zoramargolis

A group of six which included me, johnb and pappy met for lunch out there today. We had James "Pandahugga's" recommendations with us and ordered most of them and a couple of other things that sounded intriguing.

We started with boiled peanuts, Szechuan pickles, spicy crispy vegetables, and pork in garlic mud. The peanuts are salty and a little spicy, but do not have the strong anise flavor as the ones served at Ching Ching Cha, which I love. The English-speaking waiter explained that the pickles were made from winter melon (Iknew it was some type of curcubit)-- steamed and salty. The cubes of extremely spicy "crispy" veg were "white carrot" (parsnip?) and broccoli. These were spicy enough to send one person at the table, just getting over a cold, into a coughing fit that she barely recovered from. The pork with garlic mud was my favorite of the appetizers--slices of pork belly with a delicious garlic sauce, brown natch.

The first entree dish we got was a duck hot pot, which was what I imagine a Chinese "Jewish mother" might make on a day she was feeling really benevolent. An intense, rich broth with chunks of bone-in duck, thick rice noodles, loofah squash and shreds of dried scallop. This instantly soothed the throat of the sufferer and all of us were instantly cured of everything that ailed us. Highly recommended.

We got the fish in Szechuan sauce with cabbage that Hillvalley and MelGold had--whoo-ee. Chili oil, chili flakes, Szechuan pepper, green peppercorns, five spice, cilantro. This will make your mouth come alive, baby. Chef Chang did not hold back when he prepared this for us.

He had come out to say hello when we were ordering, and said that he had made a special dish he wanted us to try--since he doesn't speak English, our waiter thoughtfully interpreted. It was a dim sum steamer pot full of golf-ball sized rice balls filled with a mixture of silken tofu, minced chicken and scallions. Very nice, soothing dish to contrast the fish.

Everyone wanted to have Chen Cang Beef, an old favorite from China Star. The waiter called it "Chinese hamburger" when he set it down on the table. The steamed buns are still heavy--I pull as much of the bread out of the inside as possible--and the meat was crispy-crumbly and strongly flavored with cumin. Pile the meat in the bun, forget about fries. The waiter advised us to add some of the crispy, spicy veg left over from the appetizers. "That's what we do" he said. Kind of like slaw on a pulled pork sandwich, someone at the table pointed out. It was good that way.

Another dish from the specials was dried bamboo shoot with pork--which I really loved. It had small chunks of barbecued pork belly glazed brown with a hoisin-type sauce that tasted of star anise, and the bamboo shoot was stewed soft, almost like a delicate noodle--completely unlike the crisp, metallic-tasting canned bamboo shoot that typically arrives in Chinese dishes.

Chef Chang suggested that "next time" we order smoked sesame chicken--a cold appetizer. Since I was taking leftovers home for my husband, I ordered the chicken dish take-out. Highly recommended--a whole leg of a large chicken, salted, sauced with roasted sesame oil and black pepper and tea-smoked, then sliced across the bone. Really, really delicious. I'm sorry that the rest of the group didn't get to taste this, but anyone else who goes should definitely consider ordering this dish. Full of flavor but not spicy-hot.

The whole meal was less than $20 a person, including tax and tip.

Suggestions?

Enchiladas Suizas--which are chicken enchiladas with tomatillo sauce, cheese and sour cream on top. My favorite easy-peasy thing to do with leftover Costco rotisserie chicken.

Quarter the tomatillos and chunk up an onion and a clove of garlic. If you have a fresh poblano chile, seed and chop and add it now. If you are using canned green chiles, wait until the next step. Cover the veggies with a can of chicken broth and some water to make approx. two cups of liquid. Simmer until tomatillos and onions are soft. Puree in blender (in batches if needed) with a little bit of salt and a big handful of cilantro (stems are ok if you have a good strong blender). I add a seeded jalapeno if the poblano was not spicy enough and if using canned green chile, this is the time to add a small can's worth. Return the puree to the sauce pan and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add some water if it is too thick, turn up the heat and reduce if it seems too thin. Adjust the salt to taste when consistency of sauce seems about right.

Shred or cube some cooked chicken meat. Dip a corn tortilla briefly in the hot tomatillo sauce to soften and fill and roll the tortillas. (I assemble the enchiladas directly onto the dinner plates, but they can be placed in a serving casserole). Ladle some of the sauce over the enchiladas, sprinkle generously with a mild cheese (jack, cheddar, queso fresco-type) and bake in 350 oven for about seven or eight minutes, until cheese has melted and chicken has warmed through. Spoon some more tomatillo sauce on, if needed and add a spoonful of crema Mexicana, sour cream or creme fraiche on top. Serve with pico de gallo, refried beans and rice, on the side as desired.

I also make cheese enchiladas for my veggie daughter like this, and my husband always asks for "one chicken-one cheese" for his plate. Always a popular meal at Chez Zora.

Chicken paprikash from Cooking Light, with buttered egg noodles. Meh. Needs more... something.

More of the fat that was eliminated to make it "light" -- like lard or chicken or goose fat, perhaps? Those are the traditional fats used in Central European cooking. Maybe more garlic and onion, too-- it seems to me that those kind of "light" recipes start with a basic assumption that their readers/users not only want low calorie-low fat recipes, they don't care for intense or spicy flavors.

Aside from providing WAY too much information, your story about getting sick after a visit to [garble garble garble] suggests a few questions:

1)Friends who have gone through Food Safety certification have told me that Health Departments don't take reports of "food poisoning" seriously that happen less than 12 hours after ingesting a meal. That is how long it takes for bacterial contamination to cause illness. What did you eat earlier in the day?

2)Could you have had a 24-hour stomach flu that became symptomatic that evening? There's still a lot of Noro-virus going around. That's the highly infectious "Winter Vomiting Illness" that's ruined many a Caribbean cruise in the past few years.

3)Why are you assuming it was the fries upsetting your stomach? Even if it was something you ate there that made you sick, the veggie burgers are a more likely culprit. I'm assuming they don't sell as many of them as beef burgers, and if they had caused illness in others, the manager would likely have heard about it from other people. Which leads to the next question:

4)Did you call and speak to a manager to ask if anyone else had complained of illness after eating there the day before?

I'm sure that your illness was very unpleasant. But tarring a restaurant online with the "I got sick after eating there" brush can be unfairly damaging to their reputation, if it wasn't their fault.

I finally made it to Elevation Burger in Falls Church, and I thought the hand-cut fries were excellent. Some may have had a different experience there with the fries, but mine were nice and crispy, right out of the fryer.

Adoption? John, Stephen-- you guys both have launched your kids already. How about it? Think how great the food would be at family gatherings.

From The Vineyard, in McLean:

Friday Tasting and Specials

(Tasting from 4-7 PM)

Rex Hill Pinot Gris Oregon Reserve 2002

This is a revelation in an aged Pinot Gris. Perfect, very ripe fruit yielded a wine of power and grace. Aromas of papaya, wet stone, acacia and hawthorn flower, white peach and lime, give way to a very big, bright wine, with lots of weight, expression and length. This big bodied wine is perfect with Thai cuisine, lobster, cream based soups, or seafood with spice. Offered at $21.99 the bottle.

Bouchard Finlayson Chardonnay Missionvale Walker Bay 2003

Clear, pale straw Nose: Yeasty, mineral tones. Underlying citrus & pear drop. Organic in flavor with teasing yeasty complexity. The structure is strong, and long on the after taste with exciting balance. In keeping with our philosophy, this wine is best enjoyed at the table. Delicious with scallops, crustaceans, monkfish and other rich flavored fish. Also delicious with soft cheeses at the end of a meal. Offered at $18.99 the bottle.

Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir Carneros 2002

2002 Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir is complex and elegant with rich fruit tones of black cherry, cassis and violets overlaid with notes of chocolate, smoke and East Indian spices. Round forward fruit on the nose is followed by an extraordinarily balanced palate adding richness, body and a long velvety finish to this wine. Enjoy with salmon off the grill, rare tuna, pork dishes, or veal any of these should be simply prepared. Offered at $17.99 the bottle.

Testarossa Pinot Noir Palazzio Central Coast 2002

Palazzio Pinot Noir is a blend of several vineyards which combines more forward “California style” fruit from Santa Barbara, with more “old world style” Pinot Noir from Monterey to create a blend that combines rich forward, sweet red fruit flavors, with an underlying backbone of minerals and firm acidity. It is a wine that is praised not only for its exceptional quality but also its great value. Offered at $24.99 the bottle.

Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Whistling Ridge Yamhill County 2003

This is an especially big wine yet it has a balance and style that really pleases. The vineyard, on the same hillside as Beaux Freres, is organically farmed and the low yields produces a big spicy Pinot Noir with dark red fruits, lots of oriental spice and hints of savory tea and leather. Enjoy with lamb or beef as well as roasted turkey or pork and brown veal dishes. Offered at $27.99 the bottle.

Tori Mor Pinot Noir Seven Springs Vineyard Polk County 2002

Rich red fruit and vanilla spice are out front here with eathy, peaty aromas. The palate is well balanced and very complex with bottle bouquet just beginning to show through. This outstanding Pinot shows lots of texture with bitter sweet chocolate, coffee grounds, and smoked spice showing through the finish that lasts for a long time. Enjoy with sauced meat dishes, roasted birds, lamb, and braised beef. Offered at $39.99 the bottle.

Saturday Tasting and Specials

(Tasting from 1-4 PM)

Noted Importer and Sommelier Jocelyn Cambier will join us for insights into French Pinots of note.

Didier Tripoz Macon-Charnay Clos des Tournons 2004

Very bright pale gold color, the wine exudes classic aromas of ripe Chardonnay from this region, with a good mineral content. Very well focused, and pure, the wine is light-medium bodied on the palate with flavors reminiscent of the nose. Very good balance, harmonious, and quite lengthy. Offered at $12.99 the bottle.

Claudie Jobard Rully La Folie 2002

A single parcel of 100 % Chardonnay with a South-East sun orientation located on the slopes of Rully, facing the Castle. The “terroir” is argilo-calcaire, very pebbly and rocky. The average age of the Chardonnay vines is 25 years old, coming from a qualitative selection of Pinot Noir clones, pruned in Cordon Royat. After hand harvest and serious grape selection, the clusters are de-stemmed, and stocked in cement vats with thermo-regulation. Pre-fermentation of a few days, followed by alcoholic fermentation. Cap push downs and pump-over are according to taste, for about 10 days. The wines are then pressed and placed in oak barrels until bottling. 2002 vintage stayed 13 months in oak barrels, 15% new ones, bottled un-fined and un-filtered. The 2003 vintage spent 11 months in oak barrels, 20% new ones, and was bottled after a very light filtration. Offered at $18.99 the bottle.

Domaine Girard Pinot Noir Vins de Pays d’Oc 2003

This Domaine is located in the Malepère appellation in the Languedoc, area located at the North-East of the Hauts-de-Corbières region, which protects it from the Mediterranean influence. Philippe Girard now takes care of his father’s Domaine, and has crafted an incredibly pure Pinot Noir wine from a vineyard called “Font-Cailhau” from vines that are 15 years old with a yield of 35hl/ha! No way has this kind of yield happened in Burgundy for this kind of money! The Pinot aromas lift nicely to reveal Bing cherry and strawberry aromas with earthy notes. Lovely clean flavors with medium body this is a wine to have a glass with dinner during the week when you don’t want to fuss but things would taste better with a nice glass with the chicken of the day. Juicy finish. A super value at $10.99 the bottle.

Daniel Largeot Chorey-les-Beaune Les Beaumonts 2002

These 40 year old vines produced a wine with pretty ruby color. Pinot Noir all the way in the nose. On the palate, the wine displays a variety of red fruit flavors with a hint of spice. The texture is round and tender, with soft ripe tannins, and a refreshing finish. Offered at $18.99 the bottle.

Maurice Charleux Maranges Vieilles Vignes 2003

This 100% Pinot Noir shows a dark ruby color, nose of blackberry, black cherry, blueberry, smoke, hints of red meats, and spice. The feeling on the palate is of all these flavors intertwined in a thick velvety texture, fairly full in body, with broad and complex flavors, and a sweet fruit and spicy finish. This is super red Burgundy for the money.

Make a note that this wine has been bottled un-fined and un-filtered as a result of 2 full winters in the cellar so that it clarifies naturally, and is delivered to you with its full palate of flavors and potential. Great with all kinds of red meat dishes, root vegetables, mushrooms, and potatoes in all kinds of ways. Offered at $17.99 the bottle.

Claudie Jobard Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches Domaine 2003

Claudie Jobard’s mother is the winemaker for Joseph Drouhin, hence the connection to get a few rows of vines from this famed vineyard, located right by the border and across the path from Pommard 1er Cru “les Saussilles”. Dark Color, lots of upfront black cherry fruit and spice, full body, coating the mouth and fleshy, with a great mixture of fruit, mineral tones, and spices. Generous wine with the unique character of Clos des Mouches. Offered at $32.99 the bottle.

Jim Arseneault

info@thevineyardva.com

The Vineyard

1420 Chain Bridge Rd.

McLean, VA. 22101

Phone (703) 288-2970

Fax (703) 288-2971

www.thevineyardva.com

2004 Panarroz, Jumilla. Just put out today at the Pentagon City store. Robert Parker reviewed in issue #159 of the Wine Advocate thusly:

"The 2004 Panarroz may be even better than the 2003, which received the same rating. Even better news is that the USA received 60,000 cases of this 42% Mourvedre, 38% Grenache, and 20% Syrah blend. An amazing value (RP lists it at $9), it boasts an inky/ruby/purple color as well as a big, sweet nose of scorched earth, chocolate, blackberries, and cherries, and an opulent, medium-bodied, fruit-filled personality with lovely glycerin, a savory texture and a pure, long finish. One hundred percent tank-fermented and aged, it is a gorgeous Spanish red to drink over the next 1-2 years. Don't miss it! Importer: Dan Kravitz, Hand Picked Selections, Warrenton, VA..."

Of the limited number of pinots from both new and old world that I have had the opportunity to taste, I prefer the new world style. I know that makes me horribly unsophisticated in the estimation of the old world terroiristas, but I say unashamedly: give me more cherry fruit and less mushroomy underbrush. However, I am priced out of the market for most of what is out there in the PN world and on your list above. Of the PNs that are affordable to me, I have liked Castle Rock RRV, Hangtime, Kimball and Acacia from CA and Adelsheim from Oregon.

Have you had any of these wines, and if so, how do they compare with the PNs in your tasting?

I have gotten them recently at A & H. This is my go-to place for Spanish olive oil, Spanish rice, chorizo, Portugese coarse sea salt and smoked paprika. They also have jamon Serrano and several Spanish cheeses, and if you are going to make feijoada, this is the place to get your farofa. Depending on the day of the week that I am there, I buy fish as well. There prices are always very good, the quality varies. I have heard that Thursday is the best day to go, because they make a trip to a wholesaler in NJ or NY on Wednesdays.

Dinner party for seven tonight

Hors d'euvres:

Medjool dates stuffed with homemade lavender chevre with Maldon salt and Meyer lemon oil

Piquillo peppers with feta

White bean spread

D'Artagnan chorizo

Manchego and homemade membrillo

Olives

Jicama

Amuse: demitasse of carrot ginger soup

2005 Yalumba Y Series Viognier

First:

Duck Twice: applewood smoked duck breast, confit of duck leg, fennel and fig slaw, duck cracklings

2003 Adelsheim Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

Entree:

Braised short ribs of beef

Polenta

Roasted cippolini onions

Brussels sprout, Sunnyside Organics baby turnip and carrot

2002 Turkey Flat Butcher's Block GSM

2002 Two Hands Brave Faces

Loudon lettuce and mache salad

Cheeses:

Fields of Grace Farm camembert, raw milk cheddar

Spanish cow and sheepmilk blue (? name)

Dessert:

Flourless chocolate cake

Raspberry and blackberry coulis

Creme chantilly

R.L. Buller Muscat

Espresso

The place is short on decor, from what I've heard. It used to be a gas station!

If it was a gas station, the conversion must have happened at least forty years ago. It has that early 60's, slanted glass cheap-o attempt at Googie-style design that characterises so many coffee shops and delis of that era. The peeling painted signs on the outside, the ancient formica tables and chairs, the grease-spotted menus, empty salt and pepper shakers and lack of mustard on the tables all bespeak a not-so-benign neglect of the premises that fortunately does not extend to the corned beef. I'd say take-out is the way to go.

Any words on what the hours are? 

Lunch is the time to be there. Or an early dinner during daylight savings time.

I was there for lunch today, in the group with JohnB and Pappy, and the corned beef was excellent, when we finally got it. I ordered "lean"--sacrilege, I know, I know. but it was still moist and juicy. I had no complaints about the bread--it was fresh, and it stayed together as I ate. I brought home a pastrami sandwich for Jonathan, and he was very happy with it. At $6 a sandwich, this was a real deal. I doubt that they have invested a penny in the decor, inside or out, since the early 60's, though. And I can't recall a time when I sat at a stickier formica table.

The service was a comedy of errors, and the two who ordered Reubens had long since finished them by the time the rest of us got our corned beef sandwiches. But for all that, it was worth it for that corned beef. I grew up eating corned beef sandwiches from Canter's on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, and later from Katz's deli in the Lower East Side. This meat was better than Canter's--there, you had to order lean if you didn't want a fistful of fat, and the lean was often dry. The Deli City sandwich is not as generously overstuffed as what you get at Katz's--but there a sandwich now costs $13 I think.

Too bad they don't have Dr. Brown's sodas.

But it's so entertaining to needle Michael a little and then see what he says

In the early '80's, a food-loving vegetarian in West L.A. had a similar complaint about lack of white tablecloth dining options for veggies--those days most veg restaurants served "health food" -- brown rice and veggies-alfalfa sprouts and aduki beans eaten at polished redwood burl slab tables while wearing Birkenstocks and copper bracelets and drinking hibiscus sun tea. She opened an eponymous place called Meyera on Main Street in Ocean Park, at the northern border of Venice, where there was already a significant number of "enlightened" diners with money to spend--by this I mean not only vegetarians, but also flexivores who would be interested in eating vegetarian food if it were interesting enough. It had tablecloths, served wine, and "modern american-style" dishes in multiple course options. It got very good reviews from the local papers, but I believe that it lasted as long as it did (three or four years, if I'm not mistaken) only because the owner had other sources of income.

I knew someone who was a server there, and I ate there a couple of times. I vaguely recall something elaborate and expensive involving black beans and phyllo pastry, but the food was underwhelming to a non-veg with lots of more interesting dining options, even though I had veggie friends who loved the place. There just weren't enough of them to make it a success, even in an affluent, heavily vegetarian-friendly community. I'm not sure it's so different now--we'll see how Vegetate does.

I'm not clear about the plaint about lack of entree choices. My teenage daughter is a vegetarian (she will sometimes eat some seafood, however, which does make it easier). And she usually finds plenty of good options among the appetizers. So she'll order one as a first course and another as her main. I'll bet if someone were concerned about not getting a big enough portion for the main, the kitchen could increase or double it and charge more. While I have not yet read the article, there is somewhat of a tone I'm picking up of: "it's not fair"... Everyone's life is limited in some ways. Talk to left handers about how they are discriminated against in a predominantly right-handed world. Economics severely limits my choices of dining destinations-- lots of white table places I'd like to visit, but can't afford. That's life, full of unfairness.

Quote of the night on Wednesday, courtesy of Chef Power:

"I guess that, in a way, last night was the dry run for tonight..."

It sounds as if he did the squash tart again wednesday. I thought he might do a different dessert after seeing how much of it was left on everyone's plate on tuesday night.

I loved the intriguing background note of anise in the unctuous duck rillettes--was it tarragon? Pernod? Chef revealed that it was star anise in the broth. Duck, foie gras, butter. What's not to like? I could have eaten a lot more of it. My bouche was majorly amused.

The celeriac soup with lobster carpaccio didn't have much celery root flavor, but who cared? It tasted like lobster and cream and was so smooth.

The shrimp tartare with Meyer lemon was a little flat. It needed more lemony tang. More acid would have changed the mouthfeel of the raw shrimp. And then it would have been ceviche, and I might have liked it a lot more.

The pork cheeks with egg noodle and black truffle was one of the best dishes I've had in years. The texture was just perfect. The flavor of the meat and the sauce was over the moon.

The venison was perfectly cooked too, tender, juicy and as flavorful as farmed venison loin can be. But after the pork cheeks, it was sort of anticlimactic. And dessert was disappointing. We were happy with "wine by the glass" and enjoyed our tablemates.

Ferhat was amazing, a dervish in constant motion. I asked him, kiddingly, at the end of the evening how many miles he thought he had done in the course of the meal. He told me that one night during Restaurant Week he wore a pedometer during dinner service, and he had done eight miles by the end of the night. I believe it. Everyone was welcoming and friendly, and kudos to Mike for doing a superlative job of organizing a terrific event.

I lived in Siberia for two years, and it taught me that "Russian Gourmet" is an oxymoron.  I'll check this place out anyways, though.

We met an expat Russian couple in Los Angeles years ago. They invited us over for a gourmet dinner. The hostess' mother ended up doing the cooking because our host and hostess were too hung over from the previous night's vodka "vacation." (Our host explained that he like many Russians considered drinking to the point of black-out a good thing--it's like taking a vacation.) Every dish that was served had walnuts or apples in it, both of which I am violently allergic to. My husband ate heartily, the host and hostess declined any food, and I made do with bread and butter. One of the most bizarre social evenings I can recall.

Interesting.  Do you think the qualities of the Meyer lemon that make it special compared to a regular ole' lemon come through in the preserved lemon state?

Yes. I've done it before with Meyers, which are closer to a sour-ish tangerine than a Eureka lemon, in my book. Salted Meyers have a gentler tang.

If the lemons are firm, they will easily keep for a week in the fridge. I got a sackful of Meyers fresh from California a month ago, kept them on my back porch, which is insulated but unheated, and the last few lemons are still good, just starting to soften a little. I made lemon vodka, lemon olive oil, and packed a dozen in kosher salt for preserved lemons.

His Georgetown recs to the student on a budget? Sorry, Todd--Bistro Francais ain't cheap eats. How about Amma, Moby Dick, Rocklands?

I wish I'd budgeted the time to visit San Simeon, but I did see it from the road, of course.  Can you imagine what it must have looked like around there when Hearst was actually living there?  How difficult must it have been to even GET there from L.A. or anywhere else for that matter back then?

Hearst had a rail line built to transport visitors from Hollywood up for the weekend.

I have got to visit Monterey and Carmel when I can spend more time there.  I put the Highlands Inn, in Monterey Highlands, on my short-list of honeymoon destinations.  Simply stunning.

Put The Ventana Inn in Big Sur on your short-list, too.

What I don't recommend is that you try to make your own salt and vinegar chips as the liquid will ruin the crispness of the chip.

I think you are confusing the practice of sprinkling malt vinegar on french fried potatoes with the commercial "salt and vinegar" potato chips, which are not actually made with vinegar. If you look closely at the ingredients on the bag, you'll see that citric acid is used--the same thing that makes sour candy sour. Citric acid can be sprinkled onto potato chips with sea salt and will make the chips sour but not soggy. You can buy it in a spice section or get some from Penzey's. Sometimes it is labelled "sour salt". It is often used in traditional Eastern European sweet and sour dishes.

The Los Padres National Forest is gorgeous to drive through, going north from Los Angeles.

I used to drive from the Bay Area to L.A. on I-5 as a rule, and in 2003 had not driven that stretch of Highway 101 in ten years--it used to be all rolling golden hills dotted with green live oak trees--and I was flabbergasted by how much the landscape had been transformed by mile after mile of vineyards. Good wine is a good thing, but it was a little sad that the natural landscape of wilderness had been so diminished.

The coast at San Luis Obispo is beautiful, as is the stretch of coastline along US 1 above it--we used to like to stay just north of SLO at Moonstone Beach in Cambria, which is near San Simeon, where the grotesquely amazing Hearst Castle is located. And then further up US 1, of course are Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey, among the most spectacular places in North America.

Between Santa Ynez and SLO is one of the kitchiest destinations in America, The Madonna Inn, where every room is decorated in a different theme or historical period--including paleolithic cave. A tour of the area could include it all--the bizarre, the breathtakingly beautiful, and plenty of vino.

I'm in, but it most likely can't happen until late spring.  I will have to find a source for good quality lard.

Polyface Farm, which comes to both Arlington and Dupont Circle Farmers' Markets, sells kettle rendered lard by the quart from their organically raised heirloom pork. I doubt that it is made solely with leaf fat, but it is very pure and has no preservatives in it.