Politicians are known for saying one thing and doing another thing. In our first attempt of food comics, here are some of the food GOP presidential candidate claims they love to eat with my guess of what they rather eat. On a sliding scale of silliness, except a hardcore foodie, no one really cares about what you eat — unless the is vegan.

The downtown of the city of Frederick Maryland, an hour away from the Washington DC, just celebrated its diverse dining options with a restaurant week. Here are some of the deliciousness found in Frederick, listed alphabetically by the restaurant’s name. There are no reviews of dish – just their photos –  because “a picture is worth a thousand words”. We recommend you to explore these and more of  Frederick’s deliciousness on your own!

Brewer’s Alley

Chicken kimchi spring roll served with oil made of basil and chives.

Smoked pork belly; Baked cod topped with dijon bread crumbs and tomato basil served with roasted garlic mashers

Flourless chocolate cake

Firestone’s Culinary Tavern

Shrimp on a slice of bison sausage on top of grits served with buttermilk biscuit.

Red Horse Restaurant

Flounder florentine rolls stuffed with spinach and cheese

Roasted lean pork tenderloin with a savory homemade herb rub

Shab Row Bistro

Honor Amongst Thieves: Vodka, ginger-flavored liqueur, slice of green apple spiced with allspice, cloves, star anise etc.

Mixologist Alex Strange preparing Honor Amongst Thieves

Goat cheese ravioli served with broccoli rabe, sage in a butter sauce

Wine store in Shab Row Bistro

VOLT

Chef Bryan Voltaggio’s VOLT restaurant showcasing seasonal entreés

Breadsticks in VOLT

Salsify with quince, country ham, hazelnuts

Cheese platter with four types of cheese served with whole wheat walnut toast

Sweetbreads with sunchokes, black kale, bacon

Ravioli; made with black trumpet mushrooms, parsley root, vegetable ash

Ride – Chevrolet Volt

Chevrolet Volt, plug-in electric and gas car, was loaned to me by GM Northeast for the trip to Frederick. This 2011 Motor Trend Car award winning car made possible these restaurant trips from Washington DC to Frederick possible.

Here are three quotes on American holiday, thanksgiving, and an American bird, turkey, by the three American leaders. The first quote is by President Washington on the first national proclamation of Thanksgiving.  The second quote is proclamation issued by President Lincoln establishing the Thanksgiving as national holiday. The third quote is by founding father Franklin on why turkey, the symbolic thanksgiving meal, should be the national bird instead of the bald eagle. (Related Post: Immigrant’s American Turkey)

President George Washington made the first national Thanksgiving Day proclamation under the Constitution in following way.

“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me ‘to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.’

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation…”

Thanksgiving Day Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln establishing it as a national holiday occurring on the last Thursday of November is states in the following proclamation.

“The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the everwatchful providence of almighty God….”

The symbolic meal of Thanksgiving, the native American bird turkey, was favored by Benjamin instead of bald eagle as our national emblem. Here’s the founding father’s argument:

“For my own part, I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country; he is a bird of bad moral character; he does not get his living honestly; you may have seen him perched on some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labor of the fishing-hawk; and, when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish and is bearing it to his nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him, and takes it from him…..”

“I am, on this account, not displeased that the figure is not known as a bald eagle, but looks more like a turkey.

For in truth, the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America. Eagles have been found in all countries, but the turkey was peculiar to ours; the first of the species seen in Europe, being brought to France by the Jesuits from Canada, and served up at the wedding table of Charles the Ninth. He is, besides (though a little vain and silly, it is true, but not a worse emblem for that) a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards, who should presume to invade his farm yard with a red coat on.”

On the fourth Thursday of every November, everyone who believe themselves to be Americans celebrate nature’s bounty by feasting with their loved ones. Traditional thanksgiving food is simple baked, boiled, and/or mashed, and served with minimum spices to ensure soft texture and mild flavor that cater to anyone from children to elderly.

Partaking in this meal is a symbolic gesture for every immigrant who becomes an allegorical descendant to the generation of pilgrims who first ventured out to the New World with a hope of a better life. Essentially, the fourth Thursday of November is more American than the fourth day of July celebrated with barbecues.

Most immigrants celebrate thanksgiving meal interwoven with culinary tradition of their heritage. North American bird, turkey, symbolizes their new home in America, while the additional spices and dishes represent their contribution to the melting pot.

How was Thanksgiving started by immigrants?
The overtly rehashed story of Thanksgiving starts with the new immigrants, Pilgrims and their native American Wampanoag neighbors feasted together in October of 1621 as a gesture of gratitude for having food on the table. Coincidentally, Canada started celebrating its thanksgiving in second Monday of October since 1950s.

George Washington, John Adams, and James Madison issued proclamations of a thanksgiving holidays. However at that time states celebrated thanksgiving at different times with its popularity remaining limited to New England with lukewarm celebration in the Southern states.

Lincoln and Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving was not a national holiday until the proclamation by Abe Lincoln in 1863. Ironically, Lincoln got his inspiration from Sarah Josepha Hale, famous for writing nursery rhyme “Mary had a little lamb”, who championed the cause for a unifying national holiday that would foster unity in a nation at the brink of a civil war. Lincoln envisioned “a day of Thanksgiving and Praise” for “these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come”  as said by Lincoln in his proclamation.

History of the Immigrant’s Thanksgiving Turkey
The tradition of having turkey for Thanksgiving may have start in nineteenth century New England, where men took aim at a wild turkey in the fields with the winner usually winning a turkey as his prize for marksmanship.

Most immigrants celebrate thanksgiving meal interwoven with culinary tradition of their heritage. North American bird, turkey, symbolizes their new home in America, while the additional spices and dishes represent their contribution to the melting pot. They add spices or dish distinct to their thanksgiving meal. This practice of bringing culinary heritage to a foreign tradition continues as immigrants from all over the world embrace the United States as their new home. Pakistani families may add garam masala in their turkey, their Thai friends may flavor side dishes with coconut milk, while their Norwegian neighbor may bring smoked salmon appetizer.

Likewise, my thanksgiving turkey would be tandoori turkey with saffron gravy.

Tandoori Turkey
for tandoori spice paste (for 10 lb turkey), mix together following*
ghee (1 cup, substitute with re-solidified melted butter)
tandoori spice mix (1 tablespoon,  substitute with any curry powder)
fresh ginger and garlic paste (2 tablespoons)
chicken stock (2 tablespoons)
salt (2 teaspoons)

on the roasting pan for gravy
can of low sodium chicken stock
red onion (1 sliced, large)

* traditional tandoori marinade is yogurt based

After removing packaging materials and other organs (gizzards etc.,) coat the inside cavity of turkey with spice paste. Pour ½ of chicken stock in there. Stuffing a turkey is not recommended for both food safety as well as taste safety. Make stuffing in a pan as casserole instead.

My favorite tip for moist turkey breast comes from Harold McGee. Few hours before the end of thawing the turkey, selectively put ice-packs on its breast. Due to the difference in temperature between breast meat and turkey, the turkey breast will cook slower than the rest of turkey. This will prevent drying of turkey. Be sure to remove the ice-packs before baking.

With your fingers and/or flat plastic spatula separate the skin from the breast meat. Be gentle and don’t tear the skin. Rub the spice mix in between turkey skin and the breast meat.

Rub the spice mix outside the entire turkey.

Add chicken stock and sliced onions to the roasting pan.

Cover the breast with a sheet of aluminum foil. Roast in 325 °F oven. Remove the foil ½ an hour before the roasting ends. Covering the breast with a foil sheet also helps in preventing the breast from drying.

USDA recommends (see USDA’s turkey cooking recommendations) the minimum internal temperature of 165 °F for food safety. Nowadays, many turkeys come up with “pop-up” temperature indicators. However, just to be safe, use instant read thermometer to check temperatures of innermost parts of the turkey, such as thigh, wings, thickest part of the breast.

Check doneness of turkey early and often.

Timetables for Roasting Turkey  (USDA)

Saffron Gravy

for 1 cup of dripping from roasted turkey
saffron (dozen inch long strands)
whole milk (¼ cup, use half and half for richer gravy)
corn starch (1 tablespoon)

Leave a dozen inch long strands in milk sometime after putting the roast turkey. The amount of saffron depends on its quality.

After removing turkey, pour out the dripping from turkey. Blend mushy roasted onion with other liquid drippings.

Mix corn starch with the saffron milk and pour over blended turkey drippings. Reheat until thickens. Gravy done.

Thanksgiving is an American celebration of sharing the ample of wholesome, often simple, foods any way you like it.

All the Illustrations by: Sumayal Shrestha

Bibliography
Elizabeth Pleck, “The Making of the Domestic Occasion: The History of Thanksgiving in the United States,” Journal of Social History Vol. 32, No. 4, Summer, 1999, Page 773-789.

Janet Siskind, “The Invention of Thanksgiving: A ritual of American nationality”, Critique of Anthropology, Vol. 12, No. 2, June 1992, Page 167-191.

Melanie Wallendorf and Eric J. Arnould, “We Gather Together”: Consumption Rituals of Thanksgiving Day,” Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 18, No. 1, June 1991, Page 13-31

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One hour (or more) long line for a lobster roll! I refuse to stay such a long line to get my lunch on a work day – who has time? At the same time, I was somewhat intrigued by the lobster rolls that made people to stay out in muggy DC weather for an hour to eat $15-18 lunch.

Before these reviews of lobster rolls, I have to disclaim that I am not an expert on lobsters or grew up eating them on a weekly basis. I know good food and believe that ocean already made lobsters so tasty – all we need to do is heat it to perfection without too much of bells and whistles.

Why lobsters are sustainable and expensive?
Lobsters are trapped live in a cage that allows it to enter but makes it difficult to exit. This inefficient way of fishing lobster has inadvertently resulted it in being overfished. Additionally lobster sustainability in the United States has increased because lobstermen are required to measure lobster size and release small young and big fully grown lobster back to the sea to insure healthy future breeding stock.

Lobster recommendations in DC (in no particular order);

Red Hook Lobster Truck [4.5 oz lobster meat]
You can get lobster roll in Maine style (mayonnaise, lime) or in Connecticut style (melted butter) made from Maine lobsters. Both of them are served on white bread toast with big chunk of lobster meat and paprika seasonings. The bun sort of gets soggy with the drizzled melted butter in Connecticut style lobster roll. I would definitely recommend it if the truck is in your neighborhood and if there is no big line. I don’t think this (or any food) is worth hour-long line.

BGR – The Burger Joint [5 oz lobster meat]
Surprisingly this burger joint serves amazing lobster rolls made from lump claw and knuckle meat from Maine lobsters. I liked the fact that there was no sauce in the lobster roll. Big chucks of lobster were served on a lettuce leaf placed over three conjoined slider buns with sweet cole-slaw dressing sauce. The bread base for the roll can be improved but simply the lobster and sauce makes this lobster roll worth the try. These are seasonal items and served from June to September depending on the quality of the lobsters.

Luke’s Lobster [4 oz lobster meat]
Lobster roll lobster from father Jeff’s sustainable Maine seafood company making it a true sea floor to your plate choice. Chunks of lobster meat are made to order and served with mayo and their secret seasoning on toasted/buttered white bread bun. The butter, mayo and seasoning are all optional if you don’t like them.

PS. Checkout this stop-motion animation of Luke’s Lobster Roll.

All above three lobster rolls are equally good it their own right. Now, here are some other lobster rolls that I would be hesitant to recommend.

Kinkead’s
For comparison sake, I tried a high end Kinkead’s lobster roll. The lobster roll was not better than any other fast food place. Kinkead’s Maine lobster roll is served with side of coleslaw and homemade French fries. Lobster had bit more mayo than I preferred but loved the fresh aromatic herbs on the lobster. The sides were excellent and lobsters were decent but I would not recommend paying twice for a similar quality lobster roll.

Au bon pain  [4 oz lobster meat]
Lobster salad croissant sandwich is made from over a quarter pound of lobster mixed with light mayonnaise. I found this lobster had fewer chunkier pieces and way too much mayo (see photo). I ate it is twice so it’s not that bad but I would choose Red Hook, BGR or Luke’s lobster any day.

Quiznos
Quiznos’ limited time lobster & seafood salad sub looked pretty on the promo but was nothing special than any other fast food sub they serve. These lobster rolls are seasonal and like Au bon pain’s choose them only as the last lobster resort.

When Quiznos introduced the lobster and seafood salad sub, they promoted with this eco-video which shows setting four protagonist lobsters free into the wild. Choose

The narrator ends the video by saying, “We couldn’t help but wonder if what we’d done was just a big contradiction. It’s not their fault, they taste so good.” Indeed!

Surya Ramjali is the creator of the non-profit organization One Night Chef. This charity allows supporters the opportunity to treat themselves to a gourmet, three course meal in the comfort of their own home while also contributing to society.

Throughout my life journey, from the mountains of Nepal to the plains of Kansas, food has been a part of my adventure. Cooking started as a chore. Growing up in Nepal, my mother had this assignment for my brothers and me; I was responsible for the preparation of dinner, my younger brother was responsible for lunch and my youngest brother for cleaning of the dishes. And thus cooking planted its seed in me.

When I moved to the United States at the age of 20, cooking became a way to connect. As a R.A. in my college dorm, I would often prepare meals for my residents. This experience allowed me to acquire my most basic cooking skills while connecting with an unfamiliar culture.

Later, I started a career as an aerospace engineer and moved to Kansas. Here, cooking became a way to relieve stress, a passion and an art form. This passion for food coupled with a passion for philanthropy bore One Night Chef.

The One Night Chef culinary adventure starts by reserving an evening at onenightchef.org to have a chef come to your home to prepare a three course meal. Here you select an available date and the menu of your choice. You are charged a fixed fees (based on the number of guests) to cover only the cost of the food use to prepare your meal. Any additional amounts deemed appropriate for the service provided by the chef are contributed to charity.

The charity to which the proceeds of One Night Chef is allocated to will change based on need and will always be featured on the homepage of our website. Fans of One Night Chef can visit our Facebook page to vote on the next charity to receive donations.

Right now, One Night Chef serves Wichita, KS and its surrounding areas. The goal is to one day have One Night Chef serve and raise funds for communities around the world. I want everyone to experience the joys of fine dining while giving to those in need. The preparation of food is a journey in itself. It is self discovery. It is art. It is science. It is teaching, learning, and feeling. The preparation of food is sensing, timing, mixing and growing.

The preparation of food is providing. Food is giving.

To learn more about Surya, One Night Chef and their current charity visit onenightchef.org or like One Night Chef on Facebook. Photographs by Surya Ramjali and Bianca Tyler.

While picking up some groceries, I was happy to find out that the Whole Foods was honoring the tax day, with a promotion called “Tax Relief Deal”. The best deals were on perishables, like seafood, meat and fruits, which were “progressively” discounted up to 30%.

Image based on photo by MoneyBlogNewz

As you are probably aware, the Whole Foods often charges a premium for these items. Naturally, I felt inclined to maximize the value while eating healthy. A surplus of antioxidants was exactly what my body needed after a grueling run through the Mount Vernon trail.

I have always liked fruit salads at picnics and outside luncheons. On this balmy spring day, I thought about giving it a shot. I wanted to drift away from the everyday American variety of cantaloupes and watermelons — instead experiment a bit with the exotic ingredients. Ah those mangoes looked delicious and the blackberries looked like vines on a Lilliputian island. I had to include those.

List of Fruit Salad ingredients

1 red apple (Chilean)
1 mango
2 oranges
5-8 blackberries
12-15 seedless grapes
1 small pack of raisins
Newman’s Own Raspberry & Walnut Dressing

First, I thinly diced the apple and placed them on a clean bowl. The apple was sweet to the taste and smelled delicious.

Next I cut the strawberries into triangular little pieces and placed them on the bowl.

Next I peeled the mango and chopped them into slender little pieces. The mangoes were firmer than the Indian variety and were easy to work with.  They were not juicy as their South Asian counterparts and a bit sour in taste. I wondered how they would turn out in my fruit salad.

Up next, were the blackberries and the oranges. I am a big fan of citrus fruits because they are oozing with antioxidants, but I was rather disappointed with the quality of the oranges. No wonder they were the cheapest item on the menu. You get what you pay for. I took extra care to remove all the white pith on the oranges, despite knowing that they are a rich source of fiber. Taste prevails sometimes.

The blackberries, on the other hand, were my favorite ingredient. But at $4.00/case, you need to exercise a bit of restraint. They go perfectly when served chilled.

Up next, I decided to throw in some grapes and raisins. The grapes were the best of its kind – succulent, sweet and ready to provide you with a burst of flavonoids and other phytochemicals.  Their cousins, the raisins, were however of the generic variety obtained from CVS. I was amazed to find out that they were still “fresh” even after months of storage under room temperature. Wonder what types of preservatives and how much of each has been added in each box. I guess a few morsels won’t kill me after all.

As for the dressing, I decided to go with Paul Newman’s Own Raspberry & Walnut Dressing. Add a few tablespoons, stir the fruit amalgamation around a few times and chill the whole thing in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes.

As the fruit was chilling, I tried a tiny portion with a small cup of Greek yogurt. It was delicious.

As I ploughed through my fruit salad, my mind veered off to the trails.  I thought of all the orchids, the yellow daisies and the white cherries that are blooming along the trail, signaling the arrival of spring. Every time I pass through, I want to nibble at the flowers!  Although they look so damn tasty, I bet they are not as delectable as my fruit salad.

A burger is a poor man’s steak. An excellent classic burger needs a decent quality ground beef with adequate fat marbling cooked to perfection — served between some sort of soft white buns.

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80 High Resolution Photos of DC’s Best Burgers

Nearly a year ago, I compiled a list of best burgers in DC. For the last couple of months, I have been eating more burgers in Washington DC metro to update DC’s best burger list – at least that was my excuse for eating all those burgers. Everywhere I ordered some sort of cheese burger cooked “medium rare”. If I got my burgers cooked medium, which most of the times it did, I considered it perfectly cooked.

I would like to point out the presented photos are photos of the real burger served to me during the visits, snapped on the spot without any props. They should be more realistic depiction of the burgers – unlike highly decorated publicity photos found in ads and other media.

My list is divided into the best burgers and some of other memorable burgers in DC.

Best Burgers in DC

Here’s my line up of some of DC’s best burgers. The best aspect of burger joints are highlighted inside the parenthesis.

Ray’s Hell Burger [Best Burger]
Rays in Arlington is still the best burger place in the DC metropolitan area. The simple reason is that Rays serves its burgers as requested. Rays is not afraid to give its customer burgers cooked medium rare (145 °F/ 63 °C). Generally all other places, even nice sit down restaurants, serve burger cooked at least one more step further, i.e., you always get burger cooked to at least medium or medium well when you order it medium rare. The generous 10oz beef patty cooked right results in extremely good Rays burger – the best I ever had. Having said that, Rays also serves probably the worst French fries with its burgers. I liked it when it didn’t used to serve fries. Now, it serves an obviously mass produced frozen fries that are not even of good quality. Go there hungry for burgers and skip the fries.

Good Stuff Eatery [Best Fries & Sauce]
Prez Obama Burger made with bacon, onion marmalade, roquefort cheese and horseradish mayo sauce, shows the creative and playful nature of menu of Good Stuff Eatery. The best items on Good Stuff Eatery are Spike’s village fries -topped with thyme, rosemary and Sunny’s hand-cut fries sprinkled with sea salt. The flavorful fries are complemented by playful creative variety of mayo based sauces with old bay seasoning , sriracha sauce (rooster sauce),  chipotle, and mango flavors. The strongest flavor was the old bay based may sauce and mango didn’t have a bit mango flavor. It seemed like the fries were divided into two categories of diners; one who are adventurous eater and others who never explore beyond – sea salt and good ol’ ketchup. Burgers are slightly smaller for my personal preference and snack fries are big enough to share between two nibblers. Shakes at $5.25 were disappointing. The flavor and consistency was similar to melted ice-cream in a 16 ounce cup. After burger and fries, shake was too much for me to finish, I barely finished half of it. However, I have heard good things about the shakes from many of my sweet-toothed friends.

Z-Burger [Best Onion Rings]
The burger in the Z-Burger is very similar to that of Five Guys in terms of their burgers and toppings. There is no point in trekking to the Z-Burger if you have Five Guys around the corner except to get their onion rings. The onion rings at Z-Burgers are the best in the world. The onion rings at the Z-Burger are huge, have more dough and seems freshly made. They are definitely not mass produced onion rings we get in every other restaurants and feels more like fried dough. Onion ring sauce was a mediocre mayo/ketchup/chipotle sauce. In my opinion, onion rings are good without the sauce. Z-burger also has a huge selection of shakes – I have yet to find any disappointing flavors, thus go with what you are in mood for.

Big Bun [Great Burger Salad]
Big bun is a burger joint hidden off near Ballston metro – literally hidden because it takes a few minutes find the place for anyone unfamiliar with it.  You have option of ordering beef, chicken, mahi mahi, or portobello mushroom burger in a bun or with greens as a burger salad. Some of the topping are unusually healthy/delicious- namely sprouts, grilled pineapple, avocado, and fried eggs.   Even, it’s slightly off beaten path, Big Bun is highly recommended for any burger and salad lovers.

Big Bun’s Angus Burger

Big Bun’s Mahi Mahi Burger Salad

Elevation Burger [Best Quality Ingredients]
After years of hearing Virginia friends brag about the Elevation Burger, one sunny afternoon we drove there. Elevation burger serves 100% organic grass-fed beef burgers. Burgers were made to order and tasted very similar to the Five Guys. Shake was decent and thick but not overly thick like an ice-cream. Fries were cooked in olive oil and tasted like normal fries without any olive smell. The Elevation Burger has a vegetarian burger as well, which is slightly dry, but has a decent flavor.  If you just care for the flavor, there is no point in driving to the Elevation burger. If you care about eating a quality meat, which happens to be 100% organic and grass-fed, the Elevation fits the bill.

Five Guys [Best Chain Burger]
Five Guys is undoubtedly the best fast food burger place is Best fast-food chain burger. With more than 750 burger joints across the country, Five Guys consistently serves decent made to order burger. I am not sure if it uses better quality meat than it other giant fast food competitors – the quality may be identical. In my opinion, the Five Guys burgers are good because they are grilled-to-order, the burgers don’t wait for you inside a wrapped up in paper in some kind of industrial food warmer.

Lindy’s Red Lion [Creative Burger Menu]
Lindy’s Red Lion in a friendly neighborhood hole-in-a-wall burger place that epitomizes the neighborhood local burger restaurants. It has most inventive burger menu. For instance, Neapolitan Burger with pizza sauce, black olive, provolone cheese or Davy Crockett Double Burger with BBQ sauce, bacon, fried onions. Lindy’s serves either sirloin burgers, veggie burgers or turkey burgers. A single burger is served in a regular hamburger bun, while double burger gets served in a six-inch soft sub roll. They also make their fries in soybean oil, which gives it a unique aroma and flavor.

Rogue States Burgers [Closed Now, Best Late Night Burger]

Closed now. Hopefully they open in new venue soon.

The late night kind of burger is Rogue States Burgers because there isn’t any other place where you can get similar quality of burger that late in night. I didn’t know it even existed until a Dupont resident kept on marveling about how late it opens. I ended there just before it close its door, after one of those over extended happy hours. Burgers were cooked to order and fries were good but not as memorable. There were burgers with different flavors, however, the hot burger was too hot for my preference.

Other Burgers in DC

Here’s my line up of some of the other memorable burgers in DC. The reasons they are memorable, both positive or negative, are stated with them.

Palena
Palena is a sit down restaurant that often tops list of one of the best burgers in DC and country.  Palena’s burger meat was cooked to order and had a decent flavor. It was served with thin slice of melted cheese between bread with some sort of creamy spread. The Palena Cheese Burger came with side of pickled vegetables. The Palena burgers are good. However, the burger is barely better than any decent burger found in many sit down restaurants. Simply, it didn’t live up to its overhyped fame and price.

Thunder Burger
Thunder Burger serves a decent quality meat cooked to the requested done-ness.  The burgers were juicy but their challah bun couldn’t withstand the juice from the meat and turned into mushy mess soon after. Thunder Burger has ambiance and pricing similar to bar and lounge.  It felt and tasted like I was eating burger in a restaurant but not a burger joint. Even with disappointing bun, the Thunder Burger is still the best burger in the Georgetown.

Fuddruckers
For price it charges, Fuddruckers DC may be one of the most over-priced burgers I have ever had. Avoid unless you love their salsa and other assorted topping bar for burger or just love their melted cheese. I happen to love their melted cheese dispenser.

Guarapo
Guarapo in Courthouse Arlington, just a few blocks away from Rays. served perfectly cooked Mama’s Burger. The burger is made with 8 oz sirloin beef pimento cheese, lettuce, pico de gallo (fresh salsa) and fresh guacamole. I absolutely liked the fresh salsa and guacamole on my burger. PS. I also like it’s name – Mama Burger.

The Cheesecake Factory
I never thought of The Cheesecake Factory as having a good burger. Their burgers, known as Glamburgers, are made with charbroiled Kobe or Angus beef served on toasted brioche bun. I was quite surprised by decent quality of the Cheesecake Factory burgers.

J Paul’s
J. Paul’s Burgers are simple and grilled as requested and served on brioche bun. Since J Pauls already serves variety of seafood entrée, this place is good for burgers when not everyone in your dining party eats beef. The burgers are average restaurant burger but this is the place I started developing my appreciation for a good burger.

Disclaimer
First, this is my personal list of favorite burgers in DC and in no way is any methodological burger ranking . I also don’t claim to have eaten every noteworthy burger in DC metro. However, I did eat more than two dozen burgers – mostly in places recommended by friends and hyped in the media.  I would love some more suggestions for good burger places in DC for next year’s update since couple of more specility burger restaurant are opening up this year as “DC has gone burger crazy”.

A steakhouse named Medium Rare is pretty witty. Like many foodies, it has been my pet peeve when people order an expensive steak well done – at least go with the medium well.

What is medium rare?
Meat cooked medium rare would have warm bloody red center and cooked to 145°F (63 °C), which is minimum recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture for beef steaks to kill bacteria responsible for foodborne illness.  The recommended time varies for others, such as burger, and can be found here.

Image based on photo by Naotakem

The Restaurant – Medium Rare
Medium Rare follows the same concept as the famous French restaurant L’entrecote founded in 1960s. The New York branch of L’entrecote has been serving similar prix fixe menu with green salad with mustard vinaigrette/walnuts, steak entrée and steak fries for $24 since 2009. The Medium Rare restaurant in Washington DC has a minimalistic causal vibe. The tables are draped with disposable white paper sheets, instead of the tablecloth with causal and warm interiors. The food is served from open kitchen, where you can observe what cooks are doing with your food. The location is convenient, right across the Cleveland Park metro station in Washington DC.

The one prix fixe entrée for $20 in the Medium Rare restaurant consists; French country loaf (Pain de champagne), mixed green salad, and sirloin cap steak.

The Bread
Bread is the French country white rustic bread. The bread was fresh and had a nice crispy crust with fluffy inside.

The Salad
The simple salad is made with romaine lettuce and tomatoes and some sort of vinaigrette. The salad is a normal house salad, however we wished the greens in the salad to be slightly greener.

The Steak
The Medium Rare restaurant serve dry-aged sirloin cap steak sliced into about half dozen pieces with French fries. At first instant, when I saw the steak portion I was disheartened by the small portion size.

However, there is a food runner who brings you a second portion after you are done with the first.

The steak came smothered with a warm brown homemade sauce. The sauce was mildly sweet, slightly creamy, and look similar to gravy. I loved the sauce while my dining partner didn’t enjoy it much – maybe serving it on side is a better idea.

The Dessert
Among apple pie, chocolate fudge cake, sundae, carrot cake and cheesecake, we chose the carrot cake. The portion was just big enough to be split between the two people after the steak dinner. The carrot cake had plenty of nuts and was lightly spiced. I liked the cake because it was not overtly sweet – which may not be preferred by others. The price of $8 was bit high considering the price of entrée but not too bad.

The Drink
There is a limited selection of red wines, white wines and beers – four to five option each. I am fine with the minimalistic selection. They also serve coffee. I got cappuccino after dinner. It was one of the most expensive small cups of cappuccino I ever had – damage worth $6.

Vegetarian Option at Medium Rare
If you don’t eat beef and going there – why you would do is beyond me – there is rumored off the menu item with portobello mushroom instead of beef. I am not sure if portobello mushrooms are cooked medium rare as well.

The main attraction of the Medium Rare restaurant is its highly affordable prix fixe steak entrée, convenient location, and the causal atmosphere. The restaurant is already quite busy – without reservations, it took us nearly 45 minutes to 1 hour to get dinner on weeknight. The wait was worth the dinner.

Momo: the sound, the ambience and the memory of its smell could bring water to the mouth. In Kathmandu valley, this steamed dish used to be commonly cooked by the Newar community. Momo is primarily made with the ground buffalo meat wrapped in thin dough about 3 inches in diameter from all purpose flour called maida.

Water buffalo meat could be the primary reason that momos were limited to the Newar and handful of other community in the past. Due to the religious taboos, the buffalo meat was prohibited amongst other castes. Many Nepalese believe momo originated from Tibet, but similar dishes are found throughout the Central Asia. In recent years, the popularity of momo has risen very high – you probably won’t find anyone in Kathmandu who doesn’t like momo or at least have heard about it. Now, you can easily find momos with turkey, chicken, goat, beef or mixed vegetables. The prevalence of vegetarian Momo is the proof of the momo mania.

Momo is normally eaten with a sauce made out of tomato, cilantro and sesame seed and/or combination of one or many types of nuts such as cashews, peanuts, walnuts. Adding nuts to the sauce not only provides a good source of needed fat for your body but also gives a unique taste that makes a “plate” licking dish. Although momo comes in many different shapes/sizes and with varieties of meat, the best and the authentic Kathmandu Momo would be the one made with the ground buffalo meat.

No one could dispute momos is the mostly eaten street food in the Kathmandu as well as a party dish for Nepal expat community living abroad. In the United States, I make Momo with the turkey meat. This is not by my choice but what I can commonly find in local grocery stores. Many people make momo with wrapper that is freshly made using all purpose flour. For me, that is an extra chore. Thus, for my own convenience, I use wonton wrapper, easy to wrap and readily available in most Asian (e.g., Korean) grocery stores. Oh yeah- wrapping the momo requires a skill. If your momo is wrapped too tightly and close to the meat, it might not be as good as the one that has a small space between the meat and the wonton.

Ingredients:

Ground Turkey (approximately 1.5 lb)
1 pack of wonton wrapper – about 45 pieces
Cumin powder – 1 teaspoon
Black Salt – 1/8 – teaspoon
Salt – 1 teaspoon
Black pepper -  ¼ teaspoon
Ginger paste – ½ teaspoon
Garlic paste – ½ teaspoon
Momo masala – 1 tablespoon (optional)
Vegetable oil – 1/5 cup
Cinnamon  - ¼ teaspoon
Butter – 2 tablespoon
Timur – 1/6 teaspoon (similar to sezuan pepper)
Chopped or crushed Cabbage – 1 cup
Crushed dried onion – ¼ cup
Tomoato paste – ¼ cup
Crushed parsley – 2 teaspoon
Crushed red pepper 1/4 teaspoon

How to prepare Momo?

Add all the ingredients together (beside wonton wrapper) mentioned above in a bowl that is large enough to mix them all together.

Best if mixed with bare (cleaned) hand for about 10/15 minutes.

Upon mixing, you can put one tsp of mixed meat on to each wonton wrapper and wrap it leaving a space between meat and flour. Spray some vegetable oil on the steamer or rub some hardened butter or ghee. Place wrapped momo on steamer.

Steam for 10/12 minutes. The good indicator is when the dough just turns from dull matte texture to slightly shiny.

Serve with sauce of your choice.

Momo is the dish that can be most enjoyed making and eating with group – rather than just by yourself.

Related Dumpling Posts

• Tuna Momo with the easiest momo sauce
• Counting Calories in Momo
• Momo Recipe – In Memory of Kathmandu’s Momocha
• My attempt at making vegetarian momo
• Classic Momo Sauce – Roasted tomatoes and cilantro
• My Momo