A few noteworthy events around Seattle in November for all you foodies out there:
November 8th @ Elliot Bay Book Co. – Mark Kurlansky, author of such memorable works as Salt and Cod (which combine nicely into one dish), reading from his new book Edible Stories. On a related note, I had not realized that his last book was actually about the impact of baseball in San Pedro de Macarois, so I may need to pick that one up.
November 20th @ Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park – Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking. You can be sure if the Iron Chef has no other plans, he will be there to see the man who wrote the seminal work on food and eating. There probably hasn’t been a food book written in the last 20 years that does not cite something from On Food. Yes I have read all 800+ pages cover to cover – it took me a year.
I thought this one was fun — the nuns of the School Sisters of Notre Dame are auctioning a recently inherited Honus Wagner card:
The brother of a nun who died in 1999 left all his possessions to the order when he died earlier this year. The man’s lawyer told Muller he had a Honus Wagner card in a safe-deposit box.
When they opened the box, they found the card, with a typewritten note: “Although damaged, the value of this baseball card should increase exponentially throughout the 21st century!”
The card was unknown to the sports-memorabilia marketplace because the nuns’ benefactor had owned it since 1936…
…The auction ends Nov. 4, and the highest bid was $60,000 as of Wednesday morning.
… That whole “exponential increase” didn’t work out like everyone would have liked, I don’t think.
In conclusion —
Wagner was known as “The Flying Dutchman.” His card is now owned by nuns.
Therefore:
It's Sally Field. I wouldn't have guessed it was her in a million years.
When I was growing up we had apopcorn popper like this one by the fireplace:
I don’t know what happened to it — maybe it’s packed away in a box someplace.
I don’t remember eating the popcorn, though I think I remember the process of sitting on the floor around the fireplace to make it.
It’s not really the popcorn maker you want to be using in the middle of summer. Eventually we got an air-popper, replacing the old-school oil-in-a-plastic-dome model. The hot air popper was cool enough anyway, since you could melt the butter in the plastic container on top of it while the popcorn popped.
According to the ebay listing — the fireplace version can be used to make smores too. Now that would be something.
Though geez — would you want to clean it after that?
Colt McCoy (a.k.a. “The ManCrush”) had his NFL regular-season debut against Pittsburgh this past Sunday. Despite playing against one of the toughest defenses in the league, and losing both starting wide receivers to injury, he produced a respectable line: 23 completions on 33 attempts, 281 yards, 1 TD, 2 Int — good for a 80.5 Quarterback Rating.
I’ve seen a lot of quarterback debuts up close as a former Cleveland Browns beat writer, and Colt McCoy’s first NFL start was the best of the group. McCoy became Cleveland’s 16th starting quarterback since 1999 and threw for 281 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-1). McCoy took a pounding and made rookie mistakes. But he also showed toughness, leadership and good accuracy. What does this all mean? McCoy deserves at least one more start this week against the New Orleans Saints until Seneca Wallace (ankle) or Jake Delhomme (ankle) are 100 percent healthy. Then the Browns (1-5) can evaluate two of McCoy’s games against the starts of Wallace and Delhomme during the bye week and figure their direction at quarterback.
Ben Roethlisberger‘s return was the story of the week for this game, but the more interesting development was Browns rookie ColtMcCoy showing he’s a real NFL quarterback. The final numbers (23-of-33, 281 yards, 1TD, 2 INTs) may not necessarily prove that, but McCoy had a surprising amount of poise with the Steelers’ pass rush coming down on him all afternoon. The Browns never wanted to use McCoy this early. If he can survive in Pittsburgh, he’s good enough to start for this 1-5 team.
The most promising aspects of the Colt McCoy Experience were his poise in the pocket and his sense of self before and after. How else to explain his message when he addressed teammates Saturday night as the team’s latest starting quarterback.
“I just told ’em the hay is in the barn,” McCoy said. “For some of the city folks I had to [explain].”
As his head coach and a number of teammates said Sunday, the game didn’t look too big for McCoy. After his run-for-cover training camp, that was a welcome sight.
Give Eric Mangini and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll credit. They didn’t send the kid into the ring and tell him to clinch and cover up. They let him come out swinging. Where the Browns offense is concerned, this is a relative term, of course.
McCoy threw on first down early (or at least tried). He completed a dozen passes for 10 yards or longer. Six covered 20 yards or more. A chunk of his 281 yards happened late, but there was less garbage time than the final score indicates. He did more than dink and dunk.
“He took control of the huddle,” guard Eric Steinbach said. “That’s what a quarterback has to do. I don’t care if he’s a first-year guy or a 12-year vet.”
The Colt McCoy Experience — I like the sound of that.
———
Finally, two funny, if somewhat mean-spirited, Sprint ads:
“Injury” — “It means I’m dropping you from my fantasy team, that’s for sure.”
Last Friday, Mobile Chowdown V was held at the Qwest Field parking lot. I have to admit, I was very underwhelmed by it – and most of the reasons why are mentioned in this article.
Annie S. and I got there right at the beginning and made our rounds, we tried to hit places that we hadn’t been before. Here is the recap of what we had:
Bistro Box – Wagyu Beef Slider and Coconut Chicken Slider. The beef slider was fantastic – think Big Mac with actual edible ingredients. It scored bonus points for being bite sized (and a steal at $3), although I could have easily gone for a couple more. The Coconut Chicken was also great – think coconut shrimp with a chicken patty, a nice coconut breading which had great crunch around moist chicken. (and this coming from someone who does not care for coconut).
Fusion on the Run – Beef Tacos and Khalua Pork Tacos – the beef was wonderful and flavorful, the pork was bland and disappointing.
Where Ya at Matt – Gumbo and beignets. For a place that specializes in Cajun and Creole cooking, Matt’s gumbo was probably the worst Gumbo I have ever eaten. The spice was good, but everything else in the gumbo itself was horribly cooked to the point of being mushy, except for the rice, which was so undercooked it was crunchy. The beignes however were wonderfully gooey, sweet and hot and served in a paper bag (as they should be). I have read so much positive press on Matt’s but this experience left me wondering why they get such great press and why there was a huge line for their food.
Here and There Grill – Steak Sandwich. This was the best freaking thing we ate all night! Wonderfully tender flank steak, caramelized onions, gorgonzola on an Essential Baking Roll. Extremely flavorful and messy delight. I would have just eaten this all night if I had it first.
Now for the things that pissed me off:
• The original ad had the tickets being $7 through ticket master and $10 at the door, so I ordered through Ticketmaster. We get there and find out that it was $5 at the door.
• While it was nice to have all of the trucks in one place, there were only 2 non-local trucks there. I really don’t like having to pay for admission to go to places like Skillet, Maranation, Maximus and Molly Moon when I can go to those places without having to pay. A little more non-local variety would have been nice.
• How about more smaller bites? Unless you go with a group of people and share food, you can only hit a handful of places and it gets expensive really quickly. The taco trucks were great for this but most places were serving their normal sized portions which are meant to be a meal.
• Speaking of which, I know that most of these trucks are using top flight ingredients, but really, $12 for a hamburger, from a food truck? I can get a Wagyu burger at plenty of restaurants for that and not have to stand up to eat it. The idea of a food truck is supposed to be good quality, inexpensive food. If I want a $12 burger, I can go here.
• It was nice they had beer – but at $8.50 a pop. The beer was run by the Qwest Field Consessions and they charged the same prices as buying them in the Stadium. Tragic that they did this, especially since it was across the street from Elysian Brewing.
Pot stickers are really easy to do. They’re somewhat time consuming, but almost impossible to screw up. Most of the time they’ll fool people into thinking that you can cook. I don’t use a recipe for them — something like this will work fine as a leaping off point:
The filling - includes cilantro from the CSA box.
The “Recipe”:
1 lb Ground Pork
1/2 Large Head Cabbage, finely shredded
1/2 cup – 1 cup Scallions, finely chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Sesame Oil
1 package (4″ square) Wonton Wrappers — Buy two packages to cover overruns, they freeze just fine. Extra wrappers can also become Crab Rangoons if you have cream cheese in the house.
About the right amount of filling.
Other good stuff: Black Pepper, Sambal Oelek/ hot sauce, minced Bell Pepper, minced Cilantro, Ginger, minced Onion, Soy Sauce. Any of those in small quantities will be fine.
The Assembly:
Use a food processor, even one of the little cheap ones is highly recommended as a time-saver. I would also suggest that the assembly process happen while sitting down, in front of a television, with beer. It’s much more pleasant that way.
Ready for action.
1. Cut all vegetables into pieces that the food processor can handle. Working in batches if necessary, pulse the food processor to finely chop vegetables. Do not puree.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
3. The Setup:
Two plates, one for folding the pot stickers and one for the finished product. A small bowl or ramekin with some water — the water will be used to seal the pot stickers. Plastic wrap for covering the finished pot stickers — the pot stickers can sit in layers on the plate, with plastic wrap between the layers.
4. Take one wrapper out the package and place on the “assembly” plate. (The wrappers will dry out quickly, make sure to keep the package covered, or at least mostly closed.) Place about 1 tsp+ of the filling into the center of the wrapper. I use two forks for this to keep my hands relatively clean. (Use one fork to pick up the filling, then scrape off with the other fork and onto the wrapper.) Lightly wet one finger in the bowl of water and moisten two adjacent edges of the wrapper. Fold the two “dry” edges over to meet the “wet” edges, removing as much air as possible. Crimp the filled wrapper a few times.
Into the frying pan... Yeah, I
The Cooking Part:
Note: You’ll need a non-stick skillet that has a lid. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Add 3 tablespoons of canola oil. When the oil is hot add as many pot stickers as will fit in one layer into the pan.
Cook about 2-3 minutes. Resist the urge to poke, move, or otherwise disturb the pot stickers.
Add 1/8 cup of water to the pan and immediately cover. Watch out for splattering oil/water. It’s best to have the lid in your hand hovering over the pan when you add the water so that you can slap on the lid when the water hits the heat.
Cook about 4-6 minutes. The goal is to have the water finish evaporating just as you’re ready to remove the lid.
Remove the lid and cook an additional 2 minutes to crisp, finish browning, and evaporate any leftover water. Cut open one pot sticker to ensure that the pork is cooked through.
Fin.
Repeat until all pot stickers are done.
Sweet and sour sauces go well with this recipe. Also good is the classic soy/sushi vinegar/ hot sauce combo (1 part soy, ~1 part sushi vinegar, and a dash of hot sauce. You can substitute white wine vinegar and a little sugar for the sushi vinegar.)
It looks like a big project, but it’s easy. Most of the preparation can take place in front of the TV. Painless.
When I was in grade school we had the “Scholastic Book Club.” The program allowed students to buy small paperbacks for a nominal amount of money. Sports titles included “Winners Under 21”, featuring Muhammed Ali and Wayne Gretzky. I also bought the book shown below:
Pre-teen football junkie gold.
Ebay listing here. Featuring: Walter Payton, Franco Harris, Harvey Martin, Bob Griese, O.J. Simpson, Greg Pruitt, Isaac Curtis, Lyle Alzado, Lydell Mitchell, Tony Dorsett, and Bert Jones.
One of the other books was a sort of “Legends and Record Holders” — that’s how I became familiar with guys like Night Train Lane, Jim Brown, and George Blanda. Brown and Blanda both held records that were never surpassed until the introduction of the 16-game season: Brown with his 12,312 career rushing yards, and Blanda with his 2,002 career points over a 26 year career.
All this time has gone by, and I didn’t have to look those numbers up. To my young mind those records were both eternal and immortal. Blanda passed away on Monday, and it reminded me of all of those Scholastic Club books. I got to looking at the cover of the All-Stars of Pro Football and I couldn’t identify the player in the center of the picture…
After some research, I think it’s Boobie Clark. The photograph was taken during the San Diego Chargers – Houston Oilers divisional playoff game in December 1979. Quarterback Dan Pastorini, Running Back Earl Campbell, and Wide Receiver Ken Burrough were all injured during the previous game against the Broncos. They represented the Oilers top offensive weapons, and each would miss the game pictured above. The modern equivalent would be the Colts losing Peyton Manning, Joseph Addai, and Reggie Wayne for a playoff game, and winning the game anyway.
Boobie scored on a 1 yard touchdown run to give the Oilers a 10-7 halftime lead. The Oilers went on to win 17-14, and Boobie cemented his own small piece of immortality on the cover a book purchased by ten year-old boys everywhere.
Final question: Did the publishers have a meeting and say to each other: “Let’s put the Oiler’s 3rd string running back on the cover of our All-Pro issue and we’ll confuse the hell out of some guy in 30 years.”
This is a bit of bizarre Japanese animation from an even more bizarre larger piece. Thanks to the wonderfully demented mind of Trevor Corson for originally posting this (he got it from a sushi chef friend of his). It makes very little sense, but yet I can’t stop watching it.
On the old blog I’d do posts with the theme – “Time Machine.” I’d pull emails out of the archives and see how they looked in the current light.
Here’s an email from shortly after the M’s signed Richie Sexson, dated January 1, 2005. For the professional (Joe Posnanski) piece, go to the bottom of this post:
…Ichiro had a “historic” league-record 262 hits in 2004. In 2004 Ichiro drew 49 walks and was hit by a pitch 4 times. Ichiro got on base 315 times, leading the American league. Barry Bonds got on base 376 times last season. The all-time record is 379 by Babe Ruth. Bonds missed that record by 3, but I never heard anyone mention it. Ichiro’s 315 was enough for a 5-way tie for 58th best all-time. Sure, it’s “good”, but is it “historic”?
Robin Ventura... second thoughts about having charged the mound.
As Ichiro approached the hits record a couple of interesting things happened:
1. In the months of September and October Ichiro had a total of 50 hits— 47 singles and 3 doubles. It doesn’t get much emptier than that. Ichiro’s OPS (On Base + Slugging) for the season ranked 22nd in the American league. It’s tough to rank 22nd in OPS when you hit .372, but he literally didn’t do anything *besides* hit singles in 2004.
2. On one or two occasions Ichiro tried to bunt with a runner on 2nd base. He made no attempt to drive the runner in, he was simply trying to pad his hit total. It was a selfish move and it is not “winning baseball”.
Of course, the thing that really bugs me is that I’m going to have to hear about the “historic season” every game for the next 5-7 years, as well as every time Ichiro comes to visit after he retires. Believe me, Neihas is *not* going to miss an opportunity to bring it up ad naseum.
The single-season leaders for Times on Base (Baseball-Reference.com.)
Next subject [Ed: same email] — Sexson/Jacobsen/Leone:
Mike Cameron pretty much got run out of Seattle due to his high strikeout rate. Mike struck out the equivalent of 151 times per full season of play. Here’s how that figure compares to some current and former M’s.
Bucky Jacobsen 181
Justin Leone 167
Richie Sexson 156
Jay Buhner 155
Mike Cameron 151
Be prepared to look at a *lot* of swinging and missing in 2005. In 2004 Jacobsen and Leone both got hurt before the league had figured out how to pitch to them. If anything those strikeout rates are likely to go up. If Jacobsen gets significant playing time in 2005 you can figure on a batting average of about .230. Leone you can forget about, he’s not really a major league player.
In a lot of ways Richie Sexson is the new Jay Buhner. He has good power, he strikes out a lot, and he’ll give the fans another muscle-bound white guy to root for. Figure Sexson for about .260 with 30 HR if he stays healthy. Sexson got hurt twice last year checking his swing– he’s a significant injury risk. The M’s signed him to a $50 million/4 year contract. The other question would be – is a 1B who hits .260 with 30 HR is worth $12.5 million per year? Sexson is now 30 years old — this is also another example of the M’s paying for past performance on an aging player…
——————-
Jacobsen never played another game in the majors. Leone played in one more game — it was two years later with the Padres. (Of course, that’s what tends to happen when your rookie year is age 28 (Jacobsen) and age 27 (Leone.)) So much for those strikeouts I’d predicted.
Sexson hit .244 over the length of that contract, compiling WARs of 4.2, 3.3, -1.4, and -0.3. Fangraphs values those contributions at $14.3m, $12.1m, -$5.6m, and -$2.6m. In other words, the M’s received $18.2 of production from Sexson on a $50m contract. Thank you Bill Bavasi. (Click here for an explanation of WAR.)
I did the digging in the old emails because Joe Posnanki had a really interesting piece today, comparing Ichiro to Nolan Ryan. Both players excell(ed) in at least one statistical category, though you could argue (and Joe does) that neither player was as productive as his reputation would lead you to believe.
As for the picture above, here’s an excerpt from Ryan’s wikipedia entry:
…Before the 1993 season, Ryan announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. On August 4, just before the end, Ryan had yet another high profile moment – this time an on-the-mound fight. After Ryan hit Robin Ventura of the Chicago White Sox, Ventura charged the mound in order to fight Ryan, who was 20 years his senior. Ryan secured the 26-year-old Ventura in a headlock with his left arm, while pummelling Ventura’s head with his right fist six times before catcher Iván Rodríguez was able to pull Ventura away from Ryan. Ryan stated afterwards it was the same maneuver he used on steers he had to brand on his Texas ranch…
Interestingly – Annie S., my brother, and I were all in the Kingdome to see Nolan Ryan’s last game on September 22 of that same year, though we didn’t know each other until later. (Of course, at that time I already knew my brother, but you get the idea.)
“I am going to solve all the world’s problems with one salad dressing” –Michael Struk
Salad dressing is usually an afterthought to most people. We buy it pre-made in a jar and it is loaded with stabilizers and salt. What most people don’t realize is that salad dressing is really easy to make at home. My friend Mike adapted the below recipe from the “Le Bec Fin Cookbook”. The dressing is amazing and takes about 5 minutes to prepare.
The Software
1 1/2 cup Good Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup Walnut Oil
1/3 cup Verjus
10 Stalks Lemon Thyme – leaves removed from stems
20 basil leaves – chopped
1 tablespoon Mayo
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1/3 teaspoon granulated garlic
Salt and Pepper
The Dressing
Combine everything but the salt and pepper in a blender or food processor. Blend until combined. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. That is it. It will take you longer to measure the ingredients than it will to put this together.
Notes
If you don’t want to go out and buy Walnut Oil, just substitute Olive Oil for it. If you don’t have Verjus (and you really should in your pantry – don’t know what Verjus is? Click here), substitute a good Red Wine or Champagne Vinegar. You should be able to find Walnut Oil and Verjus at any good specialty food store (in Seattle I would recommend DeLaurenti; over the web I would recommend chefshop.com – which conveniently also has a retail location in Seattle). This recipe produces a good amount of dressing – it can either be scaled down or put in a container and kept in the fridge for 3 days. If you want a thicker dressing, add a bit more Mayo to it.
FlatbreadGarden 