Archive for the 'Family & friends' Category

T-Town Supper Club: The Spanish Table

Published
by
John
on March 8, 2009
in Family & friends, Foodie and T-Town Supper Club
. 1 Comment

Saturday night was the third gathering of the T-Town Supper Club.  Our hosts for the evening, Jim and Sue, came up with a most excellent theme for this dinner party:  each guest would make a dish from The New Spanish Table cookbook by Anya von Bremzen.  They purchased several copies of the book, which were passed around between the club members for perusing and dish selection.  What we ended up with were six amazing dishes that made for one unforgettable meal.  As always the group really got into the spirit of the evening, so we were able to cover lots of styles and ingredients.  Here are some photos:

Romesco with Toast, Shrimp and Asparagus

Romesco with Toast, Shrimp and Asparagus

Arugula and Pototo Salad with Octopus Confit

Arugula and Potato Salad with Octopus Confit

Moorish Chicken and Nut Pie

Moorish Chicken and Nut Pie

Toasted Pasta Paella

Toasted Pasta Paella

Warm Chocolate Souffle Cake with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Warm Chocolate Souffle Cake with Vanilla Bean/Thyme Infused Ice Cream

We started with the Romesco with Shrimp, Toast and Asparagus.  The Romesco sauce was a great combination of spicy dried chiles, ground nuts, and spices.  Second was Fennel, Potato and Mussel soup garnished with fresh Mint and sipped out of hearty mugs.  A perfect start on a cold and blustery night.  Next up was our Octopus Confit Salad, with saffron infused potatoes and a sofrito vinaigrette, along with Dan’s Moorish Chicken Pie.  Dan is known to be a master of crusts and this olive oil saffron empanada crust didn’t disappoint.  The big entree of the night  was a toasted pasta Paella with Chorizo and Clams.  A complex mix of flavors and textures that kept our palates dancing.  Though we were full - we all accessed the special dessert stomach to make room for a perfect  homemade Vanilla Bean/Thyme infused ice cream atop warm Chocolate Souflee cakes.  Every dish turned out beautiful and delicious, and we all learned a thing or two about Spanish cooking and ingredients.  Note - if a recipe ever calls for an Italian frying pepper I can tell you it is a poblano.  You can never have too much Saffron - thanks to Jim & Sue’s secret source for the goodie bags to take home!  We of course had a nice selection of both white and red Spanish wines to complement each course, as well as a bottomless pitcher of fresh and fruity Sangria.  Lucky us, and thanks to the members who weren’t able to attend, we got to keep a copy of the cookbook - we can’t wait to try more recipes!

Champagne & Caviar: A Most Noble Pairing

Published
by
John
on December 10, 2008
in Family & friends, Foodie and Stuff we endorse
. 3 Comments

I gotta’ tell you, this is a fact:  I absolutely love my in-laws.  No kidding.  They are the creme de la creme of humans - kind, generous, intelligent, loving, and most of all great appreciators of all things delicious.  Which, by the way, happens to include me, but that’s another story entirely.  As it so happens, my lady T hopped a jet to see the folks this week.  Sandi and Charlie are located in beautiful Estes Park, which is located in the Rocky Mountains just outside of Denver.  If you’ve never been there, it is well worth checking out:  landscapes that look like a painting, teeming with wildlife.  Plus, that clean mountain air.  It’s awesome!

Sandi and Charlie love to have traditions, be it hitting their favorite cafe when in Paris, most loved wine shop in Sienna, or indulging in the occasional over the top snack.  Some may call them creatures of habit; I call them habitual enjoyers.  They know what they like, and they stick with it.  So, one of their little traditions is to celebrate the visit of their daughter with a snack of Caviar and Champagne.  Just about every time she (or we, when I’m lucky enough to tag along) visits the folks, a night of noshing on expensive little fish eggs, accompanied by Charlie’s famous toast points and all the fixin’s, is on the schedule.  All washed down with copius amounts of sparkling wines.  I know what you’re thinking, this is a terrible habit these people have!  Last night was Caviar night, so being good Foodies, they chronicled the meal to share with us here at Degustation Nation.  Enjoy!

Our wonderful daughter, Teresa, arrived yesterday afternoon to spend a few days with us in the remote regions of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. To celebrate her arrival Sandi and I ordered a half-pound of domestic caviar which was promptly and conveniently delivered overnight by our new best friend from FedEx. The nice thing about good quality (you always want Malossol caviar, which refers to caviar with very little salt added, not the horrible salty stuff Tom Hanks spit out in the movie “Big” and some of us have had at company Christmas parties – very bad stuff) American caviar is that it is quite tasty and also relatively inexpensive. We like the American Hackleback Sturgeon caviar, which tastes remarkably similar to Caspian Sea Osetra. Another popular choice is American Paddlefish caviar, but we happen to prefer the Sturgeon for its somewhat buttery and nutty flavor. The price allows you to truly indulge yourself with a minimum of guilt and lots of fun. For example, Russian Osetra goes for (as of this writing) approximately $93/oz, Iranian Osetra goes for approximately $130/oz, while good quality American sturgeon caviar can be had for $21/oz. Thus for less than $200 you can get your half-pound of caviar delivered to your isolated location and three or four of you can just have a dandy time. We served the caviar with toast points and the following, optional, ingredients: crème fraîche, chopped, hard-boiled egg, and chopped chives. Although by the end of the feast we were focused on heaping mounds of pure caviar (see photo).

Caviar on Toast Point

Caviar on Toast Point

As an aside, here’s a toast point tip. After much trial and error, here’s what I do. I use Pepperidge Farm Very Thin White bread which I bake in a flat baking pan at 400 deg. F for about 7-8 minutes. Depending on your oven, you may need to turn them over for an additional minute or two. The key is you want them just slightly brown. Dark brown will shatter when you try and cut them. I then cut them in half (forget cutting them in fourths - you want a large landing strip for that caviar) and leave the crust on (it’s yummy). Voila! We also took the opportunity to compare a nice French Champagne (Jean Laurent Blanc de Noir Brut, n.v.) with one of our favorite domestic sparkling wines (Domain Carneros by Tattinger, 2004). In addition, a good selection of chilled vodkas were available, which is always a favorite (by the way, stay with Russian, or Russian style, vodka – pairs great with caviar; apologies to all of you Grey Goose fans but not with caviar), but we were all enjoying the sparkling so much we bypassed the vodka this time. After the caviar feast we settled on some chocolate truffles (imported from France and found locally?!) with some nice cognac (Pierre Ferrand Selection des Anges). All in all, a lovely and fun (and decadent) evening!

PS:  a plug is in order here.  The folks (and us) get our Caviar delivered via FedEx from www.911caviar.com.  We’ve had nothing but positive experiences with them as a provider, and their prices are very, very good.  Check them out next time you feel like pampering your palate.

Queso Fundido is Fun Indeed

Published
by
John
on December 7, 2008
in Family & friends and Foodie
. 7 Comments

Ever get invited to a birthday party, or any kind of party for that matter, where every guest is supposed to bring along an appetizer and a bottle of wine?  Of course you have.  Sometimes we take the easy route, and just grab something that is already made from the local deli counter, or do a quick-and-dirty version of something that includes pre-packaged ingredients.  But, hey, we were invited to our friend Meredith’s 30th birthday bash, and seeing as she’s a Foodie and a part of our dinner club, I couldn’t bring myself to take the path of laziness.  But what to make?  Whenever we are lucky enough to go out for Tapas, we always get an order of Queso Fundido, which is typically served in a little pot with various things to dip into the melted cheese.  If you don’t know what Queso Fundido is, it is like Fondue, but Spanish style.  We’ve had it before with Chorizo sausage in it, and always enjoyed that combination… so…. I was now on a mission.  I’ve never attempted to make this before, so I had 2 choices:  fly by the seat of my pants, or do a little research.  I chose to do a little of both, which typically works well for my cooking style.  I did some research, which only proved to verify the base recipe that was already in my head, yet many of the recipes had a common ingredient that I typically would not have thought of.  No, not Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup!  But it was close - Velveeta Cheese.  Yech!  You know, that unrefrigerated brick of bright yellow, gelatinous, foil wrapped cheese that you see in the supermarket.  Or that you may have enjoyed in gooey grilled cheese sandwiches as a child.  As it turns out, adding a small quantity of said Velveeta aids in giving the Queso Fundido a smooth texture.  So off to the store I went.  Here is what I put in the Queso Fundido:

Using a saucepan, I first sauteed the Onion and Garlic in a little olive oil.  Removed the Onion and Garlic from the pan.  Browned the diced Chorizo (to remove the grease).  Drained the Chorizo on paper towels to remove as much of that nasty red grease as possible.  Wiped out the pan with a paper towel, deglazed with the beer.  Brought the beer to a simmer, and added the Chipotle pepper, cilantro, paprika, and red pepper flakes.  Simmered for a few minutes to re-hydrate the dried Chipotle.  Started adding the cheese a little at a time, stirring constantly to allow it to melt evenly.  After all the cheese was melted, added the flour mixture a little at a time, stirring thoroughly and constantly.  When the Queso looked smooth and creamy, stirred in the Chorizo, diced Green Chile, Green Onion and reserved Onion and Garlic.  I then put a lid on the pan, turned off the heat, and got ready to go to the party.  We served the Queso Fundido with 1/4″ slices of Baugette, pieces of Red Bell Pepper, and sliced Granny Smith Apple.  Many people were suprised how good it was on the Apple; the sweet/tart flavor of the Granny Smith combined with the savory Queso was a knockout combination.  Here is what it looked like:

Queso Fundido

Queso Fundido

This is one of those dishes that gets better the longer is sits out.  This is partly because the flavors continue to marry as time passes, along with the fact that the heavy chunks of sausage and veggies sink to the bottom of the bowl.  So, those who skim from the top when eating it leave all the good stuff for those who dig deep into the bowl later on!  This is definitely a very versatile recipe.  If you just stick to the base ingredients and infuse it with whatever flavors you see fit, you can give it a completely different character.  I’m already envisioning Greek, Mexican, and Italian versions of this one.  The birthday girl had big plans for what was left over:  as a filling for a Sunday morning Omelette.  Good thinkin’, Meredith!

T-Town Supper Club: A Night In Sicily

Published
by
John
on November 25, 2008
in Family & friends, Foodie and T-Town Supper Club
. 6 Comments

The Flag of SicilyA couple of weeks ago, we had the inaugural dinner of the T-Town Supper Club.  The T-Town Supper Club consists of 15 people sharing a common bond:  the bond of the unpretentious foodie.  Our first dinner of course had a theme, and since my lady T and I hosted, what better than a nod to T’s heritage:  A Night In Sicily.  For the uninitiated, Sicilian cuisine is a wild mix of cultures:  Italian, North African, Greek, Norman, and Arabian.  All of these different civilizations invaded and occupied the island of Sicily at one time or another (sometimes simultaneously!).  And the traditional foods of Sicily combine the best of all of these cultures into one big, bold pot of sauce.  Our mission:  to provide a list of key ingredients that each guest would volunteer to incorporate in a traditional Sicilian dish.  The list was as follows:  almond, anchovy, artichoke, capers, cinnamon, clove, eggplant, fennel, fig, lemon, mussels, olive, blood orange, orange blossom, pecorino, pine nut, pistachio, raisin, saffron, squash, squid, swordfish, tomato, tuna and of course the unanimous group favorite garlic!  Each guest committed to using three or more of the key ingredients in a dish that they in turn brought to the dinner party.  The night’s menu was as follows:

  • Apertivo: Prosecco, Blood Orange Margaritas with Fresh Basil
  • Antipasti: Bruschetta with Anchovy-Fennel Butter & Roasted Peppers
  • Antipasti: Citrus-marinated Shrimp with Capers & Olives, Herbed Flatbread
  • Primi: Mussels in Tomato-wine Sauce
  • Primi: Pasta with Artichokes, Raisins and Cauliflower, Saffron Sauce
  • Primi: Calamari with Garlic, Herbs and Preserved Lemon
  • Secondo: Bracciole of Beef
  • Contorno: Eggplant with Capers and Mint
  • Dolce: Cassata (Cake that takes 3 days to make)
  • Digestivo: Moscato di Asti, Rosolio di Pistachio
    Citrus Marinated Shrimp

    Citrus Marinated Shrimp

    Pasta with Saffron

    Pasta with Saffron

    Mussels Roberto

    Mussels Roberto

    Bracciole

    Bracciole

    Cassata

    Cassata


    The entire experience took about 4 hours.  Everyone arrived on time (we have a very responsible bunch here) and we were off to a nice start with our Apertivo of Prosecco and Rob’s Blood Orange/Basil Margaritas.  Antipasto was sampled casually; the remainder of the courses were served formally at the dinner tables.  Additionally, most people brought at least one bottle of wine, so we had an amazing variety of wines, most of them of Sicilian origin. All of the courses were very big on flavors, which of course is the Sicilian tradition!  The real standout of the evening though was the mussels - they were absolutely fantastic.  Every last drop of sauce was sopped up with warm bread.  All in all it was a most excellent dinner party, with the grand finale of Sara’s Cassata cake.  Yes, this cake took 3 days to make - a most involved process - but the effort was well worth it.  Bellissima!  As they say in Italy, “Abbiamo mangiato molto bene!” - we have eaten very well!

Dinner at Spring Hill in West Seattle

Published
by
John
on November 10, 2008
in Beer, wine & spirits, Family & friends, Foodie and Places we dig
. 3 Comments

Saturday was a good day, for several reasons. First, I was able to spend the majority of the day tripping around downtown Seattle with my lady T and her mom Sandi. Sandi was visiting from Denver, so good eats were in order as killer grub is hard to find in the Rocky Mountains, leaving my poor mother in law deprived. Second, we were lucky enough to score a reservation at West Seattle’s latest dining hot spot, Spring Hill. Located on the 4400 block of California Ave SW, Spring Hill was easy to find. We had read about this place in a magazine that we subscribe to called “Northwest Palate” (which if you haven’t checked out, it is packed with good stuff – highly recommended). It sounded intriguing: a cool new foodie haven owned and operated by former Dahlia Lounge chef Mark Fuller and his wife Marjorie. Having eaten at Dahlia in the past, we knew of Fuller’s handiwork in the kitchen and have always been impressed. I mean, this is the cat who helped Tom Douglas throw some whoop-ass down on Morimoto to win Iron Chef. The man is no culinary slouch.

Chef Mark Fuller in Action

Chef Mark Fuller in Action

We had an early reservation at 5:45, were greeted by the charming Mrs. Fuller and seated at a nice 4 top with a great view of the kitchen. Nearly every seat in the house has a view of the action. It was a blast watching Fuller oversee the line as we waited between courses. He watched over the line with the calm of a Zen-Master as his crew moved amongst each other with precision and grace.

 

This place has lots of small plates, so we had to begin with several to whet our appetites. We started with a round of The Bubbly, along with some Kumamoto and Kusshi oysters which were served with a Cascade Hop Mignonette. Being hoppy beer lovers, bathing oysters in a hoppy bath made us very happy indeed. We also sampled the Citrus Cured King Clam with Lemon Peel Relish. It was like Ceviche made with a King Clam. It was an explosion of flavors - the sea, bright citrus, and a bit of spice - incredible.

 

The wine list was impressive and featured one of our all time favorite Pinot Noirs, Cameron Arley’s Leap. Now we needed something to go with our bottle of Pinot. We tried the Razor Clam Sausage, Roasted Beet Salad, Duck Egg Yolk Raviolo and Veal Sweetbreads. All were absolutely amazing – the Clam Sausage was a mixture of Pork, Razor Clams and herbs, all caramelized to perfection and served on a bed of dressed greens. The Beet Salad was adorned with Asian pear, smoked hazelnuts, Rogue bleu cheese and basil. The raviolo was topped with duck ham and garlic chips. The scene-stealer was the sweetbreads, though, served with a trio of dipping sauces: BBQ, Honey Mustard, and Ranch. I was in heaven (read: organ meat freak).

 

Of course, we had to have another bottle of that wine (according to our server, Andrea, they were the last 2 bottles). Next we tried the Wood Grilled Prawns with grits, shrimp gravy, poached egg and Chanterelle mushrooms. Plus, Beef Steak Hot and Cold, which was comprised of a mound of beef tartare and grilled rib eye. We were doing some serious eating here! We had some wine left, so we had to get another round of the Razor Clam Sausage and another Duck Egg Raviolo….. hey, what can you do, ya’ gotta’ have something to wash down! After 3 hours or so of foodie bliss, we’d had enough. We never got around to sampling any of the entrée sizes dishes. They had some great sounding plates, from pasta to duck to burgers to short ribs. Check out the full menu here: menu

 

For dessert we tried some frozen treats, a scoop of Buttered and Salted Popcorn ice cream, and a scoop of Fruit Sorbet. The popcorn ice cream was insane – it tasted just like buttered popcorn. All accompanied by Gran Marnier for me and hot tea for the ladies.

 

All in all, we were quite impressed. You just don’t come across this level of creativity all that often. Service was top-notch. Food was out of this world, and the execution was flawless. Next time you want to try something exciting, I urge you to check out Spring Hill, you’ll be glad you did.