Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Eating Portland part deux
I think interviews went okay today, but I always feel like I’m either blathering or too quiet. For this interview, I tried to err on the side of too quiet. Perhaps it’s like the early stages of a romance, when mystery is a good thing, so that your date is free to imagine anything she likes about you. Blathering ruins the mystery.
On the other hand, I blathered like hell on my first date with Karen, and she still married me. It must have been especially entertaining blather.
We dined at an upscale joint tonight. I’m not sure my salad is on that menu. Spinach, check; roasted beets, check; Walla Walla onions? I don’t think so! And there was blue cheese, too. Tasty salad.
For dinner, I had the Petrale Sole, also not on that menu. It’s hard to pay attention to the food when you’re focused on staying engaged and looking like you have two neurons to rub together, but my sole was excellent. Tender flesh, thin crisp crust (perhaps from a thin layer of flour and finely ground bread crumbs, but dammit I really wasn’t paying attention, so I’ll never manage to replicate it!), side of sauteed root vegetables, a nice pilaf beneath, and a saffron beurre blanc. Yes, I would return.
Good food. Good company.
I’m catching the red eye tomorrow: 6:20 AM. Folks in the department tell me that TSA doesn’t even show up until 5, so there’s no point getting there two hours early. I’ll get up at 4:30 . . . that should give me plenty of time.
Waiting game follows.
D.
Roasted beets – they’ve got to be better than canned! How does one prepare roasted beets?
A slow cooker works really well for roasting beets: trim them, season with salt and pepper (optional: drizzle with a little olive oil), wrap in foil, and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Quick google reveals that most folks recommend peeling and quartering prior to roasting (typically 30 min in a 350F to 375F oven). I’ve never tried it that way, but I suspect such treatment might dry out your beets.
I roast them whole, in the skin, about 40 min to an hour at 400F. I line a baking dish with foil and I wrap the beets in foil. The beets are done when you can easily pierce them with a skewer.
After roasting, you need to peel them quickly, gingerly, before they cool. It’s harder to peel them after they cool. Then you can slice and dice ’em however you please, season with salt and pepper, dress with olive oil, perhaps a balsamic vinaigrette, that sort of thing. Let them cool a bit first. If I remember correctly, it’s sort of like letting roasted meat rest before slicing: if you wait for the beets to cool a bit first, they’ll keep more of their juice.
Incidentally, beets have more than enough pigment to stain fingers, clothing . . . and urine. Always a good idea when you think you’re peeing blood to first ask yourself, “Did I just eat a beet?”
Sounds great, ps!