Sybaritic In Seattle

I have decided to upgrade to typepad, so this ol’ blog is moving…I will keep this one up for a month, but after that it will be gone into the ether!

new posts will be at this blog’s new home

http://sybariticinseattle.typepad.com

update your RSS!

I have been doing a lot of research into raw recipes as of late. It all started with a trip to Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe in the U. District. Where I was blown away by the flavor and life in my food. I felt so good after eating there that I have been on the lookout for more raw foods…raw recipes..raw blogs..raw ingredients, etc. Last night I was stuck with some beautiful organic salad greens, beets, purple carrots, and satsumas, So I decided a salad was in order. The amount of flavor that organic food has is just incredible. I recently started getting a box of organic produce and eggs from Full Circle Farms, and since then I have also been buying organic when I go to the grocery store as well. The other produce just seems like filler. Now, don’t get me wrong, There is good non-organic produce out there as well…but lately I have just found that the organic has twice as much flavor. When I can afford it, I buy organic. But I don’t have a moral leg to stand on most of the time as I usually have to go with the conventional. Anyway, here is the beauty of a salad I had last night. Made possible with the new food processor I bought myself with some Christmas money I got from my family.
Beet and purple carrot salad …aka Murder and Mayhem salad (from the color you know)

2-3 large beets or5-6 smaller ones

3 large purple carrots or 5-6 smaller ones

1/4 cup red wine vinegar (more to taste)

1tblsp agave nectar

1.5 tsp thyme

salt and pepper to taste

1-2 satsumas

1/4 c. raw walnuts

1/4 cup sultanas

1/2 to 1lb salad greens

wash and peel beets and carrots.

Shred with grater or food processor with the shredding blade.

Toss with the rest of the ingredients and spoon onto greens.

Enjoy!

(would also be amazing with goat cheese dollops)

Don’t ask how, don’t ask why….just buy some raw almond butter, slice a Medjool date…and fill cavity with the almond butter. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.

Pop in mouth.

Float to Nirvana.

I came across this fabulous product recently. Actually, I found it because I saw it mentioned on Yelp. It turns out a friend knows the inventors, and so of course I had to try it. Now, I put it on anything I can. You never know what will taste good with bacon flavor until you start trying things out. peas, mushrooms and kale, scrambled eggs, salad….it goes on and on. And this stuff is the real deal. I am a pescetarian, haven’t had real bacon since I was 8…that is 20 years this summer. And yes…I miss the flavor of a pigs butt. So, when I found Bacon salt…a vegetarian AND Kosher bacon flavored product…. I enarly wept with joy! Plus it actually does taste like bacon. This is not Bacos people, it is the real deal. Bacon salt, a product right from Seattle…from 2 food geniuses (in my humble opinion).

“We’re just two regular guys who love grilling and football on Sunday afternoons, eating until we can’t get off the couch and of course, the taste of great bacon. And it’s our dream to make everything taste like bacon.”

How perfect is that? And really…what a dream!

I love the stuff so much I gave it to my stepbrother and half sisters for Christmas. A vegetarian, and 2 previous Atkins dieters (serious meat eaters)…and all were amazed.

You can purchase it from their website, or go to Amazon.com

My favorite flavor is the Hickory, but they also have Peppered and Original…I personally hope they come out with a honey baked variety

Keep an eye out for future recipes…

I completed the Zane and Zack’s Honey Chipotle hot sauce challenge! I went over to the Ballard Farmer’s Market on Sunday, a very cold and rainy Sunday, and took the challenge. The challenge was to eat an 11oz. jar of their Honey Chipotle hot sauce in under 2 minutes. My personal test was to do it in under a minute, but I beat even that. 30 seconds. That’s right folks, 30 seconds. I have to admit, after the first 2 or 3 spoonfuls I was almost sick. The consistency, which is great on chips and as a marinade, does not lend itself nicely to spoon eating. Well, it does, as it is easily spoon-able…but thinking about what I was eating…it nearly undid me. Then I remembered the disclaimer I signed, promising to clean up any of my stomach contents that may be released…and I decided that was not the way I wanted to spend my day.

My prize? 2 jars of hot sauce. I chose the Honey Jalapeño and the Honey Chipotle. I am not keeping the latter for myself, it is incredibly good…but I have had enough of it for the time being.

While at the booth I was able to sample their new sauce. A roasted garlic habanero sauce..and oh my god was it good… they aren’t selling it on their site yet, they don’t even have a label on the bottle. But when it comes out you should snatch it up. Or if you are in the area, just stop by their booth at the Ballard Farmer’s Market, they are there every Sunday.

Maybe it is SAD…I am not sure, but reading Dorie Greenspan’s blog today I just felt a wee bit…well…sad. Oh it isn’t so much the SAD…it is really just that I am dying to travel. I have never been to France, and Paris just seems like my kind of city. Her blog (that I linked to) tells of her day at a Parisian market drinking champagne, and I just feel a stab of envy. I would give anything to live in Paris for a while…and oh god SICILY!

Sicily…I realized this week that I must be a long lost Sicilian. I was watching my beloved Anthony Bourdain, and he was in Sicily…this is the clip that clued me in..

Now…that sexy Sicilian film geek set off a light bulb in my brain at about 3:51…with the Sicilian way of looking at life…”You can die tomorrow, we are under a volcano.”

I love that. Experience the pleasure of life, because you don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Oh dear god, I am Sicilian!

And then he goes on…at about 5:29 Anthony says:

“You know a lot about wine and food.”

to which he replies,

“I’m sorry. I am from Sicily.”

Anthony: “So all Sicilians know a lot about wine and food?”

Sexy Sicilian Film Geek: “Wine, Food, Sex, Movies. Everything that is related to pleasure we know. It’s all about pleasure.”

…That is the entire point of me, of this blog. Serious light bulb moment. That completely described me..well not so much the wine part, as since I cannot afford the good stuff…I cannot learn about it…yet.

I just feel the need to travel, to experience…and unfortunately, right now the only way i can do that is vicariously. So I shall continue with my interweb travels, and watch my No Reservations, and wish I could be there. And while I cannot, I will still continue on my happy Sybaritic way…experiencing all the pleasure I can.

Oh and Mr. Sexy Sicilian film geek, if you are reading this…I would love to meet you. Perhaps share a cannoli.

Once again I have stuck my foot in my big mouth, and now I have to eat it. I was mouthing off, saying i could handle this hot sauce contest on a yelp forum, and what do you know…the owner of Zane & Zack’s Honey read the comment and has called my bluff. So, now I must defend my honor and consume an entire jar of their Honey Chipotle hot sauce in under 2 minutes. The prize? My dignity, and 2 jars of the heavenly hot sauce. Now, I am a bit of a chile-head, so I am not too worried. I am pretty confident actually. There is however a small amount of fear that I will shame myself. This will take place at high noon on January 6th at the Ballard Farmer’s Market. Wish me luck, and in the meantime go over to the Market or order some goodies from Zane & Zack’s. Not only is their hot sauce hot, but it tastes delicious.

I have heard about the benefits of raw foods for years, but have been skeptical about actual raw dishes. I even bought a book a while back Raw: The Uncook Book: New Vegetarian Food for Life but I never actually thought it would taste good. I thought it would be “good for you” and therefore I would pretend it actually tasted good, when reality it would be like eating wet sawdust. Well, I was wrong. I went to Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe today in Seattle’s University District and I was blown away. The food was TASTY, as in I WANT MORE. In fact, I am sitting here wishing I bought a slice of their Raw Carrot pie. This just means I will have to go back again. I really don’t know how they do it. Well I sort of do, as the book shows me. But I would MUCH rather have them do it as it is quite time consuming. I ordered the “Tunaless” salad Nicoise, and I also wish I had bought a container of the almond and sunflower seed “tunaless” part of it…as I could be eating it right now. I didn’t mis the tuna at all. I want their recipe for pickled sweet potato sticks, and marinated onions. I wish I could afford to eat there all the time, but I might just have to try to make some raw dishes myself…as this could become a habit.

Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe

4757 12th Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98105

206. 522.6966

Really, the best Vietnamese food I have ever had. Period. The name is Green Leaf, a small hole in the wall in Seattle’s International District, and I mean small. Since my first visit this past Summer I cannot go a day without thinking about it. I crave it. I truly mean that. Every single day I think of ways to get down there. Who can I have dinner with? Is there anyone I know who hasn’t been yet? And if I cannot come up with anyone…I go alone. It all started with their Lemon grass eggplant appetizer…

So tender it falls off the skewers, and so tasty I could have easily licked the plate had I been eating it in private. Instead I had to make due by drenching up the sauce with the cabbage garnish. Not a drop to be wasted here.

The Vegetarian fresh rolls were also the best I have ever had. I blame the fried spring roll wrapper that they have stuffed inside it. Who would have known?

And the thing is that every time I go here I order the SAME thing… because I cannot bring myself not to taste the wonder that is the Vegetarian Bun. Oh the heaven that passes through my lips. Oh god… how I wish I worked closer. It isFULL of tofu, marinated mushrooms, and vegetarian “ham” and is truly ambrosia.

I wish I could say that I discovered Green Leaf, but alas…many have come before me. In the small entryway there are framed news clippings, and even a photo of Mario Batali enjoying a meal inside the hallowed walls. While I was not the first, I count myself lucky enough to live in the city that is home to Green leaf.

Green Leaf

418 8th Avenue S

Seattle, WA 98104

(206) 340-1388

And I keep meaning to, but my life has been hectic, and I have also not been doing much “special” cooking. Unfortunately, being single, and on a weight loss plan hasn’t let me do the cooking I ordinarily would be doing. My food is generally boring, as I stick to the basics everyday.  I will have something soon, I promise. This weekend I am finishing up my apple butter and so sometime next week there should be something new to drool over.