Loly with one of the crunchy delicious Toro fried anchovies.

Cooking the Toro Bravo Book Party Pt. 4

January 12, 2015 in Book Event, Cookbooks, Portland DIY, Portland Weird, Toro Bravo, Toro Bravo Cookbook, Toro Bravo: Stories- R..., Uncategorized

I finally got to host our Toro Bravo cook the book party last night (check out the first, second and third here) and it was really nice to do it in my newly remodeled kitchen. My kitchen has been pretty much done since early November but there were a couple final details and now it's complete! It's a beauty and I'm going to post about it here soon. I couldn't be happier with it. My friends Brian McVay, Clarence Jacobs and Rude Graves of St. Johns Design Build are so incredibly talented. And you'll know they're good people when I tell you this -- I was genuinely sad to see them go when my kitchen was complete. I truly enjoyed the entire remodel process and having those awesome fellows in my home. I miss having them see me in my pajamas. Wink.

It was really, really fun to have a whole bunch of friends packed into my kitchen last night for our fourth eat, drink and be merry cook from book party for Toro Bravo: Stories. Recipes. No Bull. We've now passed the halfway point having cooked 60-plus recipes from the book. I'm guessing we'll complete the book after three more dinners. Quite the feat. We've even started talking about which book we'll cook through next. Potentials discussed: Yottam Ottolenghi'sPlenty, Jerusalem and the Pok Pok cookbook. I mentioned that I'd love to cook through a comprehensive Southeast Asian cookbook. Unfortunately I think Pok Pok requires a bit more pantry building than our group is up for.

Another sweet thing -- Shane Welch founder of Brooklyn's Six Point Brewery recently moved to Portland and he gifted us (he's friends with my friend and contractor mentioned above -- Brian McVay) some of his Bengali IPA for the party which is super tasty. Really sweet of him. We also poured a lot of cava, various Spanish wines and we drank some of my early plum wine that I pulled off over the weekend while racking it. So crisp and tasty.

Anyway, I'll let the photos tell the tale as usual. Happy 2015! I hope you've been cooking and eating well. I bet you have.

Toro Bravo: Stories. Recipes. No Bull. dinner party menu

Toro Martini and Fried Anchovies, Fennel and Lemon with Romesco Gazpacho Charred Bread with Chanterelles in Sherry Cream Chard and Eggs Chicken and Clams Cataplana Lamb Ragu with Eggplant French Kisses and Pickled Beets and cheeses Sherry Chicken Liver Mousse Apple and Pear Clafoutis

NO ONE in Portland is carrying fresh anchovies at the moment so the super sweet John Gorham gave me a pound from Toro for the Fried Anchovies, Fennel and Lemon dish from the book.

They were deeeeelcious with Toro's romesco.

We started the night off right with my piping hot anchovies and chilled Toro Martinis. Not too shabby.

Next up was Nancy's super yummy Toro gazpacho.

Really nice to have so many friends around the kitchen table.

Toro's Charred Bread with Chanterelles in Sherry Cream.

Sara and I in our animal shirt finery -- giraffes and stags.

Loly and Faulkner cooking up Toro's Chicken and Clams Cataplana.

Soooooo good! With Olympic Provisions cured meats.

Left to right: Loly, Nancy, Faulkner and Jim. The best.

Tom and Heather's (just engaged!!) deeeelicious Lamb Ragu with Eggplant.

Chris assembling Toro's French Kisses -- foei gras torchon stuffed brandy-soaked prunes. Perfect.

Dana and Oliver's apple and pear clafoutis. Mmmmm.

Aaaand the final dessert plate -- Sara's sherry chicken liver mousse, Chris's French Kisses and Spanish cheeses. We are so lucky.

Cheers to 2015! I hope you are in good company and having a fine time of it.

Food Lover's Guide to Portland TIQUE BOX! Available for pre-order!

Pre-order Food Lover's Guide to Portland Tique Box

December 05, 2014 in Book News, Food Fermentation, Food Gifts, Portland Cheese, Portland DIY, Tique Box, Uncategorized

I had so much fun putting together this Food Lover's Guide to Portland Tique Box with Tique founders Inger McDowell and Paige Buckner when they reached out to me several weeks ago. The mission of their business is very similar to the mission of my book -- celebrate talented and passionate local artisans, oftentimes lesser known ones.

There are all sorts of fantastic Portland foods/drinks/crafts/art that these ladies have put together into pretty boxes for subscriptions (I have a year-long subscription and just got my first box!) or for individual purchase. For my Food Lover's Guide to Portland box I wanted to include treats made by folks who I love and admire that just about anyone will use and enjoy (in other words -- accessible) which is why I included easy to love salt, hot sauce, peanut butter, honey, chocolate, candy and cheese. That said, these are all elevated, unique and, of course, delicious renditions of these classics. Go Portland!

This box makes a fantastic gift for locals and folks afar and you can pre-order it now for $45 here to ship by Priority Mail on Dec. 15th -- just in time for the holidays. Here's what you get:

Meeting of the minds -- Paige (left) and Inger at our initial Food Lover's PDX Tique Box meeting at Breken Kitchen.

Inger (left) and Paige with their Tique Boxes.

My November Tique Box -- delivered to my doorstep! Love it.

Purchase the Food Lover's Guide to Portland Tique Box at www.tiquebox.com $45, ships via Priority Mail on Dec. 15th

Awhile back I was having a rough week and my best friend Beth in Cincinnati sent me a Cincinnati chili care package. Warmed me through and through. So sweet.

Friend Food Pt. 7

February 13, 2014 in Food Gifts, Food Preservation, Homemade Food, Portland DIY, Uncategorized

I am so lucky to have the most amazing family of friends. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't feel gratitude at some point for that. Last night I was talking with my friend Wendy about how I show my love and give love to those I'm closest to through food and how she does the same.

Lucky for me a lot my friends share this trait. My friends have given me so many amazing things to feed me in more ways than one recently as you can see below. And I've really appreciated it since I haven't been able to cook as much lately since the Toro Bravo cookbook dropped and we've been busy with events and then some for that along with everything else. I love this semi-regular blog installment because it reminds me of one of the greatest reasons that life is so sweet -- friends. The love you have is the love you give. Cook something delicious for someone you love today.

Tasty plum jam from the side-yard tree that my neighbor Michael made.

A bottle of birthday cava from John from the cava vineyard that we visited south of Barcelona in 2012 for the Toro book.

A beautiful mug that my friend Jess made me that has made my mornings brighter.

A holiday Thermos from my friends Rale and Elizabeth and buckeyes from my friend Krista. So lucky

Fruit turnovers from my lovely neighbor Alison. And flowers!!

Homemade sugar plums and toffee from one of my other amazing neighbors Robin.

Vegans eat pizza too. Michelle and Kylie making their pies at our MLK Day sleepover party.

The awesome Chemex coffee maker that my brother and sister-in-law gave me for Christmas. It makes super tasty coffee.

Really yummy pickled onions that Kalera made.

Our New Year's Eve spread at Loly's. Pre-pots and pans banging.

Molassesy gingerbread from my neighbor Mulysa.

Molasses cookies and other sweet sweets from her as well.

Cook something delicious and spread the love!

Friend Food Pt. 6 Friend Food Pt. 5 Friend Food Pt. 4 Friend Food Pt. 3 Friend Food Pt. 2 Friend Food Pt. 1

Toro Bravo Salt Cod Fritters window a la Sara and Zo!

Cooking the Toro Bravo Book Party

January 16, 2014 in Book Event, Homemade Food, McSweeney's, Portland DIY, Toro Bravo, Toro Bravo Cookbook, Toro Bravo: Stories- R..., Uncategorized

I have the best friends. So grateful. Several weeks ago my friend Chris Damcke said we should have a potluck dinner party and invite everyone to cook and bring something from Toro Bravo: Stories. Recipes. No Bull. I said that was a great idea and then pretty much left it at that because I felt too busy to organize it.

A couple weeks ago I got a call from my friend Loly inviting me to it at her place! She and Chris made it happen. Sooooo last weekend thirteen of us gathered at Loly's with all sorts of tasty treats cooked from the book. We filled her kitchen, dinner table and our bellies with all sorts of deliciousness from Toro Bravo. It was so great that we decided to do it again next month -- this time at Tom's house. We've also decided to have these parties until we cook through the entire book.

I've never done this with any cookbook before but I hope to do more in the future. So fun! And I'm very proud to say that no one had any problems with any of the recipes -- not a one. It was all so good and so fun.

Here's the menu from our first Toro Bravo cookbook party followed by photos from it. I can't recommend this sort of dinner party enough. Leave any questions about it in the comments below and please, please let me know if you've done something similar yourself. I'd love to hear about it. Eat, drink and be merry!

Toro Bravo: Stories. Recipes. No Bull. dinner party menu

Radicchio Salad Potato Salad Salt Cod Fritters Chili Shrimp a la Plancha Boquerones with Toasted Bread and Piperade Seared Cauliflower with Salsa Verde Coppa Steak with Salbitxada Harissa-Stewed Butternut Squash Pepino cocktail Red Sangria Panna Cotta with wine poached pears and Campari blood orange topping

Table FILLED with Toro Bravo cookbook food and drink!

Ryan and Nancy on Toro's Chili Shrimp detail. Photo by Faulkner Short.

Chris checking Toro's cold-smoked Coppa. Photo by Faulkner Short.

Dana and Oliver putting the finishing touches on Toro's Harissa-Stewed Butternut Squash. Photo by Faulkner Short.

Me plating Toro's Boquerones with Toasted Bread and Piperade. Photo by Faulkner Short.

Sara and Zo frying up Toro's Salt Cod Fritters on Loly's front porch. Photo by Faulkner Short.

Loly and Faulkner post-Radicchio Salad prep. Photo by Chris Damcke.

Ryan and Nancy taking on the feat of trying all the Toro book foods.

The Chili Shrimp a la Plancha that they made. Mmmmm.

Ryan and Nancy's Seared Cauliflower with Salsa Verde from the book.

My Toro Boquerones with Toasted Bread and Piperade.

Toro's Panna Cotta by Chris for dessert -- some with wine-poached pears and others with Campari blood orange syrup.

Wine cork Olympics post-dinner with Tom and Oliver.

If you decide to host a dinner party like this please, please let me know and send me photos! I'll post them here. So fun. Eat, drink and be merry AND hairy!

I had a big party for my 37th and this kimchi jjigae is one of the things I cooked for it. Really, really tasty.

Yard Fresh Pt. 29

January 02, 2014 in Cookbooks, Food Fermentation, Homemade Food, Jacques Pepin, Portland DIY, Portland Gardening, Uncategorized

It's been a crazy fall and winter with the launch of the Toro Bravo cookbook, our book tour, local events and media and everything else in my life. I really couldn't be happier these days. 2013 was a big, beautiful year for me -- following a very rough 2012 -- in fact it was one of the best of my life, if not the best. There's a term that I learned recently that pretty much sums that up -- post-traumatic growth.

Despite the wild ride and burning the candle on both ends I still managed to cook and eat a lot of good food at home and at friends' and family's homes and I'm including some of those things here. I hope that you've enjoyed a great closing of 2013 and start to 2014 too -- food-wise and beyond. Food is one of the great pleasures of life if you let it be -- especially if you treasure it and share that magic with those in your life. The love you have is the love you give. Cook something delicious for someone that you love today. Cheers to 2014!

I also made a huge batch of kimchi bacon fried rice for the party. Breakfast the next day...

Citrusy golden beet salad for my friend Michelle's birthday.

Jacques Pepin's delicious Provencal beef stew -- Beef Daube Arlesienne -- loaded with nicoise olives, capers and tomatoes.

Super yummy garlic cheese grits, bacon and eggs breakfast.

Garlic cheese grits, kimchi, bacon and eggs.

Future Toro Bravo limoncello from the book.

I used the juice of those lemons for lemon curd and lemon syrup from Linda's Ziedrich's book.

Aaaaand Grand Central's lemon bars that a friend said were the best he'd ever had. Really tasty.

Toro's crepes with berry syrup and maple yogurt sauce.

Eggs wtih salami, olives, cheese and homemade hot sauce.

Christmas family food tradition -- olives stuffed with cream cheese and roasted almonds.

Toro's Jerez Negroni in the book. Cheers to 2014!

I've been making this rhubarb syrup the past few years with rhubarb from the front yard and it always turns out great. I mixed it with margaritas and also used it with my new favorite kitchen gadget below.

Yard Fresh Pt. 28

August 22, 2013 in Edible Gardening, Homemade Food, Portland DIY, Portland Gardening, Uncategorized

I'm still enjoying this incredible summer as much as possible (trips to the river, plum wine, dancing, reading, camping and much more) and working less than usual before the Toro Bravo cookbook storm hits. Right now we're in the planning stages for the tour that commences in one short month. (You can pre-order the cookbook now from Powell's and Amazon.) We'll be heading to New York, DC, Baltimore, San Francisco, Seattle, Boise and Eugene this fall for the book! I'll post more details about that soon as well as about the cookbook launch party. For now, save the date for it -- the evening of Tuesday, October 15th at Toro Bravo. If you've never been to a Toro party before expect to stay late and party hard. It's going to be crazy fun.

The garden is growing and in full swing and mostly I'm getting a lot of tomatoes which are my favorite in the summer. I could eat them for just about every meal -- in a scramble for breakfast, sliced with a little salt on toasted bread with mayo for lunch, chips and salsa for a snack, in a sauce or saute for dinner. I never get sick of garden fresh summer tomatoes. I also have pickling cukes, green beans, zucchini, grapes and all the herbs and more going strong now. Life is good.

Here's some of what I've cooked and eaten lately. What have you been happily eating?

I've wanted one of these for awhile and now I finally have one! Fizzy water around the clock. Mostly I just drink it straight up but it was pretty tasty with the rhubarb syrup.

Harvested the 90 or so softnecks and left it to cure a little too long. Pretty dry but that's ok. I think I'll roast some and store it in oil.

Butter lettuce, Choi's white kimchi (homemade), boiled egg, radish, scallions and miso lime vinaigrette. Really good salad.

First tomato haul with some of the early Concords.

River snack. Cottage cheese, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Simple and perfect.

Late night camping trip bar prep of gingery Bloody Mary mix and margarita mix made with two bags of limes.

Sweet pea tomatoes or, as Kylie likes to call them...TINY TOMATOES!

Salame rolls with chipotle, preserved lemon cream cheese and a cornichon topper.

First spicy garlic dills of the season! Many more to come.

In late May I went on an incredible morel hunting camping trip in Washington and collected SIX pounds of morels! This is a morel cream sauce with eggs and rice for breakfast after I got back to town. So good.

Yard Fresh Pt. 27

July 19, 2013 in Book News, Edible Gardening, Food Preservation, Foraged Food, Portland DIY, Portland Gardening, Portland Mushrooms, Uncategorized

I'm really sorry that it's been so long since I've written anything here but I've been crazy busy finishing up two book projects and now I'm shutting down the mind machine a bit for some much needed summer fun. I plan to work as little as possible this summer. I've already been on a trip to Missoula and now I'm off for a week in Maine. After burning the candle on both ends for the past year I have absolutely no guilt about telling my usually very strong work ethic to fuck off.

Even though the Toro Bravo cookbook (you can pre-order it now!) is pretty much out of my hands now and soon to be on press for its fall release I've still been cooking from it. (I'll put together another cooking from the book post again soon too.) I've cooked and eaten a lot of other tasty things lately as well now that the garden is just about in full swing. Lately I've been eating a lot of arugula and greens, sugar snap peas and various herbs and berries from it. I harvested the garlic and it's curing in the utility room. Next up: tomatoes, cukes, chiles, green beans and more. I love summer.

Here's some of what I've cooked and eaten lately...

This is what went into the sauce above the night before -- morels, lemons, garlic, homemade plum wine and cream.

With sorrel from the garden and Edelwiess sausages over toast. Yum!

Homemade kimchi rice, egg and cheese never gets old.

Baguette sandwich with Freybe salame, tapenade and pickled peppers.

Some of the best deviled eggs I've ever made with fish sauce, kimchi, chives, sprinkled with togarashi

Used these spring onions in a bunch of things...

Arugula hazelnut preserved lemon pesto and my little friend.

Heidi Nestler's son Ranmu Fukushima illustrated this image of miso soup for one of her upcoming Japanese cooking classes at the Urban Farm Center.

Heidi Nestler's Cooking Classes at the Urban Farm Center

May 13, 2013 in Portland Cooking Classes, Portland DIY, Portland Japanese Food, The Urban Farm Center, Uncategorized

My friend Heidi Nestler -- who I first meet at this gathering way back when and who has been a part of the Portland Fermentation Festival since day one -- is about to start teaching cooking classes in Portland. The first one sounds great -- it's all about miso soup this Saturday, May 19th from 10:30am to 12:30pm at the Urban Farm Center. The class costs $20 per person and you can sign up for it here. Here's what Heidi has to say about it:

Good miso soup starts with good dashi! We will cover making dashi, the broth that is the base for miso soup, as well as a key ingredient in all Japanese cooking. We will make three different types of dashi. We will experiment with different types of miso and learn how to choose ingredients to put into your soup. We will explore the savory and satisfying world of the traditional Japanese breakfast. Hint: miso soup is at the heart of it. Miso soup is great at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’ll also show you how to make a clear soup which pairs well with sushi.

For $50 you can hang out all day at the Urban Farm Center, attend Heidi's miso class as well as her Japanese food tasting from 1pm to 2pm (try Japanese breakfast foods and dishes from every class that Heidi plans to offer) and her Japanese sea vegetable cooking class from 3:30pm to 4:30pm. Here's what Heidi says about that one:

Learn to incorporate mineral rich seaweed and kelp dishes into your everyday life. We will learn to make traditional dishes including salads, soups, savory side dishes and condiments to enjoy with rice. We will be using konbu, hijiki, nori, wakame, and more. We will also experiment with adding seaweed to more Western style foods.

In upcoming months Heidi will teach all sorts of affordable cooking classes at the Urban Farm Center including a class on DIY natto, Japanese pickles, dairy ferments and more. I'm not sure which ones I'm going to go to yet but hopefully I'll see you at one. Sign up soon before they fill up!

Heidi Nestler Cooking Classes www.heidinestler.com

Urban Farm Center 3736 SE Harvey St. Milwaukie, Oregon 97222 503.449.2402 www.urbanfarmcenter.com

Get tomatoes next Friday grown from seeds that this man, the late Ulisse Edera, grew for years -- 100 year old, tomato seeds that he brought to Portland from Italy. Photo courtesy of Keith Skelton.

2nd Annual Ulisse Edera Tomato Sale

May 06, 2013 in Ecotrust, Edible Gardening, Homemade Food, Portland DIY, Portland Gardening, Uncategorized

Want to buy this man's Italian, 100-year-old heirloom seed tomatoes for your garden? Wish granted. Go to HOTLIPS Pizza's 2nd annual, Ulisse Edera Tomato Sale -- a one-day plant sale at its Ecotrust location next Friday, May 17th from 9am-5pm. Each one-gallon tomato plant will be $10 and 100% of sales go to support Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center. Here's more info. pretty much straight from the press release...

HOTLIPS owner, David Yudkin, has saved seeds and propagated these 100 year old tomato plants since meeting the late Ulisse Edera in 1984 in Edera’s garden south of Portland in Milwaukie's Ardenwald neighborhood, where many of Portland’s early Italian truck farms were located.

Born in Canelli, Italy, in August, 1890, Ulisse was an orphan raised by three different families, finally in Colcavagno, Austria, where he attended school. After serving in the Italian Army, Ulisse followed his brother to the US at age 23, hand carrying tomato seeds on the voyage. Ulisse filed citizenship papers at La Grande, Oregon in 1916, and in 1917 joined the US Army. The brothers made weekend visits to the Italian families living in Ardenwald, who farmed and sold produce at the Portland Farmers Market. It was there he met his wife, Daria, and at age 31 Ulisse and Daria were married. In 1925 they built a house on 32nd Avenue in Ardenwald and continued farming on 22 acres then known as Johnson Creek Farms. They both lived in that house the rest of their lives with close Italian neighbors and many friends nearby.

Every inch of Ulisse’s small yard was planted with vegetables and flowers. He grew 200 pounds of garlic every year, drying it and selling it, along with homemade vinegar. A visit with Ulisse always included a taste of his “bagnait” on dried bread with a sip or two of red wine. Visitors left his house without a bag of garden delights picked during their visit. Ulisse died at age 103. Though he had slowed down some, he was still gardening, cooking, preserving foods, hunting mushrooms on Mt. Hood, welcoming visitors and visiting neighbors at that time.

About Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center

Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center, (a private 501(c)3 non-profit), was founded in 1989 as Friends of Opal Creek to gain protection of the Opal Creek watershed for future generations to study and enjoy, a goal we achieved in 1996. Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center maintains and stewards Jawbone Flats, a rejuvenated historic mining town in the heart of the 35,000-acre ancient forest watershed of the Opal Creek Wilderness and Scenic Recreation Area. We are located on the west slope of the Cascade Mountains, one hour east of Salem, Oregon, and approximately two hours from Portland, two and a half from Eugene and three from Bend. Opal Creek’s Mission” “Promoting conservation through educational experiences in wilderness.” www.opalcreek.orgAbout HOTLIPS

Founded in 1984, HOTLIPS is a Portland family-owned business with five pizza restaurants and a line of real fruit soda. Our mission is to preserve culture and celebrate humanity through rich culinary experiences, and by joining others in finding new and sustainable ways of doing business. Currently with 135 on staff, we train our folks to get out and talk about sustainability, ask questions, think of new things. We spend a lot of time teaching, taking our show on the road. We love what we do. www.hotlipspizza.com

2nd Annual Ulisse Edera Tomato Sale Friday, May 17th 9am-5pm at HOTLIPS Pizza @ Ecotrust 721 NW 9th Ave., #150 Portland, Oregon 97209 www.hotlipspizza.com

Essential Pepin

April 08, 2013 in Cookbooks, Essential Pepin, Homemade Food, Jacques Pepin, Portland DIY, Uncategorized

This is an enormous cookbook as it should be since Jacques Pepin has aimed to cook down and encapsulate his entire career with it. I've been a fan of Pepin's for years. I first got to know him as many did -- through his televised PBS cooking series with Julia Child -- Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home. I love how at ease they are with one another. Jacques prefers black pepper, Julia prefers white and they bicker about it on camera. You get their character and humor unlike a lot of today's highly groomed food television folks. I also really enjoyed reading Pepin's The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen. If you're looking for an engaging read that takes you through the learning and becoming of a chef read it. It's such a good book.

I'd been talking about how I wanted Essential Pepin, which came out in fall 2011, for awhile and then one day out of the blue my ex-boyfriend's mom sent it to me in the mail. Love her. Here are some of the things that I've cooked from it...

The first dish I made from Essential Pepin is the chicken diable and it turned out great -- pan seared chicken with a red wine vinegary tomato sauce. Served it with sauteed sprouts, hazelnuts and white rice.

I often give scraps and trimmings to my dog but I made cracklings out of some of the skin since there was so much. Yum.

Really good breakfast the next morning with the leftovers.

I cooked up a big batch of Pepin's kidney bean and beef chili and got a lot of use out of it mixed with rice and coconut milk for dinner and sauteed up with eggs here for breakfast.

Pepin's not so pretty but very tasty lentil bulgur soup.

Essential Pepin by Jacques Pepin Pub. date October, 2011 704 pages $40, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Food Lover's Guide to Portland Blog...

Featured posts: