Pat

I know nothing about this place and have never seen it, but I encountered the menu/web site while searching for something completely different http://www.sweetmangocafe.com/ I can't even guarantee that it's still open, but someone is paying to keep that site up there.

split pea soup (yellow and green) with fingerling potato slices and bacon I love split peas and keep forgetting how quickly they cook. It took not a whole lot longer than an hour to make this soup for lunch. Nice comfort food. We've had bacon for breakfast and lunch. No bacon for dinner .

Breakfast taco: bacon scrambled eggs p'tit basque cheese refried black beans big flour tortilla tabasco

Mostly I follow recipes to the letter when it's the first time I'm making them. Subsequent times I will vary what I do, based on what I've learned. For magazine recipes similar to many other recipes I've made, I'm more likely to substitute and improvise than for those from more "authoritative" sources. In this case, I was trying to replicate recipes from restaurant cookbooks. I did think temperatures for a couple things were awfully low, but that didn't seem like it would be a problem...until it ran into the next thing I needed the oven for, with the previous thing still not finished.Given that I get very exasperated when I try to follow complex recipes to the letter, I should probably follow your advice . I was actually quite surprised at how successful I was making The Mansion on Turtle Creek recipes. I had held off even trying them for years because they looked so complicated, but it seemed silly for the book to take up shelf space I don't have if I wasn't going to make any of the recipes. I'm glad I finally tackled the book. It's earned its space on my bookshelf .

When I was at Pentagon City mall a few days ago, I noticed the Ruby Tuesday has closed. The sign on the paneling over the empty space says that a Harry's Tap Room will be opening there. I can't recall if it gave an ETA other than "soon" on the sign.

gorp

My plan for Valentine's Day this year was to construct a menu from two Texas restaurant cookbooks: The Mansion on Turtle Creek Cookbook (Dallas) and Fonda San Miguel cookbook (Austin). This was the intended lineup: Mango Margaritas [FSM, p. 56] Tequila-Cured Salmon Tostadas [FSM, p. 41] Jalapeno Jack Cheese Soup [MOTC, pp. 37-8] Spicy Fried Oysters on Roasted Peppers with Spinach and Radicchio Salad [MOTC, pp. 51-3] Zarape De Pato (Stacked Enchiladas with Duck) [FSM, p, 130] Mexican Wedding Cookies [FSM, p. 205] Lace Cookies [MOTC, pp. 204-5] I ran out of time, so the menu ended up being served over two days, with no dessert either day, so the cookies were liberated from the menu . Both kinds of cookies turned out well. The highlight of the three recipes from MOTC was the salad, and the standout of the four from FSM was the margaritas. I mentioned the meals in the dinner thread. post on night one post on night two I'd had MOTC for a quite a number of years (Dean Fearing isn't even at the restaurant any more!), but I'd never made anything from it. It always looked too intimidating. Many of the recipes are quite complex, with lengthy subrecipes. Something similar keeps me from delving too far into The French Laundry. Now that I've tried three recipes--one simple, one complicated, and one portion of another multi-part recipe--I'd say that the recipes are well thought out and will produce a good result if followed all the way through as written. The one slight disappointment (the soup really had only one note) was due to the fact that I only prepared one part of a multi-part recipe. That one flavor would have been wonderful in combination with the others it was designed to fit with originally. The "simple" recipe I choose turned out gorgeous lace cookies, something I've had trouble getting to come out right in the past. FSM cookbook I bought more recently, as I'd eaten at the restaurant years ago and wanted to recreate a couple of the items. Well, the margaritas were fantastic . The cookbook also features some wonderful artwork. The recipes, however, seem to have been oversimplified for the home cook, and the times given on some things are simply wrong. (The cookies needed 30 minutes at 325F, not 15 minutes, as written. The tostadas baked for well over an hour at 250, not 45 minutes, and never got done the way the book photo illustrates, even when I got frustrated late in the game and turned the temperature up.) The description of how the cured salmon fillet was to be cut ("crosswise") had me a bit puzzled until I realized that the only way I could get 8 of the wafer thin slices the recipe called for would be to slice the long way along the surface of the 1/4 - 1/3 inch piece of fish . Not my forte, cutting thin slices of anything. Somehow I managed. Oddly enough, the dishes I made from FSM were largely visually attractive, but the flavors were not as impressive, even given the quality of ingredients. I somehow managed to roll the thin (somewhat irregularly cut) salmon slices for the tostadas into rosettes that looked like rosettes. The beautiful creamy green sauce for the tortilla stack looked stunning on the plate. Much of my disappointment with the stacked duck tortillas was in not being able to recreate what I'd had at the restaurant. I guess I should have expected that. The recipe in the book was similar but clearly different than what I'd had. For starters, it had slices of duck instead of the shredded duck I had. I gave up on shredding the duck when I realized that the duck breast I bought (per the recipe instructions) would not be the optimal part of the duck for shredded meat. The sliced duck they called for was fine, but shredded was so much better. Searching around, I discovered that the chef had left a few months before I went there. The subsequently retooled version of the recipe was published in the cookbook. Reading reviews, in combination with my memory, told me that it probably had blue corn tortillas, in addition to chipotles and tomatoes (cookbook says only tomatoes, optional). Since I was able to find blue corn tortillas, that's what I used, and they looked gorgeous on the plate with the brilliant green sauce above and below. And the original was a stack of several tortillas, not the sandwich of two presented in the book. I did two layers instead of one--adding a reconstituted chipotle and broiled tomatoes to the refried bean portion of the filling. Even the toasted shredded pasillas on top looked pretty. The margaritas were still the best part of the meal.

I never seem to learn that and often attempt something far too elaborate.Part Two was less successful than part one. It took forever to construct the dishes, even though I'd done a lot of the prep previously. I think some of the issues were with the recipes. (I'll post something more in the cookbook challenge thread.) Mango Margaritas Tequila-Cured Salmon Tostadas Zarape De Pato (Stacked Enchiladas with Duck) The margaritas were excellent. The tostadas looked pretty but that was about it. The enchiladas were okay. Again, they looked pretty, but the creamy poblano sauce was really the highlight, both visually and tastewise.

A McIntosh apple and a hunk of P'Tit Basque cheese (the former from Trader Joe's and the latter from Costco). Great combination and an effective mid-afternoon pick-me-up.

Soup and Salad, both from The Mansion on Turtle Creek Cookbook: Jalapeno Jack Cheese Soup Spicy Fried Oysters on Roasted Peppers with Spinach and Radicchio Salad I had originally intended a more complex menu but was exhausted and running out of time, so we'll have Valentine's Dinner Pt. 2 tonight. The soup was good but was intended to be part of a duo with black bean soup. I had decided only to do one of the duo because I had so much else planned, and I imagine it would have been better as the cookbook suggested. I also omitted the smoked pepper cream that was supposed to top both, and--too late--realized that I should have substituted another garnish. It needed another flavor, as the cheese flavor was not discernible, and jalapeno was the only strong note. The salad took a lot of work but was worth it--much better than I expected. I am not competent at shucking oysters and that really slowed me down. I still have all of my fingers intact, however . The base of the salad was a chiffonade of spinach and radicchio, tossed with an anchovy balsamic vinaigrette. This was topped at intervals with small mounds of julienned red, green, and yellow roasted peppers, which had their own light dressing of lemon juice and olive oil. Each mound of peppers was topped with a chile-cornbread crumb breaded fried oyster. Additional anchovy vinaigrette went over top of the salad. I would totally make the salad again, knowing better how to time everything and probably using preshucked oysters .

Beefy mac and cheese with peas, tomatoes, and a shot of hot sauce. Steamed asparagus with grated Romano cheese Cornbread made with bacon fat (no sugar)

From Tom's chat today: "Across the river, longtime Roberto Donna sidekick Amy Brandwein has left Bebo in Crystal City to do her own thing at the Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City."

Due to the ice storm, we had no trouble getting a table when we got there about 7:45 last night. We opted for upstairs instead of the only open downstairs table, which was by the front door. Wet and achy from the rain and falling down, it was nice to sit and regroup for a bit before heading down the street to the show. I enjoyed my steak and cheese sandwich. I couldn't finish it, but what I ate was quite good. The fries were a little wetter than is my preference but still quite acceptable. The horseradish cream for the sandwich also made a nice dip for the fries . I was tempted to ask for more of the horseradish cream and probably would have if I had managed to get farther through the sandwich. I had a Stella and my husband had a Leffe, which he was quite pleased with, along with the bison hangar steak and fries he got. He cleaned his plate.

I've mentioned this several times in the dinner thread, but I'll repeat here. This is quite a versatile dough, even if it's not a classic biscuit dough. What I've made with it over the course of a week:pigs in blankets, twice--one appetizer size and one full size, effectively building a roll around the hot dog* biscuit buns for hamburgers, a couple eaten as plain biscuits. naan It was great in all of these applications *My husband does not much care for standard hotdog or hamburger buns, so I serve them pretty rarely. He was pleased with rolls made for both using this recipe. He especially liked the flavor and texture of the dough for the ready-made hotdog bun.

Moroccan chicken with olives and prunes, served with naan. P'tit Basque cheese and flatbread crackers before the meal. I had bought a big pack of whole chicken legs, so I used the three smallest of those in place of the four thighs called for in the recipe. There are no chicken pieces left but still a decent amount of the sauce, and that will be good served over couscous. Naan was made with the last of the yeast angel biscuit dough from this Post chat.. While it may not be a classic biscuit recipe, that turns out quite a versatile dough. Over the course of a week, I've made two batches of pigs in blankets with it, hamburger buns, regular biscuits, and naan. I've still got one naan loaf left.

Cinnamon-raisin french toast with bananas and maple syrup; bacon

I liked Coleman beef hotdogs (uncured), which I get at Whole Foods.

What about people who want so much personal space around them that you inadvertently cut in front of them in line because you didn't realize they were in line? I've encountered this one several times in the past year with people who were standing far enough back that it didn't even occur to me to ask if they were in line. (I can only think of one food-related instance of this, and I was a witness to it, but that one does make it relevant ). The rage that has exploded from these people has made me overly cautious, so I now often ask people if they're in line when they're standing so far away, they look at me funny.Definitions of personal space in the US have been changing, and that's an additional factor. It's understood that people stand pretty far back from a person using an ATM, but what about people applying that to other lines? Given the rudeness that's possible, someone being too inattentive to notice someone needs a seat ranks pretty far down the scale for me, while someone who refuses to give up a seat when asked or studiously ignores someone who wants the seat rates a lot higher. (I wasn't there so I don't know if the woman in the above case clearly realized they wanted the seat and was refusing to acknowledge it or if she was just wrapped up in her book and not paying attention. I was giving the benefit of the doubt.) The optimal situation is for people to be attuned to the needs of other people and proactively generous, but often they aren't even generous enough to accept the apology of someone who has inadvertently slighted them.

bucKy

I think I'm missing something here, because the only missing topping would seem to be onions on one of the pizzas.

guacamole and chips pigs in blankets cuban -style black beans chipotle macaroni and cheese

edited a bunch of times because these links are infuriating. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8020601370.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8020601421.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8020601369.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8020601423.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8020601404.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8020601440.html

http://www.donrockwell.com/index.php?showtopic=8283They've been planning the opening for some time and have finished at least some of their inspections, if not all at this point. I know they have some good people working in management (from Tunnicliffs and Stoney's). I'm looking forward to it, though I don't know that I'll get there when it first opens. Unless things get the way things get, they're hoping for a quiet opening on Sunday, the 17th.

Maybe it was a really good book .

On the metro, if five people step on together and the only non-human-occupied seat has a coat/backpack on it, then one of those people can easily sit if the objects are moved. If two people come in to a bar/restaurant together and want to eat together, one seat doesn't really help. If this woman had her coat on one seat and the one on the other side was unoccupied, then she should certainly have offered to relocate herself and her stuff. It sounds like she was not even asked to vacate the seat she had her coat on. If one of those people really wanted/needed to sit, they could have asked.