Otoro - A Costly Obsession

Iggy's - Singapore

When I met my wife, she subsisted on cereal and toast.  Occasionally she went through the effort to make herself nachos.  Infrequently, she was known to eat a hamburger, or chicken breast.  She also liked fried things, and potatoes.  


We still have different opinions of one early episode in our marriage.  As the lady of the house, my wife said she would do the grocery shopping.  New to living together, she asked if I had any special requests.  I knew that my wife was a meat and potatoes girl, so I said, "I'd like to east some more vegetables.  Why don't you get any vegetables from the grocery store you will eat."  She said Ok.

Vege-wha?

Proudly, that afternoon she showed me what she had bought.  Potatoes (not a vegetable).  Onions (not a vegetable).  And pico de gallo (not a vegetable).  She still swears that pico should count.  I tell her she's crazy.  I've since turned her onto a vegetable or two, but where I've had much more success are proteins.  Men beware.  Out of the oodles of things I have subjected her to, she likes duck breast, duck confit, foie gras, pork belly (are you seeing a pattern?) and her newest obession is Otoro (fatty tuna belly).  

Hanare - Kuala Lumpur

In Japan we had the pleasure of eating at four of the best sushi restaurants in the country.  Unfortunately, we didn't make it to all the ones I had hoped, but Sushi Sawada, Sushi Mizutani, Sushi Yashitake, and Kyubei - Ginza isn't a bad hit list.  While stuffing ourselves full of extravagant sushi, my wife declared she loved Otoro.  Here are two of her favorite bites.

Sushi Yashitake - Tokyo

Kyubei - Ginza - Tokyo

If you are curious, her favorite was Sushi Sawada. More on this to come soon... and for now I'm keeping her away from Kobe beef - Wagyu...

my wife's old obsession - burrata and how to cook a wolf

Quite some time ago, a friend couple took my wife and me out to dinner at Ethan Stowell's How to Cook a Wolf.  I had not developed my (annoying) habit of taking pictures of what we ate.  The dinner was excellent (and below I will give a rough idea of what we ate and our opinion).  

The star of the meal though was the Buratta dish.  Buratta is a mozzarella cheese with normal mozzarella on the outside wrapping mozzarella on the inside that is mixed (minced) up with creme.  I am fairly certain that after that point, Buratta became the basis for an extra five pounds around both our waists.  You can typically buy some (not quite as good as Stowell's) in Seattle at:

Quality Cheese

Pike Place Market

Corner Market and Sanitary Market

1508 Pike Place

Seattle, WA 98101

qcheese@nwlink.com

DeLaurenti Specialty Food and Wine

1435 1st Avenue

Seattle, WA 98101

206-622-0141

Borracchini's Bakery & Mediterranean Market

2307 Rainier Ave S

Seattle, WA 98144

206-325-1550

Here are a few shots of Buratta from How to Cook a Wolf (they are not mine).  The first is a better shot, the second is closer to what we ate - burrata with a salad (not shown) and figs (shown).  

So, our impression of How to Cook a Wolf?  It was delicious.  Think Italian tapas.  We ate at least the beets, burrata, escolar, beef tartare, tagliarini and campanelle.  There were a few other seasonal dishes that have since escaped me.  Obviously the Buratta was a huge hit, and my wife was surprised to enjoy the tartar so much, but I also remember thinking that it could have been even better (ergo, no 4.5 or 5 star).  My wife and I enjoyed it quite a bit and are planning a return visit soon...

How to Cook a Wolf

2208 Queen Anne Avenue North

Seattle, WA 

206-838-8090

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my wife's recent obsession - molly moon's ice cream sandwich

this pretty much sums it up.  my wife is obsessed with molly moon's ice cream sandwiches.  the other day she surprised me, by picking me up and driving me to get them (for her).  very kind of her.  she's been talking about them for weeks.  weeks.

they have what appear to be homemade chewy cookies on the outside, both sweet and salty, with their homemade vanilla bean ice cream.  the cost is steep, at about $4 a piece, but they are very good.

the great thing about molly moon's is that they're not afraid of strong flavors in ice cream.  sour.  sweet.  salty.  savory.  always good.

(disclaimer: not my pictures.)