1. Gather four or more hungry friends and make your way to Little Hot Pot near the Crossroads Mall in Bellevue.
2. Choose a type of soup base (broth) for your hot pot. Or choose two different kinds that can be served in the same pot with a divider down the middle.
3. Order a variety of meats and vegetables for cooking in the broth. (see bottom photo) This is no time for restraint! We were a group of six and ordered with abandon! Paper-thin slices of beef, lamb, and chicken; shiitake and enoki mushrooms, dried tofu sheets, winter melon, and herbs I didn’t recognize. Noodles, too. And whole eggs for cracking. The broth arrives in a big metal bowl and rests on a burner built into your table, with heat you control yourself. Bring it to a boil and start adding the goodies.
4. The hot pot advantage is that it stays hot. Cook what you like a little at a time so all through the meal the food is fresh and continues boosting the soup’s complex flavor.
5. Bring someone in your group who will order beef tendon. This is the secret ingredient. The tendon, bubbling away for a few minutes, tastes like a thick, meaty noodle and is a foodie’s delight. But even better, beef tendon begins to dissolve into the broth, giving it the silky texture and gelatinous body of world class soup stock.
6. When the pot is empty and you shift in your seat and hear a sloshing sound, you have finished. Sigh, pay your tab, and return home satisfied.
7. Repeat as necessary.
April 13th, 2009 | No Comments »
Seattle Times food writer, Nancy Leson, posts about our Cornmeal Rosemary Cake (the recipe is in Tom’s Big Dinners ) on her All You Can Eat blog. Nancy says it’s her favorite cake, which she’s baked at least a dozen times. (Thanks, Nancy!) She made it for a book club dinner, but she suggests baking it as your special Easter cake. Now that Easter is over, we think you may want to try our cake for a special spring dinner with friends or for Mother’s Day. (The recipe is linked to Nancy’s post.)
(Editor’s note: Nancy describes a few ways she has tweaked the recipe. As Tom’s cookbook co-author, I think these variations look great. Anyone who makes a recipe a dozen times has definitely made that recipe her own!)
April 13th, 2009 | No Comments »
Learn something new about Tom Douglas in this article in Restaurant Hospitality Magazine, such as Tom’s thought #1:
“One thing you don’t know about me is that I’m the only heterosexual who knows all the words to Broadway show tunes.”
April 13th, 2009 | No Comments »
White House officials believe that the Passover seder celebrated Thursday night by the Obama family and guests was the first ever seder dinner to be held in the White House by an American president, according to this article in the New York Times. The Obamas, of course, are not Jewish, but they celebrated this Jewish holiday with aides and their families over a meal that included traditional favorites such as matzo ball soup, brisket, and kugel, prepared by the White House chef after consulting the family recipes of some of the participants.
April 10th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
This time of year, the blogosphere comes alive with posts, like this one, about where to find and purchase kosher Coke. The Coca-Cola company puts out a limited run of Coke that’s made with refined sugar using the older classic recipe, so as not to lose the Coke-drinking-observant-Jews-market during Passover. Years ago, Coke, like most other sodas, switched from sugar to high fructose corn syrup because corn syrup is much cheaper. But corn syrup, along with bread, flour, grains, and many other things, happens not to be permitted to those who observe the kosher rules of Passover. The buzz, however, is not about the kosher angle. There is a cult-like obsession among certain Coke drinkers who believe that Coke made with sugar (and for American Coke, this limited batch of kosher Coke is the only Coke that is made with sugar) has the true, the best, the purest and cleanest real Classic Coke taste.
Does Coke made with sugar taste better? I’m not an expert because I rarely drink soda pop. However many people seem to think so, and it does sound better. Here’s an insider secret: Mexican Coca-Cola is made with sugar, not high fructose corn syrup. Where can you find Mexican Coke? Right on the Serious Pie menu, and it comes in a cute little glass bottle. Better yet, stop by during the Pie’s new Happy Hour (3pm to 5pm, Mon thru Fri) and get a cute half-size $5 pizza pie to go with it. (This will not, however, be a kosher-for-Passover experience, so if you’re worried about eating bread during Passover, you’ll have to wait a few more days).
Happy Passover!
April 9th, 2009 | No Comments »
If the busiest man in America (Obama) can do it, why can’t I? Between starts and seeds, I hope to have a bevy of fruit and veggies in a couple of months. My grandfather ran a strawberry farm in Oxnard, CA, and my uncle farmed corn in Pomona, CA. We’ll see if any of their skills were passed down to me. Thankfully, if my crops fail, I’m just a stone’s throw from the Ballard Farmer’s Market.
April 9th, 2009 | No Comments »
What happens when food cultures collide? Well, Unicorn Crepes in the ID is a funky example of what does happen. Unicorn Crepes is the 31 flavors of the crepe world. At Ballard Sunday Market, you have Anita’s, which makes great European style crepes and fillings such as ham and cheese, nutella, etc. But at Unicorn, you have: corn flakes, chocolate and cream (which I ordered), spicy chili hot dog, potato and egg (which I wanted to order), and that’s just the beginning. There are a slew of other filling choices each as odd and beguiling as those mentioned prior. I loved it, and I’m headed back to try the spicy hot dog crepe and check out all the unicorn art.
April 9th, 2009 | No Comments »
Who doesn’t love a buffet? Chuck-A-Rama, an all you can eat buffet in St. George, Utah, fits the bill as the destination of choice for meeting my new family (editor’s note: ET and Danica are engaged!) 12 hungry folks from preteen age to their mid 80′s found fresh baked biscuits, bread, pan-fried chicken, tiger’s blood freezes (cherry flavor, I think?), and 2 salad bars amidst the 8 islands of food, all for $8.95. I have been a fan of salad bars since my first trip to the “line” at The Sizzler. Every steak came with a trip to the salad bar; I never really went for the steak- it was always about the salad bar. I also always seem to get the same salad at any salad bar I’m at: chopped romaine, garbanzos, sliced white mushrooms, peas, corn, and ranch dressing. It’s also odd how there is virtually the same salad bar set up at every salad bar in America. I don’t know why, but I’m a sucker for a salad bar.
April 9th, 2009 | No Comments »
It’s a chemical reaction. You can’t resist bacon, and it’s not your fault. You must attend Baconopolis.
Bacon’s irresistible attraction is explained by British researchers here in this article in the Telegraph. (By the way, buttie is British slang for sandwich, and a bacon buttie is a favorite snack in Britain.)
April 8th, 2009 | No Comments »
I built two boxes, 6′ X 6.’ Only one box is full of dirt right now- 350 pounds of garden mix dirt, 50 pounds of steer manure, and 50 pounds of Cedar Grove compost.
I started peas (photo top) direct seeded in the garden, and carrots from seed started inside the house, as well as leeks, radishes, and lacinato kale (photo bottom left).
My son, Baker (photo bottom right), loves to pull the mature carrots.
April 8th, 2009 | No Comments »
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