Tuscana West

Last Friday a couple friends of ours were in town from Boston so we met up with them for dinner in DC. Not sure exactly where to go in DC, we left it up to the other two friends of theirs they were visiting who were a bit more familiar with the area. With two vegetarians in the group and some naysayers of Asian cuisine, we weren't left with too many options for cuisine and decided on Italian.


Apart from delivery pizza, I never seem to end up going out for Italian. Certainly its not that I don't like Italian food, perhaps it's just that Italian often seems like something I could cook fine for myself at home without even having to get that many different ingredients--certainly not having to go shopping anywhere out of the ordinary which isn't the case with a lot of other foods I go out for. Kym's often complains that her problem with Italian food for vegetarians is that you usually end up with a pasta dish where virtually every bite is the same. Personally I'm okay with that if each bite is a good bite, but I can see her point.

Tuscana West has a convenient location near the McPherson Square metro as well as a pleasant view out onto Franklin Park. The dining area is a very elegant setting. Our party of six was able to get a perfectly-sized round table which is always preferable to a rectangular set-ups when it comes to conversations. I was most pleased of all to find live jazz piano music right next to our table for the entire evening which I absolutely love during a meal at a restaurant.

The service was particularly attentive throughout the night--although this might have been due to the very small number of diners there that night even though it was a Friday. There's also something funny about having a waiter pronounce the Italian dishes using Spanish pronunciation rules, but I'm sure most people don't pick up on that.

Kym had a fresh pasta and mushroom dish that flew in the face of her worries and was delicious. I went with an Italian sausage and onions pizza that was in the style of classic Italian pizza but didn't quite hit the mark of what real Italian pizza tastes like. It was still very good though. The rest of the party seemed very happy with their dishes as well.

Considering the location in downtown DC, elegant atmosphere and sophistication of some of the dishes, I think the prices were definitely fair. Not a bargain, but fair, and we all had an enjoyable meal which at the end of the day is of course what you are going for!

South Austin Grill

For some reason it was a while before I checked out the Tex-Mex restaurant, South Austin Grill, even though it is very near my work on King St. After eating there, I only regret I didn't try it sooner.

The standard tortilla chips and salsa they start you out with were fresh and tasty. Definitely good salsa, although it might have been a bit too runny for trying to keep some on your tortilla chip without spilling (my poor shirt did not appreciate this).

Along with the chips and salsa we ordered a couple of margaritas which again, were very decent tasting and always great to complement spicy salsa.

The menu was ample, though not so big that it made deciding a chore. I was deciding between the 'Tex' Austin Burger and the 'Mex' combo fajitas. In the end I decided ordering a burger was a bit boring so I went for the fajitas and was glad I did. Kym had a few vegetarian options available and went with cheese enchiladas.

One of the best touches at Austin Grill is the option to choose from six different freshly prepared sauces to go with your entree. Drawn in by the '19 different ingredients' slogan I had the delicious mole while Kym's tomatillo went well with the enchiladas.

The service was quick, friendly and attentive. Absolutely a big positive of the restaurant.

South Austin Grill is definitely an above average Mexican restaurant. Comparing to San Diego Mexican restaurants it might be a different story, but for now, this is a great place to get Mexican food at a decent value.

Cosi

In my search to find some good places to grab lunch around my work, I wandered into Cosi the other day. Cosi is a chain that's starting to gain in popularity amongst the growing numbers of lunchers looking for something fresh yet quick. With freshly baked signature breads, a plethora of different salad and sandwich ingredients, soups and pretty reasonable prices, they are gaining a lot in popularity.

I've been trying to find a lunch entree that I can eat on a regular basis that is still healthy--not an easy task when going out!--so after combing the options (their website has assortment of nutritional data for their menu), I went for the Bombay Chicken salad with balsamic vinaigrette. I can't comment on the bread, but it certainly looked and smelled delicious.

The salad was made extremely quick, although it's always annoying when you have a question for the person taking your order and they don't understand English beyond names of different menu items so you have to wait while they wait for another co-worker to finish what they are doing to come over and listen to your question by which point your insignificant question makes you feel like you're really needlessly holding up the line.

The salad was decent with some interesting ingredients though maybe a bit too bitter lettuce although I know some prefer it that way. However, the only glaring problem with the salad was that all of the ingredients were being kept in stainless steel buckets buried in pile of ice making all of the ingredients icy cold. As any good chef knows, most flavors are subdued when they are too cold. It's why expensive cheese is allowed to sit on the cheese board before being eaten, why ice cream is best when it is soft and just beginning to melt, and why college students will throw cheap alcohol they want to taste as little of as possible into the freezer.

Tomatoes in particular is an example of a food whose flavor benefits greatly from being at room temperature and when they along with the other ingredients are icy cold, it really brings down the whole salad. I know this might make it more difficult to provide lots of different fresh ingredients if you can't keep it stored in ice buckets all day, but the fact remains that the salad itself suffers. Really though, I don't see why they can't at the very least heat the chicken up slightly before adding it to the salad at the end. Even Subway will throw it into a microwave.

Petits Plats

A family friend of Kym's is in town on a week exchange from England so we met up with her for a Sunday Brunch (since it seems to be increasingly seen as an American thing to do). While looking for a good place to go in DC, I seemed to constantly run into the problem that any popular brunch place tends to have a long waiting line. That wouldn't exactly be a great introduction to the practice so that was a firm criteria when I eventually found Petits Plats.

One of the best parts about Petits Plats is its location directly opposite a metro stop, not to mention the short walk to our free National Zoo (which we happily took advantage of after the meal). Immediately upon entering a friendly waitress asked if we'd like her to take our coats. This was a very nice touch, however it made me quickly feel I was a bit underdressed for the place. I had thought based on its prices it would be a fairly casual brunch, however my t-shirt and jeans looked a bit out of place when people in suits and Sunday dresses began arriving. Admittedly, I think I might have still been in San Diego brunch-mode where people drag themselves out of bed and drop in for a strong coffee, either still in their clothes from the night before or whatever scruffy clothes they found lying near their bed.

The decor of the place was fun with lots of bright colors and some nice paintings on the wall. The two girls ordered omelletes while I went for a non-breakfast lamb sandwich with roasted peppers and goat cheese. It was nice that they had a bit of variety on their menu as brunch can get a bit boring with the same breakfast ingredients at every venue.

We were given warm baguette pieces to start off with which was a French touch, however they had the distinct taste of having been just warmed up in the microwave. The coffee was particularly tasty though we had to wait a while for refills at first (I think because we got there just after service had started).

The dishes were...good. Nothing spectacular, but certainly nothing poor. All in all for the location, price, service and atmosphere Petits Plats was well worth it.

Mai Thai

In our common search for a vegetarian-friendly delivery place, I'm not exactly sure how we missed Mai Thai. Somehow it just wasn't coming up in our internet searches, hopefully this post will get the word out a bit! Fortunately for us, the delivery menu popped up in the lobby last week.

We knew of Mai Thai since it is located along our common wandering path, at the very end of King Street, right next to the river. It was only due to plans falling apart at the last minute a couple of times that we hadn't eaten at the actual location before and before seeing the menu in the lobby, we hadn't even though to see if they did delivery, probably because it looks much more like a sit-down restaurant than the typical Asian delivery joint. And certainly they don't see themselves as that sort of establishment as they have a policy not to even do deliveries after March 31st each year. My only guess is that they use the delivery service to help alleviate the reduction of dining-in customers during the bad weather season (not a policy we ever encountered in San Diego for some reason).

What also caught us by surprise were the prices of the dishes. Given the location by the river and the elegant-looking dining room, I expected to pay $12-$18 a dish. Instead the vegetarian entrees were more in the $7-9 range, which is certainly a change of pace from many overpriced restaurants in close proximity to it.

Delivery was prompt (and free), but what really impressed was the food. The dishes were easily the best Thai food we've had since arriving on the East coast. The Pad Thai in particular was extremely tasty, better than most I've had on either coast. It was distinctly reminiscent of freshly cooked Pad Thai as opposed to those that taste like they've been scooped out of monstrous vats of Pad Thai and lack a bit in flavor like some others we've had.

We also opted for the mango salad which was a wonderfully fresh complement to the spicy and savory entrees. I'm sure we'll order from Mai Thai again soon, before the March 31st deadline comes up and I imagine we'll try out the dine-in option in the summertime coupled with a walk along the Potomac.

Brickskeller

My very first experience with Brickskeller was a brief, albeit poor encounter with the bar and restaurant. We were wandering Dupont Circle and happened to run into a friend who knew the area better than us and pointed us in the direction of the establishment. It was a bit of a walk but on his recommendation we headed over. When you first walk through the door you're greeted by a hybrid staircase/hallway/waiting area. The area was full of people our age who seemed a bit agitated at how long they had been there. I went to inquire about the waiting time with the man at the door with the clipboard. Apparently they have fairly strict regulations about how many people they let in the bar at once. Not because it was particularly packed inside or that they want to keep up a status as a VIP place, they just seem to prefer it that way from what I could tell.

I stood in front of the doorman, looking straight at him for about a minute before he even acknowledged me while he was talking with a co-worker. When I began to ask about what sort of waiting time we were looking at, he suddenly interrupted me and started saying something else to his co-worker. I was taken aback by the rudeness enough that I just turned around and told the rest of my party (to their chagrin) that we were leaving (even though we didn't have a great idea of where we were headed to after that).

Fast forward a couple of weeks later and a larger group of friends who were quite keen on the Brickskeller made a reservation for all of us there. With little other choice, we went to give it another chance.

The Brickskeller's obvious appeal when you get there is the gigantic list of beers. I do like trying interesting new beers, but there gets a point when you can have too much choice. Reading the menu was like combing through the index of a college textbook. With small font (hopefully at least the trees appreciated that), no line-spacing, many similarly-named beers and at least 8 chock-full pages, choosing was not quite the pleasurable experience I would have hoped. What really made the menu obscene however, was the complete lack of descriptions. I mean seriously, how many of the people who come there actually know the difference between that many beers by name alone? Sure one knows the general difference between hefeweizens, india pale ales and stouts, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Eventually with the help of a friend who had spent a year in Germany, we ordered. For the most part, the beers were very good quality. There was only one beer that someone outright disliked and the broad range allowed some people to get sweeter ciders and others to get dark double stouts.

The food there was disappointing. I ordered a medium-rare burger that not only arrived medium-to-well-done, but sat on top of what looked like a Wonderbread bun! I'm no hamburger bun connoisseur, but it was pretty pathetic how cheap and tasteless of a bun it came on. No matter how fresh they are, those types of buns always taste a bit stale. It was the sort of bun you'd receive at a school event where they were giving out free burgers. Certainly not what I expected from a $9 burger--just signs a really cheap chef or owner from what I could tell.

The service was what I guess I should have expected based on my first experience at the place. To be fair, the waiter seemed like a genuinely nice guy who was knowledgeable about the beers, but over the course of the night he: spilled our beers (at one point onto someone's clothing), forgot a beer, messed up the check (which is a big hassle when you have a large group) and it always took a very long time to get an order in when someone wanted another drink. At some point you have to blame the owners though--I could not understand why they had hardly any staff on a busy Friday night.

So Brickskeller is great purely in terms of the number of beers they offer, but overall seems like a poorly managed establishment. If you're targeting the beer enthusiast, is it that hard to think you might want to describe the beers you're selling?

Le Pain Quotidien

A new sandwich shop opened up just down the street from me recently, and after having to endure the jackhammer sounds from my office and falling dust as I walked by, I felt obliged to try out the end result of all this work.

Le Pain Quotidien, as you might imagine from its name, is a french-inspired eatery. Their concept appears to start with first and foremost with its bread which they make fresh using very high quality organic ingredients. The ingredients that follow are far from shabby as it uses high quality fresh cheeses, meats and vegetables. The sandwich choices are pleasantly eclectic and varied which is always nice as often I can get in a rut of finding something I like and ordering it again and again even though at the same time I do enjoy experimenting.

The service there was top notch. I ordered at the counter, but after that it was waiter service where the very professional looking waiter was very eager to get me any condiment or utensil I might like for my sandwich.

The seating is a refreshing departure from the norm. Instead of individual two and four-spot tables, most of the dining area is taken up by a large communal table where everyone sits down 'together' in a sense. It's a nice change from my desk and office I sit in for the rest of the day.

As you might imagine from the description, the major drawback is the price. It's a bit hard to stomach $11+ for an open-faced sandwich that quite frankly didn't really fill me up. Perhaps I am simply not the demographic they are shooting for as the venue seemed filled with female middle-aged professionals. Maybe some day I'll be two-thirds of that demographic and enjoy this type of food more often!

Rocket Bar

Although we were originally slated to meet up with our friends in Old Town last night, somehow the venue got changed to Chinatown in DC so after a quick stop for happy hour at Chadwick's (by far the best happy hour we've found so far) we jumped on the metro and headed into DC.

The venue was Rocket Bar which had been talked up pretty highly to me with its pool, shuffleboard and other games. Rocket Bar is one of those bars that I think heavily benefited from the recent smoking ban in DC (at least from the perspective of a nonsmoker like myself). The bar is located underground and has a dark cellar-like atmosphere. Were it full of cigarettes, I'm sure the ventilation would not be sufficient to keep it from looking like a dark fog at night. Instead, it was a much more relaxed atmosphere where the bar was pretty full, but not too full--a nice balance.

The beer selection was nothing extravagant like Rustico, but still pretty decent with about 10 different beers on tap, mostly microbrews and imports. It was also a relief that they had a well-organized tab system since the past couple of times we've been out with friends we've ended up with a 12-inch receipt that felt like a calculus problem.

While there was a lot of talk about playing shuffleboard all night, the reality was that by the time we arrived, all of the shuffleboards were taken. Furthermore, as you would expect given the limited supply and high demand, the rental rates were fairly expensive--$18/hour for a pool table. I don't want to get on a "back in my day" rant, but that still seems like a lot to pay for a bar pool to me. Still, I'd like to go back some time and try to grab one of the shuffleboard tables before they all get taken.

One complaint we all had was the music. The selection came from a jukebox which is usually leads to a fun mix, but the balance on the speakers were completely off. The bass seemed to be turned up to 11 which would be manageable if the speakers could handle it, but instead it sounded like one of those people driving around with their windows down in an Geo Metro trying to blast 2pac on a factory installed stereo.

Still the music wasn't too loud, the place wasn't too packed and the air was relatively clean but the bar was still lively and we all had a fun time. It did lack food service which disappointed some in our group, but they had an interesting policy of allowing any outside food in at all which is fairly plentiful with of the restaurants nearby. This isn't quite as convenient as hailing down a waiter, but it does lead to a less messy and less crowded bar without waiters carrying plates and drinks everywhere. We ended up opting for some tasty chinese food afterwards which honestly was probably tastier and cheaper than your average bar food anyway!

Chipotle Mexican Grill in Old Town

The concept behind the popular Chipotle chain is very interesting. While on the one hand it is Mexican fast food, on the other hand it places an emphasis on criteria where fast food joints tend not to focus. The ingredients are touted to be high quality with fresh vegetables and meat that is steroid and hormone free and fed a vegetarian diet. If how they treat animals their animals isn't enough for you, they also are impressively involved in philanthropy. In fact when my wife worked at a non-profit organization back in San Diego, Chipotle was consistently one of the most helpful local businesses in the community, seemingly always happy to provide help with food and money. As you would expect, Chipotle is not exactly Taco Bell when it comes to their pricing, but I feel it's money well spent.

What makes Chipotle especially interesting is that McDonald's used to be a large stakeholder in the company. It was as if McDonald's had recognized the inevitable decline of its unhealthy greasy food and was creating something of an escape hatch for itself. For whatever reason, they have since sold their stake and chosen to focus on its questionably healthy salads and new 'gourmet' coffee. It remains to be seen how their strategy will work out, though personally I'm skeptical of their ability to straddle two fairly separate demographics. However, if I'm that confident in my restaurant managerial talent, perhaps I should go to school for it.

Also nice at Chipotle is the ability choose exactly how you want your meal. It almost seems strange that Mexican food hadn't already gone this way when you consider that nearly all Mexican dishes are just slightly different combinations of meat, cheese, beans and rice. In a way, Chipotle really reminds me of when Subway first came out and the sandwiches were made with a little more care and the vegetables were much much fresher than they are today. Hopefully Chipotle doesn't go down the same path.

Since I've started to go out a bit more at lunch, I've been searching for places where I can find something reasonably healthy, tasty and not too expensive. This is where chipotle fits the bell pretty dang well. With their 'burrito bowls' you can easily forgo the carb-laden tortilla and being able to choose the ingredients I opted for the vegetarian black beans over the greasier pinto beans and no sour cream (though I did go for some of the tasty guacamole--its fat is monosaturated after all right?)

The food is pretty tasty and filling. It's hard to say whether the slightly lacking in flavor was due to a step-down in quality from a full-blown Mexican restaurant or whether it was just the lack of cheese, sour cream, etc. Regardless, for its price and speed of service Chipotle is a great place to grab lunch.

Old Town Deli

With a recent raise at my job, I find myself more and more going out and grabbing something at lunch instead of bringing something in. When the exist, leftovers are ideal to bring in, however, I often end up trying to throw something together in a half-awake dazed rush. When in this state, it is always tempting to walk out the door with a bit of rationalization instead.

Often I would end up going to Red Mei at lunch since their value for money can hardly be beat in the area--for anyone going there, I especially recommend the Thai Ginger Garlic Chicken and the Spicy Chicken!

After looking around for some reviews, I came across Old Town Deli which seemed to have good reviews, and boy am I glad I did.

It's hard to say whether I would have discovered this place were it not for the positive reviews online. The location isn't great as it's a bit off King street which can often cause oblivious me to not notice it. When you look at it from the outside, it hardly catches your eye. It's a bit of a hole in the wall with a nondescript sign and storefront. Finally, the name itself, 'Old Town Deli' really does not do it justice. For me, that name evokes a combination convenience store and butcher who cuts up some ham on an electric slicer and slaps it on some bread with mayo.

Instead the place is nothing like that. Instead it is full of freshly cooked mediterranean food (which I'm always a sucker for) and seems to be a family-run establishment where even in the middle of extremely hectic lunch hours (hectic is an understatement, its very popular at that time and gets packed), they manage to have a smile on their face and get you through the line with impressive speed.

I read several reviews that mentioned their Sampler Salad, so I went with that and was not disappointed. Listening to other people in line, I was far from alone with my choice. The salad is fairly simple--lettuce, onions, cucumber, grilled mediterranean chicken, pita chips, and a delicious lemon vinaigrette. I'm actually glad they resist stuffing it with too many different flavors that would distract from the great flavors already within.

I've already been back there a few times now and am sure I'll be back for more!

Los Tios Mexican Restaurant

Last night we decided to do a bit of wandering in the opposite direction of the always-alluring King Street and walked into Del Ray up through Mount Vernon Ave. Even on a chilly winter night there was plenty of people bustling about. Though Del Ray does not have the density of restaurants and bars as Old Town, there is still fair number of places to explore.

It seems like when we go out without a specific place in mind we always end up going somewhere at the end of the street. It usually goes something like "Ooh that place looks good, let's just go a bit further and if we don't see anything better, we'll come back." Cue to 30 minutes later of wandering and our stomachs convince us to refrain from backtracking.

Friday night was a similar situation and we ended up going to Los Tios Grill, a Mexian restaurant at the Northern end of Del Ray. Encouraging us to go there were some reviews we remembered referring to this place as one of the best Mexican restaurants in the city.

The service was friendly and reasonably quick. Kym started off with a margarita as she is prone to do at Mexican restaurants whereas I began with a bottle of Negra Modelo. I was little disappointed that they didn't have more Mexican beer on tap, but it might just be hard to find a distributor in this part of the country. At least the salsa was tasty while we waited for our entrees.

For our entrees, Kym went with a spinach enchilada and I ordered the Chicken, Beef and Shrimp fajitas. Kym was happy with the enchilada, it tasted good...but nothing special. I had a similar reaction to my fajitas. Perhaps our expectations were too high due to the reviews we had heard in addition to coming from San Diegan Mexican food.

A good meal with good service but nothing we'll be running back to.

The Subjectivity of Wine: Part II

I came across another intriguing study on the subjectivity of wine tasting. Cal Tech found that the simple act of telling someone that a bottle of wine was expensive made them judge the wine to taste better and the converse of telling them it was a cheap bottle of wine caused them to judge it poorly.

What made the study even more enlightening was that it was not, as I assumed, merely a form of the Emperor not wearing any clothes where people fear sounding unknowledgeable about wine and thus simply lie and say the more expensive wine tastes better. Instead, the conductors of the survey measured the actual brain activity of the subjects and found that the pleasure centers of the brain really did show increased activity when tasting a wine they were told was expensive.

This is one of those studies that really demonstrates how much we underestimate the brain's power. The question is, should this make us more or less cynical about wine tasting. On the surface, there is the obvious observation that 'it's all in our head'. Why should we spend $90 on a bottle of wine whose main attribute is its extravagant price rather than the actual contents of the bottle. Yet on the other hand, if we are ordering wine for others--particularly those who are not aware of these sorts of studies--it appears that they will truly get more enjoyment out of a bottle of wine they know to be pricey. It's a fascinating conundrum.

Carl Warner Photographs

I just found these beautiful food photographs from Carl Warner on the BBC.


Each photograph has been painstakingly made entirely out of different pieces of food.

They are truly amazing- I can't imagine how long it must have taken to set these up!




They are truly mazing- I can't imagine

A new green pasta invention

When we have the time and the energy there is nothing we enjoy more than experimenting in the kitchen- when we moved from San Diego this became a little more tricky due to the fact that we had to sell a lot of our kitchen equipment and also had to put a lot of recipe books into storage. This Christmas however, not only have we rescued the recipe books from idling away in boxes, but we have also been given some great new kitchen equipment to replace that which we had to give up.

Here's recipe we came up with last night- using different things we hd around, and mainly inspired my a yummy looking recipe of Jamie Oliver:


First we took a bunch of peas- we mashed up half of them in a food processor and then mixed in the rest of them after the event. We cooked this much in some olive oil- added in some garlic, seasoning and some chopped fresh mint. We then added in arthichoke hearts (cut into eighths), capers and some sliced red onion.

We then boiled up some pasta (wholewheat spaghetti), once it was cooked al dente we drained it and added it to the pea concoction. After mixing all this up well we served it up onot two plates and topped with hard boiled egg slices, goats cheese and some walnuts.

Delicious!

Brunch at Bilbo Baggins

We used to go out for Brunch all the time in San Diego but it hasn't been so much of a habit here. One reason is probably the weather- brunch seems like a thing for a nice sunny Sunday morning- which of course was all the time back in California, and well, hardly ever here. Mainly though it's because Kym nearly always has her study groups on Sundays and so there's not usually time for brunch.

Anyhow with a friend from San Diego in town and Kym on a break from School we decided to walk down to King Street for a morning meal. we checked out the range of options (Majestic looks like somewhere we should definitely try in the future). In the interests of economy coupled with good reviews plus the sheer quirkiness of the place we decided on Bilbo Baggins.

We have never eaten at Baggins before- just popping in for their delicious beer instead. the place was bustling when we arrived, but nonetheless we were seated straight away by a slightly brusk waiter. Reviews had talked a lot about the raisin bred that is served whilst you wait. Ours was cold, but was still very good- doughy and soft.


I as recommended by several reviewers ordered the Frodo French toast whilst the two women got vegetarian omelettes with the house potatoes. (Sadly the names of the food were really the only hobbit like touches to this restaurant.) Kym got some freshly squeezed grapefruit juice -(which she said was amazing), and we all got coffee. The waitress who took our order was not
exactly friendly (certainly nothing on the great Bilbo himself). The food came almost too quickly- this was not the second breakfast type relaxing Sunday morning meal i had hoped for, but instead a rather rushed affair. The French toast was pretty good- although certianly nothing on that i used enjoy at the Mission. The vegetarian omelettes had no cheese in them- which rather disappointed the girls and made for slightly bland food.


All in all nothing to get excited bout-next time we'll be looking for something little more interesting- even if it means paying few extra bucks.

Lunch at the Smithsonian

With an arty friend in town we've being doing the rounds at the different art galleries and of course all the usually Washington places, monuments and what not. This weekend we went up to the Reynolds center- part of the Smithsonian's American Art museum. Planning to be out the entire day we needed to grab lunch at some point and so we took lunch at the courtyard cafe- which sounded like it would be cold given the name- but in fact was at this great covered courtyard part of the Smithsonian called the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard. The design is absolutely stunning, with a beautiful wavy roof, gorgeous water features and tall ficus trees.

The food was pricey, but then we were in a tourist trap in the middle of DC. I got roast beef sandwich- which in retrospect was the wrong choice for me. Kym got a portabella panini which she thought was fantastic (although again probably not worth the price.
Still we enjoyed our lunch- the art was fantastic too.

Vegetable Lasagne

Kym is making Lasagna today- hopefully it will last us through the week. She makes it a little bit different each time but I got her to write down her basic recipe to share.

Ingredients:

1 large onion (diced)
2 courgettes (diced)
2 peppers (diced)
10 cloves garlic
2 cans chopped tomatoes
handful torn basil
1 cup red wine
cinnamon to taste

1 pack lasagna sheets

1 pint bechemel sauce
2 cartons mushrooms (chopped)
2 cups frozen peas
3 large leeks (chopped)
grated nutmeg to taste
3 eggs

3 handfuls grated cheddar cheese
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 handful of pine nuts.

Basically for this recipe we are making 2 different sauces- the first is a tomato one, and the second a creamy vegetable sauce.

For the first sauce saute up the onions, garlic courgettes and peppers. Then add in the chopped tomatoes, red wine and some balsamic vinegar- simmer for 25 minutes. With 5 minutes left to go add some cinnamon and torn chopped basil.

For the second one- saute the chopped mushrooms in some garlic and white wine and set aside. Steam the leeks and then defrost the peas. Take the bechemel sauce and stir in some grated nutmeg and crack in 3 eggs. Stir in the mixed vegetables.

Layer the lasagne starting with tomato sauce, then sheets of lasagne, then some ricotta and the creamy vegetable sauce. Keep layer and top with grated cheddar cheese.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. A culinary delight which will last for days and days-especially whilst you are in school and don't have time to cook each night!

Great Customer Service

Wow, I had a really great experience with Z-pizza last night, (although perhaps it only seemed great after the most awful experience we had with Pizza Nova back in San Diego.)

As noted before in this blog we really have come to love Z-pizza- great fresh toppings, interesting combinations, the availability of a wholewheat dough and the ease of the online ordering system unite to make this our first choice any time we want some easy take-out.


So last night we placed an order for half a Napoli pizza (great vegetarian combination) and half a chicken and sausage creation of my own, (the fact that we can do half half pizzas is another reason we love Z- why was pizza nova so staunchly in opposition of this practice?). We also ordered Z-pizza's deal of the month- a free apple pie pizza (more on this later).
When the pizza arrived it was unfortunately- for once- a bit of a disappointment. The two halves had not been kept separate and sausage and chicken were strewn all over Kym's half. Furthmore the fresh basil she had been eagerly anticipated was just not present- nor was the truffle oil I had ordered on my own half.

After our awful experiences with Pizza Nova we were in two minds as to whether to call Z and point out the problems with the pizza. However I am so happy that I did so- they couldn't have been more apologetic. No questions were asked and a credit for the entire pizza was immediately put on our account for the next time we ordered. What a contrast with the lame free $5 dessert and the arrogant argumentative attitude we got from Nova.

Now we come to the next part of our great experience- the apple pie pizza. It was absolutely fantastic! Ordinarily I am not at all fan of dessert pizzas. I remember a place in Brazil Kym and I used to go to when we first met. It was one of these places where you sit down and people come around with every type of pizza you can imagine, and you just eat as much as you want. (For whatever reasons Brazilians seem to love these all you can eat, or food by the kilo restaurants). They had a selection of dessert pizzas at this restaurant and they were all absolutely awful- quince jelly with cheese (gross) and chocolate (overly rich). So we couldn't have been more surprised at how great this apple pie pizza actually was! The apples were cooked in sugar and cinnamon and were absolutely perfect. The dough was sweet and fluffy and the topping of toasted almonds and caramel made for just the right compliment to the apples.

Anyway all this to say- we love you z-pizza. Why can't places see that great customer service will earn you money. Z has our loyalty- Nova completely lost our business

Leek Thai Green Curry

Leeks are Kym's very favorite vegetable. Back in England her parents grow them in the garden, huge juicy leeks which the family use to make leek and potato soup, leek and cheese pie, and a wonderful pasta dish with mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes among others.

Leeks seem to be far less used over here in the US. Quite in contrast to the somewhat 'peasant' feel they have in Europe, here they seem to always overpriced, and in fact many supermarkets don't even stock them. Despite this I sometimes treat Kym and bring her some home to play with. This presented an interesting challenge recently which ended up demonstrating the culinary power of the Internet.

The day before I brought home the leeks we made the unfortunate mistake of opening a can of coconut milk when we meant to open corn! Coconut milk is unfortunately not something you can throw into a dish willy-nilly, so the following day presented a challenge to find a dish that included both leeks and coconut milk. After a quick google search we were presented with creamy tartlets, Sri Lankan dishes, a plethora of soups, and the dish we finally settled on: a leek thai green curry. It sounds a little odd perhaps but we are all about fusion--and adding potatoes into Indian cuisine certainly did no one any harm.

Here's the recipe (we substituted Quorn for chicken):

1.Heat the butter and olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat.
2. Add the leeks and sauté until caramelised.
3. Add the garlic and curry paste. Cook for 2 minutes.
4. Add the coriander pesto and chicken. Cook for 2 minutes, until browned.
5. Add the stock and coconut milk, and allow to simmer for a few minutes.
6. Add the coriander

I highly recommend the recipe--it turned out delicious!

Zucchini Rolls and Beetroot Salad

I thought it would be good to post some of the great new appertizers we tired out for Christmas. Definitely will be on display at our next dinner party. Thanks Ramsey!


Stuffed Zucchini Rolls

Thinly slice up 4 zucchinis with a peeler or a mandolin

Season the bottom of a baking tray with olive oil, salt and pepper, lay zucchini slices on top and drizzle more olive oil on top. Leave to marinate for about 10-15 minutes.

Filling:

Take 1 1/2 cups ricotta and add in about 2 T of olive oil plus the juice of half a lemon and some fresh basil chiffonade.

Dry roast 1/4 cup of pine nuts in a pan, tossing them constantly. No oil is required in the pan, remove from heat when pine nuts begin to brown. Leave them to cool down on a plate and then add to the ricotta mixture.

Go back to the courgettes, take the thin end toward you and place a dollop half an inch from the bottom of the slice, then fold over and over with a knife and roll up.

Arrange rolls on a platter and drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the top.


Beetroot Salad

Take 6-7 beetroots- baked or pre-boiled. Cut them in half and then each half into three.

Heat 2 T olive oil in a pan over medium heat and add the beetroots and a pinch of salt.

After 1-2 minutes, add 2/3 cup balsamic vinegar to the pan and allow the vinegar to reduce while carmelizing the beetroots. Beets should turn a dark and rich ruby color. Allow to cool down.

Then get a dry pan and toast 1/4 cup sesame seeds while being very careful to toss frequently in the pan as they can burn easily. Allow them cool down.

Arrange the beets on a plate and take about a 1/2 cup of Roquefort and crumble it over the top. Then take the seeds and sprinkle them over everything.