Lavender Infused Prosecco

The other night I was desperately craving some sparkling wine, but was also in the mood for a cocktail, so I came up with this Lavender Infused Prosecco cocktail with lavender “donated” from our neighbors enormous lavender plant. We paired this with a fall salad, an apple-potato soup and baked brie with a baguette.

Recipe

1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon lavender (fresh or dried)
dry sparkling wine
lavender sprigs for garnish

Instructions

1. Prepare a lavender simple syrup by combining the sugar, water, and loose lavender in a small saucepan. Stir continuously until the sugar is dissolved and remove from heat and allow to cool.

2. Pour a glass of sparkling wine, add a teaspoon or two of the simple syrup and garnish with a lavender sprig. Every sip will smell heavenly.

The Cocktail That Changed My Mind About Whiskey

I hated whiskey until I tried Brown Derby, which is a horrible name for a cocktail, by the way. At least the Euros call it a de Rigeur…. which actually sounds just as lame, but it sure is tasty!!! My first encounter with the Brown Derby was at Oven and Shaker in Downtown Portland…they have awesome wood-fired pizzas and even better cocktails.

brown derby cocktail

Yep, here it is…the Brown Derby Cocktail.

Recipe

Serves 1.

2 oz. whiskey
1 oz. grapefruit juice
1 oz. honey simple syrup (ie. dilute your honey with some warm water…easy enough)

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker combine whiskey, grapefruit juice, and honey simple syrup. Give a quick shake and strain into a crystal champagne coupe.

2. Garnish with a grapefruit twist or peel.

  

 

Holy Guacamole!!!

This guacamole always disappears…sometimes before dinner is served. It’s perfect for fajita night with a couple of friends or double it up for a fiesta.

guacamole

Holy Guacamole!!!

Recipe

Serves 3-4.

3 avocadoes, peeled, pitted and cubed
1/2 onion, minced
1 jalapeño, diced
1/2 tomato, finely diced
1/4- 1/3 cup, finely chopped cilantro, plus a couple leaves for garnish
4 garlic cloves, pressed through a garlic press
2 teaspoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes, more to taste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Combine avocado, tomato, jalapeño, garlic and lime juice. Mash like crazy with a fork or OXO Good Grips Wire Potato Masher.

2. Stir in cilantro, chili pepper flakes, cayenne, salt and pepper. Adjust accordingly. I like a slow burn, so I always heat it up….not enough to make you sweat, but so you definitely know it’s there.

3. Serve with homemade tortilla chips….or store bought if you don’t have time to make your own.
4. Transfer to a fiesta inspired bowl and garnish with cilantro.

 

Opal Creek

This is one of those quintessential Oregon hikes. It has tons of trees and a beautiful creek with crystal clear water. Opal Creek and the surrounding area has been important historically, as well. The area was an important area for trade when the Santiam Indians would set up their summer camp here, then the area became an important mining area. The old mining company eventually ended up donating approximately 4000 acres to The Friends of Opal Creek to help preserve Opal Creek, the Little North Santiam River and the surrounding forest. Relics of the old mining industry and the old saw mill dot the trail and are scattered about Jawbone Flats. This hike is also super easy.

Opal Creek Hike: Little North Santiam River and Sawmill Falls

Opal Creek Hike: Little North Santiam River and Sawmill Falls

Quick Stats

Distance: 7 miles roundtrip to Opal Pool and 10.5 miles roundtrip to Cedar Flats; you could do this as an easy late season backpacking trip if you camped at Cedar Flats.

Time: 2 1/2 hours roundtrip to Opal Pool and probably about 5 hours roundtrip to Cedar Flats

Difficulty: easy

Season: end of March to mid-November, depending on snowfall

Permit: Northwest Forest Pass $5/day or $30/year

Dog Friendly: Yes, the trail is wide enough that you don’t have to worry about them going over the edge, however the water is quick moving in places, so keep an eye on them.

Pros: Virgin forest and a beautifully clear stream, family friendly, lots of cool old buildings and random relics from long ago

Cons: Can be crowded on summer weekends, part of the trail is an old logging road…which makes for an easy, if slightly boring hike (thankfully there were pretty little streams and plenty of creepy crawlers to keep us occupied)

Note: We did this hike in June and there was still snow past the bridge that’s a mile beyond Opal Pool. The bridge was also taped off with caution tape. We crossed anyway, but didn’t get far as we were post-holing with every step.

Plan on getting an early start for this hike. It’s about an hour and a half from Portland.

The Hike

The trail begins at the end of potholed Little North Santiam Road. Park at the gate here and continue on the old logging road beyond the gate. There are some seriously old trees here, one they claim that is between 700 and 1000 years old and plenty with diameters larger than I am tall!!! Awesome!!!

opal creek sawmill

An old building on the Opal Creek trail to Jawbone Flats

At about two miles in you will come across the remnants of the old sawmill and if you follow the bootpath over to the river you will see Sawmill Falls. Continue on to Jawbone Flats where you’ll find historic cabins and some ancient rusted out vehicles.

opal creek jawbone flats company store

The “Company Store” at Jawbone Flats.

After Jawbone Flats, and the rusted out cars turn to the right toward the creek to visit Opal Pool, it’s about 1/10 of a mile past the cars.

opal creek above opal pool

Gorgeous deep Opal Creek

Cross the bridge above Opal Pool and continue left on a trail that follows along Opal Creek. About one mile up the trail crosses the creek on a bridge (that was taped off with caution tape) continue at your own risk. The bridge was stable “enough”, but the water moves pretty quickly down below. We crossed, but there was too much snow, so we ended up turning around and not making it to Cedar Flats. At Cedar Flats there are supposedly a few 1000 year old trees still hanging around, Maybe next time we’ll make it up there.

bridge over Opal Creek

Bridge over Opal Creek.

opal creek 1

Opal Creek

To return, continue back down the Opal Creek trail. Don’t cross back over to Jawbone Flats, but instead continue down the trail where it eventually crosses back over Little North Santiam River to meet up with the logging road that you came in on. Turn left on the logging road and continue  back to your car.

Opal Creek trees

Sunlit trees at Opal Creek

For more detailed hiking instructions check out these two books. They both have great trail info and history.

The Portland Hiker’s Field Guide is also a good resource.

Salad…Who Eats Salad???

In our attempt to not waste as much food, Steve and I have started eating more salads…which is a good thing right? Packed with vitamins…and if we didn’t pile on the cheese they’d probably be considered healthy too.

beet_green_bean_goat_cheese_salad

Yep, Steve will eat beets!!! And he doesn’t gag when I serve them anymore.

Recipe

2 servings as entree or 4 servings as a side.

3 beets
1 big handful of green beans, trimmed
1 bag of organic salad mix
goat cheese (about 1-1 1/2 oz. per person)
2 green onions, diced
1 shallot, finely minced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed with a garlic press
1/4 cup EVOO
1/4 cup red wine vinegar, plus some to drizzle on beets (takes away some of the earthiness that some people can’t stand)
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon stone ground mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Rinse your beets well before adding them to a large pot of boiling water. Boil the beets until they are fork tender, this could take anywhere from 25 minutes to an hour (maybe more) depending on the size and freshness of your beets.

2. While your beets are boiling prepare a second smaller pot of boiling water. In this pot you will add your green beans. Boil them for 2-3 minutes until bright green then strain them and add them to an ice bath to stop the cooking process.

3. Once your green beans are cooled cut them into 1-1 1/2 inch segments and set aside.

4. Once your beets are tender, strain them in the sink. I’ll usually run a little cold water over them and put a handful of ice cubes on them to speed up the cooling process. Once they have cooled you can peel them and dice them up.

5. Drizzle your beets with a little red wine vinegar while you prepare the dressing.

6. To make the dressing combine EVOO, red wine vinegar, mustard, honey, minced garlic, and minced shallot in a small bowl and whisk until blended.

7. Toss the beets in a tablespoon or two of the dressing.

8. In a large bowl toss the salad greens, green beans and dressing until covered, then serve the salad greens on small plates and top with the beets and goat cheese. Garnish with some of the diced green onion.

 

 

 

Orange Spiced Pumpkin Macarons

orange pumpkin spiced macaron

orange pumpkin spiced macaron…no feet, but perfect texture and flavor

This recipe is nearly identical to the one found on plant food fabulous. I just made a couple of spice adjustments to suit my taste. She has some great tips for macaron making and troubleshooting too.

Cookie Recipe

30 cookies (more or less)

2/3 cup almond flour/meal
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 aged egg whites (left out on the counter overnight)
orange gel food coloring

Filling (you’ll probably have leftover)

1/4 cup butter, room temp
8 oz. cream cheese, room temp
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree, moisture removed by drying between two paper towel layers
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest

Instructions

1. Sift together powdered sugar and almond meal, at least twice.

2. Stir in spices.

3. Beat aged egg whites until just frothy then add the granulated sugar. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over beat your eggs.

4. Preheat oven to 375 (know how your oven cooks and adjust accordingly) I usually turn mine down and cook a little longer.

5. Add almond mixture to your egg mixture; stir with a rubber spatula. Then macaronage  by spreading the mixture against the side of the bowl and then scraping it back down. Do this between 8 and 10 times. This removes some of the air from the batter. You’ll know it’s done when the batter folds back on itself in ribbons and spreads out slowly. You don’t want it to be runny.

6. Fill a piping bag or Ziploc bag with the batter and pipe 1 1/2 inch circles on to a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet. Once your baking sheet is full tap the baking sheet on the counter 5 or 6 times to remove the air bubbles from the macarons.

7. Let your macarons rest for 15+ minutes to form a skin on the surface.

8. Bake your macarons for 6-7 minutes, then rotate your baking sheets and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes. They should be just golden around the edges with nice frilly feet.

The macarons pictured don’t have any feet…maybe due to the rain, over (or under) worked batter or maybe undercooking, but they were still nice and chewy with a slightly crunchy exterior.

Filling Instructions

1. In medium sized bowl combine butter, cream cheese, pumpkin, powdered sugar, vanilla and orange zest and mix with your hand mixer to desired consistency.

2. Pipe or spoon on to the bottom side of a macaron and then press another macaron to the frosting creating a “sandwich.” Repeat until they’re all matched up.

3. Let macarons mature in the fridge for 24 hours (if you can resist) and the flavors will all blend together nicely.

Here is a tutorial video on how to make macarons: macaron tutorial.

Pumpkin Goat Cheese Panna Cotta with Caramelized Pears

So we opened a can of organic pumpkin puree to make our pumpkin crème brûlée last week, but we didn’t finish it off, so we made orange-pumpkin spiced macarons, and still hadn’t finished the pumpkin. So to finish it off we created this slightly wacky panna cotta. Panna cotta  means cooked cream in Italian and is historically from the Piedmont region of Italy. It’s a super smooth, creamy eggless custard that is super easy to make and is great with fresh fruit, or in this case pumpkin and caramelized pears.

goat cheese pumpkin panna cotta

okay…so maybe we used more than a dollop of whip cream

Pumpkin Panna Cotta Recipe

3-4 servings.

4 oz. plain goat cheese
1/3 cup milk
1 ½ cups half and half (heavy cream or even milk, you can make this as full fat as you want)
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 packet gelatin (1/4 oz)

Instructions

1. To soften gelatin add it to 1/3 cup milk and stir gently. Let sit while you prepare rest of the panna cotta mixture.

2. In a sauce pan combine goat cheese, pumpkin, half and half, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and bring to a quick simmer.

3. Remove from heat and add the gelatin mixture. Whisk briskly to make sure everything is blended well. We used the whisk attachment that came with our Cuisinart hand blender’s whisk attachment and the cream turned out super smooth.

4. Divide into 4 lightly greased ramekins and refrigerate for 2 ½ to 3 hours.

Caramelized Pears Recipe

2 pears
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

1. Peel pears, quarter and core them; then dice into small cubes (1/4 in. or smaller).

2. In a small frying pan melt the butter until frothy then add pears, sugar and cinnamon. Over medium heat continue stirring until pears are tender and golden.

3. Remove from heat and set aside till ready to use.

goat cheese pumpkin panna cotta with caramelized pears

Serving Instructions

1. Remove the panna cotta from the ramekin by boiling an inch and a half of water (enough to cover atleast ½ of the ramekin).  Remove the pan from the heat and dip one ramekin at a time in the water for about 45 seconds. Then take a butter knife and run it around the inside edge of the ramekin. Take your ramekin and place it upside down on a pretty plate, tap each side of the ramekin a few times to loosen the panna cotta from the ramekin. This takes practice, but the presentation is way prettier than serving it in a ramekin….unless of course you have beautiful ramekins.

2. Once you’ve successfully removed the panna cotta, dress it up with a spoonful or two of caramelized pears and a dollop of homemade whip cream.

3. Serve with a whiskey or rum spiked hot apple cider or strong french pressed coffeecoffee for an ultimate fall treat.

 

Cucumber Basil Martini

Drinking on the job!!! Woohoo…. just one of the perks of writing a blog. Steve and I came up with this super refreshing, not too sweet martini and I can’t wait to have another.

cucumber basil martini

Yum!!! More vodka please. Here’s a pic of our cucumber basil martinis before they disappear.

Recipe

1 serving.

2 1/2 oz. Crater Lake Vodka
4 slices cucumber
4-5 basil leaves
1 tablespoon sugar (or less depending on how sweet/tart you want it)
1/4 of a lemon
1/2 of a lime
1 handful of ice

In a pint glass or cocktail shaker combine ice, cucumber slices, basil leaves, sugar, lemon and lime and muddle them until the basil is torn. Add vodka, give the cocktail a quick shake, strain into a martini glass and garnish with a cucumber wheel or basil leaf.

 

 

Easy Pumpkin Crème Brûlée

pumpkin creme brulee

Easiest pumpkin crème brûlée….ever!!!

Recipe (3 servings)

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.

2. Whisk together yolks and brown sugar.

3. Stir heavy cream, vanilla and spices into yolk and brown sugar mixture.

4. Pour crème brûlée mixture into your ramekins. We had enough to fill 3.

5. Place ramekins into a baking dish and fill baking dish with hot water about ½ way up the side of the ramekins to create a water bath.

6. Carefully place the baking dish into your oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.

7. Chill cooked crème brûlée for 2 ½ hours in the refrigerator.

8. Coat tops of crème brûlée with the granulated sugar and caramelize with a Culinary Torch.