Family Meal
Welcome 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 thought, 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
For the Dahlia Lounge family meal chicken pot pie recipe, published in Bon Appétit.
Pamela says:
Our new Rub with Love is a spunky addition to roast vegetables! Last night I prepared butternut squash with our new Roast Rub. Tom describes it as lusty and fragrant because it has whole coriander and fennel seeds and chunky cracked black pepper which puts some pep in the finish. I peeled the squash and cut it into 1/2 inch cubes. A light toss in olive oil and 2 generous tablespoons of Roast Rub, then into a 400°F oven for 25 minutes or until it gets nice crusty edges while remaining soft in the center. My husband said it was the best squash ever!
Carol says:
Yummy! My Rub with Love ‘aha’ moment this weekend was making a turkey salad for sandwiches, and I added Seafood Rub for some curry spiciness.
See, it’s not just for the grill anymore!!
March 2nd, 2010 | No Comments »
That’s what customers are calling our Dahlia Bakery Toasted Pecan Flax Seed Whole Wheat Bread!!
Here’s the text of an email we just received from Joan and Ed Singler and their grand kids, Donovan and Lillian Bown:
“Dear Tom Douglas and your bakers:
We have been buying your bread from day one. We have always liked the breads offered at the bakery. Last week however we bought the Walnut, Flax, Wheat Bread…. the best bread ever. My whole family, but especially my grandchildren, couldn’t stop eating that bread until we finished off the whole loaf at dinner. They loved the crust. How many kids eat the crust? Talk about rave reviews….”
So stop by the Dahlia Bakery and pick up a loaf. If your family isn’t big enough to polish off the whole thing, take a tip from Tom and Jackie: slice up what’s left of the loaf, wrap, freeze, and make delicious flax seed toast anytime!
March 2nd, 2010 | No Comments »
Whether you’re one of those hardy souls who get their peas planted by President’s Day, or, more reasonably I think, by St Patrick’s Day, or like me, you just try get around to it sometime before the end of March, you’ll enjoy this article- “Ready, Set, Plant Peas”- by Poppy of the Mixed Greens blog. The illustrations and photos of pea trellises will surely inspire you to get out in the veggie garden!
March 2nd, 2010 | No Comments »
Another great year of bacon, thanks to the whole team and Brian Cunningham for being a good sport and wearing the Elvis costume to give his table real flair!!!!
Just a few of our fearless staff at Baconopolis:
photo top: Katie O with bacon cornbread muffin
Photo bottom left: Herschel with B.L.A.T.
Photo bottom right: Brian “Elvis” Cunningham with hot peanut butter, banana, and bacon!
March 1st, 2010 | No Comments »
The foie gras at Momofuku was divine with a pineapple foam, in a pool of brown butter with a miso and celeryroot purée!
The pork belly buns were as puffy as a cherub’s butt with the crisp pop in your mouth pickles, meltingly fatty pork belly…
The photos:
top photo: “OMG!” (the pork bun)
second photo from top: Momofuku kitchen
third photo from top: “Fingerling potatoes didn’t stand a chance!” (empty plate)
bottom photo: roasted foie gras
February 25th, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Part 1: A post about Tuscan kale by Regina Schrambling (one of my favorite food writers, by the way) on the Epicurious blog, epi-log, has had me thinking about the technique of prepping greens by cutting them into ribbons. Regina links to a raw kale salad recipe from Lupa, that she refers to as “peasant Caesar. Which is a high compliment.” To make the Tuscan kale salad, you tear out the stems, then cut the kale leaves into ribbons, then dress the raw leaves with lemon juice and olive oil and toss with ricotta salata.
Robyn and I shared a salad from the Serious Pie menu recently that was very similar to this, and we were both surprised by how delicious and tender raw Tuscan kale could be in a salad. In fact, our comment at first bite, similar to Regina’s, was: “this tastes a lot like a Caesar!” The Serious Pie kale salad was showered with Parmigiano, and it had a good, brightly acidic dressing that stood right up to the kale. So I put the thought in the back of my head that you can use julienned Tuscan kale raw in a salad, though I haven’t tried it at home yet.
Part 2: I bought a bunch of collard greens at the supermarket last week because they looked so big-leafed, fresh, and nice. Often I buy chard and kale for dinner - always Tuscan kale, which is also called black or Lacinato kale- and most often I pass up the collard greens because I think it will be a long project to braise them slowly with a ham hock to make them really tasty and tender, and I don’t want to put the time into a weeknight dinner. So, now the collards are sitting in the vegetable drawer of my reefer at home, looking at me somewhat reproachfully, when I flash on this Sam Sifton recipe for rabbit legs, red peas and collards from the New York Times Magazine, which I thought sounded mighty tasty when I read it on Sunday. I had noticed that the collard greens in the Sifton recipe were cut into ribbons and added toward the end of cooking the rabbit dish, and it reminded me that I had seen this technique before. Cut collard greens into ribbons and you cut the cooking time.
So, this is what I did: I stripped the stems from the collard greens, then julienned the leaves. The restaurant trick is to stack the leaves into piles, roll them up, and cut crosswise into thin ribbons. If you do it this way, the whole process only takes 5 minutes or so for a big bunch of greens, I promise! Then I sauteed some diced tasso ham in a little olive oil. (Ok, the tasso ham was leftover from a giant pot of gumbo I had prepared for my annual Aquarian group-birthday party earlier this month, but that’s another story. You could use bacon, or regular ham instead of the tasso, or just use a good splash of olive oil and no meat), threw in the collards and tossed them around in the pan. Seasoned with salt and pepper. Added a little water- maybe 1/3 or 1/2 cup. Put on the lid and let them braise 8 to 10 minutes (yes, that’s all. For collard greens!) Then I took off the lid and let most of the liquid cook off for another few minutes. Tabasco bottle and lemon wedges on the table. The collard greens were delicious and tender for almost no time and only a little effort.
Despite the warm weather we’ve having, it’s still winter. Don’t even think about asparagus yet. This is a great time to enjoy plenty of locally grown kale, chard, and collard greens!
February 25th, 2010 | 2 Comments »
In the interview, Tom explains the difference between eating at Applebees and eating at Palace Kitchen, predicts the next restaurant trend (modern Indian), and, though a self-described “broccoli hound,” disses broccolini (he hates the name.) Also, Tom reveals that he likes blogs better than Twitter (aw shucks, thanks, Tom!)
February 24th, 2010 | No Comments »
Finding out that someone regularly cooks and loves a recipe from one of our Tom Douglas cookbooks is a sure thing to put a big smile on my face. So I was thrilled to find our Five Spice Chicken recipe from Big Dinners mentioned today in Nancy Leson’s post about her favorite all time chicken recipes. The link to her original post about Tom’s Five Spice Roast Chicken is here, (Scroll down til you find the photo of our roast chicken). Nancy also gives a shout out to the cornmeal rosemary cake, also in Big Dinners, and says it’s her favorite cake recipe! Thanks, Nancy!
February 24th, 2010 | No Comments »
A glimmer of good news for the hardest working folks of all, small farmers, in a Seattle Times article called “Small Farms Sprout in State.”
On the plus side:
The numbers of farms in Washington rose 6% between 2000 and 2008 (though total acreage in farming has shrunk.)
90% of farms are owned by individuals or families.
Net farm income is higher than it’s been in nearly 20 years.
The number of farmers markets has more than doubled since 1998.
The increased interest in local foods among consumers is credited with helping some small farms survive.
On the other hand, in most farm families, at least one member of the family works another job for income and benefits that farming doesn’t provide. Also the average age of farmers is increasing, and when farmers retire their children are often not interested in taking over the farm.
February 24th, 2010 | No Comments »
Make or buy tomato sauce.
Slice 1 pound mozzarella cheese.
Put flour in a small paper bag.
Peel eggplant.
Slice eggplant thin but not too thin.
Put slices in cold salty water for 10 minutes, then drain.
Working a few slices at a time: shake in paper bag with flour. Dip in egg. Fry in oil until brown.
Layer in a casserole dish, putting mozzarella slices between eggplant slices.
Pour tomato sauce on top.
Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
Enjoy!
(Editor’s note: Stephanie is the last winner in our “family recipe” staff blog contest.)
February 23rd, 2010 | No Comments »
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