Never too early for Lipitor.

In news that makes my heart sing but causes my arteries shriek in terror, Pine State Biscuits, the amazing southern sandwich outfit that started out as a vendor at the Portland Farmer's Market, opened up their location on Alberta Street this morning, dangerously close to our house. It's a 6 minute walk. Oh. Shit.

Why all of this cholesterol-related anxiety, you ask? Let me introduce you to the Reggie:

A piece of fried chicken, bacon, a slice of Tillamook cheddar, and homemade sausage gravy in a buttermilk biscuit. I know, it sounds absurd, and it sort of is. But sweet Jesus, is it delicious. I'm not the only person that thinks so - every Saturday the line at the farmer's market is at least 25 people deep, and the sandwich has been featured on the Food Network, in Esquire, etc. And this isn't even the end of the story - you can make your Reggie "deluxe" by adding a fried egg.

The new restaurant space is really well-done, and I'm so excited to add it to my neighborhood loop. Maybe once every two weeks. The 2.5 Reggies per month plan. Good thing it's close to my gym, too. Feel free to hold an intervention if you notice I've transitioned to elastic waistbands and support hose.

Food. Asian Food.

Hey, have I mentioned that I recently went on a trip to Southeast Asia? Yes? Many times? OK. Just let me tell you about what I put in my face while I was there. Then I'll stop. Maybe.

I know it will make me sound like a silly Westerner, but I think the most satisfying meal I had on the trip was Pad Thai that I bought from a street vendor on Khao San Road in Bangkok. I picked out the variety of noodle and ingredients I wanted (chicken, eggs, and shrimp were the options, I went with the first two) and then watched as the street chef tossed it all together over the skillet with some mystery sauce. I grinned like a shithead while she handed it to me, seasoned it to my liking with crushed peanuts and red pepper flakes, then I plopped down on a curb behind her cart, and commenced shoving it into my face, until it was gone. I wake up in the night, thinking about that meal.

It's probably no surprise that the pho in Vietnam ruined me for all future stateside beef noodle soup encounters. And what's sad is I think even Vietnam's fast pho beat out my hometown standby. But the version that all others will from now on fall short of came from a little place called Pho Gia, just a couple blocks away from where we were staying. The broth was fragrant, the noodles were wide and homemade, the beef tender, the veggies fresh... OH MY GOD I WANT SOME NOW. Pho is actually breakfast in Vietnam, which meant that I usually accompanied it with a Cafe Sua da - some high-octane French coffee cut with sweetened condensed milk, over ice. After the first one I was convinced I'd left my body. (There was some jet lag involved, too.)

In Vietnam, the pho certainly stole the show in my eyes, but I can't write a post about food and not mention the elephant ear fish that I had at a home stay in the Mekong Delta. Extra points for presentation.

So. Confession time. I didn't give Malaysia a fair shake when it came to their native cuisine. I ate at Pizza Hut. Twice. In my defense, I also climbed a mountain there. Which is my default excuse for a lot of questionable Borneo behavior. Like mixing Chinese cooking liquor with Coke, referring to it as "shandy" and drinking it almost every evening because we didn't realize it was... Chinese cooking liquor. Did I mention I climbed a mountain? Yep, totally playing the mountain card.

But as hard as I tried to evade any hint of culture, I managed to stumble upon a traditional Malaysian breakfast: Laksa. Not to be outdone by the Vietnamese in the breakfast department, the fine people of Borneo start the day with this spicy peanut soup with chicken, shrimp, and rice noodles. And that black thing in the background is iced coffee, sans condensed milk. Get it with milk.

OK, here I am, still talking - but there's so much more I haven't even touched on! Like the inch-think pancake in Koh Lanta with the bananas inside, and the smoothies! The pomelo and jackfruit, the red bean ice cream! Not to mention the fantastic Indian food I had in Saigon, and the curries in Thailand! I could go on and on. But I'll do my best to stop. Or at least mix it up a bit. No promises.

What the pho?

Vietnam, you are wild. It's been a week now, and my experiences here have ranged from the amazing, like this photo of the best pho anyone will ever eat in their lifetime - to the baffling - What do you mean, we can't get on this plane to Thailand because Beardy's passport expires in three months? We wanted a genuine experience, and we're getting it. In the meantime, I guess we'll just have to wait for the appropriate paperwork and eat more amazing pho. Oh! And let's not forget about those ridiculous little croissants filled with ham and cheese. Thank you, France. And Thailand, you're going to have to try harder than this to keep me out. I'm coming for you.

Berries. More of them.

We've entered phase 2 of Oregon berry splendor, which marks the arrival raspberries and blueberries to the party. In celebration of this, I went berry picking for the first time, and it was sooo much fun. What took me this long, I have no idea. It combines some of my favorite pastimes: standing in fields, touching berries, sunshine, and thrift.

After spending a couple of hours at the Sauvie Island Farms U-Pick, we ended up with over 5 pounds of blueberries and raspberries. (For $10!) I've got big plans for these little fruits.

I froze most of them, laying them out on a cookie sheet in the freezer for a few hours before bagging them up, but set aside some blueberries to use right away to test drive a recipe from a new cookbook that I'm really excited about: The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook. During the epic camping trip I went on earlier this year, I got to experience this place in the flesh, and it blew my mind.

So far, the cookbook has delivered the same results. I followed their scone recipe, and whipped up some of the blueberry variety. They were fantastic, if you like butter. And if you don't, you really don't have any business reading this blog.

Scones via Big Sur Bakery:

1 cup fresh berries
1 cup (2 sticks!) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tb. baking powder
2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t kosher salt
2 Tb. vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup turbinado sugar

About 2 hours before making the scones, scatter the berries on a cookie sheet and pop them in the freezer. Put the cubed butter, flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl, and but this in the freezer too, for 30 minutes. Put your baking rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using a pastry cutter, work the chilled ingredients together in the bowl until the butter cubes are the size of peas, and make a little well in the center. Combine the vanilla and buttermilk together in a separate bowl, then pour it into the well. Mix this up with a wooden spoon to form a shaggy mass, then add the frozen berries and gently mix them in, trying not to crush them.

To shape the scones, place a 3-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter on one corner of the baking sheet, then take a handful of dough and press it into the cutter, patting it down so the top of the scone is flat. Pull the cutter off the sheet, leaving the scone behind, and repeat, keeping the scones well-spaced; they just about double in size. Sprinkle the tops with the turbinado sugar and bake for 15 - 20 minutes - until they're golden brown along the sides but still tender inside. Transfer them to a cooling rack and wait 10 minutes before gobbling.

Redemption, via Scones!

The magic is back.

Funny how one small culinary victory can blow the wind right back into your sails. But I really have to hand it to myself - these little buggers are delicious.

I based my biscuits off of a recipe from Bon Appetit that I found on Epicurious, but I am a deviant. And I daresay that my variations substantially upped the quality of the final result.

Cranberry Orange Pecan Scones

3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup chopped pecans

1 cup chilled half and half

Orange Glaze (just whisk it all together)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 375. Sift together all the dry ingredients, add orange peel. Add chunks o' butter and blend with your fingers until a coarse meal forms. Add cranberries and pecans. Mix 'er up. Gradually add cream and toss with a fork until you get some doughy clumps.

Turn dough onto floured surface, and knead it until it binds, but not too much. About 5 turns will do it. Form dough into a 1/2-ish inch thick square. Or rectangle. Who are we kidding.

Slice into triangles or get creative. I bought a square cookie cutter, and then just cut those diagonally instead of trying to carve out freestyle wedges. Pop them in the oven for about 15 minutes. But keep your eyes peeled. I am at the mercy of a confused, elderly oven and I'm not sure how 21st century hot boxes behave. Take them out when they're getting brown on top.

I made one mistake. My glaze wasn't thick enough, and was less of a frosting, and more of a varnish. It soaked into my scones more so than coated them. You win some, you lose some. I still ate 13 of them. It made them shiny.

Thank you scones, for giving me back my baking confidence. Now I am off to make a torte, or flan or something that involves wielding a creme brulee torch! Just kidding. I'll be making lots and lot of scones.

Nannerpus

This kills me. I almost fell off the elliptical machine at the gym.