Whenever I’m able to travel, I enjoy exploring the food culture of the location and bringing the inspiration back to In the Kitchen and our little gem, Nevada City.
I recently went to Seattle on a fun plus working trip and got the chance to teach cooking classes at a wonderful community kitchen and cooking school, The Pantry. This beautiful space is located at the back of the well known Seattle restaurant Delancy/Seattle, where I enjoyed one of their specialties, wood fired pizza!
I taught 3 interactive cooking classes on Spring soups, with Spanish fish stew, Indian lentil soup, potato soup, and shiitake shooters on the menu.
And since I was off mommy duty for the weekend, I even enjoyed a few cocktails at Essex, also at Delancey, where beverage concocting has become an art form.
I highly recommend checking out all of these places if you get the chance to visit Seattle, and especially taking a cooking class at the Pantry to experience the local flavors.
Here’s one of the recipes from class…enjoy!
Indian Vegetable Soup with Red Lentils
Serves 6
Ingredients
Olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled, whole
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon whole coriander seed
1-2 cloves
1 teaspoon black
mustard seed
Salt and pepper to taste, start with 1 teaspoon and add more at the end if needed
6 tender carrots,
peeled, sliced in half and then cut into 1 inch pieces
3 large parsnips, peeled and then prepared same as carrots
4 ripe, tomatoes, diced
1 cup white wine
Water or vegetable broth, used 1 cup at a time, 8 cups total
2 cup red lentils
Preparation
In a medium, heavy bottomed pot, drizzle a generous amount of olive oil (3 tablespoons), heat at medium high heat. Add the first section of ingredients, fry spices, herbs and onions, until brown and fragrant. Add a splash of wine or water if ingredients stick. Add the vegetables, stir to coat with oils, herbs and spices, cook and brown lightly for about 5 minutes.
Add the rest of the wine, let the alcohol cook off- 5 minutes.
Cover with the stock or water, 1 cup at a time, letting the flavors and the liquid combine well. Add the lentils, add the rest of the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 20 -30 minutes, until lentils are cooked. Add more salt and pepper if needed and then drizzle with a glug of olive oil. Serve with crunchy bread and butter!
