Northwest farmers--like all farmers, really--are known for their grit. A few decades ago, nobody thought you could grow wine grapes in Oregon. But the early growers worked hard at it and made some great wine. Today, it’s a $1.4 billion a year industry. Now, there’s a new crop on the horizon.
Ever wonder how your favorite restaurants make sure they have the freshest seafood ready to serve to you? Dick and Nancy take you on a journey from the boat (and the airfreight cargo office) to the table, and follow one of the regions top seafood proprietors on this week's Food for Thought.
Seattle Times food writer Nancy Leson and Dick Stein usually get together at the KPLU studios each Tuesday to record Food for Thought -- but given Tuesday's hazardous driving conditions it seemed more prudent for Dick to just get Nancy on the phone for their Thanksgiving chat.
It shakes, it shimmies, sometimes it's got marshmallows in it. It's that wiggly dessert Seattle Times food writer Nancy Leson recently rhapsodized about in her blog. But KPLU's Dick Stein is a fellow who's not so mellow about Jell-O.
Seattle Times food writer Nancy Leson and KPLU's Dick Stein get good n' greasy as they attempt and fail to exercise ground beef control in this installment of Food for Thought.
This simple preparation -- a standard in my house -- and one Mac's been making since he landed in Washington over 30 years ago. The glaze doesn't overwhelm the salmon and does wonders keeping the fish from drying out. This recipe is enough to glaze four salmon fillets (or half a medium-size salmon). Mac suggests keeping the skin on and grilling the fish covered, skin-side down.
Note from Nancy: If you’ve got a standing mixer, this is a breeze. And it’s pretty easy even if you’re using a large mixing bowl, a sturdy spoon and your hands. The dough can be prepared earlier in the day for baking later: just keep it covered, and keep punching it down till baking time.
An enameled cast-iron Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid yields best results, but the recipe also works in a regular cast-iron Dutch oven or heavy stockpot.
After all that fine talk from Nancy and me about how simple it is to bake bread, here’s a complicated recipe. It’s really about 90% from George Greenstein’s first rate Secrets of a Jewish Baker but over the years I’ve changed, amended, and otherwise horsed around with his perfectly good recipe in order to customize it to my own perverse tastes. Read this recipe all the way through at least 3 days before you try it.
