The beauty of Super Bowl food is that there are a lot of standards… chicken wings, chili, chips & dip, you get the idea. If you didn’t provide some of the staples to your expectant guests, you run the risk of getting sacked in your own kitchen! Leave the sparring to the Saints and Colts and give your guests what they want, but surprise them with a gourmet chef’s twist that they’re sure to embrace.

Here are a few tips from Portland chefs and foodies (some with links to recipes) to add pizzazz to a typical Super Bowl menu. May the best dip win…

Ranch Dip & Chips: This is a once a year treat for many, so do not forget to

Nancy's Sour Cream

put out the dip. I repeat, do not forget to put out the dip! But, the reason it’s a once a year treat is because there’s nothing healthy about this combo. Well, one way to cure that is by making a dip with a “cultured” dairy product instead. If you use a super creamy, naturally cultured sour cream like Nancy’s brand, you actually add flavor while adding healthful probiotics. Isn’t that an oxymoron? NO. Not in this case. Click here for the ranch alternative – Nancy’s Dill Dip recipe.

Hummus Dip: However simple, hummus dip should never be overlooked!  This party favorite can be whipped up in a few minutes on a dime.  Mother Food expert Lisa Schroeder of Mother’s Bistro & Bar and Mama Mia Trattoria offers a great tip to spice up your hummus dip for Super Bowl guests that enjoy an extra kick, in her cookbook Mother’s Best.  Lisa suggests spooning a tablespoon (or more depending on tolerance to spice) of sambal oelek, a bright red, Indonesian chili sauce, in the center of the humus.  It’s a balanced spice that you’ll find yourself using over and over again in the kitchen.

Chicken Wings: Do not dare to tackle your super bowl menu without this finger food staple; it may get violent.  To quickly upgrade your Super Bowl wings Portland’s meat master Adam Sappington of The Country Cat Dinnerhous & Bar suggests mixing the wings in an easy homemade honey, mustard walnut

toss.  Simply warm Dijon mustard and honey together in a pan to taste, balancing the spice and sweet.  Then quickly toss in your already fried or baked chicken wings, coating them with the sauce.  Remove from the pan and garnish with chopped candied walnuts for an added crunch.

Wings & Blue Cheese: Whipped toppings are versatile and add a bit of finesse to the Super Bowl line up. Dustin Clark from Wildwood Restaurant says an easy way to wow your guests is by making your own whip.  Not just any whip, this is a Blue Cheese Whip Cream.  It’s easy.  Just mash 1 cup of crumbled blue cheese in a mixing bowl and add 1 cup of chilled heavy whipping cream until thick.  Then season with salt and pepper to taste.  Whip away!

Tater Tots vs. Risotto Balls: Tater tots may not be a standard nationally, but I can guarantee there’s no shortage at Portland parties, so these risotto balls are an excellent gourmet option. If you really want to impress, call them by their Italian name “arancini.” Here’s a recipe that Pazzo Executive Chef John Eisenhart shared with us. Yum!

Pazzo Ristorante’s Chef John Eisenhart

Goat Cheese Arancini

Yields 25 (1/2 oz balls)

1 lb. Carnaroli Risotto

½ C Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Shallots, diced

Pinch Esplette Pepper

Pinch Celery Seed

Pinch dry Thyme

3 Qts. Purified water

6-8 oz. Goat Cheese

3 oz. Parmesan Reggiano, grated

Sea Salt, to taste

A few drops fresh lemon juice

4 eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt

2 C All Purpose Flour

3 C Panko Breadcrumbs (or fresh breadcrumbs will do)

4 Qts. Frying Oil

To cook risotto: In a wide bottomed pot (such as a cast- iron brazier) on medium high heat, add olive oil and shallots. Stir to avoid caramelization. When the shallots are translucent, add the rice and dry spices and continue stirring frequently. When the spices become aromatic, add the water and stir often. Turn the heat to medium when the mixture comes to a boil and continue to stir often (to avoid scorching). Season the rice with a light amount of salt. As the mixture cooks down, the mixture will get thicker. Taste the risotto for doneness and for seasoning. The risotto should be very tender. Take away from heat. Add cheeses and lemon juice until incorporated and taste for seasoning. Pour the risotto in a casserole dish (or sheet pan) to cool completely.

To bread the risotto: with a spoon, scoop some risotto and roll into a bite size ball. Continue to do so until all are rolled. Lightly coat the risotto in flour (tapping away excess), then the beaten egg, then the breadcrumbs.  Bread all of the arancini. At this point, the arancini will keep for 2-3 days in the refrigerator.

To fry the arancini: In a large pot (12 quarts and above), add frying oil and turn on medium heat. With an oil thermometer, measure the proper frying temperature to 325’.  Fry the arancini in small batches for 3-5 minutes or until golden on the outside and hot in the center. With a slotted spoon, place the arancini on a paper towel with remove the excess oil. Serve immediately.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. day, we wanted to offer up a brief list of our Top 5 places on MLK Blvd. that are worth a second trip.  Did we miss your favorite? Let us know in the comments section below.

• Goldrush Coffee Bar (2601 Northeast MLK Jr Blvd.) – A hidden gem, this coffee shop is  must visit.  It’s the perfect lazy Sunday cappuccino stop.
• Alu (2831 Northeast MLK Jr Blvd.) – After the great write-up in The Oregonian, how could Alu not make our list?
• Bridges Cafe and Catering (2716 Northeast MLK Jr Blvd.) – With a great breakfast, it’s no wonder this neighborhood institution has been open for 20+ years.
• Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits (3120 Northeast MLK Jr Blvd. or 5939 Northeast MLK Jr Blvd.) – The world’s best New Orleans style chicken and biscuits.
• Belly (3500 Northeast MLK Jr Blvd.) – One of Portland’s best brunch spots.

As we prepare for Santa to fill our stockings with foodie delights, the Watershed crew has a few special requests for menus in 2010. What do you want to see more – and less – of in the new year? Add to our wish list, if you’d like!

Lisa:

Love it – Classic Cocktails: Let’s see more amazing complex drinks like the Ramos Gin Fizz. Cafe Nell even offers it with eggs benny.

Leave it – Pork Belly: I loved it in the 90’s… when it was new. How much fatty pork can you put in your belly? I’m over it.

Katie:

Love it - Pho: That’s pronounced “Ph – a” not “Ph – o.”

Leave it – Bacon-hype:  How this fatty, salty, delicious favorite became a cool ‘new’ fad boggles my mind.  It’s timeless people, get over it.  Love it, and move on.

Mike:

Love it – Sourdough pizza crust: I’ll fork over the dough, if you give me a forkful of sourdough! With cheese. And sauce. And maybe some artichoke hearts, olives and bell peppers.

Leave it – Grilled cheese and tomato soup: Who let the hipster in the kitchen? Let’s reserve this childhood staple for mom.

Lota:

Qabli Pulao

Love it – Afghani food: With tens of thousands of Americans in Afghanistan, it’s puzzling that this delicious cuisine has not materialized in Portland’s food cart culture…yet. Qabli Pulao, bring it on!

Leave it – Expensive salads: You think restaurants price gauge on wine? Try $10 for chopped lettuce and dressing. I’ll make it at home for $1.50, thank you.

Stephanie:

Love it – Preserving:  As an avid home canner, I love that this trend made a comeback in 2009, with notable chefs and home cooks alike preserving the bountiful Oregon harvest for use in the fall and winter seasons.  There’s nothing more delicious on a rainy and stormy December evening than a sweet and juicy pear that conjures up memories of warmer summer days.

Leave it – Eggs: I’ve always thought that trend was cracked.

Jackie:

Love it – Lamb burgers: They’re hard to find on menus, but once you go lamb, you’ll never go baaaah-ck.  Just noticed there’s a Cattail Creek lamb burger at Portland’s new Foster Burger. That’s what I’m talking about.

Leave it – Savory desserts: Keep your marrow in your bones, not in my cream puff.

When we started with the Oregon Brewers Guild two years ago, one of our main priorities was to raise awareness about the amazing culinary possibilities of beer and food pairings.  The Guild even went so far as to work with 6 renowned Oregon chefs to create a press release highlighting their favorite recipes and beer recommendations.  We’re glad to see national magazines picking up on this delicious trend!

Check out the April issue of Sunset Magazine, which includes a feature story on food and beer pairings with mentions of Oregon’s own Higgin’s Restaurant and Pelican Pub and Brewery, and start planning your own spring food and beer menu.

Thanks to all of you who read our last installment of  “Name That LADie” and ventured a guess about our mystery poster’s identity.

“It’s scary in the attic.”

First of all, in order to full appreciate my dilemma you’ll need a bit of background.   Although the LAD office has a production room and storage area, we do frequent mailings and need an place to store our extensive supply of boxes, packaging peanuts, folders, archived files, etc.  So, we lease a storage space in the attic area of our building.

Imagine, if you will, a small landing at the top of two flights stairs with six foot ceilings, exposed pipes and three old doors leading to the storage spaces.  Adding to the ominous environment is lighting that can be described at best as dim.

Can you picture it?  Excellent.

My “Name that LADie” adventure starts out simply enough – it was a quite Friday with only one other LADie and myself in the office.  It was around eleven o’clock when I realized I needed an older file and after searching through our filing cabinet I knew I had to go upstairs to get what I was looking for.  I grabbed the keys to the attic and our storage unit, breezing through the door and quickly yelling to my co-worker that I was headed upstairs and would be right back. They don’t call them famous last words for nothing.

After entering our storage space, I made my way across the room, found the box I was looking for and opened the lid to the file folder.  And then I heard it.  The unmistakable sound of the door clicking closed behind me.

No big deal – all doors have to open from the inside, right?   Oh, no.  Not our old broken door lock.  Once the door had closed behind me, it had locked shut and wasn’t coming open.   This is the moment I freaked out.

You see, I have a very active imagination and every time I’m in the attic space I manage to convince myself that Michael Meyers is hiding out in the storage unit next door and he’s about to get me. Crazy, but true.

After a few deep breaths (thanks yoga) I was able to calm myself down and start thinking straight.  I wasn’t that far up from the nearest business, someone was bound to hear me if I started screaming for help.

Alas, it was not meant to be.  After about ten minutes of yelling and banging on the door I gave up  decided to sit down and wait it out (it was about this time that I decided a psycho killer was bound to hear my screams and come eat me for dinner).  Plus, I knew that eventually people would notice I was missing and come to find me – after all, they did know where I was.

An hour later I knew it was time to take matters into my own hands.  If I wanted to get out of that storage unit (and boy did I) I was going to have to do it myself.

My first lockpicking thought was a credit card – I’d seen this particular device used many times with great success on tv.  The only problem with that one is a shocking lack of credit cards in most storage spaces.  My next strategy was to search the room and see what I could find that might be of any use.  Now, you’d be really surprised at the number of everday office supplies that might be good lock picking tools – letter openers, staple removers and paperclips (this one seems kind obvious, and yet it really performed the poorest of all my attempts).

Then I found it.  The ultimate tool for unlocking the attic door – the metal rod on a green hanging file.  It’s size and shape are the perfect design to reach between the door and the door frame and open the metal clasp on the lock.

Ha ha!  Take that attic!

As I made my way downstairs towards our office I was still half dazed and completely astounded that I was able to break free. I was also excited to let my co-worker know that I had escaped safe and sound and that they could call off the search.  To my surprise I learned that no one was looking for me – in fact, she thought I had taken an early lunch and was returning late!

After recounting my harrowing tale, my coworkers were understandably awed and inspired by my keen wit and ability to think clearly under pressure.  Following this unfortunate episode (and a commendable peformance with a fire extinguisher) I received a new office nickname – just call me MacGyver.

In an effort to give you a sneak peek into the wonderful world of LAD, we’ve created a new weekly column – Name That LADie! Every Friday for the next six weeks we’ll be posting an interesting anecdote or story told from the perspective of one LADie. While many of these stories may sound like a plotline from “The Office” they’re real – we have the scars to prove it.

So, enjoy the first installment in our name that LADie series, posted below. Your mission is to read the post and try to guess which staffer is featured center stage then post your theories in the comments section. One lucky poster will be selected to receive a shiny new travel mug…

A Legendary First Week of Work.

It was my first week of work. Friday to be exact. I strolled into work having had the past five months off for my last unofficial summer vacation after graduating from college, so you can imagine the shock my body was in to be waking up five days in a row before noon. I dropped my purse next to my desk, took off my coat and sat down to check the very few emails I was receiving. Yay, two junk emails! I was confident in my business clothes, my grown up planner and I had nailed down an internship at this PR firm called LAD communications. Oh and I forgot, I had brought into the office a sparkling new coffee travel mug, how could I forget?

So, moving on…

After toiling over my emails, I decided the tea in my travel mug was way too cold. Hmmm. I should probably warm it up a bit. By this time it was around 10:00 a.m. Shawn, our office manager, had made her way into the office and I had been introduced to her for the first time. Hopefully it isn’t true what they say about first impressions. I was still asleep as I dragged myself out of my chair, wandered into the back room to the microwave, placed my travel mug into the microwave – for 2 whole minutes – and headed back to my desk to check to see if anymore emails made their way to my Inbox.

About a minute passed before a co-worker made her way to the back room and SURPRISE! Fire in the microwave! I heard the scream and knew it was I. OMG, what did I do? Once we heard the yell, everyone was on their feet running to the back room to see what was going on. An employee, who has since been named MacGyver, grabs the fire extinguisher, pulls the key, flings open the microwave door and starts dousing the flames like she’s had experience doing it before. I actually think she was in the bent knee position I learned in basketball. After spraying the flames smoke was everywhere, and a layer of yellow dust covered everything. Then – lucky me – the fire alarm decides it is going to join in on the fun, along with the magnetic fire doors that have all decided to automatically close.

How could this experience get even worse? Thank God the sprinklers didn’t go off. I think if that had happened Lisa would have had no doubt in using it as grounds to give me the axe.

We locked up the office and made a mad dash down the stairs to the sidewalk. Note: we work in the MIDDLE of downtown Portland. How mortified was I? Very. It was my first week of work and I could only imagine how dumb these people thought I was. WOW, what an idiot! Metal in the microwave, really?

In the end nobody was hurt, nobody besides the LAD team evacuated the building (good thing for them it was only a microwave fire), no fire truck came oddly enough and nothing was damaged except the microwave and my self-esteem. A lesson was learned that day – DO NOT put metal travel mugs in the microwave. I have now made it a ritual to ask every time I put something into the microwave if it’s microwave safe and I have been branded with the name “flambé”.

I wonder if Lisa still would have hired me if she had known about my previous “blender accident”? hmmmmmm…

Anyone who can guess all three of our Halloween costumes will receive a special treat. A surprise seasonal ale! Don’t be scared…

Happy Halloween!

After all of the phone calls, drop ins and questions like, “Is it in today?” Deschutes Brewery’s the dissident release finally arrived! Immediately when the doors opened to the Portland pub this Wednesday at 11 am, people started rushing in to get their bounty of dissident brew. The first person who showed up purchased eight bottles, the next six, and on from there – lets just say, our stash is dwindling. The day was crazy! We were given an allotment of 30 cases from Bend and we already went through 18 cases in one day. People kept coming up to the front desk saying, “I’d like a t-shirt, a pint glass, and umm a case (twelve 22oz bottles) of dissident.”

Earlier on in the day, employees gathered around a back table to open and discuss the remarkable beer. One of the most frequent comments I received from customers was, “I didn’t know you could do this with beer.” Well everyone, you can make a sour brown beer, Bend decided to do it, and it is delicious. It has a very fruity and sharp taste to it that drinks so well and only gets better. It’s true, when you first taste it the immediate reaction is “whoa, beer?” But once your taste buds settle the next inclination is, “whoa, beer!”

The feedback and excitement surrounding this beer release has been overwhelming. We are expected to run out of the cases we received from Bend within the next day or so, and might possibly finish off the kegs by the end of the weekend. Everyone and their grandmother is buying this reserve series. You could tell how far the excitement spread when the general manager announced that Portland pub would be receiving Dissident t-shirts in-stock and all the employees lit up and let out a squished face, hissing “yesssss.”

I have never witnessed something quite like this – everyone who comes in is in tune with the uniqueness and quality of this beer. They are so excited about getting their hands on as much as they can. A dissident spell perhaps? The entire pub from servers, bartenders, hosts, clientele, and customers are all grinning and basking in the release. It has been a whole lot of fun and judging by the excitement and the sales thus far, I don’t know how much longer the fun will last, so be sure to come in this weekend and get the last few drops of Dissident.

–Andrew (from the Portland Pub)