The ABC Food Journal

When in Portlandia...

2012-10-19T23:56:00.000-05:00

You must brunch! Portland has a huge brunch culture. With a recommendation from Aaron's friend, we went to brunch at Urban Farmer Restaurant. Believe me, I was a little skeptical about brunch at a hotel restaurant, but that concern was quickly put to rest. We took the elevator up to the modern lobby, where the restaurant was situated in the well lit atrium. You would've never guessed that it was a gray, overcast day given all the natural light.

In recent years, I've come to recognize the importance of eating seasonally and locally for political, environmental, and culinary reasons. Like one of my Chicago favorites, Perennial Virant, I loved the display of canned jars that were incorporated into the decor. It's a sign that we'll be eating well.

While in the Pacific Northwest, I highly recommend eating as much Dungeness crab as possible. Given the crab omelet that I enjoyed in Anchorage, I wanted to try a different take on it. I'll have to give the nod to Anchorage for their crab omelet. Urban Farmer's version was a little rich for my taste, with an herbed hollandaise that overpowered the crab. The potato on the side was nicely crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside.

Another thing that sets Portland apart from Seattle and Vancouver is its love for meat. The cheddar bacon biscuit was quite thorough in covering multiple meat groups: a fluffy biscuit is studded with bacon and baked with cheddar on top. It is split in half and filled with a crispy chicken leg, greens, pickled red onions and a fried egg. For the final touch of decadence: the sandwich sits atop sausage gravy.

We somehow rolled out of the restaurant after our rich brunch and squeezed in some quick tax-free shopping before returning to Seattle. Even though we were only in Portland for less than 24 hours, we liked what we saw and vowed to return for a longer weekend.

Biwa: Late night dining

2012-10-17T17:28:00.000-05:00

After a long day of driving along the Oregon Coast, we finally settled into our hotel for the evening. Portland is known for its foodie scene, and I had a difficult time choosing our dinner option for the night. Since the clock was ticking away, we opted to check out Biwa. We lucked out with a couple of front row seats at the bar providing a great view into the kitchen. The menu was quite expansive, and furthermore, since it was later into the evening, we could also order off the late night menu.

For regular readers of this blog, you probably will have noticed the lack of alcoholic drinks being profiled in my writing. I have an allergy to alcohol, which makes me get really hot and uncomfortable. Truthfully, it's quite annoying to explain this in social situations. I end being a cheap date for Aaron on most occasions, but sometimes a restaurant's non-alcoholic drinks will pique my interest. While in Portland, I often came across drinking vinegars for seltzer water. At Biwa, I went with the ume based on our server's recommendation. It's a pickling brine made from umeboshi plums. We munched on an amuse buche of spiced popcorn while we waited for our food to arrive.

We started with an order of gyoza since the wrapper was handmade, and we often forfeit our share to the kids at family gatherings. The wrapper was uniformly thin and crisply fried around the savory pork filling.

For our mains, we enjoyed the udon and ramen from the late night menu. Aaron has always been a fan of the more toothsome udon variety, especially when it is swimming in a rich spicy broth. For me, I've always had a soft spot for ramen, and no, not the ten cent Maruchan variety from your big box grocer!

We wended the meal with miso butterscotch gelato from a local gelateria.

Voodoo Doughnut

2012-10-15T17:33:00.000-05:00

Depending on who you ask, many might speculate that doughnuts have replaced cupcakes as the hottest bakery trend.A trip to Portland could not be complete without a trip to Voodoo Doughnut.

I tried to keep our order under control by keeping it to four doughnuts (clockwise):

mango tango: a yeast raised doughnut with a vibrant mango jelly filling, vanilla frosting, and a citrusy dusting of tang; verdict: a pleasant surprise

maple bacon long john: a yeast raised doughnut, strong maple presence in the frosting, overly crispy bacon; verdict: not as good as Dynamo Donut in SF

apple fritter: large and in charge, this apple studded fritter was well spiced with cinnamon, tender dough; verdict: solid

chocolate covered buttermilk: a standard doughnut for comparison between doughnut purveyors, not especially memorable

Vancouver: Guu Izakaya

2012-09-24T00:25:00.000-05:00

With its geographic location on the West coast of North America, Vancouver is one of the most diverse cities that come to mind. This lends itself well to being rich in culinary delights. With the large population of Japanese, izakaya establishments are commonplace. There are a few major players in Vancouver, and some have multiple locations with slightly different personalities: Guu, Hapa, Zakkushi, and Kingyo. As you can imagine, it was not easy narrowing it down to just one, so we went to the Original Guu on Thurlow since it was withing walking distance of our hotel.

We left for an early dinner and took a detour to take in the surroundings of our area. An izakaya is a Japanese pub serving tapas style food. Not only is it about the food, but it's also about the lively, loud atmosphere. You can only imagine our surprised when we saw a dozen or so other people already waiting to enter fifteen minutes prior to the restaurant's opening time!

Once opening time had arrived, people were efficiently seated and servers began arriving at tables to take orders and yell them to the chefs! It is a bit intimidating at first, especially since English was not a strong suit for the staff, so you're left to your own devices.

Thankfully, our ordering skills did not disappoint! Our dishes arrived piping hot and fresh. They were beautifully prepared and tasted as good as they looked.

croquettes

Saba shio: grilled mackeral with salt

kim chi fried rice

tontoro: grilled pork cheek with yuzu ponzu

Yaki udon

Vancouver: Meat & Bread

2012-09-22T01:18:00.000-05:00

Six months in Seattle would not be completed without a visit from my parents. To make it worthwhile, we planned to drive up to Vancouver for Labor Day weekend so that they could spend a few days during the week with their friends. Crossing the border on a holiday weekend is not a quick and easy process. By the time we reached city center, we were famished. I had already planned to hit Meat & Bread for their popular porchetta sandwich. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. In fact, my mom proclaimed it to be the best sandwich she ever had. The ciabatta was fresh, with a light and chewy crumb. The porchetta was flavorful and had the right amount of fattiness. A squeeze of yellow mustard was served on the side for dipping. We added a meatball sandwich to share, but another porchetta sandwich would've probably been the better way to go.

Onto Seward

2012-09-20T01:51:00.000-05:00

After our tram ride, we continued onward to Seward. We decided to take a quick detour to stop in Whittier, what an unusual town! We had to pay $12 for the one lane tunnel into town. The tunnel goes into town on the hour, and leaves town on the half hour. If you don't time it right, you'll have to wait until the next opportunity!

The entire town lives in an old building used for barracks and officers' housing from WWII! Aaron read about some amazing views from the building. We wandered in as if we knew where we were going. I'm sure we stood out like sore thumbs in this small town. Once we arrived at the top floor, it was quite obvious that there was not going to be a viewpoint at all. We scurried out before anyone inquired about our intent.

There's even a couple of documentaries about the "strange town." We met the reindeer lady outside her store as we were walking through the "town center."

Once we finally reach Seward, we spent some time in the Alaska Sealife Center. A portion of the settlement after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill was used to build the research and rehabilitation Sealife Center.

After the Sealife Center, we wanted to hit Exit Glacier. En route to the visitor center, there are several markers along the way showing how much the glacier has retreated over the years due to changes in the world climate. Seeing the human impact on nature like this really makes one think twice about our daily habits.

The next day, we had a tour booked through Kenai Fjords tours to take us to Northwestern Glacier, which happens to be named after my alma mater! I'd never been on a whale watching boat tour, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I had always heard that Alaska was teeming with wildlife, but this tour surpassed my wildest expectations. I was a little worried about being bored on a 9 hour tour, but time flew by! We saw orca pods, humpback whales, sea otters (my personal favorite), puffins, seals, seal lions, and more!

After our tour, we grabbed a quick dinner at Chinooks before hitting the road back to Anchorage for the night. The halibut fish and chips were beer battered, which is my favorite for fish.

On the docks, you can see the fisherman processing the day's catch. It was quite amazing to see the various sizes.

Breakfast in Girdwood

2012-09-18T01:19:00.000-05:00

We packed rather light for our long weekend in Alaska, so after our jeans got covered in mud from our hike, we decided to do some laundry in town before heading onward. While our clothes were in the washer, we enjoyed breakfast at the Bake Shop. Our timing was perfect because as soon as we sat down, a huge tour bus dropped off 30+ people!

We ordered the Sweet Roll to go, so that we could enjoy it during our drive later in the day. Rather than just a cinnamon sugar filling, these rolls had a fruity swirl and a huge pat of softened butter on the side.

They have a few egg scrambles and omelets on the menu, but I prefer to order something that I can't easily recreate at home. We each ordered three sourdough pancakes. They were thin and huge with that sourdough tang. If you're looking for a carby start to your day, be sure to check out the Bake Shop.

After finishing our laundry, we returned to our hotel to take the tram up to the mountain top. The views were breath taking.

Dinner in Girdwood

2012-09-15T01:08:00.000-05:00

After brunch in Anchorage, we jumped onto the Seward Highway toward Girdwood for our first night's stay. We stayed at the luxurious Hotel Alyeska, which I highly recommend. It's situated "in a lush valley surrounded by mountain peaks, hanging glaciers and spectacular ocean views."

We worked up an appetite after a five mile hike behind the resort to reach the hand tram.

For dinner, we drove to Jack Sprat, where the chef's resume includes such high profile restaurants like the French Laundry.

For starters, we couldn't resist their highly acclaimed yam fries. I couldn't believe the size of each fry! They were as big as a biscotti! The fries had a delicate coating rich in garlicky flavor, which was cut by the jalapeno arugula aioli.

We added a salad of roasted beets, bruleed goat cheese, and toasted walnuts with orange citronette over mixed greens to make us feel less indulgent about our yam fries. The ratio of ingredients was just right.

Pan seared halibut served over smoked paprika polenta, roasted broccolini, and roasted tomato and oregano vinaigrette.

Aaron opted for the evening special: King Salmon with king crab meat, baby bok choy, roasted potatoes in a lemon grass & crab meat cream sauce. He proclaimed it one of the best things he's ever eaten. I could see why after I stole a few bites off his plate. The sauce was light and flavorful in support of the gorgeously fresh salmon and crab meat.

While in Alaska, you feel compelled to support the local fishing industry, and so the obvious choice for me was the pan roasted halibut with roasted tomato & oregano vinaigrette over smoked paprika polenta and broccolini.

We were so spoiled with fresh, local seafood, I really don't know how we will ever eat so well when we return to Chicago.

Anchorage Brunch

2012-09-12T01:42:00.000-05:00

While planning our time in Seattle, we were determined to take advantage of our close proximity to so many great destinations. At the top of our list was Alaska. While many people travel to Alaska via a cruise, I was hesitant to take too much time off at any given time since I am technically here for work. We decided on a long weekend. This allowed us to pack in a lot of our own interests in a short amount of time without having to waste time cruising on a boat or being constrained by their schedule.

Thankfully, our honeymoon flights to Australia two years ago rewarded up with enough miles for our flights. Delta partners with Alaska Airlines, which naturally has a hub here in Seattle. It was our first experience with Alaska Airlines, which was quite pleasant for us.

Food and activities in Alaska don't come cheaply with their limited tourism season and freight costs for things from the mainland. Fishing is a major source of income, so we both wanted to enjoy seafood at every meal possible. Since we had an early flight, and we gained an hour, it was time for lunch we arrived. We picked out Snow City Cafe, and given the crowd, we knew we made the right choice. I'm so glad I made reservations using Open Table on my phone to avoid the long wait.

We ordered the crabby omelet which was overflowing with fresh, flaky crab meat and melted mozzarella. I loved the rich, creamy avocado slices on top. The hash browns were phenomenal: crisp on the outside,
smooth and creamy on the inside.

For the second entree, we went with our server's recommendation for the salmon cakes. Unfortunately, we didn't find that they lived up to her hype, and furthermore, our egg yolks were not as runny as we would have liked.
Breakfast dishes also come with toast, and I chose sourdough since it's just as legendary as sourdough from San Francisco. Each table has a jar of homemade jam, and we enjoyed the strawberry flavor. I love the homey touches of this popular local eatery.

Raspberry with Chocolate Jam

2012-09-09T16:59:00.003-05:00

I just finished making a small batch of Christine Ferber's raspberry with chocolate jam. It was incredibly messy after walking away from the stove for 2 minutes resulting in my biggest kitchen mess ever. Thank goodness this wasn't my own kitchen. Considering the very small yield, itt was also incredibly expensive to get organic raspberries and top notch bittersweet chocolate. In the end, it was so worth it, and I am a jam snob for life.

Trophy Cupcakes

2012-08-29T12:29:00.000-05:00

On a sunny August day, I found myself near one of Seattle's three Trophy Cupcake locations. The shop was cute as can be and carried a lot of cupcake themed merchandise like cute notepads and various cupcake toppers.

Like many cupcake shops, a few staple flavors are available daily, some flavors are available on a rotating basis, and one flavor is featured for one monthly only. Anything that is available on a limited basis draws me in first. Being that both Aaron and I love blueberries, the blueberry pie was a no-brainer and the first flavor I chose. We also love lemonade, especially strawberry lemonade, so that was next. Since the cupcake box had room for 2 more, I opted for the for chocolate espresso bean. It just doesn't seem right to leave a bakery without something chocolatey, right?

I'm such a sucker for cute packaging, and specialty bakeries never seem to let me down in this department. Stripes, scalloped edges, and one of my favorite color combinations of brown and aqua put a big grin across my face before I even took a bite of its scrumptious contents!

Thankfully, these cupcakes and packaging were not just for show. They fully lived up to their presentation. They were moist, tender, beautifully decorated, and bold in flavor. Biting into the tender vanilla cupcake revealed a fresh blueberry filling. The cupcake was lined with a flaky pie crust. The frosting had just the right amount of sweetness. The strawberry lemonade was the perfect marriage where neither flavor dominated. The chocolate espresso bean was another match made in heaven. I really liked that the frosting on all three cupcakes were light, fluffy, and well balanced.

Later in the week, I found myself near another Trophy Cupcake location. Since it was just an hour before closing, they marked down the cupcakes to buy one get one free! I couldn't resist a deal, so I opted for another blueberry pie, peanut butter and jelly, salted caramel, and samoa. I must have been taking some crazy turns on the drive home because the box flew off the back seat and took a somersault onto the floor. I should've snapped a picture of my disaster just for laughs, but I was too ashamed of my crazy driving. The flavors were great and actually kept until the next day or two without getting dry, crusty, or hard. The only letdown among these four was the peanut butter and jelly. The homemade strawberry jam was too sweet, and there was too much frosting. I also didn't find the peanut butter flavor to be pronounced enough. I would not recommend this flavor.

Blueberry corn relish

2012-08-21T21:29:00.000-05:00

Using our freshly picked blueberries, I made local Seattleite Chef Tom Douglas' recipe for a blueberry corn relish. I paired it with his signature rub with love on fresh, sockeye salmon. Thanks to my sorority sister, April, for introducing me to this rub. The rub includes brown sugar, which caramelizes nicely as the salmon cooks. I omitted the red bell pepper from the relish, and I don't think it was missed. The relish was sweet, crunchy, and savory all at the same time. I enjoyed the leftover relish with some corn chips, but it was perfectly delicious straight out of the bowl. It was a lovely Pacific Northwest dinner for the late summer evening.

Bluberry picking

2012-08-19T20:13:00.000-05:00

As I packed up for the road trip cross country, I decided to skip canning in 2012. I quickly regretted that choice after seeing the bountiful produce here in the Pacific Northwest. For my first summer canning project, I decided to go blueberry picking. I've always wanted to go blueberry picking, but the season is short in Midwest, and very, very hot. It's also not very convenient to find a u-pick farm near the city. Imagine my excitement when I learned that I could pick blueberries at a farm just 20 minutes from our West Seattle apartment!

Aaron and I picked blueberries for about an hour, which yielded 4.3 pounds! We used the blueberries for eating, freezing, and canning. For my two canning projects, I made blueberry aigre doux and blueberry jam. I haven't tasted them yet, but I will certainly blog about it when we open the jars.

Cucumber fennel salsa

2012-08-15T21:26:00.000-05:00

I love fresh, homemade salsa - whether it's a simple pico de gallo, tomatillo salsa, or a fruit salsa. I had a leftover bulb of fennel after repeating this lovely summer salad, which led me to an interesting salsa recipe. Fortunately, we had a bounty of lemon cucumbers that we couldn't eat quickly enough. If you are in search of a bright, crunchy, off beat salsa, this fennel cucumber salsa is for you.

Serious Pie

2012-08-04T00:19:00.000-05:00

After a disappointing pizza experience at a highly recommended local favorite, we were starting to worry about when we'd have good pizza again. Having had good experiences at Lola and Palace Kitchen, I suggested a third Tom Douglas restaurant: Serious Pie. We are thrilled to report that it's now one of our favorite thin crust pizzas!

The menu is small with a concentration on seasonal ingredients, but the reduced list of choices certainly didn't make it any easier to choose! Based on our server's recommendation, we started with the pork belly, apricot mostarda, arugula, and pistachios. The pork belly was expertly prepared - crisp on the outside and tender porky flavor on the inside.

Since we couldn't narrow it down to one pizza, we ordered two: roasted corn, walla walla onions, ricotta, and summer herbs; sweet fennel sausage, roasted peppers and provolone. The roasted corn pizza was fully loaded with ingredients and taste. The ricotta was rich and creamy on the crisp pizza crust. The sauce on the sausage pizza had that recognizable sweetness of san marzano tomatoes.

On a previous dinner at Palace Kitchen, I opted not to get their signature coconut cream pie. Fortunately, it was on the menu at Serious Pie, which made dessert a no-brainer even though we were full!

Mini Produce Bag #1

2012-08-01T21:00:00.000-05:00

I'm finally back on the wagon of getting weekly produce bags! I've been hitting the weekly farmers market here on Sundays, where I have been buying big, juicy cherries, salad greens, and berries. I wanted to be exposed to more variety, so when Tiny's Organic came up on groupon, I quickly jumped at the chance to give them a try. They had been on my short list of local CSAs, so a three week mini-bag was the perfect trial.

I picked up my first bag after work tonight, and I could not believe the heft of this so-called "mini-bag." This produce bag kicks butt compared to the CSA's in Chicago! We received purple basil, 15 lemon cucumbers, 4 honey blaze nectarines, 6 pluots, a bag full of cherries, 10 donut peaches, oh my! I've never even seen or had lemon cucumbers, which are an heirloom variety. They were deliciously refreshing, crisp, and easy to disgest with a thin skin. Isn't the box of donut peaches adorable? I can't wait to see what is in store for us next week.

Skillet Diner

2012-07-30T00:52:00.000-05:00

Working at Boeing Field during the work week does not allow me the opportunity to try the food trucks that frequent the downtown area during lunch hour. I had seen numerous mention of the Skillet Street Food Truck due to their recent cookbook release, their infamous bacon spread, and of course, their food truck. Learning about Skillet Diner made our dinner choice a no-brainer.

We arrived on the early side for dinner time, so we were seated right away. I would not recommend sitting at the counter if you are vertically challenged like myself. The seats are set far away from the counter, forcing you to sit on the edge of your seat to reach the floor and the counter. Furthermore, without a foot rest, the circulation in the back of my thighs were getting cut off. Needless to say, we asked for a two-top after we placed our food order, which irked the hostess.

Onto the food....Aaron opted for the Friday night special: bbq spare ribs served on a bed of whiskey baked beans. The richness of the ribs and beans were contrasted by the cool and crisp coleslaw. The ribs were succulent, tender, and flavorful. The jalapeno cornbread had a great kick to them and made moist from the addition of goat cheese. I ordered the fried chicken dinner and upgraded for a cornmeal waffle. The fried chicken was crisp, moist, and well seasoned. The waffle was surprisingly a disappointment - it was dense and dull., but I loved the mustard tossed potatoes and greens.

Macrina Bakery

2012-07-23T23:16:00.000-05:00

I somehow came across Macrina Bakery last winter and started subscribing to their monthly newsletter. After being in Seattle for a couple of weeks, I was thrilled to learn of its close proximity to our apartment and to the Costco that we frequent. Before running our Sunday errands, we enjoyed a seasonal brunch at Macrina. The weekend brunch menu varies from week to week. For our first visit, Aaron ordered a bagel sandwich with smoked salmon, cream cheese, and scrambled eggs. I ordered the market special with heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. Our ticket somehow got lost after placing our order, so when the staff realized this oversight, they compensated us with a pastry filled with raspberry jam.

When Aaron went home to Buffalo the following weekend, I returned to Macrina for a solo brunch. I again ordered the market special, but on that specific day, it was a fried egg in between two delicious slices of their artisan break.

I have since returned to Macrina after work to pick up a loaf of rye bread. It was wonderfully flavorful, tender on the inside, and hearty and crusty on the exterior. It was a great bread for a patty melt dinner one night when I decided to caramelize a Walla Walla onion.

Cherry hand pie

2012-07-10T19:03:00.000-05:00

While Chicago may have suffered from a horrible cherry season this year, cherries are bountiful here in the Pacific Northwest. I've been buying cherries from the West Seattle Farmers' Market every week since I arrived. I've learned about varieties beyond bing and rainier. I have fallen in love with the Techlovan and Van varieties. They are related to bing cherries, but they are plumper, sweeter, and juicier. If that wasn't enough, they are also a lot more flavorful too. It's been difficult controlling myself from eating a whole pound in one sitting, so I managed to save a few to make a cherry hand pie one night.

Steak sauce

2012-06-18T01:18:00.000-05:00

Earlier in the spring, I pickled ramps for the first time using a reduced recipe from Preservation Kitchen. I didn't have a use for them until I saw this recipe on the Local Beet.

While putting together my Artizone order, a strip steak was one of the first items added to my cart. The delivered steak was large enough to be cut it in half for us to share. I came home from work late that evening, so Aaron proceeded to prepare dinner for us. He said the sauce was quick and easy to prepare.This unique sauce was bold in flavor and paired really well with the steak.

My first brunch in Seattle

2012-06-17T15:11:00.000-05:00

I arrived into Seatac yesterday and spent the day running around buying things for the apartment like dishes and bedding. Since I didn't have any groceries in the house yet, I wanted to treat myself to a nice brunch in the neighborhood before checking out the West Seattle Farmers Market. After surfing the internet for nearby brunch options, I decided on Fiddlehead Cafe. It had just opened this past spring, and I liked that it was a small, independently run operation. I knew I had made the right choice when I arrived to a long wait. Fortunately, my table was ready much sooner than expected. I placed my order at the counter before going to my table. Since it was a Sunday, I ordered the salmon potato cakes since 1) I'm in Seattle, 2) it's only available on weekends, which makes is even more special, and 3) because it's salmon season.

My patience paid off when my dish arrived: two salmon potato cakes were topped with two perfectly poached eggs swimming in a lemon cream sauce with some fresh spinach to cut the richness. There were large chunks of tender potato and moist salmon in every bite. Amazingly enough, the exterior of the cakes maintained a nice crispness under the egg and the sauce.

After brunch, I walked over a couple of blocks to pick up some gorgeous carrots, mixed salad greens, and heirloom tomatoes for salad during the week. I'm really looking forward to making this a weekly routine.

Garlic Scape Pesto

2012-06-15T15:30:00.000-05:00

Last year, we received a bunch of garlic scapes in our CSA. They are the wild, curly part that shoots up from the garlic being grown underground. I'd never had them before, but our CSA newsletter recommended Dorie Greenspan's pesto. Being a fan of Dorie's and seeing the Amateur Gourmet's enthusiasm for this recipe, I decided to go for it. I am so glad I did! As much as I love basil and in spite of the cult following for ramp pesto, garlic scape pesto is where it's at! It's a gorgeous verdant green that remains vibrant! It doesn't darken or brown with time. The scapes have a wonderfully garlic aroma to them, and the almonds are a nice alternative to pine nuts. I used raw, whole almonds that I toasted in place of the slivered almonds. I think this adds a nice crunchy texture. I have used this pesto for pasta, a dip, and a condiment for portobello burgers, eggs, or a baguette. I have smeared it on bread with fresh mozzarella and a local tomato, and my tastebuds do the happy dance. Keep an eye out for it before it disappears from the market.

Birthday brunch at Longman and Eagle

2012-06-13T01:30:00.000-05:00

Last summer we enjoyed a memorable dinner at Longman and Eagle, which put it on Aaron's radar for his birthday brunch. As you may have noticed, we don't often dine out for brunch, and so when we do, it has to be extraordinary. Thankfully, Longman and Eagle did not disappoint.

We sat outside, hence, the crazy tree shadows on our plates. We were both tempted to order the chicken and waffle, but our server's strong endorsement of the duck hash convinced us to order it.

Sunny Side Duck Egg Hash with Duck Confit, Nichols Farm Spring Onions, Yukon Gold Potato, Black Truffle Vinaigrette. Aaron loved this rich and indulgent hash.

Fried Chicken, Waffles, Sweet Potato & Pork Belly Hash, Maple Syrup - While the skin was perfectly crisp, I didn't love the chicken. I felt like the coating for the batter was too floury. I loved the other components though.

Happy Birthday Aaron!

2012-06-12T22:28:00.000-05:00

With the move out to Seattle, I won't be able to bring all my kitchen goodies with me, including my beloved Kitchen Aid mixer. I'm definitely going to miss having homemade ice cream and homebaked goods while out there, but I'm hoping to eat more healthful by enjoying the abundantly fresh seafood and produce instead.

For my last baked good using the Kitchen Aid mixer, I baked Aaron's birthday cake - the Grasshopper Cake from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. The grasshopper cake is made of three layers of rich chocolate cake filled with mint chocolate ganache and mint frosting. I normally don't like cold cake, but when eaten straight out of the fridge after the first day this cake had the refreshing qualities of Aaron's favorite ice cream flavors: mint chocolate chip.

Artizone

2012-06-09T22:15:00.000-05:00

A new delivery service launched in Chicago earlier this year: Artizone. I've never used grocery delivery services like Peapod before, so I didn't really know what to expect. I saw that there was a special coupon to buy a $120 gift certificate for only $65. Given the list of stores using Artizone, I leapt at the deal. I really liked that Artizone gathered groceries from local artisans and specialty businesses. With my impending departure from Chicago, I had to use the deal soon before it expired.

I was really pleased with the transaction. My order arrived in two large coolers - one for shelf stable items, and another for cold items. My delivery person unpacked it all for me when he came upstairs. He was very gracious to Bailey's inquisitive excitement.

Each store had their own separate boxes, which can be returned to Artizone with your next delivery. The items were in perfect condition - no broken or cracked eggs, perfect avocados, gorgeous lean strip steak. As a token of gratitude, Artizone gifted me a packet of grilling rub from the Spice House! It was such a pleasant surprise. I received two follow up calls to ensure that I was happy with products and service.

I would highly recommend this service to those within the delivery area of Artizone. It's a great time saver, and they are constantly adding new suppliers. I'm looking forward to using their service again when I return to Chicago in December.

Here is what I purchased:
Hagan Fish Market: Spruce Point Smoked Atlantic Salmon
Gepperth's Meat Market: Black Angus New York Strip and Beef Brisket
Pasta Puttana - Golden Egg pasta
Green Grocer: avocados, heavy cream, half and half, organic eggs
The Spice House: Pickling spice and curry powder
Hendrickx Belgian Bakery: 3 Croissants - Chocolate, almond, and pistachio
Italian Superior Bakery: frozen dough balls

Here's a picture of the brisket that Aaron smoked.

More pictures and posts to come of what else we cooked.