xcanuck

My quickie impressions of Minerva in Gaithersburg....We were told buffet only at lunch. The buffet was varied and had a large selection. There were north Indian dishes (chicken biriyani, chicken vindaloo, a fish curry, tandoori chicken, etc) and south Indian dishes (sambar, rasam, uttapam, vada, etc). Personally, this always sets of alarm bells. I'm not sure if one single restaurant can do two different types of cuisine properly. The chicken vinadloo was very tame and a little vinegary. The chicken biriyani was also somewhat tame. The real disappointment, for me, was the dal (lentil) - very little taste. The bright spot was the tandoori chicken - moist and tasty. Altogether, it's not really a place that I'd go out of my way to go to (for lunch, anyways). Unless I was really really hankering for some meat in my meal, I'd stick with Madras Palace (which may be the best Indian food I've ever had). Oh, and the trippy, trance/rave/bollywood tunes were killing me. Great turnout for lunch! Let's see what others say about this place.

I leave it to Ferment Everything to figure out a way to add resveratrol to beer. There's an Order of Canada in it for you if you can make that happen!!

We had a nice dinner at the bar last night with NCPinDC last night. Michael came out to tease me about the user review I wrote of the restaurant in the WaPo city guide. I called it "four star food at two star prices with one star attitude". What I meant by that was that it was extremely high quality food at moderate prices, but without the snotty attitude. I'm not sure that came across properly. So, if you're reading this Michael, that's the message I was trying to get across!

I was born in Saskatoon, SK (which is about 300 miles north of Montana). Hallowe'en and the first snowfall usually coincided. We had our first snow storm a few days prior but that didn't deter my dad from taking my little brother out trick or treating. He was carrying my brother from one house to the other when he slipped on an icy sidewalk and broke his leg pretty badly. That put an end to my trick or treating as I had to stay home with my brother whilst my parents went to the hospital. Fast forward a few years later. I was 12 and trick or treating with my friends (it was our last year of doing it). I remember that night because it was the first time any of us admitted that we...you know...liked girls. It was such a "Stand By Me" moment.

I have never cooked a Thanksgiving dinner before, so this thread is timely and I know I can get good advice from this crowd. I'm thinking of the following menu: Grilled pizza appetizers Pumpkin soup w. creme fraiche and crispy prosciutto Turducken Roasted garlic mashed potatoes with truffle oil Maple glazed carrots and turnips Raspberry mint sorbet Sour cherry pie with homemade french vanilla ice cream Everything will be homemade except for the Turducken which I'll order online. The big questions is: Has anyone here got experience with Turducken (esp commerical stuff). I'm worried that it's more style vs substance. I'm also worried that by the time the inner most parts are cooked, the outside turkey portion will be drier than dry. Appreciate any feedback y'all got.

It's a gross generalization but there was a recent survey evaluating customer service and the Baltimore/Washington DC area came in dead last. It's not restricted to the food industry, of course. I have to admit that good service seems to be the exception to the rule around here. I have alot of tolerance for things outside the server's (or cashier's or whatever) control. But I hit the $#%@% roof when I have to wait for the cashier at the gas station to finish her cell phone conversation (this happened three times before I stopped going to that gas station). Or cashiers who can't figure out why I've given them $10.43 for a $2.43 bill. Or the pharmacist who said it wasn't her problem my prescription hadn't been filled and that I should make an appointment to see my doctor (I asked for her supervisor, who straightened everything out in under 90 seconds)....you get the idea. And I definitely run into alot more around here than in other places. I'm sure people in the service industry have their own horror stories about moronic customers. It could be a chicken and egg kinda thing if you're trying to figure out which beget which.

HH at RTC tomorrow night? Say 7pm? We'll make Nick invent some "scary" cocktails for us.

I was all proud of my chai ice cream because I came up with the idea and recipe all on my own. I thought I might actually have something unique. Then I was watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay on Sunday (it was either that or football) and he had an ice cream throwdown with some guy in St Paul. One of the flavours in their ice cream store was "Norwegian Chai". So much for my originality.For those that might want to try it...here's what I used: 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 1 1/2 cups whole milk 2 whole eggs 2 egg yolks 3/4 cups sugar 1 1/2 inch cinammon stick 10 fresh cardammon pods (lightly crushed so as to open the shells but not let the seeds spill out) 1 inch fresh ginger, cut into 3 or 4 slices 1 tea bag (I used Red Rose) After bringing the cream and milk to a boil, I let it simmer for about 20-30 mins with the tea bag, cinammon, ginger and cardammon pods in it. Then it's the usual process of mixing eggs/sugar, tempering and adding to custard, cooling, spinning, freezing, eating. EDIT: So much for originality. Someone far more imaginative than I already posted this recipe.

Had the neighbours over last night to make them the targets of a few experiments: Simple green salad with balsamic vinaigrette, toasted pine nuts, and shaved parmagiano-reggiano Smoked double thick pork chops (smoked/grilled with apple, alder, and cherry wood) Apple chutney Collard greens (using Scott's recipe from the picnic!) Mashed yukon potatoes with cheddar and Hawaiian red lava salt Chai ice cream Cabernet icewine (yes, a red icewine, from Henry of Pelham vineyard in S. Ont) Everything was homemade, including chutney and ice cream. All went well until a glass went down our garbage disposal unknowst to us. The plumber is coming tomorrow

As an example, allow me to quote from Matthew Scully's book, Dominion, about the pig slaughtering process:------------------------------------------------- At 16,000 kills per eight-hour shift in the Tar Heel plant, 2,000 per hour and 33 every minute, all of this done by tansient, unskilled labourers, there are mistakes...."Does it ever happen that hog's aren't properly stunned?" "All the time," Price laughed. "Because if you're killing 16,000 hots a shift, those guys aren't going to all them hogs all the time. Some hogs come out kicking and raising hell." "Is kicking the only sign that they're not stunned properly?" "Running across the table of floor isn't a good sign neither. See, they use this four-pronged stunner. And if you don't hit that hog precisely, that hogs runs across the table." ...As Mr Price explained, they have to be chased and beaten. There are beatings? "That's all the time. You get a stubborn hog that doesn't want to go, employees can get to beating that hog all they want to. They use a shackle, a pipe, anything they can get their hands on." The pigs are then downed and shacked alive, as he described it, hanging by the ankle bracelet as they move down the production line. Often, we learn, they still can't be killed because they're still moving and flailing. So they are dropped alive into the scalding tank. A hidden camera at one Iowa plant recently captured this scene, the hogs still squealing and kicking as they are lowered into the water." --------------------------------------------------------------- First of all, don't get me wrong. I'm no PETA-loving vegan. I order the tete de veau and boudin rouge everytime I go to Restaurant Kolumbia. And the guy who wrote this book, isn't some bleeding-heart liberal. He served as specal assistant and senior speechwriter to G.W. Bush. The desire for decency isn't just for lilly-livered wimps. It can (and should) be for all intelligent and thoughtful people. I promse - I swear - this is the last time I hop on this soapbox. I'm guessing people want to enjoy their food and not be preached to. And I respect that. So I'll shut up now.

I've heard about people with that fetish. Seriously, I don't think you have to pay THAT much of a premium for humanely raised/slaughtered meat, as long as you're willing to put in a little personal effort. Smith Meadows (who are at several area farmers markets) have free-range beef, pork, and lamb at prices lower than most WFs. Porterhouses are $11.99/lb, brisket is $6.99/lb, leg of lamb is $8.99 lb, etc. I'm sure most butchers at the farmers markets offer similar product at similar prices.

On a windy and chilly day, with no food in the house, I decided to go back to comfort food from waaay back. I boiled two eggs and cooked up a cup of rice in the rice cooker. I mashed the cooked eggs into the rice with ghee, mustard oil, chopped green chilis, and salt. It's an old Indian standard for a simple home cooked meal. Quick, tasty, and filling.

From their website: 5pm to 1:30am Sunday through Thursday, 5pm to 2:30am Friday and Saturday. So Lisa and I are going to start the evening off with cocktails and appetizers at Ray's the Classics around 7:30. Then we'll do our best to make it to Temperance Hall by 9:30. Come by and say 'hi'.

I'm having a "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" flashback

Lisa and I are going to the 9:30 Club tomorrow night so Temperance Hall before the show sounds like a good idea...but we probably wouldn't get there until around 7:30. Would people still be there then?

It really sounds like my experience was definitely an anomaly. Thanks for setting us straight!

We only had the omakase once and it was so bad we can't find it within ourselves to ever go back. We were seated at the sushi bar during the dinner rush. And I wouldn't be able to recognize Koji so I'm not sure who was making our sushi. All we got was basically a deluxe sushi plate - standard nigiri and maki served all at once. There was lots of it and it was decent quality, but that's not what I think of when I think of omakase. I'm looking for imagination and creativity in addition to top quality ingredients. Presentation becomes almost as important as food itself. Sadly, that wasn't what we got. I'm sure it wasn't lack of communication with our server - if memory serves correctly, omakase is right on the menu. So I have no idea what happened. We'll stick with Kaz for now, I guess.

I beg to differ. Merriam-Webster defines humane as "marked by compassion, sympathy, or consideration for humans or animals". If you're going to kill something, you can do it without regard to the pain and suffering it goes through (inhumane) or try to ease it's death as much as possible (humane). I believe you can extend that thinking to the manner in which the animal is raised. I'm not suggesting that all cows be treated like Wagyu cattle (though I'd love to be reincarnated as one!). But there is a level of decency that humans should treat lesser beings with, even those destined for the dining room table.

A little google-ing lead me to an article in the Seattle Times.Pot roasts come from the shoulder, or chuck, of the steer. According to Don Kuzaro Jr., second-generation proprietor of Don & Joe's Meats in the Pike Place Market, these cuts have generous amounts of tough, connective tissue that will soften and stay moist with long, slow braising in a covered pot. Kuzaro prefers cuts with lots of marbling — that's where much of the flavor is — and the resulting fat can be skimmed off. Kuzaro says that several cuts of meat can be used for pot-roast recipes. A blade roast, or top-blade chuck roast, can be boneless or bone-in and is among the most tender and flavorful of these cuts. Boneless-chuck shoulder roast is not as tender as the blade, but still has plenty of flavor. A brisket has more fat than the other cuts, so it adapts well to braising

Lisa and I have gone there many times for both lunch and dinner. They have a rotary sushi bar at lunch time - something like $13 gets you all you can eat off the conveyor belt. We've done that when we're in a "run and gun" mood for sushi. Quantity, not quality, and get out fast. Thin strips of acceptable quality tuna, salmon, and eel mostly. Lots of junk like terriyaki chicken sticks and fried bits of mystery meat in pastry. Dinner at the sushi bar is a different experience. The fish served there is of much higher quality. We've never actually ordered the a la carte sushi and always opted for the omakase plate. I believe their deluxe omakase is only around $60 for 2 people and yielded some very imaginative sashimi and sushi pieces. It's not all that filling, though - we did have to supplement our order . But when compared to the pedestrian omakse we got at Sushi-Ko (I still can't believe Sietsema likes that pathetic excuse for a sushi restaurant), Matuba definitely excels. Kaz Sushi Bistro is still the best omakase in the city, but this one ain't that bad.

DCist reviews Oohs and Aahs. They concur with the opinions stated here on the fried chicken. Porkless collards? So THAT'S what was missing from the taste. I think I'll stick with the sides when I go there tonite.

Lisa and I went there last Saturday and had dinner at the bar. The fish terrine was something we couldn't pass up and it was delicious! The lobster mousse was melt in your mouth wonderful. Silky and full of flavour. We also had the pumpkin soup with bits of chicken liver and what I believe was crispy prosciutto. We were pretty much ready to roll off our bar stools about half way through the entire charcuterie board but we persevered. The rabbit and foie gras terrine is SO darned rich that it almost killed me (in a good way). The boudin rouge and kielbasa are still my favorites. We started the evening with shots of Sliwowica (the plum infused brandy). Oh, wow....it barely even tastes of alcohol. I could just imagine this warm and slightly reduced, served over french vanilla ice cream, topped with one of the plums from the container. It was like starting dinner with dessert. Overall, a great dinner (as usual). Too bad they had to open the front doors to cool off the dining room. It pretty much froze out anyone at the bar. I couldn't wait for my coffee and then to get out of there. Didn't really put us in the mood for dessert. But given that we were the only ones at the bar, I figured it wasn't worth complaining (except for doing it here - what a dork I am). So get yer asses down there for HH one night this week and try the fish terrine while it's still on the menu. Between that and the Sliwowica, it's definitely worth making a special trip for.

We went there last week before a show at the 9:30. My wife and I split an order of fried catfish, with collards, mac and cheese, cornbread, and lemonade. The serving amount was great - it totally filled up both of us. The catfish was light and crisp. It could've used a wee more seasoning but I wasn't going to argue. It seemed like it was fried in really hot and fresh oil, which was great. The collards were tasty (tho not as good as Scott's from the picnic) and not overseasoned. The mac and cheese was delicious!! If anything, a little hot sauce on them would've been perfect. The cornbread and lemonade were waaaay too sweet for my taste (then again, I'm not just a northener, but Canadian so the sweet stuff doesn't go over that well me). But my wife, who has southern roots, thought they were the cat's pajamas. I need to give them a few more chances, but all things being equal, I'd probably go to Negril, the Islander or Dukem (but that's just because I like spicier food better).

Thanks for the good data, JG. I found that the Batali (persimmon colour only) was on sale for $59. So I figured, what the heck? Just put it on order. If it sucks, well, there's still time to ask the in-laws for the Le Creuset for Christmas.

So then here's the really interesting part. The Batali has a 13" diameter whereas the Creuset has only an 11" diameter. Considering the Batali holds less, one can only assume that it's not as high as the Creuset. So you can fit a longer roast and reduce sauces better in the Batali, but may not be able to put the lid on it. Notice how I tactfully refrained from making this a girth vs length comparison.