For the first time since planting it last year, I cut stalks off my rhubarb plant (the start for which I got from a rhubarb grower at a Little Tastes event at Dahlia). Leaving my rhubarb plant with only 3 leaves, I harvested just enough stalks (well, almost enough, I bulked it out with some strawberries) to make one pie for a Sunday night dinner at our friends’ house.
Here’s my recipe:
Your favorite pie crust recipe for a double crust 9 inch pie (my favorite is the all butter pastry recipe on page 256 of Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen. That recipe will yield about 3 ounces more dough than you need for a double crust pie, which you can cut off and freeze or toss before rolling out the rest of the dough. Also, when making the dough, remember that you’re adding ice water “as needed.” Don’t worry if you need a bit more water than the 1/2 cup specified in the recipe. Use enough so the dough just holds lightly together when clumped in your hands.)
1 pound plus 4 ounces of rhubarb, sliced or diced plus 8 ounces of strawberries, hulled and sliced or roughly chopped if large (or just use 1 1/2 pounds of rhubarb)
a scant 1 cup sugar (plus a little more for sprinkling on top)
1/4 cup flour
For the egg wash: 1 egg yolk beaten with 2 teaspoons of milk, cream, or water
In a bowl, combine the rhubarb and strawberries (or just rhubarb) with the sugar and flour.
Divide the dough in two pieces, one a bit smaller than the other. On a floured board (I like using a large silpat mat) with a floured rolling pin, roll the larger disk of dough and place it in your pie pan. Add the fruit to the pie pan. Roll out the smaller piece of dough to cover the top of the pie. Trim excess dough and crimp edges. Brush the top of the pie with the egg wash and sprinkle with a little sugar. Cut a few slashes in the top of the pie to release steam.
Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 375 degrees and continue baking another 45 to 55 minutes, until the crust is golden and you can see liquid bubbling in the cuts on top of the pie.
Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool for at least an hour before serving- with vanilla ice cream of course.
Happy Memorial Day!!! If we can’t have any sunshine for our BBQs, at least we can have pie!
May 31st, 2010 | 5 Comments »
Robyn says: Last Thursday night, Tom invited some local park lovers into his soon to opened (yet to be named) new restaurant space next to Etta’s to talk about another project of his: his brainstorm for “Salmon-Chanted Evenings.” His vision would involve a hot off the grill piece of salmon, a food truck serving up side dishes and beverages, all to create an affordable (12 bucks) salmon dinner for locals and tourists in the Victor Steinbrueck Park (right across from Etta’s.) Eat delicious salmon while gazing over gorgeous Puget Sound and the Olympic mountains. Sound like a dream? Jump on the bandwagon and help us make it a reality!
Gretchen says: Imagine walking over to the waterside edge of the park with your plate of salmon to enjoy the view. It truly is a breathtaking view over and past the park. Standing in the doorway of our newest restaurant space and looking west is a treat. I love the urban element mixed with mountains, blue sky, and water! Think how fun it will be to dig into a plate of fresh off the grill salmon with a couple of tasty sides, talk with neighbors, and look out at that VIEW? It makes you feel alive in your own city! Then it is all enhanced with the goal of creating a cohesive sense of community for those who live, work, or visit downtown Seattle and doing something fun and beneficial.
(Note: Salmon-Chanted Evenings is a project still under development and may come to involve the participation of one or several partners. Profits from the salmon dinners could be designated into extra security for the park or for other beneficial uses in and around the Pike Place Market.)
May 29th, 2010 | 1 Comment »
We followed a French theme last night- first dinner at Le Pichet, and, after that, Candide at the Fifth Avenue Theater. (Candide is, of course, based on a work by the famous French Enlightenment writer, Voltaire; the music for the show was written by the great Leonard Bernstein.)
Whenever I eat at Le Pichet, I have the same thought: why don’t we eat here at least once a week? First we enjoyed a small plate of mixed charcuterie which included a smooth chicken liver pate and lovely slices of Serrano ham. Slices of beef tongue were also on the plate, but Frank ate them all before I could get a bite. With our little pitcher of a French red and a plate of sliced baguette, we were pretty happy already. We also tried the whitefish rillettes tartines on a pea and red and white endive salad. The creamy fish mixture on top of two toasts was very nice, but I liked the lively and tangy dressing on the crisp salad even better. I was in the mood for the steak frites, which came with a delicious sauce of shallot, favas, and port, finished with duck liver butter, and Frank ordered the special, a tasty lamb brochette on couscous with radishes.
As always, the food at Le Pichet is satisfying and good. But that’s not even the main thing I like about the place. Everything here looks and feels exactly as it should- the slim waitresses with the air of sophisticated gamines, the tiled floors, the chalkboard topped tables- all make me feel like I’m leisurely whiling away an evening in a real French bistro in Paris.
Sam Sifton, in Wednesday’s New York Times review of Prime Meats (why didn’t we eat there? We were in Brooklyn only a few weeks ago!) says, “the best restaurants give us a taste of the life we aspire to have.” I might amend “the best” to “my favorite,” and that’s why sometimes all I want is to slouch into one of those tightly spaced tables at Le Pichet.
May 28th, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Last Saturday we opened the doors of Palace Kitchen for a very special lunch so we could all “Pig out at the Palace!” The lunch was held in celebration of Seattle Beer Week, and our friends from Silver City Brewery brought their delicious brews over from Silverdale for everyone to enjoy… except for the little ones who got to indulge their tastebuds with a delicious homemade horchata laced with cinnamon! Speaking of little ones, check out Cora and Cleo Tessaro posing with our crispy, tender pig! (photo below, all the way to the left.) Needless to say…. the event sold out quickly to over 130 pork loving people.
The kitchen served up more than 450 tacos made from succulent pork roasted in our special La Caja china roasting box and served on top of freshly griddled masa tortillas!
Lots of guacamole, chips, and salsas, were devoured, and everyone left a little fatter and happier (except for Darryl who may have been happier, but he never gains an ounce!)
May 26th, 2010 | 2 Comments »
On our recent trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, we were in search of a good, local restaurant. While wandering the cobble-stoned streets of the Romantica Zone, we came upon a corner restaurant, The Adventurous Squid, that had a local family sitting on some stools at an open counter. We knew that we had found a good place, and being so good, we returned the following night!
Here is Jeff sitting at the counter of the smallish kitchen which also serves a back, open-aired dining room. The guacamole with cucumber slices was super simple, fresh, and delicious! It came with a basket of homemade chips, and a big bowl of pico de gallo and picante.
Then came 2 open faced quesadillas of really tender and tasty octopus mixed with onions and salsa. Remarkably fresh and tender! Jeff was hooked on the shrimp empanadas, which were large and came three to an order (not shown).
I became entranced by the simple and delicious garlic grilled prawns which were butterflied and then grilled with butter and shells on. Too tricky to be eaten with a fork and knife, they begged to be picked up with my hands and gobbled down. The rice was light and fluffy with some butter and chiles. The steamed vegetables were so simple and delicious and also contained a melon-like squash called chayote. It tasted, and had the texture, of honeydew. So unbelievably delicious because it was so fresh and simple. An ice cold Pacifico beer in the bottle was the perfect compliment! The kitchen was small and efficient, the waitresses were the sweetest, and the food was wonderfully down home. Bueno!!! It was definitely kind of sad leaving our distant “home away from home-not-home.”
May 25th, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Sunday morning we headed to MOMA where we enjoyed an excellent and extensive show of the works of photo journalist Henri Cartier Bresson and then had lunch at The Bar at the Modern. This is another Danny Meyer joint, though “joint” is perhaps not the right word for this sleek, sophisticated, and beautiful restaurant. (The Bar is the casual space. There’s also a pricier, fancier space called The Modern.) We’ve eaten here before, and we liked it enough for a return visit. For one thing, you can combine an afternoon at the Museum of Modern Art with a lovely lunch, and that’s a deal that’s hard to beat. Also, to me, this place just feels like New York. When you are sitting here, where else in the world could you be but Manhattan? For another thing, though the small plates concept is nothing new, I like the way the menu works. It is simply divided into ONE, TWO, and THREE, with the items in the THREE column being a little larger and more substantial than the other columns, and you are invited to “construct your meal any way you’d like according to your appetite…”
I started with the Tart Flambee- an Alsation thin crusted tart, similar to a cracker-thin pizza, with creme fraiche, onion and bacon. It was delicious and quite large; I was glad that Frank was happy to share. Frank had a flavorful wild mushroom soup with toasted chorizo ravioli which were served on a paper napkin folded like origami. I also enjoyed a saffron tagliatelle with cider braised rabbit and mushrooms. But the best dish might have been Frank’s nice, crispy sweetbreads with caramelized turnips, pain d’epice, and maple jus. I especially liked the thin little slice of pain d’epice, which tasted like a cross between a piece of pumpernickle bread and a gingersnap and was super delicious soaked with all the juices.
May 24th, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Big doings in Prosser!
Well here we go again… time for farming. Only this year we are going even bigger and (hopefully) better. The last several months have been spent transforming the lower fallow horse pasture into a beautiful new bed that is eight times larger than the previous garden! The rabbit fencing has been erected, four quadrants have been double tilled, miles of irrigation pipe laid, rows have been furrowed (best invention ever, the furrower attachment for the tractor), compost spread, seeds started, and drip lines installed.
And then, finally, the big planting… last weekend many fabulous volunteers (family, friends, staff) went to work busily digging away. Everyone was such a great sport despite the unseasonably hot 88 degree weather and the sheer volume of plants. Over 400 tomato plants, 200 peppers and at least 150 eggplants were transplanted along with rows and rows and rows of corn, beans, melons, and squash. Amazingly, three quadrants got completely planted!
My father had also built 9 raised beds (4 ft x 16 ft), which got transferred down the hill on the flatbed truck, set into place and filled with gravel, dirt, and a top layer of compost. These beds will be used for raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, herbs, and other perennial fruits and vegetables. The upper bed (old garden) had already been totally planted and I will begin harvesting lettuces, raab, and radishes in the next week or so.
Plans are underway to build a small barn which will house a walk-in cooler, making holding picked vegetables much easier and maybe even a small green house for starting seeds next year. Well, I can always dream can’t I?
(Editor’s note: In addition to their Seattle residence, Tom and Jackie bought a house and small farm in Prosser, WA, some years ago. The produce from the farm is trucked into the Tom Douglas Restaurants each summer.)
May 20th, 2010 | No Comments »
Last night Annie, Mary Lou, and I made a fabulous dinner in Annie’s kitchen:
Small bites of grilled tartine: dense and chewy walnut bread with a Humboldt Fog interior
Burrata with oven roasted tomatoes, the best olive oil in the world, and a sprinkling of julienned basil
Springtime spaghetti carbonara with ramps, English peas, favas, speck, and snap peas- delicious and simple thanks to Andrew Carmellini’s Urban Italian cookbook.
Lovely spring lettuces with Alice Water’s green goddess dressing- chock full of plucked tarragon, basil, and parsley
All washed down with a Zin, a Carignane and Petite Syrah blend by Ridge.
And, I whipped up a fabulous Greek yogurt mousse with a stewed tart apricot sauce- a recipe Annie loves!
Check out her fabulous little B&B to stay at the next time you get to San Francisco: Annie’s Cottage.
May 20th, 2010 | 4 Comments »
During our trip to New York, on Saturday night, we ate dinner at Marea, located in Midtown West. Only two days later, on Monday night, Marea won Best New Restaurant at the James Beard Awards, so we patted ourselves on the back for being quite the savvy travelers! The chef of Marea is Michael White.
The restaurant is sleek and beautiful. The tableware is gorgeous. The service is polished and ultra professional. A parade of handsome young dining room managers and a crowd of eager bussers tirelessly patrolled our table.
If you’re on a budget, here’s a warning: Marea is expensive. Even though we chose one of the cheaper wines ($45) on the pricey list and declined cocktails, we spent more here than anywhere else we dined in New York. The food, however, is quite delicious and our dining experience was seamless.
Since Marea is an Italian seafood place, we started with the fish and shellfish crudo, which reminded me of the Sea Bar at Dahlia though the list of choices at Marea is much longer. With the help of our waiter, we painstakingly chose three items (three small tastes for $25): Pacific horse mackerel with crispy prosciutto and basil, Pacific langoustines with Murray River pink salt, and branzino with olive oil and a tiny dice of beets. All three were magnificent, glistening, super-fresh fish and seafood with pure flavors, and the sweet, delicate taste and texture of the langoustines is something I may never forget. These tiny bites were the highlight of the meal.
We followed the crudo with a plate grilled octopus garnished with smoked potatoes and pickled red onion. The bread on the table, by the way, was terrific, especially the multigrain. I asked about it and was told it was from Sullivan Bakery, which must be an excellent bakery indeed. The pleasantly oily focaccia was made in house and was excellent as well.
Next up, two pastas. A plate of orecchiette with spot prawns, chiles, and rosemary was very nice, but the agnolotti with veal, sweetbreads, and mushrooms was divine!
Though pretty full at this point, we shared an entree: Striped bass with cauliflower, pickled grapes, and walnut agrodolce. It was beautifully plated and perfectly cooked. (the photo, all the way to the right in the series of four, is a half portion)
After a dessert of tiny squares of carrot cake served with golden beet ice cream (which made me think of our previous pastry chef, Garrett Melkonian), we received a beautiful plate of chocolates with a candle- to celebrate our anniversary. I guess this was a happy mix-up. I was celebrating 20 years with Tom Douglas Restaurants on this vacation, so in a way it was an anniversary celebration, but I don’t think our waiter could have known that.
As our busser (our busser, not our waiter) came to do clear up some things at our table for the last time, he said, quietly and solemnly: “it was a pleasure to serve you.” New York has the greatest bussers in the world!
May 20th, 2010 | No Comments »
Our next NYC eating adventure was at Danny Meyer’s newest joint, Maialino, a “Roman Trattoria” which is located in the Gramercy Park Hotel. Meyer is one of New York’s superstar restaurateurs. His other restaurants include Gramercy Tavern, Blue Smoke, Tabla, The Modern, Shake Shack, and more.
Maialino turned out to be a good choice for brunch with friends… in fact, a renunion of five of the seven friends who shared a house together in Florence. We started things on a convivial note with a couple bottles of Prosecco and a lip smacking Bloody Mary for Frank. Frank liked the Bloody Mary so much, he asked the bartender what was in it and was given a list including Belvedere Vodka, toasted cumin, cardamom, and celery seed. I think it was the perfect amount of toasted cumin that really made this Bloody Mary great!
What we liked best: silky textured smoked swordfish with pickled onions, a nice plate of mixed salumi, baked eggs in spicy tomato sauce with guanciale (this was a real stand-out and made all of us at the table question why we weren’t baking eggs at home). I also enjoyed my carbonara with black pepper, guanciale, and egg. (I went on a pasta tear through New York; since Frank generally avoids carbs at home- I am starved for pasta!)
But the winning item on the table was a humble looking plate of ricotta pancakes: fluffy, delicate, tender…. pancakes from heaven. They came with a pitcher of real Vermont maple syrup. (Our waiter told us his friends make the syrup.)
We ended with Affogato, which is vanilla ice cream “drowned” in espresso, and a little glass of Vin Santo with biscotti- similar to what we enjoyed together all over Florence last Spring.
May 19th, 2010 | 2 Comments »
For the first time since planting it last year, I cut stalks off my rhubarb plant (the start for which I got from a rhubarb grower at a Little Tastes event at Dahlia). Leaving my rhubarb plant with only 3 leaves, I harvested just enough stalks (well, almost enough, I bulked it out with some strawberries) to make one pie for a Sunday night dinner at our friends’ house.
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