get ready for market day!

Liz and I whipped up some fun stuff for Wednesday.

 

Turmeric and Mustard Seed Roasted Potatoes and Cauliflower

Olsen’s Red Lasoda potatoes roasted with Nash’s beautiful fresh cauliflower

 

Very Local Peanut Butter & Jelly

Alvarez Peanuts crushed into peanut butter, Alm Hill and Gaia’s Raspberries cooked into jam

 

Tahini Slaw

Fresh made tahini, tossed with Nash’s green and purple cabbage with Gaia’s carrots – beats mayonnaise slaw any day!

 

SImple Roasted Vegetables

Boistfoot green squash and rainbow carrots, Gaia’s beets and red onion, Alvarez patty pan squash roasted to perfection

 

Carrot Caraway Rye Salad

Rye berries tossed with caraway pickled carrots, roasted rainbow carrots from Gaia’s, fennel and cucumber

 

Liz’s Amazing Kitchen Sink Salsa

Alvarez tomatillos, tomatoes, corn, poblanos, jalapenos, and Mayacoba beans served with tortilla chips

 

Miso Roasted Apricots

pink and purple radish, snap peas, and nori vinaigrette

 

Peach Caprese

Samish Bay fresh mozzarella, layered with ripe peaches, cucumbers, and opal basil

 

Summer Succotash

the jewels of summer – ripe tomatoes, yellow corn, and snap peas tossed with pickled green beans

 

Come by and say hi!

 

today’s menu

Grab you bags and bring your appetite down to Wallingford for some deliciousness.

This week we will have:

Moroccan Red Wheat Salad

Nash’s red wheat berries with produce from One Leaf (eggplant, cucumbers, fennel), parsley, and Liz’s amazing spiced tomato syrup

Peach Caprese

a NW take on an Italian favorite, Collins Family Orchard peaches with lemon basil and Samish Bay fresh mozzarella 

Potato Salad

Olsen’s red lasoda potatoes, tossed with carrots greens and a creamy roasted garlic dressing

Turmeric Potatoes and Cauliflower

Clara’s favorite bright yellow and delicious (not to mention nutritious) hand-stainer recipe : potatoes roasted with lots of turmeric and mustard seeds, finished with lime juice and tossed with caramelized cauliflower – let us stain our hands and countertops with this pungent spice and you just relax and reap the benefits

Kitchen Sink Salsa

Liz’s salsa making magic continues with this all-over-the-place amazing salsa of tomatillos, corn, and jalapeños from Alverez with pinto beans, ancho, pasilla, and (of course) lime

Plus something for the kids!!

Fresh Made Peanut Butter and Raspberry Jam Sandwiches!!!

So we’ll see you there…

picnic!!!

Our booth – Knife for Hire Picnic Foods – at the Wallingford Farmers Market is off to a great start.

We always offer samples of our dishes:

And there are always smiling faces behind the aprons!

Menu for Wednesday July 30:

German Potato Salad

(Red Lasoda potatoes from Olsen Farms, tossed with carrot tops from Gaia’s beautiful carrots, and a cream dressing made from Alvarez garlic, dijon, and red and white wine vinegar)

Carrot Tabouleh

(organic bulgar was jazzed up with lightly steamed Gaia’s carrots, onions from Alvarez Farms, fresh parsley and lemon)

Tomatillo and Fava Bean Salsa

(tomatillos and garlic from Alvarez Farms was morphed into a fiery salsa with fava beans from One Leaf)

Green Beans and Braised Beet Tops

(we turned Alm Hill‘s purple beans green by quickly blanching them, then tossed them with braised Gaia’s beet tops, lemon, and charred leeks from One Leaf)

Fava Beans and Caramelized Leeks

(favas from Summer Run Farms, leeks from One Leaf, tossed with One Leaf cucumbers we marinated in sugar and salt, and topped all of it with apricots from Collins Family Orchard)

Our Green Salad

(always lovingly made with One Leaf greens mix and sungolds, with a creamy fava bean dressing)

Roasted Vegetables

(patty pan from Alvarez, zucchini from One Leaf, beets and carrots from Gaia’s – all roasted in coconut oil)

Can’t wait to see you all next week. And be sure to like our f/b or follow us on twitter!

things about town.

Some things I did in Seattle over the past month or so:

 

made some lovely pork dumplings as a practice for this spot on STL Channel 2’s morning show.

did a demo at this amazing store in Tacoma – called Tacoma Boys. so much produce!

where I got this weird drink that actually turned out to be so good that I find myself searching for it at stores.

and I went to Bastille for some delicious food.

the end.

 

my catering job.

I have had the pleasure of catering some extremely scenic places this summer with my catering job – as well as having some fun tasks. Like these:

A big pile of ribs.

Got to grill a huge amount of pork ribs on a giant grill outside – I would say a great way to spend a sunny blue-skied day. Far from the chatter of the kitchen, babying some gorgeous pieces of meat.

 

Preserves for days.

The other day I was given ingredients and told to make preserves – this is what I came up with: Apricot Ginger Jam, Spicy Apricot Carrot Gelee (it was supposed to be another take on Carrot Marmalade – which I adore – but the pectin went crazy and it firmed up to the consistency of a Turkish Delight), Pear Balsamic Preserves (with port and grapes), Caponata. It was, by far, the funnest day at work I had in a long time.

 

The view from my oven.

This is at Mohai on Lake Union, where we literally set up feet from the water. It is glorious to say the least. We get to watch the sea planes land and listen to the clanging of the rope against the masts of the sailboats in the breeze – by far the most relaxing “kitchen” we work in.

 

Out the window at a job on Pier 9 – disregard the weird UFOs, they are just reflections.

My walk to Pier 9.

We worked a job on Pier 9 – which is not by itself pretty, but the walk there had a stunning view and I got to sneak a little peak at the lake during a lull in service.

 

Grilling Grapes.

 

Making liquid nitrogen ice cream.

Smoking marshmallows.

 

 

 

Out the door of the Virginia 5.

Worked a wedding on this lovely boat, the Virginia 5.

The view from my oven on the Virginia 5.

The Virginia 5 is a historic steam boat that lives on Lake Union near Mohai – the kitchen, sorry “the galley,” is a horrible tiny sweat box – but the ship is beautiful and it went out on the water for the ceremony. I could keep my eye on the outside through that door above and occasionally got to steal away a minute or two to step outside.

+++++

All in all my conclusion is that Seattle is full of scenic and amazingly stunning things in the summer time. I am so so very glad that my job takes me out of the shop kitchen to experience some of the glory.

 

vegan and gluten-free.

I went to Fremont the other day and found this little gem.

The inside was cute and nice and they had an open kitchen, which I love. If this place were in St. Louis, it would definitely be accused of being “a hipster hole in the wall” – but in Seattle it seems to be doing just fine and fitting right in.

I got a few gluten-free vegan things:

BROWNIE

it was chewy, but had that awful vegan chemical aftertaste I so despise.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE

it was good, but crumbly

 

CHOCOLATE CHIP PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE

freakin delicious

GINGER SCONE

the best of all of them, with great flavor and texture

Here are a few pics of the interior. 

a seattle institution.

The mixologist told me about Beth’s. But I didn’t quite realize. After I posted a picture on some sort of social media – everyone chimed in to tell me that it is a Seattle institution. Open since 1954, I’m sure it’s one of the oldest standing businesses in this city that seems to be pretty new. This place reminds me a bit of home – and man do I love a real diner. We got the obligatory breakfast foods (eggs, sausage, hash browns, pancakes, toast).

 

It was good and greasy – the pancakes were a bit too dense for me. Along with the standard diner fare – the walls were covered in drawings done by patrons. It was something to do while waiting for the food, and made the place feel very loved and homey.

ballard bbq

Went to Bitterroot in Ballard last week. It has a great name, a good menu, and a beautiful interior. We ate a lot of things off the menu.

 

Cornbread, hush puppies, fries, pulled pork, nachos, ginger beer, mac n cheese.

All in all, it was good. But I would describe it as “white folks bbq.”

What does that mean, you ask. Well, it’s hard to describe – and it’s not really racially motivated – more like it’s cultural. The flavors were…subtle. Or you could call it lacking. I am used to bbq sort of hitting me over the head – or at least hitting me in the taste buds. Maybe I am biased, maybe I am a snob, but this is no Midwest BBQ.

I’m sure the lardoons (…um, it was bacon) in the mac n cheese were locally sourced and the corn chips in the nachos were organic,  but it left me super homesick.

Food Breakdown:

fries = perfect

hush puppies = overcooked and boring

pulled pork = underspiced and dry, bun was great

nachos = good

cornbread = interesting and good, honey butter was great

mac n cheese = lacking in flavor, but ingredients and texture were great

house made ginger beer = amazing, light and not sweet

sauce = good, needed a bit more umph

indian (dot not feather).

The mixologist and I shared a lovely dinner at Roti in Queen Anne a few nights ago. The food was good. Above standard Indian fare. It had a big menu and interesting choices. The naan was excellent, the green chutney was extremely enjoyable, and the service was nice. They claim to “grind fresh spices everyday” – and I would have to say that it did seem that way. All the flavors were fresh.

By far my favorite part of the place was the decor. There where a number of paintings, wood carvings, wall coverings, and chubby deities.

accidental caribbean.

 

 

 

 

 

On my way to the Book Larder – to check it out – I stopped across the street into a tiny little place with very little signage.

We had no idea what we were getting into. We stepped into Paseo. The menu was just a simple board with sandwiches, rice dishes, and entrees. All of it looked delicious. We were actually on our way to eat somewhere else, so we settled on one dish between us.

The winner was Fish in Red Sauce. Came over rice with a side of beans and a big salad of lettuce, thinly sliced cabbage, and cilantro. I thought the sauce was a bit sweet for my tastes – but everything was kind of exceptional.

My favorite part was how there were about 4 tiny tables and about 15 hungry people trying to negotiate the tiny space – I am partial to a small dining area – and I love when people like the food so much that they will crowd in the corner for a taste of it.