Author: AJ

Top Chef:Seattle

By Iron Chef Leftovers

If there was any question if Top Chef was filming in Seattle, there has been a Padma sighting at Mistral and the entire crew at Walrus and Carpenter.

Since it is official that they will start filming next week, some challenges I would love to see:

  • Geoduck – It’s a clam that looks like a large penis and is damn tasty. Would make a great quick fire.
  • Bring them out to a shellfish farm, have them dig the oysters/clams/mussels and then have them prepare them.
  • Bring them out to a farm like Skagit River Ranch and make one hell of a BBQ with sustainable produce.
  • Coffee!
  • They should do at least one challenge where they are pairing food with beer and or wine.
  • I am sure there will be some sort of tie-in with the folks at Modernist Cuisine.

To me, these are no brainers.

On a related note, there were some not so flattering comments on eater.com about Seattle being the location for the next Top Chef:

Too bad if true. There isn’t anything exciting happening in Seattle especially in food. Portland would’ve been a much better choice.

Great, the trendy hellhole known as the Pacific Northwest. Culinary graveyard.

Eh, Seattle shines in a few areas, but not many.

All of these posters were anonymous, and didn’t have the balls to actually post their real names, so no real surprise there. My guess is they are all from Boston and are unhappy that the culinary wasteland that is Boston didn’t get Top Chef (or Portlander who think they should have hosted). Are we NY, LA or Chicago, no, but we are only a city of about 600,000 and I think we are as good, if not better than SF and Austin, 2 previously featured cities on Top Chef.

The KitchenAid Stand Mixer Repair: Leaking Oil/ Grease “Missing Step”

by A.J. Coltrane

The KitchenAid Stand Mixer started dropping grease over the last couple of weeks. The grease had broken down. Most likely this happened because the unit ran hot by getting overworked, or the blinds didn’t get closed and it wound up sitting in the sun. (This also happens if the unit isn’t run frequently, which is never an issue around here.)

From what I can tell, there aren’t any free manuals available that discuss assembly/disassembly. Calling KitchenAid was no help, the customer service person said that they “weren’t in the DIY business”. I found this video, which was great, except when it comes to the step at the 3:15 mark:

“Remove the four screws”


The unit that he’s working on is pretty old — they don’t manufacture them like that anymore, or at least *mine’s* not like that! (Mine also lacks the tilt-back head.) On mine there are two visible screws. To access the other two screws it was necessary to remove the four very large screws that hold the entire top assembly onto the base. (One or two of those “large screws” were really stiff.) This revealed the two screws that needed to be removed so that the top housing could be separated from everything else. See the pic:

The two screws sticking up on the right are the “hidden” offenders.

Hopefully someone will find this post and it’ll save them some time. I chose to remove the “four large screws” only after a phone call and some time-sink internet digging didn’t turn up any other useful info. Overall though the repair is really not too painful, and the unit now sounds better than before I opened it up. It probably needed it anyway.

 

The Beautiful Game at Its Best

By Blaidd Drwg

Amazing. Just absolutely amazing. If you told me the score of yesterday’s Italy-Germany match in the Euro 2012 semis was 2-1, I would have just assumed that Germany won the game. Italy, shocking everyone, pulled it out in one of the best games I have seen in a long time. If you have not watched this game, watch it. It is the perfect example of why soccer is called the beautiful game.

Italy played brilliantly – they attacked, they were patient and they spread the German defense by working the ball in and then passing it back out. The first Italian goal was one of the best goals I have seen in a long time – Italy works it in to the top of the box, have nothing, send it back out to midfield, long pass to the left wing (who was open) splits the defense and crosses to the middle, header in the net. The score of that game should really have been something like 5-1, but Italy missed 3 goals in the last 15 minutes when Germany was pushing their entire defense up and Italy was just lobbing it down the field to wide open players.

The result was a surprise since Italy has not looked good lately. They limped into Euro 2012 with a ton of uncertainty and very young players. The tied Spain 1-1, and looked pretty good there, but then they tied Croatia by getting too conservative at the end of the game (and nearly losing in the process). They did beat Ireland, but Ireland is the worst team in Euro 2012, so it is not saying much.

On to the quarterfinals, they beat England in penalty kicks, but it should not have been that close. They outshot England something like 35-6 (with 16 shots on goal) and really did dominate but could not convert their chances. Beating England was not really a big deal – England was the “winner” of the weakest group in Euro and were probably the worst remaining team in the tournament.

Italy came out full of fire in the game against Germany, a fire that I have not seen since they played in the World Cup final in 2006. The missed goals were alarming and they need to take advantage of those types of opportunities if they want to beat Spain. Until then, Forza Azzuri.

Gumbo File

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I love gumbo but it can be really hard to find one with a good balance of flavor and heat in a restaurant. Most of the ones that I have had around Seattle have been too soupy or bland, so I decided to make one recently that was basically a modification of Alton Brown’s recipe from Good Eats.

The biggest problem with making gumbo is getting the roux dark enough – the roux is the foundation for the flavor of the dish and traditionally it requires at least an hour of cooking on the stovetop with constant stirring. Alton Brown devised a short cut method, which does not reduce the cooking time, but it does reduce the need to stir it constantly by cooking the roux in the oven instead of on the stove top. The other thing I like about this recipe is that it uses file powder instead of okra. I am not a fan of okra, but you need it to thicken the dish. File powder does this.

The Software
* 4 ounces vegetable oil
* 4 ounces all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 pounds raw, unpeeled medium-sized (31-50 count) shrimp
* 2 quarts water
* 3 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in (Optional)
* 3/4 cup chicken stock (if not using the chicken in the dish)
* 1 cup diced onion
* 1/2 cup diced celery
* 1/2 cup diced green peppers
* 2 tablespoons minced garlic
* 1/2 cup peeled, seeded and chopped tomato
* 1 tablespoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 2 bay leaves
* 1/2 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1/4-inch pieces and browned
* 1 tablespoon file powder

The Recipe

The Roux
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the vegetable oil and flour into a 5 to 6-quart Dutch oven and whisk together to combine. Place on the middle shelf of the oven, uncovered, and bake for 1 1/2 hours, whisking 2 to 3 times throughout the cooking process. The roux will come out dark brown, almost brick red when it is done.

The Stock
While the roux is baking, de-head, peel and devein the shrimp. Place the shrimp in a bowl and set in the refrigerator. Place the heads and shells in a 4-quart saucepan along with the 2 quarts of water, set over high heat and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour or until the liquid has reduced to 1-quart. Remove from the heat and strain the liquid into a container, discarding the solids.

If including the chicken – In a separate pot add 2 cups of cold water, a pinch of salt and the chicken. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium-low and cover. Cook for 45 minutes to an hour, until very tender. Remove the chicken to a plate to let cool and de-fat the cooking liquid in a fat separator, reserving 3/4 cup. Removed the chicken and shred when it is cool enough to handle.

The Gumbo
Brown the sausage on both sides over medium-high heat and remove to a bowl. Add the shrimp and cook for about 1 on each side (don’t worry about cooking them completely, they will finish cooking in the gumbo). Deglaze the pan with the reserved cooking liquid from the chicken or the chicken stock, scraping up the brown bits. Once the brown bits are scrape up, add the liquid to the shrimp stock.

Once the roux is done, carefully remove it from the oven and set over medium-high heat. Gently add the onions, celery, green peppers and garlic and cook, moving constantly for 7 to 8 minutes or until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the tomatoes, salt, black pepper, thyme, cayenne pepper, and bay leaves and stir to combine. Gradually add the shrimp broth and chicken stock while whisking continually. Decrease the heat to low, cover and cook for 35 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the shrimp, chicken and sausage and stir to combine. Add the file powder while stirring constantly. Cover and allow to sit for 10 minutes prior to serving. Serve over rice to a happy public.

If the gumbo is not thick enough for your liking, you can add additional file powder after serving.

Notes
The recipe is really hands off compared to most other ones I have seen. You can eliminate the chicken and chicken stock and replace it with vegetable stock if you are so inclined, but I am not sure if there is a way to make this vegetarian. The heat is pretty tame in this recipe, if you like more heat, increase the cayanne, or just add some hot sauce when serving. Traditionally this is served with rice, but would also work with pasta. You can also add more or less of the meats in it, depending on what your preferences are.

File powder can be found at any good spice shop and most mega marts.

Rooting For Schadenfreude

Good signs if you’re not a fan of the Thunder:

Westbrook went 4-20 in the final game, and there’s an ongoing question as to how good a fit he is with Durant. An ESPN column that I read today suggested that the Thunder may try Westbrook at shooting guard. That would make him a short (6′-3″) shooting guard, and negate some of the physical advantage that he enjoys against the little guys. But if he can’t or won’t prioritize Durant then a change may need to be made.

Allen Iverson Playoff Statistics:  29.7 ppg, 6.0 apg, 3.8 rpg, 3.1 TOpg

Russell Westbrook Playoff Statistics:  23.0 ppg, 6.1 apg, 5.5 rpg, 3.2 TOpg

I’m just sayin’… of course, Iverson wasn’t expected to share the rock.

Harden and Ibaka have contracts coming up, and the Thunder can likely only keep one of them. Ideally Harden would have gone gangbusters and gotten really expensive, but it didn’t happen. He may wind up being expensive anyway. My feeling about Harden coming out of college was that he lacked the athleticism to create his own shot in the NBA.. even in college he relied upon “old guy moves” to score. He couldn’t get away with the old guy moves against the Heat, and that’s why he was largely a nonfactor. Still, some team may still think he’s an answer and overpay, it only takes one smitten GM to make him an offer he can’t refuse.

Perkins only played 20 minutes a game and groused about playing time. Unless the Thunder are playing against a true center Perkins is a liability at times on the court — he can’t guard a quick pick and roll. That’s why he sat this series. He also has shaky knees, which isn’t good for his long term mobility.

The Heat are as likely as any team to get back to the finals next year. Durant has shown that he can’t physically hang with big bangers like LeBron — the Thunder stuck Harden on LeBron a lot of the time, and it was no contest. Unless Durant gains a bunch of muscle he’s always going to struggle against LeBron, both on offense and defense. The Thunder (and basically everybody else) really don’t have an answer for LeBron.

So there’s that.

Beer of the Week: Fort George Sunrise OPA

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Fort George Brewery is a brewery out of Astoria, Oregon. Their Sunrise OPA (Oatmeal Pale Ale) is a session pale ale made with rainier and cascade hops, chocolate malt and 50 lbs of oatmeal in each batch. It is easy drinking at 5.5% and 45 IBU.

The beer pours golden in color with a fizzy white head. Hop forward on the nose, with citrus undertones, but really no hint of the oatmeal is anywhere to be found. The initial taste is crisp and clean with a slight fruitiness as the beer lingers, fading into a pleasant hop bitterness that disappears quickly. This beer has a great hop balance that will remind you they are there, but not smack you upside the head with hoppiness. As the beer warms, there is a more pronounced lemon flavor on the palate. My only complaint – where is the oatmeal? There is a very slight oatmeal like mouth feel to this beer, but so little that you probably wouldn’t know it was there if you were not told that there was oatmeal in the beer. Any oat flavor (or even the use of chocolate malt) was completely overwhelmed by the hops in this beer. It is not a bad thing, but the beer could have been much more interesting with those as the dominant flavors.

Overall it was a pleasant drinking experience and a very refreshing beer if I am looking for something hoppy that I can drink more than one of, but not looking for a hop bomb.

Fort George gets a 3 gun salute out of 5.

The Most Life Changing Burger in America?

By Iron Chef Lefotvers

Recently, Esquire magazine named Dick’s Burgers “The Most Life Changing Burger in America” based on the results of an online poll. I have never understood the fascination with Dick’s – Coltrane, Annie, Mrs. Iron Chef and Mrs. Iron Chef’s sister are all huge fans of the place. While it is cheap and is fine drunk food, the burgers are bland with wilted lettuce on a soggy bun served with generally limp and greasy fries.

This Dick’s burger will change your life – it will make you appreciate an actual good burger. This is actually the picture from the Esquire article.

I honestly don’t think that Dick’s, which claims that the “secret” of their success is their patties are “fresh, never frozen, and delivered locally every day.” Based on the price of their burger, I would be willing to bet that those patties are also factory farmed beef, probably no different than what you would find at Wendy’s, which also uses fresh burgers, and who’s burgers are slightly more appetizing than Dick’s (that is really damning praise, since I tend not to like them either).

Of course, #2 in this poll was In-N-Out Burgers which I think may actually be more overrated than Dick’s.

When Iron Chef wants a good, cheap burger, he heads over to Uneeda Burger in Fremont. Their basic burger is about $5 but it looks and tastes so much better than the stuff coming out of the “kitchen” at Dick’s.

The Great Cheese Steak Search – Dot’s Deli

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I have previous reviewed Dot’s Deli here, so I won’t do that again. Dot’s has become a regular in the Iron Chef lunch rotation, mostly due to their intriguing specials like the tongue sandwich or the cheesesteak. Because of the lack of a good cheesesteak in Seattle, I decided to give Dot’s version a try.

I can tell you that this is not your father’s cheesesteak. The sandwich at Dot’s is not huge, but it makes up for its smaller than your average cheesesteak size with its incredibly high quality ingredients and bold flavor. For $9, you get a 6 inch mini baguette with a slathering of their provolone cheese sauce minced peppers and what tasted like thinly sliced round steak. In terms of the messiness factor, this is only a 2 napkin sandwich, which is not a bad thing. You don’t have grease and cheese sauce slopping all over the place.

The cheese sauce was really a standout – a creative take on cheese whiz, it was slightly sharp and tangy and I came really close to asking for a side of it to dump over my order of fries. The sauce is what cheese whiz wants to become when it grows up. The beef, while sliced thin, is significantly thicker than your average cheesesteak’s meat, so there is significantly more toothiness and chew with Dot’s version of the classic. This is not a bad thing. Since Dot’s is using a high quality beef, the flavor of the meat really stands out in the sandwich, rather than being a supporting player like in the classic, and when melded with the cheese sauce and the punch from the peppers, brings you to a place where you feel like you are no longer eating a sandwich at a deli, but eating a steak at a sit down restaurant. This steak really reminded me of the tongue and round cheesesteak I did at my Odd Bits Dinner (recipe to be posted eventually) and that was definitely a good thing.

Overall, Dot’s cheesesteak garners 4 “hey, what you lookin’ at’s” out of 5, with the only thing keeping it from getting a perfect score is that it is only infrequently on the menu. If you are looking for the classic Philly cheesesteak, this is not it. If you are looking for a delicious take on a Philly cheesesteak, head over to Dot’s when they have it, you won’t be disappointed. It is not much more expensive than any other cheesesteak in the city, and despite its smaller size, go for the quality over quantity and you won’t be disappointed.

Check Dot’s Facebook page for their daily specials and run over to Fremont when the cheesesteak is on the menu.

Two Links About Pizza

by A.J. Coltrane

Two links to Serious Eats —

The very cool Del Popolo food truck serves wood-fired pizza out of a 5,000 lb oven — the oven is inside the truck! Includes a slide show and an interview.

This is an older post that I just ran across today:  Donna Currie has a 12-part post discussing many different baking surfaces for home oven pizza. Includes a slideshow overview highlighting the pros and cons of each surface. There’s a lot of useful information both in the posts and in the comments. Well worth the reads.

…and a bonus animal pic!

Late Afternoon Sun On The Kitchen Table