A Taste of Portland, OR

My husband and I recently spent a long weekend in Portland, Oregon. We went armed with a list of restaurants that friends said we just had to taste, and spent a lot of time walking the city from restaurant to restaurant.

Here’s a recap of some of our favorite eats and recommendations:

Fried Oyster and Bacon Omelet and Cinnamon French Toast at Cafe Bijou

Sour Beers at Cascade Brewing. My favorite was a fig flavored one. They offer lots of tasters and flight options so you can get a feel for the different kind of sour beers.

Lots of whiskey drinks all over the city.

Hush Puppies at The Waiting Room.

“Pig Candy,” Bruschetta with Burrata, and a Grilled Romaine Salad at The Fireside.

Ice Cream at Cool Moon

Obligatory stop at VooDoo Doughnuts (admittedly, not my favorite).

The Reggie Deluxe and the Chatfield at Pine State Biscuits. The Reggie Deluxe has a super flavorful sausage gravy over the whole thing but was a little rich for me. I enjoyed the Chatfield which paired sweet and savory with cheddar cheese, fried chicken, bacon, and apple butter on a biscuit.

We were encouraged to go to the Whiskey Soda Lounge instead of the crowded Pok Pok where we could still try the wings that they are known for. We also had an amazing Tamarind Whiskey Sour (which we have occasionally made at home), Roasted Cashews with Green Onions and Chiles, a Crispy Pigs Ear appetizer, and their famous Ike’s Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings.  All delicious.

More whiskey cocktails at the Richmond. The Richmond was my favorite bar that we visited. Located in the Division district, it had a fun, laid back vibe and slightly retro decor.

Ice Cream at Salt and Straw: I got the rhubarb crumble and salted carmel, very good ice cream but this place is usually packed and I thought our ice cream at Cool Moon was just as good.

Ramen at Mirakutei

And, to try to burn off some of these indulgent calories, we enjoyed a tough hike to the top of Multnohmah Falls.

Until next time Portland, you were great!

CSA day!

Happy Friday! And happy spring! I recieved my monthly box of fruits and veggies from my local CSA today. It’s always fun to start with a box of ingredients, and work my meal planning for the week around those.   I’m signed up with Farm Fresh to You. I love that you can go online the week before and customize your box. This was the big selling point for me since I do have a small vegetable garden, and didn’t want to be receiving duplicates from a monthly CSA box of exactly what I was already harvesting. 

This week I recieved:

• Purple fingerling potatoes
• Red beets
• Gold beets
• Frisée
• Carrots
• Kohlrabi
• Baby broccoli
• French breakfast radishes
• Avocados
• Lacinto kale

I see a light frisée salad in my future for tonight’s dinner, perhaps with some oranges and avocado wedges and some shaved fennel, an appetizer of radishes with butter and salt (something I discovered I loved in Paris), and maybe some garlicky broccoli. 

If you’re local to San Diego and interested in trying out a CSA box, I highly recommend Farm Fresh to You. You can sign up for a box with my referral code: SHAN1223 and get $10 off of your first box. 

I hope you all enjoy some fresh spring veggies this week.  

Making Sushi with Sushi on a Roll

Recently one of my friends organized a cooking class for her birthday at Sushi on a Roll. We had such a blast talking with Chef Jeff about his love of sushi, and learning how to roll our own rolls. We got to make California Krab Rolls and Spicy Tuna hand rolls.First thing is to start with good rice. Did you know that sushi means rice?

• Wash your sushi rice until the water runs clear to pull out all of the excess starch
• Cook your sushi rice with a little bit less water than you normally use to cook rice, since the rice has already absorbed some water from the rinsing process. This will be different for everyone, depending on your rice, your water, and your rice cooker so experiment to find out what works best for your set up.
• Cool the rice. If you’ve ever noticed the giant bamboo bowl behind the sushi counter at your favorite restaurant, that’s where they cool the rice by periodically fanning it and stirring it to speed up the cooling process. It will take about 2 hours to cool.
• Add vinegar to the rice to keep it from attracting any bacteria. Use about 4 Tb of vinegar to 5 c of rice.

Sushi Roll:

• Break your seaweed in half long ways to end up with two rectangles.
• Set the seaweed on your work surface rough side up
• Wet your hand, and take a baseball size of rice. Smash this evenly across the rough surface of the seaweed roll
• Flip over so rice side is on the bottom. Lay your fillings in a narrow row in the middle of the seaweed. For our California Krab Roll we had 2 slices of avocado and 2 spears of krab meat.
• Using your bamboo mat, start to roll up the sushi roll nice and tight. Press it tightly over the top, then align the sides of the roll with each side of the mat and press to make it even. 
• To cut, dip a sharp, non-serrated knife into water. Cut in half, align halves together, cut in half again, and each half in half to get 8 evenly sized slices. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
• When plating the sushi, turn the end pieces pretty side up. The outer edge will look noticeably different.

Hubby and I both got kudos on rolling our rolls really tight. We’re on our way to becoming sushi chefs!

Spicy Tuna Hand Roll

• Use one wet hand and one dry hand.
• Place seaweed half in dry hand, rough side facing out.
• Dip other hand in water, and grab a golfball sized handful of rice. Start in the bottom corner and press rice up in a diagonal.
• Add a golfball sized handful of spicy tuna mixture (diced tuna and siracha) and align along the inside.
• Roll up the seaweed on a diagonal. Grab a small bit of rice to use to seal your roll.

Chef Jeff also made for us some shrimp nigiri and albacore sashimi served on a chilled salt block.He also demonstrated how to filet a whole salmon.

Overall great fun! I look forward to more opportunities to learn more about the beautiful art of making sushi.

*Shout out to my friend Sandy for scheduling and for sharing some great photos!

Food Lover’s Cleanse with Bon Appetit

For the past couple of years I’ve kicked off January with Bon Appetit’s “Food Lover’s Cleanse.” It’s not too strict of a cleanse, but limits alcohol, processed white carbs, dairy, red meat, and added sugar. I was too excited to start planning it out before they posted this year’s recipes, so I started going through the recipes from the past few years, and put together my own version. I also made sure to put the more project intensive recipes on the weekends, and planned on left overs and easy dishes during the week.

I didn’t know San Diego was going to flood last week and all I would want to eat was soup, but was able to make an early change to the meal plan resulting in less salads and more soups for more satisfying lunches.

Cabbage slaw with Kimchi, Peanuts,  and left over rib eye steak (not on the cleanse but not something I was going to toss!) with a Kimchi Miso Dressing – So good, fresh, but with a decadent tasting dressing. I couldn’t find any silken tofu, so I used their Kimchi Miso Dressing as a base, and adjusted the oil ratio until I got a consistency that worked for dressing. My intent was to make a week’s worth of salads with left over protein from dinners, but alas the rain made that just not sound satisfying.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Porcini Broth, and Barley Pilaf with Leeks and Lemon – the Porcini broth turned out really good, and the soup was even better the next day. I ended up making a big batch of barley for the barley pilaf as well as some morning meals, and had enough left over to toss in the soup and make it hearty enough to have as a meal on it’s own. I also made some sauteed beet greens instead of their suggested chard side, which was lovely tossed into the soup. This recipe served the two of us two nights of dinners and one lunch for me, and I still had left over barley pilaf to pair with another protein and veggie. While I liked the buttermilk in the barley pilaf, I didn’t think it was necessary.

Red Rice Congee with Chicken, Kimchi, and Mushrooms – I was unable to find red rice at my Asian market, but got a black rice that worked nicely even though it was almost unsettlingly dark. I absolutely LOVED the mushrooms and wish I had doubled that element. Bon Appetit paired this with a spicy roasted squash, but the squash that I thought I had in the fridge had gone bad, so I paired with this with some Garlicky Bok Choy, which went really nicely in the soup. This recipe served the two of us two nights of dinners, and one lunch for me.

Mahi Mahi with Smashed White Beans and Sage – I had some cod in my freezer, and attempted to substitute it for the Mahi Mahi. I also cooked it in the oven (400 degrees for 20 minutes) but sadly it was a little bit rubbery. I’m not super versed in cod and I wonder if it just does better with direct heat. I will say that the marinade for the fish was delicious, very aromatic, and the smashed white beans were very satisfying. We paired this with more Garlicky Bok Choy. (What can I say, the Asian market sells it by the pound!)

After a mad dash to the grocery store in the rain, I moved up the White Bean Chili with Winter Vegetables to this week, when I’d originally had it slated to next week. Excellent choice! This chili had so much flavor and was so satisfying. I did swap out one can of white beans for kidney beans just to add a bit of visual diversity to the dish.

Breakfast has consisted of three days of  Quinoatmeal with Apples and Toasted Walnuts. I had originally intended to mix in a yogurt parfait this week, but have been craving a hot breakfast to get me through the rainy commute. I had some of the big batch barley with peanut butter, bananas, almond milk, and a sprinkling of flaxseed for another three days. Both grain bowls have been more filling than oatmeal alone, and have kept me going through to lunch.

In general this Food Lover’s Cleanse has been a nice way to start out the year, focusing on using different grains and lean meats, and getting my fill of vegetables. I may or may not continue on for a second week, as I’m already building a list of new recipes to try!

A Taste of Europe: Germany

We visited Heidelberg and Munich while in Germany for four days.

Heidelberg is a small town on the Nektar River, which branches off of the Rhine River. It’s so cute and quaint, since it’s one of the few towns that was never bombed during WWII, and has retained it’s original character. For our first German meal here, we found a restaurant “Sum Guldnen Schaf,” picked for its very German signage and closeness to our hotel. I ordered sausages with sauerkraut and potato hash. Randy got a braised pork knuckle and a potato dumpling. The braised pork knuckle was delicious, and an enormous piece of meat!

Sausages, sauerkraut, and potato hash.

Braised pork knuckle and potato dumpling.

Restaurant sign that I think translates to “The Golden Sheep”

For dinner, we had done a little research and knew that we wanted to go to the Schnitzel Bank. This bar used to make wine barrels for a Riesling distributor, and then realized that they could make more money actually selling the wine! They had full glasses of deliciously crisp Riesling on tap for 5 euro each. The seating is family style around large irregular tables, with lots of old barrel making tools decorating the walls. The vibe inside was so friendly and warm, which was great, since it was absolutely freezing outside (well, freezing to this California girl anyways!). We split a pork schnitzel with a garlic sauce, a really good salad and a delicious spicy tomato soup. I saw that my neighbor had a plate of spaetzel and well, I just had to have some. So we ended up ordering a second plate to split. I’m so glad we did! The spaetzel was so unbeliveable delicious! It’s basically a German macaroni and cheese, but with specially made dough and I think raclette cheese. I recently tried to recreate this with Gruyere, and while it was still good, it was nothing like the original. We proceeded to drink a lot of Riesling on tap and chat with a few neighbors from the States before the brisk walk back to our hotel.

Spicy tomato soup with fresh cream.

Pork schnitzel with a garlic sauce.

Spaetzle.

We stayed at a great hotel in Heidelberg: Gasthaus Backmulde. The provided us with a complimentary breakfast that was the best we ate on our trip, and left gummy bears on our pillow!

Best breakfast buffet at our hotel.

Gummy bears on my pillow!

We grabbed some pretzels to go, and took the train from Heidelberg to Munich, and straight into Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest is a lot like the Del Mar Fair when you walk in, except that it’s FREE and instead of expo halls and animals, there are giant beer tents. We walked around for a little bit, shared a bratwurst and ventured into one of the beer halls. I must say we did not know what to expect! I thought that we could go in and find a place to sit down, or a least grab a drink at the bar and walk around. Not the case! It was like being the only sober one at a party full of drunks. The tables were all packed or reserved, and there wasn’t anywhere to sit. The waiters walked through the hallways with 12 liters of beer at a time, or giant trays of food, blowing whistles to get you out of their way. There is a small unreserved section in each tent where you can try to wait for a space, and you can’t order a beer without having a seat. We took one lap around, got overwhelmed, and decided we’d have our first beer at one of the outdoor beer gardens while we formulated a game plan. Fortified with a bit of liquid courage, we ventured into another beer tent and decided to hang around the exit of the unreserved section, or the “mosh pit” as we came to call it. We got pretty lucky and about four people left pretty quickly, and we were able to swoop in and ask to take their spots at the table. We ended up at a table of all English speakers – most from California actually! It was great fun. We enjoyed two more liters of beer and sang along to lots of 80’s rock music. We missed a real dinner, but did split a pretzel bigger than my face!

Huge pretzel.

Lots of bratwurst sandwiches.

The next day we went in search of a hearty breakfast, but to no luck. We found one breakfast restaurant that had more than coffee and pastries, but it wasn’t all that great. After breakfast, we purchased some official Oktoberfest attire, and headed back to the Oktoberfest festival. This time we arrived earlier, and were able to get a table and order a late lunch. We ordered a radish salad, braised pork knuckle, crispy duck, potato dumplings, and an apple cabbage slaw. Everything was so good! The radishes were so refreshing and the meats were all melt in your mouth delicious. We both really liked the apple cabbage slaw, and thought it complimented the braised pork really well. We explored a few more of the beer tents and had another fun night.

The next day we did a bike tour of Munich, and had lunch at a really cool beer garden in the middle of the English Gardens in the city. We got more of the same kind of food we’d been eating in Germany: pretzels, beer, pork knuckle, and spaetzle – with one new thing recommended by our tour guide: Obatzda. This is a mixture of cheeses and spices, paired with pickled vegetables and delicious spread on our pretzels.

In Germany we did find a beer garden cookbook in English, so look for some attempted recreations of these delicious foods coming from our kitchen. Until next time!

A Taste of Europe: Paris, France

I feel like Paris is on every food lovers wish list. Fantasizing about baguettes and perfectly airy croissants…sigh. I’m ready to go back right now. Also, I didn’t take nearly enough food photos! At most restaurants we were so close to our neighbors, I was a bit embarrassed to pull out my camera.  I’ve struggled with the best way to sum everything up for you, but here goes:

The highlights!

Our last night’s dinner was our food highlight of Paris so let’s start there. After the difficulties we had finding somewhere for dinner on our first night, we made it a priority to make reservations for our last night. We ended up at La Villaret, which was listed in the Michelin guidebook as a recommended restaurant. We both made selections from the four course chef’s menu. The menu was in French, but we both thought that we recognized enough words to make a choice. Our waiter was very friendly. We started with an amuse bouche of a creamy corn soup with crispy corn kernels on top. For our first course, I selected the “fromage a tet” – which I first thought was a cheese course, but our waiter explained to me that it was actually a “head cheese” – made from meats of the head. I decided to be adventurous, and I’m so glad I did! It was deliciously rich, and served on top of a bed of shredded celery root in a slightly sweet and acidic vinaigrette which cut through the rich meaty flavor. Hubby got a cauliflower soup that was also very good and creamy. For our entree’s, hubby got a coq-a-vin with mashed potatos, and I got pot-au-feu with beef. It was nice classic comfort food, which fit with the blustery weather outside. For dessert, hubby got a vanilla pot du creme with graham cracker cookies and I got a pistachio mousse with figs and shortbread.

Not entirely food related, but our best memory from Paris was grabbing a chilled bottle of champagne, and enjoying it in the park underneath the Eiffel Tower.

Other dinner adventures at places I sadly forgot the names:

Our first night in Paris, we started wandering around looking for a place to grab dinner. We found a few restaurants on back streets with great looking menus. What we did not realize is that the majority of the nicer restaurants are TINY! Also, since the meals are so leisurely and drawn out, there is not much turnover. We soon found out that reservations are a must! We did find a more touristy cafe with lots of al fresco seating to get dinner. Not quite what we were hoping for but still good. I got a duck confit with potatos, and hubby got a pasta dish, along with lots of delicious bread and cheap wine.

We were staying in the Bastille District, and set out for the cluster of restaurants in our neighborhood for Saturday night’s dinner. Since all of the restaurants here are so tiny, you end up sharing tables with your neighbors. At this restaurant in particular, our waiter had to pull our table out so that I could sit down on the other side of it, then slide it back in between the two groups on either side of us. It did make conversation a bit awkward as we both couldn’t help eavesdropping on our neighbors! Here we tried the foie gras, which was good but not as good as the one we had in Nice. I had a squid stuffed with smaller shellfish and greens on a bed of potatoes – beautiful presentation, and very rich. Hubby got “echine de cochon” or a pork back over seasonal vegetables. Of course, we shared a delicious pastry for dessert with a delightful caramel filling.

Sunday night dinner was at a cafe near the Picasso Museum. We shared a butter, salt and radish appetizer – so simple and so good. I enjoyed a delicious french onion soup, and hubby had a really good beef tartare.

Other memorable bites

Savory crepes along the Siene.

The first thing we ate was a savory crepe along the Siene: buckwheat batter full of emmentalier cheese and sausage.

Perfect flaky, airy croissants.

Take-away coffees.

For breakfast most days, we grabbed almond croissants and coffee “for take away” to enjoy as we made our way to various places around the city.

Gelato in Montemarte.

We enjoyed refreshing gelato in the Montemarte plaza.

We wandered around the Latin quarter, and stumbled upon on a Vietnamese restaurant for our lunch. This was the only place that we felt like we had a bit of a language barrier, but the food was very delicious.

On Sunday afternoon we ended up near the Alesia metro station, and stumbled upon a huge open air market. There was fresh seafood, meats, cheeses, produce – I wished we were staying longer and somewhere with a kitchen so I could shop! We did end up getting a delicious chocolate crepe to munch on as we wandered around admiring everything.

We planned a picnic lunch for the gardens in Versaille – fresh baguette, salami, brie cheese, and these delicious goat cheese balls filled with fig jam. We also bought a bottle of wine, but sadly neglected to bring a bottle opener! We also brought assorted macaroons and a giant pistachio meringue for dessert.

Monday’s lunch was pizza at the bottom of Montemarte – complete with a home made chile oil that had such a good flavor and not too much heat.

A candy station at a reggae concert.

Market-fresh seafood.

Market-fresh seafood.

Macaroons of all flavors!

Our picnic lunch at Versaille.

We’d love to go back and explore even more that Paris has to offer next time!

Next up: Octoberfest in Germany.

A Taste of Europe: Southern France

Our recent European travel also took us to Southern France. We spent a few days in Nice, a major city on the Cote d’Azur; followed by a few days visiting family in the Languedoc wine region.

In Nice, our hotel was right across the street from an artisan boulangerie so naturally we started our days with fresh made pastries, like a delectable almond croissant. After meandering through the plazas, we sat down at a waterfront cafe to have a proper “petit déjeuner,” consisting of cafe au lait, half of a baguette with butter and jam, and a small glass of orange juice. After some refreshing gelato we took the bus to Monte Carlo in Monaco and had lunch at an Italian cafe, of course with some crisp white wine (we’re on vacation! and wine is cheap here!). Some of the best calamari and a saffron risotto with scallops and shaved truffles — mmmm. Overall the food we found in Nice had a heavy Italian influence, and would be considered a Mediterranean coastal style of cooking.

Such delicious bread everyday for breakfast.

Gelato! Makes me nostalgic for my summer in Tuscany.

Crispy calamari and saffron risotto with scallops and shaved truffles.

Our first night in Nice, dinner was Spanish Tapas at 11 pm; so for our second night we sought out a more traditional French restaurant and ended up at Le Petit Cafe. There I think we had the best meal of our trip! We started with house made foie gras and the best carmelized onions I have ever had, all smeared on top of fresh baked baguettes. to.die.for. Seriously I think I could eat that for every meal. For our entrees, Randy ordered some steak with a truffle sauce and roasted vegetables, and I got a seafood pasta. 

Seafood pasta.

Foie gras with perfectly caramelized onions.

Steak with a truffle sauce and roasted vegetables.

In the morning, we made a final stop at the boulangerie for a baguette, and a small wheel of camembert at a local fromagerie for lunch on the train ride to meet my family in Sete. As we were making our way back to the hotel, we actually walked through the farmers market which was fantastic! Sadly it puts any San Diego farmers market to shame. So much fresh beautiful produce, and tons of fresh seafood and cheeses to choose from.

We enjoyed our picnic lunch on the train ride to Sete, while we watched the coast out the windows. Upon arrival in Sete, we feasted on a variety of raw shellfish, harvested right in the bay: oysters, clams, mussels, and even sea snails. So fresh and delicious!

From Sete we made our way up to the Languedoc wine region for a few days. There we enjoyed more delightfully airy croissants and cafe au lait, and some home-cooked goodness. I flipped through a book while we were there about the food of France, and the Languedoc region is home to mostly peasant comfort cooking – things like cassoulet, and pot au feu. We spent the better part of a day meandering around the small walled city of Pezenas.

Croissants! I can’t get enough.

Gourmet oil shops in Pezenas.

Rotisserie chickens on the street of Pezenas.

We rode our bikes through wine country, and went wine tasting. We even got to help “rack” the wine at my Uncle’s vineyard! They have approximately 5000 grape vines, a Viogner, Grenache, and Syrah, and contribute most of their wine to a local co-op that produces some regional blends. They keep one row of each grape to make their own wine – of which we drank a lot :). They also grow a lot of olive trees, and contribute the olives to an olive oil co-op. And one perfect fig tree. The first time I visited them in 2005 was actually the first time I had ever eaten a fig, and I’d been dreaming about eating straight from that tree again. It did not disappoint!

Al fresco lunch.

Languedoc wine tasting

Racking the wine.

Fresh figs! My favorite.

The vineyard

Olive trees

Viogner Grapes

The vineyard

Next up: Paris!

A Taste of Europe: Copenhagen, Denmark

Hubby and I recently returned from a two week trip to Europe to celebrate our first year of marriage. Of course, we sampled as much of the local cuisine as we could get our hands on! In general we learned that Europe doesn’t really do breakfast – instead it likes to offer coffee and croissants starting no earlier than about 10 am; most of the locals don’t snack but just have espresso, cigarettes, and a beer sometime in the afternoon; and dinners don’t start until about 9 pm and are very leisurely.

Our first stop was Copenhagen, Denmark. We ventured out on a Sunday morning, feeling like we got a late start (8:30?) and had the hardest time finding somewhere for breakfast. Eventually we stumbled across a place on the Nyhavn. Hubby ordered Danish pancakes, which were essentially crepes served with ice cream, and I got a “traditional” Danish breakfast, which consisted of an egg, bacon, assorted meats and cheeses and bread. And of course coffee. Here’s a few snaps of the rest of the food from the day:

Danish breakfast

Hiding from the rain with coffee and biscotti.

Giant beers…or so I thought at the time.

Giant beers…or so I thought at the time.

Mussels! Always a favorite. And amazing french fries and aioli.

A traditional Danish sandwich with chicken salad.

Copenhagen was also the last day of our trip, and by then we learned to sleep in, have breakfast at 11 am, lunch at 2:30 pm, and made dinner reservations for 9 pm. We treated ourselves to an anniversary four-course chef’s dinner at trendy, highly rated Oliver and the Black Circus. It did not disappoint! We opted for the wine pairings as well and enjoyed every bite. We started with rice paper chips dusted with seaweed, and served with a wasabi dipping sauce. First course was a salmon tartare with crispy carrots. Second course was the best shrimp tempura I have ever had, so light and crispy. Third course was an asian marinated steak that was actually our least favorite (still good! But just didn’t compare to the other amazing dishes). Dessert was a berry sorbet with chocolate graham cracker crumbles and fresh berries. So delicious, and at least a two hour meal.

Rice paper chips dusted with seaweed and served with a wasabi dipping sauce.

Salmon tartare with crispy carrots and watercress.

The BEST shrimp tempura over crispy rice noodles.

Asian marinaded steak, carrot puree, and braised cabbage.

Berry sorbet with fresh berries and chocolate graham cracker crumbles.

Awesome decor, including quotes written all over the ceiling.

Overall, loved it! Didn’t get a chance to try any pickled herring, which is supposedly very popular here, but hey – there’s always next time!

Next up: Southern France