Snowmageddon, the aftermath: Brunch and a walk in the snow.

I woke up on Sunday to bright blue sky and a beautiful post-blizzard day and a phone call from my friend Anne who wanted to know if I wanted to go out for brunch.  Of course!
I had been wanting to try a new restaurant on 14th street for a while and luckily they also serve brunch.  Perfect!
Snow boots? Check! Big puffy snow jacket? Check!  Masa 14? Check!
Masa 14 just opened up a few months ago to great reviews (at least from a few of my friends).  It’s a low key latin/asian fusion restaurant with modern decor and the longest bar I’ve ever seen!
I was really in the mood for fresh flavors and my wish was their command.  The plates are small and they recommend ordering a few dishes per person.  We ordered 5 and shared them!
First on deck: 2 different kinds of flatbreads.  One with avocado, peppers and mushrooms, the other with Serrano ham, cantaloupe and truffle oil.  Both delicious!
The pepper and avocado flatbread had slices of fresh hot pepper on them.  I usually don’t order spicy food but this was a wonderful combination of smoothness from the avocado and freshness from the hot peppers that it worked really well.
The ham, melon and arugula flatbread was a fun take on the familiar “melon and prosciutto” dish.
Next was a seaweed and jicama salad.
We then had our own “entrees”.  I had a poached egg over brioche with spinach, peppers and a hollandaise sauce. By the time I got to this dish I wasn’t as hungry and I probably should have been.  Oh brunch… eyes were bigger than the stomach once again!

After an amazing (and very filling brunch) we both thought a serious walk downtown to see the snow was in order.
Enjoy the “day after the snow” pictures!

Someone had some fun!

Photo-op with the White House snow family and Anne!

 

It’s snowing again tonight.  They are predicting close to 10 inches. I guess this snow isn’t going anywhere anytime soon!

Thomas Keller’s “Grapefruit” Cake

What does one do with 6 oranges, naked, just sitting there in bowl after I peeled them for candied orange rind??  Find a recipe that uses the flesh of an orange!  I wasn’t looking very long before I found a recipe for a citrus cake.  My mother gave me Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home cookbook a few weeks ago so I went to that book first.  What luck… he has a grapefruit cake recipe.  What uses grapefruit can use orange I’m sure.  Problem solved!

I made a cake similar to this one a while ago but this recipe is slightly different and it’s a Thomas Keller recipe so it pretty much has to be good right?

“Grapefruit Cake”

Adapted from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home

Ingredients:

For the cake:

2 cups of all purpose flower

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 2/3 cup of granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cups of canola oil (I used equal amounts of apple sauce.  Apple sauce is healthier and keeps the cake just as moist. Upgrade!)

1tbls grapefruit zest (I actually used grapefruit and not orange here. I’m sure you could completely substitute all things grapefruit in this recipe with orange but I thought I would mix the two and call the cake “citrus”.)

1 tsp vanilla paste ( I just used vanilla extract.  Sorry TK I didn’t make your vanilla paste ahead of time) 

 

For the “grapefruit” aka orange syrup:

1 cup strained fresh pink grapefruit juice (or orange juice in my case)

2/3 cup granulated sugar

“Grapefruit” Icing:

I used clementines here.  Might as well through another citrus fruit into the mix!

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tbs plus 1tsp fresh pink grapefruit juice (or clementine juice in my case)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  The recipe calls for one 10x4 inch loaf pan but I had regular, small, loaf pans so I used two of them.  Spray you pans with oil or butter them up!

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside. 

In another bowl combine the sugar and eggs in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer.  Mix for about 3 minutes or until the mixtures is thick enough to leave a trail behind the mixing “wisks”. 

Next, beat in the milk, the oil (or the applesauce in my case), grapefruit zest and the vanilla.  Once all wet ingredients are well incorporated slowly add the dry ingredients that you mixed together in the first bowl.

Pour the mixture into both loaf pans.  Keller says to score the top of the batter with a knife and make a 3/4 inch “slice” into the batter to give the cakes a nice little crack on the top once it has baked.  I did this and didn’t really see what he was talking about but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a try!  Score away.

Bake the cakes for an hour or until your toothpick comes out clean.

…meanwhile…

While you cakes are baking make the citrus syrup to pour on top of the cake once it comes out of the oven.

Combine the citrus juice and sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat just until the sugar has dissolved.

As soon as you take the cakes out of the oven take a long skewer (or the candy thermometer like I did.. it was the only long, clean “stick” I could find – chopsticks would work well too) and poke the cakes with 3/4 inch deep holes.  These will help the syrup that you are gently pouring over the cakes seep in.  Let the cakes cool for about 15 minutes then remove them from the pan.  Pour the icing over the cakes and you’re finished!

***

As a kid my mom would fix my sister and me pound cake with yogurt as a snack after we came home from school.  This is sort like pound cake, so why not try it with yogurt?!

Citrus/yogurt sandwich!  Amazing.

Candied Orange Peel

I know this is usually a Christmas tradition, at least in Europe, but I figured it's still citrus season so I can make them. 

Chocolate and Orange is a classic combination but I'll be honest and say it hasn't always been one of my favorites.  I found this recipe on yujai.blogspot.com and it looked so fresh and delicious that I had to try it.  There is something very appealing about the thought of my apartment filled with the smell of citrus peel cooking away on the stove.

"candied" anything sounds like it would be complicated to make.  As it turns out complicated is the wrong word, "time consuming" is more like it (this seems to be a trend lately with the dishes I choose to make).

Chocolate Covered Candied Orange Peel

adapted from Yujai's recipe

Ingredients:

6 Navel Oranges (this makes a LOT of orange peel. Looking back I would have used half this number)

4 cups of sugar (don't forget to reduce the amount of sugar and water based on the number of oranges you use)

1 1/2 cups of water

All parts of this recipe are time consuming, I'm warning you.

First, peel the oranges by cutting 1/4 slices into the fruit, cutting the orange peel into quarters.  (set the flesh of the orange aside for use in another recipe.  I made a citrus cake!)  Cut the quarters of orange peel into small 1/4 inch strips.

 Put the peel in a large pot and cover it with cold water.  Bring the water to a boil, let it cook for a couple minutes and then strain the water out and do it all over again, twice.  I'm going to have to do a little research but I'm thinking this removes impurities and wax that might have been on the rind. You really do see a lot of cloudy water go down the drain.

  

Strain the now soft and a bit translucent peel into a bowl and set aside for a minute.

Mix the sugar and water together over medium heat and let the mixture cook.  The recipe calls for 8-9 minutes or when your candy thermometer reaches 230 degrees.  I found that it took more like 15 minutes.  I'm sure it all depends on the stove you have.  

Add the peel and lower the heat to a simmer.  Let the pot cook for 45 minutes (I left them on for an hour because I got caught up on the phone with my sister! No harm done).

 

Cover the underneath of a cooling rack with foil to catch sugar drips and gently lay the strips on the rack to cool and dry. They will still be pretty hot.  You have been warned!

 

Let the strips dry for 2-3 days.  You can either be finished now, and pack them into a container on wax paper to prevent them from sticking, or you can cover them in chocolate!

To cover in chocolate:

Melt chocolate, dip, set to dry again. Easy!

 

Snowpocalypse 2010 in pictures

 ****Blizzard!****

I woke up to A LOT of snow this morning!  After having some tea and watching the mandatory around the clock local weather coverage for a good two hours I thought it might be fun to venture out.  I live close enough to the White House.. why not go out and take a look!

  Enjoy the snow pictures!

16th street

 

I made it back to Dupont!  A little cold and very wet but it was worth it!

Blizzard of '10 and my mushroom adventure begins!

Well it's snowing again!  This is more snow than the DC area has seen in a LONG time.  While they are calling for close to 30 inches by the end of the day tomorrow we are still at about 4 inches right now.  None the less... it's all very exciting.  The snow has quietly turned the city's volume down to a hush and softened all its edges.  Beautiful.

About a week ago I ordered a "grown your own mushroom kit" in the mail on a whim.  I've always wanted to go mushroom hunting and while this is the wrong season and I live in completely the wrong area of the world to do so I thought this could be a close second!

After spending a long day at the restaurant today I finally got home around 10:30 PM to find a box at my door!

 

So fun!

The top of the box says I can't open it until Sunday.  I wonder what's going on in that box!?

 

I'll periodically update you on the "mushroom adventure status".  Hopefully I will have button  and portabella mushrooms to eat soon!

5 inches deep in snow and I'm signing off.  We'll see how much snow I wake up to.