Black Bottle, Seattle

My summer trip to Seattle was peppered with lots of interesting places to eat. Honestly, isn't trying new restaurants an appealing element of travel? Eager to get started after a long flight, the first place I visited was Black Bottle, a gastropub down the street from my hotel. First impression was that the ambiance was cozy and chill, with a modern vibe.

I started off with something to drink. I associate gastropubs with interesting cocktails and food, and the drink list was creative. I looked for something fruity to sip, and asked the server for suggestions. He recommended the Rootstock, which he described as "a grown up fruit punch." My first impression of the drink was that it was much more herbaceous than I expected (and honestly, more than I hoped for). I didn't like it very much, but to be fair, it paired nicely with the food. When sipped after spicier bites, the drink became more balanced and that sweeter, fruit punch taste came through much more.

I ended up trying three different things: bite-sized fried chicken, wild boar ribs, and ahi tuna tacos. It's worth mentioning that everything here is quite appetizer sized ("shareable"). The fried chicken was my favorite of the three. It was juicy, white meat, and not greasy. The crust was a nice deep golden brown color and had a good amount of salt (but not "salty", ya know?) The chicken came with a dipping sauce that had a pleasant, mildly sweet flavor. 

The wild boar ribs had a dry rub with a lovely smoky flavor. The rub built up a nice level of spiciness as I ate, which was pleasant. The texture of these was not as juicy as I'd hoped, but they certainly weren't dry. 

Unfortunately, the dish I had the most excitement for ended disappointing me the most. The ahi tuna tacos were not the meaty chunks of beautiful, deep pink raw fish I'd hoped for. Rather, they were grey, dry, overcooked sadness. Ahi tuna is one of the most delightful ingredients to work with, and while cooked preparations aren't unheard of, I believe it shines best in its raw form. But the tuna included in these tacos took a luxury ingredient and cooked it to the point where it could've been any generic whitefish (whitefish can withstand more heat and/or longer cook times, so probably would've been a better, and cheaper, protein for this application honestly). All the joy of this lovely ingredient was cooked out of it. Moving away from a technical error into more of a preference, I'm not crazy about corn tortillas, and these tacos came with two layers of tortilla, ostensibly to hold the heaviness of the fish. This is a common practice too, but again, using a less dense whitefish or swapping for flour tortillas would've avoided this. I didn't mind, but my dining partner did say he found them difficult to eat. Another issue I had was that the tacos just had no flavor. Each bite was very one-note. Unfortunately, I had one bite that was all parsley. The idea of an ahi tuna taco is good in theory, but I wasn't a fan of Black Bottle's implementation of it. I didn't end up finishing these.

I think Black Bottle is well-intentioned, but it just missed the mark for me. Its trendy and isn't doing anything groundbreaking. I'm fond of the use of creative or unconventional proteins anywhere. But I don't think Black Bottle is necessarily impressing with what their serving well enough to stand out. And while the price point isn't crazy, I don't think the quality justifies the price point (my dishes averaged $12 each).  It's a cute spot in a great location, but not something I would seek out if I went back to Seattle.

Meeting an Iron Chef: Adana, Seattle

During my trip to Seattle in June, my boyfriend at the time and I enjoyed a ton of great food (I mean, that's part of the joy of traveling. Like, a huge part). Seattle was spectacularly unplanned for me as far as itinerary, and that lack of organization trailed me up to and including the last day.

As we were enjoying views from the Skyview Observatory, we thought about where to go eat before our return flight. When in doubt, I often consult the internet (what's up Eater/Tripadvisor!). And lo and behold, I discovered that my favorite contestant from Iron Chef Gauntlet, Shota Nakajima, has a restaurant in Seattle called Adana. As soon as I realized this, I turned to the BF and said "we have to go!"

Adana has a tasting menu style, where you can choose how many courses you get (we chose three courses). Then, you can choose between two options per each course. I started off with a popular, cute cocktail called a Hello Kitty, a neon pink fruity drink with an adorable picture of the Hello Kitty character attached to the glass with a clothespin.

Adana is of the caliber of restaurant that likes to spoil it's guests with divine extras. One of these generous gifts was a fantastic taste of ahi tuna. It came with those lovely crispy shrimp chips and was absolutely heavenly. The textures and flavors were great, and this first sample was a great preview of what was to come.

Along with the tuna, we enjoyed delightfully prepared vegetable tempura and delicate blackened fish. They also gifted us with a parting cocktail and an out of this world ice cream that had a smoky campfire flavor.

I'll save the rest of the pictures for the bottom of the post (you can also peep them on my instagram).  Let's get into the meat and potatoes of this post: how I met the incredibly talented and kind Chef Shota. We were on our way out, suitcases in hand. Adana sits nested on the bottom of a set of stairs. My partner was struggling to get his luggage up over the stairs. I turned and saw Chef Shota in street clothes, Starbucks in hand, approaching. He came over instantly, without being prompted, and offered to help my partner. I was standing there, mouth agape, shocked to be in this accomplished man's presence and witnessing his kindness and humility. My partner politely declined, but we both told Chef Shota how wonderful the food was and how nice of a time we had. As he turned to go in, I blurted out, "Chef Shota, I was rooting for you on Iron Chef!" He laughed and said "thank you." He seemed genuinely thankful and appreciative. I was just floored by his graciousness and sincerity.

Working in food service, you often come across rude or difficult people. Chef Shota was kind and willing to help strangers, and that came through in his staff as well: everyone at Adana was incredible and all seemed happy to work there. There was pride and respect for everyone involved. Leaving Adana left me feeling inspired all around. The food and quality and the care within the staff that poured outward to us as guests was incredible to witness. It reminded me why food is a passion for me and why I love doing what I do.

Photo dump!

HTCEB: Oatmeal

I'm not crazy about oatmeal, never have been. But, I'm systematic, and would I genuinely be cooking through a cookbook if I didn't try things I knew I wasn't crazy about? Maybe Mark Bittman's version would be better than the other 4 or 5 times I've tried the recipe, I thought. And it was better this time, not because the recipe was bad, but because I got better tasting oats this time.

I'm not saying everyone should invest in Whole Foods, or limit themselves to higher-cost goods out of snobbery. I grew up blue collar, and the holier-than-thou, "All MY food is organic free range non-GMO non-processed..." yada yada attitude really rubs me the wrong way. I grew up on canned, frozen, and less than great food, and I think a truly skilled chef should never look down on any ingredient. She should be able to take anything, whether it's quality is up to your standards or whether or not you like the way it tastes, and turn it into something delicious. Refusing to work with working class ingredients doesn't make you better, it makes you an out-of-touch asshole.

Having said all that, I was impressed with the taste of the oats I got from Whole Foods, compared to the ones I typically get from the grocery store (both are rolled, non-instant oats). I didn't realize the humble oat could have so much variance. There's absolutely no shame in humble ingredients and working with what you've got, but there's also no shame in working with the best you can afford (it becomes a problem when you refuse to even consider certain products, such as canned or frozen, because of an unwarranted, over-inflated ego).

I adjusted the recipe portion to be a bit smaller, enough for one bowl. I used about a quarter cup of oats, covered it with water (about a half cup), threw in a pinch of salt and let it boil.

Then I lowered the heat, stirred it often, and let the water absorb. Then I stirred in some butter (about a half a tablespoon), removed the pot from the heat, put a lid on it, and let the butter absorb.

A few minutes later, I stirred up the oatmeal, which was looking surprisingly tasty at this point. I added a splash of 2% milk, some cinnamon, and some candied walnuts and grapes that I had laying around. These add-ins surprised me; I thought the candied walnuts would be the real treat, but they turned slightly bitter over time, I'm guessing from the heat of the oatmeal. The grapes, however, were such a nice contrast with how bright and juicy they were. They did get a little weird from the warmth of the oats by the end of the meal, though.

This recipe is:
-Vegetarian
-Vegan (swap the milk and butter for nut milk/imitation butter or omit them completely)

This is the 3rd recipe I made from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything: Basics.

HTCEB: Croutons

The other day, I was still riding the hype train of being able to cook at home, despite it being 90 degrees with no air conditioning. I decided to prep my croutons that I'll be putting on top of salad later in the week (Boyfriend had a great idea to throw them on top of the gazpacho later as well).

There's an awesome local bakery in Detroit, Avalon International Breads, and I was so thrilled to see some of their products over at Whole Foods. I selected an Avalon Italian-style bread to use for my croutons.

 I took 8 slices, including the smaller end piece, and slathered them in room temp butter.

 I cut them with a bread knife into approximately half inch/one inch chunks. I spread them in an even layer on a baking sheet and popped them into a 400-degree oven.

I tossed them, initially, after two minutes, which was way too soon. They were still really pale white and just barely toasted. for the remainder of the 20-minute cooking process, I waited 5 minutes between each toss. In the future, I would probably take them out closer to the 15-minute mark. Either way, when I took them out, they had a nice deep golden color. When I put them on a salad later in the week, they were beautifully crisp and a great topping (spoiler alert: they were great in the gazpacho, too).

Keep an eye out for posts featuring the salad and the gazpacho, btw.

This recipe is:
-Vegetarian

This is the 2nd recipe I made from How to Cook Everything: Basics.

HTCEB: Brownies

My trip to Whole Foods took up my afternoon, then I worked throughout the night. And all night at work, all I could think was, "I want to go home and cook!" Anyone who's worked in the back of the house in a restaurant may say that cooking for money vs cooking for pleasure have feel different (to me, they both feel good, but I was definitely itching to cook for myself in my new place for the first time).

By the time I got home at 11 p.m., I decided I was going to end the night by baking brownies, my dessert item for this week. Seemed appropriate to end the night with the typically last meal of the day. (Typically for whom, I can't definitively say.)

The first step was preheating my oven, and mixing very dark chocolate with butter while I waited. The recipe, from Mark Bittman's cookbook How to Cook Everything Basics, called for unsweetened chocolate. I couldn't find any, and figured the bitterness from the darkest chocolate I could find (85% cacao, I believe), would have a similar effect. I swirled it together over low heat with a whole stick of butter (a very small, chubby stick that swears its a whole 8 tablespoons) over low heat. When it melted, it had lovely, brilliant shine, like an edible chocolate lacquer.

A lot of my stuff is still in boxes, and to my surprise realized that I misplaced the (apparently) one mixing bowl I own at my old house. Not sure exactly where in the old house, and not willing to drive 30+ minutes in the middle of the night to go look, I decided to use a tupperware bowl to mix my ingredients. (In my hurry to bake something, I forgot to take pictures until the very end.) Into the tupperware went this lovely shiny butter-chocolate mix, then sugar (which immediately had a seized, crystallized effect that smoothed out gorgeously), then 2 eggs, one at a time. The eggs really lightened up the mixture and took it from that cacao dark color to a more familiar milk chocolate color, and thickened it up some as well. The real thickening came with the flour, and salt and vanilla extract rounded the ingredients out.

Once the flour and adjacent ingredients were added, I was left with this beautiful, fudgy batter. I tasted after every ingredient addition, and this final, pre-bake stage was promising. I used a rubber spatula to pour the batter into a pre-buttered baking square (as you do), and popped it into the oven for 20 minutes.

The house smelled lovely, which is one of the true joys of baking, the free, cozy scents. After passing the clean knife test, Boyfriend and I let them cool for 10-15ish minutes. They were still warm slightly when we cut into them, but they cut perfectly. They didn't stick to the pan. I've made this recipe in the past, and often, they had turned out stuck to the pan and falling apart, to my disappointment. Apparently, the pro tip is to be generous with the butter in the "grease the pan" stage. Like, hella generous. Go crazy.

I noticed immediately that these brownies were somewhat flat. They didn't have a ton of rise. They did have a nice color and crust with a denser, more moist interior. If you look at the cross section, the exterior is a lighter brown while the inside was dark and chewy. The texture turned out delightful, moist and flavorful, but not nearly as fudgy as the initial batter alluded to. Also, the very dark cacao lingered, and while tempered by the baking ingredients, still left a chalky bitterness. Perhaps going down to 70% would end up with a more balanced brownie.

These turned out delightful, and I'm happy to have them around for a quick thing to snack on (having a second one as I finish up this post). They pair amazingly with a cold glass of milk.

3 oz 85% cacao dark chocolate: $3.75
1 stick unsalted butter: 87 cents
1 cup cane sugar: 41 cents
2 eggs: 50 cents
1/2 cup flour: 17 cents
Total: $5.70 for 9 brownies (63 cents each)

The recipe also includes a pinch of salt and a half teaspoon of vanilla extract. I was gifted some salt and extract, so I couldn't accurately include the costs of each. But, these are generally common ingredients in most people's pantries. I'm confident that the combined cost for those two ingredients is less than 75 cents, still keeping our grand total under $7.

These brownies are definitely tasty and comforting in a familiar way. They don't take long to make, taste good and are easy to eat. Gotta love it.

This is the 1st recipe I've blogged from HTCEB.

Week One Menu: June 27th 2019-July 4th 2019

I generally prefer to grocery shop on a week to week basis, loosely planning a vague menu that checks off the breakfast, lunch, and dinner boxes. This is my first week in a new apartment(!) and today was also my first visit to Whole Foods (coincidence? I think not). In my typical fashion, I went through the cookbook I'm working through (which is Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Basics, and I've been working on it since my last apartment in 2016). Taking one recipe from each section, in proper numerical order (as in, the first of each category), I ended up with a proper shopping list.

I did skip the recipe for popcorn (since I have made it before and I didn't trust Whole Foods kernels to be affordable) and steaks (because I've made them before and they sure as hell weren't affordable-$23 each was the sale price!)

So throughout the week (and maybe bleeding some into next week), I'll be making the following things (in no particular order):

Breakfast

Homemade Oatmeal
Eggs 

Lunch
Tossed Salad w/ Homemade Dressing + Croutons
Gazpacho

Dinners
Pasta Aglio e Olio

Seared Chicken Breast with Boiled Rainbow Chard
Seared Tilapia

Dessert
Brownies

I wasn't given much freedom to cook at my last place, so I'm thrilled to be exploring my passion again (in my spare time as well as at work, I'm a professional cook). 

Stay tuned throughout the week to see how these dishes go, as well as updates from my delightful trip to Seattle earlier in the month. I'll be cooking through my ever-growing collection of cookbooks on this blog, and can't wait to share how the recipes turn out.