What's for Dinner?

I'm in Brookeville near Olney. I've also lived in Bethesda and Silver Spring (twice). Where in Bethesda were you?

I'm sad owners at Marathon Deli (Greek place owned by Greeks, sold authentic gyros) in College Park retired / sold out several years ago. New owners screwed it up. Not even worth going anymore. I make them myself sometimes, they're pretty good. It used to be really hard to get all the right ingredients, but things have changed over the past ten years, and now it's pretty easy.
I quit on my last Greek place in dramatic fashion. (Owned by Greeks I'd known for decades, but I was tired of being abused.) Absolutely awesome food, been craving it the last few days. They don't make a traditional tzaziki, it's called "Nick's Sauce" after the grandpa owner, bottled and distributed...close but not chunky cucumber-based.
 
Pit beef sandwiches were off the hook. One thing about slicers - they are not expensive, you'd be surprised, and even though it is not a frequently needed kitchen appliance, it's great to have one when you do need one. I got mine at Williams-Sonoma. They told me they didn't carry slicers and I walked over and picked one up from a lower shelf, lol... I guess they aren't a hot seller. One thing about mine I wish I had known about. There is a lever in the back that controls how thin or thick you want your slices. It just moves back and forth with a little pressure. Unfortunately, when you are slicing, the pressure from keeping the meat lined up tends to widen the gap. So you start out with think slices, but as you slice they get progressively thicker. There really needs to be a way to lock down the desired width. That's a pretty big design flaw but something I would make sure a slicer has before I bought one. And yes, they are a pain in the ass to clean :)
I was an Arby's manager in another life...is it an automatic rotating blade?
 
If you mean, does it start spinning the minute the machine is turned on, yes.
 
If you mean, does it start spinning the minute the machine is turned on, yes.
Wrap a wet towel around a set of tongs so you have some distance from the rotating blade, of course on the "0" position and in a "slow" rotation. Turn it on, get the gunk off both sides. Take it slow and easy from there, but I've never been cut once. (I actually learned this at Hardee's management in the 80s, we had the very same beef).
There are also chain-link cutting gloves that restaurants use. They're usually loose on the hand, rubber glove on top holds it tight.
 
There's no speed control on the blade, it's got one speed only. The problem is, there is a sliding plastic piece that grips the meat and that you use to apply pressure the keep the meat pressed up against the surface as you slide it back and forth, but when you apply a little pressure to it as you slice, the clamp that you use to adjust the slice width isn't strong enough to hold the gap as set. It widens as you push a little. Maybe I just need to learn to not push so much, but it seems to happen even when I am mindful of that.
 
Last night's dinner - birria tacos. I lost the color in the rendered fat because I took my eye off that pot and it boiled and boiled out the orange color that it had. Otherwise the tortillas would have a nice orange color. My bad. Tasted good though.

Soft fried tortilla, Mexican cheese, Mexican birria beef, red onions, sliced radishes, sliced cucumbers, fresh cilantro, jalapenos, fresh lime juice, Mexican crema, Mexican hot sauce. And of course, the birria consumme which the tacos are dipped in just prior to the bite.

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Did I mention the 10 years I spent at a Mexican restaurant? The owner & I would love to get the band back together, but neither of us have the dough right now. Those look amazing, Mark The Homer .
 

Nice video.
I was excited when they opened a Chaps near me.
Then I tried it. Was not impressed. The sides were downright bad, with tiny overpriced portions.
I even gave them a second chance.
Still wasn't impressed. There are two things that you should be order safely in the Baltimore Metro area that must always be great to excellent. Crab cakes and pit beef....
 
Pit beef sandwiches were off the hook. One thing about slicers - they are not expensive, you'd be surprised, and even though it is not a frequently needed kitchen appliance, it's great to have one when you do need one. I got mine at Williams-Sonoma. They told me they didn't carry slicers and I walked over and picked one up from a lower shelf, lol... I guess they aren't a hot seller. One thing about mine I wish I had known about. There is a lever in the back that controls how thin or thick you want your slices. It just moves back and forth with a little pressure. Unfortunately, when you are slicing, the pressure from keeping the meat lined up tends to widen the gap. So you start out with think slices, but as you slice they get progressively thicker. There really needs to be a way to lock down the desired width. That's a pretty big design flaw but something I would make sure a slicer has before I bought one. And yes, they are a pain in the ass to clean :)
Amen!

It sucks to have to keep readjusting the thickness while you're slicing. The nicer slicers don't have that issue. That was one of the things that I researched when reading reviews to replace the old one. You can apply as much pressure as you want and the thickness doesn't change. It helps to have a larger blade too. I also use it to slice the onions..
 
My kids are coming down for a long weekend on Friday. They arrived late so I will have a nice charcuterie board out for them with beer wine and drinks.

Saturday we have reservations here:


Monday here in the neighborhood:


I will make sure to get some really good photos and follow up
 
Just got in some snow crab claw leg portions I’m gonna try soon.
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HOF44 what are your plans or ideas?

First thing I thought of was omelettes with the crab and Boursin
 
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I've had to keep it on the cheap for a while.
When this house sells, gonna blow yo' minds.
I loved cooking with my husband, he was good and we had fun. Not the same by myself, but I wanna do a full-blown-out something soon.
 
My new hobby of homemade pizza has been a fail. I can never get the fresh dough to roll out. I dusted with flour, used a rolling pin and it always boings back into the thick shape. If I try to stretch it with my hands it tears. The pre-made crusts at the store result in a pizza resembling Tombstone.

But I just stumbled on a recipe where you mix cabbage with egg, heat in a skillet to create a crust, and then add sauce, cheese, toppings and cover in skillet to melt the cheese. To my surprise the wife wants me to try it.
 
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