|
Upcoming Classes
| |
Cooking Essentials
at Bella Kitchen Essentials
Tuesdays in October:
4th, 11th, 18th, 25th
at 6:00pm
A 4-class series for cooks looking to streamline and structure their cooking for more enjoyment in the kitchen. Fast, Healthy, Fresh, and Delicious! See menus & register at Bella! 
Advanced Sushi at Bella Kitchen Essentials Fri. Oct 14, 6:00 Build on your basic rolling skills abd learn cooking tecniques for fillings like soft shell crab and tempura shrimp and vegetables. See menu & register at Bella!
 Sushi at Sur La Table Classes Monthly Oct 12 Dec 6 Menu
Sushi Rice
California Roll
Spicy Tuna Roll
Vegetarian Rolls
Hand Rolls See more & register! |
| Sushi Kits and DVDs | |
NuCulinary produces
Step-by-Step DVDs so you can make delicious, authentic sushi at home
Available online
or in these stores:
Kinokuniya Seattle
Mutual Fish
Bellevue Uwajimaya
Renton Uwajimaya
Bella Kitchen Essentials
And we do kits! All the tools and ingredients for creating sushi bar quality sushi in your own kitchen
Have you enjoyed one of my DVDs or kits in the past? Let me know! Post your review here.
|
|
|
|
Greetings!
We're back from our little hiking trip to Zion and Bryce National Parks. I totally recommend you visiting, there are short easy hikes and then those for the extreme weekend warriors. Fortunately we seemed to always be one step ahead of the bad weather. The only time it rained for us we happened to be going past a rocky overhang where there was a huge log to rest on and safely watch the river surge from the storm. The first couple days we spent in Zion National Park to see the beautiful sandstone cliffs and canyons in all colors of red, pink, and brown. Then we were in Bryce Canyon hiking amongst, and sometimes up, the towering hoodoos. Next up Wayne and I went to St. George, UT and got married.
Yes, you read that right! We didn't know going into the vacation that it was going to happen, but being in such amazing places, and accompanied by good friends, something inspired us that now was the right time. Upon hearing the news we wanted to skip that day's planned hike and head to town and find a judge, our friends jumped into action as Maid of Honor and wedding planner - making sure the bride was wearing white and finding us a nice palm tree outside the county clerk's office to have the ceremony. We celebrated afterwards with a reception at In and Out Burger. (Very chef-like don't you think?). BTW we did do a very early morning hike before we told them the plans that we made that morning.
On the way home, before we caught our flight out of Las Vegas, we made a stop in Chinatown to eat chicken and long noodles for long life and good luck. It will be our Chinese banquet until we can plan something bigger.
Looking forward to our seasonal bounty,
Building Community through Cuisine,
Naomi
Naomi Kakiuchi, RD, CD, CCP
|
|
Chicken and Long Noodles
| | |
Ginger Lo Mein
4-6 servings
Ingredients - 1 lb boned chicken thigh meat, no skin (or 1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined)
- 8 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated
- 1 lb assorted vegetables, leeks or garlic chives
- ½ lb Chinese flour-and water noodles or linguine
- 2½ tablespoons oil
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 ½ tablespoons rice wine or sake
- 4 cups bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
Garlic Marinade - 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1½ tablespoons rice wine or sake
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1½ tablespoons minced garlic
Sauce - 2¼ cups chicken broth or water
- 7½ tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice wine or sake
- 1½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2½ tablespoons cornstarch
- Lay chicken breast flat on a cutting board and cut chicken into thin slices with knife at a low slant to the board. Cut those slices into matchstick-size shreds; place them in a bowl with garlic marinade. Toss lightly, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
- Remove the stems from the mushrooms and cut into very thin shreds. Cut leeks and vegetables julienne about 1½-inches long. If using garlic chives, trim the ends and cut into 1-inch lengths.
- Bring 3 quarts water to a boil, add noodles and cook about 10-12 minutes or until tender, drain and rinse lightly to remove starch.
- Heat 2½ tablespoons oil in a wok or large skillet until very hot but not smoking. Add chicken shreds and toss lightly over high heat until they change color and separate. Remove from wok and set aside. Clean out pan.
- Reheat pan, add remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, and heat 20 seconds. Add ginger, garlic, leeks and vegetables and stir-fry over high heat about 1-2 minutes before adding sake. Cook mixture 1 minute and then add sauce, stirring continuously to prevent lumps, until it thickens.
- Mix in noodles and chicken and bring to temperature. Add bean sprouts and lightly toss to combine. Serve immediately.
|
|
Food for Thought
Book Recommendations by Marlene Bosanko
| | |
The School Of Essential Ingredients
By Erica Bauermeister
The School of Essential Ingredients is one of my all-time favorite food novels. It's the story of Lillian, a restaurant owner-chef, who closes on Mondays and teaches cooking classes. Eight people--strangers, except for a married couple--meet at Lillian's restaurant for their first class. Each has his or her unique reason for attending classes, which we learn as Bauermeister allows us into the minds of Lillian's students as they chop, dice, blend ingredients, and savor the heady aromas of the foods they are cooking.
Food appeals to the five senses. If we allow our senses to become dulled, our souls wither. We discover each member of Lillian's class functions well in the outer world but inwardly harbors secrets that keep his or her soul in a zombie-like condition, making it impossible to fully embrace life. Unknowingly, perhaps, they come seeking the essential ingredients to make a life. From her youth, Lillian learned about the magical power food has to transform and heal. It is this gift Lillian shares with those who sign up for her Monday night classes. You'll have to read for yourself to find out if the magic works.
Bauermeister's characters walk off the pages and into our hearts. They become real, and we care about them. In literature, when characters or events are crafted so carefully as to appear to be true or real, we call it verisimilitude. While I'm giving away big words, here's another: synesthesia. In this case, it has to do with our sense of smell. One whiff of a particular aroma (lilac, apple pie, perfume, crank oil-almost anything) can evoke a memory and carry us away to a specific place or time and let us relive the memory. In the novel, we see how this happens when an aroma unlocks a character's memory and he or she reveals the past. The novel will awaken all of your senses, so don't blame me if you have a sudden urge to enroll in cooking classes! |
|
Community Calendar
| |  Farmers Market Season Extended!
The late, cold spring and early summer chill dealt both east side and west side farmers a blow. Many crops came in late this year, and it's not until now that farmers stands are finally bountiful.
Instead of closing the first week in October, the Lake City Farmers Market will close on Thursday, October 20th, the Phinney Farmers Market will close on Friday, October 21st and the Magnolia Market will close on Saturday, October 22. To help ease the difficulty of shopping and packing up in the dark, the weekday markets will close an hour early - at 6 pm.
As an added incentive, the NFMA will be offering a $10 bonus to EBT (food stamp) customers who redeem benefits at those markets during the last 2 weeks!
Time: Sunday, October 9, 2011, 6-9pm (VIP entrance at 5pm)
Tickets available now at brownpapertickets.com
Conceived by local celebrity chef Tamara Murphy, this is one of Seattle's premier food events, showcasing an astounding variety of local flavors. The "Feast" takes place at Swanson's Nursery - a stunning setting of enormous greenhouses, high ceilings and room for 300 guests.
Twenty-five of Seattle's best chefs will be paired up with market farmers who provide the raw ingredients for each dish. Guests will sample 25 gourmet dishes featuring fresh ingredients from regional farmers, ranchers, fishers and foragers, enjoy excellent local, Salmon Safe certified wines, local microbrews from Pike Place and Lantern Breweries, and meet the chefs and farmers behind the food.
All proceeds from this event directly support the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance's low-income programs, free community events, local food education, and farmer advocacy. This event also provides essential support for the NFMA's Good Farmer Fund, which helps local farmers with disaster relief in the event of extreme storms, flooding and other hardships.
Combination Plate Dinner
 | |
Egg Foo Young
|
Time: Thursday, October 20 @ 5:30pm
Location: Four Seas - 714 South King Street, Seattle, 98104
Hosted by the Wing Luke Museum Chop Suey, egg foo young, almond chicken. Dishes you'd find in almost any Chinese restaurant. Not completely Chinese but all Chinese Americana. Join the Wing Luke Museum, and local food anthropologist and cultural specialist, Maxine Chan, to eat and learn how these dishes came about and have evolved into regional treats.
Sit down to eat old time authentic Chinese Americana Cuisine. This will be an eating experience you'll never forget.
Space is limited for this can't miss special evening of food and conversation. Call (206) 623-5124 to purchase tickets today. Last day to purchase tickets is October 13th. $40 general admission, $35 Museum Members
|
|
|
