Washington Home & Garden Blogs
Interior design trends, gardening and landscape ideas, beautiful homes and life styles.
|
jordan's Blog
|
|
|
Description:
No desc available |
|
|
Posted by jordan in Untagged
|
By Jordan Wright
Photo courtesy of ThreeLockharts
Restaurant 3's signature scallops and grits.
First there was the recession-busting "Staycation" concept of staying at home for a week to re-energize and renew, with all the richness of offerings the DC area has to offer.
Now a new word has entered the stay-at-home lexicon: the foodcation; Southern-fried oysters and free-range burgers roasting on the grille, hush puppies as secretagogues and cold wheat ales on ice
Photo courtesy of ThreeLockharts
Bleu cheese chips at Restaurant 3. |
Last week, the Blue Points were roasting on the grill and the “Wheaties” were on ice at this surprising outpost, Clarendon’s 3 Bar and Grill, owned by the local Williams and Cahill families and run by son, Jonathan Williams.
The number “3” after its name because the family also owns Whitlow’s On Wilson and the now-shuttered Whitlow’s Downtown.
On a recent glorious summer’s evening, in this casual and down-home roadhouse-in-an-upscale-setting, I began my “foodcation” with the tantalizing offer of a Southern cookout on the restaurant’s Boulevard-facing patio. The aroma of wood smoke and oysters, redolent with garlic, butter and fresh herbs (did I detect the subtle licorice scent of tarragon?), heralded my arrival.
Soulful Chef Brian Robinson has returned of late to his N’awlins roots to create a menu that reflects the dishes of his heritage. Along with the ambrosial oysters we sampled sweet, soft-centered, cast-iron-crusted hush puppies with honey butter, perfectly fried delicate green tomatoes, at the peak of their season, with melted goat cheese crumbles and tomato relish.
His Grandpa Dickey’s secret seasonings’ fried boneless chicken sat atop crispy waffles, dripping with bourbon maple syrup. It was followed by seared sea scallops balanced on stone-ground grits that had absorbed the sweet smokiness of morsels of Cajun-country tasso ham.
Photo courtesy of ThreeLockharts
Grilled brie at Restaurant 3. |
As a former chef at the beloved Georgia Brown’s, Robinson has captured the best of Southern cuisine. His fried dishes were light and refined…his fish prepared with a skilled wrist, each evocative of the deeply seasoned flavors reminiscent of Southern home cooking. This is the sort of menu you’d expect at a low-country gathering, where folks start the oyster roast fires early in the cool of the day and “visit” past sunset.
I caught up with Brian in his chaotic kitchen, just before dinner service, where he rekindled memories of his Grandpa Dickey, one of the renowned Tuskegee Airmen, while he prepared the dishes of his youth.
“These are the dishes he would prepare, always with the freshest ingredients around, “ Robinson recalls.
For beer lovers there was an amazing selection that was carefully chosen for pairing with each course. Craft beers like Piraat Triple from Belgium, a “living beer” that continues to ferment in the bottle and is called an “adventure” because it’s flavors shapeshift in the bottle; Steamworks Kolscha, a crisp ale, with a hint of sweetness from Colorado; Dale’s Pale Ale, “hoppy and malty;” and Bell’s Oberon, an American wheat ale considered both spicy and fruity, sequenced the food.
Photo courtesy of ThreeLockharts
The farm to glass cocktail at Restaurant 3. |
On the cheese board was Cypress Grove’s Humboldt Fog a creamy, dreamy, surface-ripened blue with its iconic ribbon of ash and Point Reyes Bleu a firmer, yet mild mannered blue made with the raw milk from this Northern California farm’s own grass-fed cows.
They were paired with Abita Purple Haze, which features the after-brew addition of raspberry puree and Brooklyn Brown Ale that evokes raisins, apples, brown sugar and molasses and rounded out the offerings.
Restaurant 3 Bar and Grill features over 70 different beers a long list of wines and hand-crafted specialty cocktails made with farmer’s market fresh herbs and infusions.
If You're Going...
3 Bar and Grill
2950 Clarendon Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 524-4440
|
|
Posted by jordan in Untagged
|
By Jordan Wright
Photo by Jordan Wright/Local Kicks
So Delicious brand coconut milk.
Toss out the notion of a sticky, sweet drink mixer for pina coladas or the other kind that comes in a can and is used as a cooking ingredient for Thai curries.
This new product, in plain, unsweetened and vanilla flavors made by So Delicious, is used straight from the carton on your morning cereal or drunk by the glass and is found in the refrigerated section beside the soymilk.
About coconut, the carton explains, “It is a rich source of medium chain fatty acids (MCGAs) which are recognized as “good fat”, and it is naturally cholesterol-free.” That should be good news for cardiologists and their ice cream-deprived patients.
In our house, kid-tested and highly approved, coconut milk has replaced the soy, almond, oat, rice or hemp milks previously consumed. We especially love the vanilla flavored, but the unsweetened version is better for savory cooking or baking. Not inconsequentially it is vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO and organic. Smoothies using the vanilla flavored coconut milk are divine with this brand new product.
So Delicious is an Oregon company that had previously produced only soy-based products. Their wonderful Soy Delicious ice creams like Green Tea and Awesome Chocolate are family favorites.
But in April of this year they rolled out their new line of coconut-based products called “Purely Decadent Made with Coconut Milk.” There are nine different flavors, sweetened with agave syrup.
Think ice cream without the milk...really rich and creamy, with a smooth mouth feel.
Under the So Delicious brand name there are eight coconut-based frozen ice creams by the pint and five types of “novelties,” Banana Split Sandwich and Coconut Almond Bar are two of these grab-and-go bars.
They also make a “cultured coconut milk,” which is a yogurt-style product that comes in six flavors and has all the benefits of yogurt.
Passionate Mango, anyone?
Their web site www.turtlemountain.com reminds us that “40 million Americans are lactose intolerant while many others have reduced or eliminated their intake of dairy products due to religious, philosophical or health reasons.”
Turtle Mountain has always focused on customers with allergies and other health concerns and has a comprehensive allergen prevention program with an allergen identification table described on their web site.
Julie Berner, a customer relations spokeswoman at Turtle Mountain told me the company has been contacted by a PKU group lately. People with PKU have a very low tolerance for protein, an excess of protein can actually prove to be fatal, and they must limit their daily intake. For that reason these new coconut-based products are of particular interest to the PKU community.
Look for So Delicious coconut-based kefir to appear in markets in the months to come.
In our area, Whole Foods, some Safeway stores and My Organic Market are your best bet to find these heavenly treats.
|
|
Posted by jordan in Untagged
|
By Jordan Wright
Photo by Flickr/YanArief
A super-secret reality show scheduled for a major network’s fall line-up has approached Del Ray's Pork Barrel BBQ in Alexandria.
Partners Heath Hall and Brett Thompson, currently waiting for the ink to dry on their contract, swore me to secrecy…at least for the time being. The show, featuring five multi-millionaire venture capitalists looking for investment opportunities will showcase these and other entrepreneurs and fly them out to the West Coast next month for the filming.
Longtime friends from Kansas City, smack dab in America’s Heartland, they were hired by former Missouri Sen. Jim Talent and assigned to tackle the tough issues…banking, child welfare and the national budget. Dry stuff indeed, but they were well acquainted with the give and take, the tit for tat that goes on in each session. They had done their homework and knew the drill, and they were in it for the long haul.
Photo by Jordan Wright
Heath Hall and Brett Thompson of Del Ray's Pork Barrel BBQ.
|
One evening, after too many cold pizzas and as the Senate Appropriations Committee was debating the budget into the wee hours, the boys had the inkling of an idea.
They missed home and talk of “pork barrel” spending was snapping their synapses into fond memories of cookouts with family and friends. They began reminiscing about pork shoulder and beef brisket smoked for hours over oak and hickory wood, Kansas City style, with a tomato base and a rich, smoky barbeque sauce, the meat seasoned with secret recipe rubs to seal in the fat and bring out the intensity and cold beers to wash it all down.
In Kansas City it is said that within a radius of 30 miles a fellow could eat in a different barbeque restaurant every night with no repeats.
Folks there take their barbeque dead dog serious and often smoke 50 pounds of meat at a time.
In his words, Heath’s dad was a ”post office BBQer…out there in rain, snow, sleet and hail.”
The family had six grills, not at all unusual for that part of the country where the stockyards were hailed as the largest in America and the meat went out on railroad cars from Kansas City to Chicago and New York and on across the country.
Some grills were for the smoking, the meat cooking long and slow till it falls off the bone, marrow oozing out, tender and mellow, and creating the most satisfying ancient flavor known to mankind.
Heath and Brett like Weber’s Smokey Mountain Cookers for the slow cooking and grills for chicken giving a fast sear for the charbroiling.
Eight-foot-long smokers get fired up early in the morning and stoked for hours and hours while smoke fills the yard…neighbors and friends rolling in all day to gather, catch up and sit down with a plate of whatever was coming off the heat…beef, pork, sausages, lamb, mutton and chicken.
The boys know barbeque, born and raised on it, and figured they could make their own spice rub and try to sell it. Friends liked it and encouraged them... and in December of 2008 Pork Barrel BBQ All-American Spice Rub, with its all-natural, smoky, and slightly spicy flavor, was born.
They got it in a few local stores, Let’s Meat on the Avenue in Del Ray and the Organic Butcher of McLean in McLean, VA, and started to sell it online to immediate success.
They revved up their product line when they entered Safeway’s National Capitol Barbeque Battle last month, creating and presenting a brand new barbeque sauce that hadn’t even been on the market yet.
“They told us our sauce was one of the final three out of forty four,” Heath declared. “We were stunned!”
After the votes were tallied they wound up with Second Place, beating out longtime barbeque champs. In another category, “Memphis in May”, their Pork Shoulder prepared with their All-American Spice Rub, nailed Fourth Place, forever establishing their reputation in the competitive field of American BBQ.
Photo by Flickr/ra64
Even the best ribs in San Diego can be found at a place called Kansas City Barbeque.
|
Their label features a wholesome pig holding a fork twice his size with the iconic capitol landscape in the background echoing the days of their time on The Hill…the words “Monumental Flavor” the motto.
Heath who Twitters and blogs through their website www.porkbarrelbbq.com keeps his followers apprised of their latest endeavors gaining them the number one BBQ blogger spot with over 13,000 hits so far and the number one post in Alexandria.
With over 600 grocery stores in 10 states signing on to carry their products they will be rolling out three new products in addition to the original Spice Rub…their crunch-time success BBQ sauce and a Steak Rub and Chesapeake Bay Rub.
Their distributor told them, “You guys must have leprechauns on your shoulders.”
For comments and questions contact Jordan@whiskandquill.com
|
|
Posted by jordan in Untagged
|
By Jordan Wright
Ripe strawberries at the Farmer's Market.
Crystal Farms, the new Farmers’ Market on Crystal Drive has a novel idea to re-use bags. You know the flimsy ones we try to recycle that sometimes blow away and get caught up in trees and make that fizzy flapping noise in the breeze for weeks.
Perusing the naturals at the Farmer's Market. |
Do we really need to use those anymore? They are also asking for the nice eco-friendly, re-useable bags. We have dozens of cloth totes around the house from past events. What a clever way to give these a second life!
The plan is to let other shoppers use them…a bag-sharing plan. (Please just the ones that are in good condition.)
500 billion plastic bags, over one million every minute, are used worldwide every year with most of them ending up in landfills or the aforementioned trees. They break down into tiny particles that contaminate our waterways eventually our food system.
There will be designated areas at the market to collect them and they will give them to shoppers who have forgotten to bring theirs from home.
Check out this market with over 20 farmers and producers:
- Atwater's Bakery: artisan breads, scones, cookies, organic ingredients
- Baguette Republic: baguettes, boules, challah, focaccia, rolls
- Barajas Produce: beans, beets, broccoli, herbs, salad mix, mustard green and more
- BIGG Riggs Farms: apple butter, hot pepper jelly, vodka sauce, fruit jams
- Four Seasons Nursery: cut flowers & herbs, culinary and medicinal herb plants
- G. Flores Produce: seasonal fruits and vegetables, cut flowers and herbs, container plants
- Graces Pastries: quick cakes, breads, scones
- Great Harvest Bread Co.: breads, cookies, baked goods
- Guata Java: premium Guatemalan coffee
- Kuhn Orchards: fruits and vegetables, herbs, flowers and plants, fruit butters, jams, jellies, canned peaches
A Monster Apple Pie and other sweets at the Farmer's Market. |
- LynnVale Studios: over 100 different kinds of specialty cut flowers and culinary herbs
- Meat Crafters: all natural handcrafted meats, cured, fresh and smoked
- Mount Vernon Farm: 100% grass-fed beef, lamb and pastured pork
- Red Apron Butcher Shop: bacon, pastrami and hotdogs
- Salsa Las Glorias: Salsas and Pico de Gallo made with locally grown ingredients
- St. Ambrose Apiaries: Honey, honey related products, 100% beeswax candles
- Teaco: wide varieties of loose leaf teas
- Toigo Orchards: applesauce, apple/pear butter, pasta sauce, honey and fresh fruits
- Tysons Farms: wide varieties of seasonal fruits and vegetables including peaches, plums, cherries, berries, beans, zucchini, peppers, cabbage, beans, eggplants and much more
- Walnut Hill Farm: seasonal vegetables including corn, potatoes, beans, kohlrabi, onions, watermelon and more
- Westmoreland Produce: seasonal vegetables and fruits, container plants, cut herbs and flowers
Radishes at the Farmer's Market.
|
Crystal Farms Market is held on Tuesdays from 3 pm to 7 pm on Crystal Drive between 18th and 20th Streets in Crystal City. The market runs until October 27.
|
WHG Online
|
my blog 
