cjsadler
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Posts posted by cjsadler
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Someone told me yesterday that Palena's been closed for a couple days due to kitchen repairs. Might want to check before going tonight.
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Went here last night with some friends. Alot of the 'modern' section of the menu just doesn't look appetizing to me (especially the pastas). We had some bhel puri from the street food section, which was so-so and doesn't bode well for the rest of that part of the menu (as Don's comments bear out). However, the traditional dishes we had were just as good as the Glover Park Heritage, and in some cases I thought they were even better. There's one aspect of service here (and at the GP Heritage) that I find irritating: casually pushing things that are a supplemental charge in a tone that implies they are included.
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Many bright and lovely things spring to mind when I think of Amsterdam, and falafel is not among them.
but I've never been--explain, please? why amsterdam is a point of reference for falafel, not its relative retail hierarchy?
They also have insanely great Indonesian food in Amsterdam, but that's due to the Dutch colonization of Indonesia. As for falafel, I never really understood why that was so big there. Maybe someone can explain...
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The third most important thing for sale in Amsterdam is falafel. If you've been there, you know-- it's the world's best. I was skeptical of this new place in Adams-Morgan (on 18th, next door to Chez Antoine), but stopped in for lunch last week. It's the real deal-- falafel fried to order, good bread, the huge array of toppings and sauces... Talked to one of the owners for awhile and she really seems excited about trying to serve falafel as good as you'd get in Amsterdam. There's also frites and mayo, but I wasn't hungry enough for it. Check this place out next time you're in need of a snack (and death to Pizza Mart!)
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Does anyone know if the Fresh Fields near 14th Street sells single bottles of beer like the locations in Virginia.
No, they don't. I was told it's illegal for them to sell single beers, even the 750ml ones (occationally, they specially package those 750ml Stoudt's beers as a two-pack to get around this law).
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Beer can also be used to make sorbet.
I had a trio of beer sorbets at a restaurant in Belgium (In't Spinnekopke). One was made with lambic, one with a Flemish sour red, and I can't remember what the third was. They were surprisingly good (either that or I was really drunk). I've thought of trying to make a lambic one, but haven't yet.
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As meat goes, short ribs are pretty "stringy" and tough. Like any acidic marinade, the wine will denature the protein and tenderize the ribs. The longer the better, so overnight sounds about right.
Keller says this isn't the reason he does it: "Marinating does not tenderize meat, and alcohol doesn't either".
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When cooking short-ribs, I usually just brown and then braise in some sort of red wine/broth mix. But in looking over some recipes for short ribs by two big-wig chefs (Trotter and Keller), I was struck by the fact that both have you marinate the ribs in wine overnight. I'm curious about this. Does it really have an effect? Seems to me that the long braising time would infuse the wine flavor enough and marinating would be superfluous (and it certainly doesn't have anything to do with tenderizing, as they'll get tender enough with braising). Can anyone explain why they advocate marinating short ribs overnight?
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Through some bad experiences, I've found that the most valuable guideline in selecting a wine for cooking is to avoid any with oak (which includes alot of cheap oak-chipped wines) or significant tannins. They develop a nasty astrigent/bitter edge.
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I'll be there at Galileo for lunch as well.
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Has anyone ever had pie or cake there? They're always lined up in plastic coffins by the register but I've never seen somebody buy one.
A friend of mine swears by the yellow cake. Can't get enough of it. Then again, I don't think he's ever bought it while sober. Last time in there, he bought three pieces to take home! It's a mystery to me, as I've tasted it and couldn't see anything special about it, but it seems to certainly fulfill some drunken need for him, though. He's the only person I've ever seen buy it. -
As DCMark said, the chili half-smoke with everything (meaning mustard and onions) is the thing to order.
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I am reintroducing this post because I thought it might be interesting, especially for those who are in the industry and post on these boards. Also, because from time to time I detect an "attitude" of those who live in the city while at other times KNOW there is an attitude from my neighbors who live in the suburbs. To further compound this when I first moved from Montgomery County to Fairfax County my friends in Silver Spring and Bethesda thought that I was moving to a second class state: "Reston? Aren't there cows still being milked there?" is a direct quote from one of my best friends then. Later, living in Reston and still feeling long standing loyalty to Montgomery County I bristled when my neighbors in Reston disdainfully shrugged Ocean City as too "blue collar" favoring the Outer Banks (almost twice as far away!) for their vacation. "Maryland? You go to MD football games? My God, that's across the river! I would have though you would go to Tech if you were going anywhere!" Another actual quote from another neighbor. Note that the Univrsity of Maryland (which I graduated from) is about 30 miles around the beltway and VA Tech is 260 down I81! When I lived near McLean Gardens, later Dupont Circle I found people didn't even know which states Bailey's Cross Roads or Kensington where in! I did suspect that they thought there were cows still being milked in BOTH Reston and Silver Spring!
Having grown up in Virginia, but later moving to Maryland it's been interesting to see people's perspectives from one state on the 'other' state. When I was living in VA, places like 'Gaithersburg' (only heard about during school closings on the radio) seemed like the dark side of the moon to me. After I moved to Maryland, I could only laugh when I heard similar comments about Virginia: "You're going to Annandale? Dear god, that's all the way around the beltway!" Now I live in DC, where I meet alot of people who simply think of VA and MD as a vast uncharted area known as the 'burbs'.
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Dirty little not so secret of the DC KK's:
They are not baked on premises, but in Virginia, and trucked in.
You sure? They have one of those doughnut machines in the Dupont store (I was walking by yesterday, but didn't go in).
Edit: I just saw the WP story. Apparently all the machine does is glaze the doughnuts-- they're baked elsewhere.
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I got an email that Roberto will be grilling every day this week. And he'll have cannoli now too.
Sweet deal. I just did a search on them, and they're on 21st and L! That's like, three blocks from where I work! Why haven't I gone yet?! What are the hours for lunch?
Usually noon until about 1:15 or so... Today he had some great pizza he'd made in addition to the cannoli. "I'm full of surprises!" he said.
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I got an email that Roberto will be grilling every day this week. And he'll have cannoli now too.
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I was walking by the other night and saw that Regency Thai is open (in the old 88 space). Lots of outdoor patio tables. Wonder if the food is any good... or is it the Thai version of Lauriol?
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Ummmm, all I can say is you never know who you are going to run into at Palena's bar!
a statement like THAT with no follow up...!?!
this merits a bemused gallic expression and a "quoi?"
i want to guess: was it your pal? you know, ena?
oh come on guys and gals. this is humor. i can hear you laughing...
OK, Dude, here's the follow-up:
The WHOLE FREAKIN' BAR WAS EGULLETERS TONIGHT! It was unplanned, unrehearsed and totally fun. Derek was sweating bullets, though.
That burger is awesome.
Seems like you can't go to the Palena bar these days without running into eGulleters. It was quite a convergence last night, though. Great to meet everyone!
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I have the same problem. Got there today meaning to try something else, but that pork shoulder just looked too good. Got the nice crunchy bits from the end in my sandwich.
I need to get back to Osteria G too. If you haven't been yet, go!
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As for purveyors, there's a new store in Bethesda on Rugby Ave called "Just Lobsters" (next door to "Just Cakes"). And it is just lobsters-- basically the store is a huge tank and a counter. Anyone been?
Edit: Wrong street!
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If it's the 7th, txaggie and I are out. If it's the 21st, we're in.
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Sette Osteria. I think it's open until 2am on weeknights... and 1am on Sundays
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Tom Colicchio has a technique where he makes cream of corn without cream or milk of any sort. He uses the natural starch in the corn to make a 'cream' of sorts. Anyone tried this? I believe the recipe is in the Craft cookbook.
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There's an email list you can sign up for at Galileo-- they'll send you a note to tell you when RD is grilling. I deleted the last one, otherwise I'd post the address you can send a note to in order to get the alerts. Lately, due to the heat, they've set the grill up inside the Lab (and you can stay and eat on the back porch).
I talked to him a bit about Osteria Galileo. He said he found out that 80% of Galileo's customers were from out of town and he decided he wanted to do something for Washingtonians.
Puff pastry is easy!
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
(Wow, this is the oldest thread in this forum!).
I stumbled upon this CI recipe for puff pastry, which they claim takes 15 minutes to make (!). The 'jelly roll' idea is a stroke of genius. Made it tonight, and it is dead simple. Haven't yet baked any of it off. If it works, I'll be pretty damn happy.