Steve's Notebook Blog

My latest coffee order arrived yesterday, and from what I’ve tasted so far, it’s really good stuff.  This time I ordered from Johnson Brothers Coffee Roasters of Madison, WI.  They shipped the order on the day they roasted the beans.  Here’s what I got:

• Sumatra Aceh Pondok
• Guatemala Quiche Chajulense
• Ethiopian Sidamo
• Ethiopian Amaro Gayo Natural Processed

Now this is service you don’t get from a bigger company!  My latest coffee shipment came from Coava Coffee Roasters of Portland, Oregon, and fulfilled by Go Coffee Go.  I ordered three bags of coffee, but got 4 in eco-friendly packaging with a hand-written note saying that a buy-3-get-1-free promo just started and they were throwing in an extra bag, signed “Keith and Matt”.  How cool is that?  It’s companies like this that go the extra mile for the customer, even when not asked, that will see huge success when the economy booms again.

The coffees I ordered were Ethiopia Sidama ARDI, Colombia Monserrate,  and Brasil Chapadão de Ferro.  The Colombia and Brasil coffees each scored 90 points on Coffee Review in April (Coffee Review is the most prestigious coffee reviewer in the industry).  The Ethiopia scored a superior 95 points, ranking it up there with the greatest coffees ever roasted.  It also won 1st place at the 2009 Taste of Harvest competition.  I haven’t tried the Colombia or Brasil yet, but the Ethiopia has very nice flowery and honey aromas.

For the first time since I acquired the wine rack, all 18 slots are now occupied with wine.

I made a couple runs to Total Wine last week and bought a good mix of highly rated wines and sweet German whites that I like so much.  Here’s to a summer of fine food and drink!

The latest shipment of coffee to reach my door is from The Roasterie of Kansas City, Missouri.  The main reason I ordered from them this time was to try their Sulawesi Toraja, which was given 94 points last month by Coffee Review (probably the most prestigious coffee reviewer in the coffee world).

I also ordered a bag of Pitalito Estate Colombian coffee, a bag of Kimel Estate Papua New Guinean coffee, and a bag of Kansas City Blend (the most popular coffee at The Roasterie).  The Pitalito Estate and Kimel Estate coffees both earned 93 points from Coffee Review in the past.

It’s tough to pick a favorite out of this batch because they’re all great coffees.  If I had to pick a favorite right now, I’d probably choose the Kimel Estate.  Papua New Guinea coffees just tend to have a refreshing mouthfeel that I can only describe as “juicy”.

In the Washington D.C. area we don’t get too many opportunities to put snow to good use, so I had to try this…

It’s a bottle of Gewürztraminer chilling in the snow just outside the kitchen door, awaiting tonight’s dinner.

We had a break in tradition this Thanksgiving.  Instead of making the 3-hour drive down to my parents’ home, we stayed close to home and went out to a restaurant.  We figured it would be better for the baby that way.

Honestly, none of us really like roasted turkey, so for our Thanksgiving celebration venue we decided on the non-stop Brazilian-style meat-fest that is called Chima.  They did a good job at making Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant still feel special (they even had turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce).  While we didn’t get to spend Thanksgiving with all the family this year, I’m at least thankful that we got to spend a first Thanksgiving with our healthy, beautiful, and clever baby girl.  As you can see, she was the guest of honor tonight sitting at the head of the table.

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.  Let the Christmas shopping madness begin

Tyson’s Corner Center has a new rotating sushi bar called “Wasabi”.  I haven’t seen one of these in the US before.  I’ll have to try it next time I visit the mall.

babyworld is an excellent baby resource based in the UK.  I tried out several of the pregnancy recipes on the site and they are great even if you’re not cooking for a pregnant wife!  Here are some dishes that made it to the dinner table this week:

Cherry Tomato-Topped Chicken

I couldn’t believe how beautifully this dish came out.  It’s very easy to make and looks nice when you plate it.  I rate this recipe 9/10.

Fennel and Almond Soup

Not much color, but tastes good!  I’ll rate it 8/10.

Fish Brochette with Coconut Dressing and Apricot and Ginger Risotto

I didn’t care for either recipe here.  The fish brochette has nice flavor, but it seemed like too much trouble skewering everything and grilling it when a quick stir-fry with the marinade would have been sufficient.  3/10 for the fish brochette.

The risotto tasted okay, but it’s a stretch to call it risotto.  Risotto is supposed to have a starchy rice and parmesan cheese.  This recipe calls for neither.  5/10, and don’t call it risotto.

Oozing Chocolate Lava Cake

Okay, this one is not from babyworld, but pregnant women get strange cravings sometimes…

We didn’t have any ramekins, so it doesn’t look pretty.  It did however taste like chocolatey heaven.  8/10

We found this place called “Hot Bakes N’ Cakes” in Springfield, VA a few weeks ago and went back last night for a second visit.  You wouldn’t be able to tell from the name, but it’s actually an Indian restaurant.  Indian/French fusion that is…

One half of the restaurant is a typical looking French bakery, while the other half is an Indian restaurant that seems to me (as a non-Indian) to be more authentic than most Indian restaurants in America.  I say this because almost all of their customers and staff are Indian, and they serve dishes that I’ve never seen or heard of before at other Indian restaurants.

For dinner last night, I had one of their Indo-European fusion dishes – a Chicken Tikka Panini sandwich.  It was interesting and good, but a little dry for my tastes.

For an appetizer, we tried the Bhel Puri, which we never heard of before until we saw it on the menu last night and ordered it.  What came to the table was completely unexpected, but tasted good:

Apparently, Bhelpuri is a popular dish sold by street vendors in Bombay (er, Mumbai).  It’s basically Rice Crispies stir-fried with potatoes and tamarind sauce and is best consumed as soon as it’s prepared.  If that sounds interesting, read more about it at Wikipedia, then look for it at your local Indian restaurant.

Another meal derived from Low-Fat, Low Cholesterol Cooking, by Christine France.

Bombay Spiced Potatoes

Ingredients

• 4 large potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 tablespoons  vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground double mustard
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 lemon
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

Directions

1. Boil a pot of salted water, then add potatoes and simmer for 4 minutes until tender.  Drain.
2. Heat oil in a large frying pan and add garlic and spices.  Fry the spices in oil for about 2 minutes.
3. Add potatoes and stir-fry over medium heat for 5 minutes.
4. Season and sprinkle with lemon juice.  Garnish with cilantro and lemon wedges.
5. For the side vegetables, I cooked frozen beans and tossed the cooked beans with a sauce made of creme fraise, fresh chives, salt, and butter.

Serves 4

Steve’s Rating: 8/10 – It’s a tasty and filling vegetarian meal

Another meal derived from Low-Fat, Low Cholesterol Cooking, by Christine France.  This one was specifically selected to use what’s left of the AeroGarden.

Spaghetti with Herb Sauce

Ingredients

1. 2 cups chopped fresh basil and parsley
2. 4 garlic cloves
3. 5 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
4. 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
5. 12 ounces dried spaghetti
6. 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
7. salt and black pepper

Directions

1. If your pine nuts aren’t already toasted, put them in the oven under the broiler for a minute or two until golden.
2. Place garlic and half the toasted pine nuts into a food processor.  Place most of the herbs into the processor, but reserve a few for garnish.  Start processing and add oil while the blade is running.  This will make the pesto sauce.
3. Cook the spaghetti in salted water according to package directions and then drain.
4. Mix the pesto herb sauce in with the spaghetti.  Sprinkle reserved pine nuts and herbs as garnish.

Serves 4

Steve’s Rating: 9/10 – This was delicious.  I think I’ll make it again.

Recently, I’ve been preparing meals using Low-Fat, Low Cholesterol Cooking, by Christine France.  Earlier this week I made the “Special Fish Pie” on page 98 of the book and it turned out beautifully.

Special Fish Pie

Ingredients

1. 1 pound haddock fillet, skinned
2. 2 tbsp corn starch
3. 1 of 8.5 ounce can of corn, drained
4. 1 bag of frozen peas
5. 0.66 cups skim milk
6. 0.66 cups fromage blanc
7. 3 ounces bread crumbs
8. 0.5 cup grated reduced fat Cheddar cheese
9. salt and black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven 375°F.  If the haddock has skin, an easy way to remove it is to place it in a hot pan skin-side-down for a few seconds, then take it out and peel the skin off.  Chop up the haddock into bite-size pieces and toss in corn starch.
2. Place fish, corn, and peas into a casserole dish.  Mix together milk, fromage blanc, salt, and pepper in a bowl, then pour the mixture into the dish with the fish.
3. Sprinkle and bread crumbs evenly on top of the mixture.  Bake 30 minutes.
4. In the meantime, cook the rest of the peas to go on the side.

Serves 4

Steve’s Rating: 6/10 – it came out nicely and tasted good, but The Wife doesn’t like fromage blanc

What better way to enjoy the book Three Cups of Tea than to cook up a big pot of Balti Gosht?

This morning I took a shot at making my own pizza dough and baking a pizza from scratch.  Although I found hand-tossing pizza dough to be harder than it looks, I did manage to successfully stuff the crust with mozzarella, which is something you can’t do with pre-made store-bought pizza crusts.

I topped the pizza with chorizo, tomato slices, and fresh basil leaves.

Coincidentally, Lifehacker just posted some articles on baking your own pizza from scratch.

The AeroGarden is in full bloom!  It’s a really awesome gadget to have in the kitchen, especially if you cook a lot and like using herbs.

I learn a lot about cooking through reading recipes and trying them out.  However, there are a lot of things you can’t learn from recipe books.  These are the things that grandmom knows from experience, but few people ever bother to write them down.

I found a whole load of household and cooking tips from TipNut.  Read through these lists and gain the Wisdom of the Grandmoms!

25 Vintage Food Prep Tips

20 Cleaning Tips and Work Savers

45 Cooking and Baking Tips

35 Kitchen Tips

25 Household Tips

28 Household Tips

32 Household Tips

25 Cooking and Baking Tips

26 Cooking and Baking Tips

26 Kitchen Tips

I was drinking a Dundee India Pale Ale today and began wondering, why is it called “India Pale Ale”?  Naturally, the first (and only) place I looked was Wikipedia.

It is called India Pale Ale, or “IPA”, because it was a pale ale that was popular among East India Company traders in the late 18th century.  It was a hoppier, more bitter pale ale that the traders liked bringing along with them on their voyages to India.  Because of this, it also became quite popular in India.

The common story that India Pale Ale was specially formulated to survive a long ocean voyage to India is probably false, because the Porter beers of the time survived the trip just fine.  India Pale Ale probably got its name simply because so much of it was being sent to India that people started calling it India Pale Ale.

I tried the mead, and it’s easily my favorite alcoholic beverage at the moment. It has a strong honey flavor, but not overpoweringly sweet like many other dessert wines. I could drink the stuff all day if it wasn’t so expensive and had so much alcohol. No wonder medieval people loved it so much. I’m kind of surprised mead isn’t more popular in modern times. I’ll be back to the store to get some more soon enough.

I’ve been reading up on my beer history, and now I’m curious what some ancient brews that I read about tasted like. Specifically, I’ve read about Tiswin, Tesguino, and Mead.

Tiswin: Unfortunately, I can’t find much information about this. It appears to be a corn beer that the Apache Indians drank.

Tesguino: A type of corn beer brewed by the Tarahumara Indians. It appears very similar to Tiswin, and I suspect it might even be a different name for the same thing.

Mead: Mead was a popular alcoholic beverage throughout the history of Europe. I always thought of it as a type of beer, but it appears that it should be described more as a spiced honey wine. It’s a legendary beverage that Beowulf and his men drank in between killing stuff.

Looks like I’m in luck — I was able to score a bottle of Mead earlier today! I’ll probably try some tonight or tomorrow. I’ll post my thoughts on it in the near future. Looks so delicious!

As for Tiswin and/or Tesguino, I’m not sure if I can find these. However, corn beer just doesn’t sound very good. Maybe I’ll try to brew some myself once I learn how to brew beer (I’m currently learning).

There is a classic episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and friends encounter The Soup Nazi, with his famous catch-phrase “No Soup For You!”.

Apparently, the Soup Nazi was inspired by a real soup kitchen in New York City run by an Iranian immigrant. Just like in the Seinfeld episode, Soup Kitchen International had a set of strict rules for ordering the soup. Customers violating the rules might by asked to move to the back of the line or denied service.

It makes me kind of want to try this restaurant out. Too bad it shut down a couple years ago.

I tried Tsingtao beer for the second time a couple weeks back. The first time I had it was a few years ago. It was skunky. This second time wasn’t skunky, but still not flattering. It’s like the Chinese Miller Lite. Better to drink green tea than Tsingtao.

We ate at a few really good Asian restaurants in Northern Virginia over the past couple weeks:

A&J Restaurant – Delicious Taiwan-style “fast food”.  This restaurant is really way too small for how popular it is.  9/10

Huong Que (Four Sisters) – One of the best Vietnamese restaurants around.  I can’t decide which has the better pho soup, Four Sisters or Pho 495.  We’ll call it a tie.  9/10

Canton Cafe – Authentic Chinese food and a good dim sum at lunch time.  The service can be lousy at times though.  7/10

Boneless Rib-Eye Steaks with Killa’ Chimichurri and Mushrooms with Spicy Cajun and Wilted Spinach

adapted from Rachael Ray 365

ingredients:

• 2 of 12 ounce boneless rib-eye steaks
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• McCormick’s seasoning salt
• sea salt
• pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 handful parsley
• 1 garlic clove
• half of a red onion
• 1 tsp dried lemon peel
• lemon
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 10-oz bag of spinach
• chili powder
• cajun seasoning
• 12 ounces of baby portobello mushrooms
• 2 slices crusty bread
• Worcestershire sauce

directions:

1. Arrange steaks in a broiler pan. Drizzle both sides with olive oil. Season with seasoning salt, sea salt, and pepper. Preheat the broiler on high.
2. Finely chop the parsley, half of the (half) onion, and garlic and place in a mixing bowl.  Stir in the dried herbs and dried lemon peel.  Combine mixture with red wine vinegar, a splash of water, and a splash of olive oil.
3. Wash the spinach.
4. Heat a large skillet medium high.  Add a table spoon of olive oil.  Saute the mushrooms and the sliced other half of the (half) onion for about 10 minutes.  Add cajun seasoning halfway through.
5. Broil steaks 6 inches from broiler for 6 minutes on each side.  Let the steaks rest about 10 minutes.
6. Coarsley chop the spinach and add to the skillet in bunches.  Season with salt and pepper, then remove from heat.
7. Toast the bread.
8. Place toasted bread on plates and place whole steak on top.  Add some Worcestershire sauce and chimichurri to the top of each steak.  Serve with the mushrooms and spinach, lemon to garnish.

2 Servings

Steve’s Rating:  8/10

I can’t say I’ve been to many Mexican restaurants before, but out of the 3 or 4 I’ve been to, Tequila Grande is the best.  I had the Grilled Chipotle Chimi.   The steak inside was so tender!

444 Maple Avenue West, Vienna, VA 22180

Steve’s Rating:  9/10 

I didn’t have a chance to mention a few restaurants that I tried last month:

Sakoontra (Fairfax, VA) Good Thai food at good prices. I thought the food at Neisha was better though.

Kabul Kabob (Springfield, VA) About as good as it gets for Afghan food in the area.

Potbelly (Alexandria, VA) – After Quiznos fell out of my favor, now this place builds my favorite sandwiches.

Pollo Rico (Springfield, VA) – New location next to Springfield Mall. The yuca here is awesome.

Ye Chon Restaurant

4121 Hummer Rd, Annandale, VA 22003

An all-around good restaurant, but there’s something that I can’t quite put my finger on that I don’t like about Ye Chon. Maybe it’s lackluster service, though I can’t complain about anything in particular I don’t like about the service. Maybe it’s about the food, but again, there’s nothing in particular I don’t like about the food. Maybe it’s the “busy” and “loud” atmosphere. Maybe its everything put together, or maybe it’s another reason altogether. Just for some reason I don’t care for the place. There are a whole lot of other better and much more colorful Korean restaurants in and around Annandale. Maybe what I don’t like about Ye Chon is just the fact that it’s so average. Come to think of it, there’s nothing that I can say that they do especially well.

Steve’s Rating: 6/10

Neisha Thai Cuisine

One of the best Thai places I’ve been to in the area.  The fish dishes were the most impressive.

Steve’s Rating: 9/10

Latino Pollo a la Brasa (Peru’s Chicken)

Authentic Peruvian chicken at the heart of Springfield.  We were the only non-Spanish speaking people there, and honestly you might feel a bit uneasy going there if you don’t speak Spanish.  But regardless of whether you speak Spanish or not, the chicken is very good.  Nothing amazing compared to other Peruvian chicken places, but very good.

Steve’s Rating: 7/10

My Karma Indian Bistro

Finally found another place I can recommend to everyone who wants good Indian food.  This place is simply amazing.  Great food, great service, great atmosphere.  The menu features Indian dishes as well as “Indian style Chinese” dishes.  The interior is tastefully designed to create a unique modern art type atmosphere.  The food is surprisingly elegant considering that most dishes are inexpensive.  They have a full bar.  I’ll be back next chance I get.

Steve’s Rating: 10/10

The Oriental Regency

Very elegant Chinese restaurant with excellent service and good food.  They are known for the Peking Duck, which was good, but a bit bland.  The Peking Duck I’ve had at most other Chinese restaurants I’ve been to fit my tastes better.

Steve’s Rating: 8/10

Tony Lin’s

Another elegant Chinese restaurant that strikes me as pretty authentic.  Not much else to say, except it was pretty good and the dishes were well-prepared.

Steve’s Rating:  8/10

Bonefish Grill

I wasn’t expecting much after being severely disappointed at the Legal Seafoods in Tyson’s Galleria.  However, I was pleasantly surprised that the fish was downright delicious, despite the fact that I ordered the cheapest dish (Tilapia).  It was so tender and seasoned very well.  I’ll definitely be back to try the more expensive dishes.

Steve’s Rating: 9/10

Chima

All you can eat meats, grilled Brazilian-style to perfection. The salad bar is stocked with all kinds of rare treats. Elegant dining experience – most guests dressed up, valet parking, and there was a Lamborghini parked out front when I visited. I thought it was a bit over-priced for what you get though. I think it was $44 per person for dinner, with drinks costing extra.

Steve’s Rating: 8/10

Delia’s Pizzeria & Grille

Mediterranean and Peruvian food… what a combination!  I tried the Peruvian food and found the chicken to be a little bland, but the sides were great, especially the fried yucca.

Lunch: $14

Steve’s Rating: 8/10

Legal Sea Foods

Dry and bland seafood that would have been excusable if it didn’t cost so much.  It was Friday night and the place was only about a third full.  Now I know why.

Steve’s Rating:  6/10

I tried a number of restaurants for the first time over the past few weeks:

Magic Wok

The food’s a little bland and they seem to cater mostly to Caucasians, but everything otherwise looks fresh, well-prepared, and authentic (as far as I can tell).

Steve’s Rating: 6/10

Smoketown Grill

Small local restaurant with a nice atmosphere and friendly people. We saw several local Amish people eating here. But you would think a restaurant in Lancaster County surrounded by Amish farms would serve fresh food. Everything was canned, frozen, or otherwise preserved.

Steve’s Rating: 3/10

Manhatten Bagel

I came in to grab something to take with me to work for lunch. I had the Nova Lox, which is smoked salmon and onion sour cream on a bagel. It was really good, but it came in a big box, making it difficult to carry with me on the Metro.

Steve’s Rating: 7/10

Johnny’s NY Style Pizzeria

No link yet because this place just opened up (replacing Mama Mia Pizza). They have an amazingly delicious vegetarian pizza.

Steve’s Rating: 8/10

I just received my Weber Q 300 propane gas grill over the weekend… and have used it to cook every dinner since.  I chose this grill because it was one of the best-selling and highest rated grills on Amazon.com.  I was not disappointed.

So far I’ve grills steaks, chicken, asparagus, veggie sausages, mushrooms, broccoli, onions, bell peppers, tofu… this grill does it all.  It even looks cooler than my neighbors’ grills

The Weber website has a large recipe section that I can’t wait to try.  Even if your grill isn’t from Weber, you can still use those recipes.