Salad

by gansie

Black Squirrel

It was a bit of a pain in the ass reviewing Black Squirrel. 80P first brought it to my attention when it got some press in the Post. Well, and the press declared that all food on Tuesday was *half off* !!

We ate some amazing, affordable fish dishes. And when I pitched it to review, we tried to go again on a double date with Tim and Alice. However that time the cheapness caught on (re: totally crowded) so the four of us were forced to eat at Red Rocks: an over-hyped pizza place where the pies are flimsy and the pepperoni is burnt. Ugh.

The next time 80 and I went to Black Squirrel it produced actual seats, but the new entree listing had already transitioned the fish off the menu. The wings were sad creatures – dry and lacking heat. But some of the food was totally worth its 50% off status. As were the Farrah Fawcett posters.

But alas, DCist just reported that the Tuesday special is a dead dog. Enjoy my outdated review nonetheless.

Cheap Eats: No Brunswick Stew [Express]

Photo: Cryptomundo

by gansie

An Acceptable Cake for Dinner

Since 80 went to all that trouble encasing two entire whole fish in a salt and egg white crust, I painstakingly went through the leftover fish—scraping and pulling and plucking—to salvage all of that delicious, moist meat for another dish. So while everyone was drinking our donated wine (thanks to Anna and Jeb who sent us back from their wedding weekend with more than half a case of leftover wine from the rehearsal dinner) I was at the dining room table, trying to avoid touching fish eyes and collecting bones.

And I actually knew what I wanted to make right away – fish cakes. I love crab cakes, but never think to buy packaged lump crab meat. I’d rather hammer away at the suckers during a crab boil and beer fest. It’s one of the things I most look forward to in the summer. That and laying out at the Jersey shore (or friends’ balconies. I will have a balcony or roof deck one day!)

I spied these two recipes and basically borrowed what I liked from each to create my version. Recipe post jump.

A Picnic Wash Out

(In the spirit of the picnic, palsticware was used, blankets available and sandwiches wrapped)

Last week I asked ES readers and foodies from across the land to help me with my dilemma. I was to attend a potluck picnic but had no idea what to cook, nor what to suggest to my friends, as I was the orchestrator of the event. For our non-DC readers, this past weekend was a complete wash-out; it rained for days. As concern was mounting, we were thinking of creating paddy fields on the national mall. All this rain meant we had to cancel our outside activities, which included missing the Lighting to Unite event at the National Cathedral. We’re not ones to be defeated so we decided to go full steam ahead, transferring the picnic to my apartment.

My friends who cooked did an impeccable job, and we had some amazing dishes. These included:

Coconut & Almond Cupcakes thanks to my friend BJ.

My friend 3Y’s made a delicious Olive Tapenade, I don’t like olives myself, not even on pizza, but this was really something new for me which I know I’ll be trying myself.

There was a Babaganoush made with homemade tahini, thanks to Boozilla.

Summer Camp went totally crazy. She made a Tyropita (Greek cheese pie): Feta and Kasseri cheeses with nutmeg and mint; a Kreaopita (Greek meat pie): Beef with kasseri cheese, cinnamon, cumin, and allspice; also a Tzatziki (Greek yogurt dip): Greek yogurt with cucumber, garlic, and mint.

I made a Brie and Avocado baguette with a mint, garlic and oregano mayonnaise.

Finally, it pains me to write this but I do have to give a shout out to MD, he brought with him boxes and boxes of Popeye’s chicken, yes, you read that right, leave your thoughts on that one in the comments!

I pleaded and pleaded for my friend Tucker to make the potato chip cookies that gansie suggested, but to no avail. He chose to bake some absolutely amazing hazelnut chocolate cookies, the how-to on those are after the jump. They were seriously amazing.

The other superb dish I want to tell you about is the cabbage and bacon salad come coleslaw which one of the more discerning guests created. He used 1lb of bacon for this delight. Again, the recipe is after the jump.

Sette Osteria

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

in Veggie 3 comments

by BS

My So-Called Salad

Second hungry hungry celeb spotting in one week! Our Manhattan correspondent Brian spied Golden Globe winning actress/Mary-Louise Parker baby daddy stealer/PS 3 graduate Claire Danes order a salad and then fall into a deep, meditative trance at the Cosi on 6th Avenue between 22nd and 23rd.

Send your shots of famous eaters to info@endlesssimmer.com

in Celebs 3 comments

by BS

Kids in the Halloumi

I first discovered halloumi cheese in South Africa last year. A trendy SA chain called News Cafe serves an avocado salad with fried halloumi, grilled brinjal and peppadews. Since I didn’t know what any of those things were, I had to try it. I ended up making several return trips for this amazing fried cheese.

For the record, brinjal is just eggplant, and peppadew is a spicy red pepper native to South Africa. But that’s beside the point, because halloumi was the real discovery. This super-salty, extra-firm-but-slimy goat/sheep’s milk cheese is actually from Cyprus, and if you try to say otherwise, the Halloumi Police will get you.

I’m not sure why it’s so prevalent in South Africa, but I have never noticed it stateside before, so when I spied it at the co-op last week, I jumped for it.

In taste, it’s probably most similar to a queso blanco, and like that Mexican cheese, it’s most exciting because it can be fried or grilled. A few recipes around the web recommend dipping it in flour, but I just tried it straight up and got this nice golden brown after frying thin slices for about a minute each side in extra virgin. The outside is a crisp golden brown and the inside is just a tad melty.

Since I didn’t have any peppadews lying around, I made my own version of the salad, with roasted red peppers, cucumbers, and of course, pine nuts.

*This post is tagged both Greek and Middle Eastern for redundancy’s sake, not as an attempt to fuel any cheese-related territorial conflicts.

in Cheese / Recipe / Veggie 12 comments