March 23 - Yam Cubes, Noodle Bowls

Such donuts!

No, this post has nothing to do with donuts. I just had to pick up two dozen of them from Top Pot for a thing at work, and I'd never been in possession of so many donuts before. It was a little magical. I mean, just look at them!

Aaaanyway. . . . I've been a little preoccupied with sweet potatoes and yams lately. I blame this one on my dad. I don't think he likes them, so we never had them when I was younger. This was also the case with brussel sprouts. And music videos. So now, having discovered them as an adult, I'm completely OD-ing on them. I'm sure the sweet potato-related madness is setting in as I type this. It makes them no less delicious. Like, for instance, when I decided to dice, toss with rosemary,salt and pepper, and fry them in a little oil.

Cubes = 3D goodness

I liked how this cooked them faster - I've found that yams seem to take much longer to cook than regular potatoes. Or even sweet potatoes, which I guess are different. Who knew.

They seemed like a great side dish for the pork dish that I think I found on Serious Eats, which involved a pork tenderloin cut into medallions, seared, then finished in a sauce containing brandy, mustard, tarragon, and cream.

Are we tired of pork yet? Of course not!

It was pretty simple, although I misjudged and undercooked the pork slightly. I guess I still have to fine-tune my meat-ometer. Not to be confused with a meatometer. Still, after adjusting the cooking time they turned out quite lovely. Especially perched atop some fresh asparagus next to those lovely yammy cubes.

Presentation is half the meal. Um, right.

Having an entire international district at my disposal has proven to be one of my favorite things about this great city I live in. It provides me with the opportunity to indulge in lots of great food for not so lots of money. It's also great because there seems to be a never-ending supply of tiny eateries I have yet to check out.

On Saturday night following a stop at the Punk Rock Flea Market, a few friends and I decided to check out Szechuan Noodle Bowl. It's a tiny place with about 10 tables, but we were determined to sample their wares. It turned out to be pretty worth it.


Check it out! As we were awaiting our food, a couple of ladies came out to the dining room and starting making dumplings. By hand. This seemed to me a very good thing, and of course we had to order some of those dumples.

Discs? Chop chop!

And my god they were awesome. We had the pork dumplings, which were tender and lovely. They were swimming in a lightly spicy sauce which complimented the mildly porky innards just perfectly. Honestly, they were my favorite part of the meal. And I ate most of them. But I don't even care. Ha!

DUMPLINGS!!

Mostly because of course, since I was there, we didn't have to worry about not ordering enough food. Aside from the dumplies we also got a green onion pancake for the table, which was also of superior quality. It had a nice light crisp to it, and it was thick without being too doughy or heavy. It also wasn't greasy as I've experienced other, lesser pancakes to be. Success.

Would it be good with maple syrup? I wonder. . .

Sean, who had suggested this restaurant to begin with, ordered the house specialty: szechuan beef noodles soup. It had a really nice flavor - deep and subtle with not super spicy overtones. I'd say this was a winner too.

Beefy!

That boy of mine ordered the pork noodles with brown sauce, which was accompanied by cucumber sticks. Man I love cucumber sticks. I'm not sure why I ever consume cucumbers any other way. The little cubes of pork had a nice flavor to them, and a slightly springy texture. I'm curious as to how they're made, but I find it's best not to question things like that. Just accept. And enjoy.

Porky!

I think the best part of the meal (aside from those luscious, lovely dumplings) was the noodles. They were so chewy and soft and fresh tasting - it makes me want to make noodles from scratch all the time. Then I remember that I'm lazy. But it's okay, because I can go to Szechuan Noodle Bowl and enjoy them at relatively low prices. Mmmm. . . noooooooooodle. . . . .

And here's a picture of Moos looking silly. This is what fresh noodles do to people.

Silly!

March 15 - Pike Place, Snackin!

Spring! It's. . . springing!

One thing I love about living in Seattle is Pike Place Market. Yes, it is touristy and showy, and generally crowded and ridiculous, but it's still a local market full of fresh produce, seafood, and other great products. Sometimes it's great just to stop in for a drink or a snack.

The drink was what drew me in on Saturday. There's a fresh juicery I like to stop by when I'm downtown because the old Asian women who work there always seem irritated with all the tourists. It makes me smile while I'm drinking my refreshing strawberry beverage.

Juice and juice fixins.

I also can't resist the call of delicious porkmeats from the Chinese snackery next door. My boy likes the steamed bbq pork buns, but I usually get the bbq pork on a stick. What could be better than meat on a stick? Convenient and refined.

Always with the pork.

I also love the Market because there's always something to make me think, WTF? Such as. . . bizarre produce. I believe this was the first place I encountered the Grapple, that unholy marriage of delicious fruit and noxious Dimetapp. So you can imagine my curiosity and trepidation at the sight of this:

Purple asparagus? Why??

And there was also a cat in a sweater. The picture of a spirit broken.

Mr. Rogers cat? Why??

A trip to Pike Place is never complete without stopping at Le Panier. It's pretty much stating the obvious, but they make the most delicious French pastries I've had outside of . . . um. . . France.

Shelf after shelf of golden delicious.

Every time I go I spend about 15 minutes perusing the buttery goodness before ultimately deciding to get a Palmier. AKA heaven in baked good form. If I learned how to bake these, fattie wouldn't begin to describe me.

Nobody tell me how to make these.

That night I had friends coming over to play video games for a bit before their dinner reservations, so I decided to spoil their appetites.

I kind of miss Lindsey Lohan.

I had some salmon in the fridge, and I wanted to try my hand at mini-quiches. Because mini equals tasty. It was pretty simple - puff pasty cut into rounds and set into my muffin tin, topped with a bit of shredded cheese, cooked and flaked salmon, and topped with a mixture of egg, cream, and finely chopped onion. I think they turned out pretty well.

Just call me the appetite-ruiner.

The same could not be said of my yam wedges. I cooked them for what I figured was a good amount of time, but they were really soft. I thought I'd turn the oven down and leave them in to perhaps crisp up a bit, but they just kept getting softer. They were still tasty, but I'm clearly no Robert Irvine. Although I have cooked for Swedish pop stars on the moon.

They look crispy, but don't be fooled.

And by request, to end the evening, my now go-to cupcakes made a repeat appearance. The frosting was a bit different this time, but they were nonetheless delightful.

Of course my friends aren't sick of cupcakes.
Yet.

So I'm going to close with a shot of protesters I saw downtown just off the St Patrick's parade route. Anonymous apparently has active members in Seattle, and they're pissed. I like how they were handing out literature that was clearly disturbing this lady:

Skeptical. . .

I won't take a stand on it, but I will say that I think they look very very funny. Especially that guy in the yellow hoodie. Yeah, that guy.