McMenamin’s Edgefield

I spent last night at the Edgefield, a McMenamin’s complex in Troutdale, Oregon.

And by complex I mean an estate covered with pub/restaurants and teeny hidden bars and a “spa” heated mineral pool, with a huge lodge style hotel in the center. It’s often described as an adult theme park because their liquor license covers the whole property, so you can wander from bar to bar (to poolroom to soaking pool) with drink in hand, gorging yourself on local beers, semi-local food, and occasionally creative cocktails.

I had a delectable artisanal cheese platter during happy hour at the Black Rabbit bar in the lodge, and that was the only interesting eating experience. (The mesquite salmon Caesar at the Power Station pub was inoffensively blah.) That’s ok, we were there to get drunk, and we did – slowly. They mix their drinks extra-weak, which by my 8th or 9th seemed like a pretty smart idea.

The beer is McMenamin’s, which translates to decent but nothing standout in the modern world of microbrews and exotic beers. Some of the liquor was from the McMenamin’s distiller, and insofar as I could taste the liquor itself, it also seemed… fine.

I had two standout cocktails: The Bourbon Furnace, made up of bourbon, hot apple cider, honey, and a cinnamon stick. They managed to make this barely sweet and very bourbon-licious, in spite of not being terribly strong. The other was the Screwhound, a mix of a Greyhound (grapefruit + vodka) and Screwdriver (orange + vodka). What made this amazing? All the juice was fresh-squeezed in front of me right into the mixer.

My conclusion? Like most McMenamin’s, go for the company, and consume the food and drink while you’re there. It’s nothing to write home about.

Eggplant Tomato Rigatoni

We still had half an eggplant leftover from the Ratatouille, so last night I decided to try out a RealSimple recipe for Rigatoni with Sautéed Eggplant and Tomato (key ingredients are in the title plus fresh mint) with a side of A’s delicious Caesar salad and some crunchy garlic bread. With help, it took about 35 minutes of continuous activity. Alone, I would have prepped the pasta ingredients, then gotten the bread all the way to the baking stage before starting to cook anything else.

Helpful additional notes: I followed RealSimple’s recipe for crispy garlic bread rather than use my old technique (baking minced garlic and butter straight into the bread), and really liked it. Infusing olive oil with garlic then brushing it on bread was definitely a better way to get the flavor thoroughly distributed. I only wish I’d cut the bread so it had more surface area for better oil saturation.

Things I would or did change: We only had half an eggplant, and I’m glad I didn’t use more. It would have been overwhelming. I also added the parmesan in the recipe to the whole pasta bowl when I mixed in the mint and then offered more parmesan for garnish, which helped the flavor/texture. The texture would have been even better had I peeled the eggplant. I also would have used fresh basil instead of fresh mint. Yes, they’re very different flavors, but I think that the basil would have complemented the vegetables better. And, finally, it might have benefited from either some tomato paste or canned crushed tomatoes to make the sauce just a little bit more saucy.

Review: Eh. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t overwhelmingly delicious. (Except A’s Caesar. He makes a mean Caesar. Some time I’ll put the recipe up here.) It was an easy way to use up the rest of the eggplant and have leftovers.

Would I make it again? If I had some ingredients lying around and was feeling lazy, probably. Wouldn’t go out of my way for it though.

Ratatouille

eggplant zucchini onions peppers tomatoes Ratatouille is a French Provençal vegetable stew, recently made famous by an adorable Pixar movie. Since I’m moving toward cooking vegetarian during the week (mostly), and the cold warrants some hearty meals, I thought I’d give this one a try. It also happens to be vegan (until you garnish with cheese).

I used this recipe from Epicurious on Tuesday, January 5, 2010. Key ingredients are eggplant, zucchini, onion, green bell pepper, garlic, tomato, and parsley and the whole process took me about 90 minutes of continuous activity.

Helpful additional notes: To peel tomatoes, cut a small slit in the skin and then throw them in boiling water for a few seconds to a minute. They’re ready as soon as the skin starts to split. Believe it or not, I had never peeled a tomato before.

Things I would or did change: In the winter, when tomatoes are less juicy, I would not fully seed the tomatoes. I had trouble getting them to juice. Leaving all the seeds in would make it difficult to boil down to a stew, so next time I’d compromise by doing a lazy job of seeding them (leaving some in). I also served it with grated cheese as a condiment, which worked really well to make it a little more complex, and a side of baguette for sopping up the juices.

Review: This dish isn’t going to win me any presentation prizes (see that green-grayish lump in the pot above), but it was surprisingly tasty. It calls for salt & pepper at several stages, and don’t skimp on any of them – those simple spices did an incredible job of boosting the flavor of the vegetables.

Would I make it again? Yes, for a veggie-loving crowd.