Author Archives: FV Strona

Its a “stick to ur ribs kinda” night

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Thank the crockpot gods that some recipes always work..

One from the archives but perfect for the day.
Then once the chicken is gone, with a little help from the emersion blender; soup for the freezer or those special pals

And because every slow cooked meal needs something bright & crisp; apple, yellow pepper & tomato slaw with peach vinegar from my Michigan trip

The original post w/recipe is here: https://bitetheroad.com/2014/03/18/sometimes-you-just-have-to-tinker-with-a-recipe-2-meal-maple-sweet-potato-carrot-butternut-squash-leek-chicken/

 

 

Sweet Potato Pound Cake

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Decided I would test run a new cake recipe today with one of my favorite foods; sweet potatoes.

Recipe is pretty easy and basic. I’m also thinking of a remake with some leftover sweet potato mash that I made for dinner to see if leftover sweet potato mash will work just as easy as custom made.  The original recipe is from FineCooking.com Magazine Oct/Nov 2016 issue.


The outcome..

It works. The dense and moist pound cake texture has a solid feel, very little crumb. The ginger leaves a nice warm after bite while the sweet potato brings a subtle sweetness reminiscent of the sweet potato biscuits at one of my local favorite restaurants.  Even after a few days  it stayed moist and the ginger flavor grew some..

In fact I bet a simple sugar glaze with either honey or maple syrup instead of the powdered sugar might even be a great alternative topping. I could also see a scoop of vanilla or cinnamon ice cream with a drizzle of carmel sauce. Also curious as to how this would taste studded with candied ginger pieces.

Only caveat is that I see so far is make sure you use the right size pan. The one I used, was smaller than the recipe called for and it definitely over flowed through the center hole.

“Doi Moi” did me right @DoiMoiDC

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Another new find while in DC was on 14th street, Doi Moi. I had walked by here several times at  night and its clean white look at night, didn’t start a place for me to want to eat on my own. But one  Saturday, we were walking by animg_3918d wanted an early dinner, and figured we would take a chance to try it. Especially with the mild  weather DC was offering that day. I will say I am super glad we did.

Doi Moi is all about fresh, sharp, clean and especially seasoned flavors that speak to  all the places the recipes are adapted from with none of the synthetic american overplayed control to mess with them.

They have a pretty diverse menu – so pretty much anyone will find one of two things to try. If I had to rate them in order – our least favorite were the Shrimp and Pork Wontons ($15) with szechuan pepper broth, cabbage, cilantro. While not bad to any degree, I just didn’t think they held up to the ret of the dishes. Especially my personally favorite of the night the Crispy Rice Salad ($14) with fermented sausage, herbs, peanuts, fish sauce. Equally as good was the Green Papaya Salad ($13) w/ chili, lime, peanuts, green bean, tomato, trout roe and the Grilled Chicken Thigh Skewers ($8) w/coconut milk, cilantro, fish sauce.

Dos Moi offers both gluten free and vegatarian dishes as well.

location 1800 14th street nw, washington, dc
phone 202.733.5131
twitter @DoiMoiDC
instagram doimoidc

 

 

Because life has reminders about how precious each day is..

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Major house fire  x 3 the only night on my return home from ATL.


The senior couple that live in the corner home, come to find out last night, while having an impromptu slumber party here at my house with them, actually grew up in the house. Her grabdfather built for her mother.  So the house actually had been her mothers home.  Talk about old CA stock. Here is ABC’s coverage: http://abc7news.com/news/firefighter-injured-in-4-alarm-fire-in-sfs-castro-district/1564148/

Kudos to all the response teams of which there were many on the scene till early this am.

And while I’m likely to be a little tired and crabby by the end of the day not having slept and having a hard time breathing with all of the smoke; spending the evening with her and her husband reminded me at least, that  we have a bed to sleep in and a home to come back to.

More images from last nights fire are posted here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10210490538277298.1073741887.1160144039&type=1&l=e8cab3b160

Dinner at Me Jana

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So a delayed but well intended post! Paul and I had dinner one night with our friend Louis on my recent trip to DC and  he introduced us to the incredible food of Me Jana. img_3959

This is true Lebanese cooking with the right flat to make it special, yet the kind of food you think about weeks after and look forward to going back.  All too often I will hit a resturant that uses bold seasoning and flavors to impart the “foreign, exotic” ambiance of the dish and just as often the meal sink because the chef try to hard to hit me in the head with flavor. The brains behind Me Jana understand that quality and taste can be subtle, played and bright and still leave an impact.

Our dishes that night included

  • Watermelon Salad
  • TABOULEH, Parsley, mint, onion, tomato, burgul, olive oil, lemon
  • HOMMOS WITH MEAT* With sautéed beef, roasted pine nuts
  • MAKANEK*, Sautéed sausages, olive oil, lemon
  • SEARED HALLOUMI; Bronzed Halloumi cheese, pears, dates
  • A mixed meat plate of the house grilled favorites
  • HALAWET EL JEBN; Rolled sweet cheese, stuffed with Achta, orange blossom syrup & pistachio
  • ACHTA; Milk pudding, sliced bananas rose water, honey & pistachio
  • I can honestly say I would order all of them again!
    I can’t wait to go back.

http://www.mejanarestaurant.com/

PHONE. 703.465.4440

2300 WILSON BLVD (AT THE CORNER OF CLARENDON BLVD & ADAMS ST)

Getting the lowdown on the “Arnold Palmer”

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Recently came across this lil’ tidbit on the story behind the hit drink “The Arnold Palmer”; now I tend to prefer plain old unsweetened,  iced tea over sofa most days, and on occasion the addition of lemonade can change it up – especially with spiciey meals when a beer may not be on the menu.

 But unlike others – I never really order it by name, rather I asked for with it is, iced tea and lemonade. Almost inevitably someone in my group will have a need to “correct” me and say, “you mean and Arnold Palmer”, to which depending on my sarcasm and snark level for the day can be met with any number of responses from “bitch please,  check yourself” to the alway special “silent look”.

Here is the reason I don’t order it by name unless it’s on the menu; too many folks think of it as a 1/2 & 1/2 drink – but according to common thought and legend; AP was said to express  “Iced tea has the dominant side, that dominates the drink. And, if it doesn’t, it isn’t really right.” . As I tend to agree, it’s the iced tea that is the star and the tart fresh lemonade is only the “spike“.

Drink in the History of the Great Arnold Palmer ; is the article that caught my eye from Tasting Table today

The link above has a cute YouTube clip as well. So in honor of his passing and his talent; raise a glass of a true Arnold Palmer at your next meal


Don’t let the summers end, mean you can’t still eat like its a day at the fair

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On his September 2016 website post- fav food traveler and culture cuisine explorer Andrew Zimmern posted a great list of Classic Fair recipes; I think I have my winter blahs recipes well in hand now!

Give it a read at: Classic State Fair Dishes To Make at Home  Also check out his website for his Recipes, his own blog aka Editorials and follow him on Twitter at @andrewzimmern or on Instagram @chefaz

All images are from the article and posting.

One of the fun things I caught on his site I caught was the AZ Canteen, which according to the man himself; “That’s why I’ve created AZ Canteen. This carefully curated menu showcases some inspired versions of the best food items I’ve discovered on the road. From a Nicaraguan shaved ice that I’ve seen only once outside of Central America, to goat sausage grinders (one of the most delicious meats on the planet!) made with an exclusive cabrito blend from my friend Pat LaFrieda, these foods resonated with me and I’m thrilled to share my culinary experiences with you.”

@AZCanteen is an   food adventure

And because he isn’t busy enough; he also launched Foodworks Inc. and check out his Podcasts

Ginger crunch; bday style

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Hmm; it was my birthday yet somehow last night I ended up baking last week.
Tried making the Ginger Biscotti again but this time using old metal ice trays as the form instead of the free-form style on the pan because of the sticky loose batter.
While at it I used an old “Martha” trick of using clips to hold the parchment paper and place. All in all these vintage worked great and gave me a more uniform size an bake.

I used a pretty easy recipe for it that I found on the King Arthur Flour website http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/ginger-biscotti-recipe

Ingredients
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter
2/3 cup (5 ounces) brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs ( I used XL eggs and also tried Jumbo ones – the difference is the firmness was not as brittle)
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces)  Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup (6 1/2 ounces) finely diced crystallized ginger

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) one large (about 18 x 13-inch) baking sheet. For the variation I did – one batch filled two ice trays.
In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, spices, vanilla, and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled. At low speed of your mixer, add the flour and crystallIized ginger, stirring until smooth; the dough will be quite soft and sticky, but should hold its shape when you drop it from a spoon.

Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet, and shape it into a rough log about 14″ long. It will be about 2 ½” wide, and about ¾” thick. Using your wet fingers, smooth the top and sides of the log.

Bake the dough for 25 minutes (my oven 20 min was perfect – the extra 5 gave me a more brown bottom). Remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool on the pan anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes; just work it into the schedule of whatever else you’re doing in the kitchen.

(Note – they suggest using a spray bottle filled with room-temperature water, lightly but thoroughly spritz the log, making sure to cover the sides as well as the top. Softening the crust just this little bit will make slicing the biscotti much easier. But I don’t find that easier.)

Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. Wait another 5 minutes, then use a serrated knife to cut the log into ½” to ¾” slices. Cut at a 45° angle, for long biscotti; cut crosswise slices, for shorter biscotti. As you’re slicing, be sure to cut straight up and down, perpendicular to the pan; if you cut unevenly, biscotti may be thicker at the top than the bottom, and they’ll topple over during their second bake.

Set the biscotti on edge on the prepared baking sheet. Return the biscotti to the oven, and bake them for 25 to 30 minutes, till they feel very dry. They’ll still feel a tiny bit moist in the very center, if you break off a piece; but they’ll continue to dry out as they cool.

Remove the biscotti from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool. Once they’re cool, store airtight, to preserve their texture. If biscotti aren’t as crunchy as you’d like (and the weather is dry), store them uncovered, overnight, to continue drying. Biscotti can be stored at room temperature for one week; for longer storage, wrap airtight and freeze. Make sure they are well cooled.

Yield: about 16 large (about 5 ½” long) biscotti.Variation: For smaller biscotti, shape the dough into two 12″ logs, about 2″ wide. Bake as directed above.

Yield: about 3 dozen mini-biscotti.