I like German food/I'm sorry

     First and foremost, I'm still terrible at taking pictures.  1.  I'm lazy and don't take the time or exercise the patience to do so.  2.  I often cook at night which just means terrible lighting.  3.  My camera is sub-par to begin with and its batteries are constantly dead because I forget to take them out between uses.
     That said,  I made some fine schnitzel tonight and am kind of sorry I don't have any pictures to show you.
     I happen to live in a town of wonderful food including three German restaurants that I have had the pleasure of sampling.  There are many more German places in Portland and many more restaurants that aren't German.  However, tonight I made schnitzel and I have only been to the three German places so we'll just talk about those.
     The first German restaurant we visited was Rheinlander (http://rheinlander.com/).  This was the place I first had fondue and schnitzel and it was love at first bite.  I haven't been there for a while, so that's all I really have to say about the experience.  Sidenote:  I am personally terrible at making fondue.  It always turns out grainy and gross.  I believe this stems from my lack of patience when melting cheese.  See #2 in the first paragraph.

     The second German place I visited was Prost! (http://prostportland.com/), a fantastic place in the Mississippi area of Portland.  Portland is divided up into little districts.  For instance, we live in Sullivan's Gulch which abuts historic Irvington (big beautiful old houses), Lloyd District (shopping and crime), and Hollywood (don't know much about this area.  There's a Trader Joes there that I've walked to.)  Anyway, "Prost!" translates to "Cheers!" or "To your health!" which kind of gives you an idea of Prost! the restaurant.  A lovely place where the table to your right might actually be speaking German and the table to your left is toasting the birthday boy.  Prost!  This is actually my favorite German restaurant so far and I really want to go back.  It has a lively atmosphere and a big patio outside that I would like to take advantage of.  Our table shared the braunschweiger which is a German pate they serve with apple slices.  You know, I wouldn't have thought it when I was a kid, but meat paste is just really good.  Definitely need more meat paste in my life.  My dinner was the pretzel sandwich consisting of "Fresh Neumann's Pretzel roll served with Cervelat and Jagdwurst, Cheddar Cheese, Romaine Lettuce, Onions and Stone Ground Mustard."  I don't what all of those words mean, but the taste was phenomenal!  It is a goal in my life to someday make really really good pretzels for such a purpose.  Oh, our table also shared a boot of beer.  How festive!

     The third German place we've tried out is Stammtisch (http://www.stammtischpdx.com/).  This place is conveniently only a 20 minute walk from us.  I've sampled some wonderful beers at Stammtisch including Aecht Schlenkerla Marzen, a wonderfully smokey beer.  Smokey things are a delight.  This beer introduced me to the whole smokey style of beer called rauchbier.  I will learn more about this style.  Anyway, Stammtisch is fancy.  Think rabbit with pureed root vegetables.  Honestly, the key to Stammtisch is to remember to ask for water.  This is a fancy worldly place.  The beer is strong and delicious and is brought out quickly, the food is equally delicious and takes a while to prepare (understandably so) and is a reasonably but modest serving, the water is not provided unless you ask for it.  Strong beer now + modest portions later + no water = you might have a problem.  Order a pretzel (served with little dishes of schmaltz, mustard, and some yummy camembert spread) to tide you over and always always always remember to ask your server for water.  My goodness.

     I've discovered my love of German food since moving to Portland which is a little nutty considering how much of Iowa's food has strong German ties.  I mean, pork tenderloin.  Thin, breaded, fried pork.  Sounds an awful lot like schnitzel.  Potato salad?  Sounds suspiciously German to me.  I will honor my Iowa roots and my German heritage by celebrating my love of German food in my own kitchen.  Which brings me to the very title of this blog!

     I MADE SCHNITZEL!  I pounded out some pork loin real thin, dredged it in flour, dredged it in a mixture of egg and milk with a little nutmeg, dredged it in panko crumbs mixed with a bit of grated parm, salt/pepper, fried it up.  The whole process was a lot easier than I was expecting although my kitchen is a disaster zone.  This blog post has an ulterior motive.  While I'm busy typing up my love of German food I am most definitely not cleaning my kitchen.  It will get cleaned before bed.  Anywho, served with my amazing schnitzel was homemade German potato salad!  How neat!  Steam and chop some potatoes.  Fry a bit of bacon (I used salt pork because it was in my fridge.  Sidenote, I learned about salt pork while reading the "Little House" books and have always wanted to try it and I finally have!  It's...salty.  It worked with the potatoes and made me feel close to Laura Ingalls Wilder who is my #1 childhood hero.  Delightful!).  Toss with the potatoes.  In the same pan you use to fry the bacon (salt pork), fry up some onion and then toss the onion with the potatoes.  In the same pan again boil up a quarter cup white vinegar, a couple tablespoons of water, three tablespoons of sugar, and some salt/pepper.  Toss that in with the potatoes and mix it up.  Potato salad!  Also served with the schnitzel and German potato salad was some large curd cottage cheese.  From a tub.  Making schnitzel and potato salad was tiring and there was no more counter space to be had.  Washed down with  Velvet Merlin oatmeal stout by Firestone.  Dessert was a chocolate chip cookie from the batch I made last night.  How wonderful! :)

*I COMPLETELY FORGOT THE CHUTNEY!  One of my coworkers was given some Italian plums by a friend of hers that has a tree in her yard.  My coworker made chutney out of said Italian plums, whole grain mustard, and what I only assume is good fairy magic.  Because this chutney is magical.  I put it on the schnitzel and was very happy.  

What Has Changed

     My kitchen has changed these past couple of years.  Aside from actually physically changing kitchens around 5-6 times since starting this blog, I've practiced my skills and added some fancy new tools.  My current job at a kitchen shop helps with both the skills and the tools.  I own several sharp knives and know how to use them reasonably well.  I own a refurbished Vitamix and use it for millions of smoothies and amazing velvety soups.  I actually follow recipes now!  I'm experimenting with new ingredients and new techniques which means I am often vastly out of my comfort zone.  The first time I made clarified butter, I sat with my nose practically touching the pan anxiously waiting for the milk solids to settle to the bottom.  Last time I made clarified butter, I threw the butter in the pan and let it do its thing until it was time to skim the foam.  Then I threw some brown sugar, a dash of apple cider vinegar, some sea salt, and a healthy dose of vanilla together and cooked it down into a nice caramel sauce to drizzle over cheesecake.  Always save the foam!  You paid for that foam, dangit!  Don't just throw it away!
     The same attitude applies to many things in my kitchen.  Vegetable scraps and chicken bones are stashed in the freezer until I feel like making stock.  I'm trying my hand at pan frying salmon with a crisp melt-a-way skin (need to practice this one more).  Coffee grounds were thrown around my potted herbs (Until I let the herbs die in the hot sun.  I can't get attached to plants at a rental.  My green thumb may just have to wait until I own some actual dirt.)  Why, right this second I'm drinking a soothing brew I threw together in a saucepan.  Just keep topping off the pot as you dip some out and keep using the same herbs and spices until the flavors all used up.  This is called frugality.  It's been around for centuries and centuries and I certainly am not claiming credit for it.  Merely, as my skills in the kitchen develop, I am recognizing ways to use all my ingredients to their fullest potential.
   Anyway, here's the rough recipe (I still don't measure everything) for the lovely beverage I'm enjoying.  This post was originally going to be about a roasted grape, goat cheese, and proscuitto pizza we made recently, but it somehow took a different turn.  Life can be funny that way.  The pizza post will wait.

-One small pot water
-Smallish chunk of fresh ginger cut into smaller chunks
-Some peppercorns.  Like, a half teaspoon or something
-A couple bay leaves
-Some cinnamon.  Stick if you got it!
-Whatever else sounds nice.  I threw in some sage

Boil all this up until it smells nice.  Ladle some into your favorite mug.  My favorite mug is a lovely mulberry color and the glaze is all swirly!  Top off the pot and bring to a boil again.  This recipe is technically supposed to steep for a few hours, but I wanted it now.  Put a healthy spoonful of honey into your mug.  I'm lucky enough to have picked up some local honey at the farmer's market outside my work.  Add a dash of cream.  Enjoy!

     This recipe was taken from another blogger named Shaye Elliot.  A homesteader from somewhere in Washington who just does all kinds of cool stuff.  We don't know each other, but we may actually be soul sisters.  You'll notice that my recipe lacks all-spice and cloves.  I lack all-spice at the moment and flat out did not read the recipe that well and missed the cloves.  My recipe has sage because I like sage.  This is a cup of tea, not rocket science.  Make what you love and relax!
     I also want to clarify a couple points on my sidebar as to other things that have changed for me.  Currently, our apartment has its own washer and dryer.  This experience is just as wonderful as I expected.  It's real swell not to hoard my quarters or have to trudge a block or two through snow drifts to wash my sheets.  Also, I now own a culinary torch and have used it on occasion to make creme brulee.  This experience is also as wonderful as I expected it to be.  I love creme brulee and that's a fact.  My culinary torch has also been utilized for toasting cheese on top of French onion soup, bruleeing sugar on a lemon tart, and (my current favorite) roasting marshmallows for s'mores.  I eat so many s'mores.

A Spectacular Failure

    

 Look.  Look at those pretty jars all lined up filled to the brim with pretty pink pickles.  These jars are filled with pickled watermelon rind and I canned them myself.
     I first had pickled watermelon rinds as a garnish to an amazing dinner at Imperial in southwest Portland (http://www.imperialpdx.com/#welcome).  My dinner consisted of fried rabbit (Think chicken fried rabbit.  This was the first time I've ever had rabbit and, let me tell you, I'm a fan) atop a semolina corn cake along with said watermelon rind pickles and big ol' chunks of some real good bacon.  It was served with a cute little pitcher of local honey and a teeny tiny bottle of housemade hot sauce to drizzle over the fried rabbit.  Dang, it was all good.  I may have licked the honey pitcher...  Accompanying my meal with seriously the one of the best cocktails I have ever had:  A Radish Walks into a Bar.  From their menu: Carpano Antica vermouth, Ransom Old Tom gin, radish gastrique, lemon, cracked pepper & salt.  What the heck?  I don't even like gin that much!  This cocktail was probably made with Voodoo magic, it was so good.  Many times, when I experience some delightful food or drink, I tell myself, "Hey, you need to try making this at home."  I don't think I can attempt this drink at home.  I don't even understand what all the words involved mean.  Something from that meaI I was determined to nail was those watermelon rind pickles.  They had a nice spiciness to them and were oh-so-crisp!  By chance, I had happened to pick up the America's Test Kitchen DIY cookbook from work.  I don't remember why I decided I needed this book.  Maybe I wanted to try their yogurt recipe or something.  Anyway, this book has a recipe for a crisp spiced watermelon rind pickle!  It even has cardamom in it!  I love cardamom.  It's a delicious sounding recipe.  I made the pickles and let them sit for the prescribed 10 days.  Maybe only 9.  I get impatient.  After a bunch of days, I cracked open my first jar of watermelon rind pickles and had a sample.  These pickles are, without a doubt, completely inedible.
     Where did I got wrong, you ask?  They look so lovely, after all, with their cute little labels and all.  Let me count the ways I totally messed up this recipe.

1.  I casually skimmed the recipe and then picked up supplies.  Oh, I need a watermelon you say?  Guess I'll pick out a big one.  After carefully paring this gigantic watermelon and salting the peeled rind, I take a look at the yield of this recipe.  Four pints, you say?  I filled up my largest bowl with watermelon rinds and still had leftover rind for days.  I check the recipe again.  I needed a 4-5 pound watermelon.  I estimate that the watermelon I had so carefully chosen and prepared weighed closer to 10 pounds.  No matter!  A quick run to the store for more jars and rice vinegar and I will soon have more pickles than I know what to do with.

2.  A key step after salting the rinds and letting them sit for a day is to then thoroughly rinse them.  This was my downfall.  This poorly executed step is what ruined my carefully made pickles.  That one bite I managed made my mouth pucker and my tongue burn for about 10 minutes afterward.  Too salty!  My fiance was standing behind me when I cracked the first jar and asked how they were.  "Try them," I managed with an almost straight face.  He did not care for the pickles.  I shared this story with a coworker.  Apparently saltiness is a big problem people run into when they first try pickling.  You can definitely call me a beginner pickler.  I shall rinse thoroughly in the future.  I will also cut off more of the watermelon flesh.  These pickles were a little mushy for me.  Nothing to do with the saltiness.  Just another observation of future improvements.

3.  I need canning tongs.  This lack of equipment had no effect on my pickles overall.  It was just a huge pain trying to lift jars in and out of boiling water first thing in the morning using regular metal tongs.  I will be acquiring canning tongs in the future.

     Overall, this was really only half a failure.  I had never canned anything before in my entire life and, frankly, was kind of nervous to do so.  Fears of busted jars and botulism have held me back far too long.  No longer!  Aside from splattering myself with boiling water, my canning efforts turned out just perfect.  Shortly after removing the jars from their processing bath, I could hear the pop!  pop!  of the lids fully sealing.  Six of the seven jars and still beautifully sealed on my shelves until I get around to popping open the lids and emptying them into the compost bin.  Yes, I will can again.  I will probably even try this recipe again.  Just be sure to rinse thoroughly.

This link is exactly the recipe I used.  http://www.wnyc.org/story/pickled-watermelon-rind/

*A note on my photography skills:  I'm not sure they will improve ever.  We'll see.

Catching Up

     It's been a while since I've posted here.  A heck of a long while.  Major things that have happened since last January:  I worked my way up at the kitchen shop from brand new sales associate all the way to Assistant Manager,  I gained over 200 hours of volunteer time as an intern for Oregon Fish and Wildlife Service, and both of my siblings got married.  One in Iowa last summer and one in Cape Cod this summer.  Oh, and the boyfriend I had just started seeing at the beginning of this blog proposed and we're getting married back in Iowa next September!  So yeah, it's been busy and this blog has not received any love at all.  So sorry, little blog and sorry to any readers.  (I know you're out there!  You've told me about yourselves!)
     The cool part is that, while ignoring this blog, I've had the opportunity to explore the amazing food (and beer) Portland has to offer.  Seriously, it's really hard to find bad or even mediocre food here.  The fiance's mother and sister visited last week and, to give you an idea of the kind of food I've been eating, here's everything that we ate in those two days:

-After airport drinks at Pepe-Le-Moko in downtown PDX (pepelemokopdx.com/).  I ordered the Hotel Nacional Special which was lovely, but my future sister-in-law's amaretto sour really stole the show.  We also ordered a charcuterie board.  Charcuterie boards are always good.

-A late not-quite-breakfast the next morning at Coco Donuts (www.cocodonuts.com/).  We live in Sullivan's Gulch in NE Portland and this place is a few blocks from us.  I think I had a glazed buttermilk donut and coffee.  Coffee in Portland is also usually delicious.  At Coco's  I also recommend the lavender glazed donuts and the old fashioned donuts.  Good stuff.

-We then visited the Japanese Garden and Rose Garden.  In the interest of time, I'm not getting into the gardens, but trust me that they are beautiful and you definitely need to visit them if you are ever in PDX.  However, after the gardens we all ordered pastrami on rye with Russian dressing from Kenny and Zuke's (http://www.kennyandzukes.com/).  Shut the front door.  This is the best pastrami I have ever had and it could possibly be the best pastrami the world even has to offer.  So smokey.  So tender.  Gah!  From the menu:  cured 7 days, smoked 10 hours, steamed 3 hours.  Pure bliss.  I want to someday try my hand at curing meats and maybe making my own pastrami.  I know I will never reach this level of pastrami, but it might be fun to try.

-A visit to the shops on Alberta means a visit to Salt & Straw for ice cream (saltandstraw.com/).  They've got tons of delicious and wacky flavors that change through the season.  My favorite thus far was a cheddar apple pie ice cream they had last fall.  This time I ordered bone marrow ice cream with smoked bourbon soaked cherries off their farmer's market menu.  I didn't really get much of the bone marrow flavor, but it was still good ice cream.  I'm a sucker for smokey and cherries so they worked for me.

-Dinner at Petisco's (www.petiscopdx.com/).  Also near our home.  This is a lovely hole in the wall.  They do this huge paella night every month.  We have yet to go, but they have their paella pan hanging on the wall and it is gigantic and well seasoned.  After my pastrami sandwich, I went for something light and ordered a salad with proscuitto, roasted figs, goat cheese, and a few baguette slices.  My fiance's mom got some sort of pureed pea ravioli.  I don't remember the details, but it was just lovely.  The table shared a pitcher of white wine sangria with mangos.  It's been hot here lately and that was a welcome cool beverage.

-After dinner drinks at Hale Pele authentic tiki bar (halepele.com/menu/).  This place is just a hoot!  Jungle sounds playing over speakers, bamboo and tiki paraphernalia everywhere, flaming drinks every time you turn around.  One of their bartenders comes into my work to pick stuff up for the bar from time to time and we're now at the point where we can be all "Oh hey!  How's it going?" when we see each other.  I like to think that this means I have an in at Hale Pele and can get a table whenever I want, but honestly they just have excellent service and always have room.  Anyway, the Missionary's Downfall is my favorite drink here.  Light and refreshing and they don't skimp on the mint!

-Day two!  Getting tired of food yet?  Too bad, because this day was a doozy!  The fiance and his family got breakfast at Lovejoy Bakery (lovejoybakers.com/) in the Pearl District.  I did not join them as I filled in a couple hours at work, but I assume that whatever they ate was delicious because everything there is delicious.  I can personally vouch for their macarons, pulled pork sandwiches, and lemon tarts.  I've been there a couple times.  Meanwhile, I grabbed a quick bite of coffee and a gluten-free blueberry muffin at Costello's Travel Cafe behind our apartment (www.costellostravelcaffe.com/).  I don't know how they got the texture of this gluten-free muffin so perfect, but they really just nailed it.  They also sprinkled some rapadura sugar on top before baking which I absolutely will do someday when it's not so hot and I feel like baking muffins.  This place is my go-to for quick breakfasts on my way to work.  I especially love their croissants.  I'm no croissant expert, but these things are buttery and flakey and oh-so-good.

-I joined the rest of the bunch for lunch at Piazza Italia downtown (http://www.piazzaportland.com/language/english/pages/menu.html).  All the workers are Italian.  When not speaking to customers, they are speaking Italian.  The place is hung with soccer jerseys.  It's the most Italian thing I've ever seen.  Complimentary bread and oil/balsamic are on each table.  I ate a lot of bread.  It's just so good!  Big air bubbles and super fluffy with a nice crust.  We actually attempted a dupe of Piazza Italia's Linguine Squarciarella for dinner tonight!  Basically, we made speghetti carbanara out of Silver Spoon with some small adjustments.  We swapped bacon for torn up proscuitto and added diced onions.  We also made homemade linguine using our Kitchenaid and pasta attachments!  This was a first for me and I must say that, for a first timer, this was some pretty good pasta.  Our efforts weren't quite as good as Piazza Italia's, but then again we're not Italian so it's all good as they say.

-We left downtown to peruse the shops in the Alphabet District.  These shops are fancy and fun.  We visited the vintage jewelry store we got my engagement ring from and checked out a house-turned-shop filled to the brim with Polish pottery and about a million other stores.  A snap decision to visit Papa Haydn for macarons turned into full on dessert (www.papahaydn.com/).  I again ordered from the seasonal local menu and ended up with a blackberry cheesecake.  You can't go wrong with this, seriously.  Others ordered a lemon macaron ice cream sandwich that also incorporated cherries and honey, a grasshopper cake (mint and chocolate is always good), and lemon chiffon cake.  The mix of honey and lemon in the macaron was my personal fav.

-More chocolate!  We stopped by Moonstruck from some truffles (http://www.moonstruckchocolate.com/category/portland-23rd-ave).  I got some sort of salted caramel truffle and a lemon macaron.  Seriously, if you've never tried a macaron, go out and do so.  Light but crisp outer shell, creamy filling, and I honestly can't describe the texture of the cookie after you bite into it.  Melt-in-your-mouth overall.

-Back to NE for dinner!  Shandong Northern China cuisine (http://www.shandongportland.com/menu/).  They have the best (and biggest) pot stickers I have ever had in my life.  Just amazing.  The fiance and I shared an order of pork belly fried rice and still had leftovers.  I just discovered pork belly in the last couple years and will order it almost any time I see it on a menu.  My goodness.  Thus ends day two of feasting.

-Breakfast at Costello's again before dropping family off at the airport and heading to work.  After two solid days of eating, I could really eat no more.  I got a light breakfast of Greek yogurt, a bunch of cut up fruit, and housemade granola.  They did not skimp on the granola.  I took some home and topped my breakfast yogurt with it for the next couple of days.  Good stuff.  The fiance got some sort of breakfast panini that included amazing multigrain bread and avocados.  His mom and sister both ordered strawberry waffles.  I tried those waffles and, man, they are on another level.  Seriously, Costello's is just one of my favorite breakfast places ever.  It really helps that I live behind it.

     So, there's that.  I knew we ate a ton, but I am seriously exhausted just from the effort of typing it all out!  Luckily, typing this blog post has given me some time to digest my delicious homemade Italian food and I might be ready for some dessert.  I melted some semi-sweet chocolate and stirred in vanilla (I use the good stuff now!  Like from Madagascar or Mexico or something!) and heavy cream.  It's setting up now in the fridge and will basically be a lazy mock pot-de-creme.  I've eaten some amazing things and have had some spectacular creations (and spectacular failures) in my own kitchen that I should probably write about and my wandering days are still going strong.  Thanks for reading!

*I want to add the disclaimer that I don't necessarily eat like this every day.  That would kill the Molly.  However, I am surrounded by amazing food places.  Petisco's had a mean happy hour special of $6 sandwiches which I often take advantage of if I fail to pack a lunch for work.  Only eat half the sandwich with the salad it comes with and then the next day pack a different side to have with the other half of the sandwich.  My cooking skills are also growing which means I eat better at home.  For example, we seared scallops for the first time last night.  We didn't really know what we were doing, but they turned out amazing!  I whipped up a light salad of shaved fennel and diced apple with a vinaigrette.  It sounds so fancy, but took only about 15 minutes.  So yeah, I definitely don't eat crazy all the time, but I do eat well.  Yay for me!