Tom Douglas

Interview with Tom Douglas

Nice interview with Tom by Jennifer Heigl on Daily Blender.  Read it here.

September 15th, 2009 | No Comments »

Ballard Market by Shelley Lance, Blog Editor

We did our produce shopping at the Ballard Market yesterday.  Very fun, very crowded, and packed with late summer abundance: heirloom tomatoes, peppers of all colors and varieties, sweet corn, lettuces, blackberries, wild mushrooms, squash of all types, and so on.  The loveliest radishes were these red and white French Breakfast beauties at Full Circle Farm (photo bottom).  Here’s a “Where’s Waldo” moment: Pamela Hinkley (TDR CEO) and Michael Teer (Pike and Western Wine Shop) sighted doing their weekly shopping (photo top).

September 14th, 2009 | No Comments »

Palace Kitchen Dinner by Shelley Lance, Blog Editor

My husband, Frank, and I had a lovely dinner at Palace late last week.  The “Palaceville” handmade bratwurst with beer braised onions, mustard crumbs, and new crop-applesauce, Chef Brian Walczyk’s favorite, was tasty and fun.  I’m sad we forgot to snap a photo of the Beecher’s stuffed pimento with olive salad- a gorgeous, vividly colorful plate and delicious too.  We remembered my camera by the time a generous portion of  beautifully sauteed chanterelles with grilled bread came to the table (photo top).  A small handful of sweet cherry tomatoes played off the savoriness of the mushrooms.  We also got a good photo of the corn cakes with three toppings (photo bottom): spicy cucumber, herbed chevre, and caramelized Walla Walla onions.  Another beautiful plate, as you can see, and luscious.  The thick corn cakes were rich but light with an almost fluffy texture that melts in your mouth. The harmonious flavors of the toppings set off the corn cakes perfectly.

Palace menu changes frequently, but Brian assures me corn cakes will still be available tonight, so I’d suggest you come on in and grab a plateful.

September 14th, 2009 | No Comments »

Meriwether’s, Portland/ by Eric Tanaka, Executive Chef

Farm to Table, organic, local, what do these terms really mean?  I read and see these terms all the time but really, doesn’t all produce come from a farm and go to a table?  Organic has been co-opted by agri-business as a marketing term and local- how do you define that vague term? I mean agri-business can’t even figure local out.  Meriwether’s has figured it out.  They own and operate their own farm (Skyline) and serve the produce in their restaurant.  I appreciate the effort and applaud the vision to produce and serve real food.

September 12th, 2009 | No Comments »

Delfina, San Francisco/ by Robyn Wolfe, Marketing

This is all that was left of the Sepia in Nero (squid ink pasta) at Delfina! And, that was after the escargot, sardines, and rabbit dish- all were divine!

September 12th, 2009 | No Comments »

Nine-Ten, La Jolla, California/ by Lawrence Iverson, IT and Restaurant Rambler

This port wine braised short rib panini with aged cheddar and onion marmalade at Nine-Ten was the best sandwich! Out of this world awesome!  I didn’t even think about the fries, and the fries were good. This sandwich rocked!

September 11th, 2009 | No Comments »

It’s Tailgate Season! by Carol Baush, Rub with Love

My husband and I are rabid Husky football fans and we were so excited for the season to start last Saturday. We always pack in the table, chairs, BBQ, cooler, etc and were so surprised when we arrived over 3 hours before kickoff and saw our usual spot invaded by LSU Tiger fans!  The environment was civil with the usual good natured taunting back and forth. Those LSU fans really know how to party… For our tailgate feast this week my husband took our burgers sourth of the border by adding Tabasco, cumin and other spices before forming the patties.  He melted pepper jack cheese on top and we added guacamole and chips on the side.  It was delicious with a cold one before the game.  Go Dawgs!

Note: Yes, I actually put the opposing team’s mascot in the mouth of my Husky each week….

September 9th, 2009 | No Comments »

Bunk,Portland/by Eric Tanaka, Executive Chef

Sandwiches can be so great and they can be so bad. Who hasn’t had a 7-11 gut bomb where the only difference between the cheese, bread, meat, and lettuce is color. So I’m always on the hunt for a good sandwich.  I’ve been hearing a lot of great things about Bunk down in Portland.  It was fun; everything a sandwich joint it supposed to be.  Service was friendly, sandwiches tasty, and ambiance crusty.

Editor’s note: bottom photo is a meatball sandwich and red bean, mustard green, and sausage soup.

September 9th, 2009 | No Comments »

My plum jam by Shelley Lance, Blog Editor

Determined to make jam from my scraggly looking but abundant Italian prune-plum tree, I waited until the downpour stopped late Sunday morning, then dragged the ladder out to the yard.  I picked 4 pounds of plums (photo top left), getting well sprinkled in the process from the tree’s soaking wet leaves.  After studying recipes in several cookbooks, I had settled on a plum jam recipe in one of my old faves, Fancy Pantry, which was pretty straightforward: just plums, sugar, lemon juice, and the surprise ingredient of a little Cointreau.

Next I had to root around in the basement for all my gear: jars, two part lids, a rack for my biggest pot, a metal wide mouth funnel, a little magnetized stick for picking the flat metal lids out of the hot water and even a little rack for holding the lids tidily upright in the water (these last two may sound goofy, but I found them delightfully helpful.)  Most important of all, a jar lifter for moving the jars in and out of the hot water.  My old jar lifter fell apart the last time I was canning something (years ago), and believe me, your tongs do not work nearly as well for this task. (Some of my tools in photo center left.)

Next came all the preparation for the jars and lids: washing them first (photo top right), then sterilizing.  Making the jam was easy (see pot of pitted plums photo center right), except that, for me, “passing the jelly test” is a bewildering prospect with terms like “cold spoon test” and “cold saucer test” being bandied about. I used a candy thermometer and took the bubbling, spattering, plum mixture to about 218°F.

Then comes filling and sealing the jars and processing them in the hot water bath.  Finally, I use my nifty jar lifter to lift the jars out of the water and set them on a dish towel (photo bottom).  My favorite part of the whole process was hearing the little “ping” as each flat metal lid sealed itself to the top of the jar.

I’m following Amy P’s advice and waiting a few months, so I haven’t opened any of my jars or tasted my jam yet.  The color is nice and, since the jam seems pretty solid, I think I “passed” the jell test.  I hope my jam is super delicious as it was a fair amount of work and time consuming (did I mention the clean-up?).  A luxury jar of $10 boutique jam will not look so outrageous to me now.  However, the homemade jam from my own plum tree– priceless!

September 8th, 2009 | 5 Comments »

Martha’s Chevre and Potato Ravioli by Robyn Wolfe, Marketing

Check out these perfectly roasted Yukon golds that have been drizzled with olive oil and thyme.  Once ground, they’ll be mixed with Laura Chenel chevre, caramelized Walla Walla onions, and mascarpone to create Martha’s popular chevre and potato ravioli that you can find on the Palace Kitchen menu tonight!

By the way, Martha Francis has been Tom’s pasta goddess for 13.5 years and she makes all our fresh pasta at all the Tom Douglas joints!! A quote from Martha:

“Life is a combination of Magic & Pasta”- Fellini

September 8th, 2009 | 2 Comments »