Pork Chops & Chicken

Gordon Biersch 5/28/09

I was recently in Washington DC for a food and beer event called Savor. (Blog entry on Savor soon to follow.) Our first night in DC was spent quietly on a Thursday night at Gordon Biersch.



But first we raided the minibar. We got to the hotel and crashed for an hour or two and woke up a little thirsty and desperate. You never drink the minibar contents unless you absolutely have to. Why you ask? Because it will cost your first mortgage or first born child for such a cheap thrill.

Gordon Biersch is right in NW and across the street from the Spy Museum and Spy bar.



This building is pretty awesome as it is used to be a Riggs bank. Awesome marble columns and floors. It is also attached to the Marriott hotel.

 

The beer menu is fairly light. A handful of beers but all solid varieties. Nothing too crazy, all German style, but nothing really spectacular either. Just simple and solid choices.



We started with a sampler plate of appetizers. I hate it when menus are too big or offer too much food. I can never decide what to get. But samplers certainly make it easy. This sampler was a trio of chicken and had Southwestern Egg Rolls, Chicken Potstickers, and Glazed Chicken wings. Standard pub fare, but kicked up a notch. A lot tastier and a lot nicer than typical bars or pubs.




Then I ordered for my entree Teriyaki Chicken and Tempura Shrimp combo with ginger rice and seasonal veg. This was delicious. The shrimps were not over cooked and nice and soft. The chicken breast was perfectly juicy. Even though the food sounds like nothing truly spectacular, it was way above average for standard pub fare as I mentioned with the apps. as well.




My husband ordered the house specialty, Steak Frites. Rare, Mäzen marinated flat iron steak on a bed of hot garlic fries, drizzled with Gordon Biersch steak sauce. This tasted a lot more impressive than it looked. The meat was perfectly rare and soft. Underneath the steak was mounds of fresh garlic topped on the fries. Pretty delicious and simple.

Overall this place is definitely worth a visit. I hung out here several times over the weekend of Savor. I drank the hell out of their Ultimate Arnold Palmer drink.

Ultimate Arnold Palmer ·  Grey Goose Vodka, Cointreau
Orange Liqueur, fresh squeezed lemonade and fresh brewed tea.

It tasted just like iced tea and the booze was barely noticeable, but it was certainly in there. It hit the spot in the hot and humid Virginia weather.

Dark Chocolate Kit Kat Cookies With Heath Toffee Bits

I had some serious chocolate to get off of my hands.



I went to London ages ago and bought like a dummy those giant Toblerone Dark chocolate bars. I also bought a freaking 8 pack of dark chocolate Kit Kat bars.

For the record, I am extremely jealous of ANYWHERE that isn't the U.S. when it comes to Kit Kat bars. They can have all the variety they want. They have freaking 70% Dark Chocolate Kit Kat bars. WTF!! Kit Kat Senses with Hazelnut filling. I mean come on. Why can't we have that?

Now granted these are all made by Nestle. We do have Nestle in the states, but our Kit Kat bars are made from Hershey's. They released flavors for a limited edition. But in Australia when I was visiting, they had Cookie Dough Kit Kat. For Real! All we have is crappy Caramel and White Chocolate plus the classic milk. Big Whoop. Can I get an Amen for them to bring the Cookies'N'Cream, and Cookie Dough versions here? Mint Chocolate Kit Kat anyone?

Anyhoo...

These chocolate bars have got to go. So I made cookies. Sans the Toblerone this time, but next batch will be made with it unless I come up with something more creative.

I used the Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookie recipe for the base. It's simple and it makes well perfect cookies. Don't go by the picture in the recipe. I don't know why they used those, because when I use this recipe I get the perfect cookies every time. Those pictured in the link look busted.




2 cups Dark Chocolate Kit Kat bars chopped (4 packages)
2 1/4 cup Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Butter
3/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
Heath Toffee bits optional

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside.

Side Note: I don't usually do this step. It would be easier, but for me I put in each ingredient one by one.



In large mixer bowl, cream butter with sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Side Note: When my butter is too cold to blend, I nuke it for a few seconds to soften it up.



Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture.



Stir in and Kit Kat and Heath bits.



Side Note: I added Heath bits at the last minute so I didn't get a picture of it going into the mix but I added about half a cup to 1 cup.



Drop 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Side Note: Notice the round pan in the second pic. LOL! I had to use my nonstick pizza pans because I realized at the last second all of my cookie sheets were dirty. Same thing just round.

Bake at 375ºF for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

 

Serve with ice cold, tall glass of milk.

Doc Allen's Summer Salad

Doc Allen is my father, Ralph. I don't know to this day if my father really knows how to cook or not. He kind of wings it every time and has reasonably good results. He almost always cooks with beer, and the freshest vegetables are always used. He is a man who has worked in produce for over 30 years. And one of his hodgepodge creations is this summer salad in pita pockets.

I have asked him about 50 times for the recipe and never wrote it down. I even had him over and make it for me and my husband and never wrote it down. This time I did and am blogging about it with pictures.

*This is a large recipe. This is for picnics or for the intention of eating over the course of a few days. Unless you have a massive family with starving teenagers in the house with super metabolisms.

Doc Allen's Summer Salad



4 to 5 chicken breasts
16oz seashell pasta
Tri color peppers (green, yellow, red or orange)
3 sweet apples (Fiji or Pink Lady)
1 bundle of spring onions
1 Vidalia or sweet Spanish onion
2 4oz packages of broccoli sprouts
1 8oz package of crunchy sprouts
12oz package mung bean sprouts
5 cloves of garlic
2 8oz blocks of Monterey Jack cheese
1 16oz bottle of ranch dressing (Marzetti's if possible)
1 16oz bottle of honey mustard dressing (Marzetti's if possible)
2 to 4 packages of sturdy pita bread

You will need two large bowls to mix this salad up or one massive industrial size bowl if you have it.




Boil pasta in a large pot. Once cooked, strain the water from the past and lightly coat with oil and set aside to cool. You can rinse it under cold water as well to cool faster.





Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Salt and pepper chicken breasts.



Place on a nonstick baking sheet. Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Remove from oven once cooked and allow to cool. Once cooled cut in to cubes and set aside.




Chop peppers medium size, onion and spring onions fine chop.



Chop garlic by hand leaving them in fairly good sized pieces. Not to big and not too small.

Side Note: In this picture I only show 3 cloves of garlic, but make sure you use 5 cloves.



Mix peppers, onion, spring onion, garlic in a bowl and set aside. Cut the mixed veg in half for two bowls if need be.



Cut cheese in to cubes and core and chop up the apples and add to the peppers and onions mix.



Add mung bean sprouts, crunchy sprouts, and broccoli sprouts.

Add chicken.

Sadly I did not take pics of the dressing. If you use one large bowl use the whole bottles of dressing. If you use two bowls one cup of each dressing to each bowl and stir well making sure everything is coated.





Refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours until thoroughly chilled.



Slice pita in half and open to make a pocket. Fill with salad and enjoy.

TIPS:

You can sub the chicken for a couple of cans of tuna. You can also add the tuna and the chicken together.

You can also add the sprouts at the end to top your pita pocket with. I like mixing it all in, but if you want something more pretty with the greens on top, don't add them at until the end. Just the Broccoli sprouts though. Leave the crunch and mung bean sprouts in.

Today's Lunch

Normally I am not one of those people who has to blog everything I eat, but in this case I thought I would put up these pictures of my salad at lunch today. It was a dried fig and prosciutto salad on a bed of mixed greens with shaved parmesan and walnuts with a honey dijon mustard dressing.

Just Look at that beast. It's falling over the sides of my plate. I couldn't even finish the damn thing.

Sounds simple right? Except this massive salad came in a tiny box that exploded all over my plate, a massive dinner plate, and only cost $7.25. Unbelievable for take out and so delicious. It's not hard to make healthy good food and not pay exorbitant prices.

If you live in my area, the Central Sq. area of Cambridge, order from these guys. They do huge sandwiches and nice salads. It's perfect for lunch and a light dinner and its CHEAP!!!

Cafe Kiraz