Sneak peek…Festivities start at 11am!
Categories: Living in Pioneer Square, Pioneer Square loft, Seattle breakfast, Seattle Desserts and Sweets, Seattle weekends
Tagged: seattle food blog
A 9pm to 11pm Seattle cooking blog
I LOVE ST PATTY’S DAY!! Typically our office shuts down mid-day and we head to the Dubliner in Fremont for some green beers and day drinking. BUT, this year St. Patty’s is extra special because it lands on a Saturday, which means we can host an all day green extravaganza!
Melt the butter, sugar and light corn syrup in a saucepan on medium heat
We are going to start the morning off right with a brisk run- the annual St. Patty’s Day Dash– and then dive right into a green, gold and rainbow themed brunch for all our closest friends, co-workers and of course, family.
add the food coloring of your choice
I got most of my shopping done today (at the Fred Meyer’s in Ballard) and will reveal recipes as I go! Because we have two sleeps until the big day, I had to pick something that would last until Saturday so I went with Green & Gold Candied Popcorn.
Green & Gold Candied Seattle Popcorn
I have seen a lot of different recipes on Pinterest for Green Popcorn but I got my helpful tips from The Iron Chef Mom.
You will need:
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2-3 quarts of popcorn, popped to perfection using my stove top recipe
- Food coloring
First, preheat your oven to 250 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Melt the butter, sugar and light corn syrup in a saucepan on medium heat until all the sugar has dissolved and the mixture starts to boil.
Turn off the heat and add the baking soda and salt. It will start puffing up- which is what you want it to do- so keep stirring for about 15-20 seconds and then add the food coloring of your choice. Start with just a few drops and then add as you stir it in. I learned the hard way and I am sure our guests will all leave with green tongues……sssshhhh, our secret ;0)
Pour the mixture on top of your popcorn and mix thoroughly coating the all the popcorn. Then evenly spread it on your baking sheet and pop it in the oven! You will want the popcorn to bake for a total of 30-40 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so.
Pull the sheet out, let it cool and serve OR store in an airtight container!
Happy St. Patty's Seattle!
Brussel Sprouts, Shallots & Pancetta over Wild Mushroom Ravioli
theseattlecook
Posted on March 15, 2012
We came home tonight with no plans for dinner (I blame my pre-tax chores that have been on my mind all day!)…SO we had a mini survival/chopped course tonight using the best picks from the fridge reserves :0) The ingredients ARE…
- Wild Mushroom Ravioli (compliments of Queen Anne Trader Joe’s)
- Brussel Sprouts, halved (Whole Foods in SLU)
- Pancetta, pre-diced (also Queen Anne Trader Joe’s)
- Shallots, chopped
- Garlic, minced
- EVOO & White Wine Vinegar
- Sea salt & pepper, to taste
- Parmigiano Reggiano (Queen Anne Trader Joe’s)
You can really estimate all the ingredient portions pretty easily- just use your instincts, you can’t mess this up!
Heat your pan with olive oil and add the garlic and shallots. When the shallots are translucent, add the brussel sprouts, a little more olive oil or white wine vinegar if needed and salt/pepper. Cover the pan with a lid leaving a little crack and stir frequently.
Meanwhile, prepare the raviolis. I had never made raviolis before so I followed the directions on the package…pretty easy- just make sure to turn the heat down when adding the raviolis so that they don’t burst while boiling. They puff up when they are close to being done.
Drain the raviolis and plate them…then add the brussel sprout mixture on top. We topped the dish with a little parmigiano reggiano – yum!! Very light, yet filling!
Cook time 10 - 12 minutes Brussel Sprouts, Shallots & Pancetta over Wild Mushroom Ravioli
Used to be such a classic and a special treat at the Hayes House! There are several different ways to prepare Chicken Cordon Bleu, the major differences are whether you use ham vs prosciutto, swiss cheese vs gruyere and bread crumbs vs panko.
Because I have never ordered Chicken Cordon Bleu in a restaurant, I only remember the way my dad used to prepare it- ham, swiss and bread crumbs. I never thought I would actually prepare this dish at my home, but after seeing it on the menu at Marcela’s Creole Cookery, I was inspired to give it a try!
After deciding my approach (thanks for the ideas Tyler Florence!) – prosciutto, 1/2 swiss, 1/2 gruyere and panko bread crumbs…fancy, I know :0) Mark and I ran to the market to pick up the ingredients.
Prosciutto from Pike Place market BB-Ranch
Here is what you need:
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (BB-Ranch)
- 8 thin slices of prosciutto di parma (BB-Ranch)
- 1/2 lb gruyere cheese, shredded (Quality Cheese Inc)
- 1/2 lb swiss cheese, shredded (Quality Cheese Inc)
- Sea salt & ground pepper, to taste
- 2 cups panko bread crumbs
- 6 springs of fresh thyme, leaves only (Franks Produce)
- 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 3 tbsp butter, melted
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 eggs
- EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)
Alright…this looks difficult but really, it is super easy! Don’t let the multiple rolls, dip and dabs scare you- when it is done, it is done!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Put two breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap and gently pound the chicken to approximately 1/4 inch thick.
Remove the top piece of plastic wrap and lay one slice of prosciutto down on each breast.
Top the prosciutto with about a quarter of the combined swiss/gruyere cheese mixture and then sandwich a second piece of prosciutto on top.
Roll the breasts up tight inside the plastic wrap and seal the log gently by twisting both ends of the plastic wrap- like a tootsie roll!
Prepare the other two breasts just the same.
Get three bowls out. One for the flour, one for the panko bread crumbs and one for the eggs.
Mix the panko with thyme, minced garlic and melted butter.
Beat the eggs.
Cordon Bleu headed for the oven
Remove the plastic wrap and roll the chicken in the flour, dip in the egg mixture and coat/dab completely with the panko.
One thing I didn’t do before doing my roll, dip and dab was preparing my baking pan…SO make sure you do :0) Lightly coat a baking pan with olive oil and then put each roll onto the pan.
Bake for about 25-28 minutes until brown and cooked completely.
Maggie, Mark and I had a great family din din and I even had a piece of chicken leftover for lunch the next day…so good!!
baked to perfection! I present Chicken Cordon Bleu.
Since picking up A Moveable Feast yesterday I quickly learned that Hemingway loved Paris and Oysters! So when Ash picked me up from work today she said, “what do you want to eat?” I responded, “lets go to Taylor Shellfish on Melrose.” As we drove up to Capital Hill it started snowing (again) and luckily Ashley got a parking spot right in front (if you don’t know Ashley…she always gets the best parking spots). We walked right into Taylor on Melrose and loved the half market/ half casual dining experience. Right away we saw the bins of oysters with circulating water, LARGE live dungeness crabs, live lobsters, fresh/live clams and a lot of other little things from the Sea.
@tayloratmelrose with Ash and a dozen friends.
Quickly consuming 2 dozen oysters from all over the Puget Sound our stomachs were not quite full. So we bought manila clams! FYI…learned something new …your not suppose to fully seal the bag or twist the bag shut with live clams (already forgot the reason).
We get home and head straight for the pots and pans and began by boiling lightly salted water for the linguini. Rule #1 when I cook with Ashley…pour her a glass of wine…it just eases the tension when there are two cooks in the kitchen 😎 We heated a saute pan with extra virgin olive oil, two cloves of garlic through the garlic press, two twigs of thyme, 4 leafs of sage (my confidence with the saute pan has grown since Sunday). When the pan got ever so slightly hot we put the clams in and covered with a lid…as the clams opened up I gave the pan a couple splashes of white wine vinegar and a pat of butter. I hit the clams and sauce with a little truffle salt and fresh ground pepper and let the sauce reduce. After about 1 min I poured in a little heavy cream to thicken up the sauce….waited 2 more min on a medium heat…clams with white sauce…done!
Looks good! Tasted better 🙂 Thanks sous chef. Where was Jack?
Ash sauteed a couple green beans and strained the linguini.
She plated.
We ate.
She drank more wine 😎
Tuesday night…Taylored Linguini…DONE!
Tuesday night...Taylored Linguini...DONE!
Categories: Pioneer Square loft, Seattle Dinner Ideas, Seattle Food, Seattle fresh, Seattle Local Recipes, Seattle Seafood
Tagged: dinner, food, restaurants, seattle food blog, travel, vacation, white wine vinegar
Chefs today I prepared for you, Sweet Potato, Black Bean & Goat Cheese Quesadilla
theseattlecook
Posted on March 13, 2012
CHA, CHA, CHA!
Maggie and I made these for the Chopped Dinner Party and they were a hit! There were a couple recipes out there but we pretty much made our own- so simple and delicious!
Preparing the sweet potatoes…
3 sweet potatoes, pealed, cubed and boiled
2 cloves garlic
sea salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp butter
Add the potatoes to a food processor and blend all ingredients together. Salt and pepper to taste….set aside.
Preparing the black beans…
1 can black beans, rinsed
lime juice, to taste
1/3 cup cilantro, whole leafs
sea salt, to taste
Toss black beans, cilantro, a touch of salt and lime juice…set aside.
Preparing the chicken breasts…
2 chicken breasts, baked with spices/olive oil and shredded.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drizzle olive oil on both sides of the breasts and coat with a mixture of – sea salt, pepper, cheyenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and cumin. Cook for 20-25 minutes, let cool for about 5-7 minutes and then shred with a fork and tongs. I have noticed that my dark baking sheet bakes chicken more evenly than my lighter baking sheets…note to self :0)
Other ingredients…
4 oz goat cheese
8-10 flour tortillas, toasted on stovetop with olive oil
Prepare each tortilla individually on the stovetop until golden brown on one side. Remove from the heat and add the sweet potato and shredded chicken on one side of the tortilla and add the goat cheese and black beans on the other side. Fold and enjoy!!
We are proud to announce that we will be hosting the next Chopped Dinner Party!! :0) Can’t wait…it is going to be a blast AND we have already picked our theme! Any guesses?
The winning dish
After driving to 3 Seattle bookstores today we finally found our current reads!
Categories: 5183 Miles
Tagged: seattle food blog
Saturday brought our 2nd Chopped dinner party into the realm of “its now a thing.” The hosts Justine and Ryan absolutely nailed the atmosphere, drinks, voting and main course. I thought there was no way the 2nd dinner would be as fun as the first…but obviously as you read this..it was!
Chopped Mexican theme!
Here was the host’s message posted to our Facebook group: (here is how the Chopped Dinner Parties work click here)
Ashley and Maggie feelin it.
ARRIIIBBAAA!!
If you are getting this message it means that you weren’t eliminated in the first round, congratulations. It is my pleasure to invite you to the second night of CHOPPED!! Pardon the wall post, seems like the admins can manage to cook detectible veal and authentic bruschetta but cant figure out how to distribute the authority on facebook. Technology wins again.
If you couldn’t tell from the greeting, Saturday’s theme will be Mexican!! Woot! We’re going for authentic, like the real stuff, like Taco Truck vs Taco Bell. I’m talking border patrol circling the house because the food is so authentic they think its illegaly immigrated!! So pull out the ponchos and take back some tequila! We’re gettin wilder that a spring break wet t-shirt contest!!
The rules are the same as last time. You must use 3 ingredients from the list of 8. Feel free to use all of them but you MUST use 3.
So, here are your ingredients:
- coconut milk
- goat cheese
- sweet potato
- cocoa
- corn husks
- eggplant
- ceylon
- serranos
chop chop!
Very excited that all of you are cumin over!!
The hosts presenting their meal -Mexican mole'
The guests prepared everything from tater tots (me) to quesadillas to cowboy caviar. Drinks included sangria and tequila shots. Desserts turned out to be the real winners of the night.
Tomorrow we will announce the winner and post recipes.
Surprises abound…two birthdays in the house! Ill let the pictures do the talking for the night.
Surprise birthday dessert for Brie and Dani.
Gordon Ramsay’d that! Done! 8-) Pike Place mushroom antipasto
theseattlecook
Posted on March 11, 2012
As Ashley preps dinner, I went ahead and made another antipasto inspired by my favorite ‘man’ chef Gordon Ramsay. I first saw this Gordon Ramsay video for marinated mushrooms a couple months back. So earlier today when I was walking through Pike Place market I bought fresh Oregon Maitake mushrooms and button mushrooms from Franks Produce. I simply heated a sauce pan with extra virgin olive oil and two cloves of garlic. When the oil started to ever so lightly put off a little heat I threw in both mushrooms (about a handful). I did the awesome saute flip that you see on every cooking show and then dropped in a pat of butter followed by 3 leaves of sage and I stick of thyme. Finally reducing with white wine vinegar. I pulled out the sage and thyme and poured into my serving vessel aka a white bowl. Topped it all off with fresh arugula. Sauteed Mushrooms a la Pike Place market…DONE!
Cooking/ prep time 7 minutes. Sauteed mushrooms done!
After tennis today we decided instead of Subway to go to Pike Place market (5 blocks from loft). I made a simple antipasto from some of my favorite ingredients/ merchants around the market. Here is what I was inspired to make…
- 4 slices of Prosciutto de parma from BB-Ranch
- 1 Hard crusted Baguette from Three Girls Bakery
- 1/4 pound of Parmigiano Reggiano and 1 cow mozzarella ball from Quality Cheese Inc.
- 1 bushel of fresh arugula from Franks Produce
I simply layered all the ingredients in a classic antipasto. First the 4 slices of Prosciutto de parma, the a small handful of fresh arugula, a couple shreds of parmigiano reggiano and finally a couple slices of mozzarella.
Next I lightly salted and peppered with a quick drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Done!
***I ate the baguette while I shopped 😎
FYI…Ash is making Chicken Cordon Bleu tonight.
Pike Place Sunday Antipasto
the Seattle Cook 