edenman

Dinner for a friend's birthday here tonight. Hits were the side of beans with rabbit confit (proportions were ridiculously in favor of the rabbit confit, which was fine by me, and the flavor was thus outstandingly rich) and the braised beef rib entree. The rest was fairly middling: my veal liver was aggressively liverish (and I can take a fair bit of liver aggression), the scallops were good but not great, and the fries were underwhelming. Lamb shank earned a "hey, that's pretty tasty" mention. The side of grits with bleu cheese, on the other hand, were runny and lukewarm.

The booze continues to be almost egregiously expensive here, but not across the board. The cheapest glasses of wine (one red, one white) are both $9. A new infusion of American craft brews is welcome, but they are all $9, from Allagash White (seriously?) to Troegs Hopback Amber (great beer, but $9 is a bit steep) to Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA (the only one in the right range price-wise). The imported beers are cheaper, even Chimay "Rouge" for $8. Funny, when Marvin is charging $12 for the same bottle: somebody desperately needs to balance out BDT's booze prices if it's going to be worth a visit on a regular basis.

At least the menu is up-to-date on their website. I checked a few things out just now and it's literally the exact same dinner menu I looked at this evening. A major plus.

I've been really enjoying the drink-related posts on DCist lately. There was one a while back with tips on how to properly age beers that I liked in particular.

Thanks, Roger

Saturday night:

Sweetbreads

Lamb Confit

Salmon Roe

All seriously delicious, although I think the lamb confit wins by a nose. Perfect combination of crispy exterior and fallapart interior, and the bed of greens and herb paste on top were perfect accompaniments.

There's a few restaurant recommendations in the Gluten-Free resources thread here

Is Corduroy REALLY the only suggestion for the second inquiry?

Commonwealth is worth a stop, IMO, and columbia heights is far enough from downtown that it might not be a total mess of people.

One question: once thawed, can it be refrozen? And, if not, how long does it keep?

Yea, I'm interested but wouldn't be able to use it until at least January, so the frozen/refrozen thing would make a big difference in my interest level.

Hey I hear someone was looking for me

Stachowski-brand charcuterie? Nice.

Why not stay at Proof?

My guess is that the bar at Proof on a Friday night will be a bit tight for 20 people, especially on inaugWeekend. If you can't find room at Poste (nice, but the bar might be a bit tight) or Fado (a good option, lots of nooks), RFD is a fallback. Regardless of the problems with the place, it is plenty large and there are a wide range of drafts to choose from. To be honest, I would get out of Penn Quarter after dinner and find some space in a more relaxed neighborhood, but that's just me.

I had meant to post the other day but it slipped my mind. Proof is currently running a lunch special where they offer one of 7 different entrees (including Wagyu Cheese Steak, a Shrimp Burger, a Hanger Steak Salad, and a Portobello Panini amongst others I do not remember) along with a glass of either red or white wine for $12. Quite the deal considering that each of those dishes approach that price by themselves and the generous bartending staff were definitely not measuring their pours...

It's a steal. Finally made it for lunch today, having been on my list since the press release came out, and the roast pork panini was a steal at $12. Juicy flavorful pork, nice spicy slaw, crispy panini crust, all well executed and totally harmonious. Throw in a glass of unobjectionable red wine and that's lunch.

Did VAFoodNut somehow get back on here with a new screen name?

I humbly submit this for consideration in "Thread of the Year" runnings.

Spinach & Ricotta Gnudi with Maitake Mushrooms & Pumpkin Emulsion- the meal could have stopped here, repeating ad infinitum, and I would have been very happy.

So you're saying you would've been equally happy to go to a Gnudi bar?

Click - it's just a letter of intent, but still worth a mention.

Wow. Just. Wow.

 
I just woke up.

Hustle and bustle inside today. Pizza oven is on, people being interviewed, boxes of wine everywhere. Should be opening soon, one would think.

I used two parsnips in my chicken stock that just went on the stove, but WF was only selling them in bags of ~15, so I've got a bunch left. I'm thinking maybe they'd be useful in soup? Or maybe roasted and blended in a veg puree for a side? Any favorite recipes out there?

In case anybody else tried to googlemaps it, it's spelled "Chilhowie"

Wow, two years with no post. I guess I should try and steer my friends away from using this as a "pre-holiday-party" stop, huh?

No one has mentioned Eat First on H St -- it's been one of my favorite Chinese restaurants for a long time. Not much on atmosphere, but good, cheap food.

Not many places on my "never go back" list. That's one of them.

Picked up "Hervé This - Molecular Gastronomy" in PDX almost two months ago and just finished it. It was a struggle. Lots of good information, but I'd put money on the translator being French: the English is frequently stilted and difficult to read. On top of that, the content is very scattered (changing topics ever few pages) and highly technical. If you aren't a food chemist or at least an advanced cook, you'll have trouble getting through it. That's not to say the book isn't interesting: I learned alot and am glad I read it. It was just a tough read, and seems like an topic that somebody could write a much more accessible "Molecular Gastronomy for Dummies" book about. Paging Alton Brown...

Is Thai Chili Peppers' DC branch no longer in the Cinemas on 7th? That was another nearby Thai joint, though I think I prefer Kanlaya.... What about Sushi Go Rounds' bento lunches? I thought their fried rice was fluffy good.

Good catch...I often turn a blind eye to anything inside the black gate (clyde's on the walk excepted). Tried the yellow curry today...not impressed, and expensive (almost $13 after tax). Might give 'em another try if you vouch for the fried rice, but I've had more luck with Kanlaya so I'll probably just stick to that.

on a whim, asked cedarbrook farms at dupont market today and they pulled a bag of frozen pork cheeks from the freezer (it's not listed on the board). still frozen, it looks like two parts fat to one part meat, not to mention the skin still attached. but after 2 weeks, i'm happy that i just found cheeks of any sort.

So it's you that got the rest of the jowl supply I picked up the remaining two for guanciale-making today, clearly after your visit. As for cooking, I'd recommend either braise or confit, and probably would skin them beforehand, so you can crisp up the outer fat layer rather than crisping up something that doesn't necessarily get eaten. By the way, skinning them is much easier when still frozen. Hopefully you haven't started thawing already. It's a pain in the ass regardless.

More questions-what did you use as a fermenter for large batches before you got the conical?-just split it between smaller carboys? Also, how are you using the pump w/ the immersion chiller? Since I've been out of the loop for awhile, I'm trying to catch up-I do have a 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler, that I bought to use as a mash tun, w/ Phil's false bottom & sparge arm, but never set it up, I did my mashes in a spaghetti pot in the oven, then added it to the wort.

What do you think is the most important thing to get, if you're thinking about brewing 10 gallons? I think my biggest need right now is a large brewpot, I've done partial boils w/ a 5 gallon pot, then topped it off w/ water. The turkey fryer kit I saw at the store had a 7 gallon pot & a burner for $59. I saw the Blichman Boilermaker at the store today & was lusting after it, but don't think it's in the budget right now...

Before Conical (BC) I was splitting the 10gal batch between two fermenters, yes. The pond pump sits in the bottom of a bucket of ice water, and hooks directly into the immersion chiller. the output of the chiller goes back into the bucket, so it's a closed system and no water is lost (although I tend to let the output drain off until it gets down to the 150F range, to prevent melting all the ice at once).

And yea, being able to do a full boil is the best next step....you get better hop utilization, less risk of infection, etc. Of course, it takes longer to chill down, especially compared to topping up with cold water. I've got a 14gal kettle with output valve and thermometer coupling that MoreBeer.com used to sell. Really, the valve and thermometer are optional but definitely nice to have.

It now it sits fully assembled in my backyard waiting for me to get a propane tank and start using the searing section (an issue that will be solved by dinner tomorrow).

Maybe not for the immediate needs, but I've been really happy with Propane Taxi for getting/refilling propane tanks.

Some things I'm not sure about. I've read about braising the belly and then weighting it down overnight to compress it. I'm not sure if this is really a necessary step. I wouldn't mind braising the belly tonight just to have one less thing to do tomorrow, which would facilitate this, but then I'm not sure about heating the belly up before crisping it tomorrow. Would I save the braising liquid and reheat it in the oven, or would bringing it to room temp and then pan-frying be sufficient? I think I'd want to reheat a little in the oven at least.

...

Anyway, thoughts? What's your favorite method for cooking belly?

I'm not sure I'd bother with the compression step....braised belly for me is best when it's not too dense. My vote goes for reheating in the braise liquid, then pan-searing. The advantage is that the braise liquid will then be hot, and you can strain and reduce if you want to try making a sauce (enhanced with a roux or cream).

And my favorite method for belly is confit. So rich, so good.