Road Food - Panzarotti

Hello There!

We've been out of town for a few days so there hasn't been much baking going on around here.  I'm working on catching up now (the Hot Cross Buns are in the oven as we speak) but for now I wanted to share with you the amazeballs road food we got in New Jersey yesterday.

Panzarotti!!!!

I've never heard of these before but they're basically deep fried calzones.  Yep, as if you thought dough stuffed with cheese couldn't get any better somebody deep fried it.

I found this place by googling "food along new jersey turnpike".  Google tells me everything.  Franco's Place in Haddonfield, NJ was located about where we wanted to stop for lunch and was just a few miles off the road so off we went on our little adventure. 

The place was tiny but, to me, that's the sign of a good, local spot.  When we pulled up the sheriff was leaving with his to-go bag, also a good sign.

I got the Franco with Capicola, Salami, Provolone and Oregano.  CA got the Classic Everything with Mushrooms, Pepperoni, Hot and Sweet Sausage and Anchovies.  That man loves anchovies and he never gets them because, ewwww.

Doesn't mine look yummy and gooey?  They were super delicious and just the treat we needed to finish up our road trip home (even if I did go into a food coma in the passenger seat and abandon CA to the drive alone).  If you're ever traveling along the Jersey Turnpike, I recommend taking a little side trip to Franco's Place.

It might be a few days before I get more baking and writing under my belt.
Hold tight.
Julie

Boqueria

CA and I went out to dinner at Boqueria a few nights ago.  Boqueria is a new addition to the 2013 Washingtonian 100 Best Restaurants List and we were happy to get to knock another restaurant off the list.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of our food and drink this evening.  As I've said before, I get super embarrassed and don't like taking photos in nice restaurants.  Plus, I just like enjoying the experience and since CA and I hadn't had a real date night in a while, I wanted to be in the moment.

Tapas is one of my favorite food concepts.  I always have a hard time deciding what to order because I always want to get more than one thing and Tapas allows me to do that.  Here's what we ordered:

Tabla de Embutidos (Table Sausages)
This plate had three types of sausage on it, Serrano Ham, Salchichon and Chorizo.  All three were very tasty but the chorizo was definitely our favorite.  It was nice and spicy.  The plate was also served with grilled bread rubbed with tomato, garlic and olive oil.  I was pleasantly surprised how good this was!  The tomatoes were nice and fresh.

Pimientos de Pardon
Shishito peppers that looked like they were flash fried so the skins blister and sprinkled with sea salt.  I had this dish the first time I went to this restaurant without CA and it's the only thing I remember eating.  They were very good both times, just spicy enough.

Bombas de la Barceloneta
Beef and potato croquettes with salsa and garlic allioli.  These were good, but nothing spectacular.


Txipirones
Seared baby squid on a frisee salad with romesco vinaigrette, tomato confit and crispy scallions.  I've been seeing squid and octopus popping up on menus all over the place and we try it everywhere we do.  This version was good, the squid had a nice smoky flavor to it.  (Although, our favorite grilled Octopus is still at Osteria 1909 in Del Ray)

Pork Cheek Special
I'm not entirely sure what the name of this one was but it was braised pork cheek with kale, potatoes and candied orange peel.  While the combo of flavors sounds strange, it totally worked.  The pork cheek was rich, the kale was bitter, the potatoes were starchy and the orange peel was sweet.  When you ate them all together is was really well balanced.

We skipped dessert and enjoyed an after dinner drink and espresso, although the Churros with Hot Chocolate did sound really good.

My one comment about this place is that it is super loud!  Honestly, it didn't bother us, but I think if you were sitting with a group of friends you'd have a hard time hearing everyone.

One of the most entertaining parts of our meal was the couple sitting next to us.  They were in their 70's and were 100% what CA and I will be in 40 years.  They were stylishly dressed (CA even commented on her shoes which was odd because I've never heard him comment on anyone's shoes) and were just enjoying their meal together.  However, they definitely had their quirks.  She had a little flashlight she used to read her menu which I'm pretty sure I need to go buy right now.  The light was freaking BRIGHT and she almost blinded CA a few times.  They had a very lively discussion about whether or not he should put his used silverware on the table.  He was very much against it and she really wanted him to.  She thought if he put them on the table, they would bring him new silverware.  He didn't want new silverware and, regardless, he never puts his used silverware on the table and he isn't going to change so she should leave him alone.  He then proceeded to knock over his glass of red wine which splattered all the way over to our table.  I loved them!

All in all we enjoyed our meal and would definitely go back.  Maybe in the summer when we feel like enjoying a few pitchers of Sangria or in 40 years when we are still enjoying a few pitchers of Sangria..

Julie

Pastrami Hunt

CA and I hit up DGS Delicatessen for lunch the other day.  I recently read this article in the Washington Post about the rise of deli meats, particularly pastrami, in the city and since then I have been craving the meaty goodness.  DGS was the closest of the bunch to the part of the city we needed to be in for other purposes so it won our patronage.   Bonus: it's on the Washingtonian 100 Best Restaurants List so we get to mark yet another restaurant off the list.

We were both very pleased with our meal.  It is incredibly rare that we both order the same thing in a restaurant - we like to order different items so we can try more stuff.  However, this time we both wanted the Pastrami Sandwich on Rye bread with House made Mustard.  Since DGS cures the meat, in house, for 8 days, it was a no brainer.  The sandwich was super tasty.  The meat had just enough fat still on it to make it nice and juicy.  My only complaint was that I felt like the bread could have been a little crispier and/or thicker.  However, I have to caveat that comment with my extreme aversion to wet bread and pre-made sandwiches.  The thought of a sandwich that was made more than 5 minutes before I ate it and some kind of liquid penetrating the bread rendering it soggy makes me gag.  You know those trays of sandwiches everyone orders for work lunches? - they're my worst nightmare.  Not that this was anything close to that, I would have just preferred a little more crunch to my Rye.  CA had no issues with the bread.

Look, I took a picture of my food.  The place was casual, so I wasn't too embarrassed.

In addition to the sammies, we ordered the Pickle Plate and a side of Fries with Roasted Garlic Yogurt to share.  The pickles were pretty darn good (although the ones we had recently at Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore have them beat).  We couldn't identify all the veggies present but there were definitely cucumbers, carrots, an egg and we think Kohlrabi.  The carrots were my favorite with a bit of curry flavor.  I was also very happy with the fries.  They were perfectly crisp which is big deal for me.  Fries are potentially my favorite food (partly because of their association with ketchup), but I don't do soggy fries.  I actually get really grumpy when I order fries and they're not crispy because if I'm going to spend the calories, they better be good.  The yogurt sauce that came with them was a nice touch, although I did ask for ketchup and dipped equally.

Maybe we'll go on a pastrami rampage and try all five places in the article...

Julie