State-by-State Redux: X of X - A Julia Child recipe that does not feature butter, and an Ina Garten recipe that makes up for it

Here it is, the last State-by-State post after more than two years of this project chugging along.  And for this final State-by-State post, I am visiting some American classics that I haven't done for this series, and surprisingly even much in the history of this blog, which you know by now is also ending soon.  I thought it was imperative to visit some of these classics by using recipes from the Queen herself, Julia Child.  Oh, and also Ina Garten.

Snacking State-by-State Redux X of X: The United States

Official Name: United States of America
Nickname: none
Founded: July 4, 1776
Capital: Washington, DC
Other Important Cities: There are a lot of 'em.  Can we just leave it at that? 
Region: North America
RAFT Nations: All of them, except Moose (upper Canada)
Bordered by: Canada (north), Arctic Ocean, Bering Strait & Russia (northwest), Pacific Ocean (west), Mexico (south), Gulf of Mexico & Caribbean Sea (southeast), Atlantic Ocean (east)
Official US Foods and Edible Things: none
Some Famous & Typical Foods: see the previous two years worth of posts for this.  Also: apple pie, barbecue, hot dogs, hamburgers, fast food, and so on

Of all the famous chefs in American history, it's pretty safe to say that none rivals the importance of Julia Child.  I mean, did the Smithsonian Institution put James A. Beard's kitchen on display in the American History Museum in Washington?  I've been a few times, and I just don't get tired of it.

Child was, among all chefs, a pathbreaker in that she introduced the American public to the pleasures of an intimidating cuisine (French, not American) in as accessible a way as possible.  From her Mastering the Art of French Cooking to her long-standing partnership with PBS, her many books and television shows, and her co-founding of the American Institute of Wine and Food, Child left an important and lasting impression on American food [Smithsonian National Museum of American History (Behring Center), no date]

For my final State-by-State post, I am showcasing one of Child's more American recipes: the ever-popular meatloaf.  Yes, she had a recipe for meatloaf, which she considered it a cousin to the French pâté: "Since they are so closely related, I consider the one a variation of the other" [Child 2000: 53].  I had never thought of meatloaf that way, but I guess it is.  But I also did change this one up, not so much fiddling with the master so much as using a version that was "pre-fiddled with".  You see, I realized when planning this final post that I had used so many different meats over the past two years for this series: beef, chicken, pork, lamb, fish, shellfish, even buffalo, but not the one all-American bird that deserves extra attention in such a series: the turkey.  I left out any turkey recipes!  Yes, that idiotic bird that Benjamin Franklin would have made into our national symbol had the bald eagle not swayed other people instead.

Fortunately, I found a recipe that swaps out the pork in Child's recipe for turkey plus precooked rice.  I'm not sure of the actual provenance of this recipe.  Various sources attribute a turkey meatloaf to Mark Ladner of Del Posto restaurant, though I don't think this is the version in question.  I did find Child's meatloaf with the turkey and rice swapped in for the pork on, of all places, the CD Kitchen website.  Poster "AmandasMom971" [2012] provides the measurements for what is, otherwise, Julia Child's recipe.  To her credit, she does call it "Julia Child's Meatloaf" and doesn't pass it off has her own.

To further complicate things, I swap out the beef in her meatloaf for that tried and true "meatloaf mix" of beef, pork and veal.  Mixing all of those together still gave me some quite pleasant results.

To go along with this turkified version of Child's meatloaf, I thought I would add two important sides: mashed potatoes - for what is meatloaf without mashed potatoes - also from Child's Julia's Kitchen Wisdon: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking [2000], and a recipe for one more recipe that I have never made for this series or this blog, but has become an important part of the American food landscape: macaroni and cheese.  This time, however, I go with Ina Garten and her "adult mac & cheese" featuring tomato slices, Gruyère and cheddar.  A hearty and wonderful macaroni and cheese on page 202 of Garten's Barefoot Contessa Family-Style cookbook [Garten 2002]

The Recipes: Julia Child's Meatloaf (with Turkey) and Mashed Potatoes, with Ina Garten's Grown-Up Macaroni and Cheese

First, Julia Child's meatloaf that you will certainly not hate.

The Recipe: Julia Child's Meatloaf (with Turkey)

Assemble the following:

* ground beef (or in this case, "meatloaf mix", about $7 per lb at Whole Foods.  Child calls for two pounds of beef, but I settled for 1 1/2, which worked for me)
* turkey (about a pound, about $5 at Whole Foods, mixed with...
* white rice (I just got this in the hot food bar at Whole Foods while I was shopping for the other things)
* toasted bread crumbs (nothing faincy here, just a few toasted slices of plain old white bread pulsed in the food processor)
* onions (three that I got the day before at Waverly - I got about six in all for $2
* beef broth (I swapped that out for chicken broth á la Better Than Bouillon.  Yet another animal added to the mix
* eggs (in case you decide not to swap beef for chicken broth, this will help add chicken to your meatloaf anyway)
* Cheddar cheese ($5 for a block of the XXX Sharp Cheddar from Yancey's Fancy.  I got this at Wegman's.  This surprised me, since I've never heard of cheese in a meatloaf.  But Julia Child put it in there and I'm sure she knew what she was doing.  Don't forget to grate it)
* garlic (had it - again, I used the garlic paste from Trader Joe's that I had in the fridge, but stuck the head of garlic in the photo)
* salt & pepper
* various spices: oregano, thyme, paprika, allspice and bay leaves (had them all)

You will also need oil to sauté the onions, and a tomato sauce to pour over the meatloaf.  Look for more on that below.

First chop the onions and sauté them in a skillet.

Mix your bread crumbs with the onions.

Add the meatloaf mix...

...the turkey and rice (yes, that is rice)...

...the grated Cheddar and the eggs...

...and your chicken broth, salt, pepper and herbs and spices, holding off on the bay leaves which go on top of the whole thing.

Child suggests cooking a little bit of it in the skillet and tasting it to make sure it's right.  It's stuff like this, folks, that explains why her kitchen is in the Smithsonian.

Push it into a meatloaf pan (I used one with holes in the bottom and another pan underneath to catch all the juices) - Child suggests greasing it with butter (natch), though I used baking spray instead - and top it with the bay leaves.  Bake in a pre-heated oven for 90 minutes (until the juices run clear) at 350°F.

While that is in the oven, make the tomato sauce for the meatloaf.  Child suggests the sauce on page 30 of her book, which uses fresh ones.  I used canned San Marzanos instead ($4 per 28 ounce can), with chopped onion and basil, and reduced until thick.

Ninety mintes later, the meatloaf should be springy...

...and the sauce should be reduced and very intense.

Child's mashed potatoes go wonderfully with this: just boil some potatoes, add cream and/or milk alternating with butter.  I just used a hand masher.

The Recipe: Ina Garten's Grown-Up Macaroni and Cheese

As for Garten's luxurious macaroni and cheese (which, unlike the meatloaf, I halved), you should gather the following ingredients:

* macaroni (I got the Barilla variety for about a buck and a half)
* Cheddar (here I thought I'd run out of Cheddar.  I still have a ridiculous amount left over)
* Gruyère (I got the cheaper, mild kind at Whole Foods, about half a pound for $7)
* milk (fresh from the South Mountain Creamery stall at the farmers' market at Waverly)
* flour (had it)
* tomatoes (a few Romas from the supermarket)
* butter (had it)
* nutmeg, salt and pepper (had them all)
* bread crumbs (more than enough left over from the meatloaf)

Start by grating your cheeses.

Boil your macaroni in a large pot.

Melt that butter!

Once melted, whisk in your flour (exact measurements in Garten's recipe on page 202 of the Family Style cookbook)

Add the milk and whisk some more, then remove from heat.

Next, whisk in your shredded cheeses...

...and your nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Drain your macaroni and add this to the mixture, coating thoroughly.

Pat it all down into an oven-safe dish.

Then mix the bread crumbs with a little more melted butter.

Slice the tomatoes and place on top of the macaroni and cheese.

And then spread the bread crumbs over everything.  Yes, all over everything.

Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for about 35 minutes.

Though the meats were not exactly the ones she recommended, Julia Child's meatloaf still turned out to be lovely.  It's done for me what homemade sauce did for me for spaghetti: it made it taste good again.  As for the mac & cheese: it was good, though distinctly second fiddle to the meatloaf.  But a hot bowl of the mac & cheese alone (and it must be hot - lukewarm really doesn't bring out the flavors all too well) is still a nice thing on a cold day.

- - - - -

And that's it!  Fifty states, one territory, one federal district, plus several regions and an all-encompassing "America" post, and my Snacking State-by-State series is now - pardon the wording - history.  I have enjoyed learning about all the different ways of eating all over this country over the past two years and a handful of months.

• I've either learned or re-learned how to pick apart a lobster (Maine), a crawfish (Louisiana), a King crab (Alaska) and a shrimp (Florida).   I sought out easier ways to shuck oysters (Delaware, Mississippi and Virginia) and clams (Rhode Island).  Mind you, I already knew how to pick blue crabs (Maryland), duh, and Dungeness (Washington) was something I remembered from back in California.  
• I learned that Youtube is a great repository for how-to videos, on everything from frying bison testicles (Wyoming) to making Mr. Beer home brew as interesting as possible (Wisconsin), to making sushi rice (California), to mixing up your own Korean potato salad (District of Columbia) and so on.
• As far as my own state's food goes, I've learned just how much more Southern we are in our culinary history (note: panfried chicken, Smith Island cake) than we are Northern, though we still have that.
• I was also reminded that Lady Baltimore cake (South Carolina) has nothing to do with Maryland, no matter how hard John Shields or myself want it to be.
• I've learned a few new-to-me culinary terms: 
• bizcochito (New Mexico)
• buckeyes (Ohio)
• chislic (South Dakota)
• curtido (District of Columbia)
• funeral potatoes (Utah)
• halušky (Pennsylvania)
• hot chicken (Tennessee)
• johnny cakes (Rhode Island)
• knoepfla (North Dakota)
• mofongo (Puerto Rico)
• musubi (Hawaii)
• pemmican (Montana)
• pork roll (New Jersey)
• purloo (South Carolina)
• sofrito (Puerto Rico)
• St. Paul sandwich (Missouri)
• tapioca maltodextrin (Illinois)
• tourtière (New Hampshire)
• wojapi (Nebraska - this one and pemmican are both Native American dishes)
• I now know how to smoke pork butt  (North Carolina) in the slow cooker, as well as beef brisket (Texas), and how to smoke pork ribs (Missouri & Tennessee) in the oven.
• I learned how expedient and how expensive mail-ordering foods can be when you just cannot buy them locally - ahem, huckleberries, anyone? (Idaho)
• I learned that Miss Paula may claim that gooey butter cake for Savannah, Georgia, but they were making it in Missouri long before she caught wind of the idea.
• I still never got to make steamed crabs from Maryland or Virginia, Jamaican jerk chicken from New York, or apple pie from all over the country, but I do think I covered most of the bases.

And that closes the textbook on this culinary exploration of America.  It has been enriching, exhausting, expensive and fattening all at the same time.  And with that, I can now go to the supermarket secure in the knowledge that I don't have to root out any specific ingredient for any blog-related reason, anymore.  And to quote the master herself one final time, Bon Appétit!

Sources:

"AmandasMom971" (poster).  "Julia Child's Meatloaf".  CD Kitchen, posted 2012.  Copyright CDKitchen 2005-2013, all rights reserved.

Child, Julia.  Julia's Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking.  David Nussbaum, collaborator.  Knopf: New York, 2000.  Reprinted 2009.

Garten, Ina.  Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family.  Clarkson Potter: New York, 2002.

Smithsonian National Museum of American History (Behring Center).  Bon Appétit! Julia Child's Kitchen at the Smithsonian.  Rayna Green and Paula Johnson, content and curatorial for website, Nancy Growald Brooks, editor (full list of website and exhibition credits can be found here).  Copyright 2002 - present, Smithsonian Institution, all rights reserved.

Some information also obtained from the United States Wikipedia page and from the Food Timeline State Foods webpage.

Baltimore Restaurant Week: The Wine Market

The winter version of Baltimore Restaurant Week is almost over once again (though several restaurants, including the one below, have extended it for a week!  Check with them for details).  And it's been a while since I've had the pleasure of doing a Restaurant Week post.  So after my meal last night at the Wine Market in Locust Point, I figured I'd hunker down and write one more Restaurant Week post.

The Wine Market is one of those restaurants that I've wanted to go to but just haven't gotten around to going to yet.  My attention often gets diverted to the Harris Teeter when I'm in the McHenry Row area.  I finally got the chance to head in last night, walking through the gauntlet of wines and beers that you can buy and bring in with you.  I got a Loose Cannon ($5) at the bar while waiting for my friends to show, and then joined them at the table when they got there, ready to see what we could get for $30.13 each.

Alan and Eric splurged on a nice red wine that Eric got in the wine store.  I had a sip, and learned how to swirl the stuff around in preparation for sniffing it.  I'm not a wine person, but even with the various tastings I've been to, I've never done this.  It really does change things!

So, unlike our usual practice of each ordering something different and trying the things we have on each others' plates, we pretty much opted for very similar meals.  A few of us ordered the oyster first course.

These were the cornmeal fried oysters in a bacon beurre blanc (normally $10).  Just four juicy, tender oysters in a wonderful crispy breading.  Not much else to say about it.  I was satisfied.

For the second course, we all ordered the Grilled Piedmont steak (locally raised in Maryland, normally $27).  I rarely get steak, so this was a rare treat for me.  I ordered it medium rare, and got treated to a juicy thick (read: thick) steak.  This came with a sprinkle of Brussel sprouts, mushrooms and a sizable slab of root veggie gratin to round it all out.  I couldn't place the vegetables in the gratin, but it tasted fine nonetheless.

For our final course, we once more all ordered the same thing: a pumpkin crème brulée (not sure of the regular price).  I love me some crème brulée and this one was nice, though not the most memorable one I've ever had.  It had a pretty mild pumpkin flavor along with that nice sweet crunchy burnt sugar top.  Still, a lovely little dessert that I would probably order again.

Overall this was a good Restaurant Week experience.  Again, the Wine Market is extending their Restaurant Week menu through to February 10 (hopefully celebrating a possible Ravens win in the Super Bowl maybe??? I'll say no more: I do not want to jinx this).  Make sure you stop by there this week for more delicious food either for lunch or dinner.

Cafe Hon, Revisited.

I admit that I'm probably the last food blogger in Baltimore that has not yet seen Gordon Ramsay's epic visit to Cafe Hon - or read about his recent return.  But color me one of the teeming Charm City masses that did give up on the place a while back.  Yes, I admit it was the whole trademark thing and other small business controversies that ultimately did it.  And of course, there were problems with the food.  But with Whiting dealing head on with her Kitchen Nightmares, I thought it was finally time to check out Cafe Hon again, to see what has changed.  And so I did last weekend (Yes, it took this long to write about it.  I have a day job, y'all).

It is more cheerful than it used to be, and not in the annoying "Hey, hon? Hal y'all doin' hon? Hal baot dem O's hon?" kind of way.  Elvis is still there, of course, as well he should be.  A private party was in the bar area and at first it looked like there weren't many patrons in the main section.  But more than a few were tucked into the booths, a good sign for an early weekend night.  I was seated quickly and - thankfully - did not encounter any obnoxious beehive hairdos (revoke my Bawlmer citizenship card, alright?  Everything in moderation, even beehives).

Glancing at the new menu, I noticed a lot of the old standards, including the crab cakes, the meatloaves, the burgers and so on.  This time however I aimed for the specials menu, whose tuna caprese sandwich caught my eye: for about $11, I don't exactly recall, you get two pieces of tuna - small enough for both to fit side by side in the sandwich - covered with mozzarella and sitting on top of chopped olives, on a bun.  The sandwich is served with potato chips on the side (Utz?).

I didn't wait too long for it while sipping on my beer.  My first reaction to the sandwich: it looks good.  Then I tried to pick it up, and the sandwich easily fell apart.  The physics of the sandwich just made it difficult to hold, I guess.  This was a minor annoyance, but I put it back together and held the bun more tightly around the tuna.  It was pleasantly salty - again, the olives - and the tuna was not dry at all.  It was a sandwich I easily could plow through, but I did take it slowly.  I'm glad I did because I bit down almost full force into an olive pit!  No broken teeth, but this I was not expecting.  It does suggest that they're not getting their olives from a can, but using the good ones.  Still, ouchie.

I figured at the end of the meal the only problems with the sandwich were not flavor or texture related but purely logistical, which isn't a bad thing.  Perhaps the tuna caprese would work better as a wrap?  It certainly wouldn't fall apart.  The only other suggestion: let people know there might be olive pits in the sandwich.  Maybe they did offer such a warning and I missed it, but if not there should be one.  But I will note that it was, overall, a good sandwich.

I did order a slice of mile-high devil's food cake after.  I could not finish it, but I did enjoy eating the rest of it the next day.

In all though, I think Ramsay's visit to the House of Whiting worked well.  Would I go back to Cafe Hon, hons?  Well yes, I would go back.  But I'd eat anything with olives a little more carefully.  Advice for any olive dish anywhere, really.  Maybe I'll tiptoe back to the meatloaf next time.

Mt. Vernon Miscellany: Late April Edition

Just a few things in and around the Mt. Vernon neighborhood that I haven't gotten around to, since life and these dang State-by-State posts have taken up all my time:

1) I love Mughal Garden, and will go back again and again, but you didn't have to get so worried when I ordered my dinner "spicy" last night.  It wasn't very spicy.  Didn't even have to blow my nose more than once with that delicious lamb korma.  Are y'all sure you didn't give me medium-spiced instead?

2) Not sure if Marie Louise Bistro just doesn't want me there anymore, but the last few times I've gone in to wait for a table much of the staff has just stared at me and kept walking - not even a "Someone will be with you in just a moment, sir" (that will keep me patiently waiting for a while).  Note: they won't stop you from going upstairs to seat yourself.

3) What the hell are these things? (Taken not in Mt. Vernon but at the Abingdon Wegman's in Harford County.  Just had to slip this in somewhere.)

I'm scared.

4) Back to Mt. Vernon:: it looks like somebody's doing something with the old Brass Elephant building.  Yay!  (Yes I'm probably the last person to say anything about it, but it's overdue.  The linked article suggests it may be back open by spring, which means soon since it's now spring!)

5) Am going to Kumari again.  Last August I got a nasty bout of something after eating there (avoid the chow chow if at all possible).  But they won me back with their Nepali Bhohan!

6) I really should save up for this sometime: Sotto Sopra's next Opera Night ($58) is Sunday, May 20th.  (Yes, just south of Mt. Vernon but hell it's my blog.)

That's all for now.  Back tonight for some half-priced maki rolls at Minato before the alleged finale of RuPaul's Drag Race at the Hippo (who is hosting RPDR finalist Sharon Needles on May 4!).

And happy birthday to my sister who is once more only a year younger than I am :-P

Tidbits: Rehoboth in August Edition

I headed to Rehoboth Beach last week for a few days of rest and sun (and, er, clouds). I usually try to hit up places I have not visited while I'm there, though a visit to one famous brewpub is always on the agenda.

* The Pig & Fish is a puzzling name until you realize it means "Eat Like a Pig, Drink Like A Fish". And I certainly did during happy hour (4 to 6 pm), where various appetizers, beers and such are half priced. I got two Dogfish head 90 Minute Pale Ales and a Hennepin for half off, and enough appetizers to force me to have to return at some point. Their crab dip ($6) comes with lots of sliced bread for dipping. It wasn't a chunky dip at all, but more of a smooth and silky crab-flavored fondue. What was particularly fascinating was their "hog wings" ($5.50) - pork shanks cooked in either BBQ sauce or Italian herb butter. Quite a good bit of food and drink for happy hour.

* I made a tough decision on lunch thanks to the Urbanspoon app I downloaded onto my phone (damn this thing is useful, especially since the Wifi in the guest house was not working). I finally settled on Lily Thai on 1st Street. It has some pricey entrées - and a bowl of soup for dinner can run you $7. This is why eating out for lunch is such a good idea. For $8 I got a lunch special: salad (better than most side salads I usually get), a fried spring roll and, for my main course, fried catfish - Southern style (still not quite sure if they meant "Southern Thailand" or "Southern USA"), with potatoes and onions in a yellow curry sauce. Though the crispiness of the catfish didn't really hold up after a few minutes, the fried catfish still went nicely with the curry sauce. A Thai iced tea costs about $4 for lunch, a nice addition to your meal.

* I always stop by Dogfish Brew Pub while in Rehoboth, though it was so crowded when I got there that i figured i would just have a beer or two and then go somewhere else for dinner. It pays to hang out at the bar because I was able to snag a seat that one diner had just vacated (and it only took 15 minutes). I got there, it so happens, on International IPA Day, a day to celebrate craft beers. Dogfish had its special 75 Minute IPA available, a beautiful looking and tasting IPA for $5. I got to sample more with my dinner, a regular burger with my choice of toppings ($8 plus $1 for each topping) - avocado and goat cheese spread. It amazes me how they fit a burger like this - an average width burger, mind you - on such a tiny bun. It was almost like a burger that Wimpy would have eaten. Back to the sampler: I got to try several in 4 oz glasses. My favorite of the five? Chateau Jiahu, based on a 9,000 year old Chinese recipe and featuring honey and rice in the mix. The ultra fruity Black & Red stout was also a winner, though not one I could finish a whole glass of. Also of note: the Palo Santo Marrón and the Chicory Stout (I love the dark beers, what can I say?) My least favorite was the Shelter Pale Ale, the Dogfish original and a good beer but it really kind of pales in comparison to the others I sampled. I guess it would pale, since it's a pale ale (har har har).

* One friend of mine suggested a Nic-O-Boli from Nicola Pizza, and so I made it my last meal in town. Nicola is a friendly establishment with pizza and other Italian-American standards. Their Nic-O-Boli ($7 to $10 depending on the fillings) is a standard stromboli filled with their tomato and ground beef sauce, a local favorite. I got mine with everything, including anchovies, which I never get enough of a chance to eat.

Because Passover is coming up...

The Atlantic has quickly become on of my favorite sources for interesting articles about food, drink and such. Take Yoni Appelbaum's brief but thorough history of Manischewitz sweet Concord grape wine. In "The 11th Plague? Why People Drink Sweet Wine on Passover", the author grapples with the history behind the reality that Manischewitz wine isn't all that good, but people love it anyway. From raisin wine to cheap, easily supervised Concord grape production, through Prohibition and into the present day, Appelbaum lays out the history of Passover wine in America, and the uniquely American drink that Manischewitz became. It's even become a fad among hip young Jews and gentiles alike. For instance, as Appelbaum says:

...a modern bistro attracts a trendy crowd with offerings that include the Drunken Pharaoh, a Manischewitz-and-bourbon cocktail. Concord wine, it turns out, has hipster cred. It is also enjoying a boom in exports to Asia, home to the world's fastest-growing wine markets.

Catholic boy here will occasionally buy a canister of kosher macaroons at Giant when he finds them. As for the Manischewitz wine: I haven't tried it, but now I'm gonna have to go out and buy some just to see what Appelbaum is saying.

A few random bites: January Edition

Yes, once again I've been overwhelmed with work, job apps and extracurricular activities to write about everything I've eaten as of late. Just a few tidbits to keep you all up to date:

1. Sof'ella's Blueberry Muffin with Streusel Mix is pretty damn good. It's not so easy to find here but go to any of the DC-area World Markets and you will find them easily.

2. A week or so ago, my sister and I met up with some friends of hers for a (mostly) girls night out - all the way out in Eldersburg. The County Cork Pub is a very busy place, and for at least half an hour it was standing room only for us while we waited for a table. Once seated I ordered for myself a plate of oysters on the half shell (about $10), with a few tangy sauces to eat them with. So delicious. The burger ($9) with hand-cut fries in garlic were even better, but filled me up too much for any dessert.

3. This past Friday night I stopped by 13.5% Wine Bar. Again, it was all good: bread with olive oil and roasted garlic ($6) was a little messy, as far as squeezing out the garlic, but still very comforting. The pulled duck confit tacos ($8) were new for me: rich duck confit with an onion jam and sprigs of cilantro inside soft tortillas were an odd combination, but one I will have to come back to sometime soon. And I must pair it with their four shots of draft beef ($7), which gives someone like me, who can't make a decision, a nice variety of beers to try out. The Clipper City stood out for me, but all were good.

4. That chocolate gravy-turned-mousse that I made a few weeks ago was still good in the refrigerator yesterday. Still not sick! Oh what one will pull out of the fridge if it has no fuzz or weird colors on it.

5. Oh what useless junk one will find in Giant: who really needs a "small appliance caddy" to slide small appliances that just-are-not-small-enough back under your cabinet? Really?

Freezer Potpourri

In the latest edition of "What can John find in his freezer for dinner?" I yanked out a few interesting looking bags that I had placed in there a few months before - and threw out one that was clearly from Thanksgiving 2009 - and set myself to fixin' dinner.

Before: bags of frozen meatloaf, rosemary potatoes, and some as-yet unidentified tomato-ish substance.

After: rosemary potatoes with meatloaf topped with (freshly identified) tomato jam, and sprinkled with black lava sea salt.

It tasted pretty good. In fact, this particular meatloaf seemed to have a better texture after I froze and reheated it. I have enough of everything for at least one more serving of the whole thing, too.

Sabbatical Flashback 2: From Bulgogi Tacos to Avocado Salsa: A Day of Eating in LA

This sabbatical has been very refreshing, but one problem I'm finding with it is that I can't tell people about the great places I'm finding in the meantime. Okay, there's the Twitter, but how much depth can one go into in just 140 characters?

Take last night for example. I headed to Arlington to see comedian Chris "Nerdist" Hardwick, the host of G4TV's Web Soup and occasional guest on Chelsea Lately - ever engaging, never insulting, always self-deprecating, and very interactive with the audience both during and after the show (he suggested during the show that we all get pie afterwards, and he was convincing enough that I half-believed him). But before that show - which I waited almost 45 minutes to get into, and which our headliner profusely thanked us for waiting for - I stopped at Bangkok 54, an upscale-looking restaurant on one side and a Thai grocery store on the other. If ever in Arlington you should get their lime Thai iced tea ($2.50) and crispy basil squid ($13).

I actually have seen Chris once before, when I went to a taping of Web Soup this summer on a trip to LA. The food I had there wasn't sit down Thai, but of course I wrote about it anyway. For those who aren't familiar with the blog, I do these travelogues once in a while when I go out of town. It's just so hard to find the time, you know?

✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿

From Bulgogi Tacos to Avocado Salsa: A Day of Eating in LA

(originally posted Wednesday, May 26, 2010)

In my first full day in California this time around, I hit LA, primarily to see a taping of Web Soup (the episode is on tonight; you might hear me guffawing in the studio audience). Oh that I lived closer so that I could go more often! And host Chris Hardwick is a hoot, as is his on-set producer. Before the taping I hung out at the La Brea Tar Pits, right across the street. You have to pay $7 to get in, but lots of it can be seen for free. You could even bring a picnic lunch and eat next to the Tar Pits. No worries about falling in - there's a fence, with fake mammoths in distress and everything. The gas bubbles in the tar pits themselves are a fascinating site to see.

Of course, I had to eat while I was in Los Angeles. In general the food was memorable, though some of it was more memorable than the rest:

Bite (West Hollywood) - I stopped in here, despite a recommendation for a few burger places, some of which also sold wonderful carne asada and burritos. I went into the sleek, skylight-illuminated Bite instead, since I didn't feel like walking all that way to the burger joint (also wasn't too in the mood for a burger). Bite's service is a wee bit on the slow side - even when they have just a handful of customers - but they are attentive when they do show up, even offering bread (I turned it down) and free, homemade tortilla chips (I didn't turn it down). They had a variety of small and large plates, and I opted for a few of the small plates.


The avocado salad ($5.50) had a lot less avocado than I had expected, but still had lots of chunky tomato, onion and corn that made it the best thing on the table. The tortilla chips, fresh and hot from the fryer, made for an excellent complement and I should have eaten that alone. Instead, I also ordered a turkey and cheese empanada ($3.50) which was good at first, but quickly became heavy and a little on the mystery meat side. The crust, at least, was flaky and tender. Maybe I should've ordered the beef empanada instead. The final small plate I ordered was a plate of fried calamari rings ($8), breaded not in the typical crispy and flaky breading but instead in a dark colored Italian herb coating. It was a different coating than I am used to but it was good for what it was. The chunky tomato sauce and ranch or blue cheese (?) dip that came with it went nicely with the calamari for dipping. The squid was tender though a little bland, mostly serving as a base for the breading. All the while I wished I had gotten the Greek salad, which the guy at the next table was simply raving about.

Bool BBQ Truck (various locations throughout LA; at the Miracle Mile / Comcast Studios on Wilshire Blvd yesterday - follow them on their Twitter feed for today's location) - For about a tenth of what I spent for lunch at Bite, I got a much more memorable taco in LA proper. The hook: it was from the popular Bool BBQ Truck, which makes a mixture of Korean and Korean-style Mexican food (there were also Chinese and Brazilian versions parked just a few feet away). Since I had a mere few dollars on me, I went for the one thing under $4, a $2.50 bulgogi soft taco in two small corn tortillas. This was just a fun and different way to eat both Korean and Mexican food, and I wish we had one of these in Baltimore sitting next to the Kooper's Chowhound Wagon and the Iced Gems cupcake truck. Sweet chunks of bulgogi (Korean BBQ) mixed with crunchy cabbage, not quite yet kimchi (though they have that too), onion bits and cilantro. all in two warm corn tortillas. It was a little bit of impressiveness to presage my foray into the tar pits and the G4TV studios.


The folks at G4 know about this place, yes?

BCD Tofu House (Koreatown and various locations throughout LA and the country) - After the taping I headed further through Koreatown to get to one of the local gay bars for a beer (side note: I still got it, by the way, wink wink). There was a bevy of establishments, and blocks upon blocks of buildings with signs written neither in English nor in Spanish but in Korean. Enough of them had some English that I could find my way towards the restaurants. A few looked inviting but had two or three persons seated - the employees, for the most part. But one place, in one of those IHOP-shaped buildings (only much bigger and homier) not only was not empty but was filled with Korean-American diners. If the Korean community is coming here for its Korean food, the safe assumption is that it's probably a mistake to pass it up. BCD Tofu House is not confined to Koreatown but is spread throughout the LA Basin, with additional locations in Seattle, Korea and Japan (a pre-recorded new report also suggested there was on in Manhattan but their website does not mention it). The customer base at BCD hustles and bustles almost as much as the waitstaff, enjoying its food all the while sipping little more than water. Seriously, nobody was drinking anything but water.


Like many good Korean establishments, BCD Tofu House is no-nonsense about getting you your food quickly and efficiently (Bite: take note). It gives you various choices in what to order: you can order lunch and dinner combos for between $13-$18 - it's all the same combos but just a few dollars less for lunch - or you can order a hot (to the touch) stone bowl of tofu with various ingredients, spicy or mild (and they don't kid around about the spicy part), plus a separate stone bowl of rice and various plates of panchan. My panchan included a few types of kimchi, plus a whole little fried fish that I made quick work of with gleaming stainless steel chopsticks. There was also an egg that I made little notice of, not realizing that it was raw and was meant to be cracked into the boiling bowl of tofu that was delivered to my table.


I ordered the #3, the Seafood Premium Tofu ($9), which included oysters, clams and shrimp with humongous bits of tofu in an extremely spicy broth. If I get back - and I may have to the next time I'm in town - I'll crack the egg in the tofu like I am supposed to.

Other photos -

Owwee.

This is as far as I got with using my camera at G4. I didn't even bother to whip it out but I should have asked Chris Hardwick for a photo. I think he would've been alright with it.


I don't think this ended well.

It's remarkable that with all the creatures that have perished in the Tar Pits, only one member of our own species suffered that same fate: a rather clumsy woman in her mid-to-late 20's from around 10,000 BC.

Lots of these little fellas fell into the Tar Pits: a wall of wolf skulls

Proposition 8 Ruled Unconstitutional!

I had to get out and celebrate the news out from the West Coast that Prop 8 is ruled unconstitutional. As the judge said himself, "Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gays and lesbians for denial of a marriage license" (this from Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic).

So I headed down to Mount Vernon to celebrate. First I had a Flying Dog (draft, $4.25) at the Grand Central - where I struggled as fast as I could to get away from some annoying drunk bragging about a $5000 bonus he got while I'm here trying to find a full time job. Happily fleeing that drunken fool, I skidded on over to the Mt. Vernon Stable for a slice of Pimlico cake ($6.50).

Come on, Maryland, it is time!

The American 'Ethnic' Food Section

This from an American woman living in Berlin, commenting on the awesome international section at her local supermarket in the Alexanderplatz of the German capitol. She's noting the "USA" section, with some of the most familiar foods a Yank could find in Germany. Love the hot sauce.

Pride Weekend Eats

There's a popular saying from Fran Leibowitz: 'If you removed all of the homosexuals and homosexual influence from what is generally regarded as American culture, you would pretty much be left with "Let's Make a Deal”' While I don't know about that - and while I'm flattered to think that could ever be the case - her quote sure as hell does not explain the culinary wasteland that is the typical gay pride festival. This is why it is so fortunate that at least the Pride Fest Block Party on Saturday is centered around Mount Vernon. There, the food is a bit better than the "crab on a pita drowning in melted cheese" I had at the Sunday festival in Druid Hill Park a few years ago, and which many people will have chosen again for this year's Festival in the Park. It's disappointing that Pride Fest coincides with the African American Festival at M&T Bank Stadium just about every year. I would hope that the food is a good bit better, and hopefully not of the "crab on a shingle" variety.

And so, because gay (truly, LGBT) pride is truly not a foodie event, you have to avoid most if not all of the kiosks and head for the restaurants. Which I did.

• City Café - I must say, this is quickly becoming a semi-regular hangout for me. It's always a good place to go on a weekend night for a cappuccino and some sort of dessert. The problem for me lies with the entrées, because they're often pricier than I want to spend. (The expense in general is also why I don't eat out that much anymore.) But I did something different on Friday night and just had some appetizers, always a good idea if you're trying to save money and sample the food at the same time. I was not disappointed with the appetizers I got. The first was a fried green tomato with crab meat plate ($11): two slice o' green maters in sweet lump crab with a lemony beurre-blanc. It didn't look like much, but I did not exactly snarf it down. The coating on the fried green tomato was dark, dense and crispy. I found that it overpowered the nice sour tang of the green tomato just a little bit, but it was something I could deal with. It was a lovely dish, but what really stood out were the grilled lamb chops ($11): four small "lollipop" lamb chops with a limoncello glaze, sprinkled with pecans and dried apricots. the lamb chops were almost caramel-like in their sweetness, and packed a good amount of juicy, tender meat. Even these two appetizers together cost $22, but it's a bit cheaper than either one of these plus an entrée, which would set you back at least $30.
  
• Lunch was a half-buffet/half-fixed menu outing at Indigma. They're trying something I've never seen at an Indian restaurant before: their "table side buffet". Here's how it goes: 1) Choose one of three prix-fixe lunches, veg, non-veg and mixed, each of which consists of eight Indian tapas in small square bowls (including the rice), with hot naan. You get as much as you want, but it may fill you up; 2) then go to the buffet, which includes salads, chutneys, raitas, pickles and desserts. I ordered the mixed combination for the surprisingly low price of $10, plus a ginger lassi for $4. The lassi was a little thin, and the ginger was subtle. Really, the lunch offerings overpowered it. My favorite among the tapas was their fenugreek (methi) chicken. It was so juicy and not at all tough or dry, with a nice color and texture. It was chicken the way I would always like to eat it. A potato fritter went all too fast (maybe I should've eaten another one) and the butter chicken had a nice, buttery sauce. There also was a lemon pickle I got at the salad bar that was very different from most Indian pickles I have ever had. The food was pretty good but for the price it was amazing.

• Dinner was at Minato, where I met up with several friends, including my neighbor, for sushi. This time I let them choose what to get, and they made no mistakes. I just can't identify the rolls but we had the typical sushi-sashimi platters. My share was around $30 or so. That includes a sake and plum wine martini that gave me all the sake I needed without having to order my own bottle, and at $7.25 it was cheaper than most of the good cold sake they have. Again, I left satisfied. For me, Minato never disappoints!

Of course, the festival itself didn't exactly please me food wise. I got an okay crab cake sandwich for $7, and a cold sweet tea which, depressingly, was neither all that cold nor all that sweet. Add to that a $6 piña colada in a peensy plastic cup that had less alcohol in it than if I had just asked them to give it to me "dry" and hold all the rum in the first place. At least we in the Men's Chorus went out to Tamber's afterwards. I ordered the chicken tikka ($14) which tasted more like a barbeque fajita than anything Indian. But still it was so much more preferable to the eats at the festival in Druid Hill Park. Yes, even then my theory was confirmed: the typical Pride Festival is itself a culinary wasteland.