LowellR
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Everything posted by LowellR
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The only thing I can think of is somehow the flour got itself encapsulated in the liquid (kind of the way you end up getting lumps in gravy made with flour), that the breadmaker's kneading action wasn't strong enough to work them out, and that they ended up (maybe by centrifugal force?) on the outside of the loaf. Of course, I have know idea how THAT scenario may have happened. If you didn't pre-mix the flour and liquid before pouring it into the bread machine, you might try that next time. . .
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CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture)
LowellR replied to Cooter's topic in Farms and Farmers' Markets
See also this website -
I agree that a burr grinder is the way to go - one has a much greater degree of control over grind size (as opposed to a coffee grinder, where more grind time only roughly equals smaller size and where there's a lot of varioations in size (kind of like when you grind up graham crackers in a Cuisinart). Moreover, any spice with any significant amount of oils is more likely to clump in a coffee grinder than in a burr grinder.
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The Voltaggio brothers will be doing a live chat on WashingtonPost.com at 1:00 pm this afternoon
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OH MY GOD! This is amazing. Thanks very much.
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Part 2 is now available, here
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I agree completetely; just don't expect them to be rock-hard like a protein would. Given the amount of air in the cupcakes, they'll still be somewhat squish-able, which is the long way of saying, don't put a standing rib roast on them even once they're frozen - try to put them on top of the other items in your freezer.
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So says the NY Times
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Had a very good experience at Cedar a week ago Monday (a busy week kept me from posting until now). I started with the market lettuce salad, which was as advertised - fresh, seasonal, and with a very nice vinagrette. The quail entree (stuffed with wild mushrooms) was well cooked, with crispy skin and moist meat, deboned and perfectly accompanied by a rich, dense au jus. The mushrooms added a nice meatiness to the quail and nicely supplemented its small size. The side of well seasoned mashed potatoes, with some skin included, tasted remarkably of potato, rather than simply dairy, salt and pepper. The portions were fairly small, but the prices are quite reasonable, making hopeful that the restaurant is going for a value propostion in which I get small amounts of very good food for a reasonable price, rather than huge amounts of bad food at a reasonable price. It's an approach I'm happy to see, with results I'm happy to eat. It's just around the corner from work, and I'll definitely be back.
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My sentiment exactly, and it's unfortunate, because Cafe Taj used to be (five years ago?) one of my go-to Indian destinations. Almost everything from the standards (chicken makhani, began bartha) to the atypical (great little lamb meatballs) was exceptionsal. Then they must have lost their chef, because the cooking became standard Indian. Don't get me wrong, I'll happily eat standard Indian, particularly on a night like Don had, but go-to Indian is something one doesn't easily forget once it's gone. . .
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Me, too.
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Sounds like a tandoor to me. That's certainly how I've seen naan made in a number of Indian restuarants.
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Home Gardens - Tips, Tricks, Methods, and the Bounty
LowellR replied to ScotteeM's topic in Farms and Farmers' Markets
I have a bunch of herbs in large pots that are thiving, surprisingly. The sage and lemon thyme are overflowing their pots and on the verge of staking out a claim to the ground on which they are sitting. Even the rosemary, which I thought would mind having its feet constantly wet seems to be hanging in there. -
Got takeout (from the Falls Church location) last night. Really just wanted to write the following - Eh. However, knowing that would be inadequate for this board, I'll elaborate by saying that I got "The Bronx" - basically a "supreme" pizza (veggies, sausage, pepperoni). Got a whole pie as per Joe's recommendation. The crust was good - appropriately thin (I'm a fan of NY style pizza), and with good flavor. Toppings were less impressive. The sausage was sliced (it may be just me, but I prefer chunks), the veggies had an odd, almost marinated flavor, and the cheese was a bit, I don't know, "weird," kind of like there was a little cheddar thrown in or something. All, in all, I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it, either. In sum, "eh."
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Indian City Grill, Main Street in Fairfax - Closed
LowellR replied to xdcx's topic in Washington DC Restaurants and Dining
Unfortunately, I didn't. I can tell you that the price isn't much different, though ($8.95 vs. $9.95), so that would suggest it's not vastly different. -
Fresh garlic seemed to be one of the themes this week. I'm a big fan and use about 2-3 times as much as the drier variety in my standard vegetable preparations, which involves throwing thinly-sliced garlic into a cold pan with olive oil, which I find makes more of a garlic-infused olive oil that infuses the vegetables, rather than just giving me crisp garlic chips that give me periodic garlic flavor if I happen to bite into one. The fresh gralic chips are almost chewy and add a nice nuttiness to the veggies, in addition to their garlicy goodness.
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Indian City Grill, Main Street in Fairfax - Closed
LowellR replied to xdcx's topic in Washington DC Restaurants and Dining
We went to India City Grill for lunch today and were quite impressed. A couple of the dishes were extraordinary, and the rest were quite good. The dal, which I often feel is a throw-away (particularly on a buffet), was second only to the smokey-buttery goodness served up by Heritage India. The Goa Fish Curry was wonderful, with pieces of tender salmon in a slightly-sweet, very complex curry, on par with Raaga at their peak. The Chicken Makhani was one of the best we've had, with dark meat chicken in a makhani sauce that was deeply layered, rich, with just enough sweetness. The offerings were generous for $10, including chat papri, three types of pakora (spinach, cauliflower and some type of squash), aloo matar, rogan josh, a mixed vegetable curry, galub jamon and carrot halwa (forgive my spelling), along with fresh nann served at the table. We'll definitely be back. -
I'm a big fan of the GARs, particularly the shrimp and grits and the corn and crab chowder avaiable at most of the resturants, but have actually found that sometime their service is "too" good. To make sure the next plate (salad after soup; entree after salad) doesn't come out while I'm still eating the last, I often have to tell the server that I'm not in a hurry.
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Heritage India (on Wisconsin - I haven't been to the other one).
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I couldn't agree more. It also seemed that their experience/self-confidence contributed to the lack of conflict; they didn't seem to have the typica reality need to one-up each other, at least verbally.
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I like my pressure cooker for items that have a fair amount of leeway in their cooking - like rice or beans - but not for more touchy items, like artichokes. Basically, I tend to cook with my fingers - I poke at my food during cooking to tell when it's done (or, I suppose, in the case of an artichoke, I pull out an inner leaf to see if it releases easily). The nature of the slow pressure buildup and release in a pressure cooker obviously prevents the quick poke, and so I find that anything that doesn't have a fairly wide window of error is fairly easy to somewhat over- or under-cook. That being said, I love it for relatively quick brown or wild rice, other whole grains like barley or quinoa, beans, and the like.
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I tried the Troegs Hopback Amber Ale yesterday, admittedly on the strength of its Washington Post Beer Madness (or whatever it was called) win. I liked it a lot - very hoppy, but with a strong focus on the hops' floral notes which kept it drinkable to the bottom, without too much of the bitter buildup that I sometimes encounter with a heavily-hopped beer. It reminded me of the DogfishHead 90 minute IPA in that way.
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Last Thursday's weekly reminder of things I could have been harvesting by now if I were more diligent: Shallots, Cilantro, Swiss chard, Romaine, Onions, Turnips and Broccoli. With this post, I will stop commenting on the consistently impressive preparation and packaging of the produce, since it is consistent. As for the veggies themselves, the broccoli was surprisingly tender - the stems didn't even need cooking, and the florets cooked up in a couple of minutes in a pan with olive oil, salt and garlic. The surprise this week were the shallots. I'd never had fresh shallots before. They came with the greens still on, which I used like scallion greens (this time, in an omelet), and they were pretty indistinguishable from scallions. The shallots themselves, though, were more sweet than the drier ones I had, and made a great vinaigrette.
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Week number 2: A further selection of very nice lettuces - kale, chicory, romaine, and chinese cabbage, supplemented by some very nice radishes, italian parsley, spring onions (red) and a gorgeous head of broccoli. I was once again greatly impressed by the prep that the veggies had undergone - everything had been thoroughly washed (the radishes were completely dirt-free), the broccolli had been trimmed, and the spring onions had seen their outer layer removed. This is in stark contrast to last year's CSA (which I abandoned in favor of Graceland), from which I would come home almost every week up to my elbows in mud from the wet, dirt-laden veggies. The broccoli, sauteed last night with some olive oil, garlic, the spring onions, salt and pepper, was stunningly good. Since there doesn't seem to be too much interest in a weekly recitation of the contents of my delivery, I'll report back on anything particulalrly noteworthy. So far, though, I'd highly recommend them.
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It may not be a poular opinion, but I'll stand behind Famous Dave's. If you choose carefully - I'm particularly fond of the brisket with fries and beans - it's a darn good meal - smokey, sweet and toothsome. And miles apart from Red, Hot & Blue.