legant

14K. Surprised myself that I didn't automatically order a burger. Instead, on two separate occasions: crab cake; mussels. Not bad. But, I need to remember not to order mussels out at restaurants. I should just save my money on that one: they are a better value when self prepared. Besides: mussels are so cheap and easy to prepare... and they always taste better... at home.

Years ago, I had gingerbread down pat. So much so that I even sold it at a coffee house. But, that was back in my "baking" days. Needless to say, I can't locate the recipe. Anyone have a good... no; great... gingerbread recipe?

When is it a dinner party vs. having dinner with friends? I'm still on my (making the perfect) biscuit kick and have had one too many biscuit and honey/butter/jam meals. Hence, the meal was built around the biscuits. Started off with a selection of Cowgirl Creamery cheeses; Crisp Roasted Chicken (Cook's Illustrated; gawd! I loved stabbing the heck out of that bird); mixed greens (kale and collards) with bacon; cornmeal biscuits; and, raspberry and blackberry cobbler. The biscuits were a disaster. We checked the biscuits halfway through the cooking time... they had flattened during cooking... and they looked like oatmeal cookies. A quick trip to Florida Avenue Grill saved the meal.

Stonyfield Farm Inc. voluntarily recalled its 6-ounce cups of organic fat-free blueberry yogurt because of the possibility of glass or plastic fragments.

I rode past the Sheraton tonight and was surprised to see a full window pronouncement of District Grill. Truth be told: I had expected the building to have been razed by now. Does anyone know what's going on with that hotel/restaurant space?

Penne with asparagus, roasted shallots, mushrooms, toasted panko and Gorgonzola Pear and Gorgonzola (Tonight's dinner was just an excuse to indulge in a 1/4 lb. of blue cheese; I'll pay for it tomorrow.)

Alson Howard Smith Jr., 80, the holder of Tastee Freez franchises in Virginia, West Virginia and portions of Pennsylvania, died March 23. In a 1982 article in The Washington Post, Mr. Smith, was described as "a short, rumpled Tastee Freez entrepreneur […]”

Al Copeland, 64; founder of Popeyes Chicken Al Copeland, who became rich selling spicy fried chicken and notorious for his flamboyant lifestyle, died Sunday at a clinic near Munich, Germany. Inspired by the success of a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in New Orleans, Copeland in the early 1970s [… opened] a restaurant, Chicken on the Run. ("So fast you get your chicken before you get your change.") After six months, Chicken on the Run was still losing money. In a last-ditch effort, Copeland chose a spicier Louisiana Cajun-style recipe and reopened the restaurant under the name Popeyes Mighty Good Fried Chicken, after Popeye Doyle, Gene Hackman's character in the film "The French Connection." The chain that grew from that one restaurant became Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken. Also see the BayouBuzz.com obit.

Also at the National Harbor.

Super Fresh, near AU, also carries some D'Artagnan products.

I've been too busy... and too frugal... the past few weeks and desperately need a change of pace. Anyone available to whim it for HH in downtown DC, K Street corridor?

... vs. Smoked Gouda

Which Diner?

Halibut marinated and roasted with a sesame-soy-ginger sauce Cooked spinach drizzled with the same sauce Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc The surprise of the evening was the wine. One of those wines you sip and say Whoa. Really crisp; a nice counter to the ginger.

Dinner, last night: Pre-theater: Central; burger. Wasn't that impressed with the burger -- hated the fries -- but willing to give Central another chance. Post-theater: DC Chop House; calamari. Quite nasty; left more than 1/2 on the plate. Was in such a hurry to get away from that oily, tasteless mess that I left my glasses. [in fact, I may go back to Central for a do-over when I retrieve my glasses tomorrow.]

Any word on an opening date? I need my Tom Power fix!

And, for those of us who don't live in Georgetown or aren't heading across the Key Bridge, most Giant food stores will steam your purchased shrimp, lobster and crab legs for free.

Roast beef on onion/cheese roll with mayo and horseradish cheese Packet of Lay's potato chips Ruby Red grapefruit juice

Poached halibut with a garlic-ginger aioli Potato and onion pierogi Stone Cellars Chardonnay Hershey's Dark Chocolate Bliss (trial pack)

Huh? I'm guessing this isn't some sort of peach tree. What is it?

That's exactly what I said in my e-mail to them!

Happy birthday to our resident expatriate from the North.

Has anyone else been plagued by annoying roving ads on epicurious.com of late? I did a search yesterday and the "take a survey" ad appeared. On. Every. Single. Page. The ad seemed to be sponsored by Epicurious. Is there a way to stop them? (Pop-ups are "off.") Taking the survey didn't do it. I finally gave up and sent an e-mail to the site, complaining about the nasty thing. What about the roll-over ads. Usually the ad is in the right margin so moving between the scroll bar and the search box seems to set it off. I remember one site that had audio. Not only did you get the ad; you also got audio to interrupt browsing. ETA: It seems to have been an anomaly. It's not happening today. At least not yet.

Slightly off topic... Has anyone tried Daregal herbs? (According to the website: available at Giant.) I don't get enough sunlight to grow my own; it might be a more economical way to "brighten up" a dish with a sprig of parsley. If the flavors hold up.

Can this meal be saved? I recently attempted Cook’s Illustrated’s slow-roasted beef (September 1996) with semi-disastrous results. I used a chuck roast, ~ 1/2 of a 4lb roast - removed the strip of fat, tied, browned and seared, and dry roasted in a 250 oven ‘til internal temp reached 110. Then, I increased temp to 500. The recipe calls for a final internal temp of 130, supposedly obtained after an additional 15 minutes. Several observations/questions: It took more than 15 minutes for the oven to reach 500 (from 250) temp. I removed the roast when internal temp reached 130; oven temp had probably gotten up to 400. How do I quickly increase the oven temp? After letting the roast rest for 20 minutes, I had a hard time slicing the meat. It seems that it was nothing but hard, non-chewable stuff. However, the next day, I sliced another piece. It was tender and favorable. I then realized that the tasty piece was smaller and came from the other side of the fat vein. I’m guessing here: although the larger piece reached the 110/130 internal temp it hadn’t had enough time to allow the connective tissue to break down. (I should have guessed something was up when I had a tough time inserting the thermometer.) How do I correct this when I have (tied) two different sizes of meat? Also, this was a dry roasting method. I have braised beef roasts before but this dry roasting method was new to me. In fact, I read the recipe several times, thinking I had missed something. I have another chuck roast in the freezer. Given that the smaller piece turned out quite well, I’m tempted to try this method again and dry roast the other chuck roast as well. Finally, if I run into this problem – being fooled by the internal temp; connective tissue not having enough time to break down – again, is there anyway to correct this after the roast is removed from the oven? Could I have braised, after roasting, the tougher piece until tender? [The internal temp will be greater than 130.] Or: marinated it prior to roasting? Or: once it’s cooked, is it cooked?