Plant a Row for the Hungry -- Oregon Food Bank

My Plant a Row for the Hungry

I've been volunteering now and again this spring at the Oregon Food Bank'sEastside Learning Garden. Along the way I've helped plant bush beans and calendula, lay garden paths, harvest collards and more. To sign up for Eastside Dig In! shifts go here and fill out a quick form. There's also an OFB Westside Learning Garden in need of volunteers. The last time I was on the OFB site I came across Plant a Row for the Hungry. The gist: plant a row of vegetables and donate all of the food it produces throughout the season to local hunger relief agencies.

Oregon Food Bank has made this national campaign easy with various online Portland maps with Plant a Row drop-off points, contacts and times. There are three drop-off spots in North Portland close to my home so that makes it easy.

I planted my Row for the Hungry this weekend -- well really my small mound -- and I think it'll be make for a nice and diverse mini harvest. I started everything from seed during the past few weeks except the eggplants which a friend gave me.

My Plant a Row for the Hungry:

3 Thai green eggplants

4 royal burgundy bush beans

2 purple calabash tomatoes

2 Cabernet grape tomatoes

1 pineapple tomato

The OFB site has a list of vegetables that they'd most like home gardeners to plant for the campaign. They also remind gardeners to cultivate and harvest vegetables that will store and transport well i.e. harvest your tomatoes when they're a bit under ripe...

Oregon Food Bank's most wanted produce:

Food pantries and soup kitchens need produce that stores and transports well.

Refrigerated space is often limited, so foods that don't require refrigeration are always wanted. Here are some recommendations:

* Tomatoes (pick while slightly under-ripe) * Green beans * Winter squash (acorn or butternut) * Garlic * Hot peppers * Cucumbers * Zucchini * Collard greens * Onions

If you have any additional questions contact Eric Sopkin at 503-282-0555, Ext. 260, or esopkin@oregonfoodbank.org.

It doesn't look like much now but come mid-summer I'll be making weekly deliveries from my Plant a Row for the Hungry to local hunger and relief 

Oregon Food Bank

Oregon Food Bank Learning Gardens

Plant a Row for the Hungry in Portland Plant a Row for the Hungry national campaign

Grand Central U-Bake -- June 6th, 9am-1pm

I'm much more of a cook than a baker. I make my own pizza dough and every once in awhile I'll bake a cake or some cookies but that's about it. So when Piper Davis of Grand Central Bakery came by the other day with a big bag of GC's soon to hit the market U-Bake frozen cookies, puff pastry and pie dough I felt pretty unworthy. Turns out I'm the ideal person to give them a try because I'm a novice baker who loves tasty baked goods but rarely takes the time to make them. For my U-Bake pie I started by making this...

A strawberry, pear and rhubarb filling

Then I filled this...

Grand Central's U-Bake pie crust

And I ended up with this...

Just out of the oven and soon to be topped with vanilla ice cream

The line of frozen pre-made and formed cookies (oatmeal chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter and ginger molasses) are even easier. You pull out the frozen dozen, separate a few cookies, roll them in sugar, put them on the cookie sheet and 10 minutes later you have delicious home baked cookies.

Ginger molasses cookies straight from the oven

I made a whole bunch of savory treats with the puff pastry dough for dinner with a friend's family but I didn't take any photos of the cheesy puffs because the dinner was at their home and I didn't want my camera to get in the way of our eating. Luckily right before we left for their place I took a photo of the fillings...

Ricotta/sorrel pesto/mozzarella mix with bulk spicy Italian sausage

If you have a chance this Saturday, June 6th GC is rolling out its new U-Bake line (pie dough, puff pastry dough, pre-made pies and cookies) at all of its Portland bakeries. From 9am to 1pm each bakery cafe will be staffed with a baker sampling U-Bake products and sharing recipes and advice. Added bonus: 50% of the proceeds of U-Bake products sold that day will be donated to the Portland Schools Foundation. Be sweet and go buy some sweets.

Grand Central www.grandcentralbakery.com 9am-1pm Saturday, June 6th U-bake roll out at all Portland Grand Central Bakeries

Portland Wine: Cork

I like baths. One of my favorite things is to bring a cup of coffee and good book into the bathroom, fill up the tub and read and sip coffee until the sun don't shine. I like the coffee part especially because it counteracts the sleepy steamy side of the bath a bit and keeps me from falling asleep in a towel on the couch.

I also on occasion like to drink a glass of wine or beer in the bath but this is a showstopper and I have to be committed to the fact that I'll accomplish nothing more that day or night. So you can imagine that when I was at Cork on Northeast Alberta a few days ago their bubbly-in-a-clawfoot display above made me really happy.

Darryl Joannides opened Cork on Northeast Alberta in 2006 and last fall he opened a second Cork in Northwest Portland. I love that Cork is owned an run by a first-rate chef -- Joannides was chef-owner of Sellwood's much missed Assaggio so beyond Joannides passion for wine (he's worked harvests in Sonoma and regularly makes his own wine at home) and great selection of wine you can also buy all sorts of other tasty sweet and savory treats at Cork.

I also appreciate that Cork will never call you a cheapskate -- even if you always go for the $8 bottle. The majority of bottles set up on crates and shelves throughout the shop are $20 or less and according to Joannides you'll always find at least 20 wines less than $10.

In addition to a large selection of wine at Cork you'll also find bulk and bottled olive oil...

Reuse your bottle and you get a buck off

Bottled beer...

Lots of local OR, WA and CA beers and lots of Belgian beer

Chocolate bars and truffles...

Chocolate is one of Joannides' favorite things

And right now a great selection of light and sippy rosés....

Rosé is not girly

Stop by the Alberta Street Cork for Friday night drop-in tastings and the Northwest Cork for First Thursday tastings. if you never got to Joannides' restaurant Assaggio he also hosts regular multi-course food and wine pairings. Check out the online calendar for events and tastings.

Cork: A Bottle Shop 2901 NE Alberta St., 503.281.2675 1715 NW Lovejoy St., 503.501.5028 www.corkwineshop.com

Seafood: Newman's Fish Co. in City Market

And gets daily deliveries

Even though the Portland area is woven by rivers, studded with lakes and not far from the Pacific we're not known for our seafood. I recently had coffee with the editor of a local magazine and she was bemoaning the fact that our fair city has such slim pickings in terms of fish markets.

It's true but with a little effort and a little more gas or peddling you can source some super fresh, delicious seafood here. When most people think about seasonal food they think of produce but everything is connected to the seasons including seafood.

Right now Newman's Fish Company in Northwest Portland should be rolling in Copper River salmon but prices are way too high this year -- so high that they'd have to charge $40 a pound to make any kind of a profit. Newman's manager Angela Stewart isn't shedding any tears -- she'd much rather eat ocean caught wild, fresh salmon any day. Yes, she's a little biased -- her family runs a chinook and coho salmon fishing boat out of Southeast Alaska -- but she claims that river caught salmon doesn't have the fresh flavor and great texture that Pacific salmon is known for.

Newman's smokes all sorts of seafood at their North Portland warehouse

Other fresh and seasonal Newman's seafood -- halibut started in March, crawdads open the first of June, and Oregon albacore is up in July. Pretty much year-round you'll find all the tasty farmed shellfish -- clams, oysters, mussels -- as well as crab, lobster, squid, shrimp, scallops, herring and more.

There's always a great selection of locally farmed oysters, clams and mussels

Dungeness and Maine lobster are usually in the Newman's tank

A vast majority of what's in the case is fresh and line caught and almost everything else is frozen at sea.

Newman's Fish Company 735 NW 21st Ave. 503.227.2700 www.newmansfish.com

Read about the wholesale side of Newman's Fish Co. here.

Biked Beans: Courier Coffee

I recently met up with Courier Coffee owner Joel Domreis and employee Alex Geddes at their small backyard roastery and talked coffee, and of course drank coffee, for a couple hours. Alex had roasted some Bolivian Cenaproc Cooperative coffee that morning and he brewed us a pot in one of their new Hario vacuum pots. This was my first experience with siphon brewed/vacuum pot brewed coffee, even though I've heard a lot about it, and it was delicious and really fun to watch. The standout for me was that there was no silty residue in the cup and the coffee was hyper full of flavor. I don't think I'd ever own a vacuum pot though. I have a hard enough time not breaking the glass in my French press. These are works of art.

Most of my interviews for the book so far have been about an hour long but the really good ones often seem to spill over. There were a lot of beans to be spilled in this case...

Where 10,000 pounds of Courier Coffee is roasted annually

28 year old Domreis started his bike delivered Courier Coffee three and a half years ago and for a year and a half he ran the show. Now he has one full-time (Alex Geddes) and one part-time (Matt Sperry) employee to roast beans with and peddle around town with. A typical day for these guys starts at 4am and ends after the sun has set and all the coffee for the next day has been roasted. Deliveries are made from as far southeast as Southeast 92nd and Johnson Creek Blvd. to as far north as St. Johns. And even though Courier only has about 30 accounts (coffeeshops, restaurants, bars and offices) they deliver daily to many of them in order to ensure super fresh, super tasty bean. Some of their most valued clients include Half & Half, Little Red Bike Cafe, Sel Gris, Olea, Two Tarts Bakery, Eastmoreland Market & Kitchen and Dove Vivi.

Domreis talked me through their roasting process, showed me their burlap sack stacked coffee storage area and discussed the merits of slow growth in particular to his business. Understandable since every new account adds many miles literally and figuratively to their work week. That's not the only reason Domreis is reticent. Courier has a certain ethic and culture that clients need to jive with. If you don't want to discuss things like first and second crack, or if you want all your coffee ground and delivered a couple times a month Courier doesn't want you.

Joel Domreis of Courier Coffee hopes to open a Courier Coffeeshop one day soon

Map of Portland's coffeeshops and Courier's Hario vacuum pots

You can buy bags of Courier Coffee beans at Half & Half, Little Red Bike Cafe, Eastmoreland Market & Kitchen and Two Tarts. You can also have Courier Coffee delivered to your door step or pick it up at the roastery -- just call ahead first.

Courier Coffee SE 40th and Hawthorne -- call for directions www.couriercoffeeroasters.com Joel Domreis -- 503.545.6444

Artisan Cheese of the Pacific Northwest by Tami Parr

Last weekend I finally got my copy of Artisan Cheese of the Pacific Northwest by Tami Parr of the long-running popular blog Pacific Northwest Cheese Project. Now I have some questions for you:

1. Do you ever have more types of cheese in your refrigerator than can be juggled? 2. Do you wonder where and how said cheese is made? 3. When you hear the name Wallace do you think -- "Cheese, Gromit!" 4. Do you wish that more restaurants would stop serving the ubiquitous berry cobbler and chocolate cake every night of the week and start serving cheese boards for dessert?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions I think you're going to like this book. I'm tossing mine in the back of the car whenever I head out for a road trip because chances are good that one of the 17 Oregon, 31 Washington, 3 Idaho and 20 British Columbia cheesemakers profiled in the book will be en route.

Tami spent much of last year traveling, visiting and interviewing 70-plus Pacific Northwest cheesemakers so each entry is studded with photos of cheeses being mixed, molded and dried; goats, sheep and cows that make the cheese possible; curd vats, cheese in molds and more. She writes about many of our region's most interesting and delicious cheeses and includes farm and creamery visiting hours if you want to stop by for a curd or two.

There's a cheese primer at the end of the book with info. on everything from storing and pairing cheese, to where to buy artisan cheese in the Pacific Northwest, as well as tasty cheese-centric recipes from restaurants such as Park Kitchen and Boat Street Cafe.

Those responsible for this destruction should get a copy of Tami Parr's book

I've already learned a lot from the book. Last night I read that Ancient Heritage Dairy owner Kathy Obringer worked at Mecklenburg Gardens in Cincinnati way back when. I'm from Cincinnati and Mecklenburg's has long been one of my favorite restaurants there. Spaetzle, schnitzel, ham and sauerkraut balls and big steins and glasses of all kinds of amazing German beers on draft. I visit almost every time I'm home. Next time I'm near Scio I'll stop by Ancient Heritage. Or maybe I'll say "hello" at the PSU Portland Farmers Market first... Artisan Cheese of the Pacific Northwest By Tami Parr The Countryman Press, spring 2009 196 pages

Tea: Foxfire Teas, Tea Chai Te and DIY Home Herbal Tea

I think that this year is the first that I'll actually have enough herbs to dry for herbal tea. The old garden adage -- the first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps and and the third it leaps -- is ringing true in our yard. It's the beginning of our fourth year in North Portland and plants that never before seemed to take a shine are going off -- namely the blueberries, raspberries, fruit trees and lots and lots of herbs.

I think we'll have enough lemon balm, mint, sage, thyme, valerian and other herbs to keep us sipping plenty of home grown and blended herbal tea for months. I recently read that the best way to dry herbs for tea is to take the entire plant or sections of it, leaves still attached, and tie it upside down so that the oil and flavor gravitates to the leaves.

Tea time with Quinn and Katherine Losselyong owners of Foxfire Teas

I didn't learn this from Quinn and Katherine Losselyong of Portland's Foxfire Teas but I did learn a lot when I met up with them recently at their shop. Here are a few things that they told me while we shared a pot of Golden Yunan tea.

1. They like to use steeped Darjeeling and various green teas as a substitute for broth in risotto. 2. They met on a plane heading to Portland and were engaged three months later. 3. Their business is often referred to as Firefox Teas because people confuse them with the browser. 4. You can find Foxfire Teas in cafes as far away as Raleigh, North Carolina and Santa Barbara. 5. Marco Shaw of the much missed Portland restaurant Fife did some amazing things with their lapsang souchong (a smoked black tea) and duck.

At first sniff Foxfire's smoky lapsang souchong doesn't even smell like tea. Close your eyes, inhale, and you might think you're sitting around a campfire.

Some of the best kombucha I've ever had -- Quinn and Katherine's home fermented pu-erh kombucha

After hanging out at Foxfire I met up with Tami Parr of Pacific Northwest Cheese Project at Tea Chai Te in Northwest. Not great planning on my part -- I think I filled up on my tea intake for the week in one day. Tami's book -- Artisan Cheese of the Pacific Northwest -- is hot off the presses and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy. We talked about the book, about her blog and about random things like our favorite Indian restaurant in Vancouver B.C. and why we both want to keep chickens.

Tami had an iced black tea (any of their teas can be iced) and I had a cup of the ginger pu-erh. If you haven't been Tea Chai Te is a really nice space nestled in the second floor of a beautiful old house. When we arrived at 3:30pm it was quiet but by 4:30/5pm it was almost full and there was a long line for steeped goods.

Please don't buy the terra cotta looking large clay teapot that's cut in half on the bottom right of the photo. I'm saving up.

Tea Chai Te does tea right

Foxfire Teas 2505 SE 11th Ave. #105 503.288.6869 www.foxfireteas.com

Tea Chai Te 734 NW 23rd Ave. -- upstairs 503.228.0900 www.teachaite.com

Pacific Northwest Cheese Project www.pnwcheese.typepad.com

Tami Parr's spring 2009 title Artisan Cheese of the Pacific Northwest

Mom Day: Sahagún Chocolate Shop

Elizabeth Montes was a decorative painter of dolls and puppets in NYC before she caravaned across country nearly a decade ago and gave herself up to chocolate. She'd made her own truffles and small chocolates for friends and family for years before she left New York for a new home in Portland with her then boyfriend now husband Rodney Muirhead of Podnah's Pit Barbecue.

In 2001 Montes began handcrafting chocolates out of her apartment kitchen and selling them at the PSU Farmers Market for several years before opening Sahagún Chocolate Shop on Northwest 16th Avenue in 2005.

I got to spend a morning with Montes at her shop last week as she planned and readied for Mother's Day and I'm here to tell you that there are all kinds of amazing things you can do for your mom or any special mom in your life at Sahagún this year.

Have you tried the Luscious Caramels?? They're salty, buttery and dark chocolate sweet all at once. And I mean "all at once" literally -- there's no nibbling or pulling apart with these. You pop the whole thing in your mouth and bite down so that the caramelized sugar, which isn't thickened by corn syrup, washes over every last one of your taste buds in a rush of roasty salty sweet.

There's a reason why this plate is almost empty and it's only 10am

Would she like a single origin Sahagún hot chocolate?

There's always a lot to choose from. Ask about the Sundro

Sahagún's pretty boxes -- fill them up with chocolates, truffles and barks

And just so you know Sahagún does online sales -- you can place your order here.

Sahagún Chocolate Shop 10 NW 16th Ave. 503.274.7065 www.sahagunchocolates.com

Wild and Free: Another Wild Food Adventure with John Kallas, Dandelion Wine and more

In the past few weeks I've done a lot of foraging. First I gathered dandelion petals with my friend and her daughter for this year's batch of dandelion wine. If you want 3 gallons of dandelion wine you need 3 gallons of dandelion petals. That's what we wanted but we settled with one gallon -- which took the better part of an afternoon to collect. I wrote about last year's dandelion wine for Imbibe.

Yes, those scissors are a little big but she insisted. At least it's not a sweat shop.

Another wild food event this season was an informal gathering of all sorts of Portlanders -- connected via food, work, friends -- that I won't share too much about since a story is currently in the works. I will show you a photo of a bit of the resulting food -- 3 jars of delicious collective kraut. In our collective batches of vegetable ferments, amongst MANY ingredients, were backyard bull thistle, dandelion greens and black radish...

There are things in these jars that I'd never heard of until this spring

This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend another one of John Kallas' Wild Food Adventures. Kallas is one of my favorite Portland food people because he often goes where no one else does in search of delicious wild foods growing all around us -- urban, suburban and off the beaten path. This Sunday we went to Oxbow Park out in the Sandy River Gorge not far from Troutdale.

Eat me -- stinging nettles

We were lucky that we didn't get rained or hailed on as we hiked around sampling all sorts of wild spring greens including sheep sorrel, waterleaf, salmonberry stems (the inside of new growth stems tastes sweeter and juicier when peeled than fresh asparagus), miner's lettuce, stinging nettles and much more. Well, we didn't try the nettle but John did. He has a trick for plucking them with his bare hands and eating them on the spot without a sting....

Our fearless leader John Kallas -- stinging nettle in hand

I haven't been foraging for morels yet this spring even though one popped up in our backyard a few days ago! I hear it's a later season for them this year so maybe there's still hope. Happy foraging everyone.

Wild Food Adventures John Kallas www.wildfoodadventures.com 503.775.3828 mail@wildfoodadventures.com ***Most workshops still have openings but they fill up fast***

Home Orchard Society Arboretum

Sometimes rain -- even at the end of a long sopping stretch of days -- is magical. In this case it made for some very ethereal photos of Home Orchard Society Arboretum manager Karen Tillou. Yesterday I took a trip south to Clackamas Community College home of the HOS Arboretum and met with Tillou. We snuck in and out of the tool shed (rain and more rain) for a couple hours talking about fruit trees, shrubs and vines, the history of HOS and why I should use an ale or a cotes de blanc yeast the next time I make hard cider. It was a great day and worth the trek. The HOS Arboretum is always in need of volunteers so if you or someone you know has time to thin, weed, prune or harvest for a few hours in upcoming months the 1.6 acre arboretum is a great place to lend a hand.

Tools of the trade

Home Orchard Society Arboretum Open year round 9am-3pm Tuesdays and Saturdays www.homeorchardsociety.org Contact: Karen Tillou 503.338.8479 Find directions here