Ovens to Betsy

No-Labor Day

There I was this morning, coffee mug in hand, laptop perched on one knee, preparing my client paperwork when the Ovens to Betsy line rings. It’s my client’s husband, calling to say my client is sick and isn’t up to having me cook. While I’m sorry to hear she’s ailing, I’m thrilled to have the day off (Labor Day is a rare holiday for this self-employed gal).

But what to do with my newfound freedom? Do I lace up my running shoes for my scheduled 13-mile run? Do I continue yesterday’s cleaning streak and tackle the kitchen? Do I get a jump on my quarterly taxes and enter my bookkeeping for the past two months?

Nah. Where’s the fun in that?

While the weather was more reminiscent of late fall, my darling and I decided to break out the bikes for a long ride. Given our crazy-ass marathon schedule our feet and legs have been crying uncle. We figured a bit of cross-training would not only give our tired bodies a reprieve, it would be a fun diversion from our rigid plan.

Of course, what’s a bike ride without food? We toyed with packing a picnic lunch and heading to Chateau Ste. Michelle, but at 40+ miles roundtrip, the ride seemed daunting. Turning around at Tracy Owens Park trimmed it to a more reasonable 30 miles, but it also eliminated a scenic picnic spot.

My thoughts then turned to the ribeye steak in our fridge. Sprinkled with alder-smoked salt, grilled, sliced and placed on top of thick toasted whole grain bread with melted blue cheese and fresh arugula, it would be a perfect lunch after a long ride. What a decadent way to celebrate the last (unofficial) day of summer!

Channeling Ruth Reichl

At the beginning of 2007 I vowed to explore Seattle’s restaurant scene, sharing my findings here.  Total number of reviews?  One.  (There’s a reason I shy away from New Year’s resolutions).

Restaurant reviewing enthralls me; I envision feasting night after night on tantalizing comestibles, paid with someone else’s dime, at tony bistros tucked into quaint pockets of the city.  Most likely the reality, while certainly not mundane, is far less glamorous.  (And call me shallow, I’m sure I would quickly tire of the inevitable weight gain).

Reviewing is a tricky business; your goal is to help the general public decide if they’ll enjoy the experience, but you’re also dealing with someone’s livelihood.  Good reviews can catapult a restaurant into the “hot spot” realm, while a bad review can signal its demise.  I ask myself, do I want that responsibility?

Restaurant reviews have proliferated thanks to blogging, yet the medium introduces another point of contention — is the review fair and balanced?  While traditional reviewers will visit a restaurant a minimum of two times before writing it up (and will never review it within the first few weeks of opening, unless it’s for a “first looks” write-up), many bloggers base their opinions on merely one visit (I’m guilty).  Not only is this practice unfair to the establishment, it’s a disservice to the readers.

Ethics aside, the craft of restaurant reviewing is much harder than it appears.  Describing the halibut as “delicious” offers little insight; you want your reader to feel they were dining with you.  Better to say, “the halibut — marinated in a zesty soy-chile marinade and flash-seared on the grill — was a perfect balance of crispy, golden brown exterior and melt-in-your-mouth interior.”  (Although I’m sure an editor would call out “melt-in-your mouth” as cliché).

You need to be an expert at noticing the details.  What’s the atmosphere like?  Was the waitstaff attentive?  Is parking accessible?  Are children welcomed or shunned? Are prices in line with the value?  Now imagine encapsulating this into a 300-word review.  Believe me, it ain’t easy.  (Of course, if you’re writing for your own blog, you have much more leeway).

Continue reading Channeling Ruth Reichl…

Getting my groove on

Helloooo? Anyone home? Boy, things sure are dusty in here.

So, um, yeah. It’s been a while. I’d be surprised if anyone stops by any more (heck, even my sister bailed months ago). I have at least one good excuse — I’ve run another marathon since last we spoke (shaved 52 minutes off my best time, thankyouverymuch) — but I can’t chalk it all up to that.

I wouldn’t say it’s a matter of writer’s block; I’ve composed a slew of posts in my mind. Nor have I succumbed to culinary mediocrity (okay, perhaps on occasion). Despite limited time and energy, we’ve eaten well. I’ve perfected a recipe for zesty, moist turkey burgers; concocted a nourishing post-run recovery drink incorporating frozen fruit and vanilla soy milk; tested the quality of “cheater” aioli over the real deal (both were delectable); whipped up not one, but two rhubarb pies (one baked, one fresh); hatched my own version of “A Man, A Can, a Plan” (”A woMan, A Few Cans, Not Much of a Plan,” if you will) and in what could be hailed as the ultimate blasphemy for this New England-bred gal, prepared a MANHATTAN clam chowder that’s irresistible (sorry Mom; I’ll turn in my Yankee card forthwith).

No, the real culprit is epistolary lethargy. I just haven’t had it in me.

I’ve had no problem posting on Eat Drink Run Woman (I’ve penned more than 30 posts since March 26), yet when it comes to food blogging, my readers deserve more. There’s an inherent intimidation in food writing; if you can’t measure up to the quality that currently exists, why bother?

Yet for me it goes deeper. What do I have to say that hasn’t been said before? How can I best illustrate my post to make it interesting? Take all those factors in mind and you’re looking at 3-4 hours a day at a minimum before anything is published. With my running musings, I can crank out a pithy entry in less than an hour.

Continue reading Getting my groove on…

Almond Joy Pie

It’s time once again for Easter decadence. As I wrote last year, I love to make desserts this time of year since there’s always plenty of people to help rid me of leftovers.

While contemplating this year’s concoction, I became inspired when I tried Tom Douglas‘ coconut cream pie at Etta’s. It’s loaded with coconut — in the crust, the pastry cream and in the garnish. The recipe is in his “Seattle Kitchen” cookbook, so I thought I’d give it a whirl. But as always, my brain started revving in overdrive. How could I make it my own?

I then remembered I had a half a bag of almond meal flour in my fridge, left over from a recipe for brown butter rhubarb-almond cake that Bill Gates’ pastry chef prepared when the premier of China came to town. Let’s see, what has almond and coconut? An Almond Joy candy bar, of course!

I figured I could incorporate the almond meal into the crust, along with shredded coconut. I’d then spread chocolate ganache onto the pre-baked crust before filling it with the pastry cream. Tom’s filling calls for regular milk, but I wanted to boost the coconut flavor by using coconut milk. I also added some almond extract to both the crust and the filling. In addition to the toasted shaved coconut, I garnished the top with toasted almond slices and dark chocolate (I found one with coconut bits, but you could certainly use plain).

I think this is about as decadent as it gets!
Continue reading Almond Joy Pie…

Pop on over

This past Christmas one of my clients — a woman VERY particular about how her food should be prepared and presented — decided she wanted popovers with strawberry butter for Christmas Eve brunch (she’s the same client who sent me home with half the foie gras and black truffles from said brunch). She had seen a chef on Martha Stewart prepare gigantic cheese popovers and wanted me to replicate them (she taped the segment so I could see what they looked like. Indeed, they looked delicious).

I’ve never made popovers before (although I did try my hand at individual Yorkshire puddings one year), but they didn’t seem too terribly difficult: mix milk, flour, eggs, salt and melted butter, pour into prepared popover tins, top with shredded gruyere and bake until puffed and golden brown. Normally I’d practice beforehand, but I didn’t have a popover pan, nor did I have much extra time given my marathon training. I’d just have to hope for the best.

When I downloaded the recipe off of Martha’s site I decided to check out the reviews. Practically all of them were negative; most people said the popovers turned out doughy and didn’t rise that much. This wouldn’t do! I then compared that recipe to others, including one in Baking Illustrated (I always trust the folks at Cook’s Illustrated). Martha’s recipe was for 12 popovers and called for 4 cups each of flour and milk and 8 eggs. The BI recipe called for just 1 cup each of flour and milk and 2 eggs for 6 popovers. Given the disastrous results so many people had with Martha’s recipe, I decided I’d take a chance and prepare the BI one, doubling the recipe.

As I was in the thick of things during the brunch I started to get nervous. I know how important my client’s Christmas Eve brunch with her family is, so I didn’t want to disappoint. I had considered fessing up to using a different recipe, but decided against it. I just prayed everything worked out.

Martha’s chef had you pour the batter to the top of the popover cup, so I did the same (even though BI said to divide the batter evenly). I knew I was in trouble as I filled up the 8th cup: I had barely enough batter left for one more. D’oh! Fortunately I’d only be serving 5 adults and 2 kids, so I thought I could get away with it (there was so much food, I didn’t think people would want seconds on the popovers). I sprinkled the gruyere over the batter and placed the tins back in the oven.

When the timer rang I looked in to see some rather lopsided popovers. They rose, but I think the gruyere kept them from rising straight up. I took them out of the pans and placed them on a rack, where they deflated slightly. I began to panic; have I just ruined my client’s brunch? Fortunately everyone seemed thrilled and no one said a word about the less-than-perfect popovers. I dodged a bullet.

Or so I thought.

Continue reading Pop on over…

An unfamiliar concept

A while back a fellow chef posted a question to our personal chef message board: “What do you do with leftover wine?” Hmmm… “leftover wine”… It’s a concept that escaped me at the time.

At Christmas we received a bottle of White Zinfindel. This normally is not a wine we enjoy — we’re more partial to dry reds — but we decided to give it a go. As expected, it was far too sweet, but worse, it lacked any character. However, I just couldn’t bring myself to pour it down the sink. There MUST be some way to salvage it.

With New Year’s now upon us — which brought a renewed commitment to eating healthier — I picked up some salmon and kale. I love both sweet and savory preparations for salmon, so I thought the White Zinfindel might make for an interesting sauce. I first seared the salmon on one side and finished it off in the oven. I then sautéed some shallots in the same skillet and deglazed with about a cup and a half of the wine. I let that reduce to about half a cup, then swirled in some Moutarde de Violette (a violet mustard I picked up in Paris) and a bit of butter. I was quite pleased with myself!

Chipotle Deviled Eggs

I can never show up to Christmas Eve festivities empty-handed, but considering I typically have to work that day I’m always looking for recipes that can easily be made ahead. Deviled eggs to the rescue! I made the eggs and filling the day before, then assembled them at our cousin’s place. They were a HUGE hit.

As with most things, I don’t really have a specific recipe. For 18 eggs I mixed the yolks with about 3/4 cup mayonnaise and 1/2 cup sour cream. I then added salt, pepper and chipotle chiles en adobo to taste. You can mash with a fork or potato masher, but I like to whip everything up in a food processor for a nice creamy consistency. Enjoy!

I am blessed

Christmas has come and gone, and although I didn’t do everything I had hoped, I feel blessed to have such wonderful friends, family and clients with which to celebrate the season.

I managed to get a three-day weekend just before Christmas, so we took the opportunity to relax (well, after our 11-mile run on Friday and 22-mile run on Saturday, that is) and catch up with some out-of-town friends at a local pub. We shared spiked eggnog and wine with our neighbor and gorged ourselves silly with my darling’s relatives Christmas Eve (I’m looking forward to the marathon to help work off all those calories).

On Christmas Eve morning I prepared a decadent brunch for a client: caviar on potato pancakes with crème fraîche, seared foie gras on brioche toast points (with homemade brioche), baked eggs with truffles, popovers with strawberry butter, fresh fruit salad and pigs in a blanket (the latter was requested by the grandkids, but the adults enjoyed them too). As I was cleaning up my client told me to take the remaining foie gras — almost 3/4 pound! She also gave me almost an ounce of the truffles. How incredibly generous.

One of my favorite snack indulgences is truffled popcorn — air-popped corn tossed with a mixture of truffle oil and butter and sprinkled with truffle salt. My darling has never cared for it — he can’t stand the smell of truffle oil — but when he tried the version with real truffle butter he was hooked (the truffle scent in most truffle oil is chemically produced, so that’s what had been turning him off). For the butter I minced up some of the truffle and let it steep in melted butter. I then tossed that with the popcorn. The rest of the truffle was mixed in with a wild mushroom risotto.

For the foie gras, I was inspired by a dish my darling had at Chez Dumonet in Paris: seared foie gras with grapes. I sautéed some minced shallot in some duck fat, along with a couple of handfuls of halved black seedless grapes. I let them sauté until rather soft and beginning to brown, then deglazed with about a cup and a half of tawny port and a couple of tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. I reduced that down until syrupy and set aside.

Meanwhile, I sliced the foie gras into 3/4″ slices and seasoned with salt and pepper. I preheated a skillet until very hot and added the slices. They cook VERY fast; you have to be careful or you’ll end up with a skillet-ful of very expensive fat. After about 45 seconds I flipped them and seared on the other side. I then placed the slices on the brioche toast points and poured the sauce on top. The sauce provided a wonderfully tangy balance to the richness of the foie gras and brioche.

What a way to celebrate Christmas!

Oy! to the World

Note to self: DO NOT sign up for another January marathon if you expect to have any time to celebrate the holidays.

I can’t freakin’ believe Christmas is just a week and a half away. I had such high hopes for this season — I’d prepare fabulous, homemade treats for all my clients, I’d send out Christmas cards at the beginning of the month, my house would be clean and decorated — but time has somehow managed to get away from me. Only one client will be receiving treats, and even then I’ve disappointed her (I prepared three dozen each of three types of cookies; one dozen of each for her, the other two for her daughter). However, despite the fact she’s on a diet and shouldn’t be eating such indulgences, the amount wasn’t enough.

sigh

So for now this blog will remain woefully ignored. I had actually started a post that consisted of various food “snippets,” — tidbits I’ve been collecting over the year that haven’t warranted a full post — but even posting those in a cohesive fashion has seemed daunting. For some reason I feel more compelled to write on my other blog, Eat Drink Run Woman, so if you’re really intrigued with my comings and goings, check that out.

In the mean time, I hope you enjoy my version of that holiday classic, Chex Mix. It’s an adaptation of Texas Trash from the El Paso Chile Company’s “Texas Border Cookbook.” (And yes, the photo above was taken LAST year, when I actually had time to make the stuff).

Puget Sound Trash

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup Chipotle Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
2 cups Fritos
2 cups Crispix cereal (or Chex)
2 cups Bugles
2 cups Cheez-its or Goldfish
2 cups Corn Nuts
1 1/2 cups pretzel sticks (the tiny ones)
1 cup pepitas (toasted pumpkin seeds)
1 cup peanuts

Preheat oven to 250. Mix melted butter, Tabasco, Worcesteshire sauce, chili powder and oregano together until well blended. In a large bowl, toss Fritos, cereal, Cheez-its, corn Nuts, pretzels, pepitas and peanuts. Pour butter mixture over and stir to combine. Bake for about an hour, stirring every 10 minutes, until lightly browned.

Kitchen Fun

Boy, does this bring back memories! This cookbook, published in 1932, was the very first cookbook I cooked from. Although it has all sorts of recipes (including one for Carrot Loaf), I stuck to the desserts. Here’s one that was obviously popular:

And although it’s not a recipe in the book, my sister found this stuck inside (it’s a recipe from my grandfather):

In case you can’t read it, here’s his recipe:

Chocolate Molasses Candy (written on April 27, 1931)

Use all molasses in jar. Add one full scoop of sugar, then about 3/4 of another. Mix 2 1/3 teaspoons of cream with sugar. Boil until it smells like something were wrong. Add all of the butter left over from dinner. Also shake the baking powder can at mixture. Beat 30 seconds and put in buttered pan.

(I think this is the mark of a true chef — who needs to be precise?!!!)