Well guess what today is? National Day of Catalonia of course!! All the shops are closed and the museums are free. Hooray for art! Boo for shopping.
While I needed to do some more shopping it seems we are destined to spend our last day in Barcelona simply walking around and looking for open cafes. The good news is we have seen a lot of the city today and the proud residents of Catalonia.
More pictures are below. Once we get back, I’ll publish a Picasa link for all the photos.
Until then…
Day 2. We hit Gaudi’s main sites today as well as the Picasso museum and the beach. My dogs are tired.
FYI. Sagrada Familia is impossible to photograph due to its scale.
I have a ton more photos but, here are a few cool things we saw today.
We are recharging in a bar near La Rambla before tying a good one on tonight.
First Impression of Barcelona:
I want to move here immediately.
Here are a few photos. We’ve only been here a few hours but it’s already my favorite city in Spain.
While I have some wifi, here are some pics of Ibiza. I am in Barcelona finishing up our Spanish tour right now.
What to know about Ibiza:
There are lots of Germans in Ibiza.
German women do not appear to like wearing clothing.
The Super Clubs are exactly what you expect (pricey drinks and amazing DJs)
Swiss people are fun.
Photos below.
Valencia is the birthplace of Paella. Nestled in the eastern shore of Spain, Valencia is known as the intellectual center of the country. Highlighted by La Ciudad de Las Artes y Ciencas (the city of arts and science) complex, Valencia provides a modern refreshing ambience that is still deeply rooted in its Christian past. For example, one can find the Holy Grail at the Cathedral which is located only a short distance from their progressive technology based university and arts and science complex.
Central to Valencia’s past is Paella. Paella is a rice dish using bomba rice (medium grain) that is slow simmered, like risotto, over a wood fire in a paella dish. Accented by saffron, paella usually has meats (chicken, rabbit, duck) or seafood (snails, shrimp, langoustine, mussels).
The name of the restaurant escapes me but, we dined in the beach town Platja de la Malva-Rossa. Below are some pictures. If you are in Valencia, head to the beach and you will find several restaurants specializing in paella.
We drank sangria, ate seafood paella, and watched waves crash on the beach. It was so good, it took us only 15 minutes to finish the entire paella. For me, it was the best meal of the trip so far.
I have been in Spain for 4 days and so far it has been fantastic. Here are some photos of the journey thus far.
Food truck culture is in full swing in Washington, DC. I got my first exposure while visiting friends in Los Angeles with Kogi BBQ in 2009. While the culture has been flourishing in LA for quite some time, DC has only recently been exposed to the wonders of gourmet food vending. DC now has (or soon will have) lobster rolls, pizza, korean tacos, Cuban sandwiches, and empanadas coming at you from a tricked out catering truck. These are the only the ones I can think of off the top of my head! Each day it seems a friend is telling me of a new one.
I had grand aspirations of eating a lobster roll today, however; when I stepped out of my office I noticed Yellow Vendor conveniently parked a block away. Seeing as how I hadn’t had good Korean food since I lived in Los Angeles, and the Lobster Truck was a 15 minute walk, I opted for Yellow Vendor.
Their menu is simple. For $7 you have the choice of bulgogi (spicy or regular), bibimbab (with egg and choice chicken/beef), and chicken teriyaki. Lunchboxes are served with a white rice, kimchi, and side salad.
What you see above is a spicy bulgogi lunchbox. The beef was sweet and tender with a good amount of spiciness. There was significant heat to the bulgogi but it did not overwhelm the other flavors. The kimchi was excellent and the salad was dressed in a sesame ginger vinaigrette. It’s enough food to induce a coma along with belly rubbing and contemplation of loosening the belt.
Does the chef recommend? Absolutely.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Foodie Republic lend me your stomachs! I have been to hamburger heaven and it is delicious! Where is this place you say? Why it’s Good Stuff Eatery.
Good Stuff is the vision of Spike Mendelsohn who among other things was a contestant on Top Chef. Good Stuff is one of those places that always has a line out the door but is worth the wait. They specialize in hamburgers (basic to gourmet), fries (seasoned with rosemary and thyme), and hand spun shakes. This is a good example of when simple ingredients go right. Spike keeps his ingredient list short and fresh which produces some of the best food in DC. Sit-down, take-out, whatever.
The line at Good Stuff can get long so get there early if you plan on having lunch in a reasonable amount of time. When you walk in, immediately get in line. It’s sort of a ‘switch-back’ model that resembles waiting for a roller coaster. The line takes you by the griddle (shown above) where you can see the line cooks churn out burger after burger.
After placing your order you get a nifty buzzer to alert you when your order is ready. It comes in a classic looking bag (above) in just a few minutes. Today was a special day for my visit. My coworkers are doing a ‘Best of DC’ lunch group and today was our stop for ‘Best Milkshake’.
I decided to go all out and get a Farmhouse Burger with Bacon (made to order), Village Fries (the aforementioned season fries), and a chocolate milkshake. Good Stuff is also known for some excellent mayo combinations to give your fries an added kick. Above you can see Chipotle and Sriracha Mayo respectively.
Am I currently full? Did Grizzly Adams have a beard? Let’s just say I’m in an epic food coma and If I were a bear I would be all set for winter hibernation.
Before we headed back to the office we presented Spike with our ‘Best of DC’ award for his milkshakes. He deserves one for his burgers as well in my opinion. If you’re in the area there is no excuse for not stopping by.
I have been down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for the past two weeks to help out one of my company’s subsidiary offices while their director is on vacation. I have been eating as much seafood as possible since the BP oil spill is threatening to destroy the fishing industry in the bayou. Baton Rouge has good food but it can’t compare to what you can find in the French Quarter in New Orleans.
I decided to take the morning off before my flight home to watch the USA World Cup match versus Solvenia and to have a nice lunch in the French Quarter. After sampling some beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde I strolled down Decatur Avenue In search of crawfish. The photo below represents 2 1/2 pounds of boiled crawfish from the French Market Restaurant.
My best friend is currently stuck in Boise, Idaho working for the next two years so I like to tease her every now and then with stuff she is missing. In case you are not aware, Boise is the place food goes to die a slow and bland death. I sent her the below photo and she responded, “That looks so f*cking good that I want to kick you”.
It was kind of mean to send her that photo but it makes you realize how great fresh seafood can be and what me might soon be without due to the oil spill.
One of my favorite things to make is pizza. It’s quick, easy, and freaking delicious. The most difficult part is making the dough but, it’s so simple even the most inept chef can come out looking like a pro. I’ll walk you through a simple dough recipe using basic ingredients you can find at any market and then show you some tips on baking a tasty pie.
You can roll over to foodnetwork.com, search for pizza dough, and get about 1,000 results. They’ll tell you to use three different kinds of flour, water, special salt, honey, sugar, cornmeal….way too complicated. We’re not trying to make pizza to serve at a $500 per plate fundraiser are we? No. We’re making pizza at home. I have tried several of these recipes and guess what? One isn’t that different from the other. Basically you are going to need water, flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and olive oil. That’s it. Here are the rough measures:
This recipe makes 4 personal thin crust pizzas or two hand tossed pizzas.
First, warm the water in the microwave for about 20 seconds. It should be warm but not scalding hot. While the water is warming place the salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. When the water is warm, pour it over the sugar and salt. Quickly, pour the yeast on top of the water without stirring and let stand for 7-10 minutes. This process basically wakes up the yeast and gets it ready for the flour. You’ll notice that 5 minutes in, the yeast will now be foamy and fragrant. This is good. It should look something like this:
Once you get to this point you can add the two tablespoons of olive oil and whisk around once or twice. Now, add one cup of the flour and stir with a spatula or spoon. Once it’s combined add the second cup of flour and stir to combine. At this point you can ditch the spatula or spoon and get right in there with your hands. We’re trying to have fun aren’t we?
A lot of recipes will call for a stand mixer with a dough hook or some other fancy contraption. Really all you need is your two hands. After about a minute of hand mixing you should see something like this:
It’s not pretty but it’s a good sign you’re on the right track. If after combining the flour into the water/yeast/sugar mixture it appears too dry or too sticky, feel free to add more water (dry) or flour (sticky). After kneading the dough in the bowl for 4-5 minutes you should have a ball that is smooth, well combined, and not overly sticky.
Continuing, coat a fresh bowl with olive oil, transfer your ball of dough into it, roll the dough around to coat in the oil, and cover with a damp towel (or cover in plastic wrap). It’s now time for the dough to rise. Generally I wait an hour but you can let it go longer if you like. Also, keep it in a warm place. 70 degrees or warmer is better. Once the dough has risen you can work with it right away or seal in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. It’ll last for 3-4 days.
This whole process should take no more than 20 minutes with roughly half of it involving you waiting. Not too shabby eh?
The two photos below show the dough pre and post rise. This was just over an hour. See the difference? It doubled in size and is light an fluffy as opposed to dense.
Use the hour of rise time wisely. Generally I crack open a beer before getting started on heating the oven and prepping the toppings. Tonight I chose Sierra Nevada Torpedo. Hoppy and good. It went well with the pizza.
Next, I put my pizza stone in the oven and cranked up the heat to 550 degrees. I use a $15 round pizza stone you can buy at Target or Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Again, nothing fancy here. There are debates about using ceramic tiles, rectangular vs. round, and a whole bunch of other stuff. This is probably the one area where I feel doing your research and paying for quality will payoff. Honestly, I don’t have a car and the Bed, Bath, and Beyond near my house had the $15 pizza stone so I bought it. Someday I’ll go for something better but, my $15 stone does the job just fine.
You’ll have to figure out the placement on your own. I have a small apartment oven that provides heat from the bottom so I aim a little low. If I had a better oven I’d probably place it square in the middle. Oh and all that grit on the stone? Pizza Love. It’s scraped clean but previous cooking experiments have left it stained. Not to worry. Heat for 45 minutes to an hour before putting the pizza in.
At this point your dough is rising and your stone is heating in the oven. You’ll have this time to gather your ingredients for your pizza. I’m of the mindset that you should put whatever you want on your pizza. My only suggestion is choose ingredients that aren’t too wet. This will cause your pizza to ooze thus staining your pizza stone and causing unwanted smoke. For this recipe I chose simple crushed tomato, fresh mozzarella, Sopressa, and fresh basil. That’s it.
Once the dough has risen, transfer it to a floured surface and divide into two (hand tossed) or four (thin crust) portions. For this demo I did hand tossed. Ball up one portion of the dough and flatten with you hands or rolling pin remembering not to overwork the dough. When done you should have a circle about 8 inches across (more or less).
Now that the dough is ready, layer your ingredients onto the dough and get it ready for the oven.
Place the pizza onto the stone and cook for 8-10 minutes but keep an eye on it. Once the cheese is bubbly and brown and the dough get’s a dark golden brown it’s ready.
Behold!!
From start to finish the entire project took about 1 hour and 30 minutes but most of it was waiting around. I’ve made this dinner for family and friends and it’s always a hit. Gathering eclectic ingredients, good drinks, and good friends will make your pizza night one to remember.
ChewTweets
