25 for $25 in Seattle
March is 25 for $25 month in Seattle. (Also, called Dine around Seattle.) If you haven’t had the opportunity to take advantage of this event in the past (it’s held twice a year – March & November), I highly recommend that you check it out this round.
"What is it?", you ask. Twenty five restaurants in and around Seattle, offer $25 prix-fixe 3 course dinners and some also offer a $12.50 3 course prix-fixe lunch. So it gives you an opportunity to try a few new places or go back to old favorites and keep your check within bounds. There also appears to be an additional incentive this year where if you use a Mastercard you get a $10 gift card to Larry’s Markets!
The offer is good for Sunday through Thursday dining, excluding Easter Sunday, March 1 – 31st. Start making your plans now!
Some of the participating restaurants include:
Barking Frog, Woodinville
Brasa, Seattle
Etta’s, Seattle
Nishino, Seattle
Ray’s, Seattle
Yarrow Bay Grill, Kirkland
Zoe, Seattle
For a full list of participating restaurants and all the details visit: 25 for $25
Citrus Hint
This isn’t exactly a recipe, it’s more of a hint but either way I thought you might find it useful.
In the winter, when citrus fruits are plentiful and taste better than other times of year I buy bunches of it, juice it and then freeze the juice for use later in the year.
Normally, I just use ice cube trays to make individual cubes and then group the cubes in freezer bags. I find that it’s helpful to measure how much is in each cube and make a note of that on the bag. I have one tray that makes cubes that are approximately 1 ounce and others that are more like 2/3 of an ounce.
These can come in very handy in a number of ways. As you know, squirting fresh lime or lemon juice over a dish just before serving can often brighten the dish. The cubes can be defrosted and used to make lemon or limeade, or they can be left frozen and tossed in the blender as a base for frozen drinks. And, of course, many recipes call for just 1 or 2 Tbsp of fresh juice which is easy to get by defrosting just one or two cubes. Once you have them, you’ll find the uses are pretty much endless.
Remember to date the bag, indicate what’s in it (lime and lemon can look deceptively similar when you’re in a hurry!), and note the measurement of the cubes.
The Starrs
Grrr…. Spaces is trying to make sure we don’t do anything bad here, so I can’t use the word "Cocktails" in the title. How dumb is that? Okay, back to what I actually wanted to write about.
The Starr Cocktails
Several years ago I found myself with a plethora of Satsuma Oranges around holiday time. I love the little guys and buy them like crazy when they are available. I’m sure at the time I had some intended use for them but for some reason I either had a ton leftover or just never used them for the originally planned purpose.
I didn’t want them to go to waste so I started using them in all kinds of things. I happen to be a big fan of martini-like cocktails and so I started experimenting with using the juice in various versions of cocktails. Over the years I’ve refined the recipe somewhat and I’ve also come up with several variations. I call them my line of "Starr Cocktails".
The original is named the Holiday Starr – because that’s when I created it and when Satsumas are most readily available. It has become a tradition on my annual Whistler Ski Trip with friends. (A trip we won’t be taking this year, since the snow has been so lacking!) You can’t believe how refreshing and relaxing it is to sip one of these after a day of skiing while soaking in the Jacuzzi! :-)
And the "Starr" comes from "Brenda Starr, Girl Reporter" as that is who I am named after. My mom says it was the book character, not the comic strip but I’m still not sure how I really feel about that! :-)
I thought you might enjoy this recipe so here it is! I’m also providing a couple of variations to spark your own experimentation.
Holiday Starr
1 ½ oz Vodka
1 ½ oz Fresh lime sweet and sour (see recipe below)
½ – ¾ oz Fresh squeezed Satsuma juice or other tangerine juice
Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Shake until very cold. Strain into chilled martini glass.
Lime Sweet and Sour
Mix:
1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (I like mine tart so I use a generous cup)
1 cup simple syrup (recipe follows)
Keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. (However, it’s best when used within a day or so.)
Substitute lemon for the lime to make lemon sweet and sour or ½ lemon and ½ lime for “regular” sweet and sour.
Simple Syrup
4 cups water
4 cups sugar
Bring to boil over medium heat. Boil gently for 2 minutes. Cool and then store at room temperature until needed. Keeps indefinitely.
Vanilla Starr
1 ½ oz Absolut Vanilla Vodka (other vanilla vodkas such as Stoli’s may be too strongly vanilla)
1 ½ oz Fresh lime sweet and sour
½ – ¾ oz Fresh squeezed Satsuma juice or other tangerine juice
Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Shake until very cold. Strain into chilled martini glass.
Florida Starr
1 ½ oz Vodka
1 ½ oz Fresh lime sweet and sour
½ – ¾ oz Fresh squeezed pink grapefruit juice
Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Shake until very cold. Strain into chilled martini glass.
WBW#6 Summary
Cooksister! has sorted through 22 (count ’em, 22!) entries for the South African Wine Tasting. Check out her very thorough summary in Part 1 and Part 2 of WBW#6.
The Melting Pot
I don’t know where I’ve been but I just realized that The Melting Pot is a chain. They have locations all over the U.S.! Check out the map to see if there is one near you.
The Melting Pot is basically a fondue restaurant so it makes for some fun eating with a group. What I wanted to tell you is that last night we went for "Happy Hour". If you eat in the lounge both cheese (several varieties) and chocolate (milk, dark or white) fondues are half price! It’s a great deal! They also have drink specials. At the Seattle location tap beers are $2.25, well drinks are $4.00, and "house" wines are $5.00.
The "house" wine is a little tricky. Apparently they just offer a special price on whatever they have more of than they want. So the labels may change on a nightly basis and they may or may not offer the $5.00 price on all varieties – for instance last night Chardonnay was not offered but you could get a Pinot Noir, Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. You’re just going to have to check with your server for more information! :-)
Anyway, check it out!
In Seattle:
The Melting Pot
14 Mercer Street 98109
Phone: (206)378-1208
Happy Hour: 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Puff Pastry Class
Tuesday night I attended the Puff Pastry class at Sur la Table in Kirkland. The instructors were the mother-daughter team of Gwen Bassetti and Piper Davis, owners of The Grand Central Baking Company and Laurie, one of the bakers from the Portland Grand Centrals. Grand Central started in Seattle in 1972. They were the first artisan bread shop in the area. They have one store here and an additional three locations in Portland, OR.
This class was described as the "professional baker’s easy way to create puff pastry". Now that sounded intriguing to me. Although I have no qualms about buying frozen puff pastry, knowing a quick and easy way to make it on my own would be fun.
I have to tell you that this class delivered as promised. In a two hour period, we listened to the presentation, made two batches of the Puff Pastry (at each table), divided each batch into 3 sections, rolled each section 3 times, sampled sweet and savory tarts that had been made earlier and then took home our own section to bake into something yummy later. We even had a 15 minute break in the middle of it all. And it all seemed effortless. Really!
I asked if they were taking this class on the road – I was hoping that some of you might have a chance to check it out at a Sur la Table near you! Unfortunately that was not to be the case. HOWEVER, the recipe is available on their site! How lucky for you! :-)
Update Feb 20th: I noticed that they left one step out in the recipe. After the dough has been mixed, divide it into 3 portions of approximately 10 oz each. Then continue as instructed. The smaller portions are easier to work with and each makes one shell.
WBW#6 – South African Reds
Background
Today is Worldwide Wine-blogging Wednesday! This is an event started by Lenn of Lenndevours, last July as a way to get people learning and talking about wine. Being fairly new to the blogging world this is the first time I’m participating, but you can expect to see more WBW entries in the future! I’ve been interested in wine for years and have been working on educating myself in a rather random way, I guess. These events will be just the thing to help me expand my horizons!
This month’s theme is South African Reds. The theme and roundup are being hosted by Jeanne of Cooksister! Although she lives in London, she is South African and is very knowledgeable about wines from South Africa. Her post giving us all quite a lot of background was extremely informative! I learned a ton and was very impressed….
Choosing the Wine
Based with information that Cooksister! had provided, last week while at the Pinot Noir tasting at Esquin I reviewed the South African wines they offered. I have actually tried a couple South African wines in the past, although I am hard pressed to remember their names, except for Goats Do Roam Rosé. Not because the wine itself was particularly memorable (it was a bit sweeter than I would have liked) but, of course, for the very clever name.
I was happy to see that Esquin carried several South African wines. It’s always nice to have a selection. My goal was to find something in the $15 – $20 US price range. I was concerned that less expensive wines might not be representative of good wines. And, I wanted a price point that I would be likely to buy again, if I enjoyed the wine. And I was also thinking that it might be nice to try the Pinotage (since it’s a native grape), even though Cooksister! sort of warned against it. After perusing the offerings and consulting with one of the (always helpful) sales people I actually purchased two wines.
I decided against Pinotage because the price for the Esquin offering was too high. However, I did find a Shiraz that met my price range and based on the Esquin description sounded very interesting. I also noticed a less expensive Shiraz which had been rated a Wine Spectator "Best buy" so on a spur of the moment whim I added it to my shopping cart.
The Wines
The first wine I selected was the Onyx 2002 Shiraz Groenekloof from Darling Cellars. Priced at $18.49 US it was in my price range and had also been given 88 pts by Wine Spectator. Here’s what they say on their website:
"Matured in 300 liter French oak barrels for 15 months. A very attractive spicy nose with aromas of coffee and moccha accompanied by a full-bodied and well-balanced palate. Great concentration of fruit – a truly magnificent wine that seduces the palate through its finesse and sheer opulence.
The semi-precious stone of Onyx represents the dark granite bedrock so prevalent in the premium vineyard of Groenekloof. This vineyard, is without doubt, our most treasured pride and joy! It is only the very best of these selected parcels which produce wines of great depth and complexity that are bottled under Onyx."
The second wine I selected has lions on the label – something Cooksister! warned me about but I think she would be happy to know that it is the second label of Rust en Vrede. :-) The Guardian Peak 2002 Shiraz retails for $9.99 US and, as mentioned earlier, had received a Best Buy ranking from Wine Spectator.
The Guardian Peak site describes this wine as:
“Ripe and generous with bright cherry and plum flavours, revealing hints of crushed pepper, submerged in layers of exotic oak. Well balanced, with a mix of dark chocolate, cherries, plums and stewed fruit. This wine has a firm tannin structure and good length. Excellent follow-through of Cherry flavours on palate with strong hints of smoked ham and pepper. The wine has a long finish complimenting any cuisine.”
R was with me when I purchased the wines and I invited her to join me on Sunday evening to help with my taste test.
Tasting notes from various websites had given these wines a "goes with anything" review. While I was a little doubtful, one of the reasons I like Shiraz (or Syrah as we call these wines in Washington) is the relative versatility of the wine. With that in mind I set up several types of small bites for R and me to have with the wines.
The Food
We had an array of salamis and cheeses. All salami was from Salumi Artisan Cured Meats and I chose a couple specifically for their peppercorns. We had the namesake Salumi salami; the hot and garlic-tinged Soprasatta; the Winter, which is made with green and red peppercorns; and the Dario, which is flavored with garlic, mace and black pepper. I thought the peppercorns would probably work especially well with the Shiraz. In addition, we had a selection of cheeses including: Cambazola; young goat; and a Mango-Ginger Stilton. I threw together a small pizza with red sauce, sweet onions and roasted tomatoes (I wanted to specifically test the Shiraz with tomato sauce) and warmed a couple of sausage-mushroom crepes, cut into bite-size pieces. Crackers, toasted baguette, almonds, peppered cashews and a couple of mustards rounded out the mini-buffet.
It was a chilly evening in Seattle so I made a fire and set everything up on the bench near the fireplace. (It was a rather romantic setting but, unfortunately, it was just two straight women sharing it!) We started with the Guardian Peak, thinking that once we tried the "good" stuff we might not have as favorable an impression of the other.
The Tasting
The first impression is very jammy and fruity. R described it as being slightly thin or I said that there was no finish – it just sort of disappeared but I think we were both describing the same thing. Our first sip of this wine was about 15 minutes after it was opened. We found that as a little time went by – about 30 minutes into the tasting – that the wine actually opened up and was a bit more assertive. There was more of a finish and it felt fuller bodied.
Our favorite food combination with this wine was the toasted baguette with goat cheese and moutarde violette. It also did well with all of the salamis and the nuts. The red sauce on the pizza brought out the acidity of the wine and it clashed with the crepes. Overall though, we were pleasantly surprised at its drinkability. I would describe it as a good wine to use when you don’t want to worry about people "appreciating" the wine – situations where you have non-wine drinkers or large groups that are focused on conversation not appreciation, like a BYOB barbeque. (If that sounds snobby, it’s not meant to be at all!)
Then we moved on to the Onyx. This wine was immediately so much beefier – of course, it had been open nearly an hour by the time we started on it but it was more than just that. My first impression was very spicy, earthy, and full bodied. There was deep fruit and a pleasant lingering finish. R felt it was much smoother and less acidic tasting than the Guardian Peak. This was more of a wine to savor. And while it paired similarly with the food, it would also be pleasant as a late afternoon, sit-on-the-deck in the sun or an early evening, sit-by-the-fire glass of wine.
As an experiment, after a glass of the Onyx I went back to the Guardian Peak, fully expecting to experience a decline in my earlier appraisal. However, even after tasting the "better" stuff, the Guardian Peak still held its own. It is definitely a lower-end wine but could certainly have a place in your wine cabinet.
Summary
Bottom line – Would I buy these wines again? That’s the real question, isn’t it? And my answer is yes and no. I enjoyed both wines enough to buy them again; however, I wouldn’t drive out of my way to purchase them. Although, I drop by Esquin fairly often, it is not near my house and I don’t believe these wines would be readily available in the rest of the Seattle market, although I could be wrong about that. Out of curiosity the next time I’m at Pete’s or Larry’s Market (two shops with more extensive wine collections) I’ll check it out. If they were readily available, I’d probably pick them up every now and then.
In the meantime, this was a really fun and educational experience and I want to thank Cooksister! for all the background information and for getting me to try something new!
Steelhead
If you’ve read any of the Seattle food blogs or have been to Seattle or even seen advertising for Seattle, at some point you seen or read about Pike Place Market. I’m at The Market at least once a week, often more. I nearly always buy my fish at Pike Place Fish – you may know them as the "flying fish guys". Or, if you’ve taken part in a business seminar that stresses making work fun for your employees and treating customers they way they would like to be treated, you’ve probably been to a seminar spawned (get it?!?) by this successful business.
Anyway, I like this fish stall both because I think they have great fish and because the guys who work there are great. Over time I’ve gotten to know many of them (and they have a lot of long-term employees, which you might not expect) and can always count on them to let me know what’s especially good at any given time.
A couple of weeks ago I was looking for salmon and was hoping for fresh. Yes! I spied the fresh, wild King… and then spied the $25/lb price. :-( Yikes! That was a little more (okay a lot more) than I was hoping to spend. One of the guys noticed me coming to an abrupt halt as I was approaching the salmon and asked what I was looking for that day. I mentioned my dismay at the salmon price and he pointed out the fresh, local Steelhead they had in stock. At $9/lb it was much more to my liking! I bought a pound and headed home.
As I was driving home I was trying to remember the last time I had steelhead – I couldn’t remember! This amazed me. Growing up in Oregon, steelhead and rainbow trout were commonly caught by all of us amateur fisherpeople. If you’re not familiar with steelhead, it’s sometimes called salmon-trout. It’s in the same family as both, and looks a lot like a salmon (they are large fish). Trout live only in freshwater; salmon are spawned in fresh water, then travel to the ocean where they live. They return to freshwater to spawn and die. Steelhead live part of their lives in freshwater and part in saltwater. Unlike salmon which only spawn once, steelhead can repeat the spawn/migrate pattern 2 or 3 times. I believe that in some areas they only migrate from the spawning beds in streams to lakes, instead of all the way to the ocean – mostly because dams now block their progress. Steelhead flesh is very light pink and is milder than salmon, it’s pinker than rainbow trout. So that was probably more than you wanted to know but there it is! :-)
So I prepared it very simply – much as I would have done if I had caught it myself. Cut it into 6 oz pieces, squeezed a little lemon juice over the top of it, placed a very small pat of butter on each piece, added a little freshly-ground pepper, and then baked it at 500° F for about 10 minutes. It was melt-in-your-mouth, buttery-goodness!
I was so happy with it I returned for more this weekend.
October 2004
I’m hosting this meeting and I decided that it might be fun to be a bit more granular in the theme. I had a couple of reasons for wanting to be more specific. First, in many countries (including the US) recipes and styles of cooking vary from area to area. Second, by specifying a region instead of an entire country there was more leeway for future themes! :-)
I chose the Lombardy region of Italy. Lombardy is in the northern area of the country and encompasses Milan, Lake Como and is influenced by the other countries it borders, Switzerland and Austria. Rice is more common than pasta, Gorgonzola cheese plays a big role and many of the dishes are very simple and straightforward, which is something that attracted me about this area. I wanted to have a meal that took less effort than some others we had planned – something that would really allow us to focus on visiting and not so much on preparation. We would also serve the courses in the traditional way – antipasti, primo, secondo, insalata y dolce.
Here’s the menu:
- Antipasti: Salami and Polenta
- Cocktail: Triacca Casa La Gata
- Primo: Risotto with Saffron, Milanese Style (from "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking")
- Secondo: Osso Buco (Veal Shanks with Tomatoes and White Wine) (Recipe below)
- Insalata: Bignole de fraina al Casera
- Dolce: Pears stuffed with Gorgonzola Cheese
Osso Buco
2 Tbsp plain flour
6 pieces of osso buco
2 small onions
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large celery stick, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
14 oz can chopped tomatoes
½ pint dry white wine
½ pint chicken stock
1 strip of thinly pared lemon rind
2 bay leaves, plus extra for garnishing (optional)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Gremolata
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh flat leaf paisley
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F. Season the flour with salt and pepper and spread it out in a shallow bowl. Add the pieces of veal and turn them in the flour until evenly coated. Shake off any excess flour.
Slice one of the onions and separate it into rings. Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole, then add the veal, with the onion rings, and brown the veal on both sides over a medium heat. Remove the veal shanks with tongs and set aside on kitchen paper to drain.
Chop the remaining onion and add it to the pan with the celery, carrot and garlic. Stir the bottom of the pan to incorporate the pan juices and sediment. Cook gently, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes until the vegetables soften slightly.
Add the chopped tomatoes, wine, stock, lemon rind and hay leaves then season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, stirring. Return the veal to the pan and coat with the sauce. Cover and cook in the oven for 2 hours or until the veal feels tender when pierced with a fork.
Meanwhile, make the gremolata. In a small bowl, mix together the chopped parsley, lemon rind and chopped garlic. Remove the casserole from the oven and lift out and discard the strip of lemon rind and the bay leaves. Taste the sauce for seasoning. Serve the osso bucco hot, sprinkled with the gremolata and garnished with extra bay leaves, if you like.
11th Dinner Club Meeting: Lombardy – Summary
October 2004
This was an interesting dinner and the food was great but it didn’t turn out quite as I had hoped. At the previous meeting, when I had announced that "Lombardy" was the theme I presented a sample menu, copies of some information about Lombardy and stressed the simplicity of the food in this region. I also talked about that I really wanted the meal to be a typical Lombardian meal and as authentic as possible – one of the reasons I had picked a region and not just "Italy". Although, I thought everyone caught on to my vision for this meeting either they didn’t or as they began to really plan their contribution the "cooking club" mentality got the better of them.
What I mean by "cooking club" mentality is that if something is too simple it’s not perceived as being worthy. When you are contributing to a cooking club dinner you want to cook, not assemble. Unfortunately, much of the Lombardian food is closer to assembly. As people began posting recipes I started noticing conflicts. At first I thought there was confusion about who had what course but it turned out that wasn’t the case. Anyway, I won’t go into all the sordid details but let’s just say, I tried talking to people when I thought their recipes were out of line and it ended up causing hurt feelings (on both sides) and wasn’t really taken seriously. So, in my opinion much of the meal ended up being fussier than it should have been. We talked about this at the end of dinner, especially since when the next month’s theme was announced it was similar in concept. But it didn’t really seem that we came to a shared understanding. I was disappointed.
Having said that, the meal itself was actually very good! This was the first time I’d made Osso Buco and I was very happy with the way it turned out. It was really heavenly. The sauce was hearty and the gremolata was a nice counterpoint. The veal was falling off the bones and was perfectly tender. The marrow was so rich and creamy it almost pushed me into sensory overload! Yum! And it’s actually a great company dish since the preparation is simple and it’s all done several hours ahead of time. I’ll be making this again and soon!
Culinary Fool 