. I have no idea how you incorporate tea into the smoking process..hold on…

…………..

ok I just googled it. There are lots of recipes to be found, though some brief scrolling did not reveal any lox-style salmon. So kudos to you Teaism.

Seriously, that salmon was amazing. So good, I actually really wanted to order the entire thing all over again. Had I been dining alone or with an enabler friend, I probably would have. My appetite is the stuff of legends, but sometimes it’s best not to freak out slash disgust your dining companions with how much food you can eat. sigh, life is trying.

Life is not trying. It’s wonderful! Go to Teaism! Convert to the T!

and end scene.

small bites

vace’s is the entire content of my grandmother’s kitchen, shipped directly to bethesda and dc for the enjoyment of all those raised on homemade sauce, fresh pastas, good wine, hard cheese and cured meat. it’s mom and pop style italian, just the way I like it and my ultimate comfort food. this deli has two locations- bethesda and glover park. i love it! i like to stock up on frozen home made sauces and pastas, which are great on a week night but taste like i spent the better part of a day making them

small bites

I just went to Whole Foods the other day, and a man from Cherry Glen farm in Boyds, Maryland was passing out samples of goat cheese. Cherry Glen Goat Cheese Company has a variety of cheese, but I bought the Monocacy Silver and Monocacy Chipotle. Both are a soft-ripened cheese, the silver a mild, creamy goat cheese and the chipotle packs a smokey, spicy flavor. They are REALLY yummy. Hooray for local farms! Oh and they also have recipes on their web page

Mei Wonderful!

It was really only a matter of time until I wrote a post about Mei Wah. Little did I know when I first moved into my apartment almost one year ago that this restaurant would be the siren call to my hungry tummy.

It is a dangerous thing to have amazing Chinese food with free delivery across the street. Yes that’s correct, I have been known, on the coldest days of winter, to have Mei Wah deliver to my aparment…across the street. I know, it takes laziness to a whole new level and yes, I am ashamed. So tonight, I did actually walk over to do carry out. People this girl can change!

Mei Wah is of course, a DC institution, so I will not go into too much detail about its history which has been covered much better elsewhere. Suffice to say for those of who outside of the District…this place is famous, pictures of the owener with several Presidents famous.Yet, it is not expensive!

As my food coma sets in as I write this post, I recall fondly the freshly prepared Ma Po Tofu- bite sized pieces of tofu in a brown sauce with lots of bright sunny ginger and pepper. This dish is definitely one of my all time favorites, as are the lettuce wraps. Hint: the lettuce wraps are not on the menu, but trust me they are there. You can order them with chicken or tofu, and they are amazing!

There are scores of yummy options on the Mei Wah menu, but this post exists because of only one dish. One dish that seperates Mei Wah from all others.

That dish is the steamed dumplings.

Disclaimer- this girl loves her dumplings. My first encounter with this wonderfood was when a long-time family friend from China made homemade dumplings for me and the family at the grandparents house. I think I was pretty young, but I distinctly remember being totally and completely enamored of them. It was dumpling love. So my pursuit of delicious dumplings all stems from this early memory.

Mei Wah does dumplings right. They are perfect. Steamed pork dumplings are the way to go. They are chewy and doughy and the pork is seasoned with soy sauce and ginger, and they come with the best dipping sauce EVER. I think it has ginger, garlic and green onion, soy sauce but there is something else to this…not sure what…maybe it is just Mei Wah magic.

I seriously cannot eat at Mei Wah without ordering these dumplings. Really I have tried, it is impossible. I have dreams about these dumplings. I wake up in the middle of the night, in a cold sweat, clutching the air, gasping…dumplings…must have…dumplings. Ok so maybe not that dramatic, but if it has been more than a few weeks, I really do get these bad boys on my mind.

Mei Wah- it is just good. go there. order at least the dumplings. smile.

NB- you may have noticed I am not using any contractions and as a result, sound a little formal. well, that is because everytime I try to type an apostrophe, my mouse jumps to quick find at the bottom of the screen. for the time being, my computer is smarter than me and I have given up trying to figure this one out. Hopefully, it is a one time glitch!

Make a toast to DC Coast

On Wednesday, I met a friend from my hometown for restaurant week at DC Coast. My friend Nic and I almost always meet up in DC over a meal and get silly over dishing and riffing on life post awkward teen years. Stay tuned for most posts involving eating adventures with Nic. We are making a to do list, blog readers, and we get stuff done.

So back to DC Coast. I’m not sure what to make of the interior, it’s an upscale atmosphere and kind of super-sized in a way. I’d say the interior references the exterior of the Neo-Grecian buildings you find all over downtown Washington. It feels like you should be on good behavior.But it’s not intimidating, all the staff is friendly and most importantly, the food is great.

The Food:

Note- it being restaurant week (aka the best week of the entire year, save for the other restaurant week in august), we went for the prix fixe 3 course menu.

Soup- soup du jour- tomato soup with goat cheese…I’m pretty sure the waitress described it much prettier than that, but essentially, that’s what it was. Great presentation, the waitress set down a large soup bowl with goat cheese and seasoning (inc. chives) in the center, and then the hot soup is poured over so the cheese melts and spreads. tangy, rich, with almost more of a roasted red pepper taste than a tomato. The goat cheese absolutely sold this dish. I actually don’t normally like tomato soup all that much, but this was fantastic. Kind of wanted to eat about eight more bowls of it.

Main Course- porcini dusted salmon- salmon perfectly cooked, i don’t know if it was steamed or baked first and then seared so that it had carmelized glaze on the top? At any rate, it was positively creamy it was cooked so perfectly and laid on top of a very light mushroom based gravy with trumpet mushrooms on one side and pureed celery root on the other, with shaved black truffles dusted over the plate. The flavor and freshness of the salmon was not overshadowed by the earthy creamy goodness of the mushrooms, and the celery root gave a nice twist to the whole dish, adding some crispness to it. The black truffles brought their trademark midas touch to the dish. Disclaimer: if you put truffles on a dish, I will like it. I have a hard time describing what black truffles taste like, earthy is barely mediocre way of trying. Hmm, if the essense of being had a taste and smell, it would probably be a truffle. i’m still amazed at how perfect this salmon was, fall apart creamy wow. omnomnomnom. what was i saying? where am i? salmon.

Dessert- Good, but there was one tragic flaw in an otherwise delicious dish. I ordered the chocolate tart with salted caramel, the filling was rich, decadent and sidenote, I am getting ever more obsessed with the combination of chocolate and salt these days, adding caramel to that is a really good idea. But, alas, the tarte pastry shell was cold and impossible to cut with a knife. I ended up not being able to eat it because after trying to delicately break it apart with my fingers instead of a knife and then having one brief albeit agonizing debate about if it would be worth the gaucheness to pick it up and take a bite, ultimately abandoned the thing and savored the filling. You know, now that I’m thinking about it, I’ve had an identical experience at other restaurants with these tarte shells…i’m wondering, are they actually supposed to be like that, and are you not supposed to eat them? but why? Maybe it’s me and not the tarte afterall.

Drink- I had the dirty ceo martini. I have no idea why the ceo title is needed, but it was an excellent martini. with blue cheese or gorgonzola (potayto potahto) stuffed green olives. ahhhhh…. oh and a cute little mermaid sat on the rim of the glass. nice touch.

The Service- superb. this place is fancy and attention is paid. crumbs are wiped off the table with a silver knife. we had a very nice waitress and she was attentive and friendly. I also really liked that the restaurant week menu allowed you to pick any dish off the regular menu as your entrée.

Who is DC Coast- hmm…. DC Coast is your distinguished bachelor uncle, who never leaves for work without first having his morning coffee over the paper at home, always gives up his seat for a woman on the train, believes dinner out calls for a change of clothes and that a little splash of levity (ala the mermaid) makes life  taste much better.

**excuse the typos and more than usual rambling in this post. i’m pretty sleepy. but i really wanted to share this review before the end of restaurant week so if you like what you read, you can still take advantage of this great place while the special menu is available.