Vacation Food

I spent this past weekend at Seaside (in Oregon) on a mini-vacation and I thought I'd share some photos of the yummy (and meh) food I had.

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First the meh.

Now we have a Pig'n Pancake in Portland but this was the ORIGINAL :)

My "poached" eggs were more like soft boiled.... how hard is it to poach an egg!?

Overall it was just "meh" and not that impressive - same as the one in Portland.

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Now for the "not too shabby".

Camp 18 is out on Hwy 26 - it's a restaurant and logging memorial -
went once before and the food wasn't too bad. Mostly though you go for the fun atmosphere

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Now for the yummy.

We originally had plans to go to a Southern place - but it apparently closed (for good)
the previous weekend, so this was one of the restaurants recommended
to us by the woman at our hotel front lobby.

As soon as we saw "Fried Artichoke Hearts" on the menu I was hooked -
they were garlic covered and so yummy.
You almost didn't need the garlic lemon ailoi dipping sauce

I ordered a Huckleberry Mojito before my dinner - only part of the meal I regretted. It was a tad too sweet (too much Huckleberry syrup) and left me burping tasting Huckleberry all night.

Mom ordered the Cod fish and chips

I ordered the 1/2 order of Baby Back Ribs...and we swapped 1/2 way through the dinner
...just so we got a taste of everything, not because we weren't enjoying the food

 

 

At the end of our meal we thought we'd take a dessert back to our hotel room to share later that evening. We asked to see a dessert menu....a few minutes later our waitress comes out with a tray of desserts! No menu just a visual display. They all looked yummy but we went with a chocolate layered cake. Can't go wrong with chocolate can you?

The vacation was refreshing and fun and the food was yummy. What else could I ask for?

Lemon Confit Shortbread

Next weekend I'll be making a Lemon Confit Shortbread for my mother's 57th birthday. I found the recipe last year in the NY Times.

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Recipe: Lemon Confit Shortbread Tart

Time: At least 2 hours

FOR THE CRUST:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, or to taste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
FOR THE CONFIT:
8 lemons, preferably thin-skinned and seedless
3/4 cup sugar.

1. For crust, combine flour, salt, butter and 1 cup of sugar in a bowl. Mix with your fingers until it forms flaky crumbs and lumps. Mix in egg, almond extract and lemon juice. Continue to mix until it clumps; at first it may seem very dry. Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, up to 1 day ahead of baking.

2. For confit, slice off and discard ends of lemons. Slice 5 crosswise, peel and all, as thinly as possible. Remove any seeds and place in a bowl. Peel skin, including white pith, from remaining 3 lemons, then slice thinly crosswise, and add to bowl. Add 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons water. Toss and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

3. Place lemon slices and their juice in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cook down until lemons are candied and small amount of liquid in pan is sticky and syrupy, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.

4. To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Divide dough in half and form each half into a ball. Roll one ball until large enough to fit into a 9-inch round tart pan. Dough will be crumbly (more shortbread than pie crust); if it falls apart, press it back together. Spoon confit over crust, spreading evenly. Roll out second ball of dough and place on top, sealing edges but making sure no crust overlaps the rim (or tart will be difficult to remove later).

5. Bake until edges of tart are lightly golden, about 35 minutes, then sprinkle top with remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Return to oven for about 10 more minutes; edges should be lightly golden and crust cooked through but not browned. Serve warm or cooled.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

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I'm not a huge lemon-dessert person so I think I might make a side of coconut milk whipped cream for the side. 

Ingredients

One 15-ounce can full-fat coconut milk

1 tablespoon sugar or more to taste (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla or more to taste (optional)

Equipment

Large bowl

Hand beaters or a stand mixer

Instructions

1. Place the can of coconut milk in the refrigerator and leave it there until well-chilled; I left mine in overnight.

2. Open the can of coconut milk. There will be a firm, waxy layer on top.

3. Scoop out this firm layer coconut cream that has solidified at the top of the can.

4. Stop as soon as you reach the water at the bottom of the can; don't include anything but the solid cream. (You can use the water in smoothies, or just drink it straight.)

5. Place this cream in the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl.

6. Turn your mixer or hand beaters to high speed, and whip the coconut cream for 3 to 5 minutes.

7. Whip until it becomes fluffy and light, with soft peaks. Mix in sugar or vanilla, if using.

Shower Rama

There's a Thai restaurant we go to down from our house that serves a pretty good Thai Rama* (actually they call it Shower Rama)  - my mother normally orders it with chicken) and after the first time we tried it we realized how easy it would be to make at home.

At that's exactly what we had for dinner tonight (although I also cooked up some eggplant to have with mien).

Start with cooking the rice

Chop eggplant - leave on skin

Lightly salt dices

In hot oil - saute onions and garlic

Cook eggplant until soft and translucent. Add soy sauce and more garlic

Saute fresh spinach - sweat down

Cook chicken with a teaspoon for peanut butter sauce**

Happy Eating

*Rama - I don't really use measurements... and I couldn't find an actual recipe I thought was close enough to mine to "promote"

** One cup of creamy peanut butter, tablespoon of honey, dash or two of soy sauce - heat until thin and creamy... add water to make thinner if needed

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