BBC-- Baby Bok Choi

At one time my former boyfriend and I created a "rap" song utilizing the rhythmic sound of baby bok choi. It requires particular emphasis on the (B)aby (B)ok (C)hoi. If you were to assign a rhythym to it the baby bock would each get an eight note and the choi would be a halfnote.

Aside from inspiring musical expression baby bok choi is one of my favorite vegtables. I love to eat it fairly simple. I take a relatively small BBC halve it, run under water, add a little hot seasame oil and steam on a grill pan.

The BBC has a distinct juicy and fresh taste to it, while retaining a yummy crunch.

Baby Bock Choi got back!

Unseasonal Indulgence

A trip to Whole Foods and I am unabashedly inspired by  unseasonal foods. Somewhere I read about how Whole Foods tempts people with organic yet un-seasonal foods.  It's true-  but honestly-  there are only so many roots and tubers that a boy can eat during the winter months. Plus the sun is starting to warm me up and I am ready for the bounty of spring and summer. I am getting a head start with this weeks list of unseasonal produce. (don't tell Alice Waters). Meanwhile my crop of mescelum mix in my window planter is starting to produce some nice seasonal leaves of green goodness.

My canvas of food this week:

- New onions
- Swiss chard
- Red potatos
- Baby bok choi
- Sugar snap peas
- Zucchini (way out of season)
- strawberries

I was also tempted by the fiddlehead ferns but somehow managed to stay away from them-  perhaps next week.

Stay tuned to see what type of puzzle all the pieces form together.

Krispy Kreme

A weekend in DC would not be complete without eating at my favorite restaurants. Ranging from Amma's South Indian, to full kee shrimp dumpling soup to the pure temptation of Krispy Kreme located next to the dupont metro stop. I indulged in my temptations.

Weekend of FOOD

I'm in my former home of DC for the week.  When people ask me what my plans are they usually constist of hanging out with friends and eating at my favorite restaurants.

The next question is to list all my favorite restaurants.  After listing them all my friends reply-  sounds like you will have a full time job eating.  That characterization is pretty much reality.

Great places to eat in DC:

- coffee in the morning-  tryst- the chocolate ship waffels are wonderdful and bowls of strong coffee will take you to new heights (adams morgan living room)  
- teaism (tea and they have a wonderful shrimp spring roll with excellent dipping sauce)
- Burma- (second floor eatery in chinatown) one of my favorite palces ot eat!  Get the fresh ginger salad and the pickled mustard plant
- Chinatown Express-  Right below Burma- fresh noodle soup with beef
- Full Kee-  More chineese noodles-  shrimp dumpling soup hong kong style
-Jaleo-  tapas - dates wrapped in bacon YUM!
- Meskerem-  Ethiopean vegetarian combo
-Ammas- South India like Maleyalee's eat (Georgetown)
- Bua - where the waitress know my friend and staurt by face and know exactly what we order as soon as we walk in the door.
- The Diner-  the cliche trendy 24 hour diner in adams morgan-  love to go late at night with Malea and catch up after a hectic day of flying.
- Plus on Sundays the Farmer's Market in Dupont Circle is GREAT!  

I could go on but am already running out of time slots to eat.

Squirrels, Nuts, and Nana

I love my grandmother!  She always pulls through with excellent coffee cakes, the best mashed potatoes and green beans, and most recently Pecans.  Above all the food that she makes I just love her.  I could spend all day lying on her couch and watching TV with her.

My grandmother (Nana) has a pecan tree on the side of her house and I love envisioning her and my grandfather (popop) sitting in their lliving room picking out the pecans from their shells as they watch the latest cable news TV magazine.  I also envision Nana chasing after the squirrels to make sure she gets every single nut in her yard.  I've been told that Nana stays up at night fretting over whether the squirrels are hording all her pecans.

Naturally,  when I received a care package last week from Nana I was super excited to get a sour cream container full of pecans hand picked with love.

While I am perfectly content eating pecans bythe handfull I needed to find a way to use them in cooking.  Thoughts of Nana's famous pecan pie ran through my head, but I finally settled on pecan waffels.  YUM!  With fresh stawberries and blueberries on top.  

Brokeback RANCH

Well it's Oscars' weekend and in its honor and in honor of all the gay cowboys out there I've decided to indulge in my two temptations-- Ranch and Cowboys. Well maybe just the former.

I love a good falafel stuffed in a pita with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and a twist of ranch dressing.

Not quite the mid-east tahini but I like to call ranch the tahini of America!

YUM! I love a good middle-eastern taco with American Tahini!

So to all you cowboys, cowboy lovers and all ranch lovers I eat in your honor.

Spring Sprouts

This past week we had a warm spell and it got me excited about planting my garden.

I have a community Garden plot behind a neighborhood school. I sat up late the other night fantisizing about what I will plant.

For spring I can't wait to see the sprouts poking their green heads above the dirt.

Here is my list for spring so far:

-sorrel (provides an explosion of citrus in your mouth all contained in a little green leaf)

-Swiss Chard (provides greens all year round)

- French Breakfast radishes

- Mescelum mix

- Snow peas

- Broccoli

I can't wait to get my hands in the dirt!

Noodle Cartel

The New York Times has an article today about the rising cost of a bowl of noodles in Western China. Apparently to purchase a bowl of noodles you now have a 4 cent hike in the price. Some are blaming the rising price on a noodle cartel.

Fortunately I was able to enjoy the noodles of China before the threat of the noodle cartel. I can attest-- They make some fine noodles. In Washington DC, I worked two blocks away from Chinatown (China block). And my friend Mona and I would always go to Chinatown Express. The front window of this place has is a living breathing advertisement to wett any passerbyers' appetite -a chinese man making the homemade noodles tossing the dough and manhandeling it. (see photo above that's the real guy!) They also have florecscent orange ducks hanging in the window and other hanging dead things. I always got their fresh noodle beef soup. Noodles hit the spot on a cold or even a warm day.

With noodles on my mind, I decided to once again make a noodle dish last night, though not of the Asia variety, but of an Italian bent. For some reason I have been on a noodle kick... perhaps there is a noodle revolution going on in my head. Or perhaps I am trying to get my fill of noodles before the noddle cartel makes its way to the western hemisphere.

Last night I made linguine with a saute of onion, garlic, asparagus, chicken/apple/ gouda sausage, potobello mushrooms and swiss chard. Indeed a strange combination, and at one time when everything was mounded in the pan I thought, "how is this going to turn into a pasta sauce?". But some how after everything reduced down it turned into a nice pasta sauce with tons of flavor. In the end, I added a very light wine and cream sauce.

Aside from the charred (burnt) burshetta I attmepted to make (which set off the smoke alarm), the meal was great rounded off with a glass of Ruffino Orvieto Classico white wine.

Noodle lovers unite against the Noodle Cartel!

It's Easy Being Green

Contrary to Kermit the Frog's assertion that "it's not easy being green", when it comes to asparagus and dill, it is easy being green.

My fridge remains rather bare,  and while I should stick to principles and try to eek out a meal out of the leftovers and soggy leek in the bottom of the produce drawer, I decided to take a trip to our town's first downtown gourmet food market.   They had their grand opening today. (I live downtown and am very excited about having a gourmet market close to me.)

I am still staying on the minimal side of things.  Though due to slim pickin's in the wallet and a desire for a relaxing meal, I decided to supplement my fridge with new veggies.

I randomly picked a fresh bunch of asparagus and several red potatoes.

A perusal through Alice Water's "Vegetables" and I landed a recipe for simple asparagus soup.  An assembly of Asparagus, red potato, onion and a dallop of creme fraiche. I think I will also have some baked tilapia dusted with dill on the side. And a salad with goat chese fritters ( goat cheese covered in italian bread crumbs and fried). And dessert: Chocolate mint ice cream. YUM!

The added bonus is that I have one more excuse to use my food mill.

A Green Evening!

Leftovers & Temptation

One of the great things about cooking at home all the time is that I rarely ever have to spend money at restaurants. I am running low on cash this week until Friday rolls around and I have been living off of leftover Polbano Pesto Pasta and Uppuma. They are great leftovers by the way! I find that when I eat leftovers I like to stagger them. I cannot eat for lunch what I had for dinner the previous night. I shuffle it up a bit.

Feeling tired by leftovers, I gave into the temptation of fried chicken; last night my class mate, Annie, convinced me to eat dinner at a place called Cottage Kitchen. As if the name were not enough, the place really is like a cottage and you can get any arrangement of home cooking. We both chose the fried chicken with two sides (mashed potatoes and green beans). Good home cooking was exactly what I needed to warm my soul.

Then I got home and guiltily had a second meal of leftover Polbano Pesto Pasta.