Dessert for breakfast???

On a recent visit to Tasty and Sons, a local brunch spot, a lot of food was consumed. There were omelets that disappeared, biscuits and gravy that vansihed, and polenta with sausage ragu, mozzarella and a fried egg that was gone in the blink of an eye. Even the pork cutlets, shakshuka, french toast, chocolate potato doughnuts, and burmese red pork stew were only on the table for a short while. I should mention that all of the food is served tapas style, and that we were all exquisitely hung over. When all was said and done, and all of the coffee mugs were empty, a strange vibration shot through the table. Simultaneously, everyone at the table started thinking the same thing: "We should try the bacon cheeseburger." Hellza yeah we should. And we did. And it was poetry on a bun..

The simple things...

On a recent and all too infrequent trip to the beach sans children, we wandered into a small restaurant for breakfast. We sat at the counter, across from this "toaster." The waiter placed some bread on, closed the lid and walked away. There it sat for, no kidding, 15 minutes. I had no idea that miracles can happen in just 15 minutes. This glorious machine produced toast that was golden and crunchy throughout. Served with a trio of pepper jellies, and oddly enough, salsa. Salsa? Yes, salsa! Genius.

Tony, this next picture counts as one of your Christmas presents.

I Also Like Soup

Cold and rainy weather requires the intake of tomato soup. Really rainy and cold and windy weather requires the intake of spicy tomato and blue cheese soup with a dollop of creme fraiche, hazelnut and parsley salsa verde, a bacon chip, and olive oil fried croutons. May as well serve it with a fennel and apple salad.

But the real kicker of the meal of course, is the huge plate of chicken nuggets. Mmm, chicken nuggets.

The one that started it all

I heard a rumor about 6 years ago that there was a new restaurant in town that was putting bacon in their dessert. Well that sounds like it might be worth a try I thought to myself. Now, 6 years later and 25 pounds heavier, I return to the restaurant that started it all. Le Pigeon. Bread and butter just tastes better here. Maybe it's the sea salt that is sprinkled on the butter.

Gnocchi with veal paprikash. Words and pictures completely fail this dish. The sauce on those little pillows of happiness was cooked for 14 hours. This is a dish your grandmother would make for you if she were a freakishly gifted self taught chef...And not dead.

Yes that's a deep fried pigeon leg, with claw still attached. Yes it's next to a seared rare pigeon breast sitting on a piece of brioche that has been fried in butter and then topped with foie gras.

Marla's favorite. Beef cheeks braised in red wine for 16 hours. It's the dish that tastes you.

Roasted pork shoulder with truffled mushrooms and pickled butternut squash.

This is the view from my seat. It's like you're in the kitchen. The food tastes amazing, but when you see all of the work that goes into each dish, you really develop a deeper appreciation for what you are eating.

And there she is. Apricot cornbread with maple ice cream and candied bacon. I don't trust people who think it is a bad idea to add bacon to dessert.

Le Pigeon is the restaurant that turned me into a food snob, I mean foodie. I have enjoyed pig tail soup, beef cheeks, duck liver, pigeon feet, lamb belly, tongue salad, sheep heart, and even bacon flavored desserts.

18 years ago I was driving home with my dad from some sort of errand that he had taken me on. I was less then happy to be there, as this errand had taken valuable time away from me and my pubescent brooding. I always preferred to brood alone. The tension in the car was palpable. Neither of us spoke for what seemed like over an hour. I didn't speak because I knew my dad wouldn't understand anything I was going through. I was the world's first 14 year old after all. My dad didn't speak because, well, sometimes he just didn't talk a lot, unless it was to curse another driver who was driving faster or slower or more stupidly then he. We approached a red light close to the house. It had been silent for an eternity. I got the distinct feeling my dad wanted to tell me something. I looked over at him and saw that he was already looking at me. Our eyes met, and he calmly says to me "I like soup." "OK" I replied. That was all that was said during the entire trip.

To make roasted butternut squash soup, do the following:

Slice two butternut squash in half and scrape out the seeds. Rub with a little olive oil and roast flesh side down for about 50 minutes. The flesh should be easily penetrated by a fork. Pull them out of the oven and let cool. While cooling, saute two chopped onions in a two hunks of butter. Cook them slowly so they soften and turn golden, not burnt. When they are sweet and soft, add about 1/2 cup of brandy, off the heat. If you are feeling lucky, hold a lighter over the pan and say goodbye to your eyebrows.
Combine the flesh of the squash with onions. Add a portion of the mixture to a blender. Add some chicken stock and evaporated milk and blend until smooth. Repeat with remaining squash/onion mixture. For this batch I used about 5 cups of chicken stock and 1 cup of evaporated milk. Not all squash are the same. Some are bigger or starchier then others. Use the stock and the evaporated milk to achieve the consistency you are after.

This soup is perfect for cool fall days. Best enjoyed with someone who likes soup.

What color is my thumb?

This sandwhich represents one half of our total tomato harvest. 3 plants yielded us two juicy ripe tomatoes. Our bacon tree has been doing great though, so I can't really complain.

The breakfast of morbidly obese champions

There is something about a rainy Saturday morning that makes me crave strong coffee and a heaping plate of country fried steak. Luckily, Marla,Owen and Henry were not difficult to convince. So, dinosaurs in hand, we trundled off to Gravy in NE Portland.

Tim the waiter was there. Thank you Tim, for never letting my coffee cup reach bottom. My hands are still shaking. Seriously.

I don't believe I need to say anything here.

Why, yes, that is a 1 pound portion of country fried steak. Yes, those are 3 fresh eggs scrambled perfectly. Oh indeed, I almost forgot about the hashbrowns. No, I did not feel good after eating this...I felt GREAT.

Murder my sweet

Tonight I looked my dinner right in the eyes, and I killed it. Killed HER to be more exact. I think a meal is more enjoyable if before you eat, you have to plunge a knife between the eyes, severing the neural tube of the animal. Lemon and drawn butter also help.

This lobster was so helpful. Thank you little lobster.
What do you think goes through her mind right before the knife enters her skull. I like to think she thought "But your Jewish." Warning:Graphic video.

Sunday supper

The dutch oven was removed from its summer hibernation spot in the garage today. An aromatic base of onions, garlic, fresh thyme, and olive oil was simmering on the stove. Potatoes had been thinly sliced and layered with the aromatics. Looking into the family room I see my kids playing with some sort of cretaceous age dinosaur. Something with three horns on its head. Into the oven go the potatoes. See you soon.

While the chicken legs braise with the red wine, garlic, and anchovies, I check on the kids again. Owen now has all of the dinosaurs and Henry has many tears streaming down his face. There is a football game going on. I take just a moment to appreciate the quality of HDTV. Man it smells good in here.

The sun is out, but on a lower plane. The low sun casts a softer, redder color over everything. On the floor of the kitchen I see shadows from the branches just outside the window, dancing around in the breeze. The kids have settled their dino-dispute, the wife has poured the wine. It is time to sit down as a family and enjoy a little meat and potatoes.

Why didn't I think of this?

New food cart alert. PBJs on 23rd and Kearney in northwest Portland. This is not your father's peanut butter and jelly. For starters, they are grilled after being brushed liberally with melted butter.

Second, they contain things like homemade black cherry jam, apple wood smoked bacon, jalapeno peppers, and freshly ground organic peanut butter.

Or marrionberry jam, hazelnut butter and blue cheese.

And you know if Owen likes it, it must be...Edible.

Tanuki

The greeting at the door tells you all you need to know. You are entering a restaurant that plays by its own rules. The customer here is not always right. Luckily, the chef and the waitress are. Yes, there are only two people who work here. A waitress/bartender/busboy/dishwasher, and a chef/owner. Oh, and there is no kitchen either. The restaurant is in a lower level apartment in northwest Portland. The kitchen equipment consists of a gas grill out front, and a hot plate in the back. The food, which was amazing, was even more so when considering where it was prepared. My dinner mates and I decided on the omikase experience. You simply tell the waitress how much you want to spend, then she starts bringing you food. A lot of food. Too much food.
Tanuki is an izakaiya style restaurant. Izakaiya is essentially, Japanese pub grub. Food meant to be eaten while drinking alcohol. Beer, sake, and whisky. In Japan there is an izakaiya on every corner. I have plans to move to Japan very soon. You may notice in the picture of miso soup below, a peaceful reflection of a sated woman. Who is this person? Why does she appear so at peace with the world? What is she doing in my soup? Well, she is my sister, visiting from Texas. She just ate a huge meal of exquisite food. And I'm not sure how she got in there.

The final course of the night was a plate of pork ribs that had been cooked for six hours on a low grill, basted with, well, with I don't really remember what. Its my first review and I was stuffed by this point. I can tell you they were fantastic, sprinkled with green onions and fried shallots. The meat literally slipped off the bone. Sweet, savory, with just a little bit of heat. The crispy burned edges can only be described as tasting like pork caramel. Hmm. Pork caramel.

Home made noodles with spicy peanut chicken sauce and a raw quail egg. Mind bendingly good. In all my 32 years, never had I tasted something so unique and flavorful. This was a different kind of spicy. Not like hot wings, or curry. More of a deep burn way down low that only becomes apparent after you have swallowed.

Fried rice with kimchee and shrimp. Kimchee is a spicy pickled cabbage from Korea. South Korea I hope. There was just enough of it here to perk up the savory fried rice coated in scrambled egg and tiny, briny shrimp. How is this all coming out of a kitchen with no stove and only one cook?

Saury is a native japanese fish. It is the polar opposite of halibut. There are tiny bones that get stuck in your throat. The meat is oily and very fishy tasting. Here it is roasted whole and dressed only with lemon juice, and it is fantastic. It is a very primal experience to pick the meat off the bones of a creature that still has its eyeballs attached. Yeah, I'm eating you! Stop looking at me. Thank God for that third round of sake.

Finely chopped yellow tail with Japanese 5 spice powder and white soy sauce, served with dried seaweed for wrapping. I actually watched my sister and my friend Tony argue over who got the last bite of this. It never came to blows, but it was close. Thank God for that fourth round of sake.

Dried squid, pan fried then tossed with sweet chili mayonnaise. I admit that it doesn't sound good. Take my word for it though.

Hard boiled quail eggs steeped in cinnamon tea. Is this traditional? Who thought of this? Why the hell did they only give us six of them? These were creamy and salty and a little bit sweet and a lot bit delicious. No sake required for this one.

I should mention that several other dishes were served us that night. Oysters with kimchee ice. Yellow tail sashimi with real wasabi. Grilled Chinese sausage served with hot mustard. A big bowl of edemame. And one more that I think I may have been passed out when it was served. It was a huge meal, prepared by one person, on a hot plate. We ordered nothing. Omikase, chefs choice. 25 bucks each and we could hardly walk out of the place. Damned fifth round of sake.

Coming soon!

My first restaurant review is coming soon.

Dinner with friends

In lieu of the annual Friedler 5th of July party, we had our friends Michelle and Robert and their twin girls over for dinner. Robert was nice enough to wake up at 1:00am and start smoking a full brisket. The results, as you can see, were well worth the effort. Did I mention that he also cooked a rack of ribs as well? Marla and I took on the side dishes and dessert portion of the meal. Below is a cold avocado and cucumber gazpacho, with fresh english peas, tomato caviar, and a seared scallop. The recipe will follow at the end of this blog, and then it will self destruct.

I couldn't resist grilling some chicken to go with our ribs and brisket. Especially since Marla doesn't eat ribs or brisket, this was a no brainer. Woman cannot live on corn alone.

Speaking of corn, here is the grilled corn with jalapeno and lime butter. I mashed a stick of room temp butter with finely diced jalapeno and the juice of half a lime. This is amazingly versatile. The scallop in the soup was cooked in this butter. It is great melted and drizzled on anything.

For dessert I made a classic french dish named Cherry Clafouti. Basically a baked egg custard flavored with vanilla and whole cherries. Supposedly the cherry pits contribute to the flavor. I will post the recipe for this dish at a later date.

Recipe for Avocado and Cucumber Gazpacho.

3 small-medium ripe avocados, skinned and pitted

1 cucumber peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 of a yellow onion

Lemon juice and salt to taste

Dice all of the veggies and place in a blender. Blend in batches if needed. Add salt and lemon juice to taste. Puree until smooth and creamy. You may need to add some water as needed to thin to desired consistency. Add two tablespoons at a time. You can always add more water, but you can't take it away.

After the soup has been chilled for at least 1 hour, spoon into bowls and decorate. This is the fun part of the soup. You can add whatever you want/have to the soup to make it beautiful. I added a simply cooked scallop, some fresh peas that I had on hand, and some tomato seeds. The tomato seeds look great, and you feel so fancy eating "tomato caviar." Add whatever, crab, white fish, sliced cucumber, shredded carrot, diced red onion. Go for flavor and color. The possibilities are endless.

A bit peckish

Before I dive in here, let me just say that I had a really busy week at work. 10 hour days at work, kids in the evening, just a few hours of shut eye in between. So you can maybe understand why when I got home Thursday night I decided to cook a 2 and a half pound pork chop. This was no ordinary cut of pork however. This is a chop from a heritage breed pig, untouched by any genetic modifications, hormones, or antibiotics. During the last month or so of life, the pig was fed a limitless amount of hazelnuts and goats milk. As a result, the pig gets fat. Really fat. He roams around uncaged and unstressed. The farm that the pig is raised on goes so far as to get the pig drunk on beer right before slaughter. Not cheap beer either. Good Oregon microbrew. Apparently it doesn't take much to get a pig drunk. The thought behind this practice is that by avoiding stress before slaughter you can achieve a more tender animal. Stress equals adrenaline which equals tougher meat. It's also a nice humane way of doing things. I don't feel good that one of God's creatures gave his life for my meal, but knowing the pig was fat and happy and drunk makes it easier. As you can see, the chop has a tremendous amount of fat on it. That is the reason this pork chop is so special. Some of the fat melts during cooking, bathing the meat, keeping it moist, helping to flavor the chop throughout. It also creates a good deal of smoke which penetrates the meat and gives it that "grilled" taste. The fat on and in the chop really differentiate it from store brought pork which is caged, fed a steady diet of hormones to make it big and lean, and then slaughtered completely sober.

Even though the pig was raised humanely, fed a better diet than any other pig, and lubed up before slaughter, he did still give his life so I could eat way too much food and then brag about it on a blog. This pig, or any pig/cow/chicken/lamb/halibut/etc deserves our respect. Don't overcook it, don't under season it, and most importantly, give it a good rest. If you cut into a 3 inch pork chop fresh off the grill, you are going to lose a lot of juice, a lot of flavor, and a lot of enjoyment. Put the chop down and walk away. Go open a bottle of wine.

One benefit of cooking a nice fat laden pork chop is that there is some forgiveness in the meat. Meaning if you over do it by a few degrees, you will still end up with a juicy piece of meat. Just try that with 1.99 a pound pale pink pork from the big box store. Another bonus is that milky white piece of fat. Not chewy at all, it literally melts in your mouth, blending with the pork. Is that a hint of hazelnut that I taste?