Outstanding in the Field 2012
On March 20, the first day of Spring, tickets for the 2012 Outstanding in the Field dinners went on sale. I’ve talked about these events a few times in the past and I continue to recommend them as a great experience and adventure. It’s a wonderful way to learn a little something about the people who produce your food, see a farm, enjoy delicious food and wine, meet the chef and winemaker and dine with others who appreciate the camaraderie a wonderful dinner brings to the table.
Several of the more popular events have already sold out but there are still plenty of events remaining. You can see the full schedule and purchase tickets here.
If you’d like to see photos of past events you can check out six sets of my dinner photos here, each from a different dinner from the past few seasons.
Quick Turkey Chili
To get really deep rich flavor in a chili it’s best to let is slowly simmer for a few hours until all the different elements have merged and blended into a harmonious and integrated pot of deliciousness. But sometimes you don’t have that kind of time. Or sometimes you might want something chili-like but a little fresher tasting. And that’s when it’s time for a quick chili.
The last couple of weeks I’ve been digging through my freezer to pull out anything that’s been in there for a while. Over the weekend I found a large package of turkey. Sunday morning I made a big pot of turkey and barley soup and later in the day I pulled together a quick chili.
I like to make turkey chili with lighter, fresher-tasting ingredients than I do a beef chili. This makes it really easy to pull together in a shorter time. Below is a rough recipe. As always, feel free to experiment and modify for your own taste – especially important when deciding how much heat to add to something like chili! Sometimes I add carrots and celery, along with the onions, for a little sweetness and crunch. Some people like bell pepper chunks in their chili. I’d been thinking of adding some frozen corn at the same time I added the roasted turkey and forgot to – but it’s good either way.
The recipe is below the jump.
Corned Beef from Scratch
I realize this post is a little late for St. Patrick’s Day but file it under “good ideas for next year”!
A couple of weeks before St. Patrick’s Day I suddenly decided to make my own corned beef. This was surprising as I’ve never been a big corned beef person. I like it okay and have made it – using corned beef from the grocery store – a few times, but it’s certainly not a tradition or anything I’ve done regularly. I guess maybe it caught my attention last year around this time when I’d read several articles and recipes about making your own. I think with the increased interest in brining turkeys and chickens, beef was the next logical step and lots of people are talking about it.
I don’t know much about the history and different methods for making corned beef except that there are recipes for both wet and dry cures. I’m assuming the original idea was to preserve meat for one reason or another. And now you know as much as I do. I chose the brining method and found it fascinating that the process actually “pickles” the meat. In addition to salt, the brine contains spices that you might also use for pickling vegetables.
I’d heard a lot of great things about Michael Ruhlman’s recipe and have his Charcuterie
The recipe is straightforward, with only two things that might be considered a difficult. First, you’ll need “pink salt”, used for preserving meats. Finding pink salt is a little challenging but if you live in Seattle or Portland you can pick up a package at Market Supply Company. They also have an online shop so you can order from them no matter where you live. Pink salt goes by a variety of trade names but Market Supply’s version is Modern Cure/Speed Cure.
Boom Noodle
It’s another windy, rainy day in the Emerald City. Just like it was on Saturday when I spent the day on Capitol Hill while taking a class at Seattle University. At lunch I ventured out and soon found myself swathed in the warmth of Boom Noodle enjoying chicken phờ.
For my taste the broth is a tad bit boring but every table has a nice selection of hot sauce to perk it right up. The noodles, however, are outstanding. Delicate and silky with a little bit of resistance – just enough to keep the noodles from being mushy. The condiments are always super fresh. And I love the presentation with the condiments placed on a separate dish balanced on top of the noodle bowl. Beautiful.
Pot Pie
Remember that big holiday back in November? The one where everyone at your table ate their fill but there was still plenty of food leftover at the end of the meal? I love Thanksgiving for many reasons and leftovers rank right up there at the top of the list. But why am I talking about Thanksgiving leftovers nearly four months after the holiday? Because I’ve recently been enjoying what I made from them and have had tucked away in my freezer.
Although spring is creeping closer, Seattle’s weather has turned windy and chilly the last couple of weeks. Several of the surrounding areas woke to a few inches of snow this morning. It’s been the perfect weather for enjoying the little turkey pot pies I assembled and froze last November.
You can pull these together in several ways using a variety of ingredients; making one large pie or several small; making a two crust pie or a single crust for the top of the pie; using leftovers or all “new” ingredients. Sometimes my leftovers are a little slim in one area – maybe the vegetables – and I supplement with whatever else is in the pantry. I prefer a single crust pie and small, individual size pies, so that’s what I’ll show you but feel free to change it up. Here’s the basic idea.
Portions and ingredients are really up to you. There are a couple of required ingredients but all the rest is your choice.
First Look: (The New) Restaurant Zoe
One of the first restaurants to anchor the Belltown resurgence at the turn of century, Scott Staples’ Zoe Restaurant was also one of the last to leave as the neighborhood reverted back to it’s seedier nature over the last several years. Last week they opened their new location on Capitol Hill.
One of the things that kept me from visiting Zoe as often as I wanted to in the past was the need for reservations and lack of a drop-in bar area. The bar was tiny and was really meant for folks who arrived a little early for their reservation, not as alternative seating to the dining area. Being a spur-of-the-moment person and preferring a few small bites to a full sit-down dinner, Zoe wasn’t really the place for me, although I always adored the food.
Hearing the new location would be more casual was exciting. Maybe not as casual as Quinn’s, Staples’ Capitol Hill gastropub, but definitely a change from the original Zoe.
Tuesday, a friend and I arrived at the new Zoe shortly after the 5:00pm opening time. There’s a warm, bistro feel as you enter, although the high ceilings and spacious areas make the place feel open. Pre-opening press suggested the new site is smaller than the old, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it.
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Brave Horse Tavern
I realized some time ago that although I visit Brave Horse Tavern on a fairly regular basis I’d never written a blog post about them. Well, it’s time to rectify that!
Over the last couple years Tom Douglas has expanded his bevy restaurants quite substantially. The Brave Horse Tavern is one of three restaurants housed in the historic Terry Building in the South Lake Union area. The two-story building is a warm respite from the modern, but a little cold, glass and steel Amazon buildings that surround it on three sides. In the same building you’ll find Cuoco and Ting Momo.
The Brave Horse is a little different from Tom Douglas’ other locations in that the bar has a much more significant part in the scheme of things. This location is about beers, burgers, pretzels; watching games on the many TVs; gathering after work with friends for a quick game of shuffleboard or darts. Having said that, it’s much more than a standard tavern or standard tavern fare.
The aforementioned burgers are available in three varieties – beef, turkey, or black bean and chile – and are customizable with several options. A specially designed brick oven roasts the soft, bread-like pretzels which feature gourmet spreads, such as sour cream with crispy onion. Or the pretzels sometimes play a role in one of the weekly rotating specials.
There are enough tasty appetizers, creative sides and entrees to keep you and everyone in your group happy, no matter what they are looking for. Menu items often feature produce from Prosser Farm – either fresh from the farm or preserved from the seasonal crops.
One of my favorite times to visit is for weekend brunch. Baked eggs, smoked brisket hash, cornmeal pancakes…. these are just some of the options you may find on their brunch menu. And the Bloody Marys aren’t bad either!
But I mostly go for the burgers. I love burgers and I love being able to create my own masterpiece from the selection of add-ons. The burger in the photo above is a “simple”100% painted hills chuck house (the beef burger) with a slice of delicious cheddar. Sometimes simple is the best.
Brave Horse Tavern
310 Terry Avenue North
South Lake Union
Seattle
206-971-0717
Meyer Lemon Upside Down Cake
A couple weeks ago a friend and I had dinner at Bar del Corso. The entire meal was delicious but my favorite part of it was dessert. I don’t often order dessert but when I heard that Meyer Lemon Upside Down Cake was one of the options, I had to give it a try. Meyer lemons are one of my favorite fruits! My friend and I tried to dissect the cake ingredients that night – it probably would have been easier to ask the chef but we didn’t think of that.
It seemed to me that the cake was basically an olive oil cake made with polenta. We couldn’t really see Meyer lemon on the top, which was odd since that is the normal “upside down” presentation but it seemed there were flecks of zest in the cake and some sort of fruit composition on the top.
This last weekend my wine club met for our first tasting of 2012. We were tasting wines from Sicily and Sardinia. Sicily is especially known for citrus fruit and I decided to try to create that same Meyer Lemon Upside Down Cake. I found a similar recipe on Epicurious and, although it wasn’t olive oil cake, I decided to try it with just a few changes.
The biggest change was that I made small individual cakes instead of one large cake. Overall I was really happy with the result, although the cake was not as delicate as an olive oil cake would be. I’ll work on that for next time.
I forgot to take a photo of the final presentation where honey-sweetened crème fraîche topped the cakes. The tangy-sweet cream complemented the tangy-sweet cake perfectly, although it covered the pretty design the Meyer Lemons created on the cake. I think next time I’d put a swish of cream on the plate and then place the cake on the cream or put the dollop of cream on the side. That would provide both the complementing flavors and preserve the design.
The recipe with my adaptations is below. The original recipe is here.
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Oysters Rockefeller
I first “discovered” oysters in a real way while I was in college. Oh sure, I’d known about oysters and probably even had them cooked in a few things but they weren’t really part of my culinary awareness. Which actually seems a little odd to me since childhood trips to the Oregon coast were full of clams, mussels and Dungeness crab. Somehow oysters never made the cut.
I remember my first real experience with oysters as if it were yesterday. I was at one of those casual college barbecues. Friends and friends-of-friends wandered in and out contributing food to the party. There was a keg sitting in a garbage can full of ice providing chilled refreshment for the group, and we sat on the grass or stood in conversation about deep topics and minor trivialities, as college students do. Suddenly energy pulsed through the relaxed afternoon. Some guy had arrived carrying a bushel bag of oysters over his shoulder. Such an unexpected surprise and a generous contribution for cash-strapped college students.
Ginger Molasses Cookies
For years I’ve made Molasses Crinkles, a standard recipe in many bakers’ repertoire. I used the recipe my Mom did and was completely happy with it. But it used shortening as the fat and I’ve been trying to move away from shortening in my baking, mostly replacing it with butter. That didn’t work for this recipe. In addition, something else changed – I’m not exactly sure what, but the cookies didn’t quite have the same texture or shape they’d had in the past. I don’t know if I changed my technique or what, but something was definitely different.
I’ve perused other recipes off and on and found a recipe in The Grand Central Baking Book
Since the recipe is for the cookies they sell at their bakeries, it made a very large bakery-type cookie. I wanted something smaller and reduced the size substantially.
The resulting cookie was not what I expected but was delicious anyway. Mine did not come out as puffy as I thought they would – this could have been due to the smaller size and my not taking into account something that affected. However, I loved the cookie I got which was kind of a cross between a ginger snap and a molasses cookie. They were thin, crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside. Delicious with a cup of tea or glass of milk. I’m not a cookie dunker but if you are they’d be great for dunking!
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Culinary Fool 