Review: Jaleo Still Strong After 20 Years

When the Washington Post's Phyllis Richman first reviewed Jaleo soon after it opened in 1993, there was no mention of its location in Penn Quarter (it was called "old downtown" back then), nor was there mention of its not-yet-famous chef-owner José Andrés. My, how the times have changed.

But what hasn't changed for Jaleo, which celebrated its 20th anniversary earlier this year, are the raves about its food. It's as vibrant and creative today as it's always been.

Sure, the prices have gone up--Richman noted several times that one of Jaleo's best selling points was its low price--but I would argue Jaleo still delivers good value. People may scoff at the $225 per person Andrés is charging a couple blocks away at Minibar, but of the 10 or so D.C.-area restaurants the Post has rated with 3.5 or 4 stars, Jaleo is the gentlest on your pocketbook. A couple could reasonably enjoy a dinner of six shared tapas and two glasses of wine for $75. Of course, a few rounds of sangria, a paella and some dessert will set you back more, but at least Jaleo offers the chance for young, less well-heeled Washingtonians to dine in style while eating well. This is how you train people to love eating at restaurants.

Our recent dinner at Jaleo was as delightful as any we've had in the 10-plus years since I started eating there. The interior got a needed update last year, turning the corner restaurant with its large glass windows into a colorful, whimsical space in keeping with its Spanish origins. The menu also got a facelift. I remember it used to feature cold tapas, hot tapas, seasonal tapas and entrees. Now small plates are divided by style: appetizers, soups and salads, vegetables, fritters, seafood and meat. There's also the aforementioned paella and a tasting menu option.

Vegetal Gin & Tonic

The food side of the menu isn't the only thing that's a little different: Jaleo also expanded its cocktail offering last year, notably by adding gin & tonic, a nod to the current Spanish "gin tonic" craze. While you may think of Jaleo for its sangria, I'm more excited about its G&Ts: six choices made with varying tonic waters, aromatic herbs and other ingredients. On a previous visit, I enjoyed the José's Choice, which is a pretty traditional interpretation with lemon, lime and juniper. More recently, Chris and I sampled some of the more unusual choices like the Barrel Aged made with pickled ginger, allspice, orange and lemon. It was good, but I preferred the ultra refreshing taste of the Vegetal with fennel, radish, cubeb (a spice berry that resembles a peppercorn), kumquat and Fentiman's tonic water. Chris enjoyed the London Dry with grapefruit, mint, lemon and white pepper, although we were surprised to find it's mixed with club soda instead of tonic water.

Salad of mixed greens with idiazábal cheese, anchovies and garlic anchovy dressing

While I'm sure Jaleo's paella is delicious, I, like most people, come for the tapas. We ordered a mix of new dishes and old favorites across most of the different categories. Dinner started on a very strong note: a salad of mixed greens with idiazábal cheese (like pecorino), spanish anchovies and garlic anchovy dressing. Anyone still harboring an aversion to anchovies needs to get over it. They were delicious in this dish, which got additional briny flavor from capers and was rounded out with pine nuts. Along with that we enjoyed an old favorite: beets with grapefruit, valdeón (Spanish blue) cheese and pistachios.

Sautéed seasonal mushrooms with cheesy potato purée

The next highlight was the sautéed seasonal mushrooms (looked like cremini and chanterelle) with a cheesy potato purée, garlic and herbs. Arriving at about the same time was the warm Brussels sprouts salad with apricots, apple and serrano ham, which was the evening's only disappointing dish. Restaurants are doing marvelous roasted sprouts these days, so I was expecting something more like that than the "warm" sprouts (which really weren't that warm). I also thought the ham was too tough. Nonetheless, this one mediocre dish was offset by the always fabulous Dátiles Con Tocino Como Hace Todo El Mundo, which translates roughly to "dates with bacon how everyone does it." The sweet and smoky fritters may be done by everyone, but I seriously doubt they all do it this good (we've been known to order two plates of this, we like it so much).

Another old favorite then arrived: the classic Spanish tapa of sautéed shrimp with garlic. This is one I remember eating on the street in Madrid back in 1998 (I also remember lots of little pieces of paper and toothpicks everywhere; "tapas detritus" I suppose). It was particularly spicy this time, which I liked. And that garlicky oil they cook the shrimp in is always really great when sopped up with Jaleo's crusty bread. Interesting, this was one of the few dishes Richman didn't enjoy back in the 1993, describing the shrimp as "tasteless" and its "onion-strewn" garlic butter as "watery." Obviously it's been improved since then.

Pork and foie gras canelones

The best was yet to come, however. The pork and foie gras canelones (like the Italian cannelloni) with béchamel sauce were a revelation. If you love macaroni & cheese as much as I do, consider this like a luxe version of that staple with shredded pork. That the cheese around the edge of the plate was a bit crispy just made me love this all the more. I would definitely eat this again and it's probably a good thing that it doesn't come as an entree portion.

Like most of the small-plates restaurants Jaleo inspired, dishes come out as they are ready, although I've noticed the kitchen does try to pace things a bit by bringing the salads and cold dishes first before the hot and meat dishes. At no point did we feel like we had too much on our table. Servers did a got job removing the things we'd finished and never a moment too soon.

That Penn Quarter is now a major foodie neighborhood and José Andrés is one of our nation's best known chefs are part of a greater story about the transformation of DC's restaurant scene from grumbles about expense count lunches to truly a world-class destination of diverse and exciting culinary experiences. Jaleo is one of that story's tastiest and most influential chapters.

Jaleo, 480 7th Street NW (at E Street), Washington, D.C. (Penn Quarter). (202) 628-7949. Reservations: Open Table.

Roasted Tomato Panzanella

Last week, I discovered a recipe for Roasted Caprese Salad by Samantha Ferraro, author of The Little Ferraro Kitchen blog. I'm a huge fan of tomatoes once they come into season for the summer. The off season product with its mealy bleach-looked flesh is not worth eating. Tomatoes in season are vibrant red all the way through, juicy and flavorful--a flavor that's hard to describe given the complex interaction of multiple flavor compounds that are responsible for tomatoes' unique taste.

As good as ripe, fresh tomatoes are, roasting tomatoes puts them on a whole other plane. It brings out their dark side: enhancing their umami qualities and sweetness.

Tomato Panzanella is one of my favorite things to make with tomatoes. Reading Ferraro's recipe got me thinking that I could adapt it into a pretty incredible panzanella, which is exactly what I did here.

The roasted tomatoes are what makes this dish really special. I love fresh ones in panzanella, which is certainly faster. But I'll definitely be making this again. And again.

Roasted Tomato Panzanella
Inspired by (and adapted from) Roasted Caprese Salad by The Little Ferraro Kitchen

1 lb. ripe, fresh tomatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 lb. assorted cherry tomatoes (I used a variety pack from whole foods that has yellow, purple and red tomatoes)
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
8 garlic cloves, peeled
5 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 oz. Italian bread (I used Whole Foods' Tuscan bread), crust removed and cut into 1-inch cubes
Large handful of basil (about 20 leaves), plus a few extra leaves, roughly torn
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
8 oz. Ciliegine (cherry size) fresh mozzarella balls

1. Preheat ove to 500 F. Combine both types of tomatoes, red pepper and garlic in a 9 X 13 roasting pan. Drizzle with 2 tbsp. olive and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir vegetables to coat with oil and salt and  roast until the tomatoes have softened and become wrinkly and brown in places, about 45 minutes. Set aside to cool a bit.

2. Preheat the oven broiler with rack in the top position (about 4-5 inches from broiler). Toss bread with 1 tbsp. olive oil, spread out evenly on a large baking sheet, and toast under the broiler until lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes, turning the bread every 30 to 45 seconds or so (watch carefully to prevent burning).

3. Add the basil to a food processor and pulse a few times to break up. With the machine running, slowly stream in the remaining 2 tbsp. olive oil through the feed tube, then add the vinegar. Scrape down the sides and pulse again as needed for consistency.

4. Combine the roasted vegetables, bread, basil dressing and mozzarella balls in a large bowl. Toss to combine. Serve in large shallow bowls topped with torn basil leaves.

Smoky-Sweet Braised Dandelion Greens

As a kid, I loved dandelions because when they went to seed you could blow on them and make a wish. And my mother (and I imagine most other adult gardeners), basically considered them a weed. Which they were, albeit a pretty one.

And edible too. Although I wouldn't necessarily suggest eating the dandelion greens from your garden, so long as you haven't sprayed them with anything toxic, you probably could. They have a great flavor - sharp and bitter. They take well to braising, since the liquid mellows them out and allows you to build in some other flavors. In this dish, I went with a combination of slightly sweet (agave), sour (lemon zest), spicy (red pepper flakes) and smoky.

Smoky-Sweet Braised Dandelion Greens

1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 small (or 1/2 large) sweet onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Seasoned salt (or salt), to taste
1 punch (about 1 lb.) dandelion greens, tough ends removed
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 to 2 tsp. agave nectar
1 tsp. liquid smoke flavor

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, reduce the heat a bit and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and seasoned salt and cook another 5 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and the onions are quite soft and lightly browned (heading toward caramelized but not quite there). Increase heat to medium-high, add dandelion greens and chicken broth, cover and cook for about 2 minutes.

Remove lid and reduce heat to medium. Add lemon zest, agave nectar and liquid smoke, and continue cooking another 5 minutes or more until the greens are tender. Remove the greens from the pan. Increase heat to medium-high and continue cooking onions and liquid until the liquid has reduced by about half. In shallow bowls, plate the reduced liquid first then the greens on top.

Note: when I made this, I served it mixed with some leftover mushroom-orzo risotto on a broiled salmon fillet on top.

Pea, Spinach, Mint and Garlic Scape Soup

Earlier this week, I featured a recipe with green garlic, which are immature garlic plants that resemble scallions. Garlic scapes, in contrast, are the tops of larger garlic plants. The long ropes have a "greener" garlic flavor that, while milder than a raw garlic clove, can still add noticeable garlic flavor to a dish.

Garlic scapes

Some people like to use garlic scapes raw in salads or pesto. I find they're a little too potent for that (and this from a self-avowed garlic lover), so I like to cook them to mellow their flavor a bit. Last year, I roasted them for pesto, this year I sautéed them for this soup with peas, spinach and mint.

I adapted this recipe from the Dinner with Julie blog by Canadian food writer Julie Van Rosendaal. I modified Julie's recipe a bit by omitting the cream and adding a little fresh mint.

Pea, Spinach, Mint and Garlic Scape Soup
Adapted from a recipe by Dinner with Julie

Serves 4

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
1 sweet onion, diced
4 garlic scapes, chopped
Salt, to taste
1 bag frozen peas
3 cups packed fresh baby spinach
4 cups chicken broth (may use vegetable broth)
2 tbsp. chopped chives, plus more for garnish
2 tbsp. chopped mint, plus a few sprigs for garnish
Fresh-ground white pepper

1. Heat olive oil and butter in a Dutch oven or deep-sided saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic scapes, season with salt and continue cooking a few more minutes until the scapes are also softened.

2. Add the peas and spinach and cook until the spinach wilts. Add the broth, chives and mint, bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.

3. Puree soup with an immersion blender until smooth (alternatively, transfer in batches to a blender). Season with fresh-ground white pepper. Ladle soup into shallow bowls and garnish with chives and a mint sprig.

The Feed: June 26, 2013

The Feed is my weekly round up of interesting food-related stories from newspapers, magazines, blogs and websites.

Foreign Policy: “The Cookbook Theory of Economics,” by Tyler Cowen.
In this engaging essay, Cowen argues that the availability of cookbooks from other countries is a good indicator of their economic development—Italian, French and Mexican cookbooks are easy to find in the U.S., but try to find a book on the cuisine of Chad. He also discusses how cookbooks from different countries reveal a lot about the cultural expectations for the cooks they are written for. He discusses how ethnic cookbooks intended for a Western audience, even if written to be authentic, must still translate recipes in ways that wouldn’t be needed in the cuisine’s original country. An Indian food writer, for example, will detail steps for Westerners that it written for Indian cooks would be assumed they would already know how to do (like squeezing water from Indian cheese). Recipes may also substitute ingredients that just aren’t available (or available fresh) elsewhere.

New York Times: “A Culinary Birthplace in Dispute,” by Julia Moskin.
Many words have been written this week about the downfall of television food celebrity Paula Deen, who it seemed had barely recovered from the bad publicity connecting her battle with diabetes and her fatty cooking. Putting a more meaningful spin on this than what the tabloids are giving, Moskin interviews Southern cooks for their views on Deen, the implications of what she's done and what Deen's story reveals about the racism, sexism and other “isms” that plague some parts of the food industry. It also touches on thoughts about who gets to "represent" Southern cooking.

Hunter Angler Gardener Cook: "Salmon with Avocado Salsa," by Hank Shaw.
Hank Shaw's James Beard Award-wining blog Hunter Angler Gardener Cook is known for its use of unusual ingredients Shaw has foraged or hunted/caught. While that makes it a fascinating read, it also puts most of his recipes beyond the reach of urban cooks like me. Here then is a recipe that's a bit unusual for Shaw because it contains no unusual ingredients: a pan-fried salmon fillet with a side of chunky fresh guacamole. All of the ingredients are available at your typical grocery store; however, in keeping with the blog's theme, I imagine you get bonus points for catching the salmon yourself.

Washington Post: “Napa cabs’ balancing act,” by Dave McIntyre.
When it comes to boldly styled popular wines, Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon is clearly king. It’s one of my favorite varietals and, if you drink enough of it, you’ll find quite a bit of variation between different wineries. To former Stag’s Leap winemaker Warren Winiarski’s taste, however, too many cabs these days are going for bold at the expense of balance. While makers of shiraz and pinot noir have embraced restraint and nuance, big big big still dominates cabernet. But there are exceptions: along with the article, McIntyre includes recommendations for six old-style Napa cabs, including the comparatively affordable Oberon 2011 cab (which is excellent and you can get it at Safeway), Stag’s Leap Wine Cellar’s 2010 Artemis cab, which I haven’t tried, and Chateau Montelena’s 2010 cab (I have a 2006 bottle I should probably drink soon). (Note: Montelena, along with Stag’s Leap, were the two American wineries that famously bested their French competition in a 1976 international wine competition, as depicted in the film Bottle Shock.)

The Guardian: "Wine-tasting: It's junk science," by David Derbyshire.
Speaking of the complexity of good California wine... Robert Hodgson, a California winemaker, noticing how his wines were inconsistently honored in state contests, proposed an experiment were judges were sometimes served multiple glasses of the same wine without being told to see whether they would notice. Interestingly, very few did, awarding different scores (and average of plus-or-minus 4 points) for different glasses of the same wine poured from the same bottle. Derbyshire does a good job discussing how the flavor complexity of wine is a reason it is so hard for human palates to accurately and reliably discern its nuance.

New York Times: “French Class Is in Session,” review of Lafayette restaurant by Pete Wells.
Lafayette is the new NoHo French restaurant from restaurateur-chef Andrew Carmellini, just a block away from his Library at the Public, which opened last year (and I reviewed, positively). Unfortunately, Wells is disappointed in Lafayette, which he says has much that will please but little that will impress. The service sounds particularly disappointing, although he names the baked goods—both the bread and desserts—as delicious standouts. But it still only earns 1 star.

Wired: "How Silicon Valley Perfected Ice Cream," by Michael V. Copeland.
In an area known for churning out tech start-ups, Stanford business school alum Robyn Sue Fisher is instead churning a sweeter business proposition: a San Francisco ice cream shop called Smitten. Using a liquid nitrogen-based device she created, she makes quick-frozen made-to-order ice cream. Sounds delicious.

Pasta with Broiled Tomato and Green Garlic Sauce

Roasted tomato sauce made with seasonal fresh tomatoes paired with pasta and basil is one of our favorite summer dishes (I made it several times last year, see here and here). The kitchen always smells really great too after tomatoes have been roasting in it all afternoon.

That, however, is the catch of roasted tomato sauce: it takes a long time, 2 hours minimum and really more like 3 for optimal flavor. It's great for a weekend meal with a free afternoon, not so much for a midweek dinner.

So I decided to experiment with the broiler: using higher heat, could I achieve something almost as delicious as slow-roasted tomato sauce if I also added some additional flavor? Enter green garlic: the early summer farmers market staple that looks like a scallion but with mild garlicky flavor. Along with my tomatoes, I roasted several green garlic bulbs with their greens.

The resulting pasta sauce was quite delicious, perhaps not with quite the depth of tomato flavor from slow-roasting, but the added green garlic gave it enough punch to be interesting. And, for a midweek meal, you can't argue with the significantly reduced cooking time.

Pasta with Broiled Tomato and Green Garlic Sauce

1 lb. dried fettuccine pasta
4-5 large tomatoes (may substitute about 8 plum tomatoes), roughly chopped into pieces about 1/2 inch thick, 1 inch wide
4 green garlic bulbs with light green parts (tough outer green parts trimmed off), finely chopped
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the onions
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 dashes of ground nutmeg
1 tsp. honey
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 sweet onion, slivered
Seasoned salt, to taste
10-12 fresh basil leaves, cut into ribbons
Grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta cooking water, drain pasta, add half the water to the noodles and set aside until ready to use.

2. Preheat oven broiler with oven rack 8 inches from broiler. In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, green garlic, 2 tbsp. olive oil and kosher salt, stirring to evening coat ingredients. Spread tomato mixture on a baking sheet and broil for about 25-30 minutes until the tomatoes are shriveled looking and browned on the edges. Remove from oven and  allow to cool slightly. Transfer to a food processor, add nutmeg and honey and pulse 4 or 5 times (1 second pulses) to make a chunky sauce.

3. Raise oven rack to about 4 inches from broiler. Spread onion slivers on a baking sheet and toss with a little olive oil and seasoned salt. Broil until edges are browned, about 2-3 minutes (watch carefully to prevent burning).

4. Combine tomato sauce with cooked pasta, adding additional reserved pasta cooking water until saucy. Serve pasta in bowls topped with broiled onions, basil and grated parmigiano-reggiano.

Roasted Beet and Cottage Cheese Salad

Enough of the cocktails. Back to cooking.

My neighborhood farmer's market, New Morning Farm, reopened recently for the season (they take the spring off). As usual, they have lots of delicious seasonal fruits and vegetables. When I visit early Saturday morning, I'm never quite sure what I'll find, and my meals for the week begin to take shape as I'm examining their weekly offering.

This time of year, they always have beets. The purple kind, of course, but sometimes other colors too.

For this salad, I roasted the beets simply, sliced them, and paired them with raw, spinach, carrots and radishes. The dressing is pretty simple too: Olive oil, white wine vinegar, lemon juice and a touch of honey.

The addition of the generous dollop of cottage cheese was inspired by Buck's Fishing and Camping, whose former chef, Vickie Reh, used to serve amazing homemade cottage cheese with a salad of beets and carrots. Her cottage cheese had large chewy curds and was mixed with cream, chives and black pepper. I didn't make this cottage cheese, but I did spring for something that's better quality than your typical watery supermarket variety, a cultured version at Whole Foods. It didn't quite match up to homemade, but it had more body and flavor than a store brand (if you're unwilling to spring for higher quality cottage cheese or make your own for this dish, I'd recommend just omitting the cottage cheese or substituting something else like chèvre. I think low-quality cottage cheese would not be good in this dish and would end up making a pink puddle).

I recommend serving this with some crusty bread to mop up any remaining dressing and cottage cheese.

Roasted Beet and Cottage Cheese Salad
Inspired by Buck's Fishing and Camping

Makes 2 dinner salad portions

4 medium-size purple beats
2 big handful of baby spinach
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thin julienne (such as with a julienne peeler)
6 radishes, sliced
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. honey
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
2/3 cup good quality cottage cheese (i.e. not the standard watery supermarket variety)
2 tbsp. fresh-snipped chives

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Wrap beets together in a sealed aluminum foil packet, place on a baking sheet and roast until the beets are tender when pierced with a fork, about 50-60 minutes. Set aside to cool, then peel with your hands (the skins should rub off pretty easily).

2. Portion out the spinach, carrots and radishes into large, shallow bowls.

3. Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper. Drizzle dressing over salads.

4. Add the cottage cheese to a small bowl, add about half the chives and a few good sprinkles of fresh-ground black pepper and stir to combine. Place a dollop of the cottage cheese mixture on each salad. Sprinkle each salad with the remaining chives.