Yes. We. Can.

{Warning: Non food-related opinions ahead.}

So most of you know me by my daytime alter ego--a political operative bent on making the world just a bit better than I found it. So you won't be particularly surprised by the presence of my opinions on the subject. Although it is certainly to be understood that this food-dominated medium may be seem strange. You would be right. But since I believe today marks the most important electoral day thus far in our history, I would be remiss to ignore it with the excuse of a "poor medium."

Many of you may find the above statement puzzling. Today? Clearly important, but more important than November of '04? Than the election of Lincoln? Than the election of George Washington himself?

Never will you see me play down the importance of those days. The birth of a nation, a decision to end slavery, and the opportunity to defeat the most destructive President in our nation's history all should stand on their own as defining days.

But today we have the opportunity to literally and figuratively close the book on some of the darkest days of our past. After all, what better way to show progress beyond the days when a black man could be killed for knowing how to read than to elect one President? No, a President Obama does not mean the end of racism, or the end of our duty to pursue all forms of social justice. But it does give me hope. Yes, hope for a post-partisan Presidency...one that informs rather than deceives...one that lives for the American people and not in spite of them...one that unites rather than divides...Yes, I have hope for all of those things. But also hope that this beautiful country, for all its flaws and mistakes, is ultimately a force for good and cannot be denied or impeded on its endless march towards justice and enlightenment. Proof that we can make yesterday's impossible into today's reality not only today, but again and again for years to come.

It is true that today will very likely fail to mark the end of the campaign for either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, almost regardless of the outcome. But today can be a giant step for either candidate and so, until we reach the day when we can almost certainly crown a nominee, or until we reach that day in November when we can elect a President Obama, this day will remain, for me, the most important electoral day in our history.

Super Bowl Extravaganza

A full day of shopping. 4 hours of mise en place on a Saturday night. A rising at 9am on Sunday after an evening out till 4am. 7, maybe 8 courses...I lost track. 25 people. The Super Bowl.

Amazing how these things can come and go so quickly. Now, all that remains of the insane dinner we enjoyed just hours ago are some dirty dishes, (Ok, let's be fair...lots of dirty dishes) the soreness in my legs, back, and neck, and a couple of leftovers. And of course, the memories. And for one of my favorite parties thus far, I'm oh so happy to record those (food-related) memories for you.

It all started Saturday morning with braving bloodthirsty suburbanites in Costco. As much as I love me some Costco, I swear I get nightmares about those crowds and parking lots. Along for the ride was Alyse, who saved my life time after time after time all weekend. I got home just in time for the first soccer game of the weekend. After I got back home and showered, it was right back into the war zone...this time, Wegman's in Fairfax.

Let me take a moment to talk about the great things Wegman's has going for it. A spectacular selection. Perhaps the best I've seen anywhere, as far as gourmet foods, and definitely rivaling the Dekalb Farmer's Market. (Holy crap they had langoustines!) Totally reasonable prices. I felt like I was shopping at Harris Teeter more than Whole Foods. But with the same kind of Whole Foods freshness I love so much.

Unfortunately, the trip to Fairfax brings with it both the good and the bad. The good--clearly Wegman's itself. The bad--all the other people that decide to shop there. The ones that don't seem to realize that they are in public and should behave as such. The ones that cut you off and steal your parking space. Twice. The ones that make you say and feel things you are ashamed of later.

Anyway, Wegman's wrapped up most of my shopping--picked up a few things at Whole Foods, and got home at about 6pm. Made the salsa, started the spinach and artichoke dip, tossed the tomatoes in the oven to roast, and made the barbeque sauce.



Woke up at 9am with a full day ahead. The smoked turkey and bacon chowder, tortilla chips, pita chips, finishing the spinach dip, making the ribs, making a citrus bourbon glaze for the wings and a wasabi ranch sauce to dip them in, the roasted tomato caprice crostinis, the white chocolate risotto, and the mini salads of cucumber, arugula (couldn't find frissee anywhere), and yellow bell pepper with a red pepper coulis. And the seared ahi tuna.

Oh yeah, and I have another soccer game.

But with Alyse's help, it all happenned. For real. From beginning to end, with the singular exception of the cherry cranberry croutons. Alas, another day and another use for the bag of 183940 dried cranberries I got from Costco.

The Good: The ribs and barbeque sauce. Back on track here, thankfully, and came out with a great barbeque sauce after starting it from scratch with just tomato paste, instead of my usual half-cheat by using Heinz ketchup as a base. Clearly, the most underappreciated dish of the night, though, was the smoked turkey and bacon chowder. I'd have to personally put it near the top of my list for most successful dishes of all time. Yeah, that good. Also, like always, the white chocolate risotto came in big.

The Bad: The citrus bourbon wings turned into citrus mirin wings that we could never quite figure out. The flavor was a good idea, and the wasabi ranch actually worked, but we messed with the sauce too much. Mirin+lemon, orange, and lime zests plus orange juice salt, pepper seemed like it had a good, balanced, sweet flavor, but was too thin. Later attemps to thicken without changing the flavor profile were not ultimately as successful as I would have liked, but we made good efforts and learned something.

The Ugly: Not paying attention to the salmon and slightly overcooking it. Also, pureeing tomatoes, cilantro, and onion leaves you with this unattractive brown color. When I want to add some body to my salsa, I need to puree the tomatoes on their own.

The Fantastic: The Giants beat the Patriots. Really, could I have asked for a better evening?

Random Deliciousness

So I'm not going to end up recounting the full meals of the last few months; t'would be insane. But a couple of dishes stand out that should be detailed.

When I got home, I asked the mother for suggestions for the first meal I should make upon getting back. I should note that twice I've trusted the fam to rock out some beef tenderloin on their own and, without going into details, you'll just need to trust me that neither preparation ended up being ideal. And boy, am I going to regret writing that-I can hear my mom dialing my number right now...

In any case, I decided we had to start off with a bang. First I melted about 4 tablespoons of butter on the stovetop and added a bit of cream and some sliced garlic. Then I started cooking some bacon and, when all the fat was rendered, searing the tenderloins on both sides in that baconny goodness. They had been dusted with white pepper, cumin, black pepper, kosher salt, and a bit of cayenne.

After some good caramelization on both sides, tossed the tenderloins in the oven, then returned to the bacon grease, which then got some nice sea scallops crusted with black pepper, salt, and cayenne on both sides. Finally, minced the bacon from the beginning of the meal. Topped the tenderloins with sliced scallops, the bacon, and just a dash of garlic butter sauce. Mom called it the best steak she had ever had. I must say, it ranked up there.

I had brought home a sweet potato cheesecake that, in addition to the standard cream cheese, eggs, sugar and milk, got an extra dose of sour cream and pureed sweet potato and a topping of toasted coconut that solidified my love for making cheesecakes. I'm pretty sure that, from here on out, cheesecake is going to basically be my dessert of choice.

I spent weeks brainstorming ideas for the office holiday party. See, the theory behind it made sense--we have lots of people with food talent in this office, and should take advantage of it (them) and make them cook for us. Unfortunately, a middle of the day office party doesn't exactly lend itself to a roasted leg of lamb, so I had to figure out what I could make that would be good cold/room temperature and wouldn't degrade in quality from my preparation the previous night all the way through the afternoon. I finally got an idea when Alyse told me about a dish she ate that had grapes that had been simmered in simple syrup. I'd take Belgian endive spears, fill them with grapes I simmered in simple syrup, a bay leaf, and some allspice, over some melted havarti cheese.

Unfortunately, when I went shopping the night before the party...no belgian endive. Crap. So instead I did them in bell pepper quarters, which made the dish a bit sweeter than I would have liked (thanks to my failure to remember the frissee that would have added a bitter note to replace the lost endive), but it turned out ok.

That wasn't the only recent night that had me at a loss for food ideas. Intern Monica was in town, and needed to be fed. I didn't want to spend a lot of money, but figured she deserved something that had a littttle bit of effort put into it. We wanted Harris Teeter for about ten minutes before I stumbled across some gorgeous looking tuna. Does Intern Monica like raw tuna? No? Tough luck, I'm serving it to you anyway. And then...mmm, dried cranberries....how about...a cranberry risotto?

I had never made seared tuna before, and didn't really know how I was going to do it. So I ground some whole coriander and added a litttttle bit of black pepper and a generous helping of sesame seeds. Seared it on all sides, and them made a quick soy wasabi vinaigrette. Soy sauce, wasabi, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper. And then I made a typical risotto, just adding dried cranberries about halfway through the process. The little fruity bursts of flavor provided terrific balance to the heavy, thick texture of risotto. And today, Intern Monica likes raw tuna.

Later this weekend, because this post is getting too long, I play with potatoes via gnocchi and truffle oil!

New Look!

We're coming up on what feels like the 1-year anniversary of this bloggy goodness. Must say, the fact that it's still going at all is kind of an interesting testament--rarely have I stuck with any individual blogging project for so long. True, I've taken my share of hiatuses and breaks, but I still loving sharing with all 5 (6? maybe) of you my adventures in food.

And another adventure is coming up...the first of its kind in quite some time. This time, T tackles the Super Bowl. Of course, typical Super Bowl food--Tostitos salsa, hot wings, boring old ribs, chili, pizza, and burgers--just isn't going to do it for me. But I don't want to stray too far from tradition, so I thought I'd do upscale versions of each.

So I'll be frying my own tortilla chips and accompanying with a homemade salsa and perhaps an updated version of my spinach and artichoke dip. Don't know what the update will be yet, but I've made it the same way three times and I'm a big fan of variety.

Instead of chili, we'll try a smoked turkey and bacon chowder. Instead of pizza, we'll be doing the roasted tomato caprices with crostinis topped with varied toppings. The ribs will be braised in beer, spice crusted, and slathered in my very own barbeque sauce.

I took a few months off from cooking ribs and, when I got home got a request from the family. I went about making them the way I usually do, but when they finished, they were 823048 times tougher than I've ever made them before. I tried again when I got back with the same result. What happenned?

I didn't cover them while they braised.

Yup. That simple. Won't make that mistake again.

Now, the wings. Do I make them spicy? Sweet? Different batches? I'm crazy low on ideas.

Finally, a salad of cucumber, frissee, and yellow bell pepper with a red pepper coulis. And I might add tuna for my meat-eaters.

And I should do a dessert. What does that come to? 7 courses? Ish? Awesome. I'm insane. But thankfully I'll have the one and the only Alyse at my aid over the course of what is sure to be an insanely long Sunday of cooking. What could be better?

Welcome to Restaurant Week

a.k.a. Why I should listen to Boss Dave about food recommendations in DC.

Around mid-August, tons of friends and acquaintances began blathering endlessly about something called "restaurant week." Apparently a fixture of cities around the Northeast (I've also heard news of the same concept in Baltimore, Philly, and NYC), restaurant week offers three course meals for $30 at restaurants around the city. While the restaurants may range from the inexpensive (and thus clearly not worth it) to the supremely expensive (but also not worth it because the food isn't good) to supremely expensive and completely and totally worth it, I got one piece of advice from fellow foodie Dave, who argued that while the food may be more reasonably priced during restaurant week, it ends up more mass produced. And since everyone and their mom (in the case of Friend Terri, literally her mom) decides to go, every decent restaurant is packed, and you get what you might expect from overcrowded restaurants: kitchens crash, food is ill-prepared, servers are in bad moods, and the overall experience is generally not as good.

So I missed the entirety of restaurant week in August, thinking I was dodging a bullet. But when it came around this winter, I decided I shouldn't knock it until I tried, it, so I went all in. An invite from friend Terri took us out to Willow in Arlington. I just knew I had to eat with Alyse, so we tried the Oceanaire Seafood Room in Penn Quarter. And Scott and I had agreed to find a spot, so I managed to pick up a super late table during Corduroy's extended version of restaurant week.

Dave was right.

The first effort was with Alyse, Elisabeth, and Intern Monica at Oceanaire Seafood Room. I ordered a clam chowder that was good, but no better than the $3 chowder I can get at the Maine Avenue Seafood Market. My main coarse was a grilled Alaskan Salmon in a beurre blanc. While I was impressed with the grilling technique--it was well caramelized without being overdone--it was drowning in a beurre blanc was so heavy and poorly made that I couldn't even finish the dish. Finally, a chocolate cake that was. Eh. My dining companions may have had slightly better experiences, but Intern Monica claimed she preferred my wasabi-soy vinaigrette to the cajun sauce she was received with her mahi mahi. And anyone who dines with me knows that my ultimate opinion of a restaurant comes down to its ability to serve me something superior to what I can make at home. Grade: C+

But to be fair, Oceanaire is a chain that isn't regarded as one of the better restaurants in DC, so I approached my next destination, Willow, with an open mind. It's got a good reputation, and good buddies Tommy, Andrea, Terri, and Jessi seemed excited enough about it. My first course was a chestnut gnocchi with duck confit. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't gnocchi. It was drowning in a sauce (soup?) alongside some mushy vegetables and a couple of scraps of duck confit that might as well have been chicken. It didn't taste awful, and I did finish it, but I was expecting a much more impressive and well-conceived dish. I ordered horseradish crusted skate, as I was fresh off my experience of crusting prime rib with the deliciously salty biting flavor.

No. Horseradish. Flavor. It could have been crusted in baking powder, for all I knew. Really? Don't put horseradish in the name of the dish if it's completely undetectable. I did enjoy the taste of the skate, which I had never tried before, but it ended up being just a few steps up from a well-fried piece of catfish. Yikes. I did, however, enjoy the peachy Sauvignon Blanc I ordered along with it.

Finally, the obvious high point of the meal: a white chocolate cheesecake. Though poorly named (it had the texture of pudding more than a cheescake) it was an absolutely delicious rose of another name. Overall grade: B-

Which brings us to Corduroy and a restaurant week-jaded version of T. Granted, Corduroy is supposed to be one of the better restaurants in the city and has gotten rave reviews from everyone I know who loves food. But still, my restaurant week experience thus far has been pretty disappointing, and I wasn't expecting much.

Boy was I wrong. As I walked into the tucked-away restaurant on the second floor of the Four Points Sheraton, I immediately noticed something different about the place. Certainly, the decor was understated and classy--much to my liking--but the smell. Oh lord, the smell was just divine. And as I was enjoying my first whiffs of the combination of delicious aromas, I caught my first glance of a plate--a cornish game hen, perhaps? The plating was clean while creative, and I could tell I was in for a good night.

Six of us, this time: Coworkers Morgan and Julie, My Boy Scott and his friend Sarah, and Friend Lisa. We sat down to a relatively extensive menu for restaurant week which lots of intriguing options. A parsnip soup, a mozarella "porcupine", a lobster salad with basil oil. Mmmmm.....I decide to run with the parsnip soup, which ended up the choice of a majority of the table. Morgan and Julie ran with the mozarella porcupines--chunks of warm, fresh mozarella with buffalo sauce and what looked like fried cellophane noodles. My parsnip soup was warm, delicate, and addictive. I just couldn't stop eating it. New Years Resolution: Cook more with parsnips.

The food menu wasn't the only extensive one. We enjoyed an extensive wine list, complete with a myriad of tempting options. Fellow foodie Sarah and I were dispatched to choose a bottle for a few of us, and we settled on a Kunin Syrah from '03 that I was pretty impressed with. Subtly complex, little bit of cherry, little bit of oak. But not too pretentious. Tastyyyyy.

The main courses weren't any easier to choose from. A flat iron steak, striped bass, a melange of vegetables....but like so many other times, there was really only one choice for me. The lamb, a top sirloin from New Zealand, cooked medium rare and served with creamed spinach.

And the lamb is what knocks this meal into top 5 meals of all time. It simply could not have been cooked to a more perfect level of doneness. The creamed spinach was a perfect compliment, as were the duo of sauces. One au jus, another I just couldn't identify and couldn't even begin to prepare. The lamb alone is probably my single favorite dish of all time, just edging out Perilla's braised pork belly and Bobby Flay's 16 spice chicken.

Finally, the dessert. I order an apple tart. A couple of others order the creme brulee, and one set of ice creams. The ice cream that came along with my dessert was a deliciously fresh and creamy homemade vanilla, and the pastry a honeycomb of cinnamon goodness. But the apples. The apples were bitter. And thus, the only note that prevented Corduroy from serving me the best meal I've ever eaten, an honor that still goes to NYC's Perilla. Of course, all would be different if I had ordered the creme brulee, which was sinfully good. So good I finished the plates of not one, not two, but three others who had ordered it and run out of room. Grade: A+ 96 out of a possible 100.

So sure, I'll probably do restaurant week once every cycle, more so for the time I got to share with friends than anything else, but the only one that impressed me enough to warrant a return for a meal that doesn't just cost $30 was clearly Corduroy. Now I'm just looking for an excuse to go back. Anyone hungry?

Toys!

Xbox 360. A new bike. A laptop computer. Cold, hard, cash. A Sega Saturn.

These are all things I've asked foraround Christmastime past years. Some of them have worked out well (cash, Xbox360) and some of them not so well (damn my endless loyalty to Sega. I blame Sonic.)

But this time around I asked for something(s) that are not only in completely different leagues from my previous requests, but are guaranteed to supply endless amounts of happiness.

First up is the most important: a food mill. Potato mashers are sooooooo mid 90s. You want the silky consistency of instant mashed potatoes with the flavor and texture of yukon golds, and there's really only one option: a food mill. It's also the ideal way to make gnocchi (coming later), juice pomegranate seeds, and remove the seeds and pulp from tomatoes. Combined with my new chinois, everything I make will finally have exactly the right consistency. I had never actually seen a chinois in action, but decided to give it its first go by making a mirepoix for my old barbeque sauce recipe and leaving in the onions, parsnips, carrots, and celery as the sauce simmered. Then, finally pushed it through the chinois and enjoyed the smoothest, richest barbeque sauce I've ever made. Awesome.

I decided a spice grinder would be in order, since whole spices last longer than ones you buy pre-ground. Since I like to keep a couple score of spices on hand at any given time (but usually take about a year to go through them) it seemed a logical choice. It got its first use when I ground whole coriander seeds to make a crust for the seared ahi tuna I made last week. The flavor difference: worlds apart. I'm not sure if there will be a next time that I'll use pre-ground spices. Yow.

If you love wine as much as I do (unlikely) you'll understand why I so desperately wanted a decanter. Nuff said, really. It gets its first test with a bottle of new bottle of Malbec I'm pretty excited to open.

I'm still a way aways from my first purchase of truffles, but I have been pretty interested in learning how to use their flavor. To that end, truffle oil works as a good substitute. I've only used it thus far drizzled on fries, but I definitely hope to use it with proteins and salads in very soon. Mmmmm. Truffffflleeessss.....

And finally, the simplest of my Christmas gifts: a $5 patch of cheesecloth that can add an extra layer of smoothness to any soups or sauces, can go towards enclosing a bouquet garni, or give me my first experience using tomato water. While wikipedia says I can also use it for making my own cheeses or handheld torches and flaming arrows, these uses are slightly less likely.

But I'll keep you posted.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf?

Ok, no, but seriously. This has gotten totally and completely out of hand. Two months without a post? And I don't even have any good excuses. I have a digital camera. I'm cooking like a madman. Geez, for 2.5 weeks of that I was at home playing video games and going out dancing every night. I couldn't pay y'all even a little attention?

Especially since, as could only be expected, my food is getting better and better. You'd think I would be more, not less interested in talking about my food that is better tasting and more interesting than the stuff I started with nearly a year ago. And of course, I'm pretty sure that each of that last few posts have contained promises to write more. I seriously need to stop crying wolf and put up some substantive content.

In fact, there is so very much to talk about, I can't even begin to think about putting it all in one post. We've got:

• Christmas presents. Yes, while my friends were asking for xboxes and clothes and money and whatnot, I was asking for...truffle oil. Among other fun things.
• Thanksgiving dinner. I am indeed that far behind on my updates. But no use in letting 9 courses of deliciousness go unaccounted for. (Well, honestly, 8 courses and some chickpeas gone horribly wrong)
  
• Christmas Dinner. While not quite as insane as Thanksgiving, it was a quality little meal worth at least half a post.
• New Years Dinner. My first chance to use my new cooking toys. And oh did I use them. Great stuff here. Plus, T experiments with prime rib and horseradish.
• Other assorted meals: a beef tenderloin preparation my mother called "the best steak she's ever had." (She also tells me I'm cool.) Pan-seared Ahi Tuna with a wasabi soy vinaigrette, a sweet potato cheesecake and spice-poached grapes in a cheesy bell bepper cup for the office holiday party, a cranberry risotto, truffled french fries, my first successful attempt at gnocchi, how I forgot how to cook ribs, and Why I should listen to my boss about Restaurant Week.

Of course, I'm sure I'm missing quite a bit. But I know I need to start catching up before I really start to play with all my new toys. Plus, a new cheesecake preparation is in the works and my first dinner party since mid-August. What do you get when you combine a new television, T, and the Super Bowl? I still haven't figured it out yet, but I'm ripe for suggestions!

So, you should start reading again. For real! I'll make it my New Years Resolution to post regularly, at least until I forget again. Peaces!