Couple of bookies

The multitalentosa Julia Oliver is a virtuoso no doubt, but when it comes to swine, I figured she might be able to predict the direction of pork belly futures (Efficient Market Theory skeptic that she is), but not cook a pork loin to save her life. Fortunately, not only was I not punished for my underestimating, I finagled not one but two slices of Julia's lemon and ginger pork loin, basted in white wine and seasoned with chopped rosemary, ginger and lemon marmalade, as attractive carved on a serving platter as glistening in its roasting pan, harpooned by a footlong meat thermometer.

Stumping the Irish

"There's a potato dish I haven't heard of?" So asked my Irish diplomat friend, Iseult, when she heard Keryn was whipping up twice-baked potatoes. For my part, I had at least heard of them, I had just never tasted them before last night. (Refried beans, on the other hand, are an old friend. As they say, "My compliments to the chef. Again.) Keryn baked, twice, two varieties, one with roasted broccoli, the other roasted red pepper.

Tonight's dinner: Keryn's salad nicoise, with green beans and kalamata olives.

In other Pipóneratable news, here's three juicy culinary tidbits from a wedding invitation that just came in the mail from my friend, Harvard Magazine writer Elizabeth Gudrais, who is getting married in Minnesota and the Azores in June:

1. The "campfire" steak gets a cognac demiglace (a rich brown sauce that begins with a basic espagnole sauce and is combined with beef stock and madeira or sherry and slowly cooked until reduced to a thick glaze)
   
2. The almond-encrusted walleye gets a cream veloute (one of the five "mother sauces," velouté is a stock-based white sauce)
   
3. The post-wedding "picnic lunch" in the Azores involves burying food in the soil of a volcanic geyser, canoeing and then, when you return a few hours later, "it's cooked!"
   

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.

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.

Toast, in Thailand

Earlier in the night, I had a few bowls of endive salad with orange bell peppers and chopped, raw, red cabbage. So I wasn't particularly hungry when I arrived at a friend's apartment in Van Ness on Saturday night. That's how I know the "Thai toast" was a bona fide treat, not only merely delicious, but really most sincerely delicious. Prepared by Naureen Kabir and Art Jirut, it had ground turkey, scallions, eggs, garlic and fish sauce, and it was served with a refreshingly crunchy cucumber, red onion salad dressed with white vinegar, sugar, salt and water.

Greek lamb and orzo stew

Tanya insisted that she was not much of a cook, blaming her mother, who she described as the only Greek woman in South Africa who fed her family with take-out every night. But there were signs Tanya knew her way around her tiny, Dupont Circle kitchen: the dozen cookbooks on her bookshelf; the heavy duty, cast iron cookware from Le Creuset; and the photo album of her dinner at El Bulli, the Barcelona monument to "molecular gastronomy," open only 7 months a year, with reservations accepted just one day a year.


Not surprisingly, the "peasant food" Tanya served up was fantastic. Greek salad, accented by feta and multicolored grape tomatoes. Orzo and lamb stew. And a Greek take on eggplant parmigiana.


Dessert was somewhat less creative and significantly less authentic, but no less tasty.

Tiny hot dog buns

I have had neither the time nor disposable income to explore the D.C. restaurant scene, not even the Latin restaurants that line 14th Street by my apartment. (A few exceptions: I've grown to accept Baja Fresh as a serviceable substitute for Chipotle; I was unmoved by La Frontera Cantina, a small Mexican restaurant with pleasant outdoor seating and homemade tortilla chips on 17th Street, by Dupont Circle; I was pleased to find the biodegradable entrees and packaging at Sweet Green, on Connecticut, only slightly overpriced, the mix-your-own greens salad selling for $6; and I enjoyed the curry peanut sauce at Bua, a Thai restaurant on P Street, between 16th and 17th.)

Lately, however, I have managed some good eating, mostly thanks to visits from my wife and in-laws. Outings included a scallops feast during a Bethesda Restaurant Week trip to Grapeseed; an Ethiopian lunch on U Street, around 10th; and a banquet at Founding Fathers, on Pennsylvania Avenue by the IMF, where we ordered, as appetizers, the cornmeal battered fried green tomatoes with herb goat cheese and homemade "green goddess dressing," the homemade potato and cheddar cheese crisps with onion dip and a pimento spread, and the grilled oysters with homemade BBQ sauce (afterward, I meekly attempted to conquer the "Farmhouse Mixed Grill," made up of pork ribs, "Barackwurst" sausage and fried chicken, served alongside watermelon and coleslaw).


All delicious, but I was ready for some home, vegetarian cooking. So the next day, we stopped by Whole Foods and then Keryn whipped up a refreshing salad, with fresh mozzarella, local heirloom tomatoes and arugula.


She also boiled up some, er, I think it's called "Casarecce" (a pasta shaped like "tiny hot dog buns"), with a medley of sauteed mushrooms and Parmesan.

Asado in the oven

The guests at Lara and Paco's apartment in Providence included Colombians, Ecuadorians and Argentines. So not surprisingly, the menu was heavy on delicious, high quality meat and pork, prepared and presented with traditional simplicity and abundance.


For appetizers, Lara and Paco served choripán using pork chorizo from Armando & Son's Meat Market in Pawtucket, R.I., served on fresh bread with chimichurri sauce. They also prepared bacon-wrapped asparagus.




The main course was asado, a popular, relatively inexpensive, uniquely Southern Cone rib cut. Because it was raining, they roasted all the meat in the oven, including the chorizo. My wife, Keryn, prepared the salad, chopping lettuce, red bell peppers, grape tomatoes and avocado.




Among the gallons of red wine consumed was a great bottle of Malbec from Altos Las Hormigas in Mendoza, Argentina.

Dave's mushroom ragout

Chopped button, shiitake and oyster mushrooms.


Mushroom ragout chef David Steinvurzel.








Ragout mushroom medley includes, in addition to the chopped button, shiitake and oyster mushrooms, rehydrated black trumpet mushrooms, sauteed shallots, shredded romano cheese, chopped carrots, arugula, garlic and thyme over fettuccine.




My salad borrowed some of Dave's arugula, and also included sliced radish, romaine hearts, toasted sunflower seeds and campari tomatoes.

Photography note: Dave shot several of these photos (those that are in focus, well balanced and, basically, make this tasty food look at least mildly appetizing).