Ting Momo, opening soon (April 18) in South Lake Union, did a practice test run of their line today. Staff was asked to line up at the counter and order, then pick up the food when their name was called, then eat! (When Ting Momo opens, you will be able to take food to go or sit down at a table. When the weather warms up, there will be outdoor tables too.)
I ordered the garden combo: 1 eggplant tingmo, 1 mushroom tingmo, 1 potato samo, a bowl of chickpea salad, and a bowl of thupka (soup with hand pulled noodles.) Plus 2 sauces: coriander chutney and “dekyi sauce.” (photo above)
The line went smooth as silk as far as I could tell and the food was delicious. Every dumpling perfect, even the chickpea salad was full of bright flavor, and I love the mushrooms and bits of pulled noodle in the soup. I think we’re ready for show time.
April 13th, 2011 | No Comments »
Today in the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook test kitchen, Molly Melkonian, Dahlia Bakery Manager and magnificent cake baker (piping frosting on cupcakes in photo above), gave us a lesson in splitting a layer cake and filling and frosting it with buttercream. While we had her in the kitchen, we also asked for a cupcake decorating lesson.
For our cake frosting lesson, first Molly split the cake horizontally with a serrated knife and piled some of the buttercream on one half as filling for the cake.
After spreading the filling, she topped it with the other cake half and put more buttercream on top.
After spreading buttercream on the top, she started icing the sides.
Finally, she smoothed the buttercream with that invaluable tool, the board scraper.
Just look at these pretty cupcakes!
April 12th, 2011 | No Comments »
Here’s the quick and dirty (as it were) from farm land-
Spinach, radishes, peas, and lettuce are all popping out of the ground! It really is spring after all- despite outward appearances. Beets, arugula and parsnips are also planted, just haven’t seen the whites of their eyes yet.
Dev Patel (Serious Pie Virginia) and Annie Koski-Karell (Serious Pie Westlake) have unraveled and laid down seemingly miles of irrigation hoses with the help last week of Joe Lyons (Seatown). We have new sprouts on the strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, and the herb beds seem to have weathered the winter intact (well, not the rosemary so much.) I transplanted about half of our tomatoes last week into bigger containers and will finish up the rest this week. The greenhouse is loaded to the gills with beautiful, healthy little seedlings.
The barn progresses. Sheetrock started yesterday- seems like we are on target for an end of May finish.
This week’s target is…. potatoes!! Planting loads of potatoes with second rows of spinach, lettuce, and radishes.
(Photo top: Dev and Annie and chicken manure extravaganza! Photo middle: Joe sorting miles of irrigation hoses.)
April 11th, 2011 | No Comments »
Here is a photo of Chef Brian W’s first order at Brave Horse Tavern! What else but a pretzel! Tommy D and Brian made a bet over how many pretzels would sell- and Brian won!!
April 8th, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Last night’s dinner at Cuoco was spot on! Tagliatelle with sauce Bolognese (photo above), fonduta cappelletti with broccoli amaro and the seven layer lasagna alla ferrara were all delcious and satisfying! And the chocolate budino and cheese plate were the end to a perfect evening!
April 8th, 2011 | No Comments »
With all the excitement of the new joints opening (and I hear that Brave Horse Tavern was full yesterday within 42 minutes of opening the doors to the public!! Yippee!!), I’ve been making a point of continuing to check out the “older” joints, like Seatown (which opened end of last summer and isn’t exactly “old.”)
Chef Adrienne Lasko has been ringing some changes on the menu. I ordered the smoked seafood combo, which was excellent, but Adrienne insisted on sending out samples of brined and smoked seafood that she’s been working on – which were amazing! So moist and full of flavor!
Adrienne has asked her cooks to come up with their own ideas for some creative brines for various smoked fish, and they’ve been playing with everything from beer, to olive oil, to dashi!
Seatown is the most marvelous place to be when a little unexpected sunlight streams through the windows showcasing the views over the Pike Place Market and Victor Steinbrueck Park. Tom and Jackie have been spiffing the place up with some new artwork- look at this glorious picture of the Seattle skyline!
April 8th, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Here’s Dekyi and our new gal Chozom making PERFECT samo!!
(Editor’s note- for Ting Momo in South Lake Union, right behind Bravehorse Tavern. Ting Momo will open soon! Wait until you taste Dekyi’s yak momo!!)
April 8th, 2011 | No Comments »
For Taste Washington, Dahlia’s Chef, Brock Johnson, made these patés:
Five spice duck
Venison with cranberries and pistachios
Country style pork
Rabbit with green garlic
Served with all the classic accompaniments: grain mustard, cornichons, fennel marmalade, and Dahlia Bakery house loaf!
Brock made 20 pounds of each and served over 1,500 tastes that day!!
(in the photo top, Chef Brock and his lovely wife, Amy)
April 7th, 2011 | No Comments »
We had a brilliant day in the test kitchen yesterday! We tested Eggs Benedict recipes (on delicious Dahlia Bakery toasted English muffins, of course!) for the upcoming Dahlia Bakery Cookbook with great success. Adrienne Lasko, now chef of Etta’s and Seatown, worked with me on hollandaise and egg poaching techniques one day a few months ago, but this was the first chance I had to write up recipes and test them out. I credit Adrienne’s clear, well thought out instructions for our success! I have poached eggs many times over the years, but never with the calm confidence that I had using Adrienne’s technique. Julie Hartley, my co-tester, was also nervous about poaching eggs but had no trouble at all making perfect poached eggs. We made hollandaise by two methods, using the blender for Dahlia’s scallion hollandaise (photo above left) and whisking by hand for Etta’s lemon dill version (photos above middle). Both versions came out silky smooth and 
luscious!!
We also made our second strata- a springlike version with asparagus, bacon, and leeks- golden crusted outside and creamy-yummy inside. (You may be getting the idea, there are plenty of breakfast recipes in this book.)
More success: our first ice cream tested for this book (a lovely vanilla streusel), and perfect chocolate cupcakes!! A good start to the week!
April 6th, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Dekyi, our beloved Tibetan chef who will be featured in the soon-to-open Ting Momo in (where else?) South Lake Union, was interviewed recently for KOMO news. Read the interview here and be sure to watch the video! We were told the KOMO news people can’t wait to come down, when Ting Momo opens, and “chow down on some momos.” We agree!
(photos of Dekyi making her “hand pinched” samos for the Dahlia Lounge courtesy Leslie Kelly)
April 6th, 2011 | 1 Comment »
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