Gold Garden Seafood Restaurant

I like to go to Gold Garden Seafood restaurant for the "salt & pepper fish" and the "crab soup". The actual names of the dishes are below. 

There is a large sign out front which reads "Gold Coin" but here is the address.

3016 SE 82nd Ave.

Portland, OR 97266

Hours: 7 days a week 11:30 am - 11:00 pm

503-777-3399

The actual name of the dish I like is Pepper & Salted Rock Cod Fillet. 

Some other dishes that are underlined on my take out menu from my last time there are (I am unsure if I have had these or not as I usually go with friends and we eat family style):

Jin Sha Pork Chop 

Chinese Broccoli with Oyster sauce (I usually make this at home)

Dry Sauteed String Beans

Lettuce Wrapped with Shredded Chicken

Crab Meat with Fish Maw Soup (I always get this instead of standard egg drop soup)

El Trompo Red Salsa

This is the recipe for a red salsa I had at El Trompo in Mazatlán Mexico. At the time I couldn't place the chile used and thought it was a cousin to a chipolte. It was only moderately spicy which usually does not appeal to me but I had to have the recipe. This is what I was able to get from the waiter.

Chile Morita (dried)

Tomato sauce

The sauce at El Trompo was very liquidy (is that a word?)

Boil the Morita chilies until soft, mix in the tomato sauce. 

I haven't tried this yet but assume there must be some breakdown of the chilies prior to adding in the tomato sauce. Maybe puree them together? Maybe take the chiles out of the boiled water once soft, puree then add the tomato sauce?

Simple Greek Orzo Salad

My friend Stephenie sent this to me as a coworker has made this a couple of times for work potlucks.  She really likes it as it tastes good and is simple.  

Orzo pasta
Feta cheese
Fresh basil – finely chopped
Cherry or grape tomatoes – split in half

Dressing:
2 – 3 Tablespoons EVOO
Juice of about ½ lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
Salt
Pepper

Note: Measurements are approximate.  Dressing ingredients can be adjusted to taste.
Suggestions: to add Kalamata Olives to the salad

Banana Bread Recipe

I got this recipe from my friend Tran who tasted the finished product some time ago and was made by her co-worker Aileen. I am modifying the recipe to be the way Aileen normally makes it.

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 c. sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 c. buttermilk

2 1/4 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

2 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

3 c. mashed bananas (really ripe bananas)

1 c. chopped nuts

Pre-heat over to 375 degrees, 350 for glass pans. Grease and flour a 9x5x2 baking pan.

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs.

Put the 2 teaspoons of baking soda into the 1 cup of buttermilk, stir. Add to the creamed mixture above.

In a separate bowl, sift flour and salt, add baking powder. Add to creamed mixture.

Stir in the mashed bananas. Stir in nuts.

Put in greased and floured pan. Bake for an hour. check at 50 minutes using a toothpick. When the toothpick comes out clean, the bread is done. It usually takes at least 60 minutes. You might want to cover the bread with foil so it doesn't burn the top. Do this AFTER you have the bread as brown as you want it on top (at about 50 minutes). 

This recipe works well if you want to double it so you have two loaves of Banana Bread.

Ken's Pizza

I was at a function last Thursday night and I thought I wrote down all of the the restaurant suggestions but my phone doesn't seem to have the note any longer. :( The good news is I remember one suggestion. A man named Ali suggested Ken's Pizza as a must. 

I really must try this place out soon.

http://www.kensartisan.com/pizza.html 

Ohhhh the Coffee

Earlier this month I invited myself down to my friends house for a girls night of chatting, drinks, and watching the final episodes of Battlestar Galactica. While there she gave me some wonderful coffee. I have known for some time that she is a coffee snob but she simply lives too far away (1 hour drive) for me to participate in her coffee habit on a regular basis.

But while I was there this last trip I realized what I am missing. The coffee was from Coffee Emergency and it was the Guatemalan Palo Alto Azul. It was great!! It seems I like my coffee stronger than she does and I also like it black. I am not beyond drinking coffee with milk (I prefer soy) and other wonderful flavorings but I also like to the taste of really good coffee without all of the other stuff. 

Here is a link to her blog as it refers to coffee. I will be going over these posts to learn more about not only buying good coffee but also how best to process it. 

http://rhienelleth.livejournal.com/tag/coffee 

The other good news about coffee is the APICS Portland Chapter is going to do a plant tour of Stumptown Roasters in Portland. The good news is there will be a tasting! I have got to get the time off work to go. This will be a good start in researching coffee in the local area.  Here is the info for the tour if you are interested in participating.

Location: 
Stumptown Coffee Roasters
4525 SE Division St.
Portland, OR 97206

Date: May 15th from 1-3pm

Standard Cost:
Members: $5
Non-members: $8
Students: $3