hannnah

I'm down there that weekend, but unfortunately will have to be back for Monday morning. Sounds like a great menu though.

Washington Post Food Section Digest, September 15, 2004 The Surprise Inside An Asian Pear: Virginia growers YoungSuk and Paul Estabrook are developing their own varieties of Asian pears, as well as raising 14 varieties for local markets. The sidebar discusses varieties available now, as well as how to pick the best Asian pears and how to order pears directly from the Estabrooks. The Hunt for Little Scarlet: Details on the legendary Wilkin and Sons Tiptree Little Scarlet Preserve, a jarful of hand-picked, small-batch-cooked strawberry goodness. A recipe for sweet omelette is included, but not endorsed by the manufacturer. Accompanying the story is an explanation of why some jars say "conserve" and some say "preserve" - don't worry, the contents are the same either way. Food 101 - Plastic Rap: Robert Wolke debunks yet another of those well-meaning urban legend emails, this time about dioxin in plastic water bottles. The Lazy Loaf: Baking guru Rose Levy Beranbaum shares her go-to recipe for a quick, easy, and delicious whole-wheat loaf. She also includes recommendations for flour storage, working with yeast, and handling dough. Added for the Eye: A paean to Palena's pickles, presented to pretty up the Pickled Martini. Today's Tip: Use a toothbrush to clean hard-to-reach spots on mushrooms. Equipment - Splatter Screen: This wire mesh article keeps the kitchen clean by catching spurts of grease from frying foods. Dinner in 20 Minutes: Spiced skirt steak. The minutes continue to surge ahead - current count is 15 weeks with, 10 without. Ingredient - Honey: It's not just clover honey in a plastic bear bottle - there are different varieties and flavors to experiment with. Book Report: How to Keep Kosher: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Jewish Dietary Laws, by Lise Stern. The book provides a thorough, practical, and easy-to-use description of kashrut. To Do: Greek festival at Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church on 16th St; Arts on Foot festival in Penn Quarter; Turkish festival in Freedom Plaza; wine tasting with the Post's Michael Franz sponsored by the Washington Wine Academy. From Crawfish Etouffee to Cranberry Scones: A review of Coastal Cooking with John Shields: 125 of the Best Recipes from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf Coasts, and Hawaii. Shields' latest book ventures out of the Chesapeake Bay area to collect recipes from coastal areas all over the country. The sample recipe is halibut with herbed fennel sauce and sweet peas. Weekly Dish: The scoop on the singing waiters at Mimi's American Bistro; Rosh Hashanah meal at Felix. Reds, Reds, and More Reds: Three moderately priced red selections for fall, plus a discussion of the Cru Bourgeois classification. Baltimore Cupcake Company: This bright pink building near Fort McHenry supplies everyone's cupcakely needs, as well as cookies and milk. Tom's chat transcript: He goes to Per Se tomorrow; how restaurants should handle birthday celebrations; complaints about the Olive Garden's all-you-can-eat pasta (?!); where to go if you can't get a reservation at Minibar; scheduling holiday parties; and why Tom's against creme brulee.

There are Old Dominion brewpubs in concourses B and C, as well as unspecified "Brew Pubs" in the Main Terminal and concourse A.

Another Southeastern cheesemaker that's doing good work is Sweetwater Valley Farms, just outside Knoxville in Philadelphia, TN. They're doing mostly cheddar/jack types at the moment - including their "buttermilk" cheese, which was the result of an accident in the cheesemaking process but has turned out to be one of their best sellers. They've got a good distribution network going in various local retail outposts and wineries, plus reciprocal arrangements with creameries all over the place, as well as supplying restaurants, the Inn at Blackberry Farm among them. It's good cheese, and they're good folks - the dairy's definitely worth a side trip if you're in the area.

They usually appear online in one of the county Extra sections on Thursdays. Unfortunately, it's not always in the same one every week, so it's easiest to search on "health code violations." Here's the link to the September 9 health inspection roundup.

The crowds at prime times haven't tapered off much at all. In fact, if you go in at lunchtime, or between 5-8pm, the crowds aren't substantially reduced from what they were those first two or three weeks. I know of a few people who copped the "yeah, right, it can't be THAT good" attitude, until they finally went to Wegman's a few weeks ago, so there may be a little of that still. but I think the area's pretty well won over. And, if WTOP is to believed (still haven't found confirmation on this), the head office is so happy that they're planning another store in Leesburg.

Washington Post Food Section digest, September 8, 2004 Have Your Fill: Eat fewer calories than you burn and you'll lose weight. Sounds simple - so why is it so difficult? In her continuing series on healthy eating, dietitian Katherine Tallmadge discusses ways to make sure you feel full and satisfied without eating extra calories. The sidebar has specific suggestions on ways to increase food volume without increasing calories. The Caterer Takes a Holiday: Kosher caterer David Dahan had a problem - how to satisfy the multitude of clients who wanted kosher meals for the High Holy Days while keeping the holiday himself. The solution? Dishes that can be cooked well ahead of time and benefit from resting and reheating or from being served at room temperature. Recipes include Moroccan chicken tagine, French lentil salad, and chilled salmon with herb mayonnaise. At the End, Sweet Apples: The holiday recipes wrap up with a new twist on the traditional apple dessert - apple flan. There Is a Perfect Mandoline: Some people have them and love them, some people have lopped off bits of finger with them, and some people think they're most commonly found as part of a bluegrass ensemble. Whichever category you fall into, be glad that the Post has road-tested these five so you don't have to. Unsurprisingly, the Oxo wins. Also included are tips and techniques for safer and more effective mandoline use. (Two added tips from bitter experience - use the veggie handle even if you don't think you need it, and make sure you've taken the blades out or covered them before you put the mandoline in the sink to wash. Trust me.) Equipment - Blender Jar: Oster has created a mini-blender jar for those tasks where you don't need to use the big blender but don't want to mess up your coffee grinder either. First, There's Ruth Reichl: The Post's Great Cooks and Their Books series returns for another year, kicking off with a lecture and book signing by Ruth Reichl on Sept. 29, followed by an interview and reception with Patrick O'Connell at the Kennedy Center, emceed by Charlie Rose. Also scheduled for the series are Roland Mesnier, Jacques Pepin, and Thomas Keller. Today's Tip: Make sure you shake that soy or rice milk - up to 90% of the calcium can be left behind in the carton as sludge. Mmm, sludge. To Do: Area restaurants contribute proceeds toward defeating ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease on Sept. 9; Maryland Seafood Festival at Sandy Point State Park; Crazy about Capsicums Festival in Purcellville, VA; Slavic American Festival at Epiphany of Our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church in Annandale; Culinary Historians of Washington lecture at the GWU/Mount Vernon campus; cigar dinner at Charlie Palmer Steak. Skins Play by Play: The Ritz-Carlton at Tyson's Corner introduces a potato skins special to run through football season. Dinner in 20 Minutes: Tomato, corn, and arugula salad. Minutes leap ahead - 14 with, 10 without. On the Label - Carrageenan: A seaweed-based stabilizer found in many ice creams, soy and rice milks. The Only Cheese Shop in Town: Del Ray's new temple of cheesy goodness, Cheesetique. Where Malbec Does Best: Michael Franz continues his look at the symbiosis between particular grapes and particular regions with his look at Argentinean Malbecs. Weekly Dish: Sweet Mango Cafe is reborn on Georgia Avenue across from the Metro station. Tom's chat transcript: It's the personal-info-about-Tom edition - Tom hasn't been to Per Se yet but is going next week, and shares a birthday with Michel Richard. Also covered are non-chain restaurants where you can still take your three-year-old, places with good food and minimal or nonexistent decor, various complaints about waitstaff (the ubiquitous "you guys" and "do you want change?") and places with good heirloom tomato dishes. Grapevine chat transcript: The "Stewie from Family Guy" issue comes up again, but we find out that Michael Franz actually sounds like the Guy With The Voice from NFL Films. Plus, more on Malbecs, baseball, Montepulciano, and what to serve at a wedding.

Washington Post Food Section digest, September 1, 2004 (second attempt after the %^&&$%! Google search ate the first one. bah.) Cook Smarter: Emily Kaiser describes the Zen of mise en place. The example recipe, which requires you to get your vegetables in a row, is Frank Ruta's ratatouille. The sidebar has suggestions on what steps to do when. Peel Better: It's not just for, well, peeling - it can also shred, shave, and sliver everything from carrots to cheese to chocolate. Recipes include sauteed zucchini and summer squash with tomatoes and black olives, shaved carrot and cucumber salad with peanut dressing, and penne with sauteed fennel and sausage. You Have Questions: Professor Science has answers. Find out whether or how cornstarch dissolves in water, and the difference between palm fruit oil and palm kernel oil, plus which has more saturated fat. Book Report: Sirio: The Story of My Life and Le Cirque, by Sirio Maccioni and Peter Elliot. Maccioni, with a little help, dishes on his life and the many, many famous people who dined at Le Cirque. Taste Test: Frozen chicken nuggets. The verdict? Stick with the "natural" brands like Ian's and Bell and Evans. Today's Tip: Make sure your fridge is keeping the cold things as cold as they're supposed to be with a refrigerator/freezer thermometer. Dinner in 20 Minutes: Eggs sunny side up with asparagus, pancetta and pecorino romano. The minutes take a decisive lead - 13 weeks with, 10 without. Shopping Cart: The most excellent Trader Joe's World's Largest Salted Cashews. To Do: Middle Eastern food festival at Holy Transfiguration Church in McLean, wine dinner at Galileo. Trade Secrets: Don't be surprised if the kiddies don't eat what's packed in their brown bag lunch - 75% don't eat at least one item, 36% trade at least part of it. Cooking Up Something New: The Food section's yearly listing of cooking classes, including offerings from eGulleters Monica Bhide, B. Keith Ryder, and Ted Task, as well as demonstration classes at 2941, Citronelle, DC Coast, Equinox, Galileo, and Lebanese Taverna. Foraging: The Tiny Kitchen That Scored: Two cookbooks by an Alexandria woman have tips on cooking and entertaining even when your kitchen isn't big enough to swing a cat. Weekly Dish: Grillfish's owner adds a third outlet - the Asian/Mediterranean-themed Merkado; Casa Blanca on Vermont Avenue has more than meets the eye. Argentina Beats Chile: Ben Giliberti gets back to less controversial subjects in a discussion of Argentinean vs. Chilean wines. Tom's chat transcript: People who don't read the chat archives; praise for Bistro d'Oc, Curry Club, and Delhi Club; picks in Toronto and New York; someone thinks Tom sounds like Stewie from Family Guy (?!); kudos for Todd Thrasher's innovative drinks at Restaurant Eve.

We dropped in briefly on Friday and ate our way through the appetizer menu. I can definitely second the recommendation on the spring rolls, although the pureed filling tended to splort a lot. The gravlax is always good, but the Crenshaw melon it's served with in this iteration is a really nice touch (and seriously addictive!) Can't go wrong with the heirloom tomatoes, either.

"So this cicada walks into a Thai restaurant holding a copy of the Washingtonian..." is a great opening line for a joke. Trouble is, I can't imagine what the rest of it would be.

The recipes that pop up on her chat can sometimes be interesting, and she's a big proponent of farmers' markets/CSAs/fresh and seasonal ingredients, but overall the chats are more heat than light. On the other hand, she's perfectly happy to follow up with people who need more information - you see a lot of "email me afterward and I'll look that up." So at least she's willing to try. And there are only so many creative ways you can answer "I hate x vegetable, what else can I try/is there any way I can make it palatable" without starting to sound repetitive. She could do it without being so freakin' perky though. I haven't been doing her chats as part of the digest because she's not technically part of the Food section - she's washingtonpost.com's food person. I suppose I could if there was interest, but since all the chats are archived anyway it's less important to record the links.

According to a report this morning on WTOP (which is unfortunately not on their web site at the moment) the Dulles Wegman's has been so spectacularly successful that they will also be opening one in Leesburg - no date mentioned though. No info on the Wegman's site either, but they don't seem to update the corporate stuff or press releases very often.

All you have to do is send an email to or phone any magazine's circulation department, and they'll happily stop sending you stinky inserts.

Washington Post Food Section Digest, August 25, 2004 Accept No Substitutes: Is there one magic supplement that will give you all the vitamins and minerals you need without making sure they're a part of your diet? The answer is no - you still have to eat healthy too. Fortunately, unless you're completely vegetable-phobic it's not hard - here are some suggestions on working the suggested 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables into your diet. Green Beans, Done to Death: It may come as a shock to some, but boiling and shocking green beans doesn't necessarily lead to the true essence of bean flavor. Sometimes the old methods, like slow cooking, really are the best. Recipes include braised green beans with tomato and fennel, garlic-roasted green beans, and sauteed balsamic green beans with caramelized cherry tomatoes. Fishing For My Supper: A Maryland woman goes to the end of her dock and catches a bounty of piscine goodness. Stolen Steaks!: DC chefs discuss their favorite dishes of the summer season, what's coming for fall, and the summer's funniest customer stories. Featured are Carole Greenwood of Buck's Fishing and Camping, Todd Gray of Equinox, Robert Wiedmaier of Marcel's, Susan Lindeborg of Majestic Cafe, Peter Pastan of Obelisk and 2 Amys, Mark Furstenburg of Breadline, Geoff Tracy of Chef Geoff's, Gary Fick of Crossing at Casey Jones in LaPlata, Jonathan Krinn of 2941, Kaz Okochi of Kaz Sushi Bistro, Brian McBride of Melrose, John Wabeck of Firefly, Alison Swope of Andale, and Jamison Blankenship of Nectar. You can discuss the article in general here. On The Bookshelf: Fresh Food Fast: Delicious, Seasonal Vegetarian Meals in Under an Hour by Peter Berley and Melissa Clark. A solid collection of practical vegetarian recipes. Sample recipes include chilled tomato soup with shallots, cucumbers, and corn; black bean and zucchini quesadillas; and watermelon with fleur de sel. Taste Test: Blue corn chips - the good, the salty, and the might-as-well-be-cardboard. Ingredient - Noodles: Rice noodles vs. cellophane noodles - which to use when. Dinner in 30 Minutes: Thai Stir-Fry Noodles. 12 weeks with minutes, 10 without. Today's Tip: Preheat skillets before adding oil - unless you have a ceramic cooktop that tells you not to. To Do: Cheese tasting with beer pairings at Whole Foods Tyson's Corner. Mmm, cheese and beer. A Real Page-Turner: The staff favorites series continues, with a wild blueberry pie adapted from Nova Scotia Cooking. Weekly Dish: Coming soon - the Mandarin Oriental's flagship restaurant, CityZen, with French Laundry, Spago, and Vidalia alumnus Eric Ziebold. Could be opening as soon as Sept. 15. A Kind Word About Chardonnay: Not all of them are buttery, oaky, heavy monsters - there are some light, fruity Chardonnays more appropriate for a summer picnic than a heavy winter meal. Pastries of the Caribbean: Crown Bakery on Georgia Avenue features savory pastries filled with island ingredients like salt cod, callaloo, or spicy ground beef. They also carry sweet pastries and breads made from traditional recipes. Tom's chat transcript: Upcoming fundraiser for the Jean-Louis Palladin Foundation, where to eat in Vegas, Atlantic City, Long Beach, or Montreal, recommendations for birthdays, anniversaries, and other celebratory occasions, booking for huge parties in Penn Quarter, more strange restaurant behavior, a visit from Post humor columnist Gene Weingarten, suggestions on how to get started as a waiter/sommelier, and the inevitable grousing about splitting the bill equally when you only ordered a salad. Oh, and someone thinks eGullet is mean. Grapevine chat transcript: More on Chardonnays, how to pluralize Chablis without sounding like Gollum ("what does it want with its Chabliseses?"), what wine to pair with a pig roast, why Stelvin closures (aka screw caps) are a good thing, the pluses and minuses of retsina, which may or may not be flavored with Pine-Sol, and what qualifies as a traditional Democratic or Republican dish in terms of wine pairings.

Someone was finally caffeine-deprived enough to take their bovine to DQ....

According to the email I got yesterday, this year is L'Auberge Chez Francois' 50th anniversary. Some of that's got to include the time they were open downtown.

Washington Post Food Section Digest, August 18, 2004 Omelet In a Bag: What do you get when you put two eggs and various fillings in a plastic bag and boil? A spiffy campfire omelet. Cheese Course: The wonderful world of cheesy microbiology - why blue cheeses don't make you ill even if you're allergic to penicillin, and how aging controls the growth of harmful bacteria. Extreme Makeovers - Cracking the Lobster: Third in the series in which local chefs are presented with a standard set of fresh and/or prepackaged ingredients and encouraged to get creative. This week's ingredients: fresh corn, packaged slaw mix, and a lobster. The willing victims: Pesce's Tom Meyer, with a soup, salad, and sandwich combo; Yanyu/Spices' Bill Tu and Johnnie Yip and their lobster salad with sunomono dressing; DC Coast/Ceiba/Ten Penh's Jeff Tunks, with a trio of small plates appropriate to his three restaurants; and Legal Sea Foods' Gordon Cameron's summer lobster salad with heirloom tomatoes, summer greens, and Peruvian purple potatoes. Accompanying their menus are tips from the pros and a demo on lobster meat eviction. A Summer Favorite From Julia's Kitchen: A remembrance of Julia Child, including her recipes for fresh apricot or peach tart, sweet short crust pastry, and apricot glaze. Book Report - The Secret Life of Lobsters: Lobsters from three angles - the fishermen who catch the lobsters, the scientists who study them, and the lobsters themselves. Dinner in 15 Minutes: Arugula, watermelon, feta, and shrimp salad. And the minutes are now in the lead - 11 weeks with, 10 without! Ingredient - Hoja Santa: These heart-shaped, aromatic leaves can be used as a wrap for steamed or grilled foods or as a bed for cheese. The Ancient Five-Second Rule: There wasn't one - food dropped on the floor in ancient Greece and Rome was considered property of the gods. Eat at your own risk. Today's Tip: Check the seasoning on cold soups before serving - what tasted perfect hot may come across as bland once it's cooled. To Do: Wine dinners - one South African, one Tour de France-themed. Equipment - Chopsticks: Good for fishing things out of hot oil, leveling measuring cups, and whacking the knuckles of unauthorized tasters. When the Kitchen Takes Its Toll: Women Chefs and Restarateurs are sponsoring a class on preventing repetitive stress and overuse injuries in commercial kitchens. Weekly Dish: Just when you thought there might be a shortage of Thai restaurants in DC, along comes Regent Thai on 18th St. Also, Halo goes smoke-free. Corked Off: Followups to Ben Giliberti's recent column on handing out free wine to replace bottles that are corked. Read the opinions of eGulleters here. Lining Up at Cold Stone: The ice-cream-with-stuff-smashed-in concept comes to Washington, with multiple locations of Cold Stone Creamery. If there's not one near you now, there soon will be. Resistance is futile. Tom's chat: Krispy Kreme invades Dupont Circle, Ron Reda leaves Dish, we find out what happened to Elysium, recommendations in the Outer Banks, whether or not wait staff should write down orders.

Much of the above - aspartame, large amounts of MSG, and red wine. Although, if I already have a garden variety headache, wine of any color will turn it into a migraine pretty quickly. I also get the dreaded caffeine withdrawal headaches if I don't have at least a cup of tea by 3pm or so. No problems with chocolate, meats, or aged cheeses, fortunately.

FYI - the curator of the Julia Child exhibit at the Smithsonian will be doing an online chat for washingtonpost.com at 2pm Eastern.

Sorry, just found out we can't do the 7th.

Washington Post Food Section Digest, August 11, 2004 Back to the Classics: Many of the preparations we think of as "traditional Greek food" aren't that traditional at all - they're Gallicized versions of the original dishes. A recent movement in Greek cooking aims to revive the original recipes, along with other lesser-known regional dishes. The recipes that are supposed to be included are domata me kopanisti (blue cheese and tomato spread), tzatziki me maratho (yogurt, garlic, cucumber, and fennel dip), garides saganaki (shrimp baked in tomato sauce with feta), domatosalata horiatiki (country tomato salad), and melintzanosalata (eggplant caviar). Unfortunately, there's some sort of bug with the recipe page - I include the link in the hopes they'll fix it (I emailed them about it as well). There's also a discussion of Greek wines, along with pairings for those mystery recipes. After Atkins: So, you've eliminated all those nasty carb-bearing foods from your diet and dropped some pounds - now, how do you keep them off? The Food section's resident dietitian discusses healthy weight-loss maintenance, as well as tips for integrating carbs back into your diet in a sensible manner. The Odd Thing About Chicken Breasts: Those who commonly buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts may have noticed that they've started coming 3 to a pack rather than the traditional four. It's not really a conspiracy to make you buy two packages - just a change in the weight of chicken breasts. Fortunately, smaller producers like Bell & Evans, and "smaller" grocery chains such as Wegmans are still doing the traditional four-to-a-package.Some suggestions, as well as a breakdown of which grocery chains are following which packaging philosophy, are included in the sidebar. Equipment - Chinese Takeout Containers: They're not just for takeout anymore - they make good serving dishes as well. Dinner in 20 Minutes: Tuna with artichoke and lemon relish. Yay, minutes! Weeks with and without are now tied at 10 each. Sweet Tart, With Refills: Cleveland Park's Amernick Bakery offers homemade peppermint stick "straws" to use with chilled lemons. They're lemony, they're minty, and they're $1.50 while they last. Ingredient - Acai: This Amazonian fruit supposedly contains more antioxidants than red wine, and tastes much better with yogurt. There's some discussion of it here. Today's Tip: Some vegetable dishes taste better when they're not piping hot - try mixing and matching serving temperatures to bring out the best in each dish. Defined - The "R" and Oysters: It's not that you shouldn't eat them in months without an R, it's just that they're spawning in July and August and thus not as plump and juicy. To Do: Celebration of the Tomato, with wine and cheese pairings, at the Epicurious Cow in Little Washington; gospel crab feast and buffet at the Voices of Zion of Lomax A.M.E. Zion Church in Alexandria; Austrian wine dinner at Lansdowne Resort. Burger Fries: There may be other gender-based differences in food preferences, but we all eat pretty much the same fast food. Market Watch - Sugar Cane: Good in both tropical drinks and as a skewer for grillables, raw sugar cane towers over the rest of the produce aisle. Thanks, Ina: Another staff favorite - Ina Garten's Shrimp Scampi Linguine. The UnGazpacho: It doesn't have to be a watery puree of tomato-and-cucumber goo - the gazpacho at Buck's Fishing and Camping sometimes resembles a salad more than a soup. Visit the discussion on this and other summer soups around DC. The Weekly Dish: Arlington's Kabob Palace sends out runners and reproduces itself - 2 doors away from the original location. Tom's chat: Musical chefs at area restaurants, the apparent disappearance of Alexandria's Elysium, where to go on weekends and before the Prince concert. Grapevine chat: Visiting southern Napa Valley, where to find Pol Roger Cuvee Winston Churchill (for when Cristal is just too pedestrian), how the Greek wine pairings were tested, where to find white ports, Sicilian wines, and a red wine for novices that doesn't "smell like feet." Edit for typoes.

Count us in for two right now.

We'd be in as well, also depending on date.

I've always been fond of the waterfall - and it doesn't hurt that you can sit and eat the gelato and hear the rushing water. It's a particularly nice way to end up a day trudging round the Mall. You didn't miss anything. It tastes like vaguely fruit-flavored Styrofoam.

Not so much "on the face of" as much as "under the tuchas of"... Depending on how crazy they got with the squeeze bottle.