Alright, that headline ought to get us some google hits.
Editor’s Note: Before anyone accuses me of pulling a Huffington, I should confess that this is not a “real” blog post from El. Our sometimes contributor recently took a trip to Morocco, and while she has yet to write about it, she did finally do the Kodak Gallery thing, and her food pics were so amazing that I had to grab them and share.
Escargot
Moroccan Coffee
Beans
Much more after the j.
Read More›
No One Puts Cupcakes in a Corner takes the cake in last week’s Who Cooked It Better, racking up 61 percent of the vote for her dark chocolate bacon cupcake.
With Mother’s Day around the corner, I thought it would be fun to explore that ultimate brunch food, Eggs Benedict. Searching around the Interwebs for creative Eggs Benedict recipes was an appetite-whetting endeavor indeed, and I am just about ready to take a bath in egg yolk right now.
Of course, you can’t get too creative with the way you prepare this dish, as there are only so many ways to poach an egg, and hollandaise sauce is complex enough that it shouldn’t be trifled with. But here are four recipes that offer cool alternatives to the traditional Eggs Benedict. Yes, I know, getting creative makes it technically not Eggs Benedict, but these four recipes sound delicious, plus they are all friggin beautiful.
 |
 |
 |
 |
The recipe on the top left is from Jamie over at Cheese ‘N Things. Her “Eggs Jamie” has tastiness piled so high that hollandaise sauce seems unnecessary. The poached eggs are served on a bed of balsamic-upped arugula, which is mixed with crispy prosciutto and shavings of parmagiano reggiano, and the whole thing is topped with caramelized red onions. I love how instead of going for the money shot (runny yolk everywhere), she presents the egg just as it’s ready to burst. So much anticipation. Full recipe here.
The top right dish is from Julie of the Dinner with Julie blog, who, as you might gather, is chronicling a year in her kitchen. (Aside: Check out her bageleggs – how cool is that?) Julie’s Benedict uses a crabcake as a base instead of the muffin, and puts a cool spin on the hollandaise sauce with a lightened lemon-basil recipe. Complete recipe here.
The bottom-left Benedict is the traditionalist version, although it does make me think – I have never been served Eggs Benedict with a beautiful thick slice of Country Ham like Closet Cooking dishes up here. Usually you can barely taste the puny slice of Canadian bacon under the runny egg yolk and hollandaise, but this hunk of ham really completes the dish. Now this is one version that pays respect to the pig. Recipe here.
I stumbled upon this last photo over at Noshtalgia, who is noshtalgizing about “Italian Eggs Benedict” and points us to Lucahjin’s stream on flickr. Lucahjin put together this simple/genius creation – a poked poached egg swimming in a pool of tomato sauce and chickpeas. Brilliant!
So….
[poll id=”12″]
Photos: Cheese ‘N Things, Dinner with Julie, Closet Cooking, Flickr user Lucahjin.
While DC will never achieve the greatness of New York/New Jersey pizza, it does produce a quality wood-fired version at Sette Osteria. The restaurant, with floor-to-ceiling windows facing busy Connecticut Avenue, is a good choice for those craving Italian carbs. Its version of bruschetta is more like a salad, with heaps of arugula and cherry tomatoes piled high on one piece of grilled bread, which makes this usually sharable appetizer difficult to split. That’s okay, though – it’s too good to split. Arugula salad with shaved fennel and pecorino shavings, tossed with lemon vinaigrette, is large enough for a light lunch with a refreshing crunch. Ai peperoni e melanzane, a pie topped with smoked mozzarella, eggplant, and roasted bell peppers, will satisfy your needs for a savory, smoky, slightly charred pizza.
For: Getting your Italian fill on this side of the Atlantic.
Entrees: $9-$19. 202-483-3070. 1666 Connecticut Ave, NW
Originally in the Onion – AV Club / DC local edition
Photo: Sette Osteria
If it’s a Monday morning in the middle of May, it must be time for Washington Wizards fans to look back on another first-round playoff loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. As usual, there’s controversy, but this time, it involves food.
Jon over at So Good had tickets to the fateful Game 6 on Saturday night, and of course was on the lookout for any corporate giants to take down, so he was delighted to see Wizards fans wearing shirts that taunted LeBron James for being a crybaby, especially when he realized these shirts were sponsored by Papa John’s Pizza.
Some shrewd marketing pandering by Papa John’s to endear themselves to the quality-pizza-starved Beltway crowd, but unfortunately for the company, it turns out people in Cleveland have both television and the Internet. And they are not happy.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with LeBron James, his status in the state of Ohio is roughly similar to that of Jesus, albeit with less concern about genocide.
Fast forward a few hours, and angry Cavs fans are swearing to never eat at Papa John’s again, the Boycott Papa John’s website is up and running, and the corporate office has been forced to issue an official apology to LeBron Nation, complete with a $10,000 donation to a Cleveland charity and a slash of their prices in the Cleveland area to 23 cents per pizza (pick-up only, those bastards). Of course, if you take into consideration the high-quality ingredients used in Papa John’s pizza, they’re still looking at about a 22 cent profit on each pie.
After the j, check out So Good being interviewed (!) about the controversy on Cleveland television.
Read More›
As you all know, I’ve been having some beef problems lately. Shopping at the food co-op sometimes does this weird ethical conscious/healthy eater thing to me and has turned me off of big-farm, corn-fed beef, but I just can’t learn to like the grassy stuff.
Oh, and don’t worry, I’m still planning to shell out for that $30 grass-fed filet mignon, as you all ordered. Just waiting for the right occasion.
In the meantime, I decided to branch out and try the whole buffalo craze that everyone is talking about. Before we begin, a few facts about buffalo that I gathered in my research.
1- Bison/Buffalo: Same thing – well, for our purposes anyway. Bison is the correct name, and they’re not the same thing that makes buffalo milk mozzarella. But any meat you see in stores here – usually called buffalo, but sometimes bison – is just plain old North American buffalo, like from the movies.
2- On the Grass: There are no bison mega-factory-farms, so all these guys are raised on pastures, eating the green stuff (although many are “finished” on corn at feedlots, shortly before they make it to your plate).
3- This tip is from me: It’s good but it’s not cow. So don’t expect it to be. Think of it more as trying a totally new type of meat, not as a replacement for steak, because that’s just not going to work.
Full details of my dancing with the buffaloes after the jump.
Read More›
Jalapeno Cucumber Margarita
What’s that you say
Jalapeno and tequila
Together in a drink
The best of Mexican food and Mexican drink.
My friends and I were having a beverage at one of our regular watering holes the other day and we were discussing our favourite drinks. We had the usuals: vodka red bull; gin and tonic; bloody mary; and yes, even a beer. We then got to thinking about alternate drinks and the lifestyle that we lead. Our conversation turned to drinks that we deserved, a drink worthy of our existence. Have you not met me? Yes, my friends and I are that pretentious.
There are some restaurants in DC that provide some fun excuses of a drink. There is Domku with its Lemon Grass & Ginger Aquavits and the Aloe Sojutini at Mandu, but we wanted one to make at home on a Friday night. We pre-game high end, not just your average six pack.
A friend had recently returned from some Southern state trip, not sure where, but he had heard of a margarita with jalapeno and cucumber. As most of us are huge Mexican boys food fans we figured it would be a great drink to try. And it was.
The fresh taste of the cucumber combined with the heat of the jalepeno was a great combination; the fusion of the two created a unique blend of spice and freshness. For people who are not a fan of chilies this is something totally acceptable. I’m sure if stronger chilies were used it would change the taste but the main flavour properties would still be present.
Disclaimer: Two glasses of these will get you pretty drunk, or even very drunk!
Check it out after jump.
Read More›
Let me tell you, getting this shot off was NOT easy.
So 80 and I were walking home from work and we’re just yacking away or whatever, fine, I’m yacking, and all of a sudden I’m screaming, “OMG, that’s totally Andrew Sullivan blogging at Subway!”
I stop dead and make 80 walk past the Subway to double check. And yup, it is. I then pull out my phone to snap a picture, but with no zoom on my cell, I realized I would have to go *inside* to get a picture off.
The plan: 80 would go in, buy chips, I would pretend to check my phone and start snapping away. Well, apparently 80 all of a sudden grows some morals (if they’re growable) since his much-noted celeb sighting and doesn’t want to go through with it. I immediately call BS for back up.
Read More›