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Breakfast at Sen Yai Noodles

Breakfast at Sen Yai Noodle House

Sen Yai Noodles
3384 SE Division Street
Portland, OR 97214

Noodles for breakfast? That’s crazy-talk! Of course, it isn’t really and technically, most of the breakfast menu items at Yen Sai are soups, porridges, eggs and breakfast-y what-nots. We went to a preview breakfast Tuesday and left plenty full and fairly ready to start the day.

This is, of course, the newest restaurant within the Pok Pok empire, and it just opened at the end of last week. They have hours for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and while the first meal of the day was delicious, I really want to go back later in the day and try a lot of other things — like the stewed duck leg over wide rice noodles, all of the stir fried noodles and of course, the phat thais.

That said, if you go in the morning, you should get the Salapai (steamed buns with sweet, shredded pork and fried shallots), the Kafae Boraan (Thai coffee with condensed milk and sugar), Jok with a poached egg, and the Khao Tom rice soup (also with a poached egg).

We just walked by the other evening and they were already packed. . . . → Read More: Breakfast at Sen Yai Noodles

Baked Fish, Potatoes and Spanish Chorizo

Baked Fish, Potatoes and Chorizo

This is a great spring or summer meal. First of all, it has an easy one pot type set up (always a plus) and it’s Spanish in influence, which always makes me think of sunny weather. You could easily skip the chorizo if you can’t find any (this requires the real, cured Spanish variety) but if you can track some down it’s highly recommended.

In the oven, the broth, spices, and chorizo kind of work this magic and transform into a thick, flavorful broth. The potatoes are well, potatoey and get all infused with that awesome broth and the fish makes it healthy for you. If you added some bread and a hunk of manchego cheese on the side, you would be even happier. Trust me on that.

As a side note: I often wonder how I got along in the world before I discovered smoked paprika.

Baked Fish, Potatoes and Chorizo

Baked Fish, Potatoes and Chorizo

Baked Fish, Potatoes and Chorizo

Baked Fish, Potatoes and Chorizo

Baked Fish, Potatoes and Spanish Chorizo
Adapted from Real Simple magazine; serves two, easily doubled.
1 tbsp . . . → Read More: Baked Fish, Potatoes and Spanish Chorizo

FFwD: Creamy Mushrooms and Eggs

French Fridays with Dorie

Well, I think this French Fridays with Dorie is one of my favorites! But, I did change a lot of things. This was mainly due to what I had on hand and what I didn’t want to go buy specifically for this recipe (cream, brioche).

I used some roasted garlic ciabatta that I had in the freezer and instead of cream, I added a little marsala wine to the mushrooms. It just seemed that with butter and egg yolks, the cream really wasn’t necessary. What is it with the French and cream?

I would love to make this sometime for brunch, with two slices of toast and two eggs per person and potatoes on the side. And mimosas.

Oh and as an endorsement that will mean nothing to anyone that doesn’t live in the Portland area, these eggs from Champoeg Farm are the best eggs I have ever used. I can usually find them at the New Seasons on Division (but not other New Seasons for some reason). And I just found out they do farm tours on Sunday. I am so doing that this summer.

Oh and one more note. I was not . . . → Read More: FFwD: Creamy Mushrooms and Eggs

White Polenta with Sausage, Chard and Fresh Mozzarella

White Polenta with Sausage, Chard and Fresh Mozzarella

This was a recent meal at our house and even though I accidentally made two “errors” with it, the meal was still delicious. So, I think we’ll call this one both forgiving and versatile.

Error number one was not realizing this recipe made two cake pans worth of polenta (not a big deal as the other polenta is safely in the freezer awaiting a dinner soon) and error number two was baking the polentas in the cake pans. Also not a big deal since, as far as I can tell, it worked out fine. Lessons learned: if you’re just trying to feed two, just make a half recipe of the below and for possibly crispier polenta, turn them out onto a baking sheet. But you know, no big deal.

That all said, the versatility comes in by really being able to top these pizzas with anything you might normally put on a pizza. Mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, lamb sausage, feta — it’s completely adjustable to the season and whatever you’re in the mood for eating!

White Polenta with Sausage, Chard and Fresh Mozzarella

White Polenta <span style= . . . → Read More: White Polenta with Sausage, Chard and Fresh Mozzarella

FFwD: Swiss Chard Pancakes (but really Arugula Pancakes)

FFwD: Swiss Chard Pancakes but really Arugula Pancakes

I almost didn’t make this French Fridays with Dorie. In fact, I really wasn’t going to make it at all but at 9:00pm on Thursday night I looked to see what the assignment was…it was Swiss Chard Pancakes. I had really wanted to make those. And I didn’t have any chard. Because I was lazy and I absolutely did not want to go to the store, I used what I did have — arugula. Dorie even suggests these pancakes are very good with spinach instead of chard, and is arugula really that far away from spinach? No. Especially not at 9:00pm on a Thursday.

The nice thing is these came together so quickly! I was all done by 9:30-ish. And we had a nice breakfast all ready for the following morning (Friday). I just rewarmed them in a 350 degree F oven (in foil) for about 10 minutes. I served the pancakes with some Greek yogurt and finely diced red onion.

The few changes I made: made a half recipe, added about 1 tsp Dijon mustard to the batter, and sprinkled a tiny bit of Parmesan cheese on each pancake before . . . → Read More: FFwD: Swiss Chard Pancakes (but really Arugula Pancakes)