zoramargolis

Are you looking for them because of a concern about salmonella in factory-raised eggs? For a long time now, I have used only eggs that I buy from small organic farmers at the Dupont farmers' market. They have healthy chickens, raised in humane conditions, and the eggs have deep yellow-orange yolks, a fry cry from the pale yellow yolks in cheap-o supermarket eggs. I have no hesitation about using these eggs partially cooked or in raw egg-white preparations. They are more expensive, but not that much more.

They are in the process of putting in a large bay window in the front (the hammering is likely all done by now).  It made for a little bit of a noisy dinner, but it will definitely brighten the place up. 

We had a late dinner there last night, and there is plywood and duct tape where a new window has yet to be installed. Kind of a mixed bag, food and service-wise.

The toro and hamachi were very good. My appetizer, ankimo (monkfish liver pate), was overcooked and lacked flavor, and arrived simultaneously with my sashimi, both of which were set down several minutes before any food appeared for the others at my table. Apps ordered by my husband and daughter were delivered after their sushi was served. We skipped dessert.

This all reminded me why I prefer sitting at a sushi bar instead of at a table in most Japanese restaurants. I retain control of the pacing of my meal by ordering one thing at a time.

At least it was inexpensive and close enough to home that we could walk there.

Jonathan and I had lunch last Wednesday. It was Jonathan's first time there (he'd eaten at China Star). The place was pretty much empty. Yao was our waiter, and was friendly and helpful as usual. He discouraged us from ordering too many dishes, advising us that it wouldn't taste as good reheated if we took leftovers home. We started with dumplings with red oil and Szechuan pickle--broccoli this time. Coriander fish rolls were unavailable, but when I asked about fish in bamboo basket, Yao said it was not on the menu, but he could get it for us. It was flounder, battered and crisply fried with cilantro, garlic, chiles and ginger. Jonathan doesn't like fish that much, but he loves fried food-- is it his Penn Dutch heritage or the Y chromosome? In any case, it was a huge serving and we devoured all of it. And we ordered spare ribs with golden crumbs. We could not believe how incredibly delicious, succulent and complex the ribs were.

Up for grabs, or up for crabs, as the case may be:

Don Esque

Don Worrybehappy

Don Event'inkaboudit

Don Cryoutloud

Don Keschon -- I don't know how to put the umlaut over the o.

Don Pissindapool

I take it you mean these.

Well done, Steve! So, get out your Field Guide to the Native American Edibles and help me identify them.

I think of split pea soup as fall or winter food. Why not make some spring-inspired fresh pea soup? English peas are a pain and a half and way expensive and labor intensive. I use sugar snaps and puree the whole pods after cooking them in chicken stock with leeks and a little white wine and bouquet garni. Add cream or creme fraiche. Easy peasy.

The new 39 cent stamp series is called "Crops of the Americas" and features very attractive paintings of ears of corn (black, yellow and red), chiles, gourd squashes, various shell beans and their pods, and sunflowers and their seeds. Sure beats Lady Liberty and the FLAG. Has anyone else seen these? Can you identify the squashes and the chiles? The beans appear to be red, black, pinto, Jacob's Cattle--I can't identify the two whitish-yellow ones and the variegated black and white one.

http://www.morels.com/maryland/

A chat board for local area morel hunters

What?! You've never had a meal that makes you weak in the knees?!  Some food item that you would cut into with a rusty knife 'cause it rocks your world?!  A food experience that makes you cry out "Oh My God"?! A morsel of food that sends shivers up and down your spine?!  The anticipation of a taste of something that makes your whole body quiver?!

Oh puh-leeze!

According to Ruth Reichl: "Food is the new sex." Or, find my thread: "Food is what sex used to be".

The favored way of preparing them when we lived in Vermont was to steam or sweat them and then bake them with a bechamel sauce.

Did someone say this group also owns La Madeleine?  I hope they leave Breadline's methods alone.  LM specializes in faux-French hash prepared without skill and slung without charm.

Touche! A bon mot of the first degree!

Homemade orrichiete pasta with green garlic, leeks, dandelion greens, porcini powder and cannelini beans (a la Mario Batali)

La Tur with figs and Medjool dates

2003 Burson Ravenna Rosso, a "tooth-stainer" purchased at Wine Expo in Santa Monica (Roberto Rogness' store, for anyone who reads Mark Squires' Wine Board).

The pasta was a little bit heavy, but the sauce was really good--hard to believe there was no meat or chicken stock in it.

To stay on topic, if one likes to make sauces and vinaigrettes, I believe one cannot have too many different varieties of vinegar.

Thanks-I needed that! I feel so much better, now.

morels especially because sand and grit can get in the crevices. when you soak them, put them in a colander and put the colander in a bowl.fill up with water and agitate shrooms. let them sit a few minutes until grit settles then drain and repeat if necesarry until greit is all gone.

Late last night, I was watching Alton Brown on Food Network, and he disproved the myth that mushrooms absorb a lot of water if you wash them, by weighing 4 oz. of button mushrooms after they had soaked for ten minutes, and noting that they had gained very little in weight (1/4 oz.).

Of course morels, with all of their convolutions and folds could trap water, and so should be well drained after soaking. But you'll never get out all the little bugs and dirt if you don't clean them as suggested above.

Fish you catch yourself, or fish you buy? Not that much of the rockfish sold locally comes from the Chesapeake. A lot of it is caught commercially off of the Carolinas. The retailer or restaurateur should know the source of the fish they are selling/serving. Ask.

the original question was about foraging for them, which is quite a different experience than flummoxing a simple-minded Whole Foods cashier and getting them for free. Not that I wouldn't have done the same, in a similar situation . However, I have not found ramps in DC--if there are any they would probably be in Rock Creek Park. But the received wisdom is that the place to find them is W.VA. When I lived in Vermont, we called them wild leeks and they were a popular wild food in Spring, along with fiddlehead ferns. the one time I was in W.VA with foraging in mind, the ramp season had passed. But the area where I was visiting reminded me a lot of Vermont--perhaps there is something about the terrain and the altitude which is conducive to ramps in a way that the DC area is not.

I was told cardoons are grown late in the fall in California. 

I grew cardoons in my garden in Santa Monica-- like artichokes, you don't get much of anything the first year. It was early fall of the second year that I had enough stalk to harvest. I peeled but didn't soak them before cooking and they were delicious, like artichoke heart. I can see how, if they are overwintered, you'd get woody stalks from the previous year in Spring. Blech. New growth wouldn't be substantial enough to harvest until the fall.

I was trying to put something away in my packed pantry the other day. Ha, fat chance. It was the oil and vinegar shelf, and I started removing things to try to make space. That was when it hit me--good grief! I am mortified. I started noting what is on the shelf and in my fridge:

Whole Foods balsamic, aged balsamic, berry balsamic, cherry balsamic, fig balsamic, plain rice vinegar, seasoned rice vinegar, champagne, citrus champagne, cabernet, sherry, malt, white vinegar, cider vinegar, key lime vinegar, Japanese plum, Chinese black.

Then the oils-- Italian and Spanish olive oils, several different of each. Orange oil, Meyer lemon oil, grapeseed, peanut, corn, sesame, roasted sesame, almond, pumpkinseed, Szechuan chili oil.

What on earth is the matter with me?

My mother told me that she went to a vegetarian seder--a first for her. On the seder plate, instead of a shank bone, there was a sweet potato: "The Paschal Yam"...

I mean, good for them for having standards - and bad for me because Country Pleasures' eggs are my favorites.  Why on Earth is Maryland requiring something like that?

Bird flu paranoia.

A lovely, uncrazed morning at the Dupont Market this morning, presumably because it is Easter Sunday. A few vendors were missing or had sent substitutes. I chatted briefly with Waitman and Mrs. B who were lined up to buy flowers. On my first cruise-through, before the bell, I noticed that Hans had a few baskets of strawberries out, but they were gone by the time I made it back there. I did buy some green garlic and Italian dandelion greens from him. The mushroom lady wasn't there, but the non-organic folks from W.VA whose stand is near Q St. had morels for sale. I pondered for a while but ended up not buying. $14 for a small basket of 5 or 6 morels just seemed too expensive. They also had asparagus. I bought a dozen Aracuna eggs (blue shells) from Country Pleasures--they said that they are expecting that sometime in the summer, the state of MD will require that all chickens be raised indoors, and that when that happens, they will no longer have eggs for sale, because they don't want to own chickens which can't be outdoors.

Post-market brunch, in the yard, enjoying the azaleas and the birds:

Slow scrambled eggs with sauteed garlic greens, ricotta and grated reggiano

Breakfast sausage

French breakfast radishes

Toasted brioche and apricot preserves

OJ

Cappucino

Life is good here, until the first mosquitoes hatch.

Great sounding combo.  How were the favas?

They were perfect--good size, but still young and fresh. Bright green color, tender, with a nutty-grassy flavor. The essence of Spring! I bought them at the Glover Park Whole Foods.

Are hog jowls also called "maws"? No, not the opposite of "paws" in this case. If so, I saw packages labeled hog maws yesterday at Han ah Reum in Merrifield, next to the hog bungs and hog uteri.

Remember? Penzey's had a "contest" a couple of years ago, where people sent in postcards requesting a store in their community--all of us on the local food boards participated. The city which submitted the most cards supposedly won. WDC was a loser at that time, but perhaps Penzey's has had second thoughts about us after learning about the success of Wegman's stores and Whole Foods stores in this area.

where did you find tri tip?

They were the last of the Sunnyside Organics Virginia Kobe beef that I bought In January and put in my freezer. But you can get a tri-tip from The Organic Butcher of McLean. You should call first to make sure he has some. 703-790-8300. You've lived in California, I presume.