Recipe - Latin Chicken and Rice Casserole

Latin Chicken & Rice Casserole (Cuban style Arroz Con Pollo)

Recipe - Chawanmushi (Japanese Savory Egg Custard)

Japanese Savory Egg Custard (Chawanmushi)

Chawanmushi is a savory custard unlike any dessert custard, and one of my favorite traditional Japanese dishes.  It's typically served as an appetizer, and it uses special cups, designed just for making Chawanmushi.  This recipe uses ingredients that my family enjoys, but you can get creative and use so many different fillings.  Chicken, spinach, bok choy, asparagus and peas. are also great in this dish!

Review - Green Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant - Seattle, WA

Green Leaf Restaurant

With all of the choices in the International District it can be difficult to find the good spots.  Thanks to the internet and sites like Yelp and Urbanspoon, restaurants are a little easier to choose.  More than reading reviews, I love to see the photos of the food - You can tell a lot from a photo!  So after visiting my Aunt and Uncle who live near the ID, we decided to finally try Green Leaf.

Review - Staple & Fancy Mercantile - Ballard - Seattle, WA

Staple & Fancy Mercantile

 Located in Ballard just minutes from my house is the newest addition to the family of Ethan Stowell Restaurants, Staple & Fancy Mercantile.  We love Tavolata, and How To Cook a Wolf, so I have been looking forward to Staple & Fancy.

Review - Local 360 - Seattle, WA

Local 360

So I would be lying if I didn't tell you that I have a slight bias against the hip "Localtarians" that are so prevalent in the Pacific Northwest.  A friend recently moved to PDX and one of his first observations was the over the top localtarianism.  Portlandia even spoofed the whole local sustainable movement in one of their shows.  With a roll of the eyes, I think to myself, "Really? What is the big deal?"  

Review - Wann Izakaya - Seattle, WA

Wann Izakaya

I just love Izakaya style dining.  It's like Japanese Tapas, small plates meant for sharing, and lots of drinks to go around.  We've been going to Wann for quite some time and the food is consistently good!  I love the ambiance of the restaurant, and almost every time we are there, Japanese hipsters are there, boisterously speaking in their native tongue and having what appears to be a great time!

Review - Shiku Sushi

Shiku Menu

Shiku

It seems like Ballard has a sushi place on every corner lately.  Moshi Moshi (yuck, I got food poisoning there..), O'shan, the list goes on.  We finally decided to try Shiku.  

Review - Bouchon

Bouchon

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Being that I am another devoted Thomas Keller fan, I try to make my way to his restaurants whenever I am vacationing nearby.  I have dined at all three Bouchon locations and enjoyed each one!  The decor of each is very similar as is the ambiance.  All three spots have the wonderful French Bistro bustle during the day, I just love that! I love Bouchon for lunch or better, brunch.  Amazing.  The food is consistent amongst all three locations, which I find outstanding.  That's not an easy task to accomplish!

Review - Ad Hoc

Ad Hoc

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I think I love Yountville... Everything is so quaint, and peaceful.  And in the middle of it all, is Ad Hoc.  Ad Hoc is exactly that, each day the menu changes, one meal is served to the entire crowd, and the menu is constantly changing.  They serve everything from Memphis Style Barbecue to Veal Porterhouse.   Every other Monday, they serve their famous fried chicken, unfortunately we missed out on this opportunity!  

Review - Burma Superstar

Burma Superstar

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The first thing I had to figure out, what is Burmese food?  I mean, I understand it's from Burma, but I have never been exposed to this kind of cuisine.  This place gets amazing reviews, so we decided to give it a try, not knowing what to expect.  The only tip we'd had to was to try some tea leaf salad.  hmm...

Review - Palace Kitchen

Palace Kitchen

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I love to try new restaurants, and they seem to pop up too fast for me to keep up. However, there are a few places that we return to time and time again. Palace Kitchen is one of them. We have dined here numerous times over the past several years, and we will keep coming back. The food is always consistent, and unique twists to their staple dishes help to change it up a bit!

Review - Paseo

Paseo

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Paseo has become a Seattle institution.  Caribbean food with a twist.  And definitely a hole in the wall.  But, 4 stars, because the food is THAT good.  Fortunately I live within 10 minutes of both the Ballard and Fremont locations, so we usually get our food to go, and bring it home.

Paseo Midnight Cuban Press $8.95

Fremont almost always has a long line, and they are known to sell out of sandwiches from time to time.  That's truly a disappointment when you arrive to see that sign!  So I have to admit, I haven't tried anything on the menu except the sandwiches.

Recipe - Miso Sesame Asian Chicken Salad

I think Asian Chicken Salads are really common, I have several versions that I've made, this one is the easiest, and possibly my favorite non-spicy version!  The dressing is Miso Sesame, with a ton of flavor!  If you are in a hurry, you can buy bottled Asian Sesame dressing too!

This recipe is for a large party sized serving but it can easily be scaled down for lunch or dinner using leftover chicken.

Miso Sesame Asian Chicken Salad

Recipe - Citrus Marinated Chicken Fajitas

Citrus Marinated Chicken Fajitas

Main Course - Chicken
Approximate Prep time: 20 minutes plus additional time for marinating
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Makes: 4-6 servings

A healthy version of a Mexican American classic. Bold citrus and garlic marinated chicken with fresh bell peppers and onions. Optionally you can add jalapenos for heat, tomatoes and avocado!

This recipe has moved to:

http://www.absolutelymonica.com/Recipes/Main_Courses/C/Citrus_Marinated_Chicken_Fajitas.htm