Killer Mac & Cheese with Bacon

1 Tbsp. EVOO
6-8 slices bacon
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 large onion diced
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
Salt/Pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart (4 cups) milk
1 lb. shells or other short pasta
2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
2 cups grated Fontina cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
Tabasco or other hot sauce, to taste

Drizzle the EVOO in a large saucepan, add the bacon, and bring the pan to medium heat; flip the bacon occasionally. When it is brown and crispy (about 6-8 min.), remove it fro the pan, drain on paper towels, and reserve that deliciousness. Do NOT discard the bacon fat!

Add the butter, onions, garlic, and some salt & pepper with the bacon fat, and cook until the onion is soft and aromatic (about 8-10 min.). HINT: if at this time you find the bottom of your pan is filled with brown crud at the bottom add 1/2 cup of dry white wine and scrape up those lovely bits. Add the flour and cook, stirring frequently, for 4-5 min. or until the mixture looks like wet sand. Slowly whisk in the milk, season with more salt & pepper, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer; cook over low heat for 8-10 min. more or until the mixture is slightly thicker than heavy cream.

In the meantime, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for 1 min. less than the instructions on the package suggest. Taste it: it should be toothsome with just a little nugget of hard pasta still in the center - this is al dente. Drain the pasta and reserve.

Add the Cheddar, Fontina, and Parmesan to the milk mixture and whisk to combine. Add the mustard and a few shakes of hot sauce; taste and adjust the seasoning if needed, adding a little more milk if the mixture seems too thick for your liking. Stir in the cooked bacon and pasta. The mixture should be very creamy and flavorful. Serve immediately or transfer to a baking dish or ramekins and reheat in a 375 degree oven.

*Original recipe courtesy of Cook Like a Rock Star by Anne Burrell, p. 141

July 30 - August 5

We told you this week would be quicker on the menu posting! We're hosting 3 separate dinner parties this week, so it's going to be a busy week for us, but we can do it!  It's also the last full week before we go back to our school routines ... woo hoo, we're excited (please not the sarcasm in that statement).

We are enjoying the start of the Olympics this week, go team USA!  Many of our recipes would be great for an Olympic watch party!  If you're using any of them, please let us know what you think of them.

Finally, you'll notice the "Santas for Sharon" tally to the right of the page on the blog.  Tim's mother passed away from ovarian cancer in 2004 and we walk in her name every September at the Whisper Walk in Zona Rosa.  This year, we're taking it one step further and fundraising to help fight this disease.  If you feel so inclined, please donate to this worthy cause. Every little bit helps, so even if it's $5, it's a great donation to an excellent organization. Or if you'd like to join us, you can register from the link also and walk in your best Santa gear on September 23rd. 

Here's the menu for this week:

Monday - Leftovers
Tuesday - Lasagna*, garlic bread, & Caesar side salad - dinner party #1
Wednesday - Steamed Mussels w/ chorizo and white wine & side salad with balsamic vinaigrette- dinner party #2
Thursday - EBT (thanks, Groupon!)
Friday - Open-faced jalapeno cheese BLTs*, Layered cheese sticks w/ prosciutto & basil, potato casserole w/ sausage - dinner party #3
Saturday - Jackie & Christine are visiting! - Reiger Hotel Grill & Exchange; AIDA; after-show drinks at Webster House
Sunday - Leftovers/snack night - relaxation!!

*Recipe included on the blog

July 23-29

Wow!  How time flies.  We meant to get this posted earlier this week, but obviously that plan did not come to fruition.  So, we apologize for the extreme delay with this week's menu.  It's been delicious, just so you know.  Here's what we've had:

Monday - out @ Hickok's Bar & Grill (thanks, Muncharoo)
Tuesday - out @ Michael Smith (thanks, Groupon)
Wednesday - South African Tilapia with couscous
Thursday - Anne Burrell's Killer Mac & Cheese*
Friday - Grilled Philly Cheesesteak Tacos*
Saturday - Grilled Sausages, Corn on the Cob, and Broccoli
Sunday - Snack night

We'll post next week's menu quicker than this week (we promise).

*Recipe posted on the blog

Kielbasa-and-Onion Pizza

2 Tbsp. EVOO
1 lb. kielbasa, halved lengthwise, then in 1/3 and chopped crosswise
3 onions thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic minced
2 Tbsp. white wine
Salt/Pepper
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves chopped
1 lb. refrigerated pizza dough
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese (about 4 oz.)

Position a rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. EVOO over medium heat. Add the kielbasa and cook, stirring, until lightly browned (about 5-6 min.); transfer to a medium bowl. Add the onions and last Tbsp. EVOO to the skillet and return to the heat for 2 min. Lower the heat to medium low, add the garlic, and season with salt & pepper and cook, stirring occasionally until golden-browned (about 8-10 min.). Add the wine and scrape up the caramelized brown bits that have formed on the bottom of the skillet; stir in the kielbasa and thyme and remove from the heat.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the pizza dough out to fit a cookie sheet; spray the cookie sheet with non-stick spray and put in the oven for 5 min. Take out and gently turn the pizza dough over; arrange the kielbasa mixture evenly on top and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until the crush is golden brown (around 15-20 min.).

* Original Recipe courtesy of Everyday with Rachael Ray, Menu Planner Sept. 2009

Seared Scallops with Thai Red Curry Sauce over Lemon Grass Grits

Thai Red Curry Sauce
1 tsp. canola oil
1 Tbsp. minced lemon grass
1-2 Tbsp. red curry paste
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp. fresh ginger minced or grated
1 lime zested and juiced
2/3 cup light coconut milk
2 tsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. fish sauce
Salt/Pepper

In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add lemon grass, curry paste, garlic, ginger, and lime zest; cook until fragrant (about 2-3 min.). Stir in coconut milk, brown sugar, and fish sauce; bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 2-3 min. Remove from heat and add the lime juice and just a hint of salt & pepper to taste; set aside.

Lemon Grass Grits
1 cup skim milk
1 cup light coconut milk
1 Tbsp. minced lemon grass
1 lime zested and juiced
1/3 cup grits (not instant)
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
Salt/Pepper

Boil skim milk, coconut milk, lemon grass, and lime zest in a large saucepan. Slowly whisk in grits in a steady stream, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer grits until thick and creamy, stirring often, and scraping down the sides of the pan (about 10-15 min.). Take off heat, stir in butter and lime juice into grits; season with salt & pepper to taste.

Scallops and Snow Peas
8 oz. snow peas
1 Tbsp. canola oil
8 sea scallops, foot removed, patted dry (we used a package of bay scallops; you get smaller scallops, but more of them)
Salt/Pepper

Fill a large bowl with ice and water; set aside. In a large saucepan, boil 4 cups of water; drop the snow peas and boil for 2-3 minutes until crisp tender. Transfer the snow peas to the ice water bath and let cool; drain and add salt & pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, season the scallops with salt & pepper. Heat a medium skillet over high heat, add the oil and scallops; sear scallops 2-3 min. per side (the scallops may stick, but when they are ready to be turned they will release from the skillet).

Assemble by placing a bed of lemon grass grits in the bottom of a shallow bowl, top with scallops and snow peas, and top off with your desired amount of Thai red curry sauce,

* Original Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light, April 2011, p. 23.

July 14-22

Now that's we're back, everything is washed and cleaned, we have finally sat down to discuss the menu for this upcoming week.  Shopping will be tomorrow, so no cost break down, but we did go through the deep freeze to find our meats and create our meal options for this week giving us a very short shopping list.

Here's what's on the menu for this week:
Saturday - Southwest 3-Cheese Pork & Veggies
Sunday - Snack night
Monday - Chicken Fried Steak & Mashed Potatoes with Gravy
Tuesday - Pantry Pasta
Wednesday - Seared Scallops w/ Thai Red Curry Sauce on Lemon Grass Grits*
Thursday - Italian Paninis with Basil Pesto
Friday - Kielbasa & Onion Pizza*
Saturday - Red Beans & Rice
Sunday - New Theatre "Hairspray"

*Recipe included on the blog.

DC Food Review - We're Back!

VACA 2012 is over, and it was awesome!  We traveled to DC and Virginia for 10 glorious days of hot sun and other fun. We didn't do many of the usual sightseeing tourist activities, but did eat our way through our vacation.  It was hard to say goodbye, but once we landed, we realized how happy we really were to be back in KC.  If you're traveling to DC or planning to visit soon, we thought we'd provide you some helpful hints on how we survived our culinary vacation through DC without visiting any fast food locations and let you in on some places we suggest you do (or don't) visit.  It is important to know we stayed at the Donovan House on the corner of 14th NW and M Street which was a great place to be as it was within walking distance to many if not all of our restaurant options.

Here's our review of all our dining experiences while we were away:

Himalayan Heritage Restaurant & Bar (18th St. NW)
Wonderful flavors served family style with rice or naan. Service was a little slow, but it was worth it. The spicy cauliflower appetizer and sweet potato hush puppies were amazing and came with 2 dipping sauces - one of which was like a mint "pesto" which was wonderful.  The meals were spicy and flavorful and the price was not bad at all considering most DC places are quite expensive.  We would highly recommend a visit to the Himalayan.

Commissary (14th & P St. NW)
We went to Commissary for breakfast, but this would've been a great lunch or even dinner spot. The menu was full of unique options along with some classics everyone can enjoy. This spot provides some great home cooking in the middle of the big city. Pricing was appropriate and really inexpensive. I think we got a bad server who was on her first day or something as she didn't know much about the smoothies or menu options.  Other than that, this would be a great place to visit in DC.

Cure Bar & Bistro (10th & H St.)
This was a walk-by find on our way back to the hotel after visiting some museums and the botanical garden (lots of walking). What a great find it was! This was like a tapas bar where we were provided the menu and a sheet to check off our selections. So fun. The pricing was great - 3 items for $13; 4 items for $15; or 6 items for $18 and the food was cute and good too. We had the slider, fresh potato chips, mac & cheese, and a chicken & mozzarella sandwich with a pesto. Yummy, so we split it all. Paul won a bubble tea so we had the basil-ginger tea - it was better than any bubble tea I've ever had. Interesting look to the restaurant and a great option for a cheap lunch.

Vidalia (19th & M St.)
OK, this place will set you back a pretty penny, but the food was unique and very good. Most everything used some sort of onion throughout the entire meal. We selected this as our big night out in the city, so we went all out for the 5-course chef's menu. They were supposedly 1/2 portions, but the only thing that might have been reduced from the typical serving were the sides (maybe).  Portions were huge, but it was just so good. Some of the items we really enjoyed were: veal short breads & waffles, 3 donuts with dipping sauces, shrimp & grits, and seared oysters & grits cake. OMG - it was just so good. Expensive, but good.  You can probably figure it out, but we totally recommend Vidalia if you're interested in spending some money on some great food.

14K (14th & K St.)
Terrible awful doesn't even begin to describe this place. It is the worst version of hotel food one could possibly imagine. Stay away at all costs. Evidently it turns into some sort of night club at night, which might be interesting as the bar area was fun to look at, but if you're going just for food, try one of the other options we've discussed.

AGORA (17th St. between Church & Q St.)
We cannot praise AGORA enough. This was an absolutely amazing unique experience hidden in the heart of the Dupont Circle area. The menu is full of authentic tapas from Turkey which fully reminded Tim of his travels in Bulgaria (shopska salad & other meals he had there). You must try AGORA when in DC - there is no question to this. Try the zucchini pancakes, filo dough wrapped cheese, seared sheep cheese with fig preserves, spicy chicken, and there's so many more options.  Pricing was very appropriate for the meal and we feel it was a great value.   If we had more time, we would've been back numerous times to try so much more of the menu.

Kramer Books & Afterwords (15th & Connecticut)
What a cute bookstore and cafe in the heart of Dupont.  While Tim's been here for breakfast on previous DC trips, this was Paul's first experience. We had some brunch items (steak/eggs and eggs benedict) and they were great.  If you have to wait for a table, there's always the bookstore to shop through. Pricing was cheap in comparison to other options, so we do recommend it.

Sonoma (2nd & Pennsylvania SE)
After a 2 mile walk in the 100 degree heat, we met up with some friends for dinner at Sonoma. We began with a meatball appetizer and a grilled calamari appetizer; both were very good and the calamari was interesting as it wasn't like any we've had before. For dinner, Tim had the bbat - bacon, brioche, arugula, & tomato (delish) and Paul had a goat cheese, zucchini, and pesto pizza (also delish).  This was a bit out of the way for us, but it was a great experience on Capital Hill we're glad we had.

Perry's (18th & Columbia)
On Sunday, we had brunch at Perry's ... drag brunch. The food was good, but the entertainment left something to be desired by us all. This brunch served everything from cucumber soup, caprese salad, and typical breakfast foods to cannoli, sushi, and waffles.  Mimosas and bloody mary's were on special for drinks, but were fairly weak. We're glad we went and had the experience, but wouldn't return for it without knowing the drag queens had majorly improved for a better show.  Actually, we've heard there's another drag brunch at Nellie's and if that's true, we will go there next time.

Zengo DC (Chinatown - 7th St. NW)
How does one explain this place? It's a fusion of Asian dishes with Mexican flavors with great drinks and prices. We tried the shrimp tacos with a slaw & avocado creme, Zengo fried rice with duck, pork, & shrimp, and the smoked empanadas with a mango salsa - let's just say this place was absolutely awesome. If you visit (or live) in DC, you have to go to Zengo multiple times. 

Nage Restaurant (16th & Rhode Island Ave)
This was probably our best find in DC. Totally not what we were expecting. The fresh fish and flavors were spot on and wonderful. The mussels were decadent and delicious, the crab cake was huge and full of fresh crab meat (Tim will never eat another one until he returns it was that good), and the grilled ratatouille with goat cheese gnocchi was smoky and paired well with the eggplant puree it came with.  Pricing was a little high but not bad at all and well worth the expense.  This was a unique find in DC which we highly recommend for your dining needs. 

Founding Farmers (19th & Pennsylvania Ave.)
We heard it's difficult to get a reservation for Founding Farmers, so we lucked out with a last minute opening. Our meal consisted of fish & chips (small portion, lacked that great wow factor) and the gnocchi with sausage & greens which had a warm spice to it (Paul loved it).  It was a good dining experience and we'd certainly return, if we can get a table!

Tonic (Georgetown - 20th & G St.)
After visiting the Lincoln Memorial and other sites, we took a walk up to try this great restaurant.  Amazing appetizer options many of which focus on the use of tator tots. We had the tator tot basket with 3 dipping sauces - Cajun aioli, spicy honey mustard, and 3 pepper remoulade followed by pizzas which were very tasty.  The chicken sui was light and flavorful with cilantro and Korean BBQ sauce.  The bernie was a meat lover's dream with pepperoni, bacon, sausage, and chorizo.  Both were so good and the pricing was really good especially for the amount of food we received.  Yep, we recommend Tonic.

Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant (11th & U St.)
Our last dinner stop in DC was at Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant.  We were quiet impressed with the menu choices and flavors infused in our food.  There are no forks (or any silverware for that matter) to eat with except our hands and the injera (thin soft bread ... almost crepe like).  For our food, we ordered a combination platter (#26) to share with Paul's sister and her friend and then ordered some more of the items we preferred. We had to order things spicy (which wasn't terribly spicy, but did have kick a little later in the evening) and couldn't stop eating the entire platter.  The food arrived on a large pizza dish covered with the thin bread and helpings of each of the combination platter entrees. It was enough food to feed us all and was thoroughly enjoyed.  We totally recommend this ethnic food experience.

Brown Bag (14th St.)
This was our last stop on our restaurant tour of DC and it was for brunch/breakfast before we hit the Metro on our way back to Reagan for our flight.  It was simple, but such a unique concept and a great find. We had everything bagels with bacon, egg, and cheese along with yogurt, fruit, and granola. This was a quick breakfast and so good - and pricing was quite appropriate for the meal.

Whew!  Well, that concludes our tour of DC and just a few of our restaurant options. We do want to say that we were so inspired and amazed at the multiple options and different flavors one can find simply by walking down any street in DC.  Actually, we're already looking forward to our next trip and the great dining experiences we can have while there - be it in DC or elsewhere.  Hope this will help you out a little bit if you're looking for some great options for your dining experiences in DC.