DC Brunches... and Books!

Belga Cafe

In January, I went to DC to meet up with Camille, Marion, and Brittany and my old college roommate for a weeked. What we did of course was BRUNCH.

Belga Cafe was a discovery of mine over a year ago on a previous visit and has been a constant favorite for my friends. Pictured to the right is the goat cheese waffle and is absolute perfection. The goat cheese blends perfectly with the roasted tomatoes, and I'm fairly certain the waffle itself is herbed as well as the salad. I ordered this delight over a year ago and had been craving it ever since, but I also regretted passing up on the waffle with carmelized apples. Luckily a whole year and two months later, I knew exactly what I wanted to order....

Total Disappointment. I knew I should have stuck with the tried and true goat cheese waffle, but for some reason I thought this waffle would be smothered with hot, caramel apples. Do you see them? Oh look, there are a few in that corner. Needless to say, it was still delicious. But once you order the goat cheese waffle I really don't know how you could ever eat anything else. But for some reason, other people seem to like other menu items.

Marion ordered her usual banana, nutella crepe. I don't think I would personally categorize this as a crepe. Yes, it tastes like a crepe. It has a filling like a crepe. It doesn't look like a crepe and my favorite crepe man at the St. Palcide metro stop in Paris never made a crepe like that. But the presentation is lovely. And I ate her left over ice cream.

Other orders included green eggs and ham and a smoked salmon eggs benedict. The best thing about Belga Cafe is its location to the Eastern Market. After brunch on a weekend morning, I couldn't imagine anything better to wander around the Eastern market at all sorts of trinkets and art and fresh food. One of my favorite used books is also right around the corner. And something I love even more than brunch is a bookstore.

Kramer Books

And Kramer Books combines those two loves! The next day, Jacki (my college roommate) and I met our friend Mohammed for brunch here. Kramer Books is a little reminiscent of one of my favorite places in Boston, Trident Books, but it definitely pulls off the bookstore/cafe in its own way. Kramer Books is really popular and always has a line so I love browsing through the books with my friends while we're waiting for our table. What I love about this brunch is that everyone gets a glass of orange juice and coffee and little muffins and other baked goods included with their order. So as soon as you sit down, a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee follow. The brunch is nothing that makes you go "OH WOW. I don't want to stop eating." But it's good. And you want to eat here because you're surrounded by books and by people who love books.

Now look at the pretty pictures of our food!

Last week I went to Austin to visit Brittany for her 25th birthday. The day after Brittany's birthday we went to Austin Java for coffee and breakfast tacos. My favorites are potato and egg, and I also got a cappuccino- all were yummy! Breakfast tacos are becoming a part of my Texas tradition. We went to Panchito's in San Antonio for Brit and Toby's 1st brunch as a married couple. For this trip we went to Austin Java, then the next day in San Antonio went back to Panchito's with Toby's family. There are so many varieties, but potato and egg tacos are my favorite- so simple, and nothing too crazy.

The night between doses of breakfast tacos we celebrated Brittany's birthday with Toby's family. They treat her like a queen! Toby's mom, Maureen decorated the dining room to look like a little Italian restaurant. We had lasagna, delicious Italian soup, and caesar salad. This was one of my very favorite soups. I had never had it before, and I don't remember exactly what it was called- I think Italian soup maybe? It was like a vegetable soup with little pieces of peasant bread in it. I could have eaten that and nothing else! I love going to hang out with Brittany in Texas, and her in-laws are so much fun:) I can't wait to go back!

The Perfect Dinner - The Attic (Parkhurst, Johannesburg)

On January 21st of this year, I had the perfect dinner. It was my good friend Martin’s last night in Johannesburg, as he was preparing to go back home to Berlin. We decided to celebrate at one of my favorite restaurants in the city in a posh area called Parkhurst. It was becoming late as we waited for other people to arrive, and my stomach was growling at me. So I decided to be rude and ordered my food.

It was a proper three-course meal. For my starter, I ordered the Salad of Summer Beans, which was an extraordinary combination of tomato confit, fromage frais, and frissee, as shown above. It was an excellent choice, but I remember being vacillating between this and the Grilled Goat’s Cheese Salad. However, I think I made the right decision. Other starters (not pictured) that were ordered by the table included the Crab and Prawn Tian, which consisted of avocado puree, lemon oil, soft boiled quails egg and asparagus, as well as the Peking Duck, Ginger, and Hoison Spring Rolls. We were all just astonished at how each appetizer was just so delicious. But we hadn’t even gotten to the best part.

For my main course, I ordered the Fettucine, which was flavored with char-grilled artichokes, asparagus, semi-dried tomato, basil, and goat’s cheese. This dish is depicted in the above picture (behind), while my friend Munib ordered the Crab Fettuccine (above picture, in front), which included coriander, chili, and lime. I felt like I was in heaven. The fettuccine just melted on my tongue, as the different flavors swirled around creating a gastronomic ecstasy my mouth had never experienced. Still not done.

As we looked over the dessert menu, Munib mentioned that he had never in his life eaten crème brulée. He’s from Australia, so I don’t really blame him. So I decided that I would take his crème brulée virginity, and oh, is he hooked. We decided to share the Crème Brulée (shown above), which came in three different flavors: naartjie (orange), cranberry, and chamomile. This topped off the perfect dinner.

The Attic is found on 24 4th Avenue in Parkhurst, Johannesburg. Pricing at The Attic (and in Parkhurst, in general) is a bit higher than other parts of town. At R7.3 to the US dollar, the average 3-course meal ranges from R145-R220 ($20 - $30) per person, not including wine or drinks.

Pizza Bites

this is posted by elise. yeahhhhhhhh- my first one.

I made Pizza Bites for the super bowl. I got these from this blog. Anyway, they were SUPER delicious. huge big fan of them. They are best when eaten warm and dipped in pizza sauce (i just used prego) or ranch dressing. The recipe calls for pizza dough. Now, you can either buy the pizza dough in a can (ex: pillsbury etc) or make it from scratch. I used the recipe below, and it was AMAZINGGGGG. I think my pizza bites were a little bigger than they were supposed to be, but who cares. Luna is modeling them below. and yes, she did lick one while i wasn't looking.

Pizza Bites from heaven

Ingredients:
½ batch pizza dough (enough for 1 pizza)
4 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed (about 20-24 pieces)
Sliced pepperoni ( you can also used turkey pepperoni!)

For topping:Olive oil
Italian seasoning
Grated Parmesan cheese (i have also heard its yummy to add red pepper flake things)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400˚ F. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate or cake pan. Divide the pizza dough into 20-24 roughly equal sized pieces. Take one of the dough pieces, top with a cube of cheese and a slice or two of pepperoni. Pull the edges of the dough around the fillings and pinch closed. Place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.

Lightly brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and grated Parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Serve warm, with dipping sauce as desired.

Basic Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

½ cup warm water (about 110°)

1 envelope (2 ¼ tsp.) instant yeast

1 ¼ cups water, at room temperature

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plus more for dusting

1 ½ tsp. salt

olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the bowl

Directions:

Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.

SOUPer Bowl

So, the title is a bit misleading because this activity was on Saturday night, but I had to give a shout out for the Saints.

And now...the other SOUPer story of the weekend...

In an effort to contribute to the blog, Graham and I decided to tackle the wonderfully delicious world of soup! Despite good intentions, however, we completely forgot to document the latest food adventure. Instead, I am going to post pictures of Memphis' latest snow day and simple write about our scrumptious cheesy chicken chowder.

Back in December, I purchased a cookbook entitled Taste of Home's Big Book of Soups (http://www.amazon.com/Taste-Homes-Big-Book-Soup/dp/0898214602/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265681535&sr=1-2). I am a huge soup fan, and luckily, G recognizes the value of a good bowl of yummy goodness as well. Of course, being such fans of soup presented a problem when perusing the cookbook...too many choices. The goal was to make something hearty, and I was relegated with the task of making the ultimate decision. Naturally, the overwhelming number of options forced me to combine recipes, but alas, isn't that what cooking is all about? You definitely cannot do that with baking, as those of you who have heard my "all-purpose flour versus confectioner's sugar in cookies" story well know.

I opted to combine the Wild Rice and Ham Chowder with the Cheesy Chicken Chowder recipe (see below)
Wild Rice and Ham requires:
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup butter
6 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups chicken broth
1.5 cups cubed peeled potatoes
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspon ground nutmeg
3 cups cooked wild rice
2.5 cups cubed fully cooked ham
2 cups half and half cream
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
minced fresh parsley


Cheesy Chicken Chowder requires:
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups diced peeled potatoes
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup died celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1.5 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups diced cooked chicken

Fortunately, I was house/dogsitting for my parents this past weekend, meaning that most of our ingredients were already available. For the things we needed, we headed to good ole Schnuck's ("sketchy Schnuck's" to Marion). Once we had assembled all our ingredients back at the ranch, we settled in. We busted out a wonderfully aged $6 cabernet (ha!) and cranked up the Motown. Graham took care of the chicken, garlic, and onions in our big soup pot while I peeled potatoes and made our wild rice. He then chopped the potatoes and added them to the pot as well. I think it was at this point that we added our 48 oz of chicken broth and about 4 bags of various frozen veggies. I thought the sliced yellow/green/red pepper medley was a great addition because it added some color. I also chopped a bunch of carrots to add to the mix. We allowed our pot to simmer until the veggies were tender. During this period of time, I chopped our celery and parsley and made the cream portion of our chowder-about 3 cups of whole milk, butter, flour, and a packet of shredded cheddar cheese melted in a sauce pan. The cheesiness, celery, parsley, and rice were added to the big soup pot for the last 10 minutes of cooking or so. I would be more exact, but I just am not sure! We basically cooked to desired tenderness and added spices to our desired taste. We added extra liquid (48 oz of chicken broth instead of the called-for 3-4 cups) because we were concerned about the vegetables absorbing a significant portion of the liquid.

I guess that's about it! I heated some bread in the oven, but if I had not already had a loaf (thanks, Mom!), we would have made some corn bread...yum! We probably didn't eat our dinner until about 9:30 or 10 (headed to the grocery store at about 7:30), and we have lots of leftovers. I had planned to bake cookies, but we were way too stuffed. The night ended with some episodes of True Blood and catering to the lovely Sophie and Captain

And...one more snow day photo! I apologize for the layout of this post, but I'm still trying to figure out how this blog thing works haha. This particular photo is from last weekend's snow day (January 29, 2010)!

Brunch in Brookline

Last Wednesday I had a day off, so Barlow and I decided to explore the city of Brookline (just outside of Boston proper). I used to work in Brookline, so I got to sample the food and shops daily, but I never seem to get there any more. That changed on Wednesday when we headed to the heart of Brookline, Coolidge Corner, for brunch at one of my favorite restaurants, a Jewish deli called Zaftigs.

I went with the granola pancakes, which were soft, fluffy, and delightful, especially when paired with the accompanying date butter. The granola on top was also a great crunchy complement to the pancakes. Barlow went with the corned beef hash with poached eggs, homefries, and sourdough toast. He reports that the eggs were perfectly poached, and that while many restaurants miss the mark on hash, this was exactly what it should be. We also split a potato latke, which was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The savory latkes were even better when dipped in sweet apple sauce. Needless to say, brunch at Zaftigs was the perfect way to start our Brookline adventure!

It's Greek to me!

When Sarah came to visit me last weekend, I really tried to show her the best of the best in Winston-Salem dining. Although probably not Michelin star worthy, the few restaurants in Winston-Salem that I frequent each have something special to offer. I took Sarah and four of my medical school friends to my favorite Greek restsaurant, Athena's Taverna. [Note: If I'm in the mood for gyros and have cash handy, I actually prefer Grecian Corner right next to my school]. Athena's is one of those cozy Greek restaurants that make you feel like you are in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The owner and all of the employees are part of this one big Greek family, and they even have Greek dancing on Tuesday nights.

We ordered the saganaki - a popular appetizer of flaming cheese that definitely deserves an oompah! Unfortunately, my camera was too slow for an action shot of the flames, but you can see the residual smoke. This appetizer reminded me of our past Greek/Latin dinners in high school at Melos Taverna with Mrs. Fields. This cheese was fantastic with the warm bread they provided - it was definitely one of those novelties you have to try at a place like this.

My favorite dish at Athena's is the arni psito - slices of the MOST tender lamb with rice, lemon potatoes, and vegetables. The chef just knows how to do lamb right because the texture is insanely perfect. I always say I want to try something new when I go, but I just cant resist this dish and end up getting it every time. Because they give so much delicious food, I have yet to make it to dessert...