ALB

On 9/8/2023 at 2:23 PM, KeithA said:

Pesto - use up any end of summer fresh basil. It freezes great and then you have homemade pesto anytime you want during the year. Also any stocks like chicken stock freeze great too. While it may be obvious, but end of summer fruit makes great ice cream too 🙂

On 9/3/2023 at 4:06 PM, Tweaked said:

Since you already have chili, make up a batch of corn bread, cut into individual serving pieces, wrap tight in saran wrap and freeze.  Add farmers market corn to the corn bread batter.

Turn late season tomatoes into sauce.  Freeze in batches and then all you have to do is boil up pasta for an easy dinner.  We like to keep packages of Vace ravioli in the freezer.  

Buy seconds stone fruit at the farmers market, chop up the fruit and cook with a little sugar until kinda saucy/chunky.  Now you have a dessert topping for ice cream.  

 

Thank you! Also thank you for the reminder of vace ravioli..I used to buy those when I lived in bethesda.. maybe it is worth a drive down again

Thank you all! 

On 2/24/2023 at 2:24 PM, KeithA said:

Apparently the carrrot fritters are Havuc Koftesi and here is a blog with old pictures of the dish from Zaytinya and a recipe inspired by it:

 

19 hours ago, susan said:

I've been making a lot of ratatouille lately using all the wonderful produce I'm finding like eggplant, zucchini, red peppers, and tomatoes at the farmer's market here in Bethesda on Sundays. It's a bit labor intensive but if you have a few hours and make a large batch, it freezes beautifully. As a matter of fact I had some for lunch today with toasted whole wheat lavash.  The way I do it is I slice and roast each vegetable on cookie sheets in the oven until browned. Then I put it all together in a dutch oven with fresh thyme, bay leaf, fresh basil, salt and pepper and a little bit of crushed red pepper.  This last time I added a can of garbanzo beans to it and it was a great addition.  After everything is cooked down, I separate it into serving sizes in freezer containers. It's also delicious room temperature on baguette slices, or over brown rice. I hope you give it a try and let me know! 

great idea, thank you!!

Hi All, We are looking at a busy fall so I am looking to cook ahead. We were also gifted a freezer. I have some green chili/chicken chili and corn soup in there already (and shakshuka base) but I would love some new ideas, especially since the produce is so good right now. No pork or shellfish and I will make dishes that have dairy and meat in them one or the other- but I can usually do that (unfortunately for me, we are kosher style at home.) Other than that, we are pretty open. Thank you all for any help- I am definitely in a rut!

In addition, you can order most of their dim sum at any time. I was in wheaton a few weeks ago and since I am rarely there- picked up 3 dim sum items for dinner (har gow, chicken and ginger dumplings, and shrimp stuffed eggplant.) a nice thing, when I used to limit my visits to only weekends.

EDIT- I scrolled up and saw I posted virtually the same thing in 2021. But it holds!

7 hours ago, ICD said:

Sichuan Jin River is also good next time your in the area.

Thanks! 

On 12/30/2022 at 2:12 PM, Ericandblueboy said:

Bob's Shanghai, Xian Gourmet, Peter Chang - all good.  Haven't been to Joe's in ages.

Update: I picked up dinner from Bob's Shanghai. We had the spicy chicken wontons, beef with long peppers, chicken with rice cakes, cucumber salad, and a stuffed sticky rice that we enjoyed minus the very dry sweet potato. The spice level was definitely serious on the beef and wontons, as advertised. Thanks @Ericandblueboy. I'll have to get someone else to share the XLB with me in the future. @zgast, thanks for the rec! We will definitely try that one too. 

2 minutes ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Bob's Shanghai, Xian Gourmet, Peter Chang - all good.  Haven't been to Joe's in ages.

Thank you so much! I haven't lived in MoCo in a while.

I live in Howard County now, and we do not have strong Chinese food options. I will be in Rockville briefly this evening, where should I pick up dinner? We are open to any region of China. The only limit is that my husband does not eat pork or shellfish. Is Joe's still good? Is it worth it to pick up Peter Chang's? 

My information is from 2018, but the resumption of this thread reminded me to post about 2 amazing experiences we had in Oaxaca. We took a fabulous cooking class with https://www.quericoesoaxaca.com.mx/. I booked us first, so we chose the menu for the group (important because my now husband does not eat pork or shellfish.) Amazing food, great experience and lots of hand on cooking.

We also did a 3 day/2 night hike with https://sierranorte.org.mx/#/. It was my ideal hiking experience in that you hike between villages in the Sierra Norte, and have a cabin with bathroom in each location- so you only need to carry toiletries and clothes. All meals were included. It is a community owned tourism initiative. I also asked to stop at the Tlacolula market on the way to our first village. It was an amazing experience and I would recommend it to anyone who likes the outdoors. You can customize the hiking to what suits you, and we had added English speaking guides as my spanish would not have been enough to truly learn about the area. We added a termezcal (basically a sweat lodge and massage) to the last night. I should have tapped out sooner and I got a bit ill from dehydration, but that is on me, other hikers we met loved it. 

6 hours ago, zgast said:

End of the season. Without throwing in spoilers, was pretty satisfied with how it went. I’d love to try a meal with any of the last 5-6 chefs. 
 

Agreed on all counts. Also, I just went back and have been watching some early seasons in the background of other things. The caliber of the chefs and cooking now is incomparable to the first few seasons. Also the challenges a lot more serious. 

Po Boy Jim just opened up a location in Columbia. Has anyone been to the one in DC? If so, recommend or no?

3 hours ago, mtureck said:

Just a reminder that the Greek Deli made it though the pandemic, and is still serving the best lunches in the area. 

This note on their website though,

"Folks - I have 2 priorities in life. My family and my customers. For 31 years, I have lived to serve you high quality food. I am here in rain, sleet, snow and the pandemic. Today, I need your support more than ever. Please tell everyone that The Greek Deli is here to serve you! Let us put together your next family dinner. Thank you for the last 31 years and I hope to serve you for another 31!"

Please, please go if you're near Dupont. I'd be crushed if they ever had to close down. 

That place is my dad's favorite. He still treks in from Olney once in a while now that he is retired. I wish it were closer to from Columbia!

5 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Buddha clearly knows a lot about the show and cooking in general but some of the other chefs just don't want his advice - very frustrating to watch.  Shocked that Buddha was the next to last person picked in Restaurant Wars - are these people crazy?

Agreed! i wonder if it is because his cooking is so specific (more conceptual) and they didn't think they could blend into his style. But agreed, that was a mistake of a late pic. 

17 hours ago, saf said:

Tried a new tea place today - DC Boba, 1403 Park Road NW. No website. Place was clean, very simple, appealing. The young woman behind the counter was lovely.

Got a frozen thai tea. It's quite tasty, but the boba is too soft. Will have to try it again to see if that is how it always is.

The boy wanted nothing today, but is truly curious about what "Sea Salt Egg Coffee" might be.

 

 

I have never had it salted, but egg coffee in Vietnam is one of the most delicious things I have ever consumed in my life. (it is basically egg yolk and sweetened condensed milk whipped and poured on top of strong coffee, hot or ice.) If anyone started selling it near me, I would be in big trouble!

We got take out from Federal Fritter in October and it was very tasty.

I am on a search for Singaporean food (or Malay which is close) Hainanese chicken rice, laksa, chili crab, etc. Is there any place in the area that focuses on these foods? I am in Howard County but happy to drive (for take away.)

2 hours ago, MsDiPesto said:

I wish great success to the new owners and hope diners are able to continue to enjoy the high bar set by the McPhersons. 

That said, the last thing in the world I wanted when I was in HS was to have my 'rents around all the time. Just sayin'. 

I was just in sperryville, there is NOTHING to do... teens or otherwise All the restaurants I guess other than three blacksmiths, closed at 8 on saturday!

5 hours ago, curls said:

I haven’t tried Ferber’s strawberry jam recipes but I have made a few of her peach jams and really like them. Do you have her book, “Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber”?

I do! I will go back and look at it. I put it quickly back on the shelf years ago when it said to boil apples to make your own pectin.

I will definitely look for her peach jam this summer! Thanks for the reminder.

I am looking to make strawberry jam this weekend after a long hiatus of jam making. Does anyone have a recipe they love for canning? I do not love the outcome with low sugar pectin.

19 hours ago, Pat said:

So long as they are better at bagels than they are at business, I guess it's worthwhile to keep patronizing them. That's what I decided about the place I was having issues with.

Yeah agreed. and when you live in a less dense area for good options, that comes up each time there is an issue.

Update: I called yesterday. Somewhat got an apology, but then they hadn't done the refund because they LOST THE REFUND LIST! But they refunded my order once I called. I ended up getting bagels from Royal Bakery in Olney, near my parents. They were a mess last year, but by this point it was almost noon and the crowds had cleared out.

I wish they weren't the best bagels in the area, but I don't anticipate issues on non holidays I guess.

26 minutes ago, Pat said:

This sure sounds very frustrating. I'd certainly complain and get a refund.

Is this a place you go to often enough to know if this is an aberration? If so, the holiday would go a long way to explaining it. I've found some business e-commerce sites work a lot better than others, even ones that use the same platforms. There is one shop I patronize because I like their food and have been trying to be supportive during the pandemic, and their e-commerce site is a hot mess. It looks fine, but they sell me items they don't have and tell me to pick things up at times when they're not available. I've several times had someone (who I think is the owner) tell me "I don't know why it says that" when I show up at a certain time I'm told to pick items up but they won't be available until later.

Another factor that seems to be affecting efficiency is that businesses are having a very hard time retaining employees and may be working shorthanded and/or with new people at a particularly inopportune time.

 

They are newish to our area. Honestly, we'll be back.. because they have the only good bagels in Columbia (but it may be a while.) I hadn't considered it was a back end system issue, vs a poor system management issue. I was so bewildered that ordering ahead did not mean that my order would be at the top of the list for that time slot.

I was also frustrated because about 50 people were hanging in the small  restaurant waiting for their orders. This place was so good about covid safety when they opened, this was insane. I really feel for their staff (which I will also mention when I call.)

33 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Were you unreasonable at being upset when your 10:15 AM order wasn't ready *an hour and fifteen minutes later?*

Nope!

Thanks Don. I wanted to make sure I wasn't out of line before I call tomorrow to complain. (and make sure I get my refund!)

I pre-ordered bagels to pick up for today, anticipating a mothers day crunch. When I arrived at said store, I checked in at the time appointed on the text confirming my order. It said arrive at 10:15. At 10:45, I asked an employee who said they were behind. At 11:05, I canceled my order when I called and the employee could not tell me when my bagels would be ready. At 11:30, I got a text my 10:15 order was ready.

Am I unreasonable to expect that my order (of a dozen bagels, no sandwiches) is ready in the era of my order time? Or to expect a text with a delay? I was very frustrated and had a car with a bag full of cream cheese and lox. I realize these are first world problems, and it was a holiday- but still.. shouldn't my order be filled for roughly the appointed time? I was order 13 for the day, they were on 340 when I gave up.