Portage Restaurant

There is nothing better than taking a chance on a new restaurant and having it be amazing. Wait, there is something just a little more enjoyable... have a Bloomspot for that place too! I saw a Bloomspot deal for this quaint little French Bistro called Portage on Queen Anne hill. It looked inviting, low-key and had an impressive menu. These are all traits that Will and I look for. We walked in and were greeted by the host/server. That's right, small enough that it could be a one woman show. There we 7-8 tables, two of which were situated in cozy front window nooks. We each had a glass of wine, I had a delicious Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley in Oregon. The food was divine. Seared diver scallops with potato risotto, peas and a savory cream sauce. The scallops were perfectly cooked and incredibly sweet. Will had their Painted Hills steak with a red wine, mushroom reduction. To start we shared a spring salad of asparagus topped with an over-easy duck egg. It was an amazing meal, and I am so happy to recommend this place. Bon Apetit!

Korean Beef

I really do think that cooking has become therapeutic for me after a long work day. It's  a creative outlet and is instantly rewarding. Something I made last week that was so easy and sooo tasty was 'Cheap' Korean Beef. Normally Korean Beef uses flank steak, but by using ground sirloin you reduce the cost and is easier if you already have ground beef on hand. I loved it! Will loved it! (Which is sometimes the harder sell). The only addition that I made was adding mushrooms. Yum. I don't think I'd  make it again without them.
Bon Apetit!

Shrimp & Corn Chowder

Saturday was a chilly day filled with laundry and paying bills. I bought a Cooking Light Cookbook at Goodwill a few weeks ago and decided to make this Crab Corn Chowder recipe for some comfort. While at the closest grocery store, I realised they did not have any crab so once again, time to improvise. I bought a 1/2lb of shrimp and used that instead. This was so marvelous! We were sitting at the dinner table eating and I could not stop raving about it! Although Will enjoyed it, he was not as quite as enthusiastic. As chef, getting to use some creativity in the recipe is super exciting! Steps towards really being a great cook... knowing how to cook without a recipe. Anyway, here were my adjustments:
I actually used canned corn since that is what was on hand
I used regular potatoes instead of red
I used regular mushrooms on hand, while the soup was simmering I sauteed them with garlic and oo
I also sauteed the shrimp with butter, oo, chopped onion, garlic and a little Cheyenne. I chopped them into pieces and put them along with the mushrooms in right before serving.

Bon Apetit!

First Try at Philipino

Earlier this week I had a girlfriend over for dinner. I had seen a recipe on Pinterest for a Philipino dish called Pancit Bihon and decided to make it. The dish was delicious, easy to make and incredibly healthy. Essentially it is a stir-fry of meats, veggies and noodles with a little broth. Some notes about my version: I added mushrooms, bean sprouts, and chicken sausage instead of the Chinese sausage. You could add just about any veggies you have in the fridge.

Bon Apetit!

Amazing Homemade Pizza

One of my favorite things about my new husband is that he likes to cook with me. When traffic allows and our schedules align, we dive into one of the many recipes I find online or buried in a cookbook. We love to make "home-made" pizza. I use that term loosely because normally we buy already made dough from Central Market. I think at some point there was an original recipe for this, but we've gotten so confident in our pizza skills that now we start with the basics and add new toppings from there.
So this is the best version so far:

1 ball of dough
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 medium onion chopped
3 leaves of kale raab chopped
2-3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup or more of Alfredo sauce
sliced mushroom, as many as you want
1/2 lb Italian chicken sausage
small amount of cornmeal

Pre-heat oven stone at 425 degrees. Roll out and shape the dough. Put a small layer of cornmeal on the pizza stone to prevent sticking post pre-heating. In a medium saucepan heat up olive oil over medium-high heat, then saute onions for a few minutes. Next add mushrooms, kale raab and garlic. Saute for a few minutes or until tender and fragrant.  In a separate pan brown chicken. (Note to chef: Make sure to assemble the pizza on the stone. Our silly mistake was assembling while still on the original rolling surface. Moving a soft, heavy laden pizza is not easy).  Put a thin layer of the Alfredo sauce on top of the dough, then add the chicken, veggies and finally the mozzarella. Bake until the your desired firmness.

This version had so much flavor between the sweetness of the kale raab (which is the result of the kale plant starting to grow flowers)  and the spiciness of the chicken sausage.

Bon Apetit!