Prosciutto and melon is one of my all time favorite summer foods.  So when I found mini heirloom cantaloupes at the farmers’ market, I had the best of intentions as I asked the sweet old Amish lady to help me pick out the freshest one she had.  However,  as is prone to happen after carrying an 8lb slab of pork belly home (story for another post), my mind eventually turned to thoughts of something cooler and more refreshing. 

After giving initial consideration to trying to turn my cantaloupe into a nice frozen treat like a sorbet or granita, I eventually decided that it was a great candidate for a farmers’ market cocktail challenge. 

Why not, I thought, combine two of my favorite things – cocktails and prosciutto and melon.  And with that, the Can Elope Fizz was born; named for the effect it might have on you.

I’m now intrigued by the possibilities of melon cocktails.  Perhaps next time I’ll go ahead and make that sorbet and float a bit of it in a nice prosecco…you know, for the ladies.  I think the creaminess of tequila could also go well with the softness of the melon. We shall see.

Can Elope Fizz

2 lbs. Cantaloupe, cut into pieces

2 tbsp. chopped basil

3 oz. White rum

1.5 oz. Cognac

Soda Water

Grenadine

Prosciutto

Ahead of time, in a 350 degree oven bake slices of prosciutto on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 5 minutes or until crispy.  Puree cantaloupe pieces with chopped basil and set aside.

To make the drink, fill a glass with ice.  In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add rum, cognac and 2 oz. of cantaloupe puree.  Shake well and strain into glass.  Top off with soda and garnish with a splash of grenadine and a prosciutto crisp.

Before Christmas we decided to try out a relatively new addition to the DC food scene, Sou'Wester in the Mandarin Oriental hotel. We went in with very high expectations given it was created by the highly touted chef of CityZen and staffed by many of those who made that an award-winning kitchen. Unfortunately, we were disappointed - very much so.  I promised a full review, but it has been a month and I still haven't done it. Quite honestly, the meal wasn't worth the time spent writing one. In lieu of a review, I'm posting the verbatim notes from my Blackberry I typed to help remember the meal. I think it gets the point across.  

This weekend while on a visit back to my hometown in NC I realized that since I've been away for over 10 years, I no longer remember the phone number for the house I grew up in.  That's probably not that big of a deal because I also couldn't tell you other numbers I probably called a million times like my best friends or my dad's office; but strangely there is really only one I still remember - Speedy Lohr's (336-764-5509 if you're curious).

In a town known for little more than barbecue (check out the world famous Barbecue Festival for more), this is saying something and that's why Speedy Lohr's has become my own personal Mecca.  Whenever I'm home, I'll go way out of my way to eat there.  If anyone is coming to DC to visit, I request that they bring me a few pounds. And when my wife is looking to find the way to my heart through my stomach, she convinces them to FedEx a freezer-full to me.

I don't have any particular memories of Speey Lohr's growing up and in a town with dozens of BBQ joints I certainly wasn't exclusive to it, but from the hickory smoke billowing out the back to the unpretentous service and surroundings, it is everything a BBQ joint should be and it is now my own personal gold standard. You'll get good food for practically nothing served by the friendliest bunch of folks you'll ever meet.  I'd give one of my Un-Zagat reviews, but I guarantee it would get 4-stars.

These days, barbecue is a big part of my foodie personality.  I love to argue with Texas friends about whether or not real barbecue comes from a pig or cow (keep your beef, jerky); with NC friends about whether eastern or western NC is superior (Tupac forever); and with northern friends about whether or not the word barbecue is a noun or a verb (actually, I can't rationally discuss this).  I talk about barbecue with the same snobbishness a sommelier will use to dismiss entire varietals without so much as lowering his nose and as much as I try to fight it, a little piece of me probably looks down on you if you don't favor classic western NC Q. 

I'll share more about BBQ later including why we eat that weird red slaw, what the difference is between a chopped tray and a chopped plate, and how you can recreate the perfect western NC BBQ on your home grill.  But now my latest pilgrimage is complete and I've got 2 pounds of heaven calling my name.

Quick synopsis: while it is in the Mandarin Oriental, it sure feels and acts more like a random hotel restaurant in some anonymous town. This one won't be pretty folks. Stay tuned. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

{p.s. sorry for the bad picture. I forgot about it and took it through the glass as I was leaving}

No, no - I don't only eat at pizza joints. I'll try and diversify the reviews in the future, but when the best pizza in DC (as declared by the Washingtonian's readers) moves into my work 'hood, I had to go check it out. Flippin' Pizza opened a couple of week's ago to little fanfare in a pretty non-descript location in North Bethesda. On the first day they offered two free slices to everyone, but my abject disdain for standing in line for anything led me to the Chipotle next door. Since then, I've tried Flippin' twice and while I'm not ready to declare it the best in DC, I do think it will have a regular spot on my work lunch rotation.

Flippin' is NY-style pizza. My bias towards wood-fired brick ovens is well known and Flippin' just has your run-of-the-mill pizza baker's ovens. Everything about Flippin' is very basic, no frills or pretense in this place.

The Ratings:

Value – 4-stars. $5 gets you two nice slices plus a soda. I just don't think that can really be topped.

Atmosphere – 2.5-stars. It is just a small little NY-style pizza place. They seem to generally cater to take-out folks and only have 6-7 tables inside. I could probably use some inappropriately loud music or shouting, tattooed dough flippers that look like Jersey Shore cast rejects just to liven the place up a bit and give it a little personality.

Service – 3-stars. Again, this place is about pizza and nothing else. Walk in, tell the lady at the cash register what you want, wait two minutes and take your pizza. The Capital Grill this isn't, but that's not why you're here. Staff is friendly and, most importantly for a lunch place, quick. Besides, if you're going to complain about the service when you're only paying $5, please go introduce your head to a ceiling fan in the middle of July.

Food – 2.5-stars. I thought the pizza was good, but not great. The crust is very thin. It has a great taste, but ends up being extremely crunchy - too crunchy if you ask me. If you come in for a slice, everything is made ahead of time and they just reheat it so I'm sure this contributes to the texture. On the good side, the pizza isn't greasy, the sauce is tasty and the all-important sauce-to-cheese-to-toppings ratio is spot on. As best I can tell, if you're buying by the slice you're limited to the 5-6 regulars in their rotation so this might not be the best place for the picky eater. Toppings are all basic pizza toppings so don't expect to fill up on some arugula, chevre and quail sausage crap pizza; you get pepperoni, meatballs and sausage and you'll be happy about it. There is nothing here I can't do at home except for putting the food on my tray in about 3 minutes.

Final rating – 3 stars. I can probably think of 10 pizza places in DC I like better than Flippin'. Unfortunately, I can think of zero anywhere within lunchtime driving from my office so I will hereby declare Flippin' Pizza the kind of North Bethesda. If I had one in my home neighborhood, I would probably frequent it because it is easy and reliable. Definitely check it out.

My rating guide:

Value – Fairly subjective call based on how much I felt like I got for my money. An expensive place can rate high here if I felt like I got a lot. A cheap place might rate low if I thought it sucked.

Atmosphere – Quiet is usually good. Crowded is usually bad. I’ll throw in intangibles like cleanliness and bathrooms and such in here. Just so you know, you automatically get bonus points if you have one of those new jet powered hand-dryers.

Service – Often, this is the most important to me and can generally be the deciding factor about whether or not I go to a restaurant. I can cook at home. When I’m paying you to do it, I expect a little effort and maybe some appreciation that I chose your restaurant over another. Just sayin'.

Food – I grade this based on whether or not I could have done it at home. 1-star means I make it better. 4 stars means there’s no chance I could have even thought of it, much less executed it.

Anyone that has been to our place knows we have a lot of cookbooks.  There was a time that sentence would have read "Tiernen has a lot of cookbooks," but over time I've come accept that I probably like them just as much as she does.  In my opinion, cookbooks make great gifts. They last forever; there's such a wide variety that you can find one to suit anyone on your shopping list; and if you do your research you'll find one that will be well-used by cooks at all levels.

To help you decide what book to get when you're standing in the middle of about 5000 in the bookstore, here are my top 5 cookbooks that we use on a pretty regular basis.

1)  Everyday Food: Great Food Fast  

Although it came out shortly after the prison episode and her name is very much downplayed in the book, it should surprise no one that Martha gets the top spot.  We use this handy paperback more than any other book we have.  It has a wide variety of foods covering a range of cuisines, but it is all easy to understand and quick to make. This one is perfect for someone with diverse tastes, a person just getting into cooking or busy professionals who like to eat well but may be short on time.  Best recipe: Beef Bulgogi

2)  Williams-Sonoma Tools and Techniques  

I’m an absolute sucker for technique books.  Even though the basic techniques are pretty much the same throughout the culinary world, we still have several of these type of cookbooks.  This one is my favorite mostly because of the design and layout.  For each technique the book has multiple pictures as it walks you step-by-step through the process.  This one can be equally informative to both the beginning cook because of its simplicity and the advanced cook because it gives you room to experiment.  Best recipe: Pie crust (and the foundation for my famous chicken pie)

3)  The Glory of Southern Cooking

No cookbook recommendations from me would be complete without a good southern cookbook.  Now if you’re really from the south, most southern cookbooks come in one of two forms: either a big three-ring binder with clippings from the local newspaper and Southern Living or the cookbook your church produces every few years to raise money for the missionaries.  The Glory of Southern Cooking has all the classics that any good southerner grew up on, but it is also sophisticated enough that those born north of the Mason-Dixon can feel like they are eating an exotic foreign cuisine.  The appetizers are particularly good in the book making it a good buy for someone who does a lot of dinner parties.  Best recipe: Parmesan-herb drumettes.

4)  Two Meatballs in the Italian Kitchen

We cook a lot of Italian food and we have quite a few Italian cookbooks, all of which we use with some frequency.  I’m singling this one out because it has classics as well as some unique recipes and because we have never made anything bad from it.  Any Italian food lover will enjoy this one and any family feeding a lot of mouths will always appreciate the family-style cooking Italians are know for.  Best recipe: Classic Ceasar Salad.

5)  Mix Shake Stir 

While I fully appreciate the classics, I’m all about the new trend of artisan cocktails.  In fact, we now never plan a dinner party without some sort of season cocktail that everyone can enjoy.  This book is based on drinks poured in Danny Meyer’s NYC restaurants like Gramercy Tavern and Blue Smoke.  Get this one for the person who enjoys hosting dinner parties.  Best recipe:  not ready to pick a winner until I make I taste-test a few more, but the Pomegranate Gimlet and Hard Thyme Lemonade were both hits.

Honorable Mentions:

For the Farmer’s Market Lover – Check out either Harvest or Favorites from Stonewall Kitchen

For the Manly-man Carnivore – The Barbecue Bible is a must-have

For the Hardcore Foodie – Tom Colicchio’s Think Like a Chef will not disappoint

For the Food Network Fan – Stay the hell away from Rachel Ray and get anything from Ina Garten or Giada

For your Favorite Wannabe Food Blogger and Bacon Lover - Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing is the new bible

1.5 lb pork belly

2 teaspoons pink salt

4 tablespoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon smoked salt

4 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Dash liquid smoke

1) Combine salts and sugar and rub into meat.

2) Place meat in resealable plastic bag and add dash of liquid smoke.  Place in refrigerator for one week, turning daily to distribute liquid evenly. 

3) Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Wash pork belly and dry thoroughly.  Place into a roasting pan and cook until internal temperature reaches 150 degrees (approximately 1.5 hours).

4) Let cool completely and wrap well.  Will keep in refrigerator for one week or in the freezer for several. 

Note: To cook bacon, slice to desired thickness.  Cook over medium-low temperature until crisp.

NOTE: be sure to check out the story behind the romanesco challenge here.

After doing a little research and getting a great tip from commenter Lisa, I decided to go with a saute preparation for this weird green monster.  We were having chicken stuffed with prosciutto and sage so I thought Lisa's Italian recipe would do the trick.

The Recipe:
1 Head Romanesco, florets removed and quartered
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tbsp. tomato paste
Grated parmesan cheese

Blanch romanesco florets.  When cool, drain and set aside to dry completely.   Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until garlic is tender.  Add tomato paste to pan and stir to incorporate. Add romanesco florets to pan, mix well and saute until warm, approximately 5 minutes.  Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

The Result:
Pretty good overall.  It was an ok side dish, but I can see how it would be a great addition to a pasta (treat it like a broccoli this way). Romanesco tastes exactly like cauliflower and has basically the same texture. If I did it again, I might add diced pancetta to give it a little more flavor, but I'm clearly biased towards the salty cured meats.  Also, I think this would be fantastic roasted or as a gratin - there are several recipes online that could be used for this. If you see one of these crazy looking things at the market, don't be afraid - give it a shot.

(download)

Click here to download:

Farmers_Market_Challenge_-_Rom.zip (1.76 MB)

Inspired by the farmer's market challenges Florida Girl in DC always takes on, I took a chance on this alien.  I'm told it is called a romanesco and that it is sort of a cross between a cauliflower and broccoli.  The farmer described it as "nutty" which is how I feel people describe food when they have no idea what it tastes like.

No real clue what to do with it. We've done some roasted cauliflower and cauliflower gratin lately so I'm guessing that'll be the direction I take this bad boy in. Stay tuned...