What does a starving student cook when the pantry’s paltry offerings are little more than leftover chicken, lentils, chicken stock and some leftover vegetables? This starving student made curried chicken and lentil soup.
I simmered the lentils in the chicken stock, chopped and added the chicken, seasoned with curry and cinnamon (the secret ingredient and key to this soup), and then added the veggies shortly before serving. The entire dish took about 20 minutes to complete. A quick and easy dinner that was absolutely delicious.
I stepped into Mom’s kitchen this morning and she peeked up at me with a sheepish look like she’d been up to something naughty. The place smelled wonderful and I looked around the kitchen as I quized her on what she’d been up too. Fried bananas. That’s what she’d been up to. She was standing at the stove nibbling away as I walked in the door. I snapped a picture of what was left and then helped her finish them off. Yummy. If you love bananas and especially if you have green bananas and not enought patience to let them ripen, you must try fried banans.
Fried Bananas (all measurements to taste) – butter – sliced bananas (lengthwise or crosswise, your choice) – marmalade or other sweetener like maple syrup or brown sugar – booze (optional)
over medium high heat melt the butter then add the bananas. Saute till they start to carmelize. Lower the heat before adding the sweets to avoid burning. Top it off with a bit of booze (anything from amaretto to rum or whatever your heart desires). Some people flambe at this point, but that just burns off all that lovely booze and who needs to deal with that fire, especially if this is for your breakfast.
Serve this lovely concoction over ice cream or pancakes, or like me, eat directly from the frying pan while standing in front of the stove.
The most recent addition to the new Kent Station , Zephyr Grill & Bar is easily the nicest restaurant in Kent. Taupe walls, dark wood booths topped with sculpted glass, elegant lighting, and white fabric napkins (yes, in Kent that’s a step up) all add up to a nice ambiance, with a skilled wait-staff and the food was excellent too. Why, however, do they not put some kind of padding or buffering in the ceiling – or is it just that deafening restaurants are currently en vouge? Just a touch of buffering makes a world of difference in allowing you to hear what your partner is saying, and in drowning out the laugh of the obnoxious blonde on the other side of the room.
When we were seated in the dark-stained wood booth by the window, our server immediately brought out the bread basket: a selection of olive loaf and sourdough breads with sweat cream, pesto, and red pepper butters. The menu was a bit pricey, the entrees ran from the high teens to the low thirties; mostly around $25 a plate. We decided on a starter each and then we would share an entree and a side dish. Mr. H had the yellow pepper soup, which came out in a huge bowl. I’m not so much a fan of the yellow pepper so I didn’t taste the soup, but he reports that it was excellent. My caesar salad was delivered in a huge wooden bowl, large enough to be a meal itself.
Mr. H ordered a glass of the MacMurray Ranch Pinot Noir which arrived in a glass much more empty than full. As we pondered the two fingers of wine and the air that filled the remainder of the glass we discussed the glass half empty/half full pessimist/optimist distinction and whether it was relevant when the glass was 1/5 full. I stuck my nose in the glass and inhaled, then took a sip. Not bad, not noteworthy, just a decent red wine. As I whined about the quantity of wine our server arrived with another glass, this one filled to a more appropriate depth. Apparently, the bartender had not completed filling the glass before the server ran off with it so they sent another glass of wine over with their compliments. Giving me free wine will always make points.
Our entree arrived on a huge platter: two filets of salmon on two puddles of sauce, one was a cabernet marionberry sauce and the other was lemon butter. The center of the plate contained a mound of rice pilaf, topped off with broccoli florettes. We also ordered a side of asparagus. The asparagus was amazing. The chefs treatise on asparagus is apparently “Don’t so much cook it, as threaten it.” The theory paid off with perfectly grilled asparagus topped with a light butter sauce. Would that he had held the same theory for broccoli as it was woefully overdone and floppy. The pilaf was hearty if a little bland. The sauces were good but the real treasure of the meal was the salmon. It was perfectly prepared with just the right herby crust. I found I preferred the salmon on it’s own, without the sauces.
All in all it was an exceptional meal at a very nice location. I’d go back again in a heartbeat.
After the waterfall we had to decide what to do for dinner. I would have loved to try the Salish Lodge; we stopped and checked out the menu, but frankly I was not inspired. When plates start at $23, the description on the menu should make my mouth water. We decided to head towards Issaquah instead.
Gillman village is a cute little shopping center in Issaquah comprised of a grouping of cottages on a boardwalk. The shops are cutesy and charming, ranging from toy stores, to yarn shops to kitchen gadgets – there is also an Amish furniture store that made me want to refurnish the whole house.
Gillman village also has an assortment a restaurants, but the only one we have ever tried is Bamiyan Afghani Restaurant, because how could you pass that up?
Bamiyan was originally just an Afghan restaurant, but we noticed that they’ve added more traditional Persian dishes as well (Persian food and Afghan food are very similar). We started with the Ausht, which was an amazing creamy and savory soup – very rich. Then Mr. H had the koobideh which is one of our all time favorite dishes. Koobideh is a savory ground beef kebab, the kind of savory where it’s difficult to stop eating even when you’re completely stuffed. I had the fesenjan. Fesenjan is one of those dishes that lives on a continuum, in this case between sweet and tart. The placement on that continuum depends largely on family recipe and geographic origin of that recipe. I asked the server how tart the fesenjan was and she claimed it was not too tart. Fesenjan is a dish of stewed chicken in a walnut and pomegranate gravy. The tartness of the dish depends on the amount of pomegranate juice used. It turned out a little more tart than I expected, but I like it really quite sweet. Nonetheless it was very good.
For desert, Mr. H had the Firni (custard with cardamom and pistachios). I went with the Bastani which is ice cream made with rosewater and pistachios (we served this at our wedding with the cake). To top it all off I got to watch Mr. H rap with the staff in Farsi which always turns me on.
I got out of class 2 hours early and as I was walking back to meet up with The Husband I saw the most amazing sunset. We made a snap decision and decided to lickety-split down to Salty’s on Redondo Beach for dinner.
Ordinarily we cant afford to eat there but we just got paid and all the bills were paid and we were just really feeling impulsively optimistic what with the beautiful sunset and all. (Yay for camera phones, by the way. I snapped both of these pictures with my phone.)
So we wind down the hill to the beach as as we come in to view of the sea-wall it’s lined with couples holding hands and making out. It’s just all to cute and we both let out an involuntary “Aawwwwwwwwwww.”
Salty’s is worth the visit for the bread alone, but they seated us right up at the window with this amazing view, and after the sun went down we watched the jumping fish and the scuba divers ascending out of the water – too cool.
The food was amazing – we both went for the special – halibut over wilted spinach and red potatoes with a delicate hollandaise.
CoffeeJitters is an affiliate to a number of sites and services. I do not endorse products I don't love. I may receive compensation if you purchase items from links on this website.
