October 2008 Archives

I had an extra half hour yesterday so I concocted this incredible cauliflower, chick pea soup made mostly from refrigerator ingredients that needed to be used up before they went bad. Here's what to do...

Coarsely chop a medium size onion.

Heat a soup pot on a medium flame.

Cover the bottom surface of the pot with olive oil.

Add the chopped onion and a pinch of salt.

Add a couple of peeled garlic cloves sliced thinly and...
half a jalapeno cored, de-seeded and chopped finely.

Stir.
Anoint all with a pinch of red pepper flakes.

After everything begins to sweat... about five minutes or so... add a big spoon of tomato paste, stir and let caramelize.

Now add about a half a head of cauliflower florets and cook for a few minutes... stirring all the while. Then...

Add about eight cups of chicken stock and the end rind of a hunk of Parmesan.

Bring all to a gentle simmer and cook for five minutes or more.

Meanwhile...
Rinse and drain a can of chick peas.

Then...
Bring a small pot of water to a boil.
Salt it.
Add a half a cup of tiny dried pasta like DeCecco's Farfalline no.95 and just undercook.
Drain pasta reserving about a half a cup of pasta water.

Add pasta, reserved pasta water and half of the drained chick peas to soup.

Add a couple large handfuls of fresh spinach and stir.

Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Serve piping hot in deep bowls atop of hunks of stale bread and garnished with freshly grated Parmesan.

Soak it all up and enjoy... Delish!!!

When it comes right down to it...

All we want to do at Just Simply... Cuisine is change the way America eats so that we begin to care more about our food. Food that is fresh, local, seasonal, and REAL...like sweet July peaches or the juiciest tomatoes ever... ones from Jersey... in August!

We believe in creating fond memories and rich traditions around what we cook and eat. So...

every Thanksgiving Eve we make a big pot of fish chowder while preparing the next day's feast and on Friday nights at our house it's homemade Coppola's pizza for any number of hungry eaters who just happen to drop in for a slice or two. Summer wouldn't be summer without a taste of Gus' s fried chicken and... Eggs Benedict on Christmas morning is a breakfast we yearn for all year long.

Washington DC is our starting place to rekindle America's taste buds. From the Chesapeake Bay with its abundant blue crabs to the Shenandoah Valley's farm fresh dairies... our nation's capital and beyond is a hotbed of pure ingredients for the home kitchens of some of our world's most "food savvy" cooks.

Just Simply... Cuisine's Beyond Delicious DC food blog is an insider's view of Washington DC's best eats and resources for home cooking and eating. We'll provide a repertoire of some of our favorite foods, vendors and recipes made from our region's finest local ingredients.

Over the past years, we've have been fortunate enough to cultivate friendships with a host of food purveyors throughout the city. Whether it's Jesse Taylor Seafood at Maine Avenue's Southwest Waterfront, Todito Market in Adams Morgan, Vace Italian Foods in Cleveland Park or the Fresh Farms Market at Dupont Circle, we've happened upon DC's best eats by "getting to know" whose behind them. Beyond Delicious DC will introduce you to our special friends with the hope that over time you, too, will frequent their haunts. Only then will you realize it is they who are the"pulse"of Washington DC's food culture as you experience their unique food talents firsthand.

Our sincere gratitude goes to each and every one of our cooking students who have taken classes with Just Simply...Cuisine. It is your encouragement that inspires us to share our menu creations through Beyond Delicious DC.