Thanksgiving

By some miracle we got the old dining table up the stairs. A couple days later, our living room looked like a dining room by the time the place settings were done. And what a wonderful celebration with food! On November 24, 2011, I went a little nuts and cooked everything in the house -- almost. The menu: Turkey, lathered with butter, sprinkled with salt and pepper; Sage Dressing with chopped walnuts and mushrooms that were sauteed in butter; Macaroni & Cheese with 3 kinds of cheeses, diced ham, onion, and green pepper; good ol' cranberry sauce from a can; Steve made the glorious Giblet Gravy; there were Roasted 'Taters (Bakers cut in half, dipped in oil and flour, then roasted for an hour to a golden brown); a wonderful Green Salad by Mary Rose with mesclun greens, avocado, and other salad delights; Green Beans baked in an Italian casserole, by Silvia and Don; Rummy Yams with Brown Sugar; angle-sliced, steamed carrots in a maple syrup and butter sauce; Sonya brought a non-gluten pumpkin pie with coconut on top; I made a Pumpkin-Pecan Pie; and for the chocolate portion of the dessert, I made Dark Chocolate Mousse in glasses with chocolate pieces on top. Our friends Noelle and Greg were there, and we all had a fun time, with plenty of loud, intense conversation, drinking of wine, some electric guitar playing downstairs, the CD player going all evening at a reasonable volume, oohs and aahs and full stomachs over the amassed tonnage of foods. We are so fortunate to have so much. Blessings to all -- and have great holidays this year and into the new year.
Ciao,
Deb

The Baker is Rockin' !

Finally, finally, finally, I have started selling my baked goods. People order what they want, I make their order, and they come pick it up. It's great! I had my first order last week. It was so much fun! Here's the menu; if you would like to order off the menu, send me an email! I'm at: debzelda@mindspring.com

MENU

Breads
Black Pepper Polenta Crackers $10.
Challah 6.
Focaccia 6.
Grissini (Italian Breadsticks) 10.
Multigrain 7.
Rye Baguette with Bacon 9.
Stollen 10.

Breakfast Breads
Coffee Cake 7.
-Blueberry
-Lemon Poppyseed
-Sour Cream
Lemon Bread 7.

Pastries
Muffins 10/doz.
Scones 10/doz.

Cookies (prices are per dozen)
Chocolate Chip (w/ or w/o walnuts) 10.
Pecan Crescents (shortbread) 15.
Almond Crescents (non-shortbread) 18.
Oatmeal (w/ or w/o chocolate chips, walnuts, or raisins) 10.
Brownies (w/ or w/o walnuts) 10-14.
-Cream cheese brownies
-Iced brownies
-Cake-like or dense dark chocolate brownies
Peanut Butter 12.
Shortbread 15.
Chocolate or Vanilla Sugar Cookies 17.

Cakes
Carrot 19.
Devil’s Food 20.
German Chocolate 24
King Cake 19.
Opera Cake 25.
White 15.

Tortes
Linzer 16.
Sacher 18.

Tarts
Lemon 20.
Strawberry-Ricotta 20.
Chocolate 20.
Tiramisu 24.

Pies
Apple 16.
Blueberry Crisp 10.
Cherry 12.
Coconut Cream 15.
Lemon Meringue 15.
Pecan 15.
Pumpkin 12.
Pumpkin-Pecan 13.

Quiche
Zucchini-Cheese-Mushroom 15.

Italian Specialties
Chicken alla Cacciatore 20.
Eggplant Parmesan 20.
Lasagne (w/meat or w/spinach) 30.
Marinara Sauce with Pasta di giorno 18.
Stuffed Shells 20.

Ciao!

Deb

Portofino

My longtime friend Sonya and I went out to eat Wednesday night at Portofino in the Sellwood neighborhood. It's a lovely little place, cozy and charming, with friendly staffers. I had the Wild Mushroom Fettucine, a deliciously creamy dish with more mushroom than cream flavors, and the taste of the pasta came through. My plate was left clean. Sonya had the Seafood Risotto, a varied, luscious blend of shrimp, scallops, and a nicely-herbed, creamy risotto. I had the Montepulciano, a red wine that went very well with the pasta. The petite basket of bland bread was nothing to rave about. Our server, who appeared to be alone to serve the entire room full of customers, was surprisingly attentive -- perhaps too much so, which I suppose is better than being ignored.
For dessert I had a Special that night, a peach and blueberry cobbler with cinnamon gelato. It tasted as good as it sounds. The flavors complemented each other well in a dessert that wasn't overly sweet; a comforting finish to a fine dinner.
Portofino is a very pleasant stop in my quest to try the Italian restaurants in the Portland area. It rates high with me because of our food and the welcoming attitude of the staff. Also, I must admit to a touch of nostalgia: the atmosphere reminded me a little of the late, great Piccolo Mondo, an Italian restaurant at the Johns Landing Water Tower.
Buon appetito,
Deb

Alder bakery

I went to a new bakery the other day called Alder. I had a cinnamon roll the size of a hamburger -- and ate the entire thing. It was so rich and delicious, a tight spiral of tender, flaky pastry as in a croissant, plenty of chopped walnuts, and drizzled with a nice white icing. I would have been satisfied with just a half, but I was hungry and this worked well for my sweet craving of the morning. Actually that was quite the understatement. I was sated for the rest of the day in terms of desiring any more sweets whatsoever.
Alder is a spacious area with beautiful two-tone varnished wood tables, and benches available at the wall. The building is next to The Matador restaurant, and across the street from Pet Samaritan Clinic at E. Burnside at 24th. Good Sam's a place I've been to hundreds of times over the past 20 years, so of course I'm immediately going to notice a new bakery in proximity.
Other choices were perfect macarons, flawless square and round chocolate layered desserts with various garnishes; gelato with an assortment of flavors; and three large, thick types of cookies of the standards: Chocolate chip; peanut butter; and oatmeal/raisin, all looking decidedly nonstandard and delicious; and other sweets to delight the eye and palate. Well worth a stop with their excellent drip coffee alongside.
ciao,
deb

Humdrum existence?

Feed starter. Make apple pie with whole wheat crust. Adapt pumpkin tartlets recipe. Clean kitchen floor. This is my life now, after my "temp" job as a cook. I suppose industrial-size soup-making is not my thing. Time to ramp up my catering biz sideline, make all things sweet or Italian. Classes, anyone? I love to teach people how to cook and bake. Come on over! Comment on this post!
Autumn, the time of change. Absolutely everything changes in fall: the leaves, obviously, but also my nose, allergies be damned; then there's the actual food season change, turning to examining pear and pumpkin possibilities, then tangerines and turkey in November, and, well, we won't even mention December yet. Here in the Northwest, with the decline of summer and the beginning of the fall rains (rainfall?), the dreariness sets in; or rather, the delectability! The trad foods, the modern spins on the trads, the mind set in motion to create a new dish, a new dessert, but still embrace the traditional. Therein lies the creative challenge. For instance, I've got a Charlie Trotter/Michelle Gayer date tart recipe that I will magically turn into a pumpkin tartlets recipe. Who ever said I wasn't creative! Um, well, no one, actually; not to my face, anyway. Heh. Anyway...so far it's going well. The samples turned out fine, even if a bit too rich. Back to the kitchen. BTW, my dearest one and only husband said to me: "Don't ever let anyone tell you you're not a good cook." Isn't he a keeper? Absolutely.

ciao
deb

Italian Dinner from the 1800s

Wow. Get a bunch of Italians together and they really know how to have fun.
I went to an event billed as an Italian 18th Century Dinner, at Taste Unique, a small restaurant at 2134 SE Division Street here in Portland. Everyone there spoke at least some level of Italian, which of course made it more fun, and challenging. The food just kept coming, one course after another. It started with Crostini -- 3 kinds: Crostini di spinaci, Crostini di latte, e Crostini di rosso d'uova duri. The first, topped with a spinach kind of spread; the latte one probably had some kind of cheese as a spread on it; and the third had a stiff egg yolk, cooked, and flat, on top. All very tasty.

The second course was one of my favorites: Lasagne di princisgrass rigorsamente bianche con tartufo, which was a lasagne made almost entirely of cheese, with a slight crust that formed on top from the baking. It was heavenly. And we each got only one piece, which was a good thing because I would've filled up on that without regard to anything coming after.
The 3rd course was grilled lamb cutlets with a pignoli sauce e peas with sage, or: Cutulette di agnello fatte in griglie con salsa di pignoli e piselli fritti alla salvia.
For dessert we had some little doughnuts with a dipping sauce of sugar, cream, and spinach pureed together. The wine, from Winebow, was a delicious rosso, a Merlot, I believe.
We dined, drank, laughed, and talked -- and at one point, three women, which included the organizer of the event, were huddled around Chef Stefania's laptop singing along raucously to an Italian song on the stereo system. By the time Chef Stefania brought out a large wooden spoon for them as a microphone prop, I knew the evening was about to draw to a close.
Some time later, farewell greetings exchanged and last-minute introductions hastily made, we wound our way out of the restaurant, around the long table, down the narrow aisle into the warm summer night, our hearts filled with fun and our stomachs full of the joy of good food and wine.

Life After School

I've graduated from culinary school, now looking for work, and I've been thinking about my resume. I've been constantly updating, tinkering with it, and still find it amazing that such well-known, upscale restaurants have been calling me for interviews.
The thing about school is that it is so intensive, it leaves you ravenous for more information, even though you've been bombarded with it all year (I took a year-long program in Baking & Pastry). I have a stack of 25 books from the library, most of them about cakes, desserts, and baking. I opened one this morning and though I didn't think I'd like anything about it except the pictures, I was immediately drawn into Johnny Iuzzini's introduction (the book is Dessert Fourplay). By 26 he was working at a four-star New York restaurant as Executive Pastry Chef. I can't even imagine that now, because I am so much older than that in culinary graduate years. Because I'm just getting back into the business, I am light years away from what he is even talking about.
Of course I keep telling myself, "You should have started this career so much earlier!" But . . . I did! I started in my 20's. I was a server, then cocktail waitress, then a bartender. Then a server again a few more times, a few more locations. That was how I did it. I job-hopped, but never got into the cooking side of it. Eventually I slid into office work and probably wasted some years doing that. I also worked extensively in the arts: singing jazz, freelance writing, theatre work.
Now I'm ready to cook; ready to start at an entry-level job, which is best, really, because you don't want to miss anything on the way up. I'm probably different from a lot of my classmates because I don't want to open my own place. I want only to cook here, in Portland, and keep improving and learning. That's where those library books come in. And the interviews. I've already learned so much from the interviews. Wish me luck.
ciao
deb

A Year of Desserts

It has been an amazing year. I have learned so much in culinary school, and am very excited to be graduating from the year-long Baking & Pastry program at The Art Institute of Portland -- the commencement is next week! It seems like a miracle, the end of an arduous, fulfilling, fun, and very satisfying year of many accomplishments -- and a few small failures that seemed huge at the time: a tart that was melting while chef was grading it, for example. Yet there were many more successes. Since pictures are often more effective than words, here are a few snapshots from the year.

ciao,

Deb

Farro!

I'm in love with farro! And recently I made a salad with it. It was delicious! I found this little recipe in the Oregonian. The salad has 2 ears of cooked corn on the cob, and you slice off the kernels when it's cooked. The farro is soaked in water overnight, then cooked for only 10 mins. in a bit of water. There are chopped chives, thyme, and oregano, all of which I was able to walk to the backyard herb garden and pick fresh! It was so fun to make this salad. It also has a perfect blend of acidity and sweetness, with white wine vinegar, olive oil, and the natural sweetness from the corn. What a great find.
At People's Food Co-op and Food Front you can buy farro in bulk, which is nice because then you can pick out exactly how much you want. Farro is a whole grain, so it's very nutritious. It's an ancient grain; it's been around a long time in Europe and the Middle East and Egypt. Here's the recipe:
Farro Salad with Tomatoes and Corn
Mise en place: Overnight soaking of farro, a wheat grain with a nutty flavor. Cook corn. Toast almonds.
Ingredients:
1 cup farro
2 ears cooked corn
16 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
4 tsp chopped fresh oregano
4 tsp chopped fresh thyme
2 tBsp chopped fresh chives
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
2 tBsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 tsp white wine vinegar
TT - Salt and fresh-ground black pepper
Place 1 cup farro in a small bowl with water to cover. Let rest overnight at room temperature.
When ready to cook, drain farro and place in small pan with water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook for approx 10 mins, or until tender or al dente.
Scrape kernels from corn and place in a bowl large enough to hold all ingredients. Add tomatoes, the herbs, almonds, olive oil, vinegar, and salt & pepper; mix well. Drain cooked farro and toss with the other ingredients. This salad is best served at room temperature but can be chilled.
Ciao!
Deb

Time to Toast the new season ~

Having been away a couple of months (!) from this blog o' mine, it becomes obvious that the previous school term was crushingly busy. I could not wait for it to be over. It was so amazingly exhausting, mentally and physically. But hey! Finals are over, I survived, and there's still a few days left of spring break. What better place to celebrate by going out to breakfast than TOAST! TOAST is a neighborhood cafe on SE 52nd Ave near SE Steele and is so charming it even has pasted on the walls in the front room hundreds of crayon drawings by children. If that doesn't cheer you up, nothing will. The food is great, and the plate presentation is appealing. The menu is varied, including the sides, and who cares if it only has 3 spaces in its parking lot. Park on the street! They have mimosas! They have Vanilla Bean French Toast, and Squash Tart with the Tart pastry baked to perfection, and with perfectly sauteed, non-bitter Kale and 2 perfectly poached Eggs. For example. If, in the midst of all this perfection, you prefer to order a side of Toast, FYI, it's house made. Eggs and bacon are cooked to perfection; the staff is amiable, or friendly, and there's a bench to sit on if you have to wait to get a table. The drip coffee is nothing to write home about, but they have other beverage options. TOAST has food professionally prepared, a pleasing atmosphere, reasonable prices, and specials of the day. I keep going back there because I know I'm going to eat something good. ciao! deb

Lauro Mediterranean Kitchen

A restaurant at which we recently dined, Lauro is an expansive room with loads of talent and warm plates of food to delight in. The service was excellent. I ordered the Chicken Tagine one Saturday night, and it came with couscous, butternut squash, chickpeas, and currants. It was fun to taste this dish of Moroccan origin, with the perfect touch of spices that don't overwhelm, and suddenly have a pleasant sweetness in the mouth from a currant or two. Chicken Tagine comes to your table in a very warm bowl and your entire meal is within it. How nice that it stays warm throughout the dining hour! My companion had the same experience with his Seafood Paella. It had mussels, clams, calamari, shrimp, and chourico sausage on a bed of rice. The sausage is very unique, meaty and delicious. I also tasted the mussels and they were wonderfully plump and very fresh. He ate the whole thing, so it was obviously a hit with him ~ !
I didn't finish mine, but reserved the remainder for later at home. I simply had to try the apple tarte tatin with vanilla ice cream. It was glorious; the pastry was very fresh and tasted house-made, which isn't a far cry from reality, I'm sure, since they have a pastry chef there, Nancy Forrest. I am a sucker for good pastry, and indeed, I ate the whole thing.
My companion had the dessert special, a Grand Marnier pot de creme, with creme chantilly, and chocolate shortbread cookies on the side. Not to put too fine a point on it, but, ah, he ate all of it, too. I did have a chance -- barely -- to taste it; and it was very sophisticated and yummy.
After we left the restaurant, he said "One of the few times we've been in a place like that (a nice restaurant with innovative food) where I seriously considered having the pizza." There's always next time.
ciao
deb

Random Order, Aebliskivers

On NE Alberta at 18th, Random Order is the coffee place that has everything: Boozy pies, espresso drinks, vegan, non-gluten, and vegetarian menu offerings, Bailey's Irish Cream, cool music, wi-fi, and accommodating counter-persons. Try the Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie, or the Brandied Peach Pie; nice, and with a little glob of whipped cream on the side with your fave espresso -- heaven is pretty close to this.

Last month on Christmas morn it was once again time for making Aebliskivers with friends. For those of you in the know, skip this sentence: Aebliskivers are round Danish pancakes that are cooked in special pans for this purpose.

Our 2nd annual tradition began last year when my friend Pam came over with her 2 aebliskiver pans, lingonberry jam, and ScanFest cookbook. I provided the cardamom, powdered sugar, and all the rest. We had a blast (see photo at left), and resolved to do it again.

This year we had several more people in the kitchen: Pam and I, of course, and also Kelly, and Gritt, who is 100% Danish and is expert at making aebliskivers -- but of course! Here we are, cooking, then sampling:

Otto & Anita's Schnitzel Haus

On the edge of Multnomah Village, a group of friends & I were at a gallery to meet up with an artist friend. Okay -- I'll admit the name of the gallery: it's The Geezer Gallery. Yes, that's correct. Anyway, after viewing all the lovely, cleverly creative, imaginative artworks, it was decided that we would dine at "the German restaurant across the street." I had an inkling of doubt, owing to my previous experience with German restaurant food here in town, but being the adventurous type, I hopped onto the caravan.
The lobby is a funky little area, with house-made pastries in prominent display. Though the few Christmas decorations were probably new, the feel of the lobby made it seem as though they were brought out for the occasion from last year.

We received wonderful service for our table of eight, and from the minute we sat down until the last bite of conversation, we all felt immediately comfortable. We had a merry time, and when the food was brought out, it was all a pleasant surprise. First was a sampling ‘round the table of a bowl of “The original Dill Pickle Soup” which someone had ordered. As most of us did, I really had some doubts about this one. But it was amazingly delicious and I promptly ordered my own bowl!

Next were the main courses, and all of them came with spinach with the butter already on it – a nice touch, I thought; I didn’t have to ask f0r butter! – and a serving of spaetzle, a kind of noodle that is short and bright yellow, resembling scrambled eggs. The spaetzle was tasty, but seemed rich, so a smaller amount on my plate might have worked better, at least for me. There was also a serving of carrots, sliced bias cut. They were cooked perfectly: not mushy but not a little too firm as so many places do. The best part was my halibut fillet, which was a house special just for me, because they were out of the two previous items I’d tried to order. It was lovely and tender, with a delicate Bearnaise sauce to complement it splendidly.

Those were the highlights. The prices were reasonable, the service attentive and on top of it, and the whole place had a homespun feel. One just had the sense that this little place advertising itself as “Bavarian/American Food and Pastries” had lots of regular customers. I don’t doubt that a bit.

Tabla Bistro

Tonight we were in search of dessert, and being near the famous "Restaurant Row" of NE 28th Avenue, we stuck our head into a couple of places --nah, way too crowded -- and with dessert on our minds, who wants to wait an hour just to get in? We wandered into Tabla, a charming bistro with medium-low, pleasant lighting, an interesting dinner menu, and a nice dessert menu. We immediately liked the place. And though it was nearly full, the hostess found us a seat at the counter with a view of the cooks at work. We ordered and sat back to enjoy the "show." We found it interesting simply because we're into food, and we were very quiet and well-behaved while the cooks and servers went about their tasks.

Steve ordered a slice of chevre almond tart, which he liked (I didn't, but that doesn't mean anything except that I'm not into chevre). I ordered the pound cake filled with mascarpone cheese (which I am into), blueberries on top, and a sauce of -- what -- caramel, I believe.

After trading tastes, we ate all of our respective dessert; not that we liked it or anything. Heh heh.

So of course after that I asked for a menu and was given one with the kind offer to take it with me. I of course did so, and no doubt we shall pass that way again.

ciao

deb

Irving Street Kitchen

Last night we dined at Irving Street Kitchen. It's got great Southern-style food and a really fun atmosphere where you can look out 13th Street and watch the Pearl pedestrians amble by. I had the Draper Valley fried chicken -- came with "smashed" potatoes, collard greens, and Ken's Artisan Bakery bread -- with butter and a large-grain salt sprinkled on it. Draper Valley chicken is absolutely wonderful -- very tender and actually tastes like real chicken, which it is. The batter was nice and crunchy and looked like corn flakes. The taters were very good, and the collards were ok. Steve had the shrimp etoufee, which he liked, although it was light, he said, meaning the sauce is usually thick in that dish, but here it was a thinner sauce, and lightly seasoned. He also had a jambalaya, which had a thick tomato-pasty sauce and tasso (smoked pork). The jambalaya was very good, he said. As a side note, Steve is very picky when it comes to Cajun and Creole food, having lived in New Orleans and cooked this style of food at home for many years. I totally trust his judgment on this.
My only bitch is that although the beer was good (the Organic Red something or other, in draft), the 'tender did not pour it so that there was a head on it. I like a good head on my beer, and rarely get it in this town! It's the oddest thing. . . must be part of the Portland weird-ness.
Aside from this minor point, the servers seemed to be happy to be there, and were very professional. Most of the customers were very animated and enjoying themselves. I would highly recommend Irving Street Kitchen as a place to bring out-of-town guests or good friends.

In other news, I tried out a new brownie recipe today. It came out like a slightly dense cake, in an 8x8" pan, with frosting that you pour over it when they're just out of the oven. I call them Buttermilk Brownies, because the recipe calls for buttermilk -- big surprise there -- and it uses cocoa powder. I got this stuff that's a dark chocolate and Dutch chocolate blend. The brownies were so dark, they should actually be called Devil's Food Cake-Like Buttermilk Brownies. And so they are. BTW, they're half gone already. Yum.
ciao
deb

Lost Pastries of Portland

There are times when I feel a yearning for some of the lost pastries of Portland: bakeries that have closed and will never again offer their great wares. Some outstanding ones: at Le Panier there were several small savory galettes. I loved the tomato galette; the tomato center was a savory mixture made sweet from the tomatoes, and the galette itself was made of a lovely phyllo dough. Another gem was from a bakery in Sellwood some years ago. Don't remember the name of the place, but it was operated by a man with a British accent and a woman on SE Tacoma, just off 13th, I think. I would stop especially for their cinnamon roll. It wasn't one of those big puffy kinds, it wasn't a bun, but a roll; with lots of cinnamon and walnuts, and a wonderful but overly sweet frosting of an off-white color. I didn't go there that often, so it was always a special treat, but because I made infrequent visits, I had no warning that they would be closing. That had to have been approximately 1989, because I was working at a place near SE 26th and Holgate. I've been looking for that cinnamon roll recipe ever since.

September Song

Not exactly a swan song, but a nostalgic September song; school is out for the term and we have 2 weeks off. I'm excited that all exams and work is done for now, but oddly enough, it seems kind of strange to not be studying or have a project hanging over my head to be done. It's an odd mix of freedom, relief, and emptiness; but my head will get filled again soon enough with too much information to sort out.
In the kitchen lab, we mixed and baked a vast number of goods: breads, cakes, muffins, scones, croissants, Danish pastries, eclairs, tartlets, all or most during one class each. I love doing the little tartlets -- forming the crust within the mold, pouring the lemon curd or pastry cream into the crust, and of course the tasting afterward. Muffins and scones can be very similar to drop cookies: mix, drop, you're done. I liked the slightly bready but moist cream scones, which are thin and cut into shapes like long triangles, then brushed with butter while still hot.
The croissants were a thrill to make, and took two classes to do. First, the dough, which must rest in the refrig for a time. The next class time we rolled them out, spread the butter onto the flattened dough, folded, turned, and poked the dough to mark each full turn. Then back to the refrig, later retrieving for another full turn, for a total of three. For the last time, we cut the rolled out dough into triangles of a particular angle so that they would roll up into adorable little croissants! It's truly an art form, and wonderful to eat.
The Danishes were fun also, with all the different shapes you can make them. Then, using similar filling for tartlets, we topped them with raspberries or blueberries. Very nice.
Eclairs are a different way altogether. One makes the pastry, stuffs the mix into a pastry bag, and pipes the little guys onto a baking sheet. Once they are out of the oven, crispy and cooled, you fill them. The eclairs unfilled are no great shakes, and though we made traditional French buttercream, that by itself was rich, but not so wonderful alone. But -- when you fill the eclair with the buttercream, the combined taste of the two is out of this world. I totally ate -- well, eight -- so it was a full day, heh.
The most difficult thing about making sponge cake is getting it out of the pan.
I loved the mini loaves of French bread we made. They were very good, too.
It's all good.
Back to the restaurant-hopping for bites here and there, we had an oppty to go to belly, over in NE, after a show. I ordered the $12 (!) appetizer, but it was very yummy: potato gnocchi, with bacon pieces. The bacon was perfectly cooked, and the gnocchi -- well, I ate all of it, after lending a taste or two to friends. The glass of Barbera was nice too, but I much preferred the Cabernet I drank at Wildwood last month. I also liked the ambiance there better; at belly it was a bit chilly; could it have been, perhaps, because eight of us showed up near closing time? Well, not that close; but we did close the place. We weren't too rowdy, though; just enthusiastic about our appetizers, drinking wine and socializing.
I love school, but I also love it that I'm on break. 'Til next time!
ciao
deb

August Eating

Farewell to summer almost, but not to good eating. This past August I sampled Korean food , albacore tuna, Haagen-Dazs Dark Chocolate ice cream (to die for, BTW), and various pastries, though not all in one sitting.

The Korean food was quite an adventure. My friend and I stopped into a Korean Barbeque restaurant in the Fubonn shopping center on SE 82nd. We both ordered the same thing: The tofu bowl with mushrooms and cauliflower. When we'd walked in we saw a server pushing what looked like a dim sum cart over to a table of customers. To our surprise (one of many), our order came out on such a cart: a colorful display of 2 bowls and various little condiment dishes. As the server was placing the vast array in front of us, I wondered what we were supposed to do with all the little plates of things. Were they supposed to go into the boiling bowls of tofu & vegetables? Or do we eat them individually? We decided to eat them individually, and most were quite delicious: Potato with hardened honey on them, kimchi, bean sprouts (probably mung bean), cole slaw, cucumber and seaweed salad; and 2 eggs. After grazing on the condiments for a time, my friend asked me, "Do you think the eggs are raw or cooked?" I said, "Of course they're cooked. But I could be wrong." She decided to open one to find out. It was raw! Oh, we said; so that's why the tofu soup was boiling -- so we could do an egg-flower-soup kind of thing and break the egg into it. Now, of course, the tofu soup had stopped boiling, so of course we didn't eat the eggs.

Then, for our 14th wedding anniversary, my husband and I treated ourselves to the fine dining restaurant Wildwood. This is where I had albacore tuna -- and when the server asked how I wanted it, I said "cooked." Well done? Medium well? Well done tends to come out dry, he said, so I opted for medium well. There were long green beans underneath the tuna when it came out, artfully presented on the plate. Best, it was all delicious. I ate every bite, and so did Steve, who'd ordered duck confit, which is roasted duck, and vegetables. Neither of our portions were a lot, but with the starter salad we ordered -- a frisee with bacon and curly greens -- it was just right. We even ordered dessert, and shared a splendid chocolate cake with chocolate icing, baked in a ring mold with a wonderful sort of vanilla-flavored sabayon (sauce) around it on the plate -- again, another lovely presentation, and with one lone, charming little candle to celebrate our union. We blew out the candle together, and each of us devoured exactly half the little cake. Yum. An excellent restaurant for our excellent adventure in dining out to celebrate. Great pick!

Technically, it was September -- 2 to be exact -- when I first tasted Haagen-Dazs's Dark Chocolate ice cream. What a treat. Just melts in your mouth, man. And there's still some left!

So, yes, I did go back to talking about food in restaurants, although those restaurant excursions have indeed been cut way back due to time and money considerations. However, I am still in Baking & Pastry School at the Art Institute, and boy, have we been busy. See my next blog for all my baking adventures in school!
Buon appetito!
ciao
Deb

Cool School

I am so excited! It's time for a shift in the observations expressed in this blog. The focus will be less on eating out in restaurants, and more on daily life in Baking & Pastry school. I start classes tomorrow, July 12, 2010, and it will be a year-long program. This is the most exciting thing I've done since I started acting professionally! I am just completely pumped about it: there's so much to look forward to, lots of things to learn and make and create; and most definitely a lot of hard physical work, and academics, too: there will be lots of homework and studying. There was a day-long orientation at the college (Art Institute of Portland), where I met some of the students I will be working alongside in the BP program. Near the end of the day some of us Culinary Arts folks were in a classroom and had an informal talk with four instructors and the Academic Director of the Culinary Arts Department. It was lively, students were responsive, and for me it was the most fun part of the day. It gave us a chance to ask questions that directly involved the classes we would be taking from them, like, Will all the labs be in the kitchen? (Any time in the kitchen is lab time), and Will we need to sharpen the knives in our supply kits? (No; they are factory sharpened). The instructors were interested in us, too, wanting to know where we were from, what we liked to eat, had we ever worked in restaurants; and they gave us some background info about themselves and the different kinds of places they eat, from restaurants, to farms, to private homes, and more. One news item I found interesting is that the college will be opening an on-site restaurant in three months. I hope I will be able to be involved in that in some way. At the end of the day we picked up our supply kits, including our chef uniforms. I love it! Especially the hat! It's a cute little baker's toque, not the big tall kind that master chefs wear.

In anticipation of starting classes soon, this past month or two I've been making a lot of different things I'd never made before, most of them very simple! They were all from scratch. A big part of my background is that I'm a longtime scratch baker at home. I made pizza -- it was much easier than I thought -- and a Persian lime pie with meringue topping and a graham cracker crust; a blueberry crisp, also with a graham cracker crust, and six cups of blueberries! I made an old favorite, a zucchini quiche with mushrooms and Swiss cheese; and today for breakfast I baked heart-shaped scones made with cherries and cream. It's going to be a great day!
ciao
deb

Clay's Smokehouse

This Memorial Day weekend we dined at Clay's. They have wonderful smoked barbecue chicken, and you get a complete dinner with their poppyseed slaw & taters. Steve had the short spare ribs, and they were delicious. I would always order the chicken, but 1/4 chicken just seemed excessive to me that particular evening (early eve on a Saturday-- the place was filled, even all the outdoor tables, by the time we left -- which wasn't that long!) So I went out on a limb and ordered the pork loin sandwich on a good seemingly-homemade bun. It had not applesauce, but a kind of apple filling inside that was just tart enough to complement the pork. I ate the whole dang thang.
I also had a microbrew on tap, which was a nice additive to the dinner.
We love Clay's because it is great food, a funky atmosphere not unlike Esparza's, with things hanging on the ceiling, unique artwork, posters, and lots of doodads to look at while one dines. With that kind of decor, there's a whimsical casualness that contributes to the ambience. One can relax, knowing the food will be good and that the service is not casual, but rather quite efficient; and that the place will be packed if you don't arrive early!
ciao
deb