ktmoomau

Just now, Pat said:

Last night was a broccoli and cauliflower centered meal. I made a broccoli salad out of some that had been previously steamed and was in the refrigerator. I used Bolthouse Farms Avocado - Green Goddess dressing (I really like this stuff) to coat the broccoli and then added raisins, bacon, chopped celery, and bits of toasted pecan.

This is too funny.  Just the other day I went to Harris Teeter across from my office to grab a salad.  They had an old fashioned broccoli salad (bacon, probably mayo and not GG dressing and a few other things)  that I ended up getting and it really made me crave this salad, potentially sans raisins.  

Last night was dinosaur sized pork chops from Costco (I thought they were stacked and they were thick cut, not double chops, but they were in fact HUGE double chops) with mural of flavor seasoning from Penzey's.  Seared then baked in the oven.  On the side was cherry tomatoes, squash, onion and spinach sauteed in olive oil with parsley and oregano.  We couldn't eat all of the chops, so I need to figure out what I want to do with some leftover pork chop pieces.

While on this topic, can I just say- as I get a little older, I REALLY appreciate when there are dots or lines across a wine list from the name to the price in some way.  Big wine lists can be more taxing on my vision than they used to be.  And when I am out with my Mom, even with her readers on she really can have trouble reading the smaller print on some wine lists.  I really like when the server reconfirms the maker and type of wine, and when they discreetly confirm the price on the menu by pointing to it, as well. I have once ordered a more expensive bottle than I meant to based on just not going across correctly in terms of the price.  It wasn't as big of a difference as the above, and it was fine and we liked the wine, but it is never fun to have that kind of surprise when dining out.

Chestertown

Bad Alfred's Distillery- there was a guy set up with buck a shuck oysters outside, so we got 2 dozen oysters, and cocktails from BAD, I got a Kentucky mule with their bourbon.  The oysters were good (He will be at the Wine and Cheese place next month), cocktail was good.  You can get pizza there, we didn't, but it looked pretty good. 

Evergrain Bread Company- pastries are not cheap here, but they were very good, especially the ham, cheese and potato hand pie and blueberry muffin. 

Galena

We went to the Kitty Knight Tavern on Saturday night and I had the chicken marsala.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.  My Mom's salmon looked good, but the risotto looked thick.  I had a bite of her friend's chicken cacciatore and that was good.  

Rock Hall

We went to Waterman's on Sunday and had steamed shrimp, hush puppies, fried crabcake, fried oysters, baked potato, vegetable medley, fish tacos.  The fish tacos were cod, but hey they were good.  The fried oysters were really good, not gamey at all.  The crabcake was ok, it had a filler that wasn't my favorite.  The vegetable medley was actually fresh sauteed veggies- cabbage, green beans, onion and corn that was better than I expected.  The shrimp were steamed perfectly and I liked the hush puppies.  I know this place gets slammed in the summer, off season they are missing some of their menu, which I can understand.

I went with Eric, and I left really having enjoyed a few items, but I am just not sure I see the big price justification over some of the pretty nice places for Indian in Fairfax county.  I didn't think the menu was that more punjabi than other places.  I liked the texture of the paneer, it seemed grilled. I thought the fish was very good.   I really was impressed with the cooking of the cauliflower head as a whole.  The chaat was good.  The breads weren't any better than others you get, and the lemon and sundried tomato oils really I thought distracted instead of adding to the bread, I didn't like those flavors.  It wasn't bad at all.  I just don't know that I would go back and pay that much more for Indian food...

22 hours ago, Smita Nordwall said:

Was it fresh lotus root or canned?I really want to learn to look for good fresh lotus root. I've bought it a couple times and it seems to get weird black spots and turn a little slimy in a couple of days. 

It was a package of fresh cut slices in the refrigerated section of Lotte.  

Sad to see this go.

I made this Food and Wine recipe for Mapo Eggplant.  I upped the chili sauce as I wanted it spicier, and I added bok choy and lotus root as I didn't have quite as much eggplant as called for in the recipe.  Served with wild and brown rice.  https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/ma-po-eggplant-in-garlic-sauce  Hubby despite not liking mapo tofu, and not being very excited when I said mapo eggplant, ate two helpings so, I think we did good.

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Lotus Root (Smita Nordwall)

The buds are also commonly dried and eaten on some lily varieties.  If you google, there is some information on species (not uncommon) and recipes.  I will pay attention the next time I am at an Asian grocery and see if I see them.  Going to China was really eye opening how much of a plant they eat compared to what plants and what parts of plants we eat.  We seem to be wasting a lot of plants...

Last night was a bit of an odd assortment.  I thawed what I thought was two pork chips, but it was one large piece of pork loin chop.  So I pan sauteed it, but it had two bones running through it so I didn't think it was enough meat for two.  So I also pan sauteed a chicken breast that I had made into two portions as it was rather large.  After browning, I added red wine vinegar, butter, some herbs, a little olive oil and put the lid on to finish the chicken and create a pan sauce.  Once I pulled the pork, I added sliced mushrooms and cooked them down in the sauce.  In the oven I roasted carrots and radishes with a little onion in butter.  Served with some rice.  It was tasty, but not really thoughtful looking or lovely plated.

We go here somewhat regularly.  I noticed last Saturday they had taken the moussaka and pastitsio off the menu, at least when we were there for lunch (but they might have them as specials??) and have added 1/4 chicken and 1/2 chicken platters.  I normally can't get past the salads with chicken yeero.  If I do, it is normally for a souvlaki sandwich or chicken yeero.  A small thing of fries will serve 2, the box of fries with the feta easily is for four.  The pita despite not being homemade, to me makes nice sandwich bread- not too fluffly not to hold up, but not dense or chewy.  

I drove by the Sterling location by accident the other day, so they now have multiple locations.

Saturday night was burgers on the grill with cucumber, tomato and shallot salad.

Last night was homemade spinach pasta with broccoli rabe, chili flake, garlic (and a dash of fish sauce because I could not find anchovies anywhere in my pantry?), with parm and pasta water.  It was very pretty, I wish I had taken a picture, darn it.

From what I have heard, the owner is Chinese, I believe she worked in policy for a while then retired (IMF if I recall correctly, according to my yoga teacher who is in that complex of buildings).  We went with a friend from Yunnan (Kunming) this weekend.  They have fermented Pu'er tea.  I didn't think the buns were dry (but mine didn't look exactly like the above, the buns themselves were lighter and airier), I actually thought the meat was quite tender and it wasn't negatively fatty, but had a little fat which was a nice compliment to the bun.  We REALLY liked the wasabi soy bok choy it was very good.  Hubby had the braised beef, which he thought was a little mild, he said he wouldn't have minded some chili sauce to spice it up.  But Yunnan food generally is more mild.  I had the Little Pot, and I thought it had good flavor, to me it wasn't really spicy, but it wasn't bland at all.  The broth wasn't a ramen broth, it was lighter, but the eggs were perfectly soft boiled, the pork had a little spice and overall it was really good, some herbs, some pork.  It looked like the above, but with a few more herbs floating at the top, and lots of the pork and herbs sunk to the bottom and needed stirred around.  I thought the noodles were good, they weren't quite as good as the long bridge noodles we had in Kunming, but it was very similar.  They also could benefit from having some condiments available like chili sauce, etc.  I would like to try a few more seasonal specials.  We got the sticky rice with 8 treasures for dessert, I thought it was balanced nicely, it was in a little pot, and was enough for us to have a couple bites each (Hubby and other Hubby aren't big dessert people so me and Wifey mainly polished this one off).  For a place that just opened, I thought it had a lot of potential.  It's a couple blocks away from work, so I am sure I will check back in on it.  This isn't something that I think people will travel across DC for, but I think it's really nice to have it in the neighborhood.

3 minutes ago, Sundae in the Park said:

Worst-case, you could just freeze the stuff you can use in soup/stock. I used to have celery guilt because I could never use up a whole bunch before it went bad (heh, we don't really like celery except in soup). BUT!! I figured out that I can save it for later and alleviate all guilt! If I have a little time/the cutting board out already, I dice the stalks so they are ready to be dumped into any mirepoix.

Good idea!  I will likely make some quick fridge pickles, as I love pickled carrots and radish, and Hubby likes cucumber quick pickles (I don't mind them, but they aren't my big thing).  And I thought about making a cucumber dip for a meeting I have Tuesday (as I was also given a large thing of crackers to re-use for the meeting).  But there is a pretty hefty bag of stuff left, freezing pre-chopped is genius level thinking, I am not sure why I previously didn't do this.

Yes, someone posted about it somewhere on here, so I watched it. I really enjoyed it!

I was given the leftover tray of crudite from an event- because they knew I would use it- ahhhh.  I mean I likely will, but still, the pressure.

So I had a bunch of cauliflower and cherry tomatoes.  I cut up the tomatoes, and made a cauliflower, tomato sweet curry with coconut milk, tarragon, curry powder, garlic, ginger.  I added frozen peas and chicken meatballs from the fridge/freezer.  We had it with rice and naan that was leftover from the birthday dinner I had.   

My non-profit has now had Cedar Knoll cater multiple events for us (two events for two years) one is a breakfast, and one was an evening event needing appetizers.  I am not sure how widely they do catering, we are in Alexandria, so it may make it easier.  But I know they have nice event space, too. 

We have thought they have had really tasty items- for the breakfast they had delicious homemade english muffin breakfast sandwiches, which were perfect as it needed to be a little grab and go. Delicious ham biscuits (we really like those).  And an assortment of other breakfast items.   

We have had an assortment of appetizers over the last two years for an event- sweet potato ham biscuit (well they were such a big hit the first time), pork and ginger wontons, chicken fricasse puff, wrapped asparagus, cheese platter, cured salmon on pumpernickel bites, lamb sausage, olive and pepper jelly on cracker, etc, etc.  I have to say everyone has really liked the food both years for both events.  I thought the food was very good, not too stuffy, something most people would like and try.  They have been really nice to work with, the chef has come to oversee set up for the events and make sure everything was correct, and is just super nice.

So anyway, as they have their restaurant, I am not sure how widely they do catering, but based on how good this was, I would definitely consider them for holding an event at Cedar Knoll, as well.

I will say- if you want to have a local spa day- this can be a good choice for that.  Although I went during a snow storm so it was likely much less crowded than normal.  But I liked that they had full facilities- outdoor heated pool, you could swim with snow around you, outdoor hot tub, indoor whirlpool, steam, sauna, etc, etc.  Especially if you want to do a ladies spa day, I think it is my favorite place this side of Nemacolin.  You can also get a locals discount (at least during the week).  So perhaps not a great place to stay, but a great place to spa with some friends.

I would rather have to eat a ton of blue crab to fend off the scourge than a snakehead... just sayin.

Mom and I were back at Lena's.  This seems to be our comfort food place, it helps they have parking.  Mom had been sewing and teaching me to sew that evening, so this was a well deserved break.  We got the chicken marsala and proscuitto and arugula pizza.  I thought the pizza was better than last time, maybe it was because there wasn't as much pressure on the sauce?  The crust is still not write home about crust, but it did the job of conveying decent toppings.  The chicken marsala isn't very traditional, no spaghetti, linguine type pasta, instead it gets I would say a rotini/maccherroni style noodle?  The sauce wasn't very wine heavy, and was more like a light gravy, but this was a very comforting dish on a colder than I thought it should be evening.  And being as hungry and tired as we were, we devoured it.  This is a good cold weather, comfort food dish, but don't expect it to be like what you think it should be.  

http://panamerican4u.com/index.html (I think, although I swear this took me to a different looking website last week)

I know they have locations in Arlington and Alexandria. 

Anyway, we stopped in here Saturday to pick up a Tres Leches cake for my brother's birthday. I called ahead, but I don't think my Spanish was really good enough to get the transaction done, luckily they had one in the case when we arrived.   I had never been in, we were starving from doing a good bit of yard work, so we ordered a chorizo and chicken sandwich, and then a chicken, beef and a green plantain.  Hubby thought the beef was too sweet, but really enjoyed the green plantain saltena, and also really enjoyed the chorizo sandwich.  The sandwiches are huge.  I thought the pollo sandwich was better with a little green sauce added.  I liked the chicken saltena, the beef was a little sweeter than the ones at Carribean Grill, but I still enjoyed it.  I get major saltena cravings, so good to know I can get them here.  The tab was $60 including the cake for 12 people, so I would say it was a very good deal.  My brother loved his cake.  We saw some of the soups and other entrees other people were getting, and everything looked good.  My Mom had never had this type of food and really had a good time, I think she would have fun going back.  

Well that sounds delicious!  Last week I made double cut pork chops served with bok choy, lotus root and eggplant baked with miso butter.  The next evening was kitchen fridge salad with leftover chicken, lettuce, roasted red peppers, homemade croutons, carrots, celery, blue cheese and vinaigrette.  

I made a birthday dinner for 9 adults and 2 kids this weekend-

Appetizers: Whipped feta dip (feta, EVOO, herbs, salt, pepper), hummus, crudite, pita (The kiddos love- a bread, and raw veggies and hummus)

Main Menu: Hubby smoked a full rack of ribs and grilled the chicken, steak and veggie kabobs I made.  I made rice in the instant pot. Big Greek salad with homemade Greek dressing. (Kiddos picked at a skewer, at some chicken and rice)

Dessert: Tres Leches cake from PanAmerica Bakery (Of course the kiddos ate this...)

It could be- vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, low carb, dairy free depending on what you ate... I had no idea some of the guests eating restrictions so I just tried to go as neutral as I could.  We ended up with pretty much no leftovers, but I don't think anyone left hungry, so I think we did good.

Last night I used the wild boar I sous vided that a friend gave me, then cut it into chunks and made it into a soup with celery, carrot, onion, navy beans, rosemary and thyme, a little stock.  The beans I think were old, I have been having some issues with HT beans not hydrating after even very long soaks, so I had to in a desperate it's already too late to be eating dinner attempt to get the soup done, throw it from the cast iron into the instant pot.  This worked, I should have done it sooner (I didn't because with soup, I like to adjust the flavors as it is cooking, etc.  But lessons learned.

3 hours ago, Bart said:

I feel just the opposite about blueberries.  Once you get them established they require very little care.  I have to cover mine in netting or the birds would get them all.

I think my blueberry obsession stems from the fact we had bushes growing up and then my Aunt and Uncle had them.  Fresh blueberries for cereal, pancakes or when they were plentiful- pie was a good time.  Blueberries hold good memories for me.  I also used to enjoy when we would find potato plants growing in the compost.

They DO deliver, via Door Dash I believe.