May 21

Be Green: Save the Greens

So you’re at a Vietnamese restaurant. Your dinner comes with a plate of assorted herbs, bean sprouts, and the like to garnish your pho. You may only use a few of the greens. Save the leftovers from going into the compost bin or trash: Take them home and use them for another meal or two. That’s what we did with the leftover herb plate from our dinner at Seven Beef.

Our “doggie bag” contained Boston lettuce, mint, perilla, Thai basil, bean sprouts, pineapple, pickled carrot and daikon, cucumber, rice noodles, and a few apple slices. My original thought was to make fresh spring rolls; however, we didn’t get home from our coffee run downtown in time. I wound up making shrimp hot and sour soup and cucumber salad for dinner. We had some shrimp in the freezer that I thawed overnight. I had some tomatoes, pineapple, scallions, and cucumbers at home that needed to be used. I managed to repurpose all of the ingredients into either the soup or salad. Bringing the leftover herb plate home meant I didn’t have to make a special trip to the Asian grocery to get those ingredients. More often than not, I don’t use a full bag of bean sprouts or bunch of cilantro before it goes bad. A small amount works best for our household.

There’s no reason why the garnishes and accompaniments can’t come home from a restaurant with the main dish. You paid for those items, too. Bring them home and reduce food waste.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/05/21/be-green-save-the-greens/

May 21

Seven Beef

Julian spent Friday afternoon at the REI sale while I was toiling away at the hospital. When he picked me up, the inevitable question arose: What’s for dinner? I had no desire to go downtown because traffic would be slammed thanks to the Billy Joel concert at Safeco Field. Capitol Hill would be full of tragic hipsters. I suggested food a short walk away from the hospital. Twelfth Avenue south of Madison Street used to be sparse on eateries, but has perked up of late. We opted to try Seven Beef, a new restaurant from the same sister-brother team who own Monsoon and Ba Bar.

Seven Beef is a steakhouse that plays on the traditional Vietnamese celebration dinner of beef seven ways. According to Nicole Routhier’s The Foods of Vietnam, the dinner starts with beef fondue, proceeds through grilled beef strips, ground beef wrapped in leaves and grilled, and finishes with beef congee (rice porridge). Seven Beef hews to that pattern. The beef is grass-raised and finished, and locally sourced. Other than the traditional herb plate and a beef salad, vegetables are served à la carte. We split orders of beef seven ways and their vegetables seven ways so we wouldn’t get scurvy. (This former Registered Dietitian has standards.)

The beef dishes were very good, particularly the bo la lot (the grilled wrapped beef rolls). Unfortunately, some of the vegetable courses were incongruous with the Vietnamese theme. Roquefort cheese? Polenta with Parmesan? Really? I would have rather seen a wild mushroom mélange or a stuffed tofu dish to keep consistent.

The ambiance of Seven Beef is halfway between Monsoon and Ba Bar. Although the restaurant is in a rather industrial-looking building, the interior is full of natural wood. The noise level is much quieter than the occasionally rowdy Ba Bar. The open kitchen features a wood-burning grill the size of a small apartment patio. The bar serves an interesting selection of local beers.

Seven Beef is not cheap. My main issue with it was the vegetables seven ways cost the same as the beef seven ways. It does have more economical items, including a burger. For an occasional splurge, Seven Beef is a good choice. For more workaday meals, go to Ba Bar or Lemongrass around the corner.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/05/21/seven-beef/

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/05/21/as-seen-in-sunset/

May 19

Feijoada!

[My vegetarian and observant Jewish and Muslim readers might like to read a less incendiary post, like Lizard on a Stick.]

Feijoada is the national dish of Brazil. It consists of assorted pork products in a black bean base. Most recipes are heavier on the pork than the beans. The full experience, known as feijoada completa, consists of: The black bean-pork combo; white rice; stir-fried collard greens; orange sections; and farofa. The last item is cassava meal sautéed with garlic and (you guessed it) bacon fat. It’s a good dish for parties, provided your friends like pork. The black beans and pork can be made well ahead of time so all you have to do is make the rice and other accoutrements.

Feijoada completa.

Feijoada completa.

Feijoada is easy, although finding the farofa can be challenging. Julian used a recipe from the New York Times for last night’s meal. I’ve also used a recipe from the original New York Times Cookbook. Although I’m sure your average Brazilian would scoff, I made a vegetarian version during my postdoc as a going-away dish for my Brazilian officemate. One of my other officemates was a vegetarian; hence, the need to adapt. Since farofa is gluten-free, the full feijoada experience is fine for those with celiac disease.

As you can imagine, feijoada is pretty filling. The girl from Ipanema would be waddling down to the beach in a muumuu if she ate it on a regular basis. It’s another example of upscale peasant food–utilizing odds and ends to make a healthy meal.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/05/19/feijoada/

May 18

Avoid White Sauces

By now my regular readers know of my aversion to mayonnaise. It’s time to explain my dislike of cream sauces, or bêchamel to the classically trained.

White sauces were big in my mother’s recipe repertoire when I was a kid. Maybe it was because Grandma was a home ec teacher before she got married. Mom used to make the sauces herself before she discovered the joys of condensed cream of mushroom soup. There was also the occasional creamed chipped beef on toast, lovingly known by military personnel as (rhymes with snit) on a shingle.

When I got to seventh grade, there was the mandatory home economics class for girls. We had to memorize the proportions of flour and milk for thin, medium, and thick white sauces. There’s a reason so many of my generation became feminists: Home ec as it was taught back in the day did not hold our interest. Even diagramming sentences was more fun. It put me off cooking for years until I got into college and had to cook for myself and my roommates. Still, white sauces rarely make an appearance in my cuisine.

What do I use for sauces? Salsas, tomato sauces, and non-starch-thickened sauces, mostly. We make a mean chimichurri for steaks. Pesto is a favorite in the summer, especially if made with my crop of basil. We also make a mint sauce for lamb that’s just red wine vinegar, sugar, and fresh mint. They usually have much more flavor and have fewer calories than gravy or white sauce. They also don’t mask what you pour them over. If I’m going to put forth the effort to make a sauce, I’m going to make one I like.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/05/18/avoid-white-sauces/

May 14

Eating at the Mall

Remember when shopping at a mall was a big deal? Times have indeed changed, as have tastes. Nowadays going to the mall ranks with a root canal–it may be necessary, but you don’t pretend to enjoy it. Eating at the mall has also become an unpleasant chore. The food offerings are similar regardless of the location, and usually depressing.

Today Julian wanted to find a new pair of hiking boots. We went to Alderwood Mall. This is one of the new breed of mega-malls that have the usual internal stores plus satellites along outdoor walkways. We had lunch at a “fast casual” Mexican restaurant. I realize that I no longer live in Dallas, but I do have minimum standards for Mexican food regardless of location. Julian ordered pork enchiladas and I ordered beef enchiladas. We couldn’t distinguish between the two fillings. The sauces were distressingly sweet and lacking much in the way of capsaicin. There was way too much cheese in and atop the enchiladas. The preparation line was made to be as foolproof as possible. The enchiladas were put into a foil bowl and run through a large Easy-Bake Oven before beans, rice, lettuce, and pico de gallo were added. For an eco-obsessed area like the Northwest, the use of foil bowls was politically incorrect at best.  Needless to say, we won’t go back there.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/05/14/eating-at-the-mall/

May 14

Riding the (Light) Rails

Seattle has had a light rail system for several years that connects downtown with the airport. Only recently has it expanded to Capitol Hill and the University District. Yesterday I used the train for the first time as part of my bike commute.

The infrastructure for the light rail expansion involved more than just digging a hole, although that was a feat in itself. Access to the station (and the University of Washington’s stadium and basketball court) for bicyclists and pedestrians was completely overhauled so one does not have to risk life and limb to cross what I charitably refer to as “The Montlake Mess.” The landscaping and station do not obstruct views of the mountains or the campus, and the paved walks provide easy links to the Burke-Gilman Trail. Ramps, stairs, escalators, and elevators supply universal access. Whereas the buses up Capitol Hill from the University only run every 15 minutes, the trains leave every 6 minutes during rush hours and are non-stop.

Infrastructure on Capitol Hill was also altered for its light rail station. The biggest innovation was addition of protected bike lanes along Broadway. When I first started bringing the bike to work, riding on Broadway required considerable chutzpah to dodge moving and parked vehicles. The bike lanes and separate traffic lights make the street much safer for commuting.

I opted to take the train back to the University to see what the afternoon commute was like. The train was more crowded at 4:45 pm than it was at 6:30 am, but it still saved a lot of time (and wear on my out-of shape bike knees). This could even make for a feasible walk and transit commute when my office moves closer to the Capitol Hill station later in the year.

Yesterday’s Seattle Times published an article on the expensive grand opening of the light rail stations at the University and on Capitol Hill. According to the article, Sound Transit has already recouped the cost of the party in greater-than-expected fares. I’d say it was money well spent, to convince folks that taking the train is a viable and attractive option.

 

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/05/14/riding-the-light-rails/

May 07

Goslings at Last

Last night we finally saw two gaggles of goslings with their parents in the back yard. One set of five were little peeps; the other set of five still had their fluff, but were acquiring a more adult body type. Perhaps nesting season is late this year.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/05/07/goslings-at-last/

May 04

Where Have All the Ducklings (and Goslings) Gone?

One of the attractions of our home is the Sammamish River that runs behind it. Many species of birds call the river home for at least part of the year. In previous springs the river has been a veritable nursery of young waterfowl. This year I’ve only seen one clutch of four mallard ducklings. The photos below were taken in previous years.

Mergansers on the river. Taken by Julian two years ago.

Mergansers on the river. Taken by Julian two years ago.

Mother goose and goslings. Taken by Julian.

Mother goose and goslings. Taken by Julian.

The reason for the dearth of baby birds this year is unknown. It was a mild winter, so climate change could be partially to blame. I can’t imagine that the neighborhood coyotes and eagles ate them all. A more ominous cause may lie uphill. Several new housing developments have gone up in the watershed that feeds the Sammamish. The chemicals used in the construction or seeding of the developments could have leached into the creek. Alternately, soil runoff from the construction could have choked off the food sources for these birds. Input from bird experts would be most welcome.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/05/04/where-have-all-the-ducklings-and-goslings-gone/

May 01

Cottonwood Season

Not snow, cottonwood fluff.

Not snow, cottonwood fluff.

Around May, those of us who live near bodies of water suddenly find the air full of puffy white things that look more like dandelion seeds on steroids. These contain cottonwood seeds. In some areas the trees are so plentiful that the cottonwood puffs coalesce to form tumbleweed-type balls a couple of inches in diameter. The river behind our home has sheets of the fluff on the surface. At least the ducks seem to enjoy eating it.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/05/01/cottonwood-season/

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