This is perhaps my favorite new restaurant and I hate that it is so far away! Zaytinya is on 9th Street and G. Zaytinya serves Mezze and it is best described on their website as “Mezze, also known as meze, maza and mezethes, are the small plates of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. Under the direction of James Beard award-winning chef, José Andrés, Zaytinya’s extensive menu reflects the rich, regional diversity of classical and contemporary Greek, Turkish and Lebanese cuisine. It wouldn’t be accurate to describe mezze as an appetizer. These small bites are not typically served preceding a meal. Mezze are better described as party food, a meal meant for socializing. The perfect thing to serve at gathering of friends and family. A drink, a little conversation and mezze shared by everyone at the table. ” It all starts here.

Once we were seated our waiter came over and suggested we start off with some hummus and their signature olive oil with a pomegrante reduction and their homemade pita bread.

Next we got Fattoush which was tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, green peppers,radishes and pita chips with a pomegranate vinaigrette.

One of the fun things was we never knew what was going to be served next. The mezzes are served as soon as they are ready.

In the front was their Spanokopita made with their house made phyllo filled with spinach and feta cheese. In the back was Roasted Cauliflower with sultans, caper leaves and pine nut puree.

This was perhaps my favorite dish and I can’t wait to recreate it at home. As soon as I do I will post the recipe. This was their Seasonal Mushrooms with sauteed mushrooms, dates and toasted almonds. If you notice my friends didn’t even wait for me to take the picture here before digging in. Everything was so delicious that each new mezze was a true delight.

Our final luncheon dish was their Kebab Tasting Platter with lamb souvlaki, kofte, chicken kebab, mahanek served over harissa pita with tomatoes, cippolini onions and toum. It is hard to decide which one was best!

By this time we are all really full but decided if dessert was only half as good as what we had already had we had to try it. Zaytinya did not disappoint. I had Chocolate Visne with milk chocolate cream and cherry sorbet with three caramels. This was perhaps the best dessert I have ever had and remember I am a former pastry chef.

My friends ordered the next 2 desserts.

This one really surprised me. I usually hate yogurt but this dessert could make me a yogurt lover.

This was their Fresh Cheese “Tart” with pistachio shortbread, Greek honey thyme ice cream and sweet walnuts. I wasn’t all that crazy about this one but my friend loved it.

This is what all of our plates looked like when we were done.

We’re in DC for a few more days and I have a couple of more great DC restaurants to share with you. This restaurant is true foodie heaven! José Andrés’ is the chef and he has a new PBS show on Saturdays. He also is coming out with a new cookbook in the fall. I did get some recipe cards at the restaurant and almost bought a cookbook until I realized it was in Spanish!

So next weekend I am catering a lunch, something I have not done in a long time. I saw this salad on a blog a month ago by Jamie Oliver and thought it would be perfect. I just finished making it and it is delicious!!! I did increase the dressing recipe by half, it just didn’t seem like enough. I also used only the red pepper. I hope the girls on our fundraising committee like it as much as I do. I’m going to serve it with some Bruschetta and French Bread and fresh fruits.

Asian Noodle Salad

SALAD:
1 packages linguine noodles, cooked, rinsed, and cooled
1/2 to 1 head sliced Napa cabbage
1/2 to 1 head sliced purple cabbage
1/2 to 1 bag baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1 orange bell pepper, sliced thin
1 small bag bean sprouts
3 sliced scallions
1 peeled, sliced cucumber
chopped cilantro-to taste
1 can whole cashews, lightly toasted in skillet

DRESSING:
Juice of 1 lime
8 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 hot peppers or jalapenos, chopped

Mix together salad ingredients in LARGE bowl. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Mix with tongs and serve in a big bowl or platter.

I dressed this salad right away and think I should of left out the spinach until just before serving.

Adapted from Jamie Oliver

I went to the Farmer’s Market the other day and found the biggest blackberries I have ever seen. I just had to purchase some with this recipe I had seen in Southern Living (which I modified) in mind for Blackberry Cobbler. It did not disappoint!

Look at the size of these berries!

This is after I putting the topping on before it went in the oven. If you look closely you can see the cream I added in the bottom of the dish.

Just out of the oven in time for diessert!

Blackberry Cobbler

4 cups fresh blackberries
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons cream
6 tablespoons butter, melted
Whipped cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°. Place blackberries in a lightly greased 8-inch square baking dish; add cream. Stir together egg, sugar, butter and flour in a medium bowl until mixed. Spoon over fruit. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream, if desired.

Makes 6 servings