Dinner at Little Serow

It was 3 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon in February, and I was getting ready to head out to dinner.  No, I do not live in Florida and I wasn't trying to get the early bird special/senior citizens' discount.  It was the night of my birthday dinner (long awaited, I might mention since my birthday was in December) and we were headed out to Little Serow.

Little Serow is an ultra-hip, vintage Thai restaurant in DC created by the chef of Komi, the Washingtonian's Best Restaurant of 2012.  This sister restaurant just opened last year and was included in Bon Appetite's Hot 10: America's Best New Restaurants.  It is a little peculiar and has some very specific ideas around dining...

• They don't take reservations; seating is first-come, first-serve
• They offer one menu with seven courses, no substitutions
• There is no seating available for any party bigger than four
• It is located in the basement of a townhouse which can seat about 10 parties at any given time
• There is no sign for the restaurant
• No flash photography (which means no pictures for you all to see, sorry)
• It is supposed to be very, very good and spicy (YAY!!)

So we headed up to Dupont Circle, ready to get in line to wait for a table at Little Serow.  We got to the restaurant around 4:15pm (an hour and fifteen minutes before they opened).  When we arrived, we were about the 5th party in line.  By 5:15pm, the line for the restaurant went down the street and wrapped around the corner.  It was unbelievable.  It was also 30 degrees out, so it was a little cold waiting outside for over an hour.  I felt like I was waiting in line for a Black Friday store to open or for concert tickets (do they even still do that?  camping out for tickets?).  My toes froze but I swore it was worth it.  

On cue, at 5:30pm the door to the basement opened and a girl's head popped out, accepting one party at a time inside the intimate restaurant.  By 5:45pm we were seated at a long, communal table (on one side) that faced a big, white basin sink with beer on ice.  SUCCESS!

The decor at Little Serow is simple with a distressed tin roof, vibrant sea-green walls, and classic white tables with bar stools adorned with tea-light candles.  The entire ambiance is like having dinner at someone's house -- relaxed, cozy and fun.

There is a small, selective wine and beer menu that offers a range of drinks like Belgium beers, IPAs, and a Lambrusco (sweet, red Italian bubbly wine) -- all pair really well with the spice in the courses.  They offer beers by the pour - $5 for a 5 oz glass.  Which is what I went with - a Belgian variety.  Then it was time to get things started.

Each table gets a rice basket (sticky white rice) and veggie basket (cabbage, radish, Thai eggplant, lettuce, and Thai basil among other things) as an accompaniment to each course.  These both can help temper the spice of the dishes if things heat up too much.  I didn't have any problem with the spice in any of dishes but that didn't stop me from eating all those veggies!  Turns out, fresh cabbage is really tasty.

The first course, nam prik gapi was a spicy shrimp based dip with pork grinds for dipping.  Really yummy and the pork grinds were light and airy, perfect with the dip.

The second course was the tom kha het served with the bla chorn lom kwan.  The tom kha het was similar to a coconut-based soup with mushrooms which I used to dip my little balls of sticky rice.  This soup had sliced thai chilies and things got spicy fast when I used my spoon to eat it like traditional soup.  It was delicious - one of my favorite as I really like the sweetness of the coconut paired with the spicy chiles.  The bla chorn lom kwan, made of snakehead fish, was a solid salad-type dish.  But I was honestly focusing all my attention on the spicy soup.  

It was at this point in the meal that I noticed the gentleman seated next to us.  He had taken off his glasses and was wiping his forehead which was a little damp with sweat.  Hmm.  So I guess these foods might be *really spicy* to some.  I honestly, wasn't phased by the spice.  Yes, at points my lips got hot, but it was at no point, burning my mouth.  I guess the moral of the story is to know your heat tolerance before dining at Thai restaurant.  

The third course, laap chiang mai, was a rich and complex spicy pork dish.  This one was my husband's favorite.  I liked the fourth course better, the sweet and sour crispy rice and pork, naem khao tod.  It reminded me of the flavoring used in larb gai, with the mint and cilantro playing off each other with a balance of sweet and bitter flavors.

The fifth course was fantastic - sweet, caramelized brussel sprouts in phat ga lam.  This course went well with the final course, the dill pork ribs, si krong muu.  Our dinner ended with a sweet treat from the kitchen - coconut cream over sticky rice.

Overall, it was an excellent dinner at Little Serow - I absolutely loved it.  The food was outstanding, the service was attentive, friendly and relaxed, and the ambiance was truly like no other.  I love no frills dining with a focus on delicious food - cooking what you cook well and doing it a way that reveals something about who you are and what you love.  My only qualm was the pace of the food.  At points, things came out a little too quickly from the kitchen and it was hard to take a break between courses.  But I still ate it all and loved every minute!  




        

Ragin' Cajun Jambalaya

I love cajun food -- it is Southern, spicy, and soulful.  It is the perfect comfort food and is easy to adjust based on your preferred flavors and 'heat-tolerance.'  As an added bonus, the ingredients are rather simple and most folks have the items on hand to be able to make most cajun recipes.

I am also planning a trip to New Orleans this coming March, so I'm trying to get my palate ready for my travel adventure celebrating food (and music!). So first up on my list is the traditional cajun cuisine, Jambalaya.  Here is the recipe I use and just so you know, I like it to be saucy (not soupy) to give it that full flavor.

Ingredients
1 green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1 tbl of butter
1 tbl of vegetable oil
1 cup of frozen okra
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 cup of rice
2 1/2 cups of chicken stock
1/2 chicken breast, diced
12.8 oz Andouille sausage
6 oz frozen shrimp
1 tsp of hot sauce
1 tsp of worcestershire sauce
1 tbl of cajun spice

 
Preparation

1.  Slice and dice all your vegetables -- onion, celery, green peppers, and jalapeno.  Leave the seeds and membranes in the mix, as it adds heat and flavor to the dish.  Same with celery leaves.

2.  Dice the chicken.  Sprinkle with salt and a pinch of cajun spice.

3.  Heat a stock pot/Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Melt one tablespoon of butter with one tablespoon of vegetable oil.  Add chicken to the butter/oil mixture and heat until cooked through (about 10-12 minutes).

4.  While the chicken is cooking, slice the sausage and add to the pot.  Cook with chicken for about 5 minutes (10 if the sausage is not pre-cooked) to blend flavors.

5.  Remove chicken and sausage with a slotted spoon.

6.  Add all the vegetables to the pot (onions, peppers, celery, jalapeno, and okra).  Saute until tender (about 8-10 minutes).  Add one tablespoon of cajun seasoning.  Mix and cook for one minute.

7.  Add chicken and sausage back to the pot with the vegetables.

8.  Add diced tomatoes, worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce.  Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes to blend flavors. 

9.  Add chicken stock and rice to the pot.  Simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes until rice is fully cooked.  Stir often to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot!  Also, add any additional chicken stock as needed to ensure a lighter consistency/broth to cook the rice all the way through.

10.  Once the rice is fully cooked, add the shrimp to the pot.  Cook until the shrimp are cooked through, about 10 minutes.

11.  Your jambalaya is ready!  Add a dash of hot sauce and salt to taste.  

Enjoy your ragin' cajun dinner!  

Foodie New Year's Resolutions

It's the start of a new year and that means time for some resolutions.  Now normally, I don't really do resolutions.  Not because I don't need to improve on things (I can assure you, I most certainly do), but more because I don't get a whole lot of personal reflection time during the holiday season or shortly thereafter.  That reflection time usually becomes more available during the February timeframe.

In lieu of doing some personal resolutions at the start of a new year, I thought I would do something a little more fun.  And focus on Foodie New Year's Resolutions.  They don't require quite as much thought and they are much easier to accomplish (I say this now....).

So here it goes - my 2013 Foodie New Year's Resolutions!

1.  Dine at 4 restaurants on my 'must-taste' list.  The list is, of course, dynamic (since restaurants come and go in the DC area so quickly!).  But here are the four restaurants currently at the top--Little Serow, The Source, Estadio, and Vidalia.   There are more places on my dining 'want' list (and many at which I have already eaten), but these four are my focus as I have never been to any of them and they all sound absolutely fantastic.

2.  Make one dish from my new cookbook, 660 Curries.  My husband got me this cookbook for Christmas (every year he gets me a new 'gem' to add to my collection).  Apparently it is all the rave and a must-have in the cooking community.  I have read Chapter 1.  I have a lot more to go and then I need to actually use it.  It takes me a LONG time to warm up to new cookbooks so I figure by early summer, I might be able to complete this one.  I am pretty sure my husband didn't expect to wait that long for a dish from the cookbook.   

3.  Grow a vegetable garden.  This one is what they call in the professional world 'a stretch goal' for me, for a few reasons.  First, I have a black thumb.  I don't know why... probably because I don't pay attention to the details like 'soil type'.  Plants die on me all the time.  Second, I am not very patient.  You know, to plant a seed and wait for it to actually grow.  I generally like to just go buy stuff at a farmers market and call it a day.  Three, I am lazy and I know weeding will be the death of whatever I plant.  And four is this little lunatic who has made my backyard a race track and loves to trash areas that are fenced off to him:

But regardless, I really want to give it a try.  And I want to can some green beans to have spicy pickled beans to eat with cheese.  So there is where I will start.  Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!

4.  Bake a dessert.  It seems sort of simple but I really am not a fan of baking.  It's too exact.  The words 'level with a knife' for measuring flour make me roll my eyes.   But I'm going to give it a try.  With what, I am not sure.  It can't be something like a fruit crisp because I can make those... this has to be a little more pastry-oriented.  I have a year to find the appropriate dessert and make it a reality.  Hopefully it won't poison my family.

5.  Acquire more Le Creuset.  I know what that sounds like.  Sort of like "I need to buy more shoes for myself next year!  Yes, that's it, that's a good resolution.  Along with drink more wine!" and you are right.  But the rest of the things on the list are a bit challenging and I need a reward.  Besides, this cookware is an investment.  I got my first Le Creuset items this year for Christmas and they need some friends, as they are lonely.  Just go with it, it works...

So there they are - my 2013 Foodie New Year's Resolutions.  What are yours?       

Hoppin' John for Good Luck in the New Year

Happy 2013!  Any good New Year's celebration calls for a yummy bowl of Hoppin' John.  For those of you not in "the know," Hoppin' John is a southern dish traditionally served on New Year's Day to bring a prosperous year filled with luck (the black-eyed peas are symbolic of pennies or coins).  Here's my recipe so you can get your good luck on for 2013...

Ingredients
Step 1:
1 lb of dried black eyed peas
1 ham hock
1 onion, halved
3 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic
6 cups of water

Step 2:
5 tbl butter
1 onion, diced
3 ribs of celery, sliced
1 green pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced with seeds 
3 cloves of garlic, diced 
1/2 tsp of fresh thyme
6 links of precooked Andouille sausage
1 cup of rice
2 1/2 cups of water

Preparation
1. Combine all of the ingredients in Step 1 in a large stock pot.  Bring to a boil, cover and  simmer on low heat  for 2.5 - 3 hours until the peas are tender, but not mushy.  Stir occasionally.

2.  Once the peas are fully cooked, remove the ham hock, onions, garlic, and bay leaves.

3.  Drain the peas and reserve the liquid.

4.  Dice the onions, celery, jalapenos, garlic, and green pepper.  Melt the butter in the Dutch oven over medium-high heat and then add all the vegetables you just diced.  Cook until onion is translucent and tender (about 8-10 minutes). 

5.  Add fresh thyme (no stems, just leaves!) and saute for 1 minute.  Preheat oven to 375.

6.  Add 1 cup of uncooked rice and 2 1/2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes until the rice is fully cooked.

7.  While the rice is cooking, bake the precooked Andouille sausage in the oven for 10 minutes until heated through (I used the precooked because I am lazy, but you can use the fresh kind and start this step while the peas are cooking).

8.  Slice and dice your Andouille sausage.

9.  After the rice is cooked, add the black-eyed peas to the Dutch oven.  I like to add 1/3 at a time, stir and then add another 1/3, etc till all the peas are added.  Add any reserved cooking liquid if needed to loosen up the dish.  I had to add about 1/4 of a cup.

10.  Add the Andouille sausage to the Dutch oven.

 
11.  Hoppin' John is ready!  Spoon into a dish and garnish with hot sauce if desired (I always do)

Raise a fork to good luck in 2013!
 

Frieten and Falafels

I have been fortunate enough to travel to Amsterdam twice (once while in college and again on a side trip after attending my friend's wedding in England) and the food there is delicious.  I remember eating a lot of street food including a good amount of frites (similar to french fries) with a mayonnaise dipping sauce.  So when I saw the write up for Amsterdam Falafelshop in the Post's Washington 40 Essential Eats, I vowed to make a special trip up to Adams Morgan just to try it out.  

I will go to Adams Morgan and attempt to find parking, just for you Amsterdam Falafelshop

Like most locations in Adams Morgan, the shop is tiny with about 5 tables and a few bar stools to eat at (with a cool counter design made of 'menus' from the various coffeeshops in Amsterdam).  The menu is simple - they offer frieten and falafels.  You basically can order a large or a small falafel sandwich (small = 3 falafel balls, large = 5 falafel balls) and frieten (Belgian french fries).  I really like places that only offer two to four things on their menu because chances are, they do those menu items really well and aren't distracted by trying to do too much in terms of selection.  

They even take Euros!  But what about the guilder?  Hmm...

I got the small falafel sandwich and my husband and I split an order of frieten.  Amsterdam Falafelshop has an extensive topping bar to select different accompaniments for your sandwich.  They have all kinds of toppings including yogurt dill sauce, hummus, red cabbage, pickled beets and fried eggplant.  

So many choices and only one sandwich to work with...  Nooooo!

There is a special technique involved to be able to smash down the falafel balls and load up on the maximum amount toppings.  I have not mastered it yet, but I feel that with some practice, I could get pretty good.  For my sandwich, I added the yogurt dill sauce, jalapeno cilantro, and some tomato/onion mixture.   

The toppings make every sandwich different than the last

My falafel sandwich was fantastic.  The falafels were so good - crispy and spicy with definite flavor of cardamom.  And the toppings were the perfect additions.  Halfway through my sandwich I ran low on toppings.  You know that means - a trip back to the topping bar!  This time I opted for the garlic sauce and the red cabbage.  The special treat for my lunch were the frieten.  

Even served in the paper cone like they do in Amsterdam

The frieten were golden and lightly salted - yum!  And the mayonnaise dip was expertly crafted - creamy and smooth (very different than American mayonnaise which can be bitter and is not the same when dipping frieten).  As an added bonus, they provided the wooden picks to spear your fry and dip!
  
It was well worth the wait to find the time to get up to Adams Morgan for lunch at Amsterdam Falafelshop.  I would love to go again and try different combinations of toppings.  If only parking weren't so difficult!  Maybe there is an Amsterdam Falafelshop food truck in the makings?  

Oktoberfest Beer

Today is the first day of October and the last week of Oktoberfest -- a 16-day festival celebrating beer in Germany.  In honor of Oktoberfest, we held a little Oktoberfest beer taste test competition this past weekend (and we had some extra time on Friday to go to Total Wine). 

Since this was not my idea, I got to relax as my husband prepped the competitors for the main event.  Bonus.  There were six beers entered in the race: 

• Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest-Marzen
• Spaten Oktoberfestbier Ur-Marzen
• Paulaner Oktoberest-Marzen
• Weihenstephaner Oktoberfestbier
• Harpoon Octoberfest Beer
• Dominion Octoberfest Maerzen

Reminded me a little bit like the "waterfall" drinking game from college

Almost all of the Oktoberfest beers had the dark amber hue, but the German beers were definitely darker than the American versions.  The obvious outlier was the Weihenstepahner, which was light honeyed color.  We both tried each beer, starting with the Hacker-Pschorr. 

The first three beers tasted very similar (the Hacker-Pschorr, Spaten, and Paulaner) - malty and smooth.  The Wiehenstephaner was really light and smooth, didn't feel as heavy as the other three.  As an extra bonus, it had this awesome picture on the six pack box.

Had I known this was what nun life was like, I might have chosen a different "path"

The other two were the American Oktoberfest-style beers.  I am no beer connoisseur, but these beers paled in comparison to the German brewed beers in terms of flavor and smoothness.  The Harpoon was decent, I would drink it if I were in a bar and it was on tap.  But the Dominion beer was pitiful.  It was like they just added more malt and slapped on the "Oktoberfest" label.

Finished everything else, except for the lonely poor-tasting Dominion

So, I went back to try my hand again at the three German Oktoberfest beers that were the amber color to discern a difference.  This time, I noticed a slight difference in the Spaten.  It took me a while to put my finger on it, but there was a different malt flavor that lingered after you drank the Spaten.  It was a little sweet.  And that did it for me, I declared an Oktoberfest beer winner -- the Spaten!

Winner, winner, pork and kraut dinner!

My husband was okay with my declaration of the winner, but he really liked the Weihenstephaner.  I think it had to do with the "woman in a uniform."  Turns out, he's not so picky when it's in the fridge and the game is on.

Enjoy the last week of celebrating Oktoberfest with some delicious beer!

 

Sunday Brunch at American Tap Room

I love brunch.  Brunch is hands down, my favorite meal and sadly, it generally is only available on Saturdays and Sundays.  At brunch you can get breakfast and lunch foods paired together as a mid-day treat, embellished with fantastic beverages like mimosas and bloody marys.  Seriously, what is not to love?!?

Given that at this point in my life I have two young children, I don't get to frequent brunch very often because it interferes with pool visits, birthday parties, and nap time.  Total bummer.  But this past weekend, the kids had a sleepover at their Grandmom's house so we got to go to brunch!  I could just hear the mimosa calling my name when I woke up on Sunday morning (in a quiet house - which was a treat unto itself).

We decided to go to American Tap Room in Clarendon for brunch because we work nearby and have often wondered what it was like.  So off we went for our highly anticipated, much coveted brunch experience.

We had to wait for a table (about 15 minutes) since it was prime brunch time (around 12:30pm on a Sunday) -- not bad at all considering if you head to Eastern Market for brunch you could find yourself waiting about 30 min to an hour.  We went to the bar and ordered a drink (don't judge - it was after noon and it was brunch!!).  I got a mimosa and my husband ordered a bloody mary.  My mimosa was delicious but from what I was told, the bloody mary could have been a bit more spicy. 

I hear you mimosa, and I'M COMING!!!

We were quickly seated at our table (in an oversized chair that was comfy but a little unwieldy) and I ordered the eggs benedict while my husband ordered the carolina pork hash - we agreed to share our order because we honestly wanted a little of both.  I am no fool though, and I knew that I had to order the eggs or I would get nothing of those because my husband can put food away really quickly.

The eggs benedict were fantastic.  Perfectly poached eggs, the right amount of hollandaise sauce - yum.
  

Break the yolk!  Break the yolk!

 My husband absolutely LOVED the carolina pork hash.  I tasted some and it was good but apparently for my husband the very idea of bbq for breakfast was the hook, and he could not get enough.  I swear when I wasn't looking, he licked his plate clean.

Bar-be-Que for breakfast, a special treat

It was about this point in the meal, while I was sipping my mimosa and chasing it with coffee, that I realized that we were listening to crappy 'house' music.  My husband maintains it was not 'house music' but some version of pop, but either way, it was distracting from an otherwise relaxing brunch experience.  It was just a weird mix.  I would expect this type of music at a bar at 11pm, but not really at brunch.

Regardless of the music, the waiter came around with a dessert tray and we were hooked.  We had to have the dessert equivalent of what was described as an "Irish Car Bomb" - something about a brownie made with Guinness topped with Bailey's flavored ice cream.  It was really, really good.

Couldn't wait to take the picture, had to get that spoon in there!

It was a great brunch experience at American Tap Room and I will be definitely be going back to try their dinner menu with fried pickles!


 

Whole Chicken Carcasses = Homemade Chicken Stock

In addition to belonging to a CSA through Waterpenny Farm, we buy our meat through  PolyFace, a farm that raises animals using sustainable farming practices.  It is quite an adventure to get our meat every three weeks and create enough freezer space to be able to hold everything, but I'll save that story for another day.  

When you buy PolyFace chicken, you get a whole chicken because they don't butcher it into breasts, thighs and legs.  We get to do that (or rather my husband does because I am absolutely terrible at it).  So what we do is usually defrost a whole chicken when we want to use the meat for dinner, cut it into pieces, cook what we need, store the rest and then we are left with the chicken cavity.  I started to find these chicken cavity carcasses back in my freezer, wrapped in foil.  I guess my "at home butcher" wanted to reuse these and was relying on me to figure it out.  So I did.  Whole Chicken Carcasses = Homemade Chicken Stock.

Now I make homemade chicken stock once every month or so.  It is relatively easy to make but it does take a while *and* it sort of makes your whole house stink like chicken broth.  Oh well, not everything can be glamorous.  Here's how you do it:

 1) Defrost your chicken cavity (or chicken pieces if you have leftovers you don't want to use to cook with, but definitely use pieces with bones!) and throw it in a big pot.  I usually use 4-5 chicken carcasses.  Add water to fill the pot almost to the top.

Raw chicken, neck and all but no giblets

  2) Bring the water with the chicken carcasses to a boil, skimming off the clotted blood (which is foamy and disgusting).

3) Once the water reaches a full boil, lower the heat immediately to a simmer (so that little bubbles are just breaking the surface).  

4) Add some vegetables to flavor the broth.  I usually use whatever I have on hand, so for this batch, I used some onions, zucchini, squash, and thyme.  Just use 5 or so pieces.  Don't use tomatoes though!

Vegetables in the broth adds more flavor

5) Simmer the chicken stock with the vegetables for 5-6 hours.  The aroma of chicken will fill your house - so much so, that you won't need to buy Yankee Candles as you have created your own aroma - Chicken Soup.  You can thank me later.

What's that perfume you are wearing?  Oh, that?  That's Eau de Chic

 6) Let the stock cool, remove the larger chicken pieces, and skim the fat off the top if you want.  This is the part that makes my dog come down to the kitchen and wait near the stove for me to miss the trash can.  I do every time - special treat for Webster!  Be careful of those bones though, dogs can't have chicken bones. 

7) Strain the chicken broth to remove vegetables and small chicken pieces.  I use a regular pasta strainer.

Lookin' good

 8) Now for the part that is a straight up pain.  I pour the chicken broth into little baggies and freeze.  I use to use big gallon bags, but I don't need that much chicken broth for my recipes so now I use the little bags.  You can lay them on a cookie sheet to keep them flat and once they are frozen, they are easy to store up right.

Baggies make it easy to store and use in recipes

And that's it!  Now you have your own, homemade chicken broth to use in recipes and you got rid of all those chicken carcasses wrapped in aluminum foil in your freezer.  Oh wait, I probably was the only one with that problem...  well anyway, now you can make some homemade soup with your chicken stock!
 

DC Restaurant Week - Jackson 20

For all of you who aren't aware, this week is DC Restaurant Week.  It's a lovely week in August (which comes again in January) where local area restaurants offer a special lunch and/or dinner menu for a set price ($20.12 for lunch, $35.12 for dinner).  For the businesses, it's a good way to bring in customers at an otherwise 'slow time of year' (because Congress is out and DC folks are generally out of town on vacation) and for price conscious diners, it's a great way to go to some fancy DC restaurants at half the cost.  Everybody wins!  

For Restaurant Week this year, I made plans to go out with my girlfriends to dinner at Jackson 20 in Old Town Alexandria.   Jackson 20 is part of the Hotel Monaco, a trendy little boutique hotel that is right on King Street and I'm sure has the coolest little chocolates on your pillow which I can only dream about.  We chose Jackson 20 because of its Southern style menu and to be perfectly honest, it looked swanky and fun.  Goes to show, a good restaurant style can go a long way.  

We arrived at the restaurant on time for our reservation and were promptly seated (which I was relieved about because I read reviews about people waiting a long time for a table they had reserved).  True to form, the layout and design of the restaurant was fantastic - great lighting, bold colors, and velvet benches with sparkly pillows.  My friend was in love with the napkin rings and used this inspiration to serve as the resident photo stylist for the evening. 

Oink, oink!  Pig-themed Jackson 20

For their Restaurant Week menu, Jackson 20 offered three choices for appetizers, main course, and dessert which were items off their standard menu.  For the first course, I ordered the American Farm Cheese Selection.  It came with three cheeses (which I am guessing were a goat cheese, a soft creamy cheese (like brie), and a cheddar) a fruit jam (raspberry/strawberry), a caramelized onion spread, and grilled country bread (like Texas toast).  It was a good cheese plate and was very filling but I was not a huge fan of the bread.  It was hard to break apart to use with the cheese and jams.  Given that it is a Southern restaurant, I might recommend serving the cheese plate with some spiced pecans.  To even out the flavor mix - that would give the plate something sweet with the jam and spicy with the pecans.  Just my suggestion but you know, I don't run restaurants so I could be off...

Cheese me up!

We also got a bread basket with biscuits and corn bread.  It was awesome... totally Southern, and the butter was honey-flavored.  I love flavored butter and the honey butter with the corn bread was the perfect pairing.  Well played, Jackson 20, well played.

So good, it melts in your mouth

The main course I ordered was the Charcoal Roasted Slow Cooked Goat.  I picked this for my dinner because I have never had goat before and I was intrigued.  The goat was delicious - it was shredded and tender with a light salt seasoning.  Yum.  It was served with pureed sweet potatoes and creamed corn which were good accompaniments.  The goat was also served along side pimento cheese stuffed ravioli.  I could have done without the ravioli.  The dish was filling enough with just the goat, creamed corn and sweet potato puree.  The ravioli, in my opinion, didn't really add anything to the dish (and I forgot that was not much of a pimento cheese lover).  I did not eat the ravioli on my plate.

Meaty good....

For dessert I ordered the Grasshopper Pie made of Oreo crust, marshmallow and mint and it sounded awesome.  It was very good, but very sweet.  So sweet that I could only eat a quarter of the dessert.  A great concept but they could probably stand to serve half of what they put out on the plate.  And I loved the toasted marshmallow smear on the plate, it reminded me of making s'mores by a campfire - it was a very artistic touch.

Toasted marshmallow without the fire hazard

Overall, it was a solid dinner from Jackson 20.  And a fun time with my girlfriends!  I would recommend going once just for the experience but I probably wouldn't make it my first choice of places to go to dinner in Old Town.  It's a good runner up (like say, if you can't get reservations at your top choice in Old Town and need a Plan B).  

Oh wait, I totally forgot to mention - gazpacho!  They had gazpacho on the menu for the first course.  My friend got it and IT WAS SO GOOD!!!  It was very different than the gazpacho I made - it was a completely pureed soup and they added cream to the base.  The best part was the salt ice cream dollop that you could mix in according to taste.  Very clever on the part of the chef.  I love that kind of stuff.  Check it out.

Gazpacho... everybody's doing it!

 I knew gazpacho and tomatoes would come back to haunt me.  This time it was in a good way!