blakegwinn

Oh yeah! I forgot about that. I think last year part of the reason they had off was due to the crazy opening schedule a few months earlier. I will try and remember to call tomorrow and see if they will even be open.

I don't know about the WF's in DC but the one I went to in NJ had 10-12 heritage turkeys available yesterday, 4.99/lb. Just FYI.

Whoa whoa. there is a Monty Python festival at AFi AND lentil soup and fried chicken are back at Rays? JEHOVAH JEHOVA JEHOVA!!!! Are you effing kidding me?BTW Amit, JPW, Heather, RKdugg etc. etc. Beth and I were having a patch of homesickness a few weeks ago and were talking about how we missed you guys, the rest of the RTC usual suspects and of course the RTC bar staff. We are coming down to DC for Thanksgiving. If any of you are in town and free on Friday I would love to hit up Ray's (if they are open) and catch up. We have decided Ray's was like our Cheers. It may not be THE best food in town, or have THE best wine list in town, or have THE coolest decor in town, but they do all of these things very well. More importantly they have the intangibles that I haven't seen anywhere else. Hanging out at the bar felt like going to visit a friend. It was familiar, comfortable and you felt relaxed whether you were in jeans and a Tshirt or a tux. Of course I have known neighborhood bars that had this feeling but I have never found one where you could not only get a first rate meal but the typical bar conversation trended towards the strength of seasonal menus around town as opposed to the strength of the Redskins offensive line. A true restaurant lover's restuarant. So now that we have moved Ray's is the one place we consistently reminesce about and bitch about not having something similar out here. Even though some of the people who have lived in Silver Spring all their lives will scoff because we were only there a short time, Beth and I loved the neighborhood and really felt like it was "home" more than anywhere else we have lived. It was the first apartment we had together so that has a lot to do with it but to bring this back to food (sorry for the rambling DR...) Ray's was, and still is a symbol and constant reminder to us of how much we miss living there. Every single time we went there we saw a friend from the neighborhood or made new ones. We miss the sense of community that was always a part of hanging out at the RTC bar but most of all we miss our friends. Sorry for the sap but when Beth and I were making our Thanksgiving travel plans it led into some reminiscing and I felt the need to post here because a significant portion of that reminiscing focused around Ray's in one way or another. PS. In case any of you were wondering, I am stone cold sober as I write this. PPS. Don't let Jersey natives fool you Jersey does in fact suck. PPPS. We will be back....

Millennials 8-Boomers 0 Don't hate... The way I see it every generation says "I want things to be better for my kids than it was for me". Many of our grandparents were immigrants or lived through the Depression and spent a good chunk of their life dirt poort. They said "I don't want my kids to struggle and have a family of eight in a one bedroom apartment with no running water like I did." So they focused all their parenting to accomplish that end. This didn't mean encouraging kids to have fun (waste of time!) or to be creative (waste of construction paper!) but instead focused solely on instilling a work ethic that would make sure their kids were financially secure. And it worked. That generation grew up, had a nice three bedroom house in the suburbs, a 4 year old station wagon and a small amount of money saved up, but they were still unhappy. They worked at jobs they couldn't stand, for faceless corporations with chaveunistic, condescending supervisors who made them stay late (even though they told him two weeks ago that their daughter's school play was tonight!), knowing full well that they were never getting that promotion and what's worse, they knew that even though they had been a faithful employee for 20 years, if the stock dropped 2/3 of a point they would be kicked to the curb in a heartbeat. But they couldn't leave, that would be irresponsible! They had mortgages, car payments and that annual summer vacation to pay for. So they spent most of their time daydreaming about what would have happenned if they had chased down that high school dream of being a sports announcer or what it would be like to drop-kick their Bill Lumberg of a boss. Of course if they ever tried to talk about any of this to the previous generation all they heard was "What a bunch of crybabies you are!! Look at your life, you have a 3 bedroom house, a car and take a vacation every summer! So what if you don't like your job? I worked 22 hour days and my boss use to punch me in the face and dock me a day's pay if I made unsolicited eye contact with him." So right then and there they decided that their kids weren't going to have to put up with all of this. "They are going to college and chase after that dream job! They are going to put their own lives and happiness over the good of their employer! They aren't going to have to miss family dinners and little league games because the boss wanted them to work late! They won't bust their ass for 20 years just to be replaced by a kid fresh out of college who will work for half as much!" And voila! Here we are. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. If you don't bitch about us being lazy too much maybe we will show you how to collate those spreadsheets 3 times as fast. Just make sure and shower us with praise when we do. Or else we might walk...

You know it's not fancy but I used to really like our pot pie at Cafe Deluxe. I used to ask for mine well done, cooked until the top was almost brown (otherwise it will be more golden-brown and I like mine crispy). Quick edit: I have been gone for awhile, you should call to make sure they are serving them this winter.

Poor service? That implies that you get service. We curiously stopped in one weekend night on the way to QH and milled around by the bar for about 10 minutes hoping the employee seated on a stool by the door would signal someone to come man the bar. When we finally just asked we got an eye roll and he went out to the patio to get the bartender who had been having a smoke. I don't know if she was unpleasant because she had to give up her cig or because the corset was choking her will to live but she was extremely um, unpleasant. Anyways the 2 girls ordered hard cider which was taken right out of a case sitting on the floor behind the bar (with some other unopened cases of bottled beers). They were, obviously, room temp so thinking that they had just been delivered or brought up from the back or something the girls asked if they could get something else while they cooled off in the fridge. The bartender had already started heading back out to the patio and said, without breaking stride, "that is how we serve them here." Um, ok cool. (And just for some context it was about 85 degrees and we were headed to the patio) She was already out the door by the time we decided to just try pouring it over ice. We asked a random bus boy that was cleaning up the tables in front for a cup of ice and he got it right away (in hindsight I wished I would have tipped him instead) It was also kind of awkward when we went out to sit on the, rather small, patio and she was like ten feet away from us recounting the story to some of her friends explaining why she had to leave a few minutes ago. They were all looking over at us. I think my brother actually waved. Probably close to the worse treatment I have received in a bar (well, that didn't immediately follow a slurred proposition anyways). We took a few sips and finished on to our original destination never to return again. Lest any of you think that I am not telling you about something rude we did, my brother and I (2nd generation lifelong restuarant employees) are probably 2 of the most easy going bar/restaurant customers you can find. We didn't make any rude comments or anything like that and even apologized when she first came inside for interrupting her smoke break. It was just really out of the blue.

Any specific recommendations? I am driving down to DC soon but will also be driving back, so trying a dozen bourbons is probably not recommended.

Trite?

I would take a deep cut over grating anyday. I have done both numerous times and a knifing (*sharp and non-serrated) is surprisingly painless if it is clean. Grating just has that shiver factor like fingernails on a chalkboard plus when you shave off a chunk it leaves so much more exposed skin and there is nothing you can really do about it. When you clean and properly bandage/stitch a deep cut there shouldn't be that much exposure. A grate is just wide open so a stiff breeze causes intense stinging and of course I always forget about it and start squeezing limes by hand or something. MY least favorite is knuckle grates. Eeeeeshhhh gives me the heebies just thinking about it.

Ok. I don't know if you guys are ready for this but here it goes. A line cook I worked with at deluxe a few years back had tripped over a flipped up rubber kitchen mat and instinctively put his hands out. One of them went forearm deep into the fryalator. The outer layer of skin came off like a glove within 5-10 minutes. He was out of work for 6 months. Even after it was "healed" his arm looked like Freddy Kruger's face. Another guy I used to work with in KC was polishing a wine glass and had his hand, with the towel, inside the bowl part and was turning the glass back and forth. The mouth of the glass was much smaller and thepressure from his hand busted it but it took him a turn or two to realize he was slashing his hand open. Oh I also slammed a guys finger in a bread drawer and he had to have two fingernails removed. My bad!

I can't believe i am on the top of this thread saying that. I have made so many countless batches since then. My freezer hasn't once been without at least 4-5 gladware containers (the 2 cup ones with a screw-on top are great for freezing) filled with frozen stock since I wrote that.Oh and dan, I have a pot of stew on right now simmering away. Browned chuck cubes, crushed tomatoes, cabernet, lots of rosemary, onions, carrots, and I have some red potatoes I am going to add in about a half an hour and some fresh green beans to toss in right before serving. (I like them snappy)

Can I borrow 20 dollars?

Correction, I should have said I liked 2. I ate at both of the locations you list but thought I had heard from one of my friends that they added a second noodle bar in Greenwich somewhere.. After a glance at their website and Google maps I realize that is not the case. WITHDRAWN

I am in love with this place (all three locations). Everything is always well executed, they have a very seasonal appropriate special menu, interesting and original dishes, low price, quick service it is just a home-run on all levels. It also has that intangible ability to always leave me walking out thinking to myself "That is EXACTLY what I needed".

wink, wink, knudge, knudge, know what I mean?

I got the 5 quart, 450 watt, Professional 5 plus series factory refurbished for 149 dollars on amazon last week. Also got free shipping (and two day at that) with a one month free amazon prime trial (still have one week on that baby!). Came with the paddle, dough hook, and whisk (no pour shield, but for $149 boo freaking hoo) I checked a few days ago and it looked like the price was back up to 199 though.

You can have your pharmacist girlfriend "borrow" one from the pharmacy lab....Did I say that out loud?

I roasted fish this way. I was able to get large quantities of salt for pretty cheap at the hardware store in a giant bag. It was right next to the snowshovels. I think the fish was bad though because I got pretty sick afterward. I am looking forward to trying this method again with a fresh batch of fish.

GOT IT! I used half a beaten egg, one egg white, a sliver of shortening, a dash of baking soda (the noodles had little bubbles in them at the beginning but after they simmerred in the soup for 10 minutes they were fine) splash of olive oil, salt and poured in flour and milk until it looked right. I kneaded for 5 minutes, rolled them out and cut them on a piece of parchment (very important because if they are as moist as they need to be they will stick to anything else!). I let them sith for 10 minutes or so to dry out and then dropped them in boiling water until al dente. I put them into the soup with about 10 minutes of simmer left. They were perfect. Soft but not mushy, body without being chewy. Loved it. I also made some bread to go with the soup and took pictures. I will post a few tomorrow.

Yes. I got the 5 quart 476 watt. 149 on amazon and I got free 1 day shipping with my Prime membership. Not bad. It was so nice to not have noodle hands for the rest of the night. I have had it out of the box for less than 48 hours and made pizzas, noodles for chicken soup and 2 loaves of honey wheat bread with it already. The pizza stone was in there from the get go. It just was trying to absorb too much cool liquid once the levee broke. Works nicely as a top piece though! (see fall food string for picures)

G&M's sucks. I'm sorry, I said it. Whew. I feel better now.

Dan, made pizzas last night using my brand new mixer. Best batch I have ever made. I added a littttle more liquid than your recipe. Maybe just an eigth a cup more. It doesn't ball up as well in the mixer so it will probably take some hand kneading after the 20-25 in the mixer. I tried skim last night thanks to your idea and purists be damned, I am never going back to crappy water. I feel that even after filtering the water or using bottled I got a much better proof out of the yeast. No empirical data to back that up, just a feeling. I also like to sprinkle a little sea salt around the outer crust instead of OO. Just personal preference. WE made a traditional basil/san marzano/fresh mozz pizza, a shredded chicken, mozz, roasted peppers and basil pizza and one just for me, shredded chicken, grilled red onions, turkey bacon, mozz, and litttttle bit of BBQ sauce garnished with chives. DAMN. Thanks for the help. I had your blog open and was continuously running back and forth to the computer from the kitchen. I had to manipulate the scroll wheel with my forearm because my hands were always coverd in flour, OO etc. Quick edit: I also used stones on top and bottom. Several pizza days ago, like Icarus before, I got carried away with the exhilarating feeling that can only come from soaring up into the sky (or at least causing pizza dough to fly through the air) and ended up stretching my dough out to probably about the thickness of a post it note. After about 3 minutes in the oven I heard a loud snap and my heart began plumeting toward the proverbial ocean as I realized my pizza dough couldn't stand up to the heat and had leaked all types of liquid onto my stone causing it to crack. This is just a long, dumb way of saying I have two halves of a pizza stone (separated by about 2 inches) on a rack about 7-10 inches over the one I now do my baking on. Works great at keeping the top doneness in line with the bottom. Before I used two I would sometimes get overly done crust without sufficient browning on the top, even when I put it all the way at the top of the oven. What I used to do sometimes is heat my oven with the stone on the 2nd to top rack and after a few minutes in the oven switch it over to broil mode for the last 3-4.

Max's. Max's. There is also this place in Glover Park called Max's. And while you are at it can you ship some to me? I will pay for the dry ice and shipping charges. The ONLY ice cream I have ever been able to sit down and go straight through a pint without blinking.

My manager at the restaurant I was working at up here in NJ is a very good childhood friend and now wine drinking buddy of Gary's (They are going on a wine tour of France together in the next couple of months I believe) so I am assuming some of the viewpoints he used to express are passed on from Gary. He seemed very down on ratings but noted they are often a necessity of doing business because the consumer still cares about them. He seemed to typically like Robert parker's ratings though. I like Gary because he seems to realize that good and bad are all relative. If you love white zin by the box and it satisfies your palate than no amount of wine critics or ratings should make you think it isn't a "good" wine. I think internet buying allows a lot of people the opportunity to buy what they like or buy what is in their price range in secret because they are intimidated (possibly by past experiences) of walking into a wine store and asking for something considered crap by "experts" or asking for a suggestion by the dollar amount and getting scoffed at by some winesnob. I also want to note that Joe is great about this and on numerous occasions I have gone in to Ace and gotten fantastic suggestions (and NO snobbery) by going in and saying, "Give me some reds around 10 dollars".

I don't think they are dumplings just real fat, soft noodles. The dough I am making works great if rolled out thin. It is what I typically use for ravioli or other pasta applications. My problem is that I want the big fat noodle. I love the noodles at Panera. They aren't gummy or rubbery at all. Which make sense because if they were gummy at that size the inside would just be raw as a protective layer of rubbery noodle would form around the outside keeping any liquid from penetrating the noodle. Just like lumps in gravy or big lumps in pancake batter. I can't figure out how they do it! I was thinking of next time just leaving them in the simmering soup for a long period of time. To the point were they start to break down and try to pull it before it goes from rubbery to mushy.