DC Eats - Founding Farmers

Yes, this blog has covered eateries in the DC area before, but let’s be real…tastes change as we get older. And I don’t mean palate-wise (although this is part of it), but also atmosphere and service. I’d like to share the name of a wonderful place I tried this past Sunday for brunch: Founding Farmers.

Doesn’t the name just say it all? I love a tongue and cheek title, especially when it evokes images of a pastoral lifestyle: wholesome and fresh. Which the restaurant was, and I was not in any was disappointed.

Founding Farmers has 2 locations – we went to the one close to the Foggy Bottom metro stop. Make reservations because from what I gather, the spot is always poppin’ so either be prepared to eat at the bar or wait a looooong time.

We went for brunch but it was nice that they also served off their lunch menu – some places (usually smaller ones) will just offer brunch on Sunday mornings. The menu is quite diverse, but not overwhelming, which I appreciated. They also make a lot of things in house: sodas, breads, desserts (think fresh beignets) which is nice to see. The space is gorgeous: light and airy, large booths and good-sized tables. The wait staff wear farmer aprons which is kind of cute. They are all on a mission though, and it was a little hard to get their attention for extra water or pens to sign the tab.

I got the pastrami hash (which came with two poached eggs and a yummy hollandaise) and the bananas foster French toast. I have a thing about French toast…it has to be dense and really soft with a good crunch. I hate dry French toast, which a lot of restaurants unfortunately have come to market as the norm. This one, however, blew me a way. They use a brioche loaf and cut it into cute little logs, stuff them with pastry cream, and douse in caramel bananas foster. It was amazing. Life changing, maybe. Okay, I exggarate… The pastrami hash was not oily, really fresh, and super flavorful – the fact that it was covered in a superb hollandaise was a huge plus. You already know my thing about poached eggs providing a natural sauce, so this was a great addition.  The hollandaise, by the way, wasn’t really acidic like many I’ve had recently. I ordered a hash to go – it was that good.

We finalized our meal by ordering the beignets even though we were stuffed to maximum capacity. Do I regret this? Not a bit. The pate de choux (aka dough) was perfect: chewy with pockets of air and a great crunch on the outside. The sauces: chocolate, raspberry, and caramel were great, too. I’m more a beignet purist so I shy away from dousing mine in sauces, but I tried each separately and they were really quality.

So there you have it: a new must-try in DC. I know it’ll be a regular revisit for me whenever I have a sweet or savory brunch craving. Which is always. 

Hash Breakfast

This hash has come to be known as a bit of a specialty of mine. I invented it one day because I was missing the days when Weston and I used to cook together. I'd usually take control in the kitchen, but there was one dish I never had the patience to make: hash. Weston, on the other hand, has an enormous quantity of patience (good thing for me) and so when a recipe requires one to sit over the pan and stir and stir...and stir, he's the man for the job.

Now that I'm alone, though, I had to take on that role. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I just parked my tuchus near the stove and studied histology while waiting for the potatoes to cook. I'd recommend making this meal in bulk because it is super tasty and for the amount of work you're going through to make it, you really should make a lot.

What you need:

1/2 pound of ham, cubed

5-6 potatoes, washed and cut into 1/4 inch cubes

1 jar roasted red bell peppers in water

2 onions, chopped

garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste

What you do:

With only a few ingredients, that makes caramelization and flavor development the key to a good dish.

Fry the onions until they are wilted and slightly translucent. Add the potato and fry and fry and fry until the potato is cooked through. This takes about 25 minutes. Alternatively, you could just pre-boil the potato and then cut it, but then you run the risk of over-boiling and having a big mushy mess.

After the potatoes are cooked, season with you spices and add the bell pepper and ham.

Continue to cook until the hash has a nice rosy tinge to it. This tells you the ingredients are melding together.

You can continue to fry until some of the potatoes develop a crunch (making this a crispy hash), or serve it as is. I dotted the top of mine with a little goat cheese which added a lot of flavor and a tangy pop.

Hash Dinner - a newby and a goody

This hash recipe is going to change your life. It changed mine - and Sharon's. The inspiration came from Weston, who is coming into town tomorrow. I know how much he likes hash browns - he makes them for me when I visit Michigan - so I thought he'd appreciate some leftovers after the long drive. They turned out very, very well. I think Sharon will be requesting this next time I make dinner for us.

I used a non-stick skillet for this because it cut down on cook time, and didn't make a huge mess that I had to scrape off. But if you have a cast-iron griddle, that'd be even better.

What you need:

5 Yukon Gold potatoes, chopped into pretty small cubes (1/4 inch)

1 1/2 cups chopped ham - about as big as the potatoes

1 jar of Trader Joe's roasted red peppers, drained and chopped

1 onion, chopped

What You Do:

In a skillet, fry the onion until it is translucent. Add the ham and red pepper, salt and pepper to taste, and a lot of garlic powder (maybe 1 tsp+). Continue frying until the mixture is pretty dry (adding the red pepper can also add a lot of moisture) and the ham starts to brown. Set aside.

Add more olive oil to the pan and fry the potatoes. Continue to cook/fry until they are browned from the ham mixture you just fried in the same skillet. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Once the potatoes are a little tender, add the ham mixture back to the skillet and continue frying for about 30 minutes, until the flavors meld and the potatoes are crispy-ish.

This recipe does take a while to make, but it's worth it for the flavor. Add fresh parsley to the finished product if you want, and experiment with other additions, too!

Ghanaian Hash

Word cannot describe the party in my mouth when my roommate, Roslyn, made a delicious Ghanian stew for us a while back. Oh-my-gosh it was soooo good. I have been meaning to write about it for weeks, but I wanted to give this post extra time and attention. It was amazing to watch as she took ingredients that to her were so familiar yet so foreign to me, and concocted something unlike anything I'd ever had before.

With some help from her, I was able to recall the recipe. Here's how you too, can replicate this wonderful dinner.

What you need:

seasoned salt

garlic powder

a bay leaf

onions

1 can of crushed tomatoes

1 can of corned beef hash

curry powder

ground nutmeg

cayenne pepper

a few eggs

What to do:

Put the tomatoes and the onion in a blender, add some water, and blend into a thick mixture. Pour into a pot which has a little bit of oil at the bottom. Still and cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the spices and hash and cook for another 5-10 minutes. You use about a sprinkling of each spice - once around the pot, but you can adjust according to your preference. At the very end of the cooking process, add a few beater eggs to the mixture and break them up with a fork as they scramble. The idea here is to create a homogenous hash without too many lumps.

The first thing that surprised me was the spice factor and the way her spice mixture really complimented the plantains. You HAVE to eat this dish with plantains, nothing else will do. All you do is wait until they ripen and then boil them until they are cooked through. Don't be impatient like me, though, and let them cool a bit before eating :)