Road Trip Eating

I left town on August 2 and came back August 18 with a day in the middle to get clean clothes. Here are some places to eat if you find yourself driving around the Northwest and a treat in a place you'd never expect:

We flew from Philadelphia to Boise to start off a sightseeing, place collecting, and brewery visiting vacation. I'm becoming more of a foodie and there were some places I had to try then others that were just found along road.

Boise: 10 Barrels Brewpub was the most exceptional turkey sandwich I never had. The fries, because they are super fresh, had a different taste. They also serve fries with fry sauce (1 part ketchup, 2 parts mayo) that is popular in Idaho and Utah.

Pendleton, Oregon, was at Wildhorse Casino Resort. Since it was on a reservation, they had a Native American style in the hotel, casino, and restaurants. We went to the sports bar and I got the $7 Indian taco, a taco on traditional fry bread. It was tasty and really cheap for dinner.

On to Portland, I noticed that Bunk Sandwiches had been visited by several Food Network shows, particularly the location on Morrison. The pork belly cubano is the famous sandwich. It was good but a little fatty. I can only imagine this sandwich, with beautiful thick pork, on a Philadelphia-made hoagie roll.

One of those stumble across places was on the coast in Garibaldi, Oregon. We stopped at the Park Side Coffee House, with five inside tables, one bathroom, and wait staff who knew everyone within 20 miles. I had clam chowder and it was the best I've had outside Boston.

In Seattle, I had Ivar's clam strips at Safeco Field. Safeco has the widest variety of ballpark food I've ever seen. The next night, I threw caution to the wind and gave up the ghost on sushi. We settled on Wasabi Bistro in Belltown because if you're having sushi it has to be fresh and upscale. I trusted the other diners and my waiter, Blake, to make the right selections. They were right, everything was wonderful and I'd even go eat sushi again.

That ended that trip but then it was off to Mom's in Bristol, Tennessee where I found a hidden gem at Abingdon Olive Oil Company with a new tasting room in Bristol, Virginia. They have more than 50 infused oils and balsamics free for the tasting or dipping. I settled on a 375 mL bottle of Tuscan herb. If you are in the area, it is a good way to spend an hour, sniffing and tasting oils and vinegars that are unique.

That's it. It's back to school time then back to Mom's at Christmas time. Back to cooking on Sunday.

July 20 -- Provencal Tuna Melt

I like the tuna melt, until the grease hits rock bottom but this recipe is butter free and only involves the broiler for preheating plus five minutes. I modified the recipe and would modify more if I did it again.

I didn't have all the spices and things so I spiced up a can of tuna with celery seeds, red pepper flakes, and a few twists of the black pepper grinder. I cut the mayonnaise to one heaping teaspoon from two tablespoons. My choice for soft cheese was Havarti along with sourdough bread. It brought together a nice, non-greasy tuna melt along with a caesar salad from a bag.

With sourdough, the bread did not fall apart when I moved it which is a bonus. I sliced it with my pizza cutter into three triangles. All is well with the world.

Next week is the last recipe for a few weeks. I'll be eating road food. Maybe I'll post reviews of the dining options of the Northwest and Appalachian South instead. I already have a few favorites down Virginia into northeastern Tennessee.

July 13 -- Fish Tacos

This was a let's use everything up in the fridge because it was bought two weeks ago kind of meal. I had leftover scallions and tomatoes from the pico for pork and pico on June 29 and they were teetering the edge of no longer being edible. So into the food processor it went. I also had some lettuce shreds and an open bag of Mexican cheese. Plus there was a box with five fish fillets left. Waste not, want not.

I put one fillet, a generous spoonful of pico, some lettuce, and a handful of cheese in a tortilla. Folded it up and put it back in the oven for 5 minutes after the oven was heated to make the fish fillets.

Two fish tacos was enough for me. I also ate one fillet alone and now there are two for dinner during the week.

July 6 -- Crispy Carnitas

I really thought I messed this one up. When the pork roast came out of the oven, it was 7 somewhat charred bricks of meat but underneath that burnt coating was succulent slow roasted pork. Who knew?

A little back story, the best barbecue I've ever had was at Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City, the original one on Vine. It is well worth the wait and it will be a stop when I'm wealthy and I eat my way across the country. I ordered the burnt ends and this carnitas recipe came out like burnt ends using a pork roast instead of ribs.

On to the recipe, I cut my roast into 7 chunks, maybe 2 by 2 inches square and I added the rub as suggested with a little cinnamon sugar since I didn't have a cinnamon stick. I also left out the bay leaf because I don't have any on hand. I put in my water and did as I was told. I only touched the pot once. Maybe I should have added more water with a half hour to go but I didn't. I just let it cook.

I figured I'd be wrapping the carnitas in a tortilla with cheese and some tomatoes but instead I dipped it in Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce and paired it with a caesar salad.

June 29 -- Pork and Pico

I went back to pork ribs tonight with a little pico wrapped in a tortilla. I took the pork ribs and seasoned them. I threw them in the oven for an hour at 300 for a nice slow cook.

While they were cooking, I put three plum tomatoes, four green onions, and two cloves of garlic in the food processor to make fresh pico de gallo.

The pork and pico were wrapped in tortillas for dinner. Nothing too exciting but an easy meal.

June 22 -- Ravioli Lasagna

I make about one lasagna a year because it takes a while to construct and cook. Lasagna was a suggestion last night but everybody makes lasagna. It's not unique, but with ravioli, that's different.

I took one package of ground beef, browned and drained as the ravioli boiled. Then I greased a casserole with olive oil and layered ravioli at the bottom, put on a layer of meat, sauce, and mozzarella, then repeated the layers. Into the oven for 40 minutes at 375 and it was done. It made a lot of food, good for the week when I don't feel like cooking after camp.

June 15 -- Leftovers... so a side of risotto

As the party wound down last night, we realized there were 15 uneaten chicken parmigiana left in the chafing dish. They brought out plenty of containers and I was the lucky recipient of two pieces of chicken along with roasted potatoes and the string bean mix. This would present a problem, what should I cook for my adoring readers?

Phyllis, who is an excellent 4th grade teacher and an excellent cook too, told me "risotto is easy" after I found a kit on a one week sale at Aldi in the early spring. I found the last container of arborio rice at Pathmark and went to down. A little arborio goes a long way in risotto and I'm going to have fun with this one.

I did the arborio the way I was told. Chicken broth after you slightly roast the rice in butter and oil, 2 minutes. You put 3 cups of broth in a pot and bring it to a boil. Drop in your rice. After the rice soaks up the broth, pour on one more cup and let that simmer until it's all soaked up.

While soaking, go to town with your food processor. Tonight was parsley, garlic, and a bit of green onion from last week's dish. I poured in a half cup of parmesan and topped with a few turns of milled black pepper. As with every time I make rice, there is a ton left over so that will be a side this week. I am thinking a bit of chicken chopped into chunks.

This recipe was the basis for my cooking this week.