Grilled Whole Salmon: Part 2

A quick follow-up to the previous post about my dad’s grilled whole salmon recipe. Here’s how it turned out for me on Friday night. Such a glorious meal!

Before:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite my notes in the recipe about the benefits of head-on salmon, as is most common the fish I bought was head-off. Still delicious, of course. And it does fit better on my classic Weber kettle grill without the extra length the head adds. Just miss out on those couple delectable salmon cheeks!

and After:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I served the salmon with no embellishment or sauce at all. The simple wonderful flavors of the citrus, parsley, butter, and smoke meld to create a delicate, pure, wonderful flavor. Alongside was a salad of grated carrot tossed with a mustardy red wine vinaigrette and chopped parsley. And this salad of quartered cherry tomatoes. The tomatoes are from the store but all the greenery from the garden: bronze fennel, tarragon, chervil, mizuna, arugula, some thinly shredded shiso.

We toasted my dad with this lovely rosé. Those flowers you see through one of the glasses are beautiful salmon-colored gerber daisies my sister brought in honor of the occasion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And for my dad, I couldn’t help but share this father’s day card I’d given him years ago, one of the memories found in that box of mementos on Friday. I wish the same for all the “swell dads” out there!

For Dad: Grilled Whole Salmon

Boy, I just experienced something of a flood. And it’s not from the Seattle rain that fell this morning after a near-month dry spell. I had determined to honor my dad by sharing with you his family-famous recipe for grilled whole salmon. “I’ll need a few photos to accompany this,” I thought. Off to the

Handsome! Not sure what year, early 1940s?

closet, where I pulled down an album devoted to him and chose these few favorite photos. Underneath the album is an old Nordstrom box I hadn’t opened in years, tucked in the corner of the closet shelf where I hold other mementos of him. Should I or shouldn’t I?

I did.

And I found a wonderful random trove of items that tug at my heart a bit but mostly make me smile in remembering the wonderful man who I miss so much.

Among them a golf ball shaped postcard I sent from St Andrews Scotland while on a church bell choir trip in 1980. A travel brochure for Kyoto, Japan (I was born in Yokosuka). A faux legal document from a non-faux law office proclaiming that the plaintiff (apparently my dad) had reneged (surely not intentionally) on a verbal contract to offer the plaintiff 3 large Beefeater martinis ”in large glasses” at the Edmonds Yacht Club. Pretty much every birthday and Father’s Day card I

His early morning catch on a backpacking trip -- along the Dosewallips I think

gave him over the years. And a small yellowed envelope with his report cards from Bremerton High School, 1940-41 school year. For a guy who became a civil engineer, a highly respected officer in the Navy and Director of Public Works for Lynnwood, he sure was a lousy student back then. Chemistry, C+. Third year German and “Electricity,” B-. Fourth year math, D+. Ouch!

This is going to be the 13th Father’s Day without my dad. It’s not quite as painful to start seeing the “great gifts for Father’s Day!” ads and emails as it was in the first few years. But it still serves as a brash reminder each year about that distinct chasm in my life, the place he filled in a tangible, earth-bound manner for so many years.

Thankfully we had a wonderful relationship that does feed me constantly with great memories, rich texture, confidences that guide me every day. The support and love he (and my mom) showed me at every turn in my life–every accomplishment and challenge small and large, from graduating a YMCA swim class to going to France for culinary school–was absolute and unwavering. It’s as much as any girl could wish for; for that I am most fortunate.

Dad’s strengths and skills were many and varied. He played a mean harmonica, especially when sitting around a campfire (”Yellow Bird” was a signature tune). He had a brilliant, detailed engineer’s mind for problem-solving. He had a distinct knack for putting people at ease, making friends, making people laugh.

But cooking? He wasn’t a terrible cook, but it wasn’t necessarily a high point for him. Though he did love having family over for dinner in later years. I have the funny memory of one dinner he’d cooked that began with a leek soup. I said how much I liked the soup and asked what all was in it. He goes down the list: leeks, onions, butter, potatoes, broth, cream…. “Damn,” he yells. “I forgot the cream!”

Dad was master, however, of the backyard grill. In our case, it was a backyard kamado pot that we’d brought back from Japan in the late 1960s. (Today’s wildly popular Big Green Egg is founded on the design of the kamado.)

His pièce de résistance at the grill was whole salmon–done simply, as is best with such a glorious fish. Partly wrapped in foil, the flesh’s maximum moisture is preserved while some of that smoky essence from the charcoal embers embellishes the flavor. It was the showstopper for special dinners or

Dinner with the Choplains

to wow out-of-town visitors with our great local eats.

In fact, among the cards and notes received after Dad died was one from a very dear friend, Anne-Marie Choplain, pictured here in her home, where my dad and I paid a visit while he came to spend time with me in France while I was at cooking school. She wrote (in French that I’m roughly translating), “I’m touched in remembering the wonderful times we had together, the best grilled salmon I have ever eaten, a wonderful hike in the Olympics, a round of golf in Lynnwood, and his visit to France.” See? His salmon can be said to have received international acclaim!

It’s not always easy to find whole head-on salmon (best to call ahead to your local fish market), as the head will generally begin spoiling faster than the flesh and it also adds to bulk for transport. But head-on grilled salmon will retain a maximum of flavor and moisture, plus the added bonus of those two delectable salmon cheese at which the chef gets first dibs.

I just got back from the store with a whole sockeye, about 4 3/4 pounds, and will honor dad by recreating this recipe tonight, to share with my husband, sister, and brother-in-law. And a nice rosé alongside. Dad could never sip a glass of wine (typically red) without first marveling at the color and character it had in the glass. And you couldn’t help but marvel with him. He took joy in so many things — it was a joy to have him as a father. Here’s to you, Dad, with deep and unending gratitude.

 

Grilled Whole Salmon Dad’s Way (from Salmon)

 

2 cups wood smoking chips (optional)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 whole salmon (about 5 to 7 pounds), head and tail intact preferably, cleaned and scaled

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 large lemons (1 thinly sliced, 1 juiced)

1 lime, thinly sliced

Small handful flat-leaf parsley sprigs

 

Preheat an outdoor grill. Soak the smoking chips, if using, in a bowl of cold water.

Cut a piece of heavy-duty foil about 2 1/2 times the length of the fish. Drizzle a tablespoon or two of the melted butter lengthwise down the center of the foil. Wet the salmon on top of the butter. Season the belly of the fish with salt and pepper, then add the onion slices, lemon slices, and lime slices, distributing them evenly. Finally, add the parsley sprigs to the belly. Add the lemon juice to the remaining butter, stir well, and drizzle this over the surface of the fish.

Fold the ends of the foil up over the fish to meet in the center. Crimp the foil along the long side edges so they’re well sealed without too snugly enclosing the fish. At the top center, where the foil ends meet, fold back to make a loose opening, making sure the sides remain sealed to hold the juices during cooking.

When the grill is hot, if using a charcoal grill spread the coal out in an even layer. Drain the smoking chips and scatter them over the coals (if using a gas grill, follow manufacturer’s instructions). Carefully set the salmon packet in the center of the grill grate, cover the grill, and cook until only a slight hint of translucence remains in the center of the thickest part (gently pull back some of the foil and poke into the flesh with the tip of a knife to check), 20 to 30 minutes. Lift the salmon packet onto a heatproof platter, fold back the foil so that the cooking liquids are retained. Serve right away.

Makes 8 to 12 servings

Herban Summer Cooking

I almost forgot that I’d contributed recipes to the June issue of Cooking Light. Some magazines, particularly the larger nationals like CL, have really long lead times for the articles. I’d turned those recipes in well over a year ago and moved on to many other things in the meantime. But when I flipped past page 87 and saw a lovely full-page photo of a lemon verbena gimlet

Lemon Verbena

cocktail, my first thought was “wow, that sounds good right about now,” followed quickly by “hey, that sounds familiar!” A few other summer treats I concocted for that issue include the gingered blueberry shortcakes, arugula salad with chicken and apricots, and grilled flank steak tacos with avocado-lime salsa.

Much as I would have liked to whip up a lemon verbena gimlet right away, the recipe reminded me that my lemon verbena plant had not survived the extra-harsh winter we’d had in Seattle. A matter of days later, I’d rectified that with addition of a new lemon verbena plant, along with lemon balm, chervil, purple sage and a few other items I couldn’t resist. Is it EVER possible to go to the garden store and leave only with the items on one’s list?

Shiso

Since then I’ve had shiso on my mind. Also known as perilla (though I’ve only ever known it to be called shiso), this distinctive herb is part of the mint family but has a much more complex flavor than any mint you may have tasted. Imagine mint blended with basil and a touch of anise and sweet grass….. For the cooking class I taught on Orcas early June, I’d done a recipe from my Crab
cookbook, a saladof sliced cucumbers, daikon, shredded shiso and crab in a light rice vinegar dressing.

And for a current project, for which I’m editing and testing many recipes from Seattle-area chefs who are participating in the next volume of Celebrated Chefs, shiso has come up a couple of times. One in a cucumber salad served with black cod from Jerry Traunfeld at Poppy, and another in a nectarine sauce served with mushroom-stuffed rabbit saddle from Bruce Naftaly at Le Gourmand. Shiso seems to be the herb of the moment, at least in my little world. Now I’m inspired to experiment with a cucumber-shiso

Happy thyme, tarragon and bronze fennel

combo in a cocktail, may try that later today with some vodka and a splash of sake.

On my way home from Orcas I stopped at the amazing Christianson’s Nursery between La Conner and Mount Vernon. The shopkeeper at Neston Orcas had kindly clued me in to this glorious plant emporium when I inquired of her whether she’d ever seen shiso plants available in garden retail for the home garden. She made a quick call to Christianson’s and found out that not only did they have shiso, but carried both the green and red varieties. This is the most vast, lush, diverse, and inspiring nursery I’d ever been to. Part of me was sorry that I had only a bit of time to spend here, anxious to get back home before the crush of afternoon rush hour. The other part of me was happy about it, knowing every extra 10 minutes of looking around would add another $50 worth of plants to my bounty.

I did, of course, leave with more than just the shiso. One lime basil, some flat-leaf parsley, starts of peppery greens, a couple types of chiles (Lemon Drop and Cheyenne), and some floral picks to replant in a couple containers. I don’t have a big garden by any means, but I do thrill at what I am able to cultivate from my own little slice of urban farmland! In cocktails, salads, desserts, iced tea, maybe even a batch or two of ice cream — I sure am going to have fun playing around with these new herbs this summer.

Chiles, salad greens and lime basil

Andrew Zimmern and Not So Bizarre Foods

A couple of months ago my husband and I were at Etta’s enjoying a Saturday dinner, sitting at the windows watching a lovely sunset unfold before us. I looked up from my crispy shrimp spring rolls to see a bald fellow fiddling with a bunch of luggage or equipment at the back of a van parked in front of the restaurant. After watching him for a few moments, I pointed one of the spring rolls toward the gentleman and said to Bob, “that guy looks a lot like Andrew Zimmern.” He looked up from his (delectable) albacore tuna sashimi and quickly determined that it was, in fact, Mr. Zimmern.

A few moments later he and some of his crew were heading into the restaurant, clearly not there just for a bite of Tom Douglas’ take on Northwest seafoods. I couldn’t help myself. I started working mentally down the menu we’d looked at just a few minutes earlier and wondered “What’s bizarre enough here to merit a spot on his television show?”

Ends up I’d unfairly pigeonholed the poor guy. He does not, in fact, live by Bizarre Foodsalone. When chatting with him and Tom a bit later, Andrew told me that it’s getting so he can’t eat out with his family for a little pizza or a burger without someone coming by, gesturing toward his plate and making some hardy-har-har comment, asking what’s so bizarre about his meal tonight. Geez, that must get really old. And very fast.

I’ll admit that I can’t bring myself to watch Bizarre Foods, at least not for more than a few minutes flipping around the stations, hopefully landing on a segment more about an unusual wild mushroom in Chile than one about some big fat winged insects being fried up in Southeast Asia. I do not have an adventurer’s stomach, much as I hate to admit it. I don’t care how much you try to convince me that it tastes just like a potato chip or something I’m supposed to already love….  (I had to laugh when I read in the bio on his web sitethat he’s the “international spokesman for Proctor & Gamble’s Pepto Bismal brand.”!! How wildly appropriate.)

Thankfully he and Tom weren’t going to be cooking up any sea cucumbers or jellyfish (yes,  yes, I know…both are delicacies somewhere). The subject instead was mussels.

The segment, about 5 minutes long, from Zimmern’s new Appetite for Life series went live earlier this month on msn.com. The ”road trip” concept has him starting up on Whidbey Island with Rawle Jeffords at Penn Cove Shellfish. Then Andrew drives his haul down to the Etta’s kitchen where Tom whips up a perfectly Seattle, straight-forward, flavor-packed stovetop recipe with the delicious bivalves. There are five other cities featured to date, including Palm Springs and Portland.

The show’s part of a new wave of new media, created exclusively for the web. Televisions? Who needs them these days. I was talking with friends recently about Netflix and the growing number of immediate-download movies and shows that are now available, just click and watch on your computer screen (eco-friendly wide LCD screen, right? nah, me neither, but surely will be the norm before long). I, for one, spend FAR too many hours each day at my computer screen already. Come evening, no way I want to sit in front of it with my knitting and glass of wine. I’m still a fan of retreating to the comfort of my living room for that.

I digress, as often happens. It was fun to run into Andrew that evening and have a couple moments to chat with him before the crew needed him in the kitchen. And nice to know that he does indeed get his fair share of opportunities to enjoy some good old mundane foods now and then.

Cooking at the Barn: Returning to Orcas

A week from today I’ll be in one of my favorite places on the planet. Oh, how I wish it were Paris! But a very close second to Paris in terms of places that make me happy, serene, inspired, and revived is Orcas Island. Right here in my own back yard, a short drive and glorious ferry ride away.

Orcas from a kayak's perspective

I’ve been going to Orcas for most of my life, it’s a place that evokes the most profound and soul-feeding memories for me: learning to play golf at the Orcas Island Golf Country Golf Course, riding paddle boats on Cascade Lake, walking around the tippy-top of Mt Constitution, skipping stones and roasting marshmellows on the beach at North Beach Inn where we always stayed. Not only summers, but also the occasional Thanksgiving when we headed to the island instead of our other holiday destination: Harrison Hot Springs.

So it’s with a lot of anticipation that I look forward to returning to Orcas next week. I’ll be teaching a cooking class at Christina Orchid’s ”Red Barn.” Orcas regulars will recognize her as the founder of the amazing Christina’s restaurant in the heart of Eastsound. She opened the restaurant over 25 years ago, and sold it a year or two ago — able now to devote time to a range of other projects and activities, which includes teaching at the Seattle Culinary Academy at Seattle Central Community College, and devoting more time to the Red Rabbit Farm on her Orcas property.  She and her husband Bruce have put a huge amount of work into the barn, used for cooking classes and special events of all kinds. I read on the site just now that next year they’ll be offering farm-stay experiences beginning next year, guests cooking and exploring by day (clamming, foraging, visiting local farms), staying on the property by night. Sounds amazing. Sign me up.

Next Tuesday evening I’ll be teaching the first of Christina’s June series of four “celebrity guest chef” classes. My recipes will draw from books in my Northwest Homegrown Cookbook Series, including salmon with sorrel sauce

Sunset from Beach Haven on Orcas

and clafoutis made with plums. I’m not sure how registration’s going, but if you want to find out more, here’s the class information with contact info too.

Cost of the class is $100, which includes the class, a dinner following, and wine! And proceeds go to Orcas Island Children’s House, an early learning childhood center that’s been in operation since 1969, fulfilling the needs of working families on the island to provide their young children with education-oriented preschool services. Hope to maybe see you there!!

A New Project: Tasty Fun and Games

I’ve had a Blondie comic strip tacked just above my desk for a while now. In it, Dagwood’s playing poker with his pals, shuffling the cards only to have them all fly out of his hands with a P-R-R-R-T (one of those clever comic sound effects). The others decide that Dagwood’s not allowed to shuffle the cards with those greasy-pizza fingers of his ever again.

Games are big in this house. The photo here is just a couple shelves of our “game closet,” where most other people would keep their towels and linens. Before seeing that Blondie strip, the germ of an idea for a cookbook full of game-friendly foods had already planted itself in my head. An idea that the strip’s sentiment perfectly echoed. The recipes would feature items that don’t require you putting down your cards to pick up a knife and fork. Plates that won’t take up so much table space that the dinner is competing with the dominoes. Foods that won’t leave traces of sauce or juice or oiliness on your fingers, so you can go about sculpting Cranium clay, rolling dice or–are you listening Dagwood?–shuffling cards without messy mishaps.

The date on that comic strip? May 2, 2002. It’s an idea that’s been growing and developing for a number of years now, finally in full gear. I’m deep into testing and writing of my latest project, Game Night Food, which will be published by Ten Speed Press early next year (the same folks who published the lovely Rover’s cookbook I co-wrote with chef Thierry Rautureau a few years ago).

I  love a lot about my work as a food writer. Okay, not so much the endless hours in front of the computer screen taxing my story-telling skills in crafting an article or essay or other narrative exercise. That’s still hard, though rewarding when it’s all done and submitted.

But what I really love is sitting at my computer and dreaming up recipes, then going into my kitchen to test, hone, polish and develop into a delicious, relatively fail-safe candidate for a project such as this. With, in this case, the added creative challenge of preparations and presentations that fulfill the ultimate goal of the book: a game night dinner party that isn’t about having dinner then playing games, but an evening in which dinner and games intermingle perfectly.

What I really, really love is that this book is truly fun and games. Not only is cooking and creating the recipes enjoyable in itself — for this project I’m putting the recipes through real-world rigors as much as possible. Which means gathering friends and family around the table often for work-meets-play Game Nights, to sample the recipes and offer their feedback, while also confirming that they’re game-friendly, tidy and ultimately satisfying as I hope they will be. So far not too many duds thankfully. Some early favorites include mini lamb burgers with feta, chilled avocado soup with roasted poblano cream (served in an espresso cup or tall shot glass) and large pasta shells stuffed with kale and ricotta.

I’ll surely be sharing a few more details with you as the project progresses. But in the meantime, do you have any favorite game night stories or scenarios you’d like to share? A great new game you can recommend (my editor turned me on to The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Game, which is a hoot), or a longtime family favorite that never fails to entertain and help you unwind with your friends? Bring on the fun. And may all your game nights be delicious ones!

James Beard Award Highlights

Oh, to have been in New York City these past few days, where the culinary world has gathered for the annual James Beard Awards. I was there at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center last year for the glitzy festivities–complete with red carpet interviews and celebrity sightings. But couldn’t swing the trip this year.

Instead, I followed last night’s gala proceedings by way of Twitter updates, rather than sitting in the audience. But at least the Twitter moment-to-moment updates of winners and quotable quotes was more fun that simply reading the static list of winners this morning. Check out this link to the Beard blog for some video clips from this year’s red carpet, include one with Seattle’s favorite chef, Tom Douglas and his wife Jackie. Quite a whirlwind trip of restaurant visits they’d been on.

Rebekah Denn, late of the Seattle P-I, now sharing her insights and investigations at www.eatallaboutit.com, won a journalism award for her P-I feature “High on the Hairy Hog: Super Succulent Imports are Everything U.S. Pork Isn’t.” Her win came in the category of Newspaper Feature Writing with Recipes. Interestingly, delectable pork was also the topic of the winner for Newspaper Feature Writing without Recipes: “The Pope of Pork” for the Riverfront Times in St. Louis. Need any further proof that pig is big??

Thrilled, thrilled, thrilled that my pal Jennifer McLagan–whose kinda edgy cookbook Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes came out last year–won not only in her single-subject category but also garnered the Cookbook of the Year award! This follows her also-award-winning Bones: Recipes, History, and Lore from 2005. The big question is what will follow to make this a delicious, inspiring trilogy?!

On the restaurant front, we can be very proud of Best Chef Northwest winner, Maria Hines from Tilth. She was a busy lady last night, not only on hand for the award presentation but also invited to be among the chefs who prepared food for the after-party. Alas, as I suggested last year, and must again this year, it’s ”maybe next year” for Tom Douglas’ honor as Outstanding Restaurateur, which he lost this year to Drew Nieporant. But at least it should mean another invitation to New York for Tom next year, and another chance to troll all those great restaurants the city has to serve up.

Putting Recipes to the Test

They say that the proof is in the pudding. And I say it’s also in the skillet-roasted chicken, the green gazpacho, the risotto with asparagus and peas, the braised lamb shanks with olives and the hazelnut soufflé.

The proof I’m talking about is how well the recipe does its job. Preparation steps and cooking techniques all clearly spelled out? Ingredients all accounted for and in order? Cooking times accurate, descriptions of what “done” means easy to understand, the final product delicious?

Ultimately it’s about how dependable the recipe is. This is one of the key tasks in the work I’ve been doing for over 15 years. Making sure that when I sign off on a recipe and it goes out to the world, that everyone who uses that recipes stands a fighting chance of having good results.

I hate the image of a reader in his/her kitchen having just dutifully followed every step carefully and meeting with some less-than-delicious or -successful outcome, who thinks to themself that they must have done something wrong. Too often, it’s the recipe that did something wrong.  My hope is to be the source of that scenario of frustration as seldom as possible. It’s why I test recipes like mad to work out as many kinks as possible before they get in anyone else’s hands.

Having just done some math in my head (oh…okay, I admit I used a calculator), there are about 1000 recipes in the eleven cookbooks I’ve written and/or tested recipes for in the past dozen or so years. Some recipes were my own (my Homegrown series), many of them collected from a few hundred different restaurants (the Best Places cookbooks), two came from working in close collaboration with a co-author (Rover’s and Memorable Recipes). That number doesn’t count multiple tests of a single recipe, nor the many dozens that were tested but didn’t make the final cut. I’d say that easily doubles (maybe even triples) the figure. Lots and lots of recipe testing.

Recipe testing is one of the most important skills that was packed in my tool kit when I came home from my time at La Varenne in France. I had the phenomenal good fortune of having picked a culinary school whose owner, Anne Willan, was (and still is) a prolific cookbook author. As part of my editorial stagiaire (like internship) duties, I helped with a number of cookbook projects doing recipe research, writing….and testing. I learned that–done right–testing is a really detailed process that takes a lot of careful attention and note-taking. Every minute of sauteing/baking/reducing time is carefully monitored, descriptions of specific techniques scrutinized, tastes along the way to verify the flavors are building as desired. Careful testing cloaks the recipe in confidence of its reliability.

I am going to be on a recipe testing rampage for the next few months. In a near-future couple of posts, I’ll tell you more about the specific projects in question. In the mean time I just wanted to bend your ear about this behind-the-scenes part of the cookbook process that I figure most readers aren’t too aware of.

And I have a question. Do you ever stand in the kitchen in the midst of a recipe and hit a wall, whether it’s a technique not well described, an ingredient you don’t know how to approach, a piece of equipment you don’t have, an expectation by the author that isn’t reasonable in your home kitchen? I’d love to hear any of your recipe-frustration stories. To better understand the challenges that pop up in “real world” situations outside my own home kitchen. And to get a little bit better at making sure my own recipes (a random sample of them are here) avoid those pitfalls.

A Preview of the Julia Movie

Oh, you know. The Julia Child movie that’s been in the works for a while now. The one starting Meryl Streep as Julia? Based on that Julie & Julia blog/book? I’m not an ET watcher, but a friend just passed along this link to a preview from the show. On that same page there’s this link to the official trailer of the film, due to open early August. Nora Ephron wrote the screenplay based on that Julie & Julia book, but also incorporated the wonderful My Life in France to reflect Julia’s early years in the country that would change her life. It’s an interesting plot line, following two different real-life stories in some sort of cinematic tandem.

The idea of anyone playing Julia Child–aside from in an over-the-top context, which her bigger-than-life personality invited–just sounded like a losing prospect from the beginning. If there’s any actress out there with enough skill and talent to pull it off, surely Meryl Streep is about as good as it’s going to get. Still, I was highly skeptical. Of course the world is full of one-of-a-kind individuals. And some have translated admirably well to film bio-pics: Ben Kingsley in Ghandi, Jamie Foxx in Ray.

But Julia Child?

I don’t know if it has to do with the fact that she is one famous person I actually spent time with on more than a few occasions, including interviewing her at her Cambridge home for a magazine article. But she just struck me as a personage who would be harder-than-average for an actor to capture.

And certainly the jury is still out. But these few minutes of preview I’ve just seen bode pretty well for how deeply Ms. Streep took on Julia’s personality and mannerisms. I’m not sure sure how much I love (the amazing) Stanley Tucci as her husband Paul, but maybe I’ll be surprised. Now we just have to wait another few months to see how it all plays out on the big screen!

Simple Pleasures: Coffee Ice Cream

It all started with a simple hankering I had on the way home one afternoon a month or so ago. In the corner of the parking lot of my local grocery is a Tully’s. Some handful of years ago they started selling (really quite tasty) soft-serve ice cream, in coffee and vanilla, or a swirl of both if you couldn’t decide. Not too big, quality ingredients, particularly tasty cones…it was the perfect snack that I indulged in only now and then. Clearly my last visit was a while ago, because the woman working the counter looked at me funny when I ordered a coffee cone. After a few moments she said, “oh, we only have chocolate and vanilla.”

Huh?

I contacted Tully’s HQ and found it had been a company wide change last summer, the shift from coffee to chocolate (and chocolate nonfat frozen yogurt at that, geez!). He said they were considering ways to re-introduce coffee ice cream but nothing definite at this point.

Thus began my recent obsession with coffee ice cream. A few days later my husband showed up at the door–knowing of that recent disappointment–with not one but two different coffee ice creams for me. The love. He learned early in our college-days dating how much a weakness I have for ice cream. Still do.

One was a moshi version, balls of coffee ice cream wrapped in a distinctive rice-flour-and-sugar based chewy dough (this version of the dough coffee flavored as well) that envelops the ice cream. I’ve never cared for moshi and these really didn’t hit the spot too well.

What I did love was the Häagen-Dazs he brought. Not just the everyday coffee, but coffee that’s part of their new “five” line. These are ice creams made with only five ingredients. All of them share the same four as a base: milk, cream, sugar and egg yolks. Add ginger or mint or cocoa or coffee, and you’ve got a deliciously pure and simple treat. Yummy. This was a very satisfying bowl of coffee ice cream.

It was right about this time that I read an article in the Times previewing a new line of Starbucks ice creamsbeing rolled out this month. A day later (before I realized they weren’t due to be in stores yet),  I was at the customer service counter at Thriftway asking if they were ordering it yet. I jumped thegun, but have since had a chance to taste one of the flavors, Java Chip Frappuccino, coffee ice cream with dark chocolate chunks. Really delicious. The flavor isn’t just a single-tone “coffee” element but has some of the deeper complexity you find in a rich cup of coffee. I’ll get to the three other flavors in due course: Caramel Macchiato (coffee and vanilla ice creams with swirls of caramel), Mocha Frappuccini (coffee and chocolate ice creams swirled together) and pure-and-simple Coffee (coffee and espresso ice creams swirled together).

So Tully’s may have initially let me down with the shift in what comes from their soft-serve dispenser. But thankfully that hankering can now be satisfied by a slew of new indulgences in the world of coffee ice cream.