Pot Luck

The suspense ends! (4.00 / 1)

I know youze were all waiting with baited breath to find out what sandwich I went with last Monday to take on the train for that night's dinner.  Well, wait no more! :)

I did the "chickpea spread + pickles + red onions + roasted green chilis" baguette sandwich from Addy's.  Picked it up around 2:30 PM and ate it on the train somewhere between Bingen-White Salmon and Pasco, WA, around 7 PM I'd guess it was.  Was still fresh, smelled and tasted great, bread held up fine, etc.  The chickpea 'spread' was more like really soft whole chickpeas, though, not at all a hummus-y kind of thing.  Also, the onions and chilis were more in slaw form with carrots included, as well.

A great traveling sandwich, good to know for future reference!

Now the Amtrak food, on the other hand?

(cringing...)

Story on that to follow later tonight or tomorrow.

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Nov 21, 2011 at 23:38:27 PM UTC

Not masabacha, either... (4.00 / 1)

Just wanted to note, the chickpea 'spread' apparently didn't consist of anything more than fully-cooked whole chickpeas.  So I don't know why the word 'spread' is used, but it was good regardless and I'm not complaining.

;)

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Mon Nov 21, 2011 at 23:46:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sounds good! nt (4.00 / 2)

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Tue Nov 22, 2011 at 01:25:26 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

chickpeas (4.00 / 1)

I need to make a few batches of chana masala to see if I can come up with a good recipe. My daughter-in-law loves it but doesn't make it.

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by: count @ Tue Nov 22, 2011 at 08:21:58 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

try the smaller chick peas (4.00 / 2)

http://www.manjulaskitchen.com...

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by: LeeN @ Tue Nov 22, 2011 at 11:46:11 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

smaller chickpeas (4.00 / 1)

I have kala chana, black chickpeas. Is that what you mean?

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by: count @ Tue Nov 22, 2011 at 17:37:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Chana masala sounds so good. (4.00 / 2)

It is cold here. The rain is torrential. My insides need warmth.

Here is a recipe for you, count. I have not made this one, but every other Smitten Kitchen recipe I have tried has been a delight.

If you make this, please let me know how it turns out.

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by: caseyOR @ Tue Nov 22, 2011 at 12:28:33 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

rainy here too (4.00 / 2)

Jay coming for dinner tonight. I was going to cook Indian food but my sister is coming too for the holiday and I still have cleaning to do :) SO I am making chilli and bread too

The recipe has Amchoor powder which does make a difference in cooking. I have a shitload in my cabinet if anyone wants send me an email for my address. I have a great Indian store that I go to a few times a year for spices.

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by: LeeN @ Tue Nov 22, 2011 at 13:03:33 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks for dinner! (4.00 / 1)

Also, I've eaten Indian twice since I've been back, and we're going for one more on Saturday for lunch.  There is a very large Indian business district / strip right near my parents, down in Middlesex County.  Half a dozen grocery stores from small to large, about two dozen restaurants, sweet shops and ice cream places, along with jewelry and clothing stores and other such businesses.  My mother and I tried a new sit-down place last weekend, and I was upset with myself for trying familiar stuff (lamb biryani w/ garlic naan and mango lassi), but it was still good.  Should have tried something we can't get in Portland.  My mother had a lamb curry for the first time.  

I will have to try something rare and regional on Saturday.  Haven't decided on a lunch spot yet, we'll just stroll the strip and pick whatever looks best.

Last night I hit a dosa 'fast food' (their words) storefront shop; had the potato and spinach dosa with sambar and chutney.  Got two meals out of that!  Well, one and a half.  Dinner and a small late night snack.

I really need to learn to cook this stuff at home.  Sad thing is that in the restaurant, by the time we left, there were about 36 people there and my mother and I were the only non-Indian people.  In the dosa shop, I was the only non-Indian person out of about 18 people.  Why don't more people around here eat Indian food?!  It's fucking awesome!  But the lines at McDonald's and Friday's are long and strong around here.  Yuck, bah, boo!

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Fri Nov 25, 2011 at 03:16:50 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

yw (4.00 / 2)

:)

My daughter bought a friend from Portland to our Thanksgiving dinner.

I love Indian food. You can make pretty good food at home. The only thing that's hard to replicate is Tandori

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by: LeeN @ Fri Nov 25, 2011 at 11:43:41 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

stroll (4.00 / 1)

Look, I know I must sound like a crackpot about this, but do look for a place that has a buffet. Especially on a weekend day, that might be a best opportunity to try things you might not otherwise have had. And even if most things on the table are familiar, you have the variety.

The last time we went to Mughal Garden for lunch, I finished a plate and told my daughter-in-law, "I am very pleased, and I know very well that my pleasure will not be doubled by having another plate." I should have stopped there, in other words. I did have small second portions of a couple of favorites, though, and I finished comfortably, not stuffed.

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by: count @ Fri Nov 25, 2011 at 12:45:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

There's a chinese buffet in Portland called Best Buffet (4.00 / 2)

and it's my favorite place in the whole city to eat at. I remember when Harold and I first started to go there, I'd stuff myself until I couldn't walk because the food is so good. Here in the past few years I've been trying to pay close attention to my stomach so as to not over stuff myself.

I've finally gotten to the point that I can eat enough food to be comfortably full, but not so stuffed that I can't go back to work when I get home. I find that I enjoy the food even more that way.

I love the buffet because you can try so many different things, and if you find something you don't like, you can go back and get something that you do like.

There used to be an asian buffet in Woodburn and they had all sorts of things. There were a few staples, but most of the buffet changed from week to week. Sometimes they'd have grilled mussles on the half shell, other times they'd have sushi (when they did that I ate pretty much only sushi and salad, I was in heaven). For a while they had baby octopus.

Unfortunately they only lasted for a year or two. The food was great but they were never very busy.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Fri Nov 25, 2011 at 14:37:14 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Woodburn... (4.00 / 1)

Oh, I have to get down there one day.  Said to be, far and away, home to the best Mexican food in Oregon.  And probably the best Mexican food in the PNW.

So close, yet so far.  I wonder if I can head out to Beaverton, take WES down to Wilsonville one day late AM, and bus (or taxi?) to Woodburn, hit a couple two or three taquerias, then make it back to Wilsonville for the PM WES trains back up.  Hmmm...

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Sat Nov 26, 2011 at 06:56:10 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

A contractor friend of mine used to love the taco trucks in Woodburn (4.00 / 2)

I used to do work for him once in a while when he needed an extra hand and I needed a little side work. He'd make up excuses (Oh, I need to go to such and such place and check materials prices) just to go to Woodburn for some of that food.

The people there mostly didn't speak english, but the menu was printed in english. And they had The, Best, Food, In The, Known, Universe.

That's why I want to start working with the immegrant families around here and in Portland. People from all over the world, just recently from the old country. All of the growing options for new crops, and all of the recipes and ways of handling things like stewing hens.

There was a family of mexicans who, for several years, has come to my farm to buy roosters. They don't like hens, only roosters. Although summer before last they did buy some 3 week old Cornish X chicks and they were straight run so they got pullets in that bunch. But anyway, I got to talking to them about goat and lamb, and the husband was pit roasting them, and he really knew what he was doing. They live out around Beaverton somewhere.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Sat Nov 26, 2011 at 13:46:02 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Heh, yeah... (4.00 / 1)

Still haven't gotten to one of those yet.  Maybe tomorrow for lunch!

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Sat Nov 26, 2011 at 05:27:33 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

That's exactly the kind of recipe I was looking for (4.00 / 2)

I'm currently shifting all of my cooking from wine to beer. If you looked at the PDF I linked to in the previous Pot Luck for the Provisioning Project, I have a very large beer ration 104 gallons for a year (It will probably  be higher, depending on what I cook). And that's because when I have free access to beer and wine, I tend to use a LOT of it in cooking. For instance, the latest pot of beans I made I would have used 1 1/2 quarts of beer instead of all water.

I want to start working with wheat beers, amber ales and stouts, but you have to have a recipe that has strong flavors and flavor profiles that work with the sweetness and bitter notes that only beers can bring to the table.

I'm shifting to beer from wine because I can make beer year round, where as wine needs to be made seasonally unless you're making mead. And it takes a lot longer to make wine than beer. With beer I can have multiple small (1-3 gallon) batches coming along continuously. So I don't have to have storage for 100-200 gallons. I'm going to try making vinegar out of some sweet beers as well, although I don't know how they'll turn out given beer's very different flavor profile.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Tue Nov 22, 2011 at 13:24:50 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

smitten kitten (4.00 / 1)

You're right, a smitten kitten recommendation is a good recommendation.

I have Madhur Jaffrey's original recipe, or at least the one in An Invitation to Indian Cooking. I'll try both versions.

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by: count @ Tue Nov 22, 2011 at 17:39:57 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Noor Mahal on NE Sandy... (4.00 / 1)

Just read over at PortlandFood that the new Indian place there is now closed and there are "for lease" signs in the window.  Can't confirm yet, obviously, but not surprised.  Lasted, what?  Three weeks?  Ouch.

Now THAT is what they call a cursed spot.

Hmmm.  Maybe a good seafood restaurant can break that streak!  Wonder what will come there next.  I'm guessing a wine bar.  Not sure why, but even the building itself looks vaguely wine-bar-ish.  Might stand a decent chance with the Hollywood Theatre next door and all.  Well, whatever's next, just anything but a(nother) average Thai place, please!

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Sat Nov 26, 2011 at 05:33:10 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ah, the joys of malted hard red wheat (4.00 / 2)

I added about a cup of malted hard red wheat to the pot of beans I started last night. Had beans and pasta for breakfast this morning. I don't know which I like better for wheat, flour for really great breads, wheat beer, or in beans. The wheat completely changed the flavor profile of the beans, the only thing I changed was the addition of the wheat. And the wheat tastes vaguely like sweet corn. I'm going to have to buy a bag of whole wheat from the feed store and reserve part of it just for malting to eat.

I want to do some dark roasting and smoke some of it.  

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Wed Nov 23, 2011 at 17:00:54 PM UTC

Argh! (0.00 / 0)

South Florida and Pitt lost today, dropping Rutgers' Orange Bowl chances from about 50% to like 20%.  

Rutgers has to beat UConn in a few hours (will be watching the game from a bar in New Brunswick, whoo!), and now needs Cincinnati to win out (Syracuse and UConn, very doable) and South Florida to beat West Virginia next week (ughh, very unlikely) to win a three-way tie and get the Orange Bowl bid in that scenario.  Anything else sends a probable 9-3 Rutgers team, which will probably be ranked in the Top 25 with a win tomorrow (they're #26 in the Coaches' Poll right now), to a December Bowl game in Yankee f'ing Stadium, probably against Baylor.  Yuck.  

Out of the Big Least, RU.  Out, out, out.  NOW!  Get thee to the Big Ten or the ACC, Mr. Pernetti!

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Sat Nov 26, 2011 at 06:25:37 AM UTC

Wtf? (4.00 / 1)

68 degrees here in this area of New Jersey today, November 26?!??!

Do. Not. Want.

Gimme my 50!

Five days until I'm back in Portland.  If Amtrak agrees, that is...

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by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Sat Nov 26, 2011 at 12:06:49 PM UTC