H50’s Strawberry Champagne Soup, served with Champagne Ice, Pistachios and Mint

June 15, 2013 by 3 Comments

So earlier this week, I wrote about how I visited H50 for Portland Dining Month, where I loved their strawberry champagne soup. I know I just talked about a creamy but healthy watercress cauliflower soup because it got all rainy and sucky weather wise. But now I’m following that with this chilled fruit soup recipe which was shared by H50- the exact soup I had! This should be perfect as the weather is heating back up for this weekend (just this weekend… than back to more rain) so hurry up as the strawberries are ready for the picking at various U-Pick farms in the area.

H50 Bistro’s Chilled Strawberry Soup Recipe served with champagne ice, pistachios and mint

chilled strawberry soup served with champagne ice, pistachios and mint, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant

Ingredients:

Strawberry Soup

  • 3 cups strawberries
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/3 cup champagne
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 cup toasted pistachios
  • A sprig of Fresh Mint

Champagne Ice

  • 1 and 1/2 cups champagne
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • Juice from 1/2 lemon

Directions:

  1. Juice the lemons- separate them because you are using 1 lemon for the soup, and 1/2 lemon for the champagne ice
  2. Now, for the Champagne Ice, take the 1 1/2 cups champagne, 3 tablespoons sugar, and that 1/2 of a lemon’s juice in mix and pour into a flat tray that can fit into your freezer. It should freeze to the consistency of sorbet.
  3. Meanwhile, chill all the rest of the ingredients in the refrigerator. Well, probably not the sugar. Chill the bowl(s) you are going to serve this in too.
  4. Ice, Ice baby… When your ice is ready, now let’s make the soup. In a blender place the juice of 1 lemon, the strawberries, 1/3 cup of champagne, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup orange juice, and puree. Since everything is already cold (right? You chilled it? Previous step and all) it is now up to you to adjust consistency and seasoning with the rest of the sugar, and if necessary, perhaps more orange juice.
  5. If it’s not cold enough to your liking… chill some more! When you are ready temperature wise with your Champagne Ice and Chilled Strawberry Soup, ladle the strawberry soup into a chilled bowl. Take out your sorbet freeze of Champagne Ice and “shave” into some chunks by running a tablespoon over it, and top your soup with these shavings. Garnish with crushed toasted pistachio and fresh mint. And now, what to do, what to do with that rest of the strawberries and champagne…

chilled strawberry soup served with champagne ice, pistachios and mint, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant

AND/OR, head on over to H50 and just have the 3 course menu for $29 like I did!

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H50 for Portland Dining Month

June 7, 2013 by 5 Comments

H50 Bistro Bar, located the waterfront hotel of Hotel 50, was the first restaurant I’ve taken advantage of for the Portland Dining Month special of a 3 course dinner for $29. I haven’t been back for a couple years, and since then the executive chef (Nicholas Yanes) left and now a new executive chef Ron Baker is at the helms. I do like the location and hip modern atmosphere, so I gave it a try as my first Portland Dining month dinner.

If you happen to drive here, H50 and Hotel 50 generously offer FREE valet covered parking in the Hotel Fifty lot for up to two hours for H50 diners.

H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant

Here, the options for the meals for Dining Month included

First course

  • chilled strawberry soup served with champagne ice, pistachios and mint OR
  • green salad served with basil, mint, shallots, balsamic vinaigrette and a ricotta crostini

Second course

  • braised brisket crepenette served with seasonal smoked vegetables, tellagio cheese and pickled breakfast radishes OR
  • fire brick-roasted half chicken served with moroccan spices, saffron hummus, grilled rapini and olive tapenade

Third course

  • frozen whiskey mousse served with caramelized banana mousse, banana chip and orange syrup

So I picked this out especially for the first and third course. And, here’s what I got…

I started out with the Cinnamon Blood  Orange Margarita, with H5O cinnamon anise tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, orange juice, blood orange puree

cocktail, Cinnamon Blood Orange Margarita, with H5O cinnamon anise tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, orange juice, blood orange pureeH50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant

And then, the Portland Dining Month menu dinner. This was quite a meal, including the amuse bouche of Salt Cod Fritters with pickled pepper aioli, and even a sweet goodbye bite with the check.

H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant amuse bouche of Salt Cod Fritters with pickled pepper aioli, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant amuse bouche of Salt Cod Fritters with pickled pepper aioli, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant

The first course was even better than I had hoped, with the chilled strawberry soup served with champagne ice, pistachios and mint being such intense strawberry puree.
chilled strawberry soup served with champagne ice, pistachios and mint, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant chilled strawberry soup served with champagne ice, pistachios and mint, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant

I was blown away by the second course of the braised brisket crepenette, all that richness of the beef topped with pork belly and roasted cauliflower and tellagio cheese balanced by the slight bitterness of the greens and pickled radishes. It was much more than the menu description had promised. Usually you might expect a crepenette to be the size of a burger patty, or come as multiple meatballs, but this was serious – steak sized!
braised brisket crepenette served with seasonal smoked vegetables, tellagio cheese and pickled breakfast radishes, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant braised brisket crepenette served with seasonal smoked vegetables, tellagio cheese and pickled breakfast radishes, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant braised brisket crepenette served with seasonal smoked vegetables, tellagio cheese and pickled breakfast radishes, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant

Meanwhile that frozen whiskey mousse served with caramelized banana mousse, banana chip and orange syrup, and bonus! also chocolate wafer, pistachio crumbles definitely had a strong current of whiskey flavor, but I appreciated all the various textures on the plate to play along with.
frozen whiskey mousse served with caramelized banana mousse, banana chip and orange syrup, chocolate tulle, pistachio crumbles, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant frozen whiskey mousse served with caramelized banana mousse, banana chip and orange syrup, chocolate tulle, pistachio crumbles, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant frozen whiskey mousse served with caramelized banana mousse, banana chip and orange syrup, chocolate tulle, pistachio crumbles, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant extra sweet bite with the check, H50 Bistro Bar, Hotel 50 restaurant, Portland, waterfront restaurant

Make your Portland Dining Month reservations via OpenTable so that Downtown Portland will also make a donation to the Oregon Food Bank!

Check out my other Portland Dining Month escapades: I ate at Quartet, Accanto, Urban Fondue, Fratelli, H50 out of my initial list!

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