This is the time of year I skim through newspaper dining sections and cooking magazines ostensibly looking for new Hanukkah ideas. Today’s New York Times has a recipe for Red Flannel Potato Latkes with beets and celery root. Sounds kinda good…. but not for Hanukkah. Bon Appetit’s December issue has a recipe for Latkes with Ancho Chiles Salt and Watercress Guacamole… no way! That’s going too far.
Who am I kidding? This Hanukkah, like every Hanukkah, I will try to reproduce those ethereal crispy-edged delights of childhood memory- Grandma Pearl’s Potato Latkes. Grandma Pearl was always a good cook, but a few of her dishes were magnificent, and potato latkes were chief among the triumphs. Crispy disks with lacy edges and a padded center of potatoey goodness with a whisper of grated onion. My latkes are pretty good. Grandma Pearl’s were better; she was a genius with a cast iron pan of bubbling oil. Of course, childhood memory may be clouded with nostalgia, but Grandma Pearl hand grated the potatoes, which gives them the best texture. I use the grating attachment of the food processor because I’m too lazy to do it by hand. Also Grandma Pearl stood at the stove frying until all the latkes were cooked and served- so every delicate pancake came to your plate freshly fried and hot out of the pan.
My cousin Jonathan makes latkes for his Hanukkah parties. I think they’re pretty good, though not quite up to my personal gold standard. One thing he does exactly right, in pure bubby-style (bubby is Yiddish for grandmother): he stands in the kitchen wearing a flower-print apron, cooking latkes in his garage-sale electric fry pan, and doesn’t sit down until every pancake is fried. At first, people stand around and eat the latkes right out of the pan. Finally we sit at the dining table and wait for platters of latkes to be run out to us from the kitchen as soon as they’re cooked. Read the rest of this entry »
December 9th, 2009 | 4 Comments »
A few bits of news I found strolling through the “Blog Buddies” list to your right:
From The Food Section: A Swedish fast food chain, Max Burger, claims to be the first restaurant to publish C02 emissions on the menu. Ready for that soya burger?
Also from The Food Section: Guns for Butter– New Jersey officials in Cumberland County, the state’s poorest county, make an attempt to offer food as an inducement for trading in firearms.
From Eater: A Washington Post expose on restaurants that are making dubious claims about being green- for example, self-described “super green” restaurants that list local farms that they haven’t purchased anything from in months and serve Atlantic farmed salmon on their menus. Are we really surprised that some businesses use “green” buzzwords as a cynical marketing ploy?
December 8th, 2009 | No Comments »
Superstar chef and restaurateur, Thomas Keller, was in town for a Kim Ricketts Books for Cooks event for his new book, Ad Hoc at Home, and also gave a talk and signed books on the Microsoft campus. He said Ad Hoc is the book he wanted to do for the home chef, but the project raised questions like- who is the home chef? What equipment do they have? What skills? Keller said the most important things are product and execution, but in the end, “it’s all about finesse.”
He also told a story about his father, who lived right beside him during the last few years of his life. One time, his father requested BBQ chicken for dinner, and Keller made it for him, choosing a bottle of BBQ sauce (from a selection of “way too many”) from the store, making mashed potatoes, collard greens, and out-of-season strawberry shortcake. Keller sat outside and ate this favorite meal with his father. The following day, his father died.
Keller said Ad Hoc means to him: preparing and sharing food with your family.
December 8th, 2009 | No Comments »
While on my trip to San Francisco, I soaked up the diversity and friendliness of one of the most marvelous cities in the United States. I also ate my way across the city in the four days that I was there. One of the great meals that I had was at Range in the Mission.
I started out with marinated artichokes with pancetta, fromage blanc, lemon aioli, and breadcrumbs (photo top left). It was light and fresh, with a great saltiness and fatty mouth-feel from the beautiful ribbons of freshly shaved Parmesan. I paired it with a dry Riesling from Australia- Eins, Zwei, Drie- which was light, slightly sweet, yet clear, and with notes of crisp apple.
Following that, I had the seared day boat scallops with avocado, cucumbers, and chilled tomato broth (photo bottom right). So marvelous, light, and ethereal! The tomato broth was scented with coriander, vermouth, and white wine.
I finished with braised cod with fingerling potatoes, olives, shaved fennel, and a mustard sauce (photo bottom left). The simple preparation had a delightful butter- mustard sauce with lemon and pureed potatoes to tighten it up. I paired it with a Bink Pinot Noir from California. It was dense and fruity with a great, bright acid.
December 7th, 2009 | No Comments »
In Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, they have a night food market with all sorts of goods for sale. The array of fruits, veggies, fish, and meats is pretty incredible. The smell of the market is quite intense. The fruit is fresh and real so you get the full scent of the mangoes, papayas, and the most lasting impression of durian. I’ve smelled durian here in the states, but it seemed somewhat muted as the fruit had come from a frozen state. In Borneo, the intense dirty sock scent kind of reached out and socked you in the nose. I tried the fruit, just harvested, and it has a custardy pudding texture with a slightly sweet and slightly savory vanilla flavor.
In addition to the produce stalls, there are a bunch of food stalls. Fried everything: bananas, rice, noodles, chicken, pastries, and donuts. Once again, as in the market in Ubud, Bali, it’s all fried in palm oil which gave me another huge stomach ache, but I soldiered on. After our appetizers of fried anything, we moved to the heart of the market. At the north end of the market was a BBQ zone. About thirty vendors with charcoal grills and piles of chicken wings, fish, prawns, and crab. You pick from fresh fish or previously grilled fish, sit down at picnic tables, and the vendor brings rice, chili sauce, and drinks if you want. It’s a night market under a tent with Christmas lights, so there is a wonderful glow and an appetizing smell from the grilling. Hundreds of people are at the communal tables, not because it’s cool, but because they are communal and friendly. When the fish is done grillling, they mop it with a chili based sauce, and you dig in with your fingers and chow down.
December 3rd, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Why not kick the last month of 2009 off with your favorite chefs? Hang out with Tom and Thierry as they talk food!
After Tom and Thierry catch up with one another, they’ll check in with our girl on the go go, Amy Pennington of GoGoGreenGarden. She’ll be coming live and direct from her craft sale! She’ll be talking about her items on the sale table: caramelized seckle pears, chutneys, scented sugars and more!
The guys will also be talking tool technique. This week they’re discussing the ever useful, serrated knife then they’ll be giving it away. And to build excitment, you should know that it is a one of a kind, Tom Douglas by Pinzon, serrated knife MEDIA SAMPLE! Awesome!!
Tom and Thierry will then deem a variety of olive oils “delicious” or “not delicious”.
Producer Katie O. will be onsite at this year’s Punk Rock Flea Market in downtown Seattle. We’ve been told that there are tacos, vegan treats, skateboards, political propaganda and tarot card reading!
To keep with the holiday purchasing theme, Mike Teer of Pike and Western Wine Shop will reveal the “Tom, Thierry and Mike Wine Case” 3 wines picked by your 3 favorite guys! Give it as a gift or hoard it to yourself- tis the season of giving, but tis also your choice whether to drink or gift.
And this week’s special guest is Langdon Cook, author of “Fat of the Land”. 
He’s going to drop some great knowledge about the world of foraging in the Pac NW!
All of this PLUS trivia, PLUS listener call ins, PLUS giveaways, so tune in!
Listen to the show here!:
First hour
Second hour
Third hour
December 3rd, 2009 | No Comments »
Palace Ballroom was jammin’ at last night’s Cookbook Social- wine to sip, luscious bites of food, chefs and cookbook authors to chat with, and shopping bags full of cookbooks to tote home for holiday gifts. It was fun to see some new faces this year, such as Becky Selengut, or Chef Reinvented, (photo bottom left), and Matthew Amster-Burton (photo middle right); and just as much fun to welcome our longtime friends like Leslie Mackie’s Macrina team(photo middle left), Thierry Rautureau of Rovers (photo top left), Fran Bigelow of Fran’s Chocolates (photo bottom right) and of course our host Tom Douglas, slicing smoked salmon (photo top right).
December 3rd, 2009 | 1 Comment »
For those unfortunate to not have had the ramen soup at Samurai Noodle, stop reading this and run down there! It is a tiny Japanese noodle house located on the west side of Uwajimaya and has the most amazing soup that I ever had in my life- no joke! You order the type of ramen soup that you would like, and then order your “add ons” from the extensive menu.
I always get the “Samurai Armour” add on- it has extra pork slices, flavored egg, extra green onion, bamboo shoots, extra roasted seaweed, and black mushroom (kikurage). The broth and the soup is intense, lip smacking, rich pork broth. The sliced pork is some of the most succulent, tender, and flavorful pork that I ever had. Just look at all the incredible side items to build your soup with! There is not much conversation that goes on once we start eating, except: “I can’t believe how delicious this is!!” The weather just beckons a meal like this to warm the body & soul and invigorate the senses!
December 2nd, 2009 | No Comments »
I ate an embarrassing amount of potato fritters at work last night. I ate so many, in fact, that I figured they were good enough to blog about. For me, working pantry has turned into an opportunity to carbo-load. Chef Brian Walczyk mixes mashed potatoes, Beecher’s cheddar, and eggs, then rolls them into little potato croquettes, breads them in panko, and fries them. Walczyk is a firm believer in the power of the fryer- and the cooks support him. Served alongside cold and creamy caraway onion dip, these little napalm hot potato bullets serve as a delicious “lite” snack after a long night at work. The fritters are salty, crunchy, and delicious, and to answer your question: Yes I would eat the onion dip with a spoon.
December 1st, 2009 | No Comments »
We had a marvelous dinner at the Harvest Vine! The food, service, quality, preparation, and presentation are just so outstanding! We had the beet salad with thinly sliced red and golden beets, garlic, salt, sherry vinegar, and Spanish olive oil. There is great crunchy bread to sop up all of the sauces. We also had roasted cauliflower with toasted breadcrumbs and shaved truffles, which would make even a carnivore swoon.
Then there was Spanish mackerel with sauteed peppers, mixed greens and parsley oil (photo top). Our last dish was air-chilled duck, which was a euphoric combination of a fully deboned duck stuffed with minced livers, kidney, and heart, all rolled together with the outer fat into a roulade, then preserved in duck fat. Slices are cut and seared and served with cippolini onions, a rich duck jus, parsnips, and turnips (photo bottom). One of the most rich and succulent dishes that I have had in a while.
The most perfect pairing of wines for the whole dinner was a red wine called Finca Contancia. It is a blend of Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, and Tempranillo. Full bodied wihta delicious amount of dark fruits, smokiness, balanced oak. Heaven in Madison Valley!!
December 1st, 2009 | No Comments »
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