Basilgirl

I was at the truly weird International Foods Warehouse in Lodi NJ a coule years ago and one of their vendors was handing out free cheese samples. One of them is a sort of spongy cheese with fine holes in it that comes from Cyprus. They were cuttign slices, throwing them onto a non-stick griddle and then serving when it was totally browned and almost crunchy on both sides (almost like a slice of burnt crusty pizza cheese that's still soft in the middle. I loved it. They claimed that it's a popular breakfast food in Cyprus but I have yet to ever find that cheese again. Halloumi? Did it kind of squeak when you bit into it, and was really salty? That is some good stuff. I get it at Whole Foods for a lot of $$ and at Shopper's Food Warehouse for very little $$. I like to fry it up and drizzle it with olive oil, capers & lemon juice. Yum.

Paula Dean: "Let's fry up these canned biscuits in OL"; "wrap it in FOL"

Tyler Florence: "Give it a good stir"

Yesterday afternoon, as I was recovering from a frightening visit to the oncologist, my boyfriend stopped in to check on me and fed me Breyer's chocolate chip as I reclined on the couch. That was pretty romantic. Eleven years ago, I met this Boyfriend at the Farmer's Market. He was selling basil, and for me it was love at first sight. That's why I'm Basilgirl.

Johnsonville Smoked Brats with a made on the fly sauerkraut, spicy mustard, little ketchup, celery & caraway seed topping, on buttered toasted potato rolls with Swiss. Wavy Lay's. Sierra Nevadas. Yum.

This is one of my favorite chicken recipes! It's so easy and SO GOOD. Anything else from the book that you recommend besides the orzo risotto? I like the Tuscan Herb Salt, but haven't made much else from it.

Offal? Pasta? Gnocchi? Pesce?

Bechamel is easy, but skip it if a big deal meal to them was meatloaf! Try it next week after they're gone. Bechamel turns into a great cheese sauce with the addition of grated cheese, which then can turn into any number of things - a sauce for veggies, eggs benedict instead of hollandaise, croque monsieur sammies... Best of luck to you, and remember - this too shall pass.

Thanks for the report. I've been wanting to try this place. The owners also own Villa Bella in Burke, which is very good Italian, and Paradiso in Franconia. They are from Sicily - wonder where they learned to make good Mexican & Spanish food?

They serve beer, Heineken & Tsing Dao. I don't remember seeing a mixed drink menu or wine...

My understanding is that weekends are crazy. Not sure about during the week. I've been there on a Sunday night and it was pretty empty. Lunch time is pretty empty too. I usually just get carry out since it's only 4 miles from my house.

Tom Sietsema's review of China Star in Fairfax will be in Sunday's Post magazine and on line tomorrow. Evidently he loves it as much as I do.

My sister takes the last of her tomatoes (in West Virginia, early fall) and wraps each one in newspaper and puts them in boxes in the basement. She said they last until Thanksgiving, slowly ripening. I tried it once and they all rotted on me before they ripened. If you can keep them cool enough down there it might be worth a shot, though.

basilgirl..i am insanely jealous aliwaks: You wouldn't be jealous if you knew of the insane amount of work that lies ahead for me. The last time we had that many tomato plants I would be up until midnight almost every night processing/canning/freezing them. We LIVED on tomato sandwiches that year. And tomato pie. And tomato juice. And tomato water. And tomato salads. And tomato sauce. And roasted tomatoes. And... This time there are more people to share them with, though, so maybe it won't be so bad.

BBT = bacon, basil & tomato. On Pepperidge Farm Toasting White, toasted of course. My boyfriend planted 140 tomato plants this year. Any and all tomato sandwich variations will be employed.

Hope he lives on a farm. Nope, less than an acre in suburbia. I guess he likes to pretend it's a farm, though. Actually he informed me it's 140 tomato plants. And what does he plan to do with the 1,000's of tomatoes? Do you have a really big freezer? Jeez, we just worked our way up to 16 plants, and I haven't quite used up the puree that I froze last year. You're scaring me. We have two chest freezers in the basement...and we will be having BLTs every night for dinner...the garden is located at a house that he rents out, so the tenants better like tomatoes too! I tried canning them the last time he did something this crazy, but I didn't do a very good job. I will try again this year.

Hope he lives on a farm. Nope, less than an acre in suburbia. I guess he likes to pretend it's a farm, though. Actually he informed me it's 140 tomato plants.

OK, I finally found a great turkey burger recipe from Lynne Rosetto Kasper which is unfortunately not on her web site that I could find. I got it from her weekly newsletter, Weeknight Kitchen, which is great and you all should sign up. Anyway, you take some onion, garlic, a handful of grape tomatoes, S&P and saute in olive oil; mix in with the ground turkey and a little white wine. Stuff with a chunk of cheese before cooking. Without a doubt the best turkey burger I have ever had.

My boyfriend just planted 130 tomato plants.

For potato salad, I toss the warm slices with olive oil, tons of garlic, sliced green and black olives, white wine vinegar, S&P. Cook's Illustrated sweet & sour coleslaw is awesome. Macaroni/pasta salads - blech.

Villa Bella in Burke, VA. www.villabellarestaurant.com Pros: Owned by Sicilians, chefs are owners/brothers; excellent woodburning oven pizzas, including double crusted Sicilian style ("schiacciata") and an unusual pie called "Cuddiruni Rosso" with a light tomato topping, sweet onions, a little pecorino, anchovies and scallions; cute little place; good pastas (to-die-for canneloni - ask for both tomato and cream sauces); nice wines; sometimes there's a hint of anchovy in the tomato sauce - I guess it depends on which brother is making it that day. Cons: It's in BURKE (that's where I live). Probably too far out for DC/Arlington/Alexandria folks. The family also owns a place in Franconia/Springfield called Paradiso, with a separate babysitted area for children so Mom & Dad can have dinner alone, and a tapas/Mexican place also in Burke that I haven't tried yet but heard it is good.

China Star (Fair City Mall, Fairfax) is on Washingtonian's latest 100 Best Cheap Eats list. There is also a restaurant with the same name in Reston, I think, but they are not related.

Beer battered

Well yes, BasilGirl, thanks to your recommendation. This outstanding find is in the same shopping center as the Fair City Cinemas, one of the best houses for independent film in all of Virginia (Little River Turnpike and Pickett Road, sort of). PS - A slice of pizza from Mama Lucia's near the movie theater is far better than the pretty bad popcorn from the concession stand. Thin, crispy, greasy, yum.

Mr. Rocks: I took my mom there the other day for lunch. It was indeed not very crowded. She was suitably amazed by the "globular puff" of the scallion pancakes. I tried the pork scallion pie and it was OK, not great. A little gummy with not much filling. I CAN recommend the hot & sour soup as the best I've ever had. And next time you MUST try the spicy and sour baby wontons - little dumplings floating in the most incredible broth with these tee-tiny itty-bitty shrimpies here and there. I think I'll stop by on my way home from work and get some.