Clam Chowder and Bread Bowl Nirvana

Good Afternoon Crusaders,

                Hello everyone and welcome again to your favorite guide to all things edible and delectable. I hope you all read my last appeteasers section and it made you hungry, because boy do I have a treat for you. Tonight was one of my proudest cooking experiences that I’ve ever had, and it made me proud to be a foodie. Although it wasn’t exactly the cheapest of meals the end result was priceless. I bet you’re wanting me to hurry up and tell you what exactly it was that was so good I feel that if this were medieval times that minstrels would sing ballads about it for years to come. Well just so I can keep you as my loyal crusaders I’ll tell you, short stack and I made homemade clam chowder in homemade bread bowls and we made it all by hand and all from the ground up. That’s right there’s no Campbell’s cans hiding in the back ground I promise you.

 I respect you all too much to lie to you and hide facts from you, it was not a cheap dinner and some of the ingredients were hard to obtain. I should also let you know that I had to cheat and use recipes this was not just off the top of my head. I know, I know I’m sorry but even the mighty need help sometimes. I’d never made either of these items before so I had to get some advice from someone who’s been there. Who better to ask than the mightiest of the mighty? Go for the internet and take your pick of the best around. I should also let you know that we kind of jumped around between starting the bread bowls and working on making the chowder. Short Stack and I both worked hard on this so you’ll have to forgive me if it doesn’t seem like there’s a logical order to what we did. I will try to keep things as best I can in some sort of order. When necessary we multitasked and did multiple jobs at once to make things easier. Please bear with me and don’t nitpick too much on the progression.  In order to keep you reading I’ll wait until the end to post the links. *Insert Evil Laugh Here* so let’s get started right away.

Well what better way to start a long journey into the unknown than by making sure that you have all the necessary items you need. This veritable cornucopia of food stuffs is all you need to make 8, yes that’s right 8, bread bowls and about 5 cups of hearty chowder. It doesn’t really look like all that much stuff does it? That’s because it’s really not when get right down to it. I’m sure many of you were are probably like me and thought that a lot goes into making something so delicious, though it just isn’t true I promise.  The hardest part really is getting everything all together and just taking the time and effort to do it.

Remember when I said that there’s not a real order to speak of, well we’re going to start by talking about the bread bowls and how those were made. Those were the easier of the two items and add a great touch of elegance to the meal. Anyone serve chowder in a bowl but it takes true talent to serve it in a bowl you can eat, at least I’d like to think so.  I should let you know that we made these bread bowls all by hand, that’s right no bread machines here, and I know that probably scares a lot of you but I promise that it really isn’t as hard as we’ve all been lead to believe.  

First we had to mix everything together until it’s roughly the consistency of goop. I think that’s even the technical term of bread before it’s solidified into loaf form.  Before you say anything, yes we used an electric mixer, we had no other choice my hand mixer was busy being an antique. Moving on, once you get it nice and soupy you have to add lots and lots of flour to thicken it up.

There, that ought to do it! It takes a lot of flour to make this bread so don’t think freak out if it looks like you’ve added too much.  Just fight your instinct to stop and add what the recipe calls for.

 Now comes the best part though, pretend that you’re back in colonial times and knead the heck out of that sucker. According the wonderful folks over at Williams-Sonoma kneading is defined as “folding and pressing dough repeatedly to develop the structure of bread.  During kneading the gluten in flour interlocks to create and elastic network that captures gases and stretches as the bread rises.”  In other words just work it around in your hands like you’re a little kid who just got his first thing of play-do. Throw it back and forth with a friend for a quick exercise, put it on your table and pound it like it’s the boss’s face, or just squish it between your fingers for a giddy little thrill. Whatever you like to do just don’t stop for about 10 minutes. There is one problem though if you’re making this with a partner they’re gonna want in on the action so don’t be stingy, you do it for 5 minutes and then let them do it for the last 5 minutes. It’s fun, it relieves some stress, and you’re making good food in the process. Just don’t do it too long or it can make the dough way to gloopy and flexible and who needs that.

So when you finish having fun, err I mean kneading the dough in a serious manner, then your dough should look something like this. Then it’s good to put it in a nice greased bowl and cover with some clear film. Now are you ready to be amazed? I’m going to show you a magic trick. Just give me a little while to pull it off…..Little longer…..Little longer…..Little longer….Ok Now!!!!

Amazed aren’t you? ZING!!! It’s almost doubled in size. Pretty cool huh? I know, I know I’m pretty good magician. Ok well in actuality it’s because of the yeast but still pretty cool. Anyways welcome to stage two, now that the dough has risen significantly we can divide it up into equal balls and place them on a baking sheet.

This is just a tease though, they’re still not ready to bake. I recommend you thoroughly spray your sheet before you put the bread blobs on there just to avoid any sticking later. Also it’s a good idea to sprinkle some cornmeal over the top of them. A little tip from the world’s greatest chef, Chef Ramsay to you and me; when you want to coat something evenly if you hold the material in your hand and lightly toss from above your shoulder level aiming downward toward the item you wish to coat it will allow the most evenly distribution of the seasoning. Now that we have them ready we have to play the waiting game again, yes it needs to rise yet again.

No, you’re not seeing things the blobs did double in size and we’ve reduced the number on the sheet by two. That’s what happens when they get bigger, we wanted them to cook evenly without melding into one another so we removed the smallest two to make room to allow them to cook to their full potential. You can cook them all at once, depending on how big your pan and how brave you are but for us this was the best option.  It’s finally time for baking, yay!!!  Big time saver is to have your oven pre-heating when you start the process of letting the blobs rise, that way when they’re finally risen all the way you’re ready to just pop them in the oven.

Quicker than you can watch your favorite episode of Looney tunes, they’ll be done. Just look at them, aren’t they so beautiful. I almost shed a tear when I saw them, my little babies all grown up, I’m such a proud mommy….err I mean…. Cough cough manly talk cough. So anyways I’m getting off topic, they do look so tasty and you should be proud of your accomplishment because believe me when I say they are worth all the time and effort you put into them.

Well crusaders it almost saddens me to say that after all that work you have to perform a little surgery. Now is the time when we slice the top off and hollow them out to make room for the goodness to come. I know it sounds kinda barbaric but trust me this is a necessary process.

This is a good example of how you should end up when you’re waiting to pour the chowder in. Keep the top and all of the innards that you hollowed out of it, they are great for dipping and sopping up chowder that may spill over the sides. Looks delicious as it is doesn’t it, but just wait the best part is still to come. No, I’m not going to show you the finish yet, have to keep you reading somehow don’t I.

I know I’ve already showed you all the ingredients earlier but I just wanted to show them again to reinforce the idea that it really doesn’t take a lot to make this wonderful meal. Now is time for the main event, the reason we’re all here. Time to make the most delicious hearty clam chowder this side of Boston, you can almost hear Cliff Clavin talking to you about a nice bowl of chowdah. We doubled up on a couple of the ingredients just to add some volume  but you can make it as directed and I’m sure it’d turn out just fine.  So I have to admit that this wonderful creation is one of my ultimate comfort foods, nothing says happiness like a big bowl of hot, steamy chowder on a cold day.  There are a couple different food items in this world that I consider myself pretty close to an expert on, clam chowder is one of them. I always make it a point to try clam chowder at a restaurant when it is available, because as a connoisseur I consider it my duty to taste and make comments on all their hard work. I respect what their efforts but I would like to think I can tell if they use canned chowder and if I’m paying good money for it then I expect good food. With that said I’ve made you all wait long enough let’s get started.

There are many different types of clams on the market today; geoduck, steamer, littleneck, quahog, razor, and many others. We chose to go with Manila, manila clams are also known as Japanese clams and chefs everywhere love them for the fact that they are wonderful served either raw or cooked. They are farmed in the pacific coast even though they are not indigenous to the area. When you go to the store you can usually find these little guys, and I say little guys literally as they are usually harvested when little more than an inch in diameter, in the butcher section with all the other fresh seafood. When we got ours they came already prepackaged in a nice little nylon mesh bag and they were pre-soaking in a constant shower of water. This keeps them alive before you buy them and ensures freshness.

Opening the bag is kind of like opening the Christmas present from great aunt Mildred, you’re not entirely sure what’s inside but you’re pretty sure it’s gonna be something you’re not gonna like.

I admit they do look rather uninspiring but they’re just shy and still in their shell. But hey, I bet you don’t look so good first thing in the morning either. They are kinda pretty shells though, don’t ya think?  Almost makes me want to go to the beach and start digging in the sand. So if you’re using fresh clams for your chowder, you can use canned if you want to it’s completely your choice, you have to purge them of the sand they invariably have in their shells.  The way you do this is you have to soak them in a pot in a solution of water, salt, and cornstarch. 

I have to be honest this is a really boring step in the prep process. I suggest that while this is going on you work on other parts of the process to make time pass a little faster. Another thing you can do to make things more entertaining is take a little cornstarch and add a tiny bit of water to it and it’ll turn into both a solid and liquid goo amalgamation in your hand, ironically we used to call it cornstarch goo as kids (ok, so we weren’t the most imaginative name givers on the planet sue me) and it’s fun, easy, and is a treat for adults and kids alike.  To give you an idea of what this looks like, if not for the opaqueness of the pot we used, we also put some in a glass so you can see what exactly is going on.

Once again, kinda uninspiring isn’t it? At least you have your cornstarch goo to keep you occupied.  Ok so roughly an hour later they should have all the sand expunged from the shell and you can drain the water.

An interesting thing when they soak for a long time in this solution they also start to get this false sense of security and think they are back in the ocean . This in turn makes them open up a little bit and peak out of their shells. If you give them a tap on the shell then they’ll usually just zip right back inside, this little guy must’ve been a little on the slow side because he allowed short stack to not only pick him up, but also snap a photo off before he went back inside. Ugly little spud isn’t he, almost looks like a snail to me.  So I’m sad to say but now comes the hard part, for those of you who may be squeamish or have too big of a heart it’s going to be really difficult. Now comes the time where we have to steam the clams, officially ending their time as cute, cuddly friends and beginning their time as delicious, tasty food. 

So you’ve drained all the water out, but oddly enough you need to go and add some more to the pot in order to steam them. Oddly enough though, it’s only using about 1 cup to steam them.  This doesn’t look like it’s going to be enough but keep in mind there will be a lot of water inside the clams themselves.  So just pour those babies in there.

So be prepared, they will make some noise as they steam, try not to let it unnerve you.  If you have to big of a heart to bear listening to them, I suggest you get an assistant to help you. Short stack was too soulful to listen, yet she couldn’t stop looking at them steam. 

Not very interesting, if you ask me.

Still not very interesting, but at least at this point it’s almost done.  If you look close enough you can see that the clams have started to open up.  It’s at this point in the process I started to wonder if you steamed them with wine or even just added seasoning to the water if it would change the flavor of the clams. Maybe next time I’ll try it and you can read about it in a future entry.  Anyways, so they steam very quickly and soon they’ll be ready for removal.

When you look at them you can tell they’re done when the shell is open. If you look at them and the shell is closed that means that the clam was dead long before you got there and you should just discard it. They look pretty tasty like they are, but just fight the temptation and remember what you’re working towards. So now you need to remove all the clams from the pot without losing the liquid. In case you were sleeping through high school science class; steam is hot, it hurts when it touches skin, so be careful doing this. We used tongs to do it ourselves, remember to get rid of the closed ones. Wouldn’t you know it we were in luck and all ours opened.

Next you need to take the pot they were soaking in and pour it over a bowl/pitcher that has been covered with cheese cloth or some other form of fine mesh. Hold on to the liquid left behind as it makes a nice clam stock (also called clam liquor) for a base in other seafood soups, but in this case you will be using it again later on in making our chowder.  After you’ve done this, we need to begin the really tedious process of chopping the clams. In order to do this though you need to take them out of their shells and that’s part of the tedium. We decided that the best thing to do was to take them out of the shell and right into a bowl.

Wow, out of the shells they’re a lot less pretty, and it’s hard to believe that what was so bulky in the shell is so small out of it. But believe me that little bit goes a long way, especially if you chop them very finely. This is another time when it really pays to have an assistant, thank you Short Stack for de-shelling and chopping them.

Wow, they’re even uglier chopped up.  So while you’re faithful compatriot is taking them out of the shell and chopping them up, you can be doing other things to help move things along faster. My choice was to work on my favorite part of any meal.

Ta dah!! The hallmark of any good meal, the most delicious of all meats, BACON!!!!! And this is not just any bacon; this is the most uber tastiest of succulent bacon available at my neighborhood grocery store. It’s also thick cut, making it all the better.  So you now are given the honor of handling this most glorious of meats, and have to chop it up into little bits.  You do this so it will not only cook faster but also because then it complements the clams.

 Personally I like to think of the bacon and clams as superheroes and the 2 team up and work together in an alliance of deliciousness to vanquish hunger forever.  Anyways, I’m getting sidetracked again. So you need to cook the bacon just to the edge of crispiness but don’t overdo it, so keep stirring constantly.  And once you get it to this point, you need to add the onions and seasonings.

Wow, just look at that, almost looks good enough to eat on its own. So while that cooks, just take a few moments while this is cooking to just sit back and take a nice smell of it. Almost intoxicating how delicious it smells. We have to let that sauté for quite a bit to let the onions cook through. Keep an eye on them though, when the onions brown and get almost see through you know it’s time to move on.

Once again, I know it’s tempting to just eat this on its own but you must continue to resist.  I had to keep reminding myself that the chowder would be worth the wait. It is hard though because that alone smelled amazing. I just want to find a way to make an air freshener that I can put in my car that makes it smell like sautéing bacon and onions.  Next thing we need to do is add the milk, left over clam liquid, potatoes and butter.  After you add all of that you need to bring it to a boil and then immediately back down to a simmer. You want to let it simmer for about 10 or so minutes until your potatoes get tender.

This looks done doesn’t it, but don’t be fooled by this biggest tease of them all. I almost threw in the towel and said it that it was good like that. Who wouldn’t think that looks good and you should just imagine the smell.  It’s even better than before if you can believe it. I couldn’t stop smelling it and just imagining how great it would be to shrink myself down and swim around in it. Awww that’d be the life; living easy,  doing the backstroke in a delicious bowl of clam chowder, maybe even use a cracker as a life raft and tootle around without a care.   Oh that’s right there’s still one more step, I almost forgot.

You need to add the cream and clams, I mean come on what’s clam chowder without clams. This takes the least amount of time to cook, only about 2-3 minutes. You don’t want to overcook the clams trust me, they’ll get incredibly chewy and it’ll be like eating a rubber band.  We’re at the finish line now so don’t get lazy, let that simmer like I said and then it’ll be done. We’ve finally reached the very best part of our journey serve and enjoy.

This is easy and kind of fun too, just take your already hollowed out bread bowl from earlier and ladle in some of your masterpiece. Best part is, if you eat carefully you can just refill the bowl over and over, or heck just make another one and keep enjoying the fruits of your labor. Words cannot describe how delicious this chowder is and it’s made all the better because you know that you made it all yourself. I don’t want to even try to explain how wonderful this was. One thing I was worried about, and I’m sure that you probably are too, is how would it be reheated? Well if you eat it all in one sitting you won’t have to worry about that, but on the off chance that there is still some left then rest assured it reheats like a champ. It’s just as delicious no matter what time you eat it or how much you have. If you’ve read this far I suppose I owe it to you to provide the links to the recipes like I promised you. 

Bread Bowl Link- http://allrecipes.com/recipe/bread-bowls/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=bread%20bowl&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page  

Chowder Link- http://www.boston-discovery-guide.com/new-england-clam-chowder-recipe.html

Well Crusaders, this meal is beyond delicious and I hope you get to experience it for yourself. My only regret is that I didn’t make more of it, but that gives me something to do in the future.  I had so much fun making it and I couldn’t have done it without the help of my lovely assistant Short Stack. I really can’t recommend this enough if you have an afternoon to kill and want some amazing food.  There’s not much more I can say that I haven’t said; so thanks for sticking in there, I really appreciate your loyalty and readership. Until next time happy hunting and Bon appetite.

Indiana Joe

Appeteasers Edition 1: Dark Chocolate Oddities

Good Evening Crusaders,

I know I already left you stuffed the other day with all the delicious items found at the Seattle Food Expo. At least I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. But I’m back and I’ve traveled into a strange and wonderful land I just had to share with you. This segment is something new, I call it my appeteasers section. It’s may not be enough food to fill you up but instead it’s more about something to tantalize your taste buds and leave you hungry for more. It’s where I get to share with you bite size morsels that merit special attention for one reason or another. Tonight for the first edition I thought I’d start you off with a bang. To keep you reading know this, I have included pictures again this time.

Let’s call this an excursion into the darker side of dark chocolate. I know I said before that I’m not a sweets person but when I found these items I just couldn’t resist the temptation. I should back up and clue you in on something you may not have been privy to prior to this entry. I am not only just a foodie who eats fancy food, or normal food even for that matter. I am, at least I’d like to think, somewhat of a connoisseur of strange, weird, and downright bizarre foods. The stranger it is, the more likely I am to want to try it. I pride myself on my adventurous spirit and think food is one of the greatest ways we can express ourselves so the more inventive the food the more I’m drawn to it. With that in mind I would like to introduce you to 3 different items that I just couldn’t say no to.

First and foremost let me introduce you to something that may not be that new to some of you but the intensity is. I present to you a ghost chili salted caramel covered in dark chocolate from Theo Chocolates.

Now I don’t know if you’re familiar with adding heat to chocolate, but this isn’t entirely a new concept to your humble leader. My introduction to this concept came when, entering a grocery store I happened upon a sample lady offering a new hot salsa and with it she had pieces of Hershey’s chocolate bar and cream cheese. I was stunned, I love hot salsa but what was she doing ruining it with chocolate and cheese. I could almost buy the cream cheese, as it would just make it creamy, but the chocolate seemed like such a bad idea. I gave her the benefit of the doubt though and tried it. It was like a little explosion went off in my mouth, the heat from the salsa sizzled and BOOM brought me way way up and then I tasted the sweetness of the chocolate which was like a little parachute to allow me glide slowly back to land unharmed. I couldn’t believe it, wow what an experience, I had to try it again. And with the creaminess of the cream cheese it was just all the better. So that’s kind of like these little gems, I know the words ghost chili scares a lot of you. Heck it even kind of makes me a little nervous but trust me when I say it’s not as spicy as you’d expect. Yes, there was a little heat I won’t lie but really it was all balanced out nicely by the sweet caramel and chocolate, add a little salt and it was a nice little warming you up down to your toes.

Next up in this exploration of the macabre was Mo’s Dark Bar from Vosges. This is where they add Bacon to the chocolate bar. Yes, you read that correctly there’s Bacon in there. We all know that Bacon makes everything truly better so why not chocolate as well. I’m fairly certain that if there is a heaven then in their farm they have genetically altered super-pigs that are the size of water buffalo providing strips the size of tube socks and magically regenerate their bacon giving properties overnight. It is truly one of life’s greatest pleasures, to eat a strip of nice warm bacon fresh from the pan.  I defy you to find something that brings so much joy from so little effort as bacon does to the masses of its loyal followers.  Ok, I’m getting off topic, picture #1 is how it looks in the wrapper just so if you want you can find it yourself.

This wonderful creation also comes in milk chocolate for those of you who find dark chocolate too rich for their taste buds. Once again this concept is not entirely new to me but one that I’ve always found particularly interesting. Not as strange as the contrast between heat and sweet this is more of a war of sugary versus salty. As I’ve said Bacon makes everything better and chocolate is no exception. At first you get the sweet smoothness of the chocolate and then you get a sharp turn to savory saltiness in the bacon.

Now you know how the bar looks when it’s out of the box. I strongly recommend this goodie for chocolate and Bacon lovers alike. Definitely an experience you won’t forget or regret I promise you.

Last stop on our excursion of the peculiar is something I couldn’t even begin to imagine in my wildest foodie imagination. Yes, even I haven’t tried this one, as I’m quite sure many of you haven’t either. If you have please let me know cause you and I need to go on a bizarre food safari sometime, as you and I obviously share a very similar interest in the bizarre.

I know what you’re thinking, because it’s probably the same thing I thought when I first saw this. I’m going to be a gentleman and not repeat it here but it probably starts with “What” and ends in ”The Hell is that?”  It does indeed say Ramen and I’m pretty sure many of you are like me and feasted on Ramen noodles growing up, almost to the point that you never want to see them again. But they’re just so delicious and cheap that for those of us on the budget of most college students Ramen is our best friend. It can be used multiple different ways, with combinations of other foods vast as our imaginations, but in chocolate I never would’ve thought to do.  

This was probably one of the strangest food stuffs I’ve ever eaten in my whole life. It starts off like any other chocolate bar that we’ve all had 100 times before. But just as soon as you’re getting used to the same old thing the ramen comes in full speed ahead with the salty oniony garlicky flavor. Talk about two different worlds colliding. This was just bizarre and almost too much so at first, I thought that I wasn’t going to like it and had made a bad mistake, and then all the sudden it mellowed out and I was pleasantly surprised with a wonderful after taste. It was so strange I couldn’t help but want to try another bite. Once again I was confronted with the same experience and I just wanted more. It almost reminds me of when you’re a kid and you roll around in the snow and then go jump in a hot tub. First you’re feeling one way and almost on the verge of agony and then Zing you’re suddenly feeling another completely different sensation that made the whole thing worth it and you find yourself doing it again and again.

Well crusaders that’s it for the first edition of appeteasers, once again I hope I have shown you that even if something looks different and may sound disturbing to you and your sensibilities that it can indeed be a wonderful experience. Never be afraid to try something new, just remember without wonderful accidents we wouldn’t have champagne, penicillin, or even our wonderful homeland of America.  Thanks for tuning in and until next time happy hunting and Bon appetite.

Indiana Joe

Foodie Paradise 2012

Good Evening Crusaders,

Well I’m back and boy do I have a tale for you. First, let me apologize for taking so long to get this latest edition out but I’ve been waiting on my pictures. That’s right everyone, your favorite foodie is gonna be doing a little show and tell.

So a little back story to whet your appetite, last Sunday I was a proud attendant at the Seattle Food and Wine Experience. For those of you not from here or no idea what that is the best way I can describe it is that it’s like going to Willie Wonka’s magical chocolate factory if the Oompa Loompas served 4 star food and lots of booze. Needless to say I was in foodie heaven. With the help of my faithful assistant short stack, my lovely wife Nicole whom without her assistance none of this would be possible, I got some really good pictures of all the deliciousness to share with all of you wonderful people.

If you’re not salivating in anticipation then you really should be because it was truly an amazing experience. I can’t wait to see if they do it again next year, and provided it’s within my financial means I will definitely be attending, camera in hand. While it saddens me to inform you that I was unable to get pictures of everything that they had there, It would make this entry a veritable encyclopedia just based on the amount of wine there.  I do assure you that you will not be disappointed with what you see.  Without further ado I will present you a glimpse into my nirvana.

  First stop on the food train was this delicious house kippered salmon served with a salad of ancient grains, served by Arnies Restaurant. The salmon was very well smoked, it was so delicious and creamy, I couldn’t feel any bones at all and it had just the faintest hint of smoke to offset the delicious citrusy grains in the salad.

Next up we had blini with seafood salad and saffron craime fraiche.  For those unfamiliar with the term a blini is a small pancake made with yeast and buckwheat flour that owing its origins to mother Russia. Apparently Vodka isn’t the only export of this frozen wonderland, because this was amazing. It could’ve been the delicious seafood salad that while very light was packed with flavor but the pastry tied it all together and made it a wonderful amuse-bouche (French for “That which amuses the lips” but essentially is a fancy word for appetizer).

This little stack of deliciousness was Maine lobster tempura, sesame asparagus, with a wasabi tobiko aioli presented by Tulalip Bay. I don’t mean to get all religious on you friends, but oh my god that was like heaven in your mouth. The lobster was perfectly cooked so it was so tender it just melted into the aioli (Aioli is a type of mayonnaise sauce usually made with garlic, egg, lemon juice, and olive oil as a base and then you can add other flavors as you see fit). Mop it all up with a tempura (Essentially a vegetable dipped in egg batter and fried most commonly associated with Japanese cooking, but actually originates with 16^th century Spain and Portugal) and you have a miniature meal fit for a miniature king. There’s one word to describe it best MMMMMmmmmmmm………….

This is simple, it’s a cheese imported from the great country of Ireland. Ok, so it’s not exactly simple but it sure is delicious. You can almost taste the lush green fields and rolling hills of the Emerald Isle.  Very creamy and delicious, personally I would use it to add some earthiness to a dish. I don’t think you could use it a lot as it might over power most light faire but it still tastes good even by itself. I definitely enjoyed it.

This wonderful formation was a gorgeously scrumptious barbecued beef slider with a type of vegetable medley that almost borders on a slaw without the added runniness. It was provided to us by Andaluca Restaurant. The BBQ sauce seeped into the bread just enough to provide a flavor sponge but not so much that it made it soggy and fell apart. The beef itself just fell apart making this a wonderful sandwich I could most assuredly see at a buffet table or at a wedding spread. Very tasty indeed.

These wonderful little bites were braised short ribs presented by Trellis Restaurant on what seemed to be like a potato roll of sorts. Not much to say about these that wouldn’t be just copying what I’ve already said about the beef above, all the same characteristics without the factor of using shredded beef. I’d provide these at my wedding buffet right next to the ones above and challenge people to just eat one. Go ahead and try it, I dare you.

This was a fragrant duck slider with plum sauce made in the wonderful Asian kitchens at Wild Ginger. For those of you who are afraid to try duck I say to you, what are you so worried about? Just think of it as a leaner more flavorful and prettier looking chicken. The meat was very tender and sandwiched between what I ascertained to be steamed dough for a chewy doughy biscuit like pocket for the duck, and the plum sauce provided an incredible sweet, savoriness to compliment the gaminess of the meat.

Probably one of if not my most favorite of the different food items available was this Frankenstein’s monster of delicious and complimentary of flavored foods. This tower of exquisite taste and amazing culinary prowess is Filet mignon with roasted garlic-pecan crust and Oregon bleu over scallop potato pie. This decadent treat is brought to us by the brilliant gastronomy wizards over at Blackfish of Tulalip. There is no possible way that any of my words could possibly do this dish justice. Anything I say would just cheapen the experience for you and rob you of imagining it for yourself. The best I can do is to say WOWZA!! It was truly something I wish I could taste again and again and again. Thank you to the chefs at Blackfish for allowing me a glimpse of your world; I wish to return promptly.

             Now this may look like a breaded meat ball in hollandaise sauce though I can assure you it’s anything but. It is in fact an Alaskan king crab and rock shrimp fritter with a mango remoulade, made possible by the kitchen at Rays Boathouse. A remoulade is a chilled mayonnaise sauce usually with herbs, capers, mustard, anchovies and pickles sometimes with chopped hard cooked eggs and is typically served cold with meant or fish. In this case the chilled sweetness was the perfect balance to the warm saltiness of the fritter. A delicious blend of a tropical fruitiness and the refreshing taste of the sea would whisk you off to a Caribbean resort that if you closed your eyes and imagined hard enough you could even almost hear the sound of waves lapping against the shore.

There’s really not a whole lot to say about this one, but please don’t mistake my lack of words for disapproval. Far from that, I very much thought they were delicious I’m just not a huge sweets person. For those of you who are endowed with an incisor of the sucrose variety, or a sweet tooth, then you would most definitely enjoy these doughnuts. The chocolate one on the left was my favorite as it wasn’t overpoweringly sweet even when you add the luscious liquid chocolate to the top. It was light and still delicious enough to be eaten on its own without a glass of milk. The one on the right was also tasty in that it was a strawberry pastry with bits of strawberry imbedded throughout with a whipped strawberry frosting on top. I may not be a sweets person but I found myself humming the yummy song a few times while trying them.

Next to our friends at Blackfish this was probably the fanciest dish available at the expo. It also happened to be another one of my favorites because of the quality of the ingredients put into it. It may look strange in the picture but it was delicious. It was a combination of a Lamb bresola on whole wheat crackers with leek butter and Oregon truffles from The Country Cat Dinner-house and Bar. Wow, try and say that 5 times fast. Let’s dissect it a little to help everyone try and understand. Bresola originates in Lombardy, Italy and is an air dried salted fillet of meat that has been aged about 3 months. Leek butter is just how it sounds, a delicious soft butter infused with leeks, which are a milder relative of onions. And lastly the Oregon Truffles which is a soft potato shaped mushroom that grows underground, the amazing thing being that it takes hardly any of this wonderful fungus to provide an immense burst of flavor. This was just an impressive compilation of tastes and ingredients. Very indicative of what you’d expect from an upscale restaurant to serve as an appetizer. Seems like anyone could make this one but you need to consider the quality of the ingredients, truffles are assuredly not cheap. The great thing about this is that it brought 5 star dining to those of us who live on a 1 star budget without sacrificing flavor and presentation.

I would be remiss if I didn’t have at least one healthy and diet option in this whole experience.  So here it is, this was a gluten and whey free blueberry snack bar. I had never actually had anything that was gluten free before but I was pleasantly surprised with how tasty it was. I’m so thankful that I do not have an intolerance to any foods, but if I did I would definitely give this snack company my full business.

I feel it’s always best to go out on a high note and while I’m not necessarily a fan of sweets I couldn’t help but be in awe of this. Far and away the most inventive of dishes at the expo, this was also one of the most imaginative foods I’ve ever eaten in general. It was a Black Tea custard with candied Meyer lemon and a nitro poached honey sea foam of Spur Gastropub.  This is what those in the business call an exercise in molecular gastronomy. For those of you unfamiliar with this practice it combines, my two favorite subjects, science and food. Think the chemistry of cooking. Now I have to be honest the custard was not my favorite thing I’ve ever eaten, though the nitro poached honey was quite possibly the most interesting food I’ve ever had. For those of you who don’t understand what I’m saying I mean that they pour the honey foam into a bath of liquid nitrogen until it hardens into a ball and then they pull it out and serve it. When you have it in your mouth you literally look like you’re breathing smoke as the nitrogen warms and dissolves. You can eat it and pretend you’re a dragon, which makes this indulgence enjoyable and entertaining as well.

I could list all the wine and ciders and liquors that were there but that would take longer than we already have. Suffice it to say the selection stretched as far as the eye could see and spanned all the tastes and colors of the rainbow. I think I’ve made it clear that I enjoyed my time there and can’t wait to see what they do next year. There was more food available as well but we just didn’t get pictures of it and so I thought it best to leave out. I am sorry that this took so long to get out, I just hope you have stuck with me and are enjoying it now.

Well crusaders, that wraps up this adventure, I hope I inspired you to try something new and not be afraid just because the ingredients or techniques might be foreign to you. I appreciate each and every one of you who read this, so thank you. I hope my next adventure won’t take so long to get up for your reading pleasure so be sure to check back soon. You never know what glory you will find by accident if you’re only willing to try. As always happy eating and bon appetite.

Indiana Joe