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Creamy Oat Soup with Chicken and Leeks 2-3 medium leeks 6 cups chicken stock + 2 cups water 1 cup steel-cut oats 8 ozs shitake mushroom-or other wild mushroom of your choice, sliced 2 TBS butter salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 2 chicken breast halves, boned, skinned and cut into 3 inch by 1/4 inch strips 1/2 cup heavy cream 2 TBS fresh dill, chopped Using just the white and pale green parts of the leeks, halve them lenghwise and slice very thinly. Place in bowl of cold water, stirring occasionally to clean. Bring stock and water to a boil in a large pot. Lift leeks out of water with a slotted spoon and add to the boiling stock along with the oats and salt to taste. Return to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. While soup is simmering, saute mushrooms in melted butter over medium high heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside. When soup has cooked 30 mins, add chicken strips, cook 15 mins more, stirring occasionally. Soup will get very thick. Stir in cream, sauteed mushrooms and dill, bring to a boil and simmer 5 additional minutes. Thin with a little hot water if soup too thick. Serves 4. Enjoy, glad to share. Kay

Tonight I made a Creamy Oat Soup with Chicken, Shitake Mushrooms and Leeks. Have been making this since the beginning of 1992 and it is always delicious. The great thing about it is that the creaminess is actually more from the steel cut oats then from the small amount of cream that is in it. Can be made with fresh chicken but is a great way to use leftover stock and chicken. Makes the house smell great and makes enough for dinner for the two of us plus plenty for lunches. When we had a full house it was easy to double. Will post recipe if anyone wants it. Kay

Yes, the $4.98 you read is correct. Check http://www.central-market.com under the Big Board Buy section of the sidebar. Sorry the other site didn't come up. If you live near Shoreline, the other Seattle site they have it is worth the trip. Kay

Happy Anniversary to you both!!! Really enjoying this blog. Grew up in Providence and lived on the East Side. Lived on Chace Ave, near the Pawtucket line, as well as 4th St, Hope Ave and Cole Ave. Fun to see some of the scenes there now. The bakery this morning is very near where a bakery was when I was young. Also remember a truck type stand downtown near the Mall/Marriott that sold only sliced turkey sandwiches. Really great. Was only there for a few hours a day. Sure it is long gone. Lot of great bakeries/small stores to get lots of ethnic food, especially in North and South Providence. Last time we were there was five years ago when our son was married in Newport, RI. Kay

Central Markets have Chantrelles as a Big Board buy for $4.98 this week. Sale price is good valid Oct 12-18 as long as supply last. I have been getting them at the Pouslbo store over the last few weeks and they have been delicious and $7.98/lb. Definitely plan on going early to get the buy. Since Central Market is part of the Town and Country family, perhaps the T&C stores have it as well. Kay

What an absolutely beautiful picture. The dish sounds delicious. Will you share a picture of the finished product? I brought a bag of chanterelles today and they are on our menu but simply sauteed in butter. Kay

Back from our Sitka trip. Had a great time and enjoyed the Alaska Ferry "big blue canoe" ride both ways. Amazing the difference in the food between the two ferries. Columbia definitely the better with its dining room service. Outstanding halibut and shrimp dishes. Saw a lot of sites and had some good food. In Sitka, the place for great food is Ludwig's Bistro. Ate there two nights. They open at 2 pm serving tapas, which are actually huge plates of food. Dinner service starts at 5 pm. Tapa menu is still available. The calamari was outstanding and we shared that tapa both nights. Great paella and several other dishes-all fish. Wine list is quite large by the glass and the wait staff extremely helpful and relaxed. Also ate at Channel Club for the steak. Glad we got there early to avoid the smoke. Sitka is about to vote on an all inclusive no smoking for public places. Had borsht at Bayview but was generally disappointed in general. It was their first day on the winter schedule. Service was terrible and we were overcharged. Ate another night at Van Winkles. Very average. For anyone going highly recommend Ludwig's. Thanks to all for their input. Kay

In the Wall Street Journal's new Saturday (9/17-18) edition, a feature on "Chefs Gone Wild" forecasts that "Veil" will open November 1 at 555 Aloha St. (206-216-0600). Quoting from the article sidebar, "Chef Shannon Galusha, a French Laundry alumnus, will give his inventive American food a twist, with Kobe beef-style beef cheeks and marinated watermelon." posted by Al w/ indulgence of Kay

[ Hmm. Now I remember the old song "Two to Duluth", about the woman trying to buy train tickets, and the ticket master replying "Ta rum te dum te dum" to the hapless woman because he thought she was saying nonsense syllables. They sure knew how to write 'em back in the 20's. There is another interchange in which the passenger asks, "Does this train go to Duloot?" and the conductor/ticket agent says, "No, this train goes toot, toot." BTW, I have enjoyed your blog. My grandparents owned a small farm in Homecroft which I visited every summer until I was 12. Before that, they had 10 acres of raspberries off the Gotenburg Road and Grandpa was president of the St Louis County Berry Growers Assoc. circa 1940. Al (etoiledunord) posting under wife Kay's screen

Avocado, This is the Cheese Blintz Souffle that we served at the inn. Filling 1 lb ricotta or 1 lb small curd cottage cheese, drained 1 8oz package cream cheese, softened (Philadelphia brand preferred) 2 large egg yolks 1 TBS. sugar 1 tsp. pure vanilla Batter 1 1/2 cups sour cream (16 oz container)(Breakstone preferred) 1/2 cup orange juice 6 large eggs 1/4 cup butter, melted 1 cup flour 1/3 cup sugar 2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. cinnamon Topping sour cream apricot preserves To make filling:mix all ingredients in a food processor or with an electric beater; set aside. To make batter: gradually mix all batter ingredients in a blender adding in the order given. Pour 1/2 batter into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Drop the filling by the spoonful on top of the layer of batter. Gently spread the spoonfuls together over the batter. It will mix in a little but you don't want to mix the two layers together any more then necessary. Pour the rest of the batter over the filling. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for 50-60 minutes. Casserole will be slightly puffed and golden in color. Set on a rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Souffle will fall while sitting. Cut in squares. Top each portion with a dollop of sour cream and preserves. Squares can also be topped by some strawberry sauce and finished with peach slices. Serves 10. Leftovers can be reheated gently in microwave oven set on low. Hope you enjoy. Kay

When we owned a bed and breakfast I used to make a cheese blinz souffle that I served topped with a strawberry sauce and fresh/frozen peach slices on top. I believe this sounds a lot like what you have discribed. It doesn't have a crust per se but does get a little brown on top. Not too sweet but really rich. Was always very popular with our guests. We usually served it with bacon as the breakfast entree. Kay

Dean, thank you for a most enjoyable week. Be sure to make a copy of the blog to share with your children in about 10-15 years. I'm sure it will bring back great memories for them and for both parents. Kay

Got Copper River Sockeye fillets today at QFC for a terrible price of $24.95/lb. Would have done better getting a whole Sockeye at Key City Fish in Port Townsend and having them fillet it and freeze what we didn't eat at $12.95/lb. Wanted to be sure we got some before we left for Russia etc. on Friday and it will be all gone when we come back in mid-June. Sometimes "wants" overcome price, sadly. Kay

Braised Pork Belly with Glazed Turnips or Red-Cooked Pork Belly with Bok Choy are both good choices. They are both from All About Braising by Molly Stevens. Kay

Al and I finally made it to Tamarind Tree yesterday for lunch. What a fantastic place. Service was very good. Had the Beef 7 ways, previously reviewed, and a starter of Spring Roll, Tamarind style. This was outstanding and absolutely beautiful. They are in the process of adding a patio, to the left of the front door, for outside dining and cocktails. It is scheduled to open in late May. We definitely plan on returning for lunch again. Our tab was $22. before tip. An unbelievable amount of really good food for such a reasonable price. Kay

Arne Although it doesn't get the buzz of some previous recommendations, Perche No is just up the street from your hotel and we found it quite good 2 + years ago while also staying in Queen Anne. Somewhat of an anachronism being an oriental owned Italian venue, but well prepared fare.

Lala, sorry for being this late in responding but we just arrived back home tonight from our trip to the redwoods having left the day you posted your question. We stayed in Florence one night on our way back. Ate at "C" next door to Mo's on the waterfront. Al, my husband, had a grilled 3 fish plate-snapper, salmon and halibut. Enjoyed it with the snapper being just OK. I had the "Fisherman's Net" prepared in a wine broth. Really no flavor at all. Definitely, needed some flavor help desperately. The calamari appertizer we had (prepared fried) was absolutely outstanding. Wish I had ordered a double of this for dinner and it would have been less expensive. Overall, dinner was overpriced. Since we were only there one night I have no other suggestions in that area. The best meal we had in that general area was in Lincoln City where we ate at Dory Cove on Logan St. It is at the end of the street-called Land's End-and was absolutely a great dinner and very reasonably priced. On our way to the redwoods we had dinner in Portland at the clarkelewis. Really great dinner at the "family table" with the chef choosing our courses. Food was outstanding. Wish it wasn't quite so far for a return trip. Sorry not better help on your Florence question. Kay

Several weeks ago I asked Don of Don and Joe's if he would order beef cheeks. Said he would give it a try and they are now available. Have to ask as they are in the freezer and when we were there not advertised. Packed in 5 lb bags. Cost is $3. per lb. He has said that he will carry them, if they sell. He has to order in 60 lb packages. I have ours and plan on doing some as Mario's recipe in March's Bon Appetit. Kay

We cook at home almost every evening but do eat out occasionally depending on not only opportunities but schedules. We usually save our eating out for our trips away from home. Last evening meals this week were: Tonight-Braised veal breast with onions and garlic served with polenta (leftover), roasted red beet quarters and braised rapini. Dessert was red grapes. Friday-Spinach and three Italian cheese ravioli with spicy red pepper and tomato sauce. Baby greens salad with avacado and sliced roasted beets and an Italian herbed dressing. Served with warm sourdough bread. Thursday-dinner at the local Thai restaurant following a meeting and church. Wednesday-New England boiled dinner-corn beef, potatoes, carrots and cabbage. Tuesday-Steamed WA mussels, green salad and sourdough rolls. Monday-dinner party here. Appertizers of toasts with goat cheese and fig jam; olive assortment and wasabi peas. Dinner was pork tenderloins with cider and cream gravy, polenta, and smoky chard saute. Salad was argula, frisee and red endive with toasted walnut pieces and mandarin oranges dressed with a walnut vinegarette. Dessert was fresh strawberries with a devonshire cream, almond cookies and truffles. Cooking at home is half the fun. Kay

Chef Metcalf, computer access word for Food and Wine this month is Value. You should be able to access the website and pick up the recipe for the wonton ravioli recipe for yourself. One of the things we learned on our trip to China last year, was that when you are making something like this, it is important to seal around the filling as well as around the edges. Push down hard on the two wrappers all around the filling (and don't overfill). This is as important as making sure that the edges are sealed well. Hope this helps. Another great use for wonton wrappers is filled with smoked salmon to make salmon ravioli. Kay

Greetings all! Have made some of the dishes from the book. Really enjoyed the Braised Cauliflower with capers and plan on serving it next week to guests. We like roasted cauliflower but my husband said this beat that. Really enjoyed the pork spareribs with mango, lime and coconut. Had the veal meatballs tonight with enough left for one more meal. Served with red potatoes roasted with EVOO and rosemary along with braised escarole (from Zuni Cafe Cookbook). I didn't care for the escarole but Al loved it. Plan on serving the leftover meatballs with the pilaf she recommended that uses the extra braising liquid. More to come soon. Enjoying going back and forth between these two books while still trying to take advantage of the first of the season halibut which came in last week. Three halibut meals in two weeks throws off the braising schedule but we love it. With braising the house always smell great which is nice. Kay

The January or February issue of Bon Appetit had a Mario Batali recipe for beef cheeks that did not have a marinade time anywhere approaching 24 hours. I know that his Babbo website has one of his beef cheek recipes on it. This might also give you so ideas. If you check the What did we have for dinner thread on I believe about the current page or the page before Bilrus has a link to his website with the recipe section displayed. I think it is great you were able to find the cheeks. I have a request into our butcher shop to see if they can special order them for me and the butcher wanted to know what else they were called?????? as he hadn't heard of them. Hello!!! Let us know what you finally decide to do. How on earth did you find them? Kay

Joe, thank you very much for the info. We have made several trips to Alaska but never made it to Sitka and really wanted to see the area. Will be taking the Alaska ferry from Bellingham leaving the car there. Kay

Does anyone have any recommendations for restaurants in Sitka? We will be there for three days in early September. Thanks, Kay

On Winslow Way-turn left at the light- a few blocks down on the left side is Cafe Nola. Also further down the road ( on the right side in a shopping center ) is BI Sushi Place. Won't be able to see the water from there but the food is good. Hope this helps. Kay