Subject: Fruits and Vegetables

• Steak and Frites: The Spur Way

  August 6, 2008

• $13 Worth of Falafel - That's a Lotta Chickpea!

  September 1, 2008

• Soak It Up: Costas Opa

  October 17, 2008

• The Vegan Banh Mi: It Can Be Good

  I was talking about banh mi last night with a friend whose Vietnamese American coworkers are obsessive lunch-hunters. When I told him my favorite ID sandwich shop was Seattle Deli, he replied, "Yeah, Seattle Deli's all right, but I preferred the pork banh mi a block away." He couldn't remember the name of the shop, though, so he gave directions, I took notes, and today I bussed over to Little Saigon. His rec turned out to be Saigon Deli on Jackson between 12th and 14th (which you shouldn't con

  June 2, 2009

• Drinks of Color Rarely a Good Idea, Reason #43

  Maggie Savarino Dutton is having computer problems, so I'm posting this for her.Maybe I'm just a little oversensitive, but I think some things don't deserve a cocktail named after them. The Union Square Grill usually designs a cocktail for new Seattle theater shows, which is a great marketing tool. But perhaps they should have skipped a companion for The Color Purple. The (cringe) Violet Oppression(/cringe) they're offering in honor of the musical version of the much-lauded book and movie is b

  December 8, 2008

• Tomorrow at the Ballard Farmers Market

  Image: http://www.noblefoodsfarm.com/GreensGuide/images/mustard-mizuna-large.jpgFor all your January resolutions, consider a farmers market diet. First: greens, greens, and more greens for your overindulged holiday self. Second: Shrink your carbon footprint by eating local. And third: Recent studies show that your pocketbook will thank you if you shop carefully (yes, it can be cheap to shop the farmers market). On the tables this week: a plethora of leafy greens, including purple kale, delicate,

  January 10, 2009

• The JOC: Stuffed Celery

  Ants on a log (red ants--cherries--on a log variation); grubs(sunflower seeds) on a log; ant on a stump; ants on a log ,on my catThe hors d'oeuvre chapter in Joy of Cooking is truly a thing of wonderment, filled with the kinds of things that now populate books such as The Gallery of Regrettable Food. Yet JOC is the one cookbook I own that I deem priceless. What I didn't learn on the job, my 1975 copy of JOC filled in the blanks. It's all in there, from aspic to squirrel. Sometimes I just open it

  January 15, 2009

• Madison Park Cafe Is Like Your House, But There's Brunch Inside

  Where: Madison Park Cafe, 1807 42nd Ave. E., 324-2626. When: Saturday morning. Weekend brunch starts at 8. Level of hangover: After attending a bachelor party for a strictly religious groom-to-be and his like-minded pals, I was feeling exhausted and secular as ever. On a scale of 1--10, I was hovering around a 6, somewhere between a thorny-crown headache and a water-to-wine-to-vomit session at the almighty porcelain throne. The Soak: If there wasn't a sign out front, you might mistake Madis

  January 23, 2009

• Where to Get the Goods?

   Image: recipetips.com/glossary-term/t--34293/savoy-cabbage.aspDespite recent flooding across the state, with some farms dramatically impacted, fresh, local crops are still making it to market for your delectation. Cold-resistant greens are plentiful this time of year, including such small-leaved varieties as spinach, baby bok choy, and mâche. Also available are winter staples like potatoes and cabbage. Consider less-familiar types like Austrian crescent potatoes (yellow-fleshed, with an u

  January 26, 2009

• New Menu Jargon Alert: Fourchette

  A little while ago, I was eating (for pleasure, not work) with friends at Restaurant Zoe and spotted this menu description. What in the hell was the "honey rutabaga fourchette" with the chicken breast? Fourchette is French for "fork," and I couldn't imagine Scott Staples carving a utensil out of a root vegetable. Luckily, my friend ordered the dish, and the fourchette turned out to be a coarse puree of rutabagas lightly sweetened with honey -- a variation on pommes de terre à la fourchette, or

  February 5, 2009

• Farmers Market Report: Give the Rutabaga a Chance

  A visit to the year-round West Seattle Farmers Market this week may inspire you to sample a root vegetable that has gotten a bad name over the years--the swede, more commonly known as the rutabaga.

  February 8, 2009

• Shiku Sushi’s Hat Trick

  The Roger Ebert of sushi hosts makes an international mashup, to mixed reviews.

  February 4, 2009

• The Thin Wheat Line

  The first round in a quest for the best noodle dishes within driving distance.

  February 25, 2009

• West Seattle Farmers Market Today

  If all that winter produce that looked so delicious three months ago is starting to get a bit boring (aww, parsnips again?), rejoice! Spring is peeking its sweet little head around the corner with the arrival of some wild greens like watercress, stinging nettles, and miner's lettuce, which resembles spinach in taste and gets its name from the early Gold Rush miners who used to eat it to stave off scurvy. Be on the lookout for other spring goodies, like fiddlehead ferns, which will probably appea

  March 1, 2009

• The Asparagus (Self-) Debate

  I was at Fred Meyer in Ballard on Saturday, and noticed a huge mound of asparagus on sale for $1.99 a pound. I thought: Hmm...I want asparagus...March 15 is spring in the warmer states...perhaps it's not shipped from Peru or New Zealand... So I looked at the tag on the asparagus, and it read "Altar Produce: Calexico, CA." Domestic asparagus for $2! I bought a bunch, drove home, and flipped on the oven. I tossed the asparagus with shallots, olive oil, and salt, then roasted them at 40 until the t

  March 19, 2009

• Tilikum Place Café Is All Goods, No Buzz

  Perfecting even the homeliest of kitchen staples.

  April 8, 2009

• Favorite Restaurants: A Serious Splurge

  How it tastes to spend more than $50 a plate.

  March 11, 2009

• Favorite Restaurants: Fine Dining for the Flush

  How to eat for between $30 and $50.

  March 11, 2009

• Favorite Restaurants: Budget-Friendly and Satisfying

  March 11, 2009

• Barrio’s Missed Opportunity

  A “Pacific Northwesterner’s approach” to Mexican food doesn’t work out so well on Capitol Hill.

  March 4, 2009

• Elliott Bay Cafe and the Gravity of Lunch

  A great food city needs more than five-star evenings. It needs the midday manna of Tamara Murphy.

  February 11, 2009

• Treasure Map in a Plastic Sleeve

  For delicious Lao dishes, seek out the secret menu at Thai Palms.

  January 14, 2009

• Plate Expectations

  A famous local chef may not change dining as we know it, but his Broadway eatery’s no failure.

  January 7, 2009

• Pizza Rash, Part II: Pie-litically Correct

  December 17, 2008

• No Ordinary Fry

  October 29, 2008

• How Is That Sandwich Behind the Glass?

  September 24, 2008

• Downward Facing Diner

  Old-school hippiedom meets new-school in Wallingford.

  September 17, 2008

• Meat Beet Manifesto

  September 3, 2008

• Just 30 Minutes to the Nearest Korean Speakeasy

  August 27, 2008

• Eat Like a Bottomfeeder

  August 6, 2008

• How Art of the Table Makes Monday Bearable

  With eight plates priced below $10, Happy Monday is an irresistible bargain.

  April 22, 2009

• Respect a Lima Bean Day

  We have some very strange national food holidays, for sure. The lima bean has its day today, as the weather hovers a little bit past stick-to-your-rib, bean-filled comfort food but nowhere near fresh bean season. As these things are usually determined by marketing and industry lobbies, I wonder about the lima bean consortium's agenda... Why now? Don't confuse lima beans with butter beans, though the Brits do all the time. Limas are green and small and toothy, like favas, but far less fun. Lima

  April 20, 2009

• Anchovies & Olives: Unmistakably Ethan Stowell

  Simple preparations, ingredients straight from your CSA box, and flawless service—some formulas are worth repeating.

  April 29, 2009

• West Seattle Farmers Market Today

  New spring produce has arrived! Make your way to the West Seattle Farmers Market this weekend to fill your kitchen with fresh produce like chives, baby leeks, cabbage raab, and dandelion greens. You may even find something you've never tried before, like kohlrabi, a Sputnik-shaped veggie popular in places like Central Europe and Asia. Kohlrabi (German for "cabbage-turnip") is like a sweeter version of a broccoli stem or cabbage heart, and can be eaten raw or cooked.

  April 26, 2009

• Long Provincial Vietnamese Elevates the Tamarind Tree’s Legacy

  May 20, 2009

• Fresh Bistro Opens May 22

  I walked in for last night's preview of Fresh Bistro, the new restaurant from the same team as Herban Feast catering company, and I had to reorient myself. The space, in a new condo complex across from Safeway in the West Seattle junction, lies 180 degrees from their newish, yet beautifully shabby chic, catering warehouse in SODO. All exposed, light woods with a gleaming open kitchen and accents of green everywhere, I don't know if I've walked into a restaurant or a spa. A salad of cool beets, s

  May 20, 2009

• Brunch at MezzaLuna Bakery and Bistro

  Where: Mezzaluna Bakery and Bistro, 2608 S. Judkins St.,324-2572, mezzalunabistro.net When: Sunday afternoon. Level of Hangover: Under normal circumstances I would have needed a couple more mimosas to even get out of bed before noon on Sunday, but on this occasion there was something foreign floating in the sky. The Soak: The sun made a cameo in the B-movie grotesqueness that is Seattle weather, and there was little I could do to keep from rejoicing. We cozied up next to a window at Central

  May 22, 2009

• Homegrown Sandwiches: Fantasies Fulfilled

  May 27, 2009

• Search & Distill: Vedge Out

  July 1, 2009

• Market News

  Sour pie cherries are now arriving at farmers markets, but if you have your heart set on baking one of those all-American beauties for your Fourth of July barbecue, we suggest you don't dilly-dally: They're only available in limited quantities. Speaking of cherries, the Lake City Farmers Market is celebrating all varieties of Washington's cherry bounty today, with Carlos Caula from Greenwood's Carmelita restaurant on hand with tips on cherry-centric dishes. Be sure, too, to modify your menus thi

  July 2, 2009

• Slaw: The Backbone of Every Cookout

  According to Ben Friedman of Homegrown Sandwiches in Fremont the secret to good slaw starts with the best ingredients. He says, "Slaws break down so much over their one to three day curing that if you don't start with the freshest cabbage, carrots, fennel, etc., you'll end up with something soggy. The magic balance is to get the deep flavor that comes with curing over time and maintaining the crunch." For their South Carolina slaw, named such because it relies on vinegar and mustard just like

  July 2, 2009

• Revisiting Matt’s and The Hunt Club

  July 15, 2009

• This Week's Recipe: Where the Wild Things Are

  Ed note: Today, we're launching not only a new feature -- a weekly recipe from a local chef -- but also a new Voracious contributor: Angela Garbes. Find more Garbes on her blog, Eat & Tell, and on Twitter at @agarbes. For frequent visitors to Seattle Farmer's Markets, Christina Choi is a familiar face. As co-founder, along with Jeremy Faber, of Foraged & Found Edibles, Choi's knowledge of local wild ingredients -- berries, nettles, mushrooms, fiddlehead ferns -- runs deep. As a chef about town

  August 3, 2009

• Market Report

  ​Loving arts and crafts at any age or gender is nothing to be ashamed of. If the thought of turning a zucchini into a muscle car excites you, hold your head high at the Magnolia Farmers Market this Saturday for the Zucchini 500, where all the pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and wooden wheels you'll need to make a squash look like a race car will be provided. When you've finished your masterpiece, check out the new produce arriving, like early peppers (hot and sweet varieties) and pole beans. P

  August 7, 2009

• Feed Me Like I’m Your Grandfather

  August 12, 2009

• This Week's Recipe: Melons and Lardons from Becky Selengut

  ​In the case of Becky Selengut, you can tell a lot about the chef by. . .the website she created. In 2006, Selengut launched Seasonal Cornucopia, a searchable database that enables chefs and home cooks to easily identify when local ingredients go in and out of season. Along with information on fruit, foraged edibles, and vegetables, you'll find a wealth of information on sustainable Pacific Northwest seafood. Selengut is also the co-author of The Washington Local and Seasonal Cookbook. S

  August 17, 2009

• Cantinetta: Comfortable as an Old Boot

  August 19, 2009

• Pie Time for Love

  August 26, 2009

• Product Whore: Zergut Pepper Spread

  ​OK, this product is neither fresh nor local, and it's probably sacrilege to recommend it right now during the heart of super-happy abundant produce season (What would GoGo Green Garden say???). But nothing else tastes quite like it. A blend of Hungarian peppers and eggplant, this avjar has the sharpness of mild sweet-hot peppers without too much of a vinegar element and much more flavor than your average roasted red peppers in a jar. Serve it with bread and hummus; add the local quotient

  August 31, 2009

• Sweat and Pain in Bellevue

  September 16, 2009