Flank Steak, Skirt Steak, Round Steak - What?!?

I cooked beef fajitas tonight and used flank steak. They were great, and the flank steak really did work out well. However, I am used to cooking beef fajitas with skirt steak, but Safeway did not have any. So, my dilemma was - well, what do I want to use? They had some thin cut round steak which probably would have also worked well. Regardless, the meat was tender and flavorful with the usual, quick Italian dressing marinade. (Yeah, I know, go simple and miss out on creating your own marinade - whatever.)

Also, I like the meat to be tenderized because it cooks quicker and, in a way, makes more meat. Alas, I do not have a big, electric tenderizer like we used to use to tenderize venison at my dad's company land. So, I used my hand tenderizer (i.e. steel mallet) but I could only do so much. I'm not about to pound meat through the counters at our rental home. Stupid tenderizing. As a result, our fajitas were more like steak tacos...but whatever - suck it, Trebek!

Of course, homemade guacamole abounded, and we ate our fill. I love avocados. I love guacamole.

Step Something - Random Snacks on Connecticut Ave

This really has nothing to do with Steps One and Two from last Friday night. This post is about some snacks we had on Saturday afternoon after braving the gales at the Japanese street festival. Obviously, I'm exaggerating, but 30-40 mph gusts between the buildings on 12th St in DC were nasty.

After we snacked there (which was nothing of note at all) we headed to an area along Connecticut Ave that we knew had a few restaurants and some decent side-street parking. Well, after waiting forever in traffic (i.e. at least 30 minutes) to get past a dumbass wreck near the zoo, we parked and roamed a bit. We settled on some snacks and cheap wine at Yanni's. I don't know jack about the place, but we knew we could get some kalamata olives, feta cheese, and hummus - which my wife loves.

Yanni's was very laid-back, easy service, no one around but a few other patrons during this early Saturday afternoon. We ordered the cold appetizer plate - or something like that. It had hummus, feta, olives, tzatziki, etc, etc. It was good stuff and not that expensive for a lot of food. Plus, we threw in a large carafe of cheap house white wine and our afternoon was set.

So, whatever anyone else says about this place, if you're a)out on Connecticut Ave near Cleveland Park metro, b) like reasonably-priced Greek food, and c) also want cheap-ish wine, go to Yanni's. WERD.

MAP!

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By the way, I read a review on Yelp about this place that derided it for it's poor brunch. Really? You judge a restaurant based on brunch?!? Well done, my stupid reviewer, well done.

Step Two - Great Dinner

Brasserie Beck served up some great food for us on Friday night. Thanks again to our good friend LM for taking care of the little lady so we could go out and relax at dinner for a change.

We decided we would roll heavy at dinner and have a few drinks (even after drinks at Acadiana), some starters, and then two good entrees. So, let's move on to the goods.

First, we decided to have a beer named Bacchus that was a good Flemish red ale - as the menu says, light and easy and definitely with some cherry flavor. This was a great beer that I think would go well with many dishes. It was tasty.

Second, with those beers, we settled on two starters: fricassee of Burgundy snails with roasted garlic and herb butter and braised pork belly and rice beans. Both were excellent. My wife ate most of the snails while I did the pork in easily. They were both extremely flavorful and the pork belly was very moist and tender. Excellent starters.

Third, for dinner, I went with the roasted rabbit loin in framboise beer and my wife had the choucroute "en croute". From what I just read, apparently the name means something along the lines of "sauerkraut in puff pastry" - and it was wonderful. For those of you that know me, I love sausage and sauerkraut. This dish had sauerkraut, homemade sausage, other pork pieces, a boiled egg, and general awesomeness. Can awesome come in puff pastry form? Of course, and this is just one way.

As for my dinner, the rabbit loin was tender, cooked great, and went well with the framboise beer sauce. The sauce made it all even better with its fruitiness. Another well-made and well-presented dish. The rabbit was served with a simple side of potatoes and some greens.

Oh yeah. We had a pinot noir blanc with dinner, which was good too, but I am no wine snob such suck it! if you have anything to say about that choice. Plus, our server did a good job but he did seem a bit frazzled at one point. He's got to slow it down!

Good stuff. I am a big fan of Beck and will return. You should eat here!

Step 1 - Cocktails

I'm really dragging right now, so I'll put out the info on our night out last night in baby steps, like my little lady learning to walk. We went out last night for drinks, dinner, and some downtime...or no-baby time.

Step 1: Acadiana, Washington DC. We stopped by Acadiana because I had read they had some good, old-fashioned cocktails. This place did not disappoint. Granted, I had never had a Sazerac, but I really like this drink. It hails from that sweet state of Louisiana and combines absinthe, rye whiskey, and two kinds of bitters with simple syrup. Great stuff, and I would love to learn myself how to make this great drink.

As for my other half, she went for the bourbon fizz - a great drink in it's own right. The bourbon fizz at Acadiana has Woodford Reserve, praline (!) liqueur, and club soda. The praline liqueur really made this one good and unique. Needless to say, I liked them both.

We will definitely try Acadiana for dinner sometime in the future. With a full bar and dining room on Friday night, something must be going right here.

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Dinner Out - Brasserie Beck

So, a good friend of ours volunteered to babysit this Friday night so that we could go out on the town for a bit. Our choice for dinner - Brasserie Beck in DC.

I'm very optimistic about this dinner. Everything I have read have been good to great reviews, and I am very much looking forward to a good dinner. Plus, they have a massive selection of Belgian beers, so perhaps I'll find a good one with dinner.

Is it Friday yet?

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