Nervous Eater

Maybe they no longer offer the extra grease?  That would be a shame, and I'm not sure why they would choose to remove the option.  I was there about a month ago (maybe a bit longer than that) and the option was listed on the menu.

Don- your greaseman post had me laughing in the Midas waiting room.

I do know that you can request "extra groove grease" at RTT3, which I've done, and it has made mine extra juicy. 

Bumping this...hopeful for any suggestions.  Will be in Budapest for 3 nights at the end of this month.  Thanks in advance!

Banco- just sent you a message.  I hope it's still available!

Thanks!

I hope things work out for this shop. I overslept and missed the farmers markets this weekend, and went to the shop on Sunday and was VERY pleasantly,surprised. Got local heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, melon, kale, zucchini, corn, peaches, molasses, bread, cheese, yogurt, cilantro hummus, and plums. All for roughly $40 to $50, which felt like a steal. Any insight on how this sale could affect the shop?

You didn't include the fact that fresh masa from Moctec is not expensive. But, they don't deliver, AFAIK. Fresh masa only lasts a couple of days in the refrigerator before it starts to get sour. So someone would have to drive to Landover, MD several times a week. For a taco stand in Falls church, that might just be too much to ask.

Actually, now that you mention it....I called over there 2 or 3 weeks ago to double check their hours, and the woman I spoke with did say that they could deliver. I mentioned I was in Virginia and that did not seem to be an issue.

Thanks for the heads up, Don!  In between Etto, my beloved Pupatella, and pizzas at home - I haven't given Ghibellina any consideration.  I'll be hitting the happy hour this week. Will report back.

Sure thing...I used this marinade for the pork, and grilled it whole, since the bavette is already pretty thin. It's really a great cut that I'll be using more often.

http://www.theravenouscouple.com/2009/05/bun-thit-nuong-vietnamese-grilled-pork-with-vermicelli.html

The salad was just mixed greens, cilantro, mint, avocado, tomato, shallot, pickled daikon and carrot, with nuoc cham poured over. I'm sure there's a recipe for that on the above website, and tons of ways to personalize the dressing.

The only thing I would change is that the baguette from Lyon is a bit too big for this sandwich, so I'd look for a thinner version.

Thanks a ton! I believe Lyon has mini baguettes though I'm not sure if I'm remembering correctly. That said, definitely trying this over the long weekend.

Union Market Banh Mi last night:

Grilled pork bavette and country pate from Red Apron, pickled vegetables and cilantro on a baguette from Lyon.

"Summer roll" salad with nuoc cham dressing.

Tart apple shrub soda

This is awesome! Will absolutely be doing this soon. Care to share your recipes re: grilled pork for your banh mi and summer roll salad?

Last night:

Pollo al Mattone with a 3 pound Pollo Buono (Italian heritage breed birds purchased from WF several months ago and frozen). I had rubbed the bird down with herbed butcher's salt from Tuscany and orange zest the previous day. Spatchcocked and seared (skin side down) under a brick in a cast iron pan on top of the oven, then finished in a 450F oven.

Roasted broccolini with bourbon barrel Worcestershire, orange zest, raisins, toasted walnuts, percorino.

Toasted homemade sprouted whole wheat bread.

After dinner, baked a blueberry cobbler with blueberries from last week's Clarendon Farmers Market. Blueberries with muscovado sugar, lemon juice and zest, cinnamon, and arrowroot starch. Cobbler crust was Caputo 00 pastry flour, salt, baking powder, butter, sugar, and south mountain creamery half and half, plus I scraped half a vanilla bean, with a little more cinnamon and grated nutmeg. Didn't take long to put together and came out really well. Topped with gelato from Dolci.

Last night:

Stewed fresh shelling beans (Clarendon Farmers Market) with chicken stock, dry vermouth, mirepoix, saffron, pimenton, fresh thyme from the garden.

Pan seared mahi-mahi (whole foods) served over the beans. Topped with a little creme fraiche and chopped parsley from the garden.

Fresh slices of sprouted whole wheat bread, baked yesterday afternoon.

Love SunDeVich. The Buenos Aires and Kingston are two of my favorites. Sadly, I must lament the loss of my favorite sandwich, the Saigon. Really delicious "pseudo" Banh Mi with chicken liver mousse (made at Seasonal Pantry) and pork terrine. I'm going to petition them to bring it back...

I posted this in the Taco Bamba thread, but I decided to make it a separate topic because I'm really interested in seeing some of the viewpoints/insight here:

Why don't more taquerias in our area put more thought into the tortillas? Using packaged tortillas is OK, but that's it. It's just "OK". Even if the fillings are incredible, the tortillas are merely "OK." It would be nice to have delicious tacos that were delicious all the way through, including the tortilla.

Many of us here on the East Coast have never had fresh, handmade tortillas from fresh masa. Sure, we've had stale-tasting maseca tortillas, but not ones made from fresh masa. It seems to me that if a taqueria went out of their way to make fresh masa tortillas, and emphasized this point with the press ("the only taqueria in the area with fresh, handmade masa tortillas"), they would be all the more successful. And they would put out a better product.

Is it simply too costly, in terms of actual monetary costs and labor costs? Does it take too much time and effort? We do have a company in Maryland that produces fresh masa on a daily basis; why don't more local businesses patronize them? The only one I'm aware of is Oyamel, and that is a bit too high-end to be a regular, casual (albeit high-quality) taqueria.

Just something I've been curious about.

Very excited to try Taco Bamba, and will likely be doing so this weekend. That said, it leads me to a question, not specifically targeted at Taco Bamba: (Don...feel free to move if you don't think this belongs here)

Why don't more taquerias in our area put more thought into the tortillas? Using packaged tortillas is OK, but that's it. It's just "OK". Even if the fillings are incredible, the tortillas are merely "OK." It would be nice to have delicious tacos that were delicious all the way through, including the tortilla.

Many of us here on the East Coast have never had fresh, handmade tortillas from fresh masa. Sure, we've had stale-tasting maseca tortillas, but not ones made from fresh masa. It seems to me that if a taqueria went out of their way to make fresh masa tortillas, and emphasized this point with the press ("the only taqueria in the area with fresh, handmade masa tortillas"), they would be all the more successful. And they would put out a better product.

Is it simply too costly, in terms of actual monetary costs and labor costs? Does it take too much time and effort? We do have a company in Maryland that produces fresh masa on a daily basis; why don't more local businesses patronize them? The only one I'm aware of is Oyamel, and that is a bit too high-end to be a regular, casual (albeit high-quality) taqueria.

Just something I've been curious about.

Fresh porcini (Court House market) sauteed in butter with a very small amount of chopped shallot, fresh thyme, and a final squirt of lemon. Served over a dry-aged Roseda NY strip steak (Westover Butcher). On the side, young red russian kale (Court House market) with calabrian bomba, yellow onion, homemade stock, and toasted walnuts. Little bit of aged aceto balsamico.

Tonight will be fresh Vietnamese sausage (fish sauce, fried shallots, lime, cilantro, not sure what else) from the fantastic Westover Butcher, pan roasted and sliced to be served with a little Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce over kale (with garlic and soy) and steamed brown jasmine rice.

Just a heads up, I found fresh porcini at the Court House market this past Saturday. Expensive (of course) but well worth it.

I am absolutely going to try that combination this weekend. Thanks, Don!

Pizza ($7), White Sauce, Garlic, Sautéed Onions ($1), Prosciutto di Parma ($3) <-- Get this combination - it doesn't need cheese. While not inherently "seasonal," this is nevertheless a great springtime pizza.

Any idea what their "white sauce" is? Is it a beschemel, or is it just a reduced cream sauce? Just trying to gauge how heavy it might be.

Thank you, Zora! Always a wealth of info. I'll get some dry porcini for my risotto. I also really like the idea of sprinkling other fresh mushrooms with ground dried porcini. Might do that with some of the other delicious looking mushrooms I saw at Dupont and toss with some fresh pappardelle this weekend.

Anyone have any recent local leads on fresh porcini? Wegmans/whole foods? I inquired at the mushroom stand at dupont this past weekend, but was told that she would not be selling porcini in the foreseeable future. I figured we are approaching the season (am I correct?) and I would love to make a fresh porcini risotto.

Ribeye. Herbed butcher's salt from Italy/coarse black pepper right before grilling, grill over high heat, then pull and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, chopped rosemary, and super thin sliced garlic.

Sliced and served over charred asparagus (california) tossed in a lemon vinaigrette

Topped with sauteed royal trumpet mushrooms + thyme and an over easy waterview egg (tom at dupont)

Anyone know if Chinatown Coffee is still doing their Food Truck Happy Hours on Thursdays?

Last night:

Pan roasted salmon cakes (from BlackSalt. A steal at 3.99)

Brussels Sprouts glazed with homemade chicken stock and vin cotto

Anson Mills Polenta Integrale

Tonight will be:

Skillet-fried pickle-brined chicken thighs

Braised collards (palisades farmers market)

Roasted spaghetti squash with black pepper and cacio di roma (squash from palisades farmers market)

They used to have (as recently as a month or two ago) a roast pork sandwich with salsa verde that was incredible. One of my favorite sandwiches on the VA side of the river, for sure. Unfortunately it's no longer on the menu. I'm hoping these things are cyclical and they bring it back.

I had JUST been given a $100 gift card to Extra Virgin by a well-intentioned family friend. What happens in these situations? I guess this gift card is now officially worth $0.