smokey

Thanks, Pat! Just to clarify (and because in re-reading my post, I realized it wasn't clear) I'm particularly interested in the eggplant portion of things. Veg Cooking for Everyone by D. Madison has a nice pita recipe (is it pita or naan? now that I think about it, it's naan. anyway...) that I've been pretty happy with, but that eggplant dish sounded good.Eggplants are particularly on my mind as last night I made a dish from Hot sour salty sweet (or whatever the order is) called the 'best eggplant dish ever'. I was woefully disappointed (far from the best, let's just say). While I think it was fine, the flavor came across as really unidimensional, in spite of different spices being used. I'll admit to taking some shortcuts. I don't have a mortar and pestle and while i'm sure using something like that would have made for a more authentic 'sauce', I didn't have time and went for more of a brute force approach (think, immersion blender). Regardless, there was almost no nuance and it wasn't the best. The +1 practically grimaced when he tried it (although he'll concede to not being much of an eggplant liker). In the "healthy cuisine of India" (or some such) by Bharti Kirchner there is a dish that I consider to be the best eggplant dish ever. All of this eggplant talk is making me want to revisit that. Anyway, I would love any info on the dish you tried, Pat, as I love eggplant!

Wow, I've never heard of or seen anything like the ribbon layer cookies. I made hazelnut biscotti this weekend as a thank you for teachers at my son's daycare. I think it's a Gourmet recipe (I'm not sure, a friend shared it with me and I've never been able to find it at epicurious). Regardless, I quite like it. No fat, some frangelico, not at all too sweet. Somebody else is bringing in a cake for them, and since most of the teachers were neither born nor raised in the U.S., I thought a less sweet alternative would be good. We'll see how they go over.

I've really enjoyed some of the recipes you've posted and am impressed with your dedication. I realize that food journaling online may have become tedious to you, but I have been enjoying it. Not to mention the fact that I remain curious about the resolution with the nutritionist...

BlakeG--Wow, I never would have predicted that. Sure, I should have predicted that there are folks who would use anonymity to not tip, but I just never really thought it was true. What a PITA.

I owe a HUGE debt of gratitude to LydiaR (thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou) for posting the chinese dish menu. I chose to order out at PC for lunch today, and knew exactly what I wanted--the soft bean curd szechuan style. I love that yummy hot stuff on top of silky smooth tofu. God, I'm getting misty-eyed just thinking about it. So, I call to order. I'm on the phone with a man whose English is quite good, and we go back and forth on the portion size I want (this makes me anxious, because I only see one portion size-appetizer). Plus, when I try to tell him, repeatedly, that I want something on the chinese dish menu, I can tell it's not really computing with him. And when I ask him the price, he tells me $5.25, which is 30 cents more than what I see on the Chinese dish menu. Now, prices change and I was calling at a weird time (not quite lunch or dinner), so I'm not sure that's a valid measure of whether I'm going to get what I want, but it doesn't decrease my anxiety. So, I decide to bring a print out of the Chinese dish with me with the dish circled. When I walk in, he immediately knows that I'm the person who ordered the tofu (at 3:00, there isn't much business!). So, I show him my print out and ask whether what he's giving me is what I have circled. "Oh, you want *that*..." He says no, he's given me something else and he goes back to re-enter my order. Comes back 5 minutes later with exactly what I want and explains that he's not really accustomed to his American customers ordering things like this, do I understand that it's going to be hot? Yes, yes, I do, hot is good. He gestures to a table I sat at with a mixed group of dr.com folks and chowhounds and says that some of his American customers have sat over there, however, and ordered things like this. Yes, yes, I nod happily, I was one of those people one time. He was incredibly friendly, never for a moment suggested that I should take the other tofu dish and seemed quite happy to be serving this food to me. My belly is now full with yummy soft tofu and hot paste, my mouth tingles ever so slightly, and all is well with the world! Thanks for your help with cross cultural communication, LydiaR!

Wow, that sounds good. If it tastes half as good as it sounds, I would love it if you were willing to post the recipe.

I'm with Heather--I never bother with glaze unless I REALLY want to impress somebody. To each their own. Don't be frightened by pate sucree. It's basically sugar cookie dough and really can't be overworked or otherwise ruined. And, the scraps taste delicious and the dough can even be eaten raw when stored frozen (or, so I've been told ). I think the toughest thing might be to get good fruit at this time of year. Choose something that isn't TOO juicy (too juice may make for liquidy mess. You can also play with flavoring the pastry cream with something that will accent the fruit you choose (e.g. the idea of the buttermilk complementing the blueberries in the tart Heather referenced). If you were doing something tropical in terms of fruit, you might be able to infuse the pastry cream with some ginger. Depends on how adventurous you are and how much you want to play with it.

Thanks for posting that, Grovere. I had actually gone to that website initially when I first say a posting about Arirang, and there was nothing there at the time. They've gotten a couple of hits since then, clearly!

Hmm, I had a truly unremarkable omelette at the Red Hawk, and maybe something else another time (a pasta dish? don't remember, it's been too long) that was also unremarkable. I didn't think much of Red Hawk, but I never had a sandwich there.

Ok, here's a place I've been curious about for a few months (but will admit, I haven't yet had a chance to try)--Arirang. The address/phone is: 1326 E. Gude Dr. Rockville, MD 301.279.0023 It's in the same strip mall as Baronessa (to link it to a restaurant for which there is only minimal love!). Somebody posted a rather cryptic rec for it in a somewhat unrelated thread on chowhound, and I've never seen much about it elsewhere. Anybody know anything? Maybe an RPLC lunch sometime?

I think the average head weighs around 14lbs. That would be quite a jumpstart.

Interesting. Their cows for buttermilk must be different from their skim milk cows, because the skim milk specifically says organic on it.

I agree with a lot of the previously mentioned veggies. The only other I can think of that I really like, but hasn't been mentioned, is roasted green beans. Really improves otherwise average quality beans (not delicate haricots verts).

Interesting. I've found the Rockville location reliable only for felafel. When I start to venture away from the felafel, I have been woefully disappointed.

Three others and I went for brunch for the first time a few weeks ago on a Sunday. Arrived at 11:05 or so, no wait at all. It's funny to hear about others not able to clean their plates! If I had any complaint about the food, it was that the portion sizes weren't large enough, particularly for the price! All that really means though, is that I really loved what I ordered. I don't think I was as entranced as everybody else by the donuts, but let me be honest, I'm not much of a donut person. I would have preferred to have ordered the holes, but I couldn't talk my table into it. I got the shrimp and grits (delicious, not a hint of the too-saltiness that came up a few months ago on this thread) and an extra side of biscuits (because whatever love I'm missing for donuts is made up for in my love of biscuits!). The shrimp and grits were great and so were the biscuits. The waitress happily switched out the jelly and butter for some honey (my preferrred biscuit topping). I wish they had a broader selection of morning beverages (e.g. grapefruit or cranberry juice), but those are small issues. I think everybody at the table liked their food. It's very 'classic' diner type food, extremely well executed. One of my fellow eaters commented that she wished there had been more 'twists' on the menu (classics reinterpreted type thing), but I loved it just as it was. The service was good, the food was good--I only wish it were more convenient to me!

You made me go back and re-read it more carefully, thanks. You're right, it's not in the original post that almartin says that. It's in his second post in this thread, and there is some reading between the lines (not to put too fine a point on this!). He says they asked about separate checks "upfront" (IIRC). The initial post certainly makes it sound as though it didn't come up until the the check was presented.

I haven't been recently, but the Gazette (source of all vital information for me in MoCo) also gave it a glowing review. Now, if you know the Gazette, then you know that's meaningless, but a meaningless data point is better than no datapoint, right?!

Interesting about price at MOM vs. WF. It must be a function of what we buy a the respective stores, because I find them significantly cheaper. What's a Roots Market? I'm not too far from Olney and might be interested? Similar small, organic market type thing?

I've actually found the prices at My Organic Market (MOM) to be really competitive (taking into account the fact that it's organic), the selection to be good and the produce quality to be reasonable. Plus, they sell this STHT (short time high temp, I think) milke that I really love the flavor of (yes, ending sentence in preposition). I go to the one in Rockville (not sure what other locations they have), but would recommend it as an organic alternative to YES! and WF.

I'm also a fed. Like laniloa said, there's just a set per diem for any given region. You can eat at the local equivalent of Five Guys or Citronelle, there's no reason to present a receipt. You'll still be reimbursed the same amount.I can understand everybody at the table needing a *copy* of a receipt, but needing a separate check doesn't make much sense to me. When submitting the expense report, you indicate on the receipt what 3 items you ordered and provide your credit card signed receipt that indicates you paid for those three items plus tax and tip. However, I've never waited tables before--is printing out 13 identical receipts significantly time-consuming and/or even do-able? I don't know. 13 separate checks is too much to ask (IMO). I think one difficulty I have with heaping derision on the OP is that s/he states that they asked for this at the beginning of the meal and were told it was possible. While I'm with Joe that it's embarassing to ask for something like this and I wouldn't be party to such a request, they did ask and were told it was possible. To then be told at the end of the meal that it's not possible is frustrating (although one does wonder if there wasn't some miscommunication, because in spite of laniloa's post, I have a hard time believing the waiter acquiesced to such a request).

I just read in the Gazette (lord, do I love that rag!) that Rockville Town Center is getting a (drum roll please) Super Fresh, supposedly around Thanksgiving. You may now resume your regular programming.

Grover and Escoffier did a wonderful job introducing me to previously-undiscovered parts of Korean food at Lighthouse Tofu in Rockville. They're great hosts, eh?! I'm sorry i couldn't make it last night to Mandu--sounded like Grover had done a lot of footwork with the restaurant ahead of time.

Numbing and spicy sounds great. I could do Thursday but not Wednesday.

Probably too far west for the locations you mentioned, but Tower Oaks Lodge is pretty unchallenging. I like to think of it as lowest common denominator food (not to be the snob that I am) and it's priced fairly. I don't think they would push you out fast, but I've only been a couple of times. I think Maggiano's is a good recommendation, as long as Friendship Heights isn't too far into the district for your crowd. Good luck.

A few weeks ago I made the wild mushroom lasagna from the Sept(?) CI. Great mushroom flavor (loaded up with dried porcinis, portabellos, some plain ole' button), INCREDIBLY rich. I made fresh noodles instead of using the kind they called for (don't remember now...)., It was a yummy recipe, but a fair piece of work (of course, I've got a freezer full of individual servings of lasagna now). And as for Big Night, yeah, that's one really good cooking/food movie.