Brother from Another Mother?

Until just recently, I thought it was chef Michael Symon who was sitting there as one of the judges for Ultimate Recipe Showdown on Food Network. I thought, “what a show hog … he already has two other shows in Iron Chef America AND Dinner: Impossible, and now he’s on this too?” Then, I learned that this was chef Michael Psilakis instead. Is it just me or do they really look identical? And they even share the same first name and specialize in the same, Mediterranean cuisine! By the way, it’s chef Psilakis on the left, and chef Symon on the right, for those of you who are confused too.

Similarly, I thought Amy Adams (left) and Isla Fisher (right) were one and the same for a long time. I thought the crazy girl in Wedding Crashers was the Cinderella in Enchanted, and thought, “wow, this girl has some serious range!” Well, now I know. But man, they are both so adorable!

And as much I love Sarah Jessica Parker, I have to agree that she looks like a horse (but a really pretty horse, of course!).

Dinner At My Place? Paley’s Place

I’m always intrigued by those “experimental” food blogs where authors decide to cook every single dish in their chosen cookbooks and document their endeavors on a blog. Perhaps the most famous is Julie Powell’s “Julie and Julia,” that pioneered this new genre by recreating all dished featured in Julia Child’s much loved “The Art of French Cooking” in one year. She actually completed all 536 recipes in mere 365 days, and her blog-turned-book is now made into a movie.   My favorite is Carol Blymire’s “French Laundry at Home,” where she brought Thomas Keller’s famous Napa Valley restaurant to her Maryland kitchen. Carol’s blog is so impressive because she actually gave a visual step-by-step, which makes a wonderful online reference for anyone using this cookbook. I’m so envious that she got to experience Keller’s artistic creations night after night, although I’m sure it wasn’t without some serious commitment and hard work.

I will admit that the idea of doing something daring like this has crossed my mind in the past, but, despite all the wonderful varieties of cookbooks that are available in bookstores today, I have not encountered the one that truly convinced me that investing so much of my time and energy (and money) to recreate its highly intricate dishes is ①a good (or sane) idea and ② is worth it.  If I were to ever dive into this, I thought, the cookbook would have to be something truly unique, with accessible ingredients (I will not go searching for a pig’s head, I’m sorry!), and displays passion, warmth and love that are essential in home cooking. And more importantly, it needed to be intriguing enough to keep me motivated through the entire course of the process (which will, most likely, take years to complete). I have casually noodled with the idea but NEVER, EVER expected to find a cookbook that fit all the qualifications – until I met The Paley’s Place Cookbook.

Paley’s Place in Portland, Oregon, is, as I’ve said before on this blog), one of my all-time favorite restaurants in the world. The food here is amazing and not only do they blow my culinary mind, they make me truly happy. I’ve always regretted not living  in Portland to experience Paley’s more frequently, but with this challenge, I can have Paley’s close to me at all times!

Okay, don’t get me wrong here.  I’m not saying that I’m going to recreate EVERY SINGLE item in the cookbook. I’m also not saying that I’m going to do this in a set timeframe. What I’m saying is that I have made a commitment to make as many menus from The Paley’s Place Cookbook and talk about it here on this blog (I created a category called, “Paley’s at My Place.”) ! Maybe I’ll cook every weekend and see how it goes. I know it won’t be easy, but I’m really excited about my new gastronomic adventure.

With that, I’ll leave you with some pictures from my last Paley’s outing with Maya in January. As always, I had a wonderfully delicious time there with my best friend (and many, many vodka martinis). These visuals should explain why I’m so smitten by the masterful dishes Vitaly Paley creates in the Victorian house kitchen! And big thanks to Kimberly Paley for her hospitality and complimentary cocktails to go with these amazing dishes

A complimentary appetizer

Escargot à la Bordelaise, Roast Marrow Bones & Garlic ($18) … it was Maya’s idea to orders snails, really, but they were actually pretty tasty (tasted a little like oysters).

Winter Vegetable & Heirloom Bean Cassoulet ($18). The best cassoulet EVER.

Bacon, Prune & Chestnut-Stuffed Quail, Chestnut Spïtzle & Mushrooms (Half order $15).

Fish of the Day: Sturgeon

Olive Oil Cake

Chocolate Steamed Pudding Cake, Cardamom-Poached Pear & Chantilly Cream ($8).

Paley’s Place
204 NW 21st Ave, Portland, OR 97209
★★★★★

Ultimate Comfort Food: Mother’s Bistro

I sometime wonder what’s really behind my fascination with food. Some psycho-analyzing type would probably diagnose that I’m using food to fill the void in my life, which, I guess, can be partially true, but I think it’s more the things that are associated with food that makes me gravitate toward it. For instance, the conversation I have during a nice dinner get-together with friends and family makes me forget all the negative things in the world. And a glass of wine tastes so much better when shared with the loved ones. As long as I can remember, food have played a vital role in my family, and dinner was the time that we had to talk about our days and learn a thing or two about each other that we didn’t know before. I love dinner with my family.

I crave the company of friends especially when I’m traveling (symptom of home sickness, perhaps?) and I try to meet up with as many friends as I can when I’m traveling to Portland to catch up. During this trip, I was able to reunite with one of the managers that I used to work with for dinner. I always enjoy dining out with him because he is a serious Foodie with plethora of knowledge in food, wine and everything epicurean, and he always know where to dig up the best finds in the Portland’s culinary scene (he’s virtually a walking Zagat guide)! It’s also such a treat when I get to see his lovely wife and oh-so adorable baby girl during our soiree. They are, by far, the cutest parents I know and how appropriate was it that we (his family and two of my food-loving colleagues) decided to meet at a restaurant called Mother’s Bistro!

Items on the menu here are dishes created by mothers around the world, quite a delightful concept for a restaurant. True to the concept, the food offered here includes many of our favorite comfort foods such as pot roast and meat loafs, as well as down-home, hearty desserts. Everything offered here are so warm that you feel like you’ve just received a giant hug from mom!

I’ve been to Mother’s Bistro in the past for breakfast (which was amazing!) but never for dinner so I was really excited to try the ultimate comfort food. I looked through the menu but could not decided between the Mac and Cheese and the Crab Cake, so we decided to order the Mac and Cheese to share among all of us so I can have the taste of both (god bless them) I also ordered a Beet Salad to start and I was able to get it half size (pictured on top).

Rib-Eye Steak .. it looked so good that I wished I ordered it myself!

I ordered the $15,000 Dungeness Crab Cakes, served with creole mustard sauce, cole slaw & matchstick potatoes. Very delicious but it was a little on the heavy side. I think I would have liked it more if it was not deep fried.

Mac and Cheese. There’s different one every day and this night’s special was cheese and broccoli. I would love to come back and perhaps try the lobster one day!

Fish of the day … sorry, totally forgot what it was but he was really happy with it!

Chocolate Cake! Look at the size of this thing!

Apple Crisp / Cobbler. This was perhaps the best cobbler I’ve had. The cinnamon-y flavor makes this dessert so comforting and delicious!

This night was a total indulgence overload. Among the five of us (sans the baby, of course), we opened two bottles of wonderful red, ordered a table-full of delicious comfort food, a round of sweet dessert wine for everyone, a luscious  chocolate cake, and a plate of warm apple cobbler. During dinner, chef / owner Lisa Schroeder came by the table to greet us, which added a special touch to this already wonderful dinner with a great company!

Mother’s Bistro
212 SW Stark, Portland, OR 97204
★★★★☆

Pok, Pok … Who’s There? The Best SE Asian Cuisine in Town!

One of my favorite books of all time is Eat, Pray, Love, a memoir that chronicles author Elizabeth Gilbert’s year-long journey of self-discovery in three distinct destinations – Italy, India and Indonesia – and how she picked up wonderful treasures of life in food, spirituality and romance along the way. The book is part food and travel guide and part spirituality self help, with a perfect amount of chick-lit humor. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last several years, you must have read the book, or at least have heard of it. If you haven’t had the chance to pick it up, I hope you would come out of the cave and give it a read. It really gave me a greater appreciation for life and its beauty, and the urge to fly to Naples to taste that magical pizza!

Among the many interesting life theories she introduced in the book, one that intrigued me the most was the connection between the “word of the city,” and “your word.” She wrote, while she was in Rome, that each city has a unique word that personifies the characteristics of the place. Similarly, we, too, have the word that describes who we are and where we are in our lives. If the word of the city and your word fit, you know that you belong there. For Gilbert, Rome’s word was “sex” which didn’t necessarily jibe with hers, which explained why she felt slightly out of place there. (She said that, for her, the word for New York was “achieve,” and Los Angeles was “succeed,” which I thought were very interesting.)

While in Portland, I thought about what the word for this city would be for me. I thought it would be “leisure” but realized that I come up to Portland mostly for wok so that would be … no. I thought it would be, quite simply, “eat,” because that’s what I love to do here but that’s not all I enjoy. After thinking about it for a while, I thought, maybe “nourish” would be the appropriate word.

Portland provides me with the nourishment with dishes that incorporate fresh, organic, sustainable ingredients that cleanse and energize my entire body. I think I like checking out restaurants and eat everything in sight when I’m here (and I really do) not necessarily because I’m hungry but because I can totally feel the love and care each chef puts into his or her dishes and makes me feel more in synch with nature, which is exactly what I crave for in my culinary journey, as well as life in general.

In addition to the nutritious replenishment, the “nourish” also comes in the form of friendship of my best friend Maya, who lives here in Portland, whose sense of humor, kindness and generosity truly satisfy my soul. And when the two nourishing forces meet, I end up in a very good place in life. That’s why I’m so happy when I’m here. I feel like I belong here.

So … looking to depart from the straightforward Northwest cuisine for a change, May and I decided to venture out to Pok Pok, one of Portland’s most beloved restaurants that specializes in authentic, street-vender inspired South East Asian food (mostly Thai and Vietnamese). Culinary critic’s darling, Pok Pok is often dubbed as the best restaurant in Portland and we were dying to try the food behind all the buzz.

When we arrived at the restaurant around 8:00 p.m. on a Saturday night, we were awaited by about 20 people in front of us with 45-plus minutes wait, but we were willing to wait in the freezing rain for the taste of its famous chicken wings (pictured on top). The wait wasn’t as painful under the heat lamp and we spent the time looking through (and trying to figure out) the extensive offerings of good Asian eats! There was a little walk-up counter outside where customers can order food to go – a wonderful idea for those who’s not so keen on waiting in long line. The offerings at the to-go walk up is limited, but you can still get some of the most popular menus such as Muu Sateh (pork loin skewers) and Kai Yaang (roasted natural game hen rubbed with lemongrass and other spices).

We were able to secure a table inside the dim and cozy restaurant. The place was small but still provided the sense of privacy and comfort but the table was still jammed packed with all the entrees we ordered.

Ike’s Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings (pictured above): Fresh natural chicken wings marinated in fish sauce and palm sugar, deep fried, tossed in caramelized Phu Quoc fish sauce and garlic and served with Vietnamese table salad. Our daytime grill cook Ich Truong’s recipe from his home in Vietnam. OMG, the best chicken EVER

Khao Soi Kai, Northern Thai mild curry noodle soup made with our secret curry paste recipe, natural chicken on the bone and house-pressed fresh coconut milk. Served with pickled mustard greens, shallots, crispy yellow noodles and roasted chili paste. Chiang Mai specialty, with Burmese origins.

And the garnish that came with the noodle.

Chinese Muslim Lamb Skewers, Chinese Muslim style Domestic lamb leg skewers rubbed with salt, chile powder and aromatic spice, charcoal-grilled and served with Little T’s flat bread and a tomato-cucumber salad with caraway.

(The walk-up window for all to-go orders)

Maya, who has been to Bali many times, mentioned that the city is filled with charming street vendors and food shacks like Pok Pok, which shows that this place, contrary to its soaring mainstream popularity, has remained true to its philosophy of providing no-frill South East Asian cuisines to Portland foodies. I imagined that this would be a place Gilbert ate during her stay in Indonesia where she found … dare I say it … (spoiler alert if you haven’t read the book) … love.

Pok Pok

3226 SE Dividion, Portland, OR

★★★★★

(P.S: Please excuse my lame, “knock-knock” knock-off joke attempt in th title.)

Heavenly Sweets: Saint Cupcakes

My obsession for cupcakes did not catch on immediately, as my first encounter with designer cupcakes at Sprinkles, I felt, was quite mediocre. Yet the curiosity for the little, playful morsels grew over several months and after sampling colorful array of them at every opportunity I get, I’ve become a real fan … even the ones from Sprinkles! They are just so fun to eat and I just can’t get enough!

Saint Cupcake is a little bakeshop in Northwest Portland that serves unique flavors like The Fat Elvis, a banana and chocolate chip cake with peanut butter and chocolate frosting, which earned the covenant spot as one of the Country’s Best Cupcakes. I needed to check this place out while I was in Portland so Tiffany and I headed over to the shop before dinner to make sure that we secured the famous cupcake named after the legendary King. It was great that we went there on a Tuesday because I found out later (when I visited for the second time later that week) that The Fat Elvis cupcakes are only available on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I tried toasted coconut cream, red velvet, chocolate with vanilla cream cheese icing, carrot cake, and the Fat Elvis, and out of all the wonderful cakes, my favorite was the good old chocolate. The Fat Elvis was delicious but tasted more like a banana muffin than a cupcake and the frosting was a little too heavy. The Red Velvet was good but on the dry side (I know how difficult it is to make a moist Red Velvet) but I must day that Saint Cupcakes is perhaps my favorite or at least the second favorite place I’ve visited thus far in the county. And I really loved the fact that this place offers mini-sized cupcakes, which allows you to sample more cupcakes with slightly less guilt. This should explain how I was able to sample so many cupcakes in two days! It even offers various vegan cupcakes. If you’re in Portland or vising the city, definitely check this place out. These little sweet cupcakes will certainly make your day

Saint Cupcake
407 NW 17th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209
★★★★★