Virginia Highlands: Cacao Opening Party

As Hyesoon and I finished up at La Tavola, the woman at the next table asked me about my camera. When I explained that it was for my food blog, she invited us around the corner to the opening of her sister's new chocolate shop. As it turns out, her sister is Kristen Hard, a nationally-known chocolatier. The shop is her third location of Cacao, one of those many places I'd read about but hadn't yet visited. She roasts her own cacao beans, for goodness sake. What a treat!

Invited guests filled the shop and spilled out onto the sidewalk. A band played in the front window. The food, of course, was exquisite. You can see a sample of chocolate truffles in this photo. I noticed an apricot balsamic number. Given my recent obsession with fruit and balsamic vinegar, I had to try it. The flavor was an amazing balance of sweet and just enough tang; the texture of the truffle was perfect. My absolute favorite was the salted caramel gelato. I can't imagine how much experimentation was required to get the right amount of salt into an ice cream, but it was perfect.

And here is a photo of Kristen and me...

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Eating Around Georgia Tech: Ecco

Our Texas Instruments colleague Cathy Wicks was gracious enough to host several of us at Ecco tonight. This is one of those restaurants that has been on my list for a long time. Even though it is within easy walking distance of Georgia Tech, I hadn't made it there until tonight. The menu is a combination of Italian, Spanish, and French that make use of some local Georgia ingredients. The combination of those three countries is sometimes a little forced, although the georgia ingredients (fruit, cheese) were all great and perfectly appropriate. We started out with a meat and cheese board. This actually reverses the French tradition, where cheese usually follows the main course. Everything was excellent. The Georgia cheese was a big hit, as was the French cow/goat cheese. I thought the sauscisson was very subtle and very good. The waitress said that the roast pork pasta was their signature dish, so I had to try it. It had traditional broad pasta (fresh, of course) ...

DCA: Cava Mezze Grill

Cava is a DC area chain with light Mediterranean food. Saibal encouraged me to try lunch at their airport location and I was very happy with the experience. I ordered falafel on SuperSalad with assorted other toppings. The falafel was tasty. The SuperSalad was light, flavorful, and very easy to eat. Overall, a healthy and enjoyable lunch, something you can't always say about airport eating.

Pressure Cooker Candied Ginger

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...

Atlanta etc.: Marilyn Wolf's Food Blog and Restaurant Blog

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