Chef Spotlight: Eggs are go-to ingredients for Nicole Murray of Central Food

What’s your favorite dish to cook at home? I like to find things to cook at home that make it easy to spend time with my daughter and provide something that’s getting her some vegetables at the same time. It’s a bonus when I can make large batches and freeze parts of it and utilize things I have stored from my garden in the summer.

Where do you eat when you eat out? I like to eat at Ding How in Liberty Lake.

Who or what inspired you to become a chef, and how? I grew up in a house where everyone cooked. My dad is big into hunting and fishing, so we are always having fresh fish, boar ham or antelope summer sausage. We took turns cooking and got to experiment lots. Letting your kids cook can lead to a great career.

What are your go-to ingredients? Eggs. You can do a lot with them as an ingredient in something, or on their own.

What was the first dish a customer ever sent back to you, and how did you handle it? The first dish I remember being sent back to me was a Crab Louis salad with half of a full cooked crab. The guest requested we remove the crab from the shell for her. Luckily, we had pre-picked crab for crab cakes and were able to swap out the unshelled item for her.

What’s a dish you’ve never made but would like to? Cannelle.

What dish or ingredient best represents you? I think a dish that best represents me is fried rice. It can be simple but also complex. It’s adaptable and never has to be the same. It can be spicy or vegetarian. It’s not pinned into any one standard, and I feel like that’s me – always adapting. It’s my favorite thing to make here at Central Food for family meal with leftover rice from lunch.

Zucchini, Carrot, Banana Bread

From Nicole Murray of Central Food in Spokane

3 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1 1/3 cups vegetable oil

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (I keep the over ripe ones and freeze them)

1 1/2 cups grated zucchini (fresh or grated and frozen from the garden)

1 cup grated carrots

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup buttermilk

Mix first four ingredients for 3 minutes on medium speed in stand mixer paddle attachment. Then, add all dry ingredients and mix. Add your vegetables and banana, and mix. Alternate flour and buttermilk, and continue to mix just until incorporated.

Bake at 350 degrees in two 9-by-5-inch greased loaf pans filled 3/4 full or lined cupcake baking pans. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then turn out of pans and let cool completely. Enjoy now or wrap and freeze for later.