Monthly Archive for January, 2009

Page 3 of 6

Restaurant Review: P.F. Chang’s

Happy Year of the Ox! In honor of the Chinese New Year, I decided to review our one Chinese restaurant on the restaurant list. P.F. Chang’s is a restaurant chain and the Portland Oregon branch is in the Pearl, about a block away from Powell’s on Couch. It is large, popular, and always seems to be 85% full.

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Our Executive Researcher, Sienna, was out of town visiting her family, so I had to go it alone. I’m going to apologize because the food photos aren’t up to my usual standards. I was sitting at the bar with not one, not two, but three bartenders watching me. As a result I felt conspicuous taking photos of my food with a camera, so I covertly used my phone instead.

P.F. Changs has a completely separate gluten-free menu. It is very brief, and strangely omits all beef and pork dishes, but there’s enough on it that most people will probably be able to find something they want to eat. They even have a gluten-free appetizer, soup and a dessert. They also have a full bar.

I started with some Egg Drop Soup, which was a little salty for my taste, but the flavor was right. For my entree, I got the Lemon Chicken. The chicken comes breaded, which was a nice surprise, and is served with brocolli and thin slices of lemon. The whole dish smelled like garlic when they brought it out, which got me excited. Unfortunately, besides the garlic, the flavor of the dish was a little underwhelming. The chicken was done right, but I found myself eating the chicken with the lemon slices to provide flavor. Also the brocolli was overdone. At some point, I got to an area where the chicken had enough sauce on it, and suddenly BAM it was good. So the sauce is good they just need to hit all of the chicken with it. (Doh!)

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I finished the meal with their gluten-free dessert, the Flourless Chocolate Dome. This is a seriously chocolatey confection served with raspberry sauce and fresh berries. Imagine a quarter-inch thick piece of chocolate cake with something akin to a piece of fudge on top. I didn’t manage to make it through the whole thing, but I liked it.

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Notes from a second visit:
P.F. Chang’s has gluten-free soy sauce they can bring to your table. Our rice was dry like it had been left out and then microwaved. The Singapore Street Noodles are awesome! Very much like fried rice but with rice noodles. The Spicy Chicken is good but suffers from the same problem I had with the Lemon Chicken and that is: Not enough sauce. Maybe I should ask for extra sauce next time.

To wrap it up, I think P.F. Chang’s is a good place to get Americanized Chinese Food. I’ve eaten there before and I would go there again. Another nice thing about P.F. Chang’s is that they have their nutritional info available. When I was finished, the bartender brought me a fortune cookie, but he didn’t know if it was gluten-free or not. I figured it wasn’t, but I still broke it open to get my fortune. It said: “Your efforts in a critical area will soon be rewarded.” That sounds good to me!

Times we have visited: 3 (So we feel pretty good about our rating)
Overall rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Price compared to “regular”: Same price. Most dishes are around $12.

P.F. Changs
1139 NW Couch St.
Portland, Oregon 97209

Published on January 26, 2009 in Restaurant Review. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Gluten-Free Cooking: Fried Chicken or Fish Recipe

One of our friends recently commented that we should start including more basic information that would be helpful for people who are just starting to learn how to get around the kitchen without gluten. In this article, I’ll talk about a simple substitution that we have found works wonderfully when you want to fry up some chicken or a piece of fish. I hope it isn’t confusing presenting two different dishes with instructions together. Really, making one is basically the same as the other. The only difference really is the marinades and cooking times.

Simple Gluten-Free Fried Chicken or Fish

Don’t miss the vegan alternative at the end. Good for two chicken breasts or two tilapia fillets. Feeds about four.

Breading for Either Fish or Chicken
3 Tbsp Garbanzo and Fava Bean Flour
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper (or to taste)
pinch salt

Chicken Marinade
1 Tbsp Dry Cooking Sherry or wine
1/2 tsp Canola Oil

Fish Marinade
1/2 tsp Canola Oil
Juice of 1/2 Lime or Lemon (save other half for squeezing over fish at table.)

Marinading is really key, so get the meat in the marinade first thing. If you’re making chicken, you’ll want to butterfly the breasts before marinating. While the meat marinates, mix up the breading and cut up some veggies. Pour the marinade over the meat in a container. Flip once or twice while marinating. Leave at least 15 minutes. A couple minutes before you’re ready to cook the meat, put a frying pan on the burner to pre-heat it. Cook on medium heat, or a little less if the chicken pieces are thick.

Once the pan is hot, add about a tablespoon of canola oil and let that heat up. Spread about half of your breading on a plate and dip the chicken or fish into it, coating evenly. Add more breading to the plate as needed to coat everything. Fry in the pan 3-5 minutes for the fish, or 5-9 minutes for the chicken. Flip the meat every two or three minutes during cooking.

Alternative #1: Cut fish or chicken into sandwich patty sized pieces (about 3-4 oz each.) Then bread, fry, and serve as a sandwich with your favorite gluten-free bread, a slice of tomato, a piece of lettuce, and plenty of mayonnaise. Yeah! There is nothing in the world like a fried fish sandwich.

Alternative #2: Make “tenders” by cutting the breasts or fish up into bite-sized pieces before breading them. To bread them, put the breading and the cut up chicken or fish into a lidded container, and shake well. Provide gluten-free dipping sauces at the table.

Vegan Alternative: Cut tofu into 3/8 inch slices. For added texture with tofu, you can freeze it overnight and put back in the fridge to thaw in the morning. Then wrap tofu in a towel and gently press to squeeze out moisture. Marinate at least 30 minutes in 3 Tbsp gluten-free soy sauce, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, and 2 cloves pressed garlic. Add 1/4 tsp ground ginger if desired. Then bread and fry. Serve with sauteed mushrooms!

Fried Tilapia

Published on January 25, 2009 in Recipes. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Gluten-Free Product Review – Nana’s Chocolate Crunch Cookie

Those of you who are aware of the origin of our current poll will know that it started with an awful cookie. The time has come to unmask the cookie in question, which was bought at our local New Seasons Market. Here’s our review:

We have a love-hate relationship with gluten free and vegan products. I have eaten many delicious vegan cakes and cookies. I have not eaten many good gluten-free and vegan cakes or cookies. This is a fact that I hope will change some day.

As for the Nana’s cookie, it tastes like something that was extruded and freeze-dried instead of something that was stirred, formed into a cookie, and baked. I do think these have a target audience. While doing a little research for this review I noticed that this is a popular cookie. If you like Twinkies and Ding-Dongs, or fakey packaged cookies, you might like this cookie. And I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with liking snack cakes or fakey packaged cookies. I’m just sayin’…

You might like this cookie and it's OK with me.

You might like this cookie and it's OK with me.

Overall rating: 1 out of 5 stars
Price compared to “regular”: Same price I guess.

Nana’s Chocolate Crunch Cookie

Published on January 22, 2009 in Product Review. 1 Comment Tags: , , .






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