Hello and welcome to Kitchen 253! Hosts Evelyn and Joe Lopez, along with our producer, Doug Mackey, are coming to you live from the glorious Moon Yard Studio.
Valentines Day is just around the corner, so we wanted to talk about places in Tacoma where you could find a table with a lovely view. There are a lot! Most of them on the spendy side.
We visited a place that was new to us, Stink cheese, meat, and wine bar in downtown Tacoma. Stink is located on what I would call the second floor of the brick office building that you might have known as the Russell Building or the State Farm Building at 909 A Street. I say second floor because if you come at it from street level you have to go up the stairs or up the elevator to get to suite 110.
The views are amazing! We were there on a very cold day with crystal clear skies. It overlooks the Foss Waterway, the Murray Morgan Bridge, and the Mountain. They have patio space that will open for the summer, and I can’t think of a nicer way to spend an afternoon.
Stink is generally only open until 6, but they regularly have special events and music nights during later hours. Check out their website: www.stinktacoma.com
The menu is largely sandwiches and charcuterie plates, but they also have a wonderful mac and cheese, and delicious desserts. We enjoyed the m&c, a platter with spicy Italian sausage, rosemary ham, and prosciutto, cheeses and olives, and tiramisu for dessert. It was delicious. Their wines are top notch. We enjoyed a Spanish red blend called El Goru. The m&c was mild rather than sharp, but with a deep cheesy flavor, noodles cooked to perfection. It was a blend made for a cold winter day. So satisfying. We will definitely visit Stink again!
And if going to a view restaurant is not in your plans, perhaps you would like to find a spot for a car picnic overlooking the waterfront? We discuss several scenic options, and a recipe for hand pies!
The key to easy hand pies is to start with pre-made puff pastry. I highly recommend Dufour, but Pillsbury also makes a great puff pastry. Keep the pastry frozen, then thaw it in your fridge for about an hour before you make the pies. It needs to be really cold, worked minimally, in order to keep the flakiness (that is the cold butter suspended in the dough).
First, a caveat about my recipes. I improvise and add ingredients to get the taste I want. For this pie, I wanted something both savory and sweet. I was inspired by my Mom’s Thanksgiving stuffing that was filled with apples, raisins, and walnuts (it was so good!). So, I will give you amounts, but don’t sweat it–any combination of ingredients is awesome when you wrap it in puff pastry. I have included photos so that you can see the steps of putting the pies together.
I promise you that this recipe is easy, but the end result is fancy! If you make a big pie, you could make a Beef Wellington, or Salmon en Croute, with the same process.
Tips for making hand pies: filling ingredients should be bite size, filling should not be too wet, and don’t overfill the pastry.
Dufour puff pastry dough (thaw in fridge for about an hour before using)
3 boneless skinless chicken thighs
½ red onion
½ lemon or 3 T juice
2 T butter
1 T soy sauce
½ t sage
1 t chicken bouillon powder
1/3 cup diced dried pears
1/3 cup diced dried apricots
2/3 cup raisins
2/3 cup chopped toasted pecans (or other nuts)
2 T gorgonzola crumbles
Generous shake of cinnamon
1 egg for egg wash (one egg, beaten to make a smooth mix)
Ingredient note: this would be great with curry spice added, but Joe is not a curry fan so I did not go there. Also, I planned to add 1 t of Dijon mustard for a little extra zip, but forgot. If you make this, consider adding the mustard. I added cinnamon at the end because when I tasted the filling I didn’t think the sweet was in balance with the savory.
Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 425f
Set out a large sheet pan with parchment paper.
Make the filling: Thinly slice the onion. In a medium frying pan, sauté the onion with butter and soy sauce until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Cut up the chicken thighs to small, bite size pieces and add to the onion mixture, cook for another 3 to 5 minutes until the chicken is no longer raw, but is not fully cooked.
In a large bowl, mix the chicken with the fruits, nuts, and spices. Add the gorgonzola last and stir up to distribute the cheese.
Roll out the puff pastry. The Dufour pastry comes in a rectangle sheet folded into quarters. Each quarter will be one pie. Roll out the whole sheet just until each quarter is about 5 x 7 inches (not a lot of rolling, this is just to make the dough more workable). Separate the four quarters.
Put about a half cup of filling in the center of the quarter, bring the sides up to form an envelop around the filling, and press the dough seam together.
Turn the pie over and press the ends closed, then use a fork to crimp the ends. Place each pie on the sheet pan.
You don’t have to refrigerate the pies on the sheet pan, but I did because it made sense to stop there and do some other work. I would suggest putting the pies in the fridge for about 30 minutes if time allows. Take the pies out of the fridge and brush the sides and surface with the egg wash. Slash several cuts in the top of each pie so that the steam can escape.
Pies to be brushed with egg wash
Bake the pies for 30 minutes (check at 15 and turn baking sheet). Watch the pies do not burn or get too brown.
I hope you will give it a try, and let me know how it turns out! You can contact us by email at [email protected], or find us on most social media at True_Tacoma.
