About this Blog Portland, Oregon food blog with over seven years worth of recipes, restaurant features and food photos. Dig in!
|
By mlb, on August 14th, 2012%
So, here’s the second part of my coast photos post and most of these pictures are from Astoria. With one exception…the first one is of Sunday morning’s breakfast…a cream cheese and onion bialy from Pacific Way Cafe Bakery. I liked this so much that I recreated them at home last weekend. They turned out great! (Recipe soon).
Later that day, we ended up going to Fort George Brewery in Astoria for a late lunch/early dinner on Sunday. While we were driving around Rockaway Beach, Pacific Way called me and cancelled our reservation for that night, as they weren’t going to be open due to a kitchen equipment failure. That went a little like this –
me: hanging up after listening to my voicemail message, staring at phone blankly.
jwa: what?
me: Pacific Way Cafe cancelled our reservation for tonight.
jwa: What? Why?…What?
me: Yeah. something’s broken in the kitchen, they’re not going to be open tonight.
Silence.
me: I have no idea what to do…there is no Plan B.
jwa: Um…
me: I know! Where else is there to eat in Gearhart? This is so…unexpected.
jwa: Um…
Silence.
We seriously have never had to eat anywhere else in the immediate area. Everytime we’ve stayed in Gearhart for like . . . → Read More: Coast Weekend in Photos: Part II
By mlb, on August 13th, 2012%
We went to the coast a couple of weekends ago and I took some great pictures! So I thought I would post a bunch here. But then there were so many images that I wanted to use that I thought it would be better to break it up into two posts. How exciting.
Here’s the first group which mainly covers the first day of our adventures — Gearhart, Pacific Way Cafe and the beach. It was also a really great weekend to head to the coast, as the temperature in Portland hit 100 degrees (the first time all Summer). Surprisingly though, it was also pretty hot at the coast. Gearhart and Astoria were both around 88-ish Saturday and Sunday, which is pretty abnormally hot for there (even in August).
The cat before leaving…she has no idea she’s going on a car ride soon. ha ha.
Walking around a small plant nursery in Gearhart.
A bell on a bike, with an illustration of a bike on it…very meta.
Curry Mussels at Pacific Way Cafe. Very good!
 . . . → Read More: Coast Weekend in Photos: Part I
By mlb, on August 9th, 2012%
This week’s French Fridays with Dorie is Warm Scallop Salad with Corn, Nectarines and Basil, which is a very summery salad and it made a wonderful meal. You grill nectarines and scallops and arrange everything on a plate with fresh corn, basil and whatnot. I added a bit more whatnot. Notes below.
Notes:
1. Tossed the dressing with a little spinach (maybe 1/2 cup per person) and added in some of the basil coulis in there, as mine did not stay bright green, because it was hot and chose not to blanch my basil.
2. I skipped the tomatoes, but I added feta and chopped green onions.
3. I did two scallops per person because they were huge scallops.
4. I added a splash of white balsamic to the dressing.
5. I served toasted bread on the side.
6. We’re not supposed to list the recipe, but it’s over at epicurious.com if you want to make it!
My photos are below and here’s a link to everyone’s posts.
Scallops! These were big and delicious, I got them at Flying Fish.
Nectarines, sliced and ready to grill-pan.
Grilling…
I just grill-panned . . . → Read More: FFwD: Warm Scallop Salad with Corn, Nectarines and Basil
By mlb, on August 8th, 2012%
Well, someone finally turned summer on here in the Northwest, which is nice if you like that sort of thing, but honestly I am already pining for the fall. In the meantime, I am trying to make do with operating the oven on as little as possible. This calls for salad dinners. And speaking of salad dinners, you can’t do much better than this one.
The kale stands up to the Caesar dressing really well and this is one of the very few letttuce-y salads that you can save the leftovers from (I’ve stored them in the fridge for about a day — not sure you’d want to go much longer than that, but leftovers will definitely last until lunch the next day).
Another neat thing about this salad is the egg voodoo. Such a neat trick — use a mesh strainer to sieve the eggs! Cool! Thanks, Bon Appétit magazine!
All Kale Caesar Salad
Adapted from a recipe in Bon Appétit magazine…although the bad pun name is my doing.
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp anchovy paste
2 large garlic cloves
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 hard-boiled egg, . . . → Read More: All Kale Caesar Salad
By mlb, on August 6th, 2012%
This was a delightfully odd mix of a meal. I saw the original recipe and thought it sounded somewhat interesting but both jwa and I really, really liked the resulting dinnerc. I am always a fan of tacos and these were no exception. I got some local Oregon coast Albacore Tuna Loin from Flying Fish and went to work with my grill pan.
And bonus! During one of the very few, very hot days we’ve had so far this Summer — the grill pan is only heated for about 5-6 minutes total! Yay!
The beans below were a quick attempt at a side dish and I’ve got to admit, I think they worked quite well.
Asian Tuna Tacos (Tacos de Atún Estilo Japones)
Adapted from a recipe in Fine Cooking magazine. Serves 4, recipe is easily halved.
1⁄2 cup Greek yogurt
1 tbsp prepared wasabi or 1 tbsp powdered wasabi mixed with 2 tsp water
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp lime juice
1⁄2 tsp sugar
1 pound tuna steaks, about 1-inch thick
Kosher salt + pepper
3 tbsp mild olive oil
8-16 corn tortillas, warmed (amount depends if you like to double-up your tortillas for tacos)
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into thin slices
3 scallions, thinly . . . → Read More: Asian-Fusion Tuna Tacos
|
|
