Restorante Tosca

Growing up I probably ate pasta for at least one meal a day, without exception. I wouldn't eat meat and my mother eventually threw up her hands and told me that she was no longer going to make me special meals. So I learned how to make a whole variety of pasta and sauces.

Fast forward 10-15 years and pasta is still by far my favorite things to eat. So when there was an excuse to have a decadent dinner last week, I choose Restaurante Tosca.

About 4 years ago a co-worker and I tried Tosca during restaurant week and adored every minute of the meal. We barely spoke but plenty of "mmm's" were overheard I'm sure. So when my foodie oriented ex came to town to visit I decided i had to return. One of the reasons we did so well together was because food was a shared priority. Money was not an issue when it came to food. We both traveled for our jobs and spent most of our relationship in hotel rooms around the country (and the world) and everywhere we went we were very well fed. I literally remember the places we visited by my favorite dishes ... deep fried goat cheese mac 'n cheese in Memphis (i am STILL trying to track down this recipe 3 years later), spiced shrimp in Little Rock, spaghetti with meat sauce in Beijing (not even kidding). Anyways, together we always ate well and spared no expense when it came to food and wine.

So to Tosca we went. I don't think even we have spent that much money and eaten so much food as we did last week. We ended up having two very nice bottles of wine and definitely too much food... but every bite and sip was fantastic. We both insisted that we couldn't share the goat cheese and arugula salad so we both had that ... and it was worth getting our own! We then decided to order a feast ... he would get the lamb shank and a side pasta while I would get the tasting menu featuring a veal ravioli and a rib eye steak. It was a disturbing amount of food. The veal ravioli was fantastic - much lighter than i expected for a creamy dish. The smoky tones from the prosciutto added a really wonderful warm feeling. The rib eye was good - i usually order a fillet or something more girly than the big slab of meat that I got. I finished about half of it before I had to cry uncle. The steak wasn't something i would order again but the lamb fell right off the bone and the sauce was rich and so savory ... I can't even remember what pasta he ordered but all of their pastas are to die for. The best part is that you can order any pasta as an appetizer for a pared down portion and a pared down price.

If you have a few hundred dollars to throw at a restaurant - I highly recommend Tosca. I have heard they also have a $35 pre-theater menu and you could probably pretty easily get away with ordering about half the food we did (and maybe half the wine... although really, who are we kidding).

Mom's Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

September has been a brutal month. No dates and barely enough time for any fun cooking projects or lavish meals. Such is the end of a quarter for a political fundraiser.

Naturally, I have managed to developed a cold and a minor stress related disorder. What better to soothe the nerves and enjoy my bundled up couch time than to make up a pot of my favorite meal - my mothers' spaghetti and meat sauce. This is a rich, simple meat marinara dish that is hearty and comforting. I pull out my le creusette pot about once a month and make a huge batch.

It took me until I entered college to realize my mom made hers with a spice packet from McCormicks - a minorly depressing realization. I use fresh and/or dried herbs that I regulate in my version of this meal. Mom also makes hers much more saucy than i normally choose to, although I vary mine depending on the noodle I am pairing it with. Sometimes mine is pretty close to chili!

• 1 large onion (I vary the type i use and the cut of the onion. I think my favorite is a very small dice on a yellon onion)
• 1 green pepper (finely diced)
• Mushrooms, about two large handfuls- optional. I typically use your typical run of the mill mushrooms and chop them up coursely.
• 1-2 cloves garlic - pressed or finely chopped
  
• 1 pound (or a little less depending on your preference for chunky-ness) ground sirloin. I try to find the 90% lean/10%fat one as its a little richer. (my mom uses Ground Chuck or Ground Round, but i can't bring myself to use it ... i must say her sauce is a lot richer than mine and i'm pretty sure this is the reason)
• 1 and 1/2 can tomato sauce
• Aprox 1/2 to 1 cup heavy red wine (zinfindel or cabernet)
  
• 1 tbs butter
  
• Red chili flakes if you want a little heat
• Fresh or dried Basil, Oregano and Bay Leaf
• Fresh Parsley - chopped for taste and garnish
  
• 1 package spaghetti noodles (or other substantial noodles of your choice. Note that this sauce needs something more substantial than capellini or angel hair)

I use a le crusette pot because i like to simmer the sauce for a good long time and the cast iron heats it thoroughly. Really any large sauce pan will work though.

1. Cook Pasta - reserve a little of the pasta water. Cook ground sirloin on medium-high heat, constantly stirring and separating so you get nice crumbles. Cook until you don't see anymore pink meat and immediately take off the stove. Remove meat from pot and set aside.
2. In the same pot (keep drippings) add butter and melt. Add pressed garlic and cook, stirring, for a minute. Add chopped onions and green peppers and cook over moderately high heat until the peppers start to look a little opaque. About 7 minutes.
3. Add the mushrooms and cook down until they have released their juices and look pretty thoroughly cooked. About 5-7 minutes.
4. Add in red wine and stir so the vegies are saturated. Return meat to the pot.
5. Stir in tomato sauce. Add more red wine or some of the pasta water if you would like a more saucy sauce. Add the bay leaf.
6. Season with basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer for just about as long as you want it. the longer it cooks the richer it will be. My suggestion is an hour. Stir frequently.

Serve with fresh parmesan and chopped parsley.

Mmmmm comfort food.

Black Salt

Labor day came around very quickly this year. I am not really prepared for September's political onslaught - although thrilled for the emergence of fall. Since I know September will be a brutal month, I try to have a relaxing sun and food filled Labor Day weekend.

One of my girlfriends from college escaped New York and returned to visit those of us who never left. This friend grew up in northern-ish Jersey and always dreamed of moving to The City (for me "the city" means San Francisco and i somewhat resent that everyone on the east coast has conceded that NYC is the end all be all of cities. Whenever i visit the city the girls take me out to nice restaurants that they claim I will love because (flip wrist in that faux disdain sort of way) I live in DC where there couldn't possibly be restaurants that can rival those in the city. So when the girls return to DC it is the perfect excuse for me to take them out to a splurge restaurant and remind them the district can absolutely rival the city.

Black Salt has been on my list for years now. It moved into the neighborhood I lived in during college but it was quite out of my price range at the time. An employer of mine a few years ago suggested that we go for Restaurant Week (since she employed me and clearly knew I couldn't afford it on my meager salary) but getting a reservation on a normal Saturday was hard enough let alone get a RW res (and this year they did not participate). I'm pretty sure the only reason I could get a good reservation was because it was empty in DC during the holiday weekend ... so thank you all for leaving (even if you were defecting to the city)!

The city girl was blown away. We originally planned to have the three course tasting menu and a bottle of wine.... The price for the tasting menus is about $10 more than the website reports, but still a great deal. As we perused through the menu, we ended up deciding to order al la carte. (Click here for dinner menu... it changes all the time)

I choose a relatively inexpensive ($37) bottle of Pino Noir from Burgundy from their fairly varied list which was delightful... especially after a glass of champagne. We shared the Thai Muscles and the Heirloom Tomato Salad. These two dishes didn't actually go together so well but both were incredible. Three tomatoes, red, yellow and orange, were incredibly fresh and sweet. I really couldn't resist in-season tomatoes even if they were not seafood oriented. The Thai Muscles came next. Quite spicy... try to add a shallot to each bite of meat. I choose the Bouillabaisse and I (heart) NYC ordered the Bangkok Seafood Stew. Her meal was assorted seafood in a coconut thai style broth over udon style noodles. It matched the Thai Muscles perfectly. My dish, the Bouillabaisse, needed a bit more seasoning but everything was cooked to perfection... the scallops being the absolute highlight.

Desert could have easily sent me over the edge. After the meal, there was very little reason to continue eating except that we spied a neighboring table devouring a creme brulee dish which I had to have. It was a trio of creme brulee ... Chocolate hazelnut with a piece of chocolate on top, coffee with a truffle and this hardened sugar contraption ... and vanilla-mandarin orange topped with a fresh mandarin orange. I have started to salivate and get hungry just thinking about this desert ... and its 10am two days later. Definitely save room for desert.

In short... suck it NYC... I've eaten better here in my city than I do in the city. **


** With the exception of Cafe Habana in Soho ... best cojhita and chipolte grilled corn in the world.

Brasserie Beck

Restaurant week for me has never been that exciting. I have either had a job where there was no humanly possible way i could sneak out for an hour and a half or a boyfriend who thought the concept was ridiculous. Normally i will do one dinner with the boy of that year and be mildly satisfied.

This year, my whole office got really into it. We spend a good deal of time talking about food in here ... trading recipes and planning group dinners and the such. One of the girls even has a spreadsheet ... So this year we got a tip four months ago about the Restaurant Week dates for August. We work in the political world so August is paradise. We must have each made 6 reservations for various lunch/dinner combinations.

In reality as a group we just went to one lunch together at Brassiere Beck. We made the reservation four months ago before the RW list was actually posted and nobody checked if Beck was actually on the list... so to our surprise upon arrival, they are not participating. We are told by our waitress that "none of Robert Weidmaier's restaurants participate in discount restaurant week affairs." No wonder its not packed with interns! Our waitress continued to be sooty throughout the meal ... prompting us to ask her to explain just about every dish on the menu ;-). I should say that the rest of the staff were delightful.

We stayed of course and everyone left perfectly satisfied, impressed and full. I choose the Duck Congolese Almondine, Paul had the Potato Leek Soup and the Avocado, Shrimp, Hearts of Palm and Maria Rose Sauce salad, Roshan had the Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Confit of Cabbage and Mustard Sauce and Kellyn choose the Roasted Rabbit in Kriek Beer.

I had the Duck Congolese Almondine cooked medium rare and it was perfection. It was displayed on a bed of Israeli couscous with a sweet almond cranberry type sauce that was definitely not overwhelming. I loved the mix of crunchy almond slivers and the couscous with a little of the tender duck on top. Very rarely in my life have I wanted to lick a plate clean ... but the waiter literally had to wait for me to sup up the last bits of sauce with my bread (which was also fantastic.. it was light and flavorful and served very hot).

I sampled the other dishes... the pork tenderloin can only be described as melts in your mouth wonderful. This was my first experience with Rabbit so I can't compare this particular presentation but it was very tender and flavorful. I didn't love the salad but that was just because I didn't love the sauce... it had a bit too much mayo for my pallet but the presentation was beautiful ... like ceviche.

It was lunch during a work week so we did not sample the beer (a monumental mistake), but the list was overwhelmingly impressive and i would like to wander back for a happy hour at the bar to sample a few along with a few small plates.

Brassiere Beck
www.beckdc.com
1101 K Street, NW
WDC 20005
202-408-1717 or opentable.com for reservations.