Posts Tagged ‘bleu cheese’
Tilth, James Beard award winner Maria Hines‘ Oregon Tilth certified organic restaurant, has been on my restaurant list for many months. I’m yet to dine there but I attended a cooking class with Tilth’s chef de cuisine, Jason Brzozwy, at PCC Greenlake on Monday.
Smaller and older than PCC Cooks in Redmond, the narrow stairs to the room is marked by an enormous balloon whisk and a wooden serving set.
The stainless steel kitchen had two cameras focused on the stove and the bench. The galley is stocked with accoutrements in an assortment of shapes, sizes and colours.
Each course was paired with a wine. From left to right: Terre Margaritelli Pietramala, Chinook Cabernet Franc Rosé, Lachini Pinot Noir and Château de Corneilla Muscat de Rivesaltes. The Muscat had a ‘quite the find‘ sticker on the bottle indicating that the wine is exclusive to PCC.
We snacked on marcona almonds as Jason welcomed us. He is from Chicago and has worked at Tilth for four years. He smiled as he recalled how as a child his attempt at boiling water for oatmeal ignited a fire. He discussed Tilth’s philosophy and how to ‘create memorable food’. We introduced ourselves and described what that meant to us.
A handsome man, Jason is affable and genuinely loves to cook. He demonstrated each recipe with aplomb.
First was a salad of figs, arugula, Rogue River blue cheese and marcona almonds. Jason explained that ripe figs are plump, heavy for their size and appear delicate. Another tip from the chef was to ‘dress the bowl, not the lettuce’ to avoid wilted greens. Sweet, peppery and pungent, it was a simple salad of complex flavours.
Next was gazpacho. Jason demonstrated his knife skills in cutting peppers into brunoise, eighth inch cubes, for the pepper jam. Fresh corn kernels and diced onions were seasoned and blended until a creamy consistency. Canola oil, lemon juice, black and white pepper, and salt are his staples. The pepper jam was reduced to a syrupy liquid and cooled.
To serve, the corn gazpacho was ladled over a quenelle of pepper jam, halved cherry tomatoes and basil. It was a piquant soup, a summery appetiser.
Tilth’s fisherman teaches anthropology at Seattle Central. Jason spoke with respect about what the fisherman does and the importance of letting the quality of the ingredients be the highlight of each dish.
The fleshy sockeye salmon was deboned with tweezers and portioned.
Atop a slice of heirloom tomato and in a shallow pool of tomato water, the seared Alaskan salmon was garnished with slivers of sugar snap peas and drizzled with edible flower vinaigrette. Cooked to a medium rare, the salmon was buttery with a crispy skin.
Dessert was macerated local raspberries, Greek yoghurt and honey tuiles. The tuile batter was spread on moulds, baked and draped over rolling pins to curl. The tart yoghurt balanced the sweet berries and the fragrant wafer.
The recipes are perfect for a summer dinner party!
- In: Eating | Queen Anne | Seattle | USA | Washington
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Seattle enjoyed a week of sunshine in late January. The Emerald City shone, and residents and visitors dispersed outdoors to revel in its glorious beauty. I uttered the phrase ‘the mountains are out’ with glee, admiring the snow-capped range reflecting light in the solitary distance.
After a Keren Brown event with authors Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg in December, I returned to emmer&rye for lunch with Shirley on a spring like day.
At the pinnacle of the Queen Anne Counterbalance, the restaurant is located in an elegantly restored Victorian house.
Upstairs is a private event space and downstairs are connecting dining rooms. We were seated in the front room where natural light filtered in through the bay and stained glass windows.
Shirley recommended the farro fries and, macaroni and cheese. Rectangular planks of golden farro were served with a sage yoghurt dipping sauce. Dense and crispy, the ‘fries’ were well seasoned and a nutty appetiser.
We also shared a beet salad of mixed lettuce, smoked blue cheese and hazelnut vinaigrette. A classic salad, sweet and tender slices of crimson beets contrasted with pungent cheese, crunchy lettuce and piquant dressing.
The fresh salad balanced the decadent mac and cheese. A generous portion of creamy yet light pasta was sprinkled with toasted breadcrumbs. It was a hearty, wintry dish.
emmer&rye has the motto ‘locally derived, seasonally driven’. On the website each menu item has links to the ingredients’ local producers. For example, the mac and cheese pasta is from Lagana Foods, and cheeses are from Beecher’s and Mt Townsend Creamery. Bravo Chef Seth Caswell for supporting our community!
