In Honor of Julia Child

Today, August 15, 2012, marks the date that would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday!  I cannot think of a more appropriate blog post subject than to talk about this inspiring woman and the cuisine she brought to the average American household - French food! 

One of the qualities I admire the most in people is their ability to rise above struggles.  Julia Child certainly fits this category.  The more I discover about Julia, the more I like her.  I do relate to her in one big way.  Her husband, Paul Child, introduced her to fine cuisine much like my dude introduced me to fine (and diverse) cuisine!  She inspires me, and she inspired so many chefs - including Thierry Rautureau (pictured on the right with Julia).  Her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking was ground-breaking.  I admire her cookbooks' great attention to detail.  I admire her desire, ability, and dedication to teaching others.  I admire Julia and Paul's great love story.  I admire how fearless she seemed to be.  I am in awe of the fact that she was prophetical in her prediction that a "fanatical fear of food" would take over the country's dining habits.  "Just a little bit of butter!"  You tell, them, Julia!

She once said something that I wholeheartedly agree with: "We should enjoy food and have fun. It is one of the simplest and nicest pleasures in life."  This, my dear readers, nicely sums up the reason my blog exists.

I was a fan of the movie Julie and Julia.  I really enjoyed Meryl Streep's performance, and it made me smile to see a wonderful portrayal of the love between Julia and Paul.  If you want to learn more about Julia, there are plenty of books available out there, and I have included them in my widget below.  Every home should have a copy of her debut cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  If you don't have a copy of it, click the link below to add it to your collection!  Get the hard copy.  It's a worthy addition to your library.  It's a masterful book, and Julia made it easy to master for even the most inexperienced chefs.  In case you want to stock up or just browse through her masterpieces, I went ahead and included links to all of her cookbooks.  Even if you aren't looking to purchase any of her books (some of them are quite expensive!), just thumb through it to get an idea of how many wonderful books she produced during her lifetime.



Crêpes are one of my favorite French foods to make at home.  I mostly make them for breakfast, but they are great any time of day!  I usually make sweet crêpes instead of savory crêpes.  I usually fill mine with bananas, Nutella, and coconut.  Sometimes I use strawberries or raspberries instead of bananas.  Sure, I could top them with powdered sugar and whipped cream, but I exclude those 2 ingredients in my ever-so-slight attempt to behave calorie-wise.  Yeah, I know, I just listed Nutella in the ingredients, so it's probably moot.  I can't help it!  I simply love Nutella!  It's sort of like cheating to add it to desserts to make them tasty!

To honor Julia, I am including my sweet crêpe recipe that I have adapted from one of Dorie Greenspan's recipes.  I hope you will honor Julia's memory by making some crêpes too!

Dessert Crêpes

2 tablespoons sugar
fine zest of 1/2 lemon (details below)
fine zest of 1/4 orange (details below)
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup of milk (preferably whole, details below)
1 tablespoon of dark rum (that's how I roll!)
1 tsp of vanilla extract
2 teaspoons Grand Marnier or Cointreau liqueur (both are orange liqueurs, and yes, that's how I roll!)
3 tablespoons melted, unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
butter or other flavoring oil for the pan (details below)


First step is to determine if you will be using a stick/emulsion blender or a regular blender to create this recipe.  If you wish to double (or more) this recipe, then I would recommend using a regular blender.  I recommend using a stick blender for a much easier clean-up.  You can easily mix and store the batter in the large measuring cup.  If you are using a stick blender, I recommend using a glass/see-through large (4-cup) measuring cup. 

For the milk/creme ingredient, you can use 2% milk.  I usually use 2% milk since that is what we keep on hand.  If you want a slightly heavier crêpe, you can use whole milk or even a light cream.

To create your zest, be sure to use a fine-grain/microplane zester instead of the zesters with the 3-5 circles that create a "curly-cue" type of zest.  If using a stick blender, combine the zests and the sugar in your large measuring cup.  If using a blender, combine them in a small bowl.  You will notice the zest of 1/2 of a lemon and 1/4 of an orange are about the same amount of zest.  Using your fingers, rub the three ingredients together until the sugar is moist, colorful, and fragrant.  This step helps get all of the flavors of the zests' essential oils into the sugar.  If you are using a regular blender, you can now add the sugar and zest to the blender pitcher.

Next, add the salt, eggs, milk, rum, vanilla, and orange liqueur to your mixture.  Give it a few pulse blends until the egg yolks are broken and slightly blended.  Next, pour the butter and pulse blend until the mixture is well blended.  Slowly add the flour and pulse the blender to incorporate the flour.  Make sure the flour is blended, but don't mix the batter too much.

Next, you will need to cover the batter and store it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.  If you used a regular blender, pour the batter into a large measuring cup with a spout.  The batter can be refrigerated for up to one day.

The batter is ready when it is a little bit thicker than heavy cream.  You do not want to strain this batter because that would strain out some of that delicious zest!  If the batter it is too thick, you can thin it with extra milk.  If it's too thin, you just couldn't wait the full 2 hours could you?!?  Put it back in the fridge!  It truly does need the full 2 hours in the fridge in order for the flour particles to expand in the liquid.  It helps the crêpe to be tender, light, and thin.  I've grown impatient in the past and used crêpe batter that has only sat for ~1 hr, and it was very runny.  It just didn't cook properly either.  It looked almost rubbery.

For cooking the crêpes, Julia recommended cooking dessert crêpes with clarified butter to lubricate the pan.  That's certainly delicious and true to the French style!  If you are using a (good quality) non-stick pan to make your crêpes, you might not find it necessary to use butter.  True French crêpe pans are not non-stick.  If you're starting out, I'd recommend using a non-stick pan to get used to the technique.  Personally, I'm a huge fan of my electric crêpe maker.  It's a 12-inch non-stick pan, and I've found butter to be a bit of a hindrance when making crêpes with non-stick cooking surfaces. Here's the biggest bonus for the electric crêpe maker: I can take it to work to make crêpes for coworkers!  In fact, I'm doing so on Friday!  It also has a raised edge that helps make a perfectly round crêpe.  It helps avoid having any batter spill over.


Just before you pour the batter to cook your crêpe, stir it up since the batter will separate during those 2 hours it is in the fridge.  If you want a thicker crêpe, use a smaller pan (5-7 inch pan).  If you want a thin crêpe, use a slightly larger pan (9-12 inch pan).

If you are making a crêpe with an iron skillet or crêpe pan, rub the pan with butter, and set the heat to a moderately high heat until the pan is beginning to smoke.  If you are using a non-stick pan, just set it to moderately high heat.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Immediately pour about 1/4 cup of crêpe batter (~3-4 Tbsp) into the middle of the pan.  Quickly tilt the pan in all directions to run the batter all over the bottom of the pan to create a thin film.  If you have excess batter pooled on top of your crêpe, just pour it back into your measuring cup.  The entire coating process should take about 2-3 seconds.

Return the pan to the heat for about 60-80 seconds. Quickly jerk the pan back and forth and up and down to loosen the crêpe from the pan.  Lift its edges with a spatula to check the underside of the crêpe. If it's a nice light brown, it is ready for turning.  You can turn the crêpe with 2 spatulas.  I usually take an icing spreader, roll the crêpe around it about halfway through the crêpe, and then flip it and unfold it from the icing spreader.  If you get really good with it, you can just flip the pan to turn the crêpe over.

Brown the crêpe lightly for about another 30 seconds on the reverse side.  The second side is rarely more than just spotty brown.

With my electric crêpe maker, I have found it is easiest to start with a cool pan before the crêpe batter starts to form that thin film. It comes with a spreading tool, and you can't exactly flip the crêpe maker all over the place to spread the batter like it's in a pan.  Since my batter is usually relatively thick, you can turn the machine on, pour the batter immediately, and immediately start spreading the batter with the tool.  If you create some gaps when using the crêpe spreader, you can cheat and add a dab of crêpe batter to cover the holes.  In between each crêpe, you can clean the surface with a wet paper towel to cool it down.  It takes some practice, but you will get to the point where you can churn them out without adjusting temperatures and using a cool pan to start.  It takes a bit of practice to become adept with the spreader!

Crêpes can be kept warm by covering them with a dish and setting them over simmering water or in a low temperature oven.  You can also freeze them, refrigerate them, and reheat them.  You can separate them with waxed paper to keep them from drying out. 

For serving, you can either roll them up and put toppings on them, or you can fold them in 1/2, 1/4, or 1/3 folds with toppings in between the folds.  Top or fill with fruits (strawberries, bananas, raspberries, blackberries), sauces (Nutella, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, lemon curd, etc), nuts (almonds, peanuts, macadamia nuts, et), a sprinkle of powdered sugar, and some whipped cream.  Want to get fancy?  Flambe some bananas Foster for a wonderful filling!  Don't forget the Nutella! 

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I hope I have done justice to Julia's memory by including plenty of tips to help you make a proper crêpe.  If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to contribute below.

Julia ended her last book with a quote that I hope I will remember, and I think we would all be so lucky to remember this at the end of our days on this earth: "... thinking back on it now reminds that the pleasures of the table, and of life, are infinite – toujours bon appétit!"

Bite of Seattle 2012

As usual, the Bite of Seattle was a tasty, tasty blast!  The Bite of Seattle is always my favorite festival of the year.  There are plenty of food vendors to choose from, there's a comedy stage, and they even have cooking demonstrations! 

My favorite part of the event is always the Alley.  It's a program hosted by Tom Douglas, and it benefits Food Lifeline.  For $10, you get a plate with one featured sample from 7 local resterauteurs.  They do vary the menu day by day, and they had 15 total restaurants participating this year.  We always make sure to stop by Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  96% of the proceeds go straight to the mouths of those who need it the most here in Western Washington.  Last year, funds raised by The Alley allowed Food Lifeline to provide nearly 86,000 nutritious meals to hungry people.  That's a huge benefit!  This really is a great cause, so I strongly encourage everyone to participate again next year and beyond.  Beyond that, it's a tasty, tasty charitable event, and it's a great way to try out 7 local restaurants in one sitting!  If find yourself at the Bite of Seattle and can't figure out what to pick for lunch or dinner, keep it simple and just go with the Alley!  There are always clear "winners" (and sometimes "losers") on the plate, so you'll be able to find out which restaurants you want to visit later on.


The Bite Cooks (sponsored by Viking) was wonderful too.  Oh, how I want one of those stoves!  She will be mine.  Oh yes, she will be mine...  As usual, Thierry Rautureau did a fantastic job as the emcee.  If you want to learn more about cooking, this is a great opportunity to learn some tips in the kitchen.  Thierry and some of the local chefs provided some excellent cooking tips (including some I covered in my video).  This is also a great opportunity to get out and meet some of your talented local executive chefs, sommeliers, and mixologists.  They also do audience give-aways if you pay attention and answer some questions at the end, and we made off with a nice little bonus!

Speaking of Thierry, don't forget to watch Thierry on the Top Chef Masters, Wednesday night, July 25th (tomorrow!) on Bravo.  Good luck, Thierry!  We're rooting for you!  Thierry is a simply amazing chef!  This is going to sound like a very "mom" thing to say, but he's already a winner in my eyes!  We would go to the viewing party at Luc tomorrow night, but it would be very late for us.  Of course, Thierry already knows the outcome, but he's under contract to not tell anyone who won. 

I was kind of surprised to find out they didn't have a camera crew filming the Bite Cooks event this year, so I'm significantly less bummed about losing the competition :)  But hey, budget cuts happen!  Fortunately Festivals Inc gave all of the contestants $50 in Bite Bucks due to their flawed voting system.  Hopefully they will fix the voting system next year.  Even though I truly don't care about the money, I don't think I'll bother with it again next year since the payout just isn't worth the effort.  But who knows, maybe one of these days I will start including video demos here on my blog.  Instructional video blogging is a lot of work - especially when you don't have a camera crew!  I did get a chance to meet Bonnie, one of my fellow contestants, and she was super sweet!  She would have been a great presenter too!  Oh, and yes, I did make my video private.  If you ever want to see it, you will need to send me a private message or put a comment on this page. 

A few of the featured chefs at the Bite Cooks have items featured on the foodie 100 list!  The Stumbling Goat has the Anderson Valley lamb T-bone on the Foodie 100 list.  We spoke to the executive chef, Joshua Theilen, at Stumbling Goat about this dish since we haven't had the opportunity to try it just yet.  We found out they are sourcing their lamb T-bones from a different place than Anderson Valley.  Obviously it's still a lamb T-bone, so it still counts!  We will have to go check them out sometime this week.  Incidentally, Joshua won the Bite Cooks Cook-off competition on Saturday, and he won $200 for his favorite charity.  Congrats, Joshua! 

Thanks to the Bite Cooks, I also found out about a wonderful winery called Sozo.  Sozo is a winery that helps provide anywhere from 1-25 meals (per bottle) for orphans, widows and homeless who lack basic needs.  The name "Sozo" is a greek word that means "to save."  Each bottle has a number on the front part of the label, and that number tells you how many people will be fed with your purchase.  That's right, you can drink wine *and* save lives, people!  I'll totally toast to that!  I know what you're thinking: "A charity wine?  It probably tastes like swill!"  You're dead wrong.  They had some wine to sample at the wine garden, and I tried a bottle of the Pinot Noir.  That was a fantastic Pinot Noir!  Their goal is to sell only quality wines while saving lifes, and they have a very talented and well-renowned vintner working for them.  When they go to restaurants to sell their wines, they don't even lead with the "This wine saves lives" bit.   They have the sommeliers and restaurant owners try the wines, and then they tell them what they're all about.  The only downside is that you can't just go out to a grocery store and buy their wine.  You can find it on their website (link above) and at some local restaurants.  They also had some bottles for sale at the wine garden, so I picked up a bottle.  That's right, I saved 10 lives by adding a bottle to my wine fridge.  Everyone's happy!  If you want some great quality wines with an even better excuse to drink - check them out!

I couldn't help but notice there were significantly less vendors this year than there were last year.  Out of sheer curiosity, I looked up the booth prices.

$350 for a Hand-crafted or specialty food product booth (not too bad)
$1700 + 16% of sales for a 10x10 Restaurant Booth (16%?  ouch!)
$2975 + 16% of sales for a 20x10 Restaurant Booth (dang!)
$3175 + 16% of sales for a 20x20 Restaurant Booth (double dang!)

I get that the festival doesn't charge admission, so they have to make their money somewhere.  I was really astonished to find out how much they charge the food vendors!  Wow.  So get out there and support your local food vendors!

The Comedy Stage also had a few talented comedians ... and they had a few "eh" comedians in my opinion (but hey, I'll be nice and won't name names!).  Kermit Apio was a hoot!  With a little bit of self-deprecating humor combined with some very important life lessons for the gentlement out there, he had a great routine!  You should definitely check him out if he ever tours through your area.

All in all, it really was a great festival!  If you didn't get to check it out this year, you missed out!  There's always next year!  It will probably be July 19-21 2013, so mark your calendars!

Bite of Seattle - Bite Cooks Video Competition

For the last 30 years, the Bite of Seattle has been one of the biggest festivals in the Pacific Northwest. In 2003, there were 60 restaurants participating with over 450,000 visitors. That is a LOT of foot traffic!
The Bite of Seattle is by far my absolute favorite festival in the Pacific Northwest. This year will be my third year in a row. One of my favorite parts of it is The Bite Cooks event!

The Bite Cooks! is an interactive and high energy live cooking entertainment showcase located on the Fisher rooftop for everyone to enjoy. Participants include some of Seattle’s finest chefs and local culinary experts who will spice up the stage with creative programming segments and cooking demonstrations. Local chefs will compete in a Bite Cook Off!, where they will be given three mystery ingredients, a small pantry of basic cooking staples and leave it up to the audience to judge there final entrée. The winner will be crowned The Bite Cooks Master! All demonstrations will be done on a fully-equipped stage provided by Viking. Mmm, Viking.

They have recorded this event indoors for the last few years, though this year they are going outdoors. I hope the weather cooperates!


Over the last few years, I've had several friends tell me "You should have your own cooking show!"


Alrighty, friends: now it's time to put your money where your mouth is.  Well, actually it's time to put your votes (via mouse-clicking) where your mouth is!

This year, for the second year in a row, The Bite Cooks is holding a home video contest.  Home chefs are invited to prepare a recipe that represents "Fresh Northwest" cuisine, and demonstrate the recipe in a 20 minute video.  The winner will receive $100 in "Bite Bucks" certificates and $350 worth of Viking kitchenware.  Mmm, Viking.  Beyond that, the winner gets 20 minutes of fame (albeit on local tv ... through Comcast) to demonstrate their recipe with Thierry Rautureau.

I was not aware of this contest last year, but I am totally participating this year!  I am super excited to submit my video!  :)  In case you can't tell, I love learning and sharing knowledge with others - especially when it comes to food!

Now, this is the part where I must shamlessly ask my friends to get out there and vote for my video! Pretty please?  Sorry for the low production value of it.  What can I say?  I'm more of a videographer than a chef!

Here is the link to vote for my video. Please feel free to forward this to your friends and get the word out. Even if people do not want to vote, I at least hope they can learn something and enjoy the video!

I've sort of racked my brain to select a recipe to submit to the contest, and I have put a LOT of work into this video.  I have plenty of great recipes to submit, though they might not all work well for a 20 minute segment.  Plus they don't all fit with the "Fresh Northwest" theme since I'm not originally from the Northwest.  Barbecue contest?  Oh yes!  Tex-Mex cuisine contest?  The judges in this region wouldn't know what hit them!  Baking competition?  The fat kid within me squeals with delight!  Recipes using bacon?  Oh it would be ON!  Northwest (summer) cuisine?  Oh, hrm...  Yeah, it was difficult, but I think I've picked a winner.  I hope the judges think so too!

Wish me luck!

Foodportunity - Summer 2012

Tonight was the Foodportunity event for summer 2012.  Of course, good eats were abundant!  Tom Douglas is the host of this event, and it was packed and sold out as usual.

This is the second time I've been to this event, though it was my first time as a blogger.  This is a great event to get out there to meet your fellow bloggers and food enthusiasts.  It's also a great opportunity to get to know some of your local chefs.

The chefs try to bring their A-game here.  We have so many great James Beard award winners in this city.  They know the crowd loves gourmet food, so they do try to impress!  If you aren't familiar with the James Beard award, well, basically it's the Oscar of the food world.

My first time visiting here, I was just a food enthusiast.  Now that I'm blogging more, I decided to plug it a little bit at the event.  I even got my first tchotchke as an official blogger: a little gift bag from Chocopolis for bloggers!  Aww :)

I had the foodportunity to meet the mother of local chef, Wayne Johnson.  Wayne participated in an Iron Chef competition, and was a former chef at Andaluca.  Now he is the Executive Chef at Ray's Boathouse.  I also learned that at the Iron Chef, they give you a list of food items the "secret ingredient" could possibly be in advance.  You truly only get one hour, but at least you get to have some brain-storming in advance.  I didn't know this about that competition!

As always, it was nice to see one of my favorite local chefs there, Thierry Rautureau.  He owns Luc and Rover's here in Seattle.  He's such a nice man, and an even more amazing chef!  If I were Oprah-rich, I'd try to steal him away as my private chef!  Alas, Thierry, don't get your hopes up.  There is only one Oprah out there, and I am not her!

I wish my camera phone was working.  I would post more photos from the event if it had been.

Who knows, maybe at the next Foodportunity event I will have my own teeny-tiny-small-time award to my name :)