Ginger's Kitchenware = Real Sharp Knives

Every time I go into Ginger's Kitchenware on Newport (across from Newport Market), I'm so pleased. Many might know it as the specialty kitchen supply store, fancier than Williams-Sonoma, where Ginger holds court, and where you can purchase the latest culinary gadgetry (silicone egg poachers anyone?). However, I know Ginger's Kitchenware as the place to get my knives sharpened in one day, for $4 per knife. This is a great deal! Don't hack away at another onion tonight, or smoosh a perfect tomato with a dull blade -- get 'em sharp again at Ginger's!

A Vegan Lasagna, Off The Cuff

I had a giant 8-ball zucchini (from the garden!), carrots, garlic, collard greens, broccoli and canned tomato products in the house: that spelled lasagna. I've been trying to eat more raw food than not, so all the vegetables went into the lasagna raw, in the hopes that only 45 minutes of baking would leave more nutrients than might otherwise be there with all the cooking that normally precedes lasagna assemblage. More nutrients or not, I discovered a better way to assemble a vegetarian lasagna -- large slices of uncooked vegetables and thick layers of vegetables with minimal sauce makes a nice, moist casserole without any excess water. It holds its shape like a torte.

1/4 inch thick slices of zucchini or squash
head of broccoli, chopped into small pieces
collard green leaves or kale leaves
shiitake mushrooms
marinara of choice
no-boil lasagna noodles
topping of grated carrot and minced garlic

layer: sauce, noodles, sauce, mushrooms, collard leaf, zucchini, noodles, sauce, broccoli, collard leaf, zucchini, noodles, sauce, carrot/garlic topping. Bake 350 for 45 minutes and enjoy layers and layers of lightly-baked vegetables.

A Day Eating In Southeast Portland

I was in Portland the other day for fun and to hear Brian Clement from the Hippocrates Health Institute give a lecture on raw food. It was lunchtime when I pulled into the big city, so I just pointed the car toward the Southeast part of town where the lecture was taking place. Well, ya know ya can't swing a dead cat in Portland without hitting a worthy eatery, and lo, one block from my parked car was VegeThai, Portland's "only all-vegetarian Thai restaurant". That means no fish sauce, either. I ordered vegetable pad thai and I would be enthusiastic about this place if they hadn't skimped MAJOR on the veg. Spent the meal turning over rice noodles in a futile attempt to find more cabbage and broccoli. Reasonable price, though, at $7.50. I would give this place another shot -- and order something different.

4 hours later, it was time for dinner, which I had planned pretty meticulously. Back across Hawthorne from VegeThai, at 32nd, is Belly Timber, the newish modern American place housed in a massive corner Victorian. I skipped the outdoor seating, as it was in the 90s, and went straight for the bar area. A bit muggy inside this joint, but I prefer that over blasting air conditioning. The service was awesome. I started with a taste of Hub Lager, a local brew. I'm still in love with IPAs, so this just tasted like Bud to me -- blech. So I went ahead and ordered a Puka Sahib (which is Victorian slang, male mixologist informed me, for "excellent fellow" and often used in colonial-era literature). It contains: Medoyeff vodka from Portland, lemon juice, and Trillium absinthe, from Portland). Our proprietors are leaders in the locally-sourced movement, it turns out, as I coincidentally read in the PDX indy-weekly, not only serving local alcohols, but featuring vegetables grown in the front lawns of Southeast Portland neighborhoods for Sellwood Garden Club. Way cool!!

On to dinner, then -- the free bread was a treat, with its sourdough perfection and house-made salts: one a smokey anise flavored, and one a carrot salt. They also put some sugar in their salt, which was nice, but not subtle. Appetizer was the Dungeness crab cakes ($9) with fennel potato salad and red pepper oil. Though salty, there wasn't a crumb left on my plate, as I used the last of my bread to clean up the pepper oil. Potato salad was perfect little squares of potato, very al dente; ok, too al dente, but that didn't stop me from inhaling them.



My main was the Mushroom and Goat Cheese Torta (half order, $8), which I can't stop thinking about. On the bottom of the perfect pastry was a layer of caramelized shallots. The filling was overwhelmingly goat cheesy, in a good way, but with giant chanterelles to interrupt the creaminess. The slice was laid on chard and barley: again salty, but I love salt. Perhaps I should say "well-seasoned". The dish was finished with pickled celery and radish, which I could have done without, but whatever: pickled veg is good for you. The standouts on this dish are the generous and exotic mushrooms, the obviously quality goat cheese, and the perfection of the crust. I hope this place makes it for the long haul -- its enviro-heart is in the right place, and I truly enjoyed every bite.

Catherine's Flaxxy Breakfast Souffle

I can't get enough of my sister's yummy protein-packed breakfast concoction:








Mix this up:
2 egg whites
1 egg
1/3 cup ground flax
1/2 cup yogurt
1 t vanilla
1/2 t baking powder
Cinnamon and cardamom to taste


Pour into a small, hot, oiled pan and let it hiss, then turn down the heat to low and cover. When it's puffy and set enough, flip it and cook for another few minutes. Put on a plate, smear with almond butter, top with berries and voila: breakfast that will keep you full until the afternoon.

Ocean Roll Pudding

Sparrow Bakery is further away from my house than Back Porch Coffee on Newport. Back Porch sells Sparrow's baked goods. Therefor, I buy the famous cardamom Ocean Rolls at Back Porch. When last I went to Back Porch for 4 rolls for my house guests, the lovely barista asked if I'd like to try something fabulous with the rolls. I said "most assuredly". And she gave me her recipe for a bread pudding made with the rolls. Now... why didn't I think of this?

4 Ocean Rolls, cut in half length-wise, placed in a casserole dish
1.5 cups almond milk mixed with 1 T vanilla and 4 eggs, poured over the rolls.
Cover and let sit for a few hours in the fridge. Bake 350 degrees covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 30 minutes. Do this recipe with any favorite cinnamon roll.

Damn, that's good. Thanks Back Porch barista girl!!! My guests LOVED it.

Coconut Carrot Cake

I have company at my house and it's nice to make a cake when you know half of it will be eaten at one sitting. This is a winner: tons of grated carrot, walnuts, cream cheese frosting and coated with unsweetened coconut shavings.

Grilling Addiction

I'm grilling every other night, rain or shine. Tonight was rain sprinkles, Chipotle Burgers w/ Jalapeno Slaw, and Asian Tofu Rectangles (for lunch tomorrow). For the burgers, I used a pound of organic ground beef with a higher fat percentage, 3 chopped chipotle, a little olive oil, some splashes of Worchestershire, and charred until medium-well. I served with CostCo mixed greens with romaine pieces, diced avocado, cucumber and with Vidalia-Poppyseed dressing. Then, to use the rest of the hot coals, I threw on tofu bars that had a marinade of red chili pepper sauce, sesame seed oil and tamari. The tofu really got great char marks on it. It would be good in some Bun, Vietnamese-style salad w/ a fish sauce/rice vinegar dressing.

Memorial Day Grillin'

Perfect weather this Memorial Day for grilling up some salmon.
Menu:
Marinated Wild Copper River Salmon (CostCo!)
Steamed Broccoli Florets (from the giant CostCo bag of same)
Spring Greens w/ Italian Dressing (both from CostCo) and homemade croutons made w/ CostCo whole wheat seed bread

The marinade: brown sugar, white wine, soy sauce, melted butter, lemon juice.

Boy, meals and days like this make you feel pretty lucky to be alive and living in such a beautiful and free country. Happy Memorial Day to all Americans! Thanks to my family members who have served: Dad, Grandpas, Cousins, Uncles!! Thinking of you all today.

A Late Lunch at Park Kitchen in Portland

Finding Park Kitchen was a trial for two gals with very little experience navigating Portland. We found Park Avenue (Street), but we were in the wrong quadrant. There is a SW and a NW: who, without a map, knew? Finally, with the knowledge the kitchen stayed open for lunch until 2 pm, we arrived at around 1 pm.

A fine establishment! First the service: top notch! We felt welcome, as late as we were for lunch, and not rushed in the least. I sniffed out a seat as close to the kitchen as possible: open kitchen, so we watched and listened to the staff. Disappointed no females in the kitch, as I'm most inclined to dine in a feminine kitchen at those prices, but the banter emerging from the grill area was inoffensive, and, refreshingly, in English! So what the freak, Portland is a different world -- an urbane oddity, a mystery to me; and I'm just a rube, a hick, an interloper anyways: no judgment here, except where the food meets the taste-buds.

Herewith, we began with cocktails from the delightful libations menu! $9 apiece, but this was really our only fancy meal of the trip, so we drank. Though the "Kentucky Battle" tickled me ("2 mini manhattans: Wild Turkey rye and Buffalo Trace bourbon"), we settled on The Replacement for my just-landed friend ("Aquavit, Benedictine, Lillet Blanc, Fernet Branca, OJ") and a Slivovitz Swizzle for me ("Slivovitz, mint, lime, sugar, crushed ice, Peychauds bitters").
Both were nice, hers sweet, mine freshly minty with a wad of just picked, muddled mint leaves crammed into the bottom of the high ball. Yum! Effective!

I praise Park Kitchen for having a "Power Lunch" menu wherein you may order a soup, a lunch entree, and a dessert for one low-ish price. I'm operating on memory now because the Park Kitchen's stylish web site does not have a current menu up. So for a soup, we had a pureed nettles and asparagus soup, creamy, bright green and studded with tiny pickled asparagus discs. Next the main course of some kind of cod on a bed of something or other for my guest, and a lively take on a banh mi sandwich for me. Lots of pickled vegetables, which are trendy I gather, and crunchy, almost rock-like bread. Was I too late for lunch or was it supposed to be so so hard? Seemed to have two kinds of pork inside: a roast tenderloin slice and a hammier, pink version. Yum. Oh and ps: the jalapenos are pickled on site. Cool.

Dessert! Oh, dessert. Just happened to be the most memorable part of this meal. Soft, crumbly, warm chocolate cookies and beet sorbet. Yeah, we thought it was marionberry or raspberry and were surprised to taste dirt on our tongues. I ate half, as it was VERY sweet, and my guest barely tasted it a second time. Two unsophisticated Ohio-bred palates, pushin our plates away in a vote against a top shelf dessert. Shame.

I would like to go to Park Kitchen again and again, so whoever flies in to visit us will also get the pleasure of their seasonal, ever-changing, and ever-trendy menu.

Chilly Day Mango Cinnamon Smoothie

Here's a treat. I whip up smoothies all the time, but this one was worth writing down.





1 cup frozen mango chunks
2 cups cold almond milk
1 t cinnamon
1 T hemp powder
1 cup coconut or vanilla yogurt

Blend until smooth and fluffy. It's the cinnamon that really makes it good!

Making Gumbo for Mardi Gras

I turned out an acceptable gumbo, and here's how I did it. First, sautee red bell pepper, orange bell pepper, onion and garlic in butter for at least a half hour on medium heat. Basically caramelize it. Next, make the roux: melt 1/3 cup butter and then add 1/3 cup whole wheat flour over medium-medium high heat and stir constantly until it turns darker brown (at least 15 minutes).

When the roux is to your liking, throw in a cup of chunked chicken thighs and the vegetable sautee mixture and stir until the chicken is browned. Then add 4 cups boxed beef broth, 1 teaspoon sugar, and one can diced tomatoes, un-drained.



Throw in 2 bay leaves, some dried thyme, fresh parsley, salt, and a half teaspoon cayenne pepper. Bring it to a boil and then simmer for 2 and a half hours. Clean the house, do laundry, take a shower, work on your Facebook. Add as much raw shrimp and pre-cooked andouille sausage chunks as you want. Add some hot sauce and 2 T worcestershire sauce. Simmer 10 minutes, remove bay leaves, add file powder and serve over short-grained brown rice. Oh, don't forget to taste to see if it's hot enough. If not, add more cayenne.

New Orleans Eating Tour: Part Deux

I spent a whole day in New Orleans and ate a lot of food. Never had been to Central Grocery before so I parked my car on the river near Decatur and walked over for an early lunch. Waves of people were pouring into the place, which is tiny. I am guessing about 85% of them were tourists, but I did see a few singles looking very business-like w/ their Mufalettas. I mis-pronouned Mufaletta and then didn't order it right and the guy fairly rolled his eyes at me. Oh, it was delicious, though. I easily could have eaten 3/4s of the whole thing, but since I only ordered half, I had 2/4ths. Easily the best food I had on my trip. If you are ever downtown or in the Quarter, just do yourself a favor and go to Central Grocery for a Mufalletta.



Then it was on to the Cafe Du Monde, alternately walking in the crisp shade and the bright sunlight. Blue skies, all day long. Cafe DM was half full. I sat outside and ate one beignet and drank some coffee w/ milk, watching a stained, faceless homeless man wastebasket dive. Saw several street people, looking pretty desperate, but not asking for money.

By this time is was after the noon hour, so when I passed the Old Absinthe House I couldn't resist nipping in for a Sazerac. I understand the business cards posted by the thousands on the walls is a tradition, but it really destroys any sense of history. Kind of sad in there. Tourist couples drinking Bloody Marys. Lots of cigarette smoke.



On to more dessert. I found a gelato shop across the street from the The Gumbo Shop called La Divina Gelateria. The nice man scooping the gelato was the owner and he served me up some Chocolate Azteca which was spicy. But dingit, I should have gotten a shot of espresso with it, but I did not know it was also a coffee shop until looking at the website. I had a nice time eating my cinnamon-tasting, spicy, organic gelato in the courtyard, listening in on a New Orleans real estate agent hustle on his cell phone.




About this time, the Mardi Gras Marathon expo was open, so I walked back through the Quarter and weaved in and out the streets, taking in the sights, and eventually finding Canal and then Poydras and then the big hotel. After officially registering in Sunday's marathon, I started to get hungry again. Time to carbo-load, New Orleans style. Many blocks later, I was in my car and back on Canal heading for Mandina's. Mandina's is described as Creole and Italian and it's a casual place. This trip was dedicated to casual, so it was on my list. I ordered water and spaghetti and meatballs. It was just what I needed, and I could only eat half. My waitress was super friendly and we talked for awhile about food and New Orleans. Within a half hour I was on my way again, before the Friday crowd even got in their cars to drive to Mandina's.

Last stop: Juan's Flying Burrito on Magazine Street for a vegetable and bean burrito to go. I needed something to eat the next day and this lasted a great long time: it was great after a few minutes in the microwave, very spicy, very fresh.

If I had my sistah or my best girl buddy with me, I would have gathered my tired self up, hit a few espressos on Magazine, and high tailed it to The Wine Institute of New Orleans. However, I was alone, tired and needed to start babying my legs, as they would be jogging 26 miles in a couple of days.

Two days later, after the marathon, I was craving King Cake. Lucky for me the Ponchatoula, Louisiana Winn Dixie bakery was serving it up!



O New Orleans, how many culinary treats you keep hidden from me, a tourist and a Midwesterner. I promise to keep searching! Here is another excellent New Orleans food tour.

I'm off to New Orleans to Run and to Eat

It's not the cheapest flight I've ever paid for, but Redmond to New Orelans via Salt Lake City is at least available! No drive to Portland, which is nice. It's exciting to be flying out of a new airport. I'll be visiting a few of these places this time around. The theme is "everyday N'awlins eatin'":

http://juansflyingburrito.com/
http://www.gumboshop.com/
http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/57/620391/restaurant/French-Quarter/Central-Grocery-New-Orleans
http://www.mandinasrestaurant.com/
http://piccadilly.com/
Rivershack Tavern

Then I'll be here for approximately 4 to 5 hours:

http://www.mardigrasmarathon.com/

Then I'll be eating again. Eat, run, eat. Run, eat, run.

When Is A Salad Just An Excuse To Eat Cheese, Candy and Bacon?

Answer:
When I happen to have gorgonzola, spicy-sweet pecans, bacon crumbles and mixed greens in the fridge.

Inevitable: The Whole Foods Test

Let me just get to the point. I went to Whole Foods here in Bend to get a brisket for the weekend's meals (you know, first in tacos, then as BBQ, then some for the dogs, then just shoving it into your mouth cold on Sunday night). I got corn-fused pretty darn quick when, looking frantically into the glass carnivore case, I did not immediately apprehend said poor-person's cut of meat. Certainly there must be another meat section, round the corner, perhaps, or already smoked or something in their in-house smoker. Wait a cotton-pickin' minute: this ain't Texas, sistah. You got spoilt there in that Metroplex surrounded by cow and buffalo-killing fields. Here in Bend, sad to say, what stared back at me from inside the meaty case, was a barely 2-pound, non-organic, brisket. From a cow. No organix, no buffalo. Well, now, I know it's not neighborly to complain in your host's house about the menu, so I won't. Like the humble new-comer I am, I'll just mention on closing that the cheese selections in all the groceries around here are superior! Plus I know Whole Foods is hardly any town's representative of local food. I've got lots to learn here and these places might help:
Cinder Butte Meat Company
Pine Mountain Ranch (buffalo)
Fresh Start Farms (beef, chicken, pork)
and Eat Wild in Oregon

Bend Eating

It's been an adventure so far, since leaving Texas in the dark and stormy night, spending my 39th birthday in Vegas, and arriving in this strange, unknown land of Central Oregon with its cinders for snow control, woodsmoke, and pitch black nights. The first week and a half we ate out a lot since my mise en place consisted of two knives, two forks, two spoons, two bowls, two plates, a pot, some salt, and no food. So we've gotten to know some places already.
Chan's on 3rd: decent, especially awesome hot and sour soup, horrid fried rice in the same sense that Mexican rice is horrid in 90% of those places.
Szechuan on 3rd: dirty floors, luke-warm hot and sour soup, average entrees, okay if you like mediocre food and the entire front and back of the house staring at you while you eat, as if to say "when in HELL are you two going to leave already?"
Super Burrito: very good and very good atmospherics. Coming from Texas, I'm hesitant to go to these other Mexican places here, but this was nice and I want to try Hola as well.
McMeniman's (in the theatre): the husband had the ahi burger ("probably won't order that again") and I had a veggie pizza. Better than bar food, but may I recommend eating somewhere else first and just drink their beer. Humble opinion. Only here a few weeks. Don't yell at me. As a concept chain of bars, it excels. It's just such a delicious idea: turn historic properties around Oregon into atmospheric pubs with fireplaces, guest rooms, multiple drinking rooms, history lessons, antiques, festivals, live theatre, movie screens, fire pits, Turkish baths, cigar areas, and restaurants. Oh and host Scotch tastings for good measure.
Black Bear Diner: only realized it was a chain after reading the menu: whoops. But the Bacon Lettuce Avocado Swiss Tomato sandwich was yummy (the B.L.A.S.T.), as was the husband's meatloaf and mashers. Nice mashed red-skins with yum salty gravy. $2.50 for a Coke: is that normal? Oh, and good salads with red onions and romaine.
South Postal Unit Curry Stop: the woman there whips up a mean chicken curry. The meat is falling off the bones and those chicken legs are meaty. The jasmine rice is as flavorful as any high-falutin' Indian joint, and she adds pickled jalapenos and red onion on top (hurray!), all for under $5.00, plus you can get your Bulletin and take care of your postal needs in a warm, friendly environment full of Bend's south end folks.
Deschutes Brewery: Yum, yum, yum. Such a treat to eat there. I had the falafel salad the first night we rolled into town, with my head spinning from 10 hours on the road from California. Add only one pint of Mirror Pond to that and I nearly was passing out from stress, elevation, lack of sleep, punchiness, disbelief, and then, I guess, inebriation. This is where you can have two entrees and three beers for under $40 including tip. Can't wait to go again.
Typhoon: We ate here on a visit in September and it rocked and was affordable, even with two glasses of Oregon pinot. The one thing I keep dreaming about: crab lemon grass coconut soup.
Pizzacato Pizzeria: we picked up a giant size Pizza Blanca and I winced at the $38 price, but we wanted to feed our moving crew, which we did, and still had left-overs to the tune of two more meals. 8 servings for under $40. It's fancy-pants pizza, but if you don't hog down on it and stick to portions within reason, you can make it pay off.
Baldy's BBQ: OK, I sneaked in here without the husband for a quick take-out of pulled pork on a bun with chipotle mashers and baked beans. It all was very good. Made me smile a lot. One pick: the pork is truly pulled and in largish chunks, which was okay, but I really was emotionally craving the chopped pork of dear ol' Carolina. With some cole slaw on top ... pretty puhleaaaays?
Strictly Organic Coffee: This is the kind of place that tickles me no end, from the agave nectar at the coffee prep area (raw!), to the all-organic beans, to the homemade p-nut butter dog biscuits (all three canines hardly sniffed them before mowing down), to the giant cookies in jars each separated by a perfect square of tissue paper, ready for you to grab, it's allllllll good. Can't wait to drive through and try a more substantial meal. Oh, and the iced Americanos are rockin'.
Victorian Cafe: It's like my husband's food-dream - a whole restaurant dedicated to eggs benedict. He had the Carribean kind with mango and black beans and despite that he called it "messy" and said he wouldn't order it again (read: but I will order a different kind of eggs benedict for sure), we were impressed. Of course I had the club w/ avocado on sourdough. Passable. But why no toasty the bread, boys?
Next on the Agenda if we get jobs:
The Indian place downtown for the lunch buffet
Village Baker
Hola!
The Thai place on Division
about a hundred other places downtown, including some fancy pants ones.