DTBarton

We have tried the Hardee's version of an Angus burger a couple times when on the road to North Carolina. The first time was actually pretty good (bearing in mind that this is a fast food chain and it ain't gonna be served medium rare). The second time was not as good. I'm pretty sure the difference was the first one was fresh, just made, and the second one had been sitting around a bit. I did think, however, that the meat was a step above the usual fast food offering, both in flavor and texture.

I'm in for the Gumbo / LA thang if we're in town.

The last two years we have stayed at the Island City House and really enjoyed it. Quiet area near the marina and easy walk to Duval Street. Here's Fodor's take: http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults...operty_id=40916 Their web site wouldn't come up just now, but it's islandcityhouse.com

I haven't found that it makes much difference with cured meats like hot dogs.

Unfortunately, I'm out of town this weekend and can't make the crab cake fest. With respect to creative side dishes, I thought I'd share one of my recent favorites with crab cakes (or barbecue or anything else). First, get some hominy. I like to use dried hominy from the Amish market in Annapolis. Use 4 parts water to one part dried hominy, add a good dose of salt and simmer covered for about 3 - 4 hours until the hominy swells up and is tender. Be careful about bringing the heat up slowly and use a big pan. if you crank it up right away you can get a nasty starchy boil over. If you use canned hominy, rinse it thoroughly in a colander to remove excess saltiness and "canny" taste. Heat some vegetable oil and butter in a large non stick skillet. Saute the hominy thoroughly with diced onions and diced chile peppers. I use mostly mild ones like pablanos and anaheims, you can add hotter ones to taste. Don't stir too much as you're trying to get some nice browning on the hominy. Don't do more hominy in one batch than will cover the bottom of the pan in a single layer. A little chili powder and cumin is a nice addition, but not too much. Serve hot, warm, or room temp.

I agree with the notion that greater demand for a product often leads to declining quality. It also leads to a temptation to label things inaccurately, to be kind about it. This happened with Vidalia onions a few years back. The demand became so great that people started calling lesser sweet onions Vidalia to get a higher price. Also, the governing body in Georgia greatly increased the area where true "Vidalia" onions could be grown allowing onions not grown in the true Vidalia soil to get the moniker. I have found that when I attempt to grow "heirloom" tomatoes, the fruits I get are wonderful, but the yield is much less than hybrid plants (only a few fruits per plant), so with limited space I grow mostly hybrids. I wonder if people are growing heirloom/hybrid crosses to up the yield of fruits that look like heirloom.

I think that's probably it. You just have to fiddle around with reducing the wine and stock to get the consistency you want. I like to use some very finely diced portabello mushrooms as well. Add a little butter right before you serve to finish it. Also, use salt and pepper as needed to season. You really need the salt if you use unsalted butter and low salt stock.

So, here's the culprit with the potatoes in the cream of crab soup! Happy Harbor is quite the interesting spot. http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/r...07/08_03-03/ENT

http://www.montesanobros.net/menu_store.htm Just went to this place with my folks on Monday. About 4 miles north of Exton just off route 100 kind of behind the Eagle Tavern. Very impressed with the selection of nice stuff. Cheeses from Dibruno's, sweets from Isgro's, nice olive oils and vinegars, cold cuts, pasta, etc. Real touch of the Italian market in the burbs. We got a couple of sandwiches for lunch. The hoagie was very good (don't remember the name but it had prosciutto, salami, mozarella and peppers). The grilled chicken panini with pesto was good as well, could have been grilled a little more (nit pick). One other suggestion. I bought a piece of Dibruno's mozarella/prosciutto roll, something I knew I liked. We ate some of it for a knosh, and then I was making homemade pizza and I said to my self, self, that stuff sliced on a pizza would be pretty fine. And it was. Being wrapped in the mozarella kept the prosciutto from drying out in the very hot oven, a problem I'd had before trying to use prosciutto on pizza.

I think the right way is to use crab broth as the base, not thicken it too much (the spoon shouldn't stand up!), lots of lumps and a shot of good sherry and fresh ground pepper. Many restaurants have good cream of crab soup early in the evening and they don't thin it back down as it sits on the stove and it ends up way too thick and starchy by 8PM. Oh, and hold the potatoes for the clam chowder!

I second the Wilber's recommendation. http://hollyeats.com/Wilbers.htm This place was also pretty good, but I liked Wilber's better. I'm not too big on buffets. http://hollyeats.com/McCalls.htm It's about 1 minute down the road from Wilber's.

I always wrap it in aluminum foil, sprinkle a tiny bit of water over it, fold it up tight, and put it in a warm oven for a while. Or, you could steam it gently by putting it on a plate or bowl and placing that in the steamer. ← I occasionally buy whole pastramis from Katz's deli in New York. When it's whole, I definitely steam it for about an hour and then slice it. After it's sliced, I agree with markk, warm it up in aluminum foil. I think steaming it after it's sliced might alter the texture a bit and it might fall apart. If I was going to steam it sliced, I'd still wrap it in the aluminum foil.

The Bay bridge lands on the west side of Kent island, Kent narrows is the east side. Annapolis has lots of good restaurants to offer. Anything in particular you're looking for? Here are two good ones very near to the Marriott courtyard: http://www.jalapenosonline.com/ http://www.lesfoliesbrasserie.com/

I think the large grain of the meat in chuck roast would make it less than ideal for pit beef.

I live just south of Annapolis and we have a local produce place that gets fresh silver queen from the Eastern shore every day in the season. Good stuff.

I've only been to Harris's a couple times and I like Mike's better. But, Mike's is also local to us and doesn't require crossing the Bay Bridge and all the traffic nightmares that can happen on weekends (and weekdays sometimes). Some folks swear by Harris's, some by Cantlers http://www.cantlers.com/ , others by Mike's. I think the bottom line is you can get good crabs at any of them. We went to Mike's for wife's birthday last week and had a nice time. Crabs were good, but a little light, not unexpected for this time of year. September/October is my favorite time to pick crabs, they're heavier and it's not so hot outside. Keep in mind they are expensive at the crab houses ($65/dozen for large at Mike's last week) so it's definitely more economical to buy them by the bushel (or catch 'em yourself) and do them at home.

Sounds good. What cut of meat did you use?

A quick search turned up this: http://www.wdfw.wa.gov/fish/shelfish/razorclm/razor10.htm Don't know where you're located, but all the razor clam recipes I saw were referring to Pacific razor clams. I've lived in Virginia and Maryland for many years and the razor clams we get around here are pretty much considered to be fish bait! Don't know if that's truth or unenlightenment.

We like Mike's a lot for crabs. Good food if you stick with the simple stuff, don't go for anything fancy. Crabs, steamed shrimp, and onion rings are our standbys. Beware it does get REALLY busy on the weekends. Probably too late for your trip, but if you decide to go again,, there are some hotels just north of Mike's on Riva road about 3 minutes away. The closest is the Mariott courtyard at 2559 Riva Road. There are others on Admiral Cochrane Blvd just around the corner from the Courtyard. Mike's is at the south end of the Riva Road bridge over the South River. http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?searc...ate=MD&zipcode=

I live in Edgewater. The Adam's ribs here is a real locals' hang out in the bar. As hjshorter said, the bartenders know everyone in the place. The few times we've eaten there the food has been pretty mediocre. But the bar is always full of local color.

I'm no expert on this style of BBQ (although I live 25 miles south of Baltimore). Most of the pit beef I've had over the years ended up being somewhat dry. The Canopy location in Glen Burnie used to be very good, their medium rare was always moist. The other Canopy locations couldn't do it. Here's a NY Times article with a recipe: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...agewanted=print

Sietsema's Post review of Oaxaca from yesterday: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?n...ies=Restaurants

slkinsey is doling out good advice, I second those notions whole heartedly. To make pizza sauce (cooked), I take my homemade marinara and put a cup or so in the blender and blend it smooth. I've found using 00 flour with a little whole wheat added makes a good crust mixture.

Sometimes I like to do them the old fashioned southern way my grandmother used to do. Saute some diced bacon and onions, add the green beans, salt and pepper and chicken broth. Then you simmer them way longer than you think you should! She made this in a pressure cooker also, that was the fast way to make slow cooked beans.

This can be done with breasts, although I prefer to use thighs. Brown the skinless, boneless chicken in olive oil flavored with garlic and pesto until it is about half cooked. Split the pieces and put a slice of manchego cheese in the middle. Then wrap the pieces in thin slices of serrano (or prosciutto). Bake in 350 oven for about 20 minutes until chicken is done.