Chef Gaynol

ClearlyFresh Bags

The romaine lettuce in the photo above is 15 days old.  Before we went on vacation, I threw a whole head of romaine into a ClearlyFresh bag and left it to fend for itself. When I returned, I washed and chopped the lettuce so it would be ready to go for sandwiches and salads.  I'm amazed that this romaine is over two weeks old and it still tastes as good as the day I bought it.

DonQ Mojito Rum Infused With Mint

If you're looking for a low alcohol rum (20% vs. the usual 35% ) to use in your summer drinks, you can't go wrong with this Mojito Rum by DonQ.   The beauty of this spirit is the infusion of natural mint into the rum.  No weird artificial taste and just a touch of sweetness. Here at Cucina Flora, we've been adding it to ice tea and sipping it on the back deck.  

Top Ten Tips for Food Truck Customers

Unless you've been living under house arrest it's been hard to miss the latest craze in the food world. You'd better buckle up because food trucks are taking the country by storm and serving up some creative and delicious food.

Pictured above,  Skillet Street Food's "french dip" panini style roasted beef, gruyere, horseradish crema, caramelized onions, roasted beef jus.

It used to be that the best you could expect from a food truck was a bag of funyuns and a warm diet coke.  Today, food trucks are serving up everything from korean short rib tacos to wagyu beef burgers with bacon jam.

Here are my top ten tips for getting the most out of your food truck experience.

Chef Gaynol & FTC Blogger Disclosure

Okay, I've got a bit of housekeeping to do.  The FTC has issued new guidelines for bloggers.  And when I say guidelines, I mean you can get fined or thrown in jail if you don't adhere to them.  I've always disclosed when a publisher sent me a free book or product to review.  I've let you all know that I worked for Whole Foods where I also continue to shop.  So I'm in compliance but in the future you'll be seeing the following icons when relevant at the end of each blog post.

Spur Gastropub

  

 

We stopped in to visit Spur Gastropub for the first time a couple weeks ago.  It was one of those rare, warm Seattle days which resulted in me being slightly sun burnt and really sweaty. In an effort to show off my new pedicure, I'd made a disastrous shoe choice for schlepping through the city.  My resulting mood can only be described as nuclear. Woe unto the poor restaurant that displeased me tonight.  

We walked into the small building and were immediately greeted by an amazingly thin woman who whisked us to our table and quickly provided us with water and cocktail menus.  My imminent meltdown was averted. 

 We started our evening with a couple of drinks.  I had an Empress, which was a refreshing mix of Jamaican rum, grapefruit and st. germain.  One of the things that made this drink so wonderful was it arrived at the table chilled.  It felt like liquid ice slipping down my overheated throat.

Next to arrive was a small, white ramekin of crunchy bites.  We were chomping away trying to figure out what we were eating when my PIC  (partner in crime) said, "they taste like corn."  Our server called these "fancy-pants corn nuts."  They start out by blanching white hominy and then they're fried and coated in seasoning.  The final product is a crunchy, corny blast with just enough salt so the nuts taste seasoned but not overly salty.