DanCole42

It took me ten years, but I finally did it: leopard spots in a home oven (ignore the one on the left). And another one: This is a big moment. I feel like I finally took the cricket from my master's hand.

Waves magic wand over Edan... "Reveal to me... your secrets..."

http://jmckinley.posterous.com/dc-earthquake-devastation

Your people would follow you to whatever end, my liege.

Who? But seriously, those were some frakking good sandwiches.

What controversy? GO BLUE!

This REALLY should be its own thread. I want to hear about the food and the experience at Rogue 24 and live vicariously through diners until I manage to find a good time to go and pester RJ's team with my incessant questions. If I wanted to hear from people suffering from an overdeveloped sense of righteous indignation, I'd go on the Internet. "Not being offended" is not a right.

Basically the entire first half of Reinhart's American Pie is a treatise on this. Good read.

There are two possibilities: 1) You show up for dinner. In which case, who cares about signing a contract saying you're promising to do something you're going to do anyway? I'll sign a contract saying I'm going to wipe my ass, it's no sweat off my back. 2) You don't show up for dinner. In which case, you're either a dick and the restaurant has every right to retribution, or there's been an emergency and I'm sure the restaurant would be accommodating.

I've always liked how they define three Michelin stars as being a restaurant that's "worthy of a special journey." I give this place three Michelin stars. Make the drive. I'd love to tell you that I'm bestowing that honor because I had another killer prix-fixe dinner, but no. We've just been hitting up the bar from time to time. The $5 bar bites have been (5pm-7pm Tue-Fri in August) as good or better than anything we had at Komi, Palena, Vidalia, or Cityzen. Delicious, perfect, memorable. Seared tuna that's redder than Santa's suit and that tastes like steak, a soup with mussels and a hunk of grilled ciabatta crouton the size of my fist, gazpacho with tuna crudo, a deeply savory burger served on an English muffin, a sage cocktail that smells like an herb garden in summertime, frozen banana mousse that might have been the best dessert ever... And never a check over $100 for the two of us. Get thee to Clifton.

Big thanks to Edan for putting it all together! Everything was delicious...

Okay, who here is Chinese and wants to take me back to this place? I went in with a couple of friends for dinner tonight, and being the only white people who weren't accompanied by at least one Asian we all felt a little out of place. Maybe the proprietors missed the proliferation of sushi restaurants over the past decades, but we shouldn't be the only table who has to ask to be brought chopsticks. That said, having grown up eating my grandma Yolanda's ravioli, I'm predisposed to like any place that showcases an ethnic grandmother working with dough, and the dumpling-maker was right out in the open. So, score. The napa and pork dumplings were pillowy and flavorful, and having had both the fried and steamed varieties I encourage everyone to try both. The fried version was crispy and satisfying, not at all like some of the rubbery, overcooked dumplings I've had in the past. The tofu and vegetable soup was plentiful and overflowing with tomatoes and bok choy. The lamb kabobs were perfectly spicy with a satisfying char that made me feel like I was in the mountains overlooking the Xiang River (what?). Overall, though, I felt like I was really missing something not being able to fully appreciate and understand everything. Like, when we sat down, we were given a bowl of peanuts and some kind of light slaw. Were we supposed to eat those? Save them to go with our mains? Enjoy them as decoration? Also, why does their "tea time" advertise "French Cakes, Pie & Cookies"? Obviously I have a lot to learn about Hunan culture that, right now, boggles me. The staff didn't really speak much English, but seemed friendly and eager to please. The only real complaint I'd leverage on them that I can't chalk up to my ignorance was that, after the check came and we started pulling out our wallets, the server came over and took the check away because she'd forgotten to put a soda on it (we didn't notice). Now, I'll always pay my fair share, but generally those sorts of happy accidents are overlooked, and the only times I've seen a check taken back has been for an overcharge. I'll definitely be back, if only to have a chance to explore a cuisine about which I know zilch (and because this is the only restaurant in walking distance from my house). So, who wants to translate?

Correction, I am now +2.

Being a literal minute from my house, I'm excited to give it a shot.

God yes. Me and plus one.

You are the master.

http://www.bmgmetals.com/contact_Manassas.php

Sharp eye. One skill a good pizzaiolo should have is the ability to read the fire and rotate the pizza to ensure an even cooking. Unfortunately, that's a task that's best utilized in an oven without a door (i.e. a wood burning oven). With a home oven, the trade-off is that, if I open the door to rotate the pizza, I end up letting all the hot air out and getting a five minute pie instead of a three minute pie. The texture and quality that you get with the faster pie is worth the trade-off of having a few hotter or colder spots. The steel plate does an incredible job of keeping the bottom even, at least.

So the latest fad in pizza making also happens to be one I intend to keep around for a long time: using a hot rolled steel plate instead of a pizza stone. In my case, 16"x17"x0.5". You can say it's patriotic. Good old fashioned all-American steel! I did some tinkering to find the best way to heat it up as hotly and as quickly as possible (serendipitously, they're one in the same): a combination of broiler and convection. Then I made a simple Neapolitan pie using 10% of a 100% hydration starter I've been keeping for about a year. The result was hands down the best home oven pizza I have ever eaten. By orders of magnitude. The only difference was the use of the steel plate instead of a stone! Next time I'll try bringing it closer to the broiler and see if I can get those elusive leopard spots!

Passable cuisine And decent enough decor Had the vindaloo

Inside. Getting bottom heat on a grill is easy. Getting top heat is hard.

They can't do it, but they referred me to two companies who could: BMG Steel Potomac Steel Thanks!

Apparently 1/2"-3/4" steel plate is the next big thing for pizza making. Who knew? Anyway, an overpriced version hasn't made it to Sur le Table yet, so I was wondering if anyone knew of a local steel distributor who could custom cut a 16"x16"x3/4" hot rolled steel plate for me?

Never been... is it any good?

I find myself with an overabundance of pork rillettes I made from shoulder confit. What can I do with them?