two weekends ago i finally got around to trying out the sweet-pea canapes recipe from gourmet magazine. the recipe seems a bit involved, but is actually quite easy. and, instead of using toasted slices of baguette, i enlisted cavin's help: he made crackers from scratch that i served the pea mousse on. the only thing i would change is maybe to not use as much ham on top of the canapes; it was a little overpowering for the pea mousse. overall, it was a mighty fine recipe that i would definitely make again if i needed to make an appetizer for a small gathering.

this makes about 48 hors d'oeuvres, but i bet you could cut the recipe in half if you didn't need that many canapes.

sweet-pea canapes
2 1/4 cups frozen baby (petite) peas
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup chilled heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp finely grated parmigiano-reggiano
homemade crackers
1/4 lb very thinly sliced baked ham

simmer peas with water in a saucepan, covered, until tender (~5 minutes). puree peas with water in a food processor (gourmet says not to use a blender!) until very smooth. force puree through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl and discard solids. chill until cold.

beat cream with salt and pepper in another bowl until it holds stiff peaks, 3-5 minutes. (cavin says beating the cream in a chilled bowl makes the entire process go a little faster.) fold in pea puree and cheese until just combined. chill pea mousse, covered. (you can probably make the crackers while the pea mousse is chilling.)

spoon a dollop of mousse onto each cracker, then top with a small piece of ham (torn from a slice). serve immediately. [note: pea mousse can be chilled up to 8 hours.]


homemade crackers
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp water (plus more as necessary)
pinch salt
~1/2 to 1 tbsp flavorings, if desired (i.e. sesame seeds, curry powder, black pepper, etc.)

preheat oven to 350F. mix together flour, salt, and flavorings (if using) - in the picture we made sesame crackers. add olive oil and mix. add water and mix until a dough forms, adding more water (in 1/4 tsp increments) if necessary. roll out dough mixture, adding flour to rolling pin and working surface so dough doesn't stick. roll out the dough to the desired thinness (1/16" works ok). prick the dough with a fork all over, and cut into the desired shapes. (if you want salted crackers, sprinkle a bit on each cracker before you bake.) bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet for 20-25 minutes, until crackers are golden brown, or to your likeness. this should make about a dozen crackers, depending on thickness and size of each cracker.

[note: you can also use butter instead of olive oil, just cut small pieces butter into the flour (1/2 to 1 tsp butter should suffice). using the olive oil is easier to mix in with the dry ingredients, but the crackers don't come out as flaky. my only advice is to not use vegetable oil. the crackers had an awful after taste and we had to throw the vegetable oil batch out.]

Labels: cooking

it's been a busy past two weeks - that's why i've been neglecting the blog. but, i've accumulated maraming kalat during this time, so i'll mention a few of these things now. so i guess what i'm saying is that my domingo cinco spans the past 14 days. aie.

1. wine wednesdays at dino. fellow rockwellian dean gold has started up a 6-week wine wednesday special at his restaurant, dino. a week and a half ago cavin and i checked out the first wine wednesday and it was pretty decent. you get three flights of italian wine which are paired with 3 appetizers for $25 per person. cavin and i split the appetizer, which was on the small side but we also ended up ordering a bunch of stuff off the regular menu to supplement. we missed the second week because of our hectic schedule, but hopefully we'll make it back this week for the rosso di montalcino, and toscana wines.

2. we actually had two different visitors come to dc at the same time. woah! triumph (cavin's younger bro) detoured to dc on his way to the annual croquet match between the u.s. naval academy and his alma mater, st john's (annapolis, md). apparently the schools play croquet on the front lawn of st. john's, which has been called by gentleman's quarterly (GQ) "the purest intercollegiate athletic event in America." in actuality, it's an excuse to be outside and drink all day, no matter who wins (for the record, i believe st john's won). the b.o.b. and ga also were in town for a wedding and made it out to a sports bar by court house metro to watch the devils/lightning game. [note: don't EVER go to ireland's four courts. complete cheeze hell.]

3. who knew the extent of the florida market? we sure as hell didn't. luckily for us, cultural tourism dc had free walking tours last weekend which gave cavin and i an excuse to go out there and see what there is to offer. it's more of a warehouse-type district, which is understandable; the florida market mostly deals wholesale, but we were given a "tour" of which places sell to smaller scale purchasers. we finally went to litteri's, a small, but packed-with-great-italian-products store that i've been hearing great things about. we picked up a made-to-order italian sub (capicola, ham, fresh mozzarella on a hard roll) that was outstanding. i can't wait to go back and sample the crazy amounts of balsamic vinegars, olive oils, and italian wines.

4. i'm glad cavin also has a close-knit family. cavin's grandpop passed away on monday so we took some time off of work for the viewing and funeral and to spend time with his family in pa. it was a very sad time but it was comforting to all be together. i didn't know that his grandpop was a p.o.w. in poland (for over a year) during wwii, nor that he was a pilot, and that he also was a train conductor for septa. from what i've heard everyone say, he was really a great man. i wish i could have known him more when he was still around. there is a nice write up about him in the philadelphia inquirer.

5. i like games. this weekend i was determined to go to this store i keep seeing, five below. the store's sign is a bit misleading. the "o" in below is written like it's a degree (say fahrenheit or kelvin), creating the illusion that the store actually has something to do with cold weather sports, like snowboarding or skiing. not that cavin and i go skiing or anything, but we (or rather, i) was very curious about the store that i've been seeing all around. so since we had some free time this weekend, we decided to go in and check it out. not only does it have nothing to do with snow sports, it doesn't have anything to do with cold weather! it's basically a glorified dollar store - everything in the store is five dollars and below (thus "five below"). i just went to the website and the tag line is, "the cool store for teens and beyond" - woah, we were way off.

i just realized that the three things we bought were all games: purple dice (we'll bring these on vacation), umjammer lammy for ps1, and an official wiffle ball and bat. later that day jano and gavitron beat cavin and me in a friendly game of wiffle ball 9-7. (i scored a hr, as well as a sore pitching arm.)

also, sunday morning we all went to facenda whitaker lanes, where the four of us bowled unlimited games from 9am-12noon for $38, including shoe rental. my high was 87. man, i suck.

Labels: domingo, event, games, philly, restaurant, wine

1. wendy wasserstein's fantastic the heidi chronicles is still playing at the arena stage. "In this insightful comedy, Heidi Holland, feminist art historian, recounts significant milestones in her life – meeting lifelong friends at ‘60s political events, her own uncertain activism in the ‘70s, and finally confronting her inner turmoil over her role as a woman of the ‘80s and ‘90s. The Heidi Chronicles brings Wasserstein’s grace, humor and smart sensibility to the dilemmas of modern womanhood, indelibly leaving her one-of-a-kind mark on American theater."

i don't want to ruin anything, but i was pleasantly surprised (and a little moved) by ms. wasserstein's work. the play is 18 years old, yet the topics and difficult life decisions can still be appreciated today.

2. japanese culture is very cool. we went to one of the last events of the national cherry blossom festival: sakura matsuri, or the japanese street festival. devoured unagi donburi, watched taiko drumming (i wanna take lessons!), listened to outrageous karaoke, met up with friends. the kid on the left was totally schooling the guy on the right in go.

3. i am the master of my brew (or at least i will be now). redhead picked up on my gravity towards quality beer, and since she prefers her bourbon, she passed this nugget of technology my way. we just got the AAA batteries (are AAA batteries going extinct?) and i can't wait to turn it on. apparently there are jokes!

4. for dim sum go to mark's duck house. every dim sum place we tried so far in the area has just been general, that is, until now. we met up with my long time college friends for dim sum in falls church and were not disappointed. apparently they go here all the time - and i can see why. the fried taro balls were light and fluffy. the turnip cake was studded with pieces of pork (or was it ham?) - yum. the selection was pretty wide and nothing was overly greasy, as is normally the case in most dim sum joints i've gone to. i'm glad there were eight of us at brunch - good conversation, but also a great chance to try more things than we normally would. we'll be going back for sure - with reservation in hand.

5. i live with a baker. cavin made croissants de boulanger this weekend and they were completely fantastic. the dough he made is "the version of puff pastry found in france at the boulangerie, as opposed to the classic puff pastry made at the patisserie". flaky and light yet with more body than classic puff pastry you might buy in the store, we filled some with chocolate and some with cheese & cherry jam. thank you, king arthur flour baker's companion!

---

arena stage
1101 sixth street sw
washington, dc 20024
202.488.3300

mark's duck house
6148A arlington blvd
willston center I
falls church, va 22044
703.532.2125

Labels: beer, domingo, event, games, restaurant

wanting to celebrate cavin's bday in style (culinary style, that is), i made a reservation for us at marigold kitchen in west philadelphia / university city.

why did i choose marigold kitchen? quite honestly, the last time we saw pv she said something to the effect, "that is the only restaurant i would pay to eat in currently." while quite extreme and somehow a little unbelievable, i took her advice regardless and went through the appropriate channels and snagged a 7:30pm res.

marigold kitchen is literally 'housed' on the corner of 45th and larchwood streets, amidst the surrounding victorian styled houses. after the $10 cab ride from pv & chief bro's, we walked up the steps into the house. once inside, what would be the porch was turned into an anteroom, where the host was patiently waiting for us to arrive (which we did 10 minutes late. whoops.)

we were seated in the first room we entered (i suppose the parlor, back in the day), thus leaving it up to our imaginations on what the rest of the house/restaurant may look like. in the parlor there were 20 or so other seats, mostly filled with what looked like study abroad euro upenn students as well as their professors all dressed darkly with their reading glasses and an air of snobby sophistication. we didn't care who was around us: we were there to have a great dining experience.

we had our red wine in tow (marigold is a byob), and when our waitress came by, she uncorked it and poured it in our glasses, as if she were the sommelier (though, i would think that she does this many times a night, as i noticed the wine was flowing at every table in the parlor).

we settled on the $60 5-course tasting menu, selected by the chef, michael solomonov. in actuality, there were 6 courses, and with the exception of the dessert, everything was wonderful.

an amuse bouche of scallop ceviche on a hand made cracker came out first. it was light and airy and made me anxious for what was to come next.

in the past when i've done tasting menus, all members in my dining party receive the same dishes. at marigold on saturday, the first two courses and dessert that i received were different than what cavin got. this was kind of neat because we were afforded the chance to sample more of the menu. here's a list of the courses we received:

1. butterfish crudo w kumquats & mint / roasted beet salad w pecorino & argan oil
2. yellow fava soup w fava caponata / spelt gnocchi with english peas
3. seared scallops w egyptian rice and saffron
4. seared duck breast w parsnips & swiss chard crepinette
5. selection of 3 artesinal cheeses (pecorino romano, and two cheeses from israel)
6. lemon tart w lemon curd & lemon merenge sorbet / halvah semifreddo w chocolate-sesame crisp & cranberry

i really enjoyed the butterfish crudo. the macerated kumquats provided a nice tart counterpoint to the supple, mild fish. cavin was really into the fava soup: it was seasoned with something that we couldn't quite put our finger on (i suggested that it might just have been the flavor of the favas, but still, there might have been something else to it).

the scallops must have been dusted with a tad bit of sugar when they were seared. there was a salty-sweet flavor to them that went well with the saffron sauce that was served with it. either way, they were fantastic and i probably could have eaten another plate of them.

i rather enjoyed the duck. while cavin thought the parsnips were a little much on the sweet side, i thought it went well with the savory flavor of the duck.

cavin and i agreed that the desserts fell short of the rest of the meal. my lemon curd was way too heavy for a dessert (especially after eating 5 courses), and the cracker sandwich w sorbet filling inside, was very difficult to break apart and eat. it was as if it was sitting in the freezer 3 seconds before our waitress brought it out to us. i also couldn't help but compare it to my lemon dessert at dino a few months ago, which was really light and fruity, and dare i say it, perfect.

cavin's dessert, i don't even have words for it. it was really not that pleasant, and left this weird taste in my mouth. at the beginning of our meal, our waitress did tell us that we could request certain things, and as i was eating dessert, i was wishing i had asked if we could try the warm chocolate cake, and the pineapple semolina cake with pineapple sorbet. later i was reading on dr that someone else went there this past weekend and had the two desserts i just mentioned, and how they were fantastic. :(

all in all, it was great meal, and for the price, i think it was worth it, especially since we didn't have to pay for wine and was able to bring our own. and if you don't finish the bottle, you are able to bring it home with you as well, just don't forget to bring the wine in a bag so in case you do bring it home, you do it the proper way, and not ghetto-style, like cavin and i did. hehe.

marigold kitchen
501 s. 45th street
philadelphia, pa 19104
215.222.3699

Labels: event, restaurant, wine

molly steven's has done it again: she's come up with a fantastic home-cook's version of the traditional yucatan slow-roasted pork dish, cochinita pibil.

after we raved about it to the fam back in february, pv & chief bro requested we make it for easter, along with the million other things that were served (spinach lasagna, shanghai lummpia, waldorf salad, leek and goat cheese crostini, braised lamb in hoisin, filipino laing, couscous paella, lamb stuffed with mushrooms and pork, coconut pound cake, key lime pie...the list goes on).

so cavin and i picked up a 9.5 lb bone-in pork shoulder, marinated it for 18 hours in the banana leaves, and got up at the ass-crack of dawn to throw it in the oven for 5.5 hours. it was so worth it.

on easter it got its own serving tray, along with the fresh salsa i made, and the corn tortillas i heated in the oven. it's a superb dish to serve at a party or gathering, especially when you cook the shoulder whole, as we did. as we were still heating up the rest of the food, i saw that my mom had christened it by making her own little taco. she was excited and already trying to figure out how she could make it in the slow cooker (this is an interesting theory).

it's really easy to make. the hardest thing to do is to wrap the darned thing in the banana leaves. but once you get that accomplished, it's smooth sailing from there.

i don't have the recipe handy, but here are the approximate measurements of the ingredients i used. (oh, and the pictures posted here are from our first experience making the pibil, which we used a smaller pork shoulder since there was just the two of us eating it.)

cochinita pibil
5 to 9 lbs of bone-in pork shoulder (skin removed)
banana leaves (can be found in the freezer section of some asian stores)
2-3 tbsp achuete powder (this gives a red color to the pork)
3 tbsp cumin
3-4 cloves
2 tbsp oregano
1 head garlic (or more), peeled and crushed
1-4 habaneros (depending on how hot they are, and how hot you like things)
coarse salt
3 tbsp orange juice
1-2 tbsp lime juice (or grapefruit juice)
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 large le creuset pot (or any heavy lidded pot)

make a paste (i used my handy mortar & pestle) with the garlic, habaneros, and salt. once it is pasty, add the cumin, cloves, oregano, achuete powder, and more salt. keep grinding and mixing into a paste, adding the vinegar and juices.

if there is a layer of fat on the pork, score the fat until you get to the meat (don't remove the fat). rub the garlic paste all over the pork. wrap the entire thing in the banana leaves and secure it with kitchen string. (seriously, this part is annoying). put in the fridge for 12-24 hours (probably in a plastic bag).

heat oven to 300F. cross hatch chopsticks in the bottom of the heavy pot (this will elevate the pork from the bottom of the pot so it won't be sitting in liquid). put the pork in the pot, add 1-1.5 cups water to the bottom (there should be 1/2" liquid at the bottom), put on the lid, and throw it in the oven.

after 3 hours, turn the pork package over inside the pot. be careful because it will be really hot. put back in the oven for another 2.5-3.5 hours.

(warning: after the first 3 hour mark, you house will start smelling like wholesome pork goodness and you will want to start chanting pee-BIL! every few seconds.)

after about 5-6 hours, take the pot out of the oven (hot hot hot!). you won't really be able to assess how tender the pork is if you wrapped it pretty well in the banana leaves. but trust me. you've let the pork sit in the oven, undisturbed for many hours. it will be tender!


the easiest (and prettiest) way to serve it is to carefully lift the pork out of the pot, and put in on your serving platter. cut the strings off and unwrap the banana leaves. you can use the banana leaves as a liner on the platter for the pork.

once you have the entire thing unwrapped, you can use some of the liquid (mostly fat and spices that have leaked out of the package during cooking) in the bottom of the pot to drizzle over the pork.

you really only need a fork (maybe two) to remove chunks of the tender pork to make your own taco with the salsa and corn tortillas. (probably the pork has fallen off the bone).

like i said earlier, it's really a great party dish. you can throw this thing in the oven unattended (except for flipping it half way through), and then serve it on table where everyone can pick at the pork and make their own tacos.

despite the enormous selection of foods during easter, there was only a small fraction of the cochinita pibil for leftovers. that's ok. i'm just glad that everyone enjoyed it. i can always make it again. hmmmm...when is the next party???

Labels: cooking, pork

1. i have a new place to go to lunch. jj introduced dpl, cavin & i to bistro italiano, a cutesy cap hill neighborhood restaurant very close to my work. it's on an unassuming residential street, and only seats about 30 people. while the service was terribly slow (i think there is only one waiter), the pizza was pretty decent, all things considered. i'd probably go again if i had time to take a lazy long lunch.

2. 2006 was a better year for the peak of the cherry blossoms. cavin and i were all set to take a half day off in the middle of the week to hopefully see the blossoms in full swing. only we were foiled by the outrageous thunderstorms that moved through the area in the wee hours of the morning. we took off anyway, but many of the blossoms had fallen to the ground, and the sky stayed dreary...that is, until we were finally done paddle boating and on our way to matchbox (fraking sun!).

3. marigold kitchen's 5 course tasting menu for $60 is a good deal. i took cavin out to west philly (well, the cabbie took us) for his annual special day. we went to marigold kitchen based on a positive personal review from pv. i won't go into the details here (but i will in a dedicated post in the near future), but it was definitely worth the trip. it's also a byob, which was an added bonus.

4. i have the best hipster hair stylest. this past week i finally broke my procrastinator streak and got my hair cut at my normal place, after having to wear my hair in a mini-ponytail daily for almost 2 weeks. when i walked in, jackie immediately wanted to change it up and she did - the back is much shorter than it had been. yay!

5. easter 2007 was a good time. spending time with my family is always a comfortable time for me. easter was no different. pv & chief bro made lamb two ways, tita vicky made couscous paella, gavitron brought spinach lasagna, and dj tone deaf made laing. i brought the cochinita pibil (pee-BIL!!!) which turned out really well, maybe even better than the first time we made it. (post to follow...)

Labels: cooking, domingo, philly, pork, restaurant

the first of april's tomfoolery played me like a 1930s frenchman played his accordion.

hunh?

sunday night was the airing of food network's iron chef (american flavor) battle pitting america's grillboy bobby flay against the emeril of spain and avant-garde mega-chef in dc, jose andres.

thanks to dpl, we were able to snag reservations to crystal city's jaleo to attend the iron chef viewing party hosted by senor andres and co. when we got there for our 8:15 seating, there was a live band playing upbeat spanish hits, large screens were set up all over the restaurant (showing emeril, which must have been the program before the 9pm battle), free paella at the bar, and j.andres supporters (and flay haters) vying for a sweet spot to witness a possible beatdown.

the secret ingredient? goat!

speakers blasted the audio, and to be honest, it was hard to hear alton brown's commentary. but from what we could hear, and definitely see, cooking progressed and ended how i thought it would: j.andres, katsuya, and ruben put together an innovative 5-course menu, while flay does what he always does, sloppily stringing along 5 courses incorporating his "southwestern flavors" (blue-corn crusted, chipotle flavored, tamale wrapped, etc.).

so why was i played? during the commercial breaks, j.andres would get up on the mic and make comments like, "when we were shown the secret ingredient and rushed up to the table to grab pieces of the goat, i was all the way on the one side, and ended up with all goat's head, meanwhile, bobby flay was on the other side and ended up grabbing all of the loin!" while my heart was truly on j.andres' side, my brain was picking up mixed signals and was starting to believe the impossible. how could that cocky and repulsive flay beat out my beloved j.andres?!?!

when judging time came, the obnoxious (yet somehow lovable) jeffrey steingarten was sitting in the first spot of the judging table. after watching several hilarious videos of j.steingarten and reading the man who ate everything, i knew fair refereeing would occur (read j.steingarten sees through flay's demoded and obvious "tricks"), and that it would be smooth sailing for j.andres & company. senor andres could fool me no longer!

i vaguely remember the final score (maybe j.andres 55 to flay's 48?) due to the copious amounts of sangria imbibed, but when the chairman handed down the verdict, unanimous cheers sounded from the restaurant. i think i threw my hands up in the air and was hootin' and hollerin'! que fantastico!

as soon as flay got served, the band started up again, people were very lively and still indulging in j.andres' triumph and even started dancing at the bar.

it was getting late for cavin and i, so we decided to head out. on our way out though, we spotted j.andres welcoming the accolades from everyone present. redhead and i snagged a picture with j.andres. we're such groupies!

(first two pictures from food network online.)

Labels: chaos, cooking, event, games

1. kotobuki is, hands down, the best sushi deal i've ever come across. as if you don't know already, kotobuki is our go-to sushi joint in the palisades part of the district. we got all this fresh sushi for under $50. it's really an unbelievable deal. (nigiri sushi: toro (fatty tuna), salmon, yellowtail, flounder, fried bean curd, uni (sea urchin), unagi (eel). rolls: salmon skin, shiitake mushroom, spicy scallop, spicy tuna & avocado)

2. i have a new appreciation for tequila. brent blessed the sweatpants party with a bottle of corazon. yes, it's already april, but cavin and i have been aging the liquor (hehe) and are just breaking into the stash now. did you know that corazon is made by the traditional method, using 100% blue agave, distilled twice in pot stills and aged in oak barrels? well, you do now.

3. baby lumpia are just as tasty as shanghai lumpia. friday cavin's ma duke inquired about making shanghai lumpia. this reminded me that we had all the necessary ingredients (besides ground pork) to make it also. so sunday morning while doing laundry, we ran over to safeway to pick up some ground pork, and after i made the filling and wrapped the shanghai lumpia, we had strips of the wrapper and the pork mixture leftover. not wanting to waste anything, i rolled these baby lumpias. so cute!

4. a soccer ball this big is terribly hard to get off the ground. at the kite festival this weekend, right behind where cavin and i set up camp for a few hours and secretly boozed (see #5 below), a middle aged couple had this huge soccer ball kite lying on the ground, while he was flying his other kites. every once in a while, he would pull on the strings attached to the gihugic ball and kids (wearing sunglasses) from all over would come running towards the futbol to try to get underneath it, kick it, have it land on their heads, and pretty much just play around. it never really got off the ground, but it was thoroughly entertaining watching the munchkins messing around, especially when the middle-aged man tired from pulling the strings and tried to get the kids to stop playing.

5. $100 for a case of avondale cabernet sauvignon rose is a steal. ace beverages in nw dc is a really neat liquor store. the manager advertised a case of the 2006 rose from south africa as $100, tax included (a mere $8.33/bottle) on DR. he says, "It's still super-juicy and lovely. Bottled under Stel-Vin closures, it has infinitesimal oxidation, if any. Remember, nothing's going in that wine, and nothing's coming out until it's opened. It is "maturing" as though it were in magnum format, i.e. at a GLACIAL pace." we jumped on the deal and picked up our case on friday. it's great for the warm temperatures coming our way, and it looks like grape juice in my blue-tinted nalgene. hehe.

Labels: cooking, domingo, event, pork, restaurant, sushi, wine