rvanrens

It's been my experience that Wegman's generally has a better selection of Indian foods than other grocery stores. Of course, that may be because the Dulles and Leesburg stores cater to a fairly large Indo/Pakistani/Bangladeshi population, so that may not be the case at other stores.

I've got a little red cheapy from Target that I bought for about 20 bucks, and I cannot be bothered to go look at the nameplate. I got it because my wife likes the fire-engine red color.

I use it for steel-cut oats all the time. I often make porridge of half oats, half cracked wheat, with equal parts beef stock and white wine, with a good dash of honey and some mulling spices. Throw in a handful of dried cherries and currants. It makes this porridge beautifully, although with the honey you need to stir it every 15 minutes or so, or the sugar starts to scorch.

I've never used a "fuzzy logic" rice cooker, and I've used my little red honey to cook virtually every grain known to man, couscous, pasta of various shapes and sizes, to steam veggies, rolls, and buns, to infuse liquors (the warm setting works wonders for this), warm baby bottles, boil water for tea, sterilize corks and bottle tops, and reheat leftovers. It owes me NOTHING.

and while the judges seem to generally love Kevin's style of cooking, I just don't see him going all the way.

Really? Why is this? He's been the most consistent chef on the show - I mean, I love Bryan, and I've been to Volt several times now (it helps that I'm local) and bumped into him at the Fredneck Farmer's Market, so I would love to see him win, but I still think it'll be Kevin. Michael Landrum's little linguistic litany aside, I say he's got both brothers beat on sheer talent. Like Michael, he has a definite vision, and like Bryan, he has the skills to completely realize that vision.

Would this depend on the way it's raised, fed and processed?

...

Lovely w okra and pilaf, squirted w lemon. Only chewy around the sinew, otherwise, easy to eat, as subtle as grass-fed lamb, that is, the meat itself was neither flavorless nor as "robust" as the lamb flown in from Australia and New Zealand that you could imagine acting rowdy after a couple of beers back when it was still attached to its source, wooly and alive.

See, I think the grass-fed lamb I get locally has much more "lamby" flavor than ANZAC lamb, which I find to be like eating darker and more tender beef. I don't mind the imprted stuff, but I like the local better - more "muttony", I guess. And I've never had kid, or even young goat - mostly I've had used-up dairy goat, which is tasty, but pretty tough.

Think lamb, only not...think lamb, only bigger, better, more robust, more what you really want lamb to be, but almost never is. Passage to India served a goat curry that was one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted. I've also had it served in the style of Tex-Mex chili - braised for hours in tomato and chili and onion. Think assertive flavors. I've done the ribs slowly on a smoker/grill, stopping occasionally to brush them with a sauce based mostly on paprika and cider vinegar and garlic. I've had it marinated in yogurt and rosemary and lemon juice, then browned and put into a cazuela and slowly braised in wine with leeks until tender.

Does this give you some ideas? Now you've given me some, and I'm going to go get some goat this weekend.

Well now I have learned some things about Wilt and about cattle and pig testicles, but I am still in the dark about chicken carnage. Am I to understand that two roosters, if left to their own devices, will automatically fight to the death in a spectacularly bloody way? Or something worse than that? Did they do this (say) 200 years ago, or is this just a perverse byproduct of some sort of selective breeding by human chicken-farmers? And why do I want to know?

Not neccessarily to to the death, but to the point of serious injury. And if you've got a rooster and just a couple of hens, well, there can be problems with hens that get a little tired of being constantly poked with that damn thing...

Yah, I keep chickens. Hens only - no need for a rooster except for breeding, and I can buy from an established breeder and avoid the hassles of keeping an already stupid animal that has had its brain rotted by an overabundance of testosterone.

I agree with your analysis almost completely. I think that Jen is as good or better than Kevin. In a couple of the past seasons, the finals have had three competitors. And since they like to pit "girls against boys" whenever possible, I'm thinking that Jen will be cooking in the final.

That's fair. I don't really have a good feel for how good Jen is; I've been so busy paying attention to the boys I haven't really noticed her work, other than that she seems to continually do well. She's better than Mike Isbella, I have no doubt about that.

It will definitely be a more interesting final than last season.

There seems to be three levels of contestant this season (and I REFUSE to sue th word "cheftestants). There were the weak, erratic performers, who stumble with every dish. The last of these is now gone - there should be fewer obvious, amateurish mistakes by competitors who were clearly competing out of their league.

Next to go will be the pretty compentent but not neccessarily brilliant chefs, or those with too limited a culinary POV. Hector was the first of these to go - his problem wasn't that he was bad at what he did, he just wasn't good enough. Mostly, he had a great deal of trouble with anything outside his area of specialty;i.e. classical french. These chefs will be eliminated not through obvious errors, but from a lack of refinement, or poor technique, or shortage of experience.

I expect the final five will be Kevin, Bryan, Michael Voltaggio, Jen, and Mike Isabella. I think Mike I. will have to seriously up his game to beat the other four - he's ahead of the rest of the pack, but seems to be a little less able than Kevin and The Brothers Volt. I strongly suspect that the final will come down to Kevin and one of The Brothers, but it's a little too early to be sure. As they say in football, "on any given Thursday..." I suppose Kevin could have a bad day, or Mama Volt might tell her boys to stop palying around, come home, and get back to work.

Bryan Voltaggio should be quite happy with the uptick in business his success of Top Chef is generating. Shout out to my hometown boy...

There is a verjus that I've gotten at Wegman's--it's from Australia, of all places, called Maggie's. She's apparently written a book on its use: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143000918/ref=cm_rdp_product. You might also check to see if it is available at Williams-Sonoma.

I'll check Wegmann's..W&S has one on-line, but none of the DC area stores seem to have it in stock. *sigh* If only I could convince one of the local wineries to start making it.

I'm looking for a local source to buy verjus from; I'd prefer to buy something produced in the area, but I'd live with pretty much anything at this point. I'm trying to avoid mail-order, since our local post office is a study in incompetence and UPS is notortious for destroying anything fragile. Any thoughts?

There was a bump in grain prices almost a year ago but I haven't seen too many increases since then. Hops are still scarce (I've had to make hop substitutions in several recipes when I couldn't find a particular variety) but again, haven't seen any big price jumps since the shortage first started. The main annoyance is that I can't buy hops in bulk anymore...used to save quite a bit buying by the pound. Buying whole sacks of grain is still a big moneysaver, although maybe not practical if you're just doing a one-off.

Yah, malted barley has stabilized, but malted oats and malted rye just keep going up...when you can find them, which isn't always. And roasted or pre-gelatinized isn't they same. I can't get the guy who runs the local homebrew supply to understand the difference between malted and roasted grains - he insists that they are roasted after they are malted, and I keep telling him that those are roasted malts, not the same thing.

Second. Whenever I make a homemade pie crust, my husband tells me that he prefers the TJ's frozen crust.

Have you smacked him for this? I would...

So, I'm finishing bottling Liquid Sunshine (aka Apricot Brandy - add apricots and honey to brandy, infuse for 6 months, filter, bottle, drink), cassis, and a spiced mead. I'm gearing up for ypocras, and I'll probably lay down a hazelnut liquer for bottling next year. In a couple of weeks, sour cherry brandy will be ready, and I'm experimenting with something like Drambuie (Blended Scotch with honey - someone gave me ten or so pounds of thistle honey, and I couldn't resist the obvious paring). I've been thinking about a saahti-style barleywine as well, if I can get hands on the neccessary grain bill - homebrewing beer has gotten expensive. They saahti would be for next Christmas.

Has anybody else been working on something special at home? Beats fudge as a Christmas gift...

Fell off the wagon there for a little bit. This week from Fresh and Local:

1 bag chard

2 edamame plants (bushes?)

2 bulbs fennel

1 big bag of Italian basil

2 lbs. little (baby?) sweet potatoes

3 banana peppers

1 bag mizuna

1 bell pepper

Dozen eggs

I'm a little bummed - to say nothing of the farmer - but wet weather, wind shearing, and his labor abandoning him in the middle of August resulted in no corn and few tomatoes this year.

Yah, he was full of excuses last year, too...and the year before that, and the year before that. There's always a reason why the selection is so...odd. That's why I stopped subscribing.

There's an "Irish pub" downtown, across from Johanssens, if I remember correctly. We've eaten there a couple of times - the fish and chips were among the best I've had locally. Can't speak to the other items on the menu.

How big of a mortar and pestle do you need? I am a professional potter; I can make one in any size you need. I usually make them out of stoneware, with an unglazed interior; it provides a coarse but non-porous surface. I also proved pestles in both wood and stoneware. I usually make them with a 2 or 3 cup capacity, but I can make one pretty much as big as you could want.

Rob

Let's get it on - me +1

Not very fresh seafood? Ha, ha, ha, is that an understatement! I endured my first and last meal at Griff's Landing for lunch today. Tuna melt: adequate. Buffalo chicken salad: goopy and disgusting. Fish sandwich: an industrial, frozen piece of fish and American cheese glopped onto a bun along with a pale-pink tomato wedge, lettuce leaf, and messy sauce. Service was intolerably slow - a good forty minutes before being served. This place has been open since 1981, and has a bit of beach-town-faded nautical-motif charm - I can see a certain appeal in coming to the bar, gulping down some Coronas and playing Pac-Man, but this truly seems like a menu that can do no right by anyone who wants more than a hamburger and deep-fried salto-seasoned potato wedges.

Cheers,

Rocks.

Well, I tried to warn you, politely...

Planning right now to be there...+1 and 1/2...maybe a couple of friends, too...

We'll bring some sort of flesh. And water - once again, lots of water.

Well, you have posted EXACTLY the perfect excuse to be a No-Show. You will get no demerits.

HOWEVER, somebody unknown to Rissa, showed up in the bar and asked about the cassoulet and was served "your" portion.

Would this person care to come out and confess?

Lucky Bastard...

Beleive me, I'd much rather have been there myself.

Rob

I wish I could have made it...<sigh>

Instead, I spent the evening at Frederick Memorial Hospital with an irregular heartbeat. I'm home now (actually, since late last night) and medicated, and feeling tired and shaky...

I apologize profusely to anyone who my unannouced absence might have inconvenienced; Chef Tom, Barbara, or anyone else...I hate being that guy who doesn't show and doesn't call...

Rob

Once upon a time, I used to live in Falls Church, then in Arlington...I used to be a reular patron of the Fall Church market...grab a cuppa from the Village Preservation Society folks, and start hitting the stalls...'course, all the good stuff was picked over by 9:00, so it really paid to be there at 8 when it opened.

<sigh> I miss those early Saturday mornings. Now I get up early to a little blonde head two inches from my face aksing, "Dada? Milk? Dada!" (followed by a roundhouse if I'm not awake fast enough). Taking the little blighter to a farmers' market is just askin' for trouble.

Rob

Me + 1 +1/2

Rob

...I've come to the conclusion that I think they'd probably be better off if they were slaughtered (humanely, of course) and actually served to their audience....or perhaps their "talent." I keep thinking red wine sauce and the whole braising thing, but I'm really a bit unsure on that. I guess I just wanted to throw this one out to the group to consider how best to deal with these executives and make them palatable...

Gut 'em, truss 'em, drape bacon over their chests, and roast 'em with a beer can up their hienies...oh, don't forget to slather them with BBQ sauce, and take all the credit for it when your friends ask...it's Semi-Choad-Made!

Rob

Me and She Who Must Be Obeyed live across the river from Loudon - depending on scheduleing, we'd probably come, too...

Rob