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hillvalley

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Posts posted by hillvalley

  1. It's been years since eG was a part of my life but because of the board that FG created I have created many important friendships, fallen in love, and had countless experiences that make me who I am today.  I know I am not the only one.  

     

    We should all leave such a legacy.

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  2. Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but awhile back, I used to make protein shakes for breakfast. Best brand I could find was Spirutein. I seem to recall their chocolate peanut butter and cookies and cream being rather tasty. They come in a ton of flavors and you can usually get them at health food stores (definately GNC) - maybe even whole foods.

    Mal-a few years back I was having the same type of health problems (but not for the same reason :() I pretty much lived off of spirutein for a few months. I'd blend it up with some milk and a banana or jsut drink it straight. They have the powdered version-both in the big ole can but also in individual packets which made eating at work easier. There were also jusice box sized drinks that were already blended. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of using a powdered drink but in the end it tasted better-and I think had more nutritional value-than Ensure.

    I hope that helps :wub:

  3. Hello there.  Congrats on landing your own show.  May I humbly nominate a rather out of the way Indian restaurant, the ever humble, inexpensive and tasty Delhi Dhaba.

    I haven't been to the one in Va. but the ones in DC and Bethesda aren't great. There is much better Indian around than those two. If you want to do Indian let me know, we should get Monica Bhide involved.
    I am kinda unsure about he whole DC area thing....people tell me that MD and VA are all right there....I just dont understand it.....

    What sort of thing are you planning re: the Secret Service? I'm sure it would make for interesting tv, but as a native Washingtonian it doesn't seem like the best way to get any kind of authentic DC experience. I mean would you be accompanying them as they retrieve Official Presidential Snacks a la the Jelly Bellies the SS used to buy for Pres. Reagan? Also, re: MD and VA, it really is all right there via the Metro. You're only a few stops away from downtown DC to Arlington and Alexandria, VA and Rockville, Bethesda, and Silver Spring in MD so no worries.

    DC is in the shape of a diamond with most of the bottom left quadrant missing. Back when it was founded Maryland and Virginia both gave land to create the city. (The missing part of the diamond went back to Va.) Therefor DC is surrounded by Md. and Va. depending on what area of DC you are in. The Capitol is in the middle and the division for the city's 4 quadrants: Southeast, Southwest, Northeast and Northwest.

    The Secret Service thing would be cool-but it's not your standard DC experience. You might have trouble finding an agent who is willing to go in TV since they are not supposed to be recognizable.

    I personally don't see Annapolis as part of the DC experience, but I'm sure that others here may disagree.

    I agree-Annapolis is part of Baltimore, not DC. Yes, many people commute from out there but that is due to urban sprall and absurd real estate prices here. Annapolis would be a great spot for your second season though, when you hit cities that are smaller.
  4. Negril? Naaah.  Maybe.  Already discovered.

    But let's make a date for next weekend to do a little location scouting up 14th Street and Georgia Avenue where yuppies like us are afraid to go.  Been meaning to do that for a long time, this would be a good excuse.

    Should we hit it before or after Komi ;) Let me know when and I am there.
    Hello, Folks-

    I am going to be working on Chris Cognac's new show, doing research.

    Andrew-could you tell us about how you are conducting your research, other than reading eG? Will you be coming to the different cities and trying the restaurants out? How do you decide what's in and what's out? How much do we have to bribe you to make sure our favorites make the cut? :biggrin:
  5. Not sure in DC carryout culture is any more pervasive than anywhere else -- and a good amount of it is accounted for by chains -- but there are some good places. 

    There are the also the Hill Rat places, overrrun with 20-something would-be power brokers, a few sould food places in addition to Ooohs and Aaahs (which is no longer off the beaten path, but still quite good) and the places where tens of thousands eat every day: cafeterias in massive government buildings and the museums on the Mall.  Maybe you can get into the Senate Dining Room for bean soup.

    [Hill: We went to El Tapatio the other night. Not impressive except for the mole, which was damn impressive.  On further thought, though, I'm not sure if an LA-based Food Network Prersonality who's also going to Houston and Chicago needs to find Mexican in DC.  He should come up into my 'hood and hang with the Salvadorans, instead.  Maybe we should consider exploring the Caribbean Stuff around Shaw and Howard U.]

    The carryouts I'm talking about aren't the chains-these are independantly owned places where you and I would stand out like a sore thumb ;) If my camera is working I'll do some research this weekend.

    I think you're right about the Salvadorans or giving Carribean a shot. I'm still rooting for Ooohs and Aaahs though. It would be a good fit for dinner.

    Busboy....find me some "jerk chicken" or some Jamaician patties mon!...i dont plan to do Mexican unless its stellar.....I could do Salvadoran....I am looking for a good breakfast and dinner as well.....

    Chris-a little known slogan of DC is "Your Capital City, Where There is No Such Thing as A Great Breakfast." That being said, my favorite place is a little hole in the wall about three blocks from the Capitol called Jimmy T's. It's another one of those places where you will find Hill staffers and cops sitting next to each other Saturday morning.

    What about Negrill for Jamaician?

  6. Busboy...I will look into DC, but dont really know much about it....is maryland far away from the DC area....I am a L.A. "Dude" and dont know much at all about D.C.

    You can stand with one foot in MD and one in DC - they border one another. The mexican neighborhood is about 15 minutes across the state line -- if it was in LAm, it would be well within the city limits; the 'cue runs about an hour or hour-and-a-half by car. The Vietnamese strip mall I spoke of earlier is about 30 minutes outside.

    As I said, if you are going to be shooting in DC, let us know and we'll see what we can dig up, and maybe introduce you/your producer to some other smart foodies.

    Busyboy-we may have to do a recon mission out to PG county to check whether the mexican neighborhood is worth it. The last time I was there it was pretty bad-even if I was only one of two gringos in the whole place. It didn't live up to the hype.

    We are shooting in DC...no ifs ands or butts about it.....we would love to get a core group of foodies that are DC based to help w the production research and even appear on camera if need be...I am interested in the ethiopian coffee ceremony...as well as where the embassy staff eat....not the high ranking ones....I want the worker bee's etc from the embassy...

    We are interested in the military as well since I am a veteran and want to give props to the vets out there....

    Barracks Row, 8th street between Pennsylvania and I, might be worth a look. Two blocks away is the Navy yard and on the east side of the street is the Marine Barracks, home to the Commendant,his band and a ton of young marines. In three blocks you can find a pretty good cheesesteak for the young marines, somewhat fancy (for that neighborhood anyway) Beligum food, and a couple of bars where you could have a marine on one side of you, a Navy contractor on the other and a Hill staffer behind you.

    Plus there is the Firehouse Carryout. I don't know if this is a DC thing or you can find them in other inner city neighborhoods, but we have a dearth of "carryouts" where you can get everything from pretty good fried chicken to fried rice to a steak and cheese. For many people the fried rice is as ethnic as their palate gets. You never refer to the different places by their real name, everyone just knows which "carryout" you are referring to based on the neighborhood you are talking about.

    Have we mentioned Ooooohs and Aaaaaahs yet? Great soul food on U street. The first time I went I listen to another customer tell the cop standing next to him how he got out of getting arrested the night before.

  7. I know next to nothing about DC, but I have lived in other cities where there are a lot of embassies and consulates.  I always go round and chat up the staff to see if there are any good and cheap ethnic eats nearby.  There is invariably an inexpensive cafe somewhere within walking distance that caters to the embassy staff.

    I particularly remember a Russian meal close to the Soviet embassy in Tokyo and a favorite Japanese restaurant close to the Japanese embassy in Panama City.

    So you might hit that angle in DC.  Call some of the embassies and ask where the staff eats.

    That's certainly a unique and interesting aspect of DC.

    Unfortunately if you are looking for cheap eats recommendations from Embassy staff in DC proper you won't have much luck. "Embassy Row", also known as Massachusetts Ave. between just past Dupont Circle up to the Observatory (where Chaney Lives) where most of the embassis are located does not have any restaurants nearby. Nothing. For the most part in order to find good cheap ethnic eats you have to head to the burbs. Given the real estate prices in DC it's getting harder and harder to find cheap eats, let alone ethnic cheap eats in a lot of areas.

  8. It’s interesting to me how PVF & GCF are both in Loudoun County but have such different offerings each week. I still haven’t gotten tomatoes, never got beets, etc.

    You will probably get beets, their season is just starting. Beets tend to last longer than other summer veggies so your CSA may be holding on to them for future shipments. Also, tomatoes seemed to get a late start this year. The actual local tomato season is just starting to get into full swing.

    Faboo, the cucumbers you received are called kirbies or pickling cucumbers. They tend to be a little more crisp and less seedy than your average cucumber. They are my favorite "standard" cucumber. Once you get more tomatoes they are great in gazpacho.

    I've got a CSA question for ya. Do they ask for their plastic containers back? IS there any attempt made to recycle/reuse other containers?

  9. I have larbed and seen the light. I cannot believe that it took me this long.

    Of course I used snowangel's recipe although I didn't have any kaffir leaves and used picked thai green chilli's instead of red bird chillis. And I added a ton of cilantro :biggrin:

    It is beautiful but just a touch salty. Next time I will use more lime. Wish I had some lettuce leaves and a camera so I could share.

    Thank you snowangel.

  10. I got to try the menu this weekend during their pre-opening and was quite pleased with what I found.

    Highlights included the scamorza (smoked, melted mozzarella), the lasagnette (layers of excellent pasta, creamy meat sauce and melted cheese floating in between), the meat plate and desserts. Two favorites from the dessert menu were the pine nut, honey and thyme tart and the vanilla ice cream topped with aged balsamic vinegar.

    The wine menu has a number of wines by the glass that are available in 3 and 8 ounce pours which allowed us to try a wider variety than we normally would.

    I fear that the biggest disappointment I will face is trying to drop in for a bite at the bar and finding it full and overflowing.

  11. Grilled bananas and cream.

    Take the bananas, slice in half and place in a piece of tin foil. Dot with butter and then sprinkle on brown sugar and cinamon if you have it. Close the foil packet and stick it under the broiler or on the grill for about 5 minute or until everything inside is bubbly.

    When you serve, drizzle a little cream around the bananas. Make sure to add a splash or four of rum in your packet after the bananas are cooked :wink:

  12. [...]I only sat through two demonstrations. I am always entertained by Suvir Saran, so I made a point of grabbing a seat at his 1pm demo today. He made something simple--bhel puri, including homemade tamarind and mint chutneys. Joan Nathan was emceeing. Due to food service sanitation laws, they couldn't pass out samples, but Joan smelled and tasted the bhel puri for us--and enjoyed it so much she snitched a couple of additional tastes.[...]

    Is there any way to get around that law? Some kind of special permit or something?

    Unfortunately no. If it was a smaller event maybe, but the Folklife Festivals take so much work as it is they really don't want to deal with one more issue. Even though it has changed since the begining, pulling off the festival takes an enormous amount of time and effort.

    Plus, can you imagine the media nightmare if some tourist from middle America got sick off of Omanian food?

  13.   I am also curious about comments about oversalting on here.  I've now been to Black Salt seven or eight times and still, have not found a single dish to be oversalted.  Having said this, on my next visit, I will probably find everything to be grossly oversalted!!!

    I have a friend who I eat out with a few times a month. We have similar palates and often find layers of flavors and depth that an "average" diner may miss. But we regularly disagree about salt.

    It's led me to believe that both two people can have excellent palates and still disagree about the amount of salt used in the same dish. I can now tell in one bite when he will find a dish oversalted, even though I think it is the perfect amount.

    One person's perfection is another's salt mine.

  14. I had a miserable seafood experience this afternoon. I should have known better than to buy bivalves on a Monday.

    I stopped at The Fishery on Connecticut Ave. on my way home from work to pick up some clams for dinner. Big mistake. Of the dozen and a half clams, two were clearly dead when I got home (opened and wouldn't close when I tapped on their shells). After 1/2 hour of cooking ONE had opened all the way and one had opened a crack. The rest remained completely shut. Needless to say I was pissed and disappointed. I am contemplating taking them all back tomorrow :angry:

    Fortunately a friend called just as I was giving up and we had an amazing dinner at Sushi Ko :smile:

  15. Although I have not dined at either of these restaurants, to make the discussion fair I think that the other three choices, all in DC, should be included. I realize that they may not all be in the same price range or class but that does not mean that their food is not worthy of this discussion.

    As for my two cents, both Palena and Breadline have items on their menu that I consider works of art. I am counting the days until the return of Chef Ruta's tomato soup.

  16. I had a wonderful evening in the lounge last night.

    We started with the smoked salmon. It may be the best smoked salmon I have ever had. Served with brioche, creme freche and watercress, it was succulent and delicate.

    Next we had the goat cheese Cesar salad. Despite the apparent lack of anchovies, this is brilliant. The goat cheese is spread onto the rib of the lettuce adding a creamy burst to the salad. I would have liked stronger flavored cheese, but I was informed that I am wrong on this one :wink:

    For our main we of course had the lobster burger. Instead of a salad we ordered fries. MDT, that's ginger that you tasted in the mayo. Yes, this burger lives up to its praises. The bun is the perfect size, the potato crisps add a wonderful crunch and the lobster is well, lobster. I too found that there was too much mayo but I used my fries to take care of the extra. The mayo is too good to leave on the plate.

    For dessert we took Rock's advice and ordered the coco flakes. What Rocks failed to mention about this exquisite dessert is the mint infused milk it is served with. The milk is what sent the dessert over the edge for me. This is what cereal with milk should taste like.

    Every night of spring break should be this delicious.

  17. I have to agree that Afterwards isn't worth it. The last time I was there I encountered long waits, mediocre omlettes and french toast and overpriced "specials".

    When the weather gets warmer and you are looking for something more casual the brunch at Eastern Market is great. Those blueberry pancakes are worth standing in line for.

  18. I've heard that the chef recommends starting with sashimi, getting a small plate and then ending with a piece or two of sushi.

    As for the dishes you should not miss the shrimp tartar. Served heads and all it is one of the best raw dishes in DC. The chef tosses amebi (sweet shrimp) with a bit of uzu (Japanese citrus) and serves it with a few slices of avocado that bring a creaminess to the whole dish. Now I am going to be craving it all day.

    I would also go with Rock's suggestion of the Chef's sashimi plate. I have had it twice and it is a work of art.

  19. The trick to being in your 20s and having the older people accept you is being cynical. 

    Nah, they just like having us around because it makes them look younger when the goatee doesn't work.

    Oh, and I expect penance to be paid in the form of a big pot of cassoulet in my near future :wink:

  20. The only time I have willingly eaten a tuna sandwich was on hikes at sleep away camp. They would trek us up to the top of some mountain to eat lunch. You could either have processed cheese on white or tuna on wheat. I would pick the lesser of two evils and suffer through the tuna. (Ironically I shared some of these sandwiches with Mark's niece, but that's another story.)

    Today I found myself nearby Breadline during lunchtime. I've heard you people rave and I remember the good old days of Marvelous Market but I have never had the Breadline experience. Until this afternoon. As I stood in line in the middle of the craziness that is Breadline at 1pm I found myself standing in line craving a tuna fish sandwich. Haven't had one in 14 years.

    I'm trying to find the perfect combination of words to describe the tuna sandwich sitting on my table but the words escape me. I couldn't do it justice anyway. This tuna sandwich with "Moroccan influences" on olive bread is a work of art. And I don't even like tuna fish. It is just a simple, excellent tuna fish sandwich. This is a tuna sandwich I could eat again and again.

    While paying for my perfection and a side of fries the cashier greeted the woman behind me by first name. She had a cup of lemonade in one hand and was hiding her other behind her back. Turned out she was holding a sub from Subway :wacko:

  21. When you get home after a nightmare from hell 13 hour day and all you want to do is roast some cauliflower.

    When your first trip home frehsman year of college is planned around the meals you will eat.

    When you plan birthday celebrations around where you will eat. And you start planning months in advance.

    When you trade emails with friends about what you made for dinner.

    When other friends leave you voicemails telling you which restaurant they just ate in.

    When you spend your textbook money on cookbooks.

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