Seattle Cheese Festival Participants
13-Apr-2006
DeLaurenti’s Seattle Cheese Festival will be here in no time and a few days ago they announced their lineup of participants and sponsors (who are also participants). Just like last year, there are several overseas producers represented. As they’ve already mentioned this year will be set up a bit differently with a "Cheese Concourse" with free samples and "Artisinal Alley" hosting small cheese producers. Entry to Artisinal Alley will cost you $5. What’s not clear from the press release is who’s in the free area and who’s in that alley. I guess we will find out soon! Update from those in the know… Here’s the lineup for Artisinal Alley:
- Mt. Townsend Creamery, Port Townsend, Wash.
- Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy, Ocean Park, WA
- Rollingstone Chevre, Parma, ID
- Jasper Hill Farms, Greensboro, Vermont
- Redwood Hill Farms, Sebastopol, CA
- Neal’s Yard Dairy, British cheeses
- Rogers International, European artisinal cheeses
- Cucina Fresca, European artisinal cheeses
- Power Selles, Matiz cheese complements
Sounds good to me!
This month, Wine for Newbies is hosting Wine Blogging Wednesday. The theme is whites – but not your "normal" whites. I guess, however, I’m a bit abnormal as I regularly drink whites that are not Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or Riesling. Maybe it’s because I live in the land of seafood. Pinot Gris is an excellent choice with oysters, for instance. And I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that I live near a big Pinot (insert variety here) region in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.
Last year, just about this time, I took a trip through that region – it had been a long time since I’d spent any real time there. Over a three day period I visited nine vineyards from Dundee, just southwest of Portland, to Lorane, south of Eugene. Plus I sampled additional local wines while eating out. I really love this area. It’s beautiful, the people are great and some really great wines are produced here.
One of the wineries I visited on that trip last year was Erath. Erath was one of the pioneers in the Oregon wine industry. It was great to see what it looks like now as this was one of the first wineries I visited in this region way back in 1980, give or take a year. (Yes I’m sort of old…) During my visit I picked up several wines and one of them was this 2003 Pinot Gris.
I really like this wine. It’s a beautiful pale, pale yellow. The nose is a bit fruity but the taste is citrus, pear and honey. It has a nice clean, crisp finish. It pairs perfectly with oysters on the 1/2 shell, spicy sautéed shrimp, buttery scallops or barbecued halibut – just to name a few options.
As well as it pairs with food, it’s also nice on it’s own on a warm spring or summer day, while you are soaking up the sun, daydreaming or talking about nothing-in-particular with friends.
The 2003 is no longer available and I must have gotten in on the tail end of it last year as it’s now the 2005 vintage that is available. The retail price is $13 – a great price point for this versatile wine.
Food & Wine Travel Issue
12-Apr-2006
The May 2006 issue of Food and Wine magazine lists 376 restaurants from around the world that they recommend. Looking at the Seattle list there are some great choices but nothing surprising or unusual. I’m guessing that will be the case for most cities. Still, it’s a great travel reference as you jet around the world! :-)
I received my copy a day or two ago so it should be on the newsstands soon, if not already.
Dining Out for Life
11-Apr-2006
Thursday, April 27 is Dining Out for Life day, a benefit for Lifelong AIDS Alliance. It’s hard to believe this is the 13th year of this event. The thing that is so nice is that you really don’t have to do anything to contribute! Just by eating out that night, at one of the participating restaurants, you’ve taken part. So the hardest thing you have to do is to check the list of participants before deciding where to dine that day. And with 150+ participants (and more being added) it’s not hard to find somewhere in your neighborhood to grab a bite to eat. This year (maybe this was last year, too…) several places are even offering the same deal at breakfast and lunch – so if you are really motivated you can make all three of your meals that day count.
If you want to find out specifically what the restaurant is contributing you will have to check with them directly as it’s not listed on the central site this year. Most places donate a percentage of their sales that night and sometimes the servers donate tips, etc.
I know that Rover’s has a special menu and wine pairing on the 27th with 30% of the proceeds being donated. The menu sounds amazing – of course when doesn’t a Rover’s menu sound amazing?
Smoked Salmon Tian with Fennel Cucumber Salad and a Moroccan Lemon Confit Relish
Butter Poached Alaskan Halibut with Eastern Washington Asparagus and a Sorrel Butter Sauce
Hibiscus Sorbet
Roasted Guinea Fowl with Thumbelina Carrots, Roasted Celeriac and a Morel-Lovage Sauce
Clover Honey Mousse Charlotte with Rhubarb Puree
Hibiscus Sorbet
Roasted Guinea Fowl with Thumbelina Carrots, Roasted Celeriac and a Morel-Lovage Sauce
Clover Honey Mousse Charlotte with Rhubarb Puree
I’d go just for the Hibiscus Sorbet! :-)
Dinner is $75 per person, excluding tax and gratuity. A flight of wine pairings to accompany each course of the “Dining Out for Life” menu is an additional $35 per person, excluding tax and gratuity.
Now that’s an example of the high-end but there is something to suit everyone – every type and price range of food can be found on the list. So, check it out, pick a spot, invite some friends and feel good about eating!
Meritage Wine Tasting
10-Apr-2006
Part of the discussion during the Amarone Wine Tasting turned to Meritage and some of the bottles we all had stashed away. At that time we talked about doing a tasting where everyone brought a bottle and we sampled through the whole lot. (Meritage wine is a blend made from traditional Bordeaux varietals.)
My friends Chef Big John and Kim, let me know they were coming to the west side of the mountains for Taste Washington, among other things, and we made a little plan to do something Friday night. And with their penchant for wine I decided this was the perfect opportunity to do our Meritage tasting. Some of the original cast of characters were not able to attend but Big John and Kim also brought some friends along so we had a total of 9 people – which is a nice number for a tasting as everyone gets a decent sample from each bottle.
When everyone had arrived we took a vote and decided to open several bottles at a time and let everyone choose what appealed to them. Our lineup for the night was heavy on Washington wines since we all enjoy our local wine industry, although I had a couple of older California wines I decided to add to mix. Unfortunately, both of those wines had faded :-( but we had some outstanding Washington blends. I’m not going to list them all as we managed to open and pretty much finish eleven bottles of wine but you can see many of them in the photo above.
In addition to the wine, there was food, of course! I made Baby Back Ribs Osso Buco Style, Smoked Salmon on Buckwheat Blini, Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus, a version of the Onion Tart, Gougere, and a cheese platter.
We sampled our way through the wines and talked about everything under the sun. At the end of the evening all that was left were some leftovers, great memories and a pile of corks! This was a really fun way to do a wine tasting and was fairly easy to plan, as the host. If you’ve been thinking of getting into wine tasting I recommend this idea as a place to start.
Last Week on The Spirit World
09-Apr-2006
We were busy at The Spirit World last week!
We start the week with a recap of my Spring Brunch Bellini Bar
Monday, Robert talks about the Moscow Mule
Tuesday, Donavan continues writing about pubs in Baltimore
Wednesday finds us in Cypress
Thursday, it’s time to prepare for the weekend with a "Dry Apple" and Cheese Plate
Friday we continue setting up our bar with Old Fashioned Glasses
Saturday reveals a new liqueur, Qi Lapsang Souchong Tea Liqueur
Blue Ribbon Cooking School with HL2
09-Apr-2006
One of the benefits of my day job is that I get to work with lots of great people both at my client’s company and with other firms on behalf of my client. One of the companies I’ve had the pleasure of working with quite a lot over the last several months is Horton Lantz & Low, aka HL2. If you are looking for someone to help you with design, direct marketing, interactive marketing or advertising (among other things) you should talk to them.
Last Thursday they sponsored a great event at Blue Ribbon Cooking School. When this school opened I believe their idea was to hold individual type classes but it turns out they do a great job at corporate team-building type events and it seems that is mostly what they do these days.
I’ve been wanting to check them out since they opened so when HL2 sent me an invitation to an event at the school I RSVP’ed immediately and blocked my calendar to make sure I’d be able to make it.
The invitation presented a teaser in the form of the menu for the evening:
Dungeness Crab Cakes with Creamy Chipotle Dipping Sauce Rosemary
Corncakes with Lavender Butter
Gourmet Cheese Platter
Blue Ribbon Watercress Salad
Whole Roasted Tenderloin with Cabernet Sauvignon Sauce
Handmade Pasta with Two Sauces
Grilled Vegetable Medley
Liquid Chocolate Cake with Cultured Cream and Caramel Sauce
Blue Ribbon Coffee
When we arrived the crabcakes, corncakes and cheese platter had already been prepared and were placed on central tables for everyone to help themselves. We spent time mingling, getting to know the other guests, enjoying the appetizers and a glass or two of wine. Once everyone had arrived we were divided into four groups, told to wash our hands and then sent to different kitchens to prepare a part of the meal. During the course of the evening we would rotate sections and get a chance to make four different dishes.
My group started with making pasta. Our instructor was Chef Iole Aguero, a native Italian who now shares her love of Italian food in several cooking venues around the area. Under her direction we had soon taken the ingredients of flour, salt and egg and made a simple dough. We let it rest while we moved on to our meat lesson.
In the main kitchen, Chef Jemil Aziz, formerly of La Louisiana, now closed, gave us a lesson on working with a whole tenderloin, how to trim it, how to work with the "scraps" (actually skirt steak) and then how to cook it. We also made a quick version of a Cabernet Sauvignon Sauce which used unflavored gelatin to bring it to a thick, rich consistency without taking the hours needed to prepare a glacé beef stock.
From the main kitchen our group returned to the pasta area to roll out and cut our pasta into long, fettuccine-style noodles. When we’d accomplished that we moved onto the pastry kitchen to prepare individual Liquid Chocolate Cakes. Chef Heather Lakefish talked about selecting and working with chocolate, the differences in creme fraiche and sour cream, and how to ensure success with this recipe.
After assembling our little cakes we moved to the salad and vegetable station. However, the groups prior had been a bit overzealous with their preparation so there were no materials left for us to work with! I don’t think any of us minded as we poured another glass of wine and listened to Chef Krista Fay. Krista is the former manager of the Culinary Program at Sur la Table and now, like Iole, can be found at several cooking venues around town. She filled in the time by talking to us about various culinary topics ranging from information on watercress to how to best slice a pepper to her preferred cookware and where to get great deals on kitchen basics.
Soon we were called to the tables to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Courses were served by the staff and we spent the next hour so so, enjoying the food and conversation with our fellow students.
This was a really fun and enjoyable evening! I’m not sure that someone who didn’t have a base level of cooking knowledge would have been able to learn a whole lot as we were whisked through the stations, however, those who chose had an opportunity to be hands-on in any of the sessions. And for someone like me, just listening to the chefs and watching them work was an education. All of the chefs were extremely personable and excited to share information so there was a lot of banter during the sessions. On the flip side it was a great event for those who are a bit hesitant about cooking as they didn’t have to get involved if they were uncomfortable with anything. In fact, I think there was one small group who just talked and noshed the whole time the rest of us were moving through our kitchen rotation.
The school does have some individual classes and you can find the list of classes on their website.
I’m very excited that HL2 chose this activity and that I was lucky enough to be invited. It was a great evening and one I’d be happy to repeat anytime! You can find more pictures from the evening here.
Blue Ribbon Cooking School
2501 Fairview Ave East
Seattle
206.328.2442
Spring Brunch 2006
08-Apr-2006
Last Saturday I had a few women friends over for brunch. I had hoped that the weather might hold so that we could at least start with a cup of coffee or glass of champagne out on the deck but it was a bit too cold outside. But that was okay because it was warm with the conversation and laughter of friends inside!
I had one planning faux pas in that the space I had planned to set up the beverages, was also the place where I was doing the last minute grilling of one of the dishes. So as guests arrived I had to make them wait to get started. Poor planning on my part but, of course, no one really cared.
I had decided that we’d start with a Bellini Bar. Now, technically a Bellini is white peach puree and Prosecco but the term is starting to be used with many fruit and sparkling wine combinations, although orange juice and Champagne will always be a Mimosa! You can see more about how to set this up in my Bellini Bar post on The Spirit World.
Next we moved to the table for our meal. I like giving people options for brunch so there were a couple of main dishes and some supporting side dishes.
I always like to have a fruit plate as a lighter option for people. What’s on it varies by what looks good when I’m shopping. This year I had slices of pineapple, cantaloupe and kiwi – those three provided a nice range of colors, too.
We had a basket of blueberry scones made with dried blueberries. This was a slight variation on the original Ina Garten strawberry scone recipe from her Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. The same basic recipe can be found here.
As, I’ve mentioned before I tend to always experiment on my guests and made two new recipes this time. The first was Garlic and Rosemary Goat Cheese Tart that I’d seen Emeril make the week prior to the brunch. (Ironic note: I was at the gym on the treadmill watching Emeril making this beautiful but not so calorie or fat-conscious dish…) This is a great quiche – the texture is really smooth and creamy, the tart goat cheese adds a nice little kick and the garlic and rosemary are the perfect flavor enhancers.
The next new dish was a Savory French Toast from a recipe by Michael Chiarello. This recipe reminds me of an Italian version of a Monte Cristo sandwich. Fresh mozzarella, basil and prosciutto are sandwiched between slices of country bread. The whole stack is covered in an egg batter and then grilled. They were really good and would make an excellent lunch dish along with a nice green salad.
The final main dish has become a brunch favorite. It was Tom Douglas’ Wild Rice Waffles with Gravlax and Chive Creme Fraiche. There is something about those waffles that just hits the spot. And of course you can never go wrong with smoked salmon of any sort!
To round out the meal there was Aidell’s Chicken Apple sausage and sautéed Haricots Verte.
It was a great way to spend a little time eating, catching up and easing into our weekend. I highly recommend you try having a weekend brunch!
Scottsdale: Bandera
06-Apr-2006
Another Spring Training trip and another stop at Bandera in Old Town Scottsdale! This has become one of M and my standards on these annual excursions. There are so many good options on the menu! This year, as we fulfilled our quest to try more new places, we only stopped in for a cocktail and some of the best Skillet Cornbread in the world! It is a meal all on its own; moist, with a great crumb and chock full of vegetables that add an additional sweetness and bit of crunch.
M’s Margarita was superb, as usual, and my Lemondrop was the perfect sweet-tart combination! The only comment I have is that the friendliness of the servers seems to be waning. Our first visits to Bandera were absolutely perfect both from a food perspective and because of how nice the people were. Last year we hit a day when the people were a bit iffy – out of the three working the bar, one was really friendly, the other two did their job. This year, I’d almost venture to say the the staff did what was necessary but that was it. And, in fact, they were a bit gruff. M asked our main bartender if the cornbread recipe was available anywhere. The woman sarcastically responded, "Oh sure, I have a copy in my back pocket." This at a time when the bar was not even half full and there were three bartenders at work – not exactly a stressful time… normally a time when you expect bartenders to be a bit chatty and relaxed. M went on to explain (as if she should have had to!) that she meant in a cookbook or online and the woman just snapped out, "No." Maybe the woman had had a bad day but if this had been my first time there I would not feel as good about the place as I think I still do.
So the food is still great but be a little careful of the help…
Bandera – Scottsdale
3821 N. Scottsdale Road
Scottsdale, 85251
(480) 994-3524
Food and Wine’s Best New Chef’s 2006
05-Apr-2006
Food and Wine Magazine has just announced their best new chefs for 2006 and one is from Seattle! Congrats to Jason Wilson of Crush!!
The rest of the lineup includes:
- Cathal Armstrong: Restaurant Eve, Alexandria, VA
- Jonathan Benno: Per Se, New York, NY
- Michael Carlson: Schwa, Chicago, IL
- David Chang: Momofuku, New York, NY
- Mary Dumont: The Dunaway Restaurant at Strawbery Banke, Portsmouth, NH
- Douglas Keane: Cyrus, Healdsburg, CA
- Christopher Lee: Striped Bass, Philadelphia, PA
- Pino Maffeo: Restaurant L, Boston, MA
- Jason Wilson: Crush, Seattle, WA
- Stewart Woodman: Five, Minneapolis, MN
The winners will attend a dinner in their honor this evening, be featured in the June 2006 edition of Food and Wine and they will cook together for the first time at an exclusive tasting dinner at the 2006 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, June 16-18, 2006.
Culinary Fool 