Gluten-Free Discount From Columbia Company

You can get a discount from a Columbia company that sells gluten-free ingredients through the Washington Post's version of the daily discount.

I had never heard about Jules Shepard or the Jules Gluten Free line.  The WPost highlighted the deal to me, and the Jules Gluten Free Web site lists an address in Columbia.

The deal is $29 (plus $12 shipping) for a "New Customer Pack" that includes flour, oats, three gluten-free e-books, and mixes to make cookies, graham and bread.  They say the normal price is $89, so you save two-thirds.  The ad links to a 2007 WPost article by Kim O'Donnel, who I always respected and who seems to enjoy the mixes.

Anyone know more about Jules Gluten Free and the Columbia connection?  The 2007 story said she ran monthly cooking classes at Roots Market and baked at Great Sage.


(Update:  Here is news from Jules herself:  
If you want to learn more about me, my cookbooks, my products, or my new recipes, here's all the info:
JulesGlutenFree.com
Blog.JulesGlutenFree.com
Twitter: JulesGlutenFree
FB: Jules Gluten Free Flour; Gluten Free Cookie Swap; & Gluten-Free Food Labeling Summit 2011

I don't teach a lot of classes locally anymore, as I travel (WAY too much!) to lecture, teach & do industry consulting, but if I'm ever doing something local, you'll find the info on my free weekly recipe newsletter or on Facebook!

Link: Cuba De Ayer's Cubano On DC Foodies

The DC Foodies blog went a long way to talk up the Cuban sandwich at Cuba de Ayer in Burtonsville.  It's an enormous post talking about Cuban sandwiches in DC that also highlights the sandwich that often makes me ignore the rest of the menu.  Key point: They recommend ordering a side of mojo -- "the garlic and olive oil mixture makes a good sandwich phenomenal."

Places To Buy Crabs Near Howard County

It is still too early for most Maryland crab feasts, but it is time to think about where you'll go for hard shells.

Frank's Seafood in Jessup has been my go-to place since I moved to Howard County, and they sold great crabs last August.  But people gave great suggestions in the comments last September when I asked for emergency help from someone who couldn't reserve Labor Day crabs at Frank's, including Casey's in Laurel, Sea King in Ellicott City, and Captain Dicks in Arbutus.

Where do you go?  What do you look for to ensure that you're getting good stuff?

Tian Chinese Cuisine in Ellicott City

From the outside, Tian Chinese Cuisine looks like an anonymous hole in the wall Chinese joint, but it actually isn't any of those things.

Tian isn't really a Chinese restaurant.  It serves Korean food, the kind of menu served as "Chinese" in Seoul in the same way that General Tso's Chicken is sold as "Chinese" around here.  It also isn't anonymous.  The door opens into a bright, modern space with trendy stone-tile walls and an open kitchen.

Listen for the difference.

Thwack!  Thwack!  Thwack!  That sound from the kitchen is the reason that you should try Tian.

I'd read about Korean-Chinese cooking in Kevin's guest post about the options along Rte 40.  We had even eaten at Hanjoongkwan and started with the Korean-Chinese basics of kangpoongi (fried chicken) and jjajangmyun (noodles in black bean sauce).  But everyone lamented that none of the local places made their own noodles -- until now.

Link: Square Burgers On P90 Noir

The P90 Noir blog has come out in favor of square burgers, says the physics keeps them from shrinking like a round burger.  Really?  I do love the burgers, and I always recommend the house-ground chuck at Laurel Meat Market.

P90 Noir is also grilling pizzas!

Sandwiches In Howard County: The Bready Competition Pita & Rye Joins This Weekend

Corned beef and Italian from
New York Deli in Columbia

The new kosher deli Pita & Rye is working out the kinks and aiming for an official opening this Sunday morning, and that got me thinking about the sandwich landscape that the new joint is joining.

Taste is personal, and sandwiches are super-personal.  Just check the comments on prior Pita & Rye posts to see people split in their preferences for meat and bread.

But there are certainly some Howard County spots trying to put out exceptional sandwiches.  They're selling food that I couldn't just assemble from the stuff that I can buy at the supermarket -- and that's important because I can get okay bread and pretty-good meats to pack in my own brown bag.

Pita & Rye has two angles that appeal to me -- falafel and special corned beef.  As far as I know, no one else sells falafel sandwiches around here, and I'd love hot fried chick peas if they come with some flavorful salad and dressing.

Bangkok Garden 9 in Columbia

Choo-Chee Goong and Pad-Mah-Kuer-Jae

Bangkok Garden 9 can serve food delicious enough that it's worth make sure that they get things right.

The Columbia restaurant has been a local attraction for years, and we have gone twice since it was sold earlier this year and added the lucky "9" to its name.  Thai food makes for happy evenings -- in no small part because it was part of our early dates and our honeymoon.

Bangkok Garden can deliver.  When it's on, the food is light and punchy.  The sauces are so delicious that I wanted extra rice to spoon it all up.  We have wiped out an appetizer and two large plates of food because it's just too much fun to box up.

Sharing a bunch of courses is important because you can sample so many different flavors in a Thai meal.  You could start with larb -- the cold salad made with minced chicken, lime juice, fish sauce, and herbs.  Or you could flip around to curry puffs -- a fried, flaky pastry like a samosa, stuffed with pureed chicken and pastry and served hot with a cucumber sauce.

Did Fortune Star Buffet Close In Jessup?

A comment on a prior post reminded me that Fortune Star Buffet in Jessup was locked and closed when I passed by over the weekend.

The comment asked whether anyone knows why Fortune Star closed.  I was wondering whether the closing was temporary or permanent when I peered through the glass doors.  I think the side said "Closed Today."  I couldn't see into the dining room to tell if the restaurant was still set up.

Fortune Star ran a large buffet of Chinese and American food.  It was one of the first places that I wrote about in 2008, but I have to admit that I haven't been back in years.

(Update: There is a comment below that says the closing is temporary.)

If you're looking for local Chinese food, check out my Summer 2010 post about Chinese restaurants in Howard County.

Goat Milk Lollipops At El Patio In Jessup

Imagine a dulce de leche lollipop -- sweet, but with the adult flavors of caramel and goat milk.

The Coronado lollipops hang just across from the cash register at the El Patio market in Jessup.  They're Mexican, and they could be a gourmet item if they were sold in a fancy joint.

First, they're delicious.  It's basically a disc of caramel that melts in your mouth.  (This isn't the durian candies that I said would be an acquired taste.)  Second, they're all-natural with just goat milk, sugar, corn syrup, salt and sodium bicarbonate.  I love a candy made from ingredients that I have in the pantry, except of course that my milk is a species more mundane.

The Coronado lollipops come in a string of 10 for $2.  They'd be great for a packed lunch and unique enough that I'm trying to imagine how they'd fit in a dinner party.

If you go to El Patio, definitely try the empanadas that they sell from the counter.  They're part of the taste test planned for later this month, and they're delicious.  Check out all the posts about El Patio.


El Patio Market
7968 Washington Boulevard (U.S. 1)
Jessup, MD 20794
443-755-0385

NEAR: Just south of Rte 175 on U.S. 1. It's on the east side about a block south of the intersection. Very convenient from I-95.  This is a great place to check out if you shop at Mom's Organic Market or Frank's Seafood in Jessup.

Make Your Own Fig Spread At Mom's Organic

Let's be clear: Mom's Organic Market isn't looking out for my health.

I went into the Jessup store Sunday to buy ingredients for a menu from Ani Phyo's Ani's Raw Food Kitchen.  This cookbook offers more medical advice that my doctor, but I was going to try a cauliflour mash recipe.

Seriously, this cookbook promises everything from more enzymes to fewer heart attacks, from stronger life force through soaked nuts to better-smelling sweat through organic foods.  This meal was going to be life-changing.

But Mom's Organic put fig spread between me and the psyllium powder.  A guy serving bruchetta -- sliced French bread topped with a fig spread, walnuts and crumbled goat cheese.  Delicious.  Sweet, tasty and crunchy.

Tino's Italian Bistro Opens In Columbia

Tino's Italian Bistro has opened off Rte 108 in the former space of Strapazza -- according to several comments on a prior post and a mention by Richard Gorelick in the Sun (third item).

Gorelick quotes the new owner who says that he teamed up with the former chef at Strapazza.  They're doing pizza, Italian food and a wine bar.

Link: Honey Pig On The Baltimore Snacker

Honey Pig pleases the city folks, including the Baltimore Snacker who brought two friends and feasted on barbecue and Korean beer.

I have enjoyed Honey Pig.  When people ask for meals worth driving from Baltimore out to Howard County, I always point to the Korean restaurants along Rte 40.  Great food.  Lots of variety -- Honey Pig, Shin Chon Garden, Lighthouse Tofu . . .

Check out two prior posts -- mine and an expert's -- about the variety of restaurants along Rte 40.

Links: Noodle Soup, Buffalo Chicken, And New Voices If You Want Food In Howard County

You don't need to rely on HowChow if you want to read about food in Howard County.

I'm glad that you're here, but the beauty of the past few years is that other people have joined the conversation.  At the start, it was just me and the Baltimore Beer Guy.  Now, you need to check the entire food "section" of Hoco Blogs -- the aggregator that links to any bloggers from the neighborhood.  But other blogs swerve from their normal subjects to touch on food like the scones on HoCo Connect, grilled pizza on P90Noir, or the splendid "Food vs. Food" posts on Swim Write Run.

I created a list of local food blogs in the right column.  Definitely check those and suggest any I may have missed.  I'm still hoping the HoCo Hangover folks will re-start the engines.  I'm excited for the La Casa de Sweets recipes and hoping for some local sweets reviews.  I'll steer you to start with a few recent posts:

• A noodle soup at Pho Dat Thahn in Columbia thanks to the Kitchen Scribble blog (and a recipe for cucumber salad).


• A description of Royal Taj by Tim on the I Want To Be A HoCo Blogger blog.

• The start of the CSA season from the Mark's Food World blog.

• A first look at BGR The Burger Joint on the Brent The Brewer blog.

If you write about local food, feel free to email me about cool posts.  I love to link or to add new people to the blog list.

Wegmans: They're Building, Anyone Know More?

The Wegmans hasn't exactly started to rise in Columbia, but at least they appear to be laying the foundations.

The site has lots of machinery, and it looks like they have leveled off large areas.  Of course, I'm just looking through the fence.  My source for real estate news is the Tales of Two Cities blog, which has predicted a Summer 2012 opening and talked about the parking garage.

For the future, I'm going to track the porta-potties.  I see three now.  I have a dream that one day I'll see them deliver 10 more, 20 more, enough porta-potties for an army of Wegmans construction workers.  It's good to have a dream.

(Update: Check out the comments below.  Also see Rick Bird's comment on the "I Want The Columbia, Md. Wegmans" Facebook page -- that footers are being inspected June 10.)

Anyone know more about the status of the Wegman's?  I assume the wet weather has slowed them down.  Anyone hear anything about an opening target?  Check back for my posts about news on Wegmans.

Kupcakes & Co. Has Opened In Elkridge

The new Kupcakes & Co. bakery opened officially last weekend in Elkridge.  A HowChow correspondent has been dispatched to check it out this week, but you should stop for a sweet and then report back yourself.

Kupcakes & Co.
6010 Meadowridge Center Drive
Elkridge, Maryland 21075
(443) 552-3033

This Girl May Have Picked The Last Strawberries

Gorman Produce Farm in Laurel offered pick-your-own strawberries this spring, and I took advantage Saturday morning to walk around with a friend and his daughter.

Blame the toddler if she picked the last strawberries.

It's amazing to realize that even the beautiful strawberries at a place like Whole Foods don't actually taste like the sweet, delicate berries that you pick from your own plants.  The Gorman strawberries had the small size and the glistening color that says they won't last on a shipping truck.  They didn't need to last around here because my little friend mowed through a bowl with lunch.

By 2 pm on Saturday, the farm was hanging a "sold out" sign at the gate as I drove to the library.  I can't tell from the Web site whether that was the last weekend for strawberries or there is one more week left.

Click here for all the posts about Gorman Produce Farm, which is just east of Rte 29 and just south of Columbia.

Link: A Special Howard County Summer Beer

Victoria Gastropub and T-Bonz Grille have created a special beer with Oliver Ales -- a hoppy wheat ale called HoCo Summer Session, reports the Baltimore Beer Guy who has video.

Okra Chips At Laurel Dutch Market

The power of RDAdoc is so strong that she got Mrs. HowChow to eat okra.

Mrs. HowChow is the most-flexible of diners, happy to eat whatever I cook except for oysters and the night that my Thai curry was just too hot for human consumption.  And okra.

I vaguely remember her really liking my okra when I cooked on an early date.  But now that the deal is sealed, her lips are sealed to a vegetable that she considers too slimy.

The beauty of RDAdoc's discovery is that it's okra, but not slimy.  In fact, it's dried crisp, then dusted with oil and salt.  It's okra chips at the Amish market on Rte 198 in Laurel as she reports:

When it comes to trying new foods I am not very adventurous. I know what I like and I usually stick with foods I know. 

Several years ago while shopping at The Fresh Market in Quarry Lake, my eyes were caught by a bag of okra chips. I am not sure that I ever had tried okra before but there was something about the chips that I found intriguing so I bought some and ended up eating the entire bag myself. 

They were crunchy, salty and absolutely delicious! They tasted like nothing I had ever eaten before. Since then, I have been on a mission to find a store close by that sells them. Unfortunately I have looked and looked with no success -- until last week. 

While I was shopping for fruits and vegetables at the Dutch County Amish Market in Laurel, my two-year-old pulled me to JR’s Candy and Bulk foods to get him gummy bears .  To my surprise, I saw bags of okra chips!  (That must have been my reward for buying him candy - something I normally wouldn’t do.)  I was absolutely thrilled and left with two bags.

They are close to $12/lb, but well worth the cost in my opinion.  So worthwhile that I was overly enthusiastic about the okra chips to the cashier, and she gave me a strange look when I couldn’t stop raving.  I have to admit that’s not the first time I’ve gotten that reaction from someone who saw me eating okra chips and asked what they were.  It must be hard for people to understand why okra chips could elicit such strong emotions.  I admit they do look a bit odd, but give them a chance if you are ever at the Fresh Market or JR’s Candy and Bulk Foods.

First Thoughts On BGR The Burger Joint

There is something distracting about a meal spent thinking about what I paid for each onion ring.

BGR The Burger Joint opened last month in Columbia, and it's a variation on the limited menu and counter service that has done so well for Five Guys, Elevation Burger and other small chains.

BGR's niche is quality.  Burgers are made to order.  They come in variations like lamb and tuna.  They serve sides like sweet potato fries and grilled asparagus.  It intends to sell good, unique food, which always attracts me in world where people could just open another Subway.

But it's hard to focus on the food when you paid more than $4.50 for six onion rings.

I'm trying to remember that BGR opened just a few weeks ago, and we may have walked in during the dinner rush.  But we paid almost $30 for two burgers, two sides, and one drink.  We also waited more than 20 minutes.  So I just couldn't help noticing that my "Cuban" burger had been cooked too far, then left to cool.

Is Maiwand Kabob Expanding To Rte 175?

People at Maiwand Kabob were talking about plans to open a new location near Pier One in the shopping center at Rte 175 and Dobbin Road, reports Gussika on Twitter.

Anyone know more?  The Afghan restaurant is one of my favorites.  Spectacular bread, meats and vegetables with casual counter service.  If nothing else, go for the mantwo.

I feel like there are some empty spaces between the Pier One and the book store, but I can't picture what closed.  This is the same Columbia Crossings shopping center where they leased to Ichiban, Tutti Frutti and BGR The Burger Joint on the opposite side.

(Update: There are comments below that says Maiwand Kabob is expanding to a bigger location in Columbia Crossings. Maybe a bigger menu too.)