Taste of Georgetown 2011

Taste of Georgetown is a lovely foodie festival that celebrates...whats else? The wonderful foods that are Georgetown!  We've been able to recruit a few of our friends into joining us on some recent food adventures and this was one of them.  Our friend, Tierney, joined us on this one!

Many of our favorite Georgetown restaurants were there offering some small tasty bites.  Some things we'd tried before and also some new things. 

A place called Chadwicks had mini Cajun chicken egg rolls served with a sweet and sour sauce. Very crispy and yummy!

Delicious fish tacos from Sequoia. Crispy shell and fresh fish with tomato and lettuce inside.

Baja shrimp ceviche from Sea Catch Restaurant and Raw Bar. Fresh and chunky!

the shadow was trying to steal our ceviche!

Mie N Yu had Spicy Pumpkin and Coconut Soup with duck confit and topped with pepitas.  This was one of my favorites!! And lucky for me, Superking and Tierney (we'll have to come up with an alter-ego name for you at some point) aren't huge pumpkin fans so that left most of it for me!  I love duck and I love pumpkin...who would've thought they'd be so good together in a coconut soup! Amazing!

open wide, honey bunny!

A place called Neyla offered freshly made hummus and baba ganouj with a crispy pita.  Delicious and creamy! The pita also was seasoned with herbs and spices on one side too which added a nice flavor with the dips.

Mortons had simple steak sandwiches.  It was a piece of tenderly cooked medium steak on a simple white bread and spread with mayonnaise.  I would've thought a fancy steakhouse like Mortons would've offered something a little fancier. But it was delicious all the same. I don't think we would've found a steak any better anywhere else.

Bodega's had a huge vat of paella they were churning up fresh which wasn't quite ready for us at that time so we had to wait til later. But while we waited we tried their serrano ham served on mini toasts with a tomato compote.

Thunderburger had juicy little cheeseburger sliders.

a view of the Georgetown Canal

Georgetown Catering had pumpkin whoopie pies, peanut butter and jelly whoppie pies and lobster rolls served with sweet potato chips.  Quite the combination!  But we weren't turning it down!

Of course we had to make a stop at our beloved Georgetown Cupcake!! They were giving away 2 flavors in one box. Tier got the Red Velvet & Peanut Butter Fudge. While Superking and I got the Salted Caramel and Lava Fudge.

We went for a walk and did a little shopping in Georgetown before coming back to the festival for one more small bite.  We went back for the paella which was finally ready. It was thick and hot, full of rice and veggies. Super yummy and worth the wait!

And we got a tenderloin kabob from Sequoia.  Complete with roasted veggies. A nice savory end to the day!

I can't believe we actually ate all that food! It was all so yumma yumma!! This is why I love Georgetown!

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!

Fake-Baked Apple Oatmeal

Ok, first let me start by saying, I have hated oatmeal ever since I was a kid.  It always tasted like flavorless, bland, sticky, grey mush that always got cold too quick which made it even grosser! Yuck! There is not enough sugar in the world to make that stuff taste edible!

I sometimes can be a texture-eater (ya know those weird people who won't eat certain things simply because they don't like the texture of the food...yeah, that's me). And I would claim that one of the reasons I didn't like oatmeal was because I didn't like the texture of it but then I always liked cream of wheat and grits which are kinda similar in texture so I guess it was just an excuse to not have to eat it.

So I don't like oatmeal...That is until earlier this week.

About a month ago I discovered this recipe for oatmeal on another food blog I follow.  And I thought, hmm, that sounds good but I don't like oatmeal.  But maybe I should give this recipe a try because it does look pretty tasty and I know oatmeal is supposed to be super healthy for you and I totally need to get more healthy foods in my diet.  So it took me about a month to get up the nerve to try it.  And now that I have...(wait for it)...I think I actually LOVE oatmeal now!!!!!! Even I can't believe I just said that!

 First of all, I figured out one reason I hated oatmeal growing up was because all I ever had was that over-processed instant stuff...now THAT is gross and I still will never eat that stuff!  Especially now having had real, cooked oatmeal.  And you might think to yourself...."but instant is so much faster!"  First of all, faster does not mean better.  Second of all, instant oatmeal takes maybe 1 minute in the microwave; real oatmeal takes 5 minutes.  Ooooh, that's so much longer (sarcastic wink)!  Now I did modify the original recipe slightly but its still pretty healthy and super yummy.  I guarantee if you like oatmeal and apples, you'll love this! And if you don't like oatmeal...well, consider giving this a try...you just might surprise yourself and fall in love with it like I did.

Fake-Baked Apple Oatmeal

(my recipe is for 2 servings because I share with my hubby but you can easily cut it back to one serving by following the directions on the oat container)

A side note: its called "fake-baked" because the apples are cooked or "baked" in the microwave!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water...1/4 cup heavy cream...1 cup oats (I use Irish-style oats)...1 medium apple...1 tbs butter (I use Brummel and Brown spread)...cinnamon and sugar (or sugar substitute) to taste

Note: if you want to keep it even healthier, skip the cream and increase water to 1 3/4 cups

Directions:

 Put water in a small pot on medium heat. While the water is heating up, core apple, cut into chunks and place into a microwave-safe bowl.  

Top apples with butter and cinnamon and sugar.  "Bake" in microwave for 3 minutes.  Just as the water is starting to simmer, add the cream.  When it just begins to boil, slowly stir in the oatmeal.  Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  

The oatmeal and the apples should be done around the same time.  Divide the apples evenly between 2 bowls (for 2 servings) and top with several spoonfuls of oatmeal.  

The oatmeal, cinnamon, apples, and the juice in the bottom of the apple bowl will all mix together in a yummy bowl of sweet goodness!

To see the original recipe, check out Baked Apple Oatmeal recipe on the Foodie Nutritionist from my list of favorite food pages!! Her recipe even includes pumpkin butter...yummm!!!

(Here's the aftermath...)

Cooking with kids

Last week I set up a special playdate...just me and my 4 year old niece, Sydney.  Sydney is a very smart little girl who loves to be a big helper, especially in the kitchen.  So I decided to take her to a place called Cookology.

Cookology (http://cookologyonline.com/) is a cooking store/school where professional chefs host cooking classes for all different age groups teaching all-things-cooking from learning basic knife skills to decorating cupcakes to cooking a 3 course meal. 

The class we attended was a "Mommy & Me" class, even though I was the Aunt and the only adult not a mommy.  But the class is geared towards 3-5 year olds and this one in particular was focusing on fall/halloween treats.  There were about 6 other kids there with their moms and each child was able to add a certain ingredient and help mix things together. And they were taught about vanilla and sugar and cinnamon and measuring and stirring and counting.  The teacher was a lot of fun and really great with the kids. They even got to color their own chef's hats to take home.

We made Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with a cream cheese frosting which the kids were able to spread on themselves (the "pie" part ended up being more like cookies than cakes though still yummy) and Chocolate Candy Corn Bark.  The bark was a mixture of melted white chocolate and graham cracker crumbs topped with melted chocolate and the kids crushed up oreos to use along with the candy corn to decorate the top of the bark.

It was great and fun educational experience for my niece. And I loved the fact it was just her and I, able to have some bonding time.  It was very special and I hope to take her to another class soon.  When her 2 year old sister gets a little older, maybe I'll be brave enough to take them both!