Great Wall Chinese Takeout

Even with a shortened work week, it felt like a long one. Friday night after work, we headed up to Great Wall on 14th Street to pick up Sichuan takeout. I called in the order when we were on our way, and it was ready by the time we finally battled through the traffic. 

We love Sichuan food, and have tried Sichuan Jin River in Rockville, Hong Kong Palace in Seven Corners, Sichuan Pavilion on K Street; as well as Uncle Liu's Hotpot in Falls Church and Mala Tang in Arlington. We ordered our usual favorites to base our comparison on. 

Dan Dan Noodles, Boiled Beef with Vegetables, Mapo Tofu with Pork

The Dan Dan Noodles are topped with ground pork and two sauteed yu choy. 

The sauce is nice and spicy with a good hint of vinegar bite. 

The noodles do get a bit too soft, and I think I prefer the super thin noodle version at Sichuan Pavilion.

Boiled Beef with Vegetables is laden with spice and flavor (and oil).

Solid version, in a three-way tie with versions from Sichuan Pavilion and Hong Kong Palace.

Mapo Tofu with pork and visible black beans.

Topped with a layer of oil that congealed during the time it took to travel from the restaurant to home.

When we got home, this definitely needed to be reheated on the stove to bring all the flavors into harmony and temperature back up to fiery inferno.

Mala Wontons and yu choy with garlic.

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Admittedly, this is a lot of food, we spread it out over two meals. If you're in the Dupont or Logan Circle area, definitely check out Great Wall. Skip the Americanized Chinese and feel the ma-la burn. If you're closer to Foggy Bottom-Farragut West, check out Sichuan Pavilion. They have much more seating available and also a small private room if you need to host a dinner for 10-12 people. The Sichuan places we go to in Virginia do a comparable version with appropriate heating and spicing. No need to drive up to Rockville to Sichuan Jin River if you're in the DC or VA areas. 

Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce and Spicy Italian Sausage

The husband really likes the capellini with tomato sauce at Faccia Luna with grilled sausage. While he always orders this dish, he prefers a thicker pasta. 

I picked up a package of buccatini, some spicy Italian pork sausage from Whole Foods, and gave Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce a whirl. It's a pretty simple sauce, just butter, onion and tomatoes simmered for 45 mintues. Instead of taking out the onion, I pureed the sauce together. Buccatini is thicker than capellini, with a nice tooth-feel. The husband liked it a lot.

Leftovers for Lunch 

Axian Yakisoba

I had lunch with my favorite yoga teacher this week. We were supposed to catch up on Sunday, but the Marine Corps Marathon made more of a mess of public transportation than normal. Instead I had a nice 10 mile run and we caught up for lunch at Axian. I love the sandwiches there, especially on their marbled rye bread. The bibimbap is also a good choice, but pretty large.

Chicken Yakisoba

Tofu Yakisoba

Nice array of vegetables including broccoli, carrot, zucchini, mushrooms, bean sprouts and cabbage. 

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Had a nice time catching up, although the seating is extremely limited and the couple to our left were a bit on the loud-side. 

Sushi Express Bento

The office was closed on Monday and Tuesday because of Hurricane Sandy. Our New York office was also closed for both days, and many could not make it into the midtown Manhattan office on Wednesday with the subway still closed. By Thursday about 80% made it into the office, which is pretty remarkable considering many still were without power at home and the subway was limited. 

Catching up on everything, I ran some errands and picked up a bento from Sushi Express on 20th Street.

Rice with a small sliver of unagi and sauce; two slices of tuna; two shumai (a little cold); broiled salmon; kabocha; broccoli goma-ae and daikon salad with carrots and firm tofu. I prefer ordering a couple of maki instead, but this was decent with choice of small miso soup or salad for $11 total.

Power's Back...Autumn on a Plate

When we lost power, I put some of the perishables into a cooler with ice. With the electricity off for 18 hours, the freezer had a nice defrost, dripping cold water everywhere. Perfect time to finally clean out the freezer from all the odds and ends that are squirreled away. 

With the power back and a few groceries, I embraced the working oven and made a seasonal dinner.

Arugula salad with kalamata olives, clementine slices and lemon vinaigrette.

Roasted potatoes.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts.

Lamb sausage with salad and roasted vegetables.

The lamb sausage was not a hit, and but the vegetables were great.

Homemade Bagel Chips

We picked up a package of whole wheat bagels from Trader Joe's and put them in the freezer. The husband was not a fan of the large whole wheat bagels, and prefers the mini-whole wheat ones. Trying out a different recipe, I made some bagel chips with the disliked bagels. 

Slice bagels in thin wedges. Toss with olive oil, garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Bake in a 325F oven for 18 minutes. Fantastic snack to munch on during the storm. So good, the husband who disliked the regular bagel, devoured the chips.

Full Kee Pre-Hurricane Sandy

I was right. We were lucky to be spared the destruction Hurricane Sandy unleashed on New Jersey and New York, but we did lose power for 18 hours. The heavy rains, strong wind and uncertainty led both the Federal Government and Metro system to close for two days. My office was closed for both days the Metro was closed as well. 

Before the storm hit Virginia, we went out for dinner at Full Kee.

Seafood Pan-fried Noodles

The husband loves this dish, with the crispy thin egg noodles topped with the light seafood sauce and chunks of seafood and gai lan (Chinese broccoli).

Sauteed snow pea shoots with garlic.

Perfect way to get in some vitamin-rich greens. Nice smokey flavor from the wok.

Beef with Chinese Broccoli.

Trying to get a different protein in, this was a surprise hit.

Glorious, and slightly gluttonous dinner. We brought the leftovers back with us, and had them for brunch the next day while waiting for Superstorm Sandy to hit.