ScotteeM

I found frozen, shelled fava beans last night at Whole Foods in Springfield. The 16-oz bag was $2.29. Cooked according to package directions (in boiling water for 7 minutes) produced a very mealy texture and not a lot of flavor. I'll try again but just warm them.

Better Google again, then. A hog maw is a hog stomach. Hog jowls are hog cheeks. If you're looking for jowls, I don't think a maw is a viable substitute. However, stuffed hog maw is a Pennsylvania Dutch delicacy.

Chef Landrum, As a Philadelphia native, I regret the accusations lodged at you, as an attempt to deflect blame from where it rightfully lay. Meanwhile, I support the biker chefs, et al. And where are the biker sommoliers?

Barbara, I don't have your background here, but I was thinking the same thing. $250,000 for the Hilton chain? Absolutely chump change, IMO. I thought Landrum's posts were eloquent and righteous. You go, Michael!

So am I! And well ahead of anything in New York. But, $98 at Maestro will get you 3 courses and maybe a drink, but no tip. . . . and only Tuesday-Thursday. The weeknight 3-course menu is $85. With tax, tip, and one drink, I'm calculating a bit more than $98.

Wow, Brian, you don't look anything like your picture! Portugese wines, huh? Just one more reason for me to check it out sooner, rather than later! Thanks for that tip.

Hear! Hear! Happy Birthday, DR.com! What a great place to be!

Monique, I think I just saw fresh turkeys at the WF in Springfield. Call your local WF, and as others have said, they probably can get one for you if they don't have them already in the case. This will be our first Easter in more than 30 years without my mother-in-law. Her favorite Easter dinner was the same as other holidays: roast chicken with stuffing, baked tomatoes, sauerkraut, whipped potatoes with gravy, green beans with spaetzle (frozen), and some other frozen vegetable. It was always enough to feed an army, even though it was always just the three of us. I'm planning to make that for Mothers' Day. Mr. S is trekking in Bhutan now, which is where he should be. I'm contemplating a quiet day, maybe tackling a batch of chicken stock to put in my freezer--haven't done that in a very long time.

Escoffier, It's funny you should mention Rafagino's today. When I was at Restaurant Eve today for lunch, Todd asked me if I had been there. The owners are friends of his, and he says the food is wonderful. I haven't tried it yet, but I hope to do so soon. I just found a link to their menu here. It looks good.

I enjoy lots of different things on steaks, including chimichurri, blue cheese, and Smith & Wollensky. But if there isn't any A1 in the house on steak night, it becomes an issue of national security for Mr. S, so I always keep an extra bottle in the pantry.

It's a little further away, in Springfield in name only. It's in the Kings Park shopping center, on Burke Lake Road at Braddock Road. It's where Vinnie's used to be, next door to Caribou Coffee.

I was aware of your experiences before I ordered, Bilrus, which is why I had no high expectations. I just figured it couldn't be any worse than what I've become used to around here. What I brought home and ate far exceeded my expectations, and made me very happy. Maybe, because this is the newest location, the chef/owner is paying more attention? Whatever it is, I just hope it lasts until Mr. S gets home in a few weeks to try it.

I told myself not to expect too much. Most of the carry out I've had from this area has ranged from mediocre to downright awful. But I was tired and hungry, and in the mood for something different. The staff were polite, both on the phone and in person. The restaurant was pleasant enough, and about 75% full on a Wednesday night in north Springfield (nearly Annandale). I ordered Calamara Grigliati and Spaghetti Porto Venere. It sounded good at the time. The calamari was packed in a black styrofoam container. When I opened it, the food looked pretty--attractive--maybe even beautiful. The squid was coated with a red seasoning, flecked with black grill marks. It was laid on sliced tomatoes drizzled with pesto, over a bed of chopped lettuce. It tasted as good as it looked, and maybe better. It is my new favorite calamari dish, supplanting Kinkead's grilled calamari appetizer. San Vito's grilled calamari was perfectly cooked--tender, tasty, flavored with smoke and gentle spices. The pesto enriched the flavor of the tomatoes, and set off the squid nicely. Wow! I wanted a second helping, not because the serving size was small, but because it tasted that good. The mussels were nicely presented, all in their shells atop spaghetti draped in marinara sauce. It was a generous portion, with plenty of mussels. It tasted like mussels, and the sauce was rich, tomatoey, and sweet. Many otherwise good dishes, including seafood, lose a lot as takeout. I'm figuring that, if this food was so good at home, it's probably really good in the restaurant. I'm already contemplating my next order. I don't know why I waited so long to try this place. It's only half a mile from home. Finally: decent carryout! ETA: I'm talking about the Kings Park/Springfield restaurant, and to fix spelling.

I wish I could! I'll be lunching somewhere between Old Town Alexandria and Ballston tomorrow. Haven't decided where yet.

I work in a small veterinary practice. At our transaction level, which is relatively small, American Express fees are significantly higher (I don't know the numbers, just what my boss tells me), to the point where we don't accept that card unless the client has no other form of payment. Even the larger hospital within whose walls we rent space, with a staff of more than 2 dozen doctors and 100+ staff total (i.e.: lots of appointments, procedures, and significantly more and larger transactions) still prefers not to accept American Express, but does so because of client demand. I've heard many complaints from business owners about the difficulties of dealing with AmEx and getting paid in a timely fashion, but I don't have any first-hand knowledge of that.

Now that I have my reservations secured, I'm happy to share the news for anyone who missed it in the WP Weekend section on Friday: Maestro has announced three more cooking classes for May, June and July. Here's the link to the article, which also lists cooking classes at Gallileo, Citronell, Kaz Sushi Bistro, Gerard's Place, and Equinox.

Thanks for the link! Last year Mr. S bought me a book about wild mushrooms, and I'd been thinking it would be fun to go looking for some. I wonder what's out in the woods behind my house . . . .

Crackers, I'm late saying so, but I thoroughly enjoyed going through the yearbook last night--it turned a bad night into a good one! Finding this group has been a great thing for me, and reading the yearbook just reinforced why I've made this website my home page. Thank you for this beautiful memento! It brought back some great memories. Cheers!

Mr. S has long maintained that the traditional dinner for Easter must be rabbit. I've not indulged that notion. We usually have lamb when it's just the two of us. How about devilled eggs? You'll probably have plenty of hard-boiled eggs available. Fresh (or frozen) spring peas in a little reduced heavy cream with tarragon is one of my new easy favorite sides.

I worked in Springfield for almost 8 years--until June 2005, when SouthPaws picked up and moved to Merrifield. It didn't take me long to realize what we'd lost in terms of sources for lunch. We were right next door to Kate's Irish Pub, which was convenient, if inconsistent. I used to always order their liver and onions lunch special to share with the dog who went to work with me every day. Their food could range from pretty good pub grub to eeeww, depending on the day. A bakery down at the other end of that shopping center had wonderful cookies and other baked goods, as well as great home-cooked Hispanic specialties for breakfast and lunch. I don't remember the name, but it's near the mattress store and the day spa. Dragon Sea Buffet was very popular, and often crowded. For steam table food, it was pretty good, and they had sushi, dim sum, and some exotic soups at times. I really miss Delia's. I never set foot in the place, but their long and varied delivery menu kept us all very happy. Their entree salads, their sandwiches and subs, and even their barbecue were decent, filling, and reasonably priced. Malek's also had decent delivery, but we generally liked Delia's better. I think they made at least one delivery, and sometimes several, to our hospital every day. Saigon City opened a couple of years ago, and offered good pho and chai gio and other Vietnamese specialties. A few blocks away, TK Thai produced decent carry out and delivery. I'm writing this in the past tense, because I haven't eaten at any of these places since May 2005. A new kabob place was opening even as our moving vans pulled away last year, and I never got to try it. The El Paso Tex Mex place on Commerce was good, but too slow for our short lunch breaks. I write this with a great deal of nostalgia. I have not found the lunch choices in and around Merrifield to come anywhere close to what we had in Springfield.

The dogs and I are having beef back ribs (mine were slow-roasted, theirs were not). I'm also having a purple artichoke and risotto al salto.

Brown sugar? Red wine? Beef broth? Those are in the recipe I clipped from Whole Foods' promotion last year. Click here for that recipe, which was very simple and delicious. I tasted it when it was demo-ed at the Springfield WF and liked it so much I had to make it myself, and I still liked it.

One difference in his pasta recipe from others I've seen (and I'm certainly not an experienced pasta-makerk) is that he uses nearly 3 dozen egg yolks and 1/4 cup of whole milk for 4 cups of 00 flour. This makes a very rich dough, and he feels that using 36 yolks makes an easier dough for beginners to handle. He also recommends using free-range organic eggs. His lamb stew is a basic braise, finished just before serving with a mixture of eggs, breadcrumbs, grated parmesan, grated lemon zest, and finely chopped parsley, which thickens the liquid and gives the dish a rich, luxurious texture. By cutting the lamb shoulder into small pieces before cooking, the stew becomes the texture of a sauce for the sliced rack of lamb. Chef Trabocchi also emphasizes the importance of using the best quality ingredients available. He advocates using organic and free-range products whenever possible, and of course, real Italian cheese from Italy. His recipe for the cheese and pepper bread, which is almost the consistency of a cake, uses fresh yeast (or active dry yeast) and 00 flour. Some of his ingredients and techniques seem a little fussy, but I think the results justify the fussiness. I'm not sure about the copyright implications of sharing the recipes, so I'm hesitant to post them. His book will be published in October (I've already ordered my copy from Amazon), and all the recipes demonstrated in the classes come from the book.

I tasted the soup today: Quadrucci in Brodo and thought, Could I really make it taste like this at home? It was so clear, so rich, so intricate. Chef Trabocchi made me believe. He shared his recipe for chicken stock, and the soup, as well as stuffed fried olives, cheese and black pepper cake, Easter lamb (a wonderful lamb stew garnished with fried baby artichokes and sauteed sliced rack of lamb), and sweet Maritozzi--sweet brioche with raisins soaked in anise liquer, cut in half and spread with blueberry jam and filled with a small scoop of house-made ice cream. I believe! I can't wait for Mr. S to get home from his trek in Bhutan so I can make the lamb stew and rack of lamb! I can do it! Today was the third class I've attended at Maestro. The first was breads, and then risotto and pasta, and today was a typical Easter dinner from la Marche. Chef Trabocchi is a great teacher. His stories are funny and warm, and help us remember the food. He shares the details of working with yeast, and adding ingredients to the mixer so they don't wind up all over the room, and all the secrets to good stock, and the intricacies of freezing meats and how that affects their texture. I have several pages of notes from each class, in addition to the handouts and recipes. I believe! Next weekend, I hope to make some chicken stock. And maybe stuff some olives (I couldn't believe I found the big green Cerignola olives at Whole Foods tonight!). Mr. S will be so surprised! I now understand how to make pasta dough as rich as Chef Trabocchi does. I also understand how to make risotto like he does. It won't diminish my desire to eat the food that Chef Fabio cooks. But at least I can bring a little of it into my own home. And I can't wait to get my copy of his cookbook, due out in October.

I just got back from the Whole Foods in Springfield, and they do have sablefish today. It's about $19.99/lb.