Rabbit Sacrifice

Nic and Dan killed two of their rabbits and we ate one of them for dinner. Nic's arms were covered in scratches from battle, but he felt good about it. He said it was peaceful and respectful, they thanked the rabbits and killed them quickly. I wont tell you the other things he said about it because I don't want the world to see Nic's cold blooded nature, but I will say that he is a natural born killer. 

We grilled the rabbit with spring onions, asparagus and carrots. We had a proper strawberry poppy seed salad and Hassleback potatoes, which I made a few years ago while camping and have never forgotten their charm. We drank Jura Chardonnay, my fave, and generally raised hell. So glad to be back in the produce months where things are full of color and flavor!

The Food, The Drinking

Marlow&Sons&Daughters

A little more Brooklyn delight for you all. I have been meaning to write about this ever since it actually happened- we had a most delicious, and sort of confusing, meal at Marlow and Sons.

We ate rabbit sausage with cabbage and mustard, chicken liver pate, greens with meat, swordfish, brick chicken and spetzle with rabbit. We also had a prefect bottle of wine. Our waitress tried to undermine my wine choice because she didn't realize that I have been schooled by the best about wines of the Jura! But, somehow we were able to convince her that it was not our first time in a restaurant and she served us what we wanted (it took pleading. She assumed I wanted a bottle of easy Chardonnay, not Jura Chardonnay which is amber colored and tastes like sherry DUH MY FAVOIRTE). Anyway. As I suspected, it was perfect with every single dish we had including a simple apple tart with honey ice cream and a chocolate caramel tart sprinkled with sea salt.
We sort of had the waitstaff's attention throughout the night for a couple of reasons. When my brother and I first arrived we had a drink at the bar. It was then that I made a huge ass out of myself, thanks to misinformation that my worst enemy Shane gave me. You see, a long time ago Shane said at one of our staff meetings that Morgan Freeman owned Tito's vodka. I took it as a fact because he is our bar manager, we were at an official meeting, and what kind of lie would that be anyway? Well, little did Shane know, it would be a good one that would come in to play a year and a half later. So Ryland and I sat down at the bar and I asked the bartender which vodka's they had. They did not have my preferred vodka, Ciroc, but they did have Tito's.
"Who is it that owns Tito's?" I asked him.
"Dunno. Tito I guess. Someone in Texas."
"No no. It's a celebrity." I said, matter of factly. "I will ask my bartender. Oh! I think it's Morgan Freeman!"
The bartender looked suspicious, but then sort of agreed that maybe it was true...maybe. So I texted Shane right away and said "Does Morgan Freeman own Titos?"
He responded:"LOL THAT WAS A LIE I MADE UP LIKE 2 YEARS AGO!!"
At this point the bartender just walked away. He came back later, never to speak of my embarrassing moment again, and we talked about Portland and the restaurant I work at and all that. Then our friends arrived and we sat at our table. This is when the waitress talked down to me about my wine choice, probably because she thought I was a complete idiot after the whole Tito's episode. Then she was embarrassed because she realized that she was being condescending (a feeling I know well as a waitress), and then we got some free shit (rabbit sausage and caramel tart- so rad)!!!!
Anyway- when I said we had the waitstaff's attention, I meant to say that they were confused by us, and then horrified as they watched us eat our desserts. We had just consumed an enormous, meatnormous meal, and when desserts hit the table it was like we hadn't seen food in a week. Forks were blurred, hands were smacked away, there was total silence at the table aside from the sound of furious gobbling.
What a night. I miss that night.

Brain Burn

We Oregonians spent this week frying our asses off. It has been in the 100's, including a special afternoon yesterday where it got up to 107 degrees. It's weird that this was the week that my friend from NYC was here for a visit. We spent the whole week underwater... in matching straw hats from the drug store...

What do you eat when it's stupid hot? We decided that wine was good. Also hot peppers, watermelon and pickles. One of the best moments of this week was when we were floating down the river on our backs with a bottle of wine, not a reasonable thought in our heads. We ate a whole box of popsicles in one sitting that afternoon... I miss that day-even if it was too hot for chips.

I am sure by now you are realizing that I am brain dead. Heat damaged. Forgot english and how the computer works. Please forgive me. Also forgive me for the fact that zucchini is visible in this photo of the purple bush beans that I finally got around to picking.

A Summer Party

As a special hostess with the mostess move, I baked my guests' initials on their slice of pie.
For dinner, steak and rainbow veggie kabobs, bacon wrapped scallops and fillet. For dessert, blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream. For drinks, Pimms Cups and many bottles of rose. A success!

Laurelhurst Market

Last night, Kevin and I unexpectedly stumbled upon the best night ever. We were thinking about going to Ken's for more pizza, when we got a phone call from one of Kevin's employees. This employee has another job cooking at Simpatica, and so he was invited to the soft opening for their new venture, The Laurelhurst Market. He kindly extended the invitation to us! The new place is both a butcher shop and restaurant- naturally heavy on the meat. The space is beautiful and includes black and sliver wallpaper in the bathroom (wallpaper being my favorite thing ever). It was too cold to be outside last night, but the bar has windows that open to an outside bar. So you can be sitting outside, looking into the restaurant and also at the people sitting at the inside version of where you are. Whhhaaaaat? The cocktail list is very rad and includes a smoky whisky drink that is made with smoked ice.
We sat down with some friends and were served a million perfect plates: grilled romaine with romanesco sauce, steak au poivre, steak frites (one of the best hanger steaks I have tried), sweet sweet mussels and frites with the thickest and most luscious aioli you can imagine, pate with pistachios, stinky macaroni and cheese, ribs... It was a frenzy. Our friend Eric who also didn't expect to be there kept yelling as dishes arrived "I'm gonna FREAK OUT." I shared his sentiment- I really was freaking out. And being a soft opening, the night was free. We left a tip of course, but whoa. I am SO LUCKY.
We realized that we were a few of the only non-Simpatica employees there- that was a little awkward, but we worked through it and maybe even made some friends. I can't wait to go back when it is officially open, which by the way happens on Friday. You should go, and bring your friends.

Hot Pot City; It's a Family Affair

I have two food events that I must report on. They are different for many reasons but both were fun and tasty meals. The first was at Hot Pot City, a very exclusive restaurant that my friend Emily told me about. Its like a buffet... but then you cook everything in your own little hot pot of broth. Kevin and I went there on a Tuesday afternoon or something and ate our selves silly- noodles, pork, veggies, barbeque broth- the whole deal. Emily brings up this restaurant frequently and this is usually what she says: "OMG you have to go to Hot Pot City it's so good the whole time you are there you moan 'HOT POT CITY IS MY FAVORITE RESTAURANT MMMMM OH GOD'". And she was right- at one point through a whole mouthful of burning hot noodles I think I really did moan that whole run-on sentence. The waitress thought it was perhaps the funniest thing she had ever seen that I was taking photos of the food. She stood behind me, peering into the viewfinder, cheering "Nice photo! That very good!" I really felt like a pro.




This week my grandparents are visiting so I took them and the rest of my fam to dinner at the restaurant I work at. The service was outstanding- look at our super hot server next to an absurdly handsome Kevin! We had a huge tasting menu and many bottles of wine including a bottle of 2007 Antica Terra. My friends make this wine and this vintage is absolutely wonderful! I was very happy, though it made me miss them terribly (they had a baby and for some weird reason don't come in for dinner anymore. NOT COOL GUYS.) We ate octopus with lemon rind, soup of rhubarb and fois gras, carrot and bean sprout salad- too many dishes to remember. The best part though was my grandmothers story of punching a guy out on the dance floor on a dude ranch in Montana. As she remembers saying to her friend at the time, "We are not at Mount Holyoke anymore."

Last night my family and neighbors all came over dinner and my aunt Leslie brought over the almond blossom cake that I posted about a while back. Ok, she makes it so much better than I do, and I have come to believe that if you have a newer oven you should bake it at 325 degrees, not 350. My oven is new and over-bakes the damn cake! Her oven is vintage and even though she burned the top this time, it was still gooey and insane on the inside. I shake my fist at that cake! Either its the oven thing or I am just missing the touch.

Anyway, I just went down the slide at the Mount Scott pool like 4 times with my cousin Pearl. I am exhausted! I have a special staff meal photo shoot that I have been meaning to post from last week, but that will have to wait. That's called a cliff hanger guys, get used to it.

InaugurHEEEEYtion

Way to go America! I'm actually proud of us. Obama is not just handsome but also seems to be a FUCKING POET.
In celebration, I made eggplant parmesan and had one hundred glasses of wine! It was joyful indeed. Jessika made homemade pasta (do I need to repeat part about the pasta being homemade? For real.), and Kevin made sure that everyone was drinking.
I'm sure that everyone knows how to make eggplant parmesan, but I'm going to share my recipe anyway. This is my mom's recipe plus lard, because I am a lard pervert and have to put animal fat in everything I cook.

DIRTY DEED'S EGGPLANT PARMESAN

2 eggplants
Lots of mozzarella, I like a combo of fresh and not fresh
one large can of Italian tomatoes or fresh ones if its summer (which it never is.)
5 cloves of garlic
panko bread crumbs
5 or so eggs
2 cups of flour
olive oil
lard
salt


Slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch thick disks. Sprinkle with sea salt and let sit for 30 minutes or so. This helps pull out some of the water. Pat the slices dry and roll in egg. Then roll in flour. Then roll in panko. Fry in Olive oil or if you are smart fry in olive oil AND lard. This is the key, me thinks. Fry them until they are brown and wonderful. Layer the slices in a large casserole dish. Cover with the tomato sauce I forgot to mention you should be making (keep it simple- saute garlic in olive oil, add tomatoes and maybe a dash of sugar, simmer.). You might want to cover the bottom of the dish with the sauce as a base layer, but if you forget it will seep down during cooking anyway. Cover this beautiful mass with sliced mozzarella. I like to buy the firm mozzarella and slice that up for the top, but then I like to fill in the gaps with small balls of fresh mozzarella as well. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour, and serve over FRESH pasta. Or dry pasta. But if you have friends who are willing to make you fresh pasta, keep them around forever and make sure to invite them over on any Italian themed nights.