Portland Culinary Alliance

An Olive Oil Sensory Experience at Red Ridge Farms

On June 12 and 13, PCA members received a special discounted invite to explore the world of olive oil tasting at the Oregon Olive Mill located at Red Ridge Farm in Dayton, OR. It happened to be the weekend that led us all to believe summer was here to stay, with beautiful blue skies that shined down on the farm’s serene estate. 

 

The four-hour event began with a lecture by special guest and esteemed panel leader for the University of California Olive Oil Tasting Panel, Paul Vossen. Vossen’s expertise includes olive oil production, its processing and the sensory analysis of olive oil. He kicked off the lecture by asking who was in attendance, and responses ranged from restaurateurs, gourmet food store owners, budding olive tree farmers and more. From there, he combined educational facts about olive oil farming and tasting while weaving in moments that allowed attendees to actually taste six varieties of olive oil that lay in front of us.

Much to our surprise, there was a wide range of different notes and flavors each of the oils presented. In addition, many of us learned that the olive oil we believed to be good and held a flavor that could compare to those we often enjoy at restaurants were, in reality, considered rancid. Without a doubt, Vossen’s lecture and olive oil tasting session was chocked full of helpful and enlightening information to arm us olive oil lovers for our continued exploration. Some key takeaways were:

How to taste—

• Warm and swirl oil in the palm of your hand to release the volatiles
• Smell and note its aroma
• Place 1-2 ml in your mouth for 10 seconds
• Suck in air through the lips
• Coat the inside of the mouth with the oil
• Swallow
• Close mouth and breathe through your nose
• Record your own impressions, or use an olive oil tasting sheet as your guide

What to look for when you taste—

• Freshness
• Intensity of aroma
• Not fermented or rancid
• Bitterness
• Pungency
• Attractive fruitiness
• Sweetness
• Thin or thick consistency
• Greasiness

 

Following the lecture and tasting, Vossen led our group downstairs and out to the back patio of the mill for some wine, light snacks and time to talk freely with our fellow members and public guests who had joined in on the day. After a brief time, Vossen guided us over to view the mill’s own olive oil press and to witness where and how Oregon olive oil is processed right there onsite.

 

The experience proved to be engaging and fun, coupled with perfect views of Oregon wine country that made for a nice ending to the afternoon. 

In spring with the first melt water or flood the small salmon children migrate to the sea—they are then small and shining like herring—and they move on to the ocean and home to their parents living in the high seas. And when they are fully grown, they return to swim up in fresh water and streams, and increase their numbers by procreation, as well as to serve as food for man. And what is most fantastic of all, the salmon seeks the stream and the place where it was born.

—From On Animals, Fishes, Birds, and Trees of Norway (1599), by Peder Claussøn Friis (1545– 1614), a senior rector and the first Norwegian to describe the distinct characteristics of the life of a salmon

What a fantastic, legendary fish! What a complex, wondrous life! Salmon are anadromous fish, which means they are born in freshwater, migrate and spend most of their lives in saltwater, and then return to freshwater to spawn. The life cycle of a salmon is truly extraordinary. The salmon swim hundreds of miles, returning to the river of their birth to spawn and then die, completing their life cycle.

On the evening of May 26th at Mother’s Bistro, Chef/Owner Lisa Schroder and I (Diane Morgan, author of Salmon: A Cookbook, Chronicle 2005) presented a focused presentation on this singular, iconic fish. Through slides, video, and oral commentary the glories and challenges of Pacific salmon were highlighted and discussed. The evening’s program was based on a presentation Lisa gave at the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) conference held in Portland in April. Along with a three-course dinner featuring grilled Chinook salmon as the entrée, PCA members were challenged with a blind tasting of farmed versus wild salmon. Not surprising to those who have studied salmon, it isn’t obvious which is which. This led to a further discussion of the techniques used to add color and fat to the diets of pen-raised salmon allowing the producers to mimic the flavor and texture profile of wild salmon.

With the intent of educating an audience already attuned to eating locally and sustainably, the program was enlightening as well as entertaining. The current situation with the gulf oil spill only reinforces the need to protect the delicate salmon habitat of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska and this program highlighted all the issues.

-Diane Morgan

Dennis Gilliam is what one might call an oat expert. Well actually, as the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Bob’s Red Mill, he’s pretty knowledgeable about all of their 400 whole grain products. But at the last PCA event, Gilliam enthusiastically presented a cluster of oat-filled information, following his team’s win at the “Golden Spurtle” World Porridge Making Championships last October in Scotland.

 

He began with a rundown of the various forms of oats, ranging from the whole oat groat to oat flour, with steel cut oats, thick-rolled, old-fashioned, quick, instant, and Scottish oatmeal in between. We also learned that a spurtle is a carved wooden wand that the Scots use to stir their porridge.

 

With twenty PCA members in attendance, we put Uptown Billiards Club’s Chef Nathan Bates to the oat challenge when we asked him to create a menu featuring the various forms of Bob’s Red Mill’s oat products to be served in one of their dim-lit private dining spaces. For starters, he combined their Scottish-style oats into a melty Crab & Oat Cake with red pepper relish, and served their Scottish Oatcakes (recipe below) as an inventive canapé topped with foie gras-peanut butter and cherry compote—a decadent version that paired perfectly with a glass of Oregon oatmeal stout from the Oregon Brewers Guild.

 

In the salad course, Bates used oat flour and steel cut oats in a delicately crisp tuille atop an arugula, melon, and prosciutto salad. It was difficult to decide between the two entrée choices: roasted pheasant with a lamb and quick-cooking oat sausage served alongside crispy oat flour spätzle, peas, asparagus, wild mushrooms, and a deeply rich oatmeal stout demi glace, or a thick-cut pork chop encrusted with steel cut oats and stuffed with figs and pears, accompanied by Brussels sprouts and the same delicious oatmeal stout demi.

 

For a rather grand finale, Bates created a chocolate chip and oatmeal “cowboy” cookie ice cream sandwich filled with creamy honey toasted oat ice cream and served with a petite glass of “oat milk.”

Suffice it to say that we’ve been schooled on the various cuts, grinds, and roll-thicknesses available from Bob’s Red Mill, with creative ideas from Chef Bates to use in our own oats cookery.

 

SCOTTISH OATCAKES

Recipe Courtesy of Bob’s Red Mill

 

1 1/2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Scottish Oatmeal

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1/2 cup hot water

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

 

Place all but 2 tablespoons of the Scottish Oatmeal in a bowl with flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder; stir until combined. Add butter and stir until evenly distributed. With a fork, mix in water, just until moistened. Pat dough into a ball, and then flatten slightly. Sprinkle reserved 2 tablespoons oats on a board. Roll dough out 1/4-inch thick.

 

With a 2 to 3 inch round (cookie) cutter, cut dough into rounds. Re-roll and cut scraps. Place oatcakes about 1/4 inch apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake in the pre-heated oven until Scottish Oatcakes are golden, approximately 25 minutes. Let cool on a rack. Enjoy plain, serve with jam or cheese, or use them to build hors d’oeuvres.

 

Makes 12 Scottish Oatcakes.

 

Nutrition Information: Using unsalted butter, each oatcake contains 110 Calories, 45 Calories from Fat, 5g Total Fat, 2.5g Saturated Fat, 10mg Cholesterol, 60mg Sodium, 15g Total Carbohydrates, 2g Dietary Fiber, 0g Sugar, 3g Protein.

 

 

For those whose response to an all chocolate dinner was “Lead me to it,” PCA’s program on March 3^rd at the elegant Restaurant Bleu at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts was an opportunity not to be missed. However, the indulgent part of the evening’s program was deftly balanced by Dr. Miles Hassel, author of Good Food Great Medicine, who treated members to a lively presentation on the benefits of eating chocolate.

 

With a series of slides, starting with “Chocolate: Because we need to be serious about good health,” Dr. Hassel delivered a fascinating talk on chocolate, its history, how it works in the human body, and its many health benefits. These include positive effects on diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. My favorite was the study on happy babies. It appears that Finnish babies, whose mothers eat more chocolate, smile and laugh more often!

 

We didn’t need much convincing but Dr. Hassel recommended eating chocolate, especially dark chocolate, on a regular basis. The caveat, to be sure, was not to overeat, and to be mindful of the calories.

 

The menu prepared by David Briggs of Xocolatl de David produced a lot of smiles as well. “I love cooking savory foods with chocolate and salt,” he said. Using the cacao bean in many forms, Briggs came up with a series of courses from a terrine of chocolate with foie gras to roasted pork with “Xoxolatl” sauce. The crab bisque with a preserved Meyer lemon garnish was emulsified with a roux made with cocoa. Vinaigrette made with cocoa nibs was lovely and intriguing over a blood orange and chicory salad.

 

Our chocolate evening ended on a sweet note with Raleigh Cake, an extraordinary confection of chocolate, pecans, and caramel sauce.. We all agreed: this was a delicious, informative, and memorable evening for PCA.

-Mary Bartlett

As chefs sometimes do once they’ve settled into a kitchen, Pazzo’s Executive Chef John Eisenhart asked himself “what else can I learn” four years ago. So he turned his eye to Pazzo’s bar program and began thinking about developing cocktails from a chef’s perspective.

After educating himself using antique spirits books and rare cocktail tomes (and, we imagine, a bit of trial and error), Eisenhart began making some of the ingredients that go into the bar’s cocktails. Last night, a group of spirit-loving members had the pleasure of discovering what he’d learned.

We started with the classic Italian digestif known as limoncello. The chef promised it was “criminally easy” to make, and he was right. We simply placed the peels from four lemons into a mason jar that Eisenhart had filled with grain alcohol before we arrived. The hard part is waiting: we have to let those peels seep for 3 months before we can strain them off and add a simple syrup mixture to finish the liqueur. To tide us over, Eisenhart poured us a sample of his limoncello and passed around polenta cakes that he brushed with the liqueur the night before.

Our last task was making bitters using orange and grapefruit peels, juniper berries, tamarind seeds and coriander seeds. We added these ingredients to a tiny jar filled with vodka, which we’ll shake every few days for the next 12 weeks until it’s done. We did get to sample bitters though - twice in fact. When we arrived, we were greeted with a champagne cocktail “garnished” with a bitter-soaked sugar cube; just before leaving, our PCA President Lota LaMontagne served us a gin and grapefruit cocktail with a dash of bitters that we declared refreshing at first sip.

  The story of how the Firehouse restaurant came to be is a charming one.  Husband and wife move to our beloved Portland.  She, Elizabeth, pursues a career in chiropractic and naturopathic medicine, while he, Matthew, a career in the kitchen.  They both look for that perfect place to set up shop.  With a good eye and apt intuition, Elizabeth discovers the beautiful old Dekum Firehouse in the Woodlawn neighborhood for sale.  Matthew protests, but is quickly won over, and a striking idea takes shape; a multi-purpose space for both their businesses and the resurrection of a lovely, historic building.  Joined by longtime Portland chef and business partner, Eric Rose, and pastry chef, Gretchen Glatte, the Busettos have made a delicious contribution to the rich Portland food world..

The Firehouse was the destination for our Annual PCA Dinner and its history, warmth and good food made a befitting setting.

 

 

 

The evening was dedicated to visiting with old friends and new, thanking our governing members who have contributed so much, ushering in a new group of leaders and of course, sharing in the incredible food the chefs prepared for us.  A warm thanks was given to Susan Hauser for her enthusiasm and dedication to leading the PCA as President.  And an equally warm welcome was given to Lota LaMontagne for stepping  up to be our new President.

 

 

To start us off, plump house cured sardines were passed around the table, accompanied by perfectly roasted beets with almonds and buffala ricotta salata, crisp fried cauliflower with capers and braised kale and pecorino on crostini.  Montinore Estate graciously supplied their wines to complement the meal.  The Firehouse has a hand crafted wood oven in the center of the restaurant where much of their food is cooked.  I was ecstatic about the beautifully executed iron skillet mussels that were luscious in their drawn butter and the Neapolitan style pizza that has certainly wedged a spot for itself next to Ken’s, Nostrana’s and Apizza Scholl’s divine pies. 

 

Firehouse makes a point to truly cook throughout the seasons and each dish was a testament to this simple philosophy.  The genius is always in the chef’s ability to preserve the inherent flavors, coax even the subtleties, compliment ingredients through simplicity and bring the food to an even higher representation of its self.  Their simple salad of Simington Farm lettuces with Humboldt Fog cheese, filberts and red wine vinaigrette did carry through on that promise.  So did the rotisserie chicken with crispy pumpkin, sage, and chicories.  Dessert from the very talented Gretchen Glatte ended our meal.  They were the perfect foil for the good food, warm surrounding and wonderful company.  

 

-Brenda Crow

October’s first Saturday brought blustery fall weather but PCA members and guests stayed cozy inside the beautiful Hotel deLuxe as six esteemed authors read us their deliciously inspiring words.  The literary symposium featured writers of food fiction and food memoir.  The novelists included:

Jennie Shortridge, Eating Heaven and Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe

Erica Bauermeister, The School of Essential Ingredients

Diana Abu-Jaber, Crescent and The Language of Baklava

These authors are passionate about food and cooking in their personal lives, and the plots and characters in their novels are intricately connected to food as well.  All three women reminisced about their characters like old friends, and proved to us how deeply emotional food experiences can be. 

The featured memoirists were:

Matthew Amster-Burton, Hungry Monkey

Shauna James Ahern, Gluten-Free Girl

Molly Wizenberg, A Homemade Life

This dynamic, Seattle-based trio happens to be great friends, and they all have popular blogs. As Matthew joked, if you want to get published, know one of them! Their books and blogs capture how food is woven into their careers, relationships, families, and daily living. The stories bring tears, joy, and laughter; it was interesting to hear how they each balance sharing their personal journeys with the world.  There were many other food writers in attendance curious about how writing fits into the schedules of the six talented authors. During a panel discussion with each group, the audience posed insightful questions to the authors. The presenters all quickly dispelled any glamorous notions of being able to delve into the world of their work for long stretches at a time. They have busy lives with other jobs, children, and chores, but writing was clearly a joy and passion for all of them.

Stomachs were growling as we listened to each mouth-watering story. Fortunately, our bellies were filled with delicious food from the chefs of six Portland restaurants. Each chef created a menu item inspired by one author and their work, and they took a moment to share how the food in each story spoke to them and why they created their dish.  From breakfast to dessert, every bite had a story. The menu: 

• Plum Jammer Scones & Apple Upside Down Pound Cake from Chefs Adam and Jackie Sappington of Country Cat Dinner House & Bar
• Gluten-Free Pizza and Forest Mushroom Soup from Chef Mark Hosack of Gracie’s and OCI Students
• Wagyu Brisket Sliders, Housemade Kim Chee, and Lotus Chips from Chef Jeremy Frice of Departure
• Butternut Squash Canneloni with Chestnut Cream Sauce and Housemade Bacon from Chef Ben Bettinger of Beaker & Flask
• Baklava from Pastry Chef Lee Posey of Nel Centro

A feast to celebrate our love of food!

Thank you to all the chefs for a memorable meal and the authors for sharing their appetizing prose.

-Caroline Ford

The day started out a little shaky when the bus broke down before it arrived to pick us up at the Rogue Distillery and Public House. Dustin Oswald, our driver/tour guide, quickly rented a van to replace the bus and picked us up only a few minutes late.

In a flash, Dustin loaded the lunches and (more important) the beer and we were off for a day of fun. The Rogue Hop Farm is on the Willamette River, south of Independence, Oregon on the former John Haas Alluvial Hop Farm. On our way to the farm, we passed many Oregon Duck fans heading south to the kick off game of the season. Passing through Independence, one of the gang saw the sign for a farmers market in downtown Independence. We all cheered when our driver stopped and gave us a little time to see what the market had. With bags of fresh produce and other items of interest, we climbed back in the van to continue on to the farm.

 

Arriving at the Rogue Hop Farm we learned they lease 45 acres to grow hops. They are the first brewery to have their own hop fields. Dustin parked the van and invited us into the show room.  The show room has a beautiful deck where we were served a tasty lunch. While we dined, Dustin poured welcome glasses of ice cold Rogue beer and described the part hops play in brewing beer.

 

After lunch we walked to the Hop Kiln. On our walk to the Hop Kiln building, we passed by the workers having lunch. Being a foodie in the true sense of the word, I couldn’t help but be lured by the aroma of toasting tortillas. I had to see what they were having for lunch. A small burner with what appeared to be a metal plate, held tortillas while they browned. Containers of homemade chicken and salsa were on the grass close by.  When the tortillas were slightly charred, chicken and salsa were added. The mouth watering appearance certainly made me envious of their meal. 

 

But back to the hops. From the fields, the trucks arrive at the unloading area of the hop kiln. Workers unload the hops onto hooks that carry the hops into the processing building a via a conveyor belt. Up the belt they go with hooks pulling the vines along while rotating knives cut the hops off the vine. After the hops are removed from the vine they are blown into a drying area that heats them to 145 degrees.

 

The hops are held at this temperature until the hops are ‘cooked.’ They are scientifically measured for ‘doneness’. The manager scoops out a handful using a large sieve that has been duct taped to a long broom handle like stick. He squeezes the hops and knows whether they have ‘cooked’ long enough. When the hops are ‘done,’ they are moved to a cooling area.

 

From the cooling area the hops go to the storage area, where they are held until ready to be bagged and shipped. A quick estimate of how many bottles could be made from this bale of hops suggested 45,000 depending on the beer recipe. Arising out of high tech methods of producing hops all the way down to home made scoops, shovels and hand sewn bag closing comes some the finest brew on the planet.

 

They say you bring your own party to the party and this rang true with everyone who attended. A convivial group, excellent tour guide and best beer was the perfect combination for a good time.

-Sheila Hanson

 

Mahalo (that’s “thank you” in Hawaiian) to Don and Sandra Kruger for hosting our wonderful lu’au at Kruger’s Farm on Sauvie Island. It was a beautiful setting on a grassy area beneath a huge oak tree. Mahalo also to our lu’au chef, PCA member Mike Downing, chef/owner of Quimby’s Restaurant at Nye Beach in Newport. Mike and his assistants, Tom and Michael, got to Kruger’s at 7:30 a.m. Sunday and set to work preparing the underground oven for the pig. Everybody brought delicious food to go with the lu’au fare. The party ended with a fun hay ride around the farm. Oh, and thanks to my daughter, Meriwether, who helped me dig the pit Saturday night. — Susan Hauser

A small but enthusiastic crowd came to Oregon Culinary Institute last Wednesday to hear Anthony Boutard talk about the legumes he grows at Ayers Creek Farm. The OCI again graciously allowed us use of a classroom for our monthly program. After the program, we adjourned to the student-operated restaurant for dinner.

Anthony and his wife, Carol, moved to Oregon from Massachusetts so the Yale-trained forester could work for 1000 Friends of Oregon. They got hooked on gardening with a small community garden plot in Portland. Later they moved to Gaston, where they started their large, organic farm. The Boutards supply some of the top restaurants in Portland with produce and grains. From July on, you’ll find them every Sunday at the Hillsdale Farmers Market.

Anthony had prepared a slide show and also brought along a tray whose many compartments were filled with some of the myriad varieties of legumes grown at the farm. He spoke about each one of the beans, offering cooking and growing suggestions. He also talked about the origins of each bean and its traditional uses. For example, fenugreek, sometimes called Greek hay, was once added to moldy hay in order to prolong its usefulness.

As the tray was passed around the OCI classroom, everyone was quite taken by the enticing fragrance emanating from the hard little kernels of fenugreek. After speaking, when Anthony allowed everyone to scoop up legumes for growing in their own gardens, nearly everyone took the fenugreek.

We also learned something about the physiological effects of legumes. Anthony told us that dried beans shouldn’t be eaten after a year, but after only six months the enzymes won’t break down properly, making them hard to digest. The result is flatulence. Solution: buy beans when relatively young, preferably from a reliable supplier — Ayers Creek Farm — at the Hillsdale Farmers Market.