Malawry

Gadsby's Tavern, which I have never visited, seems to be a real oldy-moldy kinda place.

You'll post a photo, right?

Roasted chicken thigh quarters, with crackling "chicken bacon" skin Boston lettuce salad with blue cheese dressing

These reports are great, GIMB. Keep them coming!

Shrimp cooked with white wine, garlic, basil Seared herb-rubbed duck breast on organic green salad, matchstick vegetables, creamy mustard vinaigrette Watermelon

Is that Red Bean? The guy who's been working on opening it has had his life chronicled in the Washington Post Magazine for the past several Sundays.

Don't most restaurant workers WORK on Friday and Saturday nights?

The last method Steve mentioned--letting the cream sit for a few minutes before whisking--is what I was taught as a culinary student (culinary, not pastry). I've tried it with cheaper chocolates, including chunks of Ghirardelli from Trader Joe's, and I've tried it with higher-end chocolates. Never had a problem as long as I was careful about stirring it properly. I taught some high school kids how to do it in one of my classes this summer and it worked for them too...we let the ganache sit overnight and used it to make simple truffles the next day.

I've heard Hard Times Cafe has an "industry night" on Sunday nights. I think it's like a 10% discount, but am not sure.

Pork-turkey meatballs, in a slow-cooked tomato mushroom sauce Zucchini parmesan Coffee with cream and Splenda

Thanks for all your advice, Slyapsie. I'll keep you guys posted!

Virginia "Kobe" flat-iron steak, seared rare with chile butter Wedge of iceberg lettuce with blue cheese and bacon

Itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny exactly cubic dice. Lovely to marvel at, difficult to accomplish until you've got some serious knife skills under your belt.

Are you wanting to sear it, or make a pate out of it? If you're making pate, don't worry about butchering it when you remove the vein. The pate should cook low-and-slow and everything in the terrine will just fuse into one mass anyway--so if there are odd bits and pieces, it won't matter. If you're planning to cut slices and sear it, even if it falls apart when you devein it you can probably manage to get several good-sized slices off the lobes for searing. Then you can turn the rest into a pate, or add it to sauces or soups, or what-have-you. Foie gras.

When I worked at Ortanique, sometimes we'd have extra fresh tuna on hand that we didn't sell. One of the cooks would roast it until just well-done, dice it, and combine it with a bunch of brunoised goodies for tuna salad: red onion, celery, carrot, and GREEN APPLE. Fresh mayo and a spot of mustard. We'd eat it on toasted baguettes with lollarossa lettuce and manchego cheese. Definitely a favorite staff meal! My best friend got me making tuna-and-egg salad when she was my roommate. Canned drained tuna and chopped hard-boiled eggs in roughly equal proportions (2 eggs:1 can tuna), with lots of dijon mustard, fresh dill, cracked black pepper, chopped cornichons, brunoised celery, and a little bit of mayo. This doesn't suck either.

Tom Sietsema is always going on about Black Olive in Baltimore, which is apparently the home of some really great simply grilled whole fish. I have not been. Has anybody from eG dined there?

I make the lemon-chicken-rice soup for them sometimes, for lunch. It's good in the dead of winter, when sour is such a welcome flavor. I normally don't do soups for dinner but perhaps I will make an exception.

You can come, contingent on my girls accepting you during rush. Lamb burgers aren't a bad idea. I always set up a salad bar for them and was planning to throw a Greek vinaigrette, feta cheese, black olives, and pepperoncini on it so they can make Greek salads. I think tapenade is too strong a flavor for most of them but will keep it in mind. I was also pondering some kind of chicken skewers. Maybe threading them onto rosemary twigs or something?

Some of you may know that I work as a chef for a sorority during the school year. I'm preparing my first meals for my girls a week from Thursday, while the Olympics are still going. I'm thinking of doing a special Greek dinner to welcome them back to Greek life and celebrate the Olympics together. I did a Greek menu last semester, which consisted of lemon-oregano slow-cooked chicken, spanakopita, green beans slow-cooked with tomatoes, and maybe a rice pilaf. I definitely want to bring back the spanakopita, which was incredibly popular, but was wondering if there were suggestions for the rest of my menu. Also, what should I serve as dessert? I was considering making some kind of an apricot-almond dish, since apricots are in season and I think of them as very Mediterranean.

Tonight: Mussels with white wine, shallots and cream Slow-roasted brandywine tomatoes with garlic and chervil Crispy cod on mushroom-bacon-red wine ragout

Well, what kind of fish do you have and how did you want to grill it? (Sometimes I do whole fish like trout, other times cut servings of salmon or tuna--they require different techniques)

Oh, we shall see, my friend. Pullets at Twenty Paces will make a believer out of all of us... Which reminds me: is the Palena bird brined?

Thanks for the post and photos! I can almost taste the pig. I'm interested in how the butter affected the flavor of the meat--does it make a big difference? Pig is so fatty when cooked whole that I was surprised that an additional fat was deemed useful--or was it only a conveyance method for the fresh herbs?

Afterwords, the cafe at Kramerbooks, is open 24 hrs on the weekends and keeps fairly late hours Sunday-Thursday. I haven't eaten there in years (except for an acceptable but unremarkable brunch with Hjshorter last year) but they are an option.

After all, the local restaurant scene thrives on competition. I dare you all to have as much fun as the ladies do...and then to come report about it afterwards.