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monsterriffs

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Everything posted by monsterriffs

  1. monsterriffs
    That baby pig confit taco is fan-frigging-tastic in all its pork-driven glory.
  2. monsterriffs
    They have dim sum here???? Please say so, because this will make my day!!!!
  3. monsterriffs
    The initial taste test on my daikon pickles is in and the verdict is: not too shabby. This recipe seems to be a bit more of a Chinese cabbage recipe, but the sweet and saltiness of the pickle is really nice, although if I use this recipe for pickles in the future, I'm reducing the amount of sugar and salt in the recipe. I bought Tsuji's book today and will look to attempt a more traditional pickle at some point in the future.
  4. monsterriffs
    My daikon pickles are currently in the fridge in the rice vinegar mixture and when I smelled them, they smelled vaguely like the sweet and sour pickled cabbage many Chinese restaurants serve. The recipe also called for chile peppers, which I threw in, so I'm thinking this isn't exactly authentically Japanese. Nevertheless, thanks for the book recommendation. I'll try to pick it up when I find myself near a B&N or a Borders.
  5. monsterriffs
    About how long are the pickles supposed to sit in the rice bran mixture? And as for the yellow daikon, I could have sworn that I read somewhere that this color traditionally came from the aging process. However, I am not opposed to the food coloring route.
  6. monsterriffs
    Maybe this is an inquiry for our local Japanese markets. I took a look at my pickle jar and the daikon pieces look to be shriveling up a bit, which is what I expected, but now there's a very heavy syrup at the bottom of the jar, and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to stir it as thorughly as possible to get the syrup mixed up with the vinegar part, or if I'm supposed to leave it be.
  7. monsterriffs
    So I'm certain that those of you who enjoy Japanese cuisine are familiar with the variety of pickles that are to be found. Specifically, I really love those yellow daikon pickles that usually come with your food at Temari Cafe or wherever. So I have set out to start making them myself but there are so many different recipes for pickles and different variations that I don't even know where to start. I made a simple batch last night where I boiled a quarter cup of rice vinegar with a lot of sugar and a WHOLE lot of salt, much to my amazement/distress. Does anyone have any idea of how to make those yellow daikon pickles? I know the authentic way is to dry them outside where they get their yellow color (I believe), but then there's talk of rice bran? Whatever the case, all recipes and/or tips would be greatly appreciated!
  8. monsterriffs
    I got some delivery from here last weekend and I was quite impressed with the quality, especially considering how average or just plain lousy City Lights and Foong Lin have become. I'm pretty pumped to make this my go-to Chinese delivery place, and also checking out a few more of the regional dishes they've added.
  9. monsterriffs
    Wow, such a simple solution. I'm totally trying this.
  10. monsterriffs
    I think a lot of the hype/notoriety around natto is overblown. Yeah, it's a pretty gnarly texture/smell, but I think there's far worse things out there than that. I'm actually thinking about getting some to try again because it's actually a very healthy food. Something I probably will never try are sheep's brains, which I'm pretty sure my grandmother tried to serve me once and I was like "this isn't happening." I also refuse to eat fish eyes, another thing my grandmother wanted me to eat.
  11. monsterriffs
    Is this your first negative experience at Beck's? If so, I think it's hasty to already write off a place that has so many great things going for it. If it's just one of a string of instances related to poor service, clearly the restaurant has some work to do. While I haven't dined in the dining room of Beck's itself, I have always found the bar service to be of the utmost quality. Shout out to Ryan the bartender in particular.
  12. monsterriffs
    I'm of the school of thought that less is more is best for websites of any kind. The more minimal or subtle the Flash is, the better. For example, looking at Beck's website, which I had complained about before because of the music, it's actually a great website and loads pretty well and isn't too "bulky." But, I'll be damned if that music isn't awful or necessary. And yes, it definitely mirrors the lousy music that's piped in at the restaurant, and something that the restaurant could easily do without. But in general, is music really necessary for restaurant websites? The only case being the restaurant f.k.a. Mimi's, and I'm fairly certain they don't have music playing. Music is for music venue websites. My favorite restaurant website that I've seen recently is actually that of Momofuku's up in NYC. So slick and way easy to load.
  13. monsterriffs
    Tomato salad: Roma tomatoes (Whole Foods) Assorted small tomatoes (TJ's) Basil from our garden Balsamic and olive oil emulsion using olive oil from our family's plot in Greece.
  14. monsterriffs
    I finally had my first mind-blowing Beck's experience last night. Either I was really hungry from being in California for the past week eating maybe one proper meal a day, and more often than not, it was all crap (yes, that includes In N' Out, even if it's delicious) OR it was because the pork tenderloin at Beck's is outstanding. The cabbage & mustard confit, which I imagine was supposed to be reminscent of sauerkraut (I've given up on trying to be food-knowledgeable...) and the two substantial and tender pieces of pork were so excellent I had to restrain myself from licking the plate and causing a scene... Also, what's with the expensive geuzes on the beer list? Usually there's one or two economical (<$10) choices.
  15. monsterriffs
    A variation of Georgia Brown's Sugar N' Spice pork chop with some leftover couscous and lightly blanched collard greens with white balsamic and olive oil dressing. I actually used a pork tenderloin I had in the house, and luckily, Neal Langermann's recipe for this great dish was on the interwebs as a Google search revealed. Also fortunate, he was using a tenderloin in this recipe as well and I had all the ingredients the spice rub called for, save for the Sichuan peppercorns. I used some small, red chili peppers we had to subsitute those for the heat the peppercorns would bring. The recipe calls for a brine for the pork, but I was hungry now and didn't want to wait 12 hours. So, instead of roasting the loin whole, I cut it into medallions, and coated the pieces, rubbed the spice mix in, seared the pieces and then put them in the oven to roast for 20 minutes. They came out great, if not a bit dry, but the flavor kicks butt. I'll probably be tooling around with the recipe a bit, but I'm loving it right now.
  16. monsterriffs
    Besides the obvious , the spacing between appetizers and mains was weird, especially because people who were sitting down after us were getting mains comparable to ours before us.
  17. monsterriffs
    That has got to be the haymaker of first posts. Welcome! Looking forward to the rest of this dialogue...
  18. monsterriffs
    I don't think this has to do with RW even. This happened to us on Saturday night...I was more than a bit perplexed, but I won't pretend like I know what could be going on.
  19. monsterriffs
    Had dinner here last night with the lady. The tomato-based first courses are an absolute must-have, particularly that chilled tomato soup everyone mentioned, and it was an amazing respite from the heat outside. Entrees were good, particularly my lamb loin. Nice tender, juicy, NON-GAMEY lamb. The lady's rib-eye was pretty good, though one of the pieces she gave me to try was really tough which was disconcerting. There were some weird service issues. Our entrees came after a fairly sizeable delay, with people who had sat down after us getting their entrees before we did and there even being a mix-up with the gentleman at the table next to us getting, what the lady and I were pretty sure was, her entree. I don't like to complain about service and I'm certainly not one to get mad unless it's really egregious, but it struck me as unusual for a place of Corduroy's calibre and considering our waiter, Dan, was excellent. Not a fan of the hotel. Looking forward to the new Corduroy by the convention center.
  20. monsterriffs
    I was actually here last night myself, and I was sitting at the tail end of the bar near the raw bar with my girlfriend. Our bartender, Ryan, is easily my new favorite bartender in the city. I don't think I've had friendlier service from anyone before... Also: mmmm, geuze
  21. monsterriffs
    The input area where you type your post is a bit wonky, so, if you hit return to put a space between the quote section and what you're typing, it actually comes out as the equivalent of three spaces between the quote box and your text. So you don't actually need to put a space between the quote tag and what you're writing because the forum software will insert it for you. Did I confuse you enough?
  22. monsterriffs
    I'm looking forward to going here very soon (probably in the next week), but the music on their website is terrible...
  23. monsterriffs
    We are beyond stocked up on sour/black cherries at my house at the moment. If you have any left, you could make them into a syrup. Then take two or three teaspoons of the syruped cherries and put them in a glass, add seltzer water, stir vigorously, add ice cubes, and you have a perfect summer beverage.
  24. monsterriffs
    I think everytime I hit up RTC, I love it more and more. I know a lot of people love RTS, but I can't argue with the selection or proximity of RTC to my house. Last night, after having spent the day out at the AT&T National, gf and I had the hankering for a nice meal, and headed over to Silver Spring to put a cap to an already excellent day. The Bar menu is a godsend. Interesting, for you conspiracy theorists, the bar menu reads something like "Ray's The Steaks at Ray's The Bar." I chose not to read into it because my stomach was becoming irate. So, while gf opted for the awesome deal of the chopped-steak dinner, I decided to go with the hanger steak dinner w/ onion soup and the coconut cake. The spiced nature of the onion soup is glorious and you can't argue with the hanger steak perfection, but really, for me, the highlight was actually the coconut cake. Light, fluffy, and just the right amount of sweetness, I had to finish the entire damn piece because it was so good and I felt guilty if it were to go to waste. Best of all, this was the best value on a meal I've gotten at RTC yet, and I'm looking forward to making the restaurant one of my haunts from now on.
  25. monsterriffs
    I enjoy the Oyamel, but it's definitely a "like this establishment" vs. a "LOVE this establishment" sort of restaurant. If I'm in the neighborhood and I have the hankering, I'll stop in. However, I wouldn't really go out of my way to go here. Still...I'm all about the taco variety.
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