Our Picks

It's that time of year again. Mid-Autumn Festival is on Wednesday (October 4th) so time to get out the mooncakes.
 
This year, the fashion seems to be for what they call 'fresh mooncakes'. These do not keep, like the traditional baked ones. A friend gave me some a few days ago and sternly warned me to keep them in the fridge and eat within three days. They were mainly lotus seed paste, although some were blueberry and coconut flavoured.
 

 

 

 

 
This specimen is 1¾" in diameter.
 
Then this morning, I was given this box by my dear friend, J. These are the traditional type and produced by the government-owned 5 star hotel* in the city centre and are considered the best in town. There will be huge queues there on Wednesday.
 

 
Nice box.
 

 
These are a bit bigger at 2¼". But if that doesn't satisfy you, you could always buy this one which I also saw this morning.
 

 
* It has 5 stars because it's owned by the Chinese government, the same organisation which rates hotels and awards stars. It wouldn't even get three stars anywhere else and their "Western" restaurant is awful.
 

 
Almost bacon and egg risotto.  
 
See here.

Last night I tried this All Jacked Up. Mezcal, sweet vermouth, Lairds apple brandy, Fernet Branca, maraschino, apple garnish.
I had to resort to the Applejack I had on hand, though the spec (despite the cocktail's name) calls for pure apple brandy. 
If you like apple drinks (and probably especially if you have the real Laird's) this is worth a try--I found the balance to be just right with the complexity leant by smoky mezcal and menthol/bitter fernet. 
Mostly I'm proud of my first apple fan!
 

Finally something to share!  Far better than the bounty was harvesting them with my 4 year old son.  He was quite amused by the odd shapes of the cukes, to which I responded 'Welcome to Mother Nature and what real food looks like!'
 

Another venison chili (I have a lot of venison). I should add that we needed a dinner tonight that could be eaten as people had time to eat. And, I have no car this week. So, it was what was available.
Again, some in small cubes (1/4-1/2", some what irregular). Some cans of odd tomatoes, some beans I cooked up earlier, an odd blend that some would call chili powder (based on some odd bits off dried, ground peppers in the pantry). Onions. Garlic. There were also a couple of cans of Rotel tomatoes languising in the pantry. I also found a few roasted green peppers, and a couple of roasted poblanos in the freezer when I cleaned it just a week ago, that I was glad I didn't toss.
Somehow, something seemed missing until I espeied that 1/3 of a jar of some chipotle salsa in the fridge. Now, I don't really like this salsa on it's own, but it makes a great ingredient, and made this chili just pop.
On the side, cilantro, finely diced raw onion and cheese, for those who wanted. I opted for just cilantro and onion.
Yum! I have 6 quarts left. Some parceled into single serving sizes for lunches for me, and a few meal sized containers for the family.

Two quarts of summer squash refrigerator pickles.  I got the recipe from the Six Seasons cookbook
 

I would love to see a video on making panettone.  As you can see, I have the key ingredient, Fiori di Sicilia.

Going through this discussion reminded me of this delicious and refreshing salad I do every summer.  It's really best when your local produce is in season, but you can stil make it year round. Watermelon that I cut into balls, strawberries, cucumber, green Italian olives, then feta.  The dressing is just olive oil and lemon juice, then basil and mint, chives and some dried oregano.  I use Mexican oregano because it has the buds attached and is really fragrant.
 

Tj's has this cheese :
 

 
its a very nicely flavored cheddar-ish cheese that melts nicely in the Micro.
 
Ive used it on CheeseBuyrgers.
 
Its their featured cheese for August.
 
that seems to mean they bought all they could and when it runs out its gone.
 
In my area they have 12 pieces left and it ' expires ' on Sept 2
 
so they pan to pull it tonight,
 
this was news to me just now as i called them about the name which I forgot.
 
so they are holding 6 for me and I plan to vacuum-seal them  and freeze them for future CB's
 
if you are in the West and read this before your Trip to TJ's
 
try one or two if they have any in your area.
 
 

 
 Shakshuka with some tomatoes that I was given, the last of the beautiful double yolk eggs and a warmed pita. 

 
 Buttermilk (actually yogourt) bread
done in the Thermomix and successfully baked in the Cuisinart steam oven. 

First of the season WA apple crop is in and it's going to be a good year.  The long hot summer didn't seem to hurt the apples, and how were back into cool nights and days and the apples seem to be getting really sweet.  You'd think being in apple country would keep our prices down, but some of the varietals like the Honey Crisp and newer apples are still at $3.95 a pound.  Too much in my view but they are delicious.
 
In any case, this is my first of many Apple Tarte Tatins.  This year I cut the apples differently.  I usually just peel, core and cut them either in half or in quarters to put in the skillet.  This time I cut them on my apple peeler and corer gadget, then let them fan out in the caramel.  Looks interesting for presentation and the end result is apples more tender than usual.  Now I have to make another one with the apples cut like I usually do to do a taste comparison.

 
Our Apple Cook-Off below includes a post with my recipe for Apple Tarte Tatin.
 

A morning spent hiking around and up to the top of a lighthouse earned us a nice lunch.  Lighthouse view
 

 
We walked over to a nearby hotel for lunch.  The Reefs
 

 
Drinks, because hiking earns drinks in my world
 

 
Conch fritters
 

 
Snapper sandwich
 

 
Mahi tacos
 

 
View from our table
 

 
Dinner was a return to the Ocean Club
 

 
Calamari
 

 
Rockfish with banana
 

 
Rockfish with lavender thyme lava salt
 

 
Lobster
 

 
Mini ice cream cones
 

 
Ha that happened to us too, in 2011 I think.  We were the last plane to land before the storm caused the airport to close.  It was wild when we got up the next morning: our room faced the harbor and it did not seem like anything was happening.  Then we went to the ocean side of the hotel and the wind and waves were crazy!  Luckily the storm blew out quickly and the rest of our vacation was lovely.
 
Light photos from yesterday.  We walked on the beach trail down to my favorite beach, Warwick Long Bay, with the intention of coming back up on the road and having lunch at the South Shore Swizzle Inn.
 

 
Unfortunately we ended up walking in the wrong direction and ended up back at our resort haha.  Grilled shrimp wrap from the Beach Cabana:
 

 
Dinner was at the Waterlot Inn, one of the oldest restaurants on the island.  It's been around in some form or another since 1610.  We shared a tart made of local Bermuda onions for our starter.  
 

 
For mains I got the fish sampler, which was tuna, salmon, and grouper.  My husband had a waygu steak.  This is an a la carte restaurant so for sides we shared some sautéed spinach and truffled mac and cheese.  Too full for dessert, though they did give us some chocolate covered sea salt caramels.  They are in the fridge for later.
 

 
Everything was tasty but don't go here if you are on a budget.  The bill was punishingly expensive.

A White Palmetto of sorts: agricole blanc, vermouth blanc, mole bitters, orange twist.
A bit thin in texture, some interesting fruit flavors in there (pear first, then mango?), but my unimpressed wife said it tastes a bit like a shoe-repair store, and I think I glimpsed what she was talking about. 
I think every rum agricole drink I've had starts shakily but gains a star rating by the time I finish it.

 
Fried potato and cheese pancake from Six Seasons.
There is a reason that I'm showing you this still in the pan.  I knew without a doubt that any attempt to remove it from the pan would not end well.  There is a reason you are advised to read a recipe!   This one called for a nonstick pan.  Missed that part. This is a very well seasoned cast iron pan but it was not quite up to a mixture of cheese, onion and potato.  But it was very good and I enjoyed it with some tomato chutney. (The pancake not the cast-iron pan.)
 
 Edited for clarification after I read it through and wondered if I would've broken my teeth on the cast-iron pan. 

Chanterelle soup with millet groats - a little bit different taste than usual -  RecipeGullet
 
 

After 80 days of searing heat, (for Spokane) with no rain, finally Fall weather has arrived.  Which for me is a blessing as it's my favorite time of year for cooking.  This is the third batch of duck confit I've made so far.  This time served with a Cassoulet Bean Stew I came up with.  The beans are from our friends at Rancho Gordo.

 
Pot Roast and Vegetables with Gravy - made in my Instant Pot

rosemary rolls
 

 
Pasta with eggplant from the Six Seasons cookbook
 

Chocolate box:
Dark chocolate with cocoa nibs
Coconut
Orange
Coffee
Cinnamon
Raspberry
 

 
Birthday chocolate hearts
Milk chocolate hearts with lyophilized fruits
Inside: 
Orange
Coconut
Milk/dark gianduja
Raspberry
Vanilla
Baileys
 



 

Got your Spinzall yet? eG Member Raamo does and has already produced a super-clear cherry syrup for adding to Coke...
http://bit.ly/2hheNoK

Another Ottolenghi salad.  Candy beets with lentils and yuzu from Plenty More, recipe available online here. 

I love the combination of beets and citrus.   Yuzu is one I hadn't tried with beets but I enjoyed it here.  I roasted (instead of boiled) regular red beets and used a raw candy beet.  

 I made a couple of seafood pizzas last night.  I'm on vacation and using a strange oven and the lighting's not so great, but it tasted good.  White clam pizza
 

 
Lobster pizza
 

Today. It was on the top shelf of our local Value Village and, at first, I thought it was just an ugly pot like something I might have gotten as a wedding present. But when I picked it up I realized it's a vintage Le Creuset in a pattern that is so retro that it's almost cool. Looked it up and discovered that it's a 1980's design called Petits Fruits and Le Creuset has actually re-issued it recently (it may even be currently available!). I got it for $21 (including my Tuesday Seniors discount!). Very pleased.