Summer's here, so break out the pizza and beer! (Pt. 1)

Hey foodies! Testing the Water is back online after a rough conclusion to my first year in grad school. I'm currently back in Richmond, VA unwinding with the pizza party. We've been brushing off our pizza making skills by welcoming some new cooks into the circle, testing out some different preparation methods (ex. lower hydration ratio in the dough- but more on that in a later post), and some experimental toppings (we're hiding these pictures in the vault next to Operation Bin Laden for now). The weather is gorgeous, the beer is cold, the pizza is hot, and the company is incomparable. I'll let the pictures do the talking.



Belgium blonde ale: flavors of citrus, cream, and alcohol.



White pizza: garlic, olive oil, basil, mozz.



A last minute squeeze of lemon brings it all together.



Very nice garlicky flavor. By far, the best tasting pizza of the night.



Skipped out on the Bell's Oberon mini-keg this summer, which was the beer (un)official beer of summer 2010. A couple of us have tasted this season's Oberon and it just seems to lack flavor. Anyone else know what I'm talking about?

Southern Tier's pale ale sampler pack includes their pale ale, IPA, Phinn and Matts (slightly dark pale ale), and 422 (wheat pale ale). All of them are sure to please a hops fan. We look forward to drinking these during hot summer nights.



The infrared thermometer is reading about 950 right above the stone. With the broiler on, it maxed out at over 1100 degrees (F). Pizzas cook in under 3 minutes.

Needless to say, the pizzas featured in this blog are prepared by cooks that have been trained at the school of hard culinary knocks using kitchen appliances that are almost as old as we are. We don't recommend everyone try this at home, as a drop of sauce on your fru-fru glass window oven will cause it to shatter.



A pizza margherita with some crust that got a little too happy in the oven (but was still delicious).



"Green" dining.



The last pizza of the night was made with dough by a rising pizza chef. This feletti pizza (grape tomatoes, cheese, garlic, basil) is well paired with the first cold glass of rosé of the summer. What? Afraid to drink pink wine? This ain't the white zin your momma drinks at her book club meetings. Educate yourself.

Drink This Now: White Wine

Today's post is inspired by a request from my good friend Lauren, who is looking for new wine suggestions. My response: rediscover whites. I haven't been uncorking too many bottles lately, but whenever I have it's been a white. White wine is usually served chilled, so maybe I'm looking forward to warmer days when this winter finally decides to go away for good. But really, white wine is a versatile crowd pleaser (particularly with the ladies, who don't want red wine messing up their pretty smiles).

So what specifically should you reach for? I'd say that depends on the pairing. Yes, that means you should drink whites while eating *something*. I've plugged a few chardonnays on some of my older posts, but I'm going to focus on the lighter side of the spectrum.

First off, there are muscatos. Muscato or muscadet have become kind of popular now, as they are now promoted by the likes of the Barefoot brand of bubbly and embedded in the lyrics of the American urban poet, Wacka Flocka Flame. These wines range from really sweet to just sweet (think Asti, in sparkling wine comparison). They often have a very floral nose. Sometimes it is bottle with a little bit of bubbles in it. I think that's the big appeal of the wine for ladies- it's like a bouquet of flowers AND a bottle of wine. Pairings are good with some lighter fare, like a cheese platter or for sipping after a meal. In my opinion, most muscato is a little too sweet to constitute a proper pairing while eating an entree.

Next on my trip down the "sweet to dry" scale are sauvignon blancs. These wines have a little bit of fruit on the nose and some mild sweetness. I really like ones with melon or grapefruit flavors (check the label), as they provide a more rounded pairing that still gives you a slight bit of acid to cut through the food. Probably my favorite sauv blanc pairing is with Chinese food. I can usually fry up a quick chicken or pork dish with some vegetables, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, and a squirt of spicy siracha. Nothing too fancy. The wine's sweetness balances the saltiness picks up on the sweetness of things like hoisin and sauteed carrots/onions, and provides a little relief from the siracha burn.

Lastly, I highly recommend Italian pinot grigios. Pinot grigio is a fairly easy drinking wine, and is very available. I specify Italian because I have rarely been disappointed with the cheaper Italian pinots, relative to their American counterparts. the affordable American pinots I've tried tend to be a little unbalanced, usually too acidic or lacking a clean finish. Anyways, pinot grigios can go with an array of entrees: chicken, pork, fish, pasta, roasted vegetables, etc.




Here, I've got a quick, low maintenance date-night spread going on. It's basically some bread, cheese, and wine.

Step one: Get bread. The bread is homemade using Mark Bitman's recipe for "no-knead bread." It's a dummy-proof recipe for making some pretty tasty, artisan-looking bread with little effort. If you aren't into making your own bread or you have last-minute date plans (lucky you!), then a good round loaf or baguette from your local bakery or grocery store will suffice. The wow factor is certainly higher if *you* pull the bread that *you* made out of *your* oven though.



If you've got some good olive oil laying around, I would also recommend setting up a small plate of seasoned bread oil. Nothing fancy here: just kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper and some diced herbs if you have any laying around (I used rosemary). Pesto mixed in olive oil is also a winner. I recommend either some regular (non-XV) olive oil if you made your own bread, as it won't overwhelm all of that natural fermentation flavor you developed. If you bought a baguette, I guess some room-temp butter is more traditional (as are some sliced radishes).

Step two: Prepare some cheese. Brie is always a winner. It's rich and creamy, and goes with both savory and sweet toppings. You can choose to eat the whiter rind on or cut it off, as it can sometimes be too strong for some to eat. Camembert is like brie's stronger-flavored cousin. Goat cheese that has been set out at room temperature also is a tangy and versatile spread.

Step two and a half: Accessorize your cheese. Some high quality jam is a good go-to. I fig, orange marmalade, or even a flowery honey. Something crunchy on the plate is good too, for some contrast. I used roasted almonds above, but something like cashews would also work. Savory options could include caperberries (the ones that look kinda like unpitted olives with stems) or smoked salmon/lox.

Step three: Take your wine out of the fridge, pour, sip, and repeat. There's nothing pretentious about it. Here, the simple but elegant flavors of the food and wine play a supporting role to some conversation and company with your date. This is the sort of dinner that is great in front of a movie at home, or in case you two are still full from a late lunch. This setup won't weigh you down, but it will certainly give you enough energy for any late night activities that you might find yourself in- after you polish off that bottle for two.

Christmas Greetings from Testing the Water

Merry Christmas!

$5 Homemade Brick Pizza-Oven - Test #1

With my first semester in grad school officially in the books, I decided to take a day to decompress. I've had a lot of things on my "to-do" list that have been put off to the side because of schoolwork. Making my tiny apartment oven into a better pizza machine was certainly near the top of that list.

So how did I do it? Well, after doing some research on the intertubes, I headed down to my local Home Depot. I picked up a couple (3) regular red bricks (probably should've measured the dimensions of my oven first). I also bought 8, unglazed tiles from the flooring section. They are fairly thin, maybe a tad thinner than a pizza stone. It's important to buy the unglazed (non-shiny) tiles, or else you're going get a big side of chemicals with your pizza. I consulted an HD worker who told me I indeed was buying the unglazed stuff, so I'll let you know if I end up in the hospital anyways!



Altogether, the supplies cost me a whopping $5. No kidding. Cheaper than a pizza stone. After rinsing and wiping down the stones with water and a clean towel (don't use soap- it'll contaminate your pizza's flavor), I rearranged my oven racks to give me enough space to put the stones inside. I set my oven in "warm" for about half an hour to make sure the stones were dry. After the stones were dry, I pulled the brick out and wrapped it with 2 layers of foil (just because). If your oven is bigger than my easy-bake sized one, I suggest putting a few bricks on the side to really make an all-stone enclosure. Next time, I am also going to lower my top rack down so that the "roof" is closer to the pizza, and thus- will brown the top of my crust a little better. We'll see how that goes.

I made 4 pies (in the order that they were made):
1) Bianco Arugula: olive oil, garlic, salt, arugula, lemon juice, olive oil, parm reg
2) "Puttanesca": tomato sauce, sliced black olives, anchovies, capers, red chili flakes, basil, parm reg
3) Puttanesca w/ Moz: Same as above except add shredded moz
4) Red Arugula: Tomato sauce, chili flake, arugula, lemon juice, olive oil, shaved parm

Notes on some of the ingredients:
-I bought 2 Giant-brand, regular pizza dough balls (each cut in half to give me 4 pies). This dough is mediocre (need more salt), but it was convenient.
-For the sauce, I used 1 can of Cento-brand plum tomatoes, rinsed, de-seeded, mashed, drained of liquid, and then mixed with their canned puree. There was plenty of sauce left over.
-I just used Giant brand bagged and shredded moz. Yeah yeah yeah, I know- but i really didn't care. As you can see- I kinda like pizzas with less cheese anyways.
-Olive oil: I've been working my way through a bottle of California Olive Ranch XV. It's pretty damn fruity, unlike the "spicier" notes you get from stuff from Europe. Each has their own strengths. I don't really ever heat it (I just sprinkle it on the final, hot product). I really like this stuff in dressings or on bread. It can overwhelm some dishes though.
-Cento anchovies wrapped around capers in oil

I apologize for the appearance of my pizzas. I haven't made a homemade pizza in months and I'm clearly off my shaping game. The arugula pizzas turned out a little funky. The first one was stretched a little too thick and a dough "malfunction" made the last one hard to stretch beyond a flatbread shape. I also apologize for some of the quality of the pictures. I'm going through post-exam-week caffeine withdrawal, hence the shakes. Excuses aside, here are the results from the first test run.

*Warning: Pizza Porn Below*

Bianco Arugula



Puttanesca




Puttanesca w/ Moz



Red Arugula



By far, the best crust award goes to the Puttanesca w/ Moz. I was able to get the dough stretched out thin enough to give it a good crunch but not too thin that the sauce soaked through.

I'll keep you updated on future trials with this new pizza setup. Keep posted to TtW over the holiday break for more pizza updates, as I reunite in the kitchen with my buddy Nathan. Happy holidays!

The Full Monty- A Yankee Spin on The Full English Breakfast

For those who know me best, you know that I'm a big fan of the big brunch. Today's post is a good example of that passion. In England and English-based societies, it's not uncommon to have a Full Monty breakfast on the weekends. No- I'm not talking about that British Full Monty. This version is a full-on English breakfast, with enough substance to induce a food coma or fuel for a busy day (depending on your schedule).



The picture above is a version I had this past summer after a long night on the streets of Sydney. Going clockwise from 12 o'clock, we've got sausage, seared tomatoes, a potato cake, poached eggs, some garlic toast (like Texas toast), and some bacon (sorta like Canadian bacon to us, Yanks). Baked beans are also a common find.



I've got quite a bit to do today, so I needed a meal that will stick to my ribs and give me a well-rounded nutrition balance until I slow down for dinner. Mine is sort of a Mexican-inspired version, just because I had those sort of ingredients in my fridge. From 12 o'clock going clockwise, I've got:
-Sweet sausage (chorizo would have been preferable, but that's what I had)
-Sliced avocados with a squeeze of lime and S&P
-Two corn tortillas with cumin spiced (canned) black beans, chipotle salsa, and over-easy eggs
-Seared tomatoes seasoned with S&P

There's protein from the eggs and the sausage, some of that "good fat" from the avocado, filing fiber from the beans, and the seared tomatoes provide a nice sweetness and complex flavor. Bring on the day!

Get to Know: Bison

Today I am featuring a meat that is not a common part of many Americans' diets: bison. Also known as buffalo, this red meat is leaner than 90% ground beef (and a heck of a lot tastier), holds its moisture fairly well and has a slightly softer consistency than ground beef, and is usually raised on grass fields. Pro-environmental propaganda has wooed me to eating less red meat lately, in order to curb my carbon footprint, but I feel the free range, grass fed buffalo isn't as bad for Mother Nature (let's forget the fact that it's shipped from across the country). If I am wrong, please do not correct me because I love this stuff too much.

As I was doing my routine grocery shopping last week, I saw that all the bison on the shelf was discounted for quick-sale at $2 off per pack, making it only about 50c a pound more than the 90% lean, Giant brand ground beef. I bought every pack they had (8lbs in all). It is actually more available than you think. Most middle to upper class grocery stores should carry the Great Range brand of 1 lb. packs from Colorado. I've found it at Kroger, Martins, and Giant in the DMV region.

Anyway- let's get to the good stuff! You can substitute bison in for most of your ground-beef recipes, like burgers. I've got two examples today: chili and meatloaf.



BISON MEATLOAF:
1 lb package of ground bison
1 egg (all-natural or organic preferably)
Parmesan and/or pecorino cheese
Garlic powder
Pepper
Kosher salt
Seasoned breadcrumbs
Ketchup (get the organic or HFCS-free stuff- it tastes a lot better)

Optional:
Fine-diced raw, or sauteed, onions
Mrs. Dash (gotta love her)

Serves about 2-4 people (depending on how hungry you are)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Drop your bison, egg, breadcrumbs, cheese, and seasoning into a bowl. FYI: I don't cut my meatloaf with a whole lot of breadcrumbs. Wash and dry your hands, and then dive right into your meatloaf mixture. I feel that the hand mix technique is the best way to make meatloaf. Make sure you squeeze the chunks of ground bison so that the seasoning gets equally incorporated into the mix.

Transfer the mix into a loaf pan or square baking dish that has been sprayed with some non-stick spray. Light pack and shape the meat so that it will cook evenly. Squeeze a generous amount of ketchup on top of the loaf, and spread it to coat all of the meat.

Pop your loaf into the oven and let it cook for about 45mins-1hr. Check it after 45 minutes by cutting into the middle of the loaf. If it's still pink, then let it continue to cook. When it's done, pull it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Serve it with some ketchup, potatoes and some veg. That's some kicked-up comfort food! You'll never taint your meatloaf with things like milk, sugar, or worstechhherrhire sauce again.



BISON CHILI:
2 lbs of ground bison
2 Green peppers, diced
Frozen corn
1 Yellow onion, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
Canned tomatoes
2 small cans, tomato paste
1 can the following, drained and rinsed:
-Pinto beans
-Black beans
-Kidney beans
2 cartons of beef stock, low sodium/no salt added

Siracha hot sauce
Garlic powder
Black pepper
Kosher salt
Chili powder
Ground cumin

Serves quite a few bowlfuls, but it probably won't last long.

The veg and beans are obviously up to whatever you like. I think the beans add a lot of heartiness and a lot of healthy fiber that keeps me full. The sweet corn is a nice taste and it's also visually appealing. The key ingredients in my chili are cumin (classic chili flavor and aroma) and siracha. Don't skimp on these.

Get a big pot on medium-high heat. Add some canola or vegetable oil to coat the pot and then add your bison. Season it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, ground chili powder, and cumin. Once the meat has almost cooked through completely (no red/pink), Add your frozen corn, diced onion, celery, and green peppers. After the veg softens a little, I add my canned tomatoes (which I also dice into some smaller pieces) and the stock. I cover the pot and bring it up to a simmer while I open and rinse the beans. Add the beans and then the tomato paste. The tomato paste will thicken your chili as you stir it in and bring keep it at a simmer. It also adds a bold and slightly bitter tomato flavor that adds a lot of body to the chili.

At this point, I begin to season. I usually add enough cumin until there is a distinct "cumin aroma" from my chili. I add a few good shakes of chili and garlic powder. Slowly, squirt the siracha in (this stuff is hot). Give quite a few grinds of black pepper. Lastly, salt to taste. Overall, I try to make 3 layers of "heat" in my chili, each with its own flavor: black pepper, chili, and the siracha.

Let the whole pot simmer for at least 30mins or so until you readjust your seasoning. I serve it with some grated cheddar and jack cheese, a scoop of plain, non-fat Greek yogurt, and a little cilantro. A side of cornbread would also be ideal.

There's a lot of flavor going on in here. Obviously, there's the triad of spice that I mentioned earlier. The cheese and yogurt provide a temporary relief from the heat, until you take another spoonful! That mild-gamey, grass-fed bison flavor comes out once you put a big chunk in your mouth. The sweet corn pops. I also really like the crunch of the diced celery (which retains a lot of its texture still).

You'll love this pretty healthy chili recipe so much that you will go through a pot faster than you think. I think there is something slightly addicting about the slow burn of the spice. The flavors only get better overnight in the fridge too.



Here's a great excuse for chili in the morning: huevos rancheros. Scramble some eggs, heat up some corn tortillas, and smear the chili over the eggs. Ohhh man.

Happy Halloween! - Pumpkin Muffins

Happy Halloween everyone! Here is something I baked up for the holidays. I used fresh pumpkin, some grated carrot, and walnuts. To prepare the pumpkin, I roasted it in the oven at about 375f until the flesh was soft. Then I scraped the flesh into a bowl and mashed it with a fork until I got a mashed potato-like consistency. 25 minutes or so in the oven and the muffins are done. I cut mine in half while they are still hot, smear some whipped butter on each half, and then drizzle a little honey on top. Yum!

An Epicurean Treasure from Harrisonburg

I went back to JMU for homecoming. We lost the game, but the afterparty was certainly a victory. I caught up with some old friends at Jack Brown's Burger and Beer Joint, one of my favorite places in the world.



The special Saturday night was a bacon-wrapped, deep fried hot dog on homemade coleslaw. The bacon and frying methods kept the dog crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. The bacon adds a little bit of a smoky and sweet flavor. The coleslaw is well-positioned, underneath the showcase of the dish. However, the crunchiness and the bite of the cabbage adds a nice flavor and texture contrast from the hot dog. Everything is sandwiched inside a sweet, Martin's potato roll. This is BY-FAR one of the most pleasurable eating experiences I've ever had. Kick up your tailgate with one of these at the next game!

A Fall Feast!

Long time, no post! Although I've been busy with classes, I have been snapping a few pictures of the meals I have made. I will update those past meals later.

Well, fall is here- whether or not Mother Nature would like to admit it. I've welcomed this season by embracing some of its special ingredients today. All of these dishes below were cooked in one afternoon. I won't go into great deal about the meals, like I usually do, but I'll give some feedback below.



Savory Pumpkin Muffins
-With feta, parm reg, spinach, and walnuts. I'm no baker, but these turned out great.
Recipe modified from: 101 Cookbooks





Bacon, Bean, and Veggie Soup
-Uncured bacon, onion, celery, sweet potatoes, white northern beans and rosemary. It's sweet, savory, and has a hint of hickory smoke. The trick is sauteing the bacon, and then sweating the veggies in the bacon grease and scraping up those little burnt bits of black magic on the bottom of the pot.

This is a spinoff of a classic cold-weather soup my mom used to make. Usually I make it with diced, boiled ham, red potatoes, and sage.


-My ill-vented apartment will probably smell like bacon for days. GOD BLESS IT!

Herbed Spaghetti Squash
-Extra virgin olive oil, chopped parsley, minced garlic, salt n pepa. Spaghetti squash blew my mind when I first saw how it was prepared. You can microwave or bake it. I used a little muscle to slice the squash in half, scoop the seeds out (more on that below), and then placed them cut-side down in an oven at 400 degrees for about 30mins. Afterwards, I just pulled the sheet pan out and let the squash cool, but still continue steaming on the cut side. To serve, just take a fork and grate the inside of the squash. The flesh comes off in strands, like spaghetti.



It's a great side dish for any meal, especially if you want to skip some carbs.


Roasted Pumpkin and Squash Seeds
-Olive oil, kosher salt, garlic powder, black pepper, red chili flake. Don't waste the seeds! When roasted in the oven, they get a crunchy, nutty flavor. Eat the entire seed- they are full of fiber. There are a ton of recipes for flavors, both salty and sweet. Give me a bowl full of these over potato chips any time of the year.



It's amazing to see the colors on this sheet pan change from before and after the roasting process. It's like watching the leaves change colors right before your eyes.

Quick Date Night Recipe- Porchetta

So today I am going to share a recipe that is close to my heart: porchetta. Porchetta reminds me a lot of childhood meals, as it was something my Chinese mother picked up from a certain Italian mother-in-law in a past life. Traditionally, porchetta is made with the tenderloin. There is hardly any fat, which means the trick to a proper porchetta is keeping the meat nice and juicy. Luckily, pork tenderloins don't require too much cooking time, and the chances of forgetting this delicious roast while it's baking off in the oven are slim to zero. The aromas of garlic and fennel seed will fill your apartment or house with some savory flavors of Italy. When this roast is thinly sliced, it also makes one hell of a great sandwich.

So why porchetta as a date night dinner? Yeah I know there's an emphasis on garlic here, but I don't trust a person who doesn't appreciate garlic. Might as well nip that potential failed relationship in the bud, right? Above-all, it's basically an idiot-proof recipe. There are no elaborate cooking times, you don't need a lot of specialty ingredients, you can cook it on the grill or in an oven, and it can go with whatever sides you fancy. When the roast comes out, it is also pretty visually appealing. I am also very attracted to people who are capable of putting out a comfort dish like this- one that would even make your mother proud of your dating judgment.

-Porchetta Roast
1 pork tenderloin
Whole fennel seeds
Fresh ground black pepper
Garlic Powder
Kosher Salt
Olive oil (regular, not XV)

Kitchen twine

The first decision is, to marinate or not to marinate? I'll give you a few options. First, I'd give the green light for a little bath in a salt-pepper-garlic-brown sugar brine for a few hours if you have some basic brining skills. If that's above your skill level, then I'll give you a secret of mine: bottled Italian dressing. It's really my go-to marinade for white meats. Just put the pork in a big freezer bag or a dish, coat it with the dressing, and let it hang out in the fridge for anywhere between 30mins to just a few hours. When you're ready to cook, then just rinse the dressing off under the faucet and you're ready to go. Another direction you can go is buying one of those marinated pork tenderloins. I would stick to something along the lines of "garlic and herb" or "rosemary and garlic." Lastly, you could forgo a marinade completely. If you chose the "naked" route, I would just make sure that you really form a good seasoning crust on the outside of the pork. My mother usually makes it without a marinade and it turns out fine, especially if you let it cook in its own juices when it is wrapped in foil on the grill or in the oven.



The next step is tying the roast. I feel this is an important step because tenderloins lack that bone-in support and are so tender that they lose their shape without a little support. I have some kitchen twine on hand that I use specifically for these type of recipes. Basically, you just make a loop around one end, make a knot and then make some more loops all the way down the roast. I do some criss-crossing, but nothing really technical. My kitchen isn't the Cordon Bleu, okay? Your roast will still look great and your date will only really care about the final product (AFTER the strings have been cut and removed).

Lastly, it's time for the rub. Yeah I know a little rubbing usually comes before anyone gets tied up on a first date, but rules are meant to be broken- right? Anyways, coat your roast with a thin layer of regular olive oil so that your spices stick. I crank out a good layer of black pepper, kosher salt, garlic powder, and whole fennel seeds on my cutting board and then simply roll the meat on top of the seasoned board. If you marinated the meat, make sure you don't go super crazy on the salt. If it's one of those prepackaged marinated pork loins then I wouldn't add any salt to begin with. Remember to use good judgment when it comes to the salt balance, or to err on the side of a little less salt if you are unsure. If you did nothing to your roast, then you will need approximately soft-pretzel levels of salt to really penetrate all through the thick layer of pork. Also, if you purchased a garlic and herb-flavored loin, then I would skip the garlic powder AND the salt. Just roll it in fennel seeds and pepper.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees or get your grill up to medium-high. If baking the porchetta, I use a glass or metal baking dish with a little bit of water added so that all the juices get trapped and help to keep the pork moist. You typically don't need to cover it during the baking process. If you are grilling the porchetta, then wrap the meat in a few layers of foil and then place it right on the rack. Keep the lid on the grill.

Within 20-30 minutes your roast should be done. The meat should feel fairly firm. When you think it's done, take it out of the heat and let it rest for about 5 minutes, then poke it with a meat thermometer. It should have an internal temperature of 160 degrees. I don't check the temperature too quickly for two reasons 1) carry-over cooking time means the meat will still slightly rise in temperature even after you pull the roast off the heat and 2) a Pompeii of pork juices will erupt if the meat is still too hot and your contribute to drying your roast.



When the roast is properly cooked and then rested for about 10 minutes, you can cut the strings off and slice the pork. Make sure to spoon some of the delicious pan juice on the meat before serving. All of that fennel, anise essence is concentrated in there. The meat should be super tender, and the coarse ground black pepper should put a nice little heat in your mouth.



This is also the time to cast the supporting actors: roast potatoes, fresh vegetables, and/or a salad are safe bets. Uncork that bottle of white wine you have chilling in the fridge. What's that? You two are already on your second glass? Good job. You're learning quickly. Enjoy your company, pay attention, and be modest when your date complements your cooking chops. As for what to do after dinner ends- that's for another blog post...

DC Restaurant Week 2010 - Reviews

As my dedicated blog followers know by now, I have moved up to the Metro-DC area. As a grad school student, I anticipated two things: 1) Not much spare time and 2) Not much spare money. So, as a local friend of mine informed me that I happened to be moving into the area during DC Restaurant week, I knew this was one of my few opportunities to sample a little bit of the DC foodie culture on a budget before all hell breaks lose with schoolwork.

How it works: many DC area restaurants, including some in Maryland and Northern Virginia, choose to offer a 3-course prix-fixe menu lunch and/or dinner. The lunch menus are all fixed at around $20 and the dinner menus are fixed at $30, regardless of where you go. Most of the places also allow you to book reservations through opentable.com. Naturally, the typically more expensive restaurants and places on the Washingtonian Top-100 list fill up with reservations first. Overall, it's a real win-win for everyone- except for the boozehounds because they still have to pay the full price for their alcohol. The restaurants get to cater to a different clientele that might not otherwise have made the leap of faith to try their place for the first time, and obviously the customers score a major half-off or so discount from the normal prices (depending on where you go). I made it out for one Thursday dinner and one Sunday brunch. I was mostly catching up with old friends that are in the area and I also got to know some newer friends a little better. Larger groups also make it easier to sample and try different options on the prix-fixe menu.

My first stop was Vidalia, about 2 blocks south of Dupont Circle on M Street. Upon entrance, there is a short bar and a clear view into the dining room. The restaurant is housed in a basement that is well decorated, but obviously lacking any sort of natural light from the outside world. The lack of windows combined with the average-to-lower ceiling height made the restaurant seem a little enclosed. White tablecloths. My party of 3 was seated not in the main dining room, but in another small room off to the side that held 3 tables. We grabbed a few drinks, I tried Allagash White ($7) for the first time (eh), before sitting down at the table in front of the dinner menus.

The cuisine is described as being "modern American." I ordered a citrus-marinated salmon appetizer that was topped with a pea-shoot salad and small scoop of watermelon sorbet. It was quite nice and refreshing. The salmon was fresh, and maybe could've used a little bit more of a stronger marinade to stand out, especially because it was under the sweet, pea shoots. Maybe if the greens were left to the side it would not have been as much of a big deal. I ordered a thick-cut pork chop for my entree. In all honesty, I can't really remember much about the entree. There were some beans underneath (fava?) and allegedly some pork belly bits also (but I couldn't really discern). Yeah- it was just that memorable. As per the recommendation of the waiter, I ordered my protein cooked "medium" but it came out well-done. It was quite tough to cut through. One of my friends ordered the same dish and I could see that his was cooked to the proper temperature. Oh well. Our other tablemate ordered a trout dish, but the small portion paled in size comparison to our large pork chops. Last course was dessert, naturally. Here is where Vidalia shined. Our table chose 3 different desserts and we passed them around: a bourbon glazed pecan tart, a lemon chess pie with lemon custard and a shortbread crust, and a buttermilk cake. All of the desserts were fantastic and not overly sweet. Each one just oozed flavor. The cake was moist and topped with coconut. The lemon chess pie's crust was dipping a fresh, shortbread cookie into lemon cream heaven. Hands down, the table favorite was the pecan tart. Unlike the typical mass-produced store bought or even homemade pecan pie, this tart's flavor and texture was not defined by corn-syrup. Rather, this pie had a pleasant denseness to it and a wonderful bourbon aftertaste. Wow! Overall, I was a little underwhelmed by Vidalia's food proper but very happy with the dessert.

My Sunday brunch spot was over near Union Station on E St. NW at Bistro Bis. Bistro Bis also happens to a be la soeur de Vidalia, as they are owned by the same people. Bistro Bis is just an eyeshot from the Capitol and attached to the Hotel George. The interior is great: very open (2 floors), tons of natural lighting, and well-decorated with a lot of wood tones and materials. It stood in stark contrast to Vidalia's enclosed cave feeling. White tablecloths here also. There is indeed a bar near the front entrance, and it is clearly stacked and loaded to serve the workers on Capitol Hill after a long day of greasing the American political machine. Our party was seated towards the back of the main dining room, close to the kitchen. There is a textured glass wall that separates the dining room from the internal workings of Bistro Bis' kitchen. A fireplace is also operational during the colder months, but now it held some standalone, electric A/C units (which weren't needed that day).

The first impression of the food and service at Bistro Bis was the staff uniforms. Servers wear vests and ties, with aprons tied at their waist. It's the sort of thing you would expect out of a French bistro, I suppose. Our server informed us immediately that their normal menu remained unchanged during Restaurant Week. I was very pleased to see a wonderful selection of traditional French bistro favorites with their own special twists available for tasting. A few of us started off with mimosas ($10/pop!), naturally. We were also given a basket of baked goods with bread: sliced baguette pieces and some nice mini-muffins with a coarse sugar topping. For my first course, I order a country-style pâté. People who know me well know that I am a sucker for pâté, whether it's soft or firm and regardless of what animals' internal organs are used. The pâté was firm and contained some pistachios in it. It was accompanied by two slices of olive oil toasted baguette and a small green salad with a simple vinaigrette. The pâté flavor and texture was ok- the nuts were a little bit of a strange texture, as I'm used to a smoother consistency. I wish there were maybe one or two more pieces of bread, as the bread: pâté ratio was a little off-balance. Albeit simple, I thought the scoop of greens was a nice touch. The acidity helped to cleanse the palette after the saltiness of the pâté. For the main course, I ordered a recommendation from the server: a duck confit, poached egg, and garlic potato hash. The whole thing was also topped with a hollandaise sauce. Deeee-licious! The richness of the hollandaise and the fatty duck had a nice flavor foil with the red-wine poached egg and the sauce made from some sort of reduced, dark drippings. The red-wine poached egg had a dark pink/light purple color and was cooked over medium. The dark dripping sauce on the bottom of the plate contained a lot of the duck essence with just the slightest bit of acidity. I might be a sucker for brunch food in general, but this was a hearty, tasty, and overall-satisfying main course. As we all sat around the table, talking about the latest episodes of Top Chef DC, our server brought by the dessert menu and offered his recommendations again. Bistro Bis' pastry chef happens to be Italian. An Italian in a French bistro? Whaa? What this leads to a some mash-ups of the traditional French dishes. I ordered basically an Italian tiramisu made with mascarpone cheese. The dessert came out as a coil piped from a pastry bag with a little bit of cocoa powder on top. The mascarpone made the dish a little too thick for my tastes, and it needed maybe a little more of the alcohol marinaded "cookies" (with amaretto usually) to break up the flavors a little. I also got a little taste of the passionfruit crème brûlée with mini-madelines, which had a bold, fresh passionfruit essence to it. That was quite nice. Overall, I was highly satisfied with the meal. The bright interior, excellent service, and the delicious food amounted to a brunch that I would be willing to pay full price for. Yeah the portions are small- but so are the French, so what else would you expect?


I'm glad I got to take part in the 2010 Restaurant Week here in my new neighborhood. Restaurant weeks are generally a good excuse to get out, try new things, and meet up with good people. A meal that didn't meet certain expectations can be justified because at least you didn't spend +$50/person on the check. I am not exactly a cynic when it comes to restaurants, but after exchanging my overcooked pork story with some of my friends' poor restaurant week experiences, I can't help but wonder if certain establishments take the event more seriously than others. One of the more shocking tales was from a friend of mine who heard a staff member walk a returned appetizer to the kitchen and then told another staff member that they were simply going to "walk through the kitchen and back out onto the floor with the tray" without fixing the problem. I wonder if the sort of gaffs we experienced aren't unusual on an everyday basis at these sort of restaurants, OR if some restaurants feel that preparing dinners under $50 a check is beneath them. Regardless of the reason, I would hope that the restaurants that are serving some of the most important representatives of US politics, business, and foreign dignitaries would always put on their A-game. Still, I would like to thank every restaurant that participated in making the event such a big delight for the whole region- I might not have visited your restaurant this year, but I'll be comin' for ya soon enough!

Instant Noodles: Grown-Up Style

Today, I am presenting a spin-off of the classic, staple meal of the college student with a tight budget: instant noodles. When I think of instant noodles, I think of those plastic-wrapped packages filled with beef, chicken, or shrimp bullion flavoring packets that are salty that you need a gallon of water to drink with each serving. The noodles are thin and unsatisfying. The vegetables are freeze dried and turn into mush when re-hydrated. Sometimes these meals even come in those styrofoam microwavable cups- which deserves an extra wag of the finger for hurting the planet, I suppose.

Since I am now moving onto graduate school, I have decided that my basic food staples should also graduate a little. Is it possible that the classic ramen noodle dinner can be replaced with a version that is nutritious, tasty, AND still quick to make? Ohh yeah...

First off, I'll admit that my version requires a few specialty ingredients from your local Asian market. The average grocery store might have everything you see below but I'm not making any guarantees. I happened to bring a box full of Asian specialty ingredients to my new apartment upon move-in (but somehow forgot TP), so I am already stocked. Most of the non-Asian ingredients are things I round up from other random dishes and common things I keep in my fridge (eggs, some sort of raw meat, greens, etc.). Although it might seem like you will never use these ingredients for other dishes, they are still good to keep on hand in case your belly catches the yellow fever, if ya know what I mean. They also keep quite well since they are stored in bottles/jars/are dried.

-Instant Noodles, with a Soy Broth, for Grown-Ups-
Dried Mushrooms (Shitakes work great, more on these below)
Dried Noodles (I chose Japanese udon)
Soy Sauce

Green Spring Onions
Egg, rinsed
Greens (I had baby spinach)
Toasted Sesame Oil and/or Toasted Sesame Seeds

Other Recommended Ingredients:
Fresh Ginger Slices
Siracha (Asian spicy hot sauce- The one with the Rooster)
Mirin (Japanese golden liquid sweetener)
Additional Protein (Pork, beef, chicken, shrimp, fish, tofu, etc.)

This is more of a Japanese-inspired noodle dish. As is the case with many Japanese dishes, the ingredients are not too complicated. However, the culinary art lies within proper execution and the balance of flavors.

I begin by heating a saucepot with water and turning the burner up to medium high. Then, I add my dried mushrooms and my egg (still in the shell) to the pot of water as it warms. You can read my description of dried mushrooms as your water heats up.

The shitake mushrooms have a nice, mild mushroom flavor to them. That is what creates my mushroom-flavored broth and makes the soup taste so good without artificial packets of flavoring. The mushrooms will re-hydrate and be soft. I also added black tree ear fungus, which are little ribbons of crunchy goodness that give some texture to the soup. They don't really taste like much, I suppose they taste like bark if you ate a whole handful of them- but I wouldn't recommend it. Another type of mushroom that is good is to use are the little cap mushrooms. I'm not sure what their real name is off the top of my head, but they have the diameter of golf ball and look like a whole mushroom. Those things are super potent though, so just use one at first (and they aren't very good for eating, so remove them before serving or dice them fine).



A trick my mom taught me about a properly boiled egg is that you should add the egg to the cold water, and then let the egg heat up as the water comes to a boil. When the water starts to boil, turn off the burner and let the egg hang out (covered) for about 3-5 minutes depending on how done you like your eggs. Afterwards, pull the egg out of the water and place it in a cold ice water bath. This should shock the shell and make it easier to peel, and stop the egg from overcooking. As the picture shows, I kinda botched my egg peel, probably because I didn't have access to ice and I had to settle for cold tap water. But the interior is still cooked to a soft perfection.

So now you should have hot mushroom-flavored broth and an egg on the side, right? Test the water- is there enough flavor in there? If not, then add more mushrooms, cover, and wait a few minutes before trying again. Don't worry about the salt levels because we'll fix that later. You want a well-developed mushroom aroma and aftertaste from your broth.

Once you have a kickin' mushroom broth, add some soy sauce to taste. Just add a little bit at a time because you don't want to oversalt it. If so, then you are committing the same violent crime to your tastebuds as those freeze-dried noodle packers. I added a tiny squirt of siracha and a little mirin to balance my broth out. The siracha adds a little depth of spice while the sweet mirin's honey flavor takes a little edge off of the soy. I also tossed in a few pieces of fresh cut ginger, for aroma purposes mostly.

Once the broth is constructed, I drop my noodles in. I chose udon noodles from Japan because they have a decent thickness, I like the chewy texture, and they make for a good slirp! The brand I bought is pretty nice; the noodles have a nice wheat aroma and come in individual-wrapped portions! When was the last time you said that about your box of Barilla pasta? Ah, I'll spare the culture wars...

Let the noodles cook for about 10-12 minutes or however long the package recommends. Just like when you salt your water to flavor pasta while it's cooking, the udon noodles will absorb that good flavor from your broth.

As your noodles cook, feel free to add any extra protein. I roasted some chicken leg quarters in the oven the other day, so I tore the meat of the bone and had it stored in the fridge for random purposes. You can use any other leftover, cooked meat or tofu if you would like. If you are using shrimp, they can probably cook right in the boiling broth.

This is also the time when I start to peel my hardboiled egg. Right before serving I will tear it open to reveal its gooey, easy-cooked yolk. If you don't trust your egg-boiling skills, you can scramble the egg right in the boiling water at this point. It will look like Chinese egg-drop soup.

Okay, so the noodles are done and my protein has been heated through. Now, I toss my fresh greens in, give in a toss, and let them flash cook in the hot water. This preserves their nutrients and their bright color. You are now ready to serve...

Make sure you get a little bit of every component: noodles, mushrooms, protein, greens, and broth. Now for the "condiments": your boiled egg, some diced green onion, sesame oil/seeds, maybe some fried garlic chips, dried nori seaweed- whatever you want!

The flavor of this dish transports me back to Asia every time, especially when it's paired with a cup of hot tea. Sometimes I get a craving for a unique flavor that only a good bowl of noodles can solve. Culinary experts call this flavor "umami", which is also thought to be a specific taste- like sour, sweet, and saltiness. It is a meaty, savory flavor that usually comes out from earthy foods- particularly mushrooms. However, the components I have utilized accentuate that umami flavor: toasted sesame oil, dark meat chicken, and soy sauce. This rich umami flavor is properly balanced in the broth by things like sweet mirin, the freshness of the ginger and the spring onions, and the neutral creaminess of the egg. Everything is properly balanced: yin and yang. It's certainly a flavor that the mass marketed food companies have yet to properly tame in a styrofoam cup. It's about time you give up your old instant noodles and graduate to a higher degree of flavor.

How I Learned to Cook in a Small Kitchen

I recently made the move up to the Metro DC area for grad school. I feel like this goes without saying but, the housing prices are a little bit on the higher end in this part of the country. I was fortunate enough to score a lease for a basement efficiency apartment in a house in suburban Maryland, all for a reasonable price.

Of course- you get what you pay for. This place is just right to meet my needs, but maybe not all of my desires (to have a top-notch kitchen at my disposal!). As a result, I am have had to learn how to cook again. What do I mean? Well, tight quarters and limited equipment requires a little rethinking to the cooking process. I've got a fridge, electric range, small sink, and a microwave. Here is one angle of the setup:



First impressions: the oven knob says it can go up to 500 degrees, there is only *one medium* size burner, and the sink is about the size of one that you would find in a wet bar. The oven does have a broiler and it works fine (made a tuna melt yesterday). The 500 degree option will be good later on for making pizza and for searing off meat. The small burners are difficult to deal with because that means you can really only have one major project going on at one time. The smaller burners means I have to keep an eye on the temperature dial. I have to usually crank the knob to high to get any large pot up to temp, but once it's there, I have to turn the knob back just a little to prevent things from burning. Size constraints limit action on the stove to probably one big pot/pan and maybe a small sauce pan. This means I'll have to adjust my recipes/cooking style to more one-pot meals or meals that I can make in stages. When I mean "in stages," I am referring to a process where you cook one part of the dish, dump the contents in a bowl or a storage container, wash the pots and pans, and then work on the next part. Luckily, I also brought a standalone rice cooker (it's the Asian in me) which frees up some space on the stove.

The small sink and lack of a dishwashing machine means I have to hand-wash and dry everything that I use. I have one of those plastic drying racks and draining boards that I keep next to the sink usually. When I am doing my cooking prep, I move it on top of my fridge, where I bought a cheap metal wire rack from one of those discount surplus stores. This rack is great because I also have my cutting boards stashed up there. Maximizing space efficiency is key in a kitchen like this.



So- last night I got my first taste of actually cooking in this kitchen. I made a variation of the please-all summer pasta I posted about earlier. For this recipe I used white wine in the sauce, no canned tomatoes (fresh grape tomatoes instead), and added some diced spring onion and parsley. As you can see in the picture, the dishwashing rack is out of the picture (on top of the fridge). I made a mini-assembly line. I've got my diced veg next to the sink. I toss the food scraps in the garbage can to my right. I toss the first round of vegetables to saute (onions) in a separate bowl. My pot is heating up. My wine glass is full for personal consumption (verrry important). Things go quite smoothly because of the organization. After the veg is sufficiently cooked, I toss everything back into that glass bowl, wash the pot, fill it with water and salt, and then boil the pasta. When the pasta is done, I drain it (with a little reserved pasta water), and toss the veg back in. Presto! Perfect pasta! The lesson of the day- even the smallest of apartment kitchens can be setup to crank out the same quality of dinners as a larger household kitchens.

Off the Shelf- Brew Dog Bashah + Tokio Beer

I decided to bring home a few micro-brews to my father, a long-time beer drinker. By "long-term beer drinker" I mean that he has little experience in the world outside of the mainstream beer companies. Growing up, there would be a variety of Miller Lite or Busch in the fridge awaiting him after a hard day's work. Although, I do give him some credit: in recent years he has become a regular drinker of Yuengling, which is a fine everyday lager. Yuengling being designated as "America's oldest brewery" and NOT captured by the Big-3 beer companies (Busch-Miller-Coors). I had 4 beers on the informal tasting menu: Paulner Lager (Germany), Hoegaarden Wit Beer (Belgium), and 2 Brew Dog beers from Scotland. It's the Brew Dogs that I'll concentrate on my review today...



Now, I have had the Brew Dog Punk and Hardcore IPAs before. I highly recommend both. They are slick and well-balanced. The two beers that I put forth to my father were a little "out of the ordinary" for his palette, and for anyone else's for that matter. The first is called the Bashah. It is labeled as a "Black Belgium style Double India Pale Ale." Additionally, the bottle brands the Stone Brewing Company winged demon because it is a joint collaboration between the two international brewers. The Bashah is quite nice. It pours a dark brown and has a good roasted coffee aroma up front. The first taste to hit your tongue is indeed like a Belgium sweet flavor. However, it is quickly followed by a pleasantly bitter IPA flavor that leaves a nice dryness on the tongue. When drinking this beer, I couldn't help but be reminded of Stone's Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale...a beer that I reviewed on this blog years before. The difference is that the collaboration is a little tamer- a little less coffee nose and a little less hops. At 8.6% ABV this beer is no minor leaguer, but the higher alcohol content is well blended and not very noticeable.

The second Brew Dog selection is a high roller beer: the Tokio. At $12 for a 11.2oz this beer is certainly for special occasions only to most beer-drinkers. It is labeled as an "intergalactic fantastic oak aged stout, ...brewed with cranberries and jasmine." Wow. That's a lot going on. I haven't got to the most shocking part: an ABV rated at 18.2%. Yeah, that's right- 18.2%. There is nothing subdued about this beer. This also includes the flavor. The beer pours a dark brown, with a reddish-orange tint to the dark beer. The cranberry flavor is most present. It's in the nose and hits the tongue hard. With the first few sips, it's almost a cherry elixir sort of flavor. The high alcohol content doesn't really help as it amounts to a flavor that's sure to throw you back to those restless nights when you were a child and your mother gave your Dimetapp for your cough. After you get past the cranberries, there is a slight oak finish. I could not find the alleged "jasmine" flavor really anywhere in the beer. There might be a slightly floral aroma to the beer, but that is quickly swamped by the cranberries and alcohol. Overall, I wouldn't necessarily give the beer a standing ovation. Compared to the other Brew Dog beers, this bottle is not quite as balanced. However, if you are looking for a pleasant way to get a great buzz without drinking a sixer of Miller Lite, or a case of Natty for that matter, then try it out! One of these little bottles and you'll be set. In fact, I am writing this blog post BEFORE I finish drinking the rest of the bottle, lest I fall out of my chair and black out without any recollection of how this beer tastes.

A Pizza Story

For those of you who were in direct contact with me last week, you probably knew that I was teaming up for with my long-time, best friend and fellow foodie, Nathan, for a little test of our culinary prowess. It's been no secret to our close circle of friends that over the past year Nathan has tested his pizza recipes through various forms. I feel like I have been there along the way to offer my opinions, make suggestions, and learn a little bit about the ancient tradition of bread-making. Just think about it- the basic staple of a large portion of the world's diet is made up of just water, flour, and yeast. To join in this practice is to contribute to a lineage of bakers, both amateur and professional, in order to advance the flavors and textures of a food that many of us take for granted.

Pizza is a perfect site to explore the wonders of this trifecta of ingredients. Just think about it: who doesn't like pizza? No one I would trust, most certainly. Of course we have all had bad pizza here and there. Hell- some of us might have been so weened on bad, commercially stamped-out pies that we might not even know better. There are certainly pizzas that are simply fit for consumption and basic sustenance when we most need it (For example, Chanello's or Assantes here in Richmond). Then there are pizzas that surprise us with interesting new flavors that break the boundaries of conventionally-held thoughts on pizza (I suppose the Wolfgang Puck movement and California Pizza Kitchen would fall under this category). Regardless of what type or quality of pizza people it is (generally) a communally-eaten food. Where there is pizza, there are usually people. Pizza is great because it is one of those foods that is capable of bringing people together that span various age, demographic, and tastes.

That last paragraph might seem like a digression from my core story, but it's not. It actually situates the events that culminated over the past past week quite perfectly. Ya see, my buddy Nathan signed on to a pizza tour. The pizza tour is sponsored by a group of Richmond foodies called Pamparius. In essence, the group is headed up by two bikers with a blog and a belly for pizza. Participants of the second-ever Pamparius Richmond Pizza Crawl payed a flat fee to cover the cost of the pizzas at 5 of Richmond's newest and/or best pizza places. From what I heard, the final count was about 50 people who were willing to spend their Saturday night biking up and down the streets of Richmond in search of the city's best pie. There's this post's theme- pizza bringing people together. Something like this doesn't come out of thin air; I give major props to Pomparius' Grant and Andy for pulling this thing together and making sure things were planned precisely.

On the other end of this pizza tour, there was another pair of guys- Nathan and I. With the blessing of his roommates and significant other, we spent the last couple of days before Saturday's crawl working out some last minute details. We took Thursday's dinner to take a test run on some last minute variables. However, some loose ends presented some difficulties: Do we need a new pizza peel? Yeah, we should get one. Which mozz is best from the results of these test pizzas? Damn, this one is too dry and just flares up in the oven. This mozz has too much liquid; it'll probably just turn into a pile of goo. Wow! -This cheese is perfect, we should rush back to Kroger and buy the rest of it up before it's gone. Can we grow enough sourdough starter to make 8 pizzas in time? How are we gonna accommodate 50 people into a city apartment? Or worse- how do we accommodate 50 people INSIDE if it rains?



Eventually, most of these concerns resolved themselves by the day-of (except for the 35% chance of a thunderstorm by late Saturday night). Saturday morning, the whole apartment woke up. Some cleaning and rearranging took place. Nathan and I cleared out any extraneous items from the kitchen and cleaned the surfaces. The giant batch of hand-mixed dough had sat overnight in a cool place to rise and ferment. The first success: the dough smelled and looked great. It smelled like fresh cake and was the real sticky-icky, ooooh-weee! Nathan portioned the giant mound of dough into 8 balls of 330g apiece using a digital scale. Then- each ball was shaped and allowed to proof again at room temperature.



In the meantime, we brainstormed a menu. We knew that this was a rare opportunity to spread some buzz around Richmond if we ever decide to wade into the local restaurant pool. I came up with a menu design based around Nathan's pizzas. We ventured off to get them printed off (thanks to his girlfriend). At first site of the printed-off menu, we thought, "This operation looked legit." Lastly, we stopped off at the Carytown Ukrop's...errr Martin's to pick up some arugula for the last pizza. Kroger's arugula looks closer to baby spinach. Martin's has the right stuff, it's just that it's mixed with baby spinach. Thus, some manual separation was necessary. If anyone from Martin's is somehow reading this blog: get the Nature's Promise brand of baby arugula in every one of the Richmond-area stores! If some guy who is making arugula pizza in his home kitchen doesn't buy it all up, I'm sure some yuppie transplant from Ellwood's or Whole Foods will graze on it. Anyways- by 5:00pm or so, everything was prepped. The dough balls looked like oversized freshwater pearls, the arugula was separated from its leefy brother-in-prepackaged-arms, the mozz was sliced and diced, the garlic was chopped, the basil was picked, etc. etc. As Tony Montana would have said, "We were ready for war."


The crowd arrives

From about 5-9pm, we indulged in a few Sierra Nevada Summerfests as we enjoyed the quiet before the inevitable storm. The crowd wasn't planning on showing up until 9:30pm, but they left their first stop a little late. We thought we had more time to chill. At around 9:10p, Nathan gets a text from the pizza crawlers: "On our way from Stuzzi's." Stuzzi's is the latest place that is trying to bring authentic, Neapolitan pizza from the former site of 1 North Belmont. It also happens to only be about 3 blocks from Nathan's house. We had to get workin' fast.



So, Nathan stretches the first dough ball. We begin to work in tandem, like a dance in the kitchen. He works the dough, while I tango line back and fourth between the oven and the fridge pulling ingredients. We struck an instant harmony. Before we knew it, two margheritas were ready to go, wrapped in foil, and waiting for their hungry patrons. As soon as the second pizza popped out of the oven, about 35-40 bikers with their strobing headlights pulled around to the backyard. It was an adrenaline-inducing sight for us. Nathan's roommates went down to greet everyone and try to bring them up. Instead, they chose to hang out in the backyard. Fine by us- less people inside to crowd our space. Grant and Andy of Pomparius came up and were excited to serve Nathan's pizza. They have sampled it before and loved it. However, their fellow pizza crawlers didn't seem too enthused about the other Neapolitan-style pizzas that they had tried earlier. Both of them were concerned that they would also be turned off by Nathan's pizza.


However, the first round of tasters were pretty impressed that there was pizza ready to go. The other four stops were all restaurants; we were the only house on the stop. Our dough was hand-mixed, not blended in an industrial sized mixer. Our dough was naturally leavened, and wasn't proofed in a commercial box. All of these other places had an entire staff of prep cooks and people on their ovens, whereas we had two. There was no D.O.C.-certified wood-burning oven or large, gas deck oven at "Chez Dooley." We relied on the apartment's old Gibson-brand electric oven. All of this David versus Goliath thought was something that was deeply in our minds, but it wasn't apparent in the pizza crawlers. As we were spitting out pizzas, in and out from the kitchen, we had a few people who came up to see what all the fuss was about. One person said, "Grant told me I had to see the oven. Where is it?" I said, "It's right in front of you." Their reply, "You gotta be kiddin'. I dunno how you got THAT oven hot enough to make crust like this."


Where all the action happens

And the complements boosted our momentum as the night went on. We got compliments that the pizza was the best they've tasted that night, or ever for that matter. The last few pizza crawlers that stuck around until the end of the crawl were rewarded with the Rucola, one of the house's favorite pies. Nathan shoved the last piece into my mouth and the mouths of all his roommates, who had graciously dealt with the madness leading up to the event. It was a taste of accomplishment, commitment, and of spicy, meaty arugula! After, we slammed a few whiskey shots down and headed to a bar down the block to dance in celebration of the night.



In all, 8 of the best pizzas I've seen Nathan make were pulled out of that oven that night. The whole production was a team effort from the guys at Pomparius to everyone at Nathan's apartment. The pizza gods smiled down on us with good weather, perfect pizza, and great company. I'm so damn proud of him and I feel nothing short of pure bliss whenever I get a chance to work in the kitchen with him. Moments like that remind us all why we love food. The passion, the torment, the climax, and the resolution. A good food story is much like a great movie or a great novel for all of those reasons. Hopefully, that night will only be the end to one chapter in this Richmond-based pizza story. And that my friends, will have to be continued...