The Magic at Pacific Pie NW Portland

September 1, 2014 by 6 Comments

I have been a fan of Pacific Pie for several years, ever since I discovered them at the Farmers Market where they got their start. Husband and wife team Sarah and Chris founded Pacific Pie when being the sweet loving wife that she is, Sarah tried to help Aussie Chris’ homesickness for savory pies by baking meat pies. I love their sweet pies too (my favorite is the Chocolate Bourbon Hazelnut), but Sarah’s savory goods were really what hooked me in. Also, Sarah is a better food lover than I: like me, even while eating she is already thinking ahead to the next deliciousness, but with the extra expertise of being able to actually come up with interesting combinations and make it happen. Even though this is a business, you can see and taste the love in these pies.
Sarah and Chris, the owners of Pacific Pie Portland Sarah holding one of the pie offerings of Pacific Pie Portland

Sadly, I had not had the time to visit their new NW 23rd location when it opened last year in December. It sure is a struggle to be a food blogger while simultaneously trying to slim down for my sister’s October wedding! When a Pacific Pie Food Blogger Event invitation appeared in my email box a couple weeks ago though, I knew I had to go. And look at the reward I got!
Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue Bloggers Event - Spinach Strawberry Rhubarb Salad with organic baby spinach, fresh strawberries, toasted almonds, goats cheese, and rhubarb vinaigrette, some mini pies and a piece of Grand Central Bakery baguette smeared with Marinated Goats Cheese

This new second location of Pacific Pie (their original is still open at 1520 SE 7th Ave) at 1668 NW 23rd Ave has the same great sweet and savory pies, but aims to be more of a neighborhood restaurant that you can bring the family in for a laid back delicious meal without the hustle and bustle of many of the other options on NW 23rd. The interior feels open and airy but casual, like a combination of a coffeeshop that you can hang out at, but with the benefits of being able to order many many more baked good items OR from a bar. In fact, they have a happy hour Monday-Friday 3-6 pm!
Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue

I mean, do you see these kind of offerings behind the glass case as you are ordering your latte normally? There are some regular pies and also seasonal pies that just vary from key lime, chocolate bourbon hazelnut, chocolate peanut butter, apple sour cream streusel, marionberry, peach crumb… And tarts like chocolate salted caramel tart, pecan pie bars, anzac biscuit, cowboy cookie, peanut butter cookie with a Hershey’s kiss…
Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue, some of the temptations behind the glass case Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue, some of the temptations behind the glass case Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue, some of the temptations behind the glass case

Sarah understands the dilemna of there being multiple options you want to try… so she also offers the most adorable little mini pies so you can have several of them and try more flavors without having to eat a whole pie’s worth. How adorable are these? And how perfect would they be as a tray to have at a party?

Pacific Pie Food Blogger Event - mini pies! Pacific Pie Food Blogger Event - mini pies! Pacific Pie Food Blogger Event - mini pies! Pacific Pie Food Blogger Event - mini pies! Pacific Pie Food Blogger Event - mini pies! Pacific Pie Food Blogger Event - mini pies!

But don’t think that Pacific Pie only has pies. They offer lunch and dinner during their hours on the weekdays, and on the weekends they also offer breakfast/brunch. This is only at their NW 23rd location.
Pacific Pie has brunch on their NW 23rd location Pacific Pie has brunch on their NW 23rd location

During the Pacific Pie Food blogger event I attended, I was able to try some samples of these offerings. They offer six different salads, but the two that caught my eye were the Arugula + Roasted Squash Salad that has molasses roasted butternut squash, feta, currants, candies walnuts with arugula in a Balsamic Vinaigrette and the one we got to sample, the Spinach Strawberry Rhubarb Salad with organic baby spinach, fresh strawberries, toasted almonds, goats cheese, and rhubarb vinaigrette.
Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue Bloggers Event - Spinach Strawberry Rhubarb Salad with organic baby spinach, fresh strawberries, toasted almonds, goats cheese, and rhubarb vinaigrette Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue Bloggers Event - Spinach Strawberry Rhubarb Salad with organic baby spinach, fresh strawberries, toasted almonds, goats cheese, and rhubarb vinaigrette

They also have 5 sandwiches and 7 other entrees to choose from, varying from a lamb meatball wrap and curried chicken salad sandwich to lentil & veggie’s shepherd’s pie (Yes! Vegetarian shepherd’s pie!) and chicken schnitzel. And of course, they have more than a dozen combinations of pasties, which is their founding food, varying from Steak and Cheese pastie or Beef and Stout (with Burnside Brewing stout) to Thai Green Chicken Curry or a Roast Lamb with lamb braised in a shiraz red wine sauce. 4 of their offerings are vegetarian! Yes, that is the most adorable little chicken shape on top of their chicken pot pie.
Pacific Pie, Classic Chicken Pot Pie

Among their 10 snack & starter plates include intriguing options such as Mini Sausage rolls with beer mustard, Mini pasties where you get 2 each of the spinach and feta pasties (with organic tomatoes and hint of spice), and curried samosa (these are stuffed with peas, carrots, potatoes, finger, garlic, cilantro and spices) served with cilantro yogurt sauce. Or indulge with mini chicken pot pies with Draper Valley chicken in a creamy white sauce with peas and carrots. These mini things are so endearing!
Pacific Pie Portland, Mini Sausage rolls with beer mustard

Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue Bloggers Event - Pasties! Mini spinach and feta pasties with organic tomatoes and hint of spice, and curried samosa mini pasties that have peas, carrots, potatoes, finger, garlic, cilantro and spices served with cilantro yogurt sauce. "Pacific Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue Bloggers Event - mini pies! These are mini chicken pot pies with Draper Valley chicken in a creamy white sauce with peas and carrots

Or how about Marinated Goats Cheese, creamy goat’s cheese marinated in olive oil with fresh herbs and peppercorns served with Grand Central Bakery baguette? On the non baked good / no carb side, how about a starter of Chicken Satay, a yogurt marinated chicken breast on ginger soy slaw finished with peanut sauce?
Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue Bloggers Event - Marinated Goats Cheese, creamy goat's cheese marinated in olive oil with fresh herbs and peppercorns served with Grand Central Bakery baguette Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue Bloggers Event - chicken satay, yogurt marinated chicken breast on ginger soy slaw finished with peanut sauce Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue Bloggers Event - chicken satay, yogurt marinated chicken breast on ginger soy slaw finished with peanut sauce

On both their lunch/dinner menu and also available at their breakfast/brunch is their Polenta with mushroom sauce, baked polenta with creamy organic crimini mushroom sauce. The only difference is the breakfast/brunch version comes topped with 2 eggs. This is so melt in your mouth you can see even though I sampled it at this Bloggers Event, I also ordered it when I returned for lunch a couple weekends later!
Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue Bloggers Event - Polenta with mushroom sauce, baked polenta with creamy organic crimini mushroom sauce Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue Bloggers Event - Polenta with mushroom sauce, baked polenta with creamy organic crimini mushroom sauce

Pacific Pie NW 23rd, Polenta with mushroom sauce, baked polenta with creamy organic crimini mushroom sauce Pacific Pie NW 23rd, Polenta with mushroom sauce, baked polenta with creamy organic crimini mushroom sauce

Vegetarian F was able to have a pie as well – there are many options, and it was great that he had multiple choices of different vegetarian friendly pies. He ended up selecting the Lentil and Veggie Shepherd’s Pie with french green lentils, carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, and potatoes cooked in a savory porcini mushroom vegan gravy topped with vegan mash and served with a small green salad.
Pacific Pie NW 23rd, Lentil and Veggie Shepherd's Pie with french green lentils, carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, and potatoes cooked in a savory porcini mushroom vegan gravy topped with vegan mash and served with a small green salad

I went wholely the opposite way with an un-pie option but which still reflects the Aussie story here, Chicken Schnitzel that is skillet fried, seasoned and crumbed chicken breast served with your choice of potato and with a small green salad. I upped it by adding ham and melted Tillamook Cheddar. I think this ended up being not only lunch but 2 other meals with the leftovers!
Pacific Pie NW 23rd, Chicken Schnitzel that is skillet fried, seasoned and crumbed chicken breast served with your choice of potato and with a small green salad. I upped it by adding ham and melted Tillamook Cheddar Pacific Pie NW 23rd, Chicken Schnitzel that is skillet fried, seasoned and crumbed chicken breast served with your choice of potato and with a small green salad. I upped it by adding ham and melted Tillamook Cheddar

I would also highly recommend stopping in even if you don’t want coffee or a meal just to come for dessert. Obviously, there’s the pies. But, they also have concocted pie shakes. PIE SHAKES. In case you wanted to go beyond a pie a la mode, they have pie shakes, which are their amazing pie with ice cream. Because it was my super lucky day, besides sampling all the above I was able to get a glass of my favorite pie in shake form- the Chocolate Bourbon Hazelnut Pie Shake. If you want, you can ask to spike it with bourbon or rum.. Seriously Sarah, you are not good for my waistline.

Pacific Pie, pie a la mode Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue Bloggers Event - Pie Shakes! The amazing Pacific Pie pies + ice cream make milkshake heaven. This is their chocolate bourbon hazelnut pie shake - you can even spike it with bourbon or rum! Pacific Pie NW 23rd Avenue Bloggers Event - Pie Shakes! The amazing Pacific Pie pies + ice cream make milkshake heaven. This is their chocolate bourbon hazelnut pie shake - you can even spike it with bourbon or rum!

If you can’t stay and linger for pie, you can even cheat and take some of the pies home to bake for your dinner party or to have later for dinner or lunch the next day, as it includes their sweet and savory pies and many of their pasties!
Pacific Pie NW 23rd, you can grab frozen pies to make hot at home!

Try visiting Pacific Pie NW Portland – I think you will be surprised  by this wonderful gem.

Disclosure: The Blogger Event meal was complimentary, but I returned later and had a regular lunch out of my own pocket. I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.

 

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Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class

April 22, 2013 by 2 Comments

I attended another Caprial + John cooking class last week, this one centered on Modern Pot Pies. This was held again at their Chef’s Studio 2818 S.E. Pine, and included

  • Radicchio Salad with Black Pepper Fromage Blanc Dressing with toasted hazelnuts
  • Braised Leek and Chicken Pot Pie with Crispy Potato Crust
  • Pork and Lemon Pot Pie with Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower Crust
  • Bacon and Herb Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie with Ricotta Cheese Crust
  • Buttermilk and Lime Curd Layered Panna Cotta

As usual, the class started with Cappy opening up various wines for the class- it is BYOB- so that us students could sip and swirl as they started teaching us the various courses that we would also be eating as our dinner. Recipes are already printed with our names for our places at the table so we can take notes as they cook and we drink.
Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class

My favorite of the three pies was the Bacon and Herb Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie with Ricotta Cheese crust. The roasting of the vegetables just brought out a wonderful depth of flavor that I really liked and could make even for F and I (without the bacon). The vegetables in the recipe include onion, carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, fennel but Cappy talked about how she loves to throw in swiss chard or kale too, and I love that idea.

The vegetables were already roasted when we arrived as that takes more time, so mainly John and Cappy talked about creating the ricotta crust on top- and I totally agree that the topping alone just thrown with pasta would be delicious. Putting pieces of the recipe on pasta was mentioned a few times- perhaps because they happened during the class to be on day 5 of a no carbs no alcohol diet in preparing to rest their stomach and livers for an upcoming trip to France.

She also made her own ricotta for this recipe using milk, cream, and white vinegar, and talked about her obsession (which will soon become mine) with being able to recreate a baked ricotta dish (just plain pressed ricotta- not ricotta cake) and finally tracking it down in some Australian recipe.
Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class

At the same time, the pork for the Pork and Lemon Pot Pie with Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower Crust was cooking and the cauliflower steaming away in the background: they are definitely multi-taskers in the kitchen. John showed us his trick to very efficiently dice an onion which includes flattening one side and not cutting fully through when doing the first rows so everything holds together at first until you cut the rows the other way.
Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class dicing an onion Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class dicing an onion Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class dicing an onion Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class dicing an onion

As John sauteed the pork and onions and added potatoes, Cappy talked to us about the panna cotta part of the Buttermilk and Lime Curd Layered Panna Cotta, specifically the combining of cream, sugar, gelatin, and buttermilk so that it would then have time to chill as we returned out attention back to the pies.
Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class

Back with the Pork and Lemon Pot Pie with Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower crust recipe workstream, John zested and squeezed lemons and prepared the mashed cauliflower crust with all its cheesyiness thanks to parmesan and goat cheese. We agreed we could enjoy that mashed cauliflower just as too.
Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class

We finished the Bacon and Herb Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie with Ricotta Cheese Crust assembly and put it in the oven.
Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Bacon and Herb Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie with Ricotta Cheese Crust Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Bacon and Herb Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie with Ricotta Cheese Crust Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Bacon and Herb Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie with Ricotta Cheese Crust Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Bacon and Herb Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie with Ricotta Cheese Crust

Meanwhile, the pork was ready to be placed in the pan and topped with the cauliflower mixture, and also put in the oven.
Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class

At this point the Bacon and Vegetable Pot Pie with Ricotta Crust was almost ready, so Cappy quickly talked through the importance of soaking the radicchio while John prepared the dressing and talked through how to attempt to fix the dressing if it breaks. And then it was time to eat the salad and that first pie!
Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Bacon and Herb Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie with Ricotta Cheese Crust Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Bacon and Herb Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie with Ricotta Cheese Crust Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Bacon and Herb Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie with Ricotta Cheese Crust Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Bacon and Herb Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie with Ricotta Cheese Crust Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class

The Pork and Lemon Pot Pie with Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower Crust didn’t seem as seasoned as it should be. In order to make it for a meal for vegetarian F, I will probably take their other suggestion which is to just make the cheesy mashed cauliflower and fry those into cauliflower cakes!
Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Pork and Lemon Pot Pie with Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower Crust Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Pork and Lemon Pot Pie with Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower Crust

While we were eating the pork and lemon pot pie with mashed cauliflower, John showed us how to create the mushroom leek mustard and garlic white wine (well, they actually used vermouth) cream sauce for the Braised Leek and Chicken Pot Pie with Crispy Potato crust. I don’t have a mandoline, so although I like the idea I’m not sure when I’ll execute this recipe.
Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Braised Leek and Chicken Pot Pie with Crispy Potato crust Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Braised Leek and Chicken Pot Pie with Crispy Potato crust Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Braised Leek and Chicken Pot Pie with Crispy Potato crust Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Braised Leek and Chicken Pot Pie with Crispy Potato crust

Everyone was close to drinking up every last drop of that Buttermilk and Lime Curd Layered Panna Cotta. Because it was not chilled overnight it was softer than a usual panna cotta, but all the flavors were there, and everyone liked how it wasn’t too sweet (thanks to the buttermilk) and was so light and refreshing. It’s a super simple dessert to make, although since F can’t have gelatin I wonder how agar will substitute in…
Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Buttermilk and Lime Curd Layered Panna Cotta  Caprial + John: Modern Pot Pie cooking class Buttermilk and Lime Curd Layered Panna Cotta

I always enjoy their classes and the little stories they tell and tricks and tips they offer that are outside what you would find in a recipe. They have classes once a week- check out their website to see the menus of their upcoming classes (they always create their own menu for the class), or see if you are interested in attending one of their monthly supper clubs!

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