Voodoo Doughnuts

We finally made our way to Voodoo Doughnut yesterday - it's a Portland staple, and a must-try when in the city. I'd seen them profiled on many different food programs, so was excited to finally get in line and sample the wares myself - despite the fact that I'm not a HUGE sugary-sweet eater. keith, on the other hand nearly pouted when I told him he could only get 2 doughnuts. :)

The vibe of the place is great, and the options are insane. keith - worried that he wouldn't be able to make a decision - looked up the menu on his iPhone before the line let us into the store. He wanted to be prepared. Yet when he saw the doughnut covered in Captain Crunch cereal, he nearly crumbled under the pressure of the decision!! We each got 2 doughnuts - a suitable lunch, right? With pink box in hand, we went out into the sunshine to enjoy.

My first pick was the Voodoo Doll - loved it! Let alone the quirkiness of the design, it's quite a tasty doughnut. And when you get down to the raspberry jam, you can't help but smile as you're devouring the little person.

I then moved on to the Bacon Maple Bar - this was the reason I wanted to come to Voodoo Doughnuts. Come on, bacon on a pastry? Sign me up!! It tasted like breakfast! And while I couldn't eat the whole thing, I still enjoyed it!

keith started with the Old Dirty Bastard - oreo cookies, peanut butter and chocolate frosting. I don't think it was sweet enough for him. :) Just watching him eat it made me cringe!

And then he moved on to the Portland Cream - a basic but delicious cream filled donut.

Seriously check them out if you're in town. And if you come visit us, we'll take you. It's worth the wait in line.

Facing My Shame

I nearly didn't mention this on the blog. But then decided it needed to be shared. 

I had a craving. Odd one since we never eat "fast food" from chains like this. Never!

But I had a craving. And a coupon. Drat. 

Craving + Hunger + Coupon = Burger King

Lord help me, I enjoyed it.

Be strong. Don't make a habit out of it. 

:)

When I was 17 I worked at a Burger King with Lori (the other half of The Wonder Twins). So every now and then that craving just hits and I can't ignore it. Although it usually only hits when we're making long road trips and it's also a very convenient thing to stop and eat.

Indian BBQ Chicken

Holly sent me this amazing recipe for an Indian BBQ sauce. I rushed out to buy the necessary ingredients - I've not cooked much Indian, so had to stock up. And instead of chicken breasts, I grabbed some boneless, skinless chicken thighs that worked perfectly on the grill (less cooking time, of course). As I was making the sauce, I kept thinking "this is way too tangy" - but sure enough, it comes together perfectly. The sauce is outstanding on the chicken. I even scooped a little overtop the finished chicken and have plenty left over. Holly suggests making an Indian "pizza" using the sauce & nan bread. I like that idea too!! I served the chicken with some lightly sauteed green beans sprinkled with chopped almonds.

Holly's Indian BBQ Chicken

vegetable oil 1 medium onion finely diced 3 garlic cloves, minced 3 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced 1 cup ketchup 1/3 cup distilled white vinegar 1/3 cup tamarind puree (I used a chutney b/c that's all I could find) 1/3 cup unsulphreed molasses pinch of sugar 3 tablespoons whole grain mustard 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 2 teaspoon garam masala salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 six ounce skinless, boneless chciken breast halves 1.  In a skillet, heat 3 TB of oil.  Add onion and cook over moderate heat until translucent, 4 minutes.  Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant.  Add ketchup, vinegar, tamarind, molasses, sugar, mustard and cayenne and simmer over low heat, stirring, until reduced to 1 3/4 cups, 5 minutes.  Stir in the garam masala and season with salt and pepper. 2.  Light grill.  rub chciken with oil and rub with salt.  Grill over moderately high heat until alomst cooked, about 7 minutes.  Brush with sauce and grill for another 4 minutes on each side.  Serve.

Green Curry with Chicken

While shopping at New Seasons, I happened across a selection of curry pastes from a local company here in Oregon. I've never tried to make a curry on my own, so this seemed like a good way to make the first attempt. The paste simply needs to be added to some coconut milk - I can do that! And I have tried in vain for years to find a suitable green curry that can compare to the one at The Elephant in NYC (sadly no longer around). This ended up being one of the closest recipes yet! Isn't it funny how we can have such sense-memory, especially with food?

So in order to make this as close to the recipe I hold as the standard for green curries, I added the same ingredients - peeled potatoes, chunky carrots and chicken. Unfortunately I only had chicken breasts, and the recipe I fell in love with was always served with dark meat cuts of chicken. Still, I plodded onwards.

Final touches to make this just right - long grain white rice piled perfectly in the center of the plate (slightly sticky rice and a lightly oiled bowl made this easy); chopped peanuts; and some lime wedges. All that was missing was a sliced banana, but I didn't have one handy.

The curry was quite delicious, albeit WAY too spicy for keith. Stubbornly he ate a bunch of it and paid for it the next day...no details required. All in all I'm glad I bought the paste in a jar - it worked out quite well! And next time I'll just make enough for one serving. :)

A Hike and a Beer

This past Saturday I again ventured up to the top of Saddle Mountain. This time I took keith so he could experience the gorgeous views as well. Armed with a new hiking backpack, and some new hiking poles for keith, we set out. Again, first stop was at Camp 18 - I had a luscious omelet filled with steak, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes. keith had a lumberjack breakfast complete with one huge pancake, one piece of french toast, eggs, sausage and homefries. With our tanks full of fuel, we hit the hiking trail.

The beginning of the hike is "respectable" (as Kevin put it), and brings you out to an outcropping of stone that seems to float above everything. I made a point to walk out to the edge for a photo op - big deal to someone that is leery of heights, like me. And then the trail gets difficult going straight up to the summit. Wonderful day, gorgeous weather, and then we relaxed at home with a lovely local IPA - which hit the spot after a hike like that!

Heirloom Tomatoes

So meaty & delicious, heirloom tomatoes are definitely my favorite type of tomato. I need a garden so I can grow some of my own! And there's nothing better than just eating them by themselves - sprinkle a little salt & some grains of paradise over top, and you're good to go!

Grilled Whole Trout

I nearly fell over when I saw the gorgeous trout in the seafood department of New Seasons. I was beginning to think I wouldn't be able to find any whole fish anywhere - and then I'd have to learn to fish and then learn to gut & clean the fish...and that was beginning to seem like way too much effort. So I stumbled upon these beauties and snagged four of them for dinner. 

This is one of my favorite ways to cook fish, and I haven't done it in years (lack of a grill, you understand). I made some sticky Jasmine rice with fried shallots & garlic to go with the fish. And as we sat down to eat, I had to give a little whole fish eating lesson to keith - remove the skin from the side that's up. Pull of the flaky white flesh, leaving the tiny little bones still attached to the spine. Flip the fish over and do the same to the other side. So much fun! It brought back such a wonderful memory of my first whole fish experience. I was 25 or so (granted, I'd fished - I'd had fish many times - but I'd never been served a whole fish at the table before this moment), and in Venice, Italy with my then-boyfriend Mark. We wandered into this tiny little restaurant that was completely off the beaten path (in other words, we were the only Americans and that was lovely). It was late afternoon and a little chill was in the air, so we stopped for a carafe of the house red wine. We sat and sipped wine, talking about the day and laughing with the bubble blonde woman who ran the place (likely the owner as well). At one point a man walked in with a basket and handed her a pile of fish - fresh caught from the sea. On top was a gorgeous monkfish. I pointed to it and said "prego?" - she giggled and nodded her head. 30 minutes or so later (and well into our second carafe) she brought it out to the table. She had steamed the fish and it was sitting on a bed of greens. She sat it down and had a big smile on her face. Mark cut the fish open and pulled out the spine and I was in heaven. All in all we sat at that restaurant for probably 4 hours eating and drinking. Lovely memory - delicious fish!

Grilled Whole Trout

1 -2 whole Trout per person, cleaned with heads on (preferably)

2 sprigs rosemary per piece of fish

2 lemon slices per piece of fish

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil

**special tool: fish basket for grill

Salt and pepper the interior of the fish, then stuff in the rosemary and the lemon slices. Rub some olive oil over the skin of the fish on both sides and arrange them snugly in the grill basket. I also like to sprinkle a little salt over the skin as well. Place the basket on the grill, and cook for 6 - 8 minutes on each side (this really depends on how thick the fish is, keep a close eye - it will stay moist even if you overcook it slightly, so don't worry too much).

Comfort Food, a Hike, and some Beer

This past Tuesday my new friend Kevin took me hiking up to the top of Saddle Mountain - it's an hour west of the city off Route 26. Kevin is an AVID hiker - an outdoorsman for sure. I'm a recovering city boy, so I had no idea what to expect. Luckily he had planned the day to start with a big, hearty breakfast at Camp 18 - a rustic and stunning restaurant full of gorgeous wood & wood sculptures as well as huge plates of warm and delicious food. And naturally, I got a few photos from the inside of the restaurant but neglected to take a photo of the massive pile of biscuits and gravy that was delivered to my table. Kevin managed to put away most of three insanely huge blueberry pancakes and a plate of potatoes.

Fueled and ready to go, we made our way to the Saddle Mountain. Heck of a hike - and well worth it for the views. You get to the summit and you have a full 360 degree view - ocean to the west, and forest all around. And after a great hike there was only one thing left to do - get some beer.

Kevin took me to Lucky Labrador for a few pints. Great brewery with a lively back patio (dogs welcome...of course). I started with the Hellasourus Rex - a lighter German-style lager, and then moved on to the ESP. I got home and keith had ordered pizza for dinner - all in all a great day!