Month: June 2014

Ted’s Bulletin

I had heard of this place in some magazine or other because of the homemade poptarts.  So when I was in Reston and craving some mid-day breakfast, I decided to try it out.  It’s kind of like an upscale version of an old-fashioned diner.  If that makes any sense.

Well Dined | Ted's Bulletin

The menu is a mini newspaper (or bulletin, if you will) that also has some articles on the namesake and how the restaurant was founded.  They have boozy milkshakes (very on trend right now), so I tried the Bananas Foster with banana rum and caramel.  Very good.

Well Dined | Ted's Bulletin

Then I tried the signature breakfast combo – The Big Mark – which comes with 3 eggs, 2 bacon, 2 sausage, hashbrowns, toast, and a poptart (I chose the brown sugar bacon flavor).  Everything was great except for the sausage, which was way too spicy for me.  The poptart was indeed tasty, but I thought it needed a higher filling to crust ratio.

Well Dined | Ted's Bulletin

I brought a couple more flavors of poptart home (blueberry cheesecake and strawberry, I believe) to sample a range and so that Jasper could try them.  Again, they were good but we both agreed they needed more filling.

Here’s the fun news for breakfast-loving me – they are opening up a location at Mosaic, which is very close to me!  I might even sample some non-breakfast items… maybe… probably not.

French Onion Mac and Cheese

Well Dined | French Onion Mac and Cheese

I know it’s way too hot out to be making this sort of thing, but I don’t care.  It is sooooooo good.  This is a French onion soup inspired macaroni and cheese with caramelized onions, boatloads of cheese, and a buttery breadcrumb topping with thyme.  Yum, yum, yum.  Oh yeah, and a little bit of white wine (shoutout to Broken Dreams – my fave white of the moment).  I made this with Melissa of Smells Like Brownies and it was one of those magical recipes that is so much fun to make and doesn’t stress you out during the process (though that may have been the wine taking effect…).

Well Dined | French Onion Mac and Cheese

Step one is to get the onions going, of course.  Can’t have French onion soup without onions!  Pop those bad boys into a heavy bottomed pan with olive oil, butter, and thyme.  Is there any better flavor combo than onions and thyme?  I like to start them at medium high heat, then reduce heat to medium low once they are translucent.

Well Dined | French Onion Mac and Cheese

After 15 minutes, they should look kind of like this.  Add a splash of white wine and a sprinkle of salt and keep cooking for another 15-20 minutes.  Remember to take out the thyme stems when they are done.

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Farmer’s Market Pastas

I’m really trying to be better at waking up early enough to get to the Farmer’s Market.  I love the scene with all the booths and crowds of people, all the adorable puppies and babies.  The Mosaic Market even has live music and food trucks.  But I am not very good at cooking by the seat of my pants, so after I pick out some yummy looking veg, it usually ends up getting tossed into a pasta.  Even more so when the market offers amazing artisan pasta from Pappardelle’s Pasta.  C’est la vie!

Well Dined | Farmer's Market Pasta with Asparagus, Tomato, Leek, Lemon, and White Wine

My first batch of veggies (asparagus, tomato, and leek) went into a white wine, lemon, and butter sauce with the garlic chive artisan pappardelle.  I cooked the leek down in butter and olive oil, then added some white wine, lemon juice, and pasta water along with chopped tomatoes.  When that had cooked to a good sauce consistency, I tossed in blanched asparagus and the cooked pasta (1 minute shy of al dente).  I finished it off with lemon zest, Parmesan, and black pepper and served it with salmon.

Well Dined | Farmer's Market Pasta with Roasted Eggplant, Tomato, and Basil

 

I still had tomatoes and a random eggplant that I picked up for no reason, so I decided to do a riff on this pasta.  I really should have used a whole wheat pasta, but I just love gemelli and I can’t find it in whole wheat anywhere.  It’s the perfect short shape because it has good structural integrity (meaning it cooks evenly and doesn’t get mushy edges).

Anyway, I roasted the eggplant while I caramelized an onion (I really wish I had a red onion, but I didn’t).  After adding garlic, a splash of sherry, and a splash of balsamic vinegar, I added some chopped tomato and a pat of butter (trying to get the essence of the Marcella Hazan sauce without cooking it for 45 minutes).  Then I added in the eggplant, cooked pasta (1 minute shy of al dente), and a splash of pasta water and let it come together.  Then I topped it with fresh basil and black pepper and served it with some hanger steak from the market (one of the few places where I can find it – there’s only 1 per cow and they sell fast). (more…)

Capital Area Food Bank Urban Demonstration Garden

Well Dined | Capital Area Food Bank Urban Demonstration Garden

Last month, my local Almuni group volunteered to work at the Capital Area Food Bank Urban Demonstration Garden.  The CAFB works with over 500 partner agencies to distribute food to people suffering from hunger.  The purpose of the Urban Demonstration Garden is to promote nutrition education and demonstrate ways to grow food in urban settings.  They hope to teach their partner agencies to become more efficient by growing food at a low cost and to bring produce into areas that previously had no access.

Well Dined | Capital Area Food Bank Urban Demonstration GardenThe garden demonstrates how to build containers and beds out of recycled materials (for cost purposes).  They are different sizes and heights to demonstrate different uses – higher for people in wheel chairs, for example.

Well Dined | Capital Area Food Bank Urban Demonstration GardenIn addition to demonstrating what to plant when, and how, they teach about composting and how to build greenhouses (seen at top right).  They even have an apiary!

Well Dined | Capital Area Food Bank Urban Demonstration GardenOur main task was to help dig rows for in-ground beds – hard work!  The garden is entirely dependent on volunteers for all of it’s work.  So please, if you are able – give a little of your time to help them out.  Just be prepared to sweat.

To learn more: email MJ Crom at mjcrom@capitalareafoodbank.org.

Spring Fruit Jam – 3 Ways

Well Dined - Spring Fruit Jam 3 Ways

Now that we are nearing the end of Spring (that never really felt like Spring, dangit) – it’s time to preserve some of that delicate seasonal fruit.  I’m talking strawberries and rhubarb, people.  I tried out three different jam recipes in the same day, because I am a crazy person (and because I bought way too many local strawberries at the farmers market).

First up is my mother-in-law’s fresh strawberry syrup recipe (pictured in front and in the bowl on the right) – if only I had access to Oregon berries like her!  Jasper loves this recipe, so I make a TON and freeze it to use all year (if it lasts that long).  He loves to put it on sourdough pancakes and vanilla ice cream, I like it swirled into plain Greek yogurt.  This is a raw fruit jam recipe (with more berries and less sugar to make it more of a syrup than a jam), so the taste of the fresh berries really comes through.

Next is a Raspberry and Rhubarb Jam with Cardamom (pictured in the middle and in the jar on the left) that was supposed to use apple juice, but I had cranberry on hand so I subbed that and it added a lot of cranberry flavor.  It tastes very fall like to me because of the cranberry and spices.  This is the only jam that I canned, so I will probably save it for the fall.  If you want more of the rhubarb flavor to come through, use the apple juice instead.

And last is a Rhubarb, Raspberry, and Strawberry Jam thickened with Chia Seeds (pictured in the back and in the jar on the right).  This is touted as a healthy recipe because the fruit is raw and it uses raw honey as sweetener.  Because you use chia seeds to thicken it, instead of pectin, you can use much less sugar than you could for a traditional jam.  This one came out pretty tart for me, but Jasper really likes it.  The concept works really well, so I will probably be trying out different fruits.  This recipe actually said to just puree the raw rhubarb, but I was pretty skeptical about that, so I simmered it in a little bit of cranberry juice first (since I was already doing that for the other jam).

Well Dined | Spring Fruit Jam 3 Ways

Let’s get jammin!  I really crack myself up… (more…)

Matchbox Merrifield

So, I’m kind of obsessed with the new shopping area called Mosaic District,  I spend a lot of time there.  It has a lot of restaurants, but not many of them are sit-down type places.  Of the few that are there, I like Matchbox the best.  The food is good, the drinks are decent, and it’s right next to the movie theater.  For these reasons, it tends to always be crowded.  But don’t let availability on Open Table fool you – every single time it has claimed to have no reservations, we have walked in and been seated in less than 15 minutes.  It’s billed as a pizza joint, but more than half the menu is other types of food.  I’d say it’s pretty comparable to Chef Geoff’s, but in a better location.

One thing that is pretty cool is that they have wines on tap, so you can order by the glass pretty easily.  But what’s even cooler is a deal with Swirl and Sip where if you buy a bottle of wine from them, Matchbox will waive the corkage fee!

Well Dined | Matchbox

This is one of my favorite pizzas – the prosciutto and black mission fig with black pepper, arugula, and honey.

Well Dined | Matchbox

 

Another favorite (for Jasper, as well) is the chicken pesto pizza.

Well Dined | Matchbox

 

This is the crab and avocado salad with roasted corn and tarragon aioli. (more…)