Thanks! That's on the list to check out. I appreciate it.

Of course not- Thanks for your super helpful reply.

We have a group coming into town for a meeting/ convention in March,and we need a place for 20-30 people, within reasonable driving distance from downtown, that would be moderately priced for dinner, and would be fun for a diverse age and region of the country group.

Moderate would be no more than $30 for dinner/ person.

My favorite wild game preparation of the last couple years is slow cooked elk shortribs. For sides- a Cran- Huckleberry relish would go well with the theme, or even just canned huckleberries in the last 10 minutes of your cranberry sauce cooking. Agree with the sage for the stuffing. Maybe a Yorkshire pudding with the drippings of whatever you are roasting.

Good stuff! Surgery moved to thursday. Thanks for the ideas!

I broke my leg spectacularly last week, and I'm at home now in an immobilization splint. I will be having surgery Wednesday, and in the hospital through Saturday, I have had a couple friends offer to pick something up to supplement my hospital fare, and while George's Deli always has a solid kielbasa sandwich, I'd be interested to hear what you would have people pick up if you were laid up in Harborview for 3-4 days.

H- Mart and 99 Ranch both have them in the last month and a half. H-mart is worth the trip for the beardpapa's in the food court.

Second Sweet Laurette. Seafood Chowder on Saturday(brunch) is really really good.

1st CSA box of the year!

Tomatoes, basil, and broiled onions with sliced and broiled sausage on pomodoro bread from Snohomish Bakery. Green salad with cukes and radishes (uh- mazing- these guys slay the root veggies, all of them) and sauteed baby beets and beet greens. (Garlic, onion, salt)

We have some good looking potatoes, more greens, radishes, rainbow chard, and some of the end of last years apples that still taste good.

The whole cook with pork scraps and bacon grease idea is really your bet bet for packing in calories. Also- doing seasoned beans over a lot of coarse polenta is a good way to pack in calories and stomach filling cheaply. Lundberg short grained brown rice (in the 25 lb sacks) has been really cheap the last two times we bought it (2-3 times a year) Healthy, filling, takes time to digest.

Baguettes filled with the salmon, cream cheese, and marinated thinly sliced cucumbers and onions. Marinade is half cup cider vinegar, tablespoon sugar, 2 teaspoon salt, a little pepper and a pinch of ground mustard seed.

Very Argentinean preparation. Love it.

The best method for our skin loving and often time constrained family is an 8 hour brine of a 4-5lb, halved chicken. Let both sides rest and air dry on a broiling pan, tucking the wings back, and use the neck, liver, gizzards and spine for stock.
Salt the skin lightly 5 min before putting the chicken in a 425 oven for 45-50 minutes. You can also put herbs and aromatics under the skin. (My fave- garlic, rosemary and thin slice of lemon) That can strongly flavor the skin, though..

Schmaltz is caught in the bottom of the broiler pan, and can be harvested nicely. If you oversalt the brine or the skin, the schmaltz may be too salty to be used in some applications.

All the skin, except for the strip along the back, is perfectly crispy, brown and yummy.

Keys for this and all roast chicken- dry skin and room temperature bird.

This also works well on a charcoal grill over indirect heat. Cooking time is more variable, but the skin is better.

Your first problem is that you don't think making dough is worth the trouble. But it is.

Accepting that limitation- pizza stone is worth it. For a crisp thin crust, soft lavash is a great easy way to go. For smaller personal pizzas, fresh naan is great. We use the naan from TJ's for lunches for the kiddos.

Do you live around a vietnamese bahn mi place? Ask them for their baker, or if you can just buy a half dozen. Crisp outside, soft inside. Chewy sourdough makes it hard to eat a po'boy. a soft inside lets you smoosh everything together.

Ipsedixit-
I would look at him intently and say "I am going tot each you how to cook, not how to screw around in someone else's kitchen. For the next two decades, you will not be able to afford half this stuff in here, You will have to do it with a knife, a cutting board and a pan. Learn my way, and be prepared. Learn with these crutches, and you will never cook well."

This kid needs to learn knife skills.

BBQ beans are basically cassoulet, if put together by a dude stuck in america at a campfire instead of a French Farmhouse. So- beans, onions, tomato puree, sugar- (Dark brown, maybe some black treacle to sub for molasses) cider, vinegar, garlic, capsicum. Salt. I think OK joes ' has black pepper in them as well. Whatever meat you get - Smoked bacon is good, you might slow roast a small brisket to get some burnt end like stuff off the end of the point, just put it in the last hour you are cooking the beans.

You're going to have to figure out measurements your self. Keep the vinegar and sugar balanced. You can always add salt, but you cant take it out.

There's two ways of making ginger oil- one with a neutral oil, like peanut or canola, and just heating it with ginger, not hot enough to fry the ginger, but hot enough to discolor it, and letting it cool, straining out the ginger. This is good for using the ginger flavor in recipes. Second- making it with chiles and other aromatics for a flavored cooking oil, usually for asian cooking.

I've heard its used for some cocktails, and might be a good way to get ginger flavor into a meringue or frosting without affecting the texture.

My grandfather used to toast it, then float it in warmed milk for breakfast.
He put his dregs down for the cat.

SOunds good Hank- for the chocolate sourcing, I'd encourage you to think about trying some Theo 70% or even the Single source (80-90%) Dark chocloates. It's really easy to get amazing flavor out of them, and because you are adding the sugar and fat, I find it much easier to work with than some of the 50% varieties out there.

I like Haggen the best, but I'm up north. Of the ones you mentioned, I'd go QFC, but I'd try to figure out when they get them out of the roaster, and take one home that hasn't been sitting in the case long.

Slice the broccoli, get some grape seed or canola oil really hot, and saute, but slowly so it almost pan fries. Garlic at the last moment, chopped fine, but don't burn it. Shred parm over it.

Here's a good one: Dry roast some chopped nuts in a pan. Brown some butter, then saute your rice and the nuts together. Add in your water, and then cook your rice your normal time. The nutty buttery taste is really good with fish or lightly seasoned chicken.

Tilicum in Belltown, Caprice Kitchen in Ballard

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Tilicum Place Cafe
407 Cedar St, Seattle, WA 98121

A Caprice Kitchen
1418 NW 70th Street, Seattle, WA 98117

Maltby cafe is not worth the drive. It is passable for seattle breakfasts but will not impress out of towners.

Lola, Tilicum, or brunch at A Caprice Kitchen are my reccs.

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Lola
2000 Fourth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121

Tilicum Place Cafe
407 Cedar St, Seattle, WA 98121

A Caprice Kitchen
1418 NW 70th Street, Seattle, WA 98117

Five Guys opened up a joint in Marysville (Smokey Point) and I heard of one opening in Renton. Add this to all your searches for a good burger in Seattle.

Another negative experience I'm afraid. Biscuits and Gravy is one of my hallmarks for breakfast place, and the Local Yolk fails on this account. Worse, they undercooked my (over medium) eggs to the point of slimy whites, then, when asked to redo them, overcooked them to over hard.

The biscuits were dry, the sausage gravy was gluey and flavorless, and the sausage used looked like brown and serve.

Seconded. Also the only source I have seen in Seattle for a bottled mead selection, if you are into that. Decent central European Wines, too. Some can be a great deal.

Muffins, biscuits, Pineapple upside down cake. Wow. Haven't thought about Mrs Phillips for decades.

Noted for future reference. Thanks Mr Nelso.