Dinner with an Architect

photo: AFO Publication, 2007

Sorry for not posting anything recently.  Studio has been taking over my life.  So has work.  But guess what... I'm 3 weeks out from the end!  (... and the beginning!!)  Since I haven't cooked anything in a while (other than make some late-night cookie dough to nosh on last night), I've had a little time to reflect on how I want this blog to continue.

Stumbling upon a publication from the Architecture Foundation of Oregon at work today for their 2011 Dinner with an Architect  series, I suddenly got an idea... what if I combine my two passions a little more closely?  I'm going to try and relate food and architecture more.  How do buildings inspire meals?  How does food make me feel about architecture?  What kinds of materials, details, and spaces say, "eat me"?  Constructing a recipe is similar to constructing a building; tastes and aesthetics must jive.  Hopefully I'll have time to try this out sometime soon!  What do you think?

A quick note about AFO... This is an awesome organization that advocates for the built environment.  If you're interested in supporting them, or having dinner with an Architect in Oregon, head on over to their website.

Okay, back to the grind.

Breakfast of champions. Spring Veggie Exploration: Rhubarb

No matter how swamped with school we are, weekend breakfasts are something we do without fail.  Even if its a quick meal of bacon and eggs, we savor the times when we can sleep in and eat.  Portland residents love brunch and it shows by the amount of "good", and packed, brunch restaurants here.  Its a real treat to have someone visit from out of town so we can go and show off our favorite weekend digs.  On a normal weekend, however, we as students neither have the time to wait and hour for a table, nor the money to shell out for a delicious feast out every weekend.  ... but this doesn't mean that we can't eat like champions every weekend.

In the flurry of moving on Saturday, Nick and I only had an hour to shop, cook, and eat.  My fall-back breakfast items include the quick Bisquick pancakes that we've been making since I was a little kid.  These fluffy round discs have gone through a multitude of toppings, and as I've grown up, so have my choices.  (I am no longer smearing melted chocolate chips on everything.)  I have been wanting to try a rhubarb dish, and this seemed like my perfect opportunity.  Quick and easy has been my motto lately, and this compote definitely stood up to the fancy breakfast we were craving.

Considered a vegetable, Rhubarb tastes the best cooked down like a fruit.  Its tartness pairs well with the likes of apples, pears, and many berries.  BonAppetit.com has a great article about it here.

This was my first rhubarb dish and first time attempting a fruit compote.  I was amazed at how easy it was. I also didn't realize how much the rhubarb would cook down, and thus my thin (1/8") slices fell apart and turned to mush.  Like choosing a material palette for a building, I'm learning a little about ingredient intuition and how certain flavors come together.  Here's this meal's bleuprint.


Pancakes with a Maple Apple Rhubarb Compote
Pancake recipe from Betty Crocker, Makes 6 large Pancakes

2 cups Original Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs


Heat a skillet to medium.  Grease with butter, whisk ingredients together and pour onto skillet.  Eat, enjoy!

photo: amy perenchio

Compote Recipe by Amy Perenchio, Serves: 2

1 Large Stalk Rhubarb
1/2 Apple (I used a Pink Lady)
1 Tablespoon Butter
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup


Roughly chop the Rhubarb (1/2" pieces or larger), and dice the apple.  Melt butter into a warmed skillet on medium heat.  Throw in fruit.  Cook down for 2-3 minutes and add the sugar, cinnamon, and syrup.  Turn up the heat and boil until fruit becomes soft.  About 7 minutes total.  Eat, enjoy!

photo: amy perenchio

This meal could be made to be gluten-free by using a gluten-free pancake mix.

Late night snack: Peanut Butter Cookies

Working from home and craving something sweet, I decided to whip up a batch of cookies.  My only issue?  I was all out of flour and the grocery stores were closed.  Then I remembered that my close friend, Jen makes flour-less peanut butter cookies.  These easy to make, soft, sweet little nuggets don't disappoint!  Here's their bleuprint.

Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe from Jen Millikan, adapted from AllRecipes.com, Makes: 1 Dozen Cookies

1 Cup Peanut Butter 

(Try to get a peanut butter that only has peanuts and sea salt as ingredients.  Stay away from anything with hydrogenated oils.  I used crunchy Maranatha Peanut Butter.)

1 Cup Granulated White Sugar
1 Egg

Pre-heat oven to 350F

photo: amy perenchio

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

photo: amy perenchio

Roll out into balls, place onto a greased baking sheet (I was out of parchment paper too!).  Flatten with a fork.

photo: amy perenchio

Bake for 6-8 minutes.  Eat, enjoy!

photo: amy perenchio

Spring is here! Veggie Exploration: Fennel

In this last month of work on my thesis project, I am determined to cook more.  "How can one do that with so little time, energy, and sleep," you ask?  I'm wondering the same thing...  my hope is that this will provide just enough distraction and procrastination for me to really buckle down and do so while being well fed.

With the amount of goodies to be found at the farmers markets these days, I am determined to learn how to work with the many wonderful spring and summer veggies that are out there.  Today I begin with fennel...

This wonderful herb has hints of anise flavors and used in a variety of ways (including absinthe!).  Its seeds can be used as a spice (see: Fennel and Sage Crusted Pork Tenderloin), while the bulb is used as a vegetable.  The first time I fell in love with its fresh summer flavors was last summer when I was living in Rome.  It was prepared simply in a chopped salad with olive oil and lemon juice.

My version of a fennel citrus salad, crunchy and divine, served with a quick and easy lemon butter baked halibut steak made my night feel like spring.  Here's this meal's bleuprint.

photo: amy perenchio

Fennel Citrus Salad
Recipe by Amy Perenchio, Serves: 2

1 large fennel bulb
1 large grapefruit (You can sub this out for an orange, but the grapefruit at City Market looked too good to pass up.)
1/2 Lemon

Slice the white bulb of the fennel as thinly as possible.  I just use a knife to do this, but I think there are fancier tools (mandoline) out there to make perfectly thin slices.  Rip a few leaves off of the fennel stalk and roughly chop.  Place both the slices and the leaves into a mixing bowl.  Roll the lemon on counter, slice in half and juice one half into the bowl.  Be careful to catch all seeds.  Slice the grapefruit and put into bowl.  Gently toss.  Eat, enjoy!



Easy-Bake Lemon Butter Halibut
Recipe by Amy Perenchio, Serves: 1

1 Halibut Steak
1/2 Lemon
1 Tbs. Butter
Lemon Pepper (Salt Free)
Kosher Salt

Pre-heat oven to 450F.

While oven is warming, put butter in a glass baking dish and put into the oven until melted.  Remove from oven.  Rub steak with mixture of lemon pepper and kosher salt.

I use the Spice Hunter's Salt Free Lemon Pepper so that I am in control of how salty my dish ends up.

photo: amy perenchio

Place halibut steak into baking dish to coat with butter and flip so that both sides are coated evenly.  Slice a single slice from the half of lemon and place on the steak.  Squeeze the remaining half over the fish.  Bake 4-6 minutes per 1/2 inch of thickness of fish.  Mine took 12 minutes total.  Eat, enjoy!

photo: amy perenchio

Please note:  To ensure that everything in this dish is gluten-free, please make sure the lemon pepper you are using is gluten-free as well.

A very belated post about belated birthday cupcakes.

I knew that I'd fall behind in posting once school started up again for Winter Quarter... I didn't, however, know how little cooking at home I would be able to do.  It is a pretty awful thought to think that I've only cooked a handful of times over the past 4 months.  (Yes I just admitted that...)  As a grad student, in the middle of a thesis project, I have let things slide in order to keep enough time and momentum going for schoolwork.  Have no fear though... the one thing that I am looking forward to after graduation is cooking; cooking to be healthy and cooking to maintain a budget.  Although it is 4 months later, I want to post this as the slow restart of my blog.

Birthdays are something that we celebrate every year.  In Nick's case, we celebrate his birthday on the day we celebrate the upcoming year, New Years Eve.  While I was unable to bake him something on his actual birthday, I wanted to make something sweet for him when we got back to Portland after the holidays.

With a request for something with chocolate, I looked into my arsenal of recipes and knew just what to make... Terry's Rocky Road Cake

Living at Delta Gamma at Washington State University, I was grateful (and lucky) to have a chef, make me two meals a day.  I'd like to blame him for some of the weight I gained those years... but I couldn't help but go for seconds (and thirds!) when the chocolate cake night rolled around.  Alas, I think its me and that damn chocolate goodness that I couldn't get away from.  Since I was curious about food and wanted to learn a few tricks, Terry taught me a few things in the kitchen and how to bake his wonderful bread.  He also gave me this family recipe, which creates the most moist chocolate cake I've ever had.  I've converted it into cupcakes for this occasion, but I personally think its best as a sheet cake.  Thanks for all of the fond food memories, Terry, you really made my time at the sorority wonderful!  Here's the recipe and bleuprint.


Willma's Rocky Road Cake / Cupcakes
Recipe courtesy of Terry, head Chef at Delta Gamma, Makes: 2 Dozen Cup Cakes or One Cake

1 Box Chocolate Cake Mix
4 Eggs
1 Cup Mayo (The Real Stuff)
1 Cup Water
2 Cups Chocolate Chips
2 Large Handfuls of Minny Marshmallows
1 Cup Nuts (Optional, I don't remember the cake at Delta Gamma having it.)


Pre-heat to 350F.


Mix cake mix, stir in goodies, bake until done.  Eat, Enjoy!

Photo: Amy Perenchio