Author: Annie

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!

All-In Pesto

June 9, 2013February 5, 2017

A few weeks ago, my dad and Darla came down to Portland for my cousin Lia’s oral thesis defense. I really wanted to go to the farmer’s market before brunch, and Dad came along. My dad is a lover of produce. I cannot tell you how excited he got about the range of items available at our market (and how decently priced everything was compared to his fancy Seattle market). I’ve never seen someone so excited over nettles before.

Anyway, between the two of us, we bought 3 bunches of radishes. My dad, needing to drive back to Seattle with a large dog in the car, was trying to minimize his load as much as possible, ripped the radishes from the greens, and left the greens to me. A la Tamar, I knew I could use them, I just had to figure out how. And then it hit me: pesto.

I have since made 2 batches of the stuff, and people LOVE it. And you can use greens other than radish tops: kale, kohlrabi greens… anything green and leafy. The other beautiful thing about this recipe is that it’s not really a recipe – it’s more like guidelines. Use whatever you’ve got around (ergo the all-in title: you can put it all in), and put it on anything and everything. We started with pasta and went from there: we used it as a rub for a whole chicken and potatoes that we roasted, ate it with cheese and crackers and charcuterie, and (my favorite) topped some crusty bread with fromage blanc, the pesto, and a soft boiled egg.

All-In Pesto

Ingredients

Radish tops, stems picked off, and rinsed
Basil, rinsed
A hard salty cheese, like pecorino romano or parmesan
Pine nuts or shelled pistachios (or any combination of the two)
Garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
Olive oil
Salt

Instructions

In a food processor combine all ingredients. It’s best to start with all of your greens, but about half of everything else, so that you can adjust flavor and texture to your liking. Pulse until smooth, and enjoy!

Friday Finds 6:7:13

June 7, 2013February 5, 2017

I’ve decided to start a weekly Friday post of things I’ve found during the week that I want to share with you. Whether it’s a recipe I want to try, a cool kitchen accessory, or a hosting idea, I’ll gather them all here in Friday Finds. This week’s roundup:

1. Vintage Trays

I love this wall decoration using vintage serving trays from poppytalk.com. And trays like these are easy to find on Etsy (like these and this). And hey, they can even be taken off the wall, polished up, and used for dinner.

2. Ned Ludd

Jonah and I ate at Ned Ludd for our anniversary. Delicious, local, simple food and a very playful space. And the staff was very friendly.

3. Rhubarb Mojitos

I made these rhubarb mojitos last week when my little sister was in town, and I am working on making another, slightly different batch. It’s a nice way to enjoy rhubarb season without eating baked goods all the time.

4. The Family Meal

I have been wanting this book forever, and after showing it to Jonah at a store this weekend, we ordered it immediately. I cannot wait to cook out of it.

5. Rhubarb Tart

This rhubarb tart is so beautiful, and while the recipe is in Spanish and my web browser can only do so well at translating, I get the general idea. I may just have to make my own version of it sometime soon.

Strawberry Rhubarb (and Orange) Crisp

June 4, 2013February 5, 2017

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp from Serious Crust

Well friends, my favorite season is upon us. The season of rhubarb. The time of year when I try to fit in as many strawberry-rhubarb (or just rhubarb) recipes as my taste buds can handle, which is usually not a problem. These days, I buy a large bag of rhubarb every weekend at the farmers market, and then I whip something up late in the week to enjoy over the weekend. Thus far, I’ve made a pie, some compote, rhubarb simple syrup so I can make these, and this strawberry rhubarb crisp.

I found the inspiration for this recipe on a blog I love, and read at least a few times a week called Design Sponge. It’s a beautiful design blog, full of postings about furniture DIYs, beautiful spaces, colors, living in, city guides, recipes, party ideas, women running their own businesses… the list goes on and on. I find so many things on this blog that inspire me, and so many of their pictures make me wish I could be wherever the photo was taken. Seriously, I recommend it.

Anyway, I thought this recipe would be especially nice because of the addition of the sweet citrus of orange to the usual strawberry-rhubarb-ness. It’s always nice to try a little twist to shake things up, no? I made the filling (based on the recipe I found on the website), and my roommate Carmelle made the topping (and did not follow a recipe at all – she’s like that), so while mine had a different topping, I’ll give you the topping they have on Design Sponge. I also doubled the amount of filling, mostly because I had a ton of strawberries and rhubarb to use up, but I’ll give you the smaller portions, and you can double if you’d like.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients

Strawberry Rhubarb Filling

2 cups fresh rhubarb, diced (about 3 stalks)
2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced into large pieces
3/8 cup sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch (depending on how juicy your strawberries are, you may want more)
1/4 cup orange juice (preferably fresh-squeezed, as per usual)

Crisp Topping

3/8 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup quick cooking (not instant) oatmeal
7 tablespoons (about 3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Whipped cream or ice cream for serving

Instructions

Strawberry Rhubarb Filling

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. To make the filling, mix the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, and orange zest together in a large bowl. In a measuring cup, dissolve the cornstarch in the orange juice and mix it into the rest of the filling. Drain about 1/2 cup of juice from the mixture into a cup and set aside (you will use this later to pour over individual servings). The best way to do this is get an extra person to help you tip the bowl while keeping the fruit in with a wooden spoon. Pour the filling into an 8×8 baking dish and place it on a sheet pan (not a terrible idea to line it with parchment paper or foil).

Crisp Topping

In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the sugars, flour, salt and oatmeal. With the mixer on low speed, add the butter and mix until the dry ingredients are moist and the mixture is in crumbles. You want the butter to stay cold, so if you don’t have a mixer, either work quickly with your hands or use a pastry cutter type thing. Sprinkle the topping over the filling, covering it completely, and bake for about 45 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the topping is golden brown.

Allow to cool, and once it has you can pour that drained juice from earlier over the top of each serving (Or, if you’re lazy, you can pour it over the whole dish). Serve warm with fresh whipped cream (or vanilla ice cream, if that’s how you roll).