(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

Regular butter was a no-no during our recent paleo challenge, with ghee being a suggested "replacement", something we were just OK with. Ghee is simply a form of clarified butter, often used in South Asian cooking. You've in all likelihood already tasted it while eating Indian food, or anything containing "brown butter".

Ghee is, for all intents and purposes, fat, though a little of it can go a long way. Melt less than half a teaspoon of it in a pan, and you don't have to worry about meat or whatever sticking. Ghee doesn't taste like the fat you get from, say, steak, nor does it taste like regular butter. It has a deep nutty flavor, and meat -- be it chicken or the aforementioned steak (sacrilege, I know) or whatever  -- takes on somewhat unexpected (at first) flavors when cooked in it. Not bad different, just different.

Go completely wild, and there are plenty of recipes for ghee based curries out there. You wouldn't think it'd make much of a difference from regular butter, but really, it does. Try making some sauces and pastries based on it, too. The results should amaze and entertain.

We at Team SpoCOOL have decided to officially endorse ghee as a staple in our kitchen. And so should you. You can pick up a jar at just about any grocery store, and you should do so right now!

Many things come to mind when hearing "fire", often times with positive associations: Beavis and Butthead; Michael Stipe singing "Orange Crush"; and now Fire Artisan Pizza in Coeur d'Alene. 

This is a good pizza spot, one we'd rank up with South Perry. Consider that high praises. Is Fire worth the trip to Coeur d'Alene alone? Yes. A forty minute drive to get a good pizza in a really nice locale? Why wouldn't you want to do that?

Here you have a wood fired oven which makes a bubbly crust crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. In terms of the almighty bite, Fire gets it right. The flavor might not be quite up there with, say, Veraci's, but it's still perfectly serviceable, just a wee bit on the light side.

That aside, we have no complaints about the toppings. Our "Parma" came with some nice slices of prosciutto, and we really liked the gorgonzola and mozzarella cheese mixture. It all balanced out to a a creamy texture with a mellow taste, flanking the meat perfectly alongside the truffle oil.

The "Crimini" was a bit more subtle on the flavors. It was fresh tasting, for sure, and I'm guessing the garlic olive oil was supposed to give it a kick, though a bit more garlic would have been appreciated. Still, that's nitpicking, and we enjoyed this pie too.

Fire's pizzas remind us a lot of what we see around the Valencia region of Spain, which is somewhat of a rarity in these parts. Again, consider that high praises.

Finally, a special mention of the interior. This is a wonderfully designed restaurant, one that mixes a bit of the Northwest with a potpourri of European styles. The space is comfortable, and when mixed with excellent service and quality pies, we will add Fire to our pizza rotation. A great spot.

We have mentioned Chocolate Apothecary before, and we will gladly mention it again. Because, really, there are many things to like about the chocolate shop in the Flour Mill. Many things, although their opening hours are not among them. Sunday, 11 to 5? OK. 9 to 7, Monday through Thursday? No problem. 9 to 4 on Friday? Well... Closed on Saturday? Huh.

We're all for supporting a local business and such, but the local business should also support us. One important aspect of that is to have opening hours that actually benefit the customer. I understand the reasoning behind these hours here and all, but, anyway...

When the store actually is open, it is one that is pretty awesome. They do, of course, carry Chuao chocolates which, at $6 a bar, aren't a cheap pleasure, but a great pleasure all the same. There's a good selection of other bars too, many with some "creative" flavors. Add to that a selection of chocolates aimed at cooking and baking, and you got yourself a good variety here. The only other place we can think of that is comparable is Latah Bistro. (In case you didn't know, you can buy bars there too.)

Grabbing a hot chocolate -- Chuao used for many of them -- is also well worth while.  We're not talking anything quite as intense as Jacques Torres's Wicked hot chocolate (worth checking out if you hit NYC) but this is the real stuff at any rate.

We like the Chocolate Apothecary. We wish the hours were a bit more... open... but what can you do? Go there when it's open, and grab some chocolates. You owe yourself that much.

Our Spokane food blog list is now officially live, and it includes Spokane food tweeters too. Stop reading this and read that instead!

Speaking of twitter, remember when we asked about BeerCo? Well, it opened, was supposed to start carrying homebrew supplies, and then closed after a few weeks. Bummer.

Sante's full re-opening is set for February 8th, in case you didn't catch it. (We tweeted it... This is all turning into a post about tweets... Just follow us on Twitter!)