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jigones

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Everything posted by jigones

  1. Finally had a chance to eat here. The ambiance and food were fantastic. I had muscles with celery white wine and Parmesan. Best in town by far. I also had their sausages and they were great. I will be making every effort to try to make it back and see how consistent they are.
  2. Thank you to goodeats for planning great diner. On a night that started with talk of Skeeter and his French maid at the corn stand, then slowly progressed from paper airplanes (and the inability of certain members throw such planes more then 2 feet) to a discussion of how DanielK should be the next national team coach, then to a finish which included a "discussion" of how "juicing" sucks and finally "Scooby snacks" getting behind the bar and buying me a glass of Taylor 30 (bet that guy is not too happy this morning), you could say there were some laughs. Oh, let's not forget the wonderful food and pairings that were served. Here is a synopsis: Tomato cocktail- brought good heat and was rich. Really enjoyed it. Some members even got "choked up" over it. Next were the Tomato Hors d'oeuvres- I thought these were very good and highlighted the tomatoes. Very bruschetta like and a great way to get the taste buds ready for what was to come. First Course: "Mixed Grill and Fritto Misto of Fresh Summer Veggies. It was paired with an Almyra Chardonnay from Greece. I also really enjoyed this dish and think the Okra was the highlight. It is something I will definetly order again. The only thing that was out of place was the olive oil with balsamic, but it did not matter. The wine perfectly as the acidity worked really well with the dish. Surprisingly, this the second white Greek wine that I have had in two weeks that was really enjoyable. Second Course: "Softshell Crab, Cloud Nine Chowder and Benton's Bacon". This is a dish that worked for me, but I can understand if other opinions might differ. The smokiness really came through, and while it overpowered the crab, I found it really enjoyable. I actually found myself disappointed when it was all gone (which happened rather quickly). I think that the cream-less chowder balanced out the dish really well. The pairing was an Selbach-Oster Riesling which worked really well with the smokiness of the dish. Third Course: Piedmont Ridge Farm Beef Hanger Steak, Pecorino New Potatoes and Their Own Chili Sauce. Dare I say this dish was the highlight of the evening. Two of everyone's favorite things were on the dish (i) Holy $#$#% good potatoes/Your servers should be fired if they can't sell these potatoes/double fried potatoes (ii) The much raved about chili sauce. Good lord those were some good potatoes, crispy on the outside but soft and delectable on the inside. The pecorino also made your taste buds scream. You pair the potatoes up with that crazy tasty chili sauce and you have perfection. Nuff said. This was paired with a Quinta D'Aguieira- Beiras, from Portugal, which in my mind was the best wine of the evening and just work perfectly with the strong flavors of the dish. Fourth Course: "Fresh Picked Woodbine, MD Blueberries, Three Ways". Tough to follow up on that third course. Like the dish since it was sweet, but not in love with it. The Muscat and the sweetness of the dish did not work well for me. Both individually were tasty, but because after eating the blueberries the Muscat just did not taste the same, I think something with the blueberries does not work with Muscat. Overall a fantastic evening with great food, good company, laughs and stories. There is so much more, but I cannot type anymore. Plus I am tired from my wonderful commute this morning.
  3. LOL- it is a quick skip over the pond-aka the Alboran, Balearic and Mediterranean Sea.
  4. To be insanely and overly safe, I usually follow the food safety guidelines set forth by the USDA when cooking for others and my kid. With that said, I would have eaten all of it, including potato salad with a nice glass of wine. That's just me. I have had much worse, especially when we made food before long road trips in college. It strengthens that immune system. Way back in the day, we also used to eat pizza that had been sitting on the counter overnight. Supposedly a big no-no.
  5. For sure. The only downer was that it was a little warm in the dinning room; however, it was a scorcher outside that day. The meal made everything bearable. On the funny side....the urinal is made for giants. - 1 for short people like me.
  6. We ate at Komi for my birthday and it was worth every penny. We liked it so much that we are going back next month for my wife's birthday. For me it was about the whole experience. BTW, I love all of the aforementioned restaurants. I don't really think you can go wrong with any of them (though am not sure about Vidalia since RJ Cooper left). Next up, Minibar.
  7. Strange...To my understanding coconuts pieces would also have oils in them (unless extracted) which would lend itself higher calories (though good ones), so it would make sense. Great discussion. I love coconut water. Question is whether the pulp is really pulp? After auditing a certain food company I learned that there are a lot of artificial ingredients that can look, feel and taste natural.
  8. I promise I am chill. Just trying to have fun with the thread. I have another one- Cooking with Bhut Jolokia Pepper. I am going to do it next next weekend. We will find out if I survive it, probably will need to chill (literally) afterwords!
  9. From their website, it appears that their whole chickens sell for $4.99/pound. So far, in my premature research, it appears that if one of the posters above recollection is correct, Eberly has the best price at $3.56 a pound followed by Garden Path at $3.75 and then Jehovah-Jireh at $3.79. Hope that helps for now. I will be gathering and much larger list with more details in the future.
  10. My personal opinion is that such a line of thinking, which I frankly find to be inconsiderate of your customers, will ultimately lead to failure (short term outlook). Look at Blockbuster. Different business but had a product that everyone demanded. They benefited from my desires and maximized profits. When alternatives popped up, people jumped at them to spite Blockbuster. I will tell you this, if one of the big boys starts selling real free range chicken at cheaper prices, and they will once they feel there profit there..... local farmers will be in big trouble unless they build a brand. In this case, I feel that such a brand would be working together to make our local area a better place. Still most big box stores smash small business when they more in, unless like I said, the small local store builds a loyal customer base that wants to support that local business. From my personal experience it is also that line of thinking that starts you down a very slippery slope. Benefiting at what cost.....
  11. I feel pretty confident cooking, but these things I do not see myself doing in fear that I may kill myself: 1.) Pickling- botulism? 2.) Sous vide cooking- salmonella, etc 3.) Making cheese- not sure 4.) Making charcuterie- good lord, who knows what could happen if you do not do it properly. 5.) Making Jam- botulism? 6.) Making sushi from scratch- attack of the parasites. 7.) Making alcohol- poisoning. 8.) Smoking fish- the kind where they hang fish to dry in smokehouses.... 9.) Making jerky.
  12. To the poor reporter who tried the Haynesworth fitness test. Ouch. Now I want to try it!
  13. As an FYI, I shop and support my local farmer markets. I drive to local farms to shop and try to stay away from wholefoods (if I can not find it anywhere else, I go there.) I can't wait to check out the Westover butcher shop. BTW, a lot of the farms at the Silver Spring farmers markets are great (the group that mainly sell tomato/pepper and other plants is fantastic). It is also a great place to take kids. I often take family and friend while trying to teach them about the benefits of shopping local or at least only using grass fed beef or real free range chickens. However, a lot of them can not get over the price shock, some just can not afford it. So I am asking the offensive question of why does it cost so much? Because it is better for you is not a good enough answer for me, for others, it may be. Like I said, it will be a learning experience and hopefully, I can do my part while offending as little as possible (probably not likely.) Maybe one day in the far off future, I can find someway to help one local farmer lower costs for consumers while making more money......who knows. Compiling a list to properly analyze quality/price ratio is proving tough enough. If anything, my goal is to compile and update a comprehensive list of prices for people to be able to decide where they want to shop (for free of course). Hopefully, our local farms will be more transparent then the large corporations we scorn for lack of it.
  14. It deals with both farmers at local farmers markets and those who do not attend local farmers markets. In other words, the cost of true free range chicken and grass fed beef in general. It has nothing with them having less or more then me (I certainly do not feel entitled as try to do my part by strictly shopping locally and at farmers markets.) What they do it a very difficult job, but a lot of us work really hard (some more then others.) However, when they are making money off a movement that is also supposed to making the world a better place and trying to advertise it as such, how much is too much? Are they barely making ends meat selling free range chickens that range between $3.75 and $4.50 a pound for whole chickens, or are they making a profits of over $150,000 after costs? Either way, it would be a problem for me (others could be ok with it.) It is a matter of understanding and learning about it (maybe I would pay more if I knew they were making ends meat.) Right now, I am not the only one that has sticker shock over the increase in the price of chickens in this particular geographical area, which is why it was brought up. As you see, the original poster paid over $35 dollars for a chicken? Is that reasonable? Not to me. There are people which appear to be taking advantage of the organic movement, and it would be wise for those who are not to call them out on it or there will be huge backlash, eventually. I have friends who also think they are charging too much and have decided to not shop at their local farmers markets. Quite sad honestly. If I drive to a farm to pick up produce or meats, why am I paying up more then I do at supermarket when that farmer has zero distributions costs. Shouldn't I at least pay less then what I do at a farmers market? I am sorry, but as a consumer, I think I have the right to ask. I might be satisfied with the answer, but then I might not. Due to the price differential, the lack of information regarding pricing is not an acceptable, for me. I started compiling a list of chicken, lamb, and meat prices. What I do not understand is why the farms that I have researched charge the same price or are within 5-10% of each other? Some might be making nothing, while others are making lots of money (it all depends on their cost structure.) Also, would it not be helpful for consumers to know who is at the $3.75 end of the range vs. those who are at the $4.50 end of the range? Hopefully the mobile slaughterhouses will help reign in costs. The question is whether those savings be passed on to the consumer or added to the bottom line. If anyone finds this line of questioning offensive (it is asked of most business these days), then let me know so I do not shop there anymore. There is nothing wrong with making profits, I just do not expect my local farmer to act like large corporation who's first and only priority is profit.
  15. Tried to go, but the place was packed and loud. We had the little one, so we opted to eat somewhere else . Food looked great from the window .. Looking forward to trying it out since we love all his other restaurants.
  16. Has something happened at the Bethesda location? The food used to be decent and service consistent. We went there three times in two weeks, and they are consistently overcooking their lamb (we asked for medium rare and it come out well done) all three times. Only the small vegetable plates were properly seasoned. It seems that they are still doing veggies well, but the meats were not very good. With one exception....the whole fish (yum!).
  17. We try to stick with free range chicken and try to support local farmers. However, some places are charging absurd prices for their free range chickens. Even for frozen chickens. It really has become a huge hassle to shop for free range chicken at a reasonable cost. It usually requires a 45 minute drive from Rockville. There has to be a fine balance between economics and support of a higher cause. The whole local movement should be working together. I am willing to pay a little more, but it seems like the consumer is getting ripped off/being taken advantage of by certain farms who see this as a way to increase profits (to a certain extent their behavior is no different then the greedy corporate behavior we see everyday.) Certain local farms seem to use the whole I am doing this for the environment attitude to make more money. I just do not see how their cost are remotely close to what they charge, especially when you are buying directly from the source (there is just no way to justify such prices based on their costs.) If you do not believe me, take a look at the Form 10-K's (has financial statements and a discussion by management) filed by the major players. Even with economies of scale, they have massive costs associated with their operations, that certain local farmers do not have when consumers are coming to them. To me, the whole movement should be about improving the eating habits and health while supporting each other, not maximizing profits (of course they need to make money, but how much money is too much?) Should we hold them to different standards? On that note, I am going start gathering prices of local farms for free range chicken and beef to see the disparities along with why such disparities exist. While not all chickens are equal, those farmers that charge significantly more then the rest should be held accountable and support their price structure. Even organic/local/green farms should be held to certain standards for pricing. You can't profit of the local movement without also helping the locals by trying to keep cost low. Some people get a free ride because of their farming practices, but it should not be that way. At least, we can have full disclosure and people can know who might be taking advantage of them. Anyone willing to help?
  18. Yes, that is it. They did not have any Heinz with HFCS in it. They may just be stocking Simply Heinz or I may have just completely missed it. Anyways, great news.
  19. As a self described Heinz Ketchup addict, I noticed that most of the Heinz Ketchup at my local Safeway is now made with sugar instead of HFCS. Finally our house is HFCS free. This is a win for the consumer!
  20. drinking an Oregon Pinot Noir....

  21. Now that is how you cook a hanger steak! It is a great cut and I cook it a home all the time. However, a lot of folks have a problem cooking it (they turn it into rubber) and I usually stay away from it after a particular experience at a restaurant that shall not be mentioned (the restaurant that shall not mentioned also charges twice the price). While this is my trusted place for steak, I mostly order the Ribeye. However, I am on a diet and went for the Bristro menu deal (great deal!). So........ I took a leap of faith (ala Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception), order it plain and was greatly rewarded. Kudos to whoever was in the kitchen. I now actually feel comfortable bringing my parents to RTC and also visitors from Argentina. They will not be able to talk any smack about how we need to visit to get a real BBQ.
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