Culinary Comments by Cinnamon Girl

Visit to Jose Andres' Jaleo

In August, my family took a short vacation to Washington, DC.  We stayed in Arlington, VA, and ate most of our meals in the Crystal City area.  The highlight was our dinner at Chef Jose Andres' Jaleo, a tapas bar/restaurant.  My husband trusted me to order plates for us all to sample and share.  My first choice was Chef Andres' version of the classic salade Nicoise for my older son:

 

I couldn't pass up the asparagus with romesco sauce (a fav of mine):

 

For my younger son, I thought bacalhau fritters with honey aioli was a good choice:

 

We also had a really amazing wild mushroom rice dish, which was eaten so fast I didn't get to snap a pic of it!  The adults washed all the scrumptious food down with sangria (yum!) and not a crumb remained at the end of the meal, except for part of the hot pepper on top of the salad.  I now want to visit more of his restaurants to see if all of Chef Andres' food is top flight like Jaleo's.  You can read about his restaurant group at www.thinkfoodgroup.com    

A Homegrown Recipe

 
 In my garden, this is the year of the wild squash.  Tomatoes are coming in a close second, but we can't seem to keep them around long since my sons eat them like candy.  These squash came from plants that just popped up in the garden this year, I'm sure due to the zucchini, pumpkin, and other squash scraps that went into our compost last year!  I love to watch all the different colors, shapes and textures grow up from the bottoms of the female squash blossoms.  This picture shows a few that have grown so far this year. 

So, what to do with these lovelies?  I have a go-to recipe that I like to use since it works with all types of winter squash and best of all is easy.

Roasted Winter Squash with Parmesan Sage Cream

Ingredients:

1 winter squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed

1 clove garlic, minced

salt and pepper

grated parmesan cheese

about 6 large sage leaves

heavy cream

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 325 F.

In a bowl, combine squash, garlic, and some salt and pepper.  Toss to combine.  Transfer to a baking dish.  Cover squash lightly with parmesan.  With the back of a knife, gently bruise the sage leaves, then tuck them in between the squash.  Pour enough cream over the top to come halfway up the level of the squash.  Bake covered with foil until squash is fork-tender (usually about an hour). If top is not brown, remove foil, raise heat to 400 F for a few minutes until top begins to brown. Remove from oven, cool 5 minutes then serve.

Tour of the Vast Wine Cellar at Crabtree's Kittle House

After our dinner the other night, my husband and I were treated to a tour of the wine cellar courtesty of Sommelier Glenn Vogt.  We went downstairs, through a hall, and into a room with a large table beautifully set with sparkling dinnerware.  Beyond that was a large glass door allowing the diners to see into the wine cellar.  Mr. Vogt unlocked the door and into the enormous series of rooms we went.  He pointed out which section contained the burgundies, the whites, Italians, etc.  Some bottles of particular interest he showed us include these vintage wines:
 
  

These were bought from a collection being liquidated.  The one on the right with the damaged label is a vintage 1900 Chateau Margaux.

A BIG bottle of a Super Tuscan blend.

Wines sorted by section and shelf number.

The cellar goes back and back and back, with rooms to the left containing for example Italian reds:

 

There is also the "wines of fame" case containing bottles autograped by the winemakers.  The one in the middle is especially interesting in that Mr. Vogt told us that they had been offered $75,000 for it!

 

In the back is a room filled with cases that are aging are have not been added to the 60,000 bottle wine list yet.  And one last pic on the way out the door:

 
     

Thanks again to Mr. Glenn Vogt, Sommelier and the Kittle House for their hospitality!

New Chef, Updated Look- Dinner at Crabtree's Kittle House

One more day until the long labor day weekend!  Last night for our anniversary, my husband and I had our traditional dinner-date at the Kittle House.  I had read there was a new Executive Chef, Bradford McDonald, in the kitchen.  They also "refreshed" the main dining room upstairs.  It is very homey and inviting without the stuffy look it used to have.

To start we ordered a bottle of Sangiovese from CA which I have never had. All the San-g I have had has been from Italy.  The waiter decanted it in one of their lovely glass decanters that were made especially for them:

 It was an excellent wine.  The wine list is voluminous- the cellar contains over 60,000 bottles of wine!  See tomorrow's blog for the story of our personal tour courtesy of Sommelier Glenn Vogt.
We decided to go with the prix fixe three-course dinner for $35.00.  Yup- that's right, THIRTY-FIVE dollars!!  An amazing value for the high quality ingredients the kitchen uses and the skill of the Chef.
I started with the salad of baby lettuces and fresh herbs with Rainbeau Ridge goat cheese, galia melon and a champagne vinaigrette.  My husband had the chilled crenshaw melon soup(poured from a carafe tableside) over lobster knuckles and creme fraiche.  Sorry, no pics of the first course :(
Our entrees were pan seared Scottish salmon fillet with cranberry beans, arugula puree, and a roasted garlic buerre blanc:

 The salmon was tender inside with a light crusting around the edges.  The arugula puree had so much flavor!  I would have not thought to pair cranberry beans with rich fish, but it definitely worked, and when you add the garlic buerre blanc, this plate is fine dining at its best.

Our other entree was roasted organic chicken breast over wilted dandelion greens, carmelized satsuma plums with brown butter and chicken jus:

I am not a big fan of chicken breast because it is so easy to overcook it and it then becomes dry and unpalatable.  THIS one was so juicy, it could have stood alone on the plate and been mouthwatering.  As good as the chicken was, the sauce took it to another level.  I was tempted to switch my salmon for it, and I adore my fish!  The plums were tiny gems of sweetness that added another dimension to the plate.  Add in the greens and it made for a perfectly balanced and composed dish.

I think our waitress, Liana ran and tipped off the kitchen because when the desserts came out they contained a special message:

  

On the left is the white, milk, and dark chocolate terrine over sour cherry sauce, and on the right is the sorbet trio.  Guess who had the chocolate...

I would like to thank the staff of Crabtree's Kittle House for a lovely anniversary dinner.  We couldn't have asked for more.  I can't recommend strongly enough that you visit- soon!  You most certainly will enjoy it.  Congratulations to them for improving an already great restaurant.

Tomorrow read about their incredible wine cellar and the very special bottles they have "chilling" down there...