Uploaded to Flickr by Seattle Bon Vivant on 14 Oct '06
I made a batch of apple butter (my first one, ever) with these (2 pounds total) that came out fantastic! It was a lot of work (the Crabapples--as tiny as cherries, from *Tonnemaker Family Orchards-- made it necessary to use both a food mill and a large mesh strainer--to press the purée through with a spoon--but worth all the elbow grease.
*At Columbia City Farmers Market
Uploaded to Flickr by Seattle Bon Vivant on 12 Oct '06
One of my top five favorite fruits (+ pomegranates, figs, bitter oranges and Meyer lemons) and the most fragrant of them all.
I've always purchased mine at the supermarket and just recently realized I've never "looked" for them at local farmers markets. Availability can be tricky. Some supermarkets carry these as a novelty since they are so expensive. I paid $12 for four of these at a local grocer (Metropolitan Market) that I cooked with sugar and made into a simple quince butter.
I do know of at least one person who was able to purchase fresh quince from somebody's garden up in Queen Anne, which is uptown. Those are smaller and far more fragrant than mine. In fact some of the buckets smelled of pine resin and others of pineapple. Quite intoxicating!
Two or three of these beauties in a bowl is enough to fragrance your kitchen or dining room. Try it someday. :)
Uploaded to Flickr by Seattle Bon Vivant on 5 Oct '06
Do not adjust your monitors. That celadon blue is actually the color of those beautiful squash. I purchased a nice one yesterday ($4.08) from the great (and fun) people at Tonnemaker's Orchards and have it sitting on my dining room table. It is a thing of beauty, I tell you.
Uploaded to Flickr by Seattle Bon Vivant on 5 Oct '06
Jennifer McIlvaine, the owner of Bruschettina, is in love, selling her fabulous bruschetta business and moving to Umbria.
So, next time you stop by the Ballard or Columbia City Farmers Market (before the end of the month) please drop by, order a sampler of her delicious grilled toasts topped with fresh from the market ingredients (yesterday, I had my favorite, the beet purée, and took my time eating it so it would last longer) and wish her your very delectable best.
Could a restaurant be in her future? I see great things happening for her in Italy. Not to mention she'll have access to some of the best olive oil out there. Right, Jennifer? ;-D
New twists on classic bruschetta
On Dining: 'Bruschettina Lady' leaving Seattle after Tuscan fun
Uploaded to Flickr by Seattle Bon Vivant on 29 Sep '06
Last Thursday my friend Su and I wanted to get together for dinner and perhaps a movie but did not feel like going to a restaurant (we had a gorgeous dinner at La Medusa just the day before after the market). nor cooking anything that was too complicated or too heavy.
Rather, we felt like a simple meal, preferably a one dish supper. Something we could serve in a bowl. The evening did not feel like soup so I though perhaps roasted chicken with veggies or..what about noodles?
Me: Great! I have the chanterelles I got at the market yesterday.
Su: And I have truffle pasta and cheese!
Me: Excellent! There's fresh garlic in the fridge and plenty of wine.
Minutes later (the joys of having a fellow gourmand friend that lives only a block away) Su was at the door with her basket. She showed me the beautiful Tagliolini with Truffle from Antico Pastifico Toscano Morelli she had picked up at O&Co (at Pacific Place).
As I sautéed 1/2 pound of chopped chanterelles (local, Foraged & Found Edibles) with two cloves of minced, garlic, freshly ground red pepper flakes (Cape Herb Chili Bite), Normandy butter, a bit of O&Co olive oil and fleur de sel, we had the pasta boil for 7 minutes, which we timed using the microwave (you don't want to overcook pasta this pretty).
When the pasta (made with wheat germ so it is also good for you) was ready we tossed it with the mushrooms and butter/olieve oil drippings. Meanwhile Su grated (with a Microplane zester) a mile high pile--airy, light and fluffy--of the sharp and salty Pecorino Romano she had brought along.
In less than 20 minutes dinner was served.
The aromatic, truffly pasta paired with the locally sourced chanterelles made this a dish that albeit its simplicity of steps and ingredients was utterly delicious and elegant enough to serve to guests. It is also a perfect way to put to good use all the beautoful mushrooms that can be found right now at local farmers markets.
The fact that on an improvised, last minute dish like this one, all we are doing is basically sautéeing, boiling, grating and tossing is proof that any one can make a beautiful meal at home in a short time, without too many steps, as long as you have a few basics in the pantry to put together in a snap.
And if you are lucky enough to have a great friend to help around the kitchen, even better!
Uploaded to Flickr by VivSeattle Bon Vivant on 15 Sep '06
To celebrate the photo exhibit with our friends at Motore Coffee. The Guavas in Spiced Merlot Juice Syrup was a hit.
Uploaded to Flickr by Seattle Bon Vivant on 25 Sep '06
And it was even more delicious than I thoughtit would be. Made with Friday's leftover raisin raisin challah, local eggs and honey purchased at the Ballard Farmers Market (from Washington Bees that took a trip to California to pollinate lime, lemon and orange crops). No cinammon or vanilla was added. This was nothing but bread egg and honey.
Uploaded to Flickr by Seattle Bon Vivant on 25 May '06
The other day I was at an event with a writer friend who introduced me to a colleague of his. During the conversation, the colleague asked what were some of my favorite restaurants right now.
Before I could answer, my friend interjected and said:"I know she is going to say Sitka & Spruce. She won't shut up about the place".
And he is right. I love Sitka & Spruce. This is the first restaurant I visited as soon as I returned back home to Seattle earlier this summer and it seems as if I've been going back every week since. Sometimes for breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner.
I really can't get enough.
Chef/owner Matt Dillon (of Herbfarm and Stumbling Goat fame) dishes out ingredient focused (locally sourced, many of them organic, from small family farms, as fresh and seasonal as it can possible be) lunches and dinners in a casual, user friendly and welcoming atmosphere, priced to eat out often.
Go early in the morning for espresso--with Bronwen Serna, soft boiled eggs, scones and the papers--, for lunch (those tartines, those soups!) or dinner (the only place I'll eat at the bar while wearing high heels and not hope for a table).
Eat at the counter, table or outside while you still can. But go, eat. Everything I've had there has been utterly delicious,
In Eastlake, at the space previously occupied by Sophie's Donuts, across from the old Hines Public Market Coffee
Sitka & Spruce
2238 Eastlake Avenue East
Seattle, WA 98112
206.624.0662
Uploaded to Flickr by Seattle Bon Vivant on 16 Sep '06
Last Friday was Café Cantante. And tonight it was yet another lovely evening of good coffee, tea, quesadillas and dulce de leche bars while listening to the music of Correo Aéreo. At Café Rozella, in White Center. Weather permitting (better take a sweater, autumn is definitely here!), they'll be back the next two Saturdays.
Cafe Rozella
9434 Delridge Way
Seattle, WA
206.763.5805
Café Rozella on my Flickr
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