dc

we didn't dig too deep into d.c. culinary treasures...but we did happen upon this little gem...


with a dining atmosphere similar to that of the varsity (just add antiques and scratch the "what'll ya have") they serve up a pretty good little burger...

dining in...

since we've got an apartment and grocery stores where i can actually read the labels, i plan on doing a ton of cooking while home. granted i've got a pretty basic kitchen and a very limited amount of cooking paraphernalia so i can't get too fancy or complicated.

last night....



portabella chicken marsala*
balsamic green beans**
roasted butternut squash***

everything was really delicious and best of all the meal was ridiculously low in fat and was around 450 calories!

*you'll note i changed the shitake to portabella, the shitakes at the grocery looked pitiful and i love the meatiness of a portabella anyway. always subsitute for the better looking veggies!
** i left out the bacon and just added goya jamon flavor to my water and also a pack to my vinaigrette. i wanted to cut the fat out but keep the flavor.
***just drizzle with evoo and roast until tender

Woodfire Baby!

So it took a month to get the reservation at a decent time but it was so worth it. We had a truly amazing meal prepared by the winner of Top Chef, Kevin Gillespie. Okay, so he didn't technically win...but he had more quick fire and challenge wins than anyone in TC history and he won fan favorite. And he was never a jerk and stayed true to his Southern roots. So whatevs, he's totally the winner in our eyes.

We had a few people suggest getting the tasting menu* so we did...

amuse bouche made of black eyed peas on a pot likker and collard reduction...



braised baby carrots with goat cheese and fennel salad (i totally thought this one must have tasted like the carrot he did for the show)...



scallop (best i've ever had in my life) and shrimp over a radish carpaccio...



bonus course, oysters (the only "not spectacular" thing we had all night)...



yummy blackberry cocktail...



quail...



pork trio...mmmmm pork...



apple spice cake with caramelized marshmallows...



chocolate stuffed crepes with espresso beans...



Everything (save the oysters) was absolutely incredible. It was a beautiful meal shared with wonderful company.

If you watched the show and you'd like to actually taste the talent for yourself I highly suggest making your reservations now!!

If you go on the weekend there is also a good chance you'll get to meet the master himself! He was so genuine and very gracious...




*personally i would recommend getting an app, an entree and a dessert. if everyone gets something different then you can try lots of stuff. granted, getting the tasting menu will make you feel like tom and padma but it is super pricey and the portions are super tiny. of course i had starved myself all day in preparation so you make the call.

Although Copa Airlines had provided us with a “meal” that consisted of a hot pocket (seriously, ham and cheese) and two small cookies we chose to grab a quick meal in our hotel’s restaurant when we arrived in Panama Friday night. We didn’t venture into any Panamanian cuisine that night as the hot pocket did at least fill us up enough to not want the buffet. We did, however, dive right into some Panamanian beer. We tried Atlas, Panama and Balboa and I have to say they weren’t great. I’m not a huge lager fan anyway but even Julie didn’t care for them.

Saturday we were treated to probably the most authentic Panamanian meal possible…cooked over an open fire by a lovely Embera girl, Sara, we enjoyed what I will venture to say is the best fried fish I’ve ever had with some delicious fried plantains all served neatly in a banana leaf. The fish, a peacock bass, had been caught that morning by one of the men from the river and the plantains grown in their garden.




Back from the jungle we took the recommendation from our tour guide and dined at a local favorite; El Trapiche. Ceviche is wildly popular in Panama and we started with a mixed ceviche that had fish, octopus and shrimp. With such hot and humid temperatures you can easily see why the Panamanians love it so much-what could be better than fresh chilled seafood infused with that cooling citrus deliciousness?

Our restaurant offered two dishes with an assortment of Panamanian fare; one an appetizer and one a meal and we ordered one of both. The appetizer was of the fried variety and had some good, some okay and some bland offerings.



Julie ordered the platter and found herself with some repeats of from the appetizer. It started with a wonderful soup that reminded me of pot-licker. For those non-southerners, that’s the broth from making collard greens- if you’re ever in Atlanta you must go to Mary Mac’s Tea Room and get some! Her dish also came with some bbq style beef and pork which was really nice.



I ordered the Corvina (sea bass) with a shrimp sauce. It was pretty good but I think the sauce was a bit heavy for the light flavor of the fish.



All in all Panamanian cuisine was to our liking. Bordering two oceans makes it a seafood lover’s paradise and although they could work on their breweries they serve a mean sangria.

move over andrew zimmern

she's been talking about it since before we left in january and i have to say i didn't believe half of what she said she eat. i, now, humbly admit i far underestimated my wife's threshold for bizarre foods and her gag reflex.

a balut is a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled or steamed. it is very popular street food in the philippines.

behold...champion of the balut:


what kills me is how nonchalant she was about it. lets just say there were no kisses on the mouth that evening.

lechon

we finally had some of the famous roast pig, lechon, while at the pearl farm. jules thought it was okay. but, i wasn't too impressed. then again, we're southerners so we have high pork expectations.



i look forward to trying it here in cebu next. the cebu lechon is supposed to be far superior to that of any other filipino lechon. anthony bourdain actually dubbed it the best pig in the world. i'm skeptical but i'll let you know.

lessons in fishdom

okay, i'm an idiot...or maybe that's a little harsh. i didn't see any of you commenting that the lapu-lapu below was in fact just a grouper. as grouper is one of my favorite fish it's no wonder i fell in love with the lapu-lapu.

anyhoo, just thought i would share that we weren't eating some exotic filipino fish-just some grouper with a fun name.

we also found out last night at dinner that the fish we had been calling a "pirate fish" was actually a "parrot fish". which makes me laugh. not because we misunderstood the lady we asked last weekend because, hey, i got about every tenth word she was saying...but, because when she told us the name the wife said "oh!" and then preceded to do her best hook impression and scream "argh matey".



the lady just smiled and nodded.

introducing...

that big red guy is a lapu-lapu fish. this fish is gets his name from the famous chief lapu-lapu (warning- slight history lesson ahead) who defeated and killed the spanish explorer, ferdinand magellan...although he was technically from portugal but he did work for the spanish crown...okay, okay... in 1521. chief lapu-lapu is quite the hero here on mactan island and this fish seems to be a mainstay.

it can be found at any restaurant or market selling seafood and we've already had our fair share. grilled, sweet and sour or in a soup it has quickly become one of my favorites here in the philippines.

i'm seriously thrilled to have so much wonderfully fresh seafood available to us... but, i'm sure just as i hope to avoid steaks for the rest of the year, mr. lapu-lapu and i will probably part ways on bad terms.

until then i'll just keep getting too much of a good thing!

best meal of 2009?

Obviously, when visiting Japan eating sushi is a must.

Kristy and Will were kind enough to take us out for a true blue sushi experience at one of their favorite places. We saddled up to the sushi bar and from there our experience was totally in the hands of our skilled chef. The extent of our order was drinks as the menu for the night was filled with whatever looked good to our chef at the market earlier that morning and he felt like serving up.



Every single thing placed in front of us was of the highest quality, immaculately executed and ridiculously fresh. Even the best sushi I’ve ever had before pales dismally in comparison.

Seriously, I have no idea how Will & Kristy will ever be able to eat sushi in the States again without groaning in dismay…it will be hard enough for us.

**apologies-everything was gorgeously plated and i wish i had taken more photos.

Argentina-the good, the better and the gross

Argentina thus far has proven to be a meat lovers heaven...even more so than South Africa. The Argentine diet consists mainly of steak, steak and more steak with a side of sausage.

You can get steak at fast food places here and we're talking good steak. At parillas (restaurants with charcoal or wood fire grills) you can get amazing steaks and usually for under $10 USD.

Outside of steak (but not too far because sometimes they're stuffed with steak)another favorite down here is empanadas.



Delicious little savory meat pies...we've yet to have one that wasn't at least pretty darn good.

Dessert in Argentina means one thing...dulce de leche. No matter what dessert you order you better believe it is coming with a huge scoop of this decendent and sinful stuff. They even have their own "oreo" type cookie called alfajors which are stuffed with dulche de leche.

As you can imagine we're enjoying the fare in Argentina but that isn't to say we've not had any bad experiences.

Okay, so it was one bad experience, and it was totally me and it was stupid and the only reason I'm telling this story is because the Wife already told Dr. Pants without prior authorization...so it's already out there.

Anyway, on our tour of the Andes we stopped in a tiny town (population 7, no joke) right by the Chile border. It was a very basic restaurant with a woman behind a counter with what was obviously some homemade dishes. It was cold, like snow on the ground cold, and I wanted some soup. I spied what I thought to be a chicken stew. I asked the woman "pollo?" to which she replied with a string of Spanish that I couldn't begin to decipher. I just nodded and said "si, load me up". At this point I was thinking it was a fish stew.

It wasn't until I sat down and got a good look at my plate that I realized this was no fish...I'd watched enough Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel to recognize cow stomach when it was on a plate in front of me.

Back before we left I really thought I'd be pretty brave about trying different foods. But, it seems that is not the case. A couple of pieces of stomach were hidden under my mashed potatoes so I did technically try it though. Really outside of the taste it was the texture was really the issue...and the look of it...not pretty.

The obvious lesson here is if you know the words for meats and you're told something you don't recongnize move it along and pick something else for God's sake!