When someone is first learning how to cook, along with stuff like measurements and following the general recipe outline, the advice they will inevitably hear from more seasoned chefs is, “Cook from the heart.” It’s the writer’s equivalent of, “Write what you know.” The idea is that the dish (or the story) must come from a true, authentic place, and should originate from something known, loved and even cherished.
Read MoreChef Tanya Holland is a marvel. If she’s not teaching Selena Gomez how to make biscuits and fried chicken, then she’s hosting a podcast or pitching shows to the Oprah Winfrey Network. In conversation, Holland is cheery and informative, qualities borne of a life of curiosity, hard work and now decades of success. Holland, who, over the years, has also been a contestant on Top Chef and hosted her own show on the Food Network, is known for her Oakland eatery, Brown Sugar Kitchen. The establishment has become so renowned the city’s mayor named an official day after Holland. We caught up with the culinary star to ask her about her favorite bites of food, working with the James Beard Foundation, how she’s become so multi-talented and, if she could wave a wand, what dish would she conjure.
Read MoreNurse Nadine Grzeskowiak - aka the “Gluten-Free RN” - has a mission: to make Americans understand that we have been tricked into eating food that is both not healthy and potentially life-threatening.
Grzeskowiak, who experienced a major health scare at 40, has been studying Celiac disease, gluten, and non-Celiac-gluten sensitivities ever since. And what she’s learned has been shocking: gluten, which can be found in various seemingly ubiquitous grains, is not digestible by human beings. Yet, because the protein string is found in so many of our foods, it’s causing severe health problems in the population, Grzeskowiak explains.
We caught up with the Gluten-Free RN to ask her about gluten, Celiac disease, the four food groups, and much more.
Read MoreKIRO RADIO’S RACHEL BELLE loves food. A decade ago, the intrepid reporter stumbled upon a list of last meals requested by Texas inmates. She wondered—what would her own last meal be, and what if she turned this curiosity into a podcast series featuring celebrities such as Neil deGrasse Tyson, Guillermo Del Toro and Alicia Silverstone? Just like that, the podcast Your Last Meal with Rachel Belle was born.
Read MoreFor Los Angeles–based chef Roy Choi, who is often credited with spearheading the modern high-quality food truck movement, and who has dedicated his life to feeding people of all walks of life, real societal change happens with each basket of produce sold and each plate of food served. Choi’s TV show, Broken Bread, which launched in May, aims to prove this point.
Read MoreI’ve been lucky enough to live in Seattle for 12 years. And in that span, I’ve been to Ballard approximately a bajillion times. But never before had I set foot in The Gerald, a cozy neighborhood cocktail bar on Ballard Avenue directly across from the Tractor Tavern, a venue at which I’ve seen about 317 shows. Thankfully, this month that changed.
Read MoreNo one knows when the first taco was created. But the tradition of putting meat and veggies into a corn or flour tortilla has lived for thousands of years. The beautiful thing about a taco is that anyone can make one. But the precarious thing about a taco is that not everyone can make them well. I grew up in Princeton, N.J., eating tacos with hard yellow shells. My mother, bless her heart, would cut up lettuce and tomatoes and add them to a four-quadrant plastic platter with shredded cheddar and grocery-store-packet-seasoned beef she made on the stovetop. I loved them. But I also realized there was another world out there with perfectly blended sauces and meat that echoed with flavor.
Read MoreAfter the explosion, Tim Pipes nearly threw in the towel. Then, a month later, he was robbed. Pipes has also undergone spinal fusion surgery and back surgery to remove a herniated disk. He’s been through a difficult divorce. But despite all these, the place he loves most, The Angry Beaver, a small, 80-person hockey bar he owns in the heart of Greenwood — that serves countless batches of poutine — has subsisted. And he has subsisted right along with it.
Read MoreFor the man who made the phrase “millions of peaches” internationally known, he certainly came around to the idea of eating homegrown and healthy later in life.
Read MoreTarik Abdullah is one of Seattle’s most accomplished chefs. Whether he’s hosting a new pop-up restaurant or starring on an episode of Vice’s MUNCHIES, Abdullah’s fresh ideas and fresh ingredients delight his fans. To get a sense of Abdullah’s journey becoming a chef, we sat down with the man and asked him a few culinary questions.
Read MorePart dessert, part beverage, the milkshake was conceived in the 19th century and originally featured whiskey, though it’s since become a sweet, frosty, alcohol-free treat for Americans of all ages. Yes, love for the milkshake has persisted throughout the decades and these days, you can get it in any number of places—from diners to ice cream shops to fancy eateries. So where in the Emerald City can you find the best vanilla shake? I was determined to find an answer with help from former professional eating hopeful Eva Walker, and expert home cook Rani Weatherby.
Read MoreThese days, more and more people care about what goes into their bodies—and not just caloric counts or gluten content. Diners want to know exactly where the bite of food on their fork staring them in face came from. What’s its origin story? Who grew corn that fed the chicken for this sandwich? With the arrival of the Information Age, people can now easily research ingredients, follow the careers of chefs whose dishes they adore, and repeat mantras like “organic” and “farm-to-table.” They can visit farms, pick their own berries, and dream about their own edible flower gardens. In other words, eating is no longer a mindless exercise.
Read MoreThere’s something classic and homey about biscuits and sausage gravy, a dish with European roots that has existed in America in one form or another for more than 300 years. It became a staple of the American South after the Revolution when resources were in short supply; the dish, which requires few ingredients, is the perfect fuel for someone facing a long day of manual labor.
Read MoreIf you talk to anyone who loves food in Seattle, you’ll hear a lot of lamenting about how the city is bereft of excellent pizza. If you consider New York the source of top-notch slices, then Seattle couldn’t be farther away in proximity. But distance shouldn’t determine everything, right? So, where are Seattle’s best slices?
Read MoreFried chicken. Everybody loves it and lots of places serve it, but not every breaded bird is created equal, and finding great versions of the soul food staple in Seattle can be quite a challenge. Recently, I set out to survey some of Seattle’s most recommended and reputable places with the help of a few soul food aficionados, Evan Flory-Barnes and Eva Walker. While taste is ultimately an entirely subjective matter, we did our best to make the experiment somewhat scientific.
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