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Hey! I finally got it together to get my French Fridays with Dorie post up on time! This week it was a fairly simple and straightforward Asparagus Soup. I added a little dried dill to mine and also some extra garlic. Not much to say about this, it was pretty tasty. And, in usual soup fashion, it seemed to be even more flavorful the next day. Want the recipe? Go buy Around my French Table by Dori
Monday evening we went to the Portland Food Adventure’s dinner at Levant. Here are my main thoughts on the event: there was a lot of sun, the food was amazing, there were multiple dessert courses. Unlike the equally delicious Gruner meal, everything Monday night was plated separately and while it maybe took a bit longer that way, the plates were stunning. The menu is listed below and then
Sen Yai Noodles 3384 SE Division Street Portland, OR 97214 Noodles for breakfast? That’s crazy-talk! Of course, it isn’t really and technically, most of the breakfast menu items at Yen Sai are soups, porridges, eggs and breakfast-y what-nots. We went to a preview breakfast Tuesday and left plenty full and fairly ready to start the day. This is, of course, the newest restaurant withi
This is a great spring or summer meal. First of all, it has an easy one pot type set up (always a plus) and it’s Spanish in influence, which always makes me think of sunny weather. You could easily skip the chorizo if you can’t find any (this requires the real, cured Spanish variety) but if you can track some down it’s highly recommended. In the oven, the broth, spices, and cho
These are oddly delicious little scones that are great as a quick breakfast or afternoon snack. Odd mainly because the dough is very wet and sticky so that you can’t really pat it down and either cut the scones into wedges or circles like normal. You sort of have to scoop the dough out like cookies. I’ve also really been digging the spelt flour lately. These are just the first in a lo
Well, I think this French Fridays with Dorie is one of my favorites! But, I did change a lot of things. This was mainly due to what I had on hand and what I didn’t want to go buy specifically for this recipe (cream, brioche). I used some roasted garlic ciabatta that I had in the freezer and instead of cream, I added a little marsala wine to the mushrooms. It just seemed that with butter an
This was a recent meal at our house and even though I accidentally made two “errors” with it, the meal was still delicious. So, I think we’ll call this one both forgiving and versatile. Error number one was not realizing this recipe made two cake pans worth of polenta (not a big deal as the other polenta is safely in the freezer awaiting a dinner soon) and error number two was
I almost didn’t make this French Fridays with Dorie. In fact, I really wasn’t going to make it at all but at 9:00pm on Thursday night I looked to see what the assignment was…it was Swiss Chard Pancakes. I had really wanted to make those. And I didn’t have any chard. Because I was lazy and I absolutely did not want to go to the store, I used what I did have — arugula.
This is a salad that is directly from the gods of delicious things. I used to work right by the Whole Foods in Bridgeport and oh man, I would buy a little containers of this salad at least once a week. It’s so good! It’s also a dangerous salad because it is made up of broccoli, so you can easily kid yourself into thinking that it’s healthy. But, oh no, if you are doing it right,
In the last few months (year, maybe? I am bad at judging time), it seems that my stretch of SE Division street has just exploded with new places — Ava Gene’s, Xico, Lauretta Jean’s, Cibo. And I’m sure there’s more I’m even forgetting. Of this group, we’ve been to Cibo twice so far and I can’t wait to go again. It was a bit crowded on a Tuesday night
This week’s French Fridays with Dorie was a very interesting thing indeed — so interesting, in fact, that I am a day late in getting the post up. Cod and Spinach Roulades — a spinach and onion filling, wrapped up in fish mousse, steamed and served with tomato sauce and pesto. Kind of like an Italian-French, fish tamale? I don’t see the recipe officially online, so I wo
If you’ve ever made paneer, ricotta is a lot like that, except even easier as you don’t have to weight it down. It’s actually so easy that I don’t see how anyone could read through a recipe for it and continue to buy tubs of ricotta at the store. This is so much better! And, I know it’s not true ricotta (I think that’s made with just whey and not milk?) but thi
Recently, Freekehlicious offered to send me some Freekeh from to try, which was very exciting, as I had heard of the grain before and had wanted to experiment with it for awhile. So, what is freekeh, you ask? Well, freekeh is a grain that I think looks a little like spelt. “Young roasted green wheat is harvested while still young and green, then parched, roasted and dried. The process captu
SubRosa 2601 SE Clinton St Portland, OR 97202 Saturday and Sunday Breakfast SubRosa is a place that we have gone to many times in our SE Portland neighborhood. It’s a restaurant that has really grown into it’s space and seems to fill up quickly most nights. Over the years, we’ve gone for dinner every so often (the last time we were there for an evening meal, owner Mary Ann gift
This week’s French Fridays with Dorie is a strange, little cookie. Grated egg yolk. Kalamata olives. Powdered sugar. Potato starch. So strange and yet so delightful — it’s Pierre Herme’s Olive Sables. I really was a little skeptical about these and they are certainly not the type off cookie you necessarily want to dip in milk or anything, but we both really liked them. I think
I am very enamored of the Kale and Onion hand pie at Lauretta Jean’s. I’m trying to limit myself to one every other week, because when the pastry is that good and flakey, you know there’s a lot of butter. But, I think I have found a way to have the flavors a bit more often — Kale, Feta and Onion Quiche. And the best part? The crust is still delicious but made from a mix of
Peanut butter and jelly really is a timeless combination — just like macaroni and cheese. Olive oil and vinegar. Pizza and beer. The X-Files and Sunday nights. You get the idea. Also, be warned, these peanut butter scones are very habit-forming and a little well of jelly in the middle makes them even better. A nice thing about these scones is that they also include whole wheat flour and whe
French Friday’s with Dorie this week was Ispahan Loaf Cake, which is Persian, very time consuming (what with the egg separating, whites beating, raspberry placementing, etc,…) but quite delightful when it was all done. Perhaps it wasn’t the best project for a Thursday night, but we were having tasty, slightly-warm slices of cake by 8pm, so that’s not too bad. I really di
Lincoln City is a long, sprawling town on the central Oregon coast. It has a casino, an outlet mall and continues along Highway 101 for miles. But it also has equal miles of sandy beaches, distinct neighborhoods and a couple of pretty good places to eat. It’s also known for all of the glass art studios that populate the area, as well as being a great location to view pelicans flying over th
Hello French Fridays with Dorie and this week’s Orange Scented Lentil Soup recipe. How are you? Well, I thought you were delicious! I tend to have the opinion that, although lentil soups are in standard rotation at our house, they can be kind of boring. But not this bowl — the orange and spices are definitely different flavors than I normally go with and I think that really made this
As promised, here’s another St. Patrick’s Day recipe (although it’s about a day later than I was hoping to post it). Luckily, there’s still plenty of time to plan on making a risotto like this for Friday’s (or Saturday’s, Sunday’s) dinner. If you are really smart, you will get a little extra corned beef and make yourself a sandwich at a later date —
Over the next couple of days I’m going to be posting two ideas for St. Patrick’s Day meals and this first one uses two very Irish ingredients — Guinness stout and lamb. It does take awhile to cook but the reward is worth it. Of course, there’s also the challenge of finding a pot big enough to fit the lamb shanks in (usually my downfall), which is definitely tricky, but ag
I had every intention of skipping this week’s French Fridays with Dorie because I didn’t think I’d have enough time to make it. Then I checked the schedule and saw that it was Cheesy Crème Brûlée and well, I found myself heading right to the store to pick up supplies. I love crème brûlée and I love cheese, so this was quite the alluring combination for me. But, because it is all
This is a hearty bowl of soup. Spelt replaces the pasta for a healthy, toothsome addition. Sometimes referred to as spelt berries, they aren’t berries at all, but rather Spelt is an ancient whole grain related to modern day wheat. It’s high in magnesium, fiber, phosphorus and vitamin B3 and provides a pleasingly chewey texturehsome chew. Use it in salads, soups, and baked good. It can
Does cinnamon and chicken sound weird? Well, maybe just a little at first (although, probably not as weird as tuna meatballs with cinnamon), but, honestly this chicken dish is so amazing. The chili flakes keep the cinnamon-sugar marinade from becoming too sweet and it all just really seems to work with the juicy, roasted chicken thighs. Plus, when you think about it, just because cinnamon seems t
Cheese popcorn should not involve powdered cheese. I was recently looking for a recipe and I came across a bunch that called for powdered cheddar cheese. Where do you even get that? I thought about it for a bit and came to the conclusion that I could probably just melt cheese on popcorn. The only tricky part is not burning the popcorn under the broiler. Whatever you do, when you are at that step
This is a great meatless meal for when you have winter squash you want to use up or if you just want a hearty bowl of warm soup. Or maybe you’re just bored and you want a food project that will take about an hour. This is what to do if any of those scenarios are true. Plus, it’s just a really delicious bowl of winter soup. So there. I used a combination of one small acorn squash and o
So, what is the best way to follow a Meatless Monday post? Why a big, meaty one of course! Even jwa, who is not a huge fan of meatloaf was on board with this meal. Danish Meatloaf, who knew? The bacon gets nice and crispy in places and helps keep the meat all moist (the cream helps that too, actually). And there’s Lingonberry jelly in the gravy giving it that extra-Nordic flair. Originally
I have been having a lot of fun lately experimenting with out-of-the-ordinary and interesting grains. Teff is no exception. It is a tiny, gluten free, whole grain that is native to Ethiopia and very nutritious. Traditionally, it’s ground into a flour and used for Injera, an Ethiopian flatbread, but the grains can also be cooked whole and then used in soups and stews. In this recipe, instea
Photo taken August, 2012. She has an origin story and it goes something like this — my mom and her sister were at a Mexican restaurant in Fargo, ND (later we would learn this was actually Moorhead, MN), over Labor Day weekend in 1992. There were margaritas involved. Some would say multiple margaritas. And there was a pet store next to the Mexican restaurant. Can you see where this is going?
Valentine’s Day Baking Tips & Tricks at Darigold in Seattle I was recently invited to a dairy baking demonstration at Darigold headquarters in Seattle. And of course, when someone invites you to spend the day in Seattle tasting fancy desserts and pastries made with mountains of cream and butter, the correct response is, “Yes! Of course I will attend!” Upon arriving at Dari
I really enjoy finding a new ingredient that I’ve never cooked with before and discovering something fun to do with it. That’s exactly what happened with me and oat groats. To be honest, when I first got the bag I wasn’t even sure what an oat groat was — oat kernel with its hull removed. But one thing I’ve learned about oat groats? They can be delicious! I came acros
This week’s French Fridays with Dorie was fairly interesting — pork tenderloin, cut into pieces, browned and then cooked quickly in orange juice, zest and segments, cardamom and onion. I changed a few things. Originally, the diced onions were to be added with the orange, but I caramelized those a bit first thing, then removed them and browned the pork. I added the onions back in when
Okay, I’ll admit it — I was a little skeptical about this French Fridays with Dorie. Not because of the brussels sprouts or the squash, because I really like both of those vegetables, but because they were steamed. Why steam vegetables, when you can roast them? Needless to say, I am not a huge fan of the steamed vegetables. But, I set my vegetable preparation beliefs aside and I made
Update: Voting will start on February 14th and run through February 28th. You can vote for me at Lamb Lover’s Month (again, starting on 2/14/13). Recently, I was asked to participate in the American Lamb Board’s Dinner for Two Recipe & Photo Contest, which is a absolute treat because I really do love lamb. Even more awesome, is that they sent me some lamb to use in developing a
I’m a big fan of Astoria, Oregon. I’m not sure why exactly. Well, I did get married there, so I’m sure that has something to do with it, but the reason we even picked Astoria in the first place is that it’s just a cool little town. It’s a bit rough around the edges (although, less so since cruise ships dock there now) but it’s still very quirky. Beautiful. Str
What is there to say about a giant pot of Ragù Bolognese? That it’s red, and hearty and that it’s full of meat. That it’s delicious…well, yes, of course that. Maybe also that it’s easy to mis-read the original recipe and get prosciutto instead of pancetta. And maybe that it wasn’t even noticed that until days afterwards, when the recipe was going to be posted.
I came across this post on The Kitchn last year and pretty much went right home and made the cabbage that first evening (and many times since). I’ve always roasted it in the oven instead of grilling and I’ve found that it works very well in the oven. And it’s funny, I’ve never really been a big fan of cabbage but this recipe just really works. Kind of like how roasting bru
I received the Bouchon Bakery Cookbook for Christmas and besides being a beautiful cookbook, it also appears to have my most favorite muffin recipe ever in it. Originally, the recipe was for carrot muffins but I have been using squash (once butternut and most recently delicata) to make wonderful, somewhat healthy, winter muffins. The cookbook gives all the measurements in gram weights as well as
This week’s French Fridays with Dorie is all “knock knock.” And I’m all, “who’s there?” And it’s all, “Chicken liver, word-I-would-put-if-so-many-relatives-didn’t-read-my-blog.” Well. Okay then. So, I did it. I bought chicken liver. I blended it up in my food processor with some egg yolk, half and half, garlic and herbs and I baked
Some days there is nothing better than having something tasty simmering away in a slow cooker. The house starts smelling delicious about maybe hour two and it just keeps getting better smelling ALL DAY! So wonderful. This is one of those recipes that you definitely want going for 7-8 hours on a cold winter day. Strangely, I haven’t really done that much with pork shoulder before, just a ha
The French Fridays with Dorie recipe this week was Long & Slow Apples and the recipe is posted in the LA Times Food section, so I’ll supply the link. But, here’s my thing — whispers — I didn’t really like this one. I thought it was a lot of work (not even counting the two hours, inactive roasting time) and had surprisingly, very little flavor. And the fault tot
Simple Truth Organic and Natural Food Way back in December, I was invited to an event at the Hawthorne Fred Meyer, for a launch of their new product line — Simple Truth. Simple Truth aims to “provide a simple, uncomplicated and trustworthy solution to the challenge of simply better living. All Simple Truth items are Free From 101 artificial ingredients and preservatives.” These
Quinoa is one of my favorite grains. I can’t remember when I first tried it — I think maybe a couple of years ago? But ever since that first experience, I’m always looking for new ways to use it. I’m not quite sure what it is but I really like the texture and flavor — soft but still a bit toothsome, but with a slightly nutty flavor. Tossed with spicy, roasted carrot
This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe is Herb-speckled Spaetzle and it is on epicurious, so even if you don’t have the cookbook, you can still make the recipe. This was very good. I actually just tried making spaetzle a few weeks ago using a different recipe (buckwheat spaetzel) and while that was good, this was great. I used a colander for making the spaetzle both times, but
This New Year’s Eve was celebrated with an extravagant, beautiful meal at Castagna. Now, we visit the informal, cafe side with a fair amount of frequency, but this is only our fourth visit to the fancy-pants restaurant side — and our second visit since Justin Woodward took over the kitchen. Castagna 1752 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97214 Normally, I’ll be the first to ad
What better way to end 2012 than by posting photos from our Thanksgiving trip to Fargo, North Dakota. My mom recently moved back there (where she’s from) after 40 some-odd years of living in Chicago. I remember going to Fargo somewhat regularly while growing up, but I had not been back there for probably 20 years. It was an adventure. We stayed at the Hotel Donaldson (from now on, referred
I am taking these last few, precious days of 2012 to post things that I should have posted much, much earlier. This trip to Seattle for instance, happened way back in September but unfortunately, time got away from me. Hopefully, I can do a much better job in 2013. That’s the goal anyway. But back to September — we headed up to Seattle to see the King Tut exhibit at the Pacific Scienc
Okay, so this will be a fairly quick French Fridays with Dorie, as I’m currently traveling and in the wilds of northern California (Ferndale, to be exact). Back home in pdx tomorrow, hooray! Celery Root Puree. So. Yeah. I actually kind of liked this but I wasn’t a huge fan. As in, I’m glad I tried it but I’m not sure I’ll be making it again. We had this with our pre-
When I think of Cheez-its, I don’t immediately think of France, but in the spirit of French Fridays with Dorie, I’m willing to go with it. Perhaps French people just looooove Cheez-its? Kind of like Jerry Lewis? There’s also probably an intro to the recipe or something that explains this connection but the book is downstairs and I am up here and it’s 7:00 AM and I donR
