Spokane Food Blog

The Spokane Craigslist for sale section includes more listings for food than I was expecting. Check out these items:

Farm Fresh Eggs $1

Dried Organic Apples $10

Hereford Beef $550

Californian Meat Rabbits $10

Black Grape Diet $49

Grain Fed Beef $2

Farm Fresh Fruit, Vegetables, Meat, Eggs, delivered, support local farmers $1

Extra Lean Yak Meat $5

Weight Loss Liquid or Capsule $6

I adapted this recipe from Recipe Zaar for an Afghan foods potluck.  I have also made this dish in Afghanistan but the cooking devices were much different from my kitchen. I did not use the green peppers (because I didn’t have time to run back to the store) and did not deep fry the eggplant. Instead, I heated the eggplant slices (with peel off) in a pan.  Then assembled the dish in a baking pan.  I placed a layer of the eggplant then covered it with a layer of the tomato and onion sauce and repeated this process. The dish was placed in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. I purchased the yogurt at International Food Store and added garlic.

Once the eggplant is out of the oven, scoop it on a plate and add a tablespoon of the yogurt sauce. This also tastes great cold after a night in the refrigerator.

Bouranee Baunjan tastes great with Kabli Pulao.

Ingredients

• 1 large globe eggplant
• salt
• oil (for frying)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon butter or ghee
• 1 large onion, sliced thinly
• 1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced thinly (optional)
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1 (14-15 ounce) can chopped tomatoes, with juice
• 1 cup strained yogurt (also known as yogurt cheese or “chakah”)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic, to taste
• salt, to taste

Directions

1. Clean the peel of the eggplant, then cut the stem off.
2. Cut into 1/2 inch thick slices (leaving the peel on).
3. Spread slices on a flat surface or tray and sprinkle generously with salt; let sit for 30 minutes, then dry well with paper towels.
4. In a skillet or pan melt the olive oil and butter together over medium low heat; sauté the sliced onion (and green pepper, if using) until nicely browned and slightly caramelized, then stir in the red pepper flakes.
5. Pour oil into a separate deep frying pan (one that has a lid) to cover the bottom of pan; over medium high sauté the eggplant slices on both sides until lightly browned.
6. As the eggplant slices are done, gently squeeze them with tongs to remove as much oil out of them as possible; discard extra oil.
7. Remove extra oil from the deep frying pan, then place one layer of eggplant slices on the bottom of the pan.
8. Place a bit of cooked onion on top of each slice; repeat with another layer of eggplant and cooked onion, until you’re out of slices and onion.
9. Pour the chopped tomatoes with their juice over the slices and onion, careful to not dislodge the onion too much.
10. Cover and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes, then remove cover and simmer another 5 to reduce the sauce a bit.
11. Combine the strained/drained yogurt, crushed garlic to taste, and salt to taste to make the chakah sauce.
12. When eggplant is done, remove from heat then carefully transfer the slices to serving dish (careful not to dislodge the toppings), then top each with a dollop of the chakah sauce.

This is a raw foods recipe (which is also gluten free and vegan) and is sure to please anyone without a nut allergy.  It might sound a bit strange but I encourage you to try this easy recipe during the holidays.

Judy’s Raw Foods Cake

adapted from Ani Phyo’s Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Cake Recipe

Cake:

3 cups walnuts

2/3 cup cacao powder

1 cup dates (pitted)

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup raspberries

In a food processor mix walnuts and cocoa powder.  Then add dates and salt and blend again.  Mush all the ingredients together and break into two sections. Line a pan (any shape about 8×8) with plastic wrap.  Place one 1/2 of cake mixture in the bottom of the pan.  Add a layer of mushed raspberries. Then take the second layer of cake mixture and form it on top of the raspberries. Set aside to add frosting.

Frosting:

1/3 cup dates (pitted)

1/4 agave syrup

1/3 cup cacoa powder

1 avocado

Mix the dates and agave in a food processor, then add the cocoa power and finally the avocado.  Frost your cake with the mixture and add whole raspberries in a decorative pattern to the top of the cake.

Alternatives:

Walnuts can be replaces with pecans or cashews. Raspberries can be replaced with any berry.

Need more instructions, just watch Ani make this cake on The View From the Bay.

Books are one of the best gifts, they are great for people of all ages and interests.  If you have any travel or food lovers to buy for, you should check out the National Geographic coffee table style book titled, Food Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 Extraordinary Places to Eat Around the Globe. It is on sale for $22.00 on Amazon and I am sure you can find it at Auntie’s Bookstore – next to Sante. The book includes beautiful photos of the best food regions in the world.  Culinary traditions are explained and recipes are provided.

My friend @granolamom has tried a variety of gluten free (GF) products.  So, I asked her for some tips on GF baking products.  This is what she had to say.

GF tips. I love Bob’s Red Mill. The mixes are great but his GF baking flour mix can be substituted in many recipes for regular flour. It’s awesome. Lately, I’ve been a fan of Mama’s Mixes especially her coconut blend for sweeter baking like cookies and such. I think the brands Glutino and Kinnikinnick generally make tasty products. I know Namaste is local and I would like to support them but honestly I don’t really care for their GF mixes. Cherrybrook Kitchen has some great sweet treats mixes like sugar cookies and vanilla cake. All that said I have yet to find a decent GF brownie mix. They just don’t measure up. Mostly I’ve had luck with taking a regular recipe and making my own substitute GF flour. Different flours are good for different things. Google is a great tool for this kind of thing. The magazine Living Without also has great ideas.

If you are interested in tips on natural cleaning products, natural hair and skin care products, gluten free lifestyle, breastfeeding, cloth diapers, and anything related to puppies or kids under 3, you might want to look her up on Twitter: @granolamom

Do you have an gluten free baking tips?

My friend posted this great soup recipe. Kohlrabi is definitely an under utilized vegetable so I thought it would be fun to try out this easy recipe.

Bohemian Kohlrabi Soup
Start to Finish: Approximately 30 minutes
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:
1/2 a giant Kohlrabi or 4 medium size Kohlrabi, cubed into 1/2″ pieces
4 Tbsp Butter
1 large Yellow Onion, finely chopped
3 medium size Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1/2″ pieces
1 quart Vegetable Broth
Salt and Pepper to taste
Flat Leaf Parsley

1. Finely chop the onion and begin to saute it in the butter which you have melted in a large pot over very low heat.
2. Meanwhile, cut off the outside skin of the kohlrabi and dice it into 1/2″ cubes. Add the kohlrabi to the onions in the pot with a few dashes of salt and saute them together for just a couple minutes. While they are sauteing, peel and dice the potatoes.
3. Add the entire quart of vegetable broth and the potatoes to the pot. Bring the soup to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down very low to reduce the boil to a simmer.
4. Add a dash or two of salt and your desired amount of pepper (taste as you go) and cover the pot to let the soup simmer on low heat for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes and kohlrabi are soft but not mushy.
5. Add more salt or pepper to your taste and about two handfuls of chopped flat leaf parsley. Stir the soup and let it cook for no more than another two minutes; ladle into bowls and serve.

One of these days I’ll get around to taking a photography class in hopes to improve my Kodak moments.  Until then here are some snapshots of food from Dubai, UAE.

mixed meat cooked on a skewer

Hummus with pine nuts, olive oil, and mix meat

Fresh mango juice

The ever popular American made Chili's Restaurant, set with 10-20 person tables to fit the entire family

Grocery store with a separate section for pork products

Q. Do know how to sell out a unique event in Spokane hosted on a Monday night?
A. Call the Spokane Vegans.

Last night, vegan cookbook author Sarah Kramer joined the Spokane Vegans at One World along with Chef Tony from Mizuna for a $20/ticket sold out event. Over 40 people were served a delicious meal prepared and served by the Spokane Vegans and friends (yes, that does include Spokane Food Blog). Chef Tony volunteered to make an amazing pumpkin soup and the main course of polenta with white beans, braised kale and roasted pears.

Here is my estimated demographic breakdown of the event:
- 20% Male
- 80% Female
- 75% people over the age of 40
- 5% people under the of 16

Wish you would have been there?  Well, this Sunday you can join the monthly Vegan potluck that will be hosted at the Really, Really Free Market from 2-3PM at the Peaceful Valley Community Center 214 N Cedar Spokane, WA 99201.

Seeing the success of the Spokane Vegan dinner, I think to concept of Jack’s: An Occasional Restaurant located in Brooklyn, NY would be well attended in Spokane. The restaurant is open one evening a month at a community art venue with commercial kitchen. It is great that One World was able to open their doors to Spokane Vegans to run their event.

Of course some Spokane restaurants already host special events like Jack’s in their own facility.  Latah Bistro provided an amazing vegetarian event, Sante hosts movies nights, speakers, and collaborates with local vendors for events, One World hosts their own guest chef nights, Eat Spokane potlucks, and Olive It Cafe hosts book reading events. I appreciate all of these groups taking on the risk to create these successful events in Spokane.

Riverside State Park Equestrian Area is perfect for horses (obviously) but it is also great for strollers.  It has wide trails and very few hills. While you are out and about you can pack one of Spokane Valley’s own vegan, organic, and gluten free Bumble Bars to munch on.

The Equestrian area is located on the west side of the Spokane River, a mile north of Spokane Falls Community College, just off Government Way.

Do you know a Sam(antha)?

If your name is Sam (or a version of that name) and you have always wanted to connect with another Sam, well, you are in luck.  My globe trotting, computer nerd, outdoors extremist, friend Sam is looking for you.  That’s right, Sam is looking for a lady also named Sam. So if you think it would be fun to meet Portland, OR based Sam, send an email or check out his profile here.