Posts Tagged ‘relish’
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, December 16th, 2010
Break out those thinking caps, Gut Checkers!
(And it might not hurt to have a few back issues and/or our features page open. But you didn’t hear that from me).
Now, the rules of the trivia challenge are pretty simple.
All the restaurant-related trivia questions were derived from the past 12 months of reviews. The first 10 people to correctly answer all 10 questions–please send all submissions to warren@northernvirginiamag.com–will win a gift certificate to one of our participating restaurants. In the case of a tie, we’ll pick a winner at random from all the correct responses.
Submissions will be accepted until noon EST on Monday, December 20.
You ready? Then have at it!
2010 Relish Trivia Quiz:
Question 1: At what local gastropub was I unexpectedly greeted (and perhaps professionally “outed”) by a high school chum?
Question 2: What 50 Best Restaurant bowled me over with homemade donuts and sumptuous dipping sauces?
Question 3: What local hot dog haven cooks all their wieners in Dale’s Pale Ale?
Question 4: What LoCo bbqpreneur boasts a homemade hot sauce forged from 17 fiery peppers?
Question 5: Which Bavarian-born butcher treats his clients to seasonally-inspired spiessbraten?
Question 6: What ice cream oasis saved an ill-equipped fellow bicyclist from certain doom?
Question 7: What exurban cafe pads their signature paninis with pairings like bacon and apple or peppermint and Nutella?
Question 8: Which Tunisian restaurateur takes great pride in his Merguez-based mezze?
Question 9: What Crystal City eatery’s fish tacos did I feel completely floundered?
Question 10: Which licentious bingo caller showers patrons with vintage Barbies and off-color humor?
In order to avoid any confusion, please make sure to tag all responses with the question number (Q1, Q2, Q3, etc.) you are attempting to answer.
Good luck!
–Warren
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
By Warren Rojas
Plying chefs with high-test java is one way to spark culinary innovation.
Streaming a jolt of uber-concentrated Joe right into the food, though, is so much more fun.
Java Juice’s concentrated “liquid coffee extract” (dubbed “black gold”) makes amping up your favorite recipe—brownies, cocktails, steak marinades—a breeze, delivering the fresh brewed flavor of a full cup of organic Arabica beans in a 1/2-ounce shot (raw stuff tastes like a mildly green espresso).
Available in original, French vanilla, hazelnut or decaf.
Java Juice is available locally at adventure retailers like Arlington’s Casual Adventure and REI, or online via Amazon. To learn more about Java Juice, please visit: www.javajuiceextract.com.
(July 2009)
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Friday, May 29th, 2009
By Warren Rojas
Montebello Kitchen dressings (Photography by Hana Jung)
If bare-naked salads remain your final salvo before bikini/beach season, allow us to add another arrow to your quiver: Montebello Kitchen’s gourmet dressings.
Rosehip and Herb blasts the senses with robust tomatoes, limey pizzazz and cracked black pepper (hearty, yet healthful). The orange juice-fueled citronette delivers more of a mustard-light onion barrage (savory).
Or dump the low-cal creations (30 calories per tomato serving, 50 calories for the citronette) on your favorite protein for a no-fuss marinade.
Montebello Kitchen dressings are available locally at Whole Foods. To view the entire MK dressings collection, please visit: www.montebellokitchens.com.
(May 2009)
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, March 26th, 2009
Pining for a taste of summer even as winter continues to fester?
By Warren Rojas
Sweet Relish of Peppers & Onions / Photography by Hana Jung
Cracking open a jar of Gracie’s Garden Tidewater Relish is like leaping back into the best childhood barbecue memory you ever had—you know, the one where you slathered a well-blistered frank with a tangy mix of sweet and hot peppers (more bell than jalapeno) buttressed by a firm apple cider kick (yowza!).
In fact, I may just have to fire up the grill tonight…
Gracie’s Garden products are available locally at Tea, Lace & Roses in Culpeper and Leesburg Pharmacy. To view the full GG catalog or order online, please visit: www.graciesgardenva.com.
(March 2009)
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, February 19th, 2009
By Warren Rojas
Photography by Hana Jung
If epicurean bling is your thing, Inedible Jewelry can most likely cook up just what you’ve been craving.
Sisters Jessica and Susan Partain turned their childhood passion for fake foodstuffs into a full-time business in 2006.
Susan said ladies seem to favor cupcakes, lollipops and avocado accessories while gents fancy T-bone steak and sushi cuff links.
The strangest request to date has probably been taiyaki (fish-shaped, Japanese waffles), though Susan said they’ll try anything. “We love special requests,” she stated.
Meanwhile, the Partains’ debut food charm “cookbook” is set for release this fall.
To add some tantalizing trinkets to your collection, visit: www.inediblejewelry.com.
(February 2009)
Summer’s Bounty (Below Freezing)
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Friday, January 9th, 2009
By Warren Rojas
Photography by Hana Jung
“They look like rice,” one coworker opined upon spying the frost-covered grains of cryogenically preserved Fruit Pearls.
But unlike rice, each pastel-colored pellet releases a torrent of exotic flavors—from a guava-mango love fest (fruitiest of the whole bunch) to mixed berries awash in vanilla-ish cream (strong raspberry and yogurt undercurrents here).
Some coworkers groused about the residual pulpiness (it is fruit-based, after all). Yet the chocolate-strawberry mix (a sweet-bitter partnership) seemed to disappear before a single kernel could thaw.
Fruit Pearls currently come in six flavors: banana berry, chocolate strawberry, guava mango, strawberry, tropical and wild berries and cream. To increase your iced-citrus intake, please visit: www.fruit-pearls.com.
(January 2009)
Quaint Space, Tremendous Tastes
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Monday, December 8th, 2008
By Warren Rojas
Photography by Hana Jung
Leesburg’s Lorraine “Lola” Hooper has won the hearts (and bellies) of neighbors with her award-winning baked goods.
And while her signature ginger-chocolate cookies certainly turn heads (piquant dough, gooey center), we dig the rotating cupcake selection.
One zest-filled number is slathered in lemony-sweet frosting (tartacular). Milk chocolate serves as base (crumbly, mocha-like bedding), middle (ravishing ganache adorns multiple creations) and accent (white-chocolate shavings imbue creaminess) extraordinaire. Meanwhile, seasonal gems (carrot cake, almond joy) split time with evergreen favorites (coconut).
Lola Cookies & Treats: 109 S. King St., Leesburg; 703-669-6970; www.lolacookies.com
(December 2008)
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Monday, December 8th, 2008
By Warren Rojas
Photography by Hana Jung
The year of the pig has come and gone. But you can now bask in the glory of skillet fried-swine ad infinitum with J&D’s Bacon Salt—a fat-free, vegetarian and kosher seasoning that gives everything a bacon-y twang with none of the calories.
Their four debut flavors include: hickory (slightly woody, but not overwhelming), natural (nice paprika chaser), original (good all-around spice) and peppered (nifty after-burn).
We have—so far—restrained ourselves from sprinkling this perfectly portable porcine panacea on actual bacon. But just about everything else has had its fair shake.
J&D’s Bacon Salt is available locally at Giant. To learn more, visit: www.baconsalt.com.
(November 2008)
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Monday, December 8th, 2008
By Warren Rojas
Photography by Hana Jung
Globe-trotters Charlie and Nona Pucciarello are looking to bottle their love of natural foods and healthy living with Tizane, a line of organic coolers brought to bear with little more than water, blue agave nectar and fragrant botanicals.
Debut flavors include:
Lemongrass (the mint-lemon tag team carries the day here); Hibiscus (romantic bouquet, courtesy of the rose hips); and, Jasmine (the most floral of the bunch, with a delicate sweetness).
Tizane is available locally at The Organic Butcher (McLean), Food Matters Café (Alexandria) and Natural Mercantile (Hamilton). To learn more, visit: www.tizane.com.
(October 2008)
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Monday, December 8th, 2008
By Warren Rojas
Veteran beekeeper Larry Kelley knows Virginia honeys quite intimately thanks to the “couple hundred hives” he tends in Fairfax, Fauquier and Loudoun Counties. His apiaries yield regional favorites, including: clover, thistle, wild flower and tulip poplar.
But Kelley most closely guards the sourwood, a prized Southeastern U.S. varietal that’s deep amber and has a lingering, licorice-like flavor.
“It’s just the mystique of the honey,” he said of the spicy-sweet strain, adding, “Most of this honey is consumed within 50 miles of the Blue Ridge Mountains.”
Kelley’s honeys are available locally at Krop’s Crops in Great Falls, Potomac Vegetable Farms in Vienna and Stoneybrook Farms in Hillsboro. For wholesale orders, call 540-635-1440.
(September 2008)
