Blue Palate

I was in a car accident the other day. Not major, but my first and enough to warrant a trip to the ER for whiplash. I’m glad to only have had a few days of neck and back pain and nothing more serious, except the hassle of a totaled car. To celebrate my survival, I cooked up the perfect remedy: steak.

Saturday’s menu started with a Camembert cheese plate with apples and sparkling wine. For dinner I made pan-seared sirloin fillets with caramelized onions and red-wine pan sauce, green salad with lemon and oil dressing, garlic Parmesan bread, all complemented with a fruity, velvety Washington cabernet. Warm cookies and vanilla ice cream for dessert. Lots of love and attention from husband. Wounds healed.

And it’s always empowering to prepare a fall-off-your-seat meal for a quarter of the restaurant price. A couple of friends recently spent $300 at a popular Portland steakhouse and left feeling undernourished. I spent less than $50 and was healed head to toe.

While I don’t believe eating is the best method of dealing with one’s emotions, a little comfort food can go a long way to heal temporary wounds. It’s not so much the food, but the power restored to my body and mind knowing I still have the ability to create something spectacular.

A bowl of pho a day may keep the doctor away. (Image by androog)

Pho was one of those dishes I was always a little afraid to try. Mostly because I didn’t know anything about it. I knew it was soup and many versions contained tripe. Not a fan of animal intestines, I steered clear.

Given my fear of pho, I wasn’t sure what compelled me one afternoon to walk into Pho Hung, a popular and oddly located restaurant off SE Powell and 47th. (Pho Hung is a small chain and has a few locations in the Portland area and a couple in Texas, strangely enough). As soon as I opened the menu, my apprehension subsided. Pho Hung makes things very easy for the pho phobic. Options are categorized into Adventurer’s Choice (think lots of tripe and tendons), Everyday Favorites (still somewhat tripe-y) and For Beginners (completely tripeless).

Just to be on the very safe side I ordered the chicken noodle soup. The waiter brought a little dish of bean sprouts, basil, lime wedges, and hot peppers, which I had watched other patrons add to their steaming bowls. The broth was salty, rich, tart from the lime and slightly sweet. It had an exotic herbal flavor and aroma I couldn’t pinpoint. The noodles were soft and plentiful, the fresh garnished added texture and bright flavors, and the chicken was tender breast meat. No intestines in sight.

The pho at Pho Hung is a fantastic deal at $6.50 for a large, definitely enough soup and noodles to feel satisfied if not stuffed. Those not in the mood for soup can choose from other entrees like bun (vermicelli noodle bowls), rice dishes and other specialties. Even the most expensive dish is under $10.

Since my first bowl at Pho Hung, pho has become one of my favorite budget meals. Pho phobic? Pho Hung is a perfect place to break yourself in.

A Yuctatan breakfast (photo credit: joiseyshowaa)

I’m definitely a savory breakfast person.  I’ll take hashbrowns over pancakes any day, and biscuits call out to me more than any version of danish or muffin. When I traveled to England and Ireland and ate my first fry up, I discovered the joys of beans for breakfast, and have been trying to conjure ways to serve them with eggs ever since.

With a big pot of leftover black beans needing inspiration this morning, I decided to make the “full breakfast” of the Americas: huevos rancheros. However, after a little research, I discovered my version of this popular Mexican breakfast is actually a closer cousin to huevos motulenos, the classic breakfast of the Yucatan Peninsula. While rancheros call for tortillas, eggs and the eponymous ranchero sauce, motulenos always incorporate black beans, the star of my Saturday morning.

I decided to use some bagged spinach for extra nutrients. The result: a healthy, inexpensive savory breakfast and enough protein to sustain my frosty morning run.

Saturday Morning Quick Huevos Motulenos
Heat 2-4 servings of leftover or canned beans in a large skillet. Add veggies, such as chopped spinach, frozen corn, diced bell pepper, etc, if desired. Crack desired number of eggs onto beans and cover. Turn heat to medium-low and cook until eggs poach to desired firmness. Serve beans on or aside heated tortillas. Serve with optional toppings, such as salsa (I used Trader Joe’s chipotle salsa) or picante, grated cheese, cilantro, sour cream, avocado, etc.

Photo credit: jmacphoto.com

A Dutch friend of mine once said he was appalled that Americans eat corn on-the-cob. “That’s what pigs eat,” he said. If that’s true, Dutch pigs must be happy pigs, because there’s nothing tastier ear of sweet summer corn slathered in butter and salt. Oink, oink.

Summer means sweet corn and cheap corn. My parents would buy it by the bushels in August and my dad would boil it, cut it from the cob, and freeze it. We ate like it was summer until November, about the time my Dad would announce we were eating the last bag. We savored the buttery sweetness, knowing we wouldn’t experience it for another nine months.

Feeling like I haven’t had my corn fix this summer, I bought three ears for a dollar and remixed a Cook’s Illustrated recipe for Black Bean and Corn Salad. Cook’s warned not to even attempt to use frozen or canned corn, as only fresh would do. Amen. Here’s my version:

Black Bean, Avocado and Corn Salad

3 ears of sweet corn
1 can of black beans
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes or 4-5 small tomatoes sliced into wedges
1 cup diced onion or scallion
2 tbsp chopped pickled jalapeno or 1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 avocado, chopped

Dressing:
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, diced or pressed
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
ground black pepper to taste
juice from 1/2 lime

Boil the corn for 5 to 7 minutes. Cool and cut kernels from the cob. Drain and rinse beans. Whisk dressing ingredients and toss beans and corn with dressing and remaining ingredients. Serve over romaine or alone with warm quesadilla or corn tortillas, or with tortilla chips as an appetizer.

A roast chicken is an absolutely perfect meal.  Tender meat infused with garlic or herbs or citrus, potatoes and carrots or other tough vegetables that can withstand a couple of hours simmering in the savory juices. Chicken dinners are simple but feel like something extravagant, specially when presented on a platter and carved at the table. Good for impressing dates and in-laws. Delicious, impressive, simple, economical - the perfect ingredients for a Blue Palate Special.

A roast chicken for two can go far. Carve and serve with veggies the first night, then use what’s left for soup, enchiladas, chicken salad - you name it.

Roast Chicken with Lemon, Herbs and Garlic
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

one roasting chicken, 7-8 lbs
olive oil
8-10 cloves of garlic
a bunch of your favorite herbs, such as thyme, rosemary or sage
1 lemon
salt and pepper
potatoes, carrots, or other root veggies, cut into large chunks

Don’t forget to pull the little plastic sack of giblets from the cavity of the chicken. Rinse the chicken in cold water and pat it down. Drizzle a little olive oil on the chicken and rub all over the surface. Loosen the skin around the breasts and legs. Crush 5 cloves of garlic and chop 2/3 of the herbs. Mix together in a small bowl with a little olive oil and juice from one lemon. Rub the mixture under the skin, spreading evenly over the whole chicken. Salt and pepper the chicken to taste. (You can also rub the mixture over the surface of the chicken of you don’t feel like going under the skin - your call)

Smash remaining garlic with flat side of a kitchen knife or heavy object. Place garlic, lemon peels and remaining herbs in chicken cavity. Place chicken in roasting pan with veggies along the side. Place in the oven and roast until thigh temperature reaches 170 degrees F, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. You can also test by wiggling the leg bone - if it wiggles freely, it’s done! You usually don’t have to baste a roasting chicken, but you can if you feel like it.

Carve and serve with veggies. Serve with some nice chilled local white wine, or not.

Periodically in Blue Palate I will share recipes - my Blue Palate Specials. Whether they’re old favorites or new experiments, they will always be affordable and usually include healthy adaptations. My first Blue Palate Special falls into the experimentation category. While Hungarian Mushroom Soup is simple to make and one of my all time favorites, my first attempt was this morning, (again) inspired by the blanket of white outside my kitchen door.

I perused several cookbooks and searched my two favorite cooking websites for recipes, but surprisingly the only source I could find for a true Hungarian Mushroom Soup was my trusty Moosewood Cookbook. I decided to make a few adaptations just to make up for it and here’s what I came up with:

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

2 tsp butter
1 large onion, sliced thinly
1 lb white button or crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp sweet paprika (not spicy or smoked)
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp salt, more to taste
Juice from 1/2 small lemon
2 tbsp cooking sherry (optional)
3 tbsp flour
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup milk (whole or low-fat)
1/2 cup sour cream
ground black pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a medium soup pot. Add onions and saute until soft. Add mushrooms, saute 2-3 minutes. Add paprika, dill, and salt. Stir until vegetables are coated. Add lemon juice and sherry and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Gradually stir in flour, one tablespoon at a time. Add broth and reduce heat. Let simmer for 15 minutes.

Coat the mushrooms and onions with the spices.

Slowly stir in the milk and black pepper. Add more salt if needed. Add sour cream and whisk, making sure not to let the soup come to a boil. Heat at low temp until hot. Serve with crackers (I love Ak-Mak) or crusty bread.

We had our soup with Ak-Mak crackers. It would go great with a hunk of crusty bread and butter, too.

I like this recipe because it’s not too rich. Some versions leave you feeling like you just drank a pint of heavy cream. Rather than cream being the dominant flavor, the savory mushrooms stand out an you’re allowed to experience the subtlety of paprika and dill. Like most soups, this one was better the second day.

Of my first three blog posts, two have started with descriptions of the weather. It’s what a lot of people talk about in Portland, and it makes sense for weather to be a theme in a blog about food. The weather often determines what we cook, where we go out to eat and what we crave.

My plan today was to finish the last of my Christmas shopping, but we woke up to this:

And immediately all my favorite winter time meals were racing through my head. Lentil soup with crusty bread. Spicy chili sprinkled with cheddar cheese. Stewed chicken with fennel, carrots and white beans. I brought the cookbooks to bed and made a shopping list while we drank our morning coffee.

Winter meals are all about comfort and warmth. Peter talked lovingly about kapustnica (CAP-oos-nit-sa), a traditional Slovak Christmas soup of smoked pork sausage, sauerkraut and potatoes. We made it a couple of years ago at my mother’s with canned sauerkraut and Safeway’s sorry excuse for smoked sausage, pathetic compared to my in-law’s version with homemade kraut and authentic Eastern European sausage. We’ll try again - maybe Otto’s Sausage Kitchen will save Christmas this year. (I’ll publish the recipe in my Christmas day post.)

Tomorrow is Sunday and expected to be the worst day of the entire, week-long bout of winter weather. The cabin fever has obviously made us crazy - our plan is to brave the storm for a walk to Peacock Lane, Portland’s famed street of quaint, ornately decorated homes. It’s about three miles from our house. Along the way we’ll be stopping by a few coffee shops and bars for snacks and happy hour drinks (hot toddies, anyone?) and, of course, Zach’s Shack for dogs and brew. Hot dogs - the ultimate winter comfort food.