Well, the week of birthday celebrations was in full swing last night with a Fancy Tuna Dinner and for dessert — chocolate mousse. I saw Alton Brown make this last week on Good Eats and well, here it is. I am easily impressionable like that.

Here is his recipe (my comments in italics).

Chocolate Mousse:
1 3/4 cups whipping cream
12 ounces good quality semisweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
3 ounces espresso or strong coffee (I used instant espresso powder dissolved in 3 oz. of boiling water)
1 tablespoon dark rum
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon flavorless, granulated gelatin

Chill 1 1/2 cups whipping cream in refrigerator. Chill metal mixing bowl and mixer beaters in the freezer. In the top of a double boiler — I used a heavy glass pyrex bowl over a pot of simmering water — combine chocolate chips, coffee, rum and butter. Melt over barely simmering water, stirring constantly. Remove from heat while a couple of chunks are still visible. Cool, stirring occasionally to just above body temperature. I just let it cool about 15-20 minutes.

Pour remaining 1/4 cup whipping cream into a metal measuring cup and sprinkle in the gelatin. Allow gelatin to “bloom” for 10 minutes. Then carefully heat by swirling the measuring cup over a low gas flame or candle. Do not boil or gelatin will be damaged. Stir mixture into the cooled chocolate and set aside.

This took a while to melt. I stood there holding the 1-cup metal measuring cup for quite a while. Swirl. Swirl. Stir with a fork. Swirl. Finally it looked all melted and dissolved. As I poured it into the chocolate, I noticed the bottom had a few remaining gelatin lumps.

*sigh*

Back to the stovetop. Swirl. Swirl. Swirl.

In the chilled mixing bowl, beat cream to medium peaks. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in the remaining whipped cream in two batches. There may be streaks of whipped cream in the chocolate and that is fine. Do not over work the mousse.

Spoon into bowls or martini glasses (I used wine glasses), cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour. Garnish with fruit and serve.

One of the nice things about living in Oregon is that I was able to wander out the back door and come back with four raspberries and four Morrocan mint sprigs from the yard!

Next, I want to try this with white chocolate chips and perhaps — now wait for it — some chamomile tea (or maybe even green tea) instead of the espresso and maybe some orange liqueur instead of the rum. That sounds kind of good.

***

Coming soon (as in hopefully tomorrow and Friday respectively) a review of Jam on Hawthorne and a recipe for Coconut/Shrimp Soup with Butternut Squash.

I know I’ve mentioned before that I’m not great at baking (I remember the terrible croissant catastrophe of ‘99 like it was yesterday). I am trying improve though. I think the main problem is that I just don’t bake very often, nor did I grow up in a household where there was a lot of baking going on — more often than not, there was cheese being melted on something.

In the past, I have been known to try my hand at scones or muffins, but cakes and pies are very elusive. But…jwa wanted a pie for his birthday and I was feeling somewhat optimistic, if not downright inspired. You see, last week, I read this post on Gotham Gal’s blog. Wow, her recipe looked completely scrumptious. Pie, peaches, caramel, brown sugary crumble? How could you go wrong with that? As I learned, aside form a couple of minor missteps — brought on by my own baking limitations, I’m sure — you really can’t.

For the one pie I had baked previously (pumpkin, for last Thanksgiving), I used a pie crust recipe that turned out very well. I decided not to monkey with my crust mojo and used that crust recipe for this peach pie. The recipe is from Gale Gand and is listed below.

Pie Crust
4 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons sugar
12 ounces (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup ice water (strain out the ice just before using)
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), mix the flour, salt, and sugar for 1 minute. Add the butter and mix just until you have a crumbly, sandy mixture. You should still be able to see the pieces of butter. In a small bowl, stir the water and vinegar together. With the mixer running at medium speed, drizzle in the water-vinegar mixture and mix just until a dough forms. You should still see small bits of butter. Turn out onto a work surface, divide the dough in half, and shape into round, flat disks. Wrap separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before using. (Or, refrigerate up to 48 hours or freeze up to 1 month before using. If frozen, let thaw in the refrigerator overnight before rolling out.)

After rolling one of the dough discs out, I put in a glass pie plate, crimped the edges, and pre-baked for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Before going in the oven though, I pricked the bottom of the crust with a fork, lined with aluminum and covered with pie beads. I’ve heard dried beans work well too, I just happen to have beads, as already mentioned, due to the fact that the packaging was cute.

One thing I always forget though, is the crust shrinkage. It always comes out a bit smaller and shorter than when I put it in the oven. I need to remember that for next time and make the crust a tad taller!

Millions of Peaches…
Continuing on, here come the peaches. I followed Gotham Gal’s instructions, although I did wind up with way more peaches than I needed. She calls for 15. I think I had a smaller pie plate (mine was an 8-inch one) and I probably only needed about eight or so peaches — so, adjust for your pie plate as needed. Also, can I say peeling peaches is a huge pain? Okay, peeling peaches is a huge pain. I did that trick where you submerge them in boiling water for about 30 seconds, but still, it was time-consuming. Of course, it was worth it and all — I’m just complaining.

The Caramel
This, I messed up just a little bit. I added the butter and cream to the sugar-water syrup and some of the caramel hardened up on me. I think in retrospect, the cool cream was the culprit. Next time I will stir in the butter (which seemed to not effect the caramel adversely), let it cool a bit, then mix in the not super cool cream. As it was, I had enough caramel mixture (after removing the hardened caramel bits) to add to the peaches, but next time I will test the above hypothesis. Where is Alton Brown when you need him?

Bring on the Crumbly Topping
Mmm! Here, I was not generous enough. Next time, I will add more. My advice, don’t be shy with the crumbly topping. You probably don’t need all of it (as she mentions) but maybe use more than you think you need. Finally, I baked the pie for about 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

The Verdict
We managed to wait a couple of hours before having some of the pie. I was very pleased. It was especially good warmed up a bit, with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. I had a couple of minor issues with this pie experience, but now I want to try again. Isn’t practice the best way to improve? Why, yes, I think it is! Speaking of which, the caramel and crumbly topping would certainly work as well with apples as it did the peaches! Hmmmm….

ps: happy birthday…

When I was younger, I remember making grilled cheese sandwiches with my grandma — we used those American cheese slices and white bread and they were really, really tasty.

In college, a roommate showed me her trick of spreading the butter on the bread before putting it down on in the hot pan (could that have been the most useful thing I learned in college?)

Lately, I’ve taken to making a grilled cheese the following way: sourdough bread with goat cheese, cheddar, granny smith apple, and spinach. I flattened mine, sort of like panini, by placing a cast iron skillet on top of the sandwich while it grilled in the grill pan. When I turned it over on the second side, I left the cast iron pan off and used a lid instead, to encourage maximum cheese meltage.

The accompanying soup in the photo is chilled carrot (cooked carrots, ginger, chicken stock, miso, onion, garlic, tofu, salt, pepper and a blender). It was good. That is all.

Grilled Cheese Day.

***
Crockery Corner
How could I have forgotten? I guess I was too excited about the grilled cheese! The plate and cup in the photo are…Fiestaware, in the color Shamrock. This is a great resource for Fiesta dishes.

Remember the old Avocado Gazpacho recipe? The one with cucumber? The one here.

Well, forget that one. This one is much better (at least in my opinion) and has become a staple in our house on taco night*. It’s more Mexican in flavor…kind of like a guacamole soup.

Chilled Avocado Soup:
2 ripe avocados
1 jalapeno, roasted until blackened, skin removed, seeded and diced
1 1/2 cups or so of chicken stock
1 lime, juiced
1 handful of cilantro, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 small onion, chopped
Salt & pepper to taste

Garnish
2 corn tortillas, sliced into thin strips and fried until crispy (I usually just coat the bottom of a pan with a somewhat generous about of peanut oil, add strips, let them get crispy, remove, salt and drain on paper towels — sometimes I sprinkle cumin on the strips too)
chopped tomato or cherry tomatoes

***
Peel and pit avocados, drop in blender along with as much jalapeno as you want (I usually start with half), the garlic, onion, stock and about half the lime juice. Blend. Add more stock if needed to thin it out. Add the cilantro. Blend again. Taste. Add more jalapeno and lime as needed (I like mine really limey, but understand if some people don’t…fools!) Salt & pepper to taste.

Chill for one to two hours.

Divide between bowls and top with tortilla strips, tomatoes, and perhaps extra cilantro. Serve with chips and a variety of hot sauces for the more adventurous — perhaps even use as a side with tacos, like we do (that way you can drizzle some on each taco bite). Mmm!

* Ahhhh, taco night. I’m sure there will be a post soon about the beloved taco night. A tradition that started in the Bay Area on Tuesdays, to coincide with Buffy.

This is a pretty tasty, moderately fast week night dinner!

Chicken with Asparagus & Pistachios
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 pounds fresh asparagus, ends trimmed, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound of chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat and cut into bite-sized pieces (I prefer these on the big side of bite-sized)
1 small white onion, diced (if it’s not a small onion, feel free to use a half or a quarter of it only)
1-inch piece fresh ginger, diced very fine
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp chili-garlic sauce
1/4 cup (or less) chicken stock
1/4 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

***
Heat oil in large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add onion and asparagus, stirring for about 2 minutes. Add chicken and cook for about 3 minutes. Stir in sauces and ginger. Continue cooking for about two more minutes. Add enough stock to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan to make a quick sauce. When chicken is just done — one to two minutes more — serve over rice. Sprinkle with pistachios pieces.

I used brown rice but basmati would be nice too. A little soy sauce on the side is good as well — mmmm…maybe even some green onions for garnish.

***
Crockery Corner
Hey! I made this — at PCC (Portland Community College), in a community education pottery class. My bowls are getting more bowl-like and everything. They actually have a very nice ceramics studio at the newer SE Center at Division and 82nd. But the classes seem to fill up quickly. If you want to get in, you have to be on the ball and remember to register the very first day…

***
Grilled Cheese Day:
Apparently, it’s Grilled Cheese Day on Monday over at Slashfood! Oh, I really think getting that perfect grilled cheese photo will be a weekend project.

Penzey’s Spices
11322 SE 82nd Ave
Portland, OR 97266
(503) 653-7779

I ventured to Penzeys last weekend, eager to see what I could see (and smell). I manage to do a TJ Maxx/Ross/Pier 1 run every so often, so this was a nice addition to that typical shopping experience.

It was a lot brighter inside than I thought it would be (I don’t know why — for some reason I was expecting some kind of dark, cluttered, spice cave) and there was a very helpful and friendly staff on hand to answer questions and encourage sniffing. While I was browsing, an interesting event occured — a man ran in, practically breathless, announcing that there was an emergency at his house — they were out of cinnamon! It reminded me of what happens around our house when we are out of garlic.

I’m really looking forward to experimenting with all the different curries that I purchased. I am convinced that I can find some kind of combination of jarred curries, along with other spices (ginger, cumin, chilies, etc) that I can make really good curry at home with — CONVINCED, I tell you! So, that will be fun and perhaps a post soon.

Then I went to TJ Maxx and found a cute, black purse. Yay!

Wow, these are frickin’ awesome, as Carl would say.

Here is Christy’s recipe again:

The Bees Knees

1/3 C hot water
1 Tsp lavender
1/4 C honey
6 Tbsp gin
2 Tbsp lemon juice

This makes 2 small (6 oz) drinks (or as pictured above, one HUGE drink). Steep the lavender in the hot water for 4 minutes and then strain. Mix the lavendar water with the rest of the ingredients and add ice. Strain out into cocktail glasses.

I found it helpful to the honey first with the strained, hot, lavender water so that it melts, then mix that with everything else. Yum!

***

So, jwa’s 34th(!!) birthday is coming up and we’re looking for a restaurant to have a nice, leisurely, tasty meal. Not too fancy, but still, an occasion restaurant of sorts. Oh and we ususally don’t eat out on Saturday nights (Sunday is actually my favorite night to eat out), so I’m hoping stuff isn’t all unreasonably crowded and hectic.

As of now, the list has been whittled down to:

* Wildwood.
Never been. Have heard great things (obviously). We really want to try it sometime, but I fear trying a place I really, really want to love on a birthday is a recipe (hee!) for letdown.

* Paley’s Place.
See above.

* Three Doors Down Cafe.
Sadly, again, never been. Pro: Walkable. Con: No reservations on a weekend could be annoying and not much of a festive experience.

* Wild Abandon.
Sigh. Again with the never tried. Walkable. Great name. Have heard nice things but I think I may want to try this place more than he does.

* Rivers Restaurant.
We’ve been here before as well but never for dinner (just brunch, which was pretty good). The dinner menu looks intriguing.

* Castagna — affectionately dubbed Costanza around the house.
We’ve been here before and liked it, so maybe this is a possibly — but it is fun to try someplace new…

Hmmmmm…my goal is for him to make a decision and for me to make a reservation today. Edited to add: Okay, so I think he has decided on Wildwood…Yay!

PastaWorks
3735 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Portland Oregon 97214
503-232-1010

This post is heavy on the visuals because tomatoes and pasta just photograph so pretty!

It’s somewhat surprising to me that I’ve had this blog for a little over a month now and I haven’t posted about PastaWorks yet. One of my favorite things to do on Hawthorne, is to wander in and check out all the different kinds of olive oils, vinegars, fancy beer, wines and other assorted tasty things. Oh, right, and the pasta.

While often tempted by the raviolis and tortellinis and other stuffed goodies, I must admit, I think my all-time favorite Pasta Works pasta is the bagged rigatoni. It’s just so good whether its served with a pesto, red sauce, cheesy alfredo or just good olive oil.

That being said, one of the ways I like best to have the above-mentioned rigatoni (especially in the summer) is simply tossed with some olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt, basil, cheese and assorted fresh veggies.

How fortunate it was that while at PastaWorks, I came across a petit basket of cherry and other small, little tomatoes. Aren’t they cute? I am a sucker for tasty things in little baskets.

Eventually, I made it home with the tomatoes, pasta, some parmesan, a bottle of red wine, blackberry sorbet and two chocolate chunk cookies — all the makings of an indulgently delicious summer meal. I sliced and tossed the little tomatoes with the olive oil, balsamic, fresh basil, kalamata olives, red pepper flakes and a couple of cloves of minced garlic. Mmmm!

Pre-Pasta:

After adding the cooked pasta (an important step), I added some toasted pine nuts and shaved parmesan on top to round it out.

Post-Pasta:

Pasta Guilt — must add a salad

Of course, there’s something about a big bowl of pasta makes me feel like I need a salad too. Not that it’s a bad thing to add a salad, because I like salad but it also serves to give the illusion of healthier eating when paired with a big bowl of pasta (and all the extra parmesan cheese that is always added to the pasta). After being prodded slightly, jwa went outside to pick some butter lettuce from the garden and we had a nice green salad with our meal.

For the dressing, I just used a simple tarragon-mustard vinaigrette. Oh and this was fun (and really, what with cheese isn’t?), I took some goat cheese, formed it into a little ball and then rolled that in chopped walnuts and placed atop each salad.

As a marginally-related aside — and perhaps this is interesting to nobody except me — but there was a great pasta place in Flagstaff, AZ called Pasta Works, that jwa and I would go to a lot. Great pasta, uninspired ambiance (I Love Lucy posters on the wall) but we really liked it. They had a dish with angel hair, olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and basil. We would go through the whole shaker of parmesan cheese while we ate this — good times. Of course, Pasta Works isn’t there anymore as an Olive Garden opened up a few blocks away and took away a lot of their business — something that I still don’t understand.

In closing, when the opportunity presents itself, be sure to have a nice pasta meal with someone you love (and then go sit on the couch and watch the Scrubs dvd) or something like that.

I made this last night — it’s really one of my most favorite soups ever. It’s based somewhat on a Green Minestrone Rachael Ray made once on 30 Minute Meals but I tend to vary the ingredients slightly based on my mood and what I have on hand. Here is what I did last night.

Genovese Minestrone

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 of a sweet onion (such as Walla Walla), diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 quart chicken stock
1 small red potato, scrubbed and diced
8 oz French green beans, trimmed and washed, with the larger ones cut in half — this translates into a few big handfuls or so
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 can cannelloni (or other white) beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup dried penne pasta (I used wheat pasta — but regular pasta is fine too)
salt & pepper to taste
2 cups loosely packed baby spinach

Pesto:

2 cups (or so) loosely packed basil leaves
1 handful of pine nuts
1/4 cup (or so) grated parmesan cheese
1 small clove of garlic
Olive Oil

Measure the olive oil into a pre-heated, heavy soup pot. Add onions, garlic and zucchini. I also usually add a little salt here, although I also tend to add more later, after I taste it. Sauté for a few minutes until the veggies soften and get a little color. Add the stock. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer for a few minutes. Add the potato, green beans, red pepper flakes, the beans and the penne. Let the soup continue to simmer until the pasta and potato are done — about 10 more minutes or so.

I also added a chopped yellow tomato last night as it was very ripe and I really needed to use it. That’s one of the things I really like about making vegetable-y soups at home — you can add whatever you have and need to use!

While everything is simmering away, make the pesto. Put the basil, cheese, pine nuts and garlic in a food processor or chopper and process briefly. Start streaming in a little olive oil until it just comes together. I don’t make this as thinned out as I would if I were making it for pasta. For the soup, I limit the olive oil so that it is more like a paste than a sauce, (and that’s just me, I know a lot of people like thicker pesto for pasta too). So, you know, do what you want, I guess, this is just what I do!

I think I’d make a terrible cooking show host. I’d proclaim, “oh, you know, do what you want. This is just what I do. Whatever. As long as it tastes good to you, who cares how you get there…” Oh but I’d be all, “wash your hands after touching raw poultry and other meat!” because, really, that’s important. After that, it’s all good.

Where was I? Oh, yeah, the pesto:

When the pasta and potatoes are done, add the spinach and let it wilt down. Then, turn off the heat and add the pesto to the soup, while stirring so that it all gets incorporated. Taste the concoction and add salt and pepper as needed.

This makes about four bowls of soup and is really good with sourdough bread. Or butter rolls. Or probably any manner of bread product you can mosey on up.

For added fanciness, garnish the top with more fresh basil and maybe even a bit more cheese (because really, can you ever have enough cheese?) But last night I was hungry and not so much into the garnishing as I was say, the eating.

***
Crockery Corner:

I got this * Pasta * bowl at either Pier 1 or Cost Plus World Market a couple of years ago. I used to have two, but I broke one. It’s over-sized and well, great for pasta. I should really go get another one and replace the one I broke.

***

Tonight I think I’m going to make a goat cheese pesto and toss that with some pasta and perhaps make a big salad. It’s supposed to be warm today, but I think if I serve the pasta at room temperature, it’ll be fine. Plus, I’m really just all intrigued by this goat cheese pesto recipe I found. I’m sure I will post about it next week.

I also need to run to the liquor store and get some gin, because I really want to make some Bees Knees this weekend — thanks, Christy!

I guess it’s no surprise that I love to cook and well…eat. So, I’ve been trying really hard to exercise everyday. The last few months, I’ve been walking a minimum of two miles per day while at work. See, there’s a duck pond by my office and thanks to the neat-o pedometer this person rigged up using google maps, I’ve determined that each lap around the duck pond is a little over a quarter mile. So, I do about eight laps per day — four in the morning and four in the afternoon.

And, it being a duck pond and all, there are, well, ducks. There is one that is my favorite. I call him Dalmation!Duck. He is dark brown (almost black), with white spots.

In the photo, he’s the one in the foreground. The spots are kind of hard to see, but trust me, he’s spotted. He’s Dalmation!Duck. I would never eat him in a burrito, even though once, I had a really amazing duck meat burrito here, at the Aqui Grill, one of our favorite places to eat in the Bay Area.

quack-quack-quack-quack.