brr

had a nice lunch there on a beautifully sunny and warm Froday afternoon - my god that place is busy but we only had to wait about 20 minutes for a table for 6 at 1.15 - the place was still basically full when we left at 2.30 they have a wonderful hefe-dunkel on tap that brought back fond memories of my time living in Germany we ordered a few different pizzas, the most notable of which was the special with sardines, fennel and capers - felt a little strange to be eating fish on pizza but on the whole I think it worked nicely they also had a rabbit loin special, rabbit stuffed with mustard greens (I think) and some other bits and pieces and an orange panna cotta which was just fabulous I think they've done a great job of maintaining quality since they've opened - one thing I also noticed was that the staff (the wait staff at least) seems virtually the same as when it opened - I thought it was unusual to have so little turnover in the restaurant biz

made another lovely soup yesterday - I think the recipe was in the Post a few weeks ago Asparagus Parmesan Soup Sweat some finely chopped leeks in olive oil. Add 12 oz asparagus, cut into inch long pieces Cook until bright green Add chicken/veg stock to cover veggies Bring to boil Cover and simmer for 20 mins Add grated parm Season Blend and serve It was delicious and the parm added a nice creaminess and taste.

Like Twinkies?

The parmesan cheese discussion remined me of Newsweek had a feature today on a book called Twinkie Deconstructed in which a guy sources each one of the ingredients that go into making a Twinkie. Sounds like it might be an interesting read. Heres a blurb "From the phosphate mines in Idaho to the corn fields in Iowa, from gypsum mines in Oklahoma to the vanilla harvest in Madagascar, Twinkie, Deconstructed is a fascinating, thoroughly researched romp of a narrative that demystifies some of the most common processed food ingredients—where they come from, how they are made, how they are used—and why. Beginning at the source (hint: they’re often more closely linked to rock and petroleum than any of the four food groups), we follow each Twinkie ingredient through the process of being crushed, baked, fermented, refined, and/or reacted into a totally unrecognizable goo or powder with a strange name—all for the sake of creating a simple snack cake."

thats a great price....it was part of the opening sale at Fair Lakes which ended yesterday.....$13.99/lb today

It didn't THE WEEKLY DISH TOM SIETSEMA Wednesday, January 31, 2007; Page F02 CHEF SHUFFLES: Several popular Washington restaurants are about to lose their chefs, as John Wabeck of Firefly in Dupont Circle and Anthony Chittum of Dish and Notti Bianche, both in Foggy Bottom, announced their resignations from those hotel properties last week.......Notti Bianche, at the George Washington University Inn, will retain its Italian format and will be supervised by chef Brendan Cox of the nearby Circle Bistro, which, like Notti Bianche and Dish, is owned by Washington developer Conrad Cafritz. (Cox and Chittum previously worked together at Equinox downtown.)

I stopped by there last week and while I did manage to pick up some excellent cheeses the overall selection seems to be smaller than when it first opened.

its on sale at Calvert Woodley this week for $9.99 a pound.....just up the street from Vace

agreed....WAAAAAY too spicy for me

Bleasdale A marbled cheddar, made by mixing plain and annatto coloured curds. It is slightly softer than traditional cheddar.

fennel never roasted it myself but the neoghbors do it w/ a little olive oil and balsamic and its just divine

Tayto

very simple fish dish but tasted great and a good quick mid week dinner season some flounder fillets and place in baking dish mix together some panko, parmesan, olive oil and melted butter.....sprinkle over fish cook 15 mins at 425

Jasper Hill farm Winnemere cheese Gorgonzola Jasper Hill farm Constant Bliss Bread 2003 Zenato Valpolicella ($9.99 @ CW) whats not to like?

We called it pancake tuesday in Ireland and it was literally the only day of the year we would eat pancakes (crepes really) which was a pity because my mother made damn good ones.....just a little lemon and sugar.....the perfect send-off for a 'sweet' free Lent.

wanted to use the leftover Niman Ranch ham steak from Fridays split pea soup so came across a nice and easy white bean soup/stew recipe saute some garlic in oil, add a can of tomatoes, 2 cans canneloni beans, ham, chicken stock and some pepper - bring to a boil, reduce heat, stir in baby arucola until wilted....serve with bread/toast.....tasted great and I have it for lunch today

Three hardy vendors braved the frozen tundra outside Lafayette elementary Saturday, where their tables needed to be outfitted with skis! We picked up our usual complement of pastries from Bonaparte and some stew meat from Smith Meadow farm.

We'll be celebrating with some Chinese friends....starting at 5 with a dumpling wrapping party, proceeding to the main event. We were at the same party two year ago and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven....the food was out of this world

thanks again for all the suggestions guys - I made this split pea recipe and it was GREAT - I would highly recommend it for folks - the ease-final taste factor is very high with this one. Kept fairly close to the recipe except for using some diced Niman Ranch pork instead of bacon - I also didn't bother with the rice or lettuce and only had thyme and rosemary for my 'bouquet garni' - if you soak the peas overnight you can knock this out in an hour the next morning - I then let it sit all day while I was at work and pureed when I got home

Thanks guys - I'm going with a split pea - not quite as ambitious as the snert but hopefully tasty!

Anyone got any good soup recipes they'd like to share? We've been on a parsnip/turnip/squash soup kick lately so while they are welcome looking for something a little different to warm us up today.

Filipino shrimp stew, w/ eggplant, spinach and squash in a coconut milk broth

I think Brian also said he'd have O'Hara's Stout starting this week

We didn't leave hungry but we did leave dissapointed. We stopped by there for brunch yesterday and while the food was mostly fine, the service was sorely lacking. It turns out that they were down a few servers for the morning but I really think it a situation like that a restaurant would be better fessing up ahead of time that things might not go 100% smoothly rather than let a whole room full of people grow progessively more irritated as they search in vain for someone, ANYONE, to deal with them. The bottom line was we had to wait way too long for everything. 10 minutes for drink orders, another 15 minutes for food orders, 15 minutes to find someone to get the check....we gave up on trying to ask for a side of toast for our daughter....nobody was unpleasant or rude but there was nobody there when you needed them. We were not the only diners with these problems either. Other minor but weird glitches....a granola and yogurt parfait that came out with no spoon....not a big deal you say but when a server was only sweeping through the room every 10 minutes you had to sit there and stare at it.....and no spoons or saucers with the coffee/tea mugs maning there was nowhere to put my teabag. Its a pity because the food was for the most part quite good. The doughnuts were delicious and came with a decadent little shot glass of molten milk chocolate and assorted fillings. My wifes french toast was airy and light and my omelette was good, it marred slightly by very chewy and stringy mushrooms...almost as if they had not been sauteed enough.

stopped by The Reef yesterday evening for some drinks with a friend - plopped ourselves at the bar and put ourselves in the hands of Brian (who I think is the owner), truly a force of nature if I ever saw one, and very passionate about his beers we had a great time - generous samples of any beer we wanted, an firkin of Orkney Ale perched on the bar, had a few of those and then switched to the Johns Locker Stock...a fantastic, tasty, hoppy floral pint of goodness and weighing in at almost 9% ABV ManekiNeko is right about the Cantillon Iris....you will either love it or hate it and I hated it! Wasn't crazy about the DeKoenigs Winter I tasted either....too fruity But a great time was had by all....