Just out of the oven, a turkey carving a turkey (lol), stock!
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, not only for the cornucopia of food, but mainly because our short time in Seattle allows us to make new “family” traditions that may or may not stick over the next 20 years. We’re kinda playing it by ear. Hee hee.
One tradition that my girlfriend Liana will NOT miss is turkey congee the day after Thanksgiving. Growing up in a Chinese household, one of her grandmothers would make a delicious creamy rice porridge that would warm the coldest of mornings. It’s one of her favorite holiday memories.
After dinner yesterday, I didn’t waste any time making stock! I placed the picked-over carcass in a large pot and added enough water to cover. I also added roasted onions that I charred in the broiler and nubs of ginger. And since I was working at Seatown the next day, I thought I’d share the tradition with my co-workers! HOORAY FAMILY MEAL.
“Day After Thanksgiving” Congee
Congee is uber simple to make and should be available in your pantry / freezer at all times. It’s my favorite thing during cold nights and even better on colder mornings for breakfast (WITH THICK SLIPPER SOCKS). I used Thanksgiving turkey scraps, but you could use chicken here!
Liquid to rice ratio: 8 to 1
Bring 6 cups (turkey / chicken) stock and 2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and bring to a boil again. Reduce to low heat for a gentle simmer. Add one inch nub of ginger and one clove of garlic. Cover pot and cook for one hour. Do not remove cover. You will not need to stir.
During this time, the rice should have expanded twice its size and then released its starches to where the soup becomes thicker. I stop the cooking process when the soup has the consistency of oatmeal and can barely see the original grain shape, about 1.5 hours. I then hit it with one teaspoon of freshly ground white pepper. I also use enough Kosher salt to BARELY season the soup – I’ll explain why:
Etta’s sous chef, Nathan Crave, was nice enough to bring a few salted duck eggs for an awesome savory-ness. He also hooked it up with some dried shrimp, which also adds a special salty boost, which is why I hardly used any salt during cooking. I also served family meal with sliced green onions and cilantro, garlic chips and oil and crushed nuts for crunch!
364 days until congee day! TRADITION!
November 27th, 2010 | 2 Comments »
The Dahlia Bakery “elves” made 300 pies for Thanksgiving this year! Pastry chef Stacy and pastry baker Kelsey stayed up all night making pies! Happy Thanksgiving!!
November 24th, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Thinking of picking up a Thanksgiving treat for tomorrow at our bakery? We’ll be outside from 11-2 handing out free samples of our Rub with Love turkey and hot cider. Just look for all the crazy people dressed like pilgrims and turkeys handing out samples.
UPDATE! A photo of ET in his awesome turkey costume (with signature green vest!)
(Picture credit to Eric Musehl!)
November 24th, 2010 | 2 Comments »
I’m in a conundrum. It is not unlike one I have had in many instances past, but I still struggle with the same angst every time it arises: I found a new spot that I love and I’m not sure if I want to share it because you might take the last barstool. Ah, well. Those kindergarten lessons paid off, and I do know that ‘sharing is caring,’ and, alas, I want these boys to survive and thrive in their new joint, so here you have it: I am in love with La Bete.
I made a 7:30 reservation last night for my friend Shannon’s birthday. She hemmed and hawed about laying low for her birthday, but it occurred to me that La Bete could be the most delightfully appropriate venue for her anti-birthday birthday, and man… I’m glad I’m always right.
We were greeted with open arms by the manager, Dan (literally- I think he hugged us), who had us all set up at the counter. Within seconds, a bottle of Cremant arrived, sent with love from our best friend in Boston. Set a bucket of bubbles in front of me anytime and consider me sated, but this was only the beginning.
Right off the bat, I couldn’t read any further down the menu without trying the Parmesan gougeres with white anchovy and egg. I will always eat gougeres by the fistful- I mean, put them in a popcorn tub and leave me alone- but it was the anchovy that really got me salivating this time. The pairing was in fact lovely, and I think I would come back to it again for an especially delightful brunch snack. But I am curious why they were served cold… I will let that slide for now, because, as I said, love can make a gal forgive such shortcomings.
It took me about 3 seconds to decide on my main course- the mushroom bread pudding. The same applied for Shannon who is a sucker for lamb, which in this case, was paired with baby carrots, the cutest little baby golden beets, and harissa. None of this needs literary adornment here. The main course exceeded every one of my expectations, and we both licked our plates. ‘Nuf said.
One beautiful aspect of La Bete is watching the (shockingly calm) kitchen toil away over their creations whilst you sit at the counter. Though the kitchen lights are a little too bright for my utter and complete dining comfort- c,mon what lady doesn’t prefer dim lighting? – you can literally see the love back there. It’s a beautiful thing.
The gents sent us out a little surprise- the kabocha squash soup with herb popover. And how. This dish turned out to be the sleeper hit. Literally the most enticing squash soup I have ever slurped. Shannon’s first comment was, “This kinda reminds me of Chartreuse.” After glancing at her with furrowed brown and tucking my spoon in, I totally and completely agreed. But how? All I can put my finger on is the combination of the clove and its heat, balanced with a bright green herb oil garnish and Voila!- Chartreuse squash soup. Just take my word for it- it’s real, real good.
The soup is served in a delicate little teacup, atop a painter’s palette-shaped plate, both rimmed in silver. On that adorable little china set also comes an herb popover stuffed with herbs and blue d’auvergne, served warm… and oozing… and I think it was screaming my name out loud.
I’m drooling too much to write much more. If I were a real woman, I would have loosened my belt and gone straight for the churros with sipping (dipping) chocolate and parsnip foam. Mexican vegetal cappuccino? Sure. But I just… couldn’t. I have enough reasons to come back, but I’m sure going for dessert next time.
Caption for the photo: this is what Shannon ended up with in front of her at the end of the meal: I’d say that’s the portrait of success.
November 22nd, 2010 | No Comments »
Yes, the season of luscious, local raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, and plums is over, over, over. Mary Ellen of Charlie’s Produce brought a few cases of very special exotic citrus to this week’s chef’s meeting to show the chefs how they could put a little tropical sunshine on their menus with variegated pink lemons (photo left), Buddha hands (photo right), kaffir limes, kaffir lime leaves, yuzu lemons, and finger limes. When you cut a finger lime open, the sparkly little juice sacs look just like pearls of caviar!
November 18th, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Seatown is a lovely place to get warm on a drizzly morning and have a cup of the best ever pour over coffee. The ham and Beecher’s cheese egg sandwich (photo top left) was soft, warm, savory and oh so good. We also ordered a toasted English muffin with butter, Indonesian cinnamon, and palm sugar (photo top right). Utterly simple but with just the right amount of butter slathered on a nicely toasted muffin sprinkled with just the right amount of aromatic cinnamon and sparkly sugar- it was heaven.
The black pepper biscuit smothered in cream gravy with slices of sausage was comforting and satisfying (photo middle left). Also, it might sound unusual, especially for breakfast, but this goats milk cucumber lassi (photo middle right) tasted like a fresh, cold glass of health with the subtle fragrance of cucumber. After this, you button up your raincoat, head out the door, and unfurl your umbrella into the cold drizzle- but somehow winter doesn’t seem so bad anymore.
November 18th, 2010 | No Comments »
A group of beautiful people joined us for dinner last Monday for a preview 20 Something Wine event, where they sampled delicious vintages and had a few of our favorites dishes, most notably our Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner! Picture credit goes to ! Pictured: @keridwyn @lornayee @nicoleevents @seattlewinegal @BlackPearlSEA @wawinereport – thanks for your tweets and support! Read up on the rest of the tweetup here!
Last Wednesday, Frank (@Proncis) and his better half, @SarahLawer, stopped by to pick up some of our housemade bratwursts and I INSISTED (haha) that they take a picture in front of our WALL OF MEAT. They were great sports and will be forever immortalized as the first people to start a long tradition! YES, WE’RE MAKING THIS A THING.
To honor legendary Seattle Mariners’ broadcaster Dave Niehaus, Tom Douglas requested that our restaurants serve salami, yellow mustard on rye at all of the restaurants. You can see Eric Tanaka’s sammich at the Dahlia Lounge here. We’ll miss you Dave!
A few days ago, we found out that our TO-GO rotisserie side had been written up in a blog with a bunch of beautiful pictures! Even though Natasha said “I wasn’t the least bit hungry when we’d walked in,” we convinced her and a friend to have our HAPPY HOUR MENU which was 6 ounces of our porchetta, an apple / fennel salad and our deliciously creamy corn grits with Beechers cheese. Thanks again for stopping by – You can visit Natasha Reed’s professional photography website here!
Thanks again for checking in with this week’s Seatown Sea Bar and Rotisserie Update! If you decide to stop in ANY OF THE TOM DOUGLAS RESTAURANTS, take a few pictures, have a bite of some delicious food and shoot us an @reply message on our twitter account @seatownROTO or by email: HerschellT @ tomdouglas dot com! We’ll post it up on the blog!
Thumbs up and have a great week!
November 17th, 2010 | 2 Comments »
The folks at the Southern Foodways Alliance have reason to be proud; what we found was a wonderfully introspective and inclusive bunch bound together by the feeling of being “Southern.” This weekend was an acknowledgment that although Southern culture has existed across a dozen states and hundreds of years, it is neither isolated nor static. What is happening today in the South is what America has experienced in waves since the 1700′s- new immigrants spreading through a region and mixing their unique culture with their adopted homeland’s.
Nothing illustrates this phenomenon better than the estimate that 80% of the Gulf shrimp fishermen are Vietnamese transplants. This is a classic American story, of a people leaving their troubled homeland seeking something better. As has happened to so many other newcomers, the Vietnamese immigrants found work at the most difficult and demanding jobs. With Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf oil spill occurring in quick succession, this population has suffered greatly. There is no better time to buy American shrimp. Money stays in the country and puts money in the pockets of those in need.
The stereotypical Southerner now has to include those from Vietnam, Cuba, Mexico, and an increasing number of people from the Caribbean and South America. It is no longer a duality but a plurality that shapes the South. The Southern Foodways Alliance did a fantastic job showcasing the changing South, and SFA is proud to include the newcomers.
Here is a great article from Grist, and another one in Earth Island Journal, on the challenges these Vietnamese fishermen face.
November 11th, 2010 | No Comments »
…..make truffle butter!
Since all the delivery people know they can find me at my pasta station in Palace Kitchen, I sign for a lot of boxes…. a lot of boxes for Tom. Some from publishers, some that say “perishable” …some that say booze, but that’s a story for another day…
A few weeks ago, I signed for a perishable box and stuck it in the cooler until someone came looking for it as I knew they would, eventually. So later, Tom comes down and opens the box, pulls out a brown paper bag and starts telling everyone to stick their noses in and inhale. Normally in a kitchen one refuses to oblige when someone asks you to smell anything- usually the request is followed by: “Does it seem off?” But again, another story, another day.
This day, we were rewarded by the most luscious musky, floral bouquet. It made your knees weak and your mouth water. Turns out Tom had won a golf tourney and was treating the losers to dinner. (I’d say in this case, it paid to lose.) Sure Tom, you need some noodles to go with these, no problem. To think the noodles I made are going to be sharing a plate with fungal gold- white fungal gold. It’s an honor.
So a few days ago, Tom comes up to my work table with a little sandwich bag and tells me to sniff again. Yay, I think, I get to smell that divine aroma one more time. Heaven knows I’ll never have the money to buy them, after all. Then he hands the bag to me and tells me to take some noodles home and enjoy. I picked my jaw up off the floor, and stuttered out a thanks. Then I saw there were TWO little nodules of goodness. I was overwhelmed by the weight of my wealth and though to share it… But with whom? Someone who knows them and loves them? Or someone like me who has never had them before? I know! Mom’s coming for Christmas!… Oh they need to be used now before they turn to mush… There must be a way to preserve some… maybe if I soak them in olive oil…. I could flavor salt… Wait! Of course!
Truffle butter! I now have a half pound of truffliscioiusness sitting in my freezer awaiting the holidays. THANKS, TOM!!!!
November 10th, 2010 | No Comments »
Though not officially part of Dine Around Seattle, Dahlia is offering a special prix fixe lunch menu for the entire month of November, Monday through Friday, for only $15 for 3 courses.
I stopped by Dahlia for lunch the other day and this is what I ordered:
Pacific ahi tartare with avocado, grapefruit, mint, and chile- refreshing and brightly flavored (photo top left)
Seared ling cod with roasted sunchoke, cippolini, malt vinegar aioli, and pickled razor clam- this fabulous ling cod arrived at the table with a beautifully browned crust and harmonious accompaniments (photo top right)
Chocolate nemesis cake (photo middle left) with gingerbread ice cream and smoked chocolate glaze- Wow! this was amazing as it sounds and disappeared in seconds (I did have some help.) We practically licked the plate clean, as you can see. I also tried the huckleberry sorbet (photo middle right)- gorgeous and delicious.
This prix fixe is a STEAL at $15. This is the month to make time in your schedule for lunch at the Dahlia.
November 10th, 2010 | No Comments »
Congee is uber simple to make and should be available in your pantry / freezer at all times. It’s my favorite thing during cold nights and even better on colder mornings for breakfast (WITH THICK SLIPPER SOCKS). I used Thanksgiving turkey scraps, but you could use chicken here!
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