While you are out and about today don’t forget to stop by one of the many locations where King 5 is collecting donations for Northwest Harvest. You can donate non-perishable food or cash.
Drop off locations are mainly at malls and you can check the list of sites to find the one closest to you. You’ll also find a list of suggested items for donation. Every little bit helps and if everyone does a little bit, it really adds up!
Pumpkin-Sage Pasta with Blue Cheese Crumbles
28-Nov-2006
In theory I’m working from my home office today but actually I’m spending much more time watching the goings on outside. Seattle was hit with a snow/sleet/hail storm yesterday and, depending on where you live, the roads are pretty messed up today. And no, it doesn’t take much to send this city into shutdown. We have many, many hills and very few sanders, graders, snow removal machines – it just doesn’t snow often enough to really warrant spending tax dollars on those types of things. So, yes, we are snow wimps and yes, very few people here really understand how to handle the stuff.
I happen to live near the base of a very steep hill and right in front of my house is where the incline really begins to increase. If you haven’t been to the neighborhood before it can sort of catch you by surprise but anyone who has lived through one winter here (or even one heavy rainstorm) should know the slip-sliding factor. And today, the sheet of ice on the hill is highly visible – we didn’t really get that much snow but between the sleet, the slightly wet snow, the way-below-freezing overnight temperature we’ve ended up with a solid 1 1/2" – 2" of rock hard ice on this hill.
Now, most of the time this hill does get sanded as it’s the main road in and out of the neighborhood. It’s the road all the emergency vehicles use and they seem to be down here quite often as much of the population are in their 70s+ so the city takes pretty good care of the road. I’ve often joked that I see at least one firetruck full of paramedics a day. I thought it was kind of funny until one day, when I was donating blood, the technician who was getting ready to jab me was looking at my paperwork and exclaimed, "Hey I know where you live!" and then provided way too much detail. Since I was in a completely different city at the time that sort of freaked me out. He then explained that he was a paramedic with Seattle Fire Department and assigned to one of the two stations that serve my neighborhood. Seems he drove by my house a couple times a week!
Anyway, back to today – the hill has not been sanded and it is obvious there is a sheet of ice covering it. So, all day I’ve been watching very silly people (okay really I’ve been calling them dooheads) get less than half way up and then come sliding back down – mostly backward, often sideways, and every now and then making a 360 degree spin. Early this morning, of the first couple dozen vehicles I watched, one actually made it but all the rest came sliding back down. Even now, at nearly 3 pm. Very few can make it. And of those that do, many are driving way too fast. And people let me just tell you that minivans won’t do it! Minivans are good for transporting a bunch of people or stuff but other than that have very limited functionality in the real world of driving. Don’t take them out in the snow and especially not in the ice!
This is all very scary as there are lots of people out walking and this neighborhood doesn’t have sidewalks – so no curbs to stop a slide – and in some places there are no shoulders either. I’ve seen several people leap to a high spot to avoid an out of control vehicle coming back toward them. One driver, after trying several minutes unsuccessfully to even make a start up the hill left, only to return again 15 minutes or so later. On this second attempt to assault the hill she slid back down and into my mailbox, which stopped her. As I went out to see if she was okay and to give her car a shove she put pedal to the medal, until the spinning tires finally caught a bit of traction and she shot away – maybe she thought I was going to be mad because she hit the mailbox and smashed a bunch of plants but having watched her earlier I think she was just a super-doohead. As I was approaching the car I noticed that while trying to negotiate all this she was clutching a cell phone in one had oblivious to the fact that two hands are pretty necessary while even attempting to drive on ice. Two houses up my neighbor’s hedge has also caught quite a few sliders today.
Well, as I’m feeling very snug and smug I decided I needed a hearty lunch to go along with the weather – it’s actually gorgeous and sunny just colder than heck. I had some roasted pumpkin in the refrigerator and that became my inspiration for the following pasta. This recipe just makes one very generous plate or two smaller servings.
Pumpkin-Sage Pasta with Blue Cheese Crumbles
- 1/2 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 Tbsp flour
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 – 3 drops hot sauce
- 1 tsp dried sage
- Dash of freshly grated nutmeg
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup pureed pumpkin or squash
- Pinch of brown sugar
- Chicken stock or reserved pasta cooking water
- 1 – 2 Tbsp blue cheese crumbles
- 2 cups cooked pasta
Melt butter in small saucepan over medium high heat. Add flour and stir until completely smooth. Add milk, hot sauce, sage, nutmeg and a little salt and pepper. Stir until mixture comes to a boil. Add the pumpkin and pinch of sugar.
If sauce seems too thick, add a bit of stock or a little water from the pasta pot. Once at the desired consistency – you want it pretty thick but not gummy – check the seasoning, adding salt or sugar as needed to bring out the flavor of the pumpkin.
Toss the sauce with the drained pasta, adding a bit more stock or water if needed. Scoop into a bowl or onto a plate.
Finish with a few crumbles of blue cheese.
Sit in the front window and watch the cars slip-sliding away.
Hot Buttered Rum
27-Nov-2006
Last year (and maybe the year before too) I posted the recipe for the Hot Buttered Rum Batter that I make every year. Well, it’s time to make it again and this time I’m going to show you the step by step photos for the (super-easy) process.
Before starting to mix all ingredients, take 1 quart of ice cream and let it sit out until it’s very soft and liquid-y.
Then, cream 1 pound of butter until it’s light and fluffy.
Next add 1 pound of brown sugar, 1 pound of powdered sugar, 2 tsp of nutmeg and 2 tsp of cinnamon. Mix with the butter until thoroughly incorporated.
Add the ice cream and completely incorporate. You’ll need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple times as the ice cream will chill the butter mixture somewhat and it will stick to the sides of the bowl. The finished batter will be smooth with maybe a few little butter balls – these should be very small though.
Put the batter in a freezer container and store in the freezer until ready to use.
To make a Hot Buttered Rum, take a very heaping soup spoon (from your flatware service) of the batter and put it in a cup with 1 shot of rum – I prefer golden rum. Mash it around until the batter softens up. Fill the cup with boiling water and stir. Sprinkle with a little grated nutmeg. Adjust the amount of batter/rum/water based on cup size and your personal preference.
Disastrous Divinity
26-Nov-2006
In the spirit of full disclosure I offer this post as evidence that I have many culinary events that don’t quite turn out as planned.
About this time of year, as I start in on holiday baking in a big way I often become nostalgic about things from my childhood. One of the things that has been coming to mind for a year or so it the candy that one of my Aunt’s made every year. She made several different varieties but two that keep pushing their way into my mind are Divinity and Penuche.
I had decided to make them both this year and have been looking at recipes trying to find something that seems like it was what my Aunt made each year. Unfortunately, I can’t just ask her as she passed away several years ago. It turns out that most divinity recipes are very similar and so I decided to use the one in my old Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, figuring that would be very likely to be the one she used.
Now, making divinity comes with all kinds of warnings about humidity and weather. You can’t make it if it is "too" humid or if it’s raining. The moisture in the air will keep the candy from setting and drying properly. However, I couldn’t find anywhere what "too" humid actually translated to. But I grew up in Oregon and my aunt lived across the street from me and she managed to somehow successfully make this candy in the Northwest winters so I figured I could, too!
Yesterday, we had our second dry day in a row – at least at my house, although there was rain in the area. I checked the humidity – under 60% outdoor and about 45% in my house (it’s winter and I’m running the heat for gosh sakes!) and thought that might be safe.
So I measured all my ingredients, starting heating the sugar, corn syrup and water and was generally really looking forward to the final product!
I should have known that whole thing might not turn out as planned when about 5 minutes into the process I had my first little setback. The sugar mixture had just started boiling and I was attaching the candy thermometer to the pan when the thermometer suddenly snapped out of the clip (that would hold it to the pan) sending hot sugar all over the stove top, down the oven doors, all over the floor and onto some cookies sheets I had sitting nearby waiting for another batch of cookies! Now it wasn’t that much that splashed out but, as you know or can imagine, even a little bit of liquid sugar is a sticky, sticky mess.
So, while trying to watch and whip the egg whites for the next step and watch the thermometer (I was now using a quick read that I had to dip in every now and then) for hardball stage – 260F, pretty dang hot – I was also trying to clean up the sugar mess before it had a chance to spread over the entire kitchen and from there take over the house!
So it is possible that I messed up somewhere in there but I really think I was juggling it all pretty well.
Anyway, after the whites were whipped and the sugar mixture incorporated and letting it beat until the batter was super stiff I started dropping the candy by teaspoonful onto the prepared cooking sheets. I was very proud as I was even getting the little twirl on the top (kind of like a Hershey’s Kiss top but fallen over) that I remembered from my Aunt’s candies. However, as I finished spooning out the candy the first pieces were slowly slipping into pools of white glue.
My first thought was that I just hadn’t beat the egg whites or the egg whites mixed with sugar long enough, which could be the case. But after waiting several hours and then trying to peel the candy "disks" from the wax paper to no avail – they weren’t letting go, it was clear that the candy just wasn’t dry enough – was this a problem with the hated humidity???? I’m not sure. There’s a third possible point of failure and that’s with the temperature, as using the thermometer the way I was is not really the most accurate way of measuring temperature.
So yesterday afternoon I took all the white polk-a-dotted wax paper from the cooking trays and tossed them into the garbage. I was bummed. But it looks like we have a streak of dry (and colder!) days coming later in the week. So I think I’ll have a chance to try again soon!
I also looked at an older version of the same cookbook that was my Mom’s. It was printed in 1951 and I noticed that there are slight differences in the recipe. I may try that version next time.
In the meantime, Penuche is not as temperamental so I’ll give it a try and see if I can duplicate the taste I remember from those Christmas past.
Preparing for Wine Blogging Wednesday – Part V
25-Nov-2006
This is the fifth and last post about sparkling wines meant to help you in preparing for Wine Blogging Wednesday #28 – Sparkling Wines (but not Champagne).
This post is just basically a listing of types of Sparkling Wines that we have not yet discussed. I’m sure that I will have missed some – or many – but this is just meant as a jumping off point for your research!
Australia: One of the latest trends in sparkling wines is Sparkling Reds, mostly Shiraz, from Australia. I first heard about this Sparkling Shiraz about 3 years ago and since then it seems to be springing up everywhere!
Austria: I know that Austria produces sparkling wine and I know that it is even available here in Seattle. But unfortunately that is about all I know. :-( Web searches kept turning up references to Schlumberger but there wasn’t much specific information I can’t read the site – but I know it’s out there and maybe some one will blog it!
Canada: I’ve recently sampled a sparkling wine from British Columbia made from Riesling and have had several other of their sparklers in the past. Canada produces sparklers from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Riesling and Gamay Noir.
France: Mentioned briefly in the "terms" post Cremant is worth mentioning again as it is used two different ways. First, it can mean a method that produces a moderately sparkling wine. However it is also used in the naming of sparklers from outside the Champagne region that are made by méthode champenoise. The three wines you may see with this naming convention are: Crémant Alsace, Crémant De Burgoyne and Crémant De Loire
Germany: Sekt (short for Qualitätschaumwein) and Schaumwein. Can be made from various varietals.
Italy: We’ve mentioned several Italian sparklers already but one I missed is Rosa Regale, a low alcohol dessert sparker.
Portugal: Vinho Verde, green wine, is not green colored but a young fresh wine meant to be consumed early. Wines from this DOC are red, white, rose or sparkling but it looks like only the whites are exported.
Other New World Sparkling Wine Producers
I would love it if some of these following wines made it into the WBW roundup! I know that Argentina, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa all produce sparklers, too. It seems that most of these rely on the standard Champagne grapes but sometimes include local grapes. For instance, I know there is at least one wine from South Africa that is based on Pinotage and includes some Pinot Noir.
The point is that there is a whole WORLD of sparklers and hopefully we will discover some new choices when we all do our research and write-ups for this, the 28th edition, of Wine Blogging Wednesday!
Waste Free Holidays
25-Nov-2006
It’s that time of year again when many of us are trying to figure out what to get for all the friends and relatives on our gift list. All around the Seattle area (and maybe in your locality, too) merchants are offering discounted services as an alternative to the usual "stuff". The idea is to give your gift recipients a great experience in lieu of just another thing. And the great thing about this is, it could be an experience you share together!
In the Seattle area you’ll find offers from restaurants, museums, theaters, sporting events and in things in the "rest and relaxation" category. And, there’s nothing to say you can’t purchase these discounted for your own use – so plan ahead and pick up some great experiences at a discounted price! For the full list of offers see the Waste Free Holidays website.
End of the Summer, For Real
24-Nov-2006
Okay. I know that title seems a bit odd – I mean we just finished Thanksgiving and are zooming toward the shortest day of the year. It’s snowing like crazy in our mountain passes and maybe even where you live. It’s been the end of summer for quite some time!
Well, I’ve been managing to hold on to just a bit of it. Hording sweet rays of sunshine on my kitchen counter but the writing is on the wall. The last bits of sunshine will soon be swallowed up – literally!
These are the very last of the tomatoes from my garden. Just before the nights dipped into the low 40s on a regular basis, I picked all the tomatoes that had any sort of color to them. Many people don’t realize that if a tomato has ripened even just a little – just to where it’s not pure green – even just to lighter green, you can pick the tomato and it will continue to ripen at room temperature.
Now the flavor in tomatoes ripened this way is not quite as good as if they were able to reach full color on the vine, but it is still pretty good! Especially compared to what you are getting in the supermarket at this time of year!
I was super happy with my Yellow Brandywine plant this year. It was an abundant producer and look at these guys still hanging in there for me. The tomatoes in the back are Caspian Pinks – it was a good producer, too. And the color of the tomatoes is really beautiful – a really deep rose color, almost red but not quite.
Looks like summer will be slipping from memory in the next day or so…
After the Feast Snack
24-Nov-2006
Sometimes, after a big day of feasting, you want a little something but certainly not another whole meal. That’s when it’s great to be able to just pull a couple of staples from the fridge and make yourself a small, but tasty snack!
This was a savory/sweet bite from last night:
- Toasted rustic bread
- Covered with Cambozola that is melting a bit from the heat of the toast
- Topped with Apple Chutney (Recipe below)
Perfect with a glass of wine!
Apple Chutney
- 3- 4 crispy, tart apples – I used Gravenstein but Granny Smith would be a more common alternative – diced
- 2 large, sweet onions, diced
- 1 cup currants
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon or a couple of cinnamon sticks
- 2 chopped dried hot peppers (adjust according to your taste!)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1 cup apple cider
- 6 whole cloves
- 1 Bay leaf
- Salt and pepper
Place all ingredients in a pot, bring to simmer and allow to cook down for 1 – 1 1/2 hours – most liquid should be evaporated.
Can be held in the refrigerator for a month or so. I canned mine (using a standard procedure) into 1 cup jars so it would keep longer and I could enjoy it over time.
When Chef Dan Thiessen told me he would be starting construction on his new showcase restaurant in July and it would be open for the holidays I just smiled and said, "Wow, that’s great!", all the while thinking he had a snowball’s chance in – well you know!
Although he was moving into the old Chadwicks in the Belleve Hyatt Grand hotel – which meant the kitchen was there – he was also taking up a large section of the Hyatt’s lobby and so everything would need to be reconfigured and set up for the new layout and flow. In a town where new openings are constantly delayed due to hold-ups in liquor license approval or final signoff on building permits, he managed to pull it off! I am now a true believer!
At the opening party of his 0/8 Seafood Grill and Twisted Cork Wine Bar last night hors d’oeuvre were passed, chafing dishes were placed here and there around the perimeter of the restaurant and the sparkling wine flowed – or there was always the open bar if you preferred.
Although the food you sample at these parties may or may not resemble what you will find on the actual menu, it seems to me that what we were served was very representative of what will be on the menu. There was a heavy emphasis on seafood, fresh seasonal ingredients and creative and interesting taste combinations. Of all the things we tasted (and we tried a lot!) my accompanying friend didn’t care for the crab cake but that was the only (even slight) hitch in the works. The scallops pictured above were heavenly! There was also a crab(?) and corn bisque that I wanted to jump into.
I decided to try a cocktail they were passing, although it was a Cosmopolitan which normally is way too sweet for my taste – at least the way most places make it, as it actually shouldn’t be. Their take on this drink was to use white cranberry juice with a nice hit of lime and the triple sec adding a little back note. It was good!
The official opening is November 25th. If you are on the Eastside make sure you try it out. And if you are on the West side, it’s even worth a trip across the bridge!
0/8 Seafood Grill – Twisted Cork Wine Bar
900 Bellevue Way (in the Bellevue Hyatt)
Bellevue
425.637.0808
900 Bellevue Way (in the Bellevue Hyatt)
Bellevue
425.637.0808
Preparing for Wine Blogging Wednesday – Part IV
21-Nov-2006
Today’s installment is going to be short and sweet – or dry – depending on what you choose!
Producers can regulate the sweetness of sparkling wines by controlling fermentation. For example, stopping fermentation early leaves some natural grape sugar in the finished wine. It can also be controlled by the sweetness of the shipping (final) dosage. One of the things that I have seen cause the most confusion for people when trying to select a sparkling wine is choosing the appropriate level of sweetness. With sparkling wines running the gamut from so-dry-the-moisture-is-sucked from-your-mouth to so-sweet-its-a-dessert-on-its-own it’s important to be able to decipher the categories listed on the label. And the names are not necessarily intuitive. Here then is the list of designations, listed from driest to sweetest. The percentages indicate the amount of residual sugar in the wine:
- Extra Brut, (also called Brut Nature or Brut Integral), sometimes there is no residual sugar at all in this level
- Brut: dry, less than 1.5% sugar
- Extra Sec (also called Extra Dry): extra dry, 1.2 to 2% sugar
- Sec: medium sweet, 1.7 to 3.5% sugar
- Demi-Sec: sweet, 3.3 to 5% sugar (dessert champagne)
- Doux: very sweet, over 5% sugar (dessert champagne)
The top half of the list contains champagnes that are best as aperitifs, served with meals or at cocktail type parties. They will also pair well with sweets – these wines go with just about anything. The bottom half of the list is best with sweet desserts or even on it’s own as a sweet dessert. Of course, as with all wines, the final decision should be based on your personal preference.
Hopefully this handy list will help you select a sparkling wine that meets your needs.
Preparing for Wine Blogging Wednesday – Part I
Preparing for Wine Blogging Wednesday – Part II
Culinary Fool 