Food

If you’re a fan of lemony Greek potatoes you have to try this out and take a go at one of the two ‘adjustments’ er, hacks I’ve listed.     The beauty of addictive Greek potatoes lies in the lemon, garlic, and herbs the potatoes absorb while roasting. I’ve tried several recipes found while searching online and none of them matched the savory, lemony, crispy ones we’ve had on vacations. […]

    Want a ‘light’ pizza? Try this white bean and arugula salad pizza. Mine is a riff of Bryan Gardner’s recipe posted in NYTimes Cooking. I make my own crust, but it will work fine with a good quality store bought. Don’t go for those so-called pizza doughs in a tube. Just don’t. You need a really high gluten dough. Pick up a fresh or frozen dough ball from your grocer. I used 6 oz for […]

Our local Burger King always has a long cue of cars lined up at the drive through. So, one day, middle of the week, I decided to get ahead of the inevitable crowds and struck out early to snag the next contestant in our Fast Food Chicken Sandwich comparisons. This photo is of a recently unsheathed Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich from BK. It arrives in an insulated bag, perfect for taking home […]

Delicious lunch in simple surroundings in Dayton before starting out on tastings. Carnitas Quesadilla (half eaten in this shot) with perfectly crispy and flavorful carnitas and cheesy. Taco bowl with Chili Verde layered with grains also great. Give this place a try. […]

Making Gravlax Gravlax is actually pretty easy to make. The basic recipe includes applying a dry brine with herbal elements to some fish protein. In this case, salmon, but it could just as well be another firm, meaty fish such as haddock or halibut. Most brines are made of some combination of salt and sugar rubbed on the flesh, put in a sealable bag or wrapped tightly in cling wrap and […]

November 16, 2018 Oceania Cruise line is well-known for its culinary prowess in the dining room. What you might not know is that they started the at-sea culinary class revolution, which is now in full swing on the high seas with most cruises in the luxury category offering several options for learning about local cuisine geared toward your itinerary. Our cruise from Barcelona to Miami offered […]

San Juan, Puerto Rico Saturday, November 24, 2018 Land ho! It’s been 8 days since we left our last port of call in Spain, at Málaga. We were to have had two more stops in The Canaries. But, due to weather, and trying to out-run an enormous storm in the North Atlantic, we were not able to visit. We may have been able to get to the islands before the storm but would have been in the worst of […]

Barcelona, Spain Saturday, November 10, 2018 La Boqueria (Mercat de la Boqueria) This is one of the big things we were looking to do in Barcelona – aside from the Sagrada Família and the Modernist architecture, of course – was La Boqueria. Located off famous La Rambla, this massive food market had something for everyone. We had been to a similar market in 2014 in Lyon, France, the […]

For this recipe, check with your local wild mushroom seller to find out what varieties would go best with the tarragon. We’ve made this a number of times using whatever varieties were availabe at the time: lobster, cauliflower, white and red chantrelles which, in the Pacific Northwest, are available in late summer into fall. We also added criminis from the grocery store to fill out the volume […]

  Snowy Day Chuck Roast Sous Vide Style What’s better than a slow cooked beef roast packed with flavor? Have this on a wintry day, or any day, you’re craving comfort food without the fuss. For the Roast 3-4 Lbs Beef boneless chuck roast (Bone-in would be great too.) 2 Sprigs Fresh rosemary (Leave whole) 6 Cloves Peeled, fresh garlic, smashed Salt & pepper (Be generous) 1 Carrot, peeled […]

Our Superbowl Snacks February 3, 2019   Our God Daughter, Megan, came over during the Superbowl so we needed a few snacks to have on-hand. Still being inspired by our trip to Spain, we decided to stick with the tapas style goodies. However, not ones to be confined to convention, we’ve adapted and combined several versions to come up with a more “keto friendly” recipe. Not […]

Christmas Day, 2017 You all may remember our couple of posts from last year here and the one where we sous-vide our prime rib which I thought turned out great, Kevin was a little less pleased than I. So this year we got back to basics by slow roasting. Both, the sous vide and the roasting started out the same, with seasoning and pre-searing. But that’s about where the similarities end. […]

September 19, 2017 It’s chicken dinner night! Last weekend we caught an episode of The Barefoot Contessa on Food Network. I know it’s a stretch of the imagination, but she featured yet another take on roast chicken. This time featuring Chef Dan Silverman’s Million Dollar Chicken from The Standard Gill in New York City. After a rained-out attempt at a grilled chicken, we thought […]

by Steven 24 May 2017 People occasionally ask us why we have both a gas (propane) grill and a charcoal/wood grill. The simple answer is that we can – we have enough room on our deck for both. The more complicated answer is that we simply enjoy the flexibility and options. Which to use and when? It depends. The considerations being what we’re cooking, what we want from the final flavor […]

April 25, 2017 Another sous vide adventure this evening.  I got home just before Kevin, which is unusual as we typically leave work at about the same time, but his work is 1/2 the distance from home than mine. I took the opportunity to lay down in bed for a quick bit. Before I had the chance to nod off, Kevin got home and before I knew it, my phone had a message that the Joule had reached […]

A couple weeks ago we were up at the local Asian grocery store, Uwajimaya, and found a nice slab of pork belly (the actually called it pork side). Our first thought was “Sous Vide!”  We got about a two pound piece to bring home. This weekend, we finally got around to throwing it in the sous vide and letting the Joule take over. We cut it into two even-ish pieces to try two […]

Who doesn’t love bacon? (Sorry vegetarians and the pork-adverse!) Well, we love bacon. But we don’t love cooking bacon. Granted there are worse smells you can have in you home than bacon, but it’s does tend to linger and permeate the house. We’ve found a better way: sous vide, thanks to chefsteps.com and Joule. Shop our other recommendations here This technique may not be […]

Here’s a little post from our home food adventures.   In late September Kevin and I and our friend, Robert, headed north for a nice little weekend getaway. We stayed at a friend’s house east of Bellingham, on the way towards Mt Baker. We arrived the day after the house/groundskeepers finished harvesting the wine grapes from the vine growing on the porch arbor. They had more grapes than they […]

Christmas Day dinner with friends began the day before with the arrival of a hefty 3-rib prime rib roast. We knew that to sous vide a roast this size would take many, many hours, so it was necessary to have it handy Christmas morning to start the sous vide process. It’s gotten to be our tradition to have Christmas dinner with our friend David (ever since Steven had foot surgery Christmas […]

Aqua – 12/15 before SAM Sculpture Garden walk-about We had tickets to what we thought was going to be a special event at the SAM (Seattle Art Museum) Sculpture Garden down on the waterfront. We drove around a little, finding no parking which isn’t that unusual in that area, and decided to stop in to Aqua by El Gaucho for a drink and maybe a snack.   Aqua never disappoints. The space, on a […]

7 December 2016 by Steven Yesterday I was reading an article about how to sous vide a rib roast (more about that perhaps in a later post). The article, Classic, Oven-Roasted Standing Rib Roast, talked about the difference between the blade end and the loin end of a rib roast. Who knew there was a difference? Well apparently butchers and trained chefs know this, but I didn’t. This got […]

We’re off to the Islands! The Big Island of Hawaii to be exact. This is a pilgrimage of sorts that we make every couple years. First day –  off the main drag of Ali’i Drive, on our way from the airport to our timeshare at the Kona Coast Resort II, we stopped by the crafts market just south of the main part of town. This is the Ali’i Gardens Marketplace where we found […]

Our Favorite Pho Spot: Pho Hai Yen 810 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, Wa We’ve been long remiss in writing up this place. We’ve been coming here habitually for the past 6?, 7? or is it 8 years now? Most Saturdays if were in town (sometimes Sunday) you’ll find us here for lunch. Getting to know the family that owns and runs Pho Hai Yen has been just as much a joy as the Pho. Seriously! […]

Dinner for our night in New York before once again boarding the Queen Mary 2 (see our last trip) was at La Sirena, a Mario Batali venture just in its 5th month. It’s a large, open space, so different than the current trend toward ‘micro’ restaurants. Of course, it’s a gamble to produce the high quality dishes typical out of a smaller kitchen, where attention to detail is a trademark. We had an […]

It’s been a while since we’ve been to Orfeo but we wanted to finally get around to writing up about it. We’ve enjoyed the food here immensely and the staff has all been more than welcoming. First, Orfeo is located in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood at 3rd Ave at Blanchard (2107 3rd Ave, to be precise). They’re open daily from 4-10PM with Happy Hour from 4-6PM. This […]

I’m a lover of pickled vegetables. All pickling starts with the same process: create a brine, cut vegetables in the shape you want, pack into jars or containers and wait a few hours or a few days. Oddly, I’m not a fan of olives, which are also brined, but that is another story. The balancing of salt, vinegar (acid), and sweet is as varied as there are home and professional cooks. This basic, easy […]

Sometimes good thing happen with Kevin goes to the grocery store on his own. On Sunday he came back with not only King Crab Legs which we steamed and devoured for lunch on Easter Sunday, but he also picked up some nice sea scallops. Tonight we had them for dinner.   Yes, they’re a little pricey and most of us only have them at a restaurant. I have to think that part of the reason many […]

Sunday, the last day of the Vancouver Wine Festival. The highlight of the day, for us any way, is the Vintners Brunch. This event consists of 2 1/2 hours to make it through about 16 food courses, each with a wine pairing. The wines were from around the world, with concentration on Italy since it was the country focus this year. All the food was from various Vancouver Restaurants. Each course […]

Your family probably has a version of this egg casserole. I first came across this treat from my almost-cousin Jerry’s Mom, Corky (Jerry’s aunt was married to my Dad’s brother). I and a couple of friends of Jerry’s went over to his house one weekend and Corky made us the cheese, bread, egg and sausage casserole that inspired this one. She served her’s with cheese sauce over thick portions. I’ll […]

What to do with a quart of Duck Fat without really trying. For this Saturday dinner we needed something pretty easy – meaning something we’ve already cooked before with success. I was at a conference most of the day and Steven had rowing practice then errands to run. Before he left, Steven had set out a couple of organic chicken breasts from the freezer to thaw for me to brine when I got home. […]

Taste Italia! Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016             Noon-2pm – Taste Italia! As the Italian’s say, a meal isn’t a meal without wine. Nothing could be closer to the truth than this. This event is was a must for the festival. Today’s Taste Italia! lunch, as you can imagine, is a celebration of the wines of Italy   We got there […]

It was a busy week for wine lovers in Vancouver, BC and we were quite happy to join in the fun…at least for the final weekend of festivities. We were turned-on to the Vancouver wine festival about a year ago by our columnist and friend, Pam Miller. She’s been attending these, along with a group of friends, for many years. This year’s focus was on the wines of Italy. The week is packed as […]

by Steven 21 February 2016   A few weeks ago, Kevin brought home a dozen oysters from our favorite purveyor, Taylor Shell Fish. It was a dozen of our preferred, Totten Virginica. We decided to break into them before dinner. I had already poured myself a dram of whisky (OK, so it may have been more than a dram!). When I got done shucking the oysters and starting slurping, I still had some […]

23 January 2016 by Steven One of Seattle’s preeminent restaurateurs, Tom Douglas, has a program of classes and seminars that he runs out of a kitchen classroom in Belltown. He calls the program The Hot Stove Society. Today they put on a class in food photography to which Kevin had signed me up. We met at the Hot Stove Society kitchen at the Andra Hotel. Here we were introduced to our […]

Sometimes you have an idea for breakfast the night before that just must be made. Getting up my typical 2 hours before Steven does, gave me plenty of time to reconsider eggs Benedict, but thankfully I wasn’t dissuaded from my path by my own better judgement. Plus, I just can’t see spending the $16+ each it would be to go out for Eggs Benny in Seattle. Crazy. In spite of a few […]

In Kevin’s article about making our Thanksgiving Cranberry Compote he mentioned our vanilla extract. This gave me the idea to write a quick note about it as well. As you may, or perhaps not, know that Kevin and I are fond of travelling to Hawaii when we can. Our favorite is the Big Island. It’s one of the more diverse and for us, the most interesting and relaxing. But having been there so many […]

I was looking for something new this Thanksgiving to add to the several condiments on the table. Typically, we have the ‘standard’ homemade cranberry sauce. Some years it does more toward chutney with the addition of mild peppers, some years straight up Midwestern with just some orange slices and zest for kick. This year though, after spending some serious time (and spending some serious […]