Pom's Thai Taste Review

GUEST BLOGGER!!!!!

I, roomie A., accompanied Kate to Pom's Thai Taste last week. Kate wanted to tell you that she thoroughly enjoyed the decor. She finds it to be the most tasteful Thai restaurant in town. It was pleasantly modern and we appreciated the complete lack of kitsch (i.e. no glowing lobster) which allowed us to focus entirely on the food. Which was, on balance, pretty good.

We started with sushi, because on Mondays and Tuesdays, Pom's offers certain sushi for one dollar per piece. We tried salmon, tuna, and escolar. We saved at least $7; a rockin' deal, significantly meaningful for us, the undeserving poor. The quality of the fish was impressive given the price. In addition, we had a veggie roll which even Kate admitted was tasty and visually appealing (and Kate is STRONGLY anti-vegetarian sushi).

Our fresh shrimp spring rolls were exactly as advertised: fresh, springy, and included shrimp (which was also fresh and springy). The dipping sauce was delicious. I expected it to be overly sweet, but I was so pleasantly surprised! It was a little spicy, nicely balanced with sugar, and topped with crushed peanuts.

The whole meal went well with the warm sake we drank. Fun fact: Kate shared with me that it is bad luck to pour your own sake . . . which meant, damn I was busy pouring Kate's sake! But I had some too, and it was delicious.

And I wish we could give the same ringing endorsement to our main course. Kate and I shared a crispy pad thai. And in all honesty it just wasn't to our taste. We couldn't quite envision it before we ordered. The noodles were, as you can see, yellow egg noodles. They felt like maybe they were fried and drained. In any case, the consistency was just odd. Kate would tell you, if she weren't sitting across the table eating D'affinois and french bread while I go to the effort of writing her leisure activity on her behalf, that the noodles were much more appetizing the next day after the leftovers had spent some time in the fridge marinating in the sauce. The seasoning on the whole thing was perfect in EVERY way. The same treatment of regular noodles would have been precisely our perfect pad thai, but c'est la vie, that's the risk of being adventurous!

In general, things were lovely. The service was a little lackluster- perhaps due to inexperience. And we were the ONLY table in the place for some of our evening, which might explain why the kitchen was so quick. But, as Anestes mentioned in his blurb, the courses were lighting quick. Our app was out before our sushi was gone, and our entree arrived with half our app on the table. We didn't order dessert until we had admitted defeat to our entree. But dessert was lovely. Fried coconut ice cream (delicious in the way of a donut soaked in ice cream drizzled in hershey's and sprinkles with whipped cream and a cherry on top) was a great way to end the evening.

Kate says, and she'd type it if she weren't eating, that she wishes we'd gone back for more traditional Thai food. I, roomie A., would be amenable to that almost any night! 

Daring Bakers Challenge: Orange Tian

What an ordeal! I feel like I've done battle with this month's Daring Bakers' Challenge. And I'm not sure who even won...


So many steps...

This month's challenge was an Orange Tian, a layered tart made up of pate sablee (fancy tart crust), orange marmalade, whipped cream, and segmented oranges. The whole thing is finished with a caramel orange sauce.

And in the end, well, you'll see... but it kind of tasted like an orange creamsicle. And I hate orange creamsicles. Yes, hate. As far as treats from the ice cream man go, I prefer those sorbet type things with gumballs (they usually take on the shape of Nemo, Mario, SpongeBob, etc.).


Oh hey, check out those beautifully segmented oranges. We watched a how-to YouTube video and everything.


After the orange segments were neatly layered in the pan, we added some whipped cream that had been beefed up with some gelatin for body and some orange marmalade for beautifulness.


I made the patee sablee while Roomie A. did a great job making the marmalade. After we served the Tian, a few of us decided we don't actually like marmalade, but that was no fault of the cook's.

Really, that marmalade is beautiful.


OK, what you don't see between these two photos is that, due to the jury-rigged nature of our tart assembly, we splattered whipped cream all over ourselves and the side of the oven trying to get the (heavy) pate sablee marmalade side down on top of the whipped cream and oranges. It was like someone got hit in the face with a cream pie in our kitchen. Awesome.

Alright! I had been advised to freeze this sucker overnight, so in to the freezer it went. We had no idea how (if?) it would turn out at this point. However, we were planning on serving it to B. for her birthday. So here's hoping!


Somehow, I convinced the two-part tart pan to come off the Tian without ruining it. As to the flavor, well, see the above mentioned creamsicle reference. But the caramel orange sauce came out quite nice, resembling Grand Marnier (also, hate). And I thought it could have used more whipped cream. C. pointed out that we had more at one point, but then we painted the stove with it. So... there's that.


So if you like making complicated desserts that taste like a creamsicle, then go for it! Otherwise, skip it. But thanks to my wonderful roommates for helping me out with this - I never would have made it through the fight without you! (And I totally think we won.)

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

So-So Brunch at Caiola's

Ed. Note: Caiola's has changed hands since the writing of this review and is now Chaval.

A few weeks ago, when my friend Elizabeth was visiting, I took her to Caiola's for brunch. Allegedly, the best brunch in town. Alas, I found this superlative to be overstated. I know the best brunch in town. It can be found at Bintliff's. (And yes, I edited the photo below so the sign actually said "Caiola's." There was a wicked glare.)


On this particular Sunday morning, I made a reservation just a few hours before we stopped in. We had a short wait to be seated, and were put in a cozy corner behind a half wall separating the bar from the restaurant. The ambiance at Caiola's is nice—rustic, with colored glass, wall sconces, seasonal greenery, and a cute retro Pine St. sign over the bar.

As we ate, we watched patrons being led through the kitchen, which made me curious about the new seating section that requires kitchen access.


Uke and her partner shared the Warm Lost Bread served with Maine Maple Syrup ($7) and let us have a few bites. By far, the best dish of the meal, it was like the love child of custardy French toast and bread pudding. Served warm, with fresh berries, and coupled with endless cups of hot coffee, I thought the meal was off to a sure start.


Elizabeth had a house-made cinnamon and sugar Pop Tart ($3) and a side of maple bacon ($4) for her meal. As a big lover of French Toast for brunch, she was looking for something sweet (Caiola's doesn't serve French Toast, but has plenty of other sweet options). It was right about then that I kicked myself, realizing that Bintliff's has quite an extensive French Toast and pancake menu.

The Pop Tart wasn't too special (it didn't help that I was under the impression that it was a strawberry Pop Tart, and only found out it wasn't later, when I said, "It didn't taste too much like strawberry!" and Elizabeth informed me that it was because, in fact, there were no strawberries in it), but Elizabeth reported that her maple bacon was nice, thick-cut and sweet.


I ordered the veggie benedict ($11), a version of which I enjoy over at Bintliff's. I get the veggie hash, topped with 2 poached eggs, and add Hollandaise sauce. Caiola's comes on toast with a side of home fries. Unfortunately, my eggs were overcooked (with hard centers) and my toast too crispy. I had to work to cut it with my fork, and then it gave me Captain Crunch mouth. All in all, an unremarkable dish.

Brunch is a complicated animal, I realize. Tastes are highly personal, kitchens are very busy, and usually you're hungover, which can make you even more sensitive to service and food issues. But I don't find brunch to be Caiola's strong suit (admittedly after only one try). With other strong contenders for Best Brunch in Portland, I think I'll stick with a restaurant whose kitchen is more in line with my tastes.

Mediterranean Chicken

No St. Patty's Day write up here- it's over, it's past, we're looking ahead. Except, not, because I've already cooked the meal I'm going to tell you about. But no matter. We can pretend.

So I made some poached (maybe braised?) chicken thighs in a pan sauce, severely adapted from Gratineed Chicken in Cream Sauce (Poulet a la Fermier) that I found over on epicurious.com


I was inspired by the Chicken with Lemon and Olives I once had at Marrakesh in DC, a Moroccan restaurant that serves you family style (while you sit on big sinky couches with lots of pillows).

I braised the chicken with lots of good stuff and piled it high with sliced green olives. If you pull it off, the chicken will be nice and juicy, with lots of bright lemon and contrasting salty olive flavors.


The part I didn't pull off right though, was the mashed potatoes. I was utterly flabbergasted, but my nice roomie A. assured me that it was the potatoes, not me. Uh-huh. As you can maybe see here, the potatoes resembled wallpaper paste, both in texture and flavor. Pretty awful. I learned the valuable lesson that potatoes and immersion blenders don't mix. But I was just so excited to use my new blender!

FAIL.

Just mash your potatoes by hand, mmkay?

Braised Mediterranean Chicken Thighs
Adapted from epicurious.com

1 pound chicken thighs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Salt and pepper
3 fresh parsley sprigs
2 fresh thyme sprigs
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 cup green olives, pitted and sliced

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.

Heat butter in medium-sized wide bottom sauce pan over moderately high heat until foam subsides. Brown chicken all over and remove from pot. Reduce heat to medium and briefly saute garlic (being careful not to burn). Add wine and deglaze pan by scraping up any brown bits.

Tie fresh herbs into cheesecloth to create a bouquet garni. Add to pan along with chicken, skin side up, and any juices that may have accumulated on the plate. Add stock and olives, and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes. Chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F and the juices run clear.

Before serving, add lemon juice to pan sauce and stir. Note: Because of the small amount of liquid this recipes calls for, I did have to add more stock while the chicken was cooking. If your sauce is too thin when the chicken is finished, just reduce it by heating uncovered over medium-high heat until it is half the original volume.

Thai-o-rama: Kon Asian Bistro Review

Time for the 3rd installation of the Tastes of Thai Project. By far the most entertaining dining experience of the bunch: Kon Asian Bistro out in Westbrook (hiss) on Brighton Ave.


Smooshed in between the JoAnn Fabrics and the Travelodge, Kon is in strip mall central. The parking lot was fairly full when I arrived at 7pm on a Sunday, so the locals must love them some generic Asian food. I tried to eavesdrop on some smokers chatting about what was good on my way in, but all I got was that one had eaten there a lot and that the hibachi was fun.

Buddha in a reflecting pool greeted me as I made my way over to the bar to greet the writers of Where is Jenner's Mind and Portland Food Coma and to wait for those of Appetite Portland and Portland Food Map. Having heard that the food here was good, I didn't let the strip mall location and weird decor deter me, but the place definitely feels like a P.F. Chang's.

Now a note about the food: I wasn't that hungry and therefore indecisive. Apparently I was dining with some lightning-quick orderers, so I kept missing my chance (ie., the waitress kept leaving without taking my order). So I belatedly ordered some food in a half-ass way.


Joe ordered the rock shrimp, claiming it was the best [expletive surely inserted here] thing he'd had at Kon. He was generous enough to share with us, and he was right. #$*&! delicious. The shrimp are tempura fried and covered with a creamy sauce, and we quickly decided that fried items are Kon's strength.

My starter was a white tuna, apple, seaweed, and tempura flake salad, with beautiful presentation. This dish wasn't great (should have stuck with the fried things!), I didn't feel it was prepared in a way to let the fish shine.


For my entree (also ordered late), I had the lettuce wraps. By the time they came, I had filled up on sampling other's dishes. I particularly enjoyed the Szechuan Crispy Dried Shredded Beef, also fried, and covered in some sweet-ish brown sauce. Kind of like General Tso's chicken. Only... Szechuan... and beef.

My lettuce wraps weren't the best, the chicken was cubed and I prefer ground when it comes to wraps. I guess I've had better versions of Thai lettuce wraps, usually with ground pork and lemongrass.

But between the good food that we shared, the crazy decor, and the drink menu, I'd recommend Kon as a great place to go with friends. And for the hibachi, if you're into catching shrimp in your mouth.

Grade: B+ (mostly generated by the ambiance, but not a lot of Thai food to be seen)

Pasta Carbonara

So, I made pasta carbonara for the first time. I know right? All this time and I've never had it. I just held it in my arsenal of quick, simple, I know it's gonna be great recipes.

 

But I was disappointed. I feel sad even saying it. I mean, this dish should be elevated to gourmet standing by its salty, rich and decadent preparation of simple, fresh ingredients. But I found myself eating it, thinking 'meh.' Really, just meh. The only explanation. So sad.

 

And I feel confident that I prepared it well. I used good ingredients- diced pancetta (OK, maybe I used bacon, but I don't feel that is a mitigating factor), Piave cheese, fresh herbs, and local, organic eggs. You can also sautee some diced onions in with your pork fat. So, I cooked up my bacon, while simultaneously boiling pasta...

Come go time, I drained the pasta (while reserving a cup of cooking liquid), tossed in two scrambled eggs, a generous amount of cheese, the cooked bacon and herbs. I added some cooking water to loosen the sauce and make it saucey. What was I missing that would take this dish from the meh to the transcendent, like I was expecting? My friend Kat suggested white wine? 

 Dear readers, please save this bufuddled cook who can't understand how you can ever go wrong with pasta, cheese, and bacon.

Wolfe's Neck Cheesemaking Class

When my BFF (Best Foodie Friend) Elizabeth visited, last weekend, we went to a cheesemaking class at Wolfe's Neck Farm. And we were so surprised and excited to learn how easy making mozzarella cheese is. Our class was taught by Julia, who is not some crazy cheesemaking expert or anything. She immediately put us at ease by assuring that we could easily make mozzarella in 30 minutes and that there was always room for experimenting.


To start, heat one gallon of whole milk in a stainless steel pot. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons citric acid diluted in 1 cup of cool water (I ordered mine off Amazon.com, but you can buy a whole kit from cheesemaking.com). Heat the milk slowly to 90 degrees F. Add the rennet (either 1/4 of a tablet if you're using a kit or 1/4 teaspoon diluted in 1/4 cup cool water). Stir milk gently to disperse the rennet for 30 seconds. Turn the heat off and remove the pot from the heat. Cover and let the milk stand for 5 minutes.

Check the curd- you should be able to press on it and have it feel solid. Cut the curd into 1 inch square pieces. Put the pot back on the heat and heat to 105 degrees F while stirring slowly. Try your best not to break up the curd. Take the pot off the heat again and stir gently for 2-5 more minutes.


Transfer the curd to a microwave-safe bowl and begin pouring off the whey. As the curds cool, they will release more whey. Try your best not to lose the curds, but some loss will be inevitable.


When you have poured off as much whey as you can, microwave the curds for one minute. Heating will cause the curds to release more whey, which then can be poured off. Repeat a few times, until the cheese has released its whey and is becoming almost too hot to handle. This is a good time to put on gloves!


Knead the cheese by folding it in on itself until it becomes smooth, shiny and stretchy. If you feel it is too cool, you can microwave it again to heat it up. When you feel it is smooth enough, form it into a ball and place in an ice bath.


This cheese won't keep as long as store-bought cheese, so it's best to use it right away (not too hard to do!). You can also add herbs, cover the cheese in oil, and store in the fridge to keep it longer.

Liquid vegetable rennet is sold locally at Royal River Natural Foods in Freeport.


If you are feeling really ambitious in the DIY activities, you can make your own butter too! This was fun because we were working in a group, but I think I'd get awful tired shakin' that butter by myself. Here we just poured heavy cream into a quart-sized mason jar and shook until the... butter formed (cows came home?).


The butter separates from the majority of the buttermilk, but then if you want to make your butter last longer, you need to wash it of the remaining buttermilk. So transfer your butter to a bowl, cover it with water, and smoosh the butter around. This washes the buttermilk from the butter. Change the water and repeat until it no longer discolors the water.

Are you getting tired just looking at this? I didn't help make the foccacia, but would have needed a nap afterwards if I'd attempted all of this at home! We had a nice little snack once we baked this foccacia off (it's a little flat since it was cold in the farmhouse and didn't rise enough).


Some local hothouse tomatoes completed our homemade snack. Tastes better when you make it yourself! I'm pretty excited to experiment with homemade cheese. A little investment up front ($16 total for the rennet and the citric acid) and you can have homemade mozzarella for the price of a gallon of milk and a half an hour's time!

Bresca Revisited: Still Good

I thought long and hard about where to take my BFF (Best Foodie Friend) for dinner when she came to visit last weekend. I polled Facebook friends, read reviews online, and poured over online menus. Deciding between Hugo's, Back Bay Grill, Fore Street and Bresca, I settled on Bresca.

Obviously some heavy-hitters in that rotation. And Bresca is the only one of those that I've eaten at before. But I decided that I'd go with what I knew was good, for (relatively) inexpensive prices, and that my friend would love that Krista Desjarlais is not only a woman chef, but one nominated for the James Beard award as well.

And I was right that Elizabeth would love it there! She was into the shabby chic decor and the Florence flasks that they pour your water our of. The restaurant felt a little... pink the night we were in there, which is Elizabeth's favorite color, so WE didn't mind. It was just a little funny. Pink roses, flower petals scattered on the doorstep outside, pink menus, LOTS of candles... it made it seem like I was trying to hit on her.


My friends A&R had just dined at Bresca the night before, so we were versed on some not-to-be missed menu items. So we started with the shaved brussels sprouts, toasted walnuts, parmesan, pecorino and olive oil ($7). And A&R were right- it was delicious. Such a simple preparation for the vegetables, but nice and nutty, salty, and crunchy. We marveled at how the sprouts seemed to be raw, but yet were so flavorful. That's it!? we marveled. She must have done something more to them!


Next we shared the Waldorf salad with local greens, walnut, apples, Chiogga beets, and a buttermilk dressing ($10). I thought Waldorf salads were that gross thing my mom used to make with mayonnaise, apples and grapes? I don't care what you call it, as long as there's not mayonnaise on my fruit. This salad was great of course, I don't think you can go wrong when you add apples and walnut to some bitter, spicy greens. And the beets didn't add much flavor, but were a great visual. Very Alice-in-Wonderland!


We shared the toc as well, smoked ricotta, creamy polenta, royal trumpet mushrooms, radicchio, lardo ($10). This was a great dish, even though 'smoked' isn't my favorite flavor. The ricotta made the polenta super, extra creamy, and the big hunks of mushrooms were so meaty and rich. The red radicchio added a nice texture contrast- it was sauteed, but still crunchy and the lardo... well, need I say why draping thin cured slices of pork fat over anything is a good thing?


Again, more splitting, this time the market fish which was cod. It was served over fennel, crispy potatoes, and green beans ($25). Elizabeth and I both agreed that we could have eaten the whole portion ourselves, and were a little disappointed at the amount of vegetables that came with our fish. Not because we thought the kitchen should have amped it up because we were splitting it- it wasn't a lot of vegetables for even one person. But the cod was expertly prepared, with a crispy skin and little segments of fish that popped off under the slightest pressure from your fork.

Come dessert, there was no more splitting! We had a chance to scope out all the desserts, as the table next to us was a course ahead of us, and ordered all 4 of them.


I knew the buttermilk panna cotta was a delicious dessert (I'm not really a chocolate girl), but the true winner was the Napoleon.


There were caramelized bananas, strawberry sauce, and delicate little bird's nests of phyllo dough. We harassed our waitress to find out how these were prepared, but other than 'grated then baked,' we didn't get much detail. Actually, maybe that's enough detail for some... but for the food-obsessed like Elizabeth and I, we wanted more details! But we chowed this dish, and were fighting over (OK, I was fighting for) bites. I thought we were sharing! Nope.


Thanks to our friends at the neighboring table for this shot! I hope between my careful consideration and these photos, you understand why Bresca is a sure thing for a nice dinner out in Portland. The food is spot on, the prices are reasonable, the wine list extensive, and the desserts excellent. You'll feel special eating here, but comfortable enough that you can make friends with your neighboring tables and drink a lot of wine.