This World is Mine » autumn

Fall Flavors at Lansdowne Resort

Christiana — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:40:46 +0000

Last week, I got invited out to a Chefs’ Roundtable at Lansdowne Resort’s On The Potomac (which actually is along the banks of the Potomac river) in Loudoun County, Virginia to sample their fall fare and give feedback to their marketing department.

We started the evening with three signature martinis. The one below is fittingly called “My Favorite Sweater” and is a wonderfully sweet fruity thing lovingly wrapped in warm cinnamon tones.

And what would an evening tipple be without some cheese? Lansdowne put out a selection of three cheeses, accompanied by various jams and figs. The entire evening course included an incredible amount of locally sourced foods – including the cheese below, which came from a Virginia dairy.

After getting to know each other a bit and sharing thoughts about drinks and cheese, we migrated into the private dining room for the seven course Fall menu. The first course was a pair of two soups (see top photo) – Lobster Bisque on the left and the rather fancy-sounding “Celery Root and Heirloom Apple Vanilla Foam” on the right. The Lobster Bisque was rich and salty but I wanted to curl up and sleep inside the Celery Root and Apple soup cup – it smelled and tasted just like liquified turkey stuffing.

Sadly, cornbread was not a course. But it was gooooood. And Lansdowne gets serious props for putting it in their bread basket. (I wish more restaurants did this!) The second course was a squash tasting, followed by a salad of locally grown Bibb lettuce with onions, pears, blue cheese dressing and, here’s the best part: HOMEMADE BACON.

Next up was probably my favorite dish of the evening – “Pan Roasted American Sturgeon with Citrus-Herb Butter, Sauté of Fall Mushrooms and Leeks, and Potato Brunoise.” Chef Wes Rosati explained that the fish comes from sustainable fishery distributor Cleanfish. Three years in Japan have turned me into a huge fish snob; I was completely prepared to be underwhelmed by this dish. But I loved it, and not just because it was sitting on a treasure trove of leeks, potatoes, and mushrooms.

In addition to smoking their own bacon, Lansdowne also smoked a variety of other meats, including the “sticky” short ribs they serve in their surf and turf below.

Last up was the ribeye. I’m not a steak girl but I liked this – it was simple, unfussy and served with all the right stuff: green beans, roasted shallots, and steak fries. Oh, and drizzled with brandy sauce – yum!

Dessert was a trio of handmade(!) ice creams (from front to back below): mint chocolate chip, earl grey, and german chocolate fudge. They were all incredible (the mint chocolate was refreshing and light, the earl grey was smooth and slightly smoky with subtle bergamot and citrus tones) but the german chocolate fudge was OH. MY. GOD. LUSCIOUS. Creamy, rich, dense, just the right amount of chocolate and punctuated with lovely little fudge bits. I was completely stuffed when they brought the ice cream out but I ate all of the GCF anyway.

Firsthand plug: Lansdowne Resort is more than just amazing and (largely) locally sourced food. It’s also a beautiful golf course, hiking paradise, base camp for winery hopping, soothing spa, full staffed event center, wedding venue, and amazing summer pool complex. It’s close enough to DC that the drive won’t wear you out and far enough that it feels like a vacation, especially combined with a spa visit, room service, a relaxing stroll on the trail, and a dip (or, if you’re a water nut like me, many dips) in the pool.

Full Disclosure: I was paid to take some pictures of this event for Lansdowne’s promotion use. I wasn’t paid to write this blog post nor was I invited to the event to promote it myself. I’m only showing you these pictures to make you jealous.

Green Tomato Ketchup

Christiana — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:53:02 +0000

This post is a bit late – I’ve actually been enjoying this for a couple weeks now. I’d apologize for not getting this recipe up sooner but I was waiting for a perfect convergence of pretty burger buns, fresh lettuce and homemade Wayne burgers. Tonight proved to be the grand confluence of these five factors.

This ketchup is much, much less sweet than the junk you buy in a squeeze bottle at the grocery store. It’s also more tart. You could probably puree it longer than I did but I rather like the chunkier texture.

Ingredients:

3 pounds green tomatoes, roughly equivalent to 5 cups sliced
2 large onions
1 teaspoons black pepper
1/2 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup honey

Preparation:

Rinse green tomatoes and remove any stems and insect damage. Slice green tomatoes and onions and place them in a large soup pot or deep sauce pan, along with pepper, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce and vinegar. Cook for 4 hours over very low heat, stirring when the urge seizes you.
After 4 hours, remove from heat and puree mixture in a blender. Remember it’s hot so be especially careful about splashes on skin. Pour back into the pot through a mesh strainer. Bring to a boil and add honey.
Put the ketchup in jars and store in the refrigerator. You can also can this ketchup in jars – follow the procedure below:
1. Immediately fill 6 sterilized pint jars with the ketchup, leaving 1/4-inch space between the ketchup and jar lid. Wipe the jar tops and threads clean with clean damp towels. Place hot sealing lids on the jars and apply the screw on rings loosely. Process in boiling water bath in a deep canning pot for 5 minutes.
2. Remove the jars and cool completely. Tighten the jar screw rings to complete the sealing process. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, it is not sealed and must be refrigerated.) Let jars of green tomato ketchup stand at room temperature 24 hours.
3. Store unopened product in a cool dry place up to one year. Refrigerate green tomato ketchup after opening. Makes about 3 pints of ketchup. Serve on anything you’d serve red ketchup on – burgers, hot dogs, omu-rice, french fries, tater tots, etc.

Enchiladas

Christiana — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:53:29 +0000

Once a year in Japan, the 7-11 down the road would run a month-long promotion of “exotic import” beer with Heineken representing the US, Corona representing Mexico and I forget the third one. I’m not a beer drinker but the notion of Heineken or Corona as an “exotic import” beer was always good for a chuckle.

In this recipe, Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce is playing the part of the “exotic import” sauce. I’ve been told that it’s a poor imitation of “REAL” New Mexico green chile sauce but it is the best I’ve found in a grocery store in DC. If you have access to locally made green chile sauce, I won’t begrudge you a chuckle at all.

That said, this is a quick recipe that requires minimal effort and yields excellent results. It reheats well too.

Ingredients

1 package of flour tortillas.
1/2 pound meat of choice – chicken is ideal but steak or ground beef works too
1 large onion
1 large bell pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne (adjust to your liking)
1 can green chili sauce (if you’re in DC, Hatch is the way to go.)
some oil for sauteing
salt and pepper, to taste
optional: cheddar cheese

Preparation

Cut the chicken or steak into thin strips. Peel the onion and cut into thin strips. Core and seed the pepper and cut into thin strips.
Add some oil to a saute or deep frying pan and heat. Saute onions for a minute until semi-transparent. Add meat and cook through. If using ground beef, be sure to break it up nicely.
Add half the can of green chili sauce, cayenne, and cumin. Salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer for 20 mins, or until sauce is thickened.
Preheat oven to 325°. Pour some green sauce into a 13×9 glass or baking dish. Spoon some of the cooked chicken & vegetable glop onto a tortilla and gently fold into a roll. You should be able to get 6-8 enchiladas into the dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas. If you desire cheese, lay some slices of cheddar cheese on top of the enchiladas.
Place dish in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve hot. Lift gently out of the tray with a spatula, or if ya like your enchiladas sloppy, just scoop whatever you can get out and slop it on the plate.

Side note: I’ve been on the prowl for good, fresh handmade tortillas (preferably around Adams Morgan) – do you have a recommendation? If so, please post it in the comments.

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Yummy Potaticus Meation (AKA Cottage Pie)

Christiana — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:37:30 +0000

Cottage pie was a cold weather staple growing up. It’s an easy food for kids to like – basically loose hamburger meat with mashed potatoes.

Side note: I never a picky kid. My favorite food as a kid was liver and onions. Seriously.

My grandmother was very picky about what went into her cottage pie – only beef. and only potatoes. and whatever other ingredients were listed in her dogeared copy of Erma Rombauer’s The Joy of Cooking. Never lamb nor rosemary, since that was shepherd’s pie, which is another dish entirely.

In my grandmother’s taxonomy, shepherd’s pie and cottage pie were two complete and distinct species who didn’t intermingle or cross-pollinate. In my taxonomy, they’re just different varieties of the same animal Yummy Potaticus Meation.

What I’ve included here is a basic cottage pie recipe that can be baked either in a 9″ round baking dish or 2 small Smarta dishes from IKEA. Consider it a broad canvas on which to paint your own masterpiece, be it a combination of sweet and regular potatoes for the crust, the addition of paprika for more smoky flavor, carrots or parsnips for sweetness, olives and red wine for a spanish twist, etc.

Ingredients

1/2 pd ground beef

1/2 good sized onion

1 big carrot, peeled and chopped

1/4 pd brown mushrooms, chopped coarsely

1 pound of potatoes

2 garlic cloves, minced or grated

1 tbsp fresh rosemary or 1/2 tsp dried

2 tbsp Worcestershire or soy sauce

salt and pepper to taste

optional and completely non-traditional: finely grated cheese of your cheese

Preparations

If you don’t like skin in your mashed potatoes, peel ‘em. Boil the potatoes until tender. Mash with a fork and add whatever you like to add to mashed potatoes – butter, milk, mayonnaise, etc. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Chop the onion and saute until semi-translucent. Add ground beef, carrot, rosemary, Worcestershire/soy sauce, salt, pepper, and garlic. Saute until meat is cooked through. If using Smarta dishes, the potatoes will heap quite a bit higher than the edge of the dish itself. You may worry about losing some potato goodness but fret not, it will simply yield a greater surface area for crispy potato goodness.

Using a fork, cover the meat with mashed potatoes. For extra fancy, create a hatched pattern on the top of the potatoes with the fork. If you’ve opted for the cheese, sprinkle it on the top of the potatoes.

Put the baking dishes on a cookie sheet and place in the oven, not on the topmost rack but the one just beneath it. Bake for 25 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown and meat nice and bubbly. Serve piping hot on a cold, windy day with a nice green salad, red wine and some kind of spiced apple dessert.

Have a favorite Yummy Potaticus Meation recipe? Do share in the comments!

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The Beginning of the End

Christiana — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:51:54 +0000

This week is pretty much the last week to get greens into the ground for the winter. My eating greens are already planted and well established. My lead-leaching greens are still waiting patiently in the seed packets.

Lead-leaching greens, I hear you ask?

In the spring, we had the soil in our backyard tested. And the tests returned that we had some lead in the soil. Not a ton but enough to make growing leafy greens and root vegetables a bad idea. So we searched around on the internet about ways to get lead out of the soil and found this study. And this study. And this study.

If you google the words “phytoextraction”, “lead”, “spinach”, you’ll get tons more studies. Sunflowers and mustard plants are also effective at leaching heavy metals out of the soil. I thought about planting both of these during the summer but since, fruiting vegetables are less affected by lead in soil, I use my plant beds throughout the summer for tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc. The beds are free all fall, winter and spring.

Or at least they will be once I get rid of the last tomato plants and peppers. Which is tough because they keep growing flowers, attracting monarch butterflies, and churning out yummy vegetables. So I’ve managed to put it off until tomorrow.

The plus side of tearing my summer babies out of the ground will be the nice haul of green tomatoes. Green tomato chutney, all at once sour, sweet, and spicy with ginger and mustard corns provides a bright note of summer through meat heavy winter.
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Ginger Chocolate-Chunk Oatmeal Cookies

Christiana — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:07:46 +0000

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1/8 cup honey

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

In food processor, combine oats, all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, salt, and baking soda and pulse until oats are coarsely chopped in a food processor. Move to a large bowl.

Beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy with a whisk or electric mixer, 2 to 3 minutes. Add egg, honey, and vanilla and beat until smooth, about 1 minute. Add to oat mixture and mix gently until incorporated. Stir in chocolate and ginger.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough about 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake for cookies have a nice golden color and edges are lookin’ crispy (about 15 minutes in my oven). Cool on cookie sheets for several minutes before transferring to final cooling spot. Once fully cooled, store in a closed container, ideally separating each layer of cookies with wax paper.

Postprandial Notes: This recipe is pretty closely based on this one from Epicurious. I really like these cookies – rich, satisfying and gingery.
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Baba Ghanoush

Christiana — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:29:37 +0000

Ingredients

1 medium-sized eggplant

2 cloves garlic, peeled

juice from 1/2 lemon

2 tablespoons tahini

Salt and pepper

Optional: cayenne pepper

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 375° F. Pierce the eggplant skin several times with a fork and roast in the oven for 30 mins. Remove the eggplant and let cool.

Once cooled, scoop the eggplant flesh from the skin and place in a food processor. Add garlic, lemon juice, tahini and pulse to combine. Scrape into a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add more lemon juice for a sharper flavor, more tahini to increase the smoothness, or cayenne pepper for spiciness.

Serve with warm pita bread or tortilla chips

Postprandial Notes: If you can resist the temptation to snarf the entire bowl, let it sit overnight in the fridge to mature before before serving. This works like temporal MSG – it gives the flavors a chance to mingle, get to know each other and become one big, tasty bowl of dip.

Photo Notes: Crumpled paper makes an excellent stand-in for lots of stuff – unlike prima donna real food, it doesn’t melt, wilt or sweat under lights. Nor is it just too tempting to eat.

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Sauteed Kale

Christiana — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:31:42 +0000

Ingredients

6 bacon strips

3 cloves of garlic, minced fine

2-3 bunches of kale

Preparation

Saute bacon in a frying or saute pan until crispy. Drain well, keeping grease in the pan and set bacon aside. Reheat the grease and add garlic, stirfrying for a minute. Add kale and toss to coat with grease and garlic. Stirfry for about 2 minutes.

Mince bacon finely. Transfer kale to a large bowl, add bacon and toss until well mixed. Serve with pretty much anything.

Postprandial Notes: I really enjoy this dish with spicy things like curry and carne adovada.

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Not-Tecolote Chicken

Christiana — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:22:36 +0000

Today’s post is a guest post from Wayne Moses Burke, Executive Director of the Open Forum Foundation and self-confessed spicy-food addict.

“I haven’t been cooking as much recently as I would like to (and perhaps even as much as I should), so this evening was a real treat. I tend to take my time cooking – carefully chopping and lining up the ingredients so that they can combine to maximize their flavor potential. Of course, I don’t really know what I’m doing but it usually works out.

Tonight’s recipe is a perfect example of mis-judging the amount of spice required for the dish. When I first started cooking, I would occasionally do this with salt – that is a hard-learned lesson, and I haven’t done that in a LOOOOOONG time (knock on wood!). See if you can pick out the spice that I was overly exuberant with this evening.

The name for this dish comes from its inspiration. I was looking at what we had to work with and was vaguely reminded of my favorite New Mexican squash dish: Tecalote Squash. This is clearly not the same, but it does allude to it, so I carried that through in the naming convention.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

bacon fat

1 med white onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

freshly ground yummy salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 bottle cayenne pepper

a touch of cumin

2 lg pieces of bacon, cooked, sliced into strips

1 chicken leg and thigh, painfully skinned, deboned, and cut into bite-size chunks by someone inept

kernels removed from 1 ear of sweet corn

1/2 purple pepper, chopped

1.75 small heirloomy tomatoes

2/3 cup black beans

Preparation

Heat the bacon fat over med-high heat in a skillet.

Saute the onions and garlic for about a minute. Turn up the heat.

Add the chicken and let brown for a minute.

Add salt and pepper, cayenne and cumin – keep it moving!

Lower the heat to medium and add the bacon. Give it a minute.

Follow with the corn, pepper, and tomatoes and a little more salt and pepper. Stir it around nice. Give it a minute.

Add the black beans and turn the heat back up to med-high to really get things cooking!

Once they are, lower the heat again and let it simmer away until the peppers are done.

Serve with tortillas and some sort of dairy because “Holy mother of God! I added too much Cayenne!!” (you can tell because Chris hiccups)

It’s still yummy, though – Chris said so.”

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Favorite Things about DC No. 3: Neighbors

Christiana — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:57:24 +0000

One of the coolest things about our house is the neighbors.

They’ve surprised us with sacks of free plums, occasional peaches, asparagus and rhubarb; taken in packages, helped with freecycling, and (this is the best part) invited us over for dinner.

Tonight’s menu was spinach salad with feta, red onion and cherry tomatoes with homemade vinaigrette, spanish tortilla (in the pic above – recipe forthcoming), and peach, blueberry & rhubarb pie (inspired by my own peach-blueberry recipe – whee!).

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