We shared this on Twitter a few days ago, but last Friday, the hosts of Seattle Kitchen radio show joined Ron & Don in a 90 second Dance Party to one of Tom’s favorite songs: LMFAO’s “I’m Sexy and I Know It.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve had moves like this on our blog. If this doesn’t brighten up your Thursday Morning, we don’t know what will!
Hey cooks!
What would you make with one hour and a mystery box like this?
After few rounds of competition at all of the individual restaurants, our company decided it was time to bring all of our line cook “champions” together for a huge cooking battle free-for-all. Using the Dahlia Pastry Production kitchen as our “Kitchen Stadium” (THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE SPACE!), our brigade of cooks from all of our joints worked in pairs to knock out one appetizer and one entree dish in one hour. Check out our favorite pictures from last night – you can find our entire photoset via Flickr here.
It was a pretty hard decision for our judges – but in the end, Chris Cardenas and his sous Paul Coile from Lola placed third, and Etta’s Josh Neely with sous chef Sam Burkhart took runner-up. Congrats to Chase McKenna, a line cook at Palace Kitchen, and his sous Zack Chamberlain for winning the title for our now “ANNUAL” event! Start practicing for next year everyone, it’s only going to get tougher from here!
My husband, Frank, and I are headed to Chicago to celebrate Passover with my family. My sister, Marla, is hosting both Seders at her home in Arlington Heights. She has been testing recipes, and texting me questions like- can she put the green part of the leek in her chicken stock- for weeks. I don’t know which of us is more excited!
Living as I do in Seattle, with its small Jewish population, I didn’t realize the amount of competition out there for the matzoh-shopper-dollar back East until I read this in NYT’s Diners Journal.
I’m one of the biggest drinkers (anyone who knows me will laugh!) in my near teetotaler family, so I wish we were matching a cocktail to each item on the Seder plate, but I doubt it. Adam Chumas, TDR Beverage director, this article is for you!
I won’t be making matzoh ball soup for Passover, since my sister is cooking this year, but if I were I would use Joan Nathan’s good-looking recipe. There’s a little fresh ginger in the matzoh balls- so, Jessica Moore, Tom’s Assistant and Marketing, this one’s for you!
Last weekend, I bought one box of matzohs so I could make matzoh brei for Frank and myself. I use this recipe from Saveur, but for two people I cut the amount of matzoh in half but still use all 4 eggs. In my opinion, the deliciousness of this dish depends on lots of butter and freshly ground black pepper (hold the jam and maple syrup, please!)
To all of you: Happy Passover, or Happy Easter, or just have a Happy Weekend- there may be sun!!!!
Recently my sweetie gifted me something fun to add to my collection of books on booze, An Illustrated Guide to Cocktails by Orr Shtuhl and Elizabeth Graeber. The book is short, simple and playful. It features a handful of recipes for basic cocktails that I’m sure everyone has drunk or tried to make at home, along with some cheeky watercolor illustrations of imbibing seals, tigers, and other wildlife. Needless to say, the book inspired me to create a collection of recipes for 6 cocktails as a reference for all the Tom Douglas Restaurants bartenders. I’ve invited all the barkeeps around the company to join me for a summit where we’ll taste different recipes, different spirits, and different methods for the following cocktails: Margarita, Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Sidecar, Negroni, and Martini.
I’m excited about this project because I think it will give us all an opportunity to truly evaluate the best spirit to use for each cocktail. So often we choose one brand of spirit out of habit, but I’m not sure we’re always making the right choice for the cocktail we’re about to build. In a recent gin taste off, I was truly surprised as to how well one worked with citrus in a gimlet and another competed with the fresh lime juice. There are so many botanicals in gin that it can be hard to predict how they’ll react with certain cocktail ingredients. It will be a daunting task to taste all of these experiments, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make to ensure that our guests get the optimal combination of ingredients in their drinks. I look forward to experimenting with a group of talented and experienced bartenders, who I’m sure are not short on opinions as well. I’ll be sure to share the results.
Cheers!
Yesterday morning, Eric Tanaka, Tom’s business partner and the executive chef of all of our joints, represented Dahlia Lounge on King 5′s New Day Northwest with Margaret Larson – It was to promote Seattle Restaurant Week! Watch the video here:
Sake-Cured Hot-Smoked Salmon
Adapted by Eric Tanaka from Seattle Kitchen, page 47
1 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sake
8 sliced peeled fresh ginger coins, 1/8 inch thick
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 pound salmon fillet, cut into 2-ounce pieces, skin removed
zest from 3 oranges
a handful of whole star anise
1. In a bowl, whisk the soy sauce, brown sugar, water, sake, ginger, garlic, and salt together until the sugar dissolves. Put the salmon pieces in a nonreactive container and pour the marinade. Allow the salmon to marinate at least 4 hours, or in the refrigerator overnight, turning occasionally.
2. Remove the salmon from the marinade, pat dry, and sear on an oiled and preheated pan over medium heat. Cook until a crust forms on the fish, about 3 minutes and flip until cooked to a medium-rare, about a minute.
To finish the dish, spoon creme fraiche on the plate, add the salmon and top with a salad of toasted rye breadcrumbs, pea shoots and snap peas tossed in lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. Top with salmon roe and serve to your guests!
It was tons of fun to see how TV actually works and watch the show from “behind the scenes” – Thanks to Margaret, Su and the entire team at the show. We had a great time! Follow @King5NewDayNW for more of their Twitter fun!
Did you know that our very own Tom Douglas and the fabulous “Chef in the Hat” Thierry Rautureau have a weekly radio show called “Seattle Kitchen” on KIRO? We’ll be posting the show and its brief synopsis here on the Tom Douglas Family Meal Blog every Monday, so keep your speakers cranked to “11″ or your headphones at arms reach for great insight into the Seattle restaurant scene and beyond!
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This week, Tom and Thierry discuss the virtues of Keg Wines, plus give you tasty recipes for kale. Listen below:
Bonus! An extra 5 minutes of Tom and Thierry giving ideas to get even veggie haters into Kale:
If you’re iTunes equipped, you can subscribe directly to the podcast here and get Tom and Thierry in your ear anytime, anywhere.
Again, if you want to continue the conversation “off the air” or have any questions on anything food-related, like us on our Facebook page or follow us @SeattleKitchen, @TomDouglasCo and @TheChefInTheHat!
How do you love your kale?
Mario Batali’s pop, Armandino, has one of the best little sandwich shops in Seattle! Since I was in the area yesterday, and it had just opened and didn’t yet have the long line of hungry customers that always stretches around the block, I immediately parked and ran inside! Of course the line of customers inside was already all the way to the front door in the first 5 minutes of being open. The wait is always worth it….the meatball sub, mole salami, finnocchiona salami, and muffoletta sandwiches I ordered were built and packaged within minutes! The Dahlia chefs’ eyes lit up when I announced: “I got you guys some lunch from Salumi!” We sliced the sandwiches in strips and got to try all of them- yum! Thanks, Armandino- you’re a genius; can’t wait for your demo at Tom’s Culinary Summer Camp this July!!
Welcome our new Beer Czar Kayle Thompson!
Her dream has come true- to get paid while drinking beer!
For those of you who do not know Kayle- this girl knows her beer!
For my nephew’s first birthday, I wanted him to have an extra special cake. So naturally, I turned to Kelsy and our super talented team of cake decorators.
My requests were a white cake with chocolate filling, “Happy Birthday Joey” written on it, and maybe a few little woodland creatures. Other than that I gave them complete creative control and hoped they would have some fun with it.
I was totally blown away by the beautiful cake they came up with. The three dimensional creatures were so precious and lifelike. The “scoop your poop” sign was a little joke added for my benefit, but my sister insisted we keep it- as her sense of humor is much like mine.
This cake was almost photographed more than Lil’ Joe was today, and as an added bonus, it was absolutely delicious!
Bravo to Kelsey and the Dahlia cake team. You guys are amazing
First of all, what is chili? Wikipedia has the deets:
Chili con carne (chili with meat) or more commonly known as simply “chili” is a spicy stew containing chili peppers (from a Nahuatl word for Capsicum spp. L.) and meat. Traditional versions are made using chili peppers, garlic, onions, and cumin, along with chopped or ground beef. Beans and tomatoes are frequently included. Variations, both geographic and personal, may involve different types of meat as well as a variety of other ingredients. It can be found in many countries in local variations. The variant recipes provoke disputes among aficionados, and the dish is used as an ingredient in a number of other foods.
We made a batch of chili in our test kitchens (thanks Palace!) using our very own Rub with Love Pork Rub and had everyone in “HQ” give it a try – We even served it with rice to appease our Asian judges (myself included lol). Taking advantage of the brown sugar, kosher salt, coriander, cumin, black pepper, smoked paprika with ancho and cayenne peppers in the rub was almost too easy to transfer into a super simple 7-ingredient chili recipe.
Rub with Love Pork Rub Chili
Ingredients
1lb Chuck Roast, cut into small (3/4 inch) dice, rubbed with 3 tbsp Rub with Love Pork Rub
1 red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 tbsp Rub with Love Pork Rub
1 – 15oz can black beans, drained (optional)
28 oz diced tomatoes + juice
1 cup water
Fabrication
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pot and sear chuck roast until golden brown. Scoop the meat out of the pot and set aside on a plate. In the same pot, sweat the red onion until translucent and add the garlic, black beans and 5 tablespoons Pork Rub. Cook for an additional 3 minutes then add the diced tomatoes, its juice, the water, and the reserved meat. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, or until meat is tender. Top with cilantro, green onions, sour cream and serve with cornbread!
If you’re adventurous, also try it with beef tenderloin, ground beef, wild boar, tofu, elbow macaroni, sharp cheddar, on a hot dog, under eggs, as a dip or just straight up in a bag of Fritos! The physical recipe cards will be going out to retailers and will also be available at the Seatown Rub Shack!
Please let us know how you love your chili!
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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