Hash Brown Casserole

October 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment

My kitchen remodel is finally done! It looks great- now instead of all the white which always had me looking around to wipe up food stains and splatters and spills, I can relax with the darker tone. I also love the Cambria quartz countertop, so much more useful than the countertops we got with the house in that they are so easy to clean and keep clean and can be used as a great workspace since it is a harder surface. Unlike granite it is also more durable, while still looking like beautiful natural stone (it actually is a combination of natural quartz and man made extras) and without worrying about sealing it.  And, the best part of which was part of the costs of the countertops was gifted by Floform Countertops!

Yes, that’s right! I had entered their national contest hoping to win their grand prize, which included both a kitchen remodel and a catered party, but I was so excited to have won a secondary price which was a generous credit towards countertops. Even when we were purchasing the house, a kitchen update has been on my wishlist. One thing led to another as we were looking at our many countertop options, and we went from just replacing our wine stained white countertops to wanting better looking cabinets to go with the beautiful quartz.

And then we decided on redoing our floors so we had more flexibility in our cabinet layout (particularly the “island” which was meant to have breakfast stools was never used that way, and we wanted more depth for in-cabinet garbage cans) and which would be more comfortable to stand on and clean than old Italian terra cotta tiles, some of which were cracked from the previous owners. And, we repainted the kitchen walls a “Butter Up” yellow.

Amazing what those countertops inspired us to do because they were so elegant. Here are before and after pictures of the previous green walled, white kitchen to the new look. I particularly love how we have so much more room for all our beverage glasses…

Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy
Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easyHash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy

During the kitchen remodel though, I was out of a kitchen for 5 months, from late spring to early autumn! Oh well. At least now I love coming into my beautiful new kitchen! During the kitchen outage though, there were some ingredients that just sat around since the stove and oven were unavailable, and when I unpacked everything back into my new cabinets I started to realize I needed to start using some of these pantry items up soon before they expired.

Some of these ingredients included some dehydrated dried hash browns from Costco, panko bread crumbs from Trader Joes’s, a can of condensed Campbells cream of chicken soup, leftover Mexican shredded cheese from a taco dinner, and some corn kernals in the freezer. What immediately came to mind was this recipe, which I have seen passed around on several websites, a copycat recipe for Cracker Barrel’s Hashbrown Casserole. I’ve only been to Cracker Barrel’s once, and I didn’t even have the Hash Brown Casserole when I was there, but I’ve seen the signs and saw rave reviews for it, so was curious to try it anyway.

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds frozen hash browns, thawed (my package had 24 oz, and was dried and I had to use water, but I used it anyway)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 cups corn kernals. The original recipe uses 1/2 cup chopped onion, but I didn’t have any on hand but I did have corn, and I upped the amount since I was using 24 oz of hash browns.
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 can (10.75 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup + 1 can of water (the recipe just calls for 1 can of regular cream of chicken, but I only had condensed. This is going to make my version more mushy)
  • 8 ounces sour cream, though you can also use tofu sour cream or yogurt as a substitute
  • 1 cup grated colby cheese, although I used reduced fat shredded Mexican Cheese instead
  • 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs – or you can also use crumbled potato chips or crunchy onion

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray 11 x 14 inch casserole or baking dish with cooking spray.
  2. Fry the hash browns until they are crispy in a pan with the olive oil (I put in half the olive oil to cook the first side, and then the second half for browning the second side of the hash browns). Remove and put into an even layer in the casserole dish.
    Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easyHash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy
  3. Meanwhile, I used the same hot pan right after removing the hash browns to pan fry the corn until a little burnt with the 1 tablespoon of butter.
    Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy
  4. Combine all the ingredients (except the hash browns and panko) and stir together. Pour the mixture on top of the hash browns in the casserole dish. Top with the panko.
    Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy
  5. Bake for 45 minutes until top is golden brown. Let cool for 15 minutes so when you cut the casserole it will stay more together as wedges.
    Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy

Other twists you can add into this casserole is adding meat (Italian sausage particularly comes to mind), or some spiciness or other veggies (especially that which could add some crunch- such as adding chopped celery) and chopped nuts, it is very versatile and I can see it as a good base for many side dish variations. Who says hash browns are only for breakfast?

When I had my piece, I sprinkled a little bit of crushed red pepper on it and ate it in front of the tv, cuddled under a blanket with my kitty while F was out of town for work. Other pieces were fine during the rest of the week warmed up for lunch. Serves as a side dish 6 people.

Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy

You can also halve this recipe, and do it without the corn, as in below for just the 2 or 4 of you!

Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy
Hash Brown Casserole, a breakfast casserole that feeds a group and is vegetarian and easy

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Market PDX Guest Chef: Naomi Pomeroy

October 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Update: Market restaurant has closed since my visit

Looking to bring in dinner guests when there isn’t a show across the street at the Keller Auditorium, Market (which replaced the previous occupant French bistro Carafe) has been doing a guest chef series. I haven’t visited the location since its slight renovation and new conception into its new modernist northwest cuisine incarnation from Carafe’s final breath in June to Market Restaurant’s first opening in August this year. But when I saw Naomi Pomeroy was guesting, I decided it was time.

I hope that when I entered the restaurant the slight blush to my face was interpreted from the new cool weather, versus glancing over the young Asian men who now man the kitchen and bar (Executive Chef Troy Furuta – the bar manager is Alan Akwai). It also seems Naomi is trying the straight versus sideswept bang look- or she just got them cut. The $5 happy hour had the entire bar area packed and happily busy. Dinner-wise, with no show that Friday evening, the seating area there was maybe 1/3 full- seems like Market is still finding its audience.

For the guest chef series it is a prix fixe menu ($40), though you can also opt into a drink pairing, which I did at the steal of only $20. The meal started out with an amuse bouche of a black mission fig torched until caramelized and a bit of crispyness on the outside, then topped with delicate and decadant foie gras mousse. This was paired with a glass of Stephane Tissot Cremant de Jura from France. What an auspicious start.

1st course was a delicata squash tart with shaved watermelon radish and frisee and radicchio salad. This was paired with a cocktail of London Dry Gin, Vin a la Chataigne, Cap Corse Mettei. When I first had this cocktail, I started to worry about the other pairings as this as a pretty strong drink, but fortunately it began to mellow out after this. Admittedly, the strength of the drink was a good cleanser for the buttery richness of the tart, while adding to the frisee and radicchio which otherwise tasted like just the greens with a spritz of oil, nothing special- the watermelon radish was beautiful as garnish but offered no flavor.

2nd course, went into the more seafood exploration, an aromatic steamed link cod in smoked tomato broth, cannellini beans, leeks, tarragon, and sliced late summer grape tomato paired with Maestracci Reginu Rouge, Grenache/Syrah from France 2010. This was the most subtle, layered dish of the courses, with the broth being the equivalent of an andante second movement of a symphony and tomato being the melody because the steamed fish was on the bland side from being overcooked.

3rd course was what I had been anticipating all dinner. It was pork belly porchetta, pickled parsley, calabrian chiles and crackled green olive salsa, roasted market potatoes, pork and veal jus, paired with a cocktail of Agricole Rhum, Verjus, Amer Picon, Campari, pineapple and bitters.

As you would expect from Naomi who is famously photographed holding a whole pig about to be butchered (and presumably enjoyed at her regular restaurant Beast), this was a triumphant dish of multiple textures and robust meaty flavor. I enjoyed the hard crackly crunch of the slightly salty skin and the oozy thread of luxurious fat and moist but dense layers of tender sausage and pork,  and then a bit of fire and tangy sour distributed from the fine mince of olive and chili on top. It really taste as wonderful as it looks.

The cocktail was the best matched pairing of the night, cutting through the richness and ramping it up a notch with its bit of acidity and brightness. I made sure to save a potato piece to mop up all the delicious jus so the bowl/plate was clean.

4th course of mascarpone, Italian plum tiramisu, honey syrup, and dehydrated lemon was a light little layered cake that tasted airy and melty with its creamy texture without sitting heavily after all these courses, an appropriate finish after the porchetta just before.

I think I will have to try Market again on an evening without a Keller musical or ballet performance (or maybe arriving when the show has already started). I can’t believe they lined up Greg and Gabi Denton of Argentine grill and cocktail hotspot Ox the very next day after Naomi- I want to go, but I think my arteries can one take so much rich dining in a short time span.  Next on deck for Oct 20 is Nong Poonsukwattana of her Nong’s Khao Man Gai cart, followed the next evening by Chris DiMinno and Jeffrey Morgenthaler (the mixologist Prince of Portland in my opinion) of Clyde Common. The list of guest chefs only goes to the end of October, and I can only hope Market will continue this idea after the upcoming busy holiday Nutcracker performances of December.

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Caprial + John’s Sunday Supper Tuesday

October 10, 2012 by 2 Comments

I recently attended a Caprial + John cooking class. This class was titled “Sunday Supper Tuesday” because the class was being held on Tuesday Oct 9th at 6:30pm, but was composed of recipes that would be perfect for a family Sunday dinner. The various menu items for the class included

  • Roasted Garlic Goat Cheese Dip with Crostini
  • Cappy’s Biscuits
  • Bacon Cured Pork Chops with Honey Glaze
  • Roasted Cauliflower with Crispy Breadcrumbs and Garlic
  • Parsnip and Caramelized Apple Puree
  • Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust

All my previous experiences with John and Caprial had happened to be in the summer, where they had held a supper club dinner and one cooking class both which were held at their beautiful home property (and which I blogged about previously). This time, I got to experience a class at a more professional location, Abby’s Table for the Kitchen at 609 SE Ankeny.

Similar to the setup at their home, they had lots of tall stools/chairs placed around the kitchen area so we could observe as they demonstrated the cooking techniques and their recipes coming to life, step by step. They also had long tables set up for when we could then eat the results of their demonstrations as our dinner not far away. Their recipes are already printed out and stapled together at the beginning of class so that as they were talking through creating each dish, you can write down any notes or extra tips they shared. As before, it is BYOB, whether your beverage be soda or beer or in most cases, bottles of wine.

We started out with the appetizer of roasted garlic goat cheese dip, which was placed in the oven and then we were served while we continued the class. I appreciate this pacing where we were allowed a snack, especially since as we get into more of the dishes the kitchen begins to smell torturously tantalizing. This dish was very quick, though they had already prepared the roasted garlic beforehand and just summarized what it took and showed us the end result because, well it is slow-roasted garlic.

Caprial + John’s Sunday Supper Tuesday cooking class roasted garlic goat cheese dip Caprial + John’s Sunday Supper Tuesday cooking class roasted garlic goat cheese dip Caprial + John’s Sunday Supper Tuesday cooking class roasted garlic goat cheese dip

Meanwhile, Cappy carefully instructed us on how critical it is not to overmix the pie dough or the biscuits, and showed us how even though the mix didn’t look that smooth or pretty, how it would turn into moist tenderness later. She also advocated not using biscuit cutters because of the extra dough you end up having to reform and cut again, resulting in tougher biscuits- instead, she utilized a pastry dough scraper to create triangle pieces.

Seeing an experienced chef who’s done them hundreds of time from start to finish is definitely a great way to see exactly what it needs to look like, including how to eye it, which you can’t get just from following a recipe or watching a video or quick segment on show.  The fact that biscuits was on the menu was specifically one of the reasons I signed up for this class, and it was a successful lesson I hope (we’ll see when I try this myself next month).

Caprial + John’s Sunday Supper Tuesday cooking class making biscuits Caprial + John’s Sunday Supper Tuesday cooking class making biscuits

Meanwhile, we were shocked to find that she was not putting the pie dough in any pie tin- instead it went straight onto a baking sheet for more of a “free form” pie in which the dough is just folded into the center over the filling (sort of like a giant galette). I did not take a photo of the finished pie before the oven, but I do have the piece that was cut for dessert during dinner… personally I think I would added X-sharp cheese, and more of it… both in the crust, and probably sprinkled on top afterwards. Never can have too much cheese! And, pair it with a port.

Caprial + John’s Sunday Supper Tuesday cooking class apple pie Caprial + John’s Sunday Supper Tuesday cooking class apple pie

The other two vegetable sides included Parsnip and Caramelized Apple Puree and Roasted Cauliflower with Crispy Breadcrumbs and Garlic. Although the flavors of the puree were fine, I think I still prefer mashed potatoes or “faux” mashed using cauliflower. However, I appreciated learning the trick of heating the sheet pan in the oven so that when you pour the seasoned cauliflower onto the sheet to start the roasting process, you can get a sear on the side resting on the pan as well.
Caprial + John’s Sunday Supper Tuesday cooking class parsnip apple puree
Caprial + John’s Sunday Supper Tuesday cooking class roasted cauliflower

The main dish were these thick cuts that were marinated and then quickly seared Bacon Cured Pork Chops with Honey Glaze. You can also use chicken instead of pork chops. I knew I was with fellow peers when the other guests at the cooking class at my end of the table all poured a little bit of juice from the family style platter after serving themselves a chop.
Caprial + John’s Sunday Supper Tuesday cooking class pork chops
Caprial + John’s Sunday Supper Tuesday cooking class pork chops

John and Caprial also talked a bit about the new micro restaurant Basa Basa they recently opened that specializes in Korean Fried Chicken and a few sides (rice, mac salad, ramen fries with Cappy’s special sauce) which seems remiscent of a Hawaiian plate lunch- carbs and chicken. The other neighboring micro restaurants in the same space specialize in meatballs, burgers, and tacos apparently- mega meats around the world! I haven’t thought about Korean Fried Chicken for a while and now I’m craving it, dammit. I might need to wait a bit to visit  though after the amount of butter and cream I saw going into the Sunday Dinner recipes. I know they were making enough for 2 dozen guests, but a few of us guiltily giggled how we’ve never seen cream in half gallon containers before… and they used multiple containers of them during our class. Same with bricks of butter as wide as the size of my hand. The roasted cauliflower is definitely the healthiest dish on the menu (and the only recipe without butter and cream- second place is the pork chop that doesn’t have cream or cheese at least).

While they are working through the new restaurant, John and Caprial are still going to be teaching classes once a week, and supper clubs once a month- check out their website for the menu details of each event they have scheduled.

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Wedge 2012

October 7, 2012 by 1 Comment

The Portland Celebrates Cheese Festival “The Wedge” was back this year on the streets just outside Green Dragon. At a requested $5 donation to benefit the non-profit Oregon Cheese Guild, the entrance to this tasting farmers market of 25 cheese and artisan producers of the Northwest, as well as being able to enjoy in the street “beer garden” music and beers from Green Dragon/Buckman Brewing is well worth it. In addition, Murray’s Cheese from New York (now experimenting with mini-stores at three local Fred Meyers) was offering 3 Cheese Seminars. Unlike last year where from entering the festival it seemed like I was in a neverending line from booth to booth, this year the festival was more organized and spread out, so that I could easily skip and move booth to booth, with never more than a handful of people between me and cheese samples.

Since I love cheese so much, I was already pretty familiar with most of the cheese producers present as I am already a customer at the Farmers Market or the grocery store. It is still a great opportunity to sample cheeses from these vendors that you may have seen and wondered about, try samples from their offerings that are not available to try before you buy (for instance Fraga Farm Goat Cheese and Willamette Valley Cheese had all their cheeses available to sample this day) or try new cheeses they didn’t know they produced. The vendors also are selling the cheeses so you can do your cheese market shopping at the same time! Next time I think I will be more prepared and bring a little cooler bag.
Tillamook Loaf little van  cheeses from Willamette Valley in the case they brought for their boothLa Mariposa cheese has Argentinean roots La Mariposa cheese has Argentinean roots Portland Creamery sells theirs in pretty small packagesfresh cheeses of Bellweather Farms

New to me was trying out the Cheese Plate PDX food cart, as they were offering tastes of their own homemade crackers along with their own fromage fort and fruit or Cavi-art Seaweed “Caviar”. Meanwhile, although I have loved Tumalo Farms Pondhopper cheese as it is spiced with beer, I found a new crush on their nutty Classico. I also enjoyed the sweet burn of Ssmith’s Hot Pepper Sensation “Merlot” spread. Definitely filing all these away for the future.

My favorite cheese vendors of the day were 1. Fern’s Edge Goat Dairy who I believe offers the best local chevres, though they are only at a few select local retailers. Their Apricot–Honey Chèvre, Pear Anise Chèvre, Blueberry Ginger chevre, and my favorite of them all the Fig Walnut Sweet Chèvre with fig, walnut, honey, offer a lot of depth of flavor along with the creaminess of the goats milk cheese that is better than any flavored cream cheese ever. 2. Cypress Grove and their always dependable tasty cheeses, such as Midnight Moon, Humboldt Fog, Truffle Tremor, and a new dill goat cheese called PsycheDillic that uses dill pollen.

The seminars from Murray’s cheese included including one for beer and cheese pairing, one to educate you on the cheeses of the NorthWest region, and how to complement your cheeses with honey, jams, nuts and fresh fruits to make a killer cheese plate experience. I went with the beer and cheese pairing one, which was a partnership of Murray’s with Rogue.

I loved that they gave out a little packet of class notes that we could write on, and best of all, which included a section of different adjectives to describe cheese and tips about how salt reinforces bitter (so you want to put saltier cheeses with sweet), pairing the beverage and cheese so they have finishes of similar lengths. The “what grows together goes together” might be a bit more difficult beer wise as a theme, but would be great for wine and cheese pairing. The matches that we tried and discussed included

  • Good Chit Pilner with Mt Townsend Creamery Cirrus
  • Morimoto Soba Ale with River’s Edge Chevre Siltcoos
  • Ore-gasmic Ale with Rogue Creamery Hopyard Cheddar
  • Chipotle Ale with Willamette Valley Brindisi
  • Chocolate Stout with Tumalo Farms Pondhopper
  • Hazelnut Brown Nectar with Rogue Creamery Smoky Blue

Rogue Ales also hosted a Grilled Cheese Bar station that offered 3 artisan cheeses for the ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich: Rogue Creamery Oregon Blue, Rogue Creamery & Rogue Ales collaboration of Rogue Hopyard Cheddar, and Portland Creamery’s Oregon Chevre. Paired with a couple more beers from Green Dragon, it was a perfect finish.

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Handmade Pasta at Nostrana, by Francesca Tori

October 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

A dinner at Nostrana, thanks to a special event that evening… egg pasta handmade from scratch and done the old fashioned way with a rolling pin from the tradition of Bologna and the Emilia Romagna region. Francesca (and her brother Tommaso) are from Bologna, Italy and doing a 1 month “pasta class tour” in the US that had started with Texas and then Seattle and had stopped in Portland next before going off to California for the rest of October (go to her website and email her if you are interested in signing up). I’m jealous that she was only in my area for a week but California is getting her for a month for opportunity of learning from sweet Italian girl (at least she appeared that way whenever I glanced over to the banquet table where she and her brother, Cathy Whims, and other guests were having dinner family style right next to us…). It seems a lot more lighthearted fun (and less intimidating) than learning from an Italian grandmama.

Handmade Pasta at Nostrana, by Francesca Tori

I started out with a wine flight of Vini del vulcano, red wines from Mt Etna “a magnificent wild terroir”. I’m a big fan of wines made from grapes in volcanic soil regions. I was in love with the middle wine especially, a Etna Rosso DOC I Custodi ‘Aetneus’ 2007 from grapes of 100+ year old vines, because it was so smooth and almost buttery in feel while being light berry forward. Meanwhile, F was excited and enjoyed some tasty Italian beers such as D’uvaBeer by LoverBeer and Genziana by Birra del Borgo.
Nostrana, Cathy Whims, Nostrana, Cathy Whims, Nostrana, Cathy Whims,

Starterwise, both the salad (Insalata mista with lettuces, crisp seasonal vegetables, arbequina olive oil and red wine vinegar) and House charcuterie plates were big hits. I was glad they refilled our bread plate so that I could use it to balance out all the rich meaty goodness. The House Charcuterie plate included, from upper left corner clockwise, crispy pork trotter, lamb liver and fresh herb pate, porchetta di testa, apple mostardo, coppa di testa, smoked ham, pickled radish and pattypan squash
Nostrana, Cathy Whims, bread service with olive oil Nostrana, Cathy Whims, Insalata mista with lettuces, crisp seasonal vegetables, arbequina olive oil and red wine vinegar Nostrana, Cathy Whims, House charcuterie plate, crispy pork trotter, lamb liver and fresh herb pate, porchetta di testa, apple mostardo, coppa di testa, smoked ham, pickled radish and pattypan squash

Finally, the beautiful handmade pastas from Francesca Tori, thick and doughy and fresh. The favorite pasta was the Caramelle candy-shaped pasta filled with Red Kuri squash, nutmeg, parmigiano, and sage butter (although maybe a little too generous with the butter, but nothing a little shake couldn’t help with), although the wonderful sauce with the Garganelli with prosciutto, arugula, brandy, milk, tomato, parmigiano was good enough to drink as a soup.
Handmade Pasta at Nostrana, by Francesca Tori, Caramelle candy-shaped pasta filled with Red Kuri squash, nutmeg, parmigiano, and sage butter Handmade Pasta at Nostrana, by Francesca Tori, Garganelli with prosciutto, arugula, brandy, milk, tomato, parmigiano

We wrapped up with a Tiramisu of ladyfingers, rum, mascarpone, Spella espresso and Pizzeria Mozza’s butterscotch budino with salted caramel. You cannot go to Nostrana without having budino!
Nostrana, Cathy Whims, Tiramisu of ladyfingers, rum, mascarpone, Spella espress Nostrana, Cathy Whims, Pizzeria Mozza's butterscotch budino with salted caramel Nostrana, Cathy Whims, Pizzeria Mozza's butterscotch budino with salted caramel

Nostrana will sometimes host various dinner and even cooking events with visiting chefs, so keep an eye on their Facebook and website to see what Nostrana is exploring next!

 

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