Musings

Weekend Finds 6:30:16 Summer Eats

July 31, 2016February 12, 2017

Cannon Beach | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler

Y’all! It’s been a minute since I’ve written! But don’t you fret, I’ve still been cooking up a storm and eating all the good food. I promise. But there’s a lot of other stuff that’s been going on too!

I’m moving! Where? Good question. In October, Jonah and I will be taking advantage of our ability to work remotely. First we’re heading to Thailand for a couple of months, then we’ll be in Germany for Christmas with Jonah’s extended family, and then we’ll be in Portugal, where we’ll hopefully stay for about 4 or 5 months, and traveling from there to visit friends in London, the Netherlands, and Morocco. Exciting? Of course! Terrifying? You bet!
It’s summer, and summer in the PNW means spending all the time outside and on the beautiful Oregon coast. Last weekend was spent at our friend’s beloved beach house, and the week before that was spent at Cannon Beach at a mini family reunion. Which brings me to…
We’re engaged! While we were in Cannon Beach Jonah popped the big ol’ question and I said yes (duh). If you have any wedding planning tips or tricks (especially for weddings that take place in Chicago) I’d love to hear them!

Ok, back to the good stuff. I’ve been doing my fair share of eating out these days too. Summers are perfect for happy hours outside, and putting on that cute new sundress to hit up that restaurant you’ve been wanting to try. All the incredible flavors and ingredients of summer are out in full force. Here’s what I’ve been eating lately:

Renata

Jonah took me here to celebrate our engagement, and while I only took a picture of my cocktail (it was a phones-free-dinner after that), the meal was fantastic. The highlights were my cocktail (the P.D.T aka Peas Don’t Tell) and the albacore tuna conserva served with tomatoes and peaches.

Hat Yai

You guys, Hat Yai is seriously at the top of my list as far as new openings in Portland go. They serve southern Thai food, and it is perfectly executed and complex and satisfying and just SO DAMN GOOD. Go eat here immediately and get the fried chicken, roti, and curry. You will not be sorry.

Lincoln

Chef Jenn Louis hosted a very fun blogger happy hour for at her N Williams restaurant Lincoln, and it did not disappoint. How can you go wrong with a bunch of food-loving ladies, cocktails, and delicious food with influences from cuisines around the world? Highlights included asparagus hummus with labneh and flatbread, grilled dates with marcona almonds and lime, and the fried chicken with white barbecue sauce. This happy hour is fantastic, so make sure you check it out!

Le Pantry

Perhaps the fanciest food cart around, Le Pantry is relatively new to Pod 28 (on SE 28th and Ankeny). The menu is very sweet, and I can’t wait to go back to try more of their dishes. We enjoyed the deviled eggs with trout, and the salad with fried calamari was filled with bright flavors like nectarines, corn, and some crispy potatoes.

Lechon

Jonah and I stopped into Lechon for happy hour before heading to the Waterfront Blues Fest to see Chubby Carrier. I had been hearing great things from both my roommate and blogger friends, plus it’s just across the street from the waterfront, so it worked out perfectly. The prices were great (as were the cocktails) and we seriously enjoyed a small salad, the ceviche, and clams with chorizo.

Where have you been eating lately? Any place I have to check out before hitting the road in October? Let me know! I hope you’re enjoying these beautiful PNW summer days!

Learnings from a Soft Food Diet

June 10, 2016February 11, 2017

Jamaica | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler

Pinolo Gelato | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler

The title of this post sounds silly, I know. But just read on and I promise it will all make sense. About a week ago, I had gum surgery. It was a bit of a surprise – I knew I was going to have this surgery eventually, but between the power of genetics and my upcoming travels abroad, the decision was made that I had to have it done as soon as I could. My mother, aunt, and grandmother have all had this surgery, I had heard about the painful recovery, and I was dreading it. Luckily for me, there has been almost no pain – just discomfort. The true challenge has come in the form of my liquid/soft food diet. I don’t think that most people would be so devastated by the requirement of a soft food diet. And I shouldn’t have been, really. Except that 1) the texture of food is, to me, incredibly important and 2) eating the same thing over and over again bores me to death. I hate it. A couple days ago I found myself having refried beans with ripe avocado for the fourth day in a row and, I’m not kidding, I cried. But there have been glimmers of greatness, like the jamaica my roommate Carmelle made and the heavenly gelato at Pinolo Gelato.

I’ve been thinking a lot about why I find this diet so hard, and I think I’ve figured it out. I’ve written here before about how I believe food connects people, how it offers a shared experience. To me, taking friends to my favorite pizza place or inviting people over for a meal that Jonah and I have been prepping for hours is not only fun, but it’s exhilarating and offers a bonding experience unlike anything else. I have found in the past week that I am feeling almost lonely. I can’t cook with friends because I can’t eat what they can – I’d have to bring my own food. When we helped some friends move this weekend and then went to get tacos, I sat there quietly using a chip only as a spoon to scoop tiny bits of guacamole.

I’m whining, I know. But the takeaway here is not to take for granted this opportunity. Yes, as humans we need to eat every day. But eating is also an incredible chance to take pleasure, to go on an adventure, to be comforted, and to connect to loved ones. It’s easy to forget, what with all the 30-minute recipes and the frozen food aisle and the fad diets, that we can and should enjoy this. I hope you get the chance to luxuriate and take pleasure in a good meal with good people this week. I know I will… next week.

In case you have to go on a soft food diet, here’s what I’ve been eating:

Smoothies galore: banana almond and pineapple matcha have become favorites (I don’t use a recipe for pineapple matcha, but it usually looks something like this one but with spinach for the greens and a combination of almond milk and OJ for the liquid, plus I like to keep my banana and pineapple frozen)
Snap Pea Soup
Chicken Liver Pâté
Mashed Potatoes
Yogurt with rhubarb compote
Refried Beans
Avocados with Frank’s Hot Sauce
Lox
Oatmeal
Ice cream and gelato
Scramble eggs
Tamales (the Mole Rosa from Tamale boy, if you can swing it)

Traveling & Eating in Prague

May 23, 2016February 11, 2017

I’m back! From Europe anyway. May is the month of travel for me (I suppose it’s good preparation for the part of my life where I travel the world for 6ish months starting later this year…), and it started with a trip to the Czech Republic with my mom. We were there for just over a week, and spent most of our time in Prague, with a two night trip to Cesky Krumlov, a World Heritage site about 3 hours south of Prague. We spent our days mostly walking, whether on our own through the Kampa Garden and Museum, on a food tour, or on a tour through the Jewish Quarter. It was the perfect balance of sight-seeing, learning, and relaxing – what can I say, we know how to do a vacation. Read on to find out about the culinary highlights of our trip!

Our first day in Prague started at Cafe Savoy, a French inspired cafe in Mala Strana that serves Czech pastries (in addition to coffee, tea, wine, breakfast, lunch, etc.). While we did have to wait a while to get a seat, my mom was very happy with her apple strudel, and the pastries and ambiance were just as lovely. For dinner our first evening we went to V Zátiší, an Indian/Czech restaurant a short walk from our hotel. I had an incredible play on a traditional duck dish, with herbed dumplings and pureed red cabbage, while Mom enjoyed her Tandoori prawns with delicious seasoned rice and chutneys.

Perhaps the highlight of the trip for me was our tour with Prague Food Tours. We did the Scrumptious tour, which was outside of the tourist area of town in Prague 8, a neighborhood called Karlin. Our guide Leona was so incredibly knowledgeable, and we learned not just about the food but also about the culture behind it. It was a small group, 6 of us total, and it was an educational and delicious way to spend the day. We tried some traditional Czech pastries, visited a more modern restaurant called Eska (more on that later), drank beers and ate beef tartare and schnitzel at Lokal, and had a fried cheese slider and a donut for dessert at Maso A Kobliha.

Upon our arrival to Cesky Krumlov we decided to eat at Jakub Restaurant for dinner, which was a fantastic choice. While it wasn’t anything extremely unique or mind-blowing, it was really solid food. We had a carp croquette and salad to start, and then shared a dish from their spring asparagus menu and spaetzle with rabbit for dinner. Four dishes and four glasses of wine later, our bill only ended up being the equivalent of about $50 USD.

We went all out on our last day in Prague, especially because it was Mother’s Day! I had to make it happen for my mama. After a long morning strolling around the Prague Castle, we crossed the river for lunch at La Bottega di Finestra, a fancy deli spot with a fancy sister restaurant next door. After a week of pretty heavy Czech food, we went with a plate of assorted salads and each one was extremely delicious. For dessert we strolled another ten minutes to wait in line at Angelato, supposedly the best gelato in Prague. It did not disappoint – I don’t know if I’ve ever had more heavenly gelato (and maybe even ice cream!). Mom got their pistachio and banana, both of which actually tasted like their namesake ingredient instead of a fake rendition of it, and I indulged in chocolate and rhubarb flavors, which were superb.

For our final dinner we went back to Eska, which was the second stop on our food tour earlier that week. Eska is a restaurant focused on hyperlocal ingredients, cooked in modern ways but based in traditional techniques like fire-roasting and fermentation. The dish that sealed the deal on our food tour and that we were lucky enough to eat again when we ordered the tasting menu was a small potato cooked in ash, surrounded by a buttermilk kefir, smoked carp, and topped with cured egg yolk. It was one of those perfect bites: the smokiness of the carp and the potato balanced delicately with the creaminess and tanginess of the buttermilk kefir. While the rest of the meal was exquisite – buttermilk ice cream with savory granola and herbs, white asparagus with buckwheat crisps and brown butter, zander with kohlrabi – that dish will be the one that I remember.

Other recommendations that either weren’t food related or were good but I didn’t have space to write about include: Museum Kampa, Maitrea (vegetarian restaurant), Wittmann Tours (we did the Jewish Quarter tour led by Barbara, who was fantastic), Krumlov Tours, Omnes Caffe for chocolates, Apotheka Bar.

How to Use Up Stale Bread

February 22, 2016February 11, 2017

We all do it. We buy a beautiful loaf of bread to eat with dinner, or to sop in egg custard for breakfast, and then, a few days later it’s looking rather sad. Maybe mildly shriveled, too crusty around the edges. And it doesn’t feel great, knowing that you have half a loaf of kind of inedible bread, knowing how chewy and perfect it was when it was fresh. But it is edible! You just have to have a few stale bread recipes in your back pocket. Here are some of mine:

Make breadcrumbs: Cut the crust off your bread and cut it into chunks, then throw them in the food processor till they’re the right consistency for you. You can either toast them now or throw them in a ziplock back in your fridge – for sooner use – or freezer – for later use. Pull them out later to top your favorite macaroni and cheese (I’m dying to try this one) or this chicken gratin (which I just made and was a big hit).

Ribollita: Stale bread soup may sound odd, but that’s what this is. I love this easy, throw-whatever-you’ve-got-in-the-pot soup. It’s a hearty, delicious meal for colder days.

Croutons: Cube your bread, toss it in some olive oil, and throw it on a sheet pan with a few cloves of smashed garlic and sprigs of thyme. Toast at roughly 350°F for about 8-10 minutes, keeping a close eye on them to avoid burning.

Bread pudding: If you’ve got more of a sweet tooth, cube your bread, soak it in eggs, sugar, milk, and spices, and bake it for an easy, rustic dessert.

Panzanella: A summertime recipe, panzanella is a great way to use up stale bread and the plethora of tomatoes you may have from your garden. Remove crusts and cube your bread, halve or dice your tomatoes, some cucumber, red onion if you want, and add some crumbled feta or ricotta salata. Top with torn basil and a simple balsamic or red wine vinaigrette.

French onion soup: Not only is French onion soup a great way to use stale bread, it’s also a great way to use any chicken or beef or vegetable stock you might have in the freezer. But let’s be honest, the best part of this soup is the cheesy toast floating on top, soaking up all that delicious broth.