The Tractor and Voracious

Voracious Door Stamp. Yes that is a Martini. It was indeed time to get my drink on.

Dear fellow blog readers,

Hi! Hope you all are doing well, it has been sometime hasn't it? Well, I don't mean to expound upon the obvious, but I have been kept fairly engaged recently hence the late blog update. Please forgive me, I will try to be more dutiful to you all.

So awhile back I visited The Tractor Tavern in Ballard , WA where I saw a few bands play that you should all really know about. Well, two of them at least. The first band, Doctor Doctor, was not band per se, I think they were par for a rock band. My opinion of course, but you should check them out for yourself. The next band was Spanish for 100 (which I think is a pretty clever name) was great, I really thought they sounded like a sort of cross of Vampire Weekend, Modest Mouse, and them. Be warned, Spanish for 100's recording quality online is not what they sound like live(Hmm, much like another band I know of). And then there was Slender Means (another name I really like) who blew that place out. I mean, these guys are pretty good. (No pics, my camera is being recycled as we speak because it ate batteries as fast as you could put them in it. So I am in the market for a new one. Suggestions are gladly accepted).

After the show, my compatriots and I we a bit peckish and realized other than the hot dog cart on the sidewalk, there were some slim pickins in Ballard for late night grubbing.

We ventured forth and found sustenance, but in light of that evening wheels have begun to churn...

So you may have heard about this little food thing in Seattle called Voracious. It is a Seattle Weekly column, blog, and annual event the weekly hands out awards for this and that. But more importantly, the event has food, good food and lots of it. And, as I found out, drinks galore! The ticket was decent, only $25 for entry and all the good food you could stuff in your face and pockets and open bars as far as the eye could see. And the venue, it was held at The Paramount (a great place where I saw The Shins play) and if you have never been there, you should go. The words I would try to use to describe it's ambiance, it's feel, would not due it justice. The closest thing I can do, dear readers, is tell you that it reminds me of a theater in my hometown of Sioux City,Iowa called The Orpheum. I remember going to see many great movies in the Orpheum, like when my grandparents took me to see The Swiss Family Robinson as we brought our own homemade popcorn in a big brown paper bag. Or that time my dad took me to see Tron there, and they had the Tron video game in the lobby. Every time I step into The Paramount, the nostalgic feeling of what it was like at The Orpheum is there for me. Old yet modern, filled with lots of lost history, and you just know whatever is going on inside is going to be so worth it just from the ambiance the building provides, the buzz, the juice the place has. Places like this are very much alive in a sense. Just like the recently refurbished Columbia City Theater.

This is indeed what I would classify as a true America bargain. However, as in all things in life, there were some places that clearly brought their "A" game, and some places there were clearly mailing it in, resting on their laurels as it were.

Scotch (well, what was left of it) and Cupcake

I mean, seriously, how can one place be serving Fillet Mignon, to order, on a separate plate and another place *cough* Uli's *cough* that was serving their product Ala weekend Costco style? I mean, yes I understand, you make a damn fine sausage, that is why you are a staple in Seattle. But even a little effort would have been nice. What you did was kind of a slap in the face, which part of me can kind of respect. Like giving a little finger to the fancy pants places, but still, I wonder how all the people in attendance took it.

What were some of those other places you ask? Well, I tried many, but only want to comment on a few. Boka, for instance, was serving (well, what I think they were serving) a de-constructed potato chip. A slice of potato (raw or very lightly cooked) with toppings that made it taste like a really good version of a fully loaded potato chip you get in a grease filled bag. Expect, this had a really nice subtle flavor profile, and no grease. It could of used more salt, but then again I think that about most things. (Although, thanks to Joe, I have been reminded how good a nice coating of fresh ground tellicherry black pepper makes everything better. Even popcorn. Try it, you will be amazed).

The other place I really liked was a little, unassuming fish fry place. That is right, fish fry. Catfish Corner was serving up fresh fried catfish and hush puppies, and I think it was the best food I ate that night. Not overly coated or spiced, fried to golden perfection, along with the smartersauce (their version of tartar sauce) they were serving made for just really great food. The people working their booth were nice and friendly.

Speaking of nice people, lots of great people there. I am sure all those free drinks and free good food (well, not really "free" but you know what I mean...) probably loosened everyone one up. It is like I stated in a previous blog, good food is about bringing good people together and celebrating, and that is exactly what this was. I hope to be attend it for years to come.

On a closing note, I just want to thank you readers. I know I have not been the most punctual of bloggers, however this is something I truly enjoy. Now that the quarter is almost over and I am only taking 10 credits over the summer, I hope to get back on my blog more often. Oh, that reminds me , the Creative Arts Club I am part of at Cascadia Community College is having their 2010 Arts Magazine release event on Wednesday, June 2nd from 3pm - 7pm on campus at Mobius Hall. If you show up, there will be sandwich boards up to provide directions. There will be live music, Greek food, art presentations, and copies of the magazine all FREE!

Italian food and Simplicity

Bowl full homemade of goodness

Recently, I had the distinct pleasure of having some incredible, made from scratch, Italian food. I have never been to Italy (or Europe, yet) but I have to confess that in the past I was somewhat of a food network addict and watched that channel often. I hardly dared to ever recreate anything that I saw. Sometimes I visited the web site to swipe recipes and translate them to my own liking, but never directly tried to recreate something from those recipes.

I do make a pretty good red sauce of my own concoction, but usually I skip the making pasta part and just roll with some store bought goodness (thanks America's Test Kitchen). I always figured it was the sauce that made the pasta anyway. And while I may be correct in certain aspects in my train of thought, it is now incredibly clear to me that having both home made red sauce and good fresh hand made pasta is, how do I say, a culinary delight of the highest order.

Apparently Italians eat their pasta separate from their meat (beef, lamb, what have you), so that was how we enjoyed the evening. The sauce that was used on the pasta was the same sauce the beef cooked in for who knows how long. It had good, deep flavor and roundedness that can only be coaxed out of food with time and deliberate love and intention.

The pasta itself was tender, wide, and thick, with just enough topography to have the sauce cling desperately to its sides and not slip off when the fork is half way between your mouth and the bowl. It was perfect.

The beef, I'm not not sure of the cut, the brand, or about the recipe used to prepare it. I do know that it was delicate, moist and , like the sauce, had flavor that was deep and rich, but not over powering on any note. It was the kind of beef you could eat for dinner for days, no months, on end and never get tired of it. So, it was much like the pasta.

Dessert was the real Italian deal. Authentic almond biscotti (direct from Italy in fact I think) that we dipped in some after dinner wine (of which the name escapes me). Espresso and some more wine made the night fly by, and before we all knew it, the new day was upon us.

I dare say, with all due respect to my mother, it was the best birthday meal I have had since, well, my mothers home made lasagna. Many thanks for good friends. Next meal is on me (I mean the cooking, not literally).

Simplicity

It seems the more and more I explore the craft of food, the saying "less is more" is very true. Basic good, local and fresh ingredients, mixed and made with love and care always outperforms any and all other foods, period. A simple beet salad, lentils with curry, a glass of vodka straight from the freezer; small and simple delights will never lose their appeal.

The sun has begun to poke it's head around, and I am glad. I am ready to start hitting the trails again, ride my bike everywhere, and get back to letting you all know about the hiking around here. One of the main reasons I enjoy doing this is that it makes me look to new areas to hike in and around. So I get to see new areas, and hopefully you get to read about hikes that not everyone in the GPNW has already been on or blogged about. And the trails I do end up hiking on that have been done before, I hope that I can see it or present it in a new way to you.

Jamie Oliver has a new campaign going called Food Revolution. He is on an education trail to empower people in eating well (which usually also means better tasting also) with a focus on children and school meals. It is a great cause and I encourage you all to sign his petition on his sight.

Popcorn built the Aztec Empire

It's a"maize"ing

(ugh, sorry about that)

I love me some popped corn. Especially when it is cooked proper like; in a big pot with salt, pepper, oil and butter. Of course I occasionally add other spices as needed; like oregano or Lawry's. If I end up using coconut oil to pop the corn in, I add curry as well as salt. What you end up with is some very tasty coconut curry popcorn that is as addicting as it sounds.

Food & Good are only one letter apart. Coincident? I think not.

Molly Wizenberg @ Cascadia Community College

Hi everyone, it has been awhile since I posted. How have you all been?

First of all, let me give you some advice. If you ever blog, please write all your entries in word or some other doc format. I had over half of this entry done and usually blog spot auto saves every so often. However, something went batty and nothing was saved. Redundancy, it's never a bad idea.

Food, the one thing that I can truly say is important in everybody’s life. You only live once; you deserve to eat good food. A life well lived is filled with amazing foods right?

But what I recently discovered is that when I prepare meals just for myself, the food is usually just meet my nutrition standards (and those fluctuate from time to time). I never really go out of my way to prepare great meals for myself. But when I cook for friends, look out.

Why? Well, Michael Hebb (this article) and Molly Wizenberg’s (public speaking at Cascadia Community College) pointed out some very interesting things to me.

Cooking food, for me, has never been all about the food, but about bringing people together around good food. For me, it is about taking care of other people and surrounding myself with good fun happy people. For exqample when I make myself breakfast (when it is not just buttered toast and our the door!), I will fry up some eggs, heat up some refried beans, dollop some cottage cheese on top, sprinkle some hot sauce on it and call it done.

The Breakfast of champions

But when I cook for others, it’s all eggs Benedict with hollandaise from scratch and free range chicken eggs. Or fresh picked berries from the alley to put in the pancake batter and in the warmed syrup.

Soup and Trees, what they mean to me is everything.

Which brings me to this: I love soup. My grandfather, Morris, has always been a mastermind when it came to making soup and being able to identify trees of all sorts. He makes the best soup out of leftovers: raid the fridge, scraps of pasta, maybe some canned tomatoes from the garden, and bang, the best ham slop you ever did taste.

Cabbage Soup

I made some cabbage soup recently, andI made a huge batch of really good spicy cabbage soup. While the soup was good, the best part was the fresh cracked pepper. I loved savoring the half cracked bits of pepper in my mouth. I relished the experiencing of getting to know the spice and did not grab for a glass of water to wash it out. How else am I supposed to get acquainted with it? Spices make the world go round.


The cabbage soup recipe was a snap. Water, cabbage (both red and green), spices (I used a handful of dried green ones like basil, oregano, etc), salt, pepper, a dash of hot sauce, onions and garlic. I first sautéed the onions and garlic in the bottom of the soup pot with some spices in a little butter and olive oil. Then the water, cabbage and fennel went in. Simmer it all until warm and ladle it out. Easy peasy.

Steak, the other white meat

I also have to plug Bill the Butcher in Woodinville WA. His steaks and raw goats milk are local, hormone and antibiotic free. Plus he dry ages his steaks. They are more than amazing. His butcher's choice ground meat for burgers and chili is concocted of the scraps of meat he has lying around (pork, lamb, steak, etc) and let me tell you, that stuff makes the best burgers (or anything for that matter) in town. Some of that, and his local bacon, were used to make this:

Possibly the best baked beans, ever.

And now a preview, the star of an upcoming event, real Russian vodka. I have no idea what the label says, so if any of you speak Russian komrad, please tell me what this says.

Russian Star

Creative Arts Club presents...

Dear Blog Readers,

I would like to invite you all to a speaking event taking place next Tuesday, January 19th at the North Creeks Event Center of Cascadia Community College. The Creative Arts Club is proud to present Molly Wizenberg, local Seattle Author (Books and blogs) and owner of Delancey's will be reading selected passages from her book beginning at 4:30pm. There will be light refreshments for this event.

This event is free and open to all, so if you come bring friends! This is sure to be a great event, and did I mention it is free!

I hope to see you there.
Joshua

Egads!

Look at what my diet has degraded into! Ashamed, a little. But it has been fun and liberating in some odd way. (that is chicken strips in the plastic sack right of the cereal, btw)

The Eve

My view this morning

Hello Faithful Readers! By now it might be obvious that while on break from school I have WAY more time to write my blog, but just in case you did not I thought it was worth pointing out.

What an early morning barker may look like.

I awoke today to the sound of a dog barking as I am dog sitting, prompting me to get up let them out and feed them. After a fitful yet restful night of sleep, probably due to the recent splurge of poor diet and reading the first 59 pages of "How I became a Famous Novelist" by Steve Hely, (btw, a pretty good book) I rose to do so.

Self explanatory picture of the book I am reading

It was an amazing view as everything was frosted in white frost and the was just beginning to reveal itself lazily on the horizon. Oh how I could relate.


After letting the dogs out, playing with them, and feeding them, I returned inside invigorated from the crisp morning air. I felt inspired so I turned on the television with high hopes some great seasonal show would be on. To my dismay and non surprise, GMA, Today and The Early Show all had on the usual fair of depressing news: air travel mishaps, missing person cases, etc. No all day festival of being grateful that I hoped for. So my choices were between Sesame Street and White Christmas; it was a close race but White Christmas won.

There happen to be a few extra ripe banana's in the house, so I am going to bake some banana bread using this recipe today. Seems to be a fine thing to do today, bake that is.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with some holiday sprinkles

If you have not had a chance to try Beecher's side dishes, do so as soon as humanly possible. This one is filled with kale, copious amounts of the real thing. It was incredibly good and cheesy. Normally I do not like frozen dishes, well not as a grown up anyways. But this one caught my eye the other day and I was feeling lazy, so I bought it. What a treasure I found. It seriously reminded me of the kind of dish I would make if I were to make a really good brown rice cheesy kale casserole. Those people over there in that Beecher's test kitchen experimenting making this type of goodness, yeah, they have it rough.

Heat in the oven and BAM, good eats.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Cookie Attack!!!

The Aftermath

No seriously, I woke up Saturday under attack by the baking bug. Don't laugh, this isn't funny. I had no choice in the matter. So I baked a few batches of cookies.

Chocolate Chip

The first one I made was a standard chocolate chip, but the recipe I found and used called for a 1/2 cup butter and 2/3 cup sour cream. I did not include the unsweetened chocolate and I may have added a little extra vanilla. These are by far the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. Soft, moist, tender with a great chocolate chip to cookie ratio i.e. these cookies are packed with chocolate chips! (there's no such thing as too much chocolate)

In the fridge, M&M sugar cookies waiting for a baking.

The next batch I made was a sugar cookie that I added nutmeg and cinnamon to and added both dark and milk chocolate holiday M&m's.

Trail Mix Cookies

The third cookie I made I just followed the Chocolate chip base recipe and instead of adding chocolate chips I added a bag of trail mix and some cayenne and cinnamon (Next time I make these I am going to make my own trail mix to add instead of using a store bought bag). They turned out much hotter than I anticipated, but were still pretty dang good.



Also in each batch I also added a splash of Chaokah brand coconut milk and a dash of fermented coconut water. You know, just to make things interesting.

Happy Holidays.
Joshua