Malawry

Oh, I am not a vegetarian, I haven't been one for some time now, but I am still deeply interested in the subject. Over the course of the decade or so that I was a vegetarian, I never once looked like a cancer patient. But then I believe it is possible to be a decadent vegetarian. Indeed, I identified as one.

I'll probably be heading out for a nice dinner with my folks and my partner to celebrate a special occasion in late November. Last year we had dinner at Undercurrent because the chef is a graduate of my culinary school and the head of my school said he'd enjoyed a terrific meal there. Where should we go this year? And what should we order when we get there?

What do you make out of vegetarianism? If you had been a vegetarian for many years and decided to start eating meat again, what meat would you start with and why?

Leftover roasted red-skin potatoes, crisped in a pan Leftover miso soup with tat soi and shiitakes

What did you eat, Melani?

Tom Sietsema agrees with my assessment of the mac 'n cheese in Sunday's review, which was posted today: It doesn't suck.

I don't think Thai Roma is open anymore. They didn't spooge Thai and Italian much though, IIRC. Google is a strange and wonderful thing.

Damn, and I wanted to declare broccoli stems as the next hip vegetable most people discard.

Tofu satays with most of the rest of the peanut sauce from last week's bout Miso soup with tat soi and shiitakes Pan-fried vegetable dumplings Milk chocolate for dessert.

I have not had it with grapes but it sounded pretty good to me. Maybe I'll try that next week. Sounds like a tasty base for sausage. Seth, you are in for a treat. I loooooove chard. If you make some extra fold it into some risotto cooked a little dry. Stir in an egg, press into a pan and let it sit in the fridge overnight. The next day cut rectangles, coat with bread crumbs and pan-fry in EVOO. Serve with spicy tomato sauce. Idea from Jim Dixon, nickname ("Swiss Chard Rice Krispie Treats") from my classmates at L'academie. I make extra risotto so I can make this if I'm making it anyway.

There was a biref article on chard in this week's WashPost food section. Includes a recipe. Get the bright lights if you want the pretty colors.

I think the Muir Glen tomatoes are richer, sweeter and redder than most canned tomatoes. I buy them in large quantities when they go on sale at my co-op. The fire roasted ones are good but they won't change your world or anything. Compared to standard domestic brands though Muir Glen is awesome. I haven't tried the Italian brands though so can't compare to them.

I am fond of many types of bbq, but nothing matches NC BBQ in my heart. Especially when Varmint is the pitmaster. In general I like tart flavors, and a real NC vinegary BBQ sauce is a thing of delight on slow-smoked pork.

Muir glen tomatoes rock my world. Tonight, comfort food: Salmon cakes Farm market winter spinach Farm market red skinned potatoes, roasted with lots of garlic.

I am personally amused by Star of David cookies. I don't think it's offensive, but I don't know if it would be offensive for some reason to the more observant. (Although, if this bar mitzvah is not Kosher chances are they won't be offended either.)

I ate a sno-kone myself, as evidence of this theory.

At my brother's bar mitzvah, the chocolate fondue was a huge hit with the kids. Served with fruit skewers, marshmallows, chunks of pound cake and graham crackers. We just had a Viennese table at both my bat mitzvah and my wedding, and the young teen set handled both tables just fine. At my cousin's bat mitzvah at a country club in NC a few weeks ago they had bowls of prescooped ice cream with toppings for the kids buffet which seemed to go over well, but a lot of the kids were distracted by the presence of a sno-kone machine which had more vavavoom factor. Some kids were eating sno-kones before and after dinner...actually I think some of them ate sno-kones AS their dinner.

A big red leaf salad Leftover chickpea vinaigrette-y salad A small grilled cheese sammich Caramel sauce drizzled over honeycrisp apples for dessert I haven't made a caramel sauce since I finished the classwork phase of my culinary education. It's a beautiful process. This particular sauce came out pretty well.

The last of Saturday's batch of homemade fettucine, with butter and parmegiano-reggiano. Ahhh, Italian pabulum.

I hit Five Guys-Springfield a couple of months ago. There was a whiteboard on which some worker had scrawled: "Today's potatoes are from: IDAHO." BTW I have heard through the grapevine that Shelley's, a divebar very close to 14th/Natl Press Club area...what is it, G Street? Anyway I hear they have a good burger. And I thought Stoney's burger was respectable, I liked the "special sauce" which was like a very mild cocktail sauce. The patty was large and well-seasoned.

Jared is user JRage here on eGullet. I've been meaning to get down there for some time. Thanks for your review, Rosie.

Some of the smaller, independent natural-foods stores sell special order free-range turkeys for Thanksgiving. Not sure if all of those available are fresh but it's worth calling around and asking. The Takoma Park Silver Spring Coop (stores in Takoma Park and Silver Spring, MD) has them this year. I'd bet Bethesda Co-Op, Glut, Arlington Co-Op and some of the others will be carrying them too.

Ting! I love Ting! I met Monica Bhide for lunch at David Greggory. We shared the devilled egg starter and an asparagus starter with smoked salmon, serrano ham and sieved quail egg. We both had crab cakes with cabbageless slaw and new bay potato chips. Limeade to drink. Followed by coffee and plenty of good conversation.

The boulanger potatoes we made at school cooked for about an hour. You definitely don't want them swimming in stock, that would explain your results. Boulanger potatoes are like a scrumptious spooge of fondant potatoes and gratin potatoes. I haven't had any of these dishes in some time and now you're making me think of making them. I did buy potatoes at the farm market yesterday...

This is my recipe for pommes boulanger, from L'academie. How does it compare to what you guys did? This technique made for some very tasty, crusty potaotes but then I suspect it uses a lot more butter than ya'll did. Butter is goooood. Boulanger Potatoes Potatoes Onions Melted butter Sea salt and white pepper White stock Slice potatoes and onions very thinly; toss with butter. Season. Put in pie plate. Slice more potatoes thinly and arrange decoratively over the top. Brush each layer of potato on top with butter. Ladle on enough stock to cover halfway. Bake until tender and browned, rebrushing with butter every 10 minutes or so.