Late night nirvana

Recently I went to Northern VA/DC to visit some friends. There was a LOT of good eating going on during this trip. My first night there, my lovely friends took me to a late night dinner at Rasika. I was so excited for this because I don't really follow the national restaurant scene too closely but I have actually read rave reviews of this place in various places. Tasting menu? Of course!


The first dish was a salad of deep fried spinach with a lemony dressing. The spinach was salty and crispy and somehow fresh.

This may have been the highlight.

The next dish was a bowl of mussels in a spicy green curry. mmmmmm

I am always amazed at the complexity of Indian sauces. They are so delicious, so rich, so satisfying and flavorful.

The next dish was a duo of lamb sausages and a grilled shrimp. These were served with a coriander sauce that was again, as expected, delicious.

The lemon was really needed on both the sausage and the shrimp--it added a delicious brightness to the plate.


After these dishes, I was getting pretty full to be honest. Oh, wait...THIS was the highlight. A lovely piece of cod that I think must have been poached in olive oil. WOW.

The fish was crispy, flaky, light; for as bland as it looks in this photo, the flavor jumped out and slapped you in the face--mysterious, rich, sweet, not "fishy" as cod can be (and I actually like). It may have been the most perfectly cooked piece of fish I've ever eaten.

The "main courses" were served family style. There was a dish called butter chicken (the sauce was good but the chicken was a little dry I thought), some sort of mushroom dish (that tasted like dishwater), a lamb dish (I should have written these down) and a couple different kinds of bread, that were both delicious. Coriander abounded in most of these dishes as well, and though only the mushrooms were "bad", the whole course was a letdown after the perfect fish.

If we weren't full enough, there was a dessert course. As you would expect, lots of cardamom here.

From left to right; an Indian "donut" heavily syruped, an apple fritter breaded and deep fried, cardamom ice cream, and in the front, what I can only describe as a flourless carrot cake with a cardamom sauce.  The ice cream was the hit here, everything else seemed to taste similar, be a little doughy, a little soggy, a little heavy after 5 courses.


Overall, I would definitely recommend Rasika. It is obvious that they put love and maximum effort into each dish. However, skip dessert, go for a walk around the city, and get something sweet later in the night.

However you want it may not be what you wanted...sorry.

Starbucks has been doing a ton of in-store advertising about the new, "however you want it" frappuccino. Now, don't be mistaken; a frappuccino is not coffee. It may (or may not) have coffee as one of its ingredients but it really is more of a milkshake. When I want a cold coffee, I get an iced coffee or an iced latte. When I want something sweet, I get a frappuccino.


I love the idea behind the changes--it's now made with actual espresso. you can have regular, decaf, soy, no fat, almost any combo of liquids they have behind the counter. As to often happens, however, with big choice comes big risk. I asked my counter person to recommend one to me, he suggested caramel mocha. I got it, non fat, decaf.


The drink, because it is now made with real espresso and ice rather than their magical mix, separated almost instantly. Really, before I walked out the door. And it was not warm today. The espresso also added a bitter finish to the frappuccino that I wasn't expecting and didn't even enjoy at all until the 5th or 6th sip. 


I will make this quick. If you want something cold from Starbucks, go with an iced latte or a shaken green tea lemonade. If you want a frappuccino, go get a milkshake somewhere. It won't separate, it will be sweet and satisfying, and most likely will be less expensive.

Your favorite roasted chicken

My favorite roasted chicken is not a recipe; it's a method. Just about anything you want to substitute for anything else you like, you can do. The method is what counts and it is almost no-fail. My roasted chicken method is a combination of my oldest sister's, Emeril Lagasse's, and a few (ok, many) trial runs. The best thing about a beautiful roasted chicken is that it is an impressive dinner party food (it looks almost majestic coming out on a big platter, surrounded by beautiful veggies, glowing golden and warm)...but it's simple, practical, not terribly expensive, and incredibly versatile!


The first thing you need is a chicken. I wish I could give you the name of an always-perfect brand but unfortunately it doesn't exist. I've had great roast chickens that were store brand, and just as many successes and failures from organic, grass fed, cage-free, etc. etc. It is hit or miss. My suggestion, if you have a butcher you can trust, is to consult him or her. Otherwise, check the date, make sure it doesn't look weird or dried out, and I'm sure you'll be fine. If you're feeding a crowd, you'll have more luck cooking two small chickens rather than one gigantic one.


Get the chicken home and let it come to room temperature. It should sit out of the fridge for about 30 minutes. This way, it won't be shocked when it goes in the oven. Imagine going from 25 degrees to 400? Just bringing it up a little helps a long way..this is true for all meat.


I think chickens always feel greasy and yukky. Chicken fat is a yummy thing, but old chicken fat, not so much. I usually take all the bits out and run the bird thoroughly under not-quite-cold water. I know, kitchen experts say that this spreads germs all over your sink, your counter, your hands, etc. Wash up when you're done. Take a teeeeennnnyyy (i can't stress this enough) drop of dishwashing liquid and rub it on your hands, then rub the chicken all over while you're rinsing it (don't do this if it oogs you out). I don't do this for all meat, but I've seen my sister do it, so I do it too.


Prepare the bird:  Now that you've washed all the contaminated fat off your bird, massage it with good fat. Olive oil or butter, you choose. I usually use 1-2 tbsp. of butter. Rub all over, in all the creases, cracks, inside if you want (I don't bother). Here is where you can get creative. Rub, stuff, baby this bird with any combination of flavors you have. I usually add a cut in half (but entire) bulb of garlic, a quartered onion (peel on both, why not), at least a half of a lemon (which I sometimes squeeze all over the skin too), and a ton of ground pepper. Here are some other ideas:

• Rosemary, sage, and thyme tied in a bundle and stuffed in the cavity
• roasted or raw garlic stuffed into small slits cut into the skin
• butter stuffed into the slits of the skin
• limes in the cavity

Cover the entire bird, inside outside upside-down, in kosher salt. I usually use so much salt (1-2 tbsp) that the skin is inedible (for me) but it seems to sear the skin fast and make for a super moist bird. 


What to roast your chicken in? Something shallow, so that heat can envelope your bird completely. Do you NEED to use that heavy deep roasting pan your mom gave you for xmas last year? Ok, use it. Usually I use my cast iron frying pan. It gets screaming hot in the oven, and the chicken fat seasons the frying pan beautifully. Whatever you are roasting in, line the bottom with celery and carrot (and onion if you want) to make a "rack" to roast your bird on. This makes a wonderful flavor that seeps into the bird and makes the most deeply flavored gravy (another time, folks). Plus, veggies roasted in butter and animal fat taste really good (I did not just admit that). Another purpose for this is that it keeps the chicken from sitting in the fat that drips off it.


The bird should be put in a 400 degree oven. The general rule is to cook a bird 20 minutes per pound. So a 6lb bird would cook 2 hours. This may be slightly too long in my opinion. They say the internal temp of the chicken should be 165 to be "safe". I don't have a kitchen thermometer. What I do is, when it's about 15 minutes before done time, I wiggle the leg of the bird. If the leg feels like you could pull it off the body with hardly any effort, it's done. That's the only way I learned to tell if a chicken is done, so that's all I can advise. Do what you feel comfortable with. Please, please, please do not be tempted to baste your bird. Your chicken has all the natural juices and butter that it needs already. Opening your oven 3 or 4 times will just cause your oven temp to drop, the skin not to sear quickly, and all the natural juice of your bird to run into the pan and make a nice soup at the bottom (what with the carrots and celery) but the bird will be disappointing and dry. If you have an oven light, turn it on and keep an eye on your breasts (the bird's breasts of course, cheeky.). If they are getting dark too quickly, make a tent out of aluminum foil and open your oven only long enough to cover the darkening skin and close the oven quickly, so as to assure minimum heat loss. 


When the chicken is done, pull it out of the oven and immediately transfer it to another dish--serving platter, cutting board, whatever, and cover the whole thing in aluminum foil for 15 minutes. This will give the juices a chance to settle back into the meat and for the whole bird to just mellow for a bit. If you cut it now, all the juice you preserved through careful prep and cooking will run out and everyone will be sad. 


I am not much of a presentation girl, so I can tell you that it's easy to find websites that describe how to carve a bird. I just hack away at it like the amateur I am. 


The result of this method will be a lovely dinner, and can be used so many ways: shredded in burritos, sandwiches, soups, etc. It's a great thing to perfect for 1 or 2 people because with 2.5 hours work you can feed yourself pretty easily for the whole week (if you want). 


Let me know if you try my method, and if you have any tips to add!