Restaurant Review – Vespucci in Fairfax

Walk through the front door at Vespucci, an Italian restaurant in Fairfax, and if you time your visit right you’ll catch the live entertainment that plays there on occasion.  Ample seating offers a perfect view of the small stage and there is a piano, as well as a flat screen TV setup in the bar.  The outdoor patio offers plenty of seating as well, with whimsical lights and a fire pit that is lit during cooler months.  

Vespucci restaurant was started after multiple requests were received from patrons of Cooking & Company Catering, to make available daily, the mouth-watering dishes that could be found on the catering menu.      

We were seated and handed a nice cold drink within just a moment of walking in.  Despite the extensive wine list, I settled on my requisite gin and tonic.  Shortly afterward, we were staring at a beautifully roasted head of garlic, sprinkled with parmesan and resting in a pool of olive oil.  Accompanied by crusty italian bread, it was the perfect start to the evening.  

Always interested to taste different house dressings, we kept with the theme and ordered the house salad.  This decision did not disappoint.  Crunchy mixed greens, kalamata olives and hearts of palm were all dressed with a distinctly tasting vinaigrette that I could not put my finger on.  I learned from our friendly server Youssef that it was pomegranate.  What a surprising taste! It was so tangy and sweet and all but kisses the taste buds.  

While taking a tour of the kitchen with the owner Ray, we met the lovely head chef and saw our meals being prepared to order.  Mine was rigatoni vespucci, which presented the perfect amount of sun-dried tomatoes and Italian sausage tossed with a creamy parmesan sauce.  The tomatoes provided a burst of flavor to contrast the mild creaminess of the dish and the salt in the sausage brought out just the right touch of sweetness.  The dish was right up my alley. 

For those who know Mr. Cheese, you can likely bet that he had meat and you’d be right.  He enjoyed the filet with porcini mushroom sauce.  Although he would have preferred his to be cooked more well done than any chef wants to cook a piece of meat, he loved the deep, woodsy flavors.  

While we were there, a party of four friends – all vegetarians – were enjoying an evening out on the patio.  That’s one thing to appreciate about Vespucci.  They place great emphasis on the wholeness of ingredients and claim to be the first and only restaurant in the Washington DC area that is trans-fat free, and they provide a pretty extensive vegetarian selection, as well.  Overall, we had a lovely evening out with outstanding service, delicious food and good ambiance.  A solid find.  

Rating:   (out of 5)

Vespucci – Check out their website.  You can see the menu, join their mailing list, and get a coupon for 15% off your next visit. 

10579 Fairfax Blvd. in Fairfax, VA 22030 (703) 272-8113

• $$
• Ample parking
• Non-smoking
• Outdoor patio; smoking is allowed on patio
• Small, well-behaved dogs are welcome on the patio

 

My First Dish Ever: Wait for it…Vomit!

That’s right, folks!  I was pretty tricky as a child and could wiggle my way out of most anything.  A couple of years ago I wrote a cookbook for the kids as a sort of collection of some favorite family recipes.  Here is the introduction and a glimpse into the (bizarre) start of my love affair with food:

I used to be a chef.  Correction.  I used to aspire to become a chef.  I grew up watching cooking shows and playing around in the kitchen.  I can remember my first dish, although no one would be crazy enough to try it.  I made vomit.  Seriously.  I woke up on any given school day and did not want to go to school.  Not that there was anything more exciting to do at home, but the prospect of sleeping or watching soap operas with Grandma was more appealing to me than sitting in school.  Observation of my siblings and various parental behaviors told me that if I was sick, really sick, I could stay home.  So I concocted vomit.  I can share the recipe if you like, although I never used specific measurements. 

•  Wheat germ
• French dressing
• Grape jelly
• Pickle Relish
• Milk
• other various ingredients that may intensify the effect

Mix all ingredients together.  Make sure no one’s looking and pour slowly over and around the toilet bowl, taking care to allow for the splash effect.  To increase believability, drizzle over pillow continuing in a shaky trail down the hallway to the bathroom. 

Image via Wikipedia

That stuff saved me from countless days of Ms. Bowman’s horrid, high-pitched voice or getting hit during dodgeball or taking that stupid square dance in P.E.  It was also a welcomed reprieve from the itchy, red rashes that the poison ivy I rolled in, gave me and it proved to be less of an irritant.  Yes, I admit it, I rolled in huge, painful looking patches of the stuff to stay home for days at a time.  I was hardly even 8 or 9 years old at the time so I don’t know if I was really nuts or school was just rotten.  Shut up, don’t answer that.  I switched to the vomit-making scheme when I brilliantly got the ivy stuff in my eye and one of them swelled shut.  In the middle of summer.  When the rest of the kids were at the pool.  And I was banned.  Genius.   

Holy Nuts, it’s Jicama Slaw!

I wanted to make jicama slaw last night from scratch, as a new recipe.  I thought it would be the perfect side to our crab cakes and corn on the cob, but my local grocer was out of the stuff and I didn’t feel like traipsing over to the other one to grab a couple.  So I went with Plan B, which was to have green beans and tomatoes tossed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, instead.  Not bad. 

Today I did the requisite trip to what rhymes with Poll Poods and bought the goods.  Based on my conversations with people, I understand some folks are still unfamiliar with foods like jicama, yucca and even plantains, so it left me feeling disappointed to see the jicama stocked in the same bin with the yucca.  Signed right there along with the yucca.  As yucca.  I knew what they were immediately, but told the produce guy he ought to fix the signage.  I bet they’d sell more.   

So what is jicama, exactly?  It’s a root vegetable with a light, crisp flavor that is sort of  unidentifiable.  Some write that it resembles an apple or a pear.  Although the crisp sure does, I think the flavor is more a cross between that of a potato and a bland apple.  Jicama can be eaten raw, though you can also roast it, bake it, fry it, etc.  I think you could almost do anything with it, with enough time, patience and creativity.  I have read over and over that in Mexico, it is a popular snack cut into french fry size and sprinkled with lime juice and chili powder.   

I’ve always wanted to roast one, so we’ll save that for another time.  Tonight’s was made into cole slaw, as I’ve seen it made this way on tv, in magazines and all over the place and I think it’s a great idea.  The main reason I wanted to try my hand at a recipe for cole slaw, namely with jicama, is that I am not a fan of the stuff.  Cole slaw, that is.  The only two places in the world I will eat tolerate cole slaw from, are Roy Rogers (all hail the Cole Slaw Kings!) and KFC (ok, they get a link only because I love can stomach theirs).  Pretty pathetic, right?  That being said, I love.love.love barbeque sandwiches and we make a pretty kick-ass roast for pulled beef.  Or pork.  Either.  So, 7:00 am this morning found me in the kitchen prepping our 2.25 pound hunk o’ london broil and marinade for the slow cooker.  

I popped it in, turned up the heat and went to work.  After work, I played with my food, made one helluva mess in the kitchen (it’s still dirty right now…) and viola!  Jicama Slaw at your service, to be piled on top of pulled beef.  

 Jicama Slaw

• 1 large jicama, peeled and grated
• 1/3 cup grated carrots
• 1/3 cup grated green cabbage
• 1/3 cup grated red cabbage
• 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 4 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 teaspoon salt   

How to Make It!

Mix the mayonnaise, vinegar, celery seed, sugar and salt together in a large bowl.  In another bowl, combine the cabbage and jicama and toss to combine.  Add the cabbage and jicama to the mayonnaise mixture, about 1/3 at a time and stir to combine.  Depending on the juiciness of the jicama, you may need to drain the entire mixture of extra juices, once it is combined.  Once done, let chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours prior to serving.  Yields 2 cups. 

Bonus!  Pulled Beef Roast

• 2.25 lb london broil for roasting
• 1 onion, rough chop
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons spicy mustard
• 1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander seed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• pepper

In a small bowl, mix the oil, vinegar, Worcestershire, mustard, and seasonings.  Place half of the chopped onion on the bottom of the slow cooker.  Sprinkle enough of the marinade to just cover the bottom of the cooker.  With a fork, or a tenderizing tool, lightly poke or tenderize the roast all over each side and place in the slow cooker.  Sprinkle with remaining onion and cover with remaining marinade.  Put the lid on, turn on automatic and allow to cook for about 8 hours.  Let rest about 10 minutes prior to pulling or serving.  Yields 6-8+ (depends on how many sandwiches, size, etc.)

My First (food) Memory

My earliest memory is of eating orange sherbet and thinking of how sweet it is, but knowing that there is baby aspirin hidden in the sherbet. I guess my dad thought he could out smart me. I remember wondering if he really thought I didn't know it was in there. To this day, I am not a fan of the stuff. Baby aspirin or the sherbet.

How to Make A Lot of Soups!

With the days getting shorter and the summer slowly coming to an end, I am starting to dream of all the yummy soups I will soon cook.  From scratch.  Don’t get me wrong, on a very busy day I can be caught wielding a can opener toward a can of tomato soup or New England clam chowder, but on a chilly night with the sound  of crisp leaves beneath your feet, nothing beats a bowl of hot, homemade soup.  It can seem like a difficult task, but it is easier than you might think.

Let’s look at the following steps:

1.  Sweat (draw liquid out of) the vegetables in a large sauce pot with butter or oil

2.   FOR CREAM-BASED SOUP ONLY: add flour equal to the amount of butter or oil that you used.  This creates a roux, or thickening agent to help thicken the soup.  Stir and let cook for about 3-5 minutes until lightly browned.  IF NOT CREAM-BASED, SKIP THIS STEP

3.  Add a stock such as chicken, vegetable, beef or fish stock.  You can use other liquids as well.  I’ve even incorporated clam juice when I’m making a seafood chowder.  Go ahead, experiment!  If it goes wrong, order out

4.  Add additional ingredients if desired and bring to a slow bubble.  For example, if making lentil soup with sausage, you may want to add the cooked sausage here.  Simmer for at least an hour and a half to allow the flavors to blend. 

5.  You may consider blending or pureeing all or a portion of the ingredients, then add them back into the pot.

6.  FOR CREAM-BASED SOUP ONLY:  If you’re making a cream soup, this is where you would add the cream. 

7.  Top off with additional seasonings and garnish and serve hot.

Let’s replay this with actual ingredients:

Creamy Broccoli Soup

• 1 onion, small dice
• 2 celery stalks, small dice
• 1/2 cup leeks, small dice
• 1 & 1/4 lb. broccoli florets
• 4 Tablespoons of butter
• 4 Tablespoons flour
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 2 quarts vegetable stock
• 1 pint heavy cream

1.  In a large saucepan, sweat the vegetables (except ¼ pound of broccoli florets) in melted butter over medium heat, until the onion appears translucent.  

2.  Add the sherry and let reduce or cook down by about half.

3.  Sprinkle the flour in and stir to combine, letting it cook for about 3-4 minutes.  It might look clumpy but keep stirring and have faith.  If you must, chant to yourself in your best fancy chef voice “I am making soup, I am making soup…”

4.  Add the vegetable stock and stir to make sure all flour is mixed in well.  Bring to a slow bubble.

5.  Let simmer for about an hour and a half, stirring on occasion.  

6.  Puree the soup until smooth and return it to the pot.

7.  Slowly stir in the heavy cream and set to a low simmer.

8.  Add the remaining ¼ pound of broccoli florets and simmer until cooked through.

9.  Serve hot.  Serves 8-10. 

TIP:  The fresher the ingredients, the less seasonings you need to add.  I have made many soups from scratch with not so much as a dash of salt and they turned out pure delicious, due to the strength of the ingredients.  Always taste, taste, taste before adding seasonings 

TIP II:  Once you taste the final product, prior to adding any seasoning, try adding 1 Tablespoon of plain white vinegar at a time.  After each added tablespoon, stir throughout soup, let sit for about 3 minutes and taste again.  You will be pleasantly surprised.  After adding 2-3 Tablespoons of vinegar in this fashion, if you still feel you need an extra bit of saltiness or kick, season as needed.  I can say from experience, that smokers will season their food saltier and heavier by instinct, as their taste buds are harder pressed to taste the natural flavors of the ingredients. 

TIP III:  The generic soup instructions above can be applied to almost any soup and with some good humor and plenty of time to experiment in the kitchen, you will see how easy it is to create your own delicious, homemade bowls of goodness for you and your family.

Spaghetti Carbonara or The Importance of Fresh Stuff

To date, this is the most mediocre dish I have cooked.  Ever.  Not horrible, not spectacular.  Just good.  Different.  In my research, I learned that spaghetti carbonara  was named for Italian ‘charcoal makers’ or coal miners, perhaps for the way it was cooked in the mines or how the ingredients were readily available in most household pantries.  I have read several versions but the stories are pretty similar.  

While watching Anthony Bourdain in Rome the other night, his buddy emphasized that the key to Italian cooking is in the ingredients.  They should always be as fresh as possible and the fresher and higher quality the ingredients are, the fewer of them you will need.  This brings me to the pancetta.  We had all of the other ingredients but found ourselves at the local grocer’s to gather that one key component, rather than the local butcher shop.  What we purchased was a vacuum-sealed package of the stuff that had to air out for a few minutes, once opened, for me to be able to even get near it.  Vacuum-packed food is often like that, but it still smelled ‘off’ to me.  Not having cooked with pancetta very often, I couldn’t tell if it was just the way it was or if we didn’t get the best stuff available.  The proof was in the puddin’. 

It’s Italian Week on Tossing the Swiss!

In the interest of honoring the tomato, though my tomato crops were awful this year, and since I am craving all-things-italian, I have dubbed this week Italian Week, here at ‘The Swiss’.  

I will start with my go-to red sauce which I titled “Mom’s Marinara” for my cookbook, but I have since changed the recipe up a teensy bit.  I always knew my sauce is not a typical marinara.   The traditional marinara doesn’t have much more in it than tomatoes, garlic and basil.  Throw in some olive oil to cook the garlic and tomatoes, season with salt, pepper and sugar to cut the acidity and voila!  Simple marinara.   It is also not a recipe that needs to sit on the stove for half a day, as it was used originally by mariners (translation from the italian marinaro or sailor) who didn’t have the resources or time to prepare or carry a more complicated sauce on board.         

That being said, I simply love this sauce.  Its versatility lends itself to unlimited dishes.  Once done, puree it, then run it through a sieve for a super-smooth texture or add ground pork for a sort of ragu.  Add a touch of heavy cream  for a softer, velvety finish or a splash of balsamic vinegar for a zestier taste.   

Tomato Sauce

I puree and strain the sauce mainly for use in lasagna.  Otherwise, I eat it with the bits of veggies intact.  I love those whole flavors and especially love to sop them up with the last bites of crusty garlic bread. 

• 2 Tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 sweet onion, fine dice
• 1 green pepper, fine dice
• 1/3 cup cooking sherry
• (2) 6 oz. cans tomato paste, unseasoned (I use Contadina)
• (2) 28 oz. cans tomatoes, (I use Cento San Marzanos) (about 5 cups chopped, if you use your own)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh chopped basil
• pinch of oregano
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• pinch of crushed red pepper
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• salt, pepper & sugar to taste

How to Make It! 

In a large sauce pot, heat olive oil over medium-low heat.  Add garlic, onion, and green pepper and cook (or sweat) until onions appear transparent.  Add the cooking sherry, let bubble and cook until the sherry reduces by half, about 5-10 minutes.  

Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, water and seasonings.  Take a minute to break up the whole tomatoes a bit and stir together.  Once the sauce begins to bubble, turn heat to low, cover and let simmer for a few hours.  Stir occasionally, taste and adjust seasonings, as needed.  Add salt, pepper and sugar, a pinch or so at a time, to taste.  Yields about 5 cups 

 

Chicken Masala

Here is my (insanely good) variation of my buddy Prashanth’s dish and Aarti’s South of the Border Prawn Masala, sans prawns.  I was impressed when Prashanth, who did not concern himself with specific measurements, just rattled off the ingredients to me from memory, assuming I would figure out how much of what goes where.  Last night, Mr. Cheese and I each poured a glass of wine; rice wine for him and red for me.  We turned on some Regina Specktor and began to cook. 

Chicken Masala 

• 1 lb. chicken tenders, cut into bite size pieces
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• ½ red onion, small dice
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes, unseasoned
• 1 Tablespoon of tomato paste, unseasoned

 Marinade

• 1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 inch piece of ginger, minced
• 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric 

How to Make It!

Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl, then pour over the chicken tenders and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably over night.  

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat and brown the onions, then add the chicken.  Cook until all the liquid evaporates, and add the tomatoes including the liquid.  Bring to a bubble and let cook until most of that liquid reduces, about 10 minutes or so.  Add the masala, stirring well to combine, and slowly stir in the heavy cream.  Once the sauce begins to bubble, turn the heat down to low and let simmer for another 10-15 minutes.  We enjoyed this over a bed of saffron rice.  Serves 3-4. 

homemade masala – not so much garam

Mr. Cheese and I headed out to hunt for and gather the needed spices for the masala and found no such luck at the local grocer’s.  One small jar of cardamom seeds displayed a hefty price of $13.99, so we dumped our cart and headed to Lotte, the international market down the street.  We struck gold.  This enormous building which held markets inside of a market displayed every bit of produce and spice known to man.     

Most of the recipes I found for masala actually provided the process for cooking a chicken curry, with a step marked “add 1 tsp. garam masala”, but no detail as to what is in the masala.  I clearly understand why, since we American folks are a lazy group of people in general when it comes to cooking, and typically will not seek out the spices, toast them properly, grind them down and store them for later use.  Why, that’s caveman stuff!  Oh, but the pay off.  

We find commercial blends to be overly salted, so when made at home, we can control that.  I enjoy more clove and coriander with lighter hints of cumin.  Again, this we can control.  Once the painstaking process is done, you have a beautiful earthy, spicy, warm, complex blend of flavors that you made with your own hands in your kitchen, that will last for up to about four months.  Well worth the trouble, I’d say. 

The sources most helpful to me in my quest to conquer the great Masala Mystery, were Sheila Lukins’ All Around The World Cookbook, which has three or four variations of masala blends.  None of which are listed here, but she helped give me a basic idea as to the end result.  Wikipedia and Ochef were also a great help, telling of the spices in the mix and how different ingredients are often used in different regions of India. 

After much experimenting and research, I decided on the recipe below, which is for Garam Masala, Garam meaning hot or spicy.  I left out the black peppercorns since Mr. Cheese is just like those characters you see in comedies who have sneezing fits when they are near black pepper.

Masala

• 2 teaspoons cardamom seeds
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons whole cloves
• 2 Tablespoons coriander seeds
• 2 Tablespoons cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

How to Make It!

Place all ingredients except the ground mace, nutmeg and cinnamon, in a frying pan and toast over medium heat until lightly browned, about 10-15 minutes.  *Do not grease the pan with anything.  Stir occasionally. 

Let cool completely, then add fresh ground nutmeg, cinnamon and mace.  We noticed the cinnamon stick was nearly impossible to break up when putting into the pan to toast, so we let the flavor cook into the others, then removed it rather than grind it and just used pre-ground cinnamon. 

Once cooled completely, using a mortar and pestle or a clean coffee or spice grinder, grind the spices down into a powder, then cover and store in a cool, dark place for up to three or four months.  Makes about 1/2 cup. 

Currently, I have a sort of chicken curry prep marinating in the fridge.  We’ll cook it tonight and use this masala in the tomato-based sauce.  

TV Unreview: I KNEW Aarti would win it!!

I knew Aarti was going to be The Next Food Network Star.  Told you.  I should have bet money on that one.  Damnit, that I didn’t!  What’s worse is that I recorded the show last night to devour at another time, not realizing it was the finale’.  (yeah, I know, what a loyal fan.  Shut up.)  But the DVR didn’t record it for some reason.  Real brilliant.  So yeah, Aarti’s the winner I always knew she could be.  But I couldn’t tell you what happened on last night’s show, therefore I am unable to write the much (un)anticipated review.  Now that I have captivated your attention, I will take this opportunity to share with you just how much I will watch every one of her shows that will hopefully be developed and aired on TFN channel.  Because Aarti rocks.  

I would also like to point out that the masala was not made last night, as originally planned.  Instead, I spent the evening catching up with the hubby who just returned from a week-long business trip.  I planned to make it today, then his folks invited us to dinner at, where…you guessed it… the Olive Garden.  So rather than masala, I had soup, salad, bread sticks and eggplant parmesan which was, indeed, paper-thin and breaded.  Unlike mine.  Less rustic.  More Americanized and fattening.  I also had Ecco Domani’s Merlot, which was very delicious. 

So yes, tomorrow will find me at the spice racks in the local grocer’s, searching high and low for this seed and that pod.  I will dice, chop, stir, grind, snap pictures and turn out the best damn masala, ever.  Or, we’ll order out.  Stay tuned.