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World Tour: Thoughts of Italy

October 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment

My obsession with Italian food has peaked in recent weeks. I’m always craving something with saucy goodness and cheesy perfection and three out of the last five meals that I have had have been Italian dishes. Unfortunately, none of them were authentic (I’m dreaming of the day that I book my airline ticket to go traveling across Italy); however, yours truly was able to cook up some scrumptious, saucy treats and Brixx Pizza fed my Italian craving on the one occasion that I didn’t.

Archele's Spaghetti ©JohnnaKnowsGoodFood

The first night my craving set in, I prepared spaghetti, which in my opinion is one of the easiest, yet satisfying dishes you can prepare. I think it also presents the opportunity to try different things. I prepared mine with the basic Italian seasonings – garlic, oregano, basil & Italian – and I also added some sugar, a dash of hot sauce and diced tomatoes.

Archele's Rotini Pasta ©JohnnaKnowsGoodFood

My hankering continued to grow and only two days later I was working on another pasta dish. Made with rotini, traditional pasta sauce, a blend of Italian cheeses and an Italian sausage and chicken medley, I was left full & satisfied.

Brixx Tomato Basil Pizza ©JohnnaKnowsGoodFood

The next night, I decided to use a handy, dandy coupon that I had received for Brixx Pizza. Brixx is a restaurant that specializes in wood-fired pizza. They offer a variety of pizzas from the Bronx Bomber to the Buffalo Chicken pizza. Spread throughout the Carolinas, Virginia and Tennessee, I’d definitely recommend this spot to any pizza-lover.

Hopefully, I’ll get things in line and find a cheap flight to Italy sooner than later. That way I can vacation and eat all the saucy, cheesy food my heart desires.

Filed Under: cultural cooking, Food.Fun.Stuff., World Tour Tagged With: , , , ,

Friday Roundup

October 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Superstar

If you ever wanted to see what Gordon Ramsey would say about your perfect Mac n’ cheese, here’s your chance.  MasterChef Season 3 is casting in Washington, DC on November 12 at Trinity Washington University from 10 am til 6 pm.  JKGF was able to snag some VIP access for our readers who go to the casting call.  Anyone I send over will get a VIP ticket that allows you to skip the long line and show them your stuff leaving you the rest of the day to daydream about what you would do with that $250K grand prize. Email me @ johnna@johnnaknowsgoodfood.com with your name and email to be added to the list of VIP’s.

Celebrate

PAUL’s Bakery & Café is slated to open in Georgetown during the week of November 7.  The restaurant will open its doors in the space once belonging to the historic City Tavern @1078 Wisconsin Avenue, NW.

 

©JohnnaKnowsGoodFood Chef Gresser & Me

Pizzeria Paradiso turns 20 and I was there to witness it.  Recently, I had the opportunity to toss a pizza pie in the air with Chef/Owner Ruth Gresser (*Awesome #1), taste the new anniversary pizza (*Awesome #2) and take my very own “Johnna” pizza home (*Awesome #3).  Since Pizzeria Paradiso is one of my top five pizzerias in the area, I was absolutely delighted to celebrate with the restaurant while feasting on their Atomica, Genovese, Napoletana and 20th Anniversary slices.  The Napoletana is my fave with the perfect amount of anchovies to evade a salt bath.  The 20th Anniversary pie comes in second with buffalo mozzarella, speck, pine nuts, parsley, roasted garlic pesto and roasted red peppers making the cut.  The party doesn’t stop here; however, the restaurant is keeping this celebratory from November 7-13.  From $20 all you can eat Pizza & Beer on that Wednesday to the 20¢ toppings on Thursday; the restaurant is making it a special week for everyone involved.   

The Knock Out Abuse (KOA) against women will celebrate 18 years at its annual fundraiser on Thursday, November 10, 2011.  WUSA9’s Andrea Roane will emcee the event that will honor The Honorable Anthony G. Brown, Lieutenant Governor of Maryland. Individual tickets are $500 and are tax deductible.  You can purchase tickets here.

Catch Me If You Can

©JohnnaKnowsGoodFood

This week I had the pleasure of visiting Againn again (*love putting those two words together).  This time instead of spending all my time feeding my face, I learned how to drink and appreciate a taste of Johnnie Walker Blue, Black, Gold and Red.  Complimented with the crispiest pork belly outside the Carolinas and finished with a stout ice cream on top a toffee pudding cake, Johnnie Walker may be my new winter drink.  Now that I know how to properly take in the heat, I can understand the reason scotch and whiskey drinkers stay in their zone and avoid hangovers. Cheers!

October is Virginia Wine Month, who knew?! I love it.  In addition to being one of my favorite months of the year because almost everyone is taking on some sort of breast cancer awareness cause, it is now my favorite drinking month in the District.  With Virginia taking the lead as one of the nations top wine producers, it was fascinating to see all of the wineries popping up in this region.  Who would have thought Virginia would go neck and neck with Napa Valley?? Since I do not have to take a trip cross country to get my authentic grape fix, in a few weeks I will join some of the areas top food bloggers, writers and the like for a journey to wine country. 

©JohnnaKnowsGoodFood

For now, it was good to see Boxwood Winery and Barboursville Vineyards at the celebration of Virginia Wine Month.

Giveaways

There are currently TWO giveaways going on JKGF.  One gets you $20 in takeout via Seamless and the other gets you full off pasta via Buitoni.  Good luck!

Filed Under: Announcements, Food.Fun.Stuff., Washington D.C. Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Gi.Ve.Aw.aY.

October 27, 2011 By 9 Comments

There are many days I want to make my way over to Best Buy and purchase the pasta attachments for my KitchenAid and then reality sets in: my schedule won’t allow me to make homemade pasta to validate my spending close to $200 for all of the extra attachments.  Unfortunately, but fortunately, I have taken this opportunity to explore other ways of getting my pasta fix.  One of those explorations landed on my doorstep about a week ago in the form of Buitoni pasta.  After receiving two coupons to try the products, I went to my less than desirable Giant (*less than desirable because it had none of the products I was attempting to try…and this is usually the case) and I picked up the Buitoni Braised Beef & Sausage Ravioli and the Butioni Shrimp & Lobster Ravioli.

Needless to say my hopes were not up for frozen lobster so I opted to begin with the Braised Beef & Sausage.  Easy.  That is the best way to describe these Buitoni products. Literally, you open the box and there are two bags in there: one filled with the ravioli and the other filled with the sauce.  With my schedule the way it is, I am loving easy.

I simply plopped that packet of sauce in a pot of boiling water.

Added the ravioli and drained it.

Buitoni Braised Beef & Sausage Ravioli

Combine the sauce and pasta. Now it was time to taste test which I can admit I was little hesitant to do considering the simplicity of the frozen goods.  *Wide eye look* This was actually pretty good.  Full of flavor from the beef and sausage which was rather juicy once cooked down within the ravioli.  The sauce was tomato based with a hint of cream which I would have preferred they left out and simply let the beef, sausage and tomato work together.

Feeling optimistic, I moved onto the lobster & shrimp ravioli.  My initial thoughts told me I would not enjoy the processed artificial lobster and the garlic butter sauce would help to mask the rubbery texture.  I’ve been wrong about many things and this was one of those times.

Buitoni Lobster & Shrimp Ravioli

The reverse actually happened in this situation where the lobster was actually real and tasted like it. The sauce could have been a tad thinner, but the garlic saved it when combined with the butter flavor.

I think Buitoni’s on to something with these new dinners.  They’re easy and they definitely use products that can sustain the freezer burn. Overall, I liked the products I tried, and now Buitoni has two new additions to their line of frozen meals, the Chicken Florentina and the Chicken Mushroom Risotto.

Giveaway Details:  Share a recipe that you think would be a great pairing for the new products (salad, soup, side dish or appetizer) for a chance to win a pair of coupons for two (2) complimentary Buitoni Frozen Meals for Two by November 27, 2011.  Simply leave a comment below, Tweet me @jknowsgoodfood or shoot me an email at johnna@johnnaknowsgoodfood.com with your idea and you’re automatically entered to win the prize. Good luck!

Filed Under: Announcements, Food.Fun.Stuff., Product Review Tagged With: , , ,

Etiquette Tuesday: Unsolicited Advice

October 25, 2011 By 3 Comments

Eggs Chesapeake

One of my top five pet peeves is unsolicited advice.  This is the advice that you never ask for but someone feels it’s their duty to offer it during the most inconvenient convenient times.  One of those many times in my life has been unfortunately during the dining hour.  This week’s Etiquette Tuesday speaks to the unsolicited advisor: can you please keep your thoughts to yourself, just this once, please??  It has happened to all of us: you go out to eat, order something that looks less than appealing to the other party and they offer their frown and look disgust at your menu pick.  What a way for me to start my meal…with your look of disgust.

Anyone who knows Johnna knows that frowns and even comments of disdain for what I have on my plate make me want it even more, but I think it is fair to comment on how rude it is for you to express your unsolicited advice on my entrée of choice.  The inspiration for this post? Well on a few occasions I have been out with different folks who absolutely hate the sight of my Eggs Chesapeake.  Anyone who also knows Johnna knows that she is always going to order one of the Eggs benedicts, Chesapeake’s or the like during brunch, it’s something about the hollandaise and poached runny interior that get me going on the weekends.

Now I have seen plenty of less than desirable things hit many plates, but I, like any good Oscar winning actress, know how to mask the disgust and pull off a stellar performance by simply focusing on my own dish.  Shouldn’t that be what everyone is focusing on during the dining hour? Feeding themselves?…I’m just saying…

Filed Under: Etiquette Tuesday Tagged With: , ,

World Tour: Food Happenings in North Carolina

October 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

October has always been chock-full of events. Concerts, college homecomings, football, you name it and events that are food-focused definitely make an appearance or two or more on the agenda. This weekend, specifically, the southern charm of North Carolina will be displayed by two huge events – the 28th Annual Barbecue Festival and the  North Carolina State Fair.

Before going into a description of the festival, I’d like to clarify what I mean by “barbecue,” as people from different regions use the term to describe different things. In the context of this post (and the way I was brought up) “barbecue” refers to pulled pork that has been slowly cooked, seasoned, basted and chopped before it is consumed. The 28th Annual Barbecue Festival, which features some of the best barbecue NC have to offer, will take place on Saturday, October 22 in Lexington, NC – where it occurs every year. The good people of Lexington have deemed their town the “Barbecue Capital of the World,” and there are many North Carolinians who will cosign with that claim. As the name of the event suggests, the festival features mindblowing barbecue, along with tons of vendors and the extremely relevant, home-grown sponsors Texas Pete and Pepsi.

Italian Sausage ©JohnnaKnowsGoodFood

This weekend also marks the final days of the NC State Fair. It is common practice for hundreds of people to flood the fair, and not just for rides, but specifically for the food! With classic fair favorites such as cotton candy, funnel cakes and candied apples and deep-fried creations galore, the fair has something for everyone. My personal fave has always been the sausages, whether Italian or Polish, smothered in peppers, cheese and mustard, they always leave me satisfied and wanting more! This time, I tried a grilled turkey leg as well and found it to be absolutely addictive. It was so flavorsome, and so filling! The odd thing about it was that it tasted more like pork than it did turkey. It was amazing, so amazing that by the time I realized that I should have take a picture of it in all its glory, I had already massacred it. :-/

Deep Fried Treats Stand ©JohnnaKnowsGoodFood

October is a month that you can sit back and let those American Airlines points accumulate so that you can book a cheap flight for another time, because all of the fun is probably somewhere locally, sayy at a huge pork-loving festival or at parkgrounds populated with deep-fried treats.

Filed Under: Food.Fun.Stuff., World Tour Tagged With: , ,
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