Dinner On A Wednesday



Taylor's Biscuits

   Tonight was one of those nights where I just did not want to cook. Fortunately, I had some spaghetti sauce I made last week and some noodles. I highly recommend making fresh tomato sauce every few weeks and freezing it. It certainly has helped me keep my committment to avoid processed foods.
I decided to man up and make some of Taylor's favorite biscuits to compliment the sauce. They take about 15 minutes of preparation and cook in about 12 minutes. The recipe like all of the recipes I use is very easy and quick.

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together, 2 cups of flour in a bowl, 2 1/2 table spoons of Baking Powder and 1 teaspoon of salt.  Add 6 tablespoons of butter cut in small pieces. With two knives, cut the butter into the flour. Add 1 cup of milk and mix with a wooden spoon until your ingredients are combined. Now, gently knead the mixture onto the sides of the bowl.

While I was boiling the water and heating up the sauce, I had Taylor roll the dough on a cutting board that was lightly dusted with flour to a thickness of about 1/2".  We then cut it into squares and placed the squares on a cooking sheet. Bake the biscuits in the oven for about 12 minutes or until lightly brown. If you want to get fancy you can brush the tops with melted butter before baking.

The trick with biscuits is to use cold butter and to cut it into the flour as I have described. When you do it this way, you get the really flaky biscuits like the picture at the right.

Let me get on my soapbox for just a minute. You might be tempted to say to me that this is not a very healthy thing to eat. But the ingredients in this recipe are simple and fresh, you just cannot eat the entire batch. I admit that in the past, I have just bought the Pilsbury Biscuits from the dairy section and heated them up in the Oven.  And I will concede that they are pretty tasty. However, since I started this site and made my comittment to feeding Taylor fresh food prepared each night, I started reading the labels and considering the ingredients of prepared foods. You cannot convince me that butter is worse for you than articificial ingredients chemically manipulated to simulate a flavor. Flakiness that derives from Xantham Gum and Propylene Glycol Alganate preserved with something called TBHQ and colored with a chemical not identified at the end of the day is not good. If you start reading the labels of the food that we all eat it will scare you. I am not here to tell anyone what to do. I am just saying that I have absolutely no idea what TBHQ is or whether it is safe.

Okay, I feel better. For dessert we had fresh sliced strawberries, blueberries and pineapples.

Honey Pig -- Part Two

I went back to the Honey Pig in Annandale last night with Soon and her Korean girlfriends.  The Pig is a Korean BBQ joint in the heart of the Korean section of Annandale. The atmosphere is hip and the crowd is young. The food, which is cooked in the center of your table, is spicy and excellent. It is consistently named as one of the areas best late night spots for food and it is open all night on the weekends. If you drink the Korean version of sake, "Soju" you will definitely be up for the Karaoke Bar next door. It is Rocket Fuel ! Trust me, the Pig is a great night out for any occasion and the kids really enjoy it.

We had just about one of everything last night. We started out with Korean BBQ ribs followed by two kinds of Pork Belly, (Bacon), one was cooked without spices and the other was marinated in a very spicy sauce that was amazing. To eat it, you basically put the meat in a lettuce wrap and garnish it with roasted garlic or one of several spicy sauces that they provide. We had sides of Kimchi and peppers to enjoy along with our meal.

Soon ordered us a steaming soup that was made with a beef broth, Kimchi, Tofu and peppers. The flavor was definitely original. Kimchi is cabbage that is placed in a box and buried in the ground for several months while it ferments. It sounds kind of nasty but the flavor is quite good. Before you say no, remember, cheese is fermented.

After several bottles of Soju and too many entrees to count, we ordered the Squid with Spicy Sauce, cooked at our table of course. This is my favorite entree and the spiciness of the sauce really lights up the squid. After it was cooked, the server added bean sprouts, lettuce and rice to the grill and mixed in the remaining squid not already scarfed. This was cooked until the rice was cooked through and served. I am pretty sure that this was not on the Menu but it was amazing. I think it's one of those if you are Korean, you know to ask for it things. But now you know to ask! By the way, entire meal for 5 adults....$129.00.

For dessert, we went to Breeze Cafe in Annandale. (4125 Hummer Rd , Annandale , VA 22003).  This place is absolutely amazing and serves up incredible desserts. Like the Pig it is open 24 hours so you can imagine it does some business. I can tell you this, on a Monday night in the middle of summer, it was packed.

They have lots of pastries and cakes that looked amazing. But people are there for this flavored ice that you order with different toppings. My Korean friends ordered "Pat Bing Soo" which is a very sweet red bean over shaved ice. It was really good despite looking a bit odd. They also had a dozen flavors of gelato that were amazing.  It's a pretty cool place where you can sit out on the roof deck and enjoy your desserts.

Bread

Once I figured out how to make pizza dough I realized that I could make bread with roughly the same amount of effort. Taylor loves my homemade bread and it is always a treat.

The truth is that you don't need a bread maker or anything more than a spoon and a cutting board in order to make amazing bread. Like a lot of things in a modern world it is so easy to buy bread that you just assume that it is difficult to make or that you need a bunch of equipment. You don't....its easy and it's pretty cool when you can say that you made the bread on that sandwich.


In a large bowl add 2 cups of bread flour, 1 package of dry active yeast, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 3 tablespoons of melted butter and 2 cups of hot water. (Hot from your tap).  Vigorously stir with a tablespoon until all of the ingredients are well combined. 

This is the only tricky part.  You will need one more cup of flour and another 1/4 cup of hot water. Your dough should be a slightly sticky ball in your bowl. Slowly add the flour and continue to mix using your hands if necessary.  After you have added all of the flour add only enough water to allow the mix to come together without being sticky.

Next, knead the dough on a cutting board sprinkled with flour for about 10 minutes until the dough takes on an elastic quality.  Put about a tablespoon of oil in a large bowl and lightly roll your dough in it. Loosely cover the bowl with plastic and put aside in a warm, dry spot for about an hour. Your dough will rise during this period. Go watch golf or talk to your kid. (Whatever is easier).

After an hour, break the dough on your cutting board and form into a loaf.  In layman's terms this just means that your dough will be very airy and light. You just punch it down onto the board and begin to knead it a bit a form it into a loaf shape. This takes just about a minute.

Place the loaf into a greased bread loaf pan and again loosely cover with plastic. Set aside again for another 45 minutes. Your dough will double in size. Remember to loosely cover with the plastic so that the rising will not be inhibited. Again, go watch golf.....or talk to your kid.

Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees and bake the bread for about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 30 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack until fully cooled. You will know the bread is done when you flip it over and tap the bottom with a spoon. It should make a sort of hollow sound.

That's it. I told you it was easy.

I know you are thinking, "Dude, you are crazy that will take forever and I have an important life." Well good for you Dude. But, this is literally 15 minutes worth of actual work, the rest is waiting for the bread to rise.  I made this bread last night when I got home from work so I know it can be done. My commitment to cooking fresh is extending into multiple areas that I never contemplated when I started. But I am finding that we are eating much healthier as a result and in the process lowering our consumption of processed foods. I also find that Taylor and I actually speak more when I am cooking dinner. She pops in and wants to knead the dough or cut the vegetables. Dinner has become a team effort since we decided together to commit to cooking fresh each night.

Tom

Oyamel

Every good story has a beginning, a middle and an end. In many ways relationships are the same. So I nominate Oyamel as my favorite "break-up restaurant." 

Oyamel is a Mexican Tapas restaurant on 7th Street in D.C. It is owned by Celebrity Chef Jose Andras who is perhaps best known for Jaleo and his TV show, Made in Spain.

A good beginning to a last meal is the scallop cervice. Served on a plate of chilled river rocks, the scallops were decorated with small sliver of salmon and sea salt. It is gently placed on a key lime that is lightly sprinkled with some sort of pablano chili powder. The spice of the chili powder is perfectly balanced by the coolness of the scallop and the sweet tang of the key lime. An absolutely perfect bite.

 With Tapas you have the opportunity to savor multiple takes on a common theme. Australian yellow tail cervice with fresh hearts of palm, baby cucumber salad, jalapenos, vanilla, rose and passion fruit is cervice raised to a whole 'nother level. The sweetness of the passion fruit balanced perfectly against the bitterness of the inevitable.






Pork Belly Quesadillas served with Chihahua Cheese and five chilis show that you were never afraid to take chances and faintly remind her of the Korean BBQ you shared.

The Braised Beef Tongue Tacos with radishes and a sauce of roasted pasilla chile, tomatoes, chili and garlic are a flavorful and delicious reminder that certain things are best left unsaid at a last meal.

Because you want to show that your bad habits which include red meat, red wine and cigars don't define you, you order the Grilled Cactus Paddles served with a salsa mocajete, grilled tomatoes, tomatillos, green onions, cilantro and green chiles.  The texture of the cactus paddles is a bit unusual. But the tanginess of the tomatoes and tomatillos makes this dish really unique and worth ordering.








No good break-up meal is complete without some comfort food. French fries served in a mole pablano sauce of almonds, chiles and chocolate, topped with Mexican cream and queso fresco cheese are a perfect ending to a great meal and a great relationship. These things would kill at a football party.

Side Bar: Watching Bourdain in Cuba. Just said that his own theory, "Hemingway was hung like a hamster."  Later, he said, "Kim Kardashian's ass is stubbly after a few days, you just know that."  Do I need to say it? Anthony Bourdain is a Douche!

Last meals should be memorable and evoke emotions of time past and an uncertain future. An Oyamel Margarita is the perfect drink to accompany this meal. Tequila, triple sec, fresh lime juice and "salt air."  Salt Air is pretty cool. It is salt, water and sucra which is an emulsifier whipped with an immersion blender until it becomes foam. The foam is spooned on the drink. It looks cool and it tastes great.

So a great meal and a great time with no regrets. Oyamel is definitely good for first dates, last dates or any date.

http://www.oyamel.com/