Range

Some great friends of ours surprised my hubby and I to a day of fun recently. First we saw an amazing concert pianist and then we had dinner at a restaurant called Range, which features modern American cuisine by celebrity chef, Bryan Voltaggio.  Range is also known for its Chesapeake shellfish at the raw bar and their wood-fired hearth.

 The first course was a cheese plate, of course! The four cheeses were cabot (a hard cheddar with a nutty flavor), hazen blue (nice mild blue tanginess), kunik (soft and creamy, similar to a brie), and grayson (kinda stinky, but reminiscent of a swiss). It was served with raisin toasts and a pear compote. I love cheese! I haven't met too many cheeses I haven't liked (and I've even tried limburger), and these were no exception.

Left to right: kunik, grayson, hazen blue, cabot

We also had a ham tasting...a country ham and a surryano ham, both from Virginia, served with a creamy, spicy mustard that had a bit of a punch. But it was a nice compliment to the salty sweet hams.

Being a Southern girl at heart, I love biscuits and I love pepper jelly. So when I saw an appetizer for cheddar jalepeno biscuits with pepper jelly, I knew I had to get them. So yumma yumma! The biscuit was warm and flaky and the pepper jelly was the perfect combo of sweet and spicy!

Next came the bone marrow. If you've never had bone marrow, you need to. Its so delicious and unctuous. We first had bone marrow at the Blue Duck in DC which was amazing. The bone marrow dish at Range, cannot compare to the Blue Duck, however, it was pretty tasty on its own merit. This dish was served with shallots, pinenuts, and raisins, which added an unexpected sweet element.

All the above dishes were small plates, which we all shared between the four of us. Next came entrees...Superking chose the hangar steak, cooked medium rare, served with bacon grits, swiss chard, and a chimichurri sauce. Bacon grits...need I say more?

I had the lamb neck with coconut curry sauce and flatbread, which was accompanied by roasted cauliflower with a za'atar seasoning and tzatziki sauce. The lamb was so tender it was practically falling off the bone and melted in my mouth. I love all those mediterranean flavors and aromas!

One of our friends with us was gracious enough to let me take a picture of her dish as well. Her dish was pork belly with a smoked apple, vanilla, and fennel salad. Bright, sweet, salty, delicious!

For dessert they had this adorable "candy cart" that they could wheel around the restaurant to your table. Very non-traditional dessert offerings of chocolate covered rice krispie treats on a stick, variety of truffles, and caramel corn. I chose bacon caramel corn. It was gone in no time flat. While my friend went for a cute little custard of orange and cream with some sort of crumble on top, served in a little jar.

Overall, the food was delicious and unique, as was the atmosphere. The service was just "ok" though. It took a long time for the each course to come out, and all the dishes came out at different times, which was a little odd. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that it was because its a fairly new restaurant to the area and they are still working out the kinks? Nevertheless, it was a night of great fun, great food, and great friends!

Truckeroo 5

Or should I say TruckerBoo! Last month was the final Truckeroo of the year.  Since it was right before Halloween, they called it TruckerBoo this time.  And this is the one time I went withOUT Superking, which was a little strange.  But I did get to go with a bunch of my girlfriends which was totally rad!

My mom and me, along with my friends Crishana, Tierney, and Joelle, all piled into one car and drove down to the Bull Pen to check out the food trucks together for some girl time! It was so fun! For all the other girls, it was their first Truckeroo and they were all excited to try as many different foods as they could.

Between the five of us, we had so much food! And every bite was delicious!  Although it wasn't complete girl power the entire time since my dad, who works just a few minutes from the Navy Yard, came to join us for a bite of lunch too.

we even made friends with a cute little doggie

he reminded me of Seymour (for all you Futurama fans)

Here are some of the trucks we hit and foods we ate...

these guys gave Sueprking a free gyro once when he was working downtown and their credit card machine was down

yummy lamb gyro

The Yellow Truck

bulgogi

Sang on Wheels

(Sahng not sang like I sang a song)

humongous lamb meatballs on drunken noodles and a free egg roll

some weird mute hippie people selling LassiPops

"welcome to your circular existence" it says

rosewater cardamom lassipop

peanut butter chocolate mini cheesecake...yummmm

carrot cupcake

There was also BBQ and several kinds of macaroni 'n cheese and grilled cheese and even ice cream. Lots of fun and food was had by all!! Can't wait for next year's Truckeroo season!!

Bodegas

A few weeks ago Superking and I went to Bodegas in DC with a friend of ours.  We scarfed on many tapas that night and even ended up with a free dessert by accident.  Check out what we ordered...

Sepia a la plancha...cuttlefish grilled with olive oil and sea salt.  Very savory, not chewy at all, mild flavor but a nice pairing with the olive oil and salt.

Atun a la plancha con cebolla caramelizada...seared tuna with caramelized onions.  Perfectly seared and great flavor.  The caramelized onions were awesome.

Patatas bravas...fried potatoes with spicy alioli.  Nice crispy potatoes with a spicy but not too hot sauce.

Codorniz con salsa vino tinto trufada...grilled quail with a red wine truffle sauce.  Lovely little bird that was juicy and tender. The sauce had a slight sweetness with a touch of the truffle and it was served with some creamy mashed potatoes that helped soak up some of the extra sauce. Yumm!

some of my pictures are kinda dark...

Chuletillas de cordero con vino tinto...grilled lamb chops with red wine sauce.  Great lamb perfectly paired with the semi-sweet wine sauce.

Bistek a la parrilla...grilled beef skirt steak pimento morron (a type of sweet pepper). Cooked to a very tender medium rare and served with creamy mashed potatoes.

...the people at the table next to us kept giving me dirty looks every time I took a picture with my flash on :(

Then we ordered an almond cake but were served a chocolate cake instead...

Our waiter quickly apologized, brought out the almond cake but let us keep the chocolate one for free.  We enjoyed both very much!  The chocolate one was dense and fudgey and rich while the almond was light and fluffy.

Everything we ate was delicious and oh how we love the small plates so we can try so many different things!

Lamb Fries

WARNING:  This blog post is rated PG-13 and may not be suitable for all audiences.  Please avoid if you have heart trouble, weak stomach, or fainting spells. Proceed with caution if you are vegetarian, vegan, or experience general queasiness or unwellness. This post is not for the faint of heart or stomach or other unnamed parts.
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Lamb fries...if you have never heard of these, they are not what they sound like.  If you have heard of them, you may have an inkling what this post will be about.  You might imagine some strips of juicy lamb meat fresh off the grill, possibly in kabob form.  You might imagine some type of french fry served with lamb meat or juices from lamb meat.  On all accounts you'd be wrong. Dead wrong. Painfully dead wrong.

Lamb fries are essentially lamb testicles. Yes, you read that right. Lamb testicles...take a second to let that sink in... And yes, we cooked some and yes, we even ate some.  Here was our experience...

We were wandering around the farmers market one Saturday when lo and behold we stopped in at one of the meat vendors and saw a sign advertising lamb fries. "Hmmm, whats that?" we innocently wondered.  Superking asks the vendor, "Is that what I think it is?"  The vendor, with a knowing grin and giggle, replies, "Yep, those are lamb testicles!" Superking looks at me and says, "I've got to try those."

We bring them home and decide to fry them up. You take anything, cover it in seasonings and breadcrumbs, then fry it in oil, it can't taste too bad. Right?? 

WARNING: Graphic photos approaching...

with the sac...

de-sacked...

Superking begins the preparation by removing the membrane or sac around the testicles. He wants me to take pictures as he does so.  I decide that I will quickly take one picture at a time then wait in the living room until he needs another picture.  I have to admit my stomach was not in agreement with watching the preparation.

Don't they look like a bunch of little brains?

or some weird science experiment...

thinly sliced and patted dry

Superking slices the "fries" thinly, dips them in an egg wash, and dredges them in panko bread crumbs and seasonings.  Then into the hot oily frying pan they go!  Boy do they make quite a pop in that hot oil! They cook up quickly and we carefully remove each one when they are golden brown and place them on paper towels to soak up the excess oil.

Superking really enjoyed them.  And even me, honestly they weren't bad.  We served them with a dollop of hot pepper jelly we had purchased from the farmers market also, which was really delicious and added a lot of flavor to the lamb fries.  The lamb fries themselves have a very mild flavor and a texture similar to cooked tofu or possibly a piece of tender chicken.  I personally had a hard time getting past the idea of it all. And after about 4 or 5, I just couldn't stomach them any more.  But when it was all said and done, they really were more tasty than I expected. I'm glad I experienced them but I don't think I'll ever want to experience them again.  I'll leave that to Superking.

How about you, readers? Would you try them? Or have you tried them? I'd love to hear your experiences!