White chili, by jfs

This photo, shot by Elizabeth H. Eiseman on her Blackberry, hints at toxicity. But really, Joshua Frens-String's famous white chili is downright delectable. Plus, since I bought the ingredients last night, I can at least offer some hints about his family recipe. Psst, it's got green bell peppers, roasted, pulled chicken breasts, liters of heavy cream and chicken broth, sauteed onions and garlic and celery, white beans and minced jalapeño. To find out about the spices, you have to meet jfs and charm him by complimenting his neatly trimmed beard.

North Carolina vinegar, I mean, bbq

Memorable meals I neglected to Pipónerate #2: North Carolina bbq.


I'm not sure why North Carolinians insist on spritzing vinegar on their bbq (I'd say it makes the slow-cooked, pulled pork sandwiches taste just like garden salads, but N.C. is a "swing state," and I might just run for president one day). Still, in Chapel Hill for a wedding in July, I hit up The Barbecue Joint (630 Weaver Dairy Rd.), and frankly, it was exciting just to say the word "hushpuppies." "Hushpuppies." There, I've said it again.








We also stopped by Breadmen's (324 Rosemary St.), where since 1974 they've been making people feel weird about not following UNC football. (They also serve up buckets of fried okra, barbecued chicken and meaty soups into which somehow, someway, it appears some vegetables occasionally sneak in.)

Grandma's table

Memorable meals I neglected to Pipónerate #1: Keryn's grandmother's roasted chicken with prunes and apricots (or are those oranges?)...


served with two "light" sides, cranberry all ground beef meatloaf and a vegetable pasta medley.

Hard boiled couscous

My roommate had hidden the hard-boiled eggs in their, er, it's not called an "egg crate," is it? That's right, it's an "egg carton." Anyway, I found them. And I tossed them with leftover Near East roasted garlic & olive oil couscous, perhaps the fastest cooking food on the Earth, faster than an egg on a hot sidewalk, as they say. Of course, I also squirted on some Sriracha hot chili sauce, but only because I was eating (I don't yet use it as hair gel.)

Baby broccoli

Whole Foods labeled it "baby broccoli," but I'm pretty sure it was "Broccolini," a crunchy, skinny little hybrid that apparently must always be capitalized. Either way, I chopped it and sauteed it in Albert Cho's giant wok, then tossed in some heavy cream, crumbled blue cheese and crushed black pepper in a marginally healthy Alfredo sauce. (At least I kept out the Parmesan cheese and butter!)

Hamburgers and jack-o'-lanterns

Why didn't anyone tell me about the half-priced burgers at The Red Derby (3718 14th St. NW) on Mondays? Sure, my Jenga performance last night did not impress the waitresses and barflies. But the heavy, medium-rare, $5 ground beef patty piled high with sprouts, avocado, pickles, lettuce and tomato kept my spirits up, as did the dozen intricately carved jack-o'-lanterns lining the wall inside The Red Derby, the only remotely hipster friendly patch of Petworth.

Double (veggie) burger

It's not that I felt guilty munching on my salmon-and-scallion and tuna-and-avocado maki rolls at Spices (3333 Connecticut Ave. NW, in Cleveland Park) alongside a handful of MHS alumni (and a lawyer from Chicago who got ticketed recently for "colliding" after he rearended an unmarked police cruiser and then chose not to dispute the unusual violation because, he explained, "you don't tug on Superman's cape"). I even got a strange thrill watching a waiter carve a small, roasted duck at a nearby table. But I was also inspired by the dogged vegetarianism of two dining companions, Alex and Emily, who interrogated our server to make sure their vegetables would not even smell like fish. So in their honor, I sauteed four Morningstar veggie burgers for dinner, tossed them on two toasted, sesame rolls and topped them with sauteed onions, Dijon mustard and Sriracha hot chili sauce. (If you're wondering, that glistening is not a photographic anomaly, but rather evidence that I poured way too much olive oil into the wok.)

'Queuing is for patsies'

My friend, the photographer Jacob Silberberg, was hired by The Financial Times in May to illustrate a story on Peruvian cuisine, the country's "rich gastronomic legacy" and its "growing popularity." He generously offered to let me exhibit some of his photographs on Pipón.

UPDATE: I just came across yet another piece about tasty Peruvian eats, this one from the BBC.

"The Peruvian Amazon is sparsely populated but a whole new world of flora and fauna," the BBC reports. "You can find caiman (a type of crocodile) on the menu here and an enormous freshwater fish, the paiche. Plaintains, peccaries (a type of wild pig) and dozens of unusual fruits make up the cuisine."

Thai, Bangladeshi

I've been trying to organize some international feasts, so my foreign-born classmates can show off their cultures and skills, and so I can eat some home cooking that does not lean heavily on Sriracha hot chili sauce. Cruelly, the first feast, hosted by my friends Art and Noreen, was held while I was traveling in NY. So all I got (and all Pipón gets) is this lousy photo. (Actually, the photo is quite good; I'm just bitter.)

Overstuffed pita

I have no "food finds" to report. Saying I'd "discovered" restaurants in the few times I've left the library over the last few months would be tantamount to recommending the Washington Monument as an off-the-beaten path tourist destination. But at least I've managed to begin to sample this city's restaurant scene, and so I've got a few capsule reviews to offer.

• The Amsterdam Falafelshop, in Adams Morgan (2425 18th Street NW), is often crowded and essentially only serves falafel in pita and Dutch-style fries. Yet its menu is delightfully diverse, refreshingly inexpensive and definitely worth the wait. That's thanks to the 21 sauces and toppings at the condiment bar, where customers construct their sandwiches Middle Eastern style. Pipón Tip: The homemade, made-to-order falafel balls are delicious, but they take up a lot of real estate in the pita, so you have to be strategic in assembling toppings and avoid feeling pressured to rush by the crush of customers cheek by jowl on line.
• Speaking of Middle Eastern eats, I finally stopped by Skewers, next to Bua, a Thai restaurant on P Street, between 16th and 17th, after passing it 1,000 times on my way to and from classes. I was happy to find pleasant balcony seating and to see foole, a traditional Egyptian dish made of slow cooked fava beans, on the menu. The baba gannouj and hummus spreads were tasty, and they are offered as sides to accompany the "light combination" platters, such as the lamb kufta kabob I ordered. Pipón Tip: Be aware that I'm pretty sure the owners are Bangladeshi, not Middle Eastern, and the menu weirdly includes South Asian preparations that don't quite match the theme.
• The Polo India Club, at 1736 Connecticut Avenue NW in Dupont, is mostly useful for its location, on a downtown stretch by plenty of bars for after-dinner merrymaking. My began bharta (eggplant roasted in a tandoor with onion and herbs) was the least flavorful Indian food I've encountered.
  
• On the other hand, there is plenty of flavor in many of the dozens of small plates at Mezè, a well-known Turkish tapas joint at 2437 18th St NW in Adams Morgan. Pipón Tip: Try the döner kebab and chicken livers.
• Also try Taqueria Distrito Federal, a little-known Mexican restaurant in Columbia Heights/Petworth, at 3463 14th St. NW. There's patio seating, a choice of meats that includes carne asada, chorizo and barbacoa chivo (goat), and a great selection of Jarritos soda. Mexico City is known to Mexicans as the "Distrito Federal," but in D.C., this restaurant's name takes on a double meaning. Clever, authentic (pozole is served on weekends) and delicious.
• Final recommendation: Zorba's Cafe, at 1612 20th St. NW, a casual (read: cafeteria style, grab your tray from the kitchen) but inexpensive, centrally located, tasty Greek joint with a great patio and a traditional, but extensive menu.

Socks on doors

Ground beef, thrown down

Bobby Flay's "Throwdown" was so inspiring (or perhaps, around 3 a.m. Saturday night, I was just so open to suggestion) that I decided to take the barbecuing out of today's BBQ and instead, serve up some sloppy joe.

Epicurious says the dish should have a "mixture of cooked ground beef, onions, green peppers and spicy tomato sauce," and Wikipedia allows for ketchup as a tomato sauce substitute. But Mr. Flay, in his battle against the owners/chefs/brothers at Schnipper's Quality Kitchen in Midtown Manhattan, got pretty creative, so I felt liberated to experiment (primarily by plagiarizing his innovations).


The ultimate recipe, after a trip to the Giant by the Columbia Heights Metro stop, turned out to involve ground beef, chili powder, sauteed garlic, ketchup, bell peppers (red, yellow and orange), a poblano pepper, chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, brown sugar and a cilantro garnish, served on sliced baguette.


Dessert: apple pie, vanilla ice cream and Fudgsicles gifted by guests in some kind of Americana state of mind.

Middle photo by Nicole Firment Robyn Mak.

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.

Wisconsin

You know your roommate is from Wisconsin when he gets back from a business trip to his home state and you find bags of cheese curds all over the kitchen counter.