omnomnivores

Eat to Live. Live to Eat.

Paleo Smoked BBQ Buffalo Brisket

Son of Grok has a fantastic paleo BBQ sauce, but it’s more of a saucy sauce, meaning, you pour it right over you’re going to cook, or use it to marinate your delicious pasture raised meats.

I tend to need it more for crockpottery, so I modified it just a tiny bit for my purposes here.

BBQ Sauce:

Ingredients:

Buffalo brisket, about 2-3 lbs

1/2 large red onion, diced

3/4 cup tomatoes, diced, or tomato sauce

6 cloves of garlic, diced

2 tbsp avocado oil (olive oil works, too)

2 tbsp chili powder

2 tbsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp organic apple cider vinegar (balsamic vinegar works in a pinch)

1 tsp kosher or sea salt

1 tsp hickory liquid smoke

Directions:

1. To prep, mix all the ingredients EXCEPT for the onion in a medium sized bowl until it gets a nice, thick consistency.  I opted out of the beef stock used in the original sauce recipe because cooking brisket in a crockpot does wonders in terms of bringing out the natural juices in the meat.  Buffalo tends to be an especially lean meat, but have to fear, this might be some of the best paleo brisket you’ll ever have.
2. Score the two flat sides of your brisket in a diagonal criss-crossing pattern, with each score being about 2-3 inches apart.  You don’t have to be perfect about scoring all the meat, but you do want to be able to really get the sauce into the meat.
3. Place the brisket into your crockpot, lean side up.  Pour half of your BBQ sauce over your brisket, rubbing in the sauce for just a few seconds until your brisket is fairly well covered.
4. Turn over your brisket, and pour the remainder of the sauce on your brisket, and repeat rubbing in the sauce until you get pretty good coverage.
5. Cover your BBQ-ified brisket with all the diced red onion, and spread evenly.
6. Cook for 5-6 hours. Your brisket should be lean, tender, and pull apart with a fork.  BAM!

Social

Columbia Heights is quite the clash of cultures these days. The streets are filled with hoodrats, latino workers, hipsters, and well, the other people who live there. It’s one of the few areas in Northwest DC where you can pick up kitschy photo frames from Target on one block, and get shot or stabbed on the very next. Fun!

Jen and I ventured up 14th street to the area to check out Social, one of the newer restaurants to open in the area and serve such a diverse crowd. As it was, we didn’t quite have any expectations when we arrived. The restaurant has two entrances- the left leads down to a bar area that’s packed with men who could care less if a woman walked in the door, and an upstairs dining area with luxurious leather couches and plush chairs for diners.

Almost too plush. No, actually, they were too plush. I nearly banged my chin on the table sitting down on the table, and the reclining angle of our seats nearly doubled the distance between Jen and I at our table. The decor here is, however, very tasteful and contemporary, with a myriad of professional photos adorning the walls.

The water service comes to each table with a bottle of water, but don’t be alarmed by the fact that you might be charged for a bottle of water, as Jen and I wondered through the majority of our meal. The water’s simply DC’s finest on tap, but a little clarification would have taken some stress out of the meal.

While we sat with our waters and poured over the menus, we noticed a certain absence, both in diners and staff. A fair number of tables were empty, but we attributed it to just a slow night. So it’d come with some logic that we’d be doted upon by our waiter.

So we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Even our water boy, keenly aware of our lack of attention by the staff, came by and asked if we had been checked up on by our waiter, to which we naturally replied, “No.”

“Oh great.  I mean, that’s not great,” he fumbled.

He scurried off, and a few minutes later, our waiter finally arrived.  We put in our order for food before he barely greeted us, but I’d consider that less rude or impatient had we not been sitting there for at least 15 minutes.

Their menu, on first glance, reads like an incomplete math problem. Three numbers accompany every dish, and you’re to make the assumption that those three numbers indicate the prices of differing sizes of the order. But how big are the sizes? Small, medium, and large barely denote anything of actual serving size.  Our waiter explained that the small serving was the size of a tapas dish for one, the medium a size suitable for sharing, and the large, something for a large party, or in my case, the perfect size for my main course.

Jen wanted to start with the tomato and mozzarella with fresh basil, which came out with an excellent presentation, but lacked any originality, making this all looks and no substance order the Jennifer Anniston of our selections.

The Guacamole comes with a heaping side of fresh fried tortilla chips, sharing a similar affliction as the dish above.  The guacamole was certainly fresh and well made, and the chips glistened with oil like a tour bus of retired ladies in the South Beach sun…but somehow this still just didn’t have anything to make this really stand out.  Adding in the fact that the chips were flimsy and snapped when scooping up the delicious green butter only exacerbated the situation.

The Oven Roasted Madeira Mushrooms are soaked with truffle oil, oven roasted, and then simmered in a wine cream sauce, then served atop fresh sliced baguette bread and a creamy goat cheese spread.  This dish seemed to follow suit with the others, being a reasonably average tasting dish with great presentation.  The mushrooms are cooked to perfection, the goat cheese pairs well with the baguette and the mushrooms, but there’s a certain lack of inspiration that comes through a really great dish.

As for my main course, I ordered the large basket of meatballs.  A large bowl filled with somewhere in the range of 10-12 meatballs, which I easily devoured on my own, these were pretty much what you could expect out of a good meatball- satisfying, meaty, and covered in just the right amount of tomato sauce without being drowned in it.  I can’t complain about these one bit.

The dishes here all hold the same level of quality, which is to say, passable, and not worth too much complaint, but lack the creativity or appeal to really give them substantial praise, either.  The kitchen uses quality ingredients and sticks with fairly tame offerings without offending anybody’s palette.  Getting someone to actually serve you, however, is a completely different matter.  That’s not to say Jen and I were the only patrons to get frustrated with the service here;  we watched another couple move tables from a back corner table to one closer to the back where the wait staff hovered in hopes of getting better service.  By the time we left, the two were slumped back in their lounge chairs, looking annoyed, disappointed, and ready for a cheque.

Well, it could have been worse.  At least they didn’t do this:

Social can be found on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Anorexics
• Narcoleptics
• Scallywags
• Non-Tippers
• Waiting For a Storm to Pass

Not Recommended For:

• First Dates
• Gastronomic Greatness
• Attention Whores
• Out of Towners
• Cheat Meals

Coconut Cake Recipe

I saw this recipe a while back for a paleo coconut cake and have been waiting for chance to actually make it.  I had a few friends come over for dinner the other night, and decided that was about as good of an opportunity as any.  Looking over the ingredient list, I was a bit leery about how cake-like it could taste, but it was surprisingly good, so here’s to finding your new paleo birthday cake substitute.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut  milk
• 1/3 cup of avocado, grapeseed, or coconut oil
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 2 cage free eggs
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 cups desiccated (shredded) coconut
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking soda

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit (190 degrees Celsius).
2. Mix all wet ingredients (coconut milk, oil, honey, eggs, and extracts) in a medium sized mixing bowl well.
3. Add the dry ingredients (desiccated coconut, almond meal, coconut flour, baking soda) to the bowl, and continue to mix.
4. Grease an 8″ x 8″ baking dish lightly with oil.  I used grapeseed oil, as it doesn’t have too strong of a flavor to it.  Spread the cake mix evenly in the dish, and place into the oven.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes.  The cake is done when the top is a nice golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

I garnished this dish with Cointreau soaked strawberries (eh, okay, so maybe the Cointreau isn’t exactly paleo) and a coconut milk cream sauce.  For the sauce:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients well with a spoon or fork in a small bowl.

You can pour the sauce over the coconut cake and strawberries, and even add some coconut milk ice cream with this dish.

Well.  It’s technically paleo.

Hello from the land of omnomnivores!

Hi everybody! Sorry for the lack updates this week. I’ve been wrapped up with the usual ongoings of life, and haven’t had a moment to write up anything. Jen and I will be back in action next Monday, so check back with us then. Hope you’re keeping cool this week as we’re being blasted with fire and brimstone temperatures here in DC.

How about a Friday reader’s open comments post? Have a favorite recipe that you’d like to see done up paleo style? Or maybe a restaurant you’ve wanted to see reviewed? Let us know!

Perry’s Drag Brunch

Perry’s in Adam’s Morgan is, during every meal other than brunch, a fairly tame affair, laden with sushi and well known for one of the best rooftop dining views in the city. That entire image is completely tossed out the window and all bets are off for a few brief hours of Sunday, when several drag queens run amok and provide entertainment over brunch.

Being my first time there, I wasn’t quite ready for the amplitude of this entertainment. How drag could a drag brunch be? My mind brought forth images of men with balloons taped to their chest, cheap wigs atop their heads, and crayon poorly scribbled into geometric shapes on their face.

Well, I was close.  That either paints a picture of the Joker from the latest installment of the Batman series, or something you’d see out of a Lady GaGa video.

That’s a man, baby.

Lady GaGa was, oddly enough, one of the tamer acts that took the runway.  And by runway, I mean walking a mean strut around the main restaurant floor, lip syncing to one of Lady GaGa’s song.  Not that I can say I know any of those songs, and the Google says ‘Telephone’ is a popular one…so let’s just say she lip synced that.

Ooo. ah ooo, oh ah oooo.

Wait. That’s Poker Face, right?

Some of the outfits were less on point, but not any less faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabulous.  This leathered up lady with a shaved Adam’s Apple looked to be…uh…help me out here, readers.  Paula Abdul?

Then there’s this, which I’m going to say was another version of Lady GaGa.  Trannies and drag queens are big on the GaGa.

The main queen, who I’d guess to be Diana Ross, was pretty hardcore.  I’m talking DD implants, fake nails, everything.  She was an absolute terror to every straight man in the audience, at one point nestling her silicone rockets around the head of one of my friends at the table.  She took his hand and put it on her crotch.

Diana Ross: Are you gay?

Male Friend (obviously distressed): Uh, no.

Diana Ross: You are now, honey.  Welcome to the family!

She took the time to interview the girls there for their birthdays, of which there were at least a handful, trashing each and every single one, but in a playful, “I don’t care about you that much because you don’t have the parts I’m looking for” kind of way.

Wait, this is a food blog, right?

Unfortunately, the food here really takes a backseat to the entertainment.  It’s not bad at all, and there’s quite a decent spread.  Patrons line up and fill their plates with as much as they can carry back to the table before the queens take centre stage and do their thing.  Unfortunately, nothing here is really anything but filler, and I can’t say anything I ate stood out as amazing.

You have a wide assortment of breads, rolls, bacon, sausage (natch), cheese puff pastries, waffles, stuffed grape leaves, ribs, sushi, fruit, and more…all pretty standard brunch fare, it’d seem, but like I said, nothing that warrants personal attention.  I will say that the cooks are definitely working hard behind the scenes, constantly refilling empty baskets and bowls of food as soon as they run out, and there’s bound for you to find at least a couple of things you’d want to eat.

All in all, what stands out about Perry’s Drag Brunch like a erect nipple through a sheer shirt is without a doubt, the entertainment.  The queens are ferocious and put one one hell of a show, repeatedly, for each seating.  Unfortunately, they don’t take reservations, so if you’re planning to go, make sure you’re prepared to wait it out for an open table for somewhere in the neighborhood of an hour.  Service here is reasonable with drinks, but don’t expect too much attention once you get your first round.

See Perry’s on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Po-Po-Po-Poker Face
• Birthday Parties Over 21
• Lady GaGa Concert Lite
• Taking Your Local Door-t0-Door Mormon Out to Eat and Talk About God

Not Recommended For:

• Birthday Parties Under 12
• First Dates
• Catching Any of the Games of the 2010 World Cup
• First Meeting of the Future Inlaws

Primal Cauliflower Pizza Recipe

This recipe is a little bit different in that it doesn’t fall into my normal categorization or Paleo or Zone, but Primal. There’s a lot of writing on the Primal Diet out there on the interwebs, but it’s very similar to the Paleo Diet, with the inclusion of some dairy back in.

And guess what? Mozzarella is one of those dairy products. That opens up some interesting cooking techniques, one of which is a grainless pizza dough. I made a few batches of these, testing each one on Jen.

Unfortunately, I can’t remember where I got the recipe from, but I’ll provide my adapted version for you to enjoy.

Ingredients for Crust:

• 1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 cup Cooked Cauliflower
• 1/4 cup Coconut Flour
• 1 Cage Free Egg
• 1 tsp Garlic Salt, Kosher Salt, or Sea Salt
• 1 tsp Oregano
• 1 tsp Basil
• 1/2 tsp Fennel
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Ingredients for Base Toppings:

• 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/2 cup Diced or Chopped Tomatoes

Directions for Crust:

1. Turn on the oven and set to 350°F.
2. Bring 5-6 cups of water and 1/2 tsp of salt to a boil over high heat.
3. Add 2 cups of cauliflower to boiling water, cover, and let cook for 10-15 minutes, until cauliflower becomes slightly translucent and soft.
4. Remove cauliflower from water and drain well.  Move the cauliflower to a large mixing bowl, and proceed to mash cauliflower to smithereens with whatever you’d like.  Potato masher, beer bottle, Playstation 3, or in my case, a large fork will do.  The cauliflower doesn’t have to be mashed smooth like potatoes, but you want it to be mashed to where it’s slightly larger than the size of rice.  Set aside.
5. Add in the egg, coconut flour, and mozzarella cheese.  Mix well.  I found mixing it with my hands was easiest.  Add in fresh basil, garlic salt, oregano, black pepper, and continue to mix.
6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and flatten the dough on the sheet to about a 1/2″ to 3/4″ crust.  If you don’t have parchment paper, well, better stop here, because this recipe just won’t work.  Just kidding.  You can lightly spray or coat the pan with some olive oil, but parchment paper makes it a lot easier to transfer off the pan later on.
7. Place your flattened crust into the oven, and let it cook for about 17-20 minutes.  The crust should start to have some brown, crispy spots, but not completely cook all the way through.  Remove the baking pan and place it on an oven-safe surface.

Directions for Toppings:

1. While waiting for your crust to cook, you can prep your toppings for your pizza.  Most pizza sauces are loaded with sugar, so I prefer taking crushed tomatoes and mixing in about a tablespoon of coconut flour to give it some thickness.  I also add more oregano and chopped basil to the tomato sauce for that Italian kick (well, after watching the World Cup games this week, I’m not sure the Italians can kick…I kid, I kid!)
2. Top your crust with your tomato sauce, and add a layer of mozzarella.
3. Add any additional toppings you normally like on your pizza.  A couple cloves of fresh chopped garlic, mushrooms, onions, sausage, go nuts!  Just remember if you are adding meat to your pizza to use pre-cooked meat.
4. Place your pizza back into the oven for 5 minutes.
5. Remove pizza and slice.

Makes 1 10″ pizza.

While this doesn’t wholly fit into being Paleo, I’d say the breakout is about 4 blocks of protein, 3 blocks of carbs, and 8 blocks of fat.

Co Co Sala

Co Co Sala is a hotspot among the sweet-toothed night owls, and I’m not talking about the sparkly cast of the Twilight series.  The restaurant focuses on small dishes that really explore all corners of your sense of taste.  The restaurant offers a 3 course and 5 course tasting dessert menu, but you should expect to order a few dishes in addition to this sugar laden orgy to really get a full meal.

We started out with the Four Cheese Fritters.  Served with a creamy dipping sauce that was very reminiscent of a Thousand Island dressing,  this appetizer (teaser, as the menu calls it) gets your appetite going.  These deep fried morsels contain melted but not quite molten cheese interiors inside a crispy, fried shell.  Highly recommended.

The tasting menu Jen and I shared also comes with a cheese plate-  four cheeses, a chunk of date pâté (no fowl play), grapes, and crackers.  I steered clear of the blue cheese, as we don’t really get along, but the brie came strong with the flavor.  We opted to have it served as an appetizer, to which our server happily complied.

Jen’s first dish, the portobello risotto, was a little heavy on the butter, but then again, any good risotto is going to be heavy on the butter, so consider it just about right.  Topped with asparagus, mushrooms, mixed greens, and fresh shaved parmesan.  This dish won’t win any awards, but it’s a great vegetarian dish, and suited Jen well enough.

Her second dish was the Manchego and Baby Arugula Salad.  Tossed with slices of apple, chunks of oranges, caramelized walnuts, dates, and then a strip of coffee vinaigrette, Jen absolutely loved this plate.  Which of course, means, I’m going to try and make this for her at some point in the future.  Shouldn’t be too hard, except for the coffee vinaigrette, but I’ll figure something out.

My first dish was the trio of Lamb Sliders.  How could you not love these?  It’s like midget wrestling, with less spandex and more brioche.  Three mini organic lamb patties cooked in a coconut and curry sauce, topped with a lime yogurt creme and served with rosemary and parmesan fries.  The restaurant also offers a beef or a chicken trio of sliders, but it’s impossible for me to turn down an order of lamb.

Next, I had the Bacon Mac’n'Cheese.  A dish of baked mac’n'cheese’n'bacon, topped with a crispy cheesy crust, and topped with a stick of chocolate covered bacon.  The combination of sweet and savory really works in favor of the dish here.  There’s a Shrimp Mac’n'Cheese option available on the menu, but c’mon.  It’s bacon.  I’d name my first born child Bacon.

That’s a terrible idea.  Why do you people let me come up with this sort of stuff?

Our five course (four, after the cheese) dessert ‘Nutty But Nice’ tasting menu started off with the churro batons, served with a caramel dipping sauce.  If I had one complaint about these things, is that they’re entirely too small, but I guess I’ll consider that a good problem to have.  The only other place I can think off of the top of my head that sells churros is CostCo, and the ones at Co Co Sala definitely blow those away.

The Rum Caramel Bananas and Chocolate bring a natural combination together, but neither Jen nor I found this one to be very impressive.  The shaved chocolate on top of the rum soaked bananas definitely earned points for presentation, but lacked the punch we were expecting.

The peanut butter cheesecake is a huge win for this tasting menu.  Rich and creamy like an albino Texas oil tycoon, this one is a must for just about anyone without a peanut allergy.  Even then…not a bad way to go.

To finish things off before the final bits of signature Co Co Sala truffles, a small dish of citrus sorbet is brought out to cleanse your palette, perfectly setup for two.

The dishes here at Co Co Sala are at worst, average, and at best, truly a gastronomical adventure that runs from the savory to the utterly sweet.  Our server was great with the recommendations and timing, with only a small slip of forgetting to refill our drinks.  The ambiance here is definitely on the sexy side, so make it a special night out and wear those monkey print undies you save for occasions like this.

See Co Co Sala on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Girls Night Out
• Chocolate Chasers
• Vegetarians
• First Dates
• Anniversaries

Not Recommended For:

• Guys Night Out
• Frugalistas
• Going Into Labor
• Paleo heads
• Zone Dieters

Founding Farmers

Founding Farmers is another restaurant owned by the same group that operate Agraria Farmers and Fishers in Georgetown.  The restaurant uses the same reclaimed olde timey milk bottles for their water and same emphasis on fresh, wholesome ingredients, and the same contemporary-yet-rural design throughout the restaurant, which really like.

Just a couple blocks away from George Washington University’s main campus, it’s a very popular location for students to come drop in for brunch, although this is no student dining hall.  A huge menu provides a wide variety of tempting dishes, from skillets, french toasts, steaks, eggs, and teas.  They even have a rather decent vegan menu selection, which only further displays the restauranteur’s forward thinking of the type of people who live in the city these days.

The Banana Fluffer Nutter instantly stands out on the menu as a great opener to the meal, but in reality, falls a bit short of expectations.  Organic Peanut Butter, Banana slices and homemade marshmallow fluff served on half slices of whole wheat bread with crunchy chocolate giblets and peanuts should be absolutely amazing, but the best part of this dish was the presentation.  However, I could see this one being an order that knocks it out of the park with the kids because of the simplicity.  It’d probably help if our waiter had actually brought it over as a starter instead of having us to remind him to put in the order close to the end of the meal, but it still remains as something fun and different on the menu.

Not to say that there aren’t other dishes that hold their own in fun and different.

How about french toast?  But let’s take it up another notch, soaking fresh brioche in a brandy creme anglaise, and then stuffing it with a rich vanilla pastry cream.

BOOM.  Tell me those don’t look like a deep fried twinkie at a Texas county fair.  My friends who ordered the stuffed french toast both said the same thing while savoring each bite. “Oh, I don’t want this to end.”  The dish comes with a pad of fresh whipped butter and syrup (natch), and looks to be a great way to start out any brunch excursion.

Founding Farmers also offers a more tame version of their french toast, still soaked in the same brandy creme anglaise, but without the hot magma core deliciousness of the other.  Simple and satisfying, you can’t go wrong with this version, either.

Another interesting pick on the menu is the Fried Chicken, Egg, and Waffles.  The meat is actually a free range chicken, served with a side of gravy and whipped butter.  This is another dish that seemed to have wholly unexpected strengths and weaknesses.  For me, I’d almost expect the proportion of chicken to waffle to be more of along the lines of 1:1, but as you can see here, that’s just not the case.  A few chunks of chicken, while very well prepared, seemed diminutive in comparison to the waffle.  The gravy was more of a cream, lacking the thickness I was expecting.

The poached eggs I ordered were…well, decidedly not poached.  Kinda poached?

All that being said, the waffle was downright amazing.  Fluffy and crispy, this is a fantastic waffle, which I’ll attribute to both the batter used as well as the skill of the cook.  Any longer on the iron and this waffle would have turned slightly more brown and crunchy, rather than this golden hue of perfection.

The service here is friendly, but a little bit lacking.  Our waiter was not available nearly enough to check on our meal, and the the slight gaff of missing one of the items we ordered was an easy enough mistake for anyone to make, but still makes for a staff that I’d completely gush about.

My feelings about Founding Farmers is mixed.  There are something things here that really stand out as being spectacular, and then there are some dishes that seem like complete flubs.  I commend Founding Farmers for really taking some chances with their offerings, which in the end, will definitely have me coming back for another brunch in the future.  There’s also enough on the menu to please just about anybody’s palette, with even an All You Can Drink Water and Ice Cube Crunch Buffet for the anorexics.

On a scale of awesome, I’d rate Founding Farmers as a 3.5/5.

Or if you’re the visual type, it’s about this awesome:

See Founding Farmers on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Brunch with the Out-of-towners
• Vegans
• Vegetarians
• A nice pot of french press coffee after a long day of protesting the IMF or World Bank next door

Not Recommended For:

• Anybody who knows how Chicken ‘n’ Waffles is done.
• Carbophobes
• Speed Dating
• Announcing your candidacy for president of the Golden Girls fan club

Polish Villa

On a recent trip up to Buffalo, NY for a wedding, I was on a quest to take advantage of the strong Polish roots that have been established there. So being the food lover I am, I did a bit of research, and it turns out the place to be (according to the interwebs, and anything on the interwebs HAS to be true) is a little place called the Polish Villa. Not to be confused with the Polish Villa Part Two, which looks to be of the same ownership, but only as a second establishment located 2.5 miles away. I’ll reserve judgement and jokes, and leave that up to you.

The decor inside is, as I was warned, a bit on the cheesy side. The theme seems to be, as honest as the name of the restaurant implies, what you’d expect to find in a Polish villa in Poland. Thick wood beams, lattice colored windows, and well, let’s say it’s not the Four Seasons.

More like the set of Sesame Street.

Regardless, this is a proud heritage from a proud people. People who gave us gifts such as …uh…polka. And Weird Al Yankovic, of which the latter was an embarrassing and not often talked about phase of my childhood.

Let me tell you something, a little therapy goes a long way.

Ah, but we’re getting off track here.  What about the delicious food?  Polish cuisine has spawned such fantastic dishes such as the pierogi, the galumpki, and the potato pancake.  So what better way to experience all of that deliciousness other than ordering the Polish Platter here at the ‘Villa?

Man, these people just do not pull any punches.

To start, I was offered either the salad or the soup of the day, which happened to be Borscht that day.  I’m still working on getting over my traumatizing childhood experiences with beets, but what the hell.  This whole meal was going to be a risk, so I went all in.

A hot soup mixed with sour cream and chunks of beet, this was decidedly chowdah-ish, and surprisingly good.  Not a huge bowl but rather a cup, but a perfect appetizer to start the meal.

Next up, a potato pancake with a very generous portion of butter, which I had no reservations of slathering on top.  The pancake itself was very good if not a bit bland, but the butter here made all the difference.  The potato is very smooth, to the point that it seems like it’s a giant fried pancake of mashed potatoes.  Healthy?  Probably not. Tasty? Definitely.  I made quick work of the pancake and put it to rest.

Now, Polish food isn’t exactly going to ever get nominated for prom queen, but what it lacks for in looks, it makes up for in taste.  I ordered both the regular and smoked kielbasa, which came with a galumki (picture on the left), two pierogies (one potato and one cheese), and a small dish of cabbage cooked in vinegar.  The galumki is a large ball of ground beef and rice wrapped in cabbage, then covered in a rich and creamy tomato sauce.  It does look a bit daunting, but think of it as a European version of meatloaf.

The kielbasa are about what you’d expect.  Giant hunks of meat, although I didn’t care too much for the smoked kielbasa, preferring the regular kielbasa instead.

The shredded cabbage was less tangy than sauerkraut, but had a sweeter side to it, which paired rather well with the kielbasa.  A nice little side, and obviously a staple of polish dining.

But let’s talk about the real crowd pleaser here.

Oh pierogi.  Oh just look. LOOK AT YOU.  I don’t think the photo above fully does these any justice, but imagine a giant dumpling about 5-6 inches long, filled with potato or cheese, and given a nice pan fry for maximum delectableness.  If these things were any better tasting, they’d be illegal in every city except for Amsterdam.

I’m sure there’s a way to make that happen.

It’s probably a good thing there aren’t Polish restaurants as good as this in the area, or I’d likely have my diet wrecked.  Service here is fair and friendly, and the atmosphere is more casual, like the type of place Tiger Woods would pick up his Friday night romp after yet another dismal showing on the green.  As an added bonus, Canadia, America’s Hat, is just a half hour drive away, where you can do all the things you can’t do in America, like ending every sentence with “eh” without ridicule.  Although I don’t think you’d get too much guff saying that sort of thing here in Buffalo, either.

See Polish Villa on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Pierogiepalooza
• Sausage Swallowers
• Frugalistas
• ‘tatophiles

Not Recommended For:

• Vegetarians
• Carbaphobes
• Zone Dieters
• Paleo heads

Affogato

I only recently heard about the affogato, which as exotic as the Italian name sounds, can be a very accessible and easy dessert to make. Or if you’re someone like me, as a mid-day defense against the heat and humidity that is dropping DC to its knees.

Affogato means ‘drowned’ in Italian, and is simply a scoop of ice cream or some sort of ice cream variant, topped with a shot of espresso. I took this along the paleo route, using the coconut milk based ice cream I stock my freezer with. It’s questionable just how ‘paleo’ this ice cream can be when it’s still using organic agave nectar, but it’s far better than the type made with your typical milk and sugar.

I’ve also seen recipes calling for espresso powder, which certainly work in a pinch.  But I think every home that has a coffee drinker should have their own Bialetti espresso maker.  Make sure you spring for the stainless steel version and not the traditional aluminum ones.

Ingredients:

• Espresso beans or freshly ground espresso
• Ice cream of your choice
• Filtered Water

Directions:

1. Take your Bialetti Espresso maker apart, and fill the bottom chamber with filtered water, but just below the hole in the side.  You don’t need to completely fill this chamber with water.
2. Place the espresso in the funnel filter that tops the bottom chamber.  The espresso doesn’t need to be hard packed in, but it should be completely full.
3. 

   Screw up on the top, and place your espresso maker on a stove.  Turn on to medium high heat, and let your Bialetti do what it does best.  Makin’ coffee espresso.  You’ll hear it steam and bubble into the top container.  Once you no longer hear it steaming, it’s probably done.  I’d guess this takes anywhere between 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of your Bialetti.

4. Prepare a small espresso cup, and place a medium sized scoop of ice cream in the cup.  I used my coconut milk ice cream here.
   

5. Pour in a shot of espresso over your ice cream.
   

6. Stir if you’d like, and enjoy.

The one downside of using the coconut milk based ice cream is that you’ll often have coconut shreds inside, so be prepared to find that in your espresso, as well, but this doesn’t end up bothering me too much.  If it does, I believe that the other flavors of coconut milk based ice cream don’t have the same coconut shreds, and will likely give you a smoother result.  Either way, this is a perfect rescue from those hot summer days in the city. Really try and use fresh ground espresso beans or ones you’ve had stored in an airtight container, and filtered water when preparing espresso. As with so many things we consume, it’s the attention to quality that really makes things better.

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