DCA: Ben's Chili Bowl

Ben's Chili Bowl is nationally known. After a visit to its location at Reagan National Airport, I understand why.

The classic at Ben's is the half-smoke. It's a form of chili dog that, as it turns out, is a cousin to the New Jersey Texas weiner. The dog is served with mustard, chopped onions, and the chili. Ben's chili is prepared with cumin, which gives it a tangy flavor that I love. The dog's casing gives a healthy snap when you bite into it. I didn't catch any of the smoke flavor but the dog had a great taste and texture.

The surprise star of the meal was the basket of chili cheese fries. That chili really stands out when paired with melted cheese. The fries are both the ideal transport mechanism and a great flavor complement---their starch really matches up well with the chili and cheese. This dish also taught me a valuable lesson. The cheese ladled onto the fries is pretty standard stuff, but the dish wouldn't taste a bit better with organic, farm-to-table cheddar. The simple fact of the fat and protein of the cheese is the ingredient needed to balance out the chili and fries. Sometimes fancy just gets in the way of good.

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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

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