| Culinary's profileCulinary FoolPhotosBlogLists |  Tools  Help |
|
|
31/10/2009 4for48 Okay, I really can't keep track of all the restaurant promotions that are now offered! I don't say this in a bad way, I think most of the promotions are good both for consumers and restaurants. Consumers get a deal and are able to try new places at bargain prices (or return to those they love); restaurants get the opportunity to bring in more traffic and (hopefully) attract repeat business.
The newest offering in this line of promotions is one called 4for48, 4 courses for $48. A higher price-point than most of the promotions but it offers an additional course and includes locations that normally don't participate in the other offers. It runs throughout November, Sunday - Thursday evenings, with the exception of Thanksgiving.
There are only thirteen restaurants participating including Lark, Le Gourmand and Crush. You can check the 4for48 website for the full list and information about each restaurant, including links to their website. In theory, the actual 4for48 menus are on the restaurants' websites but I couldn't always find them. Perhaps they will be adding them when the promotion actually starts tomorrow.
26/10/2009 Café Nordo Saturday night found M2 and me outside the Theo auditorium waiting for the doors to open to Café Nordo, a traveling dinner and show. When the doors opened we were the only patrons outside the venue so the fanfare prepared by the actors/servers fell just a little flat, although we appreciated it. Once checked in we settled into the waiting area with a glass of champagne and watched the other guests arrive.
 The auditorium space has one area sectioned off with fabric panels forming a roughly shaped dining room. An irregular pattern of Oriental rugs lines the floor further defining the space, and several dining room tables, each able to seat 8 to 10 people, rims the edges of the "room". After a few minutes in the ante area we were ushered to our table by Wyandotte, our server for the evening. Each of the server/actors is named for a breed of chicken (Cochin, Silkie Bantam, Andalusio, Rosecomb) as this dinner is all about chicken. More specifically it's about local, sustainable, seasonal food featuring chicken. The seating process was repeated with the other 30 or so guests and their servers until all were seated and the show began.
You can think of Café Nordo as sort of a Teatro Zinzanni "light". There are no acrobats or magicians or jugglers but there is a show with the maitre d', servers and a "chef", providing entertainment and food for thought between and during each course.
The courses are presented as part of the skit; a little riddle sets the stage for the presentation and then the server explains what is served. Or you can plan ahead and see the full menu here.
 The opening amuse bouche, a grassy green shot topped with Crème fraîche and lemon curd was light and refreshing.
 The second course, a poached egg was presented on a "nest" of shredded Parmesan and whole wheat, placed on greens and served with a goat cheese béchamel in an egg shell so that you could add as much or as little as you liked to the dish. The egg was perfectly poached, the nest provided an interesting crunchy texture and the béchamel was tangy and rich.
 The soup presentation was really fun. Bowls with crispy potato chips, julienned zucchini, chanterelle mushrooms and a dumpling filled with chicken-liver pâté were placed on the table. Then the servers came around with watering cans filled with the broth and proceeded to fill our bowls from the watering cans. Very fun, although I cannot imagine doing this in my home!
 The main course was beautifully roasted chicken stuffed with pork sausage, peppers and onions and served with Habañero-infused, dried cherries. The whole dish was very succulent and I especially loved the cherries, which I plan to try to replicate at home.
 We finished with a gruesome-looking but lovely-tasting chocolate panna cotta with fresh berries made to look like fresh liver on a blood-spattered dish. Considering the upcoming holiday it seemed right in place, but it was a little hard to reconcile what it looked like with how it tasted. Although it was good, I wish the chocolate flavor had been a bit more pronounced, as Theo chocolate is one of my favorites but it was a little lost.
We had a great time at dinner, due in part to our friendly tablemates and the overall entertaining atmosphere. The dinner/show runs through November 22, Thursday - Saturday only. If you go make sure you check all the "fine print" on the website. A vegetarian offering is not offered, for instance. A flight of wine is included in the dinner but the alternative for non-drinkers is simply water.
It's a little hard to tell who exactly is behind the tour. The program lists Chad Fuhreck as the Chef de Cuisine. I believe he is on staff at Theo and I'm sure the actors were local. But the show does travel so there is someone behind the overall concept who pulls together the events in each city.
For more information and tickets see the Café Nordo website. 21/10/2009 Upcoming Foodie Events in SeattleWow! Fall is a busy time of year in the Seattle area. There are tons of great food and wine events and many of them benefit non-profit organizations which is a nice way to double your fun. Here are just a few you should think about.
October 28: The Cabernet Classic
This event will feature Cabernet and Cabernet-based blends. Small bites like risotto (smoked chicken & butternut squash or wild mushroom) at the Shilshole Bay Beach Club. Meet artisan winemakers who have hand-crafted these wines, take in the show of paintings by Haris Purnomo of Jakarta, Indonesia, and meet local artists presenting their work. This event benefits the Center on Contemporary Art.
Some of the wineries pouring that night are: Otis Kenyon Wine, Palouse Winery, Brian Carter Cellars, Chatter Creek Winery, Forgeron Cellars, Tefft Cellars, Hestia Cellars, Kestrel Vintners, Whitman Cellars, Milbrandt Vineyards, Wilridge Winery, Nota Bene Cellars, Windy Point and many more.
For tickets and more information go here.
November 7: Oyster New Year
This is the 17th year that Elliott's celebrates the beginning of oyster season. There are events throughout October and into November but the big party is the celebration on November 7. Elliott’s hosts the biggest oyster party on the west coast with 30 varieties of local oysters shucked to order, fresh seafood dishes, live music, more than 50 wines from Washington wineries, and beers from Fish Brewing Company and Maritime Pacific Brewing Company.
The Oyster New Year bash benefits the Puget Sound Restoration Fund’s Henderson Inlet Community Shellfish project. Henderson Inlet used to be one of the most productive shellfish growing regions in South Puget Sound but pollution and increased population have taken their toll on the tidelands. You can even help the cause just by ordering and enjoying a dozen oysters. For every dozen oysters sold during October, Elliott’s will donate one dollar to the Puget Sound Restoration Fund.
For more information and tickets for all of the events go here.
November 8: Chef's Night Out
This event always conflicts with something else on my calendar but I always think it would be a really fun time. It's a great opportunity to get to know some of our wonderful local chefs.
Fifteen Seattle-area restaurants and their chefs will each donate, prepare, and serve a five-course meal paired with wine, exclusively for their table of ten patrons. Each chef is assigned their table at the beginning of the night by a random spin of a wheel. The chefs then prepare the meal in the same room as the patrons, and even sit down to join their table guests throughout the night. The participating chefs include: Bobby Moore from The Barking Frog; Jack Strong from Salish Lodge; Greg Campbell from Third Floor Fish Café. You can see the full list here.
This event benefits Solid Ground's Operation Frontline (OFL) program - a direct outreach program providing culinary, nutrition, and budget planning classes to Washington State families at risk of hunger and malnutrition. 100% of ticket sales and the night's proceeds go directly to OFL.
For more information and tickets go here. 12/10/2009 The best laid plans... As with most places in the U.S. summer has suddenly turned to fall. Here in the Seattle area we've had a glorious summer and very lovely fall, but the rain is supposed to return this afternoon and be with us for most of the week. So I spent much of yesterday out in the yard tidying up in preparation for winter. I came back into the house around 5:30 pm and suddenly it dawned on my that my plans for pumpkin lasagne were going to have to wait.
I had intended to make the entire dish, including the pasta, from scratch. I should have taken a break during the day to prepare the pasta but hadn't. While it doesn't take that long to make pasta you need to allow an hour because after mixing and kneading the ingredients the dough needs to rest for 30 minutes. Add to that hour the assembly and baking time for lasagne and suddenly dinner time would have been later than I wanted. Instead I decided to hold-off on the lasagne until today (and I will make that pasta early in the day!) and satisfy myself with a savory snack.
One of my favorite Northwest Cheesemakers is the Rogue Creamery in southern Oregon. They have a whole line of cheeses but I am especially enamored with their blues, of which they make several. Last night I cut off a wedge of Oregonzola, their version of Gorgonzola, and let it warm up a bit. The flavor is quite tangy and is great with a glass of wine.
I paired it with some new crackers that are becoming favorites of mine. I'm not sure how long they've been available, but I've recently discovered a line of crackers from Blue Diamond. You may recognize the name from their line of almonds. They sell almonds in just about every flavor imaginable from natural almonds to smoked to honey-roasted, with several other varieties in between. Now they have a line of Nut-Thins, rice crackers made with nuts. They are thin and crispy like a rice cracker but the nuts give them a great, well, nutty flavor. There are several varieties and so far I've tried (and liked!) the Hazelnut and Pecan versions.
So last night's dinner was simple and satisfying. A little glass of wine, some gorgeous cheese and nutty, crunchy crackers. But I'm really looking forward to the lasagne tonight! 11/10/2009 Knife Specials at Sur la TableThrough the end of October Sur la Table stores are offering free sharpening for two knives. In my experience they can sometimes turn them around in as little as an hour, although you should allow a day or two.
They are also offering free shipping on any knife set or individual knife over $49.
10/10/2009 Mobile Chowdown aka "Meals on Wheels"Seattle is home to many roving restaurants and the number seems to be growing every day. Tracking where each venue is located at any given time can be a little challenging, although most have websites with calendars and you can subscribe to their Facebook or Twitter streams. Or it might be that knowing where they are is not the issue but coordinating your schedule with theirs might be the challenging part.
Well today you are in luck! From 11:00 am - 3:00 pm at least eight of the mobile marvels are gathering in one spot. The hard part, of course, will be choosing just what to have. I've read that a couple of the vendors will have special (maybe smaller) offerings for this gathering but so far nothing indicates that they all will. Instead, it seems most will be featuring something they are known for.
Marination Mobile, Skillet, Maximus Minimus, Gert's BBQ, El Camion, Parfait Ice Cream, Dante's Inferno Dogs and Kaosamai Thai are all participating.
The event will be located in an empty lot in Interbay at 1616 W. Bertona. If you want seating, bring your own! 27/08/2009 Back to (Night) School I've had a fascination with cocktail culture for years. Every now and then I talk about cocktails on this blog but for a little over a year I edited and wrote for another blog called The Spirit World and spent quite a lot of time immersed in that culture learning, experimenting and writing about all things cocktail related. Once I left that blog my interest in writing about everything I had to drink waned, mainly due to lack of time, but my interest in learning has remained. So I'm always looking for new cocktail bars that open and ways to expand my knowledge.
 There's a new series of classes in town that brings the best of mostly local mixologists into a classroom of sorts - the bar in The Hunt Club at the Sorrento Hotel. These classes are known as Night School. The idea and classes have been pulled together by an interesting group of people. Michael Hebberoy, the catalyst behind OnePot.org seems to be doing the scheduling and recruiting of the mixologists; Foodista.com documents the classes with photos, recipes and commentary; and The Hunt Club provides the classroom.
 Classes are small, just twelve seats around the bar, although others are encouraged to watch from the "back row", otherwise known as the table seating in the bar. The atmosphere is convivial and light with questions and interactions encouraged and the "lectures" are occasionally broken with outbreaks of lively banter.
The night I attended Murray Stenson, who has been at the Zig Zag Cafe for several years, was holding court. Anyone who has any sort of serious interest in cocktails knows of Murray. Not only has he been a Seattle fixture for around thirty years but in that time he has trained or mentored many of the other serious mixologists in town. When I was writing for The Spirit World he was my go-to guy for all kinds of topics and information. Not only is he a great bartender, he's very generous with time and information. It was a pleasure to see him at work but under more relaxed conditions. He knows his craft, but it's not just the quality of his concoctions that draws people to Murray. His easy going laugh and his keen ability to make it seem as if you've known him (or he's known you) for years are the real attractions.
The class was attended by an interesting mix of people. There was a group of bartenders on one side of me, a group of friends of Micheal Hebberoy on the other side and a few assorted others - at least one other blogger - at the other end of the bar.
 Murray concocted three drinks for us and while doing so gave us background information about the liquors being used (sweet Vermouth was originally Italian and dry Vermouth French); useful tips for mixing (if a drink is primarily made of liquor it should be stirred, if made with fruit juices then shaken); and commentary (St Germain is to bartenders what bacon is to chefs).
We started with a simple and refreshing drink, the Cin Cin, which is simply equal portions of dry and sweet Vermouth served over rocks. Next we moved on to what Murray described as a light Manhattan, the Bianco Bulleit. The name nearly gives you the recipe as it's made with Bianco Vermouth and Bulleit Bourbon. A lemon twist finishes it off. Our final cocktail of the night was a Murray original, the Hot Charlotte, apparently named after a woman of Murray's acquaintance. This last drink had a little bite to it from a few drops of hot sauce and was primarily composed of gin and St. Germain, hence the quote above.
 Throughout the evening little bites from the kitchen were brought out to accompany the cocktails. All of the food, prepared by Chef Matthew Mina, was interesting and I mean that in a good way. There was a carpaccio and cheese combination; a crab and corn stuffed springroll; and, my favorite, a creamy, roasted chanterelle soup.
There are several more classes on the schedule with an interesting lineup of personalities. I hope to take one or two more of them and will perhaps "audit" a couple others. Classes are $50 and fill quickly. You can find more information about them here.
All food and cocktail recipes from this session can be found on Foodsita here.
A few more of my photos are here.
To visit Murray in his natural environment you can visit him at the Zig Zag Cafe.
 The Hunt Club
Sorrento Hotel
900 Madison
Seattle
206.343.6156
 25/08/2009 Caffe Vita Public Brewing SchoolThis sounds interesting..... From a Caffe Vita press release:
01/08/2009 Sunset Supper at The Market There are very few times when you can expect to be comfortable outside in the evenings here in Seattle. But the month of August generally is a month you can count on so it's a perfect time to hold a wonderful food and wine event, the Sunset Supper at The Market. This event is a fund raiser for the Pike Place Market Foundation's four human service agencies: the Senior Center; Child Care & Preschool; Medical Clinic; and the Downtown Food Bank.
On the evening of August 14, The Market will be transformed into one big party with some of the best food, wine and other beverages. About forty restaurants and forty wineries will be participating, as will a dozen breweries and a handful of liquor vendors. You can dine on small plates from the likes of Canlis, ART, Campagne and The Georgian, just to name a few. To see the full list check out the event page.
During the evening guests will stroll the market nibbling and sipping. Live music will be provided by Lady A and the Baby Blues Funk Band.
Sales for the Patron tables are now closed but General and Reserved seating is still available. Advanced tickets must be purchased by noon on August 13. If any tickets are remaining there will be sales at the event. Advanced ticket sales are handled through Brown Paper Tickets.
A friend and I purchased a table and will be there with eight of our friends. We hope to see you there! 13/07/2009 ZAP! Zinfandel and BBQ in Seattle (and Portland) For most people summer days mean an increase in grilling and barbecuing. We just can't resist the ease and fun that cooking outside on a warm summer day brings to a daily task, which can so often morph into a party or celebration. And of course, enjoying savory, smoky meats and vegetables fresh from the grill doesn't hurt the cause at all.
Once you are ready to bring the meal to the table there's the choice of beverage. A favorite option for me is a Zinfandel wine. I drink Zin all year long but find it especially comes to mind every time I light the grill. The fruit and spicy character of Zin really complement they smoky flavors of grilled meats and veggies. I also find that it makes a great beverage to sip while I'm preparing and cooking, too!
Here in Seattle, we have an event coming up at the end of the month that will allow you to taste Zinfandels from over 40 producers - which allows you plenty of time to find your favorites to enjoy throughout the rest of the grilling season. And not only will there be wines to taste but barbecue, too!
Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) is pairing with the Culinary Program at South Seattle Community College to present Zin and BBQ! The tasting will be held in the gardens at South Seattle Arboretum on Sunday July 26. Tickets are $40 - $35 if you are a member of ZAP. There is a similar program planned for Portland on July 29.
To see the whole list of producers, purchase tickets and get directions to the event, check the website. Hope to see you there!
11/07/2009 Outstanding in the Field It's finally here! The Outstanding in the Field Dinners take place in the Seattle area starting next week. With three here in Seattle, one in Vancouver, B C., and one in Pemberton (just outside of Whistler) you have plenty of opportunity to experience these fun dinners. And for those of you outside the Northwest there are plenty of other options coming up on the schedule, too!
I attended three of them last year and each was a different experience based on the farm and location, the chef and the guests. I enjoyed all of them. You can read my summaries of one held in Carnation and one in Vancouver. And you can see lots of photos from events around the country in this Flickr Pool.
To choose which location is best for you and to make a reservation see this listing of events. 10/07/2009 Seattle Luxury Chocolate Salon Last year I attended the first Seattle Luxury Chocolate Salon. I wasn't sure what to expect but I'd been invited to judge and decided it would be interesting to check it out. Well, it turned out to be a really nice event with more chocolate than a person can realistically sample in an afternoon. This Sunday the event is back and I'm looking forward to judging once again. This time I'll go with a better strategy of how to taste and a plan to pace myself.
If you are even a part-time chocolate fan this event will open your eyes. I discovered retailers from our local area with creative offerings; producers of premium bars that I absolutely love; and learned something about the whole cacao to chocolate process.
You can buy tickets in advance online for $20 or at the door for $25. Salon highlights include chocolate tasting, demonstrations, chef & author talks and ongoing interviews by TasteTV's Chocolate Television program.
Seattle Luxury Chocolate Salon
Bell Harbor Conference Center
2211 Alaskan Way, Pier 66
Seattle, WA 98121
Sunday, July 12
11:00 am - 5:00 pm
30/04/2009 Seattle Cheese Fest Approaching! It's time to start planning your strategy for this year's Seattle Cheese Festival! May 16 and 17 Pike Place Market will be filled with cheese samples and cheese events. At the main event, the tasting tables lining Pike Place, you'll be able to sample more than 200 cheeses! Also, check out the seminars, demonstrations, wine tasting and the Cheese Fest Best Restaurants which offer special cheese plates the week or so leading up to the festival.
Of special interest this year local author Tami Parr will be leading one of the seminars. She has a wonderful blog and recently released a book, Artisan Cheese of the Pacific Northwest
 , an in-depth guide to our local cheeses. She includes information about local artisinal cheesemakers and on how to make your own. In addition to her seminar at the festival, a couple days earlier on May 14, you'll be able to meet her at The Cheese Cellar for a book signing. The Cheese Cellar is at 100 4th Ave N # 150 Seattle, WA 98109. 27/04/2009 Urban Eats: May 2009
Some days it's hard to keep track of all the restaurant promotions. But then I think, why keep track? Just take advantage of them! So with that attitude in mind I'm gearing up for Urban Eats.
Urban Eats highlights 48 restaurants that will offer 3-course meals for $30 in May. Of the 48, most are in Seattle but there's good representation on the East side of Lake Washington. You'll find tried-and-true places and some new fresh faces in the line-up.
The site has a ton of information, including Chef Bios, the offered menu, maps and in many cases links to reservations. The offer starts May 3 and continues until the end of the month. The $30 menus are available Sunday - Thursday nights, excluding Mother's Day. (Ladies and) Gentleman, start your planning!
25/04/2009 Dining Out for Life: April 30 It's that time of year when we get to have a nice night out with friends and do some good at the same time! Thursday, April 30th restaurants in the Seattle area will participate in Dining Out for Life, a benefit for Lifelong AIDS Alliance, and the fight against illness and hunger in our community. On that night 30% of your bill is donated to the cause - all you have to do is eat! And with 155 restaurants participating (maybe more by Thursday!) it's pretty easy to find something that will meet whatever you are in the mood for.
And I highly encourage you to return to whatever restaurant you choose for this event sometime soon in the upcoming weeks. Restaurants are being hit pretty hard by our economic woes and to see so many of them continue to participate in this event really says something about our food community. Even though their revenues are down, they still continue to support and contribute to worthy causes. We really do live in a wonderful place!
So once you dine out for life, make your way back and dine out as a thank you and to support our restaurant community.
22/04/2009 Outstanding in the Field!You may remember that last year I attended a couple of dinners presented by the folks at Outstanding in the Field. This organization works to connect people with food sources, educating them about local farms and farmers and they do that by working with local chefs and producers to present dinners on a farm. Mostly in a field at the farm.
Last year they were only in Seattle for one dinner which sold out in less than four hours! I was lucky enough to get a ticket to that dinner and also took a little trip to Vancouver, BC to participate in a dinner there. This year they have expanded their schedule and are offering three Seattle dinners, as well as the one in Vancouver and one in Pemberton (outside of Whistler), which means they can accommodate many more people. Still, seating is limited so if you are interested don't wait too long to grab a ticket.
 I've been having a hard time making a decision about which dinner to attend, there are such great options! The first dinner will be held at Full Circle Farm and the dinner prepared by Seth Caswell. Full Circle produce is used by many of the top chefs in Seattle and they also have a booth at the University District Farmers' Market (maybe others, too) where I buy from them. Seth Caswell was formerly at the Stumbling Goat Bistro on Greenwood, a place I love, and is now getting ready to open a new place, Emmer and Rye this summer.
The second dinner is at Oxbow Farm. I don't know as much about Oxbow, although I have purchased great things from them at the Ballard Farmers' Market. The chef's for this dinner are Brian McCracken and Dana Tough the golden boys creating magic at Spur. I've only been there once but loved every minute of it.
 The third Seattle dinner is a benefit for Seattle Youth Garden Works. This is a great program that I've been supporting for several years. This program works with homeless and disadvantaged kids teaching them to garden and market what they grow. They have a booth at the University District Farmers' Market, which is where I first learned of the program and where I try to purchase from them on a regular basis. This dinner will be held at the UW Botanic Gardens - which I think would be a fun place for dinner - and will be prepared by Matt Dillon from Sitka and Spruce and The Corson Building. He was the chef at the dinner I attended last year and did a great job!
Then again I may just make a weekend of it and head up to Pemberton!
While tickets are a bit spendy you need to think of this not just as a dinner but as an evening's entertainment. There's a multi-course dinner (I think there were 6 courses or more at the dinners I attended); wine paired to each course; a tour of the farm; the opportunity to learn more about a farm, farming, the farmers and other producers like shellfish farmers or foragers - it depends on the dinner; and the opportunity to meet and mix with others with similar interests. The whole event is generally four or more hours long. When you start adding up all you get for your money, you'll see it's a lot. Plus, you have the opportunity to support your own local producers.
And for anyone reading this post who is outside the Seattle area, Outstanding in the Field has dinners all across the nation. Many have already sold out so don't take too long!
My photos from Seattle; Vancouver; and Santa Cruz. And I started a group pool on Flickr for photos from dinners across the country.
 16/04/2009 Vita Loft Series: A parent and kid night
If you live in Seattle you may have heard about onepot.org, a sort of underground dining organization that brings together food, social issues, and conversation at interesting venues in creative ways. Over the years they've become more ground-breaking than underground and their website has become a little slicker but they still address and bring to light timely topics.
They have an event coming up on April 23rd that is a great way to involve your children in learning and understanding more about food and what they eat. Here's the information I recently received:
Vita Loft Series: A parent and kid night with food genius Nina Planck. April 23rd. Nina is one of the most provocative and brilliant food writers and policy makers in the country. Caffe Vita, One Pot and Kim Ricketts are collaborating with The Experience Food Project to host Nina and spark an explosive conversation about how and what we feed our children. $60/person includes a copy of Real Food by Nina. More info available at www.onepot.org. *The sparkling Nina Planck will be on hand with both of her groundbreaking books urging america to eat REAL FOOD. **This is an evening primarily for adults and their kids - but we welcome everyone. nursing moms, kids who don't want to hang with their parents, single folks, etc. ***Tom French from the Experience Food Project will be on hand to talk about school food policy - and what he is doing to change it, and EFP chef Andrew Radzialowski will be with me in the kitchen. We are hoping we get some EFP kids to come join us as servers and cooks as well. ****This will be a damn fun night - we want to involve the whole table in a conversation about the absolute need to change what our kids eat - what our country eats - and how in the hell we are going to make this shift happen - now. *****Plus you get a copy of one of nina's books. signed, sealed and delivered. $60/person (infants no charge) *proceeds go to the experience food project. 6pm Capitol Hill Vita. click to grab a seat The Vita Loft Series: The history of coffee and progressive ideas have been profoundly linked. Caffe Vita and One Pot have created this series to continue this important tradition. 03/03/2009 Calphalon on Special A couple months ago I noticed that a favorite pot of mine, a 3-qt, chef's pan, was not looking very good. It was an in expensive pot that I'd picked up on a whim one day. The size was good and it was red. I'm a sucker for red kitchenware. Over the years it's been used a lot and has been one of my favorite pans but, as less expensive pans tend to do, it was now showing it's wear. I made a mental note that I'd need to replace it soon.
And then about a week ago I noticed that Calphalon was having one of its sales where they substantially mark down some of their pots and pans. Fair warning: this is sometimes as they are getting ready to discontinue a line. I don't know for certain this is the case but something you might want to keep in mind. I have a lot of Calphalon and I love it. Most of my pieces are from another line that is now discontinued, the professional hard anodized line. So when I noticed the specials I decided to check them out.
This time the discounted pieces are from the Tri-ply copper line. These pieces have copper on the outside, an aluminum core for even heat distribution and a stainless interior for easy clean-up. Crate and Barrel is carrying a couple of the pieces, so I was able to physically check them out. But the biggest selection of pieces is online at Amazon. I liked the feel and the look of them - although I do wonder how much work the copper will take - so I picked up a couple pieces.
The first, the Calphalon Tri-Ply Copper 3-Quart Chef's Pan
 , is the replacement for my little red pan. I also picked up the Tri-Ply Copper 12-Inch Everyday Pan just because I liked the look of it. The 5-Quart Saucier and the 2-1/2-Quart Shallow Saucepan are also marked down and I have these pans in the professional hard anodized versions. I love them both and use the 2 1/2 quart saucepan so much that I bought two of them. If you are in the market for new cookware or a fill-in piece or two, you may want to check this sale out. 27/02/2009 Little Tastes of the Dahlia: Chocolate Tuesday night I spent a wonderful 90 minutes tasting and learning about chocolate. I attended one of the Little Tastes of the Dahlia, a series of educational (and fun!) programs held at the Dahlia Lounge by Tom Douglas. In each session Tom highlights an ingredient or topic he has an interest in, brings in specialists to educate the small group of attendees, and provides related beverages and small bites to go along with the topic. The sessions are packed with information and the samples and tastes are a great bonus.
 Tuesday's session was about chocolate, but not just any chocolate. Although much of what we learned applies across the board the session was presented by the head chocolatier from Theo Chocolate, Autumn Martin. She really impressed me with her breadth and depth of knowledge, especially at her relatively young age (well under 30). She is a great speaker and obviously brings a lot of enthusiasm to her work. Theo's claim to fame, besides the fact they have excellent products, is that they are the first and only organic and Fair Trade chocolate factory in the country
We started with a sampling of chocolates along with wine. The wine was selected by Pamela (last name unknown) who is now CEO of Tom Douglas enterprises, and also happens to have a wine background. She chose a 100% Tempranillo Rioja. It worked okay with the chocolate but I didn't think it was great. As she discussed, wine pairings for chocolate can be challenging and with our selection of chocolate samples being all over the board, I think it was especially so this night.
The chocolates we sampled were dark orange, hazelnut crunch, Madagascar ganache, ghost chili caramel and cocoa nibs. Each of the chocolates offered something a little unexpected, which is one of the things I like about Theo chocolates. And all of their chocolates are very chocolate-y, even their milk chocolate. In fact, their milk chocolate may be my very favorite of all milk chocolates.
While we were sipping, tasting and taking notes, Autumn was filling us in on all kinds of information about growing the chocolate, the process to get it into the form we know and love, and all manner of other information about cocoa fat, cocoa powder and nibs.
Our next tastes were of sipping chocolates. Presented in little cups about the size of a shot glass these were so rich and decadent that any more would have been too much. We tasted two samples but I don't have the names of them. My favorite was one that included spices and chiles.
 Next we took a look at a savory use of chocolate. The chef at Dahlia Lounge prepared Chocolate-chile braised oxtail over orange scented masa cake. Pure heaven. The layering and repetition of flavors was amazing. The oxtail was prepared with dried chiles and cocoa then finished with shavings of the dark orange chocolate we had sampled earlier. The masa was scented and flavored with orange rind and the whole little dish was topped with a slice of mandarin orange. I really need to try to replicate this.
We finished off the tasting with "dessert", a cocoa nib macaroon filled with caramel and topped with a black volcanic salt. Also absolutely amazing.
 I almost hate to tell you about these classes as they always fill way too fast but the experience was so much fun that I have to share!
24/02/2009 Dine Around Seattle - March 2009 Edition   Dine Around Seattle starts March 1 and runs through the end of the month. Sunday through Thursday, 3-course meals are available for $30 at 30 restaurants in the Seattle area. Some locations also offer 3-course lunches for $15. For all the details, including sample menus, check out the Dine Around Seattle site. |
|
|
