Romanian Food Festival

Lime cake

Romanian Food Festival, 2017.
Potamac, Maryland.

We recently attended the Romanian Food Festival in Potomac, Maryland.

It was my first exposure to Romanian food. It was very simple, closest to home-cooked food. We tried their vegetables and pork stuffed cabbage rolls, polenta (boiled corn meal), grilled chicken and home-made stuffed pork sausages.

A bit bland for my palate but edible for sure. My favorite were the desserts. We tried a moist lime cake stuffed with cream and baklava. Unlike most desserts, these flavors were very subtle.

Qiche with caramelized onions and feta (topped with smoked salmon)

Basic Ingredients (2-4 servings)
4 eggs
Ready-made Pie crust
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup Feta/Goat cheese
1 cup milk
Finely chopped 1/2 cup spinach
1 1/2 red onions
1 small tomato
1 teaspoon salt (alter to your taste)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Rosemary

Step 1: Break the eggs into a large bowl and add  the cheeses and milk. Add spinach, diced tomato, salt, pepper, rosemary. Mix them well and set aside.

Step 2: After allowing the frozen pie-crust to thaw for an hour and a half, set it in a baking dish, greased with butter.

Step 3: In a separate pan, caramelize the onions.

Step 4: Allow them to cool down and add it to the prepared mixture. 

Step 4: Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F ( C) and bake it for 40-45 minutes. Place smoked salmon on top. Cut into wedges and serve hot.

Russian-Uzbek Fare

Rus-Uz

Steamed dumplings

1000 N. Randolph Street

Arlington, Virginia 22202

Rus-Uz, in Ballston, Arlington, offers Russian and Uzbek cuisine. Having been here several times, I have found the quality of the food to be consistent and the prices are fare. 

During our most recent visit, we picked the pirohski (potato and mushroom pastry) and Herring under fur coat (a layered fish salad) for appetizers. For the main course, we had a Uzbek delicacy called manti (large steamed dumplings with lamb and onions, served with a sauce on top), and russian roasted salmon with pomegranate sauce. Personally, I found the food a bit bland for my taste. But I could see the comfort food appeal in all their dishes - simple and well-executed. For meat-lovers, there were several beef and pork dishes on the menu. 

If you are in mood for some simple and hot food on a cold day, this is a great ethnic dining option in Arlington. Reasonably priced. Recommended. 

Kapnos - Greek fare

Saganaki

We recently visited Kapnos Taverna in  Ballston. I tried their lunch and dinner menus and absolutely loved it. The strengths of Kapnos are the small portions of most items on the menu (similar to the tapas); the flavor and presentation; and its variety.

I have to give a call out to their spreads. We tried the smoky eggplant (melitzanosalata) and a feta cheese spread (tyrokaftari). Both were served with some fresh pita and were very tasty. Their traditional saganaki (think flamed cheese with a dash honey) was also delicious. Their spanakopita, however, was just not as good.

Eggplant spread with pita

For the main course, we tried the falafel, marinated chicken souvlaki and spit-roasted lamb. All the dishes were the same size but were sufficiently filling. For dessert, we tried their almond cake. While nothing great, there was also nothing to complain about.

The Ballston location also has a raw bar. We tried their raw oysters. Expensive.

If I were to find a fault, it would be the ambiance. A bit noisy for a quiet dinner.

While not as good as what I have had was in Chicago's Greek neighborhood, Kapnos is one of the better Mediterranean options in the DC region. Recommended.

Indian Street Food in the DC area

Mysore Masala Dosa

Bindaas
3309 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008

In 2000s, Indian street food would have been quite a rare sight in the DC area. This scarcity of Indian fast food options appears to be coming to an end, as we recently discovered two places that specialize in Indian street cuisine.

The first, Bindaas, is a fairly new Indian restaurant located in the District. We tried their brunch menu on a Sunday - bhel puri, pao masala omelette, and chicken kathi roll with chai. The menu also featured some South Indian comfort dishes such as uttapam. The food was authentic and generally well-executed. Recommended.

Street Kitchen, 
7943B Tysons Corner Center, Tysons, VA 22102

The other restaurant was located in the Tysons mall next to the newly opened American Tandoor, Street Kitchen serves dosas and kathi rolls. The rolls were edible although an indian palate may not think of them as authentic. We also tried their mysore masala and chicken dosa and were pleasantly surprised at how good it was. A new addition to their menu is Masala chai (Indian spiced tea), which is great. 

Tuna cutlets

Ingredients
1/2 diced large red onion
1 diced tomato
2 cans of albacore white tuna
4 small red potatoes
1/2 of cauliflower head (Other veggies you may add: carrots, brocolli)
1/2 cup tomato puree
1 tablespoon ginger, garlic, green chilies paste (4 pods of garlic/1 large piece of ginger, 3 chilies)
2 teaspoons chili, turmeric, coriander, cumin powders
3 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 lime
coriander leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Step 1: Saute the onion, tomatoes and ground garlic/ginger paste in oil. Add tomato puree and let it cook.

Step 2: Add the tuna along with the spices and let it cook.

Step 3: Pressure cook the veggies separately and mash them.

Step 4: Add them to the tuna mixture. Sprinkle some lime, add garam masala and coriander to suit your taste. Add salt/pepper.

Step 5: Make small balls and shallow fry them. Serve hot.

The seafood scene in New Orleans

Shrimp po-boy

Our recent trip to New Orleans was all about the seafood scene.

I tried several restaurants' take on a local favorite -the po-boy sandwich (a french baguette stuffed with fried seafood of your choice including shrimp, oysters or fish along with fresh veggies/mayo/remoulade). Nola poboys relatively non-pretentious version of the po-boy was my favorite and would make a great lunch or an evening snack.

Raw oysters at Acme Oyster House

Oysters came in different forms - raw, fried and char-grilled ((grilled with a lot of garlic sauce and parmesan). My favorite were the raw oysters on offer at the famous Acme oyster house.

Crawfish was another common ingredient in a lot of dishes served in restaurants. Of the multiple crawfish-based dishes that I tried, my favorite was a crawfish hash from Nottoway plantation, an antebellum-ear plantation about at an hour's drive from the city.

I also tried an omelette at the Beignet Cafe in the French quarter and thought it was alright. Crawfish ettoufet (crawfish tails cooked in a broth and served with rice) is another popular dish. Our experience at the New orleans creole cookery, where we tried the ettoufet was awful. But I would definitely try it again at another place.

Flounder at Atchafalaya

We had a fine dining experience at a couple of restaurants in town. One was the famous Commanders palace in the heart of the city. At Commanders Palace, we tried their shrimp and quail for lunch. Food was very delicious, although I thought their portions were small for the price. I was also not a big fan of its ambiance. Felt like a tourist trap.

On the contrary, Atchafalaya, a quaint little restaurant, was clearly a winner in terms of food and ambiance. Our meal included corn bread with jalapenos and olives, mussels in garlic sauce and fries for an appetizer, their special flounder. Absolutely nothing that I could complain about. Perfectly seasoned and cooked to perfection, it offered the most memorable food in the city.