Seasons 52, North Bethesda

Posted on October 28, 2015 by melsmosaic

Visited Seasons 52, in North Bethesda, MD. They have locations across the country, as well. Their name stems from the (four) seasons in the year, and the 52 weeks that comprise it. The menu is very seasonal, so if you go often, you better not have a favorite. And they use this theme so everything can be very fresh.

Since it’s fall, squash and pumpkin is everywhere. They even had it in the bar. I went with a Pumpkin Pisco Sour, Crop Organic Pumpkin Vodka, Pisco, Aromatic Bitters. Tell you what, pretty good.

Took awhile to choose the main course, so my friends and I decided to split a flat bread. The one with the goat cheese caught my eye since I can eat that stuff. I’ll always give it a chance since many goat cheeses are now made less goat-y, as in a bit harder than they used to be. So we went for the Artichoke & Laura Chenel Goat Cheese with leaf spinach, balsamic onions, roasted peppers. Was a very nice start to the meal.

Then main course selection became harder, because of my lactose intolerance. Many of the dishes had some form of dairy (from cow) and normally it can be eliminated. But when I asked the waiter he said it would be tough. It wasn’t that easy to find something I could eat, which was surprising with the type of restaurant it is. Fresh, seasonal. He then mentioned they have a ‘special’ menu for those with allergies, intolerances, etc. The menu was cut more than 1/2. Then when ordering you had to be sure to ask for the elimination of specific ingredients in dishes. This is an extreme case, but if I ordered mac & cheese, I would need to be sure to ask for it without the cheese and milk. Some weren’t that bad, but some were complex.

I was a bit disappointed. I ended up ordering the Asian-Glazed Chilean Sea Bass from the lactose-free menu – Organic black rice, snow peas, shiitake mushrooms, micro wasabi **request without brown butter sherry vinaigrette (wouldn’t that be the glaze? — as I had no glaze on mine).

Overall the whole dinner was good, I was just a bit disappointed with the overall feel of the menu. The service was also very slow. Took over 20 minutes to get drinks and then a glass of wine. But, was there with friends to catch up so it wasn’t that bad.

Kapnos, DC

Posted on October 28, 2015 by melsmosaic

As a person who could live on a mediterranean and mexican diet, I recently had to check out Kapnos in Washington, DC. It is one of Mike Isabella‘s (from Top Chef) many restaurants. It’s in the U St. corridor, just a few blocks from the U St./Cardozo Metro on the Green Line/Yellow Lines.

The restaurant is said to have small plates so you can have a few per person. That’s a good thing to know because there were too many mouth-watering options on the menu! Several of us were there so there was good sharing opportunity. We were able to cover the menu quite well.

Started with the pikilia, aka a sampling of three spread and got revithosalata (chickpea, tahini, sultan chutney), melitzanosalata (smoked eggplant, roasted peppers, walnuts, feta) & favosalata (yellow lentils, scallions, black garlic, pine nuts).

After much debate, the rest of the food that hit the table was:

roasted duck phyllo pie cress, cherries, pistachio yogurt

roasted cauliflower baharat spice, pistachio, golden raisin

charred brussels sprouts sweet potato, coriander honey, candied pecans

fava yellow lentils, spinach, butternut squash, saffron, pearl onions

american red snapper sunchoke, celery root, saffron broth

marinated lamb bulgur, cous cous, wild rice (didn’t get a picture of this one)

spit roasted chicken lemon potatoes

Some of these ‘small’ plates were huge. There were five of us at the table and there was more than enough. We weren’t going to let any of this go to waste so made room… Everything was mouthwatering and beyond delicious. Since there were so many options on the menu totally worth going back to explore other options. Isabella also has other places in DC and there is a Kapnos opening in Bethesda in early 2016 which will be a good one to check out.

Breweries, Wineries and Cideries (?)

Posted on October 18, 2015 by melsmosaic

Have been checking out some local places of imbibement lately and have had much fun. What else is there to do after hiking and running vs. supporting the locals while refueling?

#1 Forge Brew Works, Lorton, VA

Visited this one after hiking in Prince William State Park in VA. The hike also turned into 15 vs 9 miles. Great signage in that park, let me tell you. In the brewery’s tasting room, they have well over a dozen options on tap, from traditional to seasonal brews and you can get 4oz samplers at a great price to get a feel for the menu. My friend and I each got a spread of the 4oz pours so we could tackle the taps effectively. Some were very creative, some not up my alley, but awesome to check out. Dog friendly place (which is why we went — they have tons of water and treats for them) and you bring your own food if you want to munch on anything.

(Jet was passed out on the floor while we were sipping, eating and watching football)

#2 Distillery Lane Ciderworks, Jefferson, MD

I keep calling this a cidery because it goes with the flow of the sentence with winery, brewery… Ok, so it’s a distillery. They distill (hard) cider. Anyway, on we go. I mapped this out to visit after completing a half marathon as part of refueling. As a map point, it’s about 30 minutes from Harper’s Ferry and maybe an hour+ from DC. They have a big range of hard cider, from bubbly stuff, to ones with some additional flavor influence (fruit, sweet), to dry & sweet, to barrel-aged stuff. I never knew there was so much to this. When you buy your tasting, you get to pick whatever you’d like to taste — $5 for 4 pours, and the souvenir glass. And when you go with somebody else…sip & share, share & sip.

The whiskey-barrel influence stuff–nice! The cherry and maple (independent) fused stuff, yeah, not so much. The bubbly — where’s my champagne flute? They also have that regular apple cider that you don’t need an ID to buy and those healthy apple things that you buy to just add at this cool place.

#3 Big Cork Vineyards, Rohrersville, MD

(cork stool, oh yes)

It’s 5-10 minutes from the cidery, darn, I meant distillery. Isn’t cidery just a natural name? That’s why we visited it next. I’d tasted their wine a couple times at local farmer’s markets. But, they just opened they gorgeous tasting room this year. My friend and I decided to split a tasting so we splurge and went for the big one — 7 wines — watch out! It was $14 for this ‘more’ tasting.

Some were ok, nothing to write home about. There is still just something missing in MD wines. VA is gaining power and MD is next door so I don’t know why they can’t do it (at least for me, though I know I’m not alone in that comment).

#4 Right Proper Brewing Company, Washington, DC

Was simply googling breweries in DC and this one came up. Had never heard of it so had to investigate. It’s in the Shaw-Howard area of DC. So much on tap, innovative options, what do I pick? You can get half pours (no flight options). My friend and I opted to play with the wolves and ordered some Wild Wolves and Raised by the Wolves. We had some sips to ‘sample’ before ordering our half pour of choice too. I stopped here before a big dinner so didn’t get to do enough investigation but definitely plan to go back to do a deeper search.

#5 Boxwood Winery, Middleburg, VA

Located in a historic, very nice area 1-1.5 hours outside of DC, this winery is growing well. They used to have a nice tasting room/wine bar in Friendship Heights which has unfortunately closed. They still have one at National Harbor and in Reston. These are definitely VA wines, unique tastes and good to keep an eye on. I like a couple but I just can’t justify paying the price for some of them. The price was $10/tasting, and we got to keep the glass (add to the collection).

Ultimate Pinot Party

Posted on October 5, 2015 by melsmosaic

I’m part of a Meetup group that is in love with wine and hosted an event last night with the theme — Ultimate Pinot Party. Guests had to bring a wine related to Pinot — Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Pinotage, Pinot Gris/Grigio/Blanc, etc.

Quite the selection came to the table. I think the breakdown was roughly

3 Pinotage (my favorite, love South Africa)
Many Pinot Noir (Mendocino, Napa, Willamette Valley, other)
Pinot d’Alsace a blend of 3 Pinots: Blanc, Gris, Noir and Auxerrois
Pinot Meunier
Pinot Grigio
Pinot Blanc

There were likely a few others. Some of them were empty come the end of the night! Amazing to smell and taste the differences in vintages and regions, and of course varietals. Cheers!

Beets, Leeks and More

Posted on October 2, 2015 by melsmosaic

Was having some food-loving friends over so had to do some recipe digging since everybody was making a big contribution. I’d heard some great things about Yotam Ottalenghi and had flipped through a couple of his cookbooks. I remembered this one, Beet, Leek and Walnut Salad from his Jerusalem cookbook. I did have to google the recipe because I’d seen it when looking through the book at a friend’s place and wasn’t able to borrow it before making dinner. So, this might not completely match his.

Salad:
4 medium beets, trimmed (went for the pre-cooked ones at Trader Joe’s)
4 medium leeks, trimmed and cut into 4-inch pieces
1 cup arugula leaves (LOVE arugula)
1/4 cup fresh parsley or cilantro, chopped (used parsley because one person at dinner did not like cilantro — the nerve!)
1/3 cup pomegranate seeds (optional — stuck with that, I didn’t grab these)

Dressing:
1 tablespoon tamarind pulp or paste (I didn’t even attempt this, because hard to find, so don’t know what it would have done to flavor)
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 teaspoons white balsamic vinegar or 1 teaspoon regular balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon walnut oil
3 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions:
Begin by roasting the beets. Preheat an oven to 425°. Scrub the beets, wrap in foil, and roast for 45 to 60 minutes or until they are fork tender. Set aside to cool. (Was nice to skip this step) Once the beets are cool, peel and cut into bite-sized wedges. Transfer to a bowl.

To cook the leeks, place in a medium saucepan with enough salted water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes or until the leeks are just tender. Drain and rinse with cold water, then cut into smaller pieces and transfer to another bowl.

Meanwhile, soak a tablespoon of tamarind pulp or paste in 1/4 cup of hot water for 20 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid. (hmmm, wonder what this might bring).

To make the dressing, combine the walnuts, garlic, chili flakes, vinegars, oils, 2 to 3 tablespoons of the reserved tamarind water, and salt and pepper to taste. Let stand at room temperature to combine the flavors.

Gently toss the beets with half of the dressing and the leeks with the remaining dressing.

To serve, place some of the arugula onto serving plates, top with a few beets, followed by more arugula and some leeks, and then a few more beets and some more leeks. Scatter the fresh parsley or cilantro over top and garnish with pomegranate seeds for an extra special burst of fresh flavor (I totally did not get that fancy, it’s called tossed salad).

Makes 4 to 6 servings

It was a very tasty, tangy salad, though I did overdress it (but dressing was good, so it’s not like that was problem). Next time I might do roasted leeks because the boiled ones were a bit tasteless. Might actually seek out tamarind at some point. Was glad to make it and try a new flavor blend!

Tuna Steaks, Ginger and Broccollini…oh yeah!

Posted on September 30, 2015 by melsmosaic

Dinner time, new recipe, bring it on. Found something with some Asian flair that had to be tested recently.

Pan-Seared Tuna Steaks with Ginger Vinaigrette, from Food & Wine

Ingredients

5 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
5 tablespoons sake
2 1/2 tablespoons mirin
3 tablespoons minced shallot
1/2 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Pepper
1 bunch of Broccolini, trimmed
Two 1-inch-thick yellowfin tuna steaks (grabbed frozen Ahi from Trader Joe’s)
2 teaspoons toasted white sesame seeds
Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

In a small saucepan, simmer the soy sauce, sake, mirin and shallot until the liquid is slightly reduced, 3 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in the ginger. Slowly whisk in 1/4 cup of the oil. Season with salt and pepper.
In a steamer basket set in  a large saucepan of simmering water, steam the Broccolini until tender, about 6 minutes. Transfer to plates.
Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Season the tuna with salt and pepper. Sear over high heat until golden brown but still rare within, about 30 seconds per side. — Ok, I actually had a BBQ to use to I did this thing called grill the tuna. Short, sweet, to the point. Delicious!

Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to drain. (So didn’t have to do this part).

Slice against the grain and transfer to the plates. Drizzle with some of the vinaigrette and sprinkle with the sesame seeds.

Serve with lemon wedges and the remaining vinaigrette.

To be honest, I almost forgot the brocollini because there was so much going on in the kitchen and I don’t serve stuff just like the recipe, but then I realized something was missing. This was a great combo of flavors, and I often forget about brocollini. Was pretty quick to make, too. So, give it a try if you’re looking for something new.

Crusted!

Posted on September 20, 2015 by melsmosaic

Tried another recipe from a recent issue of Bon Appetit — Wild Rice-Crusted Halibut. Sounded pretty unique so had to give it a try. Also relatively easy to make.

Ingredients
4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
½ cup wild rice
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
4 5–6-ounce skinless halibut, hake, or cod fillets (I went with the cod, much more affordable)
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
Lemon wedges (for serving)

Preparation
Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a medium skillet over medium-high. Add rice and cook, tossing occasionally, until grains have popped open like popcorn and are lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Transfer to paper towels and let cool. Pulse in a food processor or blender to a fine powder. Perfect in the mini-prep.

Preheat oven to 350°. Place flour in a shallow bowl. Beat eggs and 1 Tbsp. water in another shallow bowl. Place wild rice powder in a baking dish. Season fish with salt and pepper. Working with 1 fillet at a time, dredge in flour, shaking off excess, then dip into egg mixture, turning to coat evenly. Coat with rice powder, pressing gently to adhere. -Was tough to get it to totally adhere, but still got a good amount on there

Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in a large ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high. Cook fish until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer skillet to oven and roast fish until just opaque throughout, about 3 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

The crunch you got from the rice was great! And I have now taken this concept and used it for just extra in ‘stuff’ — I toasted the wild rice the other day and pulsed/crushed it just not quite as fine and tossed it with some brown rice. Gave it great extra crunch. Going to see what else to do with it now.

Kale and Garlic = Perfect Match

Posted on September 12, 2015 by melsmosaic

As usual, flipping through food magazines looking for recipes. I now tear out the recipes that look good vs. dog-earring them. I then clip them on the baker’s rack in my kitchen and have to make them. So part of last night’s dinner was Kale Salad with Garlicky Panko from Food & Wine. Hmmm…kale, delicious and garlic, delicious X2.

Ingredients

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1/2 cup panko (Trader Joe’s has great stuff)
Kosher salt & Pepper
1 bunch curly kale (I was lazy and grabbed the bag of stuff from Trader Joe’s — can you tell where I shop?)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (the blocks of stuff from Trader Joe’s are great, and real Feta is from sheep’s milk so lactards can eat it safely)
6 fried eggs (optional) — I threw some shrimp on top vs eggs

Preparation

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Stir in the panko and cook, stirring, until golden and crisp, 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a plate to cool.
Cut the stems from the kale and tear the leaves into pieces. In a bowl, whisk the vinegar with the remaining 1/2 cup of oil and season with salt and pepper. Add the kale; massage with the dressing using your fingers. Season with salt and pepper and toss. Transfer to a platter, top with the feta, garlic panko and fried eggs, if using, and serve.

I could not stop eating this stuff!!! The slight bit of saltiness from the feta, the garlic in the crispy breadcrumbs. WOW WOW WOW. Try this! You will not be disappointed.

Leftovers = Soup

Posted on September 12, 2015 by melsmosaic

I had to buy celery for some reason, which I honestly can’t remember. So I had a bunch left. I did not want to have it go to waste. I also did not need to consume more hummus than celery if I used it for dipping into that, because I’m really good at eating more hummus than the size of the object that I’m dipping into the said chickpea stuff.

So, I googled celery soup. I forgot many of them have dairy, so after that I remembered that using the term ‘vegan’ in searches is great for lactards (love using that term myself since I am the lactose intolerant one). Came up with several and finally found one to use via another blog. Pretty basic recipe.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped roughly
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon thyme (optional)
1 head of celery, cleaned & chopped roughly
1 white potato or 1 cup cauliflower, chopped — here I used a bag of mixed frozen veggies because they were out of frozen cauliflower
1 litre of vegetable stock — I used chicken broth because it’s what I had on hand, and I just searched vegan for no dairy
pepper

Preparation

Heat the oil in a non stick pot and add the onion and garlic. Cook until softened.
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes.
Puree the soup using a blender. Hand held works fine. — used the immersion blender, that also eliminates step 4
Return to the pan, check seasoning and serve.

I tasted it when it was done and it was fine. I only made it the other day so the celery didn’t go to waste. It had to cool for a while before I could put it in containers to freeze. I finally got around to doing it the next day after it had been in the fridge for 24+ hours. WOW! Great celery flavor. Can’t wait to eat it when fall is truly here.

Mushroom-Mania

Posted on September 12, 2015 by melsmosaic

Was in the Asian market recently and I felt like a kid in a candy store. Among many pieces of produce and amazing seafood at great prices, I found awesome mushrooms. I just had to pick them up! Shiitake, oyster and beech is what I stocked my cart with. I had not seen the beech ones before. I sauteed them with lemongrass, green onions and sesame oil. Ahhh…so good!