Here I am casing up my sausage. I came up with the idea for “Hungarian goulash flavors:” paprika, caraway, onion, and garlic in an all-pork sausage. I’m pairing this with Hale’s O Brien’s Harvest Ale at tonight’s Beer and Brats. The ale is very malty, so it’s sweet from the malt. The sausage is spicy, and I think sweet and spicy naturally go together. Brian (Palace Chef) is making traditional bratwurst and Brock (Dahlia Chef) is making Merguez, I think. See you at 5pm at Palace Ballroom!
October 30th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Here’s a photo of the oven-fried sweet potatoes I made last night as a side dish for grilled sausages. I love this recipe because it’s delicious, healthy, and pretty quick. You can have this on the table in about 30 minutes, much less time than a baked whole sweet potato, and time is often an issue on weeknights.
Below, you’ll find a recipe that I developed with Tom a while back, though you’ll only need to look at a recipe the first time you make this. After you get the idea, you won’t need it. This is a big recipe, for 6 servings. When I made this last night, I used 2 medium sweet potatoes, cut them into wedges, tossed them with a little oil, salt and pepper and threw them on a baking sheet. Turned them once half way through the baking time in a hot oven and that’s it. Instead of salt and pepper, you can sprinkle the potatoes with your favorite flavor of Rub with Love. (Try the Steak Rub or the Peri Peri.) In the big recipe below, the potatoes are divided between 2 baking sheets so they’ll have room to roast and not steam, but it you’re using a smaller amount of potatoes, you can use one baking sheet.
Oh, and yes, you can use “yams,” such as garnet yams, in the recipe instead of “sweet potatoes.” The “yams” you find in your supermarket are really different varieties of sweet potatoes, and “yam” is used as a marketing name. True yams, which are large starchy tubers, are rarely grown in the US and are not widely available in American markets. Read the rest of this entry »
October 29th, 2009 | No Comments »
So, what to do with leftovers from Poultrygeist? If the answer isn’t obvious…Pizzageist!
I’ve been doing some pizza experimentation this week and decided to toss a pie with leftover duck rillette and duck-roasted spuds from Sunday’s event. Added thinly sliced shallot and caramelized onion, a little aged gouda, and topped with fresh thyme, pink salt, and arugula when I took it out of the oven. OMG…a little duck heaven! The kicker, before assembling the pie was Trudy’s query, “Don’t you have some of that duck fat? why not spread some on the dough before baking it?”
Gotta love it….
October 29th, 2009 | No Comments »
After brain-storming with Kim Ricketts (Kim Ricketts Book Events), Pastry Chef Garrett, Dahlia Bakery Manager Molly, and Dahlia Sous Chef Adrienne came up with the first ever Behind the Bakery Doors event last Friday. About 25 people showed up for the event, which was held right in the pastry kitchen! (photo top) Garrett’s white and red sangrias were so incredible! We met the authors of Forking Fantastic, Zora O’Neill and Tamara Reynolds, and feasted on ham and biscuits, radish sandwiches, and roasted fennel with black olives, all made from recipes from the book. Garrett also made Zora and Tamara’s recipe for ricotta fritters and served them piping hot. That’s Garrett’s hand sprinkling the fritters with sugar in the bottom photo! Look for more Behind the Bakery Doors events in January 2010!
October 28th, 2009 | No Comments »
Darryl, of Seattle Foodies, just posted a bunch of great photos- including shots of Eric, Garrett, Molly, and Adrienne- and an updated post on last weekend’s epic Poultrygeist feast. Check it out here.
October 28th, 2009 | No Comments »
Look at the beautiful new red-laquered bento box from Dahlia lunch service! These boxes just arrived; we were using regular plates for the bento before this. When you order the bento box at lunch you get: grilled prawns, teriyaki beef, sticky rice, pickles, miso soup, and salad. It’s a steal at $13!
October 28th, 2009 | 7 Comments »
A post on nutrition expert Marion Nestle’s blog, Food Politics (you can find this under “Blog Buddies” to your right), notes that Big Food postponed their much criticized “Smart Choices” program (Fruit Loops is a “smart choice?”) after the FDA announced it is “in the process of examining front-of-package labeling issues.”
In a more recent post, Nestle reports that the San Francisco Attorney General just sent a warning letter to Kellogg’s Cocoa Krispies regarding their front-of-package claim that the sugary cereal “helps support your child’s immunity.” Does this imply that eating Cocoa Krispies will protect your kid against swine flu? The SF Attorney General is asking Kellogg’s for the scientific evidence that supports this claim.
A post on Grist, (also on “Blog Buddies” to the right,) called “Corn-based meat and ethanol: burning the planet to a crisp,” by Tom Philpott, argues against the concept that “it’s a good idea to devote vast swaths of land to an incredibly resource-intensive crop– corn– and then run that crop through an energy sucking process to create a product of dubious value.” (ie. corn-based ethanol) According to a policy form piece by University of Minnesota researcher, Tim Searchinger, in Science magazine, the flaw in existing European and pending U.S. climate policy is that “biofuel gets treated as carbon-neutral, ignoring carbon emissions from land-use change.” As Searchinger (isn’t this a great name for a researcher, by the way?) puts it, “Literally, in theory, if you chopped up the Amazon, turned it into a parking lot, and burned the wood in a power plant, that would be treated as a carbon-emissions reduction strategy.”
Editor’s tip: “Grist” and Nestle’s “Food Politics” are two of the smartest and most readable blogs I’ve found if you’re interested in issues of nutrition, environment, sustainability, and more.
October 28th, 2009 | No Comments »
Which country has the second most profitable McDonald’s operation, right after the US? Surprise answer: France.
According to this article in the New York Times, the French have grown fond of their McDonald’s, which “marks a big change from the past decade. When Jose Bove, a French farmer and activist, decided to protest global capitalism and what he called Coca-Colonization in 1999, he dismantled a McDonald’s in the south of France.”
Compare this to the lack of French outrage over the plan for McDonald’s to open a restaurant in the mall right under the Louvre.
The French do eat differently than Americans at McDonald’s. “They come less often but spend more because they want a proper meal. That is defined as a sit-down experience with two courses.” (Editor’s note: I’m not sure what the first course is, McNuggets?) Of course the French do have a somewhat different McDonald’s menu than we Americans, including a version of a Caprese salad called Little Mozza (maybe that’s the first course). They also get beer and espresso, and the French McDonald’s “emphasizes the French origin of the beef and vegetables in its restaurants.” Also, the jambon beurre, or ham and butter sandwich on baguette (another French option not seen in American McDonald’s), “still outsells the burgers 10 to 1.”
October 28th, 2009 | No Comments »
Michael Pollan made the statement that “a vegan in a Hummer has a lighter carbon footprint than a beef eater in a Prius.” Catchy and provocative, but is it true? Nope.
My conclusion? Vegans, please drive Priuses!
October 28th, 2009 | No Comments »
It’s squash time. Don’t forget the bacon. Delicata is my hands down favorite, especially baked with a little brown sugar and bacon.
What’s not to like?
October 28th, 2009 | 2 Comments »
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