Could My Doughnut Plan be Working?

You know how much I love doughnuts? You know how I've been trying to repopularize them in the face of cupcake shops multiplying like rabbits? I think it might actually be working. Yahoo's start page always has some sort of ever-changing list of national best-ofs (usually inaccurate, but, whatever). Today, for a moment, it was best doughnut shops! Yes, I think I'm making progress....

Roux: Happy Hour Southern Style

Monday night, being in NoPo, which is just like the South (not really), my friend and I realized we were both hungry, and due to the hour, we stood a good chance of hitting happy hour somewhere. I love happy hour: it allows you to try out a swanky restaurant's offerings without breaking the bank. Roux was just a couple blocks down the street, and I had never been there, so I suggested it. Excellent suggestion!

The happy hour menu is completely different from the dinner menu, and therefore not necessarily representative, but I figure if the happy hour food is good, it's likely that the regular menu is too.

I ordered the catfish and chips, and a mint julep. The catfish was great: breaded with crunchy cornmeal and deepfried, but not greasy. It was accompanied with "tartar" sauce, but it was unlike any tartar sauce I had ever tasted before, which, I must say, was a huge improvement. Usually, I'm not a big fan of tartar sauce, but this stuff was great. It was thicker than usual, and of a yellow hue. It was studded with herbs, although I really couldn't tell you which, as it was fairly subtle. The common, overpowering dill flavor was absent. The french fries were, well, soggy, in a word.

I enjoyed my mint julep, but as I've never had one before, I have no basis on which to judge it. But I liked it.

Margaret had a shrimp Po' Boy. I had a bite, and sort of wished I had ordered it. It was really good. A delicate baguette stuffed with deep-fried shrimp, lettuce, and various accoutrement. It sounds heavy, but wasn't.

Ingrid ordered a salad, which I didn't taste, and don't know the details of, but her comments sounded generally favorable, and included such descriptions as "garlicky."

We ordered bread pudding for dessert, and it was very good: very moist, sweet, and studded with fruit. A dollop of whipped cream garnished the top. Two thumbs up.

So that's the story. I enjoyed Roux, and would like to go back again for actual dinner.

Roux

1700 N. Killingsworth

Portland, OR 97217

503.285.1200

Yay for CSA!

Alex and I joined a CSA ("Community Supported Agriculture"), Hood River Organic, to be exact. It's pretty exciting, we get a box full of seasonal produce every two weeks. We got our first delivery last week, and it included a loaf of bread, farm-fresh eggs, turnips, mixed greens, spinach, potatoes, button mushrooms, sunchokes, and crimini mushrooms.

Each box is a surprise, and it will force me to eat things I wouldn't normally buy, such as sunchokes.
The price really isn't that bad, especially split between two people: $299 for ten boxes. You can choose to have it delivered either every week, or every other week. There are many CSAs in the Portland area, but I chose this one because 1) it delivered, and 2) it provided more variety than just produce--you might get bread, or eggs, or cheese in addition to fruits and vegetables. Everything is locally produced, I think the farthest it comes from is Seattle, and most likely organic, even if it hasn't been officially certified. So I'm pretty excited about it.
Check out Hood River Organic.