French Toast Experiment!

We had lots of banana bread and blueberry/zucchini bread this weekend since our Littles are on a baking binge.  Thing #5 has now been informed of the 'secret ingredient' of the blueberry bread.  She is less-than-thrilled but she can't fight her love of the bread enough for it to make a difference.  Thank goodness!

As parents, we spend a lot of time staring into the pantry and the refrigerator/freezer thinking, "What do we have and what can we DO with it?" Especially with picky kids with very different tastes. 

We decided to use up our quick breads and make french toast with them!  We thought we'd share this idea with you.  I'm sure most of us don't need a lesson or a recipe for french toast, so we'll just leave you with a picture of our finished product to inspire you!

Well, maybe a quick reminder to add cinnamon and nutmeg with maaaaaaaaybe a little sugar to your whipped eggs.

Thing #5 insisted on making her own french toast - she chose blueberry zucchini bread only and she had a blast with the spray whipped cream this weekend!  Yes, they make an organic version!

So if you have have an abundance of quick breads piling up in the house - try this out!  You'll be a hero, I promise!

Simply Ramen - Albany, OR (Review)

Never heard of this restaurant?  We hadn't either! Simply Ramen seems to have opened their doors quietly and sneaked onto the restaurant scene in our town!

Of course the minute we heard about it, we had to try it!

Just South of the Queen & Geary intersection at 1800 Geary Street SE, there it is!  It's quaint and unassuming, but don't let its size fool you:  this little noodle restaurant packs a punch!

They are open Tuesday through Sunday from 11:00 to 3:00 for lunch, then again from 4:30 to 8:30 for dinner.

We arrived during the dinner rush and were surprised that it was so busy.  It's been open less than a month and we had only just heard of it.  We couldn't find a website or a Facebook page, just a few Yelp! reviews.

We were seated promptly, brought our menus and drinks.  While the menu is a single laminated card, the plethora of choices you'll find there will amaze you.  Don't assume you'll be making a decision about what to order quickly.  Yes, Ramen seems to be their specialty, but other Asian favorites are available as well.  Things you probably consider to be favorites, such as Chow Mein, Potstickers, Pad Thai, Fried Rice, Chicken Teriyaki.  But mix in some things Albanyites don't see in our town often, like Seaweed Salad, Korean Short Ribs, KimChi Fried Rice, Singaporean Noodles....Miso Soup!  There hasn't been a decent Miso Soup in Albany for .... has there ever?

Miso Soup

Which brings me to the food we ordered.  Yes, we started with Miso Soup!  Miso Soup is something I've always loved and outside of Portland and Eugene....I haven't experienced a great one.  Until now. Ladies and Gentleman!  Albany has finally brought us Miso Soup! Luscious seaweed pieces, abundant tofu, savory broth....Alright, I'll shut up about it but if I can go on and on about my appetizer choice ... imagine the Entrees....

Brownie ordered the House Signature Pad Thai with chicken.  The color was beautiful and for the rest of the meal I wished I could enjoy peanuts with pasta.  The noodles were light and silky and the peanuts were crushed, which gives this dish a nice

Pad Thai w/Chicken

balance in texture.

I chose to try the Singaporean Noodles with beef.  These are stir-fried, curry-flavored rice noodles with just enough heat to tickle your senses. They did get a bit sticky as they sat and cooled, but I hardly cared as flavor is always my priority and that was on point.

Singaporean Noodles w/Beef

We had to try the Ramen as well since the restaurant's name suggests this is their specialty.  And that assumption would be correct!  I tried the Signature Ramen with Chashu Pork (as in:  Pork Belly.  as in:  BACON!)  The noodles were perfect ramen, the pork was flavorful, my egg was
delicious and the broth....oh dear sweet baby whoever-your-chosen-savior-is!  There could not have been more umami flooding my mouth; rich, succulent, buttery... my taste buds were dancing like fools.  If you can't decide on what to order, this would be my suggestion.

Signature Ramen w/Chashu Pork

Brownie's ramen choice was the Blend Chili Spicy Ramen with Chashu Pork and Shrimp Tempura.  Do I have to choose which one I liked better? Because in a spicy mood, this is utter perfection.  Not spicy enough to burn your mouth or make you sweat, but the perfect amount to keep you excited while the underlying richness of the broth soothes your palate.  I would have left the pork out and just got the shrimp with this, it was a perfect pairing.  But ... choose your proteins as you wish!

Blend Chili Spicy Ramen w/Shrimp
Tempura & Chashu Pork

The service in the restaurant is efficient, the staff is very friendly and helpful with the menu, clearing your table...as we watched other patrons leave, the staff was right behind them, cleaning the tables and ready to seat the next customer.

The portions here are large, so be ready to take home leftovers!  But in our opinion, there is no such portion as 'too much.'  Come hungry!  They boxed up our leftover food for us and even let us take home our extra broth and soup; we were thankful, because that stuff is liquid gold!

The space has obviously been remodeled and is clean and fresh, including the bathrooms.  What!?  We have to check those for you too!  The kitchen is open, so you can see them cooking the food and there is nothing to hide. The atmosphere is that of a bustling noodle joint designed to efficiently serve delectable food to as many people in a day as possible.  I appreciate the focus on the food and the casual atmosphere.  I leaned over to my neighbor's tables more than once to ogle their food and ask what it was they were trying.

Overall, we think this restaurant is a breath of fresh air for Albany!  It's been so long since we got any new flavor in this town and we're so happy it's authentic and good quality Asian-inspired!  We need to branch out and bring more food culture!  We love the path this is leading us down, bring us more!

Okay, now the rating.  The part we dislike the most.  We think this restaurant is exactly what it's trying to be and nothing more or less.  Clean, efficient, customer-oriented, excellent food, terrible parking....it has everything a good restaurant should have!  We give Simply Ramen 5 stars on the Brownifer Scale.  You saw that right.  Five.  Nothing wins us over like umami.

If you haven't tried our new favorite Albany dinner stop, then you will soon because everyone will be raving about this little place in no time.  Go enjoy some noodles done right and be sure to tell us how much you loved it.  Because you will!

Welcome to Albany, Simply Ramen!

Tangent Inn

Formerly known as 'Dixie Creek Saloon', the 'Tangent Inn' has been remodeled and is now open for business!  We've all been watching and waiting for this classic to re-open and it's finally here! Although the Grand Opening hasn't happened yet, and from what we were told the menu will be expanding, we dropped in to see the face-lift and sample the menu.  We were excited to see in which direction the new owners would take this.

The parking is still the same, the exterior is very familiar, but the interior is clean, updated and much more pleasing to the eye.  The bathrooms were clean, the floors were shiny and the staff was polite and helpful.

The menu is simple; appetizers, soups & salad, sandwiches and burgers.  We were very impressed with the polite and attentive service we received; the staff is knowledgeable and was very helpful with menu recommendations.

We started with appetizers as recommended and tried the Fried Zucchini which is Panko-battered, sprinkled with shredded parmesan.  Nothing frozen here, these were real, juicy zucchini spears and they were delicious!  It comes with ranch or honey mustard, but we asked to sample all dipping sauces and we actually determined that the bleu cheese is the dipping sauce to order with this.  The flavor doesn't overpower the zucchini as ranch and honey mustard both tend to do.

The Beer & Cheese dip was our 2nd appetizer, made with Gilgamesh Classic Ale, cream cheese and

cheddar cheese.  It is served with homemade pretzel bites.  This was good as well - a bit heavy on the salt in both the cheese sauce and the pretzel bites, though not uncommon in a bar establishment.

For dinner, Brownie ordered the Tangent Burger with tots.  This 1/2 pound brisket/chuck mix patty is made with a cheese skirt and comes loaded with hickory smoked bacon (no skimping here) and a roasted

garlic aioli. As you can see in the photo, it's a good size portion.  Eating through the crispy cheese and bacon ends is a delightful pathway to the burger - enjoy!  The burger itself was a bit dry and overcooked, though we tend to believe this may because of the timing of the cheese skirt rather than incompetence in the kitchen.  Time will tell as it's been less than two weeks since they opened their doors.  As for the tots .... tots are tots.  They tasted as you would expect tots to taste.

Cheese. Skirt.

I ordered the Roast Pork Loin Sandwich; thinly sliced pork loin, smoked gouda cheese with sage mustard

on homemade sourdough bread.  The pork was tender and flavorful, though the smoked gouda flavor didn't come through as much as the sage did for me.  I love sage and it was delicious, so no complaints there!  My sandwich came with fries, which are hand cut in the restaurant; our waitress proudly told us this when ordering.  They are well worth ordering as a side!

Ask for this mustard, it's divine!

Overall, we enjoyed our experience. The staff was so friendly and helpful and the atmosphere is a lively bar; we even got to enjoy a  couple dancing near our table when a slow song came on.  Minors are allowed in the dining room until 9pm just in case you want to bring the family to eat.

We were told that the menu will be expanding soon during or after the Grand Opening to include family-style options and a breakfast menu.  We will not be giving Tangent Inn a Brownifer star rating until after we sample all of these options.  Too bad for us, right!? :-)

Until then, we highly suggest you head out to Tangent and check out Tangent Inn!  The prices are reasonable and from what we experienced, you'll enjoy your time at this new restaurant, they're off to a great start!

Spicy Autumn Soup

It's that time of year!  Soup!  I love making soups, but I can never create the same one twice, so I've decided to start writing down what I did so I can remember some of these amazing creations.

Of course this time of year is full of pumpkin this, squash that.... it's dizzying.  But Trader Joe's had
a few spectacular things on the shelves that inspired this soup for me.  Photos help, so I'm including those.

I also cooked by candlelight (Brownie thinks I'm insane for doing this) so I didn't have a chance to take many photos during the process, which is why you get to admire this lovely shot of my leftover soup in tupperware.  You're welcome. I promise it's just as scrumptious leftover!  Noodles a little softer, but still good!

This has a kick to it, so be ready to clear those sinuses!  It's also incredibly filling, so small portions go a long way.

Here Goes:

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• 1 Cup Chopped Onion
• 1 Cup Chopped Celery
• 1 Cup Chopped Carrot
• 6-10 Garlic Cloves - Minced (however much or little you prefer)
• 1 Stick Salted Butter
• 3 small zucchini, sliced or chopped as you wish
• 1/2 Cup Chopped Bell Pepper
• Truffle Oil (totally optional but they have a tiny bottle of this amazingness at Market of Choice if you want to use it)
• 1 Package Trader Joe's Cheese & Garlic Croutons
  
  
  
• 1 Package Trader Joe's Fall Zucchette Pasta
• 1 Jar Trader Joe's Autumnal Harvest Creamy Pasta Sauce
• 1-2 Cups cooked or leftover meat of any kind that you may have on hand or need to use, chopped
• 1/2 Cup Chopped fresh Sage
• 1 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (The sauce has a bite to it, so if you're sensitive to spicy, leave this out)
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 2 Teaspoons Cumin
• 1-2 Tablespoons fresh Thyme (1/2-1 Tablespoon dried)
• 2 Teaspoons fresh, chopped Oregano (1 Teaspoon dried)
• Dash of Cinnamon
• 1 Teaspoon Paprika

Directions:

• Boil water with 1 Tablespoon olive oil and get noodles cooking in a separate pot for now.  
• Saute garlic, onion, celery and carrot with 1/2 the stick of butter and a few sprinkles of salt in a soup pot until butter is melted and onions are a bit soft
• Add water, about 8-10 cups and turn the heat up to bring to boil
• While the water is heating up for soup, add the cayenne, salt & pepper, cumin, thyme, oregano, cinnamon and paprika.  Stir.
• When water comes to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer until the pasta is ready.
• Drain pasta, leave in the collander
• In pasta pot, put the remaining 1/2 stick of butter with chopped fresh sage - on medium heat, melt butter and cook sage until it's a bit crispy
• Turn soup back up to a boil, add jar of sauce, zucchini and bell pepper and let boil while you do the final step with the pasta.
• When the sage is ready, put pasta back into the pot and toss it with sage and butter, sprinkling with salt and truffle oil until you like the flavor
• Let Pasta sizzle in pan on medium heat, stirring often for about 5 minutes
• Add chopped meat to the pot, stirring in to let it heat up and flavor the soup a bit - 5 minutes while the pasta sizzles
• Taste the broth, making sure the flavors are where you want them, adjust as you wish.  If you didn't use enough garlic, sprinkle in some garlic powder for a quick fix :-)
• Stir pasta into the soup
• Serve soup with cheesy garlic croutons and enjoy!

This soup is very filling and this recipe will feed 6-8 people.

Summer Bruschetta (with recipe)

We love summer!  Fresh fruits and vegetables are available everywhere you look and organic produce is so easy to come by locally!

If you've never made bruschetta ... it's sort of like the Italian version of chips and salsa!  So of course, Jen is a huge fan.  Chips and salsa is a must-have staple in the Brownifer household!

We're still working on using up leftovers from our Cuban Sandwiches so instead of using pita chips for a quick and easy bruschetta fix, we toasted some of our leftover Cuban Hoagies to make this one.  Normal we'll buy a baguette and slice it, but we work with what we've got!  Whatever bread you have, I guarantee it will work.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 Heirloom tomatoes - the more colors, the more fun!
• 2/3 Cup chopped fresh basil
• 2/3 Cup chopped onion (as fine as you like)
• 5-6 cloves garlic, minced (however much you like - we go crazy with garlic)
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Sliced bread for toasting
• Olive Oil
• Garlic Powder

Directions:

• Mix tomatoes, onion, basil, garlic in a bowl and salt/pepper to taste
• Let mixture sit for 30 minutes or so for flavors to combine, stirring periodically
• Slice bread and place on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder
• Put bread in the broiler or oven until crisp and browned to your liking
• Spoon tomato mixture onto bread and serve!

Brownie likes to sprinkle his bruschetta with romano or parmesan cheese - I prefer it light and fresh.  You can vary this recipe in so many ways, its a fun one to play with and a simple side to so many summer dishes! 

Eggs Benedict Cuban-Style (with recipe)

What to do with all that leftover pulled pork and delicious ingredients for Cuban Sandwiches when you're getting tired of eating Cuban Sandwiches?  Here's an idea for you!

Jen's favorite breakfast food is Eggs Benedict - so we wanted to try giving her favorite dish a Cuban flair - and it worked marvelously!  

Re-heat your pulled pork and ham and get ready to try this one!  This recipe is for two servings - but you'll be cutting up bread enough for 4 so adjust accordingly!

This is also easier done with two people so one can be poaching eggs while the other is whisking (and whisking and whisking) Hollandaise sauce!

Ingredients:

• Pulled Pork
• Ham Slices
• Cuban Hoagies
• 4 Organic Eggs (for poaching)
• 4 Organic Egg Yolks (for Hollandaise)
• 2 Sticks Organic Butter
• 1 Tablespoon White Wine Vinegar
• 1 Teaspoon White Pepper (use whatever you have on hand, this is just what we used)
• 1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt
• Juice of 1/2 Lemon
• 1/4 Cup Cold Water
• 1 Tablespoon (or so) Yellow Mustard
• Dill for garnish (we sprinkled dried dill - you could use fresh as well of course!)

Directions:

• Put pulled pork in oven to re-heat on a low setting while you work on your sauce
• Gather all ingredients for your Hollandaise and get them together by the stove - you'll need to do this quickly.
• Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; slowly bring to a boil, skimming froth from surface. (I used a large spoon and just kept skimming until the layer on top was gone) Carefully pour melted butter into a small bowl, holding back the milky sediment in the bottom of the pan. The clarified butter should be the color of light olive oil; let cool to room temperature.
• Wash saucepan thoroughly and dry - returning to stove for next step.
• While the butter is cooling - slice your Cuban Bread as you would for a sandwich, then cut in 1/2 to make 4 smaller pieces.  Place in toaster so they're ready for toasting.
• In saucepan, mix vinegar together with 1/4 cup cold water and pepper. Place over medium-high heat until liquid is reduced by one-third; remove from heat and let cool completely. (I filled a sink with cold water and placed the bottom of the pan in the water until it was cooled to speed things up)
• Add egg yolks to cooled reduction and whisk to combine.
• Place saucepan on stove over very low heat; whisk, making sure the whisk comes in contact with the bottom of the pan. Gradually increase heat whisking, so the sauce emulsifies progressively and becomes smooth and creamy, 8 to 10 minutes; do not let the temperature of the sauce rise above 150 degrees.
• While you're doing this - have someone start poaching eggs, toasting bread and getting your meat out and ready to plate!
• Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in clarified butter in a slow, steady stream; season with salt. Stir in lemon. Use a fine mesh strainer; strain mixture and discard solids. Whisk in mustard; Use sauce immediately.
• On a plate, place warmed ham on your toasted bread, topped with some pulled pork.  Lay two poached eggs on top of the meat and spoon on your Hollandaise sauce.  Garnish with dill and serve warm!

If you're making this by yourself, you'll have to figure out how to time it well, but it will be worth it!  This has some wonderful Cuban Sandwich flavor but it's clearly breakfast!  And just like the sandwiches, it's VERY filling.  We loved it!!!!!  This one is definitely going down as a success.

I modified the Hollandaise recipe I found here for this adventure.  

The Brownifer Cuban Sandwich

We were inspired by our visit to Stick a Pork In It to create our own version of the Cuban Sandwich. We hit the Internet Super Highway and did some research on the history of this tradition.

I won't bore you with the research, you can look all of that up yourself.  But we decided to stay authentic, leave off the salami and give it our own flair with Brownie's smoked, pulled pork.

In researching this sandwich, I found that Cubans are very adamant that you use Cuban Bread for this, so I did some reading on that as well. My adventure perfecting Cuban Hoagies finally came together in batch #3, they were delicious! You should definitely give them a try - not sure this would have turned out the same if we hadn't used them!

Now, pulled pork takes quite a few hours to do and you can't really time it. It's done when it's done. So we decided to make a Cuban Night of it and invited friends over for Mojitos and a Cuban-themed meal.  This also gave us a chance to get more opinions on our creation, which we love.

I'll shut up now, here's what we did:

Ingredients:

Pulled Pork (smoked on your own BBQ grill if possible)
Ham slices (we had the deli slice ours so the thickness was where we wanted it and uniform)
Brick of Swiss Cheese, thinly sliced
Sandwich Slicer Pickles (we even found organic ones with no artificial dye!)
Mustard - lots of mustard!
Cuban Hoagies (substitute any hoagies or bread - you know what you like)

Directions:

• Slice Hoagies sandwich-style
• Put mustard on both bread slices. A lot of mustard - and don't be shy - use that mustard!!!!!
• Lay top and bottom on broiler tray and liberally add a layer of sliced Swiss Cheese to each and put under the broiler on low until the cheese is melted
• Lay down your ham slices on the bottom slice of your sandwich (our bread used two slices)
• Lay down a layer of pickles - thick as you like (we used four to cover the bread)
• Top with pulled pork and put the top on your sandwich, pressing down so that cheese can do its job and hold everything together
• Slice sandwich at the diagonal

We served our Cubans with some traditional sides that I found recipes for here.  They turned out really well!  There were two of us in our dinner party who are not fans of sweet potatoes - and we loved the potatoes!  So even if it's not your thing, give it a try!  And the beans were so flavorful but a word to the wise, (learn from my Mojito-fueled mistake) measure your salt!  I always under-salt things and Brownie is always adding more salt to my recipes so ... in my mind I needed to add more than it called for.  Don't.  They tasted fabulous, but I used way too much salt.

These sandwiches were the talk of our Memorial Day weekend!  All of our guests loved them, but only one could finish the whole thing!  They're large.  We finished the night off with Mojitos, spiced rum and cigars by the fire .... all of us too full to eat anything else.

Try these out and let us know what variations you used and how they turned out!

¡Que aproveche amigos!

Death By Donutz

Our Things always hear about us reviewing restaurants and they really want to be part of this blog!  So they are working on a restaurant review of their own, stay tuned!

While visiting a restaurant they were interested in trying, we came by Death By Donutz in Corvallis and I mentioned that it was one of the places I had been wanting to try with the kiddos.

So when we were done eating our lunch, we headed in to check things out!

The kids were overwhelmed with their choices, so ordering just one doughnut probably wasn't ever going to be realistic.  We got a dozen and everyone set in trying them out.


They do have most of your favorite classic doughnuts, but they also have some signature names that you really must try!

Thing #5 was in love with her Banana Split doughnut, she said it was 'so good!' Be careful - one bite and the whipped cream will smear your nose!  Totally worth it.

Cookie Dough

Banana Split

Brownie and Thing #4 both had Cookie Dough and I chose the Nutella, topped with a wee little Filbert (we live in Oregon - they're Filberts, not Hazelnuts)  Both of those were very good as well.

Nutella

Beaver Tail

That big bar lined with chocolate stripes there?  Orange cream frosting.....Beaver Tail I believe.  Thing #5 was protecting it with her life so no one would eat it.













Now Thing #3 chose to be really adventurous and try the PB&J doughnut.  We were all a bit skeptical.  His review?  'Probably the best doughnut I've ever eaten in my life.'  His advice - order a milk to drink with this because it's rich and that peanut butter will stick to the roof of your mouth.  It's filled with jelly too - but it won't change the fact that you need milk!

Peanut Butter & Jelly

If Brownie and I had to recommend one doughnut to try here, it would have to be the Raspberry Fritter.  You heard us right!  And it's just as amazing as it sounds!

Raspberry Fritter

The novelty of this little place is indeed its attraction, the kids even got logo stickers to take home with them.  But you're guaranteed to find something you love here and fill out your dozen with some classics with which you can't go wrong.

Visit them and let us know what you tried!

Stick a Pork In It - Lebanon, OR (Review)

Someone Brownie works with recommended we try Stick a Pork In It.  They're a food truck in Lebanon, usually parked in the Mega Foods parking lot on Main Street.

We have eaten here on a couple of occasions and the food was consistently delicious!  Brownie is a pulled pork aficionado and  he will be the first to tell you that this is some good pork!  "I thought it had a good smoke flavor, wasn't dry, and was evenly pulled."

I am a huge fan of Brownie's pulled pork, I just don't think it gets any better.  But this truck definitely has their pork down to an art! Now, if you've driven by and rolled your eyes thinking, 'another BBQ truck?' - that's not what this is!  This is about pork and they play with it well!

Cuban Sandwic

There aren't a lot of places locally to order a Cuban Sandwich, so if you stop by here, be sure to try theirs!  It's done the traditional way with sliced pork loin, ham, swiss cheese, mustard and pickles and it's really good!  I love that they have this twist on their menu!

We've tried just about everything on the truck by now and we have our favorites! Thing #5 refuses to eat BBQ because it 'tastes like smoke'.  But the rest of us who've eaten it definitely have an opinion!

Pork Tacos w/Cilantro Lime Slaw

Porkadilla with BBQ Sauce

Traditional BBQ Sandwich

Brownie and I both agree that if you have to order just one thing, you really must try the pork tacos with their signature cilantro lime slaw!  It's a flavor punch with just the right amount of spice that compliments the pork perfectly and we can't get enough!

Thing #3 highly recommends the Porkadilla with BBQ sauce - he said it was 'Heaven.'  Thing #4 cleared his throat and asked about their Dad's BBQ.  Thing #3 quickly added, 'Well, except for your barbecue, Dad!'  Have I mentioned how smart our Things are!?  :-)

The traditional BBQ sandwich is also there if you're really craving BBQ but in our humble opinion - it's not the best thing on the menu - we recommend branching out!

We have also tried the strawberry lemonade blended and unblended, Brownie prefers it blended so the muddled strawberries don't block his straw, I prefer it unblended; I'll happily deal with muddled strawberries on my own. 

We will be returning often I'm sure; we still have not been able to try the Cuban Potato Ball.  In true food truck fashion, they run out before we get there.  So they must be good!

We rate our restaurants on our Brownifer scale and I feel like it must be mentioned that one of the areas where they scored a 5 was customer service!  They have proven that they love their business and their customers are their #1 priority!  Trust us, they will feed you well, keep you happy and coming back for more!

On our Brownifer Scale, Stick a Pork In It came out with a 4-Star rating!  It's well worth trying out and making one of your go-to BBQ stops!  We don't even want to hear how far the drive to Lebanon is.  It's worth it.  Just go!