Pat

If you're going to be headed to the Mall, Bistro Bis has a good brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. It's on Capitol Hill, near the East end of the Mall. If you're too far away or don't want to walk there, Union Station metro is nearby. The main web site says that Easter Sunday brunch hours are 11-3, which is slightly different than the regular brunch hours. You should probably call if you want to try that. For Sunday, I'd suggest a reservation. They have a regular breakfast as well.

Oh, wow. I missed that article when it ran. Good luck to Phyllis.

Thanks. I'll be at WF tomorrow. I'll take a look for them.

Is this a good time of year to find Meyer lemons around here? I've seen them occasionally in the past but have not noticed any recently and don't know when the best time is to look for them.I have a Meyer Lemon Eclair recipe I'd like to try.

I usually go to that greengrocer stand and have for years, but I've noticed lately that some of the prices seem oddly skewed. Several weeks ago, I went through a phase where I kept running out of onions. Since it's nearby and quick, a couple of times I stopped there to get onions. Good god, they were expensive! The second time, my husband was with me. He was amazed at the price for a couple of onions too.

I'd heard plenty about the various offerings at Central but had not seen a menu until dinner last night. It really is minimalist in its descriptions. When I saw a salad of iceberg lettuce with bleu cheese on the menu, I knew I had to order it. It was wonderful--creamy, crunchy, and delicious. My husband started with the cherry tomato and mozzarella salad and was surprised that the tomatoes seemed cooked. He also said it had "green sauce," which I'm guessing might be some kind of pesto. I didn't get a good look or a taste, as I was too busy tucking into my own salad . He got the rotisserie chicken for an entree, which came with roasted potatoes and some kind of mixed salad greens. He enjoyed it and cleaned his plate but said it had a bit too much oil or something that made it seem greasy. Having planned for weeks to get the lobster burger, I was not disappointed in that selection. Unfortunately, I was too full to finish it (I blame the salad for that ...and the bread...and the fries ). For the price, I really wanted to be able to finish it, but I loved the flavor and textures of the half I ate and didn't see any point in overstuffing myself to the point of misery. Given the cost, I brought the remainder home, even though it doesn't seem like a great candidate for leftovers. I had hoped to try the kit kat for dessert, but there was just no way. I also had to decline the profiteroles . The service was attentive and close to impeccable. It must be hard for the servers to keep track of all of the components and preparation of the various dishes with so little description on the menu to refer to. I had been curious as to what else was in the iceberg-bleu cheese salad, as it generally has more than those two components (e.g., tomato, bacon, onion), so I asked what was in it. The server went through a detailed description of lettuce, crumbled blue cheese, and blue cheese dressing, noting that the lettuce is not served as a wedge but is, rather, chopped. It sounded (and was) delicious, but a couple of forkfuls in--at the tip of the iceberg, as it were--I realized there were flecks of something else in the salad. (Does this actually have bacon or onion bits in it, I wondered?). Ah! Walnuts. As I dug down, the pieces were bigger: lots and and lots of delicious walnuts. I love walnuts and they worked beautifully flavor- and texture-wise in the salad, but that could have been a real unpleasant surprise for somebody. And, no, I didn't say anything. I didn't want to get the server in trouble for a slip that caused no harm. Perhaps the server had described the salad a dozen times already that day, including the nuts. Having seen a similar issue raised in Tom's chat last week (onion tart had bacon), I'd say that for anybody with any issues (religion, allergy, etc.) with any particular ingredients and so little to go from the menu at Central, it pays to be especially careful.

I'm not too sure what the specifics are of different types of plastic bags, but Whole Foods in Alexandria will not give paper bags. They had a sign up for a while explaining why plastic bags were good. The only places I can get paper bags at all of the many places I shop are Trader Joe's and the Clarendon Whole Foods. ETA: Whole Foods does use paper bags to wrap individual bottles--olive oil, wine, etc.--but only has plastic carrying bags.

Thursday night was herb crusted pork loin roast stuffed with prunes and served with Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread (the lighter version of the Bittman recipe, using honey and buttermilk, to which I also added some currants). That bread was a nice accompaniment to the pork I reheated slices of leftover pork loin last night and served them a mushroom sherry-cream sauce. The original roast was a double loin roast, so this made nice thick double boneless pork chops. We also had toasted Parmesan-garlic bread. I've really got to start making vegetables again .

Better yet, keep dried buttermilk on hand. I'm not sure of the shelf life of this. I keep my open cannister in the refrigerator, but I probably should be replacing it at some point.

I don't know Nigella's training, but Giada graduated from the Cordon Bleu.

I enjoyed my lunch at Bebo today (and, for anyone wondering, it takes exactly 25 minutes to walk from the Hayes Street entrance of Pentagon City mall into Bebo.) I sat at the bar and had fine service. It was a gorgeous day and I enjoyed looking out the front windows at the outdoor scene. I loved the fennel salad, which was nice and light, but it differed a bit from the description on the daily specials. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I had intended to get the pork shoulder or meatball panini but decided it would be too filling. I ordered the tuna salad panini instead, which may seem odd in an Italian restaurant, but I got a craving for it when I saw it on the menu. My grandmother often made tuna salad sandwiches for Friday lunch. I think there was a bit too much bread vis-a-vis the filling, but that's probably me. It was a very nice lunch.

I finally made this bread yesterday, the lighter honey version and using buttermilk. I used a pyrex pan instead of nonstick, though, and despite my having greased the pan fairly well (I thought), part of the bottom stuck to the pan . The flavor and texture of the loaf itself were quite acceptable. I added 1/4 cup of currants to the batter and thought that worked well. The bread was good for dinner, served with an herb-crusted pork loin stuffed with prunes.

I haven't been to that in years, but I remember when it was new. That seems to me more like a department store gourmet space (like the downstairs at Marshall Field in Chicago) than an urban market. That might just be me and my memory, though. I remember that area from my childhood--I used to go to the dentist right there and to the corner drugstore soda fountain afterwards. My aunt always took me to shop at Suburban Square. I was fascinated by the changes in the area as I got older. (My grandfather's house--15 E Spring Ave.-- is the oldest house in Ardmore.)

Could something like that be built near where the new stadium is going in on South Capitol?

Not to be contentious, but you mentioned clearing out of "most of the vendors" to bring in more local produce. IIRC, there are two produce stalls and one bakery inside, with no realistic way of making the space devoted to the market bigger. Getting rid of most of the vendors would have to go beyond removing those 3 businesses and involve replacing businesses that are not produce or ice cream/candy. Perhaps you didn't really mean the comment to be that expansive. I don't know. When I read it, I was not sure how to reconcile the produce/ice cream issue with getting rid of most of the vendors. If the issue is restricted to those three, "most of" wouldn't be very much.

Those are independent vendors, though, so far as I know. Some people own multiple stalls and have more power than others. And, from what I gather, the politics of the way the entire place (plus flea market) are run is a huge can of worms. The bakery is okay and the neighborhood franchise of Marvelous Market is right next door. There is also an independent gourmet store across the street from the market.I'm okay with greengrocers bringing produce in from Florida Ave or elsewhere who are local independent businesspeople. There are some growers on the weekend. Others are bringing in someone else's produce. I'm really not sure what you want here. Market Poultry and Union Meat are my go-to places for certain items that I can't get or won't buy elsewhere. Canales has several stalls with products I go there specifically to buy. I can usually buy good fish at the fishmonger. The cheese stand has some good cheese, though the man who is often working is kind of cranky.

Thanks for the idea! This sounded so good that I made it tonight. Excellent stuff.

It must be very frustrating for you. All this because you're not overpriced . I don't mean that to be glib. I certainly think of Corduroy as fine dining but when i recommend it, I often comment about what a great value it is for the quality of food and service at that price point.

If they have the seared tuna with hijiki rice, that's my all-time favorite, but I don't know if it's on the menu at this point. I haven't been to Corduroy recently. I'm very fond of the lamb with mini goat cheese ravioli as well, if they're offering that.ETA: Both show up on this menu, but I don't know how current it is.

Baguette and butter Asparagus Alla Milanese Braised Veal Chops with Parsley Dressing I love making this asparagus recipe when asparagus is in season. It's really satisfying. It would also be great for brunch. I hadn't tried this veal recipe before and proceeded somewhat differently than the recipe indicated, as some of the steps seemed wasteful/redundant. I scaled it back to make only 3 veal chops and used butter instead of margarine (definitely not kosher). It was good but not spectacular. It made a nice complement to the asparagus, though.

The basement has its own hours, though you could get beer upstairs before then. I just called and the basement beer bar opens at 5 PM. That's what I thought the sign said, but I couldn't remember. Playing edit catchup here... The general hours for PP are Mon-Thurs: 11:30 am to 11:00 pm Fri-Sat: 11:30 am to midnight Sun: noon to 10:00 pm

Is the downstairs/BP open for lunch? I can remember seeing the specific hours posted, but I can't remember what they are .

green salad leftover pot roast braised greens (escarole and chard) with hot pepper flakes

I stlll had some of the Barbaresco left that I opened a week ago and decided to put the last of it into the pot roast I made last night. I can't think of any other circumstance where I'd be putting a wine that good in pot roast, but since it had been open a week and we never drank the rest, it seemed a good use for it. What it says, I don't know--since there are multiple variables--but I don't think I've ever produced such a great pot roast in my life. The flavor of the meat (on sale half price at Safeway) was incredible. I don't usually put wine in pot roast, so I'll have to try it with cheap wine next time for comparsion (though that's obviously not the same thing as side-by-side comparison).

Interesting article. Thanks. I agree with the author of the article when she says: "For one thing, short of a wine that is spoiled by age, heat or a compromised cork, there are few that I categorically would not drink." That changes the circumstances of the proposition (i.e., don't cook with what you wouldn't drink), I think, even though she discovered wines in her experiment that she didn't care for that worked fine for cooking. I tend to use the same cheap white table wines I drink when I need a dry white for cooking (I don't like sweeter wines, though I will drink riesling and use that if I need something a little sweeter.) The two whites I generally have on hand and use most often in cooking are Domaine Du Pouy and the ubiquitous Cavit Pinot Grigio. The other bottle I always keep on hand as an emergency substitute for wine (works for red or white) is a trusty bottle of Martini & Rossi Dry Vermouth. I tend not to like red wines as much so usually have somewhat more expensive reds on hand than whites. When I have cheaper reds that I don't care to drink (or drink some of and don't like but don't want to pour out), I find that they work fine in cooking. When I was making recipes from Babbo recently, I was tempted to go back to Heat to check for the differences between the way things were done in the restaurant and how they appear in the cookbook. Then I decided I'd basically have to reread the book to do it, and take notes. That's a nice project for sometime in the future. I found it amusing that one of those differences is California merlot for Beef with Barolo. I wasn't going to shell out the full price for a bottle of Barolo to make the short rib recipe from the cookbook but wasn't sure what to get. The wine clerk said to get Nebbiolo instead, the grape for Barolo but not as mature wine. It was less than half the price for the Barolos. It worked very well in the recipe, and we drank the remainder of the bottle with the meal, along with a Barbaresco. I certainly wouldn't seek out the cheapest wine imaginable for cooking but don't see the inexpensive cost of a wine as a dealbreaker either.