but alas, once again my best laid plans were thwarted. and by the most evil of institutions. the DC metro system (insert ominous organ music). this was the day that prompted the shut down of the ENTIRE system. one of the stations downtown caught on fire. like actual fire. so what should have been a 45 minute easy train ride to downtown? turned into a three hour long epic of trains, buses and ultimately my own legs. so sadly, i was beyond late for our dinner reservations. but i was in time for the show! which was extremely good, very appropriate for the theme. dark and jarring and ominous. and held back nothing when it came to the not-subtle jibes at producing this play in the heart of our nation. and the alphabet soup of "big brother" agencies that surround it.
given my very short window of running to get to the theatre in time, dinner was a "grab and go" from a nearby restaurant i have long been familiar with. teaism was one of the very first places i ate at my first summer in DC, many moons ago when i was fresh out of grad school and working at arena stage. luckily, there's one directly behind the lansberg theatre! as it was monday, and i didn't want to break tradition, i ordered the vegetarian okonomiyaki. which if you've never heard of, is a japanese savory pancake consisting of cabbage, yam, egg, scallion and flour. they are usually topped with a sweet, thickened soy sauce and a horseradish mayonnaise. it sounds....odd. and i'm not going to lie. it is.....odd. but actually quit delicious! if you're into cabbage....
but the real reason i went by teaism wasn't for the main dishes. it was for their signature dessert. the salty oat cookie! these are amazing. the sweet/savory combination is superb. the wonderful cookie (and a glass of malbec) definitely helped in lowering my stress from the trip in so that i could enjoy the show!
03/15-i will forever be grateful to my college roommate kara for introducing me to indian food. every since i had my first bite? i was hooked. the beautiful combinations of spices and the richness of sauces was divine! but much like thai food, i was always hesitant to make it at home. mostly because when i would look at the ingredient list i would get intimidated. so many spices!!! where would i find the all? when would i use them all???
well tonight i put my hesitations aside and made one of my go-to favorites. palak paneer (or spinach with cheese). there were a few moments of "what the hell am i doing" while making the spinach, and i didn't puree it nearly as fine as i should have. but overall the flavors came through, and the taste was pretty damn close to what i have had in restaurants here! i'm amazed at how the yogurt in the sauce really changes the texture from a watery mess to a creamy delicacy. rather than make the standard naan bread as a side, i wanted something a little lower on the carb scale, so i made chickpea fritters (yay fritters!). these are almost similar to a flattened falafel, but with flavors of scallion and cilantro instead of parsley and garlic. on their own, i would say they were a little dry. but as a base to soak up the wonderful "gravy" of the spinach? they were perfect!
03/16-tonight was a mini "girls night out" with a few people i work with. we went to a nearby dogfish head brewery. i'm not a beer drinker, but the food there? totally worth going to! i had their bulgogi tacos. tender beef marinated with korean spices served in flour tortillas. i don't know what magic spice was in their sauce, but it was freaking amazing. even if it did burn a little. ok, a lot. but worth it!
03/17-since tony is out of town, i'm postponing my "st patrick's day" meal until tomorrow, and opting for something light tonight. a poached cod and asparagus with lemon shallot sauce. i'm trying to find more ways of preparing seafood, and a friend at work suggested this technique. and to be honest, i don't use cod that often. so i figured i'd give it a go! and it was so easy!! a layer of asparagus in a pan, the cod on top, 1 cup of water.....and let it come to a simmer. cover and cook 5 minutes. boom. done. a super healthy and low-fuss dinner! now given that cod is a rather bland fish, that's where the sauce came into play. white wine, lemon juice, butter and shallots reduced in a separate pan. a light flavor that worked perfectly with this particular white fish.
03/18-now that tony is home, it's time to make my st patrick's day meal! the classic corned beef and cabbage. i was going to do roasted potatoes, but wanted to try my hand at making potato dumplings. i guess that makes this a german/irish hybrid meal? i did the corned beef and cabbage in the crockpot with a guiness for moisture (seemed appropriate). the entire house smelled amazing while it was cooking! everything was so tender and delicious. the dumplings were....ok. i think next time i'll stick to either roasted or mashed potatoes. but it's all about the experiments this year, right? now i know!
03/19-tonight was a twist on "burger and fries" night. this comes from another recipe i found on skinnytaste. "naked salmon burgers". these turned out AMAZING!!! tony agrees this is one of the best meals we've had so far this year. part of what makes these so good is that i used actual salmon fillets, not canned salmon. so each burger was hearty and full of wonderful bites of fresh and delicious fish. the flavors of garlic, soy and red pepper made for an asian flair that tony and i both found most pleasing to the palette. i added a little ginger to the mix. it seemed appropriate. and i was not wrong! next time i'm going to throw in some cilantro and scallion to round out the flavors. now that sriracha mayo on top? took everything up a notch! since the main dish was a "burger", it seemed appropriate to have a side dish of "fries". sweet potato fries to be specific. always a welcome addition to the plate here! and a handful of green beans to add some color to the plate. you can never go wrong with a side of steamed green beans!
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2014/07/naked-salmon-burgers-with-sriracha-mayo.html
03/20-i had relatively low expectations for tonight's dinner. a baked chicken parmesan with jarred tomato sauce over whole wheat rotini with a side of broccoli. i was expecting a chicken that was bland and dry. i could not have been more wrong! i'm happy to say this meal far exceeded my expectations. the chicken was moist and flavorful. the pasta perfectly al dente. the tomato sauce (i used classico's "sweet basil" and doctored it up with a splash of red wine, fresh basil and some extra garlic) a nice balance of flavorful and herbaceous. the broccoli, well ok....it's broccoli. either you love it or you hate it. no surprises there.
let's talk more about the chicken. i took two chicken breasts, cut them in half and tenderized them until they were about 1/4" thick. i rubbed them with just a little bit of mayo (enough to coat both sides). this is a great trick if you're oven baking chicken or pork with any type of coating. it locks the moisture into the meat, and gives a great surface for the crumbs to stick to. i prefer it to using the standard method of using a beaten egg. i swear it makes for a more tender piece of meat!
for the breading, i used whole wheat bread crumbs, grated parmesan and a bunch of spices (garlic, oregano, thyme, onion powder, red pepper flakes). once the chicken was mayo'ed and crumbed, i put them on a baking sheet and sprayed them with cooking spray (to keep the crumbs from drying out). i baked them for 20 minutes at 450F, then flipped them and baked for 5 minutes more. at this point i took them out and covered each with a large spoonful of a sweet basil tomato sauce and a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese. back in the oven for another 5 minutes of baking, and 3 minutes under the broiler. the result? probably the best chicken parmesan i've ever had! and way healthier than any other recipe i've tried.
another end to another delicious week of dinners! happy sunday, and hoping everyone has a good week ahead!
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