Fish

by Russell Warnick

Her Honor, Judge Gansie

Editors Note: This is going to be a long Editors Note, way too long for all italics.

Hi, it’s gansie. So I really do hate when a blogger starts getting, um, well new gigs and writes incessantly about the new gigs and stops writing about what you originally came to the blog for. Here’s an example. This is all to say, of course, that I am going to talk about myself and my new gig as a famous person.

Last weekend I was asked to be a JUDGE for a contest. Yes, me, a judge. ES’s good friend, Britannia, passed my name along to be the food judge for the third annual Progressive Dinner. (Full Dis – In order to make this contest fair, Brit decided to stop commenting and posting for the duration of the contest planning.)

But this night was way more than just a dinner. It’s 120 gay men, spending close to 10 thousand dollars, enjoying a night of: eating, drinking, dancing, lip syncing, decorating, and wearing itty bitty underwear-as-outwear. It was fucking amazing. Luckily my sister was in town to be my “assistant” as I ate my way through the night.

Continue to read about the actual food.

A Picture is Worth One Dinner

So the other day I went to Whole Foods (Paycheck/Mortgage) since they are one of the few places around with a good seafood selection. I wanted to cook this spicy red snapper dish (link below), but I ended up with Cod. Oh well. Since I followed the directions for the most part (major exception being no cooking in a cast iron pan), and since I can’t stop taking pictures of food, here is my night of cooking and eating without words. Follow along at home with the recipe…

Click for recipe

Not pictured: I cooked the asparagus in the oven after tossing with olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Gansie made her famous bulgur wheat.

The Sword and the Fish

BS and I totally act like we’re the messiah when it comes to cooking. Well, there’s one person that can top us every time.

So I don’t think we’ve really talked about it in this forum, but in the old neighborhood, back when BS was a District resident, we held Iron Chef-like contests. The rules changed a bit each time, but the basic scenario was 80P and my old house-mate Julie would pick three ingredients. They would then text them to the contestants at about 5:30 (post-work) and we’d have to use each ingredient at least once over two courses – no recipe/internet searches allowed. We’d then serve our creations, later that night, to the gathered neighbors, explaining dishes and methods. At the end of the delicious meal, the diners would vote.

BS and I both had our unfair share of wins, but Vio would always kick our ass in some sort of fashion. She’s a master: she bakes, fries, grills and experiments with crazy taste combinations. I hate her, of course, because everything she cooks is absolutely awesome and gorgeous. Her downside – we’ve yet to convince her to join the blog.

Last night during our weekly Project Runway dinner and watch parties, she grilled (yes, taking advantage of the warm January weather) an amazingly tasty swordfish. And since she won’t blog, I’ve stolen her makeshift recipe:

Coconut-Curry Swordfish

Marinate the swordfish in: lite coconut milk, red curry paste, minced garlic and ginger and just a pinch of salt. (The garlic and fresh ginger were pulverized in her new toy – the mini Cuisinart.)

Let it soak up the mixture for about 30 minutes on each side and then throw it on the grill, making sure you char on cross-hatches.

in Fish 2 comments

by gansie

1-900-EAT-FISH

While every other person riding DC public transportation is reading Express, I use that time to catch up on old WaPo Food sections. As I’m browsing through an October edition, I learn about hottie chef Barton Seaver‘s latest award. At his new place Hook, (which is absolutely fucking a-mazing, and if I wasn’t sloppy from two dirty martinis and half a bottle of wine, I would have been able to provide a formal review) Seaver only serves sustainable seafood. Clearly all the green orgs LOVE him, as demonstrated by The Blue Ocean Institutes’s honoring of Seaver. At the gala, Blue Ocean also introduced their new text messaging program.

Get this. Anyone about to buy or eat a fish, but wants to first make sure it’s from sustainable sources can just text to 30644, type “FISH,” then the name of the species and the service will text back with its eco-friendliness and, if needed, possible substitutions. And you thought text messaging was only for being too lazy to call someone.

Photo: Costume Dogs

in Fish / Trends 2 comments

by gansie

Nooshi

Nooshi grabs hold of all Asian cuisine and dubs it “oodles noodles and sushi.” Luckily, the generalization is not ill-conceived: Its spin on fried squid—firefly calamari—is a welcome change with a red-pepper-flecked lemony dipping sauce instead of tired marinara. For a light lunch, try the ginger salad with generous slivers of pickled ginger, cabbage, and fried onions mixed with a tangy dressing. Sushi is offered in all the familiar combinations and does not disappoint, and, for those who can’t handle it raw, the fried rice and salmon teriyaki yield nice alternatives. Happy hour tends to get dangerous, though, with all drinks half-off Monday through Saturday (yes, happy hour on the weekend).
For: A downtown D.C. lunch spot that transports you to 10 Pacific island countries in an hour or less.

Entrées: $7-$16. 202-293-3138. 1120 19th St., NW

Originally in the Onion / DC local edition

Photo: Nooshi

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by BS

Hott Linkin, That’s Some Crazy Drinkin

– In a case of two wrongs definitely making a very wrong, now available: Bud Light with Clamato. [via the Champagne of Blogs]

– Basilcello! Now that’s more like it. Throw in some pine nuts and I’m sold.

– Who knew Dr. Pepper was supposed to be heated before serving? I’m ’bout to try that one of these cold winter nights. Maybe with some Dr. Schnapps mixed in. [via SoGood]

Photo: Cruft

in Drinks / Fish 9 comments