LaurieA-B

Another good thing about using sticky rice for the powder is that you can cook some of the (unground) rice and serve it with the larb. Very yum. What with Blue Heron and Schielke making larb (they both sound delicious, the larbs, that is), and Matthew who loves to make it too, I think we need to have a PacificNW larb party. Yes, tommy, I know you're in.

We enjoyed dinner at Nell's last night, and while we didn't have the $25 menu, it sounded great and I recommend Nell's based on our meal. You have a few days left, and Nell's is open daily. The $25 menu: Fennel soup Leek risotto Ahi tuna with curried lentils and butternut squash Chicken breast with potatoes (mashed or crushed, I think) and rosemary jus Lavender creme brulee with shortbread cookies Puff pastry apple tart with cranberry ice cream Wines with each course are offered for $20. I ordered the apple tart, and it was delicious. I'm sure Matthew, Judy, or I will post a full review of our meal soon.

Good heavens--every day I feel grateful that I'm on the PNW board and not one of those regional boards with demanding standards. Whenever I post on the NY board I feel like I'm walking on a swaying wooden bridge over a yawning canyon. And quicksand. I have met many PNW regulars and without exception they are charming, kind, and down to earth. Their only standards are regarding good-tasting food. In other areas, such as pants, they have no standards at all. I look forward to meeting everyone I haven't met yet. thelastsupper, when are we getting together for dinner on Capitol Hill? girlchow, hope you make it to Seattle soon so more people can enjoy the pleasure of your company. Regarding Portland, Matthew and I are both from Portland and love hearing about it. Human Bean, I think Jim Dixon's comment was in no way a slight, but rather an attempt to draw out more fine Portland-area members like you. We are working our way through a bottle of JDOO, the Bettini, and I highly recommend the Don Alfonso. Thanks, Jim! What other special foods will be found at the Portland Farmers Market? Hopefully on a future visit to Portland we can meet up with egulleters there. The new wine bar Jim recommended sounded great (if we can drag ourselves away from Pambiche. I have complete faith in Jim's restaurant recommendations thanks to Pambiche). It's a little tricky because my parents, siblings, and nieces live in Portland, so our visits are family time. But I'm sure it will work out at some point.

nightscotsman, I am not familiar with krazy kake. Is it perhaps the same as "dump cake," in which you dump a box of cake mix, a can of pineapple, a can of cherry pie filling, and a few other things in a pan, and bake them? I have never dared to try this, but many people claim it's delicious. It would probably win first place at a church bake-off.

Matthew and I are planning to join you for Jumbo. See you tomorrow. (nightscotsman, please do not ever post anything like that ever again.)

This is perhaps the most horrifying recipe that I've ever seen. It's the Tang that takes it to another level. Bacon Snack Bars

The Art of Eating is great reading. Take a look at the back issue list on the website to get an idea of the topics covered. The travel pieces are detailed and accompanied by marvelous black and white photographs. While much of the writing is by Behr, other writers are included. The current cover story, Twelve Restaurants in Tokyo, is by Mitchell Davis of the James Beard Foundation. This issue also includes pieces by Harold McGee and Nancy Harmon Jenkins. I especially enjoyed the issues on Paris. There's almost always some wonderful writing about cheese.

The recipe for "Almost Oreos" is included in Nancy Silverton's Sandwich Book. The ingredient list calls for "black, super-alkalized cocoa powder" and she explains, "To get that deep, nearly black color, you'll need to use some highly alkalized black cocoa powder (see King Arthur Flour in the sources) for color, and some unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder for flavor. When buying your unsweetened cocoa powder and chocolate, look for Scharffen Berger and Valrhona." In the photograph the cookies are lovely contrast to the pure white vanilla filling. Nightscotsman's chocolate cookies were fabulous, with a perfect crisp texture. He drizzled them with chocolate--milk chocolate?--that looked almost red against the black cookies.

Jinmyo, these sound similar to scallion pancakes? I am paid in scallion pancakes every time I shill for mamster's grubshack.

Finally made it to La Louisiana for dinner, post-Matthew's and my trip to New Orleans earlier in October (where we ate vast amounts of crawfish, shrimp, catfish, gumbo, and bread pudding). La Louisiana is on Cherry, at a midpoint between Ezell's Fried Chicken and Catfish Corner. This square mile must have more frying than any other in Seattle. Both are good, and I really enjoyed the catfish and hush puppies at CC. From the many choices on the menu at La Louisiana, I ordered the Barnyard Pimp--fried chicken, served with vegetables and mashed potatoes. Chicken was very good, juicy and flavorful, herb seasoned with crunchy skin. The vegetables and potatoes were not good (poor flavor and texture). They offer a number of sides so I would try something different next time, though hopefully they can improve the mash. Matthew ordered the cornbread-stuffed pork chop, which was too dry, and a side of jambalaya, which he said was great. (I was so busy with my chicken that I forgot to taste the jambalaya.) We also ordered two appetizers. One may have been called crawfish nuggets (I know they offer catfish nuggets; I can't remember what the crawfish was called) and the second was fried okra. Both were very crisp and delicious, served with pleasant dipping sauces. La Louisiana seems very strong in the frying department. Next time I think I'll try a fried fish dish. Bread pudding with bourbon sauce was warm and whiskey-licious, very similar to the bread puddings we enjoyed in New Orleans. The food was decidedly mixed in quality, but we definitely want to go back again--when you order the right things, it's really good. The room is very pleasant and was busy on Friday night. Hopefully they'll get a liquor license soon, because it seemed like a great place to enjoy drinks. It is decidedly more upscale than the other spots in the neighborhood, but very reasonably priced (entrees are $9-16). Thank you to the person who posts on this site and invited us to join her for dinner.

Bittman mentions Cioppino's Enoteca, where we had a delicious meal that Matthew described. Pino's has the additional advantage of being just steps away from Barbara-Jo's Books to Cooks.

What about Kiev? I was there in April and enjoyed blintzes amidst their oddly posh re-decoration. When I worked near there I often got breakfast at KK and Christine's, but they are mostly just cheap (tasty, but nothing special).

Smoked creme brulee?

True, Roger, but we are fortunate to have restaurants serving delicious, if not authentic, Thai food. Thaiku is my current favorite, and a restaurant that has a bit of Thailand feel to it. I like their gai yaang very much. Some time I want to go and have gai yaang all to myself, as it is served very nicely with a small portion of papaya salad and sticky rice. One of the world's perfect meals. The miang kham is very good, though missing dried shrimp (which Matthew loves but I don't). I was pleased to see it on the menu at Simply Paradise, but lettuce leaves do not bode well. We had dinner once at Typhoon, at least two years ago. As I recall, the food was good but seemed very expensive compared to other Thai restaurants in town. That may or may not be accurate. Anyway, we have not gone back. Siam on Broadway is a great place to go with a group (except when it's crowded). The extended Amster family is fond of their special fried rice, among other things. I like the spring rolls, chicken satay, and fish cakes, from the appetizers. I have eaten larp (chicken) at Siam, Simply Paradise, and other places in town, but nowhere was it outstanding. I enjoyed dinner at Simply Paradise and want to return, especially as they have probably ironed out some of their opening kinks by now. The dishes mentioned by nightscotsman here were good, as was the Lao sausage. Simply Paradise is from the same owners as Simply Thai, which was good and received a positive review from Matthew a while back. You can also find reviews of Viengthong, Chantanee, Mandalay Cafe (some of which is Thai), and Japan/Thai Restaurant Project at the grubshack. And also lots of restaurants in Bangkok, if anyone's heading that direction from Seattle.

Today I lunched at Seattle Central in the One World dining room. I had the Ensalada de Pollo, with tortilla soup. In retrospect I don't know why I chose that entree, as it is not the most interesting; I couldn't make up my mind, so chose almost at random. It was, however, delicious. The chicken was not spicy but juicy and flavorful. The salad, with an acceptable fruity dressing, included chunks of avocado and orange, topped with crispy tortilla strips. I enjoyed the soup very much. Spicy, loaded with bits of avocado and onion, with nuggets of melted cheese and tortilla strips. It was much better than the insipid tortilla soup served by the average Mexican restaurant. Desserts, which cost $1.50, were a chocolate torte with raspberry sauce or rice pudding with caramel sauce. A dome of light, lemony rice pudding was served atop a generous drizzle of slightly grainy caramel. Very nice flavor combination. My three-course meal, with tax, cost $7.02. Portions were substantial. After reading so much about cooking school experiences, it was very interesting to dine here and imagine what was going on behind the scenes. Service was attentive but not polished. The room was sunny and pleasant, less than half full when I arrived at 12:30. nightscotsman, we'll meet up another day, I'm sure. I will be glad to lunch at SCCC again.

The Painted Table is being revamped, re-chefed, and renamed Library Bistro. While I love libraries, I think Painted Table is a much more memorable and easier to pronounce name for a restaurant.

I didn't know Kismet was gone! We haven't been there in a while, but I have very fond memories because for a while Matthew performed stand-up comedy there every Sunday. They had a wonderful root beer in a fancy bottle that I loved. I've adjusted to the absence of La Tienda Cadiz so it's not such a shock. When a friend first told me, I was sure she must be confused and thinking of somewhere else. One addition: the very much lamented Bistro Antalya, on Broadway. I feel sad every time I walk by the generic gyros stand now inhabiting the space.

I just checked out the October tasting menu at Cascadia, and it sounds really good. "I'll have the all-bacon menu, please." After nightscotsman's experience, I won't be ordering the seven-course menu, but I'd definitely try the $25 three-course menu again, especially when it sounds tasty.

The salt cod appetizer that girl chow mentioned (brandade) is delicious. Hot, with a brown crusty top, served with grilled bread and olives. Definitely recommended for autumn/winter eating.

Well, we do need to go there, but maybe not in this thread . Right, because we've discussed banh mi on just about every other thread on this board already.

I use my hands, which had never occurred to me, until I read it as a tip somewhere. Broken shell has sharp edges that can break your yolk; fingers don't. Now I find it works very well. I wash my hands carefully before and after breaking the eggs. Lesley, why does it seem disgusting? I haven't seen anyone doing this on TV, but I assume they are washing their hands. I admit that the raw egg feels a little ooky.

This technique is fabulous. Medrich refers to it as "The Steve Ritual" after her assistant's husband, who originated it; Matthew and I refer to it as the Steve bath (as in, "Don't forget to give the brownies their Steve bath!") We most often make the New Classic Brownies that accompany her description of the Steve bath, using Scharffen Berger unsweetened. We have given people attacks of ecstasy with these brownies. For my birthday this year, Matthew made a tower of brownies studded with candles (my request, modeled after a photograph in How to Be a Domestic Goddess). I disagree on the effect of the Steve bath, however. Especially when the pan is lined with parchment, these brownies come out with almost no crust at all, rather like fudge, very moist. I love them, but I have always liked the middle pieces best. Those of you who prefer corner and edge pieces might not like the Steve bath.

Malawry, I'm so glad the event was successful. It's great to read that "everybody loved the food." I looked back at your initial cooking thread to find the menu, and it was very interesting to go back and read your first post, after reading about the event here. Desserty link What fruits did you use in the tarts? Cleaning and cutting the fresh fruit sounded like a huge job; I imagine some were berries served whole. I also wondered what type of pans you used for making the tartlets, as you mentioned in your first post not having tartlet pans yet. I was glad that you decided to serve small items, rather than larger tarts and cakes, as larger desserts may become unattractive after servings have been removed. Your trays sound beautiful. Did you take photographs? Many congratulations to you and your assistants.

Dessert report: A large tray is brought to each table with one of each dessert. The first is their house dessert: Boccone Dolce. It looks somewhat like the picture, a large wedge of that. Matthew's custard, served in a ramekin. Profiteroles: two, filled with an orange-flower chocolate (shavings) gelato, and chocolate sauce. Gelato: large glass dish with a base of very pale verjus flavor, topped by very dark blackberry flavor. A wedge of chocolate torte (didn't catch all the details; layers of chocolate cakelike stuff). Fresh fruit tart: nectarines and blackberries on vanilla pastry cream in a sable crust. There may have been one more dessert that I can't remember. By the time dessert arrived I was barely holding my head up; it was late, and the wine, while delicious, hadn't agreed with me very well. After enjoying the first four courses very much (including the mussels, which I had never tasted before), I didn't have much energy for three more. I ate only four bites of the large portion of excellent salmon, and three green beans. As my plate was still full, the waiter offered to wrap the remaining portion for me to take home. I agreed, as it was a large piece of very nice salmon. I expected it would be presented to me at the conclusion of the meal. It did not, however, re-appear. The waiter shook our hands as we left, but did not offer the salmon. When I realized that the leftovers were not coming, I was at a loss. It's possible there was a nicely wrapped package in the refrigerator that was forgotten; it's possible that it was thrown away. Suspecting the latter, I didn't say anything. I did not mind the loss of leftovers. I did mind very much such negligent service as to forget or ignore the offer to wrap the food. As for my dessert, normally I would have sampled the profiteroles, but the fruit tart was the most appealing after five courses. It tasted delicious, especially the nectarine slices. The presentation, however, left a great deal to be desired. It was a slice of a large tart, served on a small plate. The edges were indistinct, fruit and cream slopping onto the plate. The crust edge was crumbled to bits. The crust had a nice crisp texture and wonderful buttery flavor. Fresh fruit was such a nice ending that I wondered that more restaurants don't offer it. Our places were set with small plates, forks, and fruit knives. The waiter brought over a large white china bowl overflowing with beautiful, perfect fresh fruit. She identified the types of fruit and we could select whatever we wanted, which she placed on our plates with tongs. I had a slice of watermelon and a cluster of those flavorful green grapes.

sfroth, could you explain this further? My experience with creme brulee is a chilled custard, with crisp sugar top. Was the entire dish warm? Were the raspberries embedded in the custard underneath the sugar? The meal sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing with us. Welcome!