Best Non-Traditional Places to Get Pizza in the DC Area

I thoroughly hate Pizza Hut and Dominoes, only on rare occasions can I choke down Papa John's without being disgusted. Whenever I can find good pizza I'm on it. I have 5 places to get pizza that are kind of out of the norm for the DC area. I'm not on those gourmet pizza places or places that are voted the best in DC, I like little random places you happen upon by accident.

So here we go in no particular order:

1. Indian Experience - 17th & L STs NW. It's the carryout part to the Ascot restaurant that is right next door. Yes this is an Indian Restaurant but they sell pizza. Which is pretty much naan, herby (I know it's not a word) tomato based sauce, topped with some sort of white cheese an your choice of lamb, chicken or tandoori shrimp. Go for the shrimp. One of the places I missed dearly when I stopped working by Farragut North. The pizza is made to order and is piping hot. The spices, bread, cheese and shrimp blend so well that you almost forget it's actually a pizza from a carryout establishment.

2. Ledo's - University Blvd., Hyattsville, MD. I was introduced to black olives by Ledo's pizza. With my Grandmarie living very close to this place I remember a childhood filled with square pizzas. There is a chain of Ledo's throughout the area now but the original is still in a class of its own. Thin crispy crust, delicate toppings and the tell-tale square shape makes this a wonderful pizza.

3. Costco - Pentagon City, Arlington, VA. A friend from New York turned me onto Costco's pizza. I was at his house and stated I really wanted a slice of good NY style cheese pizza. This slice fit the bill. Just enough grease, super huge slice for very little change. It fills that NY (or Philly) pizza craving some transplants may have.

4. Pupatella - Food Cart across from Ballston Metro, Arlington, VA. My co-worker turned me on to this. Then the Washington Post wrote it up so I pretty much had to go. The pizzas are made while you wait. The crust is crunchy like they have an authentic wood burning stove hidden in that tiny cart. The sauce is very simple and actually tastes a lot like fresh tomatoes (a huge plus, I hate jar sauces). The toppings are scant but delicious none the less. The team that owns it are very pleasant and accommodating. Try a margherita with prosciutto delish the saltiness of the meat is a great balance with the sweetness of the mozzarella.

5. Roma Pizza - Union Station. I discovered this long ago in high school but their deep dish is delicious. It's a chain and from my experience the one in Union Station is by far the best. The dough isn't greasy and it has a trace of sweetness. I can't speak on the thin crust but the thick slice puts Uno's (right upstairs) to shame.

Spicing up dinner time when you really don't feel like cooking

As most women with families do I cook almost every night of the week and I am not for spending 3 hours in the kitchen when I get home after 5pm. I try to make all my dinner meals in about 30 minutes sometimes it takes a little longer depending on whether the oven is used or not. Dinner always consists of 3 parts: (because that's what I was raised on) meat, side dish (starch) and vegetable.

Usually the vegetables take the least amount of time, my string beans and asparagus are crunchy and the leafy greens are wilted. On those especially lazy days the bagged salads are life savers (God bless dole and Fresh express). Sides are really my downfall because I don't typically eat them, carbs have never been my thing but I believe in balanced meals. I tend to waffle between couscous, rice, and pasta. On rare occasions I'll try some potatoes. My random child dislikes potatoes greatly (white, red, sweet, doesn't matter). The only time I can get her to enjoy a potato side is if I fry up the smiley face french fries by McCain, crispy on the outside and mashed potatoes on the inside. They really are good. The meats are typically my Strong suit (I'm a total carnivore) I build the rest of the meal around that. I'm kind of anal in that I think that the meal should "go together" I can't have Indian curried lambballs, Spanish rice and broccoli, the flavors just don't mesh well together (I know because this was the leftovers from 3 different meals that were choked down for lunch).

One of my favorite meals (that I actually fixed last night) that's easy, quick and satisfying even if you're just doing a meal for one is jerk burgers, sweet potato fries and salad with homemade Italian dressing. Great with a summer ale or blonde ale (cause I'm a beer connoisseur also).

Jerk Burgers
1lb of hamburger meat (you can use chicken I wouldn't recommend turkey)
2tbs of Caribbean Jerk seasoning
1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce (about)
A few shakes of Tabasco sauce (optional)

Knead all ingredients together in a bowl. Form patties (about 4). Toss into a hot skillet or on the foreman grill. Cook to desired doneness. Top with Monterrey jack or mozzarella cheese, mango or pineapple salsa (and jalapenos if you can take the heat).

Sweet Potato Fries
(I like mine really sweet omit the sugars if you don't)
1 large sweet potato - sliced into fries
2tbs white flour
1tbs each white sugar and brown sugar
2tsp of cinnamon (more if desired)
1/3 cup of whole milk
Frying oil (corn or peanut is recommended)

After you've chopped up the sweet potato soak them in the milk for a few minutes. Combine the dry ingredients in a plastic bag. Place sweet potatoes in bag, shake to coat well. Place in hot oil and fry for 2-3 minutes. The fries will have a slight crunch on the outside and be soft on the inside. I love them dipped in honey.

Homemade Italian Salad dressing
2tbs olive oil
1tbs vinegar
1tbs dry Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp shakes of Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp of minced garlic
A few shakes of Tabasco sauce (optional)

Combine everything in a small plastic container with a lid. Shake well. Serve immediately over salad. I wouldn't recommend making a lot at one time, just enough for what you need and it's so easy you can make it whenever you have salad.

Keep in mind that I don't measure anything and I totally believe in cooking to one's taste. That's really the only way to cook, a little tweak here, an omission there is how everyone should cook. Never be a slave to recipes.

Eat your hear out Taco Bell...Gooey, slimy, and melty --- Goslelty

Went to Whole Foods for the first time this weekend to try to add something exotic to my usual weekly meals. And what do they have in the seafood section but fresh calamari. 1 pound of squid should do very nicely. After watching the Early show on CBS I was motivated to do something special with pizza. I got some ridiculously fresh mozzarella and pizza sauce. I get home and look through the cookbook the hubby got me for Christmas to try and find a good squid recipe. Fried squid is just too typical and just not me. A-ha one where I only have to buy one ingredient after I tweak it. Recipe as I made it as follows, about
1 inch long piece of fresh ginger (left over from my adventures in grilled tuna),
3 dried red chili peppers
3 cloves of garlic
1 lb of squid sliced into rings
a couple of tablespoons of olive oil
a bunch of bok choy

I rarely measure ingredients so it's really hard for me to write out recipes. Chop up the garlic and ginger into small pieces (mince). Tear up the peppers and add them all to the squid with olive oil and toss. Refrigerate for about 2 hours. You really should sautee the squid in a wok but mine is still packed away in my basement after the move. I heated a large frying pan over medium heat until it was hot (water sizzled) then tossed in the squid. It obviously doesn't take very long to cook a couple of minutes but I kept the squid moving the entire time. Removed the fully cooked white squid from the pan and added what was left of the marinate and waited for it to boil. Added the chopped bok choi and covered the pan immediately. After about 2 or 3 minutes the bok choi was wilted but still tender. Added the squid back into the pan tossed it for a few seconds and served over rice. It was really spicy which my daughter loved. The hubby and cousin even tried it and loved it eventhough they have aversions to slimey foods with tentacles. Very light easy to fix and perfect for a summer dish.

Next is melty. The mozzarella from Whole foods was delish. If I wasn't occassionally lactose intolerant I would have just eaten the cheese globe whole. Bought a Pillsbury pizza crust, leaves a little to be desired as far as taste but it worked enough. THe pizza sauce was really good, unlike most other pizza sauces you could taste the tomatoes. I sauteed some italian sweet sausage and mushrooms (another favorite of the daughter). I cooked the crust for about 5 minutes so that it would be cruchy added the toppings on different sections of the pizza (you know how it's almost impossible to have a pizza everyone is happy with). Sprinkled some sliced garlick under the toppings and finished it with a toss of Italian seasoning. Cooked it for a few more minutes and wa-la. Melty cheesy goodness. The cheese really made the pizza, must invest in more ridiculously expensive cheese.

Last but certainly not least the gooey goodness that is a recipe for a s'more pizza. The one I saw on the early show looked kind of ick, but I liked the idea of it. As always I tweaked. Probably the easiest recipe ever only 3 ingredients.

1 pack of ready to bake chocolate chip cookie dough (you can really use any type you want)
Few tablespoons of hot fudge sauce
2-3 cups of marshmallows.

Roll out the dough into a circle on a cookie sheet. Bake according to package directions. After the cookie has finished baking allow it to cool completely then spread the hot fudge sauce on like pizza sauce. Liberally add marshmallows to the top of the pizza. Turn your oven to low broil. And stick the pizza back in for a few seconds (it really takes less than 1 minute) for a very cool toasted marshmallow topping. It's ready to eat immediately. The sugar content has to be through the roof so if you make it for kids make sure they are going home immediately afterward, lol. The kid and adults all loved it.

"I don't eat.." -- Bite your Tongue!!!!

I know I said this blog would be more tame than the other one but, I'm a passionate person. The subject for today is people that don't eat certain foods because of something ridiculous. This pisses me off!! Living in America of decent means most people don't have to worry about what to eat, when to eat it or how it's fixed. We have access to so much food it's a crime. For me to hear people say "oh I don't eat pork, I don't eat non-organic foods" What the eff?? It's fine want to be environmentally friendly or simply be disgusted at the smell of brussell sprouts (I know I am), but people in this country have turned into food snobs. It's friggin food. Because the media claims everything is potentially bad for you (from spinach to transfat) mindless drones follow. Just because tomatoes made 60 people sick does not mean that anyone shouldn't eat tomatoes. There are hundreds of millions of people in this country, more people got sick from breathing the air yesterday.

As many know I'm allergic to a large (and strange) variety of foods. Common table top black pepper included. I do not demand that every restaurant in the country stop using pepper. I simply ask ahead of time and avoid menu items with pepper. But 15 years ago, 12 people got sick from MSG so now it's banned. I don't care what anyone says, Chinese food hasn't been the same since. It's been my experience that a restaurant (even small whole in the wall places) will accommodate your allergy. Heck people at my job remove pepper from their dishes for pot lucks. No need to punish everyone for your tummy ache.

This brings me to the constant banning of certain things for our own good. I don't have a problem with transfat. I do not want the government to save me from myself. I want transfats in everything. And the schools, geez, the children, won't someone please think of the children. Cakes, cookies, pizza parties are all banned at many schools. Partly because parents don't want their kids to have sugar and fatty foods. Again, what the eff? I spent the majority of my childhood with a pixie stick in one hand, a package of fun dip in the other and bazooka bubble gum in my cheek. I ate the greens, mac&cheese, smothered this, gravy with that and biscuits prepared by my grandmas. I don't have diabetes, high blood pressure or cholesterol. What a sad, miserable place school will become if there isn't the faint hope of a pizza or birthday party. Bake sales, hello!

We are entirely too obsessed with controlling food. This is blaspheme! I'm about to sound like a mom but there are kids in Africa starving and we don't want to eat a hamburger because it takes too long to digest and all these horrible things will happen to you if you eat meat. Human beings need meat, it's a scientific fact, that's how our brains evolved, we're omnivores.

In closing I'd like to say that the ability to eat prepared, seasoned food is a luxury. A simple twist of fate and we could be eating dirt cookies in Haiti. Before you turn up your nose at a pork rind or cookie dough ice cream think about how lucky you are to even have access to these foods. If you still don't want them pass 'em over this way!

Menupix.com, when you don't know where to find what you want

If you've never visited menupix.com please go. This magnificent invention lists a huge number of restaurants in various major cities (including DC and surrounding areas). The brilliance includes a link to the picture of a menu for said restaurant. It's not only restaurants but carry-outs and many places that do not have dedicated web pages. Sometimes the menus are a little dated seeing as how prices change almost daily with food as they do with gas. An added bonus are short reviews you can leave for the restaurant. It's very bare bones like craigslist but there are hundreds of menus to choose from. You can search by type of food or location. This is especially useful when you've started a new job or moved to a new area and don't quite know what there is to eat. We've all had those days where we really want a good sandwich but subway is just not going to cut it and thanks to menupix you found out about the deli over in the cut with a NY style pastrami on rye.

Free Samples: A little slice of heaven

Started the blog yesterday but really didn't feel the motivation to really write. On my journey back from pricing the needed repairs to my car (stupid DC inspection, bad breaks shouldn't be automatic failure) I take the long way on my lunch journey to get the sushi I've been craving since Tia brought me some on Friday. What's this I see? A young man early twenties standing on Wilson Blvd. with an apron and a tray. I'm intrigued. As I speed walk closer (I make no qualms about being greedy)I see the tray is stacked with caterer sized ham and cheese sandwiches on a baguette. I stop (of course, they could be serving pepper fried peaches and I would've stopped) and Mr. Tray Guy explains that the free samples are from a coffee shop that has just opened by Chipotle. A quarter of a sandwich and 2 coupons. With a spring in my step I start chomping on the ham and cheese with a surprise of Dijon. The bread is surprisingly wonderful, slightly chewy with a hint of olive oil? That was danged good for a free sample. Down the escalator to the sushi place. I'm still hyped about the free sandwich so I treat myself to the Super Deluxe (9.95, I'm cheap too) instead of the regular. While I'm waiting for Mr. Sushi Man to do his magic (and singing the theme to Sushi Pack in my head "wa-na-na-na SUSHI!") I see a young woman out of the corner of my eye with yet another tray. Chic-fil-a is giving away samples of it's nuggets, hot damn! With an extra tray of all their sauces. I take a couple of samples with my fave Polynesian sauce. Two free appetizers in less than 5 minutes. My day is made.

While I greatly enjoy food, free samples are like finding a $1 bill on the street. It's not that much, you really don't need it but damned if you aren't hyped for the rest of the day. Who is the blaspheme that would complain about a free sample of any type of food especially if it's of substantial size. These weren't the barely a mouthful like at the bourbon chicken places at every mall. So I say whenever you have to opportunity to partake in free food, dive in with both hands, don't try to act siddity like you don't want it, EVERYONE likes free food even skinny chicks like me.