Here at Tom Douglas Restaurants, we were thrilled to get this email, with the subject line: “Morale Boost in Iraq!,” from MSG Traci K. Williams, who has graciously given us her permission to reprint it here:
“I just want to let you know that I’m in Iraq and looked on the Tom Douglas website because someone mentioned a dinner using one of his cookbooks (I listen to KZOK streaming while at work!)
I found your blog and I have to tell you, his article this month listing Lobster Sweet Potato Gratin has served as a morale boost for me in my focus of getting back to Seattle! I’m a reservist out of Fort Lewis and my civilian office always threw me “Lobsterama” for my birthday (which was two weeks ago) so this really was timely in that it almost was like he knew my birthday tradition!
I’ve eaten at one of his restaurants before and will indeed eat at one when I get back! it will be one of the first things I do!!!
Thanks for this website with his newsletter! It gives me a little “taste” of home while downrange! Please let him know that he’s reached Iraq!! Traci”
Hurry home, Traci. Like we said, we’re thrilled to have brought a moment of enjoyment to someone who is serving our country while stationed in Iraq. Read Tom’s newsletter here for the Lobster Sweet Potato Gratin recipe.
February 27th, 2009 | No Comments »
We want to say congrats to some of our friends and our Seattle locals who made it onto the London Times list of “The 50 Best Food Blogs in the World.” (See the post dated Feb 19)
Blogster Winners from the Seattle area:
Molly Wizenberg of Orangette:
Molly is a graceful and lovely writer who now, in addition to her popular blog, has both a regular column, “Cooking Life,” in Bon Appetit and a new book, A Homemade Life (She’s also been a guest on Tom and Thierry’s radio show,and will be on again in the near future.)
Shauna James Ahern of Gluten Free Girl:
Shauna’s food blog grew out of her struggle with celiac disease and the way her life changed when, after finally being diagnosed, she learned how to follow a gluten free diet. Shauna has a book of the same name as her blog, and she participated in one of our Palace Ballroom Cookbook Socials.
Blogster Winner from New York:
Our good friend Ed Levine of Serious Eats:
Ed has been a major player on the New York food writing/food critic scene for many years. His vibrant blog is packed with fun posts everyday. Ed also helped co-write our second book Tom’s Big Dinners.
Congratulations all!
February 26th, 2009 | No Comments »
For dinner we went to Breizh Cafe
in the Marais where we had a dinner of crepes. One of my hosts is from Brittany where crepes originated from, so it was a comfort to know we had a regional expert sitting at the table. We had a slew of savory crepes made with buckwheat flour followed by a few sweet ones made with traditional wheat flour, all washed down with hard cider(which is the alcoholic drink of choice in this coastal part of France where apples grow more readily than grapes) served in little ceramic bowls. (see photo top left.) We had crepes that we dipped in lait ribot, which is similar to buttermilk (see photo above, center), crepes with seaweed butter from Brittany (see photo top right), crepes with housemade caramel sauce, and crepes that had various other fillings added like cheese, ham, creme fraiche, egg, mushrooms, onion confit, and andouille. (see photo left for crepe with cheese, egg, and ham). The crepe may be one of the most well known French foods, however this particular dinner proved to be much more complex than I would have guessed, and I was all the happier for it.
February 25th, 2009 | No Comments »
Read this great restaurant review in the Los Angeles Times of two Seattle restaurants: Matt Dillon’s Corson Building and Justin Neidermeyer’s Cascina Spinasse.
February 25th, 2009 | No Comments »
We are so cool, here at Tom Douglas Restaurants, that we ran our in-house crock pot recipe contest weeks before this article
in the Los Angeles Times, telling us how cool and chic it is to use your slow cooker these days. (Slow cooker is apparently the correct terminology, since “crock pot” is a registered trademark of Sunbeam.)
Anyway, if you’ve pulled your slow cooker out to make our employee recipes (see “crockpot recipes” post dated Feb 23), you’ll probably want to try these delicious-sounding LA Times recipes: Cuban Style Pork Shoulder, Lamb Tagine, and Bread Pudding with Whiskey Caramel Sauce (you do have to finish browning the bread pudding in the oven, in case you’re wondering.)
February 25th, 2009 | No Comments »
Today I went to the wonderful outdoor market, Marche de Bastille
. It is a food lover’s dream. There is everything one could ever possibly want in terms of French deliciousness. Vendors selling all kinds of raw goods, like various poultry (heads on, some feathers intact) (see photo left), every cut of pork and beef, seafood galore, veggies, spices, freshly made butter and creme fraiche, and all kinds of eggs. They also sell cooked savory goods like choucroute and poulet roti, plus sweets like chichis (commonly known as churros) rolled in sugar as well as caneles. (See photos of caneles, top, left and right.) Caneles were new to me. (Editor’s note: made from a batter that resembles crepe batter and baked at a high temperature in a special copper mold.) They are tiny cooked custards with a caramelized outside. They are, all at once, soft on the inside, chewy on the outside, yet they maintain a delicate crispness much like a lace cookie. Often people are hard pressed to find a good version, but at the market there’s a sweet old man that makes and sells them. If you ever find yourself in the Marche de Bastille you MUST find him.
February 25th, 2009 | No Comments »
An article, by Barry Estabrook, about the way many of the field hands who pick tomatoes in South Florida are treated, published in the March issue of Gourmet magazine, is a real eye-opener. The subtitle, ” if you have eaten a tomato this winter, it might well have been picked by a person who lives in virtual slavery,” will make you think twice if you’re tempted by those firm and tasteless globes sold in the supermarkets this time of year. Even more horrifying is the thought that this virtual slave is laboring in the United States of America. Ninety percent of the fresh, domestic tomatoes we eat come from South Florida, and the largest community of farmworkers live in Immokalee, which, according to Douglas Molloy, the chief assistant US attorney based in Fort Myers, has become ground zero for modern slavery. In Immokalee, frightened, often undocumented field hands from Mexico and South America are grimly exploited by “independent contractors called crew bosses.” Read the rest of this entry »
February 24th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Today for lunch we went to La Bon Coin. The idea here is that they serve fancied up cafeteria style food that a French person would get in grade school. The crowd was a lovely mix of people, from families, to businessmen taking their lunch breaks, to groups of hipster 20 somethings. The food was homey and traditional. By and far the most “interesting” thing I’ve put in my mouth this whole trip was the andouillette- which is not to be mistaken for andouille. Andouillette is actually tripe rolled up in a sausage shape. In this case, it was covered in a Dijon mustard sauce and served with roasted potatoes. While hugely popular with the French, it wasn’t my cup of tea. However, I’m happy to have tried something tres authentique, that I’ve yet to see served in Seattle. Maybe we can start the trend and serve it at Palace Kitchen?
(Editor’s note: When my husband Frank and I were in Paris 9 years ago, Frank made the mistake of ordering andouillette when he thought he was ordering a nice, smoky andouille sausage. What he got was, as Katie describes, a traditional French sausage made from pork intenstines and stomach. Frank is much more adventuresome than I am, but this was offal to the nth degree and he couldn’t eat it. I still remember the off-putting aroma of the thing!)
February 24th, 2009 | No Comments »
We went to Le Severo in search of the classic French meat and potatoes: steak frites. After reading Mark Bittman’s article on the best steak frites in Paris (along with a slew of other blogs and articles) we were sold on Le Severo. It was a pure delight! The owner, a former butcher, greeted us and was the perfect server all night long, guiding us through both the menu and the wine list. The menu was small and very meat heavy- but what they do, they do well. My friend started with the pork rillette, while I opted for the boudin noir. The boudin was flavorful in all the right ways and had nice big chunks of melty pork fat mixed in. My best friend and dining partner, who is not fond of boudin noir, became a convert after tasting this particular version. Next our steak frites came to the table, ordered “saignant” (rare) as is traditional. While I normally don’t eat my steak to that degree of rareness, the meat was of such high quality and so flavorful, I can’t imagine eating it any other way. Served sliced, it was sprinkled with flakes of salt and fresh peppercorns. And what can I say about the frites? They were delicious and the ideal accompaniment. Short and thick, they had a very earthy, intensely potato-y quality that matched the meatiness of the steak perfectly. All this plus a fantastic bottle of Cote du Rhone and a ramekin of chocolate mousse came to less than 50 euro per person. It was my first meal at a true French bistro, and I will never forget it.
February 23rd, 2009 | No Comments »
What a treat Restaurant August was. In a city with a cuisine so soulful, August brought a refined sense of graciousness and taste to the plate. The dining room is stately and simple, as is the food. I love oysters, and being in New Orleans, we had to start with gulf oysters. I found that I like Gulf oysters best when cooked, as they are meatier than our Pacific grown oysters, which I prefer to eat raw. At August, Gulf oysters were cooked in three different sets that contrasted the flavor of the oysters so well. Other standout dishes were the rabbit cassoulet (photo top) and the trout-three-ways (photo right). Both of these dishes, once again, were so refined and focused flavorwise.
February 23rd, 2009 | No Comments »
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