wisehands

I've seen several programs on Japanese network television featuring Japanese cooking experts giving advice on making sushi rice and they all emphasize that the washing and rinsing steps are absolutely critical to produce properly prepared sushi rice (or Japanese style rice in general). This involves not only thoroughly rinsing the rice, but also washing it. One part of the method is to swish the rice around with your hand while rinsing, not just running water over it. This is done several times. Then, with just a little water in the bowl, the grains are gently rubbed together several times with the palms of your hands as if polishing them . . . well, you are sort of polishing them. They say this removes starch. Then they rinse until the water is clear. But wait, there's more! Then they let the rice sit for a while, maybe 30 mins. All that is followed by another soak in the cooking pot. The actual cooking of the rice involves yet another protocol. And the preparing of sushi rice after cookng is yet another one. Every step, every technique has a purpose. e.g., using a particular wooden bowl called a hangiri in which to prepare the sushi rice is better than using any other kind of bowl because the untreated wood absorbs excess moisture from the rice and the shape of the bowl is ideal for proper stirring and mixing. The purposefulness of Japanese cooking techniques is fascinating.

Had great softshells at Crisfield in Silver Spring today. Total bill (incl. tax, not tip) for 2 softshell sandwiches with fries and slaw (comes with 1 side, extra for 1 added side), 2 beers and 1 wine was just over $40, so the softshell sandwiches might have been $12 each. Each sandwich had 2 plump softshells in them. They started serving them about 2 weeks ago. BTW, Salt River Lobster was selling softshells for $5 at the Kensington Farmers Market today.

Went to the new, relocated MOM's in Rockville. It's a significant upgrade from the old location. The first difference you'll find is the ample parking. Inside the aisles are much wider . . . I'd even say spacious. Some, but not all, sections seemed larger in terms of having more products than the old store. Just eyeballing things, the produce section is maybe 30% larger, the cheese section is a little larger, the frozen food section is maybe 40% larger, and the nonfood section seemd to be bigger. Alcoholic beverages seemed to have expanded the most. The checkout area is also bigger, and just past it is a recycling center that now also has bins for athletic shoes and used light bulbs. I was a little disappointed however with my first try of the new organic eats section, The Naked Lunch. We had a roasted veggie and a hummus sandwich for $16+. The sandwiches were kind of small and didn't have much of a filling, so the bread:filling ratio seemed skewed to the bread. The flavor was just OK. A side of pretzels came with the sandwiches, which didn't do much for us since we aren't crazy for pretzels. Here's hoping they can improve their food . . . they've certainly got access to good, high quality ingredients.

To expand the story a bit beyond two lines, the takeover took place in two parts. Part 1: A guy named Aaron Spencer, who owned a string of KFCs in New England, made an offer to buy franchise rights for Pizzeria Uno in 1975, but was rejected initially, as all other franchise offers had been. Spencer finally convinced Ike Sewell to let him open a test unit in Boston. It did good business, so in 1979 Sewell sold Spencer the right to franchise Uno. However, Sewell maintained control of the Chicago pizzerias, never taking an active part in the management of the newly formed Uno chain. Part 2: After Sewell passed away in 1990, the Uno Restaurant Corp. acquired the original Pizzeria Uno and Due in Chicago. Sidenote: Uno went into bankruptcy for around 6 months in 2010.

My main issue with the ambiance was the noise level was surprisingly high and the energy of the place seemed a bit frenetic. When I've been to other places at that price level, such as Eve, Palena, etc. ... even the old Maestro, I just felt more relaxed being there. I wouldn't say the service was bad, but the staff seemed hurried and on autopilot -- at least that's how it seemed to me on that evening, with the notable exception of one server who interacted with us more and was knowledgeable about the food and wine. I appreciated his hospitality. The food is on that level. I agree with what you said about his fish. The halibut with vidalia onions compote, porcini crema combined with a Barbera sauce we had certainly fits that description. If he wants to make 8 fish courses or even more that would be fine with me. Also agree about the wine. We had a nice bottle of Greco di Tufo for $55. I do think it's great to have restaurants like Fiola here. Hey, a place that serves brachetto d'acqui wine with dessert is all right with me. I just think it could be even better.

Sorry DR, but the web site for the Wolfgang Puck empire has this foreboding statement on it, "These delicious pizzas are temporarily not available in stores." And even more interestng, the web site urges us to "stay alert for when Wolfgang Puck gourmet frozen pizzas make a come back to a store near you." As they might say in his neighborhood in LA, looks like his frozen pizza has gone on hiatus. Oooh . . . just noticed with this post I became a grouper!!!

The tasting menu included one meat course that evening, for which we substituted the brodetto & the branzino. That was the only change we made. It was a good meal, . . . but regarding the prices, if Fiola wants to play at that level with restaurants like Palena, Eve, CityZen, etc., IMHO management needs to step up its game, especially in service/hospitality and ambiance.

I agree on Armand's because it's guilty of calling its stuff Chicago pizza and concocting a fable that they figured out the ingredients of Chicago style by dumpster diving (and if they did, they must have dived into the wrong dumpsters!). Armand's doesn't come close to the good stuff in Chicago. Uno's goes with Armand's into the docket charged with defaming Chicago pan pizza because the Boston corporation that bought Uno's from Ike Sewell's widow ruined it (what a genius move .... pay big bucks for a recipe they wrecked). The only exceptions are the original Uno and Due in Chicago, which they allowed to keep making them following the original methods.

Went to Fiola last night, so here's my take on it. We splurged on the 5 course tasting menu (we declared it a special occasion!). We started with the "susci" scallops with red pepper coulis, pantelleria capers, and Sicilian black olive salt. The scallops were of very high quality, but didn't have quite the "wow" factor of the other courses. Esca in NY is still at the top for crudo. Second course was lobster ravioli. This was one of the best versions of this I've had. Usually I avoid lobster ravioli because the lobster is usually ground too finely and doesn't have much flavor, but Fiola's was an exception. Here the lobster was flavorful and toothsome without being dense and overdone. The piece of lobster tail that came with it was extra tender. We wavered over whether the sauce complemented or overpowered the lobster flavor, but we ended up with none left on our plates. Third was Halibut with vidalia onions compote, porcini crema combined with a Barbera sauce. This was crazy good. Crazy in the sense that there were so many strong, pronounced flavors, but good because it all worked somehow. This dish was also very filling, so it must have had a lot of fats in it. For the fourth course we had one seafood brodetto, which included a langoustine (an authentic one), some shrimp, halibut, cod, and cockles; and one Branzino with Malpeque oysters, leeks, and Lemon–Prosecco zabaglione. The brodetto had an intense, concentrated seafood flavor, as if it had been reduced from the essences of a ton of seafood. The only dud in the bowl was a mushy shrimp. The Branzino, in contrast to the powerhouse brodetto, was light, delicate, and delicious. The dessert course was a trio of sorbetti of grapefruit, lemon-ginger, and passion fruit on a bed of dense spnge cake. While three spheres of sorbetto might seem prosaic, these were artfully made, with the elements of flavor, acidity, sweetness, and smooth ice well balanced. And yes, the rolls are great. The wine list was nice, with several good wines at fairly affordable prices. The service didn't seem quite at the level of the food. While one server was personable and knowledgeable, the rest of the staff we encountered ..... not so much, even a bit brusque. The noise level seemed pretty high, even though the room was not full (the opening of the patio, which seemed to be full or nearly so, might have something to do with that). Also didn't appreciate being incorrectly reported to Open Table as a no show. Having noticed Fiola's prices being discussed in several posts above, I'd say pricewise Fiola is comparable to a place like Restaurant Eve (e.g., the 5 course tasting menu is $5 higher at Fiola). At this price level, I think service and ambiance is where Fiola gets edged out.

Made the Lentils with Broiled Eggplant last night, pretty much following the recipe in the book, although I didn't use quite as much cilantro. Don't love it quite as much as Ottolenghi apparently does. It was delicious! One tweak I'll do the next time is cook the carrots a bit more so they're a little softer.

I agree, the tranquil, atmospheric Misericordia canal is a great place to hang out. On a summer evening out on the fondamenta, it’s difficult to imagine anything better (don't know if that's absolutely true, but such places tend to have that effect). The Fondamenta della Misericordia is in the northern part of an area called Cannaregio, which is one of six sestieri or districts of central Venice. It occupies the large northern chunk of the town, with the Ghetto Ebraico (Jewish Ghetto) about at its center. Some nice bars are on Fondamenta della Misericordia, including the Paradiso Perduto (Paradise Lost). The food served there is nothing special, but the paper bag full of fresh fish fried to order on the fondamenta outside makes a great snack. Some other places to eat are the Ostaria da Rioba and the unpretentious Ristorante Diana.

Dined at 8407 for the first time. The place was fairly busy for a Thursday night. For the first course we shared potato gnocchi with mushrooms. The gnocchi were light and airy, well executed. They also were sauteed so they were slightly browned so that the caramelization of the gnocchi and mushrooms combined for a tasty flavor, which was a nice touch. For the next course had seared scallops with beluga lentils and greens. The scallops were sweet and cooked just right. Also had rockfish with asparagus, marcona almonds, and a bit of grapefruit sauce. The rockfish was cooked perfectly and the sauce left behind was worthy of being mopped up with bread. For desert, a napolean with passion fruit zabalgione and a few raspberries, which was delicious, especially if you like the taste of passion fruit. The pastry in the napolean seemed a bit different than the usual. It was very light and it worked. I was surprised to see a sottocenere on the cheese list, so I was drawn to order it. Sottocenere is an Italian cheese flavroed with truffles. The rind is ash covered, hence its name, which means "under ashes." Highly recommended, especially if you like truffle flavor. It was served with some crusty bread and a smear of raspberry jam, which didn't add or detract much as an accompaniment to this cheese. The meal we had this particular evening would compare favorably to many of the better restaurants downtown.

Here's a sneak peek at the menu for Forchetta: Gnocchi, tomato home made pork sausage ragu, pecorino cheese $16.95 Agnolotti "Gobbi" all' Astigiana, filled with roasted veal, pork, sausage, tossed in butter sage, roast ju, parmesan $18.95 Pasta pillow filled with ricotta and spinach, mascarpone sauce $18.95 Cavatelli, broccoli rabe, pear tomato, shrimp, basil, olive oil $19.95 Pappardelle, wild boar ragu, parmesan $19.95 Lasagna al forno bolognese meat ragu, tomato sauce $17.95 Timpano of maccheroni, sweet crust torte of maccheroni pasta, tomato sauce, mozzarella, little meat balls, eggs, basil $18.95 Calamarata pasta, squid, shrimp, mussels, cherry tomato, garlic, basil $19.95 Whole wheat cappellini, tomatoes, sweet basil, garlic, olive oil $14.95 Risotti Shrimp, zucchini, saffron, sun-dried tomatoes $19.95 Gorgonzola dolce, pistacchio, parmesan $17.95 Pork sausage, porcini mushroom, rosemary, tomato $18.95 Fresh asparagus & asparagus puree $16.95 Corhish hen cooked "al mattone" (under a brick) lemon & fresh herbs $16.95 Beef short ribs salsa verde $19.95 Beef hanger steak, broccoli rabe, red chili, garlic, olive oil $19.95 Organic veal skirt steak, smoked mozzarella, polenta $19.95 Braised pork shank, parmigiano reggiano potato puree $18.95 Veal scaloppine topped with eggplants, mozzarella in cream sauce $19.95 Spiedini di Salsiccia Luganega, veal and pork sausage grilled with potato and rosemary $14.95 Pork sausage and chicken cubes grilled with onions, bread, peppers, sage $14.95 Duck sausage grilled with shallots, apples, peppers, polenta $16.95 Contorni Eggplant parmigiana $6.95 Broccoli rabe, red chili, onion, garlic, olive oil $6.95 Sauteed spinach, garlic, olive oil $6.95 Scarola e fagioli, braised escarole with cannellini beans $5.95 Potato puree with parmigiano reggiano $6.95 Polenta with smoked mozzarella $5.95 Pizza Calzone Toppings

Wearing a pirate hat seems like it could be kind of corporate, doesn't it?!

From the owner's blog on the MOM's website: "We are moving our Rockville store and central offices in April- to the intersection of Nebel St. and Randolph Rd., less than a mile from our existing store and offices. At this new location, we will have a breakfast/lunch/juice counter [The Naked Lunch]. It is going to be super healthy, super crunchy, and super good." He goes on to say that if the Naked Lunch concept fails, they can use it as an employee lunchroom.

This would be an interesting discussion: compare what Mike Isabella and Brian Voltaggio have done since their appearances on Top Chef. Both have opened restaurants in the area, but seem to be taking a different approach to their post-Top Chef careers.

So THAT'S why I've seen so many peg-legged cameramen around there (the eye patch doesn't work too well for them)!!!

In a moment of weakness and laziness I went over to the canned whipped cream at my local SFW, but after reading the labels of ReddiWhip and the store brand the horror (the horror! . . . the horror!) propelled me to get a good ol' carton of heavy duty . . . at half the price and whip it good myself.

Was told by waitstaff that Ren's does not add MSG, although it's possible that a product they use might have it added by its producer.

If you're a pork fiend, Cochon, but otherwise August.

Happy Chef is closed. Phoenix and Three Happiness are still open, but a bit faded in glory. If you are thinking of Chinatown, try Lao Sze Chuan (2172 S Archer Ave) or Ken Kee (2129 S China Pl).

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A 500 ML bottle is $10 via the website. PLUS, through Jan. 24, if you buy $100 of Red Boat stuff -- (that's a lotta sauce!) -- you get a free bottle of new 50°N Phamily (that's how it's spelled on the website!) Reserve (priced at $14.99 for 2 80 ML bottles on the site).

I was sadly informed by a TJ employee at the Silver Springr/Burnt Mills branch that the Balsamic Glazed Sweet Grilled Onions have been "discontinued." When I first spotted these I was amazed and pleased that TJ's had make it possible for me to get the best onions grown in Italy . . . the red torpedo (i.e., slightly elongated) onions from Tropea, grown along the stretch of coastline between Capo Vaticano and Vibo Valentia, in Calabria. In Italy these onions are so famous that cipolla di Tropea ("Tropea onion" or "Tropea's onion") has become an Italian synonym for all red onions. They are/were fantastic. At least I had an intuition these were too good to be true to last long and bought a load to stash away. I don't know who or what committee decides to dump so many great products at TJ's (remember the departed white truffle oil?), but if I ruled TJ's I'd discontinue them too.

Here's the lowdown on Giordano's . . . It was founded in 1974 by the Boglio brothers, who used their mother's maiden name, Giordano, to name the place. The place was bought in 1988 by John Apostolou, who had been working there since the 70s. At some point Giordano's started franchising their shops and I think this began its downfall as the business became overwhelmed by its franchising. Quality slipped and franchisees even began using "unauthorized" ingredients. Then recently Giordano's went into bankruptcy and Apostolou had to relinquish control. In November, investors that included private equity firm Victory Park Capital paid a total of $61.6 million for Giordano's restaurant and real estate assets in a bankruptcy court auction. Other members of the investor group now owning Giordano's includes: Chicago-based Atria Group; George and Basil Apostolou, currently Giordano's franchisees and sons of the couple who had owned the chain when it went bankrupt; and Origin Funding, a Chicago-based real estate firm who put up $10 million of the $61.6 million purchase price for certain real estate assets. In a statement, Victory Park said it planned to "export the World's Greatest Deep Dish Pizza franchise throughout the United States." This does not seem to bode well for the quality of Giordano's. BTW, the famous Uno pizzeria suffered a similar fate when it was acquired from founder Ike Sewell's widow by a Boston based food group that proceeded to franchise Unos like crazy. They allowed franchisees to alter the original recipe, basically destroying the product (in comparison to the original Uno pizza) that made Uno famous. However, in contrast with Giordano's, the buyers of Uno pledged not to mess with the original spots in Chicago, Uno and Due. The pizza from the original two spots is very good, but pizza from any other Unos is terrible and is an insult to the legacy of Uno and Chicago pan pizza, a.k.a. deep dish. Franchising and corporate wheeling and dealing has diminished several of the great Chicago pan pizza places: Besides Giordano's and Uno, Edwardo's, which was started by Edward Jacobson who used to work for the original Giordano's owners, was gobbled up by Chicago real estate investors Ivan and Jeffrey Himmel. The HImmels also took over Geno's East and folded Edwardo's and Geno's East into corporate entity Bravo Restuarants, along with Ed Debevic's. They started franchising Edwardo's and Geno's with the usual results . . . quality collapse, although some Geno's are pretty good (only about half of Geno's (Genii?) are franchises, so maybe that's why some are not bad and others bad. My pick for Chicago pan pizza is Lou Malnati's . . . and guess what . . . Lou Malnati's does not franchise and has no plans to expand outside the Chicago area in order to maintain their standards!!!