The New Five Guys Is Open On Dobbin Road

The new Five Guys on Dobbin Road has opened, according to Kevincool who commented after eating a burger and fries there for lunch.  This is the second Five Guys in Columbia, and the franchises are good spots for burgers when they're well run.

Mushrooms Of All Shapes At H Mart

Mushrooms have sprouted everywhere at the H Mart in Catonsville, and you could add an exotic look to your table.

Yesterday, it seemed like H Mart had mushrooms everywhere -- fancy shapes for a few dollars.  I have no idea whether this is mushroom season, whether it's a special buy for the Lunar New Year, or whether I just noticed something that happens all the time.

But I bought mushrooms.  A package of regular buttons for 99 cents.  Then packages of enoki ($0.99) and beech ($1.99.)  It was hard choosing because there were actually multiple packages (and prices) of enoki and then a half dozen other varieties including oyster, king oyster, and shiitake.  The enoki and the button varieties are in the first produce aisle, and others -- like the shiitake -- are in the refrigerated case that runs perpendicular to the fruit.

My Valentine's menu abruptly converted to mushroom risotto.  I added some dried shittake, which I had in the pantry but you could also buy for a few dollars at the H Mart.  I thought the shittakes added the most flavor, and they have a toothy texture that contrasts well with fresh mushrooms.  With one great sausage, this became one of the best risottos that I have ever made.

What else do I do with mushrooms?  I bought three packages, and that was at least double what I needed for risotto.  Any other recipe ideas?


Click here for all my posts about H Mart.  If you go to Catonsville, definitely stick your head in the Hanoori Town next door -- for the home store downstairs or for Mango Berry frozen yogurt.  And consider stopping for lunch at Hunan Taste, the authentic Chinese restaurant in the same shopping center.

Mushroom and Sausage Risotto
This recipe is best with sausage.  You saute some good sausage, which adds some fat to the pot and a lot of flavor to the risotto.  I suggest you buy the sausage at one of Howard County's great butchers or at Whole Foods.  Handmade sausage is worth the drive.  I recommend a mix of mushrooms.  Button and beech were terrific.  The enoki shrank to the size of threads.  Cool, but I recommend you try something else.

Five or six dried shiitake mushrooms (less than a full one ounce package)
About 3/4 c. hot water
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 link of mild pork sausage (about a quarter pound) or 2 TBL olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
2-3 cups of fresh mushrooms, with large ones chopped
1-2 TBL butter (optional)
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
Salt and pepper

1) Soak the dried mushrooms in the hot water.  Heat the stock to simmering, then reduce the heat to just keep the stock warm.

2) Once the mushrooms are soft, slice them and save the hot water.

3) Break up the sausage.  Handmade sausage should be inside a casing, and the raw sausage will break up if you slice the casing open and pull out the filling.  Heat a heavy pot over medium heat, then add the sausage and saute it until fat starts to appear in the pan and the meat just starts to brown.  It doesn't need to be cooked through.  (If you want vegetarian, skip the sausage and add the olive oil.  Add a 1/2 tsp salt with the onion and mushrooms.)

4) Add the onion and about 2/3 of the mushrooms.  Saute them until the vegetables are tender -- about 10 minutes.  Add the butter.  Once it melts, add the rice and stir until the rice is coated with butter.  The rice will lighten on the edges so that you see a dark spot inside.

5) Add the hot water that you used to soak the mushrooms.  Let the liquid bubble.  Begin adding the stock about 1/2 cup at a time.  Stir every minute or so.  Add more stock when the liquid is almost absorbed.  Look for the time when your spoon creates a line on the bottom of the pan that takes a moment for the liquid to fill.

6) After you have added about two cups of stock, add the remaining mushrooms.  After about 15 minutes, start tasting the rice.  You want tender rice with a firm spot in the middle, but it's a matter of personal taste.   Once the rice reaches the level that you like, add salt and pepper to your taste.  (You may have some leftover stock.  Save it.)

Variation: Buy two one-ounce dried shiitake packages.  You could use those to replace all the fresh mushrooms.  That converts this recipe into a "pantry staples" idea.  If you keep a few sausages in the freezer, you could make risotto when you're trapped in a snow storm.  Like in June.

Grace Garden Closed Temporarily By Snow Damage, Acc'd To Chowhound Posts

Commentators on Chowhound are saying that snow damage to the roof has closed Grace Garden -- one of the best Chinese restaurants in the area -- for the foreseeable future.

The post on Chowhound comes from a regular poster, who says he had talked to the owners of Grace Garden.  This is a truly spectacular restaurant, and it is family-run, which makes it seem very vulnerable to problems like this.  I hope they can re-open quickly.

(Update:  The Grace Garden Web site now says that they are temporarily closed during the reconstruction.  That sounds like they're going to try to reopen in the same place.  Good luck to them!)

Columbia Wegmans: 365 Days Until I Go

It's one year until I'm showing up at the new Wegmans being built on Snowden River Parkway in Columbia.

As I announced last month, I will be outside the Wegmans in Columbia on Valentine's Day 2011.  I'm not saying that they'll be open that day, but I'm either shopping for dinner that morning or pitching in on the construction.

You can join the fun by following the blog for news of the Howard County Wegmans or by joining me on Facebook where you can join the existing 86 members of the "I Want The Columbia, Md. Wegmans" group and RSVP for the HowChow blog's "I'm Opening The Columbia Wegmans" event.

I'd love to hear if you have any updates about the Wegmans construction.  I'm psyched for Wegmans in Howard County, so I created a one-button link for all the news about the Columbia Wegmans.  (Sorry about the ad on the widget.  I'm saving my money to spent on groceries, so I used the free version.)

Link: Sonic May Come to Ellicott City

Sonic has plans to come to Ellicott City, according to Jessica on the Examiner.  She has a short piece about the first Sonic in Baltimore County and mentions plans for the city and Howard County.

Thanks to Brian for the tip.

Will Walk For Food -- Especially Ribs

Food always tastes better if you have walked a cold two and a half miles to take your seat.

Still trapped in St. Louis, I had to get out of the hotel Wednesday so I arbitrarily walked to a barbeque place mentioned in the local city magazine.  First, I walked to the famous Arch.  (Love the steel structure; still mildly phobic about heights and edges; bought good taffy in the fake general store underneath.)  Then, I set off for Pappy's Smokehouse.  St. Louis has the most striking downtown -- individual buildings and businesses dropped among blocks of commercial ruins.  I walked dozens of blocks, many lined by vacant or boarded-up buildings, and didn't pass a single store or restaurant enticing enough to make me break stride.

Now, I was walking for barbeque, which keeps a mind focused.  After 90 minutes on my feet, I had earned my half rack of ribs even after a stellar hamburger the night before.  I went with potato salad and beans after last night's fries had been so disappointing.  Pappy's sells delicious ribs.  They're firm textured and smokey.  Nothing falls off the bone.  I gnawed each rib, which I'm happy to do for this kind of smoked flavor.  You get a real meaty flavor with nothing burned, nothing overwhelmed by barbeque sauce.

The sides were top-notch as well, especially the beans which had flavor but none of the sugar that ruins many barbeque plates.  The white bread under the ribs surprised me.  It was firm as well, a real loaf that held up to -- and was even better than -- the three barbeque sauces that Pappy's lets you apply by yourself.

Pappy's has the feel of real institution.  St. Louis seems empty in most ways, but the line stayed steady at Pappy's even in early afternoon.  I had walked in thinking that I might sample some beef brisket as well, but my single basket left me full and satisified.  Definitely worth a visit if you're trapped in -- or just passing through -- St. Louis, and the $2 bus ride back downtown made it practical even if this week's frigid weather.

If all the snow has put you in a carnivorous mood, check out my 2009 take on the best barbeque and kabobs in Howard County. 

I hope you're digging out.  As of late Wednesday, United still has my flight leaves for Dulles at 8 am on Thursday.  Seems unlikely.  I hope they'll just make a decision before I need to check out and catch a cab.  A day waiting at the airport would make me nostalgic for the day that I could spend walking around the casino and downtown.   

Pappy's Smokehouse
3106 Olive Street
St. Louis, MO  63103

Elizabeth Large Is Retiring

The Sun's restaurant critic Elizabeth Large is retiring and ending her wonderful blog Dining at Large.  Click here for the full retrospective.

Large sounds upbeat in her post, but this is very bad news for people who like restaurants and reading about them.  Large wrote her own reviews for the Sun, but she also created a real place on Dining at Large where other people had their say and even became personalities in their own right.

Personally, I am indebted to Large.  I sent her an initital email because, as a former reporter, I thought it was fun to tip her to news.  I would have been happy to have her write about the Howard County restaurants, so I was stunned when Large linked to HowChow and delivered all kinds of readers to me.  It was a significant act, and I hope that whoever takes over the Sun's restaurant blog will foster the same kind of audience participation.  It's a large act to follow.

Some Clouds Have A Meaty Lining

I'm trapped in St. Louis.  The government shut in DC, but I caught a flight Monday to do some work here -- and now can't get home until Thursday at the earliest.

I'm going to visit "The Arch."  I'm taking advantage of a luxury hotel willing to accept $110/night.  And, last night, I had the best burger that I ever remember.  For sure, I haven't had better.  I stopped at the Burger Bar in the (depressing) casino attached to my hotel.  It's one of those celebrity-chef restaurants.  I loved Hubert Keller on Top Chef, but I figured that he was only barely aware that people are using his name -- and some really obnoxious text  about "how he lives his life, in grace and charm"-- on the menus of this (depressing) casino.

I might be wrong.  The burger cost $11, but it was absolutely perfect.  Some type of "black angus" beef served perfectly medium, juicy and full of flavor but not greasy in the least.  Topped with cheese and tapanade.  Served with lettuce, onions and tomato.  It tasted like someone was really paying attention.  Probably not Keller on a frigid Tuesday in St. Louis, but someone with talent to best even my home-made with the ground chuck from Laurel Meat Market.  (Skip Burger Bar's thin fries though.  Completely forgettable.  I should have asked for onion rings.)

Along with the brilliant hint of salty tapanade, Keller's secret might just be the size.  Victoria Gastropub is my best burger in Howard County.  Still a favorite, but not as perfect as the Burger Bar.  The meat was even better here, and the burger was a little smaller.  Last summer, I finally accepted that 1/3 pound burgers just cooked better than the jumbo patties that I had made before.  I wonder whether the smaller burger let the Burger Bar's chef cook it just right.

The one downside of the Burger Bar is that the entire casino smells like smoke.  Did everything smell this horrible before states passed the no-smoking laws?  Is it possible that I didn't notice because I thought it was normal to smell death and ash?

And, hey, don't listen to me about the casino.  I hate cigarette smoke.  I know just enough math to think the games are state-sponsored trickery.  I'm intimidated by poker players wearing hoodies and scowls.  So I'm down on casinos generally, and this beauty is dropped in downtown St. Louis -- a town where the rich people moved to the suburbs and left behind stadiums and commercial ruins.  I'm sure that our casino at the Arundel Mills Mall will be a civic treasure.

Burger Bar
at the Lumiere Casino
999 N. 2d Street
St. Louis, MO 63102
314-621-9593

Stormbound

HowChow may be slow this week.  I'm in St. Louis and likely to be stuck while it storms at home.  Please check back.

Link: Michael's Natural Market cafe on Kevin & Ann

David's Natural Market has a cafe!!  I'm the most ridiculous blogger about food in Howard County, and I had no idea that you could buy meals at David's in Columbia.

(In my defense, I love the cheese, meat and vegetables customer at organic markets, but I'm not a heavy shopper at the places that very reasonably concentrate on packaged and frozen goods.)

But the Rheelyfats have eaten repeatedly at David's cafe, and Kevin wrote it up for the Kevin & Ann Eat Everything Blog.  If you're new to HowChow, let me again recommend Kevin & Ann.  That's the fun you want if you read food blogs.

Five Guys On Dobbin To Open Feb 15?

There was a sign on the new Five Guys in Columbia saying it would open on Monday, February 8, according to a comment by Kevicool on a January post.

But a comment below says the sign now says that it will open on February 15.  So I updated this post.

The restaurant is on Dobbin Road south of Rte 175 where the Party, Party, Party store closed last year.  Today's snow may slow them down, but, otherwise, the burgers and fries may be flipping next week.

Cookies and Purple Corn Drink At Chick'N Pollo

I'm going to Chick'N Pollo in Columbia for takeout chicken, but I'm grabbing their house-made cookies on the way out the door.

It's a really simple dessert with a cookies on top and bottom and a caramel layer inside.  Think upscale Oreo with a dusting of powered sugar to boot.  As noted in the comments below, they're called alfajores, and they're normally displayed right next to the cash register.

These are a treat for $1.95.  They also make flan in house.

Although Chick'N Pollo offers the standard Mexican sodas, it also offers one soft drink with a real Peruvian flavor.  Apparently, chicha morada is a common Peruvian soft drink made from purple corn.  A New Jersey company bottles it under the "Chicha Limena" brand, and you can buy them from the counter.

On the plus side, Chicha Limena appears to be all natural -- listing ingredients of water, sugar cane. purple corn extract, pineapple, lemon, cinnamon and cloves.  But I have to say it's an acquired flavor.  Pineapple, lemon, cinnamon and cloves make for a subtle flavor and then an aftertaste that is more unusual than refreshing to me.  But that was just my first bottle.  I'm sure Peruvians would be shocked by their first taste of my Diet Dr. Pepper as well.

(Update: I fixed the name and the price based on the comments below.)

There are lots of comments on my first post about Chick'N Pollo -- many positive, but some real critics of Peruvian chicken.  There are some mythical places closer to DC with loyal followers.  I think this is a great takeout dinner.  Mrs. HowChow likes the chicken, but it isn't one of the meals that gets her most excited.

Chick'n Pollo
6470 Freetown Road
Columbia, MD 21044-4016
(410) 531-8689

NEAR:  This is in the back side of the Hickory Ridge Village Center.  It is off Cedar Lane north of Rte 32.  You can park around back, or you can park near the Giant and walk through the center.  Very convenient.

Link: Venegas Prime on Brew Notes

I still haven't eaten at the Venegas Prime Filet in Fulton, but Ben liked his steak and talked it up on his Brew Notes blog.  Good food, although pricey enough to be just a special occasion place.

Link: Facci In The WPost and the Sun

Let's start with the truth:  Facci Ristorante isn't in Laurel.  I know that's the post office's designation for Johns Hopkins Road west of Rte 29.  But that is a sliver between Columbia and Fulton.  It isn't Laurel.

But it is in the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun.  The Sun's Elizabeth Large highlighted Facci in her weekly column -- and skillfully identified the location as "just south of Columbia."  The Post's Tom Sietsema wrote about Facci  in today's Food Section.  He liked his pizza, pasta and veal, and he says that he is going back.  That's pretty great for Facci.

Thanks to emkenton for spotting the WPost article.  Again, the WPost proves I'm wrong that that they *totally* ignore us.  I updated this after a comment below pointed out the Sun article.

Pho 89 In Laurel (And A Plan For Pho Saigon 54)

Winter is our season of pho, and we're trying to branch out because we know that An Loi isn't the last word on Vietnamese food.

Last month, we started a shopping trip by stopping at Pho 89 in Laurel.  Alex from the Technology & MSG blog had commented about Pho 89 -- and posted about it previously.  I'm so aware that longtime Columbia folks bemoan the fact that An Loi's original owners sold the place, so I'm willing to try somewhere new.

Pho 89 gave us the warm cozy lunch that we needed.  This is a super-casual place like An Loi.  I ordered a large bowl of pho.  Mrs. HowChow ordered noodles with grilled chicken and a Vietnamese coffee.  They're both good, and I love the self-help meal where I add Thai basil, hot sauce, and bean sprouts to tailor the soup to my mood of the moment.  But I don't know that I'd drive all the way from Howard County -- or drive past An Loi.  Mrs. HowChow loves An Loi's lemongrass chicken, and she wasn't sold on Pho 89.

The comedy moment was Mrs. HowChow having me promise in the future to discourage that Vietnamese coffee.  Delicious.  But the condensed milk is so dense that all the sugar and caffeine couldn't stop her from falling into an afternoon haze.

But I'm still going back to Laurel for pho.  Casting about on Yelp, I realized that there are some very positive reviews of Pho Saigon 54 on U.S. 1 at Contee Road.  I'm no expert on Vietnamese broth, but I have several more cold months to check around.

Any pho experts -- or non-experts -- want to recommend the right places to eat and the right dishes to order?  I have seen the Korean page in An Loi's menu, so I get the idea that it isn't completely traditional Viet.  If you're looking for local Vietnamese, you should also try Pho Dat Thahn on Snowden River Parkway just up from An Loi.  The Chowhounders also bemoan that Pho Dat Thahn's original owners sold too.

Pho 89
3507 Fort Meade Road (Rte 198)

Laurel, MD 20723

(301) 362-2288

NEAR: Pho 89 is on Rte 198 just across the county line into Anne Arundel.  From U.S. 1, you pass the Home Depot and the Laurel Dutch Country Farmers Market.  Then you'll see Pho 89 at the end of a shopping center on the right.  It is across Rte 198 from several car dealers.

Link: Coal Fire On MSG & Technology

Coal Fire Pizza gets a full review from Alex on the MSG & Techology blog -- photos, descriptions, and tastes of the pizza and more.

Coal Fire in Ellicott City inspires as many comments as any other restaurants.  People split on the sauce and the charred flavor.  I'm a fan, although I know that it isn't easy to turn out good pies every time.

R&R Deli Converts Mrs. HowChow To Gas Station Tacos

Mrs. HowChow has eaten lunch at a gas station, and she actually turned to me at the end and said, "I'm surprised that you didn't push this harder."

The R&R Deli in Elkridge serves my favorite tacos, and the punch line is that they're served from a gas station.  Not really in the gas station.  R&R has a separate entrance and a glass wall that separates it from the Shell Station at U.S. 1 and Rte 175.

I love R&R's tacos, but Mrs. HowChow and I had been joking for months about eating at a gas station.  I only forced the question because we had just suffered from a "try new food for the blog" disaster -- an Indian paan that was a perfect mouth-freshener except that it used some floral oil that must have been added to 1970s cleaning supplies.  Objectively, it tasted fine, but we immediately thought about furniture cleaning.

The tacos were perfect.  For $4, we got two -- one chicken, one carne asada.  Soft tortillas, meat cooked to order, and a topping of onions, cilantro and handmade salsa.  "Who would expect fresh vegetables in a gas station?" said Mrs. HowChow.  They're really large for $2, and R&R serves a variety of meats, including chorizo, carnitas and lengua.  Mrs. HowChow thought the chicken was delicious, butchered well so there was none of the gristle that you can get in chopped meat.

We split a Mexican orange soda.  Next time, I will buy her a milkshake - like I had on my first visit.  I'm almost shocked that there will be a next time.

(Update: You should also try R&R's ceviche special, which offers marinated fish and vegetables on top of a crisp tostada.)

The R&R Deli joins a great run of food along U.S. 1. Check out my post about "U.S. 1: The Foodie Frontier" that tours you from Ceazar International Market in Elkridge down to R&R Deli's intersection where you're within a block of organic groceries at MOM's Organic Market, the empanadas at the El Patio Market, and more.

R&R Deli

7894 Washington Boulevard

Elkridge, MD 21075

410-799-0001

NEAR: The deli is in the Shell station at U.S. 1 and Rte 175 at the Elkridge/Jessup border. It's really convenient from Rte 175 -- just go east from Columbia across I-95 and then look left at U.S. 1.

Link: Grace Garden on Cheap Eats In Charm City

Another food blog has joined the parade through Grace Garden for authentic Chinese food in Elkridge.  The Cheap Eats in Charm City blog talks up their meal, and they didn't even have the fish noodles -- which has been the dish on my mind most recently.

Link: Victoria GastroPub on Taste of Baltimore

Check out the Victoria Gastropub review on the Taste of Baltimore blog.  Even the cool kids from the city are coming out for brunch.  Every time we go for burgers, we say "We really should come back here for brunch."  Nakiya does make it look delicious.


(Update: I posted again about Columbia's Victoria Gastro Pub in 2010.)

Ground Chuck at Laurel Meat Market

Despite what your eyes saw outside this weekend, I had a little taste of summer in my house.

As snow fell Saturday afternoon, I made hamburgers.  Mark Bittman's cast iron skillet recipe with some oven fries, a pickle, and sauteed mushrooms.  I had to walk next door to borrow ketchup because we were out of season, but burgers were a real pick-up meal on a day when we stayed indoors.

The key was ground chuck from Laurel Meat Market.  You can probably get similar meat at any of Howard County's best butchers like Boarman's, Treuth, or Beiler's at the Laurel Dutch Country Farmers Market, and it is worth the effort because ground meat makes all the difference.  Laurel Meat Market grinds meat for its hamburger.  Real cuts of meat.

I didn't know the difference until the New York Times started writing about industrial techniques used to scrape extra pennies from each cow.  Literally scrape.  Smart businessmen are figuring out ways to use fatty scraps -- formerly used for pet food and cooking oil -- to mix with meat for restaurants and supermarkets to sell as hamburger.  The NYT is writing about problems with the processes, but I was thinking, "What am I eating when the process works right?"

Seriously, I'm not preachy about food.  I won't repeat the NYT details here.  But I'm going to buy my hamburger in Laurel where they take pieces of chuck and grind them.  No pink slime.  (Okay, that's one detail.)  It's $3 a pound, but they'll give me exactly what I want so I save overall.  Plus, the burger was delicious even though it wasn't from the grill.   Four months to Memorial Day!!!

(Update: You should also consider Laurel Meat Market if you're looking for a large cut like a standing rib roast.  My friend got great advice and a nice piece of meat for Christmas Eve 2010.)