Early Summer Bounty: Asparagus and Sugar Snap Pea Salad, Strawberries and Creme Fraiche

June 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Ingredients and Directions

  1. 1/2 a bunch of Asparagus that has been steamed and then refreshed in cold water. Cut the asparagus into pieces about 3 inches long
  2. About 2 cups of Sugar Snap Peas that has been blanched (boiled and then plunged into ice cold water)
  3. For the dressing, whisk together the following
    • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • juice of 1 lemon or to taste
    • big squeeze of honey to taste- I used agave nectar
    • a couple of grinds of sea salt
    • a couple of grinds of black pepper
  4. Pour the dressing over the cooled combined vegetables. Toss thoroughly so the dressing coats everything.

So all the prep probably only took 15 minutes… but now cover and let sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes to let the flavor get more infused and then enjoy chilled on its own, or during that 30 minute wait make your other dishes- to make this a main instead of just a salad, put it atop some quinoa. Tasty yet healthy too, great for a hot day.

Follow up with dessert of freshly washed Hood strawberries (a little more expensive then other kinds and smaller, but the flavor is more intense while being both tart and sweet) and the other accompanying farmer's market find of Jacobs Creamery creme fraiche

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Asparagus and Cheese Sandwich

June 3, 2012 by 2 Comments

At the Portland Farmers Market on Saturday, there were asparagus everywhere looking so green and crunchy as it is now in full season for it. As I was also passing by one of my favorite bread vendors Fressen and their hearty German bread, I saw they had Jogger bread. Jogger is a white bread (so softer and more delicate than the usual Vollkenbrot I use to pair with cheese and charcuterie) peppered with lots of Sea Salt, Pumpkin Seed, Flaxseed, Sesame Seed, and Sunflower Seed… soft seedy goodness.

So for a Sunday lunch, I decided to try making asparagus sandwich, and took inspiration from a few different recipes online but mainly Homesick Texan for her Parmesan coated toasted bread.

Ingredients (makes 4 sandwiches):

  • Half a bunch of asparagus. I picked out the thinnest stalks- I saved the other half for roasting with hazelnuts or making asparagus/edamame salad.
  • 8 slices of thick good bread
  • 4 teaspoons of your choice of flavored mayo
  • 2 tablespoons of melted butter (either thanks to heat from the pan or microwave)
  • 1/2 cup of grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup of shredded or 4 slices of your favorite cheese

Directions:

  • Preheat the oven to 400 F
  • Cut the stalks- I can usually look and know where the hard portion is and cut that part off, but another trick is to hold each stalk in the middle and then bend the bottom part from the bottom fo the stem until it snaps (it will snap where it begins to change from hard stringiness to what will be crunchy stalk). After you have done that with all the asparagus, steam the asparagus for a few minutes (they should be a bright green but still firm and crunchy), refresh in cold water. Cut the asparagus into pieces that can fit into your sandwich- I kept them relative long by cutting them in half, but I recommend cutting them shorter.
  • Meanwhile, spray a baking sheet. Dip or brush one side of each of your slices of bread in the melted butter- you will need this later to have the Parmesan stick to the bread instead of fall off. Lay the bread on the sheet so the unbuttered side is on the inside.
  • Spread one teaspoon of flavored mayo on one side of the sandwich, then top with the cut asparagus.
    This was an inspiration I got from a recipe on All Recipes.com for a simple roasted asparagus sandwich with red pepper, tomato, swiss cheese and lemon mayo on a hoagie. You can make your own lemon mayo thanks to that recipe to give a bit more brightness to your sandwich, but I had a extraordinary ingredient in my fridge thanks to William Sonoma: Truffle Aioli. If you want the richer version without truffle, you might consider roasted garlic aioli, such as what Stonewall Kitchen offers- actually they offer lots of wonderful aioli options, though you can also make your own for the effort and dishes involved I’m willing to buy mine.
  • Cover with your choice of cheese- I used shredded colby jack mix, about 2 tablespoons per sandwich. The Lonely Texan’s original recipe used cream cheese and mixed it with the asparagus, but I didn’t have cream cheese on hand and I am not a fan of warm cream cheese… besides, the thought of the All Recipe and the melted gooey Swiss cheese had resonated with me. It’s up to you how cheesy you want this to be inside.
  • Top the sandwich and on the buttered side that is now on top, sprinkle half the parmesan you have atop your sandwiches (the other half of the parmesan goes on your other side of the sandwich).
  • Place in the oven for about 10 minutes, then flip over put back into the oven until both sides are now golden and the parmesan crispy.
    =

Let it cool slightly, and then EAT

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Highlights of Portland Dining Month (June 2012), upcoming Zoo Brew

May 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The month of June is dining month, where multiple restaurants around Portland offer a sampler of their menu via a prix fixe 3 course meal for $25. Some of the restaurants whose offerings as listed on the Portland Dining Month website particularly stood out for me include

  • 23 Hoyt– offering a First Course of Spring greens salad with Portland Creamery chevre, Oregon hazelnuts and currants, Second Course of House-made fettuccine with braised duck ragu and pecorino Toscano, and Third Course of Strawberry shortcake with black pepper biscuit and balsamic syrup. I'm a sucker for duck.
  • Acadia Bistro– offering First Course of rhubarb salad with spiced oat granola, fromage blanc, mango, endive and arugula with a “put up” strawberry vinaigrette (sounds so delicious with that mix of flavors and healthy!), Second Course of Chicken Clemenceau (mm rich and meaty) with Brabant sweet potatoes, foraged mushrooms and English peas, and Third Course of Vanilla bean bread pudding with white chocolate-Frangelico sauce and pecans
  • Biwa– whatever homestyle Japanese dishes they are serving in the Omakase is ok with me, I've always wanted to try this restaurant
  • Clark Lewis- offering First Course of Bruschetta with fresh ricotta, arugula and shaved porcini, Second Course of Housemade Tagliatelle with SuDan Farm Lamb ragu, rosemary and pecorino toscano, and Third Course of Buttermilk panna cotta with Oregon strawberries and shortbread cookies. Yeah, I'm a sucker for lamb too.
  • Clyde Common– First Course of Late spring greens, pickled grapes, smoked almonds Second Course of Clyde Common porchetta, roasted fingerling potatoes, pickle relish Third Course of Lemon-buttermilk pudding cake, walnut-thyme crust, rhubarb preserves, cream. Did you read that… porchetta. Mmm.
  • Olympic Provisions NW– because I already love their charcuterie, having a meal there can only be just as awesome, whatever they are offering… Leave the vegetarian at home.
  • Oven and Shaker– on my wishlist since they opened yet I'm still waiting to enjoy the drinks and pizza here. Their offerings include choice of 3 salads, choice between 5 different pizzas, and a dessert of their housemade gelato and sorbetto
  • Country Cat– First Course of Salad of Snow Peas, Cast-Iron Cornbread, Goat Cheese, & Wildflower Honey, a Second Course of Two Pieces of Cast-Iron Skillet Fried Chicken with Mashed Potatoes & Gravy of Third Course Manhattan Chocolate Cake. Meow you had me at fried chicken…
  • Wildwood- any and every time I have gone, they have been delightful.

Also, if you make you reservation through OpenTable (which I love and have been using for years to see availability of restaurants and make reservations. Sometimes when travelling I will use this on my phone to find restaurants nearby and make a reservation right there in the car- pulled over or before I start driving of course), OpenTable will also make a donation to the Oregon Food Bank as long as you use this link.

Anyone up for dinner this month?

Also to mark the beginning of June is the upcoming Zoo Brew this coming Friday June 1. It is an event where the zoo is open from 5-10pm exclusively for adults, along with adult beverages courtesy of 30 local breweries and 7 cideries that use the regular token system to buy tastings (or 4 tokens for a full filling of the glass I think), so you can enjoy animals, workshops, and carnival games while voting for favorites for beer themed prizes. Proceeds from Zoo Brew benefit the Oregon Zoo's animal welfare, conservation, education and environmental sustainability programs and activities.

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May 25 Dusk off the front porch

May 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I wish I had braved the cold winds to take a photo of the lightening storms, particularly since thunderstorms like that are rare in Portland with its milder weather, but no matter… at least I got dusk/sunset. These photos are directly off our front porch, which faces north towards the downtown and Mt St Helens.




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A visit to Leaky Roof

May 22, 2012 by 1 Comment

Leaky Roof Gastropub visit  started out with a full appetizer of Vanilla Bourbon Brie, with Coconut-panko crusted Brie, house made berry compote, grilled baguette, as well as a happy hour portion of the Hummus Plate with Hummus, tomato, Chevre, pickled onion, cucumber, Kalamata olives, pita

Leaky Roof gastropubLeaky Roof gastropub

For the main event, I opted for the delicious and well executed duck entree (the risotto was a bit overly rich with cream and didn’t have enough season to bridge between that richness and the bright perks of the sundried tomato- maybe if they had used arugula isntead of baby spinach it could have evened it out a bit, but still great duck) of Grilled Duck Breast Risotto with Grilled duck breast with a creamy sundried tomato and roasted garlic truffle risotto over baby spinach. He had the satisfactory Vegetarian Black Bean Burger of Black beans & barley infused with cilantro, lime & jalapeño, Tillamook Cheddar, chipotle aioli & avocado, lettuce, tomato, onion. The meat burgers all sounded much better. Leaky Roof gastropubLeaky Roof gastropub I saw many people around me ordering the burgers, but given the quaility of the duck entree, I think they are missing some goodness there. Sure, they are not far from the Timbers stadium and Leaky Roof does have a great happy hour… but they also serve some quality entrees that are equal to the quality of the impressive whiskey flights they also offer. Their food is more on par with what you might get at the Oregon Culinary Institute probably down the street than many of the other more homey casual grills and other eateries with beer that are more typical in the Goose Hollow area- aka Leaky Roof is more gastropub than just a pub by the socccer stadium. Service is prompt and very friendly (the waitress suggested the happy hour portion of the hummus instead of the full knowing the sizes of the dishes we were ordering), and I would call this a neighborhood hidden gem.

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