Seanchai

Giving this a bump as we near the holiday season, I have to say I'm really enjoying "Urban Italian" by Andrew Carmellini. It starts off by him telling some of his best cooking war stories and then segues to how the idea of this book came about. His writing voice evokes Bourdain's slight nerdy younger brother but really gives the flavor and joy he gets from cooking at home without all of the accompaniments of the professional kitchen. The former chef of A Voce and Cafe Boulud in Manhattan, I've wanted to taste to taste his food sicne the legendary "Battle Pasta" he waged with Mario B. on Iron Chef America. Reading this book makes you want to pour yourself a glass of red wine, get out your knives and get busy in the kitchen. I'm definitely giving this book to several people this season. Andrew Carmellini

I was there with the fam for a Saturday lunch a couple of weeks ago for the first time, and I have to say, I was whelmed. The pizza was OK to good (we had the tomato pie, a white pizza and one other one I can't remember) but no more memorable than other boutiquey restaurant pizza I've had. The best I've had in the DC area the last couple of years remains the Gtown Pizza Paradiso.

Anybody get a chance to visit the Lange Winery in the Willamette Valley? I've just finished and enjoyed the book The Grail and was wondering what their wines were really like.

Wow, just what I was looking for. Thanks!

With the weather getting nice and sticky, I was wondering if anybody had some good recipes for chilled soups. I've done roasted tomato and basil soup, but it never comes out as refreshing as when I have something similar in a restaurant (and tastes much better hot than cold). Any thoughts? A nice cold cucumber soup would hit the spot right now as I sit in my sweltering office.

Split the surf and turf sliders and the blackened catfish sandwich at the Dogwood Tavern the other day. The mini-burgers were overdone and dry, but the mini-crabcakes and the catfish were delicious, accompanied by some crispy waffle fries. Add washing it down with a couple Red Seal ales and you have a very pleasant pub lunch in old town Falls Church.

For a more low-key Italian experience (not to mention conderably less expensive), consider Lupa in the Village. Think pasta, be the pasta.

Wow, talk about clueless. All this time I thought the restaurants in your dining guide were listed randomly by location, not by informal ranking. Definitely will check back with a more discerning eye.

I'm a big fan of a grilled potato salad with warm bacon dressing, scallions, shallots, champagne vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard. Man, I could put that on my breakfast cereal every day.

I think she served them because it was the only thing she prepared (beside the Sandra Lee-like tablescape). She definitely would have been knifed if she had nothing for the judges. Turned out to be a wise choice.

Summer 1987. My first real restaurant job (aside from being a busboy at Sizzler's) was as a waiter at the Georgetown American Cafe. The kitchen staff used to regularly laugh at how completely clueless I was. Oh the horrors I inadvertantly inflicted on many patrons but thankfully not the drug dealers who frequented the place when they wanted to go "classy" in Georgetown. I did get to see Madonna slumped over in a booth, which was a big deal in 1987!

And...of course we had a roast pork with sharp provolone and rabe at DiNic's in Reading Terminal Market. That sandwich at Dinic's is a drippy and delicious work of art.

Rogue's Santa’s Private Reserve. Very seasonal and very nice.

Christmas day dinner in my house growing up was always prime rib with roasted potatoes, about 75 vegetable dishes and Yorkshire pudding. Does anybody make Yorkshire pudding anymore and/or have a good recipe?

What I did was knock it down to 325 for 3 hours. The meat was fall apart tender but I lost a lot of my precous braising liquid. I'm definitely going low and slow next time.

The only braised short ribs I've made so far are these by Mario B. http://www.mariobatali.com/recipes_shortribs.cfm . Real simple and really good, I think I'm ready to step to the next level as described by you folks.

When people are placed in FOH positions for the wrong reasons (the way they fill out a skirt, blessed by the hair follicle gods), given little or no training, and have the luck to be working in a place that's in high demand, it does become all about them. The world revolves around their wants and needs and the average customer is a temporary annoyance unless they are throwing around large amounts of cash. Usually these folks don't last a long time in the business, but damn, they are annoying as hell in the meantime.

I don't know about the guy part. There was a richie in "Pretty in Pink" named Blaine and he was kind of a spineless d(&^. Cooter, on the other hand, is a fine name.

Very evocative, thanks. I'm just waiting until the first crisp weekend here in Charlottesville to make my version of green pork loin chile, which is really just a bastardization of Rick Bayless' tomatillo salsa recipe. Tastes damn good to my inexperienced taste buds.

My wife and I had a very pleasant lunch at the bar last Friday. My knockwurst sandwich was delicious, but not the Cubano was flavorful but pretty dry. To their credit, one of the managers/owners asked us what we thought about the food and said that our impressions were consistent with the feedback they's been getting as they've played around with the ingredients. Combined with the friendly bar service and the impressive selction of quality beers on tap, it does make us want to come back for dinner on our next trip.

Thanks for all of the great suggestions thus far. Since we're likely to do this buffet style, I'll probably be focusing on the options that will hold up without being piping hot. People are also bringing other stuff to eat, so I want to make sure there's cross-over appeal as well. Thanks to your input, I'm starting to lean toward apples and/or sweet potatoes ...

We're having a casual neighborhood get-together this weekend and I have a pork shoulder (Boston butt) in the freezer that I want to eat, I mean prepare. Here's the recipe I'm planning to use. It's from Michael Chiarello and I've made it before, though I plan to reduce the salt a little bit: cup Roasted Garlic Rub, recipe follows 1 (6-pound) boneless pork shoulder or butt roast (not tied) Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. If necessary, trim fat from top of pork, leaving a 1/8-inch thick layer of fat. Spread Roasted Garlic Rub all over pork and inside any cavities, concentrating on boned side. Put pork, fat side up, in a roasting pan and roast in middle of oven 6 to 8 hours. Transfer roast to cutting board and let stand 15 minutes. Pull shreds apart with tongs into chunks. Serve. Roasted Garlic Rub: 2 cups roasted minced garlic 5 tablespoons salt 1/4 cup coriander seeds, ground and toasted 2 tablespoons mustard powder 4 tablespoons dried chipotle pepper, ground 2 tablespoons dried thyme 5 tablespoons dried rosemary, finely chopped 5 tablespoons lemon zest 2 1/2 teaspoons black pepper Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Can also be mixed by hand in a bowl, but make sure to combine well. What would be tasty side dishes that would complement this dish but not be too fussy, i.e, involve a lot of extra work? Thanks for any help.

I have to testify, following zoramargolis' suggestion yesterday afternoon, I made a perfectly good pie for the first time in my life and I could have done it blindfolded. Thanks for the heads up!

This is definitely true for drinking Guinness in Ireland. It tastes 10 times better and caused little to no hangover. Of course, as others have suggested, the studied pace at which it is half poured and then finished lends itself to a certain languor ...

I've been eating and cooking in much healthier manner ever since I've gotten away from the pre-made mixes and processed foods. However, one thing that I havn't been able to replicate is the corncakes I used to make with Jiffy corn muffin mix. What I loved about them is that they didn't have that spongy texture of most pancakes but more of that grainy, almost crumbly mouthfeel. You know, like cornbread. I've made Bittman's Polenta pancakes with coarse-ground cornmeal but they still revert back to that old sponge taste. Does anybody have any recipes, ideas or techniques to help capture that processed yet delcious Jiffy flavor? Do I just griddle cornbread batter?