My office sits right above the Palace Kitchen, so nearly every afternoon, I take a stroll down the stairs to make my afternoon espresso. Today on the way back up to my desk after pulling myself two shots, I passed by our in-house farmer, Jackie Cross, with her day’s bounty from Prosser Farm. Green beans, little baby carrots, squash and squash blossoms galore! Can you get any more precious than baby vegetables picked just this morning??
I’m a meat eater. But having a vegetarian partner has opened my palate up to the nuances of non-meat flavor. Building flavor through fat is generally a pretty easy task, just add bacon. Obviously, it’s not that easy, but obviously, bacon is simply that delicious. Certainly there was and is a transition of what I value as flavor, but not being able to rely on animal fat for flavor has altered the way that I cook.
Just as bacon is simply delicious so are vegetables. What a revelation! Strip the fat away and a whole new world of flavors jumps out of you. Sutra in Wallingford does an incredible job of building complex and satisfying vegetarian flavors. Perfect for the summer when the local farms are producing at their best, check it out.
(Editor’s note: photo is nettle soup at Sutra)
My first visit to Eric Bahn’s new restaurant, Monsoon East:
Crispy imperial rolls with kurobuta pork, shrimp and glass noodles- delicious!
Oxtail pho with waygu brisket and flank steak- awesome flavor with the richness of oxtail meat!
Caramelized Idaho catfish claypot with fresh coconut juice and green onions- the photo (left, claypot plus imperial rolls) will give you an idea of how delicious this was!
Even the door (photo top) is gorgeous!
I had the best dinner at Brick 29 in Nampa, Idaho, right outside Boise. An awesome whole wheat crepe filled with caramelized onions, peppers, and braised pork (photo top). A great health twist on a quesadilla. Also a very fresh from the garden asparagus soup with spring onions (photo center)…. to die for. Main course was grilled pork loin with a golden raisin and currant compote with asparagus and cilantro pesto potatoes (photo bottom). The pork melted in my mouth. And awesome potatoes. And,for dessert, a twist on a Snickers bar called “The Brick” - crunchy bottom with home made caramel sauce, salted peanuts, whipped cream, and chocolate sides…. OMG a piece of heaven!! Chef’s name is Dustan Bristol. It’s great to see chefs out in Idaho using fresh and organic foods. Bristol made it onto the semifinalist list for James Beard Best Chef Northwest this year.
I’ve been wanting to try Lovely Hula Hands on Mississippi St in Portland for awhile and took the opportunity while we were passing through on a family trip to Dundee for their summer fest. Carlton Farms Pork was the pork of choice here, which I generally feel is a little tough, but I enjoy a little chew. It was perfectly simple, just a grilled pork chop with bitter greens, ricotta dumpling, olive oil and lemon. I ate it down to the bone. I love pork and I really love pork chops. I like them a little on the thicker side so you get a nice char on the outside but juicy and pink on the inside, which is, I guess, how I like all my meat cooked.
Mississippi St is a lot like Old Ballard Ave in Seattle or Smith St in Brooklyn, with a great mix of restaurants, wine bars, sausage shops, boutiques, and fancy retail shops. It’s also such a bonus in Oregon to pay no tax. After eating in Seattle with our 10% tax just to pay the listed price, it feels like such a deal to eat in Portland.
(Editor’s note: photo is of a plate with just a pork chop bone.)
Caffé Ricchi, located in the Piazza Santa Spirito- a charming square complete with Renaissance church, benches, trees, and farmer’s market- serves what I would consider a perfect espresso. Not that I made a systematic study, but exploring Florence, packed as it is with the lion’s share of the world’s Renaissance masterpieces, requires at least one if not two daily stops for espresso to clear the mind in the afternoon.
For a simple shot of espresso, you don’t need to say the word “espresso” in Italy. Just ask for “un caffé, per favore,” and you will recieve an espresso, because drip coffee is not served. (The closest you can get to drip is a caffé americano, or espresso diluted with hot water.)
The astonishing thing to me, is the fact that you get decent to marvelous espresso seemingly everywhere in Tuscany- whether in a restaurant, caffé, or bar- but also at the train station, airport, or the gas station’s convenience store directly off the autostrade! Your espresso will be served to you quite speedily in a little china cup, and, if you like, most of these places will also make you a fresh-squeezed-to-order orange juice as well.
In the airport caffé in Florence- which looked pretty much like any airport fast-food joint- we purchased two quite decent espressos and two decent croissants stuffed with marmeletta (jam) for 4 euros (about $5)- I’d like to see that at Sea-Tac! (By the way, for some reason, the Italians refer to a croissant as a “brioche,” even if the sign reads “croissant.”)
But, back to Caffé Ricchi- before your shot of espresso, you’ll probably want to buy a scoop of their excellent gelato. I ordered a scoop of crema- creamy and mellow- plus a scoop of intensely flavorful pistachio.
So far so good. My little plot of land is producing, not prodigiously but satisfyingly. There is nothing more gratifying than having my kids pick some lettuce for my big juicy burger. I see now how following the planting directions on the package makes sense, and I see how important water and sun are to the development and growth of plants. Can’t wait for next year to change up my garden, but for now I’ll enjoy watching my mistakes bloom, bud, fruit, and grow.
Bistecca alla Fiorentina is one of Tuscany’s best-loved dishes. Emily Wise Miller, in The Food Lover’s Guide to Florence, says:
“A fiorentina is simply the T-bone cut (often enormous, enough to serve two), about one and a half inches thick, grilled over charcoal or wood, and always served rare, with just olive oil, salt, and sometimes lemon or rosemary as flavoring. (Asking for a fiorentina well done is like asking a sushi chef to microwave your tuna roll).”
I met the chef Benedetta Vitali at her wonderful restaurant Trattoria Zibibo (more about this later), and she gave me a copy of her book, La Cucina Degli Affetti, with recipes in Italian and English. Her recipe for Bistecca alla Fiorentina is simply and delightfully this:
“The genuine Florentine steak should be cooked on a grill positioned about 10 cm above the embers: first allow a good crust to form on the side next to the embers, which should be very hot, then raise the grill or reduce the heat of the embers. Cook for 3 minutes then turn the steak over and salt the cooked side. When the other side is also cooked, turn it again and salt that side too. Olive wood should be used for fuel and the heat of the embers must remain hot and constant. The fiorentina must be cooked fast (8 minutes if it is 3 cm thick, 10 to 12 minutes for 5 cm) and should be rare done.” Read the rest of this entry »
I was thinking the other day, as I am oft to do, and my thoughts turned to our black sheep of the Washington wine world. That’s right, I thought about Merlot. It’s a funny little grape that I think most of us have pushed to the back of our wine closets.
Well, it’s not so little of a grape. Some of the biggest size grapes in the spectrum of grapes, this big bad boy has the weight of the world on its shoulders. It is the first grape that Washington is known for cultivating. Many awards were thrust upon Merlot. When you thought of Pinot, you thought Willamette. When you thought Zinfandel or Cabernet, you thought Northern California. And when you pictured Merlot, Washington was on the forefront of your mind. As the years have passed, all Washingtonians think about is Syrah. But I think it’s time to recall our past and what has gotten us this far in the wine world.
Merlot is a funny grape in that it is thin-skinned, yet big in measure. Think of the tall, lanky basketball player in high school and you have Merlot. It grows well in Washigton due to our long days of sunshine and cool nights. This produces a flavor of big fruit and a firm structure. The flavors most commonly found in Merlots are similar to Cabernets, yet more herbaceous and with a lower acidity. This produces a lush feel on the mouth without the dryness of tannins like Cabernets. Read the rest of this entry »
The third crop year has begun at our “Prosser Farm.” Yes, we have even given it a name so it must be, as Loretta would say, “for reals.” Last week we featured perfect yellow beet greens, baby rainbow chard leaves, beautiful crisp heads of lolla rossa, and lush bunches of spicy red and white radishes. The apricot and cherry trees are loaded and are a week or two at most from picking.
For years I have listened to stories of weather-related panic from farmers who sell to our restaurants, so it was a bit weird in late April wondering if the cherry blossoms were going “to set” through a 28° frost or if the snowpack was going to be sufficient for a full summer’s irrigation at our own place. So far so good.
Jackie (my wife and partner), Jim Cross (father-in-law) and Sharon Cross (mum-in-law) represent the entire Prosser Farm team. Our goal is to get our thoughts, cooking, and menus closer to the land and producers. We have been doing this for years, but there’s nothing quite like working the soil yourself– oops, I mean Jackie.
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RSS SubscribeWelcome 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 thoughts, 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
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