Can you cook or can you follow a recipe? Now, there’s nothing wrong with using a recipe to guide you through a dish. But the difference between knowing how to cook and simply following a recipe is the difference between painting by numbers and free handing a landscape. Besides, cooking is a creative endeavor and there’s only so much satisfaction you can get out of following other cooks’ recipes (except mine, please keep using them). So if you think you’re ready to close the cookbook and take your culinary skills to the next level, then this may be the class...

The desire to develop relationships with those who are growing our food has made the farmers market concept popular throughout the United States. In the DC metro area, there are well over 30 farmers markets (in my neighborhood alone, there are three). The markets give consumers the opportunity to learn about the farms and the farmers, providing a direct pipeline of information from the farm to the table. This concept has been taken one step further with farm to table events like the one that was recently hosted by Vermilion Restaurant on the Moutoux Orchard in Loudon County, Virginia. I...

Heard around the DC Foodies blogosphere this week...by now, most of you know that Teddy Folkman will not be The Next Food Network Star. That’s ok, you can still enjoy his cooking at The Capital Lounge. Now, we have more area chefs to root for in another reality TV cooking show - Top Chef Las Vegas. Bryan Voltaggio of Volt in Fredrick, MD, will be joining the TC cast for season 6, which premieres August 26th. Mike Isabella from Zaytinya will also be representing DC, and Jesse Sandlin (Abercrombie Fine Foods) will be hailing from Baltimore, MD. Adding heat to...

On Wednesday, I hopped on the metro after work and headed over to the Foggy Bottom Farmers Market. I had heard both good and bad things about this particular market, with some people saying their prices were very reasonable while others said the vendors were rude and standoffish. I had also read one of my favorite vendors, Cavanna Pasta, sold at Foggy Bottom and I needed a fix of their porcini mushroom ragu. The market is located directly at the metro station, beyond the quaint wrought iron gates that flank the atrium. As I walked closer to the market, I...

Although farmers markets have been open in the DC area for months now, until recently most of them were still the same size as the Winter markets. As the weather warms up, however, more and more markets have started expanding in size, offering a wider variety of produce. One such example of this is the Bloomingdale Farmers Market. I headed over there on opening day back in May and was a little disappointed to see only a handful of vendors and not a lot of variety. I returned last Sunday after hearing Garner’s Produce would be selling both English peas...

On the first Sunday in June, I headed out to Alexandria to visit the West End Farmers Market. The market is located in Ben Brenman Park, adjacent to the Cameron Station complex of condos and shops. It struck me that a park was a fantastic place to host a farmers market and I wondered why there weren’t more park/farmers market collaborations. As you’re driving into the park, you can immediately pick out the familiar white tents indicative of farmers markets the world over. The background of the lush green grass that only seems to grow in state funded parks made...

It was a clay pot with carrots planted inside. A tiny pot, in fact, with four tiny carrots. But upon further review - unearthing the carrots - it was much more. It was a trick for the eyes and a treat for the diners. The "dirt" was roasted hazelnuts and reduced beer. Below it was a soft green yogurt sauce the baby carrots (they were real) were to be dipped in. A deceivingly clever dish and a good analogy for the city I was enjoying it in - Copenhagen. A first glance, Copenhagen is like so many old European cities....

Heard around the DC Foodies blogosphere this week...First impressions are lasting, and at a restaurant, often times that first impression is left by the bread that is served before and sometimes during a meal. Take, for instance, the artisan ciabatta bread served at Restaurant Eve during their Lickety Split Lunch. Doled out with tongs onto a bread plate, each expertly tendered and aromatic slice of ciabatta waits for its pores to be slathered with Kerrygold Irish butter, then enjoyed while dipping, sopping, or just plain mopping up the remains on the plate. This level of perfection does not come easy,...

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For those of you looking for something a little different than going to happy hour on your Thursday night, check out the To Market/To Market dinner that Robert Weland at Poste Brasserie is doing every Thursday night. Starting at 6 PM, You meet at Post Brasserie in Penn Quarter and Robert takes you shopping at the Penn Quarter farmers Market for fresh ingredients which he then prepares for you for dinner in a special dining area near his own garden. On top of that, the meal is served with a selection of biodynamic wines selected to go with the dishes...