Honolulu Breakfast

One of the things I love about food is how it can transport you to another place. I only visited Hawaii once, in 2002. It was for a swim event, and I was able to enjoy some great breakfasts at a local diner in Honolulu. Spam was on the menu, and of course I had to have some.

I am not ashamed to admit, I have always liked Spam. Growing up, Mom made a casserole with spaghetti, Spam, tomato, Italian herbs, and parmesan. It was one of my favorites. But I haven't had Spam since my visit to Hawaii in 2002.

After spending the day flying from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon yesterday, part of me wished the plane had continued flying to Hawaii. So, I planned a simple breakfast, Spam fried in a pan and glazed with Teriyaki sauce, fried eggs, rice with soy sauce and Nori, and a slice of pineapple. For a few moments, I was in Honolulu. It was just what the doctor ordered, but now I'm starting to think about Loco Moco!

what am I making?

Dresden stollen, a longtime family tradition. It's like a rustic, gourmet, sweet fruit bread, and it takes all day to make. I have made it with my mother for at least 30 years. I started helping in my teens when I was a competitive swimmer and had the arm strength to knead the bread. The candied fruit is going to soak in brandy overnight., and tomorrow I will make the stollen. Wonderful recipe, makes four large loaves.

Thanksgiving

my perfect plate, a big plate, but just one plate

potatoes washed

sauce with butter, cheddar, onion and sour cream

casserole ready to go in the oven

yams

peeled and cut

I finally used the vintage enamel paella pan Mom gave me a few years ago

sauce with butter, brown sugar, milk, maple syrup, and salt

ready to go in the oven

turkey breast in the refrigerator 

glass of wine for the chef - juice glass doesn't tip over as easily as stemware

chanterelle mushrooms, shallot, and thyme 

in a saucepan with butter and wine

mushroom relish for the green beans - my solution to green bean casserole

fresh green beans

Lulu loved playing with her bean

food ready to go in the oven, and a clean kitchen!

let's get some color on that bird

spuds two ways, cheddar sour cream au gratin, and baked candied yams

Lulu got her first taste of roasted turkey. She gobbled it up!

More turkey please!

blackberry lemon chess pie for dessert

blackberry lemon chess pie

Everyone else has pumpkin, apple or pecan pie. I wanted to do my own thing, but didn't have a lot of ingredients on hand, so I made a chess pie. I followed this recipe, and added the juice and zest of one lemon, and a cup of frozen blackberries from my garden. Used a frozen crust, blind baked for ten minutes, filled and baked for about an hour at 350. Looks amazing. A Northwest spin on a southern classic. My first chess pie. Can't wait to slice into it. I may have to leave the house while it's cooling.  

a sensible bachelor's Thanksgiving dinner plan

This year I thought a quiet Thanksgiving at home with Lulu would be in order. It will be her first Thanksgiving, so I hope she likes turkey. Of course she will. In the past, I've done everything from lobster rolls to baked manicotti. This year I will roast a whole turkey breast. I had considered brining, but instead I will wash, dry and season the bird, and let it rest uncovered overnight in the refrigerator. That, I'm told, is the key to a crispy skin. We'll see.

Lulu is going to be a happy cat tomorrow

I'm skipping some of the traditional favorites like stuffing and mashed potatoes, and choosing my indulgences. The rich, cheddar cheese potatoes with sour cream- those are indulgent, and I haven't had them in ages! The green beans sautéed in white wine, shallot and Oregon Chanterelle mushrooms will be a lighter alternative to the green bean casserole. Candied yams from scratch, because that's how I like them, and some homemade pan gravy. Chilled bottle of Prosecco in the fridge. Simple!

There's also a pie crust in the freezer, but not enough blackberries for a whole pie, so I think I'll do a chess pie with berries, either in the pie or as a compote. Or maybe I'll just have the yams for dessert and save the pie for later in the week. It might be nice when the leftovers are starting to disappear.

Tomorrow will be a quiet day of cooking and being thankful. I will be tuned in to the Food Network, thoroughly enjoying my wonderful kitchen, and Lulu will have her first taste of roasted turkey. The plan is one great plate full of food, ok, maybe two, and food for the next week. I love a great meal, but still need to fit in my jeans.

What's on your Thanksgiving menu?

killer blender salsa

I love the salsa they serve at the local restaurants in Portland, but until yesterday I never tried to make it. Why didn't I think of it sooner?!? So simple, easy, and delicious.

Ingredients
1 large can diced, fire roasted tomatoes, drained
1-3 chopped Serrano peppers, more if you like it hot
cilantro
1 chopped shallot
1 minced clove of garlic
juice of 1 lime
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

Everything in the food processor, pulse, scrape down sides, and pulse until blended. Takes about 5 minutes. Serve with good tortilla chips and any kind of beer. It was so good, I almost made dinner out of it!

Recreating Mutt's Spinach Pie

I went to school in Providence, Rhode Island, and there used to be this awesome little pizza place called Mutt's. I think the whole name was Mutt's Sicilian Pizza, and it was famous for a JFK Jr., and Brook Shields date night sighting and their marvelous spinach pie. It was savory, cheesy, garlicky, and absolutely delicious. Mutt's is long gone, but I miss their spinach pie. So I tried to make it at home.

I made it just like I would any other pizza, with homemade dough and fresh toppings. Mutt's spinach pie was oval, so I made the pie oval-shaped. It was topped with spinach sautéed in olive oil with onion and garlic; provolone and parmesan. I baked it on a pizza stone at 500 degrees until golden brown and bubbly, about 8 minutes.

Delicious, but needed to be even more savory. Next time I'll try some more aromatics, maybe a little roasted garlic, definitely a little more salt, and I'll try some different cheeses, too. So, I give myself a B+ but next time I'm going for the A+ with extra credit. Sometimes a great recipe takes time to refine, especially when you're trying to recreate something you had 30 years ago.

my perfect cuppa joe

It's espresso, straight up, couple shots at least. Sometimes sugar, sometimes a ribbon of lemon skin, but most of the time not. Fresh ground beans of course. Doesn't have to be espresso roast. Faster than a pot of coffee and a good way to avoid drinking the whole pot of coffee, as we tend to do in Portland.

In case you're not familiar with the rituals of espresso making, it is basically concentrated coffee brewed by forcing a small amount of very hot water under pressure through finely ground coffee beans. When you go to Starbucks and order any of the fancy drinks, they are mostly made with shots of espresso rather than brewed coffee.

There is more than one way to make espresso. I use a Starbucks Barista home espresso machine. It's small and easy to maintain. To use it, finely ground coffee is put in a metal filter, which fits snugly inside a holder. The filter holder fits over the water source, which is similar to a small shower head covered with a fine metal filter. Once the water is hot enough and the green light goes on, just push a button and brewed espresso comes out through two holes in the bottom of the filter holder. You can also make espresso on the stovetop using a pot that works more like a percolator.

Espresso is thicker than brewed coffee. It contains a higher concentration of suspended and dissolved solids, and it has crema on top. Crema is the creamy foam on the surface of the drink, and at many of the small, fancy coffee shops the baristas will give your drink an artistic touch with drawings made of crema and the froth of steamed milk.

In case you can't tell, we take our coffee very seriously in Portland! It's part of what makes this place such a foodie town. Starbucks is OK if you're not in the Northwest, but there's nothing like a drive-thru espresso hut in the middle of nowhere, an oasis of warm, sweet, creamy goodness. And at home, there's nothing like hot espresso, crema on top, made from freshly ground beans. That's my perfect cuppa joe.

ready for breakfast

I'm ready for breakfast, and sometimes I enjoy a simple, hearty breakfast on the weekend. A Northwest breakfast would not be complete without coffee, of course. Here in Portland, we tend to grind our beans fresh for each coffee concoction, and we also tend to like espresso drinks.

One of the best simple pleasures is a very easy latte with espresso and steamed milk. Rather than steaming the milk with my old, unreliable espresso machine, which tends to spit out water instead of steam, I heat the milk in the microwave and froth it with a Bodum Chambord Milk Frother. Just pour some milk in the glass container, pop it in the microwave for about a minute, remove, and use the plunger to froth the milk. Super simple, easy cleanup, and perfect frothy milk every time! You don't have to be a barista to make a decadent latte, and it's really just espresso and milk

There was some leftover roasted bacon, and I had eggs and red new potatoes, so I sliced the potatoes, drizzled them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted them at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes. Usually I don't fuss too much with eggs, but I'd heard it is a virtue to cook eggs without browning them. So I set out to cook some un-browned scrambled eggs, starting at a lower heat and taking a little more time to cook them. Turned out well. The thick cut, roasted pepper bacon looks a little charred in the picture, but it was actually perfect. I like it crispy!

So, that's my simple weekend breakfast. It's comforting and complete, stick-to-your-ribs food, and I don't expect to be hungry until dinner time. What's your favorite at-home weekend breakfast?

shrimp scampi for Martha

My whole approach to cooking and blogging about it may not appeal to Martha Stewart, but last night I came up with a pantry meal suitable for the queen of lifestyle and home entertaining. Yes, food bloggers can be arbiters of taste, too! I made the most delightful shrimp scampi for dinner. It was one of those nights when I was feeling too lazy to go to the market, so I looked to the freezer and found some shrimp. Ordinarily I'd start with fresh shrimp, but like I said, I was being lazy. When it comes to making pantry meals, I've got some experience.

After thawing the shrimp in a bowl of warm water and removing the tail fins, I heated some butter and olive oil in a pan with garlic, and added lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and the shrimp. After tossing the shrimp long enough to heat through, I threw in some fresh chopped parsley. Served it up with an arugula and endive salad with homemade croutons, warm garlic bread, and a screwdriver shaken over ice, strained, and served in a martini glass, just because! If Martha came to visit, I wouldn't be embarrassed to serve her this meal. She might just enjoy it!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, my shrimp scampi recipe was based on an Ina Garten recipe found online. :)

roasting bacon

I have been roasting bacon ever since I saw the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten doing it on the Food Network. Now that I've been cooking bacon this way for a few years, I have learned a couple good tips.

I use crumpled aluminum foil to line the pan. The foil creates peaks and valleys to hold the bacon and catch the fat as it renders. Cooks beautifully, and clean-up is a breeze. I usually get the thick cut pepper bacon and cook it for 25 minutes at 425 degrees, flip, and another 5 to 10 minutes cooking until the bacon is crisped to your taste. For me, that's when the foam begins to form on the bacon. If you cook bacon and like it crispy, you'll know what I mean. The best part is you can save the fat if you're cooking with it later. If a little fat remains in the pan, use the pan to roast some Brussels sprouts, and you won't regret it!

Lulu loves bacon!

Saveur's Pork Stew: Re-roll

I'd been thinking my stew repertoire needed to expand, and recalled a delicious pork stew recipe with dried apricots and prunes from Saveur Magazine from several years ago. I made it once, and enjoyed it, but never made it again. When I rediscovered the recipe, I recalled the sweet and slightly savory stew and thought I could alter the recipe to give it some more balance toward the savory side.

Here's the original recipe: click here.

What I did was also a morph, because I used cooked pork loin with fig sauce. Here's what I did: on the stovetop in a Dutch oven, I sweated half a yellow onion and a chopped carrot in olive oil, then added about 2/3 cup of diced dried fruit: prunes, apricots and figs; 2 cups of mushrooms, several sprigs of fresh thyme, 2T tomato paste, salt and pepper, about 2 cups of diced leftover pork, and 4 cups of liquid.

Instead of using all water, I used 2 cups of dry white wine and 2 cups of water. Then I put the Dutch oven into an oven preheated to 350 degrees uncovered for about 90 mites, stirring occasionally. I served it over roasted red new potatoes, and have to say, I liked my version even better than Saveur's original recipe. The original was good, but a little sweet. Cutting the sweetness with the wine and fresh thyme and adding the earthy mushrooms turned out to be a win. Adding the figs didn't make much of a difference. I did that mostly because the pork already had fig sauce on it. I'll make it again, for sure, but will probably start with uncooked pork for even better results.

What's your favorite stew recipe?

Fig Sauce

Stonewall Kitchen makes a wonderful Vidalia Onion Fig Sauce, and I remembered loving it several years ago, but I haven't seen it in the market lately, and decided to make my own. I was making a small batch and didn't have any Vidalia onion, so I winged it and used shallot.

Ingredients

extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/2 cup dried figs, diced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sherry
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water or more

Heat oil in a small saucepan and sweat the shallots until translucent. Add dried figs, sugar, sherry and soy, and simmer on medium heat until figs are heated through and beginning to break down. Add water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until liquid is reduced by half. If necessary, use an immersion blender to further break down the figs.

I was surprised, even though I have no idea how Stonewall Kitchen makes their fig sauce, the sauce I made had a very similar flavor. I used it on halibut, and a pork loin roast. Delicious!

Do you ever try to recreate the foods you've enjoyed in the past without having a recipe?

Rueben-Panini & Thousand Island vs. Russian Dressing- what's the difference?

I decided to make a Rueben-Panini, but when I went to check on the recipe, I realized it was Russian Dressing I needed to make, and not Thousand Island. All these years, I never realized the distinction between the two - maybe I thought they were both the same dressing with different names. But no, two different dressings, easily confused because they both include ketchup and mayonnaise.

grillin' grillin' grillin'

The difference between the two dressings is what you add after the ketchup and mayo. With Thousand Island, you add pickle relish; with Russian dressing, you add horseradish, worcestershire sauce and a little lemon juice. Once I tasted the Russian Dressing, I realized it wasn't the same as Thousand Island- no, not at all! I feel a little silly for not realizing that before today.

The Rueben was delicious, by the way. Half corned beef, half pastrami, melted Tillamook Swiss cheese, Boar's Head sauerkraut (I took the easy way out, even though sauerkraut is super easy to make), and the homemade Russian Dressing, all on Marsee Bakery's wonderful rye bread. I like how the panini press made the bread nice and crispy without butter, so I felt less guilt about dipping the sandwich in the leftover Russian dressing. 

Shannon's Truffles, an elusive delicacy

Just got back from the market with something you cannot buy- Shannon's Truffles. These marvelous treats aren't on sale anywhere, and the recipe is not available. They are the creation of Shannon, who has worked as a checker at the local market for years, ever since I've been shopping there.

A few weeks ago Shannon told me about her truffles. She described them with such joy, I dreamed of the day I'd be lucky enough to try one. Today was the day! She had some leftover from a wedding- four flavors: Bailey's, Grand Marnier, white chocolate, and I can't remember what she said the fourth one was because I was spellbound. The three that made it home, I'm saving for later. But the Bailey's didn't make it into the picture. I popped it in my mouth on the spot and blissfully, the first word out of my mouth was "Phenomenal!"

So, even though I didn't get the recipe, I did manage to get one secret from Shannon. She uses the microwave to melt chocolate. I've seen it done on the Food Network, and that process involved short cycles in the microwave with stirring in between. Whatever Shannon does, she's got it down. Sorry for showing you these gorgeous treats, then saying you can't have any. Sometimes the greatest delicacies are elusive.

frying chicken

Deep frying is one of the more intimidating events in the kitchen, but I had to try this recipe for frying boneless skinless chicken breasts. It sounded simple enough, but of course I had to switch things up a little. I brined the chicken for 24 hours in seasoned buttermilk rather than the usual water-based brine- which I used all summer for grilled chicken. Then I tossed the chicken in seasoned flour and let it sit on a rack for 15 minutes, frying it for about 12 minutes, and flipping the chicken a few times in the process. Insanely delicious! The bonus: since there's no skin and it's all lean, white meat, it's a healthier way to enjoy fried chicken. Great recipe no matter how you brine the chicken.