Customers tailgating in the parking lot of Serious Pie Westlake!
(Editor’s note: Tonight is an invitation only soft opening of Pie number 2 in South Lake Union. Serious Pie/Westlake will open to the public very soon!!)
In the test kitchen, work continues on the upcoming Dahlia Bakery Cookbook! Pastry Chef Extraordinaire, Garrett Melkonian, walked me through the mysteries of puff pastry this morning. (I don’t want to even think about how many years? decades? it’s been since I’ve made puff pastry.) Garrett is developing a puff pastry recipe for the book that isn’t all the way classic, but pretty darn close. It’s buttery and flaky and rises beautifully in the oven. I’m calling it “Not So Rough Puff.” Ok, it’s not as easy as apple pie (even apple pie isn’t easy); like all puff pastry, it’s a project that requires commitment. But if you prefer you can instead use storebought puff pastry for the puff pastry tarts in the cookbook, and we’ll try to find some decent all-butter brands to recommend. This is a fresh fig tart with pistachio marzipan, a variation on our Dahlia pear tart.
Look how high it’s rising- (photo top right) That’s after less than 10 minutes in the oven! We also baked some pear tarts, and Garrett worked on making the maple pastry cream (photo just above) a little thicker for our eclairs (because Tom likes the pastry cream in eclairs to be nice and thick.)
Oh yeah, we also made (and by “we,” I mean Garrett) a batch of vanilla buttercream-silky, satiny, and studded with vanilla bean seeds. Next week- layer cakes! (By the way, one of my New Year’s resolutions will be to blog about something besides the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook, but, honestly, it’s all that I do these days!)
My husband, Frank, and I enjoyed a lovely Christmas dinner last night with friends Dinner was the best ever (though I think I always say that), and our friend, Ed, even roasted a goose! I made my favorite Brussels sprouts recipe from Richard Olney’s iconic classic and my all time favorite cookbook, Simple French Food. As usual, everyone loved it and the baking dish was scraped clean. Why do people love this recipe? I think the bacon, butter, cream and golden toasted bread crumbs have something to do with it. (Photo left, sauteing the sprouts; photo right, baking dish ready to go in the oven.) I also made the braised red cabbage recipe from Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen and the Greek green bean salad from Tom’s Big Dinners.
My favorite Christmas present? Frank gave me Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan, and I cannot wait to cook something from this gorgeous tome!
I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday with family and friends!!
Here’s the Buche de Noel, Kat Gibbons made for her co-workers at Palace Kitchen.
She made 6 (6!!!) more of these for her family and friends.
Kat, you are an amazing person and generous friend! Have a happy holiday!!!
Palace line cook, Kat Gibbons, has now decorated her Buche de Noel cakes by drawing lines in the frosting for the bark and sprinkling them with some chopped pistachios- that’s the moss. Now she’s sitting in a booth (“I had to sit down,” she says) assembling all her meringue mushrooms by sticking the stems to the caps with chocolate. Whoo- this is a lot of work when you’re making 7 cakes! Kat is a trooper, but she’s looking forward to a Dick’s burger when she’s finally done!
Palace line cook, Kat Gibbons, is back at work in the Palace Kitchen making 7 (!) Buche de Noel cakes for her family and friends. Here she is rolling up the cakes and icing them. (Her icing is delicious, by the way- I tasted a spoonful. Butter, sugar, and cocoa goodness with a hint of almond and coffee!)
After she finishes icing all 7 of these babies, she’ll start decorating them with meringue mushrooms!
Watch Sam Kass (editor’s note: did I happen to mention that he’s my cousin!?!) and Elmo together in the White House kitchen promoting healthy food for school kids. Sam talks about putting lots of colors on the plate for a healthy meal. (Sounds just like TDR CEO Pamela Hinckley!!) When you click on the link be sure to keep your eye out for the melon dance!!
Note: photo courtesy of Obamafoodorama
The fearless Kat Gibbons is doing her Christmas baking, making 7(!) Buche de Noel cakes in the Palace Kitchen on her morning off. Here she is piping and baking meringue mushrooms. Right this minute, she’s at the Dahlia eating a special holiday lunch with her folks. A total Tom Douglas Restaurants Day for our Kat!!!
News Flash! Palace line cook and Dahlia dining room host, Kat Gibbons, is in the Palace Kitchen preparing her holiday Buche de Noels!! More photos and details to follow!
Today we tested recipes for sugar pumpkin “creme anglaise” pie (so creamy light and delicate!), buttermilk biscuits (flaky, buttery perfection), and our decades old recipe for dried cherry almond scones (which came out just like they should-with sugared tops and crisp edges). A good day of retesting! Have I mentioned that I LOVE my retest team of Julie H and Beth M?
RSS SubscribeWelcome to Family Meal, a blog that examines all things new and noteworthy in the world of food, wine, and dining.
At family meal, otherwise known as staff meal, there’s no hierarchy; you’re breaking bread with your friends. For those 30 minutes, everyone is equal- and hungry. Family meal is our version of the water cooler- but with better food.
I’ll be sharing my thoughts, tips, and observations, and, in the spirit of family meal, I’ve invited our creative, energetic staff- everyone from line cook to bartender to bookkeeper- to have a say. I hope you’ll add your own comments and join in the conversation.
-Tom Douglas
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