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eG Foodblog: Abra - Walla Walla Wash and Orcas Island too!


Abra

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3) I have the new Mario Batali cookbook and haven't even cracked it yet.  We could have an Italian dinner.

4) I could go in the opposite direction from Seattle and show you Poulsbo, a little Norwegian-emphasis town on the Kitsap Peninsula.

Oooh, oooh! Those both sound really cool to me!

Great blog so far, Abra. That dinner last night was magnificent.

"We had dry martinis; great wing-shaped glasses of perfumed fire, tangy as the early morning air." - Elaine Dundy, The Dud Avocado

Queenie Takes Manhattan

eG Foodblogs: 2006 - 2007

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Great blog so far. Your last blog was one of the first ones I read when I came to OD. You were an inspiration for me to start a PC business.

I'd vote for the Norwegian town. Or Mario's new cookbook.

I really like watercress, It adds an interesting peppery note to a salad. I recently made a salad with watercress, roasted beets, goat cheese, red onion, orange segments and toasted pecans. Yummy.

Btw, my boys love their peanut butter bisquits too.

edited to add that i have that mini cheesecake pan too and I love it. Perfect portion control desserts. Have you ever done any regular type cake recipe's in there?

Edited by CaliPoutine (log)
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So Abra, did you find that mini cheesecake pan locally? I have decided that I must have one. And if you need coffee roasted for a dinner, I can show up with a supply of green beans, my heatgun and my dogbowl! I have almost as much coffee stuff as does your husband.

Regards,

Michael Lloyd

Mill Creek, Washington USA

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ditto on the query re where you got the cheesecake pan. Bill hasn't yet put me on cute tart pan probation, but he will soon :wink: & I think I need to slip that one in before it happens!

Please do visit Poulsbo. Despite living in the Seattle area for well over a decade now I've never made it out there & would be interested to see your impressions.

Beautiful dinner last night! if you don't go with the "let's all cook the same dinner" idea I may have to copy your meal from yesterday. I adore that celery root & apple puree, and everything else sounds wonderful too. Besides a girl can always use a good excuse to buy a pound of almond paste from Larsons :wink:

I'm loving the blog & really looking forward to meeting all the furry members of the house at the Turkey fest!

oh and how can you dis this mornings view? it shows all the subtle grays and lavenders & streaks of pink etc that make the sky here beautiful regardless of the weather.

Do you suffer from Acute Culinary Syndrome? Maybe it's time to get help...

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3) I have the new Mario Batali cookbook and haven't even cracked it yet.  We could have an Italian dinner.

4) I could go in the opposite direction from Seattle and show you Poulsbo, a little Norwegian-emphasis town on the Kitsap Peninsula.

7) We could have a cyber-dinner.  That's a thing we used to do on another food board, where a group of people would all cook the same meal on the same night, wherever they were in the world, and we'd talk about how it came out, what tweaks we made, and pretend that we were all gathered together around a big, virtual table.

I would love to see you cook Italian.

Since I'm planning a trip to your part of the world (not until next September - but hey, I like the planning part :smile: ) anything scenic is of interest to me. Bring on the Kitsap Peninsula!

I would also love a cyberdinner, if it weren't for the fact that I'm having dinner with friends both on Tursday and Saturday. Maybe that's something we could do one day outside of BlogUniverse?

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3) I have the new Mario Batali cookbook and haven't even cracked it yet.  We could have an Italian dinner.

4) I could go in the opposite direction from Seattle and show you Poulsbo, a little Norwegian-emphasis town on the Kitsap Peninsula.

7) We could have a cyber-dinner.  That's a thing we used to do on another food board, where a group of people would all cook the same meal on the same night, wherever they were in the world, and we'd talk about how it came out, what tweaks we made, and pretend that we were all gathered together around a big, virtual table.

I would love to see you cook Italian.

Since I'm planning a trip to your part of the world (not until next September - but hey, I like the planning part :smile: ) anything scenic is of interest to me. Bring on the Kitsap Peninsula!

I would also love a cyberdinner, if it weren't for the fact that I'm having dinner with friends both on Tursday and Saturday. Maybe that's something we could do one day outside of BlogUniverse?

I'm busy readying for Thanksgiving and also tyring tu make meals that free up more freezer and fridge space so cyber dinner would be tough for me to do now.

Kitsap Peninsula would be interesting to see if it fits in your schedule...

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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Abra, I'd kill to know where you got that mini-cheesecake pan. I'm in desperate need of one for Thanksgiving.

That dinner looks so good I'm going to have to make the braised beef this weekend (last chance to cook it before Sam comes home! SAM'S COMING HOME! THE FERRETS ARE SO EXCITED! :laugh:)

Basil endive parmesan shrimp live

Lobster hamster worchester muenster

Caviar radicchio snow pea scampi

Roquefort meat squirt blue beef red alert

Pork hocs side flank cantaloupe sheep shanks

Provolone flatbread goat's head soup

Gruyere cheese angelhair please

And a vichyssoise and a cabbage and a crawfish claws.

--"Johnny Saucep'n," by Moxy Früvous

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I've cooked a few things out of Mario's new book, and they were terrific even with my meager skills. I'd love to see you do something with those. However, the tours would be good too, as would seeing your personal chef kit.

I think my favorite suggestion so far, though nobody else has voted for it yet, is showing us what's in your cupboard and getting suggestions for what to do with them. That's such a great idea that if you don't do it now you should start a thread on it later! Think how much we could all get from such a thread, wondering what to do with those impulse purchases!

Your cat looks just like my Gracie Mu. You're right, silver-grey is hard to photograph.

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Who has Molto Italiano? If I cook from that, who wants to cook along? I just went through it and am dying to make about 30 of the dishes. If I leave out the ones my husband won't eat, like Sweet and Sour Pumpkin, or any pasta (well, he'll eat a bite or two, but it's never worth making pasta just for the two of us) there are still about a dozen dishes that speak to me today. To wit:

Cheese Bread form Genoa

Chicken Livers with Balsamic Vinegar

Herb Sandwich from Parma

Chicken Thighs with Saffron, Green Olives, and Mint

Chicken Stew with Polenta and Celery Root

Chicken with "Cooked Wine"

Pork Loin in the Style of Porchetta

Stuffed Meat Loaf

Root Vegetables Mash with Orange Zest

Pan Roasted Turnips

Can I please have one of each?

I did buy that mini-pan locally, here,, but you can get one online here.

Poulsbo is racking up a few votes, I see. Klary, you're coming here? Awesome!

Kathleen, make that beef FOR Sam. He'll be bowled over, and you can smile modestly.

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Who has Molto Italiano?  If I cook from that, who wants to cook along?  I just went through it and am dying to make about 30 of the dishes.  If I leave out the ones my husband won't eat, like Sweet and Sour Pumpkin, or any pasta (well, he'll eat a bite or two, but it's never worth making pasta just for the two of us) there are still about a dozen dishes that speak to me today.  To wit:

Cheese Bread form Genoa

Chicken Livers with Balsamic Vinegar

Herb Sandwich from Parma

Chicken Thighs with Saffron, Green Olives, and Mint

Chicken Stew with Polenta and Celery Root

Chicken with "Cooked Wine"

Pork Loin in the Style of Porchetta

Stuffed Meat Loaf

Root Vegetables Mash with Orange Zest

Pan Roasted Turnips

Can I please have one of each?

...

Kathleen, make that beef FOR Sam.  He'll be bowled over, and you can smile modestly.

I have absolutely GOT to make that beef soon, never mind our recent vow not to buy any more meat until we've worked our way down through the freezer contents.

I have Molto Italiano, and I'd be interested in cooking along, but I couldn't do it today. Doesn't it all look wonderful? You've singled out several recipes I've been ogling with great interest but not tried yet: Chicken Thighs with Saffron, Green Olives and Mint; Chicken with Cooked Wine; Chicken Livers with Balsamic Vinegar, and the porketta-style pork tenderloin. If you do a demo, the pork loin and one of the vegetable dishes at the end of your list would make a smashing combination. If you were to do the cooking tomorrow, I'd be interested in joining you for one of the chicken dishes. With my cooking-and-posting history, the photos might be up before dawn Friday. :rolleyes:

Abra, you're well on your way to spawning a bunch of new threads!

"Clearing out the cupboards"

"Cooking with Mario"

what's next? :cool:

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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That was a chuck roast from Misty Isle Farm, an especially delicious beef. But it did cook for over 3 hours in order to be that tender.

And I forgot to say before that no, I've never made little regular cakes in that mini pan, but I've only had it for a few months. I'll bet they'd be cute too.

Coffee break time! A speculaas for Shel, a perfect persimmon for me

gallery_16307_2060_24423.jpg

and, contrary to appearances, no cappucino for Sushi.

gallery_16307_2060_23961.jpg

Smithy was the first to suggest a combined French/Dutch dinner, so in her honor I dug a bunch of stuff out of the deep recesses of my cupboard. Now, I have plenty of weird stuff that I use occasionally, or even that I've only used once, but here I confined myself to unopened packages that have been in the cupboard for, ahem, something over a year. "Over" is a pretty loose term. There's one item that I know for sure has been in there for (deep breath) at least 5 years. Actually, more than one. More than two, even.

gallery_16307_2060_56577.jpg

This is just to show you what a compulsive ingredient-accumulator I am. Please, don't make me cook with these this week! I know, I suggested it, but now that I see what all's in there, I'm bailing. Another time, er, maybe another year, I promise!

So here's the plan. Based on the surprising popularity of little Poulsbo, I'll head over there for lunch. It'll be a Vietnamese lunch, since a Norwegian lunch isn't really to be had there. I'll show you the town, which is quite attractive, and shop at the Central Market for a Batali dinner menu. I've got to do the dinner tonight, because tomorrow we'll be getting ready to go, and that's a great time to eat out and not make any dirty dishes. I know that Central Markets exist in some other places, but I've never been clear about whether this one is related to those others. It's a stupendous market, though, and maybe some of you will recognize a corporate identity and solve that mystery for me.

I'm going to narrow down the menu and head off the island. I should mention that we're a 35 minute ferry ride from downtown Seattle, but there's a bridge at the other end of the island connecting up to the Kitsap Peninsula, whereon lies Poulsbo. So no ferry today, but you'll see plenty of them on Friday. Catch you later.

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I have many of the same items.

What's strange about Black Treacle aka Molasses? I use a spoonful in suet pastry for a golden tone. Also in dark rye breads or dark cakes.

Wood ear mushrooms get used in almost any stir-fry or wild mushroom dish.

Yellow bean paste for chicken and the like. Sweet bean paste for Bao, or for mooncakes...not sure about some of the others, since I can't read the labels...

Edited by jackal10 (log)
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Ok, dinner tonight, in case you want to join in:

Herb Sandwich from Parma

Chicken in "Cooked Wine"

Root Vegetable Mash with Orange Zest

The strangest thing about black treacle is that we never see it at all here, but I keep seeing it in recipes. Same with the candlenuts. So when I saw them I grabbed them, and then have never been face to face with the right recipe. Jack, you could do us a big favor by starting a treacle thread. It's not exactly molasses, right?

Those little wood ears, you soak them first? Do they keep that ribbony shape?

Therese, besides putting sweetened red beans at the bottom of shave ice, what do you do with them? I love them when I eat them out, but haven't used them at home.

The harder to read stuff includes blachan, Peruvian black mint sauce, dried lily buds, tkemali, shrimp paste, and Nigerian palm kernel oil.

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Therese, besides putting sweetened red beans at the bottom of shave ice, what do you do with them?  I love them when I eat them out, but haven't used them at home.

We use them as topping for vanilla ice cream. Kids love it.

I don't make shave ice at home, as I also like all the weird little globby bits and fruit that they add when I get it out, and I can't be bothered to keep those around the house.

Can you pee in the ocean?

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I have many of the same items.

What's strange about Black Treacle aka Molasses? I use a spoonful in suet pastry for a golden tone. Also in dark rye breads or dark cakes.

Wood ear mushrooms get used in almost any stir-fry or wild mushroom dish.

Yellow bean paste for chicken and the like. Sweet bean paste for Bao, or for mooncakes...not sure about some of the others, since I can't read the labels...

I'm parroting Abra's question, Jack. Is this different that our molasses? Heavier, perhaps?

Doesn't everybody have mixes for dhokla and ras malai in the pantry? And the sweetened red beans are a staple for us.

ras malai caught my eye, just because I was pleased to be able to read the label. What is it? What do you use it for? What about dhokla?

Ok, dinner tonight, in case you want to join in:

Herb Sandwich from Parma

Chicken in "Cooked Wine"

Root Vegetable Mash with Orange Zest

The strangest thing about black treacle is that we never see it at all here, but I keep seeing it in recipes. Same with the candlenuts.  So when I saw them I grabbed them, and then have never been face to face with the right recipe.  Jack, you could do us a big favor by starting a treacle thread.  It's not exactly molasses, right? 

Those little wood ears, you soak them first?  Do they keep that ribbony shape?

Therese, besides putting sweetened red beans at the bottom of shave ice, what do you do with them?  I love them when I eat them out, but haven't used them at home.

The harder to read stuff includes blachan, Peruvian black mint sauce, dried lily buds, tkemali, shrimp paste, and Nigerian palm kernel oil.

Abra, you're a brave woman. I'm so glad to see I'm not the only compulsive impulse-buyer who keeps things longer than they should be kept. I confess, I'm so out of my depth with the contents of your cupboard, that I couldn't help figure out what to do with them! I hope some of the others answer your questions, so I can learn along.

The menu sounds luscious. I'll be looking forward to seeing how it works out, even though I can't cook along tonight.

Has Riley discovered persimmons? Our Mischke did, when we were wandering through pruned orchards last winter. Who knew a husky would like fruit so much? I have to hide persimmons when I have them in the house.

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Red beans are used in various Chinese sweets, but perhaps the best dish I've had them in is sliced lotus root with red bean paste. I can't tell you how to make it, but I've enjoyed the version Congee Village, a restaurant about 10 blocks from me, makes.

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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Abra, that dinner looked fabulous! I'll have to make some time to go look at Chufi's thread for sure.

What are some of your "usual suspects" for dinners when you are not recipe testing or blogging?

I must say I have a pantry much like yours. I have all kinds of things in there that I have no idea how to use but they looked so interesting I couldn't pass them up! A recent aquisition is 'salt noir' from an Indian market. It is somewhat pinkish, very finely ground and has almost an eggy or sulfuric smell. Hmmmm. I think the thread of "what do do with this" is a good idea!

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Abra,

I'm loving the pictures and descriptions of your week! The food looks wonderful.

The question for the morning is: yesterday I saw skate wing, and bought a piece.  I've never cooked it or eaten it.  Who knows a good recipe?  My initial plan is to give it a pan saute and put it on a salad for lunch, but I'm open to suggestions about anything more interesting to do with it.

I'm a little behind on reading your blog and see that you were underwhelmed by the skate... :sad:

BUT, if you ever do try it again, you must try the Skate with Tamarind Gastrique recipe that Mark Bittman did with James Boyce in his "Bittman Takes On" series...they have the recipe online at howtocookeverything.com...this recipe is a keeper! :raz:

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Like others, I'm really enjoying your blog. Just wanted to note that I made your chocolate chip cookie ice cream from your first blog and we thought it was absolutely delicious.

As for red bean paste, we make a glutinous rice cake for Chinese New Year's. I got the recipe from a roommate in law school and it basically consists of a base made out of rice flour, sugar, oil, eggs and baking powder and then dollops of bean paste are plunked on top. After it's baked, it turns into a chewy "cake" with pockets of red bean paste. I believe there is a Hawaiian version made with butter called "mochi butter cake."

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I've popped up an old treacle thread. Terrible conditions in the treacle mines...

Those little wood ears, you soak them first?  Do they keep that ribbony shape?

Like all funghi they swell amazingly when rehydrated, but stay as sheets, a bit like seaweed. Slighty chewy texture as well.

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o boy I can't wait to see what is next!!!

**************************************************

Ah, it's been way too long since I did a butt. - Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"

--------------------

One summers evening drunk to hell, I sat there nearly lifeless…Warren

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