Noble Rot for the Office Lot

Every year for the last two years, I've been planning the office holiday party. The first year, it was at Mother's Bistro. Last year was Saucebox. Both were a success.

So now the time for that has rolled around again, and I need to find something still better, more fun, tastier, etc. Each year needs to top the last. I say that both last year and the year before were successes, but I must qualify that: they were successes except that for many people, there was a come, eat, and leave element to it. So how will I remedy that? Add an activity element to it.

Noble Rot (plus an additional idea) is the solution. Hip, yet cozy atmosphere, the food is supposed to be excellent, the wine likewise (hence the name, Noble Rot), and a private party room. The manager assures me that we will see the chef cooking before us and it will be very interactive. Perfect. But, I had never eaten there. How could I plan a party at a place I've never eaten?

Tonight, that problem was solved. I went to dinner there with Alex (he's been several times). First, the wine: we both ordered Italian. I had a glass of white with a name I've already forgotten but loved the sound of (maybe Fontanabianco). Alex ordered a "flight" of reds--they serve series of three 2-ounce servings of different, but related wines from a particular region. A little taste of each, in other words. His were all from the heel of the boot of Italy, and one smelled exactly like my parents' basement. Interesting.


Next, we shared a "Noble salad": butter lettuce, red onion, sunflower seeds; vinaigrette or blue cheese (we chose the vinaigrette). It was good: vinegary, but not too sour, and the sunflower seeds added a nice crunch.

Main course: I was debating between the duck, and a special of steak over polenta with rapini. Alex wanted the steak, so my decision was made for me. Obviously, we couldn't order the same thing. So I ordered duck breast with roasted potatoes and chanterelle mushrooms over what they called duck "jus." The jus tasted like a foie gras mousse. It was rich, yet delicate. Duck, apparently, is red meat: crispy, roasted skin on the outside, with a rare center.

Alex's steak over polenta with rapini was just as delicious, although more traditional (sorry the photo is a little blurry).

Finally, dessert. We share a huckleberry olive oil cake with maple whipped cream. Sound strange? It wasn't. It was two little light cakes with huckleberry puree and whipped cream sandwiched in the middle, topped with more of the same. Whole huckleberries were strewn about as garnish. Not too heavy, not too sweet: perfect really. Artistically dark photo below:

So what, you might ask, is the other activity element for the holiday party? Secret Santa with some sort of theme. I'm not sure what the them will be, Eden suggested [jokingly] 1980s, and I thought of maybe "The Office" (get it?) or, just now, "Back to the Future." Alex suggested Festivus for the Rest of Us from "Seinfeld."
I know everyone will groan and complain about Secret Santa, but, when the moment comes, it will liven things up and everyone will laugh and have fun. I'm sure of it.

Obviously, when the party night finally arrives, I will document it and show the results here.
In the meantime, here's all the info for Noble Rot:
2724 SE Ankeny
Portland, OR 97215
503.233.1999
www.noblerotpdx.com

The Green Tomato Dilemma...Solved!

It wasn't the hottest summer in Portland this year, at least not during the prime growing period. Result: pounds and pounds of green tomatoes.

What's a girl to do?

First, I tried out The New York Times' Lemon and Green Tomato Marmalade recipe. Not too impressed, although in all fairness, I did forget about it while it was cooking and it got a little, um, toasty, shall we say. It probably would have tasted better and not been so candy-like if I had followed the instructions properly. So we'll just call that one an experiment.

But my next experimental attempt met with success, even though everyone I mentioned the idea to poo-pooed it. Or rather, made a face and said variations on "yuck." But I proved them all wrong. Hah Hah!

And what did this successful use of green tomatoes create? Green tomato cake. Yup. You did not misread that. And it was delicious: spices, raisins, walnuts, a sprinkle of shredded coconut on top, and chopped GREEN TOMATOES mixed in. I brought it to work, and no one could even guess what the secret ingredient was. One guy thought it was some sort of tropical fruit, piggy-backing off the obvious coconut, I guess.

So here's the recipe. I found it here: http://southernfood.about.com/od/greentomatoe1/r/bl10712g.htm

Green Tomato Cake

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil or melted shortening
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup pecans or walnuts
1 cup raisins
2 1/2 cups diced green tomatoes
coconut (optional)
PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 350°. In mixing bowl, beat sugar, vegetable oil or shortening, eggs and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg; slowly beat into egg mixture. Blend well.
Stir in pecans, raisins and tomatoes.Pour into greased 9x13-inch pan. Top with coconut if desired. Bake for one hour, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Serves 12.