Cook In / Dine Out

Recipe of the Month: February 2012

2012-03-01T17:13:00.000-05:00

Winter will be over soon, and I'll get to transition from greens, butternut squash, Brussels sprouts and parsnips to...whatever vegetables look interesting this spring. Last year I was really into sugar snap peas and I'm always up for asaparagus.

The most popular recipe of February was the Updated Chicken Marbella, Cook's Illustrated's new take on the Silver Palate classic.

It's followed closely by last weekend's big project, Korean Tacos, and last month's most popular recipe, Kale "Caesar" Salad, which I made again recently with kale this time and it was still quite good.

Cocktail: Ginger Margarita

2012-03-01T16:29:00.000-05:00

Here's a drink with a bit of fusion flavor to compliment Saturday's Korean tacos. It's similar to the Ginger Margarita recipe on the Domaine de Canton website.

Ginger Margarita

1.5 oz. Tequila blanco

1 oz. Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur

.5 oz. fresh lime juice

Add ingredients to shaker with ice. Shake and strain into glass with ice. Garnish with lime wheel.

Food (Section) Fight!: Week 8

2012-02-29T21:02:00.000-05:00

Food (Section) Fight! is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.

I was pretty sure as early as last night that The Washington Post was easily going to win Week 8 of Food (Section) Fight! I got wind that The Food Section was planning a feature spread on...macaroni & cheese! It doesn't get much better than that. The Food Section editor confirmed for me that indeed they were publishing a story, a way cool graphic and seven r e c i p e s all built around one of my all-time favorite foods (I recently wrote about it myself). It seemed the win was in the bag.

The New York Times
But I should not have counted out The New York Times so easily, as they put up a noble fight with this week's content. Jeff Gordiner wrote a fantastic story lamenting the disappearance from fine dining menus of traditional dishes done well in favor of new-fangled creations. His story is built around Tournedos Rossini, a French dish consisting of filet mignon on toasted bread topped with foie gras, truffles and a rich Madeira demi-glace, which he remembers fondly from his childhood (that's some sophisticated palate for a child).

Other worthwhile stories include political reporter Jeremy Peters' story about his experience with martinis on the campaign trail, particularly the surprisingly places where he got good ones. I'm not a big martini fan, but his story has convinced me I need to give the drink another shot. The story about J.B. Prince, a family-run restaurant supply store, is interesting as is the story about the city's restaurant health inspection grading system, although the impression I'm left with it is mostly that the system is flawed (nonetheless, I'm tempted to look up some of my favorite places to see how they score).
The dessert recipes on page 2 all sound fabulous, especially the Butterscotch Custard with Clove and Black Pepper and the Baked Tapioca Pudding with Cinnamon Sugar Brûlée. I'm going to have to make one of these soon. And the other one soon thereafter. Yummy.

The Washington Post
Back to WaPost and Jane Touzalin's inspired mac & cheese story. The graphic on the back page (by illustrator Laura Stanton) is really fun, basically showing how versatile macaroni & cheese can be, allowing you to customize not only its cheeses (the consensus from today's chat is that fontina makes the creamiest cheese sauce), but mix it up with different vegetables, herbs, aromatics and meats. I'm looking forward to concocting something with pancetta, caramelized onion, blue cheese and rosemary, maybe with a pine nut/parmesan topping.

Beyond that, WaPost holds off NYT's challenge, with quite a few other decent stories. I can't say I'm taken with Tim Carman's West African cuisine story (although he gets credit for thinking way outside the box on that one), but I like Bonnie Benwick's story about a college sophomore who's started a successful cooking publication geared toward college-age readers. Bonnie's Dinner in Minutes recipe is really good, so good in fact, that I adapted it for the sautéed chicken breast I made for dinner tonight. It's really just a basic take on flour-dredged sautéed chicken with simple pan sauce, but it's never a bad thing to remind people how easy and versatile a dinner that is. Finally, spirits columnist Jason Wilson offers up some interesting ideas for using port in cocktails, including the Philadelphia Scotchman, another drink I will be trying soon.

The Verdict
The Washington Post really grabbed me with their mac & cheese feature, and as much as the Times tried to sway me with their wonderful Tournedos de Rossini story, I'm still giving this to the Post.

Score
The New York Times: 4
The Washington Post: 4

Olive Oil Ice Cream (with Dark Chocolate Sauce)

2012-02-28T19:19:00.000-05:00

Here's a good olive oil week follow-up. Everyone knows olive oil is common in appetizers, salads and entrees. But have you tried it in dessert?

That golden-green fruit nectar is creeping onto pastry menus. As I mentioned, I tried olive oil cake in Napa, which I've also tried making (wasn't one my bests, but interesting). This last weekend, I decided I wanted to take it to a truly sacred dessert place: ice cream.

Ice cream has certainly been the subject of a lot of experiments of late and, since acquiring an ice cream maker 2 years ago, I've had a lot of fun making homemade flavors like bacon-maple, bourbon-pecan and salted caramel. Yummy!

This dish was inspired, in part, by Phoebe Damrosch's description in Service Included of a dessert served at Thomas Keller's New York restaurant Per Se: thyme ice cream, covered with a salted dark chocolate wafer onto which warm olive oil is poured.

I chickened out at using thyme, but instead decided to make salted olive oil ice cream with a deeply dark chocolate sauce.

I turned to Jeni Britton Bauer's trusted Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home Cookbook, which includes recipes for olive oil ice cream with sea-salted pepitas and extra-bitter hot fudge sauce. I used her fudge sauce recipe outright, but made some modifications to the ice cream.

Her ice cream technique is a little different. Most homemade ice creams call for egg yolks, making them technically frozen custards, which require the mixture to be cooked to a precise temperature. Too high and the eggs could curdle, too low and they aren't cooked, a potential health risk.

Jeni's ice cream doesn't have eggs; instead, it's thickened with cream cheese and cornstarch, which might sound odd, but so far hasn't resulted in any noticeably unusual flavors...other than her ice creams are unusually good. It also means less precision is required, although you have to be careful the cream and milk mixture doesn't boil over.

It's best to set everything out before beginning one of her recipes, since once you get started, timing is important. I put the milk and cornstarch slurry in a 1-cup liquid measuring cup and the salt and cream cheese in a large (8-cup) liquid measuring cup, since its spout makes it easy to pour the hot, complete mixture into a large ziplock bag.

For my modifications, I omitted the pepitas, since I didn't want them competing with the olive oil and chocolate, doubled the salt, in a nod to the Per Se dish, and I doubled the amount of olive oil her recipe called for, again to put more emphasis on the olive oil flavor. I used Columela extra-virgin olive oil, a well-rounded, full-flavored oil from Spain.

Salty Olive Oil Ice Cream
Adapted from Olive Oil Ice Cream with Sea-Salted Pepitas from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer

2 cups whole milk
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp cornstarch
3 tbsp cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1. Mix 2 tbsp of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl or measuring cup to make a slurry. Combine cream cheese and salt in a large bowl (preferably one with a pour spout). Fill another large bowl with ice and water.

2. Combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes (watch carefully to avoid mixture boiling over; if it threatens to, just remove the pan from the heat for a few seconds and stir). Remove from the heat and slowly whisk in the cornstarch slurry.

3. Boil the mixture again over medium-high heat and cook, stirring, for about a minute until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat. Gradually whisk the hot mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Add the olive oil and whisk until well blended. Set a 1-gallon ziplock bag into the ice water bath and pour the hot mixture into the bag. Let stand until cold, about 30 minutes. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

4. Process the cooled mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Freeze in freezer until firm.

Extra-Bitter Hot Fudge Sauce
From Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer

1 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1. Combine the water, sugar and corn syrup in a medium-size saucepan and bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder until well combined. Add vanilla and whisk until smooth.

2. Add the chopped chocolate and let stand for about 3 minutes. Stir with a spoon or spatula until the chocolate is melted and the sauce has a smooth consistency. Serve warm or refrigerate (it can be rewarmed in the microwave; according to Jeni, it will last in the fridge for 2 months).

Black Bean-Butternut Squash Soup

2012-02-27T16:00:00.001-05:00

Cleaning out the freezer recently I came across this package of cubed butternut squash. I vaguely remember buying it in the fall for something I ended up not making so I tossed it in the fridge of in hopes of bringing it back for some future purpose. I didn't intend for it to remain there for 3-4 months. Would it still be good?

I figured that if its flavor was at all impaired, that serving it as the main flavor might be a bad idea, but what if it was one of several key flavors? I decided the Black Bean + Butternut Soup recipe from Sprouted Kitchen could be the perfect test.

This is the first recipe I've tried from Sprouted Kitchen, a cooking blog with particularly beautiful food photography. This soup actually doesn't look like much when it's done, but Sprouted Kitchen managed to make it look quite beautiful anyway.

Black beans and butternut squash may not sound like a natural combination, but in this soup, they work together perfectly. Black bean is one of my favorite soups and I love butternut squash, so I was intrigued by the combination, which also calls for cabbage.

The suggested toppings for this soup are all delicious, particularly the avocado, although I also love the oven-crisped tortilla strips.

The recipe calls for pureeing the soup with an immersion blender just a bit to thicken it. I did it perhaps a little longer than the recipe called for but still had nice chunks of squash.

Black Bean & Butternut Squash Soup

Adapted from Black Bean + Butternut Soup, Sprouted Kitchen

(original recipe here)

3 corn tortillas

Olive oil spray

Seasoned salt

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 sweet onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, smashed

1/4 head of cabbage, chopped (about 2 cups)

1 20 oz. package of butternut squash (about 3 cups), cut into 3/4-inch cubes

4 cups low sodium vegetable broth

1 tbsp. cumin

1 tsp. cocoa powder

Pinch of chipotle powder

2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed

Seasoned salt to taste

Avocado, for garnish

Cilantro, for garnish

1. Make tortillas crisps. Preheat oven to 375 F. Stack tortillas and slice into 1/2-inch wide strips. Spread strips on a baking sheet, spray with olive oil and season with seasoned salt. Bake for about 10-15 minutes until lightly browned, stirring about halfway through.

2. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a 6 qt. dutch oven. Saute onion until soft and just starting to brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, cabbage, squash and broth. Reduce heat to low/medium-low to simmer, cover pot and cook for about 20 minutes.

3. Add cumin, cocoa powder and seasoned salt. Continue simmering another 10 minutes. Pulse with immersion blender a few times to thicken soup as desired. Serve topped with avocado, cilantro and tortilla crisps.

Korean Tacos

2012-02-25T07:01:00.000-05:00

Latin-Asian fusion has been a popular culinary trend in recent years from fine dining to street food. In the latter category, a popular dish is the Korean taco, combing Mexican taco elements with Korean-influenced fillings.

The most famous proprietor of this dish is Kogi Korean BBQ, a Los Angeles-area food truck fleet. However, others have brought the successful concept to other cities, including TaKorean in Washington, D.C., one of my favorite downtown food trucks. They serve Korean tacos with beef bulgogi, tangy chicken or caramelized tofu, topped with either napa-romaine or kimchi-style slaw, lime crema, cilantro, sesame seeds and sriracha, a Thai-style hot sauce.

Pictured below is TaKorean's tangy chicken tacos with napa-romaine slaw and the works, which I enjoyed for lunch on a recent Thursday. Could I successfully recreate this dish at home?

I combed the web to research various recipes for Korean tacos and specifically bulgogi-style chicken dishes. Since I don't have a barbecue, I needed a bulgogi I could make in a saute pan, a technique I've had success with before when making beef bulgogi. I sliced the chicken very thin to maximize exposure to the sauce and allow it to cook fast.

For the marinade, which would double as the sauce, I wanted bold flavors and not too much liquid, since I didn't want to end up boiling the chicken in it and I wanted it to reduce to a glazing by the time the chicken was done cooking. So I turned to ingredients with lots of flavor: tamari (concentrated soy sauce), mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine), garlic, dark sesame oil and brown sugar. I was concerned about making this too sweet, so I used less sugar than many of the recipes I saw. I let this marinate in the fridge for about an hour and a half.

For the slaw, I wanted something fresh and simple. Although many recipes called for napa cabbage, the heads of napa cabbage at the store were huge, and I didn't feel like also making coleslaw another night, so I used about a third of a head of regular cabbage (and even then had a lot left over) and the green part of a few scallions tossed in a simple lime, vinegar and oil dressing.

Lime crema sounds so fancy, but it's really just sour cream mixed with lime juice. I added some zest too.

Choosing good tortillas is important. Corn tortillas are the traditional choice for tacos and it pays to be choosy. Fresh corn tortillas, found in the refrigerated case, have a better corn flavor than the preservative-laden variety on the store shelf. A good tip I once read was to look at the ingredients list and choose the tortillas with the shortest list. The ones I got are from Whole Foods. They were pretty hearty too and held up to the fillings without falling apart with a single tortillas (tacos are often served with two corn tortillas to prevent them from falling apart).

While a multi-step project like this requires a little planning, this dish is certainly doable for a week night. I prepped the marinade and the slaw first, left the kitchen for my early evening workout, and then came back to cook the chicken, make the lime crema and assemble the tacos. I served them with a simple side dish of black beans with garlic, cumin and lime. The results were very tasty (see top photo), dare I say better even than what I get at Takorean. Feel free to mix it up as you please.

Korean Chicken Tacos

Inspired by TaKorean Tangy Chicken Tacos

Makes 6 tacos (with some slaw leftover)

Chicken and marinade:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast cutlets

2 tbsp. tamari

1 tbsp. light brown sugar

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. dark sesame oil

2 tsp. mirin

Slaw:

1 tbsp. rice vinegar

Juice from 1/2 of a lime (about a tablespoon)

2 tbsp. canola oil

1 tsp. dark sesame oil

4 cups shredded cabbage

3 scallions (green part), sliced

Lime crema:

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp. lime zest

1/2 tbsp. lime juice

1 tbsp. canola oil

6 or 12 corn tortillas, warmed (6 if serving with single tortillas, 12 if serving doubled)*

Chopped fresh cilantro

Sriracha (optional)

Toasted sesame seeds

1. Prepare the marinade: Slice the chicken breasts in half and then very thin (about 1/4 inch). Combine in a bowl with tamari, brown sugar, garlic, sesame oil and mirin. Put in fridge to marinate for about 1 to 2 hours.

2. Make the slaw: Mix together the vinegar, lime juice, canola oil and sesame oil and combine in a large bowl with the shredded cabbage and sliced scallions. Set aside until ready to use.

3. Make the lime crema: Mix together the sour cream, lime zest and lime juice in a small bowl.

4. Cook the chicken: Heat 1 tbsp. canola oil in a large nonstick oval skillet pan over medium-high heat. When very hot, add the chicken and the marinade and saute until cooked through and sauce has reduced to a glaze on the meat.

5. Assemble tacos: Place one or two stacked corn tortillas on a plate. Top with 1/6 of the chicken (about 3 tbsp.), a couple tbsp. of slaw, a drizzle of lime crema, a drizzle of sriracha (it's hot), and a sprinkling of cilantro and sesame seeds. Repeat to make other tacos. Serve with a side of black beans and the rest of the slaw.

(*To warm corn tortillas, place stacked on a plate between two wet paper towels and microwave on high about 20-30 seconds.)

Black Beans with Garlic, Cumin and Lime

By A. Huddleston

Makes 2 side servings

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 16 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 tsp. ground cumin

Juice of 1/2 of a lime

(chopped cilantro or queso fresco, optional)

Heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until softened but not brown. Add other ingredients, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until warmed through and fragrant. Top with chopped cilantro or queso fresco if desired.

Equipment: Measuring Cups

2012-02-24T16:19:00.003-05:00

If you cook with recipes, you're not going to get very far without a good set of measuring cups. A basic set will have 1-cup, 1/2-cup, 1/3-cup and 1/4-cup, although it's also useful to 2/3- and 3/4-cups.

I really love my set, which are made by Pyrex, but unfortunately no longer in production.

They are clear, made of lexan plastic, so they won't shatter if dropped and you can see through them, which is useful for making sure brown sugar is fully packed, for example. They are flat on top, which is essential for leveling ingredients. An added bonus of these is that they have a line halfway up each cup which allows you further measurement options, useful especially when dividing large recipes.

Crème Brûlée Cocktail

2012-02-23T17:04:00.000-05:00

Crème brûlée is one my favorite desserts, a decadent vanilla-flavored egg custard topped with a burnt sugar. What's not to like in that?

I used to make it quite a bit, but haven't done so lately. I got a hankering for it and thought, why not invent a cocktail version? After all, desserts are an excellent source of inspiration for cocktails.

Of course, I'm not the first person to reimagine Crème brûlée as an alcoholic beverage, although examples I find on the 'net all seem to fall short. Some call for rimming the glass with sugar and then torching it which sounds 1) very dangerous and 2) not likely to actually deliver much burnt sugar flavor into the drink. Some call for Frangelico, a hazelnut liqueur, but I have to wonder whatever for? Crème brûlée doesn't contain hazelnut, so why should its liquid kin? Nor Cointreau for that matter, another liqueur I see in several recipes. Looks like I have to go to the drawing board for this one.

I decided that my drink had to incorporate burnt sugar and not as a garnish but as an integrated component. So I decided to make burnt sugar syrup. Simple syrup is...appropriately...simple enough: just boil equal parts sugar and water. Burnt sugar is a bit more complicated. I heated sugar in a small frying pan over medium heat left undisturbed until it started to melt, at which point it's also hot enough to start caramelizing. I began stirring as it melted until it was uniformly amber in color.

Meanwhile, I boiled about a cup of water in a small sauce pan to which I added 1/2 of a vanilla bean pod split down the side with the vanilla beans scraped out into the water. I poured the burnt melted sugar into the vanilla water and then boiled it a bit longer. Adding hot sugar to liquid is a bit tricky. With cold liquid, it's going to sputter a lot, and even with boiling water it sputtered a little bit. Then the sugar tends to form a big caramel mass, so you have to cook it a little longer to let it dissolve in the water. But eventually it does and you can set it aside to steep the vanilla flavor while it cools before removing the pod. The result is a burnt sugar syrup speckled with vanilla beans. Two key crème brûlée flavors accounted for.

As for the "crème" part, it's a no-brainer to use cream. Since I'm not one for raw eggs in cocktails, I'm not going to try to incorporate that aspect into the drink. Custard is mostly heavy cream anyway. Lastly, for the spirit, I chose a vanilla vodka, Stoli Vanil, which enhances the vanilla flavor even more without introducing a spirit whose taste you wouldn't find in crème brûlée.

Crème Brûlée Cocktail

By A. Huddleston

1 oz. vanilla-burnt sugar syrup (see recipe below)

1 oz. heavy cream

1 oz. vanilla vodka (such as Stoli Vanil)

Stir ingredients together in a glass and pour into a chilled martini glass.

Vanilla-Burnt Sugar Syrup

1 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 vanilla bean pod

1. Heat the sugar in a small (8-inch) frying pan over medium heat. Leave sugar undisturbed until it begins to melt and then stir sugar as in melts and caramelizes until all the sugar has melted and it is a dark amber color.

2. Meanwhile, add water to a saucepan. Cut the vanilla pod in half lengthwise and use a knife tip to scrape the vanilla beans into the water. Add the pod halves to the water and bring to a boil.

3. Pour the burnt sugar syrup into the boiling water (be careful of sputtering, you may want to stand back a bit). Continue boiling and stir to dissolve any hardened clumps of syrup. Set aside to cool. Strain when cooled and store in a container in the refrigerator.

Food (Section) Fight!: Week 7

2012-02-22T19:43:00.009-05:00

Food (Section) Fight! is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.

Neither section really bowled me over this week, although both had interesting stories.

The Washington Post

An ancient picture of a British chef greets me on the cover of the Food Section. It's Robert May, a 17th century British chef who published the cookbook "The Accomplished Cook or The Art & Mystery of Cookery" in 1685. The article is about the British culinary tradition, which, although unfairly derided for its Victorian blandness, has a rich history of good food that (not unlike America's) went downhill in the early 20th century due to industrialization and war shortages. Clarissa Dickson Wright's article makes a good case for better appreciation of British cuisine, which I personally have never turned my nose up at (Yorkshire pudding? Bread & butter pudding? Sticky toffee pudding? Yum!). She mentions that British cooking is in a period of real renaissance, with influences from American modernism. I wish she'd included more specific examples, as that sounds interesting.

The other story I really liked was Jim Shahin's look at smoked beer. Wow, what a cool idea. I don't think I've had a smoked beer, although many porters do tend to veer toward smoky flavor. They included a recipe for Smoked Beer and Cheddar Soup, which sounds good. I think smoked beer would also make really awesome chili. At Rodman's this afternoon I picked up Epic Brewing's Smoked & Oaked Belgian-Style Ale.

The page 2 recipes both look interesting: Bonnie Benwick's Pear-Radicchio Risotto With Red Grapes and Stephanie Witt Sedgwick's Curry-Rubbed Chicken Scaloppine With Gingered Zucchini. I'm particularly interested in Bonnie's recipe, which she describes as having savory flavor despite the fruit.

The New York Times

The NYT also highlights a foreign culture's cuisine, focusing on Tibetan beef dumplings, Tsak Sha Momas, that sound really quite tasty. Julia Moskin's article talks about how the dish is actually a no-no, since Tibetans are supposed to be vegetarian (they are Buddhist), but they eat meat anyway out of necessity, since their harsh climate requires it.

I really enjoyed Pete Well's restaurant review which, playing against type, doesn't review a stuffy midtown place or so-on-the-edge-it's-about-to-fall-off Soho pop-up, but instead turns his lens toward...Shake Shack! He likes the hot dogs and really likes the shakes, but finds the burgers to be inconsistent and the fries to be a real disappointment. I haven't yet visited the D.C. outpost, but plan to do so soon.

Nice to see a story from former restaurant critic Frank Bruni, who profiles former pastry chef turned chef Alex Stupak, who just opened a Mexican restaurant in the East Village, Empellón Cocina, the sister restaurant to his West Village location, Empellón Taqueria. Stupak used to be pastry chef at Alinea, the Chicago restaurant at the forefront of modernist cuisine, but decided to take control of all aspects of the kitchen. Lastly, Melissa Clark's recipe for Sautéed Chicken With Meyer Lemon and Rosemary sounds really delicious. The accompanying article describes a quick method for making preserved lemons that I'd like to try.

Verdict

It's a tough call. I enjoyed the Post's British cuisine article and can't wait to try some smoky beer. But the Tibetan dumplings, Bruni's Stupak profile, Shake Shack review and Clark's recipe pushes The Times just ahead this week.

Score

The New York Times: 4

The Washington Post: 3

Salad with Parsnips, Fennel, Cranberries and Pecans

2012-02-21T16:35:00.000-05:00

One of the great things about salad is that you can put just about anything in it (within reason). That makes it a useful vessel for using up ingredients that might otherwise go bad and have to be tossed.

With this salad, my goal was to maximize using up some odds and ends from other dishes: the parsnips from the Caramelized Parsnip Cake, the radicchio from the Chicory Salad, the pecorino romano from the Orecchiette with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and the fennel from...well, I don't know why I had fennel in the 'fridge, but I wanted to use it too.

I'd never had parsnips raw before, but I figured I could use them like carrots. I peeled them and then shredded the outer layer, being careful not to use the tough, bitter core. I used two, because that's all I had left, but I think the salad could have used more.

Using up ingredients in a salad shouldn't just be a potluck of flavors though. You have to be strategic about what you're pairing. The radicchio is a bitter flavor, the fennel a little too. The raw parsnips are a strong flavor that's a little bitter, a little sweet. To sweeten the mix, I used dried cranberries and also put some agave syrup in the dressing. Finally, I added some crunch with toasted pecans.

This would make a nice side salad accompaniment to pasta or, with some protein (chicken, bacon or beans) a good main course dinner.

Salad with Parsnips, Fennel, Radicchio, Cranberries and Pecans

By A. Huddleston

1/3 cup pecan halves, toasted

3 or 4 small parsnips, peeled, cored and shredded

1/4 fennel bulb, finely sliced

3/4 cup torn radicchio leaves

2 or 3 cups Bibb lettuce (about half a head)

1/3 cup dried cranberries

Shredded pecorino romano, to taste

(optional, add 3/4 lb. sautéed chicken breast, cooked bacon or chickpeas)

Dressing:

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp agave syrup (could substitute honey)

Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

1. Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together dressing ingredients and toss with salad. Serve in bowls with chicken, bacon or beans, if desired.

UC Davis Olive Center

2012-02-20T08:13:00.005-05:00

Depending on who you listen to, olive oil is either a healthful, handmade-in-Tuscany, cold first pressed product with ancient history or an adulterated oil blend from questionable origins whose distribution is influenced by an international ring of fraudsters.

As I explored last week, olive oil, particularly extra-virgin olive oil, is an amazing food product, but unfortunately has been subject to suspect market practices, creating consumer confusion and, in some cases, representing fraud. Although there are international and domestic standards to guide olive oil production, there is not enough enforcement to prevent low quality or adulterated product from reaching store shelves.

Furthermore, as the demand for olive oil increases, the pressure to satisfy that demand by cutting corners on quality could increase. This makes it difficult for the consumer who wants quality olive oil to know what to do.

But if knowledge is power, then the University of California - Davis Olive Center may prove to be a useful tool for empowering olive oil consumers and producers alike.

Launched in 2008, the center, part of the university's agricultural school (specifically the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science), claims to be North America's only education and research center focused on the cultivation of olives.

Their research page has a number of interesting reports, particularly the July 2010 report on the results of testing European and American olive oils. They subjected 14 imported oils (3 samples each) and 5 domestic oils (2 samples each) to a battery of 10 chemical and sensory tests.

The study's results showed that most of the samples of imported oil failed some of the tests, while 9 of the 10 California oil samples passed all of the tests, including oils from two of the producers in my taste test (California Olive Ranch and McEvoy Ranch).

It wasn't all bad news for the big-name imports. Two of the best performers were store brands: Costco's Kirkland Organic and Walmart's Great Value 100% performed well, with two of their three samples passing all of the tests and the other samples failing only one each (one Walmart sample did not pass the test for elevated levels of pyropheophytins, which can indicate oxidation or adulteration, and one Costco sample failed the sensory test, e.g. taste, odor and "mouthfeel"). Filippo Berio came close, with two samples failing only the sensory test.

On the other end, Mazola's three samples failed three or four tests each. And a couple had mixed results: Both Colavita and Safeway Select had one sample that passed all the tests but another that failed five.

I found this study to be very illuminating, although I reserve a certain level of skepticism because the study was funded by California olive oil producers Corto Olive and California Olive Ranch (the ones who fared well in the tests). However, these results are corroborated by America's Test Kitchen's olive oil taste tests, which showed that California olive oils hold promise for competing with established import brands.

Orecchiette with Roasted Brussels Sprouts

2012-02-18T08:05:00.004-05:00

Here's a good use for some of that tasty extra-virgin olive oil. Homemade pasta is just so good and it's been awhile since I've made it. I'd never tried orecchiette and I decided to pair that with roasted Brussels sprouts, a new favorite in our house. Their relatively similar sizes complement each other nicely, with the orecchiette often cupping caramelized pieces of sprout.

Another goal was to make a really good vegetarian entree. I'm not vegetarian, but I have plenty of friends who are, so I want to feature vegetarian dishes from time to time. It was tough with this one though. Lots of similar recipes call for bacon or pancetta. Even a vegetarian I asked for advice about possible additional flavors suggested pancetta. I stuck to my plan though and rounded out the flavors with some toasted pine nuts, thyme and pecorino romano, a good sheep cheese alternative to my usual parmigiano-reggiano.

Making pasta from scratch is not hard and the results are so brilliant. For this, I consulted Mario Batali's Food Network recipe. Instead of blending two flours, I used Hodgson Mill pasta flour, a blend of semolina flour and durum wheat flour. In the past when making pasta, I used recipes that called for eggs, but I tried it out without this time and it worked fine. When mixing the flour with the water, I started with just over a half a cup of warm water and then added additional water 1 tbsp at a time until the dough came together.

The next step involved some muscle: kneading. I kneaded the dough for 8 minutes. It made me respect those old Italian ladies you know do this every day. The dough is ready when it's smoothed out a bit elastic. Let it rest for awhile before shaping it.

The dough should be shaped into ropes about 3/4 of an inch thick (the Batali recipe says 3 to 4 inches which is surely a misprint, that would make HUGE orecchiette). Work it with your hands to thin it out and then roll it on the pastry mat to even it out.

Forming the orecchiette takes a little practice. Notice how the ones on the left are a bit oblong. I figured out that since the cutting squishes the dough down, you need to reshape it a bit before smashing your thumb into it to make the little hat shape. It worked best for me to press my thumb in and then turn the dough inside-out while squeezing the edges to make sure they aren't too thick. I'd love to be able to do it like this.

Prep the sprouts for roasting by cutting off the tough root end, removing any dark outer leaves and slicing them in half.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (to make clean up easy), toss the cut sprouts with olive oil, salt and pepper and stick in the oven when it's hot. I roasted these for 35 minutes, stirring them after 20. They were already fairly browned at 20 minutes, but I wanted them to be really dark and sweet. The extra time paid off.

For the sauce, I was concerned about under saucing the pasta after the orzo I made was too dry. But I didn't want to overwhelm the sprouts either. I decided against garlic for that reason, but I substituted a healthy amount of shallots--about 1/2 cup minced--to provide some subtle onion flavor. I used extra-virgin olive oil for the base. The white wine (I used chardonnary) and thyme added some more flavor while the cream thickened it a bit. I shredded the pecorino with a microplane, so you might not want to use a full cup if you use a coarser shred.

Orecchiette with Roasted Brussels Sprouts

By A. Huddleston

1 lb. Brussels sprouts

4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

sea salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup pine nuts

2 shallots, finely diced

1 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 tsp dried thyme

1 cup shredded pecorino romano, plus extra

Homemade orecchiette (from recipe below)

chopped fresh parsley

1. Adjust oven rack to upper third and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil sprayed with olive oil. Cut off root ends of sprouts and remove dark green outer leaves. Slice sprouts in half. Add to large bowl and toss with 2 tbsp olive oil, sea salt and fresh-ground black pepper. Spread evenly on baking sheet and roast until sprouts are browned, about 35 minutes total, stirring a bit after the first 20 minutes. Set aside.

2. Toast pine nuts in a small saute pan over medium-low heat until fragrant and lightly browned (be careful not to burn). Set aside.

3. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add diced shallots and saute until soft but not yet brown. Add white wine, cream and thyme to pan. Once hot, add cheese and reduce heat once melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low until pasta is done.

4. Heat a large pot filled 2/3 full with water and generously salted over medium-high heat until boiling. Cook pasta in two batches until al dente (pasta will float to the surface and plump a bit when done). Remove pasta with slotted spoon. Reserve 1/2 cup cooked pasta water.

5. Add pasta water, Brussels sprouts and pine nuts to shallot sauce and increase hit a bit to rewarm. Toss with cooked pasta. Serve in bowls topped with some more shredded pecorino romano and chopped parsley.

Homemade Orecchiette

Adapted from Orecchiette Made with Semolina by Mario Batali for Food Network

2 cups pasta flour (blend of durum and semolina flours, or substitute 1 cup semolina flour and 1 cup unbleached all-purpose four)

1/2 cup plus extra warm water

1. Add flour to large bowl and make a well in the center. Add water slowly, stirring to incorporate. Work dough with hands until it comes together. Add water, 1 tbsp at a time if the dough won't come together, but be careful not to use too much water.

2. Put dough ball on floured surfaced and knead for 8 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover with loose cloth and set aside about minutes or until ready to use (it can be refrigerated overnight at this point).

3. Using your hands, divide the dough in half and roll into two long ropes 3/4 inch thick. Cut ropes into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces. Press your thumb into the center and then invert the dough to form a cap while squeezing the edges to make sure they aren't too thick.

4. Place pasta caps on a floured baking sheet and cover with a cloth until ready to use.

Olive Oil Tasting

2012-02-17T16:00:00.001-05:00

Reading about extra-virgin olive oil lately has given me a greater appreciation for its flavor. I hadn't really thought about the fact that different oils are made with different types of olives and that different blends could yield dramatically different flavors.

Good extra-virgin olive oil presents a balance of three flavors: fruity, bitter and peppery, with the last being expressed mostly at the finish. Yet the specific character of the oil's flavor can vary depending on the year and the type of olive (or olives) it contains. In that, it's not dissimilar from wine. Perhaps it's not a coincidence that olives grow well in many of the same areas where grapes do.

Serious tasters sample olive oil in tulip glasses tinted blue to remove any prejudice from oil's color. Very fresh olive oil will be green, but just because it's turned its usual golden color doesn't mean it's spoiled. Of course, I just used a teaspoon, so I saw what color they were, which was mostly golden with a slight green hue except for the grocery store brand, which was browner.

The Contenders

I decided I needed to conduct my own tasting. On hand were two olive oils:

California Olive Ranch (everyday oil). This is what I've been using as my everyday go-to oil. I started buying it after reading the UC Davis study comparing California oils to European imports. California Olive Ranch produces high quality extra-virgin olive oil at a fraction of the price you'd pay for other brands, due to their high-density planting technique and mechanical harvesting. In fact, my local grocery store recently started selling their 750 ml bottle for $9, which makes them competitive with the major Italian brands. In addition to this product, which I assume is a blend, the company sells higher-priced specialty olive oils, including single-varietal offerings of Arbequina (which I use for salads at work) and Arbosana. In a recent test of California oils, America's Test Kitchen rated their Arbequina just below their favorite oil, Columela from Spain.

Lava Vine. Lava Vine is a small winery near Calistoga in Napa Valley. Some other time I'll tell you about the wonderful time I had tasting wines there. One of the coolest things about having this oil on hand is that Lava Vine is a small operation, so my tasting there was done by the guy who makes it. He poured it over a piece of dark chocolate with a sprinkle of salt. So good.

To round out a good test, I decided to add three more oils:

McEvoy Ranch. The idea that California could one day produce enough olive oil to replace many imports in grocery stores is very appealing. Much has been written about the benefits of buying food produced closer to home--it's cheaper, better for the environment and fresher, so it tastes better too. There's no reason not to extend this thinking to olive oil. I came across McEvoy Ranch by luck. One morning after I'd reviewed the UC Davis oil study (which features McEvoy Ranch), I just happened to go into Cowgirl Creamery, which sells McEvoy Ranch oil from a large vat to protect its freshness. Score! Their oil is a blend of six Italian olive varietals: Frantoio, Leccino, Pendolino, Maurino, Leccio del Corno and Coratina.

Columela. This Spanish oil remains America's Test Kitchen's favorite. It is a blend of Hojiblanca, Picual, Arbequina and Ocal olives. It is distributed by Anfora Quality Products and I found it in my local grocery store.

Grocery Store Brand. To have a "control" so to speak against all these supposedly high-class oils, I decided to ground the study by getting what for most consumers would be the most basic extra-virgin oil available: the store brand. Having read Extra Virginity, right away I'm suspicious. Since I know my grocery store doesn't make olive oil, they've certainly had to purchase this from a supplier of some sort. It claims to be a product of Italy, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and Argentina, although I wonder if that means it could be from any of them, rather than a blend of all of them. Also, unlike all the other choices, it comes in a clear bottle, and since light damages olive oil, this is also suspect.

The Results

Although I wanted to pick a favorite, I find I cannot, because four of them are really good and all a bit different.

Least favorite - Grocery store brand. This one's easy: the grocery store brand. It really is inferior. Compared to the others, it has noticeably less flavor with just slight bitter and peppery flavors. I can't say it's at all fruity.

Boldest - McEvoy Ranch. This oil really packs a punch, with assertive flavors, dominated by bitterness and a big peppery finish. This is an olive oil lover's olive oil.

Most unique - Lava Vine. This has a nice fruity slightly bitter flavor that's markedly different from the Columela, which is also pretty fruity. This is the only one that made my cough (not a bad thing--a good peppery finish should produce a little cough).

Most well-rounded - Columela. This one has a very fruity flavor and is pretty smooth with the least bitterness. Little bit peppery on the finish.

Best value - California Olive Ranch. This one is nicely balanced between being fruity and peppery with a slight bitterness. It holds its own against these other brands and at a fraction of their cost, makes it an excellent buy.

Cocktail: Gin Sprig

2012-02-16T16:25:00.001-05:00

For this week's cocktail, I wanted to use up the rest of the rosemary syrup I made for the Ruby Rosemary with a cocktail that would have more subtle, herbal flavors.

I knew gin had to be the base spirit and selected Bombay Sapphire for its woodsy, floral notes. St. Germaine is a bit floral too and reminiscent of grapefruit. Both of which showcased the rosemary better than the Ruby Rosemary, even though there's only half a shot of it in here. I named it the Gin Sprig in honor of the spirit and the herb.

Gin Sprig

by A. Huddleston

1 oz. gin (Bombay Sapphire)

1/2 oz. St. Germaine liqueur

1/2 oz. rosemary syrup*

Juice from 1/4 lime

3 oz. club soda

Combine gin, St. Germaine, rosemary syrup and lime juice in rocks glass with ice. Top with club soda and stir.

*To make rosemary syrup, roughly chop about 2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary add to saucepan with 3/4 cup water and 3/4 sugar. Bring mixture to boil, remove from heat and steep for 10 minutes. Strain syrup to remove rosemary. Keep syrup in refrigerator.

Food (Section) Fight!: Week 6

2012-02-15T20:16:00.002-05:00

Food (Section) Fight! is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.

This week's Food (Section) Fight! is between a good week and a really good week.

The Times had some great stories. I really enjoyed Alissa Rubin's thoughtful piece on her relationship with food while serving as a war correspondent in Afghanistan. I can imagine her joy at discovering that misplaced hunk of parmesan.

Lots of D.C. food in the New York Times this week. An interesting article about smoke flavor in cocktails featured three D.C.-area establishments, D.C.'s Rogue 24 and Columbia Room and Alexandria's PX. These places go to some pretty amazing lengths to infuse smoke flavor into their cocktails (I don't suppose they've thought of just using the liquid smoke flavor?). An article about the growing trend of Indian fast food mentioned Merzi in Penn Quarter. Also, although not in the food section, there was an article yesterday about the secret (or now not so secret) D.C. supper club, Hush. During today's chat, I gently ribbed the Washington Post Food Section about NYT stealing all this thunder. They took the high road, of course.

Recipe-wise, there were two good ones today: a very delicious-looking Fennel Al Forno, which sparked me to ask in the Washington Post chat why fennel is always sold with its stalks, and a traditional Split Pea Soup that I would like to make once I can get slab bacon from Red Apron downtown.

A good barometer of how much I enjoy The Washington Post Food Section is how far through my breakfast I am when I finish reading it. Generally, I finish it about the time I finish my cereal, leaving me enough time to skim another section while I finish my coffee. Not so today. There was so much good content that I didn't finish everything I wanted to read until after work.

Let's start with page E1 and Joe Yonan's monthly Cooking for One column, which explored former Chez Panisse Chef Tamar Adler's An Everlasting Meal, highlighting two really amazing-sound recipes: a kale-based Greens Gratin, which Joe says he enjoys over toast, and Chickpea Pasta. The story itself is interesting too, learning to cook by thinking about leftovers as ingredients for your next dish. Sounds like a wise way to be more frugal in the kitchen.

The other front page story I really enjoyed was Tim Carman's look at meat eating, identifying some stark contrasts between the overall decline in meat consumption and rise in concerns about its production against the increasing--especially locally--cachet of high-end meat-based restaurants, particularly burgers and barbecue. Love this line: "Even as millions of Americans continue to gobble down gourmet burgers, dry-aged steaks, chef-driven charcuterie and bacon-wrapped everything, they’re regularly forced to consider the potential consequences of their actions."

Jason Wilson's spirits column makes me want to run out to the liquor store and hunt down some white vermouth, which I'll admit I'd never heard of until I read his story. He describes white vermouth's taste as having "distinct aromas of thyme and oregano and notes of cloves and vanilla, striking a unique balance between sweet and savory." Doesn't that sound interesting?

Last but not least, Bonnie Benwick's Dinner in Minutes feature offers up a comforting Chicken and Andouille Hash that sounds like a great Sunday morning treat.

Verdict: It was a good week for The New York Times but a really good week for The Washington Post, which claims its third Food (Section) Fight victory in a row. For the year to date, that means they are now tied. Big week next week!

Tom Mueller, Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil

2012-02-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

The olive branch is an international symbol of peace. And while peace can develop from nations deciding to set aside their differences, historically, peace is as likely to be the outcome of conquest.

The history, present and possibly the future of olive oil itself is just as two-sided, as skillfully revealed in Tom Mueller's Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil. While many of us see olive oil as a healthful and flavorful all-purpose cooking oil with a golden-green glow produced in pastoral Italian villas, Mueller's examination uncovers its scandalous underbelly.

Historically, olive oil has played important roles in Mediterranean civilizations going back as far as the Greeks and Romans. Its current dark side is reflected in its past, where olive oil has been used in both sacred religious rituals and witchcraft. As interesting as the history is, it's the modern issues that most interested me.

Sure, extra-virgin olive oil is amazing stuff, and Mueller spends plenty of time traveling the world to meet with true believers who produce high-quality olive oil as a labor of love. But he also shows how global market forces, seeking to satisfy a growing a demand for extra-virgin olive oil, are pushing some less scrupulous producers to pass off lower quality olive oil and even olive oil adulterated with vegetables oils as extra-virgin olive oil.

The problem is so pervasive and longstanding that many consumers aren't even aware of what extra-virgin olive oil should taste like. They've been buying inferior product for so long and don't know the difference. Furthermore, many consumers might not even like real extra-virgin olive oil if they tried it, given its intense combination of fruity, bitter and peppery flavors--the last of which will make you cough if you ingest at least a spoonful straight.

Mueller tackles these and other types of deviousness with first-person accounts of his meetings with large-scale producers, independent farmers and government officials. He also reveals how much marketing plays into our perception of olive oil. That bottle with the sunny Italian villa on it? More than likely, the stuff in the bottle was from olives grown and processed in Spain, which accounts for an increasing portion of olive oil bottled in Italian and then sold with no mention of its true Spanish heritage.

With lax international standards and governments unwilling to enforce what standards they do have (The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, for example, has taken a pass, since poor quality olive oil, although a rip-off, does not generally pose a health risk), buyers have to be particularly saavy about knowing what they're buying and who they're buying it from. In an appendix, Mueller outlines resources and tips for choosing good oil.

His journey eventually brings him to California, a minor olive oil producer globally, but a potentially important one in creating a new world order for quality oils, given the ideal agricultural conditions of California combined with the sizable and growing U.S. market for olive oil. There, a small number of producers, particularly in northern California, are putting a lot of care and energy into the burgeoning domestic market for quality extra-virgin olive oil.

My hopes were dashed though when I read this ominous line: "The United States of America is an oil criminal's dream." Despite the good example being set in northern California, apparently in southern California, trouble is brewing, with Mueller describing Los Angeles as a hub for oil fraud where soybean, seed and cottonseed oils are being blended with low-grade olive oil and sold as extra-virgin. It seems the fraud of the old world is alive in well in the new one.

It's no surprise then that in the epilogue of Mueller's book he sees a crossroads: "Are we witnessing a renaissance in olive oil, or the death of an industry?" Certainly, good consumer education, such as this book provides, is an important step in helping to ensure we realize the former.

Olive Oil, A Primer

2012-02-14T16:00:00.000-05:00

Maneuvering the olive oil shelf is tricky. In addition to the issues raised in Tom Mueller's book and the University of California studies, there's so much "marketing speak" around olive oil that it's hard to know what you're really buying. Here's my attempt to make some sense of it.

Let's start with the basic question: what is olive oil? Unlike most other common cooking oils, olive oil is really a form of fruit juice squeezed from olives, the fruit of the olive tree. Traditionally, olive oil was extracted by pressing or crushing the olives with heavy stones. Today, the more modern centrifuge is the common industrial method, improving efficiency and quality.

There are two basic types of olive oil: virgin and refined.

Virgin olive oil is that obtained from olives only be mechanical means: traditionally the press or the modern centrifuge. Thus the oil has undergone no chemical alteration, but merely separated from the water, flesh and pit of the olive. Some important virgin oil terms:

Extra-virgin olive oil refers to the highest quality of virgin olive oil. The technical, albeit subjective definition, is oil free from any flavor defects and that has a noticeable fruity flavor. The International Olive Council (IOC) has further defined standards for extra-virgin olive oil, which state that the oil's oleic acidity should be no more than .08 percent. The IOC's lower grades of virgin olive oil are virgin, ordinary virgin and lampante, the last of which is literally "lamp oil" not fit for human consumption. Extra-virgin oil is suitable for a variety of uses, although not high-temperature cooking, since the heat can alter the olive oil's flavor and the oil has a lower smoke point than refined olive oil.

Refined olive oil is olive oil that has gone through a chemical process to remove unwanted flavors and odors. When sold, it is often mixed with some extra-virgin olive oil to add back some flavor, although compared to extra-virgin oil, it has very little olive flavor. It has a high smoke point and lacks flavors that can turn bad from high heat. Thus, this oil is more suited for high-heat cooking, similar to vegetable, canola or peanut oil.

So what do you find in the grocery store? Generally, there's lots of extra-virgin olive oil, with little or no options that claim to be merely "virgin" or "ordinary virgin" (if you see "lampante" in the store, run). Refined olive oils are sold under a variety of names, including light, extra light, pure, classic or just plain "olive oil."

Although many refined olive oils carry the same FDA-approved health claim as extra-virgin olive oils, the refining will likely mean they are lower in antioxidants than extra-virgin olive oil. Antioxidants in extra-virgin olive oil are also destroyed over time and from exposure to light, so it's better to buy oil that's bottled in dark glass. Despite the use of the "light" label, all olive oil has the same fat content.

There is disagreement about whether extra-virgin olive oil should be used for cooking involving heat. Some suggest that refined olive oil should be used instead, since the delicate flavors of extra-virgin olive oil are destroyed and high heat could even make it taste bitter. Others disagree, including myself. I saute with extra-virgin olive oil on medium heat all the time and my food turns out great. If I was doing something with high heat, I would use another oil, however (like vegetable or canola) but for my usual purposes, I see no reason to substitute refined olive oil.

Later in the week, I'll do a taste test of a selection of California and European oils.

(Sources of information in this post include Tom's Mueller's Extra Virginity, The World's Healthiest Foods, and Wikipedia.)

Olive Oil Week

2012-02-13T19:28:00.006-05:00

It's Olive Oil Week at Cook In / Dine Out. This week, I'm going to take an in-depth look at one of the most important ingredients in the western culinary tradition, particularly for Mediterranean cuisine.

America's appetite for olive oil has increased dramatically in recent years, with consumption in 2011 having tripled from that of 20 years ago, according to the International Olive Council (IOC). What may have once been considered an exotic import is now an everyday item in the grocery store.

And it's not all imports. Domestic production of olive oil, although a very small slice of global oil production, has tripled in the last 4 years and IOC expects it to double again this year.

My early experience with olive oil dates baco to the '90s when I began cooking. Olive oil was new to me then and was a common ingredient in the Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso recipes I was making, such as black bean soup, mediterranean chicken salad and chicken fajitas. I remember buying little bottle of Pompeiian brand olive oil and there being little selection in the grocery story.

Although I've cooked with olive pretty continuously since then, my eyes were opened even wider during a trip to Napa last year when I was exposed to the burgeoning domestic olive oil production of northern California. Although we were in wine country, it might as well have been olive country, as there was a palpable excitement about olive oil. Our lunch at the Culinary Institute of America featured olive oil prominently in every course, even dessert (olive oil cake). One of the wineries we visited, Lava Vine, also produces olive oil, which we got to sample poured over some samples of dark chocolate. I'd intended the trip to be a culinary experience, but I didn't expect olive oil was going to be such a big part of it.

This week I'm going to discuss the flavors, research and controversies around olive oil. I'm going to write about Extra Virginity, Tom Mueller's insightful book about the history and modern tradition of olive oil. I'm going to review the latest research of the University of California - Davis Olive Center, which has pitted California olive oils against old world brands with chemical and sensory tests to determine purity and quality and I'm going to conduct my own taste tests to see which extra-virgin oils I like best.

(Pictured above: The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, the CIA's Napa Valley campus, which features an oleoteca--an olive oil bar for sampling oils in the school's gift shop.)

Equipment: Knives

2012-02-12T07:45:00.000-05:00

A period look at essential, useful and interesting equipment for the home kitchen.

Any overview of kitchen equipment begins with knives, the most essential tool of all. Knives are the front line of food preparation--you're not going to get very far without one.

Knives are versatile too. Whenever I see some supposed "space-saver" gadget, I usually think, just get a good knife. If you have a small kitchen like me, this becomes even more important. Knives are compact--they're the ultimate kitchen space saver.

Buying knives can be daunting. What works best is mostly a matter of personal preference, although there are some things to consider in terms of form, material and utility.

Form. Kitchen knives generally take one of two basic forms: stamped or forged. A stamped knife has been cut out of a larger sheet of metal and then sharpened. A forged knife is pounded into its shape from hot steel. Because of this, forged knives tend to feel weightier and appear thicker than their stamped counterparts; they also have a bolster, a bump of metal between the blade and the handle that provides protection from accidentally cutting yourself. Although forged knives are generally considered "better," sometimes the thinner, more flexible stamped knife can be useful.

Some people may be attracted by the "ever sharp" style of knives, knives with a serrated blade that you don't (or rather can't) sharpen. I would not recommend getting a whole set of these. They aren't nearly as sharp as a true honed blade, so they make a poor substitute for real fine-edged knives.

Material. Most kitchen knives are made from steel, although there are plastic and ceramic ones for special purposes. Carbon steel holds an edge well and is easy to sharpen, but is vulnerable to rust and stains. Stainless steel doesn't rust, but it must be sharpened more frequently. Pay a little more and you can get carbon stainless steel, an alloy that represents the best of both worlds.

Utility. Here's where it gets tricky. Before buying any knives, you should consider which specific knives you will use the most. Some, like Mark Bittman, contend that you only need three knives: a chef's knife, serrated bread knife and paring knife. Personally, I have five knives that I use the most, but since most of my knives come from two sets, I also have knives I hardly ever use. You can buy knives individually, but most knife manufacturers sell pretty sets of knives housed in wood blocks. Whether a set is more economical than buying knives individually depends on what knives you want to use. If you buy a set, you probably won't use all of the knives. However, it might be worth it if you get a price break for the few knives in the set that you will use, so consider which ones you really want, price them out separately and then compare that to the set price. A knife block is useful for storing knives, although you could also use a wall-mounted magnetic strip.

My knife collection is composed of two sets plus a few other miscellaneous knives. One set is from Zwilling J.A. Henckels Four Star, a forged carbon stainless set of five knives plus scissors in a block. I love the handle and the heft of these knives. Growing up, we had a few of these, and I always preferred them. My set retails for $541, but Amazon sells it for less than $200. My other set is J.A. Henckels International Fine Edge Pro, a stamped stainless set of five knives. The exact set I have is no longer available, but a similar set retails for $152 (and $64 at Amazon). Clearly, they are less expensive, but that doesn't mean they aren't useful. They require more frequent sharpening, but I've had them 12 years and still get a lot of use of most of the pieces.

My favorite knives (from left to right):

1. 3" paring knife (Zwilling J.A. Henckels Four Star). A paring knife is essential for tasks that involve small pieces of food or require precision. This paring knife is incredibly sharp--it slices a lime in half like the lime was butter. I use it for things like that, cutting off the rough ends of garlic cloves and very fine mincing. Among my knives, I use this the second most.

2. 7" santoku knife (Zwilling J.A. Henckels Four Star). I know the chef's knife is the classic all-purpose kitchen knife, but I got a santoku when they they started being trendy a few years ago and I really prefer it to a chef's knife for a lot of tasks. I think it's just a matter of what you're used to, since they are quite similar. This is the knife I use the most, particularly for chopping.

3. 8" chef's knife (Henckels International Fine Edge Pro). Since it's a stamped knife, this lacks the heft of a forged knife. So even though it's a chef's knife, I don't find this ideal for chopping. However, it's thinner blade makes it perfect for slicing larger items, like fruit (I cut my oranges into wedges with this every morning).

4. 7.5" bread knife (Henckels International Fine Edge Pro). This isn't a particularly versatile knife, but when you need to cut bread, this is what works best. Trying to cut bread with a chef's knife will usually result in squishing or crumbling it. This does neither.

5. 5.5" boning knife (Henckels International Fine Edge Pro). Here's where the flexibility of a stamped knife can be useful. I'm not very good at cutting up a whole chicken, but when I need to do so, this is what I use. The thin knife provides good precision. It also works well for cubing chicken breasts.

My least favorite knives. These are the ones that I find I hardly ever use. Here's why (from left to right):

1. 2.5" peeling knife (Zwilling J.A. Henckels Four Star). This is the knife I never use. It's concave blade leaves me a bit puzzled as to how to use it effectively. I can't think of any task I couldn't perform more easily with eiher a paring knife or a vegetable peeler.

2. 5" serrated utility knife (Zwilling J.A. Henckels Four Star). This, like the peeling knife, is the kind of knife you get in a knife set and then never use. Supposedly, it's good for slicing tomatoes, but I find a sharp chef's knife works just as well, if not better, since you lose precision with a serrated knife. I did use this to slice a grapefruit in half this morning, but I could have used the chef's knife.

3. 10" chef's knife (Victorinox Fibrox). This was just a mistake. Cook's Illustrated raves about the Victorinox line of kitchen knives as a high-performance, low-cost option. I wanted to give it a try, but I shouldn't have bought a 10-inch knife. It's just too big to be useful. If you have big hands, you might like it, but I never use it. Even if I had a smaller one though, it lacks the heft of the Zwilling Henckels knives I use for chopping (the Victorinox is a stamped knife), so I'm not sure I would prefer this anyway.

4. 8" chef's knife (Calphalon). Calphalon?! What am I doing with a knife from a pots-and-pans company? That's a good question. I think this ended up in my kitchen back in the day when I only had the Henckels stamped set and wanted a heftier, forged chef's knife. It's certainly hefty--the heaviest knife in my collection. But it dulled really fast. It's also so thick that it can get stuck in food. I don't think I paid much for it and I got what I paid for.

5. 5" utility knife (Henckels International Fine Edge Pro). People who assemble knife sets seem to think you need a bridge between the small paring knife and the large chef's knife. I think otherwise. Despite its name, I find little "utility" in this knife. It's too big to be useful as a paring knife, too small for carving, and too slight for chopping. You can slice with it, but nothing too big (it's not even large enough to cut through a grapefruit). Basically, there's nothing this knife does that other knives couldn't do better. So why bother?

Parting thought: One final word on knives--keep them sharp. A dull knife is the quickest route to a kitchen injury. Sure, a sharp knife will slice you more easily, but it's not likely to happen if you're paying attention. Dull knives are actually more dangerous because they can act in unpredictable ways. Thus, you are more likely to cut yourself with a dull knife than a sharp knife. And when you do, since it's dull, it will hurt. So run your knives over the honing steel regularly (you can do it every time actually) to keep the blade straight and sharpen your knives when they begin to develop a dullness that the honing steel doesn't address.

America Eats Tavern - Penn Quarter, Washington, DC

2012-02-11T07:58:00.001-05:00

When José Andrés announced he was opening temporary restaurant America Eats to dovetail with the National Archives' exhibit on the history of U.S. government and food, it meant shutting down one of his Penn Quarter pillars. Turns out though that the real loss in this exercise will be America Eats itself.

Since opening last July 4, America Eats has excelled at reinterpreting historical American dishes with modernist flair. That means taking some of the techniques from corner Minibar--deconstruction, foams, even molecular gastronomy--and translating them to the larger main dining space. The menu, which focuses more on describing the dishes' historical origins than how its being served, means you're often in for a surprise.

Deconstruction, in particular, is everywhere. Soups come out with their braised, roasted and chopped solid ingredients composed like a still life in their bowls, before the server pours the broth over them at table. Thus my chestnut soup arrived with cooked vegetables composed around its silky, chilled foie gras center all of which were then coated in a warm, savory broth. Cold peanut soup arrives with its roasted peanuts and microgreens awaiting a pour of cool, creamy broth.

The best deconstruction on the menu has to be the Eisenhower Stew, a perfectly cooked piece of beef served with tender root vegetables sitting atop a velvety brown sauce. It's so good, we ordered it twice. Also good is the BBQ beef short ribs with Hoppin' John, another perfectly cooked piece of tender beef with assertive smoke flavor and a little spice. It's served with a historical (yet surprisingly trendy) side of black eyed peas with rice. Less delicious, but still interesting was the cornmeal-crusted croaker with succotash, which was bland compared to the other dishes. It is no longer on the menu, as the restaurant has changed its offerings with the seasons.

Salads provide fresh balance to the meat and seafood heavy entrees. A Harvard beet salad comes with a mix of deeply red beets, half roasted and half shredded. The Waldorf salad is tasty, although takes the modernism a bit far by compressing apples with "celery essence" rather than just including celery. I'm not even sure what compressing an apple would involve, for that matter.

The bread basket, easily skipped at other restaurants, is worth getting here, heaped with fresh hot buttermilk biscuits served with a mixture of butter and blackberry jam. And then there's those hush puppies. Mmmm. They come with a special butter too, this one blended with sorghum for added sweetness.

America Eats was never meant to be permanent, but in the last 7 months, it has distinguished itself as the most creative of Andres' four moderately price downtown establishments. Already extended from its originally planned closing this month, America Eats is due to go dark on July 4, 2012, at which time the space will be renovated to expand his restaurant-within-a-restaurant Minibar from 6 seats to 18 and use the rest of the space as the corporate offices of his business, Think Food Group. When Cafe Atlantico was first closed, there was talk it would reappear elsewhere (it has not). I hope there's talk of keeping this around somehow. I'd love to see a continuing revolving menu of modern takes on historic dishes--seems like an endless supply of inspiration meets innovation.

Cocktail: Ruby Rosemary

2012-02-09T16:35:00.000-05:00

Chris claimed he doesn't like grapefruit. I set out to change that.

This cocktail started with ruby red grapefruit juice as its founding flavor. I looked up flavors to pair with grapefruit and saw that pepper, rosemary, citrus and vanilla were all recommended. Since I like the muddled peppercorns from a previous drink, I decided to use that again, along with rosemary syrup and Licor 43, the Spanish liqueur with a vanilla-citrus flavor.

I decided all that by afternoon, but I hadn't hit on what spirit to use. I consulted the PDT Cocktail Book, but found recipes with grapefruit juice combined with every sort of spirit, so that didn't narrow the field. Because I already had all these other flavors going on, I decided I wanted a simple, clear spirit. I ruled out vodka, because it is too boring, which left me with either gin or tequila.

In the end, I decided to use go with a smooth, blanco tequila and selected Familia Camarena tequila, a 100% de agave silver tequila.

To make rosemary syrup, I roughly chopped rosemary and boiled it with water and sugar in a 1:1 ratio then let it steep before straining it and letting it cool.

Although I'd thought I might put club soda in this, I ended up deciding it wasn't necessary. First round was a bit too sweet, so I dialed back the Licor 43 and rosemary syrup, which resulted in a nicely balanced drink.

(You too can have drinks with one giant perfectly square ice cube, if you get this.)

Ruby Rosemary

By A. Huddleston

8 black peppercorns

.5 oz rosemary syrup*

1.5 oz blanco or silver tequila

.5 oz Licor 43

1.5 oz fresh red/pink grapefruit juice (juice from 1/4 grapefruit)

Muddle peppercorns with rosemary syrup. Fill shaker with 5-6 ice cubes. Strain syrup into shaker and add tequila, Licor 43 and grapefruit juice. Shake until well chilled and serve in a rocks glass with ice.

Food (Section) Fight!: Week 5

2012-02-08T19:40:00.005-05:00

Food (Section) Fight! is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.

Week 5 was an easy decision, although at first I wasn't sure it would be.

Upon first glance, The Washington Post Food section left me a little cold. The big cover story? Cupcakes. I'm not really into cupcakes. In fact, I'm quite tired of them. I'd much prefer a slice of cake, thank you very much. They are messy to eat, with the frosting in one big glob rather than spread nicely over the whole cake. They're often dried out too. Yet D.C. seems to be the epicenter of a cupcake fever that's swept the nation. There's so many places to get cupcakes. There's even a mobile food truck that parks itself outside my office to offer them.

Despite my initial reaction, I actually enjoyed the feature story about Doron Petersan, proprietor of the Sticky Fingers vegan bakery in Columbia Heights and champion on the Food Network's Cupcake Wars. It's a great story about the drive to succeed doing something you love and care about.

Inside, there's lots of good content this week:

Tom Sietsema is apparently falling in love with Mintwood Place, which gets a rave First Bite. I'm very interested in this place and hope to go there soon. Chef Cedric Maupillier, formerly of Central Michel Richard, sounds like he'll pose a serious challenge to Cashion's Eat Place as Adams-Morgan's premier restaurant with his escargo-filled hush puppies and cassoulet. And don't get me started on the idea of a flaming Baked Alaska, courtesy of Dawn Swaney, his former Central sous-chef. This sounds amazing. I'm willing to take bets on whether Tom gives them at least 3 stars (Mintwood Place's website).
Bonnie Benwick, who I learned from today's chat has taken the reins as interim Food Section editor while Joe Yonan takes a leave of absence, has outdone herself this week with tasty recipes. First she offers up Salvadoran Enchiladas with ground pork, eggs and tomatoes. Shame the print edition didn't run the color photo with it, as it's quite attractive. Then she reviewed the British cookbook The Perfect Ingredient by Bryn Williams and adapted several of his recipes, including Almond Potatoes and Marjoram Gnocchi. Yum! I've been itching to try my hand at homemade gnocchi again and Bonnie just convinced me it's time.
More goodness from Stephanie Witt Sedgwick's Nourish column, which this week features Potato, Pancetta and Brussels Sprout Saute. I made sautéed Brussels sprouts with bacon and figs for Thanksgiving last year, so this is a flavor combination I already know will be good.
The Lemongrass food truck sound delicious, offering yet another welcome take on the old food truck standard of Asian-inspired tacos. Shame that as a downtown worker I won't be eating at the Arlington-exclusive truck.
Lastly, although not part of the Food Section content proper, spirits columnist Jason Wilson had some good cocktail advice for me during today's chat:

SOMETHING OTHER THAN GINGER:
I seem to be out of control with ginger in cocktails. Everything I make has Domaine de Canton or ginger beer. Knowing that I like that flavor, as well as citrus, what should I try to broaden my horizons?

JASON WILSON :
Hmm. That's not so bad to be taken with Domaine de Canton and ginger beer! Maybe you could stick with the ginger ale/beer theme, but broaden from there by trying new spirits. One I really like is the Cloudy Sky, which is sloe gin, ginger beer and lime juice. So tasty! You'll expand your horizons by trying real sloe gin, from a brand like Plymouth -- not the fake stuff. Another good template is the classic buck, which you can experiement with ginger beer and many different spirits. Here is the Bargoens Buck, which calls for Dutch genever, lemon juiceand Campari.

The New York Times this week, by comparison, was a snooze. The cover story was all about trying to appreciate food more by eating slowly and savoring. Yeah okay, I know that's a good idea, but does it really warrant almost two full pages of the section?

Recipe-wise, the Dark Chocolate-Cherry Ganache Bars are pretty, but I really don't like cherry with my chocolate. The Flaky Pastry Lids sound interesting until you read the recipe and realize it's just pie dough on top of soup.

Oh, and D.C.'s Georgetown Cupcakes is opening a branch in Soho, but I'm pretty sure The Washington Post cornered the food section market on cupcake coverage this morning, so that's a bit been-there-done-that.

Verdict: Great coverage by the Post and an off-week from the Times hands the Washington Post an easy Food (Section) Fight victory this week. Whoo-hoo!

Chicory Salad with Chicken

2012-02-07T16:16:00.000-05:00

Remember when a few weeks ago I couldn't find radicchio? I wanted to make up for that by using not one but two two types of chicory: radicchio and Belgian endive

I combined then with arugula, which made for a rather colorful combination of leafy salad greens. I loved the toasted hazelnuts from the kale salad, so I brought them back, along with some smooth goat cheese and just enough onion to add a little zest.

Chicory Salad with Chicken

by A. Huddleston

1/2 cup hazelnuts

2 tbsp olive oil

3/4 lb. chicken breast cutlets

Seasoned salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

2 heads of Belgian endive

1/2 head radicchio

2 cups arugula

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

4 oz. chèvre (goat cheese), cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Dressing:

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp honey

Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

1. Toast hazelnuts in a small (8-inch) pan over medium-low heat, tossing occasionally. When fragrant, remove from pan and wrap with a clean dish towel. After about a minute, rub the nuts through the towel to remove nuts' skins. Set nuts aside to cool.

2. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a medium (10-inch) stainless steel pan over medium heat. Pat chicken dry and add to pan when oil is hot (chicken should sizzle). Season with seasoned salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste, cooking for about 10 minutes, turning halfway. Remove chicken from pan and set aside to cool.

3. Whisk together dressing ingredients.

4. Separate and wash radicchio and endive leaves. Tear radicchio leaves and chop endive into bite-size pieces. Combine in salad bowl with arugula, onion, chèvre, hazelnuts and chicken. Toss with dressing.

Salmon with Chickpeas, Kale and Bacon

2012-02-06T16:26:00.000-05:00

This post from The Washington Post's All We Can Eat food blog had me craving chickpeas last week. I thought it sounded like a good accompaniment for Monday-night-fish-night.

And I was right. The dish was wonderful with salmon. I made a couple of substitutions: bacon for pancetta and kale for Swiss chard. I also added some olive oil, since the dish seemed a little dry by the time it was done.

I guess this is as good a time as any to print my broiled salmon recipe. It's one of the few recipes from my South Beach Diet days that I still make and really enjoy. Simple, fast and delicious.

Chickpeas with Kale and Bacon

Adapted from "Cooking Off the Cuff: Crazy for chickpeas" by Edward Schneider, Washington Post All We Can Eat

1/2 bunch of kale

2 strips of bacon, cut into lardons (small pieces)

1/2 red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

Seasoned salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1. Remove the stems from the kale. Blanch leaves in a boiling water for 1 minute then plunge into cold water. Drain leaves and squeeze out as much water as possible. Roll up leaves and cut into 1-inch strips.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Cook bacon until fat renders and bacon is lightly browned. Drain off most of the bacon fat (leave bacon in pan). Add onion to pan and sauté until lightly browned. Add garlic and sauté a couple more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Add chickpeas to skillet and cook until they are lightly browned on the outside, about 10 minutes. Add cooked kale and stir to reheat. Toss with olive oil. Serve as a side dish.

Broiled Salmon with Rosemary, Garlic and Lemon

Adapted from The South Beach Diet by Arthur Agatson

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for spraying

Juice from 1/2 lemon

2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

Seasoned salt and fresh-ground black pepper

3/4 lb. salmon fillet

1. Preheat broiler on high setting with rack in highest position about 4-5 inches from broiler.

2. Combine garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, rosemary, salt and pepper in a bowl to form a thin paste. Place salmon fillet skin side down on a cookie sheet sprayed with olive oil. Spread garlic paste over top of salmon. Broil about 10 minutes, flipping after first 5 minutes. Discard skin and serve.

Macaroni & Cheese

2012-02-04T05:04:00.000-05:00

Macaroni & cheese is one of the all-time great comfort foods. What other dish, besides fondue, allows you to eat cheese with such decadent abandon? It's a versatile dish that recalls childhood but can also accommodate discerning adult tastes.

For many people, macaroni & cheese means the Kraft boxed product. I wasn't raised on this, although I have had it, so I don't share the nostalgia for its neon orange glow and soft noodles. I grew up eating homemade macaronic & cheese made with real cheese and I prefer it that way.

There are lots of ways to enjoy mac n' cheese, but this recipe below is a basic recipe (a variation for smoky mac n' cheese follows). Feel free to add meats (chicken or bacon work well), vegetables (asparagus tips, onion, mushrooms) and play with the combination of cheeses. Be careful not too add too much though, as the focus should be on the cheese and pasta.

Although popular, I don't recommend adding broccoli to mac n' cheese. I think some people do this because they don't like broccoli and the cheese masks its flavor. But I happen to think that broccoli is good, and when you add it to macaroni and cheese, the flavors tend to cancel each other out rather than harmonize.

The selection of cheeses is obviously very important. Because they're being cooked, it's important to choose very flavorful cheeses that melt well. Cheddar is an obvious choice, and I like to use a flavorful aged Irish cheddar which, although not labeled "sharp," certainly is so. I also like to use aged Swiss gruyère, which we know melts well, since it's the principal cheese in Swiss fondue. Finally, I toss in some nutty parmigiano-reggiano. This combination makes for a seriously rich, nutty cheese sauce that also melts smoothly.

To add a little flavor, I like to have some garlic in the sauce, but not too much. I've found that adding a whole minced clove is overpowering (especially if you eat this as leftovers), so I borrow a technique from fondue-making and rub half a cut garlic clove all over my frying pan before beginning the sauce.

The sauce itself proceeds in three steps. First step is roux, a sauce of equal parts flour and fat (in this case butter) that is cooked to eliminate any raw flour flavor. I cook this to just a light brown, not too much. A flat whisk works best for making cheese sauce.

The next step is to whisk milk into the roux, which produces Béchamel, one the five "mother sauces" of classical French cuisine. As it cooks, the sauce will thicken, signaling it is ready for the cheese.

The last step is adding the cheese, which turns the Béchamel into Mornay sauce. Who knew all these French cooking terms would be applicable to Macaroni & Cheese!

For the pasta, any stubby pasta shape will do. Elbow macaroni is traditional, but small penne, farfalle or fusili will work too. Lately, I've preferred medium-size shells, which have cavities that easily fill with cheese sauce.

For a final flourish, I top the pasta and sauce with buttered panko and broil it until lightly browned, giving the macaroni a nice crunchy topping. Some recipes call for actually baking the whole thing, but I don't see how that's necessary as I suspect it would just dry it out.

Classic Macaroni & Cheese

By A. Huddleston

1 lb. pasta, such as medium shells, penne or elbow macaroni

1/2 tbsp unsalted butter

Paprika (optional)

1/3 cup plain panko

1 garlic clove, cut in half

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp flour

2 cups whole milk

7 oz. aged Irish cheddar, shredded

6 oz. aged gruyère, shredded

1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano

pinch of ground nutmeg

pinch of seasoned salt

fresh-ground black pepper, to taste

1. Boil pasta in salted water to al dente according to package directions. Drain pasta and set aside in large pot.

2. Melt 1/2 tbsp. butter in a small frying pan over medium-low heat. Add panko and stir to coat panko with butter. Remove from heat before panko browns. If desired, sprinkle with paprika.

3. Rub a cut side of 1/2 of a garlic clove all over an oven-safe 12-inch nonstick frying pan. Heat pan over medium heat. Melt 2 tbsp. butter in pan. When foaming subsides, sprinkle with 2 tbsp. flour. Cook, stirring with flat whisk, until lightly browned.

4. Add 2 cups whole milk to butter/flour mixture, whisking to incorporate. Increase heat just past medium and cook until sauce is lightly bubbling and thickened. Season with nutmeg, seasoned salt and fresh-ground pepper.

5. Reduce heat just below medium and add shredded and grated cheeses, a handful at a time, whisking to incorporate as cheese melts. Pour sauce over cooked pasta and stir to combine sauce and pasta. Return sauced pasta to frying pan and sprinkle buttered panko evenly over pasta. Preheat broiler on high setting and broil pasta in frying pan about 6 inches from broiler until the panko topping is lightly browned.

Smoky Mac 'n' Cheese with Chicken

2012-02-04T05:03:00.003-05:00

This is a nice variation on the traditional mac 'n' cheese that incorporates chicken and smoky flavors.

Smoky Mac 'n' Cheese with Chicken

By A. Huddleston

1 lb. pasta, such as medium shells, penne or elbow macaroni

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter

12 oz. chicken breast meat, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 small (or 1/2 large) sweet onion, diced finely

4 garlic cloves, minced

seasoned salt, to taste

fresh-ground black pepper, to taste

2 tbsp flour

1 1/2 cups milk

8 oz aged gruyère, shredded

8 oz smoked sharp cheddar, shredded

1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Extra-virgin olive oil spray*

(*I use a Misto to spray olive oil, but you could use an olive oil spray product.)

1. Boil pasta in salted water to al dente according to package directions. Drain pasta and set aside in large pot.

2. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil and 1/2 tbsp. butter in a 10-inch frying pan over medium heat. Sauté chicken until cooked through, about 8-10 minutes.

3. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter in a large, oven-safe 12-inch nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until soft and fragrant. Season with seasoned salt and fresh-ground black pepper as desired.

4. Sprinkle with flour and whisk mixture while cooking, about 2 minutes. Add milk and continue whisking until mixture begins to bubble and thicken. Reduce heat to low. Add shredded cheese by the handful and stir to incorporate while it melts. Continue until all the cheese has melted and the sauce has a smooth texture.

5. Preheat broiler on high setting with oven rack about 6 inches from broiler. Pour sauce over cooked pasta and combine with cooked chicken. Return pasta mixture to frying pan. Mix together bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and smoked paprika and spread evenly over the top of the pasta. Spray topping with olive oil. Put pan in oven and broil until the crumb-cheese top is lightly browned--watch carefully to avoid burning.

Mac & Cheese: Lessons on Substitutions

2012-02-04T05:02:00.000-05:00

In the recipe above, I carefully selected the cheeses I used based on their flavors and my past experience with them. Flavorful sauce is very important to me, and when making a cooked cheese dish, like mornay sauce, it is essential to start with flavorful cheeses to ensure a good final product.

You might be thinking though, do I really need to use aged Swiss gruyère, aged Irish cheddar and Italian parmigiano-reggiano? Well no, you do not have to. You might not have access to such cheeses or you might not want to pay for them.

But substituting inferior ingredients will create an inferior product. The question is though, how inferior? Could substituting less expensive cheeses still yield an acceptable, even tasty macaroni & cheese? What if I substituted the least expensive cheeses I could find without switching cheese types (i.e. switching to American cheese)?

To find out, I made the same dish but with the least expensive comparable cheese options: store brand sharp cheddar, Swiss cheese and parmesan (the kind that comes in a shaker). These cheeses cost less than half what I paid for the other cheeses. I also used skim milk and skipped the bread topping.

Chris and I sampled the store-brand cheddar and Swiss cheeses. We were struck by how flavorless they were. In fact, they tasted almost the same, with the Swiss having a slight tang. The cheddar, despite being labeled "sharp," had less flavor than many medium cheddars I've tasted. The canned parmesan was notably saltier than parmigiano-reggiano and lacked its nutty taste.

The béchamel made with skim milk was noticeably thinner than the that made with whole milk (below), although it worked fine for melting the cheeses. The cheeses also melted just fine. The resulting sauce wasn't as creamy, but there was no graininess to the consistency.

And the dish didn't look bad--it looks similar to the other, although without the topping. However, there was a big difference in flavor. In fact, there was hardly any flavor. It was very flat in comparison to the original recipe.

If I were making mac & cheese and these were the only cheeses I had available, I would definitely add some mustard (either powdered or prepared) to give the sauce more zip. A lot of recipes call for mustard, although it's not necessary if you're using really good cheese. Another option would be to compromise between the high-end and store-brand cheeses--there are certainly good options between the two. It's a pretty forgiving recipe and you could use almost any combination of hard cheeses or just one cheese.

Caramelized Parsnip Cake

2012-02-03T23:37:00.006-05:00

Where I work, we have a competitive dessert culture. Very competitive. Twice a year we have a dessert contest, where employees in my division (about 125 people) can compete to win the honor of best dessert.

One of the best entries in recent years was the Caramelized Parsnip Layer Cake, which my coworker Kyle won the winter 2010 competition with. And deservedly so...it was really good.

The recipe comes from In the Sweet Kitchen: The Definitive Baker's Companion by Regan Daley. From this book, I've also made the Sticky Spiked Double-Apple Cake (in fact, it was one of my recent dessert contest entries). I highly recommend it if you want a good apple cake.

When I tell people about this recipe, invariably their eyebrows raise at the mention of parsnips. But really, they shouldn't--at least I don't think they would if parsnips were a more popular vegetable. And frankly, I'm surprised it isn't, as it's amazingly good and quite versatile. Last month, I sautéed them for Orzo with Sweet Winter Vegetables and roasted them for Risotto with Sausage, Parsnips and Kale. I imagine they'd be good in soup too. With this recipe, they transition with grace from entrée to dessert.

Parsnips become very sweet when roasted, making them an ideal root vegetable for incorporating into dessert. The first step in this recipe is to roast sliced parsnips for almost an hour, bringing out their sweetness and lightly browning them.

The roasted parsnips are then mashed and combined in the cake batter with the other key flavors: toasted pecans, sliced pears and shredded coconut. The results are similar to carrot cake, but definitely a unique taste.

The recipe calls for frosting the cake with a caramel-cream cheese frosting. Unfortunately, I ran out of powdered sugar and only had about 4 cups instead of the 5.5 to 6 the recipe called for. Thus my frosting was a little thin (you can see it pooling at the base of the cake below). Be prepared to have two boxes on hand to make sure you have enough. Even so, it tasted really good and no one seemed to mind, as I wasn't the only one who had seconds.

Italian Wines

2012-02-02T16:27:00.003-05:00

When it comes to wine, I generally gravitate toward big, bold domestic flavors--Napa and Columbia Valley mainstays like cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah, petite sirah and occasionally varietals like zinfandel and cabernet franc. The great thing about wine is that, despite that sounding somewhat narrow, there are actually hundreds, if not thousands, of wine options.

But I'm always willing to branch out. In December, while dining at Lupa, an Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village, Chris and I enjoyed some pretty amazing Italian wines--a big, bold Barbaresco, Casacina Bruciata 2007, and a Nero d'Avola, Frappato Firriato "Harmonium" 2008. They were both good, particularly the Nero d'Avola. It made me think I should make an effort to further explore Italian wines.

Italy offers some of the same varietals that are common in the United States--merlot, for example, and other Bordeaux varietals, but many varietals that are not so common. Sangiovese and its famous blends Chianti and Chianti classico, are very well known, as well as Montepulciano. Knowing that I love bolder reds, I asked the staff at Calvert-Woodley to direct me to some of their favorite bigger Italian reds. These are the wines I selected:

Falesco Pesano Umbria Merlot IGT 2009 ($16). Full-bodied and smooth with a balanced flavor that's both earthy and fruity with a smooth finish. I thought there might be some Cabernet Franc blended in, but the label says it's 100 percent Merlot. I enjoyed this wine, although I wasn't blown away by it.

Poggio San Polo - Rubio Montalcino IGT 2009 ($16). This is a Tuscan sangiovese wine. Not quite as full-bodied as I like for wine, but it has a soft berry, fruity flavor. Not a bad wine, but not something I would buy again.

Planeta La Segreta - Rosso 2010 ($13). Full-bodied flavor but soft on the palate makes this a nice choice to pair with cheese. There's definitely berry notes, but overall richer flavor than the other wines. Although it claims to be Nero d'Avola on the label, it's actually a blend of half Nero d'Avola, 25 percent Merlot, 20 percent Syrah and 5 percent Cabernet Franc. Not as outstanding as the Nero d'Avola we had at Lupa, but the best of the Italian wines so far.

Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo DOC 2009 ($24). This wine is notably lighter in color than the others, but thankfully not too light on flavor. It's certainly smooth, but not particularly memorable. This wine is from Piedmont, a northern region.

Morgante Nero d'Avola Sicilia IGT 2008 ($17). This Sicilian wine is dynamite good. The best of the lot. Nero d'Avola was the varietal in the Harmonium wine we so enjoyed at Lupa, so I was excited to find a bottle locally that I also enjoyed. Remarkably, it's quite different from the Harmonium. While that wine was rich and full-bodied with hints of vanilla, this is softer, jammy even, but still very robust, especially after the bottle had been open a couple hours.

Tasca d'Almerita - Nero d'Avola Sicilia Lamùri IGT 2009 ($18). When I picked up the Nero d'Avolas, the clerk who helped me pick them out said that the Morgante is bigger "old world" style, while this is a softer style more akin to a pinot noir. True to his word, this was notably softer, but had a lot of the same flavors. Also quite good, although I prefer the Morgante.

Allegrini - Palazzo della Torre Veronese 2008 ($20). The bottle text explains that this is made with some dried grapes to give is a "raisiny" flavor. I was afraid this meant it was sweet, but it's not. It's really quite good with a nicely rounded full flavor. This is vying with the Morgante as my favorite.

Food (Section) Fight: Week 4

2012-02-01T17:20:00.006-05:00

Food (Section) Fight is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.

On the basis of their cover stories, competition was fierce this week, although the inside content revealed a definite victor this week.

The Washington Post had a delicious photograph of Vermillion's butternut squash soup served in an oval ramekin and roasted squash sandwich to accompany David Hagedorn's delightful article about how area restaurants are making the simple soup-and-sandwich combo a real culinary treat. I've yet to visit Fiola, but their classic tomato soup and grilled cheese pairing sounds really good too. I just keep staring at that squash soup though. They even got the chef to share his recipes for the soup and the sandwich. Yum!

Among the recipes, my favorite is Stephanie Witt Sedgwick's homey meat-filled take on rice pilaf with andouille sausage, chicken and red beans. Chris loves rice, so I bet he'd really like this. Bonnie Benwick's farfalle with crab is probably not something I'd make, although I do have a can of lump crab meat to use up and this could fill that bill.

As much as I love the sandwich piece, my favorite article is Jason Wilson's column on how to invent cocktails ("To invent cocktails, start with a classic"). I've been really into experimenting with cocktails lately, trying to come up with original recipes. He makes a good argument for thinking about cocktail-making as an artistic culinary task (I'm totally on board with that) and gives good advice for thinking about how to reinterpret old classics. He also discusses how brandy is the least popular of the six most common spirits as a base for cocktails, which is interesting. I have to admit that personally, I rarely use brandy in cocktails, so perhaps I should experiment with it.

The New York Times' cover story ("My Sons, the Sous-Chefs") was a wonderful piece about a working mother who decided her 14- and 10-year-old sons were old enough to start preparing dinners some nights to give her a break. I loved this story and it really hit home for me, since that was pretty much how I got my start cooking (as I detailed in my early January introduction). Leslie Kaufman's observations about how to lend guidance while also allowing her sons to make their own mistakes really reinforced how cooking is such an educational experience--quite a constant one. Great artwork accompanying the story tell, as well as the sidebar on kid-friendly kitchen equipment.

Beyond that piece, there were some interesting stories, but nothing really exciting. The recipes on page 2 were interesting, although I don't think I'd ever make either one. The spicy lacquered chicken wings look really delicious, but I'm not really wild about chicken wings. The one-pot French onion soup with garlic-gruyère croutons sounds amazing, but the whole point seems to be how to make a one-pot soup for what is traditionally served individually, with the solution being to use a pair of kitchen shears to cut the cheese on top. Really? Seems like an odd solution.

The review of Crown is interesting, if only because Pete Wells manages to rather effectively convey what sounds like a pretty dull restaurant. The only thing that seems off is that despite his description of most of the crowd being over 40, the accompanying photo shows the dining room filled with people who look to be about 25.

Verdict: The New York Times' cover story gave me a strong sense of nostalgia, but overall, I'm handing this week's victory to The Washington Post, its first Food (Section) Fight win.

Recipe of the Month

2012-01-31T19:29:00.002-05:00

The most popular recipe of the month was....The Kale "Caesar" Salad. As it turns out, I apparently need an education on greens, as I'm fairly convinced that I actually used collard greens instead of kale in the salad. No matter--it was still really good. The most useful thing I got out of that recipe was learning how to toast and skin hazelnuts.

Runner-up recipes are the Risotto with Sausage, Parsnips and Kale (I mean, um, Collard Greens) and Orzo with Sweet Winter Vegetables. I'm already dreaming of another use for Brussels sprouts--hopefully with a good original pasta dish next week.

If anybody made these recipes, I'd love to hear how it went.

Chicken Marbella Updated

2012-01-30T21:03:00.001-05:00

I've already mentioned cookbook and food writers Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins twice and here they appear again. For me personally as for many others, they were an important inspiration in my early cooking.

Chicken Marbella is probably their most famous recipe. According to its introduction in The Silver Palate Cookbook, it was the first main-course entree served in their Manhattan food shop, The Silver Palate. When I was young, my mom made this sometimes when we had dinner guests, and I always really liked it. The best part is the sauce, a savory-sweet composition white wine, brown sugar, olives, vinegar, prunes and herbs. I made it myself when we entertained some friends recently, and it's still a crowd-pleaser.

This month's issue of Cook's Illustrated pays homage to the dish while offering an updated version. Writer Dan Souza identified three issues with the original recipe that he thought were ripe for updating: the plain chicken skin, bland meat and an overly sweet, lackluster sauce. I take issue with him calling the sauce "lackluster," however, I was intrigued by his attempt to re-create one of my favorite dishes.

To address these issues, he made two major modifications. The first was to ditch the marinade in favor of a flavorful paste that is used in part to form the basis of the sauce but more importantly as layer of flavor slathered on top of the chicken. In addition to the green olives, prunes, capers, garlic and oregano of the original recipe, he added some anchovy fillets for depth and red pepper flakes for heat.

When blended in a food processor, it's not much to look at (see below). But trust me, it was really good and doesn't look so bad once it's darkened from roasting on the chicken (see top photo above).

His other major modification was to brown the chicken skin. This was a really great idea, for browned chicken skin adds a wonderful flavor to the dish that was missing before.

For sides, I made the flash-cooked kale from Mark Bittman's app I raved about recently and a simple barley salad dressed with lemon and parsley.

The updated Marbella was definitely tasty, and I agree Souza was able to improve the flavors. It was a lot more work though. One of the nice things about the original dish is that you just toss a bunch of ingredients together to marinate the chicken and then pop it in the oven with a few more ingredients. When I make this again, I might attempt a sort of hybrid between the two where I brown the chicken skin but keep the sauce from the original recipe. Sounds like a good experiment!

Chicken Marbella (original)

By Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins, The Silver Palate Cookbook

Chicken Marbella (updated)

By Dan Souza, Cook's Illustrated, February 2012

Barley Salad with Lemon and Parsley

By A. Huddleston

3/4 cup pearl barley

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Juice from 1/2 lemon

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1/4 teaspoon garlic granules

Ground sea salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

1. Boil 4 cups water in a large sauce pan. Add barley, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook barley about 45-50 minutes. Drain barley and put in a large bowl. Combine with olive oil, lemon juice, parsley and garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Butter, Clarified

2012-01-30T16:23:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to make clarified butter, just to have it on hand. I'd never done it before and it was an interesting process.

Clarified butter is useful for sautéing at high temperatures. Because butter is a dairy product, it contains solids that can burn, creating a bitter taste (these same solids, when cooked but not burned, create the nutty taste of browned butter). Clarified butter removes those solids, leaving only the oily component of butter. Thus, it is less flavorful than actual butter, but still butter-flavored.

Let's clarify something first (that won't get old), ghee and clarified butter are not the same thing. Ghee is a type of clarified butter common in India. It has a more concentrated flavor, since it is cooked longer, and is sometimes even herbed.

Since it keeps well for months, I decided to use a whole pound of butter. I put four cubes in a shallow saucepan over medium-low heat.

Gradually the butter melted and then began to bubble, with foam rising to the top, which I skimmed off. You can see in the picture above how even as the butter begins to clear you can see the layer of dairy solids and water as a layer on the bottom of the pan. Eventually, much of the moisture bubbles to the surface, but the solids remain on the bottom to be strained out.

Eventually, the foaming subsided, with some of the dairy solids clinging to the bottom of the pan. By filtering the butter with several layers of cheesecloth over a strainer, I separated the solids from the golden oily product that was the goal of exercise.

The clarified butter solidified in the refrigerator, waiting for me to use it. Now I just need to find some dishes to use it in.

Retiring Spatulas

2012-01-28T21:20:00.003-05:00

Tonight I said goodbye to my Le Creuset spatulas (on the left), two of my favorite cooking utensils that I've used almost every day since I got them I don't how many years ago (it's been a long time). Browned, cracked and with a permanent garlic odor, their time had come. On the right are their nearly identical replacements that I picked up from Sur La Table this afternoon.

Omelet, Step-by-Step

2012-01-28T05:27:00.000-05:00

Omelets are a satisfying and versatile breakfast food that can be as simple as just eggs or as complicated as you want, providing a foundation for innumerable combinations of vegetables, herbs, meats and cheeses. With this step-by-step guide, I'm seeking to make omelets as foolproof as possible.

Omelets can also be a bit scary. For many home cooks, what begins as an omelet often ends as a scramble. Tasty for sure, but not the desired finished product. Many experts have weighed in on omelet-making, and while the techniques from chefs like Julia Child and Jacques Pépin are interesting, they aren't simple to master. All that shaking and tapping probably gets you perfect results, but my simpler method, while not perfect, does a satisfying job with more ease.

Step 1: Prepare the fillings

For this example, I made a simple omelet of bacon, sautéed onion and cheddar cheese. I sliced two strips of bacon into lardons (i.e. little strips about 1/4- to 1/2-inch wide), diced a small yellow onion and shredded and 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese with the larger shredder. Using a 10-inch nonstick frying pan, I browned the bacon, set aside the cooked bacon and removed most of the bacon fat from the pan and then sautéed the onion with seasoned salt and fresh-ground black pepper (you could also completely drain off the bacon fat and sauté the onion in olive oil, if you prefer).

Step 2: Prepare the pan and eggs

For making an individual, two-egg omelet, an 8-inch nonstick frying pan works best. A larger pan will spread the egg out more, making it thinner and thus more difficult to handle. I begin by heating the pan over medium heat with 2 teaspoons of extra-virgin olive oil, which should be enough to coat the bottom of the pan. I beat 2 eggs in a 1-cup glass measuring cup using a fork (about 70 beats). If you're making multiple omelets, you could beat all the eggs together and portion them out into the pan, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's simpler to go two eggs at a time.

Step 3: Cook the eggs

The eggs will cook quickly, so be sure to have all your equipment ready before you start (the spatula, the larger wedge spatula and the plate). Pour the eggs into the center of the hot oil in the pan. Don't pour the eggs into the frying pan until it's hot. When the air above the pan feels hot and the oil swirls around the pan as easily as water, you know it's ready. Putting the eggs in too soon will make it soak up more oil and possibly stick to the pan.

Let the egg set on the bottom and then, using a rubber or silicone spatula, stir the center a little bit so it doesn't cook too much while the outer parts of the omelet are cooking. Use the spatula to lift one side of the omelet while tilting the pan about 30 degrees toward the spatula. This allows uncooked egg to run down around the spatula to the pan, filling in underneath the cooked egg. I start on the right side, then do the top, then the left side and then the bottom. If there is still runny egg on top, I keep repeating the process. The egg should look like this now:

Here's the trickiest part: the flip. This is the least foolproof and probably scariest step. And to be honest, there's no substitute for practice. So if at first you don't get it, keep at it and eventually (hopefully) you'll have it down. The action should come from your wrist, flicking the pan at a slight angle and making sure you keep the pan underneath the egg. Don't try to "throw" the egg up into the air or you'll have a mess for sure. It shouldn't be airborne much at all. Here's the results after a successful flip:

If you're too hesitant to try the flip, there are alternatives. First, you don't need to flip at all if you like (or don't mind) a slightly uncooked center. It't not my thing though. Second, you can use the broiler, which I did for many years. While you're preparing the fillings and starting the eggs, heat the oven broiler with the rack in the highest position (about 3-4" from the broiler). After the step to lift the cooked omelet and allow the runny parts to set under it, put the frying pan in the oven under the hot broiler to set the top. Watch it carefully--too long under there and it will puff up like a frittata. Like the failed omelet that becomes a scramble, this isn't a taste issue so much as not the desired product.

Step 4: Finish the omelet

After flipping (or broiling) the omelet, add the fillings. Be sure not to overfill it. It helps to put the filling more on one side of the omelet, which makes it easier to fold the other side over it.

Using a wedge spatula, fold the omelet in half over the fillings.

Then, using that same spatula, slide the omelet onto the plate. Voila! A tasty omelet that can be served by itself or with toast, fruit, potatoes, etc. To make another omelet, repeat the process, adding another teaspoon of olive oil in step 1.

What you fill the omelet with is up to you. In addition to bacon, onion and cheddar, other combinations I like include:

Caramelized onion, thyme and gruyere.
Asparagus, onion and goat cheese.
Cheddar and scallions.
Tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil (i.e. Caprese omelet).
Chicken or steak fajitas (great use for Tex-Mex leftovers).

Buck's Fishing and Camping

2012-01-27T16:18:00.002-05:00

Last Friday, I was in the mood for something simple and homey. Enter Buck's Fishing and Camping, the best neighborhood restaurant in my area.

Buck's excels at quality, comforting grilled food. Chris likes to think of it as picnic food done with finesse. That's not a bad description: the restaurant's staples include roasted pork tacos, dry-aged sirloin steak and hamburgers, a relative newcomer added to the menu a couple years ago after the restaurant's infamous chef Carole Greenwood departed.

Under Greenwood, the restaurant had a very limited menu of often just four or five entrees and a few other starters. Since Greenwood's 2009 departure, new chef Vickie Reh has more than doubled the menu, rotating in seasonal specials while maintaining many of the restaurant's old favorites (the mouth-watering sirloin steak, a favorite under Greenwood, has not suffered under Reh).

One of the best new additions is the hamburger, which is just divine, served with crisp, homey fries. While it may lack the pedigree of the Palena burger, it doesn't lack for flavor, particularly when topped with smoky bacon and some cheddar or blue cheese. I find I crave it frequently.

Buck's is where I learned to love the wedge salad. Theirs consists of a hearty slice of iceberg generously coated in a blue cheese dressing amped up with horseradish and hearty bacon pieces.

The low lighting, natural wood pillars and outdoor-themed decor makes for an inviting space to spend the evening. If you forget to reserve a table and they fill up, there's no shame in enjoying dinner at the bar. A recent Friday night of burgers and Italian wines eaten at the bar really hit the spot.

The only downside I've experienced at Buck's has been the dessert, which isn't consistent. I thought the chocolate cake, which they claim is "famous," was merely fine and I thought the plain whipped cream it was served with could have used some sugar and vanilla. A saffron creme brûlée was particularly devoid of flavor. However, more recently, I had a rather delicious apple crumble, and since I haven't had dessert there for awhile, it's possible things have improved.

That's a minor gripe though for an otherwise fantastic neighborhood spot that takes good-quality, simple dishes and turns them into homey, comforting favorites.

Cocktail: Spotlight on Scotch

2012-01-26T16:37:00.001-05:00

GQ published a scotch cocktail this month called The Penicillin, a concoction of both blended and single malt scotches with lemon juice, ginger syrup and honey. Sounds tasty. It put me in the mood to explore a scotch-based cocktail this week.

Of course even putting scotch--particularly single malt scotch--in cocktails is bound to raise a few eyebrows. As GQ notes, it is the spirit of the "1%," the one that comes not just in a bottle, but often boxed and ranges in price at my local liquor store from $19 to $750 for a standard 750 ml size.

To say that fine spirits are too fine for cocktails makes me wonder what such people think of cocktails. Do they consider it a method to make something bad taste palatable? To my thinking that's not the purpose of a cocktail. A good cocktail should just be good. Period.

On my home yesterday, I stopped in Calvert-Woodley to pick up a single malt scotch and ended up with Tomatin, a bargain at $25.

Then I went combing through The PDT Cocktail Book looking for inspiration. I saw recipes combining scotch with citrus, pear and ginger flavors, which are among my favorites for cocktails. And then I hit on a winner that combines all of those: The Sage Old Buck.

It called for vanilla syrup, which I didn't have, so I substituted some Licor 43, a Spanish liqueur with citrus and vanilla flavor. The first round I thought was a bit too sweet, probably because I upped the ginger beer, so I dialed down the simple syrup a bit. I also reigned in the scotch just a wee bit so the total volume of spirits would be no more than 2 oz. The results were a hit with both Chris and me.

Peppery Ginger-Citrus Scotch Cocktail

Adapted from Sage Old Buck, The PDT Cocktail Book by Jim Meehan

8 black peppercorns

.5 oz. simple syrup

1.25 oz. single malt scotch (Tomatin)

.5 oz. pear liqueur (Rothman & Winter Orchard Pear)

.25 oz. Licor 43

.75 oz. lemon juice

3 oz. ginger beer

Sage leaf (garnish)

Muddle peppercorns with simple syrup. Add to shaker with ice, scotch, liqueurs and lemon juice. Shake until cold. Pour over ice in rocks or collins glass and top with ginger beer. Garnish with a sage leaf.

Food (Section) Fight: Week 3

2012-01-25T18:04:00.003-05:00

Food (Section) Fight is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.

This week wasn't very close, I have to say. The Washington Post led with Tim Carman's story about how the art of sushi in the United States is doomed. It's a well-researched story with perspectives from local chef Kaz Okochi of Kaz Sushi Bistro.

The thing is though, that I'm not a sushi-lover. So this didn't interest me that much. Neither did the other front-page stories about Chinese chef Peter Chang and his pairing Virginia wines with a Chinese New Year's feast nor the article about indoor food smoking (I live in a high-rise apartment building; no way I'll be attempting that).

The recipes this week didn't excite me either, except for the Slow-Cooker Spicy Curried Pork that accompanied Bonnie Benwick's article about a cookbook of slow-cooked French dishes.

The New York Times, on the other hand, had quite a few interesting things. Their cover story smartly taps into our nation's current heightened interest in Mormonism by exploring how younger Mormons are putting interesting spins on traditionally bland Mormon dishes. The potato gratin on the cover looks quite inviting (it's name, "funeral potatoes" is a little off-putting, although apparently it's not eaten at just funerals).

The restaurant articles on the front cover didn't interest me, but I was intrigued by the page 5 story about how Lady Gaga's parents are opening a restaurant on the Upper West Side.

The Deviled Crab Meat and Chicory Salad with Egg Dressing, although not something I plan to make, did make me think about doing something with endive and radicchio soon. And finally, I enjoyed the article about natural wines and the ensuing controversy around them.

Verdict: For the third straight week, the winner is The New York Times.

A Tale of Two Salads

2012-01-24T20:43:00.005-05:00

The last two weeks, I've tried to make simple winter salads. The second week turned out significantly better than the first. Here's a look at what happened:

Week #1: Spinach, Grapefruit, Fennel, Radish and Bacon Salad with Lemon-Ginger Dressing

This salad was doomed from the start. First, I wasn't able to get all of the ingredients I'd intended to use. Giant and Whole Foods were both sold out of arugula, so I decided to substitute spinach. I wanted to include radicchio, both for color and its bitter taste. I couldn't find that either, so I decided to use radishes instead, which also have a bitter/spicy flavor, although less pronounced. Sometimes, substitutions like this can lead to something exciting and unexpected. Unfortunately for this salad, it just led to something less flavorful.

Peeling grapefruit is a chore, as its pith and inner membranes are notoriously difficult to separate. I'd read about a technique to boil the grapefruit first for about five minutes, which causes the pith to expand and separate, making peeling much easier.

Indeed, doing so did make the grapefruit easier to peel and I ended up with lovely pink sections free of bitter pith. Unfortunately, I also ended up with a residue in my nonstick saucepan that will not come off. Great.

In the end, the salad looked nice, but was lacking in flavor. Once dressed with a lemon-ginger olive oil dressing, it just seemed really too soggy and kind of bland. Not even the bacon could save it. I'd made a salad before with grapefruit, radicchio and endive that was really good. This, unfortunately, was not.

Week #2: Arugula, Fennel, Radish, Fig, Walnut and Chicken Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

This salad, on the other hand, was quite tasty. Having learned my lesson from the previous week, I was not going to attempt another creative salad unless I could find arugula, which thankfully Giant had this week (and it was a nice peppery batch).

I dredged chicken cutlets in flour mixed with seasoned salt and pepper and sautéed them in olive oil. The flour dredge gives the outside a slight crispness and helps seal in moisture.

I shaved the fennel and sliced the radishes with my mandolin like the week prior, although this time I added calimyrna figs for sweetness, which also added some crunch due to their seeds. I also tossed in some toasted chopped walnuts, which added rich, nutty flavor.

For the dressing, I went with an old stand-by: standard balsamic vinaigrette, for which I combined extra-virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard, honey, balsamic vinegar, a little sea salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

The results were a marked improvement from last week's salad. Quite tasty. The figs and walnuts went together great with the other ingredients and the dressing pulled it all together. Hooray.

Arugula, Fennel, Radish, Fig, Walnut and Chicken Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

By A. Huddleston

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 tbsp flour

seasoned salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

3/4 lb boneless/skinless chicken breast cutlets

3.5 oz baby arugula, washed

1/4 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

4 radishes, sliced

3 figs, quartered and chopped

1/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Dressing:

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp honey

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Fresh-ground sea salt and black pepper to taste

1. Heat olive oil in a medium-size frying pan over medium heat. Combine flour, seasoned salt and pepper with a fork on a small plate. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and dredge in the flour mixture. Add to frying pan once oil is hot and sauté until browned, about 5 minutes on each side. Set aside to cool before cutting up.

2. Whisk together dressing ingredients until well combined.

3. Combine arugula, fennel, radishes, figs and walnuts in a large salad bowl. Toss with dressing. Cut up cooked chicken cutlets and serve salad on plates topped with chicken.

Mark Bittman for iPhone

2012-01-24T17:22:00.003-05:00

I've long been a fan of Mark Bittman's The Minimalist column for The New York Times (just now getting the URL for the link in this sentence and I'm already thinking about when I can try this). The column celebrates simple dishes made really well. What's not to like in that?

I had been eyeing his How to Cook Everything cookbook (which has been on my Amazon wishlist since before Christmas), when I noticed that there's a How to Cook Everything app for iPhone.

At just $5, it's a real deal, given that the book itself is $35 retail--even with Amazon's deep discount, the app is still way cheaper. Reportedly, the app contains all the book's recipes, plus you get other interactive functionality, like the ability to mark favorite recipes, add your own notes and even make shopping lists.

The app is great for browsing recipes, but a bit clunky to use as a reference while actually cooking, since the iPhone is apt to go dark and you have to swipe between steps. Although the iPad version apparently addresses this by allowing you to toggle off the go-dark feature, a good iPhone workaround is to just email the recipe to yourself (the app has a button for doing this) and then print it out or use a computer for reference. A nice advantage of doing this is having all the steps on one screen.

If you want a second opinion on why this is so great, check out CNET's review from today.

I'm on Twitter!

2012-01-23T20:32:00.003-05:00

I'm giving Twitter a try, but I don't have any followers yet. Follow me to get updates on blog posts.

Mixing Up Monday Fish Night

2012-01-23T17:55:00.007-05:00

Monday night is fish night and usually that's salmon broiled with a topping of minced garlic, chopped rosemary, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Although I return to this combination again and again because it's simple, quick and tasty, sometimes I like to try something different.

I consulted four of my best go-to cookbooks for some new inspiration. I started by going through Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins' classics, The New Basics Cookbook and The Silver Palate Cookbook. The Silver Palate doesn't have many salmon recipes, but The New Basics' Salmon with Sesame Butter caught my eye, as I was thinking something with some Asian flair could be good.

From the Cooks' Illustrated folks, I thumbed through their encyclopedic The New Best Recipe and More Best Recipes. I was intrigued by More Best Recipes' Poached Salmon with Bourbon and Maple Syrup, although I did't have shallots or chives on hand, so I decided to save it for another time. From the New Best Recipe, I spotted Grilled Salmon with Sesame-Soy Glaze, which was similar to the recipe I liked in The New Basics, however it included an extra ingredient I decided would be essential to my fish dish: fresh ginger.

So the winner is The New Basics' Salmon with Sesame Butter, albeit with some tweaks.

I decided that I wanted to bake the salmon, rather than broil it. Since I didn't have time to marinate it for a full hour, I thought this would allow more of the delicious flavors of the marinade to end up in the final product.

I mixed up the marinade, adding 2 teaspoons of minced ginger. I also swapped out the vegetable oil for extra-virgin oil because I like it better and it has more flavor. For extra flavor, I use tamari, a more concentrated type of soy sauce.

I marinated the salmon in a pie plate, which was ideal as a shallow vessel for the marinating and could also go in the oven for baking (note: the salmon is not cooking on the stove, it's just sitting there before going in the oven).

I toasted the sesame and celery seeds in the oven as suggested, then mixed them into the butter mixture, which I then put in the freezer for a little bit to harden. The New Basics recipe used a full stick of butter, which is way too much for two people, so I cut down to use just 1 tablespoon of butter, which, when combined with the other ingredients, made just enough for the two fillets.

Since the seeds toasted at 350 F degrees, I decided to roast the salmon at that temperature too. After 20 minutes, I checked the salmon's internal temperature, which was exactly 140 F. Perfect.

For a side, I steamed two crowns worth of broccoli florets, which I sprayed with some extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkled with seasoned salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

As an alternative to our usual broiled salmon, the baked salmon was quite tasty. It had a nicer texture and the sesame butter was a nice topping. Although the longer cooking time won't cause me to permanently switch from broiling fish, I'll keep this in mind for Mondays when I have a little extra time.

Baked Salmon with Ginger-Sesame Butter

Adapted from Salmon with Sesame Butter, The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins

Marinate:

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp grated fresh ginger

2 salmon fillets (about 6 ounces each)

Ginger-sesame butter:

1/2 tsp sesame seeds

1/2 tsp celery seeds

1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/4 tsp. sesame oil

1/4 tsp. soy sauce

1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger

1. Combine the marinade ingredients in a shallow oven-proof dish. Add the salmon, turn to coat, and marinate skin-side up for about 30 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Put the sesame and celery seeds in a small ramekin and toast in the hot oven for 3-5 minutes, checking after 3 minutes to see if the seeds are fragrant and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

3. Bake salmon for about 20 minutes until the internal temperature reads 140 F on an instant-read thermometer (this is pretty well-done for salmon, which is how we like it; for rarer fish, reduce cooking time).

4. While salmon is baking, mix up the ginger-sesame butter by combining the toasted seeds with the remaining ingredients. Place in the freezer for about 5 minutes to firm up.

5. When salmon is done, remove and discard skin. Serve topped with ginger-sesame butter.

RedRocks Firebrick Pizzeria - Columbia Heights, Washington, DC

2012-01-22T17:00:00.004-05:00

If Columbia Heights proper has been taken over by corporate chains, one need not venture far for some authenticity.

About two blocks northeast from the Metro station, RedRocks Firebrick Pizzeria occupies a corner rowhouse with two levels of dining plus a first-floor bar. The exposed brick interior is instantly inviting and the owners have made good use of the small space by putting mostly smaller parties downstairs with larger tables upstairs.

Of course the pizza is what you care about, and it's pretty great. On a recent Friday night, I had the RedRocks Sausage, a spicy pie with tomato sauce, fontina cheese and sweet and hot peppers. To help tame the spice I added caramelized onions. Chris has the Salsiccia, a similar, less fiery pie with sausage, fresh mozzarella, olives and tomato sauce, plus the caramelized onions he also customized (can't resist those onions). Both pizzas were quite good, as was the Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA on tap.

A few years ago, upscale pizza was a market dominated by 2 Amys and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Pizzeria Paradiso. Now, thankfully, there are lots of options around town. And with 2 Amys so difficult to get into, I'm pleased to count RedRocks as one of my favorites.

RedRocks Firebrick Pizzeria

1036 Park Rd. NW

Washington, DC 20010

(202) 506 - 1402

Sausage, ricotta and sage ravioli with basil, tomato and red pepper sauce

2012-01-21T07:21:00.006-05:00

There's an inch of snow on the ground outside. Although that's hardly enough to impede daily life, it's the perfect excuse to hibernate with some comforting food, like homemade ravioli.

I made this last summer during Hurricane Irene, a time I needed some comforting of my own, since the storm meant the cancellation of the last 3 days of my beach vacation. I sought to console myself by trying out the pasta roller attachment I'd just picked up at the beach outlet kitchen store.

Making your own pasta isn't nearly as complicated as I'd thought it would be. You don't even need a fancy rolling machine, since you can roll pasta out by hand. It just makes it easier, particularly for ravioli, where you'll have better results with something uniformly thin.

I used this three-piece set of attachments for a Kitchen Aid mixer. The roller attachment is the most important, which you use to flatten pieces of dough through several passes with gradually thinner settings. The other two attachments are for cutting fettuccine and linguini. Sure it takes more time to make your own pasta, but it's not so time-intensive that it cannot be done even for a weekday meal.

It does take awhile to assemble the ravioli, as you make about four at a time. Be sure not to cram too much filling into each raviolo; a rounded teaspoon is enough. Get them all ready to go before boiling them.

Sausage, Ricotta and Sage Ravioli with Basil, Red Pepper and Tomato Sauce

By A. Huddleston

Filling:

1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped

½ lb. Italian chicken sausage (removed from casings if packaged as links)

1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

Pasta dough:

2 cups flour

3 eggs, lightly beaten

Sauce:

1 red bell pepper

1 cup yellow grape tomatoes (during winter, substitute 1 cup canned fire-roasted diced tomatoes)

1 tbsp. Extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 large or 2 small shallots, finely minced

4 tbsp. chopped fresh basil (sliced in thin ribbons)

1 tbsp. brown sugar

3 tbsp. heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Parmigiano-reggiano, grated

1. Make the filling:

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large frying pan. Saute garlic and sage until fragrant. Add sausage and continue cooking, breaking up with spoon until cooked. If desired, set aside some cooked sausage to include whole in the sauce. Transfer cooked sausage mixture, add ricotta cheese and pulse until well mixed. Transfer mixture to bowl and refrigerate if not using immediately (clean food processor before step 2).

2. Make the pasta dough:

Add flour to food processor and pulse a few times. Add eggs and process until dough comes together into a ball. Put dough on dry surface and cover with plastic wrap to rest at least 15 minutes (to 2 hours). Refrigerate if not using immediately.

3. Make the sauce:

Slice red pepper into wide strips. Toss pepper strips and tomatoes (if not using canned) with olive oil and spread on baking sheet. Broil on high about 4-5” from broiler until vegetables are lightly blackened. Set aside to cool and then puree (with tomatoes if using canned) in food processor or blender. Meanwhile, heat butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until melted and foam subsides. Add shallots and sauté until softened. Add pureed pepper/tomato mixture, cream, brown sugar, salt and pepper, half of the basil, and any reserved sausage. Simmer on medium-low while making ravioli.

4. Make the ravioli:

Heat large pot of salted water to gentle boil. Roll dough out until quite thin (#5 on a Kitchen Aid pasta rolling device). Cut into large rectangles about 6 inches wide and 4 inches tall. Place rounded teaspoons of sausage mixture onto dough about 1 inch from bottom and about 1.5 inches apart. Fold pasta over, seal edges and cut with dough cutter to form ravioli. This should make about 30 ravioli. Cook ravioli in two batches: drop into boiling water and cook about 5 minutes; remove cooked pasta with slotted spoon.

5. Assemble the dish:

Place about 7 ravioli in a pasta bowl. Top with a generous spoonful of sauce, a sprinkling of fresh basil and parmigiano-reggiano as desired.

Chicken-Udon Soup

2012-01-21T07:13:00.000-05:00

The Jan/Feb 2012 issue of Cooking Light has a tasty-looking feature on international soups.

I was initially interested in the Spicy Thai Coconut Soup (a.k.a. Tom Kha Gai), but found a recipe elsewhere that doesn't include sambal oelek. The Greek Avgolemono sounds tasty, as does the German Chicken Soup with Cabbage and Apple.

In the end, possibly in anticipation of the new noodle bars coming soon to Penn Quarter, I settled for the Japanese selection, Chicken-Udon Soup.

Since I've never made this before, I adhered pretty close to the printed recipe. I didn't substitute any ingredients, although I did perform a couple steps in different ways. I had to buy star anise for this, which is a beautiful spice that lives up to its name. I shot it by a paring knife so you can get a sense of its size.

The recipe calls for 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast, but doesn't offer any hints about the best way to cook it. So I did it in the microwave and cubed the chicken, rather than shredded it. Since it's going in a soup, it doesn't really matter and this worked fine.

Second, to avoid dirtying multiple large saucepans, I did step 3 with a medium-size frying pan while simultaneously reheating the flavored stock from step 1 in the first large saucepan and then adding the mushrooms to the stock once they were done cooking in the wine.

The broth was quite tasty, as were the shiitake mushrooms. My only gripe with this dish, which I should have remembered from previous udon soup experiences, is that it's hard to eat unless you have chopsticks. You can use a fork to twirl the noodles, but then you're not getting any broth. You can use a big spoon, but the noodles won't stay on it. Needless to say, eating udon is a little messy; have napkins ready.

Chicken-Udon Soup

From Cooking Light, January/February 2012

(recipe here)

Cocktail: Cartagena Buck

2012-01-19T16:13:00.001-05:00

This was one of two cocktails I made up for last New Year's Eve and the better of the two. It's like a dark n' stormy dressed up with the citrus-vanilla flavor of Licor 43.

Cartagena Buck

(Formerly known as the NYE 2012 #1)

By A. Huddleston

(makes 2)

1.5 oz dark rum

1.5 oz licor 43

lemon juice (squeeze ½ lemon for 2 to 3 drinks)

4 dashes angostura bitters

ginger beer

Combine rum, licor 43, lemon juice and bitter in a shaker with ice; shake until cold. Divide between two rocks glasses filled halfway with ice. Top each drink with about 3 oz. ginger beer.

Food (Section) Fight: Week 2

2012-01-18T20:14:00.004-05:00

Food (Section) Fight is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section comes out on top for the week.

This week's food sections did a good job of answering some things I've been wondering about lately.

Last week, I posted about my surprise to find that one of my breakfast oranges was a cara cara orange, a red-fleshed navel orange that looks like a small grapefruit but tastes like any other orange. My friend insisted it was the same thing as a blood orange, but actually, they are two different varieties as this week's Washington Post Food section cover story makes clear. With the story was a recipe for a Pomelo, Escarole and Candied Bacon Salad with Meyer Lemon Dressing that sounds interesting and not that different from a salad I made last night with spinach, fennel, grapefruit, bacon and lemon-ginger dressing.

I also enjoyed The Post's article about how newspapers test recipes, which I feel is very important. I think any recipe a cookbook, newspaper or other food publication puts forth should be tested to ensure the ingredient amounts are correct, the steps are logical and the dish works well as a whole. The writer has a responsibility to do so, and I'm glad to hear The Washington Post, along with the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and the Associated Press, all agree.

The New York Times though gets a gold star for exploring something I've really been interested in: the practicality of the book Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. This six-volume, 2,400 page set was last year's most-talked-about but probably least purchased cookbook (it retails for $625). Employing scientific principles, the book looks to invent new cooking methods to achieve perfect results.

Practical for the home kitchen this is not, but Times writer Melissa Clark took on the challenge to see whether there were recipes--sans ingredients like liquid nitrogen--that could be reasonably replicated in a normally appointed kitchen. In the end, she managed to create a dinner party featuring sous-vide salmon, rib steaks, caramelized squash, bloody mary celery sticks and balsamic panna cotta. It sounds delicious and very intriguing.

Although I doubt I'd ever purchase Modernist Cuisine, I'd love to look through it some time. If Modernist Cuisine is your thing, you might also like the Times' story about Booker & Dax, a new East Village bar in the back of Momofuku Ssam Bar serving up chemistry-set-like cocktails.

Verdict: The New York Times wins this round, since I've been quite curious about Modernist Cuisine, and their story allowed me a look into whether it could indeed include some practical applications.

Kale "Caesar" Salad

2012-01-17T16:32:00.001-05:00

This month's GQ featured a kale salad recipe adapted from the Black Kale Salad served in Brooklyn's Five Leaves restaurant. The magazine described it as a clever take on a the classic Caesar and I was intrigued.

Kale salad seems to be all the rage these days, at least judging from my limited sample (I also saw it on a menu in New York recently and my mom has been talking about it). And since I'm still in the post-holidays-need-to-be-good phase, creative dinner salads are perfect.

I was a little apprehensive about the kale as the salad green. I tasted a bit of it and it was much tougher than lettuce. My mom reassured me that it would be good though, so I cut it into a fine chiffonade somewhere between 1/8- and 1/4-inch wide.

For the hazelnuts, after toasting them on the stove, I used the kitchen towel technique to remove their skins, which actually worked, for the most part--the skins came off about half the nuts. I used the skinless ones for the salad and saved the rest for later.

I was excited the recipe called for aged Gouda, which is an amazing cheese. It doesn't taste much like gouda, more like an earthier Parmigiano-Reggiano. It's a hard cheese with that intriguing crystallized texture you get with good Parmesan.

Although the recipe called for bacon, which I'm sure would be very delicious here, I substituted sauteed chicken to make it a healthier main-dish salad. To compensate for the lack of smokiness, I spiced the chicken with smoked paprika.

One issue I had with the GQ recipe was that it made a pint of dressing, which is way, way too much. That's like a big dinner party worth of dressing or a week of Ceasar salads for two. So I cut it down to about 1/6 of the original amount, omitting the lime, egg yolks (not doing raw eggs) and anchovy, for which I compensated with a bit more Worcestershire. Since I was making a smaller volume, I heated the milk and garlic in the microwave instead of in a pan. This took a bit of trial and error, as I boiled it over when I set the heat to 50 percent. I think about 20 percent for a minute would probably do it. I used the opposite end of a cocktail muddler to mash the garlic and milk into a paste. I also used smoked sea salt for this, but you could use regular.

Lastly, for anyone who thinks it odd that I'm touting a recipe from GQ, the magazine has quite good food writing. It was nominated for last year's James Beard Award for Food Section of a General Interest Publication, along with the winner, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Washington Post.

Kale Caesar Salad
Adapted from Five Leaves' Chopped Black Kale Salad, GQ, January 2012
(serves two as a main course)

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 lb chicken breast cutlets
smoked paprika
fresh-ground black pepper
seasoned salt
1/4 cup hazelnuts
1/4 cup finely shredded aged gouda
about 6-8 kale leaves

dressing:
1 clove garlic, minced
4 tsp. milk
1/4 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. sherry vinegar
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
ground smoked sea salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

1. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a medium (10-inch) stainless steel pan over medium heat. Pat chicken dry and add to pan when oil is hot (chicken should sizzle). Season with smoked paprika, seasoned salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste, cooking for about 10 minutes, turning halfway. Remove chicken from pan and set aside to cool.

2. Toast hazelnuts in a small (8-inch) pan over medium-low heat, tossing occasionally. When fragrant, remove from pan and wrap with a clean dish towel. After about a minute, rub the nuts through the towel to remove nuts' skins. Set nuts aside to cool.

3. Slice kale leaves to remove tough inner stems. Stack leaves and cut in thin strips, about 1/8- to 1/4-inch wide.

4. To make dressing, combine minced garlic and milk in a small bowl and microwave at a medium-low setting until the garlic is soft and fragrant, about a minute. Mash to a paste. Add lemon juice and zest, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and 1/4 cup olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Whisk until well combined.

5. Toss kale with dressing and serve topped with chicken, nuts and cheese.

DC Restaurants Coming in 2012

2012-01-16T18:49:00.003-05:00

To say that D.C.'s restaurant scene is booming is an understatement. In recent years, the city has become a culinary destination to rival the country's other great eating cities, and new places seem to open constantly. Last year's list of notable new restaurants includes Graffiato, Fiola, Rogue 24, Little Serow, District of Pi, Jack Rose, Hill Country, Lincoln, Elisir, Hamilton, ShopHouse, Bobby's Burger Palace, Shake Shack, Burger Tap & Shake (enough with burger places!).

There's no reason to believe 2012 will be any less hot, with the recession in, um, recession (hopefully), new restaurant ventures could even accelerate. Here's a list of some of the more interesting new places slated to open this year.

Range - Fall (Friendship Heights). Bryan Voltaggio, Top Chef alum and renowned chef and co-owner of the Frederick, Md., restaurant Volt will open his first DC establishment this year. Range has been described as a cross between a bistro and a steakhouse. It will be located in the upper level of the Chevy Chase Pavilion, the Friendship Heights shopping complex that is home to World Market and the Cheesecake Factory.

Bandolero - Early 2012 (Georgetown). Mike Isabella scored a slam-dunk with his super-popular and tasty Italian-inspired Penn Quarter restaurant, Graffiato. For his next trick, he's tackling Mexican cuisine in the M Street space formerly occupied by Hook. Will be interesting to see whether it resembles his former boss's own Mexican establishment, Oyamel.

Wagamama - Spring (Penn Quarter). Several years ago Wagamama promised to bring its tasty selection of Japanese noodles dishes to D.C. when it took over the spot vacated by Olsson's Books in Penn Quarter. A "coming in 2010" sign went up...and then 2010 came and went. Well in the 2011 the sign remained unchanged, the exciting teaser turning into a slap for the chain's fans (me included). Things turned around late in the year though, as a new "coming in early 2012" sign went up. Apparently, the project is back on. Rejoice!

Daikaya - (Penn Quarter). As if one new Japanese noodle bar in Penn Quarter, there is a second. Daikaya will serve ramen on its lower floor and a broader Japanese menu upstairs. Although reportedly opening in February, judging from the (lack of) construction progress in the vacant site next to Graffiato, I think it will be much later in the year.

Fuel Pizza - January (Penn Quarter and Downtown). North Carolina-based chain Fuel Pizza picked D.C. for its first locations north of its home state. The K Street location is set to open this week, with the Penn Quarter outpost at 6th & E to follow soon after.

Risotto with Sausage, Parsnips and Kale

2012-01-15T06:37:00.008-05:00

This dish is a slight modification of this week's Risotto with Parsnips and Green recipe from the New York Times that I was excited about Wednesday. It didn't disappoint, delivering a nice mix of flavors from the sweetness of the parsnips and the bitter kale.

I find the tricky thing with risotto is getting the texture just right. Cook it too fast and the rice will be tough. Cook it too long and you end up with a gooey, squishy mess. The texture of this risotto turned out perfectly, the grains al dente with starchy-tangy creaminess lightly enveloping them. I used a dutch oven to cook the rice. In my experience, dutch ovens cook hotter than other pans, so I reduced the recipe's cooking temperature.

First quibble with the recipe as written is the cooking time, which I find that recipes often under estimate. It says "about 40 minutes," which is not enough time. Working as efficiently as possible, this took me an hour. To help with timing, start by preheating the oven and then prepping the parsnips for roasting. Then, while you're waiting for the oven to heat up, boil the water and prep the kale. Don't worry if the parsnips look a little burnt around the edges (as shown below). They tasted great and even the photo with the NYT recipe showed them like that.

Second quibble is that the recipe says to cook the kale in the boiling water "very briefly." What does that mean? I decided it was going to be enough time for me to stir the kale once, get the colander out the cupboard and put it in the sink and stir the kale again before draining it. That seemed to do the trick as it turned out great.

The Italian sausage I added provided a nice meaty element, complimenting the other vegetables, as well as tying the dish to my spinach-fennel salad (since Italian sausage has fennel seed). I added the sausage at the beginning of the step to sauté the sage and garlic. I drained off most of the rendered sausage fat, but since there was still some fat in the pan, I omitted the 1 tablespoon of olive oil from step four. I kept the butter though, since that's an important flavor in the dish.

To serve with this, I prepared a simple salad of baby spinach and fennel with a lemon-honey dressing. I used a mandolin on the lowest setting (1/16-inch) to thinly slice the fennel bulb. For the dressing, I combined lemon juice with honey, dried thyme, salt, pepper and extra-virgin olive oil.

Risotto with Sausage, Parsnips and Kale

(Adapted from The New York Times' Risotto with Parsnips and Greens)

Cooking time: About 1 hour

1/2 pound parsnips (about four)

Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

2 tsp plus 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 pound kale (about 3 cups chopped)

1 sweet onion, finely diced

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1/4 cup dry white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)

4 cups unsalted chicken broth

1/2 pound mild Italian sausage, removed from casings (could chicken or pork)

2 tbsp butter

3 garlic cloves, minced

8 sage leaves, roughly chopped

1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Peel the parsnips, quarter them lengthwise, and remove the tough core with a paring knife. Cut into 1/2-inch random shapes, put in a roasting pan, season with salt and coat with 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Roast until tender and lightly browned, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Remove the stems from the kale and cut it into 1/2-inch-wide ribbons. Cook kale very briefly in the boiling water (about 1 minute). Drain, cool and squeeze dry. Set aside.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir together with the onions until the onions are beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the white wine and cook until it evaporates (doesn't take very long). Add 2 cups broth and reduce the heat just slightly to a brisk simmer. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring well every minute or so. When the broth is absorbed, add another 1 cup of broth and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Stir in the last cup of broth and cook for another 5 minutes, until the rice is cooked, but the grains are still firm. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding another splash of broth if necessary. Turn off the heat.

4. While the rice is cooking, brown sausage in a large frying pan over medium heat, breaking up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. When the sausage is browned, add the butter, garlic and sage and let sizzle without browning, about 1 minute. Add the roasted parsnips and chopped greens, season lightly with salt and pepper, and stir to coat and heat through, about 2 minutes more.

5. Gently fold the cooked sausage and vegetables into the rice with the parmesan cheese and serve.

Spinach-Fennel Salad with Honey-Lemon Dressing

By A. Huddleston

(serves four)

5 oz. baby spinach, washed

1/2 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp honey

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine spinach and fennel in a salad bowl.

2. Whisk together remaining ingredients and toss with vegetables.

Food Truck Lunch

2012-01-14T06:49:00.001-05:00

Used to be that DC food trucks were mostly just places to get hot dogs, candy and soda, but within the last few years there's been an explosion of interesting options with cuisines spanning the globe.

Recently, I've made an effort to sample them more, since I work downtown. Many of the trucks cluster around Metro Center, which isn't too far a walk for me to grab something that's satisfying and under $10 for lunch.

Three trucks so far have stood out.

Takorean. As the name implies, Takorean is a Latin-Asian fusion of Mexican and Korean flavors. Hence, the beef bulgogi tacos, corn tortillas topped with Korean grilled beef, kimchi slaw, cilantro and lime crema. It's a fantastic idea, which I've indulged in twice and loved both times.

Sauca. Probably the most eclectic food truck menu, as Sauce prides itself on a menu with tastes from all over the world. Recently, I enjoyed their pork bahn mi, a Vietnamese-style sandwich which they serve in chewy flatbread with spicy-sweet shredded pork, pickled slaw and peanut-coconut sauce. It's almost too sweet, but nonetheless quite delicious. I've previously tried their Mumbai butter chicken, which was good too, with roasted cashews.

TastyKabob. Gyros are a food truck staple and this is a good place to get them when you're in the mood for a piece of soft, chewy pita piled high with lamb chunks and vegetables. I was recently irritated when the truck wasn't where their tweet said it would be (I wandered all over Judiciary Square twice trying to find it). However, my ire was squelched by the gyro's tangy dill sauce on a recent visit.

Many trucks tweet their location, so if you have a favorite, you can follow it. To see lots of food truck options, Food Truck Fiesta aggregates and maps these location tweets, allowing you to see an updated view of where trucks intend to park for the day. The site also has news about trucks, such as information about new ones. A recent post about an alleged police crackdown shows that the role of these trucks in the DC food chain is still a bit uncertain. The city is expected to clarify this with new regulations later this month.

Orzo with Sweet Winter Vegetables

2012-01-12T20:16:00.005-05:00

This recipe appeared last week in the Washington Post Food Section. I was attracted by the combination of vegetables: parsnips, rutabaga, carrot, onion and Brussels sprouts. Sounds awesome!

This was my first experience with orzo, a pasta shaped like a grain of rice. The recipe called for 8 oz. of dried pasta, which is half the package of Barilla orzo. Normally when I make pasta, I use a full 16 oz. package, but I'm glad I followed the recipe. Orzo's shape makes it denser, and I thought the proportion of pasta to vegetables was just right.

I was concerned that cooking the root vegetables on the stove wouldn't soften them enough, and issue I raised with the Food Section staff, but writer Stephanie Sedgwick assured me it would be fine and she was right. The vegetables were nicely tender, although I erred on the side of making them smaller--about 1/4-inch dice--to ensure they would cook through.

Here's a make-ahead tip for this recipe: prep the root vegetables first. As with all recipes, you should read through the whole thing before you start so you know what to anticipate and think about which steps might require extra time. I don't necessarily prep all my ingredients in advance--there are many things I can accomplish in the time it takes to complete a step, like mincing garlic or measuring liquids. But since this recipe calls for three types of root vegetables that need to be washed, peeled and carefully diced, I recommend doing that first before heating up the olive oil to sauté the onion in the first step. While the onion and root vegetables are cooking, you should have enough time to cut up the apple and prep the Brussels sprouts.

I enjoyed this dish and the sweetness of the vegetables really came through. But if I made it again, I would make two changes: I would add bacon. Vegetarians may groan at this, but I think the flavor would pair nicely with the ingredients and add another interesting element. It was also rather dry, as there's no liquid, so I might try to make it a little saucier, perhaps by adding some chicken stock and a little more olive oil near the end.

Orzo with Sweet Winter Vegetables
The Washington Post, January 4, 2012
(recipe here)

Ten Essential Ingredients

2012-01-12T16:58:00.001-05:00

I'm a list maker, so I'm intrigued by the idea of making a list of the 10 most essential ingredients.

What makes them "essential?" These are ingredients that impart a lot of flavor and demonstrate an amazing level of versatility. I consider them my "go to" favorites, for various reasons. I intend to explore each one more thoroughly. And maybe revisit the list in the future.

1. Extra-virgin olive oil
2. Garlic
3. Tomatoes
4. Sweet onion
5. Fresh-ground black pepper
6. Butter
7. Tomatoes
8. Bacon
9. Limes
10. Parmigiano-reggiano

What ingredients do you consider essential to your cooking?

Wednesday Food Section Smackdown

2012-01-11T17:46:00.001-05:00

It's Wednesday, the best day in newspapers, since it's the day both The Washington Post and The New York Times publish their food sections. I'm going to put them head-to-head each week to see who comes out on top.

Although both sections pictured big, leafy, green heads of lettuce on their covers today, it was their dueling winter vegetable risotto recipes that most excited me.

The Times' Risotto with Parsnips and Greens really piqued my interest. Not only does it sound really delicious, but it calls for two ingredients I have extra of from other recipes that I wasn't sure what to do with: kale and parsnips.

As part of its article on winter radishes, the Post included a recipe for Radish Risotto. I like how the description says the radishes "infuse the rice's creamy sauce with a subtle, peppery sweetness." Visually though, since everything is white, it's not as striking as the NYT's risotto.

Other tidbits: Tom Sietsema takes a first look at the U Street outpost of Tortilla Coast and sounds nonplussed; Spring Street Natural cafe, a rather decent place to get lunch in busy Soho, is opening an outpost on the Upper West Side; and Dean & DeLuca has started baking its own bread but only selling it in two New York outlets.

Verdict: Generally, I think The Washington Post's section is superior. So I'm a little surprised that, for my first smackdown, I'm giving the edge to The New York Times, mostly for the amazing-sounding winter vegetable risotto, which I plan to make this weekend.

Red Oranges?

2012-01-10T20:26:00.000-05:00

On most days I have half a navel orange with cereal for breakfast, which I cut into 1/8 wedges. But Monday's orange took me by surprise since it wasn't, well, orange. It was red!

At first I thought I'd picked up a small grapefruit by mistake, but then I looked at the sticker, which said it was a "cara cara" orange. Sure enough, the cara cara is a type of navel orange with red flesh. I'm really surprised that Giant would stock that, since until this week, I've only ever gotten the traditional orange oranges from them.

It tasted just like any other decent orange and not like grapefruit, despite the color. If you've never had one and see it in the store, give it a try.

Astoria Salad

2012-01-09T17:10:00.000-05:00

Waldorf salad dates back to the late 19th century and was named for New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel where it was created. For this version, I wanted to update the dish to be both lighter and more satisfying as an entrée.

I made a couple of key substitutions. First, I swapped out the walnuts for pecans, toasted to bring out their flavor. And I replaced the mayonnaise with walnut oil, which when mixed with balsamic vinegar and mustard sort of tastes like mayo oddly. With sauteed chicken, this makes a satisfying salad dinner.

Astoria Salad
By A. Huddleston
(serves two as a main course)

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. flour
seasoned salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
3/4 lb. chicken cutlets
1/3 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
2-3 stalks of celery with leaves attached
1 honeycrisp apple, cored and cut to 1/2-inch cubes
2-3 cups torn salad greens (I've used green leaf, arugula or both, whatever your preference)
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 tbsp. walnut oil
1/2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
ground sea salt and black pepper to taste

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a 10-inch stainless steel frying pan. Combine flour, seasoned salt and pepper on a small plate. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and dredge in flour mixture. Add to pan when the oil is hot (chicken should sizzle). Saute chicken until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

2. Heat a small (8-inch) frying pan over medium-low heat. Add pecans to pan and heat, tossing occasionally until lightly browned and fragrant (be careful not to burn). Set aside to cool.

3. Whisk together walnut oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard and salt and pepper (to taste) until well combined as a vinaigrette (I use a 1-cup Pyrex glass measuring cup and about 70 strokes with a fork).

4. Cut leaves off celery stalks, chop leaves and set aside as a garnish. Remove any bad parts of the celery, and chop stalks to 1/4-inch pieces. In a large salad bowl, combine chopped celery stalks, cubed apple, salad greens, raisins, chicken and pecans. Toss with vinaigrette. Serve on plates topped with chopped celery leaves.

Sunday Service at Ardeo + Bardeo

2012-01-08T19:34:00.000-05:00

It's Sunday afternoon, and Chris and I are wandering through Cleveland Park in search of a (very) late lunch. Unfortunately, at 3:15 p.m., we're between lunch and dinner service for most restaurants. No Palena burger or Ripple cocktails for us.

Thankfully, Ardeo + Bardeo will seat diners at this time, offering a limited but satisfying menu of small plates, salads and pizzas. Seating was only available at the bar, but again, no problem there.

There's only three beers on tap, but when one of them is the Victory Hop Devil IPA, a broader selection is unnecessary. The beer is pleasantly hoppy but balanced with malt too. It's not too dissimilar from what we consider our "house" beer (Tröegs HopBack Amber Ale).

We each started with a salad. I thought mine was quite clever: spinach with gnocchi, braised fennel, mushrooms and truffle vinaigrette. I can immediately smell the inviting scent of truffles and I've never seen a salad with gnocchi before; great idea. Chris had the mixed green salad, which I didn't try, but he said it was good, particularly the crouton with mascarpone and lavendar honey.

The pizza was incredibly good. A real find. Pizza is really competitive in D.C. right now, and I had no idea until today that Ardeo + Bardeo deserves a standing in this battle. The soft crust, with just enough char, was a more than adequate foundation for truly amazing house-smoked bacon, cheddar, basil and butternut squash (frankly, it was way better than the Palena pizza we had a few months ago).

This was probably the best dining experience I've had at Ardeo + Bardeo yet. I'm a big fan of the space, modified recently to combine the former restaurant (Ardeo) and wine bar (Bardeo) into one open space with brown walls, exposed brick and a central stainless-steel-topped bar. Palena and Ripple get a lot of ink as Cleveland Park's destination restaurants, but Ardeo + Bardeo is as worthy as a neighborhood gem.

Introduction

2012-01-08T18:58:00.000-05:00

As a small child, I was a very picky eater. The only vegetable I ate was alfalfa sprouts; the only fruit, grapefruit. I drank only milk and water and wouldn't touch pizza, soda or candy. Anything red was strictly off limits.

My poor parents struggled to nourish me and eventually succumbed to bribing me with a points system for trying new foods from which I could earn action figures. Crazy as that may sound, it worked. I remember forcing myself to eat two handfuls of macadamia nuts while on vacation in Hawaii so I could earn a new Luke Skywalker before going home.

A couple years later in San Francisco, I discovered my first ethnic food love: Chinese. Sure, at this point, I still wasn't eating strawberries, but put a plate of Kung Pao Chicken before me and I was in heaven. Unlike many others, spicy never turned me off.

By the early '90s, I'd expanded my palate and it was time to take control: enter the kitchen. My mother deserves credit for pushing me before the stove when she decreed it unfair that she was making all our family meals while she was still working and my retired father and me, a high school student, were killing the afternoon hours watching Batman cartoons.

My father delivered mixed results in the kitchen, but I showed a particular aptitude for it. Guided by the popular on-trend cookbooks by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins, I began to churn out black bean soup, Mediterranean chicken salad and pasta primavera. I developed a deep and lasting affection for extra-virgin olive oil and a love for fresh ingredients.

During this time, I also started to really appreciate restaurants. As a little one, a buffet was the best choice to ensure there would be something I'd eat. But as a high schooler, I became interested in my hometown's burgeoning restaurant scene, begging my parents to take me to the latest eateries I'd read about in the paper's annual dining guide. I discovered Thai food, wood-fired pizza and Turkish coffee ice cream. When, as editor of my school's newspaper, it was proposed to create a restaurant column, I assigned myself as food critic. And although our school was in the suburbs, all the restaurants I chose to review were in the city (I was a terrible suburbanite).

Later, after college (an era defined for me more by pad thai than ramen), I worked at really honing my cooking skills, learning to maneuver a small apartment kitchen while turning out Food Network-inspired dishes, embarrassingly large Thanksgivings dinners and whatever flights of fancy I embarked on with local, seasonal ingredients.

I've been really lucky to spend my young adults years in Washington, D.C., a city's whose food scene has really matured in recent years. During the summer, there are farmers markets in every neighborhood now plying me with the reddest, ripest tomatoes imaginable. And our restaurant scene has become a who's-who of the James Beard Awards, with names like José Andrés, Cathal Armstrong, Mike Isabella, Michel Richard, Frank Ruta, Bryan Voltaggio, Spike Mendelsohn and Eric Ziebold making the city a true food lover's destination.

It's a very exciting time to be someone who likes to both cook and eat. Hence "Cook In / Dine Out," my attempt to put into words what I've been putting into my mouth. My intent is to describe my experience in the kitchen and in restaurants. I intend to share recipes I've found that I love and those I've created that work. I want to write about restaurants I've been to and those I hope to try. I want to start discussions about special ingredients and insanely delicious cocktails. There are a google of food blogs out there. I don't expect mine to make me a name. I'm just here to have fun. I hope you do, too.