#wildsaturdaynight

Cranked up my oven and had a wild Saturday night! Roasted baby artichokes w/aioli:

http://instagram.com/p/uT_zyrpc2C/

And roasted garlic & herb sausage over apples, onion & carrot w/cider jus:

http://instagram.com/p/uUG9Z7Jcy9/

With extra bay leaves because I accidentally ordered a pillowcase-worth from Amazon and now I put tons of them in everything and give them away as gifts. Like a crazy person. 

X

BCD Eats on Instagram: Mujadarra from Cook's Illustrated

by EP

This week I attempted a Cook's Illustrated recipe for Mujadarra, a Middle Eastern rice and lentils recipe with crispy fried onions on top and a garlicky yogurt sauce on the side.



As usual, the ATK method was a bit cumbersome but successful. The onions specifically had a funny method but it worked great: peel, halve, and slice onions into 1/4-in pieces; toss with 2 tsp salt; microwave for 5 min; rinse onions and dry them well. ATK recommended a salad spinner for the drying process and it worked great! Then fry the onions over high heat in vegetable oil all at once - no batches necessary. It took about 20 min for them to get really dark and chewy/crispy:

A great vegetarian meal that I'll definitely be making again. Though, as with many recipes, I get the sense that mujadarra is different in every household, so I may try another version next time. One commenter recommended that I use dates - I have a feeling that would be so good with the savory onions and rice/lentils!

Happy nom-ing!
EP

ps. We're trying a new short-form/social media-focused approach to blogging, in an attempt to blog more! Follow us on Instagram (Erin, Xani) or Twitter (Erin; Xani) for more!

Let Me Entertain You, Let Me Make You Smile

by EP

One of my new years resolutions was to entertain more. I have a lovely little home, I love to cook, and I love to socialize - why not combine them by entertaining friends? The problem is, when you are so used to cooking for one, as I do most days, you overlook such skills necessary for entertaining as: serving food on time, serving enough food, working in courses, talking to others while cooking/following a recipe, etc. But, the only way to get better at something is to practice, right? Of course right.

A Rose By Any Other Name

by EP

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Rose's Luxury in the Eastern Market/Barracks Row neighborhood. This place is on every top restaurant list and is the talk of the town (at least, according to my twitter feed). I had been wanting to go but in the back of my mind was skeptical - is this place really that amazing? I'm pretty snobby - maybe this place isn't all it's cracked up to be? Spoiler alert: IT IS.

During the polar vortex that brought temperatures in the area down to single digits (not to mention the wind chills), best buddies Mark and Craig and I headed down to Southeast DC. Normally the wait time is about 2 hours at Rose's, even if you get there right when they open at 5:30. Yeesh. Mark got there at 5:40 and by some polar vortex miracle, we were seated at 6:10. I was excited, to say the least. There may have been applause when we were seated. Maybe.

Holiday Gifts 2013: Just Add Vodka

by EP

This year, while I made plenty of cookies, I didn't give them away as formal holiday gifts, as I've done in the past. I wanted to do something a little different. I was inspired by my friend Ginger, who gave me a small bottle of homemade vanilla extract last year, which I used in all my baking until it was gone. I cleverly told everyone that whatever treat I'd made was made with "local vanilla."

It's Cookie Time, It's Cookie Time

by EP

I don't know about you, but whenever cookies are coming out of the oven, I sing "It's cookie time, it's cookie time" a la the great cinematic masterpiece that is "Troop Beverly Hills." 

Yes, that just happened.

Speaking of cookies coming out of the oven, our ovens have been working overtime this holiday season! We have been making some great treats - both classics and what we're calling "alterna-cookies": classic cookies with a special twist, like gingersnaps made with bacon fat, or sugar cookies made with goat cheese.