This is a list that is created after polling top chefs, well respected food critics and well-known restaurateurs - you can find the full list at: http://www.theworlds50best.com/
Awards night video:
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Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Real Farm-to-table experiment ends in a 6 course tasting menu - NY Mag: Splotch and Me http://t.co/BwFjClt
This is a story about Splotch the pig and his journey into the culinary world - literally. It made me recall the year in my youth when some friends of the family asked if we wanted them to raise some chickens for us. The chicks were so cute. Little did I know that I would eventually be asked to help butcher the poor things. The whole thing just weirded me out. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I don't eat meat...I will not lie though, I do remember that farm-raised, free-range, organic chicken tasting very good & 100% better than what we got at the store.
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My New Favorite Game Online - www.knoword.org I'm hoping to give my vocabulary a jolt :)
I was hopping around the Internet and discovered a cool site for word geeks like me - http://www.knoword.org. I see a new addiction in the making! This is actually a game that presents you with the definition of a word and the word's first letter, then it's up to you to fill in the rest of the word for points; the faster you go the better. You'll be hooked soon :)
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No, no, no...give me a million dollars!
Remember the days of chain letters asking for money? This is way better! A video and a list of people you're addressing with your message - funny bit of humor:
The guy even made a follow-up:
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Friday, December 17, 2010
Sneak Peek of Eltana: Let's Get Down To Serious Business - Real Bagels in Capitol Hill
I had the chance to get a preview of the bagels at Eltana yesterday. You will definitely want to check this place out. If you've tried Montreal bagels and have been missing them, this will certainly help fill a void. The bagels at Eltana are not meant to be exact copies of the Montreal bagel, but they really do capture the flavor and texture of the Montreal bagel. You can be sure Eltana will be your only true bagel shop in Seattle for a while. Give it a try for yourselves today during their soft open! They are fully open for business starting on Sunday.
Eltana is making bagels the right way - starting with great ingredients and a good bagel recipe. They mix up the dough and hand-rolling their bagels.
Once the bagels are ready they are boiled in water which has a few usual extras in it like honey.
The bagels are seeded with sesame seeds or poppy seeds at their seeding station.
Then it's off to the wood-fired gas oven.
The hot, fresh bagels are ready.
Bagels are at the heart of what Eltana does and they have chosen to really showcase that. All of it is within sight and their display is fantastic.
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Thursday, December 16, 2010
Some Of My Favorite Food Books In 2010 featuring Ethan Stowell and Shauna James Ahern & Daniel Ahern
So many great food & drink related books were released this year. It was really tough to keep up, but very fun trying even if it meant just hitting the highlights. I only got through just a fraction of all the books of my list. Hope you get the chance to check some of these out especially my two local favorites:
Having dined at each of Ethan Stowell's Seattle-area restaurants, I find that his latest book really gives insight into the experience he aspires to create for his dinners. Ethan starts this book by describing his ideal dinner: "There are two of you --cozy, but not alone. Laughter and music float around you, as does the muted percussion of silver on porcelain. There's that soft light that makes everyone look better and a bottle of wine on the table. It doesn't have to be pricey, just good." His book is a collection of dishes not unlike you would find at his restaurants - tasty combinations of simple, but high-quality ingredients. These are recipes that have a reliance on good technique and Ethan is able to convey this throughout the book with a good amount of pictures.
Shauna James Ahern and Daniel Ahern's Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef
You don't have to be on a gluten-free diet to enjoy this book, you simply have to share Shauna & Danny's love for good food. Many think that a dietary restriction means a severely limited diet, but the recipes in this book prove that it doesn't have to be like that. In fact, for Shauna, having to go glutten-free meant getting introduced to new foods that she hadn't tried before. The recipes in this book are full of flavor and full of warmth as they mingle in the story of their family. I had the chance to feast on some of these recipes at the lunch they hosted at the International Food Blogger Conference in Seattle. It would be lovely to meet them someday :)
Here are some of my other favorites:
Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours
by Dorie Greenspan
This is approachable French home cooking. Dorie includes some classic dishes and plenty of tips.
I picked this one up after my trip to S.E. Asia and it took me back to the delicious street food that I thoroughly enjoyed. These recipes are fantastic!
Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys
by David Tanis
Ahh...the talent of David Tanis. This is a fun book and gives you ideas for times you want to cook for just you or for a big group.
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Saturday, December 11, 2010
Load Up Your Kitchen With More Stuff
There are a ton of great deals to be found right now! I strolled through a few stores in downtown Seattle and saw a ton of sales and discounts. This time of year is often an ideal time to stock up on kitchen gear and books. It does require some research and a little bit of being at the right place at the right time. Here are some ideas to get you started on what's hot right now:
DeMarle 2409 Silpat 11-5/8-by-16-1/2-Inch Nonstick Silicone Baking Mat
Microplane 40020 Grater/Zester
Wilton 2105-459 Excelle Elite 3-Tier Cooling Rack
Wilton 570-1121 Easy Flex 3-Piece Silicone Spatula Set
Oxo 73281 OXO Good Grips Pastry Scraper
Fred M Cup Measuring Matroyshkas, Set of 6 Dry Measuring Cups
Baker's Edge Nonstick Edge Brownie Pan
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An Evening In With Top Pot
I have been craving Top Pot Doughnuts for at least a couple of weeks now. For those who are not from Seattle, Top Pot are some of the best doughnuts in town. At Top Pot you can pick up a Classic Old Fashioned, Apple Fritters and filled doughnuts among others. They offer more than 40 different types of doughnuts. I love going there on a crisp rainy weekend day to grab a doughnut an Ovaltine Latte.
I got a Chocolate Iced Ring and this doughnut is huge! I'm really going to enjoy this... 
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Friday, December 10, 2010
Awesome! Paul McCartney and Jimmy Fallon Sing "Scrambled Eggs"
It was an unexpected surprise to hear Paul McCartney and Jimmy Fallon's ode to food :)
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Thursday, December 9, 2010
Start Your Own Food Quest!
Food quests are sweet! Just started reading through Mimi Sheraton's The Bialy Eaters: The Story of a Bread and a Lost World. She travels to the Polish town of Bialystok to research the history of this traditional Jewish bread, the bialy. It was a food report trip for Conde Nast Traveler magazine set this research in motion. Mimi is really a pro at this kind of investigation having already researched the origins of what we know in the us as Danish pastry, French toast and Turkish Delight.
I think this is such a fantastic idea for anyone to try. Think of all the food you've know since childhood. Ever been curious of how it became such a typical dish or well know staple? If anything this would prove to be a good writing exercise. What would you investigate?
Note: Photo by stumptownpanda
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Sunday, December 5, 2010
Pelted With Oysters
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How can I begin this tale with anything other than a food metaphor? Saying that I've been pelted with oysters has to be the best way to describe what happened to me last Sunday and what I've been through this past week. Long story short, last Sunday my home was severely damaged by a major water pipe leak that happened on the upper level. I'm not sure how long it will take to get things back to normal and right now I'm without a home.
This has been such a rough experience. The entire week has felt as if I were getting pelted with oysters - first the pipe leak, then the flooding, then all the many things that could go wrong when that much water flows through a house. As awful as it may be, I have to keep my spirits up and I have been trying hard to find a pearl or two among all of these hard-hitting oysters. It's hard to do, but pearls can be found. I've had friends really come through for me when this happened and my family has been supportive from afar.
It's unreal how you can never really be prepared for something like this and it happens so unexpectedly. I mean, nothing about last Sunday was unusual. I woke up ready to enjoy the last bit of weekend. I met up with a friend for a fabulous brunch at Corson Building. It's such a great treat on a Sunday morning. Despite it's location under the shade of the I-5 overpass, once you step inside, Corson feels more like a welcoming home rather than a restaurant. There are communal tables set up in the dinning area and at the far back you can see the kitchen.
They have several items that you can serve up for yourself - most were vegetarian options. They always seem to have yogurt with honey, fruits, nuts and seeds. You also get an option on your egg or hot dish. I had thesavory anchovy and caramelized onion quiche.
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The food was good, company was excellent and the conversation was fierce - brainstorming, scheming and getting geared up for research!
After brunching I did a little touring around Corson Building.
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Brunch - check! Onwards to the next leg of our journey that put us at the top of Queen Anne at a new place - La Reve Bakery.
Cute place, just a few steps away from one of my favorite spots, El Diablo Coffee Co. Coffee and pastries is what they do, but even with their best efforts to make it look homey, it still somehow felt like a Starbucks to me. It wasn't as cozy as I imagined and the noise level is relatively high for a small space. We treated ourselves to hot chocolate and a twice baked almond croissant (I think it was thrice baked-oops! It was baked too long giving it a hardened crust rather than a proper crispness).
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As we were chatting, I noticed a missed call on my phone. I was listening to the voicemail and sipping on the hot cocoa.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech!
Mid-sip, I look up and say "I gotta go!" I received awful news in the form of a voicemail from the water company. They called to let me know they had shut off the water to my home. They had received a call from a neighbor that there was a waterfall running out of the second level and that most likely a pipe burst.
I asked my friend to join me because I really didn't think I could handle seeing the damage on my own. We would have left right away, but since in many places in Seattle you have to bus your own table, I felt guilty just rushing out the door. We cleaned up the table and took our dishes to the bin and took off.
Later I found out that a pipe can gush around 25 gallons of water a minute. The water most likely started leaking in the morning and the call I got from the water company came in at 3 pm. From that point on, it seemed like things were moving so fast. At first glance, things looked bad but not as tragic as I imagined. The first call I made was to my insurance. Thank goodness most of my important files were in a filing cabinet. Since then I've had a number of strangers in my home drying up the water and demolishing most rooms. The water made its way across the upper level and started running down to the lower level. Many of the walls and ceilings had to come out. My house is no longer home. It really looks foreign to me. It will take a ton of time and patience to rebuild.
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(Note: Oyster photo by Chef Matt Rock http://www.flickr.com/photos/chefmattrock/)
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