Pechluck's Food Adventures

All The Ways I Love Instacart

December 16, 2015 by Pechluck 1 Comment

I first wrote about Instacart when I used them back last year, in October. I thought this year, I would reiterate the all the reasons I love Instacart for those out there who haven’t heard or it or tried it yet, rather than going through the same review of what it was like to exactly use the website and get the delivery – you can always get those details there. After a year of being an Instacart user though, I can summarize pretty concisely now all the ways I love Instacart. I’ve had this conversation verbally more than once.

If you do get convinced to join thanks to me, would you consider using my referral link? As long as you spend $10, your first delivery will be free and you get a $10 credit on top of the free delivery. This is not a sponsored post – they didn’t ask me to endorse them, I just really think they are a great service. But I would appreciate the $5 I would get if you do use my referral.

As before, you can get deliveries that you create on your computer or tablet or phone – they have an app, but you aren’t required to use an app in order to put together your order (side-eye to Amazon’s Prime Now, which is why I haven’t used them yet…)
You can shop from multiple stores using one service. The retailers may vary based on your zip code because it is customized to what stores are local in your area. For me, this includes a nice variety of stores with groceries from Whole Foods, Costco, Safeway, Green Zebra, and Petco Now. I know in Chicago by my parent’s home, the list is Whole Foods, Costco, Petco Now, and then the Safeway here is swapped for the local Jewel-Osco grocery store there, and the local health food artisan grocery store of Green Zebra is swapped out for Standard Market (which is my favorite grocery store in the area!) and Lemon Tree Grocer.

Now, there is a minimum order per retailer so you have to make it worth their while understandably by getting at least $10 from each store. I don’t know about you, but it’s not very hard for me to hit the $10 mark per store.

If you want, you can even price shop among different stores all while sitting down – you can search for turkey or steaks at each individual store on their list if you want to see where you want to buy your turkey or steak from. In terms of prices, it’s a mix of it being the same, sometimes slightly higher (sale prices at the store for instance are not reflected in the website prices), or sometimes slightly lower. I think it evens out for me overall in the end – I feel this because I bought some items in person at Whole Foods for instance, and then needed more of the ingredients and when I bought essentially the same items, the 30 cents here or there more and less evened out to about the same.
I love that it gives me the convenience of instead of having to run an errand where I have to go to the different stores for the best ingredients and prices, they’ll do it for me. I can get my specific brands of cat food and litter from Petco, stock up on toilet paper and towels at Costco, and normal groceries at Safeway and better quality meats and seafoods from Whole Foods without leaving my home (which is how I typically break out what each store excels at locally for me). I still wish they would add Fred Meyer to the list as I like some of their specific deli items like their Jarlsberg cheese dip, or Flame Crafted Ham. I’m also admittedly disappointed that unlike last year, they have since dropped Uwajimaya as a partner which is where I would order specific Asian ingredients.
Yes, Costco is one of the stores. This is one of my most favorite things about Instacart because you don’t have to pay for a membership to get access to Costco. As I just have a family of 2 we don’t often need the huge quantities that are the bulk items at Costco with a few exceptions – the giant boxes and bags of spinach and broccoli and cherry tomatoes. If we are throwing a party or making food for a potluck, sometimes I need 2 pounds of cheese or more than a dozen eggs. But I can’t justify an annual membership based on these trips here or there

It also means I don’t have to get trapped in the zoo that is the Costco physical location (parking lot AND the store) or get tempted by the various new things that I end up picking up and that ends up making me spend twice as much. I also love the Kirkland brand of olive oil, pesto, etc. Thankfully Instacart still lets me have those nice things without having a membership card.
Don’t worry if you can’t find something listed on the site – if you know an item you want, you can request it. I know Costco has roses – and I can ask the shopper to still get that for me even though it doesn’t list it. Incidentally, for every item you put in your cart, you can also add a personal note – for instance, you might ask for 5 leeks but need a certain amount for your recipe so depending on the size of the leeks, you may need more or less. I was upfront and told them how many cups of chopped leeks I was looking to use!
When you are checking out, you also get the option on whether you want any substitutions if they can’t find something. For instance, if they don’t have the low sodium broth, will I accept regular? If they can’t get watercress, I know I can also use arugula for my recipe – and I’ll make those notes for the shopper. You can browse and pick your substitutions, or choose that if they can’t find it, not to get anything at all.
The shoppers they have are awesome and you can interact with them while they are at the store. This is really a huge way Instacart differentiates itself from other grocery delivery services where once you send your order, you are left just waiting. With Instacart, you can still message them to make changes or clarifications while they are putting your order together. When you get assigned a personal shopper, your account and order will automatically get updated with their name. From that order, you can write messages to them – perhaps you forgot to add eggs. You can write a message and add it if you see they are still shopping (you get updates on your order status of whether they are in the store or on their way to you – I get it sent on my phone but you can see it on the website also).

For instance above in point #5, when they didn’t have the three cheese ravioli I wanted, the shopper called me and read me ALL the flavors of ravioli they had so I could pick another one – and the smoked mozzarella one was even better than the three cheese I requested!
The Instacart shoppers are friendly, knowledgeable, and all about service.
I do want to note though that the Instacart Shoppers deserve a tip. Imagine especially if they are carrying a lot of heavy things for you, or busting around the store for you in order to get a lot of items within a small amount of timeframe. If they need to talk to you about substitutions or clarification, that also eats into their delivery window time. So, make sure you show your appreciation by including that in your order. Also, note that the driver who actually delivers it may be different than the shopper, which is why you need to add the tip ahead of time. And, make sure you rate your experience accordingly at the end (Instacart always asks for your feedback on your completed order).
And finally, the no brainer on why I love Instacart as well – you can choose to get delivery within 2 hours of submitting your order, or other 1 hour time slots either today or within the next week. They deliver within the hours of 10 AM to 9 PM everyday (including Sunday). The pricing of delivery can very based on how much your order is and the 1 hour versus 2 hour slot – it’s $3.99 for all the slots if you spend $35 or more on groceries, or $7.99 if you spend less then $35.

So there is a slight premium of a convenience fee to get your order delivered, but especially for me, I live in a house with a lot of stairs, and will gladly pay someone to haul multiple 12 packs of La Croix for me. And don’t forget you are saving money by not paying a Costco membership fee.
Other times, I’m in the middle of cooking and realized I forgot an ingredient – instead of stopping what I’m doing to run to the store, I can continue with my other dishes and get what I’m missing delivered to me. F has used them when he wasn’t feeling well and wanted medicine delivered without having to go out himself. If you have kids, I’m sure not having to pack everyone up to go out might also be worth what is ultimately a convenience fee.
You don’t have to be there to receive the delivery. You can make a note if it’s ok for them to leave it at your front door – so when I’m putting in an order on the Max train on my way home and may not get there until 6:15 for a 6 PM delivery, I don’t need to sweat it.

So those are my top 7 reasons summarizing all the ways I love Instacart. Have you tried them before? What did you think?

And again, if you do get convinced to join thanks to me, would you consider using my referral link? As long as you spend $10, your first delivery will be free and you get a $10 credit on top of the free delivery. It gives me a $5 credit for referring you. Otherwise, I’m just sharing this post because I really do love Instacart!

Simple and Crisp Fruit Crackers

December 14, 2015 by Pechluck 15 Comments

Have you ever heard of the Simple and Crisp Fruit Crackers before? This is a great healthy alternative to crackers that also satisfy those in the party group who may be gluten-free. They are 100% fruit that are simply thinly sliced, dried, and that’s it. Simple and healthy since unlike a regular cracker vehicle they offer fiber and antioxidants, and after a month of parties it’s a welcome change from the regular cheese and crackers.
simple & crisp - apple orange, and pear
The crackers pair great with wine – whether red or white – and a variety of cheeses, here you can see I have a cream cheese and vegetable spread. Cheddars, Swiss, Brie, Blue cheeses and more work equally well. We didn’t finish all the crackers at the wine party, and I snacked on some of the leftover fruit with cheese and tea too. If I had chocolate around I might melt it and dip the fruit crackers in the chocolate too.

There are four types of fruit they offer:

Blood Orange (my favorite)
Orange (second favorite for me)
Pear
Apple

As you can see, they look fancy even though I did nothing but dump it out of the package, so perfect for the holidays. I’m not being compensated for this post – I just really like this product.

Simple and Crisp fruit crackers are a Northwest non-GMO local product created from Seattle by Jane Yuan a couple years ago. So not only are you supporting local, but also a female entrepreneur. The apples and pears are sourced from Washington and Oregon partners, and the oranges from California.

S&C Producer Profile: Jane Yuan, Founder & Chief Pairing Purveyor from Simple & Crisp on Vimeo.

Especially during this time of years when I’m attending many get togethers, I appreciate something that looks impressive but is so stupid easy to put together, especially when I have to go straight from after work.

I get these Simple and Crisp crackers at Whole Foods, though I’ve seen them at other specialty markets too (for instance Zupan’s here, and nationally at Williams Sonoma).

Which of these fruit crisps sounds most appealing to you? What is your favorite combo to bring to a get together that is easy when you are going straight from after work?

Filed Under: Food and Drink Tagged With: #MeatlessMonday, dried fruit, easy appetizers, easy entertaining, fancy and easy food, fancy party food, fruit and cheese, fruit crackers, gluten free, Gluten-free party, holiday gluten-free, holiday vegetarian, meatless monday, no cook party food, party food, potluck, Simple and Crisp Fruit Crackers, simple entertaining, simple party food

DarSalam Lazurdi

December 11, 2015 by Pechluck 6 Comments

I was thrilled to hear that DarSalam, which started as a food cart and then opened a brick and mortar restaurant in Northeast Portland on Alberta was going to open a second location right in downtown at 320 SW Alder, called DarSalam Lazurdi. I have high hopes that this will open up exploration of their Middle Eastern cuisine with a few special Iraqi dishes from their hometown of Baghdad to a larger audience.
DarSalam Lazurdi new location on SW Alder
Their lunch buffet that they offer Mon-Fri 11:30-3:30 is a huge bargain, with the to go buffet discounted $2 from the regular dine in price of about $12. They also serve happy hour (4-6 PM Mon-Fri, 2-5 PM on Sat) and dinner (6-9 PM Mon-Sat) and full bar available alongside their vegan, gluten free, and halal options or conscientious of the lactose intolerant.
DarSalam Lazurdi lunch buffet at the new location on SW Alder DarSalam Lazurdi new location on SW Alder

When I tried their lunch buffet, there was a big bounty of options to choose from and my plate was super heavy even though I took only one spoonful of everything they had on the line that day. In fact, I had to leave out the soup in my first pass, and one dish (pickled mango salad) ended up in that soup bowl instead because I was just out of room despite my careful trying to just taste everything.
DarSalam Lazurdi lunch buffet at the new location on SW Alder

That included during my visit

Pickled Mango Salad: Pickled mango mixed with tomato and chickpeas
Ful Mudammas: Fava beans lightly mashed, lemon, olive oil and garlic
Tahziki Salad: yogurt blended with fresh garlic, lemon juice and cucumber
Beet Salad: Beets cooked until tender, cooled and mixed with yogurt and lemon
Hummus: Chickpeas blended with tahini, lemon juice and garlic, garnished with paprika and olive oil.
House Salad of salad greens with onion, cucumber, carrots, olives, and seasonal herbs, drizzled with house dressing
Curried Roasted Chicken
Pan fried Tilapia with Mixed Vegetables
Spinach and White Bean Stew
Lamb Marga “Khema”: a slow cooked chickpea and shredded lamb strew
Eggplant Marga: a slow cooked strew with eggplant, diced potato, onion, tomato, red bell pepper and pomegranate
Chickpea Marga: a slow cooked strew with chickpea, tomato, sauteed onion and hint of cardamom
Basmati Rice
Freshly baked hot flatbread

The downtown space is gorgeous with lots of bold royal blue and gold colors. The new larger location has room and plans for live music and belly dancing on weekend evenings.
DarSalam Lazurdi new location on SW Alder

The service is kind and respectful with a bit of homeyness and humility. You can order from the menu during lunch so you aren’t restricted to the buffet, but it will be slower than the obvious serve yourself of the buffet line. You go to the register at the end to pay your bill.

Even after a second trip to the buffet, my wonderful group of women lunching with me stepped up to ordering all the desserts to share between us. And it was the perfect ending.
Clockwise desserts at DarSalam you see Baklava, a Date Roll and a dessert called Dark & Honey

As much as you enjoy the food at the buffet, don’t miss leaving a smidge of room for the desserts. Their menu could include some desserts you may not have ever heard of before beyond your usual classic:

Baklava, a honey and roasted pistachios rolled up in layers of crisp phyllo dough. The use of pistachios here instead of walnut is what makes it Middle Eastern instead of Mediterranean
DarSalam Lazurdi Date Roll, tender dates wrapped around walnuts and rolled in coconut flakes then drizzled with date honey
Sweet Yogurt Gaemar, a dessert of a thick sweet yogurt topped with lots of date honey
Dark & Light with Dibbis Date Honey and Tahini Sesame Paste on a plate served with warm flatbread for dipping

I was too stuffed from that first lunch to try the Iraqi shredded meat plate, so forced myself (ha ha ha… it was the bare-bones rationalization I needed to justify a return trip) to come back to try those dishes for you. This is Iraqi style tender shredded meat – your choice of chicken or lamb. I went with chicken.
DarSalam Lazurdi Iraqi Shredded Meat Rice Plate, choice of chicken or lamb atop a bed of basmati rice with a dollop of chickpea marga and with a side of soup or salad. Here you see chicken.

It can be served as an appetizer with your choice of hummus, baba ghanoush or tahziki and flatbread. Or, have it on salad on a bed of greens, or as a main dish atop a bed of basmati rice with a dollop of chickpea marga and with a side of soup or salad. During happy hour, you can have it as an Iraqi Shawarma.

I like it as the rice plate because it means you get the chickpea marga too and a pretty substantial cup of the Adis, a lentil soup. And, it pretty much means you now have 2 meals from that one order – I had it for dinner two different nights with the leftovers as my second meal.
DarSalam Lazurdi Iraqi Shredded Meat Rice Plate, choice of chicken or lamb atop a bed of basmati rice with a dollop of chickpea marga and with a side of soup or salad. Here you see chicken. DarSalam Lazurdi cup of Adis, lentil soup

On my other visit as we awaited our food, we were given a complimentary pita with za’atar dip of the za’atar spices in olive oil.
DarSalam Lazurdi starter of fresh warm pita bread and dip of za'atar in olive oil

We shared an appetizer of the Mixed Dolma with onion, zucchini, and grape leaves stuffed with rice, diced vegetables and spices infused with sun dried tomato and pomegranate. My favorite are the dolma stuffed in onion rather than the grape leaves.
Mixed Dolma with onion, zucchini, and grape leaves stuffed with rice, diced vegetables and spices infused with sun dried tomato and pomegranate. My favorite are the dolma stuffed in onion rather than the grape leaves

The Falafel here instead of being round balls are more doughnut shaped and much bigger! Here they came part of a Vegan Mezza Plate (on the regular Mezza menu, but that was also part of the happy hour menu) that included the Hummus, Baba ghanoush (smoky roasted eggplant ground with tahini, garlic, lemon juice and garnished with zaatar and olive oil), pickled mango salad, and three falafel (made from ground chickpeas and spices cooked to order from scratch
Darsalam Lazurdi Vegan Mezza Platter with Hummus, Baba ghanoush (smoky roasted eggplant ground with tahini, garlic, lemon juice and garnished with zaatar and olive oil), pickled mango salad, and three falafel (made from ground chickpeas and spices cooked to order from scratch) Darsalam Lazurdi Falafel Donuts, made from ground chickpeas and spices cooked to order from scratch

If you order the Arab Coffee, know that it’s a pretty thick and dark coffee, with a hint of cardamom sweetness. They are served in authentic Iraqi sipping glasses and you can actually get refills of it! Do NOT drink to the grounds.
Arab Coffee: Rich, thick and dark coffee, with a hint of cardamom sweetness, served in authentic Iraqi sipping glasses. Refills available.

There is also a pretty interesting cocktail menu here that uses a lot of the spices and rose water in the beverages to give you the flavors of the Middle East. On the left you see a special which I think was being rotated out of the menu for December, a Rabbit’s Foot with VSOP Brandy, Luxardo, Cardamaro, Creme de Cassis, Green Chartreuse and Orange Bitters. On the right, I was tasting a preview of a new drink that might appear on the menu, the Philippe that takes advantage of the housemade mango juice they offer with rose water.
DarSalam Lazurdi cocktail menu and Bartender's Choice special drink of Rabbit's Foot with VSOP Brandy, Luxardo, Cardamero, Creme de Cassis, Green Chartreuse and Orange Bitters DarSalam Lazurdi Bartender's Choice special drink of Rabbit's Foot with VSOP Brandy, Luxardo, Cardamero, Creme de Cassis, Green Chartreuse and Orange Bitters Cocktail with housemade mango juice and rose water

You can dine at this DarSalam Lazurdi location downtown, or on their website you can even get delivery of their menu items from Delivery Dudes. If you visit this coming Sunday December 13th from 1 – 5 PM, DarSalam is hosting a Holiday Stop & Shop with small local businesses with appetizers on them as you do a little holiday shopping, and 15% of their proceeds will go to the work of Mercy Corps with Syrian and Iraqi refugees.

Do any of these food items tempt you, which one?

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Restaurant Review Tagged With: #foodiefriday, #whatsforlunch, Arab Coffee, Baklava, bargain lunch, beet salad, buffet, chickpea marga, curry roasted chicken, Dar Salam, Dar Salam Lazurdi, Dark & Light dessert, DarSalam, DarSalam Lazurdi, Date Roll, Dibbis Date Honey and Tahini Sesame Paste, downtown Portland buffet lunch, eggplant marga, falafel donuts, falafel doughnuts, Foodie Friday, ful mudammas, grape leaf dolma, hummus, Iraq food, Iraqi buffet, Iraqi dolma, Iraqi food, Iraqi restaurant, Iraqi rice plate, Iraqi shredded meat, Iraqian food, lamb marga, lunch buffet downtown, lunch downtown, lunch to go buffet, marga, Middle Eastern buffet, Middle Eastern Cuisine, Middle Eastern food, Mixed Dolma, Onion dolma, pickled mango salad, pita with za'atar dip, Portland lunch, spinach white bean stew, Sweet Yogurt Gaemar, tahziki salad, tilapia with mixed vegetables, to go buffet, za'atar dip

Mae PDX – Pre Thanksgiving Dinner

December 9, 2015 by Pechluck 6 Comments

On Wednesday November 25th, I had the pleasure once again to dine at the pop up Mae PDX. As I’ve written about previously when I attended and recapped the details of my first dinner, Maya Lovelace makes what I think is the best fried chicken in Portland, brined and fried in three fats and arriving at your table warm and juicy so it drips a bit in your hand after biting past the crispy outer layer into the meat inside.

Although the fried chicken is a constant course at these almost weekly pop up dinners (sign up for their mailing list to get messages on when the next dinners are and to sign up for a reservation – there are only 24 seats), the details of the other courses vary based on what is seasonal and her whims.

To find her pop-up after procuring your reservation, head towards the back of the Old Salt Marketplace parking lot and look for a red door. There, you can check in with whoever is greeting (either Maya Lovelace or Zach Lefler, the founders of Mae PDX) where they will let you know where your party will be seated. There are four tables of six set up so they have worked out the math based on who made the reservations already – each table of six will share their food family style.
Look for the red door in the back of the Old Salt Marketplace to enter the pop-up area where Mae PDX lives on Wednesdays The tables are 4 sets of six- each set of six shares dishes family style

Let’s take a look at the courses at my Mae PDX – Pre Thanksgiving Dinner version (since I enjoyed it the day before Thanksgiving!). Make sure you eat lightly before, as there will be LOTS of food – almost 10 shared plates – of food to eat at this dinner.

As always, it is BYOB. This time we brought sparkling wine to go with our champagne, but when you first arrive a little before 7 PM (dinner starts at 7), you are first presented pitchers of Sweet Tea. This time, it was a Sassafras Sweet Tea so it had a very sweet flavor that was a bit reminiscent of root beer.
Sassafras Sweet Tea at Mae PDX

Next was a passed appetizer of Deviled eggs with bread & butter pickled green garlic & hot sauce caviar.

You know, just the traditional southern deviled eggs with yeah, hot sauce caviar that I have feeling Grandma Mae did not make. It’s a perfect example of how Maya combines her family tradition with her own touches too.
Deviled eggs with bread & butter pickled green garlic & hot sauce caviar

There is usually an Assorted Pickle Platter of some sort, which comes on a big plate with lots of little jars and spoons. This time it consisted of (starting from bottom left and going clockwise, Green Tomatoes, Sour Corn (in a sauerkraut style), Okra, Pimento cheese & Benton’s 16 month aged country ham from Tennessee.
Mae PDX Pickle Platter for November 25, 2015: Pimento cheese & Benton's 16 month aged country ham, Green Tomatoes, Sour Corn (in a sauerkraut style), Okra

They are served with Benne crackers, a buttery toasty cracker that is addictive. I have a hard time holding myself back saving for what I know will be quite the parade of food to come – well, you’ll see.
Mae PDX Pickle Platter for November 25, 2015: Pimento cheese & Benton's 16 month aged country ham, Green Tomatoes, Sour Corn (in a sauerkraut style), Okra

Earlier while we were enjoying our sassafras sweet tea and waiting for everyone in the dining room to arrive and be seated, I had watched Zach prepare the fluffy mini Angel Biscuits and ever since then been waiting for those warm fluffy goodies to appear. Angel biscuits are flakey soft like a biscuit, but also have additional yeast that makes them fluffy and high.
Zach preparing the Angel Biscuits for Mae PDX as the pans get hot behind him for frying the chicken

Although bright and lemony tasty while serving as a call back to moonshine, the second of the 3 beverages Mae PDX offered for this dinner – here a Branch raw honey rye Old Fashioned – could not distract my thoughts from the pending biscuits. It was served in a small jar that we passed around the table and poured our drink into mini mason jars.

Now Zach was starting to fry the chicken in batches on the hot 3 pans behind and I started to acquire the scent of my clothing of fried chicken that I enjoyed on my Uber ride home. Thighs and drumsticks are my favorite pieces of fried chicken.
Zach starts frying the chicken and the whole place smells incredible at Mae PDX, popping up behind Old Salt Marketplace

Yay! The Angel Biscuits, here served with Sorghum Butter (you can see isassafras c melting) and a Cranberry and quince sauce
Warm angel biscuits Warm angel biscuits, topped with sorghum butter and a sassafras cranberry and quince sauce "Warm

Next was another slam dunk course, and one of the best Brussels sprouts I’ve ever had they were so tender and smoky, roasted brussels sprouts with brown butter crunch, brown butter vinaigrette, and chervil.
Roasted Brussels sprouts, brown butter crunch, brown butter vinaigrette, chervil

Suddenly the dishes starting arriving fast and furious – the main event really was like Thanksgiving as I completely filled my plate with food such as

Green bean casserole with chanterelles and fried onions – I always prefer when real mushrooms are used instead of some mushroom soup

Fried chicken being plated! It’s go time!
The famous Mae PDX buttermilk brined fried in three fats Fried Chicken

Baked butternut squash, marshmallows and fried sage created in a Sweet Potato Casserole style

The Baked cheddar grits with ramps was generous with the Tillamook Cheddar
The Mae PDX Baked cheddar grits with ramps was generous with the Tillamook Cheddar

The smoky Cornbread dressing with Benton’s bacon and chicken livers and the Chicken Gravy
The smoky Cornbread dressing with Benton's bacon and chicken livers

As we enjoyed our main course, guests took turn observing Maya freely and generously pouring alcohol as needed to recreate the cream based on taste memory
Maya Lovelace creating her alcohol loaded cream purely by taste memory The dynamic duo behind Mae PDX, Maya Lovelace and Zach Lefler

I was super full at this point and glad I wore a dress that gave me a little more ahem room but still found the space to eat two of these mini Pecan tarts, just like her grandmother used to send Maya in the mail for the holidays. If there had been more I would have totally pocketed them – but every guest couldn’t resist eating several of these. I was so jealous that she used to get these in the mail.
Pecan tarts, just like her grandmother used to send Maya in the mail for the holidays

These were the perfect treat to go with the Coffee Syllabub, a creamy coffee drink with Zach’s roasted coffee that was like a mash-up of an Irish Coffee but also like Egg Nog becasue of the egg white cream.
Pecan tarts, just like her grandmother used to send Maya in the mail for the holidays, along with Coffee Syllabub

Maya plating the Sweet potato custard pie, the final course
Maya plating the Sweet potato custard pie, the final course

I liked how this was a little softer because of the custard, and not as squashy.
Sweet potato custard pie

Ooooff, now you see what I mean by eating lightly before dinner for this 10 course marathon right?

I like to think of myself as a patron of the arts – while some patrons collect art pieces and visit art galleries, or sponsor musicians, sciences, or charites, I’ve dedicated myself to the culinary arts. Besides Nodoguro, Mae PDX has a place in my heart and stomach as among my favorite pop-ups in Portland. I heartily endorse that you need to go – and if you need a friend to go with you, I volunteer!

If you’d like to learn more about Mae and Maya, check out this excellent podcast with Right At The Fork featuring Maya.

While at dinner, one of my guests mentioned he preferred cold chicken to hot chicken. I disagree. I do love both hot and cold chicken, but the juice running down from the warm meat, and the crispy texture that is yet soft of the chicken only happens when it’s hot, so hot gets more favor and will win. What do you think between cold vs hot chicken?

Thighs and the leg are my favorite part of the fried chicken, followed by wings and breasts. What are you favorite sections? What would have been your favorite dish of the dinner?

Filed Under: Food and Drink Tagged With: Baked butternut squash, Baked cheddar grits with ramps, Benne crackers, Benton's 16 month aged country ham, Branch raw honey rye Old Fashioned, Coffee Syllabub, Cornbread dressing with Benton's bacon and chicken livers, Deviled eggs with bread & butter pickled green garlic & hot sauce caviar, Mae PDX, Mae Pop-up, Mae Portland, marshmallows and fried sage, Maya Lovelace, pecan mini-tart, Pecan tart, Pickled corn, pickled green tomatoes, pickled okra, pimento cheese, Portland pop up restaurant, Pre Thanksgiving, Roasted brussels sprouts with brown butter crunch, sassafras cranberry and quince sauce, Sassafras Sweet Tea, sauerkraut corn, sorghum butter, sour corn, Sweet potato custard pie, Warm angel biscuits

Gluten-free Cheddar Fondue Recipe

December 7, 2015 by Pechluck 10 Comments

Last week, for a ladies wine night I hosted at my home, I prepared a Cheddar Fondue. This is so easy to do- the most time consuming part will be grating the cheese. You want to use freshly grated cheese rather than pre-grated because the kind that come in the bag already have starches and powder added to them during packaging. I generally do this while watching TV – I did this while watching Amazing Race and Walking Dead!
Gluten-free Cheddar Fondue Recipe with broccoli as your dipper instead of bread is healthier. You can have the broccoli raw or blanch it quickly to soften it (but not too much) Cheese fondue with cauliflower as your dipper instead of bread is healthier. You can have the cauliflower raw or blanch it quickly to soften it (but not too much)

Otherwise, it’s pretty straightforward, but so worth it for a party. Or dinner. Or lunch. Is there ever a wrong time to enjoy melted cheese? My secret for this version is that besides the cheddar, I add additional flavors via a pinch of nutmeg, dry mustard, and sometimes a few tablespoons of pesto (you can make your own or buy it from the store, whatever works for you) if no one in your party has a nut allergy. Other optio nsmight be to add in diced tomatoes or red peppers.

For dippers, I sliced up apples and had blanched broccoli, but other veggies would work like cauliflower, asparagus – and this was too time consuming for me, but boiled fingerling potatoes would be a perfect addition too. If you’re not trying to be vegetarian, you could also slice up some cooked sausage. Since this time I was intentionally striving to be gluten free I didn’t have bread – though you could seek out gluten free bread if you’d like.
Great dippers for a cheese fondue that is healthier than bread - broccoli and cauliflower! Just quickly blanch them to soften them up

Since this time I was intentionally striving to be gluten free I didn’t have bread – though you could seek out gluten free bread if you’d like.
Cheddar fondue, a fun interactive way to eat together

A particular guest I had coming not only was gluten-free, but also has corn allergies. So, as a subsitute for the cornstarch that most fondue recipes call for, I used tapioca flour! Tapioca flour, also known as tapioca starch, is gluten free as it’s made with a root. I first became acquainted with tapioca flour when making pao de quejio Brazilian cheese bread rolls in the past, and often have it on hand.

I also admit I had 3 times as much of all the ingredients below- as I was making the fondue I measured 8 ounces of recipe at a time, but I prepped more than that in case the cheese ran low so I could add another 8 ounces or 4 ounces as desired. You should do this even if you aren’t sure of your party size because having a little bit of extra cheese or wine available will mean you can adjust the thickness and amount of your cheese as you need based on the way your cheese is melting to get the desired melty texture.

Make sure you don’t get your cheese too hot, as it will start to glomp together and fats will ooze from it. You want it just warm enough to be melted.

Ingredients:

8 ounces of sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup of dry white wine
4 teaspoons of tapioca flour
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard
2 tablespoons of pesto – regular basis or red pepper sauce
Blanched broccoli (you can also use raw or steamed, but I like blanched because it softens it slightly but not too much so you still get great green color and firmness to stay on your fondue fork)
Sliced apples
Whatever else you’d like to dip into your cheese!

Directions:

Grate the sharp Cheddar cheese and then set aside – it will melt better if it’s closer to room temperature rather than cold from the refrigerator when you start to melt it.
In a small bowl, mix the 4 teaspoons of tapioca flour with 2 tablespoons of cold water. Stir until it dissolves.
Peel the 2 garlic cloves and rub the inside of the surface of your pot or saucepan with the cloves. I then minced the garlic and put it in the pot along with 1 cup of the white wine. Heat the wine until it is simmering.
Slowly whisk in a handful of the 8 ounces of cheese at a time so that it will melt evenly. The liquid cheese should still be at a simmer.
Once the cheese has melted, whisk in the tapioca and water mixture, then the 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard until it is smooth and fully incorporated.
Swirl in the 2 tablespoons of pesto at the end for a little extra depth of flavor
If you want to use a slow cooker to keep it warm, you may have to start this on a pot on the stove to get the heat needed to first melt and incorporate everything, and now move it into the slow cooker.

From here, just dip and eat! If for some reason you have leftovers, I will often refrigerate it and add it in an omelette or on open faced sandwiches or other veggies later.
Cheese fondue with broccoli as your dipper instead of bread is healthier. You can have the broccoli raw or blanch it quickly to soften it (but not too much)

Other fondues we had were broth (a great shortcut for this is to buy pho broth!) with meat and seafood, chocolate (dip crackers, cookies, fruit, cream puffs and eclairs…). It’s a fun theme for a party as it kept everyone standing around my table to move around to the various stations and accompaniments. Or, it’s lovely for a dinner with close friends or your loved one because the constant dipping as you eat helps with conversation as you are interacting with your food together!

What’s your favorite type of fondue?

Filed Under: Cheese, Cooking Tagged With: #MeatlessMonday, cheddar fondue, cheese fondue recipe, cooking, easy vegetarian, fondue recipe, gluten free, gluten free fondue, Gluten-free Cheddar Fondue Recipe, recipe, vegetarian recipe

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