Schielke

One of the health benefits that brown rice offers is the increased dietary fiber and fat. The refining of white rice gets rid of these benefits. Not to say that white rice is bad for you though. I do believe, however, that rice portions are crazy in the states at least. A usual portion around here in Seattle is like the size of a baby's head! Ben

Yes they are heavy on the garlic, but I really enjoyed going there for lunch when I worked in the area. Somewhat inexpensive and very good value. Ben

I am a fan of Woodford Reserve, but I do need to try more out to really pick a favorite. Woodford Reserve Web site

I am sure Fat Guy could say it better than I could, butyou can not import, buy, posess, or fondle raw milk cheeses that are aged less than 60 days inside the United States. Nuts! Ben

sweet sweet bbq pork. I ordered four of them yesterday. Note: He takes cash or check, no cards. I had to go to viet wah and get some cash back to feed my addiction. Also Note: Viet Wah only lets you take cash back if you buy more than $20 of stuff. They were nice and let me do it with $10. I ended up with a huge tin of cookies. yay! Ben

I think the sour was a little revved up, it ended up with a really nice balance. It was not too hot either. It gave a pleasant kick and flavor. Although a really hot version might be fun. Ben

When traveling, what can you do to avoid becoming sick from food prepared in places with questionable sanitation? I have yet to really deal with this yet, since I havent really traveled too much. I would love to learn from all of your experience. Ben

I had a really nice Chili Infused Lemonade last night at an Indian establishment. Do any of you ever make this? I would like to try it out sometime. Any recipes or theories? Ben

I can't remember when I have ordered it recently either. At some point I decided to stop beating around the bush and eat my tuna in sushi form. You might want to try Oceanaire Seafood Room. I have yet to go there, but the grapevine says big fish portions in a nice atmosphere. I would expect a good tuna dish. Another possibility is Seastar in Bellevue, I went there once and had a fairly good experience. Again, no tuna, but they too may do a nice preperation. Ben

Sadly, my friend has to leave for Kansas City this weekend. So we had our final Indian meal last night. We decided to go to Shamiana in Ravenna since it was close by and I was curious. The first part that struck me when we walked in was that there was not a single Indian person working there. The menu tells you that the owners grew up as american children in east pakistan and have lived/toured the subcontinent for a long time before landing in Seattle. We were immediately interested in how the spicing would compare with the other places we tried. The menu was a little more varied than usual, which is due to the focus on not just Indian cuisine, but others in the area too such as pakistani bbq. Also note that everything on the menu was more expensive than the other places...which put Shamiana under a microscope right away. We ordered vegetable cutlets, plain and traditional naan, mattar paneer, saag paneer, and tandori chicken tika. I ordered a chili infused lemonade to drink. Chili infused lemonade- Very good indeed. It had a very nice blend of sweet, sour, and hot. I think I will experiment with this at home and try to replicate it. Vegetable cutlets- I enjoyed these since the vegetable filling consisted of nicely spiced vegetables that were not all mashed up together. The texture of the dish worked very well, I would get a nice creamy potato in one bite and the clean burst of peas in the next. Naan- a shade too crispy, the traditional naan was glazed with ghee (clarified butter) and sprinkled with some seeds that I forget the name of. It looked really really appetizing. Parts of it were delicious, but other parts were burnt a little and too crispy. Note: we also received a creamy cucumber dipping sauce for our meal, which was nicely cool, but I missed the cilantro and tamarind chutney that i have grown accustomed to. Mattar Paneer- This version looked more like the one i cooked the other night. The tomatoes were chunky and the dish was a little soupier than other places. The flavor was still very nice, but it seemed a shade weak on the spice side. I think the tomato presence was a bit too strong. The paneer was not made in house and while it was in nice even cubes, I would have preferred the smoother taste of homeade. Saag Paneer- This was the first time I have ever had this dish and I really liked it. The spinach was nicely cooked into a creamy gravy that was delicately spiced. The same paneer was in this dish, I would have preferred homeade. Note: The above two dishes came each in seperate dishes by themselves. No rice was included with the cost of the dishes. The waiter then told us that it did not come with rice and we could order some if we wanted. Policies like these really annoy me, especially when it is at a more expensive place. Honestly, how much does rice cost to put on a plate, certainly not the three bucks they charge. Tandori Chicken Tika- This dish came with rice, go figure. The chicken used here was of much better quality than other places I have had this dish. The flavor was good, but I have had better. It was on the expensive side too and was not a very good value. Overall, I had a mixed experience. I really enjoyed my meal, esp the vegetable cutlets and the chili lemonade. Shamiana would be really awesome if they 1) lowered their prices a bit 2) Included a small bit of complimentary rice 3) offered cilantro and tamarind chutney. Ben

Surely I do know that our salmon, crab, and halibut is distinctive...surely. So if I were to use good locally available ingredients and prepare them in a classical french style, would I be making northwest cuisine, or french cuisine? Or would I be making northwest french? I am trying to grasp this because people ask about where to go when they are in town for great northwest dining. There are a few wonderful resturaunts that do the local seasonal thing with great success, but they cook in a style that isn't really northwest. Cafe Juanita in Kirkland for example uses local, seasonal ingredients, but cooks them in a northern italian style. I would be hesitant to reccommend this place to somebody who is looking for northwest cuisine since it may not meet their expectations. Is northwest cuisine just local and seasonal or does it also include a type of preperation? Ben

The tricky ones are the green cardamom pods since they have the same kind of look as peas. When I made my chicken mutter dish last night, I managed to pick out the cardamom pods, and cloves. It seemed to work pretty well. Ben

It seems that if you put salmon, crab, and halibut on your menu you all of a sudden are serving northwest cuisine. If that is the case, nearly every restaraunt in the united states serves northwest cuisine. Is there anything else that makes something "decidedly northwest?" Ben

I have a big blackberry bush right out the front door of my place. It smells really good right now. I have had my eye on it for a little while. I think I might make a pie or something. Any other ideas? Ben

Ill find out when he starts to do some cooking classes again in the fall and post it here. Perhaps it could be a get together thing. wheeeee! Ben

From what I understand it is like Duck confit but replace rendered duck fat with olive oil and duck with various fish item. I could be horribly horribly wrong though. Ben

Will do with the tomatoes. Even though they were a rough chop, everything turned out very tasty! I did try the paneer plain and loved it, it has a nice creamy texture and a very subtle sourness like a toned down yogurt. The store bought paneer only has its firmness and ease of use going for it. Homeade all the way when I have time! One other question, a few bites of the dish resulted in chomping down on a cardamom pod, which resulted in pure cardomom flavor that was too strong. How do you deal with whole spices in the dish that could result in a suprising bite? Ben

From the way you describe the included wine service, it almost seems as if a winery might be paying them (or not charging) for having their wines featured at an herbfarm dinner. It seems like a good way to promote your wines. And a good way for the herbfarm to make some extra money. I wonder... Ben

Where is seattle deli in relation to Bahn mi 88? The style of signs in that neighborhood is too much for me and I get lost and eventually go into seisure and swallow my tounge. So any help is appreciated. Ben

Suvir, I was wondering what the status of your book is? I have read a few references to it in some of the threads. I would certainly buy such a book when it comes out. Thanks! Ben

So I finally made the Mattar Paneer last night! I am happy to say that it was a success! It tasted so good, and now that I have cooked it once, I believe I have soaked in a large part of the technique. A few things I noted/learned 1. Paneer- we tasted it with three kinds of paneer. 2% milk paneer, Whole milk paneer, and store bought paneer. The 2% was not very good, it had a decent texture but the flavor was slightly off. The whole milk paneer was by far the best. It had a lovely creamy texture and the best flavor of the three. The store bought paneer was fairly good, it was very firm and almost bland. The only advantage of the store bought paneer was the convienence and consisitency of it. 2. Tomatoes-I need to chop the tomatoes smaller next time. my resulting dish still had recognizable pieces of tomato in it. I think that smaller chunks will result in a much more consistent texture. 3. Spicing- Be sure to have all the spices ready to go at the start. We had most of them ready, but one we forgot about and had to madly grind them up! 4. Guests- Invite more people over to try out this dish since it is so good!!!! Suvir, thank you so much for the help! I cant wait to start experimenting with the other recipes you have posted. Ben

Noooooooo!!!!!!!

What amazing menus! It was a delight to read them and imagine how everything must taste. I now know that I must seek out a meal of this style and caliber. I am glad to hear that there are instances in western culture where we can experience something as grand as this. Thank you Suvir, Ben

Actually, on Saturdays he does lunch for something like $30 Yay!! And also during the fall, he does cooking classes that include lunch for $50 Ben

Ha! funny you brought that up. My meal last night require me to pick up a piece of meat on the bone and nosh on it. so good. I do enjoy eating sushi with my hands too. As of now, I find the bread cumbersome, but I am learning! Ben