Taqueria Poblano

When my sister Lindsay visited in March, we happened upon Taqueria Poblano in Del Ray. Just last week we needed a mid-day family outing, and remembered how much we had loved it.

Both times we've gone, Sam and I have just ordered a couple tacos each, so I can't speak for the rest of the menu, but the tacos arrive simply-- no frills. And the frills wouldn't be necessary; the tacos speak for themselves. Sam has tried the pork adobo, mahi baja, carnitas, and some of the specials. I've gotten the crispy "L.A. Style" veggie tacos and a crispy crab special, but the best is certainly the shrimp taco. Among all the tacos we have tried, we've yet to find a way you can go wrong.

Plus, there are two bonuses: the house chips and salsa are muy delicioso, AND Taqueria Poblano is across the street from Dairy Godmother, so you know you're all set.

The Big 3-0

This was a big birthday for Sam. He doesn't really want to talk about it (too much, anyway), but he has moved on to a new decade. On the Fourth of July, Sam turned THIRTY. It's very exciting (at least I think so!). For years I've known this needed to be a big deal (but birthdays are always a big deal to me). The tricky part of having a holiday birthday is that everyone leaves town and has their own plans-- it's not particularly conducive to partying. But I knew I wanted to have a small fete for him, so I schemed. I toyed with several ideas before settling on a last-minute, Saturday-before gathering. It had to be small because our apartment is miniscule, but it would be awesome.
So now comes the exciting part.  On Friday night before the party, there was a storm. I didn't even know it was supposed to rain until . . . oh hey! Our power's out!! It was about 10:30 pm, Sam was at work, and I was just happy I had already baked the cupcakes. I went to bed assuming the power would be back on when I woke up. But I was wrong. The next morning our power was still out, and the apartment was getting warmer by the second. The high for the day was over 100. Our cell service kept cutting out, but through a couple sneaky texts, my dear friend katie offered to let us bring the party to their powered house. That's a good friend who will offer up her house for a party with only two hours notice. (And not only that, we hung out there all day until our power came back on that night.)

Now, onto the spread.


Watermelon, strawberries, chips and salsa, and now the exciting things:

Fresh Corn and Avocado salsa

Chocolate malted cupcakes, the same as last year.


Ultimate fluffer-nutters: Sam has been dreaming about creating these for years. I want to Le Pain Quotidien and cleaned them out of brioche, then created a triple-decker of peanut butter, nutella, marshmallow fluff, and fresh strawberries.


Grilled Corn and Crema Mexicana Crostinis: sliced baguettes toasted then topped with crema mexicana, grilled corn, lime, cilantro, and chili powder. I'll post the recipe soon.



And, finally, 30 different root beers and sodas in glass bottles, for sampling.


My original vision was 30 root beers, but this proved difficult, as it is challenging to find single bottles of root beer, and I wasn't about to buy 30 6-packs. So I found all the root beers I could (which did include buying a couple 6- and 4-packs), and then I supplemented with other sodas in glass bottles. I found the most success at World Market, and then supplemented with finds from Giant, Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Harris Teeter. And it was a huge hit! I had small plastic cups, and people just started opening bottles and sampling. It was such a fun way to party. One of the favorite root beers was called Pop Shoppe (though Virgil's and Sprecher were also favored), and some of the more interesting sodas included chocolate, cucumber, key lime cream, and coconut. Bria was on cloud 9, since even she got to join in the fun. She actually favored some of the darker root beers (I should not be surprised). We are still swimming in root beer (from those handful of 6-packs), but Sam is not complaining. It was a huge success!

food truck fest

 On Cinco de Mayo we celebrated by heading into a food truck fest in DC. We took a quick round of the trucks, examining lines, and stopping for a quick photo-op by a Hawaiian BBQ truck before settling in on our choices. I noticed some of the more well-known trucks and was a little bummed by the TaKorean truck that was a million miles long. I was jonesing for a treat, so Bria and I chose the Orange Cow for some ice cream cones. Sam needed a meal, so he chose Dangerously Delicious. He had the most amazing potato pie and chocolate cream pie. (The brick and mortar location is now at the top of my to-dine list.) Of course as we were winding down, Bria declared she was suddenly but overwhelming starving, so she chose an apple and gruyere grilled cheese from the Big Cheese. Overall we were very pleased with our choices-- I'm not sure we could have gone wrong. Now I need to hit up the next truckeroo to get another sampling.

(The only downside of the day came several weeks later when I received two speeding tickets in the mail from a photo radar on 295. Apparently I consistently sped on the way to and from the fest. So was it worth the $275 in speeding fines? Now that is a good question. Probably not. But I learned my lesson: next time I will metro.)

Time to Party

So my darling girl turned FOUR years old last month, and we had a party. It was delightful little event with plenty of Bria's friends running around. I tried to keep the food simple, since life was a little crazy last month, and it turned out just right. We had watermelon and strawberries, chips and salsa, pigs in a blanket, and sandwiches. I made the same ones as last year: cream cheese & cucumber and roast beef with horseradish mayonnaise, with the additional ham with brie this year. And at 10:30pm the night before the party, I decided to scratch the homemade bread and use baguettes from Target: one of the best time-saving decisions I've ever made.

The cake went much better than last year. Bria and I brainstormed the perfect cake, which mostly means she came up with crazy impossible ideas, and I steered her towards something I thought I could pull off. I used a vanilla buttermilk cake recipe (take a look at that thing-- you don't cream the butter and sugar first and then add the eggs. I double and triple and quadruple checked that thing before proceeding very cautiously. but it worked!). Then we layered it with vanilla pudding and macerated strawberries, all topped with a strawberry cream cheese frosting. And it was totally, completely awesome.

richmond nourishment

We took a little getaway to Richmond last weekend for a bit of a breather from real life. We were there for about 24 hours and enjoyed two main meals (and a ton of junk food).
So, first of all, it's funny what a difference it makes between DC and Richmond-- Richmond was the capitol of the Confederacy, but up in Alexandria I do not feel like we are a part of the south. And I just have no authority on what that ("the South") even means. Anyway. On our first day, we went to Buz and Ned's for barbecue. I'm not really into all the specifics surrounding "real" barbecue (I think there is a lot of talk surrounding weather or not the meat is served in the sauce?), but for this barbecue novice, I declare it tasty. Bria was very excited to "eat farm animals." And demanded that her dinner include "chicken from a pig." I kept telling her it was pork, and she just fought back saying she wanted to eat a pig. I'm not sure where these carnivorous tendencies are coming from. I enjoyed what little I ate of our pork-- the right amount of sauce and not too spicy. And the mac and cheese was flavorful and smooth. I probably could have eaten my weight in hush puppies-- again, not an expert on this southern gem, but I thought they were awesome. I think Sam was just so happy about his spare ribs because he never eats meat anymore. It just made up for all those vegan experiments I serve for dinner lately. So I feel like this is a real Southern experience. 

And ice cream at gelati celesti was the best way to end our first night. 

For lunch the next day, we ate at The Urban Farmhouse-- a completely different experience from the barbecue. This is my absolutely favorite type of place to go: a seasonal menu based on offerings from local farms. My ultimate dream is to open a place like this some day. After the barbecue and eating all sorts of junk for snacks, my light salad and sandwich was practically perfect in every way. The carrots that came with my meal were the freshest carrots I have ever eaten. They were so crisp-- not crunchy, actually, but crisp. I had no idea carrots could taste that way. This was the type of meal you eat and wonder why you ever eat anything unhealthy. When it's so fresh, tasty, and satisfying, why would you want to? Alas, I forget quickly (I am eating brownies made from a box right now.) Sam had a simple caesar salad and Virgil's real cola. We've long been fans of Virgil's root beer, but had never had the cola-- this is what a soda should taste like. You can taste the vanilla and cinnamon; it tastes like a drink concocted from real spices and ingredients as opposed to chemicals. So even if you're not a big soda drinker, it's definitely worth it to invest in tasting some high quality sodas on occasion. Or at least steal some sips from your soda-drinking husband.

all you need

Valentines this year was a culinary success. We started festivities the weekend before with a date to finally check out ShopHouse (the new Asian Chipotle). I am so glad we went! I had a tofu bowl with noodles, green beans, and their green curry sauce. It was worth the hype, but I have to tell you, it was so spicy! Like, my tongue was still burning even after we had frozen yogurt for dessert. And the green curry was the "mild" of their two curries. They do have another sauce I will try next time in an attempt to save my mouth from the fire. I am a total wimp when it comes to spice (I kept telling myself "this is what it takes to build your tolerance! buck up, McPhie!"), but even Sam concurred this was pretty intense. However, I can attest to the great flavor. I think such extreme spice often covers up flavor, but I was willing to endure the pain of the spice for such great depth of flavor.

On the actual day of love, we decided to make fondue. I could seriously eat that every day. But the thing I was most concerned about was dessert. I have been doing this health challenge thing with some friends, which means I'm limited to one day of sugar each week (which is maybe the normal healthy thing to do anyway) (but it's almost over! and I'm only one point behind the current leader!). So, the dessert was a big deal to me. I recently saw a link to this double chocolate raspberry pavlova and instantly knew this was The One. And it turned out beautifully.
And oh so deliciously! It's a new obsession really. I was so sad the rest of this week watching Sam eat the leftovers without me. This is my ultimate sacrifice in trying to WIN this challenge. But regardless of the victor, one thing's for sure: this will be the first thing I make when it's over.

Why'd You Have to Go and Make Things So Complicated?

Things I'm happy to have done in the last couple days include
1) Spending hours upon hours outside in the gorgeous spring-like weather.
2) Purging my google reader of blogs I feel guilty for not reading.
3) Making classic dishes I often forget are in my arsenal.

The last of these means I have a recipe to share! (um, it's been forever since I've posted a recipe.) One today and another later, perhaps. Whenever I make these two dishes I forget to take pictures, so I put off blogging about them, and then I realized today it was silly to wait any longer. A) these foods do not photograph well, and B) I may never remember. So because it's still winter (despite what the DC forecast may say), here is a soup for you. A hearty, vegan soup you will adore. I mean this earnestly because everyone in our family goes wild for this soup, including Sam, which is a tall order when it comes to vegan recipes. And as most soups do, it only gets better over time, so you can look forward to the leftovers this ginormous batch will yield.

Curried Lentil Sweet Potato* Soup
Adapted from Kayla Jones

1 large onion, diced
7 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup ginger, freshly grated
2 T curry powder
1 c carrots, diced
1 c red bell pepper, diced
5 c sweet potato, diced
2 cans coconut milk
2 c brown lentils, rinsed
6 c vegetable stock
1 t salt
1 lime, juiced

Saute onion, garlic, and ginger until onion starts to become translucent. Add the remaining ingredients, except lime juice, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 45 minutes, or up to a few hours, until the soup has become very thick and stew like. Add lime juice right before serving. Garnish with cilantro, if desired. 

(*also, you may note this recipe seems to go against what I said in my previous post about sweet potatoes. I guess they aren't really spotlight-hoggers in this soup, so I can get on board with it. What can I say? I'm a complicated woman.)

Try This Tuesday, Or: To Thine Own Self Be True

I habitually hit a kitchen rut every January, this year being no exception. Once Sam went back to work after the holidays, the only kitchen motivation I had was buttering toast, but I soldiered through! I tried five new recipes in the last two weeks, and there were a lot of busts, actually. Here is a weird truth, no matter how much I try (and try!), I just can't get on board with butternut squash. It's related to the whole not-liking-cooked-fruit thing. I suppose I don't like sweet things to be warm, and butternut squash is too sweet. This also goes for sweet potatoes. So the new recipes included a vegan mac 'n' cheese (butternut squash based), and a sweet potato chili. Entire dinners in the trash (wah wah). So the lesson learned is that if you don't like something, don't make it for dinner. Know yourself, know your tastes, and to thine own self be true. Amidst the gross stuff I also found some goodies! Here's a list of things to try.

Quinoa "meat"balls. My dear friend's sister-in-law runs this vegan and allergy-friendly blog, and I thought this dinner was amazing. I often crave spaghetti and meatballs, but just cannot stomach red meat anymore. Problem solved! I ate these meatballs for days on end. Perfect texture (crisp on the outside!) and a great depth of flavor. (Though Sam wasn't as wild about them as I was and kept telling me I shouldn't call them meatballs, because it was deceiving.) The kale featured in this post was pretty cool. I think I just don't like kale though (too bitter), but the coconut/maple/orange flavor was awesome.

Apparently I'm on a quinoa kick, but I fell head over heels for this Thai Fried Quinoa. I tried both of these recipes because it seems all the popular quinoa recipes are for mexican style dishes (tossed with onion, bell peppers, cilantro, and lime), which gets boring. But this Thai fried quinoa was so good, I could have eaten the entire pan in one sitting, no joke. All that coconut milk probably means it isn't the world's healthiest recipe, but it's so good you won't even care. Seriously, make this today.

Of course winter means I want to eat soup every day, and this carrot ginger miso soup really hit the spot. Unfortunately not even Bria liked this soup, which is suspicious, but I loved it. Miso makes my heart sing. (And, just so you don't have to make multiple trips to Whole Foods like I did, I'll tell you that miso is located in the refrigerated section, near all the other vegan stuff.)

And lastly, we met up with Hannah and Rob on Saturday night for sandwiches at Brabo's the butcher block. Not a great place to stay and eat (we brought the sandwiches back to our place), but the sandwiches were fantastic. Right near the king street metro, I definitely recommend it for a quality, gourmet sandwich (and I really want to go back for a cheese plate). (also note they stop making sandwiches at 7pm.)

On Expensive Dinners and Dreams

The very first thing I should tell you about this year is the very last meal I ate last year. It was decadent and very indulgent, and a lovely way to say sayonara to a year that did not agree with me. (Also, brace yourself, it was the most expensive meal I have ever eaten.) We ate at Passion Fish in Reston, which is a sister restaurant to Ceiba and happens to be owned and created by Molly Wizenberg's brother. So, excitement all around. There was a prix-fixe menu for New Year's Eve that did not disappoint. I loved being able to choose from such fun offerings and indulge in more courses than usual. All too often I find myself paying to eat food that is incredibly mediocre. When you go to a restaurant, you want to feel happy that you ate better than you would at home. Don't you hate paying $15 for something you know you could cook better? I think I'd rather save the heartache and save up to eat at Passion Fish on a quarterly basis. Perhaps I should make it a resolution.

So my last meal of the year included sushi, Thai spring rolls, red curry lobster, and a vanilla bean anglaise chocolate mousse praline. (Let us take a moment to notice my choices were all Asian-influenced [save dessert].) There was also a special chef creation of a haddock custard with creme fraiche and caviar before our food arrived and Sam's dessert was homemade donuts which made me want to stow away in the restaurant kitchen for the rest of my life, surviving solely on a diet of those sugar-dusted gems. Sam's dinner was a beautiful piece of tuna with foie gras cotton candy on top. How is that even possible? I don't know, but it was awesome. Do you care to see crappy iPhone photos of our spread? I hate to do the food such injustice, but here we are.

Over two hours we all stuffed ourselves happily celebrating the end of the year and excitedly planning for the new one. This year is going to be great, I just know it. And one thing I hope to do more is be more open and honest, so here I go: I started making plans last summer to really shake things up in my life, and I am happy I started down that path. Since I was working on my undergrad five years ago I wanted to go to culinary school, and I thought maybe this would be the right time for me. When Sam and I visited NYC last fall, the sole purpose of the trip was to visit schools. Our initial plan was to finish our apartment contract here in the spring and then move up there so I could start school. However, it's incredible how quickly things change. A couple changes to Sam's job and some other opportunities have opened up here, so it seems we'll be staying put a while longer. Part of me is sad to have to put off my dreams for a while longer, but getting so far down the path made me realize how attainable my dreams are-- and they will be waiting for me as soon as I'm able to get back to them. In the meantime, I've gotten a taste for excitement and am brainstorming ways to spice things up. I hope to share more of those adventures here while I gain some experience that will only make my eventual culinary career richer.

Cornucopia

Thanksgiving this year was infinitely better than last year. We ate with Sam's one remaining local brother, and it was the best of both worlds. I made several dishes, but I didn't have to host or clean my house or even clean up my cooking mess immediately after. Though I still dream of making a turkey some day.
Since we spend the holidays at home rather than traveling to visit family, it's important to me to make nostalgic dishes. Stuffing was spoken for on the Thanksgiving menu, so I made my mom's stuffing for Tuesday night dinner to make sure I got my fill. And when brainstorming what I could bring to the feast, I found a perfect balance of recreating McPhie traditional dishes and experimenting with new recipes. One of the new ones was the curried brussels sprouts, which were Bria's favorite side dish-- a new tradition perhaps.
Non-photographed dishes contributed included this McPhie family favorite jello and Martha's incredible green bean casserole. Below you will see the evidence of pumpkin pie, chocolate cream pie (the ultimate crowd-pleaser of the night), corn custard, and Martha's curry spiced brussels sprouts.

making dents

 Over the weekend Sam and I went to New York. It was a quick and efficient trip. The majority of the time was spent eating-- walking to and from restaurants, planning meals and snacks-- which is exactly my kind of trip. And we made a significant dent in my To Do In NYC list.

We found the world's freshest California Roll at Kiku Sushi in Chelsea.

We had pretty awesome pizza and absolutely amazing banoffee at Co., across the street from Kiku, in Chelsea.



On Sunday morning, I suggested we go to Levain, and Sam seemed wishy-washy about it, since we'd been there before. Shouldn't we go somewhere new? Explore more of the city? I felt pretty devastated about this suggestion until about 15 minutes later when I put my foot down. "I want to go to Levain, so that's where we're going." Sam didn't complain, because really, how could you?


Our friends Mandy and Trent did a NYC trip where they visited restaurants who defeated Bobby Flay in a throwdown. (Genius, right?) One such restaurant was Caracas Arepa Bar in Williamsburg. It was too dim inside for pictures, but the food was out of this world. I definitely recommend it-- order the yoyos for an appetizer.


And then there was Eataly. I think I may have said something along the lines of Eataly being the exact replica of my heaven or something. It was that awesome. Every new counter and aisle I was gasping and clutching my hands together in glee. It was almost more than I could handle. The cheese in particular. Dozens and dozens of variations within each type of cheese. There were probably 20 different kinds of parmesan. The blue varietal caught my eye with its creaminess, and I would have taken it home if not for the logistics of transport. Beautiful I tell you! There was also the world's largest and tiniest apples and some very cool looking sodas. We even saw Andy Richter there buying chocolates with his wife and kids. (I was standing maybe 10 feet from him!) Sam and I each chose a pastry (baba al limoncello and tiramisu) and shared some gelato (stracciatella and hazelnut). If I ever live in NYC, it will take serious self control to not turn Eataly into a daily habit.