Prop It Up with...Carrots?

You heard me...well, you read correctly. There are many ways to roast a chicken. I've used a roasting pan with a rack and a broiler pan under high heat. It's always propped up on something so that the juices flow down.

Lately I've been using baby carrots. It's great when roasting thighs or breasts because they are relatively even. You could use onions, celery, potatoes, or even parsnip. Just chunk them evenly and line the bottom of whatever pan you choose to roast with. Then place your chicken or parts on top.

For dinner we had thighs (D and I like dark meat). The carrots don't need any seasoning at all since they baste in chicken juices the entire time. Liberally salt and pepper thighs on all sides. In a hot oiled skillet sear chicken skin-side down first (about 2-3 minutes). When crisp, turn and sear other side. Place on top of carrots with skin-side up. Sprinkle thyme on top. Fresh is best but dried works, too.

Roast in preheated 350*F oven for 30 minutes. When done, juices will run clear. If juices are reddish or pink, put it back in. Check again in 5 minutes.

See, it's so easy. Start some brown rice in the cooker before working on the chicken and it turns out to be less than 10 minutes of prep for dinner, then sit back and watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on TiVo. Dinner should be done after the "Moment of Zen."

Scoop out some rice, have a side of carrots and take a little bit of thyme...chicken, that is. Dinner is served, the easy way! Enjoy.

Bacon on Pizza--Genius!

I've been having a lot of pizza with bacon on it in Portland. It must be the Portlander's love of smoked, cured meats. But Apizza Scholls at 4741 SE Hawthorne Blvd. is to cry for (just ask my brother-in-law).

Sadly, I have no pictures of my own so I've snagged a few from Apizza Scholls own website. I apologize but the pizza was so good, we ate it up. I know, that looks like a bunch of anchovies on that pizza but believe me, it's delicious slices of delicate bacon, baked on top of handmade dough that's fermented for 24 hours at room temperature. Oh, and it's worth waiting for. It's crispy outside (from the extremely high heat ovens, from 650*F to a whopping 900*F) and chewy inside.

This is also why the crust gets caramelized like so (see photo). It may look burnt but it's not. It's smoky goodness and evidence of their dedication to pizza perfection.

It's a family run joint so everyone works every day it's open (unless sick) or they are closed--like on such days as Halloween and Election Day. Gotta love it.

The Caesar salad was also amazing. They make the dressing fresh daily with raw eggs. Gasp! They are purists. The salad is divine. I can't say enough about this place except "don't go." Some days they run out of dough (remember, it has to ferment for 24 hours) and close early. I don't want that to happen when I go so just stay away.

Seriously, it's too good to eat.

JADE

In southeast Portland, there's a neighborhood called Sellwood. It's a couple miles from my place in Eastmoreland and the family lives there so we go pretty often.

It's famous for its Antique Row, antique shops galore. But I go there for the food. This time my sis-in-law, Liz, with her baby, Gabe, and I hit Jade for some Vietnamese sandwiches. The last time I remember having a good V-sammie was back in the Bay Area. There was a place just outside my old apartment on Clement St. in San Francisco. Tho', there was also a really fantastic place in the San Jose area that my friend, Bernadette, used to take me to. I don't remember where or what it was called.

Anyway, it's been ages since those tasty pickled veggies in a crusty French baguette have touched these chompers. I was very excited.

Liz and I split this BBQ pork sammie, a bowl of udon, and a pot of Feel Better tea.

Oh, did I mention that it's a tea house, too? The owner, April, blends her own teas. Her mother, Lucy, is the chef and bakes all the bread and pastries in the basement. Apparently she went to France for some time and learned the tricks of the trade there. The place is immaculate and recently opened.

They are very kid friendly. There's even a rocking chair in the back because the general manager's fiancee is pregnant. But hey, you don't have to be her or pregnant to sit in it.

Anyway, everything tasted great. It didn't taste like the $2 sammies I used to get at the bakery next to the bar in SF. But then again, this place is much more upper crust (excuse the pun) and the clientele is different. I would have preferred more pickled carrots and radish in my sandwich and a little bit more fish sauce (sorry, Alyssa) in my pork. The BBQ pork in the sandwich was more Chinese than Vietnamese. But then, with the udon, which was also good but not like the stuff I've had in Japan, there's a bit of Asian mingling in the menu anyway. The baguette was outstanding!

I need to try the French pastries. They were beautiful and the little girl at the table next to us couldn't get enough of them. Jade has very tasty food at reasonable prices.

The staff and owner are really friendly, too. Such a bonus. So check them out if you get the chance:

Jade
912 SE 13th Avenue
Portland, OR
Tel: 503.477.8985
Open for lunch and dinner. Closed on Sunday.

Farmer's Dozen

According to Food News from Environmental Working Group, a public health and environmental protection non-profit, some fruits and vegetables are "dirtier" that others.

They recommend buying organic when it comes to the dirty dozen because those items tend to be sprayed with the most pesticides otherwise. Sadly, peaches are the worst offenders.

Dirty Dozen
1. peaches
2. apples
3. sweet bell peppers
4. celery
5. nectarines
6. strawberries
7. cherries
8. lettuce
9. grapes (imported)
10. pears
11. spinach
12. potatoes

You can rest easy with these in your fridge...

Cleanest 12
1. onions
2. avocado
3. sweet corn (frozen)
4. pineapples
5. mango
6. sweet peas (frozen)
7. asparagus
8. kiwi
9. bananas
10. cabbage
11. broccoli
12. eggplant

Hmmm, the clean list is pretty tropical. That's not local. Well, to keep you on track at the grocery store, you can download a pocket guide or see the complete list at Food News.

Vegetarian Delight

This weekend I was at Uwajimaya, a local Asian grocery and gift store (leans toward Japanese) in Beaverton. "What does an Asian market have to do with an Italian casserole?" you ask. Well, it was overwhelmingly crowded there because of the 80th Anniversary sale that was going on--10% off everything in the store, even sale items. Craziness.

Anyway, as I zoomed through the mass of people trying to grab all the essentials (nori, low-sodium soy sauce, frozen smelt, fresh tofu, bread...) before I was late for dinner, I was stopped by the wealth of local wild mushrooms in the produce area. I knew then that I would love living in the Pacific Northwest--thanks to the crabbies, salmon, and wild mushrooms!

I decided to get chanterelles (front) because I love them, a huge lobster mushroom (back) for its firmness, and maitake (middle) for its earthiness. And what better way to celebrate my two pounds of mushrooms than to make a lasagna from scratch. I had been wanting to roll out my own pasta.

So first I made a mushroom stock, then Parmesan pudding, then the pasta, and then the actual mushrooms. Piece of cake. Well, four hours later, Danno and I dove into this vegetarian's delight.

Mushroom Stock:
2 c. onion, chopped
1 c. celery, chopped
3/4 lb. button mushrooms, quartered
2 TB. olive oil
1 oz. white wine
4 qts. water
2 oz. dried mushrooms
5 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Pour oil in large saute pan over medium heat. Add onions, celery, button mushrooms to pan and caramelize slowly for flavor.
2. In the meantime, boil the water.
3. When veggies are well caramelized, add white wine to deglaze (remove the bits of flavor from the bottom of pan). When wine has cooked off, add mixture to boiling water along with the dried mushrooms, thyme, and bay leaves. Simmer until liquid reduces about halfway. Taste to make sure mushroom flavor is strong enough.
4. Strain stock. Return to heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Parmesan Pudding (a la Lucques):
2-1/2 c. milk
3/4 c. cream
4 oz. butter
1/2 c. flour
1 egg
1 yolk
1-1/2 c. grated Parmesan
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 250*F.
2. Make a blonde roux. Melt butter in saucepan and sprinkle in flour. Stir with wooden spoon until incorporated.
3. Whisk in milk and cream until smooth.
4. Beat egg and yolk in a bowl. Temper eggs by pouring about a cup of the milk mixture into the eggs while whisking.
5. With everything off the heat, pour egg mixture into milk mixture while whisking.
6. Salt and pepper to taste.
7. Pour pudding/custard into crock and place in a water bath. Cover completely with foil.
8. Bake in oven for 90 minutes or until custard sets.

Hey, you still there? Cuz we're not done yet...

Pasta Dough:
6 oz. flour
7 oz. semolina
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 eggs
2 fl. oz. water

1. In medium bowl, combine flour, semolina, and salt. Make a well in middle.
2. In separate bowl, beat eggs. Pour eggs and water into well.
3. Mix together with hands until all ingredients are moistened.
4. Knead dough on floured surface until dough becomes smooth.
5. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least 30 minutes in order for gluten to relax.
6. When ready, take dough out of fridge and let reach room temperature (15 mins.).
7. Roll with pin to 1/4". Run through pasta machine until correct thickness reached. To check, place hand underneath dough, can you see the pink of your hand through the pasta? If not, keep going.
8. Cut to size of pan.
9. Heat 2-3 qts of water with salt. When boiling, add pasta. When it floats (1-3 mins), it's done. Rinse under cold water. Set aside.

Mushrooms with Leeks:
2 lbs. wild mushrooms, roughly chopped
3 c. leeks, sliced thin
3 oz. white wine
olive oil

1. Cook mushrooms in batches in order to saute mushrooms, otherwise they may steam instead. That's less flavorful.
2. Pour oil in large saute pan over medium heat. Add leeks and cook for 3 minutes. Add batch of mushrooms. When leeks and mushrooms caramelized, add 1 oz. wine to deglaze.
3. When wine has cooked off, set aside in bowl.
4. Repeat with another batch of mushrooms. Continue until all are done.
5. Mushrooms should be dry. Add fresh mushroom stock sparingly to moisten.

Wild Mushroom Lasagna:
4 fl. oz. mushroom stock
Parmesan pudding
fresh pasta
mushrooms & leeks
1 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven to 375*F.
2. Add enough stock to moisten bottom of pan.
3. Place a layer of pasta to cover.
4. Dollop Parmesan pudding over noodles.
5. Spread a thick layer of mushrooms over pudding.
6. Splash 1 oz. mushroom stock over entire layer.
7. Repeat steps 2-5 for two more layers.
8. Place top layer of pasta and sprinkle with cheese.
9. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until cheese is golden and lasagna is heated through.

Danno gave it a rating of 9.2 out of 10, so I guess the hard work paid off. I'm going to figure out how to make this a lot simpler. I can't see myself or any of you spending this much time on one entree. Sigh. It was good though...maybe I'll make it for special occasions.

Quick Potsticker Dinner

I made this meal one weekend and froze all the extras for an easy addition to dinner during the week.

I love potstickers because they are good when cooked fresh or straight from the freezer. You can fry them in a pan or just drop them in soup as a dumpling. I prefer them crunchy but now that it's getting colder out, dumpling soup is definitely a quick dinner option.

For that just boil some chicken broth from a can or box, add dumplings from the freezer and a handful or two of sliced bok choy, Napa cabbage, and/or Chinese broccoli. Simmer for 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with slices of scallions.

What I made here were quick-pickled lemon cucumbers from the farmer's market. Slice the cucumbers thinly and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for at least 5 minutes to draw out moisture. Mix 1-1/2 cups of rice vinegar with 1 TBL of sugar and 1 tsp salt (or just use "seasoned rice wine vinegar"). Put cucumbers in a container; pour enough seasoned vinegar to cover cucumbers. Cover and refrigerate. Let sit for at least 30 minute. Eat within 24 hours.

The potstickers will take about 30 minutes to prepare. Faster if you recruit friends or a significant other to help assemble.

Filling:
8 oz., firm or extra firm tofu
3 TBL soy sauce
10 oz. kimchi, roughly chopped
12 oz extra ground chicken/turkey or lean ground beef
4 scallions, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 TBL cornstarch
1 TBL sesame seeds, toasted
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper, ground
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 TBL sesame oil

1 package round egg roll wrappers (gyoza)

Dipping Sauce:
3 TBL soy sauce
2 TBL rice vinegar or lemon juice
1 tsp sesame oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, chopped

Filling Preparation:
1. Wrap tofu in piece of cheesecloth and squeeze out the excess water--the drier the better. Crumble into a mixing bowl and mix in soy sauce.

2. Take handfuls of kimchi and gently squeeze to remove excess moisture. Be sure not to over squeeze here because the juices hold a lot of flavor. Add chopped kimchi to the bowl.

3. Add rest of filling ingredients to the bowl and mix thoroughly. At this point, the filling mixture may be covered and refrigerated until ready to assemble. It will keep as long as one day.

Assembly:
1. Set out a small dish of water.

2. Fill each wrapper with about 1 teaspoon of filling. Dip your finger in the water and run it over the edge of the wrapper. Fold the top over and press to seal, removing as much air as possible.

3. Set on dry plate or baking dish while you stuff the remaining wrappers. (To freeze: freeze flat on plate or tray. Keep potstickers from touching each other. Place in freezer. When frozen--about an hour or so--put in labeled zip top bag until ready for use. Good for 3 months, if they lasts that long.)

Cooking:
1. Add 3 TBL water and 2 TBL vegetable oil to non-stick skillet and swirl. Place over medium high heat.

2. Put a layer of potstickers in skillet, being careful not to overlap them. Cover to steam. When water has steamed away and bottoms are golden brown. Place potstickers on a serving dish with dipping sauce.

Make the dipping sauce:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and serve.

Penn State Creamery...Mmmmmooooo

It would be blasphemy not to talk about the Penn State Creamery since I was in State College, Penn. (which is where Penn State University's main campus is) and I had superb ice cream.

This is where Ben & Jerry came to learn how to make ice cream, like so many before them and since.

This was my first time. Check out that new facility. It's just down the block from the stadium so it gets jam packed by tens of thousands of avid football fans and alumni some weekends.

For $2.50, you get one scoop. My friend, Rose, warned me that the scoops were as big as a baby's head. I didn't believe her. How can you fit that on top of a cone?

Well, they did...and then some. Take a look at that scoop. It's definitely larger than my two fists combined. You can only get one scoop per cone or cup. They don't let you "mix" flavors which I thought was ridiculous since you can do that e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.

But really, you can't eat that much ice cream in one sitting. I really had trouble getting through my cone. But I did it. Peanut Butter Swirl. Rich pieces of peanut butter mingling with the velvety goodness of vanilla ice cream. And it hardly melted. When I finally got down to my cone, there was no pool of melted ice cream waiting at the tip of the cone. There was barely a trickle. I don't want to know how much fat is in that ice cream.

For three days, I tried to figure out how to carry some half gallons with me on the plane. They will pack it on dry ice for you, y'know. But it would have been heavy and we were traveling for a whole day. They even ship them but it turns out to be $20 (give or take, depending on number of) half gallon that way. It was tough to say "no" to even that. I think that ice cream has crack or a heroin derivative in it. I had it every day that whole week I was there. Chocolate, dark chocolate mint, strawberry, vanilla, coffee mocha fudge...

What is it they say...oh yeah: 4 days from cow to cone. What a glorious four days it is!

Only in Pittsburgh...

Oh, wait, I was in State College...but I got a Pittsburgh. It's a sandwich made (famous) by Primanti Bros. in, you guessed it, Pittsburgh, Penn.

I don't know what the original tastes like but the one I got at the Corner Room Restaurant at the corner (they are so literal in Penn.) of College Ave. and Allen St. was a little bland. Apparently the signature of a Pittsburgh is the enormous amounts of coleslaw, tomatoes, and fries piled in the actual sandwich. This excited me but I think I may have to head half a state east toward Ohio in order to get my P-burgh on.

If you look at the pic, it's a manageable size and you can barely see any fries or 'slaw. I know, it sounds like a heart attack ready to happen, especially when the server asked if I wanted fries on the side. At the time, I thought a side of fries would have been a little, well, overkill, but had I known, maybe it wouldn't have been such a bad idea. I could have added them to the sandwich. As it turned out, it was tastier when I added mustard.

The reuben that Brian got was much better though. He was kind enough to share a taste...I must admit, I almost didn't give his sandwich back but thought that that would set a bad tone for our friend's wedding weekend--our reason for traveling to Penn State-land.

The meal ended with a "grilled sticky" knock-off. Rose, my food-loving friend, (at the time) bride-to-be, and who grew up in State College, says the original at Ye Olde College Diner (or just "The Diner") is best.

Here at CRR, the sticky (aka sticky bun or cinnamon roll without any frosting by Ye Olde College Diner) is butterflied, then grilled in butter and topped with locally made vanilla ice cream. This version is crispier than the original which is not butterflied, therefore it's chewier and meltier on the inside. Not a low-calorie dining experience, I know. But it was definite a Pennsylvania meal. I suppose all that was missing was a full day of work at the dairy farm to work off all those calories. Anyway you grill it, I love the sticky!

My Comfort Food

Everyone has a comfort food. It's a sense memory thing, I think. For some it's pizza. Others it could be mashed potatoes or chicken soup. For me, it's my mom's cooking, or anything that gets darn near close to it.

Mmmm. Clams in black bean sauce with sweet peppers and onions. I love fresh black bean sauce. It's so savory and pungent. My mom used to cook with it all the time...and I'm not talking about the stuff that comes mashed up in the jar. In my opinion, that lacks the vitality and freshness (if one can use that word with a fermented food) of the whole fermented bean.

She would take some fermented black beans from a jar put them in a rice bowl, fill the bowl halfway with water, pick up and drop the beans a number of times then remove them (into her palm) and pour out the water. Once I asked her why she didn't just leave the beans in the bowl and pour out the water. It's because some of the pebbles (there are sometimes little stones masquerading as beans in the mix) and grit would get held back by all the beans and it wouldn't be clean. Ok. Gotcha. So she'd rinse them a couple more times in that same manner until the water was pretty clear except for the bean skins floating around. Using the back of a Chinese soup spoon, she'd s/mash the beans into a paste. Tah dah, fresh black bean paste--must be cooked with fresh garlic (and sometime ginger) for the right flavor.

Anyway, this is not my recipe for clams so I won't go into that right now. Stay tuned though because I may include that in the future...and it's good.

Instead, Danno and I scouted out this place in "outer" Portland called Wong's King on SE Division St just east of 82nd St. It's fabulously big and located next to some sort of fur revitalizing store (I didn't know the fur business was still so big).

Chef Fu Lai Wong has won a prestigious cooking award in China (there are plaques everywhere) and the restaurant was rated in the top 100 Chinese restaurants in the country according to Chinese Restaurant News (which is written in Chinese so I'll have to wait for my mother to translate before letting you guys in on the other 99).

We also got this steaming plate of King mushrooms with sauteed greens. The King mushroom is a large oyster (or trumpet) mushroom that is tender and also meaty. The green was spinach and the sauce was light and savory.

We went on a week night so the place was pretty empty but the service was excellent. After we paid the bill, our server came by to give us dessert, because we are super nice. Actually, I don't know why they did it but it was a nice touch.

Tapioca soup with taro and coconut milk. It was also piping hot and delicious. That hint of coconut milk really put it over the top. Oh, Wong's King, we'll be back for more...maybe dim sum. And at some point Mama Lee will be the judge of that.