Red Mill Burgers

Red Mill. Located in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood.

Today, Zack and I were in Seattle. What better time would there be to stop at Red Mill? I got the chicken club burger and Zack got the bacon deluxe with supposedly, the greatest onion rings ever. I'm not a huge onion ring fan, but Zack is, so that is a big deal. And I have to say, even I (the not so big of an onion ring fan) think they are alright. ;) Anyways, the greatest thing about the chicken club burger is the basil mayo. Delicious. And the bacon involved is black pepper bacon, which is incredible. And I'm salivating.

As Zack and I are sitting on bar stools mauling our burgers, I say (with a huge mouth full), "this is the greatest chicken burger I have ever had." I have been to Red Mill twice, and I recall saying the exact same thing last time I was there. Zack has been to Red Mill three times, and he confirmed that every time he has been there he has thought "this is the greatest burger I have ever had." Now we all know that we have caught ourselves saying "this is the greatest (fill in the blank here)" numerous times about numerous foods. But was it, really? Or were you just really hungry at that moment? Did the place just feel super cozy and you were feeling the love you've been looking for? Was it just exactly what you were craving? Was it just the amusing group of friends you were sharing the moment with? Maybe it was one of those things, but was it really the best? Ever?

We say, probably not. For something to truly be the greatest ever it has to be the best on numerous occasions during which you are in different situations. Whether you're craving it or not, whether you just aced the interview or got "let go," whether you are by yourself or with your friends, whether you're having a good hair day or bad hair day....you get the picture. According to this theory, it can be said that Red Mill more than likely has the greatest burgers ever. Period. (Plus it helps that they've been mentioned on the Food Network and in magazines and such other jazz. You know how it is.)

Check it out by clicking here: Red Mill Burgers

Curried Chicken and Rice Soup

Dinner last night. We had carrots, chicken stock, onion, rice, and dill on hand. A trip to the store for chicken and curry powder, and the recipe was basically complete.

Combine the chicken, carrots, bay leaf, and a pinch of salt in a saucepan. Add stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for about 20 minutes. In another saucepan, heat a little butter and add onion, a little sugar and salt, and cook until onion is soft (and soft it was). I've learned my lesson finally. Add curry powder, rice, and more stock. Increase heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove chicken, shred it, then return it to the saucepan it was in. Then use a blender or immersion blender to puree the rice mixture. Combine the two saucepans' contents, add herbs, and it's complete!

This soup was really delicious and comforting. Kind of like the soup you would want if you were sick in bed. Or not sick. Either way it would be good. And the curry smells SO good. Zack was pleased when he came home to a curry-scented kitchen.

And the herb and cheese oven fries appear once again. They were just so incredibly tasty the first time, and we still had more potatoes to use up. I know everyone loves mashed potatoes, but because everyone loves mashed potatoes, you tend to have them a lot and I don't want to get tired of them, so I like to roast or bake them fries-style. Plus, I think oven baked fries remind me of the "chips" we had in New Zealand. They were so good then, and they're so good now.

Well, we are having leftover soup today and we're going to Oregon this weekend. So the recipes may be limited, but I have a couple good ones in mind. More to come soon! Cheers.

Chicken Cutlets/Espresso Ice Cream

Dinner tonight? Chicken cutlets with sausage, zucchini, and red wine gravy. Definitely, my most hectic cooking excursion yet: three skillets, three pyrex dishes, and a baking rack. Now imagine that...all at the same time. Not to mention the ingredients involved. It was like Thanksgiving or something.

The cutlets are covered in a bread-crumb mixture with cornmeal, orange zest, parmigiano, and rosemary. Though incredibly tasty, I have a bread, walnut, parmigiano mixture in mind that I would like to try next time. I think it might be healthier. The vegetable side involved here consists of onion, red bell pepper, garlic, zucchini, and thyme. Very fresh and delicious. 

Now, the espresso ice cream. Our first adventure with the Kitchen Aid ice cream maker. I never thought I would make homemade ice cream. I mean, I absolutely love ice cream. Ice cream is one of my favorite foods, but it always seemed too complicated to actually make. Well, that is no longer a problem here. 

The recipe belongs to Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. It is the ice cream she leaves in the freezer for her husband, Jeffrey, before leaving him on his own for the evening. Now she left him dinner also, but he just goes straight for the ice cream and proceeds to spoon it directly out of the container. Before dinner. That's how good this is. And that is what happened to Zack and I earlier today. After we spilled the ground coffee that is. I don't know what it is about the ground coffee. I spilled it partially into the dishwasher a week or so ago, and now we dump it on the kitchen counter and floor. From now on, we handle the ground coffee with care; none of this nonchalant, carefree business. 

We did limit ourselves to just a couple spoonfuls (I don't know how) and saved up for a bowl of this gem after dinner. Espresso ice cream with chunks of chocolate covered espresso beans. Does it get any better than that, coffee lovers? Zack gives this a 9.5/10. And he's a pretty good food critic. He is also a good sous chef. And food photographer. Whose cooking blog is this...? :)   

Turkey Burgers with Heirloom Tomato and Basil Salad

What to do on a pleasant summer evening? Grill. And that's what Zack did last night. I prepared the burger fixings and a lovely (if I do say so myself...) heirloom tomato salad.

It all started with a trip to the always wonderful Central Market in Mill Creek. It is a grocery shopper's dream...aside from the fact that I haven't been there enough times to know where things are. Aisle by aisle we go. I'll just say, Central Market is like a Whole Foods; so nutritious and delicious. However, it is kind of bigger and better in some ways. More diverse. There are vegetables I have never seen before. As Zack says, it is "like Whole Foods on steroids." I mean, there's practically a whole Asian market inside Central Market. And there's live seafood galore. I like to just watch the crabs pinch and crawl all over one another. It's like an aquarium. Who doesn't want to visit an aquarium, a farm, a winery, and Asia during their grocery shopping trip?


These turkey burgers were amazing. So juicy and flavorful. Ground turkey with Panko bread crumbs, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne, extra-virgin olive oil, salt and fresh ground pepper. And that's not the end. Top the burger off with some grilled red onion underneath a lovely slice of melted provolone cheese. Wonderful, I tell you, wonderful. The heirlooms are simply special because they are heirlooms. Those colors are so inviting. We just drizzle the tomatoes with extra-virgin olive oil, then sprinkle on some fresh basil and a pinch of salt.

Now that I've got some recipes down to get this blog going, I am caught up and ready to write as I cook. P.S. There is some homemade espresso ice cream in the freezer right now...we're just waiting for it to freeze to the perfect consistency. Stay tuned. You can be sure to catch a glimpse of that ice cream here later.

Pasta with Lentils, Spinach, and Leeks.

Power Foods struck again on Friday. Okay, spinach struck again; a seemingly ever-occurrent vegetable in our fridge. I was very proud of this recipe simply because I had all the ingredients on hand. Well, everything but the thyme, which Zack kindly picked up from Trader Joe's on his way home from work.

What to do? Cook french lentils with garlic and a bay leaf; cook a tubular pasta; saute more garlic, leeks, and thyme in extra-virgin olive oil; add the spinach and reserved pasta cooking liquid; lastly, pour the whole mixture over pasta. And you can be sure a little salt and freshly ground pepper are in the mix as well. Always.

First of all, one thing I'm learning is to taste/try as you cook. Sure, it will more than likely be great if it smells good, but test tasting helps you to make sure things are cooked the way you want them to be (a.k.a. the leeks are soft and not marginally crunchy). I've made the mistake with onions before also. Third time is the charm; I will be test tasting from now on. Secondly, Zack and I seem to have all this regular pasta on hand, but this recipe definitely calls for whole-wheat pasta. Of course. This is Power Foods! It's the healthy version. Which we should probably be turning to if we are going to continue eating as much pasta as we have been lately.

Lesson learned? Let those leeks and onions sweat it out long enough to soften a little. And maybe start using more whole-wheat pasta. And I just have to say, the best part of this recipe is the way the pasta just naturally fills up with the little lentils. In other words, not only have you made a sort of pasta salad. You have made lentil-stuffed pasta. How fancy are you?

Polenta and Spinach Soup with Herb and Cheese Oven Fries

Power Foods. 150 delicious recipes with the 38 healthiest ingredients. I like using recipes from this cookbook because I know they are good for me. Weird, sometimes? Yes. But healthy and nutritious? That they are. And just to clarify, the soup is from the Power Foods book, not the cheese oven fries. However, the fries are simply sliced potatoes drizzled in extra-virgin olive oil with oregano, some everyday seasoning, and of course...salt and pepper. Parmigiano makes up the cheesy part. These fries could be powerful too; I'll let you decide that.

Anyways, the soup. It originated in northeast Italy. You may be beginning to see a trend here; I love Italian. So the soup is actually super simple. Heat extra-virgin olive oil and garlic, add water, bring to a boil, and add cornmeal in a steady stream. Then you want to reduce the heat and cook until the soup thickens slightly. More olive oil and parmigiano, then stir in the spinach.

Simple, but surprisingly good! I have to be honest...I only made this recipe because we had LOADS of spinach between our fruit/vegetable box we get every two weeks and some leftover from a previous recipe. And we had cornmeal on hand. However, it was a pleasant surprise. Zack thinks it would be a good appetizer soup. I agree. And now I know that you can make soup out of extra-virgin olive oil. Alrighty then.

Shish Kebabs with Spanakopita Orzo

Zack is also a good cook; he taught me a lot of the basics. Okay, he has essentially provided an alternative to my never-deviate-from-the-recipe or look-up-how-to-cut-an-onion-online techniques. I usually let Zack do the grilling on our little mini Weber. It's probably safer that way. Not that sticking to the kitchen is any safer. I've managed to burn myself a few times already during my cooking endeavors. Just minor ones though.


So this time, I was just making the orzo. We'll leave grilling for later, when I am more advanced. Onion, garlic, spinach, and feta are what make this orzo great. So green and lovely with the sharp bite of the feta. And if you don't have a food processor to puree your spinach, apparently, your blender can work just as well. Making use of what you have is a good thing. :)

Three-Bean Pasta e Fagioli

Pasta e fagioli. What does that mean? Apparently, "pasta and beans." When I look for a recipe, I usually look for one that requires some of the ingredients that I already have on hand. This time, it was the beans; green beans, cannellini beans, and chickpeas. This recipe is a hearty soup; heavy on the vegetables, beans, and ditalini, but light on the chicken stock. Onion, garlic, and fresh rosemary give it an I-must-eat-you scent, and the grated Pecorina Romano cheese just tops it off. Lesson learned? Pasta and beans together isn't weird...it's Italian. And delicious.