zoramargolis

I can't go to Dupont tomorrow because of a commitment at my daughter's school. Since I go into withdrawal without a FM foray, I went to Arlington this morning--many purveyors are at both markets. New to me, though, were cheesemakers from Fields of Grace Farm in Remington, VA, there just for the winter market, offering tastes of their farmstead cows milk cheeses. Seriously good, is a raw milk cheddar, aging since September. $10.50 a pound. Having lived in Vermont for a number of years, I am hard to please when it comes to cheddar, and this is impressive--smooth textured with a complex, subtle flavor. Their cows are a Jersey-Holstein cross and the milk goes straight from the milking barn to the cheesemaking facility, which they recently built on their farm. Husband tends the cows, wife makes the cheese. They also have a lot of gimmicky stuff like herbed cheese curds and caraway cheddar--all made with pasteurized milk. I didn't even bother to taste anything except the aged cheddar, and I wasn't expecting much, but I was so pleasantly surprised by it, that I bought a nice chunk home. It's already almost gone...

SCORE!!!! Visiting cousins from Santa Cruz came to dinner last night and brought me a large shopping bag full of Meyer lemons from their tree. No carnauba wax! No pesticides! Really fresh!! I added zest and juice to almost every dish I served... Hors d'euvres: guacamole and chips (cousin's daughter's boyfriend from Oaxaca was along-- he heartily approved--which she reported has never before happened in a gringo's home--he really liked my roasted chile adobo salsa, too.) Medjool dates stuffed with homemade lavender chevre, sprinkled with Maldon salt Petit Basque sheepmilk cheese with homemade membrillo Alfonso olives, roasted red peppers, Genoa pepper salami First course: roasted squash, celeriac and quince bisque, 2005 Yalumba Y Viognier Main: Charcoal roasted chicken, herb-brined and rubbed with garlic and smoked paprika Mushroom-barley pilaf Roasted fennel and fig slaw 2003 Torbreck Woodcutter's Shiraz Salad: Mixed greens with EVOO, Meyer lemon juice and a splash of sherry vinegar Dessert: Forelle pear upside-down cake with fresh blackberries, B&J's vanilla i.c. and whipped cream I don't think they were just being polite when they said it was the best chicken they'd ever eaten-- the thirteen year-old said she usually didn't like chicken, because it was always dry, but she loved this. They didn't know about brining, obviously, though now they do. And they've never eaten chicken at Palena Cafe... Luckily, I made three large chickens, and I've got leftovers--it's really good cold.

They also work well for blistering and peeling the skin off of red peppers and chiles.

Why doesn't everyone bring their own brown-bag breakfast and eat it there?

Mitu-mitu!

I subscribe to Wine Advocate and I do read the tasting notes. They are what pique my interest in finding and tasting particular wines-- but if I am lucky enough to remember the name and vintage date of the wine, it is usually the score I remember, not the particulars of the tasting notes. I'm afraid I don't have that many neurons available anymore to store that much information. But I do keep the hard copies on my bookshelf, so I can go back and re-review the reviews. I read movie reviews in the New Yorker before I decide what movie to see, too. I don't have the time or money (or interest) to see every movie that comes out--even from directors I have liked in the past. I rely on professionals whose judgement has seemed sound to me, and use their assessments to guide my viewing. Sometimes, I disagree with them, and maybe I miss out on movies I might have liked, that they didn't. And the backers, producers and directors of those films all hate reviewers who have too much power to determine success or failure, etc. etc. That's the way it goes...

I don't recall anyone on the forum mentioning this place before, which I stumbled on today, well not really. I drove on an unfamiliar route, saw it, and went in to check it out. It is called The ORGANIC BUTCHER of Mclean (6712 Old Dominion Dr.) across the road, sort of, from the McLean Balducci's. It's only been open since November. Well, to those like me who were bemoaning the loss of locally raised, fresh organic beef with Sunnyside Organics getting out of the Wagyu business, weep no more. The proprietor, Don, gets whole carcasses from local (at least one is in Loudon Co.) organic farms, and cuts the meat himself. He's got dry-aged Angus beef -- no super bargains, which is to be expected. But given the quality of the product, his prices seem fair. He also has veal and pork--beautiful, thick-sliced veal liver for $6.99 a pound. I bought some big, meaty short ribs for $6.99 a pound. More expensive than Eastern Market, but these are dry-aged, which Don says will make a difference in taste even in a braised dish. He has also offered to save tri-tips for me, if I call a day in advance. Other than meat, he sells fish and a few things that are quite special--Strauss Family Dairy cultured butter, from Northern California, and Cowgirl Creamery cheeses, which won't be hard to get once their new store opens, but are right now. He also has a small selection of wines and other gourmet products.

I took a multi-class pastry course taught by Michel Richard in 1978, when he was proprietor of a pastry shop in Beverly Hills. I was a mere toddler at the time, of course, and his voice hadn't changed yet--NOT! (The class was held at Ma Cuisine, a small cooking classroom affiliated with Ma Maison, one of the earliest California-French restaurants, owned by Patrick Terraill, a member of the Tour d'Argent Terraill family. I took another course there, taught by the young chef at Ma Maison--Wolfgang Puck.) All of you are well aware that Michel Richard has brilliant technique, but he is also a natural teacher, charming and informative and generous of spirit. It would be fun to go, if I had the dinero, but I would recommend it to those who do.

If you do a Georgetown/C & O Canal lookaround, consider a mid-afternoon pick-me-up at Ching-Ching Cha at 1063 Wisconsin, between M & K Streets. It's very serene and cool inside, and they have brilliant Chinese teas and tea snacks. Or head to Leopold's Cafe in Cady's Alley, behind (and below) the 3400 block of M Street for seriously good Viennese pastries and coffee in trendy surroundings.

Monday nights Lavandou has, in the past, had a no-corkage fee policy. Haven't been in a while, so I'd call to make sure it's still true, if you plan to go.

It's nice to see you folks in the wine business being so supportive of each other...

This reminds me--have you noticed that the Trader Joe's Unsalted Organic Cultured Butter is now just labeled "Organic"? It seems to have become uncultured.

There is plenty of smoked ham in Europe: among others, there are speck in Italy, Schwartzwalder schinken in Germany and the equivalent in Holland. (I tasted the latter two the other day, at the home of a friend who had just come back from Holland and Germany. They tasted exactly like speck.) The Virginia counry ham that I have eaten has been saltier, though. Symptomatic only of longer aging? Or are there more differences?

Back in the late 70's, much of the available, affordable California (non-jug) varietal red wine that wasn't zinfandel was cabernet, much of it tannic 100% cab with an unfortunate tendency to vegetal bell pepper and green bean notes; merlot was a softer, tastier alternative, with berry-fruit flavors. Clos du Bois was one I remember liking a lot, back in the early '80's. As the quality of winemaking and blending improved in California, and the spectrum of varietals increased, merlot simultaneously became the mass market go-to red wine and of much less interest to California wine geeks. I have had a couple of opportunities to drink Leonetti Cellars Merlot from Columbia Valley, Washington, thanks to Joe Heflin, who is on the Leonetti mailing list. It is excellent wine--certainly nothing to sneer at.

The more I buy, the less space I have to put them

I missed this thread, first time around. I'm surprised that no one mentioned Amma Vegetarian Kitchen on M Street in Georgetown (much better than the Vienna branch). For $5 or $6 you can get a totally satisfying masala dosa, with sambar and coconut chutney. This is one of the two great cheap eats places in Georgetown, the other one being Moby Dick, the anachronistically named kebab joint that also has branches in Bethesda, McLean and elsewhere. I tried Oohs and Ahhs for the first time, at lunchtime a couple of days ago. Sweet people, seriously funky atmosphere. I had the lunch serving of wings, which was HUGE for $7.99, hot crunchy wing segments with a sticky, salty, sweet- spicy bbq sauce. It came with one side, and I asked nicely for two half-portions, so that I could taste the mac 'n cheese and collard greens. Both really good, and I loved the greens. No hot sauce needed, they had enough cayenne and vinegar going on just as dished up.

Randolph's on Lee Highway next door to Arrowine in Arlington. Beautiful cakes and pastries--made with all butter.

CHACON A SON GOUT, BABY! To me, a lot of wines and varietals the "terroiristas" are all gaga over are thin, sour and astringent. They call a lot of the wines I like "pancake syrup"... If I've got a plate of grilled beef in front of me, or lamb, or anything with hearty flavors, I want to drink red wine that is mouth-filling, full-bodied, and tastes primarily like fruit, not damp earth, acidic underbrush and fungi. So go ahead and consider my palate "unsophisticatd" if you like. Fortunately for all of us, there are a vast multitude of different wines in the world. We get to drink what we like! You don't like zinfandel? It's okay by me. I'm not all that fond of Chianti or Dolcetto, or most of the French Burgundies I've tasted--admittedly, not that many.

Try Hartford Russian River, Seghesio Old Vines or Home Ranch, Storybook Howell Mountain, any Elyse zin or Rosenblum Carla's Vineyard (and other Rosenblum single vineyard bottlings) before you write off zinfandel. These are all complex, elegant and interesting wines that show what the grape can do, beyond knocking you over the head. They are a fabulous match with spice-rubbed grilled beef, lamb in most forms, anything with some char or smoke flavor going on. We had Hartford Russian River with our Weber-kettle smoked heritage Bourbon Red turkey at Thanksgiving and it was a brilliant match.

Check with Magruder's in Chevy Chase. I've seen some there in the past.

Lucky you. I share a birthday with Richard Nixon.

Don't question his sincerity, girlfriend. Just keep on cooking. Food is love, and the more you love the process of cooking for the two of you, the more love he will feel for you. Trust me on this. My boyfriend was mine, totally hooked after I prepared chicken marengo, rice pilaf and asparagus with hollandaise sauce for him on a two-burner electric hotplate. We are still together, 35 years later!

I just ran across this comment from Robert Parker, from the Mark Squires Wine Board, regarding his recent critics:

Is this, by any chance what you are hinting at? http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/showthread.php?t=80974

Sounds like maybe too much liquid/meat. It's always best to braise in a pot that isn't lots bigger than the piece of meat. If there is a lot of liquid--reduce, reduce to concentrate the flavor.