Keep It Simple Foods

Farmer’s Market and a Brush with Fame

Jennifer — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:05:43 +0000

Yesterday, the White House Farmer’s Market (my weekly market because it’s located just outside my office) at Vermont Ave NW, also know as the FreshFarm Market, was taken over in an event hosted by Toyota’s Farm to Table Tour. In order to raise awareness about farmer’s markets, local farmers, and sustainable eating, Toyota paired D.C. chefs with local famers in order to create tasty dishes featuring seasonal foods. Each chef created a bite-sized, tasty, and complimentary dish for visitors to enjoy- all showcasing farm-fresh ingredients. In addition to taste-testing, visitors were given a free potted herb to take home and enjoy (I chose summer savory).

Of the nine samples offered, I was able to enjoy three (darn those veggie constraints!). I was pleased with what I had, especially from chef Mike of Zatinya (and Top Chef)- which featured a mild and creamy crumbled cheese with ripe, summer peach and a drizzle of spiced honey. It was delicious! I felt too lame asking a celebrity chef for his photo, but my friend surrepticiously snapped this one as I was leaving the booth (that’s me to the right). So there you have it- my brush with fame at the farmer’s market. Who knew you could find great food and cute celebrities there?

While I was away- Foodie News

Jessica — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:22:40 +0000

Here are a few interesting U.S. food articles I came across while in China, but didn’t have time to read until now.

D.C. was voted most veggie friendly city in U.S.

FP’s article on food diplomacy.

Politico’s article about new dining trends in D.C.

Farewell China

Jennifer — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:23:56 +0000

So, I’m officially back in Washington, D.C. I’ve been here only two days and am already missing China- good food and great people! As a final farewell, I am posting some mouth watering shots that didn’t make it into my prior posts. Enjoy!

spicey cabbage

eggplant and bell pepper

scallion and egg dumplings

sweet almond jelly dessert

stir fried pea shoots

kung pao shrimp

peking duck

tea

tomatoe and egg dumplings

steamed tofu basket with spicey soy sauce

eggplant

spinach

candied sweet potatos

egg drop dumplin soup

Chinese Cafeteria Food

Jennifer — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:20:37 +0000

A few days ago, a friend took me on a tour of Beijing’s top school Peking University. Along the way, we stopped for lunch at the school cafeteria. It was quite a different scene from what you’d expect to find at a typical American universtiy. Instead of counters offering fast food-burgers, tacos, and pizza- students were lined up for dumplings, noodles, stir fried veggies, soups, and numerous dishes that were colorful, healthy and laden with veggies. The variety was both exciting and overwhelming- what to choose? My friend and I settled on a bowl of spicey stir fried vegetables (lotus root, tofu skins, broccoli, mushrooms, sweet potato, etc), chrystanthemum soup with rice, a cabbage and noodle dish and white rice. Not bad for cafeteria food.

Ice Cream

Jennifer — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:31:45 +0000

It’s not summer without ice cream and while in China I ate more than my fair share. The month of July was oppressively hot and I spent a good amount of time outdoors doing touristy activities like The Great Wall, The Summer Palace, and The Forbidden City. Before setting off for each activity, I would slap on globs of sunscreen, put on my shades, and carry a parasol, but only a frozen treat seemed to really cool me off. Or, maybe it’s just an excuse an excuse to feel better about all the ice cream I ate on my trip to China. Sigh. Of course, it didn’t help that there were so many interesting flavors to choose from. Whatever the reason, I ate a lot of ice cream. The pictures below don’t even begin to tell the full story.

SALT

Jennifer — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 01:55:17 +0000

For one of our last meals in China, a group of us decided to meet for a western style lunch at upscale restaurant SALT. I had heard that the female chef recently won best chef in Beijing as well as rave reviews about the food so I was eager to try it out and greatful for the opportunity to dine within my comfort zone- place settings consisting of forks, for example, as well as all english menus (which admittedly posed some difficulty for my Chinese friends). The restaurant was located in a loft-type space with big windows, lots of light and a very modern style.

Each table was set with three types of salt (black, red and white), presumably for seasoning each dish to taste, as well as creamy tomato herb butter, olive tapenade and fluffy herb and cheese rolls for snacking.

We opted for the 3 course lunch for 108 RMB (about $15), beginning with a choice of soup or salad, main entree and dessert. I chose the smoked chili soup with herbed crouton and truffle oil to start and, man, am I glad I did. The soup was creamy and rich with a nice balance of salt and heat. The crisp from the herbed croutons was perfection.

Next, I chose the eggplant and goat cheese napolean (the only veggie entree option). After the soup, I had high expectations for this dish and I’m sorry to report that I was slightly disappointed. It reminded me of warmed over eggplant lasagna-not bad, but nothing special and underseasoned for my taste.

For my last course (my favorite-dessert!) I chose the chocolate mousse with crushed pistachios and raspberry sauce. It was heaven. Of course, I’m pretty easy to please when it comes to dessert, especially chocolate dessert, but this mouse was wonderful. It was so rich and almost pudding-like as opposed to being really light and fluffy. The pistachios and raspberries were soul mates with the chocolate. So good.

Afterward, I had a cappuccino pick-me-up and more chocolate.

Baby corn on the Great Wall

Jennifer — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:04:13 +0000

So, I was hiking up the Great Wall the other day when I spotted this.

A baby corn. My nemesis. All the way up on top of the Great Wall (pretty high up too), randomly sitting on a ledge and long forgotten by the person who, like me, clearly despises baby corn. But, how did it get all the way up there? The hike up is steep and grueling- not exactly a picnic, which is precisely where I would expect to see it. So, when I spotted the single piece of baby corn abandoned on a random, crumbling ledge of the Great Wall I was both surprised and baffled. I had so many questions running though my mind, but mainly I wanted to know what type of person brought baby corn all the way up to the Great Wall and then tossed it (besides a person who detests baby corn)? I aslo wanted to know what type of food did they bring that they clearly picked the baby corn out of? For those of you who haven’t hiked the Wall, it’s treacherous in parts and so people tend to carry very little with them- certainly not take out boxes full of stir fry with baby corn. Everyone I saw was eating protein bars, fruit and sipping water. No one had their chopsticks out, tucked into a carton of lo mein. So, I guess the mystery of the baby corn shall remain just that. While you ponder the possibilities, have a gander at a few of scenic pics below. Enjoy!

Hutong with cheese

Jennifer — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:26:44 +0000

Beijing is packed with historic, touristy hutongs (narrow streets between traditional walled courtyard-type neighborhoods) that are open to the public pedestrian traffic. They are typcially bustling with a blend of tourists and locals.

A few days ago, I explored the historic hutong called Nan Luo Gu Xiang. The narrow street was crowded with motorbikes and pedestrians, who often missed collision by mere inches, and the air was filled with ringing of bike bells urging walkers to clear the way. The path was lined with a variety of shops appealing to both locals and toursits and offering a wide assortment of items for sale. You could pretty much find anything you wanted there. I strolled the street for a few hours, lingering in the food venues to get a sense of what people were eating, exploring inside a few of the courtyards, and buying my fair share of souvenirs. After an hour or so of walking, I stopped at famous cheese shop Wen Yu Cheese for a snack. A friend pointed it out to me and I immediately noticed a line out the door despite the miserable rain outside. I was skeptical, but figured that a queue out the door and down the street was a good sign of something worth waiting for (apparently the line is much longer on sunny days).

Although I do love cheese, I was hesitant because, from what I can tell, the Chinese really don’t do cheese and I had no clue what to expect. Would it be hard or soft cheese? Would it be stinky? Would it actually be yogurt and not really cheese at all? A friend helped me order and we got two cheese cups to share- cereal and sweet red bean. Sounds strange, right? But it was delicious. It wasn’t your average cheese, but more like eating a cheese curd- kind of like a cross between cottage cheese and yogurt and it was very sweet. The cereal flavor was nutty with hints of maple and a slight crunch from the cereal crips. The sweet red been was also very good, sweet and filling. Sweet red bean is commonly found in Chinese and Japanese desserts. As a result, these desserts aren’t nearly as sweet as American desserts- like cookies and cake- and are possibly even somewhat healthy (shocker!). I had eaten red bean desserts before (Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C.) but not like this. The plump, sugary beans were a nice contrast to the creamy, cool cheese. The texture reminded me of eating yogurt with berries, but the flavor was indescribable. There was definitely a very mild bean taste, but the surprising sweetness really made it feel as though I was eating dessert. I’ve posted the yogurt pics below as well as some photos to give you the feel of the hutong.

hutong entrance

hutong

wen yu cheese

cheese with cereal

cheese with sweet red bean

jasmine tea blossoms

insect kabobs

Dragon Fruit

Jennifer — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:36:23 +0000

Dragon fruit (or Pitaya) is something I had never seen or eaten until my visit to China. It’s everywhere here! The inside is white and peppered with small black seeds, though the fruit is most recognizable by its outter scaly, blossom-like appearance. The flavor is mild and slighly sweet with a hint of tartness. The texture is similiar to that of a kiwi. I’ve been enjoying mine with a version of clay pot yogurt that I found in the grocery store.

Pure Lotus

Jennifer — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:48:35 +0000

Pure Lotus is a buddhist monk run vegetarian restaurant in Beijing that I read rave reviews about prior to coming to China. So naturally I put it high on my list of things to do while here.

I set out for the restuarant via metro with plenty of time to get there. I’d read that Pure Lotus was hard to find and budgeted in an additional 2 hours of travel time- of which I used every last minute and then some. Frustrating doesn’t even begin to express how I felt after walking around in circles in the rain, for over an hour. It didn’t help that the seven strangers I asked for help each pointed me in different directions and the taxi I tried to climb into refused to give me ride. I was very close to throwing my hands up and giving up on my dream of eating at Pure Lotus.

Then, miraculously, one of my friends called from the restaurant (where she had been waiting for me all this time) -after borrowing a stranger’s mobile phone- and guided me there like a beacon of light. The timing couldn’t have been better- I’d reached my limit.

Despite being rescued from the rain, my spirits were deflated. I was still cranky that I’d gotten lost, upset that I’d wasted so much time and just plain tired from all the walking in circles. But as soon as I stepped through the restaurant doors, my tension melted into a feeling of calm. Upon entering, adorable english-speaking wait staff, dressed in silver sparlking tunics, sprinkled lotus water on my hands and seated me at a cozy, private table nestled under a tent of fabrics with soft lighting and soothing music in the background. As soon as I was seated, the waiter set up my place setting consisting of pearl colored shells set upon an enormous lotus leaf. After ordering, the servers brought out dish after dish of comforting, delicious vegetarian fare with plum vinegar palate cleansers in between. The service was impeccable and the food beautiful. Everything about Pure Lotus was classy and upscale, but very reasonably priced (the grand total came out to about $20 per person). It was an experience I won’t soon forget.

mood lighting

view from our table

refreshing lemongrass tea

place setting- chopsticks resting on shell

shell plate on lotus leaf

sour ball palate cleansers

seaweed veggie wraps

lotus blossom atop potato soup

ginger potato spinach soup

eggplant and pumpkin

curry tofu

iced plum vinegar palate cleanser

spicey noodles in tomato sauce

chocolate cake

watermelon