Hot enough for ya? Palookaville Chili Review

Last week I had the discomfort pleasure of being in hot, hot, hot Dallas, Texas for work.  Not sure if you've heard, but Texas is experiencing record breaking heat waves and an extreme drought.  I feel bad for the folks there because I have no idea how you survive in 100+ degree heat day after day.  As most people told me, they just stay inside all summer.  But what fun is that?

Ironically, although it's blazing hot all day and night in Texas (it was 99 degrees when I got to my hotel one night - at 10 pm!), spicy food is where it's at.  Tacos, salsas, chilis...I saw all of these items - and more - while out about in steer country.  (I also saw cowboy hats, boots, and the biggest pickup trucks known to mane, but...) 

Which makes me sad to learn that Palookaville Chili in Ohio City has had to shorten its hours due to lack of business at night.  Epic sadness.

If you're not familiar with Palookaville Chili, you must live on the east side with me.  No really, though, Palookaville is a new chili shop on the Cleveland food scene and due to a delayed opening, didn't get their start here until after things warmed up.  Our friends down south seem to eat hot foods year round, but we just haven't gotten that memo here in Cleveland yet, have we, folks? 

Palookaville serves multiple meat and vegetarian chilis - when I dropped in they had chicken, pork, and beef chili along with traditional vegetarian chili and a spinach paneer chili. (more on that in a second) They also offer a couple sandwiches and some tasty sounding sides - cornbread, baked beans, apple slaw.  All things that would seem to go well with chili.  In addition to these delicious items, every Monday, the fine ladies at Foodgazi serve up a vegan entree and a few sides in honor of Meatless Monday. (the gluten free quesadilla I had was SO good!)

I hear the word "paneer" and immediately think of Indian food, which makes sense, because I believe "paneer" translates to something like "cheese."  I love Indian paneer, so I figured I should try chili with paneer.  Why the heck not, right?

And so I took a cup (a huge cup!) of spinach paneer chili over rice home. (you can choose what to put your chili over - rice, noodles, etc.)  It turned into a late afternoon snack because I just couldn't wait until dinner to eat it.  Interestingly enough, my expectations for the chili were way off.  I expected Indian spice but this was more of a smoky chipotle.  Which was good, just not what I was expecting.  I really enjoyed having the chili paired with rice, too. 

Now that the weather is starting to cool down, I hope more people will be in the mood for some chili action.  I know I already am!  I can't wait to go back and check out some more Foodgazi specials and try the other vegetarian chili.  And I hope you give Palookaville a try, too.  Soon!  They seem like they could really use our business!

Upcoming Vegan and Vegetarian Happenings in the CLE

As veganism and vegetarianism becomes more and more popular in the CLE, there are more and more happenings around town offering vegan and vegetarian friendly food.  And next week, there are a couple extra special events just for us herbivores.

Monday, August 15 -

Meatless Monday at Palookaville Chili in Ohio City- This is actually a weekly happening at Palookaville Chili, one of Ohio City's newer specialty restaurants. (yes, they have vegan and vegetarian chili!) Foodgazi, a catering/cooking instruction company offers a few vegan items each and every Monday right in Palookaville.

Vegetarian Mondays at Lago in Tremont - Every Monday evening, Lago offers an entire menu of vegan or vegetarian items in addition to their regular menu. 

Tuesday, August 16 -

5 Course Vegan Wine Dinner at Melange in Beachwood - $60
This is Melange's first attempt at hosting a vegan dinner. Two of the 5 courses will be prepared by Chef Scot Jones of Vegiterranean and deserts will be provided by White Flower Cake Shop.  The last time I went to a vegan wine pairing was at Bistro 185 last fall and it was excellent, and I'd imagine this one will be just as good!)

The meal will include:

• Amuse: Beet Ravioli, tofu ricotta, pickled onion, and balsamic roasted figs
• 1st course: Roasted poblano tamale, smoke corn puree, guacamole
• 2nd course: watermelon steak, cucumber salad, gazpacho broth
• 3rd course: Gardein "chicken" roulade, baby arugula, roasted tomato, smokey greens, beluga lentils, charred tomato brodo
• 4th course: Curried cauliflower ravioli, chunky walnut and herb pesto, spicy carrot oil, and golden raisin
• 5th course: Platters of assorted vegan pastries for the table (designed by white flower cake shop)

See the Facebook event page for additional details.

 

Wednesday, August 17 -

Vegan 3 Course Dinner at Bistro 185 in Euclid - $30

My favorite time of the month!  Bistro 185 offers a vegan meal monthly prepared by Chef Jakub, who is, in my humble opinion, is an amazing vegan chef.  This month's theme is "farm to table" and will feature the following:

• Ohio Corn Chowder with Jalapeno Corn Muffin
•  Local and Organic Ratatouille, Roof Top Garden Herb-Crusted Gardein, Roasted Local Fingerling Potatoes
•  Olive Oil - Lemon Cake, Grilled Stone Fruit Compote, Almond Milk Whipped Cream

 

Note that reservations are required to attend this vegan dinner. See the Facebook event page for information on how to RSVP.

Berea ARF Hump Day Celebrity Bartending Happy Hour - So, technically not a vegan or vegetarian event, but let's be honest, if you're a vegetarian, most likely, you care about animals.  I've volunteered at Berea Animal Rescue Fund for longer than I can remember, and the proceed from this event help to provide supplies and care for homeless animals who are desperately in need. 
 
More information is available on the Facebook event page.

 

Vegan and Vegetarian Night at Deagan's Kitchen & Bar in Lakewood - Let's not forget this weekly happening.  Deagan's is one of my favorite new restaurants/bars in Cleveland and I love that they offer vegan and vegetarian menu items every day of the week and an extra special menu on Wednesday nights.  Check out the Deagan's Facebook page on Wednesdays to see what specials are being offered.

Do you know about any other upcoming vegan or vegetarian happenings?  Post them in the comments if you do!

 

 

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Raw Food Cooking Classes in Beachwood

Everywhere I turn these days, I keep learning about new restaurants offering vegan food, or vegan bakesales, or vegan cooking classes.  It's kind of amazing to me to see how Cleveland has suddenly sprung into vegan action!

While perusing through a community book for SELREC (South Euclid Lyndhurst Recreation), I noticed a few listings for vegan cooking classes.  RAW vegan cooking classes!  In Beachwood, no less!  Hosted by Foodgazi, one of Cleveland's up and coming vegan cooking instruction/catering companies, this series of classes covers everything from raw food basics to raw food desserts.  (and boy, do I love me some raw vegan desserts!  I stopped by Good 'N Raw in Lakewood the other day just to get a raw brownie.  And some amazing kale chips!)  Each class in the series costs $27 with a $12 food fee payable the day of class, which is a bargain considering Foodgazi's other cooking classes normally cost $65!  Such a deal!  And for me, close to home!  All classes are being held in Beachwood Middle School's home ec lab.  (When was the last time you were in a school, let alone a home ec lab?)  It's a neat experience to take a class in a school setting.  I haven't taken a Foodgazi class at a school, but I have taken other vegetarian cooking classes through SELREC and I've learned quite a bit.  (And I've taken a Foodgazi class - words can't express how much fun it was!)

Here's the raw foods course schedule:

• 4/21 - Intro to Raw Foods
• 5/5 - Raw Main Dishes
• 5/19 - Raw Soups and Salads
• 6/2 - Raw Desserts

For full course information, including registration information, visit the SELREC site.  Like most vegetarian and/or vegan cooking courses, the more people that register, the more likely it is that courses will be held in the future...

Hands on vegan cooking classes in Cleveland with Foodgazi

Admittedly, I'm not a great cook.  My skills have gotten better with lots of practice, but I'm never going to be a person who can easily whip up a recipe.  I used to stress out about cooking, but I've come to accept that some things I try to cook just aren't going to work out.  (I'm talking about you, vegan pumpkin alfredo) But to try to mitigate my cooking failures, I recently took a Foodgazi vegan cooking class. 

What's that?  You've never heard of Foodgazi? 

To be honest, I hadn't either until the nice ladies at Foodgazi, one of Cleveland's vegan cooking/catering operations, offered up a Groupon (discount coupon) a few months back.  Not that I had the sense to buy a Groupon to take a cooking class on the cheap, but...like any good marketing campaign, just reading about Foodgazi got me interested in taking a class with them.  So I signed up to take an Italian cooking class. 

For a mere $65, you're provided with cooking equipment, ingredients, and witty banter from the front ladies of Foodgazi.  The classes take place in a Cleveland area church, and every aspect of the class is hands on.  The Foodgazi gals guide you through cooking 3 different recipes and then sit down with you to eat the finished products.  In all, it's a 2 hour experience, but I can honestly say I learned some knife skills that I hope to continue using.  So for me, the cost was well worth it.  Heck, I'd even pay more just to support vegan cooking in Cleveland!

Classes take place every few weeks on Thursdays, and the upcoming class schedule can be found on the Foodgazi web site.  (though May 2011!)  'Tis the season for gift giving, and if you're so inclined, you can even buy a gift certificate for Foodgazi cooking classes.

I hope to take another class in the new year to learn even more helpful cooking skills!