Great Eats at Great Sage

by Erin

Since drinking the Kool-Aid of "The Omnivore's Dilemma," I have not been eating that much meat, and when I do, I prefer it to be local and/or organic. (Don't get me wrong, I break my rules all the time, such as when I indulge my growing addiction to the Hilltop Carry-Out gyros.) Several of my friends (and Xani) are of the same mind and some have even gone vegetarian or mostly vegetarian. I met up with several of these girls (including Lauren, NYC friend extraordinaire) last weekend to celebrate our friend Lydia's birthday, and the birthday girl chose to have lunch at Great Sage in Clarksville, MD.

Great Sage is a vegetarian restaurant that uses organic produce and happily accommodates vegans as well. The space is open and sunny, and the staff was extremely friendly and accommodating. At the bar in the front of the restaurant, patrons on their laptops sipped coffee or munched on sandwiches.

We sat down and amongst our chit-chatting and catching up, we ordered the mango iced tea, a refreshing tea with a mild mango flavor. The menu had soups, salads, a few entrees, and a nice selection of appetizers. Many of the dishes had what I'll call "veg-meat," meaning usually soy-based products used to emulate meat in flavor and/or texture. I tried these fake meats in college when I would dine out with vegetarian friends (I'm talking about you, Jeff Fields!), and to be honest, that was enough for me. I prefer to eat either real meat, or no meat. Substitutions be gone!

Mango iced tea

For our appetizers, we ordered the Hummus Plate, served with carrots, celery, olives, and toasted naan bread, and Artichoke Spinach Crostini, an artichoke and spinach dip with parmesan and toasted crostini. Both appetizers were delicious and heavy enough to satisfy our hunger immediately, but not too heavy that we couldn't enjoy the rest of the meal. I especially liked the artichoke dip - it had lots of tartness in it and for a moment I wasn't sure what it was from, and then I took the cue from the garnish: a lemon slice! The lemon juice added brightness and cut right through the creamy cheesiness of the dish. Delish!

Spinach-Artichoke Dip with Crostini

Hummus with veggies and naan

For our mains, I ordered the Black Bean and Roasted Corn Quesadilla, with white cheddar and sour cream on the side. They gave me hot sauce on request (Rick Bayless's Frontera Grill brand - nice and spicy). It was a good quesadilla, a large portion, but not as great as the appetizers. The other girls got the Italian Pesto Panini, the Portabella Caesar Salad Wrap, and the Southwest Burger, and all got great reviews. Lauren's wrap came with amazingly tart and spicy pickles, and we were obnoxious and ordered a whole plate for the table!

Black bean and corn quesadilla

Southwest "Burger"

Italian Pesto Panino

Portobello Caesar Wrap with awesome pickle

The last course was dessert, and this was the biggest surprise of the meal because these desserts were KICK-ASS! First our waitress surprised the birthday girl with four very mini birthday cupcakes! It was a sweet surprise, and the cupcakes were excellent. The chocolate cake was moist and had a nice hint of salt, and the icing was not too sweet (it was a merigue buttercream so it was more butter than sugar) and there was a good proportion of icing to cake.

Surprise!

Next we got MORE dessert. As I've gotten older, I've noticed that I've been shying away from chocolate desserts and more often order fruit-based desserts, so my vote was for the fruit tart or fruit crisp, but I got outvoted. After heated debate, we ordered a molton chocolate cake dessert with vanilla ice cream on top (not on the menu, we got it special because the b-day girl knows a guy who knows a guy), and Sage's Famous Carrot Cake. I was hesitant about both. I never order carrot cake; I don't even think I had ever had it before since why would I want silly vegetables in my dessert??

The verdict? I was blown away by both desserts! The molton chocolate cake was rich and chocolatey, and the ice cream was a great accompaniment. (The waitress asked if we wanted dairy, soy, or rice-based ice cream - we went with dairy.)

The carrot cake, however, was RIDICULOUS. First, it was a gigantic portion. It was served ice cold, which normally I wouldn't like, but it totally worked. The cream cheese frosting was vegan so it did not have the same tanginess as traditional CC frosting, but it was still sweet and smooth. The cake was VERY dense (is that normal?) and there was a great cake-to-frosting ratio. Who knew vegan carrot cake would be so amazing??

What a meal! I was glad I was able to celebrate with Lydia and see Lauren and Sarah who were in town from NYC. Happy birthday, Lyd!

BFFs!

Happy organic/vegetarian/vegan eating,
EP

Back to Blogging....

by Xani

It's been a while since I've blogged. After my little accident, I had to put cooking and blogging pretty much on hold. Cooking was almost impossible (I almost cried when I realized I was unable to grind pepper one-handed) and maybe even dangerous (left-handed knife skills? Not so much), and typing one-handed was so frustrating, I pretty much gave it up except for when I absolutely HAD to, for work. It was a sad month. But now my splint has been removed, my bone is all healed, and it's been so exciting to be able to cook (and blog) again! Here are a few dishes I whipped up soon after getting my hand back-- and just as fresh, local produce begins to emerge!



Dish Number 1: Bastardized Panzanella

A simple dinner thrown together on a weeknight. Some pieces of roughly torn Italian bread, drizzled with olive, salt and pepper and toasted in the oven until they emerged as golden croutons. Meanwhile, tossed a small salad of parsley, and little grape tomatoes, minced or grated garlic, vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. When the croutons were done, I added them, as well as some adorable fresh mozzarella pearls to the salad, tossed gently, plated, and topped the whole thing with some fresh shaved Parmesan and a bit more olive oil. Light, easy, and tasty. Mine had a bit too much garlic, and as summer approaches with delicious heirloom tomatoes and basil bursting from gardens, I would certainly adjust the recipe to include these.


Dish Number 2: Soft-boiled Eggs with Asparagus

This dish seems almost British to me-- why is that? Did I see Nigella Lawson make it long ago on the Style Network? Perhaps. Anyway, it seemed a perfect vehicle for the first local asparagus of the season, which EP and I picked up at our beloved Emily's Produce stand (which reopened for the season just the day before!), on our way home from a brief visit to Blackacre. Hungry for brunch the next morning, I brought some salted water to a simmer, and in went the asparagus and eggs. Four minutes later, the spears were crisp tender and the eggs were perfectly soft-boiled (although at this point I realized I don't have any egg cups or other dishes that effectively hold an egg- add those to my wish list!). I served the eggs and asparagus alongside some toasted thick bread to soak up the yolks, and lots of coarse salt.

Dish Number 3: Calzones from Scratch, Two Fillings

After spending a few nights in Philadelphia for work (and getting a killer migraine that ruined my dinner at Cuba Libre and left me incapacitated for 18 hours) I arrived home to a fridge full of veggies needing prompt attention, and a package of pre-made pizza dough I picked up at the grocery store. My grill is currently being taken over by ivy (seriously, my backyard is like a JUNGLE, and while some think it looks "magical", I bet my neighbors don't. My "I only have one hand" excuse is no good anymore, so I guess it's pure laziness at this point-- it's on the To Do list, for sure), so grilled pizzas were off the table. But calzones seemed like the perfect solution. I invited EP over for a study break, and got started on making the fillings.

Kale-ricotta filling (a twist on traditional spinach ricotta): I didn't have any spinach, but I did have kale, which I blanched in boiling salted water, shocked, drained and chopped. Then mixed with some sauteed onion and garlic, ricotta, one egg, Parmesan, fresh mozzarella, and salt and pepper.

Veggie tomato filling: Another twist on a classic, I omitted the sausage from a traditional sausage, pepper and onion filling and added mushrooms and asparagus to the sauteed onion, garlic, and red, yellow and orange mini-peppers. Once all the veggies were nice and tender, I added about half a can of (GASP) prepared tomato sauce, along with red pepper flakes, oregano, and salt and pepper, and let the whole thing cook together for about half an hour until it had formed a nice, thick sauce-- almost like a ragout.


Once the fillings were done, I started trying to stretch out the prepared pizza dough-- emphasis on the word "trying." I guess it had been sitting in my fridge for too long, because this stuff was a MESS. Unbelievably sticky no matter how much flour I added, wouldn't hold shape, etc. But I already had the fillings all made-- I was screwed!! Or was I...?

Behold: my latest purchase/obsession. Ratio, by Michael Ruhlman, is a fantastic book about how many of the basics of cooking can be reduced to simple ratios. Bread dough (including pizza dough), for example, is 5:3, flour to water. The book stresses how simple it is to make great bread with just a few ingredients (flour, yeast, salt), and I thought this was a perfect opportunity to try out the technique... what else was I going to do with all that filling!?

My other new favorite toy-- digital food scale!

In retrospect I didn't time things quite right-- the dough should have rested a lot longer between initial kneading and stretching into the calzones... lesson learned for next time. The dough wasn't really very elastic and hadn't developed the gluten in a way that gives pizza dough it crispy, chewy texture. But hey, I made dough, and formed it into calzones, and they didn't fall apart or explode or taste half-bad. In fact, they were pretty damn good! EP and I ate well that night. The kale had a really interesting flavor, and the veggie ragout was delicious with the melted mozzarella and Parmesan. All in all, a BIG success.


I'm so glad to be two-handed again. I promise to do lots more cooking (especially with the farmers' market open again as of this morning-- EP and I almost drowned getting there in the today's monsoon, but it was so worth it) and blogging. I've got a few in the pipeline that I'm sure you'll all enjoy. Until then...


Happy eating (and cooking, and blogging),
X

Celebrating at Woodberry Kitchen

by Erin & Xani

The past few days have been great for the BCD girls. On the Xani front, the doctor removed her cast and she now has full typing abilities! Keep your eyes out for more regular blogging by the X-Factor. As for EP, yesterday she turned in her bar application and then had her last law school class ever! Also, after LOTS of hard work, her article was published in her law journal, and it's very exciting to see it in print after all this time.

So, to celebrate all this good news, we headed up to Hampden and went to Woodberry Kitchen. Xani had been several times and finally we got the chance to go together! WK has a strong emphasis on local, organic, and seasonal eating, and supports sustainable agriculture (very appropriate for Earth Day!). In other words, we HAD to get there ASAP.


The space at WK is an old renovated industrial space and it's super cozy with a wood-burning oven and an open kitchen-- its totally gorgeous. While WK's menu has a good handful of entrees, we decided to stick with their larger selection of small plates. It was so hard to choose only a few - we wanted to order everything!

We started with some celebratory cocktails. Erin got the "Birds and the Bees," comprised of housemade berry liquor, local honey, lemon twist, and cava (Spanish sparkling wine). It was similar to a Kir. Xani got an organic IPA.

Then it was time to eat! We started with the Kitchen Pickles and Olives, a small jar of pickled onions, green beans, and leeks, plus olives. A good light start to the meal. Then came one of the specials of the day, featuring the first local asparagus of the season! It was a salad with shaved asparagus, greens, smoked shrimp, and a vinaigrette with lots of lemon and mint. Very refreshing, interesting flavor combination with the shrimp, and great to enjoy the asparagus!

Also during this course we enjoyed the Chicken Liver Parfait, a mild pate of chicken liver served with crispy crostini, a berry sauce, and apples. Very nice dish.

Next we enjoyed another special of the day: local rockfish served sashimi-style topped with a salad of fresh greens and ginger. This dish was fresh and delicious, great flavor from the fish combined with the fresh salad. It was also a very generous portion, and when it comes to raw fish, the more the better.

The next course included two dishes that we were both very excited about: first up was the Pork Buns. When we read this, we figured these would be Asian-style pork buns: a gummy, fluffy dough filled with a little blob of pork. But no! These were mini pulled-pork sandwiches on mini pretzel rolls with a sweet onion relish - outstanding. And messy. The sauce on the pork was nice and acidy, not too sweet, sort of like NC-style BBQ, EP's favorite.

Also for this course was the Poutine! The only other time we've had poutine was at Victoria Gastropub in Columbia, where it's made with duck-fat fries, covered with duck confit, gravy, and gruyere cheese. And before last night, we thought this was the best poutine ever. Then we had WK's poutine. It was amazing and completely surpassed Victoria. This poutine was french fries covered in cheddar curd, house-smoked bacon (GIGANTIC lardons, if that's not an oxymoron?), and chicken wing gravy. A-mazing.

For the next course, we had one of the WK flatbreads, presumably cooked in their wood-burning oven. We selected a flatbread with lamb, ramps (first of the season!), and ricotta cheese. It was a nice bite, but we were so full by then, I don't think we could appreciate it fully. We also had broccoli raab with chili flakes, garlic, and a parmesan chip. Unfortunately, this was the weakest dish of the evening - it was very bitter and a little watery.

Despite our fullness, we pressed on and ordered dessert and coffee. The direct-trade Rwandan coffee came in a French press and was strong and delicious. For dessert, we ordered the Neopolitan Sundae, which was absolutely delicious vanilla ice cream, strawberry jam, and sugar-coated chocolate donut holes. PLUS, there was a malted cone on top. Um, HELLO?! Fabulous dessert.

The French press came with a timer so we would know when to press it

What an amazing meal! It was not too expensive either, which means we'll be back ASAP (especially as the weather continues to improve-- they have a great patio with a firepit). Who's got something worth celebrating? We'll take any excuse...

Thanks for a great meal, WK! See you soon!

E & X

Bippity boppity BACON!

by Erin & Xani

Tonight we had the pleasure of attending our first Bacon Happy Hour at a bar in Fells Point (fittingly) called Bad Decisions. We first heard about this event in this Baltimore Sun article (featuring fellow blogger The Hungover Gourmet) and immediately put it in our calendars. (We also started following Bad Decisions on Twitter for any bacon-y updates!)

Xani and Matt arrived at the bar first, and what's the first thing they do? Put a pint glass of bacon in front of them. Can you hear the bacon angels singing?

Matt "patiently" waits for Xani to snap a picture...

BLTinis!

bacon with bacon on the side

As promised in the Sun article, the bar re-vamped their entire menu to be laced with bacon-y goodness. They even had bacon-ified cocktails! We ordered the "BLTinis" (BLT sliders), bacon cheese fries, and bacon chili with bacon-laced cornbread. Other items included bacon-wrapped plantains, bacon grilled cheese, bacon guacamole, and maple-bacon cupcakes for dessert.


We did not order any bacon cocktails, but rather enjoyed Baltimore's Finest beer, Natty Boh.


It was a fun crowd and definitely a unique experience. I hope they have another one soon!


Happy bacon-eating,


X & EP

Gyros & Cupcakes: Two of Our Favorite Things

by Erin

Part One: GYROS!

Law school friends can attest to the fact that when it comes to lunch, I am usually - no, always - ready for a gyro. I'm not quite sure where this obsession started but gyros are definitely one of my favorite foods. I often get my gyro fix at a local Greek-American place near school called Kirby's. Their gyro is delicious and their fries must be sprinkled with crack because DAMN - they are good and addictive. (Actually I think it's Old Bay they are sprinkled with - potato, po-tah-to).

A few weekends ago, Xani and I were reviewing the Baltimore City Paper's special dining guide issue, "Eat", and we found a rave review of the gyros at the Hilltop Carry-Out, a small store-front about 2 blocks from Xani's house. "The [gyro] is massive to the point of impeding the eating process, always steaming hot and oozing with tzatziki and gyro meat grease, which is good for dripping onto the attendant hot and crisp fries." Does it surprise you that I asked Xani if we could get gyros pretty much every day from the time we read this to the time we sat down on Saturday to have one??

Neither of us had ever been to Hilltop so when we went in, we were very surprised at how quaint and clean the place was. For someplace with a greasy spoon reputation, it was a pleasant surprise. We ordered one gyro with everything (tzatziki, tomatoes, and hot sauce) except onions and some fries to share, and sat at one of the three booths. After a few minutes, our gyro and fries came up and I galloped - ahem, I mean, casually strolled - over to the counter to pick up our order.

The meat:tzatziki ratio was perfect

The verdict? Delicious! The gyro meat was juicy and a nicely sliced - not too thin like paper, not too thick that it was difficult to eat. The pita was fluffy, and the tzatziki was thick and had lots of flavor from the garlic. The hot sauce was an interesting addition to the traditional gyro accompaniments but it worked beautifully and gave it even more flavor. A very delicious, messy sandwich, indeed.

The fries were also good - crispy but not greasy. I would say that while the gyro at Hilltop was better than at Kirby's, the fries at Kirby's still reign supreme. We saw a lot of people getting pizza there, so next time we will be trying a slice for sure!


Part Two: CUPCAKES!

The same day of our gyro adventure, I had planned to do some baking for an engagement party I was going to in DC that night. (Congrats Melanie and Justin!). Since Xani has a KitchenAid, I went to her house to do it. We had our gyros and when we returned, we started making the Coconut Cupcakes. I chose these cupcakes because I thought they looked wedding-y, and it was an Ina Garten recipe I had always wanted to try.

As is typical with Ina recipes, the amount of butter this recipe uses is obscene. Three sticks in the batter, and three sticks in the icing!! We made the batter by combining butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and almond extracts, and then adding the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt) and buttermilk to the wet ingredients. Then we folded in some sweetened shredded coconut.

I wanted to try piping the batter into the lined baking tins, and to Xani's credit, she let me do my experiment, knowing all the while that I should just use two spoons. The problem with the piping was that you could make about two cupcakes before you had to refill the piping bag. I'm not sure how many of our lovely readers deal with piping bags often, but it's a pain in the ass to refill them, especially with sticky coconut cupcake batter.

So, I finished with the two-spoon method and it admittedly worked fine. Then we baked them in the oven until they were golden brown and a toothpick came out clean. Meanwhile, while they were cooling, I tried on dresses for the engagement party. :)

When they were cool, we made the icing by combining butter, cream cheese, vanilla and almond extracts, and confectioner's sugar. Then we did a mini-assembly line where Xani would ice the cupcakes with the delicious cream cheese frosting, and then I would dip the cupcake in more shredded coconut. After we were done, they looked beautiful! We realized, though, that we should have halved the icing recipe because we had a TON leftover.

Even with a gimp hand she is a master cook

I brought them to the party and they were a hit! Unfortunately, coconut is sort of a "love it or hate it" ingredient/flavor, so I understood when some people weren't eating them. Those who ate them, though, said they were delicious! And I concur - I found the cake to be firm but not dense, and the combination of the cake with the sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting, plus another hit of sweetened coconut on top was a wonderful bite. Ina's done it again, folks!

Thanks to Xani for letting me mess up her kitchen and for sharing a gyro with me! Love you! And thanks to Rachel for throwing an amazing engagement party - well done, my dear!

Happy gyro-eating and cupcake-baking,

EP