edenman

The plate chiller was a total pain in the ass to use/clean so I'm back to using the immersion chiller, but have invested in a pond pump so I can recirculate ice water and considerably reduce my water use and chilling time. I love the conical but I wouldn't recommend it without some caveats: it's great for the brewer like myself who brews 10gal once a month at most...this way, the batches go into the conical and don't come out until it's time to keg. It's stupidly easy to clean (a major plus) but I'm still tinkering with an airlock system...the seal on the lid isn't completely airtight and occasionally if the foam rises to the ceiling, it leaks out the edges rather than going through the output tube I've got setup. I've heard mixed things about the fermentap conversion kit. As long as you don't have too much trouble cleaning/racking with your carboys, I'd stick with those for now. I don't think it makes much sense to get a conical unless you're doing at least 10gal batches.

Thanks for the help, guys. Here's what I ended up doing: Sauteed some guanciale in braising pan, when crispy, added minced onion. Soften, then add cubed turnip, carrot, more onion, chicken stock, sherry. Cover -> 350 oven. Sear chop in cast-iron skillet, transfer to oven to finish cooking. Make medium roux. When veg is done braising, strain liquid and add to roux, reduce. Plate goes veg, chop, a little round of mushroom/shallot duxelle i made a few days ago, and the sauce over all. Turned out decent, but I overcooked the chop slightly (158ish, was shooting for closer to 150) and undercooked the veg. Sauce was good, but I wish I'd made the second trip to the store for the cream instead of resorting to roux.

Whoa. To make this post somewhat useful, I picked up some belgian winter seasonals today at Ace. Noël des Géants is nice. Mellow dark fruit, caramel, hides the 8.5% pretty well.

Have very little experience cooking veal, decided to pick up one of these at WF on a whim, initial thinking about searing then throwing into a braise of turnip, carrot, onion. But it dawned on me that veal is supposed to be tender, and thus may not need the help of a braise in that area. Should I just sear and then finish with dry heat in the oven, and do the root veg braise on the side?

Cairo's usually got a good selection (they have some rare-ish DFH stuff too), but you'll pay a buck or two more per sixpack than WF, which is saying something. At least that was my impression last time I visited. Also grabbed a bottle of the Cuvee at WF a few days ago. Looking forward to it.

A friend last night was raving about this place and I couldn't find a thread for it here. It's a weekday-only, lunch-only place. Inconvenient, but maybe worth a trip one workday. DCist covered it last year, couldn't find coverage in wp, etc. Mangialardo & Sons, Inc. 1317 Pennsylvania Ave., SE 202-543-6212 Metro: Potomac Avenue

Yes. The menu is a shock to me as well.

Once you go keg, you never go back. One vessel to clean, one vessel to fill. Only downside is that it requires more fridge space (especially if you want to age stuff) but if you have a garage and an extra few bucks a month for electricity, there's no reason not to make the switch.

Click Always good to see another homebrewer on here. I've currently got a Belgian Cherry-Dubbel in the fermenter, a batch of Flanders Red going in a wine barrel at a friend's house, and a Double IPA on deck.

WholePaycheck on P Street usually has at least a few of these, although they come and go.

Click What if you don't have a larding needle? Jamie: Well you better go get one.

I used to be a big CapQ fan, but I've had some really bad meals there since moving to the area. I have written them off my list of lunch options. The ribs in particular are freakin' terrible. Haven't done Ella's for lunch, but the pizza has been acceptable in the past when I've been for happy hour or dinner. I haven't been to the various chinese joints enough times to completely make up my mind about the hierarchy, but I did enjoy my Fried Good Dale at Jackey's.

As for chinese, I believe the answer to your question is "yes, sadly". Kanlaya is the only Thai joint in walking distance. It's pretty good, in my limited experience, but lunch starts at $10 after tax, so it's hardly cheap. See link in my sig for more lunch options...I've been slowly trying more and more places since my office moved here in the summer. As for happy hour, I've been to relatively few, mostly at RFD with RocketBar or Matchbox occasionally sneaking in. Have little desire to go happy-hour hunting, though, so I'm sure there are better options. Let me know if you find anything good that I don't already have on EricEatsLunch....this area is a wasteland and I'm always looking for more options.

Only one cask on tonight, and it was back to Victory Hop Devil. They seem to have a particular affinity to Victory casks here, although the bartender told me they also had some Rogue beers on cask as well. No other breweries mentioned. Legacy Hedonism is a fantastic imperial red (or red.5 as it's only 7%) in bottle. And yes: Beer-battered bacon. That's right.

There was a bump in grain prices almost a year ago but I haven't seen too many increases since then. Hops are still scarce (I've had to make hop substitutions in several recipes when I couldn't find a particular variety) but again, haven't seen any big price jumps since the shortage first started. The main annoyance is that I can't buy hops in bulk anymore...used to save quite a bit buying by the pound. Buying whole sacks of grain is still a big moneysaver, although maybe not practical if you're just doing a one-off.

Went to a show at the Black Cat last night and didn't have time/inclination to cook beforehand, so the process went: Cork: closed Pilar: no seats at bar Marvin: no seats at either bar Saloon: closed Creme: success. The beer list is pretty weak, and they were out of the only one I really felt like drinking (Victory Prima Pils). Ended up drinking a couple glasses of wine and eating Mussels ($11) and Shrimp and Grits ($18). Both were good, but nothing to write home about. I'd stop back in if in a similar predicament.

I thought I had seen a thread about this but can't find it. For now, there is the "On the Fly" cart doing pasta dishes...orzo, chicken, lasagne. And the DCCK Capital Carts doing excellent gumbo and decent sandwiches. The Delle & Campbell guy hasn't been there "for weeks" according to the guy at OtF.

Also, $46 at WF just now for one 16.9oz bottle. Easily the most I've ever paid for a single bottle of beer at retail.

Yup, that stuff is incredible. Tonight it's a Pitchfork Rebellious Bitter from the British RCH brewery, a nice drinkable 4.3%. Delicious...this has held up way better than some session beers that make it across the pond.

I'm bored on a Friday night (just got done making a yeast starter and grinding grain for tomorrow's brewday) so I just checked the two sausagemaking texts that I use most: Ruhlman/Polcyn and Rytek Kutas. Ruhlman is focused primarily on the home cook, so he presents one smoked, one not-smoked. Rytek is much more business oriented, and he's really really Polish: he offers 11 different kielbasa recipes. The difficulty here is that (as Ruhlman points out) that Kielbasa is the generic term for sausage in Polish. The Ruhlman unsmoked is an all-pork fresh sausage with garlic, marjoram, and black pepper for seasoning. The smoked is beef with pork fat, includes pink salt, dextrose, milk powder, and is seasoned with white pepper, dry mustard, and garlic powder. The basic fresh kielbasa in Rytek is all pork, with the same ingredients as the unsmoked one in Ruhlman (but adding sugar). The other 10 have obscure Polish names that probably only mean something to Poles. There are smoked versions, semi-dried versions, etc. So yea, it all depends on what your friend is looking for. PM if you want any specific recipes.

the bar at corduroy is empty on a Friday night at 630

Totally doing this when it gets cold enough out to do chicken stock again. Thank you.

Holy crap that sounds awesome.

Crispy Veal Sweetbreads ($17) was perfectly crispy outside and succulent inside, but the accompaniments (fall themed...squash, some sort of yogurt-y sauce, pumpkin puree?) didn't really do it for me. Not a big portion for the price, but I guess sweetbreads are expensive. Smoked Duck Reuben ($15) was awesome..."corned" duck meat was nice and smokey, the sandwich held together pretty well, and the small simple side salad was a nice foil. Beers are less expensive than I remembered them being: I had a Bell's Porter for $7, whereas I had a terrible memory of paying $9 for a DogfishHead 60-minute IPA at some point in the past. Nothing terribly interesting on the list, though. And my $10 Rickey was blueberry infused, and thus somehow very pink Good stuff, overall. I'll be back.