Free bread at Il Fornaio

Grown-ups need treats too. To celebrate their 10th anniversary in Seattle, Il Fornaio will be handing out free full-size ciabatta bread on Halloween at the Bakery Café, atrium level in Pacific Place. The offer is good only on October 31 while supplies last. The Bakery Café is open from 9am-8pm on Friday.

Il Fornaio ("the baker") began in 1972 as a baking school in Barlassina, Italy, in the Lombardia region. The first Il Fornaio bakery in the U.S. opened in 1981 in California; the restaurants were later added in 1987.

For Halloween and All Saints' Day, Crémant is preparing a special bones and blood menu featuring roasted marrow bones with fleur de sel (hand-harvested sea salt) and grilled bread, and choucroute garnie-- sauerkraut with blood sausage, boudin blanc (white sausage made with veal, pork and/or chicken) and pork loin. Reservations are recommended. Call 206.322.4600.

The roasted marrow bones (os à moelle rôti) is also served with parsley salad ($12) as part of Crémant's new brunch menu and as is during dinner ($12).

Very charming and intimate, Crémant is on 34th & Union in Madrona. The restaurant offers traditional French cuisine.

Canlis recently announced Jason Franey, executive sous chef at New York's Eleven Madison Park, as its new executive chef. Chef Franey, 31, will begin on December 1. He replaces Chef Aaron Wright who is rumored to be heading to Napa.

Montreal-native mixologist Jamie Boudreau moves to Tini Bigs from Vessel. New drink menu created by Boudreau includes Chocolat Cochon-- bacon-infused bourbon, cherry, chocolate, amaro and bitters served with a massive ice cube. Hmm.. bacon in a drink. Let me know how it tastes.

Eliot Guthrie is the new chef at Smith. Prior to the Capitol Hill gastropub, Chef Guthrie was the former sous chef at Artemis and had posts at Café Campagne, Le Pichet and Lark.

Chef Ethan Stowell will open his fourth restaurant, Anchovies & Olives, on 15th & Pine on Capitol Hill. Scheduled to open around December 2008 or early 2009, the new eatery will focus on seafood and pastas. Menu items will range from $5-$18. Anchovies & Olives joins Chef Stowell and business partner Patric Gabre-Kidan's other ventures: Tavolata and How to Cook a Wolf. Chef Stowell is also the proprietor of Union.

Crave on 12th & Pine is closing on October 30. If you plan to dine before they shut their doors, one of their staff said, "Come on the 29th just to be sure." To date, Crave already stopped serving dinner and serves lunch until 3pm. The beloved comfort food restaurant lost their lease but is looking for a new space.

Veil on lower east Queen Anne will say goodbye after three years. Patrons are invited to join for a last toast on November 1 from 7pm-2am.

Monsoon East is scheduled to open early November in Bellevue's Main Street. For $5 per item, you can sample the menu at Monsoon's Capitol Hill location during happy hour, Monday-Friday from 5pm-6:30pm. Vietnamese cuisine will take the spotlight at Chefs Eric and Sophie Banh's Eastside restaurant. The Banh siblings also own Baguette Box on Capitol Hill and Fremont.

Macrina Bakery & Café in SoDo is now open. Located on 1st & Holgate, this venue offers lunch daily and is home to Macrina's bread kitchen, catering, wholesale and wedding cake production, and main office. The space, minimalist in design, is presently undergoing review for LEED certification. Macrina also has locations in Belltown and West McGraw on Queen Anne.

This weekend, October 25-26, foodies will surely flock to Qwest Field for the Seattle Food and Wine Experience.

Tickets are $59 per day with proceeds benefiting Heroes for the Homeless. The fee covers sampling of gourmet food, wine and beer, and five tastings from local restaurants like Cremant, Crush, Barking Frog, Campagne, Herb Farm, Rover's, Volterra and 35th Street Bistro. Cooking demos will also be on hand by Chef Daisley Gordon of Campagne, Chef Holly Smith of Café Juanita, Chef Don Curtis of Volterra, Chef Andrew Taylor from Australia and others.

The list of wineries is extensive and include many heavy weights. Let the eating and drinking begin!

By now, if you haven't reserved your spot for this Saturday's Oyster Frenzy-- all you can eat oysters for $25-- it's all sold out.

Fortunately, this annual event kicks off Flying Fish's famous 25-cent oyster happy hour, available at the bar Monday-Friday from 5pm-6pm.

Elliott's is also celebrating the return of the oyster season by throwing an Oyster New Year Bash on Saturday, November 1 from 5pm-10pm. For $75 (advance tickets), you'll get to slurp 30 different oyster varieties, devour a generous seafood buffet and pair those with local wine and beer. Proceeds will benefit Puget Sound Restoration Fund, a nonprofit committed to restoring marine habitat, water quality and native species in Puget Sound.

Combine the classic slider appetizer, with the gross-out opportunity of a Halloween party and you get this clever spin on the miniature hamburger. Grass-fed beef, white cheddar, and a homemade ketchup seem innocent enough until you garnish with your favorite scare tactics.

Maggot Slider Ingredients
Ground chuck (80% lean max), 2 pounds
6oz white cheddar
1/2 cup cooked white rice (aka "maggots")
12 leaves fresh basil
6 brioche or potato rolls
1 cup ketchup
salt & pepper
olive oil
Dijon mustard
12 wooden skewers

Preparation
1) Slice cheese into 12 equal pieces. Form small patties around each piece of cheese with the ground beef.
2) Roll edge of sliders in rice then press with fingers to adhere.
3) Heat olive oil in saute pan on medium high. Cook burgers until browned on each side, being careful not to overcook. Should take about 5 minutes per side max.
4) Cut brioche rolls in half and trim into squares. Toast bread, then dab with Dijon mustard.
5) Add one basil leaf to each piece of toasted bread. Top with a burger and skewer.
6) Place burgers on platter and drizzle with ketchup.
7) Decorate platter with plastic flies, bugs, and clumps of rice (aka "maggots").

Halloween-themed candy doesn't have to be nothing but processed sugar and chocolate to taste great, although it certainly doesn't hurt. Fruit can add a slightly different spin on the Halloween holiday, like in these blackberry bat wings, which are basically a homemade fruit leather or fruit roll-up cut in wing-like shapes. The ingredients and cooking process make it simple and kids and adults will both love them. You can use the recipe outside the Halloween holiday to make homemade fruit leather.

Blackberry Bat Wings Ingredients
Blackberries, 4 pints
3/4 cup sugar

Preparation
1) Puree sugar and berries. Strain the puree into a sauce pan to eliminate any seeds.
2) Cook on medium heat stirring occasionally until the puree is reduced by 3/4.
3) Place a Silpat or waxed paper on a sheet pan. Spread reduced puree on the covered portion of the sheet pan.
4) Bake on sheet pan at 200 degrees for 1-3 hours until the top is almost not sticky to the touch.
5) Allow to cool for 3 hours. Tear or trim with a parring knife into jagged shapes resembling bat wings.
6) Store in airtight container on parchment to keep "wings" separated until serving.

Peanut butter cups have long been my favorite Halloween candy. I'd trade other candies for a Reese's any day. Or I would have until we made these this year. Homemade peanut butter cups beat anything you can buy at the store hands down. And they're incredibly easy to make.

Peanut Butter Cup Ingredients
1 cup peanut butter (all natural)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup ground Graham crackers
8oz bitter-sweet baking chocolate
8oz semi-sweet baking chocolate

Preparation
1) Crush Graham crackers in a gallon storage bag with a rolling pin.
2) In a mixer with a paddle attachment mix peanut butter, powdered sugar and crushed Graham crackers, mixing until you get a consistency that rolls well.
3) Roll peanut butter mixture into balls and flatten. Each disk should be about the size of 4 stacked quarters. Store these on parchment paper in the freezer until ready for use.
4) Boil water in a medium sacue pan filled three quarters full. Place a metal mixing bowl on top of the sauce pan as a double-boiler. Break chocolate into squares to melt in mixing bowl. Melt chocolate, then remove the bowl from the sauce pan.
5) Stir the chocolate until it's cooled to approximately body temperature.
6) Pour a tablespoon of chocolate into a cupcake foil, tilting the foil so that the chocolate coats the sides up about 3/8-inch. When you get a dozen of these, place a cupcake baking sheet in the freezer to cool until firm. Repeat with a second baking sheet of cupcake foils.
7) After chilling, place a peanut butter disk in the center of each foil, then cover the disks with the remainder of the chocolate. Once you cover the full cupcake sheet with chocolate, place it back in the freezer until firm. Chill until serving.

After getting a little carried away slicing potatoes for making kettle chips we needed to do something with the left over slices. An easy follow-up was scalloped potatoes, which are easy to make and cook most effectively with uniform potato slices like the ones used for the chips. As I frequently mention, I'm allergic to dairy so I substituted 1/2 cup Silk creamer and 1/2 cup chicken broth for the 1 cup of cream in the recipe.

Scalloped Potatoes Ingredients
4-5 medium sized potatoes
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbl butter
2 Tbl flour
1 cup cream
1 cup shredded cheese
1/3 cup ham, cubed
1 tsp thyme

Preparation
1) Turn oven on to 375 degrees. Slice potatoes either by hand or to 3mm with a mandolin and keep in water until ready to layer in baking dish.
2) Saute diced onion and garlic in butter.
3) Add flour to butter and cook for 1-2 minutes
4) Add cream, stir to thicken
5) Grate cheese and add 1/2 cup to sauce. Add ham and thyme to sauce. Stir sauce until cheese melts.
6) Layer half potatoes on bottom of 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Pour half of sauce on the potato layer. Add rest of potatoes on top of sauce, then add the rest of the sauce on top of your second potato layer.
7) Top with the other 1/2 cup of cheese. Bake covered for approximately 30 minutes until bubbling. Remove cover, sprinkle breadcrumbs on the top and cook until the top has a golden brown crust of breadcrumbs and cheese.
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Serves 2-4

We try to source most of the food in our house as close to home as possible. For meat, vegetables, and many berries, this is easy to do in Washington. The wines and beers produced in the state are excellent too. Finding coffee and tea with ingredients sourced in the United States is almost impossible. I'm not ready to give up either beverage anytime soon, so the next best option has typically been to seek out roasters who use Fair Trade beans and leaves whenever possible. Recently, Choice Organic Teas, based in Seattle, started sourcing peppermint and lavender for some of their herbal teas directly in the state, creating what I believe are some of the only U.S. grown teas. Certainly they are among the only U.S. grown organic teas. In a product category where buying local has typically meant buying from South America, it's nice to see there are finally some options available from the U.S. too. Bonus for those of us who live a mere two hours from some of the crops.

Hat tip to Green LA Girl for a great round up of Fair Trade Tea.

Apple-looza at U-District Farmers Market
Saturday, October 11, 10am-12pm (market runs 'til 2pm)
Check out different Washington apples and learn which variety is better to make sauce, pies and other baked goods. Also patronize assorted apple products (ciders, jellies, pies, yum!) from local farmers and vendors. Cooking demo will be at noon.
50th St and University Way NE. Info: seattlefarmersmarkets.org

Free knife sharpening at Dish it Up
Saturday, October 11, 12pm-2pm
Bring up to two knives (no serrated) and have a pro get it back to shape for free. Located in Magnolia, Dish it Up offers kitchen gadgets and cooking classes from local chefs. Upcoming classes include making pintxos (Northern Spain's-- Basque Country to be exact-- equivalent of tapas) with Chef Wayne Johnson of Andaluca, cooking with fungi with Chef John Nesby of Poulsbo's Mor Mor Bistro and making warm autumn soups with Chef Larry Monaco of 08 Seafood Grill.
2425 33rd Ave W, Suite B, Seattle. Info: dish-it-up.com, 888-222-COOK

Wine tasting featuring Willamette Valley's Domaine Drouhin
at McCarthy & Schiering
Saturday, October 11, 11am-5pm
Family-run Domaine Drouhin winery has vineyards in Oregon's Dundee Hills, region of Willamette Valley. This tasting will feature their 2007 Domaine Drouhin Arthur Chardonnay and 2005 Domaine Drouhin Laurène Chardonnay. As always, McCarthy & Schiering's Saturday wine tastings are free.
Queen Anne shop: 2401 B Queen Anne Ave N & McGraw St. Ravenna shop: 6500 Ravenna Ave NE. Info: mccarthyandschiering.com

Between our regular grocery list and trips to the farmers market, we ended up with too many potatoes in the house. An obvious solution - make some potato chips. Sure, it's faster to buy a bag of Kettle brand chips from the store, but they never taste as fresh and you're limited to the standard seasonings and flavors. Making your own potato chips allows you to choose the type of oil. While I used the canola oil we have on hand, I considered tracking down some California Rice Oil Company oil, after recently reading in Cook's Illustrated that the smoke point is much higher than canola or peanut oil. You can also use seasoned salts like truffle salt or fennel salt to subtly enhance your potato chip flavor. At Robin's recommendation, a two-staged frying process was used to achieve a crisp golden brown chip.

Ingredients
Potatoes, sliced
24oz Canola, peanut, or California rice oil
Truffle salt

Equipment
Cast iron dutch oven
Thermometer
Mandolin slicer

Procedure
1) Heat oil in cast iron pan, with thermometer in oil to make sure temperature reaches 300 degrees.
2) As oil heats, clean your potatoes and slice with mandolin slicer set to approximately 2mm. Place sliced potatoes in a bowl of water to keep them from turning brown.
3) Remove slices from water and pat dry on paper towels, place enough slices in oil to have one layer covering the surface of the oil.
4) Allow slices to blanch, cooking until they turn from a shiny color to a more matte appearance. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and place in a pan lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil.
5) After blanching all potato slices, increase the temperature of the oil to between 350-375 degrees.
6) Repeat process of layering chips in the oil, this time cooking them until they turn a golden color (or until crisp with purple or blue potato slices).
7) Remove from oil and place on paper towels to absorb excess oil, season with your favorite salt while still hot.

I'm a huge fan of the flavor combination of Brussels sprouts and bacon. This pasta dish, with the wide pappardelle noodles is a variation on that theme, substituting my love of American smoke-cured bacon with the flavorful salt-cured pancetta.

Ingredients
Fresh dried papparadelle pasta - 8oz
Brussels sprouts trimmed and halved - 1 pound
Pancetta, thick sliced cut into small pieces 6oz
Fennel - 1 bulb, sliced
Garlic, 3 cloves, sliced
Leek, halved and sliced
3-4 sage leaves, julienned
2 sprigs thyme
Handful of parsley, chopped
1/2 lemon
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Red pepper flakes
White wine (Chardonnay or Chardonnay Blend)
4 Tbl Butter
2oz heavy cream
pinch of nutmeg, fresh grated
1-2oz Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Preparation
Start with a pot of water for boiling pasta. Add plenty of salt to the water. While waiting for the water to boil, trim Brussels sprouts and work through preparation of other ingredients. In a large saute pan on medium-high heat, add pancetta and a little olive oil, cooking until brown. Add Brussels sprouts and saute 2-3 minutes. Add fennel, leeks and thyme. Brown vegetables and season with salt and pepper. Add pasta to water at this stage. In the saute pan, add red pepper flakes and garlic. Toss saute pan several times, then add white wine and deglaze by scraping the bottom of the pan. Allow to reduce until liquid is almost gone. Add sage and parsley, along with butter, stirring until butter melts. Check pasta at this point (if not ready, turn down the saute pan and wait for the pasta), add the cream, salt & pepper to taste, allowing to bubble and thicken. Add pasta to saute pan and toss all to coat the pasta. Grate nutmeg and cheese into the saute pan. Squeeze lemon over the entire pan and serve.

Every time I open my freezer I get a whiff of the Truffle Salt that I bought a while back. I decided to use it make Truffle Chex Mix for a girls night out I hosted. The girls found it addictive and everyone was asking where I got it.

Truffle Chex Mix

6 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of Truffle Salt
3/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
9 cups of Chex Cereal
1 cup of mixed nuts
1 cup of pretzels
1 cup of vegetable chips(I used Terra Exotic Mediterranean chips)

1. Heat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Melt butter in microwave.
3. Stir seasonings in with butter.
4. Mix all ingredients together.
5. Bake for an hour, mixing every 15 minutes or so.

Comments:
It tasted nice but I felt like there should be more chips. Next time I will add more.
I am refraining from making this for myself because I will probably end up eating it all in one day. That's what guests are for.

Truffle Salt is from La Buona Tavola, 1524 Pike Place. 206-292-5555
Chips are from Whole Foods.

With damp cool weather starting to kick in here in the Pacific Northwest, it's time to start making some of my favorite soups. I like a number of different ham and bean soups, but I think this particular recipe, which couples smoked ham hocks with cannellini and great northern white beans. A little Swiss chard added at the end adds a flavor like an intense spinach that tempers the comforting rich salty flavor of the soup.

Ingredients
1 medium onion (diced)
3 whole carrots (chopped)
3 celery stalks (chopped)
1 bunch thyme
2 bay leaves
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
3 Tbl olive oil
2 ham hocks
1 cup white wine
water
red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
2-3 Cans northern white beans or cannellini beans
Swiss chard

Preparation
Warm your stock pot to medium heat, then combine sweat diced onion, chopped carrots and celery, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, in olive oil. Add wine to sweated vegetables allowing it to reduce by half. Add water, ham hocks, bay leaves, and thyme. The water should cover the hocks in the pot. Simmer till ham hocks are falling apart, which will take several hours. Add cannellini and great northern beans, simmer an additional 20 minutes. Just before serving, add the chard to the pot allowing it to cook lightly. Finish by serving in bowls garnished with sour cream or plain goat yogurt and chives.

There are lots going on this weekend. As the weather gets cooler, sip some warm sake or tea, make fresh spicy salsa and dance to the beat of the music. Maybe not in that particular order, but come to think of it, why not?

Columbia City Beatwalk
Friday, October 3, 7pm-10pm
Eat, mingle and listen to live music at Kallaloo Caribbean Restaurant (featuring Duo Caribe and Eduardo Mendonça), Awash Ethiopian Restaurant (with Afro-Cuban jazz band Sonando) and other Columbia City stomping ground. Check out the extensive wine selection at Verve Wine Bar & Cellar and make sure to try something new.
$5 cover allows access to all venues offering live music. Info: columbiacitybeatwalk.org

Lake Chelan Crush Festival
Saturday, October 4-Sunday, October 5
also Saturday, October 11-Sunday, October 12
Tour Lake Chelan wineries, learn about wine making and meet the winemakers. Tasting will be in abundance. Participating area wineries include Vin du Lac, Tsillan Cellars, Nefarious Cellars, Hard Row to Hoe Vineyards and Tildio Winery.
Info: lakechelanwinevalley.com

Wine tasting at McCarthy & Schiering featuring Paul Gregutt Selections
Saturday, October 4, 11am-5pm
The Selections-- created by wine adviser Paul Gregutt and McCarthy & Schiering proprietors Dan McCarthy and Jay Schiering-- will be of single vineyard offerings, unusual varietals, special clones or exceptional barrels from a particular vintage.
As noted previously, the Saturday wine tastings are free. Gregutt will be at the Ravenna shop (6500 Ravenna Ave. NE) from 11:30am-2pm and the Queen Anne shop (2401 B Queen Anne Ave. N & McGraw St.) from 2:30pm-5pm.
Info: mccarthyandschiering.com/

Warm sake tasting
Saturday, October 4, 12pm-8pm
Sunday, October 5, 12pm-7pm
Sake Nomi-- sake shop and tasting bar in Pioneer Square-- brings back kanzake (warm sake) in time for the fall weather. Ask about their complimentary sake tastings.
76 S Washington St. & 1st Ave. Info: 206.467.SAKE, sakenomi.us

Northwest Tea Festival
Saturday, October 4, 10am-6pm
Sunday, October 5, 10am-4pm
Sample teas from India, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, and learn about various cultural tea ceremonies. Highlights include cooking demo with Eric Tanaka, Executive Chef of Tom Douglas Restaurants; Tea 101 workshops and films about tea at SIFF Cinema.
Seattle Center, Northwest Rooms. Free admission, $5 suggested donation.
Info: nwteafestival.com

Wine Outlet's Lamb Roast Anniversary Party
Sunday, October 5, 11am-5pm
Wine Outlet's Interbay shop turns one and you're invited to celebrate with them. They're firing up the grill for a lamb roast party, pouring wine and offering great deals. Cheers.
946 Elliott Ave. W. Info: 206.285.1189, seattlewineoutlet.com

Fresh salsa demo at Broadway Farmers Market
Sunday, October 5, 12pm-1pm
Learn how to make fresh salsa using seasonal vegetables, herbs, fruits and other local produce from the market.
10th Ave. E & E Thomas St. on Capitol Hill behind Bank of America. The Broadway Farmers Market is held every Sunday, 11am-3pm, through Nov 23.
Info: seattlefarmersmarkets.org

Cooking demo at CroatiaFest
Sunday, October 5, 1:30pm
John Sarich, Chateau Ste. Michelle Culinary Director, will demonstrate how to make tasty Croatian food at this weekend festival celebrating Seattle's Croatian American community. While there, try Ukuhana kava (Croatian coffee), Kranjska kobasica s ajvarom (spicy Croatian sausage with red pepper relish) and Karlovačko pivo (imported Croatian beer). Zivjeli!
Seattle Center, Center House. Free admission. Info: croatiafest.org

1. Meyer Lemon

Is it a lemon or an orange? A few years ago , when I first started cooking. I didn't know what a Meyer lemon was. I went out to find out. First stop, Whole Foods. I asked the man in the produce section if he had any. He kindly replied that there are none left and went off for a second. He came back holding a lemon and orange in each hand. He rubbed the two together like you would rub rocks to start a bonfire. Then he said " smell this." " This is what a Meyer lemon smells like, a cross between a lemon and an orange."
I was determined to find this citrus mystery so I went to the Pike's Place Market and searched all the stands. There it was, the beautiful citrus treasure. I took it home and started to put together a vinaigrette until I felt compelled to taste it first. I expected it to be sour like a lemon but it tasted more like an orange with the slight bitterness of a lemon. I peeled it into segments and ate it like an orange. A citrus delight!

More about Meyer Lemons

2. Elephant Garlic

Elephant garlic is garlic for the garlicky challenged. It looks hefty and is elephant- like in size but is light on taste. It's the Eau de Toilette of garlic, the light version of this smelly kitchen basic. It is not exactly a garlic but more like a type of leek.
See the description here
Each clove is enormous in size and closer to the size of regular bulb of garlic. You only have to give the the garlic one whack to uncover an oversized chunk of garlic. So for those who want a subtle hint of garlic, this may be what your looking for. This may be less potent, but no promises that you won't stink!

3. Bubble Tea

My girlfriends are all bubble tea girls, we never go out for coffee but we are always up for bubble. Originally from Asia, bubble tea is a tea that comes in many flavors, filled with little pearls made of tapioca. These tapioca balls, otherwise known as Boba or Pearls have a gummy texture and can be found in different flavored teas, from sour apple flavor to green tea with chocolate. These chewy balls are sucked through enormous straws so that each pearl can plop into your mouth individually. This tea, usually found in Asian cafes can be flavored with a milky sugary mix and can be made hot or cold.
As Bubble tea is becoming increasingly popular, the pearl can be found at juice bars all over the Seattle area. If you are a bubble tea virgin, your first encounter should be with cold bubble tea at an Asian cafe. It may taste awkward at first but it becomes addictive after a few slurps.
More on Bubble Tea

4. Pho

Pho, pronounced fa is a Vietnamese soup , that is served in big bowls with heaps of noodles and your choice of protein.
The broth is a clear brownish color garnished with green onions and an assortment of herbs such as basil, mint and even white bean sprouts. The soup is served with thin white rice noodles and hoisin sauce. The amazing thing about this soup is that it is a full meal in one bowl. Usually after a bowl of this, you can hardly think of ordering anything else. It is also fairly inexpensive. For under 6 dollars, you can dine out and be very full. More about pho

5. Panko Bread Crumbs

Panko bread crumbs are a Japanese type of bread crumbs that have invaded the cooking world and made regular bread crumbs seem like they need to get a life. These extra coarse bread crumbs are usually irregular in shape and will promise a crunchier, non-soggy breading on anything from fried vegetables to fried chicken.

Bubble Tea pearls