Archive for August, 2009

There’s a little empire growing in the DC area, among tapas restaurants. The man behind this little empire is José Andrés, who started with Spanish flavors and has now branched out. His Jaléo now has multiple locations, but I visited the very busy one in Penn Quarter this past week.

You’ll find your mix of both traditional tapas or small plates, such as the one above: a little omelette of potato and egg, a so-called tortilla española. This is simple, but flavorful. Everything, including this tortilla, came out well-seasoned.

In addition to the classics, they also feature some “nouvelle” interpretations. Most folks will find a variety of delicious bites. I also opted for the expensive but traditional Spanish ham.

While good, it wasn’t my favorite. Their garlicky shrimp and potatoes in paprika and tomato sauce were even better. Everything we ordered, in fact, was saboroso. Which leads to me to believe you don’t go for the food per se. Instead, go for the variety.

The whole concept of tapas, however, is lost here.

My big complaint with Jaléo is the noise level and “busyness” of the establishment. It’s a little loud, a little hectic. While there’s a bar, the concept of tapas is lost in such a space celebrating sit-down diners. Tapas is about talking, socializing, and moving about with your drink and the tasty bite. While I think the concept of mini-dishes is cool and perfectly acceptable, I never felt I could relax at Jaléo. I found the same thing to be true in his larger, more suave location Zaytinya. This isn’t to say it affects the food.

Go with friends who are loud and can sustain an hour or so of loud conversation. Or go early or late for just “snacks.” Take advantage of their bar menu, and order just about anything you like - it will likely be delicious.

For desserts, we tried both their Vasco cake and the lemon rice pudding. Both had pluses and minuses. The rice pudding was light, but it was best a dessert to be shared with two spoons. It gets monotonous after a few bites.

The Vasco cake was interesting; alone the cake was sorry, but combined with the sauce and darling ice cream, it was a small work of art, complex in flavor. Incidentally, our waiter suggested the flan. The coffee was likely some of the best I’d ever had: I’ve never had coffee so smooth. It was really something.

The best tables will take advantage of the scene on the street. You can get reservations or walk-in.

This weekend we made soupy dumplings, a favorite that can be eaten for any meal of the day. A shrimp, pork, and gingery mixture gets mixed with a flavorful aspic in a Chinese dumpling wrapper before getting steamed. Watch below to see details on how they’re made.

Incidentally, the place I first had these treats was at Joe’s Shanghai restaurant in NYC Chinatown. Folks there told us Joe’s surpassed what they normally got in San Francisco (I’ve tried them on both coasts, and Joe’s is still my favorite). See what Joe’s Shanghai has to say about this soupy dumpling:

Again, inspired by Mark Bittman, I made my own baked ziti recipe, this one deliciously rich with the use of dried porcini mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and a three-cheese blend with tomato sauce.

The picture looks this way because I was having too much fun after midnight in Photoshop, attempting to make this photo look old. It’s a baked casserole, after all.

Create the sauce: I started with EVOO and a bunch of chopped fresh shiitake mushrooms. Add garlic. Sauté, then add a little red wine. Add the now soften porcini (you poured boiling water over them, didn’t you?), and then finally added chopped tomatoes. Muir-Glen for me, fire-roasted.

I also added one Niman Ranch frozen italian sausage link I had. I sliced it into thin disks.

After the sauce tightens up, add most of the porcini water (minus the sandy bits), and reduce more. In total, I probably cooked the sauce for about 25-35 minutes. Take it off the heat.

Boil your salted water, and cook the ziti or penne. (I prefer the penne rigate by DeCecco.) Add them to the sauce, stir, and then stir in about half of your cheese - as much as you like. I used a three-cheese blend from Whole Foods of Asiago, Parmesan, and Fontina. After the stuff all gets put into a baking dish, cover with more cheese.

So this ought to be a flavorful little dish… three cheeses. Garlic, mushrooms, and italian sausage. Hmmm.. yes, it turned out quite well.

As usual, I served a salad. And you get the benefit of full color this time around.

A very small bed of red-leaf lettuce formed the bottom, undressed. The main stars were the chopped Hanover tomato and avocado. Honey, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, a pinot grigio vinegar, and EVOO made up the dressing. The tomato and avocado got dressed, and then salted and peppered. The lettuce was just the backdrop.

On the side, two generous croutons that had been topped with a basil pesto before being toasted for 7 minutes in the oven.

Messygood.