A Life Changing Sandwich

Alex just whipped this up as a quick late night snacky-dinner sort of meal, I'm utterly amazed. It's absolutely incredible. It might even be the best sandwich I've ever had!

Bacon, apple slices, fresh ginger slices, winter salad mix, raw red onion slices, and mayonaise all between two toasted slices of Essential Bakery sourdough.

One happy girl and her sauerkraut!

I'm on a sauerkraut kick again. I couldn't wait to get home this evening so I could have my daily bowl of cabbage and microbes! Perhaps I'm just connecting with my German roots, but sauerkraut sure is tasty and makes me feel great! On a trip to Hofbrauhaus in Pittsburgh over the holidays my dinner came with the most amazing hot sauerkraut I think I've ever had. It was milder, sweeter perhaps, and served hot made it oh-so-comforting. A few days ago I stopped by the German delicatessen near my work and was blown away by their sauerkraut collection. They have sauerkraut made with red or green cabbage, sauerkraut juice, and a wide variety of brands of regional flavors of plain 'ole traditional sauerkraut. I noticed the Bavarian style is made with white wine in addition to the usual cast of characters and bought it. It's my favorite. The sweetness from the wine adds a wonderful level of complexity and distracts from the possible bacterial harshness. According to Wikipedia, sauerkraut has high levels of vitamin C, lactobaccili, and other vital nutrients. It's credited as being the antidote to almost any ailment, prevents cancer, and may even be an aphrodisiac! Woohoo! In conclusion, I would like to extend a special thanks to Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Leuconostoc, and Lactobacillus for making sauerkraut possible!

The Devine Gastronomique!

Two weeks ago my dad sent me an email asking me to make reservations at the fanciest restaurant in Seattle. Without a seconds delay I picked up the phone and called Rover's, crossing my fingers that they would have reservations open for less than a week away. To my luck, they did! It was one of those utterly divine, life-changing experiences that has left me to re-acclimate to normal food again. We all got different menus; my dad had the Julia Child tribute, Alex had the Menu Degustation, and I had the Grand Menu Degustation. The wait-staff provided an impeccable show of gastronomical intelligence with high class French composure. The delivery of each course came with grace and a hint of theatre. The presentation on each plate was exquisite, playful, and utterly perfect. Needless to say, the food was incredible. As part of an Amuse Bouche, we all got a small cup of soup so smooth it reminded me of why Thomas Keller says to strain soups 20 times, it's worth it. I had the most amazing oysters, and I don't consider myself a person that likes shell-fish. One was warm with a buttery sauce and one was cold with a fennel-vinegar gelee and caviar. They were crisp to the tooth and silky smooth on the tongue with absolutely no "fishy" or ocean flavor to them. Amazing. A first for me at this dinner was Escargot, out of the shell and dancing around my plate amid colorful sauces. Just like the oysters, I was pleasantly surprised by crisp texture and a wonderful delicate flavor. Then there was venison, so moist and tender I didn't need the provided steak-knife. A sorbet cleansed the palate mid-meal with little beet pearls, apparently made by bubbling beet juice into almost cooled agar. Dinner was concluded with a "Symphony of Desserts" followed by macaroons and passion fruit gelees. Absolutely phenomenal, I would definitely put it on par with Daniel in New York.

Northeast meets Northwest

I met up with an old friend on Capitol Hill last night at this fantastic little place called simply, Smith. It's a cozy pub with lots of dark hardwood, dusty books, taxidermy animals, and portraits on the walls. Their happy hour is phenomenal; we got a PITCHER of Allagash white ale for $10!! Not to mention they also had Ninkasi IPA and a handful of other excellent beers on tap. Their food menu was filled with all sorts of tasty, French-inspired pub foods. Since my friend grew up in Montreal, she ordered Poutine, which is according to her, the official dish of Montreal. Poutine is french fries smothered in an au jus style gravy with melted cheese curds on top - delicious! We also got some good homemade mac n' cheese. It wasn't long before we were both in a glorious carbohydrate coma!

Puff Pastry Improv

A few months ago we ended up with a pile of puff-pastry dough scraps at work that I gladly brought home and threw in my freezer for later use. After nearly an entire quarter of lunches comprised of sandwiches or salads made from the same ingredients (the "salad" is really just a sandwich without bread), I decided it was high time that I make something else to take to school with me each day. Last week inspiration struck: Samosas! Granted, I don't think I've ever made an actual samosa, nor did I consult a recipe, so perhaps these are not samosas at all. I started by fine dicing or mincing a few carrots, parsnips, butterball potatoes, red onion, garlic, ginger, peppers from my canned pepper medley, frozen green beans, and celery tops (like parsley!). I sauteed everything in bacon grease, used the singer method to make a roux and then used a splash of water to make it saucy. I threw in some frozen corn and a cooked and chopped sage & garlic chicken sausage at the end. Each piece of puff-dough got a spoon full of this mixture and sealed shut with some egg wash. These baked at 350 degrees until they looked done, and oh man were they delicious! The perfect addition to a school lunch!

Thankful for good food!

It's a bit belated, but here is my epic Thanksgiving post. Mandy made bacon-wrapped dates as an appetizer, or literally an amuse bouche (something to "shut your mouth" while dinner is cooking). I almost didn't get a picture of them, they got eaten quick and this is the last one!:

Mandy continued to show off her new-found love for cooking by gracing us with this deliciously authentic Greek salad. Not to mention, it was the perfect light addition to a rather hefty meal.


Debbie made these heavenly carrot pillows:


I, of course, had to make brussel sprouts fried in bacon grease:


Alex was the squash champion of the evening, he made this wonderful medly of winter squashes:


Debbie made Cranberry Chutney, which was incredible!:


And I made Wild-Cranberry Sauce (wow! they were TART!!):

And of course there was green-bean casserole and cornbread dressing, not stuffing (thanks, Josh):


Here is the only picture I got of our handsom bird. He is a heritage turkey from Stokeberry farm. So much love went into the creation of this turkey! It was absolutely divine. To put it, roughly, in the words of 5-year-old Miya, "I'm thankful that this turkey was a alive so we can eat it". And Debbie did a lovely job of carving it!


For dessert, I made the best gluten-free and egg-free cake I think I've ever had. It's a chocolate-chai-pumpkin-cranberry cake. Dorothy brought a sort of pear gallete (although it had yeast in the dough..) that was absolute delectable! And Mandy made cherry pie, yum!:

Refried Pizza and The Bay

In my exhaustion and starvation after returning home from 48hours in the Bay Area I created something incredible. I call it, Refried Pizza. What I was craving was grilled cheese and tomato soup, although we had no bread, just lots of old pizza that Alex swore was inedible at this point. How to make the inedible edible? Why fry it in bacon grease of course! That is precisely what I did. I even added some fresh Golden Glen sharp cheddar to the top of the old pizza and I let it get all melty and and delicious as it was frying. Perhaps anything would have tasted as good at that point in time, but wow that was delicious! The pizza was crispy with bacon-goodness on the bottom and smothered in melted yum on top, how can you go wrong?!

On a different note, while I was in Palo Alto I was on a mission to eat as much as possible. At La Bamba Taqueria I had a tamale with a texture similar to a souffle and a burrito with some of the best al pastor I've ever had. Although nothing compares to the burritos a few doors down at La Costena. I had my usual adobado chicken with black beans, rice, guacamole, cheese, cilantro, onions, pico de gallo, and salsa - it's all so good! My dad had some beautiful little tacos at La Costena. I also got my yearly fix of pumpkin and Swiss mocha ice cream at Rick's Rather Rich Ice Cream and spicy Mexican mocha's at Coupa Cafe that, "made our tonsils light up" according to my Dad. They did have quite the cayenne-pepper kick. I've saved the best for last though, a new discovery: Coconuts. It's a bright little Jamaican restaurant right next to city hall. The owner and chef, Robert Simpson, grew up in Jamaica and got trained in culinary arts at the CIA. I LOVE this restaurant, it is hands down the best Jamaican food I have had yet. All the meat was tender and juicy enough to eat with a spoon, the sauces and spice-mixes were spot on and packed a colorful punch. Not to mention each plate was visually a work of art.

...Thanksgiving update coming soon!