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By mlb, on January 31st, 2006%
Oba Restaurant
555 NW 12th Ave
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 228-6161
The evening came about as jwa’s employer gave him an Oba! giftcard a few months ago for doing some extra work. The giftcard has actually just sat around the last couple of months in the dining room until I heard about this Argyle Wine Dinner. So, that was convenient and gave us about 55% off the total of the dinner.
In the beginning…
I don’t have a picture of how the evening started, but I can say tell you that it was Dungeness Crab Crostini with house made black raspberry conserves. This was very tasty and was served with Argyle Knudsen Vineyard Blanc de Noirs 1998, a white sparkling wine. We had a couple of glasses of that one — it was good.
Going into the dinner, I was a little apprehensive of a group setting as jwa and I both like to . . . → Read More: Argyle Wine Dinner at Oba! w/ Winemaker Rollin Soles
By mlb, on January 30th, 2006%
I’m very glad I stumbled upon this food blogging event! I have so many cookbooks and honestly, I don’t use them enough. This Weekend Coookbook Challenge was to produce some winter comfort food from a cookbook in your collection (ideally one you haven’t used before).
After some consideration, I decided my Midwest roots provided tons of comfort food inspiration — noodles, potatoes, casseroles — my people love their carbs! So, for this challenge, I turned to Prairie Home Cooking, by Judith M. Fertig. Once again, I have this book by accident, through the Good Cook Club, when I didn’t return the response card in time. A couple of weeks ago I picked it up, hoping to find something doughy or noodley for this event and ended up making Cheddar and Beer soup last week — but not before folding down the page with the pierogi recipe. So, . . . → Read More: Weekend Cookbook Challenge 2: Pierogi
By mlb, on January 29th, 2006%
I really meant to get this up Saturday. But, Friday night, we went to the Argyle Winemaker’s Dinner at Oba! (recap of that dinner coming next week — probably Tuesday). Uh, there’s a lot of wine at a Winemaker’s Dinner. Thus, my Saturday consisted of: getting up, water, tv, water, leftover mac & cheese, advil, water, nap, feel somewhat ok but very lazy, make pierogis, eat, bed.
So, Sunday, it is! IMB22 is, awesomely enough, all about noodles and is hosted at Cooking with Amy. I love noodles. A few years ago, jwa even got me one of those nifty pasta machines.
I decided on a Stroganoff, as it’s a dish that I really like and unless you’re eating somewhere that has comfort food on the menu, you really don’t see it out all that much. As we ate tons of meat in California last month, I also . . . → Read More: IMBB#22: Mushroom Stroganoff with Homemade Spinach Noodles
By mlb, on January 26th, 2006%
I was actually pretty happy to learn for SHF15, we would be challenged to come up with a tasty sweet thing that had little actual sugar. Because we did so much eating out and over-indulging last month, I’m not sure that I’d have been able to come up with some decadent type of dessert for this one.
This concoction was inspired by a recipe I came across at Epicurious. It’s not sugar-free but it is fruit-laden. It has a little sugar but also some low fat buttermilk, a creamy texture and a very refreshing, satisfying taste. One thing I did do, is substitute half of the sugar with honey, which seemed to work fine. It’s not really a flan, as it’s not baked and it’s not a custard but it is served upside-down. So there you go.
Mango Faux Flan:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 tbsp water
2 tsp unflavored . . . → Read More: SHF#15: Mango Faux Flan
By mlb, on January 26th, 2006%
This came about through a search for lighter and healthier dinners to balance out meals like artichoke pesto! I like to have salads for dinner occasionally but it has to have some substance, otherwise, I’m just hungry an hour later. This salad has substance. And although, I love little crispy, fried wonton skin pieces, cashews are crunchy too (and better for you). This is modified from a recipe I saw on Food Network but my version has more veggies, a different lettuce and some sesame oil, rice wine vinegar and garlic in the dressing.
So, it’s really quite different…
Light & Tasty Asian Chicken Salad:
4 slices fresh ginger
3 sprigs cilantro
6 green onions, roots trimmed
3 small carrots
1 pound skinless chicken breasts
4 cups chicken broth
1 hothouse cucumbers, diced
1 red or yellow bell pepper, julienned
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved (or 2 diced Roma tomatoes)
1/4 . . . → Read More: Light & Tasty Asian Chicken Salad
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About Me I like to cook. I like to eat. I like to take photos. I live in SE Portland with my husband jwa and a grumpy, old lady cat named Chelsea. That is all.
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