The Garden Apartment

Valentine's Day tapas: Small plates, Big romance

Reminiscing about a special honeymoon in Spain, The Garden Apartment put together a romantic small plates dinner for two. The "Hallmark Holiday Crew" has also put together some great Valentine's Day treats, so be sure to send some love to Amy at Eggs on Sunday {and her Valentine's Day brunch} and Grace at A Southern Grace {and her Red Velvet Cupcakes.}

It was February of 2008. John and I had been married for just a few months. It was the time of year when the weather turns dreary and moods are understandably low. The romance was (perhaps) a bit lacking. 

Though I typically frown upon the commercialism of holidays like Valentine's Day, I decided to use the day as an opportunity to up the romantic ante. But, rather than go out and buy a sappy card or bunch of embarrassing balloons with messages of love streaked across their bulbous shapes, I did something a little more personal.

Thinking back to our honeymoon, I remembered a meal we had eaten in Paris: steaks with pepper sauce and the cheesiest imaginable mashed potatoes served directly from a copper pan. I recreated the meal for John, and amazingly it took us (in terms of romance) right back to Paris.

Isn't it amazing how a flavor, a taste, or a simple sensation can take you back to a particular place or a specific moment in time?

This year I decided to recreate some foods we ate in Spain, where we spent the last ten days of our honeymoon. I mean, who wouldn't want to be taken back to this little street?

An avenue in Sitges, Spain-- just south of Barcelona

Or this beach?

Los Canos de Meca, Andalucia, Spain

Or the little town of Vejer de la Frontera?

The view from our bed and breakfast looked like this:

I dare say, even if you've never been to Spain, you wouldn't mind eating food that could simply make you imagine yourself there. 

Am I right?

El Palmar de Vejer- a beach that truly felt endless and sparsely occupied

With this in mind, I put together a little menu of Spanish tapas for our (pre) Valentine's Day celebration. 

One food that stood out was the pork. Seriously. We ate an impressive amount of pork all throughout Spain: Serrano ham, chorizo, and other pork products whose names have slipped my memory.

Proudly displayed hams, a common scene in restaurants throughout Spain

At one point, we were certain we had ordered Serrano ham, but our poor Spanish speaking skills actually solicited a plate full of deep fried bacon. It was delicious, and we made deep guttural noises while we sucked it all down. 

Our stomachs, however, were not so happy about it a few hours later. 

So much for romance. For our tapas menu, I would stick to non-fried Spanish pork products. 

In another instance, we were set on eating at a certain restaurant our trusty guidebook had recommended in Sevilla. The line to get into this restaurant, however, kept us wandering around eating at non-guide book restaurants. 

We learned that everyone seems to use the same guidebook, and everyone seems to believe it to be the gospel-- as I do.

My nose stuck in the guidebook, a habit which John found amusing

At one restaurant we stopped in while waiting for the line get smaller at the non-guide book restaurant, all we ordered were olives, a decision which greatly bothered our surly waiter. Despite this, the olives were well worth the waiter's attitude: the enormous green orbs had the most perfect briny flavor. 

That same night, after walking by the recommended guide book restaurant's long lines one more time, we stumbled down several winding streets into a candlelit restaurant with beautifully tiled walls. We ordered the papas bravas, a dish we'd enjoyed at other places. These papas bravas, however, were divine. The sauce was more savory than the others had been-- seeming to have spices of saffron and the slight spice of roasted peppers. We drooled over them and forgot all about the guide book.

The next day we tried to find that restaurant again with no luck. 

We did, however, finally get a seat at the guide book restaurant. And you know what? It wasn't all that great. It's funny, but I don't even remember what we ate there.

The point of this lengthy dialogue is this: food can take you back. Whether it's an exotic locale or simply a homemade meal from a happier time, a single dish can inspire happy memories and a little romance.

With no further ado, here was the menu for our Valentine's Day trip down small plates memory lane.

• Warm olives with garlic and citrus zest
• Roasted Almonds with Smoked Spanish paprika 
• Apple, Manchego, and Serrano Ham Toasts (recipe below)
• Papas Bravas (click here for recipe)  
• Shrimp and Chorizo skewers (previously made here)
• White Sangria    

The olives were simply warmed in a sauce pan with some olive oil, sherry, orange and lemon zest, garlic slices, and thyme. Yum.

For the almonds, I mixed some salt, pepper, oregano and smoked paprika. I tossed the almonds in the mixture and roasted them in the oven at 325 for about fifteen minutes. They were simple and delicious.

The next tapa was a bit locally inspired, with a whole lot of help from Spain. I picked up some great mutsu crispin apples from the Bigg Riggs Farm booth at the Alexandria Farmers Market and combined them with Manchego cheese and Serrano ham.

Apple, Manchego, and Serrano Toasts

• 1 loaf of French bread, sliced 
• 4 slices of Serrano ham (you could substitute another salted pork)  
• several thin slices of Manchego cheese  
• 1 green apple, thinly sliced  
• 3 TB EVOO, plus extra for drizzling 
• 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced   

salt and pepper, to taste 

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place bread slices on a cookie sheet and bake until lightly browned, about 10-15 minutes.

In the meantime, heat 3 TB of olive oil and the thinly sliced garlic until warm. The garlic should fizz a little, releasing its flavor into the oil.

Remove the bread from the oven and brush with the garlic-infused olive oil. 

Assemble: On each toast place: one slice of Manchego cheese, a thin piece of Serrano ham, and one-two apple slices. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy immediately.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

I'm sorry to tell you that the white sangria swept me off my feet and I failed to document anything past the toasts. 

However, Amy at Eggs on Sunday smartly put together a romantic Valentine's Day brunch. Here's a sneak peek of her heart shaped citrus and cranberry scones for you to drool over:

You'll have to visit Eggs on Sunday to see the rest of the menu.

Grace, of A Southern Grace, whipped up these dreamy looking Pink Velvet Cupcakes. Check them out!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Is there a food that takes you back to a special place or time spent with someone you love? Write in and share your love with The Garden Apartment this Valentine's Day!

Garden Apartment Gumbo

A trip to New Orleans inspired me to try my hand at gumbo- though more of a Virginia gumbo, utilizing local Chesapeake Bay lump crab along with some locally grown veggies.

Unless DC takes a freak turn towards warm temperatures, this time of year is always the perfect time to take a trip somewhere south.

This year, John and I decided to take a long weekend trip to New Orleans with some of our good friends.

John had been to the Big Easy on a few other occasions, back in his single days. These trips were reportedly full of Bourbon Street imbibing and a general lack of cultural experiences.

Things change once you're married.

Now, now. To be fair, we did spend a good portion of our trip in the French Quarter. But we also meandered out of the French Quarter several times-- only to be richly rewarded by wonderful neighborhood pubs, restaurants, shops, and music venues.

On our first night, we took a cab to the Bywater to a little neighborhood joint called Vaughn's. It was Thursday, a night described in our Lonely Planet Guidebook as "legendary" due to trumpeter Kermit Ruffins and his band The Barbeque Swingers. We quickly learned that the entire city is pure music and food. You see, Kermit's band is called the Barbeque Swingers because they are known to make barbeque for the people attending their gigs. There was no barbeque the night we were there, but the band had prepared some very tasty red beans and rice. It was served up in large vats at the back of Vaughn's. Music lovers, as Kermit referred to all of us, crowded around with styrofoam bowls filled with the local specialty.

It was a great way to begin a long weekend filled with delicious food, drink, and fantastic music. 

There was my discovery (and repeated rediscovery) of the mint julep- a drink which inspired this photo.

There were walks down by the water, after eating beignets and drinking coffee at the powdered sugar covered Cafe du Monde.

 

And there was the stumbling into a little hole in the wall called Coops Place. It was a dark, musky smelling place with seats misarranged all around the bar and the sides of the restaurant. Upon finding a seat wedged between the bar, pool table, and the corner, we began noticing wonderful things. First and foremost: the smell of their own smoker out back. Second, their menu made it impossible to make a choice, especially once we began seeing other customer's food arriving: bowls of steaming gumbo, plates full of fried chicken, red beans and rice, and their special jambalaya.

Unable to decide, we chose the combination plate. What a plate full of food, but especially, what a bowl full of gumbo. It was delicious. 

In this spirit, I decided to come home and make my own gumbo. 

I'm sure it won't quite qualify as New Orleans style, but in the mode of the Garden Apartment, I did purchase several of the ingredients locally. 

At the Old Town Alexandria Farmers Market, I bought some of Bigg Riggs Farms frozen peppers. Calvin, of Bigg Riggs, froze many fresh picked veggies this summer and is selling them at market.

 

At the DuPont Circle Market on Sunday, I picked up a pound of jumbo lump crab from Buster's Seafood, a family-operated fishery located in Urbanna, Virginia. Buster's also had fresh caught rockfish, claiming this is the best time of the year to eat it. Apparently, they are at their "fattest" right now. (For more information on seafood at the DuPont Circle Market, click here.)

Heading home, I worked on a gumbo. With a little inspiration from an episode of Bobby Flay Throwdown, some time browsing through many gumbo recipes, and a little faith in my own cooking abilities, here's what I whipped up.

Garden Apartment Gumbo Print Friendly Version

{Serves 4}

For the roux

• 1/2 Cup flour
• 6 TB butter
• 1/4 cup onions, finely minced 
• 1/4 cup celery, finely minced 
• 1 TB Worcestershire sauce 

For the stew

• 1 Cup Spicy Sausage, diced (I used chorizo) 
• 1 TB butter 
• 2 Ribs Celery, diced 
• 1/2 large onion, diced 
• 1 Cup multi-colored peppers, diced  
• 3 large cloves garlic, smashed then roughly chopped 
• 1 TB Cajun Seasoning 
• 1/2 TB hot sauce 
• 2 tsp fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried) 
• 2 tsp fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried)
• salt and pepper, to taste 
• 3-4 Cups Fish Stock 
• 1 1/2 Cups crushed tomatoes 
• 1/2 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails-on) 
• 1/2 lb lumb crab meat  

Make the roux

In a large stockpot, melt the butter. Add the flour and stir until combined. Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cook for approximately 45 minutes, until the roux is dark brown in color. Add the finely diced onion and celery and stir. Remove from the heat, add the worcestershire and combine.

Make the stew

Toss the sausage in a hot large saute pan for approximately two-three minutes, until nicely browned. Remove.

Lower heat to medium and add 1 TB butter to the pan. Add onion, celery, garlic, and peppers. Saute until the onions are translucent. Add cajun seasoning, hot sauce, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper. Turn off heat and set aside.

* I suggest working on the stew while the roux is caramelizing. Just be sure to keep stirring the roux. Once all the spices have been added, simply turn off the heat and wait until the roux is ready to put it all together. 
  

Put it all together

When the roux is beginning to get brown, heat the fish stock in a medium sauce pan.

Once the roux is complete, add the fish stock and crushed tomatoes. Stir. 

Add the sausage, vegetable and spice mix. Cover and allow to come to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 30-45 minutes.

Add the shrimp and crab meat. Cook until the shrimp is pink, approximately 5 minutes.

Enjoy over white rice. 

And of course, since it's gumbo, feel free to add your own local ingredients and have a little fun.
  

So, I Married a Hokie

 A weekend of Virginia Tech football brought about some reflection on my marriage, local food culture, and turkey legs.

 

When John and I first started dating it was mid-December of 2004. We liked each other immediately and did what any newly love-struck young people do: we spent a lot of time with each other.

Of course, I should have understood John's (rather blunt) foreshadowing. You see, about two weeks into this relationship I was told, "You're lucky football season is over."

And then came September of 2005, which marked ten months of Tiffany and John and the beginning of a new Virginia Tech Football season. As a Midwestern girl transplanted on the East Coast, I was very naive. "What exactly is a Hokie?" I asked.

To this day, I still have not been given a very solid answer to this question. In short, the explanation is that the word hokie appeared in a song dedicated to the University many many years ago, and was later adopted as the mascot. In case you are wondering, the mascot  pretty much looks like a sassy orange and maroon colored turkey- which made me giggle a little bit in the beginning. Of course, any wondering I do about the validity of a turkey as a mascot brings about a whole chorus of John's friends discussing how ridiculous leprechauns are (I am a Notre Dame fan).

I've come to learn that this Hokie culture is an amazing thing. For example, one of John's good friends has a two-year old son. When he was just a year old(and barely talking) he could respond to questions like "What does the Hokie Bird say?" (warble, warble, warble) This toddler even knew how to say "VT!" and to throw his arms up in the air when Virginia Tech made a touchdown.

I've also learned that there is such a thing as a Hokie Pokie Elmo doll. Hokie Pokie Elmo joins us whenever we watch a Virginia Tech game on television. And, in case you are wondering. . . the Hokie Pokie is danced at every Virginia Tech home game during third quarter. You have to appreciate a team whose fans are willing to jump up and down to Metallica as their team enters the field, but then three quarters later is also willing to do the Hokie Pokie.

 

Okay, so let's get down to business. This is a blog about food. Usually this is a blog about locally grown foods, often organic and healthy. You're probably used to seeing gorgeous and colorful photos of the farmer's market, as well as some pretty good looking creations from my kitchen.

Brace yourself: you are in for some very classy photos of our weekend tailgate. (Please take note of the amount of preparation that went into this tailgate- and then take note that I spent my entire  Saturday with all boys.) I'd also like to clarify that this is something I refer to as local food culture: in other words, eating turkey legs is an experience unique to Virginia Tech football.

So, here we have it: This is Jones- the grill master. His recipe was pretty simple. He basically doused the legs in garlic salt and lemon pepper. This step took place many many times, whenever the legs were rotated. The legs stayed on the grill for about an hour, and Jones would often close the grill's vents to allow the turkey legs to smoke. 

Plastic forks are the new vogue grilling tools.

But just look at the end result. . . delicious.

And, as you can see, I've learned to fully embrace Virginia Tech culture. After all, I haven't met a Hokie I didn't like (and those turkey legs were really good).

Michigan: At home with fudgies and Great Lakes fish

Michigan is my childhood home. After traveling there last week, I am returning with some travel tips as well as some local food recommendations.

During the summer of 1989 I was crowned "Little Miss Fudgie." Laugh if you like. It is a terrible title for a beauty queen. For years my friends have teased me: one friend has me programmed into his phone as "Fudgie." Of course, if you've ever traveled to Mackinaw City or Mackinac Island, Michigan you would understand why this seemingly unfortunate title was actually very apropos. After all, Mackinaw is the fudge capital of the world.

Little Miss Fudgie, 1989: me

This past week, John and I traveled back to northern Michigan. As a native of Mackinaw City, let me fill you in on a few things you need to know when traveling Up North.

1) USE YOUR HAND: When traveling to Michigan's lower peninsula, no map is needed. Simply hold up your right hand and point. For example, when I say "I'm from here" I point to the top of my middle finger: Mackinaw City's location.

2 LEARN THE LINGO: Mackinaw has two spellings: Mackinaw and Mackinac. Both are pronounced "aw" at the end. If you pronounce it "Mack-in-ack" you will truly irritate the locals. (The "ac" ending is French.) Also, you should familiarize yourself with the following words:

• Yooper: a person from the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan
• Phrases such as "you know" and "aye" work wonderfully as affirmations at the end of a statement. However, use of either requires a question mark at the end of your sentence.

3 BE INFORMED: If you know a few things before you go, you can avoid asking the worst question of all:

What time does the bridge swing over to the island?

The bridge in question is the Mackinac Bridge, a 5 mile long suspension bridge which connects the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. Obviously, it doesn't swing anywhere-- let alone Mackinac Island where no cars are allowed!

View of the Mackinac Bridge from my parents' home 

4. GET AWAY FROM MAIN STREET. The rewards of getting off the Main Street are significant. Surely, the Main Street of Mackinac Island- a small  island with a population of 500 year round residents and no automobiles- is charming. But, rent a bike for an hour or two and you will enjoy beautiful scenic views in a land that is mostly national park. Here is one of many:

So, now that we've covered the basics, let's talk about local food and specialties, aye?

First, let's start with the fudge. Travel to northern Michigan and you will be overwhelmed by the sweet smell of chocolate wafting out to the street. While it's hard to find a bad fudge, my personal favorite is Murdick's fudge. My favorite flavor is double chocolate (which only Murdick's sells), but I also like chocolate walnut, peanut butter, maple, and vanilla.

Next, let's talk about fish. If you are ever in any of the Great Lakes states, you must try walleye. It is my favorite fish, a white fish featuring a rich earthy flavor and a texture which melts in your mouth. It's best prepared lightly pan-fried with a light lemon cracker coating. My favorite place to eat walleye is Audie's Chippewa Room which is coincidentally the best place to eat dinner in Mackinaw City. Audie's also serves another delicious Great Lakes fish: whitefish. You have your choice of eight different preparations- the best of which is probably the Parmesan encrusted whitefish.

However, my favorite way to eat whitefish is smoked. In northern Michigan there are countless places to buy whole smoked fish. Often, these roadside establishments have the fish smoking right outside their small shops. While it disgusts many people to see the whole fish staring at you while you dig into it's flesh, there is certainly no question as to what you're eating when you see it this way.

Finally, northern Michigan is famous for a few other food delights:

1. Pasties (pronounced "pass- tees") These are best bought at small seemingly hole in the wall places. If you like pot pie, you will like the pastie-- which is simply a pastry shell filled with meat and potatoes, then topped with gravy.

2. Michigan cherries: Traverse City, Michigan (top of the pinkie finger) is the Cherry Capital of the World. Usually, cherries can be found at countless farm stands throughout the entire state of Michigan. Sadly, we did not find any local cherries while we were up there. I did, however, drink a cherry martini which was made with locally produced cherry vodka.

If you are ever in Mackinaw or Mackinac, I hope these recommendations will be helpful. You are, after all, getting advice from the Little Miss Fudgie of 1989.

An Adventure in Scandinavian Eating

Hopefully my absence on the blogosphere has been duly noted over the past week. Lucky me, I've been off on a whirlwind adventure through Sweden and Denmark.  Okay, so I only actually visited a few places, but it was wonderful nevertheless.

When I travel, I always look for local specialties, whether it's a local brewery or a special dish only found in that region. This can backfire sometimes, like when John and I went to Costa Rica and realized that the comida typica (the typical plate) was the exact same thing every single time, no matter where we tried it.

Happily, this did not occur in Sweden or Denmark. The problem we ran into was one typical of Americans traveling in Europe: the bad exchange rate.  Pictured below, I am eating a hot dog for lunch so that we could justify eating a nice dinner.  It may not be the most flattering picture of me ever, but I have to say that their ristet hot dogs (roasted hot dogs) with all the fixings (ketchup, Danish relish--mayo and relish mixed together, spicy mustard, fried onions, fresh onions, and a lot of pickles) were quite tasty.

All kidding aside, the Swedish and Danish kroner exchange rate did not exactly cause us to go destitute, and we did manage to try some really great local specialties while we were there. I don't usually crave chocolate the way most people do, but I couldn't resist trying an assortment of chocolates from a small shop in Goteborg (also known as Gothenburg), Sweden.  My assortment included a chocolate pistachio, chocolate with more chocolate, and white chocolate with a raspberry filling.  My favorite was the white chocolate. Here are my chocolates pictured next to another vice: beer. This brew is called Avenyn Ale and is a local brew made just outside of Goteborg. It was deliciously girlie with an orange flavor accenting the amber ale.

 

Given the proximity to the sea, I was not surprised that much of the local fare focused on fish.  We ate fish at many different restaurants, and it was even part of the breakfast buffet at our hotel in Sweden. I enjoyed a breakfast of smoked fish and pickled herring on my first day there. This grossed out John, who went for the bacon and homemade bread. Of course, he was still recovering from his mistake of ordering beef tar tar the previous evening. Never again will we make the mistake of ordering anything tar tar. 

 

That's right: raw. In case that wasn't enough of a shock to my poor husband, the dish also came with a raw egg. John bravely ate a few bites and then decided that ordering tar tar was a great diet plan that he may endorse back here in the States.

Alright, so let's get back to the fish. One specialty I was told to try while I was in Scandinavia was the smorbrod-- or sandwiches. These enormous open faced sandwiches come with just about anything you can imagine. There were forty options at our restaurant of choice. John tried one with homemade meatballs and potato salad. Mine was called the "shooting star" and came with one piece of fried cod, one piece of roasted cod, an enormous pile of small salty shrimp, caviar, asparagus, mayonnaise, and cucumber slices. It did not resemble any sandwich I had ever eaten, and was surprisingly delicious.

Speaking of asparagus, it was everywhere! At the markets I stopped into they were selling green and white varieties from Germany. At every restaurant we visited, asparagus came with the meal. During one particularly good meal, I was delighted to find an asparagus puree on the side. New potatoes were also abundant at nearly every meal, a sign that most restaurants were indeed serving dishes and produce that was in-season.

That's all for my travel and food report from Scandinavia. You can look forward to another travel dis(h)patch this summer when I visit another northern land: my hometown of Mackinaw City, Michigan.