Duck Confit gets an Olive Oil Drizzle

I found myself in a very fortunate situation at The Spotted Pig in NYC’s hip Meatpacking District a few days ago.  Because of Electrolux’ generosity  I flew to NYC along with 14 other food bloggers to help Kelly Ripa and Cake Boss Buddy Valastro raise awareness and funds for ovarian cancer research.   Electrolux launched their US line of kitchen appliances two years ago, and they wanted us to see them in action, so they put together a dinner at The Spotted Pig. 

Not only that, but they convinced head chef April Bloomfield to demonstrate the appliances while she cooked for us in a private open kitchen at the restaurant.  I think the shutterflash descent of 15 foodbloggers into the cozy demo space probably startled the chef and her crew just a touch, but they didn’t let it phase them and proceeded to whip up decadent delights perfect for showcasing Electrolux’ versatile appliances. 

The first thing that resonated with me about the Electrolux appliances was oven racks that pull out using a track and caster system.  My current oven racks make jangling clanging noise everytime I pry them from their chambers and I’ve gotten so sick of the sound waking the baby that I simply shove everything in without pulling the racks out at the risk of third degree burns.  Their racks glide out like a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance- all smooth, elegant and perfect-like.  Another amazing feature on their gas cooktop was the ability for a single burner to go from 450 btu to 18,000 btu.  This is especially crucial when you want to crank something up high (if you’re cooking in a large-volume pot for instance) but once it’s cooked it needs to simmer on warm for a long time. 

The design is unparalleled in the industry and their sleekness and function proves it.  They are styled in Italy and engineered in Germany, so you truly have the best of the Old World in the heart of your kitchen.  Have I mentioned their induction cooktops? Many people say that once you go induction you never go back, and I’m tempted to jump on the bandwagon. You can boil a pot of water in under a minute, the surface is smooth and easy to keep clean, and the heat is even-Steven unlike the peaks and valleys of gas cooking.  I’m still a gas girl, but I sure would love to have both! 

April made a hearty root vegetable soup for us to get a good idea of just how fast the heavy-hitter burners reduce parsnips and rutabagas to a tender state, and wow was it ever good. 

She followed up with duck confit, which was of special interest to me since I recently made my own confit. 

I loved how salty and crisp she was able to get the skin, and I noted with pleasure the flavor difference of the duck species she used (Peking) versus mine (Moulard).  I still think moulard breasts are better to confit in the sous vide since they have so much more fat, but the Peking legs had a great, musky flavor. 

Our stalkerazzi flashbulbs were going off left and right yet April never wavered in her competence, and I was very impressed with her calm hands, even keel, and hearty creativity in the kitchen.  She had made an assortment of passed appetizers for us to nibble on when we arrived, and I’m only sad we didn’t get to see that process as well. 

After we left The Spotted Pig we converged upon the rooftop lounge at Hotel Gansevoort for a blogger foodie gift exchange.  We were all from different parts of the country, so each of us brought food-related gifts reflecting our geography.  Being from Seattle I brought coffee (NOT Starbucks!), smoked salmon, a tin of my homemade salt, and some locally-made fudge.  I received some very authentic-looking chili and Texas caramel candies from Megan from Texas who has this blog. 

look at that smoke

The main reason for Elextrolux bringing us lucky souls out to NYC was to raise awareness for ovarian cancer research.  I’ve already written about the amazing cake decorating event we participated in along with Kelly Ripa and Buddy Valastro, but I wanted to remind you to go out to the Kelly Confidential site and vote on your favorite cake (mine is “Here Comes the Sun”).  It’s free and easy to vote, and every time you do Electrolux will donate a dollar to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.

The last few days have been a whirlwind of jet-setting and a true taste of la dolce vita for yours truly.  Electrolux appliances requested food blogger submissions to win a trip to NYC and help raise awareness for ovarian cancer research via Foodbuzz a while back.  I have reasons close to home for entering the contest, and I was over-the-moon when I found out I would be amongst the pool of 15 bloggers selected to go.  As details of the event unfolded, my excitement grew.  Hang with Kelly Ripa? Check.  Stay at the über-chic Hotel Gansevoort in the Meatpacking district? Check.  Get ferried from place to place by an amazing chauffer service during our entire stay? Check.  Attend a private demonstration at the Spotted Pig by their world-renowned head chef  April Bloomfield? Also check!  A couple of days before the event it was revealed that TLC’s Cake Boss himself, Buddy Valastro, would give us cake decorating tips, choose themes, and help us to decorate five cakes that YOU can vote on for free, and every time you vote Electrolux will donate a dollar to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.  What an adventure! 

The event day run of show reads just like something out of a trendy novel about a girl getting whisked into the NYC adventure of her dreams for a day.  I woke up at 6:45am (mind you after a night cavorting with meatpacking glitterati at the Spotted Pig and Gansevoort rooftop lounge) which is 2:45am Seattle time.  After sloshing on a few strokes of makeup and munching a hurried breakfast hosted by Electrolux, a fleet of SUV’s shuttled the 15 of us to the “Live with Regis and Kelly” studio to attend a taping.  By a stroke of dumb luck, I happened to get the best seat in the house, front and center, and thoroughly enjoyed watching Kelly Ripa make chocolate-dipped strawberries and Regis do his comic thing.  After the taping we had two free hours before we were required for cake decorating, and what’s a girl to do with extra time in NYC? You guessed it, I hit up the divine shops peppered about the Meatpacking district.  Sales abound since apparently someday soon winter will give way to spring, so I managed to pick up three dresses in 10 minutes flat at Scoop.  I was really on a mission for boots since winter blizzards were all anyone could talk about and I’d only packed Manolos and Louboutins, but a few new dresses couldn’t hurt, right?

I grabbed a quick NY slice, changed into my lucky Etro dress that I love to wear when I teach cheesemaking classes, and regrouped with the posse for the journey to the Chelsea Market where our event would take place.  We were ushered into a private space atop the market filled with more photographers, videographers and studio equipment than I’ve ever seen.  A state-of-the-art Electrolux kitchen provided the perfect backdrop for the affair, and we got to hobnob with Electrolux engineers, designers and even the CEO while Cake Boss Buddy readied his team for the blogger onslaught.  Electrolux launched its kitchen line in the US two years ago, and let me tell you, I am drooling. They have thought of everything from roll out oven racks to hyper-induction cooktops all the while maintaining a sophisticated stainless style.  Their gas cooktops have close to a 20,000 btu range on a single burner (!) enabling you to crank up the heat but then turn something waaaay down if you need to go into coast mode.  If you are in the market for a kitchen upgrade I strongly suggest you check out this line- I was a Bertazzoni loyalist until I saw these babies in action, now you can consider me a convert. 

Once I picked my jaw up off the floor from drooling over Electrolux’ stunning kitchen, Buddy Valestra and Kelly Ripa took the stage.  They explained that the 15 of us would break down into five teams, and each team would get a cake theme.  I was part of Team Awesome along with Katherine and Meghann and our theme was “Here Comes the Sun.”  Buddy offered us a ton of assistance because he said our theme was by far the hardest, employing lots of crazy piping techniques.  I learned the “squeeze and pull” approach to piping, and while your mind may go directly to the gutter upon hearing that, it’s actually fairly innocent!  Buddy and his crew were amazing teachers and could not have been more kind, genuine and helpful.  Kelly was also a peach- she strolled from team to team heckling us and offering words of encouragement alternately.  I accused her of deliberately messing up on her demo while making a buttercream rose with a piping bag, so we got into a little rose-off.  I discovered that it’s actually much harder than it looks to pipe out those lovely flowers you often see on wedding cakes.  In fact Kelly’s turned out better than mine; though none of ours were quite nice enough to top a Cake Boss cake, so we ate the rejects! 

I gave Buddy and Kelly (along with some fellow-bloggers) a tin of my homemade salt to try- I sure hope they like it.  The event itself took upwards of three hours and in the end all our cakes were photographed and uploaded to the Kelly Confidential website.  This is where the generosity of Electrolux comes in again (you can tell I LOVE these people!).  You, my lovelies, each and every one of you, can go to the website and vote on your favorite cake.  Every time you vote (which is FREE and EASY) Electrolux will donate $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.  I would love it if you would vote for my cake “Here Comes the Sun,” but I understand it’s a touch wonky looking and in the end this is all for a GREAT cause, right? 

I will be posting more about this enchanting trip to NYC in the coming days, specifically about the Spotted Pig, the giant blizzard that necessitated the purchase of a new pair of silver boots, and likely a lot more Electrolux love, so stay tuned and GO VOTE!

Sometimes I can be a bit daft.  When a last minute opportunity to head to Vegas complete with a built-in babysitter/Grandma and a reservation at the coveted Atelier de Robuchon jumps into your lap, the least you could do is remember the damn camera, right? Not I so consider yourself warned: the photos in this entry were all lovingly taken with the very best in iPhone technology, sorry for my forgetfulness. 

It just so happened that last week when Jonas and I were trying to cobble together a plan for New Year’s Eve that didn’t involve driving, hanging with 18 year olds or hanging with 80 year olds, but did involve Grandma’s babysitting assistance, a fair amount of imbibing, and a bit of reveling thrown in for good measure, the phone rang.  A good thing too, as we were in the middle of a heated discussion regarding the merits of an aquarium versus a bowling alley on the biggest amateur night of the year- two options I’m glad we didn’t have to explore.  It so happened that my sisters’ boyfriend of several years had hatched a plan to propose to her in Vegas on NYE (since they live there) and at the last minute he decided it might be fun to have her family around.  I think his secret motive was to ensure she would have a heart attack one way or another- if the shock of the engagement didn’t do it the fact that her sister who she hasn’t seen in a year popping up at their table five minutes later yelling “surprise” surely would. 

Long story short, we headed down to the sleepless city with Grandma and baby-in-tow and got to be the first people to congratulate the couple on their fresh engagement.  The newly minted couple and Jonas and I hit the town hard, making it truly an eve to celebrate and remember.  The engagement night was so much fun in itself that we were pretty destroyed the next day, so luckily our reservations at Robuchon were not until 9pm.  Around 5ish, Jonas decided he couldn’t drum up the intestinal fortitude to get after it another night, so he graciously agreed to watch Bentley so that my mother and I could enjoy the dinner reservation to its fullest potential. Even though I wasn’t feeling 100%, I always seem to find a second wind when truly fine dining and great wine is involved.  It was great to have an evening with just my mother too, since we hadn’t properly hung out just the two of us since before Bentley was born. 

We sashayed into the joint at 9 sharp and bellied up to the communal bar ring that surrounds the chic and orderly open kitchen.  Five minutes later we were sipping an ’03 Haute Medoc eagerly awaiting the onslaught of courses that comprised our reasonably priced ($85/pp) tasting menu.  I later confirmed that the amuse bouche was in fact an indication of how deliriously my palate would be tickled all night, but when it was served, I felt nothing short of utter inspiration. It’s so frustrating when you choose to spend your dining dollars at an untested location and you come away knowing you could have made something five times as delicious in your own kitchen plus had lots of moolah left over to splurge on a fancy bottle’o red. That was certainly not the case in L’Atelier.  The amuse bouche consisted of a fois gras parfait in a port wine reduction with parmesan foam and golly lolly did it make me want to get back to the damn kitchen asap just so I could attempt to duplicate it! 

Post amuse bouche I had opted to alter my changing menu somewhat and replace a mussel course for a torchon of fois gras and the chef generously allowed it with no increased price adjustment.  It was a heaping dollop of delight as far as my mouth was concerned, though I was curious what the mussels were like since I have no problem with them, just wanted something more of the terra since in Seattle we have such an abundance of la mer. 

Next up were the lovely langoustines, wrapped, fried and perched at a jaunty angle on a rectangular plate with not a small amount of plate dapples and daubs of dip.  The presentation was fine, the taste divine, though sometimes I like my food slightly less fussy in terms of plating- shouldn’t the flavor be the true showcase instead of constructing a mini Frank Gehry building on the plate?  About this time we made fast friends with a couple sitting next to us acting equally stalkerazzi with their iPhone cameras angled at their plates.  We clinked glasses over mutual foodie photographdom, but the conversation quickly veered into the late night dining territory of stag parties wherein cars are totaled by tanks, roasting chicken legs on car radiators, and god knows what other cockamamie tales.

Next up, beef cheeks for me, and salmon for mom.  It’s too bad about the iPhone photos, because the beef cheeks were so unctuous and succulent you’d never know it looking at that brown blob in the middle of the plate.  Take my word for it; this time the food stands alone- no fancy droppers or foaming wands needed to adulterate the superb quality of the food on this plate.  My only teensy observation: there were bacon lardons in the sauce, cut to perfection, but savory bacon with a smokier flavor would have better complemented the umami richness of the dish as opposed to the cloying hints of mild maple that kept creeping through.  

The world-famous pomme puree accompanied our main courses, served in the traditional little Staub coquettes. There is a reason these potatoes are known around the globe- they are induplicatably delicious beyond your wildest potato dreams, oh yes, baby! 

Now we have the cheese course, and as my glass dwindles down to the dregs I begin to ponder which substance I will choose as my digestif.  I stray from the French and order a 20 year tawny, in this case I have to play favorites hoping it will stand up to my dessert of tarts.  The standout cheese was a young goat coated in billowy ash; unfortunately I could only take a few meager bites as complete gustatory satisfaction had already settled in.  Same thing with the five-tart dessert course- all plated and prepared to perfection, but wrapped straightaway to bring upstairs to the boys so that someone with more room could enjoy it in its entire splendor.  My 20 year tawny treated me well, however, and was a pleasing end to my only Michelin-starred dining experience of the holiday season.

I had the wonderful fortune to attend the Foodbuzz Festival in San Francisco this past weekend.  It was the most well-organized event I have attended in recent memory; watch out online world of food, Foodbuzz is THE force to be reckoned with and after the festival I know why.  Can you imagine hosting an event for 250 discerning, top-shelf food and drink bloggers from across the world? I would be quaking in my boots knowing that each and every one of them was calculating, composing, photographing and judging everything you put before them in order to head back home and shout about it from the (virtual) rooftops to all their readers.  If you think of the viral networking aspect of that, 250 people could conceivably reach half the population of the world pretty quickly considering the 6 degrees of separation.  Every event I attended- from a street food dinner composed of a dozen stalls of local cult eating establishments distilled down to their very best item or two to a dinner put on by Outstanding in the Field conisting of a single table set for 250 people- was beyond spectacular in its own right.  The oyster in the shot above is from the street food extravaganza, and was the single best oyster I have ever eaten.  It was from the Hog Island Oyster Company- an establishment that deserves high praise.  The other standout from the street food faire was the steak and gruyere mini pie from The Pie Truck. 

The most informative portion of the festival was a Farm to Table discussion led by Chef Paul Arenstam and the amazing spreadsheet cowboy Brian Kenny of Hearst Ranch.  Kenny is a picture-perfect cowboy upon first glance, but the second he opens his mouth you can tell he mixes in a bit of street and book smarts with his affected Western drawl.  He has been helping the Hearst family (of publishing fame) convert their gargantuan cattle ranch to free-range, grass-fed and finished beef, and boy does the man know his stuff.  He’s the kind of public speaker college commencement commitees lust after- presence, humor and the ability to command the room in an unassuming way all contribute to his trademark charm.  More importantly, he’s on a proselytizing mission to create a truly sustainable model of agriculture that other ranchers can mimic in order to improve the health of the overall industry.  The Hearst Ranch sells their products online, and for a limited time they are offering my readers 30% off their beef.  Just type in the coupon code “foodbuzz” upon checkout and enjoy the taste of superior-to-Whole Foods beef at less than Safeway prices!

The title is erroneous right off the bat, but Clippertrip just doesn’t have the same ring to it as roadtrip.  The Clipper is the nautical vessel one takes from Seattle to Victoria. It is essentially a high-speed shrunken version of a ferry, though it feels eerily like an airplane inside.  In any case, the whole fam hopped the Clipper for the two hour jaunt up to Victoria for the weekend as I had a half marathon to run on Sunday.  We spent Saturday tooling around Victoria- this is a city I could really get into.  I pictured it as a quaint little burg lost in time. It actually was very cosmopolitan and wore the inevitable rustic charm that comes with being a seaside tourist town known for High Tea with understated cool.  Off the main drag, the shops were edgy and on-trend and the locals could not have been nicer. 

There were no dearth of dining options; however it being marathon weekend I knew I wanted to steer clear of the herds clamoring for plates of linguine in all the Italian joints, so I chose French.  This may not have been the wisest meal to consume the night before running 13.1 miles, but I was very happy with my time so I’ll leave carbo-loading to those who wish to indulge in bland potatoes and limp noodles.  We selected Matisse based on its reputation as one of the finer French restaurants in town, and we came away quite pleased. 

The first thing you need to know about Matisse is that John Phillips is the heart and soul of the place.  From the moment you walk in the door and he personally removes your jacket, it is obvious he is not a lackluster waiter whittling down the hours until his shift ends.  Despite the fact that he owns the place and has plenty of laurels to rest on (Exxon Mobil 4 star rating, et cetera), he works the room like a new president on his first day in office.  No detail is too small, and his perfectionist tendencies translate to an unbeatable meal you’re not likely to come by easily elsewhere.  He started us off unprompted with an aperitif called Pineau; if you have not had this amazing drink, go out and find it!!! Pineau accidentally originated in the sixteenth century when some daft servant wrongfully put grape juice in some old Cognac barrels.  The grape juice fermented, became naturally fortified from the cognac, and ultimately went on to be one of the most popular aperitifs from the Charentes region in Southwest France.  It comes in both a white and a red version, and oddly enough I preferred the white, which NEVER happens.  I should clarify that the “white” is actually a lovely caramel color, and the taste is like a perfect blend of passito, vin santo and amontillado thrown in for good measure.  What a scrummy way to start a meal!

Next off was a delectable amuse bouche of smoked albacore tuna with tobiko roe and crème fraiche- Damn the size of these amuse bouches, give me a tray of these babies to nosh on, already.  Because John had proven to “get” us wine-wise when he brought out the Pineau, we let him pair wines for the rest of the meal.  I rarely if ever relinquish my wine-rights, especially after having known someone for five minutes, but the man is solid.  He kept the white stuff away (I hate it when you say you don’t like white wine and someone spends the rest of the night trying to prove that there is a decent white out there!) and the red flowing freely, nailing nearly every course.  At this point my tasting notes falter in terms of wine- everything was just so good I had to stop madly pecking into my iPhone and sit back and enjoy what was in front of me.

Next up, elegant escargots presented beautifully in a small Le Creuset Cocotte.  They were divine, in a shallot-y, herbed buttery smooth sauce that I plan to recreate at home. 

The only course that was just so/so was the lobster bisque I had next.  I was oscillating between that and some greens, so perhaps I was latently craving roughage, but the soup did not blow me away.  The filet mignon erased any hint of a misstep, however; one bite and I was back in Matisse bliss.  Jonas had venison and he could not stop talking about how melt-in-your-mouth tasty it was.  He offered me a nibble toward the beginning and I’m glad I got in while I did because his plate disappeared in a few short and satisfied moments. 

At that point no dessert was really necessary and I was starting to think about all those kilometers I’d be running the next day- 21, whew.  John would not have any of our hemming and hawing, however, and he brought us out the two specialties of the house, mousse au chocolat and crème brulee. 

 Classic, yes, but presentation and execution are what matters and Matisse certainly did not disappoint.  Fresh, amusing, lovely on the plate and palate, both takes on French tradition soared.  I do hate to cut a good evening short, but alas, dear readers, 5 am comes rather too early for me, so we rolled out of Matisse fat, happy and ready for bed.