This memorial weekend, we’re heading to our favorite getaway – Portland, Oregon. Have a great weekend, eat a lot and enjoy this mix. This compilation has songs from various artists such as Broken Social Scene, Crystal Castles, Generationals, Gorillaz, LCD Soundsystem, Littlejoy and many more.
WonderTune Portland Deux (Sendspace)
WonderTune Portland Deux (Zshare)
WonderTune Portland Deux (Mediafire)
When I think about it, it’s only been 9 years since I started eating seafood again. Before that, I was on a nearly 18-year hiatus from eating seafood due in part to a bad food poisoning incident and being a picky kid. And when I was able to take down my first sushi after so long, new doors to weight gaining opened up and I was loving life. Now, I really can’t imagine having a meal without seafood. There’s a reason why the french refer to seafood as “fruits of the sea”, and they sure are. Abundance and variety allow us to eat copious amounts of it, as though we’re doing a favor by keeping them from overpopulating the sea. But we do stay away from over-fished things like tuna, and Jeni and I try to follow this Seafood Watch guide provided by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. With McCall’s Meat and Fish Co. providing a very nice selection of seafood, our love for seafood was taken to another level of aquatic heaven.
Rather than the usual coursed dinner, we thought it would be fun to do a hands-on East Coast seafood “bake”. Also in the style of the local favorite, Boiling Crab. We had just come back from a trip to Boston and enjoyed eating at a delicious tapas place called Toro, which inspired me to try cooking more Spanish style food. And thanks to great Spanish food purveyors like La Española in Harbor City (South Bay), we had access to essential ingredients for Spanish cooking.
One. I used garlic, shallots, leftover English shelling peas for color, Pamplona Spanish chorizo and canned piquillo peppers. Piquillo peppers are actually chilis found in Spain that when roasted take on a deeper and sweeter taste like roasted red peppers. They are used in tapas, for braising and making sauces. I love these things. A little salt and olive oil and you’re in Spain. I first discovered Pamplona Chorizo at the Silver Lake Cheese store and loved it for its nice sustaining spice kick. When I saw how much cheaper it was at La Española, I just bought the whole MF’r. Great for appetizers and for sauteing.
Two. I had Nathan McCall order these in for me and he was kind enough to reserve the squid ink sac for us too. Cut off the “wings” and slice them up. With calamari, you want the nice rings.
Three. Jeni used to work at Sanrio if you couldn’t tell. Along with the menu, she depicts our guests on a boat large enough for them, leaving me stranded on what looks like the tiniest island in the world, or maybe an oil barrel. I’m also holding a frying pan and sword like a crazy person. Her clams and mussels are actually housing for little children. The shrimp and the monkfish are scary too.
One. It’s important to note that dish, as much as you would like to, can not be cooked in one pot at the same time. All the proteins have different textures that require various cooking times. For the shrimp, I kept them shell on because I actually love the taste the shell gives off when grilling or sauteing. But in my case, I basically punished them on a skillet that I left on high for nearly 10 minutes. The guests were concerned by the smoke building up as they could only see the lower half of my body as I was cooking. With a skillet that hot, you really only need to cook the shrimp on one side for about 3-4 mins, and flip over one last minute. Once you take it off the skillet, it is STILL cooking. If you overcook shrimp, it really doesn’t taste good anymore. Keep the shell on as it holds in juices.
“Spanish Shrimp” Marinade Recipe (for 4 people)
- 2.5 lbs of shrimp (i like 16-20 count sized shrimp)
- 2-3 rosemary sprigs
- 5-6 thyme sprigs
- 2-3 tblsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tblsp. cayenne
- 1 tblsp. cumin
- 1 tblsp. salt
- extra virgin olive oil
This is a starting ground because I don’t know what you’re looking for. It’s best to mix all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and add as much olive oil as you need to make a “sludge”. You need enough to coat the shrimp and mix it well. It’s very important to take a test drive first to see what it tastes like. Eat the spices off the shell and crack it open. I found myself adding way more smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne and salt. Adjust accordingly and you’ll be happy. I marinated these overnight and flipped them around in the morning. You can actually cook them after 15-30 minutes.
Two. This is my first time working with a dried Spanish pepper called a ñora (nuh-yo-ruh). It’s a round, pudgy pepper that comes dry and needs to be reconstituted in warm water. I treated this much like a chili de arbol and used it for sauteing along with garlic, shallots and Pamplona chorizo. Soak it in some warm water for 15-20 minutes and remove any seeds. Chop it up and saute with it.
Three. Using the same marinade for the shrimp, I quickly tossed the calamari rings in the mixture. These don’t really need to sit overnight. But the key to making good calamari is high heat and a quick hand. I had my skillet running for at least 10 minutes on high and tossed them in. Using my tongs I quickly moved them around to get a nice sear. Total time: 30 seconds MAX. If you overcook it, you’ll be eating rubber. So make sure you see the flesh change from pink to white and take it out immediately.
Four. The Spanish are known for their mastery in canning. Due to fresh ingredients and excellent olive oil, you’ll be happy knowing that you won’t be tasting aluminum much like a lot of canned food. I threw in some anchovy-stuffed olives which were so good. Also with the piquillo peppers, I reserved the juice for sauteing – don’t waste that liquid gold!
Ok. So now that you’ve got your shrimp and calamari cooked, it’s time to make the base for steaming clams and mussels.
Dylan’s “Spanish Style” Seafood Base
- 5-6 garlic cloves smashed
- 3-4 large shallots sliced
- handful of quartered Pamplona chorizo
- handful of English shelling peas
- small jar of piquillo peppers (roughly chopped, juice reserved)
- 1/2 can of Spanish olives (I used anchovy-stuffed green olives)
- 2 dried ñora peppers (soaked), or a handful of Chili de Arbol
- 1 bottle of dry white wine
- salt & pepper
- sugar
- 1 stick of butter
- smoked paprika to taste
- cayenne pepper to taste
Ok, here we go. On high heat, toss in some olive oil and start sauteing the garlic, shallots, chorizo sausage, peas, piquillo peppers and ñora chilis. It doesn’t really matter about order since you’re going to be making a liquid soon after. After everything is nicely sweated, add some white wine and let the alcohol burn out. Throw in half a stick of butter to create a nice thickness and sheen. If your wine is tasting too sour, add some sugar to balance it out. Add more butter as needed. Add about 2 tablespoons of smoked paprika – there’s nothing wrong with too much smoked paprika because it’s so goddamn tasty.
Once you get your sauce to your liking, it’s time to give the clams and mussels a bath. Dump them both in and stir them around with a wooden spoon to make sure they get some love from that sauce. Because I used a large pan, I took a large baking sheet I had and covered it. Foil works fine but be careful not to burn yourself.
After 4-5 minutes, the majority of clams and mussels should be opened. At this point, it’s critical you mix them around vigorously so that they take in that sauce. Make sure at least 90% of the clams are open and you’re done. Shut off the heat and throw them into a large bowl immediately. Add the nicely punished shrimp and calamari rings to the mix and pour any remaining sauce over them. And get ready to embark on the Sea of Seafood…
Oh. My. For me, I thought this was ridiculous. Not to mention how heavy that bowl was ha. I usually don’t like to serve food in large quantities, but with seafood, it’s a must. We laid out newspapers over the dining table and encouraged our guests to use their hands and eat like cavemen. God gave us hands, not utensils right? I had to say, this meal was fun, delicious and great for a group of 6. I watched as our friends devoured the food and grabbed the wine glass for a drink, not minding the saucy smudge that was imprinted on the glass from their hands.
I watched as our guests created their own pattern of eating seafood. Some would bring the mussels to mouth and drink out all the juice before eating the meat. Some would suck off all the flavoring from the shrimp shell, undress it and redip it back into the buttery sauce. Some just ate the shrimp with the shell on. However you do it, there’s no right or wrong. It’s how eating should be.
Bread plays an important role when it comes to sauces. There’s nothing like using it as a sponge to sop up all the juice.
If there’s one place that warms both Jeni’s and my soul, it’s a place called Portland, Oregon. I love New York City for its fast-paced, aggressive culinary scene and multi-faceted culinary offerings due in part to large populations of ethnic minorities. I love Chicago for its hearty, savory food that strikes the chords and memories for many Americans. But there’s something about Portland that has created waves for us. If you have not been to Portland, I’m sure you have visions of the Jailblazers, flannel-wearing lumberjacks and genius, marijuana-smoking pupils of Reed College. Sure you are correct but you don’t know Portland until you step foot there. In a quadrant-divided city tucked neatly inside a lush green patch of land, progression is happening very fast. When we were there, we encountered the nicest people. Most were locals but many were transplants from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix and Austin. Whether it is for the music or art scene, a lot can be said about the food and cocktails that, in my book, put Portland on the map. Coupled with some perfect strangers named Ron, Kevin and Matt, they welcomed us to their quaint little city and began to engorge us with some of PDX’s best.
A lot of the food we ate was braised meat and farm fresh vegetables – nothing any different from the Los Angeles fare, but there was a difference. The food was bold, but never showy. It was daring, yet modest. It was soulful, but never heavy. No dish really cost over $20 and no cocktail was over $9, which is the price for a cocktail served at one of Portland’s most expensive, Ten 01 Lounge. Portland to me was everything I looked for in food – simple, warm and modest. And a lot can be said about the cocktails stirred and shaken there as well. There’s Ten 01, an attempt at feeling very West Hollywood, but not at all tacky. There’s Clyde Common, the restaurant right next door to the Ace Hotel that serves lovely $5 cocktails during happy hour that should really be $10. And my favorite, The Secret Society – a one room hidden gem above the town-favorite Toro Bravo. It was there that Jeni and I began an appreciation for ginger-based drinks and copper and tin julep cups. I still remember the taste of my first Kentucky Mule – Bourbon, muddled lime and Bundaburg Ginger Beer. Fantastic.
A year later, we still have the stretch marks to prove our thumbs up for Portland. Ron, after 2 years of exploring Portland, moved back down to Los Angeles with an even bigger passion for food and drink. One night, he told us to meet him up at a place called The Tasting Kitchen on Abbot Kinney. Abbot Kinney? The Westside hipster’s boulevard of boutique shops, dispensaries, bookstores, cafes and random eateries. Back in the day, this was my old ad agency’s weekly happy hour hangout. We’d get pizza at Abbot’s, which by the way, is still one of my faves (try the wild mushroom & olive pesto – god). Then we’d head over to the Other Room for some beer and finish off the night at The Brig. Those were good times but besides the 1-Star Michelin awarded Joe’s, I wasn’t familiar with the Abbot Kinney restaurant scene.
But had I known that The Tasting Kitchen was the brainchild of a bunch of Portlanders, I would’ve been here on day one. The captain of the ship is Casey Lane, of ClarkLewis, and offers basically a portal into Portland. But according to Ron, his main reason for coming to TTK is for the cocktails. After an engagement shoot right in the Abbot Kinney area, a drink would suit us right.
We walked into the dimly-lit room that screamed out Dwell magazine more than Portland. Large windows, wooden tables and Mid-Century-esque furniture filled the candle-lit room. We saw Ron at the bar of course and took a seat.
We took a seat at the bar and were greeted by a friendly gentleman that would at the end of the night, would remind us of the good times in Portland. Bartender Justin Pike hails from Clyde Common and most recently, Chef Lane’s ClarkLewis. Dressed in modern “vintage” bartender gear, he passed out menus and clapped his hands together: “What kind of drink can I make for you?” We already knew where this was headed. Behind him was a beautiful artillery of spirits. I asked him how fun it must have been to create your dream bar wish list. I took a look at the cocktail menu with drinks named “Fanny Pack”, “Sophisticated” and “United Nations”. If you’re heavily into the cocktail scene, you’ll immediately sense a difference in style. There seemed to be heavy emphasis on making a cocktail that relied on the natural taste of a spirit, flavoring liquer and super fresh herbs – not so much simple syrup which can be a little much after a while. For me, looking at the menu was like looking at Russian writing – the ingredients were obscure to me and I really had no idea what was going on. It looked like this: bourbon, sajdfjkl;ajsdkl & sjkljklsdfasl. And whether or not you recognize those ingredients, you’re in for some clever chemistry.
But the best part of the menu was not the one we were holding, but a secondary, almost secret menu that Justin Pike offered to you if you knew what you were talking about. Hint: aviator sunglasses, a silver chain, freshly dry-cleaned Ed Hardy silk shirt and sequined, white jeans will win you an Apple Martini. But if you’re dressed like that, that’s probably what you want anyway. He told us that for the first few months, his top cocktail seller was a Cosmopolitan. I’d imagine Pike was pretty frustrated with that. We chose a few drinks off the regular menu but I think the real fun was on the “secret menu” which had even more Russian writing.
Does a cocktail with Zaya 12, Luli Chinato and Nocino make you thirsty?
Or how about a cocktail made from Lairds, Fernet and Hubertus?
Why not finish the night with Noilly Pratt, Torani and Maraschino?
Dizzying right? I can assure you that Pike’s cocktails are outstanding. I learned from cocktail guru, Daniel Djang of Thirsty in LA, that Pike’s craftsmanship has won the approval from some of Los Angeles’s best bartenders – Julian Cox of Rivera and Las Perlas and Eric Alperin of The Varnish and New York’s Milk & Honey. I need to get in the habit of writing down the names of cocktails because literally, things do become blurry. In a delicious way.
My god these were delicious drinks. At about the third drink, we remembered that there was actually food on the menu. Yeah, really. I had no idea that TTK was even an “Italian” restaurant. Or at least a Portland take on pasta which seemed like an usual pairing to begin with. Here’s what we had.
Prosciutto
The bread served here is from La Brea bakery and it is served nice and hot. What would taste better than paper-thin slices of Prosciutto that seem to dissolve over the hot bread and butter. I usually find Prosciutto salty and boring, but this was pleasant.
Tesa Tagliatelle and Hedgehog Mushrooms
In this dish were two things I had never eaten. Tesa is a style of un-smoked pancetta. Hedgehog mushrooms have a sweet and nutty taste to it. One stab of the fork into this freshly-made tagliatelle pasta, and I knew that there was something different. The tagliatelle I usually have is quite thin but this was thick and the texture was awesome. The morsels of pancetta and mushrooms went so well with the pasta and light sprinkling of shaved cheese. I still cannot stop thinking about this pasta and I am putting this up there with Osteria Mozza’s pasta. Until I try Osteria Mamma’s pasta, I’m writing creepy love letters to TTK.
Bucatini Alla Amatriciana
To stop Jeni and I from fighting over the last few bites of the awesome tesa tagliatelle, we made peace and ordered another pasta. I’m not familiar with the 7,418 shapes of pasta, but this one looked to me like long, rubbery drinking straws. Think straight macaroni that has not been cut. These “laces” of pasta caught the sauce nicely. I forgot to mention that this was actually the spiciest pasta I’ve ever eaten. It was heavier on the sauce but nonetheless addicting.
Pork Steak with Polenta & Green Garlic
You don’t usually hear the word “steak” associated with pork, but this was really treated like a steak. Seared off in a pan and thrown in the oven, this is a trans-specie thing going on. A pig that really wants to be a cow. For that reason, you’ll find yourself really enjoying this juicy piece of meat. I liked it, but would stick with what Chef Lane is known for, the pastas.
After 3 hours of food and cocktails, Jeni and I went home talking about it still. What I liked about the food was that it didn’t try to be authentic Italian. It was Portland food with an Italian accent. The pasta acted as a bonding for ingredients you would normally see in Portland-style cuisine. I really can’t explain what it is about the pasta that makes me want to go back already. For me, this restaurant is the cool kid that does his own thing. Confident, yet cordial and humble. He’s definitely not the trend-follower. For whatever reason, this place may be something not to be analyzed but an experience that is to be absorbed. If you’ve never been to Portland, then may the food of Chef Lane and cocktails by Justin Pike convince you that there is more to where they came from. Thanks for reading.
The Tasting Kitchen
1633 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 392-6644
www.thetastingkitchen.com
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