October

Best Dishes or Meals of the month so far:

Bechamel - topped lasagna (my own kitchen)
Duck - the London Grill
Seafood Dinner - Taste of Jakarta (my first Indonesian food!!!)
Cabbage Chicken Salad - Bambuza
Bun Bo Hue - Chino Saigon


Best Birthday Gift:

iPhone - my favorite app is Kindle for iPhone. I've already read 3 books on my phone and am halfway through the 4th.


What should I post about next? I may need to bake something...

Soup Month: Black Bean Soup

This is a very satisfying, easy Mexican black bean soup. Made with cumin, lime juice and jalapeno, this soup is great with a little dollop of sour cream on top and some cilantro scattered around.

The recipe is from my first soup cookbook ever: Twelve Months of Monastery Soups. This was given to me by my step-grandmother JoAnn, who now has Altzheimer's and will always think I am dating my ex-boyfriend Kenneth. It was one of the best gifts I have ever been given - you know how it is when someone actually *listens* to you and picks the perfect thing? I love peeling back the front cover and seeing her little inscription: Hope you like trying the recipes- JoAnn. I wish now I had made some soup for her.

You can make this soup with canned black beans, like the recipe states, or with dried black beans. Just soak them overnight first and prepare for a longer cooking time.

And, a big plus for me, this soup is great for the South Beach Diet. Just skip the potatoes.

Mexican Black Bean Soup by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette

1/3 cup olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped finely
2 tomatoes, peeled & chopped [ I used 1 large can diced tomatoes with juice]
2 - 15 oz cans black beans [30 oz. dry beans that have been soaked 24 hours]
2 potatoes, peeled & diced [I skipped the potatoes this time]
7 cups water [or stock]
1 bouillon cube [omit if using stock]
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped [cilantro from a tube]
1 tablespoon cumin
2 tablespoons lime juice [to taste; I use plenty more]
salt & pepper to taste
sour cream as garnish with freshly chopped cilantro all around

1. Pour the olive oil into a good-sized soup pot and saute the onion for 2 minutes. Add the garlic, jalapeno pepper and tomatoes, and continue sauteing for another 2 minutes over medium heat, until it turns into a regular sauce. Stir often.



2. Add the beans from their cans with their juice, potatoes, water and bouillon. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat to low-medium. Cook slowly, covered, for about 20 minutes. [I cook it uncovered because I like it thicker than this recipe makes. Cover it when it is at the desired consistency. I cook it much longer than 20 minutes, depending on on the beans.]

3. Add the cilantro, cumin, lime juice, salt & pepper. Stir well and continue cooking for another 10 minutes, turn off the heat, and let the soup rest, covered, for 5 minutes. Serve hot and garnish each serving with a teaspoon of sour cream in the center and freshly chopped cilantro around the sour cream.

Soup is Good Food

For those who don't know, soup is one of my very favorite foods. I learned how to cook so I could make my own soup. I used to throw "Sunday Soup Night" dinner parties at least twice a month. In the past 3 months, I have participated in two Soup Exchanges.

And now, we will have Soup Month.

March sounds like a good soup month, doesn't it?

All of my posts in March will be about soup. I will post a new soup recipe once a week. If I try a new soup restaurant, I will share it with y'all!

Oh, boy.

And the dark horse takes it.

Sitting at the kitchen counter at the beach house with Brian on Thursday, we started talking about Ciao Vito. He has never been there, although I have two times. He has heard me rave about the sugo of pork over crispy polenta ever since. And lo! We have a Valentine's Day destination. I think a small neighborhood restaurant is just what we want this year.

And maybe we'll just stay in and cook...

So how do you like the new template? I like it cause it's wider. And I like blue.

Carafe called back today in response to my Valentine's Day reservation message. They are full already, except for the outside part. Which, they assure me, is enclosed and nice. Brian is having none of it - we must eat inside in February.

So, looking down at my list of restaurants, what about Simpatica? I checked Ben's latest newsletter, which mentions that they will release the V-Day menu next week (which is this week). I attempted to fill out the reservation form, but apparantly one cannot make a reservation so far in advance. I guess when they release the menu it will be ok to make a reservation. If that doesn't work, I give up and we will cook at home like we did last year, only this year I will actually clean off the dining room table so we can use it.

It's good to have a goal.

Valentine's Day Again..

I checked out the menus to both Lincoln and Lovely Hula Hands and while both looked good, neither jumped out at me. Going back to my 10 Restaurants-I-haven't-eaten-at-but-want-to list, I checked out Fenouil and Carafe. Whoo boy, that is more my style. Fenouil shot to the top of my list with the Coquilles à la Poitrine Fumée (seared sea scallops. smoked bacon. leek fondue. verjus butter), Magret de Canard Rôti et son Oeuf (roasted duck breast. poached duck egg. toasted brioche. clementine hollandaise. escarole) and Foie Gras au Torchon (foie gras mousse. toasted brioche. fleur de sel). No word yet on a special Valentine's Day menu. Carafe looks pretty good too, with Steak Tartare (Raw Oregon Country Beef seasoned with capers, Dijon, onions and parsley), Crispy Pork Belly (Patatas Bravas, onion-garlic puree), and Braised Short Ribs Bordelaise (red wine sauce, roasted marrow, potato parsley puree & carrots). Carafe may win this contest purely on price, however. Entrees are priced about half of those at Fenouil.

Valentine's Day

is on a Saturday this year. Which means Brian and I will probably actually go out on that night. So far we have bandied about a few ideas: Caffe Mingo (because Brian has never been), Ten 01 (because Chef Jack Yoss is leaving), Nostrana (because Brian has never been). I know we definitely will get to Ten 01 before Jack leaves in March, but I don't want it to be Valentine's Day. We spent our last anniversary there and I want to try something new this holiday. I'm thinking I want to cross one of those restaurants off my list in the sidebar. The two that jump out at me are Lincoln and Lovely Hula Hands. Of course, we have been talking about going back to Toro Bravo soon - and we can walk there! What do you think? Where should we go for the big V-day?

What to do

We are jaunting off to the White River Amphitheater to see Radiohead on Wednesday and then camping on the Puget Sound. Like many others this time of year, I am contemplating camping meals. I have a flat-iron steak in my freezer. Will we eat that? Or should I stick to hamburgers, sausages and BBQ chicken?

Ch-ch-ch-changes

The WCC Vintage Cookbooks entries are due tomorrow! I'm sorry to say I probably won't make it and haven't even cracked the book.

My time has been spent cruising the farmer's market every Saturday, cooking pot roast after pot roast (bf can't get enough of it) and doing a little baking for some nice residents at work (Hi Lynne!)

Last week I bought some heavy cream at the market, intending to make butter with it. But, I haven't gotten around to that, either.

It's the season for change in the LadyConcierge/bf world. Bf has decided to take a break from cooking professionally and has landed a sought-after position with good benefits. Who knows, it may turn into another career entirely.

I had a pretty nice dinner last week with the Portland Foodies at OCI. No one can really beat that deal: 4 courses for $14. At lunch it's 3 courses for $9. Of course, students are cooking and serving for you, so there's some missteps that go along with it. But at $14, who cares? I chose the oysters on the half shell, romaine salad, veal saltimbocca and chocolate dream tort. We were treated to a tour of the kitchens, where mini chefs-to-be were cooking up stock, perfecting grill marks on eggplant, and baking oodles of bread.

Tonight I hit up Biwa for some ramen and pork belly skewers with my friend Allie. She was another pork belly virgin converted. Whoo hoo, that makes two for me! The ramen was good as usual, but not as good as the first time I had it. The noodles are very creamy-tasting and rich, and I loved the addition of the Chinese BBQ pork. It's the broth that was a little off. Just not as charred-tasting as before. Still really good, though.

Next weekend I'm heading to Rockaway Beach for a little getaway. Can't wait.