Sushi Oiishi in Rockville

Sushi Oishii
9706 Traville Gateway Drive  Rockville, MD 20850

(301) 251-1177

The lunch special at $8.95 which includes a soup, salad and two Sushi rolls , see above is a great bargain. If you are going to Fallsgrove for lunch you should consider changing and going to Sushi Oiishi instead

Bageltowne Deli Rockville

If there is a reason that small business do extremely well in customer service then Bageltowne Deli is an excellent example.

Located at 9749 Traville Gateway Dr, Rockville 20850 the y have great coffee and excellent NY style deli sandwiches.

They have been successful in this Traville Gateway Mall where other eateries have not fared well. Of Cava us another example of success a well.

I am giving this place a ranking of must visit for coffee

Dreaming of Pork Belly Appetizer at Indique

I never thought I would wake up with the thought of the Spiced Pork Belly appetizer  I ate last night at Indique.  We had gone on a sightseeing visit to Washington DC with family visiting us and decided to go to Indique for an early dinner ( Even at 5.30 p.m they were open) 

I think you can have a whole meal with the appetizer menu. Along with the other appetizers - belpuri, papadi chat and Samosa chat that we usually order I wanted to try the Spiced Pork ever since I read about on Monica Bhide's Blog.

Kudos to Chef Vinod for yet another innovative dish, the flavor of the spices with the softness of the Pork Belly made the dish memorable especially to me as I do not eat pork frequently.  My foodie friend from Coorg, Deviah would have enjoyed it a lot as I did.

The last chance to see Bon Appétit! Julia Child’s Kitchen at the Smithsonian

Exhibition Closing

Bon Appétit! Julia Child’s Kitchen at the Smithsonian

National Museum of American History

Last Day to See: Jan. 8, 2012

The last chance to see Bon Appétit! Julia Child’s Kitchen at the Smithsonian, the exhibition that allows a peek into Julia Child’s legendary Cambridge, Mass., kitchen, is Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012.

When Child moved back to her home state of California in 2001, she donated the contents of her 14-foot by 20-foot home kitchen, including small utensils, personal cookbooks, the stainless steel kitchen sink and her six-burner Garland commercial range. The kitchen, which Child used as the set of three television shows and as the testing ground for many recipes featured in her cookbooks, is composed of more than 1,200 individual pieces. The museum staff packed and catalogued the entire kitchen, then reassembled it in the museum exactly as it was in Child’s home. 

The museum will reopen the kitchen within a new exhibition focusing on food and wine in America. This exhibition is scheduled to open late summer 2012. The museum must move the kitchen to prepare for upcoming renovations to its west exhibition wing. Visit the online exhibition at http://americanhistory.si.edu/juliachild.

About the Museum

The National Museum of American History collects, preserves and displays American heritage in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific and military history. To learn more about the museum, check http://americanhistory.si.edu. For Smithsonian information, the public may call (202) 633-1000, (202) 633-5285 (TTY).

Going To The Market

With the Holiday season upon us, traveling and food are an ever present theme. For some reason today reminded me of my travels to Barcelona walking along La Rambla, my wife and I past this market that was packed with people. The market is called Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria which dates back to 1217. Though this place has become a tourist destination this market has a diverse aray of goods, exotic fruits, vegetables, juice/smoothy drinks, butchers, and small bar style places to grab a quick meal.

Here are a few pictures

Thanksgiving "Turkey" Day Leftover Tips from Whole Foods

Thanksgiving Day 2011 is almost here. For my international audience Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in the US on the 4th Thursday of November every year. It is a major holiday and many folks return home or join friends and relatives in one place to enjoy a feast of turkey. In my family and me being a former chef ( I think former is incorrect here as once a chef always a chef) I try new ways of cooking the turkey with Indian spices and sometimes we will use a large chicken as we may not have enough people over to warrant a Turkey and we still will have leftovers.

Leftovers from Thanksgiving are always a subject of creativity and innovation and creativity in many households. A search on Google brings op 18 million results for the words 'Thanksgiving leftovers" . I was happy  my mailbox today got a few tips from Whole Foods Market that I included in this post.

Turkey

· Dice leftover turkey (dark meat is particularly firm and flavorful) and toss with mayo, a little mustard, and some chopped apple and celery for a fabulous sandwich filling. Try it on toasted raisin bread!

· For a turkey Cobb salad, spread chopped lettuce over a platter and top with rows of diced turkey breast, crumbled blue cheese, chopped tomato, chopped red onion, and diced avocado; serve with oil and vinegar or your favorite vinaigrette.

· Boil up your favorite pasta shape, then toss with shredded turkey, prepared pesto sauce, lots of freshly grated black pepper and Parmesan.

Mashed Potatoes

· Mix with some cooked chopped cabbage, kale or other hearty winter green for a quick version of colcannon, an Irish staple.

· Combine with a little chopped onion and beaten egg, form into patties and pan-fry for delicious potato cakes. Adding a little cooked grain to the mix will make them even more wonderful — try wild rice or barley.

· Sauté sliced leeks in butter until soft, then puree with chicken stock and mashed potatoes for a delicious winter soup.

Cranberry Sauce

· Mix with plain yogurt for breakfast or a satisfying snack.

· Stir some chopped pecans or walnuts into your sauce and serve as a chutney with crackers and cheeses — particularly delicious with Stilton or farmhouse Cheddar!

· Mix into applesauce and serve hot with pork chops or as a topping for pancakes or waffles.

Stuffing or Dressing

· Reheat in the microwave and top with fried or poached eggs for breakfastóparticularly delicious with sausage or sage stuffing!

· Make "stuffing muffins" by pressing dressing or stuffing into the cups of a butter muffin tin and baking at 350°F until hot and crisp on top; sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs just before serving.

· Mix with nuts or dried fruit and use as a filling for halved, roasted winter squash like acorn or delicata.

In general, refrigerated leftovers should be used within three to four days. Frozen leftovers will have the best quality if used within two to four months.
After the meal or during there is so much to see on TV  Jackie Kass writes in her Examiner article

 Thanksgiving Day usually involves some down time on the couch before or after the big feast. The TV schedule for Thanksgiving Day 2011 is strong and features the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, a slew of football games, including three NFL match-ups and one college game, and a Lady Gaga primetime special. There’s literally something for everyone, including the kiddies 

Do you have some tips about good use of leftover food?

Worldwatch Institute offers 10 simple steps Reducing Food Waste During the Holiday Season

Reducing Food Waste During the Holiday Season 10 simple steps we all can take to help make this season    less wasteful and more plentiful

Washington, D.C.----The holiday season is a time for gifts, decorations, and lots and lots of food. As a result, it's also a time of spectacular amounts of waste. In the United States, we generate an extra 5 million tons of household waste each year between Thanksgiving and New Year's, including three times as much food waste as at other times of the year. When our total food waste adds up to 34 million tons each year, that equals a lot of food. With the holidays now upon us, the Worldwatch Institute offers 10 simple steps we all can take to help make this season less wasteful and more plentiful. "Family, community, love and gratitude are all unlimited resources," says Worldwatch President Robert Engelman. "Unfortunately, food and the energy, water and other natural resources that go into producing food are not. The logical strategy is to let ourselves go in enjoying the unlimited conviviality and communion of the holidays, but to avoid wasting the limited resources. Even simple shifts toward sustainability----and reducing food waste is an easy one----can have major impacts when multiplied by millions of people."  According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, roughly one-third of all food produced for human consumption----approximately 1.3 billion tons----is lost or wasted each year. Consumers in developed countries such as the United States are responsible for 222 million tons of this waste, or nearly the same quantity of food as is produced in all of sub-Saharan Africa. "With nearly a billion people going hungry in the world, including 17.2 million households within the United States, reducing the amount of food being wasted is incredibly important," says Danielle Nierenberg, director of Worldwatch's Nourishing the Planet project. "We need to start focusing on diverting food from going into our trashcans and landfills and instead getting it into the hands of those who need it most." The Nourishing the Planet (www.NourishingthePlanet.org) team recently traveled to 25 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, and soon will be traveling to Latin America, shining a spotlight on communities that serve as models for a more sustainable future. The project is unearthing innovations in agriculture that can help alleviate hunger and poverty while also protecting the environment. These innovations are elaborated in Worldwatch's annual flagship report, State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet. As Americans prepare for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, here are 10 tips to help reduce the amount of food we waste: Before the meal: Plan your menu and exactly how much food you'll need. 1. Be realistic: The fear of not providing enough to eat often causes hosts to cook too much. Instead, plan out how much food you and your guests will realistically need, and stock up accordingly. The Love Food Hate Waste organization, which focuses on sharing convenient tips for reducing food waste, provides a handy "Perfect portions" planner to calculate meal sizes for parties as well as everyday meals. 2. Plan ahead: Create a shopping list before heading to the farmers' market or grocery store. Sticking to this list will reduce the risk of impulse buys or buying unnecessary quantities, particularly since stores typically use holiday sales to entice buyers into spending more. During the meal: Control the amount on your plate to reduce the amount in the garbage. 3. Go small: The season of indulgence often promotes plates piled high with more food than can be eaten. Simple tricks of using smaller serving utensils or plates can encourage smaller portions, reducing the amount left on plates. Guests can always take second (or third!) servings if still hungry, and it is much easier (and hygienic) to use leftovers from serving platters for future meals. 4. Encourage self-serve: Allow guests to serve themselves, choosing what, and how much, they would like to eat. This helps to make meals feel more familiar and also reduces the amount of unwanted food left on guests' plates. After the meal: Make the most out of leftovers. 5. Store leftovers safely: Properly storing our leftovers will preserve them safely for future meals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that hot foods be left out for no more than two hours. Store leftovers in smaller, individually sized containers, making them more convenient to grab for a quick meal rather than being passed over and eventually wasted. 6. Compost food scraps: Instead of throwing out the vegetable peels, eggshells, and other food scraps from making your meal, consider composting them. Individual composting systems can be relatively easy and inexpensive, and provide quality inputs for garden soils. In 2010, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to pass legislation encouraging city-wide composting, and similar broader-scale food composting approaches have been spreading since. 7. Create new meals: If composting is not an option for you, check out Love Food Hate Waste's creative recipes to see if your food scraps can be used for new meals. Vegetable scraps and turkey carcasses can be easily boiled down for stock and soups, and bread crusts and ends can be used to make tasty homemade croutons. 8. Donate excess: Food banks and shelters gladly welcome donations of canned and dried foods, especially during the holiday season and colder months. The charity group Feeding America partners with over 200 local food banks across the United States, supplying food to more than 37 million people each year. To find a food bank near you, visit the organization's Food Bank Locator. 9. Support food-recovery programs: In some cases, food-recovery systems will come to you to collect your excess. In New York City, City Harvest, the world's first food-rescue organization, collects approximately 28 million pounds of food each year that would otherwise go to waste, providing groceries and meals for over 300,000 people. Throughout the holiday season: Consider what you're giving. 10. Give gifts with thought: When giving food as a gift, avoid highly perishable items and make an effort to select foods that you know the recipient will enjoy rather than waste. The Rainforest Alliance, an international nonprofit, works with farmers and producers in tropical areas to ensure they are practicing environmentally sustainable and socially just methods. The group's certifiedchocolates, coffee, and teas are great gifts that have with long shelf-lives, and buying them helps support businesses and individuals across the world. As we sit down this week to give thanks for the people and things around us, we must also recognize those who may not be so fortunate. The food wasted in the United States each year is enough to satisfy the hunger of the approximately 1 billion malnourished people worldwide, according to Tristram Stuart, a food waste expert and contributing author to State of the World 2011. As we prepare for upcoming holiday celebrations, the simple changes we make, such as using food responsibly and donating excess to the hungry, can help make the holiday season more plentiful and hunger-free for all.

About the Worldwatch Institute:

Worldwatch is an independent research organization based in Washington, D.C. that works on energy, resource, and environmental issues. The Institute's State of the World report is published annually in more than 20 languages. For more information, visit www.worldwatch.org