How To Eat (that)

Why Roast in a Cast iron Skillet. Exhibit A: Deglazing

nospam@example.com (Adrianne Dow Young) — 2008-10-20T08:16:00Z

After roasting the Ballotine in the oven, Erik de-glazed the skillet by putting it over heat and whisking in red wine and chicken broth (made from the bones from the chicken) and a teaspoon of flour.

The crispy bits – the roasted garlic and roasting juices – combined with the liquids and stomped out a powerful gravy.

Once the sauce thickened, Erik added a shot of Clear Creek Apple Brandy .

Served over the sliced Ballotine, life got really, really, really good.

Chicken Ballotine: Life sometimes works out well.

nospam@example.com (Adrianne Dow Young) — 2008-10-19T00:10:32Z

How quickly can you bone out a chicken? Jacques Pepin can rip the flesh from a chicken in less than 90 seconds. Me? 9 minutes plus a running start of prayer and bribes.

Boning out a chicken is the first step to Chicken Ballotine – a bird that is stuffed, rolled and trussed up tighter that a hussy on Halloween.

Then comes the stuffing of roasted sweet potato in one half of the bird and lentils and mustard greens in the other. Each leg has it’s own flavor which is kind of exciting for those of us with limited attention spans.

The trussing has always gotten me in trouble, causing the bird to look like a Picasso Ballotine –a disfigured but essentially good thing that makes for an interesting presentation. This past Ballotine, knot gods behind me, the thing looked (mmostly) right.

Ballotine Stuffing:
Roasted sweet potato with caramelized red onion

Black lentils and mustard greens sautéed with garlic and salt

We roasted the thing at 350° for nearly 90 minutes.

If I had to do all over again, I’d lower the temperature a bit on the back side of the cooking time.

The lemons added to the skillet roast beautifully and go well is duck cracklins, should you have them about.

Roasted Yellow Tomato and Quince Sauce

nospam@example.com (Adrianne Dow Young) — 2008-10-15T16:00:54Z

We had a happy growing and gathering moment the other day. Erik and I found a quince tree on our property.

We had also harvested our tomatoes. The Seattle tomatoes did relatively nothing on the vine. Some had been volunteers (they tasted terrible) others were simply under ripe. The cherry and yellow plum tomatoes did the best.

Our Eastern Washington garden produced tons of stewing tomatoes and a few white heirloom tomatoes. In the end, with our travel schedule, we had to stew, puree, strain and freeze everything.

So this is what happened:
Half an onion
Two pounds of yellow tomatoes
A whole quince, cut in two
Some salt
Olive oil to coat

Roast at 350° until soft (about and hour)

Puree.

Strain.

Taste.

Should be tart and bright and perfect over an artichoke heart dressing or over roasted leg of lamb.

Costco Hotdogs, Friend or Foe?

nospam@example.com (Adrianne Dow Young) — 2008-08-30T14:32:20Z

The simple beauty of a hotdog is an American Truth. In a time when being an American means something different than it used to, the hotdog still stands proud to be at the ballpark, the county fair and the Costco. The hotdog doesn’t question or have political agendas. It just wants to experience the traditions of this country with everyone who can stand to eat mystery animal bits.

The American Truths at Costco have become a dicey little game for us. Before leaving Missoula yesterday, we went and got a hotdog at Costco. It was early, but we were hungry and no longer willing to spend our money on the restaurants of The Most Food Forsaken Town of America.

We’ve danced this hot waltz with the devil before. Eat the hotdog. Release the hotdog. Regret hotdog.

But they’re only a buck a piece!

So we go back. Still we load the sucker up with mustard and saurkraut and we one-two –three-it into the phrase Never Again.

What draws us back to the Costco hotdog?

I’ll tell you what it is: Because they’re there. They aren’t loyal to you, but they’re there.

Eating Missoula - oh god no

nospam@example.com (Adrianne Dow Young) — 2008-08-28T22:43:05Z

Food on the road is never easy. In Paris there are too many choices. In Ritzville, Washington there is one. Portland has a swath of greatness speckled with mediocrity.

Missoula, Montana– a beautiful place with wonderful people– needs a restaurant high colonic.

Here's the rundown of where we've et at:

Finn and Porter Go for dinner. our hotel's restaurant:

- Great Mashed potatoes, made better if you ask that the teaspoon of raw garlic be left off.

- The Penn Cove Mussels are wonderful at the bar. Horrible from Room Service.

- Avoid breakfast unless you crave fat with a side of sneer.

- Beautifully rounded wine list.

- Their wild mushroom sautée is a medley of button mushrooms

Red Bird Run AWAY!

- Touted as one of Missoula's best.

- Red Bird gives food the middle finger and then charges you for it.

- I want to rip the quality of service apart, I do. I suck as a server, so I won't.

- We had rice cakes with red curry sauce, pork and shrimp fried spring rolls, beef kabobs with peanut sauce. The rice cakes were fried to humiliation. The pork spring rolls were slightly burnt, the beef kabobs were beef carpacio kabobs.

- We wanted this place to be adequate. We looked forward to going. We look forward to seeing it close.

- It is a nice room!

- great sauces, someone needs to be commended for them.

- The kitchen staff needs more direction and more clean towels.

- The red silk banner that covers the kitchen door needs to be replaced with something that doesn't get flung aside like Madam Bovary's virtue every time someone walks into or out of the kitchen.

El Cazador

You know in the reality tv shows when some character does something completely offensive and another character says, oh hell no.

- Beef tacos should never do that to anyone ever.

- e-v-e-r.

Caffe Dolce (just opened)

- Have a coffee and chocolate rubbed tritip blue cheese and arugula sandwich for lunch.

- Have any of their house made pastas for dinner

- Try their house salad and rethink what house salad means

Iron Horse eh.

- Food is fine.

- Service is waiting for every patron to turn, magically, into a football player.

- Kitchen staff to be avoided when met in dark alleys, bowling alleys or anything with only two exits.

Want. To. Go. Home.

Things to know when cooking for money

nospam@example.com (Adrianne Dow Young) — 2008-08-27T01:10:32Z

I thought it would be pretty easy to cook for 2 dozen people every week. In many ways it was (serving 24 people every week is a different story) thanks to Erik's ability to organize and foresee issues. Here's what I learned throughout the summer.

1. Count stuff that you cut. Count everything that passes by you. Know your numbers.

2. Bring an extra platter, sheet pan and cutting board.

3. Learn to cook and talk. Learn to cut and talk.

4. If someone asks for feta, and you forgot feta at the off-site kitchen, tell them that the feta was beneath your standards and move on.

5. Containers are your best friend. Know how many containers you will need to store food, know where they'll fit, know what fits in them.

6. Prep is 90% of cooking.

From a non server to other non servers

nospam@example.com (Adrianne Dow Young) — 2008-08-25T17:12:04Z

When Erik and I hatched the plan to cook through out the state at different wineries, I failed to realize that I had to serve people their meal.

Over the summer I have learned the intricacies of existing on the other side of the apron. Here's how the last dinner went.

20 people are seated. 7 of them, all women, belong to the same party. All 7 women are under the impression that they are the super special center of the universe.

Course One:
Caprese Salad with Farmer's Market Greens and ~~Feta~~
A member of the super fabulous 7 reads the menu and asks where the feta is on the salad. We decided against the feta and I tell her so. Not to be deterred from her feta, she leaves her chair, prances up to me and asks for a side of feta in a practiced child voice. As if saying something in a high pitch will make her less demanding. I tell her we don't have any feta, we left it behind. She pouts and wants salt and pepper.

Who knew feta, or lack there of would inspire so much distain?

Each course is paired with a wine. At the end of course one, another of the fab 7 (or was it 8?) asks for more wine. I tell her that the next course is coming and she'll get another taste of wine at that point. She and her friends are incredulous.

Somehow, I need these women to chill out without dropping muscle relaxant in their water or bopping them in the head with a seal club.

Course Two:
Zucchini Fritters with Babaganouj.
I ask the girls how they are enjoying things. They sneer, say things are fine and then return to their conversation about wanting to go to Honduras. As if Honduras has feta.

I did nearly knock them in the head and make them move their glasses when I land the fritters. Eye rolling ensued.

Other members of the table are perfectly delightful. I have a nice conversation with a couple of women at the end of the table who are genuinely delightful. One of whom is the pastry chef at Crow and Betty in Seattle.

Course Three:
Steak with Corn Succotash and Farro
As we are plating up, a question about plating comes up. A normal, easy question becomes more difficult with the fact that the Valkyrie of the Banal are squirming behind me. I've officially become the bitch waitress and I embrace the role with all of my soul.

While cleaning and doing dishes in the back, Erik comes and finds me and gives me a glass of SB.

Things get better after that.

Course Four:
Fruit Crostada
I don't care anymore. One of the pouting women (Gorgons have more charm) asks what the dessert is. I tell her. She corrects me, it's not peach, it's nectarine.

I still don't know what her question was.

The meal ended. Erik gave a beautiful speech. I cleaned up. We left.

In the end, I think I will either have to get much better at serving people food or people are going to have to wear helmets at the table.

Road Food, what never to eat

nospam@example.com (Adrianne Dow Young) — 2008-08-25T17:04:12Z

Erik and I went on a trip to Missoula. Our goal for the trip was to avoid gastrointestinal distress as our last trip to Missoula was full of bouts of fleeing to the bathroom.

While on the road, one finds themselves eating things they just wouldn't – like Subway chicken wraps and popcorn shrimp from the deli counter of Walmart.

We threw the popcorn shrimp, which had been fried in a baking soda batter, away. Not before I tried to make them better with a spicy barbecue dipping sauce. The sauce made the popcorn shroimp go from god awful to god awfuller.

It was horrible stuff.

The subway chicken wrap couldn't be called horrible because it didn't taste like anything.

It was a day of learning to follow your food instincts. While I don't want to be a snob about food (because it is all waste product in the end), I do think Walmart and Subway will be on the list of things to avoid on the road.

Night Out at Solid Rock Farm

nospam@example.com (Adrianne Dow Young) — 2008-08-21T05:53:37Z

Life in an agricultural area is different than in the city. Whole Foods seems limited when you stand in the middle of an acre full of organic vegetables.

This evening we went to Solid Rock Farm, a place where you pay 100 bucks a year to grow, weed, till and take all the produce home you can hope for.

We weeded a bit of a strawberry patch and were rewarded with eggplant, squash, beans, potatoes, heirloom tomatoes and kale.

What I love about Solid Rock is the fact that they are entering the new way of doing what we all need to be doing: Share land to grow stuff on.

It was a beautiful night that sprung a glorious future.

Thai Chili explosion

nospam@example.com (Adrianne Dow Young) — 2008-08-20T14:51:55Z

We planted two gardens this year - one in Seattle and one where we are relocating.

Both gardens boast a ton of pepper plants and now we have a ton of peppers on the ton of pepper plants.

Last year I made Habanero Sauce which lasted us until now.

This year it's all about Thai Chili Sauce. It is a kicky addition to salad dressing or on top of Green Beans in Black Bean Sauce

How to make Thai Chili Sauce:

Cut as many Thai Chilis as you have
Place in jar
Add fish sauce
Lid Jar
Wait a day

Much easier and less caustic than the Habanero Sauce Debacle from last year.

Serving food in high heels

nospam@example.com (Adrianne Dow Young) — 2008-08-19T04:56:31Z

After a summer of serving people multi-course meals in kicky shoes that have no place in the kitchen, I have learned a few things.

A. Stone patios are uneven and cruel

B. High heels are not an excuse when you knock a diner in the head with large plates of food. Go figure.

C. When you slide willy nilly through a tasting room with hot soup, you're either going to earn a tip or scorn.

D. Barbecuing in stilettos is sexy. Barbecue on stilettos is not.

E. 12-hours, four courses, three broken toes = Naturalizers.

Margarita Cornish Game Hens

nospam@example.com (Adrianne Dow Young) — 2008-08-19T04:38:00Z

The other evening we had dinner with some friends in their apple orchard. We cooked game hen marinated in lime, orange and smoked paprika and served them over the black beans and rice.

We cooked the suckers over a raging apple wood fire made in a weber grill.

Keep the Weber away from the house.

Serious issues arise if you don't.

Marinate the hens for at least a day. Add garlic for that extra something or brown some as a garnish for the rice.

Peach, Pecan, Smoked Fish salad

nospam@example.com (Adrianne Dow Young) — 2008-08-19T04:27:49Z

Slice some peaches
Toast some pecans
Tear up some lettuce
Top with smoked fish

Dressing:
Juice from one orange and one lime
Add 2 tbs. champagne vinegar
Whisk in olive oil
Add pepper

Have under the apple trees in an orchard.

Next up, cornish game hens cooked over apple wood.

3 things not to do as a restaurant blogger

nospam@example.com (Adrianne Dow Young) — 2008-08-19T03:52:21Z

Of late a friend of ours has been ranting about all of the bloggers he serves. To give him a voice, I've summarized his angst.

Top three complaints from your server about you, the restaurant blogger.

Note taking: You are there to eat and enjoy. Notes don't help you eat. They don't help you enjoy. They make you look like a weenie. Stop acting like a weenie, eat something. If you can remember what you ate, write about it.

Mentioning other online reviews: Your server is there to deliver food to you, not hear about what you read online. Eating out is entertainment and a little hobby for you, for your server it's a hectic job.

Taking names so you can skewer people on the web: Not fair. Not cool. Not a service to others.

Traveling kitchen

nospam@example.com (Adrianne Dow Young) — 2008-08-18T14:55:52Z

Erik and I have been cooking across the Washington State for the past three months.

We've learned to pack up a portable kitchen, stuff it into the truck of a sedan and haul it out onto makeshift tables.

There have been great tactical successes (such as Erik's idea to use kitchen towels from IKEA as napkins when serving ribs)

There have been some tactical failures (apparently, 4 of 7 people will try cold cucumber soup).

In the next few days I'll download all of my notes.

Also, we are packing up and leaving Seattle. The new adventure begins today.