pine state buscuits

the japan trip column is currently a work in progress, i am trying to constantly work on it. it is taking a lot more time than i thought it would because i have to recall all the things i ate, the little stories behind each, and try to recollect the tastes and thoughts i had about those particular foods. i have a mildly bad memory and i tend to be one of those people who needs a reminder so it will take me a little while:-p IN THE MEAN TIME...i thought i would write about this place. PINE STATE BISCUITS. so jen, the wonderful girl that she is, took us here when russ was in town, but i didn't bring my camera, i know major fail on my part! but luckily i got to go back today and this place was just as great as i remember. obviously from the name its a biscuit place, but my oh my is it so much more than that!! this place serves biscuits that are like "crack on a plate!" that's how one of my friends described it after i took him here for his going away brunch. not only do they have two types of gravy, sausage and mushroom, but their friend chicken was a top pick for bon apetit! and believe me, i got the chicken this time around!!

there are two pine state biscuit locations, this particular one is in southeast portland and i believe is the smaller of the two, seating is limited and is on a first come first serve basis. the walls are all decorated with different pieces of art, mostly comical to a certain extent, but the overall feel is of a mini-diner. we ordered our food at the counter and sat down in anticipation.

 while we waited we took a peek at the other things on the menu...

hehe "the wedgie"...

we also sipped on our sweet teas, i didn't get one of these the last time i was there, BIG MISTAKE. i tried some of jen's and i wanted one of my own!! the huge glass jars as glasses was a personal fave of mine! love the details!! FINALLY my name was called!!^_^

my pine state fried club: trio of fried grit cakes topped with(from left) country ham with white cheddar inside, fried chicken and spiced honey, and finally a fried green tomato with a pimento cheese sauce. no biscuits, i know but it just sounded to good to pass up!

this is my friends, he got the moneyball: biscuit and gravy topped with an egg over easy. drooooooool^_^

needless to say we were happy. my grit cakes mixed with the trio of different toppings just made my tummy happy!! the ham and cheddar were a perfect pairing, and the spicy honey really made the fried chicken even better!! the fried green tomato was...a lot to handle!! the spicy pimento sauce and the perfectly fried green tomato...i wish i had another!! i also got to try my friends biscuit, his biscuit was perfect and flaky, the gravy not to strong or over powering, perfectly seasoned and a great addition to the already amazing biscuit!! 

apparently pine state has a stand at the portland saturday market, the line is rumored to always be 50+, now i can easily see why!! pine state biscuits i love you!!

flipping is the hardest part...

i had been wanting to make this cake for hmm...ever since i had first had it about 2 years ago when my aunt liane had first visited us in washington. she had made it for us, and i remember thinking "i have a NEW love for pineapple upside down cake!!" couldn't stop eating it and before we knew it it was gone! for some reason i was absent minded and never got the recipe from her. so when she had come this time around i was determined. however, because of my hectic work schedule i had missed it this past time as well:-p i was begining to think that it would never be, that i would never have yummy pineapple upside down cake again. luckily my aunt was gracious enough to send me the base recipe. in addition to this base recipe i also found a recipe my sister had given my mom, so i kinda combined the two and this is what i got:

the basic ingredients for this appetizing cake:

2 T butter

1/2 c brown sugar

1 can drained pineapple (reserve a little less than 1/2 c. for later)

maraschino cherries de-stemmed and halved 

Batter: 

1 1/4 c. flour

1 c. sugar

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1 1/2 t. salt

3/4 c. milk (this is also the part i played with. i kinda mixed the milk and the reserved pineapple "water" just to give it more flavor, but its really up to you)

1/3 c. oil

1 t. vanilla extract

 using a 9 to 10 inch cast iron pan (or cake pan either way, i prefer the cast iron, but if you don't have it works perfectly well without it) melt the butter over a medium heat. if you aren't using a cast iron pan i would use the pre-heated oven to melt and brown your butter a bit. 

i love browning butter, it just smells fatty...but in a GOOOOOD WAY! once it has gotten to a golden brown color add the 1/2 cup of brown sugar and mix until slightly dissolved. 

while the butter is browning halve your cherries and prepare your pineapple to place in the pan once the butter and sugar mixture has dissolved. 

 cook slightly, about 2 min tops. then remove from heat and leave on the side. 

next, combine all the batter ingredients in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer. 

SLOWLY pour batter over prepared pineapples and cherries, if they float to the top for any reason try to push them back down. i had this problem that is why i emphasize SLOWLY. 

bake at 350 degrees for about 35-40 min. or until the top of the cake is golden brown. 

remove from the oven and let stand for about 5 min. using an oven mit, and/or help in my, case flip cake over on a plate. if some pineapples or cherries stick to pan just reposition on cake.

and there it is, the finished product. so glittery and gratifyingly good!! my workers ate it all up^_^ another success!!

 all in all totally worth the wait, and even though the flipping was the hardest part, i have to say its so nice to bite into a piece of this cake because the crunchy edge of the moist cake mixed with the tangy pineapple and cherry just made it so worth the looooong wait! i have another can of pineapple in the pantry so i may have to make another just for me!! 

a slice of havana

(thank you andy s. from yelp for this picture)

i know, i know i am so behind on all my blogging. i think the hardest thing about keeping up a blog is finding the time to actually KEEP IT UP!! but i am a work in progress when it comes to this, so bear with me while i get back in my groove^_^ i recently got back from japan (and you know i have some amazing food pics from that trip!! don't worry those posts will be coming along as well^_^) so i have a lot to catch up on...including sleep! 

well, back to the purpose of this entry...PAMBICHE!! a little slice of havana on the sidewalks of portland, oregon. my old roommate, brittney, came into town to interview for a job, and she demanded (as only she would) that we have dinner. who am i to say no to a woman who was my guide through the horrors of my freshmen year of college at UH Manoa. so i picked her up after a barrage of back anf forth texts about where and when we should eat, we both somehow picked Pambiche. i'd like to think she and i are just in sync that way! so i picked her up from her hotel, and made sure to bring along my garmin (seriously the best purchase if you move ANYWHERE in the mainland). so we set off on our little food adventure about town. When we got to pambiche i couldn't help but think that this place was going to be goooood! the colorful paint, the outdoor umbrellas, the people sitting outside enjoying a sangria or two. it just oozed of spicy south america in my mind.  we sat down and started checking out the drinks first of course!

the menu: a nod to the havana flag

our yummy palm beach coolers: made with white wine, selected fruit, and finished with fresh mint and a small stalk of sugar cane^_^ brittney and i couldn't stop gnawing on the sugar cane, it was so sweet and added great flavor to the taste of the cooler!

we finally decided after the waitress coming back and forth multiple times, due to the fact that we didn't know what a lot of things on the menu were and also because we got caught up in catching up, we kept forgetting that we had to order>_<

my plato cubano: consisting of adobo marinated roast pork, served with cuban red beans (which also has pieces of pork in it, you see where i am going with this??), and rice. finished off with yuca con mojo, which basically is a kind of potato starch found in south america and consistently used in cuban dishes. this particular yuca was served with a delicious garlic sauce...yum!

this is brittney and her food: she got vaca frita. this dish consisted of citrus marinated shredded beef char grilled with garlic and onions. she actually got a mixture of beans and rice with maduros or plantains on the side. 

so we literally gobbled our food up, and shared in between. brittney's beef was delicious, the citrus flavors the garlic, all just makes my mouth water to think about it now. my yuca...AMAZING!! sorry i have a thing for fries or anything fry-like! so i was in heaven. the pork, not to memorable for me particularly, maybe it was too saucey or something...but the beans were yumm-o and i did finish all of those! after we digested and continued to gnaw on our sugar cane it was time for dessert...

as usher, the musical artist has so eloquently put it "OH MY GOD!" behold the TORTA DOMINO: white chocolate mocha cake soaked with kahlua coffee liqueur and cafe cubano, filled with chocolate canela mousse and glazed with oaxacan chocolate ganache; finished with a white chocolate domino and served with crema chantilly and ice cream. the words just roll off your tongue into a whole lotta drool over this baby. it was perfect, the mixture of coffee and cake with the addition the cool vanilla ice cream and chocolate covered coffee beans with their crunch, just gave it the best feeling in your mouth. it was an excellent way to finish off dinner. and i was content^_^ 

i found out that they have an in house pastry chef who specifically develops these desserts for pambiche. i thought that was a great idea and addition to the overall sultry feeling of the place. if you ever make it to portland, this would definitely be a place i would suggest to any of my friends for a good place to relax and eat some great food!