More Eggs!
Second coat of frosting done! The small eggs are simply for eating. The large eggs will mark places at the table Saturday night and then be for eating!
Coqktail Club – Ibiza Dinner Club, Seattle
(Why Cocktail is spelled Coqktail.)
On Monday the 21st, the Cocktail Club met at Ibiza Dinner Club. Ibiza opened just two or three months ago on the edge of Pioneer Square. We didn’t know much about it but from the outside it looked pretty swanky and we knew they served tapas.
I got their a little late but easily found the group. Mostly because there were only a ten or twelve people in the lounge, although there was a large group in the dining room. The one-room interior has been turned into a series of smaller spaces through the use of floor-to-ceiling sheer curtains. (It reminds me a lot of the Blue Door Restaurant in the Delano Hotel in South Beach.) It provides a nice effect of intimacy while still being able to see into other areas. The lounge is filled with cushy loveseats, small armchairs and those little leather cubes that seem to have found their way into so many new spaces (both public and private!).
The bar sits at the back of the room straddling both the lounge and the dining area. It’s a large round bar that would be great for people watching on nights when the place is full.
When I arrived the group was sampling a variety of drinks. JB had a standard G&T made with well gin. We didn’t ask what their well was but he said it was a decent drink. JH and R both had a Porinatax Pisco Sour, which we all liked – it was well mixed but you knew you were having a cocktail! K was into a Pineapple Drop. I would have thought "too sweet" but it really was quite nice. Good pineapple flavor but a good balance with the fresh sour and lemon made it quite quaffable! I decided to start with a Chocolate Nut. It sounded rather dessert-ish but the description was too good to pass up. It’s a mix of Hazelnut Espresso Vodka (is their any flavor vodka does not come in these days?) and Stoli Vanil shaken with a splash of Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur and served with a few chocolate shavings. Really quite lovely and not that desserty, except that it’s chocolate!
The second round brought a few new choices. JB went with the "Classic" Spanish Coffee – there are three Spanish Coffees on the menu. This order prompted quite a discussion about variations on Spanish Coffee and Coffee drinks in general. And, of course, I had to again recount my story about looking for Coffee Drinks in Chicago and finally finding them when they opened the Cheesecake Factory. (I’m getting to be such an old geezer!) JH and R ordered Manzanita Martinis made with green apple liqueur. This was also a finely crafted cocktail! K stayed with her Pineapple drop and I went for a second Chocolate Nut.
We were all pretty impressed with the drinks. Their mixtures are creative yet stick to traditional methods. Even though they add flavorful elements they are not sweet drinks – what a nice surprise that was! And even though we were not watching the bartender, he seemed to really put together well-made drinks. We like that!
There was only one thing that none of us especially liked. While the restrooms are his-and-hers the sinks (and mirrors) are communal. There is a large full length mirror in the ladies’ room (and I believe they said there was one in the men’s room, too) but on a crowded night you’re not going to be able to check makeup or to make sure there’s nothing caught in your teeth – just not enough room. So you’ll need to do those tasks in full view of anyone coming and going to the restroom. But that’s not the worst part. Several of the sinks are viewable from the bar AND from the dining room! Just a little too hip for good taste.
When we left I accidentally left behind my little notebook so I made a trip back down the following day, which allowed me to also check the Happy Hour offerings. They have a special Happy Hour menu with about fifteen tapas choices. The prices range from $2.45 – $3.45. Many sound interesting but I was only able to try two. The Jamon Serrano was good, had a great presentation but was really about a bite and a half. I really liked the roasted grapes served with it! I also tried their Pork Emapanadillas. They were flavorful and the crust was nice and flaky. The pork was so ground, though, that I could have been eating flavored soy for all I know. I still thought it was tasty, though.
I believe they have Happy Hour drinks however when I asked to see wine by the glass I was given the regular menu. As I was leaving another patron was having trouble selecting a wine and the bartender offered the "Happy Hour Wine". Hmmm – something to look into next time.
At Happy Hour the "crowd" (okay the seven people who were there) were all in the 45+ age group. At night I’m sure the crowd is in their late twenties/early thirties primarily, so take your pick at the time of day/night you’ll fit in. :-)
I really like the feel of this place and I think they have good drinks. And it seems like the food has potential from the tapas I tried. I’ll be back but not on a real regular basis. I think the drinks are about $1 higher than they should be and that will tend to make me think of other places first.
Ibiza Dinner Club
528 2nd Ave @ James St
206.381.9090
Happy Hour 4:00 – 6:00
Dinner 5:00 – ?
Closed Sunday
Big Eggs, Little Eggs…
Eggs all around! First round of frosting is done!
Make Your Own Peeps?
I have to admit that I love those sugary mounds-of-nothingness, Peeps! And look – now we can make our own! I’ve been excited to see that they are appearing at more and more holidays, not just Easter, but now I can make them any time I want! Hmmm, they might lose their novelty though….
Quote
DailyCandy – Peep Hole
The most resilient of treats, Peeps can withstand extreme temperatures and have a shelf life of fourteen years. Though made of sugar, they don’t dissolve in water. Now you hold the key to these mystical confections. How? With the Peeps Marshmallow Maker, a DIY kit revolutionizing the way mallow is delivered to the masses. The set comes with a mixer, molds, two marshmallow mixes, and packets of the trademarked neon crystallized sugar. In just minutes, you’ll be cranking out factory-quality chicks, bunnies, hearts, and stars. For piles of Peeps in a jiffy, enlist the neighbors’ kids and start an assembly line.
Dozens of “Eggs”
Turns out I’m going to be hosting all the Easter weekend meals in a couple days. I’ll have 20 for dinner on Saturday and 16 for dinner on Sunday, as well as, six to eight for breakfasts and lunches. It’s going to be a whirlwind of a weekend!
These little beauties are going to fulfill a couple roles. They are "Easter Egg" sugar cookies. They are baked and ready for the next step – tomorrow they will get their base frosting coat, on Thursday their frosting decorations and then Friday, well you’ll just have to wait and see. :-)
White King Salmon
Okay, so I lied. This wasn’t the next post after the Onion Tart entry. The tart was just so rich that I couldn’t force myself to actually make the salmon on Sunday. Instead I was able to make it for lunch yesterday.
White King Salmon (also called Ivory Salmon) is a rarity. About 1% of the population shows this variation. No one knows why these fish are white. Some people speculate it’s diet based, but since White Kings live with Red, that wouldn’t seem to be the reason, although I guess they could be picky eaters! Other people think it is genetic. But no one knows for sure. Now I am NOT talking about farmed fish that, unless fed supplements, are white. No, no, no! These are wild salmon, troll caught with that beautiful firm flesh that the cold Pacific waters produce in these fish.
No matter what the reason these guys stay pale, white-fleshed salmon are a little higher in the Omega-3 oils, a little more delicate tasting and, when cooked properly, they just melt in your mouth!
There isn’t really a season for them, other than the normal King Salmon season and most fish markets don’t really know when they will have it in stock. It’s all based on their suppliers finding whites during the cleaning process, since they look just like their red relatives on the outside. So you just have to be on the lookout – or have your friends looking out for you!
Sunday while walking through, Pike Place Market I passed Pike Place Fish, as I always do. About three of the guys came rushing out to tell me about the White Salmon – it had just come in and wasn’t even fully sliced yet! As I approached the counter another couple came up and said, “Did you see the White Salmon? It just came in!” I love those guys.
Several minutes later I left with my tasty treasure. As normal, I did a simple preparation to simply enhance the fish. I added a little pat of butter, a few leaves of fresh lemon thyme, a slice of onion and a couple of lemon rings. Baked it at 500°F for about 11 minutes. (The time will vary according to the thickness of your piece of salmon.)
I was going to take before and after pictures but only managed to do the before… once that salmon came out of the thoven, there would be no food styling or arranging! Just a quick move from baking dish to plate and then onto the fork. Sorry! :-(
However you can view a finished piece of this salmon here.
An Ode to Sal deTraglia’s Virtual Tapas Bar
Some time ago while looking for other food blogs I came across a blog with a promising name, "Sal deTraglia’s Virtual Tapas Bar". Well, it turned out that this particular blog sometimes talks about food but isn’t really a food blog. No, it’s something better in its own right – a blog about life in a small Spanish town, Castilla-LaMancha.
I have never been to Spain, but it is high on my list of "places-to-go" and this blog gives a great peek into life there. Sal’s voice comes through loud and strong in his writing and he’s a very funny guy. I urge you to check it out!
In the meantime, with summer approaching (okay, I know we just got to Spring yesterday…) I’ve been thinking about some Tapas dinners that I had last summer. I love tapas and wanted to start learning more about them. I plan to continue that education this summer and will be digging into "From Tapas to Meze" by Joanne Weir. But here’s a sample of what I did last year:
Tapas Menu
Sunday May 30th
Salted Almonds
Marinated Olives
Paprika-Glazed Baby Back Ribs
Garlic Shrimp
Potato Saffron Omelet with Tomatoes
Sherried Mushroom Empanada
Asparagus and Orange Salad
Manchego Cheese with Membrillo
(Quince Paste)
Mojito Sorbet
For information about what worked and what didn’t see "Tapas Party Summary".
Tapas Party Summary
My series of summer Tapas Parties last year were really fun. I invited small groups of people and, when possible, we sat on the deck or at least started with light plates and sherry on the deck and then moved inside for the main part of the Tapas "dinner".
Nearly all of these dishes can be made ahead or at least early in the day, which is a real bonus for entertaining. I asked everyone to bring a bottle of Spanish wine, so in addition to trying new recipes we had a Spanish wine tasting. I had not had much experience with Sherry, in the past and found that I really like the dry, almost astringent sherry from Jerez. When I spoke with the clerk at The Spanish Table (largest selection of Spanish wines in the US), they had warned that first-timers sometimes found it unapproachable and so I also bought a bottle of La Ciganera from Manzanilla, which was a little softer. (Apparently the salt-air in Jerez is what makes their sherries so much drier than others.)
All dishes were well received and tasty! I had quite a bit of the Potato Saffron Omelet remaining but I believe this was due more to the filling nature of the dish, as the taste was quite good. People just didn’t want to fill up on potatoes when there were so many other savory choices! The one problem I had with this omelet was flipping it. It was just too big for me to attempt so instead, I finished it under the broiler (which other similar recipes recommend).
The Sherried Mushroom Empanadas were outstanding! I started with Sara Moulton’s recipe and then substituted a semi-hot chili for the red peppers, 6 oz of peppered pancetta for the serrano ham (I had the pancetta on hand) and used mostly crimini mushrooms. There were a few pieces left over and they held really well for a couple of days. The shells stayed crispy, amazingly enough!
The Manchego with Membrillo was much better received than I thought it would be. I guessed that people would try a little and then move on, mostly because a lot of people I know are not real sweet eaters. Instead they cleaned up every piece! The contrast of slightly salty cheese with the sweet Quince paste was nice.
The salad was outstanding! I wasn’t sure about combining oranges and tomatoes – not sure why but I couldn’t get my mind around those two flavors combined. But it was really a refreshing salad! I modified it just a bit. You’ll find the recipe below.
Ribs and shrimp are always hits so I’ll just say they were both excellent! :-) The ribs melted right off the bone.
I normally am not a big olive eater but I’m learning to like them more and more. For these parties I used a couple of Emeril’s recipes, called Kicked Up Marinated Olives. (Of course!) I used pitted Kalamata for the black olive recipe and Picholines for the green olive recipe. I did not pit the Picholines, instead I just warned everyone. :-)
The Salted Almonds were an easy and basic recipe. There are many variations but I’ll include the version I used below.
We finished off with Mojito Sorbet (recipe below). Over the summer I worked on this recipe until I perfected it. It’s a great refreshing end to a spicy meal.
Salted Almonds
Mix 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper with 2 Tbsp. sea salt. Set aside.
Melt 2 Tbsp. butter and 4 Tbsp. olive oil in frying pan over medium heat.
Add 1 3/4 cup blanched whole almonds to the pan. Stir for about 5 minutes until almonds are golden
Tip almonds out of frying pan and into salt mixture. Toss until almonds are coated. Allow to cool. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week
Spanish Asparagus and Orange Salad
8 oz asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2" pieces
2 large oranges
2 tomatoes cut into eights
Romaine lettuce, shredded (about 1 leaf per person)
3 Tbsp crumbled Cobrales Bleu Cheese
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook asparagus in boiling salted water for 3 – 4 minutes, just until tender. Drain and refresh in cold water.
Grate the rind from 1/2 orange and reserve. Peel and segment the oranges. Squeeze the juice from the leftover membranes and set aside.
Put asparagus, orange segments, tomatoes and lettuce into salad bowl.
Mix oil, vinegar, 1 Tbsp of reserved orange juice and 1 tsp of the rind. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing on the salad and toss gently to coat.
Sprinkle the crumbled cheese over the top and serve.
Mojito Sorbet
1 cup Sugar
1 1/2 cups Water
2 1/2 to 3 cups roughly chopped fresh mint
Juice from 1 juicy lime
1 Tbsp lime zest
2 – 3 Tbsp finely chopped mint (chiffonade, if desired)
Bring sugar and water to a boil, and then boil for 1 minute until sugar is thoroughly dissolved. Remove pan from heat. Add coarsely chopped mint, cover pan and let sit for 1 hour.
Strain mint from syrup and then chill syrup for 2 hours. When chilled, add lime juice to the syrup and then add mixture to ice cream maker. Chill in maker for 20 minutes, then add lime zest and finely chopped mint and chill for 5 more minutes. Remove from ice cream maker, place in storage container and freeze approximately 2 – 3 hours until desired consistency.
No-Update Update on Plugra at Trader Joe’s
I haven’t had much success checking out the status of Plugra at Trader Joe’s here in the Seattle area. The last response I received when I asked a clerk if they were going to quit carrying Plugra (as I was buying several pounds of it!) was, "Hmm. I don’t know but it would make sense since we often quit carrying products." Not exactly a satisfying remark either way! Anyway, I’ll probably be stopping by a different location later this week so we’ll see if they have anything more interesting to say. :-)
Update Update: Been meaning to add this for some time… bad me! In Seattle, I haven’t seen Plugra on the shelves for some time. There is now a "Trader Joes’s European Style" butter offering, however. Since I stocked up on Plugra a bit ago I haven’t had a chance to check it out, but knowing Trader Joe’s it’s probably a good substitute.
What a day!
A few weeks ago I took a Puff Pastry class which was really great! I arrived home with a section of Puff Pastry which I divided and made something sweet and something savory. I was very happy with the results! Then I made the recipe by myself to see if I could replicate the class results. At the time I was a bit puff-pastried out so after making it I froze it for later use.
I had been wanting to test it out and planned to do so this weekend. Last night I removed a piece from the freezer so that it would be ready to go today. After my morning with EE I stopped by Pike Place Market and ended up bringing home a beautiful piece of white king salmon (that will be in the next post!). But I still needed to use the puff pastry. I had been thinking about an onion tart – apparently I wasn’t the only one – and so set to work to prepare it, but I was a bit distracted…
Mistake #1: I took the pastry from the refrigerator with the intention of letting it sit for 5 minutes to make it a little easier to roll out. I went outside "for a minute", ended up weeding part of a flower bed and made it back into the house 45 minutes later to find a warm piece of puff pastry on the counter. Wrong! I quickly put it back in the fridge to cool it down, set a timer for 30 minutes (to aid my failing memory!) and did a few other tasks.
Mistake #2: The timer reminded me that the pastry was now chilled and so I took the piece out and (for some reason) unfolded it and started rolling it out. Wrong! After a couple minutes I remembered – don’t unfold it, just roll it out as is! I quickly refolded it (it was no worse for wear) and rolled it out properly.
Mistake #3: Prior to rolling it out, I had roasted some tomatoes in the oven and sautéed a big pan of onions, shallots and mushrooms. When I pulled the tomatoes from the oven I decided to turn the oven off for a few minutes since I wanted a lower temperature. I planned to turn the oven back on in 5 or 10 minutes, while I was finishing sautéing the onions and prior to rolling out the pastry. While I was finishing the onions the phone rang and I was on the phone for 20 or so minutes. When I got off I was anxious to assemble everything, which I did and then popped it into the oven and set the timer. Five minutes before the timer was to go off I noticed that I had never turned the oven back on! Wrong!
Mistake #4 or Smart Move?: When I noticed that the oven was not on I quickly turned it back on and left the tart in the oven during the pre-heat stage. Would this be the right decision or wrong? Pulling it from the oven seemed to be worse than having both top and bottom heat for a few minutes. I kept my fingers crossed!
Happy Ending: I watched the tart very carefully and pulled it out at what I deemed was the right time… and I was right! And it turned out pretty much like it should have, although I think it might have risen a bit more if it hadn’t set in a semi-warm oven for several minutes. The bottom was crispy, the pastry flaky and the topping luscious! Someone was watching over me!
Onion Tart
1 Puff Pastry shell rolled into an 8" x 12" rectangle (trim edges to let pastry spring)
Sauté until golden:
1 sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
Remove from heat and add 1 Tbsp fresh thyme.
Spread onion mixture over pastry shell. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp crumbled blue cheese over onions. If desired, place 1/2 cup sliced, roasted tomatoes over cheese.
Bake at 375°F for 20 – 25 minutes, until pastry shell is golden on edges and bottom.
Remove from oven, cut into pieces and garnish with chopped fresh chives.
Culinary Fool 