Brasserie Beck, DC

While riding the Metro one day, I asked a resident of DC her opinion of the best food in town. She recommended Brasserie Beck. We called ahead and obtained an early reservation. 

We ordered a salmon in a citrus reduction along with a glazed duck breast. We decided to try it as the chef recommended: medium rare. 

The side C selected was brussel sprouts. If you have never longed to eat brussel sprouts before, perhaps you will now. 

While there are some places where one would "share" off of another's plate, there are some that you would abide by proper etiquette. We asked for the entrees to be divided ahead of time, and just look at the beautiful presentation! 

We topped off our visit with a crème brulée, complete with a dark chocolate-raspberry swizzle stick and a hand-made berry swirl cookie.

 It was truly leaps and bounds over the crème brulée offered by the Tabard Inn Restaurant the night before, although the Tabard fruit crumble pastry was delightful. 

Cheese!!!

While in Seattle last month, we had the pleasure of tasting many wonderful cheeses. The International cheese plate at Ventana (above) certainly did not disappoint, and neither did the bison burger, but the winner that evening was the black truffle fries. They lured even this french fry snubbing food snob into finger-licking delight.

   One day for lunch we gathered a few scraps of loverly cheeses at a well-stocked deli and had the pleasure of meeting a white truffle cheese that made my hair curl in delight. 

No Woman Cheese, a Jamaican jerk-spiced cheese, is handmade locally by Beechers, and also became a favorite:

The loser at our lunch cheese-tasting (paired with Rainier cherries and crackers), was this creamy little non-delight. The terra cotta ramekin did last, but the cheese quickly found its way to the garbage can. 


Since returning home, I discovered my new favorite: a loverly English white Stilton with Lemon. I saved a morsel or two for the Cheese Connoisseur, who readily agreed. Sorry, we ate it too quickly, so no pic!

Lemon Pepper Chicken with Grilled

Truth is, I have been cooking, I just haven't been posting.
Lemon pepper on chicken breasts, pan 'grilled' in olive oil spray:

Oven roasted tomatoes and garden fresh crook-neck pan 'grilled' only in the residual olive oil on the roasted tomatoes:

Romaine-Feta-Valdosta-Strawberry salad with Litehouse Blueberry Pomegranate dressing: