The other night, our dear friends Emily & Christian Berkey invited us over for dinner. Fall has set in, and Emily shared what was on the menu; meatloaf. Mmmmm… I put on my polite-but-hopeful face and thought, well, almost 20 years has gone by since my last meatloaf attempt and a lot has changed since then. Let’s go for it.

When I peeked at the dish cooling on the stove, it perked up my appetite. It smelled so good! It looked good. Hope was coming back to me. Emily laughed at me as I followed her around the kitchen, taking pictures of the potatoes, the green beans, the gorgeous butter dish I always covet when I’m over there. This girl did a great job at dinner, and I am so thankful to her and Christian for feeding us. And I loved the meatloaf so much, I begged for the recipe and am going to make it myself.

That is, as soon as we have guests over for dinner. That’s a lotta meat.

But ooooh, it’s so good! Moist, tender, full of flavor, so much more than just a loaf of pressed hamburger and egg.

Sorry Mom. It’s my turn to teach you to make meatloaf.

Emily’s Dad’s Recipe for Meatloaf

(She assured me I wouldn’t get her kicked out of the will by disclosing any family secrets and sharing this recipe. She even said that she thinks he may have gotten it out of a cookbook somewhere, but isn’t sure? So if any of you come across an identical recipe, let me know where you found it, I’d be happy to give credit where credit is due! Disclaimer over.)

Ingredients:

2 cups minced onions
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup lightly pressed down bread crumbs
2 lbs ground beef
1 lb ground pork or fresh sausage meat or ground raw turkey
1 cup cooked rice
2 large eggs
1/2 cup beef boulion
2/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 to 2 cloves of garlic, pureed optional
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp oregano
3 bay leaves

Directions:

Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl and put into buttered loaf pan and form. Place 3 bay leaves on top. Bake for 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees. (When done , the juices will run clear with a pink tinge. Meat will be slightly springy and 155 degrees with a meat thermometer.) Cool for 30 minutes, pour off fat juices.

I’ve already written about this place (Don’t judge me for our earlier camera days!) and we knew we wanted some better photos for this place. While we still have no idea what we’re doing half the time with our new camera and have tons to learn, we are pleased to share with you a hopefully more inspiring view of this incredible food.

Tonight we had the Buttermilk Fried Chicken, the Macaroni & Cheese, the Fried Green Tomatoes & Hushpuppies, and “Percy’s Plate for Sharin’ - a Trio of Wonderful Dips”. And wonderful they were, with a smoked catfish spread, artichoke & garlic, and a black-eyed pea hummus. We ended the night with a delectable apple crisp big enough to feed an entire family. It was delightful.

And yes, I got myself another shot of Billie Holiday in the little girls room. I can’t help myself.

Go, taste, discover, enjoy.

The Oyster Bar is situated right alongside Chuckanut Drive. For a Saturday night, the minimal parking was full, and we had to do a few U-turns to find a spot. And along that narrow, windy road, that meant driving about half a mile before you could find a place to turn around. But, as we joked at the end of the meal, the 3 U-turns were worth it.

The tiny little spot overlooks Samish Bay and the view is just beautiful. The wood-paneled walls, low ceilings, and multi-leveled seating area give the restaurant a cozy, intimate feel. The western wall is almost entirely windows, and the two different stories are connected by a spiral staircase. This evening they were packed, and only had outdoor seating available. It was a clear, crisp fall evening, and Josh and I had been playing outside all day anyway. We were brave! The off-season outdoor seating is accommodated with thick fleece blankets! Oh, they helped so much! We were also told that if we wanted, they would let us know as soon as the next indoor table opened up, which we thought was very kind.

The meal started off with warm bread and butter, while I had a cup of Earl Grey. I so appreciate when restaurants have good tea! It’s so disappointing to be offered Lipton or Stash at a nice restaurant. I was brought out Mighty Leaf tea with honey and a little pitcher of cream, and she kept the pot of water filled and hot. I was so thankful. Josh had a glass of wine, which may have kept him almost as warm as the tea warmed me! We decided to share a bowl of the Smoked Salmon Chowder (a lightly creamed hot smoked King Salmon chowder with a mirepoix of vegetables and pancetta, garnished with sour cream and chive mini bisquits) and were pleased to learn that the chef smokes the salmon in-house. The soup was delicious; creamy, slightly spicy, and the smoky flavor of the salmon wasn’t overpowering. The little girl in me thought the mini biscuits were just darling.

In between the soup and our entrees, our waitress brought out a blackberry sorbet with a splash of champagne to “cleanse the palate”. The result was quite nice. It was rich and refreshing, and just the few bites were a perfect transition from the spicy rich soup to our steaks. I wonder if the sorbet differs depending on your entree; the table next to us ordered fish, and their sorbet was a lime cilantro with champagne. Mmmmm….

For dinner, Josh chose the Grilled Filet Mignon (aged grilled Filet Mignon with a black truffle demi, braised leeks and chantrelle risotto) and I chose the Steak and Prawns (dry aged Top Sirloin seared with boar bacon and julienne apples, topped with grilled prawns and a whisky cider reduction). Both meals were just lovely. And the bonus - a table opened up indoors just before our food came out! Thank you Lord! Fuzzy blankets and all are nice, but we’d had enough of being brave. ;) The verdict on the food was good. I was a little mislead by the phrasing on the menu, thinking that the boar bacon would be more evident. Apparently it was cooked into the sauce and the tiny little specks were barely noticeable, which was disappointing. However, the prawns were tender and melt-in-your-mouth, some of the best prawns I’ve ever had, so that made up for my denied curiosity over what exactly boar bacon would taste like. Both meals came with a goat cheese soufflé and vegetables, broccolini and acorn squash. The soufflé was lovely, the texture light and fluffy and the flavor of the goat cheese was subtle. I like my vegetables a little less done, but the flavor was nice. Josh thought his Fillet Mignon was excellent as well.

We had barely saved enough room for dessert, and the Apple Calvados Crème Brulee (cinnamon spiced apple and Calvados custard with a vanilla sugar crust with a cinnamon cookie) called our names. The portion was perfect for two, just enough to satisfy our sweet tooth.

Overall, The Oyster Bar is a place I would recommend. The service was excellent and we were made to feel very much at home, I just love the atmosphere (I have my eye on the table next to the fireplace for next time!) and our meal was very satisfying. It was a wonderful way to end the day.

I’ve seen the signs as I’ve driven past in the Mill Creek Town Center and had the cravings. I’ve heard friends and co-workers tell the tales of glory and have had donut envy. Our other site, Get on Dining lists them and we follow them on Twitter.

And now I’ve finally experienced the glory.

Side note, isn’t it funny how you can tag something as both breakfast and as dessert? What does that say about our priorities in this culture?

Taste first. Health second.

Put any health-conscious notions aside for a moment and indulge yourself. Seriously. Salted Caramel and the infamous Smokey Bacon Maple bar were our indulgences on this day. And yes, I would do it all over again.

Except this time I’d have to try and choose between the Aztec Chocolate, the Bourbon Caramel Pecan, the German Chocolate, the Wedding Cake, the White Chocolate Truffle, the Caramel Apple Fritter or the Marcona Almond & Tart Cherry Bismark……

I love you Frost.

I started out with some lovely homemade frozen stock and thawed that in the stockpot while I set about chopping up the ingredients. This one was fairly simple. Just roughly chopped kale, diced rutabage, diced onion, and some cooked sausage. I skinned the sausage first and scrambled it up as I cooked it, so it would be in tiny little bits throughout the soup. The stock had some leftover bits of turkey in it, which gave it a nostalgic Thanksgiving flavor. I think I am sufficiently ready for fall now.

Since our first try about five months ago, we’ve been back at least four or five times. We’re starting to become regulars. I think they need to issue us a punch card. We’ve brought friends, family, and of course went for a late-night dinner just the two of us. This time around we brought my parents, brother and sister.

We checked off various items on the little paper menu they pass around (over half of it I’ve never tasted before) and the staff is always helpful enough to answer all our questions. “What kind of mushroom is that again? What does that taste like? What’s the difference between a bamboo root and a bamboo shoot? Do I have to eat curdled pork blood?” Well, we didn’t ask the last one, but we weren’t brave enough to check it on the menu either.

Some of the many items we ordered this time around were the lamb, cod, scallops, pea tips, baby bok choy (my personal desert-island-hot-pot-vegetable), lotus root (my second desert-island-hot-pot-vegetable), handmade noodles (tasted much like spinach noodles, very nice), bamboo root, and three different kinds of mushrooms. We always get the half-and-half broth, which has nothing to do with dairy and more to do with a yin-yang foodie approach; healing on the right, pain on the left. Just a warning; I’m pretty proud of our spice tolerance. We have a bit of a reputation among our friends. My father has an even higher pain threshold than we do. It’s not good unless you’re sweating. For the spicy side, they offer 1-10. We get a 3. Even my dad caught a coughing fit on a 3. After 6 times ordering the 3, we might be ready to ease up to the 4. Got it? You’ve been warned.

Taking turns dipping, cooking, plunking fat mushrooms and lotus root into the broth to simmer longer, gently and quickly dipping the thinly sliced meats and tender pea tips in until they’re just done, a meal over a hot pot is just as much about the process as it is the destination.

And we are so hooked.

I recently got word from Keren Brown (aka Frantic Foodie) on an upcoming event. Following is her press release:

Chefs Philippe and Joseba to prepare 6-course dinner at Olivar

Philippe Thomelin invites Joseba Jiménez de Jiménez into his Capitol Hill Kitchen Nov. 4th for 6-course, Spanish-French-Basque menu

The flavors on the plates at Olivar early next month —and the language in the kitchen—will be “Spanish with a Basque twist and a French accent” as Seattle’s top Spanish chef, Joseba Jiménez de Jiménez, of Harvest Vine and Txori, teams up with Olivar’s chef Philippe Thomelin, who was born in France and trained in Spain. Together they will create a six-course dinner of regional specialties with matching wines.

“There is a great affinity between the cuisines of Spain and France, and they find their confluence in the Basque Country,” says Chef Joseba. His good friend Chef Philippe concurs. “Having worked on both sides of the border, I want to see these influences come together for a grand dinner.”

The promotional dinner takes place at 7: 00 pm on Wednesday, November 4th. Cost is $60 (excluding tax and gratuity). Suggested wine pairings will be available. Seating is limited and reservations are recommended. (Call 206-322-0409 to book seats.)

The Menu:

Golden Beet Ravioli Filled with Txangurro Donostiarra, Truffle Mayonnaise & Infused Chervil Oil
Spicy Tuna Empanadas with Piquillo Pepper Jam, Herb Sea Salt
Wild Mushroom Consommé with Scallop Mousse & Fried Leeks
Duck Breast with Black Cherry Compote, Carrot & Cauliflower Coulis
Braised Oxtail Cannelloni with Aged Mahon Soufflé & Pedro Jimenez Vinegar Reduction
Goxua Vitoriano

Spanish-born chef Jiménez de Jiménez has been nominated three times for a James Beard Award as Best Chef Northwest/Hawaii. His Harvest Vine in Madison Park is regularly named in local publications as one of the city’s very best restaurants.

Chef Thomelin’s talents and professional skills have been recognized in print and online. Seattle Magazine named Olivar one of the city’s best new restaurants and “Best Restaurant for Romance on a Budget.” The Post Intelligencer named it “Best New Restaurant 09.” Similar praise has come from the Seattle Times, the Stranger, and MyNorthwest.com.
* * *
Olivar is open for dinner nightly from 5 until 10:30 (until 11 on Friday and Saturday) and for brunch on Sundays from 9 to 2:30. For reservations, call 206-322-0409. Olivar is located in the historic Loveless Building at 806 E. Roy St., just off Broadway on Seattle’s Capitol Hill.

Media Contact: Keren Brown
Keren Brown Media
425-614-8399
kerenlovestocook@gmail.com

This one is my own creation, loosely based on what I fondly call “Rewata’s Curry”, simply because a darling girl named Rewata taught me how to make it. I know, I’m clever that way.

For this concoction, I started off with an onion (red, fresh from the CSA today!), and some peppers from our garden. For this batch I used 5 peppers; typically I’ll use 6 or 7 little birds-eye chilies I get at this little Asian market called Mekong (I just love the little old lady that runs it), but I wanted to use the goods from our garden today. I heated up a generous portion of olive oil in a pan and let the onion and peppers sauté in that for a bit. I usually like to use grapeseed oil for this dish, just because it has a higher smoking point and a more neutral flavor, but olive was all I had. I added in a good dose of turmeric (I’ve since realized the error of my earlier assumption. I really disliked those samosas I made, and I just assumed it was the turmeric. I was wrong. I have no idea what made them nasty. And I no longer measure spices when cooking. Go figure.) and plenty of salt, and also snuck in a little “muchi hot curry powder” that I bought in bulk. Let it rest and heat and stew for a bit…

I got to work chopping up that lovely head of cauliflower and got out a bowl of chickpeas I had boiled the night before. I’ve discovered my aversion to beans and chickpeas is probably because I’ve mostly had them canned. I’ve been buying them dried in bulk and cooking them myself and find that I love them so much more. So in went the pile of chickpeas and in went the pile of chopped up bits of cauliflower. I was a little distracted by how much the stalk of the cauliflower looked like vertebrae to me, but you know…

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble till everything is tender and spicy and lots of adding in more salt, scraping the caramelized little bits of goodness from the bottom of the pan, tasting for more chilies, throwing in a good 4-5 cloves of pressed garlic (oops! forgot it!) and finally covering and letting it simmer and soften for a bit. I put a pot of basmati rice on to boil and Cute Boy and I picked a load of cherry tomatoes from our garden to serve with the curry. (Pictured behind the cherry tomatoes are romas, also picked from our garden this evening. Our tomatoes are producing faster than we can keep up with them!) We notice that the Bhutanese families often serve fresh fruit with the meals, it offsets the heat and salt nicely. The cherry tomatoes were a perfect accompaniment.

At the last minute we decided to call over a couple of our friends to share our meal with us; after all, what goes better with curry than some of the friends who inspired you to cook Bhutanese-style in the first place? Bhakta and Sha shared our meal with us, and while the spice level was pretty decent for us, we asked what they thought… the answer was a polite, “Yes, it is a little bit hot.”

We’ll get there someday, friends. We’ll get there.

I typically crave savory over sweet in the mornings, and this morning I was craving a good breakfast sandwich. I love breakfasts that require very little effort, and this one is no different.

I had a few tomatoes and some spinach from our CSA and chopped those up in some rough chunks. Beautiful eggs (a total of 4) were beaten with a bit of S&P and poured into a hot, lightly buttered cast iron skillet. Pile in the spinach and tomatoes, scramble them all up together and plop the bed of goodness onto some toasted bread - spelt in our case.

Breakfast of Champions. O Happy Sunday.

This morning we went to Pavé in our pajamas. They’re accommodating like that. Granted pajamas were sweats and a ballcap, so we weren’t too embarrassing, but early morning weekend breakfasts call for that sort of thing.

Josh is hooked on the raspberry scone, so that was a given. I typically go for the morning glory muffin (so big and dense, it can make for two breakfasts) but this morning I was feeling rebellious and wanted a treat. Lemon bread, mmmmm….. Josh doesn’t like lemon in anything, so I didn’t even have to share. We did get a croissant to share, because for as many years as I’ve been coming here (since I was in high school, I’ll let you do the math), I realized I’ve never had their plain croissants. Everything was just as I expected it to be; perfect.

Some of our favorites that they offer are the bread of course - so many varieties that are amazing for french toast, sandwiches, thick-sliced to go with soup, use the stale leftovers (if you have any!) to make croutons, whatever your little bread-loving heart desires. I also have a weakness for their apple cake. Forgive the glare in the picture, it was still safely behind glass and my will was strong enough today to leave it there. But oh, the apple cake…. dense and moist and sweet and loaded with chunks of apple and buttery and crisp on the edges. Gah.

Other delightful things include the beef stroganoff soup, the asian wrap, and a big fat turkey and havarti sandwich on onion rosemary bread. Thank you, Pavé, for making my lunches a little bit happier.