monsterriffs

Amen, brother.

Eric, remind me about the leeks later tonight. We use 'em at home a lot, so I can find a few recipes. BTW, Greeks also make prassopita (aka leek pita), so, it is much like a spanakopita, only you use leeks in the place of spinach. Or you can mix the two together for a bitchin' pita.

"Oxtail mini-gyro with golden beet tzatziki and pomegranate glaze" This is freaking me out a little bit, simply because I've grown up with tzatziki as a yogurt based dish. Is this still yogurt-based, but in the place of strained cucumbers, they have been replaced by golden beet? If that's the case, it sounds pretty ingenious.

I had a pleasant Oyamel experience yesterday afternoon after witnessing the Wizards' shellacking at the hands of the Bulls. The lady and I both had the Tacos de hongos, a taco of sauteed wild mushrooms, garlic and shallots w/ guac and Cambray onions, and we also split the Arrachera con salsa de chile guajillo, piña y cacahuates and Ensalada de palmitos, the former being a grilled skirt steak with a guajillo chili, tomato and onion sauce on a bed of a thinly sliced pineapple and crushed peanuts, while the latter was a salad of hearts of palm, various orange segments (I believe there was grapefruit in there as well), radishes, and avocados. I really enjoyed both the steak, which was appropriate rare to medium-rare, while the salad had a great balance of sweetness and tanginess to it, and I was particularly pleased with the addition of a blood orange. As for tacos, in addition to the wild mushrooms, I also had the Tinga poblana, which was a stew of shredded chicken, chorizo, potatoes and chipotle topped w/ a red onion, and the Cochinita pibil con cebolla en escabeche, which was Yucatan-style pit barbecued pork with pickled red onion and Mexican sour orange. The Cochinita was probably my favorite of the three, because of the pickled red onion. Overall, the experience was really pleasant given the airiness of the decor and the food. The service lagged a bit at the beginning due to what I surmise was a mix-up with who was serving our table, but once Maria C (I believe) took over, service was attentive and expedient, but not overbearing. No chapulines this time, but given the extensive tequila selection, who knows what my next visit holds!

Geia sou Theodore! I'm curious if you actually have any of the greens that I normally find in Greece, like vlita, because I always love having those along with the usual seafood fare.I'm looking forward to getting out to the restaurant and kalos irthes sto board!

Don't knock it til you rock it. I will never stop adding ketchup to my eggs. Although lately, I like to add a bit of Sriracha to them as well.

Agreed. Even if you were drinking only regular, filtered coffee, wouldn't drinking six cups of that stuff result in adverse health effects anyway? Seems like the old adage "everything in moderation" is applicable here.

I actually have a small 1.5 US cup french press I keep in my desk and, honestly, I think it's more convenient than dealing with the machines or running to Starbucks. Cleaning it takes all of 5 minutes and that's something you just do on the fly when you have some downtime. Sure, it's not as convenient as having the coffee ready for you in the pot, but honestly, since most of us are gourmands here anyway, wouldn't you rather have the better tasting coffee for just a fraction more effort?

Ah! Molte grazie! I did the search within the foodstuffs forum, where I thought would be its logical home.

I searched for a thread for this most basic of liquid sustenance for office workers worldwide and was surprised not to find one. In this world of Starbucks and lousy ready-made coffee machines, do any (if not all) of you stick to, you know, buying your own beans and drinking that coffee instead?? Personally, I was getting sick of the nasty French Roast made by Flavia in those ready-made packets for the automated coffeemaker at work and decided to take a stand. Since I am kind of DIY guy, I went on a bit of a coffee excursion this weekend, and purchased a large tin of Ethiopian Fair Trade medium dark roast beans from Trader Joe's and Bodum's 3 cup (1.5 US cup, since everything's bigger in America) Chambord French Press from Wegmans for 20 bucks. While it seems like a extra work for something you could easily procure from Starbucks or what have you, I can now enjoy great, French-pressed coffee at my desk. This is single-handedly the best purchase I've made recently (next to new tires for my car).

Befriend Eric and he'll make sure you're fed. Except for the sauerkraut. Watch out for that one.

You might find yourself on this blog if you drop that line!Nevertheless, there was nothing in that description that I didn't like. Let us know if you track it down.

Cammy (or anyone else for that matter): Can Red&White be found anywhere in DC area or is this a day trip to Rehoboth purchase?

I was just at RTC last night. Michael, do you provide mainlines of the crab bisque? Loved every bit of the experience, from the spiced cashews to the tart key lime pie. I'm still full from last night, but I'm definitely planning another excursion ASAP. ETA: Oh, I meant to add a slightly goofy observation as well. For those of you who are familiar with The OC, you will recall in season 1 the plotline where Sandy and Jimmy were planning to re-open the Balboa Lighthouse as a classic-style restaurant. It was late into the dinner last night, after having taken in the whole experience, that it struck me that the Balboa Lighthouse would have been what Ray's The Classics is had the restaurant property not been bought out by Caleb Nichol, hahaha.

Not to mention the best B-52's song.

Thanks for the responses guys. I'll look into the farm-2-market link and perhaps I'll surprise him with a late birthday present!

My dad constantly asks for spiny lobster, but I keep telling him that I doubt you can find it in the area. Is that mainly a west coast thing or are we both completely confused? And if not, can it be procured via mail order or what have you.

Homemade tzatziki and a half a baguette.

Speaking of basmati rice, does anyone have a good simple recipe for saffron basmati rice? When I usually make basmati, I generally throw in a cinammon stick, a few cloves, and some salt, but that's it. Lately, I've been trying to incorporate saffron, but I can't get that rich yellow color that makes saffron rice so exotic (and delicious!) Any tips are appreciated.

I finally got a chance to hit up Heritage's Glover Park location for lunch on Sunday and I'm still drooling over the chicken tikka masala I had. Very tender and generous portions of chicken combined with the saffron rice that has the nuts in it (i forget what it's called) was a fantastic combo. The spiciness wasn't overwhelming either. As for the service, it was maybe slightly inattentive, but I really didn't think it was exceptionally bad. Sure, the check came right after the plates were cleared, which was amusing, but then again, I don't really like to dawdle after a meal. Either way, thumbs way up for food and a shrug of the shoulders to the service, since it didn't really bug.

I couldn't find a thread on the Temari Cafe, so I did what everyone else does and started my own because I am absolutely in love with this place. In the three years since I've discovered it, I don't think I've EVER had a negative experience here. From the katusdon (that's the pork cutlet, right?) donburi to their miso ramen, I'm rarely dissapointed by anything that they offer. Just this past weekend, I had the craving for ramen, so I tucked into their tonkatsu ramen after devouring some shumai and a bonito flavored onigiri. The heartiness of the pork broth combined with the egg noodles was perfect for the cold weather, and as always, the shredded pickled ginger, slices of pork cutlet and fish cakes toppings were fantastic. My only complaint was the stinginess of the meat topping (only 3 slices? come on). But other than that, it was the perfect light, yet, satisfying meal for a cold day.

Possibly, but I went, and the beer was extremely delicious.

You mean Spanish-style mezedes If you go, please let me know. Though I think it's hard to get some of the quality seafood and greens here in the States that you normally get at a typical mezedadiko in Greece.

-potato chips with dijon mustard (prolly not that weird, but sooo delicious) -moustokouloura (greek 'grape must' cookies) and vanilla soymilk -natto (i'm still learning this one...) -spaghetti & scrambled egg sandwich

I loves the Temari Cafe. Lately, I've been sticking with their donburi bowls, but if I'm feeling the ramen, I usually get the miso-based broth. I'm gonna have to try their tonkatsu broth ramen some days soon though.