Seattle Foodies

If you know nothing about Basque cuisine, consider just two things: Basque Country straddles northern Spain and southern France, and food is central to Basque culture. Toss in wide culinary diversity, and the concept of tapas, and you’ve got everything you need to know: loads of delicious, designed so you can try everything.

So thank foodness Carolin Messier keeps her Harvest Vine in top-notch shape, dishing up amazing Basque experiences and garnering raves. (Long-time Seattle Foodies Lunch Clubbers are still looking for their socks blown off at Carolin’s Txori in Belltown at the hands of Executive Chef Joey Serquinia.) Lucky for us, Carolin moved Joey to the helm at Harvest Vine, and double lucky we are, because she’s opening the doors June 3rd for a special Seattle Foodies Lunch Club.

Menu planning is still underway, but here’s a sketch of Joey’s latest thinking. (While you read this, I’ll be looking up the Basque word for “drool.”)

Tortilla Española con Jamón ~ potato-onion omelet, crispy jamon, alioli

Remolachas ~ red and yellow beets, garlic, sherry vinegar, arbequina olive oil

Piquillo De Brandada ~ salt cod-potato mousse stuffed piquillo pepper, viscaina sauce

Arroz Negra ~ bomba rice, calamari, squid ink, alioli

Judias ~ green beans, tomato frito

Sartenako ~ pork belly, chorizo, blood sausage, panaderas potatoes

Tarta De Queso ~ goat’s milk cheesecake, quince paste, candied walnuts

As if that’s not enough, Carolin’s putting together a wine flight to pair. I can’t think of a better way to jumpstart June.

Where: Harvest Vine
Address: 2701 E. Madison
When: Friday, Jun. 3rd, 11:30am
Cost: $35 (+ tax, tip, drinks), optional wine pairing TBA

Please email me if you’d like to join us!

Italian or domestic, it's delicious.

Trying times be damned. We foodies know exactly what to do with those life-dealt lemons: make limoncello. But wouldn’t you know it, our happiness has attracted malcontents. Snarky ne’er-do-wells disputing our limoncello. Not made with Italian Sorrento lemons? Not real, they say.

Pish.

Still, after driving them off with balls of squeezed lemon pith, I got to thinking. Could there be room for even more deliciousness? The question has led me to Linda and Bill Zaiser of Rancho Del Sol, growers of organic Italian Sorrento lemons, who will ship cases to Seattle direct from their farm in California. It’s reasonable, and cost comes down with volume.

Which means the answer is nearly in hand because Seattle Foodies Lemon ‘11 is in the works. Here’s how we’ll do it:

A fifth of Everclear and five pounds of lemons (about a dozen) make a batch of about five 500ml bottles of finished limoncello. The lemons cost about $15, including shipping. Grab a sharp peeler and a quart jar, and in no time you’re on your way. Could it be easier? Well, as with every lemon project, there’s a twist: it’s illegal to buy 190-proof hooch in Washington. (So we love our friends who love Portland. Plus, we’ve got a version you can make with the legal 151-proof version.) And I know a great gift-bottle supplier so you don’t have to store it in old coffee cans.

We just need a date, a place to peel, and foodies.

I’ll organize the lemons and a box or two of quart canning jars. You bring your moonshine and favorite sharp peeler (Dana “Scalp ‘em” Spencer recommends the Kyocera ceramic-bladed peelers if you’re in the market). We’ll talk bottles then, since the peels macerate for two weeks. Throw in a lemon-themed potluck and spool up the sorbet machine, and we’ll have it: Lemon ‘Eleven.

Let me know if you’re interested and how many batches you might want to make. And I’ll work on a location and date.