KMango

Fantastic, sounds like a true exploration of palate sensation rather than mere pairings. Is the best way to sign up to call the restaurant?

Musta been a fiery batch, the ones that came with my farm share last week were a wisp of a hint of raw garlic. I used three of them in a "Scape Goat" concoction (a goat curry). Yes, the rest of the curry ingredients overpowered the scapes but I really wanted to have Scape Goat in the pun collection of my cooking repertoire. Next time, I'll aim for local goat cheese with scapes, maintaining the theme from a different angle. Sorry to hear that your salsa bottomed out. Great lesson learned, though, to always taste-as-you-go when incorporating new ingredients into a recipe. I've been burned before (literally and figuratively) when I skipped that step.

And they're multi-use!

A charmer! Thanks for posting this.

Excellent tip, danke. In other Vidalia news: City Paper Sugar Toad Story Perhaps I can ask for it anyway and stage a comeback.

In the meantime, we'll have to settle for this....

Glad you asked this. I'm in the same general area and have often wondered the same thing. *fingers crossed* for helpful responses.

And another lesson learned for next time...pictures! Living Vicariously,

Have you already perused the Dining Guide?

Another testimonial for the butcher shop... I finally remembered to stop by the Lebanese Butcher shop yesterday to procure goat (stew meat, with bones). At $4.47 a pound, the meat was cut before my eyes and fresher than I could have imagined. The resulting curry (inspired by Madhur Jaffrey's "Most Delicious Meat Cubes", time increased for larger bone-in meat) was astoundingly delicious, honoring this meat with rich heat and complex flavor. As usual, although parking was a breeze, the shop was a zoo of activity with customers and cleavers in action. I ducked next door to the restaurant for a take out order and some more elbow room. Despite the crowding, it's more than well worth the trek. If you have not worked with goat meat before, the Lebanese Butcher would be a wonderful place to begin experimenting.

The oil and "massage" technique help break down the leaves, and the citrus juice further breaks them down. The salt just punches up the flavor, from my experience. But I am not the most scientifically adept at these things, so if you have further insight into the "why" behind the "how", that is always welcomed insight.

Sounds painful on many fronts. I'd be in, +1.

Kudos for the dual lunch plan! You only live once but can always lunch twice. I often snag the veggie bibimbap from that same cart, it's a gem. You can have it with or without the egg. But don't forget the spicy sauce, ask for extra. Walk down to the park at Franklin Square and eat on a bench in the shade. Delightful.

Just for giggles, call The Common Market to see what they have to say about this. They might be another local resource for you, although would probably be more $$ than Costco. Common Market

Had so many super meals all over that country, but can't remember the specific haunts, sorry! One important foodie tip, however. You'll quickly become addicted to the national dish, gallo pinto (yes, the subject of your message thread). One symptom of said addiction is a painful craving for the condiment called Salsa Lizano. Like me, you'll try to bring some back to the states. And, like me, you'll have the bottle confiscated by airport security because it exceeds the liquid threshold. Don't worry about it, you can buy Salsa Lizano when you return home. The Central American markets carry it, so do several online vendors, even amazon.com. Pura Vida!

Garam Masala chicken (simple spice rub with a touch of oil on chicken cutlets, pan grilled) Golden beets (pressure cooked with whole cumin seed, ground coriander, fresh ginger, fresh curry leaves, and canned tomatoes) Penzey's, thoust offer a cupboard full of inspiration every time.

Good call--I just updated a previous posting on this thread to include a link to the "Kale Ceviche" how-to. Here it is again just in case. Good thing I tried several stellar desserts to counteract all those antioxidants. Balance, and all that...

Winchester Just a quick plug for One Block West in Winchester. Even if you are not in the northernmost part of Virginia, Chef Ed's online musings are well worth a bookmark: One Blog West, via Chef Ed Matthews of One Block West in Winchester, VA Chef Ed is a passionate advocate of locally sourced ingredients, a concept that does not necessarily have high demand in that part of the state. The level of detail he includes in his postings has directly translated into several new practices and products in my own kitchen. Do a search for the phrase "chef's tasting" to get a quick glimpse into his most playful and nuanced creations. In addition, anyone who has worked the back of the house will find many a knowing smile in this chef owner's unapologetic diatribes regarding certain customers and suppliers. This is an artist in action. I've been to One Block West twice, once for lunch and another time for dinner, but both in the dead of winter. The meals were a delight, as was meeting Chef Ed. However, I need to return during the abundant, warmer months when local ingredients are at the peak of showcasing. If anyone visits One Block West, I welcome learning about your experiences. And again, Chef Ed's blog is a keeper.

If you have the space for it, one thing I've found helpful is to post a white board in a prominent location in the house. You can buy them at Staples or any office supply store for under $20. Dry erase markers are a few more bucks (one red, one green, one black). With the black marker, create a matrix that looks like the following. *********Date1*****Date2*****Date3*****Date4*****Date5 Behavior1 Behavior2 Behavior3 The behaviors are the ones you are trying to either avoid or build in (like "Do Cardio" or "Avoid Butter" or "Avoid White Flour"). The most important behavior changes are towards to top of the list. The dates are the next several days, however many will fit across the top of the white board. Either throughout or at the end of each day, use a red (which means bad) and green (which means good) marker to update the behavior for the given date. Say that your Behavior1 was "Do Cardio". If you did cardio that day, you would use your green marker to list the number of minutes, or whatever other metric you find important, under Date1 for that day. If you would rather be brief, you could just write "Yes" with the green marker or "No" with the red marker if you did not meet your goal. At the end of the week when the grid is filled out, look back and think about what the data is telling you. Do you always miss Behavior 2 when you miss Behavior4, for example? Is Behavior1 just never happening on a Friday? Use the information to figure out if you need to make any lifestyle or other changes, and perhaps re-prioritize which behavior adjustment is most important (and realistic). If you want to keep a rolling log of each week's white board, just take a picture of it before you erase the matrix and create one for the following week. You could also forgo the white board method entirely and go with a simple spreadsheet. However, for me, I've found that an "in-yer-face" whiteboard is a lot more potent than a file buried in a computer. There are lots of ways to journal, they key is to keep it visible and accountable--and easy to update!

w00t, that was my contribution. Lacinato Kale massaged with Laudemio olive oil + Maldon sea salt + freshly squeezed lemon juice + raw hemp seeds = love Well, lots of Vitamin K anyway. Adore that stuff. The technique and proportion specifics are available here, have fun customizing with this method. OUTSTANDING picnic today, such a delight to put faces to names in this vibrant community. From the deftly delicious fennel salad to the borderline spiritual pulled pork to pickled smoked daikon to the my-god-am-i-dreaming burdock root this was a feast for the memory bank.

Ah, yes, that's the one. And ye olde web shows that's nowhere near $7,000, more like $1,400. Maybe the waiter meant $7,000 for the whole restaurant or something.

This is not something you can order per say, but make sure you check out the bathroom at Founding Farmers. They have a $7,000 hand dryer (crazy quick, and incredibly eco-friendly) that I found to be the most impressive part of my dining experience there. That sounded more snarky than intended. Regardless, check it out, it's called a "blade dryer" or something like that.

Which gives a whole new meaning to the context of this thread: "Five Guys, A case study in overexpansion"

Quinoa, Sweet Potato, Avocado Salad (pasted, with a few edits, from my Flickr-based Food Forum) Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is completely underrated, positively misunderstood, and shockingly easy to prepare. This "super grain" offers an impressive protein profile, a nutty/crunchy bite, and bursts with versatility. OK, so it's not actually a grain at all, it's a psuedocereal, but I already said misunderstood...or something. A couple of tips when preparing quinoa: a righteous rinse is critical. The grain can come covered in a natural coating designed to deter predatory insects, the bitterness of which will make you avoid eating it as well. A fine-mesh rise is required, and so is cooking in plenty of water. Ignore the conventional wisdom here, don't cook it one part grain to two or three parts water. Pretend this is pasta, use lots and lots of water to provide the best texture and flavor. After rinsing, just add the quinoa to the excessive amount of water, bring to a boil, and cook for 15 minutes or until the grains have exploded. It's not as violent as it sounds, it's adorable! Once cooked, drain thoroughly, and use as you would rice to make a pilaf, or add to a salad. Or, as pictured here, add roasted, seasoned vegetables such as one-inch diced sweet potatoes. Just before serving, add chopped avocado or a homemade vinaigrette to bind everything together and create a richer mouthfeel. Diced, roasted sweet potatoes are a breeze to prepare. Just dice three cleaned, washed, unpeeled (organic is best, use them skins!) sweet potatoes into one inch cubes. Using a variety of sweet potatoes is fine, pictured here is both a standard sweet potato and a lighter colored, more starchy sweet potato. Mix the chopped vegetables into a bowl with a couple teaspoons of olive oil and the seasoning of your choice. The selection here included a hefty punch of salt and Penzey's Balti seasoning (includes coriander, garlic, ginger, cumin, chilies, cinnamon, brown mustard seeds, cardamom, clove, fennel,and fenugreek). You could easily use just salt and pepper with the olive oil, or any coarsely chopped fresh herb. Bake at 425 degrees on a lightly sprayed baking sheet, stirring every 15 minutes or so. The vegetables will be done in 25 to 35 minutes, depending on the moisture level of the veggies and the accurate temperature of the oven. If you would like to roast onion as well, as pictured here, add that after the first fifteen minutes of cooking time. They cook more quickly than the dense tubers. Use purple onion, the sweetness and color contrast will offer a smart enhancement. Since this dish is for lunch later in the week, the full flavor verdict will have to wait. A quick taste via the preparation process was most promising, though. The profile included crunchiness from the quinoa, creaminess from the sweet potatoes, a deep smoky flavor from the seasoning, and an underlying sweetness from the oven-based caramelization. Balanced, healthy, and delightful, and I plan to add diced avocado just before serving to add even more creaminess. The proof will be how well it stands up after some time in the fridge, stay tuned. The Conclusion: Two *very* enthusiastic thumbs up. Quinoa held up beautifully in the fridge for several days. The creamy texture from the avocado melded beautifully with the roasted vegetables, this was a crave-worthy repeat.

Yes, rinse that saponin off right proper, lest your palate curl with much angst. And yes, toasting the damp quinoa is OK, you actually wind up steaming it a bit first before it toasts, no big deal. But I am actually not a huge fan of the toasting. Instead, I rinse the grain vigorously, and then my super-secret-method that I learned from a chef in Charlottesville: use as much cooking water as you would for pasta. Boil for 15 minutes or so, until the grains have exploded, drain thoroughly, then proceed with your pilaf or other concoction. I've been making quinoa via this method for months, and it's a delight. No toasting hassle, no bitterness, and an ideal crunchy texture. One recent example is pictured here: a quinoa/roasted sweet potato/avocado salad. What I liked best about this mixture was that it kept beautifully in the fridge, made amazing lunches for several days. I have the full recipe I can post, but it's long-winded, so will save the air time unless it's of interest.