clayrae

Help please: I am having a dinner party for approx. 24. I own 4 plates. I have an empty space to have my party, but I need tables, chairs, and dish/flat/glassware for 24. Anyone have any suggestions? Good (cheap) rental companies?

The Prosciutto and Artichoke Schiacciata recipe was snatched from Slashfood.com And I confess. I made it with frozen bread dough. I think it would have been better made from scratch, I just have to get over my tendency to kill yeast. I found the Café Atlantico guacamole recipe online a while back, but I don’t remember where. I left out the serrano: Guacamole 4 avocados 2 oz. cilantro, fresh.chopped 1 oz. serrano, minced 4 oz. tomatoes, roma 4 oz. red onion, diced to taste salt

Well, I took some liberties (I know, I know) with the Prosciutto and Artichoke Schiacciata and it turned out…interesting... I’ll bring it along, perhaps once people break into the wine and beer it will be polished off (Casa Rachel does smell like fresh baked bread, so it wasn’t a total waste!!) Avocados et al are lined up for chopping for fresh guacamole in the morning….

I had a similar experience on a first date at 2 Amys recently. My date kept asking what kind of meat was on a given pizza. I went through all the meat options, and he insisted I hadn’t answered his question. We went back and forth in confusion for a few minutes till he put the menu down on the table and pointed to the word. It was “arugula.” He was an otherwise educated, worldly kinda guy, but had no clue what arugula was. I was sorta shocked. It is interesting how we become blinded by our own “expertise.” (Of course, I’d probably suffer the same fate if someone asked me something about sports…)

The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation I managed to snag a pre-print version of this book a few months ago. It is essentially the history of foodies and foodie-ism in the United States. It goes through history pointing out the major players (Beard, Child, and Claiborne), movements, and talks about the rise of the restaurant. The book is very name and date-y, it’s sometimes hard to keep track of who is who (my what an incestuous industry..) but lays out the interesting timeline of how we got to where we are now. (Where we are now being here, on DR.com, obsessing about food.) I am ordering another copy, as the preprint version did not have an index (with the list of “important” restaurants) or the bibliography (I fear my next project will be trying collect all of the “important” cookbooks mentioned!) ETA: I noticed this morning the book is on the cover of the Oct 1 New York Times Book Review...I'll post the link when it is available.

Um, I actually subscribe to this publication and reference it quite a bit. I have never tried any of the recipes, but like their recommendations for things like crackers, bread, and pasta sauce. I still only eat what I think tastes good, but if I can pick something that tastes good and that is better for me, I’m all for it…

Ok. I’m abandoning my dessert making plans. Instead I’ll bring a large bowl of guacamole al la Café Atlantico and to join in the porky fun, I’m going to try my hand at a Prosciutto and Artichoke Schiacciata (bread with stuff in it.)

I’ll be there, with possibly one or two in tow, and a yet undetermined consumable. (I have little experience with both pork and chili. What desserts go well with pork and chili? Suggestions? Requests?)

Coincidental post. I picked up the following book at the library tonight: “Don’t Try This At Home, Culinary Catastrophes from the World’s Greatest Chefs” Edited by Kimberly Witherspoon and Andrew Friedman Haven’t started reading yet, but will report back on how interesting/entertaining/educational it is…

I have been using Washington's Green Grocer for the past few weeks now and have been very happy with the service. They have responded kindly to all of my special orders and requests, and the box has arrived each week as promised.

Does anyone know what kind of olives those are? The yummy, big, green, juicy ones...

The thing about this though was the texture. It was NOTHING like any tuna (raw or cooked) I have ever eaten...

Yes, yes, yes. Oh my, Komi, indeed. First time last night (why haven’t I been here sooner?) and my experience was as fabulous as those described above. The bufala and the dates and the crackers and the olives and the ricotta ravioli, oh my. And the tuna. The speck wrapped white tuna. I have never eaten anything like this. It was amazing in taste and texture. Was that really tuna?? How does chef DO that? I’ll definitely be back, and sooner rather than later.

Turkey Tonnato Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis and the Food Network Difficulty: Easy Prep Time: 15 minutes Inactive Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 40 minutes Yield: 4 servings (I doubled the recipe for the picnic) 2 pound turkey breast, skinless and boneless 1 tablespoon dried oregano 1 tablespoon dried thyme 1 tablespoon dried basil 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 cup chicken stock Salt and freshly ground black pepper Tuna Sauce: 6 ounces canned white meat tuna, packed in olive oil – do not drain 1 teaspoon anchovy paste or 1 anchovy fillet, drained 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon capers 1/3 cup mayonnaise Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish Preheat oven 375 degrees F. Season the turkey with salt, pepper and herbs. Coat with olive oil, place in a baking pan and pour the chicken broth around the turkey. Place in the oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in the baking pan for 10 minutes. Slice into 1/2-inch slices, on an angle. Allow to sit in baking pan with juices as you make sauce. In the bowl of a food processor add the tuna, anchovy, lemon juice and capers. Puree until creamy, about 1 minute. Pour the tuna mixture into a bowl and stir in the mayonnaise. Place the slices of turkey on a platter and pour the tuna sauce on top. Garnish with chopped parsley.

The goat butter has arrived from igourmet.com for the tasting! (along with some cheese for me- as an aside- i was very impressed with their service and the quality of the cheese.) I will be coming from Takoma Park and have room for three additional in my car if anyone is in need of a ride...

i was perusing igourmet's selection of goat butters the other day... click i suppose i now have an excuse to buy some!

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/goingoutgur...mmer_lovin.html From the Washington Post Going Out Gurus 5/19: "I just received confirmation from the Washington, DC Convention & Tourism Corporation that this year's Restaurant Week, that glorious week when well over 100 local restaurants will offer three-course lunch specials for $20.06 and dinners for $30.06, is taking place from August 14-20."

Hear Hear!

Have you never had a mouse in your kitchen? While I do get rid of them, they show up every once and a while, especially living in the woods as I do. And for that matter, have you ever had a picnic outdoors? Standards are good and important, but I think the whole issue of what is "clean and safe" or "nasty" when it comes to eating (at home or otherwise) is way overblown...

Ill be there and I think i'll bring Turkey Tonnato (Roast Turkey with Tuna Sauce) and ill think about something sweet too...

i think we should stock up while we still can Foie

Took my visiting dad to Fogo de Chao for dinner last night. Dad is less of a “foodie” and more of a “meat and potatoes” kinda guy, and I thought he would enjoy the concept of meat being served off of swords…To sum up the experience the phrase “rapid fire meat” would be appropriate. The meal started with a trip to the “famed” salad bar, which left much to be desired. I was expecting a sweeping, mile long bar with hundreds of choices. Well, not so much. It was an average salad bar as far as salad bars go. Some veggies, some greens, a few salads, and some meats and cheeses. The sides were brought out, some cheese puff things, mashed potatoes, fried bananas, fried polenta. All edible for a carbohydrate fan, but nothing special. Then the meat. We turned our little disks to green and the meat started flying by. The restaurant was loud and I found it difficult to hear which cuts of meat the servers had. My dad enjoyed the prime rib and filet. The lamb chops, chicken leg, and pork sausage were good as well. Everything was highly seasoned, mostly with salt. Even when we turned our disks to red, the meat kept coming. The atmosphere in the restaurant is frenetic and encourages lots of consumption in a short amount of time. You really need to pace yourself. We were stuffed in about 30 minutes. All in all, the restaurant was too loud, and too fast. The food was fine, meat was fine, nothing special. Dad had an “off the shelf” piece of chocolate cake for dessert which was unremarkable. Bill was $125 (two all you can eats, cake, tax, and tip) which I definitely will be spending elsewhere in the future. That said, dad seemed to enjoy the experience.

I was there and just want to say thank you to Jill for another great tasting!!

id love to go (to find out if their pierogi can compare to my grandmother's..) but i have plans at the hirshhorn that night

latino dim sum at cafe atlantico is my *favorite* sunday afternoon activity... but please note: it is "dim sum" in name only.