Newest kitchen injury is also the nastiest

I thought the near cutting-in-half of my index finger some months back (chef’s knife slipped off thick kale stem and into my finger) was pretty gross with the gaping flap, 6 hairy stitches and what-not, but that was not as ugly as the burn-that-looks-like-an-oozing-lesion that now decorates my right forearm. Why did I think it was wise to attempt to move a piece of rhubarb that was resting in the bottom of my Dutch oven which was resting in a hot oven?

Sprung after a civically-minded day

I got called into voir dire but not chosen, so I’m done with jury duty for another two years. The people who work at the courthouse couldn’t have been nicer- from judge to juror office administrators, it was a smoothly run day in old D.C. Does anyone sense the tinge of surprise in my words? Anyway, after I left, I walked to the White House, just to keep up the civic engagement I had going. It’s a hell of a hot day here-currently “feels like” 100, so the walk was not completely pleasant, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and really liked seeing Michelle’s kitchen garden on the WH lawn. Off to the market -how do we drink so much milk?!- and head home. Nice day!

Lunch review- Oyamel

We were dismissed for lunch early so I hauled ass over to Oyamel to eat. I sat at the bar which I love to do, but I think the bartender was a little taken aback by the speed and certainty with which I ordered.

Oyamel has the very best tortilla chips I’ve ever had; they’re sturdy, perfectly crunchy and not the slightest bit greasy (tasting, at least). The salsa is excellent too. I tasted but did not order the blood orange-pomegranate agua fresca because, though agua is a part of its name, I found the water-juice ratio to be way off, thus resulting in a disappointing drink that tasted as if you’d left a fresh glass of it filled with ice on your deck too long on a hot day.

The taco de hongas was INCREDIBLE. I wish I’d ordered about five of them. The soft taco was flavorful, pliable but not flimsy, and the mushroom/shallot/garlic concoction inside was nestled atop fabulously fresh guacamole.

The tamal verde was not as great as I remembered. The tamale itself was delish, but the sauce was too creamy and tasted more of pureed pepitas + cream than of tomatillos/salsa verde. I ate the whole tamale, lest you think otherwise, but I did leave most of the sauce.

Lastly, I adore nopalitos but was disappointed by this salad. I usually get Oyamel’s other cactus salad but was trying to diversify today- wish I’d stuck with the sure thing but really, where does that get you?! The lime dressing on today’s salad tasted too oil-slick like, kinda like that awful, clear MSG glaze that’s on everything at a bad Chinese restaurant. I didn’t eat much of the salad sadly.

Overall, Oyamel was good today but not as memorable as I was hoping/expecting. Back to it…