I'm Chillaxin with some Chili

Winter is wily woman that is for sure. One day I am freezing my ass off under grey, cloudy skies; and the next day it is sunny and beautiful and I not even wearing a jacket. I bet you can guess what happens next in the scenario...yep she decides to play with my emotions and drop the temp just for a good laugh. Oh Winter....I am beginning to understand your ways.

So what does a young lass do to kill some time and keep her warm through the winter nights? Bet you said make soup! HAHAHAHA! While a very good guess I decided to turn toward soup's brotha from another motha chili. Venison chili to be exact.

Back at the beginning of December I participated in a Venison cooking class at Zola Wine & Kitchen. It was a great class where we learned how to make pot pie, chili, and steak and eggs with venison. Being someone who loves game meat I was so excited to learn some simple recipes that can be used with venison. And as far as game meats go, venison is the most mild in terms of that "gami-ness" taste that you ever love or hate. As I am a lover of all games meats (buffalo, yes, elk, yes, kangaroo, yes, camel, yes) I am game, hahaha, to try it all!

Not only did I make the actual chili I also cooked the beans and roasted my peppers for the recipe. I will toot my own horn and say that I am the bomb and was pretty impressed with my skills!

The other cast of characters included onions, chili, chicken stock, chicken broth, garlic, diced tomatoes, and venison.

Honestly this was such a simple recipe to do:

1.Brown meat, remove and set aside

2. saute onions and once softened add chili powder and cook for a minute

3. then add broth, stock, peppers, garlic, tomato, and beans and heat through

4. Once everything has come to temp add the meat and continue to simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.

For realz people....that is it. And chili is one of those things that just gets better the next day as it is allowed to marinate in it's deliciousness. I actually cooked this late in the eve for the next day when my parents would be over for lunch so that the chili could do just that. And my effort was rewarded. Simple and hearty without being so heavy that you are put into a chili coma. I served with some garlic bread and would have put together a salad if I would have thought of it earlier. Oh well....guess I can't be perfect all the time! :)

My favorite holiday of the year has arrived! Happy Restaurant Week!

Oh Restaurant Week! How long I have waited for you? What is that? It's only been 4 months? Logistics friends, it has been too long since I have felt your sweet embrace.

Who doesn't love a good deal? Well that is what Restaurant Week is if you plan your meal strategically. I know I have stated the rules before but I think they should be repeated.

1. When looking at the list of participating restaurant on OpenTable sort that list by price and stick to the $$$$-$$$. The point is to go try a restaurant that you can't go to often, that is a splurge, an where you get the most bang for your $35.10.

2. Go check if the restaurant has a theatre or daily prefixe menu. If they do, pick someplace else. Having a prefixe menu all year makes it, well, readily available so go someplace where this is a special event.

3. Check out DCFoodies.com. They have past restaurant week menus online and great feedback on participating restaurants.

4. Most restaurants post Restaurant Week menus online so go check them out. If the restaurant pares down their menu then it is best to look elsewhere. I also like to check out the prices so I see what items I get the most out of. (people my life is on a budget! I want the most bang for my buck)

Now that that is out of the way let's talk about some food. I know that I am constantly extolling the virtues of DC and what a great city it is, but I am not completely against our neighbor suburbs: Silver Spring, Bethesda, Alexandria, and Arlington. So this time around we ventured into the dangerous land of NOVA into the area called "Ballston" to partake in a gastronomic adventure at Willow restaurant.

Willow describes itself as modern continental with major influences from French and Italian cuisine. One could definitely feel these influences in the food offerings preparation. Butter Poached Lobster Agnolotti were ravioli-like pillows stuffed with rich lobster swimming in a decadent pink sauce. What was amazing was to have such sizable pieces of lobster in each of the 3 agnolotti so you could truly taste and enjoy it. The dish was finished with Parmesan "chips" which were delicious. (see picture below)

As you can tell from the picture below, I did not enjoy this appetizer at all!

My friend had the mushroom bisque. A rich, creamy soup that was finished with creme fraiche and basil oil. I am afraid my pics are not doing the food justice but trust me, it was wonderful.

For my main course I had the crispy leg of duck with cassoulet. Anyone who knows me that I love duck and this fulfilled all of my ducky desires. The skin was crisp and rich, while the meat just fell off the bone and melted in your mouth. The cassoulet had sausage that is made in-house and was a little bowl of meat heaven. I thought the pile of greenery put on top was a bit much, but hey I understand the desire to add color to your presentation. I think that it was the only thing, beside the bone, left on my plate.

Finally, to round things off you must have dessert. Yes you are stuffed and could stop, but what would be the fun in that! Besides, we all know that the dessert part of our stomachs is always open and ready to accept sweet treats. And when your dessert is sticky toffee pudding with peppermint ice cream, well you would just be crazy to pass this up.

I wish you could see the fleck of green in the ice cream, but you'll just have to believe me. At this point I am in a food coma and nothing makes sense anymore. Everything has been so freakin' good that I am just content and warm with happy thoughts. It could also have been that wine pairing we did as well, which I would totally suggest. $15 for 3 glasses, that is seriously a steal and worth the extra splurge.

Willow Restaurant

4301 North Fairfax Drive

Arlington, VA 22203

Next up.....Venison Chili!

2010 Resolutions

I am not one to make New Year's resolutions as I usually forget them or blow them within the first week of the new year. But I feel that this year needs a jump start that maybe a few resolutions will help along.

Thus my resolution for 2010 is to be better to myself. A pretty broad statement but I think it encompasses everything that I aiming for. Whether that be eating well, working out, or calming down my sailor mouth. But I think that the biggest part to this resolution is to think better of myself and to stop the negative thoughts that love to creep up and tell me I'm not smart enough, skinny enough, pretty enough, and I don't deserve happiness. How will I ever be truly comfortable in my own skin if I don't value my own worth in this world? And to be quite honest I think that this is going to be the hardest thing for me to achieve.

It seems that in this day and age that we are constantly required to nit pick ourselves that we can never feel truly content or happy. And when so many people in this world are without jobs, homes, and are struggling to get by it can feel like we are bad people by allowing ourselves to splurge on our well-being and be happy.

This not to say I am going to blow all my paycheck on shopping and constant weekends away. But I will allow myself to invest in some things that make me feel good about myself. Which is why I put hot pink nail polish on and bought some fire truck red lipstick.

So here is to a good start to 2010. My red lipstick diaries and more experiments in the kitchen will soon follow.