First, it was making my own lard. Now, I’ve gone and bought myself a deep fryer! What’s next? I’m pretty sure it’s moon pies and Dr. Pepper.

Anyway, the deep fryer arrived this afternoon and I happen to have a lotus root that I had been hoping to make into chips. A few minutes later, after the gallons of oil I had to use got hot, I had super crispy chips, warm and not even a little greasy. The good news is that once the oil cools down, it can be reused a few times. Chips, fries, sopapillas, tempura… oh, my list of things to make is growing and growing. I really don’t have a recipe today… just had to share a little deep-fry love with you. Yes, I am that much of a food geek.

 

This has to be one of the weirdest posts to transition to after last week’s post on vegan coconut fudge. I briefly mentioned in that post that I was in the process of doing something that would probably send most vegans running to the loo, or at least getting that nails on a chalkboard shiver down their spine. So, I do apologize to those non meat eaters out there who have come to read me for me veg-friendly recipes. This week, it’s probably best for you to look away and come back later. Because, you see, I’ve had it in my head to make my own lard for quite a while now, and after a trip to the Wooly Pigs stall at the University Farmer’s Market, I found myself coming home with a 10lb bag of pork fat. It was time to render.

Of course, I really had no idea what I was doing, despite the fact that I had assured them at the booth that I did indeed know how to render lard. “Who doesn’t?” I might have joked. Well, me for starters. Luckily, I had resources.

I’ve been reading Matthew’s posts on lard now for quite some time, and I knew if I got myself into too much trouble, I could always give him a quick shout. There is also a great photo tutorial on rendering lard on Obsession with Food which helped considerably. So after a little while of staring down the intimidating looking bag, I dove in and started rendering following a kind of combination between the two different methods… I cubed rather than processed the lard, added a touch of water, and started it on the stove top. It was going, but quite slowly. Eventually, I decided to move it to a 250F oven, as Matthew suggests, and it started making more steady progress, eventually leaving me with about 4 or 5 quarts of fat with lots of cracklings.

Once the lard was rendered, I had to figure out how to store it. I thought about jars, which seems to be the common choice. But after one quick disaster (do not try to pour hot lard into a jar, unless you like cleaning up a quart of liquid lard running all over and down your stove. Let’s just say my floors got an extra waxing), and realizing how much storage I was going to need in my freezer to hold all the lard and all those jars, I decided there might be a better way. What I really wanted were some pre-measured sticks of lard… something I could easily grab, cut up into little cubes for pastry, like I would a stick of butter. I needed to make sticks of lard.

This turns out to be pretty easy to do. Just line a deep baking dish with plastic wrap, and pour the liquid (but not hot) lard into the dish so that it is about an inch or so thick. Cover with more plastic wrap and chill until it is solid. Then, use a spatula to carefully remove the lard from the tray onto a cutting board and cut out stick of butter sized pieces. I cut mine into 4oz blocks. The blocks are then easily double wrapped and stackable for the freezer.

Maybe you are wondering, much like my family, what I’m going to do with all this lard. Well, here’s a little hint of what’s to come:

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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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I miss my kitchen. I’ve been working on a restaurant project now that continues through the next month, and eating out almost every night has been a requirement. And the meals, in order to get a good sampling of the menu, have been big, necessitating not only some sort of daily exercise but doing what I can to avoid consuming calories in other meals. Which is why it’s a bit funny that today, when I could have made something small at home for lunch, I chose to go out.
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There are many things to love about diving in mouth first into the food world. One of my favorites is the discovery of new items that I never even new existed. Lately, this has been about new varieties of citrus. Who knew that there were limes that were completely yellow! Palestine Sweet Limes don’t usually show themselves on the grocery store shelves here in the Northwest, but are quite common in other parts of the world. The juice is oddly non-acidic and sweet without being as sweet as an orange. The overall flavor is much lighter, even drinkable straight from the fruit.

I had a bunch of these, along with some seedless Lisbon Lemons left over after a recent shoot, and decided there could be no better use for them than to participate in Tami of Running with Tweezer’s Hay Hay, It’s Donna Day event, which this month has a fantastically challenging theme of soufflé. I’ve never made a true soufflé before. I’ve always been intimidated enough that I instead would op for equally delicious recipes for baked puddings. In reality, those are really soufflé as well… they are just soufflé with lowered expectations of themselves.
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How does one go about summarizing over a week of pints and bites without writing an entire book and boring ones readers to death? I honestly couldn’t think of how to even begin. So, I just started by listing all the various food and drink related stops I made along the trip. When I found myself quickly getting to 15 establishments, I knew I was in trouble… if not for the length of the blog entry, certainly for the width of my waistline after consuming so much.

To keep things brief, yet helpful, I’m taking the short and sweet route… places that I out and out LOVED I’ve italicized.

If you are curious about more than food, Cam will be detailing all our tales on his blog… starting with our somewhat longer than expected realty-tv inspired trip home.

Hopefully, I’ll be back to some cooking posts later this week!

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I miss all the photos on my blog. I have a whole heap of restaurant reviews that I need to start posting, all of which will be sadly devoid of photos. To balance out the mix, I thought I’d post some photos from a trip to the West Seattle Farmer’s Market from about a month or so ago. This market is quite small, but bursting with gorgeous flowers and produce, quite a delight, especially in the early fall. The market stays open until December, so I’m due back for another visit soon…
 
 
 

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What a whirlwind of a trip. Four days in New York City is certainly not enough. Between the marathon and the meals, endless crosstown taxi rides, many miles put on the walking shoes, and even a quick show, there was hardly time to even take a breath. Thanks to all of the folks who made dining recommendations… I wish we could have tried all of them… or at least more than the one or two we managed to squeeze in… but our dinners were mostly booked ahead of time, and lunches… well, we sort of kept missing those from a timing perspective and just grabbed something quick wherever we were. One thing I definitely learned is that it requires much planning to eat in New York if you have a set list of restaurants in mind.
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I can’t quite figure out why it takes 3 or 4 months to get Australian food magazines into the shops here in the States. One month, sure. I’d understand. I suppose normally, it doesn’t matter. There’s a new one each publishing period, and the seasons are out of sync anyway, so it doesn’t exactly matter if it was published months ago or is right up to date. Except when I want to wish the fine folks at one of my favorite food magazines, Gourmet Traveller, a Happy Anniversary after reading their 40th Birthday issue, and now it just sounds silly because it’s now November and the issue came out in August. But, despite the delay, this was an issue that I can’t help but to comment on.

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Is it fair to say a cafe is hidden if it’s on the main strip of one of the main suburbs in Seattle? Probably not. But, if you don’t know about Kahili Coffee and you are a Seattle area east-sider or a west-sider killing a few hours, say waiting to pick your daughter up from school, you should. It’s one of the few spots in the Kirkland, Bellevue and Redmond area that serves up artisanal coffee, and does it in one of the more comfortable and friendly locations out there. Suede-y cushy couches and chairs invite you to get cozy and settle in for a good stay. Wireless access is free (if you ask for the code when you make a purchase) and strong. Seating is more than plentiful, with power easily and freely accessible throughout the cafe. And people of all ages stop in to meet with friends, or just grab a drink to go. There’s even a fire for those particularly wet and chilly days. Of course, atmosphere is only part of the equation. The coffee has to be good too. And Kahili offers up a fine cup from their Zoka roasted Kona beans. They foam milk beautifully, and the couple of lattes I’ve had so far have been perfectly pulled. At night, Kahili also serves liquor, making it a nice after dinner spot for a glass of wine or some booze in your coffee.

Seattle offers all kinds of other great little coffee bars tucked away into neighborhoods that are worth a visit. If you don’t mind doing a bit of exploring, try these spots:

Lighthouse Cafe, about a half mile from the Seattle Zoo. Lighthouse is a fantastic micro-roaster that supplies beans to many coffee shops in the Seattle area. Their own cafe is a treat to visit.
Cafe Besalu, downtown Ballard a few blocks off the main drag. Besalu serves great Lighthouse coffee, but it’s the pastries that make this place special.
All City Coffee in Georgetown. There is also an All City tucked away between Pioneer Square and the ID, but this one has a certain industrial area cool.
Caffe Dharwin on the north tip of Capital Hill. This tiny, tiny shop serves up great Cafe Vita shots and local pastries.

Also published on Well Fed Network’s A Nice Cuppa

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