seattledebs's Profile
Coffeecake/danish/ring like Dumas used to make?
I posted this question over four years ago. I finally found a recipe and made it tonight. The very detailed instructions here actually yield a pretty perfect replica (to my memory, anyway) of a Dumas pecan ring:
http://labellecuisine.com/archives/favorite_pecan_coffee_ring.htm
Sadly, after posting the question I figured out I'm gluten intolerant. But there's a gluten-free flour in Seattle called Manini's that works about 95% as well as wheat flour for pastry, and it was very patient with me as I rolled and re-rolled out my dough, folding in butter, rolling in the pecan mixture, etc. This cake was the real deal, and I don't say that lightly.
Attaching a picture of my result.
Gluten-free good Chinese food, especially Szechuan?
Thanks, everyone! Unless something better comes up today, we'll pick between Watercress and Snappy Dragon.
Gluten-free good Chinese food, especially Szechuan?
Their menu does look tasty! Unless another option comes up, I may leave movie-watching long enough to make the schlep to Redmond and back, since eating Chinese food on Christmas is the 614th mitzvah and all, and my skills at cooking Chinese food are limited. Thanks so much, ethereal!
Other known places with gluten-free options?
Gluten-free good Chinese food, especially Szechuan?
So, here's the deal:
My fellow Jews and friends-of-Jews get together every Christmas for the traditional consumption of Chinese food and watching of movies. We go for the worst movies possible -- Earth-shatteringly bad, hilarious movies -- and the best Chinese food possible.
I'm gluten-intolerant. Until January, I was making exceptions, but I no longer am. This means I probably can't eat all the delicious Szechuan food we ordered last year.
Is there any really good gluten-free Chinese food in Seattle? Helpful: using wheat-free soy sauce.
Much appreciated,
Debs
For tonight -- newer, nice restaurant heavy on local ingredients and open Sundays?
Thanks, both of you. They changed our plans without telling me, but I'll hold both of these for the future. Much appreciated!
For tonight -- newer, nice restaurant heavy on local ingredients and open Sundays?
Hey chowhounds,
My parents are visiting town and want to take me out to eat tonight. I've been in grad school for the last few years... which is to say I haven't been trying some of the schmancier restaurants that have opened in the last three years or so.
Where should we eat? We're fans of places that use a lot of seasonal ingredients in dishes prepared well. I can't eat gluten, so no places that are so heavy on the bread, pasta, or dishes with soy sauce that I'm picking between just a few things. I also don't eat pork or shellfish.
Thank you!
Sichuan in Seattle
So, it seems the best options are on the Eastside these days. However, I'm doing the traditional Jewish Christmas thing this year and having movies and, I hope, Chinese food with friends. I'm going to plug the idea of ordering Sichuan food, but it would need to be somewhere with delivery to or easy pickup from First Hill, so probably International District ish. Given those parameters, what is my best option? Open to non-Sichuan Chinese food too, but prefer Sichuan.
Smoked Tuna Salad
So... this is six years late for the original request, but I think I just figured this out. I think the secret is mixing smoked salmon (chunk style rather than lox style) with regular tuna. Recipe is here:
http://seattlelocalfood.com/2010/09/19/smoked-tuna-salad-new-york-deli-style-plus-homemade-mayonnaise/
kosher fish sauce
Any update on finding this in NYC? I'm in NY for the next few days up to the beginning of Passover and I'd love to find a bottle to take home for a friend who keeps kosher and likes Thai food.
Recs for a summer produce box subscription (CSA)?
I talked to the farmer from Oxbow Farm today and was impressed. All local, nice people, and I tasted some really extraordinary carrots. I first found them at Ballard farmers' market a year or so ago (they start up again in April) and they've got good quality stuff.
They have a CSA through the farm, and there's also a Jewish community CSA called Jharvest that's set up with Oxbow.
Info on Oxbow's CSA:
http://www.oxbow.org/csa.htm
Info on Jharvest:
http://www.jconnectseattle.org/?site=jconnect&page=page&name=Jharvest
Recs for a summer produce box subscription (CSA)?
It does seem like delivering produce from Mexico defeats the purpose of a CSA. Also, another advantage for farms of your paying upfront is that they get money upfront for planting/seasonal preparation.
I'd go to the farmers' market (Ballard/U-District/West Seattle) and check out the vendors who are there, see whose stuff you like. Of course, not everyone who has a CSA will be at the markets in March.
There's a list of CSAs available here: http://www.pugetsoundfresh.org/csa.htm
Debs
www.seattlelocalfood.com
Hand-stretched Chinese noodles in Seattle
What a great video! Wow.
You don't happen to know if that's a wheat-based noodle or a rice-based one, do you? I'm guessing the former, since that dough was behaving like it has a lot of gluten in it. I'm gluten-intolerant, but every once in a while suffer the consequences for something really delicious.
The restaurant definitely looks worth checking out. Thanks for the tip!
Fresh Pickles?
Just to geek out on terminology: half sour is a fresh pickle, but the term doesn't refer only to freshness. It refers to how long the pickle has been fermenting and thus how sour it has become. After a few days in brine, they're quarter sour. In warm weather, at least in my kitchen, they're half sour after about five days. Full sour takes probably a week or a little more.
Damn, I miss pickle-making season!
Goat's Milk Butter in Seattle?
The Meyenberg brand is sold a bunch of places. I know Madison Market has it, and likely Whole Foods, PCC, stores like that would as well. Possibly even trader Joe's because I think they carry Meyenberg goat milk.
I don't know if it's good quality. I bought it once and it was pretty pale. But I don't think any of the local goat dairies make butter or sell cream. Goat milk is lower % milkfat than cow or sheep, so I imagine it's kind of a pain.
Fresh Pickles?
It's hard to get a really good half-sour pickle in Seattle, and it's very hard this time of year, because pickling cucumbers aren't in season, and a proper half-sour pickle is fermented and doesn't keep very long. Even the places you find pickles, like I Love NY Deli, the cucumbers they're made from aren't quite right.
My only solution has been to make my own in the summer and fall. Happy to share instructions and favorite local suppliers of pickling cukes.
Charcuterie/Salumi classes Seattle
I think Sea Breeze Farm, which sells at the farmers' markets, offers charcuterie classes.
Bone Marrow bones?
Skagit River Ranch, which sells at the farmers' markets, carries them on some weeks. Just ask if they have them. They're delicious, and they're from grass-fed cows which means they're higher vitamin/omega-3 fatty acids than from a cow fed grain.
Where to buy a pickling crock (SEA)?
The original poster's request was ages ago now; the thread was bumped by the company above you promoting their product.
Incidentally, I found both my pickling crocks at Goodwill for a few bucks each on the same day. There are almost always some.
Where to buy "bai cha plu" leaves in Seattle?
Glad to hear! I miss living closer to that store and all its wonderful Thai ingredients. I'm making Thai basil chicken for a Thai friend tomorrow, and am sad that it won't be convenient to drive half an hour to get the right kind of basil. Unless anyone knows some other source of fresh Asian ingredients (like Thai basil varieties) in the U-District, Ravenna, Ballard, or Greenlake areas? Somehow I doubt it.
Last time I went to Mekong Rainier, I spent about ten minutes talking with a really helpful Thai woman who worked there about Thai cooking and ingredients.
Where to buy "bai cha plu" leaves in Seattle?
Mekong Market on Rainier has all sorts of Thai ingredients. It's where I go.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/mekong-rainier-seattle
Buying truffles in Seattle (the tuber, not chocolate)
I believe they also have some frozen ones available if you ask (maybe in advance? I'm not sure)
New favorite bakery, W. Seattle
I'm gluten intolerant and don't make gluten exceptions often, but my Bakery Nouveau exception was a very good choice.
They solved for me the age-old question of "pain au chocolat or almond croissant?" by putting almond paste and chocolate in the SAME CROISSANT. And it was hot out of the oven. Choirs of pastry angels were coming out of that croissant, it was so delicious.
SEA Did El Puerco Llloron change hands?
I've found they vary as to whether they put a scallion on the plates. Maybe it just depends who is working that day?
Hanukah chocolate coins in Seattle?
I just found them too, at I Love NY Deli on Roosevelt & 52nd. A little packet cost something like 65 cents I think. Two different kinds.
Plus you can ogle/eat all the delicious pastrami and nova and other goodness.
Seattle delicacies
I'm not crazy about most of the Eastern Washington apples -- they tend to be monocrops of the sort of generic varieties you find in supermarkets or exported. My favorite apples are the varied, misshapen heirlooms you're more likely to find at small farmers' markets. Jones Creek up on highway 20 (where I just picked 50 pounds of all sorts of apples), places like that.
Other recs: Northwest style smoked salmon (Pike Place market or Wilson Fish at the Ballard farmers' market), fall's wild mushrooms, Ethiopian food.
Smoked Salmon
The Wilson Fish guys who sell at some of the farmers' markets. This weekend they'll be at the Ballard farmers' market on Sunday (10-3), and I think at the one at MLK and Union on Friday (3-7). SO good.
Best Kept Secrets on the Eastside
When I checked it out, they had a note up about how they're moving and changing the name, I think to Persepolis or Persepolis Grocery or something like that. If they're closed up, check to see if there's a little note in the window.
Local, pastured, humanely-raised eggs, chicken and milk
I've noticed two egg vendors at the Santa Monica market the times I've visited, both on 1st Ave I believe. The one north of the intersection where there is a tent covering chairs sells lots of cheaper eggs, but when I asked the woman once if her chickens were pasture-raised she looked at me in horror and said no, they were kept off the ground, and did I want them off eating disgusting BUGS? (Uh... yeah, actually).
There's a smaller stand south of the intersection, a guy who sells eggs and chickens and possibly other things. He says his are completely pasture-raised.
Best time for picking kraut cabbage in the Seattle area?
I make my kraut fermented/fresh instead of canned. I've been making delicious batches all summer! It's true, the cabbage gets better and sweeter around frost. However, it's also incredibly good now.
Your brother should make a batch of fermented kraut now and savor it until it's time for the colder-weather stuff. Or fit another batch in between now and then. Most of the farmers will be able to tell you when their cabbage will likely get sweeter from the cold/frost.
Here are details for how I made it, fyi:
http://www.gofrolic.org/gofrolic/food_blog/Entries/2008/8/14_Entry_1.html
Debs
www.seattlelocalfood.com
