Windows Are Rolled Down

31. January 2011 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,

(I am humbled to admit that the Food Lovers Cleanse became an afterthought last week.  I didn’t have the time, energy, or money to keep up so I just put the kibosh on it.  So much for all the hype, huh?)

Let me paint a picture for you:

January.  Grey.  Wet.  Dark. MISERABLE.  Depressing.  Cold.  Least favorite month of the year.  I’ve been working on weekends, commuting into Portland 6 days a week, trying to find any reprieve I can and rest in the meantime.  Everyone in Oregon feels the weight on January and it shows.  I blame January for every Trail Blazers loss too.

Let me paint you another picture:

I live 10 minutes from the Dundee Hills of Oregon wine country.  It usually looks like this in January:

But on Saturday, it looked more like this:

It was just the sunny day we needed.  I had the south-facing windows open in my apartment with Amos Lee’s new song “Windows Are Rolled Down” stuck in my head and a smile on my face (that smile was partially due to the fact that I was vacuuming the baseboards and being instantly gratified.  I am SO my mother’s daughter).  I decided to take a short drive up to Erath Winery to pick up some Pinot Gris (for my recipe swap) and some Pinot Blanc (for my own enjoyment).  As I was driving through these hills, I turned on the radio and Amos Lee’s song went from being just a song stuck in my head to actually playing on the radio.  It was the perfect moment with the windows indeed rolled down driving through my Heaven on Earth.  If you live in the Portland area and have never been out to Dundee, get in your car this weekend and go up to Erath, visit my friends who work in the tasting room, enjoy the view, and drink damn good wine.  You’ll thank me…and yourself.

The rest of the day was filled with a cat nap in my big cozy chair with the sun on my face, two of my favorite girlfriends, Michelle and Julia , wine flights at R.Stuart on 3rd Street in McMinnville, flirting with the cute cook at Thistle, and a lovely dinner with them at my place.  I need to have more Saturday’s off.

Sunday was just as pleasant.  I love my day of rest and wish everyday were as great as Sundays.  Usually, it’s church, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Fred Meyer, then back home to cook and rest for the day.  But yesterday, I spend the bulk of my day in Lindsay’s kitchen.  We drank mimosas, ate beet and quinoa pancakes (I’m sure she’ll post those on her blog, but you can follow that link in the meantime), watched the E! red carpet interviews for the SAG Awards, and baked to our little heart’s content.  I can’t reveal too much of what we baked since it’s for our recipe swap that we’ll all post next Monday, but I can give you a little teaser:

And I have to show your our beet pancakes…since they were bright pink!

Food Lovers Cleanse: Day 4

21. January 2011 · 3 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

More leftovers, and this:

Celery Root Salad With Apples, Walnuts, and a Mustard Vinaigrette (my rendition to follow):

It all started with this ugly root…

Pretty nasty looking huh?  Well, it turns out that this eye sore is actually quite delicious.  Some of the food blogs I’ve read recently have found Celery Root to be their new favorite veggie!  I’m not quite in that camp, but it turned into something quite lovely:

I’ll be enjoying this for lunch today with…more leftovers.  Cooking for one sure makes for a repetitive menu.  I’m sure I’ll be eating this until Sunday when Lindsay and Co. make some tasty eats at my house after our day of wine tasting.  I’ll be sure to fill you in!

Celery Root and Apple Salad with Walnuts and a Mustard Vinaigrette:

Salad:
1 medium Celery Root (aka celeraic)
1/2 tsp salt
Juice from 1/2 large lemon
2 apples, quartered, cored and cut into 1/8″ slices*
2 tsp minced parsley
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Vinaigrette (this will make more that enough for this salad so you’ll have some leftover for another day:
Juice from 1/2 lemon (about 4 tbsp)
1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp mustard (or more to taste)
1 1/2 tbsp walnut oil
4 tbsp canola oil
salt, pepper, more lemon to taste

Peel celery root with knife, shave into 1/8″ thick slices.  Then cut crosswise making matchstick width strips.  Place in bowl and toss with lemon juice and salt.  Cover with parchment paper and put heavy bowl on top for 30 minutes or more.  This will tenderize the celeraic.

In the meantime, mix first 3 ingredients of dressing, then whisk in oil.  Salt, pepper, and add more lemon or mustard to taste.

After 30 minutes or so, drain celeraic or any excess water.  Combine with parsley, apples, and 4 tbsp of dressing, then top with walnuts and enjoy :)

*I used Granny Smith Apples since that’s what I had on hand.  I think a sweeter, red apple like Honeycrisp or Pink Lady would be perfect though.  The color will add visual appeal, and the sweetness will contrast the flavor or the celery root.

Food Lovers Cleanse: Day 3

21. January 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

All I have to say is: Leftovers.

Food Lover’s Cleanse: Day 2

19. January 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

Does the title of this blog imply that there will be a day 3? 4, 5…12?  I’m not so sure about that.  This Food Lovers Cleanse is proving to be far more time consuming and expensive than I had anticipated.  And, to a fault, I like to enjoy people and wine while I dine; the latter of which might defeat the whole cleanse idea.

I have mixed feelings about the second day of the cleanse.  I had to rearrange the recipes a bit due to the leftovers I had in fridge that I didn’t want to go to waste.  Therefore, the dinner for day 1 became my dinner for day 2.  But let’s start with breakfast:

Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa

I woke up so excited to enjoy this bowl of warm goodness that I had been wanting to make long before I read about the cleanse.   I used plain almond milk instead of regular milk which gave it an even nuttier flavor.  And since it’s not berry season, I used a half of a banana instead (is there a banana season?  Not gonna find those at any local farmers markets).  Pecans, cinnamon, agave: delicious.  No complaints about this hearty bowl of breakfast deliciousness.  Until about 10:30, that is, when the hunger pangs started to hit.  Quinoa is a protein-rich grain, but it certainly didn’t hold me over until lunch.  And actually, I was pretty hungry for the rest of the day, even after lunch.

Nothing noteworthy to say about lunch.  I had dinner leftovers from a couple nights ago.

Dinner: The Ultimate Winter [Quinoa]

Lots of quinoa going on yesterday.  I should start experimenting with different grains.  The original recipe calls for Couscous but I used quinoa instead because its gluten-free, I had it on hand, and because this is a vegan recipe, I liked that it added extra protein.

This dish handed me some challenges, however.  My friends Michael and Crystal, and Crystal’s twin sister, Cheryl joined me for this meal and we all experienced these challenges together.  First of all, I discovered that my oven temperature is off: it’s not as hot as it says it is.  I’ve only lived in my new place less than 2 months and haven’t used the oven a ton so I’m just now finding this out.  The veggies took waaaaay longer to roast than the recipe said so our cocktail hour was, in turn, more than an hour  Since they brought over 3 bottles of wine to add to the bottle I had chilling, we just eat our green salad with a basic citrus-shallot vinaigrette and tasted through the wines. *  The veggies could have roasted for a bit longer, but it was 8:00 and we were hungry!

The other challenge came from using an ingredient that I had never used before: harissa; a Tunisian hot chili paste.   Lindsay warned me that it was spicy so I only used half of what the recipe called for.  But in combination with the red pepper flakes, we were sweating a little bit.  And let’s be honest, the chilled whites on the table soothed our palates so well, and we needed it!  Let’s just say there was no lack of laughter at the dinner table.

I made a coupe other substitutions in the recipe:
The quinoa called for a pinch of saffron but since I couldn’t find any that was less than $15.00 for a teeeeeeny weeny jar, the gal at New Seasons suggested I use turmeric instead (plus, it’s good for the liver she added.  This is a cleanse after all).  So instead of pouring the boiling veggie stock over the couscous and and letting that sit like the recipe called for, I just cooked the quinoa like usual, and it turned out to be the best part of the dish.  Not sure this will be a staple dish in my kitchen, but I’m glad I expanded my palate a bit.  And it really did fill us up!

I have lots of leftovers, so I’ll be eating this for the next day.  Stay tuned for the next food cleanse recipe!

*The wine selection for the evening:
2008 Anne Amie Prisme Pinot Noir Blanc (this way my favorite with the dish)
2009 K Viognier
Maryhill Viognier (not sure what vintage)
2008 Tribunal Red Wine (This was a best seller at Trader Joe’s and Crystal snagged one of the last bottles.  Unfortunately, this did not pair so well with our meal)

New Food Adventures

17. January 2011 · 3 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

I’m inspired.

Last week at work, I got lost for almost an entire day in food blogs.  (It’s our slow season so I didn’t feel too bad.) Here are some of my favorite:

Rosemarried: Lindsay is a close personal friend.  Our friendship is flourishing over our love for food, wine, and the Portland Trail Blazers.
Gluten-Free Girl: I’ve been eating (mostly) GF for the last year.  Shauna has some great recipes and is an excellent story teller.  Read her story in the “about” section…it’s beautiful. (Also check out her other blog Pork Knife and Spoon.)
Burwell General Store: Found her through Lindsay. She’s part of a recipe swap group (everyone involved makes a new interpretation of a common recipe) that I’m hoping to get on board with.
Boulder Locavore: She’s part of the same recipe swap group.  Her take on apples fritters were my favorite from the last swap.
The Tomato Tart: I could get lost for hours here.  Hello, any recipe with “Thai” and “Coconutty” in the title is an automatic win.
Smitten Kitchen: One of my staple recipes came from here.  Butternut Squash, tahini, and cilantro…LOVE!
101 Cookbooks: I’ve mentioned this blog on here before.  I love everything Heidi makes.  She uses fresh, seasonal ingredients, that are mostly vegetarian.  She even has a gluten-free section.
Cannelle et Vanille: Haven’t made anything from here yet, but she has a gluten-free olive oil cake.  Are you kidding me?!?

I could go on and I’m sure there are other great blogs that I forgot to mention.  Next time I guess :)

So you may be reading more about my culinary adventures on my blog.  I want to eat well and enjoy good food.  It may be the only art form that I get really good at.

So with that said, here’s my latest food adventure: The Bon Appetit Food Lover’s Cleanse.  I started this morning with the Mushroom Omelet with Caramelized Onions and Thyme.  It was tasty tasty.  Excited to go make the Vanilla and Date smoothie here in a couple minutes.  I probably won’t keep this cleanse religiously due to time and money.  But I will make many of the recipes and eat leftovers day to day.  What I do eat will be from this cleanse and I’ll make sure to keep you all filled in on how I’m feeling and what’s good…and what’s not as good.

Eat your heart out, my friends.  I hope you find inspiration to cook more for yourselves and have fun doing it.

(P.S. It’s a good thing I have a gym membership and a neighbor who loves to go on runs with me.  Gotta fit into the clothes I have!)

Turkey Black Bean Chili and Baked Sweet Potato Falafel

04. January 2011 · 4 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:

Since I didn’t get to make any food on Sunday night, I spent Monday night in the kitchen instead.  The only complaint I have about my kitchen and my apartment is the fact that the oven hood vent doesn’t work very well and my entire apartment ends up smelling like dinner for days.  Can’t wait til I can open the windows again!

I love many things, but two things that I especially love: Sunset Magazine and food blogs.  When I’m bored at work or need culinary inspiration, I read food blogs.  When I want to escape from my life, or find encouragement that I live in the right part of the country (and the right part of the state now that I live in wine country) I read Sunset.  I highly recommend picking it up next time you’re at the checkout stand at the grocery store.

The two recipes I made last night came from two of my loves: one from Sunset and one from a food blog: 101 Cookbooks.

Last week when I had some time to kill, I went over to my friend Crystal’s house and she was making this recipe for Turkey Black Bean Chili from Sunset and it was delish!  I love warm hearty stews that keep your belly all warm and cozy on cold winter days.  The recipe was really good on its own but I added a teaspoon or so of cinnamon just to give it more warmth and depth.  I topped it off with some cilantro, avo, and blue corn tortilla chips and chowed down.  SO good and scrumptious and healthy and filling.  I made enough to feel a small army so I brought some over to my neighbors Mandee and Ryan and we decided to do some recipe exchanges…but only if the recipes are accompanied by the finished product.  I’ll keep you posted on those.

The other recipe I made last night was for Baked Sweet Potato Falafel from 101 Cookbooks. I couldn’t resist anything in this recipe and the only things I did different were double it because it looked SO SO good, and added a dollop of Tahini Sauce on top of each before popping them in my mouth.  The sweetness of the potato, the spice of the cumin and coridander, the nuttiness of the tahini, and the freshness of the cilantro made it an instant favorite and the way to my heart.  Did I mention that both recipes are gluten and dairy free?  Well, they are…hooray!

Bon appetit!

Plain and Simple

04. January 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,

I’ve never been a huge fan of New Years Eve.  Dressing up in something flashy and bejeweled and staying up really late has never been my cup of tea and actually makes me anxious and uncomfortable just thinking about it.  My only plan this year was to have dinner with my favorite old roommates at Toro Bravo which I was pretty dang excited about.  I mean, these girls are suurrriously my favorite.

But on Thursday, LaDonna called.

“Hi sweetie whatcha doing this weekend?”

“Well, not a whole lot actually.  What’s up?”

I thought she might be planning on coming to Portland to visit Adam and Corbin or something, but no.  She called to invite me up to Plain (just 10 miles from Leavenworth) to visit her and Jon and Teri for the weekend.  She had already looked into train tickets and I was set to go.  How could I resist such an invitation?  I had to bail on my roommates for dinner but they all sent me off with blessings and told me to go and have a good time.  And a good time I had indeed.  Usually, after a busy weekend, I’m pretty beat by Sunday night and by no means ready for a long week to start again.  But after I got home from the drive on Sunday, I felt relaxed, rested, and refreshed.

Long walks in the snow with LaDonna, cross country skiing with Jon, Snow mobile-ing with Teri, eating deer meat sausage for breakfast, sitting by the “fire” (a DVD of a fire burning…it was so real!) drinking red wine, chillin’ watching a movie.  It was near perfect.  The only thing that would have been better would be having Anthony there with us.

Thanks Jon and LaDonna for having me up for a visit!  And thanks Aunt Teri for the great ride home.  Love you guys!

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