Ling

Hi everyone! We're planning a short trip to Walla Walla sometime next week and would love some help regarding where to eat and which wineries to visit. I've done a little bit of poking around online (including the EG forums) and here's a short list: -Colville St. Patisserie -26 brix (apparently re-vamped and no longer terribly pricey...their menu looks quite interesting) -Whitehouse Crawford (although the website is under construction so I have no idea what sort of food they serve, other than it's a higher-end restaurant) -beef cheek tacos at Tino's -there's an Italian grocery/charcuterie place I read about but can't find the name of at the moment...help? -Onion World sausages--are they good? Wineries...here is where I need the most help! I would like to make an appointment for Abeja (I haven't tasted their wines yet). I am not very familiar with many Walla Walla wines except for Dunham, L'Ecole 41, and Poet's Leap (oh, and the famed Cayuse although they're not open to the public), so any recommendations? Also probably going to try the Uriah merlot blend from Spring Valley at their tasting room. Also, I've heard that many stores offer wine tastings. Any clue as to where they're located? Anything I should keep an eye out for at the Saturday Farmer's Markets? Thanks so much!

I went to this media event at Chocolate Box and had a ball tasting pretty much everything they sell. My favourite treat was this crispy peanut butter square coated in chocolate from Sara's (I believe they're from Chicago?) Anyway, they're available at Chocolate Box. That was the only thing I had room for seconds for, considering the generous spread!

^Nah, they're on the roofdeck watching the movie on the projection screen. It's a beautiful night, actually.

^I did the menu using well under a grand, although I did not use fresh truffles (only truffle paste and white truffle oil). However, I did use over 250 grams of foie gras (over a pound, to be exact). Also, we had trouble getting fresh turtle, so I substituted with 5 lbs. frog's legs, a rabbit, and chicken, beef, and veal stock to approximate the flavour. (Unfortunately, I haven't had turtle before but every website I checked said it tasted like a number of different meats, so I made a guess and included frog's legs for sweetness and rabbit for a gamey quality. (I also didn't quite follow all the recipes exactly, because I adjusted them to my taste. We also got the foie gras and quails wholesale, although even if we had purchased them at retail price, it would have been under a grand.) Anyway, the point of this post is just that people shouldn't be intimidated by the cost, because if you get some friends to chip in, it's a pretty reasonable dinner.

I just discovered Pernigotti cocoa and it's fabulous--super dark, rich taste.

Toliver: thanks for the compliment! Porthos: We actually didn't eat at Disneyland (unless you count the dismal $7 hotdog I ate because my Tommy's Original meal at lunch was too disgusting to force down). We had two pretty decent Chinese meals, though, in Fountain Valley recommended by Henry's mom. One was A&J in some sort of strip mall, and the other one was called Mandarin Restaurant, I think.

^Yes, although they don't make any chocolates at Cacao (only hot chocolate.) Last time we went down, they had chocolates from two producers (or is it three--I think Moonstruck is also from Oregon, no?)

I think it's the ghost scaring people away. I've heard stories.

Hey Ling, I guess on the brownie scale this must mean you lean firmly towards fudgy rather than chewy ? When you replace some of the flour with cocoa does it make the brownies even fudgier and with less of a chewy crumb? OT but I just got a can of Hershey's Special Dark (new to our supermarket!) so I want to use it somewhere. ← Yes, I definitely like fudgy more than chewy. Chewy brownies usually have proportionately more flour in the recipe, don't they? I would definitely say more cocoa, less flour = darker and fudgier. Mmmm... Also, it is not as sweet since the cocoa is bitter, and I reduce the amount of sugar by a little too.

The Quadruple Chocolate brownie recipe from Michael Recchiutti is wonderful. I underbake them until they're just barely set in the middle, then cool them overnight and slice the next day. They're soooo fudgy and moist. I replace 2/3 cup of the flour in the recipe with cocoa so they're extra dark, and cut the sugar back a little bit. I think the key is the low baking temperature (300 degrees F). These are my new favourite. (I know, I know, I have a new favourite every few months. ) I wish I took a picture of them but I forgot. I made over a hundred of these as part of my donation to a charity last week. http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/quadrup...colate-brownies

Oh wow. I missed a media event last week b/c I was sick, but there's another media dinner coming up that I've RSVPed for. I am hoping it was just an off night yesterday. My friend ate there when it first opened and he said the food was pretty good, and I usually trust his opinion.

We are largely sold out of all our events until mid-July. We have some great helpers from EG, but since we don't want to burden our friends by asking them to come by too frequently, we would love to have a few extra people who wouldn't mind helping out for free food/alcohol. Pls PM me if you're interested!

That's some good eatin'! Glad you had a wonderful time here, and it was so cool meeting you in person!

^Thanks so much! I have some local EGers who are the best help anyone could ask for at the moment but if you ever visit Seattle, I'd love to cook for you. We just had an incredible dinner with a private group, many of them foodies. Couldn't find help in the kitchen tonight, plus I had to do a separate menu for one vegetarian. It went really well and everyone raved about the food. BTW, we have two friends who told us at the last minute that they can't make it to this Sunday's Kill You night, so we thought we'd offer them to EGers if any of you are interested. Just PM me if you are and I'll hook you up with the address.

^Some places do sous-vide, they just don't mention it on the menu. I agree with what everyone's said--there's not any real molecular gastronomy restaurant in Seattle. And because foams and deconstructed items have become ubiquitous for a few years, I think most chefs just regard them as part of their repetoire as opposed to something trendy.

^Hey! That's a really nice offer! I'll PM you and we'll definitely take you up on that. We'll feed you, of course. I'll post what I did with the chicken tonight after I get the kitchen clean. I had to do a little catering thing today and there's a huge mess waiting for me. ETA: Soy sauce chicken (adapted from Fuschia Dunlop's The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen) I used 4.5 lbs. of chicken wings. Rub with salt, wash under cold water, pat dry, and place on a rack. Air-dry for an hour. Combine the following ingredients in a wok and bring it to a boil over med. heat: -1 and 2/3 cups low sodium soy sauce -1/2 cup dark soy sauce -1/2 cup Shao Hsing wine -7 oz rock sugar -a few tablespoons of dark brown sugar Toast 2 tsp of Szechuan peppercorns in a skillet until they smoke, then put them in between paper towels and use a rolling pin to crush them. Add that to the soy mixture, along with a few tsp of ground cinnamon, 6 star anise, and 1 large knob of ginger cut into slices about 1/4 inch thick. Cook and stir until the rock sugar dissolves. Bring the sauce to a boil and add the chicken wings. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for about 30-35 minutes with the cover on. (Honestly, I didn't really keep track of the time as I was cooking other dishes, but I took one out and cut it open to check for doneness. If it's done, eat it and don't put it back in the wok because the skin will have been pierced and it'll get too salty.) During the cooking time, lift the lid every 5 minutes or so to baste the chicken wings with the sauce and flip them over so the colour is even. When the wings are done, turn off the heat and let them sit in the soy for another 20-25 minutes or so, turning them every 5 minutes and continue to baste them. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Not even close to being rockstars, but I think we are starting to get the hang of this now. Honestly, I've been coasting on excellent reviews for the past while, but just this morning, I came across a rather negative review from a diner who ate here when we were starting out (Spanish Night, our third event back in Feb.) The gist of it is that she found the food "mediocre" and the space too cramped. Caché isn't for everyone--I'll be the first to admit one must be good-humoured to put up with the service (always friends who volunteer, i.e. not trained pros, though I think our friends are wonderful at what they do!) And yes, the table is cramped but I do think that's also part of the charm--to share food and wine with a bunch of strangers from different backgrounds. The review was posted in late February, so I was very late in responding and offered her a free meal if she's interested in trying us out again, now that we've worked out the kinks as best we can. Caché has only furthered my respect for real restauranteurs who do this everyday, and made me much more forgiving when I dine out. It is not easy turning out an average of 48+ dishes by myself (and sometimes friends, if I'm lucky enough to get a friend who can cook!) each night we do this. And sometimes, if we can't find a friend to help serve, then I not only have to cook and plate, but help serve and pour wine as well. Anyway, we are definitely still learning and trying to improve...and I probably won't be cooking Spanish food for awhile until my ego heals.

^Thanks for helping us take home some of the leftovers...I think I cooked enough to feed at least 20 people! It was so great to meet you after reading your posts! I am so glad you enjoyed the food--I am always a bit nervous cooking for EGers. Here are some pictures. I only photographed the dishes that I don't think we've posted on EG before. But we also made ma po tofu, Hunan-style bacon and leeks, red-braised pork belly, and dry-fried green beans with ground pork in addition to the following dishes: glutinous rice with lap yook, lap cheurng (both cured meats), heurng goo ("fragrant shitake"?), and ha mi (dried shrimp)...I bought everything for this dish in Richmond, and everything was the best quality I could find. I grew up on this dish. My mom makes it all the time. yu xiang rou si ("fish fragrant pork slivers", though there is no fish in this dish!) It's pork with pressed bean curd, cloud ear mushrooms, shiitake, and fresh bamboo.) I didn't grow up on this, and I actually ate it in a Shanghainese restaurant for the first time probably less than a year ago. It's another one of my favourites! soy sauce chicken with star anise, lots of ginger, and rock sugar (and no, I didn't use Coke. ) I made an extra dessert for myself, so this was photographed this morning. It's cardamom panna cotta with red wine poached pears (with honey, cinnamon, black pepper, and cardamom). Ginger cookies in the background. I had actually made the pecan crunch topping yesterday afternoon and set it aside so it wouldn't get sticky from the heat in the kitchen, and forgot to include it in last night's dessert. Damn. Anthony Arnold from Remedy Teas was here last night! He made kumquat mojitos, and served 4 different teas with dinner. With dessert, he served this blooming black peony tea from China. It was beautiful and very fragrant. He graciously volunteered his time and donated tea for yesterday's event, and we look forward to having him back in the future!

^Aww, thanks Ruth! The menu for the brunch was: -various bottles of champagne (provided by the host and hostess) I did: -a large quiche Lorraine in a springform -two 9-inch wild mushroom/asiago/red onion confit quiches for vegetarians -8 strawberry walnut cream danishes -8 hazelnut cream cheese danishes with rum icing -a large Valrhona chocolate pound cake with Gran Marnier ganache -16 currant anise scones -16 lemon cardamom muffins -10 spinach, goat cheese, and roasted tomato tartlets -a 3-layer lemon buttermilk cake with cream cheese frosting (one layer was sky blue, one layer was purple, and it was covered in pink frosting). It was decorated with pastel bunny sprinkles, purple and yellow sprinkles, a ring of those robin's egg candy-coated chocolates around the top, and pastel Easter M&Ms that completely covered the sides of the cake. This was for the kids. The items that went first were the quiche Lorraine and the hazelnut cream cheese danishes. The kids seemed to love the muffins (probably partly because I baked them in those fluted brioche tins, so they were cute.) And they went nuts for their Easter cake.

^Yes, that was the Rogue River blue! It was just over $30/lb at Beecher's. BTW, I found out that I had read about it in this month's Bon Appetit. In the magazine, it said this particular cheese has to be reserved a year in advance, but I guess we can get our hands on it up here.

I catered an Easter brunch this weekend. Got practically no sleep trying to make everything at the last minute so it'd be as fresh as possible. The only thing I got a picture of was the strawberry walnut cream danishes, which came out of the oven 10 minutes before they were delivered along with the second wave of pastries to the client's house. The danish dough recipe comes from Baking with Julia.

I swear someone mentioned Rogue Cremery somewhere...an Oregon cheese maker? I think it was Arne, though I can't find the post now. Anyway, I found out that Beecher's at Pike Place carries four of RC's cheeses. I bought the one that's aged for over a year in pear brandy soaked grape leaves. It's awesome! Ate it in steak sandwiches today. This was also my first time making naan.

Chocolate and corn kernels? No, I must've missed that one! I'll be sure to try it next time if they have it.

What? Did I neglect to tell you they dip them in butter to get the sugar to stick? They do! Really! ← A mere butter-dip is nothing compared to thin sheets of dough laminated again and again with butter! So nice meeting you too! We can't wait to eat in Portland again!

This was more of an afternoon snack than dinner, but this is something only food nerds like us would appreciate so I thought I'd post it in this thread. You know how many people have strong opinions about what kind of ham they prefer? Some people insist that they like Serrano best, some like parma, etc. Henry and I generally buy San Daniele. But today, I decided to put together a taste test to see which ham we truly prefer by tasting them side by side. Here we have 5 types of ham--3 prosciutto di parma from different producers, 1 Jamon Serrano, 1 San Daniele. (L-R) parma from Pio Tosini $28.99/lb.; parma from Greci and Folzani $27.99/lb; Jamon Serrano $24.99; parma from Leporati $24.99/lb.; San Daniele $24.99 lb. Lorna's picks: 1. Leporati parma 2. San Daniele 3. Pio Tosini 4. serrano 5. Greci and Folzani Henry's picks: 1. Leporati parma 2. San Daniele 3. Greci and Folzani 4. Pio Tosini 5. serrano So, the Leporati won on both counts. Henry picked the Greci and Folzani one as his #3 it was much more heavily spiced than the others, and I picked that as my last choice for the same reason.