What We Ate: Teriyaki & Udon

udon

Monday night, Eli made us some delicious chicken legs and wings in a teriyaki sauce he rustled up, first dredging the chicken in a little flour, then broiling them, and then lightly sautéing them in the sauce. He also made up some simple udon for us, some of our favorite noodles.

chicken in teriyaki sauce

Varenyky, part 2: Dough

cooked varenyky

Schatzi: Since my little Black & Decker food processor crapped out, I ended up making the dough in our Kitchen-Aid, but it still turned out fine. The dough was really easy to work with; Eli called it “beautiful,” and speculated on further uses for it. It rolled out like a dream on my floured butcher-block surface, only sticking to the pin once or twice. We used an empty small Adam’s Peanut Butter jar to cut out the circles, Eli taking over cutting out after the first batch. This was a great activity for us as a couple; usually one or the other of us is in the kitchen, but it was great working as a team to cut and fill our varenyky. Because we were so busy getting them cut, filled, and sealed before the dough dried out, I didn’t take any pix of that process. next time! I might use a slightly larger cutter when making them again, since there was not a lot of room for filling, but that also might be something that comes with experience. While we frantically cut and filled, I had water boiling away on the stove.

Varenyky, part 1: Fillings

blueberry filling cooking

Schatzi: One of the things I most enjoy about the Orthodox holiday feasts is branching out and trying new, exotic recipes and techniques. Honestly, it was cooking for Orthodox dinners that got me out of my baking rut; before we started having these dinners, I baked cakes and cookies, and pretty much nothing else. I rarely if ever cooked with meat, but my first Orthodox Christmas, I made Chicken Kiev. It turned out very well, giving me the confidence to continue branching out, and since then, I have made all kinds of things, for Orthodox feasts and everyday cooking.

One personal bete noir for me has always been dough. It was always my mother’s job to make and roll out the gingerbread dough at Christmas, and my older sister Malia’s job to bake fantastic pies, so I avoided any dough that needed to be rolled out. One Thanksgiving in high school, I tried baking a molasses crust pumpkin tart, and burst into tears when trying to roll the dough out for the crust. Mom took over, and it turned out beautifully, but I hadn’t touched a rolling pin since then. However, Maiya got me a beautiful Sil-Rol French-style rolling pin for this past Christmas, and I would have felt awful if I never used it. This Orthodox Easter, I was determined to make varenyky.

You may also know them as vareniki, kalduny, pyrohy, or pierogi; the filled dumplings are ubiquitous in Eastern European food, both sweet and savory. There are differences between the many varieties, but essentially they are thin dough dumplings filled with a variety of meats, cheeses, or fruits. As usual, I followed recipes from Please to the Table, making minor adjustments as needed, although I completely winged the blueberry recipe. To save time on Easter morning (though dinner was not scheduled until five), I made two fillings the night before, potato-cheese and blueberry. Since potatoes were not widespread in Ukraine until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, I used a purple-topped turnip and two Yukon Golds, which made a tasty filling. I waited til just before making the dough to cook the onions, and simply folded the refrigerated seasoned cheesy potato-turnip mixture into the hot butter and onions, which warmed it up perfectly for the filling process.

What We Ate: On the Oregon Coast

view south from Ecola State Park

Schatzi: Since Eli had only been to the Oregon Coast once since he’d moved here, we decided to make a short jaunt over my Spring Break. We drove out to Astoria down Highway 30, where we had lunch at the Fort George Brewery & Public House at Malia’s recommendation. She especially recommended the fish and chips, so we had to try them. However, on seeing that they were albacore rather than halibut or cod, we had our doubts, especially Eli, who almost ordered something else. Thank goodness we did order them, because those albacore fish and chips were by far the best fish and chips I have ever had. The tuna was perfectly cooked, moist and juicy, and the batter–oh, the batter! No matter how much lemon and malt vinegar I slathered on, the batter did not get soggy and fall off the fish. It was crisp on the outside, with perfect adherence to the fish. The chips were pretty good, too. I also had some nice beer, Divinity, a raspberry re-fermented wit, and the Bourbon Barrel Cavatica Stout. However, we did have some concerns about the rest of the menu, after seeing their description of jambalaya. Jambalaya is not served on a bed of basmati, people! The rice is cooked in the sauce at the end of the cooking process. I learned to make jambalaya from Letty Leftwich of Louisiana (I cannot make this stuff up), and she would never countenance such a practice.

albacore fish & chips at the Fort George

What We Ate: Siam Thai Cuisine

chicken satay (they also have pork!)

Schatzi: This last term, I had a partially-online-meet-once-every-two-weeks class out at PCC Rock Creek (part of PSU’s Extended Studies program). It happened to be HIST 495, a major requirement which I have been trying to take for ages, but most of the offerings have been terrible. For the convenience of the mostly online part, and because it was actually a topic that interested me for once (Cross-Cultural Encounters in the Classical and Pre-Modern World), I was willing to go out to Rock Creek (that’s in farthest Hillsboro, you know. I didn’t.) once a fortnight for class. While out there, sometimes Eli and I would have dinner at Siam, since it was nearby.

Siam is a nice little place with a pleasant interior, and prompt, friendly service. Everyone there was friendly and helpful every time we went, a consistency of service that is difficult to reach. Bonus points for free refills on Thai iced teas, which many restaurants do not offer. We only have pictures from one excursion there, but every curry we have tried was delicious, as were stand-bys such as pad thai and pad see eiw.

Siam Thai Cuisine
18395 NW West Union Rd
Hillsboro, OR 97229
(503)617-9402

yellow curry with chicken

pad thai