Social Time

I had a little solo time with Secondo lsat Sunday. He'd slept in late--really late--and we thought that might indicate getting sick. So, Keen and Primo went off to church and I stayed at home with Secondo. As it turns out, he was right as rain. Just decided to sleep in three hours later than usual. Sheesh.

I had brief notions of catching up as he woke up about ten minutes before services were due to start. This was a pure fantasy as it took him a little while to get going. I eventually decided to take him out on a walk. We wandered by a play area behind our local church and I thought to take him over. There was another little boy there.

Secondo and "Alex" proceded to play undirected for about half an hour. They built a web of sticks to help out a spider that Alex spotted. The amazing aspect of this to me is that this was way beyond anything in Secondo's IEP. I think it calls for two or three exchanges, facilitated by a prompt. Half an hour of unfacilitated play seems like graduate studies to me.

Way to go Secondo!

BB

Korea/Kansas fusion

I picked up a round eye roast the other day. I planned to grind it and make a Bolognese sauce. I typically use a chuck roast, but was feeling cheap. Since it cooks for four hours or more, I figured it wouldn't make that much of a difference. I don't have any Italian blood in me, so there's no great grandmother spinning in her grave. Heck, my Scandinavian and Irish forebears might be nodding in approval. As it happens, I had some frozen ground chuck in the freezer and decided to use that instead.

A mild PSA. If you have a food processor, don't buy ground meat at the grocery store. Take some chuck and cut it into chunks. Trim off the bigger chunks of fat (see, it's healthier already!) and process a few times. It works great! We have a stand mixer with a grinder attachment, so I use that instead. It's better, cheaper, and you know what meat you're getting. Also, ever notice those news stories about e Coli contamination? If it's related to meat, it seems like 90% of the stories involve ground meat. Save yourself some worry and grind it yourself.

So, here I am with a roast that needs cooking. Pot roast calls as round eye is a relatively cheap cut that benefits from braising. Still, I wanted to try something a little different. I've gotten into making bulgogi--a Korean dish that literally means fire meat. It calls for slicing meat thinly (flap or flank are great for this), marinating for a few hours, and quickly cooking. We love the flavors and it's a flexible dish. The thought occurred to me that shifting the marinade a bit would make a great pot roast.

I used a kitchen sink worth of various Asian liquids we keep around. Soy and sesame oil are traditional for bulgogi. Also sugar. I like fish sauce and rice wine vinegar, so tossed those in. The mirin adds some sweetness that you need for bulgogi. As this was going to be a pot roast, I used a cup of red wine (Conco & Toro's Frontera brand of cab/merlot blend) and a can of beef stock. OK. Here we go.

Ingredients

2 - 3 lb. roast. I'm a big fan of chuck, but there's lots of options
1 lg. onion, coarsely chopped
[add whatever else you like for pot roast]

Marinade - liquid

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup mirin (or more vinegar and kick up the sugar)
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 cup dry red wine
1 can beef stock

Marinade - spices and herbs

1/4 cup brown sugar
1 - 2 tablespoons hot sauce (I'd go for Sriracha or a similar chili sauce)
Stalks from one bunch of cilantro, chopped
One bunch of scallions, chopped
1 - 2 tablespoons of chopped ginger (I used ginger paste you can get in Indian grocery stores)
1 - 2 tablespoons chopped/mashed garlic
Fresh ground pepper as you like.
NO SALT. With soy and fish sauce, this dish has all the sodium it needs.

Combine all the ingredients for the marinade and plot the roast in. Let it sit for at least an hour in the refrigerator or as long as you'd like. It won't pick up as much salt as for thinly sliced meat, so an overnight marinade is fine. When you're ready to cook, take the beef out of the marinade and cover with sesame oil. It helps to tie it with twine (and I'm a big fan of hemp twine).

OK. Now for some fun. Heat your oven to 300 degrees or so. Meanwhile, put a heavy bottomed pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add sufficient sesame oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil is beginning to smoke, add the roast to the pan. Brown on all sides. You're developing flavor here! Take the roast out of the pan when it is browned on all sides and place it on a cutting board. Add the onions and other veg. to the pan and brown. Return the roast to the pan and add the marinade. Bring to a moderate boil, cover, and put into the oven.

Have a couple of beers or some wine. That's as far as I've gotten. The roast is in the oven right now. I did taste the marinade and it's spectacular. Pot roast with an Asian twist. This one will be a keeper.

BB

Wings to Die For

A short one, but worth it. Try the rooster wings at Eat Bar in Arlington, VA. The name is a reference to Sriracha sauce, which has a rooster printed on the bottle. The sauce is good, but even better is that the wings are perfectly done.

I ran across the sauce by accident before hearing it was the chefs' sauce de rigeur. I popped by a place to pike up a few Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) and saw a bottle of hot sauce. I figured it'd be good and later foud out about Sriracha. I actually bought the chili-garlic sauce from the same company. I prefer it to Sriracha. It's a bit chunkier, but has that same chili goodness.

Anyway. Hit Eat Bar for Happy Hour. Great wines at half price and great beers at reduced price.

Better get back to work.

BB

A Cross-continental Easter Dinner

I didn't have any particular plans for Easter Sunday dinner. We had a big wine tasting meal planned for friends with the idea that people would bring appetizers to pair with particular wines. Complicating matters was that Keen was sick and had a monster transcription to work on, Secondo was an exceedingly cranky convalescent from recent surgery (adnoids & tonsils), and I was a bit stretched. It brought home to me how much Keen does when I decide to throw a party.

Everything worked out in that a dozen or so adults and half a dozen kids had a good time. My idea of paired wines and foods was totally trashed, but that's OK. The worst moment might have been when a cigarette butt was found in one of the bottles of red. I'd opened them up early and left them on the porch to cool. One of the guests is a smoker and didn't realize that these weren't ashtrays. [Sheesh, dude, even it it wasn't a FULL bottle of wine, maybe I recycle?] Ah, well. I wanted to dump the bottle and substitute something, though was shouted down. I decided to skip the red course as I wasn't going to have a glass of Vin Roja de Cigare. Fortunately, I'd opened and chilled a bottle of an amazingly good American sparkler from New Mexico (Gruet--try it!) and so sipped on that instead. 

While shopping on Friday, I ran into a friend at the grocery store. He was planning on buying some lamb to have with his girlfriend. I wandered over to the meat section with him and spied a gorgeous bone-in lamb sirloin. I adore lamb for its flavor, but haven't made it recently due to its high fat content. Oh what the heck. I took it out today ambivalently. Is that a word? Guess so, as the spell checker didn’t put squiggly lines under it.

After a bit of chatting, we decided on braising. I cut off all the surface fat, seasoned it with salt and pepper, and put it in the ‘fridge. Awhile later, I seared it on all sides and tossed it into a warm oven along with a big can of tomatoes, a can of chicken stock, the same can filled with a decent inexpensive red wine, some vegetables and herbs.

But what to pair with it? I’d roasted some potatoes for the wine event the day before and abandoned the dish I was going to make. Aloo tikki is great Indian street food. A friend of mine introduced me to it. The basis is grated or mashed potatoes, mixed with onion, cilantro, and some spices. Form this into cakes, pan fry, and serve with chutney and chaat.

Thinking about it, it sounded like a great starch side. I omitted the chile peppers from the mix and used it as a base. Take one tikki, top with braised lamb, and add a couple of ladles of broth from the braised lamb. Delicioso!

Play Time in Northern Virginia

The topic of a children’s play area in my development came up last autumn. Although Fairlington Towne lacks a dedicated play area, there are many options nearby. I thought it might be a timely to mention a few of them that I’d discovered in the five years since my twins came on the scene.

Starting from the closest available place, there is a play area behind the Fairlington Presbyterian Church where Van Dorn ends at King Street. Although small, our guys spent many hours playing there. We also met a few parents from the nearby apartments, one of whom became our future sitter. One advantage is that it’s entirely fenced in, a useful feature when you’re watching more than one at a time.

Fort Ward recently refurbished the children’s play area. You see a good cross-section of the local community there. The only down side to this play area is that it’s at the bottom of a fairly steep hill. I’ve managed it with a double stroller, though prefer to leave the wheels at the top of the hill. This play area is shaded, a bonus for the dog days of summer.

The main play area in Fairlington is located on the grounds of the recreation center between Stafford and Utah. This recently underwent a complete refurbishment. There is a small stage that my kids loved to play on as well as a soccer field. We’ve also visited a smaller play area on the other side of I-395 near Abingdon Elementary School.

Despite being a resident of Alexandria, I haven’t spent as much time in the play areas of our fair city’s parks. The play area near Mount Vernon School in Del Rey is well worth a visit. It’s within a block of a variety of shops and restaurants. Cameron Station has a couple of children’s play areas—the better of these in my opinion is located at Armistead Boothe Park near Samuel Tucker Elementary School. Our favorite Alexandria play area is located within Marina Park off Union Street. It has a nice fenced in play area that takes full advantage of the hill on which it lies. You also have a great view of the new Wilson Bridge.

Arlington has too many children’s parks to list. I’ll list a few of my favorites. Lacey Woods Park off the intersection of Washington & N. George Mason has a play area with an enclosed slide, handy if you don’t want to worry about a fall. True to its name, there are several paths through the woods. There’s a larger park nearby on Harrison, just north of Lee Highway. Catch it in early summer and there’s mulberries aplenty!

As long as I’m mentioning summer time, I have to note the spray parks in Arlington. They’ve been a wonderful resource when dealing with stir crazy kids in July and August. My favorite of these is located within Lyon Village Park. It’s fenced, there’s plenty of room to run, and the spray area is well done. It’s also walking distance from the Italian Store for subs. Another great little park with a spray area is located off of Lincoln, just south of I-66.

The big dog in the area is Clemyjontri Park in McClean. I can’t praise this place highly enough. It was built on donated land with the mission of providing play for children of all abilities. The park is fully handicapped accessible and has a number of elements for kids with mobility impairments. The variety of structures must be seen to be believed.  It also features a carousel that operates spring through fall. There is parking right there and a satellite lot that is a 5 – 10 minute walk.

If you like farmers markets, consider Cherry Hill Park in Falls Church on Saturday mornings. Finding parking can be difficult, but the park is large and there’s plenty of shopping to do. The park at Mount Vernon School is also a block away from a Saturday farmers market. The play area near Henry Elementary School on Walter Reed is a couple of blocks away from the Columbia Pike market on Sundays.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a few of my favorite places to take the kids, even though they don’t have a play area per se. The Carillon in Arlington is a great area for the kids to run around and the view of the National Mall is spectacular. I have spent many hours on Roosevelt Island with my twins. The paths make it easy to keep track of them. The central monument is also a good area to run around. No bicycles are allowed on the island, removing one potential hazard.

A neat little scam

I walked to my car yesterday morning only to discover a ticket on it. We'd rushed back home Friday afternoon and I parked a little past the line on the frontage road close to home. It was a bit upsetting to get a $50 ticket for a couple feet. Still, my front bumper had edged out past the "No Parking From Here to Corner" sign and so I'd been duly nailed. What a stupid mistake!

I left the ticket in my car and headed off to get a baguette to have with the Fu'ul I'd made for breakfast. Yes, still obsessed with that dish. This morning, I was doing the same exact errand (it's been a fu'ulish weekend; I'll be here alllll night folks) and picked up the ticket. Then I looked at it. Really looked at it. The address seemed odd. Then I noticed it was a District of Columbia ticket. Hmm. I didn't think they ticketed in Alexandria! Although I do have Virginia plates, my car is a 2 door Ford, not a 4 door Honda. Naturally, the plates didn't match. Funny thing is that I did take note of the time of the ticket the day before, but missed the rest of it.

I'll give full credit to someone. They picked up a ticket Saturday night in the District. Noticing that my car was parked a little over the line, they put it on my windshield in hopes that I'd pay for their ticket. Well played!

They apparently think I'm stupid though. Is anyone going to mail a ticket for Virginia parking to the District?

BB

Where to go for ethnic ingredients in Alexandria, Virginia

My previous post was on fu'ul, a standard dish across north Africa and a favorite of ours at Café Aurora. We had a little extra time today and I wanted to find the beans. I'd driven by a place near Aurora a number of times, but never stopped it. What a mistake! This place has an incredible selection of ethnic foods. I found a dozen varieties of canned ful, not to mention the dried beans. I also found…

Pomegranate syrup

Really good tahini

My favorite brand of Basmati rice (Tilda)

Chopped methi leaves (needed for the variation of Saag Paneer that I make; I'd never seen them before)

So much other stuff that I could have spent hours in there. The place is on Edsall Road, between Pickett and Van Dorn. It's a keeper.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/fair-price-international-supermarket-alexandria

BB