The long awaited...Tasty n Sons

Happy New Year everyone! When thinking of my New Year's resolution, I found myself coming back to food-related goals. For example, try {insert outrageous number here} Portland restaurants or make {unrealistic amount} of new recipes each week. Let's be honest...I am horrible with my food goals. So, this year, I am going attempt to post more about my food adventures even if it is just a quick snapshot. It isn't exciting unless I can share it with all of you!

Let's start with Tasty n Sons. I could write a novel about this place and why I love it so much. One (ish) word...family-style. You don't have to ask me twice to share...especially for breakfast. There are too many delightful dishes to enjoy just ONE at a restaurant. I don't get out enough for that.

In the past two weeks, I have been here twice and I don't even live down the street. Like most Portland brunch spots, expect a 30-60 minute wait. Fortunately, they usually overestimate your wait time, so you are often surprised and seated earlier than expected! They have complimentary coffee for you to sip on while you wait. Not to mention, it is in cute North Portland with lots of little shops to see.

Now, for the menu. I won't list everything (even though I want to), so these are my top three choices. Start with the chocolate potato doughnuts and I don't care if you don't like doughnuts, you will LOVE these. Next, go for the Potatoes Bravos and either the Fried Egg & Cheddar Biscuit with Fried Chicken or the Tasty Muffin with boudin blanc sausage, fried egg, arugula & cranberry sauce. Okay, so that was four items.

You won't be disappointed with this brunch spot and if you have tried dinner, let me know what you think! Oh, and just one more thing (f you weren't sold already), this is the sister restaurant to Toro Bravo. Enough said.

Tasty n Sons

3808 N Williams Ave

Portland, Oregon

503.621.1400

open daily for brunch & dinner 9am - 10pm | happy hour 2:30pm to 5pm

Pardon my hiatus, but it is Merry Moment season!

For those of you who have been following my blog for over a year, you know that I have a holiday blog too. It is a movement I promote through the month of December to spread holiday cheer. It wouldn't be possible without the help of my friends and family and since all of you are my friends, I would love your participation too!

It is the Merry Moments Movement. It is your opportunity to pay it forward and make someone's day this holiday season. Check out the link for more details and the merry moments made so far!

http://www.themerrymoments.com

#merrymoment 

So, pardon my lack of endless eats posts...I have been gearing up!

Cheers!

Midwestern Cuisine from Savoy Tavern

Thanks to Portland's Drink Deck, we discovered Savoy Tavern on SE Clinton Street. We decided to pick a restaurant on the Eastside since we were heading to the Trailblazer's exhibition game against Golden State.

We arrived around 5pm so we had plenty of time for happy hour! Pretty easy to find a seat at that time, but it did start to fill up around 5:45pm. It wasn't packed for a Friday so I imagine any night of the week would be great for happy hour. The menu was excellent...never been to a restaurant themed around food from the Midwest. Lots of Wisconsin cheddar cheese...even fried cheese curds!

The atmosphere was low-key and really fulfilled the "hip hangout" category as Drink Deck described it. My favorite touches were the copper mugs and the old fashion bar accessories. The "L-shaped" bar was built with dark wood and a mirrored liquor display to feature all their bottles, including the array of whiskeys. It was a rainy afternoon and we enjoyed our meal in a cozy booth lit by a single tall candle.

For dinner we both opted for the burger...go figure. It was served on a delicious Grand Central brioche bun and I ordered the side salad with basil vinaigrette. Are you surprised? Yes, that was BASIL vinaigrette. While we waited for our burgers, we ordered the Tavern Board, which was tasty. It only came with one type of salami and one type of cheese, which was a bit disappointing. Really, that was my only complaint because I love trying different cured meats and cheeses.

Last, go for the cocktails. YUM! I had the Milwaukee Mule and wanted to go back for a second. It was a ginger infused vodka with lime and ginger beer in a copper mug! Very creative drinks and I imagine most of them are inspired from the Midwest.

Savoy Tavern

2500 SE Clinton St.

Portland, Oregon

503.808.9999

open daily by 4pm | happy hour 4  - 6pm

New recipes from How Sweet It Is

Guess what? It is going to be a weekend in Portland so I hope to have some great new restaurants posts SOON! Stand by.

But, until then, read about my obsession with some of Jessica's recipes from How Sweet It Is. If you haven't been to her blog, then you are missing out. I warn you...once you start, you won't be able to stop. I could make EVERY recipe and last night, I made two - Sweet Potato Burgers with Avocado and Double Bean Burger Patty Melts.

My love for sweet potatoes is almost surpassing my love for anything inspired by caprese salad. Okay, so that might be an exaggeration, but I do love them. This recipe was so easy and the potato/avocado combination is divine. I did alter the recipe slightly, not because it needed it, but because I lacked the proper ingredients to make the cream. Instead, I made a simple rosemary, roasted garlic aioli:

Ingredients - Rosemary Roasted Garlic Aioli
1/4 c. mayo
1 tablespoon rosemary
4 cloves roasted garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Mash up the garlic cloves and then mix with mayo, rosemary, salt and pepper. Voila!

Now, the reason I also made the bean patties is because my other half doesn't drool over sweet potatoes like I do (he did end up liking the burgers though). The Double Bean Burger Patty Melts were fantastic except that I did something wrong and the ingredients didn't stick together very well. My recommendation - rinse and drain the beans properly. I think I had too much liquid from the canned beans, so I started off on the wrong foot. Not good. Yet, the flavor was still wonderful and the caramelized onions tasted great with the beans and cheese.

Since we had extra patties, I just decided to freeze them, just like we would with a traditional beef burger. They won't last long in there, I can assure you that.

Can't wait until next year...Feast Portland.

Dear Feast Portland,

I wish I could have met you and all of your friends.

Can't wait until next year...I will go broke before I miss out on such a great event.

Mark it on your calendars for next year...Portland's ultimate "foodie" event.

http://www.eatmagazine.ca/feast-portland-portland-puts-on-the-show-of-the-year/

@feastpdx

September 20, 21 & 22nd 2013.

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What's for dinner? Well, what's in the pantry?

It was a typical, "what's for dinner?" kind of night and I wasn't in the mood for grocery shopping. The challenge: using the ingredients I already had in my pantry. A game that I don't play well. My inspiration was some chicken, mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce.

Naturally, that lead me to Chicken Parmesan! I made it on the fly and I didn't have to spend ten minutes looking up a recipe....it was so easy! Read and learn.

Recipe - Simple Chicken Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

You need:
Egg & milk (for the egg wash)
Mozzarella cheese
Marinara Sauce
Chicken breasts

Make your Parmesan crust:
Bread crumbs
Italian seasonings (oregano, parsley etc...)
Minced garlic
Salt & pepper
Parmesan cheese

Now, follow the steps:
Flatten chicken breasts, dredge each one in the egg wash and then cover with your homemade Parmesan crust.
Brown the chicken in a hot skillet with olive oil for about 2-3 minutes.
Place the crusted-chicken in a "bake safe" dish (like a glass baking dish or pan).
Cover with mozzarella cheese and top with marinara sauce.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.


Voila! Serve over noodles and you are good to go (add some delicious garlic bread if you have it)!

For next time, I might try to add some red pepper flakes. My recipe needs something else but I am not sure what. Might need to have a chat with good ol' Giada, the Italian expert herself.

What would you add to this recipe?

Willamette Valley: Carlton Bakery

Portland is lucky to have a local bakery or coffee house on every corner and I wish we had more places like this in the Willamette Valley. Fortunately, we are getting closer with new places like,Carlton Bakery. It is about a 25 minute drive from Newberg, on the back roads of Hwy 240, but it is well worth it! The route is scenic, through beautiful farmland, and the pastries are absolutely divine!

This husband/wife duo recently opened this bakery for their love of perfect pastries and even better baguettes. Neither of them had culinary or baking experience but fell in love with a bakery in Japan and knew that it was time for a career change. Tim would wake up early each morning and head to the local bakery to learn how to make the baked goods from scratch. With lots of practice and a couple years of baking classes, Tim and his wife, Ahmee, decided it was time to open their own bakery! They settled on an old gas station, which had since been converted to The Filling Station Deli. Eventually, they decided to change the name to "Carlton Bakery." The old garage was renovated into a working kitchen and their dream of making fresh pastries, baguettes and croissants came true!

Since I have a problem making decisions when it comes to food, I tried a little sample of everything. The BLT sandwich, on their house made baguette with Carlton Farms bacon, is fantastic. They even have a simple, French baguette with cheese and ham that makes you feel like you are traveling abroad. Do not get me started on the pastries, please. I tried the fruit tart, sesame pastry, croissant and the chocolate croissant. No, I did not eat them all to myself. But next time, I am going back for the walnut bread...and some other Gorgonzola pastry that looked fabulous.

Carlton Bakery

305 W Main Street

Carlton, Oregon

503.852.6687

open Wednesday - Sunday 

Check out their Facebook page for more photos.