My newest goal is to learn more about the different styles of beer. I prefer wine, but wine just doesn’t feel right when you are at the pub. I’ve been in a bit of a beer rut for several years now. I typically choose one of two styles of beer when I’m out: a nice, hoppy IPA or a cheap yet light and refreshing Mexican, Japanese, Polish, etc. lager. This spring, I branched out and tried a Belgian pale ale, and I enjoyed it very much. Its spicy, almost floral, aroma was unique and made me realize that, like wine, there is a whole world of beers out there each with their own unique style. It was time I got to know some of them.

One website that I find particularly useful is beeradvocate.com. There, you will find information on the various styles of beer, up-to-date beer news, community forums and tons of beer reviews. Recently, I enjoyed a beer called Mothership Wit from New Belgium Brewery. A quick search on beeradvocate.com informed me that this a witbier, a Belgian style of beer that is traditionally brewed with spices such as orange peel and coriander. Witbiers are typically very aromatic and a bit sour. Because they are unfiltered, witbiers are usually pale and cloudy in appearance (hence the name witbier which means “white beer.”) You may be familiar with Hoegaarden, a popular witbier found on many pub menus. I liked this style of beer enough that I picked up a bottle of Deschutes Brewery’s 20th Anniversary Wit to try. It was quite similar to the New Belgium Wit but perhaps a bit more subtle with the spices.

After work yesterday, I stopped by Pike Street Beer and Wine Shop, a relatively new neighborhood beer store located on Capitol Hill (on the corner of Pike and Belmont.) They have beers from all over the world - Russia, Japan, Great Britain, Lithuania, you name it! They have a decent selection of domestic beers as well. I spotted some rather unusual beers including a Japanese red rice ale and a beer brewed with dates. When I mentioned I was interested in learning more about beer, the shop’s owner suggested that I come to one of their weekly beer tastings (every Friday from 5-7.) Sounds like fun! I picked up a couple of saison farmhouse ales (sturdy, rustic beers that were traditionally brewed for consumption by farm workers throughout the summer harvest) and a bottle of Dogfish Head Brewery’s Punkin’ Ale. Dogfish Head is one of the highest rated pumpkin ales on beeradvocate.com. I cracked that one open last night. It was less pumpkiny than the Elysian Night Owl I tried last year. Mostly, it tasted like a well-crafted brown ale: a bit bitter and bit sweet with just a light hint of pumpkin pie. Pumpkin ale - what a perfect way to kick off October!

Check out the orange eggplants I picked up at the farmer’s market last Sunday! Aren’t they cool? I’ve seen purple, green and white eggplants before but never orange! They look like tomatoes or miniature pumpkins but, I assure you, they really are eggplants. Unfortunately, I don’t know what variety they are. To me, they look a lot like Turkish Orange Eggplants, but I was told that they are actually a Thai variety. These eggplants are from one of my favorite stands at the farmer’s market, Alvarez Farms. They had eight or nine varieties of eggplants for sale (as well as enough peppers to rival what I saw in Santa Fe)! In addition to the wacky orange eggplants, I picked up some Thai green eggplants and a larger purple and white striped eggplant.

The man I spoke with at Alvarez Farms informed me that, compared to purple eggplants, the orange eggplants have a bit more “bite” to them. Eggplant can sometimes be bitter so I was hoping that “bite” wasn’t some sort of polite term for bitter. He suggested that I use them in curry so that’s exactly what I did. I made a simple Thai red curry with orange and green eggplants, tofu and basil. Even though I overcooked the eggplants slightly, they remaining relatively firm and didn’t get slimy at all (woo-hoo!) The flavor was nice and, well, eggplant-y. It may have been a tad on the bitter side, but I actually didn’t mind; it was well-matched to the spicy curry. Unlike the green and purple varieties, these eggplants didn’t lose their fiery orange color once cooked. It made my curry so pretty. If you see any orange eggplants at your market, be sure to pick them up!

Flat Blake came up to Seattle to visit my mom for a couple of weeks. Flat Blake lives in San Antonio, Texas with Big Blake. While he was here, he learned how to cook several recipes from my site, elliemay.com. Here he is making Flat Blake’s Super-Blake Salad. It was delicious!! I asked him for the recipe, but he told me it was a secret. Spoken like a true chef! Thanks for visiting Seattle, Blake. We hope you had a wonderful time!

To learn more about the Flat Stanley Project, click here.

Did you know that popcorn actually grows on ears just like the corn you are used to eating throughout the summer months? Of course, you did. Everyone knows that. Still, I couldn’t help but be a little bit surprised when I found out that the tiny ears of dried corn that came in my final CSA box last month were not merely a seasonal household decoration but were, in fact, edible popcorn! Specifically, these ears were strawberry popcorn, an heirloom variety of popcorn that grows to only about 4 feet tall and produces short, round, ruby-red ears of corn resembling strawberries (hence the name!)

CSA members were instructed to let the little ears dry out for at least a month before separating the kernels from the cob and popping them. Last weekend, I popped my first batch! Removing the kernels from the cob was a bit tricky; the kernels came off without much resistance, but their pointy ends proved to be a bit painful. Next time, I’ll have to employ some sort of tool other than my thumb for this purpose.

Once I had a small pile of kernels, I simply popped them in a nonstick pot over medium heat with a touch of oil and salt. Despite their deep red coloring, the kernels popped up to a nice, bright white. Although they were much smaller in size than conventional popcorn, they were no less tasty. And, the best part? Even the kernels that didn’t pop were soft enough to eat easily. No worries about accidentally breaking one’s tooth with this popcorn!

Although it was just a tiny amount, barely enough to even qualify as a snack, I was so happy to be eating this last little remnant from Boistfort Valley Farm’s CSA season. Sadly, the farm suffered heavy damage as a result of the flooding that swept through Washington State earlier this month. They had to cancel their final produce delivery due to a complete loss of winter storage vegetables. They do expect to be up and running again for next year’s CSA season, however, and I can’t wait. In the meantime, I will savor my two remaining ears of strawberry corn!

Check out the crostini I made for my company’s Halloween party today. They’re not quite as scary as last year’s tasty eyeballs, but I think they’re pretty cute. I topped the crostini with homemade Fig & Black Olive Tapenade and then made bones and skulls out of fresh mozzerella. I only made a few skulls because they were more labor intensive. Since I was cutting everything out freehand, my bones each turned out a little bit different. Some looked like thigh bones and some looked like thin ulnas. One turned out gigantic like a dinosaur bone! Happy Halloween everyone!

Yesterday, on my way home from the yarn shop, I stopped by The Chocolate Box for some goodies. Ever since Robert coerced me into joining him in his nightly chocolate ritual (and, believe me, he really had to twist my arm), I have been trying to raise the bar a bit by purchasing better quality chocolate than you get with, say, a Kit Kat or Whatchamacallit. I know…I’m a total snob. But, a handful of M&Ms every night is not good for you. A couple of pieces of quality dark chocolate, on the other hand, is practically a requirement for optimal health these days. The Chocolate Box, with its focus on high-end, fancy chocolates, is the perfect shop for this. They sell chocolates from many different producers, but the biggest presence in the shop is definitely the much-loved Theo Chocolates.

The Theo Chocolate factory is located in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle (in the old Redhook Brewery building.) It is known for being the only chocolate company in the United States that uses both organic and fair trade cacao beans. Locally-produced chocolates with a conscience - you can’t beat that! Theo produces three kinds of chocolates: individual Theo confections, Theo Origin bars, which highlight cacao beans from different parts of the world, and the wildly inventive 3400 Phinney bars featuring such flavors as Coconut-Curry and Bread and Chocolate (filled with salty bread crumbs!)

I’ve been meaning to try the 3400 bars for a while now but, on this day, I was in the mood to try a variety of flavors so I picked some individual confections. I couldn’t help but be wooed by the wackier flavors. Hey, when you are spending $2 a pop for these tiny morsels, it’s hard to justify ordering plain-old, unflavored chocolate (even if it is good chocolate.) I chose Fig & Fennel, Peanut Butter, Chipotle Spice and Cardamom Caramel. I also was given two free samples at the shop; one was a Neapolitan and the other was some flavor that I don’t know because, like a brute, I just wolfed it down without even listening to the guy. All of the chocolates were excellent. The Chipotle Spice was surprisingly spicy, and the Peanut Butter was filled with smooth peanut butter cream studded with crispy, salty peanut bits. My favorite was the Fig & Fennel which had a deep, rich fruit flavor. I think the label mentioned that it was made with Washington Merlot (wine and chocolate - what’s not to love?) It was boozy and delicious and definitely something I could make into a nightly habit.

I’ve been listening to lots of food podcasts lately so I thought I’d give a little summary of my favorites. What is a podcast you might ask? Simply put, podcasts are audio or video files that are available via the web. You can think of them as a radio shows you can listen to at your convenience. Despite the fact that it contains “pod” in the name, you don’t need an iPod in order to listen. You can download podcasts and play them on any Mp3 player or you can listen to them right on your computer. The benefit of podcasts is that you can subscribe to them using simple software known as an aggregator, often called a podcatcher. When you subscribe to a podcast, your podcatching software will either download new episodes of your favorite podcasts automatically or notify you when new episodes are available, allowing you to download them at a time that best suits you. iTunes, Juice and Amarok will all allow you to subscribe to podcasts. I prefer to use Amarok since it is designed for linux users like me.

Bon Appetit - Like the monthly magazine, Bon Appetit’s podcasts cover a wide range of food-related topics. The podcasts are usually paired with an article in the current issue of the magazine, but they are not just a recap of the contents of the article. Instead, the articles are used more as a branching off point. For example, a magazine article about margarita recipes may be fodder for a podcast on types of tequila. Bon Appetit’s podcasts are hosted on a rotating basis by the magazine’s editors (I like the ones with Associate Editor Andrew Knowlton the best.) The podcasts are nice and short, averaging about 15 minutes each. New podcasts come out every Tuesday.

Good Food - Good Food is Santa Monica Public Radio/KCRW’s weekly food show. It is hosted by Evan Kleiman. The shows feature a wide range of food topics from restaurant reviews to food politics to specific ingredients. Each show starts off with a report from the Los Angeles Farmer’s Market about what’s in season and how to prepare it (which means that I can start planning meals several months in advance for when those ingredients finally come into season in my area.) Podcasts are around 1 hour each and are available every Saturday.

Splendid Table - I have always loved Lynne Rosetto Kaspar’s wonderful NPR radio show, The Splendid Table. She is so exuberant and enthusiastic about food, you can’t help but smile when listening. Now that the show is available as a podcast, I can listen whenever I want (usually Saturday mornings over coffee.) The first part of the show is devoted to interviews with guests; the second half features listener questions and sometimes my favorite segment, Stump the Chef, where Lynne has to come up with a delicious meal based on 5 ingredients in a caller’s fridge. Christopher Kimball of America’s Test Kitchen serves as judge and deems whether Lynne’s creation is edible or not. Podcasts are about 1 hour long and are available every Saturday.

Eat Feed - Eat Feed was the very first food podcast I ever listened to. It is hosted by Anne Bramley. Ms. Bramley, with her soothing voice and food scholar intelligence, provides a very insightful podcast. The podcasts are broken up into four “channels” each with a different focus. There is “Amuse Bouche”, which focuses on food terms and their history, “In Season” (self-explanatory), “Eat Feed Midwest”, which highlights Midwestern cuisine and can be very enlightening for a West Coaster like me, and “Now Serving”, in which Anne Bramley teams up with Leite’s Culinaria’s David Leite to explore what is happening in food today. Since it was my first podcast, Eat Feed will always be my favorite. John Edwards is supposedly a fan too!

I don’t normally like to post links to food-related news articles or other internet finds since the more mainstream food blogs tend to have those already well-covered. That said, I found this photo essay from Time magazine to be so fascinating that I had to share it. It features families from around the world photographed with a typical week’s worth of food. It’s pretty interesting and, in some cases, enlightening. I love looking in other people’s grocery carts so this is kind of an extension of that (except that you can’t get caught snooping!) Check it out:

What the World Eats

Care to know what chef Tony Bourdain thinks of the current “stars” of the Food Network? Check out his post on ruhlman.com. His prose is hilarious, as always. And, I have to say, I pretty much agree with him on every point.

Hey everybody. This is just a heads up that this coming Monday’s episode of No Reservations, chef Tony Bourdain’s irreverent food and travel show, will cover the Pacific Northwest. I hear that, in this episode, he will be traveling around with Fight Club author and Northwest native, Chuck Palahniuk, who will explain to Tony why all the wierdos gravitate toward our corner of the country. I’ve always wondered why!  I’m excited to see Tony’s take on my city. No Reservations airs Monday at 10:00 on the Travel Channel.

This got Robert and me thinking, where would we take Tony Bourdain if we were in charge of his show? I heard that someone took him out for nachos a couple of years ago at my old stomping ground, the College Inn pub. I’m not sure that would have been my first choice but, hey, Tony’s not a snob so he probably enjoyed it. They do have great nachos. Robert says he’d like to take him to Jack’s in Pike Place Market for some cioppino and also to the fish vendors where people who are serious about their seafood shop (hint: places that do not partake in fish-throwing activities.) I would take him to someplace in the International District like Shanghai Garden where they are doing really interesting and different things with Asian food. Hand-shaved green barley noodles anyone? I would probably also hook him up with Tom Douglas who could show him where the city’s chefs like to dine. Oh, and he would have to visit Salumi if only to give Mario Batali’s dad a hard time. Where would you take chef Tony if he were to visit your city?