Friday Finds 6:21:13

June 21, 2013February 5, 2017

This week’s Friday finds revolves a lot around family, as I spent last weekend in Seattle for Father’s Day:

1. La Bête, Seattle, WA

We went to La Bête for brunch on Father’s Day, and wow, let me tell you, it was wonderful. Beautiful space, delicious food, great staff… everything about it was just lovely. I have also heard great things about dinner, so if you’re in the Seattle area, you should absolutely go to this spot.

2. Wine Tasting in Woodinville (specifically Ross Andrew)

Ross Andrew Winery // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — Photo Credit Ross Andrew Winery

On Father’s Day, after brunch, we went wine tasting in Woodinville, WA. I’ve never been wine tasting before, but I must say I really enjoyed myself. When I get rich, I’ll go all the time, and I’ll buy all the wine. My favorite tasting room we visited was Ross Andrew – check out their Red Blend and their Meadow White Wine.

3. Apricots, peaches, and nectarines, oh my!

The stone fruits have arrived and I could not be more excited! I have made these super easy broiled apricots twice now, and I have a feeling I’ll be making them and variations on them many times this summer. Recipe coming soon! Other recipes to check out include this apricot and basil tart, this grilled peach crumble, and this nectarine galette.

4. Sayulita, Mexico

Sayulita, Mexico // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — Photo Credit Ashley Gordon via National Geographic

My mom booked a place in Sayulita, Mexico in October, and Jonah and I will be joining her for a week (the week of my birthday! also the week of dia de los muertos!). We booked our tickets this week, and all I can think about is laying on the beach, drinking margaritas, and eating tamales. This would all be fine, if the trip weren’t 5 months away. Ah, the waiting game.

5. A Platter of Figs by David Tanis

A Platter of Figs by David Tanis // Serious Crust by Annie Fassler — Photo Credit Hamptons Magazine

I bought A Platter of Figs while up in Seattle, and the recipes look so lovely. David Tanis is a head chef at Chez Panisse, and has a lot of the same theories about food as Alice Waters and Tamar Adler – simple is good, you don’t need to have a specific recipe (he has lots of suggested variations accompanying his recipes), cooking and eating well are good, etc. What really caught my eye about the book was the photos and the pages. They aren’t glossy, and the photos are really rustic and beautiful. Take a look at it next time you’re at the bookstore.

Dessert Review: Quinoa Studded Cannoli at Andina

June 20, 2013February 5, 2017

I have done many restaurant reviews on the blog before, but this is my first review of one dish. Sometimes it’s overwhelming to take a picture of every dish at a restaurant, the space, take notes (though sometimes, admittedly, the notes are mental), and I don’t get to really enjoy my meal. In fact, there are places that we’ve gone where I’ve specifically decided not to take pictures so I can purely just enjoy the food and the experience and (usually) the fellow across the table from me.

This dessert, however, warrants its own review. Andina is a wonderful Peruvian restaurant in northwest Portland, serving really unique and incredibly delicious food (and cocktails). When I first went there early in my college career and discovered the quinoa studded cannoli with passionfruit mousse and mango lemongrass sorbet, it immediately became one of my favorite things to eat in Portland. And then, as I continued to eat my way through this city, this dish remained my favorite dessert. Not that others haven’t come close – Le Pigeon’s cornbread with maple ice cream and bacon is up there, as are most things at St. Jack.

Let me tell you about this little dessert. First, the cannoli shell is amazingly caramelized, dotted with quinoa, mostly crispy but with a little touch of that get-stuck-in-your-teeth chewiness. Just like the bruléed top of crème brulée (the most satisfying part, let’s be honest), you whack it with your spoon to crack off pieces. Filling up the cannoli is this amazing passionfruit mousse – extremely creamy and smooth with a lovely acidic zing. And on the side, a scoop of really really good mango lemongrass sorbet. I am not usually a huge fan of sorbet, it’s usually too icy, and I like the smoother texture of ice cream. But this sorbet is velvety and a little syrupy.

As you can tell, I am enamored with this dessert. So next time you’re in Portland, go eat this. You won’t regret it.

Saffron Risotto with Mushrooms

June 17, 2013February 5, 2017

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Jonah and I recently purchased The Family Meal by Ferran Adria. As soon as we got it in the mail, Jonah proceeded to look at the whole book, page by page, cover to cover. Which was really adorable. He was pretty excited. Anyway, a couple days later, I finally got it out and flipped through it, and I too got really excited. There are so many awesome recipes in this book, and the layout is great. It tells you the timeline of your meal (2 hours before, you can start doing task #1, 1 hour before, you can start doing tasks #2 and 3, 40 minutes before… you get the idea), it tells you how much of each ingredient you will need to make the meal for 2 people, 6 people, 20 people, and 75 people. So we can perfectly cook for just the two of us, or we can cook for us and a bunch of friends. Lastly, the recipe itself is in photograph form, so you know exactly what each step looks like, which is such a big thing for a lot of people. And it has super specific instructions, i.e. instead of saying “cook until lightly browned” it says “cook for 16 minutes.” Which is so nice.

Anyway, while flipping through it for the first time, we marked a bunch of the recipes we wanted to try first, and then went to the store to pick up ingredients for a couple meals this week. The coolest thing was that because we had bought a chicken at the farmers market a couple weeks ago, cut it into pieces, frozen the pieces, and made broth out of the carcass, we had almost all of the ingredients we needed for these meals. First up was saffron risotto with mushrooms. I have never made risotto before, and was a bit nervous about it, because it’s one of those things that seems like it might be easy to mess up – overcook, undercook, underseason, overseason… etc. But because the instructions for these recipes are so specific, I had no fear!

Saffron Risotto with Mushrooms

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups chicken stock (can be replaced with vegetable stock)
1 pinch saffron strands
1 1/2 Tbl olive oil
1/4 white onion, finely chopped
2 Tbl white wine
1 cup risotto rice, also called arborio rice
2-6 white mushrooms (it all depends on how big your mushrooms are and how many you want on your risotto)
1 tsp butter
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp (maybe more) fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Put all of the stock into a sauce pan, cover, and bring to a simmer.

This is the weird part, where I wish you could see the cookbook so you could see the photos. Make a little envelope out of tinfoil, put the saffron threads in it, and toast them in a pan over medium heat for one minute. Don’t le it burn! Remove from the pan and let it cool.

In a large pan or pot, heat the oil over medium heat, then add the onions. Once they’re soft, but not browned, add the wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. When most of the wine has cooked off, add the rice and let it cook for 3 minutes, stirring all the while. Add one ladle-full of stock, and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often to keep it from sticking. Pour the rest of the stock into the pot. Quickly chop the saffron and add it to the pot. Cook the rice for 16 minutes (what precision!), stirring frequently.

While the rice is cooking away, wipe the mushrooms clean with a paper towel, and slice them as thin as you can. You can use a mandolin if you’ve got one, or just a sharp knife. Put them in a bowl and set aside.

When the rice has absorbed the majority of the liquid and is a little al dente, add the butter, and then the parmesan. Stir until the rice is nice and creamy, and season it with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Spoon the risotto onto plates and top with mushroom slices, and enjoy!

Friday Finds 6:14:13

June 14, 2013February 5, 2017

1. Honestly Yum

Luckily enough for this week’s Friday finds, this week I discovered that a blog I love, honestlywtf.com, also has a FOOD blog called honestlyyum.com. So… I’m pretty excited about that (plus it means you can find recipes like this fig thyme cocktail, pictured above).

2. Integrated Stovetop

This integrated stovetop is crazy beautiful and sleek. If I had my dream kitchen, this might be a part of it. Only question: how hot does your counter get?

3. Country Brunch

This Country Brunch event is happening next week in Portland, and if you know anything about my city, know this: we love our brunch. This is bound to be super fun, and if you’re 21+ you can enjoy some bloody maries (while watching the bloody mary smackdown).

4. Garlic Scapes

Our garlic has just produced scapes, and we’re pretty excited. Coincidence that as soon as they appear, one of my favorite bloggers also does a post about how to use them? I think not.

5. Local Milk

I’ve been checking out this blog, Local Milk, on occasion for a while, but lately have become an avid reader. It’s really lovely, her recipes look AWESOME, thought I haven’t actually made any yet, and her photography is beautiful. I highly recommend taking a look.

6. Rhubarb Cream Cheese Hand Pies

As soon as these hand pies popped up on my news feed, I knew I had to make them. I think the plan is to make a date night with my friend Caitlyn, who’s a baker and author of The Salted Peach – she and I can bake while Jonah and her boyfriend, Dylan, clean up after us, and we all get to reap the rewards. Dylan is an awesome photographer (he shot all of the photos for Jonah’s album art), and I’m hoping at some point he can teach me a few food photography tips – he takes all of the photos for Caitlyn’s blog, and they’re absolutely beautiful. Rhubarb season is starting to wind down, so I’m trying to buy it every chance I get, even if it means chopping it up and freezing it for later. I’m sure I’ll be happy I did.

7. Cardamom Cake with Honeyed Apricots

My sister recently reminded me about this recipe, which her (and my) friend Blair adapted from Molly Wizenberg. I love all things cardamom, and am probably going to make this cake with the apricots that are currently sitting in my fridge at the bottom of my fruit drawer, probably feeling a little forgotten (and rightfully so, I did forget about them).

Restaurant Review: Boke Bowl

June 12, 2013February 5, 2017

Jonah and I have been on the hunt for good ramen in Portland for at least a year now. After being unimpressed by the bland broth at Wafu, and overwhelmed by the oversalting at Biwa, there was (to my knowledge) one place left to try: Boke Bowl. We went for the first time a few months ago, and I loved it. But we went for an early dinner before a late work meeting a couple of weeks ago, and I thought to myself, I’ve got to tell the people about this delicious food! So here I am, telling you about it.

The restaurant is down on the East waterfront on Water Ave. Walk in and you’ll find a neat hanging menu on the wall, a counter where you order (beware, the wait can sometimes be long as there’s only one register) and then kind of a chic looking cafeteria space. Clean white walls, orange accents and art, sleek IKEA furniture, and long wooden communal tables. Order your food at the counter, take your number, and find a seat. Your number (on a little piece of wood) fits into a groove in the middle of the table, right next to the basket of condiments: hot sauce? Check. Sesame seeds? Check. Soy sauce? Check. Seriously, everything I could’ve wanted to top my ramen with was right there.

Onto the food. At this point, I’ve ordered: Fried Chicken Steam Buns, Pork Belly Steam Buns, the Chicken Rice Bowl, and the Caramelized Fennel Ramen (with Fried Chicken added). Everything has been awesome. Probably my favorite was the Pork Belly Steam Buns. I have a serious weakness for pork belly, and the sauce on top was an awesome and flavorful addition.

The caramelized fennel ramen was delicious. In both their rice bowl and ramen bowls, there are all these little pockets of toppings. In the middle sits your rice or your noodles and broth, with whatever additions you’ve ordered, and then around the edge are little piles of mustard, squash, pickled shiitakes (possibly my favorite thing at the restaurant), ginger… It’s really fun, and it means you get to really build each bite, which I always enjoy doing. The ramen was flavorful without being overpowering or over-seasoned, which is something we’ve encountered. It was playful, but just plain good. I definitely recommend!