Family Meal
Welcome to Family Meal, a blog that examines all things new and noteworthy in the world of food, wine, and dining.
At family meal, otherwise known as staff meal, there’s no hierarchy; you’re breaking bread with your friends. For those 30 minutes, everyone is equal- and hungry. Family meal is our version of the water cooler- but with better food.
I’ll be sharing my thought, tips, and observations, and, in the spirit of family meal, I’ve invited our creative, energetic staff- everyone from line cook to bartender to bookkeeper- to have a say. I hope you’ll add your own comments and join in the conversation.
Tom Douglas
For the Dahlia Lounge family meal chicken pot pie recipe, published in Bon Appétit.
Little Tastes of Shepherd’s Grain last week was a bushel of fun!
We were joined by Karl, Fred, and their entourage of farmers to learn all about the truly amazing and inspiring journey of building their company with the goal of bringing sustainable, local wheats to market.
In cahoots with the scientists at Eastern Washington U, they have even been instrumental in promoting new strains of wheat with noticeably improved flavor (which seems to come from whatever it is that makes wheat yellow, largely bred out because of the desire for pretty white noodles, etc. I can’t remember all the details, but it was science-y!) And that’s just for starters. Here are the guys…. sans entourage…. avec martinis!
Our head baker, Wendy, talked about various leavening methods we use to bake breads with very different flavors and characteristics with identical ingredients, while Tom Douglas reminisced about bringing grapes from his yard twenty years ago to start our levain “chef.” How cool!
Brock, our Dahlia chef, had agonized over what to make for the tastes, and finally decided on a brilliantly simple series of preparations based upon the parts of the wheat berry in all its glorious simplicity: wheat berry tabbouleh, bran crepes with goat butter, and wheat germ porridge with fireweed honey.
Please join us for the next Little Tastes featuring World Spice on Tuesday, March 30th!
March 9th, 2010 | No Comments »
Can you guess which month these photos of a farmers market were taken? Even saying it was the Palm Springs farmers market probably won’t help.
What does seasonality mean when midwinter gives you berries, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, asparagus, and citrus? An embarassment of riches to be sure, but I’ll take Washington’s short growing season any day!
March 9th, 2010 | No Comments »
Sean (Operations Manager), Audrey (Corporate Sous Chef), and Kat (Palace Line Cook) rocked the kid/adult healthy family meal class. The tamale pie was a big hit and so was Sean’s homemade granola.
(Editor’s note: our spring series of kid’s cooking classes is sold out. Keep an eye out for future classes on our events page.)
March 9th, 2010 | No Comments »
Following Vulcan’s press release that we will be joining them in their South Lake Union project, we did a catering/demo for the Vulcan real estate folks who are developing and leasing space. We served buckwheat blini with smoked salmon, tingmos, Serious Pie’s potato pizza, beer, wine and a delicious limoncello cocktail!
It’s going to be incredible! Can’t wait to get started on this project. Here are some details about the new Terry Avenue space from Eater and from Nancy Leson.
March 9th, 2010 | No Comments »
Top photo: Chang’s wings
Bottom photo: Momofuku chicken!
March 2nd, 2010 | No Comments »
Pamela says:
Our new Rub with Love is a spunky addition to roast vegetables! Last night I prepared butternut squash with our new Roast Rub. Tom describes it as lusty and fragrant because it has whole coriander and fennel seeds and chunky cracked black pepper which puts some pep in the finish. I peeled the squash and cut it into 1/2 inch cubes. A light toss in olive oil and 2 generous tablespoons of Roast Rub, then into a 400°F oven for 25 minutes or until it gets nice crusty edges while remaining soft in the center. My husband said it was the best squash ever!
Carol says:
Yummy! My Rub with Love ‘aha’ moment this weekend was making a turkey salad for sandwiches, and I added Seafood Rub for some curry spiciness.
See, it’s not just for the grill anymore!!
March 2nd, 2010 | No Comments »
That’s what customers are calling our Dahlia Bakery Toasted Pecan Flax Seed Whole Wheat Bread!!
Here’s the text of an email we just received from Joan and Ed Singler and their grand kids, Donovan and Lillian Bown:
“Dear Tom Douglas and your bakers:
We have been buying your bread from day one. We have always liked the breads offered at the bakery. Last week however we bought the Walnut, Flax, Wheat Bread…. the best bread ever. My whole family, but especially my grandchildren, couldn’t stop eating that bread until we finished off the whole loaf at dinner. They loved the crust. How many kids eat the crust? Talk about rave reviews….”
So stop by the Dahlia Bakery and pick up a loaf. If your family isn’t big enough to polish off the whole thing, take a tip from Tom and Jackie: slice up what’s left of the loaf, wrap, freeze, and make delicious flax seed toast anytime!
March 2nd, 2010 | No Comments »
Whether you’re one of those hardy souls who get their peas planted by President’s Day, or, more reasonably I think, by St Patrick’s Day, or like me, you just try get around to it sometime before the end of March, you’ll enjoy this article- “Ready, Set, Plant Peas”- by Poppy of the Mixed Greens blog. The illustrations and photos of pea trellises will surely inspire you to get out in the veggie garden!
March 2nd, 2010 | No Comments »
Another great year of bacon, thanks to the whole team and Brian Cunningham for being a good sport and wearing the Elvis costume to give his table real flair!!!!
Just a few of our fearless staff at Baconopolis:
photo top: Katie O with bacon cornbread muffin
Photo bottom left: Herschel with B.L.A.T.
Photo bottom right: Brian “Elvis” Cunningham with hot peanut butter, banana, and bacon!
March 1st, 2010 | No Comments »
The foie gras at Momofuku was divine with a pineapple foam, in a pool of brown butter with a miso and celeryroot purée!
The pork belly buns were as puffy as a cherub’s butt with the crisp pop in your mouth pickles, meltingly fatty pork belly…
The photos:
top photo: “OMG!” (the pork bun)
second photo from top: Momofuku kitchen
third photo from top: “Fingerling potatoes didn’t stand a chance!” (empty plate)
bottom photo: roasted foie gras
February 25th, 2010 | 2 Comments »
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