V.H.

Last week they had them in the shell with the heads on, the amount of meat on the tail for the price is what turned me off.

Hmmm, shell on last week, shell off this week. Blacksalt doesn't seem like the type of place to sell shrimp past their prime but that's certainly what I seem to have gotten.

I bought an assortment of fish and shellfish yesterday at Blacksalt for bouillabaisse. My purchase included some raw, peeled Maine shrimp. While they tasted great raw, they turned quite mushy when cooked in the bouillabaisse. I added the Maine shrimp after I turned the pot off and let the residual heat of the broth cook the shrimp. I served up as soon as the shrimp turned opaque so i don't think overcooking was the problem.

I've had Maine shrimp before but it's been a while and I just don't recall this texture. Is this normal?

Really gorgeous artichokes available at Trader joe's right now. Medium sized, no discoloration at all, and nice and heavy. Four for $2.29, perfect for Marcella Hazan's stuffed artichoke recipe.

Lowe's carries it. Isn't there one near FFX?

As does Home Depot.

Who has a friendly meat guy they can recommend? Doing the haggis thing for Burns Night.

Lebanese Butcher in Annandale

I'm looking to buy a traditional vietnamese glutinous rice cake, the kind that's filled with mung bean paste and pork and wrapped in banana leaves. I know of lots of places in Eden Center where I can buy them, as well as the Tet markets that will be coming up.

My question is, where to find a reliably tasty version of one? Any recommendations? I've eaten them before and I've liked some better than others but never needed to know where to actually go get one. Right now my current plan is to go to Eden center and walk around to see where there seems to be the most turnover.

I've had results ranging from okay to really good the three times I've tried smoking fish at home. There's a lot of info out there on the web as to brines and rubs. I've only done salmon but bluefish sounds yummy and worth a try once it's no longer 15 degrees out.

This is definitely one of the oddest press releases I've read... http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/na...ge,675447.shtml

Good to know there's a Hot Dog Council out there fighting the good fight.

cool. how long til we get foie chocolates?

ETA: foie bons? new potbelly menu item: foiecolate shake!

foie macarons

El Pollo Rico has never had anything more than adequate fries and slaw. Yes, they have excellent, even superb chicken but the sides overall are a real detraction. I sincerely believe that if a Don Pollo opened alongside of an El Pollo Rico it would do more business. I was at the old Wheaton location twice and have been to Clarendon three or four times. Every single time I've left with mixed feelings about the place. I should note that I've been to the Crisp and Juicy on Lee Highway 20 or 30 times and will not hesitate to drive from Reston to Bethesda to try Don Pollo again. Both of Don Pollo's dipping sauces are outstanding along with excellent potato salad and very good black beans and rice. "Chicken to chicken" I continue to believe that the Lee Highway Crisp and Juicy is the best of all the Peruvian chicken joints in the D. C. area.

We live within walking distance of the Lee Hwy Crisp and Juicy but still drive to get chicken from El Pollo Rico. The chicken at the Crisp and Juicy is just not as flavorful. Granted, we had two mediocre experiences and have not gone back.

The Winter Menu has some great new dishes - part of which is the Feast of the Seven Fishes, which is what we had and at $75 per couple it is also excellent value. The first up were the Frito Misto and Octopus which have been favourite choices for us on previous visits. There were also some delicious smelts, an excellent pasta / clam dish, a mussel pizza (most of which we took home), a Haddock and a Branzino dish.

Service was excellent as always. I'm so happy to have this place in our neighbourhood. Next time we will try the skate, the Pork Shank or the “Bollito Misto”.

The one time I've had the Frito Misto is was highly disappointing. While everything was perfectly fried, the seafood had little flavor and the breading did not lend any either. I never salt my food but I did in that case to try to bring a little life to the dish. Since it sounds like you've had it at least a few more times than I have, could you describe your experiences with the dish?

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry if this is a repeat on the board- I am looking for a baking supply shop. I would like to get some sheet gelatin and gel food coloring. Maryland preferred but DC or VA would be alright as well.

Thanks all!

I have found Wilton gel food coloring at craft stores like AC Moore and Michaels.

Sheet gelatin can be found at http://www.auiswiss.com/ in MD.

Puff pastry at TJ's is a nice buy for the holidays. Take a sheet, cut into small squares with your pizza cutter, top with a bit of something, and bake for a 15 minute munchie that goes great with something fizzy. Added bonus? It's made with butter, not shortening like most store brands.

Anyone have any experience with the pate tubs at TJ's? They have a few available right now (pork, non pork, non meat, and salmon), and I wouldn't mind finding out about another easy indulgence to go with the adorably wee mini toasts.

Go get some of the fleur de sel caramels now before they are gone! I got one of the round boxes last year and was profoundly disappointed to later learn that they are a limited availability item. They are very good and a great deal at this price point ($8). This year there are also dark chocolate caramels to try...

I've gotten the pork and it's pretty good. For some reason it tastes not quite as good as the same product sold sliced to order at Arrowine.

Got takeout from Hell-Burger tonight. Along with our three burgers we tried a side of the cheesy fried potato puffs. These appear to be golf balls of cheesy mashed potatoes and chives/scallions, rolled in bread crumbs, and deep fried. They're an addictive little snack until you take your first bite of burger and then you want nothing coming between you and all that beefy goodness.

http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp...WELAID=61271904

These are readily available at any grocery store. We freeze soups in them all the time and

Try the Lebanese Butcher. Since they have their own processing plant, maybe they can get the caul fat for you if you describe what it is and what you're using it for?

We've already had those. I bought him the bacon and chocolate for his birthday last year (and I love the smoked almonds and sea salt bar).

Local is a possibility. We're both very into supporting our local businesses and I eat local/organic meats and produce 95% of the time, but I guess I wanted to go with the well-known higher end bars. I'll keep the local option in mind. May have to stop by for a taste testing beforehand.

It's tough to beat a Sacher torte flown in from Austria for your Austrian boyfriend. I mean, where do you go from there?

I am a huge fan of the bourbon and whisky flavored chocolates at Artisan Confections. Make sure you try some of those. And the hot chocolate drink mix as well!

Where are you finding veal? Looking for veal breast and veal tongue.

Lebanese Butcher shop in Falls church

was I the first Rockwellian to take advantage?

Showed up at 1pm yesterday for the inaugural 3 couses 25 bucks meal deal at Corduroy...a truly civilized way to spend lunch.

The menu features roughly 6-7 choices per course. we opened with two classics, the goat cheese potato nest and the Ron Jeremy spring rolls. Followed up with roast pork (cooked to a perfectly pink medium rare) with frisee-potato salad and the lobster sandwich with mixed greems, both first rate. Ended with the squash tart (a vast improvement from when we first sampled it at the Rockwell Dinner so many years ago) and the bread pudding.

Go...Now.

Lobster sandwich? What? Where? Please describe a bit more.

We told a friend about saltenas so she returned the favor and told us we had to try pupusas, specifically from Blanca's. As we were leaving her place, we realized it was getting close to lunch time and since Blanca's was on our way, we stopped in. As I waited for our takeout order of two pupusas and a tamale, I checked out what others were getting. There was a hot foods area next to their bakery case that had all sorts of amazing looking things in it. It looked like for a fixed price, you could choose several things from the offerings. I have no idea what any of the dishes were called but they all looked awesome. Like you got invited to a banquet cooked by someone's Salvedorean grandmother and their aunts and they pulled out all the stops and made you all your favorite stuff. Nearly everyone there was getting this and every plate was filled to the brim with food.

As for our takeout order, the baby liked the tamale but we thought the pupusas were the hands down winner. We got the ones stuffed with cheese and pork and topped with the cole slaw-like curtido and salsa, they made for a filling lunch at a mere $2 a piece ($1.50 weekday lunch).

I work down that way and have been here a couple of times in the last year. My impression is that while the space is lovelier than your average Thai restaurant, the food is just average. It's a good choice if you're taking someone who is only a little adventurous because it's definitely geared more towards American tastes. Everything is a little sweeter and less spicy than it ought to be.

We've started going to Talay Thai on 1st St which is much better.

I think a bit of both. Some people think good bread is supposed to be soft & fluffy when, as you said, in reality the "baked bread" is actually "raw." I feel like traditional baking is lost and it's now all about "artisan" and fluff. I still haven't found a good bakery and find myself spitting into my napkin at most places because of the undercooked bread served. Troubling.

ETA: I'm not a bread baker, so I'm definitely not an expert by any means, but I know what I like and am seeing.

How would you define traditional baking as different from artisan? When I think of artisan I tend to associate it when traditional methods.

We love our Bosch but given that in both our old house and our current one we used to have old, cheap noisy dishwashers, I think it would have been hard not to be impressed. The Bosch is incredibly quiet and while I like the half load option in theory, our family of four always seems to need the whole thing.

The school packing adventures are going well. Things I've learned:

-kindergartners talk more than they eat, unless you pack dessert that they can only have if they finish lunch

-homemade bittersweet chocolate pudding is way more successful than Oreos in getting your kid to eat their lunch

-the food jars keep the food warm but are really hard for kindergartners to open

-the thermos drink containers are awesome at keeping milk cold, even until the end of the school day

Very few of the kids seem to buy lunch and those that do don't seem to eat very much of it, based on my two lunch time visits. It's interesting to see the spreads that the packers bring. One boy gets a plate along with his containers of food and sets out his lunch on his plate before eating. Another girl has a food jar and brings a warm lunch frequently. Everyone is always interested in what everyone else has and there is lots of comparing but no trading.