Serious Pie is exactly what its name suggests. For a corner pizza place in downtown Seattle, this restaurant isn't ordinary and their ingredients are far from the usually expected. I ate here on Sunday with my sibling and his wife. We ordered two really tasty pizzas (roasted yellowfoot mushrooms, truffle cheese and the penn cove clams, house pancetta, lemon thyme) and promptly devoured both. The mushroom pizza was a little saltier than I like; but the clam pizza more than made up for it.
The shop doesn't have much footprint inside, so it's best to come here at a off-eating hour. And, they don't take reservations. I'm told that during the summer, the line to get into the restaurant goes out the door, down the block, and around the building. It's that popular.
The only downside is the limited food menu. There are only six starters, seven pizzas, and three desserts. The rest of the menu are beverages.
It is one of many eateries that was created and managed by Tom Douglas, a Seattle chef, who also owns Lola, Palace Kitchen, Dahlia Lounge, Dahlia Bakery, and Etta's.
Price: $$ to $$$
Serious Pie location: 316 Virginia & 3rd Street, Seattle, WA
Menu
Website
Review - Rose's Restaurant & Bakery at Fisher's Landing
Was here on a Friday for lunch. For a deli cafe, it's pretty easy to not eat healthy or eat of healthy portions here.
There were to very eye-opening items on their menu. From my table, I had a view of the food prep counter and saw the final dish prep for their matzo ball soup. It was a brisk, windy day too. Matzo ball soup would have been perfect if I was in the mood to eat a 4" diameter matzo ball served up in a cup with some broth. It's no different if you order a bowl of matzo ball soup... two enormous 4" diameter matzo balls are in the bowl. Big does not mean that it would be better. And eating it would not have been a simple matter. It would have been the talk of those at my table. Anyhow. I was in the mood for something simple and not terribly complex. I had the Rose's Deli Cobb Salad since there aren't many ways one can go wrong with a traditional salad. Ok, well, maybe I should have requested the dressing on the side because my salad was drowning in the bleu cheese vinaaigrette. It made the chopped egg taste like I was eating an egg salad salad. I'm just a picky eater, I suppose. There were only praises for the sandwiches and entrees that other people had ordered.
The other eye-opening menu item were the pastrami fries. Imagine if you would a pound of thick-cut French fries topped with melted Swiss cheese, shredded pastrami, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing. Sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen. It was very tasty. And, for a shared appetizer, this one had no leftovers.
Next time, I think I'll try their specialty desserts.. either the Texas donut or the giant cinnamon roll. Those things looked impressive in the bakery case.
Price: $$
Location: 3205 SE 192nd Ave, Vancouver, WA 98683
There were to very eye-opening items on their menu. From my table, I had a view of the food prep counter and saw the final dish prep for their matzo ball soup. It was a brisk, windy day too. Matzo ball soup would have been perfect if I was in the mood to eat a 4" diameter matzo ball served up in a cup with some broth. It's no different if you order a bowl of matzo ball soup... two enormous 4" diameter matzo balls are in the bowl. Big does not mean that it would be better. And eating it would not have been a simple matter. It would have been the talk of those at my table. Anyhow. I was in the mood for something simple and not terribly complex. I had the Rose's Deli Cobb Salad since there aren't many ways one can go wrong with a traditional salad. Ok, well, maybe I should have requested the dressing on the side because my salad was drowning in the bleu cheese vinaaigrette. It made the chopped egg taste like I was eating an egg salad salad. I'm just a picky eater, I suppose. There were only praises for the sandwiches and entrees that other people had ordered.
The other eye-opening menu item were the pastrami fries. Imagine if you would a pound of thick-cut French fries topped with melted Swiss cheese, shredded pastrami, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing. Sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen. It was very tasty. And, for a shared appetizer, this one had no leftovers.
Next time, I think I'll try their specialty desserts.. either the Texas donut or the giant cinnamon roll. Those things looked impressive in the bakery case.
Price: $$
Location: 3205 SE 192nd Ave, Vancouver, WA 98683
Review: Voodoo Donuts (Portland, OR)
Voodoo draws in crowds for its wacky topping combinations, but lacks substance when measured against a grocery-store's generic donut. I love donuts and eat them on occassion. My all-time favorites are the vanilla cream-filled chocolate glazed donut and apple fritters.
Buying donuts goes beyond the fact that they're sweet and remind us of our younger years when we could eat anything and not gain weight. I rank donuts by a few factors: aesthetics, taste, availability, variety, and price. Note that price really isn't that much of a factor if the donut has been made really well. Donuts are priced about the same wherever you go, slightly on the cheaper side if you buy a pre-packaged mass produced box, and slightly more expensive if you get them from a bakery or really good quality donut shop. The first two factors pretty much make or break the case for good donuts. The best donuts are eaten the same day they're made. And, having grown up with Winchell's donuts, I have a slight bias towards donuts made the Winchell's way. Unfortunately, the closest Winchell's locations are in Seattle, WA (150 miles away) or Salinas, CA (600 miles away). Sadly, no Winchell's for me.
The Voodoo donuts that showed up at my workplace were of an interesting variety and pretty much represented most of their menu: bacon-topped maple donuts, mini M&M sprinkled donuts, mini marshmallow-topped donuts, a pink-glazed donut with a wrapped bubblegum piece on top, chocolate glazed donuts - round and rectangular, a chocolate donut that didn't seem to have much chocolate flavor, apple fritters, etc.
Buying donuts goes beyond the fact that they're sweet and remind us of our younger years when we could eat anything and not gain weight. I rank donuts by a few factors: aesthetics, taste, availability, variety, and price. Note that price really isn't that much of a factor if the donut has been made really well. Donuts are priced about the same wherever you go, slightly on the cheaper side if you buy a pre-packaged mass produced box, and slightly more expensive if you get them from a bakery or really good quality donut shop. The first two factors pretty much make or break the case for good donuts. The best donuts are eaten the same day they're made. And, having grown up with Winchell's donuts, I have a slight bias towards donuts made the Winchell's way. Unfortunately, the closest Winchell's locations are in Seattle, WA (150 miles away) or Salinas, CA (600 miles away). Sadly, no Winchell's for me.
The Voodoo donuts that showed up at my workplace were of an interesting variety and pretty much represented most of their menu: bacon-topped maple donuts, mini M&M sprinkled donuts, mini marshmallow-topped donuts, a pink-glazed donut with a wrapped bubblegum piece on top, chocolate glazed donuts - round and rectangular, a chocolate donut that didn't seem to have much chocolate flavor, apple fritters, etc.
Here's what I think about how Voodoo stacks up against like competitors:
- Specialty Bakery/Deli, like Winchell's
- Bakery counter at local grocery store
- Dunkin' Donuts / Krispy Kreme / your average local donut shop or donut franchise shop
- Donuts you can find at a gas station's minimart (minimarts get their supply from any of the above places)
- Donuts you make yourself on the first try
- Pre-packaged donuts of any mass manufactured brand
- Voodoo
If you are looking for a real donut taste, you might want to get yourself a real donut somewhere else.
Price: $$
Website: http://www.voodoodoughnut.com/
Location: 22 SW 3rd Ave, Portland, OR 97204
Diced pear with brocolli, fried
There's a reason why you don't find certain dishes at restaurants, like this one. It didn't come out tasting too bad. I mean, it's edible.
Among apples and squash, it is also pear season out here in the Pacific Northwest. You name it, bosc, red anjou, green anjou, etc. The fruit is plentiful and inexpensive to procure a few pounds of each. The pear, while delicate in flavor, tastes fairly strong when not fully ripened. The flesh is firm and it stands up to harsher cooking methods like frying versus poaching.
I have really only seen sweet preparations of pears: pear tartlets, pear and almond tarts, pear jam, preserved pears, pear bread, poached pears with honey and rosewater, pear paired with much stronger flavored cheeses like bleu and Gorgonzola, pear salad. It is the sweetness that the pear brings that allows some dishes to flourish across continents and cuisines.
I tried a dish on a whim tonight using an almost though not quite ripe bosc pear. It has an interesting taste that might just stay as bachelorette cooking and not something to be served up to guests. Broccoli isn't my favorite vegetable, but it is readily available during winter and aside from frying, blanching, steaming, baking, roasting, or boiling it into a soup, it's a pretty boring vegetable to eat. Nonetheless, it's what was starting to wilt in my fridge.
I wanted to do something different. Be experimental. I made this one up as I was cooking it:
1 small broccoli head with stem
1 bosc pear, cored and diced
2 tbsp EVOO (for frying)
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
dash of salt
Heat the oil until hot but not smoking. Add the pear and broccoli stem slices and sauté.
Add the broccoli florets, vinegar, and soy sauce. Stir fry until the florets turn a dark green color.
Remove from heat and serve.
The flavor combinations of this ratio is a bit "off" and lacks the basics of cooking fundamentals, but who the hell cares? I was cooking for one and not for guests. I enjoy every ingredient by itself on this ingredient list and I know what pairs really well with pears.
In retrospect, any type of fruity vinegar--balsamic, apple cider, or rice wine vinegar--is likely too sweet for this dish. It really brought out the sugary taste of the bosc. That was unexpected. Just so you know. I don't have any leftover broccoli. What is leftover in the dish is the diced pear.
And about the broccoli stem. That hard and thick, almost waxy skin that wraps around the broccoli stem that most Americans and restaurants throw away? It can be peeled and the inner stem is quite tender.
Among apples and squash, it is also pear season out here in the Pacific Northwest. You name it, bosc, red anjou, green anjou, etc. The fruit is plentiful and inexpensive to procure a few pounds of each. The pear, while delicate in flavor, tastes fairly strong when not fully ripened. The flesh is firm and it stands up to harsher cooking methods like frying versus poaching.
I have really only seen sweet preparations of pears: pear tartlets, pear and almond tarts, pear jam, preserved pears, pear bread, poached pears with honey and rosewater, pear paired with much stronger flavored cheeses like bleu and Gorgonzola, pear salad. It is the sweetness that the pear brings that allows some dishes to flourish across continents and cuisines.
I tried a dish on a whim tonight using an almost though not quite ripe bosc pear. It has an interesting taste that might just stay as bachelorette cooking and not something to be served up to guests. Broccoli isn't my favorite vegetable, but it is readily available during winter and aside from frying, blanching, steaming, baking, roasting, or boiling it into a soup, it's a pretty boring vegetable to eat. Nonetheless, it's what was starting to wilt in my fridge.
I wanted to do something different. Be experimental. I made this one up as I was cooking it:
1 small broccoli head with stem
1 bosc pear, cored and diced
2 tbsp EVOO (for frying)
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
dash of salt
Heat the oil until hot but not smoking. Add the pear and broccoli stem slices and sauté.
Add the broccoli florets, vinegar, and soy sauce. Stir fry until the florets turn a dark green color.
Remove from heat and serve.
The flavor combinations of this ratio is a bit "off" and lacks the basics of cooking fundamentals, but who the hell cares? I was cooking for one and not for guests. I enjoy every ingredient by itself on this ingredient list and I know what pairs really well with pears.
In retrospect, any type of fruity vinegar--balsamic, apple cider, or rice wine vinegar--is likely too sweet for this dish. It really brought out the sugary taste of the bosc. That was unexpected. Just so you know. I don't have any leftover broccoli. What is leftover in the dish is the diced pear.
And about the broccoli stem. That hard and thick, almost waxy skin that wraps around the broccoli stem that most Americans and restaurants throw away? It can be peeled and the inner stem is quite tender.
Meat Lasagna
Finally a use for leftover spaghetti sauce. About a week ago I made spaghetti the same way I always do. The first meal of it is always served up over al dente pasta; for me, that'd be served over fusilli (the spiral shape). The second meal of it is generally served over toasted garlic bread. It's a grain, so, just skip the noodles and go straight to the bread. The third meal is usually over steamed rice. Ok, so you can see where this iteration of spaghetti sauce is going? After the second spaghetti meal, I decided to use the remainder of the sauce to make lasagna.
This is something I hadn't ever considered making before even though I really enjoy eating it: meat lasagna. Although, I'm not terribly a fan of cheese. I can eat cheese. There are a few types of cheese that I prefer above all others. But hey, lasagna is a tradition and should be made with its traditional cheese inclusions. I'm just not one to really stock three different cheeses on my fridge at the same time. For this dish, I made a special trip to the grocery store and picked up 8 oz of fresh mozzarella cheese.
This is my first time cooking with mozzarella cheese; heck, it was my first time buying the cheese. I don't know why my friend Matt loves the cheese. It is really quite bland, IMHO. Most lasagna recipes call for parmesan cheese.. a lot of it, like more than 8 oz... of a hard cheese that is typically used as a condiment or bread topping. Anyhow. No parmesan cheese in this recipe.
I did struggle a bit with preparing the lasagna noodles; seeing how my largest stockpot was already housing the quarts of spaghetti sauce. Here's what I did for the noodles. Remember the magic crockpot I picked up about two months ago? It became really useful to parboil the noodles enough so that when I picked them up, they didn't break. The noodles didn't need to be cooked to al dente. I put all the noodles (for this batch, I used 9 lasagna noodles--3 for each layer) in the crockpot with some olive oil and added boiling water twice. Drain noodles, drizzle olive oli, and set aside.
Ingredients
a leftover batch of spaghetti sauce (I may have had about two quarts)
9 lasagna noodles
8 oz fresh mozzarella, diced
3 oz extra cheese, any meltable kind (I used muenster cheese, 1/4" diced)
The quantity of lasagna noodles depends on the size of the dish you are going to bake the lasagna in. 9 noodles is enough for a 3-layer meat lasagna baked in a 9" x 13" x 2" baking dish. Although, I found out pretty quickly after the second layer that I didn't have enough cheese. Heck, I practically ran out of sauce too. Most instructions will tell you to bake the lasagna covered for 40 minutes and uncovered for the remaining 10-15. The uncovered baking is to melt the cheese, if you had any sprinkled on top. I didn't, so I didn't uncover the dish until I took it out of the oven.
Prepare the baking dish by adding some olive oil to the bottom and spreading it around.
Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on top of the oil. This is to keep the noodles from sticking to the pan.
Add the first layer of three lasagna noodles, side by side, in a single layer.
Next, sprinkle a layer of mozzarella cheese on top.
And, on top of that add a layer of meat sauce.
Repeat this until you are out of lasagna noodles, meat sauce, and cheese.
I don't know if the cheese is supposed to go first or if the meat sauce is. I really haven't examine the construction of past lasagna entreés all that closely.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes.
No need to preheat the oven. If your covered lasagna is ready for the oven, stick it in there as the oven is heating up. This is a very forgiving recipe and does not care that you overheat it.
Makes a lot. Serves 8-10.
Why muenster cheese? It's what I had on hand to make sandwiches for lunch. Hmm...
Use whatever cheese you like in your recipe. These cheeses are awfully popular in lasagna: ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar, and cottage.
Very tasty. I'd do it again if I had the ingredients on hand.
This is something I hadn't ever considered making before even though I really enjoy eating it: meat lasagna. Although, I'm not terribly a fan of cheese. I can eat cheese. There are a few types of cheese that I prefer above all others. But hey, lasagna is a tradition and should be made with its traditional cheese inclusions. I'm just not one to really stock three different cheeses on my fridge at the same time. For this dish, I made a special trip to the grocery store and picked up 8 oz of fresh mozzarella cheese.
This is my first time cooking with mozzarella cheese; heck, it was my first time buying the cheese. I don't know why my friend Matt loves the cheese. It is really quite bland, IMHO. Most lasagna recipes call for parmesan cheese.. a lot of it, like more than 8 oz... of a hard cheese that is typically used as a condiment or bread topping. Anyhow. No parmesan cheese in this recipe.
I did struggle a bit with preparing the lasagna noodles; seeing how my largest stockpot was already housing the quarts of spaghetti sauce. Here's what I did for the noodles. Remember the magic crockpot I picked up about two months ago? It became really useful to parboil the noodles enough so that when I picked them up, they didn't break. The noodles didn't need to be cooked to al dente. I put all the noodles (for this batch, I used 9 lasagna noodles--3 for each layer) in the crockpot with some olive oil and added boiling water twice. Drain noodles, drizzle olive oli, and set aside.
Ingredients
a leftover batch of spaghetti sauce (I may have had about two quarts)
9 lasagna noodles
8 oz fresh mozzarella, diced
3 oz extra cheese, any meltable kind (I used muenster cheese, 1/4" diced)
The quantity of lasagna noodles depends on the size of the dish you are going to bake the lasagna in. 9 noodles is enough for a 3-layer meat lasagna baked in a 9" x 13" x 2" baking dish. Although, I found out pretty quickly after the second layer that I didn't have enough cheese. Heck, I practically ran out of sauce too. Most instructions will tell you to bake the lasagna covered for 40 minutes and uncovered for the remaining 10-15. The uncovered baking is to melt the cheese, if you had any sprinkled on top. I didn't, so I didn't uncover the dish until I took it out of the oven.
Prepare the baking dish by adding some olive oil to the bottom and spreading it around.
Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on top of the oil. This is to keep the noodles from sticking to the pan.
Add the first layer of three lasagna noodles, side by side, in a single layer.
Next, sprinkle a layer of mozzarella cheese on top.
And, on top of that add a layer of meat sauce.
Repeat this until you are out of lasagna noodles, meat sauce, and cheese.
I don't know if the cheese is supposed to go first or if the meat sauce is. I really haven't examine the construction of past lasagna entreés all that closely.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes.
No need to preheat the oven. If your covered lasagna is ready for the oven, stick it in there as the oven is heating up. This is a very forgiving recipe and does not care that you overheat it.
Makes a lot. Serves 8-10.
Why muenster cheese? It's what I had on hand to make sandwiches for lunch. Hmm...
Use whatever cheese you like in your recipe. These cheeses are awfully popular in lasagna: ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar, and cottage.
Very tasty. I'd do it again if I had the ingredients on hand.
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