Some interesting news
19-Feb-2009
I happened to be in the area of Skillet today at lunch and stopped by to grab a decadent burger. As I walked up I noticed a familiar face waiting for his lunch, Gabriel
Claycamp of Culinary Communion. He was accompanied by chef/instructor Katie Coleman.
Claycamp of Culinary Communion. He was accompanied by chef/instructor Katie Coleman.
Gabriel always has something new cooking and he tells me that they received their restaurant license a couple days ago and the plan is to start offering lunches at Culinary Communion House on Beacon Hill. The concept will be, paraphrasing Gabriel’s words, somewhere between Le Pichet and Salumi but leaning a little more French. Having taken one of Culinary Communion’s charcuterie classes I think this is a very good thing!
Watch their website or sign up for the newsletter (bottom left of the home page) to keep up with the news!
First Look: Cantinetta
14-Feb-2009
Last night I made a stop a bit closer to home for my Friday night foray. A new place opened in the Wallingford area in January. And I was especially looking forward to it because I know several of the principals. I had been hoping they were doing well but was pleasantly surprised and slightly dismayed at the crowd I found in Cantinetta when I arrived – where was I going to sit??
Actually it was great that the neighborhood has already adopted this new warm and friendly place. People were stacked up at the door waiting for tables and people were two deep in the bar area. I grabbed a glass of wine and stood back and watched while waiting for a seat to open. There’s a large ten person table in the very back that is separated from the main seating area. It’s perfectly set up for private dining for a large group. When not in use for one large group it becomes a communal dining area. Last night there were two groups of five sharing the space.
A couple seats opened at the bar and my friends waved me into one of them. The bar area is small but cozy. About ten seats with standing room along the plank-topped banisters that separate the bar from the dining area. The main dining area sits in the front and is surrounded on two sides by tall windows with views into the neighborhood. From my seat at the bar it looked lively and welcoming.
With a seat secured I took a look at the menu and several things appealed to me. I decided to try the duck meatball appetizer but I’ve forgotten what it’s called on the menu. Savory with a bit of sweet sauce, they hit the spot. The bed of greens was a nice fresh touch for the plate.
After the meatballs I was not that hungry yet so many other things on the menu look good. I decided to treat myself to dessert, knowing I could take the leftovers home. There was a pear tart with salted caramel ice cream that seemed to be the perfect choice for a nice winter’s night dessert. Along with the tart I ordered a glass of Vin Santo. The tart was great. The jury is still out on the ice cream. But that could be because the Vin Santo was not really the best choice with it. I’d have to try it again sometime.
Overall, I loved the energy and the welcoming atmosphere in this neighborhood joint. It’s nice to find somewhere outside of the downtown area that seems like it could become a regular spot.
Cantinetta
3650 Wallingford Avenue N
Wallingford
Seattle
206.632.1000
Hearty Meals
09-Feb-2009
I love to braise at any time of year but it’s especially great in the winter. Since most braises need around three hours, having your oven on for that long adds warmth to the house and the beautiful fragrance fills the house with a coziness.
Last night I choose oxtail for my meat. I think years ago it really was oxtail but now it’s actually beef. It’s a relatively inexpensive cut of meet and is perfect for braising as the sections of bone add a rich dimension to your final product.
I started this one as normal, browning the meat in a heavy pan, then adding onions, garlic, celery and cooking them until starting to soften. I used red wine to deglaze the pan. Then I added baby carrots, sliced rutabaga, bay leaf, a tablespoon of tomato paste and stock to almost cover it all. About 2 1/2 hours in I added a few more carrots, mushrooms, and small tomatoes.
After a total of three hours, I removed the pan from the oven, separated the meat and vegetables from the pan sauces using a slotted spoon. I covered the meat and vegetables and kept them warm while boiling a batch of fettuccine. At the same time I added a flour slurry to the pan juices and brought it to a boil to create a sauce. And then I enjoyed!
Lazy Sunday
08-Feb-2009
I had a hankering for pancakes this morning. Blueberry pancakes with maple syrup to be precise. Served along with a couple of crispy pieces of bacon and you have a great start to a perfect day!
Pink Potatoes!
04-Feb-2009
At last week’s trip to the Farmers’ Market potatoes were in great abundance. All colors but mostly smaller types. Some of them claimed colored flesh as well as colored skins. I brought home some red potatoes that were in this category. When I cut them open they were pale pink with deeper red "veins". I figured that when cooked they would lose their color and revert back to creamy white. But they didn’t! Instead I had pale pink mashed potatoes for dinner last night. And, if I remember correctly, they also had a purple variety with colored flesh – those might be on my list for next week.
So, if you are looking for something fun to do for Valentine’s day or maybe just to brighten up a dinner, take a look for these new varieties. I forgot the specific name of the variety I purchased but your potato farmer will be able to help you and I would bet they’d be clearly marked if you can find them in the grocery store.
Comfort Food
03-Feb-2009
One of my all time favorite meals is simply buttered pasta topped with grated Parmesan cheese. Sometimes I get "fancy" and add a chopped herb of some sort or occasionally I’ll add chopped green onions, but more often than not it’s just pasta, butter and cheese. I made up a plate last night and it was especially good since I used the fettuccine I’d made with my brand-new KitchenAid Pasta Roller Attachment! Using just a basic pasta recipe (the one I used was from Mario Batali but they are all the same) I had fresh pasta whipped up and ready to go in about an hour – and that included 30 minutes of resting time for the dough!
Chicken Noodle Soup
02-Feb-2009
After you bring home all the lovely market produce you get to find something fun and tasty to create with it. As soon as I spied the mushrooms, I knew a lovely chicken noodle soup was in my future. I sauteed a thinly sliced onion and some chopped garlic until tender and then added a teaspoon of finely chopped ginger, the box of mushrooms (chopped) and chopped celery and continued sauteing for a few minutes.
Once everything was tender I added 1 quart of chicken stock, chunks of baby carrots, rosemary, a tablespoon of tomato sauce and roughly cut pieces of roasted chicken breast. I also added salt and pepper along the way.
I actually made a mistake here -although it wasn’t fatal! I should have either finely chopped the rosemary or enclosed it in cheesecloth so it could be easily removed before serving. Instead I just tossed in a couple sprigs which you might be able to get away with in the spring but not in the winter. As it cooks the leaves fall from the stems and winter leaves are pretty tough. Not great when they are throughout the whole dish. The good news is that they are pretty easy to see and pick out as you are eating. But that’s not exactly the best experience if you have guests!
I brought the soup to a boil then reduced the heat so it could simmer until the carrots were tender – 10 minutes or so. Then I added some freshly made pasta – more about the pasta in a later post! It took about 5 minutes to cook the pasta until tender. If you were using commercial dried pasta you might want to add it when the carrots were getting tender but not quite done. Carrots can lose their sweetness if cooked too long.
I had a bowl of this soup for dinner last night and some for lunch today. Today’s version was extra good as the flavors had mingled and fused into a lovely warm broth.
So visit a local Farmers’ Market if one near you is open or at least head to your local store and walk the produce aisle as if it were a Farmers’ market. Think about what is in season and likely to be sourced fairly locally so that you get the best flavor possible.
More Farmer’s Market Treats
01-Feb-2009
Also in abundance at the Seattle area Farmers’ Markets are carrots! Beautiful, sweet, baby carrots. Just a quick rinse to remove the last of the soil they were grown in and they are ready to eat. No need to peel them – the skins are so tender. Better than candy!
Time to get back to the markets
31-Jan-2009
It’s a gorgeous day here in Seattle. Crisp and sunny, although darkish clouds temper a completely blue sky. I made my way to the U-District Farmers’ Market this morning. I’m very bad about winter vegetables. When fall first comes I’m excited for them and then around December I start longing for the brightly colored fruits of summer. So with renewed enthusiasm I checked out the offerings today and decided it was nice to see some things that are sometimes hidden by the brighter, sexier summer offerings.
And I think I’m ready to get back to cooking again, too. December and January seemed to have been filled with cooking for large groups and then I’d have leftovers or spare ingredients to use up for some period of time.
I brought home a box of these oyster mushrooms – I’m thinking an Mushroom-Chicken-Noodle soup of some kind might be in order. Maybe with a little ginger and some of the super-sweet baby carrots I brought home, too.
Dinner Club: Islands of the Caribbean
13-Jan-2009
Friday night was the Dinner Club’s first gathering of 2009. The first of year number seven. The 41st gathering.
I have to stop and ponder that for a minute. When we started I had hoped it would be successful and that the group would really get into it and enjoy it and be committed to our dinners. And I worked on selecting people I thought would not only embody those qualities but also have fun together. I’m pretty sure in an earlier post that I mentioned we originally intended to have six in the group but only ended up with five. We couldn’t find the sixth person who seemed like a complement to the group. Of course there were some other requirements: you had to have a sense of adventure with your food; you had to enjoy not just cooking but the research it takes to find what you will cook for each meeting; and you really couldn’t be a "no" person (as in no meat, no carbs, no white food, etc), among other things.
And somehow it has all worked and worked well. We have nearly all of our original members. After two years one of our original group moved several miles out of town and was also deep into obtaining a professional certification. So she had to drop out. That was V and we miss her. However, I had since "discovered" M2 so she joined us and has been with us since. So for all intents and purposes we have remained intact.
If you go back to the early days of this blog you can find posts about how we are set up and how we choose who hosts, what our theme will be, who has what course, etc. But if you are thinking of doing this I really encourage you to find what works for your group. It’s been a great ride and I’m looking forward to the many future milestones we will celebrate.
And now onto the food!
I was hosting this first event of 2009 which means I selected the theme. I chose Islands of the Caribbean (later I thought I should have chosen Pirates of the Caribbean and we could have just drank rum all night!). I chose the theme because I really wanted to make something with conch, although I wasn’t sure I could find it here in Seattle. During my prime research time we had an amazing snowstorm that lasted for days – not a common thing here in Seattle – so I never did get out for my research. Instead I settled on a Cuban dish that seemed to keep popping up wherever I looked. I thought it must be fate.
Here’s our menu for the night:
Cocktail: Mojito
Appetizer: Shrimp in Garlic Sauce (Camarones al Ajillo) from Daisy Cooks! by Daisy Martinez
Salad: Mango and Avocado Salad
Main: Ropa Vieja – primarily this recipe but slightly modified based on these and Red Stripe Beer
Side: Black beans with mango
Dessert: Rice Pudding
I had decorated the table to try to bring a feel of a warm Caribbean dinner to our cold Seattle night. Fish patterned tablecloth and napkins provided the backdrop for colorful dinnerware and paper lanterns strung across the room. The food brought it all together
Mojitos bring the tropics to mind and shrimp are always welcome at our table! The mango and avocado in the salad were a winning combination – so refreshing. I liked the ropa vieja but need to reduce the broth more next time and I forgot to add the peas before serving – they really added something when I mixed them in with the leftovers. The mango was also a nice contrast to the slightly spicy black beans. The creamy rice pudding filled with super-plump golden raisins was the final not-too-sweet tropical dessert.
It was a good meal and brought us to a warmer place for a little bit of time. I still want to try to find conch and try a couple things but in the meantime I’m looking forward to dinner #42, hosted by M2.
More photos here.
Culinary Fool 