I always feel like I should earn a badge for trying things I had previously believed to be unfit for human consumption. The Suriname cherries growing across the street from my apartment, alligator, salmon skin — they all make me feel a little bit braver for having held my nose and swallowed. And so I feel that R.J. and I deserve awards for our foray into the world of health and beauty product consumption. To wit: the
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11May
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10May
Jellyfish is best eaten under duress. Cultural duress. It should be eaten only in the firm knowledge that to say no might cause a war
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06May
For farmers, making sure that only the most marketable goods leave the farm is crucial to business, and agriculturalists have long sought better ways to test and examine their produce. Now, USDA researchers have developed a laser taste-testing system that measures the sweetness, acidity, and texture of apples and peaches quickly and non-invasively. It’s the latter that’s critical: traditionally testing is done on samples taken from each batch, which reduces yield and sale volume.
This new technique promises better and more efficient quality controls, but will the cost be over-homogenization? Customers want a consistent product – an apple should taste like an apple, etc. – but at some point we could lose all the variation that is so exciting about good fresh produce: sometimes you bite into an apple that’s just amazing, and it’s a great surprise. If they all tasted that way, where’s the fun? -
04May
Wedding season is here -
02May
Alright, we took our sweet time about it, but as promised, here are the final
results from DCFUD Rates DC. Not happy with the outcomes? Then you should have voted twice.Best Place to Be a Local
Gold:
Bardia’s New Orleans CaféRunners Up:
Murphy’s of DC
Faidley’s
Pumpernickel’s
amsterdam falafel
Florida Ave GrillHonorable Mention:
New York CityBest Bakery to Break a Diet
Gold:
CakeloveRunners up:
Firehook Bakery
Vaccaro’s
Marvelous Market
Patisserie PouponHonorable Mention:
Zaf’s awesome peanut butter cookies.
Best Coffee Shop to Tell Your Boss You’re “Telecommuting”
From
Gold:
Soho tea and CoffeeRunners Up:
Tryst
Steam
One World CaféHonorable Mention:
Camelot -
01May
This isn -
30Apr
There are only two ethnicities present in the 7 am crowd eating breakfast at the Hilton Narita -
25Apr
The Vienna Inn is one of those places that doesn’t look like much from the outside, and when you step inside it still isn’t much to look at. No design consultant has ever swooped into the building and mandated mood lighting and art deco furniture. Instead, photos of local sports teams and beer paraphernalia pepper the walls. It’s the kind of brik-a-brak that places like T.G.I. Friday’s, Applebee’s and Ruby Tuesday aspire to, but they fail miserably because they don’t have customers that personally hand-color letters in crayon for them. It’s that kind of place — a throwback to times before “community” was overwhelmed by the relentless sprawl of the suburbs and it seems the menu prices still reflect that as well. You can eat like a king for $10.
And at these prices, don’t expect service. You fill your own drink order at the soda fountain, may be asked multiple times if you’ve ordered and you won’t receive a check at the end of your meal. Payments are taken through the honor system at the counter. On the other side of the restaurant, you might find some creaky-looking regulars perched at the bar, quietly disappearing their drafts from frost-rimmed mugs and commenting on the game playing on one of several TVs.
I sampled three items from a surprisingly extensive menu that included a breakfast menu with your standard diner favorites to sandwiches and other bar munchie staples. First the cheese fries, thin and crisp, were dusted with salt seasoning and given a generous pour of gooey cheddar cheese. If you’re sharing these, eat all the extra-cheesy fries first or someone else will eat them for you. Next the Fried Red Chili Peppers, nugget-sized rounds filled, not with poisonous Cheese Wiz-like filling, but soft cream cheese cradled on top of a red pepper, all contained in a wonderfully fried coating with a firm crunch. Dip one of these endearing little bites into the habanero plum sauce and you are in heaven. The habanero sauce looks deceptively like jelly, but adds a sweet heat to the creamy crunch of the popper. Lastly, there were the chili dogs. I ordered mine “loaded” and it arrived on a small paper tray. The dog was tucked into a soft bun, coated with a slick of chili and hot melted cheese, and counter-pointed by crunchy bits of white onion and the tang of spicy brown mustard. Like all good chili dogs it requires two hands, a big mouth and plenty of napkins.
If you like your servers surly, your atmosphere no-nonsense and your food down-home good, make the trip to the Vienna Inn. You can even start at the Eastern end of the W&OD trail and bike your way to the Vienna Inn for a refreshing pit stop, or if you choose to drive, rent a keg or two on your way out. I’ll be there with one hand in the habanero sauce and chili-cheese dripping down my chin.
Vienna Inn
123 Maple Avenue East
Vienna, VA 22180 -
21Apr
Some years ago I was introduced to this strange Chinese product – barbecue sauce. It isn’t sweet or acid, its made of fish! I have never really understood why it was called Barbecue Sauce – Hoisin sauce is the closest Chinese sauce to what we think of as BBQ sauce and it does a fine job sweetening up a lot of my favorite dishes
Bruce Cost, in his invaluable book Asian Ingredients (a must own if your’re interested in understanding Asian products) says,” Not your everyday barbecue sauce, this intriguing oily paste called sha zha jiang consists of ground dried fish, chili peppers, shallots, garlic, dried shrimp, spices including coriander seeds, star anise and Sichuan peppercorns and sometimes peanuts” (though not in my favorite brand).
It’s hard to know exactly what to do with this stuff. He says smear it on meat before broiling it (he gives a recipe that I haven’t tried) or throw it into stir fried dishes. It is delicious and actually not at all fishy – hard to describe but actually addictive and the main ingredient in my most requested shrimp dish which I am called on to prepare several times a month.
My favorite brand is Bulls Head Barbecue Sauce by Haw-Di-I Foods from Taiwan, in a small jar or big can. Bruce Cost also recommends Lan Chi Brand Sa Cha Chaing, or Sze Chuan Foods T.F. Brand. There’s an inch or so of oil at the top of the jar – DON’T mix it in, pour it off and then scrape up the paste. When done add some back to reserve the top so it doesn’t dry out (so I was taught).
If anyone out there has used this and has any other ideas for what to do with this stuff I’d love to hear about it.
Spicy Shrimp
- This recipe requires 1 lb large shrimp, cleaned and deveined (25-30 count) and salt whisked. To salt whisk: Place cleaned shrimp in a large bowl with 1 tsp kosher salt, Stir, allow to sit for a few minutes, rinse with cold water and drain. Blot. This can be repeated one more time, optional. BLOT DRY . They are now ready to use. This makes the shrimp more firm and crunchy.
- Salt whisk and dry shrimp well. Mix remained of ingredients together being careful when measuring the BBQ sauce to only take the paste. Add shrimp, stir to coat well and marinate for 1/2 – 1 hour.
- Add 1 TB oil of a flat heavy frying pan. Spread shrimp flat on the fish for a couple of minutes – 3-4, without moving them, then turn to the other side and do the same until bright orange – they should be a little crunchy. Serve immediately.
- Or: Thread onto soaked bamboo skewers. Grill over medium on the broiler or outside grill.
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 TB canola oil
1 tsp Asian chili garlic paste
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp shaoxing wine
1 TB cornstarch
3 TB generous Chinese BBQ sauce
-MHF, guest Blogger
(Note: You can buy it here -zaf) - Salt whisk and dry shrimp well. Mix remained of ingredients together being careful when measuring the BBQ sauce to only take the paste. Add shrimp, stir to coat well and marinate for 1/2 – 1 hour.
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20Apr
Clearly, the problem with America’s growing waistline was that the government’s guidelines were just too simple. Where’s the fun in that? In an effort to combat this thoughtcrime, Chef Big Brother presents the ominous-sounding Food Guidance System. And it turns out vertical is the new horizontal. And while our forebearers had to make do with a mere single pyramid, citizens can now choose between… twelve?
Confused yet? I didn’t even mention the colors and the symbols. We live in interesting times. Read some overviews at the Washington Post, or CBS. Or, if you are feeling brave, let the USDA take you inside the pyramid…
At this time, there has been no comment from the Puppet Formerly Known as Cookie Monster.
