An Afternoon With Tom Douglas (Time Out For Some Food Part 2)

It's the Holiday season! That means spending time with family and friends... around mountains of delicious food. Although this blog is mostly dedicated to hard cider, we do try to spend some time on libation's perfect partner. This week Bailey was lucky enough to be a part of Tom Douglas's cooking demonstration at Macy's on State Street in Chicago!

I will start by giving you some basic info on this amazing chef. Tom Douglas was born in Delaware and moved to Seattle in 1977. He never attended any type of formal culinary school. Instead, he climbed his way up the ropes by working in restaurant kitchens around Seattle. He currently owns a whopping 13 restaurants in the Seattle area and cultivates an array of ingredients used in their kitchens on his farm in Prosser, WA. He also produces a line of seasonings called "Rub With Love." As if all this wasn't enough to keep him busy, he also co-hosts a weekly radio show called "In the Kitchen with Tom and Thierry."
His website can be found here, and there is also a link directly to the shop containing the "Rub With Love" seasoning line:
http://tomdouglas.com/
http://store.tomdouglas.com/storefront.aspx

On to the show!

Upon arriving to the lovely and festively decorated lower level of the Macy's on State Street, I was greeted by the always friendly staff and ushered to my seat. I couldn't help buy notice the Christmas music playing in the background and the upbeat attitude in the air. Chef Douglas was setting up his cooking area and was dancing to the beat of "Run Run Rudolph" and I couldn't help but chuckle. Throughout the entire cooking demo it was easy to see that he was enjoying himself and really wanted to be there with everyone in the crowd.

The first course was a variation of his recipe for Coffee-Bean Turkey with Sweet Onion Gravy. In this variation he used prime rib instead of turkey to spare us from our post Thanksgiving nightmares of having to eat more roasted gobble-gobblers. He had a few general tips for cooking meat in your kitchen. Most importantly he stressed using a meat thermometer to judge when meats are done instead of relying on time. Secondly, he suggested buying a thermometer to place in your oven to make sure that the heat runs true to the digital (or dial) display. I personally never attempt to cook prime rib or any meat with a fat cap on it because the one occasion I did, it came out very dry and left me disappointed. Luckily Chef Douglas debunked a common misconception for these type of meats. He suggested trimming most of the fat cap off because it does not baste the meat, but melts and sits in the bottom of the pan with no purpose. He prepared a rub for the prime rib made out of ground coffee (for a smokey flavor,) salt, pepper, fennel seeds, and coriander. Then he did something genius by placing the sliced onions underneath the slab of prime rib on the baking sheet so they could brown while cooking the meat. The gravy was a very simple process of using the browned onions with a few sprinkles of flour and adding in turkey (or chicken) stock. To complement the meat, he then mixed together some stuffing made with dried cherries, hazelnuts, and oyster mushrooms. Luckily, I was able to sample all of this and it was amazing. The flavors meshed so well together but they also contrasted one another. I like to use the example of an everlasting gobstopper, and this is a perfect time to use that analogy. The stuffing was very moist and the cherries brought a very bold flavor to the bread chunks used for the base. The hazelnuts were not overpowering, but added another subtle layer to the overall flavors. The prime rib was seasoned very well and I was surprised that the coffee flavor did not overtake the other spices. The gravy was the blandest of all, but it was very savory and complimented the other flavors.

For the second course Chef Douglas prepared Pear Tarts with Dreamy Caramel Sauce. They were pretty dreamy. He first poached halved pears in syrup. He then mixed together a filling made from almond paste, sugar, butter, and egg yolk. The tarts were then assembled on a puff pastry and baked to a golden brown. I was sitting in the audience thinking this could not get any better when Chef Douglas made a caramel sauce to drizzle on the top. These tarts do not leave anything to be desired (no pun intended.) These were served in about 3" squares that were small enough to be considered finger food. They would definitely disappear at a holiday party.

Sadly, that was the end of the cooking demonstration, but the Chef did stick around to answer various kitchen questions from the audience. He also signed copies of his new cookbook entitled "The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook." Overall this was a great experience, and I would recommend going to Macy's on State Street for one of their many cooking demonstrations that happen throughout the year.


Disclosure:
I am a member of the Everywhere Society and Everywhere provided me with the compensation for this post about Macy's Culinary Council. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed herein are my own.

Gold Rush Hard Cider

This week Hawke and Bailey selected Gold Rush Hard Cider. This cider boasts using over 20 different varieties of somerset cider apples. It is 6.8% ABV and it is made in the UK. The quaint company website can be found here: https://www.sites.google.com/site/goldrushcider/contact

Here we go!

Color:
Bailey loves the light caramel color of this cider. It is very clear and appears to have a few bubbles after opening. She rates it with a 4/5 apples. Hawke also enjoys the light golden color and crisp appearance. He also gives it a 4/5 apples.

Smell:
Hawke gets a very bitter smell from this cider and also a heavy wine smell. He does not detect much apple aroma. He sadly gives 2/5 apples for smell. Bailey detects a powerful sour and alcohol smell. The apples are there for her, but faintly. She did not enjoy the experience, 1/5 apples.

Flavor / Complexity:
Hawke taste buds were bombarded with an extremely bitter flavor. He did find some apple in the complexity, but was not overly impressed. He gives it a 2/5 apples. Bailey thinks this cider is all over the map. She found it to be bitter, sour apple, and mostly alcoholic in flavor. She also felt that her mouth felt like it was "coated" after drinking this cider. She also gives this cider a 2/5 apples.

Aftertaste:
Hawke sadly did not get much of an aftertaste from this cider. He said it felt more like a bitter sensation. He rates this portion with a 2/5 apples. Bailey detects a bubbly sensation at the back of her throat and mostly just taste the alcohol even stronger in the aftertaste. She gives this cider a 1/5 apples.

Price:
$7-9 for 500ml or 16.9 fluid oz. Bailey thinks that even though this is a cheap option for cider, the flavor quality is very poor. She rates it with a 2/5 apples. Hawke agrees and was very disappointed by this cider. The color was very attractive, but everything else fell flat. He gives it a 2/5 apples.

Overall:
This cider is definitely for people who enjoy bitter or sour flavors and need a cheap option for cider. We realize that our tastes lean toward sweeter ciders and apologize if this is one of your favorites. That being said, we still feel that this cider should have way more apple flavor considering apples are pretty much the only ingredient.

Overall Bailey rates this cider with a 10/25 apples, or a red apple.

Overall Hawke rates this cider with 12/25 apples, or a yellow apple.