Salvadoran singeing

Lessons from experimental taco night:

1. The "International Progreso Market" in Mount Pleasant hides the aguacate behind the cashiers.
2. Lazy cilantro chopping leads to chewy tacos.
3. Jalapeño peppers do not mellow after roasting, and anything roasting nearby, including whole poblano peppers, ends up gums-singing hot.

Risotto, baked not stirred

Asparagus and green peas risotto, baked not stirred. Thanks to Pam Anderson's Perfect Recipes for Having People Over, I was saved from hours of risotto tending on the stovetop. Instead, I simply toasted the risotto in a Le Creuset Dutch oven, then poured in some vegetarian chicken broth and sauteed garlic and moved the Dutch oven into the actual oven, after sealing it with tin foil and the pot's heavy lid. I added the shaved Paremsan, sauteed asparagus and peas just before serving.

Fredcation

I did a bit of traveling around the region this weekend, mostly in and around Frederick, Md., where my wife grew up and where my in-laws still live. There was some eating out, including a Christmas Eve dinner at Bangkok Thai Kitchen (1031 West Patrick St., Frederick, Md.), where we were the only customers, the TV was tuned in to a prerecorded "Larry King Live" broadcast that had Larry King wearing a safari vest and handling wild animals, the tom ka gai (chicken and coconut soup) artfully balanced sweet and spicy, and the ped krob (stir-fried boneless duck in chili and garlic sauce) was topped with delicate, flavorful, crispy basil, a flourish I'd love to replicate at home.


Sunday night, we grabbed an early dinner downtown at Brewer's Alley Restaurant & Brewery (124 North Market St., Frederick, Md.), a beloved brew pub operating out of Frederick's original City Hall, completed in 1769. If you ever find yourself on Market Street, odds are you'll be heading for the super trendy Volt, made famous when Volt's chef/owner Bryan Voltaggio appeared on "Top Chef" and (spoiler alert) finished second behind his brother, Michael. If you can't get a table, or you're frightened off by Volt's prices, try the winter stew and the oatmeal stout at Brewer's Alley.




A final Market Street tip: Pretzel & Pizza Creations (210 North Market St., Frederick, Md.), a fusion ice cream, sandwich and gourmet pretzel shop.




In a brief interruption of our Fredcation, somewhere between the Thai soup and the oatmeal stout, my wife and I hopped over the border to W. Virginia, staying at the Bavarian Inn, an alpine-style hotel in Shepherdstown along the Potomac River. The Christmas dinner menu ($45) included a wild game terrine of boar, elk and venison and a 7-ounce filet mignon (Hereford beef) served alongside a Cabernet reduction and allegedly accompanied by a "sweet potato dauphinoise," oyster mushrooms and "melted" leeks. (I only detected the mushrooms and some pickled red onions.)

As always, there was also some home cooking in the Fredcation. Sweet pan-seared, Soy Vay-ed salmon for 1 dinner. For 1 breakfast, a vegetarian version of Giada De Laurentiis's "Mini Frittatas," the role of sliced ham played by sauteed broccoli, red onions, sweet potato and red bell peppers.

National Chinatown

I didn't find much Chinese food in Washington's Chinatown after seeing "Invictus," just a lot of clothing and home furnishing shops with translated signs. What I did find was not worth the hunt. The roasted duck and noodle soup ($5.50) at Full Kee (509 H St., NW) was not nearly hot enough to obscure the fattiness of the duck or the blandness of the broth.

A recent attempt at upscale Asian was no more successful. The highly regarded Sushi Taro (1503 17th St. NW) in Dupont Circle, an elegant Japanese joint nestled above a CVS, offers intriguing, but ridiculously expensive, kaiseki (a multi-course, mostly-cooked, chef's choice menu), omakase and poison blow fish adventures. The seaweed salad is an enterprising mix of seaweeds worthy of a petri dish in my wife's ecology lab. However, the nigiri, despite the unique fishes on offer, does not live up to the expectations raised by the price tag. I'd also avoid the "pickled radish roll," which is pleasantly crunchy but unpleasantly bitter.

I hate to be such a downer, particularly in this jolly time of year. Fortunately, I was a big fan of Zed's Ethiopian Cuisine (1201 28th St. NW), and not just because the owner has managed to be photographed with a impressive number of potentates. The restaurant is all windows, offering great Georgetown streetscapes and people-watching, and its unavoidably mushy vegetables are reasonably priced, given the zip code.

Liberty or tyranny, the mashup

Food Inc.

I finally got around to watching Food Inc. No big surprises, having heard many an interview with Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto). Still, it's always good to be reminded of the "highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA." Seriously. It's easy to mock the "locavore" movement and pretend that "agroindustry" operations resemble traditional farms with pasture that just goes on and on. It's actually more like a cleaner, more efficient but no less terrifying reprise of the nightmarish, mass-production food factories in Sinclair's The Jungle.

Fortunately, my sister-in-law, Marni, cooked only veggies for us while we watched the documentary. Her gingered and curried lentils include lots of baby spinach, canned tomatoes and chopped celery.

Crabby

Two quick, capsule restaurant reviews.

The other day, I recommended Penang, a Malaysian joint on M St. (1837 M St. NW). I tried a very nearby, non-chain competitor last weekend, Malaysia Kopitiam (1827 M St. NW). The menu is extensive and apparently pretty authentic. The roti is pleasantly cheap and chewy. The beef rendang, on the other hand, is bland and dry, not at all what you'd expect from meat "simmered in thick curry gravy with coconut milk and various spices." Props to the Vegetarian Curry Laksa Noodle Soup, however, which is hilariously voluminous and features slow roasted eggplant.

Even on a snowy night, with many restaurants shuttered, I don't recommend finding safe harbor at Ulah Bistro Bar and Lounge (1214 U St. NW, see map above), as I did last night. The bait-and-switch facade is all "Bistro," but inside, it's all "Bar and Lounge." Gaudy, multicolored Christmas lights. Bright flat screen TV. Long bar just inches from the tables, complete with barflies loudly cheering the Dallas Cowboys while following other games on their laptops. In Ulah's defense, the upstairs, as photographed for the restaurant's Web site, looks beautiful. Still, not even the second floor couches could have saved the wood-fired, Ulah pizza, a disappointing pairing of lump crab meat with cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, fresh basil and shaved Parmesan ($15). Fortunately, I was in generally good spirits anyway, happy to be out of the snow and pretty pipón after polishing off the enormous fried calamari appetizer, served with a rich and spicy orange-horseradish marmalade ($9).

How the sausage patties crumble

In the rush before yesterday's snowpocolypse, Harris Teeter ran out of a key staple of our Saturday morning breakfast: Morningstar veggie sausage patties. So we settled for veggie sausage "crumbles," introducing an unwelcome guest, cursed caraway seeds, into our scrambled eggs. As for the decision to go with Aunt Jemima (instead of Eggo) for our blueberry waffles, that was just Keryn's lunacy. I did manage to pull together a pot of roasted tomato soup (not pictured), that was well received by our downstairs neighbors. One misstep worth Pipónerating: I neglected to decapitate the unpeeled garlic gloves, and they ended up black as night and hard as rock, if you'll pardon the cliches (and the amateur cooking error). Thankfully, the roasted tomatoes, broth and heavy cream held their own.

Just a squirrel, trying to get a (pistachio) nut

I keep eying the pistachios at Harris Teeter, lured by some strange, deep-seated desire to attempt a pistachio pesto or freaky, green tapenade. Alas, I ended up chopping plain old pine nuts last night with the basil, garlic and Parmesan.




I was not much more creative the other night with my eggplant, red bell pepper penne, but at least I roasted the vegetables instead of sauteing them, a minor, but tasty twist. The minor and not-so-tasty twist for my caesar salad? I squeezed every last drop of juice from half a lemon, and no amount of olive oil, crushed black pepper or mayo could rescue me.




Now these actually were a bit creative, and not because of some tragic, lemon accident. The latkes my mother-in-law fried up in our kitchen mixed potatoes with yams.

Julienne, my dearest

I don't recommend entering through the back entrance of Luna Grill & Diner (1301 Connecticut Ave. NW), on 17th St. and N, by the Starbucks, and strolling through the kitchen to the dining area, wondering the whole time if you're trespassing and should start julienning some carrots to stay undercover.


I do recommend the 8 oz. burger, and the sweet potato fries, and the veggie chili fries, with kidney beans and lentils.

Vetoed

I had bright ideas for a feta pizza with arugula and kalamata olives ("dark eggplant color" with "a flavor that can be rich and fruity"). But I was vetoed, so to protest against the alternative ingredients (shredded mozzarella, caramelized onions and bottled tomato sauce), I did an embarrassingly poor job kneading my Harris Teeter dough.


At the very least, the carbs in today's lunch, refried beans tacos with diced plum tomatoes and shredded cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheese, were served perfectly flat. (Side note: though it sells made-to-order papusas, the new Latin market on Ontario and Kalorama does not yet carry fresh vegetables or even queso blanco.)



Chopped salad: Cucumbers, vine-ripened tomatoes, endive and sunflower seeds.

Hot List

Ages ago, I edited the august Mamaroneck High School Globe. Our best-read feature: a monthly "Hot List," known for its witty rankings and category titles. For this post on a few D.C. eateries I've visited lately, I'll borrow my favorite "Hot List" titles, coined, if memory serves, by my friend Marianne Fichtel.

De La Soul: Montmartre, a classy French joint in Eastern Market (327 7th St. SE). It's not cheap; my brunch panini (above), with prosciutto, spinach, bell peppers, roasted tomatoes, mozzarella and pesto set me back $12. But it has a great patio, and it's just half a block from all the handicrafts.
Fillet of Sole: El Paraiso, Salvadoran pupusería south of U St. (1916 14th St. NW). I've visited twice, and I still have not had time to even read the entire menu. Recommendation: the half-priced appetizers in the late afternoon, including pupusas revueltas con queso and yuca con chicharron curtido.
Seoul, that place in Korea: Spice Express Indian Bistro (1020 19th St. NW), south of Dupont. A decent, quick and cheap option (two curries with basmati rice cost $7) if you want a break from burritos. If you don't, try The Well Dressed Burrito in a nearby alleyway. I haven't stopped by yet, but everyone seems to love its menu, or at least saying its name.

De La Soul: Penang, Malaysian eats (1837 M St. NW). I don't normally hype chain restaurants, but this one just opened and it's in Harvard Square as well, so it got me nostalgic. The decor is frigidly modern, but the complimentary soup at lunch today more than compensated. Lunch entrees include a choice of appetizer, including Penang satay.
Fillet of Sole: Saki (2477 18th St. NW)/Kababji Grill (1351 Connecticut Ave. NW). Both mediocre, but together, I suppose, worthy of a "filet of sole" ranking. Sushi is half-priced in early evening, but not memorable. Kababji is a bit expensive, but I'm told it's a hip global chain, so I suppose, as a foreign affairs student, I should just say I dig it.
Seoul, that place in Korea: La Frontera Cantina (1633 17th St. NW), Dupont East. I gave a second chance to this pretty unremarkable, somewhat overpriced, heavy-on-the-melted-gloppy-cheese Mexican restaurant. There will not be a third.

Sockeye, perhaps

I did not have nearly enough salmon during my trip to Alaska this past summer, so I was pretty stoked to see that my wife, Keryn, had fished out a few fillets from Harris Teeter last night. She glazed them with extra virgin olive oil, honey, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and dried basil before roasting them. Sides: roasted zucchini and yellow squash and a salad of micro greens, avocado, cucumber and naval oranges.