Crab and Shrimp Boil at Home

We live a lot closer to Super H Mart now, and have been going there instead of Trader Joe's, Whole Foods or the other American grocery stores. I pick up a lot more vegetables as a result, which is a good thing. I also get a variety of frozen and fresh seafood.

Snow crab and shrimp boil

With a pot of boiling water with cajun seasoning plus onions and lemons, it was a breeze to cook the seafood boil at home. Some newspapers and melted butter, and we had a mini-feast for a fraction of the price we paid at Chasin Tails.

Soi 38

The special office intern requested something Asian for his farewell lunch, so I chose Soi 38. Located over at 21st and L Street, NW, it's in the old Galileo space. The decorations and architectural touches are really pretty nice. I like the cedar and the booths were pretty comfortable for a party of four. I was also pretty surprised that the owners were the same as the Thai place near GW Medical Faculty and the old Froggy Bottom. We ended up ordering one dish from each section and sharing, which was a great way to try a bunch of dishes and get a decent sense of the newish restaurant.

Duck rolls, the sauce was a little too sweet for my taste, but a nice starter to share.

Tom Yum soup (interestingly it comes in small and large size, so I suppose you could share).

Hands down the best dish: larb gai. Super spicy and great flavor, I liked the little crispy cups too.

Duck in red curry. Great flavor, although a little oily. I'm actually a big green curry fan, but liked this a lot.

Pork belly with sauteed gai lan (Chinese broccoli). Liked the gai lan, the pork belly was kind of dry.

 

Fancified pad thai with shrimp. Super pretty but not my favorite pad thai. 

I did like the thin sheet of egg on top.

Fried Chicken with sweet and spicy sauces.

Probably my second favorite dish. The coating was super crunchy and great flavor.

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Overall this is a lovely new addition to the area. Prices are a bit higher than I'm used to paying for Thai, but given the investment into the restaurant decorations as well as the location, it's understandable. 

Chasin Tails in Falls Church

We have been busy taking care of various home improvement tasks and settling in all month, so I've been super lax in updating and writing the pending posts. I think the house is coming along though, and for the most part it's starting off fairly organized. The hubs has taken to sticking assorted boxes in the crawl space, which I'm doing my best to stay out of. The exterminator has set a number of traps and we've evicted a number of uninvited squatters. One night on the drive home, we debated what to eat for dinner and stopped for an impromptu meal at Chasin Tails. We were there on a Thursday night, so we were finally able to order their feast for two.

Dozen Oysters

Bag of fun in Nawlins Hot Whole Shebang Sauce.

I forgot how spicy the super hot version can be. We were dripping sweat buckets. I should have ordered hot.

Mixture of crawfish, shrimp, snow crab legs, mussels, sausage and corn.

I liked not having to choose which seafood to order. The crab legs were pretty good. I liked them much more than the crawfish, which tend to be so much work for such little bites of meat. 

Adventures in Charcoal Grilling

We moved into the new house in May and have been overwhelmed with projects. Fortunately we didn't have a lot of serious projects to tackle, mostly cosmetic changes like painting and furniture purchases and assembly. During one of what feels like one hundred trips to Home Depot, we picked up a Weber charcoal grill for a good price. Gas grills are more of a commitment, and we'll have to do some research before we pick one out, but this was an easy purchase. The hubs has been busy learning how to grill with charcoal.

 Grilled Chicken with bacon, blue cheese potato salad and marinated carrot salad.

 Grilled hamburger, with vegetable sides.

Grilled chicken and steak kabobs.

Julia's Empanadas on Connecticut Avenue

Some days while I'm walking back from a think tank event on Massachusetts Avenue, I pass by the wee shop with empanadas. Every now and then, I do indulge in picking up a tasty treat or two..

 So pretty

Saltenas

Pastry filled with shredded chicken, slice of hard boiled egg, raisins and olives.

Chorizo Empanada

Filled with chorizo, black beans, white rice and onions.

Weekly Lunches

A variety of lunches from around Farragut West.

 Axian Club Sandwich with salad.

 Jetties turkey sandwich with bacon, cheese and avocado.

Greek Deli lamb platter with orzo, green beans and salad.

Morrison House in Alexandria

My sweet husband organized a lovely birthday brunch at the Morrison House in Old Town Alexandria in the midst of our hectic packing and moving house schedule. The hardest part of the outing was finding parking and then deciding which type of champagne cocktail to order. The bellini was lovely.

 A hot order of beignets is made to order for each table. The hubs loved this. 

 Eggs Benedict.

Each person has a choice of eggs made to order.

In the buffet room, there is also a chef with pressed duck that is seared and sliced per person with a lovely jus.

Plate of delightful buffet items: asparagus, salad, salmon, fruit and potato gratin.

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We both enjoyed the brunch a lot and hope to return another time.