Curried Hummus...

This was delicious!

1 Vidlia or Walla Walla sweet onion
1/2 shallot
3 tbs crushed garlic
2 tbs olive oil

2 cans garbanzo beans (abt 3 cups)
1 can black beans
1 can white kidney or pinto beans

2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp curry
3 tsp paprika
3 tsp sumac
2 tsp marjoram
2 tsp thyme

1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil

Finely dice the sweet onion and shallot, sautee until transparent and slightly carmelized in the pan with garlic and olive oil. Set aside to cool.

In a food processor, puree all remaining ingredients and add in onion mix until smooth.

Cover and refrigerate. Serve with whole wheat naan or tortilla chips.

Soluna Grill (aka Yum Town).

We all know I love food. I come from a wide ranging family of cookers, chef-wannabe's, gourmands, food snobs,  and makers. Down home... Pac NW gourmet... International cuisine, comfort food, baked goods. If I could figure out a way to make eating my profession, surely I would. I can eat my way silly, and it's infrequent that I am truly impressed by a neighborhood restaurant. Sometimes, admittedly, it's because I don't get out much. But I've had my share of meals out and about, and they're usually just ok... Now say what you will about how I need to get out more often, and further away from home. I know this. But every once in a while, it's nice to have an opportunity to really enjoy the food close to home. Soluna Grill is just one such place.

On Tuesday, Boss called a meeting - we were going to explore the new weekday lunch service for our group of 6, under the guise of "staff meeting." Though she'd made arrangements the week prior,  reservations aren't needed yet (the lunch service is so new it's still quiet there! so get there quick!), so we enjoyed a cozy spot on the back wall (I have been here many times and I always LOVE the cushioned bench! It's the best seat!!) and had plenty of privacy the first hour to discuss business. What a refreshing change of pace! The waiter was delightful, Chef Dan was visible, attentive, and knowledgeable - the kitchen staff was diligent, and the food! OH. the food...

I have NEVER had anything by Chef Dan that's been less than exemplary. Even the coffee is great (which is saying a lot, because quite a few restaurants here in pdx somehow miss the boat on coffee, despite the awesome local choices which abound). Our group started with the house made potato chips & warm blue cheese (excellent) and continued with varied entrees (all reasonably priced). Two had the Ahi Nicoise (and we were delighted that the waiter had no problem swapping chicken for the ahi on one as a special request). I had the gorgonzola ravioli, with kale and roasted beets. I could have eaten five plates it was so delicious. Other lunches were Caribbean chicken sandwich, the turkey panini, and the soup & salad. Unanimous rave reviews across the board.

We split three desserts, and while we were sad that they were out of the cheesecake and the brownie, we were satiated by the creme brulee (one of the best I have ever had), the caramel bourbon bread pudding, and the chocolate pear tarte.

The service was excellent. The ambiance is fantastic. My only regret is that I'm not able to visit more. Love everything (and everyone) at Soluna. And I personally find it both a fantastic anchor for fine dining in our neighborhood, and far more approachable (and delicious) than Fife ever was.

Dinner Experiment... 5 1/2 thumbs up!

When the wee girl from down the street comes for dinner, there's two of us vegetarians. I like the nights when she comes, when the table is full of children, and we have a busy house. Tonight, after last night's fish taco debacle (James adamantly refused my suggestion of Fish Tacos for dinner), I was on the lookout for something new and exciting, something tasty, that we would all enjoy. My criteria were: Flavorful, vegetarian, small (cause kids like things that are tiny), and easy to make.

I ended up inventing Tofu Enchilada Cups, and they were quite tasty.

2 cups (about 1/2 of a 16 oz pkg) firm tofu, cut into bits
1 medium sweet yellow onion, chopped
2 tbs Taco seasoning
1 can diced chiles
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves, chopped
4 rolls Pilsbury Crescent Dough
Cheddar cheese (to top Enchilada Cups, shredded or sliced is fine)
Sour Cream
Cilantro
Enchilada Sauce

Filling:
Saute the yellow onion with a pat of butter until almost translucent. Sprinkle with taco seasoning. Fold the tofu into the onions and taco seasoning. Fold in the chiles, beans, corn and spinach. Turn the heat down to simmer and warm the filling while you prep the crusts.

Crusts:
Preheat oven to 350F.

Spray the muffin tins with Pam cooking spray. If you are making a whole batch, you will fill 24 muffin tin cups.

One roll at a time, unfold the crescent dough from the package and lay flat on a cutting board. Each roll of dough has 8 triangles, but if you leave the dough intact and cut it into 6 squares, they come out evenly and just the right size to place into muffin tins.

Lay one square each of dough in muffin tins until all are lined with dough. Spoon filling into dough cups until filling reaches just over the top of the cup.

Bake for 7 - 10 minutes, then top with 1 slice Cheddar Cheese, and return to oven until cheese is melted and crust is browned (about 15 minutes baking total).

To Serve:
Use a large spoon to lever the enchilada cups out onto a large platter. Each person at my house used their own combo of cilantro, green and/or red enchilada sauce, and sour cream...



These were really good, and even the meat eater man exclaimed that they were good, and that he didn't miss the meat at all! Wahoo! My tiny steak-eater is the only one who gave it a neutral thumb when asked if they would like to have it for dinner again. Everyone else (including the wee neighbor) voted it "likely to be eaten if showing up on the dinner table in the future."

Wine Party 2009

We had the wine party on Saturday night, and everyone brought gorgeous food. It was so interesting to try the different types of wine, and the foods that people brought were different than things I would have personally put together.

We had a fair balance of whites and reds, though no one thought to bring a rose. Are we biased? At any rate, we also had the sparkling white, and since talking about the event with an attorney friend, I already have some new ideas for sparkling reds (I know!) to try... The chardonnay from Columbia Crest was really nice with the sliced pineapple, a good complement to each other.

The Viogner from Honey Moon was good (we've had this before, at Thanksgiving and Christmas). I think it has a light citrusy flavor, and a hint of honey sweetness. I would like this super chilled on a hot summer afternoon with a big caesar salad. I also like the same variety by Pepperwood Grove (which you can find at QFC, Fred's and TJ's), for the same reasons. The Honey Moon is a bit wetter than the Pepperwood, however.

We had a Coppola Zinfandel with a strong blue cheese... The pairing was exquisite. I love blue cheese, and the pungency of the cheese against the tannins of the wine - it was delicious. The wine itself was nice and dry, with a clean finish. (Of course, these are totally just *my* descriptors, so don't think for a minute that I speak wine, or really know what I'm talking about. I just taste it, think if I like it or not, and then decide what it reminds me of.) This Zin was not as chompy as some reds I've had in the past, but it was nice and clean.

And the Castillo de Molina Sauvignon Blanc... I found this to be rubbery - one other person tasting could understand what I was talking about, but Mom thought it was sulphur. Whatever it was, I was made to think it tasted like chewing on rubberbands. Consequently, I didn't much care for this Sauvignon Blanc, or the other one that was opened, the Clos du Bois.

The Lindemans Shiraz and the Columbia Winery Syrah were both very good, comparable to each other in taste and heft... Neither were especially outstanding, and the Lindemans had a touch more of that ethanol top note that I try to stay away from. I have no idea what that is, or what causes it. I need to explore that more.

We ended the night with some really gorgeous desserts - lemon bars, some fruit and cream puff kabobs, a chocolate ganache cake, and the vanilla cakes with creme fraiche and strawberries. It was a feast. I liked the Meriwether Cuvee with the desserts, and I think the Zinfandel was even really nice with some of the fruit and chocolate.

Everyone had a nice time, and it was fun to relax with folks. The snow just began to fall when people left late that evening, and everyone made it safely home.

Sparkling wine, Cupcakes, Whipped Cream & Strawberries...

We're having a wine and food pairing at my house on Saturday evening for the office folks. Should be good times... I chose the finish wine, because I really want people to try that Discovery Cuvee that I had for Christmas Brunch... It was suggested (obviously) to get some strawberries to go with it, but aside from that I think I'll fix some white vanilla bean cupcakes with whipped cream frosting to go with the sparkling wine and some sliced strawberries. I'm really excited.

In the mean time, in my search for a recipe on the whipped cream frosting, I stumbled across this blog: Jam and Clotted Cream, which is from a girl named Beth in Cornwall, England. She makes lovely cupcakes with nonpareils and icings, and I particularly like the photos of her foods that she posts up.

At any rate, I posted some pictures of the cupcakes with whipped cream and strawberries when I made them. My goal was to make them quite beautiful. They ended up falling (the cupcakes were sad without papers!) and so I was especially pleased that the whipped cream frosting turned out so well.

Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream that is ultra pasteurized

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon granulated white sugar

For whipped cream: In a large mixing bowl place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar and stir to combine. Cover and chill the bowl and beaters in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. When chilled, beat the mixture until stiff peaks form.

The Great Naan Bake

Whoa. I am a genius.

I just want that to soak in a minute. I mean, tonight, when I made a double batch of Naan dough (we've been baking and eating whole grain naan instead of buying bread at the store) I came up with a brilliant solution to the problem of having to roll out all the pieces of dough.

Before, we'd cut the dough up into sections after the second rise, and then we'd roll it out with a rolling pin. This yielded satisfactory results, but it was a tedious project. So tonight, standing at the sink, thinking about the task at hand, I hollered out to Jim, "Hey! Do we have a pasta maker?" Because if it is one thing you should know about my James, it is that he is a foodie. He is a foodie, and he is a gadget man. He's like the MacGyver of the kitchen. And if there's ever anything you can think of that you might need to use to make something that has something to do with food, chances are we have one, still in the original box, nicely stowed away, in our basement pantry.

Ergo, when James disappeared into the depths of the basement, he (of course) returned victorious with a (well packed, pristine, chromed out) pasta maker.

He set it up on the bartop for me, and the process is now infinitely easier. It took half the time to make twice as many pieces of bread as usual. Measuring the balls of dough into 2 inch balls, creating an oblong shape and sending it through the pasta roller was a perfect solution, and one that even the neighbor child and two of our own children enjoyed. (It is pretty fun to watch it come sliding through like Flat Stanley.)

So now we have a whole lotta naan. And we'll be freezing some of it. And guess what we'll be using to store and freeze it? Mmm hmmm... The Foodsaver. But the things one can do with a Foodsaver is an entirely different post.