three best bites: who ever thought to put potato salad in a pepper?
These best bites feel a little like cheating. Saturday night, Jesse and I went with friends to The Dabney, which I’m inclined to call D.C.’s best restaurant. It’s a special occasion spot, an experience in the best sense of the word. There’s a tasting menu, the service is great without being over the top, and you’ll learn all about where the meat, produce and dairy products are sourced from.
At one point in the middle of the meal, I looked up from my plate and interrupted the conversation to sigh dramatically and say, “I love food.” l As I write this newsletter nearly 24 hours later, I’m still full.
stuffed shishito pepper AND grilled soft shell crab: These dishes — literal bites! — were the highlight of my meal at The Dabney. I’m a sucker for a shishito in pretty much any form, and these were like nothing I’ve ever tasted. They were perfectly blistered and then stuffed with potato salad, of all things. The cold potatoes and the warm, crisp pepper were the perfect foils.
The shishitos arrived near the start of the meal. About 45 minutes later, in the middle of the appetizer courses, our server told us we were getting a bonus dish because it’s the height of crab season. We’d already eaten crab-stuff squash blossoms, and soon, little cocktail glasses full of grilled soft shell crab (and copious amounts of butter) appeared.
I’ve always been confused by people who get upset about the idea of soft shell crab. I’ve met more of these people than you’d think. Something about the word “shell” sets them off, as if they’re going to choke on shards hidden beneath the fried surface. It’s like being afraid of chicken skin.
But I digress. Soft shell crab, in its usual fried form, isn’t my crab of choice. It’s tasty, but it tastes more like fried than it does like crab. But these little grilled soft shell morsels — oh my god. They were everything that’s great about crab, without the work, and the crispy edible shell was a fun contrast to the butter-drenched meat. You’d better believe I immediately looked up recipes when I got home, and I’m determined to recreate this dish someday.
roast beef and cheddar sandwich on focaccia: I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the virtues of making one bread item (a loaf, a batch of rolls, a bunch of English muffins) each week and using it to build breakfasts and lunches around. Making bread is so satisfying and SO cheap, compared to buying anything freshly baked at a grocery store or bakery. And the stuff you make at home lasts longer, by virtue of it ending up on people’s plates sooner.
Last Monday, I made a quarter-sheet of focaccia using this recipe, but halving it, which works great every time. I was solo, which meant I had toasted focaccia for breakfast some days and hunks of focaccia dipped in olive oil as snacks — but the highlight was the sandwich I made no fewer than three times. It was simple: I sliced a rectangle of focaccia — choose your own adventure on the size — in half, smeared one side with copious amounts of pepper jelly and then piled on roast beef and thick slices of English cheddar. It was the easiest lunch (and dinner), and so satisfying.
even more layer cake: I alluded last week to a massive cake-related undertaking that may or may not be monopolizing my time these days, and let me assure you: My time is still monopolized. The most recent creation is decadent and has a ratio of cake to chocolate ganache that’s not too far from 1:1. It includes a layer of chopped caramelized hazelnuts that have been sprinkled with hot chile powder and seaweed flakes. If I were a cake, I’d want to be this cake.
The recipe is from Natasha Pickowicz’s “More Than Cake,” which I can’t quite stop raving about.
Last week, I read Angie Kim’s new novel, “Happiness Falls,” which grabbed me at the outset but ended up dragging on longer than I wanted it to. All in all, though, I’m glad I read it.
A couple of the new novels I’ve read recently or put on my to-read list have involved the pandemic, which I guess is natural given the publishing calendar. Still, it’s been a little jarring. In Rebecca Makkai’s “I Have Some Questions for You,” most of the story arc happens before 2020, but then there’s a flash forward to mid-pandemic times. Ann Patchett’s “Tom Lake,” which I’d like to read soon, is set during lockdown, but based on the synopsis, a lot of the action happens in flashbacks.
And then there’s “Happiness Falls,” which drops readers right into June of 2020. There are some flashbacks, sure, but the bulk of the book is set squarely in the early-ish days of the pandemic; there are masks and rules and local health departments calling about contact tracing. I found myself remembering moments from my own early pandemic experience that I’d shoved away to the dusty back corners of my brain, and I’m not sure I liked it. I’m also amazed at how quickly I’ve managed to forget that constant drumbeat of stress, and I’m not sure I want to read too many more books that make me un-forget it.