Summer Picnic Recipes that Travel Well for Two and a Group

July 29, 2013 by 10 Comments

Picnics- a meal outside, in the sunshine/shade and open breezes. Shoes off, legs stretched out, the feel of the beach of the sand or blades of grass underneath you. The images that come to mind are wicker baskets and slightly rumpled gingham blanket and a glass of wine and certainly for me, a cheese plate (of course).

It might be a special occasion like the concerts on the lawns I used to attend multiple times during my summers in Chicago- the orchestra filling the air with a symphony while you lie back on the blanket staring at the clouds. Or, it was on the 4th of July, with fireworks, and the buzz of people around you sharing that experience and joining in group “oooos” while you still have your own space.

It doesn’t have to be a special occasion though. It might be a matter of logistics on a long day hike. It might be a romantic getaway where you can focus on just the two of you. Or maybe, it’s just a celebration of a normal day and beautiful weather.

The last time I had a picnic, it was at Wildlife Safari in Winston, OR after walking with a cheetah, and it was a breakfast picnic that included soft doughy marionberry scones, fresh fruit, and fixings for mimosas on a safari printed tablecloth. Overall, it was a picnic recipe for fun!

Wildlife Safari, Winston OR, breakfast picnic with marionberry scones, fresh fruit, and mimosas Wildlife Safari, Winston OR, breakfast picnic with marionberry scones, fresh fruit, and mimosas

For a July picnic with the Portland Bloggers group, I decided to go more out than the typical “gathering” of cheese plate and various deli items from stores with a few items I would put together at home. Here are my picnic recipes, geared towards being picnic recipes that are easy to prep, require little effort, travel and keep well, and can be healthy. They can easily be made for two, or a group.

First, I started out for myself with a Buffalo Blue Cheese Chicken Salad sandwich, and a Vegetarian Hummus Avocado Tomato and Greens Sandwich for F. I only made enough for one sandwich for F, but I made a larger yielding batch of the buffalo chicken so that I could eat more of the sandwiches all this week (or in some cases, just eat the buffalo chicken out of Tupperware).

For the group, I wasn’t sure how many people would be there and decided to lean on the generous side. Worst case scenario, I would have some to bring to work the next day. I like these because you can put these together while watching TV, they are relatively healthy and fresh, and they are easy to eat on the skewers/toothpicks and can be refreshing if it happens to be a hot day. Mine are all red, but if you got a mix of colors from heirloom tomatoes this would be so much prettier!

Picnic Recipe 1: Vegetarian Hummus Avocado Tomato and Greens Sandwich

Ingredients (yields 1 sandwich):
Vegetarian Hummus Avocado Greens Sandwich ingredients Vegetarian Hummus Avocado Greens Sandwich

  • 2 slices of your favorite bread
  • 1/4 cup of hummus of your choice
  • 1/2 large avocado
  • 1 teaspoon of lime juice
  • 1/2 cup microgreens (or you may choose 1/2 cup spinach, arugula, or whatever greens you would like)
  • Tomatoes- I used grape tomatoes, but you can also use regular slices of tomatoes, or roasted tomatoes, or sun dried tomatoes. You want enough to be happy with your sandwich 🙂

Directions

  1. Spread the hummus on one side of the bread, and top with the microgreens
  2. In a bowl, mash up the avocado (for 1 sandwich you only need 1/2, but I mashed a whole one and used the other half for my sandwich below) and add 1 teaspoon for half the avocado, or in my case 2 teaspoons, of the lime juice. Mash and mix well, and then spread on the other slice of bread

Vegetarian Hummus Avocado Greens Sandwich Vegetarian Hummus Avocado Greens Sandwich

Picnic Recipe 2: Buffalo Blue Cheese Chicken Salad with Avocado and Greens Sandwich

Buffalo Chicken Salad with Avocado and Microgreens Sandwich

Ingredients (yields 4 cups of chicken salad, I overload my sandwich with almost 1 cup each but you also just use 1/2 a cup and be sensible about it):

  • 1 pound of skinless chicken breast (2 chicken breasts) for poaching
  • 5 oz non-fat plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/3 cup Franks Red Hot Wings Buffalo sauce
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup (2 oz) crumbled blue cheese
  • 4 slices of your favorite bread
  • 1/2 cup microgreens (or you 1/2 cup chopped celery or whatever greens you would like)

Directions

  1. I started by poaching the chicken. Alternatively, you can also buy cooked chicken or reuse other leftover chicken of course to get you started a little faster. I like poaching in that it still keeps the chicken tender, and it lets me multitask as I’m cooking it low and slow with other kitchen prep. You can choose to poach it in just water, but that doesn’t add any flavor. So you can use the stock of your choice in the pot (I started with 2 cups, and then poured in a smidge more to cover the chicken by another inch) that I also added a tablespoon of chopped basil, a tablespoon of rosemary, and some ground pepper. But you can choose to also/instead add a little sherry, or wine, or fresh vegetables, whatever you want to add. After bringing the liquid to a boil, reduce heat to a bare simmer, partly cover the pot. Cook longer for about 10 minutes, then turn off the heat, leaving the chicken to finish cooking in your liquid of choice for 15 more minutes. Remove chicken, then shred it for the chicken salad.
    poaching chicken breasts in broth and herbs
  2. In bowl, whisk together the other ingredients: the yogurt, buffalo sauce, garlic powder, and black pepper. Stir in chicken, celery (if you are using it), and blue cheese.
  3. For my sandwich for the picnic, I decided to use some of the leftover avocado lime juice spread I still had for the other half of my sandwich (so half an avocado with 1 teaspoon of lime juice mashed together). I also added the radish microgreens, though again any of greens you enjoy would work here. And let’s say I forgot to add the blue cheese earlier so just decided to put it on top of my avocado (you can omit the blue cheese altogether if you are not a fan or want to make it optional for those eating the sandwich). Overall, of the buffalo chicken salad there was enough left for probably 4-5 more sandwiches for me to put away for the rest of the week. Refrigerate until serving or up to 5 days in the fridge.
    Buffalo Chicken Salad with Avocado and Microgreens Sandwich Buffalo Chicken Salad with Avocado and Microgreens Sandwich Buffalo Chicken Salad with Avocado and Microgreens Sandwich Buffalo Chicken Salad with Avocado and Microgreens Sandwich

Picnic Recipe 3: Caprese Skewers

Ingredients (yields 136 skewers):
Caprese Skewers, appetizer, picnic food Caprese Skewers, appetizer, picnic food

  • 4 pints (~40 oz) of cherry tomatoes
  • 12 ounces of fresh mozzarella
  • 2 ounces of fresh basil, which was about 6 stems for me, depending on how full each stem is of leaves
  • olive oil (approximately 1/3 cup)
  • balsamic vinegar  (approximately 1/4 cup)

Directions

  1. Cutting: Cut all the cherry tomatoes in half. Also cut the mozzarella into small pieces about 1/3 inch squares. Also, remove the basil leaves from the steam, for the larger basil leaves you may want to cut them in half as well.
  2. Assembly: On each toothpick, in between the cherry halves add one piece of the mozzarella and one medium or 1/2 of a large basil leaf.
  3. After filling your first row (in case you decide to do a pile like I did), use a spoon or a pastry brush to carefully add a little drizzle line or light touch of olive oil, and then the balsamic.
    Caprese Skewers, appetizer, picnic food Caprese Skewers, appetizer, picnic food

F helped a friend moved, so the sandwich disappeared before any photo could be shot of the sandwich cut in half.The best I can show you from our afternoon picnic with the Portland Food Bloggers was our additional tray to accompany our sandwiches. I like to always bring cheeses, and this time went with two cheeses (Fiscalini Hopscotch Cheddar a cheddar soaked in Devil’s Canyon Scotch Ale and Mariposa’s Chubut a mild Argentiean cheese).

I also like a little protein, and I picked a Chop Butchery & Charcuterie farmhouse pate (not shown, on another board to separate from the vegetarian options, and I think the best pate in Portland). I rounded out this picnic with hummus, and organic seedless green grapes (anything you eat the skin on be it fruits, vegetables, potatoes I believe are worth buying organic), cut up some artisan seedy bread and Mary’s Gone Crackers. This part of the picnic recipe is easy- just a matter of gathering some good individual ingredients together.

Thank you Portland Bloggers group for making me put together a Family Picnic, and setting up this event! It was very laid back with no agenda other then just a little chatting to see the people we read online in person, and the new Portland Bloggers logo was also unveiled. Check out the twitter hashtag #portlandbloggers for more photos from this event. I’m sure there will be posts coming soon too, and I’m excited to read all about all the other perspectives!

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Kickstart Farmers Revival Salad Bistro PDX

July 26, 2013 by 1 Comment

First, I have to admit to you… I’m not really a salad lover. I rarely ever order them. I usually get tempted away by savory starters like soup, or something covered in cheese. If I get a salad, it always has cheese on it for a savory rich component, as well as some sort of nuts or seeds for texture, and hopefully either in the dressing or in additives a balance of acid but not too much.

I’m very aware of whether there is too little or too much dressing and how well it is distributed (I toss it with my own hands at home- though more often I end up using the greens in a main or side dish that is cooked or thrown in and wilted which tricks me to eating more of them). I also really pay attention to whether all the flavors and textures interplay well together or if I’m just eating a mixed bowl. There are very few salads that stand out in my food memories.

As an aside, just look at how my food photography has improved over time with these few salad photos that I have of amazing salads I still recall fondly…

Trattoria No 10. in Chicago Arugula Salad with pine nuts, mozzarella, grape tomatoes and Granny Smith apple slices in an oil-vinegar dressing (after I was done the plate was CLEAN, almost unheard of when me and salads meet). Square Kitchen (since closed, in Chicago)- The Warm Goat Cheese salad with mix greens, beets, apples, almonds, and balsamic vinaigrette is awesome: it not only has that lovely warm goat cheese which I loved the contrast in texture and temperature, but that dressing was absolutely outstanding Wildwood, Portland OR. Citrus and arugula salad with orange and grapefruit supremes, pine nuts, and mozzarella. If you know me you know I don't often rave about salads, but I ate every single little thing off the salad plate, the dressing was awesomely tangy to counteract the slight bitterness that arugula can have Noodles and Company- one of two special summer salads, this is the Backyard Barbecue Chicken Salad with pulled chicken breast with fresh cut corn, roma tomatoes, and red cabbed over mixed greens with a smoky coleslaw dressing

But, I wasn’t always someone who didn’t crave a salad. When I lived in Chicago, I used to at least once a week go to this place called Salad Spinners. Unlike most salads that I have experienced, the salads on their menu just burst with flavor instead of just being the taste of greens and dressing. Besides the salads on their menu, when you walked in there was a little notepad with a pencil, and you could build whatever kind of salad you wanted by checking items off.

The line was always out the door for lunch, but it moved fast, and when I walked past it in the early morning before the markets open (at the time, I was working in the financial markets sector while going to school for my HCI degree in the evening- so probably almost 10 years ago), I would always see them busily prepping away all the new fresh ingredients. And there were so many ingredients- like two dozen little checkboxes. It took me quite a while to try everything, and I never could settle on a “regular order”, and I had to restrain myself from checking too many good things.

It looks like that idea might be coming to Portland… I can’t think of anything quite like the Salad Spinners concept in Portland, and even Salad Spinners has since closed/only does catering perhaps back in Chicago. A Kickstarter just started earlier this week for Farmers Revival and continues until August 19, and has the task of trying to raise $100,000 to start a Salad Bistro concept. This project by Dave Rose seems to be aiming for that same wonderful goal of promoting salads to the next level, as well as helping you explore lots of different salad combinations without you having to do the prep work of the cleaning and chopping and committing you to a large amount of ingredients in exploring what your perfect salad flavor combination is.

logo for Kickstart the Farmers Revival!

Besides the 8 signature salads or build your own salad, Farmers Revival Salad Bistro also will feature homemade soups, artisan breads, pastas, fresh pressed juices, local wines and beer, and frozen yogurt to wrap up as dessert, using locally sourced organic ingredients from Pacific Northwest farms. Sounds like a menu with lots of options for healthy choices, as well as supporting local. Dave grew up in a small rural town, and it seems he wants to give back and support the farm community, as well as celebrate the the produce, given the name of the place!

I also find it fascinating that Dave seems to have come from a career path in Information Technology in the healthcare industry, but he can’t shake his memories from his parents’ 20 year experience in the restaurant industry, and apparently wanting to emerge from behind the shiny computer screen and into the messy world of food, service, and lots of people!

I appreciate that he is coming at this with a very analytic, business focused perspective. For instance, his Kickstarter website reports that he followed “Lean Startup” methodology and conducted a series of focus groups that included ~ 40 taste testers who took part in hypothesis-driven experimentation, iterative product releases, and “validated learning.” So as someone with an HCI Masters and promoter of User Center Design and whose career is focused on user experience, I am already feeling very confident in Farmers Revival because of their research, especially with the result that “when asked to rate our salads on a scale of 1 through 4 (1 = Terrible, 2 = Average, 3 = Good, 4 = Excellent) 99% of the focus group scored them as a 4. The remaining 1% scored them as 3”

So clearly, they have some VERY TASTY salads. One of their promotional images includes this Indian inspired salad below with Indian salad with curried-quinoa, roasted cauliflower and a spicy curry vinaigrette. Apparently they try to do very innovative salads that are also inspired from around the world, such as Caribbean, Spanish, Italian, etc.

Indian inspired salad from the Farmers Revival

I also totally appreciate the little spreadsheet that helps explain how he came up with the $ amount for what he is trying to raise- again, it seems to be a proof of how carefully he has through this through. I appreciate those who know how to use spreadsheets. I’ll try to stop there with the spreadsheet love. The Kickstarter page is full of more proof about his passion about also pragmatic understanding that it’s also a business, the latter of which I often see a bit wanting in Kickstarters.

I wish Dave and his family and those involved with Farmers Revival the best of luck in their pursuit. I was not compensated in any way for this post, but I am enthused about this potential and really want them to become real so I can eat all their salads and restart my perfect salad experiments! I have embedded a video they have when they had various consultants try their salads and filmed it… hearing what they said really makes me wish I could taste one of those salads myself. Take a look at the Kickstarter for Farmers Revival Salad Bistro, and of course, come to your own decision. You can also check out the Farmers Revival Salad Bistro Facebook page.

Dinner With The Consultants from David Rose on Vimeo.

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Happy Hour at Planet Thai, Beaverton

July 25, 2013 by 4 Comments

I am a wordy person. I know. That’s just the way I am when I write. Though in person I have all those same thoughts, I don’t always string them out verbally… I save it often for when I can type at my 90+ words per minute, because even as a fast talker I can’t keep up.

Yes dad, all those typing speed games you gave me and my brother and sisters on the Type-right a Pre-computer Typing Tutors when we were young totally paid off beyond getting us easily through typing class (I can’t believe my typing class was still on a typewriter, and the entire time I thought how they missed an opportunity by not using Word Invaders…)

Looking back, my parents were SO clever. Besides this trick to teach us, they also would take us to the Teachers Store to load us with all the workbooks for us to “play school” during the summer. I also remember super fondly listening to Little Thinker tapes where I would just sit by myself, listening to the storytelling on the tape which had pauses to play music and draw that part of the story, and that all the tapes could be put into one large plastic case. It seems they come in mp3 format now, but I still remember fondly the feel of the cassette tapes. What a clever way for a me as a kid to entertain myself.

Wait, here I go ahead, typing a whole bunch of stuff when this is supposed to be a photo post of a Happy Hour at Planet Thai, Beaverton. This was supposed be a clever setup where this post shows you some pictures, and you have to use your own creative storytelling to fill in the blanks.

Just imagine it’s Friday, it’s finally 5, and it’s happy hour time! Planet Thai is right at the Beaverton Central Max station. Planet Thai boasts $5 martinis such as these, as well as 20 items on their happy hour menu 3-6pm daily, all $5 or less to nosh on, including the spicy saucy Street Vendor Thai Chicken wings and a generous side of Thai fried rice. That last martini isn’t on the menu, but is an alcoholic take on a Thai Iced Tea. When the weather is nice, they can pull back the garage door walls/windows by the bar so you can enjoy the summer breeze as you sip. They have only been open since January (this was the previous location of Typhoon, and this is the second location of a Planet Thai the other being in Vancouver WA), and seems to still be an undiscovered gem.

What are you thinking/talking about as you enjoy lime, pear vodka and blue curacao, and thai iced tea cocktails?

Lime cocktail at Planet Thai, Beaverton, happy hour, cocktails, $5 cocktail Pear vodka and Blue Curacao cocktail at Planet Thai, Beaverton, happy hour, cocktails, $5 cocktail Thai Iced Tea cocktail at Planet Thai, Beaverton, happy hour, cocktails, $5 cocktail spicy saucy Street Vendor Thai Chicken wings at Planet Thai, Beaverton, happy hour, cocktails, $5 food

Is it Friday yet?

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Brunch at Accanto and Wrinkle Crinkle Crumple Cress

July 22, 2013 by 3 Comments

Last time I was at Accanto was for dinner in June, but something caught my eye on their starters menu that had me returning back a few weeks later. So, we made reservations on OpenTable – yes! You can make reservations here instead of just waiting in line like so many other brunch spots in Portland- for a Sunday brunch. So, 10am Accanto Sunday Brunch- soon this place would be filled up. Look what a small kitchen they have to produce that menu!

Accanto PDX Accanto PDX

That starter that kept lingering in my mind until I just had to have it and returned? Burrata with strawberries, favas, wrinkle crinkle crumple cress. What? Wrinkle Crinkle Crumple Cress. Yes, it’s real. First, here’s a look:

Accanto PDX, Burrata with strawberries, favas, wrinkle crinkle crumple cress Accanto PDX, Burrata with strawberries, favas, wrinkle crinkle crumple cress

At first glance, it has the texture and appearance of parsley. However, it has a mustard-like spiciness just like it’s cousin, watercress, but slightly more intense piquancy that is closer but not quite like peppery peppy arugula. Apparently the fact that its leaves are so rumpled looking lead to its name. And what a name right? I appreciated being able to calm the forkfuls of the wrinkle crinkle crumple cress with the tart sweetness of the burst as you bite into strawberries and the creamy freshness of the burrata, and little bits of earthy mealiness from the texture of the fava beans as you chew.

Accanto PDX, Burrata with strawberries, favas, wrinkle crinkle crumple cress

That dish alone wasn’t enough, so we filled out the check with orders of the Creamy polenta with garlicky braised greens, poached eggs and chili oil but minus the poached egg, a side of crispy potatoes, and Asparagus and Truffle Omelet with truffled mashed potato, asparagus, spring onion and pecorino tartufo in a French style omelet with arugula salad and toast, and coffees of course.

The polenta was creamy but the addition of the braised greens gave it some crunch while the chili oil tickled the tongue- if a poached egg as original to the menu had been kept that probably would have added some great additional texture and richness to the creamy polenta with the play of two different viscosity (polenta vs yolk).

Accanto PDX, Creamy polenta with garlicky braised greens, poached eggs and chili oil Accanto PDX, Creamy polenta with garlicky braised greens, poached eggs and chili oil

Similarly, the crispy potatoes lived up to the promise in their name as well, and I walked very slowly pass the big pan of roasted crispy potatoes that I saw in the kitchen, eying all that golden goodness. Finally, the scent of the Asparagus and Truffle Omelet with truffled mashed potato, asparagus, spring onion and pecorino tartufo in a French style omelet with arugula salad and toast was wonderful even before the waitress placed it on the table I could smell its approach, and I appreciated how it was a thin layer of egg that encased the omelet rather then the all too often super thick wrapper you see at brunch that fills you with egg rather then the precious tasty cargo inside.
Accanto PDX, crispy potatoes Accanto PDX, Asparagus and Truffle Omelet with truffled mashed potato, asparagus, spring onion and pecorino tartufo in a French style omelet with arugula salad and toast

The service was pleasant and unobtrusive, and she make sure to keep our coffees warm- we had to stop her on the 4th refill or I would be shaking from the caffeine as we had to drive. So unfortunately no brunch cocktail was sampled, though there were many options that sounded tempting. That will just have to be another trip. Unlike at locations where people are lining up and staring as they hungrily await their turn at brunch, here the atmosphere was relaxing and cheerful, so that even though it was busy it also felt like we had our personal space for our conversations as we kick-started our morning. It feels like the neighborhood spot you want to go to every morning if you could, one you could linger over your coffee and laugh freely, that is local but also sophisticated.

Also, go ahead and say it. Wrinkle Crinkle Crumple Cress. Wrinkle Crinkle Crumple Cress. You’re welcome.

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Smallwares and Breakside Beer Dinner

July 20, 2013 by 4 Comments

Chef Johanna Ware of Smallwares, specializing in “inauthentic Asian cuisine” and Head Brewer Ben Edmunds of Breakside Brewery created a beer paired dinner of 5 courses on Thursday July 18 for 20 lucky guests, of which I was one! When I saw the price was $45 for 5 courses (plus add gratuity), and thinking of how great the experience was at the Breakside Brewery’s dinner at Wildwood restaurant I attended, I was happy to sign up. I love beer pairing dinners, and with all the great breweries here I don’t know why I don’t see them more often.

Smallwares Breakside Brewery dinner,Chef Johanna Ware of Smallware and Head Brewer Ben Edmunds of Breakside created a beer paired dinner of 5 courses Smallwares Breakside Brewery dinner, Brewer Ben Edmunds chatting about the beer

The dinner was supposed to start at 6pm, but started a little late because of the logistics of everyone actually getting there by that time after work. After a day of doing presentations at work, I left around 4:30pm from Beaverton and was able to make it in time, which left me some time to sample a couple cocktails before dinner. I tried The Gin, with plymouth gin, mango, yogurt, rose water, cardamom, shaked and served on the rocks, as a way to cool off from my crowded commute, and also The Whisky, with templeton rye, raspberry shrub, vermouth, lemon, shaken and served on a big rock. This gave me an opportunity to admire the bold red and white modern atmosphere of the restaurant that combined the sleek lines and textures of contemporary design elements with thoughtfully and whimsically selected eclectic touches.

Smallwares PDX, restaurant Smallwares PDX, restaurant The Gin, with plymouth gin, mango, yogurt, rose water, cardamom, shaked and served on the rocks, Smallwares PDX The Whisky, with templeton rye, raspberry shrub, vermouth, lemon, shakend and served on a big rock, Smallwares PDX

Opener:

  • Beer: Newport Summer Ale
  • Food: Canapes and hors d’oeuvres
    Starter of shigoku oysters, tomato, fish sauce, lime, cilantro, Smallwares PDX, Smallwares and Breakside Beer Dinner Starter of Cantaloupe, benton's ham, kimchi puree, shiso, at Smallwares PDX, Smallwares and Breakside Beer Dinner

This Summer Ale is an easy-drinking English golden ale that is lightly hopped and uses floor-malted barley. It was paired with starters of Shigoku oysters, tomato, fish sauce, lime, cilantro, and Cantaloupe, benton’s ham, kimchi puree, shiso. Ben explained that he always like to start with a big pour of the first beer because who knows when dinner will start, and it helps everyone with a bit of liquid courage to socialize at the table. The oysters were clean acid that seemed to echo the clean flavors of the ale, while the heat from the kimchi puree and salt from the ham and sweetness of the cantaloupe were then refreshed and calmed down by the beer.

Starter of Shigoku oysters, tomato, fish sauce, lime, cilantro, paired with Newport Summer Ale, Smallwares PDX, Breakside Brewery, Smallwares and Breakside Beer Dinner Starter of Shigoku oysters, tomato, fish sauce, lime, cilantro, paired with Newport Summer Ale, Smallwares PDX, Breakside Brewery, Smallwares and Breakside Beer Dinner Starter of Shigoku oysters, tomato, fish sauce, lime, cilantro, and Cantaloupe, benton's ham, kimchi puree, shiso paired with Newport Summer Ale, Smallwares PDX, Breakside Brewery, Smallwares and Breakside Beer Dinner Starter of Cantaloupe, benton's ham, kimchi puree, shiso, paired with Newport Summer Ale, Smallwares PDX, Breakside Brewery, Smallwares and Breakside Beer Dinner

1st course:

  • Beer: Smallwares Saison
  • Food: Grilled shrimp, aji amarillo, lychee, pink peppercorn, chive

The Smallwares Saison is a Belgian farmhouse ale made with lychee, pink peppercorn and aji amarillo, and was inspired by another dish at Smallwares that Ben confessed to falling in love with the combination of flavors and just “ripping off” by putting those flavors into the beer. This was my favorite pairing of the evening with beer and food building on each other so that even when I had finished chewing or swallowing the food or beverage, the flavors lingered long after, tickling my tongue and taste buds pleasantly.

Grilled shrimp, aji amarillo, lychee, pink peppercorn, chive + Smallwares Saison made with lychee, pink peppercorn and aji amarillo, was inspired by another dish at Smallwares, Smallwares PDX, Breakside Brewery, Smallwares and Breakside Beer Dinner

2nd course:

  • Beer: Biere de Juillet (collaboration Biere de garde with Persian lime and coriander)
  • Food: Mushroom salad, walnut puree, Persian lemon dressing, pickled shallots, hijiki

Breakside partnered with Smallwares to brew this Bière de Juillet, a summer version of a French bière de garde with Persian lime and coriander that debuted at this dinner. I was using the salad to try to wipe up that walnut puree as much as I could.

Mushroom salad, walnut puree, Persian lemon dressing, pickled shallots, hijiki + Biere de Juillet (collaboration Biere de garde with Persian lime and coriander), Smallwares PDX, Breakside Brewery, Smallwares and Breakside Beer Dinner Mushroom salad, walnut puree, Persian lemon dressing, pickled shallots, hijiki + Biere de Juillet (collaboration Biere de garde with Persian lime and coriander), Smallwares PDX, Breakside Brewery, Smallwares and Breakside Beer Dinner

3rd course:

  • Beer: Sour ApriHot (sour golden ale aged on Apricots and Chinese mustard powder)
  • Food: Flank steak and apricots, mustard seed, red onion, parsley

Sour ApriHot is the latest of  experimental, culinary-inspired creations Breakside is trying, this particular one being an imperial sour apricot ale conditioned with heat… well, heat to come. At the dinner, they had added the apricot but not the hot portion yet, whether it be through Chinese mustard powder or horseradish or wasabi or what have you, they were still thinking about how they wanted to proceed. That was fine when combined with this dish though, which was already packing lots of spicy heat so the apricot ale was some relief.

Flank steak and apricots, mustard seed, red onion, parsley + Sour ApriHot (sour golden ale aged on Apricots), Smallwares PDX, Breakside Brewery, Smallwares and Breakside Beer Dinner Flank steak and apricots, mustard seed, red onion, parsley + Sour ApriHot (sour golden ale aged on Apricots), Smallwares PDX, Breakside Brewery, Smallwares and Breakside Beer Dinner

4th course :

  • Beer: Alan from the Wood (strong smoked ale aged in rye whiskey barrels)
  • Food: Black cardamom panna cotta, mixed berries

This strong beer was my favorite of the evening in terms of flavor, and it paired well with the cardamom in the panna cotta. However, the raspberry puree was a little overwhelming in sweetness that didn’t seem to go with the beer, so I fixed that by just eating the puree on its own after scraping it off, and leaving the panna cotta so pair with my sips of Alan.

Black cardamom panna cotta, mixed berries + Alan from the Wood (strong smoked ale aged in rye whiskey barrels), Smallwares PDX, Breakside Brewery, Smallwares and Breakside Beer Dinner

F joined me, and Smallwares was able to accommodate him with a vegetarian menu. For his opener there was kimchee but no ham around his cantaloupe, although there was no second option to replace the oyster. Tofu was the protein instead of shrimp for the first course with the aji amarillo, lychee, pink peppercorn, chive + Smallwares Saison made with lychee, pink peppercorn and aji amarillo, although his dish seemed sweeter with more lychee than the omnivore version I enjoyed.

Both of us enjoyed the same mushroom salad, and then for third course instead of flank steak, zucchini, cashews and additional salt were used instead for his dish with and apricots, mustard seed, red onion, and parsley. Unfortunately he couldn’t enjoy the panna cotta because it uses gelatin, so a friend volunteered to help him out.

Tofu, aji amarillo, lychee, pink peppercorn, chive, Smallwares PDX, Smallwares Breakside Brewery Beer Dinner Zucchini, cashews and additional salt instead of flank steak for the vegetarian with apricots, mustard seed, red onion, parsley, Smallwares PDX, Smallwares Breakside Brewery Beer Dinner

The service was great, and the flow of the meal was well paced to allow everyone to have time to converse and enjoy their beer without feeling a need to rush because the next course was coming up. Later as the sun set, the staff lowered the curtains so we would not be blinded, and then later still they pulled open some of the garage door walls to open up the restaurant to the outside. The bartender returned to the table several times, offering to pour a little more of a beer taster for us from the growler, and Ben and his brewers gave a little talk at the beginning to introduce the beer, and also stopped by so that both ends of the table got to talk to them.

I love what Breakside is doing with experimenting with savory and sweet additions in their beer, and was even more excited to hear that the Milwaukie location has their Salted Caramel Sweet Stout (a collaboration with Salt & Straw Ice Cream and Jacobsen Salt Co) on tap!  It’s one of my favorite beers from them, though I also love their Aztec Bourbon Barrel, their Old Bourbon Woody, the Whiskey Dick…  it’s hard to believe they’ve only been around for 3 years because of all the great and balance of classic and experimental unique beers they have crafted in that time. Yay for the brewers of Breakside!

This weekend is the International Beer Festival, and next week on Wednesday kicks off Oregon Brewers Festival… the beer continues!

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