pizza – Page 2 – Well Dined

28
Feb
2014

Range by Bryan Voltaggio

categories: Reviews

Another belated Restaurant Week post brings us to a somewhat new Bryan Voltaggio concept in Chevy Chase – Range. Located inside Chevy Chase Pavillion (across from Mazza Gallerie), the interior is huge and split into multiple dining rooms. Unfortunately, we were sat in the far back in the most remote and boring corner. We still had pretty decent service, though, especially considering how packed it was.

The New American menu has a lot to choose from with a raw bar, charcuterie, wood fired pizzas, and a range of cooked dishes. The cocktails are innovative, and the wine list is good (our server recommended a wine from a vineyard that has a personal relationship with the restaurant and is hard to get elsewhere).

There was a cheese course on the restaurant week menu, so we went ahead and got that. But we also wanted charcuterie, which wasn’t on the RW menu, so we ordered that a la carte – you can see the portion difference in the photo. Both selections were great and the housemade accompaniments were topnotch. I especially liked the mostarda and the fig jam.

My second course was the kale caesar salad with egg emulsion that everybody is always posting about, with good reason! It’s a caesar, but it’s one of the best you are ever going to get.

Jasper choose the beet salad with burrata. Pretty standard combo, well executed.

For my entree, I choose the goat cheese ravioli with meat ragu. Yummy, but the filling was pretty much just goat cheese, and a lot of it. I like goat cheese, but I would have appreciated a better balance.

Jasper choose the lamb with carrot-jalapeno romesco, which he said was awesome.

We had a good time and enjoyed everything we ate. I would like to return to try out more of the menu, especially with a group since the menu seems to be suited for it.

27
Jan
2014

Butternut Squash and Kale Pizza with Smoked Mozzarella and Bacon

categories: Recipes

This is a perfect winter weeknight meal. Buy some pizza dough from the store, throw on some delicious winter veggies, finish with smokey bacon and mozzarella. Done. Awesome.

Remember how I only needed a little bit of squash for last week’s Carbonara? Well, this is what I did with the rest of it – cubed it up and roasted it with shallots, thyme, olive oil, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. I only used about half of this squash for the pizza – the rest of it? Stay tuned.

Ugh, blurry picture. Sorry. Anyway, top some rolled out dough with slices of smoked mozzarella, the roasted squash, some kale rubbed with olive oil, and some halfway cooked bacon. I bought some fresh dough from Whole Foods because I really didn’t feel like making my own, but I wish they sold wheat dough. That would make things easy AND healthy. Also, I really should have split this into 2 pizzas. It was almost too big for my stone and I ended up with a lot of crust.

In the super hot oven, the bacon finishes cooking, the kale becomes crispy, and the cheese gets all melty and golden. Yum. The smoked mozzarella is really key here, it goes so well with the bacon and the kale – so don’t skip it! (more…)

12
Jan
2014

Holiday Roadtrip Restaurant Reviews

categories: Reviews

We had two different events planned in two different states in the weeks before Christmas: a weekend-long birthday party in the Outer Banks and a family get-together in Nashville, TN. We decided it would be fun to connect the events via a long roadtrip, stopping at the Biltmore Estate in NC before continuing on to TN. Biltmore is HUGE. The house is the largest privately owned house in the US, and the grounds cover 8000 acres. It takes 30 minutes to get from the Inn on the property to the house.

We stayed for two nights at the Inn, which is a really nice hotel and spa. They were all decked out for Christmas, and had a gingerbread house replica of the Inn. There are multiple restaurants on the Estate – we ate at the Inn Dining Room the first night, and like it so much we decided to eat there the second night too!

The Dining Room is seasonal, farm-sourced fine dining. I really liked their small plates and respectful treatment of produce. The amuse bouche was a different cream based vegetable veluote both nights and they were both outstanding. I could have eaten a bowl of that for dinner and been happy.

My favorite dish was the fried brussels sprouts with a farm egg, frisee, and bacon. This is seriously the BEST brussels sprouts dish I have ever had. It was eye-rolling good. I ordered it both nights and asked for the recipe, which they gave me! I’ll post it at the bottom.

Another standout was the roasted corn and lobster soup with piquillo peppers. This has been added to my list of favorite lobster dishes, and is in the top 3 lobster bisques for sure.

The pork belly with apple tart and goat cheese ravioli appetizers were also very good and I would highly recommend them. The gnocchi with brie, figs, and bacon was not enjoyable, though. The brie overpowered everything else and the bacon was way too salty. It sounded great on paper, but didn’t work.

The artisan meat and cheese platter was very satisfying, with lots of variety and good portions. I didn’t order any entrees, and Jasper ordered specials both nights. He really enjoyed the seafood special the first night, but did not like the steak special the second night.

Overall, the good outweighs the bad here and I would recommend trying it out if you are ever in the area. (more…)

12
Dec
2013

Salmon Pizzette

categories: Recipes

Here’s an idea for you for a quick meal or party food – smoked salmon, creme fraiche, capers, and chives on naan bread. Fast, easy, delicious, fun, but still elegant.

I actually made this two ways as sort of an experiment – one by heating the naan (on a pizza stone), then adding the toppings.

The second one I made by putting the ingredients (except for the chives) on first, then toasting it on the pizza stone. I was surprised to find that I liked this version better! I had never heated smoked salmon before, so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. But the flavor became rich and buttery and all the ingredients melded together.

I like the idea of naan as a topping conveyor. Small enough to be individually sized and already cooked, all you need to do is add toppings and heat. I bet it would be super fun to set up a make-your-own-pizza night this way, and kids would love it!

16
Sep
2013

Graffiato

categories: Reviews

We finally got to try out Top Chef Alum Mike Isabella’s DC restaurant Graffiato. Of course by now the buzz has died down and he has opened 2 other restaurants, doh! But that’s okay, it means it was easy to get a table, even on the weekend. The restaurant is trendy and urban and almost a little hipster, with rustic wood tables and graphic, cartoon wall murals. The cocktails are inventive and the wine list is good; they are even using a new type of device that let’s them pour from a bottle without removing the cork and without introducing oxygen, so that they can do wines by the glass that never would have been available before. Nifty. The food is Italian style small plates, which overall were quite yummy. It is overpriced, though, which is what you get with “celebrity” chef’s in already pricey places like DC. So just be prepared for sticker shock if you go.

First small plate was burrata with kumquat and shaved smoked pork loin. A beautiful mix of creamy, sweet, tangy, smokey, and salty – A+.

Next up was the charred octopus, which was good but wasn’t as charred as I would like it and definitely wasn’t better than Nostos’s.

We also had the focaccia with Mike’s famous pepperoni sauce, which I didn’t get a photo of. I was surprised at how good the sauce was, considering I am not a fan of pepperoni. Jasper, who loves pepperoni, was a big fan.

Ravioli special – chicken and mushroom. This, along with the sweet corn agnolotti that I didn’t get a photo of, was the best dish in my opinion.

This pappardelle with rabbit was good, but not great.

It was the same story with the seashells pasta with snails and bone marrow – good, but not great. Here I think the problem was a mint pesto that was overwhelming.

We were focused on ordering small plates to get a sampling of the menu, so we weren’t able to order a pizza. I hear that they are fantastic, so I would like to return to try one (the countryman, in particular). I would say that the stuffed pastas are smaller portions than the other pastas, but have much better flavor; the burrata was a standout; and the pepperoni sauce is worth the hype. If I hadn’t been with my meat loving husband, I would have loved to try some vegetable dishes. Isabella treats his ingredients with care, so I imagine that he could make a simple vegetable dish amazing.

Overall, worth a try if you can afford it. Valet is available, but it is right next to the Chinatown Metro stop.

26
Aug
2013

Summer Pizzas

categories: Recipes

I really love authentic Italian pizza. The kind with the thin crust that gets blistered and charred in the wood oven. My favorite place to get it around here is Pizzeria Orso, but I have been trying to make it at home. Step one is to get a pizza stone. I leave mine on the bottom rack of the oven. As long you are heating it with the oven (not sticking a cold stone into a hot oven) it will be totally fine to leave it in there all the time. In fact, heating it frequently will help keep it clean by burning any spills to dust. I’ve even left it in there on the self clean mode – totally fine and now very clean! It will take longer for your oven to preheat with the stone in it, but it will help keep the temperature even and constant. You will also need a pizza peel to transfer the pizza to the stone.

Step 2 for great pizza – great dough. I have tried many doughs, including whole wheat ones. For authentic pizza – this Jim Lahey dough is the best. It takes a long time to make though, so be prepared. The idea behind this dough is that the tenderness and pocketed texture come from fermenting the dough (for 18 hours, I told you it takes time!), and then handling it as little as possible. That means no kneading!

After letting the dough ferment (like sourdough starter), you carefully remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a floured surface. Then you separate it into four parts and gently fold (not roll, or knead) the parts into balls. Use them quickly or wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate. This dough is only good for a couple of days so plan to make a lot of pizza!

When you are ready to make the pizza (the oven and stone should be preheated at this point), carefully and gently stretch the dough. Either in the air on your knuckles, or on a floured surface. For some technique tips – check out this video. See those bubbles in the dough, there? That’s what you are trying to achieve. Those will blister up and make your pizza awesome. Here’s another handy trick – I always have trouble getting my pizza off the peel, no matter how much cornmeal I put on there. So I have started putting the pizza onto parchment paper and sliding that onto the stone. Then after about 2 minutes (you will smell it starting to char), I slide the parchment out from under the partially set dough – easy! (more…)

05
Jul
2013

Roasted Radish Flatbread with Honey

categories: Recipes

So this little beauty came about due to inspiration from Bev Cooks and the need to get rid of a lot of leftover ingredients from other meals. Sort of a clean-out-the-fridge-in-the-most-delicious-way-possible sort of thing.

I had leftover ricotta from this recipe, with you may recall from last week. Well, not really leftover since I purposefully made double the amount I needed.

And I had little nubs of radish left over from this Spring salad I made inspired by this Martha Stewart recipe. I didn’t post about it but it had butter lettuce, shaved radish and fennel, blanched peas and asparagus, and fresh mozzarella in a lemon juice and sour cream dressing. (more…)

13
Jun
2013

Spring Pizzas

categories: Recipes

I am one of those people that refuses to let go of a season, so I apologize if Spring drags on a bit for me here (especially since I am always late posting). But we are still in the transition period from Spring to Summer, so it’s not THAT bad (I hope).

Anyway, during one of my weekly lunches with Melissa from Smells Like Brownies, we decided to make a shaved asparagus pizza with some gorgeous purple asparagus that she got from a local farm (she talks about it here).

Isn’t it beautiful? It turns out that this asparagus is super juicy, so it released a lot of liquid during cooking that we had to mop up with paper towels. If you have some big, juicy stalks and want to make pizza, I recommend sauteing them a bit first or tossing with kosher salt and draining on paper towels for a bit to draw the moisture out.

Here is the beautiful whole wheat pizza dough that Melissa had ready to go when I got there. (more…)

27
Oct
2011

Homemade Ricotta – Summer’s Last Hurrah

categories: Recipes

I was browsing through blogs and found a series of recipes on Alexandra’s Kitchen involving homemade ricotta cheese that looked perfect for the end of summer. The recipes all looked really great but I questioned whether or not making ricotta versus buying it would make that much of a difference. I decided to go ahead and try it since it didn’t look all that difficult.

All you have to do is boil milk and cream, and add vinegar to curdle the milk.

(more…)

Tag: pizza