Quoth the Raven

Stir-Fried Chicken and Broccoli with Cashews

3/4 pound chicken
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 medium onion, julienned
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
12 ounces broccoli florets or Chinese broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup roasted cashew nuts
Steamed Rice, as accompaniment
Green onions, thinly sliced on the bias, garnish Using a sharp knife, slice the chicken into 1/4-inch thick slices across the grain. Cut each slice crosswise at 1/4-inch intervals so that you have long thin pieces of meat. Transfer pork to a small bowl, add 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, the rice wine, and toss until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup of the chicken broth, the 2 remaining tablespoons of soy sauce, the cornstarch, oyster sauce, sesame oil and crushed red pepper and set aside.

Heat a wok over high heat until hot. Add the cooking oil and, when hot, add the pork. Stir-fry until no longer pink, about 1 minute. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm. Add the onion and garlic to the wok and cook until slightly softened and fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the broccoli and remaining 1/2 cup of chicken stock and cook, stirring, until the broccoli is tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce mixture and cook for 1 minute, or until the sauce is thickened. Return the chicken to the wok and add the cashews.

Toss to thoroughly combine and serve immediately with rice, garnished with the green onions.

Thanks to the Food Network for such a tasty recipe and being that I rarely cook these days, I felt the need to document this tasty occasion.

G'day mate, Happy Australia Day!

 

January 26th was Australia Day. As great as this is it seems to hold a lot more meaning when you live in Australia and it entitles you to enjoy the 3-day weekend this public holiday brings. Joel and I had contemplated having our own celebrations in the confines of our own home, yes, in other words we couldn't be bothered going out. Instead, we decided on an impromptu visit to the Kangaroo & Kiwi to join in the Australia Day celebrations with fellow Australian's, some Kiwi's and more than a few Americans. It was definitely a rowdy night as one would expect from a room full of aussies and we had an absolute ball! 

The owner is a true blue Aussie and had us in tears laughing at his politically incorrect jokes. They had a pie eating/beer drinking competition with the winner winning nothing, but the title itself. Later in the evening the Karaoke events began with such good ole aussie bands like Jimmy Barnes, Men at Work & Midnight Oil, just to name a few. We even sang along with John Williamson such greats (?) as Waltzing Matilda and the National Anthem. This pub has become so popular since it opened it's doors that visitors are coming from far and wide, well, not as far and wide as Australia, but Portland and Vancouver, which is far and wide to us here in Seattle. All in all, it was a brilliant evening mingling with a great bunch of people.

Australia Day Delicacy

Australia Day is fast approaching and what better way to celebrate this than with great food, and you can't find anything more Australian than lamingtons...well, maybe the Australian meat pie. Enjoy these little bites of sugary goodness!

I stumbled across this recipe while perusing the endless emails that clog my inbox and all I could think was, finally something of worth.

Little Lamingtons

Sublime as after-dinner sweet treats. Make them cute and tiny, they can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days.

Method

Preheat oven to 190C.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Stir in combined sifted flour and baking powder alternating with milk and stir until smooth. Spoon mixture into a greased and lined square 23cm cake tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Stand in tin for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool. Wrap in plastic wrap and store for 1 day.

For the icing

Combine all ingredients with 140mL boiling water and mix until smooth.

Cut cake into approximately 3cm squares and dip each one into icing, then into coconut.

Place lamingtons on a wire rack for 1-2 hours or until dry.

Makes about 45.

• 125g soft butter, chopped
• 165g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 185g (1 1/4 cups) plain flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup milk
• 250g (13/4 cups) shredded coconut

For the icing

• 40g soft butter
• 500g (3 1/4 cups) icing sugar, sifted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 50g Dutch cocoa
• 20mL cognac
• 140mL boiling water

Author: Lynne Mullins

Photo: Jennifer Soo

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Maria Hines; Chef & Owner Tilth Restaurant

Ok, so you can tell that I am becoming slightly obsessed with this Chef, Maria Hines! So what's new about me and my obsessions - it happens.

2005 Best New Chef Award Profile

Why Because she's obsessed with finding the best fish, meat and produce, and smart in how she uses them in her extraordinary Pacific Northwestern menu: She finds three ways to serve tomatoes with her luscious cod.

Born Bowling Green, OH; 1972.

Education Culinary program at Mesa College, San Diego, CA.

Experience George's at the Cove in La Jolla, CA; L'Essentiel in Chambéry, France; Eleven Madison Park in New York City.

Why she became a chef "I remember peeling carrots at my first restaurant job, and thinking, 'I can't believe someone would pay me to peel carrots. It's so fun.'"

Pet peeve Cooks who slouch. "I know it's tedious to deleaf a case of parsley, but when you're in the kitchen, you need to look like you're working, not hanging out."

Favorite farmer "I love Linda Neunzig, who owns Ninety Farms [in Arlington, WA]. I told her I wanted squash the size of her little daughter's hand. And it comes in that way each day."

Favorite childhood dish Her mom's macaroni and cheese. "It's what we had for lunch when she let me play hooky from school."

Pre-marathon training diet "I did a recipe for Runner's World on the best training dish with tuna, pasta and tomatoes. But what I really ate before the Seattle Marathon was beer, bourbon and doughnuts."

Yelp is here to stay

Yelp is the new Citysearch.

I really used to swear by Citysearch but during my latest venture in trying to find a decent restaurant to dine at for my birthday I wasn't really happy with their results. Admittedly, Joel also kept yelling at me to try Yelp - so I did and I can't believe it took me so long to become a believer.

Yelp is great. Yelp is for the people and tells you what the people want. It is still early days for the site so you might have to add a favorite restaurant to review but that's what it's all about. It is great to hear reviews from real people...and then prove them wrong or right after trying a place for yourself.

Now if you read my previous post about Tilth Restaurant then you will know that I just had to write a review on Yelp. Unfortunately, no one had even entered the restaurant into the data base yet - but that didn't stop me as Yelp also wants you to tell them if they have missed something. So I entered the details and got to writing. This is what I had to say for my first attempt at a review:

Tilth Restaurant 

District: Wallingford

1411 N 45th Street
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 633-0801

"This restaurant now inhabitants what used to be the Mandalay Cafe, and I must say that the mostly organic menu is rave-worthy. The doors to this place opened on September 1 and I cannot believe that someone hasn't yet reviewed it - this place is truly spectacular. I have eaten at many of the  fine dining restaurants around Seattle (Georgian, Serafina, Pink Door, Waterfront) but this place beats them all. The menu is creative, the presentation impeccable and the taste is truly to die for - what more can you ask for from a restaurant. Yes, the staff is also fantastic; personable and professional, and did I mention that Maria Hines is the Chef and Owner which is why she recently left Earth & Ocean. My husband and I made a bold move and booked dinner at Tilth to celebrate my birthday. I had no idea what was on the menu and being a picky eater and a control freak - this was a big deal for me. But there were so many mouth watering creations on the menu that I wanted to try them all. We decided on small plate sizes, which meant that we each tried 3 different meals plus a desert -  I definitely recommend the Heirloom Tomato Salad, the Halibut with the fennel (on a bed of something exotic) and the Huckleberry Tart with ice cream....the mini duck burgers that my husband ate looked scrumptious aswell - and cute (can a food be cute?) . Well the place was fully booked only a week after opening, so if you want to dine here before everyone learns how great it is, you should make a reservation sooner rather than later! I will definitely be going back for more."

09/09/2006 First to Review

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday and I thought I would celebrate by doing very little at work - hey, why not - I only work from 7am - noon on a Friday so it really isn't enough time to commit to real work. So I did just that - nothing!

Nothing that is apart from enjoying my birthday celebrations with a decorated desk and my colleagues singing that horrid birthday song to me. Yeh, you know the one.  The standard Happy Birthday jingle that is so outdated and non-melodic that it really should have been scrapped a long time ago. Any way, I did appreciate the sentiment in spite of the song...oh, and of course I had to blow out the candles on my pastries. Did I mention that I oppose blowing out candles on cakes aswell. Just recently the germaphobe buried deep within me has started to question the disgusting nature of this act. I mean, you cannot tell me that some saliva doesn't sneak its way onto the cake....oh it is so gross.

So by noon I was packing up and on my way to celebrate my birthday. Hey, I had no idea what to do with this afternoon so I went home and watched tv. No, and I didn't waste the afternoon watching day time soaps - please! I stumbled upon that old show 'Judging Amy' the other day and realized how much I love the show so I set the Tivo to tape the series. So I watched re-runs of Judging Amy all afternoon. It was the perfect way to spend a Friday afternoon.

When Joel got home I got to open my present. Believe it or not, I didn't search the basement for it as not knowing what the present is, is so much more enjoyable. There were only a handful of things I wanted - or needed - a mirror from Pottery Barn; a Blackberry and you can never go wrong with vouchers for Powells or Abebooks, so I can add more books to my collection. Well, Joel bought me the mirror and it looks fantastic in my living room.

At 8pm Joel and I arrived at Tilth Restaurant for my birthday dinner, and I was surprised to find the restaurant was nearing full capacity, which is amazing being that they had only been open for a week. Now this restaurant is a little different in that you can either order your standard main meals, or you can order a few smaller portion sizes - which is what we chose to do. This is extremely rare for me as I am usually not very adventurous when it comes to food. (This coming from the person who has been eating at Jalisco Mexican Restaurant every week for two years and eats the same thing every time - chicken fajitas and a midori margarita). But there were so many delicious meals to chose from that I was eager to try them all - except the mini duck burgers which looked cute - if a food can be called cute - but I just can't eat duck. I swear after sampling the many and varied dishes at Tilth, I must admit that Maria Hines - Chef and Owner of Tilth - totally blew me away with the taste and the designs.  I mean the food is more than just food to be fill a hungry stomach. This was an experience, each meal was an extension of Maria Hines, and the food was displayed in such a way that I wanted to take it home and set it on my mantle, as you would an object of art. Exquisite!

I would highly recommend that you check out this place as soon as possible as it won't be too long before you will have to reserve a seat weeks, if not, months in advance! Good luck Maria and thanks for an awesome birthday treat!

An evening at Restaurant Zoe

August and September are always busy months for me. We celebrate our wedding anniversary on August 5, then we celebrate Joel's birthday on August 27 and the celebration end on September 8 when we celebrate my birthday. If you have been following my infrequent posts then you are aware that we went to San Francisco for our anniversary this year and had a fabulous time I might add.

For Joel's birthday this year we decided to eat at Restaurant Zoe. Now, we have lived in Seattle for 6 years and I really can't believe that we have never dined at this fabulously cool restaurant. It seems like we have dined at many of the well known haunts; Georgian Room - now known only as the Georgian; The Waterfront; The Pink Door; Teatro Zinzanni; Il Fornaio; Serafina, just to name a few. This year we wanted to go somewhere that we haven'tried before so Joel decided on Restaurant Zoe.

I can only speak for myself but "oh what a night". This place is fantastic! Our waiter, Roddy, was professional and courteous; and the meals were so scrumptious that I had to stop myself from licking the plate clean. You know that I am only kidding, I am certainly not the plate-licking kind of gal but just wanted to express my delight with the meal I was served. 

The day before I had called the restaurant and spoke to the Tom Knowles - the manager, to let him know that we were celebrating Joel's birthday. After arriving at the restaurant Tom recognized my voice from our phone conversation. Hey, I wouldn't even go so far as to call it a conversation as it was little more than a 10 word dialogue...but just the fact that he knew me and remembered my name was something. He proceeded to use my name a couple more times throughout the evening and that just did it for me. This place is fantastic; certainly a 5 star dining experience.  Of course, I cannot imagine the Manager hiring staff that did not treat the diners with the same level of care that he took in greeting us as we entered, so I should have anticipated an exceptional evening. Maybe I should have read some of the reviews like this one. 

”Tom Knowles, Restaurant Zoë’s General Manager, knows how much it means when everything—service, food, atmosphere—come together when dining out, and he'll do all he can to make that happen every night at Zoë.” — ”Best Host” Seattle Magazine, Restaurants Awards

I started with a cocktail...some type of cranberry martini...yum it was delicious. Maybe too delicious which is why I cannot recall the name of it. Joel who is a health fanatic and saves any drinking for special ocassions such as this, was abstaining for reasons you would know if you read a previous post. For an appertizer I went with the endive, frisée & radicchio salad then for the entree I chose the wild troll king salmon, with warm fingerling potato salad, watercress, shaved fennel & red pepper coulis. I ended with the desert special but cannot for the life of me remember what it was? I do remember that it was also made to perfection...the cocktail and the couple of glasses of wine must have effected my long term memory.

We had a perfect birthday celebration and I cannot wait to return to Restaurant Zoe again; hopefully in the very near future.

Thank God for Margarita Friday

Every Friday Joel and I hit our favorite little Mexican joint, Jalisco, and every Friday I have the same old same old meal - Chicken Fajitas and a Midori Margarita. Now it might appear the same old meal every week but I swear that it is oh so good that there is really no reason for me to sample other items on the menu. I could even have a Burritto like the one in this photograph but there is no way on hell that I could consume a Burritto the size of a baby! On the other hand, maybe this is just a really, really tiny baby?  Just a thought.

By now you might be thinking that you can go to a Jalisco anywhere in Seattle and they are all the same. Well, you my friend would sadly mistaken in your assumption. We have gotten to know Max, the Owner and Operator of Jalisco in Ravenna. He has done a great job in the couple of years since taking over the business from his Uncle and with a little help from the rest of the family who all help out at the restaurant. We have been returning to this place almost weekly for a couple of years now. I admit that there are other Jalisco's around Seattle and we have frequented a couple of them. Though the food is good the staff seem to be lacking that certain something that we have found here in Ravenna. So if you are in the mood for one awesome Margarita and maybe even a meal pop on down.

* Thanks must go to Seattle PI for the great photo

I am in love...

...with the Food Network! Yep, you heard me correct. Those people that know me will certainly think that they are reading someone else's blog? Yes, I admit I have not spent much time in the kitchen - who has the time? Which is why I am glad that I have such a wonderful husband who also happens to be a great cook.

So why did this love affair come about, you ask? I was actually channel surfing one afternoon and just happened to land on the Food Network. One show led to another show, and the next thing you know I was setting the Tivo to record season passes for a number of the shows watched. Rachael Ray. Giada De Laurentiis, the list goes on...

I did a 12 month stint as a live-in nanny before I got married so I am not totally clueless in the kitchen, but that was a long time ago and after cooking for 3 kids I was happy to hang my apron up for good! So, 'for good' lasted about 10 years and I am now itching to cook some totally scrumptious meals. Meals with alot of taste but less the calories.

I decided to start with something easy? A beef casserole sounds ideal. I said easy, definitely not quick! I started preparing the meal around 5.00pm and we were eating dinner at 9pm! Since then we have invested in a crock pot, and our dinner is cooking as I sit here typing. An ingenious appliance that no kitchen should be without. I know this in theory but will find out tonight if the pot is all that and more, or whether it is just a load of crock?

Meet the Chef; Delia Smith

If you don't know who Delia Smith is, it is about time you found out. That is, of course, if you love to cook.

I was introduced to Delia in 1994 while I was working as a nanny for a lovely family in Australia. Of course, I don't mean that I met her personally, I met her through one of her wonderful cookbooks; Delia's How to Cook. As a nanny I was expected to cook for 3 children and I had no idea where to start. Delia helped me through!

Delia's How to Cook will take you step by step through the basics of cooking. One such tip I do recall learning from this book was how to make really awesome roast potatoes. I always assumed you throw the potatoes on a tray and bake. But Delia would teach me that you first boiled the potatoes and then you roast them. This will ensure that the potatoes are soft inside and super crispy on the outside. Now this might be a tip that everyone already knows, but it was new to me.

Recently I have gotten the urge to start cooking again, or at least learn a few new recipes, and that means that Delia must come down from her shelf above the fridge so the adventure can begin.

Another reason why I love Delia's cookbooks is that the instructions are so detailed that the finished product always tastes exactly as it should - absolutely scrumptious!

She now has numerous cookbooks being sold throughout the world;

• How to Cheat at Cooking (1971)
• Recipes from Country Inns and Restaurants (1973)
• The Evening Standard Cookbook (1974)
• Frugal Food (1976)
• Delia Smith's Book of Cakes (1977)
• Delia Smith's Cookery Course (3 volumes: 1978, 1979 & 1980)
• One is Fun (1985)
• Delia Smith's Christmas (1990)
• Delia Smith's Summer Collection (1993)
• Delia Smith's Winter Collection (1995)
• Delia's How to Cook – Book 1 (1998) (based on the television series)
• Delia's How to Cook – Book 2 (1999)
• Delia's How to Cook – Book 3 (2001)
• The Delia Collection (2003) (several themed volumes)
• Delia's Kitchen Garden: A Beginners' Guide to Growing and Cooking Fruit and Vegetables (2004)

And if you go to DeliaOnline you can subscribe to her newsletter and be up-to-date on everything you need to know to become a great cook.