zoramargolis

I love savory tarts. That sounds like it would also be delicious as a fall dish with roasted mushrooms.

Well--I tried the above technique with four eggs, and had mixed results: one egg cracked and three did not. Turned the actively boiling water down on the lowest possible flame and cooked for exactly eleven minutes before removing eggs and immediately submerging them in a bowl of chilled water and ice cubes. Verdict: peeled cleanly but were not quite hard-boiled. Clearly, the water wasn't maintained at a hot enough temp during the eleven minutes, or more time was needed.

He says wait until the water boils, then get the eggs out of the fridge, boil for 11 minutes then transfer to ice and water. I'm trying this today.

Aphrodite Grocery in Bailey's Crossroads (next door to Duangrat Thai Grocery) is where I usually get dried gigantes.

Interesting--it says use any berry or fruit, but includes no starch or other thickener. Even if the galette doesn't leak in the oven, I can see the first cut unleashing a torrent.

He says to put them in boiling water directly from the refrigerator. Perhaps the cold temp of the shell and egg white has some preventive effect against cracking. I haven't tried it, so can't really say, just speculating.

The ones you can buy in jars or cans are always in tomato sauce, but I like them better plain. Or last night, I added them to a pot of braised chicken thighs with green beans and roasted red pepper, leeks and garlic.

easy-to-peel hard boiled eggs perfect poached eggs

Soak beans overnight and then cover 1-2" with water, some salt and aromatics: onion, leek, garlic, carrot; tie in a bundle stalk of celery with leaves, bay leaf, thyme, oregano, parsley. Cook until very soft and creamy. Add more water as it cooks to keep beans submerged. Pick out the herb bundle and the carrot and onion, leek, garlic cloves (if desired). Depending on how much broth you have, serve the beans with or without all or any of it. Drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, and chopped fresh herbs: parsley, oregano or dill. Grated lemon zest. Serve with cracked pepper and more salt, if needed. Be aware that these are huge when cooked (hence their name) and 1/2 pound of dry beans cooked will be numerous servings.

frittata with zucchini, corn, pesto multigrain toast peach tart with vanilla almond custard

last night, my dinner was a big bowl of romano beans stewed with olive oil, leek-onion-garlic, fresh tomato, chunks of smoky roasted eggplant, aromatic herbs. gigante beans stirred in, topped with a dollop of pesto, chopped fresh basil and parsley. 2013 Nobilo sauvignon blanc

Don at Organic Butcher of McLean Pam the Butcher at Wagshal's. Union Meat at Eastern Market Harvey's Meats at Union Market Jamie Stachowski Red Apron Three Little Pigs Charcuterie Any of the above could probably special order what you want. Jamie, Nate at Red Apron and 3LP all do charcuterie.

French blogger successfully sued by restaurant for negative review. click

My wirehair terrier, Janis (Joplin) would eat a whole zucchini, holding it upright between her front paws like a bone. A true omnivore, she used to sit up and beg in front of the tomato plants in the garden.

last night: wild salmon burgers with Asian flavors (lemon grass, kaffir lime zest and juice, ginger, scallions, cilantro, soy sauce, panko and egg) served on buns with frisee, lettuce and wasabi mayo sliced cucumber with rice vinegar, soy sauce, cilantro and red pepper flakes potato chips cantaloupe 2013 Muga rosé

Pat-- Have you contacted the company to let them know, and ask them what might explain the difference between their instructions and your experience? They might appreciate hearing feedback, and you might get some useful information and/or product from them.

1. MacArthur Beverages has the biggest collection I've seen in my travels around the wine shops in DC. 2. Rodman's has some--not a lot, but more than most places.

I didn't write down what I did, but here goes an approximation: kernels cut off of 4 ears of previously steamed corn, cause I had them in the fridge. Uncooked would work just as well, if not better put the corn in the blender with 2 eggs about 1 1/2 cups of milk and creme fraiche together 3 or 4 T. of melted butter 1 T. of agave syrup whisk together 1/3 c. flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. cumin mix contents of blender into dry ingredients stir in 1 roasted, chopped poblano chile pour into buttered casserole bake at 375 F. for approx. 40-45 minutes until it stops jiggling and is brown on top you could use canned green chile and add cheese, as a variant. Or make it without the cumin and green chile.

birthday dinner for J--a few of his favorite things city of light aperitif cocktail (Lillet blanc, dolin dry, orange brandy liqueur, prosecco) charcoal-grilled ribeye 4-bean salad corn pudding 2012 Maipe bondarda reserva

ka-ching

birthday breakfast for J. black raspberry pancakes Vermont maple syrup eco-friendly bacon Peet's cappuccini

bowing to a request for a traditional meal for the 4th-- I couldn't help putting twists on the recipes: herb-brined, hickory and oak-smoked pork shoulder (pulled and served on brioche buns with ZQ sauce) sesame cabbage and tuscan kale slaw new potato salad with roasted red pepper, pickles, dill and mustard-mayo-yogurt dressing steamed corn on the cob watermelon DB Vienna lager

Whoever made the pasta either did not toss it with enough flour, hang it up to air dry for a sufficient amount of time, or both. Next time you buy fresh pasta, toss it with flour or cornstarch before bagging and sealing. By vacuum sealing moist pasta, you essentially reconstituted it into a ball of dough. Don's advice to shred the pasta when it comes out of the freezer bag, before cooking it is probably the best you can do. Call it "pasta pazzo" (crazy noodles).

last night: gazpacho herb-brined eco-friendly pork chops, stove-top grilled fried rice (made with leftover rice from Joe's Noodle House) green beans brown sugar caramel gelato An excellent rioja, but I have already pitched the bottle and can't recall the name or vintage

We also had them at Eventide in Portland, which is how we learned about them. We were staying near Damariscotta, and a local contact steered us to a restaurant in town that served them.