Annie's Paramount Steakhouse, Washington, D.C.

After the installation tonight, about two dozen of us wandered over to Annie's Paramount Steakhouse for a cocktail and most of us had food, too. We ordered a full range of menu and cocktail offerings, and I didn't even see everything that was eaten at our long, long table.

I got the sirloin steak salad, a great way to get a small sirloin steak at a lot cheaper price than ordering just the steak by itself (with a baked potato). The mixed greens and standard tossed salad vegetables came with nicely ripe wedges of tomato, Greek black olives, and hard boiled egg halves, and with the steak sliced and arranged on the side of the presentation. With supper I sipped a glass of Copperridge Cabernet Sauvignon.

Open City Cafe, Washington, D.C.

This morning I brunched with Laurent and his friends Mike and Kyle at Open City Cafe, up in the Woodley Park neighborhood. It's a very, very popular place with long lines of people trying to get into what seems essentially a combination coffee house and diner. They are related somehow to The Diner and to Tryst coffee house in Adams-Morgan.

Laurent, who still manages to have a 27 or 28 inch waist, ordered the OC Royale, a huge breakfast special with two eggs (his were sunny side up), sausage links, pancakes, hash browns, and wheat toast. That (plus two big bloody Marys) wasn't enough to fill him up, so he did dessert, too, getting an enormous wedge of cheesecake with a peanut butter top layer and an Oreo cookie crust.

Mike did the "eggs and meat," a couple of over-easy eggs with bacon and toast, and Kyle had the brioche French toast.

I had a Cobb salad and a nice, big cappuccino. Their version of a Cobb is interesting and not at all traditional. They used mesclun greens instead of romaine lettuce, and the toppings included whole cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, and chopped artichoke heart; none of the toppings were arranged in the usual stripes.

Even though the restaurant was very busy and crowded, I found the service to be friendly and efficient.

Union Street Pub, Alexandria, Va.

After our tour of Mount Vernon, a bunch of us went to the Union Street Pub in Old Town Alexandria for dinner. The food was okay, but the service was **extremely** slow. I had an entree salad with chicken strips and blue cheese that was good, but I was quite surprised that the chicken turned out to be "buffalo" chicken.

After dinner, Scott and I drove back up to Bethesda for a night cap at the Front Page. Twas a fun, but long day!

Mount Vernon recipe

Martha Washington's Great Cake

This 21st century recipe adaptation is for a cake like what would have traditionally been served on Twelfth Night, the wedding anniversary of George and Martha Washington.

10 eggs
1 lb. butter
1 lb. sugar
1-1/4 lbs. flour
1/1/4 lbs. assorted dried or fresh fruits and nuts—based on what would have been available to Mrs. Washington, the following are suggested:

• 5 oz. pear (peeled, cored, and diced)
• 9-1/2 oz. apple (peeled, cored, and diced)
• 3-1/2 oz. raisins
• 2 oz. almonds, sliced

2-1/2 tsp. ground mace
2-1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 oz. wine
2 oz. French brandy

Preheat the oven to 350º. Separate the egg whites from the yolks and set the yolks aside. Beat egg whites to a "soft peak." Cream the butter. Slowly add the beaten egg whites, one spoonful at a time, to the butter. Slowly add the sugar, one spoonful at a time, to the egg whites and butter. Add egg yolks. Add flour, slowly. Add fruits and nuts. Add ground mace, nutmeg, wine, and brandy. Lightly grease and flour a 10-inch springform cake pan. Pour batter into pan and bake about 75 minutes. Allow cake to cool after baking.

Modern Adaptation of an 18th-Century Icing

Beat 3 egg whites and 2 tbsp. powdered sugar.  Repeat additions of sugar until you have used 1-1/2 cups of powdered sugar.  Add 1 tsp. lemon peel grated and 2 tbsp. orange-flower water.  Beat until the icing is still enough to stay parted when a knife cuts through it.  Smooth it onto the cake.  Let it dry and harden in a 200º oven for one hour (Note:  icing will be brittle when cut with a knife).

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We went on a candlelight tour of Mount Vernon, George Washington's plantation home south of Alexandria, last Saturday evening. A light snow fell as we walked through the estate. We got the aforementioned cake recipe in the house. Before going to the house, they had us in a "hospitality area" with a real camel and a great big fire in an iron cauldron, where they gave us hot cider and little paper-thin gingerbread cookies. There were period actors in the house to tell about things, and 18th century dance lessons in the greenhouse.

Vino

Tonight I've been sipping a pleasant little shiraz from "The Little Penguin" winery in southeastern Australia. Twas only a $7 bottle at the local Safeway. It's light for a shiraz, but it's a nice medium-bodied wine with a strong fruity note and a little spiciness.

Amazement

Kevin went to Plato's Diner and ordered something other than a Greek salad!

Lodge dinner

Mmmm.....scallopped corn and acorn squash for breakfast! Brought home some leftovers last night after dinner at lodge last night, so now I have a refrigerator stocked with side dishes. Got elected junior deacon, so last night was the last time I'll have to cook dinner. It went very well and smoothly, but I had Robert, Scott, and Kevin around to help, and extra hands always make a big difference.

Last night's menu included red cabbage slaw, cinnamon apple pork chops, scalloped corn supreme, buttermilk mashed yams, baked acorn squash, maple cornbread, and pumpkin bread pudding with brown sugar vanilla sauce. We also drank up the last of the Smithwick's Irish Ale we had remaining from last September.

We're dark Thanksgiving week, so all that's left this year is a degree in early December and the installation of officers the middle of the month, and both of those are catered events, so I'm essentially done. Yay.

Meanwhile, I need a new tuxedo. :-/

Tonight's dinner party

Hosted a nice dinner tonight for the Nation's Capital Court of Chevaliers, a DeMolay organization, over at the Belmont Mansion. Guys from the lodge volunteered to cook and serve, and we had a lovely menu of ribeye steaks with mushroom sauce, sugar snap peas amondine in lemon butter, saffron rice, salad of mixed greens and honeycrisp apples in balsamic vinaigrette, brie and camembert cheeses, and German chocolate cake.

People came from northern and southern California, Nebraska, Texas, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Montreal, Venezuela, and, of course, D.C.

Food and fellowship were great, and I had a fine time (aside from getting re-elected as grand commander, which is always a mixed blessing).

Nellie's Sports Bar, Washington, D.C.

Robert and I went to Nellie's Sports Bar tonight for dinner. It was happy hour, too, with domestic beers and vodka rail drinks (albeit tiny ones) for just a dollar apiece.

The menu at Nellie's is eclectic. Not only do they have the standard, expected burgers and nachos, they also have hummus with pita bread, plus a number of South American specialties not frequently seen on D.C. menus. Tonight we decided to try some of the South American food.

An arepa is a traditional Venezuelan dish that can best be described as a sandwich made with a cornmeal English muffin instead of bread that is split and stuffed with goodies. Robert got one filled with chorizo (Mexican sausage), and I got mine with ropa vieja and queso blanco (white cheese). Ropa vieja is more of a Cuban-style shredded, stewed beef, and I notice their tasty version is also available as a stand-only entree; I'll have to order it on a future visit. The arepas came with frijoles refritos, tortilla chips, pico de gallo, crema (sour cream), and some fried plantains. While Robert was rather blasé about his meal, I enjoyed mine quite a bit. It's different, though, and the cornmeal bread can be a bit of an acquired taste.

For dessert, we both got the bread pudding. It was okay, but I thought something was missing.....a whiskey sauce? Ice cream? Something. We both managed, however, to eat all of our puddings.

Pizza

This is a pizza. It's so big it's served on two cafeteria trays. It's covered in meat. Yum.

The Post Pub, Washington, D.C.

Just around the corner from the Washington Post offices is a little pub called the Post Pub, a place said to cater to the journalistic crowd from the Post and others. Friday, Kevin and I went there for lunch, but we didn't see anyone famous. Of course, I could have seen a really famous reporter there, but I have no clue what any of them look like.

Kevin got a hot pastrami sandwich with chips (thick cut French fries) and a little cup of cole slaw. It looked really good, and had an ample quantity of meat on the grilled rye bread.

I got one of the daily specials, the fish and chips, it being Friday and all. The fish serving was small (but it wasn't an expensive dish), and I was a little disappointed that there was no malt vinegar for the fish (it's an English tradition), but otherwise it was good. The tartar sauce was interestingly full of vegetables and not the standard pickle relish. I found the cole slaw to be interestingly hot and spicy.

For dessert, we each had a piece of carrot cake. The cake was okay, though a little on the oily side. It had lots and lots of raisins in it. I suspect the cake had been held for a while, since our decorative carrots on the icing had sort of melted into the top.


It being Halloween and all, they were serving Vampire's Kisses and Blue Zombies from the bar. We weren't drinking, but the cocktails looked fun.

Dirksen Senate Cafeteria, Washington, D.C.

We had Senate bean soup, cornbread, and birthday cake (for Przemek) tonight for dinner, inspired by my lunch this week in the Dirksen Senate Office Building cafeteria. It's long been a tradition in the Senate that Senate bean soup is on the menu every day.

I "discovered" the "secret" that distinguishes Senate bean soup from just any old average navy bean soup. Well, it's not really a secret....I hear there are a number of recipes out on the Internet that disclose it. What they do in the Senate kitchens is that once the beans are cooked and done, they thicken the soup by adding instant mashed potato flakes!

My lunch on the Hill was fairly simple. I had a slice of pepperoni pizza, a big side of macaroni and cheese (delicious!), steamed broccoli, and a large fountain drink. My colleagues both had reuben sandwiches, one with a green salad, and the other with fresh strawberries and pineapple chunks plus a container of jalapeño poppers; both got soft drinks. Eating in the Senate cafeterias is not cheap—these simple meals cost about $32 for the three of us.

I wanted to take pictures, but there were signs up in the cafeteria that specifically prohibited taking photographs of the food!

A few months ago, the Washington Post reported that the Senate was going to privatize their cafeterias. There's no evidence that the transition has taken place as yet.

Fellowcraft night

We passed seven new Fellowcrafts at Federal tonight. And yet I was actually home before 11!

Dinner was boring tonight, but everybody ate it all. I was feeling depressed and unmotivated today, so I didn't even have any plans specifically in mind until I went to the grocery store this afternoon. We ended up with lasagne (plus one pan of meatless lasagne), country style green beans (you know, the kind that simmers on the back of the stove for several hours and has ham and butter and onion and bacon in it?), garlic bread, a big green salad, and store-bought key lime pie. Simple and boring. I cooked for 36, thinking we'd have maybe 28, but we had about 42 or 43 show up for dinner. Those who showed up more than half an hour late for dinner didn't get any lasagne, and I was having to fight off people coming back for seconds as it was.

Cafe La Ruche, Georgetown, D.C.

This past weekend Scott and I had a little late night dinner at Café La Ruche in lower Georgetown. I always like La Ruche because it is unpretentious and it generally is not on the radar screens of the typical Georgetown tourists. The food, too, is always consistent.

We managed to get a pleasant table on their outdoor patio, and we started off with a bottle of Ferrande Sauvignon Blanc, a white bordeaux. The Ferrande certainly isn't a great wine, but it was adequate for our purposes, and the light, crisp, slightly-grapefruit essence paired well with our food, though it's a sufficiently light wine that it probably wouldn't stand up to heavier foods or flavors.

Scott began his snack with a bowl of soupe au crabe, a crab soup that reminded me of the tomato-broth based Maryland style soups we often see around here, though without the harsh hot spices.

I got one of my favorites, an artichaut vinaigrette. Their version used a very large artichoke that was already largely disassembled in the kitchen. It came with a handmade mayonnaise dipping sauce.

We both ended up ordering the same thing for our main course, a croque monsieur sandwich, the French version of a ham and cheese sandwich that features a classic white sauce before being popped under the broiler. It came with a side salad dressed in a simple vinaigrette.

Dessert, of course, required a trip to the dessert case to make a personal selection. Scott ended up with a simple cheesecake garnished with slices of fresh orange, kiwi, strawberry, and some blueberries all in whipped cream. I had a slice of tarte banane au choclat, the banana tart with a big swoosh of chocolate icing and half a caramelized banana all on puff pastry, which I washed down with a little cup of espresso.

So, that was our little snack. Afterwards, we strolled down M Street and Pennsylvania Avenue back into town.

Tishri

Last night was the Feast of Tishri at the D.C. Scottish Rite Center. The Council of Kadosh hosted the feast in basically what amounted to a table lodge format. Twas lots of fun, and the food was excellent. They used Atlantic Catering, the same group that did our heavy hors d'oeuvres and raw bar last Saturday night.

In between nine toasts during the evening (slosh, slosh), our menu began with individual Caesar salads. Then for the main course, they passed bowls and platters family style, giving us our choice (I think most everyone's choice was to take one of everything) of crab cakes, filet mignon, or stuffed chicken breast. I had the crab and filet, including seconds on both. The crab and filet were both delicious—I saw them making these things in the kitchen earlier in the afternoon. They were roasting whole beef tenderloins and slicing them into individual filets, and they'd make up a little bit of gravy to help keep the meat moist whilst waiting to serve. Along with the meal we had roasted garlic mashed potatoes and green beans amandine. I loved the green beans. They were in lots of butter and the almond slices had been toasted and heavily seasoned before being scattered on the beans.

For dessert, I had the cheesecake, though there was also a chocolate layer cake as an option. They also served coffee with dessert, though I was a little disappointed that instead of those little packets of half and half, they used liquid CoffeeMate.

With dinner and for our toasts, our table drank a Domaine Saint Martin Saint Véran 2005 white burgundy for our white and Agua de Piedra Gran Reserva Malbec 2005, a fine wine from the Mendoza region of Argentina, for our red. I stuck with the red for the evening, and the malbec was very nice with the filet. It had nice complexity with a dark berry nose and a smoothness that was unexpected for a South American red. Kevin made us get the bottle of white for him, but then once we got it, he didn't drink it, so Peter finished it off.

As we left for the evening, we were given these nice gold-embossed red bags with fruit and nuts—mine had an apple, an orange, a plum, a bag of trail mix, and a little packet of customized M & M's in the evening's colors of red and yellow.

Vegetable offenses

If people are going to use French, they really, really must start using it correctly! I mean, look at this picture! Not only did they misspell bean (haricot) but they pluralized the adjective without pluralizing the noun!

Jyoti Indian Cuisine, Washington, D.C.

Just back from lodge. Very good meeting tonight, though I was run ragged a bit, jumping from junior deacon (Kevin is sick tonight) to and from the piano. It's so much easier when one is just a steward.

Dinner was simple. We decided to honor Christopher Columbus (it's Columbus Day), so I served Indian food. After all, he was looking for India, so we brought India to Columbus.

Indian spicings aren't my forte, so I had the meal catered by an Indian place in nearby Adams-Morgan, Jyoti Indian Cuisine. Meanwhile, I made mango ice cream balls for our dessert—I can do that much! LOL

Our menu ended up being chicken tikka makhanwala, lamb rogan josh, saag paneer (spinach and homemade cheese), aloo gobhi (cauliflower and potatoes), basmati rice, naan (bread), salad vegetables, raita (yogurt and cucumber sauce), chutney, tamarind sauce, cilantro sauce, and mango ice cream. I brought home a little bit of leftovers, but most everything was eaten.

Only two more dinners and one lunch to cook!

51st State Tavern, Washington, D.C.

Tuesday is 10¢ chicken wings night at the 51st State Tavern in Foggy Bottom. Twenty chicken wings? $2.00. It's a great place to get stuffed for just a little money. It's also conveniently located near Trader Joe's. This is a Tuesday-only happy hour special, and the beers are only $3, too. Anyway, here is my plate of wings: I'm still learning my new camera, so a couple of pictures have a bit of motion blur. It liked to do "red eye" flash a lot, so I have to wait and watch for it. And here's our crew:

Old Europe Restaurant, Washington, D.C.

It's the Oktoberfest time of year! I went out to celebrate with my good friends Peter and Paul, who took us to Old Europe Restaurant in Glover Park (upper Georgetown). Fortunately, they had reservations, because the place was packed!

We, of course, had to try the Spaten Oktoberfestbier to drink, and it was sold by the litre and half-litre in big beer steins.

Paul started his meal with the soup of the day, a Bavarian mushroom with some croutons made of herbed pretzels on top. It had big chunks of mushrooms and looked quite good.

Peter had the Gulasch Suppe, a beef goulash soup that he made quick work of.

Next we moved to the salad course. Peter and Paul shared a large Salat des Hauses, their house salad with lots of lettuce on top of a salad made of pickled carrots, onions, and cucumbers, plus lentils. It looked quite hearty.

I had the Gemischter Rote Beete Krautsalat, and interesting mix of pickled beets, red cabbage, and sauerkraut arranged in equal thirds atop a green salad, all garnished with a tomato wedge and alfalfa sprouts. I liked the sweet and sour taste a lot. In Germany, these salads probably would not have come with the lettuce.

For main courses, Paul and Peter both did schnitzels. Schnitzels, of course, are very thin veal steaks that have been breaded and fried, and sauces and sides distinguish the different types. Paul had the Jägerschnitzel, which came with a "hunter sauce" of mushrooms and cream. It came with spätzle noodles and steamed vegetables. Peter had the Schnitzel "Old Europe," the house version of a Wienerschnitzel served with egg. It came with a potato and a bread dumpling, plus a bowl of red cabbage.

My entree was enough meat to feed a small army. I got the Schlachtplatte, a "butcher's plate" that included countless different kinds of German meats and sausages, including Weißwurst, smoked Rippchen, liver dumplings, blood sausage, and pork shank, served on a bed of delicious German sauerkraut and a accompanied by a side dish of warm German potato salad. The pork shank was way overcooked, but I loved the Weißwurst (white sausage), and all the other things were great, too.

After all this food, we didn't need dessert, but between the beer and the celebration, we got some anyway. Peter got the Schokoladenkokosnußtorte, the German version of the American "German's chocolate cake" (it's named after the inventor, not the ethnicity). It looked good.

Paul got the Haselnußetorte, and said the hazelnut flavor was subtle and the cake was creamy tasting.

I had a Bavarian cream with fresh mixed berries, topped with a little pastry and some whipped cream. It was light, but that was exactly what I needed. Yum.

Such a fun festival! This was the first time I'd been to Old Europe, and it was a very enjoyable evening. They even had an elderly blind German lady come in to play the piano while we dined!

What made the evening even more fun, though, was a special gift. Peter and Paul felt sorry for me after losing/misplacing my camera, and they wanted to see more decent pictures of my meals in my food posts, so they bought me a new digital camera! Thanks Peter and Paul! I'm excited to start using it, though I'll have a bit of a learning curve before I can take great pictures. My next post will have some of my early efforts with the camera.

Carrabba's Italian Grill, Cockeysville, Md.

Yesterday I made an official visitation as grand commander of D.C. to Cockeysville, Md., where the Maryland State Association of DeMolay Chapters held its annual Honors Day to confer the Degree of Chevalier and the Legion of Honor. After the ceremony, Peter and his friends and I went to a nearby Carrabba's Italian Grill for a combination breakfast/lunch/early supper. I was surprised that none of them had ever been to a Carrabba's before. It's one of those national chains, this one based out of Houston, and I always think of them as being a little better than a Macaroni Grill or an Olive Garden.

Peter's friend's ex-girlfriend's boyfriend and I both had the manicotti. Peter's friend and Peter's friend's ex-girlfriend both had the mezzaluna, a half-moon shaped chicken ravioli. Peter had the lobster ravioli. All of our meals came with salads.



We'd grabbed little pastries at the reception following the investitures, so we didn't end up ordering dessert at the restaurant. The others were all driving back to New York and we were off to D.C.

Annie's Paramount Steakhouse, Washington, D.C.

In a completely different neighborhood across town, it's a different world. I had midnight brunch at a neighborhood place called Annie's Paramount Steakhouse the weekend before this last one. I got a cheeseburger and fries. I particularly like their fries. They are thick, very crispy on the outside, and soft as air on the inside. Robert was in a more gourmet mood. He ordered the prime rib. For his sides, he got a baked potato and some steamed carrots (in big coins, or "bonne femme"). I was pleasantly surprised to see with the recent menu changes that the prime rib now automatically comes with Yorkshire pudding.



I always like eating at Annie's, and their all-night dining on Friday and Saturday nights is especially nice. They recently remodeled the dining room and added an upscale room upstairs, but I have to confess I really preferred the old, run-down place.

Eddie's, Washington, D.C.

Another local Chinese carry out is Eddie's, a place that also includes some limited inside dining space. The owner has practically papered the walls with photos of him posing with various political and military celebrities and officials. I had a pork lo mein, and it was a very large serving.

Golden China, Washington, D.C.

This neighborhood has a lot of places that probably do more business as carry-out, instead of dine-in, which is something I don't really understand, but I guess it's a holdover from pre-gentrification years. One of those places is Golden China, an unexpectedly good place on Georgia Avenue.

Here are some of the things they offer. They have a nice cold sesame noodle appetizer that's so large it's easily an entree. The noodles are, of course, cold, and served in a soy dressing with sesame seeds and chopped scallions. Surprisingly tasty.


They also cater to a Latino clientele, so deep fried plantain chips are on the menu. I got some and found them almost addictive, though they need to take a cue from the Latino community and provide a dipping sauce like bean dip or sour cream. And, one big surprise on the menu was "pato con arroz," duck with rice, a fusion of Chinese and Latino cultures. I had to get it. The duck was fabulous. And it only cost me $6.95.

Smith & Wollensky, Washington, D.C.

Kevin and I went to lunch this past week at Smith & Wollensky, one of the top steakhouses in town. When we got there, though, neither of us ordered steak!

Kevin was feeling experimental and tried their chili shrimp flatbread, a sort of pizza made with a long rectangular piece of flatbread. It looked quite intriguing, but I don't think the spicy shrimp and avocado filled Kevin's saiety needs.



I had the chicken chopped salad. It was quite good, though I thought it was rather too sweet.



Beforehand, Kevin had a bowl of their soup of the day, a nice bacon scented pea soup garnished with croutons.

Afterwards, we split the sorbet, picking two scoops of pear and one of coconut. Kevin really liked the pear; I really liked the coconut.