Portobello's Beet Tartare (a copycat recipe)

First of all, this is not a food photography blog; I am not a freelance photographer, and the HTC One does not have a great low-light camera.  Also, I was not planning on sharing this recipe, but it was a last minute Sunday project that came together nicely.

Elliot and I moved to Portland, Oregon a few months ago- the food out here is amazing. On the trip out to get married last year, a dear friend of ours congratulated us with a gift certificate to Portobello Vegan Trattoria, home of an amazing Beet Tartare antipasto dish beloved by many.

We went for dinner a couple months ago and I've been craving the Beet Tartare ever since.  Luckily the menu details the ingredients: diced, roasted beets with carrot aioli, fines herbes, & capers atop cashew cheese with olive oil, sea salt, & bread. With all kinds of time on my hands today, I realized I had all the ingredients to attempt to imitate the dish. It worked out quite well!

Because I'm too lazy to come up with my own recipes (or type up others to fake it), here's what I did and recipes I used:

Cashew Cheese: Used the recipe from here: Stupid Easy Vegan Cashew Cheese. Go a little light on the water as the cashew cheese should hold up under the weight of the beet tartare. I think this recipe could use a little more lemon juice than it calls for.

Carrot Aioli: Adapted the recipe from here: Wikibooks - Spicy Carrot Aioli. Left out the serrano and the dijon, used lemon juice instead of orange because it's what I had. It has quite a bite with all the raw garlic, you might be well advised to cook the garlic in some oil for about a minute just to take that bite off.  Mixed into the beets, the garlic isn't so bad.

Diced, Roasted Beets: Roast some beets and dice them.  Then pile them up and chop your knife thru the pieces some more.  Or buy those vacuum-sealed roasted beets and dice those to all hell.  Use 4 small beets or a couple large beets.

Fantastic kitchen lighting.  Not actually whipped cream, a bowl of dirt, and orange juice.

Mix the carrot aioli with the diced, roasted beets and stir in some capers.  I also threw in a little of the jarred caper water for tasties.  Use a wide, shallow dish or what ever you have with a flat bottom and spread a layer of the beet tartare in it, then add a layer of the cashew cheese on top.  Just put in what ever looks like the right amount. Maybe grease the dish or line it with plastic wrap to make it easier to remove from the container.  Place a dish on top and overturn the whole thing to release it onto the plate. Top with chopped flat-leaf parsley and/or chives. I didn't realize that I had parsley until I was more than half way done eating, such is life. Drizzle some good olive oil on that baby if it pleases you.

Realized after everything was prepared that it would be nice to serve with crusty bread like at the restaurant, so I've been working on that ever since.  Sort of followed this recipe: Crusty French Bread as I already had my Cuisinart out and I don't have "cake flour" what ever that is.

It's been a while since I've had the original, but this will do in the mean time. The above recipes will likely make more beet tartare than cashew cheese so just, like, make more cashew cheese.

Found the parsley!

better living through chili sauce

okay real talk: i'm updating this blog because i found out that steve albini has a food blog. it is called mariobatalivoice and the title is "What I made Heather for dinner." maybe i'm showing my youth but when steve albini is humanized by marriage and a food blog, i'm inspired to return to my own half-assed attempt at another blog.



Kimchi Bokumbop (Kimchi Fried Rice)
adopted from here: http://www.herbivoracious.com/2011/01/kimchi-fried-rice-kimchi-bokkeumbap-recipe.html

The link above was the first result that came up on google when i searched "kimchi fried rice." Cabbage is in season thus, kimchi is in season.

I added some cubed tofu and a cup of fresh vegetables (broccoli, carrots, celery, onion) and as i didn't have green onions, i replaced that with a thinly sliced shallot. The garlic inevitably browns and eventually burns but the rice turns a beautiful brown. When the sunny side up egg is mixed in the whole dish becomes this amazing mound of delicious spicy korean killer.



it had been over a year since i had used my wok. welcome back, wok.

San Soo Gab San

lunch with Heather. grille it yourself korean barbeque in lincoln square. can do it yourself if you order 2 meats. all come with an insane array of korean side dishes.

i'm staying.

My living room came together. Finally.

the beautiful, ecclectic Ball jar

(not my photo. stolen from here.)

not pictured:
leftover soup container
flower pot
terrarium home
jenkem factory
flashy votive setting
kitchen utensil holder
money jar
business card stasher

the possibilities are endless!

the neglectful journaler

hello i'm back. elliot is out of town for the weekend. he was supposed to leave at 4 but 5pm came and went and his friends still hadn't called. i was looking forward to spending the evening hanging out with myself until this point when a change of plans seemed inevitable. sure enough, just as we settled in for the evening his phone rings and he's off to Cleveland to see the last stop on the tour of the movie Gone With the Pope. bummer. i'm bummed out.

HOWEVER.
i did play hookey from work today and got a chance to check out the small vintage resale shop just down the street. the name escapes me, most likely because the title runs a little long, the Clarke Family something something. it says CARGO on the window and they hold al-anon meetings in the back on Tuesday evenings. in fact, i just did a search on yelp for thrift shops in my neighborhood and it hasn't even been reviewed yet! as it turns out, this is just the sort of little pot of gold i've searched for my entire thrift-loving life. frequented by latino mothers-of-5+ but run by a more youthful organization, this place is spilling over with cool vintage glassware and knickknacks, none of which are priced at over $10 and mostly $5 and under. made two scores today and planning to go back for an amazing vintage desk priced at an incredibly cheap $100 soon.

Nautical Barometer $20


i had to take down the fake-weapon arsenal, but it goes so well with Danty's wave painting. as soon as i saw it, this is exactly where i placed it. when i told the cashier that i wanted it, she gets all incredulous, "this one? did you see the price tag?" YES I WANT IT RING THAT SHIT UP JUGGALETTE ! (she was wearing a bedazzled hatchet man belt buckle)

Mechanic's Work Suit make-me-an-offer $5


for Elliot. he wore it out the door tonite with long underwear underneath. i understand there's snow heading for Ohio, so it's good to know he won't be cold.

Luckily, I didn't have to work too many Saturdays in October, so I had some weekend time to play around the apartment. one of my best-looking kitchen creations was a cute, easy find from Tastespotting.


Bacon and Egg Cups (click the link for the recipe and a useful home cooking site)

made 6, ate 4. wasted 2 eggs, 4 slices of bacon and 1 slice of bread. the bread i used was Pepperidge Farm multi-grain and i made a mental note to always include this in the future.

i also re-discovered my love for beets. i attempted to use the entire beet and mostly succeeded, however i still have a few stalks in my fridge but they'll probably just get thrown into a soup.


Baked Beet Chips (i skipped the horseradish dip because really, they didn't need anything)


Beet Greens sauteed in garlic and olive oil with a little salt and pepper to taste

last part of my visual update-

working on a just-for-fun photo project for a friend on Halloween morning.

she sent us a list of 17 words and we had to provide 17 pictures to go along with the words. nothing unusual. in fact, one of the words was "anything" and we used a picture of poop in the toilet for "home." that was elliot's idea.

here's another favorite-

it's for "friend"

Polish Dill Pickle Soup

there's a reason i couldn't find a link to a recipe for Polish Dill Pickle Soup on tastespotting.com and it is this-
dill pickle soup is an ugly fucking soup. and i guess i never realized that site was first a food photography site and second an eclectic collection of recipes.

anyway, i pickled my own pickles a couple weeks ago. see photo for evidence:


i ended up with two quart-sized jars and no plan to use them. the whole thing was mostly experimenting after all.
and then on Saturday afternoon it hit me.

don't be fooled. i thought it would be like drinking warm pickle juice too but no no no. pickle soup is a savory, potato-laden dream. low-fat, high sodium, and not much redeeming nutritional value.

gather your ingredients (i was missing the celery):


cube the potatoes, shred the carrots and then pickles (separately) in your food processor:


follow the more complicated steps to add milk, flour, egg & sour cream and voila:


delicious pickle soup.

i went through a few recipes before i found this one on cooks.com, a website i generally have very little luck with.

the link: Dill Pickle Soup

the recipe:

DILL PICKLE SOUP

8 c. chicken stock or broth 2 chicken bouillon cubes 2 med. carrots, coarsely grated 2 c. peeled and cubed potatoes 1 c. thinly sliced celery 5 coarsely grated dill pickles 1/2 c. milk 2 tbsp. flour 1 egg 5 tbsp. sour cream Salt and pepper to taste Finely chopped parsley, if desired Finely chopped fresh dill, if desired In large saucepan or soup pot with cover, combine chicken stock or broth, bouillon cubes, carrots, potatoes and celery. Cook, covered, over low heat until potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes. Do not overcook, add pickles and continue cooking 15 minutes. In small bowl, beat milk and flour until completely smooth, stir a small amount of hot soup into flour mixture. Mix until smooth and return to soup pot, stirring until well combined. Bring soup to a boil stirring frequently soup is slightly thickened. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, beat egg with sour cream until smooth. Pour a small amount of hot soup into sour cream mixture and mix thoroughly. Return sour cream mixture to soup pot and stir until smooth. Keep sour cream warm but do not boil after this point or egg/sour cream will curdle. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley and dill, if desired. Makes about 10 servings.