SHOW & RECIPE FOR DEC. 29

This week’s Delicious Mischief comes to you from our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.

A COCKTAIL WITH MANY TALES
Even in Washington, a place with more than a few secrets and quite a few people willing to share them for love or money, the Round Robin Bar at the old Willard Hotel has to take the cake. Or at least, take the cocktail. In recent years expensively and luxuriantly renovated as an Inter-Continental, the hotel nonetheless clings to its history about a block away from the White House from before the Civil War. Head bartender Jim Hewes hasn’t been here quite that long, but he sits down with us in the Round Robin for a drink and a chat about the alcohol that has fueled 150 years of American history.

COOKING RENAISSANCE
No one in Washington seems more aware than Neall Bailey of the dining renaissance the nation’s capital has enjoyed over the past 20 years. Long a South-Meets-Midwest meat-and-potatoes kind of town, Washington has finally embraced the embassies along its famed Embassy Row to serve food and open restaurants from every nook and cranny of the globe. As executive chef at the Willard Inter-Continental, Neall competes with such places for oohs and ahs nightly – in the hotel’s restaurants, its more casual cafes, and its busy catering calendar.

CHEF WITH A PASSION
Some years ago, Jeff Tunks was merely another great chef. Most familiar to Houstonians from the meals he cooked at the ritzy Windsor Court Hotel’s Grill Room in New Orleans, Jeff disappeared from the Gulf Coast’s radar for a while – until he came right back at us, with an eatery called DC Coast in Washington. With that place, Jeff and his two partners in a company called Passion Food started a process that would also give the world Asian food at Ten Penh, Hispanic New World food at Ceiba and, just recently, south Louisiana food at Acadiana. We taste and talk with Jeff about his journey.

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT
David Guas left his hometown of New Orleans to follow his mentor Jeff Tunks to the nation’s capital. Each of the four restaurants Jeff and his partners at Passion Food have opened so far have opened featuring David’s desserts. The only funny part of that is that this whole “pastry chef thing” happened by accident, as most creations in the kitchen do anyway. Now David sits down with us to talk about his brand-new life as a caterer and restaurant consultant. And if your place simply needs some new killer desserts, we imagine he’d be more than happy to oblige.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
TRES LECHES

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk
7 ounces sweetened condensed milk
6 ounces evaporated milk

Topping:
¾ cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time, mixing until incorporated. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes. Let cool. Pierce the cake with a fork in about 10 places. In a bowl, combine the milk, condensed milk and evaporated milk and pour over the cake. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. To make the topping, whip together all ingredients until thick and spread over the top of the chilled cake. Serves 6-8.