Urban Hiking, Pizza and a Pantry Challenge

In the beginning...

Soul Party

A Soul Party was thrown, and food was made. Specifically pizza galore. I used the previously posted dough recipe with a few variations. I used a self raising dough and added 1 egg per batch of dough. A variety of thicknesses of dough were made and both thick and thin were damn fine.

Pizza Margherita

Some other pizza with yummy toppings that was eaten

Sadly, there was an0ther pizza made, but it was eaten too quickly to be photographed. I can provide witnesses, if needed, to back this story up. I think the last one, the one not photographed, was the best.

The rest of the spread was delicious, some dried cured meats, olives, cheese, and wine were available as well as some very very fine soul music that was danced too.

The hostess also served Molly Moon's Ice cream and another guest made some killer brownies to go with it. I could have rolled out of that party and home I had so much food, and that was even after I danced some of it off.

Urban Hiking

What urban hiking may look like

Urban hiking has temporarily replaced my hiking in the rural wooded areas, and I recently went to take in all the local areas of natural wonder in my neck of the woods. And drink, of course.

What foraging for food on an urban hike may look like

However, I quickly realized how similar urban hiking is to real hiking. There is beauty in those fine crafted cement squares you walk on, the way the houses are laid out in the neighborhood, the fences may have been aligned many years ago when created but now lean this way and that way every so often giving it a lazy look almost as if on purpose. There is just as much art and beauty in the city as in the woods; one just need to look for it. Even if the house or fence or cement layer years ago was not aware of it, he was making art, and even probably at the deepest level of their being knew it.

What a natural source of wild refreshment may look like on an urban hike

After the last stop on my urban hike, I decided to walk back to my lair as it was a sunny day and the fresh air after all of my jubilation was more than likely needed (and in the end it proved to be not enough to counter the wild intoxication of the urban hike). I began my walk home and again found myself amazed at the local bounty of art and grand art in the makings of man. After cresting a hill on my way home, a view of the far off jagged horizon appeared. The mountains in the distance adding to the serene placid beauty I was already experiencing and surrounded by on my urban hike. As if the mountains were not there to counter the city, but to make it better in any way they could.

A Challenge Arises

The beginning of a pantry challenge meal

I was recently challenged my a friend who came upon my blog. The challenge was simple; make a great meal out of whatever was in the pantry. The catch was I did not get to know what was in the pantry until I arrived.

The sauce is about to me made

The host was going to cook some all organic grass feed free range steaks, which I had marinated in lime juice, garlic and beer. The pantry was well stocked (according to me, not the host), and I found quinoa, seaweed, and a host of spices and other goodness to make a sauce and side dish with. The garden out back had some delicate baby squash that was sauteed up in, what else, garlic, onions, butter, salt and pepper.

Garlic lemon quinoa with seaweed

The quinoa dish was easy enough. I prepared the quinoa as normal, added a few crushed and whole cloves of garlic, a few tablespoons of lemon juice, and a handfull of rough chopped seaweed.

The End Results

The sauce was made with a little peanut butter, lemon juice, olive oil, tumeric (the yellow) powder, red pepper flakes, garlic, salt, pepper, and mayo (I hardly ever use this terrible stuff, but it was just needed to help with the texture).

I also sauteed some baby carrots, red onions, garlic, and black olives that were generously topped upon the quinoa.

The end result was a great meal with things that the host already had in the pantry. I was pleased with myself in the end, but is always the case, found things to do different and more better next time.

Spanakopita and the Olympic Peninsula

I made some spanakopita on Friday as a snack for an all day Sunday exploration of the Olympic Peninsula. I was a little worried that after making them, and then freezing them, and then defrosting them in the car they would deteriorate into something less than edible. They did taste and smell great right out of the oven, but the real test would be the road trip on Sunday.

On some Saturday mornings I make a brunch meal for some friends of mine, this past Saturday was one such day. I wanted to make french toast using brioche bread, but being the consummate procrastinator, I ended up using some fresh baked french bread from a local grocery instead.

I made a caramel sauce from scratch, using 2 cups sugar, 2tbs butter, a shot of cacao liqueur, about a half cup of brown sugar, and some heavy whipping cream. The stove I happened to be using that day was of the electric variety, and it has two available cooking temperatures: off and supernova.
Melting the sugar into liquid without burning it was challenging, and even though it did not burn it had many hard crystal hunks in it. For a very brief moment I thought about throwing it out and starting over, but then I decided to put it in a blender and blend those crystal hunks out. It worked out fairly well, leaving only very small pieces left over that acted as little intense flavor crystals in the caramel sauce. It was delicious!

For the french toast frying dip, I used eggs, cultured butter milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and soda, and a little sugar. I whipped it all together in the blender, put it in a bowl and set it aside until I was ready to use it.

I toasted some walnuts in a dry pan, sliced fresh bananas and made fresh whipped cream to top it with.

As a side dish, I sauteed onions and garlic in butter and then made scrambled eggs. I had some coffee with mine.



Later that day, after some drinking and karaoke, I added some salt to the left over caramel sauce and dipped some left over walnuts in as a late night snake. If you have ever had salted caramel, this was just like that (but in my very humble and biased opinion, way better! Well, except maybe for this).

Sunday came, and it was a rainy day in Washington, well at least on the peninsula. I got to be the driver, which is a rare treat for me these days, while the owner of the car got to have a very nice lazy Sunday nap ride on a overcast day, all warm wrapped up in a blanket. It was supposed to be a sight seeing day, but the overcast weather was hardly cooperating. We took a lunch break in Port Angeles at a Mexican place, it was rather nice even if the place had very over sanitized restrooms. There was also a store, Curtis Interiors, that had a large golden elephant as the mascot. That makes two recent times out I have seen this mythical magical beast in some form, sort of a trend don't you think? What in the world could this possibly mean?

The Golden Elephant

While I did have a rough plan of visiting the Sol Duc mineral hot springs, the cold rain was not having any of that. So I had to audible to another plan, which was just go to the coast. However, on the way I saw a turn for Cape Flattery and thought that would be a nice alternative. So I took it.

A view of what Cape Flattery may look like on a clear day

The road ran through a few small towns, a few stinky bays, and hugged the north coast of the peninsula and reminded me of the road to hana on Maui. Painfully slow and curvy, but very intense in cinematic scenary at the same time.

It was a very poor audible on my part. The end of the road still had a 3/4 mile trail to hike to get to the actual view. The trail was very muddy from the copious amounts of recent rain, I was wearing flipy flopies, and my co-pilot was on doctors orders to refrain from hiking. So we had the spanakopita as a snack.

This was it, the moment of truth and dread I was waiting for. Would they be plain tasting spinach wrapped in soggy phyllo? Or would they be edible? After the first bite we knew, they were still tasty and somewhat flaky; completely and totally edible. Success!

The trip back home was just as good if not better. Lots of Neil Diamond on the playlist, and I got to become reacquainted with the Thompson Twins (which oddly enough came on right after we spotted a double rainbow in the sky that was for the moment clear.)

We made our way to Port Townsend, where after a momentary lapse of recollection, we made our way to the Water Street Ale House for a drink and dinner.

We orderd dinner (I had the seafood chowder while my co-pilot had the mac and cheese) and we both ordered the in house brewed beer called Swag light (which was much more like non-light disgusting blah). The food was at least passable; my chowder was more like thin flavored sea broth than anything else. The mac and cheese was redeemable only in the fact the elbow pasta was done to perfection and was in a very thin but great tasting garlic sauce.

We set course for the ferry at Kingston, to take us back to our homes. After a long day, the gentle rocking of the speeding ferry cross the water at night was the perfect background for the story of "The Miserable Withering Richard the Wretched and the Kingdom of Happiness". But that is a story for another time (like after I edit it a few good times).

Pretty Lanterns at the Water Street Pub.

Mt. Pilchuck and Red Sauce

"The Hike"

I hiked up Mt. Pilchuck this past weekend, if you have never been, the view is spectacular, usually. If you go, check the forecast, or at least be aware of the fact that there may be a limited view or no view at all. The hike itself is great, the view would have been incredible. I did however find some things along the way. Such as...



This Elephant looking tree about a third of the way up on the left hand side of the trail. It seemed to be a good omen.


And here is a pic of the "view" from the top. In spite of all the clouds, it was pretty epic being on top with all the clouds whipping by, with small glimpses of the surrounding landscape opening and closing with the changing winds.


One of my favorite things about hiking is the free food, like these huckleberries.

I still do not understand why they are not as popular as blueberries.

I got lost on the way to the trail head of this hike...twice, and was behind schedule all day. I at least had the fore sight to make some red sauce and pizza sauce the day before.

"The Red Sauce"

I made it all from scratch save for a small can of tomato paste. I blanched and pealed the tomatoes, put them in a blender, pushed them through a fine mesh strainer.

In a sauce pan I had butter, olive oil, garlic, shallots, half a seeded and diced jalapeno and poblano, and onions (red and white) sauteed. A half cup of red wine to de-glaze the pan. Then I added the fresh tomato sauce.

Fresh rosemary, thyme, basil, salt, pepper, and dried oregano also joined the party.

To go along with the red sauce and pasta, I sauteed green beans with garlic and onions and tossed it all in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, as you can probably tell by my prior postings, a summer time favorite of mine. I also made a batch of sauteed onions, garlic and mushrooms in a butter red wine reduction, with fresh thyme. (Also another favorite of mine).

Here is what the end result looked like. (That is fresh cilantro on top.)



"The Pizza Sauce"

I reserved some of the red sauce to use as a base for a pizza sauce. I added fennel seeds and a half cup of paremesean cheese and cooked it down some, and added some more pureed fresh tomatoes. I used the red sauce that same night, but the pizza sauce was used the next day, and after a day of all those flavors mingling together the sauce was incredible. I mean I had some high expectations, but this sauce was pretty durn good.

I have a pizza crust recipe that I want to share also, but I can not find it now. It is a great vegan pizza dough recipe, and as soon as I find it I will share it with you all. (updated, see below!)


A friend of mine commented about my entry about Delancey's and suggested I try Apizza Scholls in Portland. I had a slice delivered to me (never mind you how, just know that I have my ways) and although it was a road trip less fresh, it was pretty good. Good enough to warrant a road trip to try it fresh.


9/3/2009 update...the pizza dough. Use this for one pizza about 14inches, depending on how thin you roll it.

1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cup warm water
2 tsp sugar
2 pkg (or 2 T) active dry yeast
Add together in mixer and let bloom 2-3 minutes.

Add: 2 cups all purpose flour, beat.
Add: 2 tsp salt, 1 T red wine vinegar, 1 T olive oil

Continue to beat/knead and add additional flour as needed until dough is firm, attached to kneading device, and only slightly sticky to touch. Place in oiled bowl, cover and proof for about 1 hour.

Delancey 2

So I made to Delancey on Wednesday, must have got there about 530ish or so and there were a few open tables, lucky me!

I sat down after riding my bike there (I rode right past it one time, it is unmarked on the outside as far as I can tell. But from reading the blog and seeing the photos of the place, I recognized it as I swung back around), hungry and thirsty. I was quickly served and ordered a water, a Chuckanut Helles, and a Padron pizza.

As you can see by my picture, I destroyed that thing! It was fairly easy to do, I mean the pizza was by far, the best I have ever had, period. I know some of you have tried the pizza that I make, and said it was good. While I agree about that, compared to this creation above, there is no competition. This makes my pizza look and taste like a generic frozen pizza from the grocery.

The crust was a combination of a light and chewy goodness, just done enough to hold it together in the middle while the outside edge was burnt to just the right level of crispness. I found it provided a very nice flavor spectrum while eating a slice from the middle to the crust. The tomato sauce (I am guessing it was home made) was light and fresh, providing the perfect amount of acidity and palate balance. The cheese was also portioned perfectly. Just enough to melt and provide a salty stringy bight, but not enough to drown out all the other delicious flavors. The peppers were not too hot and brimming with a nice smokey flavor.

I look forward to going back and trying other pizza's and dishes. This pizza place is a big hit, get there and see for yourself.

fyi, the rest of that pizza and beer perished after I took the photo. They are survived by a very satisfied biker.

Delancey and a dinner from meager cupboards

Those of you who are local foodies in the Seattle area no doubt know about Molly, her book and blog and now the pizza her and her husband make @ Delancey's.


I have not been there, yet, having just only been recently introduced to all of this goodness at Delancey's, but all the reviews have been amazing.

I was most moved by the reviewer who mentioned how great it was to not only have great pizza but also great cookies at the same place. This struck near and dear to my old heart. You see, I have been cooking, baking and trying my best to make great food for, well, I guess my whole life, but more seriously over the course of the last year or so as it has also been my source of income. I liked nothing more than to make a pizza on Sunday night to bring to band practice and have everyone be thoroughly satisfied and amazingly happy with the experience. Same thing with making cookies.

Some cookies I have made that have been a hit are blueberry chocolate chip cookies, coconut macadamia pineapple cookies, and a spicy Aztec super food cookie that had a always changing ingredients list. These recipes will follow in a later blog update called "The Cookies".

When I read that this new and fascinating place made both of these staples, I knew that I needed to try it. And soon enough I will, I have plans to visit on Wednesday.

So today I fixed my bike that has been in disrepair for the last two months needing new brakes. To celebrate I rode it about 16 miles from Woodinville to Montlake, everything went smooth but I can tell there has been a slight drop off in my aerobic capacity.
When I got to my destination, I was immediately called into duty as a cook. This is not an uncommon thing, and I do not mind at all, really. I like to cook and find pleasure in it always.
So what I had to work with, some would call sparse and minimal, but all I could see were the endless possibilities.

So this is what I made:

Sauteed onions and garlic in butter, carrots, celery and red kidney beans with spices and Couscous with garlic, spices, and lime juice.



I also made this nice fresh salad to accompany the main dish: granny smith apple, english cucumber, vine ripened tomatoes with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lime juice.



All dishes were also seasoned with salt and fresh cracked pepper. It turned out to be a rather filling and fresh meal. One friend called it a California Farm fresh throw together meal, whatever that means, although I think it was a compliment.

The flavors were great, not over power by the lime juice (I only used 3 of those 4 halves in the picture). I made the Couscous as normal, with some dried cilantro and dried oregano, and 3 whole garlic cloves, salt and pepper.

The frying pan for 1/4 stick of butter, melted, 2 small white onions, 5 garlic cloves minced, 3 celery stalks, 3 small carrots, and after that all sauteed until it was all done, a can of drained red kidney beans was added until the beans were heated through.

The salad was really simple (on a side note I have re-fallen in love with Balsamic Vinegar, or at the very least I have been reminded why I fell in love with her in the first place.)

One granny smith apple, 3 vine ripe tomatoes diced, half of an english cucumber (quartered), olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, fresh cracked pepper, and lime juice.

I am not really sure what else to say about this meal; it was fresh, good, simple, and made with things that were all available to me. I get crazy when offered challenges like this, but I at least get to pick and choose what I want to use. Those poor bastards on that semi mediocre Food Network show "Chopped" do not get to choose at all, and that is why I would never go on that show.

Or actually, I take that back. I would totally own that show.