Xochitl10

Snider's appears to have introduced (expanded?) its kosher food section recently. It's now located in the same aisle as paper towels. I was most excited to find matzo meal and potato starch.

We were there also, commemorating Azami's last meal before he leaves the country for two years. For a starter, we split the mozzarella and tomatoes over field greens, which was amazingly tasty. Great tomatoes for mid-March, and I loved the basil vinaigrette. Neither of us had the culotte -- he ordered the hanger steak with sauteed garlic and I had the sirloin diablo (is that nutmeg in the diablo sauce? Hmm.). He specifically ordered the hanger for its rich, full-flavored beefiness and was very pleased. I brought my pie home and ate it while he packed.

Azami's old roommate once wanted a White Russian, but they had no cream in the apartment. What they did have was the icy, freezer-burned remains of a carton of Haagen-Dazs strawberry ice cream. Into the Black Russian it went, resulting in an undrinkable chunky, frothy, pink-and-brown concoction. We named it, of course, but neither the drink nor the name should ever be repeated.

I made the Warm Bittersweet Mousse from my go-to dessert book, Alice Medrich's "Bittersweet." I used Callebaut 70% and a bit of Hennessy VSOP, and served them chilled after baking. They're very nice, rich without being too rich, creamy, and wonderfully chocolaty. I think the Callebaut 70% has become my favorite bittersweet to work with. I prefer its earthiness to what I've come to consider an unpleasant acidity in comparable Scharffen Berger (which I used to really like).

Pork shoulder braised in white wine and water (did not discover the lack of chicken broth until dish was ready to go in the oven) and finished with fresh thyme Fried polenta Steamed green beans

Had dinner with a friend here on Friday night. We split a bottle of negrette-syrah (I think) and each had the prix-fixe (which, I think someone above mentioned, is a fantastic deal at $28 before 7pm/$32 after). Both of us started with the onion soup, topped with croutons and pecorino cheese. Really good soup, based on a caramelized onion puree, rather than the more traditional onions cooked in stock and left intact -- perfect for such a cold night. She had the mahi with smoky lentils, which were both nice; the fish seemed to be perfectly cooked. I really liked the smoky lentils. I had the roast chicken with mashed potatoes and minced lemon, which was good, if not spectacular. We shared the honey goat cheesecake and the ginger bread pudding with mango. The cheesecake was the hands-down favorite -- creamy, not too sweet, not overly goaty, and perfectly matched with crumbled gingerbread bits. Ginger bread pudding was meh; it seemed much too bouncy and gelatinous for pudding and didn't have much ginger flavor (or detectable bread, for that matter). Service was good, attentive but not cloying, and definitely not rude.

A nice, big, hot bowl of oatmeal topped with milk, maple syrup, and light brown sugar.

Are we still on for tomorrow evening at the QH?

Pan-seared, Japanese seven-spice-rubbed pork chops topped with a shiitake, garlic, mirin, and soy sauce Steamed rice Steamed broccoli tossed with sesame oil and white pepper

I can't do Wednesdays for the next couple of months. Would Thursday, 2/8, be acceptable?

Sunday night: Butternut squash soup, greens with olive oil vinaigrette, sage focaccia, apple crisp w/vanilla ice cream Last night: Spaghetti and tomato sauce made with Snider's sausage.

Indeed. They are different drinks for different occasions. I will gladly drink Martinis all year 'round, but no Gimlets after, say, September, and certainly not at the end of a long, dispiriting workday. For me, Gimlets are celebratory, uplifting, summer drinks. I consider Martinis celebratory as well as restorative.

Finally made the oatmeal banana bread cheezepowder linked to a few posts ago. Per the suggestion, I doubled the amount of oatmeal to 1 cup. I also omitted the walnuts. The loaf was rather dry, probably because I failed to account for the possibility that more oats would suck up some of the liquid in the batter, so I didn't add any additional eggs/bananas/other liquid. The oats definitely had a presence in the bread, and the loaf had a relatively subdued banana flavor, which may have resulted from the increased oat level. Azami, who does not much care for bananas, liked it for that reason. I think it's worth continued tweaking.

I'd be up for an evening at the QH. Next week is out for me, as are Wednesdays until the end of March.

Had drinks and snacks here last night with a couple of friends, one of whom frequents it as a neighborhood joint. Not a lot seems to have changed in two years since the last reviews here, and my experience resembled some of the earlier reviews more closely than the last raving one. Prices seemed high ($11/glass for decent syrah), and snacks were for the most part decent, but not great. We split a pizza margherita, which had nice thin crust, but was a standard red cheese pizza topped with a few scattered basil leaves -- no tomatoes, no fresh mozzarella. As a special item, the chef cooked us up some zucchini fries, which were really quite good: piping hot, and coated with a light, shatteringly crispy, non-greasy, well-seasoned batter. Total for four glasses of wine, pizza margherita, and zucchini fries was $70.

Hmm, I sense a theme. We had Italian sausage with lentils, sage focaccia, and a green salad.

I haven't done it recently, but after a dinner at Makoto, I was inspired to mix some red miso with orange juice, black pepper, and a bit of oil and use it to baste orange roughy during grilling. It kept the fish moist, and made for nice, crunchy edges. I don't remember proportions, unfortunately.

Black bean soup, tortillas, and a Negra Modelo.

Last night: Roasted pork tenderloin with roasted red potatoes Steamed broccoli tossed with lemon, butter, and white pepper Shirley Corriher's Touch of Grace Biscuits...or cake...or biscuit cake. My dough was definitely too wet, and the biscuits lost their definition in the pan. York Castle eggnog ice cream. Tonight: eggplant parmigiana and a 4:1 Bombay Sapphire martini.

How about holing up at a coffee house with a good book, a drink, and a snack? I remember doing that in the stressful months before we moved here from the only place I'd ever lived. My goodness, I hope it stays! I'm going to need it in about five months!

Four of us broke away from Southwest to have lunch at DC Coast yesterday. The place was packed and wicked loud; the food was quite good. They offered four appetizers and three desserts only, but you could choose from the full list of entrees. For appetizers, our table had the seared sea scallops with braised spinach (I think) accompanied by some kind of sauce tasting a bit of balsamic vinegar; the squash soup that I think someone upthread mentioned; a Caesar salad, and a regular menu salad of mixed greens, vinaigrette, and tons of mushrooms. My scallops were really good -- tender with just a bit of chew, nicely seared, and pleasantly buttery. I also liked the taste of my friend's soup -- smooth, not too thick, and very savoury. Mains were the tuna Nicoise, shrimp and grits, fish and chips, and a vegetable plate. The tuna Nicoise would have been good on its own, but was made exceptional by the roasted potato component. My friend liked her shrimp and grits, which were topped with bits of country ham. I didn't taste the fish, and got a chip after we'd been eating for a while so this may not be completely accurate, but the chips seemed like they would have been well crisped and tasty when they came out. Vegetable plate consisted of sides: roasted potatoes, slaw, broccoli rabe, spinach, and a fifth thing I don't remember. My vegan friend seemed pleased with it. For dessert, we had two chocolate cakes with vanilla bean ice cream and salted caramel and a cinnamon creme brulee with hazelnut biscotti. Our server came by during the wait to let us know that the kitchen was in the process of baking more cakes, which we appreciated. The cakes were tasty -- not very sweet, very tender, and, of course, warm. I couldn't taste the caramel at all. The cinnamon creme brulee was very good -- properly crunchy top, creamy, cinnamony, not-too-rich interior. Overall, we had a good experience with DC Coast. Service was pleasant and professional, and the food was uniformly good.

Four of us broke away from Southwest to have lunch at DC Coast yesterday. The place was packed and wicked loud; the food was quite good. They offered four appetizers and three desserts only, but you could choose from the full list of entrees. For appetizers, our table had the seared sea scallops with braised spinach (I think) accompanied by some kind of sauce tasting a bit of balsamic vinegar; the squash soup that I think someone upthread mentioned; a Caesar salad, and a regular menu salad of mixed greens, vinaigrette, and tons of mushrooms. My scallops were really good -- tender with just a bit of chew, nicely seared, and pleasantly buttery. I also liked the taste of my friend's soup -- smooth, not too thick, and very savoury. Mains were the tuna Nicoise, shrimp and grits, fish and chips, and a vegetable plate. The tuna Nicoise would have been good on its own, but was made exceptional by the roasted potato component. My friend liked her shrimp and grits, which were topped with bits of country ham. I didn't taste the fish, and got a chip after we'd been eating for a while so this may not be completely accurate, but the chips seemed like they would have been well crisped and tasty when they came out. Vegetable plate consisted of sides: roasted potatoes, slaw, broccoli rabe, spinach, and a fifth thing I don't remember. My vegan friend seemed pleased with it. For dessert, we had two chocolate cakes with vanilla bean ice cream and salted caramel and a cinnamon creme brulee with hazelnut biscotti. Our server came by during the wait to let us know that the kitchen was in the process of baking more cakes, which we appreciated. The cakes were tasty -- not very sweet, very tender, and, of course, warm. I couldn't taste the caramel at all. The cinnamon creme brulee was very good -- properly crunchy top, creamy, cinnamony, not-too-rich interior. Overall, we had a good experience with DC Coast. Service was pleasant and professional, and the food was uniformly good, if not great.

I totally agree with this. I've had weight issues most of my life, which have been more easily controlled since we moved here and I walk more and cook at home more. As far as workouts, and rather in keeping with the earlier Richard Simmons references, I've found that I really like Jazzercise. I've stayed with it for well over a year. It's cardio and weights, all in one hour, which is perfect for me. A friend from my office teaches a class four days a week at the gym in the building across the street from our office in Southwest, so it's very convenient too -- hop across the street, work out, grab the Metro home.

Monday: Pasta puttanesca; vanilla ice cream with crumbled amaretti Tuesday: Awesomely hot green chile stew from Mom Davis's recipe; Bueno tortillas Tonight: Meat loaf, peas, tots (I was too lazy to make the planned polenta)

Wafuu curry from the Jan/Feb Saveur, made with pork instead of chicken, and rice Miso soup Kariho Choukarakuchi sake, carried back from Akita Prefecture last year.