2014 Showcase of Wine & Cheese

February 10, 2014 by 3 Comments

Boys & Girls Club of Portland is holding its annual fundraiser, the  2014 Showcase of Wine & Cheese on Friday February 21st from 6:30-10 pm at the Oregon Convention Center. This is their 11th year hosting the fundraiser event.

For the admission price (General admission tickets $45 in advance or $50 at the door – you can get in 1 hour earlier if you wish by paying $100 for Luxury Tickets), you get access the whole time of hundreds of wines that are poured in a wine glass you get to keep, there are dozens of cheeses (the times I’ve went, there was one big circle made from probably six tables that was just one big cheese buffet), as well as a buffet of hors d’oeuvres and carving station and various specialty foods! Don’t worry, a tasting book helps you track all the wines and cheeses. There is also a silent auction, raffle prizes,  and live music from the Millennium Dance Band and “the Voice” John English – Sounds of Sinatra.

Here are a few photos from previous years. You can see more photos and a few more details of what I experienced from my posts 2013 Showcase of Wine and Cheese for the Boys and Girls Club of Portland  and also the post  B&G Club of Portland’s Showcase of Wine and Cheese 2010

2013 Showcase of Wine and Cheese Boys and Girls Club Portland cheese buffet Emmi Roth USA Emmenthaler 2010 Boys and Girls Club Showcase of Wine and Cheese 2013 Showcase of Wine and Cheese Boys and Girls Club Portland roast beef au jus carving station 2013 Showcase of Wine and Cheese for the Boys and Girls Club grilled vegetables

The Boys & Girls Club of Portland engages young people in various activities ranging from education assistance, health and life skills such as gang resistance training or leadership development, engaging youth in arts and crafts as well as sports and fitness programs. They also are a Literacy Center and have a Youth and Family Services division offering counseling and guidance. Former Club kids like Denzel Washington, Edward James Olmos, Kerry Washington, and Jennifer Lopez, and many more.

As they state in one of their PSA videos (narrated by Denzel): “These doors transform… Great futures start here.”  Help support a positive place for kids who may not be fortunate to have role models in their family or school to turn to but who are still full of so much potential and are looking for the right path – for opportunity and hope.

Will I see you at the 2014 Showcase of Wine & Cheese?

Signature

Filed Under: Festival Event, Food and Drink

Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup Recipe

February 6, 2014 by 4 Comments

For a cold winter day, sometimes all you want is a soup that warms you, radiating heat from the your middle to all your fingers and toes that are a bit stiff and chilled from the blustery winds of late or being a little soaked from the rain or snow.

Even better is if that soup is low carb, healthy. Something like this Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup Recipe.
Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup- Low Carb, Healthy, Vegetarian Soup: Easy Recipe Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup- Low Carb, Healthy, Vegetarian Soup: Easy Recipe

The roasted cauliflower in the Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup Recipe is pretty classic. All the pieces of this recipe are delicious, so putting it together only increases that right?

Especially this roasted cauliflower, which you have the option to season how you’d like- with garlic, in my case with dill, or whatever are your favorite herbs. Then roast!

In fact, you might be tempted, after pulling it out of the oven and quality tasting a floret or three florets, to just start eating then and just have a meal of roasted cauliflower.
Roasting Cauliflower with olive oil and dill for an easy, vegetarian, light and healthy Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup recipe

There’s something very low key about just putting something in the oven and letting it be while you attend to other matters, like laundry. Especially in the winter, roasting becomes one of my go-to ways to make a meal.

Temptation also appears with portion of the recipe with the sauteed leeks in butter- you may be tempted to rather than waiting another 40 minutes for flavors to combine in a soup, to just pour the leeks in pasta with a sprinkle of cheese and call it good. Especially right now at the Farmers Market, I can never resist grabbing a few leeks.

Patience and perseverance here will pay off though-  this Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup Recipe makes 6 servings. However, that didn’t stop F from, after I had one bowl and left for some errands, eating the rest of the pot of soup before dinner.

I guess it must be a testament to how good this soup is.  It is full of flavor, but light and not creamy (unless you switch out the skim milk for cream, or add potatoes instead of flour to thicken it a bit). If you are gluten free you can ignore the flour, and if you want this vegan, switch out the skim milk for soymilk or a bit of evaporated milk, and the butter for olive oil.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cloves of minced garlic (optional) and/or any herb you want to flavor the oil with for roasting- I picked a teasp0on of dill and left out the garlic since I needed to be around people later
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
  • 1 head cauliflower broken into florets – this was 1 1/2 pounds of florets for me
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 leeks, white part only, chopped
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 quart stock – I used vegetarian stock
  • 1/3 cup skim milk
  • 1 teaspoon parsley and 1 teaspoon of chives (or green herb of your choice)
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Stir garlic and olive or vegetable oil together in a small bowl. Alternately, you can choose to flavor your oil with herbs instead of garlic (I picked dill). Arrange cauliflower florets on a baking sheet; pour oil mixture over cauliflower. Toss to coat, and then distribute to the cauliflower is laying flat all across the baking sheet so it will brown better. Roast the cauliflower in the oven until tender and lightly browned, about 30-40 minutes or so- just look for the color to be right. Halfway through, use a spatula to turn over the cauliflower so it browns on the other side.
    Roasting Cauliflower with olive oil and dill for an easy, vegetarian, light and healthy Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup recipe Roasting Cauliflower with olive oil and dill for an easy, vegetarian, light and healthy Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup recipe
  2. Melt butter in a 4-quart stockpot over medium heat. When the butter is melted, stir leeks and flour in the melted butter until cook until well blended, 5 to 10 minutes. Instead of flour, another option might be to use potato to help thicken- or just ignore it all together.
    Cut up leeks for an easy, vegetarian, light and healthy Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup recipe Sauteed leeks in butter for an easy, vegetarian, light and healthy Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup recipe
  3. Add cauliflower, stock, and skim milk to the stockpot with the leeks. Simmer all together until flavors have combined, about 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in the parsley and chives (or green herbs of your choice), salt, and pepper into the soup; simmer until desired thickness, 10 to 15 more minutes.
    Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup- Low Carb, Healthy, Vegetarian Soup: Easy Recipe

If you want the soup to be smoother, use an immersion blender, but I liked that it was a bit chunky! It makes your mouth work a little longer with it, feeling the textures in your soup, so you can savor it a little bit longer. I also think it makes you feel more full. I love soups that have texture.
Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup- Low Carb, Healthy, Vegetarian Soup: Easy Recipe
Serve with some bread! To keep it healthy I served it with one slice of Dave’s Bread- Blues Bread specifically, essentially a wheat bread with seeds like sunflower, flax, unhulled sesame and black sesame seeds, rolled oats, and blue cornmeal, and a little molasses for sweetness. But you can make a simple sandwich, or maybe a toasted piece of bread- maybe even garlic bread. Or a salad.
Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup- Low Carb, Healthy, Vegetarian Soup: Easy Recipe
For a little bit of richness, you may want to just sprinkle just a pinch of cheddar- that’ a very small luxury you can add. I think cheese can’t hurt that much!
Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup- Low Carb, Healthy, Vegetarian Soup: Easy Recipe

How do you like to pair soup with a meal? Would you go with just bread, upgrade to a sandwich, go full healthy with a salad, or indulge with sprinkle of cheese?

Signature

Filed Under: Cooking, Food and Drink Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Little Bird Lunch 2014: the Little Bird Burger

February 4, 2014 by 1 Comment

It was a good thing I had that chicken fried trout back in December– Little Bird Bistro has revamped their menu to be more French for 2014, so I had a huge reason to go back and use that $14 gift certificate to try some of their new items. Of course, I was definitely coming back anyway- after all, I saw they have a steak tartare with gribiche, poached egg, fries that they ground fresh to order at lunch.
Little Bird Bistro's steak tartare with gribiche, poached egg, fries and that they ground fresh to order at lunch

I’ll have to wait until dinnertime to try their new appetizers of “Escargot, egg noodles, chili marrow butter, gremolata”, “Comté Soufflé, green peppercorns, dijon cream”, or “Roasted Pork Belly, apples, sour cream, smoked apple purée” – both sound so classic in French flavors or their new entree for two people of “Crispy Tails and Trotters Pork Shank, roasted root vegetables, pork jus, caper berries”. Yum.

But, available on their lunch was one new item which caught my eye- they have replaced the Le Pigeon burger that they have had for a while with their own (I had it back in 2011 ), custom Little Bird burger. It still comes with a knife triumphantly stabbed through the middle to celebrate the bounty and success of the hunt, and still with the same tasty ground chuck.But, the bun has been switched to a seeded brioche bun, which I welcome- I thought although the ciabatta was tasty it made for a formidable amount of bread ratio and makes you full faster. A seeded brioche bun just is more traditional.
Little Bird Burger- Seeded brioche bun,grilled onions, butter lettuce, Cypress Grove Chevre goat cheese, and a pickle relish. Of course, with fries

Grilled onions, butter lettuce, Cypress Grove Chevre goat cheese, and a pickle relish top the burger, with an option to also add cured seared foie gras if you wish (you can see a table comparing the two burgers at the Oregonian article here). Of course, you can still get the Le Pigeon burger at, where else, Le Pigeon, if for some reason you aren’t ordering the Chef’s Tasting Menu!
Little Bird Burger- Seeded brioche bun,grilled onions, butter lettuce, Cypress Grove Chevre goat cheese, and a pickle relish. Of course, with fries

Well, the burger at Le Pigeon is listed as a starter… so that means I can get the steak tartare AND the Little Bird burger right? And with that $14 gift certificate, it basically pays for the steak tartare… rationally justified, it is a go.
Little Bird Burger- Seeded brioche bun,grilled onions, butter lettuce, Cypress Grove Chevre goat cheese, and a pickle relish. Of course, with fries

So my thoughts on the burger? As I anticipated, I really liked the seeded brioche bun better. I also really loved the taste of the meat patty, and the cleaning flavors of the butter lettuce with the tart and bit of spicy in the pickle relish. I even took a deliberate picture of that lovely pickle relish that includes Mama Lil’s pickles.
Little Bird Burger- Seeded brioche bun,grilled onions, butter lettuce, Cypress Grove Chevre goat cheese, and a pickle relish. The pickle relish is a star with that meat Little Bird Burger- Seeded brioche bun,grilled onions, butter lettuce, Cypress Grove Chevre goat cheese, and a pickle relish. The pickle relish is a star with that meat

I liked the taste of the grilled onions, but wished they had been diced so there were not a couple awkward moments where I pulled away with a bite and an onion strand followed me. And, the part that was a surprise to me was that after a while, the goat cheese got a bit overwhelming. I love cheese- and I have eaten goat cheese by the spoonful myself, and I was pleased to see how generously it was smeared in the burger at first.
Little Bird Burger- Seeded brioche bun,grilled onions, butter lettuce, Cypress Grove Chevre goat cheese, and a pickle relish. Of course, with fries

But, on a burger, I found myself craving a cheese that could have melted and melded with the burger patty. Towards the second half of the burger, I found myself dividing the burger in half- the bottom part of the bun with the cheese and grilled onions that I was eating with the butter lettuce I moved over, and then the other half so that my tongue could get direct access to the meat and relish without the big creamy fog of the goat cheese. I understand the intent of a French bistro perspective so stepping away from the Tillamook cheddar. And, I still ate everything, even if I deconstructed the second half.

What are you thoughts on the change to the new burger- have you had it yet? What do you think about goat cheese with a burger instead of a cheese that melts?

Signature

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Restaurant Review Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Cooking with Beer Leftovers: Beer Braised Onions and Beer Stout Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie

February 2, 2014 by 2 Comments

I don’t believe in wasting beer. Do you have leftover beer in a growler, perhaps say from the Superbowl party, or an Olympics viewing party , or just a lonely bottle from a six-pack in the fridge? For me, it doesn’t get poured down the sink. I find a way to save it by still using it. I believe in cooking with beer.

I’ve previously covered cooking with beer via chocolate porter cake, and beer cheese (2 kinds)– and even made a saison ricotta on cucumber before. There are also plenty of beer fondue recipes out there – in general fondues are an easy way to use leftover beer or wine for that matter.

dark chocolate porter cake recipe, use up some beer with this recipe beer cheese recipe beer cheese recipe Saison Beer Ricotta on Cucumber recipe

Another easy way to use beer is by doing beer braised onions- you can then use these in a multitude of ways, be it on a burger or other kind of sandwich, in mac and cheese, onion soup, wherever you would usually be using slow cooked onions.

Beer Braised Onions for Anything

Beer Braised Onions Recipe- simple, and uses over leftover beer in a pinch and can be used for so many things, be it burgers or mac and cheese and more Beer Braised Onions Recipe- simple, and uses over leftover beer in a pinch and can be used for so many things, be it burgers or mac and cheese and more
Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced or diced or however you’d like.
  • 1 cup of beer
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. On medium heat, melt the butter in a pan. Add the cut onions and cook until tender and translucent, about 10 minutes.
  2. Add 3/4 of the beer amount,  and all of the sugar and salt. Cook approx 15-20 minutes on high heat until the beer is absorbed and the onions are starting to brown. Or, if you were using a stout like me, look for the absorption and not the browning 😛
  3. Add the remaining beer and simmer gently until the onions are the consistency you wish- this may mean less liquid for a burger/sandwich, but doesn’t matter for say a mac and cheese dish. Ground the pepper to taste.

So simple right?

I decided to go all in with the beer braised onions by then using them in a Vegetarian Beer Shepherd’s Pie, since I was using a stout!
Beer Stout Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie recipe - use up leftover beer by cooking with it!

Vegetarian Beer Stout Shepherd’s Pie

Beer Stout Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie recipe - use up leftover beer by cooking with it!

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds skinned potatoes turned into creamy mashed potatoes. I don’t know what your recipe/preferences is for mashed potatoes, and I have to say depending on the type of potato (my favorite is Yukon Gold) I vary the butter and dairy I might use to make it, all without measuring since it’s to taste. I did not use all the mashed potatoes to top it. Suffice it to say you should have 2 pounds worth because it’s more than enough- and maybe you’ll snack on some while you are cooking your meat portion, and so maybe there is a quarter pound or so of mashed potato loss…
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 large onion – peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup of diced carrot
  • 1 pound ground meat- be it fake meat, ground beef, or the traditional ground lamb. I used 1 and part of a 2nd package of Morningstar Veggie Crumbles
  • 1 1/2 cup of a Stout beer
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
  • 1 cup peas
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, heat the oil, then add the onion, carrot, and meat. Cook until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. If you are using the beer braised onion, you don’t have to cook them with the carrot and meat since it is already cooked! When browned, drain the fat and return to the pan.
    Beer Stout Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie recipe - use up leftover beer by cooking with it!
  2. On the same medium-high heat, now to the pan with the onion, carrot, and meat (add the onion in now if you are using the beer braised onion), add the beer stout, ketchup, and the ground cumin and parsley. Simmer until the juices thicken, about 10 minutes, then add the peas. Pour the mixture into a baking dish. I used a 13×9 3 quart glass casserole dish so it was not a tall “pie” at all, but if you have a 1.5 quart round dish that would be more traditional so you can cut “pie slices”. Whatever, I’ve also seen it done in square dishes. Spreading it out further like I did yields more of the browned part of the mashed potatoes I personally like.
    Beer Stout Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie recipe - use up leftover beer by cooking with it!
  3. Now, spread your mashed potatoes over the meat mixture. Bake until golden, 30 to 35 minutes.
    Beer Stout Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie recipe - use up leftover beer by cooking with it! Beer Stout Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie recipe - use up leftover beer by cooking with it!

Pairing this with more beer, or a nice red wine, was a homey, hearty gut-filling dinner. Not a bad use for a beer, right?
Beer Stout Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie recipe - use up leftover beer by cooking with it!

 

Have you cooked with beer before? What did you make?

Signature

Filed Under: Cooking, Food and Drink Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Book Review: The Flavor Thesaurus Review, and Cumin Smashed Potatoes

January 31, 2014 by 10 Comments

For February, the book club selection is The Flavor Thesaurus: A Compendium of Pairings, Recipes and Ideas. My The Flavor Thesaurus review, at a high level,  is that you should go in with the expectation that this is a reference book, not a cookbook.

Inside its covers, the London author Niki Segent, has compiled a list of 99 main flavors, which then translate into 99 chapters. In each chapter she explores how the chapters titular ingredient might play with the other 98. For each pair, the exploration is usually in a few sentences to perhaps a tangential story or referring to a general recipe guideline that might be 1/3 of a page.

Based on this, the book is not one you really can sit down and read. Instead, it is one you pick up to uncover some inspiration for some interesting flavor combinations.

For example, her highlight of chicken going with walnut was inspiring to me. She references the kormas of northern India which I have experienced before in thick luxurious sauces, but she also introduced the Turkish dish of Circassian chicken with shredded poached chicken at room temperature with a sauce of onions, garlic, ground walnuts, soaked bread and maybe ground coriander and cinnamon.

She also mentions satsivi from Georgia, with its walnut and spices sauces that is supplemented with sour flavorings like vinegar or pomegranate juice! I had never heard of these before, and it sounds incredibly interesting.

Other ah hahs included beef and cinnamon (citing a Elizabeth David recipe for pasticcio with beef ragu flavored with orange zest and cinnamon), blue cheese topping some mashed avocado on toasted brioche, cumin and potatoes or anchovy and potatoes (the latter exemplified by a dish called Jansson’s Temptation, a Swedish variation on potato dauphinoise), watercress with blue cheese (like with Stilton) and walnuts (say a walnut bread, and/or walnut oil), and the list goes on and on.

This is an excellent book to quickly look up when you have an ingredient you want to use and are looking to experiment with a little twist from what you know. There are not many recipes, and any that are listed are more very casually written like it is part of a conversation you are having- folded right into conversation of the paragraph summation of two flavors together.

So you will probably finding yourself searching online for more after an inspiration, as I’ll be doing with some of the examples I gave above, or just experimenting on your own. The book is definitely not showing you what or how to do anything, only offering ideas for you to grow for yourself with a few guiding hints to start your quest. If you are looking at this book as a start of thinking about what to make, and not to give you an actual meal, than the book will work for you.

I tried out one of the flavor combinations that was suggested- cumin and potatoes. The suggestion was simple- boil some potatoes, and then afterwards I roasted it in an olive oil with cumin. I used 4 medium sized potatoes, which can serve 2-4.

Flavor Inspiration: Crispy Cumin Smashed Potatoes

Smashed potatoes with olive oil and cumin Smashed potatoes with olive oil and cumin
Ingredients:

  • 4 medium sized potatoes, though you can also use half a dozen baby potatoes or a dozen fingerling
  • 6 tablespoons of Olive Oil
  • Ground Cumin – 3/4 tablespoon, divided into 1/2 and 1/4
  • Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Boil the potatoes- your choice on whether you want to peel them or not, depending on the type of potato. I like them with the skin on, and in this case I was using gold potatoes. Start with cold water and the potatoes in a pot with enough water to just cover the potatoes and a bit of salt, and then bring to boil with no lid. You know they are done when you poke them with a fork and there is no resistance.
  2. In a pan, heat the oil until it is hot but not smoking. Add 1/2 tablespoon of cumin and cook until fragrant, about one minute. If you’d like here, you can also add garlic
    olive oil and cumin, preparing to put on boiled potatoes
  3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. On a baking pan covered with aluminum foil, take the potatoes and using another pan or pot or other cutting board, smash the potato down to flatten it so it is maybe an inch tall. Now pour the cumin oil over the potatoes. Using a spatula, lift the bottom of each potato and tilt the pan so the oil coats both side. Because of the size of my potatoes, I used about 1 1/2 tablespoon for the top and bottom for each potato, but you may be able to make do with less depending on your potatoes if they are smaller. Sprinkle a little more cumin on top, as well as the salt. Do a few turns of the freshly ground pepper- you don’t want to use too much as you want the cumin to stand out.
    Smashed potatoes with olive oil and cumin
  4. Roast in the oven at 450 degrees F for 35 minutes or so until browned and crispy at various edges. Serve with your choice of protein- be it as breakfast potatoes with sunny side eggs to kickstart your morning, or at dinner with your protein and veggies.
    Smashed potatoes with olive oil and cumin Smashed potatoes with olive oil and cumin

I read this book as part of the online book club the Kitchen Reader. For our casual online club there is a new book selected for every month, each book is related to food, and members write a review on their blog during the last week of that month. If you are interested in joining, check out the website.

For February the book club selected reading is Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid’s Story that Inspired Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey by Margaret Powell.

Signature

Filed Under: Book Review, Cooking, Food and Drink Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »