edenman

Hi, the article in today's (Jan 7, 2009) WAPO Food section on rauchbier reminded me of the one and only sip I had of this smoky brew years ago, and I was wondering if anyone knows of any place in the DC Metro area, especially NoVA that I can find it in bottles?

Thanks in advance, beer sages!

We've got some Schlenkerla at Rustico. You might try Total Bev as well. I'm not as familiar with the Arlington beer shops, but I hear good things about the wall of beer at Westover Market.

A friend brought back Foie from France. It's "Micuit" which is apparently cooked and ready to serve. Should I just slice and serve cold with mustard/cornichons? Pan-sear it and serve with some warm accompaniments? Torch? Use in forcemeat for something else (not sure this would work well since it's already cooked)?

I started a small batch of preserved Meyers a few days ago. Have preserved regular lemons and was happy with the results, but I am a lemon freak and might just be happy with any result.

I noticed that the salt in the Meyers has not all dissolved, so maybe too much? Will it matter? Will see...

I just started a batch of quadruple-spacing and it should be done....right....about.....now.

But seriously, the pate-making went pretty smoothly today, looking forward to trying it. I followed the Ruhlman/Polcyn recipe for Pâté de Campagne pretty closely, except for a few spice substitutions and that I used all pistachios for mixture garnish and used the tongue for interior garnish.

As we don't have a meat slicer, slicing the Bacon is messy, even with decent knives. We found pre-cut pork bellys at H-Mart and GrandMart and they make fine bacon with the same techniques: the thickness is just right.

I'm on the hook to modify an undercounter fridge with a thermostat that will sustain 50-60F temperatures she needs for longer curing.

Try freezing the bacon...makes slicing easier, even with a knife (although I definitely recommend investing in a slicer if you're planning on making bacon a regular thing)

Good luck on the curing fridge. I tried one half-size unit for a while but couldn't get the humidity under control...if you're running the fridge on a regulator, the freezer section never actually freezes and you end up with a big puddle of water. If you're able to find a half-size fridge without the freezer section, definitely let me know.

The wine pairings were also spot-on and even included a couple alternative beer pairings.

You remember what the beer pairings were?

House made brandied cherries. House vermouth is Dolin Rouge, Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aromatic bitters are available.

Approve.

I gotta say I'm still apprehensive about the Dolin manhattan, despite all the enthusiasm. That Dolin rouge is just such a different vermouth character than what I've come to love. Needs investigation.

Stop by Bourbon Steak to admire the cocktail menu. Manhattans made the right way are featured. Rye + Dolin sweet vermouth or Carpano Antico. They have an impressive assortment of bitters, too.

How are the cherries? The only downside of Central's was the ordinary cherry...the neon red kind that comes from a jar you can buy at Safeway and has almost no character of its own.

It wasn't too bad, though I probably didn't do that good of a job at it. I have yet to slice into the finished product, so we will have to wait and see.

cool. how long til we get foie chocolates?

ETA: foie bons? new potbelly menu item: foiecolate shake!

Made a Torchon of Foie Gras this morning.

Was the de-veining as much of a pita as I've heard?

Bump. Made duck confit and chicken stock just before the holidays. Today is jowls->cure day, and also day one of pate-making: cooking a pork tongue for interior garnish and prepping the meat. Tomorrow will be grinding/mixing day.

Been reading alot of sous vide stuff lately, so I'm going to experiment with Sous Vide Eggs (Click) but I don't have a circulator or temp regulator so I'm just gonna see how steady a temp I can get on the gas stove with a big pot of water. Also picked up some Sodium Alginate and Sodium Citrate to start trying spherification (I already have the Calcium Chloride) when I get a spare afternoon.

Anybody else got any good projects going?

A little birdie told me the Gibson is now 7 days a week.

I have some of the Marcarini Barolo Chinato in half-bottles. It is wonderful.

I was just looking at my credit card bill online and did a double take when I saw this entry:

ETA: the maple manhattan was spot-on at Central last night.

Guanciale, eggs in basket (cooked in the guanciale grease). Salty and greasy (maybe yogurt on the side next time for balance?) but super-delicious.

Turkey soup. Leftover turkey from Thanksgiving (been in the freezer), homemade chicken stock, dried oregano that my Mom gave me for xmas, dried onion, salt. It's a low-effort, saving money sort of day.

Boca de Chicharron ($9.95) - fantastic crispy pork, useless lettuce, tomato, and underripe avocado.

The 11th street location is tiny, but full of friendly folks. Convenience factor is high...I'll be back...the soups looked awesome.

Westvleteren 12. Just because.

First time at El Tamarindo tonight. Not bad. Tacos de Lengua de Res (Beef Tongue) platter ($12), and a Chicharron Pupusa ($2). The tongue was in little ~2/3" cubes, which meant it was a bit chewy, but the flavor was great deep beefy goodness. The pupusa was confusing: the pork flavor was mild and the texture was smooth, the filling resembling refried beans more than anything else. Again not bad, but confusing....might have been a miscommunication that delivered me a Frijol Y Queso pupusa. Will return, and frankly can't believe I hadn't stopped by before, considering the location.

ETA: the platter comes with guac, refried beans, rice, and a little fresh tomato salsa-ish salad. Everything but the guac was useless. Would much rather have just had the tacos and saved a few bucks, but so it goes.

Bebo delivers lunch!

In my experience, the sandwich was damn near perfect if you got it fresh but fell off considerably if you got it to-go. I assume the same issue would plague delivery orders.

...Roberto has signed a letter of intent to reopen his Galileo and his very personal restaurant within a restaurant, Laboratorio, on the site of the former Butterfield 9-in the old Garfinckel's building near 14th and F., N. W.

Bring grill back. Need pork sammich. Okthxbai.

Are you a beer snob?

Once again I escape the snob label by using the "I love Dale's Pale Ale in a can" exemption.

You should have eaten there, the food is really solid. The chef used to work at WD-50 but the food is completely different, really hearty market-based stuff that really has balls.

Did you try any Captain Lawrence stuff? Its from somewhere outside of the city & I think its even better than Six Points. You can get their stuff in bottles too. The Whole Foods on Houston has a shockingly good selection of beer by the way.

PM me if you want a list of beer bars in Brooklyn, there are a bunch of good ones.

Nice. The kitchen wasn't yet open at Jimmy's when we were there (it was early afternoon) but I never would've guessed it for a good food option. And, coincidentally, I had a Captain Lawrence Smoked Porter at Jimmy's as well. Awesome stuff, just the right level of smoke...I think I had their Double IPA last time I was in NYC, dug it.

Didn't make it out to Brooklyn this trip...I was hoping to go out during Saturday day, but Barcade and Spuyten Duyvil both open at 6pm, and I wanted to be at Death & Co right around that time.

Got in late Friday night. Cheap beers at Iggy's, a crappy little dive bar in the E. Village. Better beers at the gastropub down the block, Spitzer's, although the "bro" atmosphere persisted and the place was packed full of 'em. 40 taps there, but surprisingly few interesting ones. Stopped off on the way home at Puck Fair, joint with a pretty good bottle selection.

Started Saturday afternoon with a pretzel croissant from the City Bakery by Union Square. Delicious. Followed with a stop at Jimmy's No. 43, a quaint little basement bar with a pretty excellent draught list and a firkin on the bar. Considering it was almost 60 degrees in the bar, not too far off optimal cask beer temp. A stop at DBA was disappointing: good Victory cask on, but the rest of the draught list was uninspiring at best, and when I switched to bottles, they were out of about 50% of the beers I was after. It seems rather counter-intuitive, since the menu is on big chalkboards above the bar: if you run out of something, use an eraser. Annoyance compounded by the group of Georgetown alums occupying most of the bar area: at least our bartender put on some Townes Van Zandt for us. Ordered pizza from Lil' Frankies: decent, but nothing special. Stopped at Hop Devil Grill which has, in the past, been a favorite beer joint. It seems to be under new management, because the inept bartender did nothing to salvage a very mediocre tap list. Cocktails and bites at Death and Co was fantastic: almost everything that our large party got was spot-on, and they graciously handled our size as it grew from 3->4->6->7. It helped that it was early and thus not crowded, but it was still perfectly handled. Followed D&C with a stop at Against the Grain for some more delicious beers and food: highly recommended, although they only take Amex. Life takes Visa, but this place doesn't. Stopped in for some wine at EU, then karaoke at 2nd on 2nd. Unnecessary drunk food courtesy of Pakistani Tea House.

Good weekend. It was striking how much better the local brewery options are than in DC. In particular, Six Point is doing some fantastic stuff in Brooklyn, and we struggled to think of anything on the same plane here....the closest is probably Clipper City, but calling that "local beer" is a bit of a stretch. Also heard good things about Kelso, another Brooklyn brewery, but didn't have time to get out there and didn't see any of their beers on the marathon Saturday.

Sapporo Draft is real draft

I'm confused, what do you mean?

What other kind of brew? The website says cocktails AND coffee, and their craigslist ads seek baristas and bartenders...

I assume that TedE, like me, saw the title and assumed/hoped it was a beer-oriented place.