Eating Alaska

Candygram

2010-07-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

So this week's story has its roots in events that transpired around Christmas. As long-term readers know, I am gradually attempting to learn candy-making. A coworker who also knew this went home for Christmas, and while there helped her family clear out her late grandmother's possessions. Among her grandmother's belongings were some candy molds. She texted me and asked if I wanted the molds, adding that they were going to be thrown out if I didn't want them. "Sure!" I replied. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, and boxes start arriving at work. Big boxes. Full of chocolate molds.

My coworker did say "There are a LOT of molds." She wasn't kidding. These boxes are a treasure trove of molds - holiday themed, kid themed, character molds, just about anything you can imagine.

I sorted through them and weeded out most of the duplicates, which I offered to another lady at work who sometimes makes candy too.

Since these things came to work, everyone else got into the act and demanded chocolates. I resolved to make some candy for the lady who gave me the molds and some for work friends, and we'll see for everyone else. Maybe eventually.

Now I have tried various caramels and toffee and that sort of thing, but no chocolates so far. Why? Because when I read about it, there was a whole bunch of stuff about tempering and maintaining precise temperatures and other stuff that made me nervous.

But now I kind of have to do it, so I got myself to Michael's and bought a bunch of candy disks in a variety of colors and a couple of different flavors.

Knowing that if I let myself think about it too much I'd stall, I went right home and threw some chocolate disks into the top of a double boiler. I set the burner to medium low and started stirring. In no time at all, it was smoothly melted and ready to be spooned into the molds.

It turned out to be not that hard at all! You spoon the chocolate into the molds, then tap them (the molds) on the counter a couple of time to shake loose any bubbles, then chuck them into the fridge to firm up. I gave the lady who gave me the molds got a couple batches of chocolate, and I owe her a lot more. When she tried her first piece, she said "This tastes just like Grandma's", which was pretty cool. The recipients enjoyed their chocolate, I'm over my fear, and I have a kitchen full of molds.

There are plenty more steps to take down this road. There's filled chocolates, chocolates with flavorings added, and chocolates with different colors painted into the molds so they look all artsy. So plenty of candy adventures left to have!

Stand Off II - Because there was so much uneaten food from the last time

2010-06-12T19:30:00.000-07:00

Today's odyssey of grazing took us to Downtown Market. For those of you playing along from the Anchorage area, this is the market on 3rd and E streets. Our visit was divided between buying food for later and buying food to eat there - never let it said we lack focus.

Our first stop was at Capriccio Spices, to pick up some much needed supplies. They are local purveyors of just about any herb, seasoning or tea you could possibly want. Just next door is a specialty meat stand that we think was Indian Valley, but did not think to make a note of the name. Mr EA got landjager meat sticks, which he loved very, very much. They have other products made of specialty meats (elk, reindeer, etc), so if you like that sort of thing, look them up! Right next to that is a stand for plucky local dairy, Mat-Su Creamery. They had plenty of their cheese curds, string cheese, and mild and sharp cheddar. The guy staffing the booth says that their ice cream will shortly be available at New Sagaya market, but their butter is mostly sold at the factory. So there's something to keep in mind, dairy fans! Of course, we stocked up - they have darn good cheese. Shopping done, it was time for lunch.

We made our way to the food aisle, where the crowds made it clear tourist season has begun.

We started with the ever-popular corn fritters with honey butter, which are pretty much what it sounds like. They are tasty little deep-fried nuggets of batter with sweet corn kernels embedded in them. The crispy outer layer gives way to a sweet, tender interior. They are dished up with whipped honey butter in copious amounts, and are well worth a stop. As you can see from the picture, they also do fried halibut. Mr EA has had it and liked it quite a bit in previous visits.

Next up was the Slider Shack, where shared an order of sliders. The burgers are juicy and meaty, topped with cheese and some tender flavorful onions, all on sweet Hawaiian rolls. Mmmm! Usually I need to condiment up my burgers, but these are perfect just they way they are. We were hoping for some of their fries as well, but there was a pretty long wait, so we skipped them for this trip.

Then we went across the aisle to Latino Grill for an order of their brochettas - or "cubes of meat on a stick". Resisting the siren song of a combo platter, we got an order of beef sticks, which had a good beef flavor, but could have used just a bit more time on the grill. They are served with chimichurri sauce, which was a little more acidy than my platonic ideal chimichurri sauce, but still was pretty darn tasty.

Our last stop of the day took us to the Gyro stand for a ...if you guessed gyro, you guessed right! And it was a pretty good gyro - the sauce was tasty and the veggies were fresh and the meat was crispy. It was not the best gyro I have ever had, but it was pretty good!

On the way out, we stopped at the Nut House for a bag of tasty cashews for later - if you like flavored nuts, this stand is a good bet. Also, their nuts come wrapped in cute little American-flag paper cones. The adorableness almost makes the nuts taste even better :)

In short, your biggest food problem at the Downtown Market is going to be chosing which delicious option you are going to take. Good luck and happy grazing!

Stand Off!

2010-05-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

A Tour of the Downtown Dog carts, Part I
There are many signs of spring here in Anchorage - citizens shedding layers of clothing, flowers sprouting in flowerbeds and planter boxes, and the hot dog carts appearing downtown. Only one of these signs is in our purview, so that is where our story starts today.
Our hot dog adventures started today at Tia's stand, next to the PAC on the side closest to the Egan center.

We were originally going to try the same thing at every stand, but quickly concluded that then we would be eating a lot of the same thing, which would get pretty boring pretty fast. So we decided to try whatever we were hungry for when we were standing in front of the stand. Not the most scientific method, but why not?

Anyway - Tia's.

The thing Tia seemed to be emphasizing the most was her reindeer dogs. For those of you not from the Anchorage area, this is a taste of Alaska which you will not find anywhere else, as far as I know. They are actually made of reindeer, which are farmed near here. As I have written previously, it is a unique taste sensation, kind of beefy, kind of slim-jim-y. Mostly it just tastes like itself. It is pretty good. Tia's reindeer dog was precooked when she fished it out of the depths of the cart, but then she split it and threw it on the grill to char a bit. She also grilled the bun a bit, then put it all together with some cooked onion. The sweet, soft onions were a good complement to the hearty meat of the 'deer. Generally reindeer is a bit too meaty for me, but it was so good I took two or three bites, instead of my usual one, before ceding the rest to Mr EA. Tia also says she will be getting reindeer and elk steaks for her stand, so there's something to look forward to!

Our next stop was MA's stand by the Federal Building. MA was featured as the signature Alaska dog vendor in The Great American Hot Dog book, making him famous among people who read books about hot dogs (which, I must confess, includes me. I read books about hot dogs on a fairly regular basis.)

As you approach MA's stand, you can't help but notice a series of wacky signs with directives telling you to stop conversing with your party and get off your cell phone while ordering your dog, and I was getting ready for a Soup Nazi-like experience. However, the proprietor was pretty pleasant, and nothing untoward happened, except for he was playing something on his stereo system that sounded like Celtic rap. But that was actually kind of fun.

Anyway, from MA we got a kosher beef hot dog, with grilled onions. It too was precooked, then grilled after we ordered and topped with a lavish amount of onion. He also asked if we were splitting our dog, and as we said yes, gave it to us cut in half crosswise, which I thought was nice of him. Especially since I like a little hot dog with my mustard, while Mr EA is a bit more restrained with his condiments. The dog itself was tasty and juicy, with the nice texture of quality hotdog. (And yes, I do know what's in hot dogs. I just want it ground up fine enough that I don't need to think about it.) MA's onions really elevate the dog above the ordinary - they are mellow and oniony without being sharp.

Our last stop of the day was not dog-related, but was instead Smitty's stand, situated near the big sun (start of the planet walk). Smitty's is a fine purveyor of many things, but their big claim to fame is poutine! I had read about this dish, but never got to try it. It was everything I hoped for, and so much more :)

So what's poutine? For those of you playing along not from Canada, poutine is french fries and cheese curd covered with gravy. Mmmmmmmm! I will be honest with you - this dish will not do your arteries any favors, but your taste buds will be happier than you can imagine. The personable young man staffing Smitty's dishes up a sizable cup of crispy delicious fries, tops them with a generous portion of cheese curds, and then ladles savory gravy over the whole thing. He made sure we took forks, without which we would still be washing our hands. This dish was the most delicious fast food I have had in a good long while. The gravy was richly beefy and oniony and the cheese curds started out as a cool contrast to the rest of the dish, and then melted into cheesy goodness. It was one of those things where you are involuntarily mmmmming, even with your mouth full. I urge you to drive downtown right now and try it. You'll be glad you did. Also, to make sure they will be there when you are, friend them on Facebook - they post when they will be there and when they will not - this is good to know, as they don't plan to head out in rain or poor weather.

We plan to visit more carts next weekend, or whenever we get back downtown. So there's something to look forward to!

Another chance to eat for a good cause!

2010-04-07T22:12:00.000-07:00

    Well, the days are getting warmer, the temperature is above freezing more often than not...and that means it's charity walk/run time again! Since there is roughly one of these events a day in the warmer months, even the most dedicated walker needs to pick and choose which to participate in. For the foodie with a heart, may I suggest Graze to Raise - the Alaska Visitor Industry Charity Walk .
   Held on May 7th in Anchorage and May 8th in Fairbanks, this walk raises money for a variety of charities and offers participants a good time as well! It is organized by Alaska's Visitor Industry, and billed as "the only walk in Anchorage where participants probably won't lose any weight." Sponsors have food and beverage booths out for walkers, and I'm told in past years there have been some pretty good eats.
  Teams can register, as can individuals. You are encouraged to get sponsors and raise as much as possible, but you can just sponsor yourself for a fee - go to the website to get specifics. Individuals and groups who raise money above a minimum level (again, see the website for details) can specify what local charity gets their money! However, even if you don't get to specify where your donation goes, your money still goes to nonprofits here in Alaska.
    So to have a good time while doing good, sign up to Graze to Raise. We'll see you there!

Yes. Yes, we DO heart bacon.

2010-04-04T15:22:00.000-07:00

Mr EA and I recently revisited the Spenard Roadhouse, of earlier post fame, in order to check out this month's Bacon of the Month appetizer. Yes, you read that right - bacon of the month.
    We split the aforementioned appetizer, a Cubano sandwich with tater tots (Mr EA's favorite sandwich ever) and a dessert which I will get into later. The Bacon of the Month turned out to be crispy cheese and bacon croquettes with a tomato dipping sauce also enriched with bacon. It was not what we were expecting, but it was delicious anyway! (On their website, the menu listed the bacon of the month as a fondue with bacon, Granny Smith apple slices and toast points. That sounds awesome, too. We 'll look for it to come around again some time.)
   The Cubano was awesome, as always, as were the tots. Served on a ciabatta, the sandwich is a rich taste treat consisting of pulled barbecued pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickled onions and dill pickle. It is a sloppy, delicious sandwich that will fill you up - which is why we started sharing dishes at the Roadhouse in the first place. The tots were crispy and delicious as always, and perfectly set off by the ketchep that comes with them in little dipping cups. Mmmmm.!
    Then to round out our lunch, we chose Maple Apple Bread Pudding, which is served warm with bourbon caramel sauce. What was so interesting about this dessert? For a couple of dollars more, you can get it with ice cream and/or...bacon! Obviously, we got the bacon. This is our second experience with bacon-maple based dessert, and I have to say, so far its worked out pretty well for us. The saltiness of the bacon worked perfectly with the sweetness of the caramel bourbon sauce and the maple-apple flavor of the bread pudding itself.
    So, in short, if you're in the mood for some bacon, head on over to the Spenard Roadhouse - you'll be glad you did!

Eating Japan

2010-03-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

Mr. EA will be guest-writing this post. Enjoy!

In February, I had the opportunity to go to Japan for work. We stayed in Yokohama, where there are many great places to eat. It should be noted that the place we stayed in was the waterfront area – it’s a tourist area, very Westernized, so we had a difficult time finding Japanese food. In particular, we never got to try any actual sushi while we were there, because everyplace was either very, very high-priced or looked untrustworthy. One of the interesting characteristics of restaurants in Japan is that they display models of the food outside. These are realistic, 3D representations of the dishes they serve. This is a big help for ordering, as there is a significant language gap. I’d like to describe the things we ate – and I’m going to take it day by day.

The 7 of us traveling arrived Friday night on February 12. After a very long day of travel we met three of our coworkers who were already there, and who were familiar with the area from previous experience. We were pretty tired and didn’t want to make any decisions, so we went to a favorite place of theirs, called the Kirin Beer Hall. Kirin is a Japanese beer brand. I can’t comment on any of the beers or other drinks available in Japan, because as a rule I don’t drink when I’m away from home. My dinner that night was billed as Beef and Scallions. It actually was Beef and Garlic. It consisted of 1 x 2 thin slices of meat, sautéed in butter and garlic. Some scallions were sprinkled on it, hence the name. I am a huge fan of garlic, so this one was a particular treat for me. The dish was delivered on a sizzling cast-iron plate, fajita-style.

Saturday, Feb 13.

Saturday morning began with a stop at the Starbucks in our hotel, a ritual we repeated every day. We then went out to our worksite by train, and there discovered one of the most wonderful things about Japan. Everything, and I mean everything, is available via vending machines, banks of which can be found at every building. I got a can of hot coffee for about 100 yen (roughly $1).

Dinner Saturday night took us a long time to find. There was a difficulty reaching a consensus on where to eat, so we walked around for a while looking at different places. We wound up at a place called Beer Dock, where I had a grilled tuna dish that was really good. Two of our party ordered garlic bread, which for some reason was made long and thin and delivered in a stein.

Sunday, Feb 14

Sunday was a day off. So we took most of the day to explore the harbor area in Yokohama, scouting out places to eat and generally tourist-ing. We had lunch in an all-you-can-eat place in our hotel (Washington Sakuragicho). The restaurant featured American and Japanese breakfast foods. I ate American stuff, which I suppose isn’t that interesting for this blog. We ate supper at an American chain called Jonathan’s which was not very good, so not much to report there.

Monday, Feb 15

Supper was the culinary highlight of my trip. We ate at a most astounding restaurant on the third floor of our hotel (which had a LOT of restaurants). The restaurant was called Seiryumon. Its interior is decorated to look like – and I’m not making this up-a sewer (or an old subway system or similar), complete with rounded brick ceiling, pipes, and cast iron hatches. The food here was excellent – I returned several times during the week. I had their version of my old Chinese favorite, Ma Po Tofu. I think it was the best I ever had. However, the highlight of dinner was the “show”. They quite literally “flush” the restaurant. The lights go out, and the sound system starts to play rumbling noises like explosions. Lights begin to flash, and a big valve at one end of the room opens, pouring gallons of water into a channel on the floor (which during dry times is the middle aisle of the restaurant). We were told this demonstration commemorates the bombing of Yokohama during the war, in which the inhabitants took shelter in the sewers.

Tuesday, Feb 16

A strange thing happened Tuesday night. Almost every business and restaurant in Yokohama was closed. We still have no explanation for this. However, we lucked into one restaurant that was open, the name of which escapes me. It was an Italian restaurant run by a young Japanese guy whose name was Tommy. Tommy spoke very good English and spent a lot of time talking with us. He also did not know why everyone was closed. I had grilled chicken with herb salt – it was quite good! We were served some more weird breadsticks, which were essentially extruded to the width of a single electron, but were tasty anyway. Tommy told us his dream was to fish for salmon in Alaska! My boss left Tommy his card – we hope to see him someday.

Wednesday, Feb 17

Lunch – I went to McDonald’s. The only reason I bothered to go to McDonald’s in Japan is that I was told that they use a different frying medium and that the burgers and fries taste better than they do here. I’ll say that they were different and good, but not necessarily better than here. I would describe it as tasting a little fattier, but not greasier. It is also comforting to note that #3 is a Quarter Pounder with cheese in Japan as well as here!

Dinner was at a place called Beer Next. Gentle reader – at this point you are probably noticing a certain undercurrent in our dining choices. What can I say? My coworkers like a lot of beer. This surprisingly exceptional restaurant is located in the “Red Brick Warehouse” on the waterfront. I don’t recall the actual name of the dish I had, but I would describe it as “flaming chicken”. I think I recall 5 of us in the same party ordered the same dish which was prepared flambé-style at our table.

Thursday, Feb 18

For lunch I went back to “The Sewer”. I had a dish that was the rough equivalent of another Chinese favorite called Seafood Triple, which was pretty good. I also had a side of Gozya, which are long, flat dumplings filled with meat and spices. I highly recommend these! I passed on supper Thursday, as I had a cold and didn’t feel good enough to venture out.

Friday, Feb 19

Lunch was at a Thai place, again in our hotel. I had a dish called Cam To, and a side of very peppery miso soup. Cam To was sort of fried chicken in a salad. The miso soup was good and made me feel better. This was OK, but only passing. I wound us wishing I had gone back to The Sewer.

Dinner. Finally! A Japanese restaurant! I don’t recall the name, but it was on level B2 of the Landmark Tower, the tallest building in Japan. The restaurant specialized in yakitori, which is stuff on sticks. But since most of these were unidentifiable and I’m kind of a picky eater, I wimped out. I had a dish that was like southern fried chicken with garlic.

Saturday, Feb 20

Back to the Sewer for lunch for my beloved MaPo Tofu. I skipped supper again, still due to the cold.

Sunday, Feb 21

Another day off! The guys and I went touristing to the nearby town of Kamakura. We did a lot of walking this day, all before having anything to eat. Happily though, this day of touring included a lot of back-street, authentic Japanese food. We were well off the tourist track and it paid off.

Lunch was, with a nod to the Marx brothers, duck soup. I had Kamonanban – hot soba noodles with tender breast of duck and Welsh onion. This was at a little mom-and-pop restaurant on a side street in Kamakura. We did some souvenir shopping then and stopped for coffee at a little shop in an alley. I had a "Blue Mountain" Coffee that was 800 Yen! Basically, an $8 cup of coffee. I have to say that was the best cup of coffee I ever had! It was worth $8 easily. Now I'm looking to get some Blue Mountain here but cannot find any. Supper, also in Kamakura but at a different place, was called Batu Soba. Essentially noodles and pork. This was another performance restaurant, where our food was cooked before us on a giant griddle. My supper was pretty good. I also got to try a bit of calamari from my neighbor’s plate. That was pretty good too – kind of like fish gum.

Most of the second week was unremarkable – mostly return visits to places I had been before.

Wednesday the 24th was our last night in Japan. We returned to the Kirin Beer Hall, where I bookended my trip with the same beef and scallions dish. Starting Thursday morning and for the next 24 hours, it was airline food and snacks, and then I was home.

If you visit Yokohama, you’ll have no shortage of places to eat, but if you stay in the tourist area, what you’ll find is Western food, Westernized food and food from other places in the world than Japan. To get the good Japanese food, go out into what the locals call “real Japan”. In Sakuragicho, it’s just on the other side of the train station from the hotels. If you’re feeling adventurous, take the train a few stops in any direction and start looking. The Japanese have a lot of good food, especially seafood, but if you don’t see pictures or models of the food you may have a hard time ordering (unless you speak the language). Do not expect the local to speak English, most of them don’t. But be polite, and they’ll be happy to help you. They are very friendly and inviting people.

PS - A sign on the table at the All-U-Can Eat place.....You figure out what it means...

Paris Bakery and Cafe

2010-03-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

Last week Mr EA and I met some friends for dinner at Paris Bakery and Cafe. We had been reading good things about it for a while, but -like so many other places - didn't manage to get there until recently. Although nothing here is that far away from anything else, it is about as far away from our house as you can get and still be in Anchorage. But it was worth the trip!
Our friendly waitress brought some bread, which was OK but not amazing. It took us a while to get through the menu, which had a lot of temping choices. In the end, I had eggplant parmesan and Mr EA had pork chops. Our friends has ginger scallops and the special of the day, which was orange roughy crepes. My eggplant parm was very good - thinly sliced, lightly breaded eggplant with tasty sauce and just enough cheese. Mr EA's pork chops were also very tasty and moist, thereby missing two frequent problems with pork chops. Our friend's scallops were sweet-ish and also very well done, and our other friend's crepes were very good. He said the fish was perfectly cooked - not overdone, but not underdone - and the flavors of the dish were subtle and delicate. Overall, our entrees were very well done. While I don't think any of us experienced a culinary revelation, we all had good, tasty food at reasonable prices for that level of dining.
However, on another level, the desserts were fantastic! I had and orange and chocolate cake that presented a perfect balance of sweet and sour, richness and lightness. Mr EA had a concoction of cake layers interspersed with chocolate and almond cremes. Our friends had a rich chocolate dessert and a small lemon meringue tart, which they reported were also delicious. The desserts too were reasonably priced and extremely tasty. Overall, a good midlevel dining experience. Check it out - particularly the desserts - you'll be glad you did!

Burger Cache

2010-02-23T22:24:00.000-08:00

For the past year and a half, I have occasionally driven past the Burger Cache on Northern Lights and thought "That looks interesting..." but then never quite managed to check it out. It looks a bit like a dive, and possibly abandoned as well. However, a group of people from work ordered in today, and I'm sure glad we did.
Burger Cache is another one of those places, which are fairly common up here, that have a kind of weird variety of items on their menu. In this case, American and Chinese fast-food favorites. There's a fairly large selection in each category, so there's something for everyone. My coworkers and I ordered from the American section, getting a selection of burgers and deep-fried treats on the side.
Their burger selection is intriguing, including a Hawaiian burger (pineapple and a bunch of other stuff), a Taste Burger, a New York burger, and a Cache burger, which had such a huge selection of toppings on it that it seemed like it would either be inedible or the best burger ever in the history of meat sandwiches. It had pepperoni and ham and cheese and onions and mushrooms - and possibly some other things I'm not remembering. I was tempted, but in the end went with a mushroom cheeseburger, and added bacon on for an extra $1.50. I also got a side of fried mushrooms, which come with ranch dipping sauce. The burger was amazing - meaty and moist and flavorful. The toppings (bacon, mushrooms, cheese, onion, and possibly some mayo) were present in enough force that I could taste them, but not piled on to the point where I could taste nothing else. All in all, an outstanding burger! The fried mushrooms were not that awesome, sadly. The breading next to the mushrooms was soggy and kind of icky. Fried mushrooms are kind of hard to get, though. I did get to try some of their fries ( both regular and steak fries), which are beer battered and really delicious. When choosing a side, I urge you to go for the fries - of the two things I tasted, they are definitely the better option.
I am continually amazed by the sheer volume of funky little joints all around Anchorage where you can get great, interestingly unique fast food. Burger Cache just got added to my personal list, along with Arctic Roadrunner and White Spot. I still need to check out Burger Jim and Wee Bs. Anchorage readers - got any other favorites? Let me know!

Learn to cook - the Allen & Petersen way!

2010-02-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

Last night I went with some friends from work to Allen & Petersen's to attend a session of their Viking cooking school. Our class, picked more at less at random from the dizzying array of classes available, was Argentine Steakhouse. Two of the aforementioned friends recently went to another of their classes and had such an awesome time that they came in to work the next day and recruited a few more of us into their cult. We had to decide fast, as they had 10% off coupons that only lasted a day, besides which these classes seem to sell out FAST.
     I am glad we picked this class, though, because of one specific recipe we walked away with...chimichurri sauce. A few years ago I worked as a software trainer, and my job took me to Ft. Lauderdale for a couple of months. When I went to lunch with the folks with whom I was working, we often went to a local place that had a vat of chimichurri sauce right by the cash register, and my hosts would ladle this stuff all over everything on their plates - meat, sandwiches, mashed potatoes, pasta...everything. After one taste, I put it all over everything too. Since that time, I have been hunting for this recipe. I looked online, at epicurious and Gourmet and Saveur's websites. I looked in cookbooks and magazines. And I found plenty of chimichurri recipes, but not the same one. They were all either too acidy or too oily or too... well, too something. So I had a little bit of a mission in going to this class, but also hoped to have a good time with my friends as well.
      So we showed up at A&P's fabulous midtown showroom at around 5:30 and cruised around the store, salivating over all the shiny toys. My kitchen philosophy veers between the austere and the gadget-hound - I'm somewhere in the middle right now.  I should point out that A&P is a high-end store, with high-end prices. I'm not a high-end girl, but there were a lot of extremely tempting gadgets for sale.  Eventually, I wrenched myself away from the shopportunities and went upstairs to the beautiful kitchen/classroom. A staff member ushered us into the dining area sector of the upstairs, where we found our welcome packets.  We each got a Viking apron, a recipe booklet, a 10% off coupon (good for that night only) and an evaluation sheet. We also got an appetizer, a little chorizo sandwich with...chimichurri on it!  One bite told me that my gamble had paid off - this was the chimichurri I was looking for. Happily chewing away, we listened to the opening spiel. Our teachers introduced themselves - one lady is an experienced cook who has been doing this for some time, the other is just finishing up her culinary arts degree at UAA. Also assisting was a lady who cleaned up as we went, made sure everything was right in place as needed, and just generally ran the show from the background. These three made a great team and backed each other up pretty well.
     We had an ambitious class schedule lined up in front of us. In about 2 1/2 - 3 hours, we were making empanadas, grilled skirt steak with chimichurri sauce, roasted marinated sweet peppers, oven-roasted potatoes, and flan.  We started with the flan, then went to the empanadas, and mixed in working on all the other stuff on the way. The teachers were very knowledgeable, and gave lots of great tips and info about the food we were working on. The classroom space itself is absolutely astounding - well laid out and beautiful as well.  During the course of the event, the teachers would occasionally demo some gadget or the other and point out that it was available for sale downstairs. Also, the class itself was sort of an ad for Viking ranges and other appliances. The pitches were kind of darling in their straightforwardness, but I have to say they worked. More than one of us left with a garlic-chopping gadget or similar item. Also, I have to say I see now what all the fuss is over Viking stoves.  I rate it as highly unlikely that I will personally ever own a Viking stove. When the same amount of money will get you either a stove or a luxury cruise through the south Pacific for two...well, I won't be going for that stove. However, the ones we were using were pretty damn impressive.  So we watched and then did, getting occasional feedback and coaching from the teachers. We chopped, we stirred - it became a part of us. At the end of the class, we served ourselves from the big platters of food.  Here is what my plate's worth looked like...

And it tasted even better than it looks! I did not get a picture of the flan, because I was far too busy feeding my face by that point. However, that looked and tasted wonderful as well.

So at the end of the day, I got some good recipes, a good meal and a good time. Are these classes for everyone? No. They are spendy, and honestly not that informative if you are an experienced cook. However, they are a good time, especially if you are there with friends. However, if you like to cook and can afford it, gather up a friend or two, check their catalog for a class that interest you, and go!

Empty Bowl Coming Up!

2010-02-20T11:08:00.000-08:00

The Empty Bowl is a fundraiser for Beans Cafe, an Anchorage institution and a wonderful cause. Follow the link to find out more about Beans Cafe and the Empty Bowl in general. Tickets are $18, for which you get a handmade ceramic bowl and some soup and extremely good cornbread.
A few things to be aware of:

Bring cash for your tickets. I bought mine at Borders, and they wanted cash.
People line up early to get in, because the first thing you do is pick out your bowl. If you do not care what kind of bowl you get, or if you don't want a bowl, save yourself some stress and go late.
When you get in, you will find tables laden with ceramic bowls of varying styles. Choosing one can be pretty daunting, but you'll find one you like. They move pretty quick, so if you see one you love, don't hesitate!
Also, when you go (and you really, really should), bring bunches of extra cash with you. In addition to the meal, there are plenty of shopping opportunities at the event itself. Last year there were bean soup mix bags and really nice T-shirts for sale.
Also, you will have the opportunity to bid on some extremely nice pottery pieces made by local potters.

All these purchases also go to support Beans, which is well worth supporting. Be a foodie with a heart - check out the Empty Bowl. You'll be glad you did!

Chocoholics, rejoice!

2010-02-14T16:42:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!
Hope everyone is either having a romantic dinner or some good chocolates, or both!

Cookbook Corner - new book edition

2010-02-14T16:35:00.000-08:00

     So I recently decided to clear out a block of free time in the evenings to really focus on bread baking and either get it down or determine that it's not my thing and let it go. Toward that end, I "had" to go to Barnes and Noble to get one of the many no-knead bread books on the shelves.   I have been hearing about this new "no knead" bread method for quite a while, but just hadn't gotten around to trying it out.  Mr EA and I considered Artisan Bread Baking in 5 minutes a Day and My Bread by Jim Lahey. While they both offered a credible set of recipes and method explanation, we felt that Artisan Bread has more items we would use. Also, we had the impression there were more varieties of bread and less bread-adjacent stuff. We already have things to go with bread, we just wanted bread.
     In the past week and a half, I have made two batches of dough, which came out to something like 7-8 loaves of bread, and one batch of bagel dough. I have been baking up a storm, and it has all been good! The authors have presented a great new way to bake bread that is easier and less hassle, and yeilds excellent results. The title is somewhat misleading, however. Baking a loaf of bread takes more than 5 minutes, although your personal involvement will be around 5 minutes, unless you hover a lot. I don't want to give away the end, but basically what you do is mix up a big batch of dough - about 4 loaves worth - and let it rise in the fridge for a while. Then when you want to bake up a loaf, just whack off a chunk of dough, shape it and let it rise, and pop it in the over with a pan of water for steam. It is much easier, and I have gotten much better results than with traditional methods.
     I wasn't a horrible bread baker before this, but my bread was usually heavier than I would have liked, and results were somewhat hit or miss. I don't have a lot of counter space for kneading, so I kind of gave it short shrift. Now that I don't have to knead, and I can mix one batch and bake bread off of that for days, I do a lot more than I had in the past.
     There are a lot of recipes I haven't gotten into yet - nothing but the basic white bread and the bagels, really. I sort of wanted to make sure the basic recipe worked before I got into esoteric stuff. However, I am heartened by my success, and will be branching out - I'll let you know how it works out when I do!
     Is this book for everyone? No, probably not. People who are afraid of carbs, or don't want to bake, or are already accomplished bakers will not find much here that they are interested in. However, if you have an interest in being a better baker and/or are lazy (as I am), check it out - you'll be glad you did!

Cookbook Corner

2010-02-07T17:57:00.000-08:00

Among other hobbies, I collect cookbooks. Surprise!  From what I've read, lots of people collect cookbooks - they like to collect books from a certain author or a certain region (Southern US) or a style of cooking. I tend to lack that kind of focus, and get whatever looks interesting and organize it as I go along.  International cookbooks were my main passion for awhile. I do like to cook from them when possible, but sometimes it's just interesting to read them and wonder who first thought that a certain food (rotted shark, sea urchin roe) would be a good thing to eat. In some cases (rotted shark), I wonder why no one has thought maybe it would be a good thing to stop eating.  (Rotted shark fans, I welcome your responses! If it's really super-tasty, that would be an interesting thing to know.)
   For awhile I wanted to get some Canadian and Australian cookbooks to compare with generalized American ones. Since all three nations began as English colonies but landed in different climates with different resources, I thought it might be interesting to look at the differences and similarities in the cuisines. Not now, since everyone is all globalized, but maybe between 1940-1970 or thereabouts. But years of pestering online cookbook enthusiasts from those two countries did not yield a suggestion for a good cookbook or two to represent their nations. I have no idea why, but I could not get a straightforward response. So I gradually let it go, for the most part.
     Right now, I'm mostly interested in local community cookbooks. Again, not recent ones, for the most part. Those are mostly full of things people got off of epicurious.com or out of magazines, and don't really represent any kind of regional cuisine in any meaningful way. Oh, occasionally you'll get a gator casserole from a Florida book or mooseburgers from Maine, but usually that's one recipe out of 200 or so. That's a long run for a short slide. Also, I'm suspicious they are in there for a joke. No, I like old cookbooks. And Mr EA and I found a doozy in a recent trip to Value Village (we like junking).

It is the awesomest, darlingest book I have seen in a good long while. Originally published in 1959, my version was printed in 1969 and has a few bits that had been added on. One of the things I love about these books is that they are a window into another time with their chatty introductory notes and household tips. The recipes themselves are also interesting, even where they aren't really reproducable. For instance, this tome contains recipes for making pickles out of sea kelp. One starts with instructions for gathering the stuff. Apparently, the Alaska version of "first catch your rabbit" is "first, get out your rowboat". Of course there are many, many salmon and seafood recipes. Almost every mention of vegetables refers to canned vegetables, which jibes with what I have been told life was like by friends that grew up here. As is usually the case with this kind of cookbook, I have some recipes bookmarked to try, but the whole thing was a fascinating read. I have no idea how available copies of this book are, but if you like this sort of thing too and have a chance, I strongly urge you to grab one if you see it. In the meantime, I'm thinking about getting a rowboat - there's kelp to pickle!

Day 7 - a pretty good finish!

2010-02-03T19:44:00.000-08:00

This evening I went to the freezer and found, among other things, a pound of frozen ground lamb and a bag of frozen chopped spinach. Then I checked the spice rack and auxiliary spice rack and found the appropriate seasonings and created the following dish:

Greek-ish Lamb-Stravaganza

Ingredients:
1 tsp. olive oil
1 lb ground lamb
1 onion, slivered or chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 package frozen chopped spinach (I used a 16 oz bag, but whatever should work)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp salt (or more to taste)
1 Tbsp oregano
1 tsp lemon peel ( I used dried, but fresh would probably be even better)

Proceedure:
Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until starting to soften. Add the lamb to the pan and break up into small bits, but not too small. Try not to drool from the delicious scents that will be wafting from your pan about now! When the lamb is not showing any more pink, add the spinach. Stir well and add the rest of the ingredients.
Eat with rice and/or pita bread. If I do say so myself, it tastes pretty awesome!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a week's worth of meals to plan...

Day 6 - Back in the saddle again!

2010-02-02T23:56:00.000-08:00

Today we regrouped with stuffed peppers - sort of. We didn't have some of the things I normally stuff peppers with - corn and limas and hot peppers and Monterey Jack cheese. However, we did have rice and canned tomatoes, so we just used that. It got pretty good - I will have to remember this combo when we don't necessarily want the full-blown veggistravaganza I normally make.
One more day of this, and I can get back to my normal life!

Day 5 - We give up, via the eating out method

2010-02-01T22:22:00.000-08:00

We ate out tonight. Tomorrow night, we pick up some bits and pieces from Fred Meyer's on the way home and try the non-planned cooking thing again.
In other news, I picked up a couple of new cookbooks tonight in an attempt to master my old nemesis, baking. I'll let you know how they are in a future report, so that's something to look forward to!

Day 4 - Going downhill quickly

2010-01-31T19:25:00.000-08:00

Today started off pretty good - we heated up the rest of the broccoli-salami-swiss egg pie for lunch, and it was even better the next day. This afternoon I made a couple of loaves of ciabatta using a starter begun last night. I used the recipe from Epicurious, which originally came from the late, lamented Gourmet. It got OK - not amazing, but pretty good. It was just a bit sweeter than I expected it to be. But it's a good basis for improvement.
Then for supper, we have parts of a couple of meals, but not everything we needed for any of them. Today was a lazy pajama day, and we were pretty adamant about not leaving the house for anything short of a fire. So, we relied on emergency apocalypse supplies - Spam and Kraft macaroni and cheese. I am feeling considerable shame as I type these words, but there you have it. That's what we ate. I did dress up the mac 'n' cheese with dried leek flakes and smoked paprika, but that was mostly to make myself feel better. Don't get me wrong, we eat mac 'n' cheese every couple of weeks, but I usually make it from scratch (though not to the point of making my own noodles - that's a bit far for me). After mac 'n' cheese with real actual cheese, Kraft doesn't taste great. But it gets the job done, so there you have it. I make no apologies about the Spam - it tastes as good as any other processed ham and Mr EA loves it.
So tomorrow we'll be out of the house for work, and able to pick up the bits and pieces we need for the other meals we have most of, so that will be a relief.

Day 3 - Egg-pie day

2010-01-30T20:46:00.000-08:00

So back to our regularly scheduled story!
Tonight I made an egg pie (or refrigerator pie, or quiche) out of the leftover broccoli from last night. I had a frozen pie crust, so that saved some stress. I am hit or miss on homemade pie crust, so I avoid it when I can. But what to put in with the broccoli? By itself it's a little dull. We had 3 slices of hard salami left - they got diced up and thrown in the mix. The bag of shredded cheese I though we had was nowhere to be found, so I diced up 4 slices of swiss cheese we had for lunches. Now for the binder - we do have eggs for which we have no other plans, so that was a go. However - cream? Not so much. Well, we had 2% milk, which isn't an exact substitute, but close enough is good enough - more or less. In the oven it went, and emerged somewhat moister than I think it should have, but still done well enough. It tasted pretty good, and we have a good bit left over for lunch tomorrow. So that's another meal done. Yay!

F Street Station

2010-01-30T20:39:00.000-08:00

I take a break from our regularly scheduled column about our planless week to write about our visit to F street station today for lunch. We were downtown running some errands, and having a tough time figuring out where to eat - so many good places we wanted to get back to, so many new places to try! We have heard good things about F Street Station for some time now, so after some discussion we decided to check it out.
In decor terms, F Street actually is what places like Red Robin try to be - a funky, interesting-junk-encrusted, neighborhood joint. It is a very comfortable place with a relaxed atmosphere. The lunch menu, at least, is somewhat limited - burger, fish and chicken sandwiches, and a reasonable selection of seafood entrees. What is on the menu, though, sounds pretty good, so we were a while deciding. Mr EA chose a halibut sandwich, and I got onion soup and a side of homefries (which turned out to be french fries). Mr EA immediately fell in love with his sandwich - the fish is perfectly cooked - moist and tasty, and the batter is light and a bit spicy but not overwhelmingly so. Mr EA said it is one of the best fish sandwiches he ever ate. He reports that the roll was also very tasty, and he appreciated that the fixings came on the side so he could dress the sandwich himself. On the side were tomato, onion and pickle slices, and a little cup of tartar sauce. My onion soup was delicious - the cheese was nicely browned and the soup itself was richly beef with lots of good tender onion. It came with some bread that I was too full from the soup and fries to eat. The fries were medium-thin cut with the skin still on, fried to a good crisp brown. In my lifetime pantheon of best fries ever, they are now second to White Spot fries. I would guess that they are fresh cooked, but I can't swear to that. We dipped them into the tartar sauce left in Mr EA's cup, and that made them even better. All in all, an excellent lunch at an interesting place. If you already haven't, check out F Street Station - you'll be glad you did!

PS - a little later in our downtown trip, we stopped by the Cake Studio, where Mr EA had a key lime pyramid and I had a cherry-champagne dessert - they were both delicious :) So far, 3 out of 3 stops there have been successes. Check them out for sophisticated treats when you are downtown!

Day 3 - A Spunky Try at Dinner

2010-01-29T22:30:00.000-08:00

This is one the meals we actually sort of planned during our shopping trip - meat! Mr EA grilled (yes, outside, on our grill) a steak, which we started marinating this morning. The marinade was a thrown together mix of mustard, oil, seasonings, liquid smoke and vinegar. It got pretty tasty, and was expertly grilled - mmmm! With it we had sauteed onions and steamed broccoli. We didn't think of having steak until we were at the meat department, which is after produce in our store, so we didn't think of potatoes. However, the veggies were pretty good, so we didn't miss the starch too much.
Also, in a happy accident, we have a lot of leftover broccoli, which we are thinking about making into an egg pie for dinner tomorrow. Egg pie is a naming convention that came about because, apparently, men do not eat quiche. They will eat egg pie, however, so that's what we're having :) We do have some eggs we need to use up, and have a bag of shredded cheese, so that should all work out. I'd say I love it when a plan comes together, but of course, we don't have one. I love it when not having a plan comes together? I'll work on that and get back to you.

Day 2 - Quick Dinner night

2010-01-28T21:22:00.000-08:00

So tonight was a hurry-up night. I have an exercise class which makes it necessary to leave the house at about 5:45, and so we can either eat something quick before I go, or something quick after I get back at around 8. Sometimes I make something the night before that we can reheat, like soup, and sometimes we just have cubanos or something like that. Of course, being plan free meant we hadn't prepared for either of those eventualities - what would we do for supper tonight?
Rifling through the pantry I found an emergency can of Italian Wedding soup, and we had sandwich fixings. Voila! Soup and toasted cheese sandwiches it was. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?

...However, I will say this. We already had to make a store stop to get stuff we didn't know we would need. We decided to try baking naan and ciabattas this weekend, so we needed yeast and milk. This is one of the reasons I like to have a plan. Hopefully this won't be too frequent of an occurrence!

Our Week of Eating Dangerously - Day 1: Shopping Without a Net

2010-01-27T21:15:00.000-08:00

Our Week of Eating Dangerously really has its roots in yesterday, or as I like to call it, D minus 1. I finally talked myself into getting a new phone, which was something I had wanted to do for sometime but could just not justify it. Finally though, I did justify it (to myself; Mr EA has been telling me to "just get one" for months now). Anyway, the result of this was that last night, when I should have been planning for the coming week's meals, I was playing with my new phone well into the night. So when I finally started thinking about my chores, it was 10:30, which was too late to start as it is an hours long process.
     Normally, I open up my Living Cookbook software and plan the menu using the calendar, then use that to create our shopping list, which I then adjust according to what we already have on hand or need that isn't related to a menu item. Then I print out the shopping list, then I go through the coupons to have the ones we will probably need together. Then the list and coupons go with us the next night for shopping. I have friends who think that is the craziest thing they ever heard. They just stop to pick up a few things every night, or get what's on sale, or get bunches of packaged food from Costco or something. Then of course I think that's crazy.  But what a boring world it would be if we were all the same!
     So anyway. Because of various other things going on this week, if we did not shop tonight, it would probably not be until this weekend some time. So we decided to just wing it. As we wandered through the aisles of Fred Meyer's, randomly picking up and putting down various items, this seemed kind of like a bad idea already.  Like Dr. Henry Jones, I recorded all my important information so I wouldn't have to remember it. A good percentage of our favorite meals are a bit involved, so I put them in the software. "Think," I said "What do we like to eat that isn't too involved?"
"Pizza" said Mr EA. So we got stuff for French bread pizza (which is what we had to eat tonight).
"OK, pizza." I said, "What else?"
"..,.Different pizza?" said Mr EA. "Spam! Some kind of meat!"
"No, seriously" I said.
     He was serious. So we wandered around a bit more, picked up some things we vaguely thought might go with some other things we were pretty sure we already had at home and wandered back out. After paying, of course. The grocery bill was about on par with what it normally is, so we didn't go absolutely berserk, which was what I would have predicted would happen. So that was a surprise! Wonder what else we will discover on this wacky, menu-free adventure we are on?

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

2010-01-23T18:35:00.000-08:00

Acting on a hot tip from ADN, and also as part of a generally Hawaiian-themed day, we went to the Dimond Mall today to check out L&L Hawaiian Barbecue. A relatively recent addition to the food court next to the skating rink, L&L is one of several interesting stands at the mall. Apparently this is part of a fast food chain that originated in (surprise!) Hawaii and has since spread to many Western States, American Samoa, New Zealand, and now Anchorage.
The focus of the menu are the plate lunches. For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure, a plate lunch is your entree of choice, two scoops of rice, and a scoop of macaroni salad. I don't know why that's the standard combo, but it sure is tasty. Entrees are some form of beef, pork, chicken or fish - no vegetarian options are available that I could see. It was hard to choose - so many delicious looking options shone out at us from the menu board! However, Mr EA wound up with a chicken katsua lunch plate and a spam musubi, and I got a loco moco lunch plate. I had been reading about loco moco for years, and wanted to try it - it was worth the wait!
plates are available in two sizes, mini and regular. We got the regular, since mini sounds...well, tiny. However, we will probably go to mini next time, because regular is a humongous pile of food. Despite valiant efforts, neither of us could finish - the food was so tasty we didn't want to stop eating, but eventually you have to. Or you'll explode.
     Mr EA's chicken consisted of planks (strip is too timid a word for these pieces) of boneless chicken, breaded and fried. It tasted to me like there was skin still on there, but maybe that's just because it was so flavorful. The breading was crunchy and lightly spiced, the chicken was moist. He also got a small portion of barbecue sauce for dipping that was also delicious - kind of ketchup-y with some soy sauce flavor as well. The spam musubi was also very good, but a big portion. You get a big brick of sushi rice with a thin layer of sauce on top and then a slab of Spam on top of that, and the whole thing wrapped in a sheet of nori. It was even better than the same appetizer at Hula Hands, because it was warm, and the sauce really added a bit of kick. I know it sounds kind of icky, especially if you are not a Spam fan (and if not, why not?) but it really is extremely tasty.
In ordering loco moco, you need to specify how you want the egg done - I got it scrambled, so I didn't get any good yolk action.  However, I'm kind of squirrely about eating eggs out, so scrambled was the safer bet for me. Loco moco is a hamburger patty topped with an egg and covered with gravy, all on top of rice. It is really pretty tasty! If you were a fan of salisbury steak day at your school cafeteria, you will like loco moco, as it tastes very much like that, but with an egg on it. Also, the hamburger and gravy are probably better than what they had at your school cafeteria. I even tried dipping a few bites in Mr EA's barbecue sauce, and that was pretty good too, but it was re tasty on its own. The macaroni salad (mayonnaise based mix with not a lot of vegetation in there) was also delicious.
     As for the ambiance, well, it's a food court. The beverage options include a variety of Hawaiian fruit juices and (really) Hawaiian Punch. If you do want a delicious taste of the islands, and aren't too concerned about ambiance, check out L&L. You'll be glad you did!

Sullivan's - Believe the Hype

2010-01-13T21:38:00.000-08:00

Pretty much everything anyone has said to me about Sullivan's has consisted of two parts:
1) the food is amazing, delicious, incredible!
2) it's kind of pricy, though.
Both those things turned out to be entirely correct.
     As yesterday (1/12) was my birthday, Mr EA offered to take me out to eat anywhere I wanted. After a lengthy internal debate - I picked Sullivan's. We got there a bit early in the evening, shortly after their dinner opening at 5 pm. Despite not having reservations, we got seated right away. The dining room filled up pretty quickly thereafter, though, so I'm glad we got there early.
The atmosphere is what I would call "Classic Steakhouse" not Western Steakhouse - not a lasso or branding iron to be seen. There are dark wood panelled walls, tables with white tablecloths, subdued lighting, and photos of Jazz Age boxers (John Sullivan, Jack Dempsey - that sort of thing).
Our waiter, whose name I unfortunately did not catch, was a real pro - making excellent recommendations and generally maintaining a good balance between checking in on us and leaving us in peace.
I started with a gin martini, which came with a skewer of three absolutely enormous olives.  The martini itself was perfect, bitter and with good aromatics from the gin. Then we got risotto fritters - herbed risotto wrapped around a chunk of mozzerella and fried into a crispy ball. This came with a delicious tomato dipping sauce that really brought out the savoriness in the dish. It was delicious, and just enough to share between the two of us.
For our entrees, Mr EA and I debated long and hard, but both wound up ordering 10 oz strip steaks with a side of frites, both of which had garlic butter on them.  "Wait a minute!" the fitness conscious will be saying "Steak and fries with butter on them?!" Yes. And it was delicious. Mr. EA also ordered gorgonzola butter for his steak, which I stole little bits of, and that was even MORE delicious. But I am getting ahead of myself. We generally like to order different things so we can try each other's food and get a better sampling of what's on offer. And there were a lot of tasty-sounding items on the menu. However, this was the thing that sounded best to both of us. We'll try for more diversity on our next visit!
I started out with the "salad", which was a wedge of iceberg lettuce liberally doused with a house-made blue cheese dressing. It also had a little sprinking of tomato bits on it. This came with the entree, but Mr. EA declined his, on the grounds that he did not want to have anything to do with lettuce just then. I loved it. The lettuce was very crisp and refreshing, and the dressing was creamy with a good dose of blue cheese funkiness - a perfect balance of flavors. When the entrees came, the steaks were perfectly done - we ordered medium, and they had a good sear on the outsides and juicy pink insides. The frites were crisp and garlicy, and the ones on the bottom of the stack were doused in steak juice. Mmmmmmmmmm.
     Our waiter tried to tempt us with dessert, but there was really no way for that to happen. Everything - the appetizers, the side dishes, the desserts all looked so tempting, but we were seriously full. Maybe on another visit.
If you are in the mood for a hearty meal featuring steak in an elegant atmosphere, check out Sullivan's. You'll be glad you did!

Burpee catalog - harbinger of delicious veggies, or cruel hoax?

2010-01-04T21:22:00.001-08:00

Once upon a time, I was a halfway decent gardner. July through late September would bring us baskets of tomatoes every week, more pumpkins and cucumbers than you could shake a stick at. However, that was a few grow zones away.
     I've been getting conflicting reports from green-thumbed locals and long-time transplants. Some people say you can't grow tomatoes here without a greenhouse (which isn't going to happen for us). Others say that you can spit a seed at the ground and come back a week later with a wheelbarrow for the veggies that will result. Now, obviously, agriculture happens here - we do have plants. I'm just wondering if amateur gardeners can do much of anything with regular seeds.
     I plan to try some container gardening, and maybe a bit of planting in the yard. So we'll see.
    Anyone reading along from the Anchorage area - do you have a garden? And if so, how does that work out for you?

Eating Alaska - Christmas Edition!

2010-01-04T21:21:00.000-08:00

Here is the second half of our foodie Christmas exchange!
Here is a cross section of what we sent out to loved ones in different parts of the country.

The base layer is, of course, a smoked Alaska Wild Salmon. the other box on the left is a selection of chocolates from the Alaska Wildberry store, which have centers of (you guessed it!) wild berry jellies. On the right are the birch caramels of earlier post fame. The cylindrical device above that is a reindeer sausage. The cute little jar is birch syrup from the same maker as the caramels.

Not everyone got the same stuff - some people don't like fish, some people don't like meat or fish, and so forth. I don't believe we sent anyone Alaska jellies this year, or AK specific herbal teas. However, those are some other good options. Some of this, of course, is stuff you wouldn't necessarily eat on a weekly basis. However, it is indisputably local, and it is indisputably good stuff!

Thrill Griller

2010-01-03T17:18:00.000-08:00

Mr EA is, shall we say, an enthusiastic grill man. In our previous home, he grilled something at least once a week. We had a decent sized porch, so inclement weather didn't bother him, and it never got that cold, so winter didn't bother him either. However, events have conspired to keep him from cooking meat over an open flame for the past year and a half, and it has been wearing on him. Severely. A few weeks ago, however, he was able to purchase a grill. Then events conspired to keep him from using it.
Until today...

He grilled a reindeer sausage we bought this weekend at the Alaska Sausage company (to be blogged later). Right now he is feasting on crispy sausage, and seems happier than I have seen him in a while - a guy and his grill :)

Lucky Eats - New Year's Day feasts

2009-12-31T13:41:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most people have some form of good-luck rituals they perform at various times of the year, but the most universal of all seems to be a special meal on New Year's Day. A big one that seems to be widely known is black-eyed peas or Hoppin' John. I have read several explanations of why this dish is lucky, but am personally content to just agree that it is.

My own family, of Pennsylvania Dutch origin, always eats pork and saurkraut and mashed potatoes for New Year's Day. Pork because pigs root forward, symbolizing moving forward or ahead, and also for health (I have also read and heard conflicting reasons on the health issues - it just is, OK?). The saurkraut is, of course, cabbage, which = money. Saurkraut is also healthy, probably because there are some vitamins rattling around in there. And the mashed potatoes because they taste good with pork and saurkraut. :) Here is how we make this meal. Portions given are approximate - if you are feeding big eaters, increase portion sizes. I wouldn't decrease them, though. Leftovers will be even more tasty for lunch the next day. Specific times and amounts are not given because this is a flexible feast, and assumes you know the level of doneness you like in various foods.

PA Dutch Lucky New Year's Pork and Saurkraut
1 pork chop per person
1-2 bags of saurkraut (Do NOT use the canned kind. If bagged, refrigerated saurkraut is unavailable, jarred is an OK substitute.)
1 tsp. butter
1 potato per person

In a heavy pan or dutch oven big enough to hold all your pork, melt the butter and brown your pork chops on both sides. If you can avoid it, try not to use nonstick cookware here, because the crusty brown bits will be an important component later on in the process. Once the pork chops are browned, remove them from the pan. Add your saurkraut to the pan. If you like a bit less sourness, you can rinse the kraut off in a colander before cooking. I like it vinegary, so I never do that, but suit your own taste. It is important that there be a good bit of moisture in with your cabbage, so do not wring out too much. When your saukraut has been added, stir to evenly heat. The moisture from the kraut will deglaze your pan somewhat, so take full advantage and mix the browned pork bits in well. Place your pork chops back in the pan, on top of the kraut. Cover the pan, turn the heat to medium/low, and let simmer, stirring the kraut occasionally, until the pork chops are done. Use a meat thermometer and make sure the pork is done to USDA recommended temperature. If you need to moisten the kraut during the cooking process, you can use broth, water, or white wine if you would like a bit of sweetness in the mix.

Meanwhile, make mashed potatoes however you like. I prefer to peel and quarter the potatoes, then cook them, drain them, and mash them with an old wire masher. I mix in milk and butter during mashing. Other people like to do them other ways, and you should suit yourself in this matter. When the pork chops are thoroughly cooked, serve each person a chop, a good helping of saurkraut and a mound of mashed potatoes. Then you know that whatever else the future holds, you will be lucky enough to enjoy a great New Year's dinner!

And here's what my own lucky lunch looked like today :) I wish you all healthy, wealthy, happy and wise!

Pho #1

2009-12-31T12:14:00.000-08:00

...is the name of the restaurant and also what you will say when you eat there.
A little place in the Northway Mall near the JoAnne's, Pho #1 is unassuming in appearance, but has very good food. During a visit yesterday to the Wednesday market, we were trying to decide between the Cajun place and Pho #1. We kind of wandered back and forth across the mall, trying to choose, when a freind whose taste we trust appeared and definitively recommended Pho #1. He further recommended some dishes, not all of which we were able to try on this visit.
We got spring rolls to start - which came out approximately the size the big cigars and sizzling hot. They were tasty on their own, and were accompanied by an intriguing dipping sauce that made them taste even better - shredded carrot and some other veg in a sweet vinegar concoction. The sauce made an intriguing contrast with the hot, savory rolls. I also got young coconut juice to try it out - very tasty and refreshing. It has a definite coconut flavor (which it should, as there are hunks of coconut floating in it), but is not overly sweet. It has a mild, vegetal sort of flavor - delicious! I also got soup - mildly spicy and very flavorful, I got lemongrass and mushroom soup with tofu cubes. There was ample tofu in the dish, and also lots of mushrooms - great big chunks of them, meaty and with a deep smoky flavor. The broth itself was also delicious, complex without being overwhelming, layers of flavor developing with each mouthful. This is a complex cuisine, and you can definitely taste it in this dish. Mr. EA got pad Thai with tasty pork and noodles, and garnishes of crushed peanuts, cilantro, lime, and sprouts. He enjoyed it very much - also a tasty dish. The garnishes provide intriguing contrasts in flavor and texture, and it was a delicious dish.
Sadly, we did not have anywhere near enough room to try one of their house special sandwiches, also recommended by our friend, but we'll be back!

The Cake Studio and other downtown news

2009-12-27T18:50:00.000-08:00

On a rare solo expedition, I went downtown in Anchorage this past Saturday to roam around a bit, and in due course, eat! Downtown was surprisingly empty - not too many citizens roaming around, and a surprising number of small stores and restaurants were closed. Happily, The Cake Studio, a new bakery on 4th street, was open. The bakery and boutique is a warm and inviting space filled with tantalizing smells and intriguing sights. The first thing you will have to do is make some decisions - the long display case is full of gourmet candies, then there is a variety of baked goods and other sweets on display. The variety makes it very hard to choose. After quite a few minutes of dithering, I decided on a peppermint dome and a cup of plain coffee. A note on the coffee - they serve Raven's Brew! The peppermint dome was amazingly delicious - a tender cookie base with a mound of peppermint mousse and a coating of chocolate with a garnish of peppermint hard candy bits. It was so delicious I think I briefly went into a trance.  It was not heavy or cloying - just perfectly balanced. The mellow Raven's Brew was a wonderful complement to this mildly sweet treat.
       After enjoying my treat, I wandered around a bit to check out the items on sale in the boutique. There are a few cute tea towels and tablecloths, lots of fancy candles, some specialty baking supplies and some specialty candies. I wouldn't count on stocking up your kitchen with their supplies, but if you want specialty items (flavored extracts, fancy sugars, that sort of thing), I would definitely check them out!

On another note, Cafe Savannah (of earlier post fame) is gone - in it's place is a Wings and Things. A sad thing for tapas fans.

Eating Florida - or, Christmas for Big Eaters

2009-12-25T15:41:00.000-08:00

This year Mr EA and I talked most of our loved ones in distant climes into exchanging family rather than individual presents, and we further talked them into exchanging local-food gifts. I know the recent complaint has been that there aren't any local foods, and everything is all homogeneous and bland. Food writers and locavores claim that nowhere in America is regional food prevalent. As a person who has travelled a reasonable amount and now been a local in two different areas of the country - I can tell you that's not true. Oh, you can live your life like that if you want to. You can eat only at McDonald's or TGI Friday's and never eat a bite of local food no matter where you go. However, in most places, that's your choice.
I cannot reveal what we sent out to our families, as most of the boxes have not gotten to their destinations yet, though they were sent weeks ago (damn you, USPS!). However, I can reveal the care package we got from my family in Florida...

On the left and across the bottom are salt water taff and flavored coconut patties, the products of Anastatia Confections of Orlando. In the very center of the bottom is some Slim Jim-like devices made of gator! You will not find this just anywhere - they are the specialy of Alligator Bob's of Thonotosassa, FL. Mr. EA will be reporting back on those! The marmalade, honey, and citrus candy are from Davidson's of Dundee. Also present and accounted for are a bottle of key lime juice, which really does taste different(slight salty, and kind of musky - in a good way) than regular lime juice. If you have never had any, I urge you to spring for the higher price and try some. Last but not least is Pelican Poop coconut candies - the Alaskan analog is moose or reindeer poop. I already dug into these - they are full of coconutty goodness!

As soon as our Alaskan treat packages arrive at their destination, I will reveal their contents! So that's something to look forward to :)

Kebab and Curry

2009-12-24T11:22:00.000-08:00

This past Tuesday, Mr EA and I and some friends went to the newest addition to Anchorage's Indian restaurant lineup. Kebab and Curry opened December 14th, according to their website - and still has a few new-restaurant kinks to iron out. However, the food is delicious!
   The building in which it is situated is smallish, and does not have acres of parking. The interior is cheerful, with bright orange walls and a tasteful smattering of Indian art and posters of Beautiful India on the walls. There are something like 12 tables, and the place was buzzing the entire time we were there, so their suggestion that you make reservations is a good one! We hadn't, but by luck got seated right away.
     Once you are seated, you will have some decisions to make. The impressively hefty menus list an impressively large variety of delicious-sounding things to eat. There are a good variety of vegetarian options for appetizers and main courses, but there's plenty for meat-eaters as well. I sat looking at this menu for a good 15 minutes, paralyzed by choice - and that's a good thing!
     In the end, Mr EA has machhi tikka, spicy catfish kebabs. He said it was very flavorful, and the fish was perfectly cooked. He had been hoping for the mixed grill, but they were out of some of the elements of it, so he tried the fish. We already have plans to come back and the mixed grill is on his list for next time! I had paneer korma, chunks of fresh cheese in a subtle cashew onion sauce. The paneer was very good - firm and mild. The sauce, of which there was literally a bucket, was delicious. There was a very subtle onion flavor and a complex spice mix that tantalized but did not overwhelm. The cashew element lent more richness than flavor, which was fine. The sauce was so good I finished with a spoon and some of the naan we ordered on the side. Our friends ordered chicken korma and a kebab that I am forgetting the name of. They also enjoyed theirs very much.
     The timing was a bit uneven, with things coming out to the table in a weird kind of way. This is not unusual for new restaurants and is a minor issue but still something to be aware of if you intend to go - which you should if you like Indian. The food was wonderful, and there are so many choices there is sure to be something for everyone. Go there, you'll be glad you did!

Yet another Locavore event post!

2009-12-21T22:30:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday evening, Mr. EA and I attended a locavore soiree hosted by Spenard Roadhouse of earlier post fame. This shindig was in conjunction to the screening of yet another locavore film, Ingredients, which was shown at UAA earlier that day. We did not go see the film, as I feel I am already pretty well up to speed on local eating issues, and Mr. EA does not care.

Anyway, the context of the dinner was that Spenard Roadhouse‘s chef Shane Moore, in collusion with “Delicious” Dave Thorne, came up with a four course meal featuring locally grown and made foods. 25 spots were available, and they were all taken - hopefully this bodes well for more of this kind of thing. You could opt to have your dinner paired with Alaskan beers, or not. Since Mr. EA is always the designated driver, I let this be his turn to drink.

Since we skipped out on the movie, we got to the restaurant way early, but fortunately they were ready for the locavore horde, and let us sit right down. The rest of the place was packed to the rafters - I sincerely hope we made it worth their while to give up a whole section of the restaurant on such a busy night! As the rest of the crew began to arrive, we noted that the crowd seemed to be more hippies than foodies, which was kind of interesting and did not bode well for us having much to talk about with our table-mates. I heard a lot of complaints about how the food tasted as though it had salt in it (not too much salt, mind you, but any salt), which is pretty much the specialty of people who hate flavor. Indeed, this impression turned out to be correct, with the rest of our fellow diners talking more about whether or not the food was organically grown than about how extremely tasty it was.

The hors d’oeuvres was a large, seared scallop served on a disk of tasty polenta, topped with a dollop of onion relish, surrounded by a moat of tomato broth and garnished with house-cured bacon. If that sounds like there was a lot going on, that’s because there was. The scallop was meltingly tender and flavorful, the polenta was just seasoned enough to not taste like cornmeal mush, and the zingy tomato puree and onion relish really sparked up the dish. The bacon was bacon - 'nuff said! This course was paired with Kenai River Brewing Co Pillars Pale Ale, which Mr. EA did not like by itself but did like with the food.

Next came the Soup & Salad Trio. This consisted of a thin-ish slice of bruschetta with cheese curd, chopped tomato and basil, a marinated beet salad with goat cheese, and a small bowl of pumpkin bisque. I liked all of this quite a lot. The goat cheese was a good counterpoint to the beets, and the pumpkin bisque was quite complex with a variety of flavors complementing one another. Mr EA enjoyed the bruschetta, and said that the soup and salad were “not bad”. He is not a fan of pumpkin or beets, so that was high praise for him. The beer for this course was Denali Brewing Company’s Hibernale, which was his favorite of the evening.

The main course brought a surprise - braised bison agnolotti and roasted celery roots, carrots and Brussels sprouts with brown butter and au jus. For some reason, in reading the menu I totally ignored the word “agnolotti”, as did many of our fellow diners. We were all expecting a hunk of bison with some vegetables piled on the side and some au jus to dip it all in. Instead, we got largish pasta hunks ( shape is difficult to describe - kind of like a bishop’s hat, but not really) with minced bison in it, diced roasted veggies with Brussels sprouts leaves, and what I believe was a puree of the same veggies with the au jus and brown butter. This was all delicious, and had simply a bucket of sauce, which made me very happy - I loooooove sauce! A minor quibble I had with this course is that the pasta was perhaps a bit heftier than was optimal, but that is a very minor quibble considering. This was paired with Moose’s Tooth Prince William Porter, which everyone drinking agreed had an anise finish. So take note, liquorish fans! Mr. EA liked this beer better on its own than he did with the food.

Dessert was a tender and mildly sweet almond buttermilk biscuit with strawberry and wild blueberry coulis, fresh currents and cranberries, and real whipped cream. It was paired with Kassik’s Kenai Brew Stop Imperial Spiced Honey Wheat. Overall, a great finish to a great meal.

In keeping with the theme of the evening, the menu listed the ingredient sourcing as follows:

 Vegetables and fruits from VanderWeele Farms

 Bison from Pitchfork Ranch

 Dairy from Matanuska Creamery

 Scallops from Kodiak

 Bruschetta from Fire Island Bakery

In all fairness, this dinner cannot have been created solely from local product - I am fairly sure we don’t produce any cooking oils, salt, or flour. However, it was close enough to make a point. While I certainly support local agriculture and hope that others here in Alaska do as well, there's no point in being a nut about it. The chefs put a great deal of care and thought into a creative meal that was extremely tasty as well as illustrating a point. There were some elements of surprise, and a good deal of inventiveness. I don’t mean inventiveness in the form of molecular gastronomy or anything of that sort, but simply taking local ingredients to a higher plane than might usually be the case. The chefs came out at the end of the meal, and I’m glad to say we gave them a rousing chorus of applause, which they surely deserved. I hope all the other attendees enjoyed it as much as we did, and I hope the Spenard Roadhouse runs more of these dinners. If you get a chance to attend such an event in the future, go and don’t look back. You’ll be glad you did!

Firetap Alehouse

2009-12-13T22:24:00.000-08:00

Thursday night we finally made it out to the Firetap Alehouse - it's been open for a few months but a series of misadventures kept us from trying it out.
We went on Wednesday night, and the place was hopping. The interior is very nice - very modern alehouse with an uncluttered decor. The hostess and our waiter were both excellent - on the ball, but not overly so. We still got seated right away, and were immediately confronted with a mid-size food menu and an equivalent beer and wine menu. Passing over the sandwiches and pizza, Mr EA got Cajun Fettucini and I got Melanzan al Parmesan. We declined beer, although it was tempting. The next table got some nifty beer sampler sets that looked pretty interesting. However, we were grocery shopping after dinner, and friends don't let friends shop drunk.
We started off with a garlic bread appetiser with marinara sauce for dipping. Rather than traditional bread, it was slices of pizza crust with garlic and oil and an herbal mix. This was a delicious and different appetizer, which was nicely complemented with the marinara. Mr EA's pasta was very good, rich with chicken and sausage and featured a spicy, creamy sauce. My meal was supposed to come with a side of pasta, for which I substituted a small chopped salad. The salad was delicious and fresh with a good mix of veggies. My eggplant, however, was somewhat unfortunate. The cheese and sauce parts were very good, but there was very little eggplant. What there was quite a lot of was breading. Lots and lots of soggy breading. I found myself wishing that I had ordered a sandwich or that we had split a pizza, as had everyone at the surrounding tables. Everyone around me was enjoying good-smelling and delicious looking sandwiches and burgers and pizza and appetizer, which was kind of dispiriting. On the whole, it was a middling experience. We will probably give it another try, but next time we'll go for the pizza.

Cheesecake - Alaskified!

2009-12-06T21:03:00.000-08:00

Mr EA's birthday was this past week, and in addition to cooking a favorite meal, I also made him his favorite cake for desert. As it happens, his favorite cake is cheesecake, and his favorite form of it is little mini individual cheesecakes. We arrived at this conclusion after years of me making a cheesecake, then him not eating it quickly enough, and me having to throw 1/4 of it away, followed by weeping and lamentations. By making the little mini cheesecakes, I can freeze most of them, and he can thaw them out and have one whenever he wants.
The recipe I use is from an old recipe book I got from Kraft/Philadelphia Cream Cheese, entitled Ultimate Philly Cream Cheese Cheesecakes. Guess what it is about! I will go ahead and post the recipe, because this book is at least 1.5 decades old, and possibly older.

Philly 3-step Mini Cheesecakes
2 packages (8 oz. each) of Philadelphia Brand cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp. of vanilla
2 eggs
2 packages (4 oz each) of Keebler Ready-Crust single serve graham cracker Pie Crusts (total of 12 crusts)
Optional: whipped cream, little candies, whatever other junk you like to put on cheesecake.

Special New Alaskan Addition:
1 Tbsp. birch syrup

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until well blended. Add eggs, mix until blended again. Pour mixture into pie crusts. Divide the birch syrup between the cakes, pouring a little into each. When the birch syrup has been poured over the pies, swirl or stripe it in, using a table knife to create whatever patterns you like best. Bake for 20 minutes or until centers are set. Cool cakes and refrigerate.

Result, 12 delicious little single serve treats! Also, we like to use the lightened cream cheese to make it a little less fatty, but you know, sometimes you have to live a little.

The Local - Chips!

2009-12-05T22:11:00.001-08:00

Like any sector of America with the slightest hint of local pride, Alaska is home to its own local brand of chips. Chips are usually the tip of the local-snack iceberg, so I'll be keeping an eye out for other Alaska snack opportunities (other than jerky - been there, done that).

Alaska Chip Company is based here in Anchorage, and proudly uses Mat-Su Valley Potatoes (of earlier, eating-local-post fame). They come in a variety of flavors, each with a cutesy Alaska-y name. Chilkoot Chips, pictured here, are sour cream and chive. Grizzly is barbecue flavor, which although tasty was briefly disappointing, as I had hoped they would be bear flavored. Tragically, not so. But the barbecue is pretty good, even so. They have four flavors, all of which are available at various places in the area. They also sell popcorn, but I don't generally like bagged popcorn, so haven't tried it. The chips themselves are kettle-style, with a good solid crunch and a nice potato flavor. Also, the humorous origin story on the bag is something fun to read while you crunch your tasty chips. The flavors are not crazy, like Pennsyvania' Herr's brand, which basically sells itself on its willingness to give its snack products wacky flavors like pickle or ketchup. If eating local and patronizing a quirky hometown manufacturer is something you believe in, the Alaska Chip Company will amply reward your civic vitue.

Coming in from slightly further afield, from our suburb to the southeast (Washington State), we also have Tim's Chips. Tim's is a bit more established and has a wider variety of product, with both Tim's and the Hawaiian Chips lines to their name. Both lines feature good thick kettle style chips with impressive crunch and good flavors that don't overpower the deep-fried potato flavor. The Hawaiian line features slightly more exotic flavors, and different bag art, but otherwise are the same chips. The Tim's flavor I like best so far is the Johnny's Seasoned Salt flavor. Which reminds me I've got to track down some of that salt!

I try to buy King Arthur Flour - Denied!

2009-12-02T21:46:00.000-08:00

Well, OK, not denied, but grossly overcharged.
     I am originally from the Mid-Atlantic states, and used to occasionally buy King Arthur Flour co products - they have pretty good stuff, and it's hard not to be carried away by their enthusiasm. So I need some baking supplies, and naturally turn to their website.
     I'm going along, blithely putting purchases in my cart, until I had everything I wanted plus a few things I didn't even know I needed until I got to their site. At this point, shipping charges are $8, which seemed fair enough. Then I get to checkout and put in my address, and the shipping changes to $17.50!!!
     I know Alaska's far away and all, but seriously? We're not on the moon, you know. Also, the post office has those awesome new flat rate shipping boxes - there's no reason for this. It's an outrage!  Or a cause for slight pique, at the least.
This is the sort of thing that kind of reminds me why there are so many independent providers of goods and services here - shipping has always been a big expense for this state. So anyway, I am just going to do without my special flavoring things and boiled cider. For those prices, I will just boil my own darn cider!
Does anyone know of a west coast provider of baking supplies? One that understands that AK is part of America?

Sourdough Chronicles - Fail II

2009-12-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I found another way that won't work. It looked so lively for the first few days, then it lapsed into unconsciousness, then it began to decay. I just washed the terrifying murky liquid down the sink and escorted the rest out to the garbage.
Well, back to the drawing board! I have another method in mind to try, so later this week we'll see if it leads to brilliant success or to the senseless waste of another 2 cups of flour and water!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T17:06:00.000-08:00

The traditional Thanksgiving meal, of course, is a turkey (roasted or deepfried or grilled or whatever) and a wide variety of side. The tradition persists in the face of historical protestations that the pilgrims couldn't have had those foods, in the face of vegetarians not wanting to eat turkey, in the face of the untasty nature of turkey itself. At least that's what I had always thought.
An informal survey of several of my coworkers revealed that many were planning roast pork tenderloin, chicken, or beef roast. I would be interested in finding out if that's because:
1) we are out west now and that pilgrim stuff doesn't matter so much here
2) the turkey tradition is fading
3) I work with odd people
4) or what.

Mr EA and I are celebrating with homemade pizza and a movie marathon (Lord of the Rings trilogy, for those of you playing along at home), and we are very thankful for it! We have done this for years and enjoy it very much. Also, Mr EA enjoys carving the roast 'za :)

As a concession to the holiday, I made a pumpkin pie because we both like it, and a cranberry relish because I like cranberry.

Anyway, what did you do for your Thanksgiving feast?

Sourdough Chronicles - Take 2

2009-11-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

Well, after a crazy week, I finally had time yesterday to get back on the sourdough horse (? too much metaphor?). Anyway, this time I opted for the simplest method, which was to mix 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of water, and a packet of yeast in the container, place it someplace warm and stride briskly away.
It succeeded brilliantly, at least in this initial phase...

It's ALIVE! Ahh ha ha ha ha !

But seriously. I decided to do this yesterday because the oven was going to be going to some degree or another for a couple of hours, and I figured the warmth would do the starter some good. It seems to have worked, at least at this point. We'll give it a couple of days and see how it looks then. But anyway, sourdough, at about 75%! Keep your fingers crossed...

Sourdough Chronicles - Temporary Setback

2009-11-15T18:17:00.000-08:00

Well, the sourdough starter from the tourist pack didn't work. It just never took off, but rather sort of lay there being polite. And then started decomposing. There could have been a number of reasons why not:
1) starter no longer good
2) starter was never any good, but was instead cruel hoax
3) too cool in house (we keep it around 60F)
4) destiny
...or who knows.
But anyway, back to the drawing board!
Thanks to my earlier research, I have about 5 other methods to try. Since it isn't like I'm gambling with rare and costly ingredients, I decided I am going to just try one method at a time, in a random order, and see what happens. Eventually something will work. Or else it won't, which will condemn me to a lifetime of shame and buying sourdough bread at the store.
As soon as the jar is washed out, we're on to method 2, which is yet to be determined. Stay tuned to see what daring adventures await flour and water in the next installment of...
The Sourdough Chronicles.

Middle Way Cafe

2009-11-14T16:56:00.000-08:00

Mr EA and I got up at the crack of dawn today (OK, really 8 am) to meet friends for breakfast at the Middle Way Cafe. For those of you playing along from Anchorage, it is located in midtown in the same mall as REI and Title Wave.
Inside, the place is a great big room made cheerful by brightly colored walls and a wide array of art on the walls (which seemed to be available for purchase). It is semi-cafeteria style, in that you go to the counter to place your order, but then staff bring it out to you. The menu is semi-hippy, but there is something for everyone. Our friends had been there several times for lunch and had very much enjoyed the sandwiches and salads available, but breakfast was new territory for them as well.
Mr EA got a regular breakfast (don't recall the name of it) which consisted of two eggs, bacon, toast and homefries. I got an omelette which I believe was called the Shepherd's omelette. It was filled with spinach, onions, roasted red peppers and feta cheese and topped with a sprinkling of pine nuts. My omelette was very good, and also very large. I started with the home fries, which was an enormous serving. Their "home fries" consisted of halved or quartered new potatoes cooked through and fried to a crisp. Mr EA did not like the potatoes, but I liked them very much. My omelette was very tasty, with vegetables cooked just enough to be soft, but not completely mushy. It could have used a bit more cheese, but that is a minor complaint. Mr EA loved his bacon, which was thickcut and delicious. His eggs were also fine. We each also got an enormous slab of sourdough toast, which were tasty as well. The prices were reasonable, and so was the food. All in all, breakfast was not stunning, but it was certainly tasty enough and well cooked. Add the charm of a funky and unique restaurant, and you have a winning breakfast experience. If you haven't been there, try it out. You'll be glad you did!

Ginger...snap!

2009-11-13T21:38:00.000-08:00

     Last night Mr EA and I and some friends went downtown to try out Ginger, a sophisticated pan-Asian restaurant. Ginger is trying hard and mostly succeeding. The decor is elegant and clean without being super-severe.
     I started out with a cup of banana and lemongrass soup, which tasted much more normal than I thought it would. It was more of a tangy curry soup with an undercurrent of sourness here and there. There was no "banana" flavor in the form of the sweet fruit. There was a slight starchiness and a texture that suggested more of a plaintain version on banana. There was also some crab bits in, which contributed some flavor and texture but did not overwhelm. No one else at our table had an appetizer, which made things a bit awkward for me.
     Mr EA got the Garlic Barbecue Ribs and I got the Panang Beef Curry. Our friends got the Baked Sea Scallops and the Duck Breast Chinois, which they said were pretty good. My beef curry was pretty good, with buckets of delicious sauce, strips of tasty but tough beef, savory crimini mushroom chunks, and crisp fresh bean sprouts. There was also some perfect jasmine rice, which proved not only tasty, but useful in mopping up the sauce. Mr EA was less thrilled with his ribs, which were very fatty and tentatively flavored. They weren't bad, but they weren't wonderful either.  For dessert, I had Chinese Five-Spice Chocolate cake, and Mr EA had Ginger Pear Cheesecake, both of which were delicious!
     On the whole, while it is a great atmosphere and the food is certainly good, it is not as delicious as the prices would suggest it should be.  We found that neither of us thought about it today, which would not be the case if it was excellent. However, and I can't emphasize this enough, it was tasty enough and also a very pleasant atmosphere. If you want a nice place to go with some pretty good food, you could definitely do worse than Ginger.

Better red than...thirsty

2009-11-10T23:24:00.000-08:00

On our last visit to our local Fred Meyer, we spotted a big display of weird soda ("weird" meaning "not a major name brand") and had to try some out. Neither of us are big fans of soda, with the exception of eastern PA's A-Treat brand weird soda. However, some of these promised to be interesting. We got a Cheerwine (cherry cola), various Jack Black pirate-branded sodas, and this selection...

Leninade!

So we had to try it. It actually tastes pretty good, and the bottle and cap are comedy gold. With various slogans urging you to "Join the Party" and "Get Hammered and Sickled" it was (and still is) a source of mild but continuous amusement in our house. It's not the best soda I ever tasted, but if you are in the market for a carbonated, citrus-y beverage with entertaining packaging, Leninade might be the way to go. Here's the other side...

Sourdough Chronicles - Day 2

2009-11-09T21:29:00.000-08:00

This is how the sourdough mix looked today - separated into clearish and dense liquid. There was a sort of yeasty smell, and a bunch of condensation on the sides of the jar.

A brief, brisk stir evened things out...

So far, so good!

Sourdough Chronicles

2009-11-08T16:58:00.000-08:00

Around this time last year, I began an ill-fated foray into the world of sourdough. I did too much research and was frozen into inaction by the overabundance of conflicting source material. This time around, I just went about it in as hasty and unprepared a fashion as I could. So we'll see how this one turns out!
I started with a pack of sourdough starter which we purchased in the tourist section of Target, and a great big glass jar we bought at Habitat. (All the directions would say is stoneware or glass, and given a choice I will generally go for glass - I like to see what is going on.)

I threw in the starter, 2 cups of flour, and 2 cups of warm water, as directed.

See how much stuff is unmixed? That's why I like glass.

Then I mixed it with a wooden spoon. The directions say metal won't work - which made me wonder if that was malarky or really true, and if it is true, why? Is it like how fairies die when you touch them with steel? Inquiring minds want to know.

Then the directions said to cover it up with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel, which I did, even though the jar I bought has a lid. So my next steps are to stir twice a day and wait, and then cook delicious things with my new sourdough.

However, as simple as that sounds, this is possibly my 3rd or 4th attempt to make sourdough (as mentioned in an earlier post) and those other attempts were not successful. So we'll see. My previous efforts may have been hindered by my tendency to overthink. Let's see what underthinking will do for me!

Experimental Candy

2009-11-03T21:34:00.000-08:00

...because I just can't leave well enough alone.

After the Turkish Delight debacle of earlier post fame, I obtained a new candy thermometer. Oddly, I decided to break it in on an experimental recipe that I just made up myself. I am aware that this means I have no way of telling if the candy turns out the way it's supposed to, because the candy itself is an unknown quantity. However, it's all over now, so I can say that as far as I can tell, the new thermometer works great!
Anyway. To start at the beginning. The story of my new candy recipe starts some months ago, when a conversation with my parents reminded me of a beverage mix we always used to keep around the house, Russian Tea. As near as I can tell, this was a popular thing back in the 70's, although the mix recipe is readily available on the net. Here is the one that most closely matches the one we used to use at home:

Russian Tea Mix
1 cup instant tea powder
1 cup unsweetened lemonade powder
2 cups orange-flavored drink mix (ie. Tang)
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves

Mix it all up in a BIG container. To drink hot, put a couple of Tbsp in a mug and add hot water. To drink cold, put a couple of Tbsp. in a glass and add cold water. There! I should also add that you should shake it up pretty good before you scoop any out to make your drink, or you will wind up with a mug of hot Tang or hot sugar water, etc. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it kind of loses the Russian Tea-ness. Basically, it tastes like moderately sweetened, very citrusy tea. Although I quite like it, as you can imagine from the quantities given above, it makes a LOT of drink mix. I know you can cut it in half and so on, but I didn't. The end result being that I have a lot of Russian Tea mix hanging around.

To move on with my little story, you may notice there's a lot of sugar in the mix... and candy is mostly sugar, so... I wondered what would happen if I made candy out of some of my drink mix. Here's what did happen.

There's a lot of extra stuff in with the sugar, so it didn't melt as clean as when you cook just plain sugar. Kind of murky, isn't it?

No thermal weirdness ensued, with the heat going up, just the way it was supposed to! I thought it was going to boil over, but it stayed in the pan. Whew! Sugar candy is not that hard to clean up, but it is pretty sticky and messy until it's gone.

And then, being very careful of the terrifying sugar lava, I poured it in a pan to cool. Then I waited a good long while for it to cool off. Since I am in Alaska, I didn't have to wait that long, but your results may vary. I just broke it up and tried a piece. Surprise! It tastes like citrusy tea. If that sounds like a good thing to you, you might want to try this out:

Russian Tea Hard Candy

2 cups Russian Tea mix (from mix recipe given above)

1 cup of light corn syrup

1/4 cup of water

Equipment: Big pot with tall sides, candy thermometer, hot pads, etc, metal pan with sides to cool candy in (baking pan, jelly roll pan, etc).

Proceed as for any cooked hard candy (basically, after the ingredients, the directions for this type are always the same). If you do not have directions or recipe, I direct you to this basic recipe at Cooks.com . Also, if you are inclined to experiment in this type of cooking, this is a great starting point. Although I should point out that this recipe doesn't involve the covering with powdered sugar or cutting up the cooled candy with a scissors part. Although I don't really see why you couldn't, if you want to. Anyway. Candy!

Old favorites revisited

2009-11-01T20:34:00.000-08:00

Although I've written about all of our favorites in the past, several of them deserve another mention, for various reasons.
Moose's Tooth - as always - Best. Pizza. Ever!
Also, we were there for lunch this past Saturday, and got intrigued into trying a dessert listed on their specials menu - Maple Bacon cake. I know - it sounds weird, but bear with me. When it arrived, it was a layer cake with two layers of maple-flavored cake with tasty bits of bacon liberally scattered throughout. A reasonable 1/4" stripe of peanut-buttercream icing joined the layers together. The cake itself was modestly sweet with a pronounced maple flavor. The bacon cut the sweetness with salty, smoky bacon-osity. A bite of the cake itself strongly suggested a pancake and bacon breakfast with maply syrup over both. The peanutbutter icing, which I avoided at first, actually augmented the flavors, adding both saltiness and sweetness. All in all, this is an unusual treat. If it sounds like something you'd like, it probably is. But don't wait too long - it's only on the specials menu, so it probably is limited time only. Try it - you'll be glad you did!
Arctic Roadrunner - Local Burgerman
This is one place I wrote about early in the life of this blog, when I was not really sure how in-depth I wanted to get with stuff. In the year and a bit since, we have been back to Arctic Roadrunner many, many times, and have grown to love it more every time. The decor is a major part of the charm. The building is basically a big log cabin, and wood is a prominent decorative motif. In season, outdoor dining is available. You get to sit next to a beautiful stream, so it's worth doing if possible. The time we ate outside, a gang of roving ducks was working the tables, and we wound up throwing them most of our fries in self-defense! But it was still a beautiful place to set and eat. The best part, though, is the pictures and life stories of patrons and friends of Arctic Roadrunner. Everywhere you look, pictures of couples, fisherfolk, service pictures, family pictures. With most of the pictures, a sort of life-story and ususally the date they started coming to the restaurant. We like to sit at a different table every time we go, so we get to see different pictures.
However, as cool as the pictures are, the food is still the main attraction. It is a burger and sandwich joint, and there isn't a bad thing on the menu. Although vegetarians will find slim pickings, there is a really good toasted cheese sandwich on the menu, so there is something at any rate. There are many varieties of burger, with an interesting array of toppings available. There are also breaded fish sandwiches and a couple of other sandwiches. It is worth your while to check out the specials board - we have had some awesome sandwiches that are not on the regular menu - a beef au jus most notably. The sides are likewise exceptional - the fries are pretty good, and the onion rings are perfect - real onion! If you are in the mood for a great burger or sandwich, Arctic Roadrunner is a great place. Try it - I bet you'll like it!

Yo ho ho and bottle of...

2009-11-01T20:09:00.000-08:00

As you might expect of two childless adults with a tiki room in their house, Mr EA and I like to keep a bottle of rum on hand. Just in case we need a tiki drink. Actually, it would be more accurate to say we like to keep a couple of bottles of rum around. For our regular rums, we generally keep one or another of the Bacardi varieties around. (I support them because of their pro-bat stance.) We also like to keep Captain Morgan's spiced rum on hand, because it is one of the more flavorful rums around. (Also, Mr EA appreciates their pro-fictional-pirate stance.)
Anyway. This weekend we decided to try out Cruzan's Black Strap Rum just because it looked interesting. And we're extremely glad we did! It is a strongly flavored dark rum that is great either straight or as part of mixed drinks. There is a pronounced molasses flavor, as well as hints of smoke and pepper. Rum in general tastes pretty good, but this stuff is such a step above it makes you drink slowly and savor. If this sort of thing appeals to you, give it a try.

1 out of 1 yard-pirates agree - it's Aaarrrr restingly delicious!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T21:31:00.001-07:00

Potluck Pandemonium - Part II

2009-10-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

Mr EA's entry in his company chili cook-off was one of our favorites from the Sterns' Chili Nation , American Chop Suey Chili. This is an unorthodox chili - the general ingredients are hamburger, celery, onion, macaroni and various seasonings - among other things. It is served with cheddar shreds and chow mein noodles (!). It is strange, but delicious.

It's not a spicy-hot chili, but there is a complex mix of seasonings. He picked this one because he wanted to have something a little different from the usual chilis.

He was supposed to cook it himself, so he really did all of it. I made a move to pick up the spoon one time, and he stopped me! "Don't touch that! I'm supposed to cook it myself!" I just walked away. :)

As you can see, it looks pretty good. And it tastes even better than it looks. I will let him tell how it went over:

Mr EA

Our chili seemed well received and was good tasting. The flavors kinda vanished overnight so I pumped it with some tobasco before the tasting. The office broke at lunch and spent about an hour goofing around and eating. Then we voted. The chilis were not so hot (except one) and they were all good. We did not win, alas, but the winners were pretty good. About a third of it came home with me and made a great supper. I'm already looking forward to next year's cookoff.....

Potluck Pandemonium - Part I

2009-10-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

Mr EA and I had a lot of cooking to do tonight! Both our places of work are having potlucks tomorrow, and we had to get ready. Mr EA's work is having a chili cookoff, and mine is having just a plain Halloween potluck. We'll post Mr EA's part tomorrow, since the competition is supposed to be anonymous. Here is my part:

The Devil's Eggs!

12 eggs
2 tsp. Jack Daniel's Smoky Mustard
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 c. mayonnaise
12 olives

Hard boil eggs. Cool eggs quickly in cold water. When eggs are chilled, peel them. Halve the eggs, putting the whites on a plate and separating yolks into a bowl.

Mash up the yolks until they are the down to crumb-size bits. Mix the mustard, vinegar and mayonnaise into the mashed yolks. Blend until fully mixed. Spoon or pipe mixture back into the egg whites. That is where you would stop for nice, normal devilled eggs. However, these are special Halloween eggs. For Halloween, you would take the olives and insert them into the eggs, like this...

Creepy eye eggs!
In past years, I have made even weirder eggs. Like this...

You can make them look pretty creepy by just soaking the whites in water with food coloring in it :) However, I think that's a little much for the crowd I work in, so we'll go with regular eyeballs.

Update:

The devilled eggs went over pretty well! They were gone pretty quickly, and everyone seemed to like them.

Candy Girl - FAIL

2009-10-25T16:36:00.001-07:00

I have always liked Turkish Delight aka Locum, although it is somewhat hard to find. Since I am now trying out candy-making, it seemed like a natural thing to experiment with. There isn't a recipe in my shiny new Jane Sharrock book, so again, in the face of all logic and sense, I chose to sail the perilous seas of internet recipes. Today's experiment was based on the recipe at ethnicrecipes.com . I have a bottle of rosewater from a recent trip to either New Sagaya or the International Market in Eagle River, so I am ready to roll. Things started out sedately enough with me stirring lava-hot sugar water, while the auxiliary ingredients waited next to me.

Then I get to the inevitable stage where I think it's never going to end. I'm stirring, I'm stirring. The temperature is staying the same, it's never going to get to 240 (soft ball stage). OMG! So I turn up the heat one notch. Then a weird thing happens. The burner is glowing red, the proto-candy is blooping away even more energetically, and actually starting to brown in spots. And the temperature is going down! As you read this, say it in the same voice you would say "The calls are coming from inside the house!", because that's kind of how I was feeling about the situation. So I turned the heat up one more notch. And the temperature went up about a degree, and then went down again! Well, this is monkey-paw level freaky. So I turned off the burner, dumped the mix in the prepared pan, and walked away. I didn't know if suddenly an anomoly in the space-time continuum had formed in our kitchen, reversing the laws of physics; or that unbeknownst to me, hot sugar water forms a mysterious 6th state of matter, or what. I just knew I was done with it, at least for the moment. This was several hours ago. So I just came back to the kitchen to see if anything could be salvaged of my Turkish delight.

Two pieces of good news awaited me. 1) No extradimensional creatures were hanging around the kitchen, having burst through the freakish temperature wormhole, and 2) the Turkish delight tastes fine - just sweet enough, with a lovely rose perfume. The bad news is that it is really way too soft. But I cut it up and shook it around with some powdered sugar and cornstarch anyway, because why not.

Then I decided to see if a more mundane explanation might be the cause of the problem. I took the same pan I had used for the candy (now shiny clean through the good offices of Mr EA) and the same thermometer. I clipped the thermometer on the pan, which I then filled with cold water. Heated the water to boiling, and hey presto - the thermometer is off! (We are at sea-level, rendering temperature readings extremely easy.) Although I feel a little silly about the fact that this was not my immediate assumption in this circumstance, well, I figured it out eventually. And I guess that counts for something. So, a new candy thermometer is on the shopping list, and as soon as I have it, I'll be giving this recipe another go. So that's something to look forward to!

Cookbook Corner - Cooking Alaska

2009-10-25T15:42:00.001-07:00

When I first arrived here in Anchorage, Mr EA (who had moved up here a few weeks before me) greeted me at the airport with this book. This may not sound like a thoughtful gift, but it was. He did this because I collect cookbooks, so he figured it would be a nice way to welcome me to our new home. Also, we had been hearing tales of whale blubber and woe from some of our East Coast loved ones, and this was a subtle way of telling me "See, there's real food to eat here - although, yes, some of it is moose-based!"
Cooking Alaskan (By Alaskans) is a wonderful book, which I cannot recommend strongly enough for the curious. Put together from a wide variety of sources, it is probably the most complete snapshot of how Alaskans of all stripes cook and eat. There are native recipes for hunted and gathered subsistence fare, recipes featuring packaged food used alone or in combination with native foods, recipes left over from Russia's tenure as landlord, and recipes attempting to cuisine-up native foods. A fair amount of this cookbook is written for people who have just come into possession of a moose ( a whole moose) or a boatload of fish. Because they or their spouse just went out and got it. It starts at that assumption and tells you what to do from there. However, there are also recipes for folks who went to Fred Myer's and bought a frozen fish filet. In short, there's something for everyone!
Along with recipes, there are tips and stories, all in the original voice of the authors - many of which are well worth the price of admission by themselves. As I read this, I find myself thinking of a coworker who was born and raised here, the daughter of two government employees, who grew up in Homer and has lived all over the state. She was here during the '64 quake - was downtown shopping for a prom dress, as a matter of fact. She has a lot of really interesting stories, a fair number of which are about food. She once told me that she had never had beef-steak until she was in her late teens, and she still hates the smell of it, though she has gotten used to the flavor over the years. Although I am not (and probably will never be) an Alaskan to that level, there is a lot in this cookbook even for me. I have used it several times when confronted with unusual ingredients, and I plan to try out more whenever possible.
If you visit Alaska (or live here), you will not have to work hard to find a copy. Despite being roughly the same size and shape as the Anchorage phone book, it is prominently positioned for sale at most of the major tourist shops and the airport as well as in local bookshops and grocery stores. If you are curious about what real Alaskans eat, outside the range of what everyone in America eats, then this book is a good place to start.

Sahara - Guess the ethnicity!

2009-10-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

If you guessed Middle Eastern, you're right!
Anyway, we have driven past this restaurant (on C street in midtown) quite a few times, but just never got around to it until this evening. Which is odd, because we really like middle eastern food in general.
Anyway. Although Sahara doesn't look like much from the outside, inside it is quite nice, with a tasteful smattering of hoke accented by an enormous TV on the wall playing Arabic TV (MBC ?), which we could not understand but which we found mesmerizing anyway. If you are familiar with middle eastern food, the menu will not hold much that is startling for you - and that's a good thing. If you are not familiar, all the menu items are well described, and vegetarian options are clearly marked.
While we perused our menus, our waitress brought us spicy, fried pita chips and a savory tomato-based dip - it was delicious and we devoured it in minutes flat. Mr EA and I decided on a Shish Kebab Combo for 2 and also a small pot of Arabic coffee. First out was a big plate of salad, which was a nice mix of greens, herbs, and a very light vinaigrette-like dressing. Next was a big plate of hummus, accented with a decorative pattern of parsley, paprika and olive oil and an accompanying basket of warm pitas. I had the hummus to myself, as Mr EA flatly refuses to try it. But that was OK - it was great! It has a very smooth texture, a rich taste with just a hint of bitterness.... Mmmmmm! Hummus!
Then came the main course - a platter of kebabed meat and a big platter of rice. The meat included chicken, lamb, and kafta (which has a semi-unfortunate appearance, but tastes great). The chicken was lightly coated with a yogurt and paprika sauce and grilled to juicy perfection. The lamb is lightly spiced as well and nicely grilled - just done enough. The kafta had a good mix of meat, onions, and herbs and also was crispy but not dry. The rice was a treat as well, cooked to a soft texture but not mushy and lightly spiced with cinnamon and/or cardamom. (How can I not say for sure? There was a lot going on in that meal.) The coffee was perfect as well - black as midnight on a moonless night (that's pretty dark....), and very lightly sweetened with a caramelized, burnt- sugar taste. Although at this point we were afraid to eat even a wafer-thin portion of anything, we split an order of baklava. It too was perfect. Flaky, crisp filo, a good layer of nuts, and just enough syrup throughout to sweeten it, but not enough to make it soggy and limp.
So all in all, if you like middle eastern food, or you are feeling adventurous enough to try it out, check out Sahara. You'll be glad you did!

Crow's Nest

2009-10-20T21:33:00.000-07:00

Tuesday evening, Mr EA and I celebrated our 14th anniversary downtown at the Crow's Nest located on the top floor of the Hotel Captain Cook. The Crow's Nest is one of Anchorage's finer dining establishments, in a class with Simon and Seaforts, Club Paris, and a few others. We very seldom eat at such a level, but it is an occasion, so we decided to splurge.

The Hotel Captain Cook appears to be quite a nice hotel, at least as far as can be told by the public spaces. At the restaurant itself, at the top of tower 3, we were greeted by the pleasant and efficient hostess, whose name I did not catch. Like the rest of the hotel, the Crow's Nest is nicely appointed and has a luxurious atmosphere. You feel like you're in a nice place, which sometimes is half of the effect. I was a little disappointed at our table, which was overlooking the city, but was not even right next to the window. If it had been busy, I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but we were there at 6 pm, and there was a bank of empty tables right next to the windows. By the time I was discontented enough to think about asking for a different table, we had drinks and amuse bouches, and it would have felt like too much of a hassle. So I just settled for passive-aggressively calling our table "steerage" and let it drop (more or less). Also, when it got dark and the city lights came up, it was a much prettier view than it was when we got there. Now, I concede that this is a wildly trivial complaint. I also fully realize there are starving people all over the world and so forth. But still, it was kind of baffling. (Mr. EA: We were hoping for a view of the Inlet but apparently that's reserved for the bar!?!?)
Anyway. The food!
As we got settled, a waiter (Mr EA: Wayne, who did a great job) came by with little servings of roasted beets with bits of crisp bacon and creme fraiche. This was a complex, deeply flavorful appetizer that was a great little treat. Then we were each given a warm roll (choice of olive bread, Parmesan bread, or french bread), which we ate with the cute little butter balls that were already in their own little bowl on the table. The bread was good - warm, with a good crust and a great crumb. In addition to the regular menu, the restaurant was offering a tasting menu (with or without paired wines), and also a prix fixe menu with two options for each of the three courses. Mr EA and I decided to go for the prix fixe menu and try all the options between us.
Mr EA got the Thai yellow curry coconut and crab soup appetizer, Thai Curry Scallops, and creme brulee. I got the Crisp Pear and Feta Salad, the Filet Mignon and Foie Gras, and a chocolate trio dessert. Mr EA's soup was a mildly spicy, light sweet soup with plentiful crab. The richness was perfectly offset by the vegetables. His scallops were very tender with a good sear. The barley with it was deeply curry flavored and intriguing in its own right, which barley often isn't. His creme brulee was a tender, flavorful custard with a good crisp topping and some perfect berries. My salad was an interesting blend of flavors and textures. Lightly bitter spinach, sweet pear crisps, salty feta. My filet mignon was probably among the top 3 pieces of beef I have ever eaten. It was perfectly cooked with a richly beefy flavor and a meltingly tender texture. The little bit of foie gras (about the size of a walnut) was interesting to me because I have been reading about this substance for years but had never had any. It was light and tasty and unctuous. I wouldn't go out of my way to have any more, but I also wouldn't pass up any that happened to land on my plate, either. The potatoes and greens that came with it were also intriguing and delicious. My dessert was a little bit of chocolate mousse with raspberry sauce, a little bit of brownie with mango sauce, and a bit of chocolate ganache with chocolate sauce.
So overall, the Crow's Nest is a great place to go for upscale dining. It does not come cheap, but the food is incredible, the service is outstanding, and the atmosphere is wonderful as well. Just make sure you ask for a table that is not in steerage class. :)

The Greek Corner - Opa!

2009-10-15T21:02:00.000-07:00

Mr EA and I recently got to visit another old-new eatery here in Anchorage. The Greek Corner, a fairly well-established restaurant in midtown recently moved to a new location on Northern Lights Blvd. Despite hearing good things about it, we hadn't gotten around to going to the old location, so we tried out the new!
The decor and atmosphere were discretely Attic, just enough to satisfy my fondness for hoke, but not so overdone as to merge into satire. It is done up in white and a sort of limpid mediterranean blue, accented with a tasteful smattering of Greek art and vases and so on. I smiled when we walked in the door and heard Greek folk music on the sound system. We were seated, had the specials explained to us, and examined our menus. I noted with interest that they note vegetarian recipes on the menu - they have a pretty good selection of them. The song ended. Then it began again. The same song. We looked at each other, then shrugged. We made our selections. The song ended. Then it began again. The waitress came, we ordered, she left. The song ended. Then it began again. We started giggling, and couldn't stop until the song really truly did, possibly 30-45 minutes into our visit.
I was voting to share the sampler for 2, but Mr EA declined in favor of a gyro platter. I got an order of moussaka instead. We each started with a cup of avgolemono (egg and lemon) soup. This was delicious - tart from the lemon, rich with egg and chicken, and just right as an appetizer. Mr. EA's gyro was somewhat different from other gyros we have had - served flat instead of rolled, with pitas above and below the filling - more like a sandwich. The meat was delicious, as was the tzatziki sauce. There was a little less vegetation than you normally see on a gyro as well, which was fine with Mr EA. My moussaka was good - the meat and tomato layers did not overwhelm the eggplant, and the light sauce was a good foil for the rich meat and bitter eggplant. Really tasty food!
Less impressive was the service. Our waitress was very nice and willing to answer any questions. However, I ordered but never received a cup of greek coffee (which from her description I was really excited to try), and Mr EA ordered and was charged for a gyro dinner, but actually received a gyro lunch (several sides were missing from his plate). Not a huge problem, especially with such delicious food and such a charming place. So go there - if you like Greek food, you'll be glad you did!

Honey. Ah, sugar sugar

2009-10-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

I am the candy girl!

As I may have mentioned recently, I have been on something of a candy-making kick. No idea why, just that I've never made any before and wondered if it was something I was going to be good at. I'm good at certain types of cooking, and need improvement on other kinds. For example, regular cooking - good. Baking, not so much. I think the reason is that I'm not what you would call a precision-oriented person. Generalities are my comfort zone. So, since candy-making is one of those fields of cooking that falls into the precision category, I was pretty sure I would be terrible. To my surprise, I'm actually doing OK. Not stunningly wonderful, but OK.

My initial guide into this endeavor was my old Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, which is, sadly, not the most accurate cookbook in places. From this book I attempted caramel. It turned out fine. Then I used an internet recipe to try homemade marshmallows. They got pretty good, but I decided I don't really ingest marshmallows enough to make them worth my while. Finally, I got Jane Sharrock's Who Wants Candy , which I suspect will make life much easier on the candy-making front.

So today's experiment was peanut brittle. I'm not going to post the recipe, because it is hers. I will, however, give you the thoughts of a novice candy-maker during the brittling process, along with some visuals.

Phase I - laying out your essentials. I have learned, through hard experience, that when you are doing time-sensitive stuff, it really is better to have everything all ready to go. I don't necessarily go to the extent of having premeasured amounts out in separate bowls (except for stir fry, but that is another story), but at least I get everything out on the counter.

Phase II - this is kind of fun. I'm making candy!

Phase II - Paying attention. Things happen kind of fast in this phase, so you have to focus. I can do it for a little while, but it's tough to maintain for any length of time. Here is the butter going in, the last step before...

Phase III - OMG! Will I still be alive when this candy is done?! The temperature is only at 250 F - it has to get to 280 F. Sigh. OK. Patience. I'm stirring, I'm stirring... It's still at 250 - when will it end? When!

Phase IV (Seemingly 2 hours later, but really about 10 minutes later) - Final stage. Things are happening quickly again. There is some micromanaging of the heat to be done, peanuts to stir in, then some baking soda - both of which have to be evenly distributed. Then the mixture needs to be spread onto two baking pans to cool. You would think it would just sort of spread out, but that is not the case. You need to spread it around. It attempts to clump up. That would probably be fine, but I try to get it even-ish anyway.

Phase V - waiting to try the brittle! And you really do have to wait. It is roughly as hot as the sun's molten surface. Really - and sticky as well. I'm waiting, I'm waiting...

Phase VI - enjoying your peanut brittle! It is crunchy and buttery and delicious. It is not overly sweet, has a little saltiness and bitterness going for it. Yes, not bad for a first try. I give the recipe most of the credit, of course.

The candy chronicles will continue!

Unless I lose interest and move on to something else. :)

Birch, birch, birch

2009-10-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

We were recently introduced to birch syrup, one of the few truly Alaskan specialties that is also commercially available. (You try finding whale blubber.) Although we had been vaguely aware of its existence for a little while, we just kept getting distracted and forgetting to try it. However, we finally tried some at the Alaska State Fair, and quickly became devotees.

Based on my extensive research, which consisted of talking to the lady staffing the birch booth at the fair and roughly 10 minutes of web searching, I can tell you that birch syrup is pretty rare, is produced by very few manufacturers, and takes twice as much raw sap to make as maple syrup. I can also tell you that is very tasty!

Birch syrup is darker and stonger than maple, and also somewhat bittersweet. If I needed to compare it another sweetener, I would say it is like if maple and molasses had a baby...

It is delicious as a sweetner, but that's only a start. As with maple syrup, birch can be added to mustard and other similar substances, and also be turned into various candies.

One of our favorites is birch caramel, which is available for order here.

This has quickly become a favorite treat for our loved ones elsewhere in the country as well. We have standing orders from family members for these caramels - and we like to keep them around our house, as well.

In honor of being Alaskans, we adapted one of Mr EA's favorite recipes, Black Diamond Steak, to include birch syrup. We call it Black Dimond - did we mis-spell? No. Click the link for the story of Anthony J. Dimond. There's a lot of stuff named for him around here. And here's one more thing!

Anyway, without further ado...

Black Dimond Steak

For the marinade:

2 Tbsp. corn oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup birch syrup

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. vinegar

1 1/2 tsp. ginger-root, fresh, minced

1 pinch garlic powder

1 lb. New York strip steak

Mix together marinade ingredients. Immerse steak in the mixture, making sure to keep it covered. Marinade at least 6 hours, but overnight is better. Grill to desired doneness.

Enjoy!

Fresh & End of the Line

2009-10-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

Spent most of Monday night at the Local Food Festival of earlier post fame. The movies showing that night were, as advertised in the title of this post, Fresh and End of the Line. I have to admit, I had kind of expected them to be wildly slanted and partisan and using more emotional than intellectual appeal. Welcome to Low Expectation Theater! However, they were both thoughtfully done, and presented a reasonably balanced perspective on the issues they examined. Each film had a slant, make no mistake, but they each made a reasonable attempt to be balanced. I was very pleasantly surprised, and thoroughly enjoyed both films.
Fresh looks at Factory vs. Sustainable farming. Guess which side wins! No, seriously. The case is made thoughtfully, and no one is presented as a bad person - even people who participate in factory farming. However, farmers, economists, ecologists, and a bevy of other representative folks all make their cases pretty convincingly. The questions I had concerned the practicality of this type of agriculture sustaining the global population. Again, the case that it can work is pretty convincing - watch the movie to see why. It probably helps my perspective that I basically agree with most of the filmmakers' points. The biggest one for me is humanely raising animals. Non-cannibalistic food, water, some grass to run around on and some fresh air to breathe are all cows and pigs and poultry ask of us. It seems entirely reasonable to me, and I can't see why they can't have it. Maybe that's bleeding heart-y of me, but that's what I think. The film also addresses industrial plant farming as well, so that's something to look forward to. If you are on the fence about this issue or need more information, I recommend Fresh. If you disagree with this perspective, the movie might give you some things to think about. Or else it will make you really mad. Your choice!
End of the Line is about how we are fishing the oceans empty. Again, it is the big industrial fishermen who are wrecking everything for everyone else. Regular small catch and/or indigenous fisherfolk are not hurting anything (except when they are stupid, but that is a whole other issue). I really eat very little fish, so I was starting to feel pretty smug, when they got to the blue fin tuna part. Hmmm. I like tuna = now I'm part of the problem. Well, I reasoned to myself, surely my little bit of fish... Nope, that's exactly the kind of reasoning leads us down a slippery slope. Then I thought, Ah! I'll just buy farmed fish. Nope, the filmmakers knew we would think that. Farmed fish is no better. Watch the film to find out why. One bright ray of hope, however, Alaska fish resource management was cited as an excellent example to sustainably maintain a resource while still allowing fishing. Go us!
So I came home determined to immediately cease and desist all meat eatery until I can find sources who raise their animals right. Mr. EA was not thrilled to hear this, until I told him it would be as easy as following this link the Alaska state Dept. of Ag ...and then taking it from there.

Gourmet Magazine Closing Down!

2009-10-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

Nooooooooooooooo!
Full details here

While Gourmet was certainly not the most practical magazine to cook from, it was one of the most informative. I sure hope Saveur keep publishing! Even though most of us are mainly interested in the daily tasks of getting food on the table, the food world will be poorer if there is no forum for thoughtful food writing as well.

Eating Alaska - the movie!

2009-10-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

Mr EA and I just got back from the Bear Tooth, where we watched the Anchorage showing of Eating Alaska! This film, locally created and produced by film maker Ellen Frankenstein, was presented as part of the Eating Local Film Festival of earlier post fame.
Told from a personal perspective, this movie is an intelligent, down-to-earth view of eating sustainably and locally here in Alaska. The film maker, formerly a vegetarian, asks pertinent questions about how we get what we eat here. She asks everyone, from Native school kids to a vegetarian group in the Mat-Su valley, penetrating questions about why they eat what they do, and how they get it. Another hard question she examines is that of toxins - a very real concern when you are looking at subsistence hunting and living.
Many of the points she makes while discussing agriculture here are points I have wondered about (and written about) as well. We don't have a lot of local agriculture - there aren't a lot of farms and there is a very abbreviated growing season. This presents some real challenges on the local eating front. Hunting and fishing are a reasonable and locally popular way to get your protein - Mr EA and I work office jobs here in the city of Anchorage, and we both work with a LOT of people who fish and hunt for part of their food.
On a personal level, there is a moment early in the film where Ellen is at a farmer's market elsewhere, and she is discussing the point of the film she is right then making with another woman. The woman asks if we grow vegetables here, and then makes a remark about how we can just eat whale blubber. Very similar statements to us from loved ones back in the lower 48 where what inspired me to start writing this blog. So I am not the only one who reacts strongly to blubber remarks!
The film presents a balanced, good-natured view of the issues discussed, and raises questions and sparks discussion without presenting a dictatorial set of answers. There was also a reasonable humor level, which is refreshing in a documentary. I can honestly say it was a wonderful movie, and I enjoyed it immensely. If you are at all interested in the issues of sustainable local eating, I cannot urge you strongly enough to see the film.

Sacks Cafe and a bonus recipe!

2009-10-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

Went downtown to do the First Friday Art Walk with some friends - had a great time, looked at some neat art in the galleries. For those of you in the Anchorage area, it's well worth the effort to get out and see some of what downtown has to offer! Anyway, the snacks on offer at the galleries were not quite doing the trick, so we started talking about all the great places downtown has to eat. My friends had both been to Sacks Cafe, and insisted we try it. The place was packed with other art walkers, and we almost didn't get a seat. We finally wheedled our way in by promising we would clear off in an hour, the point at which the table was reserved.
The entrees were pricey, although the descriptions in the menu made them sound incredible. In the end though, we decided on getting a bunch of appetisers and sharing. We got the olive sampler, the Alaskan scallops, baked Brie en croute, and the cheese plate. After placing our order, we enjoyed the ambiance (sophisticated cafe) and the art (varied and pretty good). After a short wait, we got out food. We looked at our plates, looked at each other, and just started laughing. There were these tiny little islands of food on these vast white china planes... the table was covered, but it was with dishware more than anything else. At this point, we were somewhat disillusioned - the surly guy at the front counter, the tiny portions... But then we started eating, and all that was forgotten.
The olives were delicious - warm and unctuous and rich. The cheese plate had a rich hard cheese and a strong goat cheese, along with a complex gastrique, slices of bright strawberries and some glazed nuts. All together it was a well-chosen collection for tasting the cheeses at their best. The baked brie was also wonderful. It is pretty hard to screw up Brie, and this plate enhanced it artfully. The cheese itself was delicious, warm and buttery with its crisp flaky crust. The olive tapenade provided a wonderfully salty and sharp counter point. Roasted garlic provided an earthy base to the light cheese. And apricots and strawberries were bright and sweet next to the cheese. Altogether another hit.
Then we got to the scallops. I don't like seafood in general, and have never eaten a scallop. However, my friends double-dog-dared me, so I tried one. It was very good! So I have no basis as to whether this particular scallop was superior in any way to other scallops. I just know that one was pretty good. They were served with a mango curry puree, which was also delicious, and a mini-salad served in a little Parmesan-crisp bowl. The salad was also delicious, and the bitterness of the cheese crisp was a neat addition to the fresh greens.
About midway through our meal, we realized that there was indeed plenty on our plates, it was just that the dishes were so terrifyingly huge that it made the appetizers look so tiny and forlorn. The three of us just barely managed to finish, and we were wishing we hadn't gotten so much - although there wasn't one thing we had regretted eating!
Then one of my friends ordered a desert - her favorite, which she has only ever gotten here. It was Russian Cream. Out came a creamy orange desert - custardy in texture, served cold - with a fruit sauce over it. We puzzled over what was in it, and my friend challenged me to figure it out. After I got home, I did just that. I have to confess, I cheated a little - I found a recipe that was close, and changed it up some to get it closer still. It's still not exact, but the flavor is right, and the texture is darn close. Just in case you want to try it, here's the recipe...

Russian Cream with Tangy Fruit Salsa

Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp cold water
1 orange
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cups vanilla yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 can pineapple chunks
1/4 tsp. salt

Start by grating the peel off the orange. This is going in the cream part of the desert. Reserve the rest of the orange for the fruit salsa.
Soften the gelatin in a small bowl with the tbsp of cold water - use a little more water if necessary.
Mix the sugar, the half cup of water and the orange peel in a pan and heat just until boiling, stirring steadily.
Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the gelatin - stir steadily to make sure the gelatin is even mixed in. There shouldn't be any gelatin lumps when you stop stirring.
Mix in the cream and the yogurt. Again, whisk until it is completely mixed together and all is incorporated.
Finally, add the vanilla, making sure to blend thoroughly.
Divide the cream mixture into molds or bowl, cover tightly, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

The original recipe said this made 6 servings. That was not the case in our house! Maybe for tiny eaters.

Once the cream in gelling in the fridge, start the fruit salsa. Dice up the pineapple chunks very small, but do not crush them. You want to leave some texture in the fruit. Then the orange. For me, this was the most tedious part of the operation. Peel the orange, then section it, removing the membrane from around each section. Then break up each section into smallish parts but again, trying to maintain the texture. Mix the fruit chunks in a bowl, and very very lightly salt it. Taste for flavor - you may want to add a little of the pineapple juice to the mix.

When the cream has gelled, top with the salsa and enjoy!

Eating Alaska - The Movie

2009-09-29T20:07:00.000-07:00

For anyone who doesn't check out comments (and if not, why not?) the post about the Beartooth Local Food Movie Festival got a lovely comment from Ellen Frankenstein concerning her movie "Eating Alaska" . Here are the key parts.

Please come on by the Beartooth Local Food Festival and to the EATING ALASKA screening this Sunday. Plus on Sunday, any part of proceeds we get from a share of ticket sales or fun Eating Alaska pins and DVDS will help us travel to Cuba to show the film and do a workshop with filmmakers there. Been doing some fun educational regional screenings with kids too, getting them to talk about food and where they live!

Cheers,
Ellen Frankenstein
Filmmaker

So come see an interesting movie and participate in a good cause too! The movie sounds very interesting, and Ellen seems like a great person - I'm looking forward to it very much!

Lucky Wishbone

2009-09-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

Acting on a hot tip from the Best of Alaska booklet of earlier post fame, Mr EA and I stopped in at the Lucky Wishbone on our way to some downtown activities. From the outside, the place is somewhat ratty looking, but the steady stream of customers to both the sit-down and drive through part of the restaurant assured us this was the place that had won a stunning 5 Best of awards.
When you get inside, what you will find is a place with the classic coastal diner sensibilities. Since the place is in operation since the 50's or 60's (the menu had their history, but I did not write it down), that makes a certain amount of sense. Located near Merrill Field, the place is rife with airplane memorabilia and photos. A patron in a nearby booth was pointing to pictures of airmen on the wall and saying who they were and what they did later in life! Whether this was factual information or malarky to amuse the grandchild he was with I don't know, but it was interesting anyway.
Mr EA got the Mom sized order of their famous pan-fried chicken, and I got a chiliburger and an order of onion rings. I wasn't impressed with my chiliburger - an openface burger and roll smothered in a blanket of midwestern-style hamburger and kidney bean chili. However, my onion rings were awesome! Rings of real whole onion in a light cornmeal crust were fried just right. Mr EA's chicken, however, was astoundingly delicious! The light crust was flavorful and lightly seasoned. It was just the right balance to complement the chicken without overwhelming it. When you got through the crust, the chicken was moist and flavorful. Before trying a few bites of this chicken, I had kind of wondered what the fuss about pan-fried chicken was all about. Now I know.
The delicious chicken, which I urge you to try without delay if you like chicken at all, is available in three portion sizes - Pop, Mom and Jr, with piece types assigned ( Jr is a leg and a wing, for example). However, we hear nearby patrons bargaining with their waitress for different piece types than their portion names, and she seemed able to meet their wishes. Also, the menu does say that if available, you can get all white meat, but they don't make any promises. The menu also says that sometimes livers and gizzards and giblets are available. We didn't go there, but if you like chicken innards, there's something to look forward to. Also available are t-shirts with their retro-cool logo! But first, get the chicken.

Food Movie Festival at the Bear Tooth!

2009-09-24T21:25:00.000-07:00

Hey, fellow Anchorites (Anchorigians?), the Bear Tooth Theatre Pub is holding a Local Food Film Festival October 2-8!
...
Let me unpack that for you. The movies are not locally made, except for one of them, which I will get to in a minute. Rather, they are about the Locavore or "eat local food" movement. The films are on a diverse range of topics, from how we are fishing the oceans empty to how we are wrecking the entire world. But I exaggerate for comic effect.
What I am hoping for is a thoughtful examination of how and what we eat. What I'm afraid we're going to get is 8-10 hours of shrill, thought-free screed about how everyone sucks. However, I did not notice that Michael Moore is involved, so there's hope. :)
Now, to the local movie about eating local. It is titled Eating Alaska, and has nothing to do with this blog whatsoever. Their blog is here. It looks like an interesting movie, and I very much look forward to seeing it!
The festival also seems to be connected in some unspecified way to the Alaska Center for the Environment , the website for which also has some interesting things to say about local eating here in Alaska.
So I plan to attend, and hope to get to every movie on the schedule. This will also allow me another excuse to go to the Bear Tooth, which is excellent. See you there!

Best of Alaska 2009

2009-09-20T16:00:00.000-07:00

Well, the Anchorage Daily News just published their Best of Alaska awards booklet for this year. For those of you playing along from elsewhere, this is an annual issue where readers can vote for their favorite providers of various goods and services, and then the paper publishes what amounts to a special advertising issue with the winners. It's certainly no Michelin guide, but the Food and Drink section has much to interest the foodie - we have certainly discussed it at our house!
First off, the biggest benefit to us is finding out about places that we had no idea of - a good example of this is the Lucky Wishbone. We had not ever heard of this establishment, but it won 4 awards (!). So we will definitely need to check them out, along with pretty much all the winners from the Italian and Greek categories.
The other best thing about this publication (for my purposes) is agreeing with or railing against the winners as selected. For example, Arctic Roadrunner winning for burgers and Moose's Tooth/Bear Tooth winning for pizza are proof that God's in his heaven and all's right with the world. I'm glad sort-of local Kaladi brothers beat out Starbucks.
On the other hand...
McDonald's winning the French Fries category? And White Spot not even placing? A travesty!
Gallo's winning for Mexican while Mexico in Alaska is denied? An outrage and a scandal!
I disagree with some other categories, but can kind of see why the votes came out like they did. For example, Sugarspoon clearly beats the pants off of Glacier BrewHouse's desserts as far as taste goes, but I'm sure way more people have eaten desserts at GBH than at Sugarspoon. And Sugarspoon only came in second, so I can kind of see that.
And I wish there were a few other categories. There should be a small plates or appetizers category, and also maybe an Alaska spirits other than beer category. But at least I've got something to work with for the next year or so.
What's your opinion? If you are an AK reader and have seen the Best of Alaska awards booklet, what do you think about the outcome?

Hula Hands

2009-09-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

Hula Hands, which has been an established restaurant in the Mountain View area, recently moved or opened a branch on Fireweed in midtown. ( Have not seen any definitive informtion on this, and my mouth was full of deliciousness almost the whole time I was there, so did not get to ask.) Mr EA and I have an interest in South Pacificiana, so we knew we needed to try it out.
Housed in a stand-alone building, the restaurant's look is cement block overlaid with a veneer of Pacificness, but in a charming sort of way. The staff is very friendly and welcoming, and were willing to explain things to us, which is really nice in a less-mainstream place. They boast a really varied menu, with something for everyone's tastes. I have been informed by sources who are in a position to know that the food is authentic to the Pacific islands, especially Hawaii and Samoa. There is a surprisingly large contingent of islanders here in Anchorage, and Hula Hands is one of the many benefits they bring to the city. The cuisine is a mixture of asian flavors and specifically island foods, such as taro products, and a very slight infusion of American food. Every section of the menu demonstrates this no-fuss fusion attitude. For example, under Burger and Sandwiches (which are served with fries or 1 scoop of macaroni salade), your options are Hamburger, Cheeseburger, Bacon Cheeseburger, Patty melt, Teriyaki Beef sandwich, Pulehu Chicken sandwich, Kalua Pig sandwich, or Grilled cheese. Pupus include Teriyaki sticks, crispy wonton, kimchee and a variety of Pokes, which I was not brave enough to try yet. Next time! We did, however, split a Spam musabi, due to Mr EA's love of Spam. It was very good, with a sort of ocean-y accent to the Spam flavor. I will say that that thing was enormous - small eaters will want to split with someone if they want to try it!
For our actual lunch, we each ordered a different combo plate, so we could try as many different things as possible. Mr EA got Lomi Salmon, Chicken Long Rice and Kalua Pig combo plate. I got Teriyaki Beef and Pulehu Chicken. As usual, we swapped bites back and forth, and really enjoyed all the entrees. Each selection had a distinct flavor, and each was delicious. Our big favorites were the Kalua Pig and the Teriyaki Beef. I like the salmon, but Mr EA was not a fan of the taro leaves wrapped around it. I thought they tasted like spinach and finished them off for him.;) Each combo plate comes with scoops of steamed rice, which we mostly ignored in favor of the deliciousness on the rest of the place, and a scoop of macaroni salad, which I loved and finished off as well. Their drinks include tropical juices, which I tried and found nicely complemented the experience.
Some things we haven't gotten to try yet include a variety of intriguing stir-fries, loco moco, and several taro-based items. Also, still working up the nerve to try a poke, but I'll get there, and then I'll let you know! The menu does include a few more mainstream burger and sandwich options, so if you have a friend of family member who is a little less adventurous, there will be something for them to eat, too. Go there and eat - you'll be glad you did!

Spenard Roadhouse

2009-08-23T15:55:00.000-07:00

A recent addition to Anchorage's restaurant lineup, Spendard Roadhouse is a great stop for anyone looking for casual dining a little off the beaten path. The ambiance and menu put it in the same category as City Diner - and that's a good thing.
The building itself seems like a renovated and funkified former Pizza Hut. The decor is of the "junk stuck to the walls" school, which I have always had a sneaking fondness for. If nothing else, it gives you something to look at while you are waiting for your food :) They also have a nicely appointed patio. While normally I am all about eating on patios, the setting, overlooking scenic Northern Lights Blvd, made us decide to just stay inside. We sat near the bar, giving me a chance to look over the liquid offerings. The drinks promise to be a big part of the place's appeal - they infuse their own flavored boozes. But the sun was not over the yardarm at the time of our visit, so I reluctantly passed on a drink. (But I will be back, and I'll let you know if their drinks are as delicious as they sound.)
Anyway, it was lunchtime, so Mr EA and I each had a sandwich. He had a Cubano, which he said was one of the top 5 sandwiches he had ever had. The pork flavor dominates, which is a good thing as this is pretty good pork BBQ. I had the Toasted Veggie sandwich, which was also excellent. The veggies are cooked just enough to soften them and intensify their flavors, but not so much that they were mushy and wet.
In some restaurants, the sides are just sort of there to fill up the plate, feeble lackies to the main dish. In others, they steal the show (White Spot french fries, I'm looking at you). Here they are equal partners with the main meal item. At least, it is if you are getting the, yes, tater tots. The presence of tater tots on the menu has been one of the interest points with this place. It's the one thing everyone mentions - whether they approve of tater tots in general or not. Mr EA loves tater tots. I could take them or leave them - they are really easy to mess up, though logic dictates that this should not be the case. Spenard Roadhouse does them right - crisp, not soggy, a little greasy but not dripping with oil. If you must eat tater tots, this is the place to do it. They are the most visible examples of Spenard Roadhouse's general aesthetic - self consciously clever and ironic takes on standards, and elevated middlebrow treats. And that's a good thing.
Prices are not low, but the food is good enough to justify the cost. Next time you are in a funky mood and near midtown, swing by - you'll be glad you did!

We're Back!

2009-08-22T17:38:00.000-07:00

What we did with our summer

Well, it has been an eventful couple of months! We bought a house and moved, we had visitors, we did some painting in our new house (with our visitors' help) then I was plain lazy, then I couldn't remember my password, but now we're back!

Over the last few months, we have done a lot of revisiting of old favorites, but we have also gotten to some new places - some just new and some new to us. I'll be writing about Muse, Tango, Spenard Roadhouse, and Hula Hands over the next couple of weeks. We found some great food shops, mostly established, but new to us. Specifically, Mr. Prime Beef and New Sagayia (sp?) Market. And I've been trying out some new recipes - including candy! I plan to share my exciting kitchen adventures on that score as well.

One thing I wanted to mention today, though. Saveur magazine (and if you are interested in food, I recommend you check it out) is looking for subjects for their next year's 100 best issue, and the subject is food-related things that have inspired you. I nominated the food scene here in Anchorage! Yes, the whole dang thing! We have great restaurants - representing an extremely wide variety of cuisines and the whole range from greasy spoons to fine dining. We've got great shops. We've got excellent local ingredients. We've got passionate eaters. I have found more to inspire me as a cook and an eater in Anchorage than anywhere else I've ever been. If you think so too, go to Saveur and let them know!

Namaste again!

2009-05-07T21:49:00.000-07:00

As predicted, as soon as Mr EA heard how great Namaste Shangri-La was, he wanted to visit for dinner. So we did.
As you can imagine, the decor and atmosphere are pretty much exactly the same as they were yesterday, so I'll skip that part of the general review.
Mr EA got a lamb kebab and I got Aloo Cauliflower, both of which came with the same salad and rice as described yesterday, and we also again got the side of garlic naan. Both entrees were as delicious as the saag paneer was yesterday.
Mr EA's lamb was very tender and flavorful, and was served with two sauces, one of which seemed cilantro-based, and another that was tart and a little sour - I would guess plums were involved, but that is purely a guess. He loved it very much, and I enjoyed my bites as well. My Aloo Cauliflower was also very tasty, with a medium spicy creamy tomato-based sauce. Sadly, the sauce was not as plentiful as with the saag paneer, but one can't have everything!
Another great visit, two more great meals!

Namaste Shangri-La

2009-05-06T21:12:00.000-07:00

Following the always-excellent advice of Feathers, I finally got to Namaste Shangri-La restaurant for lunch today!

Why it took so long to get there is a lengthy and tedious story - I work a block away, and since getting the recommendation I have been trying to get over there - but finally managed it!

Namaste is tucked into a little strip mall on the corner of Lake Otis and Tudor - not much help, I know, since there are strip malls on three of the four corners of that intersection. This is the strip mall that does not have the Starbucks or the Golden Donuts shops.

Anyway. Namaste Shangri-La is a lovely place with sunny yellow walls and a discreet bit of appropriate decor. The tables are beautiful - maroon tablecloths protected by glass table tops. About which let me say a word. Many places use these things that really shouldn't. I know it lets you use a tablecloth which you then don't have to wash with every diner. But so many places let their glass tops get all chipped and nasty looking, besides which if you don't clean that glass well, it really, really shows up. I'm not fussy personally, so I don't much care unless it's really grievous, but still. Namaste Shangri-La is not one of those places. This tabletop was truly clean enough to... well, you know how that goes. Also, each shimmering tabletop had a small vase of carnations on it that really gave it a nice touch.

I was, sadly, not there with Mr. EA but instead with a friend from work. However, now that Mr. EA has heard how good it is, you can bet we will be going there together soon. My friend is a long-time devotee of Yak and Yeti, so she was also excited to hear that there was a good source of Indian/Tibetan food within easy lunchtime striking distance of our office. She ordered the Chicken Curry lunchtime special, and I got the Saag Paneer lunch. The proprietor asked how hot we wanted our dishes - my friend said mild, and I, forgetting the Golden Gate heat level debacle, said hot. We also got garlic naan, which was even better than regular naan, though I would not previously have believed such a thing was possible. It was crispy on the bottom and soft on the top, and the topping had a good mix of cilantro and minced fresh garlic. Mmmmmmmm!

The lunches came with a salad, which consisted of shredded carrots and celery and onion in a lightly tangy dressing; steamed rice, and daal. Our entrees were delicious, as were all the sides! Although I had said "hot" it was still humanly edible. There was a bit of heat there, make no mistake, but it was nowhere near as damaging as when you say "hot" at other nearby places. Saag Paneer is cubes of fresh mild cheese (paneer) in a spinach-based sauce. Feathers my fellow sauce-hound, if you have not tried this dish, I highly recommend it. There is a reasonable amount of paneer in there, to be sure. But it is basically a good sized bowl of sauce. And it is good sauce. The main flavor is spinach, but there is a lot going on there. I think there was some curry and/or cumin, a little tangyness that might have been yogurt. Mmmmmmm! I believe it will require a lot more analysis!
I did try my friend's chicken curry, but it was a polite, friend's-plate sized bite, not the full-fledged plate ravaging that I feel free to indulge in when it is Mr EA's plate I am pillaging. So all I can really say is that my bite was quite good, but it too requires further analysis.
Namste Shangri-La is a great place - clean, pleasant, and well run. Their menu is not encyclopedic, but there is a good variety of vegetarian and non-veg entrees, appetizers and soups. Not to mention some interesting-looking desserts that I intend to try as soon as I can lure Mr EA in there.
Go there, you'll be glad you did!

Yak and Yeti

2009-04-09T20:23:00.000-07:00

Yak and Yeti is a funky little slice of the Himalayas right in the heart of Anchorage. Located on Spenard Road (characterized by the famous saying "What happens in Spenard, stays in Spenard!"), it seems to be part of a cluster of eateries from more exotic climes. However, we had been hearing about this place since shortly after we got to Anchorage. Everyone we spoke to had liked it, but been a little hesitant to recommend, as in "I don't know how you feel about Tibetan food...?" We like Indian food, we like food from many of the other countries around Tibet, so we took a chance. Also, the notion was so bizarre we had to go. And eat!
In all seriousness, I was a little bit hoping it would be weirder than it was. I looked in vain for yak butter tea, but what was there was delicious. Also, they have goat curry for lunch on Mondays, so I plan to go back for that at some point!
Y&Y is a smallish family-run business, short on table space but long on charm and great food. Following the link at left will take you to their website, where you can read their story, which is quite interesting, and also get a look at the menu and the hours. Be aware that they are only open for dinner certain days of the week - plan accordingly!
We started with an appetizer of Aloo Tikka, which is basically crispy fried potato cakes, served with a couple of chutneys. They had a great texture and a good, lightly spiced flavor. One of the chutneys, a creamy green one, was so good we finished it off with spoons. For our entrees, Mr EA had Kalimpong Shapta, which is stir-fried pork. The pork was tender and wonderfully flavorful. Subtle but flavorful spicing enhanced the taste of the meat, but did not hide it. This came with two delicate steamed buns. I had Mutar Paneer, which was also delicious. This dish consists of cubes of paneer (fresh, mild cheese) and peas in a rich tomatoey sauce. It came with rice, which I used to mop up all the sauce I hadn't managed to eat with the paneer and peas. I looooooooove sauce!
My entree choice was partly tactical. My parents will be coming up to visit us in about a month and a half or so, so I am on the lookout for places I can take them. My mom is a vegetarian, so I try to keep an eye out for places where she will be able to find good choices! She gets tired of just having sides, or spaghetti with no meatballs, or a salad. I am happy to report that vegetarians will have a really good variety of clearly labelled dishes to choose from. And if our meal was anything to judge by, it is all delicious!
We finished off with Gajar Ki Halwa, shredded carrot cooked in sweetened milk. It is light and mildly sweet and better than it sounds like it would be. Mr EA intended to have just a spoonful of it just to try it. He wound up having around half!
So I won't be tentative. You'll like Tibetan food. You'll like Yak and Yeti. Go there - you'll be glad you did!

Everybody Loves Ray's Vietnamese

2009-04-02T21:06:00.000-07:00

Ray's is possibly the one place that no one - really literally no one - in Anchorage seems to have a bad word for. Tell people you are going to almost anyplace in town, and you will get at least one "Really?" or "Why?". But not Ray's. And in spite of all that love, it took us only 10 months to get there. But better late than never! Now, I will say right up front that I have no way of knowing how authentic Ray's is. And when push comes to shove, I don't really care. What I do care about is that they have delicious food.
We got an appetizer of fried egg rolls, Mr EA got Beef and Broccoli, and I got Spicy Tofu with Tamarind. Fans of Asian food in general will find a lot on the menu that looks awfully familiar, but when it arrives it will be different than what you might expect. The decor gives you a lot to enjoy while you are waiting for your food. There are wildly elaborate, prism-encrusted chandeliers, lots of plants, oriental-style paintings, and western-style paintings of Vietnamese subjects. When the food does arrive, you are in for a treat.
The eggrolls are more delicate than their Chinese counterparts, and contained ground pork, those thin transparent noodles, and some light vegetables. My Spicy Tofu with Tamarind was delicious. The tofu came in crispy chunks, accompanied by a variety of vegetables in a light sauce (really almost a broth) that managed to be spicy and lightly sour without overpowering the flavors of the main ingredients. Mr EA had Beef and Broccoli, which was basically a drier and crisper version of the Chinese dish of the same name, which was also distinguished by its healthy infusion of cilantro. In his words, it was "absolutely wonderful!" We both felt that in general, the Vietnamese dishes we ate were lighter and fresher-tasting than Chinese, which tend to be a bit denser and have thicker sauces. Both can be incapacitatingly delicious, don't get me wrong. They are just different styles, and it's good to be aware of that.
We spent so much time deliberating over our choices that I know we will need to go back soon - there are some interesting looking soups and duck dishes that we are going to need to try. (We'll let you know!) So if you are the mood for fresh, flavorful food, try Ray's. You'll be glad you did!

Angelina's Philippine Cuisine

2009-03-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

This evening Mr EA and I tried out Angelina's Philippine Cuisine in a strip mall at 36th and Minnesota. What a treat! This is another example of the genre of places that don't look like much from the outside, but are comfortable meccas of great food when you get inside. Angelina's has straight meals available, but the best best for Philippino newbies is their assortment of combo plates available from a buffet type of arrangement.
We are relative newbies ourselves - there was a Philippino place in PA, but it was not as sophisticated as Angelina's, not by a long shot. They had dishes like Meat On Stick. If you asked what kind of meat, the proprietress would look at you for a minute or so and either say "Meat - you like. Eat!" or "You will no like. Eat Rice Dish." They did not last long. Anyway, Angelina's is a wonderful contrast to that, as the counterman on duty when we went in was very willing to educate us on what he had on offer. He was friendly and helpful, and went out of his way to make us feel welcome. He was a big part of the place's appeal.
Anyway, you can have a meal, such as roasted pork, chicken skewers, and assorted other things. Their willingness to educate extended to the signs advertising these items, as they all had a picture, the Philippino name, and a translation in English. This is helpful for those of us who are willing to try new stuff, but are not that trusting in places we have not been in before. (I had a bad experience about a year ago involving an unexpected sheep head, and it has made me a little skittish. But that is another story.) Anyway, we went for the combo plates, which come with rice (either steamed or garlic fried) and one, two, or three items. Mr EA and I collaborated as usual by picking different things so we could each try more stuff. I had steamed rice, a crispy beef fritter, and a pork Sinigiang (I think). Mr. EA had the garlic fried rice, pork adobo and a stew of beef, chickpeas and peas with a ginger flavor to the liquid that we did not catch the name of. Everything was delicious! The garlic rice had a subtle perfume that built up over time. The fritter was composed of ground beef, potatoes, and onion, fried up together in a thin crispy patty. The stews, which we were a little afraid would all blend together, were in fact very distinct. They all were composed of similar things - big chunks of pork or beef, and vegetables in a sauce of the red-brown continuum. However, they all had their own character, and were all well worth sampling.
I was a bit ambitious and went for a cup of Halo-Halo with Ube ice cream. I am still researching what all was in this, but it seemed to me to be a parfait with gelatin cubes, coconut and banana slivers, ice chips, milk (or possibly coconut milk - there was a lot going on there), rice crispies, and Ube ice cream, which the proprietor said was made from a kind of yam - it was very tasty! This dish was characterized by mild, lightly sweet flavors.
I do have a few words of caution. I believe a vegetarian would have difficulty finding a full meal here. Also, if you are at all fussy about meat, you will want to look over the meat chunks you will find in your dishes. There will almost certainly be big wads of fat attached to them, so be aware. It still tastes great, but you will need to do a little trimming before you put a big wad of it in your mouth. Those issues aside, Angelina's Philippino Cuisine is a great place to eat. Go there - you'll be glad you did!

Empty Bowl

2009-03-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I went downtown to the Egan Center to experience the 15th anniversary Empty Bowl benefit for Beans Cafe. Beans Cafe provides meals and resources for the needy, and the Empty Bowl is one of their big fund raisers. Tickets were $18, and for that you receive a homemade pottery bowl and an all-you-can-eat lunch of soup and cornbread. There was also a silent auction for some nicer and more ambitious pottery pieces, as well as T-shirts and dried bean soup mix packs, although sadly I did not know that this would be the case so I didn't bring any extra money. It was also an educational experience, as the staff of Beans Cafe was on hand to explain what their organization was all about, and the good they do with the funds they raise. They are not a shelter, but they do feed many Alaskans in need.
One thing I have found is an interesting is that people here give generously to homeless shelters and other resource organizations for the needy, but they will not give any money whatsoever to panhandlers. (Obviously, this is not true of every single Alaskan - but no one I know does.) Now, I work with some extremely tenderhearted, generous people, and they are unanimous on this conviction: If you give a panhandler money, it will go to the nearest liquor store or else it will go in their arm. If you give money or food or clothing to a shelter, it will give the needy what they actually need. And it's hard to argue with this logic. They are all extremely generous, but in a very practical way that should probably be the gold standard. It follows that charity events like Empty Bowl are very popular. I only found out about this event the day before it happened, and I was kicking myself for not getting a chance to blog about it before it happened. That was until I got to the Egan Center. I got there half an hour before the door opened, and the line snaked up the front of the building and back down again. They were doing fine on the attendance front.
The soup and cornbread were good, basic food. They served a bean and corn chowder and a chili. As a culinary experience, the food was kind of besides the point. However, the availability of the food was very much the point, and I have to say I didn't see a lot of people gorging themselves on the all-you-can eat feed.

General Scene - IV

2009-03-12T17:31:00.000-07:00

Grocery Stores
OK, not really part of eating out, but it is definitely part of the food scene. If you can't find the ingredients, you are a bit stuck for cooking. I'm happy to report that in Anchorage, you are not going to be stuck for too many recipes! This place has some of the best markets, super and otherwise, that I have ever seen. The two major supermarket chains are Fred Meyer's and Carr's. Of these two, Carr's is definitely trying to market itself as the more upscale of the two, and indeed it is "nicer" in its presentation and the prices are considerably higher. However, for variety and quality, as well as price, we like Fred. We are constantly astounded by the variety of choices they carry, especially as we are pretty darn far away from the rest of the country. Also, the produce. Oh, good heavens the produce! The produce available here is so much better and fresher than what was available in PA that it is absolutely astounding. It would not surprise me to find that a good deal of it is shipped up from California, and I am told that some comes from Washington state, which makes sense. Also the variety of Latin and Asian groceries available just in Fred Meyer's alone is amazing.
In addition to the major stores, there are also a number of Asian markets all over Anchorage, most notably New Sagaya . They don't carry just Asian, but that does seem to be the specialty. They are sort of your gourmet/specialty/hard-to-find store. Also, it is a wildly diverting place to spend a Saturday morning. You will find things you never even heard of - some you will want to forget as quickly as possible, others you will take home with you.
Finally, there are specialty stores. I have seen several butcher/game shops around town, but have not had occasion to try them out yet. For chocolate, Modern Dwellers of earlier post fame is the place to go. And for spices, tea, condiments, and chocolate, Summit Spice and Tea is the go-to shop. Between these options, there are very few food items or beverages you couldn't find. Allez cuisine!

Cafe Savannah

2009-03-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

During our downtown adventures last week, we stopped in Cafe Savannah, a tapas bar on 6th avenue. The first thing you will notice from the street is the elaborate fused glass hanging in the front window. Inside, the walls are adorned with various works of art. The tables themselves are funky creations with altered silverware and glass embedded in them. Although the menu includes sandwiches and soup as well as some entrees, we chose to graze from the tapas menu. We had chorizo fondue - which was a rich cheese sauce thick with savory sausage bits. Though this was certainly not diet food, but it was not heavy or oily at all. This came with bread slices for dipping. We both enjoyed this, especially Mr. EA. Our second dish was garlic bread with cheese. The garlic flavor was just right - definitely there but not overwhelming. Next was Beef Kabobs, which were served with a spicy sauce that I think might have been harissa sauce. These were perfectly done and had a rich flavor we very much enjoyed. The standout from my perspective was the patatas bravas, which were baked potato wedges with a spicy tomato pepper sauce. After my first bite I ceded the majority of the chorizo fondue to Mr EA in exchange for the majority of the potatoes. Carnivore that he is, he agreed immediately. These four appetizer plates filled us up to the point that dessert, or even coffee were completely out of the question. And our entire bill was around 25$ - a definite bargain. We are already planning our next trip back!

General Scene-Part III

2009-03-04T21:35:00.000-08:00

Steakhouses

Anchorage has a plethora of places to feast on steak, so many that there may be more of this kind of restaurant than any other single category. Mr EA's coworkers call C street "meat street" after the scores of steak joints along this major north-south street.

A good percentage of these are chains. Outback, The Cattle Company, Lone Star, and Sullivan's. They are pretty much exactly what they are everyplace else, so if you are curious about them, go to your nearest example. One of the best local examples is Club Paris, which boasts a 50 year history. The local steakhouses also feature Alaskan seafood, especially those enormous terrifying crabs and the ubiquitous and beloved salmon.

Family-Style

There is a smaller-than-normal selection of this style of restaurant. Chains in the area include Applebee's and TGIF. There is some talk that an Olive Garden is scheduled to show up sometime in the next year, but I have not been able to verify this. Local independents in this category include Kinley's, Glacier Brewhouse, Orso's, and quite a few others. Restaurants up here tend to fit more into a specialized niche than the carefully generalized chains. In general, chains like to have a good variety of options to fit the largest number of people. The independents want to get as many people in as possible as well, of course, but they seem like to have more of a ... well, I don't want to call it a gimmick, but I guess that's one way to put it. They tend to be more focused.

Diners

While Anchorage doesn't have any "diners" in the classic coastal sense of diners in the diner type buildings. However, there are a lot of places that fit the diner classification in tone and the type of food they serve. The chains that have ventured up here to the last frontier are IHOP, Denny's and Village Inn, which I have only ever seen in Florida, but which is a chain nonetheless. Local examples include Lily's, the White Spot, and the City Diner. This last is an upscale retro creation, in which Anchorage's top chefs are involved. The locals serve the basics - BLTs, burgers, Reubens, toasted cheese sandwiches, etc. They all have something they specialize in - for example, the White Spot has the best fries ever.

Next installment: Ethnic restaurants!

Simon and Seafort's

2009-02-27T22:12:00.000-08:00

View from our window-side table!

One of Anchorage's "fancy" downtown restaurants is Simon and Seafort's. Known especially (among everyone who has told me about them, anyway) for their appetizers and wine flights, they are a bastion of fine but not fussy dining. They are also pretty much out of our price range, at least for dinner. They do have a more affordable option in the form of lunch, which I believe is only available on weekdays.
I recently visited them twice for lunch - earlier this week for a friend's birthday and this afternoon for with Mr EA. Both times I had great food and a great time! It is situated in the first floor of a biggish office building by the waterfront. Although they make gestures toward a wild west heritage with their saloon references and great big moose antlers here and there, it really is quite an elegant place. Marble tables, nice linens, and graceful fixtures help it feel luxurious. Also, the view. Although most seats probably have a decent view, if you love scenery, try to get a seat by the windows. You will be rewarded with a stunning view of Cook Inlet and the mountains on the other side of it. That view is one of the reasons we moved here, and I don't believe we will ever get tired of it. Today the Inlet was choked with ice, boulders and floes of it, drifting on the water. Sleeping Lady was pretty clearly visible when we were eating, as was the range to the south of her. Amazing.
When I was there earlier in the week, I had mushroom ravioli in cream sauce. This was two enormous raviolis, probably about 4-5 inches square, bathed in a creamy cheesy sauce thick with wild mushrooms. Mmmmmmmm! I was tempted by the desert menu, but it would have killed me. That day, anyway, but I am getting ahead of myself. The meal was proceeded by warm bread, which I believe is sourdough, but maybe is just tangy, and whipped butter - mmmmm! My friends had a salad and an openfaced crab and artichoke sandwich, which they reported were also delicious.
Upon hearing about my luncheon adventure, Mr EA immediately wanted to visit as well. Since we are on a vacation, or as the parlance of last year had it, a "staycation", we visited them earlier today. This time I had a roast beef sandwich with au jus and their house made chips, and Mr EA had Fish and Chips. His fish was lightly battered and had a nice flavor - not at all heavy or greasy like normal fried fish. My beef was very tender and flavorful and the au jus was so good I was dipping everything in it -chips, bread, sandwich...I was tempted to just drink it. But that would not have left room for desert. I had purposely saved room for the Pudding Trio. Served in little demitasse cups, this was vanilla bean pudding with a little mint sprig garnish, butterscotch coffee pudding with a little orange peel garnish, and dark chocolate pudding with a cocoa powder garnish. This came with three shortbread cookies dipped in dark chocolate. Mr EA had Key Lime pie, and was equally happy with his choice.
Although it is a nice restaurant, it is not at all snobby. We were wearing Tshirts and jeans along with our big boots, as were quite a few of the other patrons, and were not in the least made to feel weird or underdressed. They have an actual coatcheck, which is actually pretty sensible in a town where people are wearing huge spheres of down and/or alternate padding. However, prepare for the coat check person to tease you about whether or not you will get your coat back. Note to the literal-minded: they are joking. You will get it back.
All in all, if you are in the mood for some truly fine dining in a luxurious, comfortable atmosphere, Simon and Seafort's is an excellent choice.

General Scene - Part 2

2009-02-25T21:28:00.000-08:00

Fast Food

There is an interestingly varied fast food environment here in Anchorage. The American standards are all here: McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Arby's, Taco Bells, Carl's Jr's (largely a west coast chain). All these places are almost exactly like they are everywhere else in the US. As it's nod to the locality, McDonald's has a special Alaskan burger, call the McKinley burger, which is distinguished by being stupidly huge. I don't know a single person who has successfully eaten one. But there you go. I actually wish we had one or two more chains up here. West Coast standards In-N-Out Burgers and Sonic would both be welcome additions. To those who would argue the sensibility of a drive-in place, you don't know Alaskans. Temperatures well below 0F would not be a bar to commerce at such a place here.

In addition, there are also a lot of local places that fit into the same mold. Being small outfits, usually family -run, they are of course much less polished than the big chains. And like the big chains, these places exploit different niches of the fast food landscape. Our favorite of the burger genre is Arctic Roadrunner - good food, great atmosphere, reasonable prices. Our favorite fast food of the Mexican genre is Taco King - same as above. In the sadly underexploited Greek genre, Zorba's is the best of the bunch I have found. Study of the local places is very rewarding here - there is a huge variety and all of it is worth trying out!

The general scene - Part 1

2009-02-20T19:08:00.000-08:00

It occurs to me that I have not really ever given a general overview of Anchorage's restaurant scene. The reason this occurs to me is that a distant friend recently asked me if we didn't have any chain restaurants up here. "All you seem to write about are these little mom-and-pop operations" she said. And that's true. But it's only part of the story. There's a lot to say about the eateries in this city, so I'm going to take it in parts. Because I don't have that much time all at one go. Enjoy!
Coffee shops
While we aren't quite as infested with Starbucks as a lot of your more populous cities, we certainly have quite a few of them. The other semi-big chain here (also based in Seattle, I think) is Kaladi Brothers coffee. They have more of a focus on coffee (as opposed to coffee based confectionary beverages) and a funkier vibe. There are also a lot of indie coffe shops - some upscale, some not so much. Some of those places seem to sell coffee mainly to keep the art and poetry rebels who are hanging around there awake, and in others the coffee is the point. Depending on your mood and your personal goals at the time, either type can be fun. Another very prominent feature of the coffee landscape is the plethora of little stands (of earlier post fame) all over the place. For those of you who have never seen one of these, they are a small trailer - probably about the size of a horse trailer - from which food or beverages are sold. They are kept open in all weathers, in the face of all logic and sense. Many of them are long-established businesses with loyal clientelle. They are usually excellent in their wares and their service ethics. Or else they quickly go out of business, so you are usually pretty safe. I have read that people in far norther climates drink the most coffee, which makes a great deal of sense when you think about it. Just judging on the coffee-shop-to-population ratio, I would say Anchorage supports that theory. In short, if you enjoy hot caffeinated beverages, you will not find a dearth of options in Anchorage.

Golden Gate Chinese

2009-02-13T21:10:00.000-08:00

Today for lunch I went with some friends to Golden Gate Chinese, located in a strip mall on Tudor (same mall as Thai Kitchen and one of the Taco Kings). We have been there several times, and I've tried a couple of different meals. A bunch of their lunch plates are combos - with more than one type of entree per plate - as well as rice and an egg roll. Lunch comes with tea and a bowl of a vegetable and egg soup, which come more or less as a matter of course. I have had a couple of beef dishes, Szechuan vegetables and a sweet and sour chicken - all have been good! Today's lunch was Hunan beef, which was good, although I could not finish. This leads me to a side comment. Word to the spicy heat sensitive - when you say spicy, prepare to burn. The proprietress asked how spicy I wanted it, and I shrugged offhandedly and said "Spicy, I guess". I knew I was in trouble when it came out and looked like a plate of hot pepper fragments and seeds. It was only by dint of vigorous excavation that I got to the layer of beef and vegetables. It was so tasty that I ate about half of it even though it was hurting me. I was sweating and my mouth was burning like crazy. What I got of the flavor, before my taste buds died, was very tasty - the beef was tender and flavorful, and the vegetables at that perfect state of crisp-tenderness. Although today's meal hurt me, I haven't had a bad one yet. They have a good selection of Chinese-American standards, all of which they prepare really well. Add a nifty decor and a friendly proprietress, and you have a good place to eat!

Snacks from across the sea

2009-02-10T21:24:00.000-08:00

My Mom and Dad, after a recent visit to my cousin in Hawaii, kindly sent me some snacks from their tropical vacation. They sent us some Kona coffee, Kona coffee candy and several varieties of macadamia nuts, and we're glad they did!
The Kona coffee is very good - very rich and with a bright sort of flavor. Produced by the Hawaiian Isles Kona Coffee Company, it is clearly a product of specialists who focus in on their key product to its benefit as well as ours. When you go to their website you see that focus. They do Kona coffee. That's basically it. Oh, there's a decaf, and a couple of flavored versions, and a few macadamia nut treats, probably for the tourists. They also don't offer different roasts or blends. They do one kind of coffee - here it is. It is in the rotation of special weekend coffees with our Raven's Brew blends. The Kona coffee candies are delicious little squares of hard candy that have the flavor of coffee with milk and sugar - almost a caramelly richness. They are a huge hit both here at home and at my work, where I took in a scant handful to share.
The macadamia varieties they sent us were Lightly Salted, Caramel Coated, and Kona (yes, more coffee!) Coffee Glazed. All were delicous and had that great crisp, rich snappy texture you get from fresh nuts. The caramel and coffee glazed ones had great candy coatings, which is gilding the lily, but it's delicious gilding. The caramel was a good balance of salty with sweet that made them really delicious. The coffee glazing was sweet and strong enough to give a good coffee flavor without overwhelming the macadamias. Mmmmmmmm!
They also sent us pictures of a Burger King menu with Spam as a breakfast option. We may now need to go to Hawaii too!

Now there's something you don't eat every day...

2009-01-30T22:59:00.000-08:00

Duck eggs have recently entered our lives! A friend of Mr. EA's from work and his wife (the friend's, not Mr EA's) have started keeping ducks and selling the eggs. So far we have scrambled them, hard-boiled them, and made creme brulee - all have worked out fine. They are a bit more viscous, and the yolks are much bigger than chicken eggs, but otherwise they are not as exotic as I would have thought. They taste a little richer than chicken eggs, but otherwise much the same.
I don't know if they are planning to market them commercially, as they are still getting the enterprise up and running. But if they are, I'll let you know!

Mort's

2009-01-30T21:20:00.000-08:00

Acting on a tip from alert reader Feathers (thanks Feathers!) Mr EA and I recently took a detour from some business in midtown to try out Mort's Frozen Custard in the Shell station at Northern Lights and Minnesota. And we're glad we did!
They have a truly stupendous array of sundaes, frozen custard by the slice, cones, and concretes, which the girl behind the counter said were like blizzards. The variety of options was astounding, so much so that we stood there for possibly 5 minutes, unable at first to decide. Seriously, there are 13 kinds of sundae. The list of toppings is as follows: butterscotch, marshmallo, raspberries, strawberry, cherry, bananas, peaches, pineapple, Oreo's, Heath Bar, Graham Cracker, Butterfinger, M&Ms, Snickers, brownies, cookie dough, chocolate chips, sprinkles, Reese's Pieces, Andes Cream de Mint, Gummy Worms, Hot Fudge, Hot Caramel Fudge, Pistachios, Walnuts, cashew, peanuts, almonds, Pecans. Whew!
Finally we decided and each got a small sundae. I got Northern Lights, which is vanilla custard, with Raspberry and chocolate sauces and chopped nuts, and of course whipped cream and a cherry. Mr EA got a Midnight Sun which vanilla custard with butterscotch sauce, whipped cream and a cherry. Both were delicious. The custard is rich with a silky mouthfeel. The topping sauces all had strong flavors. My raspberry sauce had actual seeds in it! Good stuff. Basically, we would say it is on par with Coldstone creamery, only much more reasonably priced. In fact, it is probably better than Coldstone creamery.

The New Cauldron

2009-01-27T21:46:00.000-08:00

Situated in the University Center on Old Seward Highway, the New Cauldron is a casual eatery leaning toward the Italian end of things, but featuring standard sandwiches and soups as well. My friends and I have ordered lunch delivery to work from then a couple of times, and been at the restaurant in person once, and it's all been good!
They do deliver, but if you call close to lunchtime, expect a certain level of charming confusion on the other end of the line. But be patient and fear not! It will get there, and it will be tasty. I have had an array of sandwiches, and soup once, and again, everything has been good. When we went to the restaurant, I even placed a sort-of-special order, and they got it exactly right with no problem. The specialness was to ask for the bacon on my BLT extra-crispy, and it came out shatteringly crisp but not burned. That's unusual enough for it to be notable. It's generally either flooby and see-through raw or black and carbonized. Bleah! Bacon is one of life's great pleasures, but one of life's great disappointments when it goes wrong. (Yes, I know. This is a first world problem.) My friend's soup and sandwich were also good, and she enjoyed them, though they filled her up. This brings me to another good point of The New Cauldron - the portions are ample, but not stupidly huge. The restaurant itself is a nice place, done up in warm tones of orange and red, but not fussy. Also, some of their tables look out on the majestic view of the mall below (it is on the second floor), which is kind of nice. Is it a palace of gourmet ecstasy? No. But you know, not everything has to be. If it was, most of us would get nothing done, and we would be hugely fat. What it is though, is a nice place which will feed you good food that will leave you satisfied to your core in the way that a good solid lunch will. Go there, you won't be sorry!
No information on the status of the Old Cauldron.

Local Food or Tourist Food?

2009-01-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

So hard for me to tell the difference!

One of the first things I saw in the Anchorage airport -other than a row of mounted animal heads, but that is another story - was an array of unusual syrups and jams in the airport convenience/souvenir shop. The shelves contained syrup made from birch and something called fireweed, and jams and jellies made from things like salmonberries and lingonberries. I know what those things are now, but at the time, it gave me serious pause.

Since that day, I have only seen these products at touristy places - the downtown weekend market, the souvenir aisles at Fred Meyer's, and tourist shops downtown. I have tasted some of them. I like birch syrup, and like the salmonberry jelly's tanginess. However, I have yet to work my way through most of it.

Why? I kind of wonder, mostly because of where I find it - do actual people from here eat these things, or is it specialty stuff put on for the tourists? I mean, I know it's edible. But the fact that I never see them out on regular store shelves makes me wonder. Now, on the one hand, I do know it is difficult for small producers to get space on retail shelves - there is a lot of competition for that space. On the other hand, I know a lot of long-time residents do go to the downtown market. So it's hard for me to tell. Also, it doesn't really matter in terms of tastiness - things are or aren't good based on your own tastes regardless of who else likes them - or at least they should be. But still, I am curious.

So if you are longtime Alaskan, do you use birch syrup? Do you really each salmonberry jam on your toast? Is it available someplace outside tourist dens and I've just missed it? I welcome your comments!

A recipe!

2009-01-14T20:27:00.000-08:00

On a food blog? What will happen on this crazy interwebs next!

I don't really like to do recipes too much as there are plenty of places on the net for recipes. However, this is a kind of unusual one. It is a Pennsylvania Dutch dessert, my favorite, which I always used to request for my birthday. This year, as my Mom is in Hawaii, I made it for myself. I have not seen it anywhere else on the net, and not many people make it in Pennsylvania any more either. Here it goes:

Funny Cake

2 pie crusts - deep dish, 9" The pie crusts can be your favorite recipe, or can be purchased ones - if frozen, thaw them before use.

Batter:

1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Syrup:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract

This recipe makes two cakes. You could cut it in half and make just one, but why would you? Preheat the oven to 350 F. Mix the batter via the creaming method - mix the shortening and sugar, then add the eggs. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Alternate adding the milk and dry mixture until all is incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly. Divide the batter between the two pie crusts. Yes, put the cake batter in the pie crusts. Next, mix all the syrup ingredients until the cocoa is all moistened and everything is well blended. Again, dividing the mixture between the two cakes, pour the syrup over the batter. Put the cakes in the oven and bake until done, which should take roughly 50 minutes. As the cakes bake, the syrup will sink through the batter and wind up as a layer between the cake and the pie crust. There will be a very light chocolatey crust on top and some light swirls of chocolate through the cake. It is unusual and delicious - as the Dutchies say "Get to know what good is!"

Glacier BrewHouse

2009-01-14T19:39:00.000-08:00

I got to the Glacier BrewHouse twice this past week - it was my birthday on Monday and I insist everyone make a fuss. Therefore Mr EA took me there for lunch on Saturday, and my kind coworkers (of earlier post fame) took me there for lunch on Monday. Both times my meal was delicious!
Located downtown on 5th street, the BrewHouse is a warm, relaxed spot with a wood-oriented decor and a big central fireplace adding to the atmosphere. The tables by the fire are the most coveted - we got one for Monday's lunch and it was pretty neat! On my first visit I got a cheesesteak sandwich with au jus and fries and Mr EA got fish and chips. My sandwich, while not an "authentic" Philly style steak sandwich, was really tasty. The meat was really beefy and tender, the mushrooms and cheese went with it perfectly, and the roll was crusty and . The fries could be a little crispier, but they were sprinkled with what tasted like parmesan cheese. The real standout, though, was the jus. It was perfect - rich, beefy, and just tasty as all getout. By the end of the meal we were dipping everything in it, my sandwich, pickle chips, fries, it makes everything better.
On Monday's lunch, I got a small Mediterranean pizza, which was also great. It had tomato, olives, artichoke, pesto, and the rest of the typical toppings for this style of 'za. It was delicious, and was more than I can eat at one sitting. It was great for Tuesday's lunch, too!
If you are looking for a great casual restaurant, a hair nicer than a bar and grill, but not quite a fine dining spot, then the Glacier BrewHouse is a great choice.

Some Revisits

2009-01-11T14:30:00.001-08:00

Not all that much exciting or new, just some revists to old favorites and some updates on earlier posts.
Modern Dweller's Chocolate Lounge - went back yesterday and had yet a third kind of drinking chocolate! This time it was Silky Dark, which was rich and delicious, as you might expect if you are a dark chocolate lover. I thought it was a bit less nuanced that the other flavors, but it is still incredibly good! We also bought a sample box of four truffles. They are not cheap, but they are worth the cost if -again-you like chocolate. What makes their confections worth the price is that they make somewhat unusual items. One of their truffles has a blueberry ganache and is garnished with a tiny dried anchovy. It sounds gross, yet I am compelled to try it at some point. I trust them that much! But not just yet. So far we have shared a Pistachio Passion yesterday and today's was Purple Infusion. I am quoting from their description now - "Lemon zest white ganache enrobed in a dark chocolate shell. Topped with salted pistachio nuts" is of course the pistachio one. Purple Infusion is "smooth, fragrant lavendar ganache encased in layers of delightful dark chocolate. Garnished with petals of lavendar." They are every bit as rich and delicious as they sound! Still in the box are Margarita Zing and Blueberry Patch. I'll let you know. The lounge itself has a great, arty atmosphere, it smells wonderful, and they have incredible chocolate. It doesn't get much better than this.
Raven's Brew coffee - We took the plunge and bought a few more bags of Raven's Brew coffees. Dead Man's Reach, which we bought about a month ago, is still our favorite, but it is really a matter of degrees. So far we have also tried Billy Goat (that is not the full name, but this is a family website. Check their site if you are curious), Wicked Wolf, and Killer Brew. All three are smooth and rich, no acid edge to any of them. The only (minor) drawback is the price, but we are keeping them for weekend morning coffees, when we have time to really enjoy them. The price is not unreasonable, mind you, it's just a little high for everyday use for us.
Village Inn - went back in for brunch this morning. Spurred on by a recent ADN article extolling hollandaise sauce, we needed something rich and decadent for breakfast this morning. We each got one of their famous skillets. We each left food on our plates, but that is more a function of the meal's quantity, not their quality. Village Inn, we salute you, though our arteries are paying the price.

Mexico in Alaska

2009-01-09T19:43:00.000-08:00

Last night Mr EA and I went out to Mexico in Alaska. I had been hearing about it from a coworker for a while, and we tried to visit over the Christmas weekend but found that they were closed for the holidays. Anyway, we finally got to eat there last night, and had a great meal.
The restaurant bills itself as the only authentic Mexican restaurant in Alaska, and I believe it. Although Taco King comes close, it has a more limited menu and a more fast-food sensibility. I should also point out that if you are looking for a Fiesta themed sports bar, this is not your place. Go to Gallo's instead-they have big screen TVs and not much else going for them. However, if you want a charming restaurant with absolutely delicious food, Mexico in Alaska is where you want to go.
Mr EA and I each had Combo plates, mostly because so many things looked interesting and we just couldn't decide. The phrase "combo plate", which signifies mediocrity at lesser restaurants, is elevated here to a sampling of surprisingly delicious food.
The combo plates came with the standards - salad, rice and refried beans. None of these standard items were like the tarted-up fast food versions - everything had the taste of expertly house-made food. The salad was composed of fresh greens with cilantro and a slice of buttery avocado. The beans were the most pleasant surprise - they had a very slightly vinegary flavor and a wonderful texture, not mushy and tinny like they unfortunately often are. My tamale was good as well, with a savory cornmeal dough around a nicely spiced meat filling. My burrito, which I got soft rather than deep-fried, was also good. The filling was tasty, but what really sent it over the top was the tortilla. The fresh house-made tortillas at Mexico in Alaska are one of it's glories. If you've never had a fresh tortilla, that will probably sound like an exaggeration, but I assure you, it's not. They are a bit chewier and more flavorful than mass-produced tortilla. The combination of texture and taste make them irresistable. Mr EA had a quesadilla, which was delicious - tangy cheese and sharp onion in another one of those fresh tortilla. The other item on his plate was a beef enchilada, which came with a good serving of their special mole sauce. That was all delicious too. Flavorful, tender beef and rich sauce made this another outstanding dish.
We were thinking about sharing an order of flan, but were extremely full by the time we finished that. I consoled myself with a cup of Mexican hot chocolate, which is rich and flavored with cinnamon and possibly a little cardamom, although I wouldn't swear to the cardamom.
The menu has many intriguing options, and we look forward to working our way through it!

The Anchor

2009-01-05T20:29:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Mr EA and I were on a short jaunt through downtown, and planned to revisit the Teriyaki Box, which we had previously visited and liked rather a lot. However, as we wandered down 4th Ave, a sign for The Anchor caught our attention. It listed a few appetizers, including a baked Brie with some other stuff. We LOVE Brie, especially baked.

Well, this knocked our previous plans right out of our minds, and we're glad it did!

We got there a bit late for lunch, around 1:30, and had the place pretty much to ourselves. Outside, the place affects a sort of ship-style theme that doesn't much carry through inside. It is part of the block surrounding the Captain Cook hotel, around which there is a sort of generally nautical zone. This may well be planned, but it's kind of odd, since most of the places don't really go with the theme in any organized way - it's just sort of there. The decor inside is like a warehouse with a few tiki and sportsbar touches here and there, and a nicely appointed bar. Which, to be fair, has a big brass diver's helmet on it. Seating arrangements consist of big semicircular booths with movable tables in the middle that look kind of like a plusher arrangement of a carnival ride.

Anyway, we ordered the Brie and another appetizer - mini gyros, which were kind of like little lamb burger sliders. The Brie came out bubbling hot, with roasted garlic, pesto and pine nuts on it and bread for spreading it all on. The flavors mingled well, with the earthy garlic cutting the rich cheese and pesto. All in all, an outstanding dish! The gyros were three to the plate and were garnished with sharp greens and a yogurt sauce that tasted like it had blue cheese involved somewhere. Split between the two of us, these two appetizers made a satisfying and delicious lunch.

So our recommendation, if you are downtown and would like to try out some unusual and tasty appetizers, is to try the Anchor. You won't be sorry!

Bombay Deluxe

2009-01-01T21:37:00.000-08:00

Guess the cuisine!

This past week we headed into midtown for an Indian food treat. Bombay Deluxe is located in a strip mall (Valhalla Center, near REI and Title Wave). But like so many modest looking restaurants here, it has absolutely great food.
Their lunch buffet has a great variety of foods and has options that will please both vegetarians and carnivores. The day we were there, a variety of different regional cooking styles were represented, as well as some staples - naan, rice, raita, sauces and pickles. Some of the dishes included chicken tandoor, vegetable korma, potato and eggplant curry, and much more. (I didn't think to write down everything they had - I was way too busy eating and saying "mmmmmm") Everything we had was delicious - between the two of us we sampled a little bit of everything on offer, and we cleaned our plates. And I mean cleaned them; we used our naan to mop up all the sauces. Everything was well cooked and expertly seasoned. Each dish had a depth of flavor with a lot of subtle layers, none of which were overwhelming. We also had Indian spiced tea, which was warming and delicious. {Mr EA comment - make sure to order the tea!}
The decor is nice - a layer of Indian stuff, some hoky and some authentic looking - overlaying your standard strip-mall interior, so I liked it a lot. The service is pleasant, and they have cosy booths that make the seating nicely private. Their dinner menu is quite extensive, and we are looking forward to going back to sample some more of their delicious fare. Normally lunch buffets are much inferior to the normally prepared meals. If that is true, this is my new favorite restaurant!

Raven's Brew Coffee

2008-12-28T18:42:00.000-08:00

A recent semi-local treat I just had was Raven's Brew coffee. Although, somewhat obviously, the coffee is not grown here, it is locally roasted and therefore counts as local - more or less.

Anyway, we recently tried their Dead Man's Reach blend, and it is the best I have ever had, hands down. I drink my coffee black, so I really get the full flavor of it - sometimes that's a bad thing. In this case, it's a very good thing! Dead Man's Reach is very rich and full-bodied, but lacking in that acid-y edge that so often makes coffee less than a pleasure to drink. I will admit, I initially bought the coffee because of the humorous label design, figuring that it couldn't be any worse than what I normally drink. In this case, the coffee is actually better than its packaging suggests.

Many of the popular brands, such as Starbucks, are really acidy and terrible when you drink them black. They really seem to be designed to be smothered with gallons of sugary dreck. Not Raven's Brew - it tastes as delicious as it smells, and that's saying something. We are looking forward to trying their other blends, and will report back when we do! Don't know if this stuff is available via retail in the lower 48. If you like good coffee, it's worth a look. Of course, you could just visit them here http://www.ravensbrew.com/ and order some. You'll be glad you did!

Eating Alaska - the movie!

2008-12-28T18:40:00.000-08:00

http://www.eatingalaska.com/ is where you would go for information on Eating Alaska, a documentary. It sounds very interesting, and I am looking forward to seeing it! For more details here, see the lovely comment attached to the previous posting on Localvore eating. I should point out that this blog is not affiliated with the movie in any way, but it certainly looks like a great movie!

Localvore - the northern edition

2008-12-23T20:39:00.000-08:00

So, the localvore movement (and yes, I know it is generally spelled locavore, but as the movement does not address eating locas that makes no sense.) As the localvore movement makes greater and greater headway, I thought it would be interesting to see how this notion would hold up here in Alaska. It is an issue of some immediate import, as well as the general "important to the next generation" kind of important. Anchorage is pretty much right on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and has had a very nasty quake in recent memory (I think '64). So what? Well, official estimates say that there is a 3 day supply of food in the state, and almost all that comes in comes through Anchorage's port. Which would certainly be destroyed in any major earthquake. So in addition to being green and so forth, it makes a certain amount of sense to have as many local food sources developed as is reasonable. Also, shipping costs are astronomical!
First, assessing resources. There seems to be a long, strange, and troubled backstory behind the dairy farms of this area. Apparently there are cows, and they are being raised on purpose by farmers who would like to harness the power of milk for commercial production. However - and I don't pretend to know why this is - no one can keep a dairy functioning in this darn state. I got all excited because a Mat-Su area dairy had started production on milk and ice cream and was attempting to work out cheese as well. This is well worth supporting, but is shaky from the consumer perspective. Their milk costs a good deal more than the stuff that gets hauled up from Seattle. I know - support your local. But paying more for something that doesn't have the shipping costs on it? I'm sure there's an explanation somewhere, but I'm going to have to see the data on this one. Also, apparently you have to drive to the dairy (about an hour from here) itself to get the ice cream, and I just don't care that much.
Vegetables are pretty abundant, depending on what you are looking for. If you are after carrots and potatoes, you are in luck. Anything else...well, if you consider Hawaii local, then you're in even more luck. And there are people here who consider basically the whole Pacific "local". Also, the two Anchorage/Mat-Su potato suppliers have happily chosen some of the funniest labels for their packaging that I have seen in a while, so that is an added bonus. If you like reindeer and caribou and so on, you will never lack for local meat. Also, if you like salmon and/or seafood, you are also in pretty good shape.
Of course, if you have any skill as a forager and know what to look for, you can also do pretty well. Alaska native cookbooks have all kinds of great tips for food you can find in the wild. Also, there is the famous whale blubber ;) However, I have a spotty track record with that sort of thing, so I plan to just stick to your commercial groceries.
Second, assessing allies in this quest to eat locally. Just judging by my cursory web search, there seems to be a small plucky band of Alaskans committed to localvore ideals that posts very occasionally on a website. There is the Alaska Grown organization. And that's about it. The hippies where I work buy veggies from a CSA...that is based in Seattle. That's the local. It gets flown in every week. I take this lack of a huge and active localvore movement to mean that no one else thinks its going to work that well, either.
But I'm not giving up on this notion! I will do some more investigating and get back to you. So there's something to look forward to.

Living Cookbook

2008-12-18T22:10:00.001-08:00

It Lives! ...no.

Night of the Living Cookbook! ...no.

Despite the fact that it sounds like a 50's B movie, Living Cookbook is actually a recipe managment program. And an awesome one it is!

My previous recipe management system went like this: I have subscriptions to about 6 food magazines and I check out epicurious and CHOW on a daily basis. When ever I see a recipe that interests me and/or Mr EA, I cut or print it out. It then got stored in The Notebook. The Notebook is a 3 ring binder divided into sections (Vegetarian main dish, baked goods, sauces - that sort of thing). These untried recipes go into folder/pockets in the sections, and once they have been tried they get taped fast to pieces of paper and put into the bodies of the sections. You can see how this would be really efficient up to a certain point and then become completely unworkable. Well, it did. The pockets are overflowing, many of the recipes in the "try this" folders were duplicates or very nearly so, and the thing weighs like 50 pounds. It was about the time the system went into failure that I decided to surf around and look for a different solution.
After weighing a couple of different options, I decided to go with the Living Cookbook . It's reasonably priced while having an absolute boatload of features. In addition to being able to manage the recipes in a handy digital format, it also has menu planning, shopping list creation, nutrition analysis, and cookbook publishing features that will be extremely useful to me. It also has a bunch of features I probably will not use - inventory management being one of them, but mostly it is very useful. So far I have had it two weeks, and I love it very much.
The best thing I have found about it so far is that you can copy and paste recipes from net sources, which is saving me a huge pile of time. Since most of the recipes in The Folder - which I am busily converting - are from magazines, and those magazines have websites, and those websites have databases of their recipes... Well, you see where I am going with this. It is saving me a LOT of tedious typing.
While I know that it is wrong to look for happiness outside of yourself, I will go ahead and say it - this program makes me very happy indeed. I am a tech-geek kind of person, and this program is already making my life easier, which is what computers were supposed to do. Every week I -with input from Mr EA - make up a weekly menu, from which I make up a shopping list. I use the list to plan our weekly grocery shopping list, pick out the coupons we can use, plan our route for the stores we need to hit, if our Fred Meyer's is not likely to have everything we need. This took probably a couple of hours of planning time per week. Since I've started using Living Cookbook, it's taken about 45 minutes, and approximately 10 of those minutes were me hunting through the drop-down menus looking for the option to edit the list. Seriously, you drag and drop your recipes into the calendar, hit the shopping list button, and it does your list for you, which you can then edit to add other stuff or remove the items you already have. And it organizes the items into categories. I'm dizzy just thinking about it.
Is this program for everybody? No, probably not. I was telling a coworker about it, and she launched into a thing about how cooking is an Art and she doesn't follow recipes, and anyway, she doesn't like to be constrained by pedestrian menu lists, and anyway, she doesn't cook everyday, just like she doesn't paint everyday. O. K. So this program is not for her, or anyone like her. Also, if you don't have a lot of recipes, it's probably not worth it for you. But if your situation is more complicated, it just might be for you.
(I paid full price for my copy, and am receiving no compensation for writing this. I just love it and think it rocks. Enjoy!)

Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge

2008-12-10T21:16:00.000-08:00

When I die, if I am very good indeed, there will be places available to me that are very much like Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge.
I was first introduced to this place through my boss, who is a very kind lady, and who brought all of us in my office a cup of their drinking chocolate - spicy style! This is a warm concoction of chocolate, not quite a liquid, but not a solid, more like a fifth (no, that's plasma) ok, a sixth state of matter. You could pour it into your mouth, but only if you were quite patient. We ate it with spoons. The flavor is very like dark chocolate, more bitter than sweet, and extremely good. If you get it spicy (I forget if they call it Aztec or Mayan or something along those lines - anyway, if you say spicy, they know what you mean), it comes with some chili zing to it. If you don't like spicy hot stuff, you can always get it sweet.
After my first taste, I kept trying to get there myself, but the place has limited hours - they aren't open Sundays and don't stay open too late evenings - and I could just not get there when they were open. Finally I got myself and Mr EA in while they were open. We got one cup of each of their drinking chocolates. After a bit of sampling, Mr EA decided he wasn't a fan of the spicy, so he finished our cup of sweet, while I had another go at the spicy! It was so good we didn't talk the whole time we were consuming. It is one of those gustatory experiences that rewards attention - flavors keep developing in your mouth. You get varying layers of sweet and bitter, and the chili heat gently builds in your mouth the whole time. There aren't words to describe it fully.
In addition to the wonderfulness of their drinking chocolate, they also, as you might expect, carry commercially made premium chocolates as well as truffles of their own make. I was too sated to try them on this trip, but will definitely be back for further experiments! Also, they were playing some Twin Peaks-y music ( very like Audrey Horn's Theme), which was fun. In addition to all the chocolate, there is also local art and some fun jewelry and that sort of thing for sale as well. If you are all in range of this place, go! You won't be sorry.

Humpy's

2008-12-10T20:59:00.000-08:00

Humpy's, located downtown in Anchorage, is yet another pretty good, reasonably priced place to eat. It has been in place for many years, and the locals really do recommend that you go there, especially if you are looking someplace unpretentious and kind of fun with decent food. And all of those things are there for you. I would call the atmosphere somewhere between "sports bar" and "burger joint". It was about equivalent to one of your finer Rod and Gun Clubs (for those of you familiar with the type of institution). We went on a Sunday evening, and the crowd level was sort of raucous, but not scary-raucous. Mr. Eating Alaska had a Bacon Cheeseburger, and I had a Portobello Mushroom sandwich, both of which came with fries. We each also got a nice local ale to go with our sandwiches. Everything had good flavors and was well done. Apparently, Rachel Ray visited this place and raved about it. While we certainly agree with her that it is a good place to eat, especially if that is the atmosphere you are after, I don't know if it is the crown jewel of Anchorage Eateries.
Overall, I'd give it 4 stars - Very good, but not incredible.