zoramargolis

An antipasto meal without any pasta

Fava bean crostini with prosciutto and pecorino Romano

Merguez lamb meatballs

Roasted asparagus

Roasted beets with orange vinaigrette

Tomato wedges with fresh basil and balsamico

Fennel with lemon vinaigrette and Reggiano

Fontina Val d'Aosta

2004 Pazo Señorans Albariño

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I found some beautiful favas for $1.99 a pound at Magruder's in Vienna today.

Okay, I didn't want to talk about this until I had tasted the wine and assured myself that it wasn't being dumped on unsuspecting buyers because it was heat damaged or something. It's damn good.

2004 Pazo Señorans Rias Baixas Albariño, which was rated 92 points by Robert Parker. His review in Issue 159 of Wine Advocate says: "From one of my favorite Albariño producers, the 2004 may be the finest Albariño Pazo Señorans has yet made. Low yielding (25-30 hectoliters per hectare) old vines planted in the northern sub-zone of the Salnes appellation have produced a wine with impressive texture (no doubt the result of the stirring of the lees). Exotic peach, apricot, pineapple and honeysuckle characteristics, superb ripeness and richness, good acidity and great length as well as minerality. This is a stunning non-oaked dry white to enjoy over the next 1-2 years."

From the revue, it sounds like you'll be slurping a fruit bowl. While fruit is unquestionably there, I found it somewhat subtle, and the minerality more prominent. I'm not a huge white wine drinker, but this is the style I prefer--dry as a bone, mouth-filling flavor and refreshing acidity.

In his guide, Parker indicates that the retail price for this wine is $25.00. I saw it at one store in N. Va. today for $19.99. I paid $8.99 at the Whole Foods in Vienna. I don't know if they got a special deal from Eric Solomon, or it's been hanging around and they want to clear it out, or what. But this is an astonishingly good wine for the price.

A salt tasting might be interesting, but...how about (streaky) bacon?! Just how well does Hormel Black Label stack up against Whole Paycheck, various Amish markets, etc etc etc?

What say the masses?

I say: "Bring 'em on!" I plan to double up on my Lipitor that day, anyway.

On the way back from the vet the next day she snarffed down the fortune cookies.

I presume that the fortune inside the cookie said something like "There are many walkies and marrow bones in the years ahead" --DOGS ROCK!!!

I stopped into the Giant around the corner from Two Amy's after dinner tonight, to mollify the parking lot guard who called me 'Mama' and at first said I couldn't park in the lot, then relented when I said I was going to the Giant. I headed toward the store, and he said I could go to Two Amy's first. I figured I'd buy a couple of onions, which I can always use. Imagine my surprise when I found a bin of fresh-looking fiddleheads. No price on the shelf. I bagged up a nice amount and headed for the checkstand. Surprise, surprise, the checker didn't have a clue. I told her what they were. She looked in the produce code guide. Nothing. She asked a fellow checker--he didn't know what they were either. She went and got a clerk from the produce department, and he said he hadn't seen them before. He suggested to her that she charge me as if they were green beans. $2 a pound. I should have gone back for more.

I was looking for 'shrooms today in Battery Kemble while walking the dog and meself. I only found a couple of pleurots (oyster mushrooms), but came home with a few other foraged goodies:

A large bunch of lambs quarters

About a pound of tiny, ripe Queen Anne cherries from a very old, neglected cherry tree (I am tempted to call this tree "feral" because it has obviously been surviving in the wild for many years).

A small bagful of ripe mulberries--there are lots of mulberry trees at the upper end of the park, loaded with not-yet ripe berries.

No sign of more Morels where we found a couple, three weeks ago. Looks like there is going to be another bumper crop of wineberries--those usually ripen in early July.

Be still my heart! What I wouldn't give to be able to shop there...

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/fooda...0,2952996.story

It was really fun and helped reinforce how satisfying it can be to cook with someone equally as enthusiastic. I'm not experienced enough to try something close to this unsupervised (:. Thanks to Zora for being so generous and for orchestrating such a great experience.

Thanks to Melissa for writing such a great piece. We had lots of fun that day-- cooking, playing Mexican music, drinking a little vino, taking snack breaks. I'd be glad to teach others how to make tamales--I can only fit two or three in my kitchen, in addition to me, though.

Tropicana Golden Grapefruit Juice is my favorite beverage in the world, so I'm willing to pay these exorbitant prices. There's little I enjoy as much as a glass of it with a rich brownie, or (on a separate occasion) mixed with a good vodka, or, on a separate occasion still, drunk down straight with my morning cereal. It's an amazingly versatile beverage.)

Grapefruit juice is forbidden to those of us who take Lipitor so that we can eat well-marbled beef and pork.

Geez, sounds like a total waste of calories. I'd much rather eat Baja Fresh tacos de carnitas or a Chipotle carnitas burrito, no rice, pinto beans any day. Even though they are corporate restaurants, those particular choices are quite tasty. Can't vouch for the rest of the menu at those places.

Okay, let's switch to green things, first.

1) Fiddlehead ferns.

Only bought them once, pickled and bottled in Maine. Saw them fresh for $6 or $7 a lb. at Balducci's this weekend. Compact, with all those little potential fronds curled up, I could tell that keeping them unmushy in a big pile was a challenge.

Since it looks as if ramps are through, would I be justified in calling these the new hot seasonal thing in retail stores--as opposed to pea shoots outside in the market? Do you buy and cook them? Are they more than just a novelty?

I've gotten fiddleheads a couple of times this Spring, at Trader Joe's, for $2.99 for about a half pound in a package, which said they were from Maine. I had to pick through the packages to find one that was less browned than the others, but other than trimming the end and rinsing, there was little prep. And they were delicious. I used to forage for them when I lived in Vermont, where they were very popular--and heard at the time that they were offered in high-falutin' restaurants in Boston at very high prices. This was thirty years ago, so if they are the "new, hot thing" in DC, it's taken a long time for them to travel down here. Pickled fiddleheads taste only of the pickling liquid. A complete waste of fiddleheads IMHO.

Composed salad of roasted beets, cucumber and avocado with orange vinaigrette

Polyface pork ribeye chops, herb-brined overnight, then pan seared and oven braised, served with a sherry vinegar pan reduction sauce and arroz de Valencia.

Veggie-teen had a baked stuffed Portobello mushroom

2001 Sierra Cantabria Cuvee Especial Rioja

Fresh golden pineapple and pinenut shortbread cookies from Spain.

OK, I have a question, and please forgive me if it has been asked and answered before, but I do not have hours to search the site.

Aside from Whole Foods, what are your preferred sources for fresh, fresh fish and other seafood? I like what I can get at Whole Foods but I cringe at the prices. I am hoping there is an excellent and well priced fresh fishmonger out there, ideally on the Maryland side of the Potomac, that I can investigate.

Well?

For low prices, you've got to shop in the Asian markets. Not sure about their locations in MD, cause I shop at Han ah Reum or Great Wall in Merrifield, VA or Super H in Fairfax. Caveat emptor, but you can find good stuff cheap if you shop with care.

A Sazerac Cocktail. I brought some Sazerac rye back from L.A., so this is the real deal, shaken with a couple drops of bitters and a teensy bit of simple syrup. Rinsed the glass with Pernod. Straight up, with a twist. Aaah!

Getting close to that time again. Seen some 2005's rolling into the stores-- what's good this year?

Chateau Guiot--very fresh and bright, and has a screwtop this year. Turkey Flat; Yalumba Sangiovese Rose--these Australians have been out for a while, now. 2005 Akakies Kir Yianni wasn't quite as brilliant as last year's.

Nice post--I was right there with you, and an excellent way to emerge from lurker status. Keep posting--you clearly have a discerning palate and a way with words. I'll be looking forward to reading what else you have to say...

Totally agree. One minor clarification is that "Grapes of Spain" and Jorge Ordonez are 2 separate importers, unless something has recently changed. Both import Spanish wines; however, Grapes of Spain is run by Aurelio Cabestrero (former sommelier at Taberna del Alabardero and Marcel's). I can't say enough good things about Aurelio's wines.

Thank you for providing correct info. My bad--I like them both.

I'll echo the other's advice. If you are new to wine and just getting into it, a good wine shop is the place to start. Ordering on-line is great if you are knowledgable and know what you want and like. I'd suggest that you go to Ace Beverages and speak to Joe Riley or to Andy Bassin's (McArthur Beverages). There are other wine shops and wine folks out there that are knowledgable, but I have had nothing but good experiences with these guys.

If you go to Addy Bassin's (MacArthur Beverages) ask to speak with Steve, who has been there for years or Mike, who is new. Both are very knowledgeable, friendly and patient with newbys. The other place I would suggest is The Vineyard in McLean. Jim Arsenault, the owner, is very gregarious, has amazing depth of knowledge and is always pouring tastes. Everything he sells is something he has tasted and thinks is very good. He also has a great e-mail newsletter that is a monthly wine-education course.

I like Malbec, too. Rodman's in Friendship Heights has a fair number of them. They are a good source for a wide variety of inexpensive to moderate-priced wines, although the advice I have gotten from the sales people there has been inconsistent.

As far as internet sales, Wine Library is probably the best/closest. The big issue for me is the $2 per bottle shipping charge that ends up being added ($25 for a case of wine). If you are ordering an expensive wine at a good price, $2 extra is negligible. When you are talking about inexpensive wine, though, their discount price pretty much gets wiped out by the shipping charge. You might as well buy it locally, unless it is something you really want that you can't find here.

A shortcut to finding good wine when you are not sure about the advice you are getting from a salesman, is to look at the name of the importer. I think very highly of Kysela and Sons (France, Australia and some Spain), Kermit Lynch (France), Grapes of Spain (Jorge Ordonez), The Grateful Palate (Australia), and Robert Kacher (France), Leonardo Locascio (Italy). Eric Solomon (Spain and France) most of the time. I feel that I can trust that these guys care a lot about what is in the bottle with their name on it and are not dumping swill on the market just to make a profit.

The Assistant had purchased the scallops for not less than $18.99 per pound! And yet the scallops were treated with a preservative, sodium tripolyphosphate. While the inorganic compound is widely used in toothpaste and is as safe as salt, vinegar and baking powder, STPP helps to retain natural moisture, but in excess. Therefore, the scallops weighs more after being treated than it would if it were dayboat or dry-packed, the quality of which one would only assume if sold at Whole Foods “The World’s Leading Natural and Organic Foods Supermarket.”

Were these large "sea" scallops or small Nantucket Bays? Gd forbid they were farmed bay scallops from Asia--then you really got ripped off. Scallops are extremely perishable if not treated with chemical preservative, and places which offer the shortest "distance in time" between shucker and shopper are likely to provide the freshest product. I'm not sure how long it takes the WF system to distribute seafood to its various stores, but they may have to compensate for the time lag in their system by putting preservative on the scallops. At that price, you would not be able to get top quality true Nantucket Bays, but you could get dry dayboat scallops. Divers would cost a couple of dollars per pound more than that, and Nantucket Bays are going to be at least in the mid $20's range. My advice? Next time buy scallops at BlackSalt Market. I used to be a fish monger there and can vouch for the quality.

fresh ginger - which I didn't have but threw in some powdered ginger - YUM)

For those instances when I need fresh ginger, and don't have any in good enough condition to use, I keep a bottle of The Ginger People brand Ginger Juice in my fridge. It is an excellent product and keeps for a year or more. I get it at Balducci's.

Cardoon flan: I ran a vegetable peeler along the cardoon stalks to destring them somewhat before chopping and parboiling. However, when they were tender and no longer bitter, they were still a bit stringy. My original plan had been to make a bechamel and bake them in a gratin. But then I thought about pureeing them in my Vita-Mix, which is powerful enough to turn plywood into a smooth puree. And I tossed in some shallot, three eggs, some creme fraiche, salt and white pepper and poured the resulting puree into a buttered casserole and baked it in a bain marie until done. It was a pretty pale green, very delicate tasting and quite good. Not a whole lot of artichoke flavor, though. Next time, I'll add some artichoke hearts.

Polyface loin end pork chop, pan-seared and oven finished, pan reduction sauce with rosemary, sage and garlic.

Homemade quince mostarda

Polenta

Fennel slaw with lemon vinaigrette

2003 Blisss Maremma Sangiovese

May 12 City Paper on morels.

(author no relation)

The text at the end of the article got corrupted--it was almost as if the author had ingested a hallucinogenic mushroom and kept on writing...

Hmm. Didn't see any eels yesterday at Dupont--I may have missed them. I have seen them swimming around at a couple of the Asian markets in Fairfax County, though.

Overheard yesterday at the Polyface booth: Jose Andres, there with his three cute little kids, discussing with Bev a large order (presumably of pork) that he wanted delivered to the Bethesda Jaleo. Then he asked if he could get some "three week-old suckling pigs". Bev looked at him a bit incredulously: "Three weeks? They're only going to be about five pounds apiece." Andres replied that they would have them every year in Spain. Bev then agreed to provide same: "Yeah, we can do that." Hmm. Wonder if that's for private use, or will be on the menu?

Got some cardoons from Heinz. Haven't decided when or how I'll prepare them, though.