Palmiers
Palmier: Cookie made out of puff pastry and a ridiculous amount of sugar. They are sooo good out of the oven. You can begin drooling now….
Food pic Friday: Random photos of food or drinks I make or put together at home because for some reason I can’t eat out all the time
I don’t really pay attention to stats or referrers to my little blog because I do it for fun. I don’t care so much about my sentence structure or misuse or lack of punctuation and I apologize for that. I do however try to spell everything correctly so I can keep your cringing to a minimum. Try is the important word ok?
Anyways, thank you to everyone who is following me and taking the time to read my entries. My goal is to check every one of your sites because I tend to write a blurb then log off and forget about it until it publishes and then I realize people are actually reading it! Who knew right? Ha!
So WordPress sent me my “year in review” and I noticed some local bloggers that referred people my way so I wanted to thank them as well and I hope I can return the favor and send a few people to their site too.
The entry they linked me to is here: http://talkeatdrinkportland.blogspot.com/2012/07/swift-lounge.html
Check them out if you live in Portland! They review happy hour spots around town and I’m always looking for new places so I can’t wait to read their suggestions.
Happy New Year to you all and thank you again!
Cheers,
B
Is there a time this place isn’t busy for lunch? The line can be long but usually the wait for food isn’t quite as bad. Be advised the food doesn’t always come out in order so the guy behind you (and the guy behind that guy) might get their meal first. No biggie in my opinion but I always find myself lunging at what I think should be my order since everyone ahead of me received their food. Hmmm, maybe it is all in order until it gets to me? Oh well, the extra minute or two is worth it since the food is so good and you never leave hungry.
As you can see from the picture above, the tostada is piled high with beans, lettuce, salsa, sour cream and cheese. Very filling and I would order it again. The staff is super friendly and sometimes when the lines are really long they have been known to throw in a free fountain drink, at least for me they did 
La Bonita is one of my go to lunch spots and several people at work like eating there now too. Great find on Alberta St. where there are so many Mexican places to choose from. I’m glad their gorgeous green door (below) caught my eye one day and made me take notice of their establishment so I could remember to try it out one day.
Location: 2839 NE Alberta St Portland OR 97211 Phone: (503) 281 3662
Website: http://www.labonitarestaurant.net/
Cost: $4.50
I’ve driven by this place hundreds of times, possibly a million, and finally in the year 2012 I remembered to eat at this fine establishment. You can’t miss the building, it’s painted the brightest colors of yellow, pink and aqua and there is usually a crowd of people eating outside. It can be a challenge finding a close parking spot but you will face that problem at most good restaurants so suck it up and walk a couple blocks if need be.
My coworker (who is Cuban) told me that Pambiche isn’t really authentic Cuban food and doesn’t taste like food he grew up with. That doesn’t totally surprise me because I’ve experienced the same with Filipino establishments. I’m always leery of them because there is too much variation so the taste is never right to me. The slightest change can be especially disappointing especially when it becomes too “Americanized” and is not even close to how it should be prepared. So I told my coworker I was picking up my lunch from there because I wanted his opinion on the flavors of their version. I ordered the pollo criollo: a generous portion of Draper Valley chicken adobo rubbed with olive oil, tomatoes, citrus and herbs then braised with creole gravy. It is served with Moros & Christianos (Cuban version of rice and beans). I’ve had this dish once before and loved it so naturally I ordered it again and yes I still love it. My coworker sampled the chicken (twice!) and he was surprised that it was very close to what it should taste like. He liked it so I guess I picked the right dish! It is super flavorful with so many spices going on that it would be hard for me to duplicate it at home so I know it will be my go-to dish there. I also asked the wait staff the first time I ordered it and he thought it was the best chicken choice on the menu.
The food ordered by my other coworkers that day (shrimp, pork tongue and Cuban sandwich) all received rave reviews as well. Just remember to leave room for dessert because Pambiche has some amazing creations. I’ve had the tres leches ($6.50) a sponge cake with fresh, evaporated and condensed milk, layered with vanilla custard, frosted with crema Chantilly and served with strawberry daiquiri salsa. Seriously delicious and the best version of tres leches I’ve ever had because it wasn’t too soggy or runny at all. We also tried the Pudin (Cuban bread pudding for $3.75) and it packed an alcoholic punch with the brandy and sherry soaked bread. Wow! Lucky my boss ordered it! Toasted coconut and almonds accompany it and it’s served with warmed crema Chantilly and pina colada salsa.
Address: 2811 NE Glisan Portland Oregon 503-233-0511
Cost: Pollo $8
Website: http://www.pambiche.com/
Ok, so I know Halloween has passed but I wanted to share this great idea I made for my zombie work party. Yes, that’s right, a zombie W-O-R-K party. My job can be so much fun sometimes that I can’t believe I get paid to do some of these things. My “pièce de résistance” was the stuffed intestines. It was the first thing gone and everyone had great things to say about it or wanted to know how to make it. It’s a little time consuming but well worth the effort with the future accolades you will no doubt receive. For this particular size I used 3 full puff pastry shells so adjust accordingly. You can pick a savory or sweet filling but for this one I picked Costco’s spinach and artichoke dip because it was thick and wouldn’t run too much.
Before:
Before entering the oven
What you will need:
I read a couple intestine recipes and I did a mini dry run on it because I didn’t want to mess up on the big day. This is how I did it and it’s way simpler than the other recipes I’ve found on the internet.
After:
Zombie intestines
Bomb!
I enjoy baking but occasionally I like to cook. It’s a rare thing but I have my moments of brilliance and actually more often than not I can make a pretty tasty dish. I’ve always been curious about the bacon wrapped date appetizers I’ve seen offered at various restaurants but until recently wasn’t eating meat so it took a while to try this dish. My friends absolutely went nuts for them and raved about how amazing they were so when I finally got my hands on them I understood what all the fuss was about. They are nuggets of sweet and salty heaven that disappear once they hit the table. You can stuff them with various ingredients and I had the controversial one stuffed with fois gras which I just had to try once in my life so try not to give me too much grief. I will say that I was rendered speechless but I’m sure I was making noises that expressed how delicious they were. They are normally between $2-$3 a pop and they seem super easy to make so I decided to make them on America’s birthday, the 4th of July.
I went all crazy and stuffed a few with pork rillette (salted pork cooked in its own fat) and others stuffed with cheese. They were both so yummy yet easy to make. You can put them together ahead of time and then bake them off later. This dish will surely impress your guests and you will no doubt be asked to make it again.
Ingredients:
Preheat oven 375 degrees (you can go higher in temp, just check on it sooner).
Pit the dates and stuff with whatever you fancy. Try different cheeses like manchego, cream cheese, blue cheese, parmesan or goat cheese. Add nuts for crunch like pistachio or almonds. Be crazy like me and add more meat like the rillette or chorizo. Stab them with a toothpick and bake until done. I baked mine for 15-20 min on each side until they were nice and crispy.
Bacon wrapped dates at Toro Bravo
Aloo gobi and garlic naan
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, Chennai Masala is the BEST place in the Portland metro area for Indian food. Yes, better than Swagat. I’m not sure why most people think Swagat is the only place to get Indian food but it seems to be the only place people know of. That only means there isn’t enough Indian food restaurants in this fine city. Granted I’ve eaten at Swagat (well not since their “Dirty Dining” spotlight on the local news) and the food is ok but I’ve had better in Canada during my trips to Vancouver. Chennai is a bit of a drive but it is well worth it if you are really wanting something delicious and satisfying. It is tucked away in a strip mall and I was even hesitant the first time I went there. But I’ve learned that some of the best food is created in random holes in the wall. The restaurant itself isn’t anything spectacular to look at. It could use a paint job and there is little to no ambiance other than hungry people waiting for their food. The staff is efficient, attentive and seemingly all men. There is one lady that I’ve seen there (presumably one of the owners) and she will make her rounds to all the tables and ask if you were happy with the food and you’ll undoubtedly say yes.
The dishes come out in little silver bowls and the portions are not monster size but fills me up just fine. My favorite dish that I order without fail is aloo gobi, a potato and cauliflower dish in a fragrant spicy sauce. It seems simple enough but I’ve tried to make it at home and I’ve come close but it’s never quite the same. The only thing that bothers me about this place is they charge you extra for the rice or naan that you will want to eat your meal with. Kind of lame but the naan is amazing too (mmm garlic!) so I can’t blame them because you are going to buy it no matter what right? Try their dosas as a starter if you have the room in your belly. Great flavor in their dipping sauces and if you are really super hungry, try the family size dosa pictured below which is the size of a small child.
This place has a remarkable take out business as well. They definitely make it easy, order online and someone will call you within a couple of minutes to confirm your order and tell you when it will be ready. And get this, it will really be ready when they tell you. Yay! I’ve tried it and yeah I ordered aloo gobi. No surprise there.
***update: would you believe they renovated the space? It’s now super modern and fresh. (The grand opening launch was a couple days a go). Woo hoo**
Holy Dosa
Location: 2088 NW Stucki Avenue Hillsboro, OR 97124 Phone: 503-531-9500
Website: http://chennaimasala.net/
Cost: $10.95 for Aloo Gobi/ $2.95 Garlic Naan/ Dosas around $9 on average for normal size ones
