That being said, DC has offered much, especially food wise.
First, I found the best Merguez I've had in my life at the tiny Wednesday farmer's market in the Georgetown Rose Garden. For those of you who don't know, Merguez is a lamb sausage from North Africa, well spiced but not necessarily spicy hot. I ate it often in Belgium, but this one was really the best in terms of being spiced properly, not too fatty, and just delicious. It is made by this lovely, half-Turkish couple who own Whitmore Farm in Emmitsburg, Maryland. I just went on their website and it seems like they do some amazing work with animals including the Tennessee Fainting Goat and Silver Fox Rabbits - once I can find a willing driver, I would love to visit the farm, it looks like a lot of fun.
The first cooking was straightforward, pictured below - grilled on a heavy bottom skillet, served with salad and bread, fantastically simple and delicious.
The second was a dish I improvised this weekend for a friend, which was basically orecchiette with roasted vegetables, mushrooms and merguez.
I had baby yellow squash / zucchini from the farmers market which I sliced match-stick style, and slow roasted with rosemary and olive oil for approximately 2 hours.
While the veggies were roasting, I sauteed some baby portabella mushrooms and fresh garlic and stalks in olive oil with fresh rosemary, thyme and basil in a pan until they were just cooked through, and added some added some sliced merguez. At the same time, I cooked some pasta al dente (orecchiette) and added some of the cooking liquid from the pasta to the sausage/mushroom sauce to make it more viscous.
I then gently mixed in the zucchini with the sausage mixture, drained the cooked pasta, mixed it all in adding salt and pepper to taste, letting it rest for a few minutes and before serving.
While I have no photographic evidence to back up the final product, it was very simple to make, reasonably healthy, and, I think, pretty tasty. It paired very well with a New Zealand Pinot Noir, as well as the three other bottles we decided to polish off with it - Napa Chardonnay, a 2003 Spanish Grenache and a sparkling Chardonnay from Argentina.
Quite a lovely, if not tad lushy, dinner.
