Floriana is an elegant restaurant located in a brownstone near Dupont Circle. The quality of the service and food rise up to the level set by the surroundings.
I started with this sweet onion soup. It included the traditional bread underneath but avoided the heavy cheese cap. The onions were filled with umami. The broth soaked into the bread providing a satisfyingly soft texture and taste.
My salmon was very fresh and perfectly cooked. Underneath was a bed of diced potatoes, possibly Yukon Gold, that provided just the right carbohydrate cushion.
I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...



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