Hitting the Spot

Some days it's nice to grab a girl and hit the town together. Other times…most, actually, as of late, what really hits the spot is a home-cooked meal and a night in our sweats. So that's what Carrie and I did last weekend. And it was pretty fabulous.


I had originally suggested pizza night and a movie - then my lovely/smart/fellow-food-lover friend sent me the following text message: "How does salmon sounds? With a lemon caper garlic sauce?" Forget pizza, this was exactly what I needed but didn't know it.

The whole meal, since 2 sets of hands were involved, only took about a hour to make. And that's on the upper end of time estimates - because we had to stop for random chit chat and song sing-alongs, of course. Because what's a Girls' Night without lots of ever-so-important chit chat? A Guys' Night, that's what. Just kidding, I'm pretty sure guys chat more than gals sometimes.

Roasting the perfect salmon filet is actually quite simple - Carrie took this on and I watched because lately I've been cooking my poor fish past the point of no return. This is due to the fact, I suspect, that I've been baking mine straight out the freezer. Incorrect, loves. Let your frozen fish thaw completely before setting it on a piece of parchment. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and layer over thinly sliced lemon. Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes, checking towards the end. Once the (salmon in this case) goes from a reddish pink to a light pink, you know you're ready to pull it out.

We roasted some tri-colored carrots from Trader Joe's alongside the fish. Usually I roast vegetables at 425 degrees for 20 minutes to get a good caramelization on them but then the timing of serving would be off ( # woes of not being a real person with a double oven), so we simply let them  cook until tender at 325 with the fish, then jacked up the temp to 400 while the salmon was resting on the cutting board.

Mashed potatoes - simple, can't screw them up - unless you beat them to death in a mixer. I typically stay away from using a mixer for my mashed potatoes. I've seen plenty of Southern grandmas use theirs though, and their mashed potatoes are loads better than mine, so give it it try if you'd like. I have an idea - call me crazy - that this might be because Southern grandmas also have no problem throwing in enough cream, sour cream, and butter to counteract the starch in the potatoes. We simply peeled about 5 medium-sized tots and boiled them (with 5 cloves of garlic) until very tender. Then we drained everything, added ummmm… half a stick of butter (don't look while you do this), salt, pepper,  about 1/4 cup skim milk and mashed away with a hand masher.

The only thing left was to make a sauce, a lemon caper sauce to be exact. Sounds really fancy, but was super simple. This is totally Carrie's recipe so I give the credit completely to her. Melt 1 stick of butter with 1 Tbs capers. Add the juice of half a lemon and 2 cloves crushed garlic. Let meld together over medium heat for about 10 minutes (or until the butter is melted and starts to bubble a bit).

The sauce was technically supposed to go over the salmon but who's to care if I splashed it over everything? Twice.

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. 

Kimchi Fried Rice

Let's just cut the chase, shall we? I procrastinated, I was lazy, life happened, so a year later, I am getting back to blogging. Or trying to. My motto for this year is: be fearless. In other words, don't let myself get intimidated by the "what ifs" in a situation - to woman-up and get things done. And this has gotten me through some rough clinic days because somehow, my D4 year has already been filled with more than a few.

So along the lines of my Be Fearless campaign, I am posting this recipe to help my fellow friends jump on the bandwagon. It's probably one of my favorite go-to recipes and encompasses many things which make a meal super delish: bold flavors and a runny egg which is God's way of saying, "Why are you bothering to make a sauce when I've given it to you?"

I like this blogger's explanation of kimchi and I just might try to make my own sometime. But kimichi is, in a nutshell (or eggshell haha), fermented cabbage. It's a traditional Korean food and I can thank my roommate for introducing me to it. Cabbage is chopped, pickling spices added, and it is usually stored in the ground for some time for the flavors to develop. Her grandma makes it every year and somehow, the idea of a little Korean grandma pickling cabbage and storing jars in her garden makes it all the more delightful to consume because of the love that went into it. What is it about grandmas that make everything better?

You can eat kimchi fresh (as in, just pickled) with meals for a milder taste or you can use the super fermented stuff in something like this, kimchi fried rice. It's so good. You will love me after you make it. One day, I'm going to win a foe over with this stuff.

Some tips when you make fried rice: use day-old rice. I personally never have day old rice, so I make about 4 cups the day before I'm planning to make this and store it in the fridge overnight. Older rice is hard so it fries up really nicely and absorbs the flavors. Also, use short-grain rice. Not Jasmine rice or Basmati...short grain. Can you believe this is coming from a born and raised Persian? My mom would not be happy.

What You Need:

2 cups chopped Kimchi (you can find this at any Asian market, it should be in the refrigerator case)
1 cup finely chopped onion
4 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 tsp Chili Garlic sauce, also available at the Asian market or Kroger, actually
3 Tbs soy sauce, low sodium
4 cups short grain rice, cooked and refrigerated the night before
salt and pepper
1 egg

What You Do:

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat
Fry the onions till they are translucent, not dark and caramalized. Add garlic and give it a stir
Add the kimchi and fry for about 5 minutes
Dump the rice in - you might need to break it up if it's stuck together
Add soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, and some pepper (it'll be pretty salty from the soy and kimchi so hold off on that)
Continue cooking until the rice is dark and a little crunchy. It might stick to the bottom of the pan so stir constantly. Stop cooking when it's the color you like (I prefer a darker fried rice). You might need to add a little more oil to get a good crunch on but usually I put enough in at the beginning with the onions that it carries over to when I add the rice.
Transfer the fried rice to a bowl and fry an
egg, sunny side up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and lay over top the kimchi fried rice. Maybe sure the yolk runs into the rice when you eat it - it's sinfully delicious.

Till next time, friends! Be Fearless!

A Year In Updates

1. It's almost been a year since my last post. Guilt factor 9 out of 10. I had to take some time off to study and focus on career goals.
2. I was starting to hate myself for being "that" person - you know, the one who sticks their camera in your food. I needed to get back to my roots. 
3. Posting twice a week was a little much for my schedule and I want to post quality, not quantity. So, starting this week I'll be writing 1/week or bi-weekly. 
4. Speaking of quality, notice more stories about the absolutely amazing friends I've made here. 
5. Restaurant reviews are going to be featured a little more seeing as I BOUGHT MY FIRST CAR this summer and am not chained to my apartment or at the mercy of others' palates.
6. To kick off the new blog, I've re-vamped the cover page so it's a little fresher and more polished.

Look for new recipes soon - lots of love!

~Sheila