Fun Food at University District Farmers Market

It was finally the time of the year when we Washingtonian saw abundant fresh vibrant produce in the many farmers’ markets in different neighborhoods.

A deliberate trip to University District Farmers Market to purchase apple cider from Rockridge Orchards.

There were many different food offering at this large farmers market — Veraci pizza, empanadas, Thai to name a few.

We were very happy to try some funky waffles on a stick from My Sweet Lil Cakes.

I loved the groove and the funk that whole food truck was exuding.

We tried a sweet red velvet buttermilk with dark cherries and sweet cream, and a savory free range chicken and waffle.

These waffle on the sticks were lots of fun!

Cooked to order and the aroma of waffle smelled comforting as we were waiting for our order.

The outside were crisp batter that was light.

The dark cherries inside the red velvet stick had nice crunch, just right sweetness and great flavor, some batter inside made it a little mushy.

The free range fried chicken had a delicious dose of black pepper, tender and light.

The chicken pieces tasted very healthy (definitely not fried) which was a plus.

Accompanied with maple butter, the sweet and salty play was just lovely.

Each stick was pricey at $7 each, and I could not get full with one stick.

It was definitely a fun novelty snack.

The next stop was at Loki Fish Company.

They had a tent serving salmon sliders along side selling fish.

We tried the arugula with apple aioli and bacon, and a fennel carrot jalapeno slaw with shoyu glaze.

The little sweet bread of the sliders were soft and grilled crisp.

The salmon were interesting as I was expecting a small piece of salmon fillet, instead it was salmon cake with other fillers and flavoring.

Tasty but texture was a little soft and mushy in my opinion.

I loved the freshness of the fennel carrot and jalapeno slaw, not too spicy, crisp and fresh.

The apple bacon arugula combination was delicious as well with smoky flavor and crunchiness of the apple and arugula.

The sliders were at $4.50 each, also not cheap and I could say I tried them!

 

 

 

Good Eats in Remond — Flying Saucer Pizza and Now Make Me A Sandwich

These 2 good-eats places were nestled in business parks in Redmond and were only a block away from each other!

First off, Flying Saucer Pizza.

This funky spaceship-alien themed pizza joint served up delightful pizzas.

I was most surprising to find deep dish pizza — something that was very uncommon here and reminded me of my days in the Midwest.

Flying saucer pizzas offer quite a few different flavors including great selection of vegetarian pizzas along with salads and pastas.

The pizza names were geeky and hilarious, they included Andromeda, the chickenator and crop circle.

On my first visit I had the deep dish Thai fighter without cheese to go.

The crust was made of soft, yeasty bread that carried a light sweetness and baked to a slight crisp.

My pizza passenger along the way home was just taunting me with this sweet savory peanut aroma.

The sauce was sweet, mildly spicy and delicious; the slightly charred thinly julienned carrots and cabbage with sprouts and cilantro gave pleasant and aromatic flavors.

The pizza without cheese was still tasty.

The next trip I had a regular cosmic clucker and a deep dish luau.

The regular crust was bready inside and appropriately dry crisp bottom and top.

I loved their twist of adding artichoke in this bbq chicken pizza; while the luau was Hawaiian pizza with extra bacon on top of Canadian bacon.

I did not skip cheese the second time, and I did find that both the pizzas were too heavy-handed with cheese that was distracting the main flavors and increased their greasiness.

I would go back again for sure and perhaps cheeseless would be my main stay.

Went around the block, one would find Now Make Me A Sandwich every Thursday stationed at West Willows Technology Center.

The guys made very delicious sandwiches.

I loved their unique vegetarian sandwich with roasted yam, spinach, mushroom, peppers and the great addition of manchego cheese and garlic tahini sauce; the best part, it was called Buddha Call.

It was tasty with lots of flavors, fresh and the yam gave texture.

Another one I had and enjoyed tremendously was the Vahalla pork — tasty tender pulled pork, dressed with a coleslaw with a surprising twist – apple jalapeno;  sweet and quite spicy, delicious with a crunch.

I also had their Viking stew, which had generous amount of vegetables but the day I got it was a little cold which made the creamy stew heavy.

There were many more sandwiches to try with fillings such as roast beef, ham, chicken and turkey, I shall be back!

 

 

Eating Out in Portland — Viking Soul Food and Pix Patisserie

Doof Out

Was out on a yoga retreat in OR last week with no internet and cell phone access.  More on that later.

We stopped by Portland before heading south to the retreat.  Stopped by one of my favorite food trucks, Viking Soul Food and tried out a new dessert place, Pix Patisserie which was recommended by my friend.

Viking Soul Food serves Lefse –  a rustic thin potato flatbread that was prepared on a griddle, very similar to crepe.

They serve their Lefse sweet or salty.

Normally I would have Viking Soul Food’s staple – Lefse with smoked salmon, dill crème fraiche, shallot and watercress.

I had the meat ball with surkal (sweet and sour cabbage) and cheese sauce as well which was fantastic.

Sweet Lefse varieties include lingonberries and lemon curd.

However, on that particular day, they served a special Autumn chowder that just looked too good to pass – leek, chanterelle mushrooms, squash and potatoes.

I got a side of the excellent Lefse and surkal with the chowder.

I used the warm, slightly salty Lefse for dipping the chowder and they paired so well together.

The Surkal tasted just like a colesalw with my borscht flavor!

It was sweet and sour, flavored with cumin.

The Surkal brought some lightness to the meal with its acidity.

The innocent looking amount of food exploded in my stomach right after I finished them.

I guess the Lefse expanded in my stomach exponentially!

My eyes were however, bigger than my stomach.

My friend and I headed onwards to Pix Patisserie.

Once we entered the store, it was just like a dessert Disneyland!

All the desserts were beautifully made and displayed.

They had macaroons and also chocolates for sale.

What we did not know was that they also serve food – tapas no less!

It had the staple of marinated anchovies, olives, tortilla Espanola, garlic shrimps, ham, and many more!

Unfortunately I was just way to full from the Lefse.

I got their chocolate cherry mousse for dessert.

My friend got the churros and drinking chocolate.

The chocolate cherry mousse was creamy with lovely dark chocolate flavor.

The cherry mousse flavor was subtle but the drunken cherry in the middle of the dessert was strong!

It was an upscale maraschino cherry soaked heavily in alcohol!  I felt that I could breathe fire after eating it!

Next time I have to visit Pix Patisserie with an absolute empty stomach for their tapas and the many desserts!