Sabroso, indeed

One of the greatest culinary perks of living in the DC metro area is a particular brand of quasi-fast food known as "peruvian chicken." The chicken -- tender and crisp on the outside with a tangy marinade -- is the main fixation, but the cuisine compromises so much more. Inevitably, takeout includes a permutation of the following accompaniments: plaintains, yucca, rice, beans, and coleslaw. (Although usually we just get all of them). Dinner today came from Sabroso, a relatively new peruvian (actually, "South american") joint across from the AFI that happens to be my favorite.

First, yucca with a mayonnaise sauce and ketchup:



Plantains, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and naturally sweet:



The main course:


Rice and beans (the best black beans you will ever taste; I would buy them in bulk if I could):




For those not carnivorously inclined, I can vouch that the side dishes, with the addition of some sliced tomato, make a very satisfying meal on their own.

The inner suburbs are bursting with peruvian chicken places: Of the dozen or so in the area, Sabroso is my favorite, although Crisp and Juicy and El Pollo Rico are excellent as well. And the food is incredibly underpriced: My mother purchased enough food for eight at just $30.

Peruvian chicken: An inexpensive and delicious cuisine, although perhaps visually best suited to the colorblind. Check it out!

Sour cherries

One of the best things about summer besides eating and watching tv at the same time is sour cherries: It wasn't until a trip to the farmer's market last week that I fell in love with the ephemeral fruit.




Recalling a memorable breakfast at a B&B in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, I decided to make sour cream sour cherry muffins. Thanks to my trusty paring knife, I pitted about a pint of them in just about half an hour. The sight of the luscious orbs inspired a bout of amateur food pornography (see above).

Although I used a rather unglamorous recipe and forgot the vanilla, the muffins turned out great. I recommend the cooks.com recipe; it's an excellent base. I am an ardent proponent of sour cream baking, by the way.





Upsettingly, sour cherry season, which I just realized coincides with Silverdocs (conspiracy?), is almost over. In the future, my eye will wander to more sultry fruit (plums?) but my affair with the sour cherry will not soon be forgotten. I fully intend to go early to the farmer's market tomorrow morning and bring home a wheelbarrowful. I'm thinking I will freeze them like they did to Walt Disney. Because really, who wants to use that dreadfully complicated Cook's Illustrated recipe for sweet cherry pie? Mr. Kimball needs to accept the way of the baking world: there is no cherry pie but sour cherry pie. It's an age-old truth, my grandma even told it to me.

But I suppose there is no stopping The Kimball when it comes more complicated, less enjoyable ways to achieve the same product...just kiddinngg, I love ya bow tie man.



URGENT UPDATE:
I acquired a flatful of s.c. this morning at the farmers market. Twelve pints for $25 . Due to a lack of transporation, I carried them on the half hour walk home in the sweltering humidity. And they were heavy. Beauty is pain yall.