Trying to Smoke a Brisket- Again

I have made several valiant attempts at smoking briskets, and all to often I can't seem to get over the hump from good to really good. There are probably several reasons why I seem to be OK at this exercise including quality of beef, use of an electric smoker, spice combinations, wood usage.

This time I tried the following preparation.

*Injected the briskets with Creole Butter
*Rubbed it with yellow mustard
*Combined various amounts of Lawry's Seasoning Salt, sugar, brown sugar, paprika, cumin, chili powder, and cayenne pepper
*Soaked Hickory and Cherry wood chips
*Used water and pomegranate juice in the basin

So it's been in the smoker for about 5.5 hours. A few more hours and we will be in business.

Chili Plateau

About 4 years ago, I had a pretty good chili recipe that included corn, kielbasa, and sugar. People loved it, but I gave it up because it wasn't real chili. It wasn't Texas chili.

So took a few years off and decided that I needed to start over with chili. I have had several chili's that I liked. Most of them fall into the category of hot dog chili, but from everything I can tell, hot dog chili and Texas chili are the same thing. Some of these chili's are made at places like Jimmy's in the West End, Jess' Quick Lunch in Harrisonburg, Texas Tavern in Roanoke, and Ben's Chili Bowl in DC. They all seem to have that addictive combination of meat, grease, and spice.

My first attempt at a Texas chili was an accident. I made taco meat, but I decided to break up the ground beef in water and then boil it. After cooking and adding the spices, I realized I had found the consistency that I would need for my chili. But that was all the success I had. Since then, I have tried three different times to start concocting the perfect recipe. Each time I could never get the spices right. It always seemed to lack that spark. So desperate times called for desperate measures. I decided to cheat and use the chili seasoning packet that my mom used. It is called Caroll Shelby's Chili Kit and it comes in the brown paper bag. I cooked up the chili and still it didn't do it for me. So now, I am at a loss. I need to figure out how some of these places do it. I know it would be too much to ask if anyone would mind sharing their secret with me ;)

Cowboy UP! @ Rays

Believe it or not, my sister and brother-in-law are the real foodies in the family. So when they make it a priority to check a place out, it is usually worth my while to follow them up. They were traveling between Richmond and their home in Brooklyn, and they made a stop at Rays the Steaks in Arlington, VA near the Courthouse Metro stop, and after hearing about it, I knew I had to check it out. So when I happened to be in the area on Saturday, and felt like I should take advantage of the opportunity.

The place is snuggled in a small strip mall and it was packed. I was fortunate to find seating but that was probably based on the fact that there were only two of us. The space was very minimal: white walls, little decor, soft lighting, and tight seating. The menus were paper. This to me was a good sign. Packed house with no atmosphere means good food.

My suspicions were correct. I started the evening with an appetizer of blackened scallops. The dish was two large scallops perfectly cooked on each side. There was enough spice on each side to give it very tasty crust. I then followed it up with an iceberg salad with applewood smoked bacon and blue cheese. Again this was wonderful, especially with the generous amounts of bacon. Dinner was a hard choice. I heard the hanger steak was the way to go, but I was finding myself forced to choose between the cowboy steak and the Brazilian pichana. My partner in crime convinced me to stick with the cowboy steak. My compromise was that I received a side of the chimchurri sauce. The steak was nice and charred on the outside and red and wonderful on the inside. The chimchurri had a perfect spice to it, and the horseradish sauce was also great with its creamy kick. We complimented the meal with an old vine zinfandel.

If I had any complaint with the evening, it was the service. I knew from other people that I would feel rushed. I just didn't like getting my steak while I was still eating my salad. To me this was a minor concession for such good food. And trust me, I hope to be back again in the near future.

Sad News for Pasta Lovers

As reported at RichmondBizSense.com, it looks as though one of my favorite establishments, Cavanna Pasta, will be closing their storefront. The article states that they will try to move to a warehouse location in order to keep providing their goods to farmers markets, restaurants and other retailers.

Gionni and Martha have been great to do business with over the past couple years. If you get a chance, call the store before they close up and put in for a special order of crab ravioli. It is spectacular.

I wish them the best of luck!

Disappointment at Papa Ningo

I remember getting in trouble as a child and the parents making some dumb comment as they were about to deliver the painful punishment, "This hurts me more than it hurts you." I never believed them. Yet as I write this post, it is hard for me to write a negative report from one of my favorite places in town. So in a sense, I guess I get it.

Yesterday I went with some buddies over to Papa Ningo for lunch. They have a pretty decent buffet for $6.99 and it includes a chicken curry, stewed chicken, pepper steak, pasta, rice, beans, and some other stuff like spare ribs or fried fish. Sometimes there will be a plate of plantains.

I would have to say that my favorite dish on there is the curry. So when we hit the buffet right at noon, we were a bit disappointed to see that the curry was almost done. We each took a small amount thinking that they would refill the supply. Alas it was not meant to be. We watched as all the meat dishes were systematically finished off by 12:30 pm. Then we watched how each tray remained empty with no obvious attempts to fill them back. The chef in the kitchen seemed to be doing nothing about it. The girl in the front wasn't doing anything about it. Finally, we just paid and left.

I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that it was an unexpectedly busy day, but really any place in the buffet business should be prepared for restocking it. Nonetheless, I will give them another try but I will say that for the first time I was really disappointed there.

Love Them Peruvian Chicks

I have always liked a good rotisserie chicken. Yes, I liked Boston Market. The problem is that when Boston Market went out business in RVA, there was nothing to fill its place. I hate dry, old chickens that have sat around for hours. That description fits the bill for Ukrops, Fresh Market, European Market and others. So when I had the chance to be in Northern Virginia, I would make my way to any number of the Peruvian style chicken places up there including Crisp and Juicy and El Pollo Rico. Pollo Ala Brasa is the term they use at the restaurants and it is characterized by well seasoned chicken, cooked on a rotating spit over a charcoal fire, and served with very tasty dipping sauces.

About 18 months ago, I saw one of these Peruvian Chicken joints in RVA. The place is called Chicken Fiesta and is located on Midlothian Turnpike between Chippenham Pkwy and the Powhite Pkwy. Since that time I would consider myself a frequent visitor.

Let me preface this by saying that I am no way an expert on Peruvian style chicken, and I will even go as far to say that this isn't the best that I have eaten. I will say that I am grateful that it exists here, and they do a good job at it.

For atmosphere, it's nothing exciting. It is counter service with about 10 tables inside. The staff and the clientele are mostly Hispanic. I think a good sign for any ethnic restaurant is that the clientele represents the origins of the food being made there. I think one of the standouts though, is the manager, Harold. From the first time I have been there, he has engaged in conversation and remembered me every other time I have returned.

The menu is made up grilled and roasted meats, sandwiches, and several side dishes. While I have ventured into the other cuisines, I think the chicken is where it is at. It is served in four pieces (a whole bird) and each piece has a nice golden brown color. The skin is perfectly flavored and crispy, The meat has a nice pink smoke color on the outer edges, and is juicy and wonderful. I like the dark meat better than the white, but that is because I think fat always tastes better. And speaking of fat, I like their mayonnaise based sauces. They serve a yellow, pink and a green. The green actually is a hot sauce with no mayo in it. But the yellow and the pink are perfect for dipping the chicken (the boring breast pieces). If you ask nicely, Harold may give you a sample of the special sauce he is currently working on. IT IS PHENOMENAL.

As for the sides, I think they have a well fried Yucca. The plantains served with crema are also nice. If you are feeling adventurous, they have an amazing drink made out rice milk and cinnamon.

This is a simple joint with solid food. It is reasonably priced, and it helps me when I start jonesing for some GOOD rotisserie chicken.

Olive Oil Heaven at La Grotta

So I have this dirty little secret that I am publicly declaring here and now- I am on a low carb diet. I know the goods and the bads. I had to say this because it explains my food decisions over the recent weeks, but I don't want any lectures.

So I met a buddy at La Grotta today. I was totally craving the beef carpaccio. So I got there and forgot that they had this killer dipping sauce for their bread. This sauce is olive oil and I think pureed artichokes and/or olives. I asked once but can't remember for the life of me. So I held myself in check and ordered a mixed salad without the dressing. I totally doused my salad in the glorious olive oil concoction. Then the raw beef came with its heavenly amounts of olive oil, capers and Parmesan cheese. Perfection. And I kept to my diet. The only downside was that it wasn't cheap, but when has that stopped me in the past.

Time to make sure that La Grotta is on the regular lunch rotation.