WHOA lansi

francophile, oenophile, logophile, turophile

Tag: breakfast

Portland Eats

After visiting Portland, I can’t think about that city without thinking about food – the food we ate, the food I continue to dream about, and the food I want to try next time we visit. I didn’t think I could move on in my posts until I’d talked about what we ate in this delicious city. So here we go! I’m warning you now, our trip was entirely glutinous. If that’s not your thing, this blog probably isn’t for you anyway.

We got into Portland pretty late on Sunday due in part to our late start and our stop in Cannon Beach(worth it). Our first stop was Henry’s Tavern. A friend of mine had recommend it for their great beer selection and awesome Happy Hour. Lucky for us, they do all day Sunday Happy Hour. It’s pretty epic. We’d heard good things about the mac and cheese so we ordered that, a flight of beers, and a pint. The mac and cheese was just what we needed, with a creamy cheddar and Parmesan cheese sauce. At under $5, you can’t go wrong. They did last call pretty early for us so headed over to Touché for one last drink. They still had their happy hour menu going too so we shared a Lamb Gyro before heading home for bed.

The next morning we slept in a bit before heading out for the day. We wandered down 23rd, admiring all the fun shops and restaurants, to our first stop of the day: Besaw’s. As it was labour day, there was a pretty big line. Luckily, we’re pretty into brunch so we’ve done this before. (It also helped that they serve coffee while you wait.)

 

Surprise, surprise, N got Eggs Benedict. If it’s on the menu, he’s pretty much guaranteed to order it. I ordered a delicious scramble packed with veggies, asiago cheese, and prosciutto. I have such a weakness for prosciutto! The food was fantastic and came out really quickly. We waddled off exploring with very full bellies!

Our next food stop was only a couple hours later. To be honest, we weren’t even overly hungry, but we’d come to Portland to eat and I was determined to try as much from my list as possible. I’d read great things about Clyde Common so I couldn’t pass up the chance to try something from their menu. It was also an acceptable hour to have a beer so it was time to take a break from wandering.

I’ve already written about Clyde Common twice so if you’re even in Portland, you should probably go. Not only is their beer selection great & their design top notch, but the food is also wonderful. Everything we saw come out looked fantastic and by the looks of pure joy on everyone’s faces, it delivered in the taste department as well.

We decided to share the lamb belly trenette since we weren’t hungry yet. I’d read some reviews that they really know what they’re doing with lamb and that was definitely true. I’m not usually that into pasta since a lot of it is something I could easily make myself at home and I’d rather try something I can’t make, but this dish still sticks out in my mind. It was unreal! Every time I look at this photo, I want to eat it again.

We spent the afternoon touring around the Pearl District and downtown Portland until Happy Hour. I can’t get over how awesome Happy Hour is in the States, especially Portland. Happy Hour in Canada pales in comparison. While we might get a dollar off a pint, you can get food and drinks for incredibly cheap in Portland. Many places even include Happy Hour prices all day on Sunday

We decided to try one of my dad’s favourite Portland restaurants for some drinks and a little break. Andina does Peruvian cuisine and tapas. We ordered beer for our first drink, but quickly realised that cocktails were the way to go. Their list is extensive! They started us off with some bread and different sauces for dipping. We were pretty obsessed with all of those and devoured it all pretty quickly.

N and I both love seafood so oysters were a must for us. We enjoyed them so much that we ordered them twice. We also shared the Antichucho de Pulpo (grilled octopus kebob with rocoto and caper chimichurri). It was all fantastic.

From there we moved on to one of the brew pubs for a couple hours before deciding we had enough room for dinner. We had planned to go for tapas at Toro Bravo, but when we pulled up in a cab, they were closed! We hadn’t even thought about the fact that it was Labour Day. Luckily, we’d snagged an awesome cabbie and he started making phone calls to all the restaurants on our list to find one that was open. We finally settled on Screen Door in the Northeast and headed over. There was quite a wait (probably because no where else in Portland seemed to be open for dinner!) but they let us order drinks while we waited. We’d eaten so much food that day that we weren’t really even hungry yet.

Screen Door does southern cuisine. It’s rich and hearty, as you’d expect. We decided it would probably be wise to share a meal if we planned on continuing our evening so we went with some hush puppies (cornbread balls) and fried chicken. It definitely wasn’t the healthiest meal, but it was totally worth it. That was some great fried chicken.

The restaurant itself was lively and the servers were fun. I’d definitely recommend it for a night out with friends. (It’s always fun to share a bunch of different options!) Not surprisingly, their beer selection was great as well. Can you really go wrong anywhere in Portland?

Our second day in Portland, we headed over to the Northeast for breakfast. I was really excited to try Tasty n Sons. It’s the same owner as Toro Bravo and I’d heard great things about both! We were not the least bit disappointed. I think we were still pretty overwhelmed (or maybe horrified?) by the amount of food we’d consumed the day before so we decided to share a couple things on their menu. We went with the breakfast board to start. It had a beautiful assortment of things like bacon, pâté, and cheese.

We then shared their special which was a Cuban style sandwich with plantain chips. It was amazing! Tasty n Sons does smaller plates and bigger plates so there are so many fun things to try. We also split a spicy Bloody Mary called the Tasty Mary and some bacon wrapped dates.

Their menu is one of the coolest breakfast menus I’ve ever seen. Everything is so creative! I think next time I’m in Portland, I’ll have to try the Burmese Red Pork Stew. It just sounds like such an interesting meal to have for breakfast that I can’t stop thinking about it. Obviously this is the sign of an amazing menu if I’m still thinking about all the things I want to try 3 months after the fact!

We didn’t eat a legitimate meal for the rest of the day. We were just too full and I was too excited for the restaurant we were eating at that night. I’d heard such amazing things about Pok Pok. I’d been telling N about it for days.

When we arrived, there was a bit of a wait so they sent us across the street for drinks while we waited. We ordered a couple beers and contemplated the menu. When we realised that they had the famous Pok Pok wings at the Whiskey Soda Lounge, we decided to go for it. Looking back, I wish we’d ordered these twice. Or three times. They were some of the best wings ever. It’s really no surprise that so many people rave about Andy Ricker. The guy’s a genius with Thai cuisine!

Our table was ready right as we finished up our wings. Perfect! We headed over to the covered patio at Pok Pok and started discussing what to order. I’d read they had a great Whiskey Sours, so we each ordered one. Deliciously dangerous. I ended up having quite a few and I don’t even usually like Whiskey.

We decided to go with their suggestions and go with Papaya Pok Pok, Kai Yaang (game hen) and sticky rice. I love the entire meal. Sadly, we think N ate an entire Thai chili and was completely turned off the Papaya Salad. It sounded like a very unpleasant experience for him, which is pretty disappointing for me since I loved the meal so much! Just something to keep in mind if you’re more sensitive to spice! Watch out for chili’s. It’s hard to enjoy a meal when you’re mouth is numb or on fire.

The next morning, we packed everything up and drove over to Pine State Biscuits for breakfast before heading up to Seattle. We’d heard great things about their biscuits and were not disappointed. A friend of mine had gone for the Reggie Deluxe and found it way too much food, but after seeing what was in it (Fried Chicken, Bacon, Cheese, Egg, topped with gravy), I couldn’t resist. N went for the Chicken Club and we switched halfway through. This is probably what saved me since the Reggie Deluxe is definitely ridiculous and would certainly lead to a food coma.

I couldn’t leave the city without experiencing a food cart (we’d struck out the couple times we’d tried) so on our way out of town we stopped and picked up a sandwich to go. There was a little Czech Food Cart that had a fried cheese sandwich (go back a few years to read about that obsession of mine in Prague). It was huge and unnecessarily necessary.

We also stopped at Olympic Provisions for some road trip provisions. It turned out the saucisson sec and cheese we picked up was way too beautiful to chow down on in the car so we saved it and shared with my family. If I could get saucisson sec from Olympic Provisions in Canada, I would be in heaven. If you’re in Portland, do yourself a favour, and stop by. They do lunch, happy hour, cocktails, and dinner.

I’m sad there isn’t any more Portland food to be had, but I’m pretty impressed if you made it to the end of this blog post. I couldn’t leave out any of our meals. They were all incredible. If you love food, beer, coffee, and aren’t put off by trendy hipsters, Portland is your place.

Birthday Brunch

If you’ve ever been for brunch with N, you probably know what he orders. He’s a creature of habit and never strays far from his beloved Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict. I don’t really blame him. How can you really go wrong with a delicious biscuit, smoked salmon, poached eggs, and Hollandaise sauce?

You can’t. Don’t try and argue with him.

This year for his birthday, we were heading out to the lake with my dad. I decided it’d be fun to make them Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict the morning of his birthday. I’d never attempted Hollandaise sauce and was honestly a bit intimidated, but I decided to go for it anyway.

I watched a lot of Alton Brown’s Good Eats episodes on how to make Hollandaise as well as how to poach eggs and time everything so it all comes together. By Saturday, I was still pretty intimidated. Alton had some great tips though so if you’re attempting eggs benny for a group of people, I would definitely recommend his instructions and videos. I also really loved his addition of a bit of cayenne to the Hollandaise. The little bit of added spice was a nice surprise.

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably know that I’m obsessed with Kerry Gold Grass Fed butter. Well, this was the last of it. It all went into this Hollandaise. (Yes, we really enjoy our fat.)

I mean, look at the gorgeous butter. I really need to go the States so I can pick some more up!

I made the birthday boy take some photos for me so I could blog this recipe. I’m such a nice girlfriend. Please excuse my ratty lake hair though. I’m trying to train my hair to go unwashed for longer periods of time. Who likes washing their hair anyway? Don’t be grossed out. You know you don’t like washing your hair all the time either.

With Hollandaise, you have to add the butter so slowly and be really careful with the heat. This was a pretty big test of my whisking strength and my patience. It turns out, I need to work on that (the whisking, not the patience). My arm got tired pretty quickly and I ended up with a blister on my finger. It was truly worth it for the delicious brunch we ended up with though.

I was quite proud and obviously had to show off my sauce. Doesn’t it look delicious? I wish I could have some now, in fact.

This recipe taught me that I need to work on perfecting my biscuit shaping and egg poaching. Neither turned out quite as nicely as I’d have liked. The biscuits tasted delicious and, more importantly, the eggs were runny, so I’m pretty sure that’s all that really matters.

Below, I’ve typed out the Alton Brown recipe I used with my slight tweaks. (Instead of sugar, I used a bit of honey and I didn’t have an infrared thermometer so I couldn’t measure the temperature as accurately as he did. It’s very much the same as his, but fits into our “Paleo” lifestyle a little bit better since it doesn’t have sugar.)

Hollandaise Sauce
– 1 quart saucier
– 3 egg yolks
– 1 tbl water
– 1/2 tsp cayenne, divided
– kosher salt
– 2 – 3 tbl lemon juice
– 1/4 tsp honey
– 12 tbl unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces

Combine egg yolks, water, 1/4 tsp of cayenne powder, and kosher salt in the saucier and beat until light and frothy. This should take about one minute.
Put the saucier over low heat and whisk vigorously, moving the pan on and off the heat ever 10 to 15 seconds. Once it reaches a custard-like consistency, start adding the butter, one pad at a time. Continue whisking.
Once half the butter has been added, add one tablespoon of lemon juice. Continue adding the butter until it is all whisked in. Add the second tablespoon of lemon juice, the remaining cayenne powder, and the honey. Whisk for another 1 to 2 minutes.

Taste and add more lemon juice, as desired. Transfer to a thermos until ready to serve.

I highly recommend trying this recipe out. It’s delicious and looks pretty impressive when your brunch guests sit down to eat.

Bon Appetit!

Meal Prep Monday

I’ve talked before about how important and helpful I find meal planning and prep. These tools are one of the only reasons I even come close to sticking to both a budget and a lifestyle. N and I have been following the Primal Blueprint since the end of our month of Paleo in December. The Primal Blueprint is very similar to Paleo except more lenient in terms of dairy, rice, wine, and beer.

Veggies for the week

This month we’ve decided to do 30 days of Paleo while also cutting out drinking. Not only does it save us some money (no cheese, no alcohol!), but I also feel a lot better cutting these things out. What’s a month, anyway?

We honestly didn’t get off to the best start with this challenge, but we’re back on track now. Sometimes I find myself looking at others and thinking they never have setbacks. I know this isn’t true though so I don’t want to come across as one of those people who never falls short. I do. Frequently. But I try to keep it in perspective. There’s no point in dwelling on a few beers or a couple french fries you shouldn’t have eaten.

Cutting up colourful peppers for snacks

One of the best ways we’ve found to be successful in our day to day lives is to prepare snacks in advance. This doesn’t always happen Monday, but usually early in the week. (Meal Prep Monday just sounds better than Meal Prep Sunday or Tuesday). I find it easiest to do everything for the week at once, so I’ll cook up any bacon we plan to eat for breakfasts, cut up veggies for snacks, make egg bites, or bake muffins. I’m lazy so this works for me.

Breakfast for the week: Bacon Acorn Squash Patties 

It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut so I’m more than grateful for websites like Civilized Caveman and PaleOMG and books like Practical Paleo. I would probably end up eating the same thing every week if it weren’t for these awesomely talented and creative people!

Bacon Beef Butternut Squash

Yup, we eat a lot of bacon. 

All of these sources have inspired me to be more creative and taught me how delicious life can be, even without my beloved grains. We tried a ridiculously good pasta recipe with George’s Sweet Potato Pasta and our own sauce creation. I’ll try and get some decent pictures of that one next time since it’s one of my new favourites and it’s ridiculously simple!

Pumpkin Pancakes

I love brunch. It’s one of my favourite things about weekends. We live down the street from 2 amazing brunch spots and a short drive from a handful of others, but most of the time we try to do brunch at home.

Pumpkin Pancakes are one of our favourite weekend treats. They are delicious, easy, and paleo. Triple threat brunch. Sounds good right?

I’ve instagrammed photos of these pancakes so many times that I figured it was about time I blogged about them. I even convinced N to photograph for me (believe me, not an easy feat!). And yes, I always look this put together on Saturday mornings. (I hope if you make these pancakes you enjoy them in your pyjamas too. No makeup necessary.)

I really wish I could take credit for this awesome recipe, but sadly I cannot. This is from what has quickly become my favourite cookbook, Practical Paleo. Follow the link to Diane’s recipe online or check out my very similar version below.

Pumpkin Pancakes
grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, nut-free, nightshade-free

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients:

* 4 eggs
* 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
* 2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil   (I use coconut oil)
* 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
* 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup (unless you’re going sugar free. You can also use honey.)
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (we don’t have this so I added a pinch of nutmeg)
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
pinch of salt (I’ve forgotten this many times.)

Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl.

Add the pumpkin puree, pure vanilla extract, and pure maple syrup. Whisk together. Sift the spices and baking soda into the wet ingredients. (I am usually too lazy for sifting, so I just add them and mix until everything is combined.)


Melt 2 tablespoons of butter (or coconut oil) in a large skillet over medium heat. Then, mix the butter into the batter. (I let it cool for a bit so it doesn’t cook the egg.)

Continue to whisk the batter and butter until they are completely combined. 

Grease the skillet and spoon the batter into the skillet to make pancakes of your desired size. When bubbles appear, flip the pancakes once to finish cooking.

Serve with butter, cinnamon or bananas. Personally, we usually go with extra maple syrup and nice cup of fresh coffee. 

Enjoy!

Meal Prep

Daylight savings gets me every time. Somehow this week is already getting away from me and it’s only Tuesday. Between upcoming deadlines at work and CrossFit on a regular basis, life feels busy. 

I wrote a post back in December about our experience with the Paleo Diet. It changed the way I look at food and how we eat and we haven’t really looked back. We’ve both seen some awesome benefits from cutting our grains so it just makes sense to stick with it. 
We also attempt to abide by some semblance of a budget, so we both bring our lunches to work daily (or at least we try. We’re mostly successful with this, although I give into lunch with the girls sometimes). I know this sounds like a lot of work, especially after I just said that life feels busy, but it’s actually not. 
A mostly Paleo meal we made for my parents

I don’t have some crazy secret or a tip you’ve never heard before. We honestly rely completely on meal prep and leftovers. Every night we make dinner at home so we just make a little extra so we can both have lunch the next day. It’s one of the easiest things. I’m fairly certain my mom would laugh and say I told you so if she were to read this. I can’t count the number of times she told me things like this.

Sometimes our planning doesn’t work out perfectly, so I also keep canned tuna and spinach on hand all the time so I can throw together a large salad if need be. (That’s what we’ll be eating for lunch tomorrow, in fact.) Every morning, I make a smoothie that we drink before we leave the house. I prep large batches of bacon that we keep in the fridge and we cook up some eggs to go with it once we get to work. This has become a habit but I still don’t always feel like doing any of it. Of course, I’m always pretty glad I did once I get to work the next day. How can you go wrong with leftover lamb meatballs or steak?

Lamb Meatballs and Balasmic Fig Compote
Another great “trick” I rely heavily on is meal planning. I’m not going to tell you this is something that I love or even remotely look forward to, but I find it pretty essential to staying on track. Sometimes it gets altered during the week and sometimes we end up going out still, but it’s incredibly satisfying not to have to worry about thinking up dinner that night. It takes me 10 minutes on Sunday and then we’re ready for the week. 
Wasabi Salmon “Burgers”
I’m not going to pretend we’re perfect. A lot of this is an experiment, but most of what we end up eating is pretty delicious. Don’t worry, we still eat out more than we should and go over budget sometimes (that bacon is expensive!). We’re pretty human in that way. For the most part I think we do pretty well, though and I’m proud of us for that. 
What are you tips and “tricks” to saying on your budget or diet? 

bacon peanut butter banana bread

Let’s get a few things straight here. This is not a food blog. I am not a baker. Or a chef. Or even a photographer. I am obsessed with all of these things, however. & I have grand intentions of doing more of all of these things (sounds familiar doesn’t it…).

I’ve been eyeing this recipe for a couple of weeks & I finally had some time & the kitchen to myself. Anyone who knows me is probably laughing their head off that I made banana bread, (I hate bananas. The first time I ever peeled one was at my job at sbux) but I love Banana bread. & peanut butter. & especially bacon. How can you really go wrong?

I really don’t think you can with a recipe that starts by frying up some delicious bacon. I’m not gonna lie, when I had to put the mushy bananas into the batter, I thought about giving up on this recipe. There is nothing worse than the smell of bananas.

Thankfully, I pushed through and finished my banana bread. The only thing I’d change for next time is that I’d add a handful of peanut butter chips to the batter and I’d pay much more attention to my loaf once it hit 30 min. I’m not used to the fancy oven & I also forgot that altitude changes everything when it comes to baking and cooked it a little long (although I always thought you cooked things longer at altitude. Definite needs a re-try!)

I’m still really pleased with this loaf, despite the few hiccups. Mornings are a little bit better when I have a delicious piece of Bacon Peanut Butter Banana Bread waiting for me downstairs.

Thanks to How Sweet It is  for the recipe & paleOMG for pointing me towards it!

Get in my belly!

I think it’s time I got back to blogging and what better way to start than with a list (I love lists)? Not only do I love lists, but I love food. I spend most of my day either eating or thinking about eating, so it seems only natural to have a restaurant list. I’ve tried to be as thorough as possible (food is no joke, people!), but I’m sure I’ve missed a few and I’m definitely open to suggestions, so if you notice a great restaurant hasn’t made the cut, let me know!

 I realize this list is insane. I will potentially never actually complete it, but the goal is to one day say that I’ve checked all these places off.

I’ve crossed off the ones I’ve already been to. There are some that I went to a very long time ago (so long that I barely remember them except that they were delicious and I want to go back). I’ve decided to underline anything that I haven’t been to in the last five years (so anything I haven’t been to with le boy?). Honestly, what did I know five years ago? (nothing!)  There are also some places that I cannot reasonably afford (Blowfish, Il Sogno…) right now, but I want to go to someday. (And hey, maybe someone will treat me, hinthint). So, without further ado, here is my wish list:

Restaurant Wish List:

Charcut (Downtown)
Beatniq + Piqniq (Downtown) CLOSED

Craft Beer Market (Downtown)
Galaxie Diner (11th)
Buffalo Cafe (Downtown)
Red’s Diner (Beltline)
Double Zero Pizza (Stephen Avenue)

District (Downtown)
Bonterra Trattoria (Downtown)
Bumpy’s (Downtown)
Holy Grill (Downtown)

River Cafe (Eau Claire)
West (Downtown)
Taste (Downtown)

Raw Bar at Hotel Arts (Downtown)
Anju (Downtown)
La Chaumiere (Downtown)
Blowfish Sushi Lounge (Downtown)

Big Cheese Poutinerie (17th)
Una (17th)

Cibo (17th)
1410 Bier Haus (17th)
Ship + Anchor (17th)
Buttercream Bake Shoppe (17th)
Cafe Beano (17th)
Tubby Dog (17th)
The Coup (17th)
Farm (17th)
Cilantro (17th)

Model Milk (Fried Chicken Mondays?) (17th)
Brava Bistro (17th)

Ox and Angela (17th)
The Living Room (17th)

Without Papers (Inglewood)
Eat Eat (Inglewood)
Capo Restaurant (Inglewood)

Jacqueline Suzanne’s (Inglewood)
Sugo (Inglewood)

Rouge (Inglewood)

Wurst Restaurant + Beer Hall (Mission)
Vin Room (Mission)

Wurst Brunch (Mission)
Mercato (Mission)
Bistro 2210 (Mission)
Bistro 2210 Brunch (Mission)

Belmont Diner (Marda Loop)
Phil & Sebastian (Marda Loop)

Cassis (Casel Marche)

Chef’s Table at Kensington Riverside Inn (Kensington)
Dairy Lane (Kensington)
Crave Cupcakes (Kensington)
Kensington Wine Bar (Kensington)
Pucinella’s (Kensington)

Muse (Kensington)
Brasserie (Kensington)

Il Sogno (Bridgeland)
Tazza (Bridgeland)
The Main Dish (Bridgeland)

AKA Wine Bar (Bridgeland)
Diner Deluxe (Bridgeland)

OEB (Bridgeland)
Blue Star Diner (Bridgeland)
Peters’ Drive-In (16th)
JoJo’s BBQ (Edmonton Trail)

 NOtaBLE (Bowness)
Lazy Loaf + Kettle (Parkdale)
Green Beanery (Parkdale)

Wa’s Japanese Restaurant (NW)


Rocky’s Burger Bus (SE)
Alloy (SE)
Karma (SE)
Smoke House (Ogden)

Village Brewery (Ogden)

Wild Rose Brewery (Currie Barracks)

Caesars (SE/SW)
Nellie’s (various)

Food Trucks:

Alley Burger

Perogy Boyz
The Noodle Bus
The Might Skillet
The Naaco Truck
Cheezy Bizness
Red Wagon Diner
Braizen
Holy Crepe
Shogun Teppanyaki Grill
Steak Out Truck
Fiasco Gelato
Fries and Dolls
JoJos BBQ
Los Compadres
Pimento’s
Blamwich

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