Working Lunch

So after years of knowing a co-worker and both being relocated from California to the DC metro area we finally had our first working lunch. All I can say is that we should have started this working lunch idea years ago. Why you ask...because he is a foodie just like I am. Chef Enzo Fargione opened his restaurant Elisir on 11th Street in Downtown near the end of 2011. The original was an Italian fine dining concept with tasting menus and the average check around $130. Fargione eventually came to realize that the expensive Italian restaurant concept wasn't working and he closed the restaurant for about 10 days and rebranded it as Osteria Elisir with a more country Italian feel. With the new decor come lower prices and more simple, home-style cooking, I had been dying to go. Most of my co-workers still felt it was too expensive for lunch and to be honest after I get off work, I really don't want to stay in the area. So when my co-worker from Cali wanted to go I was more than willing.

I ordered the Saffron Tortelli. It is filled with a creamy ricotta and spinach and served with braised veal cheeks sauce.

My co-worker got the Spinach Tagliatelle with duck ragu, porcini, Grana cheese, and red wine. I am pleased to say that my foodie co-worker was more than willing to get side plates so that we could share. All the pasta is house made and in addition, most of the times the dishes are prepared by Chef Enzo Fargione (or his sous-chef).


Osteria Elisir is one of my co-worker’s favorite places to eat and I am happy that he introduced me to it. I look forward to sharing this place with other foodie friends in the area.

Diving into a Volcano

Today was one of those days that I had been looking forward to for months. My boyfriend and I were finally going to be able to get to spend some time together and we were sharing that time by jumping out of an airplane. Yes, you heard me right…skydiving. He picked me up and we took the hour plus drive out to wine country in Virginia to enjoy being away from the city and to catch up on the past week. We both have pretty busy careers and having this time to catch up is precious.

We got out to the jump space; the sun was shining but a few clouds started to roll in…which meant a jump delay. No worries because we had plenty of entertainment surrounding us. A couple was on their first date going skydiving and it didn’t seem to be going in the direction either was hoping for. The young woman had a decently thick accent the her date took that to mean he needed to yell at her as everyone knows the louder you speak English the better.

As we waited for another half hour or so the winds picked up and we heard a ripping metal noise.  As someone who has spent plenty of time around barns with metal roofs I knew exactly what that sound was. Sure enough one of the roof panels on the barn style hanger had been lifted and bent up. So needless to say we took that as a sign that we should reschedule and call it a day. My boyfriend was already a bit anxious about the jump and a tin roof ripping off a barn wasn’t going to help settle anyone down! I also had no interest in waiting another 3hrs for the winds to calm down. So we rescheduled and headed out to where we were going to have dinner.

There is a unique little place in Gainesville, VA called Volcano Hot Stone Grill. So the concept of this place is grilling on volcanic rock. Some volcanic stones have unique and valuable properties.  Cooled lava rock is a poor conductor of heat (meaning it tends to hold heat inside rather than release it quickly) so it makes an excellent cooking stone. Ancient cultures used nothing but flat stones for cooking, considered the ancestor to the frying pan and the griddle. So Volcano will heat lava rock for 6 to 8 hours to a temperature of 550 Fahrenheit. 

As you know from other posts my boyfriend is a foodie. What I didn’t know is that he loves, loves, love poutine. So as soon as he saw the Montreal Poutine on the menu it was a must order. For those of you who don’t know what poutine is (because I didn’t) it’s a classic Quebec dish with a mixture of fries, peppered gravy and fromage beaucronne (cheese curds). And it was pretty damn good a Volcano. The gravy was on point!

As for dinner we both ordered the “Wild Plate” so that we could share all of the wild game that was available. We had elk, wild boar, kangaroo, bison, and a filet mignon. The entrees arrived at the table bursting with aroma, seared and sizzling on a hot volcanic stone!  You get to finish cooking the wild meat to your perfect level of "doneness." I must say that we both loved the kangaroo. It was a lean dark meat like a steak but a flavor that I can’t really describe properly. Maybe a cross between beef and venison. Whatever it is though, it’s lovely!

We also shared the “starch” side dishes. I wasn’t a fan of the tri-colored mashed potatoes. They looked pretty but were dry. The potato au-gratin with boar bacon now that is more my taste but of course it had bacon so you can’t loose with that.

For those of you looking for something unusual and not in the local DC area by all means go try this place out and get the kangaroo!

Bacon Brunch Wreath

This was a major hit for Christmas morning brunch with my family. I had to make two wreaths to feed six people. But two of them are pretty eaters; my dad and my boyfriend. I put bacon, sausage, and Hatch Green Chilies in mine. But you can mix and match your own version as you like.

1 can of crescents rolls 8 count
5 large eggs
8 slices of fully cooked bacon but not crispy because it will cook more in the oven
2 large links of garlic sausage (cooked & sliced into bite-sized pieces)
Santa Fe Philly Cooking Creme
1/4 cup of 505 fire roasted green chilies (or a can of drained green chilies).

Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Scramble your eggs on stove top.

 Lay out crescents on a parchment lined pizza pan as shown above. 

Use a spoon the spread as much Santa Fe Philly Cooking Creme as you prefer for taste on the flattened crescent rolls. I ended up using about 2 tablespoons. 

After you have put the cooking creme on the rolls, place the cooked bacon on each triangle piece. Add about 1/3 of your cheese.

Add your eggs and a third more of your cheese and fold crescents over. 

Bake for 17 minutes or until the crescents are done and golden brown.

Fresh out of the oven, add the rest of your cheese for a fresh melt.

Serve hot & garnish with fresh salsa, more cheese and maybe even some sour creme.