Comments (2) After a short hiatus (Kate went to Paris) we have the PIG (Passionate International Gastronomers) Project back up and plowing through the B’s. Friday night we went to the Balkan Grill in Arlington, VA for a delicious Bosnian feast. The restaurant calls itself “Take Out” due to the absence of tables and chairs (there is a bar table that sits 4). We ordered food to go and eat at Jill’s house just a few minutes away.
It turns out Utah has an international restaurant not available in Washington, DC: Australian. As our friend Kevin pointed out, Australia is not only a country, but also a continent, so we really couldn’t exclude it from our PIG project rounds. A few weeks ago we kicked of PIG Project Utah and finally finished the A’s with some great eats at Wallaby’s Smokehouse. As it turns out, however, the barbeque side of the menu is not actually from Australia because, according to the owner, barbeque in Australia is dry, tasteless, and not what the American public are interested in eating. Thus, much to our pleasure, all the meats were inspired by good old Memphis and only the sides and ginger beer with any claim to Australia heritage. Needless to say just about everything we ate was extra tasty and everyone, even the vegetarians, seemed satisfied.
Kate’s dinner of Smashers, pickled Taz eggs and beets, and homemade sarsaparilla.
Continue reading 'PIG Project Utah: The A’s are Officially Over'»
Due to a miscommunication with Albanian-owned pizza restaurant owner who has agreed to make us a custom Albanian dinner, we had to postpone Albania until next week. Algeria is also in the works. Being the flexible, yet committed, gastronomers* that we are we decided upon a pick-up-potluck this week to knock out three countries that we’re pretty sure there is no restaurant for in the U.S. (at least within reach): Andorra, Angola & Antigua and Barbuda.
I have actually been to Andorra, since it is a teeny, tiny nation in between Spain and France and was part of my mission. Yes, there are Mormons in Europe… even some in Andorra.
Continue reading 'Andorran, Angolan & Antigua and Barbudan feast!'»
The maiden voyage of the PIG Project was to Afghan Grill in Woodley Park, DC. and we have earned our Afghani Merit Badge!
We were joined with some gourmet company, Adam, Thelma, Jill, and Jane.
Yep, that’s right. We went to the grand opening of a Cafe Rio about 13 minutes away from our house today. (for those of you not familiar with this Utah chain, it can freakin’ beat the pants off Chipotle)
Virginia just go that much better.
In line a lady asked us if we needed a menu, when we said “no” she said, “oh are you from Utah?” Apparently they can count on the Mormons to bring in a big crowd. Verified by the fact that there were about 16 missionaries behind us in line.
We were going to split a salad & then decided to splurge & both get one. When we got up to the cash register, we found out that everything was FREE! Plus we can do a survey online for two more free meals. I <3 Cafe Rio!
Also… on the way there we accidentally went on a detour. It was not in vain, however, because we saw this truck.
Which reminded me of our neighbor’s sticker:
Does Jesus save the U.S.A? Does the USA save along with Jesus?
Hard to say. Extremely unintentionally hilarious either way.
So I made Alice Water’s free-form apple tart again, except this time I was unable to eat it. I was on a crappy diet to loose some weight. From what I heard it was delicious, so good in fact, Kate sent the whole thing home with our guests so she wouldn’t eat all the leftovers for breakfast. If you have not tried making one before definitely give it a try. It is super simple and tastes amazing. Also, right now is the perfect time since apples are in season. You can search her recipe all over the web.
You absolutely must try a south Indian dosa with coconut chutney and sour rasam soup. Dosas are crispy sourdough tasting XXXXXXL crapes made from rice and lentils. You tear off a little piece and scoop some soup and chutney. Yum!
Kate’s dosa at Amma Vegetarian Kitchen in Georgetown, DC.
We have just achieved the ultimate internet triumph. When you Google “Ice Cream for Breakfast” our site is number 6! To celebrate this moment in cyber history, I ate some ice cream for breakfast. MMmmmmmmm. Ice cream for breakfast is the way to go & not just in Idaho.
Let’s keep in mind, that this means that people, many people, do search the phrase “ice cream for breakfast.” What exactly are they looking for, pray tell?
For Sunday dinner we invited our church missionaries and the Hoovers (the other family living in the compound) for lasagna, garbanzo bean salad, and brownies. Except for Kate’s garbanzo bean salad, which was great, turned out o.k. We tried those no-need-to-precook lasagna noodles that always turn out to be crunchy-tasteless-wafer-crackers. Actually that was the only thing wrong with the lasagna, that and we ran out of spinach filling for the second one and had to substitute with whatever we could find in our fridge. Everyone seemed to like it, although our previous attempt with the local starch´o glue slab noodles turned out much better. Dessert was about the same, with only three of the guests putting their brownies in napkins and throwing them away (good by my standards). We had a lot of fun; even I (Neil) who can understand about 25% of all conversations.
For dinner tonight Kate and I made focaccia bread and stuffed it with grilled summer veggies. I was worried San Cristobal’s high elevation would affect the quality of the focaccia but it turned out nearly perfect. I added too much oregano to the recipe because it’s the only spice we have and so I substituted it for thyme, rosemary, and basil. Also we bought the oregano from a street vendor and lets just say it is hanky raw. I was pulling twigs or stems if oregano 1/2 and inch long out of the bread. Ether way it was awesome. So if your dying for something light and tasty on a hot summer day I recommend grilled veggies on some homemade focaccia.
Oh down this far south we basically have summer veggies year round, hence the title.
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