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31/03/2008 35th Dinner Club - Russia I know I say this often but every time I type out or say the number of the current dinner club gathering I am just amazed at how long we've been doing this! For a long time I posted about every gathering and I'm sorry to say that over the years I have had to skip over a few. If you look back at past posts you'll see they are often pretty detailed. But I'm hoping to pick up and do them on a more regular basis this year. We'll see how that goes....
But, last Friday we had our 35th gathering; the second one for 2008 our sixth year of gatherings. The theme was "Russia" and she specified that dishes should reflect more of the czarist mentality not the peasant food. This was our first foray into that country and I have to say that when R announced the theme I wasn't too excited. Her main dish sounded great! But I was assigned salad and didn't feel too inspired. And, in general, I don't think of culinary greatness when I think of Russia.
I am happy to say that Friday's dinner was wonderful!! I'm not sure if I have a skewed opinion of Russian food, which very well could be and one of the reasons I love this club, or if we are all just getting really skilled at ferreting out good recipes. Most likely it was a little of both.
 We started the night with one of my favorite things: caviar and vodka. I was actually jealous that M2 got the appetizer as making the little buckwheat blini is one of my favorite things. With the ecological troubles with imported caviar she chose to serve all domestic caviar - which is finally getting recognition due to the issues with Russian and Iranian varieties. She served three kinds of caviar so that we could sample the different flavors: Ikura, which is salmon roe is beautiful with its large orange beads and definite salmon flavor; Paddlefish, a fish found in the Yellowstone and Mississippi rivers, has a beautiful small, grey bead that resembles Sevruga; and Golden Whitefish from Montana, which has a beautiful small golden bead. I liked them all and had a hard time choosing a favorite.
 For the main course, R made Coulibiac which is poached salmon wrapped in pastry. What I thought was very cool about this dish was that not only was it delicious but she used the recipe her mom had developed for Ladies Home Journal back in the 70s! Along with the Coulibiac, K made a earthy Kasha and Wild Mushroom casserole, that I think would actually be great as a main dish, too.
It took me awhile to find a salad that I thought sounded good, interesting and would complement the main dish but I managed to do it! I was really happy with the result. I made a carrot salad that is actually nearly as much apple as carrot. It's fresh and light and was the perfect complement to the richer fare on the menu. I used this recipe and the only thing I did different was that I used double the amount of dressing ingredients and even then the salad was only lightly dressed. The horseradish in the dressing is a really nice and unexpected flavor.
 For dessert M prepared a traditional Easter dessert, Pashka, which is a sort of cheesecake. It was really light and tasty. The lemon flavor was especially refreshing!
All in all another very successful dinner - not only was it tasty but we all learned a little something. And there are recipes we'd use again. Perfect!
 30/03/2008 Cotechino and Lentils On a winter day two or three years ago I made my way through the pouring rain winding my way along uneven Pioneer Square streets bound to get to Salumi before the normal midday crowd. Upon arriving I was happy to see that the line had not yet extended outside of the shop - as it would in the next 15 or 20 minutes. With a quick glance at the sandwich board of the day's specials on the sidewalk I entered the shop and pulled the door closed behind me. The windows were steamy - a result of the wet coats of the customers meeting the warmth of the interior. The crowd scrunched together making room for as many inside as possible - they'd all been outside on one visit or another and knew how miserable it can be out there. An air of celebration and camaraderie was present as it often is in this little shop - Salumi's patrons know they have something in common with all others in the shop and starting from that common interest often leads to friendly conversations both in line and at the large community table.
As I approached the counter (and my turn to order) I scanned the menu board on the wall trying to recognize something I'd seen on the outdoor sign, something I didn't remember seeing before. I hadn't yet found it when the guy behind the counter asked me what I wanted so I said something that I thought might sound like what I'd seen. I wasn't close. He looked at me for a moment, trying to decipher what I was requesting and then said, "Oh, the coatakeeno!" (spelled phonetically....) and then described the day's special - sliceds of grilled cotechino with grilled onions and peppers on one of their sandwich rolls.
Cotechino is a winter sausage made from pork and pig skin. Several spices and flavorings are added including vanilla and something spicy that gives it a tiny little burn. Cotechino is very rich - I imagine it's something a bear would like to eat to bulk up before the long winter's hibernation. It is not for the faint of heart - the meat is rough cut and a little coarse - you can see exactly how much fat you are eating and the texture is a bit chewy. Having said all that on that rainy, winter day I fell in love!
It doesn't take much of this meat for a substantial meal. The richness makes you feel you will survive the winter after all. And the vanilla and spice both bring their own sorts of warmth to the plate. Eating it with the grilled vegetables was a real pleasure.
The hard part about cotechino is that to buy it you have to buy an entire sausage and they are about one and a half pounds - that is a lot of cotechino! But once or twice a winter I purchase one and cook it based on another recipe made by the folks at Salumi, although I've modified their recipe a bit.
Basically, you start with a large covered skillet (large enough for the cotechino to lay along the base of the pan), add a bit of olive oil and then saute a good handful each of sliced carrots, chopped onions, and chopped celery just until they are getting translucent. Next add the cotechino to the pan and sear it a bit on all sides (it has a very tender casing so treat it gently) - it won't really brown but the color will begin to deepen. Then add one cup of Beluga lentils (or any lentil will do) to the pan and cover with about two and a half cups of chicken or beef stock. The lentils should be entirely covered with room to spare.
Place the lid on the pan, bring the stock to a boil and then either simmer on the stove or put the pan in a preheated 350 F oven. Check after 30 minutes. You want the lentils to be tender but not mushy. They may take a few more minutes. When the lentils are tender remove the pan from the oven or off the heat.
Place a generous amount of lentils in a shallow bowl - there may still be some broth that has not been absorbed and you may want to add some of it to the dish, too. Slice the cotechino in about 3/8" slices and place two on top of the lentils. The clean, earthy taste of the lentils helps balance the richness of the cotechino.
I don't remember seeing cotechino anywhere other than Salumi here in Seattle but I'm sure other Italian delis or markets would carry it. If not, maybe you'll just need to plan a trip to Seattle. Cotechino is one of the few items that Salumi does not ship. 29/03/2008 Trutina While I finished pulling together Easter dinner we sipped a sparkling wine but once we were ready for dinner, and our lamb in particular, we moved to a red. I'd chosen a local Washington wine that I'd never tasted before but hoped would go well with the meal. The wine was produced by Dunham Cellars and really it's hard to go wrong with any of their wines.
I'd picked up the 2003 Dunham Cellars Trutina on a bit of a whim - the label caught my eye one day while shopping. It's a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. When we first opened the wine the nose was very fruit forward - much more than I had expected. But as the wine opened the fruit settled down. In fact, I had some of this wine leftover and on the second day the nose was almost leather.
The taste was of dark red and purple fruits. Although they were generally bright flavors I caught the essence of dried cherries and fresh berries - maybe boysenberry. The Cabernets give this wine nice structure and some acidity but the Merlot fills it in and rounds it out. It's a very pleasant sipping wine that quietly lingers.
It was really great with the lamb. I especially liked the way the lavender on the lamb worked with the Trutina. Lavender has a bit of a sweet smell yet the taste is not sweet and that seemed to parallel the flavor of the wine.
I really loved this wine and will be sure to pick up a few more bottles. It retails at about $25.
 Participate in Earth Hour Tonight! In case you've somehow missed all the references and coverage, tonight from 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm (in your local time zone) cities and people across the globe will participate in Earth Hour. (Warning: the site is super slow today. ) This event was started last year in Sydney, Australia to draw attention to global climate change and our use of energy. This year it is going worldwide.
The goal is to have enough people participate to actually make a difference in the greenhouse effect but more importantly to draw attention to our energy use. Of course, we can't go without power forever or completely, but during this one hour period tonight take the time to reduce your consumption and, maybe more importantly, think about how you can do that on an on-going basis. Mark Your Calendar - Cheese Festival Approaching!
The Seattle Cheese Festival is planned for May 16 - 18, this year. You can already sign up for seminars and if you are interested you should reserve your place sooner rather than later as most, if not all, will well out. New this year is a Grilled Cheese Sandwich contest. The deadline for entry has already passed but look for the winner's sandwich to be features at the DeLaurenti café during the festival. See the site for the full list of events. 25/03/2008 Easter Dinner It seems it's been a while since I made a full blown dinner. It probably hasn't been that long, but sometimes life is so hectic that eating happens while the rest of life is passing by instead of really being enjoyed as it should and it doesn't stay in my mind without a conscious review of recent meals. So Sunday, I took the opportunity to make a spring dinner that brought together all the elements that remind me most of the season: asparagus, lamb and lemon.
I started planning the meal when I noticed the thick cut lamp chops that I love and that lend themselves so well to grilling. A tray of those went into my cart and then the rest of the meal came together. Asparagus are the epitome of spring - they are green, smell a bit grassy, and are one of the first vegetables to break soil once winter has passed. Lemon and spring are, for me, destined to be intertwined. For all of my years my family's Easter dessert has always been lemon meringue pie. I love it! This year, though I decided to try something a little different.
The first thing I did was marinate the lamb chops. I placed them in a gallon zip-lock along with a little olive oil, red wine vinegar, four or five cloves of minced garlic, a couple of tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary and a generous tablespoon of culinary lavender. I let the lamb marinade in the fridge for about 5 hours, occasionally turning the bag to make sure all of the lamb was evenly marinated. About an hour before I put it on the grill I moved it out to the countertop and let it finish there. I prefer to grill meat that is at room temperature as it grills more evenly and it's easier to control how well done you cook it.
 A couple hours before the meal I boiled potatoes, them mashed them with lots of butter, milk, roasted garlic cloves (I'd roasted a couple heads of garlic a few days prior), and about a 1/2 cup each of grated mozzarella and Parmesan. Once the potatoes are mixed with all the other ingredients you place them in a buttered casserole. Once in the casserole add a bit more grated cheese to the top and heat them at 425°F for about 30 minutes - the cheese will be melted and browned and the potatoes will look a little "fluffy". You can use any "twice-baked" potato recipe for this dish or just make up your own. Just make sure you use enough milk or other liquid (you could use broth or sour cream) so that they are really creamy to start as they do dry a bit while baking. These can sit at room temperature for an hour or so before baking. For longer times keep them in the fridge but let them come back to room temperature before placing in the oven.
 When eating lamb I like to include something Greek influenced and often that will be the salad as it was for this meal. You can use any measurements that please you but the vegetables I use are sliced cucumbers, thinly sliced onions, tomato wedges, olives and feta cheese. I marinate the vegetables for an hour or so before the meal in a mix of apple cider vinegar, fresh lemon juice, water, splash of olive oil, a little sugar and salt and pepper - let your tongue guide you to the combination you find most pleasing but the dressing should be a little tart. To serve the salad drain the dressing and sprinkle crumbled feta over the top.
Once all of that was prepared I mixed up the Lemon Custard Cakes from a Martha Stewart recipe.
Finally, I trimmed the asparagus, rinsed them, shook off the excess water and tossed them with a little bit of olive oil.
 Once the potatoes were in the oven and had been baking about 15 minutes, I fired up the grill. On went the lamb and the asparagus. The asparagus were done in about 5 minutes. I placed them on the platter, squeezed a bit of fresh lemon juice over them (it really brightens the flavor!) and sprinkled them with a little coarse sea salt. At that time I also turned the lamb.
 The lamb takes about 5 to 7 minutes per side - these were really thick cut. For a bit I thought I'd over cooked them but it turned out they were close to medium-rare which, in my mind, is perfect for lamb. Once they were on the platter I brushed them with a bit of lavender jam I'd been heating.
The potatoes and lamb were done about the same time - either would be okay being done a bit earlier than the other. Then the only thing to do was to put it all out on the table and enjoy!
I served this with Dunham Cellars Trutina - a wine good enough that it will get it's own blog post!
 21/03/2008 Roasted Tomatoes I know I've mentioned this in past years but I've been using this trick a lot lately and thought it might be worth talking about again.
I love tomatoes, especially those straight from the garden (or farmers' market if you don't have room to grow your own). Nothing beats the taste of a sun-warmed and ripened tomato! But tomato season only runs for 3 or 4 months of the year. The rest of the time we are limited to what we can find in the market. Over the years "on the vine" tomatoes have become readily available in the average grocery store. The premise for these tomatoes, in case you weren't aware, is that an unripe tomato that is left on a vine will continue to draw sustenance from the vine while it ripens giving it a more on-the-plant ripened taste.
This is true and I often do a similar thing in the fall when it starts getting cold at night. By pulling entire plants from the ground and hanging them upside down in a garage or shed, the remaining tomatoes will often ripen (it depends on how green they were when you pulled the plant) and have a fairly robust taste. The challenge with the on-the-vine tomatoes found in stores is that many of them are hydroponically grown and even if they ripened completely on the plant they'd never meet the taste of a "real" tomato. Still they are pretty good and have decent taste, even if it is a little weak.
To enhance the taste of those tomatoes I use a simple trick that intensifies the flavor. Using a slow roasting oven technique you can evaporate some of the liquid in the tomato leaving behind a more robust flavor. I like to roast mine just enough to improve the flavor but not dry them out completely. This leaves them in a state where they can be used like a fresh tomato but also makes them a great addition to soups, sauces, stews or braises. You may decide you'd like the flavor even more intensified and choose to dry them a bit more.
This technique is super easy and something you can do while getting ready for work in the morning or are going to be around the house for any span of 45 minutes.
I generally use the little Compari tomatoes. I find that these tend to have the best flavor in the first place. Also, since they are small the drying process is fairly quick and once dried they are the right size to use whole or maybe sliced in half. Italian plum tomatoes are also a good choice.
To dry them you simply cut the tomatoes in half, place on a baking pan, drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Some people also choose to add fresh herbs which adds nice flavor. I generally don't do that but only because I'd like the finished product to be as versatile as possible.
Place the pan in a preheated 325°F oven and bake for 45 minutes or a little longer for a drier, denser final product.
Once baked let the tomatoes cool on the pan then store in the refrigerator. They will store for quite some time - I eat them so quickly I don't really know how long!
 20/03/2008 SkilletI had plans to go to Skillet for lunch today. It's been on my list forever (or at least since they opened for business) and I was really excited to head to Ballard for a few photos and a fine meal. I just checked the site to make sure I had the location correct and look what's there:
Thursday, march 20th cancelled for the day… Our apologies, but our support truck was stolen...it had our bank, pots, pans, equipment, and food… Regardless..we will be at rat city this weekend and back at SODO on Tuesday
So frustrating on so many levels! I know there are lots of things that need to be improved in the world but for some reason it's often these little things (not little for them I'm sure!) that hit close to home are the ones that bother me the most. I hope they find the people who stole the truck and they are sentenced to eating frozen pizzas (and watching Rachel Ray reruns) for the rest of their lives! Blackberry Crisp Lately my local Costco has been carrying clamshells of blackberries for a very reasonable price! They are not quite as sweet as berries picked locally, with the hot summer sun beating down on your back and your fingers and tongue turning deep purple as you pick the juicy berries and pop a few in your mouth for good measure, but they are pretty good.
Besides eating them fresh or lightly sugared I've been making crisp with them. By now you've probably figured out that I make crisp from just about every fruit.... But there's just nothing that allows you to make a small batch (or a large one) as quickly and easily as a crisp recipe.
So I just rinse off a cup or so of berries and drain them well.
 Sprinkle them lightly with sugar.
 Cover them with a tablespoon or two of the crisp topping (recipe here).
 And then bake at 375°F for about 40 minutes - just until the berries are getting soft and are juicy.
Sometimes I eat it as it comes from the oven - after allowing a few minutes to cool.
 And sometimes I top it with thickened whip cream or, in this case, a spoonful of French vanilla ice cream.
 Then if you can sit outside enjoying the spring sunshine while eating the crisp, you'll have a pretty perfect day!
Sweet Dulcinea The introduction of miniature watermelons has increased my consumption of watermelon dramatically. I've always loved watermelon but would only purchase one if I planned to have a crowd over. Buying one for just myself was just not a very attractive proposition when I thought about storing the gigantic leftover piece and eating it for days on end. Seeing that big hunk of fruit in the refrigerator came to feel like an obligation instead of a treat.
So when these small fruits became available I jumped on that bandwagon! When they first came on the market they were pretty spendy and they are still not cheap, when compared to a full size melon, but in my area I can now regularly find them for $2 - $3. And that seems like a fair price to me.
And another benefit of these little melons is that they seem to appear off season more often than their larger siblings. Although I am a big proponent of buying local fruits and vegetables sometimes I just need a the color and taste of summer to help me make it through the gray Seattle winter. And nothing says "summer" quite like a watermelon!
If you haven't tried these little gems yet I encourage you to look for them and give them a try. They've been in my local market off and on for the last couple weeks. 02/03/2008 Lola I owe Tom Douglas a huge apology. Just like some relative or friend that has been part of your life for so long that you tend to forget how much they mean to you, his suite of restaurants is such a Seattle mainstay that I often take it for granted.
I have spent countless lunches at Dahlia Lounge tables; many evenings sipping cocktails at Palace Kitchen; been privy to fun events at Palace Ballroom; and been applauded for my recommendation of Serious Pie as the place to get pizza downtown. It's been awhile since I've spent serious time at Etta's - and I think that's a mistake. I'm so easily distracted by all the new and shiny pennies in our dining scene that I just assume you know about Tom's empire and that it will always be there.
While the second part of that is probably true, the first part may not be. And that was something that I was thinking about during a recent lunch at Lola.
I'd checked myself into a downtown hotel for the weekend. I needed some serious R&R and thought it would be fun just to be a tourist here in Seattle, something I like to do. I was able to check into my room just after noon and once settled in I took a short walk to Lola for lunch. I sat at the bar, as I do in most places.
 I arrived past the main lunch rush and so overall the room was quiet. A couple of other people at the bar and while many of the tables were full most were finishing up. It didn't take me long to place my order - although it was a little tough as there is so much I love on this menu - the lamb kabobs were my choice for the day, and I'll take the Greek salad to go along with that. (The other option is Greek Potatoes.)
My order arrived in no time. In addition to the kebabs and Greek salad, freshly made (and still warm) pita and tzitiki graced the plate.
 The lamb was slightly sweet, tender and succulent. Dipped in the tangy tzitiki it was heaven on a fork - the contrast of sweet/tangy, warm/cool, rich/fresh just made me close my eyes and concentrate on the wonderful contrasts. The salad was so good that when I arrived home I made a list and the next time at the grocery store I picked up all the ingredients so I could duplicate it at home. I don't really like making salads but this is one I am happy to assemble. It is so fresh and clean tasting.
 The homemade pita was so soft and comforting I would have liked to take a really big one, cover myself with it and take a little nap. Okay, not really but it was good enough to do that! Instead, I dipped it in the tzitiki for another wonderful taste combination.
I ended my meal with a nice pot of tea. Refreshed and ready for an afternoon of adventure playing tourist in my hometown.
 Lola
2000 4th Ave (At the corner of 4th and Virginia)
Seattle
206.441.1430
 Dine Around SeattleToday is the first day of Dine Around Seattle (formerly know as 25 for $25). Thirty restaurants offering 3-course dinners for $30 and some offering 3-course lunches for $15. You can see why they had to change the name...
This is a great opportunity to get out there and try new places or even "old" places that you've been wanting to try but just haven't gotten to it. There are always great options on the list of participating restaurants.
The promotion runs Sunday through Thursday until March 31, excluding Easter Sunday.
For a list of all restaurants and links to their $30 menus see the Dine Around Seattle website. |
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