girl chow

Just reviving this old thread to report that the 2003 Oyster Olympics will be here soon. The event is Tuesday, March 25 2003 at Anthony's on Shilshole. Here's the schedule: 3 p.m.: Oyster Olympic Competitions 5 p.m.: Celebrity Slurp 3-8 p.m.: Clean Water Celebration Tickets are $75 and it's still a benefit for the Puget Soundkeep Alliance. Again this year, teams from local and Canadian restaurants will compete for a variety of prizes. They'll have to do all kinds of crazy things. Besides shucking, they'll have to identify different oysters by sight and taste.. and name oysters by their species and market names. Geesh! Talk about a challenge! I can't wait to see it happen I'm going this year for the first time. In fact, I have a FREE extra ticket if anyone wants to join me. PM me if you're interested. Edit: The free ticket is now officially spoken for!! Blue Heron and I will post here after the big event

Yeah, come on down to the south end! Tighe will stash you in the back of his pickup and I'll bring my six shooter for protection for you northerners and we'll go check out 'em ribs. I'm curious about this place. Tighe, have you tried?

I posted about this bakery back in February on the Welcome and Farewell thread. I've since learned the chef is a grad of the SAI, NOT SCA. NSM, please give the full report when you get in there. I'm going to be through that way tomorrow night. I might try and swing by, although just to look.

Holy crap... That is just too freakin hilarious. A pen light? I don't think I could have held back a huge, obnoxious laugh. What's next? A powerpoint demo on the entrees? Geesh! And thanks for giving such a great detailed report. Can't wait to go and read your other post now. I don't spend a lot of time in Madrona, so I'm always interested in reading reports on restaurants there

The Taco Truck on W. Meeker that I posted about last week HAS MOVED! It didn't disappear. It is located on the north side of West Meeker Street in Kent. If heading West on W. Meeker toward the Kent-Des Moines Road, it is on the right hand side in the 76 station parking lot.... the location is after you pass the QFC, but well before the FireCreek Grill/golf course, AM/PM, etc. Happy taco-ing.

I'm all in for a Taco Crawl! We could start in White Center and hop across the valley to southeast Kent for the new taco wagon there, then wind up at the Great Wall Shopping Mall in north Kent for a lookie at 99 Ranch Market. I know a lot of people on here keep saying they want to check it out, but I doubt they have a reason to drive to Kent

Hi spitzbuebe (love that name!). Welcome. I never bought a share at CSA, but I always wanted to. This year, I'm making a go of my own vegetable garden. My veggies and herbs are starting to look great! We're transplanting them into small containers this weekend and making room for another round of planting. If you do decide to buy a farm share, please let us know how it goes!

Tighe, I'm so in on that. We could pitch it to Sasquatch for a book deal! Taco Trucks of South King County. Who *wouldn't* buy that? Ye-Ye Girl, I am sad to report via hubby that the Meeker taco truck is GONE (it was near the post office/elem school where the irritating traffic-stopping construction was going on for so long)! Without a trace. Gone. Hubby's co-workers think they were operating illegally without a permit. I have no idea when they split. I *just* heard moments ago that a Thai place opened up on that same block on Meeker this week. ANOTHER THAI PLACE IN KENT!! I believe that makes 10 now.

I've been to Raga, three Chutney's and Bukhara, but I found that none of the above match the quality at Taste of India by the Blue Onion Bistro (shameless plug for the MIA PapaChef).

Ye Ye Girl, Welcome! The Rinconsito on the corner of Central and Smith lacks the, uh, charm of the former dingy location, but at least there's more seating! The menu is pretty much the same. The counter help has changed. Some of them speak English now!!! Hey, I was going to do a lengthy post on the new taco truck on the East Hill. Have you been to the other new one over on Meeker yet? I'll post here if you want more details. It's a converted bus that has seating INSIDE! Food in south county has never been so exciting! haha The other day, I ate outside the East Hill taco truck. Some of the rain got in my taco, but it was still good. Thanks Tighe for the props, but I don't know if that's a designation I really want

Watch it ... or me and my pickup drivin' Kent friends are gonna come and kick your pansy Eastside ass.

Thanks for that post! I'm also a fan of nutmeg. I have been putting some of the recipes from this thread to test. I've been taking notes and plan on writing up my thoughts next week. I'm also experimenting with flavoring my clarified butter. More on that later....

Scrat, I had a similar experience with the health department about 5 years ago when I reported a restaurant in Kent that had bugs crawling all over the dining room (ants and an assortment of other critter wildlife. Ewww). They got back to me in a few days and told me the owner had scheduled a fumigation and cleaning. They called back after they did another inspection to say the bug problem had been taken care of and they thanked me for calling them... much like your experience. I thought that was pretty cool. I, however, have never been able to return to that restaurant. If there are that many bugs in the dining room, then what does the kitchen look like? Uck.

YES! Flubbery bacon is a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY!!

That makes complete sense! I had never tried using whole spices to flavor the oil of a curry dish, but I think I'll give it a shot this weekend. I can't believe I haven't come across that in any of the articles I've read on Indian cooking. What a great tip! And what you're saying about the spices (in the GM powder) losing their oils in the grinding process makes total sense. I'm going to be experimenting this weekend.

Agreed. Alton Brown's show is just freakin awesome. Did you see the episode where he turned the gym locker into a meat smoker (I think Col Klink ought to build one)? I like that he screws around with the science of cooking. But, then again, I'm a damn sucker for those campy food network shows. I admit I also love Iron Chef. Hubby and I have created a drinking game to the show. Whenever the vapid actress guest of the day giggles, we do a shot of jaegermeister. Last Friday, we got absolutely shif taced.

Katie, thanks so much! That's very kind of you. And while we're on the topic of cookbooks... I'd love to hear everyone's favorites. Or, maybe there's already a thread on this that I haven't yet read? Thanks again for the warm welcome to this board (for the last few years, I've rarely strayed from the PNW board). Scottish Chef, thanks for your hints.

I knew I came to the right place! You guys absolutely rule. Thanks Indiagirl and Suvir for you recipes. I think maybe mace is the secret ingredient that's missing from my mixes. Interesting. Tonight, I'll go home and start playing around with my spices -- my favorite thing to do in the kitchen. Also, just a quick question about the use of garam masalas... when cooking something, such as a curry, do you usually add your GM at the end of the cooking process? I've read this elsewhere and it makes sense -- that the essential oils from the spices would best serve the dish at the end of the cooking process, so they don't evaporate away during cooking. Or, if anyone else has a thought on this, please post and let us know what your theory/method is for when to add the garam masala during the cooking process. Thanks for the warm welcome. I've started reading through the threads and I'm completely impressed with the depth of the information I've found here. I plan to spring a few recipes I've seen on hubby. Right now, I have only a handful of Indian dishes in my repertoire, so it will be nice to mix things up a bit. Hubby isn't picky though. He eats ANYTHING I put in front of him. He rocks. My husband is 1/2 Punjabi and 1/2 mixed European-American. His mother is Punjabi, born and raised in India, and his father is your typical mixed-European American (they met in India and moved here in 1970). I'm really interested in learning more about the regional cooking of the Punjabi region, especially any dishes that are specialties of that particular area. Can't wait to read through some of those posts!

I previously posted this on the cooking board, but just was scrolling down and found there is a whole board to discuss Indian food! Wow (and duh on my part). I'm getting bored with my garam masala mixes, which usually I grind from a variation of the following: whole anise, whole cloves, whole cardamon, whole cinnamon and black peppercorns and sometimes some cumin and corriander. I can't seem to find a mixture that I like that has a lot of flavor, but tastes pretty balanced when mixed into a curry or a yogurt marinade for meat. Hubby (he's Indian), likes really flavorful, spicy blends like the ones his mom makes. I like aromatic and flavorful blends, but not necessarily really spicy (I'm a wuss). I'd love it if some of you could give me their recipe with their ingredients and ratios of spices for a nice, aromatic garam masala blend that can really make a curry or a marinade pop. Or, if you've got links to good Indian cooking sites, bring 'em on.

That is WRONG about Bahn Mi 88! Say it isn't sooooo! I am not reading any more of those reports. I'd rather just risk it. I'm much more likely to give myself food poisoning than anyone else, just based on the ratio of homemade meals I eat vs. restaurant meals. Although I always do refrigerate my mayo....

MsRamsey, excellent question. I'm afraid I'm not sure which one will be better! Both actually are charity benefits. Taste Washington benefits FareStart and a Washington Wine Commission scholarship program while Taste of the Nation benefits the Share Our Strength hunger fighting program. All are great causes! How to decide between them seems an impossible task. The Taste of Washington participant list I've got appears to be almost twice as long as the Taste of the Nation list, although that could be deceptive because the lists could be incomplete.... anyone else who knows, feel free to weigh in here. Man, that Web site really does suck, doesn't it? They need to do something about that.

Yeah, I'm digging it too. I just can't wait until a Vietnamese place opens up in my tiny little community in Pierce County. We got our FIRST Thai restaurant last year!! So I hope it won't be 10 years until we get our first Vietnamese resturant... but maybe my community really is10 years behind the culinary wave. That wouldn't surprise me. We have six teriyaki places. Egad! I will be so glad when Vietnamese and Thai outnumber teriyaki. As it is right now in Kent where I work (most of the time), we have five Thai joints, five (or six now?) Vietnamese joints and about 30 teriyaki joints. It's only a matter of time though..... VIVA LA BAHN MI!!!

Or ordering banh mi? What the hell? Are you slipping? Just kidding. Hey, is it me or are the Vietnamese places (upscale or otherwise) starting to outnumber the Thai places? In South King County, we've got as many pho places as Thai places, which I find surprising.

Hey Blue Heron, I also had some pretty NON New York style food at a Rip Tide Theater production at the Liberty Deli (sadly, I heard the Rip Tide has moved to Arts West, so I'm guessing the Liberty doesn't have theater nights anymore? Or is another theater company operating in there now?) When I ate there, they *did* have some ok corned beef and cabbage, but the rest of the theater dinner buffet was pasta salads and potato salads that tasted like they came from a prefab company like Freshmark (GAG!). It was edible and just fine for a cheap meal (and it was pretty cheap), just not anything really memorable or grand. I've stopped in there other times, but have never been impressed. I think the Fred Meyer deli case pastrami is just as good. And it ain't that good. Besides, if I'm on Alki, you can bet my butt will be planted at a seat at Sunfish. That fried fish rocks.

You people rule Ok, thanks for the places to go to tell my bud about. From what I'm getting here, though, is that nobody else has heard of a brand new New York style deli serving pastrami and corned beef in Seattle? Is that right? Others, feel free to weigh in on this topic please. And I think we might need the Mamster and Clinkster to give their official meat input. Maybe we could give a shout out to Stephen Shaw to get him to tell us what constitutes good "New York style" pastrami and corned beef. I'm pretty sure I've never had it.