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!

Waterscapes

Superking and I were able to do two fancy dinners while in Myrtle Beach.  Our favorite one we saved for our last night, which you'll hear about in a later post.  But we wanted to try a new place as well. We found a restaurant called Waterscapes.  Its located inside a hotel called the Marina Inn at the Grand Dunes.  The Grand Dunes is a more upscale portion of Myrtle, located right between the north and south areas, so this hotel was pretty posh as was the restaurant.

pretty fountain outside hotel entrance

Waterscapes strives for a sustainable "farm to table" dining experience. All their seafood menu options are selected fresh every morning by the head chef himself, straight off the fishing dock in Murrell's Inlet, a small fishing town just south of Myrtle. As such, the menu changes daily depending on what was caught that morning.

beautiful "waterscape" paintings along the hallway leading to the restaurant

fancy balcony in hotel

sweeping "Scarlett O'Hara" staircase in hotel leading to restaurant

We began with an appetizer of Foie Gras Torchon.  The foie gras (fatty goose or duck liver) was served with rum-pressed peaches, pickled radishes, and pain perdu (which is sort of like French toast, kind of sweet and eggy bread).  The foie gras was super creamy and smooth while the peaches were very boozy.  Very unique and interesting presentation of ingredients.

Superking also ordered a salad.  A fried salad actually.  Yes, a fried salad. Kind of an oxymoron isn't it?  It actually was called the Parmesan Seared Romaine Salad. A long chunk of romaine lettuce topped with sun-dried tomatoes, crispy prosciutto, kalamata olives, and a creamy house dressing all of which is covered with a layer of parmesan cheese thats been lightly seared just enough to melt it and slightly wilt the lettuce.  We've never seen or even heard of anything like this before.  The melted cheese gave the whole salad a light crispy shell that was amazing!

Superking also ordered the Seared Tenderloin for his entree.  A juicy tender cut of beef served with a mushroom ragout, asparagus spears, and topped with a lobster tot.  We weren't really sure what a lobster tot was but when it arrived, it appeared to be a risotto croquette with lobster in it. Delicious of course! And the steak was ordered rare and was cooked so perfectly, he wasn't even given a steak knife because the butter knife worked just fine.

I decided I had to go for their specialty...one of their fish specials of the day.  After consulting with our knowledgeable waitress, I went for the Triggerfish, a local specimen, topped with pork belly and served with a fig risotto.  Omg, it was absolutely amazing.  I think probably the best fish I have ever eaten.  Sometimes white fish tends to be a little dry or bland.  This was nothing of the sort.  Completely juicy and as flavorful as chicken.  The pork belly (ok you haven't lived until you've eaten pork belly btw) was smokey and sweet. The fig risotto was also sweet and creamy.  The combination of all of it together was pure awesomeness.  And beautifully presented too.

We were pretty stuffed but I knew once we got back to our room, I'd be ready for dessert so I ordered one to go.  A coconut cake soaked in rum with a creamy coconut filling in the center and served with a passion fruit sauce. And the slice was huge! The flavors didn't quite live up to what we had in our entrees but I think if I had eaten it fresh, it probably would have. Still, who's gonna turn down a coconut cake soaked in rum?

Toasted Coconut Almond Pops

The final flavor of the Popsicle Series. Have I mentioned before I love coconut? It always makes me think of being at the beach, which is a sore subject right now since I'm not going to the beach this year.  Boo! Hiss! Oh well, we must save our pennies somehow, I guess.

Anyway, I digress.  Popsicles. Coconut. Here are your ingredients...

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup low fat yogurt (I use Stonyfield organic, plain)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
2 Tbsp almond extract
2 Tbsp coconut rum

In a medium-large bowl, blend whipping cream and sugar with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.

Spread the coconut out onto a baking sheet and put in a 350 degree oven just until it starts to turn brown on the edges.  Be careful and watch it closely because it can brown quickly.  If you get too distracted with something else, you will have burnt coconut in no time!  Put the toasted coconut in the food processor and pulse a couple times just to make it a little finer.

Add coconut, yogurt, almond extract, and coconut rum to cream mixture. Stir until well blended.

Using 3 oz Dixie cups, scoop the coconut mixture into the cups almost to the top.  The original recipe says it makes 9 but I sometimes got as many as 11 cups filled. Remember to cut a small slit at the top of each cup to allow for easier removal from the pop later.  Once the cups are filled, you may insert a popsicle stick.  Allow pops to freeze for about 4 hours before serving.

Fighting Sickness with Tom Yum Soup

This is now day 5 of me trying to recover from being sick this past weekend. For over 24 hours (beginning Thursday night going into Friday night) I fought the most wicked fever I think I've ever had. Along with other flu-like symptoms which I don't need to get into here. While being sick though, I didn't have much of an appetite, but what appetite I did have, I was craving soup.  Particularly some good creamy tomato soup with a hot grilled cheese.  Unfortunately that wasn't available. But the Super King (aka Hubby who decided he wasn't sure if he wanted to be called Hubby anymore in my blog posts so this is the new name he came up with...) took very good care of me, bringing me all kinds of other foods and helping to clean the house a little.

This is the original Super King from Futurama

Having said all that, right before I got sick I decided to try my hand at making a Tom Yum Soup, a very yummy and simple to make Thai soup. Technically I think what I made is more of a Tom Khaa soup but we're calling it Tom Yum soup anyway.  My soup had coconut milk in it which apparently Tom Khaa has but Tom Yum doesn't. I don't really know. Although if you look through my past posts about DC Restaurant Week, we went to a restaurant called Masa 14, in which we were served a Tom Yum soup which clearly had coconut milk in it as well. So maybe I'm not that far off.

Tom Yum soup from Masa 14

Anyway, here's the recipe I used, which is an adaptation/combination of 2 recipes (you know I can't just pick one recipe and use it as is). Parts of the recipe are from "Easy Tom Yum Soup with Coconut Milk" by Darlene Schmitt on About.com Thai Food.  And parts of the recipe are from "Asian Shrimp and Coconut Soup" on Recipe.com.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp grated or minced ginger
3 garlic cloves minced
3 cups chicken broth (tho I used beef broth because thats what I had and it was fine)
1 cup water
1 lemon
1 lime
Generous handful of mushrooms (I used shitakes)
1 cup matchstick carrots
1/2 to 1 lb precooked shrimp
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 Tbsp fish sauce
4 oz angel hair pasta
Fresh coriander/cilantro for garnish

Directions:
Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat.  Cook ginger and garlic in oil for about 30 seconds.  Add chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil and let cook about 3 minutes. 

Zest your lemon and lime and add zest to broth. Also add mushrooms and carrots.  Cook about 5 minutes.

Reduce the heat and add shrimp, coconut milk, and fish sauce.  Cook for another 5 minutes. Then add a squeeze of lime juice if desired. Here is a good opportunity to taste-test the soup and adjust flavors as needed. (If it needs more spice or saltiness, add more fish sauce.  If its too sour, add 1 tsp brown sugar. If its too salty, add more lime juice. If you want more spice/heat, add red chilies or chili sauce. Add more coconut milk if you want it richer/creamier or if its too spicy.)

Cook pasta, drain, and add to soup right before serving.  Pour into bowls and garnish with a few sprigs of coriander.  Serve with a nice plate of sushi and enjoy! This recipe gave us about 3 large bowlfuls of soup and took about 30 minutes to make.

This isn't exactly the sushi we had that night but this looks yummy too!

Donna note: I actually made this soup earlier in the day, everything except the pasta, and put it in a crockpot on low to keep it warm. Then had Super King make the pasta later that evening just before serving. It worked great. It was the perfect warm compliment to our cold fresh sushi plate.