Raising your glass to autumn doesn’t mean having to raise your grocery bill. Rustico’s Steve Mannino shows you how to cook an Oktoberfest feast for six for less than $25. Now that’s something to say “prost” to.
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer
Steve Mannino isn’t messing around.
The newly appointed chef at Rustico in Alexandria researched grocery stores, scoured the Web for deals, and joined Harris Teeter’s VIC program for extra savings for this Frugal Foodie challenge.
“I signed up for their program just so I could get this special,” says Mannino pointing to an ad with an offer for a five-pound bag of potatoes for $1. “I planned everything around this.”
Mannino has agreed to cook an Oktoberfest-themed dinner for six. Not including the beer or standard pantry items—sugar, flour, olive oil—the bill can’t exceed $25.
With the potatoes tucked into his cart, we take off through the store picking up the rest of the ingredients he needs. Mannino admits how out of practice he is when it comes to shopping at an actual grocery store instead of through wholesale purveyors.
Learn how to make one of the best dishes in chef Jeff Heineman's repertoire.
Jeff Heineman's rich, autumnal fricassee. Photograph by Chris Leaman.
When Jeff Heineman was a sous chef at Cashion’s Eat Place ten years ago, he and then-owner Ann Cashion created an appetizer with sautéed mushrooms over a crispy polenta cake. He took the idea with him when he opened the Bethesda wine bar Grapeseed in 2000, then tweaked the recipe. Heineman’s version, with oven-roasted mushrooms and creamy polenta, is one of the restaurant’s most popular dishes, and it’s never come off the menu.
A reader requested this recipe over the summer, but we waited until the colder weather hit to feature the dish, which Heineman describes as “rich and comforting.” He’ll use whatever mushrooms his purveyors bring him—he prefers shiitakes and creminis—but he says oyster mushrooms, hen of the woods, and even morels (in springtime) work well, too. If you’re not up for making the truffled polenta, you can also ladle the fricassee over rice or mashed potatoes.
Sweet potatoes drizzled with a tahini-spiked dressing. Photograph by Chris Leaman.
One of our readers was inspired to request the recipe for the miso-glazed sweet potatoes served at Teaism—and apparently a lot of others are enamored with the side dish, too. Michelle Brown, co-owner of the trio of teahouse/cafes, says the Penn Quarter location goes through about 200 pounds of it every day. The recipe, an adaptation of a classic Japanese dish, was developed ten years ago by longtime chef Arpad Lengyel. To give it a twist, he adds tahini, which is traditionally used in Middle Eastern cooking. Its nutty flavor paired with sugar and sweet mirin wine is something we’re now enamored of, too.
Serves 8 as a side. Bake the sweet potatoes:
4 large sweet potatoes Canola oil, as needed
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel the sweet potatoes and chop them into 1½-inch chunks. Toss with enough canola oil to coat the potatoes lightly but evenly. Add the potatoes to a small baking pan; you want to crowd the potatoes in the pan to help them steam. Bake for 25 minutes, then let cool.
Art and Soul, chef Art Smith’s restaurant on Capitol Hill, greets every table with a warm welcome—a deep cast-iron pan of skillet bread. The recipe for the buttery, dangerously addicting pull-apart rolls comes from Smith’s 91-year-old grandmother Mabel—he’s just added butter and a sprinkle of chives—and is a reminder of his childhood. “Growing up in the South,” Smith says, “every table of my family was graced with homemade yeast rolls and biscuits. It’s not about being fancy; it’s about tasting good.”
Makes two skillet breads or 12 rolls
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees) ¼ ounce active dry yeast (one package) ¼ cup sugar 1 large egg, beaten 1 tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons vegetable oil, plus a little more for brushing ½ teaspoon salt 3 cups all-purpose flour 1½ tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 2 tablespoons chopped chives 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Learn how to prepare Susur Lee's crunchy, colorful signature dish.
The Singapore Slaw at chef Susur Lee’s new restaurant, Zentan, is an eye-popping twist on a lo hei salad, traditionally eaten during the Chinese New Year. The slaw is served at all of his restaurants, including Madeline’s in Toronto and Shang in New York. In the video below, Susur shows how to prepare his crunchy and colorful creation and demonstrates the proper way to serve it (among friends, with lots of chopsticks). It’s not very difficult to prepare, but does involve a fair amount of shopping (and chopping). Seedlings can be found at some specialty markets, but if you can’t find them, Lee suggests substituting an array of julienned herbs.
One of the most popular dishes at Zaytinya, José Andrés’s Mediterranean mezzeteria in DC’s Penn Quarter, is the garides me anitho—shrimp with dill—so it’s no surprise that a reader requested the recipe. Andrés took inspiration from traditional Greek flavors: According to chef de cuisine Mike Isabella, dill is the most widely used herb in Greece. Isabella, currently a contestant on Top Chef, says the kitchen turns out nearly 50 plates of the buttery shellfish everyday. Slow-poached in a pan sauce with a dash of mustard and lemon juice and garnished with piquant white pepper, the shrimp take on a lot of flavor. How can you be sure your version is as good as Zaytinya’s? “Fresh dill is essential,” Isabella says.
Gone are the robust bureaus for the Los Angeles Times, Newhouse News, and other once-healthy news organizations. Digital media bureaus now are taking their places with as many reporters and plenty of swagger.
more
Though Ann Limpert graduated from Connecticut College with a degree in art history and creative writing, she spent most of her time in New England debating the merits of warm, buttery lobster rolls vs. cold, mayo-y ones. She spent two years covering the internet for Entertainment Weekly magazine (highlights include interviewing the Beastie Boys and dancing to "Livin' la Vida Loca" with Penn Jillette), then left to hone her kitchen skills at the Institute of Culinary Education. She has worked as a cook at several New York restaurants, researched and edited cookbooks, and now writes about food and restaurants for the Washingtonian.
more
Kate Nerenberg
Kate Nerenberg started as an editorial intern at The Washingtonian in January 2008 and became an assistant editor in September 2008. A native of West Hartford, Connecticut, she spent the first half of her writing life as a sports reporter, and was the editor of the athletics section for the newspaper and student-run magazine while at Middlebury College. A joint Spanish and Art History major, Kate graduated in 2005 and took off on a year-long journey around the world. After tasting everything from fried crickets to lavish Turkish breakfasts, she realized she wanted to devote herself to writing about food, a lifelong passion. She lives with three roommates just east of Logan Circle in a house that's often filled with the smell of sauteed garlic, warm banana bread, or fried bacon and eggs.
more
Rina Rapuano
Rina Rapuano's English degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond put her on the path to becoming a managing editor of a weekly business magazine; a freelance copy editor; and assistant managing news editor—and later the lifestyles editor—at a weekly paper in Maryland. But she realized her true calling when her descriptions of meals to friends and colleagues always seemed to end with the same statement: “You're making me hungry.” Frankly, it was making Rina hungry, too. She chucked her day job in 2006 to become a full-time freelance writer focusing mainly on food, and now works as assistant food and wine editor at The Washingtonian.
more
- Recipes
