Food & Wine Pairing

As much as I love my food and my wine, I’ve never really had a proper food and wine pairing meal. I just usually order or drink whatever I was in the mood for; most likely a sweet wine.

Tomorrow, a friend of ours is generous to organize a food and wine pairing luncheon at his home. The friend being a wine collector/connoisseur and a frequent traveler has put up a delectable 3-4 course menu, each with a wine pairing or two. Looking at what he’s planned for us made me feel like I’m actually going to be dining at a fine restaurant! I can’t wait to taste them and learn a thing or two from Steve! I will most likely shamelessly take pictures of my experience. =)

Sightseeing Washington DC – April 3, 2010 (Part One)

After spending one night in Baltimore, we started the day early and drove to Washington DC. When I said we started the day early…we did..we check out between 7am – 7.30am. After loading stuff into the car, filling up the tank we finally made it into DC slightly close to 9 I think. Finding parking was quite tough but we managed to park in a shopping mall and walked to the main attractions. The walk wasn’t that bad. Weather was quite decent, although it was a bit chilly early in the morning.

We did not really visit all the historical monuments and memorials this trip as we’ve seen it a couple times..minus the cherry blossoms. I’ve done all the monuments and memorials twice or thrice, the last was last year when I brought my parents and my brother here. I don’t think I’ve poasted pictures from that trip. Maybe I will well….when I’m not that lazy to go through my archives =).

So, here are pictures from the main reason we took the trip…Cherry Blossoms!!! All of these Cherry Blossoms are taken around the Tidal Basin as we walked towards the Jefferson Memorial.

                

The cherry blossoms are definitely pretty. They are not as huge as the ones in Japan though. These Cherry Blossoms were actually gifts from the people of Japan to the people of the United States in 1912.

Since we’ve had enough of monuments and memorials, we took the opportunity to visit some Smithsonian museums. I’ll post pictures from our trip to the museum next! =)

Been a Lil’ Lazy…

Sorry I’ve not been updating this blog as frequently as I used to. The only excuse I have is I’ve been a lil’ lazy especially after a long day at work. I spend most of my days at work now, and I don’t have the luxury to be cooking fancy stuff on weekdays anymore. Fret not, I’m still cooking.. just a lil lazy to update my blog…..

My week night meals are now usually quick and easy meals. That does not mean I’m eating instant noodles, frozen food, canned food or sandwiches with deli meat……It’s hot cooked food…mostly from scratch!. On some days, I do however go all out, if I get home early from work, not too tired or is in the zone to cook something a lil’ fancy…..These days too, I try to bake sweet treats on weekdays and bring it to work to bribe the people I work with.. =)

Look out for posting on my first attempt at making Panna Cotta (Italian custard/cooked cream).

Pitango Gelato (Fells Point) @ Baltimore, MD

When we were looking for our hotel (Admiral Fell’s Inn) and a place to park, we drove by this Gelato place and I just knew where I would be getting my dessert / ice cream fix there that day! Being pampered with so many yummy gelati in Italy (this reminds me that I’ve yet to post my gastronomic indulgence in Rome), I was excited to see this place.

So, after out seafood dinner at Shuckers, we got ourselves some gelato. Not before we walked back to the hotel for our sweater. =) Pitango Gelato is just a few steps away from our hotel. How strategic! There was a line at the store and while waiting in line, we were occupied with looking at the flavors and description hung on the wall. I forgot how many flavors were there; 16? 24? different flavors of gelato and sorbet.

Unlike many other gelato places, all their gelato were hidden in covered  and lowered bins behind the counter. No bright rows of yummy gelato can be seen here!

I picked cardamom and mojito. The husband picked cafe espresso and green tea. Both small @ $4.85 per cup. Large was at $6.50. The highlight of Pitango’s Gelato was that they use all-organic local dairy products, eggs, sugar and chocolate. They also use fresh local seasonal fruits, depending on availability.

While I could taste the “mintyness” of my mojito sorbet, it was lacking something…perhaps rum (since it was rum-free). The cardamom gelato has a nice subtle aromatic flavor. Not creamy to my preference and the flavors could be a little more intense. We agreed that hubby’s cafe espresso was the best choice. A taste of it will just wake you up. The green tea gelato however was lost under the strong flavors of the espresso. Overall, it’s not bad although the texture unfortunately weren’t as creamy or smooth as I liked it to be. Beggars can’t be choosers. I will go back there again…but if you fly me to Rome, I’ll go in a heart beat!

  

Want a frozen treat? Head to Pitango Gelato @ Fells Point:

802 South Broadway
Baltimore, MD 21231
(410) 702-5828

Shuckers (Fells Point) @ Baltimore, MD

I just realized I seldom take time to research for places to eat when I travel. When I mean research, I meant taking days/weeks in advance before the trip to compile a list of places to try out when I’m on a vacation, etc. The only time I actually research is the night before or the hours leading to meal time. Thankfully, internet is readily available and online reviews are some times quite reliable. =)

On our trip to Baltimore, the husband and I only researched for places to eat well… a couple hours before dinner time. We found a few choices and in fact stumble upon a restaurant with very good reviews; Kali’s Court. Menu looked good, ambiance(from the pictures) looked nice but we were not in the mood to pay too much for dinner. And there weren’t any price on the menu. This usually mean it’s gonna cost quite a bit. =)

So, we picked Shuckers which was just across the street from our hotel in historic Fells Point. It’s a more casual and laid back kinda restaurant perfect for us to just kick back and rest our my sore feet. The service at first were quite iffy. We got in through the back entrance not knowing what we did, and stood in the restaurant waiting for somebody to sit us. There were plenty of tables and wait staff walking around. It felt as if we were invisible as no one directed us to the right spot or spoke to us. All of them just walked by these 2 “lost souls”. Getting tired of being ignored, the husband asked the bar tender and we finally managed to find our way to the right spot and put our names down. With the many empty tables around, we still had to wait about 15 minutes. I guess they did not have enough wait staff for all the tables? Or do they just wanna make you wait so that it seems like they are very busy? =)

 

We requested to be seated outside, since this restaurant is located next to the harbor. We wanted to enjoy being near the water. It was rather chilly out but we put on a brave front and sat through dinner, 2 glasses of beer and each other’s company. Here’s what we ordered:

1) Cream of Crab (Crab Bisque?) @ $4.49 (Bottom Left). I initially ordered a bowl of it, but the wait staff brought me a cup instead. This was a blessing in disguise! Even though the soup was yummy, thick, creamy, flavorful and filled with chunks of crab meat…..it was SOOOO SALTY!! I’m glad I was brought a cup of soup instead of a bowl of soup!

2) Petite Crab Cakes - Three of our homemade jumbo lump petite crab cakes broiled golden brown & served with tartar sauce @ $12.99 (Bottom Right). Somehow I just had to have crab cakes when I’m in Baltimore…after all there should be a reason why there is the famous “Maryland Crabcakes” on restaurant menus right? =) About 3 golf ball size petite crab cakes came with the order. Crab cakes although indeed very petite, they were very delicious. Unlike many other crab cakes I’ve had in the past, there were hardly any fillers in the crab cakes. It was seriously just crab business. Fresh lumps of crab meat, minimal seasoning. I could eat more of it if it wasn’t $12.99 per order. =)

3) Seafood Quesadilla - gulf shrimp, lump crab & bay scallops, onion, pepper & tomato lightly seasoned and grilled in a flour tortilla, served with salsa & sour cream @ $8.99 (Bottom Left). This was my first time having a seafood quesadilla and it was pretty good. I don’t know what gulf shrimp is, but I do know the shrimp in the quesadilla where tiny weeny ones. =) I did taste the bay scallops and lump crab though. For $8.99, it’s quite a reasonable price to pay for a quesadilla..I think.

4) Basil Lump Tuna - Blackened Ahi Tuna, grilled to your desired temperature and topped with lump crab & basil garlic butter served on a bed of fresh field greens  @ $19.99 (Bottom Right). The husband ordered this dish and it was a great choice. The large chunk of tuna was cooked rare (to our preference) and was topped with a good amount of lump crab. Yums!! The tuna was perfect (you can’t go wrong when it’s cooked rare or sashimi style, lol) and the buttery crab basil topping were different and refreshing.  I did not care for the side that hubby ordered; snap peas. It looked a tad overcooked.

 

The overall service was good. There is plenty of metered parking near the harbor, if you’re not within walking distance to the restaurant. Depending on your luck and the time of day, you may have difficulties finding street parking. There are many bars and restaurants in the area. There are 2 hour, 4 hour and also garage parking. The 4 hour ($1 per hour) metered street parking would be the ones nearest to the restaurant.

If you’re visiting Baltimore and / or happen to be in the historic Fells Point area, check out Shuckers :

1629 Thames Street
Baltimore, MD 21231-3449
(410) 522-5820