We promised more detail in the last post about how we’re eating these days, so here’s the backstory. As you may know, we’ve been doing Crossfit for several months now, as Jeremy first wrote about back in June. We’ve grown to be strangely addicted to the 30 minutes (and sometimes 45, or 60 or — shudder — 75, depending on the instructor) of all-out, kick-your-ass workouts. We’ve upped our visits to the Crossfit torture center to three times a week, and do Crossfit-style workouts on our own or, for Jeremy, while he’s traveling for work.

We definitely feel stronger and more in shape since doing Crossfit. But the exercise part is really only half of the equation. The other part is what you eat. For months, Jeremy had been trying to convince me that we should “go Paleo” and complete the nutrition part of the program. I was skeptical. I figured working my butt off at Crossfit gave me the leeway to eat whatever I wanted — macaroni ‘n cheese with bacon is guiltless after you’ve just destroyed yourself doing Fran! Plus, anything that didn’t let me eat bread…or cheese…or rice and beans…yeah, as someone who can’t stop thinking or talking about food, I wasn’t having it.

But right around New Year’s, we were chatting with one of our instructors and he mentioned his New Year’s resolution was to go Paleo for six weeks. Maybe it was because we had just gorged ourselves while in Austin, or maybe it was the post-workout buzz going to our heads, but for some reason six weeks sounded doable. We started that night with a dinner of roasted salmon and sauteed spinach and haven’t looked back since.

That’s right. Since Dec. 30 or so, we’ve been 95% (allowing for the occasional unavoidable rule-breaking) free of dairy, grains and legumes. And we feel really, really good.

Speaking for myself, the gastrointestinal discomfort (sorry for the imagery) that I used to battle constantly has virtually disappeared. I don’t feel sluggish or weighed down like I used to after eating a croissant or pastry in the morning. We’ve both lost weight, though it’s hard to say how much since we don’t own a scale and that wasn’t the goal of this decision. Overall, we both feel lighter, leaner and just better about what we put in our bodies.

Okay, so slow down. What is Paleo exactly,  and why would anyone do it?

While it’s gaining traction in the mainstream media recently (a recent Washington Post piece was a well done, while a New York Times Style story made it sound extremely douchey) the Paleo lifestyle isn’t a particularly new idea. While I really hate calling it a “diet” because diet to me implies the goal of losing weight, The Paleo Diet website has a good explanation of the basics behind the theory:

With readily available modern foods, The Paleo Diet mimics the types of foods every single person on the planet ate prior to the Agricultural Revolution (a mere 500 generations ago). These foods (fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and seafood) are high in the beneficial nutrients (soluble fiber, antioxidant vitamins, phytochemicals, omega-3 and monounsaturated fats, and low-glycemic carbohydrates) that promote good health and are low in the foods and nutrients (refined sugars and grains, saturated and trans fats, salt, high-glycemic carbohydrates, and processed foods) that frequently may cause weight gain, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and numerous other health problems. The Paleo Diet encourages dieters to replace dairy and grain products with fresh fruits and vegetables — foods that are more nutritious than whole grains or dairy products.

In other words, eat meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, and lay off the grains, dairy, processed foods and carb bombs.

This has not been as difficult as you would think.

First thing we did was to throw away or hide away all non-Paleo foods in our apartment. The next thing was to go to the grocery store and stock up on things we could eat: lean meats and fruit and vegetables, but also things like coconut milk, almond flour and sunflower seed butter (ADDICTIVE). Many recipes in our current cookbooks are or can be made Paleo-friendly, but there are thousands of Paleo recipes online on dozens of Paleo and Crossfit blogs as well (I’ll share some of our favorites in future posts).

It’s cut down on our dining out habits, which is an excellent step financially. But even eating out is not an obstacle at most restaurants. Pretty much everywhere will sell you a big entree-sized salad with some kind of protein on it, and given the rise in allergies in recent years most establishments are sensitive to wheat-free or dairy-free needs.

While technically alcohol is not Paleo, a glass of red wine once a week is considered acceptable. If you “have” to drink, tequila and clear liquors are the way to go — in fact, apparently some bars now sell a version of a margarita called a “Paleorita.”

Are we perfect Paleo? Of course not. I mentioned 95% earlier, which allows for the occasional “don’t ask don’t tell” situation at a restaurant where we don’t scrutinize too closely how those coconut shrimp were prepared. And there have been a few times where circumstances made it virtually impossible to adhere to the rules. But for the most part, we’ve stuck to the plan.

And we’ve stuck to it not because we feel mutually obligated or because it’s some silly resolution, but because it really does feel better. I can’t say that I’ll eat this way for the rest of my life, but for right now it works for me and it’s easy to do. I’ve eaten pretty much whatever I wanted my entire life up until this point. It’s worth it to us to see what happens when we try eating more consciously.

Do you think we’re crazy? Do you want more information? Are you wondering why I wrote 1,000 words on this? (Me too.) Feel free to share in the comments. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to some of the delicious recipes I’m planning to share soon.

A taste of Wee Britain

In tourism magazines and Clipper brochures, Victoria BC likes to tout itself as a foodie destination. But we were suspicious that the culinary scene was nothing but a tourism trap, where the restaurants are boring and unimaginative in order to pacify the blue-hair tourists after tea at the Empress.

But on our last two trips to Vancouver Island, we’re  slowly coming away with the fact there are some hidden gems in Victoria. None more so than our last trip this past weekend, where we savored one of the better meals we’ve eaten in the 14 months we’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest.

The entire trip was made possible by a ridiculous Clipper-and-hotel offseason package deal. In the summer months, the Victoria Clipper is comparable to a plane ticket, but in January they’re practically begging you to take the two-and-a-half hour ferry ride up the Strait of Juan de Fuca. So early on a Saturday morning we took the Clipper to Victoria and checked into a swanky boutique hotel.

Breakfast, or brunch by the time we arrived, was at Mo:Le Restaurant, near Chinatown. It was packed with a mix of hipsters, tourists and vegans even close to noon, so they sent us next door to Habit, a coffee shop that wouldn’t be out of place in Seattle. We enjoyed loose leaf teas with names like “Tea for Sad People” and read free copies of Cook’s Illustrated and Meatpaper while we waited.

People, if you’re in Victoria, go to Mo:Le. The reputation is that of a veggie-friendly spot, and they can certainly make most things vegan, but there’s a burger on the menu and sides like local lamb sausage and free-range chicken. The varieties of eggs benedict were enticing, but since we’re not eating dairy or grains right now (more on that in another blog post) we kept it simple. Jeremy had the special omelet with sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach both days we went (yes, we went there both mornings) while Lisa ordered a yam and onion omelet that may have sounded weird but tasted out of this world. The omelets were the lightest we’ve ever had, nothing like the leaden, overcooked eggs you get at so many breakfast places. Their housemade hot sauce, which we should have purchased to take home but inexplicably didn’t, tasted like it was made from tomatoes picked yesterday.

In between touring Victoria, helping out the Canadian economy with our hard-earned American dollars and catching a film at the Victoria Film Festival (the Danes are a dark, dark people) we discovered another outstanding local restaurant called Stage Wine Bar. It’s away the tourist center of the Inner Harbor in the Fernwood neighborhood, a good 20-minute walk from downtown. The little retail intersection has a few above-average restaurants, but Stage really blew us away. They serve small plates and both tastes and glasses of wine, several from Vancouver Island wineries. We started off trying to be restrained (we had just polished off a dozen oysters at Ferris Oyster Bar) but were unable to control ourselves once the first few plates started coming out of the kitchen.

We ordered smoked ham from the selection of local charcuterie; a salad of marinated white anchovies, celery, fennel, marcona almonds; crispy fried local octopus & lemon; duck confit with caramelized caraway cabbage and wine syrup; and then chicken curry with apple apricot chutney, because we couldn’t help ourselves.

Everything was delicious, but the standouts were the octopus and duck confit. The octopus was like the best calamari you’ve ever had, but lighter and more flavorful, with the perfect amount of crispness on the outside. The duck confit was rich and balanced by the caramelized caraway cabbage, which was braised until almost dissolving. This is another must-visit if you’re visiting Victoria, especially if you want to avoid the overpriced tourist slop closer to the harbor.

The memories of the best dishes we had (seriously, Lisa woke up the next morning still thinking about that octopus) made up for the fact that our return Clipper boat was canceled because of mechanical problems and we ended up getting bused 7 hours home to Seattle, via the BC Ferries, arriving home at 12:30am. The good news: they gave us 50% off coupons for a future Clipper trip, so we can return and revisit some of our favorite tastes.

Mincemeat, pecan, apple, pumpkin, pumpkinEven though been a while since we’ve posted, it’s not that we haven’t had anything interesting to share. Definitely the opposite — the fall has been packed with our usual mix of eating, drinking and sporting events.

Rather than highlight any one event, I thought I’d just do a roundup and give some link love to some of those who are actually motivated enough to blog responsibly. I realize this also makes it seem like we eat all the time, but I figure people would rather read about food than the grueling Crossfit workouts, hours sweating in a hot yoga studio, or late nights at the UW athletic communications office or on the road in exciting places like Kalamazoo, Michigan.

  • The Rachel Dinner, aka Foods That Scare Us, in honor of Rachel’s food phobias, including tongue, blue cheese, tendon and chicken liver. May I just say that the pigs’ ears were absolutely delectable?
  • There was Chinese-Jewish (aka “Chewish”) night, that came about from some matzah-ball soup-related Twitter trash talking and evolved into a massive potluck that included standards like the classic aforementioned soup, knishes and brisket (my contribution, from Joan Nathan’s recipe), as well as more creative efforts like Naomi’s guanciale-spiked kugel (kugel is SO much better with pork!) and Lorna’s red-cooked pork belly which is the perfect combination of melty crispiness.
  • Protest Nachos

    Thanksgiving, which I desperately wanted to be Mexican-themed but we’re not all yet quite enlightened enough. One day. It still featured “Protest Nachos” as an appetizer and five kinds of pies.In the head-to-head of Columbia City’s pumpkin vs. my Aunt Maureen’s, the homemade version was a clear winner.

  • Cookies and Dumplings, originally two events but combined into one glorious afternoon. Picture, if you can, a piano top with every inch covered by plates of cookies, from chocolate to maple to meringue to chocolate chip and chocolate chip and chocolate chip. And lest you get distracted by the sugar, noticed that dumplings of all kinds are being cranked out in the kitchen, some Chinese-inspired, some that go hand in hand with long-stewed chicken in a restorative broth. The bag of cookies I took home from this lasted a solid week.
  • Latkes, which happened because every Hannukah that I’m in Seattle I make my father make latkes. No one makes them lighter or more spidery. Trust me, spidery is a very good quality in a latke. (Sorry, didn’t get any photos of them. Next year, maybe.)
  • I went to The New Guard’s holiday party, which brought together art, music and food by Poppy pastry chef Dana Cree, who re-envisioned an old-fashioned holiday meal of ham, green bean salad, homemade onion dip (addictive) and many, many kinds of pie.

    Breakfast tacos, I love you

  • And finally (though I’m probably forgetting some things) we went to Austin, Texas, and dined on breakfast tacos every morning while managing to squeeze in swimming, biking, exploring and BBQ, of course. But really, the breakfast tacos were the best. I’ve never had flour tortillas as soft and buttery as the ones we had in Austin. Filling them with fluffy scrambled eggs, bacon, avocado and hot sauce was practically overkill. They were so good that we had to smuggle 20 extra home in our suitcases.

It’s been an incredible year being in Seattle. We can’t wait to see what we’ll do (and eat) in 2010.

pirogies

Pierogies in front, sausage in back

One of the things we love about Seattle is that we are always discovering new food experiences. Whether it’s an authentic Mexican dinner for 40 on a rooftop or a soft opening at one of the hottest new restaurants in the city, it seems like we’re constantly learning of (often through Twitter) meals both unique and delicious.

One place we learned of recently through friends is the Polish Home, and more specifically, the PB Kitchen. Every Friday night and Sunday afternoon, the local Polish association serves dinner in their basement/dining hall. Pierogies, sausage, stuffed cabbage, and of course stout bottles of Polish beer.

Being from Pittsburgh, Jeremy was raised in the U.S. capital for Polish immigrants and pierogies. And my Russian ancestry makes me conditioned to go for the little dumplings at any opportunity. So we knew we had to check this place out.

beer

Just don't ask us how to pronounce it

When we arrived around 8 p.m., the place was packed with Capitol Hill hipsters ironically munching on pork hocks, groups of yuppies 10 to a table, and community members chattering away in fluent Polish. It was loud and bustling, and it was easy to feel like you were in some Eastern European beer hall, especially when ordering beer at the bar went something like, “I’ll have a Zy…a Zoo…uh, the one that starts with Z” (aka Żywiec, a nice Polish lager.)

We ordered a mixed plate of pierogies — meat, sauerkraut & mushroom, potato & cheese — a plate of sausage, sauerkraut and potatoes, and some fried mushrooms to nosh on for an appetizer. We considered the stuffed cabbage and cranium-sized pork hocks we saw passing by, but decided to stick with the basics for our first visit. It was a busy night (I suspect they always are) but the people-watching made the time pass quickly until our food landed.

For a cold, rainy, Seattle fall night, nothing hits the spot like Eastern European comfort food. The sausage had a nice snap to it, and the pierogies were cooked perfectly. I liked the tangy beet salad they served alongside.  Plus, they sprinkled bacon across the pierogies — how can you go wrong?

We definitely will be going back for a repeat visit, this time with a crew of friends in tow. It’s the kind of place you want to bring a large group along to share in the over-sized beers and platters of savory comfort food.

When I used to live in Pittsburgh, I became acquaintances with a coworker, a student at Carnegie Mellon, at Starbucks who was from San Diego. Whenever I would walk up Forbes Ave. at 5 a.m. through a foot of snow to open the store in the winter, I would always ask why he left sun-drenched SoCal for our ice and frigid temperatures.

Cameron’s response was that he wanted seasons. I countered by shaking my head in incredulity. Who moves from San Diego to…Pittsburgh?

Leaves on a sidewalk

Leaves on a sidewalk

Years later, I can understand his desire for change. This is why I’ve always looked forward to fall, the time of year when the heat breaks and the leaves turn. Fall meant college football, foliage and warming up with a coffee in neighborhood cafes — three of my favorite experiences.

For the most part, Seattle has amazing summers. The clouds stay tucked behind the mountains and rain is almost non-existent. Sun glasses come out and Green Lake fills up. Mt. Rainier makes a glut of appearance and shutterbugs dash off to Kerry Park. But despite those three months of perfection, I looked forward to when the skies would return to their normal slate color, and when I can see my breath in the  morning. I’m not sure why that is exactly.

Fall colors in Seattle

Fall colors in Seattle

This is my first real fall in Seattle. The rain has returned, but the city has responded with a spectacular outburst of color. The leaves on the maple trees are sporting their best reds, yellows and oranges.  I came in thinking the Pacific NW would be full of evergreen pines, and therefore lacking the fall look I was accustomed to on the East Coast. Wrong. And while Seattle is not quite on the level of an October in Burlington, VT., it’s amazing in its own right.

For some reason, I thought of this earlier today on a walk through the Mt. Baker neighborhood for coffee and breakfast at Sweet & Savory, a nearby cafe. Lisa and I took Cooper, her Golden Retriever, with us as we walked past the Craftsman homes and up the hill. The leaves were out in full force, and it was worth it to take our cafe haul over to the view park on 31st. It was a small section of a rather mundane October Sunday, but it somehow resonated with me.

Change is good.

It emerged on Twitter, of course, where all good food parties are born. I don’t even remember how the topic came up, but someone started talking about comfort food and someone else brought up macaroni and cheese and another person chimed in with fried chicken and the next thing I knew, a bright-orange Evite was in my inbox announcing a Macaroni & Cheese / Fried Chicken Potluck.

A spread of cheesy goodness

A spread of cheesy goodness

I decided to go for the mac n’ cheese, which like any good human being I love, though oddly before this weekend I had never made it myself. I’ve always tended more toward the quick and dirty boxed variations, growing up with the occasional Kraft or shells + Velveeta before graduating to the more virtuous Annie’s. For whatever reason, I never felt the urge to make it from scratch.

So this was the perfect opportunity. Naturally, I obsessed about it for days. Basic? Bacon? Mushrooms? Green chiles? An attempt at the legendary fried mac n’ cheese wedges from Denver’s Cherry Cricket?

Ultimately I did the obvious thing and turned to one of my most reliable cooking resources: my cousin Megan, currently a pastry chef at the delicious Columbia City Bakery, always ready with recipe suggestions and sure-fire potluck winners. We consulted, and she gave me the guidelines for her crab mac n’ cheese with Gruyere, Comte, and chives.

I ended up using a Barefoot Contessa recipe for lobster mac n’ cheese as the template for Megan’s crab mac n’ cheese, and I have to say I was pleased with the result. It’s always nerve-wracking making something for the first time, especially when you are making it for other people and even more so when you aren’t going strictly off a recipe. But it turned out gooey and bubbly, with the sharp bite of the Comte cheese giving it a nice kick while the savory crab paired well with the chives.

The reviews from the others at the potluck were positive too, and almost all of it got eaten — which is the best kind of feedback, especially considering there were about 8 or 9 other kinds of mac n’ cheese and a few types of fried chicken.Some of the other offerings: Lorna’s prize-winning macaroni and cheese had six kinds of cheese and a pound of bacon (!), Valentina creatively rolled up long, wide noodles individually, and hosts Sarah and Frank fried up ridiculous amounts of popcorn chicken that everyone devoured like…popcorn. [Update: Lorna thankfully has better photos in her blog post.]

I only took one hurried photo before diving in, but you can see my little mac on the right side in the red casserole.

If you need a dish for a potluck, macaroni n’ cheese or otherwise, I’d recommend this one. It makes a ton of food so you’ll need some help eating it. I have an entire pan full of it in the freezer still.

Crab Macaroni n’ Cheese

Adapted from Megan Bokan

  • Kosher salt
  • Vegetable oil
  • 1 pound cavatappi or penne
  • 1 quart whole milk
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 12 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (4 cups)
  • 8 ounces Comte cheese, grated (2 cups)
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound cooked crab meat (canned is fine unless you’re a high roller)
  • 1/2 cup chives, chopped
  • 1 cup panko (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the pasta and cook until just al dente but not completely done. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don’t boil it. In a large pot, melt 6 tablespoons of butter and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. Still whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Comte, 1 tablespoon salt and the pepper. Add the cooked noodles, crab, and chives and stir well. Place the mixture in 1 big casserole or 2 medium ones.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the panko, and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the noodles are browned on the top.

Peaches galore

You say you want a Canvolution?

A few months ago, the ridiculous yet continuously inspiring thing that is Twitter sprouted yet another movement: The Canvolution. Essentially, one person asked if others were interested in learning more about canning and the art of “putting food by.” The response from all corners was resoundingly positive, and the result was a summer and fall full of classes, events and blogging on canning and preserving. The Canning Across America homepage has more details, and mastermind Kim O’Donnel has blogged about the Canvolution’s full history.

I got involved because I was also curious to learn more. I know little about canning myself, so my paltry contribution to the effort was to organize the group email list. I have canned before, though — when I was about 8, I went over to my aunt Maureen’s house and we spent several hours canning peaches and tomatoes. So this summer, when I wanted to revisit canning, I cornered Maureen and told her I wanted to learn at the feet of the master.

“Sure!” she said. “What do you want to do? Blackberry jam? Peaches? Pears? Tomatoes?” I lost track at that point. Suffice to say, the Canvolution was in full swing.

Millions of peaches, peaches for me

Millions of peaches, peaches for me

On a rainy Sunday about a week ago, we finally made it over to her house in Ballard. While Maureen and her husband Don grow some fruit and vegetables in their garden, to get enough peaches for canning they bought a few boxes worth. We decided to make some regular canned peaches and some with Cognac and schnapps. Maureen said my newfound enthusiasm inspired her to “get creative” and raid the liquor cabinet.

While my teenage cousin Mariah provided adolescent commentary (“Mom, why do you always take the jars out of the oven without mitts? What is wrong with you?”) Maureen walked us through the process. First, she sterilized the jars in the dishwasher and then kept them in a hot oven while preparing the fruit. She had three kettles boiling, one for processing the cans, one for scalding the peaches, and one of sugar water for the syrup.

Jeremy's a pro at this

Jeremy's a pro at this already

We dunked the peaches in the boiling water for a minute or two, then dunked them in an ice bath. That helped the skin slide right off. We cut the peaches in halves or quarters, depending on the type, and then put them into the syrup.

After they had cooked in the syrup, we grabbed the sterilized jar and slipped the peaches into it. Then we filled them to the brim with the rest of the syrup, put the lids on, and popped them into the canning kettle to process. About 15 minutes later, we had gleaming jars of golden fruit, just waiting to be opened months later on a dark Seattle winter evening.

We also made some smaller jars for the alcohol-soaked peaches, and then Mariah cranked out some peach jam and Maureen cooked down the scraps of skin to make a thick peach syrup for pancakes. It was a lot of work, but it was fun work, the sort that only gets better the more people are involved.

We came away impressed with the ease of it and itching to try making our own red pepper jelly. I’m also looking forward to trying some of those Cognac peaches on top of pound cake or ice cream in a few months…

A sampling of cookbooks

A sampling of cookbooks

If you grew up cooking or in a family of people who cook, like I did, I bet you have That Cookbook. The one you always grabbed when you needed to make something special for dinner, or needed to check the best way to make a certain dish, or wanted to flip to the old standby recipe that was guaranteed to produce that one familiar meal.

For me, or at least how I remember it, that cookbook was The Silver Palate Cookbook. Sheila Lukins, one of the authors, died this week. Reading about her life and the way her cookbook expanded the culinary horizons for so many American home cooks in the 1980s made me think about just how significant a cookbook can be. Reading Twitter, you would have thought everyone owned this book! It was either their first, or the one that taught them to “cook like a grown-up”. Seeing this, it’s logical why it was so popular in my house growing up in the 1980s and 1990s.

Thinking about cookbooks got me thinking about the ones I use regularly. We don’t own too many, as I try to resist the urge to buy every cookbook that catches my fancy and because the Internet is such a wealth of resources what with Epicurious and all the numerous food blogs I am addicting to reading.

But we do have a few favorites, and as I was thinking about our little cooking library I realized that each one has some special significance for me. Here are a few selections of what we’re cooking from, and why.

How to Cook Everything, by Mark Bittman

This is my Joy of Cooking and my non-Internet encyclopedia. It was one of the first cookbooks I got when I moved out on my own (Silver Palate was the other) and it is battered and worn after just a few years of service. This cookbook is great because it doesn’t make me feel stupid when I realize I don’t know how to soft-boil an egg or cook beets. Plus, it’s really entertaining reading material in its own right.

One Pot Spanish, by Penelope Casas

We got this at our favorite cooking store, The Spanish Table, and are smitten with it. Anything Spanish is a win for us, and everything we’ve made from this so far has been delicious. The favorite is the Tomato, Chorizo and Homemade Pasta Stew.

Classic Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals and Rachael Ray Express Lane Meals

I know what you’re thinking: R-squared? Seriously? But one thing Rachael Ray does, for all her annoying perkiness, is give you confidence in the kitchen, and when we were just venturing into cooking for ourselves she was the perfect launching pad. Plus, Jeremy gave me the Classic 30 Min. Meals as a Hannukah gift the first year we were together, so I will always think of it as particularly special.

Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America, by Jose Andres

Have you been to Washington, DC? Have you eaten at Jaleo’s? If not, go do that, and then come back and finish reading. Jose Andres is the chef at this tapas destination, which Jeremy introduced me to when we visited DC and where we’ve had some of the most perfect tapas ever. Getting his cookbook was a no-brainer, and the recipes are surprisingly easy and practical for home cooking.

Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way, by Francis Mallman & Peter Kaminsky

We’ve mentioned this book before, but we’re really pretty infatuated with it right now. Gorgeous photos, lyrical writing, and compelling recipes based off simple ingredients. Not sure we’ll venture to cook the whole cow any time soon (yes, that’s a recipe in there) but the delectable Pork Loin with Peaches will tide us over. It makes me want to go to Argentina and build a massive wood firepit on our tiny patio.

That isn’t everything, as you can see from the picture, but those are the ones that resonate for me right now. What are your favorite cookbooks? Which ones mean the most to you?

Meet the Jucy Lucy

Meet the Jucy Lucy

I received my first introduction to Jucy Lucys via cable TV, when I saw the spiky-haired Guy Fieri of the Food Network biting into some melty burger goodness at Nook’s dive bar in St. Paul, Minnesota. After wondering for a few seconds how he did not experience a “cardiac event” afterwards, I knew I had to try one. Here in Seattle, we have a lot of friends who hail from the Twin Cities. So the other night we decide, WTF, we’ll have a bunch of them over and grill up some Jucy Lucys.

The concept is simple, yet brilliant. Take burger. Stuff American cheese in the middle. Grill.

Of course, even with the most minimal of culinary creations, there are subtle arts to it all. So Lisa and I did our research. A wonderful resource was the super-comprehensive Twin Cities food blog, Heavy Table, which detailed step-by-step how a true Minneapolitan (or a St. Paulite) constructs a Jucy Lucy. There’s even a six-minute video.

From other Web browsing, we noticed a lot of foodies like to put their own creative “spin” on their Jucy Lucys. There’s no denying American cheese is processed, and pretty gross. So people add fancier cheeses, and then wonder why the burger didn’t turn out as expected.

American cheese? *Chortle* I have this aged raw milk manchego that is produced only from a hand-picked group of La Mancha sheep who have passed my own rigorous selection tests based on intelligence, athletics and personality.

So yes, American cheese is “gross,” but in this case it works perfectly. This reminds me of an old lesson harped on by many a print editor in the past: “Don’t use a $10 word when a 10-cent one will suffice.” That being said, you can also use another SOFT cheese, something that melts easily into a fondue-like consistency — we used fontina on half of the burgers, to provide a non-plastic alternative to the bright yellow classic. But those who insist on using cheddar will be disappointed.

Another crucial element is to flatten the meat a lot when constructing the burger — too fat a burger, and the cheese won’t melt all the way. It’s also important to securely seal the two halves of the patty when constructing it, so the cheese won’t leak out during the grilling process. Then you end up with a messy grill and a hollow patty.

The most surprising part is that this burger ends up being more than a gimmick. The cheese on the inside actually helps keep it moist and “jucy”, and ensures that it melts properly. Think of all the times you’ve had a burger with gummy, half-melted cheese on top. In the Lucy, you have gooey cheese evenly distributed throughout each bite. We devoured them, and our Midwestern guests raved. One said it was one of the best burgers she’d ever had. Aw shucks.

Jucy Lucys

  • 2 pounds ground beef (use a fatty mixture, 80-20)
  • American cheese. Kraft works fine.
  • Hamburger buns (here’s a hint…use something soft. We went with onion loaf)
  • Montreal steak seasoning
  • Mise-en-place your fixens: lettuce, tomatoes, onions, etc

Preheat your grill (medium heat, or 400°F for those using gas). Divide the beef into six portions. Take one portion and roll into a ball, and then chop in half. Now, roll one of the halfs into a ball and then mash into a thin patty on the cutting board. Remember, go thin because otherwise the cheese won’t cook well in the Jucy Lucy. Secondly, make the patty slightly bigger than the bun, as it will reduce in size during cooking.

Here comes the cheese! Take one slice American cheese and fold it into quarters. Place the pieces of cheese in the middle of the burger, leaving space on each side for hamburger to be exposed. Then roll the other half of meat into a ball and flatten into a thin patty. Place on top of the first patty and seal the edges real tight, working the hamburger with your fingertips to make sure there are no holes/openings in the meat. Otherwise, the cheese will volcano spew outwards during grilling. No good.

Burgers are now ready for the grill. Season Jucy Lucys with the Montreal steak goodness and place burgers on and grill for 8-9 minutes. Flip and then poke each burger with a knife to let out some steam. Grill for another 7-8 minutes.

There might be a trip to the Twin Cities forthcoming for the Hipster in my Latte duo, and so a pilgrimage must be made to see the true Jucy Lucy professionals at work. We’ll probably start at Matt’s Bar, which is the self-proclaimed inventor, and then stop when our hearts tap out and say “no mas.”

P.S: This has absolutely nothing to do with cheese-stuffed hamburgers, but the new season of Top Chef looks beyond awesome. Even if there’s only 10 minutes of actual substance between all the product placements, celebrity chef/hotel plugs and forced Padma segues. As usual, plenty of snarky recaps from the writers over at Grub Street.

Seriously, what is better than the late-night taco truck or the mobile halal vendor when you’re stumbling home at 3 a.m. after a night out? After a few beers, the shredded chicken torta with queso blanco is oh-so-delicious.

Well, my love affair with the mobile foodistas has grown exponentially since we’ve moved out to Seattle. In the eight months we’ve lived here, there have been several addition to the fleet of food trucks, each seemingly outdoing each other in terms of quality and flavor.

Not just content with gyros and tacos, we’ve seen a sea change in mobile food competition. The entrepreneurs are innovative and creative.

I thought about this today as I pulled up to Beacon Hill with Lisa and we stood in line at Marination Mobile, a Korean-style taco truck that offers such delicacies as Aloha Sliders and Kimchi Quesadillas. The veggies in Seattle have tofu options as well. For around $7 a person, the quality of the food was well above what’s out there in terms of fast food (outside of In-And-Out Burger, but that’s for another post).

Serving up some fabulous Korean tacos in Seattle

Serving up some fabulous Korean tacos in Seattle

The trend in Seattle began with Skillet, which began slinging gourmet truck food a few years ago out of an old silver Airstream. Skillet upped the ante, offering burgers with local, farm-raised beef, bacon jam, arugula on gourmet bread. Poutine (the Quebecois treat of fries topped with piping-hot gravy and cheese curds) was another option. Lines started queueing up and business boomed. Aside from a few health code violations, Skillet has been a success in Seattle.

Competitors sprouted up not soon after. We’ve enjoyed veggie BBQ (yes, really), from the Maximus/Minimus truck, a which happens to be shaped like a pig. If you want an octopus taco, get thee to Eastlake and visit the Tako Truk late nights on the weekends. Added bonus: you can follow them on Twitter (like you can most of the food trucks) to stay in the know about locations and 86s.

The Piggy Truck

The Piggy Truck

And as much as Seattle has advanced in terms of street food, Portland has us whipped, unfortunately. A lot has to do with regulations that Seattle has now finally laxed on, but a recent trip to Portland presented us with enough evidence (over 400 or so vendors!) to come to that conclusion. Such options ranged from a vendor specializing in nothing but grilled cheese, one of my favorite comfort foods. One section of PDX had a confluence of trucks all happily competing with one another. This site keeps readers up to date on the food cart news in Portland.

Back in Seattle, I’m just glad to see our city has jumped on the street food bandwagon. This was cemented when I bit into an incredibly flavorful slider of shredded pork and Korean slaw. And as much as Seattle has grown in this regard, there are still some great old-school options. During the blizzard this past winter, Lisa and I trudged our way from Mt. Baker to Rainier Valley to the taco bus. Another fantastic option is Rancho Bravo in Wallingford. These are my rebuttals to those who believe Chipotle is an acceptable lunch option.

Partners in Crime

Foodbuzz badge


Foodbuzz ad

Jeremy’s Twitter

  • @go2dmny I haven't been on #facebook in over two months. I don't miss it one bit. 3 hours ago
  • Bitten by the snow bug. Trying to plan next ski/snowboard trip with @lisakennelly. Mt. Baker? Crystal? Mt. Hood? Bachelor? Somewhere else? 23 hours ago
  • @rcbjornson I agree 100 percent. There's some amazing things you can do with brussel sprouts. 1 day ago
  • @cdonough Fantastic! It was snowing at the top, so it was nice and soft. We're planning another trip soon if you want in. 1 day ago
  • Missing first Super Bowl that I can remember. Couldn't care less. The breathless hype for the game has reached a fever pitch IMO. 1 day ago

Lisa’s Twitter

Calendar

February 2010
M T W T F S S
« Dec    
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728