Multi-colored radishes that are picture perfect for salads and oblong 
Baby broccoli greens, which the farmer said were only around for 3 weeks. 
The dark wrappers are around beef with a fresh chili salsa, the lighter ones are chicken with green chili, and sorry to say to those who can't have them, they are the best f*cking tamales I have ever had! The fillings were excellent, moist and full of hot, mouth tingling flavor, and the masa was moist and not too dense. Door-to-door tamale salesmen....life just keeps getting better!!
In keeping with the "simple cooking" theme of the last post, I was reminded of how easy my entertaining life used to be as I was uploading the picture above. Before I fancied myself a sort of culinary explorer, one who was sure that any proper gathering needed some new and interesting route to satisfy the appetites of my friends, the deli aisle in the grocery store provided unlimited pleasures. Back then in my Paleolithic cooking era when I wouldn't even know how to turn on a food processor and was sure that if I did own such an extravagance that the little blade was just biding its time, waiting to add a new and gruesome dimension to whatever else might be thrown into the mixing bowl, a tub of hummus and some sliced bread for appetizers was considered high living. Why would I consider making my own salsa fresca when some multi-national corporation had so thoughtfully prepackaged some for me and priced it so attractively? And Tillamook sharp cheddar, at a premium price I might add, was just the thing to throw on some Triscuits (a current guilty pleasure I have not yet put behind me and has also been considered "dinner").
I'm not saying that cooking is simple. I mean, simple is doing your multiplication tables, frying an egg, or taking out three pirates in a bobbing boat in the ocean at dusk. There was a time before I got the cooking bug when I would go to some Thai joint and absolutely marvel at the flavors and wonder how they jammed so much complexity into the bowl. It seemed almost magical, and something I couldn't ever imagine doing myself. That is one of the things I love most about exploring cooking....learning that some of the most interesting, deliciously full flavors come from the simplest of ingredients and quickest cooking methods. Last night was yet another classic example. w and I were both in the mood for something light after a(nother) weekend of overindulgence. I was at work with no idea what to make, and started checking out epicurious, inserting different search terms looking for inspiration. Shrimp was sounding good, curry always makes us happy, and suddenly, thanks to the scientific genius that is Al Gore's invention of the internet, this popped up on my screen. Simple? Check out that ingredient list. Fast? Put your rice on and by the time it is done you will have completed your prep and have this steaming bowl of Thai goodness in front of you. Is cooking simple? Apparently so!
It started with a journey and ended up with ten very full bellies and a little peek at life on the farm. This was my kind of Easter dinner! An hour drive out to our friends Clare and Brian's farm (that seemed to end just before the fiddle music kicked in Deliverance-style) for a group dinner with a bunch of food and wine lovin' people sharing, laughing, and indulging in some amazing food and wine around the Big Table turned into what we wish all holiday meals could be. Here's a bit of what transpired....
Then it was back inside for work I DO understand, consuming copious quantities of deliciousness, where you can taste the love in each bite. Brian and Clare somehow found the time away from the animals to make homemade ravioli stuffed with ricotta, caramelized onions and pine nuts which were heavenly. Their homemade pasta (of course made with their own own eggs) was perfect. So much flavor and texture, a beautiful cream yellow color from farm fresh egg yolks.
Then the highlight of the night was Brian's 5-day brined corned beef, which was maybe the best I've ever had. So tender, with incredible flavor, and only made better with sides of potato gratin (made with spuds from Chris and Amy's Square Peg Farm) and fresh spring asparagus and Brian's aoili.
An excellent quartet of essays for the cocktail set on the last installment of the NYT's "Last Call" blog. Click here to work your thirst up!
Somewhere in Spain a pig is hobbling along on three legs so that I could enjoy the porky pieces of love pictured above. Not just any three legged pig mind you, but a chubby hog who was destined to become jamon iberico, the product from these acorn lovin' bristly haired beasts. These pigs have an odd affinity for acorns, and that is what gives them their, yes, slightly nutty flavor. Jamon iberico was only recently allowed import into the U.S., and all I can say is it's about time! My sis brought over five thin slices of this...gulp...$100 a pound treasure. $9 worth of cured pork. How was it? Deliciously deep in aroma and flavor, more so than most prosciutto, a little gamier (in a good, more complex way) with perfect texture. I've had it before, but last night's bits that came from PDX's Foster and Dobbs was the best I've had. It's a lot to pay, but is worth throwing down a couple of bucks for a slice or two just to experience ham like no other. You're worth it, I promise. If not for yourself, then for that cute little pig who gave up a quarter of his mobility so that you might eat better.
I've been following the news (and his twitter feeds) about the opening of ex-Albina Press barista 
star Billy Wilson's new coffee place, appropriately named Barista, that opened in late February in the "Pearl" here in PDX. The buzz is Wilson takes his coffee very seriously, offering three different beans form US roasters who are equally commited. When I stopped in our own Stumptown was representing, along with Chicago's Intelligentsia Coffee and Sonoma County's Ecco Caffé. The space itself is small, but with tables right outside the door in the building lobby, there's plenty of room to handle your soon-to-be induced buzz. His equipment lets you know that Wilson is the cool coffee kid with the toys that other baristas would drool over, including a line of three vacuum pots (below right) for brewing the perfect cup. My own personal coffee standard is a double cappucino with that perfect
foam/coffee balance. the only acceptable one I've found so far is at Caffé Umbria, also in the "Pearl". So you know i was on it, and that's when the "I'm in good hands feeling" started. Wilson not only will make a great drink, but will also let you know which of his three coffees will go best with your particular coffee need. For my first capp, I had the Intelligentsia "Black Cat", and it was very smooth and rich. Not quite jittery enough, for my next drink Wilson suggested the Ecco "Ethiopia Beloya", which he said had a distinct berry smell and taste. To bring some order to things I also had one of their lemon-poppyseed scones from the pastry masters at PDX's Nuvrei Bakery. The Beloya coffee was a revelation. I had never had a coffee that tasted like blueberries before, but there it was. Amazing! Wilson is a former barista champion, and his cappucino was perfect. Coffee just intense enough, with a light blanket of foam on top. make sure you check it out, because there is obviously some serious commitment happening here. Next up: espresso shots!
An online dictionary defines value as "the worth of something compared to the price paid or asked for it?". Taking that definition and applying it to our dinner at Tabla last Saturday, then the value offered by their three course prix fixe menu for $24 can only be categorized as extraordinary. This was perhaps the best return on my dining dollar I've had in a long time. Tabla has a menu that lets you choose one item off a list of appetizers, followed by a pasta choice, then you select your entrée. I've been to Tabla several times before and have usually been, with a couple of exceptions, pretty impressed. I was anxious for this trip because of the new executive chef at Tabla, Anthony Cafiero, who took over the kitchen the first of March. He also spent time cooking under heralded chef Jack Yoss at Adam Berger's other PDX restaurant, Ten-01. This is Anthony's first time over-seeing a kitchen playground, and it was interesting to find out what he had cooking.
Tabla usually features a different culinary region to focus a few menu selections on. This night it was the Spanish region of Catalunya, and soon to arrive at the table was w's chosen Calçotada, one of their regional picks. A plate of spring leeks, onions, and green garlic with a salbitxada sauce and aoili for dipping. The sauces were excellent, the seasonal ingredients nicely chosen, but just a smidge overcooked and limp. Anthony sent out for me a plate of Citrus-Cured Oregon Albacore (pic above left) with an olive and orange relish and housemade crackers. Two words: Oh yeah! The cure gave the fresh, inherently rich tuna a kiss of tartness and acidity, the relish a nice counterpoint, and crispy crackers just because. This was very good stuff. I was drinking a glass if Lirac blanc from the south of France that played beautifully with this.
While we waited for our pastas, Anthony sent out a pair of little albacore tuna fritters (at left) he was thinking of adding to the regular menu. Not only beautiful to look at sitting roundly on top of a pool of arugula pesto, but quite deliciously fried orbs with a pronounced fresh tuna flavor that didn't get lost under the dough or the pesto. We have vote yes to these would-be addictive bites!
One of the things I like about Tabla's menu is that it replaces the usual dessert choice that accompanies most 3-course menus around town with a pasta choice. Much more of a Euro feel that allows the diner to really taste the full breadth of what the kitchen can do. w's pasta was a Tabla staple, the Rabbit Ragu Pappardelle. The rabbit braised in white wine, porcinis, and tomatoes then shredded as always was tender, perfectly savory, and the fresh, housemade pasta had just the right bite. The kitchen sent out for me exactly what I would have ordered, the Herb Fazzoletti, which was again an über-seasonal selection of fava beans and asparagus over broken sheet pasta with lemon-herb butter and housemade ricotta. This was a dish where the favas and asparagus could easily have been overwhelmed by the herb butter or by the application of too much ricotta, but Cafiero kept everything in perfect balance and each bite let the individual ingredients shine through, the key with seasonal...or any...cooking.
Entrées were up. w had another classic Tabla plate, their Duck Confit with chive whipped potatoes, braised greens, and a port poached orange. Done just right, crisp skin, tender meat...this is why everyone loves duck confit. I was sent out a plate...which I would have ordered for myself as I had my eye on the pork cheeks...of Grilled Monkfish (at left) with warm blood orange and lentil salad with curly endive and a green olive purée. One bite in and I'm glad the kitchen couldn't read my pork-addled mind. Delicious! The monkfish, which is a definite knife-and-fork fish and too often can be cooked to a softball-like toughness, was spot on. Moist, with a tender, meaty texture, and when mixed with the lentil salad and olive purée was complex and incredibly satisfying, sending different flavors ricocheting all around my very happy mouth.
Overall, obviously I was really impressed with the meal, especially Cafiero's pairing of flavors and textures. There were no jarring moments, and everything seemed to flow together. This was cooking that showed off the inherent goodness of the food, and by extension the chef's skill. Anthony is a regular at the Portland farmer's market on weekends, so I know he has the commitment to local produce and meats. If anything, it seems to me he has raised the bar even higher at Tabla from the previous chef, yet we still get to pay the same ridiculously reasonable price. Value defined!
If you've been following along you know I've gotten no shortage of imbibable inspiration from Washington Post spirits columnist Jason Wilson. I find his writing both informative and predictably thirst inducing, and I've had a blast (or gotten blasted) making different cocktails he's written up (here, here, and here among others). The latest column included two new delicious-sounding tequila based drinks. The Prado Cocktail pictured above is a riff on the margarita created by bartender Kacy Fitch at the famed Zig Zag Cafe in Seattle (where the Last Word Cocktail was resurrected from oblivion). The Prado is one of many cocktails mentioned in the new book "Tequila," by Joanne Weir. I was intrigued by the addition of maraschino liqueur and, to add a frothy touch, the egg white that gets shaken up with it. I made one the other night after another trying day at the wine shack enabling other peoples alcohol consumption...I mean, fair is fair, right?...and thought it was really delicious. The tequila blends surprisingly well with the slightly bittersweet maraschino liqueur, the egg white added an airy feel, and tequila's best friend lime juice gave this the needed citrusy backbone. It probably won't take the place of a perfectly made margarita, but for the occasional change of pace in my food-and-drink A.D.D. afflicted world, this margarita makeover was most pleasing!
Pork Belly Cubano at Bunk Sandwich. After reading the name of this sandwich do I even need to tell you how delicious it is? Tender, seasoned slices of pork belly with peppers and cheese. It is all too good, especially sided with their crazily satisfying bacon 'n egg potato salad. Also tried their apple-cabbage slaw. If you think you don't like cabbage salad, this one will slaw you!
Garden State Food Cart's new Chicken Saltimbocca Sando. A couple of days ago Sellwood cart svengali Kevin Sandri told me he had a new chicken sandwich coming out. Yesterday he brought one over to the wine shack. Incredible, like an entire entrée between two bread slices. Moist organic chix breast, provolone, sage, prosciuotto. In other words, get your asses in line, pronto!
A platter of expertly prepared nigiri and sushi rolls from the unassuming Hama Sushi out on NE Sandy Blvd. The two guys slicing and rolling behind the counter are putting out the best, freshest, most reasonably priced Japanese food in town. Lightly battered tempura calamari is the perfect start. Seaweed salad, perfectly chewy udon. They have it all. Oh, and that glorious hamachi at the top of the blog...Hama, baby!
The Empanadas Caseras de Carne from Andina, a lightly flaky pastry stuffed with slow-cooked beef, raisins, and Botija olives. The perfect happy hour treat, especially good washed down with their Tortuga cocktail! BTW- don't even think about passing up their fabulous octopus skewer, which come with astonishingly good mashed potatoes.
The Chicago Red Hot from Wayne's Chicago Red Hots out on NE MLK. I'd been reading about this Chicago themed dog joint where all things Windy City rule, especially a fine appreciation of my beloved Cubs. I tried to get my Wrigley mojo on with their Chicago Red Hot and an Old Style. The dog, much like my Cubs of late, disappointed. Even the nuclear green relish couldn't take my mind off of what I found to be a pretty pedestrian dog. A far cry from the lunchtime grilled happiness at Sheridan Fruit Co. The fries were decent, but again kind of "meh".
The spherical pieces of meat flavored shredded cardboard that are the Swedish Meatballs (with potatoes, gravy, and lingonberry jam) at IKEA. They cost nothing, they taste like nothing. Lingonberry jam mixed with gravy.....they don't really do this in Scandinavia, do they??
Interesting article in the NYT in case you missed it a couple of days ago regarding the market for Bordeaux futures and the global economic meltdown. You mean all those wealthy wine drinkers won't pay whatever you ask and actually are trading down? Well, at least they won't and are until the market goes back up, then it will be "let the good times roll" once again in Bordeaux (you read how SUV sales went up when gas went from $4 a gallon to $2. Same thing will happen with wine when the economy turns positive). Here's a quick quote from the article, which shows the classic Gallic inability to accept that they are part of our world:
No, if you're like me, it's something you need. I always feel like somewhat of a tool whenever I get the chocolate craving. I'm one of those who LOVES all things cocoa-fied. It almost seems too easy, too unoriginal. But nothing satisfies like a nice, smooth, sensual spoonful of mousse or panna cotta (that's why my experience at Simpatica was so crushing), or even an old-school dish of chocolate pudding. Chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream slathered in Hershey's syrup, dark chocolate bars. You get where I'm going....or maybe where I'm from? That's why this little dish of chocolate mousse from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything" is so nice. A quick, all-too-easy dessert to throw together for your next dinner party that will have your friends acting like giddy little kids. We had six people and there was enough left over for everyone to have a small second portion if they want...and they will!
I know you all wanted to see the Bacon Twinkie Stonehenge recipe here today from the post below. Not only don't I have it, I wouldn't give it to you if I did. You think I don't care about you? Well, I do. I also care about all those pigs who gave their all to become what every pig dreams of (when they're not dreaming of becoming this), a nicely cooked piece of bacon, and preferably one not wrapped around a fucking Twinkie.
If you take a look at the Bacon Wrapped Twinkie Stonehenge "Now THAT is the perfect dessert!", then now might be a good time to make your funeral arrangements. I saw this and many other horrors including Deep Fried Guacamole, Tempura Fried Cheesecake With Whipped Creme, and the McSurf N’ Turf (a McDonald’s Fish-O-Filet inside a Quarter Pounder with cheese) on thisiswhyyourefat.com after seeing a twitter post (or tweet) from Mark Bittman. Like the proverbial car wreck, you can't not look!
Let's see.....It's smart. It's funny. It's sexy. It piles twist upon twist until the very end. And it is exactly what an escape to the movies should be. Duplicity is also one of the most entertaining films I've seen in a long time. So if director/screenwriter Tony Gilroy (who also wrote 2007's excellent "Michael Clayton" and "Bourne Ultimatum") can do it, why can't others?
You know how it feels when you've heard great things about a movie, especially one that seems perfect for your particular tastes? How excited you are to see it. So you finally decide to go, you feel lucky to be in the packed theater, and you settle in....ready to entertained. The lights go down, the movie starts, and for the most part it is everything you hoped for. Strong opening sequence, intriguing cast, the middle scenes only building the excitement. You just know this is going to be just what you needed. The climax of the story comes up, everything is in place for the big finish, and then...and then....EVERYTHING falls apart. You sit there, not quite believing how the director could let that happen. That ending...it almost overpowers everything that was good up 'til then. With that, may I present for you:
Dripping lifelessly off of their spoons like too-sweet cocoa flavored cream, their expressions of shock and disbelief say it all. How could this have happened? Panna cotta shimmies like a go-go dancer. It doesn't drool like a demented old man. Plus, the delicately flavored drippy chocolate "custard" didn't stand a chance against the sticky sweet caramel sauce. They each take a couple of bites, then give up in sadness.
Aren't they SO cute? Too bad they're also supposed to be freakishly delicious! The furry pig-like creatures pictured actually are pigs. They came to my attention in this story in The New York Times. Mangalitsa pigs from Hungary, a breed once near extinction, are apparently capturing the attention of chefs around the world. Fattier, with meat that is more marbled than the ubiquitous Berkshires that are the staple of the American pork industry, providing pork belly that once only inhabited the fever dreams of pig-o-philes.
Ever wonder what Barbie was doing before she became the ganja loving hippie chick in this undated portrait. According to evidence unearthed by my friend Kathryn in her blog post, she was an "innocent" baker, with the appropriately named, as I'm sure Ken found out, cookbook "Barbie, Easy as Pie". Don't tell me G.I. Joe didn't get a piece of that either!
I have to say I am intoxicated by the whole "going green" thing that is apparently the thing to do right now. I thought I would actually have to change my life and my way of interacting with the outside world. Turns out the only interacting I had to do was with the guy behind the counter at my local liquor store, and he's a pretty nice guy who was only too eager to help me be a better human. And the biggest change in my world is a more well stocked home bar. Sustainability has never felt better.
Food for hard times? How's that bowl of goodness from Portland's Jade Teahouse look? I know, incredible! If you're trying to stretch your dining out dollars and not eating bowl after bowl of noodles from your local Asian joint, you are missing out. The bowl in the pic, a coconut curry with shrimp, shredded chicken, and veggie condiment over perfectly cooked rice noodles was just $8 for a portion big enough for two. More options in PDX? Check out Ha & Vl or Miwon BBQ or Good Taste Noodle House or..............
Anticipation builds for the hoped for early May opening of David Machado's new project Nel Centro in the Hotel Modera. Machado, whose Lauro Kitchen and Vindalho continue to impress...well, actually I like Vindalho much more than Lauro, has a great track record and no lack of confidence, as evidenced by this statement from the Nel Centro blog: "Dining in downtown Portland, Oregon will never be the same." Time will tell, but another good dining option downtown is much hoped for.
