Front Burner

It’s hard to get me excited about cereal. Starting my day with a bowl of cold cereal sounds a bit like this: buzzing alarm, footsteps, cabinet door clicks closed, hard bits hit a white bowl, refrigerator door sucks closed, glug of the milk, shovel, crunch, shovel, crunch. The rest is just mush. Sometimes tasty, more often not. Like I said, it’s hard to get me excited about cereal.

When three family-size boxes of Mom’s Best Naturals cereals and oatmeals arrived on my desk last week, I was not thrilled. Since I’ve made my feelings about mush fairly clear, I gave the oatmeal to Robin Sutton, our production assistant. The cereal, however, became more interesting as I read the boxes: “no hydrogenated or palm oil,” “no high fructose corn syrup,” “whole grain,” “made with renewable energy.”

They pretty much had me at the high fructose corn syrup. HFCS may or may not be a serious health issue, but I imagine we’d be better off with less of it. Anyway, the ingredient lists were also delightfully short. The Toasted Wheat-fuls have two ingredients: whole grain wheat and vitamin E to preserve freshness. The Honey Nut Toasty O’s and Oats & Honey Blend both use evaporated cane sugar (and or) sugar beet juice. That’s pretty great.

When cooking sunny-side up eggs, as in our Croque-Madame, we noticed the bottoms getting overdone before the tops cooked through. We fixed this by inverting a smaller skillet or loose-fitting lid over the egg. This traps escaping steam and ensures even doneness.

-ds

Photo by ppdigital.

Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (Wiley, 2007) is as dense and comprehensive as its title suggests. It is a good gift for recent veggie converts as well as cooks looking to update their old standbys. Think of it as a fresher, meatless Joy of Cooking.

I won’t lie, it’s more than a little daunting (2,000 recipes and variations will do that). Bittman covers veggie basics, preparation, storage, and many recipes feature dozens of variations. Paging through, I hoped to find a dish to inspire a menu. That recipe was Spicy Winter Squash Galette. It sounded interesting enough and came with a recommendation for Beer-Glazed Black Beans. A Steamed Mushroom Salad rounded out my meal.

Preparing the steamed mushroom salad was a breeze. I used cremini mushrooms(sometimes known as baby bella) for their mild, earthy taste and firm texture. The simple dressing reminds me of my favorite light salad: mushrooms with cubed avocados in homemade balsamic dressing.

Where the mushroom salad was incredibly quick and easy, the Spicy Winter Squash Galette was a bit more involved. The first market I chose had a really poor squash selection, but I eventually found a pretty Kabocha at Whole Foods. Because I am familiar with Butternut, I assumed the skin would be tough. Kabocha squash are in a league of their own and seriously hard to peel. Forget your peeler and go straight for your trusty chefs knife. I’m glad I made my own crust. No matter how many times I do it, it’s magical when the dough comes together. After rolling the dough to 12 inches, I was left with 3/4 cup extra filling (which I plan on baking tonight).

“OK. Let’s finish with something terrifying.”

“Terrifying?”

“Right. Really scary.”

The bartender put her hands on her hips, turned around, and inspected the sea of more than 1,000 beer bottles lining the refrigerated back wall. After a moment she laughs to herself and pulls one out.

“How does the end of the world sound?”

I love this. “Perfect.”

Pleased with her work, she placed a La Fin du Monde in front of me. It was indeed an excellent choice to end my meal at The Brickskeller. Located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, one of Washington, D.C.’s nightlife hot spots, the dark pub boasts the world’s largest selection of beer.

Earlier I tasted a Grimbergen Belgian Blonde Ale with some of their delicious homemade chicken wings. The light, fruity golden ale stood its ground against the hot sauce, and the wings themselves were formidable - the combination of crisp breading and juicy meat would be pretty hard to beat.

The Urthel Hibernus Quentum Tripel Ale, from Belgium was a bit sweet paired with my Brick’s Ale Burger. The burger, seasoned with ale and caraway seeds, was nothing to write home about, either. When I go back, I’ll be sticking with the chicken wings and the blonde ale.