Less than a week until the 2009 Portland Indie Wine Festival!
This Saturday, May 2nd, 40 of Oregon’s top artisanal wineries and some of Portland’s most celebrated chefs and restaurants will invade the Portland Wine Project for the 5th annual Portland Indie Wine Festival. Get your tickets today at https://www.indiewinefestival.com/tickets/

For more info on the festival and the 2009 participating wineries and restaurants click here.

PIWF/LAD team member Katie Burnett at the Oregon Wine Symposium Indie Wine Festival booth

Here’s the scenario… It’s been 2 weeks since you’ve been grocery shopping. Your pantry is bare except for some dried pasta and a few onions. Your fridge is empty, except that last cup of yogurt and some hard cheese. Voila!

You’ve got the essentials for a delicious and inexpensive meal that will blow your mind with simplicity and flavor.

This pasta dish came about when Nostrana Chef and Owner Cathy Whims had an abundance of Nancy’s Yogurt sitting in the fridge, and leave it to the James Beard nominated chef to create a dish that sings to the heavens out of a few humble ingredients. The tanginess of the Nancy’s cultured yogurt, contrasted with the sweet carmalized onion, is then bridged together with a hard cheese like parmesan and freshened up with the spring flavor of chives.

Our local back-to-basics, food and farm publication, Edible Portland, loved Whims’ recipe just as much as we did. And after they published it in their Spring issue, blogs like bread & honey discovered how much they loved it too! This is a recipe that once you’ve tried, you will return to it time and time again.

Edible Portland

I AM a granola addict. The toasty oat crunch, chewy dried fruit, sweet cinnamon and brown sugar combination – mmm. It’s my ideal way to kick-start the workday, when paired with a cup of java and newspaper. This Saturday when I opted against attending the Farmers Market due to weather (it’s the Californian in me), I decided to brighten my day by creating my favorite breakfast treat – Granola.

First step: the recipe. I opted for Ashley Gartland’s recipe from FOODday, which piqued my interest back in January – it might have been the name, Husband-Mocking Granola… I didn’t clip it, but with OregonLive’s new nifty recipe search engine, I quickly found what I was looking for.

Here is the recipe as it appeared in FOODday on January 20, 2009:

Instructions

Many might consider a sandwich to be simple food, something akin to a one-pot meal. But, in my opinion elemental dishes like that can be more satisfying than a complicated plate of cerebral food pairings. And in the hands of meat-loving Tommy Habetz the lowly sandwich is elevated to a sloppy, abundant meal full of flavor and calories – a masterpiece for the tastebuds, not the brain.

Sausage Po' Boy

I stopped by Habetz’s Bunk Sandwiches a few days ago, and I have to admit… it was my first time. That’s because Bunk is on the EAST side, which is basically a four letter lunch word for those of us who work downtown. But I vow right now, “Thou shalt never let the river keep me from a Sausage Po’ Boy ever again. Never.”

I’ll follow that with another vow, “During my next visit to Bunk, thou shalt order the Meatball Hero.” You’d be making the same vow if you were sitting at the bar and witnessed these melted mozzarella monsters pulled from the oven. I promise.

View from the sandwich bar

We are pleasantly surprised when this guy walks through our door!  His name is Ryan Kennedy.  He is a friend of Lisa’s and a student at the Western Culinary Institute, and we’re super happy that we’re first stop after every pastry class.  Thanks Cake Boy!

Last month he brought us chocolate filled croissants, and this week he has popped into our office twice. On Tuesday, he brought us carrot cake and chocolate cake.  Today, he surprised us with Tiramisu, cherry cheesecake and lemon and olive oil cake.

Oh wait, he also brought in smoked lamb chorizo sausage! (See below)

Thank you Ryan for bringing us your creations.  All of them have been fabulous and we know you’re on the road to great culinary success.

If you’re an avid reader of The Oregonian’s FoodDAY section, there’s no doubt you saw last Tuesday’s feature on all things coconut. Tropical, smooth and delicious – what’s not to love? If you haven’t had a chance to read it just, you can check out the whole feature here.

Well, great minds must think alike, because last week I tried a new recipe for coconut rum cake that was such a hit with the the LADies in the office that I was asked to share the recipe with all our blog readers. You can find my recipe below – the original recipe is from the food network, but I’ve made several modifications.

Coconut Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 large eggs – I used Eggbeater egg whites
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup Malibu rum
• 1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut flakes

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

Into a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Using a hand held mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs eggbeaters until just combined. Add vanilla and coconut extract. Add milk, rum and dry ingredients, being careful not to over mix. Mix in the shredded coconut.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks before frosting.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 cups sweetened coconut flakes, for garnish

Using a hand-held mixer beat cream cheese and butter together until light and smooth. Add vanilla extract and slowly add the confectioners’ sugar 1cup at a time until thoroughly incorporated.

Frost cupcakes high with about 4 tablespoons of icing. Garnish with toasted coconut flakes.

Ever been to Oaks Bottom Public House in Sellwood? It’s a Lompoc Pub.

If you haven’t been, you should make a trip of it.

And here’s why…Totchos!!!!!!

Description: “A heaping pile of tater tots, smothered with cheese, tomatoes, jalepanos, black olives and onion topped with sour cream and salsa.”

You can also add black beans, chili and grilled chicken.

100% healthy.

Oaks Bottom also offers great beer! I got the Lompoc Sockeye Cream Stout. Perfect for a Saturday afternoon. You can click here to see the rest of the menu.

We recently received a query from a media friend in Chicago asking for our “off-the beaten path” suggestions for a wonderful Portland culinary weekend. 

While there are many ways to serve up an interesting mosaic of culinary destinations in our fair city, here’s our current short list for his specific line-up of requests.  

Friday Dinner – Ten 01

Saturday Breakfast – Simpatica, Podnah’s Pit

Saturday Lunch – Chef Naoko, Sugar Cube (for dessert)

Saturday Dinner – Nostrana

Late-night (cocktails or entertainment) – Davis Street Tavern

Sunday Brunch – Broder, Junior Ambassadors

A market for a picnic/food for the plane ride home - Steve’s Cheese, Saturday Market

For those of us who were not invited to Obama’s inauguration party, we’ll have to be satisfied with our celebration. Next Tuesday, I’ll be gathering a few friends to toast in the new president with a menu that pays homage to our new “worldly” President. I’m still considering the menu, and I want a dish from each influential place our presidentelect has lived. Anyone have a Kenyan recipe?

Here’s what I have so far…

Chicago: Chicago Dogs, of course!

Indonesia: Pisang Goreng, basically fried bananas

Hawaii: Blue Hawaiians (I’m going to try to find a way to make these delicious, a challenge for sure)

New York: New York style pizza

Los Angeles: Avocados w/ finishing salt

Katie and I hopped on a bus from downtown to Nostrana (very easy BTW, love the no. 15!) on Tuesday for a staff training at Nostrana about the 2008 fall harvest’s fresh olive oil.  Jeff Bergman from Seattle Bergman Culinary Concepts had arranged for 3 very special oils (Tenuta di Capezzana Olio Nuova, Frantoio Bechhina Olio Verde Olio Novello, and Frescobaldi Laudemio New Harvest) to be on the menu and for retail sale at the restaurant from Dec 16 – Dec 23rd.

Butter? Cough effect? Soft fruit? This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to learning about how to taste olive oils.  Here are some of the sound bites we think are worth passing along:

Italians have long celebrated the harvest of the oils but it is only in the past few years that Americans have had access to these because importers are now willing to spend the money to airfreight the oils.  

The oil must be 45 days or younger to be considered Novello (southern Italy) or Nuovo (northern Italy).  The phenolics in new oil have not yet settled so they are vibrant and the oil has more health benefits.

Twenty or so years ago a consortium of producers in Tuscany introduced new technology that has become industry standard for harvesting the fruit in a way that provides more purity of flavor.  Until this technology was introduced, a lot of the fruit that was turned into oil came from bruised olives that had been harvested by trucks which would pull up to trees, bang the trunks, and let the fruit fall to the ground.  Truly gravity flow technology.

But the number one thing we learned is WHY cooks or diners should be interested in these oils.  

It’s because they are basically “liquid salt.”  All assertive flavors in the oil (the artichoke, banana leaf, tea, straw, fresh cut grass, butter) disappear when combined with food.  We found the oils did an amazing job of brightening the flavors of the vegetables, fish and other ingredients in the dishes prepared by Cathy.

We found the beets in the salad tasted more “beety.” Everything was brightened and special, and sort of came to life in 3-D.  

So, even though the oils we tasted retail for about $ 40 a bottle, they are completely worth it.  And, if you don’t want to commit to a bottle, trying these incredible dishes is a great way to start to appreciate the intensity of these wonderful new oils.  To enjoy the oils in Nostrana’s special menu of three dishes, visit the restaurant from today through December 23rd.  The oils will also be available for retail at Nostrana while supply lasts.