Kitchen Wench

Photo by umami

This weekend, I ate dinner at Nam Viet in Cleveland Park. Nam Viet is not the best Vietnamese restaurant in the area (Eden Center is where it’s at), but it’s pretty good and close to my house. It does brisk business, but I think the authenticity of the food suffers from its clientèle: Cleveland Park is bursting at the seams with white people.

As a general rule, I have found that I get better ethnic food at the restaurants that cater to diners of that ethnic group. However, not all ethnic restaurants have that luxery and the food can get watered down to suit American tastes. Growing up in the Midwest, this was a huge problem. Things are a lot better in DC, to the point where I sometimes forget just how clueless many people still are when it comes to eating Asian food. And so, I give you, the Cleveland Park Rice Incident:

I am waiting to order and can’t help but overhear the woman at the next table. She is a middle-aged white woman dining by herself. She keeps asking the waitress the same question over and over again.

“Can they grill it?”

The waitress shakes her head and explains the preparation of the dish, which does not involve grilling.

The woman is unmoved. “But, can’t they just grill it?”

The waitress shakes her head again. “No, that’s the only way they make it.”

“Okay… well… I don’t eat flour. Can you tell them to go light on the flour?”

The waitress complies, writes down the order, and leaves. I figure this lady is one of those annoying Difficult Diner types that are always trying to change the menu or ask for something special. For some reason, women of a certain age are especially prone to this behavior. If you have a legitimate food allergy, that’s one thing. But if you want your food fixed special just because you refuse to eat it any other way, then you’re just being rude. The restaurant chef is not your personal chef.

A short time later, the woman’s food arrives. It is softshell crab with vegetables and a bowl of rice. The woman flags the waitress down and asks if she can get some butter for her rice. Read the rest of this entry �

While trying to halve the following macaroni and cheese recipe from Gourmet, I accidentally messed up the proportions of butter, flour and cheese. The resulting dish was incredibly creamy, incredibly yummy, and incredibly bad for you. Now you too can put yourself on the road to heart disease!

Mac “Heart Attack ‘n Cheese

adapted from Gourmet

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon fresh pepper, or to taste
• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
• 3 cups freshly grated Swiss cheese (I used Jarlsberg)
• 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup freshly grated extra sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and butter a 2 quart casserole dish.

2. Boil a large pot of water and cook macaroni until just al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain and return to pot.

3. In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter over moderately low heat. Add flour and cook roux, whisking, 2 minutes. Add onions, continue to cook 2 minutes more. Be sure to keep whisking so the roux doesn’t burn. Add milk, whisking well to remove any lumps. Add mustard, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer sauce, whisking occasionally, until very thick, about 3 minutes.

4. Add the Swiss, Cheddar, and half of the Parmesan to the sauce, one handful at a time. Whisk until the cheese is fully melted into the sauce before adding the next handful.

5. Pour cheese sauce over cooked macaroni and stir to coat.

6. In a small bowl stir together bread crumbs and remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan and sprinkle evenly over macaroni. For extra beautiful browning, dot the top of the crumb coating with little pea-size bits of butter. (If you want to save a few calories, you can leave it out, but the topping will be drier.)

7. Bake macaroni in middle of oven 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden and bubbling.

Serves 4 to 6 as entrée or 6 to 8 as a side dish.

During my first week at my current job, I noticed that the guy who sat next to me was making an awful lot of phone calls. He kept making restaurant reservations, then promptly canceling them in some sort of complex dining calculus designed to maximize his Restaurant Week experience. It all seemed a little intense to me, until I discovered that fine dining in DC is really freaking expensive.

Today, OpenTable published the list of restaurants participating Restaurant Week (August 11-17). I have already booked all my meals for the week. Like my old co-worker, I’ve become just as greedy about Restaurant Week. After all, it only comes but twice a year. So I save it all up and eat 7 (hopefully all) delicious meals for $35 each. Here’s where I’m going:

Monday: PS 7’s Tuesday: Oyamel Wednesday: Vidalia Thursday: Cafe Atlantico, Rasika Friday: DC Coast Saturday: Acadiana Sunday: Eating burgers and hot dogs at my boyfriend’s summer office party. Blech.

This could all change upon further research or contemplation. That’s the beauty of OpenTable–you can search, book, and cancel all online. I’ve eaten at PS 7’s, Acadiana, Vidalia, and Rasika before and expect that I will get a quality meal. Sadly, Corduroy is not doing RW anymore; you used to be able to get the full menu for $30 and it was faaaabulous. My guess is that the rent at their new location may make it prohibitively expensive. Oyamel, Cafe Atlantico, and DC Coast are a gamble, so if you’ve been there, please let me know what you thought.

I’ve never booked this early before, and I have to say, it’s nice. There’s no need to go into your second or third choice, eat at 10 pm, or check OpenTable constantly in the hope that someone will cancel and you can nab the spot. It kind of takes the thrill out of it, but I’m really looking forward to eating at 7 all week. So go get yourself a reservation early–you’ve got three weeks to save up the cash and/or drop a few pounds before treating yourself.

Anthony Bourdain is in DC this weekend to film an episode of “No Reservations.” As someone who regularly fantasizes about having Tony’s job instead of being chained to a cubicle, this is exciting stuff. I was even more titillated when I got a tip that he would be shooting at the Penn Quarter farmers’ market, a scant block from my office. And so, I began to plan.

Would Bourdain show up early, right when the market opened at 3? Would he come late, towards the end? Would he even spent time walking around with the commoners or would he rush directly into the welcoming arms of José Andrés, whose Café Atlantico and minibar are across the street? How often should I check the market? Every hour? Every half hour? Every 20 minutes? AHH!

Sadly, it was not to be. Instead of pretending that I needed to buy an iced tea from Teaism every 20 minutes, I ended up in a cold hotel conference room, listening to some men in suits yammer on for over an hour. I almost never have to leave my office to attend a conference, so this was a little soul crushing. I had even packed my digital camera and everything.

I got back to my office at 5; the Penn Quarter market closes at 7. Maybe I hadn’t missed him? I grabbed my camera and headed for the door, only to be greeted by a freak summer thunderstorm which dumped sheets of water all over downtown. When it finally let up around 6, the market was shutting down and Bourdain and Andrés were nowhere to be found. All I got was a discount on a pint of soggy black raspberries. (They were delicious, but still…)

According to a commenter at Penn Quarter Living, Bourdain was there, right when the market opened. Right when I was trapped at that conference. DCist captured a picture and José Andrés; according to the comments, he’s already hit Chadwicks in Georgetown and Busboys and Poets on U St. Next stop: Ben’s Chili Bowl, though I suspect I’ve already missed it if he was at Busboys this afternoon.

The thing is, it’s not that I haven’t seen Anthony Bourdain in person before; I went to his book talk at Olsson’s last year. I paid $36 and waited in a really long line for him to sign my book, only to get up there, utter a nervous, “Hi” and hand him a slip of paper with my name written on it. But I didn’t watch the show as much back then. I didn’t care as much/was totally distracted by all the DC toolbags that were at the book signing. It’s just that I was so close yesterday, or at least I thought I was. I guess I’ll just have to settle for watching him on tv.

This is officially my new favorite pie flavor. I have a bit of a penchant for mixing fruits in my pies, in part because I think the result is a more complex flavor. Also, I must confess, I keep buying rather expensive fruit at the Penn Quarter and Mt. Pleasant farmers’ markets, and I get greedy and buy a pint here and a quart there of every berry they have. I initially planned to make a cherry pie, but I didn’t have enough cherries, so I frantically threw in some blueberries. It’s actually a great combination–when cooked, both fruits have a really bold flavor, but the blueberries help balance out the tartness of the cherries. Sour cherry season is short, so take advantage of it!

Sour cherry blueberry pie

For crust:

I actually tried using a sweet tart dough instead of my usual all butter crust recipe, with mixed success. The sweetness pairs well with the tart fruit, but the tart dough is very soft and difficult to roll. When I first put the pie in the oven, the temperature was too hot, and the crust started to melt off the pie plate. In the future, I will go back to my standby recipe and just double the sugar.

For filling:

• 1 quart sour cherries, pitted (Don’t have a cherry pitter? Use Smitten Kitchen’s needlenose pliers method. I like to insert the tip of the pliers into the top of the cherry–where the stem attaches–grab on to the pit, and pull straight up.)
• 2 quarts blueberries
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 tbsp corn starch
• 1 tsp almond extract

1. Make dough according to recipe. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 20 minutes.

2. Toss fruit with sugar, starch, and extract.

3. Roll out one half of the dough. For dough rolling tips (aka my mess-free Saran Wrap rolling method), go here. Place dough into the bottom of a 9″ pie plate and gently press into the sides. Brush the bottom with a little bit of beaten egg.

4. Pour fruit into the crust, mounding in the center. Roll out the second half of the dough. If you want, you can get fancy with lattice or some cookie cutter shapes. Or just cut a few slits with a knife to allow the steam to vent. Lay dough over the fruit. Trim any excess from the edges (a scissors is great for this) and gently seal the edges with your fingers or with the tines of a fork.

5. Brush the top of the pie with the remaining beaten egg. Sprinkle with sugar. If you are using the traditional butter crust, bake in a 375 oven for 45 minutes to an hour. If you are using the tart dough, bake at 325 for an hour and ten minutes.

Photo by ulterior epicure

I don’t know what other people do with their long 4th of July holiday weekends, but I apparently thought it would be a good idea to throw a dinner party and a brunch party.  I wish I had some photos to share with you, but if you’ve ever cooked dinner for 15 people in a 5′x7′ kitchen, you’ll understand that taking pictures was the last thing on my mind.

I made corn pudding for the first time this weekend.  I had some leftover corn on the cob from my dinner party and wanted to use it in some sort of brunch appropriate dish.  This corn pudding recipe is incredibly simple and delicious.  I’d happily eat it for breakfast (or lunch or dinner) every day.

Sweet Corn Pudding

Modified slightly from the original recipe in Bon Appetit

• 4 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (if using frozen, thaw first)
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Process all ingredients together in a food processor (an immersion blender also works well).  Pour into a casserole dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until top is browned and center is just solid.