16 Years!

Last week, on the 21st of August, my husband and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary!! Yep, we've actually made it that long and are still in love! It hasn't always been easy but we've always stuck together…okay enough of the cheesy, mushy stuff!

 Anywho…so we took the day off from work to relax and do some fun stuff. We ended up going to see the movie Shaun the Sheep (which is very cute and funny…big fan of Wallace and Grommet and most things from Aardman Studios) at the Alamo Drafthouse in One Loudoun. If you haven't been to the Alamo, you need to go check it out. The theaters are very nice and small, which is good because you know it won't be overcrowded. You have the option to assign your own seats and they serve food like in a restaurant, with a waitress and everything. And I have to say, I was surprised how good the food was the first time we went.

Its nothing spectacular or 5 star but its like upscale bar food and everything we've had has been pretty tasty. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because 1. its dark in there, and 2. they are very strict about no cell phone use. But we've tried their loaded fries, a couple pizzas, and fish 'n chips. Everything was delicious and not very overpriced. They also have a few different sodas for those who are more drink connoisseurs. If there is a unique drink offered, I'm probably gonna try it. They have homemade root beer, which is probably my favorite soda, and they also offer Italian sodas which are sweet and creamy!

hotel bathroom...never seen a sink like this before!

hotel lobby...love the green glass chandeliers!

Later that night we went downtown to have a nice dinner in the Penn Quarter area of DC.  There are a ton of good restaurants in that little area and there was one we've had our eye on for quite a while, called Poste. It serves French-American cuisine and it sits in the middle of the Hotel Monaco. That evening the weather was very tolerable for being August so we got to dine outside in the courtyard. It was a beautiful night and the food was delicious!

First we were served an amuse bouche…a little kiss or taste from the kitchen. A roasted mushroom crostini…savory, earthy, just melts in your mouth! A good sign of things to come!

It just so happened to be restaurant week when we were there so we got to take advantage of some specials. If you choose to order from the restaurant week menu, you get an appetizer, entree, and dessert for $35. Not bad at a place like this. Hubby is not a dessert guy so he didn't take this option. But we both ordered an appetizer. I chose the crispy duck ravioli. It was a large crispy wonton stuffed with juicy, tender duck meat that had been braised with Asian flavors, served with a caramelized onion and carrot slaw, and drizzled with a soy garlic sauce. A good combination of sweet and salty.

Hubby's appetizer was wagyu tartare, basically raw wagyu beef that was served like a terrine on a crostini. It was prepared with pine nuts, arugula, parmesan, and truffle vinaigrette, and topped with potato croutons (like fancy tater tots!). If the thought of raw beef scares you, you are missing out on a good thing! Trust me, its yumma yumma!

Then for the entrees: steak frites and halibut. The steak frites is a 12oz ribeye served with truffle fries and a couple of savory dipping sauces. What's not to like? For me, I chose halibut, a bit of a lighter dish because I was holding out for dessert!  The halibut was pan seared and served with sautéed pea leaves, wild mushrooms, ramps, and a chili oil sauce. It was light and fresh! The sauce made even the greens taste good!

Then came my favorite part: dessert! I'm a sucker for goat cheese, especially when it comes in a cheesecake! This goat cheese cheesecake was served with sour cherries, buckwheat-hazelnut sable, micro sorrel, and sangria sorbet. Ok so first, a definition lesson. I actually had to look up a few of these words while at dinner so I would know what I was eating. Let's start with the buckwheat hazelnut sable.  This is essentially a fancy thin crispy shortbread style cookie. It sort of had a nutty, slightly bitter taste. That might sound like a bad thing, however, the bitterness created the perfect balance for all the other flavors there.

Next definition: micro sorrel. Sorrel is a type of green herb and micro just means it has small leaves. Yes there was a green herb in my dessert! It was a little strange but somehow it worked! The whole dessert had every flavor combo…sweet, bitter, savory, tart, salty. As much as I love the whole over-the-top-chocolate-peanut butter things, these kind of unique desserts end up being some of my favorite. Unexpected flavors that tantalize every area of your tongue!

And since it was our anniversary, the staff also brought out a special surprise! A miniature chocolate coffee mousse cake topped with strawberry sorbet! Hubby only took one bite so it was up to me to finish my own dessert and this one before the candle burnt out…I won!

And THEN, as if that all wasn't enough, while we were waiting for our check, they brought us out another amuse bouche…some kind of little almond sponge cake topped with apricot jam, I believe. So instead of an after-dinner mint, we got after-dinner cake!

It was a great night! Was it absolutely the best restaurant ever? No, but it was deliciously satisfying food and the company wasn't too bad either! Happy 16 years, Superking! Here's to many more! <3

Fishy Fishy Tacos

One day last week we decided to have fish for dinner. We have fish a lot.  We buy a filet at the store, already prepared and seasoned for $4, split it between the two of us, and add a cheap side dish like potatoes.  We like the garlic parmesan tilapia the best.  But when you eat it a lot sometimes its nice to do something a little different with it than just eat a piece of fish and some potatoes.

So I decided to spice it up a it and make Fishy Tacos.  A nice garlic parmesan tilapia, baked in the 400 degree oven for about 12 minutes, comes out perfectly flaky and golden. The parmesan cheese slightly burnt on the edges...yummy!

Then we toast a couple small tortillas in the toaster oven, shred the fish into little chunks and divide it up between the tortillas. And then top with whatever deliciousness you desire! We used fresh diced tomatoes, lovely avocado slices, a little chopped red onion, and a little lime juice.

Light fresh flavors with a Mexican twist! So simple and so yummy!

Bastille

Continuing our Restuarant Week food adventures...Last night we went to Bastille, which is located on Royal Street in Alexandria, a few blocks from the main strip of Old Town Alexandria.  A little off the beaten path and next to a few industrial factories and railroad tracks, the building, from the outside, seems a little too low key for such fine French cuisine.  But when you step inside, the low-keyness gives way to a homey warmth and intimate coziness.

The restaurant is fairly small, seating maybe 20-30 tables at most. And it has a traditional old French feel with a modern twist.  And the food does the same thing. I must note, that this restaurant supports local organic sustainable farming! Congrats to them!

For the first course, we chose the Bastille Duck Charcuterie.  It had duck prepared 3 ways...prosciutto style, rillettes (which was almost like a soft sausage without a casing), and duck confit served with a fruit mustarda sauce.  The proscuitto of course was sliced very thin and was juicy and salty.  A perfect combination with the sauce which had a spicy tang to it.  The rilletes was soft and smokey, very delicious. And the duck confit...for those who may not know, confit is where you fry something in its own fat which gives it extra fatty flavor...it was crispy on the outside like a fantastic home-fried chicken and the duck on the inside was fatty and moist and delectable. (I apologize, some of these pictures aren't the greatest. It was a little dark in there and with such an intimate atmosphere, I didn't feel it was appropriate to use a flash every time we got served a dish.)

Left: duck confit; Middle: prosciutto with sauce and greens on top; Right: baguette slice and rillettes

The other first course dish we chose was the Country Pate with a lentil salad.  Neither one of us had ever had pate so we figured we'd give it a try.  It looked like a rectangular patty of uncooked sausage. That may sound a little unappetizing but trust me, it wasn't.  Again, similar to the rillettes, it had a soft smokey flavor like a savory sausage.  The lentil salad was light and a bit vinagery with a patch of some kind of leafy salad bits on top.  And it was served with a dollop of some kind of mustard seed sauce which was tart and tangy.

Lentil salad (left); Country Pate (right); middle is sauce and a baguette slice

Then came the entree course.  I chose the pan-roasted Lamb Strip Loin with a fresh olive harissa and winter vegetables with Merguez tajine.  Ok, a lot of words, I didn't understand and maybe you don't either so heres a quick explanation.  Olive harissa is sort of like an olive salsa, a mixture of olives, capers, tomatoes, parsley, olive oil, maybe sherry vinegar and sometimes other spices.  It definitely has a very olivey taste which I really like.  Merguez is apparently an African spicy lamb sausage and Tajine is a Moroccan dish traditionally cooked in a heavy clay pot with meat and vegetables with numerous spices such as tumeric, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, ginger. So the vegetables had a sweet spicy flavor with a few bits of meat, very softly cooked.  The lamb itself, the main part of the dish, needs no explanation.  Just a word....yummy.  Ooh, I almost forgot, the veggies were topped with pumpkin seeds and pomegranate seeds, a nice little pop!

Lamb Strip Loin and winter vegetables

The other entree dish my hubby picked was the grilled Flat-iron Steak topped with a shallot cabernet sauceand served with pommes frites (or French fries to the layman).  The steak was cooked perfectly, juicy and flavorful. Incidently they automatically cook it medium rare unless you specify otherwise, which was perfect for us.  And the sauce...omg, the sauce was amazing.  I could just eat the sauce with a spoon!

Flat-iron Steak with cabernet sauce and French fries

There was an optional cheese course we could've added after the entree but we knew we'd be too full for dessert if we did that.  Too bad cuz I'm a total cheese lover! But that just means we'll have to go back another time! :)

Dessert course...I chose the Pumpkin Creme Brulee with apple compote, sage, and bacon.  Now this is what the menu said, but I'm just now finding out that I don't think thats entirely what I got. :(   The pumpkin brulee itself was awesome.  Sweet pumpkin creaminess topped with the burnt crispy sugar.  Perfection.  However, I didn't get any apple compote and the sage and bacon flavors were a little absent.  So that's a little disappointing. However, that does not take away from the yumminess of the dish I received. And it was served with a cute mini biscotti that tasted of hazelnut, perhaps?

Pumpkin Brulee

Hubby's dessert was the Apple Tartin with orange armagnac sabayon.  Ooh, sounds so fancy! The orange stuff was amazing.  Armagnac is a distinctive kind of brandy and the sabayon part is like a custard made with the armagnac.  Apple Tartin is like an upside-down mini apple pie but so much better, especially combined with the orange liquer and creaminess of the sabayon.  Beautiful and delectable!

Apple Tartin

A sweet and perfect ending to a wonderful meal!

Masa 14 in DC

So last night we had our first food adventure for Restaurant Week in DC.  We went to a place called Masa 14 located on 14th St NW between S and T streets.  Masa 14, only open for barely over a year, is a cool sophisticated place that serves a fusion cuisine of Asian and Mexican.  Whoever woulda thought to put those 2 things together? Well, someone did and it was genius!

can you see the snowflakes/ice pellets falling?

For most restaurants who celebrate Restaurant Week, they have a special prefixe menu specifically for this particular week.  And most menus have 3 or 4 courses for about $35 a person.  And in each course you usually have several items to choose from.

For our first course I chose the Tom Yum Soup...a sweet and spicy concoction of coconut milk, chicken adobado, masa dumplings, thai basil, bean sprouts, and some kind of spicy red peppers. Absolutely delicious and amazing how all those flavors work together.

Tom Yum Soup

For Hubby's first course, he chose Shrimp Ceviche...which contained juicy shrimp, yuzu (an Asian citrus fruit), melon, orange slices, cilantro, lime, and serrano chilis. For those who have never had ceviche, its essentially raw but then "cooked" in the acid of lime juice.  Its amazing how science can make food so yummy!  It was light and sweet and spicy all at once.

Shrimp Ceviche

For the second course, I chose the Country Ham Flatbread...a flat piece of bread (as the name implies) toasted crispy topped with salty very thin sliced ham, goat cheese, slices of cantaloupe (yes, you read correctly...cantaloupe), arugula, truffle, and lime.  Such a pantheon of flavors I never imagined together.  You could experience just about every flavor sensation in one bite.  Salty, sweet, crunchy, slight bitterness from the greens.  It was awesome.

Country Ham Flatbread

check out those slices of cantaloupe under the greens!

Hubby's second course was Pork Belly Steamed Buns...soft squishy doughy buns wrapped like a taco around the sweet shredded bits of pork belly topped with achiote (a paste made from annato seeds), hoisin sauce, pineapple, red fresno peppers, lime, cilantro, and pickled onions.  Again this combination of sweet, savory, and spicy was beautiful.

Pork Belly Steamed Buns

Third course...I picked Salt and Pepper Calamari...slightly crispy fried squid rings with flavors of madras curry, cilantro, mint, scallions, and a sweet and spicy chili sauce.  Fairly simple, not extremely unique but delicious and lovely all the same.

Salt and Pepper Calamari

Hubby's third course...Smoked Wagyu Beef Brisket Medallions...sweet and smokey shredded wagyu beef shaped into a lovely medallion, so soft and sumptuous you could eat it with a spoon!  It also was served with a wasabi parsnip puree, tat soi (a type of Asian green), hot and sour sauce, and truffled huitlacoche (which is actually a kind of fungus that grows on corn...sounds weird but was yummy).  There was definitely a little heat with this dish so proceed with caution if you're heat-sensitive as I am.

Wagyu Brisket Medallions

Our last course was dessert of course.  I chose a Molten Spicy Chocolate Cake...not your average molten chocolate cake here as there was definitely a hint of something spicy in that wonderful gooey melted chocolate pouring out of the center of the cake.  And next to the cake was served an orange tapioca/strawberry sorbet and gingered strawberries.  The heat from the cake (both temperature and flavor) mixed with the light fruity coolness of the strawberries and sorbet were a perfect combination of yumminess!

Left: mango panna cotta; Right: chocolate cake and sorbet

Hubby's dessert course was Mango Panna Cotta...something neither one of us had ever had and weren't even 100% sure what it was exactly.  Panna Cotta is traditionally an Italian dish kinda of like a creamy pudding type thing but with a bready texture to it.  This panna cotta was mango flavored which gave it a bright citrusy orange color.  It was topped with diced mangos, sake blackberry sauce, and a coconut tuille (which is a crispy cookie decoration on top).  Very unique for us.  It was odd and yet delicious.

the aftermath

Needless to say, our bellies were full to the brim and our plates scraped clean when we left!  Unfortunately we had a long drive home in the middle of a freezing rain downpour!! But we eventually made it home in one piece and very pleased with our food adventure.  We can't wait for Thursdays dinner now!  Stay tuned...

Its Restaurant Week 2011 in DC!!

This week DC and surrounding areas celebrate food with Restaurant Week.  Many restaurants in the area participate and have special menus specifically for the week.  Spots fill up fast so its a good idea to make reservations.

Hubby and I have scheduled 3 dinners this week.  Tonight we go to Masa 14 in DC.  Thursday we go to Bastille in Alexandria. And Saturday we go to Vermillion also in Alexandria.  Stay tuned to hear all about our unique and delicious food adventures this week!

Capital Grille-a-licious!!

So last night was my husband's company Christmas dinner we have every year come December.  Some people really dread their holiday company parties but feel obligated to go so they don't look like the office party pooper.  We, on the other hand, actually really enjoy ours every year.  It might have something to do with the fact that the company is made up of only 4 people, and they all happen to be close friends and family of ours...my husband's boss Tony (and close friend), along with his wife, Lisa (who is also the business VP), my brother-in-law Matt (who just recently joined the company) and his wife, Gwen, plus my hubby and I.  All 6 of us are close and get along great.  And the restaurant we went to was very yummy and we all rolled out of there very full!

The restaurant is called Capital Grille, located in McLean, VA.  Its basically an upscale steak and seafood house.  "Be wined, dined, and dazzled" is their motto and they did not disappoint.  The decor was rich and warm as was the service and the food despite the bitter snow-flurrying cold outside.

(Be aware...most of these photos are a little dark as they were taken with my cell phone camera that has no flash and I was trying to take them on the sly so as not to look like some crazy woman taking pictures of her food...can anyone else relate?)

The first course was appetizers.  We ordered several different ones to share around the table.  Hubby ordered Wagyu Beef Carpaccio which was served seared and chilled then sliced razor-thin accompanied by a small arugula salad. Very unique and tasty.  My appetizer was prosciutto-wrapped mozarella served with a lovely tomato salad.  The mozarella was very yummy, like cheese sticks for the foodie snob.  And the tomato salad was sweet and juicy, drizzled with a balsamic glaze.  I'm not one to just sit and eat tomatoes but these, I could've eaten a whole plate of them!

The next course was soup.  Actually before the appetizers they brought each of us a sample of their butternut squash bisque...very creamy and squashy (in a good way).  So for our soup orders, hubby got french onion and I got lobster bisque.  Both delectable!

The French onion soup was covered with a warm blanket of gooey cheese and underneath a broth of sweet and savory onions.

The Lobster bisque was rich and creamy with huge chunks of sweet lobster. The waitress even topped it off at the table with a few drops of dry sherry. I could just go swimming in that stuff!

Next the entrees...hubby ordered king crab legs.  And let me tell ya, they were the King of king crab legs!  When he pulled the meat out, they were like thick crab hot dogs!  That may sound weird and gross but trust me, it was wonderful!

For me, I ordered lobster and crab stuffed shrimp.  It's like, okay, how many different types of seafood can we cram into one dish?  But again it was lovely, lightly breaded and roasted with a touch of wine, served on top of a light tomato sauce.

The sides were ordered a la carte.  The side we got was parmesan truffle fries.  Fries, maybe a little unrefined, but served like this, they were delish!  Although at this point we were starting to get full and wanted to save room for dessert so we ended up boxing most of my shrimp and all the fries to take home.

And last, but certainly not least...dessert.  My favorite part of every meal.  Heck, dessert should be a meal all on its own.  But thats a whole other blog post.  Hubby's not a big dessert person (I know, weird huh) so he didn't get any.  But our friend let me take a picture of his dessert to share with you.  It was a light and fluffy vanilla cheesecake topped with raspberries and blackberries, drizzled with strawberry sauce and sort of flambeed with a sugary crust on the top.

My dessert was the restaurant specialty, Fresh Strawberries Capital Grille.  Fresh sliced juicy strawberries, (one of my favorite fruits ever), topped with handmade vanilla ice cream and wonderful sauce made of ruby port and Grand Marnier. Oh to die for! I tried my best to refrain from licking the bowl after scraping every bit of that sauce I could get on my spoon.

Needless to say, the dinner was a hit.  I must also add that I appreciated the more petite portion sizes of the appetizers and soups, and even the desserts...just enough so you could have a taste, maybe share with friends and have room for the next course without feeling like you were going to be sick. All in all great food, great friends, and...great food. (Yeah I know, I couldn't think of anything else to say!)  We will definitely be adding this place to our list of restaurants to visit again in the near future.

What are you making? I don't know.

That was the conversation my husband and I had tonight while standing in the kitchen.  I'm sure many of you have had that same conversation before many times. The problem with it this time was that I had already started cooking.

We bought a couple eggplants the other day at the farmers market and weren't really sure what to do with them.  I don't have a lot of experience with eggplants besides putting them in lasagna.  I had already used one the other night (chopped up on top of home-made pizza) and I had one left.  If I didn't cook it tonight it would go bad.  So what am I going to make?

I had pulled up a few eggplant recipes from the internet...eggplant parmesan, ratatouille salad, eggplant brushette.  They all sounded good but none of them really stood out as, "ooh I want to make that and then eat it!"  But I started pulling out ingredients and mashing a couple recipes together and decided to make my own recipe.  So when my husband comes in the kitchen and asked what I was making, I really didn't know.  "Hey, I'm making this up as I go along," I said as he slowly backed out of the kitchen with a worried look on his face saying "I'm outta here!"

I was a little nervous myself but I jumped in anyway. What I ended up with was a great, creative, yummy meal which I think I will call Deep-fried Eggplant Parmesan Crostinis with Feta.  Well, perhaps the title needs a little work but trust me, the idea was genius.  And it was kinda exhilierating. I felt like I was on one of those cooking shows like Chopped, where you get a basket full of crazy ingredients and have a half hour to create something magnificent.  Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't get chopped but hubby was very pleased, as was I.

P.S. The side dish in the little square bowl is cheesy polenta with fresh spinach leaves as garnish.

Here's my make-as-I-go-along eggplant recipe...

Deep-fried Eggplant Parmesan Feta Crostinis

Ingredients:  2 small eggplants, 3 eggs or egg whites, 3 TBsp water, 1 cup fine breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup fresly grated parmesan, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper,  1 cup tomato sauce, about a 1/2 -1 cup of various chopped veggies of your choice (we used green pepper, red pepper, red onions), fresh baguette (ours was parmsean peppercorn flavor), butter to spread, feta cheese crumbles to taste, oil for frying

Slice eggplant into 1/4 inch thick slices, then cut slices in half (like a half-moon).  Whisk eggs and water in a shallow dish until frothy. In another bowl combine breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.  Dip eggplant slices in egg mixture, then coat in breadcrumb mixture. Put oil in pan and set at medium heat.  When hot put coated eggplant slices in oil, allow to fry for about a minute on each side or until brown and crispy.  Set fried slices on paper towel to drain excess oil off.

In a separate pan, pour in tomato sauce and add chopped veggies.  Simmer until heated through.  Thinly slice baguette on the diagonal and lightly butter.  Sprinkle with a little bit of leftover breadcrumb mixture and toast in 350 degree oven for several minutes, until desired toastiness.

When baguette slices come out of the oven, place 3-4 on a plate.  Top crostinis with several eggplant slices, then a couple spoonfuls of veggie tomato sauce, and finish off with a few feta cheese crumbles to taste.

Enjoy!!