cookeddaley-blog

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Whew, I guess it’s time to write about my trip last MAY 2019, ha! I had an amazing trip that started in Vancouver, then I drove 1.5 hours south (to near Bellingham, WA) and took this little ferry to Lummi Island, and then on to Seattle (more about that later).  I planned the entire trip on a recommendation from a random guy I met in Chicago - to check out this very famous Willows Inn and Restaurant (they’re only open certain months of the year and seating is very limited).  And let me tell you - it lived up to the hype and then some!  I stayed 2 nights there, indulged on the breakfast both mornings and then the famous dinner 1 night.  First, the breakfast - just a simple ~10-12 dishes (ha!), with a lot of the ingredients sourced from the farm down the street. I think my favorites were the rhubarb berry cucumber juice, brioche, smoked steelhead (from the smoker right outside the Inn), the bacon and then these grits with cheese and mushrooms - wow!  The vegetables were so fresh and unique at breakfast.  Hopefully the hiking and biking I did helped with at least 1/3 of those calories...

https://www.willows-inn.com

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Happy Summer!  I have got to get back into blogging, I’ve been cooking and eating, just not writing about it :)  One of my favorite summer activities is loading up at the Farmer’s market (baking the annual tomato pie as I write with some delicious tomatoes).   Yesterday, the nicest (and chattiest lady) caught me looking at her interesting mushrooms at the SoDU market, and she talked me into these unique Lion’s Mane mushrooms - kinda look like sea foam (or cauliflower) and apparently have a lot of medicinal qualities.  She hooked me when she said she has a good ‘crab cake’ recipe for them, that they take on the taste quality of whatever you mix them with.  So, I tried her recipe, and loved it!  I didn’t have green onions so substituted white onion instead, and added dijon mustard (not dry).  She suggested making smaller ones, and man were they tasty.  I used a decent amount of butter and they really had a great flavor.

I served with a side of juicy tomato, sea salt, olive oil, and some fresh oregano, with a good read of the ‘top 100 dishes to eat in the triangle now’ from the Independent.  They have great food coverage, and it’s always exciting when I’ve tried a lot of the things they recommend. 

Happy eating.

http://www.nhmushrooms.com/lions-manebears-head-crab-cakes-as-seen-on-wmur-9s-cooks-corner/

https://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/eat-your-way-from-a-to-z-with-100-local-dishes-you-can-have-right-now/Content?oid=16261478

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Next stop in Italy was Cinque Terre, we stayed at an adorable B&B in Riomaggiore (we had the nicest host Lorenza who brought us warm pastries and the famous focaccia bread every morning).  Our village was the southernmost of the 5 towns, and you can hike or take a quick train between them.  We did some hiking (it was really hilly), enjoyed the beautiful blue water of the Ligurian Sea, and had some delicious seafood (Rio Bistrot for dinner one night - seafood tagliatelle and these delicious white beans with fish).  And of course Italian beer and pizza :)  

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Bonjourno!  I was in Italy for ~2 weeks in late October and want to relive the delicious food we had (though regrettably I was too busy enjoying myself and the food that I didn’t take nearly as many food photos as I would’ve liked, oh well!).  

The first stop was a night in Genoa (a coastal town that is home to pesto and was our jumping off point for Cinque Terre).  We stayed at a hotel right on the port (near a pirate ship!), and I wandered around the narrow streets for a few hours before my sister arrived.  I stumbled across a tiny restaurant for lunch (it had a waiter and cook, maybe ~8 tables) and had these delicious testaroli pasta in pesto (diamond shaped, kinda crepe-like, so tender and sublime with the homemade pesto and olive oil).  That night we went to Il Genovese (tucked down a side street, with an adorable waiter that my sister took a picture of) and had a wonderful dinner.  Liter of wine (like the Italians ;), pesto (so green) with bread, 2 types of pasta (testaroli again and meat ravioli), and a braised rabbit.  For dessert, a deconstructed tiramisu, which was a unique take.  Everything was so delicious and it was a really great entry into our Italian adventure!

http://www.ilgenovese.com

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Happy New Year!  Wow, how has it been since July since I posted?  I need to do better in 2018 ;)  

I had a relaxing holiday season and my brother and sister-in-law gifted me with 2 pasta accessories I tried out the other night.  A chitarra pasta cutter (the pasta is thicker than spaghetti) and a KitchenAid pasta roller (that plugs into my mixer).  Both really cool!  I made an egg semolina pasta, adapted from this recipe below, with a meat ragu (for the meat I used bacon and ground sirloin I had in the fridge).  The roller was really fast and easy to use, and it took me just a little bit to figure out the hang of the pasta cutter and then it went quick (you use a rolling pin to press back and forth and then kinda push the pasta through the wires).  A cooking item checked off the bucket list, will definitely try again for a dinner party.

https://food52.com/recipes/28332-spaghetti-alla-chitarra-with-classic-abruzzese-ragu

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Last (but certainly not least), I made reservations for the ‘chefs table’ at Beast restaurant the last night in Portland.  It was a 6 course tasting dinner, with wine pairing and I literally was at the chefs table where they were preparing the dishes.  AMAZING!  Each wine pairing was perfect, I admit I did get a little full around the cheese dish, but rallied for the dessert.  I think my 2 favorite courses were the salad with the smoked trout roe and the chitarra pasta.  An unforgettable night (thanks Chef John!).

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I couldn’t resist this bubble picture, even though it’s non food-related, but captures the essence of this fun loving city!  Food pics are from my amazing brunch at Tasty n Alder, potatoes bravas with egg and this delicious aioli and then a chocolate potato donut with creme anglaise.

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I stumbled across this urban winery in Portland and loved it, there was a free Riesling tasting and then I did a flight plus sampled this tasty hummus and garlic bread, a great way to whittle away the afternoon.

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Back in Portland and a ton of great food to choose from!  I did Tusk on Friday night (adorable restaurant with a Lilly Pulitzer color theme), amazing hummus, chicken skewer and salads.  And Saturday AM I did Farmer’s market #2 and of course had to get the biscuit.  After touring the rose garden and Japanese garden, I tried a new neighborhood and had a late afternoon lunch at Pok Pok with the famous fish sauce chicken wings. 

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McMinnville was so cute, I stayed at 3rd Street Flats, walked the main street (which had lots of restaurants and a couple of tasting rooms).  I even squeezed in the Farmer’s market!  I had a delicious steak dinner at Thistle the first night, and then tapas at La Rambla the 2nd night.  I had a huge omelet at Crescent Cafe and then a great coffeecake and fruit at Community Plate the next morning.  Some of my favorite wineries in the area include White Rose (really unique tasting room), Soter, Four Graces, Bergstrom, Domaine Serene, and Argyle (for the sparkly). 

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It’s been awhile!  I took an amazing ~week trip to Portland the end of June (and am secretly dreaming of moving there, definitely planning a return trip).  I did 2 nights in the Willamette Valley (only like 40 minutes from Portland) and stayed in the adorable town of McMinnville, drove up the coast, and then 3 nights in Portland.  I had delicious food, great weather, and the people were all so nice.  The wine country was so laid back, great Pinot, beautiful scenery.  I met my dream couple of who I want to be in 15 years - they lived in Seattle, 2 kids, dog, nanny, had a ~500 bottle wine cellar at home and were looking for their wine country escape (one place had 1200 bottle cellar, which they used a wine app to manage their supply and when to drink!)

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Roast chicken and pommes anna, a nice Sunday dinner a few weeks ago.  I got the new Anthony Bourdain cookbook for Christmas from my sister and these recipes are both from that.  The roast chicken was pretty straight-forward, with a lot of butter under the skin!  I splurged and got an organic chicken and could notice the difference.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/anthony-bourdain-roast-chicken-with-lemon-and-butter

The side dish was pommes anna, I used yukon gold potatoes and sliced them super thin in my food processor (because I’m scared of slicing my fingers in the mandoline!).  You layer them in a cast iron skillet and add butter with every layer,  I could have browned them a bit more, but they had great flavor (this recipe is similar, but I didn’t use nutmeg or parmesan, just potatoes and butter).

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/pommes-anna-recipe

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http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/squid-salad-herbed-breadcrumbs

I feel like I was in France with this salad!  Squid salad, over spinach and arugula, with inspiration from this Food and Wine recipe - but I didn’t use potatoes or carrots.  Really enjoyed the capers and I only had sesame pita (rather than bread) so crisped those up for a topping.  

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http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/pappardelle-with-chicken-ragu-fennel-and-peas

And here’s the 2nd spring pasta- pappardelle with chicken ragu and fennel.  I ended up making with boneless chicken thighs (which worked fine), and I really enjoyed the fennel pea combination.

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http://www.kimbap-cafe.com

I love trying this place out for lunch, Kimbap Cafe, in Seaboard Station, Raleigh.  They have fresh and tasty Korean/Asian food, and I got the bibimbap bowl the last time.  It’s a great excuse to visit Seaboard Wine (where I picked up some wonderful deals and a great Burgenland wine, plus work towards a deal for $00 of wine purchases ;)

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Turnip root and green gratin, courtesy of Vivian Howard’s huge cookbook (recipe 2 I’ve made of like 500!)  It takes a little bit of time to put all the pieces together, but I think it’s worth it.  You first start with sautéing onions for ~30 minutes.  Meanwhile, you boil the turnip roots (chopped into 1/2 inch pieces) for 3 minutes and then put in an ice bath.  In a separate pan you gently heat cream, garlic, and thyme (this gets mixed in later).  Finally you saute the turnip greens.  Everything gets mixed into a casserole dish - onions, turnip roots, cream mixture, greens, and you add in an egg, fontina/parmesan cheese mixture, and cubes of bread; let it rest for 10 minutes and then bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.  The bread soaks up all the good flavors, and I really like the Fontina cheese.  Enjoy!

http://www.journalnow.com/home_food/food/roots-run-deep-for-vivian-howard/article_ebd53042-1dd6-50ca-a712-eaa13e2ad5f2.html

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Happy Sunday!  I made this last weekend and am still wishing I had leftovers.  Baked cauliflower and farro with a crisp panko topping, and my favorite part was the lemon zest and capers!  It’s vegetarian but has a lot of flavor with fontina and ricotta cheese.  I roasted the cauliflower, added that to the cooked faro, and mixed in the seasonings (with a nice bit of sage), and then topped with the panko/parmesan/parsley topping.  I served it with chicken but it would be great as a main dish, with a nice side salad.

https://smittenkitchen.com/2017/01/crusty-baked-cauliflower-and-farro/