Author: AJ

Should Seattle be jealous of Vancouver?

By Iron Chef Leftovers

About a month and a half ago, there was an article in The Stranger that contained the 10 reasons why Seattle should be jealous of Vancouver BC. I have spent a bunch of time in Vancouver and I love the city (and Mrs. Iron Chef is convinced that I am part Canadian), but from a culinary standpoint, Seattle is the winner in that fight. Yes, Vancouver has some terrific places and has vastly better Chinese food than Seattle, but the truly great places in Vancouver are a bit spendy (especially when you factor the 13% sales tax and the 1:1 exchange rate) and booze is not cheap in BC. You give me the choice between the two and I am going to take Seattle every time.

That being said, there were a couple of points that the author had that I would like to comment on.

4. Bacon brioche at L’Abattoir. I had an exceptional meal at this haute spot, where chef Lee Cooper was in the kitchen expediting despite having a broken back. Snowboard accident. Gawd, the guy’s got game. Dinner was fantastic, but it’s the soft, porky brioche that’s seared in my memory.

We visited L’Abattoir in February and let me tell you this was one of the 10 best meals I have ever had. The food is a modern take on classic French dishes – there is a lot of molecular gastronomy involved and foam (Marcel would be proud), but I was absolutely blown away by the meal. The bread basket was worth making the trip for – in addition to the Bacon Brioche, there was an anchovy-cheddar twist (phenomenal) and a black sesame cracker which I thought was better than the brioche – high praise from someone who would leave his wife for the right pork-centric meal. As phenomenal as the food is at L’Abattoir the real reason to go is:

5. Tales of the Cocktail. Did you know America’s premier boozing bash is hitting the road and making its first stop ever outside New Orleans in Vancouver in March? Yup. I got a sneak sip of some of the cocktails that will be poured and damn, those were some well-crafted drinks. Oh, and the bartender at L’Abattoir is aging cocktails like Manhattans and Negroni in whiskey barrels!–a trend started in forward-drinking London.

The bartenders at L’Abattior are true craftsmen. Go for the drinks, stay for the food. I need to do a proper review of the place sometime soon.

6. Oyama Sausage. Yes, we’ve got Salumi, but the range of animals represented at this Eurocentric salumeria in Granville Island’s busy marketplace is staggering. There’s cured bison, elk, and antelope, and venison, wild boar and duck prosciutto. Yes, there’s even boudin noir and Scottish black pudding. Hot dog!

I like Salumi, but I much prefer DaPino’s – the sausages are just as good and there is never a tremendous line to wait for your food. Besides, Pino does tend to do a few things that the Batallli’s don’t (Wild Boar anyone). Oyama reminds me of DaPino’s with an even bigger selection. The Mrs. And I have smuggled their chorizo and wild boar salami back across the border, risking confiscation from surly border agents. To sample some of their wares, head to their shop on Granville Island or check out the Salt Tasting Room in Blood Alley.

Speaking of Granville Island, why is the Granville Island Market not on this list – it is Pike Place with a significantly better food focus. Locals actually shop there. Also missing from this list – the Richmond Night Market. Seattle (or Portland for that matter) doesn’t have anything close to it.

Coast to Coast – The Huskies Edition

By Blaidd Drwg

Yesterday was a good day to play for a team named the Huskies.

Huskies East Edition

You won't see these Huskies in the Big Dance next week, but they are a hell of a lot cuter than either UCONN or UDUB

Winning 5 basketball games in 5 days isn’t easy under the best of circumstances, and when you are trying to do it in the Big East Tournament, that may just be the most impressive run in College Basketball history. The 19th ranked Huskies started off the Big East Tourney as the #9 seed, which means they got to play an extra game. Of course, that game was against DePaul, the worst team in the Big East, but they still had to play it and win. Once they disposed of the Blue Demons, they then had to run this gamut (these are the national rankings of their opponents): #22 Georgetown, #3 Pitt, #11 Syracuse and #14 Louisville. Granted they did not win any of those games by more than 3 points, but I don’t care who you are, beating 4 ranked teams in 4 days is amazing to say the least. Despite the big MO in the Huskies corner, I think they are in for a letdown in the second round of the Big Dance.

Huskies West Edition
On the other coast, the Washington Huskies, teetering on the bubble and barely surviving their game against WAZZU managed to take out Arizona and win the Pac10 automatic bid. This probably moved the Huskies up to somewhere around a 7 seed in the tournament, but I can’t figure this team out – some days they play like the team that was ranked earlier in the season and some days they play like they can lose to just about anyone. It should be interesting to see whom they end up matched up against when the seedings are announced later today.

Favorite Cookbooks: Little Foods Of The Mediterranean

by A.J. Coltrane

New category! Favorite Cookbooks. First up is Little Foods of the Mediterranean by Clifford A. Wright.

The book contains 500 recipes — tapas, meze, hors d’oeuvre, and antipasti from around the Mediterranean — everywhere from Spain, to Italy, Greece, Tunasia, France, Morocco and Egypt. Wright is a scholar as well as a food writer; the book contains historical information about the origin of many of the dishes. There is also quite a bit of text about the history of the region that the dishes belong to.

The Chapters:

Canapes, Crostini, Bruschetta, Little Sandwiches, and Croutes
Dips, Spreads, and Pates
Cheesy Mouthfuls
Frittatas and Other Eggy Delights
Saucy Little Dishes, Part I (Chicken, Meat, and Seafood)
Saucy Little Dishes, Part II (Vegetables)
Stuffed Vegetables
Salads and Other Cold Vegetable Dishes
Filled Pastries, Puffs, Pies, and Baked Turnovers
Pizzas, Calzones, and Empanadas
Fried Turnovers
Fried Tidbits
Roll-Ups and Wraps
Seafood Salads and Platters
Kebabs, Skewers, and Other Grilled Foods
Pickled, Marinated, and Preserved Little Dishes
Sauces, Condiments, and Spice Mixes
Pastry Doughs and Batters

There is some “weird stuff” in the book —  it’s helpful to have a fairly expansive pantry to call on. Overall though, there are hundreds of great recipes that can be done with common ingredients.

From the back cover:

This vast compendium encapsulates the type of Mediterranean food that I love:  simple, tasty, unpretentious, and easy to eat. Whether they are tapas, meze, or antipasti, they represent Mediterranean street food at it’s best. I especially applaud Clifford Wright’s great research into the similarities and the differences among the little foods of the eighteen countries of the Mediterranean basin.

-Jacques Pepin

That sums it up well. Amazon.com link here.

The Dominance of Big East Basketball

By Blaidd Drwg

It is amazing how deep the Big East is this year – of the 16 teams in the conference, 11 of them finished with a conference record of at least .500, 10 teams had 20 wins, 7 teams were ranked as of last week (including 2 in the top 5) and they will probably send somewhere between 10 and 12 teams to the NCAA tournament.

I don’t think you will ever see a post season tournament quite like this year’s Big East bash in NYC:

The first round games involved a #9 seed (UCONN) that is currently ranked #19 in the nation (and in the quarter finals), a #10 seed (Villanova) that was ranked in the top 10 in the nation just a few weeks ago (but got bounced by the second worst team in the conference) and a #11 seed (Marquette) that is ranked just outside the top 25 (and also in the quarter finals after dumping the #6 seed).

Could this be the best season that a single conference has ever collectively had? I can’t think of a better one.

Boy do I miss Big East hoops.

It’s No Longer An Elephant

by A.J. Coltrane

UW Washington guard Venoy Overton has been suspended for the duration of the Pac-10 tournament as a result of criminal charges:

The gross-misdemeanor charge against Overton stems from a Jan. 8 incident in which Seattle police say he met with two 16-year-old girls and took them to his sister’s apartment in South Seattle. A police report says Overton, 22, furnished the girls with alcohol and engaged in sex acts with both.

Doesn’t the “Pac-10” tournament seem just a little too convenient? It may only be one game if the Huskies lose to the Cougars in the first round. The Huskies currently are slated in the NCAA tournament as about a 9-seed. If they lose tomorrow to the Cougars it probably drops them to about a 10-seed. If the Huskies were to somehow get past (hypothetically) the WSU game, then UCLA, then Arizona… they’d be about a 7 or an 8 seed.

What difference does that make, really?

Huskies as a 10 seed would face UConn, West Virginia, or Georgetown.

Huskies as a 9 seed would face Texas A&M, Kansas St., Xavier, or Vanderbilt.

Huskies as a 7 or 8 seed would face somebody along the lines of Cincinnati, Villanova, Temple, UNLV, or Missouri.

That’s all about a wash.

If the Huskies had suspended Overton for say, 3 games, then it might have involved some of the NCAA tournament. The problem with that approach is that they’d be penalizing the other players for Overton’s [lack of common sense, lack of judgement, stupidity, what do you call that(?)] 

The point is, anything less than a supension for the remainder of the season doesn’t really impact their chances of advancing in the NCAA tournament. The suspension the Huskies selected doesn’t really do squat.

Make of this what you will:  I was in a adult beverage establishment today and I was told (by someone I believe) that Overton had been there shortly before the original charges were filed .. with two underage girls. They sat in a corner and tried to get served, but when they got carded – and the girls were found to be minors, they were all asked to leave.

I’m not entirely sure it’s appropriate to post that “rumor”, but I can say that I absolutely believe that the person who told me that story wasn’t making it up, and if I were to ask around a little more I could get other people to corroborate it.

Ick.

Paying Off the Safeco Field Debt

By Blaidd Drwg

Will someone please explain this to me – The Kingdome, which cost $67 million to build originally and another $51 million to fix when the roof fell in, and was blown up in 2000, won’t be paid off until sometime in the second half of this decade. Safeco Field, which cost $340 million in public funds to build, will be paid off by the end of this year. Did the state ever think that refinancing those bonds from the Kingdome might be a good idea?

Things that make you go BOOM!

The BYU Honor Code

By Blaidd Drwg

As you know, The #3 Ranked BYU Cougars Men’s Basketball team probably cost themselves a legitimate shot at hanging around deep into the NCAA tournament when they kicked Brandon Davies off the team for having pre-marital sex with his girlfriend, which happens to be a violation of the school’s honor code. There was an article posted on ESPN that listed the rules for the honor code. They are:

BYU has had a strict policy of enforcing the honor code. This past football season, running back Harvey Unga was suspended for a violation of the honor code. The BYU honor code statement, from the BYU undergraduate handbook, consists of:

• Be honest
• Live a chaste and virtuous life
• Obey the law and all campus policies
• Use clean language
• Respect others
• Abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee and substance abuse
• Participate regularly in church services
• Observe the Dress and Grooming Standards
• Encourage others in their commitment to comply with the Honor Code

My question – how the hell did Jim McMahon manage to not get himself kicked out of BYU? You can’t tell me that he didn’t violate at least one of these in his time in Salt Lake City. If he managed to remain in compliance, I bet he went on one epic bender after his BYU football career was done.

Recommended Game: Munchkin

by A.J. Coltrane

Munchkin - Kill the monsters. Steal the treasure. Stab your buddy.

 

Title:  Munchkin

Game Type: Lightweight Card Game

Number of Players: 2-6. Best with 3-5.

Complexity of Rules:  Low

Time to Play:  45-90 minutes. Longer with 6 players who are operating at less than 100% functionality. Sometimes much longer. Believe me.

The Concept:  Munkin is a silly, spoofy, screw-your-neighbor card game. Here’s an excerpt from the publisher’s description:

This award-winning card game, designed by Steve Jackson, captures the essence of the dungeon experience… with none of that stupid roleplaying stuff. You and your friends compete to kill monsters and grab magic items. And what magic items! Don the Horny Helmet and the Boots of Butt-Kicking. Wield the Staff of Napalm… or maybe the Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment. Start by slaughtering the Potted Plant and the Drooling Slime, and work your way up to the Plutonium Dragon…

Curse: Chicken on your head!

The original version of Munchkin has a D&D theme to it. Later editions include spy/(James Bondish) spoofs, superhero spoofs, sci-fi/(Star Trek) spoofs, and horror/Cthulu spoofs. In the original edition the idea is pretty straightforward:  The players take turns opening dungeon doors. Behind each door there’s a monster that could be anywhere from easy to impossible to defeat. At that point the player may choose either to fight the monster, ask other players for help fighting it, or run away. The other players may either respond to the request for help, or tell the first player something like “Sure, I’ll help, but it will cost you one of the two treasures you’d get when we win.” Alternately the other players may decide to help the monster instead!

Everyone starts at level 1. Each time a player defeats a monster they go up a level and they get phat loot, which helps the player defeat bigger nasties. The first player to level 10 wins.

Maul Rat!

Why I like it:  The screw-your-neighbor element is fun. It’s a good game that isn’t too “serious.”

Boardgamegeek page here.

Available at Gary’s Games and Hobbies in Seattle.

This Recommendation is dedicated to the guy who always threatens to help the monsters, unless we’d rather give him the treasure we would earn by defeating the monster. You know who you are.

The Huskies Achillies

by A.J. Coltrane

The WSU Men’s Basketball team defeated UW last night, 80-69.  WSU led by as much as 21 before the Huskies pulled to within 6 points with 4:04 to go. Had the Cougars played with better fundamentals late in the second half the score would have never would have gotten that close.

I think the Cougars may have “exposed” the Huskies somewhat. 

UW’s 6’3″ guard Abdul Gaddy is out for the year with an ACL injury, suffered in early January. He had been playing 23 minutes per night, averaging 8.5 points and 3.8 assists.

Last night the Huskies distributed the guard minutes as follows:  5’9″ Isaiah Thomas, 35 minutes; 6’0″ Venoy Overton, 26 minutes; 6’5″ C.J. Wilcox, 19 minutes; 6’6″ Terrence Ross, 13 minutes. The two tall guards are both freshmen — they combined to go 1 of 11 from the floor. As for the short guards:  5’9″ and 6’0″ are both generous height estimates. I’d guess they’re really closer to 5’7″ and 5’10”.

The Huskies have been successful this season using their small guards to penetrate and either dish or score.

Here’s the Huskies Achillies Heel:

The Cougar guards measured 6’1″, 6’4″, 6’4″, and 6’6″.

A 2-3 Zone.

The Cougars played a 2-3 zone defense, packing their defenders into the paint. Their guards played an extra half-step off of UW’s quick little guards. This made it very difficult for the UW guards to penetrate, and if they attempted a 3-pointer the Cougs were able to use their relative size advantage to challenge the perimeter shots. The Huskies went 1-13 on 3-pointers in the first half — they didn’t shoot well from anywhere all night: 8-27 from 3, 15-24 from the line, and 33% overall from the floor.

If history repeats itself in the NCAA Tournament, the Huskies are going home.