ashipley

Fried fish. I cannot do it in the house. Luckily, I have an ancient electric fryer that I take outside to do my occasional fish fry.

How about falafel? Instead of using soaked chickpeas and fava beans, perhaps you could sub soaked soy grits?

You know, I actually like them "overcooked" too...

I like to cut them in half and place them cut side down in a bit of oil/butter to caramelize. Then add a bit of water to steam and finish cooking.

I cook because there is almost nothing worse to me than eating a bad meal. The only way to have a good meal (outside of a great restaurant) is to make it myself. I like knowing exactly what is going into my food - controlling the quality, fat, seasoning. I like knowing that my family is eating healthy, delicious food that is made with love. I like that I am teaching my son about how food is made, where it comes from, why it is cooked in a certain way. But mostly... I like to eat good food.

I bought the goat a few weeks ago -- a couple of shoulder chops and a bit of leg. I seasoned them with lemon, garlic, and rosemary and grilled them. It was absolutely delicious. Do not fear the goat!

Or "Dump Cake": http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Dump-Cake-I/Detail.aspx

I tend to be pretty improvisational with my cooking and I use recipes as inspiration rather than direction. That being said, I will discount a recipe if it involves the following: demi-glaces or reduced stocks lard or shortening (where butter can't be subbed) more than 2 or 3 pots and pans instant mixes and "cream-of" soups insanely expensive ingredients deep-frying

Salt Cod "Plaki" - Soaked salt cod baked with sliced potatoes, carrots, celery, tomato, onions, garlic, and parsley.

Handmade orecchiette tossed with shaved serrano, peas, onion, and tomato. I followed this recipe to make the orrechiette - http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/242012. Topped with grated pecorino and served with a mixed salad of lettuce and arugola (which is starting to bolt and has gotten very spicy!). Washed it all down with a cheap Argentinean malbec.

No, no pets -- and the yard is fenced. I give the greens several good soaks in the sink before I use them to get off any bugs and dirt. When the weather gets warmer, I also like to gather purslane for salads. There are definitely some advantages to having a lawn that is primarily made up of weeds!

Gathered a grocery bag-full of dandelion greens from the back yard this weekend. Sautéed them in olive oil with garlic. Delicious!

The first time I heard about Let's Dish, I honestly had to have the concept explained about 4 times before I understood what the deal was and why on earth one would want to do this. It seems to me that the real value here is for people who don't like to grocery shop and who need to work from a recipe in order to assemble a meal. If you are an intuitive cook and can create a quick meal from pantry staples and refrigerator dregs, you will probably not find this service useful. I have eaten a few of the Let's Dish meals with some family members, and all I have to say is, "Meh". One dish was some sort of chili-marinated steak, and another was a sort of asian-y shrimp dish. The sauces seem kind of heavy-handed and salty, and frankly assembly and cooking of the dishes takes about as long as making some sort of quick pasta dish or grilled steak/chicken/fish + steamed/nuked veggie + steamed/nuked rice or potato. It's not for me, but I can understand why some love it.

Somewhat related to this... I just found a lonely forgotten Madagascar vanilla bean in the pantry. It is completely dessicated -- is there any way to refresh it? Steaming? Gentle microwaving wrapped in a damp towel? Steeping it in some vodka to make extract? Ideas?

Funny you should mention cornmeal pancakes. I just made a batch this past Sunday. What I usually do is just make a cornbread batter with a bit more milk than usual - cornmeal, flour, eggs, oil, baking powder, salt, milk & yogurt, and a touch of sugar. I usually use a 1:1 ratio of cornmeal to flour so that the batter has enough gluten in it to not fall apart when being flipped on the griddle. You can try going heavier on the cornmeal for a more crumbly mouthfeel.

Figs usually ripen in August/September in this area. The fruit starts to get soft and when ripe and will detach from the branch with little resistance. They may also start to split open or show a bit of "nectar" on the bottom. You should be a bit cautious to not get too much of the milky sap from the plant on your hands -- it can make you itch something fierce! The variety I grow is a nameless green variety that has traveled through cuttings with my family through four moves.

Hmmm... perhaps they weren't ripe enough? Alas, I think that green almonds are one of those things to be enjoyed fresh off the tree... Too bad we can't grow them here...

I just take off the flesh, crack open the shell, and eat the nut. The green flesh is inedible. Fresh almonds have a slightly more pronounced bitter almond flavor than dried.

In my experience, a few nights of 40s/50s nightime temps early in the season seem to have little effect on fruiting. As long as the days warm up, the plants seem to do fine. I've got my tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and zucchini in now. Beans will be going in this week and okra at the end of the month. I am beginning to harvest lettuce and arugola.

Word on those who mentioned the various duck dishes - the confit at Atlantico and the crispy at Thai square. So fatty, yet so good. Another comfort-y dish that I love and that you don't see too much these days is liver n' onions. Old Ebbitt actually has this on their menu and it is pretty good. My MIL on Thanksgiving makes the most fantastic sweet potatoes... and then you hear what goes in them and then you fear that you may drop dead of a heart attack any minute. She boils the sweet potatoes, slices them thickly lengthwise and the FRIES them in margarine. Then she layers the fried potatoes in a pan and pours a mixture of (MORE!) margarine, butter, dark corn syrup, and vanilla over them. These then bake in the oven for 45 minutes or so. The texture of the sweet potatoes comes out dense and just a tiny bit chewy -- very different from any other sweet potato dish I have had.

Mushroom barley risotto (made with portobello stems), broiled portobello caps, caramelized carrots. Followed by homemade spiced-chai ice cream with crumbled biscotti on top.

Ditto on the soups/stews/casseroles. Just make sure the portions are BIG. I actually gained weight AFTER giving birth because I was completely famished all the time. I also really craved red meat at that time, so braised short ribs and beef stew-ey type preparations might go over well. You might want to stock their fridge with some good-quality salad mixes and bread as well. Remember that dinner time is the "witching hour" for most newborns, so if you could volunteer to look after the little one while mom & dad eat, they will love you forever. I don't think that I got a chance to actually chew my food for the first six months after the kid was born.

Mmmm. Cabbage! One of my favorite winter meals is this little one-pot wonder: In a dutch oven, crisp up a piece or two of diced bacon and keep the crisped up pieces for garnish. Depending on the amount of fat in the pot, either drain or add bit of olive oil and brown up some chicken parts. Take out the chicken and add sliced onions, garlic, good-quality paprika, salt/pepper, and a half to a whole head of coarsely sliced cabbage. Saute for a few minutes, put the chicken pieces on top, and add a bit of liquid and braise until the chicken is cooked through and the cabbage is tender. The smokyness of the bacon and paprika really bring out the sweet notes in the cabbage. Serve with crusty bread to sop up the pan juices.

I already raved over on the RTS thread, but I had a great dinner at Ray's the Steaks on NYE. The reason we chose to go there is that: 1) Steak! 2) Regular Menu 3) Casual and not a "destination" restaurant, except for those of us in the know 4) Um... steak! The food and service were the same as always.

Greek Deli is where I head when I want to have a hearty meal for lunch (with enough left over for the next day!). The setup there is very much like what you see in many traditional "worker's lunch" places in Greece, with the day's available items set up behind a glass. You can go take a look at what looks good and order from there. That said, I think that Kostas is a bit heavy-handed with the oil which is not so bad on his veggie items (giant beans and green beans), but can be a bit greasy with meat-based items (the pastitsio, mousaka, and roast chicken or lamb). His food is soulful and homey, though, so I don't mind too much. I have also had decent meals at Athena Palace on 22nd St. in Crystal City. Their dolmades are made in-house and the meat on the braised lamb shank in tomato sauce falls right off the bone. Just from looking around at what people were eating, it seemed as though sticking to the more traditional greek items was the best bet. The cooking at Acropolis in Baltimore (those whole fried calamari!) is superior, but when the hankering for greek strikes and the hour-long drive seems too much...