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Foodapalooza - the longest food draft of all time - The beef finally arrives in rounds 51 & 52 (1 Viewer)

Round 6, Cake: Turtle Cake from Cafe Latte, St Paul MN

My usual cake of choice is chocolate.  Chocolate cake, chocolate frosting.  In fact, Cafe Latte over in the Summit Hill neighborhood of St Paul has a Chocolate Chocolate Cake that is delicious and if you like chocolate you should try it sometime.  

But first, Turtle Cake.

As the name implies, the flavors here are chocolate, caramel, and pecans.  The rich chocolate cake batter has buttermilk and hot coffee mixed into it.  Served in three layers, with chocolate frosting and caramel between the layers, and pecan halves dropped across the top.  It’s an absolute delight, the signature cake of a St Paul institution.

Cafe Latte is a… hipster cafeteria?  The in-house dining is straight-up cafeteria style, even the trays there are just like the ones Minnesota college students repurpose as sleds in the winter months.  The first time I went there, I didn’t really know what it was.  After a hockey game, the friend who was driving suggested we go there, and I agreed since he was nice enough to drive us that night.  Got the Chocolate Chocolate Cake and knew I would come back.  The second time wasn’t until a few years later, but it was memorable because I finally tried the famous Turtle Cake, and I told the woman I took there that night that I had fallen in love with her, and more than two decades later we’re still together.

The last time I ate Cafe Latte Turtle Cake was a few weeks ago.  My kid is taking a gap year before starting university in England this fall.  She’s spending a few months in the Twin Cities to get a little big city experience before moving to the megaopolis, took her up there to get moved in to her place.  And we stopped by Cafe Latte, got a slice of Turtle and a slice of Chocolate Chocolate.  As we had this hour of eating cake and taking about Richard Thaler and RStudio programming, it all flashed on me at once: this human who once fit entirely on my chest to nap is now taller than me, smarter than me, has a sharper moral compass than me, and we’re not going to have hours like these as often going forward.  I tried to hide the emotions of it, joked with her that the cake was so good it was bringing tears of joy.  But she’s too smart to buy that.

The catchphrase the parents of the kid’s high school cohort has been “the days are long, the years are short”.  This pandemic has seemed endless and yet right then it felt like it had been been just a moment.  But at least we had cake.  Damn good cake.

 
Eephus said:
I'm going to change the Guilty Pleasure category to Cheese.

Does anybody have an objection to splitting Seafood into separate categories for Fish and Shellfish?
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Given the draft picks we’ve seen so far, I’m looking forward to seeing what the drafters come up with in separate Fish and Shellfish categories.

 
I may have crippling insomnia, but at least I'm not getting sniped?

There are a bunch of ways I could probably go for a meatless entrée.  Particularly if I'm talking about something I might get at a restaurant.  But there's really only two that have stuck in my home cooking rotation from back when I tried the meatless Monday thing.  Again, a lot of this is probably having kids.  They're not eating any of the Indian dishes that I could probably select.   But one thing my kids will eat is beans.  Particularly since they've been informed for some time now that beans are "good for the heart."

Pick 7.x Italian Style Beans and Greens on some Thick gosh darn Toast

Now, in truth, my kids are pretty iffy on the "and Greens" part of this dish, but I can always just pull out their portion before wilting in the kale, spinach or whatever because apparently no store has ever heard of ####### escarole in the Washington DC area.  But I digress.

Now, this is very much more of a concept than a "recipe" per se.  I'm going to link a few different videos/preparations and spend the rest of this post condescendingly opining.  Because, particularly at 4 AM, I gotta be me.

Now, I've done this with canned beans and I've done this with a variety of dried beans, and here is my verdict.  UNLESS you have a source of good heirloom dry beans (like easy access to Rancho Gordo beans), just use canned Cannelini beans.  The dried beans you get at supermarkets just aren't going to give you a better product whatsoever, much less one that justifies turning a 20 minute meal into a four hour meal. 

So let's look at some videos and make jokes about people getting cancelled!  Here's one from Carla Lalli Music.  I remember when I was obsessively following the Bon Appetit test kitchen early in the pandemic.  Then it came out that they were essentially paying the white contributors for videos and treating their presenters of color as unpaid video slavess.  And the editor of the magazine surfaced in black face.  And an article revealed that Carla was ####ty to interns.  Good times!  But I do like this video for one reason.  It really did open my eyes as to how much fat (a staggering amount of olive oil or whatever), you should use when making dry beans. Carla is doing her own thing on YouTube outside the BA test kitchen now.  

Speaking of cancelled, did someone say Allison Roman?  You could probably fill out this entire category just based on Allison Roman bean stews.  Her "cancellation" amused me, because Allison did make fun of Marie Kondo's voice, which was legitimately ####ty.  But she also just kind of said that she didn't want to run a massive operation like Chrissie Teigen and prompted some big victim tears from Chrissie and pretty sustained campaign from Chrissie's followers.  And the narrative became that Allison hated women of color and was, in any case, "culturally appropriating" recipes because she liked turmeric or some ####.  Then we learned Chrissie was like a legitimate cyber bully telling people to kill themselves in DMs and Chrissie got cancelled!  Awesome.  Allison came back under her own banner (instead of the New York Times).  Weirdly, she's using a lot less exotic spices and steering pretty far away from "takes" on Asian cuisines.   I include this video because I can never figure out whether I find Allison's personality attractive or annoying.  

Finally a good video using the canned beans.  I don't think Shira Bocar has been cancelled, but of course her boss flat out did time.  Badass.  This is closest to how I would do it on weekday.  

 
We do need a pastry category or a miscellaneous dessert category.  I have a favorite that just doens't go anywhere.

And separate that seafood.  We always need more of it.

 
Since this is a food draft I'm going to ketchup my picks.

Round 5 appetizer

Jalapeno Poppers- These are alot of work but so delicious it's worth it. I leave the stem on to use as a handle and then remove a section from one side and get the seeds out. I fill using a mixture of cream cheese,cheddar, and french onion soup mix with the dried onions removed. Wrap in bacon and smoke for an hour and then into the oven/grill to crisp up the bacon.

 
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
So let's look at some videos and make jokes about people getting cancelled!  Here's one from Carla Lalli Music.  I remember when I was obsessively following the Bon Appetit test kitchen early in the pandemic.  Then it came out that they were essentially paying the white contributors for videos and treating their presenters of color as unpaid video slavess.  And the editor of the magazine surfaced in black face.  And an article revealed that Carla was ####ty to interns.  Good times!  But I do like this video for one reason.  It really did open my eyes as to how much fat (a staggering amount of olive oil or whatever), you should use when making dry beans. Carla is doing her own thing on YouTube outside the BA test kitchen now.  
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I used to watch BA videos religiously prior to this, but I don't think I've watched more than one since.  I did watch an Amiel "how to cook a burger 70 different ways" or whatever one a few weeks ago.  It seems Brad and Claire survived relatively unscathed, they're my two favorites anyway.  Haven't seen Andy in awhile, I wonder what happened to him.

 
7th Round - Shakshouka (entree - meatless)

I'm assuming we're not counting eggs as meat.  I make this once every few weeks, such an easy, low-maintenance dish.

Maybe a half cup of olive oil, thinly sliced onions, thinly sliced garlic.  Cook down the onions, then add the garlic until fragrant.  Bloom some spices, cumin, paprika, cayenne, salt, pepper, bay leaf, if you have some harissa or espelette lying around why not.  Throw in a can of peeled tomatoes, break up the tomatoes with a spoon, then throw in a bunch of sliced roasted red peppers.

Let it simmer for awhile, maybe a half hour or so.  Turn on the oven, get a small cast iron pan heating up.  Ladle some of the mixture into the cast iron pan, crack a few eggs into it, and bake for ~10 minutes.  Serve with some crusty bread, pita whatever you have lying around.  Maybe some feta or some garnish.

Easy weeknight dinner that doubles as a classy specialty item.  Also makes fantastic leftovers.

 
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Mrs. Rannous said:
We do need a pastry category or a miscellaneous dessert category.  I have a favorite that just doens't go anywhere.

And separate that seafood.  We always need more of it.
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I was also disappointed to see no pastry category....partially why I drafted the kouign-amann last round.

 
Steve Tasker said:
I used to watch BA videos religiously prior to this, but I don't think I've watched more than one since.  I did watch an Amiel "how to cook a burger 70 different ways" or whatever one a few weeks ago.  It seems Brad and Claire survived relatively unscathed, they're my two favorites anyway.  Haven't seen Andy in awhile, I wonder what happened to him.
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I think Claire also broke away and did her own thing to promote her Dessert Person book. 

 
6.13 - Appetizer - Mild Buffalo Wings from local joint known as Phat Wings.

   There is a wing place that comes and goes around here.  Sometimes it's in a front, sometimes it's on a truck, and occasionally it pops up at an event.  It has gone by different names, but it's always the same wings.  They are huge and flavorful, and leave you begging for more.     

  My favorite version of the business was known as Phat Wings.  It was located in a sketchy little 12x8 building, directly across from the CB housing projects.  It was open late night, and everyone was happy there.  I used to roll in late night pretty often, and listen to the guys talk about Naruto.  It was a scene.  Best wings ever.

Honorable mention to the Market Basket wings.  Check them out if you haven't.  The Honey Stung and Buffalo are pretty decent at our store.

 
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Rd 7 - Masoor Dal Tadka w Curry-roasted Eggplant, meatless dish

There are a few vegetarian entrees i like better than this - including my killer vegan relleno stuffed w quinoa, squash & corn - but this may be the most important dish we discuss. stay with me.

We are ####in' up bigtime, in almost every way. I've already surrendered to the realization that i will never see the world on anything close to the right track again and it breaks my heart.

More importantly, we have a big choice coming up. We can either subjugate a portion of the population, as we have for 10,000 yrs, to allow the lucky few to screw around and be greedy, or we can give everyone a chance but have to be citizens to make it work. Depending on the dark age we are entering, that choice could be a generation or centuries away.

I will know we've made the right choice when masoor dal tadka is our mac&cheese. daily meat is unsustainable, being fat (and i say this as easily the heaviest cat on this board) and lazy is unsustainable. poor impulse control is unsustainable. masterclass behavior is unsustainable if everyone is to have a fair chance, if justice is to prevail, so let's start putting givers over masters in our pecking order..

masoor dal (red lentils) is as good as maccheez anyway. bloom some spices in oil, add ginger/garlic, chop some onions, tomatoes, add lentils, cook til creamy and you have a porridge far tastier than Krafts. rub some red curry paste on some eggplant chunks and stick em in the oven if you want the meaty mouthfeel. and join the next world. NOW, when there's no percentage in it. nufced

 
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Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
I may have crippling insomnia, but at least I'm not getting sniped?

There are a bunch of ways I could probably go for a meatless entrée.  Particularly if I'm talking about something I might get at a restaurant.  But there's really only two that have stuck in my home cooking rotation from back when I tried the meatless Monday thing.  Again, a lot of this is probably having kids.  They're not eating any of the Indian dishes that I could probably select.   But one thing my kids will eat is beans.  Particularly since they've been informed for some time now that beans are "good for the heart."

Pick 7.x Italian Style Beans and Greens on some Thick gosh darn Toast

Now, in truth, my kids are pretty iffy on the "and Greens" part of this dish, but I can always just pull out their portion before wilting in the kale, spinach or whatever because apparently no store has ever heard of ####### escarole in the Washington DC area.  But I digress.

Now, this is very much more of a concept than a "recipe" per se.  I'm going to link a few different videos/preparations and spend the rest of this post condescendingly opining.  Because, particularly at 4 AM, I gotta be me.

Now, I've done this with canned beans and I've done this with a variety of dried beans, and here is my verdict.  UNLESS you have a source of good heirloom dry beans (like easy access to Rancho Gordo beans), just use canned Cannelini beans.  The dried beans you get at supermarkets just aren't going to give you a better product whatsoever, much less one that justifies turning a 20 minute meal into a four hour meal. 

So let's look at some videos and make jokes about people getting cancelled!  Here's one from Carla Lalli Music.  I remember when I was obsessively following the Bon Appetit test kitchen early in the pandemic.  Then it came out that they were essentially paying the white contributors for videos and treating their presenters of color as unpaid video slavess.  And the editor of the magazine surfaced in black face.  And an article revealed that Carla was ####ty to interns.  Good times!  But I do like this video for one reason.  It really did open my eyes as to how much fat (a staggering amount of olive oil or whatever), you should use when making dry beans. Carla is doing her own thing on YouTube outside the BA test kitchen now.  

Speaking of cancelled, did someone say Allison Roman?  You could probably fill out this entire category just based on Allison Roman bean stews.  Her "cancellation" amused me, because Allison did make fun of Marie Kondo's voice, which was legitimately ####ty.  But she also just kind of said that she didn't want to run a massive operation like Chrissie Teigen and prompted some big victim tears from Chrissie and pretty sustained campaign from Chrissie's followers.  And the narrative became that Allison hated women of color and was, in any case, "culturally appropriating" recipes because she liked turmeric or some ####.  Then we learned Chrissie was like a legitimate cyber bully telling people to kill themselves in DMs and Chrissie got cancelled!  Awesome.  Allison came back under her own banner (instead of the New York Times).  Weirdly, she's using a lot less exotic spices and steering pretty far away from "takes" on Asian cuisines.   I include this video because I can never figure out whether I find Allison's personality attractive or annoying.  

Finally a good video using the canned beans.  I don't think Shira Bocar has been cancelled, but of course her boss flat out did time.  Badass.  This is closest to how I would do it on weekday.  
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April-December I try to walk to our farmers market every Saturday.  My favorite vendor there has their own farmstand that I go to during the off months.  Walked up there Saturday and happened to pick up two things: kale and cannellini beans.  Timely (and amusing) post!  

Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
[Testing]

gosh darn

[/testing]

Haha, nicely played language filter!
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I learned of this one when I drafted Mississippi gosh darn in a music draft.  It’s so childish.

 
Round 7:  Moldavian Eggplant Parmesan, meatless dish

Step 1:  Make a Moldavian Vegetable Braise.  It's a pain in the ###, but worth it.  Hope you like parsley.

Step 2:  Fry the eggplant and then build the Eggplant Parm and bake.  Again, the technique is a pain, but still worth it.

You better believe that a lot of toasted bread gets eaten alongside this dish when I make it.

The youtube videos are a little jacked up, in that youtube eliminated annotations on videos, which is how the chef shared the recipe ingredients and measurements.  I have the cryptic XML files and can share the specifics if anyone wants them.

 
Never been one for Meatless Mondays, so my pick today is from a different category

Round 7 Frozen Dessert - “Sunset Beach” flavored Shave Ice from Ululani’s Gourmet Hawaiian Shave Ice

This is more about Ululani’s in general than than my preferred Sunset Beach combo of passion fruit, orange, mango, and guava.  But it’s what I usually get when I go to Ululani’s and what I would recommend to a first-timer.

Sunset Beach Shave Ice Goodness

Sunset Beach Shave Ice Goodness from another angle

There’s a lot of shave ice stands all over Hawaii, all claim the throne.  And for every one of them in Hawaii, there’s at least 100 in the continental USA claiming to make real Hawaiian shave ice.

They are all good in their own way.  I’m sure many families have many great memories at those places.  But if your quest is the finest sweet syrup over frozen water, your quest is not complete until you have tried Ululani’s.

I’m not exactly sure how their process makes it better.  Their own line of syrups is a big factor.  Somehow they shave the ice so fine it is almost creamy.  And if you want to mix it up a little, they will toss a scoop of ice cream in the cup first and build around that, or top it with a condensed milk “snowcap”.  An Ululani’s of vanilla and orange topped with the Snowcap will be the best orange creamsicle you’ve ever had.

A lifetime of snow cones, slushies, Slurpees, and shave ice research has prepared me for this moment.  Slush Puppies were the preferred postgame concoction of my little league baseball teams.  Like many Gen X latchkey kids from flyover country, stopping by 7-Eleven after school for a Slurpee and a game of Galaga or Karate Champ was common.  

And then I went to Maui and found the mothership.  

My favorite Ululani’s location is in the Lahaina Marketplace, just a quick turn inland on foot as you traverse down Front St.  But all serve a purpose.  The one by the OGG airport with holes drilled into the picnic tables that work as shave ice cupholders if you need a shave ice fix as soon as you land in Kahului.  Paia to get sneered at from surfers trying to get away from tourists.  Kihei to celebrate a snorkeling session off the south side. Maui Lani after driving the north shore starting back in Kapalua.  

We’ve tried re-creating these at home with a home kitchen sized shave ice maker and oversized hockey puck ice discs.  They’re tasty and fun and give off good aloha spirit.  But I’ve given up trying to match Ululani’s.

 
Steve Tasker said:
7th Round - Shakshouka (entree - meatless)

I'm assuming we're not counting eggs as meat.  I make this once every few weeks, such an easy, low-maintenance dish.

Maybe a half cup of olive oil, thinly sliced onions, thinly sliced garlic.  Cook down the onions, then add the garlic until fragrant.  Bloom some spices, cumin, paprika, cayenne, salt, pepper, bay leaf, if you have some harissa or espelette lying around why not.  Throw in a can of peeled tomatoes, break up the tomatoes with a spoon, then throw in a bunch of sliced roasted red peppers.

Let it simmer for awhile, maybe a half hour or so.  Turn on the oven, get a small cast iron pan heating up.  Ladle some of the mixture into the cast iron pan, crack a few eggs into it, and bake for ~10 minutes.  Serve with some crusty bread, pita whatever you have lying around.  Maybe some feta or some garnish.

Easy weeknight dinner that doubles as a classy specialty item.  Also makes fantastic leftovers.
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Figured I'd go Indian with my first meatless dish and didn't even think of this.  Fabulous.  And I always have harissa lying around.

 
wikkidpissah said:
Rd 7 - Masoor Dal Tadka w Curry-roasted Eggplant, meatless dish

There are a few vegetarian entrees i like better than this - including my killer vegan relleno stuffed w quinoa, squash & corn - but this may be the most important dish we discuss. stay with me.

We are ####in' up bigtime, in almost every way. I've already surrendered to the realization that i will never see the world on anything close to the right track again and it breaks my heart.

More importantly, we have a big choice coming up. We can either subjugate a portion of the population, as we have for 10,000 yrs, to allow the lucky few to screw around and be greedy, or we can give everyone a chance but have to be citizens to make it work. Depending on the dark age we are entering, that choice could be a generation or centuries away.

I will know we've made the right choice when masoor dal tadka is our mac&cheese. daily meat is unsustainable, being fat (and i say this as easily the heaviest cat on this board) and lazy is unsustainable. poor impulse control is unsustainable. masterclass behavior is unsustainable if everyone is to have a fair chance, if justice is to prevail, so let's start putting givers over masters in our pecking order..

masoor dal (red lentils) is as good as maccheez anyway. bloom some spices in oil, add ginger/garlic, chop some onions, tomatoes, add lentils, cook til creamy and you have a porridge far tastier than Krafts. rub some red curry paste on some eggplant chunks and stick em in the oven if you want the meaty mouthfeel. and join the next world. NOW, when there's no percentage in it. nufced
Click to expand...


I could probably exist solely on lentil dishes if I had to.

I was a vegetarian for 10 years and a pescatarian for several more, until I moved to Memphis in 2009 and found that it was virtually impossible there at the time (better now).  Despite my having chosen several pork dishes, I still prefer to eat veggie/seafood most of the time, so I'm excited about this category and hope I'll pick up some new recipes.

 
Coach Beard said:
Round 6, Cake: Turtle Cake from Cafe Latte, St Paul MN

My usual cake of choice is chocolate.  Chocolate cake, chocolate frosting.  In fact, Cafe Latte over in the Summit Hill neighborhood of St Paul has a Chocolate Chocolate Cake that is delicious and if you like chocolate you should try it sometime.  

But first, Turtle Cake.

As the name implies, the flavors here are chocolate, caramel, and pecans.  The rich chocolate cake batter has buttermilk and hot coffee mixed into it.  Served in three layers, with chocolate frosting and caramel between the layers, and pecan halves dropped across the top.  It’s an absolute delight, the signature cake of a St Paul institution.

Cafe Latte is a… hipster cafeteria?  The in-house dining is straight-up cafeteria style, even the trays there are just like the ones Minnesota college students repurpose as sleds in the winter months.  The first time I went there, I didn’t really know what it was.  After a hockey game, the friend who was driving suggested we go there, and I agreed since he was nice enough to drive us that night.  Got the Chocolate Chocolate Cake and knew I would come back.  The second time wasn’t until a few years later, but it was memorable because I finally tried the famous Turtle Cake, and I told the woman I took there that night that I had fallen in love with her, and more than two decades later we’re still together.

The last time I ate Cafe Latte Turtle Cake was a few weeks ago.  My kid is taking a gap year before starting university in England this fall.  She’s spending a few months in the Twin Cities to get a little big city experience before moving to the megaopolis, took her up there to get moved in to her place.  And we stopped by Cafe Latte, got a slice of Turtle and a slice of Chocolate Chocolate.  As we had this hour of eating cake and taking about Richard Thaler and RStudio programming, it all flashed on me at once: this human who once fit entirely on my chest to nap is now taller than me, smarter than me, has a sharper moral compass than me, and we’re not going to have hours like these as often going forward.  I tried to hide the emotions of it, joked with her that the cake was so good it was bringing tears of joy.  But she’s too smart to buy that.

The catchphrase the parents of the kid’s high school cohort has been “the days are long, the years are short”.  This pandemic has seemed endless and yet right then it felt like it had been been just a moment.  But at least we had cake.  Damn good cake.
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WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE STOP CUTTING ONIONS UP IN HERE!!!11

 
Round 7 - Meatless Entree - Cheese Pizza from Donatelli's just shy of burnt.

Opened in 1976, and featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, Donatelli's started as a tiny hole in the wall pizza joint and has grown into a full size Italian restaurant, catering company, and little shop. Beloved by locals, you can forget about getting in here without a wait - and it's worth it.

My wife moved to Minnesota at 11 and started going to Donatelli's with her parents, then it was her and her friends' after school hangout in high school, and she couldn't wait to bring me there once we started dating. And we go back, again and again with our kids, our parents, our friends - it's become our goto place. And every time I go I tell myself I'm going to try something new. And every time I get the pizza. And every time I ask for it well done. 

Thin crispy crust, browned cheese on top, tangy flavorful house-made sauce, and of course, cut into squares as is our way in Minnesota. 

 
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RD 7:  MEATLESS - FORAGED MORELS FRIED IN BUTTER - A CAMPFIRE IN MID-NORTHERN MICHIGAN

I was in college and working as an assistant in a local country club pro shop. Some of the members I played golf with were talking about going mushroom hunting up in Michigan. Well ...my ears perked up ...I hadn't figured this group of middle-aged guys as the "trippin" sort. 

Well they came back with several mesh potato sacks full of these things that looked like pine cones.  Certainly didn't look very attractive to me.  But they were bragging them up that they were made of gold and one of the guys gave me three 4" - 5" sized mushrooms and told me to take them home to my mom and have her fry them.

My mom was kind of grossed out as she wasn't familiar with them either, but she sliced them up, slightly dredged in flour and fried them up. Never had anything like - hard to describe really. We all loved them (except for my little sister - didn't like the looks of them) and I was starting to branch out of being so picky of an eater. 

I went with them a couple weeks later and got to help forage and actually ate them with some cold beers fried over the campfire in a black iron skillet. 

I haven't had them since ...why?  I don't know where to go look ...I mean anyone can read what keys to look for when hunting them, but I'm not much of a hiking, hunting, forest guy ...so I'm not doing it. 

This draft is pumping me up to cook some stuff I love but haven't done so. In this case - I may go interwebs shopping for some fresh morels.  Depending on how you are using them - rehydrating the dried ones are good ...but nothing like frying the fresh ones.

Like a couple of my other picks - I would encourage any of you that are interested in trying a new fun food experience - give them a shot.  

fresh morels

 
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Frostillicus said:
Thin crispy crust, browned cheese on top, tangy flavorful house-made sauce, and of course, cut into squares as is our way in Minnesota. 
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went and looked at the pics on yelp ...sweet looking pizza - that crust is the way to go - grew up with that style crust in the Dayton, OH area ... :thumbup:  

this is probably the food I crave more than any other ...I think about it often and miss it a lot

Marion's Pizza - this is my go to version (add mushrooms though) - note the crust edge

if you like a lot of cheese

 
Round 6 - Dessert - Cake:  Decarli's Salted-Caramel Cheesecake

Alright, I live in Beaverton, a suburb west of Portland by about 10 minutes and forever a day best known as the home of Nike Inc.  I moved here in 2001 and if you wanted to dine out without going downtown or to the east side (where the best, hottest spots are) your choices were pretty meh.  All the generic TGI McScratchy type restaurants anchored the strip malls so the trade-off for better schools, wider streets, ample parking, less crime was bland, boring chain restaurants.  

But then a couple (the Decarli's, aptly enough) that owned a downtown Italian restaurant had an idea - what if we opened up a version of our store in dilapidated downtown Beaverton, next to the Hot Box Bong & Paraphernalia store, two tattoo parlors and a sketchy looking "dance" studio? 

Well, the answer came quickly - it became a destination for all the Beaverton residents STARVED for a decent restaurant without needing to go downtown and deal with limited parking.  The place was packed from the jump.  Fortunately, they also have a small bar area and offer an incredible happy hour with extensive options and terrific prices on beer and wine (and boy, do they have great offerings there too).  It was happy hour on Sunday after 5pm that lured me and the missus into the bar on a fairly regular basis....regular enough to establish a lasting friendship with our favorite server in the world, Jenifer. 

Jenifer knew our routine - a Spanish red for the lady, an IPA for me, couple of pizzas and she knew before we sat down that we'd share their salted-caramel cheesecake for desert.  Now, this isn't your run of the mill, ordinary cheesecake.  It's almost like a custard and comes in a ramekin looking thing.  I don't have much for a sweet tooth and generally prefer scotch or port to a dessert after a fine meal but this?  This is just love in a dish.

 
Round 7 - Meatless Dish - Tofu Scramble

I had a few options at the ready as my wife and 2/5 of my kids are now vegetarians full time while the wife switched over to full on veganism.  15 years ago, I would have protested this sort of rebellion, but I think @wikkidpissah is absolutely correct in his observation that the vegetarians are on the right side of planetary survival here.  Methane gas, viral outbreaks, land and water use and the depletion of ocean creatures are going to be a problem for future generations and warning signs are all around us now.   

Yet, I just devoured a turkey and salami sandwich. :bag:

However, on the weekends, we have done away with large family breakfasts with bacon and eggs almost entirely (I did use bacon in my chili for Super Bowl - glorious!) and have replaced them with healthier options.  Waffles made with oat milk, avocado toast and my very favorite - my wife's tofo scramble.  I've tried to find a recipe online that mimics hers, but she told me she has her own proprietary formula and even if she's just pulling my leg, I don't care.  It's freaking fabulous and after a long 7am walk on a Sunday, nothing beats her cast-iron tofu scramble with a cup of black coffee.  

The basics:  Diced potatoes in a hot cast-iron with a little oil.  Seasoning salt, black pepper, crisp 'em up real good.  Add in your peppers, onions the rest of your seasonings (I know she uses turmeric and smoked paprika :wub: ) and give it a stir.  The tofu goes in next, broken up and I swear to you replaces eggs like Aaron Rodgers replaced Favre.  The final touch, kale (from our garden in the summer, sometimes tough to find in kale-crazy Portland) so it cooks down just a touch.  Add a little squeeze of Sriracha Sauce, little more black pepper and man, I'm telling you - I could eat this for the rest of my life and never miss eggs for breakfast.

ETA:  And nutritional yeast.  How could I forget that!

 
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Binky The Doormat said:
RD 7:  MEATLESS - FORAGED MORELS FRIED IN BUTTER - A CAMPFIRE IN MID-NORTHERN MICHIGAN
Click to expand...


Morels are my favorites.  Somehow I had a few growing in my back yard at my last house, which was all kinds of weird.  Out here, people have all kinds of secret places where they find them and then won't share the locale with anyone.  I had someone give me coordinates to find some in a part of the Olympic National Forest and was told if I shared the coordinates with anyone else the penalty would be death.  People sure do love their morels!

I'm going to a foraging class in early April on Tiger Mountain, but I don't expect we'll be seeing morels.  It's a popular mountain and those would be scooped up immediately by those in the know.  

 
Rd 7 Meatless: Kadai Paneer (cheese and bell peppers cooked in a spicy masala)

 
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Round 7 - Meatless - Spanakopita

I've never made it, but OH did for me once and it turned out well.  I don't have a favorite restaurant to cite for this, though there are some good ones everywhere, and I haven't been to Greece.  A great spanakopita is a treat - like raisins, GM! - but a lot of places fail on it.  Too greasy or too dry, not enough spinach, not enough feta, not enough flake in the dough...many ways to go wrong here.

I looked for a recipe to suggest, and this one had all the qualifications I was looking for - fresh not frozen spinach, dill (dill is not used in some recipes and I think it's a must!), etc.  This person seems to take her spanakopita seriously.  But the finished product in her pictures doesn't look exactly how I'd want it to.  Somebody make this one and tell me how it goes.  :)  

ETA:  Oh, how did I forget this place!?  This is my favorite Greek restaurant that I've ever experienced.  

 
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Going back to the frozen custard place mentioned with the samosa, I choose this:

Round 7  -  Butter Pecan Concrete

Could really have picked almost anything, but this stuff is like crack.  Connie's has now been a go-to for ten years.  There must have been a real demand for this, because there is a deputy stationed the parking lot most of the time to make sure the line doesn't block traffic in the street.  It is staffed by enthusiastic high school kids and some that are just a bit older.  It's like going back in time.  

This wonderful dessert has vanilla custard, caramel sauce, and roasted pecans blended in perfect harmony.  I have been known to order a side of the roasted pecans to go with my pineapple shake.  We usually eat up in the parking lot of the bank across the street.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
krista4 said:
Round 7 - Meatless - Spanakopita

I've never made it, but OH did for me once and it turned out well.  I don't have a favorite restaurant to cite for this, though there are some good ones everywhere, and I haven't been to Greece.  A great spanakopita is a treat - like raisins, GM! - but a lot of places fail on it.  Too greasy or too dry, not enough spinach, not enough feta, not enough flake in the dough...many ways to go wrong here.

I looked for a recipe to suggest, and this one had all the qualifications I was looking for - fresh not frozen spinach, dill (dill is not used in some recipes and I think it's a must!), etc.  This person seems to take her spanakopita seriously.  But the finished product in her pictures doesn't look exactly how I'd want it to.  Somebody make this one and tell me how it goes.  :)  

ETA:  Oh, how did I forget this place!?  This is my favorite Greek restaurant that I've ever experienced.  
Click to expand...


Opa!!!

 
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