Do you ever feel just stupidly lucky? I do. All. The. Time. I’m not really sure what I’ve done to deserve all the amazing good fortune I’ve had. So, when my friend Nathan called me up a month or so and asked if I’d be interested in doing a bit of photography work in trade for a weekend at The Inn at Langley, I got to experience yet another one of those moments, and sent a big Thank You to the powers of the universe. The Inn at Langley is very high up there on one of my favorite places in the Northwest. The town of Langley, on Whidbey Island, manages to hit all the quaint buttons without actually turning sickeningly sweet. There’s a good coffee shop packed with as many locals as tourists, a natural food store that you can poke around in for hours, two weekly farmers markets within a stones throw, and a thrift store perfect for cheap-os like me who aren’t into paying antique store prices. But when I think of Langley, I think of The Inn.

It was just over two years ago that I first experienced one of Matt Costello’s seasonal dinners. Matt is the General Manager of The Inn, but most people know more about his kitchen prowess. The Inn does 3 (sometimes 4) single seating, prix fixe dinners a week. Everyone sits down and eats the same thing (dietary restrictions of course are respected) at the same time. Matt starts each dinner with a brief introduction about the area, the producers, and which seasonal ingredients went into the nights courses… sometimes including things he’s foraged himself or that are brought in from the herb garden.

Then, the work begins. The open kitchen gives all the diners a chance to see all the action while dinner is prepared.

There’s never a pause in the work, but somehow the atmosphere remains calm. And, well, it’s easy to get distracted away from the busyness as the plates arrive at the table. Each dish starts as a visual treat, which quickly turns to so much more. Your spoon brings a translucent corn broth or an icy fresh strawberry sorbet to your mouth, and the flavors unravel. Words simply can’t do it justice… so here are a few more shots to help you see what I mean.

Could anything be more stunning than that crystal clear corn broth with fresh Dungeness crab and sage blossoms? Well, maybe these:

The meal is reason enough to visit The Inn, but then, so are the tranquil waterfront and forest views.

So, a big thank you to Nathan and Matt for such an enjoyable visit, and the universe for bringing such good fortune my way. Hope you all enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed my weekend!

Last week, I got the range of my dreams. I’ve been pining away for a commercialesque gas range now for about as long as I can remember. Some people dream about their wedding dress or owning a fancy car. I dream about cooking with gas. I have pretty much always made do with a simple electric range… there was that one span in college when the apartment came with a old, white enamel gas stove from the 50s which put out about as much heat as a few votive candles huddled together for warmth. I’ve managed to cook up some pretty amazing stuff with the electrics too. But always there was a longing for something industrial and packed with BTUs. In April, we had natural gas run to the house. We were just doing the furnace (which like many older Seattle homes was still running on oil). The stove would have to wait. Then, work picked up, and suddenly Cam and I decided, hey… let’s just bite the bullet and get the stove. At long last, my stove was coming home.

Of course, nothing is all that simple. To begin with, I had to figure out what stove I wanted. It became pretty clear to me pretty quickly that the Viking I had been envisioning was not a great choice. Although fit and finishwise, they are gorgeous machines, even a little bit of digging and you’ll soon see that they tend to be ultra prone with problems. That research lead me to Wolf and DCS, which subsequently lead me to a company called Bluestar. Although not available (at least at the moment) in the dual-fuel version I was hoping for, everyone who had a Bluestar was in love. To start with, they are one of the least expensive high-end ranges you can get, and have the most powerful cooktop, with a blazing 22,000 BTUs. I was pretty sold, until I went and looked at one that is. Cool and industrial, definitely… but the fit and finish started to scare me. The oven didn’t feel like it closed quite tightly enough and had some sharp edges. The open burners intimidated me as I thought of my panache for boiling over. While in the store, we stumbled across the American Ranges. These ranges have a similar price point to the Bluestars, but have closed burners with an easy to clean stainless top, and the oven is the largest in its class… easily able to fit full sized commercial baking pans. The edges were smooth all around, and while the burners weren’t quite the same as the Bluestars’, 17,000 BTU seemed like plenty for me (and about the same as the Wolf, DCS and Vikings). We went home to do more research, happily finding that American Range owners are nearly as religious about their stoves as the Bluestar owners. We were sold.

To get the stove in with the necessary duct work required some semi-serious kitchen demolition that included very large holes in the ceiling, cabinets, and eventually brick work. Amazingly, thanks mostly to Cam, it all came together, and after just over a week with chaotic kitchen construction, I ended up with one kick-ass stove and some killer ventilation to boot. Of course, before I got a chance to use it, we left town.

But, finally, I’ve fired up the gas and started searing away. While my first meal on it wasn’t so much a great test (pasta and sauce on top with a zucchini gratin baking in the oven), tonight’s dinner was made for this stove. At the Pike Place market, I picked up four enormous sea scallops to sear. Just a little smoked sea salt, aleppo pepper and olive oil, one really hot frying pan and enough patience to let each side sear before touching them (this is always the hardest part). Topped with a little mango and green garlic salsa… yum.

Seared Scallops with Mango and Green Garlic Salsa

The Salsa
1 mango, 1/4 inch dice
1/2 cucumber, seeds removed, 1/4 dice
3 garlic spears, roughly chopped
1 lime
olive oil
aleppo pepper
salt

Mix the mango, cucumber and chopped garlic together. Squeeze the lime juice on top, add a splash of olive oil and stir to coat. Add a pinch of aleppo pepper and salt to taste. Cover and refrigerate for least 5 minutes.

The Scallops
4 large sea scallops
smoked sea salt
aleppo pepper
olive oil

Rinse the scallops and pat dry. Sprinkle with the salt and aleppo pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

Heat a heavy-bottom skillet over medium heat for about 2-minutes. Add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan and heat. Add the scallops to the pan leaving plenty of room between each one. Cook on one side for 2 to 3 minutes without moving them. Then, flip them over, and cook on the other side until browned. Remove the scallops from the pan and let them rest for a few minutes before serving.

Top each scallop with a healthy spoonful of the salsa.

One of the best parts of my job is that I tend to get a lot of free food. Even food that I winds up on the set is still edible when I’m done. Oh, I wouldn’t go feeding it to guests or anything… afterall, it is usually cold and always has been poked and prodded by my fingers. But, it’s also made from the highest quality of ingredients I can find, and is (almost) always, delicious.

Most of the time, this free food is simply left over from a shoot that I’m doing. Sometimes, it’s sent to me by companies that are looking for feedback, really excited about sharing their product with someone who thinks a lot about food, or someone who is simply looking for extra press. I certainly understand that there are some bloggers out there who prefer not to accept free stuff… but I’m not one of them. When I get free stuff, I never promise to write about it on this blog. It takes something pretty special, in fact, to make it on here. And, sometimes, I still don’t even get around to it. But, sometimes, like today, I do.

Today, I want to share with you a fish that I am really excited about. When I got mail from Hannah asking if I’d be interested in trying some Kona Kampachi from Kona Blue, I was intrigued. I’m a huge fan of sushi, and will always have a hard time turning away from sashimi-grade yellowtail. But, what really struck me is that Kona Blue is a company trying new methods of fish farming that attempt to solve some of the problems of related to traditional “aquaculture.” In-shore fish farm can create serious pollution problems, releasing waste and excess nutrients into water at rates that can’t be cleaned up by natural processes. Those farmed fish also tend to suffer from mercury poisoning. Kona Blue is fishing in large sea-cages sunk into deep water far off shore, so the fish can basically school as they would in the wild and the pollution problems can be avoided. And, at the same time, the natural fish population is not being depleted. The fish also boast a 30 percent fat content, high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, and no detectable mercury.

I think it’s really early to tell whether these new fish farming practices are a good thing or if they introduce problems of their own. But, I applaud companies for trying to solve some of these problems in a responsible way. Plus, I can tell you this, the fish is beautiful.

My package arrived well packed in ice, but not frozen, so the two, large fillets were immediately ready to use. The fillets are thick and fatty… perfect for a nice lunch of sashimi, with a ton still left over.

In fact I’ve been playing with a variety of preparations… the fish is so fresh, it’s almost a crime to cook it… but in addition to a sashimi miso salad, some simple nigiri sushi, I also lightly seared a good chunk and served it with a butternut squash mash and a fresh lemon dressing. Yum. I still have a whole fillet left that will have to be put to use quite soon. In the meantime, I thought I’d share a few shots and recipes with you.

If you want to try to find some of this fish on your own, you can order it from their website… but shipping is quite expensive. If you are in Seattle, Uwajimaya sometimes has it in stock and several area restaurants, like Canlis and Oceanaire have it on their menu. Or you can check out Kona Blue’s extensive “where to find” list.

PS: Thanks to Matt for correcting my initial mis-statement that Yellowtail is Tuna. In fact, it is its very own fish. All these years of ordering hamachi, and I always thought I was eating tuna!!!

Seared Yellowtail in Lemon Dressing
From Arabesque by Claudia Roden

I went searching through about 15 different cookbooks to find this super simple seared tuna recipe. Most of the other recipes I found piled on enough seasonings that the flavor of the fish would be lost. This yellowtail was far to lovely to cover up. What loved about the Arabesque recipe was how delicate the dressing is… it brightens and enriches the flavors already in the fish. I substituted hazelnut oil in the dressing, which I thought brought even a new dimension to the flavor. The original recipe also recommended pairing the seared fish with mashed potatoes, but I had some left over roasted butternut squash that I smashed up with a little OJ and a little cream which went beautifully with the citrus sauce on the fish. A little mache salad on the side brings a little more springtime to the plate.

1 lemon
2 T hazelnut oil
salt & pepper
1 thinly chopped green onion (or fresh chives)
2 T olive oil
1 thick-cut fillet of sashimi grade yellowtail (or tuna)

Zest and juice the lemon into a small bowl. Add the hazelnut oil, green onion and freshly cracked pepper. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a pan on high heat. Just before the smoking point, add the fish. Sear for only 1 minute on each side. Remove from heat. Slice into thin slices and sprinkle with sea salt flakes. Pour the dressing over the top to serve.

Yellowtail Sashimi in Miso Dressing
From Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking

Here’s another lovely recipe from Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking. This is so simple, but does require the best fish you can find, with a good amount of fat on it. The fat helps give a wonderful silky mouthfeel, not to mention a richer taste. You’ll need a few ingredients that you’ll probably have to go to an Asian market to get. Red miso paste and mirin can be hard to find in some supermarkets.

1/3 lb sashimi-quality yellowtail (or tuna)
3 T red miso paste
1 1/2 T casters (super-fine) sugar
1/2 T mirin
1 t rice vinegar
1/8 t dry mustard
1 1/2 c chopped green onion or chives
1 T finely grated ginger

Mix together the miso, suar, mirin, vinegar and mustard, until smooth and the sugar has dissolved.

Cut the fish into little cubes, about 1/2 to 1 inch each, and place in a medium sized bowl. Start adding the dressing a little at a time, stirring gently, until each piece is nicely coated. You may not need to use all the dressing… and I think it is best not to add too much dressing or you won’t taste the fish.

To serve, place in individual bowls, and top each with the green onion and a little dollop of freshly grated ginger.

I don’t know about where you are, but everywhere I turn, someone is getting sick. I, knock on wood, have managed to avoid it so far but my poor not-so-little one has gotten some kind of fever inspiring crud twice now in the last month. I’m still not sure how I’ve avoided it… it must be all that lard.

Anyway, if you or someone you love is caught up with the aches and pains, you might try making this simple Salmon Noodle Soup for them. Or, even if everyone is feeling just fine, it’s a lovely spring kind of soup. Unlike most salmon soups which can be heavy with cream or Asian inspired, this soup is a simpler, lighter broth. Like chicken noodle soup, except a bit fishier. It’s super quick to make from scratch, even if you are making starting from the stock.

For the stock, see if you can find frozen fish scraps at your local fish shop. If you are in Seattle, head up to Central Market for a great selection of left over fish parts (or chicken, beef or pork for that matter) that are great for soups and will only set you back about a buck fifty. For my stock, I used onion, celery, thyme, garlic, peppercorns and a teensy bit of fresh ginger. I also threw in dried bonito flakes, as you would for dashi, although my fish stock remained very European tasting. You can of course, use any veggie and seasonings you like. Parsnips, fennel, parsley, carrots all make lovely additions. You don’t even need to chop them. Just throw them in the pot.

To make the stock, add your defrosted and rinsed fish parts, herbs and veggies to a large stockpot and add a good glug of olive oil and about 1/2 cup white wine. Heat on low for about 5 or 10 minutes until it gets nice and fragrant. Then, cover it all with water and simmer for 30 minutes. I like to strain the resulting broth through a couple of layers of cheese cloth to remove any left over bits, but any fine strainer will do. For this recipe, you’ll need about 4 cups of stock. The rest can be refrigerated or frozen for later use.

Salmon Noodle Soup

4 cups fish stock
2 carrots, small-dice
1 stalk of celery, small-dice
2-3 new potatoes, small-dice
1-2 fresh salmon fillets
3 scallions, chopped into small rounds
2 cups of pasta, cooked but not sauced
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped
olive oil
Salt and pepper

Heat the fish stock in a large soup pot.

In a medium skillet on medium-high, heat the olive oil and add the chopped carrots, celery and potatoes. Saute until the vegetables start to soften, about 3 minutes. Add a ladle of stock and cook for another minute as some of the stock is absorbed. Then, dump the whole concoction back into the rest of the broth, and bring to a simmer. Cook for 7-8 minutes.

Meanwhile, wipe out the skillet and heat it up again on medium-high heat. Brush the salmon fillets with a bit of olive oil, and place flat (skin) sides up in the hot skillet. Cook for 2 minutes. Then, flip the fillets over and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Remove the fillets from the pan and remove the skin. Break the salmon into bite sized pieces. It’s ok if it’s still a bit rare in the middle… it will cook more in the broth.

Add the salmon, scallions, tarragon and pasta to the broth. Add salt and pepper to taste, and simmer for another 5 minutes. Serve up as is, or for a little more indulgence, a small pat of butter.

Before the holidays, I was browsing in the bookstore that is attached to Uwajamiya, one of Seattle’s large Asian food grocery stores. I was there to find some manga as a present for my daughter, but of course, immediately got sucked into the cookbook section, completely tempted by book after book that I had never seen before. Never mind that they were written in kanji, so I had no hope of reading any of them…. the photos were enough to keep me mesmerized until realizing the time, I had to rush on over to get the books I was supposed to be buying.

Afterward, one set of books stuck with me… those by Harumi Kurihara. The Japanese versions of these books are graphically gorgeous, light, airy and elegant. I knew I’d have to find the English version. Luckily, there are two… not quite in the same light style, but still beautifully published. Last week, I picked up Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking and flipping through I knew I had a winner of a book. Many of my favorite Japanese dishes… tonkatsu, gyoza, tomago are beautifully illustrated. Finding the recipe for homemade udon noodles, however, was the real kicker.

Even better, these noodles are about the most fun thing to make (not to mention incredibly simple). I thought I’d be able to use my new toy… the pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aid…but as it turns out, these slippery, thick noodles really don’t require anything other than a bit of arm strength and some time. In fact, I highly recommend against using the dough hook attachment on the Kitchen Aid for the initial kneading… I gave it a try, and found that it couldn’t get the dough to form into a ball well enough when my hands could. Once the dough was in a ball, it was far too heavy and stiff for the mixer to knead it properly. That said, it’s also too hard to knead it with your hands at that point… so Harumi has a wonderful solution. Use your whole body… by wrapping the dough in a plastic and then a towel, you walk all over it to help work the gluten in the dough. Brilliant! It’s so much fun. If you have kids, you must give this a try. Or, even if you don’t.

I found the noodles this recipe makes to be more on the rustic side… more like handshaven noodles than packaged udon. That’s part of what makes them good… but if you prefer a more even, refined noodle, and you have a pasta maker, try using the roller to press out the dough before hand cutting the noodles.

Udon
1 cup lukewarm water
5 t salt
3 1/2 c bread flour
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

Dissolve the salt in about 1 T of the water, then add the rest of the water. Set aside.

In a very large bowl that you’ll be able to knead the dough in, combine the two flours with a fork. Make a little well in the center, and add the salted water. Use the fork to pull a little bit of flour into the liquid, and then start to use your hands to work the moistened flour into the rest of the flour. Depending on the moisture content of your flour, you might need to add a bit more water… as the dough comes together, it should form into a lumpy ball. If it stays as too ragged, sprinkle a bit more water on and work it in.

Start seriously kneading the dough as hard as you can for about 10 minutes, on a board dusted with bread flour. If the dough is too sticky, knead in a touch more of the bread flour. To knead, fold over from the top, and use the heal of your palm to press it flat again. Turn the dough 45 degrees and repeat.

Now comes the fun part. Wrap the dough in a heavy duty plastic bag. I like to use left over produce bags.. but they are thin so I double wrapped to be safe. Then, wrap the the plastic bag in a largish kitchen towel. Set it on the ground and stand on it. Move around, do a little dance, hop up and down, take a stroll. Your whole body weight on the dough will work it like your hands never could. This helps make the noodles good and chewy. After a few minutes, take the dough out of the bags… it will be pretty flat, but with a rolling pin, roll out any irregularities. Then give it a fold, put it back in the bag, wrap it in the towel and walk on it some more. Repeat this process about 4 times. Then, leaving the dough in the bag, let it rest for 3 hours in a warm place.

After it’s had a chance to rest, take the dough out and form it into a ball. Place it back in the bag & towel and walk on it one more time… this time making a point to try to spread the dough as much as possible. The thinner you can get it by walking on it, the easier the rest of the process will be.

Take the dough out from the bag again, and roll it out on a floured surface until it is a square about 1/8 inch thick. The dough may be pretty stiff and springy, so this may be a bit challenging. If you can’t seem to get it thin enough with a rolling pin or if you want a more refined udon, cut it into 4 pieces and run it through the thickest setting of a pasta machine, and give them a good dusting of flour.

Next, fold the dough from the top to the center and then from the center to the bottom (like an accordian). Then, with one of the long edges facing you, slice off the dough in 1/8 inch pieces. Dust the sliced pieces with a bit more flour as you go to prevent them from sticking.

Boil the noodles immediately, or cover with a towel while you are waiting for the water to come to a boil. The noodles will need to boil for about 7 minutes, stirred with a chopstick to prevent them form sticking together.

Traditionally, the noodles are served hot, with a dashi-based stock. But, they are also delicious stir fried with a splash of sesame oil, oyster sauce, soy, sesame seeds and some veggies or meat of your choice.

Our first stop gave us delicate crepes stuffed with winter squash with a swirl of goat cheese sauce, paired up with Kir & Prosecco cocktails. Crepes for 4 people is hard enough to do… but we had 15 adults along with a few younger gourmets running around, making Stef’s success all the more impressive.

My house was up next. I had a big bout of indecision earlier in the day, and couldn’t pick just one recipe… so I made three… bacon-wrapped smoked peppers stuffed with goat raclette, bite-sized goat cheese and Chantrelle and potato tarts, and goat cheese stuffed fried risotto balls. The risotto balls, based on a combination of recipes… Jamie Oliver’s risotto blac recipe and Donna Hay’s risotto cakes were a huge hit and were quickly gobbled up, as was the mulled wine that Cam made. Trying to stay on schedule, we wrapped up at our place and moved on down to the next house.

At Jamie & Randy’s house, we had home-made goat cheese & pork sausages and light and flaky walnut stuffed phyllo with goat cheese and big glasses of sangria. Did you catch that home-made sausage part? Yes, Jamie spent the morning stuffing her own sausages.

Finally, on to our last house for the evening, Steve & Caroline hosted with two luscious goat cheese quiches and fresh greens, while Kirt muddled limes for some knock your socks off Caprihinas.

Once the party was done, we all headed home to clean up our respective houses… the only real problem with the whole progressive party thing is that you muss up 4 houses instead of just one. Still craving risotto balls, I found myself cranking out a few more with the rest of the risotto the next day and hording them all to myself.

Crispy Risotto Cheese Balls

This recipe assumes that you have leftover risotto already. You can use just about any risotto recipe, as long as it has good and sticky and has sufficiently cooled. I found the recipe in Jamie’s Italy to work beautifully. It’s rich with butter and parm, but can still handle being stuffed with a light goat cheese.

For the cheese, you want something that will melt well but is still easy to handle during stuffing, so avoid any fresh or runny goat cheese.

You can fry up the balls without the panko that I used, but you won’t get the same texture without them.

Left-over, cooked risotto
panko crumbs
firm goat cheese, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
high-heat frying oil, such as sunflower oil

Line a baking sheet with a layer of parchment. Place the panko in a wide bowl.

Take a good sized square of plastic wrap, and use it to pull about 1 T of the cooled, cooked risotto and form into a little ball. Then, create a little hole in the ball with your finger and stick in 1 piece of the goat cheese. Reform the ball of ristotto in the plastic wrap. Then, roll the ball in the panko. Set on the parchment and repeat with the remaining balls.

Heat about 1-2 inches of the oil in a deep frying pan or wok. Test the oil by dropping a bit of risotto into the oil… you want it to bubble fiercely. Line a plate with paper towels, and then begin frying up the risotto balls, adding in only about 3 at a time, carefully with tongs. It’s a good idea to use a screen to keep the oil from popping everywhere as you add each ball. Let the balls cook on one side till golden brown, and then roll them over carefully in the oil to brown on all sides. Remove the balls with tongs and place on the paper towel lined plate to drain. Repeat with the remaining balls. Sprinkle with a bit of flake sea salt.

You can keep these warm in the oven for a little while, but it’s best to serve them immediately. I like them plain, or with a tiny drizzle of truffle honey.

When is the last time I posted about a restaurant on this site? It’s been ages. Not that I haven’t been eating out. On the contrary, I think I’ve probably started eating out more since the whole food photography thing started taking off this year. But, my eating out these days tends to be at my usual spots, eating my usual dishes. It’s comfort food, delicious but not requiring a lot of effort. Nothing wrong with that, right?

However, last week, I got to indulge in an epic meal. One of those meals that don’t come along all that often. One that I consider myself stupidly lucky to have been able to enjoy because of some nutty coincidences of time and place, of what I do and an email I happened to answer some 8 months ago. It was about then that I received an email from the PR folks at a little restaurant in Seattle called Rover’s. It’s one of the finest French restaurants in Seattle, and its chef/owner, Thierry Rautureau aka The Chef in the Hat, is one of the most highly regarded in the city. He has a cookbook (of course), has been featured in countless publications, and has even been invited to the White House. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why they would be emailing me.

As it turns out, Thierry (and his PR guy), was starting to get interested in blogging and wanted to know more about the blogging community in Seattle. While I don’t have the biggest readership or haven’t been around as much as some of the other Seattle bloggers, they liked my blog because it was a bit less intimidating, and well, had lots of pretty pictures. I sat and chatted with Nathan, the PR guy, over coffee at Fuel, and talked about blogging from my perspective and some of the trends that I saw going on. It was a fun conversation, and I really appreciated the opportunity I was given… that the folks at Rover’s weren’t going to just jump into to a reactionary debate over bloggers versus reviewers versus chefs… that they were interested enough to dig in an actually talk to someone. Nathan and I had talked about maybe setting up something to let me (and possibly other bloggers) get some time with Thierry, but time moved on, we both got busy and the idea kind of fell away.

Until about a month ago. I got the call. I was going to the big show… getting a behind the scenes look at Rover’s with… get this… dinner included. Not just any dinner, but their Grand Tasting menu, an eight course extravaganza of food. I could bring along the camera, and take shots in the kitchen, shots of the food, shots of the chef. Because I knew if I had a camera, I’d be lame at asking any questions, I brought along Ethan of Urbanspoon who happily chatted away with Thierry about politics, food and his upcoming new baby. And we feasted… course after course of beautifully prepared, seasonal French-inspired Northwest cuisine (or is it, Northwest-inspired French cuisine? I can never get that right).

My meal was created around the new beef menu that is going on through November. Beef is an unusual meat at Rover’s. They don’t do it. No beef, chicken, or pork as the primary ingredient. Meats at Rover’s skew toward the lesser used… oxtail, duck, venison. As Adam Hoffman, Rover’s Chef de Cuisine, notes, “You can get a steak anywhere. Rover’s isn’t that kind of restaurant.” So as a rare treat, this month, they are featuring beef.

Rover’s beef menu is different. To start with, all the beef used is Oregon-raised Wagyu, free from any antibiotics. And, even after eating 5 course of beef, you don’t feel overwhelmingly heavy. Some courses are prepared with a delicate touch, while others are rich and hearty, and unless you knew better, you’d swear that you weren’t eating the same meats.

Rather than describing each course, I thought I’d just share some of the photos with you. Mainly because after about the 4th course with the wine pairings, things start to blur a bit, but also because the photos do a much better job than I could at showing how luscious the food is. I will say I’m amazed that the photos by dessert weren’t a complete blurry mess! But, before I do that, I do have to call out a few of my favorite things… first, the steak tartare with the little perched quail egg was unbelievably delicious. The scrambled eggs with caviar and lime creme fraiche, beautifully served in back in the shell. The Burgundy truffles on the black cod? Heaven on a plate. The escargot with the bacon that is smoked and cured in Adam’s smoker in his backyard… man, that is some good bacon. And, but the most amazing thing on the menu might surprise you… the braised short rib pot au feu with Moroccan sea salt, so tender you could eat it with a spoon.

An amuse of Landjager Salami, Gugeres with Beef Sausage and Romano Beef Consome (left) and Scrambled Eggs with Lime Creme Fraiche and White Sturgeon Caviar (right)

Ethan’s Caviar & Lobster (left) and Rover’s Charcuterie, including house cured salmon, pickled mackerel among other delicious little nibbles (right)

Oxtail Terrine (left) and Beef Tenderloin Tartare (right)

Pacific Black Cod with Celeriac Puree, Burgundy Truffle and Dry Vermouth Sauce (left) and Braised Short Rib Pot au Feu with Fall Vegetables and Moroccan Sea Salt (right)

Did I mention lots of wine?

Escargot with Bacon, Artichoke and Spinach in a Citrus Nage (left) and Filet of beef with Chard Gratin and Potato Galette with Béarnaise and Red Wine Peppercorn Sauce (right)

Persimmon Puree with Lemon Curd (left) and Bittersweet Chocolate Soufflé (right)

Start to finish, the meal took us about 5 hours. We oohed and ahhed over each course, knowing that what we were getting was an experience not many people would get. You can certainly get the same food and incredible service at Rover’s… I’ve eaten here before when no one knew who I was and everything was just as luxurious… but you don’t usually have the chef sit down with you for two hours over dessert, or get to take a whole private room to yourself (all the better for setting up the tripod).

I’d like to offer a big thanks to Nathan, Adam, Thierry and the Rover’s wonderful staff for giving me this amazing evening. I’d also like to thank my understanding husband who had to miss the meal and deal with me babbling about it for two days straight.

PS: For those of you interested in the behind the scenes of the photography for this post, there wasn’t really much to it other than a tripod and really long exposures. The lighting was just standard, fairly dim restaurant lighting. I shot at 100 ISO, which I could only do because of my tripod… something hard to do in most restaurant scenarios. The lighting obviously isn’t great, with fairly out of control shadows and some less than pleasant color casts. But, the food is so lovely, I think that shines through.

Technorati Tags: Food, Photography, Restaurant, Seattle

This soup is creamy (without cream) and hearty, perfect comfort food for a chilly fall evening. It’s delicious with sausage, but just as lovely without, perhaps with a drizzle of truffle oil. For the beans, I used dried cannellini beans, and just soaked in water them for about 4 hours before starting the soup. Borlotti or cranberry beans are a great choice too, or really any kind of shelling bean. If you use a smaller bean, it may need to soak and cook for less time.

That’s one recipe down, 330 and counting to go…

White Bean Soup with Sausage
Adapted from Donna Hay issue #33, p 104

Soup
2 T olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 lb cannellini beans, fresh or rehydrated
4 cups chicken stock
salt & pepper to taste

optional toppings
1 red chile pepper, seeds removed, and finely chopped
truffle oil
crispy sausage (see below)

Heat a large soup pot on medium heat. Add the oil, onion, garlic and celery, and stir about 2-3 minutes or until they are translucent. Try not to brown the onion. Add the beans and stock, and bring to a boil, stirring to ensure the beans don’t stick to the bottom. Reduce the heat to get a very low rolling boil, almost more of a simmer, cover and let cook for about 1 hour, or until the beans are very soft. Stir the soup occasionally during this time.

The next step is to blend the soup. If you have one, use a hand blender. It’s easier than taking the soup out of the pot. Otherwise, a food processor or standing blender will work too. Puree the until it is smooth. Then, place the soup back into the pot, and season to tase. Continue to cook, uncovered, until it’s the thickness you want. While it’s continuing to cook, prepare the sausage, if desired.

To serve, ladle the soup into the bowl, and top as desired. The soup is great with one, or any combination of the topping above.

Crispy Sausage

For the sausage slices, use a flavorful cased sausage like a spicy Italian or a chorizo. Cook the sausage through first, so it can be sliced. Then, slice to rounds, on a bias, a little less than 1/2 inch thick. Heat a skillet with a small splash of olive oil over high heat. Add the sausage and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, or until browned and crispy.

Technorati Tags: donna hay, Food, food magazine, recipe

As a photographer and stylist, I love anything that I can make individual sized. Hang on. Scratch that.

As an eater, I love anything that I can make individual sized too. Especially desserts. Especially those that are cakelike, where I might just prefer a slightly higher crust-to-center ratio. Brownies are no exception, which is why, perhaps, I am tempted every time I walk past those two-bite brownies in the little buckets they sell at Whole Foods. I’ve decided that when they say two bite, they don’t mean it takes two bites to eat them. They mean, you will have two, bite sized brownies anytime you spot them.

Last night, with some last minute company coming over, I whipped up a batch of Donna Hay’s version, with a few tweaks of my own. The recipe called for cooking the brownies individual sized, 4oz, non-stick cups. Now, I have a lot of props and a lot of bakeware, but nothing that quite fit that description.

So, instead, I decided to make the brownies in oven-safe espresso cups knowing good and well that they wouldn’t just pop out, but would be lovely to eat with a spoon, almost like a molten chocolate cake. To change it up a bit more, I also added a good shake of cinnamon to the batter. I love the subtle heat that the cinnamon adds to chocolate dishes. Each little cup it’s own spoonful of densely dark, spicy chocolatey goodness. It’s really hard to go wrong with that.

Of course, you can make these as bite sized brownies too… a mini muffin pan works beautifully for that, you’ll just make about 2 dozen rather than the 9 that the recipe makes. Keep an eye on them as they bake, so you don’t dry them out.

Cup o’ Brownie
Adapted from Donna Hay’s New Food Fast p78

5oz unsalted butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1 t cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 t baking powder
a dash of salt

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Blend butter and sugar in a mixer until pale and creamy. Then, mix in the remaining ingredients until just combined. Spoon the batter in to oven-safe cups that are 4 to 6 oz in size. You can use ramekins, of course… or, see if you have any tea or espresso cups that will work. I have these that I love. Fill to top, and smooth with a spatula.

Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of your cups. The cakes should be set on the top, but still very soft and moist in the center. If you wait until you can insert a knife and it comes out clean, you’ve waited too long.

Let the brownies sit for a few minutes, but serve while still warm, ideally with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a shot of espresso.

Makes between 4 and 8 cups, depending on cup size.

Technorati Tags: bakeware, chocolate, Cookbook, Dessert, donna hay, Food, Food Styling, Photography, recipe

About a month ago, a local spice maker contacted me about trying their spice mixes. I said I’d be happy to give them a try, and send some feedback because first, I really like spicy stuff and secondly, I love supporting small businesses. The owner of Nataraja Spices, Venkat and his mother are a two person team that make both their Sambar powder and their Chili Rub, packed with rich, South Indian flavors. Venkat’s website has all kinds of recipe suggestions as well, from salad dressings to grilled cheese sandwiches with a kick.
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