The other day, we were chatting in the office about all the blogging and tweeting over that famous McDonald’s hamburger which seems to be lasting forever without decomposing. Haven’t heard about this? Then read what Karen Harahan wrote about her 12 year old McDonald’s burger here on Mother Earth Blog. Harahan’s assumption is that a burger which looks pretty much the same after 12 years, except that it smells a little funny, can’t be real food and can’t have any nutritional value.
Tom Douglas, overhearing the conversation, tossed off the opinion that he didn’t think a Palace burger would look any different sitting around for years as long as it was dry and didn’t have condiments on it. Tom thought it would just keep drying out.
Always ready for a challenge, we asked Palace Chef, Brian W, to make us a well done burger with fries, but no lettuce, tomato, or condiments touching the burger. The burger was cooked well done so it would be dry and therefore more similar to a McDonald’s burger. Which is why it doesn’t look all that tasty even in the day one photo, which is above.
Below is the Palace burger on day two:
It does still look pretty much the same though the fries are starting to look sad.
Interestingly, shortly after we started our experiment, I noticed that Burger Lab, on Serious Eats, was also challenging the myth of “The 12 Year Old Burger.” Kenji Lopez-Alt has started an experiment aging burgers while trying to establish some scientific control factors. (Lopez-Alt started his experiment about the same time we did. I guess great minds think alike.) So we’ll keep an eye on his experiment too as the weeks go by. We, however, do not claim to be setting any scientific standards for our experiment. We’re just going to keep this burger on ET’s desk for as long as he can stand it and take a photo each day. Keep checking this blog to see how our Palace burger is doing.
October 16th, 2010 | 1 Comment »
I stopped by Seatown Snack Bar the other morning for coffee and breakfast. The pour over coffee at Seatown is the best, most flavorful and delicious cup of coffee you can drink! This pour over technique is Tom Douglas’ favorite, and if you ever go over to his house and drink coffee, that’s how he’ll make it for you. He described his coffee making ritual here recently for Seattle Magazine.
Seated at the counter, gazing out the windows at the view across Pike Place Market and Victor Steinbrueck Park (and impressed that there were a few hardy souls at Seatown’s outdoor tables despite the cool drizzle), I enjoyed the buzzy urban vibe. What I like most about Seatown is this: when you’re here you really KNOW you are in Seattle. This is similar to the way I feel when I’m sitting at the Bar at the Modern- now I really KNOW there’s no where else in the world I could be but New York City.
The “Golden Spurtle” hot cereal served at Seatown makes an excellent breakfast for these colder mornings. It came with a drizzle of strawberry syrup, a spoonful of vanilla mascarpone and a scattering of huckleberries. “Golden Spurtle” is not the name of the grain. Bob’s Red Mill “Golden Spurtle” cereal is steel cut oats. Golden Spurtle is the name of the award Bob’s Red Mill won last year at the World Porridge Making Championship. The first and only US competitor to enter this international championship, the Portland, Oregon based Bob’s Red Mill is also the first and only American contestant to win the most coveted prize in porridge-dom. And Bob’s Red Mill had to go up against the people who really know their steel cut oats- the Scots!! Doesn’t that make you feel proud to be living right here in the Pacific Northwest?
October 14th, 2010 | No Comments »
One of the stars of the 2010 Tom Douglas Culinary Summer Camp this past summer was Rose Levy Beranbaum, who did a knockout baking demo for us and signed copies of her newest book, Rose’s Heavenly Cakes. I still remember the stunning glaze Rose and her assistant, Woody, poured over her Chocolate Passion Cake, which was as glossy and shiny as a mirror, not just while fresh, but hours later. I also loved Rose’s Golden Lemon Almond Cake with its beautiful lemon syrup that crystallizes slightly as it sits on the cake. Rose’s own blog is under “Blog Buddies” to the right (you should check it out for the many wonderful baking tips and instructions there), and we noticed that Rose just posted about her Seattle experiences which you can read about here.
Note: The photo of Rose chatting with Thierry Rautureau while she signs books, is courtesy of Rose’s blog.
October 13th, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Lesson one: the easiest way to peel butternut squash is with a vegetable peeler.
Pasta queen, Martha, says, this is the best type of peeler for peeling squash.
Lesson two: Don’t throw away the broccoli stems! Catering cook, Jen, has sliced them, tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Then she plans to roast them in the oven and will sprinkle Parmesan over the top to finish. This will be part of our family meal today! We love eating our veggies!
October 13th, 2010 | 2 Comments »
In the summer of 2009, I planted random veggies in pots on my patio and was rather overwhelmed when faced with the results. With too many veg to cook for dinner every night, I resorted to making pestos and sauces for the freezer, but I felt I should know how to pickle/can/preserve for the next year to add variety.
So, for Summer 2010, I thought I’d plan ahead and plant the veggies I could have fun with. I planted little round stubby carrots and a mix of colorful carrots, rapini, four kinds of beans, leafy greens, and four kinds of tomatoes. Guess what? We had what I think is the rainiest June since records started being kept and a sketchy summer overall. Almost nothing even came out of the ground and if it did it drowned! What’s with that???
I got one handful of purple string beans and four tomato plants with about 40 to 50 medium to large tomatoes which enjoyed staying green. What have we learned from lemons?……How to make lemonade!
My dearest friend and Serious Pie coworker, Shannon Fadness, loves to pickle and can. In September, we bought some Romano beans from the ‘company store,’ and armed with a couple bottles of Prosecco, Shannon came over to my house and we put up what I call Chili Dilly Beans, her very tasty recipe. They turned out great! That was my first attempt.
So, to make a long story longer, I looked up recipes for pickled green tomatoes and bought my own canning equipment and went to work and put up some jars of pickled tomatoes with coriander, mustard, garlic, and a chili pepper.
What I learned…. Mother Nature has plans of her own. You just deal with your garden as it grows. And if I were planting to survive, it would be a pickled winter.
But the mystery of preserving isn’t a mystery after all. I found out that canning/preserving is two basic things: Prepping the ingredients is step one and the canning process, step two. I thought it was a difficult process, but while you can’t rush it, it was totally fun. And the results are a delight to see on my shelf and great to eat!
The photos: top left- twenty plus jars of chili dilly and a couple jars of tomato pickles
top right- tomatoes
center left- pickled green tomatoes
center right- “the beginning”
October 12th, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Picking pumpkins the Prosser way!!!
October 12th, 2010 | No Comments »
I stopped by Seatown To Go to pick up some dinner last week. I chose pork two different ways (which made my husband, Frank, very happy): a half pound of porchetta and a half rack of baby back ribs in a Rub with Love Tokyo Rub glaze. The exciting thing for me was finding out that the carry-out side of Seatown Snack Bar 
has lots of great specials now. There was a whole section of special salads made from Prosser Farm veggies on the menu board. So I picked up small containers of all four salads. When I got home and arranged my veggies on a platter, I had an instant Pam’s Rainbow Platter- which is one of my favorite items on Seatown Snack Bar’s restaurat menu. I’m not sure which was my favorite- either the cucumber kimchee or the harissa eggplant- but I absolutely love having so many tastes,textures, and colors on the plate. Both the porchetta and the ribs were tender, juicy, and flavorful. I especially liked the sweet Tokyo Rub glaze on the ribs. This was a great weeknight take home dinner- everything made from scratch from the best ingredients, but no cooking necessary!
October 11th, 2010 | No Comments »
Have you been to the new Seatown?? For the last 27 years, the possibility of having a restaurant on the corners of Pike Place, Western Ave, and Virginia St. has been nipping at my peabrain. Seatown is blessed with a view down the well worn cobblestones of Pike Place Market all the way to the iconic market clock bearing the familiar market slogan, “Meet the Producer.” You can take a broad look over Victor Steinbrueck Park, Elliott Bay, and Harbor Island and even get a breathtaking vista from Mt. Rainier once in a while. This has to be one of the most natural dining places in the whole city. My dreams came to fruition when the space that housed Habits furniture store next to Etta’s became available this last spring…..
I could keep going because I’m very excited about the joint, but you’ll have to discover more for yourself. You can often find me rain or shine sitting out front in the open air, sipping our tasty pour over coffee at breakfast, the perfect bottle of Chinook Rose in the afternoon, or a lusty Dry Fly whiskey in the evening. This is truly a dream come true!
Read the rest of Tom’s letter here.
October 9th, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Progress is being made at our construction site on the corner of Westlake and Harrison in South Lake Union where our brand new bread and pastry bakeries will be located. You’ll find me here every day, painting and getting things done. We’re at the point where equipment has started to arrive!
Here’s where the bread oven will be:
Here’s the rotating oven:
Here’s the blast chiller (cools things down fast):
The glass doors and windows make this space great. Picture big sacks of flour being rolled through the door in the top left photo.
October 7th, 2010 | No Comments »
Some of the great things about having a meal at Luc in Madison Valley is that it is casual, the staff is super friendly, and the atmosphere is easy. Their signature Lucatini cocktail of Grey Goose vodka, gin, citrus, and Lillet is delicious! Sitting at the expansive bar counter, I had a light meal of smoked salmon and capers on crostini with chevre and arugula, four raw oysters, and also a fabulous bean stew with carrots and rosemary. The house red wine blend by the glass was really lovely.
October 7th, 2010 | No Comments »
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