National Pancake Day

National pancake day
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

In honor of National Pancake Day we had pancakes for dinner. It was a great succes.
We assembled topings









Heated up the griddle (dog looks on)



and cooked some pancakes



The boy ordered bacon chocolate chip





Fun night with the kids.

w00tstock 2.7

Poster battle
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

This is a departure somewhat of where my blog has been headed for the last several years. Initially I imagined this would be more geek culture along with some food, but it has turned out to be way more food and cooking than gaming or geeking. So back to geeks and nerds. My daughter and I went to w00tstock 2.7 in NYC.



Just the two of us traveled to NYC, we did stay with my brother and his wife, and invited them to join us at the show. For the uninitiated w00tstock is a celebration of all that is nerdy, geek and otherwise awesome. Giving credit that in the real world we (geeks and nerds) run shit.
Jonathan Coulton stood in for Will Wheaton as the host at this show...



But we also had Grant Imahara (from Myth busters)



As well as Adam Savage (also from Myth Busters)



Most surprising and enjoyable was Marian Call

Marian Call at w00tstock 2.7 from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

MC Frontalot was there as well and rocked it out.

We got some photobombs with Coulton and Storm



and ultimately loved the show and total experience.



Some nice daughter dad bonding.

Full Kee Dim Sum

Pork buns
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

Took the boy for Dim Sum on Sunday, we had not been since our original trip. It really is a great place, busy varied dishes, pleasant staff and large family groups. We really should go more often.
This go around we had Duck on Rice



Probably my favorite Lotus wrapped stuffed sticky rice



Shrimp is some sort of soggy tasty wrapper (don't think that is the official description)



and crispy shrimp rolls and stuffed pork buns



We ate as much as we really cared to everything delicious accompanied by some hot tea. Lots of fun and a nice finish to our culinary weekend.

Secco Wine Bar

The boy
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

The boy and I went out on Saturday and we chose Secco Wine Bar for dinner. We sat at the Bar as all the tables where taken and checked out the menu. We Started with a cheese plate with one cheese substituted with Jamon Iberico.



We chose one VA cheese, one VT. It is served with toasted bread some quince paste and some berry compote. We enjoyed it very much. We then selected 4 small plates which we both shared.
We ordered the octopus



Which came with some potato and ink. Delicious.
Duck confit with pasta



Also very good, but not as lively a taste as the other plates.
Flamenquines, which are fried rolls of pork



excellent with the crispy potato strings
and pork rillete



served with dehydrated apple crisps and mustard. (The boy referred to it as a jar of lard, but didn't stop him from voraciously eating his half)
For dessert whe shared the bread pudding and the chocolate ganache ribbon. Both excellent





On the way back home we stopped in at One Eyed Jacques and bought a set of Zombie Dice, which we played a couple of rounds before bedtime. Great dinner and entertainment.

Grilled lamb with eggplant and green beans

lamb.1
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

My daughter fell in love with some rack of lamb we had on vacation and wanted to try and make it. The one she had eaten came with a demiglace sauce so we tried that too. We first marinated two frenched racks of lamb. The marinade we made in the blender out of the following:
6 large figs
2 sprigs of rosemary
4 cloves of garlic
¼ cup of olive oil
2 tablespoons of apple juice
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 tsp of salt
4 black peppercorns
1 tsp of capers
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
We coated the racks and let them sit overnight in the fridge.



The next day we started the sauce with some beef soup bones that we bought at the SOJ market. We painted them in tomato paste.



and roasted them on the grill (but it can be done in the oven, just it's summer and all...) till well browned.



In a stock pot we covered the bones in water, added some carrots, half an onion, a head of garlic, and a bay leaf. Brought it to a boil, skimmed the foam and then turned to a simmer for 45 min.

For the demiglace sauce we reduced one bottle of red wine, 2 cups of beef stock and 2 cups of chicken stock all down to one cup of liquid. (Kind of interesting effect of causing it to hard boil when a skewer touches the bottom of the pan)



The sauce was then finished with a tablespoon of butter, salt and pepper to taste, a little honey to balance the acid.

For sides we roasted some eggplants (SOJ market) with oregano, salt, pepper, olive oil and whole heads of garlic



and we steamed some green beans (Also SOJ)



The lamb was grilled to medium rare



and cut into two rib pieces for serving





It turned out very good particularly the lamb with crusty edges and pink center. The fig can be just tasted in the marinade. The sauce took forever but was incredibly rich and meaty tasting. We had fun start to finish with probably one of the more complicated meals my daughter has cooked with me from sauce to meat, and two sides we made everything together. And enjoyed it!



Go cook with your kids!

Blackberry Ribs

rub Ribs
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

The Girl picked a recipe for baby back ribs and we made them this weekend.

For 5 lb of ribs we created a rub using
5 tablespoons of chili powder
8 garlic cloves minced
8 peppercorns crushed
2 tablespoons of salt
2 tablespoons of dry oregano
2 tablepsoons of cumin
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of soy sauce

We rubbed the ribs in this paste



and rubbed



on all sides including the bone side



We then covered them and let them rest in the fridge for 3 hrs while we made the sauce. Ingredients

close to 3 cups of blackberries (ours where fresh)
1/4 cup ketchup
2 roma tomatos
3/4 cup of honey
1/2 cup of fresh ginger

This was all put in a blender and blended



We then strained and cooked the suace till it reduced by half



taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper (and or hot sauce) as needed



The ribs were cooked on the grill at around 250-300 degrees for 2 hours We added some smoke from dried thyme and rosemary that had succumbed to the heat. Finally se basted with the sauce till they looked like this





We served it with pimiento de padron fried and served over salt



Which makes a great tapa by the way... these were from La Tienda



Even the dog got a taste of ribs



but mostly we enjoyed them, and the fun of cooking with my kids!



My daughter is a stickler for following the recipe and deserves all the credit on not letting me screw up.