And here comes the rain...

The rain has descended my beloved Portlanders. With the cold and damp--there isn't enough coffee in the world to warm my bones!

So soup and casserole season is pushed into full swing! I happened to have 3 lovely delicata squash staring at me from the counter top this past weekend screaming to be used.

Just as a side note I rarely cook with shoes on at home.

With a healthy block of fresh Parmesan in the fridge & the brown rice lasagna noodles that jumped out of the cupboard at me, how could I not marry the three into a beautiful polygamist union.

I par boiled the noodles for this number. Roasted the squash & added a little mozzarella & fresh Parmesan with a little "slap yo mama" seasoning courtesy of my friend & her husband's nuptials. 

Grease an 8x8 pan & begin layering noodles, squash & cheese! Bake at 350 for 25- 30 minutes or until the cheese is melty and golden brown.

Ciao for now!

A hauntingly good re-connection with Figs.

As most days go I work early and come home late-- but today I was running amuck in the real world by 3pm. I therefore decided to enjoy this delightfully balmy fall day and walk the 5 miles home from work.

On this merry adventure, I came across one the many reasons I love Portland. 

These kind people put a sign by their fig tree! And as my mind is want to do when food is involved, I began to brainstorm what to do with these lovely figs.

As pastry & sweets are my love, I remembered the pumpkin ice cream nestled in my freezer as well as the spiced red wine open from last night. Figs in a red wine reduction over pumpkin ice cream. Que all kinds of gooey, happy, borderline inappropriate noises.

Now here's what you'll need:

1 pt. Pumpkin ice cream ( I recommend Double Rainbow)

4 ripe figs

1 cup of spiced red wine OR 1 cup sweet red wine, a cheese cloth bundle with a couple cinnamon sticks, fresh nutmeg and 2 -1/2 inch slices of orange peel wrapped inside.

Oh and a pinch of salt!

Wash, peel and slice your figs.

Add wine to a deep sauté pan, warm on high and slowly add figs (and goody bag if needed). 

Bring to a boil.

Reduce to a simmer.

Macerate the figs gently then leave them alone.

Cook on low until wine is gone and figs are sizzling. Approximately 10 minutes. 

Break the figs up a little more add a tablespoon more wine if the pan is super dry. 

Cook until they are to your desired sticky/broken down texture.

Scoop ice cream. Add figs. Pour a glass of wine and enjoy with utter, grownup, Halloween delight!

Happy Eating!

C

Tis' the Season!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to my faithful reader! This would be my Aunt Krista for anyone reading that might be confused -- but you are included in the glad tidings for the holidays as well.
Between moving-- again & the glorious Thanksgiving holiday I've been busy. Also I figured out I can blog from my fancy new phone!!! So no more excuses right?
I have big plans for baking in the next week but to get you caught up here's a photo montage...Bon appetit!

A Tart is a tart is a tart... with peaches in this case.

Fastly approaching is my favorite time of year, Fall! Which also means one of my favorite fruits of all time is in season now.

Peaches!

I remember how sad I would be that peaches never made it to October back in the midwest so I could have my favorite pie on my birthday. I remember for my 24th birthday I got a coveted peach pie at the envy of all my cousins because that meant there wouldn't be any at thanksgiving. It was delicious as all of my grandma's pies are.
However living in Oregon has literally spoiled me in all kinds of ways when it comes to fresh fruit and produce. Peaches? all the way at the end of September?? What kind of beautiful altered dimensional plane have I landed in? THE best kind.

It was in this spirit with a little inspiration from my recent pancake recipe success that I did some experimenting with buckwheat flour. The nutty flavor combined with almond flour makes for really great texture and yes, it's gluten free.



These peaches of multiple varieties were so delicious they only got a tablespoon of brown sugar, 1tsp of vanilla, vietnamese cinnamon & nutmeg...oh and a splash of riesling!

The "fantastic" crust as my roommate put it is the recipe below:

1 cups brown rice flour, plus extra for rolling.

1 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup finely ground blanched almonds or almond flour 1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 teaspoon salt

1 heaping teaspoon brown sugar

6 to 8 Tbsp ice water, very cold

Put flour, brown sugar, salt  into cuisinart, pulse and slowly add butter. Then add water one tbs at a time until dough just comes together. Divide & chill. Roll out as needed. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 45 minutes or until crust begins to brown lightly.

I'm really looking forward to trying this as a pie or maybe a fig tart next time. The great thing about this recipe is it's egg free! While it contains butter, it could easily be made with butter flavored vegetable shortening, though I would recommend cutting the shortening in by hand versus using the cuisinart.

Enjoy with a little vanilla ice cream :)

Happy Baking & of course, Happy Eating!

Hello August! but wait...you're almost gone too!?

I have had a rather bumpy year that has attributed to the ENORMOUS hiccup in my blog writing-- I however am restructuring and also will be moving for the second time this year in the next few months. 

But I have a new work schedule now, and have been regularly having nerd-out style pastry chats with a dear co-worker & our chatting has me inspired.  So rather than promise my very select audience that I'm going to diligently write every week I'm simply going to request they check back weekly beginning September 1st of 2012... I hope you won't be disappointed.

Happy Eating!

C

Sunday's at the White House.....

No I don't live in Washington and security isn't nearly as tight but, we are the only white house in what I believe to be an 8 block radius-ish...hence the kitchy title. This is where I spend my sundays in my kitchen. Most Sunday's lately I strive to cook a really great meal for myself as it's one of the 2 days a week that I get off and I feel I actually have the time to do it justice.

So today as I watched the snow fall sparsely from the sky, warm spicy thoughts filled the back of my brain and $4.06 for the pork shoulder I saw at the market sealed the deal. I decided to do a little braising in my slow cooker & bake a really great GF dessert.

It's a wonder I never tire of baking, but even on the bad days cooking and baking seem to be the only thing that truly soothes when hugs aren't to be had. Even as I stare at the aftermath of all this cooking my eyes gravitate to the dark chocolate & peanut butter chips that are screaming to be made into fudge...tomorrow perhaps.

... Until then here are the Recipes:

* Red Wine Pork Shoulder with Caramelized Onions *

Serves 2 (Light eaters, 1 really hungry person)

1 medium Red Onion (Julienned)

1 Large 1/4

thick Slice Pork Shoulder

4 c. Red Wine ( If you wouldn't drink it, don't use it. I used a Cabernet Syrah blend that I love.)

1/4 c. Red Wine... see above notation...

4 Cloves Garlic (Diced)

4 T EVOO

*Sauteed Spinach*

2 T Butter

1 Clove Garlic (Diced)

3 oz. Baby Spinach

Pork Preparation:

Salt & Pepper both sides, the courser the salt the better. Apply a Spice rub of your choosing, keeping in mind you're adding red wine to it. The one I like has Ancho chile powder, Tellicherry black pepper, cayenne, nutmeg, paprika, sage, crushed red pepper and basil. Put aside.

In a cold saute pan, warm the evoo over medium heat add julienned onion and coat them with the warm evoo. Saute 5-7 minutes & add 4 cloves garlic. Saute 2-3 more minutes & then add 1/4c Red wine slowly to the pan. (This will loosen up anything that has caramelized to the pan=more yummy flavor) Pour all of this into the slow cooker.

In the same pan, on high heat, sear both sides of the Pork Shoulder for 2-3 minutes each side. Place in slow cooker and top with 4 c. of Red Wine. Cook on High for 30-45 minutes and reduce to low for 2 hours, or until desired tenderness is reached.

Spinach:

Melt 2T butter in Sautee pan.

Add Spinach and Salt & Pepper.

Sautee until almost wilted & add garlic, Finish wilting spinach so it gets a nice dark green. Approximately 3-5 minutes.

Dessert Anyone?

*Boozy Apple Crisp ( GF style)*

Grease the bottom of the 9x13 pan and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350

4 Large Fuji apples; peeled, cored & sliced.

2 T Arrowroot sta

rch

1 T Vanilla

1.5 c. Dark Brown Sugar

1 t. salt

2 t. vietnamese cinnamon

1 t. ground ginger

1 t. nutmeg

2 eggs

1/4 c. bourbon whiskey

Whisk the eggs & toss all the ingredients together. Place in the bottom of the greased 9x13 pan.

Topping:

2c. GF Oats

2c. Almond Flour

1/2 c. grapeseed oil

1/2 c. Agave syrup

1/2 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

1 T. Vanilla

Combine oats, almond flour, cinnamon & salt in a small bowl.

In a measuring cup combine grapeseed oil, agave, vanilla & egg until emulsified (really well mixed and nothing is separated.)

Add wet to dry and spread over the apples.

Bake covered with tinfoil 45 minutes, remove foil & bake 5-10 more or until golden brown.

I like this version but I'm going to work on a version with butter. Wouldn't Paula Deen be proud? However this version would be better for a diabetic... but not by much.

Next weekend I believe a cheesecake of sorts is in order... with a nice beef stew...

Happy Eating!

Courtney

2012!

Blog writing seems to be one of those things that has completely stepped outside my mind this past year. While in the past I have promised to be better for my one and most avid reader my Auntie Krista.... I've come to new conclusions about just what this blog should be and this year I've decided that I'm going to post all the food pictures of dishes I cook and write about the articles I read in the hopes to not only let people know what I'm up to, but inspire them to eat more healthily, shop a little smarter and maybe even get a chuckle from my strange and spirited sense of humor.

With that said, I am currently sifting through one of my many magazines and in it there is an article about Cheaper cuts of meat. Some of the meats to make the cut were chicken legs (which make delicious stock), turkey thighs, pork ribs, lamb shanks, beef brisket & oxtail of all things. Some of my favorites that are equally delicious are skirt & ranch steak highly undervalued and make amazing taco's.

The fact that oxtail was on the list of cheaper cuts shocked me quite a bit as I recall my birthday dinner at Veritable Quandary where I had a very pricey and breathtaking Oso Bucco....but I digress. I now have a crock pot in which I have only made soup so far, but this article has me itching for a new challenge. What can I do with Oxtail? Lamb Shank? Beef Brisket??? The options seem endless between herbs and seasonings and brining liquids that my goal is to come up with a recipe for each of these meats over the course of the next 8 weeks or so before I'll become completely engrossed in packing up my apartment and moving again...unless I hit the lottery then I'll probably just buy a house. Ha.

Yours in Eating,

Courtney

2011 the year to move...twice.

So after completing a move on January 1st I was very set to be done moving for a while and began to settle into my new place in SouthEast Portland....Life had other plans for me however when a friend had roomie & crowding issues and asked me to move in with her....I crazily said yes.

So here we are April 1st and we move into a lovely upper level duplex in North Portland :) it's a delicious space and almost 15 minutes closer to work...double bonus! Pictures soon to come! Now if I can finally get my address changed on my license and change my mailing address we'll be all set! I'm very much hoping my blog posts will resume with better frequency as I have a computer at my disposal as well as the internet in the new place! Stay Tuned!

All the Best in Sweets,

C

And the End is near.....

I do apologize that this post will contain no photos for those who have been diligent and patient readers of this blog, my limited access to a computer along with a rather chaotic schedule has made my writing more deliquent than ever.

I have been at my externship at New Cascadia Traditional a completely gluten free bakery here in portland and I've done sooooooo many different things and come up with a few new ones not recieved in my fancy french culinary education. Coincidentally my externship ends on the eve of my birthday....it's kind of a big birthday--if you know me you know which one it is :) Today happens to be one of those days I'm not so ready for it...but tomorrow is another day and after that we'll see.

Once life has leveled out and things are on a more steady playing field I will try to make more frequent postings and catch up on all the crazy that's occured in the last 5 months. Graduation is October 23, 2010 if any of you are in the neighborhood and want to attend the ceremony I'll get you a seat :)

until then,
Happy Eating!

Hooray!!!!!!

Silly as it may sound "I survived!" ....you're probably wondering, "what could possibly be so horrific?" worry no longer I will gladly regale you with a brief synopsis of the last 3 weeks of school. Unfortunately I have no amazing photos to accompany this post as there was no time. I have been putting in 15 hour days Monday through Friday in an attempt to be the over achiever I strive to be by taking 3 classes.
Instead of the usual, 1 - 5 hour class, I was scheduled for 1- 2.5 hour class....well this was just riddiculous in my opinion and I had.

What I was going to do with all that extra time???

I found something to do! I found 2 more classes that I needed that were offered in the afternoon! great right? Well in theory the plan was genius because I finished 3 weeks sooner, putting my extern start date at July 6 instead of July 23. It's a good thing I was in math because apparently things weren't adding up to 15 hour days to me....once it did I thought it's only 3 weeks right?

And I thank god for that! I honestly don't know if I could have done it another week without some sort of breakdown. Said breakdown was narrowly avoided earlier today but only a short spritz of waterworks and I was composed and refocused... I amaze myself sometimes just what I'm capable of and strive for so much more--I just hope I can get there.

I have my resume in to the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen, Colorado in the hopes that they will find me amazing and want me to come work for them. I am putting out calls to The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs and am also looking into one of the local gluten free bakeries here in Portland. Also in case anyone didn't know-- I went completely gluten free about 3 weeks ago. I was diagnosed in July with Hashimoto's disease and have been reading numerous books & articles about the subject since.

Many of them indicate that people who have removed gluten from their diets have had great success with alleviating their symptoms or eliminating them completely and about a month ago my symptoms felt completely out of control. My mental acuity and focus were frustrating me completely as well as being exhausted.

So when Spring break came I decided after that, No More Gluten for this girl. I have only had one bad slip up-- one of my co workers brought calamari that they'd made in class into the library and I didn't think twice about snapping it up and into my mouth... it was at that moment that I realized--it's breaded with panko--"shit!" (pardon the language but that's pretty much exactly what I said...) Oh world of breaded treats you elude me forever...or until I can come up with a yummy gluten free alternative.

There are lots of things that I haven't eaten in weeks simply because convenience foods are much harder to come by, though I have been reading that Trader Joe's has quite a few gluten free items and there is one 3 blocks from my house. So as soon as pay day gets here I'll be heading there to sample some things. Also since my schedule is returning to normal I plan to spend lots of lab time in the kitchen's working on my regular baking but I really want to work on some gluten free goodies too :) I've been craving chocolate chip cookies and am at a complete loss....Did I mention I've lost like 9 lbs in 3 weeks.....slightly crazy but I'm happy to say that I lost the extra 25 pounds I was carrying around when I moved here! yay! my pants fit again! When I had to break down and buy new pants it was slightly depressing but that's totally off subject now...

So that's all for now, my days will be returning to normal on Monday, meaning I'll be home by 4:30 instead of 8:30 Monday, Wednesday & Friday & by 6:30 on Tuesday & Thursday-- I never thought I'd miss that schedule but "baby I missed you" :)

until next time- happy eating & if you're having bread...eat some for me :)

My slacker ways....

So to my dismay I have not held up my most earnest of promises (Sorry Aunt Kris!!! I know you're a diligent reader :) oxo) to keep up on my blog writting, but to be completely honest--it may be slight laziness but mostly it's I value sleep and homework time versus staring at the computer trying to come up with something great and unique to share with my viewing pool.

I have been sick approximately 5 times since the beginning of january with various forms of a cold & one nasty virus which I actually stayed home and slept for 19 hours--not fun. I also had a visit to the ER a few weeks back when I was innocently doing dishes and a very large pot fell off of its hook & landed squarely on top of my head making me dizzy & nauseous so I was promptly sent in a taxi to the Good Samaritan Hospital right in the middle of finishing my first Wedding Cake.

Looks Lovely doesn't it? It's really not exactly how I originally envisioned it unfortunately but I didn't have the time I originally expected -- my fault for not getting it clarified at 7am when class started vs. 9:30 am when chef said 'why don't you turn it in today at noon--you can work thru clean up.' Envision several mor white lilies with more slivery blue & some other accents in silvery blue on the icicles & the icing design on the bottom.... Or more like my "practice cake" below.

In hindsight I think I would have forgone the crystal legs & set the cake flush on the square. I will note draping a square cake is uber challenging, but I did a pretty kick as job for my first time :)

Also I entered a scholarship contest with a friend. Soup & Bread was the name of the game and though we didn't win...I think we got a pretty awesome soup recipe out of the deal. We did a seafood chowder & pretzel bread below are a few pictures of documentation of our practice runs...
We couldn't decide between a Lamb & Vegetable Soup or the Seafood Chowder so we made both to decide...

Raleigh taking a break while things were simmering....

Our friend who joined the soup.... he came to a crushing end...haha bad joke sorry... there were also mussels, nova tidbits, leeks, carrots & potatoes in the chowder.

I also went to my first wine club gathering at Rex Hill with Megan, Phil & Raleigh...
We got to try the AtoZ fresh from the case less than 2 days in its bottle--I was geekily excited by this fact :)
After trying 5 different wines we headed out to lunch & then home....Traffic was kind of heavy & Phil & Megan didn't make it 20 minutes before they'd passed out cold in the back seat--viscious being that I am with a camera, OF course I took photos :)

It was just a short week later that I experienced my very first professional NBA game :) I went with Ricki, Meg, Brooks, Raleigh & his friends Heidi & Jared. An AMAZING display of antics & fabulous basketball--even if you don't like basketball I feel someone could be completely entertained by all of the antics going on between periods. Who knew?! they don't show the in between stuff on tv! But here are a few memorable moments from that day...
me, ricki & meg
ricki, meg & brooks
Raleigh
Heidi & Jared
Mascot Mania- it was "Blaze's" Birthday apparently so all of his buddies came to the party i.e. the LA Laker's Mascot, the Oregon Ducks & Oregon Beaver's Mascots & various other pro NBA team mascots...What a hoot!


Celebrating our win! ...no portland isn't #1 but we came out number 1 at the end of this game :) 102 to 79

....Did I mention they put these crazy skits up on the board at random times? Hilarious!

I also took a little weekend adventure in early march to get out of town and see some things that I had yet to in the beautiful pacific northwest....it is amazingly gorgeous btw my pictures don't really grasp the entirety of it. I began in portland with my cute little Ford Focus rental...silly me I didn't take a picture, I'm usually not so thoughtless when photo documenting but many photos were taken while driving...:) I started by driving to Tillamook on the Oregon Coast and then proceeded to drive North thru Manzanita, Cannon Beach (where the movie Goonies was filmed) I made sure pictures of Haystack rocks were taken. I then drove thru Astoria and decided then to drive to Seattle to visit my long lost friend Kim... It was delightful! we went to an amazing Spanish Restaurant called Taberna del Alabardero had some small plates & temparnillo plus we got a fireworks show from across the river that was an amazing treat. Let the slide show begin!

This is me on my merry way to Tillamook. I stopped at the Cheese Factory & bought cheese :) Then proceeded to drive north along the coast. The Estuary where the Columbia river meets the Pacific was my first stop & I stopped at random other picturesque spots in Manzanita, Hug Beach, An amazing pulloff Lookout point just before Cannon Beach & lots more....

Hay stack Rocks & my delicious turkey sandwich with cranberries & cream cheese in Cannon Beach....

The Astoria Area.....The Bridge from below....

The View from me driving over the bridge....

Just the walking path below the bridge in Astoria....

Horseback riders on the beach in Washington....

A nifty mural in a small town just past Astoria in Washinton...

And the finish! Seattle :) there are a few more pics from this trip that I'll add at a later date :)

Well that's all for now and I'll make my best efforts to add a little more later as there is but I'm running out of time! Need to do some homework :)