Meal Photos

2009-09-16T00:30:00.004-04:00

It's been so long that I actually forgot that I had set this up as a seperate blog. Until further notice, follow this Flickr set for updated pictures of food. Hot, delicious food.

2008-02-04T20:03:00.000-05:00

Now that the Peapod man has refilled my long-empty stock of fresh produce, it's time for some garden salad, mixed with the bluest of cheese dressing. Besides the usual leaf lettuce, carrots, celery and tomatoes, I find some sliced green onions give the whole assemblage a pleasant bite.

Feel free to complement the salad with some delicious Edam (upper left corner), previously encased in red wax.

2008-02-03T20:59:00.000-05:00

Cream of watercress soup at home, with a couple of recent book acquisitions. You can find recipes at About.com, Epicurious (with scallops and leeks) and the Food Network (a cold version from Wolfgang Puck).

Very tasty, I must say. If you happen to have some chicken stock, olive oil, onions, cream, lemon juice and salt and pepper handy, I recommend throwing some together. Oh, and watercress. You'll probably need some of that too.

2008-01-05T19:30:00.000-05:00

And then there was lunch at Les Halles. Like a lot of people, I hadn't visited the restaurant (chain) until reading Anthony Bourdain, famously the former executive chef at Les Halles New York on Park Avenue. When I finally decided to stop in for lunch on a warm, sunny day in D.C., I decided the only thing to order was the house speciality: steak frites.

I ordered the steak rare, and it arrived perfectly done, along with the surprisingly light and tasty frites. The small salade of fresh greens was a refreshing complement. Steak lovers should remember, however, that the hanger steak served at the Les Halles is considerably chewier than you'll find at most fine dining restaurants. Anyone used to ordering filet mignon is well advised to do a few jaw exercizes before visiting.

As always, the meal was preceded by a basket of sliced baguette and butter. The bread's crust was a little less crusty than I expected, but was still good. The butter, unfortunately, was hard chilled and difficult to spread. A slightly softened serving of butter is always one of my favorite small touches at any restaurant.

On this particular late summer day, I felt an Amstel Light (or two) would support the meal quite nicely. While the service overall was rather indifferent, my second beer was solicited and brought with lightning speed. Classic restaurant management: always push the alcohol.

And always upsell. In this case, though, I upsold myself. After finishing my steak and the last of the frites that were still above room temperature, I decided that the only proper way to round out this mid-week indulgence was with a crisp glass of Champagne. The Taittinger Brut NV was, at $16 a glass, a bit higher on the food chain than I'm used to, but all the more satisfying for it.

>>Taken September 18, 2007

2008-01-05T18:11:00.000-05:00

The Friday Blue Plate lunch special at The Mad Hatter in DC is a favorite of local office workers, and for a good reason. Where else are you going to get a chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetable, and a basket of french bread and corn bread for only $7.95?

A fine ending to the work week, and well worth the trip from anywhere downtown. They also have a Sunday brunch with unlimited champagne for only $16.95. Unlimited? Oh, yes: best deal in town.

>>Taken August 10, 2007

2008-01-05T18:05:00.000-05:00

Back in the office lunch room with the gyro platter from down the street. They include so much meat, the single pita is soon eaten up, leaving behind more lamb strips atop the rice and tzatziki.

>>Taken July 26, 2007

2008-01-05T17:54:00.000-05:00

What's better than a leisurely summer lunch on the sidewalk? Here I am, looking at Megan and Zach at The Bottom Line in Washington, D.C. and waiting patiently for my food to arrive.

And here's one of the things that The Bottom Line does well - classic fish and chips with a fine-grained coating and a notable absence of the kind of thick breading that ruins so many other deep-fried fish dishes.

The fries are well-seasoned with Old Bay, and the cole slaw's not half bad either.

>>Taken on July 23, 2007

2008-01-05T17:45:00.000-05:00

Garlic fries from Gordon Biersch in Tyson's Corner. Only for serious lovers of salty garlicness.

You can cut through that salt, garlic and oil with a speciality cocktail like this pomegranate capirihna. Delicious and good for you.

>>Taken on July 21, 2007

2007-07-07T19:15:00.000-04:00

Baked Yukon Gold potatoes with butter, salt and pepper. About.com has a summary of the variety's history here.

2007-07-07T18:40:00.000-04:00

A true American classic: Campbell's tomato soup. With some extra virgin olive oil, garlic and Italian herbs. Not only is it a simple, inexspensive meal, but it's also a potent artisitc inspiration.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Campbell's Tomato Soup, 1962, oil on canvas.

2007-06-27T22:45:00.000-04:00

Evening crudite plus yogurt sauce with green onions, garlic and lemon juice. Plus some wheat bread with peanut butter.

Later in the evening, another slice of wheat slathered with hot sauce. Not for the mild of tongue.

2007-06-27T21:54:00.000-04:00

A truly excessive platter of chili nachos at Hard Times in Clarendon.

The perfect marriage for nachos: beer. In this case, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

They always bring it and I never eat it: the obligatory corn bread.

And the key to it all: the family of hot sauces. The house "XXXX" sauce is especially good.

2007-06-21T21:57:00.000-04:00

Leftovers from yet another veg stir-fry attempt, including but not limited to: green and yellow squash, red cabbage, broccoli, celery and green onions with sesame oil, oyster sauce and fresh ginger. Plus the usual brown rice, courtesy of the Rival rice steamer.

But not without the crisp taste of Fresca grapefruit soda.

2007-06-21T21:46:00.000-04:00

Lunch from the deli around the corner - chicken salad with lettuce, tomato and pickles on a long roll.

2007-06-11T00:22:00.000-04:00

Delivered pizza is one of the great joys of American life.

Domino's large "classic hand tossed" with pepperoni and chopped tomatoes; partially chewed.

2007-06-07T00:18:00.000-04:00

Another attempt at fresh eating.

Stir fry of yellow and green squash, broccoli and red cabbage with teriyaki, garlic and sesame oil, on top of brown rice.

2006-12-25T00:14:00.000-05:00

Simple meal at home, healthy style.

Carrots and celery, yogurt sauce and rosehip tea.

2006-12-17T00:02:00.000-05:00

Lunch at Slade's at Tyson's Corner Center December 16, 2006.

Caesar salad with grilled salmon.

Side of crispy french fries with Old Bay seasoning.

Sam Adams seasonal.

2006-10-24T16:49:00.000-04:00

Breakfast today: Salt bagel with lox, cream cheese, tomato and onion. This is one tasty combination, but so filling I only ate half of it all day. Lets hope the hungry gremlins in the office refrigerator don't find the other half.

Here's what half of a bagel and lox looks like when photographed using a Treo 700p smartphone:

That's fine, you say, but what does it look like when photographed with the still function on a Sanyo Xacti VPC-C6 digital camcorder? Wonder not:

OK - I know what you're thinking. Am I going to show you what a bagel and lox looks like when captured by a Nikon D50 SLR? Of course:

Wow - that's much clearer, no? We can even zoom into the delicious middle while individual onion chunks remain in focus:

2006-10-24T15:41:00.000-04:00

Lunch yesterday: oddly shadow-laden chicken salad sandwich, this time from Park Place Gourmet on the south side of Farragut Square.

2006-10-21T17:50:00.000-04:00

Weekend snack time: Guacachips ("made with real avocados"). Naturally, it is a great relief to know that my green-tinted tortilla chips are not made from imaginary or virtual avocados. They taste better already.

2006-10-19T13:39:00.000-04:00

Lunch today: buffet-by-the-pound assembledge of vegetables and meat from SoHo deli. Ingredients include roast turkey, green beans, snow peas, watercress, a slice of chicken breast rolled with ham and cheese, diced tomato and onion, asparagus, straw mushrooms and those little miniature corn things.

I wonder if some people would think that $7.78 is an unncessarily high price to pay for a lunch one is going to eat at one's desk out of a styrofoam container. It certainly isn't in DC; the woman behind me paid $10.34.

2006-10-18T22:24:00.000-04:00

Dinner tonight: DiGiorno Garlic Bread Pizza (Supreme). According to the Kraft Foods press release, this recently released product contains an "unforgettable garlic aroma [that] marries two consumer favorites," those two being, of course, pizza and garlic bread.

I'll say there is certainly a broad garlic aroma to the cooked product, though unforgettable might be stretching it a bit. First sexual encounter? Definitely unforgettable. That time I went rock climbing and almost fell twenty feet onto a particularly spiky rock formation? Sure, I'm not gonna forget that. The laboratory-produced smell of garlic on a $5.19 frozen pizza from 7-11? Not so much.

That said, though, it passes the basic tests for pizza that needs to be thawed: crisp crust, pleasantly melted cheese mixture and entirely acceptable sausage nuggets. You wouldn't obsessively cyber-stalk this pizza after a single taste, but one wouldn't kick it out of bed, either.

2006-10-18T10:34:00.000-04:00

Breakfast today: toasted salt bagel with cream cheese and Starbucks Breakfast Blend coffee ("A blend of coffees from Latin America"). Bagel from the Daily Market around the corner.

2006-10-17T21:42:00.000-04:00

Dinner on Sunday: Mexican chain restaurant grub. Platter o' vaguely Latinoamericano fare:

And the best possible side dish to Mexi-esque cuisine, Negro Modelo. These days, mostly called Afro-Americano Modelo:

And don't forget the unpriced tortilla chips and salsa, a tasty friend. Now, is it just me, or does that salsa fresca look a lot like raspberry jam?:

2006-10-17T21:06:00.000-04:00

Dinner tonight: Thousand Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon (2003) and Utz Natural Sea Salt 'n' Vinegar Kettle Cooked Gourmet Potato Chips. Both purchased very nearby at my local wine shop.

A bottle of wine and a bag of potato chips for dinner? Pure decadence, the wags will say. But I say let them cluck their censorious toungues. Why not have robust red varietals and deep fried potato slices as an evening meal? I had french fries and bleu cheese dressing for lunch, after all (though I tragically forgot to take a picture of it).

2006-10-17T17:28:00.000-04:00

Lunch, yesterday. Poorly-focused chicken salad and sour cream 'n' onion potato chips.