Capital Spice

A 1700s-era colonial tavern was uncovered by construction crews in Easton, MD.  I guess their Kronenberg 1664 is the real deal.

Pop Candy lets us know about two dudes who serenade Taco Bell. 
 
Eggs are so haute right now. 
 
Packaged food manufacturers like Campbell’s are moving away from sweepstakes and into cause marketing.  
 
Tacqueria Distrito Federal may be expanding to H St NE.  
 
Enology is starting a brunch service this weekend.

Mark Bittman of the New York Times argues for more reality in cooking shows.  
 
Metrocurean shares that Todd English is no longer working with Cha. 
 
A couple of dumb Domino’s employees post a video of the gross things they do to the pizza on YouTube.  Needless to say, the employees have been fired, Domino’s is exploring a civil suit for defaming the brand, the franchisee of that particular location is filing a criminal complaint and the stars of this particular video have started to publicly (and lamely) plead their case: “”It was all a prank and me nor Michael expected to have this much attention from the videos that were uploaded!” she wrote. “No food was ever sent out to any customer. We would never put something like that on you tube if it were real!! It was fake and I wish that everyone knew that!!!!” 
 
Sad news for Old Town diners… Farrah Olivia, the modern, experimental and all around fantastic restaurant is closing April 29th. Chef Morou Ouattara cites lease issues with the landlord. But all isn’t lost! According to Best Bites Blog, the team plans to re-open the restaurant in downtown DC and already has another effort in the works for a Crystal City location.  
Burger King is revamping advertisements airing in Europe for its Texican burger – only available across the pond – after a diplomat called them offensive and damaging to the image of Mexico.

Crafting homemade yogurt.  
 
Good news for PX fans – According to Mr. Thrasher, the lounge will begin taking reservations online next week at EammonsDublinChipper.com. 
 
Endless Simmer tells us 100 ways to cook an egg featuring photos and recipes.  
 
Sun Chips are rolling out new compostable packaging. 
 
Ever thought about starting a vegetable garden in a sawed off whiskey barrel? That’s one badass garden.  
 
Check out these food and dining events in the area from DC Foodies. 
 
The poplation of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay is on the rise.  
 
Greek Easter is this Sunday. Here are some traditional recipes for the family feast.

After what felt like months of lousy weather, we’ve finally got a stretch of decent days ahead of us.  Here at Capital Spice, that means one thing: it’s time to pick out greenery for our planter boxes.  Like most DC residents, we’re working with a pretty limited space when it comes to growing things.

And unlike Robert Weland at Poste, we’re too lazy to turn our backyard into a makeshift garden.  So what’s an aspiring locavore to do?  Make use of the space you’ve got to grow the herbs you know you’ll be using anyway.

When it comes to bang for your foodie buck, growing herbs is right up there with owning your own goat.  In most grocery stores you’ll pay close to two dollars for a bunch of herbs – more for the good stuff like sage and thyme.  And the petroleum-based plastic packaging that so many herbs come in adds exponentially to the environmental impact of your purchase.

Rather than swearing off the green stuff altogether, why not try your hand at raising your favorites at home.  Even if you live in an apartment with only one window, you’ve got room for a few herbs.  And there are some that are so hardy that nothing short of a significant snowfall will kill them (we had so much rosemary that there may still be some living from last year).

If you’re feeling agriculturally inclined, you can even go so far as to raise your herbs from seeds…but ideally you’d have already done that.  We’re not especially good at raising plants, so we opt for the slightly easier approach: we buy the young herbs and then plant them.

A few thoughts on where to buy herbs locally and a call for help after the jump. (more…)

When it comes to comfort food, I’m still a Jersey boy at heart – give me a plate of pasta any day.  Although the long corkscrews known as fusili lunghi are my favorite, I’m an equal opportunity eater when it comes to shapes.  I’m not even particularly picky when it comes to toppings.  I enjoy a good garlicky pesto; a simple toss with olive oil, parmesan and black pepper; and a nice tomato gravy (we don’t call it sauce where I come from) from time to time.

It should come as no surprise, then, that I was struck by a feature in one of our foodie magazines (Everyday Food) highlighting soba.  These buckwheat noodles are prevalent in Japanese cooking, whether served in soups, salads or on their own with a dipping sauce.  Soba (and buckwheat in general) contain high quantities of cholesterol-lowering B-vitamins and rutin, an antioxidant.  So we decided to give it a try.

We found one recipe within the feature that caught our eye, a soba soup with shiitake and spinach.  Looking through our cookbooks, we also found a recipe in John Ash’s “From the Earth to the Table” for Japanese-style grilled salmon with a cold soba noodle salad.  We decided to check out both to experience soba in two very different ways.

One of the recipes was a home run; the other, not so much.

Which one was which (and the secret behind the soba that’s “No. 1 in Japan”) after the jump. (more…)

There are certain foods I am perpetually hungry for, even if I’m not hungry at all. All I need to hear is someone mention it and I’m interested. ”Yeah,” I think, “that is just what I’m in the mood for!” Sushi is a big offender here, as are cookies. Any kind of cookie. And, to my chagrin, so is Chinese. Being hungry for Chinese in DC can be a disappointing experience. I have a few no-fail favorites like Peking Gourmet Inn and City Lights, but I’m always trying to add to the roster.

With all this in mind, its understandable why I jumped at the chance to try Meiwah on the DuPont Circle/Foggy Bottom borderline. Itty Bitty Bitter Betty has been raving about the place for years and I was excited to finally put it to the test and the end of a night of cocktailing with her and Nell.

A few steps in the door and it was already difficult not to be impressed by Meiwah – the dining room is a two-story soaring megapolis of eaters and even at 10pm on a school night it was packed. The walls are filled with photos of the owner and famous faces (many of them are only famous to the most studied DC wonk, though. I had to check the caption on quite a few). Despite the crowd, we secured a table and within minutes we were seated with menus, water and a smiling waitress ready to take our appetizer order.

Our experience after the jump. (more…)

Every so often, we like to get away from Washington – to recharge our batteries and just relax for a weekend.  Thankfully, we’ve found a great place to do just that: Deep Creek Lake in far western Maryland.  Just a few hours’ drive from the city, it offers something fun in every season (Wisp Ski Resort, hiking trails, boating on the lake, plenty of fall colors), but it also provides a great opportunity to just unplug and curl up with a few good books and some wine.

As if that weren’t enough, the rural setting offers visitors from DC a chance to get even closer to the source of their food than they can at their local farmers’ markets.  In fact, Firefly Farms – a fixture at the Dupont Circle and Silver Spring FreshFarm Markets here in town – raises their goats on a farm in nearby Bittinger, Maryland.

But there’s one shop that has become a must for us when visiting Deep Creek Lake: Zaiser German Meats.  It’s not just a clever name.  Alex Zaiser, the butcher and creator of the various meats and sausages on offer here hails from Stuttgart, Germany, where he achieved the rank of Master Butcher before coming to America.  Now he plies his craft in Garrett County – and if you ever find yourself in driving distance you may just want to pay him a visit.

Some of his handcrafted wares – and how to find him – after the jump. (more…)

Endless Simmer finds Italian food in a maze of Ethiopian spongy bread. 

Smeeps!

Speaking of N’awlins, Bayou Bakery is taking Murky Coffee’s old space in Arlington. Maybe I can finally try my first beignet.

Food marketers respond to consumers’ demands for simplicity. 
 
Behold! The dark and mysterious world of Belgian Lambic. 
 
With all the talk of how the economy is affecting consumer spending, which food items are actually seeing a surge in sales? Breads, coffee, frozen meals and spreads (like peanut butter), according to a recent study. 

Bravo is launching a Top Chef spin off called Top Chef Masters, featuring past winners and well-known chefs. Looks good to me.  
A parenting group has launched a letter writing campaign criticizing the new “highly sexualized” Burger King ads for $.99 cent SpongeBob kids meals.  
 
Kanye West is launching his own energy drink.

One man shares his experience working at Chuck E. Cheese as a teenager. This really makes my gig at Baskin Robbins look like a dream. 
 
DiGiorno is using Twitter to help launch its flatbread pizza line.   
 
Jews and gentiles alike are buying Kosher Coke.

Being the barbecue snob purist that I am, I’ve frequently found myself giving dismissive answers to friends’ questions about where to find good ‘cue in Washington.  Hell…I’ve even said as much here at Capital Spice.  But a few months back the City Paper’s Tim Carman spread the word that Rockville’s Urban Bar-B-Que had upgraded their smoker and that their brisket was much improved for the change.  I had to check it out.

Sure, Urban’s smoked meats are done in the Texas style, so they were bound to be a bit different than the heavily sauced ribs I’ve come to know and love in Kansas City.  But I was eager to see what their new XLR-600 Southern Pride smoker was turning out, so I joined up with Carman and a handful of other carnivores for a taste test.  And since there are limits to how much meat even the most dedicated barbecue enthusiast can order in one sitting, I invited Nell to join me so we could try a broader range of items.

So how was it?  On the whole, this was some of the best I’ve had in DC…but there were definitely some missteps in the mix, as well.

Details on Urban’s cooking method, tasty meats and “Ugly Bits” after the jump. (more…)

Cake Wars.

Iron Chef. 

Last Resaurant Standing.

Let’s face it: we are obsessed with food battles.  This time of year there is no better food battle than Peep Wars. And ulike the showdowns listed above, Peep Wars can actually happen in your very own kitchen. Or – if you’re very lucky – the kitchenette in your company’s office. 

The thrill of Peep Wars was spilled to me by Jocko, a former co-worker, lifetime long distance runner, and microwave experiment enthusiast. Peep wars is marshmallow jousting for your microwave. Anyone who has attempted a s’mores without the benefit of open flame has probably learned that marshmallows expand in the microwave. Add well-placed toothpicks to the equation and suddenly you have a nail biting duel on your hands.

Like all great ideas, Peep Wars’ brilliance lies in its simplicity.

Step 1: Select Peeps. For these purposes, chicks are better than bunnies. It will also be easiest if you select two different colors. I picked up pink and green, because I’m gangsta like that.

Step 2: Put two Peeps on a plate, facing each other, no more than 1 inch apart. Insert toothpicks into Peep bellies.

Step 2a: Try not to giggle that the Peeps now look like a prelude to movie night at UMD.

Step 3: Insert into the microwave for 1 minute and cheer your color on!

As the Peeps expand, they ooze and waver and shift until eventually the spear of one Peep impales the other, causing abject deflation. The toothpick placement is really clutch here. Insert it too high and it’ll miss the mark. Too off center and it could veer in the completely wrong direction, ensuring your Peep defeat.

The terms of your Peep War may vary. Maybe its for bragging rights, or cash. Or you could go Pacific Island-style and devour the remains of your Peep opponent. Warm, sugary marshmallow may be one of the most delicious victory dinners ever known.

But before you dive in, heed these wise words from Jocko, the Peep Wars general: “Never, and I mean NEVER, use the sugar-free Peeps. Your microwave will never smell the same.”  

So we’re a little late to this party…chalk it up to our day jobs.

When the Food Network’s press release announcing the lineup for Season Five of The Next Food Network Star hit our inbox, we knew we were going to be behind the curve in sharing the news that Teddy Folkman would be one of the competitors.  But considering what a Big Deal this is – and what huge fans we are of Teddy’s work at Granville Moore’s – there was no way we were going to let this pass without chiming in!

First things first: In case there was any doubt whatsoever, we are completely in the tank for Teddy.  As the first breakout star on H Street, NE, he has brought so much great attention to our neighborhood.  But popularity alone is not enough to win our affection: Teddy is a genuinely nice guy who just happens to be a great chef.  And we’re not the only ones who think so, either.  When we ran our “Most Crushable Chef” contest back in February, Teddy was the runaway favorite.  So don’t expect anything even remotely Fair & Balanced in our coverage of the show…it’s all Teddy, all the time.

Back in January, we caught wind of a blind item from Food Network Addict (another DC denizen – who knew?) and made our prediction that Teddy had made it onto the show.  Soon after that, he headed up to New York – he said it was to help a friend who was opening a restaurant of his own in the city.  At that point, we knew it was simply a matter of watching and waiting.

Things to watch for (including the promo photo Food Network will be using to promote Teddy) after the jump. (more…)

April can be such a tease. The sun is out for a minute and then the sky is dumping rain. The air is warm until you step into a shadow and immediately wish for a scarf. Which is why this tart is so lovely. The filling is warm and dense enough to comfort on a rainy afternoon but the fresh herbs and crunchy cornmeal crust remind you that spring is in your backyard, whether you get to go outside and enjoy it or not.

We picked this recipe from John Ash’s From the Earth to the Table, a wine country cookbook focusing on seasonal ingredients. All of those things are nice, but what really drew me in was the promise of a “can’t screw it up” crust. I’ve always been intimidated by crusts - they are a crucial base for so many desserts and yet so fickle! – so when it really counts, I’ve gone store bought. But, I figured, no time like the present to start practicing for the real deal.

So it turns out Mr. Ash knows what he is talking about – this crust is easy to do. A standing mixer with a paddle attachment did the heavy lifting for me as I mixed the butter, sugar, cornmeal and eggs together. Once I started to add in the flour I switched to mixing by hand with a silicone spatula. (Does anyone else swear by these? Wooden spoons are a thing of the past!) Once it took on a sticky consistency, I worked it into a ball, plopped it into saran wrap and shoved it into the refrigerator for an hour.

While the dough is chillaxing, I moved on to the filling which starts off with a beurre blanc (butter, cream, wine and shallots, but I used spring onions from the DuPont farmers’ market) with a dash of white pepper. Once this has simmered and reduced by half, I removed it from the heat to let it cool,  which I accomplished handily by ignoring the food altogether and catching up on Real Housewives of NYC on DVR. (That Kelly chick is crazycakes!)

Back in the kitchen, I mixed in the ricotta, eggs and herbs (thyme and rosemary) into the now-cooled filling and set it aside. Time to tackle the cornmeal crust. It rolled out reasonably well, though we did have some tense moments in the beginning when I worried it didn’t have enough “stick” to it and soon I was wrestling it off the counter and onto the tart pan. I think this single action is probably one of the most harrowing moments of baking. After that we were on easy street. I poured the filling into the tart pan and into the oven it went for about 35 minutes, until the top was just turning brown and the center barely set.  We couldn’t wait to dig in.

This is a tart in quiche clothing – it has all the appearance of being a paler version of its egg-based cousin but the ricotta and beurre blanc add creaminess and depth to the flavors and the herbs jumped out as springtime itself. If I came up with this recipe on my own, I don’t think I would have thought of a cornmeal crust but it was ideal. The earthy crust with tiny flecks of corn texture kept the baked cheese grounded – a light traditional pastry crust would have resulted in too much lightness and air. This keeps the dish down to earth.  This is an ideal dish to make for or bring to a brunch – the flavors intensify as the tart cools and the crunchy crust is an unexpected ally to the whipped, silky filling.  It is a rich dish. I recommend balancing it with a light salad and maybe some citrus. We served it along side a salad of Loudon lettuce (also from the DuPont Market), daikon radishes, apples and a vanilla-fig olive oil from the Temecula Olive Oil Company.

Ricotta cheese-thyme tart with sweet cornmeal crust John Ash’s From the Earth to the Table
serves 8-12 (it’s rich! Small slices are advised.)

Crust
1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 Tb sugar
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 ts kosher or sea salt 
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Using an exlectric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or by hand, in a large bowl beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornmeal, eggs, and salt and beat until well combined. Add the flour and mix until the dough forms a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour (or overnight). Lightly butter a 9-inch tart pan and dust with cornmeal. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough into a circle 11 inches in diameter. Roll the dough up onto the rolling pin and transfer to the tart pan, eveninly pressing the dough into the sides. Trim excess dough. Prick with a fork several times and bake for 8 minutes. [Ed note: I completely overlooked this step and didn't pre-bake the crust. It seemed to turn out okay anyway.]

Filling
1 tb unsalted butter
4 tb minced shallots or green onions, white part only
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 ts kosher or sea salt
1/4 ts ground white pepper
12 oz whole-milk ricotta cheese
3 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 Tb savory herbs

Preheat the oven to 350F. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and saute the shallots until soft but not brown. Add the cream, wine, salt, and white pepper and cook over medium heat until reduced by half. Cool. Add the ricotta cheese, eggs, and thyme and beat until smooth. Pour into the prepared tart shell.

Bake for 35 minutes or until the filling is just set and slightly browned.