I will be Away for the Week

I will be away for the week. I will write when I get back...
Have a great week!

Join the Seattle Pride Show

The pride was oozing out of the panel's ears. Want to be proud of Seattle?
The recipe is simple…Invite charismatic Seattle Chefs. Tom Douglas (Dahlia Lounge, Palace Kitchen, and so many more), Thierry Rautureau (Rover's) and Holly Smith (Cafe Juanita). Make sure to add John Rowley, seafood expert extraordinaire, Martin Johnson (Chateau St Michelle Winery) for all the wine you need to know and David Schomer (Espresso Vivace) to talk coffee and get the crowd laughing in unison. Finish your masterpiece with experience from Greg Atkinson (chef, food journalist and cooking instructor) and package it all by Jim Poris, editor of Food Arts Magazine.

It seems like the Research Chefs Association knew just who to invite to speak at the Culinology Conference about Pacific Northwest Cuisine. The tune went a little something like this….
We got the Pike Place Market, 100 restaurants in 3 blocks, easy to eat fresh, local,
seasonal, restaurants that serve strawberries only when in season, and last
but not least a "sophisticated, salmon, savvy market" (thanks, John Rowley).


From the audience, questions about Seattle's modesty arose. Why doesn't Seattle need to boast? How is it that this city is always being discovered? The answer was rather simple, said in so many diplomatic ways, Seattle has the attitude of a small town and we like it that way!

If only the energy of this panel could be condensed into a tiny pill and given to the Seattleite that dares to complain about the rain, lack of light or anything else that people here like to grouch about!

We have the whole Pike Place Market in our hands!

My Favorite Vegetable Soup

This is my favorite vegetable soup recipe. This soup is titled "Provencal Vegetable Soup" and it comes from The Joy of Cooking. I actually removed some of the ingredients from the recipe to make it quicker. I removed the pistou (French Pesto) which I think is unnecessary. I also removed the pasta in the recipe. The recipe calls for 2 handfuls of broken thin spaguetti which you can add with the zucchini at the end until cooked.
When I make a vegetable soup, I like it to be full of vegetables and very low calorie. This is the kind of soup that you can eat bowl after bowl without feeling heavy. The saffron adds a touch of gold to the recipe.

Provencal Vegetable Soup or Soupe Au Pistou(Adapted from The Joy of Cooking)
Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 leek, chopped
1 large rib celery, chopped

2 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 small potato, peeled and chopped
8 cups of water
2 teaspoons of salt
Pinch of saffron

1 small zucchini (peeled and chopped)

1. Heat the oil
2. Add the first group of ingredients and cook until tender, not browned(5 to 10 minutes)
3. Stir in the second group of ingredients.
4. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat. Simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.
5. Stir in small zucchini. Simmer a little longer.

Awakening of the Palate

I wrote an article for this month's (Cult)ure magazine. It is all about new ways to awaken your palate. Some of the ideas include lavender desserts and bacon chocolate. Sometimes all I need to hear is the name of a food combination and I am in the kitchen experimenting.


Give me some ideas....

BOOM- Bloggers That Make You Go Boom!

The last Seattle Food Blogger Meetup was at Boom Noodle. Boom is the new noodle joint in Capitol Hill.

Food Bloggers (the order in which we sat):
Lara from Cook and Eat
Ronald from Cornichon
Katrin from Simply Culture
Seadevi from Capitol Hill Triangle
Matthew Amster-Burton (Mamster) from Roots and Grubs
Lesa from The Pink Hobart
Mohini from Mango Power Girl
Layla from laylita

There were also a few lucky husbands who attended (a wife that cooks is always a plus)!

As usual the foodie gossip didn't stop. Restaurant names were being thrown around, we exchanged gifts and someone even got bacon salt. I am pretty sure that every blogger I know has tasted bacon salt by now.

Looking forward to see all the foodies again soon, thanks guys!

Culinology Expo

The Culinology Expo and Conference is in a couple days....

Tickets can be purchased on site during registration hours.

Hint: Useful for culinary students looking for job opportunities in food companies

What I Made This Week... Some Vegan stuff!

A little about my week....

In my kitchen: I have been making a once weekly Challah bread (3 weeks so far) but since I haven't achieved true perfection yet, I will spare you the recipe. One time, it was too dry, another time not ready on the inside, though each time it was good enough to be devoured to the last crumb by my husband, friends and myself.

In my vegan world: Yeah, yeah, no way I could be a vegan but it happens to be that a lot of people that I know are vegan (many of my friends from yoga). This week I made vegan brownies and vegan thumbprint cookies filled with a delicious vegan coconut chocolate spread.
The brownies: I have linked the recipe to the brownies. The cooking time is much longer than specified. The brownies are great for vegans but not sure it they would be my top choice. If you are a vegan, you will love them!

My cookies tasted good but came out a bit sloppy(I was overtired!) The amazing chocolate coconut spread is from a company called Love Street Living Foods. The taste is addictive with a nice hint of coconut. A friend of mine said that she doesn't like coconut and still loved it. It's 100 percent organic too.
Unfortunately, you can only get the vegan chocolate products online at this point.
I made challah rolls filled with this chocolate spread(baked them with chocolate inside) last week. That was a great idea!
The white stuff you see in some of the cookies is halva, another favorite of mine for dessert.

Gotta go cook, bye...