November 30, 2012

Fall Harvest Feast

Last night we pretended to be adults and went to a dinner party.  Anyone familiar with Feastly?  Its a simple concept:  the host cooks a meal, you shell out some money to reserve seats, and you enjoy a tasty meal with some like-minded strangers.  Our first Feastly dinner was back in September...a Julia Chld-inspired meal, hosted by Lindsay and Matt of WellFed Group.  Not only are they veterans in the restaurant industry, but Matt is also the Chef de Cuisine at The Occidental.  So we basically ate at the chef's table for a fraction of the price.  When we saw they were hosting another Feastly meal, we jumped at the chance to join them again.

Last night's meal consisted of:
What the menu fails to mention is the delicious disc of goat cheese that was baked with brown sugar and pecans that topped the apple and fennel salad.  It was sweet and creamy, with the nice goat cheese tang.  The 2nd course was a rich and creamy risotto topped with bottarga.  I'd never heard of bottarga before, but it gave the risotto a nice, rich, umami flavor.  The risotto was followed up with a juicy chicken thigh, skin crisped to perfection.  The thighs had been confit'd for 8 hrs.  Yes, you read that right.  8 HOURS!  It fell right off the bone and just melted in your mouth.  Not to mention the salsify puree.  This was another ingredient I hadn't had before. Matt described it as being similar to parsnips, so I was expecting it to be a bit mealy.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  It was so creamy and silky smooth.  And if those 3 courses weren't enough, the meal was capped off with a salted caramel cheesecake.  It was so light and airy, and I think my favorite part was the sweetened sour cream they topped the cheesecake with.

We opted to pair our meal with some delicious beers.  Lindsay suggested a Saison for the first 2 courses, and a Belgian trippel or a hoppy IPA for the 3rd course.  We started with the Stillwater Saison, a citrus-y, crisp, clean ale.  A classic saison.  We followed that up with La Fin du Monde, a Belgian trippel.  It was a fruitier, more full-bodied beverage.  A perfect complement to the chicken thighs and salsify puree.  Had we not been driving, we may have tried to pair a 3rd beer with dessert, but we had a decent drive ahead of us and played it safe.

Not only was the food delicious, but the company was great.  We ate with complete strangers, yet there were never those awkward moments like when you're on a bad date.  We did the typical DC thing and played the "what do you do?" game.  Turns out one of our fellow diners was also a Wake Forest alum.  What are the odds?  But the uniting force was our mutual love and appreciation of food.  So if you're looking for a fun night out, good food, and meeting new people, I would highly recommend checking out Feastly.  Especially if Lindsay and Matt are hosting.  Just make sure you save 2 seats for us :)

November 27, 2012

Its Almost Like Christmas

Every other Tuesday we get to pick up our CSA share.  Neither of us had participated in a CSA before, but considering how much cooking we do, and our affinity for trying new things, we thought we'd give it a shot.  I'd had my eye on the Farm Bus for a little while, mostly because their drops are at Eastern Market, within walking distance of my apartment, but when I was cooking for 1, it didn't seem like a viable option.  Now that I had another stomach on board, it made sense to give it a try.  We opted for the produce and meat shares, and there is always an abundance of food.

As much as I try to keep it a surprise, I can't help but open the email that tells us what we'll be picking up that night.  But it doesn't just stop at reading the email.  Then I start to think about what we can make, and how we'll utilize all the food we'll be getting.  Here's what today's share brought us...
The fun part about the food shares is getting to try different foods you wouldn't normally buy.  A couple weeks ago we were given some rutabaga, and this week we got some creasy greens.  Not greasy greens...creasy greens.  I hadn't even heard of these greens before, but with a little help from the interwebs, I learned their similar to watercress, with a peppery taste like arugula.  Pulled off their stems, they made a delicious salad with some shaved pecorino and some homemade Italian dressing.

We have some ideas in the works for this week, so stay tuned!

Once Upon a Time...

...there lived a young professional on Capitol Hill.  With my 20s winding down, I was on a tireless journey to finish my master's degree, find a job and start a career, find the love of my life, and be a real adult.  And what better way to find a significant other than diving head first into the pool of online dating?  So I turned to OkCupid for some assistance.  After countless conversations and dates (some good and some not as good), I stumble upon a good lookin' young gent who claims to love food.  Not only does he love food, but he cooks too!  And then he completes his profile with a picture of himself with a gigantic bowl of cioppino.  He had me hooked right there.  Now, I grew up in a family that loves to eat.  While eating one meal, we're already planning the next.  My dad has an uncanny ability to remember what he's eaten at a restaurant, or how to get there, even if he can't remember the name of the place.  And we'll go out of our way for a great meal.  So had I finally met my foodie match?

I went out on a limb and sent a message expressing my interest in him, and asking for a taste of his delicious looking cioppino.  To my surprise, he responded to my message, started emailing, went on a date, and the rest is history.

When I ask him what spurred him to respond to my message, aside from the sweet compliments, he mentions my comment about the cioppino, and my common love of food.  I think we spent our first few dates talking about restaurants, cooking, and just about anything food related.  Our relationship and our love has really developed and blossomed in the kitchen.  We spend most nights cooking up something tasty, whether is a new recipe we're experimenting with, trying to recreate something we ate at a restaurant, or whipping up an old standby dish.  And since joining an awesome CSA, we've had even more fun coming up with new ways to use the different veggies we receive in each share.

In an effort to keep track of our culinary adventures, we thought we'd start a lil' ol' blog.  So pull up a chair, grab a fork, and come join us for dinner!