Voodoo Doughnuts

I just got back from a business trip in Portland, OR. We had a nice trip and what an awesome city! The weather during my trip could only be described as psychotic-pouring rain for 10 minutes, then sunny, then chilly, then drizzly, then windy, then rainy....you get the point. I ate at a few great places but what sticks in my mind foodwise is Voodoo Doughnuts. We all had the Maple Glazed with Bacon- think about a breakfast. It was VERY good. I went with two of my colleagues, Chad and Monica. These are cell phone pictures but they seem to be pretty good. If you are ever in Portland then you really need to go to the Rogue Brewpub and then hit up Voodoo before you settle in for the evening. Anybody else been there?

Gnocchi

So, we have been on a gnocchi kick lately. Its a little bit of work but we love them. My wife decided one day to try out a recipe and we both loved it. However, she tried another recipe and it turned out a little slimy. So we will keep trying and report back when we find the out how to make it just right and report back. In the mean time- enjoy the pictures.





By the way- the sauce is a recipe from Giada- its her simple sauce and it is absolutely delicious.

Ya knowhat?

Pork Chops Kick Ass
My annoying and pestering friend, Ayhan, sent me pictures of some lamb chops that he made. To be honest, they were ridiculously good looking. Porn, if you will.

Its funny, sometimes you have friends who actually know something about you that you dont. I like writing a blog. I dont have time to, really- but I enjoy it.

I went to Safeway after work to see if I could find some lamb chops to make. Lets just say that the selection that I found wasn't all that appealing. But I found pork chops - sliced thinly. So, my wife found this recipe on one of our friends blogs. She changed it a little- hell if I know how since I was at work when she marinated it.

Anyway- dont buy the pork chops thinly sliced if they are bone in. Just dont bother. But here is a picture of kate enjoying the delicious meal that she marinated and I grilled.



Here is Ayhan. What a nice guy. Too bad you cant have any of my delicious pork chops my Turkish friend. More for me... I can tell from the picture that you are mad about it.

Kates Pad Thai

This is my absolute favorite thing she makes. She found the recipe in a book called "Skinny Bitch in the Kitch". Notice how I stopped filming when she asked me to? She is going to kill me.

6oz rice noodles (cooked and drained accorsing to directions)
1/4 cup agave nectar (ya-I know but its worth it)
1/4 cup mirin
3 tablespoons ketchup
3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoons sriracha
2 tablespoons refined coconut oil
14-16 oz extra-firm tofu
1/2 red onion cut into 1/4 inch slices
2 cloves of garlic minced
3 scallions halved lenthwise and cut into 2 in. pieces
2 cups bean sprouts
1 carrot shredded
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/4 cup roasted peanuts-chopped
4-8 lime wedges
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1. In a bowl mix the agave, mirin, ketchup, tamari, lime juice and sriracha and mix and set aside
2. Heat coconut oil in wok- add the tofu and stir fry for 4 minutes
3. Add the red onion and stir fry for 30 seconds
4. Add garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds
5. Add the noodles and mixture to wok and cook until noodles are soft and coated
6. Add rest of ingredients and stir fry for a few more seconds
7. This is good stuff... enjoy!

Michelle Obama's Farmers Market

My subway stop for work is McPherson Square/White House. Michelle Obama decided that she wanted to close Vermont Avenue every Thursday for a Farmers Market (note the Secret Service guys on lookout).

My first thought as a dark suited/red power tie kinda guy was, "Dammit-this is going to totally screw up my commute. And there are going to be hippies everywhere". In fact, it did a make it a little bit more difficult but I finally gave in and went to the Market on Thursday on my way home. OK, so my snap stereotype was broken-these vendors knew their stuff.


I took my time shopping and tried a lot of the vendors' products. I talked to them about what would go well with whatever. There was a local bakery and the gentleman seemed genuinely pleased to discuss how he made his semolina bread with me. The array of fresh vegetables made my local Safeway seem like it was bush league. I stumbled upon one stall where the dude working it was selling bison meat.


I have always heard that it was excellent and tasted just like beef but much leaner and probably 100 times healthier. After talking to the guy for a minute I decided to go for it. I told him that I am a bison meat virgin and he simply said, "Try the burgers". So, I picked up some awesome bread, heirloom tomatoes, and some bison burgers. I made them on Friday night and we LOVED them. My wife really liked the fact that bison was so much leaner than beef and that it not only tasted pretty much like beef but tasted better. So, we may be doing bison burgers more often.

Michelle, good call. You are as smart as you are good lookin'. Thanks from just a regular Joe who works down the street from your house.

Nancy Was Right Mac And Cheese & A Party

My friend Kate from the office was having a birthday dinner party the other night for one of her friends and asked me for a few recipes and some help with dinner ideas. The mac&cheese is bottom right in the picture.

One of me and my wife's favorite recipes is called, "Nancy was right mac&cheese". Kate and I were just dating and Nancy was her roommate. They were kind of a package deal. A long time ago Nancy and I were cooking dinner and she wanted to make this recipe. My first reaction was of utter disgust. Who puts cottage cheese in something like this? I was dead wrong and now this recipe is one of my go-to's. Thank you Nancy!


8oz Cheddar (shredded)
1 3/4 cup macaroni
1 cup plain yogurt
1 beaten egg
3/4 tsp salt & a few decent sized pinches of pepper
2 cups small curd cottage cheese
paprika (I actually use cayenne)
Italian Bread Crumbs
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1. cook pasta according to box, drain
2. in a bowl add cheese,yogurt,egg, S&P, cottage cheese and mix
3 Pour past into the bowl and mix
4 add pasta mix to a lightly buttered casserole dish, pan or whatever
5 bake at 350 covered with tin foil for 40 minutes
6. remove and top with bread crumbs and lightly sprinkle paprika
7. bake for about 5-10 more minutes
(use paper towels to blot out grease that will accumulate on the sides occasionally)

Easy dinner-Stuffed shells

One of my favorite things to make is stuffed shells. Its pretty easy to make and I seem to go through periods when I make it about once a week and then don't make it for a few months. My wife and daughter love it-and its a sneaky way to get my daughter to eat spinach.
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1.Mix chopped spinach (drained-it has a lot of water in it) with ricotta cheese, a pinch of salt & pepper, and 1 beaten egg
2. Your large shells should be in the colander draining already
3. Spoon the cheese mixture into the shells
4. Cover the bottom of a casserole dish or whatever with a thin layer of sauce (I make my own with some hot Italian sausage)
5. Line the shells up in the dish and cover with sauce
6. Add some Parmesan and mozzarella
7. Bake it at 350 until the cheese is nice and melted
eat it

My wife is TOPLESSSSS?

Georgia is really hot in the summer....NOT A DRY HEAT.

OK, she won't let me take topless pictures. This is as close as I get.

G Daddy's BBQ joint in GA

We left the beach around noon this morning and are making our way back north to DC. I found G Daddy's BBQ just off of I-95 exit 3 sometime around 4 PM. We all needed a break and something to drink. I liked it, Kate liked the flavor but wasn't so sure since they hadn't removed the crispy skin from their BBQ sandwich.

A girl? What? She can't grill!

So, Christy of What We Eat and I are now official nerds.

She has a blog about cooking, etc. as well. Recently, we were talking about who could make the best burger and we have differing opinions. So, its up to you my friends. Whose burger looks the best!

No pressure.... since girls really aren't supposed to be allowed to touch the grill! Ok ok ok-who cares, let the pictures tell the thousand words. Good luck to Christy.

Check out both of our sites to see the burgers and then vote for the one you like best over at her site.

My burgers were made with finely diced raw onion, Mexican hot chili powder, cumin, and S&P. I roasted some jalapenos and a pasilla pepper (of which for some reason I just have a pic of but no video). I also added some fresh chunky salsa from Trader Joe's, pepper jack cheese and red lettuce.

BUT FOR HONESTY IN COMPETITION.... I forgot the freaking avacodooooo!!!!!!!!!!

But who cares....

All American Summer Day

On Friday I got my hands on the best baseball tickets I have ever had. So I invited my next door neighbor and two friends from the office (you invite one then you have to invite the other as they are a couple). We got to sit right on top of the Nats dugout on the 1st base line. I literally was able to put my beer and chili dog on top of the dugout---until I got yelled at to remove them.

I was torn as to who to cheer for. It was the Nationals vs. Diamondbacks. So I just enjoyed the game for what it was. One of my teams was going to lose. The Diamondbacks STINK. If you get soundly beaten by the Nationals then you have a bad club. Poor Dbacks. Also, I now have a new favorite player. Nyjer Morgan. I saw him steal a base after slapping a ball to left field for a single. Nyjer is one of the fastest players I have EVER seen and is currently 4th in steals in the Major Leagues.

The new Nationals stadium is awesome. Its beautiful and its actually GREEN, meaning as environmentally safe as a stadium can be. But I have to tell you that the food places there are top notch. They even have a Ben's Chili Bowl. If Obama can eat Bens then I certainly can too. Hail to the Chief! And hail to the Nationals for their 8 game winning streak!

Meals for the week?

So, my wife is now a stay at home mom. We live off of my meagre paycheck. I need to figure out how to make meals stretch a little longer. I made lasagna the other night. I put half in the fridge and the other half wrapped up in portion sizes in the freezer.


Have you heard of something called Freezer Cooking? Basically you cook for one or two nights and can freeze what you arent eating immeditely. Then you can pull out dinner from the freezer for the rest of the week. Smart idea. Count me in. It cant be all that hard. Making lasagna with my daughter was fun (she will only become faster and more competent with time) and we can eat that for a few days. I read a good article recently about how to cook on a budget. Also, here are some freezer cooking websites & here & here. Let me know if you have anything that you like to make in bulk and freeze.

Ma La- I love you too

Dear Ma La,

I know that I have others on the side but they are just cooking tools. You are my spice. My heart.... & my sweat running down my forehead and nose. Just the thought of you makes me hot.
Just the thought of you makes me sweat,

Chris
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If you know me then you cant eat food that is as spicy as I can. And I have met my match. My friends and I go to Great Wall on 14th NW close to P st. Its absolutely phenomenal. If you live in DC then I suggest you give them a try. The family lives above the restaurant and grandma does most of the cooking. Try the Ma La wontons, Mal La chicken, the pork and ABSOLUTELY the tofu (its the hottest thing they make).....They will try to gringo up the spice for you and tell them that you want it 100%. And yes, that picture is of me on my birthday with my office buddies who can handle the heat.

Ice Cream

ICE CREAM! THE ICE CREAM MAN IS COMING!

We went to Harpers Ferry, WV recently. It's and 1 1/2 hour drive from DC. We went to the train museum and then went to the Harpers Ferry Flea Market. We all had a good time and had ice cream. I think the biker dudes had a good time watching us as we trashed the picnic table next to them.



Here is what happend to the kids when we told them we could all have ice cream.

BBQ Contest in Louisa Virginia

The Virginia State BBQ contest and car show was this weekend in Louisa, Virginia.

Louisa is about a 2 hour drive into the center of Virginia from suburban DC. Basically next to James Madison's Montpelier. The contest was in a field next to a lake in the middle of the woods. A beautiful setting.

I could smell the smoke coming from the contestants' fires even before we saw the field. Some of these contestants were SERIOUS about their competitions! I had a great time, the kids had a good time and Kate..... well isn't a BBQ fan (I'll make it up to you honey).

We could only stay for so long due to it being very hot and the kids' relatively short attention spans... and the fact that we caught Oliver happily trying to get back into the moon bounce with blood pouring out of his nose. I think it got a little rough in there. But here are some pics of our trip! Next year will be even better when we go since the kids will hopefully try the BBQ, not try to dive into the lake or put their hands on hot smokers, not jump in front of moving contestants' cars, and actually sit still for pictures.

OK-I'm on a Persian kick now

Falafil, lavash bread and chicken kabobs? It was a regular Sunday afternoon... we needed to get the team out of the house and fast. So we went to the pool which only lasted about an hour and a half before the kids were asking for lunch. So we went to my new favorite joint called Church St. Pizza. As usual, the pizza was great (a nice NY thin crust with enough grease to satisfy-along with a tall cool Miller Light). The kids ate their pizza happily and the wife and I kept the violence and crying to a minimum. After we ate I just couldn't deal with taking them back to our house and a light bulb burst over my head. I have always wanted to check out the Persian Bakery down the street. I drive by it every morning on the way to the subway and tell myself, "I'm going to check that joint out someday". I wasn't disappointed. The people there didn't speak English. Nor would they have understood my rudimentary Arabic-It was Persian (Iranian). I walked in and smelled the freshly baked bread, exotic spices, and row upon row of groceries with labels that I couldn't read or even know what they are. So whats a guy like me to do? I dive in. Grab all sorts of things to try out-that's what I do! I even bought the kids some sugar cookies from the seriously geriatric baker dude. He smiled at me as he looked at my blond brood of little ones. He didn't charge me for the cookies or for the tomato that my oldest decided to smash. Regardless if I totally blow this experiment I will be back. I love places like that.

Here are some videos of me making the falafil with tahini, lettuce and lavash bread. With children screaming in the background and giving commentary....

Never mind all that mess in the background and I definately dont drink Michelob Ultra.....

Salad? WTF? Thats not dinner!

Recently one of my closest friends went to his normal check up on a Friday afternoon. His doctor, personally, called him on Saturday and told him to not exercise, take it easy, and to meet him at 7:30 in the morning on Monday.

His triglycerides were over 4 times the normal acceptable level.

He called in on Monday and said he was going back to the doctor that day and would be late for work. I didn't get to talk to him until late in the day on Monday, when he told me what had transpired. I couldn't believe it. I was floored. He is skinny. We eat the same things. The only difference between us was the fact that I swim at lunch often, I don't eat egg sandwiches for breakfast and we are obviously aren't related.

Regardless of those facts I was very worried for him and worried for myself. I recently started taking fish oil pills because of him. I am going to redouble my efforts to get my workouts in. I am no longer going to be dousing my pancakes with butter but will be using margarine instead. I am now using I can't believe it's not Butter.

Don't worry. I'm not freaking out. I still love butter and bacon. But I have decided to make better choices now that I am in my mid 30's. I'm no longer indestructible.

And you know what? salads don't have to suck. They can be very good. My concern is hunger. I have always have been able to eat anything I want and not gain weight. I know-sorry. But I have decided that I am going to eat a salad, only a salad, for dinner twice a week. No chicken, no bacon bits, nothing. Nada.

I have always looked at salad as a side dish or an appetizer. There has to be something that tastes great without the Ranch Sauce or the Bleu Cheese Dressing and can still make my heart sing. check back. I am scrambling right now. I am reading up on salads.

Take your fish oil, exercise, and lay off the bacon this week. Are you with me?

Paninis?

Oh man, you ever just made a prosciutto, mozzarella with tomato panini? Could it be any easier? Maybe some pepper is needed or a tiny bit of garlic. But "Lord Almighty, I feel my temperature risin'". Oh man... why is it that just toasting a sanwich makes it taste so much better? I love making paninis for dinner. The Boss does not like the proscuitto-so she misses out. Not my problem.... All I can tell you is that I am a hunk of burnin' love.

Not a recipe

I started to write this blog to talk about food... and whatever else comes to mind. This morning on the subway in to work I was trying to think of something to say. I wanted it to be something interesting.

I decided to talk about something that is very important to me. Now, I am not tooting my horn here but I do believe that with work, family, and my very limited social life I still have time to do something that is bigger than all of that.

I do volunteer work for Food & Friends. I have been delivering food to people who are very sick and shut in to their apartments all around my office in downtown. It really is an eye opening experience to deliver bag after bag of pre-prepared meals to people who you would never meet otherwise.

I have gotten to know some of the people over time on my route. Some just close their door after I hand them their meals. Some smile and say hello and nice to see you. One I actually chat with for a minute or two every time. I know that I am the only person that some of these people see that day. Just being able to do that one small thing for my neighbors makes me happy.

I would eventually like to be able to donate more of my time to this cause, maybe even help with the food preparation. Maybe I will start having my children volunteer with me when they are old enough. It's a good cause. It's the right thing to do. And maybe-just maybe I can teach my children that life is not all fun and games but more about being a kind person. Maybe this is a life lesson that I can share.

So if you have a minute-click on the logo above and check out Food & Friends. If you have a few extra dollars to spare, then please do so. If you have a few extra hours every month then please volunteer-if not for Food & Friends then for something else. Trust me-it will be an experience of a lifetime.

Andrew Zimmern

This cat is the man. Seriously, the crap he eats FREAKS ME OUT. I honestly think the oddest thing I've ever had are chapulines (fried grasshoppers) which are actually quite good. If you ever get the chance to have a chapulines taco then I suggest that you try it with an open mind. Now I have never been a seafood fan but lately I have been trying more and more things. I went on a business trip recently and had a bunch of things to eat that a year ago I would have never tried. I can tell you that they were not my favorite things but I have tried them now (sea bass, ceviche, & a piece of octopus sushi). To this day I admit that the taste of a tuna steak makes me reel. I don't like it. But I have tried it. But this dude is straight up crazy. OK. So I will draw the absolute line if he wont eat it. His show is on the Travel Channel and he couldn't even eat the durian fruit from Malaysia. OK-so its got to be horrifying.





Hold me, I'm scared.