teapot

Here's what we picked to watch our Seahawks play in the Superbowl Sunday. Coincidence? I think not!!

We picked the right IPA for Superbowl Sunday! BTW, that's "Gohawkamole" (blue corn chips and apple-studded quacamole) in the background. Denver...what the heck were you guys drinking?

You know it's done when it's "flakey"

My favorite is homemade alder-smoked bacon. But when that's not available, I'm pretty happy with Fletcher's center cut bacon at Costco. To avoid: Hemplers -- it's sour tasting.

I'm making bacon levain from "Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt".

So Broncos fans, I'm trying to think of any food that Denver is known for ... rocky mountain oysters?

Why not? I was thinking affogato.

So excited that our Seattle Seahawks are in the Super Bowl this year! What are people making? Any Seahawk fans planning a Seattle-inspired menu? One that doesn't involve any last minute cooking? I'm making sourdough bread and bacon/onion jam to go with someone's beef tenderloin. To bring in some Seattle touches, we'll have smoked salmon, a Northwest berry cobbler. And as a nod to Seahawk colors: blue corn chips and guacamole. There'll be IPAs of course (Seattle's a very hopped up city)but I'm also trying to come up with a clever cocktail - or hawktail (I've thought of making blue rock candy to use as a sugar rim on a sage margarita).

The way I deal with the temptation is to slice up one loaf and freeze it. And, if not already spoken for, freeze the second loaf whole. It re-crisps beautifully. I'm making my first Forkish loaf now -- the Pain de Campagne.

So many of us have responded to the "best bread for toast" query without having actually identified what the qualities of good toast are. Is it taste, texture, nutrition, versatility ...??? For me, texture is as important as taste: I want a slice of naturally leavened hearth-bread thick enough so that the outside can get dark (with the crust taking on a bit of char) while the open-crumb inside stays chewy and pliant. The sourdough and rye gives it a little tang to balance the butter. And unless it's a special occasion, I prefer a lean rather than enriched bread (challah, pannetone) so I can enjoy a second piece. So what are the qualities you're looking for in a good piece of toast?

My sister has an AGA and, while charming, is a PITA to cook with. I don't mean to damn the whole line, but hers has tiny ovens and you have to maneuver around the burner covers. Plus it really warms up the kitchen in the summer. A wood stove is much more accommodating. The problem with gas ranges is that they are constantly venting the combusted gasses -- that makes it challenging for creating the optimal steamy environment for hearth breads. Wood or electric don't have the same issue. You can do a work-around with gas but having spent two years trying to create the kind of breads that were a breeze to bake in an old electric range, I would not choose a gas oven again (though I love the stovetop).

My favorite is a homemade sourdough with a bit of rye added.

I used to rely on a two burner propane stovetop and a Monarch wood stove (we didn't have electricity). Loved cooking on/in a woodstove -- but the propane burners were great when you needed heat fast. We're building a fishing cabin this spring and I bought a 1959 GE electric double oven range (for 100 bucks). I could have gone with gas but I love to bake hearth breads and gas just doesn't work as well as electric for breads imho.

I've had a French food mill (Moulin) since the early 70s -- it's a peach! Wonderful for separating out seeds/skins, or gettingdry, fluffy potatoes for mashing, gnocchi etc. You can't do those functions with a food processer. That said, I've heard newer food mills are often junk -- so unless you know the OXO is good, consider getting a vintage one from Craigslist, Ebay or some such. I bet there are better ways to spend money at WS.

It has been a very good year for foraging! I've had good luck with king boletus (when dried: porcini) this year in addition to chantrelles.

One of the best apps I've had in a long while was a tomato fondue served with grilled cheddar brioche (bite-sized for dipping). I haven't tried to recreate it yet...any suggestions for making tomato fondue?

Try this variation: Huntsman cheese (cheddar with a layer of blue cheese in the middle) and sliced tomatoes (or better, pickled green tomato!). So very good.

Some unplanned co-mingling on my plate tonight surprised my tastebuds with this winning combo: Chanterelle mushrooms + bbq sauce

Great tip, thank you! We had good luck finding King Boletus in Yellowstone - elevation around 7,000 I think. Right near some grizzly scat - hopefully that's not an indicator like the amanita muscaria

Thanks all for the great suggestions! Tacos would never have occurred to me so I may have to try that. I've sautéed most of them up and will freeze what I don't consume in the next few days or give to friends. Next weekend we'll be hiking again so I will likely have more. Would love to find some boletus! @ Katie -- I live in Seattle and we gathered the mushrooms on the wet side of the Cascade Mountains.

We foraged 17 pounds of beautiful young chantrelles yesterday. Made risotto last night, omelettes this morning. Several pounds went into duxelles. Some are being marinated and others have been sautéed. Should I freeze them? Can them? Looking input on what works best for preserving. I've heard drying is not a good strategy with chantrelles. What would you do with a surplus of chantrelles?

It's actually hot in Seattle today so I thought I'd try making this soup. Warning - the mint matters! I used a little bit of volunteer mint in my garden. Perhaps it was a spearmint or something because even though I used a small amount, it made the soup taste like toothpaste. So I tried changing the profile with the addition of avocado, cilantro and Serrano. Still tasted way off -- and sort of sweet. So I thought, what the hell, I have a gelato machine. I added some sugar, tasted, then finally gave up and tossed the whole thing down the sink. I'll be a lot more careful about adding mint in the future.

I do it all the time and far prefer it to white rice -- the texture and nutty flavor is terrific. I've used long grain, short grain, and mixed rices. They've all worked -- though I think my preference may be the Lundberg short grain brown rice that is my go-to rice. I will add a little oil to the water when cooking to encourage separation. And of course the key, with brown and white rices, is that it the rice is cold before using (breaking it up with wet hands helps too).

As it happens I went to store tonight to replace the pie pan, an Emile Henri, and they wanted 50 bucks! There's no way I'm spending 50 bucks on a pie pan. I will say that we managed to taste the pie (5 second rule!) and it was the best cherry pie I've ever had. Ground tapioca was the perfect thickener. Sigh.

This is the sour cherry pie I made to give to a friend. . . both before and after it crashed on the garage floor. I call it Pie ala NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!