Guilty Pleasures

Everyone has a comfort food- something they crave when they have a bad day or are under the weather. "Guilty pleasure" foods are entirely different; guilty pleasures are foods you love, but may not readily admit to. Chefs often consider their childhood favorites as such. They secretly love things foods like Marshmallow fluff, Wonder bread and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Prompted by the recent question about comfort food, I asked our staff about the foods they eat behind closed doors. Reluctant to share at first, it took a bit of persistence to finally get them to confess. I have to admit that as much as I love innovative culinary creations and interesting condiments, there's nothing like ketchup. French fries aren't complete without ketchup, and I can't do without it for my scrambled eggs. But don't tell.
-Josie

Ryan- "Spam. In a Fritatta, with melted cheddar cheese."
Rachel-"Biscuits with lots of honey.
Sue- "Chocolate chip cookie dough."
Pam-" Crunchy peanut butter."
Barbara-" Cream scones with jam."
Rodrigo- "Hostess cupcakes."

Comfort me with.....

Even if spring is here and the flowers are blooming, the sniffles still linger. For those days when you’re feeling slightly under the weather, comfort food is on the menu. I think that soft white foods in general are soothing. For me, the foods of my childhood are mashed potatoes, preferably served in a conical mound with a pat of butter oozing down the sides like lava from a volcano. Or really fluffy buttermilk biscuits and lots of good jam and honey. Our staff members wanted to share some of their favorite comfort foods. I’m hungry just writing this…..
-Josie

Pam- “Ice cream. Any flavor.”
Melanie- “Cinnamon toast and hot cocoa.”
Joseph- “A grilled roast beef sandwich with sautéed mushrooms and provolone.”
Jen- “ Saang paneer.” (Indian cheese)
Barbara- “Bread pudding” - pictured above
Ryan- “Chocolate mousse”
Maya– “Sushi”

Risotto Revealed

Basic risotto is a delicious and comforting dish consisting of sautéed rice, wine, good stock, and fresh parmesan cheese. Beyond the basics, whatever vegetables or meats that you have available can be added. Risotto is just waiting for seasonal improvisation. Instead of zucchini, try asparagus tips. If you can’t find smoked salmon, you could use sautéed rock shrimp. The true keys to good risotto are quality of ingredients and technique. In her upcoming class on May 20th, award winning Chef Linda Carucci, reveals those secrets in an in depth “Risotto Workshop.” The class covers the basic Risotto Milanese, luxurious Risotto with Wild Mushrooms, Risotto with Smoky Sausage and Clams, and Northwest Smoked Salmon and Dill. Everyone in the class will have the opportunity to prepare risotto themselves before sitting down to an afternoon repast of delicious dishes. With a few tips and techniques from Linda, you’ll never be intimidated by risotto again!
-Josie

Improving with Improvisation

Cooking is like jazz in many ways. It has its own rhythm, flow, and timing. They are both completely individual, subject to the composer’s personality and whim. Music and cooking can be meditative activities, practiced alone, or as social gatherings, with friends and family. What you get out of your music and cooking reflects what you put into it. Play and cook with love and enthusiasm and you will live well (and eat well too!) Innovation and inspiration come from within in both the kitchen in music. I think that improvisation though, is where cooking and jazz are most similar. Improvising on a whim makes whatever you are doing better; it makes it more individual, more unique, and fresh. And no matter how hard you try, most likely you’ll never do it the same way twice. Improvising is also a good way to customize recipes to you preferences. I like to substitute as many local ingredients in recipes as possible. Recipes that are easily adaptable are pastas, stir fries, and even risotto. As long as you are pleased with the final product, there’s no reason you can’t bend the rules a bit.
-Josie

What's Better than Bacon?

What’s better than bacon?Really, not many things are. But lately, I’ve loved Pancetta. Pancetta is an Italian form of bacon that is not smoked. It is pork belly that has been cured in salt, then spiced and dried for three months. Each part of Italy produces its own type. In our kitchen the other day, Chef Michele Knaus made a fantastic dish featuring local asparagus, sautéed with pancetta and pine nuts. The smell of the pancetta permeated the entire store, distracting me from my work and luring me to the back, where I happily sampled a plate of the bright green spears. They were lightly salted from the pancetta, with crispy bits of meat and crunchy pine nuts. The combination of textures and flavors was perfect and just goes to show you that the best ingredients and simple techniques are sometimes the most satisfying.
--Josie

Eating Green

Recently on epicurious.com, there was an article about progressive restaurants and their eco- friendly practices. The article pointed out that while you can’t control how a restaurant operates, you can choose where to eat. The same goes for stores, and even cooking schools. Portland is a great city to for those that want to be environmentally conscientious. Eco- friendly programs for recycling, composting, commuting and shopping are all fairly accessible.
I was excited to read about all of the restaurants and companies that are starting to think about the impact of their practices. Fortunately, it’s becoming easier to find “green” businesses. Portland is a great example of a city that is thinking “green.” And with the opening of the farmer’s market, fresh foods from small farms are that much more accessible. This weekend, we’ll be celebrating earth day by shopping at the farmer’s market. The menu sounds wonderful; herbs and lettuces are in season, as are asparagus, radishes, morel mushrooms and more. Our purchases will be part of the Oregon’s Spring Bounty Dinner with Chef Nancy Forrest on Sunday, April 22. Her seasonally inspired menu features Seared Scallops on local Baby Greens, a velvety Asparagus soup, Herb Crusted Halibut, and Painted Hills Skirt Steak.
To give you an idea about where our ingredients come from, I thought I’d mention a few of our favorite producers. It’s also a way for us to say thank you to all of the businesses that we rely on.
For hazelnuts, we like Freddy Guys Hazelnuts They have Oregon filberts, farm direct. (For personal snacking, I like the chocolate covered version).
Our beef is Painted Hills Natural Beef. A great local meat market, just up the street, is Viande Meats. The pancetta is excellent and the sausages are made daily. City Market, which houses Viande Meats, is also home to Newman’s Seafood. They have very fresh fish and carry sustainable seafood.
Williamette Valley Cheese Company produces farmstead specialty cheeses like gouda, jack, fontina and havarti.
With such a wealth of natural resources and conscientious purveyors, selecting local, organic and sustainable ingredients is easy. Eating well can be good for you, and for the earth too.
--Josie

Edible Accidents

Sometimes, the best discoveries in life come from “failures.” This is true for the kitchen too; an over baked cake can be transformed into a delicious trifle. The dry cake layers can be cubed, tossed with simple syrup or simply layered with custard and whipped cream. A magnificent dessert from a potential disaster. A chef friend of mine was hosting dinner for 10 at his home one evening. In his rush to get dinner prepared, he left a gallon of vanilla ice cream on the counter. Voila- instant sauce for his homemade shortcakes. Yorkshire pudding is a British specialty, in which, a batter, similar to that used for popovers, is poured into a shallow pan containing the fat from cooked roast beef, and cooked in the oven. Originally, the batter was placed in a pan beneath the roast to catch the drippings while it cooked.
Popovers can be sweet or savory. They are traditionally filled served with butter and jam, but can also replace gougere pastry in appetizers when filled with crab salad, or warm cheese. When I was playing with the recipe for basic popovers, it occurred to me to fill the warm puffs with fluffy scrambled eggs and goat cheese. I sprinkled the finished dish with chives and settled down to enjoy a delightful breakfast on a cold April morning.
--Josie

See Breakfast Popovers with Scrambled Eggs and Chevre