nightscotsman

The dining rooms at Seattle Central are once again open for lunch! Here are the menus for April 16th - 24th (Tuesday - Thursday, 11:15-1:00). One World Dining Room The following selections are served with aemono, sunomono and makisushi. Tempura Udon - $5.25 Shrimp and vegetable tempura served over Japanese udon noodles. Nabeyaki Udon - $5.95 Chicken, shrimp, surimi, kamaboko, and shiitake mushrooms, served over Japanese udon noodles. The following selections are served with aemono, sunomono and misoshiru Katsudon - $4.95 Fried pork cutlet simmered in broth, served over rice. Tendon - $5.25 Fried shrimp and vegetables over rice with tempura broth. Oyakodon - $4.95 Chicken and egg cooked with onion and dashi broth, served over rice. The following selections are served with makisushi, aemono, sunomono, and misoshiru Negimayaki - $7.50 Sliced New York strip loin rolled with scallions, broiled and served with teriyaki glaze. Tori No Teriyaki - $6.25 Grilled boneless chicken leg served with teriyaki sauce. Tempura - $6.75 Tempura fried shrimp and vegetables with dipping sauce. Agedashi Tofu - $5.95 Fried tofu served with grated daikon, ginger, and bonito flakes. Shake Kara-Age Yasia Ankake - $6.75 Pan-fried salmon with shiitake and snow pea ankake. Square One Dining Room Caesar Salad Hearts of Romaine with Creamy Dressing - $3.95 Salmon Cakes with Fresh Dill Aioli Cucumber Slaw & Root Vegetable Chips - $4.75 Top Sirloin Steak Parmesan Whipped Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus-Avocado & Mache Salad - $5.95 Seared Chicken Breast Tomato-Tarragon Hollandaise, Steamed Rice & Spring Vegetables - $5.50 Grilled Escolar Artichoke-Fennel Fondue & Beet Emulsion - $5.75 Ricotta Gnocchi Roasted Tomato Sauce - 5.25

I also remember Alton Brown talking about coconuts on the "castaway" episode if Good Eats. He said that young coconut milk is so pure that during World War II, medics used to inject it directly into the veins of injured solders when they ran out of saline and plasma. Anybody know if this is true?

Have you seen this thing?

Just lop the top off with a big chefs knife or a cleaver. The inner shell is much thinner and softer than a mature coconut. Also, there is much more liquid inside so watch out for spillage. The liquid is very light and fresh tasting and the meat is very soft and almost gelatinous in texture. I really like it, but it's very different from what most people think of as "coconut".

When I'm working, I'm exactly the opposite - I have to have breakfast on weekdays and can easily skip it on the weekends.

I grew up with whole milk, but switched to 1% in adolescence. Now I drink quite a bit of milk, all skim, and I don't mind the taste at all. Though I love richness of whole milk - tastes like a milkshake to me. Of course I use whole milk in recipes that call for milk.

Excellent and congratulations to chef Haas! What really impressed me the most was that he didn't try to blow us away with elaborate garnishes and complicated presentations. It was all about balancing flavor, texture, and temperature and a perfectly controlled progression of courses, with not a grain more sugar than absolutely necessary. Delightful, subtle and delicious - what dessert can be in the hands of a master.

Sorry about the poor quality of the photos. The three that mamster posted were the only ones that came out reasonably well. All the others were unsalvageably dark.

I actually did find Tru to be a bit stuffy the one time I ate there. In fact, when the room became too warm and I took my jacket off, they made me put it back on even though there were maybe 4 or 5 other parties in the room. Overall it was fine, but I don't feel I need to go back.

When the Seattle eGullet contingent started planning a culinary trip to Vancouver, I knew that I would have to have at least one dessert at Diva at the Met where Thomas Haas reigns as executive pastry chef. Chef Haas is the former pastry chef at Daniel in NY and voted one of the 10 best pastry chefs in North America by Pastry Art and Design, among numerous other accolades. Having experienced his work last year both at Diva and at Senses, the small pastry shop near the restaurant that features his pastry and chocolates, I could attest to his skill. Not willing to settle for just one dessert, I called Diva to see if the chef would be willing to put together a tasting menu for us. Much to my delight we were informed he was eager and excited to cook for us. We agreed on four courses (which later turned out to be five+) and I let them know that we were adventurous diners and would love it if chef Haas would be as creative as possible. When we arrived at the beautifully decorated Diva in the Metropolitan Hotel we were greeted like royalty and told that chef Haas had stayed on extra late (he started work at 5:30 that morning) just to serve us. We were also presented with custom printed menus outlining what was to come. First up was a Carpaccio of Hawaiian Pineapple with Coriander Sugar and Lime Sorbet (Please excuse the poor quality of the photos - we didn't want to use the flash to avoid disrupting other diners): This was certainly one of those "whole greater than the some of its parts" dishes. The pineapple was sweet and very tender (we were told it was a special "golden" variety) and the coriander sugar added both a refreshing clean flavor and subtle crunchy texture. Second, we were served a raspberry sorbet in cocktail glasses, then the waiter poured warm berry and hibiscus syrup around it and placed two large plates of freshly baked, warm madelines on the table: I would have been happy to go on munching the buttery madelines the rest of the night, but we then moved on to a Coffee and Cardamom Pot de Cremes with a Chocolate Sparkle Cookie: The pot de creme, while very rich and creamy, was not dense and custardy like I've had in the past, but light and foamy. I'm not usually a coffee fan, but this was just wonderful with the cardamom adding an exotic edge. The cookie was just amazing - intensely chocolatey and just barely sweet, it was more of a baked truffle. Chef Haas told us (he came out of the kitchen to introduce each course) that the LA Times had been so impressed with the Sparkle cookie they did a whole story on it - and all you lucky people will find the recipe here. We would have been completely satisfied (but not over-full) at this point, but then we were served a double course of a Warm Upside Down Chocolate Souffle with House Made Pistachio Ice Cream and "The Haas Bar": a Crispy Wafer of Caramelized Nuts with Chocolate Fondant, Caramel and Fleur de Sel: The chocolate souffle was indeed warm, but feather light - not at all like the ubiquitous molten center chocolate cakes you see everywhere - and very bitter sweet. And the ice cream was pure pistachio perfection. But the Haas Bar, THAT was amazing! He said it was a take off on the Mars Bar, but that's like saying a Rolls Royce is a take off on a roller skate. The texture was like a barely set butter caramel with a crunchy base, the flavor was of rich chocolate and caramel with the shards of fleur de sel adding just the right enhancement and keeping the whole from being too sweet. Lastly we were served a selection of Thomas Haas Chocolates, Raspberry and Passion Fruit Pate de Fruits and Pineapple Teacakes: By this point we were quite full and really couldn't finish the candies, but we did our best. The chocolates were of excellent quality with unusual fillings, the pate de fruits were exemplary and bursting with flavor, and the teacakes were delightful. Chef Haas was incredibly attentive and friendly during our entire "meal" and even though he was obviously very busy in the kitchen, chatted with us about each dish and his background as a chef. Here he is (center top) with with our whole group at the end of our delightful experience:

Thanks for the great review, mamster. It was a fabulous meal and certainly some of the best Italian I've had (with the possible exception of Travigne in Sonoma and a place in Chicago who's name escapes me). Though I loved my veal cheeks, I have to say MsRamsey's lamb was my fave - wonderful char on the outside and juicy and tender inside. By the way, I think the photo you have labeled as the scallop app was actually Scrat's seared tuna and poached buffalo mozzarella with olive oil and ponzu. A great dish with the buttery tuna almost exactly the same texture as the fresh tasting cheese - who says you can combine seafood and cheese?

Now that you've got your Chartreuse you can also make the wonderful Champs Elysees. It's in the back under the brandy drink section. Go ahead, I'll wait... [tap, tap, tap]

I didn't make it to Trio, but I LOVED Trotter's. I wore a jacket, but the service was far from stuffy and they bend over backward to make you feel comfortable and taken care of. Make sure you let them know what kind of experience you are looking for and they will accomodate you. My review here. The cooking at Blackbird is deffinitely worth going for. A Less formal and "hipper" place than the two T's, but also more crowded and noisier. Very reasonably priced, too. Blackbird review here.

That sounds good! Thanks for posting.

You might see if there will be a bunraku performance at the National Bunraku Theater in Osaka while you are there. Also, Kyoto is a very short train ride away and may offer other types of dining options.

Just got back from Canada where I scored a couple bags of Lay's Smokey Bacon potato chips. Not bad at all - I was afraid they would taste like a less tomatoey BBQ flavor, but it seems like they've been able to manufacture a decent fake pork fat flavor. Also got some ketchup chips since I tried them and liked them over at Klink's.

I've made panna cotta several times, usually with the proportions that mamster used in his article. Some of the combos that worked for me were: Vanilla panna cotta with candied vegetables (celery, red pepper and fennel - from Michel Bras) Vanilla panna cotta with dried cherries and lavender syrup Black pepper panna cotta with strawberry sauce and a chocolate cookie.

I met MsRamsey and Ye-Ye Girl at Tango for dinner last week for on the Dine Out for Life night. Once again, everything was exellent. We had the chipotle tiger prawns with tamarind roasted bananas and pumpkin seed-cilantro pipien that I ordered the last time I was here. I just love this dish and could eat it many times without getting tired of it. Fallen Valdéon blue cheese soufflé served with dried plum compota & a port wine syrup. This turned out to be four little savory cheesecakes with a fairly mild blue cheese flavor. Perfect with the plum compote and wine reduction. Nice sweet (but not too sweet) and savory ballance. The Madrid Platter - a selection of Serrano ham, paté, wild boar sausage, bacon wrapped dates, port mustard, roasted peppers, & olives. Everything on this plate was really good, but the pate (with the port mustard) and bacon wrapped dates were the stars. The dates in particular were like candy. I seem to remember that the olives mentioned were actually caper berries, and there might have also been a tapenade but we didn't mind. We shared all of these dishes and were getting kind of full, so we moved on to dessert. MsRamsey and Ye-Ye Girl both had the El Diablo that I described above. It really is a bit much for one person, but damn if it ain't good! I had the Torta del Cielo: sponge cake filled with sweet milk, white rum & coconut cream, served ruby rhubarb hibiscus flower sauce. Light and creamy and not very sweet at all with some floral notes from the sauce. Oh, and the cocktails were great, too. I had a house specialty that included sherry, grand marnier and cava sparkling wine. I'll be back.

You've very welcome. I've just added the recipe to the Archive - enjoy!

You should post it on the eGullet Recipe Archive. I would be happy to, but I'm waiting for a clarification on posting recipes from published (and copyrighted) sources. By the way, who are you "eGullet Staff"? No fair hiding behind that curtain.

I've also been fairly happy with Trader Joe's olive oil for general cooking purposes. At least as good a Colavita for much less $$.

Yay! Glad you liked them, Ladybug. I think many people look at the recipe and wonder if anything so quick and easy could really be good, but I just love them. I'd be happy to send the recipe to anyone else who wants to try them.

Quick Cinnamon Rolls with Buttermilk Icing Serves 8. These cinnamon rolls are based on a recipe from Cook's Illustrated. Though they aren't yeasted, they're richly flavored and much better than you would expect from a "quick and easy" recipe. Filling 3/4 c packed dark brown sugar 1/4 c granulated sugar 2 tsp cinnamon 1/8 tsp cloves 1/8 tsp salt 1 T melted butter Dough 2-1/2 c all purpose flour 2 T granulated sugar 1-1/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1-1/4 c buttermilk 6 T melted butter Icing 2 T cream cheese, softened 1 T buttermilk 1 c powdered sugar Heat oven to 425 degrees. Pour 1 Tbs melted butter into a 9-inch round cake pan (non-stick if you have it - if not, line the bottom with parchment paper before adding butter); brush to coat pan Make filling Combine sugars, spices and salt. Add 1 Tbs melted butter and stir with fingers till it looks like wet sand. set aside Make dough Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. whisk buttermilk and 2 Tbs melted butter in measuring cup or small bowl. Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir until liquid is absorbed (dough will look very shaggy). Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead until just smooth and no longer shaggy. Pat dough with hands into 12 x 9- inch rectangle. Brush dough with 2 Tbs melted butter. Sprinkle evenly with filling, leaving 1/2 inch boarder of plain dough around edges. Press filling firmly into dough. Using bench scraper, loosed dough from work surface. Starting at a long side, roll dough, pressing lightly, to form a tight log. Pinch seam to seal. Roll log seam side down and cut evenly into eight pieces. With hand, slightly flatten each piece of dough to seal open edges and keep filling in place. Place one roll in center of pan, then place remaining seven rolls around perimeter of pan. They should touch, but not be crammed. Drizzle with remaining Tbs of melted butter. Bake until edges are golden brown, 23 to 25 minutes. Loosen with a spatula. without separating, slide buns out of pan onto greased cooling rack. Cool about 5 minutes before icing. Making icing and finish Set rack of rolls over foil-lined baking sheet (for easier clean-up). whisk cream cheese and 1 Tbs of buttermilk in large bowl until thick and smooth. sift powdered sugar over. whisk until smooth glaze forms - add up to 1 additional Tbs of buttermilk if too thick. spoon glaze evenly over the buns. Best when warm (of course) but can be made the night before and reheated very briefly in microwave. Keywords: Easy, Brunch, Breakfast, Bread, American ( RG316 )

Interesting. What recipe did you use? Have you also tried angel food cake in the non-stick pan with similar results?

Absolutely DO NOT get a non-stick angel food cake pan. Cakes usually made in these pans - such as angel food and chiffon - need to stick to the sides of the pan as they bake or they'll rise very little and will fall. Also, remember to turn the pan upside down immediatley after removing the baked cake from the oven and cool it completely, suspended above the counter on something like the neck of a wine bottle. Rose Levy Beranbaum's "Cake Bible" has exellent directions and recipes for several chiffon cakes and a chocolate angel food cake. Edit: I see Sandra beat me to it.