16th Dinner Club – Tapas to Meze: Summary
I’ll start with the Iced Tomato Soup – This is one of 30 varieties of Gazpacho found in Spain. K’s version was so fresh with a great play of flavors and textures. I think I’ve mentioned before that I love having an active role in a dish and this one fit the bill perfectly! It was up to each of us to garnish the soup as we wished. The garnishes each had their own role in the soup itself, too. We could choose from bread cubes, cherry tomatoes, red onion, bell pepper and cucumber. I added a bit of everything expect pepper. 
When M2 saw the name of this dish, she knew it was the one she’d make! M2 had The Levant as her area. This dish is from Turkey and there are a couple of theories about the name of the dish – Baked Stuffed Eggplant to Make a Priest Faint. You’ll have to find the cookbook to check them out! :-) 
R chose Bisteeya has her dish from North Africa. Although traditionally made as one large pie, R met the tapas requirement by making individual servings in phyllo wrappers. Bisteeya is from Morocco and in that country you would find it made with pigeon but R chose chicken for this version. 
Last, and I hope not least, was my Gnocchi. I had never made gnocchi before but decided to take the plunge for this dinner. My country was Southern France and gnocchi in France is not made from potatoes, as it is in Italy. Instead it’s made from a dough, similar to gougere dough. 
As I mentioned earlier, we started with Proseco and then had a selection of wines from the countries represented. K brought a beautiful red from Spain, Abadia Retuerta Rivola 2002. I’d purchased a variety of roses. We opened one from France, Commanderie de Peyrassol 2004 and one from Italy, Alois Lageder 2004 Lagrein. The Commanderie was pale, very light and refreshing. The Alois was deep, full-bodied and tasty! They were both excellent wines and someday I may write up my tasting notes on them and the other roses I’ve been working my way through, this summer! :-) Green Zebras
Coqktail Club: Cyclops
(Why Cocktail is spelled Coqktail.)
Sometimes the best laid plans just don’t play out as imagined. For our last Cocktail Club meeting R was in charge of selecting our location. She had a place in mind, checked out the website and send out the details. Everything was in order except one small thing. We meet on Mondays, the place was open on Mondays… but closed at 6:00 pm! So we all arrived at 7:00 to find locked doors. No problem – we decided to walk a few blocks (it was a very nice night) to a place we hadn’t been for awhile. (First R crammed a note on the door for any potential latecomers.) That place was Cyclops.
Cyclops is sort of a Seattle institution. The funky place has been around forever. There was a time when they had to move from their original location and everyone worried it would become too main stream. For years it was known as the "Jello-Mold" place, as the outer walls of the building were covered in various and sundry jello molds. When they moved the molds did not come along, but the eye did, as well as other artistic endeavors. The place has managed to retain its character, while hanging on the edges of Belltown.
We chose a place outside to sit after making sure that side of the outdoor area was open. And then I remembered why I haven’t come back for quite some time. Service stinks. It took forever for our server to acknowledge us and to bring menus. And this was at a time when there were only about 4 or 5 other tables occupied. We finally were greeted, provided menus and water. Then we had to wait for our server to actually come back and take the orders – we couldn’t even flag him down, as he would just completely disappear!
R and I started with a Mojito, K decided to try a Pink Eye, JB went with his standard G&T and N, a first-timer to the group, tried the Caipirinha. The Mojitos were decent, the G&T good, N gave his Caipirinha a 6 out of 10, but after further discussion this was his first one and so it might not be that Cyclops’ version was 6 out of 10, it might just be that he wasn’t that fond of the drink, in general. The Pink Eye was super sweet. We decided it tasted sort of like Easter egg candies! It was flavorful, but it would be hard to drink more than one at a time.
R also ordered Fish Tacos and they looked beautiful and she said they were very tasty. We were too late for Happy Hour but they may be part of the Happy Hour menu.
Once we were able to grab our server again, we ordered another round to try out a few new things. This time I decided to stick with a basic Cuba Libra, K switched to a Cosmopolitan, R had another Mojito, N decided to try the Aye Caramba! and JB was going to have his second standard, Spanish Coffee, however it was not offered. Instead he chose an Irish Coffee.
At some point it got a little cool outside so we moved in to a booth, where we could more fully "appreciate" the art. Well, at least the creative renderings, I’m not sure I’d call all of it art, except in that funky and fun way. K’s Cosmo was too sweet, my Cuba Libra was good, N liked his Aye Caramba much better than the Caipirinha. JB declared his Irish Coffee, "feisty but sweet" but noted it was a bit lacking on the cream and gave it an 8 out of 10.
I’d like to give Cyclops a resounding recommendation – I love the idea of it, the fun ambiance, the interesting decor – but every time I’ve been there service has been so lacking that I can only say you might want to try it, but be ready to spend some time. And I don’t specifically remember drinks from past visits but I’d say stay away from most of the specialty drinks and stick with the basics. They do those well.
Cyclops
2421 First Avenue • Belltown
Seattle
206-441-1677
Sunday through Thursday: 5 – 10pm
Friday & Saturday: 5 – 10pm
Saturday & Sunday Brunch: 9am – 2pm
Cooking with Class!
Seattle, WA 98126
Restaurant (206) 937-1600
Washington Wine Month
Light Summer Meal
Five Childhood Food Memories (Meme)
Pancakes
One of my favorite memories has to do with pancakes. It was pretty common for us to have pancakes on the weekends but every now and then we’d get a real treat. My Dad was normally the pancake maker, being the early riser in the family. On certain days instead of regular pancakes he’d make dollar pancakes or our initials or pancakes in the shape of animals. This was all without the aid of any molds, he just used his imagination and a steady hand to create the edible works of art. I’m not sure why I liked these so much, I guess just because they were so much fun. :-)
Our Meals
Another favorite memory is about our "own" meals. My parents always had some sort of garden but when I was 16 we moved to a place that was over an acre. We had actually owned the property for some time before the house was built so early on we planted an orchard of mixed trees on the very back of the property and the grapes and berries – many of the non-annual crops were also planted then so they were all bearing by the time the house was built and we moved in. Then, of course, came the vegetable garden: rows of corn, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, peas, onions; big tangles of squash, pumpkin and cucumbers; and things like horseradish and herbs.
In addition, we had friends who raised 4-H steers each summer and after they were entered and judged (and often won) at the Oregon State Fair in late August, they would be slaughtered and we’d buy half a steer. My Dad also knew someone who raised hogs so sometimes we’d purchase a hog, too.
As summer progressed and crops ripened we’d often look at the table and realize that everthing on it was "ours" – nothing had come from a retail store. And that would even carry over well into the fall and winter, since we froze or canned much of what we grew. It was always just a great feeling to look around and know that you’d truly "made" your meal – all the way from beginning to end! There are lots of sub-memories associated with this, too. One of my favorites is picking corn just as we put the water on to boil. You just can’t get any better, fresher tasting corn than that!
Family Picnics
Each summer both sides of the family would have big family picnics on the Santiam River east of Salem. There were many parks along the river and all of its various forks and each family had its own favorite place. My Mom had three siblings and my Dad had eight living, and all of them had on average four kids so both picnics were always big affairs with lots of adults hanging out in lawn chairs, kids swimming or playing softball and just general controlled chaos. The focus though was the food. As some designated time all the aunts would start pulling food from coolers and baskets and lining it up buffet style on a couple of tables (sometimes we’d need three there would be so much stuff). Everyone brought basically the same thing: chicken; potato salad; rolls; pickles; and then some sort of specialty item and a dessert.
The trick was to learn from year to year who made the best of each item and then learn to identify it by serving dish or signature look so that you could hone in on it every year! I was always partial to my Mom’s chicken but I loved others’ baked beans!
These were always such fun times! As the years have gone by I have cousins on either side who have tried to have some sort of annual summer gathering. I get down to Salem whenever I can but I can’t always make it. However, with most of my aunts and uncles now passed away and many of the cousins and their families living somewhere distant it’s not quite the same. Still fun and great to see everyone. It’s just that "everyone" is now a much smaller group than it used to be.
Picking and Preserving
Another family memory is of picking fruit, mainly, and then preserving it or even going out to farms to purchase bushels of fruit and the preserving it. Many of my relatives had some sort of fruit tree on their property. So, depending on the season, you could often find the extended families helping pick when the crop was ready. Most people only had one or two trees but even one tree will provide bushels of fruit. After we’d picked whatever it was, the fruit would be divided among the family and we’d all take home our haul and preserve it – normally canning, but as years went on, sometimes freezing, depending on the crop.
In addition, my family would often go to one or the other of my grandmothers’ houses to help them put up their share. I loved these assembly lines of preservation! It was so much fun to be part of a family tradition and process! My Dad’s Mom was a preservation machine. I’ve mentioned before that my Dad came from a large, farming-background family. And for years, preserving food was a necessity, not just a choice. One of the coolest places in her house (both literally and figuratively) was the "fruit room". It was a fairly large room in the basement with shelves of preserved fruits and vegetables on all four walls. I loved going in there! Dimly lit and always chilly, even in summer, it was just a magical place. I’m still fascinated with preserving ,today.
Local Establishments
Finally, one of the things I miss are the little local establishments where we used to buy certain things. For instance there was a little shop near the "falls" on Mill Creek called Duck Inn. Stopping in for a soft ice-cream cone on a hot summer’s day was always a treat – both as a child and as a teenager with a date. Or Bob’s Hamburgers: a local chain with basic meat in a bun burgers but with a "special sauce" that made them yummy! And the best deal was when they’d have specials and you could get 10 for $1!!! Or A & W root beer, which was actually a national chain but each location managed to keep it’s own hometown feel. Homemade root beer, root beer floats, Teen Burger Baskets with fries and coleslaw and car side service – what more could anyone want?
- Sal at Virtual Tapas Bar, not really a food blog but as an Expat living in Spain I know he’ll have some food memories about things he just can’t find! Plus he’s a very entertaining writer so you should check his blog out. Sal’s post
- Next, Haddock at Knife’s Edge because I always wonder what drives a chef. Haddock’s Post
- For a local connection, I think I’ll tap Viv at Seattle Bon Vivant.
- Last, but not least!, I’d like to tap Elise at Simply Recipes, although I"m not sure this will fit in her format. Well, we’ll see I guess!
Next, I need to give you the trail of those who have come before me. I like this idea – it’s fun to see how it traveled.
If you are tagged, here’s what you do: Remove the blog at #1 from the following list and bump every one up one place; add your blog’s name in the #5 spot; link to each of the other blogs for the desired cross-pollination effect.
Jelly Bellys as Wine Tasting Tool?
Need a New Blender?
Pepper Update
The Thai Dragons are the most prolific! The bush is covered with peppers and some small ones have already turned red. They can actually be used when they are red or green. I’m going to have to start picking and drying them soon – there is no way I can consume all this plant will produce. It was the same with a Cayenne Pepper plant I had last year.
The Anaheim Peppers are lagging just a bit behind, although in the last few days they’ve had a growth spurt. I think they really need hot weather to get them going. They actually budded and started growing about the same time as the Banana Peppers but are just taking their time getting large enough to use.
Culinary Fool 