monavano

You can tell right away if the restaurant makes their own stock and lovingly prepares the onion. Good quality cheese on top of the French onion soup is key too. I recently had an awful French onion soup at a bar/cafe. While not expecting earth shattering food, I was appalled by the canned and weak broth, the lack of onions and plastic cheese on top! Yuck.

Do you have a recipe for that sauce? It looks so vibrant. I like the flavor of yogurt in sauces, but have never made one before. What kind of seasoning do you use? Coriander? Mint? ← The sauce was very much a delicious surprise. I wanted to go along with the Moroccan theme with the sauce as well as the meatballs. ← Oh my, yum. Nice work! I'd order that description off a menu. Would you mind putting the recipe (and the meatballs) in RecipeGullet so I can find it again in November? I doubt I'll get to it before then, and its high on my want-to-make this list now. I love those flavors, meatballs work well in our house, and tomato brings bright cheer to a grey day. Now to decide: couscous, rice, quinoa or ??? on the side. Decisions decisions! (hmmm... can I get ground lamb at Costco?) ← I'll post the recipe on Recipe Gullet, for sure. I've never seen the ground lamb at costco. I got mine at Harris Teeter. In fact, because I usually don't shop there, I usually don't see it. When I came upon it, I went with the whim to make meatballs.

That looks delicious. What kind of sauce is on the pork?

See, this is what excites me about food here, the little ethnic gems you find when you really look. How far a walk is from the Zoo to Adam express? Are they open for lunch on Sat. or Sun.? Thanks

Sweet potato soup with pancetta lardons and spiced pecans.

Do you have a recipe for that sauce? It looks so vibrant. I like the flavor of yogurt in sauces, but have never made one before. What kind of seasoning do you use? Coriander? Mint? ← The sauce was very much a delicious surprise. I wanted to go along with the Moroccan theme with the sauce as well as the meatballs. The spaghetti actually worked fine, but I could see serving these (smaller) with pita bread and the sauce for dipping. For the sauce: 3 cups basic tomato sauce (I had some of Marcella Hazan's method on hand) 1/2 small can tomato paste 1 small container plain yogurt (I used fat free) 1 T. cumin 1 T. corriander 1 t. curry powder 1/2 t. cinnomon salt to taste eta: the sauce had a vodka sauce look when combined. The leftovers were snarfed up in a day.

PS....mad knife skillz! I wish I could brunoise like that!

I'm not in the using oil camp, however I really don't know if it interfered with sauce clinging to the pasta. I simply place the pasta in a collander and run it under hot water. Works like a charm. There's NO reason to toss pasta!

Look at those grill marks! What is being served on the plate with the pork?

Has anyone noticed that Giada has not recently been hosting on the Today show? Hmm. Too many flubs? Maybe being bicoastal is too much.

Ajo Blanco, or white gazpacho. Recipe here.

I'm curious Gabriel if you've ever had a NY bagel? While I really like Montreal style bagels, I LOVE NY bagels. Those are the bagels I grew up with and they say " bagel" to me. Like you said, Montreal bagels remind me of a really good piece of artisan bread. ← In a timely manner, as I am reading along with the Washingtonian food critic Todd Kliman's Tuesday "chog", he is recommending the very same bagels Gabriel mentioned. Kliman indeed proclaims them "the best in the world. Lucky Canadians!! http://www.washingtonian.com/chats/restaurants/5406.html (read about the third question down) eta: Lucky us.....St.-Viateur is shipping to the states. http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/...bites/4472.html

Moroccan lamb meatballs with a spiced tomato-yogurt sauce.

You're welcome! Please let us know how it turns out.

The frittata is of Spanish origins. It is a wonderful peasant food which originally used eggs for the protien component of a dish, versus meat which wasn't around all the time or couldn't be afforded. It typically has cooked potatoes in it, as well as vegetables or even perhaps sausage. It's really whatever you have on hand type of meal.

A frittata is like a crustless quiche wich is made in a baking dish and often served cooled. It's more of an unfolded omlett and very easy to make.

Sure, many stores take the wheel of parmesan, cut the rind off, and pre-grate it for sale in a container or bag. Some people who don't know the true gem that the rind is think "this is expensive, so why pay for the weight of the rind since I'm not going to use it". People who cook with the rinds look for them separately as they are usually priced much cheaper than the pieces of parmesan, rind or no rind. ← Adding, I recently went to my nearby Balducci's and asked the cheese guy if he had rinds. He said he just cut up a whole wheel the day before and threw the rinds out. He found some more pieces from which to cut the rind from for me. But why a gourmet store would throw away rinds is beyond me.

Sure, many stores take the wheel of parmesan, cut the rind off, and pre-grate it for sale in a container or bag. Some people who don't know the true gem that the rind is think "this is expensive, so why pay for the weight of the rind since I'm not going to use it". People who cook with the rinds look for them separately as they are usually priced much cheaper than the pieces of parmesan, rind or no rind.

How about making frittatas instead?

Thanks for the update, Holly. I've been wondering if Rick was still open. Do you think there are some fierce battle going on behind the scenes? It's been 2 months with no resolution in sight. I still hope he stays. He deserves to.

I'm looking forward to your blog this week Gabriel. I am really impressed with your dedication to learning new cuisines. My interests are all over the board too, and I think I should take a cue from your method of honing your skills!

Domestic Godess, that chicken looks finger licking good. Oh my! MiFi, I've got to try the Cibola sausage and beans. I'll hit them up at my nearby farmers market on Friday. And, I'm addicted to their "slim jims".

Crepe-cakes with strawberry syrup and bacon.

Veal Francaise (it's there under the lemons!) with rosemary potatoes, roasted in foil, shitake mushrooms sauted with thyme and braised kale.

Is that plastic cheese on them there tuna melts? I want some! (The cheese, not the tuna melt. I have not yet discovered the attraction of tuna melts.) I sometimes get cravings for plastic cheese. It's not something we had a lot of when I was growing up (my mother hates the stuff), but whenever I went baby-sitting, I'd always sneak a piece of plastic cheese out of the fridge to snack on! ← It is plastic cheese! I have"back up" food in my kitchen. When the deli sliced cheese runs out, I usually have plastic cheese backing it up. When the good grating cheese (parm, pecorino) runs out, I usually have the green can to back it up . The funny thing with this picture is that The plasticness of the cheese wasn't apparent until I saw it in picture, and laughed hysterically. And I call myself a foodie....