Kitchen Kat

Christmas Cookies

2011-12-24T11:00:00.000-08:00

It was Christmas Cookie time, but I wasn't sure what to make, as the possibilities are seemingly endless. I narrowed it down to only recipes whose ingredients I already had on hand. Then, since I planned on giving the cookies away, I wanted a variety, or contrast at least. So it came down to this: one chocolatey/fruity and one nutty: Raspberry Brownies and Cottage Cheese Rugelach with Walnuts.

I'll start off with the Rugelach. Yes, it's a Jewish cookie, and I'm making them for Christmas, but so what? I'm an equal opportunity cookie baker/eater, and when I see a good recipe, I go for it. Also, what with them being rolled and shaped and so on, you'd think they would be complicated. But they're not. SUPER EASY. Seriously. Few ingredients, and the shaping process is a million times simpler than the pretty results would lead you to believe. My only alteration: the recipe calls for margarine, but I used butter. Not sure why it called for margarine, maybe it's some sort of kosher rule or something. But they're sweet, flaky, tender, and delicious. You can find the recipe for Cottage Cheese Rugelach with Walnuts on Epicurious.

Now for the Raspberry brownies. It's a dirty little secret. These are seriously the best brownies you will ever eat. I'm not joking. Everyone who has one says so. They're moist, fudgy, with a fruity tang. I got the recipe from my friend Alex, who is known for making complicated, elaborate desserts from scratch. Are you ready yet?

It's brownie mix with frozen raspberries thrown in. For real. But for whatever reason, the raspberries (or any other berry you have on hand, for that matter) make mediocre, ordinary brownie mix into a revelatory experience. You think I'm exaggerating? Try them, and you'll know I'm not.

So here are the instructions for Raspberry Brownies:

Prepare brownie mix according to instructions on the box (I used Duncan Hines and followed the "Fudgy Style Instructions" (that's opposed to "Cake-Like Instructions").
Pour half of it into the tray.
Sprinkle a decent amount of berries over.
Top with remainder of brownie mix.
Bake according to box instructions.
Bowl people over with the best brownies of their lives.

Pumpkin Muffins

2011-11-30T18:58:00.000-08:00

Something needed to be done with the leftover pumpkin puree. Muffins sounded like a great idea, and after consulting several sources, the recipe I found on Epicurious was the most appealing. Pumpkin, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and cloves, studded with golden raisins and pumpkin seeds. While baking, the kitchen smelled like pumpkin pie. I'm looking forward to breakfast tomorrow!

Best Pumpkin Pie

2011-11-24T21:06:00.001-08:00

Isn't that the most perfect pumpkin pie you've ever seen?

It's called Yankee Pumpkin Pie with Maple Whipped Cream from Williams-Sonoma Savoring America.

This is the same recipe I used last year, but for whatever reason it came out amazing, and my mom said it was the best pumpkin pie she's ever had. I did change a couple of things from the original recipe: 1) I switched out the heavy cream for evaporated milk and 2) I used only butter in the crust instead of a combination of butter and shortening (since that's all I had).

Williams-Sonoma Yankee Pumpkin Pie (with Laura's Alterations)

1 3/4 cups pureed pumpkin

pastry for a singe crust 9-inch pie (recipe follows)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

4 tsp flour

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

pinch of ground cloves

pinch of salt

1 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup maple syrup

3 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 tsp vanilla

Maple Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream

3 Tbl maple syrup

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pie pastry into a 14-inch round. Drape the pastry around the pin and carefully ease it into the pie dish, pressing it into the bottom and sides. Trim the overhang so that it extends 3/4 inch beyond the edge of the the pie dish rim. Roll the overhang under and crimp attractively. Freeze pie shell for 30 minutes.
Heat over to 425ºF. Line the frozen pie shell with foil, fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake until set to the touch, about 15 minutes. Remove the weights and foil and continue to bake until golden, 4-5 minutes longer. Transfer to a rack and let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325ºF.
In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin purée, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt and whisk until smooth. Add the evaporated milk, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla and whisk until just smooth. Pour into the cooled pie shell.
Bake until the center jiggles slightly when the dish is nudged, about 50 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool.
To make the whipped cream, in a chilled bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Add the maple syrup and continue to beat until well blended and the cream forms soft peaks, about 30 seconds longer. OR pour cream and maple syrup into a cream whipper (such as isi) and dispense.

Pie Pastry For Single-Crust Pie

1 1/4 cups flour

1 Tbl granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

7 Tbl chilled butter cut into little pieces

3 Tbl very cold water

Throw all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until the dough thumps together into a ball.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape into a 5-inch disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled.

Smitten Kitchen's Nectarine, Mascarpone, & Gingersnap Tart

2011-08-20T12:34:00.001-07:00

No, I'm not as good a photographer as Smitten Kitchen's Deb is. But that's not the point of this post. The point is, I'm going to a barbecue tonight, and was instructed to bring a side and dessert. Derek's in charge of the side, so I needed to come up with a dessert. This is what I came up with. And, I believe, it's a thing of beauty, if I do say so myself. It came out perfect. I'm looking forward to eating some. And, I used Lord Grey's Peach Preserves (see previous post) that I made as a glaze for the nectarines in this. Oh boy!

Lord Grey's Peach Preserves

2011-08-11T07:43:00.001-07:00

This month's Bon Appetit had an article devoted to preserving, including a recipe for peach preserves fragranced with Earl Grey tea. It sounded so good! I like to make a batch or two of jam every summer, but am still overloaded with jars of strawberry and raspberry from previous years, even though I give some away as gifts (I'm just one person, how much jam can I eat??). But this sounded special, and different from my usual berry routine.

The recipe was very simple: 5 pounds peaches, 4 cups sugar, 5 bags of Earl Grey tea, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. How could it go wrong?

Well, at first, I thought it went very wrong. The peaches were super juicy, and the preserves just wouldn't seem to thicken, even though I ended up cooking if for twice as long as the recipe stated. The kitchen smelled unbelievably good--Chanel or Dolce & Gabbana or somebody should make "Lord Grey's Peach Preserve Perfume." But the consistency seemed WAY too thin. I thought I had just made the best smelling preserve fail ever.

But NO! After sitting for a day, the preserves thickened up a bit, and are AMAZING on toast. Oh, my gosh. So good. So make some. Really, it's good.

Tinga Poblano

2011-08-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

I made Tinga Poblano a couple of weeks ago, and it turned out to be a versatile dish: it can be eaten either as a stew or used as a filling for tacos. Either way, it was smokey, spicy deliciousness. I found the recipe in Williams Sonoma Savoring Mexico. Pretty darn simple too.

Baking Weekend

2011-07-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

This was a three-day weekend, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Friday night, Derek and I went to the Blues Fest and saw three different bands from Louisiana (Zydeco: Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble and Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band; Brass: Rebirth Brass Band), plus Maceo Parker and Robert Cray.

Saturday was the Timbers game, which was fun, although the Timbers were truly terrible.

Sunday, I baked a very successful Cherry Clafoutis but forgot to take a picture of it. I found the recipe in Williams-Sonoma's Savoring France cookbook. I brought it over to my parents' house for dinner, and not much was left of it.

Today, I baked a Rhubarb-Strawberry Custard Tart (pictured here) to bring to a July Fourth barbeque. I haven't tasted it yet, but is sure looks good. This one came from Williams-Sonoma's Cakes, Cookies, Pies & Tarts.

Both recipes were quite simple.

Cheesy Foot

2011-06-20T23:01:00.000-07:00

So my friend suggested I take the post-a-day challenge, which I think is a great idea. Depending on content, sometimes I will post here, and sometimes I will post on Brain Transplant Journal. So here we go, my first Post-A-Day: Cheesy Foot!

Saturday, I was at Derek's house, snooping in his refrigerator while he was off getting a taco. Finding some questionable cheese slices, I put one slice each in Tuco (black kitty) and Blondie's (gray kitty) bowls. Tuco was ON IT, growling at his cheese in enjoyment. Suddenly, he runs off with the mozzarella in his mouth. Where did he go? Derek's bedroom. Hmm. I check around for the cheese, and find that Tuco deposited it in Derek's dress shoe. Present! When Derek gets back from tacoing, I show him the cheese in his shoe, he laughs, then walks off, leaving the cheese there. Apparently, he promptly forgets about it.

Around 2:00 pm today, I get a text message from Derek, stating that he only just then noticed that he had been wearing a shoe with cheese all day. He said he noticed this morning that his shoe felt extra comfortable this morning, but didn't know why. He walked all the way to the Farmers Market on his lunch break with cheese shoe. Not sure how he finally noticed that something was amiss, but back at his cubicle, he took of his shoe, and found the mozzarella stuck to his sock.

Morals of this story:

1. If you want a comfortable shoe, add a slice of mozzarella.

2. I have a funny boyfriend, and he has funny kitties.

3. This ended up on the Kitchen Kat blog because it dealt with cheese.

Lamb Ragu

2011-05-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I realized that Touché has REALLY good food, after tasting the lamb ragu that Derek ordered. (We actually went back there for dinner later on that week before a Timbers game.)

In fact, I was so enamored by it, that I decided I needed to make lamb ragu at home. My tasty results are pictured on the left, and here's the Food and Wine recipe that I used.

Easy and really, really good!

Skip Casa del Matador

2011-04-30T21:12:00.001-07:00

DON'T GO HERE:

My friend Bruno felt like tacos tonight, but was up on NW 23rd. Where to go? I'd never been to Casa del Matador, so I suggested that. Turns out, that was a mistake. You want blaring music and frosted faux blonds from the suburbs? Go there. You want to spend $10.95 on mediocre tacos served with unseasoned, boiled black beans (seriously, the only seasoning on them was a sprinkle of cotija cheese) and numerously reheated generic "Mexican" rice. Go to Casa del Matador! You want only one napkin to share between the two of you? You guessed it! Casa del Matador. So you get the idea: this place was horrid. There was one bright spot, though: the drinks. My tamarindo margarita was really good and sprinkled with cinnamon, and Bruno's mojito was solid.
GO TO THIS TYPE OF PLACE INSTEAD:
Next time I want tacos, I'll be going to Taqueria Santa Cruz in St. Johns. Actual Mexicans eat there instead of transplanted Minnesotans who reside in Lake Oswego, and the tacos taste like what you'd get in Mexico, otherwise described as DELICIOUS. Oh, and they're all around $2.00. So yeah, if you want a taco, it's definitely worth a trip to St. Johns.

Felt Good Enough to Cook

2011-04-03T14:58:00.001-07:00

Whoa! I haven't posted in a looooong time.

Last weekend, I bought ingredients for this very simple, but healthy and delicious dish, but have been too sick all week to make it. I don't mean *sniffle* *delicate cough* sick. I mean phlegmy, hacking cough, 101 degree fever sick. NOT FUN.

But today I feel BETTER. YAY! So I made this recipe I got from the Whole Foods Market Flavors Newsletter: GREENS WITH CARROTS, FETA CHEESE AND BROWN RICE, and it was a definitely a success. I was afraid it might be too plain, but it wasn't at all. Look at all that color! I could feel the nutrients seeping into me as I ate.

I used a combination of broccoli rabe and kale in mine and made two slight alterations to the recipe: I sauteed the onions in olive oil first before adding the rest of the vegetables, and used truffle-infused sea salt instead of plain sea salt. That's it! Try it.

Cholesterol Equilibrium

2010-10-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

I have a theory that if you eat oatmeal and bacon during the same meal, such as breakfast, the oatmeal will absorb/remove the fat derived from the bacon, thus rendering it a cholesterol neutral meal. Scientists, any thoughts?

Püffertjes and Cevapci: Best of Europe 2010 Trip

2010-09-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

Amsterdam

Food-wise, we got off to a good start in Amsterdam: herring sandwiches, believe it or not.
I thought they would be slimy, sour, and disgusting, but they weren't. Really. I'm not joking.
They were fresh like the sea, and a wee bit salty, but not at all like the pucker-inducing specimens known as pickled herring. They're sold at little kiosks around town, are super cheap, and super tasty. I highly recommend them as a light lunch or afternoon snack.

The next Dutch delicacy we partook of was Püffertjes. They're little round puffy pancakes, sort of like unfilled Aebelskivers, topped with butter and powdered sugar. Simple. Super wonderful. Even more wonderful that I ate them at a cozy braun cafe. Mmm.

Another Amsterdam favorite is Jenever, which I bought a couple little bottles of to drink at home. I still haven't tried it yet, but Jenever is an ancestor to gin, and the method of imbibing is to fill a tiny little glass to the absolute brim with ice-cold Jenever, and then slurp it so it won't spill. I'm looking forward to trying it, but waiting for the right moment.

Now for the Balkans

Rick Steves didn't have the greatest opinion of Balkan cuisine, nor did Sanela, my Bosnian friend. We figured that maybe they were both just being overly critical. We were wrong.
Now don't get me wrong, there were definitely some tasty things there, it's just that the food you see in cookbooks is cooked mainly at home; restaurants that serve the more interesting fare are few and far between. If you aren't persistent, you'll end up eating mostly mediocre, overpriced pizza and pasta (I might as well quote our friend Rick directly here). So I'll only discuss the hits.

Food in Bosnia was inexpensive. Food in Croatia and Montenegro is expensive, although I suspect less so in big cities such as Split.
In Bosnia and Croatia, we drank beer and ate ice cream cones every day as a little refreshment. I liked that routine. Beer was cheaper than sparkling water, and an ice cream cone was only 75 cents in Bosnia, and a little more in Croatia. Everyone, locals and tourists alike, had a daily ice cream cone. The ice cream was lighter and fluffier, like gelato, but not quite as sweet.

The first place we went in Sarajevo was the Sarajevo Brewery. It's huge, yet cozy with dark wood paneling and brass fixtures, and has been around since 1864. We both ordered dark beers and shared the Bosnian plate, which showcased Bosnian cured meats and cheeses.

Later that night, Derek wanted a snack, and we discovered the wonder that is cevapcici. It's finger-sized skinless sausages stuffed in a focaccia-like bread (many people compare it to pita bread, but it's crustier and chewier than that), served with chopped onions and kajmak, a fermented clotted cream to smear on it. Oh. My. Gosh. It was so good! (After eating it on four other occasions, we didn't find it so revelatory any more.)

Bosnian bread comes in many varieties, and all were remarkably good, such as the ornate knot pictured at left. I used it to scoop up a cucumber and yogurt salad, which was just like my dad makes. Apparently cucumber yogurt salad is cross-cultural.

In Mostar, we had a light lunch of burek, a snake-shape of filo dough filled with either meat, cheese, or spinach and cheese, and coiled up into a knot. Highly recommended.

In Dubrovnik, we started encountering the overpriced pizza/pasta routine, but our first night there we had a very nice dinner at a place Rick Steves recommended. Octopus salad, I discovered, is delicious and not at all rubbery. We also had Mussels Buzzara (a garlicky breadcrumb sauce), a seafood risotto, all accompanied by a well-chilled local white wine called Posip, whose grapes are grown on Korcula, an island we visited on our trip.

We took a day-trip to Montenegro, and while driving up up UP into the mountains, we encountered a few of these little huts selling locally-produced products: cheese, prsut (Balkan proscuitto), honey, and grappa. We bought a little of each, and I even smuggled the cheese and prsut back into the U.S. Derek bought two different kinds of grappa, one, supposedly good for digestion, and the other good for your heart and cardiovascular system.

Another food highlight was the pastry in Korcula. Fancy cakes galore in beautiful bakeries! I ate a perfect slice of what appeared to be a common cake combo: creamy, ever-so-slightly chocolately filling sprinkled with walnuts. Apple strudel was also very common, and good, although both times I ate it, I noticed that they chopped the entire apple, including the seeds, into the filling, instead of coring it. Sorry, no photos of either.

So those were the food highlights of my trip to Amsterdam and the Balkans. Next post will feature a guest writer, the famous DEREK, narrating a tale of of a terrible, yet hilarious dinner in Dubrovnik. Think Balkan Basil Fawlty.

Waffles--Throwback Edition

2010-09-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, I posted a recipe for oatmeal waffles, which I quite enjoyed and thought was an unusual (and healthy-ish!) version of the this homey breakfast treat. I made them again last weekend, but added a little vanilla to the batter, and topped them with stewed peaches and Brown Cow Maple Cream Top yogurt (my favorite). We gobbled them down before I thought of taking a photo, but here's a recipe for the stewed peaches, courtesy of The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook:

Stewed Peaches
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
4 whole cloves (I didn't have any, so I just sprinkled in a little ground cloves)
1 1/2 pounds peaches, chopped into chunks

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, heat sugar, water, and cloves to boiling.
2. Add peaches; return to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until tender.

Best waffle combination I had in ages!

Drink Like a Caribeño

2010-08-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

I recently finished reading a great example of travel writing, called An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude by Ann Vanderhoof. In it, the author and her husband give up their high pressure Toronto publishing jobs for two years of travel through the Caribbean on a sail boat. At the end of each chapter, Vanderhoof throws in a few recipes that she concocted or learned during that period of her travels. Being in the Caribbean, those naturally included a few rum-based cocktail recipes. Let me tell you, the week we had 90+ degree temperatures here in Portland, I made those cocktails with alacrity and frequency. They were just perfect!

Here are her recipes:

Rum and Coconut Water à la Receta (the name of Vanderhoof's sailboat)

2 ounces white rum
4 ounces (approx.) coconut water
1 tablespoon (approx.) sweetened condensed milk (or to taste)
Whole nutmeg

Shake or stir the rum, coconut water, and milk with ice. Taste, and add more milk if you want the drink a bit sweeter. Liberally grate nutmeg on top.

Makes 1 drink.

Port of Spain "Stress Cooler"
Served at the Afterwork Stress Cooler (a.k.a big outdoor party with live music and lots to drink) in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

6 ounces white rum
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1 ounce golden syrup
6 ounces evaporated milk
1-2 ounces sweetened condensed milk (approx.)
Freshly grated nutmeg

1. Combine a couple of tablespoons of the rum with the espresso and cocoa powders and stir until smooth.
2. Add the rest of the rum, the syrup, and the evaporated milk. Sweeten to taste with condensed milk.
3. Serve over ice, with freshly grated nutmeg on top.

Makes 3 drinks.

My notes:
1. I substituted spiced dark rum for the white rum in these recipes because it's what I had, and I really like spiced rum. I thought it worked beautifully. I recommend Sailor Jerry's or The Kraken Black Rum.
2. For "golden syrup" in the Stress Cooler recipe, I used agave syrup. I find that it works great in place of ordinary simple syrup in mixed drinks.

ENJOY!

Grenadine and Joel Palmer House (aka Mushroompalooza)

2010-07-22T21:39:00.000-07:00

Yikes! I haven't posted since May. Maybe not much cooking going on, but that's probably not true. Well, here's the latest: tomorrow night I'm going to The Joel Palmer House in Dayton, Oregon (wine country), a very expensive, mushroom-centered restaurant. Apparently, it's Derek's parents' favorite place to go each time they visit Oregon for the annual International Pinot Festival, and they invited us to join them this year. To quote the website, it has an "internationally-inspired menu of wild mushroom dishes paired with fine wine in a...historic Oregon wine country home." Sounds good to me.
I'm also thinking about making my own grenadine a la Jeffrey Morgenthaler. But now I realize that pomegranate season is actually in winter, so it might be best to wait until then. But we'll see.

Finally, my garden is slow. Three tomato bushes, but only one tomato among them, and it's tiny and green. Blossoms on the pumpkin vine, and plenty of basil, but that's pretty much it. Patience, Laura, patience.

Tarte Aux Fraises

2010-05-16T16:24:00.000-07:00

This is the first recipe I've attempted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, and it is a definite success!
Sugar cookie-like crust, layer of red-currant glaze, cognac-spiked creme patisserie, and fresh strawberries--for my mom's birthday. I hope she likes it (but I'm not worried :))!

Ethiopian Food

2010-04-25T12:11:00.000-07:00

I tried out Ethiopian food for the first time Friday, and it was good! We went to Dalo's Kitchen on N. Vancouver, which has been around for several years. The outside looks kind of strange: only one window on a huge building that's sort of in need of fresh paint. But the inside is nicely decorated, and the food is wonderful.
We ordered a lamb stew in berbere sauce, sauteed spinach, and a cabbage salad with fried potatoes in it. No silverware, just injere bread to scoop everything up with. The lamb stew was super great, and seemed similar to Indian food [in my opinion]. I've heard many reviewers complain about injere bread, saying it's like Styrofoam, but I don't understand why. It's like a huge pancake with a faintly sour flavor. Soft and tender, and not at all like Styrofoam. Really good, actually. The food was spicy, but not running-nose hot. The price was very inexpensive too: one entree, two sides, and three beverages (they brew two different kinds of beer there--one dark and chocolaty, and the other from honey like Meade with some spice in it I couldn't quite place) all for $30.00. I want to go back there, and I want to get the leftovers next time :). Derek got them this time. I didn't really know what to expect from Ethiopian food, but it definitely exceeded what expectations I did have.

Dalo's Kithchen
4134 N Vancouver Avenue
Portland, OR 97217-2900
Phone: (503) 808-9604

Let's Talk About Belgian Food

2010-03-13T17:26:00.000-08:00

I wish Portland had a good Belgian restaurant. Did I say Belgian? Yes. No, not Belgian waffles, although those are good too. I mean Belgian, generally. When I was in Toronto a couple of years ago, my friend Joel and I happened upon a great Belgian restaurant as we were considering lunch. It was called: La Petit Dejeuner, and I strongly recommend it if you're ever in Toronto. I discovered at that restaurant that I actually can enjoy beer. I mean, I like beer, and Portland has a huge beer culture, but I realized recently why Portland beer just isn't my style: way too hoppy (Thank you Derek's friend Joel (different Joel) for articulating this). There's Potato Champion, one of the 12th and Hawthorne food carts, but honestly, it sucks. On NW 21st and Glisan, there's 45 North, whose specialty is beers of the world and mussels, which I heartily endorse. Great place. But that's it. I'm not sure what, exactly, I'm looking for, but it doesn't seem to exist here anymore. There used to be an awesome place called Apotheke, but that was generally Nordic, not Belgian. Still, it was an interesting concept. Über-modern, all white, no mixed drinks, just straight up or on the rocks, but a drink menu like a novel. It was amazing. Good food too. I really miss Apotheke.

Señor Cutie Cooks!

2010-02-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

Derek recently discovered the fun of cooking! I am very excited about this, since I love cooking.
When we were in Mexico, he bought a huge cookbook [in Spanish] full of a million taco recipes. And thus began his cooking adventure.

His first foray was last weekend, when he made two different kinds of pork tacos: carnitas, and one in an orange juice-based sauce. Both were quite good, so he gained confidence, and said he wanted to make dinner again. Fine with me!

Last night, our dinner ventured into German territory, with Derek deciding on a menu of sauerkraut and pork stew and German potato salad. Holy moly! Both turned out super good, but the potato salad was amazing. It was so much fun: we watched the Blazer game, listened to a little Falco (due to the menu), cooked, and drank German and Czech beer. Or rather, I did a little food prep, and Derek cooked. He described the evening as "Fun and Relaxing." He looked happy; I was happy too. Dinner was delicious, we had fun, and I'm looking forward to his next dinner. Maybe I'll even remember to photograph the results.

An Avocado A Day Keeps the Doctor Away

2010-01-17T19:47:00.001-08:00

Food in Mexico is good. Really good. Especially if you eat from street vendors. It's pretty darn cheap too. And don't be afraid of the street vendors: they really aren't dirty, and if anything, the food is MUCH fresher than at many restaurants because they only bring out what they know they can sell in a certain time period. No malingering pork or cucumbers. And they're BUSY too. When in Mexico City, choose the busiest taco cart you can find, and buy some tacos, at least two, heck, maybe four. They're only 30 cents each, and probably the best tacos of your life. I'm not joking. Sadly, I don't have any taco photos, a terrible oversight.
Also, assume you will avocado in some form every single day. Either just sliced, or mashed into guacamole, we ended up eating avocado every single day, sometimes more than once a day. Mexico loves avocados and limes.
But on to the photos below. This was our first meal in Mexico City, and probably the fanciest one of the entire trip. Fortunately it was delicious. It was a restaurant called La Fonda Refugio, and we sure had a hard time finding it. Lonely Planet's map was wrong, but Derek didn't give up, and it was worth it. It was fairly elegant, and seemed to have a lot of foreigners eating there, but it wasn't a tourist restaurant. We started off with guacamole, freshly made chips, and Bohemia beer. Next, we split a nopalitos salad. Notice how brightly green they are. So fresh! I've eaten it in Portland a few times, but it's always been a dull army green. Canned, probably. But this wasn't. Nopalitos, onion, cheese, tomato, and probably a squeeze of lime. Wonderful!
My dinner: pork, arroz verde, fried plaintain, and refried black beans.
Derek's dinner: chicken in a green mole, I think.

The next night, we ventured to the "infamous" Garibaldi Plaza (not sure why it has such a reputation, it seemed fine), to try the equally infamous beverage called pulche. Pulche is a cactus-based beer-like beverage, that supposedly has a very strong alcohol content. I think that the pulcheria we visited only served pulche-lite, because we went through quite a bit of the stuff, and didn't feel even the slightest buzz. But whatever. I had a strawberry version first, which honestly, wasn't very good, and Derek tried mango. Mango was much better. Then we moved on to coconut, which was actually really good.
There are beautiful bakeries all over, windows flaunting all their enticing pastries. I had three dreams during the trip about pastry. The closest I came, however, was a doughnut on the last morning. A very good, very large, Mexican doughnut. But I vow to come back, and taste these elegant treats. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
Here we are at La Opera Bar, a very historic (read: touristy) place. Supposedly, Pancho Villa left a bullet hole in the ceiling when he galloped in long ago. It was very pretty, but they stuck us in a booth in a back corner, so we couldn't really see/interact much. We had some nice margaritas, and decent food, but nothing very special. Really, we could have just come in, looked around, and then gone somewhere else to eat. C'est la vie.

Next photo is a market cafe in Valladolid. I had some sort of pineappley-pork thing and a banana agua fresca, which tasted just like the banana "milkshakes" my mom would make when I was little.
Now we're in Campeche. Derek was hoping for a big, beachside seafood dinner. That didn't exactly happen, due to a combination of digestive issues and poor weather. So we settled for a nice seafood merienda. Me below with a little crab cocktail.
Derek with his giant mixed-seafood cocktail.
The variety plates they bring out automatically as soon as you're seated.

Now we're back in Mexico City, this time in the Coyoacan neighborhood, which I LOVED. We walk to a food court/market type situation, and, since it's unseasonably cold and rainy, I decided a hot, steaming bowl of pozole would be the perfect dinner. It was. Possibly one of the best meals of the trip. (Feeling inspired, I made some here in Portland on Friday. It turned out really good, although Derek ate too much of it and felt ill afterward.)After that, we wandered down the street and had tequila and sangrita at Cantina La Guadalupana, which is historic, but not at all touristy. Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera used to drink there. We saw two very drunk men there, but instead of just getting kicked out, the staff sort of teased them. To prevent damage, a waiter switched out one guy's glass with a plastic cup. Every once in a while, the guy would let out a loud whoop or yell. Everyone would laugh.
We tried two different kinds of tequila there, one of which was 100 years old. It was really good, and tasted quite different from any tequila I've ever had before. It was smoky, like scotch, and they served it to us in brandy snifters.
That's one of the drunk guys below.
Another bakery window.
La Bipolar bar, owned by super hot Mexican actor Diego Luna. It was pretty cool. It was like a Portland bar, very hip, but no annoying hipsters. Lots of college students. The drinks were good and fairly creative, and we ordered some mean taquitos Colorado.

The next morning, we went back to the square, and had coffee and doughnuts from Cafe El Jarocho at the plaza, like all the locals were doing. Every time we walked by there, the line was long. No wonder. Real, decent coffee seemed hard to come by in Mexico; often even "nice" places served Nescafe, or Olla, as it's called there. Yuck. The coffee was good, and the doughnut was great: fresh, huge, and ribboned with cinnamon. Mmm.
Obviously, there were a couple disasters, such as a disgusting tourist place in Merida with rude waiters. But overall, Mexico is tops on my list of countries to eat in. Tasty, fresh, and cheap, especially in Mexico City.

Mexican Food Odyssey: Coming Soon!

2010-01-12T15:18:00.000-08:00

I'm back from Mexico, but tired, blah, blah, you know, but I will post a roundup of my dining experiences there soon, maybe this weekend. I have to say, Mexico has been one of my best travel food experiences! Man oh man, the tacos....

Apple-Panettone Bread Pudding=Success

2009-12-26T09:35:00.000-08:00

This last permutation of the disastrous panettone was, fortunately, a success. I added a little vanilla and cinnamon to the recipe, and voilá, delicious dessert, finally. I'm so glad that it didn't get wasted.

Failed Panettone Transformed into Apple Bread Pudding

2009-12-24T19:17:00.000-08:00

So I rebaked the failed panettone, and most of it is cooked now. The flavor of it was right, but obviously, it didn't turn out right. But instead of throwing it away, I'm going to use the fully cooked parts in place of raisin bread in a raisin-apple bread pudding. I'm pretty sure that will turn out good--I mean, I've made it several times, and it's pretty difficult to screw up. Cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla, spicy bread, and apples--it sounds delicious already. You can get the original recipe for Apple Raisin Bread Pudding on Epicurious.

Merry Christmas!

Panettone=FAIL

2009-12-23T22:11:00.000-08:00

It was a disaster. It looked done, it looked like it was good, but once I took it out of the pan to cool, it collapsed, and I realized it was still all gooey inside. Damn. I'm going to try to rebake it to see if it can be salvaged, but I have a feeling it's going to be a wasted effort.
I'll try again sometime when I have proper equipment.

Panettone: Update

2009-12-23T18:16:00.000-08:00

So I guess I know what I'm going to use my Williams-Sonoma gift card on: a Kitchen-Aid mixer, professional version. I left alone the mixer kneading the dough, and all of a sudden heard a crash. Ugh. What was that? I walked back into the kitchen, and saw the mixer sideways on the floor, along with my coffee maker, coffee splashed all over the floor and on all of my cupboards. I guess the mixer mixed itself off the counter. I think the coffee maker is okay, though. Hmm. I couldn't get the dough hook back into its slot, and the release thing was loose and wobbly. Not good. I briefly contemplated mixing it by hand, but then transferred it to the Cuisinart. That worked well enough, until the dough got looped into the mechanism. OK, by hand, I guess.
The panettone is now in the oven. I hope it will not end up like a brick.

Coming soon: Panettone!

2009-12-23T09:47:00.000-08:00

I'm starting on it RIGHT NOW! Wish me luck. I'll post some photos of the process that don't involve ducks.

Pannetone

2009-12-11T10:38:00.000-08:00

After all my finals are done, I think I'm going to try to make pannetone, which is a delicious, yeast-raised Italian cake studded with raisins and citron. With the exception of New York Times Bread, I've always found recipes involving yeast to be a little tricky, so we'll see how this goes....

Yes! Clyde Common Cocktail Recipes

2009-10-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

I'm off task in Criminal Law class (I know, I know, Bad Laura!), and did a search for a recipe for a drink I had recently at Clyde Common, because often, their featured cocktails are resurrections of forgotten classics.
But, apparently, this one is an original, and one of the bartenders at Clyde has his own blog! With recipes! Yay!

Feel like a fancy-schmancy Clyde Common drink, but don't feel like leaving home on a dark, foggy night such as tonight?
Check out Jeffrey Morgenthaler.

I might make a Bourbon Renewal when I get home (photo at left from Jeffrey Morgenthaler's blog).

The Fall Photos

2009-10-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are photos from yesterday's Hood River excursion. We started off at a cider tasting, then went to a Swiss-German Edelweiss Festival. It was ridiculously wholesome, and kind of like a combination picnic, harvest festival, and garage sale.

After that, we hit the road...

...and ended up at the alpaca farm. Alpaca are soft and friendly, but very strange.

This was the Alpaca's giant guard dog, Charlie. He was extremely friendly too (and extremely soft), but I'm not so sure how good of guard dog he was.

After the Alpacas, we went to some other farm for a late lunch and apple butter festival. Dessert was "Fried Biscuits" and apple butter. Fried biscuits are just like little, super fresh donut holes. Wow! They were delicious! I've never had warm donut holes with apple butter before. I highly recommend it.

From there, we continued on to wine tasting at Pheasant Valley Vineyards, and a mosey around the Gorge White House. Finally, we wandered around Hood River a bit, and then headed home. It really was a perfect fall day.

Pumpkin Muffins

2009-10-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

I found this delicious, not-too-sweet recipe for Pumpkin Muffins on Epicurious. If you want to turn them into dessert, put a little cream cheese frosting on top.

Saturday, Mr. Long and I will head out to the Hood River Fruit Loop. Heirloom Apples, pumpkins, alpacas, wine, cider, apple butter, and Autumnal coziness. Yay!
Expect photos.

Stumptown: Portland-Based Business in the NY Times [again]

2009-10-14T09:19:00.001-07:00

I love, love, love it when Portland is featured in the New York Times! More often than not, the article depicts our food scene. Without further ado, here is the latest installment of Portland in the New York Times:

A Seductive Cup

By OLIVER STRAND

Published: September 16, 2009

The baristas at Stumptown Coffee Roasters in the Ace Hotel.
Stumptown Coffee Roasters

A blog by Dining section writers on restaurants and food.

20 West 29th Street (Broadway); no phone, stumptowncoffee.com.

The barista who took my order at Stumptown Coffee Roasters possessed the bone structure of a male model. He was tall and focused and had a tattoo of a schooner on his forearm.

He called me “sir.”

It was a level of ceremony — or even civility — you don’t usually encounter when jockeying for an espresso in New York.

And you don’t usually come across an espresso ($2.50) this exceptional anywhere in the world.

Stumptown, which opened in the Ace Hotel earlier this month, puts a polish on the fanaticism of what’s known as coffee’s “Third Wave.” It’s a movement of purists (no flavorings, please) and obsessives (bags of micro-lot beans are labeled with the latitude, longitude and elevation where grown).

Arguably, this is New York’s first farm-to-cup cafe. Stumptown was started in Portland, Ore., by Duane Sorenson, a legend in coffee circles. The company is known for an intensity that’s part punk, part religion.

But the coffee bar in the Ace Hotel is more about seduction.

It starts with the room. The airy storefront overlooking West 29th Street was designed by Roman and Williams, the firm behind the hotel’s interiors. It’s spare but lush: the floor is travertine, the walnut bar is trimmed in brass. The light fixture, a graceful line of running arcs, is hand-blown milk glass.

Then there’s the natty staff. Dressed in muted shades of gray and blue, they’re professional (the men wear ties), and achingly cool (they look like they skateboard to work).

Most of all there’s the coffee.

The plush and nutty house espresso, Hair Bender, was bright enough to balance the steamed milk in a cappuccino ($3.30) — which, incidentally, is just 10 cents more than what is served at the Starbucks around the corner.

A glass of cold-drip iced coffee (from $2.75) from Carmen Estate in Panama was crisp and clean, like blackberries steeped in water. Different varieties of hot coffee (from $2) are brewed in press pots throughout the day.

Even the mocha (from $3.70) was rich and memorable; it’s made with syrup created by Mast Brothers Chocolate.

Serious coffee has already conquered the West Coast. When delivered with this much style, it could win over New York, too.

The Garden's Results

2009-09-04T23:42:00.000-07:00

The tomatoes are coming along nicely.

I planted the squash late, but it has some blossoms nonetheless.

I also have a ridiculous amount of basil, and various other herbs; being able to walk outside and snip a few herbs in the morning for an omelet is definitely tastier than the dried stuff.

New Favorite Lunch Spot: Caffe Umbria

2009-08-27T12:25:00.001-07:00

I've been coming here since it opened for coffee with Italian atmosphere, but I only recently tried their lunch offerings. It's great. Pictured above was my lunch today: pizza prosciutto e fungi accompanied by a little dish of olives, and a San Pellegrino Aranciata to drink. Last time, I had some sort of pressed sandwich with arugula and prosciutto, also accompanied by olives. I think olives are their standard side flair.
Other lunch options include various salads and sandwiches, quiche, and a little combo plate of lasagna and salad. The cafe's main offering is Italian-style coffee, and nice pastries and gelato. If you're feeling especially continental, they serve wine, and a limited selection of prosecco- or asti spumante-based cocktails. (Yay, Campari!)
The place is owned by Italians, and it shows. They have a flat screen in the back to show soccer games, and the air is often filled with Italian chatter. It's almost like being on vacation. Ah, Italy!

Caffe Umbria is on the corner of NW 12th and Everett.

Hood to Coast 2009 Menu

2009-08-26T08:52:00.001-07:00

Alright, it's settled.
Here's the menu I decided on for the Hood to Coast after party this year:

Fish Tacos
Spicy Black Beans with Chorizo and Chipotle Cream
Rice with Summer Squash, Red Peppers, and Pepitas
Chili-Cheese Custard Squares
Various Mexican and American Beers
Some sort of dessert (whatever looks appealing at Trader Joe's--I'm not baking on top of all that!)

Hood to Coast Menu, Take Two

2009-08-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

My company has a team running in Hood to Coast this year, and I'm in charge of organizing and preparing the food for the after-party like I did two years ago. Now I've got a little experience, and it shouldn't be nearly as big an ordeal as it was it was last year.
I've got the main dish lined up: fish tacos (thanks for the great idea, Derek!). And, Derek offered to make ceviche as an appetizer.
Now I just need to figure out what else to accompany it. Things are shaping up (and looking a lot less labor-intensive than last time)!

A Mess of Garlic Scape Recipes

2009-07-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

I discovered garlic scapes (aka garlic blossoms, garlic flowers, etc.) this year, and really enjoy them, although recipes for them on the internet seem to be scarce, aside from the ubiquitous pesto recipe. So up until now, I've made up my own uses for them, including a pizza and an omelet. Here are my loosely-depicted recipes:

Garlic Scape, Mushroom, and Asparagus Pizza

On top of spread-out pizza dough, drizzle olive oil, and sprinkle with a variety of chopped fresh herbs (I used basil, sage, and rosemary).
Sprinkle shredded goat mozzarella, or regular mozzarella, or a combination of the two on top of herbs.
Scatter sliced mushrooms, sliced asparagus, and sliced garlic scapes on top of cheese. Sprinkle on a little red pepper flakes to taste.
Top with more shredded cheese and drizzle with black truffle oil.
Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, or until it starts to look toasty.

Garlic Scape, Arugula, and Ricotta Salata Omelet

In a frying pan, saute sliced garlic scapes in olive oil and a little salt until softened.
Pour over it eggs scrambled with a little milk and red pepper flakes. Leave it alone.
When the egg/scape combination starts to set, place slices of ricotta salata cheese on one side of the eggs. Place some torn arugula on top of that, and top with more ricotta salata slices.
Fold the empty side of the egg over the filled side, and reduce the heat.
After a bit, flip over to cook the other side.

And here are a bunch of recipes I found scattered throughout the internet today, but haven't actually tried yet. They look good though, and I'll probably be making one of them tonight for dinner.

Lemon Scented Pasta with Garlic Scapes and Veggies
(Serves 2 as a main course or four as a side dish)

1/3 box of spaghetti
5 or 6 garlic scapes sliced thinly
6 Sun dried tomato halves sliced thinly
¾ cup fresh corn
½ cup flat leaf parsley
Zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
1 cup chicken stock

Cook the spaghetti till al dente and set aside.

Sautee scapes and tomatoes till fragrant then add the corn, parsley, lemon zest and lemon juice and simmer lightly.

Turn the heat up a bit; add the chicken stock and pasta and toss everything to coat and until the sauce is slightly thickened.

Serve garnished with additional parsley.

________________________________________________________________________

Chicken With Garlic Scapes & Capers

2 whole skinless boneless chicken breasts, halved
2 Tbsp. Unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
4 Tbsp. dry white wine
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
4 chopped garlic scapes
1 Tbsp. drained capers

Between sheets of plastic wrap slightly flatten chicken. In a large heavy skillet heat 1Tbsp. of butter and the oil over medium high heat. Saute until cooked through. Season with salt & pepper. Transfer chicken to a platter and keep warm. Pour off fat from skillet and add the remaining butter, the wine, lemon juice, scapes and bring mixture to a boil. Stir in capers and salt & pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over chicken. Serves 4.

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Garlic Scape Carbonara
serves 4

This pasta is fantastic as a meal served with a big garden salad and some crusty bread. If desired, add a half-cup of fresh, lightly cooked peas to the mix for a little added nutrition (and sweetness).

1/2 lb campanella pasta, or shape of your choosing
4 slices bacon (about 3 1/4 ounces), chopped
1/4 cup garlic scapes, cut into 1/4 inch coins
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese

Set a pot of water to boiling on the stove and cook the campanella pasta (or desired shape).

While it’s cooking, cook the bacon over medium heat until browned. Remove the bacon pieces with a slotted spoon and add the garlic scapes. Cook until soft (2-3 minutes). Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. (Drain both the bacon and the garlic scapes on a paper towel).

Whisk together the eggs, salt and red pepper flakes.

When the pasta is done, quickly remove it from the stove and set a different burner to low heat. Drain the pasta and add it back to the pot, on the burner set to low. Stir in the garlic scapes and bacon. Add the egg mixture and stir feverishly for 3-4 minutes until sauce is thick and creamy. Don’t let it overcook or it will be gloppy. Sprinkle the romano cheese in, a little at a time, and stir to combine. Don’t add it all at once or it won’t mix through out the pasta as well (since it will clump).

Serve immediately.

________________________________________________________________________

White Bean and Garlic Scapes Dip

Time: 15 minutes

A Good Appetite: A Garlic Festival Without a Single Clove (June 18, 2008)

1/3 cup sliced garlic scapes (3 to 4)

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, more to taste

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt, more to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling.

1. In a food processor, process garlic scapes with lemon juice, salt and pepper until finely chopped. Add cannellini beans and process to a rough purée.

2. With motor running, slowly drizzle olive oil through feed tube and process until fairly smooth. Pulse in 2 or 3 tablespoons water, or more, until mixture is the consistency of a dip. Add more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice, if desired.

3. Spread out dip on a plate, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with more salt.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups.

________________________________________________________________________

BEET GREENS & GARLIC SCAPE DECONSTRUCTED PESTO
2 c beet greens, chopped into 2 inch pieces
3 or 4 garlic scapes, chopped
1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 c chopped toasted walnuts
your favorite pasta (I used angel hair)
1-15 oz can diced tomatoes (once tomatoes are in season I would use chopped Romas)
Parmesan cheese, shredded

Cook pasta according to package directions. Heat skillet over medium low heat.

Add oil, greens, garlic scapes, salt & pepper. Stir everything around. Cover for 3-5 minutes until everything is wilted. Add in chopped walnuts. Drain pasta. Toss tomatoes and greens with the pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese when ready to serve. ENJOY!

_______________________________________________________________________

Fish with Olives and Garlic Scapes

I preheated the oven to 450. Took two sheets of parchment paper, and brushed them with some of the orange olive oil. I layered the fish, chopped Greek olives, chopped sundried tomatoes, and chopped garlic scapes. I drizzled a little olive oil over the top, salt and peppered it, contemplated going outside to snip some fresh herbs, decided I was too lazy, and closed up the pouches. Placed them on a cookie sheet and baked for 10 minutes. Served it over rice.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Garlic Scape Soup
(This soup enhances the delicate garlic-asparagus flavor of the scapes. You may use the flower as well.)
3 cups garlic spears, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté the garlic spears and the onion in the olive oil over medium heat until vegetables are soft. Add the thyme at the end. In food processor, pureé the vegetables and add chicken stock as needed to make a smooth paste. In saucepan, heat the vegetable mixture and add the remaining chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and add the cream. Adjust the seasoning. Serves 4.

Toaster Oven + Turkey Bacon = Success

2009-07-19T10:40:00.001-07:00

I got a toaster oven finally, which I'm very excited about; I researched it to make sure I got a good one. And, I have now made an amazing discovery.
You know how turkey bacon is never very bacon-like, and usually floppy? This morning, I discovered that if you cook it in a toaster oven, it will come out crunchy and delicious, almost as good as real bacon. Thrilling!

Pizza Discussion: Dove Vivi

2009-07-09T22:16:00.000-07:00

I'm sure I've had a pizza discussion before, but I tried out a new place with my friend Ingrid tonight, and it was good: Dove Vivi.
What makes Dove Vivi different is that their pies have cornmeal crusts--similar to the pizza I had in Chicago. But unlike Chicago pizza, this one doesn't make you feel sick.
We ordered a pie that was half pesto variety, and half a daily special called Blue Room. The pesto side had mozzarella, fontina, ricotta, spinach pesto, basil and tomatoes. The Blue Room half was topped with mozzarella, gorganzola, marinated mushrooms, and tomatoes. Both were very good, and not very greasy, especially considering how many different kinds of cheese they had.
Before the pizza, we both started off with a kale salad: shredded kale dressed in olive oil, lemon, and black pepper, with lots of nice slivers of ricotta salata mixed in. Mmm.
Service was very friendly, but spacey. The girl taking our order didn't have a pad to write it down, and then, we never got our beverages. Dessert came out as a big, broken up mess because, as the waitress explained apologetically, "it was the first slice out of the cake." The presentation didn't affect the taste though: it's impossible for chocolate mousse cake and lady fingers to not taste good. When the bill came, the waitress didn't charge us for the dessert because it arrived so crumbled, but the beverages that we never actually received were on there. Hmmm. We told her what happened (it was a different server who took our initial order), so she corrected it, and all was well.
So all in all, it was good, and a nice change from the typical pizza. (Ken's is still my favorite though.)
Dove Vivi
2727 NE Glisan Street
Portland, OR
503-239-4444

Barbur World Foods

2009-07-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, I'm back on Syrian breakfast. That's right, even though I was so tired of it after my trip, I ate that this morning. But maybe it was OK because it was on my own terms, rather than being the only option.
What precipitated this?

Yesterday, as I was driving up Barbur on my way home, I noticed a big grocery store with an enticing name: "Barbur World Foods." Sounds like my kind of place. And, it was.

It's kind of like a mini version of the huge Quebecois Lebanese grocery store, Adonis. It's big, it has all the regular stuff one would find at a typical grocery store, but additionally has tons of imported stuff, predominantly from the Mediterranean. The deli has a decidedly Middle-Eastern flavor: instead of potato salad and Jello-mysteries, there are stuffed peppers, stuffed squash, grape leaves, hummus...you get the idea. The sweets tend towards baklava, Syrian rice pudding, and an assortment of Armenian pastries from Ararat Bakery in SE. Planning on putting on a Syrian dinner? Go there. Very nice produce, and the cheapest Haloumi cheese in town (seriously).
My breakfast this morning: Syrian bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, hummus, Kashkaval cheese, Haloumi cheese, and a peach (a VERY good, sweet white peach). And coffee, of course.

9845 SW Barbur Blvd
Portland, Oregon 97219
Phone: (503) 244-0670
http://www.barburworldfoods.com/index.htm

Turkey and Syria: A Culinary Explanation

2009-06-15T21:23:00.000-07:00

I admit it, I got REALLY tired of the food while I was in Turkey and Syria, especially breakfast. At first though, I was pretty excited. The photo above depicts the typical breakfast in Turkey and Syria. Cucumber, tomato, cheese, olive, bread, and maybe a little jam or honey. In Turkey, for whatever reason, it seemed to often come with a slice of bologna, I have no idea why, and in Syria, there was usually hummus and lebneh. But that's where the trouble began. Hummus and lebneh were served with EVERY meal. Seriously. I like a little variety throughout the day, and to eat the same thing three times in a row is just too much. By the end of the trip, I dreaded breakfast. Coffee also started out a problem. In both Turkey and Syria, if you ordered coffee at a restaurant, you got barfy Nescafe. Come on. With all the great, thick intense coffee they have over there, the preferred version seriously was Nescafe. I don't understand. But finally, we wised up. In Turkey, we either drank tea, which really is what the locals usually drank, or, we went to some Italian cafe that appeared to be Turkey's answer to Starbucks (only better), and got nice cappucinos and americanos there. I'm sorry to say, however, that I never got to drink "Turkish" coffee in Turkey. In Syria, though, we got that straightened out.
In Adana, we had our first, and best kabob meal. It was really, really, good, and beautiful to look at. Juicy sticks of spiced ground lamb accompanied by all kinds of fresh salads to wrap in with the meat.
But then, we ended up (through no fault of our own) eating kabob for three more days. When you go to a restaurant in Syria, they don't give you a menu, because apparently, they pretty much all serve the same thing: hummus, tabbouleh, kabob (called kifteh in Syria), fattoush, baba ghanoush, lebneh, olives. So that's what we ate. Over and over again. I'm still off kabob for the time being.

Oh, yeah, and in addition to all the stuff I mentioned as typical Syrian restaurant fare, they also always served french fries. I don't know why, but they were always there.
Now on to the Syrian favorites. I had quite possibly the best ice cream of my life there. Sorry, no photo, but you know what ice cream looks like. It was three different flavors: pineapple sherbet on top, then pistachio, and finally almond-cardamom on the bottom. Holy, crap, it was good. FORGET GELATO. This stuff was way better.
My favorite dinner in Syria was at a rustic tanoor (same as tandoor) restaurant. Hot, fresh bread straight from the tanoor, as well as little pies with different fillings: spinach, cheese, roasted peppers, or zait ou zattar.

They also served a really good fresh cheese.

Finally, dinner at my aunt and uncle's house. Stuffed grape leaves; saffron rice with eggplant, lamb and almonds; stewed peas, and fish. Unfortunately, our meal timing that day was bad: we didn't have lunch until 3 or 4 in the afternoon, and then were supposed to eat this huge dinner at 7. I had the foresight to not eat much lunch, so I was ok, but my dad, cousin, and other uncle did not, so they were passing around the zantac in preparation.

OK. Now we're back in Adana, Turkey again, and my dad wasn't feeling so hot, so I just got a little pizza-like thing from the bakery. It was good, it had olives, corn, cheese, and peppers on it. But it also had weird little hot dog bits on it. I don't know why the Turks are so enamored with hot dog and bologna-like substances. But it was still pretty good.
Our first dinner on the "Flower Street" in Istanbul. Basically, Turkish tapas. Little plates of this and that: stewed tomatoes and eggplant, beans, some sort of mystery vegetable that was similar to artichoke. It was ok.

Turkish sweets, which are pretty much the same as Arabic sweets.
Anything with dates they advertised as Turkish "Viagra." I've never heard of dates having that property, but whatever.
OK. Now I'm back in Germany. Really nice hotel, complete with minibar. I drank a mini-bottle of Sekt, and thoroughly enjoyed its fizzy, fermented wonder. The next morning, breakfast was the great German breakfast buffet. Pretty much anything Western-breakfast related you could want was there, and it was a welcome change.

Tanuki? Wonderful. Natto? Blechhh.

2009-04-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

Last night, a visited Tanuki for the third time. It never fails to please. It's a tiny little sake and Japanese barfood place (no sushi) on NW 21st between Flanders and Glisan--my old neighborhood. I loved living there, but parking was always an ordeal, as it proved so last night. But anyway, that's not the point.
Tanuki is dark, candlelit, raucous, and has bizarre Japanese sitcoms (?) muted on the flat-panel above the kitchen. One featured a chimp dressed in safari gear, and another depicted a band of female zombies in ordinary circumstances.
On to the food.
We started off with Kiku-Masamune Taru-Sake, sake made the old-fashioned way, aged in cedar casks, which supposedly imparts a cedar flavor. Honestly, I could maybe smell a hint of cedar in it, but taste it? No. It was good, I enjoyed it thoroughly, but I couldn't really taste anything cedar-like about it. Our server even gave us a little cup of non-cedar sake to compare it with, but still, nothing.
Next came Niku dango: wild boar meatballs w/sweet soy curry bbq sauce. It was served over rice and completely delicious. Sweet, but not cloyingly so.
Then, Uni: fresh golden premium sea urchin roe w/true wasabi & shiro shoyu. Wow. Seriously. I've tried ordering uni before at various places, but it always seemed to have run out. Now I know why. It's soft, buttery, and with a subtle flavor of the sea.
Then came the Natto. Bad news. Slimey fermented soybeans atop rice, flourished with green onions and a raw quail egg. It was bitter. The texture was disgusting. We both hated it. Will managed to finish his serving, but I didn't think it was worth the effort. I hid mine under mussel and clam shells from our next dish. Talking to the staff about it, some of them don't like it, and apparently half the Japanese population doesn't like it. It's an "acquired taste." I have not acquired that taste.
OK, back to the good stuff. Udon noodle soup in a spicy chili-infused broth with mussels, clams, basa (I only know of basa fish, but this was not fish. It was delicious though, whatever it was.), tofu, and green onions. Good stuff, perfect for a rainy night.
Finally, off-the bone rib meat, shredded, with shredded cucumber over rice. Possibly my favorite dish of the night.

Go to Tanuki, you will enjoy it! Skip the Natto, though.

413 NW 21st Ave, PDX 97209

503-241-7667

www.tanukipdx.com

Open 4-close (10 or later)

Tuesday-Saturday

Closed Sun-Mon

Chef/Owner Janis Martin

email: Janis@tanukipdx.com

Beast: A Review

2009-03-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

For Christmas this year, my friend Alex gave everyone dinner out at various fancy restaurants. Mine was Beast, and we tried it out last night. Dining at Beast is sort of like going to a dinner party where you don't know anyone except the person you came with. And I mean that in a good way. Everyone eats the same thing at the same time, either 6 p.m. or 8:45 p.m. It's a lot of fun, the food was, with one exception, excellent, and overall, I totally recommend it. We went for the wine pairing with each course, which I strongly suggest. Six courses sound overwhelming, but the portions, for the most part are small, and therefore doable. Without further ado, here is course-by-course commentary:
1. Both the soup and nettle pastry were delicate and delicious; the soup had strong but not overwhelming flavors of mushrooms and truffles. The sparkling wine was wonderful.
2. Charcuterie Plate. A big plate with little bites of delight. Naomi Pomeroy suggested ending with the Foie Gras Bon-Bon. She was right. Everything on the plate was wonderful, I especially liked the paté and the chicken liver mousse with maple bacon, but the Bon-Bon was amazing. A delicate, buttery cookie was topped with a dome of buttery foie gras, garnished with two little dabs of sauternes jelly. It was dessert, really, but made of meat. Wow.
3. The lamb was, unfortunately, the low point. The artichokes fried in duck fat that accompanied it were wonderful, the mint-hazelnut salsa verde that topped it was fresh and crunchy, but the lamb...was too salty. It wasn't just my piece, Alex's was too. Which was really too bad, because everything else was so great.
Intermission: elderflower sorbet palate-cleanser. It wasn't listed on the menu, but ended up being one of my favorite thing that I ate that night. It was sweet, refreshing, and tasted, as I described it (and which made Alex laugh), as a Swedish snowball.
4. The roasted beet salad was good, but not anything particularly remarkable.
5. The cheese plate was a nice assortment of local and international slivers and dabs of cheese, accompanied by delicate anise shortbread. Very nice.
6. Dessert: the lemon tartlet was a nice, sweet, and light end to an overall very enjoyable meal.

Here's the menu for this week as posted on Beast's website:

week of march 11th

MENU FOR THE WEEK BELOW (suggested wine pairing in italics)

RICOTTA & NETTLE PASTRY
CREAM OF HEDGEHOG MUSHROOM SOUP
SHAVED OREGON BLACK TRUFFLE
DOMAINE LABBE BRUT DU SAVOIE-NV

CHARCUTERIE PLATE:
FOIE-GRAS BON-BON, SAUTERNES GELEÉ
STEAK TARTARE & QUAIL EGG TOAST
PORK, PORK LIVER, SOUR CHERRY & PISTACHIO PATE
CHICKEN LIVER MOUSSE, MAPLE CANDIED BACON
RIJCKAERT COTES DU JURA ‘EN PARADIS’-2006

CATTAIL CREEK LAMB LOIN CHOP
CRISPY BABY ARTICHOKES
DEMI-GLACE & MINT-HAZELNUT SALSA VERDE
ORATOIRE ST. MARTIN CAIRANNE ROUGE
RESERVE DES SEIGNEURS-2007

ROASTED RED & GOLD BEETS
FENNEL, WALNUT VINAIGRETTE
SHAVED SHEEPS MILK CHEESE
ORATOIRE ST.. MARTIN CAIRANNE BLANC HAUT COUSTIAS-2007

~SELECTION OF STEVE’S CHEESE~
ANISE & FLEUR DE SEL SHORTBREAD
POACHED WINTER FRUIT, MARCONA ALMONDS
CHATEAU BELLIVIERE BLANC VV ESPARSES-2005

LEMON-THYME TARTLETTE
VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM
CASSIS COULIS
STEINMETZ RIESLING AUSLESE BRAUNEBERGER JUFFER-1992

503.841.6968 · 5425 NE 30th Ave · Portland OR 97211
Dinner 5:30-9:30PM Wednesday - Saturday, Sunday brunch 11-2
www.beastpdx.com

A Few Brief Updates

2009-03-04T08:33:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated this in a while, I just don't have much time to go out, or cook, for that matter. But here are a few items of note:

Jace Gace has closed. The hipster waffle house on Belmont is gone, and in its place is a generic-looking "deli" with a ubiquitous Pepsi-sponsored sign. Honestly, Jace Gace wasn't that great, I make better waffles at home, but it was a cool space, and I hope that something more interesting than a so-called "deli" eventually makes its home there.
I visited Sel Gris for a second time over the weekend. This time, we had Lobster Gnocchi as an appetizer, and roast saddle of rabbit as an entree, which was stuffed with sweetbreads and wrapped in bacon. The Lobster Gnocchi was excellent, but I enjoyed the duck I had the first time I went there more than the rabbit; the duck was much lighter than the rabbit. It might have just been that duck suited my mood better. The staff there continues to be incredibly helpful and friendly.
Alu is for sale. Supposedly the owner of the Germanic wine bar wants to move to Spain, and that nothing was wrong with business. Hmmm. I loved that place, and I hope whoever buys it maintains the same atmosphere and quality level.
Sip and Kranz was sold. The Nordic "Child-Friendly" coffee shop had been closed for a while due to flooding from faulty plumbing. Then word came that it had been sold. Supposedly, the new owners are taking out the children's room (Hooray! No more screaming babies!) and are replacing it with computer stations. S & P's proximity to Jamison Square, combined with its kid-friendliness, led it to be often used as a rest area rather than a coffee shop, with inconsiderate parents coming in to get napkins, use the restroom, and take refuge from the sun/rain/etc. for hours by filling up all the seats without buying anything, all the while their kids ran around screaming, knocking things over, and disrupting the few paying customers who were actually there. Not the best way for a coffee shop to make money. I really liked everything about Sip and Kranz except the annoying children and parents. They had good coffee, good drinks, and nice furnishings. Best case, all this will be retained, and improved upon with the lack of children.
Rumor has it that Gourmet Magazine may eventually only be online. Yes, that's right, the original upscale cooking magazine may no longer have a print version. The publisher apparently has too many titles in this genre and feels the need to weed things out. Why they chose Gourmet over other titles, I really don't know. Gourmet had a nice mix of articles on travel, food, and food politics. It was specifically the food politics that I enjoyed; most other culinary magazines ignore that side of things. Maybe circulation was down. That's too bad. Maybe CondeNast will reconsider.

That's all for now. I should be trying Beast soon, and a review will definitely follow.

Gladstone Pizza and Coffee Shop

2009-01-29T08:46:00.000-08:00

I love living in a big, old farmhouse in SE Portland, but I do miss the hustle and variety of NW. Specifically, I miss the option of getting a slice of NY style pizza from Escape From New York. But that problem might be solved, at least to a degree.
Last night, at my request, my delightful roommates and I had dinner at Gladstone Pizza and Coffee. I had been there once before, on moving day, but just for coffee. They have great coffee, by the way, Stumptown, and they know how to prepare it.
Last night was the test. By day it's a laid back coffee shop that, for whatever reason, reminds me of one I went to in Toronto. At night, the bagels and coffee halt (or at least the bagels do), and the pizza oven gets fired up. It's still chill, but with the added coziness of candles. It's a family-run place, which always makes things nicer. The pizza is excellent--NY style, thin, floppy crust, and like Escape From NY, their topping options are limited, but appropriate. It's mostly classics, such as pepperoni, onions, etc. with a few gourmet options thrown in, such as chevre and andouille sausage. But nothing weird like peanut sauce.
We stuck with the classics: half pepperoni, half green pepper and onion. I heartily approved, and I think my friends all enjoyed it too. They have a few beers on tap; Joe and I chose a Belgian-style ale that was caramelly-colored and almost thick. It went really well with the pizza, but was pretty strong for a beer: alcohol content was around 10%. At the end of our meal, the owner came over with four little slices of pizza for us to try. He was developing a new variety of pie and wanted to test it out on us. I love that. It was good too: a bright, fresh tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, and basil. Pizza Margarita, in other words.
We all left happy. I'm not sure if they have pizza by the slice at night, but if they do, then it's probably the perfect place. And, bonus bonus, it's only a couple blocks from our house. What a relief.
Go there for coffee or pizza. Either way, you'll enjoy it.

Gladstone Pizza & Coffee Shop

503.775.1537

3813 SE Gladstone Street

Sel Gris

2009-01-05T10:46:00.001-08:00

Friday evening I met up with Ingrid for coffee at the Albina Press on Hawthorne, and as we lingered, we realized we were both hungry. Neither one of us had been out to a nice dinner in ages, and decided to try somewhere new: Sel Gris, about a mile down Hawthorne near Ladd's Addition.
It was the right choice.
We both started off with champagne cocktails composed of champagne (duh), lavender syrup, some sort of orange liqueur, and garnished with an orange twist. One of the most delightful cocktails I've had in quite a while.
Next up was "Salt and Pepper" Calamari: lightly fried and sauteed calamari, scallions, preserved lemon, leeks, Thai basil, chilies, and housemade nuoc cham. The preserved lemon added an unexpected bright tang to the calamari, and they gave us a huge amount for an appetizer--probably enough for four people. We couldn't finish it. A pity.
On to the entrees: Ingrid had the ginger beer braised pork shank, accompanied with thyme-infused pumpkin puree, savory pecan praline, and pumpkin seed oil. She gave me a bite, and it was excellent, but I think I enjoyed my choice even more.
I ordered szechuan peppercorn pressed peking duck breast and braised duck leg, accompanied by baby bok choy, and forbidden black rice in a lapsang souchong infusion. Wow. The duck breast tasted like steak. I've had duck before, but never like this. It was amazing.
That was all. Neither one of us could finish our entrees, so we brought them home. Obviously, we couldn't handle dessert. But our bill came with two little chocolate truffles topped with--you guessed it--fleur de sel. A nice little sweet touch at the end.
Highly recommended.
Sel Gris

Office Holiday Party 2008

2008-12-11T14:27:00.000-08:00

Per usual, I planned the company holiday party. This year, I decided to hold it at Clyde Common, which is one of my favorite restaurants. The company is growing, and although five people didn't show up, we still had an excellent turnout. After last year's success with a themed gift exchange, I held a repeat, only this year the theme was "The Office." Quite á propos, don't you think?
Here are some photos:

My Dad's Baklava Recipe

2008-11-29T10:55:00.000-08:00

All right, it's here. The much-requested Baklava recipe. My dad adapted and tweaked it from Lebanese Cuisine by Madelain Farah

My Dad's Baklava

1 Syrup Recipe

4 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup sugar
1 Tbl orange flower water
1 lb. filo dough
1 lb. drawn butter

Prepare the syrup first:
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
couple drops of lemon juice
1 tsp orange flower water

Combine sugar, water, and lemon juice in a sauce pan. Boil over medium heat for about 10 or 15 minutes or until fairly thick, like honey. Before removing from heat, add orange flower water and let come to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

Next, combine nuts, sugar, and orange flower water. Place approximately 1/3 of the filo sheets in a tray, brushing each sheet with the melted butter. Smear the nut mixture on top, and cover with remaining filo sheets, again brushing each layer with melted butter. End with brushing the top with more melted drawn butter. Cut into diamonds.
Bake at 300 degrees until golden. Remove from oven. Spoon COLD syrup over the HOT pastry.

Best Thanksgiving Ever

2008-11-29T10:21:00.001-08:00

I experienced my first authentic Thanksgiving this year. It was the real deal: lots of people, football, champagne, wine, many hands in the kitchen, coziness, activities afterward. It was so much fun!

My parents bought and stuffed the turkey, and brought it over for us to roast.

We have a big kitchen, but we managed to cover every surface with cooking accoutrement, food, mess. It hasn't been this big of a disaster since we first moved in and were trying to organize our stuff.

Liz, and Joe's controversial cream-laden scalloped potatoes.

The turkey was a success!

Scenes from our dinner.

Guest List:
Liz
Joe
Bruno
Me
My Parents
Bruno's Mom and Sister

Menu:
Roast Turkey
Mushroom Olive Stuffing
Apple Fennel Stuffing
Gravy
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Scalloped Potatoes
Ginger Cranberry Sauce
Green Bean Casserole (from scratch)
Baby Greens and Arugula Salad with Gorgonzola and Sweet Potato Croutons
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie
Baklava

First Weekend Breakfast at Home Together

2008-11-29T10:16:00.000-08:00

This actually occurred last Sunday, but due to the pressures of law school, I haven't had time to post until now.
Last Saturday, Bruno moved in, and now our house is complete. Sunday morning, we were all actually awake at the same time, so we cooked a big breakfast together:
coffee
tea
multi-grain pancakes
garlic, parsley, and potato hash
eggs in a variety of styles

I thought I had taken more photos of it, but I guess not. Oh well. You get the idea.

The Pearl's New Gourmet Grocery Store: Safeway???

2008-11-14T14:52:00.000-08:00

No, that wasn't a mistake. Safeway has entered the Pearl. But it is unlike any Safeway I've ever seen before: it's Safeway shi-shied to the nth degree.
The Pearl District is quite possibly Portland's fanciest urban neighborhood, and for years the only grocery store in situ was Whole Foods. Fancy store, fancy prices. But hey, you have to have a pretty fancy wallet to live in this neighborhood, so it all made sense.
But now Safeway has entered the picture. And although it still has all the regular Safeway stuff, such as sales, double coupons, etc, it also has special features to compete with Whole Foods:

A self-serve hot food bar, just like Whole Foods (different contents, though), for the lunch-time crowd.
A special fancy wall of mushrooms, at least 10 different kinds.
Beautiful, glistening doughnuts, plump with custard housed in a vaguely Italianate bakery.
Most astonishing of all, a gelato bar!

Yes, you did not misread that. Apparently three gelaterias just weren't enough for the neighborhood, so Safeway got in the game too.
I have to admit, I was pretty impressed with the aesthetics of the place.

I bought a box of Satsumas: only $2.99 with my Safeway club card!
Some things never change.

A Cena

2008-11-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

On my birthday, I decided to go to A Cena for dinner before the party. It's housed in the former Assaggio spot in Sellwood (I loved Assaggio, RIP), and is another Italian place with house-made pasta. We all started off with Negronis, naturally, and then moved on to a salad composed of beets, goat cheese, and capers. Delicious, but unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of it until after it was gone, and it was gone in a hurry. So here's a photo of an empty plate.
Next up was a corn and mascarpone stuffed agnolotti, accented with butter-poached lobster. Can you say decadent? I think you can.
Next up was a whole trout with polenta and lamb with gnocchi, roasted radicchio, and huckleberry agro dolce. Everything was perfect.
For dessert, we ordered an apple tart and espressos. I could have sworn I took a picture of it, but I guess not. Sorry about my faulty reporting, but it's been a week (Is that all? It seems a lot longer than that.) Anyway, I was quite impressed with everything, and plan on going back.

Here's the vital info:
A Cena
7742 SE 13th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97202
(503) 206-3291

Carafe Bistro

2008-10-21T09:35:00.001-07:00

Saturday night, Alex, Bruno and I went to see "Swan Lake" at Keller Auditorium. We were hoping to go out to eat beforehand, but Alex had been helping me move all day (see Brain Transplant Journal), so we ran out of time. After the ballet, we hoped that nearby Carafe would still be open, and it was!
Carafe is a French bistro a block from the auditorium. It's in the bottom of a skyscraper, which seems like sort of a weird atmosphere for a bistro. But up close, it actually felt rather Parisian (yes, I will someday post photos from Paris on my other blog, I swear), and was furnished the same way as the ubiquitous bistros I saw all over Paris.
Now for the important part: the food.
Overall, it was really good, and pretty simple, the way it ought to be. I ordered the bifsteak frites, which was delicious: chunks of steak charred on the outside and pink on the inside--perfectly cooked. This was accompanied by very good (but not perfect) frites: wonderfully salty and herby, but a little on the soft side. I thought they ought to be a little bit crispier on the outside. Still really good though. Also on the plate was a little dish of bearnaise sauce, probably intended to be used with the steak, but I dipped the fries in it instead. Mmm. Finally, there was also a little bit of lightly dressed frisee'.
Bruno had the Marseille Sandwich: stuffed inside with merguez sausage and frites. Unexpected, but very good.
Alex ordered mussels in a light herb-cream sauce. They were fine too, but didn't thrill me.
Alex and I also ordered cocktails. I had the "Cider-Car" a variation on the sidecar, using apple cider. I really enjoyed it. Alex imbibed a classic gin martini. He seemed quite pleased with it, and said that the olives they used were very good.
Finally, dessert. We opted for the apple tart. It came topped with a caramelly-pecan ice cream. It was gone in a minute, if that gives you any indication of our review.
Our server was kind of unfriendly, though. We wanted to order wine, and he never really gave us opportunity. It was late, and maybe he was having an off night. Who knows.
All in all, I really enjoyed Carafe, and am looking forward to going back.
Carafe Parisian Bistro
200 Market Street
Portland, OR 97201
503.248.0004

A Discussion on Hamburgers

2008-09-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

I've come to a realization: you often get a better hamburger at a dive bar than you do at an elegant restaurant. Sure, at the elegant restaurant is might come with a dollop of roasted red pepper-infused aioli, or what have you, but, when you want a hamburger, you're usually not in a roasted red pepper-infused aioli kind of mood. At least I'm not. When I'm in a hamburger mood, I'm in the mood for classic, greasy, meaty goodness. Hamburgers aren't fancy food, and shouldn't be treated as such.
This epiphany came about last night. I was at a law-school get together at a bar near campus. It was a dive far, hands down, complete with bizarre, worn out beyond their natural age women, and young women who were doing their best to catch up to said worn out women. Country music playing on the juke box. Indoor smoking is permitted. One of the servers had one eye that veered off randomly into corners, while the other one stayed focused. In other words, not a place I would normally frequent. But you know what? They made an awesome bacon cheeseburger.

So here's my review of hamburgers around town:
Tryon Creek Bar and Grill: That's the dive bar I was talking about above. They make a damn good bacon cheese burger--a big patty of pinkish beef, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, healthy strips of bacon, onion, pickles, mayo---classic.
Verdict: One of the best hamburgers I've had in a while.

Everett Street Bistro: Could have been good, it comes with cheese, bacon, and avocado, but it was burnt. I mean charred to the point of carcinogenic. Dry. I've tried the hamburger there twice now, since it sounds good on paper, but has proved itself to be on one occasion unimpressive, and the last occasion, just plain bad.
Verdict: For now, I would avoid it.

Clyde Common: Decent, but dressed with snooty-tooty non-traditional condiments. Don't quite remember, but it might actually come with some sort of roasted red pepper aioli. And pickled onions. I don't like pickled onions, but maybe that's just me.
Verdict: Gets the job done.

Doug Fir Lounge: The first time I had a hamburger there, it was hands down, the best one EVER. Seriously. Pink, juicy, meaty, it was amazing. The next time I tried it, it was still excellent, but not the epic moment I experienced when I tasted it the first time.
Verdict: Strongly recommended.

McMenimans: They use Oregon Country beef, which gives them bonus points. Will definitely satisfy when you crave a classic hamburger, but you won't have any epic moments.
Verdict: Gets the job done, and doesn't come with stupid pickled onions.

Laurelwood: Huge, messy and delicious. I strongly recommend the barbeque bacon cheeseburger. Yes, it's a heart attack on a bun, but once or twice a year won't kill you.
Verdict: Strongly recommended.

Masu East: Fancy-schmancy Kobe beef burger was...uh...dry and boring. A big hockey puck of grey meat with few condiments. I don't even remember there being any lettuce. They should stick to sushi.
Verdict: Avoid!!!

My New Favorite Salad, and a Word About Wine in Spain

2008-08-17T13:36:00.000-07:00

I invented this a couple weeks ago, and thought I would share it with you. It's sort of a variation on the classic caprese salad.
Combine chopped tomatoes, chopped cucumber, sliced fresh basil, torn lettuce (I grew it myself, btw), and chunks of mozzarella di bufala (a little spendy, but totally worth it). Grind a little sea salt and pepper on top, and drizzle with a good, robust olive oil. Voilá! Lunch is served.

Next, I thought I would mention this because of the recent heat wave. In Spain, I noted a very curious method of serving red wine: chilled. Yup, chilled. "But that's wrong!" you say, "red wine shouldn't be cold!" It was served this way often, even in fancy restaurants that definitely know a thing or two about wine. As I type, I am sipping an Oregon Grand Rouge, chilled, and you know what? It's great this way! Very refreshing, even, which is not how I would normally describe any red wine. Try it, you won't be sorry, I promise.

The Crop So Far

2008-08-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

My crop so far includes tons of turnips, yellow squash, zucchini, Syrian squash, and garlic. I was very surprised by how well the garlic turned out: full size heads with long stocks which I braided together. I also have some wax beans, a million heads of lettuce, and mint (not shown).

Mmm, Jam

2008-08-03T12:19:00.001-07:00

I went berry-picking with the law students yesterday, and although there didn't seem to be an abundance of any one particular type of berry, I was able to pick enough of a combination of blackberries, marionberries, and raspberries in order to make jam. I've tried making jam a couple times before, with mixed results (once, too thick, the latest time, just not good) but this time, I actually followed directions, and it came out perfectly!

I was Right About Doughnuts!

2008-06-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

An alert reader (Liz Gadden) brought this blog to my attention: NYC DONUT REPORT!!

Apparently, there is a blog dedicated to doughnut research for the New York City area, including Brooklyn. It's been online for approximately two months, and includes helpful reviews, as well as a "Donut Finder" for New York City. Definitely a helpful resource for any NYC visits.

Also definitely confirms my prediction that doughnuts are the Next Big Thing. Unfortunately, Portland doesn't have enough doughnut outlets yet to base an entire blog around....

Deschutes Brewery: Exciting Update

2008-06-06T10:27:00.000-07:00

Maybe you are aware, or maybe you're not, but I have a tracker on my blog, so I can get a general idea of who has been reading it. Well, not just once, but twice this morning someone at Deschutes Brewing (in Bend, the headquarters, no less) viewed my blog! This is the kind of thing I've always hoped for. Maybe the stale bread issue will now be rectified, and I can go back and write a 100% glowing review.

Deschutes Brewery

2008-06-05T09:58:00.001-07:00

Yesterday my friend Liz and I finally made it to the brand new Deschutes Brewery, which is a couple blocks from where I work.

The beer was really, really good. At the pub they have some special offerings that they don't sell at the grocery store: I had a Belgian style ale, and Liz had a vanilla porter. She didn't say much about it, but seemed to like it. It was quite light-colored for a porter. More medium brown rather than the usual dark brown. I almost got that, but I've been on a Belgian kick lately. They also had a barley wine, which sounded old-fashioned and intriguing. Maybe I'll try it next time.

The place was packed! Lots of middle-aged people though; not really my scene. I'm guessing it's a big draw for the retired contingent that resides in this neighborhood.

The food was only so-so though. We got some sort of jalapeno-cheese dip, which was good, but the slices of bread it came with were stale, like they had been sliced that morning and sat out all day. We also had a mushroom pizza; it was pretty good. Sort of a crackery-style crust, rather than the floppy New York style that I usually prefer, but good for what it was. I guess really, the problem was the stale bread. Our server did comp us our beer due to the crazy crowd though, so that was very nice.

I would try it again. My friend is a prep cook there, so maybe I will have a little talk with him about the bread.

Here's the info:

Deschutes Brewery & Public House

210 NW 11th Avenue

(503) 296-4906
Open Daily

Lunch Hours: 11:00 to 5:00 PM

Dinner Hours: 5:00 PM to 12:00 AM

Waffles--The Next Big Thing

2008-06-01T10:13:00.001-07:00

Cupcakes are so last year. My prediction for the next food fad: waffles. Yup. Waffles.
A waffle shop, complete with happy hour just opened up in SE Portland, and I think it's the harbinger of trends to come. I haven't actually been there yet, but click here if you want to check out their website: Jace Gace.
I made waffles this morning (photo above), and decided to try out a new recipe: oatmeal waffles. They were delicious, and different from the usual waffle: very delicate, crispy outside, soft like a bowl of oatmeal on the inside.
Here's the recipe:

Oatmeal Waffles
1 egg, separated, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups oats
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. brown sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled

Beat egg white in a small bowl until stiff and set aside. Mix together the dry ingredients and set aside. Combine egg yolk, milk and melted butter. Add to dry ingredients, mixing only until large lumps disappear. Fold in beaten egg white until just blended. Do not over beat batter.

My Notes: Batter will look runny and wrong, but trust it, it works. Also, I added a drop of vanilla, because I roll that way. Finally, when they are ready, tip them out of waffle iron onto plate, don't try to pick them up. They are very delicate and will break.

--From the VillaWare Uno Series waffle maker instruction manual. (Yes, really.)

Chemeketan Pie--Finally

2008-05-21T18:02:00.000-07:00

Chemeketan Pie
Crust:
9 whole graham crackers, crushed
1/2 cup suger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened

Combine all (I whirl it in a food processor until it's like crumbs), reserve 1/8 cup, pat remainder into pie plate.

Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tbl cornstarch
Pinch of salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla

Cook first 4 ingredients until thick, then add egg yolks. Cook 3-5 minutes more, then stir in vanilla. Set aside to cool a bit.

Meringue:
3 egg whites
6 tbl sugar

Beat until stiff, but not dry.

Assembly:
Put filling into pie shell and top with meringue. Sprinkle with 2-3 tbl chopped walnuts and reserved crumbs. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes.

Mmm, pie.

Pie Party!

2008-05-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

In belated celebration of her graduation, Bruno's roommate Bri threw a pie party over the weekend. The entire dinner was composed of pies. I was a bit skeptical, envisioning fifteen apple pies for dinner, but it turned out fantastic; I might want to throw a pie party of my own sometime. Surprisingly, there were more savory pies than sweet, and almost all of the pies were delicious. There was even a contest: best savory, best sweet, best presentation, and most creative. I won best sweet pie, yay!
Here are some pics:

Best savory, a quiche:

Best sweet, my very own pie:Best presentation, a strawberry pizza pie:
Most creative, a vegan apple-coffee pie:My personal favorite:
And here are the rest, I enjoyed them all:Special thanks to Brian Mazzola, for letting me use his camera and emailing the results so promptly. I forgot to bring mine.

Some More Recognition for Portland

2008-05-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

As you all know, I've had my gripes with Stumptown--not the beans mind you, those are always great, but some of the baristas in certain locations are lacking in skill--but I am pleased to report that Stumptown's owner, Duane Sorenson, was interviewed in the June 2008 issue of Bon Appetit. I find this very exciting! I love it that Portland's food scene is gaining on the national radar. Here's the article. Click on image to enlarge, and therefore make readable. Enjoy!

Could My Doughnut Plan be Working?

2008-04-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-04-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

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.

Easter Brunch with a Worldly Lady

2008-03-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

My friend Megan (of Mlle Megan) was in town over Easter weekend, so we made a plan to go out for brunch then do a little shopping. I asked around, and the consensus was the Heathman was the place to go. I made reservations, which was definitely a fortuitous decision, because when we arrived, the place was packed.
We started off with a sampler of oysters and champagne. I never realized before how different various oysters could be, but comparing them side by side, taste by taste, it was obvious. All were so delicious, we decided to order a second plate.

After all that decadence, it was time to order an actual breakfast. I went the traditional route, with brioche french toast. It was quite possibly the best french toast I've ever had: thick, eggy brioche topped with sliced bananas, a dusting of powdered sugar, and maple syrup.

Megan continued the decadence with creamy panna cotta topped with sliced strawberries, slivers of basil, and a balsamic vinegar hinted sauce.
Plus, since it was Easter, everyone got Hot Cross Buns: spicy with candied citrus and crossed with a lightly sweet frosting.

Shopping didn't go quite as planned, as the only stores open were Banana Republic, Anthropologie, and Powell's (although who can complain if Powell's is open? I can't.), but brunch was so delicious it totally made up for it, and it was a lot of fun finally hanging out with my friend.

I Promise I'll Update This Soon

2008-03-24T10:12:00.000-07:00

I was out of town on vacation last week, and just got home late Friday night. I took lots of interesting food-related photos, and I promise I will upload the full story soon. But, (sorry to use a tired cliche') as soon as I landed back in Portland, I hit the ground running, and haven't had a chance to relax and catch up. I'm tired. But it will happen soon. I swear.

Breaking in the New Table and a Word About Wine

2008-03-09T20:26:00.001-07:00

As some of you know, I recently bought a new dining set. My friend Alex did the majority of the heavy lifting, saving me from an imminent melt-down. Once I got everything put together and uprighted, it was time to put it to use. So last week Alex came over and we cooked dinner. Here's the result:

Spinach Salad ala Il Fornaio (spinach, bacon, ricotta salata cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, walnuts)
Mint and Asparagus Frittata
Crusty Bread
Chilean Chardonnay*

Everything turned out really well, I'm pleased to say.

*A little opinionation on wine: yes, yes, everyone pooh-poohs chardonnay, just as is beginning to happen with merlot. But I really don't think it is fair to demote entire varieties of wine just because they became excessively popular at one point that every Tom, Dick, and Harry winery grew and put out a chard or merlot regardless of whether they ought to or not (i.e. yucky wine), and that it had such a mass appeal as to become totally uncool.
Just as in everything else, you have to be selective. There are good and bad of every variety. In fact, several months ago, there was an article in Bon Appetit discussing chardonnay, encouraging drinkers to give it a try again. The chardonnay we had was really nice and light.
And, just for the record, I had quite possibly the best glass of wine of my life Saturday night. What was it? A merlot. But seriously, I cannot emphasize enough how good it was. So don't turn your nose up at these just because they have (or had) mass appeal. Go past the masses, and find a little corner for yourself.

A Delicious, Easy Recipe

2008-02-24T11:11:00.000-08:00

Chinese Broccoli with Sausage and PolentaI made this for dinner last week, and as it is super easy and really good, I thought I would share the recipe with you. I made a couple of adjustments though: instead of chinese broccoli, I used broccolini, and I also substituted chicken sausage for the pork to make it a little less fatty. So here's the recipe, courtesy of Epicurious.com:

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 45 min

Servings: Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients
2 lb Chinese broccoli, thick ends trimmed

For polenta
6 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups polenta (not instant) or yellow cornmeal
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan

For sausage and garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 lb hot Italian sausage, casings removed
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

Cook broccoli:
Cut broccoli stems diagonally into 1-inch pieces and coarsely chop leaves. Cook stems in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about4 minutes. Stir in leaves and cook 1 minute. Drain in a colander, then rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Do not squeeze out excess water.

Cook polenta:
Bring water with salt to a boil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan, then add polenta in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Cook over moderate heat, whisking, 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer polenta, covered, stirring for 1 minute after every 10 minutes of cooking, 45 minutes total. Stir in butter, cream, and cheese and remove from heat.

Sauté sausage and garlic while polenta cooks:
Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté sausage, stirring and breaking up meat into large pieces with a spoon, until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a plate. Reduce heat to moderate, then cook garlic in skillet, stirring, until golden, about 2 minutes.

Add broccoli and cook, stirring and scraping up brown bits from bottom of skillet, 2 minutes. Return sausage to skillet and toss with greens, salt, and pepper. Serve over polenta.

--Gourmet | February 2003

Escape From New York

2008-02-14T20:21:00.000-08:00

It's kind of like the Soup Nazi of Portland. No cell phones, cash only, and occasionally, attitude. But damn, the pizza's good.

I feel it's time I wrote a review of my neighborhood pizza joint, Escape From New York. High time, in fact. Long overdue. I've been going there for the last couple of years. Nothing fancy, they usually have 3 or four options: always pepperoni, always cheese, and usually a mushroom or olive variety (tonight it was a mix), and occasionally one other, sometimes with meat, usually not, though. Supposedly, it's a lot like the pizza you would actually get in New York City. I've only had pizza in New York City once or twice, and neither time it was like Escape's, but I have a feeling I didn't go to an authentic place. Whatever.

At Escape From New York, the pizza is floppy and traditional; you won't find goat cheese or barbeque chicken here. It's pepperoni, cheese, sausage, peppers, etc. You get the idea. I've tried pepperoni (numerous times), Hawaiian, mushroom/olive variety, and a veggie combo. All were good. Many people love the plain old cheese, but I've never tried it. The atmosphere of the place (although I've never actually eaten my pizza there) is classic. Really, for whatever reason, it reminds me of high school. If I had known how to drive when I was in high school, this totally would have been my place (I frequented Oasis on Hawthorne, and the now-defunct Famous Bobs at that point in time). Also, somehow, it reminds me of the 80's. I love it.

You will often get a healthy dose of attitude here: once, I realized at 10:00 p.m. that I hadn't had dinner yet, and pizza sounded great, so I called to make sure that they were still open. Their reply: "Yeah, we're still open. We're open until eleven." As in duh, I should have known.

I think they recognize me there. I like that. It makes me feel like a regular, like I live in a real city.
As a sidenote, beer, wine, soda, and Manhattans go much better with the pizza than martinis. I found that out tonight. So, unless you are from the suburbs, I highly encourage you to frequent Escape From New York. It makes me happy.

A Brief History of Doughnuts

2008-01-26T10:05:00.000-08:00

Lately, for whatever reason, doughnuts, specifically Bismarks (filled with custard and frosted with chocolate), have been my dessert du jour. A little greasy, a little trashy, but 100% delicious. It's not just me though; one of my friends has a penchant for the combination of doughnuts and champagne. Maybe we're ahead of the curve, and doughnuts will become the next cupcake. (Notice the recent proliferation of cupcake shops?) So in hope of making doughnuts fashionable again, here is a brief history of doughnuts, courtesy of Wikipedia:

A doughnut, or donut, is a sweet, deep-fried piece of dough or batter. The two most common types are the torus-shaped ring doughnut and the filled doughnut, a flattened sphere injected with jam/jelly, cream, custard, or another sweet filling. A small spherical piece of dough, originally made from the middle of a ring doughnut, may be cooked as a doughnut hole.Ring doughnuts are formed either by joining the ends of a long, skinny piece of dough into a ring or by using a doughnut cutter, which simultaneously cuts the outside and inside shape, leaving a doughnut-shaped piece of dough and a doughnut hole from dough removed from the center. This smaller piece of dough can be cooked or re-added to the batch to make more doughnuts. A disk-shaped doughnut can also be stretched and pinched into a torus until the center breaks to form a hole. Alternatively, a doughnut depositor can be used to place a circle of liquid dough directly into the fryer. Doughnuts can be made from a yeast-based dough for raised doughnuts or a special type of cake batter. Yeast-raised doughnuts contain about 25% oil by weight, whereas cake doughnuts' oil content is around 20%, but they have extra fat included in the batter before frying. Cake doughnuts are fried for about 90 seconds at approximately 190°C to 198°C, turning once. Yeast-raised doughnuts absorb more oil because they take longer to fry, about 150 seconds, at 182°C to 190°C. Cake doughnuts typically weigh between 24 g and 28 g, whereas yeast-raised doughnuts average 38g and are generally larger when finished. After being fried, ring doughnuts are often topped with a glaze (icing) or a powder such as cinnamon or sugar. Styles such as fritters and jelly doughnuts may be glazed and/or injected with jam or custard.
As well as being fried, doughnuts can be completely baked in an oven, and these varieties have appeared in some stores over the last few years. These have a slightly different texture to the fried variety with a somewhat different taste due to the lack of absorbed oil—and so have a lower fat content.
The traditional mass-produced fried yeast-based doughnut production process (such as used by Krispy Kreme) uses a partial baking (proofing) of the dough before frying (~20 minutes/125°F), but it is not classed as a baked doughnut.
There are many other specialized doughnut shapes such as bear claws, old-fashioneds, bars or Long Johns (a rectangular shape), and the dough twisted around itself before cooking. In the northeast USA, bars and twists are usually referred to as crullers. Doughnut holes are small spheres that are made from the dough taken from the center of ring doughnuts or made to look as if they are. These holes are also known by brand names, such as Dunkin Donuts' Munchkins and Tim Hortons' Timbits.
History
Possible origins
Doughnuts have a disputed history. One theory suggests that they were introduced into North America by Dutch settlers, who were responsible for popularizing other American desserts, including cookies, cream pie, and cobbler. This theory is bolstered by the fact that in the mid-19th Century doughnuts were called by the Dutch olykoeks ("oily cakes"). However, there is also archaeological evidence that the pastries were prepared by prehistoric Native Americans in southwestern USA.

Hansen Gregory, an American, claimed to have invented the ring-shaped doughnut in 1847 aboard a lime-trading ship when he was only sixteen years old. Gregory was dissatisfied with the greasiness of doughnuts twisted into various shapes and with the raw center of regular doughnuts. He claimed to have punched a hole in the center of dough with the ship's tin pepper box and later taught the technique to his mother.
In Laura Ingalls Wilder's book Farmer Boy , Almanzo's mother makes donuts, both braided and ring-shaped, and the round ones are referred to as "new-fangled". It is noted that the braided ones will turn over by themselves while cooking, whereas the ring-shaped ones require that you turn them over.
Making
Before the ring shape became common, doughnuts were often made as twisted ropes of dough. In the UK, doughnuts were always made into a ball. When cooked, they were injected with jam or jelly and always rolled in granulated sugar. This method is still in practice, but ring doughnuts are also now widely available. When placed into a pot of boiling fat, they floated until the lower half was cooked and then rolled themselves over to cook the other side. Ring doughnuts have to be flipped over by hand, which was more time-consuming. The twisted-rope type is called a cruller in some parts of the U.S., but cruller also refers to a particularly airy type of ring doughnut, usually glazed.
Etymology
Oliebollen Dutch doughnuts
The earliest known recorded usage of the term dates an 1808 short story describing a spread of "fire-cakes and dough-nuts." Washington Irving's reference to "doughnuts" in 1809 in his History of New York is more commonly cited as the first written recording of the term. Irving described "balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog's fat, and called doughnuts, or olykoeks." These "nuts" of fried dough might now be called doughnut holes. Doughnut is the more traditional spelling, and still dominates outside the US. At present, doughnut and the shortened form donut are both pervasive in American English. The first known printed use of donut was in a Los Angeles Times article dated August 10, 1929. There, Bailey Millard jokingly complains about the decline of spelling, and that he "can't swallow the 'wel-dun donut' nor the ever so 'gud bred'." The interchangeability of the two spellings can be found in a series of "National Donut Week" articles in The New York Times that covered the 1939 World's Fair. In four articles beginning October 9, two mention the donut spelling. Dunkin' Donuts, which was founded in 1948 under the name Open Kettle (Quincy, Massachusetts), is the oldest surviving company to use the donut variation, but the now defunct Mayflower Donut Corporation appears to be the first company to use that spelling, having done so prior to World War II.
Regional variations:
Argentina
In Argentina, the local equivalent to doughnuts are facturas, a popular baked doughnut-like pastry of German origin. Facturas are consumed massively and can be found in every corner bakery. However, doughnuts are starting to gain popularity, probably because of American influence through television series and films. They can be found in some bakeries and hypermarkets like the American Wal-Mart or Chilean Jumbo.
Australia
In Australia, not only do they have the traditional doughnuts, they're also famous for their own jam doughnuts. These doughnuts are sweet buns that have a filling inside. Other fillings inside these doughnuts include custard.
Austria
In Austria there is no real market for American-style donuts. Not a single nationwide donut chain exists; the only store making itself quite famous selling donuts is the Viennese store Batriks Donuts.
The Austrian doughnut equivalents are called Krapfen. They are especially popular during Carneval season (Fasching) and do not have the typical ring shape but instead are solid and usually filled with apricot jam (traditional) or vanilla cream (Vanillekrapfen).
Belgium
In Belgium, the smoutebollen are similar to the Dutch kind of oliebollen, but they usually do not contain any fruit, except for apple chunks sometimes. They are typical carnival and fair snacks and are eaten with powder sugar on them.
Canada
In Canada, the doughnut follows the same design as in the United States. Several stores including Tim Hortons, as well as some U.S. chains such as Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme, make the majority of their profits by selling donuts. Another Canadian variant is the Beaver tail (known as an "elephant ear" in many other countries).
Per capita, Canadians consume the most doughnuts in the world, and Canada also has the most doughnut stores per capita. Many humorous Canadian stereotypes, such as the Bob and Doug McKenzie characters, include doughnuts (as well as stubby beer bottles, tuque hats, maple syrup, and back bacon) as part of their lore.
China
Chinese cuisine features long fried doughnut sticks that are often quite oily, hence their name: Youtiao (Mandarin, lit. oil sticks); these pastries are not sweet. In Cantonese, this doughnut-style pastry is called yow ja guei. Often this is served with the traditional rice porridge of Chinese cooking, congee. A type of sweet Chinese doughnut is the oval shaped fried pastry called "gnou lay sou", which translates to "Ox-tongue pastry" due to its tongue-like shape. Chinese restaurants in the US sometimes serve small fried pastries similar to doughnut holes.
Croatia and Serbia
Doughnuts similar to the Berliner are also prepared in the Northern Balkans, particularly in Croatia (pokladnice or krafne) and Serbia's Vojvodina province. They are called krofna or krafna,[citation needed] a name derived from a German word for this pastry. This type of doughnut is popular in Chile because of the large German community there and is called a Berlin (plural Berlines). It may be filled with jam or with manjar, the Chilean version of dulce de leche.
Denmark
In Denmark, doughnuts do also exist in their "American" shape, and these can be obtained from various stores, e.g. McDonald's. The Berliner, however, is also broadly available in bakeries across the country.
France
In France and in New Orleans, Louisiana, there exists a fried pastry called a beignet, which is sometimes described as a French doughnut.
Germany
German Berliner
In Germany, the doughnut equivalents are called Berliner (sg. and pl.), except in the city of Berlin and some other German areas, where they are called Pfannkuchen. In middle Germany, they are called Kreppel. In southern Germany, they are also called Krapfen and are especially popular during Carneval season (Karneval/Fasching) in southern and middle Germany and on New Year's Eve in northern Germany. Berliner do not have the typical ring shape but instead are solid and usually filled with jam. Bismarcks and Berlin doughnuts are also found in the U.S., Canada, Finland, and Denmark.
Greece
In Greece, there is a doughnut-like snack, called loukoumas (λουκουμάς), which comes in two types (one is shaped like the number 8; the other is torus shaped like the number 0), from which the first one is crispier, whereas the second one is larger and softer.
Iceland
In Iceland, doughnuts are known as kleinuhringur (pl. kleinuhringir).
India
Some savory, fried items not based on wheat-flour pastry are referred to as doughnuts, such as the ring-shaped Indian vadas, made of lentils. Indian vadas are food of masses. In north India, vadas are soaked in curd, sprinkled with spices, topped with sweet/sour chutney and then eaten. In south India vadas are eaten with sambar.
Indonesia
Donat Kentang is known as an Indonesian style potato doughnut; a fritter that comes in ring shape and is made from combination of flour and mashed potatoes, coated in powder sugar or icing sugar.
Iran
Persians are known for their zooloobiya, a fritter that comes in various shapes and sizes and coated in a sticky-sweet syrup.
Israel
Israeli sufganiyot in a wide variety of toppings at a bakery in Tel Aviv, Israel
Jelly doughnuts, known as sufganiyah (סופגניה, pl. Sufganyot סופגניות) in Israel, have become a traditional Hanukkah food in the recent era, as they are cooked in oil, associated with the holiday account of the miracle of the oil. Traditional sufganyot are filled with red jelly and topped with icing sugar. However, many other varieties exist, with the more expensive being ones filled with dulce de leche.
Italy
Italian doughnuts are called ciambelle, krafen, zeppoli or bomboloni. (Bomboloni are just like Bismarks--my favorite!)
Japan
Native to Okinawa is a spheroid pastry similar to doughnuts called sata andagi. Mister Donut is one of the most popular doughnut chains in Japan.
Lithuania
In Lithuania, a kind of doughnut called spurgos is widely known. Sometimes spurgos are similar to Polish doughnuts, but some specific recipes, such as cottage cheese doughnuts (varškės spurgos), have also been invented.[citation needed]
Mexico
The Mexican donas are very similar to donuts including in the name; the dona is a fried-dough pastry-based snack, commonly covered with powdered brown sugar and cinnamon, white sugar or chocolate.
Netherlands
In the Netherlands, the Oliebollen, referred to in cookbooks as "Dutch Doughnuts", is a type of fritter containing pieces of apple and/or dried fruit like raisins; they are traditionally eaten as part of New Year celebrations.
Poland
Traditional Polish pączki
In Poland and parts of the U.S. with a large Polish community, like Chicago and Detroit, the round, jam-filled doughnuts eaten especially—though not exclusively—during the Carnival are called pączki (pronounced [ˈpɔntʂkʲi]). Russian "пончики", ponchiki, and Ukrainian "пампушки", pampushky, are the equivalent designations for pączki, but are usually not filled with jam. Romanian gogoşi are similar to the Polish pączki. Pączki have been known in Poland at least since the Middle Ages. Jędrzej Kitowicz has described that during the reign of the August III under influence of French cooks who came to Poland at that time, pączki dough baked in Poland has been improved, so that pączki became lighter, spongier, and more resilient (see pączki in Polish Wikipedia).
South Africa
In South Africa, a variation known as the koeksuster is popular.
South Korea
Many bakeries in South Korea offer doughnuts either filled with or made entirely from the Korean traditional rice dessert tteok. These come in a variety of different colors, though they are normally in green, pink, or white. They are often filled with a sweet red bean paste or sesame seeds.
United Kingdom
In some parts of Scotland, ring doughnuts are referred to as doughrings, with the doughnut moniker being reserved exclusively for the nut-shaped variety. Glazed, twisted rope-shaped doughnuts are known as yum-yums. It is also possible to buy fudge doughnuts in certain regions of Scotland. In some parts of Northern Ireland, ring doughnuts are referred to as "gravy rings" due to their being cooked in oil, itself colloquially known as "gravy".
United States
A popular doughnut in Hawaii is the Malasada. Malasadas were brought to the Hawaiian Islands by early Portuguese settlers and are a variation on Portugal's filhós. They are small eggy balls of yeast dough deep fried and coated in sugar.
To celebrate Fat Tuesday in southeastern Pennsylvania, churches sell a potato-starch doughnut called a Fastnacht (or Fasnacht). The treats are so popular there that Fat Tuesday is often called Fastnacht Day.
The Polish doughnut, the pączki, is popular in U.S. cities with large Polish communities such as Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit.
Doughnuts and topology
Doughnuts, as ring-shaped items, are an important explanatory tool in the science of topology where the ring doughnut shape (a ring with a circular cross-section) is called a torus or toroid, and an example of using the ring doughnut as an illustrative term can be found in popular explanations of the Poincaré conjecture. The other toroidal food item used in topological explanations is the bagel. However, the bagel has a hole to allow it to be retrieved from boiling water, while a doughnut hole is intended to allow the doughnut to cook faster and more thoroughly. There is no historical connection between bagels and doughnuts.

The Random Update: Clyde the Glide

2008-01-14T22:03:00.000-08:00

So sorry, I haven't posted in nearly a month, but honestly, three things have been going on to prevent this: 1) I've been damn busy with a bunch of random things, 2) I haven't been cooking or going out much, and 3) what dining I have done has not been accompanied by my trusty digital camera.
But here's what I've tried that is of note: Clyde Common.
I first went there for happy hour on my birthday. The atmosphere was good, but I didn't really have much opportunity to try the food as I was expected to make an appearance at dinner elsewhere.
Since then (November 1st, for those of you keeping track), I've been there probably four or five times. Apparently, it's my new favorite restaurant. Happy hour, dinner, late night, you name it: it never disappoints.
Their menu changes weekly, but favorites (such as poutine) reappear, rotating back in on occasion.
I tried one rendition of the "Smoked Board" which was particularly tasty: smoked oysters, a delicate little mound of potato salad (a world away from the yellow-tinted grocery-store goo), something else that I have since forgotten, and a shot of aquavit. I tell you, I almost felt Scandinavian!
The last time I went, we decided to have our dinner consist of several appetizers, as a way of conserving funds. Clyde Common is on the spendy side, in case you hadn't figured that out yet. So we ordered a little skewered, grilled quail on a bed of caramelized shallots; a shaved fennel salad topped with some sort of pecorino, and the illustrious poutine. Poutine in a French-Canadian specialty, normally the stuff of fast food, comprised of french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. Yes, it sounds like a mess. But yes, it is delicious, even in the fast food rendition. But Clyde Common took it to a whole other level. Instead of ordinary cheese curds, it was topped with Gruyere; the gravy was translucent and rich; and to top it all off, it was topped with a couple of slivers of foie gras. Yes, I know foie gras is controversial. But damn! Is it ever good. So that is $12 poutine, ladies and gentlemen.
I've tried two desserts: a flourless chocolate cake, and crepes filled with caramelized apples, topped with something similar to granola and caramel-swirled vanilla ice cream. Both were good, but did not stand out as the savory items did.
The drinks here, however, are great. Two of note are the Anemic Mary (a bloody mary made with tomatillos instead of tomatoes, resulting in a green drink, rather than the traditional red), and the whiskey ginger, my favorite. Maker's Mark (my favorite whiskey) mixed with a little ginger beer and cinnamon-infused syrup results in a drink that is balanced and spicy; not nearly as sweet as one would imagine.
But what about the atmosphere, you ask? Excellent, at least for my taste. The main floor has several communal tables, encouraging conviviality among patrons. It is warmly lit, all hardwoods and white walls, and an open kitchen lets you know where the action really lies. Upstairs, there is additional seating in a dimly lit mezzanine. It's nice, but somehow all the sound accumulates up there, so it's very difficult to carry on a conversation without shouting. The photo below really doesn't do the place justice. It's really much cozier than that.

Clyde Common
503.228.3333
SW 10th and Stark
Portland, OR
http://www.clydecommon.com/

Vandelay Industries Festivus 2007

2007-12-20T21:54:00.000-08:00

So the office Christmas party was tonight, and it appeared to be a complete success. As planned, it was at Noble Rot, and as also as planned, there was a gift exchange. I finally decided on "Seinfeld" as the theme for the gift exchange, as it is something that everyone knows at least a little bit about. It's a cultural icon, really.
But I digress. Our appetizers were garbanzo bean fritters and Noble Rot's famous onion tart. Salad was a mesclun mix with apples, cheese, and sunflower seeds. Sorry, no photos of those.
On to dinner. Everyone had a choice of chicken with black lentils:
Or steak with polenta and brussel sprouts:

The most popular choice was lamb with fried potatoes:

Between dinner and dessert, it was time for the gift exchange. Four people were missing, so initially I was afraid the exchange would no longer work out. Fortunately, I was wrong.
Kramer's lollipop, anyone?

I'm sorry sir, this book has been redlined:

Pez?

Teazone for Ahman, and Jeremy got the cash.

Eden will be double-dipping.

Oh, Mr. Pitt!

Uh, Teazone again.

NO SOUP FOR YOU!

You stopped off for Jujyfruits?

Excuse me, could spare a square? No! I don't have a square to spare!

Please help us! My goldfish might die!

Prognosis: NEGATIVE (times three)

It looked like everyone had a good time. Definitely more laughs than past years.

Whole-Wheat Bread

2007-12-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

I was out of bread, and in the interest of economy decided to bake my own, instead of buying a loaf. Then, in the interest of health, I decided to bake whole-wheat instead of my usual New York Times bread. It turned out pretty well, so I'm sharing the recipe I used.

I cut the recipe in half (what am I going to do with two loaves of bread?), and used the dough hooks that came with my mixer for the first time ever to knead the dough. The mixer worked well, but I think if I hadn't cut the recipe in half, it might have burnt out the motor.

Whole-Wheat Bread
Makes 2 Loaves.
3 tablespoons sugar

3 to 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons salt

2 ¼ cups milk
2 packages active dry yeast

1/3 cup butter or margarine
4 cups whole-wheat flour

1/3 cup molasses
1. In large bowl, combine sugar, salt, yeast, 2 cups whole-wheat flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour. In a 2-quart saucepan over low heat, heat: milk, butter or margarine and molasses until very warm 120° to 130°F.). (Butter does not need to melt completely.)
2. With mixer at low speed, gradually beat liquid into dry ingredients. Increase speed to medium; beat 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in l/2 cup whole-wheat flour and ½ cup all-purpose flour or enough to make a thick batter. Continue beating 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.
3. With spoon, stir in 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat and additional all-purpose flour (about 1 ½ cups) to make a soft dough.
4. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Shape dough into ball and place in a greased large bowl, turning dough to grease top. Cover with towel; let rise in warm, draft-free place (80° to 85°F.), until doubled, about 1 hour.
5. Punch down dough; turn onto lightly floured surface; cut in half; cover with bowl; let dough halves rest 15 minutes for easier shaping. Grease two 9” by 5” loaf pans.

6. With lightly floured rolling pin, roll one dough half into a 12” by 8” rectangle. Starting at a narrow end, roll dough up tightly and pinch the edge with your fingers. Seal ends by pressing them with the sides of your hands and fold them under. Place the roll, seam side down, in loaf pan.

7. Repeat step 6 with remaining dough. Cover loaves with towel; let rise in warm place, away from draft, until loaves are doubled, about 1 hour.

8. Preheat oven to 400°F. bake loaves 30 to 35 minutes or until golden and loaves sound hollow when tapped lightly with fingers. Remove from pans immediately so bottoms don’t become soggy, and cool on wire racks. From: The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook: Revised & Expanded Edition, 1989. Page 434.

A Few Thoughts on Stumptown

2007-12-05T14:13:00.000-08:00

This posting might be a bit controversial, I fully admit it. Stumptown is Portland's own beloved coffee roaster (but then again, so is World Cup). Everyone raves about how great it is, it has a cult following, blah blah blah.

Here's what I think: the beans are great, but the preparation of drinks at the cafes is terrible. Yes, you read me correctly, I said TERRIBLE.
Today, taking a little break from work, I decided to go to the nearest Stumptown location near my office: the Ace Hotel. I hoped it would be different this time. It wasn't.
I've had overly wet cappuccinos and so-so lattes in the past, so today I decided to order just a plain-jane cup of brewed coffee. They might as well have handed me a cup of piss.
I think it is best described as a cup of brown water. Really, it was incredibly watery. And, a tiny little cup was $2.00. Come on folks, any dumbass can brew a decent, ordinary cup of coffee. Yesterday, at Sip and Kranz, I had a cup of ordinary-brewed Stumptown coffee, and it was great. Same beans, but it was properly prepared, cost less, and came with a free refill. Huh.
I've bought Stumptown beans and made great drinks at home: drip, frenchpress, and cappuccinos. And I have no special coffee training. I've had great cups of Stumptown coffee at Ken's Bakery, Albina Press, and the aforementioned Sip and Kranz. But not at Stumptown's Ace Hotel location. It's been uniformly bad there, no matter what drink I ordered.
So here's my suggestion: buy the beans at a grocery store, or buy the drinks at anywhere BUT Stumptown. Until they train their staff to make a decent cup of coffee, avoid the Stumptown cafes for everything but people-watching.

Oy! I made bagels.

2007-11-18T12:15:00.000-08:00

My co-worker has his own bread blog now (http://www.yeastybeasty.wordpress.com), and perusing through it, I noticed a recipe for bagels. It didn't look too difficult, so I decided that would be my project for the weekend.

You need to start the night before in order to have them ready for breakfast. I'm not going to narrate much, look at his blog for the actual instructions.

So here we go:
Friday Night: I mixed, kneaded, and shaped the bagels. After that, they go in the refrigerator overnight.

***

Saturday Morning: First, I boil them.

Next, I bake them:

Finally, it's time to slice and eat them.

Noble Rot for the Office Lot

2007-10-24T21:16:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-10-17T19:01:00.001-07:00

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.

PDX in the New York Times

2007-09-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

I love it when the Portland restaurant scene gets the recognition it deserves. Today's edition of the New York Times features an article about that very subject, and I will reprint it here.

One sidenote: it mentioned how so many up and coming chefs flock here due to the inexpensive real estate. That made me laugh. Inexpensive real estate? Compare what a first time homebuyer would get here for $150K to what he or she could buy in big cities like Montreal or Chicago, and you will definitely not think of Portland real estate as cheap. Obviously, compared to San Francisco or New York City, yes, a Portland storefront is cheap. I guess it's all relative. Anyway, enjoy the article.

In Portland, a Golden Age of Dining and Drinking

By ERIC ASIMOV
PORTLAND, Ore.
THEY come but they don’t go.
In the way New York drew artists in the ’50s, this city at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers seems to exert a magnetic lure on talented chefs who come from almost anywhere else and decide to stay right here. About the hardest thing to find in Portland these days is a homegrown chef.
Portland may seem an unlikely place for such status, a city destined to play second string on the West Coast to San Francisco and Seattle. But in the last five years or so Portland has grown and evolved.
At first it was a sort of underground stop for food and wine lovers who had heard word of small, fascinating restaurants run by young, talented chefs serving a bounty of local produce. It’s underground no more. Portland has emerged from its chrysalis as a full-fledged dining destination.
This is a golden age of dining and drinking in a city that 15 years ago was about as cutting edge as a tomato in January. Every little neighborhood in this city of funky neighborhoods now seems to be exploding with restaurants, food shops and markets, all benefiting from a critical mass of passion, skill and experience, and all constructed according to the gospel of locally grown ingredients.
In close proximity is a cadre of farmers committed to growing environmentally responsible produce with maximum flavor, delivered to restaurants and to the gorgeous farmers’ markets that dot the city. There are local fisheries and small beef, lamb and pork producers. Not far away is the Hood River Valley, with its myriad fruit growers who supply glistening, fragile berries and stonefruits of every stripe and color.
World-class wine is produced in the Willamette Valley, the center of the Oregon wine industry, just a half hour’s drive away. Portland has six micro-distilleries making any kind of spirits you can name and, if you’d like a chaser, more breweries than any other city on earth. Just as important is a receptive populace, demanding yet eager to be wowed.
Portland also has what anybody in the restaurant business will tell you is most important of all: affordable real estate. Just as young, passionate chefs flocked to the East Village and Brooklyn in the 1990s, chefs have gravitated to Portland because it lets them have a vision and take risks without lining up corporate backers and lawyers.
“This is one of the very few places on the West Coast that has been an affordable place to live,” said Andy Ricker, who in 2005 opened Pok Pok, which started under his obsessive eye as a ramshackle Thai takeout shack and now has a hip little dining room as well. “There are a ton of people here who are going at it in sort of an indie rock way, mostly because they can.”
Mr. Ricker is a perfect example. Originally from Vermont, he spent years cooking around the world before following a girl to Portland in the early 1990s. He got a job at Zefiro, an Italian restaurant that set a standard for Portland cooking back then. Restless, he left the business and became a house painter, saving money and traveling to southeast Asia for three or four months at a time. He also bought two houses and sold them, taking advantage of a rising real estate market so he could finance his vision of a southeast Asian restaurant without having to satisfy financial backers.
Now, he’s won acclaim for dishes like juicy game hens roasted over charcoal and stuffed with lemon grass, garlic, pepper and cilantro, and local pork loin marinated in coconut milk and turmeric, and served with peanut sauce.
“You could never open a place that was completely a shot in the dark in San Francisco or New York because the costs are so prohibitive,” he said.
Costs were a major concern to Vitaly and Kimberly Paley, who arrived with an earlier wave of restaurant immigrants in 1994. Eager for a fresh start after working in some of Manhattan’s most illustrious restaurants, they toured the West Coast, finally settling on Portland.
“We sold our 500-square-foot New York apartment, and with the money, we bought a house with a swimming pool, two cars, and had enough left to open a restaurant,” Mr. Paley said.
Today, Paley’s Place, a warm and intimate dining room on the first floor of a Victorian house in northwest Portland, is recognized as one of the top restaurants in the Northwest, if not the country, and Mr. Paley has been celebrated for applying French techniques to the Northwestern palette of ingredients. Just as important, Paley’s Place, along with other seminal restaurants like Zefiro, Wildwood, Higgins and Genoa, has served as an incubator for much of the talent that is making its mark today.
Gabriel Rucker of Le Pigeon, a kind of new-wave bistro, learned the basics of making stocks and working the grill during two years at Paley’s after he arrived here from his hometown, Napa, Calif. He passed through a few other kitchens, then last year he was given an opportunity to take over one of his own. He transformed a little storefront restaurant into Le Pigeon, an informal, slightly manic spot with seasonally changing, nonconformist dishes like braised pork belly with creamed corn and butter-poached prawns, sweetbreads with pickled watermelon, and just about anything that can possibly involve tongue. His signature dessert is apricot cornbread with bacon, topped with maple ice cream.
“I used to think of Portland as a stepping stone, but I fell in love with the city,” said Mr. Rucker, who’s all of 26. “Rather than going somewhere with a really established food scene, I felt as a young chef that I could really have a lot of possibilities.”
Like many of Portland’s top chefs, he has established firm relationships with the local farmers. “I can call and have loads of chanterelles or huckleberries delivered right to my door,” he said. “When you have people as passionate about growing a watermelon as I am to use it, it’s great.”
Passion is an important word here in Portland, and so is politics, especially when applied to agriculture. Many of the older farmers came from the Bay Area in the 1970s with a vision of sustainable agriculture, and they have continued to adhere to those principles. Chefs around the country pay lip service to the philosophy of seasonal cooking, but in Portland they seem to take this idea especially seriously, following the examples of influential chefs like Mr. Paley, Greg Higgins (from upstate New York) of Higgins, Dave Machado (Massachusetts) of Lauro Kitchen and Vindalho, and Cory Schreiber of Wildwood — that rare Oregon native, though he’s now retired.
“They did a great job establishing the expectation among Portland’s dining community that restaurants were going to be using local and seasonal ingredients,” said Ken Forkish, who, inspired by the French baker Lionel Poilâne, came from Maryland in 2000 to open Ken’s Artisan Bakery and, last year, Ken’s Artisan Pizza.
He found Portland tough going at first. Even standard fare — rustic fruit tarts and croissants — was not that familiar here six years ago, Mr. Forkish said, but he believes the population has quickly become more worldly.
“Partly it’s because of all the new places that opened,” he said, “but there’s also been a steady influx of new people who expect these things.”
One recent arrival is Tony Soter, a longtime Napa Valley winemaker who last year moved here with his family. They are living in Portland as they build a house on their property in the Willamette Valley. The Soters have 200 acres on an east-west ridge with orchards, herds of sheep and goats, and 10 head of cattle.
“Napa is country only in name,” he said. “This is the real deal out here.”
Mr. Soter and his wife, Michelle, come from the Portland area originally. And though Mr. Soter spent most of the last 20 years in California, working with Spottswoode, Shafer and Araujo, along with his own winery, Etude, the Soters grew tired of the gloss of Napa. They longed for an environment more in tune with their own values and a place where Mr. Soter felt he could make more balanced European-style wines than he could in California.
The local wine industry has played a crucial role in the rise of Portland’s food culture. Visiting wine celebrities are drawn into the gravitational pull of Portland’s restaurants, but, aside from that, wine regions naturally inspire a surrounding culture that is highly sensitive to cuisine.
Pascal Sauton grew up in Paris and had cooked in Philadelphia, New York and Colorado before he visited Portland 11 years ago with his wife, Julie Hunter, and decided he never wanted to leave. “I loved the fact that there were four distinct seasons, and the wine valley was a big factor,” he said. “The climate, and the whole feel, was European.”
After cooking at several different places, the couple opened Carafe in 2003, a joyful, informal bistro that is half French — Mr. Sauton’s wide, friendly face is as unmistakably French as a bottle of Beaujolais — and all northwestern. To walk through a farmer’s market on a summer morning and to see beautiful golden chanterelles and organic cipollini onions, sweet cherry tomatoes, pattypan squash and bell peppers in purple, ivory and orange, is to have some idea of what you might find on Mr. Sauton’s lunch menu. You’ll even find glorious local corn on the menu, something you would never see in France.
“Well, we bend the rules a little,” he said.
In the winter, he gets tarbais beans from local farmers for his cassoulet along with leeks, celery root and winter squash. Winter is serious business for a chef dedicated to seasonal cooking, yet Portland chefs have worked closely with farmers to assure a steady supply of produce through the dark months. Brussels sprouts, broccoli, greens and cauliflower are in the winter pipeline; seasonal cooking also forces creativity.
“It’s a time to slow down and really make some focused dishes that will stay on the menu for a while, maybe do a braise or a confit or dumplings,” said Jason Barwikowski (Michigan), the chef at Clyde Common, a bustling restaurant that opened this year in the Ace Hotel. Mr. Barwikowski arrived in Portland after working in Wyoming, where he was able to combine cooking with a love of snowboarding, rock climbing and fly-fishing. Things haven’t changed all that much except that the level of cooking is higher.
“I still snowboard and fly-fish and rock climb and ride bikes,” he said. “Half an hour in any direction and you’re in the mountains or woods.”
These other attributes of Portland — the outdoor life, and its deliberately casual, relaxed atmosphere — may in some ways limit what its restaurants can accomplish.
“Portland may be over-hyped in some ways,” said Dave Machado, who after 16 years in Portland is a respected old guard chef. “A big city with an international component is always going to have crisper service. We have a regional class of service here.”
At the same time, Portland’s population is growing and real estate prices are climbing, leading some to fear that the city will lose its cherished renegade spirit. But Mr. Paley, for one, scoffs at that notion.
“I think Portland innately will make sure that people always have opportunities,” he said. “Portland is a free spirit.”

--The New York Times, September 26, 2007

Wine Country Tour/Tasting

2007-09-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

So this is a request for help from my readers. I want to get my friend a certificate for a wine tour and tasting for his birthday, but I'm not really sure where to start. I've looked online, and found lots of tour groups, but which ones are good? I have no idea.

I'm thinking of the area around Dundee, Newberg, Lafayette. I drove through there yesterday, and every other sign was advertising various wineries. Plus, I saw several vans driving through the area for specifically that purpose. It's very pretty there, and seems like a fun and creative birthday gift.
So my task for you, dear readers, is to provide me with information and tips on your experience doing this, good wineries to visit, and tour companies to select. Please help!! I would appreciate it very much. Please post comments with any insight you have in the matter. Thanks!!
Just to make this posting more interesting, I'm including wine-related photos from my trip to Italy last year. Cin Cin!

Ken's Artisan Pizza

2007-09-18T21:52:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend, I finally tried Ken's Artisan Pizza. By now, you all know how much I rave about the bakery (yet have never written a review about it; I promise it will happen someday); well, the pizza definitely follows in the bakery's delicious footsteps.

It was a beautiful, perfect really, autumn evening. I had just finished watching the swifts descend into the chimney at Wallace Park; it was time for dinner. Knowing that Ken's Pizza is extremely popular, I called and tried to make a reservation. No, they don't take reservations. How long is the wait? About an hour. Oh. We'll try anyway, and use La Buca as a backup if we get too hungry and can't wait.

We arrive, there is a line waiting, but really, it's not too bad. We put our name on the list. How long is the wait? The hostess confirms, yes, one hour indeed. Hmm. But as we deliberate, a couple seats open up at the bar. We swoop down on them, happy to be seated after only three minutes, rather than the predicted hour. I even knew the bartender. We met in Italy, of all places. How fitting is that?

Bruno and I start off with a green salad. Good, but not especially exciting. Just greens and cucumbers in a vinaigrette. It does the job. But the main event? Excellent!

We ordered pizza with prosciutto. All of the pizza varieties here are pretty simple: never more than maybe two toppings in addition to the standard sauce and cheese. Ours was topped with prosciutto and a sprinkling of basil. The crust was thin, well-bubbled, and floppy, with a few charred spots, but they only added to the overall flavor. Pizzas here are baked in a 700 degree wood-fired oven. Charring is natural and welcomed.

The prosciutto appeared to have been added a little later in the baking process: it was still soft rather than the frazzled slivers I was anticipating. The cheese was fresh and delicious, and the sauce was thin, yet chunky. Overall, a perfectly balanced pizza, and very similar to those I ate in Italy. Buon Appetito! (I think that's right?)

We ordered dessert. After pizza, something heavy just wouldn't be right; we ordered milk chocolate ice cream topped with hazelnuts, fresh raspberries, and cream. It was a perfect finish: sweet, but not heavy. What made it even sweeter: we didn't get charged for it. Yay! Free dessert.
The verdict? Two enthusiastic thumbs up. My vote for favorite "fancy" pizza in Portland.

Ken's Artisan Pizza
304 SE 28th
Portland, OR 97209
503.517.9951
Hours: Tues-Sat 5 pm-10 pm
http://www.kensartisan.com/pizza.html

Hood to Coast in Veritas

2007-08-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

So Hood to Coast was a success, at least from my barbecue perspective, but I think all the runners will concur as well.

Our "cabin" (a large house, really) was in the tiny town of Gearhart, where I've never been before, but rather enjoyed. The beach was a short, straight shot from the house, and required walking through some very tall Anne of Green Gables-esque grass (see images at left and below). The moody weather added to the overall atmosphere. Note to other Hood to Coasters: if you didn't make it out to the beach, you totally missed out!

Okay, back to the point of this blog: food. Loading my car that morning was a marathon and relay race combined. I live on the 3rd floor of a brick walk-up, and having no one to help me, ended up running up and down the stairs while carrying many heavy and ungainly objects probably 20 times. Showering that morning was an effort made in vain.

After dinner was over, it was clear I had brought too much. But I would much rather err on the side of too much food than too little; leaving exhausted runners hungry would have bordered on a crime.

So, dinner.

Everyone was in a good mood. I was even feeling pretty relaxed which I totally didn't expect since I tend to not do well in large groups, and often get quiet and grumpy. But no! I was happy, I was relaxed. Hooray. As all the runners started to arrive, dinner was prepped, and I was playing pool and drinking beer while Louis Prima blared on my I-Pod amp. An excellent way to start the evening.

Everyone ripped into beer first thing (photo below), so by the time we were ready for a toast, the 6 bottles of Cava seemed unnecessary. Only 3 ended up being opened. Not at all what I expected. Oh well.

The biggest hits of the menu seemed to be the green salad, pesto pasta, salmon, and cheesecake, although everything else was at least nibbled on.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to hang out with Amy (she's a friend of mine), because she and Lindan, her fiance', were quite tired and went to bed early, and then were up and on their way back to Seattle before I even woke up Sunday. But here they are during dinner:

Jeremy organized the whole thing, and, I would say, did an excellent job. I was able to get to know his wife, Eden, during this event, as we carpooled up to our volunteer site together. She's very cool, and has great taste in kitchen backsplash tile. Here's a mildly funny story that happened after the majority of people left: Eden, Bruno, Charles (international supermodel/contractor), and I were sitting around the kitchen table chatting while Jeremy snoozed on the couch. Eden decided to go check on him, and all of a sudden started whisper-laughing. We looked over, and there was Jeremy, asleep on the couch, hood up, sunglasses on, and medal proudly around his neck. I thought that Eden had done that to him as a joke while he was sleeping. But no. It was purely accidental. It would have made an excellent photo for the bulletin board at work, but, alas, he woke up. Oh well.

I'm not sure what else to say, so I will post the rest of the photos that came out half-decent.

Hopefully, see you all next year!

Midnight Potato Salad and 10:30 p.m. Pesto

2007-08-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

Well, not actually midnight potato salad but probably 11:30 at least. Whatever time it was, I was tired, but I had accomplished what I need to. So, again, I'm exhausted. We had a logistical gathering tonight for Hood to Coast at Old Town Pizza (recommended--fun place--reminds me of high school), and since it started at 6:00, I thought I would be home in plenty of time to relax, study, etc. But no. Most people didn't show up until at least 6:30, and then there was schmoozing, blah blah blah. So I didn't leave until after 8:00. But the pizza was good, and free, and really the people there were very nice.
But I digress. The point is the food, right? So after getting home and having my second meltdown in 2 days, I'm ready to blog.

First of all, the first photo is of the potato salad discussed in my previous blog. It turned out well, tasted good, wore me out, and I'm glad that it's done. The photos immediately above show just the tip of the iceberg that is the mess formerly known as my living room. It is covered with groceries. I think that is contributing to my mental drain. What is depicted below is my bursting refrigerator.

It seemed like too much to deal with this morning, so I went to Ken's for breakfast. But that's actually okay, because I LOVE going to Ken's for breakfast. So that really wasn't a hardship. It's my favorite bakery in the whole world. And, I promise, that when I have enough time, I will write a full review of Ken's Artisan Bakery. Really, I swear. But everything is under control. I've finished doing everything, including making the last of the pesto tonight.

I feel very accomplished being in charge of all this stuff, but it really wears me out. I will post another blog or two in this series, depicting the culmination of all my efforts Saturday at the beach, unless I forget my camera. But considering I look like this lately,

I think it will be a good thing when I have time to relax again. I'm not exactly glowing and stunning (well, perhaps stunningly bad) at the moment. I need my beauty sleep.

Goodnight.

Hood to Coast to Safeway to Fred Meyer to Trader Joe's

2007-08-22T22:49:00.000-07:00

I am exhausted right now. I volunteered to volunteer for my company's Hood to Coast team, and am also responsible for the barbeque afterwards. I'm actually pretty excited about it; I love event planning, but at the same time, it can be quite draining. So I planned out the menu, thinking, "oh, this will be easy, I'll just get a bunch of catered stuff: salads, pies, etc. etc." But then I started realizing how much it would all cost, and although I didn't technically have a budget, out-of-control menu costs probably wouldn't go over too well. This is a barbeque, after all, not a night out at Saucebox.

So I revised. Here is my present (and final, as I've finished all the shopping) menu:

Baked Salmon
Homemade! Potato salad (more on that later)
Pesto Pasta (homegrown basil)
Green salad
Cava
Beer, Beer, and more Beer
Cherry and Apple pies
Cheesecake
Hansens soda, sparkling water
Potato and tortilla chips
Watermelon
Grapes

Shopping is much more exhausting than I expected: I've been to some of the stores 3 times, either because one thing I need was on sale one day, and another was on sale the next; or because I just plain forgot something, dammit!

The photo above is the early stages of my potato salad. It has now reached completion, but I am too tired to photograph it and discuss everything tonight. But this is probably my biggest event-planning feat yet. So it seems important to blog it. Yeah, I've planned for 15+ people before, but I've not ever had to actually cook for them. So we will see how it goes. More tomorrow....

My Recent Crops

2007-08-05T09:16:00.001-07:00

Beautiful Gladiolas

Basil, Basil, & More Basil

1/2 Pound of Green Beans

The Great Zucchini

2007-07-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

It's zucchini season in my garden now, and I needed to use up the great abundance that I was now faced with. What better way than zucchini bread?

The following recipe I got from Alex, I have no idea where he got it from, but it is the most delicious, spicy, and moist one I've ever tried. Plus, it's easy too, always a bonus.

Zucchini Bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Blend:

3 eggs, beaten
2 1/4 cups sugar
3 tsp vanilla
1 cup oil

Add:

2 cups shredded zucchini

Sift together, then add:

3 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp cinnamon
dash of nutmeg

Pour into 2 greased and floured bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until done. (It only took 50 minutes for me.)
Here's the result:

Happy baking!