Eating like an Ox in Portland

Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday, behind my birthday month, of course! It's an eating holiday where your biggest worry is will there be enough gravy (I like my potatoes and turkey swimming). What better time to talk about a recent eating extravaganza I had in Portland?

Nancy went to Portland for work for a couple of weeks last month. I decided to go down for a few days while she was down there to visit with Linda. OK, Linda lured me with the promise of letting me gather black walnuts at her dad's place but it was the perfect time to go, I hadn't been to Portland since March of last year. I love Portland and I love Linda, that was way too long between visits!

Since Nancy and I had recently had our birthdays (well relatively recently), Linda took us out for a birthday dinner. Did I mention the fact that I loved Linda? She chose to take us to Ox, an Argentinian inspired restaurant and it also happened to be Oregonian's Restaurant of the Year for 2013. Linda has excellent taste (in food as well as friends)!

They stagger the seating for their diners and don't accept reservations. It's a small restaurant but they handle it well. There's a bar next door and seating outside where people wait to get seated. The waiters were so cute that both Nancy and I thought the same thing, are we in Greece? Along with our drinks we also ordered some truffled pistachios. Many of you know I love pistachios but what I love even more is anything truffled. I'm not talking chocolate truffles. I'm talking the wonderfully umami mushroom truffle. I wish I had the super sniffer of the trained dogs or pigs so I could go on my own truffle hunt but until then, I will have to console myself with anything truffled. The truffled pistachios didn't disappoint. Just as we were digging in, our table was ready. 

We had a great seat, right in front of the counter where we could watch the chefs at work, not that I did much of that, too busy looking at the food on my table. 

They served a complimentary amuse-bouche which always makes me happy. This one was a creamed cauliflower soup and it was divine. I wanted to lick the tiny little tea cup it came in. 

One of my favorite things about Argentinian food is chimichurri. It's as common in Argentina as ketchup is. I love this stuff! I was first introduced to it when I lived in Los Angeles, there was this great Argentinian restaurant, Lalas, within walking distance to the last apartment I lived in (I moved a lot). I never knew what it was called until I told Linda about it and she not only told me what it was called but made some for me. Not only is it fabulous as a dip for your bread, it's amazing on top of steak. It's loaded with cilantro, parsley and garlic. How can you go wrong? My dear friend, Analisa, lives in Argentina. She knows of my love for chimichurri and has tried multiple times to mail me some. It never makes it to me. I had to beg her to not try anymore. I hate the waste of money. Luckily there are places like Ox where I can get my fix. The hard part is not getting full dipping my bread into this ambrosia. 

Looking at this picture would you guess that this was clam chowder? The presentation had us oohing and aahing, the taste had us drooling. This is one of their signature dishes, a fresh clam chowder with a smoked bone marrow. Is your mouth watering? Mine was and is. The bone marrow added a depth of flavor that truffles do when added to anything. This soup was complex and delicious. Nancy only planned on eating a bite or two and she couldn't resist eating more. One of the best clam chowders I've ever had (and I love me some clam chowder). 

As much as I loved the clam chowder I have to say I loved the sauteed mushroom and spinach side almost as much. Why was it so good? See those delicious brown bits on top? That would be foie gras! I had forgotten that there was foie gras in this dish when they delivered it and then I took a bite and did a squeal of happiness. I really did. They didn't skimp on the foie gras either. Color me happy!

Nancy and I split the grill special for two, it came with grilled short ribs, house chorizo, morcilla sausage, skirt steak, sweat breads, fried potatoes and green salad. Sorry I don't have a better pic of the meats. I am always a fan of the short rib, I love my meats fatty. It was nice and chewy and flavorful. Really enjoyed the chorizo. Turns out morcilla sausage is blood sausage. It wasn't bad. I only had a bite, wanted to try it but so much other stuff that I wanted to eat that was better. The skirt steak was my fave. I'd only had sweat breads once before. I really enjoyed them here. The grill added a smokiness to this. It looked like a smoked cauliflower but with a meaty taste. I didn't eat much of the potatoes or salad but they were good. 

Linda ordered a filet mignon. It was a special so it's not always on the menu. She got the last one of the night. It's not my favorite cut of meat but hers was incredibly tender. Her greens went perfectly with her steak. 

Dessert was a warm hazelnut brown butter torte, honey chamomile ice cream and  honeycomb candy. I only ate a bite of it but Nancy says it was delicious and it was our waiter's favorite dessert. I really enjoyed the honeycomb candy tho. I loved the chewiness of it. 

What a fantastic eating experience. Portland has some amazing restaurants and this one didn't let me down. I would go back in a heart beat. The service was phenomenal and the food top notch. Just writing about this eating experience makes my mouth salivate and it's been over a month. 

Linda has her finger on the pulse of where to go in Portland. One of the reasons I love to go there. When I try to figure out where to eat in Seattle, I never know where to go although I did have an amazing meal at Anchovies and Olives in Seattle. I'll have to see if I can find the pics I took. I might blog on it. 

While in Portland Linda also took us to Sunshine Tavern which is run by chef Jenn Louis who was on the most recent edition of Top Chef Masters. She was even working while we were there so that was fun to see since I'm such a fan of the Top Chef series. Jenn Louis went home for her banh mi, which if you don't know, if a Vietnamese sub. It was on her menu. There was no way I was going to order that. To be fair, she had the wrong bread on TC but if you're eating at a Vietnamese restaurant or deli a banh mi runs about $2.50. The most you will pay is $5. If it costs more then that, it's more American then Vietnamese and I won't order it when I can get a banh mi that I love for much less. 

I don't normally like to order my fries with anything on them. They get too soggy too quick but the girls wanted to try this and hey, there were 3 of us, so it would be eaten before it had a chance to get soggy. The french fries were covered in gravy and cheese but the gravy was more of a pork gravy. Yes, pork gravy. Yes, it was as good as it sounds. 

The oysters were lightly battered then fried. I really enjoyed them. Light and airy and not too big. Not as good as the ones I had at Brennan's in New Orleans but that's understandable. 

Linda ordered a sandwich that was thinly sliced ham served with butter, fennel and radish. It was actually very refreshing. Like having a salad on top of your sandwich. Since we had already ordered fries, the waiter brought Linda a spinach salad to replace her fries. How awesome was that?

Nancy's pizza was plum and pork belly with creme fraiche and almonds. She's more experimental with her pizza choices then I am but her choices are always fun. This pizza was actually really good. It reminded me of a bbq chicken pizza that California Pizza Kitchen has but with pork, which is oodles better then chicken in my opinion. 

Unless that chicken is fried. I'm a sucker for fried chicken. The first time I heard of fried chicken and waffles was in Los Angeles with Roscoes Chicken and Waffles. I never tried their waffles but their chicken was great. Then I moved to Atlanta and they had Gladys Knight's chicken and waffles. Her chicken is divine and someone else ordered the waffles and they were awesome too. If you do go there, it's well worth it to order the wings. You wait a little longer but so good!

Anyway, having been around chicken and waffles for awhile, it's not unusual to see the combo on a menu. If I could have, I would have just ordered the fried chicken but it wasn't a chicken restaurant so I had to either order this or a chicken sandwich. I went with the waffle instead. It's a yeasted semolina waffle with ham and clover honey. I love honey with chicken. Thanks to KFC! This chicken was served boneless so that made me a little leery. I want my chicken bone in, that's where all the flavor is but they get raves for this dish so I tried and and I have to say, it was juicy, tender and delicious! I am a fan! The waffle did nothing for me but Linda made up for it by making me her soda waffles the next day (crispy on the outside, light and airy on the inside, my favorite!). 

I can't wait for my next trip to Portland. Why did I wait so long? 

Avocados: A Love Affair

I've been mentally working on a different blog post but today while I was making guacamole I decided to do a post on one of my favorite food groups, the lovely, creamy, delicious, avocado. If you check out my pinterest page a good portion of the recipes I've pinned involve avocados. 

A salad isn't complete unless it has some avocados in it. I consider lettuce to be a filler in salads so I don't always use it. Nancy is thrilled whenever I make lettuce-less salads. An easy one is avocado, cucumber and red onion with whatever dressing you like. I usually use a blue cheese with this one. Today I mashed avocado with 2 boiled eggs and some salt. Got that idea from one of my pinterest pins. I loved the concept of using avocado instead of mayo for an egg salad. As you can imagine, it was AWESOME!

My favorite way to eat avocados is guacamole! I remember the first time I came across this green lumpy mass, it was in middle school Spanish class. I said a firm no thank you to it. I can't remember the first time I had guacamole but I can say, I can't imagine my life without this delicious food! It's not just for Mexican food. It's great on top of burgers, in sandwiches (instead of mayo) and eaten with Tim's Cascade Jalapeno chips (mmmm, so good!). Of course, it's also fantastic with tortilla chips but that's a given. 

A couple of years ago I made a Mexican dinner for a friend and her parents and her parents had never had guacamole! They loved it and I loved turning them on to it. If you've had guacamole that was bought at the store or made table side for you at a restaurant, it just doesn't compare to home made. The store made one is usually bland or very citrusy (in order to preserve the color). As for the table side made ones, guacamole takes time to develop their flavors so having it made and served immediately is just not as good as if it was made an hour earlier. 

I have a super simple recipe and one that is almost as simple. 

The super simple recipe is 2 large avocados and guacamole mix. Cut your avocados in half, scoop it out and mix with the mix. A fork works best to mash and mix. This is my favorite brand. It can be found in the produce section. Usually stores only carry one brand, I could never find this one in Publix when I lived in FL so I would stock up whenever I went home. Make sure you get the spicy kind. If you get mild, all you will have is mashed avocados. This in itself is quite delicious. 

But when I'm feeling more motivated I will jazz up my gauc. Add the mix, diced red onion, chopped cilantro and if you really want to get fancy, a couple of chopped chipotle peppers (you can find them in a little can in adobo sauce in the Mexican food section), seed and rinse off the peppers before you use. It adds a divine smokey taste to your guac. That secret ingredient is courtesy of Linda T. Sometimes I'll even add tomatoes. Whatever I'm feeling at the time. This is a pretty forgiving recipe. The authentic way of making this doesn't include the seasoning packet but quite honestly, it adds so much to the guac. If you don't want to use the packet use some salt, pepper, jalapeno and lime juice. 

Since I was making my delayed Cinco de Mayo dinner I also made Sharon's Sensational Salsa but I cheated and didn't use Rotel, nowhere near as good so I gave it away to Edgar who liked it. He doesn't know better. BTW, for those who are having trouble finding the Cilantro Lime Rotel, I found it at Winco. 

I also made my version of pico de gallo but since I wasn't putting it in something, it was more a pico de gallo salad. So incredibly fresh tasting and another simple recipe. 

Another lettuce-less salad, Nancy was in heaven. She bought these delicious little yellow tomatoes, I think they were called sunbursts, they put the grape tomatoes that were also in there to shame. If you want to use it as a traditional pico de gallo, quarter the tomatoes (I prefer the small varieties) but I sliced them in half for this recipe. I also chopped up a half a bunch of cilantro and red onion (I normally put more red onion in but they've been really strong lately). Sprinkle some salt and pepper and squeeze two limes into it. I made this salad earlier in the day, just before serving I added, you guessed it, avocado. Everything is to your taste. I love cilantro so I always use a lot. Sometimes when I make this I'll throw in cucumbers. Another very forgiving and delicious recipe.  

Avocado Tips: A ripe avocado (Haas is the one you want to use, more flavor) is darker and if you squeeze it it will give. Don't squeeze too hard, you don't want to bruise it, just see if it gives. If I'm not using them that day I'll just buy a bunch and let them ripen on my counter. If you're not ready to use when it's ripe, throw it in the fridge. 

Instead of peeling the avocado, cut it in half. Slice or cube it inside it's skin and use a spoon to scoop it out. If you're making guac just scoop it all out. I went to a restaurant where they would just cut in half and squeeze out the insides. I tried it but I would always have to scoop it out afterwards so stick to the spoon. 

To remove the pit they say use a sharp knife and thrust the sharp side (not the tip) into the pit and twist out the pit. I'm always worried about cutting myself so I just use a spoon to scoop around.

Guacamole will turn brown. Lime juice will prevent it from browning but too much and you have a very limey guac. My Mexican friend used to keep the pits in her guac to prevent the browning but it only helps the area around the pit. What I do is put saran wrap right on the guac. Even if it's in a tupperware bowl, place a piece of saran wrap over the guac until it's directly on top and make sure it's closed around the edges. Then put the lid on. This prevents air from getting on the guac which in turn prevents it from browning. 

What about you? Do you have a love affair with avocados like I do? I've heard they make great shakes but as much as I love avocados I'm leery. Have you tried it? What's your favorite avocado recipe? If this was Watch What Happens Life and the word of the night was avocados, you all would be drunk right now!

Oysters, mussels and clams, oh my!

I just can't get enough of food foraging blogs. There aren't as many as I would like. I've even found myself reading the entire blogs, the less prolific ones, of course. I just love the idea of living off of the land. I'm not a hunter myself and am barely a gatherer. I fantasize about mushrooming and have decided I really want to try cattails. Turns out you can eat them like tiny corn on the cobs. I love the idea!

I thought my fascination with food foraging a relative new thing, over the last couple of years but then I was reading a blog and they mentioned the book, My Side of the Mountain. A story about a kid who ends up living inside of a hollowed up tree and he had to fend for himself. I loved that book when I read it.  I also loved The Swiss Family Robinson. Another book about a family living off of the land. These are books I read when I was in elementary school and read many times. It made me realize this is not a new interest but rather, a re-awakening. 

A few years ago I decided I wanted to go clamming. I'd never gone. My siblings went when they were younger but I was out of the house by then. Nancy's parents turned me on to a wonderful spot. So wonderful it doesn't even have a name. It's just a spot on the map. While reading up on the area I found out there was a man made oyster bed a mile away. So last time we went, we added oysters into the rotation. The bad part is you have to shuck the oysters on the beach. I prefer my oysters raw so I bring lemons with me. My dad just enjoys the experience so he shucks and then gives them away. 

MiaMas Dinner

Since Ms. Mia's birthday falls on Christmas her family celebrates by letting her pick what they're eating for dinner. This year, Mia went southern. Well, her version of southern that is. 

She also celebrates by sending me photos in the middle of the night and taunting me with things I won't be eating. At least she's nice enough to send the recipe so that we can make this dinner if we so choose. 

I've never heard of cherry ribs but it sounds great. Miamas also included Frank's Red Beans and a chocolate ganache cheesecake, Mia celebrates in style!

I don't really cook ribs, I love them but when I buy pork ribs I cut it up to use for soups. These ribs look so delicious and sounds so good that I might try and make them this week before the new year and the healthy eating really kicks in. I don't think Nancy will mind. 

Egg Nog Recipe

My brother-in-law Jeff loves egg nog, I've never been a big fan but since Jenn shared her family recipe with me I decided to make this for Christmas this year. I have to say, I am now a fan of egg nog! 

The egg nog I've had in the past had flavors in it I didn't really like, the great thing about making it myself is, I controlled what flavors went in and kept it pretty simple. 

When Nancy found out I was making this she suggested I double the batch. Turns out she's a fan of egg nog also. It was a good call on her part, it's going to go quickly. I've had 2 glasses of it already. I had to do quality control on each batch. 

Jenn suggests making the egg nog a few days before Christmas to let the rum really work its way into everything. If it tastes this good already, I can't wait to see how it tastes on Christmas day!

Home-Made Salted Caramels

I found this recipe on Pinterest, my favorite place to find new recipes. Photos definitely help inspire me. Pinterest is a wonderful tool for bloggers so don't forget to pin any photos on here of recipes that you like. :)

I wanted to make this for Thanksgiving but football was on and I still thought I had a shot of winning at that time so I had my nephew make this Thanksgiving morning with Nancy supervising while I supervised them from the couch. This recipe is so simple and easy Jordan had it memorized by the second batch.

Peppermint Meringues

I haven't made these in a couple of years since I was living in FL last year and flew in for Christmas. I love them. A light holiday candy to counter balance all of the cookies and fudge, not that those aren't wonderful, I normally don't eat a lot of either of them. These, I love. Since I changed the original recipe I couldn't remember how much peppermint extract I added, so I added too much last night but I found my original write up from my old blog so you don't have to have such strong meringues as we are eating.

Easy Irish Soda Bread or Scones

Last St Patrick's Day I happened to be in Northern CA visiting my fabulous friend Barb and she made this recipe for us (Su and Nancy were on this trip with me). We woke up to the delicious smell of bread being pulled from the oven. 

She raved about how easy the recipe was, we raved about how delicious it was. She sent a loaf home with us which I shared with my family and they raved. My brother wanted the recipe so she sent it, I don't know if my brother ever made it but I've probably made it about 20 times since then.

Angela's Awesome Enchiladas

Unlike Sharon's Sensational Salsa, I have no idea who Angela is but this is a recipe I found on Allrecipes and it lives up to it's name, Angela's Enchiladas are Awesome!

I don't know why I made this the first time. I'm not a big enchilada eater myself. I think I was looking for something I could make for my family and this was it. Everyone loved it, well, everyone but Nancy, doesn't mean she didn't eat it. She just thought it was ok, it has since grown on her. She has even made it herself a time or two. You can find the original recipe here. As always, I make changes based on my preferences.

Restaurant Review: Palace Kitchen (Seattle)

On Top Chef: Seattle a couple of weeks ago one of their guest judges was Tom Douglas. Tom is a legend here in Seattle (and was an awesome and sweet judge), yet I've never been to one of his restaurants. How in the world is that possible?

OK, I know how it's possible. When you live somewhere you just always think you'll make it there versus when you visit a city you make a point to go. Or I let Su choose whenever she visits me in whatever city I'm living in at the time. 

This past weekend I went out to celebrate a friend's birthday and I was thrilled when she picked Palace Kitchen, a Tom Douglas restaurant for her celebration! It was like her birthday present to me.

Sharon's Sensational Salsa

Sharon made her salsa for us on a girls weekend, it was so amazing I actually craved it and began cooking Mexican food just so I could make this. Once I moved back to WA I started making it for family gatherings and this summer I was making it every week for my sister, it's that good!

When a recipe calls for salsa I have to make salsa, I can't use the jarred version, it's just not good enough anymore. Not when you're used to having a salsa that's so fresh tasting it's like you're eating out of a garden. 

Cranberry Chutney

I've never been a fan of canned cranberry sauce, part of it I'm sure is because I don't eat cranberry with my turkey. It's all about the gravy for me, I may have mentioned that before. But I do love to make this awesome and easy cranberry chutney and use it as an appetizer, with some set aside for those who want to enjoy it with their turkey. 

It's not quite as popular as my cheese ball but I really enjoy the tart sweet combo and of course, it's served with cream cheese so it has to be delicious. I tried it once with brie, cream cheese is definitely better. 

I'm crazy for gravy!

If you know me, you know that gravy is a must for any Thanksgiving gathering. When I lived in Los Angeles I would join friends for Thanksgiving dinner and was traumatized by attending a dinner that didn't have gravy. They were a stuffing family, not mashed potatoes and gravy. What the what?!?! Yeah, crazy!

Now I always bring a couple of packets of gravy as a back up whenever I go to a Thanksgiving dinner. Why packet gravy? Because for all of my gravy loving I don't know how to make gravy! Sob! 

Luscious Slush Punch

For the holidays we like to make a punch for those of us who don't drink that is also pretty kid friendly. A super easy punch is a carton of rainbow sherbet ice cream dumped into a punch bowl with 7-up. It tastes delicious but you can't really drink much of it, it's pretty sweet and it doesn't quench your thirst. 

So back to allrecipes I went. I found this recipe and it had so many raves I had to try it. I made it for the first time a few years ago and it's now my go to holiday punch. I went to a party this weekend and Linda wanted a drink for her guests that wasn't alcoholic, I volunteered to bring this. It was a hit! I had no doubt:)

Leiha's Easy Peasy Cheesy Balls

Today I went to a friend's housewarming/birthday party and I volunteered to bring my famous in my own family Cheese Balls. Not only are these cheese balls better then any pre-made ones in the store, they're super simple and get better as each day progresses if by some slim chance you have leftovers. Actually, in my family, if we don't have leftovers, sometimes I will make more the next day to give out. It's that good. 

I can't remember why I decided to make a cheese ball the first time, other then the fact, I love cheese and I love balls. I found my recipe on allrecipes.com. I love this site due to the recipe reviews. Before pinterest scouring allrecipes is what I did to kill time.

A Not So Top Chef

Have you read this scathing review of Guy Fieri's new Times Square restaurant written by a New York Times food critic? He raked the restaurant over the coals but it's hilarious how he did it. 

Here are a couple of snippets: Were you struck by how very far from awesome the Awesome Pretzel Chicken Tenders are?When you hung that sign by the entrance that says, WELCOME TO FLAVOR TOWN!, were you just messing with our heads?" "Why did the toasted marshmallow taste like fish?" That is just a taste of the review.

Banana Crumb Muffins

I go thru phases with my baking. I will bake something new every day and then I won't bake for a month, wow, sounds like me and books, LOL. 

Nancy's parents dropped off some bananas for us and they were starting to turn brown. I like my bananas with a touch of green so once they get to the brown part that means one thing, Banana Crumb Muffins! It makes Nancy very happy. This is my go to recipe when I have bananas I want to use up, it's easy and it's delicious. 

Let's Talk Turkey

It's November and that means it's time to celebrate one of my favorite Holidays, Thanksgiving! A day that you don't have to worry about buying gifts, it's all about food and it's traditionally spent with people you love. No wonder it's my second favorite national holiday (my birthday being my first but that's more of an international holiday).

Even though I don't host Thanksgiving dinner, I do like to spend the month of Nov thinking about the menu and what I want to bring. There are some tried and true, like my cheese balls and cranberry chutney but I always like to research and find new dishes to bring. I'll be sharing some of my favorite recipes as soon as I can find pics of them to go with the recipe, I'll have to do some test runs if I can't find a pic.