cjsadler

There is an anti-ban group, Ban the Ban.

Hit the Majestic for brunch on Sunday. I had some very interesting deep fried poached eggs with 'beluga' lentils. The eggs were poached, coated in panko and nicely fried to maintain a runny yoke. The beluga lentils, which I'd never heard of before, were very tiny lentils cooked in chicken stock with carrot and celery and then had some vinegar added. This was an excellent combination-- one of the most inspired brunch dishes I've had in awhile. As Vengroff reported, the ramekin of cheese grits was top notch-- everything they should be. My girlfriend had some wheat waffles which were unfortunately a bit cold, but came with a nice pecan-orange butter and some crisp bacon. A nice brunch with great service as well. I'm definitely looking forward to having dinner here soon.

I hear they have a "fish fry" fixed course dinner on Sunday nights. Anybody know the details on this? If not, I'll give them a call and report back.

I wasn't sure what happened there at the very end with the check confusion and whether we covered it or not. That wine bill was a shocker! Let us know what we need to do to even things out. That was a fantastic dinner and I really enjoyed everyone's company. Chris

Incredible job on this class! Is there any difference between maida and American all-purpose flour (eg, protein content)?

Anyone been to the restaurant supply store at the DC Farmer's Market that sells to the public? I'm curious what's available (especially concerning knives, skillets, stockpots, ramekins, and bakeware) and at what quality and prices.

You can a ceramic one at IKEA for $5. They look like they're as good as the one I got at a kitchen store for $12.

Thanks for putting this together Monica! I'm in for two. Chris

Monica, Count me in for it (+guest). Chris

I tried to get them to divulge the secrets, but they wouldn't. It's definitely brined and probably followed by a long period of air-drying in the fridge to get the skin to crisp like that. Not sure about how they're roasting it.

Zilla, I'm curious about your recipe for creme brulee (which you described as the 'best you've ever had'). Wanna share it?

So I'll try the slkinsey and Evan Lobel method: Get the pan hot as hell (either via stovetop or broiler) and then slap the steak in the pan and toss the pan under the broiler to simultaneously sear and broil the steak, then flip. Right? Will report the results.

Inspired by the steakhouse thread elsewhere on egullet and lacking a grill in my current apartment, I thought I'd finally give searing a steak a try. After heating up my cast iron pan (one of those pre-seasoned Lodge Logic ones) on med heat (gas range) for awhile, I turned it up a bit past med-high (about 80%), at which point the empty pan soon began smoking quite a bit. I didn't think this was good, so I turned the heat down slightly. Everything I've read says 'turn the heat as high as it will go'. But here's the following, from the Le Creuset website, regarding their cast-iron grill pan: "Because of the heat retaining properties of cast iron, Le Creuset products do not require high heats at any time-- use medium to low heat settings to maintain ideal cooking temperatures. High heats and subsequent overheating will permanently damage the surface." So I'm wondering: a.) How hot should I be getting the pan? As hot as possible and forget the smoking? (Is the Le Crueset warning too cautious?) b.) Will broiling achieve better results? See the following from Eval Lobel (which is a combination of searing and broiling if I read it correctly): http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...&f=111&t=27814& Oh, and the steak ended up ok after finishing it in the oven to cook it to medium, but the crust wasn't as good as I'd like to achieve. I patted it dry, put salt and pepper on it, and misted a bit of canola on it before searing. Thanks in advance, Chris

Malawry-- I'm hoping the Wegman's outposts here will offer beer and wine, as the Princeton location's beer and wine selection was great (due to whatever NJ liquor laws, they opened a 'seperate' beer and wine store next door to the actual grocery store). I couldn't get over some of the beers they had. Westvleteren at $3.50 a bottle? You can't find that stuff anywhere, let alone at that price. Steve's right-- I used to work on a project in Princeton, where I lived during the week, and the Wegman's there is amazing.

I'm writing it now. What would you like emphasised? Traditionally you reduce the liquid you add by about half, then mount with butter - essentially you are making a sort of beurre blanc or brun. Maybe you are not adding enough butter? Its different from finishing an already thick sauce with a knob of butter. You need about twice the amount of butter to liquid in the pan you are adding it to. Beurre manie (butter mashed up with flour) may be your secret weapon. Jack-- that's excellent, thanks! (been really enjoying your eCGI contributions thus far). I'd really like to see a step-by-step of a basic reduction sauce that needs thickening without starch/flour..... so of maybe only wine, stock and butter (with shallots, herbs, whatever). And perhaps a demonstration of an already thick sauce (forgive my ignorance here, but I'm not sure what an example of this is-- most the sauces I've been doing are liquid that seems to boil away to nothing, as mentioned in my previous post). I am not adding nearly enough butter going by your ratio, so I imagine that's a big part of my problem (I guess recipes don't want to scare you). Chris

In trying to improve my cooking skills over the past few months, I've found that there's a ton of bad advice and poor instruction in cookbooks (I guess I shouldn't have been all that surprised). Lately, I've been trying some pan reduction sauces (following sauteing) and have been having a hell of a time thickening them without reaching for the cornstarch. A typical recipe tells you to deglaze with wine, reduce, add stock, reduce, and then finish with a Tbs or two of butter. But I find that even after reducing to the point of nothing, it's still a watery sauce (not surprising, as the wine and stock were mostly water to begin with). So far, I've picked up the following key tricks, which I have yet to test: 1. No dummy, they mean to add already reduced chicken stock (why does no recipe or book ever say this!) 2. When finishing with butter, take the pan off the heat and shake in chunks of cold butter... which in essence, cools and thickens the sauce (there is an interesting discussion of this on EGullet in reference to an Eric Ripert recipe-- I can't seem to find it right now, though) Any other advice? Thanks, Chris PS-- This would make a great eGCI topic!

Did I miss the alcohol in the recipe? Can someone reply to this? Chef Fowke? The alcohol is missing from the recipe.

Are there any decent DC restaurants that are strictly BYOB? I can't think of any. I love going to the BYOB's in Philly (like Audrey Claire)-- it makes for a much less expensive tab (the prevalence of Philly BYOBs is due to their liquor licensing laws).

What drink would you recommend to really highlight Cointreau? Would you ever drink it straight?