Chemeketan Pie--Finally

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!

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

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?

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

Roux: Happy Hour Southern Style

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Roux

1700 N. Killingsworth

Portland, OR 97217

503.285.1200

Yay for CSA!

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

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

Easter Brunch with a Worldly Lady

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.