A Family Potluck and a Farewell to Norway

Last Friday Topher & I had a fun & relaxing evening with some of my extended family as we bid adieu to my cousin Chris, his wife Kimberly, and their kids Emeline & Gary, who are moving to Norway next month. They'll only be there for three years, but that's a long time, considering that Emeline will be in middle school when they come back!

Any time my family gets together like this, there's always a lot of people and a ton of food. Last Friday was no exception. My husband has taken to calling each of these gatherings "The Anderson Family Christmas Special," regardless of what holiday or event we're actually celebrating.

What We Ate:

• Grilled salmon with melon salsa
• Grilled London broil (see marinade recipe below)
• Surry sausages
• Grilled onions, red & yellow peppers, & eggplant
• Cucumber & red onion salad
• Sunny Summery Quinoa
• Cheesecake with strawberry topping
• Lime tart

My aunt Kay contributed the London broil, and her marinade is fantastic (and easy!): 3/4 cup of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic, a squirt of lemon juice, and ground black pepper to taste. Yum!

Ingredients: Quinoa

For weeks now, I'm been looking for a great quinoa salad recipe.

You might be asking, what the heck is quinoa? If so, don't feel bad - I hadn't heard of it either until two years ago, when Topher's cousin's wife Jenna served it to us with dinner.

According to the New York Times, "The tiny, ancient Peruvian seed, which has a mild, nutty flavor, is related to leafy green vegetables and is often used like a grain. Quinoa is as versatile as rice but it has a protein content that is superior to that of most grains, because it contains all the essential amino acids."

Quinoa is very easy to cook - 2 parts water/stock to 1 parts quinoa - and it's ready in ~15 minutes. It can be used like rice, couscous, or risotto: because of its mild flavor, you can add almost any vegetables to it to create a delicious dish.

Thus my search for a quinoa salad recipe. I wanted something that was light & summery, but also colorful & nutritious. My online research reveals recipes for ...

• Golden Sunshine Quinoa Salad (scallions, golden raisins, orange juice, & cucumbers)
• Cranberry Walnut Quinoa Salad (cranberries, green beans, walnuts, & green onions)
• Gluten-free Summer Quinoa Salad (cherry tomatoes, avocado, artichoke hearts, pine nuts, & capers)
• Warm Quinoa Salad with Shrimp & Asparagus (sun-dried tomatoes, red onion, shrimp, asparagus, green peas, & cashews)
• Warm Quinoa & Broccoli Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing
• Gluten-Free Quinoa Taco Salad

I even thought of coming up with my own recipe (broccoli florets, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, cannelini beans, & feta?) but I wasn't brave enough to try it.

So I turned to a cookbook: Patricia Green's Quinoa 365, and there I found a recipe for a Sunny Summer Salad.

Sunny Summer Salad

Ingredients
1 ½ cups water
¾ cups quinoa
2 cups finely diced zucchini
1 cup finely diced red bell pepper (about 1 pepper)
1 cup finely diced yellow bell pepper
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, roasted and unsalted (I couldn't find unsalted, so I just used roasted & salted seeds)
1/3 cup dried currants (I substituted raisins)
2 T minced fresh parsley
2 T minced fresh cilantro
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (1-2 lemons)
¼ cup olive oil1 tsp minced fresh garlic
½ tsp salt
A pinch each of cayenne pepper, ground cumin, and ground tumeric


Directions

1. Bring the water and quinoa to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce to a simmer, cover, & cook for 10 minutes.Turn the heat off but keep the saucepan covered on the burner for an additional 4 minutes.Remove the lid, fluff with a fork, and allow to cool.
2. Place the zucchini, red & yellow peppers, sunflower seeds, currants, parsley, and cilantro in a large bowl. Add the cooled quinoa.
3. Whisk the lemon juice, oil, garlic, salt, cayenne, cumin, and turmeric in a small bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and gently toss until evenly distributed.

I was getting together with family for dinner last Friday, so I made this dish on Thursday afternoon, refrigerated it overnight, then let it warm up to room temperature just before serving. I also doubled the recipe, but I didn't have quite enough lemon juice to double the dressing, so it turned out a little dry. My husband suggested that it might have been better if it was made & eaten on the same day, so I'll try that next time.

Final verdict: easy to make, flavorful, & nutritious. I'll probably make this again but mess with the recipe -- fewer peppers, more dressing.

For an easy, delicious, & nutritious weeknight dinner, try Real Simple's Zucchini with Quinoa Stuffing. (I liked the stuffing so much that I took the leftovers to work the next day for lunch.)

For more info on quinoa, check out NPR's Quinoa: A Sacred, Super Crop.

For more info about other whole grains, check out NPR's Going with Whole Grains.

Reading List for June 21-25

As demand grows for locally raised meat, farmers turn to mobile slaughterhouses, The Washington Post

"The slaughtermobile—a stainless steel industrial facility on
wheels—is catching on across the country, filling a desperate need in a
burgeoning movement to bring people closer to their food. It is also perhaps one
of the most visible symbols of a subtle transformation at the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, long criticized for promoting big agribusiness. Under the Obama
administration and the 2008 farm bill passed by Congress, the USDA is shifting
attention to small and mid-size farms, encouraging organic and sustainable
agriculture, and investing in project to bring locally grown meat and produce to
consumers."

Taking the Toy out of the Happy Meal?
Some consumer advocacy groups are arguing that McDonald's shouldn't be allowed to use toys to market high-fat, high-sugar, high-sodium, high-calorie to children. McDonald's argues that the toys are part of the "a fun, family experience."

Check out the story on NPR. Check out the letter from the Center for Science in the Public Interest to McDonald's.

Santa Clara County, Calif., has already passed an ordinance banning toys in fast food meals that are high in calories.

Check out further analysis of the fast food industry from The Economist:
"The changes facing fast food: More than menus need to be revamped if fast-food firms want to keep growing"

"So far, fast-food firms have nimbly avoided government regulation. By providing healthy options, like salads and low-calorie sandwiches, they have at least given the impression of doing something about helping to fight obesity. ... In the future, simply offering a healthy option may not be good enough."

And finally, from the archives (Aug 2009), a TIME article that made me think: Getting Real about the High Price of Cheap Food.

New (Part-Time, Volunteer) Job

I'm so excited about an opportunity that I have to help out with a new ministry at our church: a community garden!

The garden was started this spring as part of WRPC's Hope for Suffolk mercy ministries. People from the church or the Suffolk community can volunteer to help weed, plant, and harvest; tools & seeds are provided/donated. The food grown in the garden will supplement WRPC's Food Bank. Folks that are unable to afford groceries will be able to come to the church, get a bag of non-perishable foods, and pick up some fresh veggies.

We'll also sell produce from the garden at the Suffolk Farmers' Market on Saturdays and at the church on Sundays throughout the summer, and my job is to serve as a sales coordinator.

Check out WRPC and the Community Garden on Facebook.

Disappointing

I've been reluctant to write negative reviews on this blog. Each time I start an entry, I hear that little voice in my head saying, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." But finally a friend made the point that my positive reviews will be more meaningful if people know that I don't think all meals are great. So, here goes:

I'm not impressed with Vintage Tavern.

There, I've said it. I've admitted that I don't like the restaurant that most people consider to be the best in Suffolk. It's not that the food is bad; it's just that, for the price, the food should be better. The service, the presentation, and the ambience (dark wood, lush seating) are all great, but the food doesn't live up to the hype IMHO.

I wish I could say that I've only been there once and that since I didn't have a great experience, I'll give it another try sometime. But no, I've been there twice, and I don't want to pay that much again, just to find out that third time's not the charm. Perhaps I should, but why, when our favorite Italian place is right around the corner?

The most recent meal I've eaten there was back in March, the Saturday evening of Suffolk Restaurant Week. My parents were visiting from Savannah, and we wanted to take them out for a nice dinner.

What I Ate:

• Tasting of American Bacons – one regular, one spicy, & one maple syrup – these were actually pretty good, but then again, it's hard to mess up bacon
• Carolina Shrimp and Stone-Ground Grits – If shrimp & grits are on the menu, I order them, and these simply weren't the best I've ever tasted. The grits were too firm, like they'd been sitting under a heat lamp for too long, and there weren't very many shrimp (only 3-4 small ones). No spice, either.
• Crème Brûlèe – bland, not a good consistency; Topher's crème brulèe is much better!

In general, all the dishes were bland. They didn't need more salt; they just needed more flavor. The only really bad dish was my mom's Chesapeake Bay Flounder, which was overcooked to the point of being mushy. For a place that's gotten rave reviews from so many people, it was disappointing.

Garden Delight

This weekend Topher and I went to NC to visit his parents for Father's Day. They have a little garden in their backyard where they grow tomatoes, eggplants, strawberries, lettuces, jalapeño and green bell peppers, herbs, and sunflowers. They sent us home with a bag of tomatoes and peppers, so tonight we had a delicious salad with fresh cherry tomatoes for dinner. Yum!

Reading List for June 14-18

2010 Dietary Guidelines
On June 15, the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion issued the advisory report Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010.

Here's coverage on the guidelines from the Des Moines Register, and here's Marion Nestle's response.


The Gulf Oil Spill
The Economist
Oysters after the Deepwater Horizon
No mo' po'?
The gulf supplies most of America’s oysters, but for how long?

TIME
Gulf Oil Spill Threatens Local Seafood Industry


The Raw Milk Debate
The New York Times
Crying Over Raw Milk

The Economist
Arguing over unpasteurized milk
Raw milk
The people v. pasteurization


And finally, are you a "super-taster"?

Gluten-Free Italian on the Upper West Side

Anne (my good friend and maid of honor extraordinaire who I visited in NYC this past weekend) had to work at Alice's Tea Cup on Saturday afternoon, so I had a few hours to kill by myself. I went to see a play -- Manhattan Theatre Club's production of Donald Margulies' "Collected Stories" starring Linda Lavin and Sarah Paulson -- did some shopping at Columbus Circle, and then read for a while in Central Park.

When Anne got off from work at 8pm, we were both starving, and she suggested an Italian place on the Upper West Side called Sambuca. The real draw for her was their gluten-free menu (she has a wheat allergy).

I haven't tasted a lot of gluten-free foods, and although I tried desperately, I wasn't able to get her a gluten-free cupcake at my wedding last spring. So I was surprised by how well the chef at Sambuca was able to mimic the texture and consistency of real bread and pasta.

They serve their entrees family-style, so we shared a plate of gluten-free (tapioca/rice) ravioli filled with spinach & ricotta cheese, and I sipped a glass of 2008 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo with mine. Sure, the ravioli didn't taste 100% like the real thing, but it was awfully close. And Anne loved it: It was the first time she'd been able to enjoy pasta in years!

Ladies Who Brunch

Manhattan

On Saturday morning Anne and I planned to enjoy a leisurely brunch on the Upper West Side at Good Enough to Eat, a few blocks from Alice's Tea Cup, the cafe where Anne works. Unfortunately when we arrived at GETE, the line was already quite long. There was no hostess to take our name or tell us how long the wait might be; we were just supposed to stand outside in a line on the sidewalk and wait.

Anne and I didn't wait very long. Diagonally across the intersection of 83rd & Amsterdam, another cafe had a banner hung on their railing that read, in huge letters: BRUNCH. Good marketing, no? We glanced at their menu and decided to give Fred's a try.

The food was delicious, the waiters very friendly. They let us linger, talking over our (constantly refilled) coffee cups long after we had finished eating. And linger we did, for almost three hours!

What We Ate:

• Raisin toast with whipped strawberry butter - that butter smelled (and tasted) incredible!
• Anne - omelet with artichokes, sundried tomatoes, & brie, served with mixed greens and potatoes; coffee & a mimosa
• Me - omelet with spinach, mushrooms, & goat cheese, served with mixed greens and potatoes; coffee & red sangria - the goat cheese was just oozing out of it :)

The Scoop:

Fred's is located at 476 Amsterdam Avenue at 83rd Street. Brunch is served on Sat-Sun 10am-3:30pm.

Brooklyn

On Sunday morning, after attending church at Brooklyn Tabernacle (quite a cultural experience!), we brunched again -- this time with Anne's friend Gretchen and her sister Madeline. Walking through Cobble Hill, we must have passed a dozen adorable cafes with chalkboard easels propped on the sidewalk outside their doors, colorfully proclaiming their brunch cocktails and World Cup specials. Verde and Apartment 138 caught our eye, but we ended up at Sweet Melissa Patisserie.

From the front there doesn't appear to be much (if any) seating room inside, but the host led us straight through the patisserie/cremerie shop to a patio garden out back, filled with umbrella-covered cafe tables.

What We Ate:

• Madeline - Smoked Trout & Potato Croquette w/Poached Eggs, Sour Cream, and Mango Salsa
• Gretchen - Banana Rhum French Toast (made from a croissant) w/Bruleed Bananas, Sweet Cream & Bacon - because it was made from a croissant, this French toast was much lighter and less filling than the typical dish
• Anne - Three Scrambled Eggs served with salad, potatoes, & applewood bacon
• Me - Omelet w/Spinach, Caramelized Onions, & Gruyere, served with salad, potatoes, & toast - I know, it's basically the same thing that I ordered at Fred's the day before, but what can I say, I love good omelets!
• To drink - coffee, and two rounds of mimosas for the table!

The Scoop:

Sweet Melissa Patisserie has two locations in Brooklyn: one in Park Slope, the other in Cobble Hill. The Cobble Hill location is open M-R 7:30am-10pm, F 7:30am-12am, Sat 8am-12am, and Sun 8am-10pm.

Thai in Brooklyn

I spent this past weekend in NYC with my good friend Anne, and we had a delicious time!

It all started last Wednesday afternoon when Topher called and told me that work was sending him to Bath, England, for four days. After I stopped being jealous, I decided to look online for cheap flights to NYC and texted my good friend (and fabulous maid of honor) Anne to see if I could visit her in Brooklyn. Two days later I was in the Big Apple.

On Friday evening while Anne was in NJ for a few hours, I went out to dinner with her friend/roommate Gretchen & Gretchen's sister Madeline. They were in the mood for Thai, so we started walking down Court Street to find a place that looked good. I was amazed: In just 3-4 blocks, we passed at least half a dozen great-looking Thai places, including Joya. I'm not sure we have that many Thai restaurants in all of Hampton Roads!

We ended up at Ghang. The staff wasn't that great--we had to flag down our waitress to get drink refills and, finally, our check--but the food was good. I ordered Panang curry chicken with carrots & bell peppers, with a glass of the house pinot grigio. The curry was a little more spicy than I usually like it, but that night I didn't mind the burning tongue & drippy nose--the spice actually felt good. Maybe my heat tolerance is improving; if so, Topher will be thrilled.

Later this week: brunch spots in Brooklyn & Manhattan, and gluten-free Italian on the Upper West Side!

Reading List for June 7-11

I've decided to add a weekly "reading list" to this blog. Each Friday I'll post links to interesting food-related articles that I've read in the past 5-7 days. Enjoy!

The Economist
Diet and the evolution of the brain
Fish and no chips: The wonders of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)

The Economist
Nutrition in schools
Fighting the flab: The struggle to feed more children, more healthily

The New York Times
Vital Signs - Nutrition: Study Examines a Diet from TV Ads
By Roni Caryn Rabin

TIME
Tastes Like Chicken: The Quest for Fake Meat


This last article was a little disturbing to me, especially the following quotes:

"The gases ... from chickens and pigs and cow, and from the manure lagoons that big farms create, are playing a part in global warming. So the idea of fake meat has never been more alluring. What if you could cut into a juicy chicken breast that wasn't chicken at all but rather some indistinguishable imitation made harmlessly from plant life?"

"Who knows? Maybe one day you'll order a chicken fajita at Chili's that is made with soy. You almost certainly won't notice the difference, but the planet will."

Alluring? Most definitely not (at least not to me)! I won't notice the difference? Yeah, right. The problem isn't the chickens themselves, but the way they're raised -- on huge industrialized farms, where they're force-fed, pumped full of steroids & hormones, and kept in cages all day.

Dinner Inside a Cantaloupe

There are several Mexican eateries in the Ghent area of Norfolk, but (in my humble opinion) they're all topped by the South American restaurant Luna Maya. Topher & I checked it out last fall with our friends Naaman & Amber.

Situated in the middle of a non-descript strip of shops, it doesn't look like much from the outside. But the interior is a different story: the walls are so orange that you feel like you're sitting inside a cantaloupe! The warm yellow glow from the overhead lamps only enhances the effect.

What I Ate:

• Pastel De Choclo Con Chorizo: sweet & savory Bolivian corn casserole filled with spicy chicken chorizo, topped with cheese, and served with rice - a hearty, delicious dish, creamy with just the right amount of spice
• Margatini: Sauza Gold, triple sec, and a splash of sour mix, served in margarita glass rimmed with chipotle salt - so much fun for your taste buds!

The Scoop:
Luna Maya is located at 2000 Colonial Avenue (at 21 St.), Norfolk, VA 23517. They don't take reservations. They're open T-R 5:30-9:30pm, F-Sat 5:30-10pm.

Note: The photo of Pastel De Choclo above is from HamptonRoads.com.

Dinner at Home

Just thought I'd post a few photos of my hubby at work in the kitchen. We had a fun dinner at home tonight with our good friends Adam & Meredith and their daughter Eden.

Topher made chicken cordon bleu, grilled asparagus, and chocolate bread pudding (the only Paula Deen recipe he makes).

With dinner, we enjoyed a nice Buena Vista Ramal Vineyard chardonnay -- not a big buttery, oak-y chardonnay, but one that's a little more crisp & fruity. Bon appetit!

Birthday Dinner at Tautog's

My good friends Heather & Ally have birthdays only four days apart this week, so we celebrated together yesterday in Virginia Beach. The three of us laid by the pool for a couple of hours and read, then met up with our husbands for dinner at Tautog's.

Housed in the wood-shingled Winston Cottage just a block from the oceanfront boardwalk, Tautog's has a cozy atmosphere – a cute screen porch out front, lots of dark wood décor inside, and a friendly, laid back wait staff.

The regular menu includes standard "seafood at the beach" fare: crab cake sandwich, salmon salad, cornmeal-coated oven-fried catfish, tilapia au gratin with asparagus, and Mid-Atlantic pasta (penne tossed with shrimp, artichokes, zucchini, and portabella mushrooms in marinara sauce). Last night the specials looked amazing, so we decided to go with those.

They also have a pretty decent wine list, including quite a few from California (Seghesio, Frog's Leap, Hendry, Honig, Cakebread, and Chateau St. Jean). Topher chose a bottle of Nautilus for the table – a nice crisp, citrus-y New Zealand sauvignon blanc that went well with the fish.

The Appetizers:

• Spinach artichoke dip, served with corn chips – much better than the average dip! Made with cream cheese and large leaves of spinach
• A dozen steamed shrimp, served with butter & cocktail sauce
• She-crab soup – Ally's favorite that she generously let us taste – rich & creamy!

The Entrées:

• Topher: Pepper-seared mahi, served over pasta with homemade spicy red sauce, topped with chopped fresh herbs & lemon butter
• Ally, Heather, & Reid: Oven-baked salmon, served over Kahlua sweet potato hash and sautéed green beans, topped with saffron hollandaise
• Me & Seth: Oven-baked tilefish, served over buttermilk mashers and cauliflower infused with smoked apple wood bacon and parmesan, topped with Old Bay beurre blanc

The Dessert:

• Key lime pie

The Scoop:
Tautog's Restaurant at Winston's Cottage is located at 205 23rd Street, Virginia Beach, VA 23451. Their hours are Sun-W 5:30pm-12am, R-Sat 5:30pm-2am. Reservations (recommended) are available by calling 757-422-0081.

Three notes about my entrée:

1. I had never had tilefish before, so the guys enjoyed using their Blackberrys and iPhones to educate me on the spot: tilefish is a mild, firm white fish similar to flounder or tilapia. While delicious, it's not recommended for pregnant or nursing moms, due to concerns about its mercury content.
2. I feel that cauliflower is an overlooked and often neglected vegetable, kind of like the forgotten stepsister of broccoli. I appreciate a chef that can bring out its subtle flavors. :)
3. As the photo below attests, my entire dinner plate was white!

Easy Summer Side Dish

I don't know about you, but I spent most of last weekend (Memorial Day weekend) eating--at least, when I wasn't laying by the pool reading. On Saturday, Topher & I went to a dinner party with 6-8 other couples (for which Topher made a delicious cheesecake). On Sunday evening, we enjoyed barbecue at a graduation party. And on Monday afternoon, we grilled bratwursts for our friend Adam's 30th birthday.

I especially like the potluck meals, because everyone brings their favorite dish and I get to taste them all. Last weekend was no exception: I tried a delicious squash casserole, roasted potatoes topped with caramelized onions and a cream sauce, a black bean-corn-red pepper salad, and yummy lemon bars topped with raspberries.

I didn't contribute much to the menus last weekend (except my husband's cheesecake & his brat-grilling expertise), but I think this recipe--Corn Salad with Feta and Walnuts--is a simple & yummy dish to bring to a summer cookout or block party. I tend to skip the jalapeños, since I don't care for that much spice. And although it calls for fresh corn cut off the cob, I've made it with frozen or canned corn, and it works just fine. The recipe doesn't say whether it should be served warm, at room temperature, or chilled -- so I've tried all three, and they all seem good to me!

Also, check out my friend Michelle's go-to potluck dish--Red Skinned Potato Salad--on her blog The Daily Ramen.

Inspired by Julia Child

I just finished reading Julia Child's memoir My Life in France, which starts with her move from the suburbs of DC to Paris in November 1948 with her husband Paul and ends with their final move from Provence back to Boston in 1992.

I don't envy their nomadic lifestyle (Paul worked for the U.S. Foreign Service, so they moved with his job every few years) or Julia's intense devotion to both the art and science of cooking (as I've mentioned before, I don't really like to cook, and my husband Topher is the one with the culinary skills).

But I do envy her writing skills, and all the exquisite food that she ate during their many years living in France. She has a talent for describing meals in such detail that it makes your mouth water. Remembering her very first meal in France, she writes:

"Rouen is famous for its duck dishes, but after consulting the waiter Paul had decided to order sole meuniere. It arrived whole: a large flat Dover sole that was perfectly browned in a sputtering butter sauce with a sprinkling of chopped parsley on top. The waiter carefully placed the platter in front of us, stepped back, and said: 'Bon appetit!' I closed my eyes and inhaled the rising perfume. Then I lifted a forkful of fish to my mouth, took a bite, and chewed slowly. The flesh of the sole was delicate, with a light but distinct taste of the ocean that blended marvelously with the browned butter. I chewed slowly and swallowed. It was a morsel of perfection" (p.18).

Another time she wrote about trying recipes for game animals during the autumn hunting season:

"I was thrilled when [Chef] Bugnard instructed me on where to buy a proper haunt of venison and how to prepare it. I picked a good-looking piece, then marinated it in red wine, aromatic vegetables, and herbs, and hung the lot for several days in a big bag out the kitchen window. When I judged it ready, by smell, I roasted it for a good long while. The venison made a splendid dinner, with a rich, deep, gamy-tasting sauce, and for days afterward Paul and I feasted on its very special cold meat" (p.122-123).

The care she took to remember each color and smell, and to actually taste each bite, inspires me to slow down and really enjoy my meals, however humble they may be.

The Perimeter Rule

When we started dating, one of the first things that I learned from Topher was to shop the perimeter of the grocery store and avoid the interior aisles. Why? Because most real foods are on the perimeter--fresh fruits & vegetables, poultry & seafood, dairy products, and frozen foods--and most food products are in the aisles--microwaveable soups & entrées, soda, dry cereals, and cookies & cakes, most of which are high in sodium and contain HFCS.

Not surprisingly, Michael Pollan mentions the same simple food rule in his book In Defense of Food:

"SHOP THE PERIPHERIES OF THE SUPERMARKET AND STAY OUT OF THE MIDDLE. Most supermarkets are laid out the same way: Processed food products dominate the center aisles of the store while the cases of ostensibly fresh food--dairy, produce, meat, and fish--line the walls. If you keep to the edges of the store you'll be that much more likely to wind up with real food in your shopping cart" (p.157).

Dating in DC: Beef Tartare at Dukem

While we were engaged, my husband Topher was eager to try beef tartare (at the prompting of his friend Randy), so our second foray into ethnic food in DC was Ethiopian. Again, we ate with just our hands, sans silverware.

I wasn't brave enough to order a full serving myself, so I got a vegetarian platter instead. Imagine my surprise when the plate was accompanied by a whole cooked fish on the bone - head, eyes, tail, everything! (I think they gave me a fork to eat that.)

But I did try a few bites of Topher's entrée. It had a moist, warm, chewy consistency - not bad, but I couldn't eat much of it. I think we both psyched ourselves out a little. I mean, it was raw beef.

What I Ate:

• #33 Special Dukem Veggie Combo III: spicy splint lentils, yellow peas, greens, cabbage, shiro, salad, and chickpeas in spicy sauce, all served over injera bread, with a whole cooked fish

What Topher Ate:

• Dukem Kitfo: Beef tartare mixed with homemade cottage cheese, herbal butter, cardamom, and mitmita

The Scoop:

Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant (www.dukemrestaurant.com) is located at 1114-1118 U Street (12th Street NW), Washington, DC 20009. Their hours are Sun-R 11am-2am, F-Sat 11am-3am.

Note: The picture above isn't my actual plate, but it's as close as I could find online. It's from here.