"i'll have a dirty bacon martini, rocks, two pearl onions"

have you ever wondered what mutant baby would emerge from a $20 gallon of vodka, a trip to safeway, and an extreme admiration (well, longing. i am vegetariana, mind you.) of bacon? if so, read on...

every year i make a special liquer around the holidays to bring to parties. the first year i made a coffee and brown sugar (oh lord, the hangover!) vodka which was delicious. the next year i made something similar with the addition of cinnamon and a 100 proof base (too strong!). coffee used to be my go-to, but this year i wanted to experiment with some more creative flavors.

i thought about skittles-, apple pie-, lavendar-, caraway-, shoot, even parmiggiano-flavored liquer! in the end it seemed almost criminal not to attempt a bacon vodka. think of the possibilities: bacon bloody mary, bacon martini, bacon shots! who cares, right!?! anyhow, it's only been a day, but we'll see how this monstrosity turns out come saturday.

ah, delectable bacon in all its thick-cut, smoky glory. i cut the bacon into thin slivers to that once fried up, it would be easy to funnel the tasty bites into a bottle.

i started the bacon out cooking on high to start a good sear. after the fat started to sizzle, i turned it down to medium-low to render as much fat out of it as possible. i had no idea what i was doing, but i figured the dryer the bacon, the less unappetizing fat globules would be floating around in my vodka.

after letting as much grease soak into a napkin as possible, i transfered the bacon bits to a glass container, threw in some peppercorns, and drowned the mixture in (80 proof) vodka.

mmm, bacon-quarium.

so i lied. yesterday i made my pathetic first attempt at bacon vodka. as you can see by comparing today's batch with yesterday's, today i rendered out more fat and cooked the bacon more thoroughly.

these bad boys are getting a good shaking at least thrice a day until it's time to unleash these grotesque mutants on the world. and by "the world," i mean "my friends."

hopefully it won't taste like a fart, but only time will tell.

Med Mix

A few weeks ago I ended up downtown in P Square for a killer show at the J & M cafe. Shout out to the guy managing the sweet sound and the crazy bartenders who mixed the worst drinks . My friend M. and I went next door to grab a quick bite before the show and she was shocked to hear that I had never eaten at Mediterranean Mix. Upon first walking in I wasn't sure about this place but she insisted it was really good. I was overwhelmed by the choices because all of the pictures showcasing their menu items made it hard to decide. Do I want pizza, fish and chips, chicken salad, hot dog...!?!?!?!?

After a long deliberation we finally decided and stepped up to order. M. went with the Gyro, which she said is one of her favorite things to get. I went with the falafel.

While waiting I couldnt help but admire the art work on the walls...so random,

and so AWESOME!
The soda fountain was broken so we shared a can of sprite and helped it out with a little of beam, M. had in her bag. Such a classy move on our part. We totally fit in though, it seemed like lots of other patrons were enjoying spirits as well.

The falafel was hot, crispy and spicy. It has been awhile since I have had really good falafel and I was very impressed. The entire sandwich was right on the veggies, the pita and the tahini were perfect. I ate it so fast and had no time to focus on what M. was eating, I was in a trance. She loved her gyro as well and we both commented on the nice hot sauce on the side.


This sandwich was like under 5bucks too, and it was perfect. I dont get down to Pioneer Square very often but I will make sure to stop by for some more falafel when I do.

They dont have a website but this place is open LATE.
Pioneer Square
205 1st Ave S
Seattle, WA 98104

Spur.........Molecular Gastronomy in Belltown

After a recent Saturday of wine tasting at several Woodinville tasting rooms the hunger pangs set in. Spur had been recommended by the very talented chef of Dahlia Lounge. It was a great find! The atmosphere is comfortable and clean. The staff is efficient and friendly. Most importantly the mostly small plates are fresh, innovative, and just damn good! It is also consistent. Several visits to Spur have been outstanding.


I feel the bar is the best seat in any restaurant. Most bartenders are knowledgeable of the food as well as the drinks. Spur is no exception. Although our mixologist felt all of the menu items were very good, he was happy to let us know his favorites along with cocktail and wine recommendations.







We started off with crostini topped with smoked salmon on a dollop of mascarpone cream, and a drop of champagne vinegar. This was outstanding! Especially if you could put the entire portion in your mouth at once and experience the explosion of flavors.

We moved onto the Pork Belly Sliders made simply with perfectly prepared crispy pork belly, mustard, arugla, and smoked orange marmalade. The combination of sweet and salty makes this a perfect late night plate with a glass of Ale.









Another great item is the tagliatelle with chanterelles a duck egg and a garnish of parmesan foam. To be honest, the foam was an unnecessary decoration that was a little too foo-foo for me. However the smokiness of the chanterrelles and the al dente pasta all swimming in the broken yolk of the duck egg made you wish you weren't sharing.

The beef carpaccio was pretty good, but the the slow poached Butterfish was a little too bland. It might have suffered because of the big flavors of the previous dishes so I might try it as a first plate in a future visit. None the less, it was a great presentation on the English peas, and morels.
All in all this is a great place and will be a regular stop.

Spur
113 Blanchard St.
Seattle, WA 98121
Daily 5 pm to 2 am
www.spurseattle.com

Brian's Grille

bailey: worlds smartest puggle

This summer we started a Sunday tradition of going to my brothers for dinner and band practice. Yeah, Im in a band...called Wyld Turkeyz, we have like thousands of fans and have been on tour for months from Paris to LA. Watch for us. The posts on this site have been slow, and I have so many pictures in my phone I decided to go back and start getting some new content on this sweet blog. Below are some pictures from a summer Sunday when my brother prepared thai lettuce wraps and a spicy peanut noodle salad. I dont have a grill but I have made these a few times at home since watching him. I am a fan of anything you can put sriracha on...which is pretty much everything!

the meal started with brian cooking the chicken on his awesome wood grill.

brian perfectly cooking the chicken

brian prepping the meal, the peanut noodle salad in the back

the final plate on b & b's awesome patio

World Sports Grille

We were waiting to go see a movie and decided to grab a beer at World Sports Grille located inside Gameworks. Because some sort of sports were playing on the mega tvs all over the bar they had some sort of special on bud light. I think the huge glass was only 3 bucks. Not bad....

We also decided to order some snacks so we got down on some fries...

These fries were okay. They came out kinda warm but the presentation made them look worse. The fries came out on a small bread plate...they looked helpless and weak.

We also tried the hot wings...

The wings were okay. The kind of wings that they must have deep fried the hell out of and then just basted them with lots of sauce. The wings didnt have that much meat on them and a few of them looked like the chicken exploded rather than being cut up. The ranch was on point, which in my opinion is a huge plus for eating hot wings.

I think because of the special beers we made it out of there for just under 20 bucks. I guess this spot has beer specials when sports are on. If you are downtown and are looking for a cheap beer, its worth stopping by. Not sure if I would recommend eating there, unless you are really hungry or you prefer you chicken exploded rather than butchered.

1511 7th Ave
Seattle, WA 98101
Open 11am-10pm, on Sat. they stay open til 11pm.

Wingzone

The weather changes and makes it hard to leave the house and face the cold pouring rain to get dinner. This time of year is when I go into my kitchen and open the junk drawer and pull out a stack of delivery menus. The choices are quite slim so we occasionally check the world wide web for some restaurants who might have decided to deliver to cap hill. L. started talking about how much he loved eating Wing Zone back in the day...he even told me a funny story about how he and J. sold a cd to a delivery driver to cover the cost of their meal. Awesome. I had Wing Zone wings once back in the day when I worked in the U-District, but I had never had the sandwiches.

L. claimed the grilled chicken sandwiches were BOMB. So to our surprise we are able to order a few online. I kept waiting for them to call us after we ordered to give us the bad news that we were out of the delivery zone. But that call never came. My favorite thing about these sandwiches is that you get to choose from 26 types of flavors. Options include BBQ, Blue Cheese, Cajun, Teriyaki and on and on. I had the Thai Chili sauce on grilled chicken and it was really good. You can also go with a fried chicken sandwich if you are feeling like going there. Because I wasnt sure if the thai chili would be hot we also ordered a side of their house hot sauce. All sauces were fantastic. The standard sandwich comes with a side of wedge fries but you can sub a salad, onion rings, mushrooms or mozzarella sticks. The sandwich comes on a soft bun and the lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard, mayo, ketchup & pickle spear are on all on the side.





Wing Zone is a chain but it is the only on on the west coast. It is quick delivery to the hill from the U-District. The food although it comes in styrofoam is very warm and perfectly cooked. The chicken sandwiches set you back only like 8 bucks and once you get delivery they give you coupons for some amazing deals on your next order. I will certainly rep Wing Zone for a quick, lazy dinner brought right to my door. You have lots of options so check them out! Hamburgers, Chicken Fingers, Salads, Buffalo Shrimp, Wings, 2Liters and Brownies!


5042 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105

Monday-Wednesday: 4:00 pm–1:00 am
Thursday-Friday: 4:00 pm–2:00 am
Saturday: 11:00 am-2:00 am
Sunday: Noon–Midnight

The Other Coast Cafe

"East Coast Sandwiches. Northwest Attitude." My guess is what they mean by that is you can get a deli style sandwich that wont cost you 20 bucks. Or that they use New York founded company Boars Head deli meats. Or maybe Northwest attitude means the staff have red hair and lots of tattoos.

Carbo was pretty excited to take me to a place I have never been so we hit up The Other Coast Cafe after one of our day long shopping trips to Target. I love sandwiches. When I was a veggie I had a hard time ever getting the kind of sandwich I truly desired. This place makes great hot sandwiches and also offered some classic cold options including Tuna, Bologna, Italiano and Roast Beef.

Carbo went for the Reuben which featured thin sliced pastrami, swiss, sauerkraut, mustard, and thousand island dressing on rye bread. The 6" set her back $8.25.

I went with what apparently is the most popular sandwich the Rajun Cajun. Thin sliced "cajun style" turkey, pepper jack cheese, tomato & onion with homeade spicy salsa mayo on a fresh crispy on the outside but soft on the inside roll. The 6" was

I hear they have another location downtown, but I think Carbo told me it wasnt as good... I will certainly go back if I ever get to Ballard before the sun goes down.


Mon – Fri: 10:30 am - 6:00 pm
Sat & Sun: 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
5315 Ballard Ave NW
Seattle, WA 98107
Phone: (206) 789-0936