Seasonal Coffee at Cafe 409

Call it the change of season, but for some reason lately it’s just seemed like a great idea to toss something extra into the basket in the morning. The best is a pinch of Rooibos Chai, but I know straight cinnamon is also a nice alternative and may even offer health benefits, according to smart people I know. For a few years after moving from Belize I drank coffee from anywhere but Latin America, but I’m using the fresh ground Guatemala coffee sold by the sweet if not overly sycophantic café in my apartment building again, it makes me happy.    Last time I went to World Spice they told me they’re working with Amazon Prime, Market Spice (Pike Place just southwest of the pig) made this one, as you can see.  My fiancée  gets really cranky when the weather turns grey, so maybe that’s another reason for spicing up the Joe, it gets us out of bed in the morning that much more pleasantly. Listening to Daughter and London Grammar, seems to go with the grey over Puget Sound.

Stir Fry Soup

I admit it. I over-indulge at Pike Place rather often. I buy a lot of great vegetables. I use Franks Produce. No one else.  So I always have lots of veggies on hand.

I awoke yesterday morning to the feeling that perhaps I had swallowed an extraordinarily large oyster shell and so instead of going down to the Sculpture park for Fuel Theory I called a cab and went up to Grouphealth’s Capitol Hill urgent care. I was thinking since it was 5am I could probably get in and out quick. Unfortunately there was a man (I know all the following because clearly he left his hearing aid at home, requiring the doctors to speak to him loud enough for me to hear several rooms away) who was having a heart attack who came in a few minutes before me. I hope he’s doing OK.

After I escaped the labyrinth halls of GH I headed home.  I should mention there is a game I play with myself: Fritter lotto. Here’s how you play. Walk past Top Pot on 4^th, the monorail rattle-whooshing overhead. If there are more than three people in line, keep going. If not you get to go in and get one of the most delicious apple fritters ever. Today I won.  I doubled down with a raspberry old-fashioned so I wouldn’t be empty-sticky-handed when I came home to my girlfriend. By mid-day the fritter had worn off and I was thinking of what to make to sooth my throat that would also be flavorful enough to satisfy.

Belltown is severely lacking in the budget Pho department. 

Here’s the recipe for what I made yesterday: Stir Fry Soup

Large fry pan or the wok if you feel  up to it

Stock pot with 3 cups of water set to boil.

One breast of chicken.   Slice it thin then slice those slices into large tiles of chicken. Set aside.

Three cloves of garlic chopped

Thumb sized knot of ginger peeled and chopped

About a ¼ cup of course chopped onion

Chinese five spice 1Tsp

Red Pepper Flake 1TSp

Thyme ½ TSP

Chicken Stock 1 cup

Soy Sauce

Package of ramen noodles

Carrot

Celery

Water chestnuts from back of the pantry –bonus!

Saute the garlic, ginger, and onion in 3 Tb of olive oil and 1 Tb of sesame oil

Add the chicken, red pepper flake, Thyme and Chinese five spice when the onion and garlic are translucent

Add chopped vegetables. I used typical soup stuff, but feel free to experiment.

Sauté until vegetables are soft. Hit it with a dash of soy sauce. At this point you are looking at a decent stir-fry.  Pour in the chicken stock and let it simmer.

Meanwhile over here at your boiling pot of water:

Add the ramen. I had a package and an half of noodles, one had a seasoning packet and I added that to the water at the same time as the noodles. Boil three minutes. Remove pot from heat, do not drain.

Add stir fry to the stock pot and serve, season with Siracha or Sambal, sit on the living room floor and watch Bravo until you feel better.