Things & Stuff
We scooted down to Portabla to pick up brunch.
Eggs benedict with turkey meatloaf and delicious hollandaise…
Ham, cheese and fried egg sandwich (look at that lovely cheese! And Roux in the background hoping for a bite)…
Perfect with mimosas for watching the World Cup! (Roux is eyeing Justin’s mimosa.)
Justin chose the Netherlands before the Cup started, and I had chosen Spain. So here we are, both of our teams in the finals, trying to be civil while cheering on our teams. (Viva España!!)
A few days ago I trekked up to the north end of Austin to try Chen’s Noodle House. Chen’s specializes in knife-cut noodles, a dish from the Shanxi province of China. I am soooo glad I made the trip… these homemade noodles are worth it!
Mr. Chen hand-cuts the noodles as they are ordered. He does this so quickly and deftly. See that rectangular-shaped knife? He just whips it across that ball of dough, and shavings of noodle peel right into the pot of boiling water.
The noodles can be stir-fried or served up in a soup. Of course I tried both. 🙂
The menu is pretty small and manageable. Actually, so is the restaurant. There are maybe 10 tables in there, so you may have to wait for a seat.
I got my order to go and ate it at the office, since I was running short on time.
I tried the leek pie, which was a lovely buttery pastry stuffed with Chinese leeks. It was made a thousand times better by dipping in the chile oil that was packaged on the side.
These are the stir-fried noodles, tossed with pork, carrots, bell peppers, and bok choy.
This is the beef soup… at the restaurant, it’s served in huge bowls, but for take-out, the broth and noodles are packaged separately. There was no way I’d find a bowl big enough for both… so I just ladled a bit of the broth and a bit of the noodles into a small bowl. The broth is well-seasoned and aromatic with cilantro; the slices of beef were thin and tender, and the noodles… oh! The noodles! They’re chewy and thick and wonderful.
I’d definitely recommend eating at the restaurant if you can… fresh noodles just don’t keep well. I took the leftovers home for dinner that night, but the noodles had soaked up too much liquid, and were gummy and overcooked. Eat them fresh! I’ll be going back to Chen’s for sure… I’d love to try the lamb noodle soup next. 🙂
Internets! Why, oh why have I not been to Portabla before? I drive past it all the time. Heck, I walk past it all the time. And yet I’ve never stopped in. Until today.
I decided it was high time to see what this cute little place was about. And lo! It’s about amazingly prepared, crazy-delicious food, ready for you to tote home. It’s about friendly staff and really good vegan cookies. It’s about:
A chicken salad sandwich made with local, all-natural chicken, celery, onion, cranberries, almonds and mayo on sourdough bread.
A Mediterranean panini stuffed with artichokes, olives, pesto and chicken. The bread is crispy-chewy, toasted but not scorched.
A Santa Fe panini, stuffed with house-roasted turkey (that actually tasted like turkey), bacon, avocado, pepperoncini and chipotle mayo. I could not believe how wonderful the turkey breast tasted.
A vegetable-goat cheese empanada, full of well-seasoned mushrooms and spinach, with the thickest, flakiest, most tender and delicious crust EVER.
Buttery, chewy-crisp cookies, one with chocolate and pecans, the other vegan, and so surprisingly buttery-tasting.
They’ve just started serving brunch on the weekends, and I think I’ll have to stop by very soon. I saw lox with capers and creme fraiche on the menu, as well as eggs benedict made with meatloaf instead of Canadian bacon. I can’t wait!
Hola internets! Here’s a 5-minute video mashup of our weekend, if you’re at all interested (and I completely understand if you’re not). 🙂
So I’m slowly learning how to use iMovie… next I have to figure out how to SPEAK LOUDLY so the microphone picks up what I’m saying. I’ve increased the microphone volume as high as it will go, but it’s still hard to hear some of it. Maybe next time.
Also, can I just say that it is SO HARD for me to post this, with myself actually talking in the video? I much prefer being behind the camera! I’m forcing myself to post it, though, so that eventually (hopefully) I will be more accepting of my voice and face and hair and such. 🙂
4th of July Weekend from Crystal Esquivel on Vimeo.
Today I went to Whole Foods after work and bought entirely too many veggies and fruits… they’re just so pretty! I assembled this delicious no-cook dinner:
A caprese salad (fresh-pulled mozzarella, basil, local heirloom tomatoes, olive oil, salt and crushed black pepper), some tubs from the olive bar (Castelvetrano olives, peppadews, and artichoke pesto), some Italian bread, and slices of sweet Galia melon. It was so refreshing and lovely.
This weekend:
All in all, a good weekend. I was ridiculously tired and took lots of naps, but still managed to get a large chunk of our laundry done, so I’m calling it a good weekend. I did video a few things, but I haven’t had time/energy to put it all together in a film for you. Soon. Maybe. 🙂