Making It All Better

Cooks are always learning, improvising and revising, even with tried-and-true recipes. Contributor Jim Dixon of Real Good Food is no slouch in that department, as he explains in this entry.

I heard Alton Brown on NPR the other day, and he was talking about “artful repetition” in relation to repeating recipes or ideas about food on his show (which I’ve never actually seen, being too cheap to have cable). But I like the notion applied to home cooking in the sense that you really learn how to cook things that taste good through artful repetition, using the same ingredients or techniques again and again, maybe in a slightly different way each time. It’s how I’ve built a repertoire of dishes, so here’s a repeat of a couple of favorites that I make all the time, but never served together until recently.

Olive Oil Poached Albacore with Romesco

For the tuna:

If you can’t find fresh local albacore, most New Seasons have it frozen, although you may have to ask. Cut the “loins” crosswise into pieces about and inch and half thick. Pack them into a small saucepan so they fit fairly tight, then cover with extra virgin olive oil. Heat slowly until the oil just begins to bubble, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes, then remove from heat but keep in the covered pan for another 20 to 30 minutes or until the fish is opaque.

For the romesco:

Roast 3-4 red bell peppers.

An aside: My very first published food article more than 30 years ago was about roasting red peppers, and at the time I used the propane torch I also used for waxing my cross country skiis. Since then I’ve roasted hundreds of peppers using that torch, the burners on my old Wedgewood gas stove, and a hot fire in the Weber, but I think the easiest way is to put the peppers in a hot oven for about 45 minutes. They don’t really need to be completely blackened for the skins to come off, and the step of “sweating” the cooked peppers in a plastic bag can be skipped, too.

Peel the peppers, and discard the seed core and as many of seeds as you care to pick out. Put them into the food processor with 2 to 3 roughly chopped cloves of garlic, about a cup of almonds (I use blanched and slivered almonds, but whole almonds or even walnuts or filberts are okay), a half cup or more of extra virgin olive oil, a quarter cup or so of Katz Gravenstein apple cider vinegar (sherry vinegar is traditional, but the Katz vinegars have more flavor than industrial vinegars), a little salt, and about a half teaspoon of pimenton (smoked Spanish paprika). A half cup or so of breadcrumbs is optional, but makes the sauce a little thicker. Process into a chunky paste, adding more olive oil if necessary.

Serve the tuna warm with the romesco.

China Doll

That's what I thought someone said when explaining that's the word for a split chickpea in India. I said something intelligent like, "China doll? Really?" And then, realizing my obvious limitations, they corrected my pronunciation.

Dal is a complicated subject, comprising as it does several types of beans that we Westerners call by the names split peas (green, yellow and pink), mung beans and lentils (green, red and brown), with infinite permutations on the spicing it might have. Suffice it to say I've only scratched the surface of this one. But since it's one of my favorite preparations of the legume, I keep at it.

And don't tell them, but I've had a bag of Anthony and Carol Boutard's Ayers Creek chickpeas floating around my pantry for many months now, and have only just now got around to using it. This is a recipe I adapted from a great book of simplified Indian recipes from the collection of Ismail Merchant (producer of "Room with a View") that's been a great introduction to that complicated cuisine.

And it pairs perfectly with…what else?…my friend Kathryn's Perfect Basmat Rice. Just the two of them makes a great vegetarian meal, and combined with a roast chicken would be dinner for company. Throw in some easy raita for spooning over the top and it'd be swoon-worthy!

Chick-Pea Dal (Kabuli Chana)
Adapted from Ismail Merchant's Indian Cuisine

3 c. dried chickpeas or 6 c. canned
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 med. onions, chopped
4 large cloves garlic, crushed
3 ancho or poblano green chiles, seeded and chopped in 1" squares
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. tamarind paste
1 Tbsp. salt
1 c. chopped, canned Roma tomatoes or 2 large tomatoes, chopped
Water

If using dried chickpeas, soak in water overnight. Drain.

In large Dutch oven heat olive oil until it shimmers, add onion and garlic and sauté till slightly translucent, then add green chiles and sauté till tender. Stir in turmeric, chili powder and tamarind paste. Add salt, tomatoes and chickpeas. Add water till barely covered, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer, adding water if it becomes too dry. Simmer till tender, 2-3 hrs. or more. This would also be a great recipe to use with a crock-pot.

This Morning's Breakfast

I'm sure some people find it annoying, but I love the world we live in, bringing with it the ability to share almost instantly with friends (the real ones, not the ones you put in quotes) the joyous and intimate moments of our lives. My friend Bob has been moved to send pictures of a couple of recent breakfasts he's enjoyed at home, the first an apple cake with ice cream and then, just this morning, eggs Benedict.

I've written about my passion for eggs generally, and the poached in particular, so I nearly leaped to the stove to cook up a couple for myself. A slice of toast, some leftover purple beans from last week's shopping at Viridian Farms, and breakfast was made. And e-mailed to Bob for his approval, of course.

Beans, Bacon and Sage

8 slices bacon, cut in 1/4" strips
2 yellow onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 lbs. fresh shell beans
10-15 fresh sage leaves
Water

Heat large pot or Dutch oven and cook bacon until fat is rendered but not crisp. Add onion and garlic and sauté till tender. Add beans, sage and enough water to barely cover. Bring to a boil and simmer until beans are tender, 40 min. to 1 hr.

This is great for eating right away, but really shines the next day (or longer).

May I See Your Secret Menu?

Most restaurants have daily specials, some have kids' menus. Some ethnic restaurants have specials printed on a white board that feature dishes that might not appeal to a guest not from that country. Some restaurant regulars are granted dispensation from chefs to order special preparations that fit their particular tastes.

Then there are the secret menu items available only to those in the know. In-N-Out Burger's off-the-menu items grew so large and popular that they put their Not-So-Secret Menu on their website. The micro-blogging service Twitter lives off of buzz passed from person to person, and so-called "secret" dishes are whispered like inside trades on Wall Street. That many of these tips are instigated by PR people in the employ of the restaurants should not be surprising.

But then there are the dishes that you might see one of the employees chowing down after a shift, something the cook came up with as a fast, easy way to satisfy an empty stomach. It often takes the form of comfort food, and that's exactly the case with the Pad Thai at Jade Teahouse in Sellwood.

It started as a dish that was made for the staff with a Laotian twist by Jade's culinary guiding light, mom Lucy Eklund. It leaked out when customers spied the big dishes of tangled noodles emerging from the kitchen and heard the sighs of happy staffers as they inhaled its heady, comfort-filled aroma. It experienced an added bump when it hit the web courtesy of Josh, Jade's Tweeter-in-Chief.

And how is it? Just some of the most delicious Pad Thai you'll have in town, and enough to feed two comfortably. Lucy likes it with oil-fried chiles (on the right in photo at left), nibbling a bit with each bite. Daughter April prefers it with her mother's hot chile sauce, made with those same red chiles ground and fried with onions and garlic. However you choose to consume it, definitely ask for a bit of each…you'll feel like a real insider.

Details: Jade Teahouse & Patisserie, 7912 S.E. 13th Ave. Phone 503-477-8985.

Man of Peace

He's been in office for a little over nine months. When he took office, an economic crisis that nearly took down the entire country and was predicted to last for years is turning around in large part because of the actions he's taken. A world that had written off America as an incorrigible bully for its policies of "pre-emptive self-defense" are now coming to the table to talk about how countries can work together to solve the problems of nuclear proliferation, global warming and poverty.

Yes, it's early days. But honestly, it's a different world from the one we were living in a year ago. I'm jazzed that the Nobel committee awarded President Obama this year's Peace Prize. And rather than working against each other, it might just give us the courage to come together on the critical issues that confront us.

The Girl Who Silenced the World

At the age of 13, Severn Cullis-Suzuki spoke at the 1992 UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her comments are still powerful nearly 20 years later.

She told the delegates of a visit with street children living in one of the city's poorest favelas. "'I wish I was rich,'" she quoted one homeless child as saying. "'And if I was, I would give all the street children food, clothes, medicines, shelter and love and affection.'" She looked out over the gathering of representatives from around the world and asked, "If a child who has nothing is willing to share, why are we who have everything still so greedy?"

A Brush with Celebrity

I don't know about you, but if I come across an issue of People magazine at the doctor's office, I have no idea who 95% of those people are or why their lives are so fascinating. Even on Twitter, most of the "Trending Topics" are pretty much a mystery to me. #mileycomeback? #edhardyis? Not a clue.

And crowds? Forget it. On one visit to the Beaverton Farmers' Market during election season last year, a mob was forming in one corner of the market. When I asked one of the vendors what was going on, she said, "Chelsea Clinton's visiting today." I headed in the opposite direction.

So when my friend Kathryn mentioned that Farmer John, featured in the movie "The Real Dirt on Farmer John,"would be visiting the Portland Farmers' Market and signing copies of his cookbook, "The Real Dirt on Vegetables,"you might think I'd stay as far away as possible. But instead I cleared my schedule and made plans to go.

Why? Well, first off, I loved the movie both for its politics and for the story about a young idealist who tried to make his dreams come true. And failed. Then tried again and succeeded. Kind of. Secondly, he was hanging with Kathryn, who promised she'd be making amazing snacks to sample, and it was all happening at Roger Konka and Norma Craven's Springwater Farm booth, my favorite place to pick up a fungus or two.

And Farmer John himself? A great guy, and totally not the swishy, wacky goofball you might expect. He's very down to earth, warm and funny. A natural listener. Surprisingly normal. And his glasses rock (they were custom-made by a family in Venice who do one-off designs). Though the button he wore on his lapel may have contained a coded message. It said, "Oh, no, please. I'm not supposed to be out."

Dine Out to Dig In

I'm always happy to donate to a good cause, especially if it means I get to eat some great food in the process. And Dine Out to Dig In is a terrific cause, because it benefits Growing Gardens, an organization with the goal of "getting at the root of hunger in Portland, Oregon." And that means having a meal on Oct. 21 at one of a who's who list of Portland's best restaurants. (If I'm not mistaken, I believe that's called a "win win" proposition.)

And what precisely does this organization do? According to their website, it "organizes volunteers to build organic, raised bed vegetable gardens in backyards, front yards, side yards and even on balconies, and supporting low income households for three years with seeds, plants, classes, mentors and more." Whew!

Participating restaurants will donate 10% to 20% of their sales on Oct. 21. The current list includes Biwa, Ciao Vito, Firehouse, Fish Grotto, Iorio, Laughing Planet Cafes, Park Kitchen, Screen Door and SubRosa. Check the website for the latest updates to the list!

Details: Dine Out to Dig In, a benefit for Growing Gardens. Oct. 21. Check the website for the latest participating restaurants.

Eggplant 101

Contributor Jim Dixon of RealGoodFood is now adding eggplant to his long list of oil-, salt-, bean-, grain- and olive-mavenhoods. In this bulletin, he goes into detail about how he prepares them. You can find him surrounded by his favorite things, all available for purchase, nearly every Tuesday from 5:30 to 7 pm at Activspace, 833 SE Main, #110-111, on the ground floor in the inner courtyard.

I’ve been flogging eggplant recipes all summer, so I wanted to provide more detail on how I cook it. My approach works best with a cast iron skillet, but any heavy pan might work as well. However, if you don’t have a cast iron skillet, go out and buy one. Vintage pans from Griswold are the best, but brand new Lodge skillets are fine and cheap. I wouldn’t pay extra for the pre-seasoned pans, but that’s your call (the myths about cast iron seasoning are rampant; more info about care and use here).

Again, don’t salt the eggplant! I’ve cooked literally hundreds of eggplant without salting, and nobody ever complained about bitterness. For the typical globe eggplant, cut into slices about a half-inch thick, then cut those into roughly square cubes. Put your cast iron skillet over a medium high flame and let it heat up for a few minutes, then add enough extra virgin olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add the eggplant, and let it sit without stirring for at least a couple of minutes. Then use a stiff spatula to scrape and turn the cubes every couple of minutes.

Continue cooking, turning occasionally, until the eggplant is nicely browned. This usually takes about six to eight minutes. Depending on what you’re making, you can add other ingredients to the same skillet or set the eggplant aside, then add it later. Here’s a simple recipe:

Melanzane al Funghi

Literally “eggplant in the style of mushrooms,” which refers to the use of garlic and parsley. Cube and cook the eggplant (I like to let it go a bit longer for this dish, maybe as much as 15 minutes, with the last 5 or so on a lower heat). Move the cooked eggplant to the edges of the skillet, add another glug of oil, and cook at least a couple of cloves of chopped garlic for a minute or so with a diced anchovy or two (or three or four; salt packed anchovies provide the best flavor, and the rinsing/deboning only takes a few seconds). Don’t let the garlic get brown.

Stir the eggplant together with the garlic and anchovies, sprinkle with a good pinch of sea salt, remove from the heat, and top with chopped flat leaf parsley. Drizzle with a little more extra virgin olive oil at the table.

Photo of eggplants from Finger Lakes Feasting.

Livin' in the Blurbs: Urban Ag, CSAs and a Czarina

Ned Ludd moves to the farm with its benefit dinner for Shortcut Farm, a project of the Oregon Sustainable Land Trust (OSALT). In a land swap with the city, OSALT has obtained the large lot behind the restaurant for the purpose of developing a productive urban agriculture space and educational facility. There are just a few seats left for this dinner on Oct. 14 in Ned Ludd's garden, so call and make your reservation soon.

Details: Short Cut Farm Benefit Dinner at Ned Ludd. Oct. 14, 6 pm; $75 with reservation. Ned Ludd, 3925 NE MLK Jr. Blvd. Phone 503-288-6900.

* * *

Chrissie Zaerpoor of Kookoolan Farms informs GSNW that her farm is joining the long roster of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) offerings available in the Portland area. What's a CSA? It's a way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. A farmer offers a certain number of "shares" to the public, typically consisting of a box of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season. For more information, check out the website or contact Chrissie at the farm. For more information on CSAs, including a map of those in your area, check out LocalHarvest.org.

Details: Kookoolan Farms CSA. Go to the website for details and pricing information or call Chrissie. Phone 503-730-7535.

* * *

Lisa Jacobs, self-proclaimed Cheese Czarina at Jacobs Creamery, has only been making cheese for two years but has made a big splash at local farmers' markets with her amazing products. I have several friends who are addicted to her olive cream cheese spread, fresh butter and vanilla and chocolate puddings, to the point where they hide them from their families, pulling them out for guilty indulgences. You can find out for yourself what magic she works in a cheese class she's giving at the Hood River Grange on Oct. 22 from 5 to 7 pm. She suggests going on the self-guided Fruit Loop tour of area orchards during the day, then attending the class, which will be followed by a cheese sampling. A great day trip for friends, families and visitors!

Details: Cheese Class with Lisa Jacobs of Jacobs Creamery includes cheese sampling. Oct. 22, 5-7 pm; $65, e-mail Jacobs Creamery for reservation. Hood River Grange, 4262 Barrett Dr., Hood River. Phone 503-621-7910.

Photo of Lisa Jacobs by Tami Parr, the Queen of Cheese, of the Pacific NW Cheese Project.

Beet Beat: The Wheels of Justice, Part 2

My mailbox, like yours, is often full of stuff I don't want and didn't ask for. But once in awhile something appears that makes me shout "Woo hoo!" and dance on the porch. (Fyi, after sixteen years my neighbors have become used to these displays.)

Today was such a day. When I opened the box and pulled out my copy of the Capital Press, an ag newspaper, who should be looking up at me with his big blue eyes but Frank Morton, plant whisperer and activist owner of Wild Garden Seed in Philomath, Oregon. I wrote a profile of Frank for Edible Portland magazine and was taken not only with his passion for plant breeding but his commitment to keeping our common biological heritage out of the hands of corporations.

So it wasn't surprising when he joined a consortium of organic-seed growers, organic farmers and environmental and consumer groups in suing the US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) for deregulating the herbicide-tolerant "Roundup Ready" sugar beet seeds developed by Monsanto. Not only to protect his own organic beet and chard seed business from being contaminated from the pollen of the genetically engineered sugar beets also grown in the Willamette Valley, but also to safeguard the crops of organic farmers from the same potentially devastating contamination.

"This is not a political concern," he says in the article titled Organic Grower Inspires Beet Lawsuit. "I was concerned that contamination events would begin to occur that would make my seed worthless."

He initially was not inclined to file a lawsuit. As a member of the Willamette Valley Specialty Seed Association, he said he tried to bring up his concerns several times.

"I wanted to talk about this and talk about the impact of having genetically modified crops be a part of the specialy seed mix here in the valley," he is quoted as saying. "But no on wanted to talk about it. It was almost like it was an off-limits subject."

Now that a federal judge has issued a ruling against the USDA's deregulation process, the consortium is asking for an injunction banning new plantings until the environmental assessments are complete. Morton has little sympathy for the genetically modified sugar beet growers who are complaining the injunction would damage their businesses, saying it was obvious that the judge was going to rule against the USDA.

"They painted themselves into a corner with a spray paint can," Morton says. "If there is no beet sugar (next year), it's not my fault and it's not the judge's fault.

"I do feel vindicated," he said, "because everything I said to my fellow seedsmen, the judge has now agreed with."

The full text of the article is available at the Capital Press website, along with a companion article on the reaction of genetically modified sugar beet seed growers. Photo at top by Mitch Lies for the Capital Press.

Read the other posts in the series: The Beet Beat, In The Wind, The Fight Begins in Earnest and The Wheels of Justice.

Camp Stories: LaPine State Park

I know, I know, it's a little late for camping but, heck, if you've got a trailer like my brother's (below left), the season gets extended just a little bit, right? Plus we all need to make plans for next camping season, and I guarantee that if I don't write it down now, it'll definitely get lost in the shuffle by the time summer rolls around again.

Campsite #121 is one of the sweet spots in LaPine State Park with the sound of the Deschutes River (top photo) flowing by at the back of the site. Always cold and refreshing, it's perfect for chilling a few beers or stashing a bottle of wine. And if you feel like hiking some of the trails in the area (I hear the hike to the viewpoint above Paulina Lake is especially rewarding), it's a great place to soak tired feet while you pop one of the aforementioned beers.

Read other reviews in the series: Trout Creek Campground, Paradise Creek Campground and Shadow Bay at Waldo Lake.

Photo courtesy BB at WineGuyWorld.

Saving It For Later, Revisited

Remember what I said earlier this month about roasting tomatoes to make into sauce, save it for later, blah blah blah? Forget it. Erase it from your memory.

Because I've found the epitome, the apex, the best-and-highest use of in-season tomatoes ever. Something so good you'll go to the nearest farmers' market and buy buckets of them just to know it'll be sitting in your freezer waiting for you to pull it out the next time you need sauce or, as my neighbor Susana did recently, you want to make a killer roasted tomato soup.

Once again, my brother provided the inspiration when he posted that he was sitting at his wine shop working while tomatoes roasted on the grill outside. Of course, I had to try it for myself and see if it was better than my own oven-roasted (no, really, forget I said that) version. And dang if he wasn't right again. It was even simpler. And, believe me, ten times more flavorful.

Remember that, when you find yourself standing at your favorite farmers' table and begging for his tomatoes, I warned you.

Roasted Grilled Tomato Sauce

Take several pounds of tomatoes (I can easily do at least 4 lbs. at once on our 22" Weber) and slice larger ones in quarters, smaller ones in half.

Build a fire or light charcoal. You can also soak hickory or mesquite, as well as rosemary branches, if you want, for the extra flavor. While the coals are heating up, top the grilling rack with heavy-duty aluminum foil, crimping the edge to leave a 1" gap all around. Poke a few holes in it with a grilling fork to allow more smoke to penetrate.

When coals are white hot, spread in single layer. Top with soaked wood and rosemary branches, if desired. Place tomatoes skin-side down on the aluminum foil-covered rack, drizzle with olive oil and salt. Place over coals, cover and cook for 3-4 hours, checking occasionally to make sure coals haven't burned out. Add more charcoal as necessary.

Remove tomatoes by spooning them off into a large mixing bowl. Most of the skins will be left on the foil, but don't worry about scraping some blackened skins into the bowl. Allow to cool slightly and purée in food processor in batches. Cool completely, then scoop into quart freezer bags and freeze.

Prunes or Just Plum Crazy?

Something just snapped in my head, I guess. Maybe it had something to do with that silky blue color that, when smudged, gives way to a midnight blue-black. Or the way they turn a deep ruby when cooked, looking lush and fleshy.

Italian prunes are my latest objet d'affection. And prunes they are, though some wimpy marketing types, because when people hear "prunes" they think "laxatives," are trying to relabel them plums, which they are not, or worse, sugar plums, which is insulting and just plain wrong. It's like what happened with hazelnuts. Which are, as every born and bred Oregonian knows, the humble filbert rebranded to sound more sophisticated. But I digress.

I've made prune tarts. And a crisp. But my favorite so far is a luscious fruit compote that has a light sweetness smoothed over with a layer of brandy, made even more perfect served with a slice of simple-to-make yellow cake alongside. Great for a company-type dessert, even better for breakfast the next morning!

Italian Prune Compote

3 lbs. Italian prunes
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. brandy

Slice prunes in half and remove pits. Place in medium saucepan with sugar and brandy and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer till tender.

Great Yellow Cake
Adapted from The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins

2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 c. vegetable oil
1 c. dry white wine
2 1/2 c. unbleached flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.

Beat the sugar and eggs with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add oil, wine, flour, salt, baking powder and vanilla. Beat 1 min. Pour batter into prepared pans. Place on middle rack of oven and bake until cake has pulled away from side of pans and knife inserted in center comes out clean, 30 min.

Cool in pans 5 min. Turn onto wire racks and cool completely. Serve as is or top with prune compote. Can also be frosted or stacked and frosted.

Talk About Corn

My friend Rebecca Gerendasy of Cooking Up a Story recently caught GSNW contributor Anthony Boutard waxing poetic about his love of the cob. Remember to watch for an upcoming Farm Bulletin to find out when he'll have his amazing polenta at the Hillsdale market.

Fritter Chronicles: Can't Get Enough

What's not to like about corn? It's sweet, it makes a fun sound and it's happy being a main course, side dish or condiment. Now contributor Jim Dixon of Real Good Food's foments on his fritter fascination with a recipe that includes this versatile vegetable.

I had some leftover corn on the cob, and while I’d planned to do a simple corn and tomato salad, I ended up making corn calas, a rice fritter we’d had when we ate at Cochon in New Orleans. I’ve said before how familiar the simple Cajun food seemed, and the calas sure seemed related to all the other fritters I make.

Calas traditionally were sort of rice beignets, deep fried and served with sugar or cane syrup. These are pan fried, more like corn cakes.

Corn and Rice Calas
Adapted from Real Cajun: Rustic Home Cooking from Donald Link's Louisiana

Combine the kernels cut from 2-3 ears of cooked corn with half an onion, finely diced, a diced frying pepper (like a Jimmy Nardello, although any sweet or even a hot pepper would work), a couple of eggs, a cup or so of cooked rice, and a few tablespoons each of flour and corn meal. Season with sea salt, freshly ground pepper and healthy dash of cayenne.

Heat a heavy skillet and add enough olive oil to cover the bottom. Drop spoonfulls of the batter into the skillet and flip when nicely browned. Sprinkle with flor de sal.

Cookbook as Cultural Milestone

I own a fair number of cookbooks. I've always thought of them as helpful tools and some, like the Time-Life "Foods of the World" series that my mother subscribed to when I was a child, even gave me an early glimpse into a foreign culture.

But it's rare that a cookbook by itself would represent a significant milestone in the life of a culture. So when I heard that a friend was working on the first cookbook of Hmong cuisine ever written, I had to know more. You can discover its importance for yourself in my article in today's edition of The Oregonians FoodDay section titled "A Hmong Journey."

Perfect Basmati Rice

There are good things to be said about growing up in a middle-class American family with all the white bread, WASP-y sterotypes that conjures up. Parents who stayed married till death did them part, family camping trips in the station wagon with my brothers fighting in the back seat, tuna casserole on Fridays (though it's my understanding that the Episcopal church left the fish-on-Friday tradition behind when Henry VIII divorced his first wife).

Adding the ground saffron salt to the boiling water.

But it's hard sometimes not to envy people who had a more adventurous path. Like my friend Kathryn, the child of Southern parents and an Army brat who ate her first cornbread and beans in Japan. She eventually married and spent several years in Saudi Arabia where, interestingly enough, she learned to cook Indian food like a native.

The holes, boss, the holes!

I've admired her saffron rice on several occasions with its perfectly cooked individual grains of golden rice. It's the idea match for all kinds of Indian dishes and is an aromatic accompaniment to anything braised. So when she offered to not only share her recipe but also show me how to make it, I was ecstatic.

Kathryn's Perfect Basmati Rice

2 c. basmati rice*
2 3/4 c. water (for cooking)
1 Tbsp. salt
Large pinch saffron (about 1/8 tsp.)**

Rinse the rice in several changes of water until the water is no longer cloudy. In large bowl, cover rice with water and let it soak for one hour. Drain.

While rice soaks, in a small mortar and pestle combine salt and saffron, in Kathryn's words "letting the salt do the work for you" and grind it to a powder.

Bring the water to a boil in a large, flat-bottomed pan. Add the saffron salt and return to a boil. Drain soaked rice and add it to the pan (top photo). When it returns to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and watch for holes to appear in the rice. When there is no visible water on the surface of the rice, turn down heat to lowest setting and cook for 12 minutes. Turn off the heat, take off the burner and fluff the rice with a chopstick or fork (left). Cover pan with a soft cotton tea towel, place lid of top of towel and allow to rest for 5-15 min. Serve.

* This recipe also works with jasmine rice.

** Great quality saffron is available for a very reasonable price at Rose International Market.

Diddle Diddle Dumpling

Ever since my brother went to Vancouver, B.C., and had dinner at Vij's, he's been on a tear through Indian cuisine, aided and abetted by their cookbook, "Vij's: Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine."

Packaged in a (relatively) plain brown wrapper, he's already dog-eared several recipes and is reveling in the richly aromatic and delicious recipes it contains. Since we're equally enamored of the cuisine, we were thrilled when he invited us over recently for dinner. Being the polite person I am, I asked what we could bring with us. That's when he said something about bringing an appetizer to go with the theme of the meal.

Sensing my mind going blank…I'm not really experienced with Indian apps…I headed to the cookbooks to see what I could find that wouldn't require a trip to the store. When I stumbled across a recipe for corn dumplings that called for fresh corn, initially I was excited since I've managed to squirrel away a fair amount of the stuff in the freezer to use this winter. Then I saw that it required deep frying. Damn!

I'm one of those people that shies away from deep frying for several reasons. First off, the mess. Followed by b) the smell, c) the amount of oil it requires and d) what to do with that (now unusable) leftover oil. Oh, and did I mention the mess? And the waste?

But since I had very little time and a quart of canola in the pantry, I jumped in and was quite pleased with the resulting dumplings. Slightly corny, nicely onion-y with a hint of spice, they were quite lovely and had the desired effect on the other guests. That is, causing their eyes to roll back in their heads and moaning to issue forth. Perfect.

Next time I'm going to form them into tiny fritters and fry them in a pan, requiring less oil and less of that mess (but without losing the aforementioned effect). Oh, and I've heard that sticking the oil in the freezer and letting it solidify makes it possible to throw it away and not end up going down the drain and into the river, a much better outcome.

Corn Dumplings (Bhutte Ke Pakore)
Adapted from From Bengal to Punjab: The Cuisines of Indiaby Smita Chandra

1 1/2 c. whole corn kernels (fresh, canned or frozen)
1 c. water
1 med. onion, chopped very fine (the processor works great for this)
1/4" piece of fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp. fresh coriander leaves, chopped fine (optional)
2 Tbsp. flour
Salt, to taste
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1/4 tsp. garam masala
Vegetable oil to reach 1" depth in saucepan

Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan and cook the corn in the water for a couple of minutes over high heat. Drain, let cool slightly and grind finely in a food processor or blender. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside. Add onion and ginger to ground corn along with coriander, flour, salt , cumin and garam masala. Mix well.

Warm the oil for deep-frying over medium-high heat to 365°. Lightly wet your hands whenever necessary to shape small balls (I made them approx. 1" in diameter) from the corn mixture. Drop gently into the hot oil, about three at a time, and fry the dumplings until golden brown on all sides. Drain on absorbent paper. Serve hot or room temperature with chutney or other dipping sauce.

Mysterious Kingdom

It was a little startling to see the line of quaintly clad men and women suddenly appear on the lawn of my neighbor Connie's house, almost like they'd been transported there by a time machine.

And, to be frank, it's a group some Portlanders try to ignore in this city that fancies itself as über-hip and cutting edge. It just doesn't fit with the magazine images of heavily tattooed creative classes hanging out at watering holes sipping cocktails and grazing on small plates of organic greens.

And for the most part the Royal Rosarians keep a pretty low profile in town, popping up during the annual Rose Festival celebrations and escorting floats in the parade. But once in awhile they'll appear in their ice cream suits, capes and straw boaters, virtually unchanged from the founding of the club in 1911 (left), to plant ceremonial roses with a special chromed shovel and watering can.

Connie was honored this summer with such a ceremony (right), and baked her renowned raisin cookies to mark the occasion. As one of the invited guests, I was able to cadge the recipe and was granted official permission to share it. But don't be surprised when you pull these babies out of the oven to see a hungry-looking gaggle of white-suited Rosarians waiting on your front lawn for first dibs.

Connie's Jumbo Raisin Cookies
Adapted from the KOIN (TV) Kitchen recipe from Oct. 14, 1969

2 c. raisins
1 1/2 c. water
1 tsp. baking soda
1 c. vegetable shortening
2 c. granulated sugar
3 eggs
3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Combine raisins and water in saucepan. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Pour off liquid, reserving 1/2 cup; add baking soda to reserved liquid, set aside.

Cream shortening, sugar and eggs with an electric mixer in a large bowl. In separate bowl sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, along with the reserved raisin liquid. Add raisins. Add nuts, if desired. Mix and chill overnight (optional).

Preheat oven to 350°. Drop dough on cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray [or use non-stick sheet, etc. - KAB] and bake 10-15 minutes. Frost with lemon icing (optional).

Farm Bulletin: By the Light of the Silvery Moon

As the brilliant greens, reds and yellows of summer slowly fade into the muted palette of autumn, contributor Anthony Boutard waits for the moon to whisper in his ear that the time is right to plant his fall crops. You can find him at the Hillsdale Farmer's Market every Sunday from 10 am till 2 pm through November 22. The market switches to its twice-a-month winter schedule from December through April.

Like Norma Desmond, our summer crops are showing the ravages of time. The berries, once sweet and succulent are now bitter and seedy, molding even before they are ripe. Culled tomatoes are scattered along the rows like misapplied lipstick. August's verdant bean tresses are yellowing, the leaves dropping to expose drying fruits. The seasonal turbulence is palpable, as summer crops go to seed, autumn fruits ripen and winter greens emerge from the background.

October is a busy time for us. We have started harvesting and curing the winter squash. Ears of flint corn are on racks for the month-long drying. The sweet potatoes will come in next week, and will be put in a very hot, 90 degree room to start curing. It takes about ten days for them to develop the tough skin needed for successful dormancy, and another eight weeks to develop their full sweetness and flavor. The storage grapes need to be harvested and tied up in a warm room.

October is also a important planting month. Barley, wheat, favas and garlic must all go in the ground over the next few weeks. Garlic is planted upon the waning moon, late next week. We will wait to plant the grains as close to the waxing moon as possible, with an eye to the weather. The ground is ready and we have allowed the winter annual weeds to sprout. When ready, we will spread the grains and cover them with a disk harrow, killing off the emerging weeds. Done right, works like a charm, but if we jump the gun, unnerved by the forecast, we will have a weedy mess.

We are really looking forward to this winter's markets. Somehow or another, the plantings all fell into place and the growth of the winter greens and roots has been strong. We will have greater diversity and depth of crops than ever before. It will be great fun.

Anthony includes a note about plums:

Pozegaca is an eastern European prune used to make Slivovitz, the Slavic eau de vie of plum, and Slatko, a plum paste. The plum's flavor is strong and distinctive, and it probably has a fair dose of damson in its heritage, but the shape is pure prune. We have only three trees, so there won't be too many.

We will also have some Coe's Golden Drop (right), a fine dessert plum. It is a hybrid between a greengage and plum called Magnum Bonum. It was introduced to the trade by the famous nurseryman from Bury St. Edmonds, Gervais Coe, in the early 19th century. It is a difficult plum to grow, and we are lucky to have a few this year. Described by Edward Bunyard in The Anatomy of Dessert: "At its best it is a dull yellow green with frecklings of crimson, and at its ripest it is drunk rather than eaten; the skin is rather tough but between this and the stone float an ineffable nectar."

Beat It!

It just goes to show you that the big guys are sometimes the last ones to catch on. I was skimming today's New York Times Dining section and saw a familiar-looking plant, one that was being trumpeted as the latest "exotic favorite of (New York) chefs."

Kevin Gibson's glacier lettuce with peaches and prosciutto.

Huh? Was that glacier lettuce they were getting all gotta-have-it about? I wrote a post about the succulent they're calling ficoïde glaciale, oh, let's see, a year ago when Kevin Gibson of Evoe served it as a salad with peaches and prosciutto. Grown by of-the-moment Viridian Farms right here in Oregon, who also grow the positively addictive pimientos de padron, it's apparently finally made the 3,000-mile trek across the country to the lofty tables of the Big Apple.

By the way, they recommend discarding the heaviest stems and tossing it with sweet grape tomatoes, halved, and shrimp or scallops in a light vinaigrette, or adding it to a seafood salad. Whatever. Just as long as they know we had it here first.

Top photo by G. Paul Burnett for The New York Times.

In Season NW: New Market, New Schedule & Farmer John

It was embarrassing. Here I'm supposed to be all up on farmers' markets around town, and I drive by a sign on NE Broadway announcing that the Irvington Farmers' Market happens there on Sundays. What??? The last I'd heard it had been canceled for the season! So Sunday found me walking the block-long aisle of this well-stocked little market, drooling over the humongous burritos at Canby Asparagus while Dave chatted with Morgan Brownlow of Tails & Trotters. Needless to say, we'll be going back!

Details: Irvington Farmers' Market. Sundays, 11 am-3 pm. NE 16th between Broadway and Weidler.

* * *

If you're at the Portland Farmers' Market on Oct. 3 and it looks a little, well, "different" (not that there's anything wrong with that), especially as you get closer to Norma Craven and Roger Konka's Springwater Farm booth, it's because Farmer John Peterson, star of "The Real Dirt on Farmer John,"will be there selling and signing copies of "Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables."Chef Kathryn LaSusa Yeomans will be there as well, cooking and handing out samples from his recipes. Rumor has it that there may be some flaunting of feather boas.

Details: Farmer John Peterson of "The Real Dirt on Farmer John" book sale, signing and recipe sampling. Sat., Oct. 3, 9 am-2 pm. Springwater Farm booth at the Portland Farmers' Market, in the South Park Blocks between SW Harrison & Montgomery.

* * *

A year-round farmers' market may seem like a contradiction in terms, conjuring visions of piles of muddy rutabagas and parsnips. But here in Oregon farmers are growing greens outdoors year-round and harvesting gorgeous bok choy, mushrooms, wildflower honey, garlic, squash, kiwis and shallots. Plus there are all the breads, jams, beans, meats and cheeses that you've come to love in warmer seasons. Now comes news that, in addition to the two year-round markets in Hillsdale and at People's Co-op, the Lloyd Farmers' Market will be starting a winter schedule on Tuesdays from 10 am till 2 pm, Jan. 5 through Mar. 16. Yay!

Details: Lloyd Farmers' Market. Tuesdays, 10 am-2 pm through Dec. 5, then Jan. 5-Mar. 16. Located in Oregon Square on NE Holladay St. between 7th & 9th Aves.

Beet Beat: The Wheels of Justice

Once in awhile the good guys win, and yesterday justice gave a big ol' smack upside the head to genetically modified seed developers and the people who regulate them. In the process it may help save organic seed growers in Oregon as well as consumers who don't want to eat genetically modified produce.

Harvesting organic seeds at Gathering Together Farm in Philomath.

A little over a year ago I wrote a post about a lawsuit filed by a consortium of organic-seed growers, organic farmers, and environmental and consumer groups against the US Dept. of Agriculture for deregulating the herbicide-tolerant "Roundup Ready" sugar beet seeds developed by Monsanto (read a summary I wrote at Culinate.com). The lawsuit charged that the U.S. Department of Agriculture violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement before deregulating RoundUp Ready sugarbeets.

The reason this is important to organic seed growers and consumers of organic produce in Oregon? Because nearly all of the seeds for sugar beets in the United States are grown in the Willamette Valley. Nearly all of those plants and the seeds they produce are genetically engineered. Their pollen can travel on the wind as far as five miles from its source (read a 2001 EU study here), cross-pollinating with fields of organic beets and chard and contaminating the entire crop. And since Oregon only requires a 3-mile "isolation zone" between fields, the problem becomes evident.

Or as Federal District Court Judge White said in his ruling, "In light of the large distances pollen can travel by wind and the context that seed for sugar beets, Swiss chard and table beets are primarily grown in one valley in Oregon, Plaintiffs have demonstrated that deregulation may significantly effect the environment."

The decision was announced today on the Organic Seed Alliance blog, and you can now download a pdf of the full text of the decision. The remedy phase of the case will occur on October 30. I'll keep you posted!

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UPDATE (9/24/09): Read the sugar beet industry's response to the ruling here.

Read the other posts in the series: The Beet Beat, In The Wind, The Fight Begins in Earnest, The Wheels of Justice, Part 2.

Photo of seed harvest by Torsten Kjellstrand for The Oregonian.

Farm Bulletin: Of Hornets and Men

Contributor Anthony Boutard has written eloquently about the wildlife, both vertebrate and invertebrate, that inhabit the fertile fields of his farm in the Wapato Valley and the graceful dance (a waltz? a tango? a tarantella?) that is required between a farmer and the native species that inhabit the land.

The showers Wednesday afforded an opportunity to mow the chestnut and walnut plat in dust-free comfort. We need to have low vegetation so we can find the nuts. At this time of the year, we run the tractor with the roll bar up, even though the operator gets a shower passing under low limbs, and a spiny chestnut burr or two in the lap.

This is yellow jacket and bald face hornet (above) season, and the plat always has a couple of yellow jacket nests in the ground, and an occasional a bald face hornet nest (left) on a low hanging limb. When disturbed, the wasps attack the highest point on the tractor; by instinct, they go for the head. The mower passed over two yellow jacket nests, the roll bar warded off the stings, and the locations were noted. It's now two days later and they are still on the alert. The bald face hornet nest is in the poplars adjacent to the plat, and is huge compared to other years.

These wasps are generally unpleasant to encounter, but they are also a valuable component of the farm's ecosystem, so we avoid killing them unless it is absolutely necessary. They kill a lot of harmful insect larvae. Social insects in the order Hymenoptera, which also includes bees and ants, but not termites, are described by the entomologists E.O. Wilson and Bert Hölldobler, as "super organisms." The wasp nest develops from a single queen who has survived over the winter. The nest's purpose is to generate as many queens as possible to over-winter and start nests the following spring. You will find the overwintering queens, large and mild mannered, in leaf litter, wood piles and any sheltered nook.

At this time of the year, the activity in the nest is feverish. Wasps are arriving and departing in a constant stream. They are bringing in fragments of fruit, aphids, caterpillars and carrion. They will even attack weak bee hives and have a yen for all manner fruit, especially grapes. For us they are a very minor irritation. The bald face hornets have more powerful mandibles, and seem to do more damage. Unless you stumble on the nest, the wasps are too busy with food collection to pay attention to nonfood matters. We are stung more frequently by honey bees. That said, a misstep can result in a dozen or more very painful stings. So we constantly scan for evidence of nests.

The yellow jacket meets it match in the skunk (right). Like the yellow jacket, the skunk is generalist. It belongs to the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, mink and badgers. Skunks are nocturnal and hide in burrows or under building during the day. From time to time, skunks will take up residence under the trailer that serves as our office. The skunk is a powerful digger, and will root yellow jacket nests. The animal is unbothered by the stings. They are pretty genial animals and give plenty of warning by stamping their feet before spraying. Unfortunately, some dogs never learn the cues. Although they will raid poorly constructed chicken coops, like the yellow jacket, skunks are a valuable part of any farm. Skunks mostly eat small rodents, grubs and adult insects.

And a final note (be sure to watch to the very end of the trailer):



On the 25th, 26th and 27th of September, the documentary "Ingredients" will be shown at the Bagdad Theater. Each night, the ticket sales will benefit a different local organization. These are: Multnomah County Food Initiative, Loaves and Fishes, and Ecotrust's Farm to School Program. We encourage you to see this documentary, as it has a lot of local Portland influence.