Friday Food Photos - Columbia City Farmers Market

Columbia City Farmers Market has become my favorite neighborhood market in Seattle. Next to Columbia Park and just east of the heart of Columbia City's main strip, it's a great place to buy some local organic strawberries......

......and a wide variety of heirloom tomatoes.

If you want to make a salad, there's no better place to buy lettuce than from Let Us Farms who were featured in an article from USA Today.

And I hope you come with an appetite because this talented chef sets up Shophouse here every week.....

.....bringing "food off the path" dishes devoted to the craft of traditional Thai cuisine.

While you're eating your food, you can listen to live folk music.

Finally, before you go home, don't forget to pick up some fresh baked goods from Columbia City Bakery. 

I hope I see you sometime at the Columbia City Farmer's Market on Wednesday evenings from 3-7This photo taken by Alexander Chamas

For more photos of Columbia City Farmers Market, pay a visit to Alexander Chamas' photo blog. 

Wedding Gifts and Recipes: Tomato Sauce with Olive Oil and Chopped Vegetables

The best part of getting married in this day of age is that most wedding gifts are now delivered straight to your door. What started as a trickle of gifts from time to time opened up to a full on flood of packages that quickly filled our small apartment.

In our already cluttered kitchen and space, we weren’t sure how we were going to make room for all the new wares. We had to take a hard deep look at our apartment inventory and decide what to get rid of. We had silly arguments just to try and keep that trusty old pot that made pasta countless times over the years or that souvenir mug that commemorates riding the rail one night at a college bar.

At first, Abbie wanted to keep all her stuff and I wanted to keep all of mine. I even conspired with Abbie’s sister in hopes of getting rid of a Chez’s Lounge that has seen its better days and is a tetanus shot waiting to happen. For those keeping score, we kept the Chez’s Lounge and it’s really quite comfortable as long as you avoid those pesky springs sticking out. 

Every couple moving in together needs to go through that discussion of what stays and what goes. Lucky for Abbie and I, we smoothly worked things out, unlike the wagon wheel scene in When Harry Met Sally.

All-Clad and Calphalon replaced Ikea and hand-me-downs and our kitchen became even more of a playroom with all the new toys. Gift cards bought us a new food processor while cold cash bought us a new kitchen table. We pour our wine in one of our many new Riedels and eat off our new AND MATCHING tableware.

I haven’t had time to play with all of our new gadgets and I waited until recently to use our new food mill that our friends Pete and Carrie gave us. We also used the Le Creuset Dutch oven from my sister, Tricia. Our good friend, Lindsay gave us the cookbook Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking and that’s where I found the following vegetarian recipe for Tomato Sauce with Chopped Vegetables and Olive Oil.

This recipe captures the sweet summer flavors of ripe tomatoes and has a confetti of chopped vegetables. Throw it over some pasta and enjoy!

Tomato Sauce with Olive Oil and Chopped Vegetables

Adapted from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan

2 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes, or 2 cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up with their juice.

2/3 cup chopped carrot

2/3 cup chopped celery

2/3 cup chopped onion

Salt

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 to 1.5 pounds pasta

Preparing the tomatoes: There are two ways to prepare fresh tomatoes for sauce. I chose the food mill method, not because it produces a silkier, and smoother sauce but because I wanted to use my new food mill for the first time.

The Blanching method: Plunge the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute or less. Drain them and, as soon as they are cool enough to handle, skin them, and cut them in coarse pieces.  

The Food Mill Method: Wash the tomatoes in cold water, cut them lengthwise in half, and put them in a covered saucepan. Turn on the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Set a food mill fitted with the disk with the largest holes over a bowl. Transfer the tomatoes with any of their juices to the mill and puree.

Put either the prepared fresh tomatoes or the canned in a saucepan, add the carrot, celery, onion and salt, and cook with no cover on the pan at a slow, steady simmer for 30 minutes. Stir from time to time.

Add the olive oil, raise the heat slightly to bring to a somewhat stronger simmer, and stir occasionally, while reducing the tomato to as much of a pulp as you can with the back of the spoon. Cook for 15 minutes, then taste and correct for salt. 

 

A Touching Hospital Nursing Story

 {EAV_BLOG_VER:6b2a8ba3c27ff2a6}

One night, I walked into a patient’s room to answer a blinking call light. There rested a patient who I knew from helping the night before. I couldn’t help but notice that there was no longer a feeding tube running down the patient’s nose. 

“There’s something different about you.” I told her.

“Excuse me?” she sleepily answered.

“There’s something different about you today” I repeated as I gestured with my hands an imaginary feeding tube.

“Oh!” she perked, “I passed my swallowing test today. I can eat again!” she said as a smile spread across her face. “When they pulled the tube, I begged my mom to go down and get me some cafeteria coffee!” she giggled alongside her hopeful mother lying next to her.

“When you get home from the hospital, what’s the first thing you’re going to eat?” I asked her.

“Spaghetti!” she gleefully responded.

I walked away feeling very happy for this patient knowing that she regained the ability to eat.

It made me wonder what food I would first eat if I ever was temporarily robbed the capacity to bite, chew, taste, and swallow.

I’ve always said that I would have a gyros sandwich. When I was in little league, my dad and I had an agreement that he would take me out for gyros after baseball games if I had a base hit. Whether I had a hit or went 0 for 4, we’d still go to Johnny's Red Hots in downtown Lisle, Il for a post-game gyros. He knew it was my favorite food as a kid.

What food would you eat? 

Friday Food Photos - Mt St Helens Road Side Diners

One of my favorite things about road trips in the Pacific Northwest are the countless family run, mom and pop, road side diners. They offer a sort of character and charm that only can be found in small town USA. Many are out of the reach of cellphone service and can't be looked up by Yelp or Urbanspoon. You just have to take the risk and head on in. That's what we did, and we weren't dissapointed. 

Patty's Place at 19 Mile House is off of Highway 504 on the way to Johnston Ridge Observatory. Its scenic riverside views and homemade cobbler are what bring in hungry road trippers such as ourselves. 

Cougar is the last town before entering the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The Cougar Bar and Grill acts as a tavern popular to both locals and travelers that sits just across from the last gas station in town off of Highway 503. In addition to their great location, great food such as the Halibut and Chips and their French Dip sandwich with handcut potato chips populate their tavern based menu. Tee shirts reading "I got ripped at The Cougar Bar and Grill" are also on sale. 

Campfire Rib Eye Steak and an Emotional Breakdown

> In the month since our wedding, my work schedule has not coincided at all with my wife’s workschedule. We’ve been working opposite 12-hour nights resulting with very little time off together. Finally, a nice stretch of 7 days off was in the books and we were sure to make the most of it. Sunday, we planned on a two night camping trip to Mt St Helens with just the two of us. 

Leah, one of my closest friends since the 4^th grade, was also having a 30^th birthday/farewell party on Sunday in West Seattle. After 6 years of living in Seattle, she’s getting ready to pack up and head back to Chicago for the next chapter of her life. It was both an emotional and hectic day between Leah’s party, packing for the camping trip, and 3 hours of driving ahead of us.

After a couple of hours on the beach complete with hugs and tears, we finally hit the road around 4:45 pm with a goal to find a campsite before nightfall. The drive was long and beautiful and we finally made it to the town of Cougar, Wa where we stopped to buy firewood and fill up with gas.

The roads past Cougar are forest service roads that are full of turns, scenic lookouts, big elevation gains, and cliffs. It was getting darker as every moment passed. Here on this road, we had to make a decision of which campground to seek out. Our original plan was safer but further away. Abbie read about a campground that was closer, harder to find, but potentially more rewarding. After debate, we turned around and backtracked to go with the high risk but high reward campground.

Deeper into the woods and higher up the mountain we went. Roads turned from paved to gravel, much like the surface of the moon with plenty of craters and potholes. We grew more anxious about finding the site and it was twilight lighting at best. Along with being somewhat freaked out about our situation, I was getting very hungry, and I couldn’t wait to grill my steak that was waiting for me in the cooler.

In the shadow of Mt St Helens, along forest road 8122 and the Toutle River, we finally found our campsite. Big, spacious, surrounded by forests with the sounds of the nearby river, it was worth the risk.

We happily set up camp. Abbie built the tent and set up our sleeping bags while I built a fire. I then pulled out our cooler and cooking supplies. Like my parents dining room table, our steaks were beautifully marbled. Veins of fat stretched throughout the bright red meat. I seasoned with salt and pepper and gave it a little time while I cut some potatoes and onions. The moment of campfire grilling, eating and relaxing is almost here.

I then went through every inch of our Honda CRV to learn that we left the charcoal at home. I looked and looked again in denial that I would forget something as important as charcoal.“WE FUCKING FORGOT THE CHARCOAL!” I furiously howled under the full moon.

But where there’s fire, there’s food. If a caveman can figure it out, then me and my Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree can make a steak using the tools I had over a wood fire. Managing heat was the first element needed. The wood fire burning was rather young with only a small handful of glowing embers to develop. Embers would be needed to find that perfect amount of heat that will achieve a seared surface and medium rare middle. The flames from the bonfire were clearly too hot to make a steak.

Next was the cooking surface. Do I use a cast iron skillet over the fire, or do I use rocks to prop up the grill grating next to the fire and use embers as a heat source? I found that the cast iron skillet rests comfortably on the roof of the log house fire. I poured some oil on the skillet and threw in some sliced potatoes. It didn’t take long for the potatoes to completely char. A moment later, all the oil in the cast iron went up in a tower of flames lighting up the entire campground. Meanwhile, steaks for dinner seemed more and more unattainable.

I then carefully placed the cast iron on the makeshift grill that was propped up with 3 rocks next to the fire. The grill wobbled and clearly was unstable for placing anything on it, let alone a priceless piece of rib eye steak. I tried moving the rocks to stabilize the grill, only to burn my fingertip in the process. In hopes to accelerate the formation of embers, the fire was dying, and we only had so much wood left to last through the night.

With my scorched fingers, dying fire, empty stomach and exhausted body, my inner St Helens blew its top. I kicked the cast iron with charred potatoes across the campground, slammed some wood on the ground, stormed around the campground cussing every profanity that I knew as I threw my fleece. I grabbed the bottle of recently opened wine and poured a large amount in my cup and fell into our camping chair next to my concerned wife. “Liquid lunch tonight” I gasped as I took a swig from my cup of wine.

Abbie wisely walked away. I sat there alone with myself as I thought about my behavior and how unacceptable it is. Camping in the middle of nowhere is supposed to be relaxing and a place of solace away from all the bullshit of work and everyday life. It’s not somewhere to explode in a rant of anger and frustration. I then sat in a pool of regret and personal insecurity. How could anyone love a man who acts like this? How did anyone marry a guy who acts like a 4 year old and kicks a cast iron skillet across a campground?

At that point, Abbie emerged from the woods. “I’m sorry” I sincerely apologized.

“I admire your perseverance, but you’re 30 years old!” Abbie lectured. We sat by the fire talking about our future and how it will not include angry behavior such as the one displayed just moments ago.

Meanwhile, we were still hungry. Glowing embers have developed during the past several minutes and I was able to shovel some under the now stabilized grill grating. The heat under the grating was equivalent to a medium high heat on a grill. It’s ready. I threw the steak on with the satisfying sizzling sound. We’re eating steaks tonight.

Several minutes went by and I checked our steak, only to find that there was barely any sear on the surface of the meat. “Why don’t you use both the cast iron skillet and finish on the grill?” Abbie suggested. Genius idea.

I propped the skillet back on the roof of the fire with a little oil. It didn’t take long for it to be hot. I threw my steak on the smoking skillet for just a few seconds and flipped it. Shining my headlamp on the steak, I found it perfectly seared. I finished searing the other side and threw it back on the grill to finish. Moments later, we were biting into a tender and juicy medium rare steak with flavors that only a wooden fire and a complete emotional breakdown can provide.