Ina Garten's apple, pear and cranberry crisp

It's been raining a lot here, and I thought I'd make apple, pear and cranberry crisp to lighten up the apartment.

I always eat apple crisp with ice cream. I make sure the crunchy topping, the fruit filling and ice cream are all in one bite. When the ice cream is melted, I still drizzle it over the rest of the dessert.

The best thing about apple crisp is the sweet, crunchy crust.

Check it out.

See that crunchiness? Ina Garten has a recipe for the "crisp" that will never fail you.

Apple, pear and cranberry crisp
For the recipe, click here.

Meatballs with red pepper paste and Worcestershire

A couple weeks ago, I was watching late night PBS and I saw Ming Tsai, of Simply Ming make meatballs with kochu jang, Korean fermented red pepper paste, and Worcestershire sauce. I thought that was awesome! It would also be a great way to use up the kochu jang.

Kochu jang, also spelled gochujang

Kochu jang is made of red chili powder, powdered fermented soy beans, glutinous rice powder and other ingredients.

I made the meatballs tonight. Like Ming Tsai suggested, I sauteed a meatball to taste. It was really good, very flavorful, but it needed to be spicier. I added more kochu jang to the meatball mix.

I made the meatballs in the size of walnuts. For a second batch, I made them in the size of nutmegs, just to see what happened. It doesn't matter too much, except the smaller the size, the faster they cook in the steamer.

Using the steamer equipment for my rice cooker was pretty easy. I just added water to the inner pot instead of rice like I usually do. The meatballs cooked nicely.

I have to say I was disappointed with the taste of the meatballs. Maybe because I prefer fried or baked. I like the crusty edge around the meatball after I saute it in a pan. Steaming the meatballs and cabbage is definitely a healthier way to make them. But next time, I'll try frying the meatballs instead.

Mini “Lion’s Head” and Snow Cabbage
Meatballs with Kochu jang and Worcestershire sauce
Tweaked from Ming Tsai, of Simply Ming
Serves 4
3/4 pound ground pork
3/4 pound ground beef
1 large onion, 1/4-inch dice
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 heaping tablespoons kochu jang (Korean fermented red pepper paste) to start, more if needed.
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs or regular breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 head Snow or Napa cabbage, julienned
Kochu karu (Korean red pepper powder), for garnish
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Prepare a steamer over a wok of boiling water or use the steamer equipment that goes with your rice cooker. Combine kochu jang and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl. Add the mixture to a large bowl, filled with the pork, beef, onion, garlic, breadcrumbs and egg (already wisked). Season with salt and pepper and mix until just combined. Check flavor by microwaving or sautéing a meatball. Form into small meatballs and place on bed of julienne cabbage inside steamer. Steam for about 8-10 minutes, until cooked through.

To serve, scoop cabbage (the lion's mane) and meatballs together. Garnish with kochu karu (red pepper powder), if desired.

Alternative way: Add a little oil to a hot frying pan. Saute meatballs. Cover. Remove meatballs from pan. Saute cabbage in the drippings.

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I'll be away...

Hi everyone,

I'll be away for the weekend, but I'll be back to post more.

Hummingbird Appetite

Strawberry mascarpone pie featured in The Lunch Box Project

Courtesy Lisa Orgler

My strawberry mascarpone pie is being featured today in Lisa Orgler's blog The Lunch Box Project! She does acrylic and ink paintings of meals on playing cards and sells them on Etsy.com. To view her post, click here.

Maple syrup and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are my favorite. I love the chocolate with the added chewiness of the oats. A while back, I was searching for recipes on the Food Network Web site when I happened upon a recipe by Wayne Harley Brachman, who used to be the executive pastry chef at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill and Bolo. Brachman added maple syrup to his chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, which brings another level of sweetness to the dessert.

Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies
Slightly tweaked from Wayne Harley Brachman
Yield: about 36 cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Set 2 racks in the middle and upper thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats and pecans together with a whisk or fork.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar together for 30 seconds until blended. Beat in the egg until smooth and barely fluffy. With mixer running on medium high, drizzle in the maple syrup and vanilla until incorporated. Turn the mixer down to its lowest setting and gradually add the flour-oatmeal mixture. Blend just to combine, then mix in the chocolate chips.

Drop walnut-sized balls of dough onto a nonstick or parchment-lined cookie sheet at 3-inch intervals. With moistened fingers, flatten and round out the cookies a little. Bake for 9 minutes, turning the pan once for even baking. The cookies are done when they are lightly browned on top. Set the cookie sheets on a rack to cool.

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Like the recipe? Print it out

Hi all,

Now, you can print my recipes by clicking on a link in the posts.

I use Google Docs.

How to add the print option to your food blog:
Once you have an account with Google, just copy and paste your recipes in a Google document. Go to "Share" and choose "Publish as web page." Hit "Publish" and Google will create a link. You can copy and paste that link into a post.

- Hummingbird Appetite

Roast Lemon Chicken

I had been defrosting a whole chicken in the fridge for a few days and I figured it was about time to cook it.

M. sounded annoyed on the phone after he did some errands on Saturday. When M. asked, "What's for dinner?" I replied, "Lemon chicken."

"Oh," he said, surprised. His tone and mood lifted suddenly.

I have a subscription to Cook's Country, a magazine put out by America's Test Kitchen. They have a recipe for roast lemon chicken. To save money, I've been brave enough to buy a whole chicken. In the past, I didn't buy one because it was just the two of us. But, I've found I can use the leftovers to make lemon chicken soup. Since I have a cold, I knew I would be needing the comfort of a steamy bowl.

Chicken breasts seem so much more succulent on the bone. M. prefers dark meat over white meat. But when he ate a lemon chicken breast for the first time, he was surprised to find how juicy and tender it was.

This is actually the second time I've used the Cook's Country recipe. I've made chicken piccata before that was too sour from the lemon juice. But this recipe really packs in the flavor of lemon without overpowering the chicken with sourness. It's all in the lemon zest that's rubbed underneath the skin.

Roasting a whole chicken makes me feel like I have magic powers. I mean, it's a whole chicken.

I felt weird taking pictures of my splayed chicken. It felt like I was taking photos of a naked girl on the beach. But I wanted to show you what the butterflied chicken looks like after you take it out of the oven.


Once I take a bite of a drumstick, it's succulent, lemony and cooked just right.

Roast Lemon Chicken
Source: Tweaked from Cook's Country April/May 2009

Serves 3-4
Avoid using nonstick or aluminum roasting pans in this recipe. The former can cause the chicken to brown too quickly, while the latter may react with the lemon juice, producing off-flavors.

Note: I used a Pyrex 9 x 13 inch pan. The first time I made the chicken, it was pretty brown, but the chicken was succulent. The second time I made the chicken, it looked fine. I used a digital probe oven thermometer that let me know when the chicken was done.

1 (3 1/2 to 4 pound) whole chicken, backbone removed and butterflied
3 tablespoons grated zest plus 1/3 cup juice from 3 jumbo lemons
Note: I can't get 3 tablespoons of zest from 3 regular-sized lemons, so I suggest getting 3 big
ones.
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley

Step-by-step for butterflying the chicken:
1. Use kitchen shears to cut out the backbone. Flip the bird over and press to flatten the breastbone.
2. Carefully loosen the skin, then rub zest mixture into the breast, thigh and leg meat.
3. Roast the flattened chicken in the lemony sauce so that its flavor can permeate the meat.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Pat chicken dry with paper towels after butterflying it. Combine lemon zest, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Season chicken with salt and pepper and transfer to roasting pan. (Seasoned chicken can be refrigerated for 2 hours.)

Whisk broth, 1 cup water, lemon juice and remaining zest mixture in 4-cup liquid measuring cup, then pour into roasting pan. (Liquid should just reach skin of thighs. If it does not, add enough water to reach skin of thighs.) Roast until skin is golden brown and thigh meat registers 170 to 175 degrees, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to cutting board and let rest 20 minutes.

Pour liquid from pan, along with any accumulated chicken juices, into saucepan (you should have about 1 1/2 cups). Skim fat, then cook over medium-high until reduced to 1 cup, about 5 minutes. Whisk cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water in small bowl until no lumps remain, then whisk into saucepan. Simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Carve chicken and serve, passing sauce at table.

Some quick notes on making leftover lemon chicken soup:
I save the meat, bones and all. I also store the chicken juices because I usually make more than the 1 1/2 cups the recipe says. The next day, I skim off the fat from the juices. I pour the juices into a saucepan. I add water and canned chicken broth to lessen the acidity from the lemon. I throw in whatever vegetables I have: chopped onions, carrots, peas, garlic scapes and potatoes. (It varies.) I break off pieces of chicken from the breastbone. When the vegetables are tender, I add the chicken. After everything is heated through, I ladle myself a bowl and enjoy.

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Strawberry Bruschetta II - Basiled berries

Jenn of Bread + Butter made a comment on the Strawberry Bruschetta post that got me thinking about how I could modify the recipe without bread. Since I had plenty of strawberries left and zero ciabatta bread, I thought I'd play around with the recipe and make something for breakfast today.

I had a cup of the season's first raspberries from the farmers' market and I decided to use those. I measured a cup of strawberries and halved each of them. I added more basil to the berries. I doubled the ingredients for the topping of yogurt, sour cream and honey because now I had two cups of fruit.

The basiled berries with honeyed yogurt were delicious! Tart and sweet and honeyed up.

Basiled berries with honeyed yogurt
Adapted from Cuisine at Home's Strawberry Bruschetta recipe
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
1 cup fresh raspberries
2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves (to taste)
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

For the topping:
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Toss strawberries and raspberries with sugar, basil, and lemon juice. Mix sour cream, yogurt, honey and vanilla together in a separate bowl. Add topping to berries.

Note: You can modify the amounts of sugar, lemon juice and basil to your preference. You can add blueberries or blackberries.

Print recipe

Strawberry bruschetta

Strawberries and basil are my new thing now. When I was making a grocery list and flipping through cooking magazines, I glanced at a recipe for strawberry bruschetta that includes chopped basil. It sounded so refreshing— a great recipe to take advantage of the strawberry season.

This summer, I've been working with strawberries a lot because 1) They're one of my favorite fruits 2) I'm actually aware of their growing season and 3) They are so much sweeter than the ones at the grocery store. (Why didn't I buy locally farmed strawberries before?)

The Cuisine at Home recipe called for toasting your bread under the broiler. I set the timer for two minutes. When the alarm sounded, I opened the oven door only to find burned slices of ciabatta bread.

"Nooo!" I said, taking the bread out as quickly as possible.

Luckily, I had more bread and I tried again, watching it very carefully. I didn't toast the bread until it was crunchy for fear I'd burn it again.

The bruschetta goes with a topping of yogurt, honey and sour cream mixed together. I used blueberry honey that I bought from the farmers' market this morning. Compared to the more common clover honey, blueberry blossom honey has an uplift in flavor. It's slightly fruity.


When I was done assembling the strawberry bruschetta on ciabatta halves, I handed M. his own plate. I plopped down on the couch to take a bite of my own slice. It was so good! The strawberries were sweet and cinnamony with the basil. The honey, yogurt, and sour cream complimented the berries well.

Strawberry bruschetta
Tweaked from Cuisine at Home Issue No. 62 April 2007

Makes 4 pieces
Serves 2
Ingredients:

For the toast:
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ciabatta roll, split, buttered on cut sides and halved diagonally

For the strawberries:
1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and diced
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

For the topping:
1/8 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon plain yogurt
1 teaspoon honey
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish bruschetta with:
sprigs of fresh basil (optional)

Preheat broiler to high with rack six inches from heating element.

Combine sugar and cinnamon in a dish. Sprinkle mixture (you won't use it all) on buttered sides of bread, then broil on a baking sheet until toasted, 1-2 minutes, depending on the broiler.

Toss strawberries with sugar, basil, and lemon juice. Stir sour cream, yogurt, honey and vanilla together in a separate bowl. Divide berries with juice among the pieces of toast. Add a teaspoon of the yogurt-sour cream mixture to each toast.

If there are berries left, eat with the yogurt-sour cream topping or with whipped cream. Another option is to use the strawberries as a topping for vanilla ice cream.

Garnish with basil (optional).

Print recipe

Garam masala chicken

I've been thinking about making chicken with a garam masala rub for the past few days. I love the smell of garam masala. When I open a spice jar of it, the room fills with the fragrance of coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, charnushka, caraway, black pepper, cloves, ginger and nutmeg.

I usually buy garam masala to make it easier on myself. I use Penzeys Spices Punjabi Style from the Grand Central Station market, but I think you can find the spice mixture at your grocery store.

I roasted drumsticks after coating them with garam masala. They tasted a little bitter, so I added a peach glaze to cut through it. I also tried the chicken with leftover spiced, candied kumquats and the flavors went very well together.

My taste buds aren't the greatest because I'm starting to get a cold, but my husband ate three drumsticks and liked them. (Update: He ate #4 last night).

The recipe is similar to my curry roasted drumsticks.

Garam Masala Chicken
Ingredients:
5 chicken drumsticks
1/8 cup garam masala
salt, enough to season meat
vegetable oil
1/8 cup or a few spoonfuls of peach preserves

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Season drumsticks with salt or add roughly less than a teaspoon to the garam masala. Put the spice rub in a resealable plastic bag. Add the drumsticks, seal the bag and shake to coat.


Add a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil to an ovenproof pot and heat over medium-high. Add coated chicken and brown on all sides. Transfer pot to the oven and roast 25 minutes.

After the chicken has been in the oven for 25 minutes, take the pot out of the oven.


Set aside the chicken. Add peach preserves to the drippings. Turn on the stove and heat the preserves until melted. Transfer the drumsticks back to the pot and coat them with the glaze. Place pot back in the oven and roast for another 10-15 minutes.

Garam masala chicken with peach glaze

If using leftover spiced, candied kumquats, skip the peach glaze step and just reheat the kumquats with their syrup. Pour over the chicken.

Print recipe

Cooking to Podcasts

Tasty iPod by ~nyu on deviantART

I love to cook to podcasts. When I come home, I chop onions and I listen. I'll hear funny anecdotes, stories that make me cry, mouth-watering accounts of food and opinions on why I should trash this album.

Here are my favorities:

Logo from This American Life Web site

This American Life brings poignant stories to your ear. I've listened to heartbreaking podcasts about a family who adopted a Samoan girl only to find out the adoption was illegal and the family decided to give her back (Episode 380: No Map). Show host Ira Glass has one of the most distinctive voices on public radio. You cannot help but want to listen to him again and again and again. M. and I went to a live show of This American Life in Chicago a year or so ago. It was like watching the show in 3-D.

Photo from The Splendid Table Web site

Food podcasts and cooking obviously go together. I listen to The Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper. I start salivating when I hear Jane and Michael Stern of the Road Food column in Gourmet tell me about their food adventures across the country. They've talked about whole-bellied clams, ice cream, pie, chili, cheese steak and a lot more. Kasper also interviews chefs, food writers and wine experts. When she answers viewers' questions, she reassures anyone in her syrupy voice.

Logo from Radiolab Web site

Radiolab is a portal of sounds, music and voice that makes science super easy to understand. They've done shows on sperm, race, laughter and much more. They investigate. Why do we laugh? Why do we lie? What happens when we sleep? My curiosity expands when I listen to this podcast.

Photo from Sound Opinions Web site

I got into Sound Opinions because of my husband. The show is hosted by rock critics Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times and Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune. They broaden my sense of what music is out there. They're also funny and they play off each other very well.

I subscribe to their podcasts through iTunes. What are your favorite podcasts?

Cuban sandwiches from Los Hornitos Bakery

By the end of the day, I was starving and feeling super tired. It was definitely a night for Cuban sandwiches from Los Hornitos Bakery in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. The owners are native Chileans and they make the best Cuban and Churrasco sandwiches in the area.

When I got home, I bit into the pulled pork and ham, tasting the mayo, mustard and sliced pickles. I had slathered the inside of the pressed sandwich with their amazing salsa. It tasted even better. I switched bites between the sandwich and the fried sweet plantains.

Amazing salsa

My husband loves these sandwiches. Since he comes home later than I do, I picked up one for him. The bakery also has lovely, lovely desserts like sandwich cookies filled with dulce de leche, peach and dulce de leche cakes, guava turnovers, apple turnovers and many more delights.

Los Hornitos Bakery
1582 Route 9
Dutchess Plaza
Wappingers Falls, NY 12590
(845)298-8683

Grandmother's peas

When I visited my grandmother in South Korea a couple years ago, she shelled peas for the rice. I remembered they were bigger than any frozen ones bought from a package. I loved having green bites in my rice every day. When I think of peas in a pod, I think of her.

Harney & Sons Fine Teas

Harney & Sons Genmaicha green tea

I hadn't used my Japanese teapot for four years until we started buying Harney & Sons teas. It's the packaging. Loose teas are stored in tins. Tea never looked so trendy.

My husband drinks Harney & Sons tea when he's trying to cut down on coffee. The company has a variety of British, Chinese, Japanese and Indian teas. Master tea blender John Harney founded the business. More history on the company can be found here.

The business has a mail-order service through its Web site. But we're lucky enough to be located within driving distance of Harney's Tea Shop and Tasting Room in Millerton, N.Y. It's a great day trip for us on the weekend.

We love heading to the Tasting Room to try different teas. An employee will pour the tea out for you to smell. He or she will let the tea steep and then pour it into a cup for you.

After a couple tastings, we usually end up buying another flavor. Last time, M. picked out Genmaicha, a type of Japanese green tea.

Rice kernels are added to the green tea leaves, giving it a roasted flavor. It reminds me of the Korean barley tea I drank a lot when I was growing up.

The Tasting Room has huge tins of tea from fruit flavors to black teas to green teas.

The tea shop is in the next room. Right next to the shop is a cafe. We haven't eaten there yet, but the sandwiches are named after the sons of John Harney.

When we get home from a day in Millerton, we heat a large teapot full of water on the stove. We let the whistle ring. Then we wait, while the tea steeps in our Japanese teapot. We pour the tea, relax and sip.

Address:
Harney & Sons Tea Shop and Tasting Room
1 Railroad Plaza
Near Route 22 and Main Street/Route 44
Millerton, N.Y.

Asian fusion quesadillas

When I was in college, I roomed with A. who is South Asian American. She taught me the basic ingredients of curry: turmeric, cumin and coriander. They were the foundation of the food she grew up with. The conversation stayed with me and I began using the spices in my cooking.

One day in the kitchenette of my dorm suite, I sauteed chopped onions in the spices. I tasted the bitterness of the turmeric. The cumin uplifted the flavor and the coriander played backup fiddle on the tastebuds. It was all right, but I wouldn't eat it by itself.
I paired the onions with Korean marinated chicken, which had the marinade from bulgogi, minus the sesame seeds. The sweetness of the chicken went well with the curried onions. Since I had tortillas, I layered the chicken, onions and sharp cheddar cheese on top of each other and made quesadillas. Somehow, the Korean-Indian flavors worked, even with the cheese.
After that, I made the quesadillas for potlucks and get-togethers. People loved them. One guy told me I should sell them. Once, when I was late to a potluck office lunch and I didn't have time to heat the quesadillas, my co-workers still liked them cold. This recipe was the first one I figured out by myself when I was a college student. 

Asian Fusion Quesadillas
Makes 9 quesadillas, half-moon shape
Ingredients:
For the chicken:
3 large chicken breasts
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger or more if desired, grated

4 cups chopped onions (5 onions on the smaller side)
1 teaspoon ground cumin or to taste
1 teaspoon ground coriander or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric (optional)
reserved chicken marinade

1/2 pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated or buy 1 package of shredded cheese

10-pack burrito-size tortillas

Slice chicken breasts in half sideways i.e. butterfly all the way through. (It's easier to cook it later.) Cut each of the six chicken pieces in half to make 12. Mix soy sauce, sugar, garlic and ginger in a bowl. Place chicken pieces in the bowl and marinate for at least an hour or overnight. The longer you marinate the chicken, the deeper the flavor will seep into the chicken.

Chop onions before you plan to cook the marinated chicken. Cook the chicken in the marinade in a frying pan. Set aside the chicken on a cutting board. Leave the marinade in the pan. Add the chopped onions. Add turmeric (optional), cumin and coriander.

Note: Turmeric stains white plates, clothes, stovetops and counters very easily. If you don't want to deal with yellow stains, you can leave the spice out.

Taste the onions. Add more spices if you want. Cook until the onions reach the tenderness you like.

Let the chopped onions cool. If you added turmeric, put the onions in a plastic bag or a stain-resistant plastic container. Set aside.

Chop chicken into cubes. Place tortillas on a flat surface. Layer chicken on one half of the tortilla, then layer the curried onions and finally the grated cheese. Fold over the other half of the tortilla. Repeat until you make enough quesadillas. Fry the quesadillas in a pan until crispy on both sides. Use very little oil.

Serve quesadillas in their half-moon shape or cut them in half for finger food.

Pointers: I don't make 9 quesadillas every time I make this dish. You can prepare the chicken and onions, assemble enough quesadillas for one dinner and leave the leftover ingredients in the fridge for another night. Or, what I did recently was make the chicken and eat it with rice. I left most of the meat for the quesadillas.

Using turmeric can lead to this:
Some things just stain and you have to just let it go.

But here's a few tips on how to get rid of stains: Wear an apron when you cook with turmeric. I never know when I'll find a yellow dot on my clothes. Wash dishes quickly and the stain will go away. If it's stubborn, use a scouring pad. If metal utensils have a yellowish hue, use the cleaner called Barkeeper's Friend, which makes stainless steel kitchenware look brand new. For counters and stovetops, spray an all-purpose cleaner on the yellow stains. They will turn red and you'll be able to wipe them away.

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Anyway, the quesadillas are great for a working lunch. I can still read things and hold a quesadilla in my hand.

Comment anyone?

Hi,

I changed the settings on my comments section, so anyone can comment. You don't have to have a verified openID. Sorry for the inconvenience.

-Hummingbird Appetite

Washington, D.C.: Chili half-smokes, pho and Peruvian chicken

Half-smokes

I bit into a chili half-smoke at Ben's Chili Bowl and I felt a sudden rush of warmness.

A chili half-smoke is a grilled half pork, half beef smoked sausage in a steamed bun with chili, mustard and onions. It is utter awesomeness.

I visited my cousins in Washington in February, a few weeks after the inauguration of President Barack Obama. It was also a few weeks after Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations Washington episode aired on TV.

I went to Washington with a mission: to eat at places Bourdain went to.

The first place was Ben's Chili Bowl. My cousins hadn't even been to this historic place and they've lived here with their daughter for a year or so.


The restaurant opened in 1958 and became very popular. Ten years later, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and people rioted in the streets of Washington. Ben's stayed open. The police allowed the place to stay open after curfew. It became a refuge for residents, activists and others. To read more history, go here.

Ben's only allows certain people to eat for free.
To read the story on Obama's January visit to Ben's, go to The Reliable Source and click here.

Every time I bite into a hot dog, I think of the chili half-smoke. I know New Yorkers and Chicago natives have their favorites, but I love the half-smoke.

Later that weekend, we went to Eden Center, a mecca of Vietnamese restaurants and stores in Falls Church, Va. We had dinner at Huong Viet. I had beef ball pho AND egg rolls and grilled pork over noodles. The waiter's eyes widened when I ordered both dishes. But I hadn't had Vietnamese in a while and I wanted to get my two favorite things.

I love beef balls in my pho because they are compact balls of meat in my soup. Vietnamese grilled pork reminds me of Korean marinated meat because of its sweet taste. I became full very fast.

Our last destination of that weekend was El Pollo Rico, a fast-food joint that makes Peruvian chicken. I have no idea what they rub the chicken with but it's fall-over good.

Addresses:
Ben's Chili Bowl
1213 U Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009
202-667-0909

Huong Viet
6785 Wilson Blvd.
Falls Church, VA 22044
703-538-7110

El Pollo Rico
932 N. Kenmore St.
Arlington, VA 22201
703-522-3220

For more details on the places I visited, you can click on my Yelp list here.

Subscriptions

hummingbird by ~jayantib on deviantART

Hi,

I added Feedburner, so that you can subscribe to my blog in Google reader or by e-mail. Feel free to subscribe.

- Jenny

Pork chops with spiced kumquats

Pork chops with spiced kumquats

I passed by the exotic fruit cart at the grocery store and noticed the kumquats. They looked like miniature oranges. Curious, I took them home with me. A day later, I happened to look at Ravenous Couple's food blog and they had just put up a recipe for spiced, candied kumquats.

I made the spiced kumquats that day. They tasted sweet and tart. I didn't mind taking a spoon and eating candied kumquats one by one. I loved biting down on each rind, squeezing into its sweetness.

Here's what kumquats look like when they're cut:

Here are the spiced, candied kumquats:

I thought I'd try spiced, candied kumquats with pork chops. The kumquats go really well with pork. (I think pork goes very well with fruit anyway).

Pork chops with spiced kumquats
4 pork loin chops, thin sliced
salt
pepper
spiced, candied kumquats (see recipe)

Heat the broiler. Pat pork chops dry with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper. Place chops on oiled sheet pan covered in tin foil. Cook pork chops two to three minutes on one side under the broiler. Turn over and cook two to three minutes. Take the chops out and let them rest for five minutes.

Note: Thin sliced pork chops cook very fast, so cooking times may vary depending on your broiler.

Meanwhile, heat spiced, candied kumquats in the microwave or on the stove. Spoon kumquats over the pork chops and serve.

Ravenous Couple's recipe is adapted from Simply Recipes. The original recipe came from Garrett McCord who writes the Vanilla Garlic blog.

Chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter icing

I was looking for a chocolate fix when I settled on cupcakes. I pulled out Barefoot Contessa at Home by Ina Garten. She has a recipe for chocolate chocolate cupcakes, very moist, very rich, not shy at all when it comes to its cocoa-ness.


I don't normally make icing. But I made the peanut butter icing for the first time. It came out great! It was creamier than creamy peanut butter. It was lick-the-bowl good. Even after I left the icing in the refrigerator overnight, it was still perfectly fine this morning. It had firmed up in the fridge. But once it warmed up to room temperature, the icing became spreadable again.

I put icing on my cupcakes and brought them to work. There weren't any left when I took the container home. But that's OK. I left six at home!
Chocolate cupcakes and peanut butter icing
Tweaked from Barefoot Contessa at Home by Ina Garten
Makes 14 to 15 cupcakes
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (I use large eggs)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tablespoons brewed coffee (optional)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup good cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Kathleen's peanut butter icing (recipe to follow)
chopped salted peanuts, to decorate (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and two sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, about five minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (one rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frost each cupcake with peanut butter icing and sprinkle with chopped peanuts, if desired.

Kathleen's peanut butter icing
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a padle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula s you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

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