[Where Do I Get Stuff?]

Another place in NoVa to try is the Gourmet Giant in McLean (next to Total Wine). They cut their own osso bucco there, which means they have some nice veal knuckles around from time to time. Maybe not a steady source but if you're in the neighborhood it's worth a try.

[Gourmet's Wal-Mart article]

This is a common response to those who question factory farming and its purported benefits. As the variety of produce on our shelves has increased so too have the kilometres they travelled to get there. Consider both the fuel consumption and emissions of a truck that crosses 3000 miles or more to bring you a Mango from South America, or a ship that consumes petroleum while at sea to deliver those luscious San Marzanos.

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So you are suggesting that we should only eat food grown locally? Is this really a tenable solution? What about folks living in Northern latitudes? Sorry, no fruit for you New England resident, it's January. Enjoy your scurvy and have a nice day!

These evil factory farms are located in places where the crops grow best and are farmed on a large scale because of the greater yield/acre. If all food was grown locally, we'd all have to be farmers to produce enough to simply subsist and that's without the huge variety of food we now enjoy.

No thank you.

[Breakfast Near Silver Spring Metro]

I'd like to put in a good word for Eggspectations. Haute cuisine it isn't, but I think it's a pretty good choice if you're looking for breakfast or lunch. No complaints about the service or atmosphere (pretty cool open kitchen design as I recall). I can recommend the omelette with apples (omelette normande?).

[Crunchy Chicken Breasts]

Crunchy Chicken Breasts

This recipe isn't true Southern fried chicken, but it will make some darn tasty fried boneless chicken breasts. Even better, this recipe is very hard to ruin (no chicken a la meteorite problems). This recipe adapted from Todd English's Figs Restaurant cookbook where it goes by the title, "Olivia's crunchy chicken." I actually made this tonight - next time I'll take pictures.

Yet another version that appeared on what is rapidly becoming an EG tome on Fried Chicken

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast "cutlets" (filet whole breast into two cutlets around 3/4 of an inch thick)
  
• 1 T dijon-style mustard (tonight I actually used a Kosher deli-style strong mustard)
  
• 2 beaten eggs
  
• 2 c all purpose flour
  
• 2 c Panko Japanese-syle bread crumbs
  
• 2 tsp diced garlic
  
• 3 T olive oil
  

Salt and pepper the cutlets and coat them with the mustard and garlic. Allow to marinate for 20-30 minutes. After the marination is complete, dry the chicken slightly with a paper towel. Next, coat with flour - egg - Panko (you know the drill). Heat pan (I used an aluminum non-stick), add oil. It's a very shallow fry, and you may need to add more oil if you do more than one batch. When the oil is hot, add the chicken. I found that 3-4 minutes per side cooked the meat thoroughly resulting in crispy, nicely browned - but not blackened fried chicken.

( RG1202 )

[Crunchy Chicken Breasts]

Crunchy Chicken Breasts

This recipe isn't true Southern fried chicken, but it will make some darn tasty fried boneless chicken breasts. Even better, this recipe is very hard to ruin (no chicken a la meteorite problems). This recipe adapted from Todd English's Figs Restaurant cookbook where it goes by the title, "Olivia's crunchy chicken." I actually made this tonight - next time I'll take pictures.

Yet another version that appeared on what is rapidly becoming an EG tome on Fried Chicken

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast "cutlets" (filet whole breast into two cutlets around 3/4 of an inch thick)
  
• 1 T dijon-style mustard (tonight I actually used a Kosher deli-style strong mustard)
  
• 2 beaten eggs
  
• 2 c all purpose flour
  
• 2 c Panko Japanese-syle bread crumbs
  
• 2 tsp diced garlic
  
• 3 T olive oil
  

Salt and pepper the cutlets and coat them with the mustard and garlic. Allow to marinate for 20-30 minutes. After the marination is complete, dry the chicken slightly with a paper towel. Next, coat with flour - egg - Panko (you know the drill). Heat pan (I used an aluminum non-stick), add oil. It's a very shallow fry, and you may need to add more oil if you do more than one batch. When the oil is hot, add the chicken. I found that 3-4 minutes per side cooked the meat thoroughly resulting in crispy, nicely browned - but not blackened fried chicken.

( RG1202 )

[Fried Chicken: Cook-Off 5]

This recipe isn't true Southern fried chicken, but it will make some darn tasty fried boneless chicken breasts. Even better, this recipe is very hard to ruin (no chicken a la meteorite problems). This recipe adapted from Todd English's Figs Restaurant cookbook where it goes by the title, "Olivia's crunchy chicken." I actually made this tonight - next time I'll take pictures.

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast "cutlets" (filet whole breast into two cutlets around 3/4 of an inch thick)

1 tbsp dijon-style mustard (tonight I actually used a Kosher deli-style strong mustard)

2 beaten eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups Panko Japanese-syle bread crumbs

2 tsp diced garlic

3-4 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper the cutlets and coat them with the mustard and garlic. Allow to marinate for 20-30 minutes. After the marination is complete, dry the chicken slightly with a paper towel. Next, coat with flour - egg - Panko (you know the drill). Heat pan (I used an aluminum non-stick), add oil. It's a very shallow fry, and you may need to add more oil if you do more than one batch. When the oil is hot, add the chicken. I found that 3-4 minutes per side cooked the meat thoroughly resulting in crispy, nicely browned - but not blackened fried chicken.

[Napa Wineries Win Legal Battle Over Labeling]

This whole thing is about wineries with names like "Napa Ridge" where usually no appellation is listed on the bottle, right? John Q. Public sees the label and thinks the grapes are from Rutherford.

I know with food labels, the law says that information on labels must be "truthful and not misleading." I'm a little surprised there's nothing similar for booze.

[Best Wine Store in the greater D.C. Area]

My experiences:

Total Wine (McLean): This is my go-to spot. Vast selection. Knowledgeable, non-snotty staff. Good prices, as has been mentioned before. Look for their coupons in Monday's Post A Section(if you're a GS-rated schlep like me). Occasionally they'll run a 4$ off per btl of Bordeaux (over 16$) - no limits.

Bell (M Street): It does smell funny in there (are those old corks I smell?). Great staff. I was in there every other day when I worked nearby. Nice California selections.

Adega (Next to Whole Foods in Silver Spring). Small but good selection. Not bad if you're in the area and need a bottle to go with dinner. Their stock was pretty low the last time I was in there, however. I hope that's not a bad sign.

[Dogfish Head Brewery]

I've had Dogfish on tap at Hard Times Cafe. Nice brew.

Any word on where in Silver Spring they will be locating? The redeveloped Ellsworth Ave section would be my guess, but I was wondering if anyone had the scoop.