Potatoes on the balcony

Last spring we had a small mesh bag of fingerling potatoes, and forgot about the last six or so in the pantry. By the time I found them, they had sprouted. For a kick, I planted them in one of the pots on the balcony (much as I did with an overripe tomato two years ago). Well, this afternoon I harvested enough new potatoes for dinner tonight! Purple, pink, and yellow potatoes. I'm just going to steam them and have them with lots of butter. Yum. Entree tonight is a very small beef filet roast rubbed with salt, pepper, herbs de provence, shallots, and olive oil. And some roasted zucchini, because the nice little ones are all over the farmers markets right now.

Summer tomatoes

I don't think I ever knew how different heirloom tomatoes taste until today. The local supermarket had a special on heirlooms, and I couldn't resist picking up a few:

They make a really pretty display, don't they? I tasted them and all have different flavor profiles, acid, sugar, and "tomatoey-ness" are pretty distinct. The ones that look orange, in the bottom left, are my favorites. They are really varigated orange, red and yellow. These are going to be served with a side of a vinaigrette made with fresh basil oil and sherry vinegar. But I think I'm just going to have them with a pinch of fleur de sel.

Postscript:

I ended up using the basil oil to make a basil lemon mayonnaise to go with the tomatoes, and it was absolutely perfect with them (if I do say so myself). Put two egg yolks, juice and zest of one lemon, and a big pinch of salt in the blender, then dribble in about 1 cup of basil oil while the blender runs. Taste for seasoning. (The basil oil was one cup of loosely packed basil blended with about a cup of olive oil (not EVOO) and strained.)

If I'm going to eat something sweet...

...these days, it's got to be incredible. The dried peach and pistachio baklava we made in "Peachy-Peachy Quack-Quack" class absolutely fell into that category. The theme of the class was combining duck and peaches in a full-course dinner. So for the baklava, we brushed the phyllo sheets with duck fat instead of butter, and duck stock formed the base for the sweet syrup that you pour over the baklava. Absolutely irresistible! I brought a piece home for Dave to try, and he seems to ask every day when I'm going to make it. Unfortunately, I won't make that unless we've got a crowd coming, because I know we'd eat it all and that's just not good for us, even if we weren't cutting out sugar and wheat. Maybe I'll have to add that to the Thanksgiving menu...

Chili on a low-carb diet?

Of course -- beans are very high in fiber, and have a low glycemic index (which means that they don't have a big effect on your blood sugar levels). I made the chili with black and white beans, with a high proportion of meat (nice lean sirloin, cut in 1/2" cubes). For those of you who say "real chili doesn't have beans," well, not all of us believe that :) I do believe that chili needs to have plenty of chiles, though. Fresh green chiles, dried red ancho chile powder, soaked New Mexico dried chiles blended to a puree -- I like a nice smorgasbord of flavors there, to mix culinary metaphors. I have quit thickening my chili with masa, because that is a no-no on our diet. And with the lean sirloin, and only a tablespoon or so of olive oil to saute the onions and other aromatics, it ends up being low-fat, too.

Another nice low-carb meal on the grill

Last night we grilled almost our entire dinner - grilled romaine (split a head in half, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, three minutes on a side), shrimp (brine, skewer, and grill 2 min/side), and thin filet mignon (3/4 in steak, rub with olive oil and salt, grill for 3 min/side). I also filled hollowed tomatoes with chopped pickled radishes, cucumbers, and onion. With a glass of iced tea, a nice evening up on the deck on a gorgeous Seattle summer evening. (Yes, we are fully back on the diet wagon...didn't do too much damage last week.)

How my weekend went a little "Sideways"

Got a chance to miss all the rain in Seattle last week by heading down to the Santa Barbara area for a few days. I've never been there, and it was quite a nice break. Great food and some fun wine tasting, as well as a sunburn (yes, I know, the sunscreen goes on *before* you go out in the sun, not after!). I'll apologize in advance for no pictures, don't quite know how that happened but we didn't take many. When I found out we were headed south, I went into research mode to see what restaurants they had down there. I wanted to be sure to try "Santa Maria" style barbecue, had heard a lot about it. Steaks grilled over red oak on a hanging grill. So I made reservations at the Hitching Post. No, I had forgotten they were the restaurant in "Sideways." And I felt like a silly tourist when I discovered that. But I was assured by locals that it really was a great place to eat. And it was. We enjoyed our duck, ribs, and filet quite a bit, thank you very much. I really wanted to try the Almond Joy tart but restrained myself. (An aside here -- yes, we did break some diet rules this week. But it wasn't bad, and we survived. And we did it fully knowing what we were doing, and didn't do silly things like eat all the bread in the basket!) Ah, but the highlight was Mexican food. At El Super-Rica, praised by the late great Julia Child, I had an amazing tamal de verduras, a vegetarian tamale that had chayote, corn, squash, and other goodies. And a taco with a homemade tortilla, zucchini, and pork that was heavenly. Everything there confirmed that the long line to eat at a bit of a "hole in the wall" was completely worth the wait. I still drool thinking about it. Then there was El Paseo. Normally I steer clear of places that do a lot of advertising in the local tourist guides, but I have a weakness for anyplace that makes their own tortillas. And on our first visit, for lunch on Friday, I didn't even eat any tortillas! Fridays are the one day a week that they serve lunch there, and it turned out to be a buffet. Oh, but not just any buffet. This one was good! There was an ethereal chicken tamale, rich pork carnitas, handmade guacamole, fresh beans, chile verde with fish (halibut I think), chile colorado -- all of it incredibly great. In fact we loved it so much that we went back for Sunday brunch, also normally a no-no. But not at El Paseo. On Sunday I did try two tortillas -- corn and flour. They were both great. Another very good meal: Emilio's, for Italian (they had a mash of artichokes and potatoes that was silky and just irresistable, chef says it was one part artichoke puree to three parts potatoes). So-so was Brophy's, where the chowder was great but the fish was uniformly overcooked. At the Harbor House, it took three prime rib portions to finally get one that was medium-rare, but their calamari strips were very good and the manager did come out to apologize for the problems with the prime rib. Wine tasting was fun, too. Went to Solvang, where you probably know a lot of "Sideways" took place. Cute little town, might have to go back and stay there sometime. Winery just west of town, Shoestring, was probably our favorite. We liked everything we tasted there. My biggest problem with tasting was that every winery charged quite a bit, and included a tasting glass. We did learn the strategy of sharing one tasting, and in the end did end up with six crystal tasting glasses and got them home successfully. I just chalked it up to buying Riedel glasses at $10 a pop.

Opening up The Chocolate Box

Yum. That's mostly what I have to say after attending the opening of The Chocolate Box in downtown Seattle. As someone said to me at the event, "This place seems so much more New York or Chicago than Seattle." Right. And it's about time we had some more upscale places like this downtown. Chocolates, it's got. They are working with some of the top chocolatiers in the Seattle area -- Fiori Chocolatiers, Fran's, Theo's Chocolates -- and have also put together a great menu of other treats (like the grown-up rice krispie treats and pastries to the right), gelatos and assorted beverages.

I will have to admit to some bias here, because one of the chocolatiers featured at The Chocolate Box did the incredible truffles for my wedding reception a couple of years ago. Lee Johnson, of Fiori Chocolatiers, is quickly making a name for himself and his chocolates -- I think someday I'll be very glad I "knew him when." Below, he's hobnobbing with some of the other folks who attended the opening party.

More thoughts on a diet I can live with

I wrote a while back about considering a "hunter-gatherer" diet. I successfully lost 100 pounds on Atkins a couple of years ago. But I didn't stay on it -- and I have a million excuses. So the weight came back, because I just can't eat white bread, and potatoes, and sugar, and everything else, and not get fat. Actually, the term is "morbidly obese." Hate to admit that but it is true. So here I am again, thinking that if I want to live a long and happy life with my dear husband, this weight absolutely must come off. And he needs to take this trip along with me. I think that Atkins is a little too extreme, but I am in tune with South Beach. I'm laying that against research on glycemic index and glycemic load, and building an eating plan for us around that. Pizza and beer definitely isn't on the list, at least for now! But lots of lean proteins, legumes, cheese, vegetables, some fruits, and even wine are okay. Most white foods are still not there -- rice, potatoes, sugar, wheat flour, etc. - though milk products are on the list. So far, so good. Lost eight pounds this week, and good food. Duck (grilled breast and confit leg, with cucumber salad and grilled bok choy). Beef, Swiss steak without potatoes. Beef, grilled slices with poblanos, jalapenos, tomatoes, cilantro, and onions. Thai beef salad (yum neua). Grilled Italian sausage with onions and peppers. Grilled pork cutlets. Bouillabaisse-style stew with lobster stock, calamari, crab, clams, and mussels. All good, all working. And all homemade. This week I'll use spaghetti squash with bolognese sauce I have in the freezer. I'm also going to roast and stuff some poblanos with shrimp, onions, cauliflower, and cheese. Probably some beef burgundy, with a thinner sauce of course but lots of mushrooms to soak it up. Enough ruminating -- time to go figure out what's for dinner!

Reining in extremists-in-training

This is a weird one. I was shopping at my local national supermarket chain today, and scored some lovely beef on sale. While checking out, the courtesy clerk (a young man who looked about 19) commented: "Wow, this beef is really red!" and I replied "The meat guy cut and wrapped it for me fresh." Then he says, "Do you usually buy dead cows?" I laughed, and said yes, and dead pigs, and chickens, and ducks. He said "Really?" and I said "Yes, but I am willing to look them in the eye and acknowledge what I am eating." He replied, "That's why I'm a vegetarian." Implying of course that he doesn't have the cojones to face the reality of being an omnivore. Initially, I just thought it was an interesting exchange, and took my groceries out to the car. But I started thinking: where does this young know-nothing get off commenting on my choice of edibles? He's just a kid, and when I thought more on it I decided that a courtesy clerk needs to learn that it's not his place to make political commentary on the customers' purchases. So I went back in and very nicely told his supervisor that while I did not mind having a dialog with this kid about it, some other customers might be offended. I'm still not sure if I did the right thing, but I wasn't in the mood for playing mother to the kid and taking him aside for a talking-to. And it wasn't my place. Just a weird day at the grocery store :)

Bread and chocolate

Yep, we're getting lessons in both this week.

First, we visited Joel Durand, one of the best chocolatiers in France. Apparently quite a privilege and very interesting.

We start with Joel demonstrating how to chop chocolate to make the filling for truffles, then we try it ourselves. Finally, after making the truffle centers, we get to use his enrobing machine to make them beautifully coated. Way cool!


















The next excursion is to a boulangerie to learn about bread and cookies. I require remedial training in shaping navettes.














This guy can really move! And we got to carry away the loaves we made ourselves.

Le Mistral

I'd heard of the Mistral, of course, but didn't understand how fierce this wind roaring from the north can be in Provence. The sky is crystal clear but it is blowing about 40 miles an hour out there.

Bonjour from France!

Whew! Hard to believe we've been on the road for ten days. Paris was lovely and sunny but also quite humid. We stuck to cafes for meals in Paris, as there were of course many of them right around our hotel, which was just a block from the Arc de Triomphe. Since I think most of you who read my blog have not been to Paris I will describe some things that will be old hat to others. In Paris, the cafes are pretty much what you see in the movies -- tables on the sidewalk, lots of cigarettes, plenty of wine and beer. What you don't know is that the price of drinking and eating at the tables on the sidewalk is significantly higher than sitting inside at a table or at the bar. While I might pay 8 euros (more than $10) for a glass of wine out on the sidewalk, that same glass of wine is 4 euros at an inside table and 2.70 at the bar. So you pay for the privilege of seeing and being seen. Which is lovely, except when the weather gets frightful. Which it did on our last evening in Paris -- one of the biggest thunderstorms I've seen outside of Florida. We went from sunny to raining rivers in the street within 15 minutes. Luckily, Dave and I had opted already for the cheapest drinking option, at the bar. So we had seats when everyone from the sidewalk came running in :) I do have lots of photos, including of great duck confit and potatoes I ate, and the Venus de Milo, and Rodin sculptures, etc. But I am using a borrowed computer and haven't downloaded them yet and reduce the size to something that can be up online.

Off to France!

We're about to embark on an adventure. In two days we leave for France for three weeks. I've been to France on a business trip but never vacationed there, and Dave's never been. So we're quite excited about it. We are approaching this trip with the assumption that we will be back, so we don't have to see *everything* all at once. The itinerary is first week in Paris, unstructured, staying at a hotel at the Arc de Triomphe. Second week is a cooking experience with Chef Gabriel from Culinary Communion, at an estate outside of Avignon. Third week is in Nice, in an apartment in old town near the farmers market and the beach. I am hoping to get a few postings up, though if I e-mail them in then there won't be photos because Blogger doesn't support that. We'll see how that goes. But we are expecting to have a marvelous time, and quite the experience!!!

Interesting treatment of halibut

We had dinner at Elliott's last night. Usually we go there for oysters because they have some of the best in town, but we had a discount certificate so did the dinner thing. I ordered grilled halibut with a strawberry and avocado salad. It was very pretty, and quite tasty. I'm not a big fan of escarole, and I think they overdid that somewhat, but the fish was cooked nicely and the salad was a really nice contrast.

Pig anatomy 101

This is chapter two of the great pig chase, I guess. This one, with all it's skin, was christened "Babe." Though I think it's the wrong breed for that. This is just one half of it, a 246 pound pig.

The venue for this was interesting as it was over at the Seattle Art Institute, so it was a session for the culinary students there. Everyone except me was attired in chef jackets, and I felt very under dressed!

Chef Gabriel used one half of the pig to show off the anatomy and demonstrate taking it apart, then let some of the students work on the other half.

Chef removed the hams with the sirloins attached to do Serrano-style hams, sort of like prosciutto but Spanish. Also of course the pork bellies (seen above with the loin still attached) will make beautiful bacon. After all was said and done, there were about 25 pounds of bones for stock, and about six pounds of other "usable trim" including ears and tail (also for the stock).

Finally all of the pieces got vacuum-bagged, so they can be frozen and then get processed when Chef returns from France next month. Oh, yeah, I'm going to France too...see next blog entry for a little about this imminent adventure!

Duck pasta

I've been experimenting with duck confit as part of pasta dishes. A few weeks ago, I had some leftovers: Brussels sprouts leaves, duck confit, and fresh pasta sheets. I shredded the leaves, sauteed them in duck fat with shallots and fresh sage, and added shredded confit. Cut the pasta sheets into pappardelle (wide ribbons) and cooked it, then tossed it with the duck "sauce." It was really good. But a bit heavy for spring -- though that day was one of those cold rainy days that pass for spring here in Seattle much of the time.

Took another try at it this week, as I had just confited some duck and once again had fresh pasta sheets. This time the veg on hand was asparagus, and the herbs were the blossoms of chive and sage out on my deck. I sliced the asparagus very thin on the diagonal and gave it a quick saute with the duck, added a couple of spoonfuls of duck glace (can you tell I was cooking with duck a lot last week?) and then added the pasta, this time cut into 1/2 inch ribbons. After giving that a toss, I added the whole blossoms and a little bit of minced chives. Finally, topped it with some asparagus tips and a sauteed round of goat cheese (my thinking here was that the tanginess of the goat cheese would offset the richness of the confit).

It was very pretty and very good. As I mentioned, I went through another one of my ducky stages last week. The duck who gave its legs for this confit also contributed to this seared duck breast plate, where I deglazed the pan with maple syrup and hot pepper sauce, and served it with a puree of sweet potato and a green salad with blue cheese:

Lunch with Patricia Wells

Well, me and about 40 other people :)

Patricia Wells is on tour promoting her new book, "Vegetable Harvest" and I was able to snag a seat at a luncheon at the Boat St. Cafe. Triple bonus for me: always wanted to eat there, always love to meet someone with passion for food, and I collect autographed cookbooks. Ms. Wells is a lovely woman, and meeting her was very nice. I already had her "Paris Cookbook" and have referred to it often. I didn't know she just completed the Paris marathon -- very impressive!

Lunch was really good. We started with a chilled cucumber-yogurt soup with mint and dill, and the entree was poached salmon with a fennel, radish, and parsley salad. The salmon was perfectly cooked. Dessert was panna cotta with a compote of rhubarb, raspberry, and grenadine. The compote was nice and tangy, and offset the creaminess of the panna cotta very well.

Being alone for this trip, I got seated at a communal table and met some really nice people, which made the whole thing even better. It's so comforting to be in a place where being a food geek is an okay thing!

Vagabond dinner

Another month, another Vagabond dinner. Vagabond is (sort of) a movable restaurant, though it seems to have settled in Portalis, a local wine bar with a teensy kitchen. Visiting chefs create "sexy one-pot meals" as part of what's usually a three-course dinner.

Last night's chef was JJ Johnson. Oddly enough I'd never heard of him, but he's been around Seattle for quite some time. Looks like his next gigs are cooking at Il Bistro and Matt's in the Market.

The menu was what got me to decide we had to be there -- a roasted asparagus salad, seafood stew, and chocolate-dried cherry bread pudding. And boy am I glad we went! As usual it was an eclectic mix of folks sharing the repast, some we knew from cooking classes and others who were having their first Vagabond experience. I heard a lot of smacking lips and happy eaters, that's for sure.

The meal started with a rosemary foccacia that was very good, and went over the top with homemade butter seasoned with fleur de sel. And then the salad: roasted asparagus and thin chips of jerusalem artichokes, tossed with pancetta and a sherry vinaigrette and topped with soft-cooked egg. Wow. The vinaigrette used a special sherry vinegar (Solera 77) that had an incredible nuttiness that was perfect with the other elements in the salad. I've got to get some of that vinegar!

The main course was served in an interesting way -- escarole with kalamata olives (very subtle) and bits of peppadews were passed with an assortment of seafood (halibut cheeks, monkfish, mussels) which we put into bowls. The chef then came around and ladled broth over and put a dollop of aioli on top. The broth was a ling cod base, very rich in itself, with white beans. The white beans added a body and creaminess that reminded me of the gelatin you get in a good meat stock. I cleaned my plate -- as did everyone else I could see around me.

I love dried cherries and chocolate, so the bread pudding couldn't go wrong in my book.

Overall great food, great drink, great company. Just what Vagabond is supposed to be about.

We love fritattas

One of our favorite things around here for a late weekend breakfast is a fritatta. During the week I try to cook extra of some things that might be good for the weekend. This week it was some Italian sausage and sauteed mushrooms. Sauteed some sweet onion and tossed in the other stuff, along with a half-dozen eggs, and put it in the oven at 350. Cleaned some asparagus, pulled out the frittata and covered to let it finish cooking while roasting the asparagus at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Makes a really nice meal!

My first All-Clad

Some people remember their first kiss as a seminal moment in their lives. I do remember my first kiss, but prefer to remember the moment today when I first held my very own All-Clad cookware. Yes, it may be silly, but it was cool. Got 2- and 3-qt sauciers and a 12" fry pan, all the MC line with the really gorgeous brushed exteriors. Now I'm all verklempt. Also got a Windsor pan, Cuisinart, for Dave to cook sugar in. He's very happy and is smiling right now because he has the right tool for making candy now.