mnebergall

Boston Cream Pie?

Sushi Ko on Wisconsin Ave, next door to Good Guys, is reputed to have the best sushi in the area.

It all depends on what your definition of "less" is.

See's is Los Angeles born. Amen, brother. But there's always Ghiradelli! I thought we were dealing with "signature dishs" not "must eats." When it comes to San Francisco, it has to be sour dough bread.

I agree with you that Sheyboygan is the Brat Mecca of Wisconsin. When you get a good brat in Milwaukee, it probably was made in Sheyboygan, just up the coast. Actually, I sort of associate bratwurst with Wisconsin in general, not Milwaukee in particular.

I'm going to ignore the racist comment. Let's face it, most of the oysters you get in DC come from someplace else. The Chesapeake Bay oyster industry is in decline. Most of the oysters I see come from the Northeast or the West Coast. You have to go to a faily high-end seafood or steak place to get really fresh oysters and by and large they are expensive. When you refer to "workingclass diets" you must be referring to the diet of the K Street Canyon lobbyists and lawyers. No, oysters are not a DC signature dish.

As luck would have it, Ben's Chili Bowl has a website. Their signature product appears to be chili. They do list a half somke on the menu, but it is a chili half smoke, but it comes after the regular chili hot dog. I don't think that DC has a national reputation when it comes to half smokes. Most all of the half smokes you get down at the corner cart are made by Sabretts which is a national brand made in New Jersey. I would be willing to bet that Ben's Chili Bowl does not make its own half-smokes (they probably get them from Sabretts). What is it that is made better in DC than anywhere else (food item that is)? Could it be that DC has no "signature dish."

I have never been to Ben's Chili Bowl. I thought the exercise here was to identify a city's signature consumable, such as Philadelphia cheese steak's or San Francisco sour dough bread or Kansas City barbeque. As near as I can tell, there ain't no "Washington, DC _____ ." Certainly, the city is not known for "Ben's Chili Bowl." People don't come to town and tell the cab driver "take me to Ben's Chili Bowl." When I want chili, I go to Hard Times Cafe, or make it myself. I think one of the reasons it is so difficult to identify a DC signature dish is because so many of the people who live here come from somewhere else and leave after doing a stint with the federal government or working on the Hill. Ya been to the Tune Inn, it's only a DC institution?

What other signaure dish for the city can you identify? My guess is that different cities can claim barbeque as their signature dish, but they would merely be pretenders.

Let's try to fill in some of the blanks. I've never been to Buffalo but "Buffalo wings" sure come to mind. For Milwaukee, I'd have to say bratwurst. For Providence, I'd guess quahogs.

I have lived in the DC area for over 20 years. The only places I see half-smokes are on the carts on street corners downtown. Affectionately know as "the dirt water dog." I think the carts in NY sell the same thing. Made by Sabretts. I don't think there is anything distinctly "DC" about them. Having lived here for 20+ years, I have a hard time discerning any peculiarly "DC" concoction. Perhaps crabcakes, but that is more regional than "DC." Maybe "hot air."

Kansas City--Barbeque

This Varmint incident sounds to me like something in the nature of an automobile accident. We need to know the views of those standing on the other three corners.

Some names and locations would help.

I take if from reading this thread that there is no such thing as the "Mercedes Benz" of crock pots.

Instead of limiting the festival to Costco, I suggest that the other warehouse stores such as Sam's or BJ's be included as well. There is no need for people to have to go out and acquire another club membership in order to participate. The exercise here should be to see what people can make for dinner by shopping at the local "club."

Cut it in half and cook one properly and the other to oblivion (by the way, if cooked to oblivion, it will not have the consistency of mush, more like shoe leather). Because the meat is dark, it will not have the red "rare-medium rare" color of beef. I recommend some wild rice with this.

My guess is that you have goose breast fillets with no skin or fat. The hunters were lazy and instead of plucking and dressing the geese, they just breasted them out. What to do? Make a marinade using juniper berries and soy sause and perhaps some garlic and ginger. Marinate for a while and cook on the charcoal grill until medium rare (roughly 5 min's side), do not overcook or they will be tough. You might want to brush them with some olive oil or melted butter to keep them from drying out. Slice them against the grain and serve with whatever else you like. It will be similar to eating a piece of fillet mignon as the breast is all dark meat. Hopefully, the meat came from a nice migratory (as opposed to non-migratory "golf course") Canada goose. Edited to add "Not that I have ever been this lazy myself when it comes to cleaning a goose, you could wind up with a garage full of feathers."

The bottom drawer gas broiler configuration is a PITA. It is hard to monitor the progress of whatever it is you are cooking because you have pull the drawer out to see how it is doing. I think the self cleaning gas models at the broiler at the top of the oven. A much better configuration. You can look through the window of the oven to see how your cooking is progressing. You will use a top broiler much more than you would a bottom drawer style broiler.

The Utz chips cooked in lard are unbelievable. You just can't eat them outside in the winter because the lard makes your mouth feel kind of gummy.

We need a map.

Welcome to eGullet. Your method of prep. is similar to mine. Batter and deep fry. One of the rights of spring.

Look for elm trees newly dead from Dutch Elm Disease. Seems a favorite spot for morels to grow.

There is a place out Rt. 301 past Waldorf that has piles of hickory logs outside and great ordor when you drive by. It's been there for years but I have never stopped in. Perhaps we should organize a thorough survey of the BBQ joints in the DC environs (environs defined to include those places within reasonable driving distance).

I'm a 'shroom hunter. I do it in the spring. Hunt turkeys in the morning and morels in the afternoon. Success depends on the weather. I have found some giants that are as big as my hand (and I can palm a basketball).