Chef and restaurateur Bobby Flay introduces his first restaurant in Virginia with the opening of Bobby’s Burger Palace (BBP) in Woodbridge, VA, the 15th BBP location nationwide. Located adjacent to Potomac Mills—a Simon Mall—BBP offers an assortment of burgers inspired by Bobby’s extensive travels throughout America and his love of the grill in a casual and convenient setting.  

“At any time of year, my favorite thing to eat is a cheeseburger,” says Bobby. “And at BBP, I celebrate America’s variety of flavors, styles and cultures surrounding this classic staple, offering a selection of specialty burgers, served at a great price. I’m very excited to open the first BBP in Virginia and be able to share this with the Woodbridge community.”

Each BBP burger is Bobby’s tribute to America’s regional flavors and traditions, made with only premium-quality ingredients and condiments. Cooked to order, patrons can choose from 10 signature burgers such as the Philadelphia Burger with Provolone cheese, griddled onions and hot peppers; the Buffalo Style Burger with red hot sauce, blue cheese dressing and watercress; the Dallas Burger spice crusted with coleslaw, Monterey Jack, BBQ sauce, and pickles; the Santa Fe Burger with queso sauce, pickled jalapeños, and blue corn chips; and the Palace Classic Burger with American cheese, lettuce, tomato and red onion – are all served on a sesame seed bun. Also offered is a BBP Burger of the Month, which in May will be Stephanie’s All-American Burger with American cheese, yellow mustard, pickled jalapenos and shredded lettuce. All burgers may be prepared with Certified Angus Beef or ground turkey, and a grilled chicken breast option is also available.

INSIDER DINING AT BBP When dining at the BBP, Bobby reminds you to get your burger crunchified, which means topping any BBP burger with crisp chips at no additional cost.  Crunchified selections include the Crunchburger® with double American cheese and potato chips and the Crunch Salad with chopped vegetables, romaine, crispy tortillas, white cheddar cheese cubes and balsamic dressing. 

I have a lot of things to say in this post - so just one title doesn't seem to do it justice.

Last weekend, I was quite envious of one of my neighbors' smoked chicken BBQ. So my other neighbor, Justin, and I decided we'd try our own luck at smoking some proteins since we're both pretty enamored by food.

We made smoked chicken drumsticks, beef brisket, and a pork shoulder. I had the chicken drumsticks in a brine overnight. I gave all three meats a generous coating of the Pork Barrell BBQ Dry Rub that I found at Costco.

I have never actually brined anything myself. Hell, I've never even cooked meat with a bone in it until Saturday's drumsticks. I googled every single recipe for the "best chicken brine" ever - and I couldn't quite figure out what would work for me. So what did I do? Made it up, of course.

What you'll need:
1 gallon cold water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
10 gallon ziploc bag

How to:
1. Whisk salt and sugar into water until it starts to dissolve.
2. Pour brine into ziploc bag. I also added a good helping of my dry rub into the bag.
3. Add chicken (I always rinse my chicken first before cooking - you don't need to wash the chicken with soap as seen on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 2).
4. Leave in brine overnight - or at least a minimum of 2 hours. 

After letting the chicken smoke for 2.5 hours, it was the most tender, juicy, flavorful deliciousness that I've ever made. The skin gets kinda rubbery in the smoker, so we dipped them in the deep fryer for 3 minutes afterwards. PERFECTION.

I seriously don't know why I don't brine every time I cook chicken - it made a world of difference. 
Check out the final product:

And here's the BBQ Beef Brisket after 8 hours in the smoker:

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the finished pork shoulder. It took about 12 hours - and by the time it was done - I had enjoyed a few drinks with the neighbors and forgot about taking pics.

If you have any great BBQ recipes, tips, or tricks - please share in the comments below!

Foodies and Food Network fans have a chance to meet and eat with New York City restaurateur, author and television personality Donatella Arpaia at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town on Sunday, May 19 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
 
The event begins on the H Lounge Stage, where Donatella will speak about her journey to becoming a chef, give recipe tips and answer questions.  Attendees can enter their names in a raffle for a chance to win one of 10 Donatella Cooks cookbooks.
 
Following the presentation, guests will be invited to the Skybox Sports Bar to mingle with Donatella and purchase appetizers from Donatella Cooks prepared by the Chefs at Hollywood Casino.  Selections include cucumber soup with crab, yogurt and dill shooter, and Mama’s meatballs. Guests who order one of the featured appetizers will receive a recipe card to be signed by Donatella.
 
The talk is free and open to the public, however guests must pay for food selections.
 
Donatella is one of the most influential women in the world of food, business and entertaining. The New York Post named her one of the “most powerful women” in Manhattan, and Zagat called her “hostess with the mostest.”
 
The restaurateur opened her first New York City restaurant Bellini, inspired by her childhood summers spent in Italy with family and food, in 1998. She soon opened three more highly acclaimed restaurants including Donatella, DBar and Kefi.
 
Donatella is also well known as a head judge on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America and Next Iron Chef. She is featured as a regular contributor on the Today Show. In 2010, Donatella penned Donatella Cooks, a guide to cooking and entertaining with flair.

On Saturday, we had a block of window that was perfect for mommy & B time. Since we had just gone through some pretty rough days post-op and he was finally starting to feel better, I decided to take him somewhere fun for a lunch date. We had been once before and B loved the boats - so we picked Water's Edge in Occoquan.

Yes, it looks like you're driving through a construction site to get there, and yes it's a total dive bar with funky interior dining area - but the two story deck, the fresh breeze, the boats, the water - total perfection.
The food is not the finest dining, but you can't go wrong with a chicken quesadilla and a shirley temple.

It's a fun spot if you're looking for somewhere casual to hang in the breeze. We sat on the deck with Harley riders, hungover college kids, and an older boat-loving couple who were already rocking white pants pre-memorial day. Mixed bag, for sure... but if you don't care, neither do they :)

ps: they have happy hour from 12noon-7pm every weekday.

Join the Book Hill neighborhood of Georgetown as the shops celebrate the annual Georgetown French Market!

Superb shopping complimented by the scent of fresh coffee and the sounds of strolling musicians immerse the Book Hill neighborhood of Georgetown every spring with the 10th annual Georgetown French Market coming up at the end of April.  The 2013 Georgetown French Market will be held Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20 from 10am to 5pm.  

This event takes place along upper Wisconsin Avenue, NW, between P Street and Reservoir Road, and features over 35 Georgetown boutiques, antique shops, restaurants and galleries offering savings up to 75% off designer goods, art and antique home furnishings. Whimsical mimes, strolling musicians, arts & crafts with Alliance Francais and live art demo by Art Soiree will offer fun and entertainment for the whole family. Click here for a full list of participating stores and their fabulous offers.

On the Saturday before Easter, we had plenty of family in town. Lots of young, growing boys to feed. To put it bluntly, the best way to feed these people is outside. My mom is famous for making pizzas on the grill - so we thought we'd try a new version.  We adapted our recipe from Bobby Flay's Grilled Pizza with Hot Sausage, Grilled Peppers and Onions and Oregano Ricotta. 

We passed on the spicy sausage and went with sweet italian sausage instead. We also skipped the fontina cheese and replaced sheep's milk ricotta with whole milk ricotta. And we completely nixed the vinaigrette dressing.

Directions
Pre-heat grill. Grill sausage about 7-10 minutes per side. Toss onions and peppers in about 2 tbsp olive oil to coat. Cook peppers and onions on grill - we used a vegetable grilling pan made specifically for outdoor use. Remove sausage once cooked and slice. Roughly slice the onions/peppers after they have softened.

Heat grill to med-high. Brush dough with olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with garlic salt. 
This is important: place the side where you're going to put your topings DOWN first and grill so that it's crispy when you apply the goodies. Grill 3-4 minutes. Remove from grill and place on cookie sheet/cutting board to assemble pizza. 

Divide the sausage, onions and peppers evenly over the two shells. Dollop ricotta (mix with herbs, 2 tbsp olive oil, garlic salt to taste). Place the pizza on the grill, close the cover and grill until the cheese has melted, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Looking to eat out, bring the kids, and actually enjoy it? Check out a new review site: Teddy's Table. Teddy’s Table has a simple philosophy - Restaurant Reviews: By Families For Families.

Teddy's Table offers families and caregivers information on local restaurants with reviews from other families and parents about restaurants that adults and children can both enjoy. Want to know if a particular restaurant is kid-friendly? Teddy’s Table will tell you!

Teddy’s Table hopes to help make planning easier -- to help you find restaurants that are fun for kids AND parents. To help raise awareness of their new site, Teddy's Table is hosting a giveaway for one $25 gift certificate to one of their favorite chains of kid-friendly restaurant groups, The Great American Restaurants! Enter below!

giveaway sponsored by TeddysTable.com

Is there anything better than celebrating your parents' 30th wedding anniversary? How about celebrating it with roulette, exotic cuisine, and dragon fire in your martini glass? That's what I call a celebration!

My brother, parents, and I hit up Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races on Friday for a night out on the town. Only 50ish miles away, the drive was not too bad on a typically-horrendous Friday rush hour. I kinda-sorta wasn't feeling so lucky. My brother, on the other hand, is eternally lucky. He wins, and he wins often. He spent the entire car ride psyching me up and trying to get the luck flowing through my veins.

I was a rookie at roulette. My brother's enthusiasm worked... for a short while. Before I knew it, he was up $700 and I was still placing $15 bets just trying to break even. In my non-casino life, I live by the motto "go big or go home" - so I figured "why change now?" and I started playing like a high roller and betting $100 chips. That worked three times until I was wiped out - completely. I'm not sure if he felt sorry for me (or just because he loves me so much), but my sweet sweet father then let me play with his chips - which I also promptly lost to the house. And I hadn't even started drinking yet... Meanwhile, my mom was playing a PENNY slot machine and somehow managed to turn $5 into $75.

We decided it was time to eat and headed over to 9 Dragons - the space is newly renovated and boasts an updated menu of authentic Hong Kong-style cuisine and a selection of fresh sushi. The decor of the restaurant was so beautiful with deep reds and dark woods. Honestly, and I don't mean this in a bad way, it didn't even feel like we were in West Virginia.

If you go to check out 9 Dragons - you'd probably be set ordering from their specialty cocktails (I suggest the Drunken Dragon) and sushi menu. Since we were out celebrating a special occasion, we went ALL out. The service, presentation, and quality was extraordinary. I recommend the Wonton Soup, Hot Mama (spciy tuna, jalepeno) roll, and... well, everything else.

Our waitress, Li Ling, took excellent care of us. Although 9 Dragons didn't offer dessert, we mentioned my parents' 30th and she said she'd get us a special surprise. Her surprise came in the form of a jumbo slice of fresh cheesecake made at The Final Cut Steakhouse. She literally walked across the casino to another restaurant to get us the best dessert in the building! Totally blew my expectations - and kinda made me forget that I had just lost $250 on the tables down the hall!

Win or lose, it was a fantastic night out with the family! Happy anniversary, Mom & Dad!

I have been desperately wanting the weather to be more beautiful and a chance to plant my herbs outside this spring. Unfortunately, with this ridiculous snow-in-March, it doesn't look promising. I usually plant my herbs indoors in my hanging garden and then transplant outside when the weather warms up.

This past week, I have found several fresh herb plants that were worth their weight in gold - including a beautiful basil plant from Whole Foods in Fair Lakes. I instantly picked up some fresh on-the-vine tomatoes and mozzarella to go with.

Drizzle the top with a mixture of extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a teaspoon of pesto (I use Classico brand). I don't measure anything unless I'm baking - so use your judgement on this one. The key here is to salt the tomatoes just a dash before layering the mozzarella. Otherwise, the flavor is not as robust. Enjoy!

The News-Press is proud to present Falls Church Restaurant Week 2013! The inaugural F.C. event features over 30 restaurants in and around The Little City which will be serving up special dining deals all week long starting Monday, March 18 and running through Sunday, March 24.

All participating restaurants and their dining specials are listed on the Falls Church News Press web site. Happy eating Falls Church!