Scene & Heard: Name Game & Another New Market

There's a certain sound to spring in Portland, and it's not just the new life busting out of the waterlogged soil or the buds exploding on every tree and bush. It's more like the thundering of a far-off cattle stampede, or the faint humming of the rails when a train is coming down the tracks.

That sound, of course, is the official opening day of the Portland Farmers' Market, and this year it's come unusually early. Which means that on Saturday, Mar. 20, you'll find a small city of tents popping up in the South Park Blocks before dawn, and by 8:30 an army of vendors will be inundated by shoppers driven to distraction with anticipation.

You've already read about the market's expansion and the rumors that have been swirling around its opening, along with the news about two new markets, one on Mondays in Pioneer Courthouse Square and the other on Thursdays at NW 23rd and Savier.

The other Thursday market, formerly known as Eastbank (thank you, Prince), which was initially renamed Hinson for the large Baptist church parking lot it occupies, has been re-renamed Buckman for the neighborhood that surrounds it. And the Wednesday market downtown is being rechristened Shemanski for the businessman who in 1926 donated the land for the park that contains it.

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The news is out that the Oregon City council has provided start-up funding for a mid-week evening farmers' market in the historic downtown core to complement the Saturday Oregon City Farmers' Market out at the county public service center. Even cooler is that the good citizens of that fair city are also going to be able to enjoy their market year-round.

The schedule right now is for the Saturday market on Kaen Road to run from 9 am to 2 pm starting May 1st with the mid-week market open Wednesdays starting May 5 from 3 pm to 7 pm at 8th and Main downtown. Are you with me so far? Because here's where it gets a little complicated: After the two markets shut down after the holidays, the Saturday market will move to the downtown market location and operate every other Saturday through the winter from 10 am till 2 pm.

And for those of you who love the "woo-woo," market manager Jackie Hammond-Williams informed me that after selecting the location at 8th and Main "because it just felt right," the board discovered old newspaper clippings describing a "producers market" that occupied that exact location in 1924. Yeah, I felt that chill, too.

Living Large

Cinderella certainly had had her issues. I mean, given any wish by her fairy godmother she chooses to go to a fancy ball? I mean, requesting endless wealth and power aside, what about world peace? Good lord, girl, think outside the box!

But to get back to that fairy godmother, sometimes it would be nice to have someone wave away the endless drudgery of sweeping those ashes or, in my case, making dinner every night. The problem is, for those of us who don't have endless piles of cash, or even little piles stashed in the couch cushions, eating out costs money. And not a little bit at most places.

So it's nice to find a place that doesn't break the bank when a break from the grind is called for. Even better to find a place where the food is really good, the ingredients fresh and preferably local and, best of all, where I don't have to change out of my jeans and sneakers.

I'd heard about Dove Vivi from my friends Evan and Ali of the Little Red Bike Café who consider it their home-away-from-café and had raved the food and the friendliness of the staff. Looking up the menu online, I was able to reassure Dave that they had microbrews on tap, a definite plus. It also had been awhile since we'd dug into a decent pizza.

And this pizza is decent and then some. Baked in deep 12" pans in large pizza ovens, the crusts are made of cornmeal and come out crispy and browned, with toppings piled on top in lush, lovely, fairly traditional combinations. The difference is that most of the produce is sourced locally when it's available, the sausage is Carlton Farms and several of the meats, including the tasso ham and pancetta, are cured onsite.

The interesting part is that you can buy the pizzas by the half in addition to the usual whole and slice, which makes it nice not to have to compromise if you really want the roasted eggplant and your companion loves his pepperoni. (Just as an example, of course.) The salads are also plenty big enough to share and are lively mixes including, on the night we were there, mixed green, beet and an excellent lacinato kale with ricotta salata.

So I'm putting Dove Vivi on our list until that fairy godmother shows up with her wand. Just don't count on me to wish for any glass slippers.

Details: Dove Vivi, 2727 NE Glisan. Phone 503-239-4444.

Living an Abundant Life

This is the story of Scott and Marilyn Jondle of Abundant Life Farm in Dallas, Oregon, just west of Salem. This story by my friend, Rebecca Gerendasy, tells how they left the cubes of high-tech for the fields of the mid-Willamette Valley.

St. Paddy and the Zombie

Zombies aren't something you normally associate with St. Paddy's Day. That's normally left to shamrocks, leprechauns and green Peeps. Yes, green Peeps. Because who doesn't think of green marshmallow chicks on a holiday celebrating an Irish saint?

Radicchio strudel.

The zombie part came in when I was walking past the meat counter of my neighborhood grocery store the other day and saw a pile of briskets on sale for $5.49 a pound. They'd been brined and were covered with pickling spices, all set to make corned beef for the St. Patrick's Day holiday. Not really having time to cook it for dinner that night, I moved on with my cart, but the image of those gigantic briskets stayed with me.

The next day all I could think of were those briskets gleaming in the case, and pretty soon I found myself standing zombie-like in front of them pointing at a four pound monster with its half-inch cap of fat. I'd also run across a recipe for a radicchio-filled potato strudel that had intrigued me, so I picked up a couple of heads of chicory, came home and got busy, my craving for corned beef about to be satisfied.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

The recipe assumes the meat has already been brined, but there are lots of recipes available online if you want to do your own. You can put potatoes and carrots in the pot, as well, though since I was making the strudel (below) I didn't feel it was necessary.

4-5 lb. brined brisket of beef
1 Tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 bay leaves
2 large onions, cut in wedges
1 head cabbage, cut in wedges
1 pt. dark beer like Cascadian Dark Ale or Porter
Water

Preheat oven to 300°. In deep casserole or Le Creuset pot large enough to hold the brisket, place the brisket fat-side up in the bottom of the pot. Top with bay leaves, wedges of onion and cabbage. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour beer over the top and add enough water to barely cover the meat. Place in oven for 3 hours or until meat is cooked through and tender. Slice thinly and serve warm on platter with cabbage and onions.

Radicchio Strudel
By Chef Walter Potenza

For the Dough:
1 lb. potatoes
1 1/4 cups flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. grated cheese (Montasio cheese, or Parmigiano)
Salt
Olive oil

For the Filling:
1/3 c. olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 1/4 lbs. radicchio
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 c. grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Melted unsalted butter

Boil the potatoes until just tender, then peel them and mash them in a medium-sized bowl. Let them cool and combine them with the flour, eggs and cheese. Work the mixture into durable and uniform dough. Oil a cloth well and roll the dough out into a half-inch thick layer on it.

To make the filling, cut the radicchio into thin strips and sauté it with the garlic over a very low flame with the olive oil, covered, for about 20 minutes. While it's cooking heat a large pot of water. Discard the garlic clove and spread the sautéed radicchio over the dough.

Season to taste with salt and pepper, roll up the dough, wrap it in the cloth and tie the cloth shut. Salt the water, which will by now be boiling. Slide the strudel into it, and simmer it for about 20 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Serve it, sliced, with melted butter and grated Parmigiano Reggiano, and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil if desired.

Simply Stunning

The best restaurant in Portland isn't even a real restaurant. It's kind of a café, a bit of a bistro. But it's actually more of a showcase for the products carried by the grocery store next door, albeit one of the better grocery stores in the city with a mix of imported foods and wine, as well as produce, a meat vendor and a cheese shop.

Kevin in the "kitchen."

Evoe doesn't even have a kitchen, at least one that most chefs would recognize or deign to work in. No big stove, no grill, no stations, no harried staff lorded over by a red-faced, screaming ogre, it just has a couple of plug-in griddles and hot plates, and only recently got an (electric) stove. Its main feature is a large wooden butcher block table with a few stools around it.

And it's not just the food that Kevin Gibson conjures from simple, seasonal ingredients that makes it the best in town, but also its unassuming simplicity and incredible value. The day's offerings are written on tall blackboards posted high on the walls, with Kevin basically standing at the wooden table and whipping out the smartest, most beautiful food you'll find anywhere.

Tiny Kusshi oysters.

If you're lucky you can sit across from him at that table, squeezed between the day's to-go sandwiches and within snagging distance of a gorgeous leg of serrano ham (hoof on), with a front row seat to watch Mr. Gibson as he slices, showers and mixes.

Endive pear salad.

This trip we started with a half dozen Kusshi oysters from British Columbia, their creamy texture and almost cheese-like taste afloat in a clean, salty brine. Accompanied by a shave of fresh-off-the-root horseradish and a few drops of Meyer lemon, these were sublime.

Artichoke, fennel and pancetta salad.

Then we watched as Kevin tore apart a head of endive, thin-sliced a little red pear, crushed a few hazelnuts and mixed them with his hands in a bowl. A sprinkling of vinegar and oil from the shelf behind him, a few crumbles of roquefort and our salad was done. Then it was time for an artichoke, fennel and pancetta salad made from baby artichokes that he peeled and sliced on the board and threw in a bowl with translucent shavings of fennel from his trusty mandoline, tossed with more dressing ingredients and topped with wafers of fried pancetta that shattered into a hundred pieces when touched with a fork.

The coups de grâce came with his signature duck confit on frisée (top), the bronzed and crispy skin giving way to the meltingly moist meat. This is duck you'll want to suck off the bone until every last little shred is gone, then long for until the next time you're wise enough to choose this place over so many other, lesser places in town.

Details: Evoe, 3731 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. Phone 503-232-1010.

More Nettles, But No More Urban Market

GSNW contributor and chef Kathryn LaSusa Yeomans (below left) has been collaborating with Springwater Farm at the Urban Farm Stand every Saturday this past winter, preparing delectable soups, sautés and samples for the 'hoodistas stopping by their stand at NE 30th and Emerson. Now comes word that the stand will be ceasing operation when farmers' market season opens this Saturday, Mar. 20th. I personally thank them for brightening one corner of NE Portland, and hope that they return next winter!

It sure feels like spring, and though we're not quite into morel season, it's seeming closer by the day. In fact, nettles and fiddlehead ferns are already here. Find them along with plenty of wonderful mushrooms, fruit, eggs, lamb, goat, preserves, cider and legumes at the spring market. Stop by for a taste of the spring bounty!

Nettle and Egg Flan
Adapted from Lidia Bastianich

Eggs are a delicious, cheap source of complex proteins and good fats. They make an excellent weekday lunch or dinner, and this recipe can be made ahead and reheated easily. Nettles are one of the first wild greens that emerge in the spring. They are similar to spinach in nutrient content, but are much richer in iron and trace minerals—think super spinach! Substitute spinach, Swiss chard or other greens if nettles are unavailable. Also, nettle cooking water can be used for cooking rice or as a broth for making soup.

Softened butter for the ramekins or flan molds
1/2 lb. fresh young nettle leaves
4 large farm fresh eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1/3 c. chopped chives or green onion tops
4 fresh sage leaves
1/3 c. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano or Asiago cheese
2 c. heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 275° and place the rack in the center position. Butter six 8-oz. ceramic ramekins, glass custard cups or disposable aluminum cups and set aside.

Cook the nettle leaves in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Drain thoroughly, rinse under cold water until cool enough to handle, then with your hands, squeeze out as much water as possible.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, salt, pepper and nutmeg together until blended. Combine the squeezed nettles, chives and sage in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add the egg mixture and grated cheese and process until the mixture is extremely smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the cream and process until thoroughly incorporated, about 30 seconds.

Divide the nettle mixture among the prepared ramekins. Set the ramekins in a large baking dish so they don’t touch each other. Place the dish on the oven rack and pour in enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until the centers are firm to the touch, about an hour.

Remove the baking dish from the oven and let the flans cool in the water for 10 minutes. Run a thin-bladed knife around the sides of the ramekins and invert the flans onto serving plates. Serve with a light tomato sauce or a simple green salad.

More Like a Stumble?

Pub crawls have never sounded very appealing to me. It's not the pub part, since I happen to like beer and find that the pubs here in PDX are getting more and more convivial in that British "let's pop down to the pub for a pint" way. And the food they dish out, while it's not going to give the city's better restaurants anything to worry about, has improved from the days of beer nuts and pretzels out of a bag.

The part I find less than inviting is the bit about the "crawl," as if the point of visiting pubs is to get so blasted that perambulation becomes problematic. Not to say that I haven't suffered from an error in judgment a time or two. (Say, those five vodka martinis on a youthful sojourn in San Francisco…but I digress.) Or that the purpose of beer consumption is quantity, not so much quality. Which here in Microbrew Central is somewhat of an outdated idea, n'est-ce pas?

Which brings me to the Division Street Pub…um…Crawl scheduled for Saturday, March 20, featuring a chance to meet eight of the Northwest's top brewers at four different locations:

• Noon: Victory Bar, with Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland; Double Mountain, Hood River. 2509 SE 37th Ave.
• 1:30 pm: New Old Lompoc Hedge House with Lompoc, Portland. 3412 SE Division St.
• 3:00 pm: Bar Avignon with John Harris from Full Sail, Hood River; Spencer Gotter from Fort George Brewery, Astoria. 2138 SE Division St.
• 4:30 pm: The BeerMongers with Walking Man, Stevenson; Barley Browns, Baker City; Beer Valley, Ontario. 1125 SE Division St.

Sounds like it might be just the thing to do on a (presumably) rainy Saturday in Portland. So bring your umbrella and, please, try to stay vertical.

Details: Division Street Pub Crawl, sponsored by BrewPublic. Sat., Mar. 20, noon-6 pm at four locations along SE Division St.

Livin' in the Blurbs: News You Can Use

This week has been big for small-batch coffee roasters. First it was news or, rather, news to some people, that Portland has surpassed Seattle as the big kahuna of coffee in the country. Then it was the cover of the Dining section of the NYTimes trumpeting the news that New Yorkers have a new-found obsession with micro-roasted coffee. And then it was word that the roasts put out by Matt Higgins of Coava Coffee, one of the micro-roasters I profiled in an article for FoodDay last year, have been picked up by online coffee retailer GoCoffeeGo.com. Founded by San Francisco coffee fiends Scott Pritikin and Elise Papazian, the company says it only sells "the ultimate beans from Super-Star Specialty Roasters throughout the country, who are known in their local communities as the 'gods and goddesses' of coffee." Hyperbole aside, Good Stuff NW wishes Matt and Coava the best!

Details: Coava Coffee Roasters, available at Red E, Barista and Crema in PDX.

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Sometimes it takes a community to respond to a disaster, and Eastmoreland Market & Kitchen owner Colleen Mendoza is springing into action with "Hands on for Haiti," an art and culinary auction and benefit for Mercy Corps to be held on Thursday, April 1. Some of the city's best chefs (think Tommy Habetz from Bunk, John Stewart of Meat Cheese Bread, Karl Zenk of the Heathman, Ken Gordon of Kenny & Zuke’s and pastry chef Lauren Fortgang of Paley’s Place) will make mini-sandwiches for $1 each, and there will be a silent auction of artworks from the region’s most progressive and talented artists. And tickets for the event are only $10. No foolin'.

Details: Hands on for Haiti, Thurs., April 1, 6-11 pm; tickets $10 available online or at Eastmoreland Market, 3616 SE SE Knapp St. Event will be held at 1035 NW Lovejoy.

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And in news you can literally get a charge out of, longtime downtown resto Southpark has put in a charging station for electric vehicles in their parking garage next door. It might be a smart business move, since both Nissan and Mitsubishi have chosen Portland as a test market for their new line of electric vehicles. "Electric vehicles have hit home in Portland and we support and applaud these efforts," said Southpark General Manager Karin Devencenzi. "Our new charging station allows electric car owners to free their mind from any ‘range anxiety’ associated with battery usage, while having access to Portland’s city center."

Details: Southpark Seafood Grill, 901 SW Salmon St.; 503-326-1300. Southpark Garage, 914 SW Taylor St.; 503-228-6758.

No, You Can't Have Them Yet

Peach trees are in bloom at Baird Family Orchards, and Boomer and his little brother Henry will make sure they arrive at the markets safely.

Photo from Baird Family Orchards.

In Season NW: There's a Fern in My Pizza!

The very first trip I made to Maine to meet my future in-laws, they made sure I tried genuine Kennebec and Katahdin potatoes grown in Aroostook County (in Maine, it's just called "The County"). They made sure to emphasize that their potatoes were grown in the rich, rocky soil of New England, unlike the potatoes grown in Idaho that they disdained as being "grown in sand."

Of course they made sure I had lobster a few times, too, sweet and luscious and served whole in the shell, unlike the odd bits mixed with other seafood I'd grown up with, included only so the restaurant could justify doubling the price of the dish. But the real revelation of the trip was an odd little green shaped like the scroll of a violin, the unfurled fronds of a young fern that are gathered along streams in the spring.

As with nettles, these first little sprouts of green that appeared in the spring were no doubt greeted with great relief by people living in northern climes who hadn't had any fresh vegetables for several months. With a flavor reminiscent of spinach and a crunch like celery, they make a great appetizer (and conversation piece) simply sautéed in olive oil and sprinkled with salt. Add bacon and shallots for a side dish or to serve over pasta.

Or do what we did: sauté them and scatter the fiddleheads over a homemade pizza for a seasonal twist. You can find them at the farmers' markets now and they should be available for the next month or so. Oh, and they also freeze quite well if you want to test any potential relatives when they come to visit.

Greek Profile

It's been a little crazy around here lately. First it was the birth of my new nephew, known fondly as the C-man and, I say apologetically to all the other aunties out there, the cutest baby ever born. Then we launched into a long-awaited (15 years, give or take) remodel of our main floor bathroom, requiring a major purging of years of what can only be described as assorted crap. Then this last week my neighbor's beloved father, Floyd, passed away, a kind and gentle Texan who had graced our table too few evenings in his short time in Oregon.

So why is GoodStuffNW suddenly turning into one of those soap opera-inspired, my-life-splashed-before-the-world blogs? Because, as everyone knows, the birth of a baby and a death in a family requires that food be taken to the beleaguered, sleep-deprived parents and grieving friends, of course.

Perfect for this task are various casseroles, lasagnes and platters of enchiladas that can be kept for a week or so, or frozen till needed. Comforting, yes, but a tad on the heavy side. Which is why I like a certain chicken dish that can be thrown together in virtually no time and is even good enough for company dinner when you're pressed for time or inspiration.

Layered with artichokes, olives and feta, it has a Greek profile that only needs the addition of some plain white rice and an easy salad to make a fetching dinner. Perfect for those times when your life turns into something of a soap opera.

Artichoke Chicken

2 Tbsp. olive oil
2-3 lbs. chicken thighs or 1 whole chicken, cut up
6 cloves garlic, slivered
1 15-oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and halved
1 c. pitted kalamata olives
4 oz. feta cheese, broken into chunks
1 Tbsp. oregano
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350°. Heat oil in skillet and brown chicken parts in batches, transferring them to a 9" by 12" baking dish as they brown. After chicken has been browned, using the same skillet, lightly sauté the garlic slivers and scatter over chicken in baking dish. Distribute artichokes, olives and feta over the chicken and sprinkle with oregano. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes or until thighs are done. If using whole chicken, bake for 45 minutes.

Options: Slice up oil-cured sundried tomatoes and scatter them over the chicken with the other ingredients. Or, instead of feta, add 1 large can stewed tomatoes to make a rich, braised dish.

I Am An Artisan Cheesemaker

Is it just me, or does this choke you up, too? I've met several of these eminent Oregon cheesemakers, and I'll be profiling some of them and their colleagues in the coming months. Stay tuned.

Thanks to Cheese Chick for making this video, and for Tami Parr for pointing me to it. You rock!

Livin' in the Blurbs: It's All About Giving

There is nothing I love better than helping others by helping myself. And the folks at Zenger Farm are giving all of us a chance to feel really good with their Spring for Zenger benefit. And all it takes is doing what you do this time of year anyway, which is eating out and buying plants. I'm telling you, with participating restaurants like Nostrana, Ned Ludd, Biwa, Toast, Laughing Planet, Pine State Biscuits and Tastebud (at its PSU farmers' market stall), you can't lose! And there just aren't better garden stores than Pistils, Portland Nursery, Naomi's Organic Garden Supply and Concentrates. Each is donating a portion of the proceeds from their sales on a particular day to the education work that Zenger Farm does in the community, so check the website for days and times.

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Are you like everyone else I know and dreaming about fresh eggs collected from your very own chickens? Well, if you're still in the "thinking about it" stage, then put the 2010 Tour de Coops on your calendar and get ready to drool over some of the grooviest backyard chicken coops in the city. It's a benefit for the worthy programs at Growing Gardens, it's happening on Saturday, July 24, and it'll include a raffle of many delightful chicken-related prizes, one of which will be a chicken coop designed by The Garden Coop. And if you or someone you know would like to donate an item to the raffle, I'm sure they'd love to know!

Details: 2010 Tour de Coops, a self guided tour of 25 coops on Portland's east side. Sat., July 24, 11 am-3 pm; $10 for tour booklet, raffle tickets $5 ea or 3 for $10 (check website for purchasing details). Info phone 503-284-8420.

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Very few restaurants in the Portland area are more dedicated to fresh, seasonal ingredients than Toast's owner Donald Kotler. He not only grows a fair of the produce served in the café himself, but he has longstanding relationships with dozens of farmers in the area. And on Mondays in March from 8 am till 2 pm you can get that great food for 10% off the regular price, and he's crazy enough to allow that discount to be combined with other offers like the one found in the Chinook Book. And not only that, but on Friday, Mar. 19, Toast will be participating in the benefit for Zenger Farm (see above) by donating 25% of all sales made that day, more than any other participating restaurant. Like I said, dedicated!

Details: Toast, 5222 SE 52nd Ave. Open for breakfast and lunch Wed.-Mon., 8 am-2 pm; and dinner Wed.-Fri., 5:30-9 pm. Phone 503-774-1020.

A City Can't Have Too Many Markets!

This city rocks local like no other, and to prove it we not only have a thriving farmers' market scene, but several markets are adding new locations in underserved areas and are adding more days to their market schedules.

Apropos of that, word is just in from Eamon "Shoehorn" Molloy, manager of the incredible Hillsdale Farmers' Market that shakes the southwest side of town on Sundays and the east side Lloyd Farmers' Market on Tuesdays, that Lloyd will be adding Thursdays to its market calendar starting on June 3 and running through September 30.

A unique market that draws from not only the surrounding Northeast neighborhood but also from the government buildings that ring its location, Molloy announced last fall that the Tuesday market would extend its season through the winter, joining the ranks of the other two year-round markets in the city at Hillsdale and People's.

"Customers and vendors alike had been asking for a longer season. We planned to run through mid-March 2010 but the desire to run year-round was too strong to ignore," Molloy said. "Ashforth Pacific has been a wonderful host and we are grateful for their strong support of local farmers."

Response was so good from customers and vendors over the winter that the decision was made to add a second day, giving residents and workers yet another opportunity to keep their dollars in the community and support local farmers and food purveyors. I can only applaud their efforts!

Details: Lloyd Farmers' Market. Tuesdays, 10 am-2 pm year round; Thursdays, 10 am-2 pm, June 3-Sept. 30. Located in Oregon Square on NE Holladay St. between 7th & 9th Aves

Olympic Ambitions

Sometimes you know you're going to like a place the instant you walk in the door. So it comes as no surprise that I felt a flood of warm feelings immediately on walking through the door of the recently opened Olympic Provisions when I saw the giant "MEAT" sign lit up like a Broadway marquee on the back wall. The brainchild of Clyde Common's Nate Tilden and co-owner (and executive chef) Jason Barwikowski, it serves as a playground for the meat-curing prowess of salumi maven Elias Cairo.

Cairo, known until recently as the sous and then head chef at Hawthorne's highly respected Castagna, came to Olympic Provisions to operate Oregon's first USDA-approved dry cure salumeria. Located in what was Portland's inner eastside produce district, it now looks to be its latest hot spot for eating and drinking. And Cairo is serious about his meat, with a window next to the kitchen that looks into the hanging meaty bits in the curing room.

On my first trip there for lunch a friend and I sampled some of those meats, mine a hot pastrami sandwich that didn't carry the label Reuben but was packed not only with warm meat but lots of fresh sauerkraut. The appetizer of fresh fried sardines and garlic aioli with chopped pickled onions on crostini were sublime, showing that these guys know how to take full advantage of what's in season.

The second trip was for a face-to-face with my fellow blogger Denise and biz exec/world traveler and fellow twitterer Nitin Khanna. (As I told Nitin, I'm old school when it comes to face time.) Deciding to dive meat first into the menu, we ordered the charcuterie plate (above right), a combination that showed off Cairo's prowess in the curing room with, clockwise from top, coppa (with white chunks), mortadella (with green bits), saucisson sec, terrine (under knife) and pork liver mousse. The plate was a collection of contrasting flavors and textures, from the meatiness of the terrine to the silken lushness of the moussse to the crunch of the peppers in the mortadella. The cured meats were surprisingly mild and a tad dry, the sec rather flavorless and the coppa almost leathery.
More surprising was the treatment of the vegetables, which you'd think would almost be an afterthought in a palace built to honor the many delicious ways to enjoy the flesh of animals. The shaved brussels sprout salad with its anchovy-rich vinaigrette (right) was something I'll be working to copy here at home and might require (many) further visits to confirm ingredients. And the complex curried roasted cauliflower with chickpeas and golden raisins (above left) was pure genius, and another dish I could devour on a regular basis.
Denise and I opted for the roasted eggplant sandwich on a bolo roll (left) that was combined with roasted red peppers and a honeyed ricotta, a nice textural combination, but I probably would have gone with a pungent goat or sheep's cheese to give it more character. Nitin's grilled cheese and mushroom on brioche was very good, the buttery brioche grilled to be crusty on the outside, and once bitten the bread almost dissolved in your mouth.

This place would be a great one to visit at several times of the day to see how its atmosphere changes as night falls, the brighter, noisier crowds at lunch giving way to the more intimate lighting in the evening. Especially if you can get the prime seats at end of the counter and toast your luck under that MEAT sign.

Details: Olympic Provisions, 107 SE Washington St. Phone 503-954-3663.

Growing Pains at Portland Farmers' Market?

With more than 40 farmers' markets in the Portland metro area and more in almost every community statewide, Oregon has become a national model for establishing a direct linkage from farm to table. A recent report found that farmers' markets have had a collective impact on the region's economy of more than $17 million.

The Portland Farmers' Market, while announcing the closure of its Ecotrust location at the end of last season, is opening two new markets this year, one downtown in Pioneer Courthouse Square and another in NW at 23rd and Savier. It's also increasing its footprint on Saturdays at the market at PSU, spreading out to include the block directly south and relocating vendors to the perimeter, opening the area in the center for music, picnicking and just plain hanging out.

Doubling their space will only add 25 more stalls for a total of 120 separate vendors, the point of the expansion being to decrease the crush created by too many people crammed into too little space. As might be expected with an effort this ambitious, however, rumors have been flying about who's in and who's out and reports of some bumps in the road on the way to opening day.

As was reported on Eater.com, Morgan Brownlow's Tails & Trotters will be a vendor at the PSU market after all, after an initial report that they would not be included in the new mix. Executive Director Ann Forsthoefel said that Brownlow's hazelnut-finished pork will be filling in for the first part of the season until one of their other vendor's pigs are ready.

Forsthoefel was surprised to hear that Viridian Farms, the go-to vendor for the latest and greatest produce in the area, including their orgasmic pimientos de padron and the "it" greens of last year, the succulent known as glacier lettuce, was rumored to have been summarily downsized. On the contrary, she said, they were given more space in a coveted corner location. There was also some talk that the decision on which vendors would be included in the new markets opening this year had been delayed, but Forsthoefel said that only about 10 vendors at each of those markets were still undecided. She said that the focus right now is on getting the PSU market season launched, and that after it opens a final decision would be made on unfilled slots.

She added that they just found out this week that the construction on the south end of the new block, which was supposed to have been completed by mid-summer, was at least eight weeks behind schedule. It has meant that the layout of the new space, as well as access points for load-in and load-out, has had to be reconfigured, but that all will be in place and ready to go by opening day. Check the website for a schematic of the new layout of the market, with an interactive map of vendor locations to follow in the near future.

You can count on finding the market opening its eighteenth season on Mar. 20 at PSU, methinks with even more anticipation than usual.

Details: Portland Farmers' Market, Saturdays starting on Mar. 20 at Portland State University in the South Park Blocks between SW Hall & SW Montgomery.

Heart Attack in a Bowl

There's nothing like putting your life on the line for dinner. And I'm not talking about a Wild Kingdom scenario where Marlin Perkins sends Jim off in his short shorts to get some alligator steaks to grill. No, I'm talking about something more insidious here, something that, like kindness, will kill you with its soft, silky touch.

It had been years since I'd made my killer alfredo sauce for pasta, since when Dave became lactose-intolerant it went on the list of verboten foods along with croissants and much of French cuisine. So with Dave due back in town after a visit with his mom, my son and I decided on one last lactose-packed hurrah with this buttery, fat-on-fat creamy dish of danger. To top it off, I bought a package of thinly sliced pancetta rounds that I fried to make bacon crisps to garnish the pasta, and then used the rendered fat to make a warm bacon dressing for a butter lettuce salad (just to say we did have one healthy thing—the lettuce, that is—for dinner).

You can obviously serve this as a side dish as is, but it's also great with steamed broccoli or a chiffonade of kale mixed into the sauce at the last minute, or with shredded chicken or chunks of fried pancetta. For some kick, run fresh garlic through a garlic press and add that to the sauce, or sprinkle in some red pepper flakes.

I'm not saying you should have your cholesterol checked before diving in, but if you do decide to make this for dinner, it might be a good idea to have 911 on speed dial and put the phone next to your bowl. Just in case.

Pasta with Alfredo Sauce

1 lb. dried pasta
2 c. heavy cream
1/4 c. butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.

Pour cream into a medium-sized sauce pan and bring to a slow boil, stirring frequently to keep it from scorching. Reduce by half. Stir in butter. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and keep warm while pasta cooks. Add pasta to boiling water and cook till al dente. Drain pasta and put in serving bowl. Pour sauce over the top and mix in. Serve with parmesan on the side.

* * *

Warm Bacon Dressing

Rendered fat from 4 slices of bacon
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. brown or white sugar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat fat in small pan. Whisk in remaining ingredients and drizzle over salad greens. Toss and serve.

In Season NW: A Little Limoncello

With Meyer lemons in season right now, it's time to think about saving these wonderful yellow fruits for later. Preserved lemons are some of my favorite condiments, great stuffed in green olives for martinis and in Moroccan dishes, but nothing beats a sip of limoncello on a hot summer day. Contributor Jim Dixon of RealGoodFood shares his recipe.

Limoncello

I saw a recipe for limoncello online recently. It wasn’t really wrong, but it called for macerating lemon zest in vodka. There’s a much better way to make limoncello, a specialty of the Sorrentine Peninsula, and while the season for citrus is winding down, there’s still a nice selection in the markets.

My approach comes from Giuliano Bugialli, a cookbook author who write about the regional dishes of Italy. He says this is how they do it along the coast south of Naples.

Start with a trip to the liquor store to pick up some grain alcohol, commonly called Everclear after a well-known brand (but not the one sold here in Oregon). Grain alcohol is more neutral than vodka, not too mention much stronger, and it’s what’s used in Italy.

You’ll need 5 to 6 lemons for 750 ml (a “fifth”) of alcohol. I usually use Meyer lemons, but the more common Persian lemons will work, too. Other items to gather before starting include cheesecloth, string and a few wide-mouth jars (two quart jars for each 750 ml of alcohol).

Use the cheesecloth and string to make a pouch for 2 to 3 lemons. You’ll need to slip this inside the jar, so make it loose enough to allow for the lemons to shift around. Pour the alcohol into the jars, leaving enough room for the lemons to hang in the jar without touching the alcohol. Use tape or more string to secure the lemon pouches, and cover the jars with a couple of layers of plastic wrap (the alcohol will evaporate if the jars are not tightly sealed). Put the jars in a dark place and wait.

While it might not seem like much is happening, the alcohol fumes will, over a few months, leech the flavor out of the lemon peel. Later this summer (July 4th, say), make a simple syrup of water and sugar (I used to make my syrup for limoncello from equal parts sugar and water, but now use 4 parts sugar to 5 water so it’s not too sweet).

Unseal the jars of alcohol and discard the lemons. Dilute the alcohol by half for 90 proof (quite strong); add a bit more syrup or plain water for a less potent batch (do this slowly, in a small container, and taste it along the way).

This limoncello won’t have the vibrant yellow color you get from soaking the zest in the alcohol, but it also doesn’t have the bitterness from the white pith that’s hard to avoid when you’re cutting the zest. It’s delicious over ice or mixed with iced tea for a summer cooler.

A Piece of the Action

We really try not to complain. And goodness knows we don't suffer. But ever since Dave became lactose intolerant a few years ago my son and I have had to find other ways to get our gooey soft cheesy fixes. Fortunately Dave can still partake of the hard cheeses like romano and parmesan, so most Italian pasta dishes, barring those with mozzarella or ricotta, are still in the mix. And over the years I've concocted a pretty killer lactose-free mac'n'cheese.

But when Dave had to make a trip to Vermont to visit his mom recently, we decided to take full advantage of the opportunity to gorge on some forbidden fruit. And, since pizza has been pretty much off the menu for obvious reasons, we concluded that a wood-oven pizza from neighborhood favorite Lucca would fit the bill. For one thing, it's only a few blocks away, assuring us that it would not only be fresh but hot by the time we got it home, because nothing sucks like congealed cheese.

It went without saying that we would order the Quattro Formaggi (above left) with its contingent of fresh mozzarella, fontina, gorgonzola and Parmesan scattered with garlic and spinach. These 12" pies run from $10.50 to $13 and each one would easily feed two adults with a side salad but, because Mr. B's metabolism is such that he could eat two or more of these beauties by himself without batting an eye (which would use up even more calories), we got a backup of their funghi pizza (top photo), wood-roasted wild mushrooms on top of a pool of melted fontina, mozzarella, parsley and truffle oil.

We've loved Lucca as a place to go for lunch or dinner, and this first venture into the to-go pizza list was very promising, with their bubbly, rustic crusts and seasonal ingredients. With the price of two equaling about what you'd pay for one large pizza at any other shop, we'll no doubt be calling them up again. Maybe, if we asked really nicely, they'd even put aside the mozzarella so Dave could have some.

Details: Lucca, 3449 NE 24th Ave. Phone 503-287-7372.

"You're Gonna Love My Nuts!"

First it was Carl Sagan singing, now it's the Slap Chop guy rapping. Gotta love that auto-tune!

Thanks to Lucy Burningham for tweeting it!

Report from the Field: The Santa Fe Trail

Thank goodness I have friends who get out of town once in awhile and inspire me to dream about road trips to faraway places. My pal Laurie recently ventured solo to Santa Fe and not only brought back tales of a charming city filled with wonderful food, but some photos and samples to make it a much fuller experience!

The Santa Fe visitor experience is well documented, and for good reason. They’ve got it going on. World class art, extraordinary light and interesting food. And unlike much of the art, the food is very affordable.

Here are few gastronomic highlights from my recent mid-winter jaunt to the Land of Enchantment:

Café Pasqual's: A popular spot known for it’s tasty Mexican/New Mexican cuisine and funky, relaxed, atmosphere. I opted for the chicken mole enchiladas (left). According to my server, the sweet-yet-savory Oaxacan-style mole contained over 100 ingredients. (And yes, it was just as good as the moles I had in Oaxaca.) There was also a flavorful lime and cilantro rice, which was delightful in its own right. Café Pasqual's, 121 Don Gaspar. Phone 505-983-9340.

The Plaza Café: Another local favorite, located … you guessed it …right in the main plaza. I had the chile relleno omelet (right). I’m no food writer, but I’ll take my best shot at describing this as an episode of The Dating Game: Mr. Fluffy Frenchie Omelet chooses local hottie, Miss Perfectly Roasted Green Chile. Sparks fly, they bond and together they ride off into the northern New Mexico sunset. The Plaza Café, 54 Lincoln Ave. Phone 505-982-1664.

Tomasita's: My friend from Albuquerque insisted I try the sopapillas (think the beignet of New Mexico) with red chile sauce and honey. (Sounds weird, but it’s delicious.) And the margaritas…yikes! Pony up for the “Silver Coin”—fancy tequila plus Cointreau that's well worth the $11. But imbibers beware! Tequila is even more dangerous at 7,000 feet. Tomasita's, 500 S Guadalupe St. Phone 505-983-5721.

And, last but not least, the quirky yet charming Kakawa Chocolate House where one can find incredible exotic drinking chocolate based on historic recipes from Pre-Columbian Meso America, 17th century Europe and Colonial Mexico.

I took home some of their 1775 Marie Antoinette Chocolate Elixir, which I prepared with both with regular milk and the recommended almond milk. I vote for the almond milk—it really brings out the chocolate’s complex flavors. The cute chocolate ingots (right) make great gifts, too, and are available online. [Laurie brought some back for me and they are indeed as incredible as she describes. And unusual, to boot! - KAB] Kakawa Chocolate House, 1050 E Paseo de Peralta. Phone 505-982-0388.

That’s all I have to report from the field. However, I have one parting suggestion: if you’re going to go in hard for the chiles, I recommend bringing some Pepto Bismol tablets—just to be on the safe side.

Member of the Press

Want to know what's really going on in Portland? Then get out of downtown and, in the name of all that is holy, eschew the Pearl District. Head out into the neighborhoods and walk the streets around Alberta, Multnomah, Montavilla, Hawthorne, Mississippi or Division to get a curbside view of where real Portlanders eat, shop and live.

The corner of 26th and Clinton, just south of Division and east of a hot little restaurant row near 21st (Vindalho, Nuestra Cocina, Bar Avignon), has been a microcosm of eastside life for at least a quarter century. The Clinton St. Theater on the corner has been showing the Rocky Horror picture show every Saturday night since 1978 and rolls out a roster of indie releases and classics. The retro-cool darkness of Dots Cafe, the homey pizzas and pastas of SubRosa and the brews at Clinton Street Brewing will give you some of the flavor of the corner, but for an all-day metric on street activity you can't beat The Press Club.

Open every day, neighbors gather for their cup o' joe and gossip in the morning, then wander home to let the lunch crowd take over for crepes and sandwiches named after literary types (an Ellison or a Palaniuk, anyone?). At night it turns into a DJ inferno-cum-movie house with alternating evenings of music and classic movies fueled by wine, beer and house cocktails.

The crepes, gorgeously folded envelopes that I'd love to find in my mailbox any day, are more than decent, though don't rise to the imaginative levels found at some local carts. But the quiet sense of being in a real place with real people makes this member of the fourth estate a special spot to spend an hour or two.

Details: The Press Club, 2621 SE Clinton St. Phone 503-233-5656.