Author: Annie

Restaurant Review: Tasty n Sons



A few weeks ago, my mom and her boyfriend and my sisters ALL were in town. They came to see me and Jonah do a gig out at Edgefield winery in Troutdale. Which was really fun. The morning after the gig, we decided to go to Tasty n Sons for brunch. I’d been once before, and man was it good. And man was the wait long. But worth it, I think.

So we went, and yes, the wait was long. But while we waited, we sat back behind the restaurant by Chop, the butchery, and watched the cooks at the restaurant make bacon. There are worse ways to spend your time, don’t you think?

When we finally sat down, we ordered far too much food. I ordered the steak and eggs, which comes with an amazing jalapeno cornmeal pancake below some delicious scrambled eggs and marinated steak. We also ordered bacon-wrapped dates with maple syrup, the breakfast board, and polenta and sausage ragu with mozzarella and a fried egg, among other things. The polenta was delicious! Creamy and cheesy with yummy ragu, and covered in runny yolk.

Then came the breakfast board. It had… teriyaki beef jerky, some bacon-y type stuff, bread with delicious sweet cheese, some kind of pate, and Hood strawberries. It was good.

And I sat waiting for my steak and eggs, trying not to eat too much of anything else so I wasn’t too full to eat my dish. And I waited… and waited… and waited… And it didn’t come. So I finally asked about it, and our waitress had forgotten to put in the order. So she put in the order and I figured, oh they’ll rush it, so it won’t take that long. But it still took kind of a long time. At this point, everyone else had finished eating and we were all pretty full. To apologize they brought biscuits with gravy, which was good, but all I really wanted was my steak and eggs! So eventually I asked to just have them put it in a box, and I took it home. And actually, it made really good leftovers. I ate it for lunch the next 2 days.

Now, even though my food didn’t come in time for me to eat it, everything else was really very good. Even after the fact, my dish was really good. The place is a Portland staple, and worth the long wait, in my opinion. The previous time I went, I didn’t have to wait too long for any of my food. So you know, I think this just happens to me a lot (see what happened to me at Stopsky’s). So I would definitely recommend Tasty n Sons! Just know that it’s busy and loud, and that the food is delicious.

New Pots & Pans (Cuisinart, from Costco)!

When I moved into my first house in college, and had my own kitchen for the first time, my mom took me to Target and bought me a set of pots/pans and a set of kitchen utensils (think knives, spatulas, bagel cutter…). And it lasted just fine. Not great quality, but it worked.

Over the years, the amount of pots/pans dwindled. I lost a mini fry pan, the right lids for the right pots, all that. And a few months ago, our one fry pan that we owned started losing its non-stick lining. And then it started to stick… so, not non-stick anymore. It started getting out of hand, and so I started bringing up getting a new fry pan. So we did some research and it was about 50 bucks for a new nice fry pan. And we were getting ready to buy one (or a set of two) when my little sister sent me a picture of a 12-piece set of Cuisinart stainless steel pots and pans for $150 at Costco. I love Costco.

So Jonah and I talked, saved up money for a little bit, and went to Costco. Now, at our local branch, the same set was $199. But it was still pretty dang worth it. So we went for it. And it has taken a bit of getting used to, cooking with stainless steel “stick” pans after years of non-stick, but wow is it nice. You don’t need to turn up the heat too high, and they heat perfectly evenly. I’m really looking forward to making scallops in these pans to get a really nice sear on them. And the little pan is perfect for eggs. The moral of the story is that these pans are pretty, shiny, and wonderful to cook in. And a good deal.

Using those roasted tomatoes…

Tomatoes
tomatoes

tomatoes

Remember those roasted tomatoes I made a while back? 2 things about them.

One is that I’m reading Molly Wizenburg’s book, called “A Homemade Life,” and it’s lovely. She’s a fabulous writer, and there are recipes! I can’t wait to try them. I already loved her, but then I got to the part where she talks about her own roasted tomatoes, and how great and easy they are, and now I feel like we may be soul mates. Oh my goodness. Read her blog Orangette and also the book mentioned above. She’s working on another book, and I can’t wait to read it. Her writing is really lovely, full of nostalgia and a clear love for detail. She notices the little things.

The second thing about those tomatoes: pasta sauce. They’d been sitting in the fridge for a little while, and I thought to myself, “I won’t let these go bad! I must use them!” So I decided to do something easy with them besides just eating them cold. I threw them in the food processor, heated them up, and put them over some sauteed mushrooms and onions to make a sauce. Scoop the sauce over some noodles of your choice, and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan and voila! Dinner. You can find the original recipe for the tomatoes here.

Flinsen (Or Pflinzen)

Flinsen

In honor of Father’s Day, Jonah and I made flinsen. Whenever we see Jonah’s dad, Randy, he makes us flinsen. Randy will stand at the stove and make these pancakes, handing them out one at a time, hot off the stove, until everyone is full. Then he will sit down and eat. What a caring dad, right? I love Randy. (Another awesome thing about Randy is that he makes cheese, and good cheese at that!)

Flinsen

Ingredients

1 egg per person
1/2 cup flour per person
milk

Toppings for serving: yogurt, maple syrup, jam, sliced fruit, butter, and cinnamon sugar are all good options!

Instructions

Flinsen are easy. Put one egg per person that will be eating in a bowl and scramble them. Now add 1/2 cup flour per person. Now add milk until it’s the right consistency. “Wow, Annie,” you must be thinking, “That’s a great instruction.” I know, I know. You want it to be like really thin pancake batter. Think crepes.

Throw a slab of butter into a 10 inch fry pan over medium heat. Spread the melty butter around, and take about a 1/4 cup measure full of batter, and dump it into the pan. Here’s the tricky part. While you’re pouring the batter into the pan, you need to pick up the pan and swirl it around so the batter makes a thin layer over the whole pan. It may take a couple tries to get the hang of it, but you can do it! Pile them on a plate (or a pan and put them in a low oven to keep them warm).

Now comes filling time. You can put whatever you want inside, kind of like a crepe. Jonah’s got me hooked on greek yogurt and a drizzle of syrup. Jam is also good, sliced fruit is too, and even plain ol’ butter and cinnamon sugar. Enjoy!