Shrimpcon 4

Iris’s current favorite word is actually. Cut to Monday morning:

> **Me:** Hmm, what should we make for dinner tonight?

> **Iris:** Salmon!

> (pause)

> **Iris:** Actually, shrimp.

So I made this Rick Bayless recipe that I’ve been wanting to try forever, shrimp in *mojo de ajo*. To make the mojo, you cook a ton of garlic in a sea of olive oil, then add lime juice and chipotle. Saute the shrimp in this garlic-infused oil, then spoon some of the garlic and chipotle bits over it. This is even better than it sounds. I had some corn tortillas in the fridge and a can of black beans, so I fried the tortillas and, uh, refried the beans, and we had shrimp tostadas. Iris sat and looked at the shrimp for about twenty minutes without touching them. It’s pretty typical for her to request something and then not eat it, so I’ve learned to shrug it off, but suddenly she gobbled all of her shrimp.

I was going to say you can find the shrimp recipe on Amazon, but when I tried just now, I got the following message:

> The page you have requested is not available for viewing. For security purposes, we are not able to provide further information about why the page is unavailable.

That’s understandable. If the terrorists get their hands on this shrimp recipe, we are all in trouble. You know, “If you tell me the launch codes, I’ll give you this big bowl of shrimp. With *extra sauce*.” I guess you catch more flies with lime juice.

Thoroughly sauced

My least favorite dinner growing up was roast chicken. I didn’t actively dislike it, but it tasted, you know, like chicken. Like nothing.

So I’ve never roasted a whole chicken. There is one roast chicken in Seattle that I do like, and it’s the one that is synonymous with roast chicken here: Le Pichet. I will bet you five bucks that if you collar a random Seattle foodie and say, “I want to go out for roast chicken. Where should I go?” they will answer, “Le Pichet” before you finish asking the question.

Le Pichet’s roast chicken is made to order, which means it takes about an hour. They start with a good chicken and cook it perfectly, of course, but this alone isn’t enough to convince me. I’m sure you could take a *poulet de Bresse*, slaughter it just before cooking, and serve it to me with crisp, golden skin, and I would still pick at it.

What distinguishes Le Pichet’s chicken is sauce. When Laurie and I ordered it, I believe it came with an Armagnac cream sauce with chestnuts. That may not be exactly right, but it’s certainly plausible. They change the sauce and vegetable constantly. [Here it is](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2002/1117/cover06.html) served with roasted apples and potatoes and some kind of rich looking gravy. In every case, there’s enough sauce that you won’t have to endure a bite of chicken with neither sauce nor skin.

I made roast chicken last night and took the saucy strategy even further by marinating the chicken and then turning the marinade into sauce. The recipe is from Fine Cooking, January 2004, which is their best issue ever. In addition to the roast chicken, there’s a groundbreaking article on vegetable sautes. For weeks after receiving this issue, I was making what Laurie called the “vegetable saute of the day,” with selections like fennel, red onion, and arugula; green beans and radicchio with shaved parmesan; or mushrooms and spinach with soppressata crisps. Then we lost the issue and had to reorder it from [finecooking.com](http://www.finecooking.com/) for $10. I suggest you do the same.

Here’s the roast chicken recipe. There are three other suggested marinades and endless possible variations, so buy that magazine.

**ROAST CHICKEN WITH SESAME SAUCE**
Serves 4

1 chicken, cut into six serving pieces (we continue to be delighted with organic Smart Chicken)

5 large cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 teaspoon kosher salt

*For the marinade:*
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup dry sherry or rice wine
1/3 cup honey
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons hot sauce or chile garlic sauce
1 bunch scallions, cut into 1-inch lengths

Toasted sesame seeds for garnish

1. Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

2. Dry the chicken pieces well and give them a few pokes on each side with a knife for maximum marinade exposure. Rub the chicken with salt and garlic. Place in a large Ziploc bag and add the marinade ingredients. Press the air out of the bag and marinate overnight in the refrigerator, turning the bag over once.

3. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Remove the chicken from the bag and place the pieces in a large Pyrex roasting pan. Pour the marinade over the chicken. Let the chicken sit out at room temperature while the oven preheats. Roast for 1 hour, basting frequently after the first half hour.

4. Remove the chicken pieces to a serving platter. Defat the sauce with a spoon (I’m terrible at this) or by straining into a gravy separator. Cut the chicken breasts in half and serve each person half a breast and one leg or thigh. Spoon sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Make more sauce available at the table.

Glassy

Is there anything more lovely than the pristine surface of a newly-opened jar of peanut butter? I feel sorry for jars of natural peanut butter, which can never offer the world such beauty.

Service compris

Yesterday I had a meeting at [All City Coffee](http://www.allcitycoffee.com/) in Pioneer Square, and it’s jumped immediately onto my list of my favorite coffeehouses.

While I was enjoying my cappuccino, I realized two things. First, I seem to have a weakness for mezzanines. Two of my other favorites, Joe Bar and Top Pot downtown, have mezzanine levels, and so does All City.

Second, All City’s pricing follows a trend that every coffeehouse should adopt. As it says on the menu, prices include two shots and tax. All your basic espresso drinks taste better with a double shot, but if I have to specifically order a double and pay the extra fifty cents, I’ll hesitate. If the price is rolled in, I won’t give it a second thought.

This is one of the most powerful principles in retail: pretend to give people free stuff. At [Vij’s](http://www.vijs.ca/), the great Indian restaurant in Vancouver, you get free chai, pooris, and other snacks while you wait for a table. It’s not really free, of course: you pay for it as part of the menu prices, just like you’re paying Vij’s rent. Just imagine, though, if Vij were to lower the menu prices by a quarter and start charging for the snacks. Personally, I would cry foul. Probably I would just cry.

Oh, one more nice thing about All City Coffee. As one guy wrote:

> i haven’t heard any natalie merchant or blue note jazz yet, and in my book that’s refreshing