The Last Word

Originally created by a gentleman named Frank Fogarty at the Detroit Athletic Club in 1920. Half assed research shows that he seems to only be famous for creating this drink.

Revived sometime in the 2000s by Murray Stenson. Now called the "definitive Seattle cocktail. All things considered... Seattle could do a whole lot worse.

The Last Word is an expensive drink to make (around $100 for all the bottles), but so amazingly balanced with herbal, sweet, and sour flavors all coming through.

Also, incredibly easy to make.

The Last Word
3 oz cocktail

3/4 oz Gin (I used Washington's own Voyager)
3/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur.
3/4 oz Green Chartreuse
3/4 oz Fresh Lime

Mix, Shake w/ Ice, Strain, Serve.

A true favorite.

Pisco Sour

A small surprise occurred a few months ago here in Olympia... the local liquor store, for whatever reason, had a special order of Picologia Pisco.  It was a little pricy, but certainly worth it to create the signature cocktail of not one, but two different countries.

Variations are aplenty with the Pisco Sour. Some (perhaps the Chileans?) claim the egg whites are unnecessary, most recipes say to use lemon... but then one notes that South American Limon is closer to a lime. Some use 2-1 rich syrup, some use 1-1 simple syrup. 

And no matter the makeup... Anthony Bordain would rather have a beer. 

In the end, I just went with what I know I like... less sweet and more alcohol. Thus, the recipe from imbibe magazine (with a quick nod to the limon/lemon/lime issue).

Pisco Sour

3 oz Pisco

1 oz lemon and lime juice mixture

3/4 oz simple (1:1 ratio of water and sugar) syrup

1/2 egg white

4 drops angostura bitters

Ice

In a cocktail shaker, mix together pisco, lemon and lime juice (I did about 50/50), simple syrup, and egg white. Cover and shake.

Uncover and add ice (bigger ice cubes are better). Recover and shake.

Strain into a cocktail glass.

Drop 4 or so drops of angostura bitters onto the egg white foam in different spots around the drink. Use a toothpick and swirl them around for the nicely finished look. 

Clash of the Titans

I found this recipe on the back of the bottle of Blackmaker Root Beer Liqueur that I recently bought.

I'm not sure why the drink has this name. It's a mixture of two alcohols... neither of which have any stature that can be compared to that of a titan.

Clash of the Titans

1 oz Pinnacle Whipped Cream Vodka
1 oz Blackmaker Root Beer Liqueur

Shake with ice.
Strain into shot glass.
Consume.

The yelp shot glass automatically gave it 5 stars. I'd say it's more worthy of 3. It tastes like a sugar bomb root beer float. It goes down remarkably smooth given the fairly high proof. If that's what you're looking for... go fourth.

Icelandic Breakfast Part 2

No fancy photo editing of crazy prepared dishes, this is what a normal breakfast was all about in Iceland. Skyr. A fantastic icelandic yogurt that is super healthy, fat free, loaded with protein, and most surprisingly given the aforementioned qualities... tastes fantastic. I ate a few of these every day in Iceland. Sometimes with some tasty muesli thrown on top for a little bit of a crunch. Skyr also comes as an equally delicious shake.  

It may be a little hard to see exactly what is going on here, but this is slice of smoked salmon and egg sandwich from the Sandholt bakery. The bread is loaded with seeds and tastes great. Sadly, this was not too filling and very expensive. A one time affair.

The coffee on the other hand is to die for. Super strong, almost frothy on its own, and a perfect excuse to stop by the bakery at any time of the day.

Catherine's favorite treat. Chocolate and vanilla icing over a flaky croissant like pastry with an eggy sweet custard in the middle.

Finally... Icelandic eggs are boss. Quite a few of them were consumed. We stored them in this very Scandinavian egg rack.

Icelandic Breakfast Part 1

This blog has been slightly dead for a number of months. That said, there isn't a better time to resurrect it than right at this very moment. Why is that? Because I'm on vacation and there is a ton of awesome (pardon me for speaking in the 3rd person) Food for Nick to Eat.

The first thing to show is the first meal after setting foot onto Icelandic soil. A little bit of background is needed to preface this. We arrived in Iceland at about 6:30 AM. We got to our hotel in Reykjavic at 7:45 AM. We could not check in until 2:00 PM. The town of Reykjavic stayed up the previous night drinking until about 6:00 AM. NOTHING HAPPENS UNTIL NOON.

The first thing to do was to kill time and grab some breakfast at this cool little hole in the wall breakfast basement named Grai Kotturinn (Grey Kitten). The offerings are simple, average price by Icelandic standards (pricy by American), and they use delicious Icelandic ingredients that make the simple dishes shine.

So, the picture below is a simple Croque Madame with a side of bacon and a simple green salad. The bread was thick, the ham was salty enough to strike through the other flavors, the cheese sharp, and the egg gooey and and rich. A simple dish superbly executed. 

The food isn't quite the same without a little bit of the atmosphere, so take a look at the interesting artwork.

Nation, I like your moustache, your trousers, and your manners.

The Washington Red Hook

One evening I was at a bar. The kind of bar where you tell the bartender to make you a drink and they create something that you've never tasted before. Upon a request for a nice whiskey drink that wasn't too sweet, the bartender came back with a creation of complex flavor that was not easy to pick apart. The bar was Tavern Law in Seattle - the drink was a Red Hook.

Luckily, the Serious Eats folks were around to provide a recipe for this tasty treat.

I wanted to make this drink my own though. Perhaps even make it that of my own state. Several weeks and a fair amount of money later, I was sipping on a Washington Red Hook.

In order to make the drink Washingtonian, I had to change up a couple of the ingredients. Seeing as the drink only has 3... I changed one and added a very complimentary garnish.

First: A trip Washington's first craft distillery since prohibition, Dryfly, was an excellent way to get some of their new, first in the country, 100% wheat whiskey. Their bourbon would have been a little better suited for the drink, but thirsty consumers can't get their hands on it until August 6th, so I was just fine with what I got.

Second: The garnish. Maraschino cherries are delicious little sugar balls, but what if I actually made them taste like something? And made them out of extremely flavorful grown in Washington Rainier cherries? Winner.

Maraschino Rainier Cherries
taken from the From Away blog


1 cup Luxardo Maraschino Liquor
1/4 cup sugar
32 pitted Rainier Cherries

1: Pit the cherries. I personally used a cherry pitter that I picked up at William Sonoma. Given the store, it was surprisingly inexpensive.
2. Coat the cherries in the sugar. Toss them around to make sure that it's evenly applied throughout. Let them sit for 24 hours.
3. Heat up the Maraschino liquor, but stop it before it simmers. Pour into the jar and shake until all the sugar is dissolved. Cover and place in the refrigerator.
4.  Let steep for 1 week. They will lose a little of their beautiful color and the taste will be completely transformed.

All good things had come together. It was time.

Washington Red Hook


2 oz DryFly Whiskey
1/2 oz Punt E Mes
1/4 oz Maraschino Liquor
Garnish with Cherries

It can be served up or over ice.

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

I'm healthy now, I eat quinoa. 

This is very similar to the phrase I repeated to myself one time trying to convince myself that did indeed like yogurt. 

Yogurt is still a little strange and occasionally makes me gag... but quinoa is extremely delicious AND healthy. Who would have thought? 

Since buying a monster bag of quinoa at Costco I have hardly been adventurous though. This is due to the simple fact that the first recipe I made was incredible. A mediterranean quinoa salad - delicious olives, cucumber, lowfat feta, and a little blast of olive oil and lemon to give the whole thing flavor and a smooth texture. Add the fact that it's super healthy and I'm sold. 

I pulled the recipe from here.

Recipe:

1 cup dry quinoa

2 cups water

2 cups sliced (small) tomatoes - I've used Campari, Grape, and the tasty yellow small ones

1 cup sliced kalamata olives

1 cucumber quartered and sliced

3/4 cup crumbled (lowfat, nonfat, or regular)

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 lemon, juice of

1 tsp oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook the quinoa! It's just like rice. 1 cup quinoa, 2 cups water, bring to a boil, minimize the heat, let it simmer until the water is evaporated, set aside for 5 minutes, fluff with a fork.

Chop all the veggies and add them to the quinoa with the cheese and seasonings. 

Drizzle oil and lemon juice over the top - mix it up and serve.

Semolina and Gruyere Quenelles with Tomato Sauce

Learning about new food is always exciting. Before this I could not have told you what a quenelle was, and if asked, I would have told you incorrectly what semolina was.

Quenelle: Oval shaped dumpling traditionally made of pureed meat or fish.
Semolina: A coarsely ground flour from durum wheat (extra protein, extra gluten)

Now, this was not the easiest thing to make. There's a sauce to make, the dough needs to be made and then chilled, and the formed logs have to be boiled before they're baked. That said, it was real tasty.

Recipe from Vegetarian Times - March 2011 from Chef Raymond Blanc

Quenelles:
1 1/2 cup whole milk
4 tbsp butter
3/4 cup semolina flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
5 oz finely grated gruyere cheese + more for sprinkling

Bring milk and butter to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat.
Stir in flours and cook 2-3 minutes. Be ready with a whisk to avoid chunks.
Take it off the heat and add the egg, egg yolk, and cheese.
Spread the mixture on a baking sheet, cover it, cool it for 2 hours.

In those 2 hours...

Tomato Sauce
3 tbsp olive oil
1 white onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup tomato puree
2 sprigs thyme

Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat.
Add garlic and onion. Saute until softened.
Add everything else. Cook 7 to 8 minutes.
Add 2 cups water and salt and pepper if necessary. Cook 5 minutes.
Hit the food processor and puree this stuff.

Now, time to deal with the cooled quenelles.

Heat the oven to 350.
Bring 2 quarts of water to a simmer.
Split the dough into 8 equal parts and roll them into 4 inch logs on a well floured surface. Add some muscle to make sure they stick together
Slide the cheesy goodness logs into the simmering water. They're going to sink.
It should take about 8 minutes until they rise - use a slotted spoon to grab them and put them on a paper towel lined plate.

Finally... the mix!

8 inch square pan. Add 4 cups of the tomato sauce.
Add the quenelles in whatever way makes the most sense.
Sprinkle some extra cheese over the top.
Bake 20 minutes. Serve.

Burgers Continue... The Reuben Burger

I actually made this a while ago, but haven't gotten around to posting it... or anything else lately. so here it goes.

To me, nothing could be easier to decide to make after I thought of the idea.

Corned beef = Amazing
Reuben sandwiches = Amazing
Burgers = Heroic

Answer: Reuben burger.

I didn't feel like taking the time to corn my own beef, so I simply stopped by safeway and got a big slab of corned brisket. I took it home and washed all the seasonings off, chopped it into 1/2 inch cubes, mostly froze them, grinded them, and then formed 1/2 lb patties. This whole process, and the way I cooked it, was pretty much the same as the pub burger. There are a certain changes that had to be made though.

- Do not salt the meat before cooking, the meat is certainly salty enough
- I topped the burger with sourkraut and then a nice swiss cheese.
- I served it in between two slice of rye bread and added a delicious russian dressing - recipe here.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup ketchup (gross but necessary)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp grated onion
1 tbsp horse radish
1/2 lemon, juice
1/4 tsp chili sauce
1/4 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Mix it up!

In the end, I would say that the burger was better than a good reuben, but not nearly as good as the best. Perhaps it's a way of standardizing. One thing is for certain though, it was tender, juicy, and absolutely loaded with flavor. Well... I suppose that's 3 things.

Fat Kid Day in NYC

I recently spent two days in New York City. The two days were actually one full day and two half days. The full day I spent most of my time eating. That and walking to the next place that I would be eating. Here is a rundown of some of the awesome treats I had. The counting of calories is not allowed.

Started the day off with a quality New York bagel from Nussbum and Wu. They also had Stumptown Coffee, a nice little touch.

Got myself together and headed off. I needed a pickle. The spot to go was The Pickle Guys. You stroll into a small downstairs room filled with barrels of pickles and make your selection. Doesn't seem too fancy until you finally bite into them. I tried some of a full sour, half sour, and a spicy sour. Before I left I asked the helpful picklesmith what the one other thing I needed to try was. He handed me a piece of pickled pineapple. Holy shit was he right, seriously devine. Sweet, tangy, just perfect. Once outside I gave all the others a shot. The spicy sour was the champion in my book, with full sour coming in second and the half sour the odd pickle out.

From there the quest was Katz's Deli. We started walking out there and what just happened to be in the way? A rather famous cupcake place that makes most of their stuff vegan/gluten free/artificial sugar free. Babycakes! We split the Red Velvet cake a little later at a Starbucks. 

More than anything, I got the strong flavor of coconut. There's delicious sweetness with a slightly gritty texture. Not a favorite, but certainly something awesome to happen upon. 

From there we kept walking and were at the famous deli in no time. The walls are covered in pictures of every celebrity. The counter has like 6 stations to order at. I went to all of the wrong ones before I made it to the right one. I attempted to order 1/8 lb of both Pastrami and Corned Beef. The guy quickly cut up a 1/3 lb off Pastrami and asked "good?" At nearly $30/lb it wasn't that good. I took the pastrami and didn't get to try it's non-smoked companion. That said... oh my god was it delicious. So tender, loaded with flavor, piping hot... just incredible.

Some strolling around Chinatown, gawking at knockoff purses on canal street, and some other seeing of sights and it was lunchtime. I can't say I was exactly hungry, so good thing there was an hour long wait to order and a nice park to stand in for the wait. The place is Shake Shack. Something of a burger legend and I got to try it. 

Double Shake Burger. Shroom Burger (Not mine, still amazing though). Cheese Fries. Fair Shake (Not very good).

A little bit of hamburger heaven. Thick and juicy. Fantastic bun. Wonderful flavor. Easily bests its National Chain rivals.

Cheese fries with a tasty little american and cheddar blend on them.

At this point it becomes a solo adventure and I head over to Eatily. This is Mario Batale's grocery store filled with everything delicious and expensive. I wondered around for probably an hour just looking at the deli - with 8 different types of proscuitto, the meat department - with Pat LaFrieda cuts, the vegetable department - with CRAZY things like white eggplant, and the vinegar zone - with the most expensive vinegar EVER. 

The bottle is 3.4 oz. 

I then stumbled upon a cool little collection of street vendors. With no room for real food, I did the next best thing... dessert. I walked up to the guy with a big block of ice and he turned it into shave ice. Too bad it wasn't very good. 

Some time shopping, some time moving, some time sitting, and it was time to head out for dinner. The spot was a strange place at the end of a subway line in Flushing, NY. It was, humorously enough, a mall food court - the Flushing Mall Food Court. A mall food court where no one spoke english, we were cut in line constantly, vegetarian food was extremely rare, and when it was found... we weren't quite sure it was actually vegetarian. I got the special form a place that I just learned was named Lanzhou Noodle. I thought the place was actually just called hand pulled noodles. Anyways, it had good fresh noodles, some cut of beef, a pork rib, and a fried egg in it. I later had some mediocre scallion pancake and deep fried pumpkin cake in a second attempt to find vegetarian food. Finished it off with a crazy ice cream crepe type thing. All very fun, but it was time to leave. 

And there you have it, a day of gluttony in NYC.