Portland Culinary Alliance

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.

On a Saturday afternoon in late April, a handful of PCA members and guests gathered for the alliance’s first-ever program by bike… a coffee crawl! The adventure began at Laurelwood Brewing where Pedal Bike Tours owner and operator Todd Roll overviewed the rules of the road and got the team up and rolling. Cruising at a leisurely pace, we rode up to Cellar Door Coffee Roasters for a quick tour of the year old neighborhood coffee house. Owner and roaster Jeremy Adams took us into the cellar to show off his newest roasting toys – a wetscrubber and an electrostatic precipitator, aka a “bug zapper.” The new machinery will not only increase Cellar Door’s production four fold, but the cutting edge, low energy equipment helps reduce roasting odors.

From there, we buzzed up to Stumptown Coffee on Belmont where we learned the science of a coffee cupping. Surrounded by glass beakers and vaporizing equipment reminiscent of a mad scientist’s laboratory, we sniffed, stewed and slurped our way through six single origin coffee varietals from around the globe. The experts at Stumptown thoroughly caffeinated and educated our group. For interesting bits of Stumptown trivia, see below.

Now fully energized, we pedaled our way to the site of Portland’s soon-to-open roaster and corner coffee house, Oblique. Housed in a historic mercantile building, owners John and Heather Chandler have thoughtfully renovated the original 1891 property, adding eco-friendly elements like water cisterns and a tankless water heater. But the real show stopper was “Bart,” the 1986 German built cast iron roasting drum, already seasoned to perfection (just like cast iron pans at home, roasters look for seasoned drums).

After Oblique, we could hardly wait for our fourth and final stop, Laurelwood Brewing. Brewer Chad Kennedy took us on a behind the scenes tour of the brewery, walking us through the cold water extraction process for making their Portland Roasting Espresso Stout. This creamy, chocolaty, black gold is the ultimate Portland beverage, blending local beer with locally roasted coffee beans. The perfect ending to a perfect PCA program.

Random Coffee Facts

• Ethiopia is recognized as the original coffee producing region.
• Ethiopian coffees are often called “field blends” because they are picked from whatever coffee trees are around.
• Peaberries – beans that are one whole, not two halves – occur 10 - 15% of the time.
•  The Kenyan SL28 varietal was genetically designed by Scott Laboratories in the 1950’s and remains to this day one of the most highly regarded beans.

It was a perfect night for chowder as PCA members and guests ducked the cold and drizzle for the warmth (and wine!) of the In Good Taste store. Before long, we were treated to a hot bowl of Chef Mike Downing’s award-winning New-England-style clam chowder, fresh sourdough from a Newport bakery, and a lovely salad with an impromptu vinnaigrette. While we ate, Chef Downing demonstrated how he builds the chowder’s flavors at Quimby’s Restaurant in Newport, from the making of the roux to the addition of the clams near the end of cooking (to avoid toughening them). 

Interspersed with the cooking demo, PCA’s Pansy Bray demonstrated razor-clam digging equipment and techniques. She shared local Native American clam-digging photos and clam lore, and taught us about the legality and safety of digging in Washington and Oregon. Two lucky raffle winners took home jars of razor clams dug and canned by Pansy herself. 

Finally, we were treated to a literary chowder reading from Moby Dick, delivered with dramatic flourish by PCA President Susan Hauser. While I doubt Nantucket’s Mrs. Hosea Hussey could compete with Chef Downing’s chowder skills, the reading left us laughing and looking forward to our next bowl of hot chowder.

-Hank Sawtelle

As we entered Vino Paradiso Wine Bar & Bistro, a hip, retro-cozy space with burnt orange walls and 60’s style lights, we were welcomed with a “bonus” pour of a Prosecco from Italy. Then, with notes propped up on a music stand (the only hint that our host has another career- as a musician with the band Pink Martini) our sparkling wine “tour” guide and host Timothy Nishimoto, a master sommelier, gave us a detailed background on the traditional method of making champagne. He explained why the labor intensive and long process leads to quality sparkling wines and can command high prices. Factoid: a good riddler, the person who turns the champagne bottles 1/4 turn daily during the long process, can turn 40,000 bottles - a day!

A spin of our sparkling wine compass landed on Argentina, Austria, South Africa, Tasmania region of Australia and our own Willamette Valley as Timothy lead us through a variety of tastes. The sparklers we sampled, listed below, ranged in flavor, mouth feel and prices. My scribbled notes included “yeasty/bready” and “crisply acidic with apple and fruit notes.” The prices ranged from $18-20 a bottle, the exception being the rich unctuous Soter, priced at approximately $50.

The Night’s Wines

Bodega Cruzat Brut, non-vintage from Mendoza, Argentina

Sziget Gruner Veltliner Sekt (brut) non-vintage from Burgenland, Austria

Graham Beck Brut, non-vintage from Western Cape, South Africa

Jansz Brut, non-vintage from Tasmania, Australia

Soter Brut Rose 2004 from Oregon’s  Yamhill-Carlton AVA

Jean-Paul Brun FRV100 Rose, demi-sec, non-vintage from Beaujolais, France

Our wine tastes were accompanied by a variety of savory offerings made by Vino Paradiso’s talented chef Ian Duncan. Timothy commented that Ian has an “uncanny little science lab in his brain”, and can provide wonderful foods that match beautifully with specific wines. With 40 wines available by the glass at Vino Paradiso, that’s quite a feat!

For our pairings, Chef Ian chose a “Southern-type” theme: sweet waffles with pheasant; diver scallops on blood orange slices with a roe garnish; slow roasted wild boar shoulder that had been braised with sage, onion after marinating; avocado-bacon topped bread; gorgonzola and sour cherries on crostini. The last was specifically chosen to pair with our final taste: the 100% Gamay Noir FRV100.

Cole Danehower, Northwest Palate publisher, writer and wine judge, provided some dynamic and interesting notes about the history of Oregon sparkling wines and others in the Northwest region. Oregon’s first sparkling wine was made by Peter Britt in Southern Oregon in the 1880s, and in more recent times the first Oregon sparkling wine was produced in Roseburg by Richard Sommers in 1976.  Cole discussed how in the global picture, Oregon and the Northwest’s contribution to the worldwide share of sparkling wines is minimal, barely a ripple, but is distinctly unique, due to our soils and climate. He also stretched our brains with trivia questions and a lucky few who responded correctly and quickly received a copy of The Vintner’s Kitchen cookbook.

Our introduction to Vino Paradiso and sparkling wines from here and abroad went by too quickly and left us all with a warm glow. Thanks to Timothy Nishimoto, Vino Paradiso and Cole Danehower.

- Reported by Laura Barton

PCA members and guests got their Dungeness crab fix Thursday night at a delicious Dungeness crab event put on for us by McCormick & Schmick’s Harborside Restaurant and the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission. Although it’s true that you can never have too much Dungeness crab (the food of the gods — in Oregon, anyway), a lot of attendees had to ask the servers to bring a doggy — er, a crabby bag to carry home what was left of a whole crab.

And that was after sampling generous portions of crab croquette, crab-mango salad and crab cakes. Oh, and shall we talk about the appetizers? Smoked salmon, loks, scallops, shrimp, calamari, clams . . . am I forgetting anything?

Nick Furman, executive director of the Dungeness Crab Commission, had to talk over the roar of the Happy Hour that was in full swing directly below us. But in a strong voice fortified by years of eating crab, he shared with us that the crab harvest in recent years has been terrific. News reports that it was in trouble after the season opened December 1 applied only to the ocean waters off of California. There the haul has been somewhat slight. In Oregon, the crab supply is ample.

One reason for that, Nick said, is that Oregon’s commercial crab fishermen are sticklers about following the rules concerning sex, size and season. In other words, they don’t catch crab outside of the official season, which lasts through mid-August, with the peak during the first few months; they don’t keep the females, which are left to do their job of reproducing; and they don’t keep crabs smaller than 6-1/4″ wide.

Nick also showed us a video about crab processing. After watching the speedy processors, who can remove crab meat from shell in seconds flat, we all seemed to agree that cracking crab should be a leisurely pursuit. With plastic bibs around our necks and nutcrackers in hand, we dug into our whole crabs at our own pace. Volcano fudge cake and vanilla ice cream awaited as the dessert. Just before dessert was when most people requested a crabby bag.

Thanks, McCormick & Schmick’s and thanks, Nick Furman, for a delicious and educational program.

Cookies are wonderful treats any time of the year, but there’s something about cookie baking during the holiday season that enhances their tastiness. Mix the specialness of holiday cookies with bite-size confections created by the Two Tarts, and you’ve got a recipe for some very cheery chewing.

The Two Tarts are Anna Phelps and Elizabeth Beekley. After building a loyal clientele at the Portland Farmers Market with their exquisite cookies, they recently opened their own Two Tarts Bakery at 2309 NW Kearney St.

On the evening of Dec. 7, PCA members had the pleasure of watching Elizabeth (the baker) and Anna (the master marketer) prepare Hazelnut Tassies and Cashew Shortbread in the kitchen classroom of In Good Taste. Check out this video of Elizabeth making Hazelnut Tassies.

Our hostess, Barbara Dawson, PCA’s secretary and co-owner with her husband Matt of In Good Taste, contributed to the holiday cheer by serving everyone flutes of sparkling wine. The Tarts passed trays of some of their best sellers: peanut butter creams, cappuccino creams, graham crackers dipped in chocolate, marionberry linzers and chocolate chip fleur de sel.

As Elizabeth baked and Anna gave us information about their business, they both shared tips on favorite ingredients (Freddy Guys hazelnuts, Schokinag chocolate, Cremerie Classique butter) and gadgets. There followed a run on In Good Taste’s supply of pastry stampers, wooden dowels resembling cocktail muddlers, used for pressing dough into cup shapes in muffin tins (a technique used in making the tassies). Favorite cookbooks they mentioned were the Macrina Bakery & Cafe Cookbook from the famed Seattle bakery, and BakeWise by Shirley O. Corriher, which is available at In Good Taste.

Anna and Elizabeth said there are no timers in their bakery kitchen; they use their noses and their fingers to determine when a cookie is done baking. When they press a cookie’s center to see if it springs back, they’re careful to try a cookie that’s in the middle of the cookie sheet or pan.

When the Tarts concluded their demonstration, the PCA members in attendance unveiled their own cookie offerings. We set out an assortment of cookies that we brought for a cookie exchange. Then we and the Tarts strolled along the counter to fill our boxes with more tasty treats. Our tummies were already full of the Two Tarts delicious creations, but at the holidays or any time, you can never have too many cookies. Also, Barbara Dawson sent us all home with goodie bags with kitchen gadgets that will come in handy the next time we bake up some cookies. Since we were all inspired by the Two Tarts, that will probably be quite soon.

For our annual dinner this year, a lively group of PCA members and guests descended upon Belly restaurant for an evening filled with great food, wine, and a few special treats in store.

The evening began with passed appetizers from our hosts. Favorites included creamed braising greens and grana padano tartlets and a modern riff on “fish n’ chips” of a house potato chip topped with tuna tartar.

Soon, we were asked to take our wine to a table in the dining room, after which Susan Hauser welcomed us and recapped the year on our new mike system. Our proud president remarked on successes such as our hugely popular and educational Pathways to a Culinary Career event held this November. She also reported that our membership has grown this year, thanks to dedicated member referrals and the few events we’ve opened to the public that have attracted multiple new members.

With the business complete, the games began. Susan and Vice President Lota LaMontagne hosted a foodie trivia game in which we all participated in hopes of winning great prizes. They ranged from a gift basket from Bob’s Red Mill to a consultation with LAD Communications. The members who won were thrilled with their prizes, and still buzzing about them as the staff began serving dinner.

We greatly enjoyed Chef Cameron Addy’s homestyle cooking, showcased in a first course celery soup with a smoked trout salad garnish, and in an entrée of fork tender pork osso bucco served with a cannellini bean bacon ragout and mustard fennel slaw. While he cooked, his wife Linda took good care of everyone, refilling our wine glasses and leading a team of great servers throughout the night.

Between dinner and dessert, we held the annual gift exchange before tucking into pieces of warm pear spice cake and toasting another great year for the PCA.

On a gorgeous fall day last weekend, a dozen or so PCA members made the trip to Panther Creek Cellars in McMinnville for an afternoon focused primarily on Pinot noir.

The PCA’s wine liason and host, Ron Kaplan, greeted guests with a tour of the facilities and commentary on the winemaking process as we watched it unfold before our own eyes. Ron satisfied our curiosity about how grapes go from vineyard to bottle by answering our numerous questions, and also shared a bit of history about Panther Creek, one of Oregon’s most established Pinot Noir producers.

After such an in depth conversation about winemaking, we were eager to taste. In the airy tasting room and winemaking facility, we sat down before a lovely spread of artisan meats and local cheeses and started sipping. Ron opened many bottles of Panther Creek Pinot, each made using grapes from one of the various vineyard sites they source their grapes from. Sipping the different wines side by side, we began to understand how greatly the region’s terroir influences the flavor and characteristics of each bottling. We compared tasting ‘notes’ on the spot and found that most everyone had their own favorite wine.

Next, Ron invited winemaker Michael Stevenson and assistant winemaker Bill Hanson to take a break from the harvest to come speak with us about their work at Panther Creek. They shared their thoughts on the wine we’d just tasted, responded to our questions about the winemaking process and lifestyle, and even gave us some pointers on other great area producers to sample from. And as a surprise, they invited us to try their lesser-known chardonnay to finish off the afternoon tasting. The wine had beautiful green apple aromas, cleansed our palate, and - for at least two guests - convinced them to buy their first ever bottle of chardonnay.

Eager PCA members gathered together last night at the Oregon Culinary Institute for an informative program about honey bees, the beekeeping industry, and that golden nectar itself. Beekeeper George Hansen of Foothills Honey Company in Colton welcomed us with a glass of mead, the alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey with yeast. As we sipped, Hansen shared with us his work as a beekeeper of more than 30 years.

Following Hansen’s talk, students from the Oregon Culinary Institute paid the classroom a visit and shared the story behind the many honey-infused desserts they’d prepared for us that evening. Among them were a moist honey apple cake and addictive honey walnut crisps.

Enjoying the rare opportunity to have dessert before dinner, we filled our plates with these honey-sweetened treats and settled in to watch the evening’s film, Pollen Nation. Hansen makes an appearance in this film, which discusses the role of bees and the important work of beekeepers. Additionally, the film provided us with some background on the challenges of beekeeping and the need to make sure the industry continues to grow and thrive.

One such beekeeping challenge is solving the mystery of Colony Collapse Disorder. This disorder has many potential causes, and threatens to disrupt the bee industry and our nation’s agriculture industry as well. (For more information on this mysterious disorder, be sure to read PCA President Susan Hauser’s article, The Mystery of the Missing Honey Bees, in this month’s Northwest Palate magazine.)

After a Q + A session with Hansen and a honey tasting, we departed, armed with fresh knowledge about bees and a gift bag from the National Honey Board filled with everything from a honey cookbook to coupons for Haagen-Daz honey bee ice cream.

PCA members got a taste of some Oregon superlatives at a special Oregon Bounty program August 17 with an emphasis on craft distillers: Oregon has the only distillers guild in the country (17 members so far), Oregon is second only to California in the number of craft distilleries (20 so far), and Portland’s Distillers Row has more distilleries (7) within walking distance of any other neighborhood in the world, and that includes Scotland and Kentucky!

On top of all that, Portland’s Integrity Spirits was just the second distillery in the U.S. to produce absinthe, the mysterious anise flavored drink known as the Green Fairy, after an almost century-long ban was lifted last year.

Integrity Spirits, at Southeast Ninth and Yamhill, hosted the event. Distilleries from all over the state, 12 in all, displayed their spirits and offered tastes of artisan gin, vodka, rum, whisky, liqueur and, of course, absinthe.

After a tour of the distillery to learn something of the distilling process, members and guests sampled a variety of spirits, including some lip-smacking flavored vodkas redolent with the fragrance of berries and herbs.

Absinthe got the most attention, however. We watched as drops of water dripping from an antique water dispenser, made especially for absinthe drinkers, turned the spirit cloudy, or, as the French say, louche. The herbal and licorice fragrance was, well, intoxicating. To finish off the event, chefs from the neighboring Green Dragon Ale House & Bistro served absinthe ice cream with whole cinnamon sticks as spoons.