Al_Dente

He's lying.

It's been a couple of years since I was last at the Dubliner (near Union Station), but I remember having the best Guinness I've had in the US. Tasted fresh, and was poured correctly.

I'm feeling verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves. Let me give you a topic. "Smooth Jazz" is neither "smooth" nor "jazz". Discuss... Smooth Jazz is the dinner music of Hell.

I thought she might be one of those mail order deals.

This is one of those instances where you read or hear a sentence and realize that it has probably never been written or said in the history of the English language.

While shopping for dinner near a friend's house in Columbia MD, I saw an Omaha steaks store. Went in, bought a few NY strips. Horrible. I've never had such a WET steak. I had to pat them as dry as I could with a ton of paper towels, and they still came out with this awful texture. I could have done better had I bought a plain old strip at a plain old supermarket.

I haven't seen much in this thread on timing. Is there any opinions out there on when in the smoking process the smoke would make the most effective impact? In other words, is it more advantageous to create a lot of smoke at the beginning and not concern yourself with it so much toward the end? I don't have a great deal of experience with smoking yet (I've done a handful of butts, some duck, and did some oysters once on a weber bullet), but I tend to go for soaked chips in foil on top of the fire at the beginning, and then maybe drop a large chunk or two of wood to smolder on the edge of the fire through the remainder of the cooking. Seems to me that most of the smoke effect would take place early on. No?

Where is it?

One of my all time breakfast faves is a Turkish breakfast. Or at least the kind of breakfast I was typically served when I was there. Invariably I'd get this tray which was sub-divided into indented little sections to hold: a very fresh hard boiled egg (the chicken that laid it was probably the same one running in circles around my table), a few nutty tasting black olives, a little tomato, cucumber, and feta salad, and some delicious thick yogurt with honey. Oh yeah, don't forget the turkish coffee and a roll-your-own cig to top it off.

I love the quail appetizer but don't remember seeing cornish hen. Is that new?

So do they. Ever seen it? It's like two trailers, back-to-back in a straight line, coupled at the hitch, motionless, providing a deeper meaning to the notion of the cicada cocktail. And then there's this. I prefer this tshirt. Somehow I imagine this is what the cicadas are trying to communicate to us through that crazy sound they make.

I'd like to be present in the "kitchen" at the very first gourmet meal in a cave somewhere during the stone age. Perhaps with woolly mammoth on the menu-- or maybe dodo bird or giant sloth. I'd imagine that oysters would be served for the first time at this dinner. I'd want to see the expressions and hear the grunts of the guests. I'd then publish a cookbook with all of Chef Grok's prehistorical recipes and market it as the new diet fad which would overtake Adkins.

Is it possible to reserve these seats? Are there only 2? What would be the best option for 4 people? ???

For the prices I'm sure you'll be paying, they better damn well cook it the way you want. Go for it-- go rare! I'm pretty sure a T-Bone has the NY Strip steak on one side of the "T"-shaped bone, and a little of the tenderloin (filet mignon) on the other side. A porterhouse is a T-bone on steroids (ok, not literally hopefully) with a larger chunk of tenderloin attached to one side of the "T" along with the NY Strip. A NY Strip is not attached to the bone at all.

I made enrevanche's sauce. Turned out just like I remember back in Raleigh NC. I also made a mustard based one: 1 c cider vinegar 6 T Maille's Dijon mustard 2 T honey 4 tsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp Tabasco 3/4 c grapeseed oil 2 tsp kosher salt Ground black pepper

Yeah, it's a pity the food at RFD doesn't stack up any where near the quality of the beers. I don't think I'll ever eat there again.

Don't order your steak any more cooked than medium-rare. At a good steakhouse you should be having top quality beef-- it's a shame to cook it too much.

Signature updated

Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) has lil ones for $5 a pop.

Georgetown Safeway had it last night. Anyone know where I can find a 20-pound tub of sasspirilla and 12-count packages of pre-wrapped dried mutton strips? Damn, I got quite the hankerin'... and Safeway just ain't gettin' the job done. I'm all out of freeze dried wolverine nipples too.

Should a lawyer and his elk dine at Nectar, perhaps Jarad could send someone to Colorado for some Aspen bark and leaves: What Elk Eat

I do occasionally indulge in the deep fried variety, but my favorite way of doing them now is on the grill. I brine them for about an hour, and then throw them in a big ziploc with a spice rub. Let it marinate for a few hours or overnight. I still serve them with some bleu cheese dressing.

I made three 4 1/2 lb butts this weekend. Rigged a big gas Weber which worked way too slowly, but I did manage to get a good bit of hickory smoke into the meat before finishing it the next day in the oven. I found my butts at a Giant in Bethesda. Got lotsa leftovers

I've been trying to find some freshly molted cicadas. They have a more attractive lighter color as opposed to the totally black gigantic house-fly look of the readily available bugs. I'll be grilling and drinking on Sunday. Who knows, I might have to throw a few on the grill. If I do, I'll be sure to have plenty of pictures taken for posting somewhere on eGullet. No promises, but I'll try.

Uh.... how did you know? Shoppers probably would be a good place to go. I've usually been able to find it at Safeway or Giant. Not sure of the difference, but have you seen shoulder instead? I think it's basically the same. I might have to smoke a butt this weekend too.