tfbrennan

Alton Brown's new Good Eats episode combines some things discussed on a couple of threads here. First, he "dry ages" a porterhouse (although I agree with Dean's more apt characterization below) in the refrigerator for 4 days.

While I have never done this method personally, it mimics that of the off site dry aging sold at WFM, but will produce a less moldy product so it is not as "aged". This intermediate style of agina, really neither wet or dried, maybe it should be called refrigeration aged beef, is a step up but not a huge step. Its pretty damn tasty but not close to the real thing.

He then cooks the steak on a grill under a chimney of coals for 90 seconds per side in an effort to replicate a steakhouse broiler. He finishes the steak over the chimney for a minute per side, where Dan and others have cooked steaks.

So my last experiment with the Cook's Illustrated low-temp oven technique was an abysmal failure because I left the steaks on the grill for far too long. This time, though, the result was the best steak I have ever cooked. If I had access to the same quality of meat as Michael Landrum, I would not have been ashamed serving this steak at Ray's. After coming out of the oven, I tossed the steaks on the grill, directly over my chimney starter. The grate itself was, according to my infrared thermometer, between 1005-1020 degrees, with spikes to just the word "HI" on the readout. I only left them on for about 45 seconds on each side. There were no flareups because I'd like the coals burn down (height-wise) to about halfway up the chimney, and I trimmed the fat cap/gristle part off (which I saved to render onto my griddle for making cheesesteaks!). The steak was seasoned with salt, liberal amounts of pepper, and topped with some crumbly, veiny, cow/goat blue cheese. The result was perfect char, and the most amazingly cooked, juicy, tender, medium rare steak I've ever had. It tasted BEEFY. I will never cook a steak another way again.

AB's "Dry Aged Chimney Porterhouse"

Disadvantage noted by commenter: only room under/over the chimney for one steak at a time.

I usually soften butter a while in advance and spread it on the bread rather than melting it in the skillet, but I don't know why. Probably just because that's the way my mother and grandmother did it.

I agree with the ladies in your family. I do it that way, and on a nonstick griddle over medium heat, cheddar oozes and bread nice and golden brown in 5-7 minutes, I'd say, flipping once.

I remember reading before he opened that it was Greek yogurt he added to the toasted marshmallow shake to cut the sweetness and keep it from being cloying (which makes sense, since otherwise it's like you're slurping down liquid marshmallow fluff).

perhaps he was "inspired" by NYC's burger joint Stand's toasted marshmallow shakes recipe in Gourmet ('07).

I can see how the majority of folks who visit would see it as a "promise" that their wait would only be a certain amount of time.

Why, then, the implication that an estimate could be given if I was there in person, but not over the phone?

Because they have no idea how long it will take you get there?

...given that Ray's involves a sometimes tedious driving route through Georgetown...

Do you really expect them to tell you, "If you arrive in 20 minutes, I now estimate the wait will then be 45 minutes, but if you don't arrive for 40 minutes, I now estimate the wait will then be 60 minutes"? Goodness only knows what will happen between now and whenever you arrive to affect the wait you ask them at 6 pm to be able to predict. Being advised a place is booked until a certain time should give you all the info you need to decide whether you want to attempt it. So unless you were given an attitude, I vote not dickish.

America's Dairyland close to legalizing it:

Wisconsin State Journal

April 23, 2010

"A bill that would allow the sale of raw milk passed overwhelmingly in the final hours of the Assembly's session. The Senate had already passed an identical version of the bill, meaning it now heads to Gov. Jim Doyle.

The Assembly voted 60-35 in support of the measure, which authorizes a dairy farmer with a grade A dairy farm permit to sell unpasteurized milk directly to consumers on the farm. Farmers would need to obtain raw milk permits from the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

To sell unpasteurized milk, a farmer needs to keep samples of it, maintain records of each sale, and have the milk tested for Salmonella and other disease-causing microorganisms. Dairy farmers must also provide certain information both on a sign where the milk is being sold and on the label of milk containers, including that unpasteurized milk can contain organisms that cause diseases."

Any list that leaves off the most mis-pronounced word in restaurants (foie gras) is bogus.

How well do people do with sommelier these days (the word, not the person)?

here's a nifty tip from This Old House: how to break an ice dam using hosiery and ice melting compound.

like so....

Recently I used a similar technique with good results -- fry the dough in a cast iron skillet, then remove from skillet, top, and finish in the oven (not broiler). Alex Guarnaschelli's skillet fried pizza with roasted mushrooms and charred broccoli rabe pesto The pizzas (two 12") charred nicely in the skillet.

Since he says "This coming spring" (for the chicken joint), followed later in the paragraph by "Next fall" (for the Verizon Center opening), I wonder if he means 2010 or 2011.

Last summer, Tom S. reported Penn Quarter location would be opening July 2010 (link).

Jerry's Seafood: either Lanham (original, smaller) or Bowie (nicer space) locations.

Do we have a Rockwellian Sunday supper?

On occasion, the highlight of which is Don and Michael's enthusiastic serving style....

My reason for mixing fattier chuck with leaner sirloin is to end up with a grind of about 20% fat.

Check out this DR thread from a while back, beginning at post #6 Hamburgers

I've used a roughly equal mix of chuck and sirloin to good effect; interested in trying brisket per Bucher's comment in this week's NYT article. The Perfect Burger and All Its Parts

Per their website:

Using Your Cast Iron Grate for the first time

Rinse with hot water (do not use soap), and dry thoroughly.

Before cooking, apply vegetable oil to the cooking surface

Once the grate is properly pre-heated, you are ready to cook.

Happy belated Canada Day, by the way.

I clicked "View New Content" in the upper right corner, which gives me a list of topics that have new posts since my last logon.

Oddly, the display has two lines for each topic. If you click anywhere in the first line, it takes you to the first page of the topic. If you click the second line in the topic name, it takes you to the first new post in the topic.

Not fond of double lines for new content -- takes up twice (right, Jake?) the space on the page. If for some reason I wanted to go to beginning of topic, a.k.a. "old content," from new posts, I could simply scroll up or click on first page button.

(I add a toast of thanks to you, Don. Hope the new "drink-when-someone-grumbles-about-the-upgrade" DR drinking game hasn't taken too much of a toll on you. Go easy on the acetaminophen....)

The first Chinese tv chef was Joyce Chen who was on PBS back in the Galloping Gourmet days. She was unintentionally hilarious, a non-telegenic middle-aged woman whose English was almost unintelligible--for a budding young mimic like me, she was a godsend. I kept my family and friends in stitches with a routine where I imitated her recitation of important Chinese dishes and ingredients. To avoid being accused of racism, I will simply say that some of them were: bird nest soup, shark fin soup and hundred year-old eggs. I will leave her pronunciation to your imaginations.

Entertainment for next DR picnic is now lined up.

We've had dinner there with our 15 year old.

Not had any experience with Restaurant.com coupons but see that $25 coupons at some restaurants, apparently usually $10, are $3 with promotion code "SAVE."* Same deal through Borders Rewards Perks link to that site, by the way, though discount there is automatic.

Going to try them at KBQ, where conditions are $35 minimum tab and 18% pre-discount gratuity; therefore savings are not as great as one might first think, but 45% savings on $35 tab is still good. ($35 food + $6.30 tip + $3 cost of coupon - $25 coupon = $19.30 total cost. Don't expect you can combine coupons, so savings % would decrease with higher bills.) Doesn't seem to be exclude takeout but am not positive about that.

Perhaps also Cuba de Ayer....

* ETA: don't know when this particular deal expires but the Borders one ends 3/31.

FWIW, Chef Nongkran Daks' recipes for kway teow pad Thai and its accompanying sauce are featured in the current issue (Winter 2009) of Gastronomica, part of the article Finding Pad Thai by Alexandra Greeley.

The article is downloadable from the UC Press at this link.

The Food Network site also has her recipe (link: "Recipe courtesy Nongkran Daks") but it calls for 1/4 lb rice noodles instead of the 1/2 lb listed in the above version. The only other significant difference between the recipes is that the FN version calls for 5 tablespoons of Pad Thai sauce, while the Gastronomica one calls for 1/2 cup, which is 8 tablespoons. Typos, or did FN modify her recipe to increase the protein/noodle ration to appeal to stereotypical American preferences? But then, it's not her recipe, is it?

A week ago I decided to drop by KBQ but was unable to find it. I am from Montgomery County so I do not know the territory but I got the feeling that it was swallowed up by a Home Depot. Is this so?

Rob

No, you just didn't go far enough. It's another 2 miles east on 450 toward Bowie from the Home Depot you must have been at (Vista Gardens shopping center at intersection of 450 and 704). After crossing 193, it's a right at next light onto Fairwood Parkway, then left into shopping center anchored by Safeway -- KBQ is just right of midpoint of center, next to a wings place.

Incidentally, the map on their website is not quite accurate. It places KBQ about 2/10 of a mile farther down Fairwood Parkway than it is. (If you'd like a satellite view of area, Google Maps' is pre-construction while MapQuest's is current.)

#1 had cookbook published yesterday. March 16 book signing at Ceiba (her brother is a co-owner) but she reports it's full.

why

Don loves to give test tickle-ular exams.

From a couple reviews, CommonWealth serves them but I don't see them on their online menu.

In the interview, it was entertaining when he was feigning disappointment that Obama hasn't earned the right to eat free at Ben's like he had. You can listen to and watch parts of the interview on the WTOP web site.

Cos repeated this on Meet the Press this morning, perhaps also as a result of Obama asking "What's a half-smoke?" after he entered Ben's.

Clandestine bar tending ingredient -- I love it -- who knew? From today's Spirits column:

"Instead of celery salt, I use a few dashes of my latest favorite ingredient, celery bitters, which are made by a German company called the Bitter Truth and will soon be legally available in the United States. (A bartender tells me it has yet to be approved for sale here.) Many of the finer bartenders in Washington already use them, and there are shops in the area that sell them clandestinely."