Split Pea Soup with Fish & Mint Meringues

If you’re a fan of this blog then you know that unusual combinations are sort of a running theme and this post is no different. The idea for fish meringues sprouted in my mind after a trip to the local Asian grocery store. It seemed too weird to be terrible. The fish meringues are like little pillows swimming atop a sea of green. The two work together to create a surprising perfect early spring dish. 

I don’t have anything funny to say about this post. But I do have a warning: if you decide to eat more than two servings of this split pea soup in one day, prepare for some green poops. Just accept it and own it. Maybe you can eat a bunch of this soup on March 16th then everything about you can be festive for St. Patricks day!

Split Pea Soup

• 1 lbs. (16 oz) Split Peas
• Chicken or Vegetable Stock
• 1/2 large Onion diced 
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 2 cloves Garlic minced
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1 teaspoon Coriander
•  Salt & Pepper to taste
• Spinach

1. Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a medium to large sauce pan over medium high heat. Add the coriander, salt and pepper. Continue sauteing until the onions are golden brown. 
2. Add the peas. Saute the peas with the onions for a few minutes. 
3. Add the stock, milk and water. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally.
4. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 20-30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
5. Add half of the spinach to a food processor. Pour the soup into the food processor. Add the rest of the spinach and blend together for a minute.  
6. Serve in a bowl with the meringues and extra virgin olive oil.

Fish & Mint Meringues

• 3 Egg Whites
• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon Fish Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Mint Leaves minced
• 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 325°
2. In a large mixing bowl whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until they get really foamy and bubbly, I’m sure there’s some French term for this.
3. Add the sugar and cream of tartar. Continue beating the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Whisk in the fish sauce, mint, and cayenne. 
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop out the meringue with a teaspoon and make dollops of meringue on the sheet. They don’t have to be fancy, they’re going to be crumbled up anyway.
5. Bake at 325° for 12 minutes. After the 12 minutes, turn the oven off and leave the meringues in the oven for another 10 minutes.  Take the meringues out of the oven and let them cool until the outer shell is hard. 
6. Once the meringues are cooled crumble them up and serve on top of the split pea soup.

All these peautiful picture taken by Katy Weaver

Thanksgiving Appetizers

Before we get into this week’s post I’d like to mention Sugpiaq Seafoods. They are a family seafood company that is centered in Portland. They sustainably catch all their seafood in Alaska. If you’re in the Portland area you should definitely check out their king crab dinner. They’re featuring sauces made by a local chef and a hand selected wine pairing. Can’t make it to the dinner? No problem – you can order your king crab directly from their website!

Keeping in the theme of the reimagined Thanksgiving dishes we present the appetizer versions of pumpkin pie and green bean casserole. The first is a Savory Pumpkin Tart with Sage Whipped Cream and the second is Tempura Green Beans & Onions w/ Cream of Mushroom Dipping Sauce. 

The focus on Thanksgiving has always been about the meal, but what about the pre-meal food? The appetizers are an important part of the Thanksgiving meal; they ensure that the post-dinner food coma will last until dessert is served.

No, that’s not gravel. That’s some black lava salt that is going to be available soon from GrubNW!

Sure, these appetizers may not be as healthy as your kale chips, but it’s been proven by scientists (I assume they work for NASA) that heavy whip cream makes everything taste magical and 125% better. Mix it up this year and make something better than just okay. Plus, new experiences make us better people, or at least more well-rounded. Especially with these heavy-cream-rich recipes, you’ll get round real quick! #Comedy!

Savory Pumpkin Tarts

Crust

• 2 cups Flour
• 1/3 cup Shortening 
• 1/3 cup Butter
• 5 tablespoons Cold Water
• 1 tablespoon Vinegar

1. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl, mix in the butter, shortening and salt with a pastry blender. Blend until the bits of butter and shortening are about pea sized. Mix in the water and vinegar. 
2. Once the dough is in a ball like shape, roll it out on parchment paper. It  makes things a hundred times easier. Roll until you have a thin crust around 1/4 inch thick or so.
3. Spray a muffin pan with Pam, lots of Pam. Like too much Pam. Pam.
4. I used a glass Pyrex bowl to cut out the circle of dough that would go in the muffin pan. 
5. Place the dough circle in a cup of the muffin pan and crimp the extra dough around the edges to form the crust. 
6. Pre-bake the crusts at 375° for 5 minutes. 

Fillin’

• 2 cups Pumpkin Puree
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 tablespoon Molasses
• 2 teaspoons Paprika
• 1 teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 teaspoon Coarse Salt (I used GrubNW’s soon-to-be-released black lava salt)
• plus extra

1. Mix everything together in a big bowl. 
2. Pour into pre-baked tart crusts.
3. Top with the coarse salt before baking.
4. Bake at 375° until the edges of the crust turn golden brown, should be about 10 minutes depending on your oven. Let pastries cool before adding the whipped cream.

Sage Whipped Cream

• 12 Fresh Large Sage Leaves minced
• 2 tablespoons Butter
• 1 cup Whipped Cream
• 1 Egg White
• 1 Ziplock Bag
1. Melt the butter in a skillet. Add the sage. Sautee until your kitchen smells of sage.
2. Pour the sagey butter into a metal bowl. Add the whipped cream and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Time depends on your mixer, but be sure to avoid over beating it!
3. Use a spatula to scoop the whip cream into the ziplock bag. Place in fridge until you’re ready to use it. Cut the tip of the corner of the bag to use it as a pastry bag.

Tempura Green Beans & Onions w/ Cream of Mushroom Dipping Sauce

Tempura

• Tempura Mix
• Water
• Green Beans
• Onion sliced
• Oil (enough to fry the vegetables in 2 inches of oil) 

1. I don’t have a good tempura recipe, I’m not a recipe machine people! By the way, don’t miss our Holiday Original Recipe Spectacular next month featuring 10 new recipes!
2. Heat oil in skillet or wok over medium high heat.
3. Dip the green beans and onion slices in batter and fry until golden brown. This shouldn’t long. Also watch out for those green beans, they might pop while being bathed in the hot oil.

Cream of Mushroom Dipping Sauce

• 3 Shiitake Mushrooms
• 1/2 Medium Yellow Onion minced
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Chicken Stock
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion. Stir occasionally until the onions are slightly browned add the mushrooms and let them brown slightly too. Add the chicken stock. Let the mushrooms absorb the liquid.
2. Add the cream. Heat and stir until it starts simmering.
3. Remove from heat and carefully pour into a blender. Blend until there’s no more mushroom chunks.
4. Serve with the tempura green beans and onions.

So, don’t make that casserole with canned beans and canned soup this year, make something better and different! You should probably still make that pumpkin pie in addition to these tarts though, because I mean come on it’s pumpkin pie! Don’t forget to share these recipes if you like them! Enjoy!

Katy outdid herself with these amazing photos! Check out her website!

Homemade Butternut Squash Pasta with Flambeed Chanterelles

Before we get into this week’s post I want to make a quick shout out to our sponsor, Braised Food & Drink Digital Marketing. Braised takes the time to grow your food or beverage company’s online presence.

Making homemade pasta has always seemed like a daunting task to me. On par with making your own clothes, it seemed like something that was best left to professionals. But after making my own pasta for the first time I realized it is just as easy, nay easier than making your own clothes. All it takes is a little hard work and the fact that the pasta will be better than anything you can buy out of a box. I’ll be right back you guys, this burlap bag – I mean shirt, is itchy. I need to change. 

Yes, those are carrots and not some weird Brazilian root. I found them at the Portland Saturday Farmer’s market. Check it out sometime. The sage was foraged, and I would just like to thank my neighbors for not having a fence in their front yard and for never being home. Those chanterelles were also locally sourced, and I would just like to thank my roommate for never cleaning his room. 

Baked Butternut

• Butternut Squash
• Olive Oil

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Cut the tips off the butternut, just the tips. Quarter the squash and remove the seeds. Score the squash as pictured above. That means DON’T cut all the way through. 
2. Place in a baking pan and drizzle a little olive oil over the squash.
3. Bake for 40 minutes. 
4. Peel the skin and puree in a food processor until the consistency reaches a puree consistency. Puree. Consistency.
5. This can be added to pretty much anything. Like pasta for instance.

Homemade Butternut Squash Pasta

• 3 1/2 cups Flour
• 3 Eggs
• 1/3 cup Butternut squash pureed

1. Pile the flour on a clean counter. Make a well in it big enough for the eggs and squash. Work the eggs and squash into the flour with your fingers. Try to keep the dough together. Note not all the flour will be mixed into the dough.
2. Knead the dough for 3 minutes. Set the dough aside for 20 minutes and cover with plastic wrap.
3. Continue kneading for an additional 3 minutes, be sure to add more flour if the dough seems sticky in anyway. 
4. Use a rolling pin or pasta maker to roll the dough thin. Cut into desired pasta shape and voila you just made homemade pasta! 

Brown Sugared Carrots

• 2 Carrots sliced
• 2 tablespoons Butter
• 3 tablespoons Brown Sugar

1. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Melt butter. Add carrots and sugar, occasionally stir the carrots to avoid burning. Cook until the sugar becomes like a syrup consistency.
2. Serve with the white cheddar sauce from this post!

Flambeed Chanterelles

• 7 Chanterelles cleaned and halved
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil 
• 1/2 cup Chardonnay
• 1/4 cup Rum

1. Soak the chanterelles in chardonnay for 5 minutes.
2. Add the olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium. Add the chanterelles. Saute until all the moisture is removed from the mushrooms and they are sitting in the pan. Drain that liquid and add the rum.
3. If you have a gas stove use the flames to light the pan or use a pastry torch or that flamethrower that’s sitting in your garage.
4. Cook until the flames stop and the smell of alcohol is gone. Serve on top of pasta with walnuts.

Well there you have it vegetarians I finally made a dish that you can enjoy. Sorry vegans your future doesn’t look too bright on this blog, butter and cheese is my lifeblood. And that lifeblood is filled with cholesterol. Enjoy this dish!

All photos by Katy Weaver! Check out her site right now! You have nothing better to do, you just finished reading this post. Go!

Palak White Cheddar Pastries

Planning on throwing a party sometime soon? If you are then I suggest making these appetizers. If you’re not then you can make them alone and contemplate why you’re not invited to more dinner parties.

Tillamook dairy was kind enough to send me some of their delicious cheese. If you’ve never had Tillamook cheese before it makes store brand cheese seem like some sort of cheap rubber substitute they used in WWII. The sharpness of the white cheddar cuts right through the spinach and Indian spices, but doesn’t overpower them. The pastry, spinach, cheese and spices seem to form a team that works extremely well together, much like the “A Team,” but for copyright reasons let’s say “An a Team.”

Yields 18 pastries

• 2 bags of packaged Spinach chopped
• 1/4 cup Water
• 1/2 Lemon juiced
• 2 Tomatoes diced
• 1 Large Onion diced
• 4 cloves Garlic diced
• 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Ginger ground
• 1/2 teaspoon Coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 2 teaspoon Garam Masala
• 1 Tablespoon Greek Yogurt
• 8 oz. Tillamook Vintage White Cheddar cubed
• 1 Egg whisked
• 1 package (9 x 9.5 in) Puff Pastry* thawed

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Add the spinach, water, and lemon juice to a medium-sized sauce pan, cover and heat over medium heat until all the leaves have wilted down.
2. While the spinach is cooking, add the onions, garlic, and olive oil to a large skillet and cook over medium heat until the onions have slightly caramelized. Add the spices to the onions. After cooking for 3-5 minutes stir in the tomatoes and yogurt. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add the onion and tomato mixture to the spinach. Let simmer for yet another 5 minutes.
3. Use a food processor to blend until you get the consistency of chunky peanut butter.
4. Cut the pastries into 1 x 1 inch squares. place evenly on a greased cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place two cheese cubes at the center of each pastry square. Scoop 1 Teaspoon of the spinach on top of each square.
5. Pinch two opposite edges of the square together, as pictured below. Brush each folded pastry with the whisked egg. Bake at 400° until golden brown, which should be about 15 minutes.
6. Serve with rice and enjoy!

*Yes, I use store-bought puff pastry. In the words of the greatest poet of our generation, “ain’t no one got time for that.”

Coconut Lime Basmati Rice

• 1 cup Basmati Rice
• 1 can Coconut Milk
• 1 Lime zested

1. Rinse the rice 3 times. Add everything to a rice cooker. Wait about 20 minutes. Boom you’re done.

Katy Weaver once again out doing herself with some outstanding photography.

Breakfast Poutine

Over Memorial Day weekend I went to Sasquatch! music festival up in Washington, and met a nice fella from Calgary, Alberta. We proceeded to discuss beer and food. He being from Canada, of course the unofficial Canadian national dish of poutine came up. For those of you who have never had poutine, it’s a glorious dish of fries, gravy and cheese curds. Naturally I went with a breakfast version of this pile of cholesterol.

Before I really get into this post I want to make some mentions. As always Katy Weaver has outdone herself with these photos, I guess I’ll keep her around. I really wanted channel my inner pretentious hipster though, and mention some of the great bands I saw at Sasquatch! My advice is that you should take a listen to Shovels & Rope, Deep Sea Diver, and Suuns. I also wanted to give a shout out to Terry from Calgary for giving me this recipe idea.

Yields three servings

• Fries from recipe below
• Hollandaise Sauce from recipe below
• 1 lbs Cheese Curds
• 1/4 cup chopped Chives
• 1 Avocado sliced

1. Plate the fries (recipe below) and top with hollandaise sauce (your guess is as good as mine when finding this recipe) and cheese curds. Garnish with chives and avocado, or just pile on the avocado, I’m not judging. 

Oven Baked Fries

Yields three servings

• 5 medium sized Golden Potatoes batonneted
• 2.5 table spoons Olive Oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of each Salt and Pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of Garlic Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Paprika

1. Use a mandolin (this kind, not this kind, but if you do use the musical instrument let me know how it works) to cut the potatoes into slices, then use a knife to batonnet them.
2. Once cut let the potatoes soak in a bowl of water for 5-10 minutes, this process removes some of the starch from the potatoes and makes them crispier once cooked. Preheat the oven to 375.
3. Drain the water from the bowl, then toss the potatoes in olive oil. Place the fries on a cooking sheet and season. 
4. Cook for 10 minutes then use a spatula to flip the tubers. Cook for another 10 minutes or until golden brown. 

Hollandaise Sauce

Devotees of this blog, all three of you, and yes that includes my mom, will remember that I have made several hollandaise sauces, this one, and this one with avocado. For this particular dish I went with the basic one with a little extra cayenne pepper, just for that extra kick!

If you’re wondering if it tastes as good as it looks the answer is yes. A warning to the elderly, the pregnant or anyone with heart or back problems, this is a very rich dish and should be consumed at your own caution. On that note, enjoy!

All photos copyright Katy Weaver Photography

Carrot Pie

Sometimes with life and with cooking, two things that seem like they wouldn’t work well together, despite all odds are actually great together. Other times the pairings that make the most sense, don’t mesh well. Carrot pie is one of those things that shouldn’t work, but some how it does.

Whoever came up with the phrase, “easy as pie” was an asshole. They probably never made a pie in their life. I’ll admit it; I never bake, I tend to stick with cooking, but I like to expand my horizons and challenging myself, so I thought, “oh, yeah I’ll make a pie, how hard could that be?” It was hard, you guys. The crust was a pain, in my crust. If you’re naturally talented at baking pie, I salute you. But with most challenging things in life the end result was worth all the struggle.

Crust

• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 Tablespoons of cold water

1. Let’s start with the crust. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl, mix in the butter, shortening and salt with a pastry blender. Blend until the bits of butter and shortening are about pea sized. Mix in the water. 
2. Once the dough is in a ball like shape, roll it out on parchment paper, I learned this the hard way, parchment paper makes things a hundred times easier.
3. Roll the dough out and put it in whatever pie pan you have sitting around your kitchen. Crimp the edges to make a nice crust.

Filling

• 1 cup mashed carrots
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 2 tablespoons honey

1. Preheat the oven to 425.
2. Boil the carrots until they get soft enough to break apart with with a fork. Strain and mash with a potato masher. Mix in the sugar, milk, eggs, and spices. Mix until well blended. 
3. Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Top with the almonds and drizzle the honey over the almonds. 
4. Bake until the edges are golden brown. 

Cream Cheese Lemon Drizzle

• 2 tablespoons cream cheese
• 2.5 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon of butter
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring
• 1/2 teaspoon of milk

1. Mix all these things together.
2. Drizzle over a cooled slice of carrot pie.

The result of this experiment was a pie that was reminiscent of carrot cake. The crumbly crust added another texture layer that was welcome. It’s a great dish to shock people with, at first when you tell them you’re making carrot pie they dismiss it, but once they take that first bite they realize what they’ve been missing. Enjoy!

Pie pics by Katy Weaver. Honestly I think these are some of the best photographs she’s taken for this blog yet.

Blood Orange Rainbow Chard

This is probably my most colorfully titled blog post yet! Chard and citrus complement each other very well and blood oranges are probably my favorite fruit within the citrus genus. For those who have never had chard, it’s nothing to be scared of, chard is just a leafy green that’s high in vitamin A, C, and K.

• About 12 large leafs of chopped rainbow chard
• 1 blood orange juiced and zested into strips
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic

1. Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Throw in the garlic. Put the chopped chard in the pan, I like to include the steams, but you don’t have to add, if you find them too crunchy.
2. Peel parts of the orange skin into strips and add the zest to the pan. Cut the orange in half and add the juice as well. 
3. Cook over medium heat while stirring occasionally until the chard is wilted, about 8 minutes or so.
4. Plate and serve as a side! And make sure to remove the orange peels! Enjoy!

Above is a little preview of the Open Steak Sandwich post, which I’ll be posting later this week!

These are all colorful Katy Weaver photos!

Yam Hash Browns

When given the chance to choose between regular ol’ potatoes and yams, I’m going to yam it up. Yams are probably my favorite tuber, that is if I had to pick just one. As anyone who follows this blog knows that I love breakfast food, but to be honest I’ve never been a huge hash brown fan, whenever I eat them I always feel like something was missing. I discovered that the sweetness of the yams works well with the onions and to complete the full flavor of the dish I topped it with hot sauce and goat cheese. 

• 2 large red yams peeled and grated
• 1/4 cup of diced onions
• olive oil
• crumbled goat cheese
• Hot sauce (I use Sriracha)
• Sliced green onions
• Salt & pepper to taste

1. Peel the skin off the yams. 
2. Grate the yams into a large mixing bowl. Once the yams have been reduced to pieces, squeeze out as much of the juice you can. I’d recommend doing this over the sink. Also, you’re hands might be stained orange after you do this, (regular hand soap removes the yam caused jaundice).
3. Mix in the diced onions with the bowl of yam shreds, add salt and pepper to taste. 
4. Find a large skillet somewhere in your kitchen, I don’t know where you keep yours. Add enough olive oil to make a layer about 2 cm deep, and heat over medium high heat. 
5. I usually make two hash browns at a time. I make two hash brown shaped, well hash browns in the pan. Let the first side cook for about 5 minutes then flip and let the other side cook for another 5 minutes. DO NOT put the cooked hash browns on paper towels, they’ll stick to the fibers in the paper and it’ll just turn into a mess. I recommend using a wire cooling rack. 
6. To finish the dish, plate the hash browns and top with crumbled goat cheese, green onions, and hot sauce. Enjoy!

This is just the appetizer, more posts coming later this week!

All photos taken by Katy Weaver (I would highly recommend checking out her awesome newly redesigned website!)

Artichokes in Avocado Hollandaise Sauce

People always say that food carries an emotional and personal connection to to it. I tend to avoid talking about those kind of things on this blog, because I try to mainly focus on the food. Now this recipe doesn’t have any personal or emotional for me, I mean it’s just artichokes and sauce, but I feel like I’ve created a connection with this dish. Let’s be honest you’re not reading this post for the personal story behind it, you probably just found this recipe on Google or someone repined it on Pinterest and you just want to look at the pictures, or you’ll just scroll down to the recipe without reading this text block.

Since this recipe is pretty short I’m going to continue with my narrative. Sometimes people fall out of your life and they don’t come back, the universe can be cruel like that, and there’s nothing you could have done to change the outcome. Other times those people come back into your life and it’s all the time spent apart from each other that make you realize how important they were to you and how important they still are to you. This simple little dish of artichokes and hollandaise sauce will always remind me of that feeling of someone great reentering your life, even if it’s in some small way.

Artichokes in Avocado Hollandaise Sauce

• 4 artichokes
• 6 cups water
• 1.5 tablespoons of minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Pinch of salt
• Avocado Hollandaise Sauce from this post.
• Hot sauce of your choice

1. Heat the water in a large pan on high until it boils, then add the garlic, olive oil, and the salt.
2. Cut the stems off the artichokes to a reasonable size. Also cut the tops off the artichokes. Feel free to cut the tips of the pedals off, but it’s not required.
3. Place the artichokes in the boiling water, cover the pot and let them cook for about 35 or until the stems are soft.
4. Serve with the hollandaise sauce. I added a drop of hot sauce to my dish to give it some color and some extra kick.

This makes for a perfect side dish or as an appetizer. I suggest getting creative with the platting. Enjoy!

All these artsy artichoke photos by: Katy Weaver Photography

Black & White and Green & Red (and Yellow)

I know it’s been awhile since my last post, but I’m back! So, the main reason I’m posting this dish is that it looks neat, it’s all colorful and fun looking. This is a really easy dish to make, it’s not overly complicated and you can impresse all your friends and trick them into thinking you can actually cook by making a fancy looking dish, when in reality it’s just a breakfast dish with some fancy tweaks.

The beans I used on the toast are actually dehydrated black bean, and to make them into a paste or a dip just add hot water. 4 parts dried beans to 3 parts water. I got mine from an Oregon company called Garden Valley Corporation here is a link if you’d like to peruse their dried legumes.

Spicy Fried Eggs with Avocado and Black Beans on Toast

• 2 slices of toasted sourdough
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup black beans
• 1/2 avocado sliced
• hot sauce

1. I recommend making your beans before anything else. 
2. Toast the bread.
3. Fry the eggs to your liking, salt and pepper to taste. I prefer to having the yolk just a little runny that way I can mop it with the ends of the toast. 
4. Spread the beans on the toast, then the eggs, sliced avocado, and top it off with a drizzling of hot sauce of your choice, I used Sriracha, because it’s delicious.

This is a very simple dish to make, it looks fancy, and it’s packed with protein. Even though I made it for dinner, it’s a perfect brunch dish. Next post is going to be fried quinoa!