A Funny Thing Happened on the Road to Wembley

By Blaidd Drwg

I had given serious thought to doing a post on the NBA and Seattle or even the first active gay athlete in major professional sports in the US, but then I decided that, based on the happenings in the Champions League, that would be a more interesting post.

Will Bayern Munich be celebrating in Wembley Stadium at the end of the month? Only time will tell. Photo Credit: espn.com — Will Bayern Munich be celebrating in Wembley Stadium at the end of the month? Only time will tell.
Photo Credit: espn.com

If you are not familiar with the Champions League, it is basically the World Series of European Club soccer. Each season, the top teams from all of the major leagues go through several rounds of games until one team is left standing and is crowned champions. This year, the semi-finals ended up with 2 Germany vs. Spain matchups with Bayern Munich squaring off versus Barcelona and Dortmund squaring off against Real Madrid.

If you follow European soccer at all, you know that Bayern, Barca and Real are considered to be 3 of the absolute best in the world. If you had asked me at the start of the semis who would advance, I would have put my money on Bayern and Real. It is a good thing that I did not.

Dortmund did not have the world’s toughest (or smoothest) path to the semis, although they did manage to make it through the group stage besting both Ajax and Manchester City. They knocked off Shakhtar Donetsk in the round of 16 and barely got by Malaga in the quarter finals with 2 goals after the 90 minute mark in the second leg of their bout. If they would not have scored the second goal, Malaga would have advanced to the semis instead. Malaga and Shakhtar are both good teams, but not elite, so the expectation was going to be that Real would destroy Dortmund.

A funny thing happened on the way to the finals. In the first leg of Dortmund-Real series, Dortmund lit up an overmatched Real team to the tune of 4-1 with all 4 goals coming from one player – Robert Lewandowski. Real did not roll over and play dead in the second leg, scoring 2 goals in the last 10 minutes to take a 2-0 lead. Dortmund survived a furious onslaught at the end of the game and did not give up any more goals (a 3-0 Real win would have put them through to the finals) to advance to the finals.

Bayern, on the other hand, is on fire. They crushed Juventus in the quarter finals 4-0 aggregate and then utterly destroyed Barca 7(!)-0 aggregate in the semis. Keep in mind that Barca is the team with Lionel Messi, the goal scoring machine who is considered to be the best player on the planet right now. To beat the best club in Italy AND the best club in Spain is difficult at best. To destroy and dominate those two teams is virtually impossible.

If I were a betting man on the finals, how would I bet? Bayern has a 2-0-1 record against Dortmund this season and is 20 points up on them in the Bundesliga with 3 games to go. They do have one more game to play head-to-head on Saturday, but I suspect that Bayern won’t be playing most of their regular players. Bayern is on fire and going to be a heavy favorite on May 25th at Wembley Stadium and that is probably who I would put my money on. But a funny thing happened on the road to Wembley…

The Rabbit is Correct

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I bet you though this was another Pearls Before Swine post. I feel this way sometimes.

EarthBox Progress – April 30, 2013

by A.J. Coltrane

By request. Pics of the EarthBoxes 10 days in. (Original Post Here)

April 20:

April 30:

The lettuces in particular are really growing. Far left is the loose leaf lettuce. 2nd to the left (same box) is the romaine. I think the big romaine leaves will be ready for harvesting by as early as this weekend.

Also: Spinach in the center box, foreground. Center box background is parsley, chives, and more romaine. Right box is brussels sprouts (L) and bok choy (R).

April 30, a closeup of the bok choi. It’s only one plant, though it looks like a few:

It’s amazing to me that it’s only one plant. I’m guessing that harvest will start this weekend too.

I’ve been doing some reading, and it sounds like the lettuces will need to be moved into partial shade whenever it starts warming up. That should delay the bolting that the lettuce will do at some point. (Which makes the leaves bitter.) Good thing they happened to mostly wind up in one of the boxes with casters.

This weekend is the Seattle Tilth vegetable, herb, and flower sale. That’ll be a long day.

Pizza With Basil Pesto, Goat Cheese, And Boar's Head Calabrese Salami

by A.J. Coltrane

Last night’s pizza. 200g AP Flour, 65% hydration, 2% Salt, 3/4 tsp instant yeast, 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp EVOO. 2-1/2 hour rise at room temperature. Baked on a perforated pizza pan for 10 minutes at 500F.

No need for red sauce. The basil, goat cheese, and calabrese salami were tasty by themselves. The crust was cracker thin in the center, it had a nice crunch.

If I were to change anything on this one it would be to add even more pig.

Pizza With Basil Pesto, Goat Cheese, And Boar’s Head Calabrese Salami

by A.J. Coltrane

No need for red sauce. The basil, goat cheese, and calabrese salami were tasty by themselves. The crust was cracker thin in the center, it had a nice crunch.

If I were to change anything on this one it would be to add even more pig.

Road Trip Review – Volt Restaurant

By Iron Chef Leftovers

It has been a long time since I wrote a restaurant review, so one is definitely overdue.

On a recent trip back East, I got the opportunity to travel through Frederick, Maryland on the way back from the Antietam Battlefield National Monument (on a side note – if you have never been to Antietam, you really should go.) Luckily, Frederick is the home to former Iron Cheftestant Bryan Voltaggio and his restaurant Volt. Located in downtown Frederick in a converted mansion is a mix of the old charms of a mansion and a sleek modern interior. We opted for the dining room, which was fairly empty on a Tuesday night, but there is a chef’s table option, which was packed and they seemed to be having a good time.

The menu is what you would expect from Voltaggio – twists on the familiar, artfully done with intense flavors done with seasonal ingredients and combinations that should not work but somehow do. Our server recommended 3-4 courses per person (they also offer a tasting menu) and, depending on what you order, 3 could easily fill you up. Because 2 of us ordered 4 courses and 2 of us ordered 3, our waiter, Joseph, arranged the plates to be delivered so that there was always a variety of food on the table. This was a great thing because the plates at Volt are worth sharing.

Here is what we ordered (with the prices after the |) – it represents more than half of the menu.

MOREL MUSHROOMS pickled ramps, steel cut oats, sea lettuces | 18
I wanted to try this since I am such a sucker for morels and they are in season. This was a take on a polenta dish and frankly this may have been the best dish of the night and possibly one of the best dishes I have ever eaten. The oats were combined with corn foam and might as well have been polenta and the smells and flavors on this dish were amazingly intense – I could actually smell this dish as the server was bringing it to the table. I really wanted to lick the bowl. I would go back just to have this again.

SPRING PEAS buttermilk, shrimp, smoked pine nut | 10
Perfect example of how well they use ingredients. I guess I would describe this as pea soup on steroids. Amazing intense flavors, but well balanced.

YELLOW MUSTARD RADIATORE rabbit, prosciutto, ramp pesto, cippolini | 11
Ok, I have to admit, I was skeptical about yellow mustard pasta, but after having this, I am going to have to try to make it at home. It was a light mustard flavor which paired perfectly with the rabbit and prosciutto. Ant the rabbit – perfectly cooked prosciutto wrapped cigars of loin. Probably the second best rabbit dish I have had in a restaurant.

CALAMARI BOLOGNESE miso, squid ink cavatelli, parmesan | 12
The most interesting dish of the night and certainly the most ambitious. It was good but wasn’t as good as the rest of the meal. The pasta was perfectly cooked the miso balanced the strong squid flavors well and the Bolognese itself was tender and delicious. It really reminded me of my dad’s seafood pasta that we ate growing up. If you really want to go out on a limb and try something different, this is the dish.

SOURDOUGH LINGUINI olde salt clams, smoked potato, chives | 14
This was probably the groups’ favorite dish of the night. It really had a ton going on for such a simple dish. The smoked potato really threw it over the top – they were crunchy like breadcrumbs and added a great contrasting texture to the pasta.

COD CHEEKS charred spring garlic, smoked raisin, pickled grapes | 23
There was some apprehension ordering the dish, but it was stellar – perfectly cooked cod cheeks, very mild in flavor balanced nicely with the salty/sweet/sour punch of the grapes and raisins. Heck, I could have gone for a bowl of the grapes. They were fantastic.

HALIBUT wilted green cabbage, chorizo, purple top turnip, mustards, green apple | 25
Living in Seattle, I am always hesitant to order halibut since it is usually either not done well or overwhelmed by the other items on the plate. This was a perfectly cooked piece of fish and another one that involved all of the senses. I think the chorizo really threw this one over the top and I am going to have to try a version of this at some point.

YOUNG CHICKEN chickweed, sunchokes, black trumpet mushrooms, dates | 23
This was far and away the best chicken that I have ever had. Delicate and intense at the same time, really makes me want to go out and get a sous vide machine.

BEEF SKIRT STEAK sugar snap peas, carrots, vadouvan, coconut yogurt | 31
Volt does something interesting here – they take 3 pieces of skirt steak and press them together in a meat napoleon. I have no idea how they do this but I really want to learn it. They also managed to turn a beef dish into something light and distinguished without skimping on the flavor. Extraordinary.

LAMB hulled barley, slow braised neck, chickpeas, lacinato kale | 33
It had all the intensity that you want from a lamb dish with so many subtle flavors from the compliments that I would have lost if I was making the dish.

Amuse Bouche – smoked oyster with rice wine vinegar and apple.
If you don’t like oysters – try this. Amazing flavors.

We didn’t make it to dessert – we were too full.

Service – the service was outstanding, some of the best I have seen in a long time. The table was completely cleared between courses, plates were put down simultaneously, wine glasses were never empty (nor were water glasses) and every need we had was attended to. The staff should be proud of the service they provide – it is how every restaurant should do it.

Wine – I wanted to give a special shout out to our wine steward for the evening. Volt has an extensive wine list and they were out of the Sassella which I spotted on their list. He listened asked me what I was looking for in the wine and brought back a couple of selections that had similar characteristics but were not on the list. It reminds me why all restaurants should have someone that knows their wine list well.

Overall, Volt was an amazing dining experience; so good in fact that I am going to say that this was the 4th best restaurant meal that I have ever had – behind, Le Bec Fin in Philly, Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal and the CIA restaurant in Yountville. If you are in Baltimore or DC, take the 1 hour drive north to Volt. You might even get lucky and catch a glimpse of Bryan Voltaggio in the kitchen on your way to/from the bathroom.

Beer of the Week: Populuxe Brewing Double IPA

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I am lucky to live in Ballard – we have so many breweries popping up, all within walking distance, that this is becoming a beer nirvana in a city that is pretty close to being beer nirvana. One of the “new kids on the block” is tiny Populuxe brewing, located in a renovated auto repair shop on NW 49th between 8th and 9th Avenues (and right across from the Iron Chef family favorite – Domanico Cellars; Ballard’s only winery tasting room). Saying Populuxe is small is an understatement – they have a 1.5 barrel brewing system so they don’t brew a huge selection of beers. What they lack in size, they make up for in quality. The Double IPA is one of the beers that they have been putting on tap along with their IPA, EuroBlonde, Saison, Bitter and Brown. Check out their FB page for their current tap list.

The DIPA pours hazy golden orange with a white head. Lots of citrus and grapefruit on the nose with notes of grain; you won’t mistake this beer for another style. The initial sip yields large quantities of grapefruit and citrus which linger for a long time coupled with a hint of bitterness that reminds you that this is a northwest Double IPA. It has plenty of hop character but is well balanced and does not feel like a hop bomb – you are not going to blow out your palate after drinking this beer. That balance between the alcohol and hops coupled with a long, smooth, refined finish makes me want to drink more than one and it is easy to forget that you are drinking a 7.2% ABV beer.

Perhaps the greatest compliment paid to this beer and its drinkability was by Mrs. Iron Chef who described the beer as “Not Terrible”. Mrs. Iron Chef does not like anything that is remotely hoppy, so for her to say that is the greatest compliment that can be paid to an IPA.

Populuxe Brewing’s Double IPA pours into the foundation with a spectacular 4 Googies out of 5.

I leave you with this:

Bracket Of Peril Winner Is Annie S!

by A.J. Coltrane

Annie S. has won the Cheap Seat Eats Bracket Of Peril!

Annie correctly picked Louisville as the winner. The big bracket buster was Wichita State, which in retrospect maybe shouldn’t have been a shock — they lost to a very good Creighton team in their conference tournament prior to the big dance.

She wins these things all the time, so this win was a surprise to exactly NOBODY who knows her.

Your big prize of nothing is in the mail! Congratulations Annie!

—

Bill Cosby, the 2nd side of “Why Is There Air?” The Midol bit starts at 7:40, and his Temple Football bit starts at 11:57. If you listen to the Temple Football bit you’ll hear something that I quote fairly frequently…

March Showers Bring April Flowers*…

By Blaidd Drwg

Or do they?

Remember back a few weeks ago when I posted about the Mariners spring training stats and why you should not get excited about them. Well, 3 weeks into the season, the Mariners are 14th in the AL in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging. Remember when Brandon Maurer made the team with a nifty 1.50 ERA in the desert? He is currently sporting a 9.94 ERA in the bigs. Exactly why you don’t get excited about spring stats.

Rob Neyer wrote an interesting article about this very subject concerning Red Sox prospect Jackie Bradley Jr. It is a good read, but he has a great piece of wisdom about baseball’s March numbers:

Spring-training statistics are a lot of fun, but they’re merely a snapshot in time, and they describe the random nature of raw performance statistics as much as they describe fundamental abilities.

Basically making an assumption about how a player will perform over a season is about as useful as pulling a random block of 60 at-bats to do the same.

* I know that is not the saying, but it makes my point so I am going with it

Beer of the Week: Reuben's Brews Cask Imperial Rye IPA

The Cask Imperial Rye on the left and its sibling, the regular Imperial Rye on the right.

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I keep all of my reviews in a notebook, which is why you see reviews for winter beers posted in the middle of spring – even posting 2 reviews a week; I have a backlog of about 30 to post. I usually write them in the order that I drank them, unless I have a bunch of beers from the same brewery; then I will break them up. On a rare occasion, I will drink something that is just so good that the review jumps to the front of the queue. This is one of those reviews.

I have written about Reuben’s Brews several times in this space. The short version – I really like their beer. They have been doing a weekly cask series – taking one of their beers and putting one of them on cask, usually dry hopped. It has led to some interesting variations of the beers that they are doing. This event usually takes place at 3 PM on Saturdays (check their FB site for details). Recently, they did a Double Dry Hopped Imperial Rye IPA on cask. Being a fan of the Imperial Rye IPA, I had to try this. Like its regular sibling, the beer clocks in at a hefty 8.4% ABV and 90+ IBU. Unlike it sibling, the second dry hopping was exclusively with citra hops.

It pours hazy orange in color with a pure white head. Intense hops permeate the nose with a strong background of rye and hints of grapefruit and citrus in the background. When you take a sip of this beer, it takes a second for the flavors to hit you, but when they do, it is like getting smacked by an oncoming truck. The beer starts out with a light bitterness before quickly yielding to strong rye and grain flavors with notes of toasted rye bread and a slight dryness. After lingering for a few seconds, the beer almost magically transitions into a burst of citrus peel and grapefruit in a very long and pleasant finish. There is some slight bitterness in the beer, but it complements the intense flavors that are present and aids the long transition between the flavors, acting as a bridge and helping this beer be extremely balanced; you could easily forget that you are drinking an 8.4% ABV beer.

I tasted this side by side with the regular version of the Imperial Rye, a beer I dearly love, and honestly, the cask version blew the doors off the regular version. After tasting the cask version, the regular, a fantastic beer in its own right, didn’t have the same level of intensity as its sibling. I am going to go on the record here as saying the cask version of the Imperial Rye IPA is one of the 10 best beers I have ever had and quite possibly in the top 5. Yes, it was that good. Next time it makes an appearance, you should be waiting in line for this beer when it gets tapped.

Reuben’s Brew’s Cask Imperial Rye IPA steps up to the podium with a perfect 5 pedestals out of 5.

I would have scored this beer a 6 out of 5, but since I really don’t do that, I leave you with this from This is Spinal Tap.