The Melting Teapot

I'm very excited to be attending an all-day writer's workshop tomorrow at Seattle's beautiful Fairmont Olympic Hotel:  Food Writing for Food Lovers, with Diane Jacob (well-known blogger and author of Will Write for Food).

Tomorrow's Schedule:

Food Writing Basics
The types of food writing
How to edit your own work
The role of "voice"
Using simile and metaphor
Writing exercises

Lunch
by Georgian Room Executive Chef Gavin Stephenson

Interviewing
Exercise in pairs
Extracting the best details for your writing

Food Blogging
Engaging your reader
Getting and leaving comments
How to stand out in a crowd

Cookbooks
Recipe writing
The publishing business

This is a Foodportunity Expression Writing Workshop, put together by Keren Brown, aka Frantic Foodie. It will be the second time I've been to a fun event thanks to the Frantic Foodie blog.  I actually started my Melting Teapot blog because of an event she publicized, the Walrus & Carpenter night time oyster event (see O Frabjous Day or I Am the Walrus to read all about it).

I'm looking forward to finally meeting Keren, and to spending the day immersed in writing.  It's been a few years since I focused on teaching and the profession of writing -- it will be good to get back to it, exploring things from a new, non-academic angle.

On Sunday, my friend Jan returned from a Taiwan Tea Tour, and she brought back two (or was it three?) suitcases jampacked with tea and various tea goodies.

She also brought back many photos, which we had a great time viewing together.  I learned quite a bit as I experienced her trip vicariously.  Jan was generous enough to let me share a few of my favorite photos here on this blog.

A Few Photos from Jan's Trip

The man in this photo is beloved by me, even though I've never actually met him.  He farms and produces some of my very favorite teas -- the baozhongs carried by Shiuwen Tai of Floating Leaves Tea.  Shiuwen will be bringing in the new batches of his tea from this Spring, including those that regularly win awards.  Look for them on the Floating Leaves web site in about a month.

Photo Credit: Jan Ellis, Portland OR

There were many photos of mouth-watering food and quite a few line-ups of teas being tasted.  This photo, though, was the one that made me salivate.  What a wonderful tea shop!  I believe that many of the items being sold here were antique. . . but there's also plenty of puerh and enough tea accessories to make any tea geek deliriously happy.

Photo Credit: Jan Ellis, Portland OR

Goodies for Me!

Jan’s generosity also extended to yours truly.  She gave me so many tea gifts that I am still beaming in delight whenever I look at them.   Below you'll see a packet of the Lei Cha, a big bag full of baozhong from my favorite farmer, and a few samples of other teas.

Jan, I hope you'll post a comment if I got any of the information wrong. . . or if you have more thoughts to add!

New show on the air today and tomorrow
(Saturday & Sunday, May 15-16)
KCTS9 Seattle

KCTS9 Cooks is a long-running series that features regional chefs and home cooks who have favorite recipes to share. Each installment appears only a few times a year, and ranges in theme from Desserts to Cheese to Local Chef Favorites. This time, all of the meals are more calorie-conscious than usual. It’s a long show at 4 hours, so I set the DVR to record.  This lets me forward through the multiple pledge requests and all of the meat-based recipes that don’t interest me.

Local ingredients are often featured, and some of the more interesting dishes use local ingredients with an ethnic twist.  Here are two from the first hour that looked really wonderful:

Masala Flavored Veggie Wrap with Mango Chutney, with Archana Verma of Bellevue
Onions, cauliflower, bell peppers, and paneer (or tofu) sautéed in several spices.  These are  placed in a warmed flat bread or tortilla, which is spread with mango chutney. It looks quick and easy

Spiced Salmon with Fennel & Tomato, plus a Green Apple & Mango Salad, with Chef Christina Arokiasamy of Kent
The spices in these two dishes seemed to be incredibly fragrant and flavorful.  Neither recipe is vegetarian, since both have fish or fish sauce, but they are mostly-veg.  The salad used a few ingredients I haven’t used before: pickled garlic, green mango.

You can support our local PBS station, KCTS9, with a donation that comes with the gift of a cookbook.  Choose your thank you gift, either the Light & Healthy book or the DVD (which includes an electronic version of the cookbook).   The cookbooks are usually jampacked with recipes, many more than you see during the show itself.


I’m saving the rest of the show for later because it is a gorgeous, sunny day here in the Seattle area – time to get outside!

Yesterday I happily made my way over to the Thursday Farmers Market in Bellevue, Washington.  It was the Opening Day of the Market, still early in the season, so there weren't as many booths as there will be in another month.  However, there were plenty of things to keep me busy, and I came home with a basket of colorful produce.

We have many farmers markets around the Puget Sound, and each one has its own personality.  The Bellevue Farmers Market is all about local food products – no arts and crafts.  What you will find are  flowers, veggies, seafood, artisanal breads, wild foraged greens, plant starters, baked goods, and more. It is also unique in that it takes place late in the day (3-4pm), drawing an afterschool and afterwork crowd.

A Few Photos from My Afternoon at the Market

After shopping for veggies, I stopped at the Veraci stall for a slice of pizza from their mobile woodfired pizza oven.

Then, I munched down on the fabulous pizza, while enjoying the fresh flower centerpiece on the picnic table...

...and listening to the fun bluegrass band performing just a few feet away, the Haggis Brothers.

Yesterday I wrote about the importance of New Mexico and its cuisine in my life.  Today, I’m waxing nostalgic about the food and drink I seek out when returning to New Mexico for a visit.

Hatch or Mesilla Valley Green Chiles

Green Chiles are the heart of New Mexico cuisine, and they are a very special pepper.  They range from being mild but full of flavor like a sophisticated version of a bell pepper, to medium heat with a bit more kick, to searingly hot levels that satisfy any chile-head.  They not only taste good, but they make you feel good by providing an endorphin rush that stimulates your body and makes you feel happy and relaxed.  In addition to chiles in traditional Mexican foods, look for them on top of pizza (green chile + pineapple = Cindy’s favorite), on burgers, and in egg-based dishes.

From August through September, you can smell the aroma of chiles being roasted just about everywhere in town.  They’re roasted in front of grocery stores, at farmstands, and at farmer’s markets. Shoppers purchase a burlap sack of several pounds of chiles, then generally pay a few extra dollars to have them roasted on the spot. Chile roasters are large metal mesh barrels that are spun over a gas flame.  The chiles slip and slide and continually move as they are spun over the flame, which gives them an even char on all sides.

There are so many chiles being roasted from August through October that the entire region has aromas of toasty, caramelizing, spicy chiles wafting in the air.  That magnificent smell is one that defines New Mexico, and it is very recognizable and comforting to anyone who has lived in the state.  In fact, the sensory memory often makes transplanted New Mexicans quite homesick.

In August, I’ll be ordering green chiles that can be shipped to me, then I’ll roast them on my home grill before freezing a stash for the coming year.  It’s never quite as good of a roasting job, but the aromas from my grill still infuse the neighborhood with that wonderful smell of chile goodness.

Freshly made Tortillas

Tortillas are made fresh daily at some Mexican cafes and restaurants, or there might be a local tortilla factory that makes tortillas to order and supplies regional restaurants and stores.  There are even a few grocery stores that feature their own Tortilleria in the bakery department.  I’d make a quick run to one of these grocery stores, or to Roberto’s Tortilla Factory, and grab a bag of still warm tortillas that were as wonderfully fragrant as a freshly baked loaf of bread. Whether corn or flour, the tortillas were always very flavorful and satisfying.

In New Mexico, pieces of wax paper or light plastic are placed between each tortilla in a stack, so they don’t stick together -- why isn't this done in other parts of the country?

Chile Rellenos

New Mexico's traditonal rellenos are green chiles that are stuffed with a slice of cheese, lightly floured, dipped in an egg batter, then pan fried. Any Mexican eatery in town has its  own version,which might be served as part of a Mexican platter, on its own with beans and a bit of sauce, or (my personal favorite) wrapped in a tortilla and smothered with chile verde.

If you're interested in making your own, I found some good step-by-step instructions at about.com.

Pecans

Most people don’t know that there are very large pecan orchards in southern New Mexico, with vast orchards surrounding the Rio Grande.  These orchards are always about 5-10 degrees cooler than everywhere else in the valley, and it is wonderful to walk or drive through the rows of trees.  There are also pecan trees in many people’s yards, so you can harvest your own.  Luckily, Stahmanns Pecans has a great online store.  Ordering chile-dusted pecans and candy Zias from them has become a Christmas tradition for me. http://www.stahmanns.com/

Gingerbread Pigs

In Las Cruces, Lujan Bakery sells wonderful baked goods and supplies dessert pastries for many of the local restaurants, including fabulous empanadas and pan dulce.  My favorite of their sweet treats, though, are the large pig-shaped gingerbread cookies.  These are soft, chewy, and smell like a grandmother’s kitchen at Christmastime. The bakery always had limited hours, but luckily a local convenience store in my neighborhood just happened to stock them.  I haven't had one of these in a long time, so I searched online for a recipe.  I'm going to give this one a try soon:  Authentic Mexican Marranitos on Recipezaar.

Navajo Tacos

Navajo student groups at NMSU often sold these at fund-raising tables on campus, and there was always at least one place at festivals and fairs making the crunchy fried Navajo bread.  You could get these plate-sized fry breads dusted with powdered sugar as a sweet treat, or you could get one featuring items like green or red chile, refried beans, cheese, lettuce, onions, and tomatoes.

Cold & Icy Treats on Scorching Hot Days

Scoopy's Frozen Custard (now known as Caliche's). Imagine yourself on a hot summer day, with temperatures climbing over 110 degrees F, the sun beating down mercilessly, your lips chapped from the dry air.  Now, think about how wonderful it would be to have spoonfuls of creamy, thick, frozen yogurt custard, topped with fresh mangoes and salted pecans.  Mmmmmmmmmmmmm…..

Cherry Limes, from just about any fast food drivethrough.  Like Scoopy’s frozen custards, cherry lime drinks are very refreshing on a super hot summer day.  These are ice cold lemon-lime sodas with a squirt of cherry syrup.  They are usually served with a maraschino cherry and a wedge of lime.  During my last visit a couple of years ago, I made sure to grab one from a local Burger Time, then enjoyed it out in the desert on the outskirts of town.

Reading over what I've written above, I realize two things.  First, there are several great foods not mentioned here, most notably Red Chile (green chiles that ripen and dry on the pod) and Enchiladas, but I'll leave those for another day.  Second, much of the foods featured above are fried and rather unhealthy.  I promise that isn't always the case!  Look for more New Mexico foods in future posts, some of which might actually be fresh and good for you.