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Ilaine

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  1. Ilaine
    KT, I have never had a bad experience with the Genius recipes. That's where I found the Judy Bird technique for turkey. I originally stumbled across Food52 when they developed their app for holiday cooking. So nice to have what I want on the iPad at my (greasy) fingertips.
  2. Ilaine
    Rieux, I am nowhere near Kalorama, but thank you. I just submitted my order to iGourmet, will report back when received. If it goes well, I will consider ordering other items like olives, but obviously not paying for overnight shipping. There has to be something better than Divina.
  3. Ilaine
    Oh, yes. For example, iGourmet has three brands of Roquefort - Societe, Papillon, and Vernieres. I have no idea what the differences are but am going to order some of each unless someone posts that they have had a bad experience with them. Another example, Parmigiano Reggiano Vacche Rosse, which is made from the milk of the red cows that used to be used for this cheese before they started using the more productive black and white cows. I have had this before at Dino and it is superb, but not lately. Another example, blu del Moncenisi. Again, have not seen this anywhere but Dino, but not lately. I live in Fairfax, about 4 miles outside the Beltway. I don't doubt that there are many, many wonderful cheeses to be found all over the Washington, D.C., metro area, and even more in New York, and that the best way to shop for cheese is to travel to a cheese store and taste samples. But we have had very good results ordering from Murrays online, and I would like to explore more. When you buy from Murray, you pay for overnight shipping, and the cheese comes packed with frozen blue ice. This appears to be true for iGourmet, too.
  4. Ilaine
    Which are your favorite sites for buying cheese online? So far, all we have tried is Murray's, which is fine, but I would like to try others. Thinkin about igourmet. Anybody used them? Others? Bonus question - if I order burrata online, say, from iGourmet, how will that compare for freshness with, say, getting it from the cooler at Cheesetique? It seems risky to order something that needs to be kept cold online.
  5. Ilaine
    We don't go to restaurants much anymore due to dietary restrictions, so I can't comment on the overuse of blue cheese in restaurants. But we love blue cheese. Roquefort (Societe) is our favorite, but also Stilton, goronzola dolce, Cashel blue, blu di buffala, and so many more that I don't have them memorized. Among the few restaurants in our rotation are Cheesetique, which has not only an excellent cheese selection, but a very pleasant assortment of cheeses on a cheese plate in their cafe, and Dino, who always has a good but rotating cheese selection. In fact, the best blue cheese I ever ate was on the second to last night at Dino in Cleveland Park. We had three blue cheeses, and asked the waiter the name of the one we liked the best. He gave us a little slab to take home, but when we got home, were disappointed that he gave us another one. We had taken home the menu, so went back the next, and last night, and asked for the other ones, only one was available, but that wasn't it, either. We drank way too much Brunello to focus, so that's all I remember. I searched the internet for all three, and the probable cheese did not appear on a Google search, and I am very good at googling. The I misplaced the menu. So, it's a mystery. It comes from Italy, the cheese is as white as Roquefort if not whiter, but the texture is crumblier than Roquefort. At home, we crumble roquefort on salads, and spread gorgonzola dolce on burger patties and steaks. One comment on the once ubiquitous wedge with blue cheese. The value for money ratio in a restaurant is about as low as it gets. You're paying top dollar for a quarter of a head of iceberg lettuce and some low grade blue cheese dressing. Make it at home with good quality blue cheese.
  6. Ilaine
    How do I organize my recipes? I don't. Most of the things I cook, I don't need a recipe. For new things, I do one of four things: 1) Google recipe search, which is very good; 2) a full online membership to the entire Cooks Illustrated family; 3) search Food52; 4) grab a bunch of cookbooks from the bookshelf, sit down at the dining room table, and browse. I have a lot of cookbooks that are arranged by cuisine - Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Italian, French, Greek, Middle Eastern, Louisiana, American, compendium. When I see a recipe online that I like, I print it out and put it on top of the microwave, where it promptly becomes forgotten. Recently, I went through the inches thick stack to cull out recipes I won't ever use, and it was like an archeological expedition. At the top, Paleo and gluten free. In the middle, phases I went through, like Chinese. At the very bottom, vegan/Essylstine/Engine 2. Tofu appeared with that and Chinese. I actually like fresh tofu but not enough to make it, and otherwise detest it. I put at least three inches of printouts in the recycle bin. It struck me that printing out recipes and saving them is a waste of paper. Everything I want I either have in a cookbook on my bookshelf or can find online. Lately I have been buying cookbooks via Kindle, and I do wish there was some way to search across my Kindle library. If there is, please let me know.
  7. Ilaine
    I voted for the recipe, which looks mighty good, although the spoon bread recipe looks good, too. I probably won't make either of them any time soon, even though it would be so easy to make gluten free with Cup4cup. I can taste it in my mind. Yum. My husband and I are eating low carb, and he's strict "Paleo" anyway. I do have some lovely cornmeal from Anson Mills in the freezer, awaiting the day when I can cook for people who won't turn their noses up at grains. As well as polenta, rice, oats and grits. All sleeping soundly in the freezer. I love the emails from Food52 because there are so many tempting recipes, every day. I don't get tempted by the provisions emails, the prices tend to be ridiculous. I am still craving that mortar and pestle, though.
  8. Ilaine
    Oh, dang. Sorry, I made a mistake. C-2 isn't available either weekend. I cancelled the reservation for C-1. C-2 IS availabe July 5, which is probably a horrible day to schedule a picnic. Also July 13, July 20, some August dates. If anybody wants to picnic in July or August, let me know, otherwise we can start thinking about the fall picnic.
  9. Ilaine
    Bettyjoan, we have the space from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. I think usually people get there around noonish, but ya'll can come earlier if you need prep time for something-or-other. It usually takes a crowbar to get my husband up early on Sunday, but since we'll be helping to host, and grilling, probably get there earlier. Who's got the plates, cups, eatware, serveware?
  10. Ilaine
    Done. I chose June 15, 2014, because I hope the temperature will be cooler than on the 29th. I have no idea who is or isn't able to make it then, sorry to anybody who can't make it, but the earlier in the late spring/early summer in Virginia, the better, in my opinion. Good news, next time I will be able to use the senior discount. Once you turn 62, you can buy a lifetime Golden Years pass. Without the discount, this year the reservation costs $115. We will bring our Weber grill and we will grill vegetables - eggplant, bell peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, Portabella mushrooms, asparagus, Vidalia onions. People can also grill meats on it if they want to. The Weber has a propane starter but burns charcoal. We use hardwood charcoal. We will also bring one case of plain bottled water and one case of San Pelligrino mineral water. Also beer and wine.
  11. Ilaine
    Woke up this morning thinking "what about the picnic?" and read this thread. I just checked the Fort Hunt website, C1 is available Sunday, June 15, Saturday and Sunday June 28 and 29. If anybody is interested i can make the reservation.
  12. Ilaine
    It looks like porridge.
  13. Ilaine
    Joe, it looks lovely, but I will say up front that when I make it (and I will) I will not adhere strictly to your recipe. Gorgonzola dolce, check. Real parm, not grana, check. But too much butter, I think. I love butter but with all the cheese that just seems like too much to me. Well, maybe I should make it your way first, and then decide. Ok, I will.
  14. Ilaine
    We use Pyrex measuring cups. We have several sizes, from two cup to gynormous. The handle is helpful when using the stick blender, and of course, being glass, you can see what you are doing. We also have very heavy drinking glasses, made by Arcorock, that are useful for small blends. I love the Bamix, glad I got it.
  15. Ilaine
    Risotto primavera and lemon chicken fricassee. Lemon chicken fricassee- cut up a whole chicken, brown the pieces, a few pieces at a time so it doesn't get crowded. I browned in the removed and rendered body cavity fat. I did not pour off the rendered chicken fat afterward. Layer into the pot (a Dutch oven) two thinly sliced white onions, a pound of thinly sliced baby Bellas, stems reserved for the risotto broth, and three Mayer lemons thinly sliced, deseeded. Some crushed garlic, some sprigs of thyme, then the chicken, salt to taste, pour over all one cup pinot grigio. Bake with the lid on at 325, about one hour. Risotto primavera - ramps, asparagus, sliced baby Bella mushrooms, stems removed, freshly shelled peas. I cut up the white part of the ramps and sauteed them before I sauteed the sliced baby Bellas, the sliced stalks of the asparagus, and the peas. Remove and start the risotto. The pea shells and mushroom stems were simmered in the broth for the risotto. The ramp leaves, thinly sliced, and the asparagus tips were stirred into the risotto when it was almost done, and the cooked vegetables when it was done. I did sprinkle grated parmesan and stirred in some cream, but, in retrospect, they overwhelmed the ramps, which were not as pungent as their reputation. First time cooking with ramps. For wine, half a cup of the same pinot grigio. Serve with pinot grigio. Tastes like spring. For dessert, Game of Thrones and a Cadbury caramel egg.
  16. Ilaine
    I found a pretty good one very close to my office, El Rancho bakery on Hechinger Drive in Springfield, in the same strip mall as El Grande and next door to Gamasot, which is now closed. I had one Monday after work, and thought it suffered a little from too much time on the steamer, so went back Tuesday at lunch, and it was much better. I got a pork one both times, not on the menu board, and thought the pork much superior to the often-iffy chicken one typically finds in these tamales, which can contain bits of broken bone. No broken bone in the pork. Corn and pork are a platonic couple. The counterman said they make them every day, so I assume they would be even better in the morning. Not as good as the ones at the gas station between Manassas Park and Manassas, but sufficiently satisfactory that i don't feel like driving to Manassas, nor Silver Spring, just for a Guatemala style tamale. I WOULD drive a long distance for a tamale like they make in the Deep South, e.g., New Orleans, or Greenville, MS (Doe's Eat Place), but that's an entirely different animal, tightly wrapped in paper or corn husk, highly seasoned, submerged in a chili-redolent sauce. But, you know what, after I had a Delta tamale fix, I'd probably go back to the Guatemala style. The masa is just unctuous. The green banana leaf adds a grassy goodness.
  17. Ilaine
    This is both fortuitous and exciting. I want to do some new things to my kitchen, and one of the things is a new stove. I think ours is circa 1979. when the house was built. It still works, but with two small electric burners and two large electric burners, it's just too small for events like Thanksgiving. There is nearest gas line is a block away, and Washington Gas informed me that to run a gas line to our house it would cost about $15 thousand, and that is not counting running lines in the house. We just got a new fuel oil furnace, a relatively new fuel oil water heater, does it make sense to spend maybe $20 thousand for gas just for the stove, or should we go with induction? So this will be a perfect opportunity to actually try induction. I am very glad that you drew my name, Dr. X.
  18. Ilaine
    (Not sure if this is the right forum, if not, please move it.) A Guatemala style tamale is more tender than other tamales because it has rice flour mixed in with the masa, it's thicker and wider, and wrapped in a banana leaf, not a corn husk. The only place I know where to get one is a gas station somewhere between Manassas Park and Manassas, but I think they're just a lunch thing there. Surely there must be other places which sell Guatemala style tamales?
  19. Ilaine
    So, did I get it or not? Got a crisp $50 bill in my wallet.
  20. Ilaine
    Sandy, if it's still available, I want it. I live in Fairfax, takes me 20 minutes to get to Vienna on a weekend, and I'll bring cash.
  21. Ilaine
    What, I wonder, is "casually elegant attire"? Jeans and shorts are out, what is in? For example, my husband favors corduroy pants. Would those pass muster?
  22. Ilaine
    Re: refrigerating fish sauce. Probably prolongs the taste, like refrigerating soy sauce. A friend of mine threw out an almost full bottle of Red Boat fish sauce when he lost power, for the same reason, the label said to refrigerate it. I advised him to rescue it from the trash but it was too late.
  23. Ilaine
    Old Bay is pretty good in Bloody Marys, as well. Cockltail sauce in anything that calls for tomato saunce.
  24. Ilaine
    Tim's Vermeer is still playing at the Cinema Arts theater in Fairfax.
  25. Ilaine
    We enjoyed ourselves very much. Excellent foot, excellent service, excellent company. My favorite was the sea bass, succulent, flavorful, and tender. Must eat it again to try to understand the marinade, I am sure that made most of the difference between this juicy piece of fish and the austere sea bass sold elsewhere, but also it was not cooked into toughness, as is all too common. My husband and son favored the lamb. My son, who works in Falls Church, says it is only 10 minutes from his place of work, and he's been back already for lunch. Really likes it.
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