jm chen

Oh, this thread is brilliant. Reminds me of so many things. me, as a child: instead of half a teaspoon of baking soda in sugar cookies, adds half a cup. me, just this year: remembering while chopping a shallot that I should be wearing my contact lenses so I won't cry, so head to the bathroom to put them in... cry a lot more with the shallot juice in my eye than I would have if I'd just kept chopping. my mother: making apple-black walnut cake, reaches into the fridge for apple schnapps, grabs the wrong bottle, pours a cup of Everclear corn alcohol into her batter. my father: attempts to flake the meat out of some crab legs with a Swiss Army knife, slips, slices open the base of his thumb. Irony: two hours before he had been demonstrating to my uncle how to flake the meat out with a fork.

Saturday night we happened to be in the Whole Foods area, so picked up a giant sweet potato, three packs of prepared chicken thighs (BBQ, jerk, and cajun), and haricots verts. Baked the thighs. Boiled the haricots then sauteed em in butter and shallots, finished with a squeeze of lemon. Boiled chunks of sweet potato and part of a smoked habanero; poured off most of the water and mashed up with cinnamon, hot sauce, and a little reduced-fat sour cream. Turned out better than I deserve. Sunday night: flattened pork chops and rubbed them with lemon juice, cumin, coriander, S&P. Sauteed half a big onion with oregano and chile powder rub, removed onions and sauteed chops in the same pan, added onions back in, deglazed with lemon juice, voila. Served with cheese & bean quesadillas, easiest thing in the world.

Only a few people at 1:30? I've been planning to get in there one of these Saturdays and assumed standing by the door at 11:28 was the best way to snag a seat. Now to find out when Sin City is playing at the Uptown and time it all just right...

As a kid: when they served chicken sandwiches and tater tots in the school cafeteria, I ate the chicken patty first and then made a tater tot sandwich with the bun. Delish! As an (overweight) young adult: Ore-Idas baked in the oven, dipped in blue cheese dressing. Mmmmmmmm. Now: as an occasional treat, I'll stop by the Duplex Diner and order their appetizer plate of tater tots and pigs-in-blankets. How much starch and fat can one girl take? More! More! For home recipes, I guess anything with potatoes could have tots subbed in. Tater Totiflette sounds awesome. Go heavy on the bacon!

Incredibly tasty roasted inside and below a chicken. They should be cut into wedges and boiled for about 8 minutes on the stovetop before being popped into the oven for chickenside roasting. Cooking Light has had recent recipes for fennel gratin and fennel bread pudding -- both sounded extremely tasty.

No secret, just brush them with some olive oil, season, try to place them flat on the grate when you turn them. A spatula helps as opposed to some tongs. ← I slice mine thick and put a metal skewer through the center to hold a flat shape. Works like a charm.

Very tasty non-cooking dinner yesterday evening, as it was picnic weather in DC: proscuitto, baguette, fresh mozz, extra sharp cheddar, salami, mineolas, mango chutney, apples, blanket, beloved, sunshine.

Amazing and impressive. I'm particularly wowed by how consistent your work is on the repeated, smaller pieces. Keep up the great work!

I bought a big slab of corned beef (in the vacuum pack with the little included packet o' flavor) a couple days ago. I think it's around four pounds, and the directions call for boiling 50 minutes per pound. My eating partner and I love us some beef, but... not all at once. Should I cook it all up and freeze half? Or cut it in half first, cooking half and freezing half raw? Or cut it in quarters and do some combination? Regardless, looks like lots of Reubens in the near future. Or, if we're splurgy, David Rosengarten's Reuben Rolls, with homemade Russian... mmm.

I love cooking as therapy, and it definitely eases the pain, but for one thing: I've learned to only make something I've made before. If I try cooking when I'm upset and it fails, I end up even more upset than I started.

I only ate there during Restaurant Week and everything was done right but not better. I remember mainly that my salad actually had shredded cheese on top -- not a crime, and not bad cheese, but when contrasted with a similar salad I had at Corduroy where the delectable goat cheese was somehow smoothed out on the plate and tangy and perfect... 15 ria lacked the spark.

Here's a related request... with everyone putting together such beautiful and authentic enchiladas I feel bad as a shortcutter, but here goes: I've been cooking a lot with meat substitutes so I don't have to plan ahead and thaw meat. It's also very helpful if I can do some of the prep and/or cooking for a meal when I get home from work, then meet my boyfriend at the gym for 45 minutes or so and then we eat together afterwards. So last night I put together an enchilada dish with meatless crumbles (blended with 1/2 pkg prepackaged taco mix, fresh onion/garlic, and many Tabasco dashes), frozen shredded cheese, and a jar of Ortega or El Paso or whatever sacreligious enchilada sauce I had in the cupboard. Sprinkled with remaining cheese, put the lid on. Preheated the oven to 400, put the food in, and turned it off -- when we got back from the gym, they were just right. We were both very happy with the result, but as you might imagine, this was WAY salty. I have plenty of cumin, chili powder, et al to season the "meat" so I can leave out the taco mix, but I'm not sure what to do about the enchilada sauce. I have a big jar of smooth chipotle salsa, which will of course be different but would work basically the same way. But if I want to get that specific enchilada-sauce taste, can anyone suggest a recipe, or a product you've seen on your local shelves that doesn't have quite so much salt in it? Y'know, thicker and deeper than salsa, with the heavier mouth-feel.

I haven't read it but the recent review in the New Yorker was very complimentary.

Totally made up a dish without a recipe and it worked perfectly! How shocking is that? Got five chicken thighs from the Safeway, browned them in a Dutch oven on the stove. Removed chicken to a plate, poured off most of the fat. In the remaining tablespoon(ish) of fat, browned half an onion, two shallots, and several cloves of garlic. When it started sticking to the pan (oops, heat too high) I threw in a chopped celery stalk and half a cup of water, stirred it, added two sliced lemons on top and put the lid on. Five minutes later, removed the lid to find lots of liquid, then used part of a lemon to rub the flavor off the bottom of the pan. Removed most of the skin from the chicken and put it back in. Sliced the tops off two heads of garlic, set them down in the liquid, lidded it and put the pan in the oven at 350 for an hour. When it was all done, I put the chicken and most of the onions on a plate, squeezed the roasted garlic into the liquid, and (after a mishap with the stick blender) put all that tasty liquid and garlic into the food processor and buzzed it smooth. Boiled up some egg noodles (I wanted pierogi, but the other eater in the household preferred the noodle option) and served the whole mess with the sauce on the side. Now I just need a name for it and I can make it again!

Can't stop recommending Anson (for the crispy flounder) and S.N.O.B. (for anything) but I'm heading back to Charleston and it sounds like I've got to make time for either McCready's or Peninsula Grill. For a change we are staying at a Bed No Breakfast (that's actually the name of the place) so we'll have to find breakfast somewhere... but is Hominy Grill not within walking distance? We'll be on foot.

The only DC brunches I've had that included the drink were all-you-can-drink deals, like the bottomless Bloody Mary or Mimosa at Sign of the Whale. Can't think of any that included one.

Thanks for the detailed report!

Thanks so much for blogging, torakris! It's been wonderful to see everything and learn so much. Oddly, I'd never seen pocky before, and when traveling for a wedding this weekend, I saw chocolate-covered pocky in a bookstore in Kerrville, Texas! I guess they're everywhere!

I have also had the Sunday brunch at Enchantment and it is insanely delicious. Their stuffed French toast is filled with cream cheese and coated, I believe, in a crust of crushed Corn Flakes. The smoky mushroom bisque is also delicious. If you can't sit outside, you sacrifice the view, but then you can hear the piano music more clearly. Enjoy your stay!

So the person "ended up leaving without ordering as we were upset at the indifferent treatment we received from our server (10 minute wait to even be acknowledged, no water, menus tossed down to us like paper airplanes, etc)" -- intriguing is definitely the word for it. On one hand, I'm sure I've been seated for 10 minutes before receiving water or menus in more than one restaurant; on the other hand, certainly you'd expect immediate, prompt acknowledgment from a waiter even if he was having a busy night. The followup -- a call from the manager to make it right -- was certainly the right response. Lemme quote the whole thing just so we have it here for reference.

Relevant data (address, phone, etc) for Meskerem; to orient you, it's about a block from Cashion's.

I have historically been a person who "doesn't like fish" and recently completed the turnaround. (Why do I feel like I'm at AA now? Nevermind!) Basic principles: * Go with a firm, white-fleshed fish without a strong flavor. Salmon is most definitely out -- even when people insist "Taste this, it's not fishy!" it's still fishy to me. I'd recommend catfish, grouper, tilapia, or monkfish for starters. Use it the day you buy it. * Get them already filleted. Why bother with bones? * Simple preparation is best, but bring in flavors beyond the fish. I have successfully braised catfish in milk and in coconut milk, and both were delicious. Alton Brown has a very good and very simple recipe for milk braising. If you use coconut milk, add in some cilantro, hot pepper sauce, ginger, and lime or lemongrass. Frying or blackening might also fit the bill, in that the fish flavor does not become the prominent flavor in the dish. * Your sides are almost as important as your main dish prep. If you gave me a big slice of tilapia in butter and caper sauce I'd eat three bites and declare myself done. Serve it to me with smoked gouda polenta and some minted peas and I will be your friend forever. Good luck, Thornado! I've done exactly what you're talking about and it is certainly possible. Also, although I'm not up to the challenge of cooking some of these dishes myself, I've enjoyed restaurant fish preparations that were incredibly tasty, like Cashew-Crusted Grouper in Rum-Butter Sauce, so keep an eye open when you're eating out as well. I have found most waiters to be accurate and truthful when I explain that I don't like a strong fish taste and want to know whether the grouper/cod/tuna/bluegill/sunfish is mild.

Good comments all. Gul, I especially agree with the masculine environment of most kitchens as a key barrier to keeping women out. In discussing this with my boyfriend last night he also brought up that it seems like you can have all the benefits of being a chef -- designing recipes, pleasing people, playing with great ingredients -- without being a top toque. Running a catering business, or being a personal chef, for example, would have many of the same benefits, without all of the drawbacks (late nights, unfriendly environment) of trying to push your way to the top of the kitchen as a woman. Which again, makes me appreciate and admire the women who have chosen the harder path. I have GOT to get over to 1789 one of these days. (And Pan, thanks!) Jael

There is an incredibly tasty little chocolate shop near the main brick market. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name, but it was the only one we saw. It was in our guidebook, so we stopped by, and the woman who ran the shop didn't even know she was in the book. The chocolate was Dutch, I believe. (Not so helpful, but if you happen to walk past a first-floor chocolate shop about halfway through the market, go in!)

Depending on how far up into Adams Morgan you want to go, there is a tasty Italian place called San Marco on 18th and... California? I think. Very neighborhood, home-cookery, price is right. Or there are tons of Ethiopian places in the neighborhood, Fasika's and Meskerem in particular. All are near 18th and Columbia. All are very casual and comfy. In Dupont, if you want an entertaining experience, Mimi's has singing waiters and really, really tasty burgers. The menu ranges from $10 to $28 for entrees, though, so judicious ordering is necessary if you're on a budget. I second the recommendation for the beers at Brickskellar -- as for their food, stick with the burgers. I think Pizzeria Paradiso has much tastier pizza than Sette, but it is a small place with few tables so you'd probably be waiting.