Monthly Archives: June 2005

Friday, June 3rd, 2005

Relish: Wedgwood Broiler

My latest restaurant post is up at Seattlest: As American as burgers and fries.

Check it out at:
http://www.seattlest.com/archives/2005/06/03/relish_wedgwood_broiler.php

Wednesday, June 1st, 2005

Does My Blog Look Good in This? – Sixth Edition

I am honored to host the Sixth Edition(!) of Does My Blog Look Good in This?!

In case you’ve missed the past few editions, new rules have been implemented and photos are now judged by a panel of five, each giving photos a 1-10 rating for three different categories:

Aesthetics – Is your picture purdy?
Eatability – Do you want to gobble the subject matter down?
Originality – Is your photo unique? Bizarre? Strangely beautiful?

Our esteemed judges for this month are Accidental Hedonist, Arthur Hungry, MeatHenge, The Food Section, and myself.

kitchencrazydaffy
A:31 E:30 O:29 – Total:90

Chubby Hubby
A:40 E:38 O:30 – Total:108

Taste Everything Once
(Nikon Coolpix 4200)
A:34 E:35 O:32 – Total:101

Grab Your Fork
(Sony Cybershot DSC-P10)
A:27 E:25 O:28 – Total:80

Extramsg.com
A:27 E:20 O:34 – Total:81

The Adventures of the Tastebuds
(Nikon Coolpix 3700)
A:20 E:19 O:24 – Total:63

Never Trust a Skinny Chef
(Canon Powershot S230)
A:32 E:35 O:27 – Total:94

Walker New York: Eats
A:28 E:24 O:28 – Total:80

Something’s Cooking
(Canon Powershot A70)
A:40 E:35 O:34 – Total:109

Seriously Good
(Canon Powershot S40)
A:33 E:35 O:29 – Total:97

she bakes and she cooks
(Canon Ixus 500)
A:34 E:36 O:34 – Total:104

Clea cuisine
(Nikon Coolpix 5200)
A:30 E:27 O:39 – Total:96

Bunny Pie
A:32 E:38 O:35 – Total:105

Spittoon.biz
(Sharp GX30 camera phone)
A:38 E:30 O:33 – Total:101

Traveler’s Lunchbox
(Nikon D70)
A:42 E:43 O:38 – Total:123

Lex Culinaria
A:27 E:20 O:31 – Total:78

tian & mark
(Nikon Coolpix 4300)
A:33 E:34 O:31 – Total:98

thecookscottage
A:33 E:32 O:34 – Total:99

Cooking with Amy
(Sony Cybershot DSC P-1)
A:32 E:28 O:31 – Total:91

Writing on a Paper Napkin
(Olympus C310Z)
A:39 E:36 O:35 – Total:110

Ideas In Food
A:35 E:33 O:44 – Total:112

deep end dining
(Nikon CoolPix 885)
A:37 E:22 O:36 – Total:95

Eatzybitzy
(Pentax Optio S4i)
A:30 E:34 O:29 – Total:93

Brownie Points
(Nikon Coolpix 950)
A:39 E:28 O:45 – Total:112

Babe in the City – KL
(Sony Cybershot F505)
A:29 E:28 O:28 – Total:85

Soul Fusion Kitchen
(Sony Cybershot DSC S40)
A:35 E:37 O:32 – Total:104

Tigers and Strawberries
(Canon PowerShot A80)
A:27 E:30 O:30 – Total:87

bakingsheet
(Casio EX-Z750)
A:38 E:40 O:31 – Total:109

il cavoletto di bruxelles
(HP Photosmart 945)
A:41 E:46 O:43 – Total:130

David Lebovitz
(Sony CyberShot T-1)
A:34 E:31 O:34 – Total:99

The Delicious Life
(Canon Digi Elph S500)
A:37 E:33 O:38 – Total:108

Becks & Posh
(Canon 20D)
A:39 E:36 O:36 – Total:111

Simply Recipes
(Fujifilm FinePix 2650)
A:37 E:35 O:30 – Total:102

Cake Fun
(Sony Cybershot DSC P72)
A:26 E:32 O:28 – Total:86

winosandfoodies.com
A:27 E:26 O:28 – Total:81

Who Wants Seconds?
(Olympus C-5060WZ)
A:38 E:35 O:37 – Total:110

Belly-Timber
(Minolta Dimage S404)
A:37 E:23 O:43 – Total:103

Food Migration
(Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC1)
A:33 E:28 O:39 – Total:100

da*xiang
(Sony DSC-W1)
A:32 E:41 O:31 – Total:104

Mahanandi
A:33 E:30 O:33 – Total:96

Part-Time Pro Bono Baker
A:33 E:37 O:35 – Total:105

Sweetnicks
A:26 E:30 O:28 – Total:84

www.stefoodie.net
(Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20)
A:40 E:37 O:35 – Total:112

Delicious! Delicious!
A:38 E:40 O:33 – Total:111

To Short Term Memories
(Nikon D70)
A:39 E:36 O:37 – Total:112

Roast Chicken Reasoning
(Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom)
A:27 E:30 O:29 – Total:86

Culinary Fool
(Sony DSC-P200)
A:38 E:38 O:37 – Total:113

Plate Of The Day
(Minolta DiMage X50)
A:27 E:27 O:28 – Total:82

loveSicily
A:43 E:30 O:43 – Total:116

Nosheteria
(Cannon Powershot A40)
A:45 E:37 O:39 – Total:121

Brandon Eats
A:30 E:24 O:29 – Total:83

Confabulist
A:36 E:29 O:37 – Total:102

Gastronomie
A:33 E:36 O:33 – Total:102

Wednesday, June 1st, 2005

Roast Chicken with Bacon and Danish Viking-Smoked Salt

Minutes after reading MeatHenge‘s porn-like prose about his High Roast Danish Viking-Smoked Sea Salt Chicken Stuffed with Bacon, I found myself at the Salt Traders website buying a sample jar of Danish Viking-Smoked Salt. Several days later my salt arrived in the mail and I rushed to the store to buy a chicken.

I love roast chicken, but am a huge fan of the brining and butterflying method; it produces a juicier and more evenly cooked bird. I followed my recipe but cut down on the brining salt by half since I would be salting it further with my fancy new salt. Once my bird was brined, I cut some thin slices of wild boar bacon and slid them between the skin and the breast meat of the chicken. I opened up the Danish Viking-Smoked Salt and it released a heady aroma; a pungent smell of smoke similar to what your clothes smell like after spending a night by the campfire. I tasted a crystal and boy was it strong! Following MeatHenge’s advice, I pounded the salt with some pepper for a finer texture and oiled the bird before applying—it worked like magic and the salt clung to the skin.

After about 45 minutes in the oven my bird was done and I pulled it out. The skin didn’t crisp up as much as I had wanted, but that was because I was being impatient and didn’t give the skin enough time to thoroughly dry. I had thought about bringing out the fan, but I opted for laziness. The bacon didn’t crisp at all, since it was under the skin it cooked with a moist heat. It was soggy and limp, but it tasted FANTASTIC! The chicken was perfectly cooked and so moist. The flavor was deliciously salty and smoky. Mmmmmm! Thanks MeatHenge!

Wednesday, June 1st, 2005

Wild Boar Tour

My favorite person over at the Seattle Times (Nancy Leson) was answering some restaurant related questions in her latest column. Some (hi-brow!) 10-year-old requested a birthday meal of spit-roasted wild boar. Nancy suggested an about-town, Wild Boar Tour:

1. Bangkok boar satay at Wild Ginger
2. An organic, pan-roasted wild-boar rib chop at Harvest Vine (I love you, Harvest Vine)
3. Roasted wild-boar tenderloin with Gorgonzola sauce at Volterra (Ahem, you know where I’m going to be next weekend…)

I, personally, would suggest getting in the car and driving up to Wild Rice for the Su Dong Wild Boar—the best pork recipe I’ve ever tasted.

Have a happy, 10th birthday Aidan! Next year, you should do like me and throw yourself a Wild Boar Pig Roast Party.

Wednesday, June 1st, 2005

Hell’s Kitchen

I watched Hell’s Kitchen last night and I came away with two things:

1. Gordon Ramsay is an ass.
2. Fox needs to get better programming directors.