• Home
• Me & Food
• Recipes
• Blogroll!

RSS

Archive for the ‘Contests’ Category

Back to the blog with a review!

After a long weekend relaxing and exploring some new (and some repeat) places, I have lots to write about from the past few days while my parents were in town.  I’m holding off because my dad took lots of pictures and I want him to send them my way so I can include them in that post.

In the meantime, a review of a new restaurant!

Tangerine

Across the street from our apartment, we’ve got a 7-Eleven, Santa Fe Cafe (decent New Mexican cuisine), Zeek’s pizza (a local, OK chain),Chef Liao (yum yum yum Asian food, with award-winning pot stickers) and a few off-the-wall type places. When we first moved in, there was Phinney Market and a Pottery Store in the same building  as Santa Fe Cafe, but both closed.  We were especially sad about Phinney Market, as it was a great place to pick up small things, shop locally and grab a delicious sandwich once in a while.  BUT, Phinney Market opened back up, under new ownership, and it seems better than ever…excitement all around!

So, that is not the point of this post, so enough about Phinney Market. 

Soon after the pottery shop closed, there was a sign announcing a Thai restaurant coming soon…soon meant several months, and I spent the entire time dreaming about having Thai across the street.  I envisioned mountains of pad thai and kee mao noodles piled on our kitchen table.  Fried tofu dancing around our apartment.  Thai iced tea running through the streets.  Let’s just say, I love Thai food and I was excited about the prospect of having it so close…that makes me seem less crazy.

Well, just a couple weeks ago, on a gorgeously warm and sunny Sunday Matt noticed Tangerine open! It was crowded and people were sitting inside and outside at cute little tables.  The interior blended into the outdoor seating with the help of a mechanical garage door-style store-front.  We had plans that night, but we vowed to go later in the week….during the week it didn’t seem to be open!  My guess was that as a new business, they were taking it slowly and opening up on days when there would be some guaranteed traffic.  So we held off.

My parents were going to be in town the following weekend, so I figured we wouldn’t get a chance to try it out then.  I underestimated just how sleepy my parents would be coming from East coast time, and we ended up having Friday night free for dinner.  We trotted over to Tangerine like good little local diners…they only take cash right now!  I should have predicted this, but I didn’t, so we failed to have cash on us. We went with something else.

Tonight, our normal “Thai Tuesday”-turned-“International Tuesday” with a regular group of friends was cancelled due to travel plans, illnesses, job-related interferences and other interruptions.  Rather than being healthy, abstemious and smart (ie. eating leftovers from our fridge), we decided to indulge and try Tangerine since Matt had noticed they are open during the week!

It was rainy all day and pretty chilly this evening, so needless to say there was no outdoor seating.  We started with Thai Iced Tea (my favorite!) and admired the cute interior of a space that used to be a tiny, cramped pottery studio and storefront.  So adorable in there…pretty minimal decorations, mirrors on several walls, deep colors, cozy and very inviting.  The server was friendly and even though he was juggling a few tables at once, did a great job of keeping tabs on us throughout the meal.

We decided to split an appetizer of fried tofu and a red curry with chicken.  The menu at Tangerine does not have the vast array of dishes you’ll find at a lot of Thai restaurants, but everything they did have sounds great!  The server also told us about a special curry they make with red curry and duck that they roast right there in the restaurant.  We’ll definitely be trying that one out! So many things on the menu looked amazing…I’m surprised we held back and only ordered one entree.

The fried tofu appetizer was decently sized, with 10-12 small pieces, a few fried veggies (carrots and broccoli) and a light and spicy sauce.  I enjoyed it, though I wasn’t blown away…I’m still learning to love tofu, and our “regular” Thai place has this AMAZING fried tofu in their dishes that I just can’t figure out how to replicate.  Apparently, neither can any other restaurant, because I have yet to find a tofu that challenges it.  Maybe I’ll have to ask them for their secret! I did like the snacky-ness of the tofu dish…little bite size pieces with a zingy sauce…I could definitely see myself craving this at certain times.

Our curry came out with a big bowl of jasmine rice shortly after we finished our appetizer.  Curry is always dangerous, because most places will keep refilling your rice bowl, and the curry will keep getting soaked up by that rice.  I’m definitely glad we split this…I’m still feeling full a couple hours later! Next time, we’ll just go with a dish…no appetizer.  We ordered medium spice (2 stars on a scale of None-Five), and I’m glad we didn’t go any higher…it was definitely hot! The only thing I would have changed with the curry is to add some veggies (onions and maybe a few more red peppers).  It was primarily chicken and bamboo shoots, both of which there was a generous amount of, but only a couple pieces of red pepper that we found, and no onions (which I am crazy about).  But the taste was GREAT!  Red curry is so flavorful, and this particular one did not disappoint.  I’m pretty sure we were both contemplating licking the bowl clean 🙂

The price was also pretty reasonable…not crazy cheap, but way within range for a quick takeout curry or pad thai.  I’m crossing my fingers that they can get some frequent customers and take advantage of summer zoo-goers so they can stay in business!  I know we’ll be going back! 

Hooray for supporting new, local small businesses!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hooray also for fun blog contests!  Jenn at Prior Fat Girl is giving away Holey Donuts! I am dying to try these, so hopefully I get lucky…but I’m also contemplating splurging and ordering some for when my old roommate is in town in August.  They look amazing!

White Chicken Chili

What you need:

• 6 chicken thighs
• spice mix of cayenne, paprika, cumin, ground coriander, dry oregano, kosher salt…adjust ratio based on your taste. I love love love cumin, so I was heavy on that one.
• 1 Tb. olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 Tb. minced garlic
• 3 cans white beans of your choice, drained (I used great northern beans and regular white beans)
• 1 7oz. can diced green chilies
• 1 tomato, diced
• Hot sauce, to taste
• Low sodium chicken broth
• Scallions, cheese, sour cream, crusty bread, and any other toppings you like on your chili

 

What you do:

• Rub chicken thighs with spice mix to cover, grill to cook, rest and chop.  I used our Foreman grill and this was SO easy…I love that thing.

• Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven or deep pan.
• Sauté onion and garlic in oil until translucent.

• Add a couple spoonfuls of the same spice mix you used to coat chicken, beans, chilies, tomato, and hot sauce.
  • Thanks to my friend Daniel, I pureed about 1/3 of the beans before adding to the pan, this helps thicken the chili. 
  • The grocery had some gorgeous heirloom tomatoes and I used one for this chili and another I’m saving for Monday’s dinner.  Look how pretty!

• Add chicken broth to cover and bring to desired consistency. The longer you cook your chili, the thicker it will get.  We let ours simmer for several hours, so I added quite a bit of broth to make it pretty soupy at first.

• Heat on low until everything is nice and hot, and you can eat whenever you’re hungry.  This kind of thing usually only gets better and better as it cooks.  If it’s getting too thick, you can always add more chicken broth. You could also do this in a Crockpot and let it cook on low all day.
• Serve and add toppings of your choice…we went with shredded cheese and scallions.  Plus, some really great crusty bread from Macrina Bakery.  We have at least 2 servings ready for leftovers….I can’t wait!

Home!

HEY HEY HEY! First things first….get over to Missy’s blog and vote for your favorite salsa recipe in her contest!! I’m #8, in case you have trouble choosing a winner from all the yummy choices! 🙂

One more fair this morning and with a lucky traffic day, I was home around 3:30!! I am EXCITED!  I love being on the road and travelling to new places, but I get so homesick…I wish I could take Matt and Santana along with me whenever I travel! That would be the best!

Green Foodie Arguments

Here is a link to an interesting post that is probably of interest to some of the other foodie bloggers out there.  Anyone into the organic, slow food movement should be familiar with Alice Waters and her restaurant in Berkeley, CA, Chez Panisse. When the roommate and I went to California on a grad school visit/research trip the summer before our senior year, and we made it a point to have lunch at Chez Panisse (dinner was WAY out of our price range). Super delicious and fun to be eating at Alice Waters’ place.  I met her and listened to her speak at The Bale Boone Symposium put on by The Gaines Center at the University of Kentucky in 2005 (I think?).  It was really amazing and wonderful for me at a time when I was still sort of defining who I was as a cook. 

The Jezebel post by Sadie, points to a recent backlash against Waters and her push for organics.  One of the most vociferous, unsurprisingly, is Anthony Bourdain (who I have a bit of a crush on, fyi).  Sadie quotes Bourdain:

Alice Waters annoys the living s%#* out of me. We’re all in the middle of a recession, like we’re all going to start buying expensive organic food and running to the green market. There’s something very Khmer Rouge about Alice Waters that has become unrealistic. I mean I’m not crazy about our obsession with corn or ethanol and all that, but I’m a little uncomfortable with legislating good eating habits.

First of all, he loves to talk about the Khmer Rouge…I have zero statistics or citations to back this up, but I have heard that name come out of his mouth so many times that when I read about Khmer Rouge (even unrelated to Bourdain at all), I hear it in his voice and I picture him ranting. This kind of random association is wonderful…maybe I should choose something to be obscurely connected to.  Whenever you think of Mussolini, you will think of me! Maybe not…

Second, I love Alice Waters, but I have no problem with Bourdain’s ranting…he often goes off on a lot of topics that I don’t agree with, but that is basically his job.  He’s a complainer and a grumper and I think this is why I love him oh so much.  He openly hates on cultures, women, men, children, other chefs, things I would normally be very against  ranting about…but from him, it’s pretty enjoyable.  So I am not bothered by him particularly saying this.  And I don’t think his overall culinary stance eschews the organic, local side of things.  In the essay “The Evildoers,” Bourdain says that you should “try to eat food that comes from somewhere, from somebody,” and I think this applies not only to his signature “Chef’s Tour” mantra of eating the cultural food of wherever you are, but also to the roots of where you get your food…if your veggies, your meat, your dairy comes from somewhere, someone in particular, you are more likely to connect to it and more likely to appreciate and understand its importance.

About the post itself, I have to agree with Sadie…Waters can handle the criticism as someone behind the Green movement and any kind of revolutionary progress needs to be questioned and pulled in different directions as it develops.  Yes, we’re in an economic crisis and a lot of people are having trouble affording the bare basics for their families.  Yes, the cost of organics is often high and going fully green is not necessarily feasible for every family out there.  But I know an increasing amount of people who are not typical of the “elitist” perception that has been tied to organics, especially as I’ve discovered more and more food bloggers who are in super green mode in so many ways.  And I think if more and more people fit local, sustainable, green, organic ways into their lives on a daily basis, at a level that fits their lifestyle and economic means, then it pushes for more and more change towards the positive. 

While the individual families have to make these changes on the small scale, on the larger, more vocal scale, revolutionaries like Waters and critics like Bourdain are necessary to keep pushing ideas forward and honing and refining the ideas that have made it to the mainstream mindset. 

—-

Ok, that was more rambling than I predicted, but I thought some of the bloggers out there would find this discussion interesting! What are your thoughts on Alice Waters? Anthony Bourdain? Feel free to despise either one, despite my love of them! 🙂

Contest news:

Don’t forget to enter Dori’s Doormat Giveaway, and she has a second one this week for an Always Infinity Gift Pack!

Missy is also having a giveaway for the Always gift bag!

Jackson’s World is not only featuring an adorable pup, but is also having a Spring has Sprung Giveaway! Bring on the spring!

Lucky Taste Buds has a Big S Farms Salsa giveaway! Yum yum yum for Salsa!

…Again

 

Still in Oregon…at least today’s fair was only 15 minutes from my hotel, so no crazy morning driving like the last couple days!  Yesterday’s lunch was SO GOOD (for a catered lunch at a university anyway).  Veggie trays, salad, Black Bean Corn Fiesta Rice, 5 choices of wraps (I chose chicken Caesar, because I’m predictable), cookie trays, lots of drink choices! Yum! The wrap was one of the best chicken Caesar wraps I’ve had….it was basically a chicken salad type filling, made with Caesar dressing instead of mayo, with some onions, and wrapped with some really nice red leaf lettuce, all on a tomato wrap.  So good! I spread my lunch out throughout the day because the fair was 6 freakin’ hours long.  I got some work emails answered and other random things done in the chunks of time when I wasn’t talking to prospects, so it was a pretty productive and yummy 6 hours all around.

Because I had the salad and the wrap for lunch, I wasn’t in the mood for a sandwich or salad from the organic place next to the hotel, so I walked 15 minutes or so down the road to a Mexican restaurant.  I munched on chips and salsa and ordered a small combination plate with an enchilada and tamale along with rice and beans.  Decent Mexican, not the best, not the worst.  Very satisfying.  I also ordered a small melon margarita…YUM! Piece of advice: DO NOT HAVE A FILLING MEXICAN MEAL AND A MARGARITA KNOWING THAT YOU HAVE TO WALK AFTERWARDS!  It wasn’t a long walk, and I called Matt on the way, but it was hot and my tummy was full, and I just wanted to be back in the hotel resting!

A very serious matter:  Missy, over at Missy Maintains, is having a Big S Farms Salsa recipe contest and I entered! Go now and vote for your favorite!! (if you can’t choose a favorite, just vote for me, it will be ok, I promise)

Also don’t forget to enter Dori’s doormat giveaway!

Are any of you looking for afghans?? It might be getting warm now, but think of how chilly you get in the middle of January!  Well, my mom crochets like a fiend and makes tons and tons of afghans…she constantly has at least 2 or 3 going.  Anyway, I showed her the Etsy website and she put some of her afghans up for sale.  Guys, I have SO many afghans right now.  They’re amazing and they last for a long time (unless you give them to Santana, who digs digs digs them and they get full of puppy fur).  She is still working on getting her Etsy shop all set up, so it’s bare bones basics with pictures of the afghans she already has done right now, but more to come! So if you’re looking for a homemade gift or a cuddly throw for your own couch, show my mom some love!

Some contests you should check out for Earth Day celebration:

Danica’s Daily’s Annie’s Naturals Dressings Giveaway (three winners!!!)

Run to the Finish is giving away Baumann’s products (YUM!)

Carrots ‘N’ Cake’s Stonyfield Giveaway!

Cooking with Amy’s Scanpan and cookbook giveaway!