Restaurant Review: Castagna for snacks and more

March 18, 2014February 9, 2017

Restaurant Review: Castagna // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler

I was recently invited to a dinner at Castagna by Irene at Watershed Communications. For those who haven’t heard of Castagna, it’s certainly on the higher end of the Portland dining scene. There are two dinner menus – one a more traditional four course menu, with two choices for each course, and the other a chef’s tasting menu, with around 12 courses.

Speaking of the chef, Justin Woodward is crazy talented. He has many skills, having worked as both a butcher and a cheesemonger in addition to chef. He seems to have a very analytical brain. When we asked him about how he came up with a certain flavor combination for a dish (shiso and sheep cheese wrapped in cranberry leather), he stated very matter of factly that cranberries were coming into season, so it simply made sense.

Castagna seems to be about using incredible ingredients in interesting ways that showcase the flavors. A lot of restaurants in Portland are all about using local, seasonal, fresh ingredients, but you can really tell when someone does that because they want to rather than because that is now the industry standard. Castagna has a garden on the grounds, as well as some additional beds at a business a couple doors down, which gives them the opportunity to grow whatever they want, and to have it freshly picked every day. Every plate Chef Woodward put in front of us was packed with flavor, with interesting techniques, and was visually stunning. If you’re looking for a truly special meal, perfect for an occasion or celebration, I certainly recommend dining at Castagna. Here’s what we ate (descriptions of each dish are in the caption to the right of the photo).

Note: Please forgive grainy cell phone pictures and low lighting. The food was beautiful and delicious, no matter if it appears to be otherwise in these photos.

Weekend Finds 3:16:14: Interesting Reads

March 16, 2014February 9, 2017

In this weekend finds, I want to share some interesting articles that I’ve come across in the past couple of weeks. If you’re interesting in reading more articles about food, food writing, etc. I recommend using resources like Bloglovin’, Klout, and also following David Lebovitz on Facebook (seriously, the guy posts some very interesting articles).

1. Culinary Medical School

Culinary Medical Program on Weekend Finds // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — Culinary Medical Program at Tulane University

I remember when I wanted to be a doctor. And now, I want to be a professional foodie. There have been more and more experts connecting the diet and health, and for obvious reasons. But mostly those people seem to be nutritionists or homeopathic doctors. I think it’s great that this culinary medical program at Tulane University in New Orleans is connecting the health world and the food world, and incorporating nutrition and cooking into the medicual curriculum.

2. Most Useful Cookbooks

Best Useful Cookbooks on Weekend Finds // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — Best useful Cookbooks

I like this article from HuffPost Taste about the best, most useful cookbooks to have on your shelf. Of course The Joy of Cooking and Mastering the Art of French Cooking make the list. But so does the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. Also, I REALLY want the Flavor Thesaurus. But if you’re looking for some great basics to start building your kitchen literature collection, check out this article.

3. Ferran Adrià on his new projects

Ferran Adrià and Bullipedia on Weekend Finds // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — Ferran Adrià and Bullipedia

This article summarizing a stop on Adrià’s book tour is pretty interesting. His answers to questions about defining cooking and restaurants and creativity are fascinating, but the part the piqued my interest the most? His upcoming culinary museum, the lab inside, and the culinary wiki, Bullipedia, that he’s creating. That is going to be the coolest resource ever. (Also, as I was telling Jonah about this article, the guy next to us at the coffee shop where we’re working, looked up and asked us if we’d seen the documentary about El Bulli. I have, but if you haven’t, you should. It’s on Netflix Instant Watch.)

4. Food Blaggers

Food Blaggers on Weekend Finds // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — Food Blaggers

This article about the role food bloggers play in the restaurant review world is very interesting (I found it via David Lebovitz’s Facebook page). The thought of calling a restaurant and asking for a free meal in exchange for a positive review is mind boggling to me. That being said, I have received free meals and such, and there has never been and explicit request for a review in exchange. I always mention that I was invited, so on and so forth. But the line is certainly a little blurry. It’s something I’m working on clarifying for myself. Anyway, I find it all very interesting. Do you have any thoughts on the blogger/restaurant/PR company relationship?

Mint Matcha Ice Cream

March 14, 2014February 9, 2017

When I made the anise ice cream that I posted about last week, it made me realize how truly simple it is to make your own ice cream. I mean, if you’ve got the ice cream attachment for the Kitchen Aid like my roommate does, or some other kind of ice cream churner. I found myself asking why I hadn’t been making my own crazily flavored ice cream for years. And you know what? I didn’t have a good answer.

So I thought I might as well start now. I’ve had some matcha sitting in my drawer since I made these madeleines, and I’d been wanting to try some matcha ice cream. But I didn’t want to make JUST matcha ice cream. After thinking about what flavor combinations might work with matcha – chocolate? lemon? – I decided to go with mint. I liked the idea of the herbaceous, refreshing mint with the earthy, almost savory matcha. So, mint matcha ice cream it is!

I also decided to make this ice cream this week because I thought it might be nice to start doing some holiday-oriented recipes. And while the flavors in this recipe have nothing to do with St. Patrick’s Day, it is green. Definitely green. Especially if you make it the day before you’re planning on eating it.

After a little research, this recipe is adapted from and inspired by David Lebovitz, Kinfolk, and many other ice cream recipes all over the internet.

Mint Matcha Ice Cream

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream, divided
3/4 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1 cup fresh mint leaves, rinsed
4 tsp matcha green tea
5 egg yolks

Instructions

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine milk, 1 cup of cream, sugar, salt, and mint leaves. Stir until sugar is dissolved, and once the mixture is hot and steaming, remove the pan from heat, cover, and let it steep for one hour.

Fifteen minutes before your mint is done steeping, get out two mixing bowls. In one, combine the other 1 cup of cream and the matcha. Whisk together until thoroughly combined and no clumps remain. In the other mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.

Once the mint is done steeping in the milk mixture, strain out the mint leaves, pressing them to extract all of the flavor. Re-warm the milk over low heat – you want it to be warm, not too hot – and slowly pour it into the egg yolks and whisk until combined. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heat-proof spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spatula. Strain the custard into the bowl with the matcha cream, and whisk again to combine. Stir the mixture over an ice bath to cool. Once cooled thoroughly, churn in your ice cream maker according to your machine’s instructions.

Shanghai Stir-Fried Rice Cakes

March 12, 2014February 9, 2017

There’s this dumpling house near my mom’s old apartment in Bellevue called Din Tai Fung. It’s a chain, but it’s ok because the dumplings are awesome. We always entrusted our ordering to my little sister, who is the guru of Asian cuisine, and she always ordered the best dishes. If you go, I highly recommend the juicy pork dumplings that are filled with pork and a hot broth, the shrimp and pork shao mai, and some variation of the Shanghai rice cake. These rice cakes are small, oval cakes that I assume are made out of ground rice. They’re delicate and chewy at the same time, and they take on the flavor of whatever sauce they’re cooked in.

Recently I went to Fubonn Supermarket, an Asian market in southeast Portland. I love roaming the aisles of international markets, being astounded by some of the things you can find, and excited when you happen upon an ingredient that you love but have never been able to find before.

You can imagine my delight when I happened upon a bag of dried rice cakes, and they were roughly $2 for a pound. So… that’s a thing. I immediately grabbed a bag, and it sat on our shelf for a few days while I tried to figure out what to do with them. (Then they sat on the shelf a couple days longer when I forgot to start soaking them the night before we wanted to make them, so we had to whip up something else for dinner instead.)

I believe you can also get frozen and fresh rice cakes, but with my dried ones, I soaked them overnight before I made them. But they were easy to use, and delicious, and I recommend getting your hands on some as soon as you can to start experimenting! I stir fried mine with some bok choy and shiitakes, and it was delicious.

Shanghai Stir-Fried Rice Cakes

Ingredients

3 Tbl canola oil
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
8 oz rice cakes, soaked overnight if dried, thawed if frozen
2 heads baby bok choy, rinsed
8 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced into 1/3-inch strips
1/4 cup soy sauce
1-3 tsp Sriracha
1-3 tsp brown sugar

Ingredients

More optional additions: bean sprouts, napa cabbage, other mushrooms, fish sauce, pork, beef, shrimp.

In a large wok or nonstick pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic, and sauté until fragrant and starting to brown, about one minute. Add the rice cakes, bok choy, and mushrooms and cook until the bok choy is wilted. If your rice cakes aren’t quite soft enough (remember though, you want them to be a little chewy), add about 1/4 cup water to the pan and cover for a few minutes to steam a bit. Once the mushrooms are cooked through and the bok choy is wilted, add the soy sauce, sriracha, and brown sugar to taste. Start with less sriracha and brown sugar, and taste a lot! I found that I wanted a larger amount of brown sugar because of the saltiness of the soy sauce, and Jonah wanted more Sriracha (obviously). Cook, stirring, until all the rice cakes and vegetables are thoroughly coated and the liquid of the soy sauce has cooked off. Enjoy with teriyaki salmon or Korean short ribs (like we did).

Weekend Finds 3:9:14

March 9, 2014February 9, 2017

It has been an exhausting week. I’d like to nap until next week to recover please and thank you. I woke up this morning thinking maybe I’d finally caught up on my sleep since I’d slept until 10 (10! It’s like I’m in college again!), but alas, it was simply daylight savings playing a trick on me. My suggestion? Read these weekend finds with a mug of hot cocoa to keep you company, and then take a nap yourself.

1. Miso Coconut Chicken from I am a Food Blog

Miso Coconut Chicken from I am a Food Blog // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — Miso and coconut, two of my favorite things, in one recipe on the beautiful I am a Food Blog.

I’ve been gazing at I am a Food Blog for a couple weeks now, admiring its beautiful pictures, scrumptious looking recipes, and gorgeous layout. But this recipe. This recipe for miso coconut chicken includes two of my favorite ingredients: miso and coconut milk. So I think I’ll have to make it. Soon.

2. A Curious Invitation

A Curious Invitation by Suzette Field // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — A book about the best parties? Adding to my reading list immediately.

This book about the best parties in fiction by Suzette Field sounds like a very fun read, and a great point of inspiration for any party host/ess.

3. The Cocktail Demystified

The Cocktail Demystified in Portland // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — Learn about your favorite liquors and cocktails from the distillers themselves!

If I was going to be in Portland on March 29th and not in Vietnam (like I can even pretend to be upset about that), I would 100% buy a ticket to this event with Distillery Row. Learning how to make cocktails featuring your favorite liquors straight from the source? Yes please.

4. Yelp…?

To Yelp or not to Yelp? // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — The question remains, how good of a resource is Yelp?

I’ve been hearing some interesting thoughts on Yelp lately. Andrew Zimmern doesn’t like the platform, we all know that. And now we know a lot of chefs don’t read reviews themselves, but rather assign the task to their managers. Do you use Yelp? I do, but everything is definitely taken with a grain of salt. I have trouble trusting people whose taste and experience levels I don’t know. I would so much rather have the review or advice of a friend, or someone I admire, or who I know is an expert. Every place is bound to have at least one bad review, so do you let that deter you from going? All of this crowd-sourcing of reviews puts the consumer in a position of power, and I think it’s very interesting. What are your thoughts?

5. Blu Skillet Ironware

Blu Skillet Ironware from Seattle // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — I love the blue hue of these pans, though it will fade and change after use.

Hello? Yes. I would like ALL of the things from this shop in Seattle. I’m definitely making a point to visit the Blu Skillet Ironware workshop next time I’m in town. Specifically, I love the fry pans, and also think the salt bowl set is very sweet. But let’s be real, I would take any of it.