Tuesday, March 9, 2010
more confessions of obsessions
you probably guessed it from my post about my cat's favorite treat that i am a bit obsessed about my cat. well even i did not understand the depth of my obsessions until i looked through all of the hundreds of photos of her that seth and i have taken. what can i say, she's photogenic. i knew we had to do something with all these photos. and so cow's meow was born. just wait till i have me so human babies!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
don't judge a book by its cover
so for round 2 of pad thai-o-rama it was off to viet bangkok cuisine at 249 saint john street. this restaurant is very close to my home and i have gone by it many times on my way to enjoy a delicious vietnamese sandwich at kim's souvenir shop, but that's a discussion for another time. anyway, based on the exterior, i have never thought it a restaurant i wanted to try. in fact, i planned never to try it. so when we got out assignment for the second round, i was far from enthused. but i did my duty as food blogger and took on my assignment, albeit with a slightly closed mind.
i was surprisingly pleased once we walked into viet bangkok. its a small clean restaurant with all the requisite kitschy south east asian decor. there were no customers when we first walked in and we were greeted with a friendly hello by a woman i guessed is the owner. just after we sat down, another table of three came in, but that was it for customers while we were there. which led me to the realization that this food blogging challenge is not just fun, but we are helping to stimulate our local economy and hopefully getting some readers to also eat out.
viet bangkok's menu, you may guess from their name, is not strictly thai, but vietnamese and seemingly chinese too. seth got very excited when he saw the long list of fruity tropical cocktails. alas, they didn't have pineapple juice, so could not make nearly 1/3 of their cocktails. we both settled for a singha, served iced cold.
per usual, i had to convince seth that neither one of us needed to start our meal with a heaping plate of fried food by ordering the sample appetizer plate. but i did let him pick out our starter, and, per usual, he chose the crab rangoon. i'm not a huge fan of crab rangoon for multiple reasons, most importantly because i don't think they ever taste like crab. this version was really no crabbier than any other that i have eaten, but they were pretty tasty. the fried wanton was crisp around the edges but sort of soft in the center and the cream cheese filling was flavorful without being overly sweet (another complaint of mine about rangoon). the sweet and sour sauce was also especially good with the sweetness nicely balanced with salty fish sauce.
for our main courses we ordered the spicy duck from the house specials and the chu chee curry with shirmp from the thai curry section. viet bangkok offers the choice of white or brown jasmine rice. i know brown rice must not be traditional in thailand but i think its nuttiness goes so perfectly with the sweet and spicy sauces of thai cuisine.
the spicy duck description stated it was a dish of boneless roasted duck specially prepared with eggplants, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, carrots, and scallions in a chili basil sauce. no where did it mention that the duck with be small pieces of tempura battered meat, which was a little disappointing. i love duck and i eat enough of it to know that if cooked properly, its skin will be plenty crispy and no tempura batter will be necessary. the thick coating of batter detracted from that fabulous ducky flavor. but even with the protein of this dish falling short, it was quite yum. the chili basil sauce was fragrant and flavorful and the huge portion was overflowing with tons of perfectly cooked veggies.
the chu chee curry with shrimp came out about 5 minutes after the crispy duck, so i am glad we were sharing both and one of us didn't get left waiting while the other ate. this was the biggest serving of curry i have ever seen. food writing is full of hyperbole, but this is not one, the serving was huge. in truth, there was a whole lot of curry, and sort of a normal amount of everything else. this entire dish had 6 giant prawns, which tasted as though they were cooked separately with lemon grass on a grill. they were huge and tasty. on my initial bite, i was overwhelmed by a flavor i couldn't place, but which would best be described as tasting of plastic. interestingly, after a few more bites this flavor didn't bother me so much, and i really enjoyed the dish.
even though there were some weird elements in both our main courses and seth couldn't get his drink on because of the lack of pineapple juice, i enjoyed our meal at viet bangkok. as our assignment is to try all the thai restaurants in portland, we stuck to their thai selections for this meal. but i'm intrigued and i will defiantly be heading back to try out some of their vietnamese and chinese dishes. it was also a really great value and we had enough leftover to both have large lunches the next day. so take my advice and don't judge this restaurant by exterior. you may get some surprises in your dishes, but overall i think it will be enjoyable.
i was surprisingly pleased once we walked into viet bangkok. its a small clean restaurant with all the requisite kitschy south east asian decor. there were no customers when we first walked in and we were greeted with a friendly hello by a woman i guessed is the owner. just after we sat down, another table of three came in, but that was it for customers while we were there. which led me to the realization that this food blogging challenge is not just fun, but we are helping to stimulate our local economy and hopefully getting some readers to also eat out.
viet bangkok's menu, you may guess from their name, is not strictly thai, but vietnamese and seemingly chinese too. seth got very excited when he saw the long list of fruity tropical cocktails. alas, they didn't have pineapple juice, so could not make nearly 1/3 of their cocktails. we both settled for a singha, served iced cold.
per usual, i had to convince seth that neither one of us needed to start our meal with a heaping plate of fried food by ordering the sample appetizer plate. but i did let him pick out our starter, and, per usual, he chose the crab rangoon. i'm not a huge fan of crab rangoon for multiple reasons, most importantly because i don't think they ever taste like crab. this version was really no crabbier than any other that i have eaten, but they were pretty tasty. the fried wanton was crisp around the edges but sort of soft in the center and the cream cheese filling was flavorful without being overly sweet (another complaint of mine about rangoon). the sweet and sour sauce was also especially good with the sweetness nicely balanced with salty fish sauce.
for our main courses we ordered the spicy duck from the house specials and the chu chee curry with shirmp from the thai curry section. viet bangkok offers the choice of white or brown jasmine rice. i know brown rice must not be traditional in thailand but i think its nuttiness goes so perfectly with the sweet and spicy sauces of thai cuisine.
the spicy duck description stated it was a dish of boneless roasted duck specially prepared with eggplants, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, carrots, and scallions in a chili basil sauce. no where did it mention that the duck with be small pieces of tempura battered meat, which was a little disappointing. i love duck and i eat enough of it to know that if cooked properly, its skin will be plenty crispy and no tempura batter will be necessary. the thick coating of batter detracted from that fabulous ducky flavor. but even with the protein of this dish falling short, it was quite yum. the chili basil sauce was fragrant and flavorful and the huge portion was overflowing with tons of perfectly cooked veggies.
the chu chee curry with shrimp came out about 5 minutes after the crispy duck, so i am glad we were sharing both and one of us didn't get left waiting while the other ate. this was the biggest serving of curry i have ever seen. food writing is full of hyperbole, but this is not one, the serving was huge. in truth, there was a whole lot of curry, and sort of a normal amount of everything else. this entire dish had 6 giant prawns, which tasted as though they were cooked separately with lemon grass on a grill. they were huge and tasty. on my initial bite, i was overwhelmed by a flavor i couldn't place, but which would best be described as tasting of plastic. interestingly, after a few more bites this flavor didn't bother me so much, and i really enjoyed the dish.
even though there were some weird elements in both our main courses and seth couldn't get his drink on because of the lack of pineapple juice, i enjoyed our meal at viet bangkok. as our assignment is to try all the thai restaurants in portland, we stuck to their thai selections for this meal. but i'm intrigued and i will defiantly be heading back to try out some of their vietnamese and chinese dishes. it was also a really great value and we had enough leftover to both have large lunches the next day. so take my advice and don't judge this restaurant by exterior. you may get some surprises in your dishes, but overall i think it will be enjoyable.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
bolognese
ever since i had that amazing bolognese with orecchiette at caiola's back in november, i can't get it out of my head. i have to admit, before this dish i sort of thought bologease was just red sauce with ground meat. this dinner at caiola's changed everything for me. friday night, already in bed, i decided to make it this weekend. so i grabbed my copy of how to cook everything, and just like i thought, bitty had a very approachable bolognese recipe.
so yesterday i woke with plans of visiting the first winter farmers market and having a little lunch with jen, andrew and the kids. seth and i planned to incorporate a little exercise into our day and we ended up walking through the entire city, stopping here and there for little bits of food. the weather was amazing and it turned out to be one of those special portland days where i keep asking myself how i can be so lucky as to live in such a wonderful little city with such an amazing quality of life. i will narrate it through the dish i made for dinner.
meat sauce, bolognese-style by mark bittman
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, minced (from fresh approach)
1 carrot, peeled and minced (from winter farmer's market, fish bowl farms)
i celery stalk, minced (i omitted this)
1/4 cup minced bacon or pancetta (from micucci -- i just realized i used a 1/4 pound of pancetta! well more pancetta is never a bad thing)
1/2 pound ground pork (from farmer's market, sumner valley farms)
1/2 pound lean ground beef (from fresh approach -- for some reason, didn't occur to me to buy it at farmer's market)
3/4 cup dry white wine or juice form tomatoes
1 (28- or 35-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes, drained reserve juice if needed instead of wine
1 cup beef or chicken stock (used my own homemade chicken stock)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup cream, half-and-half, or milk (used MOOMilk)
freshly grated parmesan cheese
put the olive oil in large, deep skillet or sauce-pan. turn the heat to medium-low and, a minute later, add the onion, carrot, celery, and pancetta. cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
add the ground meat and cook, stirring and breaking up any clumps, until all traces of red are gone, about 5 minutes. add the wine or tomato juice, raise the heat a bit, and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is evaporated, about 5 minutes.
crush the tomatoes with a fork or your hands and add them to the pot; stir, then add the stock. turn the heat to low and cook at a slow simmer, stirring occasionally and breaking up the tomatoes and any clumps of meat that remain. after an hour or so, add salt and pepper. cook for at least another hour, until much of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce is very thick.
add the cream, half-and-half, or milk and cook for another 15 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. serve immediately with any dried or fresh pasta, passing grated parmesan, if you like, at the table.
seth has no qualms about carbo-loading so he asked me to also make garlic bread. normally if i were making pasta i would refuse,but i was feeling pretty indulgent, so i agreed. i really like to get a little demi baguette for garlic bread, because we just don't need that much bread for the two of us. we found one at standard baking co. i must say, my garlic bread is some of the best i have ever had. the trick is a lot of butter! for a demi baguette, i use about 2 tablespoons of butter and 2-3 cloves of garlic. i let it come to room temp (or gently microwave it) and spread it all over a baguette sliced length wise. then i sprinkle a little finely grated parmsean cheese on it and stick it under the broiler for 2-3 minutes.
at standard baking co. we also picked up some dessert: 1 madeline and a chocolate cork. the madeline was a perfect rendition of this cake like cookie and the chocolate cork was rich and fudgey and a total treat!
so yesterday i woke with plans of visiting the first winter farmers market and having a little lunch with jen, andrew and the kids. seth and i planned to incorporate a little exercise into our day and we ended up walking through the entire city, stopping here and there for little bits of food. the weather was amazing and it turned out to be one of those special portland days where i keep asking myself how i can be so lucky as to live in such a wonderful little city with such an amazing quality of life. i will narrate it through the dish i made for dinner.
meat sauce, bolognese-style by mark bittman
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, minced (from fresh approach)
1 carrot, peeled and minced (from winter farmer's market, fish bowl farms)
i celery stalk, minced (i omitted this)
1/4 cup minced bacon or pancetta (from micucci -- i just realized i used a 1/4 pound of pancetta! well more pancetta is never a bad thing)
1/2 pound ground pork (from farmer's market, sumner valley farms)
1/2 pound lean ground beef (from fresh approach -- for some reason, didn't occur to me to buy it at farmer's market)
3/4 cup dry white wine or juice form tomatoes
1 (28- or 35-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes, drained reserve juice if needed instead of wine
1 cup beef or chicken stock (used my own homemade chicken stock)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup cream, half-and-half, or milk (used MOOMilk)
freshly grated parmesan cheese
put the olive oil in large, deep skillet or sauce-pan. turn the heat to medium-low and, a minute later, add the onion, carrot, celery, and pancetta. cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
add the ground meat and cook, stirring and breaking up any clumps, until all traces of red are gone, about 5 minutes. add the wine or tomato juice, raise the heat a bit, and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is evaporated, about 5 minutes.
crush the tomatoes with a fork or your hands and add them to the pot; stir, then add the stock. turn the heat to low and cook at a slow simmer, stirring occasionally and breaking up the tomatoes and any clumps of meat that remain. after an hour or so, add salt and pepper. cook for at least another hour, until much of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce is very thick.
add the cream, half-and-half, or milk and cook for another 15 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. serve immediately with any dried or fresh pasta, passing grated parmesan, if you like, at the table.
seth has no qualms about carbo-loading so he asked me to also make garlic bread. normally if i were making pasta i would refuse,but i was feeling pretty indulgent, so i agreed. i really like to get a little demi baguette for garlic bread, because we just don't need that much bread for the two of us. we found one at standard baking co. i must say, my garlic bread is some of the best i have ever had. the trick is a lot of butter! for a demi baguette, i use about 2 tablespoons of butter and 2-3 cloves of garlic. i let it come to room temp (or gently microwave it) and spread it all over a baguette sliced length wise. then i sprinkle a little finely grated parmsean cheese on it and stick it under the broiler for 2-3 minutes.
at standard baking co. we also picked up some dessert: 1 madeline and a chocolate cork. the madeline was a perfect rendition of this cake like cookie and the chocolate cork was rich and fudgey and a total treat!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
sala thai
on tuesday night seth and i ventured to outer washington for a little thai food at sala thai. the restaurant is cute and kitschy with plants and decor hanging from the ceiling. as it was a tuesday night, sala thai was pretty quiet.
we started out with thai iced teas for both of us, seth wanted a cup of tom khar gai, and i ordered the pan fried pork dumplings. the thai iced tea hit the spot and the menu even suggested the iced tea as a good way to cut the heat of the food, if you didn't want a beer.
the broth of the tom khar gai was very tasty and fragrant of lemon grass and coconut. but the only ingredients in the soup had were chicken and scallions, which was a letdown because we were hoping for some vegetables. to be fair, when rechecking the menu, it clearly states "chicken soup with coconut milk, lemon juice and chopped scallions" so i guess we can only blame ourselves.
the pan fried pork dumplings were by far the highlight of the meal. they were stuffed with a mild pork filling, pan fried to a beautiful crisp, and topped with little bits of fried garlic. i tried to scoop up as many bits of garlic onto my dumpling before dipping it into a slightly sweet tamarind sauce.
for our main course we ordered seafood rad pik off the specials menu and yellow curry with chicken from the curry offerings. The seafood rad pik consisted of lightly battered shrimp, scallops, and squid, sautéed with mixed vegetables and a special sauce, all served over a bed of iceberg lettuce with cucumbers and tomatoes around the edge of the plate. the special sauce was fruity and reminded me a lot of duck sauce and i can't remember if there were any vegetables in the dish other than the cucumbers and tomatoes. at $14.99 it was one of the most expensive items on the menu and it was a very big serving. i thought the bed of lettuce was kind of strange and even though we ordered it as hot and spicy it was quite mild. with all this said it was still good. while i was getting pretty full, seth polished off every bit of seafood. he left a few cucumbers though.
the yellow curry with chicken had pineapple, green peppers, summer squash and basil leaves and was creamy, aromatic, and slightly sweet with a very nice heat. which was a surprise because it was listed as a mild curry. so the seafood rad pik was more mild than we expected and this was more spicy than we expected. i would have preferred that both dishes has the heat of the curry. i really love thai curries and this was a good curry. it had all the things i look for in a curry, like the creamy sauce playing off the acidity of the pineapple.
our service was at times slow for how empty the restaurant was, but out waitress was friendly and kept our waters full. all in all i think sala thai was good, but standard. all the food was flavorful, but other than the dumplings, nothing stood out. and while sala thai was relatively inexpensive, i thought it was pretty pricey for thai (again, to be fair we did order one of the most expensive items on the menu). it's also quite far from our apartment in the west end. if it was excellent thai, i would make the trip across town to eat here, but there are plenty of comparable thai restaurants closer to my home.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
addictions
i have an magazine problem. i'm totally addicted to magazines. almost all the magazines i subscribe to are cooking magazines and i keep each issue. so in addition to my cook book collection i literally have thousands of recipes in my house.
the big problem with this addiction is that its at odds with my desire to be a greener person. so with all these recipes at my fingertips i decided to cut back on the number of magazines i subscribe to and try to cook some of these dishes.
tonight i did just that. last night i picked a main dish and a dessert out of food and wine magazine from february 2008, bought all the ingredients today, and cooked them up this evening. here is what i made:
three-lentil dal
the flavor of this was great and tasted very authentically indian. i made the mistake of substituting green split peas for the toor dal, and they cooked a lot slower than the yellow split peas and red lentils. and i would have liked
more tomatoes in the dish. but it is something that i will definitely make again, probably as a double batch so i could freeze some for a future meal. tonight i served it with a simple green salad and called it dinner.
the bulk food isle at whole foods came in quite handy for this dish as i was able to buy the yellow split peas, red lentils, and cumin seeds there. i love the bulk isle for spices because you can buy just what you need and not spend a fortune on spices.
milk-chocolate pots de creme
we have yet to sample the finished product of this decadent dessert but we licked the blender and the chocolaty custard was super rich and delicious. i'm gonna serve it with a little home made whipped cream. should be great!
the big problem with this addiction is that its at odds with my desire to be a greener person. so with all these recipes at my fingertips i decided to cut back on the number of magazines i subscribe to and try to cook some of these dishes.
tonight i did just that. last night i picked a main dish and a dessert out of food and wine magazine from february 2008, bought all the ingredients today, and cooked them up this evening. here is what i made:
three-lentil dal
the flavor of this was great and tasted very authentically indian. i made the mistake of substituting green split peas for the toor dal, and they cooked a lot slower than the yellow split peas and red lentils. and i would have liked
more tomatoes in the dish. but it is something that i will definitely make again, probably as a double batch so i could freeze some for a future meal. tonight i served it with a simple green salad and called it dinner.the bulk food isle at whole foods came in quite handy for this dish as i was able to buy the yellow split peas, red lentils, and cumin seeds there. i love the bulk isle for spices because you can buy just what you need and not spend a fortune on spices.
milk-chocolate pots de creme
we have yet to sample the finished product of this decadent dessert but we licked the blender and the chocolaty custard was super rich and delicious. i'm gonna serve it with a little home made whipped cream. should be great!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
gourmet kitty
okay, really my kitty is no gourmet. she prefers to eat the fern to just about anything else and she doesn't care one bit that her cat food is organic. but she does love these treats i brought home for her from fetch a while back. the treats are dried bonito flakes from a company called cat-man-do and cow (yes that is my kitty's name) goes crazy for them. while these flakes of dried fish are as light as air, they are kind of expensive -- $6.99 for 1 oz. but for my little baby, anything.
then, last weekend, seth and i were shopping at hong kong market on congress and i came upon this tiny corner of japanese food. and there was this giant bag of bonito flakes, 3.5 oz for $6.00! this is the exact same product only for humans, not brilliantly packaged and marked up for sucker cat lovers like me.
this gets me thinking about a couple of things.
1) i wish i had the kind of mind that could think up packing a japanese food in a cute container with a cute name for cats. then maybe i would be a little closer to that billion dollars i'm hoping to make.
2) ethnic markets are often a really great place to get bulk items cheap. i buy most of my spices at ethnic markets because you can get so much for pennies compared to what you pay at the super market. We have bought curry and chinese 5 spice powder at hong kong and more recently chili powder from masala mahal, an indian market in south portland.
so now we are well stocked up on cow's favorite snack and we know where to find her bonito next time we are low. if you are looking for a treat for your special kitty, i really recommend you try out bonito flakes, but skip fetch and go straight to hong kong market!
then, last weekend, seth and i were shopping at hong kong market on congress and i came upon this tiny corner of japanese food. and there was this giant bag of bonito flakes, 3.5 oz for $6.00! this is the exact same product only for humans, not brilliantly packaged and marked up for sucker cat lovers like me.
this gets me thinking about a couple of things.
1) i wish i had the kind of mind that could think up packing a japanese food in a cute container with a cute name for cats. then maybe i would be a little closer to that billion dollars i'm hoping to make.
2) ethnic markets are often a really great place to get bulk items cheap. i buy most of my spices at ethnic markets because you can get so much for pennies compared to what you pay at the super market. We have bought curry and chinese 5 spice powder at hong kong and more recently chili powder from masala mahal, an indian market in south portland.
so now we are well stocked up on cow's favorite snack and we know where to find her bonito next time we are low. if you are looking for a treat for your special kitty, i really recommend you try out bonito flakes, but skip fetch and go straight to hong kong market!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
recent food musings
pot roasted rosemary lamb with fingerling potatoes
this is what i made for new year's eve dinner and it was amazing. so super easy and so succulent, tender, and flavorful. the gravy was the most luscious i have ever had.
goat cheese, pesto, and sun dried tomato terrine
i first ate this totally delicious combination in giant form at a weeding in the berkshires. realizing that i could easily replicate it, i googled it and found this recipe. its a true standby appetizer that everyone loves. i made it for both thanksgiving and christmas eve this year.
maine shrimp season
seth has a goal of cooking with maine shrimp as frequently as possible. so far he has made shrimp quesadillas, shrimp cocktail, and shrimp curry. the shrimp curry is a variation on a thai chicken curry he has been making for years. i asked him to add less water so it would be more saucy. he threw the shrimp in at the absolute last moment so they wouldn't over cook.
duck fat
i read somewhere reports of soggy fries at duck fat. i am happy to report that my last two visits have resulted in delicious crispy fries.
favorite dipping sauce: truffled ketchup
this is what i made for new year's eve dinner and it was amazing. so super easy and so succulent, tender, and flavorful. the gravy was the most luscious i have ever had.
goat cheese, pesto, and sun dried tomato terrine
i first ate this totally delicious combination in giant form at a weeding in the berkshires. realizing that i could easily replicate it, i googled it and found this recipe. its a true standby appetizer that everyone loves. i made it for both thanksgiving and christmas eve this year.
maine shrimp season
seth has a goal of cooking with maine shrimp as frequently as possible. so far he has made shrimp quesadillas, shrimp cocktail, and shrimp curry. the shrimp curry is a variation on a thai chicken curry he has been making for years. i asked him to add less water so it would be more saucy. he threw the shrimp in at the absolute last moment so they wouldn't over cook.
duck fat
i read somewhere reports of soggy fries at duck fat. i am happy to report that my last two visits have resulted in delicious crispy fries.
favorite dipping sauce: truffled ketchup
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
