I am so excited about my new reusable bag from Uwajimaya that I am dedicating this whole post to show you how awesome and adorable these are!
Spaghetti Carbonara
June 28, 2013 by 4 Comments
Since I grew up in a family that didn’t like cheese, it wasn’t until I went to college that I discovered how awesome just plain pasta with butter and Parmesan cheese is. It is my go to meal in an emergency when I need to fill my tummy quickly. By emergency, you can surmise I usually mean when my mental and physical state is more poor than usual, my tummy feels upset, often after some consumption of lots of liquids with some sort of alcohol component. Perhaps you can surmise that anyway.
I also learned in college from others that sprinkling cheese from a salad bar on top of hot rice is more than workable too (what!!?? People put rice and cheese together!??), and this made me even lazier than my previous ways which used to be fried rice or plain jasmine rice with Maggi Seasoning Sauce. I use a rice cooker, and so the upside of that is that instead of having to watch a pot of water boil (which inevitably will boil over, alerting me that it is now time to put in the pasta), I can just really stick the rice and water in and walk away until I hear the click from the rice cooker that it’s done.
But college days and those early 20s are over. Ok, so I still eat those things (in particular, fried rice is a great way to use old rice from takeout or dining out). And sometimes out of laziness hot rice with a sprinkle of cheese is easier and faster in a pinch than making mac and cheese, although it probably will make most Asians shudder.
Sometimes, I try to get a bit gourmet. By that, I mean I think making spaghetti carbonara is a nicely refined backup when I am making a meal alone but am not so desperate for comfort in my stomach/dizzy that I can’t crack an egg and crumble some crispy bacon, all serving 1. The fact that I throw in a vegetable (even if they start from frozen peas) also makes me feel like “hey, I’m an adult. There’s a vegetable in there. It’s more sophisticated, see.”
Extra Note: Whenever I buy bacon, I will use a few strips fresh (or whatever my recipe calls for) and freeze the rest. My tip for freezing bacon is that I always freeze each piece individually in the saran wrap by folding them accordion style, just like you do when you make those creases for paper fans. That way, when I only need a couple pieces, I don’t have to break them off a huge slab of frozen bacon. I also always save the bacon juice- though in this case you will be using it right away as part of the recipe.
What’s your favorite comfort / sober up food?
Ingredients (serves 1):
- 1/2 box of spaghetti
- 1 teaspoon of olive oil
- 2 slices of bacon
- 1/2 cup of chopped onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
- 1 cup of cooked peas (I steamed mine in the microwave)
- Fresh ground pepper to taste
Directions:
- Bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook spaghetti pasta until al dente. Drain well. Toss with 1 teaspoon of olive oil.
- While the water is boiling, cook chopped bacon until crisp on a skillet. Remove the bacon and drain onto paper towels. Save the bacon fat in that skillet!
- While the water is boiling, I also beat the egg. Add the cheese and nutmeg, and beat it again. Set aside for later.
- Reuse that skillet to now cook the chopped onion until it is caramelized and translucent. Add minced garlic, and cook few minutes more. If you want, you can throw in other ingredients to your taste, such as peas, mushrooms, cream or splash of white wine… but will you be tempted to keep that wine out to eat with your pasta is a potential problem / opportunity :X
- Now to that pan, add the drained spaghetti. Toss to coat and heat through. Remove the skillet from heat and add beaten eggs and toss quickly all throughout the pasta until the eggs are barely set. Finally, crumble the bacon in, add the cooked peas, and toss again. Add some ground pepper to taste.
Portland Monthly’s Country Brunch 2013
June 25, 2013 by 8 Comments
Last Saturday, Portland Monthly‘s Country Brunch event was back! Six Portland chefs prepared bites of their favorite brunch fare while seven bartenders duked it out for “Best Bloody Mary” in the second-annual Bloody Mary Smackdown presented by Absolut. When entering, you receive a punchcard to sample each of these (shown in the order I sampled everything ,which was quite a feat but I felt compelled to gave a thorough report for you)…
Bloody Mary Smackdown presented by Absolut:
- Samayyah Sharif of Pine State Biscuits presented a housemade bloody Mary dressed with Texas Pete hot sauce and Pine State’s proprietary okra pickles that were pickled for… a long time. I wish I remember, but I remember being really struck by how long of a time it was. And then I drank all the other bloodys and don’t remember. Sorry 🙁
- Olympic Provisions provided by Jess Hereth an Olympic Mary with House Mary mix, vodka, and a pickles and of course their excellent salami as part of the garnish. It was hard to resist just picking up an extra skewer.
- Circa 33 and adorable Spencer Conger delivered an OMG Bloody Mary with their “The Experiment #3” with a Pan-Asian style Bloody Mary that included lemongrass, togarashi spice, fish sauce, freshly grated wasabi, tami, galanga root, and a little chili and a dried shrimp. Seriously, OMG. This was my personal favorite of the bloody marys I had. The seat I was able to grab so I can drink, eat, and take these photos was near his station so I watched his nimble fingers preparing these delectable drinks during my brunch.
- Genies Cafe Horseradish Bloody courtesy of Nadia Mihalik included their house infused horseradish vodka and Genies bloody mary mix garnished with an olive, pepperoncini and celery, and a jalapeno infused salt rim
- Florida Room (Church of the Bloody Mary) by Patty Earley concocted the Holy Ghost with Clear Mary mix that was filtered and garnished with honeydew or cantaloupe for a citrusy take on a Bloody Mary
- Le Bistro Montage Steve Dodge created the Bloody Miles with house-infused andouille sausage, Absolut vodka, horseradish, celery salt, lime, Worchestershrie, Tabasco, other spices and garnished with Spam gave me a smoky drink that set my mouth on fire in a very pleasant way. At this point, I had to make my way to the Whole Foods garnish station for some shrimp and mozz balls so I could taste what was coming next… I could see why this won Judge’s Choice.
- Irving Street Kitchen (Defending Champion) Michael “Fresh Mike Miller and Pete Koptiu” won People’s Choice with their Irving Street Bloody Mary
Featuring for country brunch food:
- Kevin Atchley, Walt Alexander and Brian Snyder of Pine State Biscuits, whose sample was Ayers Creek cornmeal crusted Carolina catfish mini biscuits with vinegar slaw and sweet pickle remoulade.
- Kate McMillen of Lauretta Jean’s showcased their bounty of baked goods all over their station, and it was hard to resist picking up an extra biscuit. But, they gave a pretty generous brunch sample that was a whole balanced plate. This included Buttermilk biscuits with country sausage gravy, seasonal dressed greens, and mini-tart-cherry pies in an all butter crust.
- Chef Dee of Genies Cafe were making their Classic Bene, with housemade Canadian bacon topped with a cage free poached egg and famous homemade hollandaise sauce on an English muffin
- Gregory Gourdet of Departure served up his Crunchy Fried Chicken with corn and coconut milk biscuit with papaya slaw and chili glaze, and a bonus of Blueberry + Asian Pear Crisp with candied ginger I was feeling a bit too light headed from the Bloody Marys I had enjoyed to squee, but it definitely crossed my mind but thankfully my physical body was too slow. Instead, I returned and savored the extreme crunch and pops of bright flavors of this fried chicken biscuit. I picked this at the same time I had the Circa 33 Experiment #3 Bloody Mary and was in heaven.
- Patrick Fleming of Boke Bowl brought my personal choice for favorite bite, Boke Eggs & Bacon with fried quail egg with pork in black bean sauce over rice tots.
- Scott Dolich of Bent Brick provided the end to my brunch with Corned Beef Hash Sausage with duck fat potatoes and fried egg sauce, and helped us cool our palates with some Aquavit slushies
Guests could add additional garnishes to their Bloody Mary thanks to Whole Foods, who provided a station with inspiring natural ingredients for skewers, while another station had sweet bites next to a Blue Moon beer station for those who wanted a beer pairing instead of a Bloody Mary. Finally, everyone could finish off their meal of brunch and bloodies with a special Zenger Farm – inspired herbal ice cream by Ruby Jewel (I was seriously too stuffed to even partake, but it looked awesome) as well as enjoy alternate refreshing beverages from Blue Moon beer, Stumptown Coffee, or Joia natural sodas that included one that was Pineapple, Coconut & Nutmeg, and another of Lime, Hibiscus, and Clove, and in the background wonderful country twang entertainment by Caleb Klauder Country Band
100% of net proceeds will benefit Zenger Farm‘s new Urban Grange, an 8,960-square-foot facility on the farm for classes, business incubation, and events for its ongoing efforts to connect Portland communities to fresh-grown food. Zenger Farm is a working urban farm that models, promotes and educates sustainable food systems, environmental stewardship, community development and access to good food for all. There is an article about Zenger Farm’s commitment to community and connecting people to the food ecosystem from the ground up (literally) at the farm level here from Portland Monthly.
Portland Monthly Magazine always puts together amazing events, bringing exceptional food and drinks and setting up a gorgeous atmosphere in terms of decorations and entertainment. Every event I’ve attended has been fantastic and positive. They had many of their magazines splayed out on the table (I already subscribe) and is definitely worth getting the print edition so you can thumb through their beautiful photos. I also love their Eat Beat, and you can rely on them to help point you towards the best in Portland. I mean, just look at my experience from this- such an embarrassment of riches, they are so cool. You can see more photos at their slideshow of the party pics.
Portland Dining Month: Quartet
June 23, 2013 by 7 Comments
I was pleased to see Quartet on the list for Portland Dining Month, as it is a restaurant that is relatively new on the Portland dining scene as it just opened in February. It is located on the South Waterfront, with views of the Willamette River and depending on where you are sitting, several famous Portland bridge (most recognizably Hawthorne Bridge- this post from Portland Travel Tips highlights Portland bridges) or even Mount Hood. The dining room is spectacular, something that fits right in with the fine dining restaurant in one of the big cities like Chicago, New York- specifically this space reminded me a lot of Spiaggia.
The scale of the ceiling to where you are seated in plush chairs is impressive, and one wall of the restaurant is essentially all glass to showcase the waterfront and city viewing. A small moat/river and waterfall runs through dividing the bar area from the dining area. Where we were seated, we were right next to a baby grand piano that you can tell is used to provide live music, though not on the evening we dined. You can tell this is a multi-million dollar space.
The service was smooth and very professional, which stands out in a city where mostly the waitstaff takes a more casual approach to serving its guests, as befits a more casual dining culture. Quartet aims for a more formal dining experience that is refined and takes advantage of the palatial atmosphere. That is one of the reasons I haven’t visited- it really felt like a special occasion type of place, one where we would be completely comfortable dressing up- and most people we saw were dressed more fashionably than I normally see. Despite asking about it a few times this month, F had sprung the 5:45pm invitation/reservation on me after I had already left for work, and I wished I had known beforehand so I could have dressed up a bit, such as worn a summer dress. Although we were not treated differently, both of us felt under-dressed , particularly me trying to hide the fact I was wearing my Nikes for all my walking and jeans under the tablecloth. Meanwhile, F noted on his Foursquare checkin “Way too nice looking in here for the likes of me.”
I started with a spicy drink, the cocktail called “The Strand” with Serrano infused Tequila Avion, fresh grapefruit
First Course
Q Salad – blended greens, jicama, Cajun pumpkin seeds, lemon-honey-Dijon dressing. It looked nice, but did not seem anything special to me- it could have been from anywhere, and certainly would not have been what I guessed was from a high end restaurant. I could barely detect any dressing at all had been added. I felt mixed. I wanted it to work so much because of the ambiance, yet felt a bit let down, and wasn’t sure whether it was because it was bad day in the kitchen and someone just didn’t dress my salad.
This was then followed by a lemon sorbet palate cleanser, whose tartness was really refreshing. This brought me back into the fine dining mindset that had been established with that roll and flavored butter, ahh.
Second Course
4 options here, including the vegetarian Butternut squash and Gorgonzola raviolis – hazelnut asparagus, arugula, tomato confit, Pecorino Tartufo, Vincotto, and my choice which was the Flank steak with braised baby bok choy, whipped Yukon Potato mash.
- Butternut squash and Gorgonzola raviolis with hazelnut asparagus, arugula, tomato confit, Pecorino Tartufo, Vincotto
- Flank steak with braised baby bok choy, whipped Yukon Potato mash
- Pan-roasted chicken breast with fried Brussels sprouts, goat cheese-chive grits, cranberries, toast hazelnuts, maple-vinegar sauce
- Jade halibut – fried vegetable sushi du jour, yuzu ponzu, ginger-scallion slaw
Both our dishes were beautifully presented, and tasted as fine as they looked.
Not everything was well though- the miss was definitely an extra side dish I ordered, the Yukon Gold potatoes au gratin with gorgonzola which were a creamy mess. The au gratin that had created the craving for me to order it again, from Urban Fondue, was half the price and 3 times better.
Third Course
Key lime pie with fresh berries was decent but nothing that was particularly memorable for me, not sure whether my previous experience with Florida key lime pies has spoiled me so tart I am salivating as I eat them (sounds weird, but it just means it’s soooo good).
You still have one more week to enjoy Portland Dining Month, so snap up this chance to dine at Quartet- usually the entree prices alone are regularly the price of what Portland Dining Month’s 3 courses for $29 nets you. Come get your fancy fine dining at a unique for Portland high end romantic atmosphere, all at an affordable price while it lasts. Make your Portland Dining Month reservations via OpenTable so that Downtown Portland will also make a donation to the Oregon Food Bank if you go this month! Remember, Portland Dining Month only lasts until the end of June!
Check out my other Portland Dining Month escapades: I ate at Quartet, Accanto, Urban Fondue, Fratelli, H50 out of my initial list!
Kettle Brand Pro vs Joes Cook-Off Happy Hour, presented by Snooth
June 21, 2013 by 4 Comments
Disclosure: This was a complimentary event I attended that was hosted by Kettle Chips and Snooth, but they did not require that I write this review nor did they request it. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own, and I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences regardless of whether they were complimentary or not.
Recently I was invited and attended an event with many other Portland bloggers as well as other guests of Snooth, to the Kettle Brand Pro vs Joes Cook-Off Happy Hour! at the Loft on Belmont space of Vibrant Table Catering & Events. At this Happy Hour event, Snooth and Kettle Brand Potato Chips were showcasing the 8 finalist recipes from their Kettle Brand Pro vs Joes Cook-off Competition.
The idea between Pros vs Joes is that four of the recipes were created by professional chefs (Pros) and four created by Kettle Brand fans (Joes) finalists. After a nationwide call to duty where various Joes submitted the recipes and a social voting period, four finalist recipes made it to the top and they were flown to Los Angeles where they prepared their creation for an audience. In addition, 2 more events to sample and compare the Pros and Joes were held, This was the west coast edition, as earlier in the week they had held this same event in New York / east coast edition. In this event though, a professional kitchen was preparing it, and added to the lineup of 8 was a bonus recipe using the Kettle chip from the local professional kitchen.
While a few of my fellow Portland bloggers were judging, I was also able to taste these top hors d’oeuvres and enjoy complimentary open bar where Snooth offered a chance to try the suggested wine or beer they had paired with the item. For the white, Snooth had selected for the white wine the Trinity Oaks Pinot Grigio, and for the red Canyon Road Pinot Noir, both California wines. In addition, beer options included local brews Widmer Hefeweizen, Bridgeport Kingpin Double Red Ale, Widmer Drop Top Amber Ale, and Guinness Extra Stout. I only drank the wines, but enjoyed both of them (what, I had to try both based on the Snooth suggested pairings. You know this is work).
The first taste to come out was a Joe recipe of Kettle Brand cheddar beer crusted smoked pork loin, which utilized the Kettle Cheddar Beer chip infused as part of the dry rub and mustard pre-cooking before smoking. This was very flavorful with the porky smokey taste with the bit of tang but also hint of savory cheese, though we wished the potato chip itself was a bit more pronounced and noticeable such as by being added as a bit of crunchy crust. Check out the recipe here.
Of course, it then turns out the very next dish served up that very idea, where a Joe recipe gave us Kettle Brand Jalapeno Jack chip contributed to a Potato Chip Crusted Quiche by serving as the potato chip crust. This is where it should be mentioned again that the recipe submitters were not preparing this for us, but the culinary kitchen here was doing their best to follow/interpret the recipe. We learned that for instance apparently in New York, they had made individual mini-quiches, while here you can see we are given sliced small pieces, and apparently more bacon than our east coast counterparts! In this case, a potato chip crust seems to imply some crispiness, but in what we had it felt heavy and the Jalapeno Jack flavors seemed to get lost. Check out the recipe here.
The third tasting was our first Pro recipe, Kettle Brand Sea Salt and Vinegar chip recipe with Squash and Zucchini Terrine with Baked Ricotta Cheese, so here is another example of an interpretation by a kitchen because depending on the size of the chip and the size of the terrine (the recipe calls for a 1×1 inch square) the bold flavors of the salt and vinegar of the chip could overwhelm the terrine. The suggested pairing from Snooth was a Suavignon Blanc wine or Pilsner beer.
Another Pro recipe came out, this was the Kettle Brand Fully Loaded Baked Potato chips further “loaded” with Candied Bacon, Sour Cream, Chive, Eggplant and Sharp Cheese. This got rave reviews by some who liked the emphasis of loaded flavor, while others wondered the creativity of layering the same flavors of the chip on the chip. The Snooth suggested pairing here was a Pinot Noir or Ale beer.
Next was a freebie that was not part of the competition, a Kettle Brand Jalapeno Chip with Guacamole and Roasted Corn Custard. Many people loved the bright clean cool flavors and creamy textures here that melded well to counterbalance and complement with the slight kick of the crispy (of COURSE) chip.
We were back to a Joe with this which I probably had about 4 of these, the Kettle Brand Crispy Ranch Eggplant Dippers featuring Zesty Ranch potato chips as part of the breadcrumb mixture, which definitely did pay off in a lot of really great crunch. Check out the recipe here. One person at my table noted that although the recipe calls for frying the eggplant in one inch of oil in a skillet, we could imagine also baking this successfully, and it was a pretty straightforward recipe. The Eggplant Dippers are the ones I will most likely try to make myself.
Another Pro recipe: Kettle Brand Buffalo Bleu chips showcased in Tabasco Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Kettle Brand Buffalo Bleu chip crust, Creamy Coleslaw Black Pepper and Red Onion. This was a little difficult to eat balancing that chicken on the chip to your mouth, but very tasty, and adding the buffalo bleu chips and panko together added great flavor to the chicken. The Snooth suggested pairing here was a Pinot Noir or Ale beer.
The next one didn’t take much to guess it was a Pro recipe: Tom yum marinated shrimp grilled with white miso and coriander aioli and lemon balm, utilizing Spicy Thai chips. I could totally imagine ordering multiple of these at a restaurant happy hour, the flavors really were zingy.
And finally, the last taste of the 8 was the Joe recipe for Kettle Brand Spicy-Mochico Chicken with Red Chili chips. This one seemed to suffer from an execution in that the chicken was a bit dry, and a bit greasy, perhaps left in the deep fryer too long? The recipe card was pretty intimidating, and it starts with 12 thawed boneless skinless chicken thighs! Check out the recipe here. The suggested pairing from Snooth was a Suavignon Blanc wine or Pilsner beer, or a Margarita Cocktail!
You can check out other submitted recipes here, at the official Snooth and Kettle Chip Pro vs Joes Cook-Off Website. The website shows recipes for other flavors of Kettle Chips, including recipes for even MORE of the Kettle Chip flavors. You didn’t notice any use of say, Barbecue flavor, or New York Cheddar, or the new Maple Bacon flavor up there after all..
Thank you to Snooth and Kettle Chip for putting together this event, and now I remember how addictive those Kettle Chips are… I had to hide the chip bag from the table display/recipe table in order to control myself and F from eating a whole bag immediately. And now that I looked at their site and saw all these other chip flavors, I think I’m in snack trouble!
Also, it was wonderful to see other fellow Portland bloggers, such as A Well Crafted Party, The Spicy Bee, A Tiny Rocket, Will Run for Pasta, and nice again to see Talk. Eat. Drink. Portland. and Salt. Water. Coffee. and I was able to meet the voice behind a new blog to follow, What’s for Dinner, Mama? She was asked to help judge, so check out her blog entry Winning All The Chips for her perspective of the event and tastings!
Disclosure: This was a complimentary event I attended that was hosted by Kettle Chips and Snooth, but they did not require that I write this review nor did they request it. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own, and I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences regardless of whether they were complimentary or not.
