Mango & Tomato

7/8/10

Brunch at Four Seasons

A while ago I received an invitation from the lovely Liliana for brunch at Seasons to celebrate 1 year anniversary of Washington DC's Four Seasons on Twitter (@fswashington).

Prior to this brunch, I've been to Four Seasons hotel on two occasions: lunch at Bourbon Steak (1, 2). I was excited to try the new menu at Season's restaurant, catch up with Liliana, and share the table with other fabulous DC bloggers, including my +1, K. And just for the full disclosure: the tab was picked up by the restaurant. {Otherwise, the brunch would cost you $80 including juice, champagne, and coffee.}

At first I decided that in no way will I consume any alcohol during brunch: I still had to do grocery shopping, cooking and photograph several recipes for Robyn Webb. However, when I saw the festive table and Sylvie's glass of mimosa, I could not resist. Check out the cute name cards with our twitter names on them!

Before filling up my plate with food, I decided to do a quick walk around the various stations, snap a few photographs and decide what looked the best.

Here's Barbeque Shack: pulled pork sliders, smoked brisket, dry rubbed ribs, slaw, red potato salad, deviled eggs and red peas with collard greens.

Next up, Social Salads and Cold vegetables: there are too many to list, but here is a sample of the offering: feta/olives/watermelon, Heirloom tomatoes/basil/olive oil, roasted bell peppers, capers/kalamata olives, grilled local peaches/saba dressing.

Meat, salads, all good things, but I was most excited about seafood! Just some of the offerings you see: tomato gazpacho, poached shrimp, oysters, mini crab & vegetable salad, seared scallops, Maine lobster rolls, and smoked salmon. {I'm getting hungry just writing this.}

mini crab & vegetable salad with avocado puree

variety of toppings for fresh oysters

tomato gazpacho shot glasses

crab claws

dill cured salmon

There was also a station with variety of cured meats and cheeses.

And now, time to eat! I decided to take a photo of each one of my plates in order to try and keep my intake in check...but it was really hard to do with so many appetizing options!

Plate #1: gazpacho, crab salad, scallops, lobster roll, raw tuna, shrimp, and dill salmon.

My thoughts: my favorites were the gazpacho (smooth, acidic, bright and cold), dill salmon (would be perfect on a bagel, but I didn't want to fill up on carbs), crab & vegetable salad (loved the presentation, the sweetness of the crab and the creaminess of the avocado), and the scallops. The shrimp, I thought, lacked flavor and was rather forgettable.

Plate #2: more crab/vegetable salad, oysters, cured meat, a piece of brie, a few oysters and some salads (vegetables are good for you, right?)

My thoughts: loved the tomato/mozzarella salad and the grilled peaches.

Plate #3 Meat and seafood: crabcake, grilled shrimp, dry rubbed ribs, smoked brisket with apple bourbon glaze, red skin potato salad with bacon, and a piece of meat (I know...I'm sorry, I can't remember the cut).

My thoughts: unlike the shrimp from my earlier plate, this one was flavorful! Definite points. The crabcake had very little filler ingredients: all you could taste was crab: a definite plus. I was not crazy about the piece of meat: it was on a dry side and chewy, but loved both the brisket and the ribs (even though the ribs were a bit messy to eat).

And then...........there was an entire room for dessert!!!

the next two photos are courtesy of Mary from Arugula Files. Check me out all dressed up and wearing Cindy's mom's gorgeous pearls and looking forward to enjoying some chocolate!

Plate #4: creme brule, fresh cherries, cheesecake and a few pieces of fruit dipped in chocolate. Needless to say I loved it all.

And just when I thought we were done, the pastry chef brought a birthday cake to our table! I only had one bite, but it was delicious.

Are you feeling stuffed just from reading this post? Surprisingly, I could still breath after leaving the table.

This is definitely a splurge of a brunch and not something you'd ever do on a weekly basis. Leave Seasons for very special occasions and for when you have several hours to linger over the food. The service was impeccable and I really enjoyed most of the food options.

The beauty of this buffet, is that you can take a little sample of many dishes: if you like them, take more, if you don't, the waiter will take your plate with unfinished food back.

Thanks Four Seasons and Liliana for great food memories!

7/7/10

Pete's Apizza

Hi, everyone! Hope you had a great Fourth of July weekend. I was away visiting Mr. Almodovar of the Almodovar orchid in Nashville. Great food, fireworks, botanical garden and art museum. And of course salsa dancing. I will write up a few food related posts later: stay tuned.

But for now, I wanted to let you know about a great new (to me!) pizza place in DC: Pete's Apizza.
A few weeks ago I went blueberry picking, after which, Mary, Jenna and I were starving and in need of food: eating handfuls of blueberries doesn't count! After a few wrong turns, Mary had a great idea of eating lunch at Pete's Apizza, and Jenna and I agreed.

The restaurant was bright, spacious and filled with families, friends and couples. We had a choice of ordering pizza by a slice, or getting an entire pie to share. We decided to get a salad, pizza and drinks.
The salad consisted of arugula, pecans and two fried goat cheese balls. We dug right in!

For the pizza, we decided on the Down-the-hill: Sliced Meatball, House-made Sausage, Caramelized Onion, Roasted Peppers, Wild Mushrooms and Kalamata Olives $24.95.

Just look at this beauty! (I let Jenna take a slice before taking the photos...we were really hungry, as I've mentioned before.)

The pizza is made in the New Haven style. Have you ever heard of it? Neither have I. Here are some facts from the website:

♥ Because of the way it is made, it turns out crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

♥ It is a thin crust. Because of its crispiness, it holds up when you pick the slice up, rather than bending over and spilling toppings back onto the plate.

♥The ingredients are all natural, and many are organic and locally grown. The sauce is all tomatoes, with no artificial ingredients, and no high-fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners. The cheese is fresh and not too salty. Toppings are fresh from the farm and organic, or made in-house; sweet Italian sausage, for example, is made from scratch right in the kitchen at Pete's.

♥Also, ingredients are applied sparingly on APIZZA. It is not oversauced, not overcheesed, and not piled on with mounds of toppings. The overall effect is a lighter tasting, healthier pizza. You enjoy the whole portion, whether it's a slice by yourself or a whole pie with friends or family, but you've eaten a lighter, healthier meal.

♥APIZZA is round, but not really. Not every pie comes out perfectly uniform (although pies made to be sold by the slice have to be fairly uniform in shape so every slice is about the same size). The most famous New Haven pizzerias send out pizzas in the weirdest shapes sometimes. And when sold by the whole pie, the slices are usually cut in quite haphazard shapes.

What's my verdict? LOVED IT! The meatballs had a lot of flavor; I really liked the saltiness of the olives and the sweetness of the roasted peppers. And this pizza was great as breakfast leftovers for the next few days (eaten cold!).

If you are ever in the Tenleytown or Columbia Heights neighborhoods, definitely pay a visit to this eatery.

7/2/10

Blueberry & Raspberry Oatmeal Muffins

Last Saturday I went blueberry picking with Mary and Jenna. For me, the main goal was to hang out with the girls: I did not really have any "projects" in mind for the blueberries that I picked (all 7 pounds of them!). That's why I picked up a mini recipe booklet from Butler's Orchard before heading home.

I decided to try out a recipe for Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins. Why? Because the recipe was simple, relatively healthy and would be a good way to have breakfast all week long. But of course I could not follow it to a t, and made a few changes. Since I knew I will be posting this recipe the weekend of 4th of July (yes, sometimes I plan ahead), I decided to have a bit of fun with a red/white/blue theme: thus, the addition of raspberries! The only other change I made was using zest of an entire lemon instead of just 1 teaspoon.

Blueberry & Raspberry Oatmeal Muffins (Recipe adapted from Butler's Orchards)

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups oatmeal, quick or regular
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla (did you know you can make your own vanilla extract at home?)
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup raspberries

topping
1/4 cup oatmeal
2 tablespoons sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line muffin tins with paper cups.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl mix together milk, egg, oil, lemon zest and vanilla.
4. Incorporate wet ingredients into the dry ones, but be careful not to over mix.
5. Carefully blend in blueberries and raspberries.

6. Divide the mixture amongst 12 muffin tins, filling them 2/3 of the way. These will not become the gigantic muffins you see in Costco or Starbucks, not that there is anything wrong with it. Just wanted to let you know!

7. In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup oatmeal with 2 tablespoons of sugar and sprinkle on each muffin.

8. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Ta-da! Aren't these pretty? I've been eating these muffins for the entire week: two for each breakfast. The topping of oatmeal added a bit of crunch, while the inside of the muffins was moist (especially when biting into a blueberry or raspberry). If you want these for a dessert, you might want to increase the amount of sugar.

I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July weekend! I will be away in Nashville, TN, trying not to go completely crazy without Internet ;)

6/30/10

Mango & Tomato Recipe Contest Winners

My blog turned 2 years old in May! Hopefully, this is not the time of terrible two's! To celebrate, I decided to host a recipe contest and ask my readers to submit recipes that contain both mangoes and tomatoes! I was very excited to receive a total of eleven submissions.

The runner-ups:
Cucumber and Couscous-stuffed Tomatoes with Mango Mint Salsa by Kaoru from Never Turn Down a Cupcake
Why I like this submission: 1) This is a dish you can make after you get home from work without slaving for hours 2) This dish screams summer because it is perfect for our 90+ degree weather 3) The final result is so colorful, hopefully even the pickiest eaters will give it a try!

photo by Kaoru

Mango Jalapeno Pizza by Lori from Fake Food Free
Why I like this submission: 1) Love the idea of adding sweet ingredients to your pizza (In the past, I've made a plum & gorgonzola pizza) 2) Lori used champagne mangoes: some of my favorites! 3) The combination of sweet mango and pickled jalapenos sounds like it would definitely hit the spot!

photo by Lori

Winner of 25 Disposable, Biodegradable, Compostable and Sturdy Palm Plates from Marx Foods:

Mango Bloody Mary, Spicy & Sweet Fish Fajitas and Tomato Petit Fours with Mango Glaze by Nicole from Discojing
Why I like this submission: 1) Nicole created not 1, but 3 dishes--obviously it's not about quantity, but quality, but her entire meal has mango & tomato components 2) all of the dishes sound relatively healthy and would not be too far from anyone's comfort zone 3) The photo collage is great!

photo by Nicole

The winner of the main prize ($25 gift card to Whole Foods & $25 gift card to Sur La Table):
Vanilla-Seared Scallops with Mango, Cherries and Tomato by Darienne from Cook. Play. Explore.
Why I liked this submission: 1) it's absolutely gorgeous! 2) it uses in-season cherries and tomatoes 3) the ingredient list is short and directions are uncomplicated 4) I could absolutely see myself cooking this!

photo by Darienne

Thank you to everyone else who participated!

Curried Adzuki Beans with Mango and Spinach by Valerie from City Life Eats
Sues Sassy Salas with mangoes, avocados, tomatoes and jalapenos (a non blogger recipe)
Greek-Style Tomato Fritters with Mango "Tzatziki" by Natasha from 5 Star Foodie
Tomato Flan with Mango Caramel by Norma from Platanos, Mangoes and Me!
Tomato and Mango Celebration, a Coulis for Shrimp by Anna from Cook. Play. Explore.
Tomato and Mango Salsa by Jenn from Jenn Cuisine
Mango Raita by Dawn (a non blogger): this recipe uses a green mango!
Flank Steak for Wraps or Salads by Yvonne from Cook. Play. Explore.

Those who won, please email me your addresses! Congratulations!

6/28/10

Blueberry picking with Mary and Jenna

A while ago, Mary of Arugula Files promised to take me blueberry picking. Why? Because she's awesome like thatm, and because she has a car (and I don't). This past Saturday, she picked me up at 8 am (super early for me!), and after picking up Jenna of Modern Domestic, we headed out to pick blueberries at Butler's Orchard.

It was an insanely hot and steamy day. Still, there were quite a few families at the farm. We waited our turn before hopping on a little "train" that drove us to the blueberry fields.

Did you know you can't just find a blueberry bush and start picking? We had to ask teenage boys in charge where we could pick. At one point I started picking and some woman told me "This is my bush." Get a grip, lady, there are plenty of blueberries to go around.

Here is someone else's bucket half full with blueberries.

It was interesting to see the progression in color from green to the most beautiful blue. No wonder these are called blueberries ;) The ones at my grocery store, however, mostly look black.

In the midst of picking blueberries and trying not to sweat too much, which was impossible, I happily snapped photos of the pretty berries with my new lens (Tamron 18-270mm). I especially like this shot below because the berries almost look like grapes!

And here is the proof that I was actually there! Thanks to Mary for the photo.

I managed to pick 7 pounds of berries and paid nearly $20 for them. We had so much fun! Stay tuned for a few recipes I'll be posting using these berries.

6/24/10

Arugula, Avocado, Feta & Pickled Onion Salad

Earlier this week I posted a recipe for pickled onions. What did I do with them you wonder? Well, wonder no more!

Here's a quick "recipe" for Arugula, Avocado, Feta & Pickled Onion Salad.

The most important thing about this salad is to very carefully wash the arugula, or otherwise you'll be eating sand. What I do is dunk arugula in a big bowl filled with water. Carefully remove the leaves, drain the water, rinse the bowl (notice all the sand!) and repeat the process several times. If you are super environmentally aware, keep the water and use it to water your plants.

You can mix all of the ingredients in a bowl, or make a layered salad: it photographs much nicer. And looks do matter in my book.

Layer arugula leaves, scatter feta, nicely arrange avocado slices and then pile on the pickled onions. If you want, drizzle the salad with olive oil, but I honestly was fine with the way it was.

The creamy avocado offset the slightly bitter taste of arugula, and the salty feta and vinegary onions brightened up this dish.

And of course this post would not be complete withouth a shout out to Mary who writes Arugula Files :)

6/22/10

How to pickle onions

Back in January, I wrote about pickling watermelon radishes. That post got quite a few comments as many of you did not realize how simple it is to pickle vegetables.

Then a few weeks ago I was watching Bobby Flay's Throwdown where he made a hot dog topped with avocado, pickled onions, and queso fresco. I thought it was an awesome idea, but did not do anything about it.

Fast forward to last week, when Mary of The Arugula Files posted a recipe for pickling onions. That did it! I had to make pickled onions.

My recipe varies from Mary's, but that's the beauty of cooking: you can pretty much use your imagination and try out a combination of different ingredients.

Ingredients
1/2 red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
10 coriander seeds
10 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
enough black currant vinegar to cover (this is the vinegar I had left from freelancing for Robyn Webb) {You can use any other vinegar you have on hand.}

Directions
1. Add onions and spices to a clean glass jar. Top with vinegar. Tightly close the lid. Shake the jar. Set in your refrigerator.
2. Wait 24 hours.
3. Open the jar and enjoy these pickled onions!

Stay tuned because I'll be posting at least one recipe that uses these pickled red onions. In the mean time, feel free to add them to salads, on top of fish or chicken, eat them with burgers or on top of hotdogs, or just put them out as a snack with nuts and olives.

What have you pickled lately?

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