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.

Toro Bravo charcuterie manager Josh Scofield going through his home tool box finding what he needs to make something that you can read all about in The Toro Bravo Cookbook when it comes out from McSweeney's on Oct. 1st.

For Your Viewing Pleasure Pt. 9

March 04, 2013 in Food Preservation, Homemade Food, John Gorham, Toro Bravo, Toro Bravo Cookbook, Uncategorized

Another crazy spell work-wise so you get one of these picture-worth-1,000-words posts. This weekend I worked on the book's essays quite a bit and met yesterday's final edits deadline for them and last I weekend worked on some other things for The Toro Bravo Cookbook mostly related to the above photo of Toro Bravo's charcuterie manager, Josh Scofield, that you'll know about soon enough. (We also ate Spanish chorizo that Josh brought back from our trip there and drank Basque cider cocktails -- so working through the weekends isn't so bad.) Yes, the project that Josh was walking me through above relates to cured meat and, yes, you can do it in the comfort of your own home. Any ideas?

www.torobravopdx.com For Your Viewing Pleasure Pt. 8 For Your Viewing Pleasure Pt. 7 For Your Viewing Pleasure Pt. 6 For Your Viewing Pleasure Pt. 5 For Your Viewing Pleasure Pt. 4 For Your Viewing Pleasure Pt. 3 For Your Viewing Pleasure Pt. 2 For Your Viewing Pleasure Pt. 1

I made this version of Choi's White Napa Kimchi while working on a story about the Portland mother-son-duo kimchi business for Mix Magazine. I'm still enjoying it -- really tasty. It's a mild kimchi with no chiles but a lot of ginger, garlic, Asian … — I made this version of Choi's White Napa Kimchi while working on a story about the Portland mother-son-duo kimchi business for Mix Magazine. I'm still enjoying it -- really tasty. It's a mild kimchi with no chiles but a lot of ginger, garlic, Asian pear and red peppers.

Yard Fresh Pt. 25

January 07, 2013 in Food Fermentation, Food Preservation, Homemade Food, Portland DIY, Portland Gardening, Toro Bravo, Toro Bravo Cookbook, Uncategorized

I've got a lot on my plate these days so I haven't been cooking as much as usual. I had two weeks off over the holidays though and did a lot of eat, drink, be merry. I just didn't do much of the cooking. I think I'll put together a Cincinnati post soon -- my hometown -- and include some of the great food and drink there. I brewed beer with my brother (my first time brewing beer!) when I visited this time around amongst other things.

I went to Seattle for a few days at the beginning of my vacation and met with one of my publishers, Gary Luke of Sasquatch Books, while there. (I also saw Louis C.K. at the Paramount!) As a result, I'm now working on revising Food Lover's Guide to Portland! I'm not sure when that will be complete and when you can get a new/improved copy but fingers crossed for summer or fall 2013.

After Seattle I visited family and friends in Cincinnati for a week and ate tasty German food and Cincinnati chili as usual. And to cap off my vacation I went to the Oregon coast for a few days to ring in the new year. Food/drink highlights there: We smoked Netarts Bay oysters (so good!) and then made omelets with them with goat cheese, there was a super yummy New Year's risotto with freshly hunted seared duck breast followed by a kick-ass Caesar and much, much more. Anyway, here's some of what I've cooked and eaten at home in the past couple months. Hope you've been eating well in the new year and are happy and healthy. Happy New Year!

I made this egg sammy a few weeks back with the kimchi above because I was craving the breakfast sandwich with kimchi and sausage on pretzel bread at the Saturday and Sunday brunch at Kenton Club. If you haven't been to this pop-up brunch yet go get… — I made this egg sammy a few weeks back with the kimchi above because I was craving the breakfast sandwich with kimchi and sausage on pretzel bread at the Saturday and Sunday brunch at Kenton Club. If you haven't been to this pop-up brunch yet go get it. Nik Woideck is rocking it in the kitchen there -- really good stuff.

I put all the beds under thick blankets to sleep until the spring. My neighbor Alison and I have an agreement -- if I clean her chicken coop then I get the skat straw for my yard. Perfect.

I made these garlic cheese grits for Thanksgiving. It's an old family recipe and no holiday is complete without them. Sharp cheddar, lots of butter and eggs, heaps of minced garlic and a cornflake topper.

I made a big batch of Toro Bravo's red sangria for Thanksgiving too.

And roasted some paprika glazed hazelnuts from Eric Joppie's Bar Avignon recipe in the August 2012 issue of Mix Magazine.

I also whipped up some smoked escolar butter (Newman's Fish Co.) from a Janie Hibler recipe in her cookbook titled Dungeness Crabs and Blackberry Cobblers.

I'm going to keep cooking through the Toro Bravo Cookbook (due out fall 2013 from McSweeney's) this winter. This big batch of Toro's brussels sprouts with bacon sherry cream was tasty. Life is sweet.

Nigel Slater's Trappist beer beef stew with baked brothy potatoes from his cookbook Tender. So good. Ate it for several days.

Pulled out my homemade 2 year (left) and one year miso...

And scraped and salted it. Made sure to scoop off some to eat before putting it back down to ferment. It's so fucking good. With 5 gallons of the 1 year (on the right) I think I'll be able to get it to 10-plus years. It will just get darker, richer … — And scraped and salted it. Made sure to scoop off some to eat before putting it back down to ferment. It's so fucking good. With 5 gallons of the 1 year (on the right) I think I'll be able to get it to 10-plus years. It will just get darker, richer and more developed as it ages.

And racked the plum wine. 21 gallons this year!

Portland Garagistes Pt. 1

September 03, 2012 in Edible Gardening, Food Fermentation, Food Preservation, Homemade Food, Portland DIY, Portland Garagistes, Portland Pickles, Portland Weird, Uncategorized

When I was a full-time freelance food writer I got used to rejection. If you can't accept the lack of a timely response too often eventually followed by rejection then you shouldn't freelance because that's unfortunately the nature of the beast most of the time. I learned how to spin very different pitches for the same story as well as restructure stories for numerous local and national publications. Now that I've published a book, am working on another book due out fall 2013 and am editor and publicity director at a publishing house I have less patience for that process so I mostly just write stories that I'm asked to write or put things that I'm interested in up here on my blog.

A while back though I met one too many people in Portland crafting delicious foods and drinks in their garages and decided I should write a story about it. I set up interviews and spent a good amount of time in garages throughout Portland talking with folks about the delicious foods and drinks that they craft in them -- a dessert maker, a cider maker, a winemaker, a beer brewer and a Persian pickle maker. I learned a lot and had a great time.

When it came to pitching the story the process took much longer than I remembered. I know that editors are very busy and receive an never ending, steady supply of pitches -- some good, many bad -- so I understand their often delayed responses to a certain degree. This is all a long way of saying that I tried and failed a few times to get this story published nationally and locally and I don't want to try to spin it any more. I'm doling it out to you in five installments here over the next several weeks because I love these people and think what they're doing is inspiring and important and, of course, delicious. I should have put this up here in the first place because it would have been a longer, more developed story if I hadn't tailored it so much. Stop complaining. Without further ado...

Portland Garagistes

In the Bordeaux region of France the term "garagiste" was coined in the mid 1990s when a group of winemakers began a movement of small batch wines, often made in their garages, that bucked the Bordeaux standard. I like the name "garagiste" and think it fits in spirit with what the five Portlanders featured here are doing -- making tasty stuff in their garages.

Sure, a kitchen is for cooking but they can get cramped and sticky hot -- especially when you've got a five-gallon homebrew pot simmering on the stove top for hours. I don't cook anything in my garage but in the past several years I've moved a lot of my food and drink ferments into the utility room at the back of the house. That's where I make and store crocks of miso, carboys of homemade fruit wines and hard ciders and buckets of kraut and sour pickles. More and more Portlanders are taking that kitchen extension one step further and into their garages.

I spent time with five such folks checking out their set-ups (all of their garages are average-sized at 250-350 square feet) and tasting what they make. Some are crafting commercial products and see their garage as an affordable space to work with while others just enjoy the larger square footage and freedom to be a little dirtier, a little scrappier, and a more isolated and less distracted by the outside world. Portland is fairly temperate so the home garage never gets too hot or cold. Nothing a couple space heaters or fans can't fix.

Stay tuned for Portland's "Garagistes" to be featured in five upcoming installments:

Pickler Charles Attarzadeh Sweetmaker Cheryl Wakerhauser Cidermaker Nat West Homebrewer Aaron Cohen Winemaker Jan-Marc Baker

Marisa McClellan's new book includes 100-plus recipes for canning and preserving...

Food in Jars by Marisa McClellan

June 11, 2012 in Cookbooks, Food Preservation, Homemade Food, Portland DIY, Uncategorized

Although you can, of course, can and preserve food and drink year-round the really fruitful time for both is just around the corner. If you want a new book to keep you company and guide you through the putting-by time consider Marisa McClellan's just published book Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year Round (Running Press, May 2012, hardcover, 240 pages) which shares the name of her popular food blog. Although McClellan lives in Philadelphia now she's a born-and-raised Portlander and she'll be in town this week to promote her inspiring DIY book.

According to McClellan: "Unlike other books on canning and preserving, Food in Jars offers small-batch recipes ideal for tiny kitchens."

I haven't had a chance to cook from Food in Jars yet but I'm looking forward to these recipes amongst others: rhubarb jam with strawberries and oranges, strawberry vanilla jam, Meyer lemon jelly, zesty lime curd, pickled brussels sprouts, blueberry lemon syrup, and chocolate hazelnut butter.

Thursday, June 14th @ KitchenCru 6:30-8:30pm -- Marisa will teach a canning class on the basics of boiling water batch canning while making a batch of take-home strawberry lemon jam. Sign up for the $60 class here.

Saturday, June 16th @ Powell's Books on Hawthorne 2-4pm -- Marisa will sign copies of Food in Jars and be available for any and all canning questions.

Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round by Marisa McClellan pub. date May, 2012 240 pages $23, Running Press www.foodinjars.com

Happy Anniversary Blog: Three years and counting

February 27, 2012 in Book News, Cookbooks, Food Fermentation, Food Preservation, McSweeney's, Portland Food/Drink Event, Toro Bravo, Toro Bravo Cookbook, Uncategorized

It's been three years since I started this blog and I still really enjoy doing it. It's especially good for me now that I'm freelancing less. Most of my writing work these days goes to writing the Toro Bravo Cookbook, being an editor and publicist at Hawthorne Books and working on my fiction. I pitch a story every now and again but this blog has become my most regular outlet for local food stories. I'm grateful to have it and to have loyal readers. I try to give you as much news and inspiration as I can here and I hope that you enjoy it. Below is a look back on the past year for the blog. (I did this sort of recap last year and the year before if you're interested.) Here's to 2012 -- Year of the Dragon!

Without further ado...

Spring 2011 was a really good one for nettles and I harvested a ton of them. Unfortunately I learned from experience that you should never take your dog with you foraging for them. Our poor, poor wolfie.

Spring quickly became summer in fly-by fashion since my boyfriend was busy getting his new business up and running -- Grizzly Tattoo on North Williams. I helped him kick it off in style with a huge, tasty opening party in June with food and drink donated from local restaurants, bars, breweries, food carts and me, myself and I. It was grand.

So many good eats at Grizzly Tattoo's opening party! — So much good food and drink from Tasty n Sons, The Bye & Bye, EaT Oyster Bar, Pix Patisserie, Che Cafe, Jaime Henderson and Hopworks for Grizzly Tattoo's opening party.

With crazy long lead times a lot of stories that I got assigned right after Food Lover's Guide to Portland came out in summer 2010 published in the summer of 2011 as well.

Afternoon reading material... — My dog claims to be co-author.

Late in the summer I got to tag along on a Hardy Plant Society Kitchen Garden Group outing to Montinore Estate vineyard and winery just outside Forest Grove. Some of that trip went into a story about biodynamic wine that I wrote for Willamette Week about Katherine Cole and her excellent book Voodoo Vintners...

My friend Karen checking out the cow horn stuffed with *@#! at Montinore Estate. — My friend Karen checking out the bull horn stuffed with...at Montinore Vineyards.

Summer sped by -- honestly it didn't feel like we had much of it -- and we had an incredible third annual Portland Fermentation Festival at Ecotrust in October. We got a ton of publicity for it leading up and a line out the door and around the block of Ecotrust where it was held. We're working on getting more space for this year's festival.

Festival organizers David Picklopolis Barber, me, and Mr. George dapper foodist Winborn right before the doors closed at 8pm. — Festival organizers David Picklopolis Barber, me, and Mr. George dapper foodist Winborn right before the doors closed.

Wordstock 2011 was a blast as always in October. I was there for my book Food Lover's Guide to Portland and also with Hawthorne Books where I'm an editor and publicist.

Todd Sattersten, me, Kelley Roy and Jen Stevenson after our panel at Wordstock 2011.

Lucky Peach magazine from McSweeney's made its debut in 2011 and I wrote about it after the second kick-ass issue came out in the fall.

Second issue of Lucky Peach hot off the presses!

And then several short weeks later we got to announce that McSweeney's Books is publishing the Toro Bravo Cookbook, due out fall 2013, that I'm writing, David Lanthan Reamer is photographing and my boyfriend Tyler Adams is illustrating. Fuck yeah! Go Toro Bravo!

This is the proposal that our agent sent out to seal the deal... — This is the proposal that our agent sent out to seal the deal with McSweeney's Books.

Thanks for reading, thanks for being you! Happy 2012!

Matt Choi serving up his spicy, crunchy, awesome kimchi.

Portland Fermentation Festival 2011 Redux

October 21, 2011 in Food Fermentation, Food Preservation, Foraged Food, Portland Fermentation ..., Portland Food/Drink Event, Portland Miso, Specialty Foods, Uncategorized

What an amazing event and turnout! Yes, we know that many of you got stuck in the long line last night that snaked down the stairs, out the building, and around the block but we hope with all hope that you stuck it out and found that the wait and the crush was worth it. We put Portland Fermentation Festival together every year with a shoestring budget + heaps of volunteered hours and we're so grateful that Ecotrust puts up with us every stinking (literally) year. Thank you again Ecotrust! We love you.

But yes, we do hear you, it was too crowded and the line was too long this year. We'll problem solve and come back in briny style next year for 4.0. Thank you so much to everyone who exhibited, volunteered and attended! Portland Fermentation Festival is an annual love letter to our fair city. True blue Portland spirit fuels it and we wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks again to everyone who was a part.

If you'd like to keep up with local fermenty goings-on please check out our website, Facebook and Twitter. This year we had a very generous serving of media attention. Here's a slice of that coverage if you didn't get enough firsthand last night...

Willamette Week Portland Tribune OPB Portland Farmers Market

I was able to take a good amount of photos at the festival last night before we opened the doors as well as after...

Erica Fayrie's as good as it looks sauerkraut with beets.

Eva Sippl's Eva's yummy Herbucha in the house.

Lynne Van Dusen's Vine to Brine lacto-fermented sodas. Really tasty.

Festival co-organizer Mr. David Barber of Picklopolis aka King of Brine! Ghost pickles! Ah!

Peg Butler and posse serving up krautini (fermented cabbage tonic), fermented garlic, sour dills and sourdough rye. Yum!

Galen Williams and Pete Mulligan's delicious hard cider.

Biwa chef-owner Gabe Rosen and Kina Voelz serving up Biwa's hurts so good spicy daikon kimchi.

Earnest and Sumiko Migaki of Jorninji Miso cooking up a stockpot of their amazing miso, and sampling miso sauce and amazake made with their own koji.

Allen Field rocking his spicy kimchi and Turkish sauerkraut.

Nat and Sarah West sampling tart and tasty hard cider. Ridiculously good.

And then the doors opened and the crowd moved in...

Courtlandt Jennings' Pickled Planet with all sorts of big, briny goodness.

Curious Farm's Cathy Smith serving up leek horseradish kraut, fermented chili sauce and more.

Hank Tallman's Mama Hank's Pickled Veg. The spicy fermented green tomatoes were kick-ass good.

The line wrapped around the staircase out the door of Ecotrust and around the block within twenty minutes. We knew that the festival was going to be big this year but we didn't realize it'd be this big. Wow.

The lovely Kate Patterson sampling her festival favorite-- fermented salmon. Mmmm.

One of the better looking cleanup crews in town! Good night and good luck.

Thanks to everyone who made the third annual Portland Fermentation Festival happen! We love you.

Portland Fermentation Festival 2011 -- This Thursday!

October 17, 2011 in Food Fermentation, Food Preservation, Homemade Food, Portland DIY, Portland Fermentation ..., Uncategorized

This Thursday night is the Third Annual Portland Fermentation Festival and we really hope that you're either participating as an exhibitor or volunteer or planning on attending to sample all of the awesome homemade food ferments that will be available! It's going to be delicious and so much fun. It always is...

Here's some coverage that we've gotten already for this year's event: Portland Tribune story Portland Farmers Market video

And just so you know, even if you aren't signed up as an exhibitor please feel free to bring any homemade food ferments, cultures, recipes, info. etc. to share with others on the fly. This event is very unique in that it's a no sale/no buy, skill-sharing night. (Check out last year's Portland Fermentation Festival.) In other words, you pay your $5 to get in and then it's all about interacting, trying tasty things and hopefully learning enough to make them yourself. It really is unique and we're proud that Portland Fermentation Festival so accessible and fun for all ages without any corporate ties.

Come out and see for yourself -- find out what's stinkiest and tastiest this year! See you Thursday I hope.

Third Annual Portland Fermentation Festival Open to the public, all agesWhen: Thursday, October 20th 6-8pm Where:Ecotrust's Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center on the second floor, 721 NW 9th Ave., #200, Portland, OR What: Sample and learn about all sorts of food and drink ferments Cost: $5 at the door info@portlandfermentationfestival.comTwitter @PDXFermentFest Facebook Portland Fermentation Festival

Portland Fermentation Festival 2011

September 27, 2011 in Food Fermentation, Food Preservation, Homemade Food, Portland DIY, Portland Fermentation ..., Uncategorized

A couple weeks ago I got to talk with Dave Adamshick at the Northwest Portland Farmers Market about all things Portland Fermentation Festival. It would have been more fun if festival co-organizers David Barber and George Winborn could have been a part too but they were there in briny spirit. Here's a short video that Dave made from our conversation...

We're in countdown mode now for this year's third annual Portland Fermentation Festival on Thurdsay, October 20th from 6-8pm at Ecotrust! We're still accepting applications from folks who want to sample their homemade fermented food and drink. Here's the entry form. And we're also looking for more volunteers to help set up and break down and work the door. If you'd like to volunteer please send us an email at info at portland fermentation festival dot com. Also, if you want to help spread the word please print out some of these posters and put them up around town. See you at the Portland Fermentation Festival in a few short weeks!

MoonBrine Pickles

August 29, 2011 in Food Fermentation, Food Gifts, Food Preservation, Specialty Foods, Uncategorized

I'm kind a pickle freak although I'm particular. I'm not so into bread & butter or other sweet pickles. I like the salty, sour and spicy pickles the best -- namely fresh garlic, spicy, dills and crock-fermented dills. Just made some of the former, in fact, and can see them on the kitchen counter from where I'm typing at the kitchen table -- my studio is too hot today.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I came home to a lovely package on my front porch -- two tasty jars of MoonBrine Pickles courtesy of the pickler himself -- Stew Golomb -- a former elementary school teacher from Boston who moved to Portland a little more than a year ago. Thanks Stew!

I love them. We've eaten most of them as is but have added some to sandwiches too. They're tasty fermented pickles with a little vinegar added for good measure. By the way, some of my favorite local pickles are Picklopolis Pickles. Picklopolis' Mr. Briney Barber is a very good friend of mine so I don't want to let a pickle post go without a shout-out. He knows how much I love him.

I recently got to ask Stew some questions via email about MoonBrine Pickles and here's what he had to say -- sometimes abbreviated...

Can you give me a short/sweet explanation of your process. Fermented and then vinegar added?

MoonBrine Pickles are 100% fermented (lacto-fermented). The cucumbers/vegetables start in a pail of brine, consisting of water, salt and a small amount of (gluten free) distilled vinegar. The pails sit at room temperature for a couple weeks until the vegetables are fully fermented. The pickles are then packed and refrigerated in quarts for retail and pail for restaurants.

You have a pickle tasting room/space?

I do have a little shop. I roll my pickle bar out of my kitchen and sell right there in the basement of the Ford Building at 2505 SE 11th Ave. in Portland. People seem really into discovering it. I call it the MoonBrine Shop N' Snacketeria.

There you'll find quart glass jars of our fermented MoonBrine Super Dill, Pretty Hot All Natural Pickles, MoonBrine Sour Mash (Relish) and our MoonBrine Brine, a magical product all on its own. Rotating offerings of deliciousness also include half-sour cucumber pickles, pickled green tomatoes, pickled cauliflower, pickled carrots, pickled cabbage and whatever else comes off the farm and lands in the brine.

MoonBrine Snacketeria hours: Monday – Thursday 11am-3:30pm. Off-hours by appointment if you email email Stew at info@MoonBrine.com.

Where can folks purchase MoonBrine Pickles? Can you give me a price list of various types if bought direct?

Currently, in Portland the pickles are available at the shop - all quarts are $5. Folks can also buy the pickles at KnowThyFood.com which is a food buying club in town. Ford Food & Drink and Detour Cafe use the pickles on some of their plates and in their Bloody Marys. More stores and restaurants are on the horizon and there are five stores and two restaurants in Boston currently carrying the pickles.

MoonBrine Pickles www.moonbrine.com

Further evidence of my pickle obsession -- me and friends at Kenny & Zuke's Pickle Throwdown earlier this summer.

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