March 09, 2005

Paper Chef Winner

The Paper Chef 4 contest is over, and Sam at Becks & Posh has announced the winner: Cocoa-Pomegranate Roast Chicken with Eggplant Stuffing by Fatemeh of Gastronomie. Congrats to Fatemeh for what is a very simple and clean looking recipe. I'm almost tempted to make it, but like I said in my entry, I'm not the biggest fan of eggplant.

To see the full roster of entries, head on over to Domestic Goddess and check out the list.

Posted by Samer at 08:26 AM | Comments (1)

March 05, 2005

Eggplant Inquisition ...

... Or "No One Expects the Eggplant (in a Dessert)".

Ingredients So this month's Paper Chef has some odd ingredients. Odd in that they don't immediately jump to mind as something I'd want to eat together. Eggplant, pomegranate, stale bread and chocolate. Yeah, I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with that.

My first thought involved a baba ghanouj-like spread. Eggplant, chocolate and tahini (trust me, the two of those go as well as chocolate and peanut butter) spread on a stale bread crostini with pomegranate seeds for garnish. I considered a mole casserole with eggplant and chicken. But in the end, I wanted to try making a dessert with eggplant. Mostly because it's such a silly idea.

Mini Cakes I decided I'd make a quasi-bread pudding with eggplant and a pomegranate chocolate sauce to top it off. I also wanted some pomegranate seeds for garnish, but after hitting four different markets, I found out that pomegranates are not in season, which makes them more of an odd choice.

For the pudding:

Eggplant Inquisition Heat the oven to 350° F. Melt the chocolate and butter in a microwave safe container (~ 1 min at 50% power), then mix thoroughly. Slice the raw eggplant lengthwise and scoop out the meat leaving the skin behind. Pull the crust off the bread and roughly tear or chop the bread into smaller pieces. Add the eggplant, bread and sugar into a food processor and pulse for about a minute or until everything is well mixed. Add the egg and pulse until incorporated. Add chocolate/butter mix, nutmeg, vanilla, salt and rum (if using) and pulse until the liquid is a nicely homogenous.

Butter two individual serving bundt cake pans and sprinkle sugar inside. Fill to just over 3/4 way up with the batter. Place the cake pans on a cookie sheet and place in the oven for 45 mins. Rotate once during baking. Once finished, place pans on a cooling rack and let sit for 15 mins. Overturn and allow to cool to room temperature.

For the sauce:

Eggplant Inquisition Put the juice, chocolate, butter, sugar and salt in a pot and bring to a simmer, constantly stirring. Be careful to watch the pot lest it boil over. Reduce the liquid by half. Take off heat and stir in vanilla and heavy cream. Let cool, then place in dispensing bottle and refrigerate.

For candied eggplant:

Bring water and sugar to a rollicking boil and add eggplant rounds leaving them in for a minute or so. Pull eggplant out and place in a shallow container, pour the syrup over them. Let sit for an hour, then drain the eggplant and place on parchment paper. Sprinkle with sugar and place in a 250° F oven until dry and crunchy.

Tasty!
Plate up the cakes, pour some sauce over cake and into bundt hole. Garnish with candied eggplant, whipped cream and mint. Sprinkle a little confectioner's sugar on top.

Enjoy the Inquisition.

Tasting notes are after the jump.

The texture is crumbly, wet and chewy. It has a very deep chocolate taste that's only helped along by the pomegranate infused chocolate sauce. There's a definite taste of eggplant, but it's very mild and like a weak current in the background. The whipped cream, believe it or not, adds a bit of lightness to the dessert.

It could have used a little less time in the oven. The bottom of it, which was open and on top in the oven, is drier than it should be. I love the crumbly nature of it though. The best way to describe this is like a zucchini bread, only more sweet.

The candied eggplant is surprisingly good. The caramel flavors dominate the eggplant, and the crisp exterior give just slightly to a chewy interior.

Would I make this again? Well, to be honest, eggplant is not my thing at all. I'd probably not go out of my way to make this, unless it was to impress or scare someone. But it is very tasty, nonetheless.

Posted by Samer at 06:29 PM | Comments (5)

February 27, 2005

Cupcakes

Cupcakes I'm not a baker, not by any means, but every now and again, I see a recipe that makes me want to spend some time messing up my kitchen. This month's Cook's Illustrated has a very good adult cupcake -- deep dark chocolate -- with a decadent children's vanilla icing.

More Cupcakes Not only did the cupcakes turn out quite nicely, the pictures did too.

Posted by Samer at 08:14 AM | Comments (2)

February 18, 2005

Sushi

"Huy!" Screamed the waitress at Miyabi after we gave her our drinks order. "Huy!" and off she went to get them.

She comes back, a bundle of energy, drops them off and yells out "Ta Da!". And I thought to myself, "dinner and a show, excellent!"

In between exclamations of "huy!", Law-Rah and I had some of the best sushi I've had in this area. Miyabi is a newish place near Clarendon, but off the beaten path in an apartment building. The blinding "SUSHI" neon sign does not do the place justice. The decor on the inside is very refined, all light woods and greens. The plates and cups were really quite nice, clay pottery and nicely done. The word "miyabi" apparently means "elegance" in Japanese, and this place fits the bill.

The food was just as good as the decor. The salmon tempura roll was like crack. just warm and crispy on the outside, salmon goodness on the inside. The tuna roll was nothing to write home about, but the Maryland roll (with crab) was excellent. The eel and the mushroom nigiri were quite good, the mushrooms especially. I enjoyed the sea urchin, but while the taste was good, the texture was a cross between a really soft oyster and nothingness.

I'm definitely going to have to go back there again. Even if the food was only "passable", the waitress yelling out "arrigato" and "huy!" is not to be missed.

Miyabi
3000 N Washington Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22201
+1.703.243.7799

Posted by Samer at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2005

Levante's

Went out to Levante's last night. Smack dab in the heart of Dupont Circle is a Mediterranean implant. It looks pricey, but the food is moderately priced and quite good. I don't really have much of a review here, other than to say go try it. The food is well prepared and some of it is quite excellent.

The reason I wrote this is their logo. It bugged me all night and into today. I've seen it before, and I've seen it on something else. You know how something gets into your head and you can't do anything else until you've figured it out? Like a lyric or a trivia answer? Thats how this was.

Islandisbanki Logo

Finally, I found it. Very very similar to the Islandsbanki logo.

Find Levante's at:

1320 19th St NW
Washington, DC 20036
+1.202.293.3244
Google Map of Levante's

Posted by Samer at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2004

Airline Food

Yuck.

I can see why most people don't complain about the lack of food served on flights these days: most of it is just awful. Air Canada served us something very orange in color as a salad (I tasted it, and it vaguely tasted like julienned carrots and raisins in some sort of a creamy mixture), pasta with an okay tomato sauce, but with really crappy cheese and herbs on top, and some leaden, gelatinized excuse for a sweet bread as the dessert.

Inedible dreck. And how ironic: the in-flight magazine's focus is food.

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August 23, 2004

Dough

Over the last few days, I've been a cooking fool. Over the next few days, I will share the recipes that I've enjoyed. This is a basic dough that I've perfected over the years. It is good for basic flat breads, pizzas, and pitas.

Makes three pizzas

1/3 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
1.5 cups of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
pinch of pepper
warm water
extra flour
1 tablespoon olive oil

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1/3 cup warm water. Place egg, flour, salt and pepper in a food processor. Pulse a couple of times to mix everything together then, with the processor going, drizzle the yeast solution into the mix. Keep adding water until the dough comes together and is just sticky and coming off the sides of the processor.

Roll the dough out onto a well floured board. Knead for ten minutes, adding flour if needed. Place olive oil in bowl and coat the sides. Place dough in bowl and coat with olive oil. Set aside, covered, in a warm place to rise for at least thirty minutes.

Roll dough back out on to well floured board and knead until oil is well mixed into dough. Shape into a log and, using a bench scraper, cut into three equal pieces (weigh them, probably around 5.3 ounces each). You can use the dough immediately or you can coat the inside of a plastic sandwich bag with a touch of olive oil and place each ball of dough into its own pouch and toss in the fridge for up to a week. If you do that, let the dough come to room temperature before using it.

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August 14, 2004

Julia

The grand dame of cooking has passed away. Julia Child would have been 92 tomorrow.

She was an amazing force in cooking and on television. I believe, while she was not the first to cook on television, that she was the first woman to do so. And she did it magnificently.

She was so well loved that when she moved from her home some years ago, the Smithsonian Institution took apart her kitchen and put it on display.

Bon appétit and thank you, Julia.

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July 19, 2004

Maple Salmon

I went to make some wild Sockeye salmon tonight and I wanted to do something different. I have this cedar plank meant for cooking salmon on that a friend gave me and I've never used, so I figured I'd give it a try. I wanted to make a sauce to cover the salmon in, and i wanted to use thyme, but realized at the last moment that I was out.

What I came up with was maple syrup. I had a pint of grade "B" maple syrup lying around and decided to try a maple/garlic sauce.

Sauce:
2 tbl sp butter
2 cloves garlic
15 peppercorns (green and black)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 lemon, juiced

Preheat oven with seasoned plank on a cookie sheet for 15 mins at 350° F.

Heat butter in small skillet until it bubbles and subsides on medium. Mash garlic, peppercorns and salt in a mortar until well mixed. Reduce heat to low and add garlic mixture to butter, spread around with a wooden spoon. Quickly add maple syrup and stir, on low, for about two mins. Add lemon juice, stir and set aside.

Place salmon filet skin down on plank and cover with sauce, saving some for later. Return to plank to oven and cook for 20-25 mins at 350°.

When you plate it, pour some of the left over sauce on top and then squeeze some lemon juice over it all. Very very good.

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May 19, 2004

Mudbug

Went to a crawfish and music festival over the weekend. It was a benefit for Hungry for Music.

There was a boat load of crawfish. It was something else. We ate and ate and ate. Drank a fair share of beer, too.

If you like a good cause and if you like crawfish, go to the site and look out for next year's event.

Posted by Samer at 08:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 13, 2004

Gambas al Ajillo

Those of you who have been to Jaleo have probably had the gambas al ajillo. Shrimp cooked in oil with garlic. And as good as the shrimp is, you just want it done so you can soak up that garlic oil with the hearty bread they provide.

I set out to make this fantastic dish at home, and here's how you can, as well:

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3-5 dried red chili peppers
3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/2 lb 31-40 count shrip, peeled and de-veined
1/2 medium lemon

Place the oil, peppers and the garlic (sliced very thin) into a bowl and let set for about 20-30 mins to allow the flavors to mingle.

Place contents of the bowl into a 12" skillet and heat on medium until garlic starts to dance across the oil and bubbles form, about 2 mins.

Dry the shrimp, then salt and pepper them. Add to oil and bring heat to medium-low. Cook for three mins, or until shrimp has turned pink. Be careful not to over cook.

Remove shrimp to serving bowl, and bring heat back up to medium. Continue to cook until the garlic shows signs of browning. Turn off heat and let rest for two mins. Add a touch of olive oil to cool and to add some fresh oil taste. Pour over shrimp.

Finish with a squeeze of lemon, a couple of wedges on the side and some chopped parsley on top. And don't forget to pair with a good bread to soak up the garlic oil.

Posted by Samer at 09:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 23, 2004

Iron Chef America

I love Iron Chef. I consider it one of the best shows on television.

The incredible majesty of the chefs in question. Their mastery of the art of cooking. Their incredible imagination. The beauty of the dishes they make. The tastes which I can only dream about.

Food Network has seen fit to create an American version. It stars "the Chairman", who is supposed to be the nephew of Chairman Kaga. Alton Brown serves as host and color commentator. The Iron Chefs are Bobby Flay, Wolfgang Puck and Mario Battali.

OK, a word of advice to the folks producing this show: don't fuck with an icon. Iron Chef is astonishing for its brilliance. The ingredients, the chaos, the format. They all combined to make it one of the best shows on television. The show has a following that borders on the fanatic. So, please, don't fuck with it.

But they did. The most jarring thing is that the commentary is not all done live during the taping. There was a good bit of dialog added in post (as they say). Why? I suspect it's because Alton Brown can't talk for an hour straight. That's why, in the original, they had a play by play person and a commentator. Brown should be filling the role of Hatori. He's doing too much, and is not very good at it.

Furthermore, they changed the music. Fine, you want new music, create new music. But the music they used was insipid. I want drama and flare. The music sets the mood, especially for the home audience.

But enough with the criticism, on to the battle. Trout. Live, swimming in a tank, trout. Brilliant. Make them catch it and kill it. They brought Iron Chef Sakai back for this one. Did you know, he's never lost a fish battle?

Until now. He lost to Flay. I'm not sure what the judges were thinking, but they gave Sakai fewer points on the presentation. I mean, really? His presentation was flawless. His food looked like food porn. I can't speak to the taste, but he clearly should have won for imagination and presentation.

So, this first episode has left a bland taste in my mouth. We'll see where it goes from here.

Posted by Samer at 11:52 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

March 16, 2004

Flour

Thanks to a friend of mine, I am now the proud owner of The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook. I can't wait to start baking up a storm. I'll have to make you something good, MP...

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January 26, 2004

Taqueria el Poblano

A few weeks ago, my friend Skarlet introduced me to Taqueria el Poblano in Del Ray. It is a charmingly nice and colorful neighborhood eatery that really hits the mark.

Then, this weekend, I went to the Arlington location with my friend Em. The only difference between the two is the size -- it looks like the Arlington one might be a twice as large. That's not saying it is big, by any means.

The food is great for a neighborhood place. It is simple fare from a short, but varied, menu. The variety is good, the service friendly and the salsa addictive.

I've tried the duck carnitas and the tacos al carbon. Both were excellent. The duck is quite tasty, and not as greasy as duck can be. The lime marinated steak in the tacos platter was quite good. The were served with their signature poblano peppers and cheese, with soft tacos to wrap your meal in.

And the prices are right. Everything is reasonably priced, with few menu items above $10. And the salsa is lovely, did I mention?

Check it out if you are looking for damn good eats at reasonable rates.

Taqueria el Poblano
2400 B Mount Vernon Ave,
Alexandria, VA 22301
+1.703.548.8226

2503A N. Harrison St.
Arlington, VA 22207
+1.703.237.8250

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October 27, 2003

McFadden's

When you enter an Irish bar there are certain things you expect. Guinness on tap, a relaxed atmosphere, pub grub, Irish and folk music, people unwinding and getting drunk.

When you enter McFadden's Restaurant and Saloon in Foggy Bottom, you get a strange trip into a surreal world of... Well, I'm not really sure of what.

The first thing that looks out of place are the burly bouncers. Now, I've seen these guys out here during the weekdays as I walk past, and I always wondered why the need for bouncers at an Irish pub. Now I know.

Downstairs we went. To the bar, where guys who appear to be younger than some socks I own proceed to tell me that they are out of Guinness. Let me repeat that line, with the added knowledge that this is happening at 7.30 pm on a Friday night: "Sorry, we're out of Guinness". I mean, honestly, could you not look far enough ahead to the weekend and order some?

So, settling for Foggy Bottom Ale, I took a look around. Obviously, I was the oldest person there. Our group of three probably had more education than everyone else there too. Ahh, college bars, how lovely.

The place, which only opened in March, looks like it still isn't finished. The bar area has no finished floor, just a concrete pad. There looks to be light fixtures still not installed. And braces for television sets go without the televisions. Maybe it is the hip thing to do.

They do have a menu, with some odd items on it for an Irish place. But the burger I got was actually quite tasty, despite not being medium-rare like I asked. Food will not be a reason to come here. Watching much younger women dancing and prancing to damn good 80s music might be.

A bouncer came up to me and asked me to remove my Guinness cap. I mean, the guy explained himself by saying they have a dress code. At an Irish pub? All I can say is get your heads out of your asses, guys. Really.

At one point, we did Jagermeister shots. That's right, in the spirit of "if you can't beat them, join them" I had two shots for the first time in a decade. I can honestly say that I still enjoyed the Jager... But I did not feel any younger, just drunk.

Turns out, I'm not the only one who thinks this place is a little much.

McFadden's Restaurant and Saloon
2401 Pennsylvania Ave
Foggy Bottom

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September 29, 2003

Shake, Shake, Shake

I place this under food, but I am really not sure if I should.

It has disturbed me since reading it on Accordion Guy's blog. Now it must disturb you as well:

The Meat Shake Corporation.

No, really, go ahead and click on it. DO IT.

Be sure to check out the menu/nutrition guide and the Meaty Mobile pages.

Can anyone confirm the existence of these things?

Now, I love my meats, but really... This is just bad.

Posted by Samer at 10:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 21, 2003

Zaytinya

Meant to get this review up earlier, but we've had a little storm.

When you enter Zaytinya, you notice that it is unlike any other restaurant you've been to in Washington. It is at once austere and welcoming. I'm not really sure I have the vocabulary for describing it. White, large, open, comfortable. But something about it makes me uneasy.

But as soon as you sit down, the comfort factor starts. There are local celebrities here, sitting across from us was one of Washington's best TV news anchors, Gordon Peterson. The tables are wide and a comfortable dark color. The room is huge, and a set of stairs leads you to an upstairs dining area.

Why am I fixated on the space? Because as elegant and strange and wonderful as it is, you instantly forget about it when the food comes out.

Zaytinya's specialties are the small plates of the Mediterranean. The mezzas of Greece and Lebanon. The small dishes of Turkey. Even the tapas of Spain. The menu is quite ambitious, but the food lives up to the expectations.

This shouldn't surprise anyone who has eaten at Jaleo. That's where executive chef Jose Andres has been plying his trade for while (and at Cafe Atlantico). Everything we ordered that night was well made and quite tasty.

The arayes, a Lebanese dish of lamb cooked inside a pita bread, was pretty good and not as greasy as it can sometimes be. (I should know, I make this dish myself).

The kibbeh (made with beef instead of lamb) was quite good. This despite my definite preference for lamb in Lebanese dishes. The kibbeh nayeh, which we did not order, is also made with raw beef. Traditionally, in Lebanon, this is a raw lamb dish.

The taramosalata, a dip of cod roe, was the best I've ever had. This is one of my favorite Greek dishes, and I've actually had so much of it one sitting to make me sick. This version of it is fantastic.

The calamari with spinach and the cod with skordalia, both Greek, rounded out our seafood selection. Both were good, but not outstanding.

Zaytinya, along with other Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurants, excels at vegetarian dishes. And they have plenty of them.

Among the dishes we had was an outstanding domatokeftedes (a fried tomato dish with onions and mint), potatoes fried in olive oil and served with a yoghurt sauce, and a delicious spanakopita.

I honestly can't wait to go again, and I want to take my folks to it.

Zaytinya
701 Ninth St. NW
Washington, DC  20001
Phone: +1.202.638.0800

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July 22, 2003

Chez Antoine

Took A to Chez Antoine tonight. It's a creperie (is that a word?), you know, a place that makes crepes.

Located in Adams Morgan, this minimalist walk up restaurant has the feel of a cafe, and could just as easily be in Belgium. The beer list, just as in many cafes in Brussels, is a long sheet of paper with a ton of Belgian beers (not to mention big beers from other countries). Boon, Liefman's and Lindeman's Lambics are all available, as are the Chimay beers, and big huge beers from Unibroue.

But while the beer list is impressive, the crepes are the stars of the show. They turn out tasty crepes for dinner, ranging from $7.50 and up. I had the tomato, ham and cheese with a béchamel sauce. Pretty damn good.

For desert, another long list of crepes to choose from. The banana Nutella crepe is highly recommended, even though the Nutella overpowers the banana.

I really like this place, the atmosphere is just brilliant and takes me right back to a day in Brussels.

Chez Antoine
2427 18th St. NW
Washington, DC  20009
+1.202.387.1000

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July 20, 2003

Coho Salmon w/Sunburst Tomatoes

Coho salmon is back in season and it has a fantastic deep orange (almost blood orange) color. It has a more distinctive taste than farm raised salmon.

This recipe serves two if served with other sides or a salad.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Software:
1/2 lb   center cut filet of Coho salmon, cut in half
10       ripe orange sunburst tomatoes
1/2      large lemon, juiced
1/4 cup  good quality olive oil
2 tbl    butter, 1 tbl pat and two 1/2 tbl pats
5 sprigs thyme
1 clove  garlic, crushed
         salt
         pepper
Hardware:
Covered non-reactive bowl or plastic container
Covered non-stick heavy bottomed 10" pan

Quarter the tomatoes and place in a non-reactive bowl. Finely chop the thyme and add to bowl. Add olive oil and lemon juice. Salt and pepper salmon to taste. Put salmon into bowl and toss around until well coated. Place in fridge for 20 mins. The salmon will start cooking from the acidity of the marinade.

Add large pat of butter to hot pan along with garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add salmon, skin side down, giving them space to breathe. Let cook for two minutes, untouched. Add marinade and top each salmon piece with a small pat of butter. Cover pan and place in heated oven.

Depending on doneness, cook for 5-9 mins. Place salmon on plate and reduce the sauce on high heat for 2-3 mins. Sauce should taste bright but the lemon should not overwhelm it -- add water and adjust seasoning if too lemony.

Serve with the sauce and tomatoes and garnish with some garlic chives or a sprig of thyme.

Leave a comment if you make this and tell me how it turns out.

Posted by Samer at 08:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 19, 2003

Dogfish Head Soul Food Old School Throwdown

Well, that's the name that Beer Guy Dave gave this beer tasting at the most excellent RFD. And the name accurately reflected what we got on Tuesday night. This was an aural treat and a tour de force of big brewing's tastiest beers.

The Dogfish beers are ones I have admired for ages: from the big bold World Wide Stout to the unbelievable India Brown Ale, the Chicory Stout to Raison D'Etre, these guys know how to brew.

They also know how to entertain, as they have a hip hop act they call The Pain Relievaz. No, really. Grandmaster I.B.U.1 is none other than Dogfish owner and president Sam Calagione. DJ Lil Guy is head brewer Bryan Selders. No, really -- even with their unnaturally big beers, I could not have hallucinated the whole thing.

If you've ever been to a Brickskeller beer tasting (also run by the duo of Beer Guy Dave and wife Diane), you know that they tend to be a little silly. As you can probably tell, this blows anything they've ever done at the Brick to a higher level of silliness.

The other thing they do at the Brick is concentrate on the beer. The food that you get as part of a tasting is often an afterthought, except on Belgian beer tasting nights. One of RFD's signatures, though, is the food. Cooked in beer. Cuisine de bier is how the Belgians refer to it. This tasting also concentrated on the food with the beer. All the courses were matched to the beers and the ribs were cooked with the Raison.

While the Pain Relievaz were bringing down the house with such tunes as "I Got Busy with an AB2 Sales Girl" and "Worst Brew Day" with such memorable lines as "... stuck my brewer's hose inside her heat exchanger ..." and "... we get more tail than a labrador retriever ...", we were having our taste buds and brain cells pummeled with their brews and RFD's food.

Here's what I had, in order, and what I thought:

I picked up a pint (14 oz actually, and RFD is good enough to state that up front as opposed to bars that call them pints) of the 60 Minute IPA3 as I waited for my friends to get there. This is a 6% ABV4 beer brewed with Warrior and Amarillo hops5 for about 60 IBU rating. It is light in color with a strong hoppy aroma and very nice bitter aftertaste.

Once my friends got there, we were served the Shelter Pale Ale. A solid pale ale with a nice earthy aroma delivered by the Willamette and Columbus hops. This beer clocks in at 5% ABV and 30 IBUs.

While waiting for the show to start we all ordered a pint of the India Brown Ale. This is one of my favorite recent finds -- I discovered it at Hard Times Cafe a couple of months ago and have had it a half dozen times since then. This is a big beer, a cross of a brown ale and an IPA with a touch of sweetness left over. It is dark brown in color with a nice hoppiness and a roasty taste. With 7.2% ABV and 50 IBUs, this is big bold beer by most brewer's standards. Dogfish are just scratching the surface, though.

After the India Brown, it was kind of difficult to appreciate the more subtle ApriHops. That was brought out with fried green tomatoes, and they did complement each other. The ApriHops was the disappointment of the lot, even though it certainly was a nice beer. 6.6% ABV, 45 IBU and 65 lbs of apricots go into this beer. The apricots add a smoothness to this beer, and that is rather disconcerting after the boldness of the India Brown.

When you think lager, you generally don't think of big beers. Sure, there are bocks and double bocks that can knock your socks off, but they are hugely malty events. The next beer to come out was Dogfish's first lager, Prescription Pils. A fine example of a Pilsner, this is nice and clean with a bit of domestic noble hops. They refer to it as an Imperial Pilsner, and at 9% ABV and 40 IBUs, this is Imperial in every way. Fantastic.

Another of my favorite beers was up next, served with ribs that were cooked with it. The Raison D'Etre is a fantastic concoction brewed with beet sugar,
green raisins, and Belgian yeasts. Did I mention it is fantastic? Don't take my word on this: go buy a six pack and try it. Go ahead. I'll wait.

It was good, wasn't it? I told you. And at 8% ABV and 36 IBUs, it is a damn good thing that you are back home reading this. The ribs were finger licking good, too.

Just when you thought they could not go any further, out comes the 120 Minute IPA. Some stats:

Let me repeat those last two figures: 120 International Bitterness Units -- this is an extreme amount of hop oils. 20% Alcohol By Volume. 20% people. This beer should be nothing more than sugary sweet. While it has quite a bit of residual sugars, it is so well balanced by the massive amount of hops. At one point Sam said, "thank god for sadomasochistic yeast strains!"

This beer was married with a sweet potato pie, and I just cannot describe how well the tastes melded. The sweetness of the beer and honey that was drizzled over the pie complemented each other amazingly well.

That was it for us. Plenty really. More than plenty. But, just for the record, Beer Guy Dave also had available for purchase the Old School Barleywine (15% ABV), Raison D'eXtra (stronger version of D'Etra) and (in bottles) Immort Ale (11% ABV).

That makes 10 of Dogfish's beers in one place, nine of which were on tap. Dave, I salute you for injecting some life into the DC beer scene and for introducing us to some twisted old school beer focused hip-hop.

1 IBU: International Bitterness Units. A measure of the amount of bittering compounds found in the beer. A beer with a 100 IBU rating would be undrinkably bitter if not balanced with malt or other flavors.

2 AB: Anheuser-Busch. The big bad boy of tasteless "beer".

3 IPA: India Pale Ale. A style of beer created by British brewers back in the day when India was a colony. To get their beers to India before they spoiled (a four month journey), they increased the amount of hops used in brewing. The hop oils, in addition to giving many beers their bitterness and aroma, also act as a preservative. The tradition of this beer continues today but without the long journey and rest times, the beers wind up being quite hoppy and tasty.

4 ABV: Alcohol by Volume. This is a measure of how drunk you are going to get. Double this number and you have the "proof". Most beers lie in the 5%-6.5% range.

5 Hops: A plant related to the cannabis plant. Brewers use its flower to add bitterness, flavoring and help preserve their brews. Hops are usually done in two additions, with bittering hops going into the brew kettle early to leach them of their oils so that their acids (see below) can contribute their bitterness and flavoring hops going in late to add their aroma so their oils can contribute flavor and aroma. Some brews are also "dry" hopped by adding the hops to the fermenter.

6 Alpha and beta hop oils acids: Hop oils acids come in various designations, but the most common are the alpha and beta oils acids. Hops high in alpha oils acids produce huge amounts of bitterness in the finished beer. Particularly when tossed into the boil for two hours.

Thanks to Thomas Cizauskas for the corrections.

Posted by Samer at 07:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

June 15, 2003

Harry's Tap Room

A new restaurant has opened in Clarendon, but it isn't just any restaurant. This is the newest creation of the fine folks who brought you Sam & Harry's.

Called Harry's Tap Room, this wonderful looking steak house and lounge has a decent selection of beers to enjoy with your food -- or separately. Unfortunately, the list of tap beers is rather short. The famed Sam & Harry's ~14 oz martini did not make it out here, but smaller sized martinis did.

The bar area is quite large, despite the restaurant looking kind of small from the outside. There are several comfortable looking tables and chairs, and the lounge area would be a fantastic place to spend an entire evening.

There are two dining areas, one to the left as you enter and the other upstairs. The decor is a nice earthy colored space with solid tables and nice looking booths. The chairs are comfortable, despite their spare looks. There is an open kitchen in the upstairs dining area, as well as a nice looking wine cellar.

The service and the steaks also made the trip from Sam & Harry's. The service at the main restaurant is second to none, and a similar -- though more laid back -- approach to service exists here. Water glasses are filled (and kept filled) and a small basket of breads (a roll, some cranberry mini-muffins and lip smackingly good cheddar herb biscuits) is brought out. There were a couple of opening week jitters (not knowing the different beers, etc) but nothing near what I've seen in other places. As for the food: steak, steak and more steak.

The steaks here are fantastic. We started off with the beef Wellington appetizer. Do you know how much work beef Wellington is? To make it as a tiny appetizer and still be able to cook it to a perfect medium rare really is astounding. The horseradish dipping sauce that accompanies it is so smooth and nice. This was so good, I was disappointed that I could not get the Wellington as a main dish.

I was also disappointed that a renowned steak house does not have steak tartar, but our waitress said she would pass along my suggestion for a special. The steak I did get, the Harry's Stuffed Steak, was an amazing meal. I asked for it medium rare, and was told that it might be difficult to get that level of doneness because of the stuffing, but that the kitchen would do their best. The kitchen came through with a perfectly cooked steak wrapped around Portabella mushrooms, fresh basil and horseradish cheddar.

I felt the accompanying vegetables to be a tad undercooked and the carrots a bit tough, but I'm not one to eat my veggies anyway. The mashed potatoes certainly did not make it from the downtown restaurant. These potatoes were rather bland with a hint of butter and little else. They were also quite thick as if they mashed them only lightly. The fried onion strings on top saved the potatoes and gave them a satisfying crunch.

While Harry's specialize in steaks, there were quite a few seafood items on menu. One of my fellow diners ordered the Trio of Shrimp which includes
the grilled teriyaki shrimp, the marinated shrimp seviche, and the Calabash fried shrimp. This was a big filling plate of shrimp and a delight on the tongue.

We decided to skip desert, but the few deserts that made it by our table on their way to someone else, looked good.

Overall, the price was quite reasonable for the quality and service. We paid about $50 per person including drinks and tip.

If this is the way this place launches, then it should get only better with age. A wonderful new addition to the neighborhood. I hope to try their burgers in my continuing quest for the great burger.

Posted by Samer at 01:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 11, 2003

Indique

Finally got to go to Indique, a well liked Indian restaurant in Cleveland Park.

We shared an appetizer and then I had the lamb vindaloo. The food was good, the service great. The food was quite good, with a more subtle approach to the spices. My one problem was the lack of heat in the vindaloo. Frankly, a vindaloo is not meant to be eaten by people who can't handle the heat.

The skies opened up while we were sitting on the balcony, but after we had eaten. We moved to the bar, where the bar tender told us that I should have asked for the vindaloo to be made extra spicy. I shall remember that, because this place deserves a second trip.

Next time I will make sure to make a reservation. Damn was it busy.

Posted by Samer at 11:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Cheesecake Takes the Day

I won the company bake-off. Apparently by a landslide. And there were 12 others in the competition, including one of my boss' entries, a sumptuous four layer chocolate cake.

I was lobbying hard, my theory being that you gotta be in it to win it, but I was impressed with how good this cheesecake was, despite not ever having made one before. For that, I thank the $DEITIES of cooking, particularly the fine folks at Cooks Illustrated. A fantastic magazine that belongs in every cook's home.

Posted by Samer at 11:01 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

June 10, 2003

Cheesecake Is Not Easy

I'm making a lemon cheesecake for a "bake off" we are having at the office. I intend to win, so I'm not playing fair at all. Who can resist a light and airy cheesecake with a nice lemon curd on top?

But let me tell you, making a cheesecake is not easy. I've been at it for almost an hour and a half. It still has to finish baking (15 mins) and then it has to cool for three hours(!!!) before I can top it with curd. Then it has to set up over night.

In the morning, I will cut it. Then I have to safely transport it to the office, where it has to remain safely untouched until lunch time.

Tune in tomorrow for news of the winning entry.

Posted by Samer at 09:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 08, 2003

We're Cooking Now

I haven't been cooking much lately and I decided that this weekend is the weekend to remedy that. The kitchen is back into usable shape, and my skills are still sharp.

Last night I made a simple meal of lamb and eggs, served with tabouli. I had to spice it up a bit and tossed in some garlic and a jalepeno with the lamb. Is it me or are jalepenos no longer that hot?

I had bought some strawberries and had some chocolate on hand. So I went back and looked through The Art of Chocolate for some hints and tried to make decent dipped strawberries. They turned out fabulous. Yum. Something about the bitterness of the dark Belgian chocolate giving way to the sweetness of the strawberry...

Then, in anticipation of a BBQ I'm going to shortly, I made my world famous hummus. I must say that I topped myself with this one. It is, by far, the best hummus I have ever made.

Posted by Samer at 04:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack