Oscar Cocktails: Philomena

In Philomena, a mother (Judi Dench), with the help of a British journalist, searches for her son who was adopted in the early '50s from an Irish convent where she had the baby following an unplanned teenage pregnancy. The film is nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Actress (Dench).

Since Philomena's story begins in Ireland and eventually makes its way to America (spoiler: because that's where her son went after he was adopted), I wanted a drink that represented both countries. I immediately thought of the Irish coffee, made with Irish whiskey and coffee. However, rather than serve this warm, I decided to make it a cold dessert cocktail, which in a way resembles a mudslide. Instead of Irish whiskey, I used American bourbon, but the Irish still comes into play with Bailey's Irish cream. Instead of coffee, I used coffee liqueur (Kahlua). Vanilla, chocolate bitter and cinnamon round out the drink's flavors.

Oscar Cocktails: Philomena

1 oz. bourbon
1 oz. Bailey's Irish cream
1 oz. Kahlua
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 dashes chocolate bitters
Cinnamon stick (garnish)

Combine bourbon, Irish cream, Kahlua, vanilla and chocolate bitters in a cocktail mixing glass with ice. Stir until combined and very cold. Strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

See all of this year's Oscar Cocktails.

Restaurant: Oyamel (Washington, D.C.)

Last year, I wrote about Jaleo as it celebrated its first 20 years. This year, another José Andrés restaurant reaches a milestone, as Oyamel, his Mexican restaurant, turns 10. The newly expanded space is decked out and ready to celebrate.

Initially, I was unimpressed with Oyamel. It opened in 2004 in Crystal City and we paid it a visit around that time. I thought the tacos were too small and the tres leches cake too dry. These were the days when I was so into Tex-Mex that if my Mexican food wasn't oversized and draped in cheese I wasn't interested. We were huge fans of our neighborhood Alero in Cleveland Park (which we've lately rediscovered is a great place for Sunday afternoon fajitas and margaritas). I just didn't get the small plate concept translated to Mexican.

Later, after its move downtown, I gave Oyamel a second chance and grew to really love it. Now I count it among my favorite Mexican restaurants. It's menu offers a great balance between favorite dishes that are always available and seasonal specials. I recommend aiming for a mix of both.

Dinner must start with table-side guacamole (pictured at top), which is sort of a cliché, but theirs is so good I look past that. It's classic but interesting too, made with green tomatillo, a nice squeeze of lime juice and a crumble of queso fresco. The chips are also quite satisfying, crisp and salty as they arrive with a smoky-spicy salsa. Run out of chips? They promptly bring more.

The Oyamel margarita on the left and a daily special margarita on the right.

Of course, a good margarita is just the ticket to wash down that guacamole. The classic made with tequila blanco, triple sec and lime is tart and refreshing. For something a little different, the Oyamel carries its salt suspended in a foamy "salt air" instead of on the glass's rim. On a recent night, I opted for the margarita daily special and loved it: smoky mezcal with triple sec, apple, cinnamon and lime. The smoky-tart flavor of the mezcal with the apple and lime was something I'd love to try to replicate.

Acelgas con nuez de Castilla: sautéed Swiss chard with cabbage, shallots, toasted hazelnuts, raisins and apricot puree.

Like Andrés' other Penn Quarter pillars, Jaleo and Zaytinya, Oyamel's menu is dominated by small plates. I'd generally recommend five or six for table of two. On a recent evening, our favorite was the seasonal Acelgas con nuez de Castilla, which was sauteed Swiss chard with cabbage, shallots, toasted hazelnuts and raisins served over a spiced apricot puree. The combination of the greens, shallots, roasted nuts and sweet raisins was marvelous. Also good that night was Chile en nogada, a poblano pepper stuffed with ground pork, pine nuts and apples topped with a creamy sauce of goat cheese and walnuts and a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds. A lot of the dishes at Oyamel are spicy, but this was one comparatively mild and nicely balanced. Another good vegetable dish was the Brussels sprouts with chile de arbol sauce, pumpkin seed and peanuts, although they weren't really "crispy" as advertised on the menu.

Tacos are ordered individually, and as I mentioned abovce are fairly small, so they don't share well. So if you see one that interests your party, I recommend ordering at least one each. We enjoyed the Cochinita pibil con cebolla en escabeche (pictured at top), which is pit-barbecued pork flavored with Mexican sour orange and served with pickled red onion. Not the best taco I've had there, but definitely serviceable. I like that the taco offerings rotate, so you'll never see the same selection. Years ago I remember having a really good mushroom and corn taco.

Chile en nogada: poblano pepper stuffed with ground pork, pine nuts and apples topped with a creamy sauce of goat cheese and walnuts with pomegranate seeds.

A favorite we always order are the papas al mole, basically French fries in a spicy mole poblano sauce topped with Mexican cream and queso fresco. It's like a Mexican version of fries with gravy and I always want some whenever we go to Oyamel.

Service at Oyamel is efficient. Sometimes too much so. If you're hoping to swip a chip through a little bit of sauce left on a plate after the main morsels have been devoured, be sure to protect it from the roving bussers, who will snatch it away if you're not looking. Food comes out quickly here too, although they generally pace it so that "starter" type tapas arrive before the heavier meaty ones.

I'm always surprised when Jaleo and Zaytinya make best DC restaurant lists but Oyamel, for whatever reason, gets fewer accolaides. You wouldn't know it from the crowd assembled near the front door waiting for a table. Despite the recent expansion that added another dining room and doubled the bar, there appears to still be a wait for tables (so I definitely recommend a reservation). Ten years in and Oyamel remains as hot as ever. In fact, the night we were there last, we just missed dining with DC's two biggest VIPs: the President and Mrs. Obama came in for dinner just minutes after we'd left.

Oyamel, 401 7th Street NW (at D Street), Washington, D.C. (Penn Quarter). (202) 628-1005. Reservations: Open Table.

Oscar Cocktails: Captain Phillips

Captain Phillips is based on the true story of Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks), whose cargo ship was invaded by Somali pirates, leading to his being taken hostage. The seafaring thriller is nominated for six Academy Awards including Picture and Supporting Actor for Barkhad Abdi who plays the lead pirate.

For this drink, I started with the movie's title. What can you use for "Captain?" How about Captain Morgan spiced rum. And for "Phillips?" Well, phillips is a type of screwdriver, so in goes the orange juice. From there, I wanted to give the drink some spice that represented the setting of the movie in the seas around Somalia, so I came up with a Somali Spice Syrup based on a blend of spices popular in the country's cuisine.

Oscar Cocktails: Captain Phillips

1 1/2 oz. Captain Morgan spiced rum
3 1/2 oz. orange juice
3/4 oz. Somali spice syrup (see recipe below)
2 dashes orange bitters
Orange wedge, for garnish

Combine rum, orange juice, spice syrup and orange bitters in a rocks glass with ice. Stir well until combined. Garnish with orange wedge.

Somali Spice Syrup

½  tsp. cumin seeds
2 tbsp cardamom pods
1 tsp cloves
1 cinnamon stick, broke in half
¾ cup water
¾ cup sugar

Toast cumin seeds in a saucepan until fragrant, about 3-5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and increase heat to bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Allow mixture to cool in pan and strain out spices. Transfer to a container to chill in the refrigerator.

See all of this year's Oscar Cocktails.

The Feed: February 19, 2014

I love maple syrup, but a young Chelsea Clinton didn't--one of the amusing tidbits Tim Carman shares in his Washington Post profile of a former White House chef.

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

Washington Post: “Farm bill: Why don’t taxpayers subsidize the foods that are better for us?,” by Tamar Haspel.
Haspel’s article asks a really great question that I’ve asked myself many times: if we know that as a society we should be eating more fruits and vegetables, why are we using our tax dollars to subsidize corn and soy—crops that are used as feed for meats and processed into all sorts of junk foods? Turns out the answer isn’t what I expected, and I was surprised to learn that many specialty growers—the ones that grow the “healthy” vegetables would rather not have the subsidy and its accompanying strings.

Washington Post: “Collards, the new kale? For an old favorite, trendiness seems beside the point,” by Joe Yonan.
I like kale just fine, but there are a lot of other greens in the garden. I’m glad Yonan highlights collards this week, which is a fantastic green—must easier to prep than kale since its leaves lay flat, making it easy to slice out the ribs. He shares a recipe for Stir-Fried Spiced Collards and Chickpeas (check out my own recipes for Miso and Honey-Braised Greens and Collard Greens with Bacon).

Washington Post: “White House memories: chef John Moeller on pretzels, maple syrup and calorie-counting,” by Tim Carman.
I know this is starting to look like Food (Section) Fight! (three Post stories!), but I just couldn’t resist including Carman’s profile of former White House chef John Moeller. My favorite part is the story about a new head cook who tried to serve Chelsea Clinton real maple syrup against Moeller’s objections, knowing that she preferred maple-flavored corn syrup.

Wall Street Journal: “Is Your Wine Lousy or Simply Having a Bad Day?,” by Lettie Teague.
“Corked” is a common expression associated with wine that’s gone bad (an important distinction to bad wine). But what does it really mean? Teague offers an excellent examination of the various wines good wines can go bad and how to identify if your bottle is one of them.

Wall Street Journal: “A Winning Schnitzel,” by Rob Mifsud.
Mifsud’s article on wiener schnitzel really put me in the mood to try to make the European breaded veal cutlet, which I haven’t had in years. I’d never thought about how tonkatsu (Japanese breaded cutlet) is basically the same dish.

Associated Press: “Movie cocktails that leave us shaken and stirred,” by Michelle Locke.
Probably because I have my Oscar Cocktails series running now that I was attracted to this story about the history of cocktails in movies from the silent film era to Die Another Day’s mojito.

Huffington Post: “8 Delicious International Cuisines You're Probably Missing Out On,” by Huff Post Taste.
Cuisines from Thailand and Vietnam are both very popular in the U.S. But that country between them—Laos—hasn’t generated much heat in America. It’s a shame, as Huff Post Taste describes it as a cross between Thai and Vietnamese influences, which sounds amazing. Here is a profile of Laotian and seven other international cuisines yet to catch on in the U.S.

New York Times: “Stuffed Dates to Remember,” by Melissa Clark.
My mouth started watering as I read about Clark’s spin on bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with chorizo and served with silky tomato and piquillo pepper sauce.

New York Times: “Riding a Chef’s Twists and Turns (Restaurant Review: Mission Cantina on the Lower East Side),” by Pete Wells.
Danny Bowien made a name for himself with Mission Chinese Food, his Lower East Side Chinese outpost that become one of New York’s hottest meal tickets. While Wells awarded that restaurant two stars, he gives only one to Bowein’s foray into Mexican, which he calls “curiously unsatisfying,” but notes that “the disappointment does not sting the way it would if the prices were higher.”

Thrillist: “Testing The Secret Menus At 8 Chains, From Chipotle To Shake Shack,” by Liz Childers.
I’ve never eat a Quesarito—the secret burrito at Chipotle made with a quesadilla instead of just a tortilla—but I’ve been tempted to ask for one to see if it’s a possible. I read about it awhile ago, but it’s not on the menu. Childers went around to eight fast-food chain restaurants asking for their notorious “secret” items and chronicled the results.

CNN Eatocracy: “Dark, light, sweet, creamy: 12 chocolates to know,” by America’s Test Kitchen.
I’m kind of a sucker for a food guide, especially if it’s about a food I like. And who doesn’t like chocolate? I’ve only ever heard of one such person in my life. America’s Test Kitchen has put together a concise and informative primer on the dark brown substance (including its ghostly imitator, white chocolate).

Oscar Cocktails: Nebraska

In Nebraska, Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) is convinced he's won a million dollars when he receives a magazine publisher's sweepstakes notice. Although his son David (Will Forte) recognizes the notice as a scam, David nonetheless agrees to drive his father from their home in Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska so he can claim his "prize." The quirky comedy-drama is nominated for six Academy Awards including Picture, Actor (Dern), Supporting Actress (June Squibb), Director (Alexander Payne) and Cinematography, for its beautiful black and white photography by Phedon Papamichael.

Woody is a beer lover, so I knew the Nebraska had to be a beer cocktail. I wanted something hoppy and refreshing, so I muddled mint with lemon juice (Woody's "winning ticket" is, after all, a lemon) and used Dale's pale ale as the cocktail's main ingredient. For the drink's spirit, I choose moonshine (a legal version), since corn is Nebraska's top crop. Honey nods to Nebraska's state insect: the European honey bee. And elderflower liqueur gives the drink an extra floral edge while nodding to its star Woody and his wife Kate (Squibb).

Oscar Cocktails: Nebraska

4-5 mint leaves, plus a sprig for garnish
1 oz. fresh lemon juice (juice from 1/2 lemon)
1 oz. moonshine
1/2 oz. St. Germain elderflower liqueur
1 tsp. honey
6 oz. American pale ale

Add mint leaves and lemon juice to a shaker and muddle. Add ice, moonshine, St. Germain and honey and shake well until cold and mixed. Strain into a highball glass with ice. Add beer and stir to combine. Garnish with mint sprig.

See all of this year's Oscar Cocktails.

Spelt Soup with Escarole and White Beans

For my In / Out list back in January, I declared heirloom grains "in." I don't think I was wrong. I'm seeing lots of recipes for grains other than your typical rices and wheat varieties.

This soup appeared in the January issue of Bon Appétit as part of their "new healthy" theme. Spelt is an ancient variety of wheat native to Southern Europe where it's long been a staple. According to The New Food Lover's Companion it has a slightly higher protein content than typical wheat.

I loved the grain's chewy texture in this soup, which also features escarole, another under-appreciated ingredient, plus cannellini beans. I think you could easily make this vegetarian by omitting the pancetta and using vegetable broth. We ate this during last week's snowstorm, and it hit the spot.

Spelt Soup with Escarole and White Beans
Adapted from a recipe by Bon Appétit

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 sweet or yellow onion, finely diced
1 small fennel bulb, cored and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 large (or 2 small) celery stalk, finely chopped
4 oz. pancetta, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 cup spelt
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp. tomato paste
3/4 tsp. red chili pepper flakes
12 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 head escarole, cored and leaves torn into bite-size pieces
1 15-oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Shaved parmigiano-reggiano cheese (shaved with a vegetable peeler)

1. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat. Add pancetta and cook, stirring often until golden-brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add spelt and cook, stirring frequently, until grains have toasted a bit, about 3 to 5 minutes.

2. Add onion, fennel, carrot, celery and garlic to pot and season with salt and pepper. Sauté vegetables until softened, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add tomato paste, and red chili pepper flakes and cook another minute.

3. Add broth to the pot and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the spelt is tender, about an hour. Stir in the escarole and beans and cook until the escarole is wilted, about 5 minutes. Serve soup in bowls topped with a few fresh shavings of parmesan cheese.

Pasta with Brussels Sprouts, Bacon and Walnuts

Brussels sprouts, as they say, are having a moment. They're not just a little more popular than usual, but have gone from being a fairly consistently maligned vegetable (Brussels sprouts? Ewww) to one of the hottest ingredients in restaurants and home kitchens.

I think we have two key things to thank for their resurgence: the oven and bacon. Roasting Brussels sprouts rather than steaming them releases their sweetness and provide caramelization. The best roasted Brussels sprouts are wonderfully brown and somewhat crispy. The second key thing is bacon, which has become a natural partner with the bitter green nubs.

Here I've combined the two in a pasta dish along with walnuts and a simple sauce. Dry white wine could be used instead of vermouth, although I find pasta dishes are a great way to use up bottles of vermouth if you're not a habitual martini drinker.


Pasta with Brussels Sprouts, Bacon and Walnuts

Makes about 5 servings

12 oz. Brussels sprouts
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt, to taste
12 oz. dried farfalle pasta
1/3 cup walnut halves
1/2 lb. bacon, strips cut into 1/4-inch wide pieces
1 sweet onion, peeled and diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. fresh chopped rosemary
1/4 cup dry vermouth
Grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut the ends off the Brussels sprouts and remove outer leaves. Cut the remaining sprout in half through the root end so the halves remain intact. Add sprouts to a bowl, drizzle with 2 tbsp. olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and toss to coat sprouts with oil. Arrange sprouts on a baking sheet cut-side down. Roast until browned, about 35 minutes. Set aside to cool. If doing ahead of time, refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions until 2 minutes shy of al dente. Set aside 1 cup of the pasta cooking water and then drain the pasta. Set aside until ready to use.

3. Toast walnuts in a small dry frying pan until fragrant, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from pan and coarsely chop.

4. Heat a Dutch oven or large sauté pan over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until browned and fat has rendered. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper-towel-lined plate. Drain off excess bacon fat, leaving about 2 tbsp. in the pot. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the garlic and rosemary and stir to combine. Cook for another 2 minutes, then add the vermouth. Stir to incorporate and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the roasted brussels sprouts, toasted walnuts, cooked bacon and partially cooked pasta. Add the reserved cup of pasta cooking water and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes until pasta is al dente. Serve in bowls topped with grated parmigiano-reggiano.