Summer isn't summer without mussels!!

Summer is a favorite time of year for me. It has many events, celebrations, gardening, cycling, and eating some of my favorite childhood memory foods - mussels! Living in Belgium for so many years caused me to eat my fair share of mussels!!! Moules et frites, a gift from the Gods! So with our fabulous local shellfish culture, it’s mussel time again!!!

The waters of South Puget Sound are warmer than years past for this time period. As a result, the Mediterranean Mussels are ready for eating a little earlier than normal. This is great news for all you mussel fans like me – something we like sooner, can’t beat that!

They are plump, sweet, and oh…so good right now! No doubt they will continue to get better as the summer moves on. I am currently cooking them in a Neapolitan style sauce with a little spice, served over linguini. We will bring the full Mussel Menu on later in the month, with everyone’s favorite selections of years past! For the here and now, I encourage you to come in to savor these little gifts of the sea!!!

Bread from the Gai family

Why do people like our bread so much? I guess it’s just another “half-baked” idea of mine…..

I’ve done business with the Gai’s Bread family for 30 years – now they’re called Franz. But some of the old timers are still around and it continues to have a sense of family for me. I am a very loyal type of person, to a fault, according to my bride of 30 years. Yet my loyalty to quality has never wavered!

The bread comes up the highway from Portland Oregon out of the ovens of a small French bakery down there there, on trucks driven by Franz. Franz, like many others, currently does very little hand work in the bakeries anymore, everything is pretty much automated.

There is another restaurateur in Seattle that seeks out the same great bread experience. His name is Paul Mackay and his restaurant is called “El Gaucho”. Breaking bread is key to any family meal, and only a “half-baked” loaf can be trucked up to us from Portland and then finished in our ovens for your enjoyment! Sometimes it’s piping hot and sometimes it’s just great bread! Now the “half-baked” idea makes sense, well to me it does!

Oh, by the way, next time you’re in McDonald’s ask for an extra bun to go with your meal and see if you can start a trend!!!

Breadcrumbs...

There is a long tale to be told about breadcrumbs – this is Part 1. Bread is a cornerstone in almost any household. But here at Mitchelli’s, we take full advantage of the bread!

We can’t always know how many customers we will serve on any given day. So we have to be ready none the less. This means a little bread might be left over….so you make crostini, bruschetta, croutons, and yes, finally BREADCRUMBS!!!!

Breadcrumbs are a wonderful leftover – here’s the magic. First, make sure you buy your chicken locally – fresh, no Arkansas, just Washington chicken!! Take a breast portion, pound it out, add a little salt and pepper, lightly flour it, run it quickly in an egg wash, then dunk it in a pan of freshly toasted breadcrumbs with a little seasoning! Now we’re talking Chicken Parmigiana or Milanese. Either one, they are fabulous, and they have always been a staple in our kitchen!

What are the keys to eating great breaded chicken? Yup, you guessed it; fresh chicken, and homemade breadcrumbs! It’s really simple and it is a very satisfying, delicious, and one never tires of it! O.K. maybe not 5 times a week, but at least three times a month…….

Stay tuned for the breadcrumb story Part 2, according to Phil Gai, rest his soul.