In our video tour, the Redwood chef gets inspired by heirloom tomatoes and stone fruit, then gives his recipe for bean salad with tomato vinaigrette.
Redwood chef Blake Schumpert loves local ingredients. Lucky for him, the Bethesda Central Farm Market is just outside the restaurant’s door. We tagged along as Schumpert and sous chef Ben Wishnoff picked up a few items for a recent evening’s menu: baby lima beans for a bean salad, Stonyman Gourmet Farmer cheese for the cheese plate, and stone fruit for a fruit soup. Take a tour of the market in the video below, then try Schumpert’s bean-salad recipe for yourself.
Although outdoor-barbecue season is coming to an end, we couldn’t help obliging the reader who asked for Rocklands’ Texas-corn-pudding recipe. After all, says proprietor John Snedden, the creamy stuff is popular year-round: On Super Bowl Sunday, the company’s four locations collectively mix up about 30 gallons. Snedden says lots of customers requested the pudding when Rocklands opened in 1992, and Stephen MacLeod, the second manager at the Glover Park outpost, offered his family’s recipe. But MacLeod is from Salisbury, Maryland—how did Snedden give it a Texas flair? After testing lots of barbecue—and sides—in Houston and Austin, he decided jalapeños and extra onions would do the trick.
Look for creamed corn that’s low on sugar—Snedden suggests Bird’s Eye or Green Giant—and, to achieve a fluffy, soufflé-like texture, mix the batter just before you’re going to bake it. Here’s another secret: “Put a lot of love in it,” says Snedden. “Did I include that in the recipe?”
Pick and prod all you want. If you’re trying to find the best produce, you have to sink your teeth into it. That’s CityZen chef Eric Ziebold’s approach to the farmers market. On a recent Friday, he showed us around the US Department of Agriculture Farmers Market (12th St. and Independence Ave., SW, in the USDA parking lot; open 10 to noon), just a few blocks from his restaurant. Ziebold shops there nearly every Tuesday and Friday. Check out his tips on picking out corn, cantaloupes, and peaches in the video below, then try his easy recipe for corn soup.
Looking at a counter piled with tomatoes? This summertime soup, which a reader requested the recipe for, could be the answer. A fixture on the menu at the downtown DC Nuevo Latino restaurant Ceiba, the bright gazpacho itself is easy to make and tasty on its own. But if you’ve got a little time, the restaurant’s garnishes make it really stand out.
Blue Ridge chef Barton Seaver once took a job aboard a Moroccan fishing boat to search out fresh ingredients. This week, he stays close to home and takes us on a tour of the new Glover Park-Burleith Farmers Market (Hardy Middle School parking lot, Wisconsin Ave. and 34th St., NW). The Saturday market is just blocks away from the Southern-accented restaurant where Seaver mans the kitchen. In the videos below, the seafood pro gives tips on pairing purslane and fennel with fish and introduces us to lemon cucumbers. He also shares his recipe for grilled okra with charred-onion dipping sauce, which you can follow below. And one more thing, Barton: We want your “I Heart the 202” T-shirt!
Is there a restaurant dish you’d love to get the recipe for? We’ll track it down. Today we've got the goods on one of the most popular appetizers at Kinkead's.
For two months one summer, Kinkead’s chef/owner Bob Kinkead took his grilled squid with polenta and tomato fondue off the menu. Little did he realize the backlash it would cause. “People were accosting me on the street!” he claims. Indeed, one hungry reader wrote to us asking for the recipe, which is also available in the chef’s Kinkead’s Cookbook. Kinkead says the dish is a unique alternative to the fried calamari you see everywhere else. The squid is covered in bread crumbs and cooked over a wood-fired stove (a charcoal grill will work too). He recommends not threading the squid rings too closely together on the skewers and turning them just once on the grill. The less you handle the squid, the better it will taste. If squid isn’t your thing, try substituting shrimp. The extra tomato fondue can also be used with other fish and pasta.
Is there a restaurant dish you’d love to get the recipe for? We’ll track it down. Today we tackle Eatonville’s popular mushroom loaf
When Chef Rusty Holman was creating the menu for the Southern-inspired restaurant Eatonville, his mother brought him some of her old cookbooks from North Carolina. In one called Southern Accent, he came across the recipe for a Cajun mushroom loaf. “Meatloaf is kind of a Southern dish, so I thought it might be a good way to get a vegetarian item on the menu that’s kind of like meat but not meat,” Holman says. He serves the $14 entrée with garlic mashed potatoes and succotash. He glazes the meatloaf with a Cajun-style blend of ketchup, chipotles, and brown sugar. Now it’s nearly as popular as favorites such as fried chicken and fish and grits.
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.
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Worried about how you’re going to pull that Thanksgiving meal together by November 26? Luckily, there’s lots of ways to get a takeout turkey-day dinner so you don’t have to lift a finger in the kitchen. When ordering a turkey, keep in mind that a ten-to-12 pound turkey will feed four to six people.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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