hwilson41

OK, I feared that would be the answer. So my next option (other than driving or flying to MA ) would be to find somebody in this area who imports the clams from New England. Is this a serious option (assuming I can find them), or would the loss of freshness make it not worth the trouble? Thanks for the help.

All you Yankees are making me weep. I'm a tried and true Southerner, but I love almost any kind of seafood. Grew up eating fried clams that I'm sure were strips sans bellies (now that I know the difference), which I thought were great, but obviously my education is greatly lacking . So tell me, is it not possible to get "good" steamer clams down here in the DelMarVa area? Surely New England doesn't have a lock on all the good clams on the Easters Seaboard. Do they? Please say it isn't so .

Lan4Dawg, what a wonderful story. Thanks so much for sharing it. I have one question. I checked my Rand McNally, and there are two Stone Mountains, one in Virginia and one in Georgia. Which one are we talking about here ?

My wife and I dined at 2941 last night and the experience was great. Service was quite good by my standards – not enough to smother you, but attendant to your needs. The breads, which I didn’t document, were very, very good (they are baked each day by the chef’s father). I need to pay more attention to them when we return, which we definitely will do. My wife had a goat’s cheese salad with cucumber, pear, baby arugula and vanilla hazelnut vinaigrette that was excellent. The cheese was soft, slightly edged like one would expect from goat’s cheese, and just yummy. Next she had blue crab in fresh pasta folds with lemon and ricotta that was like love letters to the palate, absolutely delicious. She finished off with roasted bison tenderloin with green peppercorn crust, caramelized onions, potatoes and a brandy sauce that we both thought was superb. For starters, I had a lobster bisque appetizer. The broth was just marvelous, although one or two of the lobster pieces might have been cooked just a tiny bit less, but overall very, very good. Next came sauteed foie gras with a Valencia orange marmalade that was superb. I almost ordered more it was so good . And my main course was caramelized diver scallops with Iranian caviar, celery root and sauteed sorrel. If I were making that dish, I think I might try adding the cariar after the scallops were cooked, because that flavor tended to get lost in the shuffle, but it was still excellent, and I’m not a big fan of sorrel. Chef Krinn dropped by the table after the meal was over and we were presented with a complimentary cake (it was our wedding anniversary). He is a delightful fellow, and will talk about food for as long as you'd care to. All in all, it was a most pleasant experience and we’ll be back again as soon as I save up a little money so we can afford it .

Hmmm. My apologies, but part of this just doesn't make any sense to me. What on earth could be on or in a chicken's toenails that five hours of simmering wouldn't neutralize? Bad flavor? From what? I'm confused, and skeptical.

Celery is part of my fantasy beach breakfast. Minor role, mind you, but still necessary. The celery stirs my bloody Mary while I nibble on a dozen raw oysters (or maybe two bloody Marys and two dozen raw oysters). One of these days, I'll be at the beach in cool weather when I can actually get the raw oysters .

OK folks, we (mostly my wife) have fried plenty of chickens, and are frying one as I write this. The only difference is that, after reading this thread, we tried the 24 hour buttermilk marination. And I'm sure it will be wonderful because it always is. What I don't know is where you find takeout that you think is even remotely in the same league as homemade. I had a craving the other day and went to Popeye's. The stuff was at best mediocre, probably worse. When I bit into the crust, a bunch of watery goop dripped out. And no, it was NOT chicken juice. I have no idea what it was. So where do you find good takeout that would be an adequate substitute?

Oops, just re-read your message. Eight hours, even at 200F, will be too long for a 6 pound piece. Maybe five hours. Check after that to see if the internal fat has melted. If so, you're home free.

Lucky, 275F sounds too high to me. We did one recently, starting with a whole cryovac "packer cut". I removed the point to make sausage, trimmed off some of the hard fat cap (leave 1/8 to 1/4"), and the flat was rubbed with spices, wrapped in plastic and refrigerated overnight. Into 200F oven at 10:00a the next morning. It was just about perfectly done by 6:00p that evening. Of course, I'm a native Texan so I'd still prefer smoked Q, but for oven done brisket this was very good.

Welcome, John. For pork casings, you can usually find them at one of the larger "Gourmet" stores. For beef casings, try to find a Halal grocery. I bought beef casings from the Halal store in Falls Church just yesterday. Or if you're looking to purchase in some volume, try these folks. BOL.

What an incredible show. Your husband is a lucky man. If I pay for the airline ticket, would you consider coming to Virginia to cook my birthday dinner ? Beautiful, beautiful job.

Please do post the pics. Prior to this thread, I only thought I knew how to make a real gumbo, but I've learned a great deal, all to the good I hope . I'd vote for osso bucco. I've looked at the recipes a jillion times (well, maybe only half a jillion ) but never tried it. It doesn't look all that difficult, but takes quite a bit of time (I think). Count me in on that one, if that's the group's decision.

Duck and andouille sounds like a match made in heaven to me . Please post pics when you do it. Okra and/or tomatoes, or no? Well, I'm a native Texan. Is that close enough? Naw, I guess probably not , but thanks for the kind words anyway.

Well, I've certainly been bitten by the bug. Made another gumbo night before last, this time shrimp and andouille...with okra...and tomatoes. It was a big hit with my son and me but a little spicy for my wife (more on that shortly). It vaguely resembled the "gumbeaux" I used to make when I thought I knew what I was doing (wrong again ), but was waaaay better. General proportions: 1 large onion, small green pepper, 3 stalks celery, 6 cups homemade chicken stock, 1 lb each shrimp and andouille, 1/2 lb okra, 3/4 cup chopped tomatoes, and the other usual stuff. Since I was a one man show, no time to take a pic of the roux, but here's a shot of the roux after the mise was tossed in and stirred to let things cool down a bit (pot is a 4.5 Qt LC). In the background, you can just see lightly browned slices of andouille and the chopped okra. The roux looks a little darker than it really was (no clue why), although it was well beyond peanut butter. After simmering off and on and adding everything except the shrimp, I let it simmer for another 30 minutes, added the shrimp and let it simmer for a final 10 minutes. Here's the final result. And if I'd learn to plate properly, I would have wiped off the rim and not slopped the juice on top of the rice before I took the picture (sigh), but you get the idea. Flavor was very good, although a bit spicy for my wife's taste. Among things I'd do differently next time, I'd cut the cayenne from 1 tsp to 1/2 tsp, put the tomatoes in earlier and simmer longer so they would disintegrate or nearly so. Other than that, I'm fairly pleased with the results. As I was warned earlier, the strength of the andouille flavor considerably reduced or overshadowed the taste of the shrimp. Not bad really, just seemed that there was a flavor tone that was almost missing. Might put this version on the B list rather than the A list . Oh yeah, and I remembered Fifi's note about Worcestershire Sauce. After tasting about mid-way through, noticed that it was missing a little something. One Tbsp W Sauce did the trick. Thanks Fifi . I think I'll let my gumbo adventures rest for a little while now. We just inherited three pounds of venison, and I think my chili pot is calling my name .

The green stuff is parsley. That ought to be worth at least fifty cents .

Absolutely incredible photographs Adam. Thanks so much for sharing. What a great treat to be able to do this. It pains me a bit, though, to think that some people get to live like that (more or less) 24/7 .

You can learn the damnedest things on egullet . One of the things I love about this site. Growing up in Texas, we called them guh-LUHM-kees. I'm really surprised we were as close to correct as we were .

I was in the Fairfax Wegman's yesterday for the first time, and was generally very impressed. It seemed a little cozier than the Dulles store, but that doubtless was due to the lack of real estate. Didn't even visit the downstairs wine shop, so can't say anything about that. What I did like very much was the restaurant grade beef available. It ain't cheap, but it looked beautiful and based on others' comments, I gather it tastes that way also. I would have wished for shrimp with heads still on (I was making a gumbo last night), and also NC shrimp in addition to the Chinese stuff, but maybe that will come. The deli, cold cuts and cheeses frankly blew me away, but maybe that's because I'm so used to Giant, Safeway, Whole Paycheck, et al . All in all a lovely store, with some details lacking that I imagine will be handled in short order. Wegman's seems to be a very sharp and conscientious operation, and that to me is a hell of an improvement over the other competitors in the area .

You'll definitely want to have some of these on hand just to kick things off . Good luck, take lots of pictures and share with us.

I didn't but a neighbor did, and she said it was packed, just like the Sterling store was when it opened (I did go to that one). Waited in line to park, etc. I'm going to give them a try later today just to see how bad the crowd is. Will report back later.

IF there are only two ingredients in the store bought roux, I'd be inclined to agree with you. Flour and oil are just that (assuming the manufacturer doesn't cheat on the type of oil ). It's the preservatives, etc., that are usually put into commercial stuff that put me off. I've never tried store bought roux, and I'm not even sure it's available here in Virginia, so can't say. Are there any "extra" ingredients in the jarred roux? And do they mention what kind of oil they use?

Beautiful job on the gumbo, Eden. And ol' Hank would be real proud of your taste in music .

Unlikely that it was Charleston unless the dish has been renamed. Charlestonians would have called it Shrimp and Hominy. Bill Neal points out that from Charleston to Beaufort, one needs to read "grits" for "hominy" in the old cookbooks.

Beautiful, beautiful gumbo Fifi. A treat for the eyes and no doubt for the taste buds too . I doubt you'd get that much shrimp or sausage from a restaurant version. A couple of question just because I'm still learning what the hell I'm doing. How much liquid did you lose during the 2 hour simmering? I.e., was the sauce fairly thick at the end? Did andouille seem to overpower the flavor of the shrimp and crab? I'm tempted to try another seafood gumbo pretty soon, and the Jacob's andouille is pretty damned smoky. Thanks for the help, and thanks for the great post with all those pictures and details.

Fifi, to be honest I'm having a little trouble getting my mind around the "radishes in chili" concept, but I'll give it a try next time I make a pot just for you . Maybe we should try some okra too ?