socktails

2 Ingredient Recipe: Roasted Broccoli

2011-11-12T21:38:00.001-08:00

Ingredients: broccoli, oil.

Cut broccoli small, toss with a high-heat oil (like canola, safflower, etc.), roast at 450 until tips start to darken and crisp. Toss once during cooking.

I am in love with this. It's exquisite. I have no idea why plain broccoli tastes SO GOOD. I used to make this with salt and pepper and have found that it's way better without them. I also used to do it with olive oil but it always smoked. I have finally perfected my technique and am super jazzed.

Fried Apples

2011-10-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

Apples taste fantastic and I want to eat lots of them because I live in the Northwest. But I have sensitive teeth in the winter and when I eat apples it feels like I am biting into a popsicle wrapped in sand paper. Then the other day I was like, I wonder what will happen if I fry them in butter. Not cold. Not sandpapery. Caramelized and juicy. My new fall obsession.

Salad Days

2011-07-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

Two discoveries:

1. Fresh, local, prewashed greens (because when it comes to salad I am lazy) from some farm in the Dalles. $5 at New Seasons for a big old bag that lasts me all week. Summer is the only time I like salad so I'm eating it every day. "Salad" in this case equals greens, a few baby carrots and blue cheese dressing.

2. Paintbrush, a free Mac application that simulates my favorite ever program, Mac Paint, or rather, the Text Edit equivalent of Mac Paint. When I used to make zines in high school pretty much all of the illustrations that weren't done in ballpoint pen were done in Mac Paint on my family's Mac Plus. Creative Suite has always been kinda confusing for me to figure out, so this is right about my speed. Fun times!

Greens w/ baby carrots

Chicken Stew!

2011-07-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

Betty Crocker, patron saint of crockpots

I cooked something tonight I've always wanted to, and it was awesome! I made creamy chicken stew from this Betty Crocker recipe. It turned out exactly how I wanted it to. Saucy and herby with hella tender chicken and creamy Yukon gold potato chunks. I used fresh rosemary from some random neighbor (if it's growing over the sidewalk it's public domain, right?), which convinced me to start using fresh herbs for everything I can, even though it is inconvenient and expensive, because it is SO worth it. Such fantastic flavor.

I'm always intimidated by anything that involves thickening sauce, but it was surprisingly easy. For this recipe you make a paste with flour and cream, then mix it with the liquid from the stew, and it cooks and thickens up and then you pour it oozingly all over the meat and veggies. I can't wait to take this to work with me tomorrow for lunch! Wooo!

Root

2011-07-17T16:58:00.000-07:00

Root is an artisanal root beer flavored spirit. It is American. It has good ingredients. It's not too sweet; boys and girls like it. It has an interesting backstory involving an eccentric ad man and Amish heritage, but even without that, it makes people want to talk. So it's good to serve after dinner. I like it on its own and will probably put it in toddies when the weather turns cool.

Oxley Gin

2011-03-17T23:19:00.000-07:00

Oxley is a classic English dry gin that distinguishes itself by being cold-distilled. That means that instead of the botanicals being cooked into the mix they're infused cold, so they keep their true, raw flavors. It's subtle, with flavors of lemon peel and meadowsweet. I think it would be best in simple drinks that let the gin's notes shine, like a really dry martini with a twist. It's so citrusy and crisp that I think it would be fun to mess around with lemons and herbs too, but that could also overwhelm it unless you used a very light hand. Oxley Gin is being rolled out in the States slowly. Portland is one of its first markets. I like that it is a clean gin and not too loud.

Spaghetti

2011-03-16T23:18:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you need comfort food. Yummy, cheap, predictable.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

1 onion
2 carrots
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 to 1 lb bulk sausage or ground beef
parmesan or other cheese
spaghetti or other noodles

1. Chop onion and carrots.
2. Sautee veggies and meat (either in the same pan or two pans). Meanwhile, boil water and cook noodles.
3. Add sauce to veggies and meat and cook until hot.
4. Top noodles with sauce and cheese.

This makes a lot of sauce. You can freeze some of it.

Blatant Self-Promotion

2011-03-05T20:44:00.000-08:00

I have a piece up on Culinate! I'm so excited to be featured on this tasty and thought-provoking site, in the company of some fantastic writers and cooks. I wrote about the "Asian slaw" I bring to potlucks that people seem to like a lot. I also have a (totally non-food-related) story in the March issue of Portland Monthly. It involves the mysterious inner workings of Swan Island. You can pick up the magazine currently on the stands, or view the story online.

Rainbow Dinner

2011-02-17T00:38:00.000-08:00

Monday night we had like the most perfect meal of all time. It wasn't fancy, we made it ourselves, we didn't use any recipes, we shot from the hip. The whole thing took about 15 minutes. We split a grilled peppered steak topped with sauteed mushrooms and onions. On the side we had grilled acorn squash and roasted Brussels sprouts, carrots and brocolli. There were so many colors and the flavors were true - everything really tasted like what it was. The vegetables were crisp. Right now I'm all about being healthy and making my body strong, and that's a great thing to share with someone.

Late to the Party: Kale Chips

2011-02-09T22:24:00.000-08:00

Some of the 127,000 image results for kale chips

I hate hype. The more something is hyped, the more it annoys me, which causes me to eschew things that might actually be really good ideas just on the grounds of their popularity.

One of the super annoying things that people won't shut up about is kale in general and kale chips in particular. Kale is good for you! And kale chips are surprisingly delicious and so easy to make! Blah, blah, blah. After several months of this, it occurred to me that they were something I would probably actually really like.

And guess what? I was right! I am officially jumping on the kale chip bandwagon and here is my obligatory food blog post about it.

Kale chips basically take my favorite way of cooking kale (which I discovered from Molly Wizenberg in her Bon Appetit column) to the next, crispier, charrier level. They are just kale leaves roasted with oil and salt. Roast just about anything with oil and salt and it will taste really good, but unlike more substantial veggies, which get sweet, tender and starchy when you roast them, kale gets REALLY CRISPY. And I love crispy. Slightly charred kale sometimes takes on a deep herbal/skunky flavor, which I find intriguing even though the skunk is not really my thing. Believe the hype - you will want to eat the whole batch in one sitting. I looked at a couple different recipes online and adapted them into an ultra lazy version. They would also probably be really good with freshly grated parm. Put cheese on just about anything and it will taste really good.

Kale Chips - Recipe

1 bunch dino kale
1 T olive oil
salt, maybe pepper and spices

Cut off the ends of the kale. Cut crosswise twice in equal-ish sections. Toss with oil. Throw them on a cookie sheet in a single layer, sprinkle with salt and whatever, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, turning once. It might take two batches, they take up a lot of room. Kale chips!

I Love Hash

2011-02-02T00:13:00.000-08:00

I normally don't like going out for breakfast because having to wait and deal with crowds when I'm hungry sets the stage for a toddler-style meltdown, which is even less cute in a grown woman. However, there are a couple places I like because they aren't crowded, and you can go in and have someone set a delicious plate of food in front of you relatively quickly, and eat it in relative peace. I am hesitant to talk about these places on my blog because I don't want them to start being crowded and annoying, but on the other hand, I do want them to stay in business so I can keep eating there.

So, OK, one great breakfast place is J&M Cafe on SE Ash, but don't tell anybody. Among other positive attributes, there are large windows that face south and east, letting in bright, warm, happy light. This morning they had corned beef hash on special and it was probably the best thing that happened today. Better even than going to watch the Blazers cream the Spurs, it was that good! Corned beef hash is heaven on a plate. It is everything good, all at once. This one had mushrooms, potatoes, onions, some other stuff, and big juicy chunks of corned beef. Served with a delicious English muffin and runny basted eggs. MMMMM!

Bitter Tequila: the Milano Rita at Victory

2011-01-24T15:45:00.000-08:00

In Imbibe's article on agave spirits, the bartenders whom Paul interviewed kept talking about mixing them with bitter ingredients. In my field research, I found a great, straightforward example of this at Victory in their Milano Rita, which pairs tequila with lime, grapefruit and Campari. The Campari and grapefruit blend into one beautiful bitter-citrus flavor, which offsets the tequila perfectly. The bright red drink is also served in a big goofy hurricane glass with multiple fruit garnishes, which is a nice foil to the bar's dark masculinity and makes me want to get sassy and snap my fingers in a Z formation.

Fast, Starchy, Yummy Squash

2011-01-20T22:04:00.000-08:00

Deborah Madison has a great explanation on Culinate of why you never actually cook some of the foods you well-intentionedly buy, and royally enticing ideas for to do with big ass winter squash when you finally get around to tackling them (fried squash with butter, blue cheese and pepper? Yes, please). I love this article because I have long considered squash to be a rewarding but laborious ordeal, and tend to avoid cooking it. But as inspiring as Deborah's ideas are, I still have less patience than is required to break down a 12-pound squash. Luckily, I have figured out (with help from a certain Schweitzer) a sort of fast food version. Fast food in that it provides instant gratification, and also in that it's salty, starchy, oily and sweet in a total late night drunk food kind of way.

Delicata squash is small and relatively tender so it's easy to cut up, and if you slice it thin it cooks up fast. It has this amazingly beautiful, deep flavor that really comes out when you roast it at high heat.

Fast Food Delicata Squash

1. Preheat the oven to 425F or so. Take a delicata squash and halve it the hot dog way. Scoop out the seeds and stringy junk with a spoon. (If you're feeling resourceful, save the seeds to toast.) Take each half and slice it into thin Cs, about 1/4" to 1/2" thick.

2. Oil a pan with any kind of high-heat oil, butter or spray oil. Throw in the squash Cs and drizzle more oil on top of them, or spray with spray oil (recipe has not been tested with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray, but it worked well with Pam). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat evenly. Alternately, you can just throw the squash in there with a chunk of butter, which will melt in the oven and then you can toss everything to coat.

3. Stick it in the oven. I'm not sure how long it takes. My general guideline for roasting is to put it in there and forget about it, and then when it starts to smell yummy and you remember there's something in the oven, go give it a toss and leave it in for another few minutes until amply brown. Maybe 10 or 20 minutes total for delicata squash.

4. When it's almost there, you can turn the heat up to broil to get the tops nice and caramelized. This only takes a couple minutes so keep an eye on it. When it looks awesome, remove from the oven and eat immediately. Add a fried egg or two and you have a super bachelor-style but awesome, cheap, healthy dinner.

Vermouth in the O

2011-01-19T12:29:00.000-08:00

The Oregonian has a story on local vermouth featuring Neil Kopplin of Imbue and Patrick Taylor of Cana's Feast. It's great to see vermouth - a magical but overlooked category - getting attention.

Two local producers help boost vermouth's revival | OregonLive.com

Presentation Is Everything

2011-01-16T01:25:00.000-08:00

OK, maybe not everything, but it's the little details like this that slay me every time. Soup is somehow a million times better when it has parsley flecks on it, even if you can barely taste them. Carrot cake is a whole different thing when the carrots have doggone googly eyes. GOOGLY EYES! How can you not love that? In the realm of good-looking food, I carry the biggest torch for beautiful dessert displays. Rows of colorful, sparkly, good-smelling, tooth-decaying delights just give me a stupid grin - even without eating them. Even just looking at creamy, pastel pictures of them.

Sometimes when I used to work downtown I would go into Whole Foods and gaze at the pastry case on my lunch break. It totally cheered me up no matter what. Tiny, perfect tarts with just enough room for three blueberries on top of each one, cupcakes topped with frosting snowmen and crystal sugar snow, cakes piped with flowers and vines, glossy lemon tarts, all in neat rows. Once a few years ago I was in the mall with my boyfriend, walking past the rainbow columns of jelly beans at the candy kiosk, and he squeezed my arm and murmured wistfully, "You look at that candy the way you look at me."

One of my other favorites is the display at Pambiche, tropical and decadent and whimsical - that is where these happy carrots live, among chocolate cigars, sugar parrots, pineapple upside-down cakes, candy dominos and huge halves of papaya, creamy orange with all their weird black shiny seeds. I imagine the dessert case coming to life at night after everybody leaves. The carrots jump off the cake and dance with the dominos, the cigars roll around and the parrots fly around the room. You would never know from looking at them perfectly still in there during the dinner rush, but if you look closely there are tell-tale crumbs on the stereo.

Photo courtesy of Autumn Peterson

Tequila Mockingbird

2011-01-11T22:44:00.000-08:00

Buy this magazine.

Paul Clark has a truly inspiring feature on agave spirits in the Jan/Feb issue of Imbibe. Tequila is possibly my favorite spirit because it is so assertively flavorful, yet sadly lots of people hate it due to unpleasant memories of Daytona Beach. I hope that with all the premium tequilas and mezcals that have been coming out, and the ascendance of apple pucker as a new collegiate memory maker of choice, that will start to change, because I'm sick of getting raised eyebrows when I order tequila neat at a bar.

Paul's article gives a good breakdown of the production and classification of tequilas and mezcals (mezcal agave is roasted underground like Hawaiian pork, whoa), and details some really provocative, amazing-sounding cocktails bartenders have been shaking up (mezcal and amari, seriously?). I typically prefer tequila straight, in a good margarita or with other fresh-squeezed juices, but I think I could be persuaded to broaden my horizons. In Portland, my first impulse is to hit up Beaker & Flask and Teardrop (Kevin Ludwig created a killer carrot margarita awhile back, and I know Daniel is a fan of obscure mezcals) and see what they're up to in the agave department. Some people think tequila is just for summer but I strongly disagree - like Scotch, its earthy flavor is perfect for cooler months.

Genoa!

2011-01-05T15:28:00.000-08:00

I'd been curious about Genoa ever since their remodel and reopening. I remembered it as the setting for a phenomenal $150 meal a few years ago and wondered if it would still be at the same level now that they were offering a six-course dinner for $60 per person. The answer to that is hell yes. Genoa has joined the 21st century, while preserving their legendarily high standards in the kitchen and front of house.

I'm not going to detail every course (we had more than than six, and each had a lot of components) but what stood out to me about the food the most was the composition of each plate. A lot of the mid- to high-end restaurants in Portland these days are doing rustic, simple, old-world style meals. Which I love. But it's such a treat to have a plate appear in front of you with as much care as a love letter. David Anderson, Daniel Mondok and their crew do it up for real. Contrasting flavors and textures are calculatedly posed in the perfect place. Everything is beautiful and there for a reason. Everything works together. Lobster with risotto and herby sauces with little fronds of fresh greens and sunchoke chips perched on top. A medallion of foie gras perched on a tiny crispy bit of brioche (I kept thinking of a mattress balanced on a bottle of wine) with slivers of truffle and like five mustard seeds and a ribbon of glittery pepper honey. It was an emotional experience.

Another thing that impressed me was the service - everybody was super professional, perfectly attentive without pandering, and just paying really good attention. No attitude, no waiting for five minutes for everybody's entree to come out, no "actually, I'm not sure what's in that, but everyone really likes it." Spot on.

But overall what I loved the most was the honest, geeky passion that everybody had for what they were doing - the sommelier talking about a rare wine she found the way a record collector talks about an obscure 45, the chefs testing out new amazing concoctions on us (radicchio jam?! yum!), the servers letting a sly joke fly between rehearsed descriptions. It's all honest and all happening at a really high level that's rare for Portland. Hopefully I'll be in there again before another four years are up. I'm excited to see where Genoa and Accanto go from here.

Cheap Chicken

2011-01-03T16:32:00.000-08:00

Francis Lam at Salon has a really articulate essay on a dilemma I face several times a week: whether or not to buy cheap chicken. You're broke, maybe you work out a lot, it's affordable, it tastes amazing with Thai chili garlic sauce from a cart, but you know what's behind it. Francis decides not to do it - mostly - but he also touches on the arbitrary/dogmatic/point-missing element that tends to accompany decisions of this nature and gives a thoughtful argument for ambiguity. Thanks Eater PDX for the link.

Right Ici, Right Now

2010-12-18T00:19:00.000-08:00

Dude, if you are ever in the Bay Area, and you like ice cream, you've gotta go to Ici on College Ave in Berkeley. It is a tiny, adorably sweet ice cream and candy shop where they make everything in-house and do some unusual flavors. Stuff like caramel-butternut ice cream sounds gimmicky until you try it, and you don't care how trendy it is because it transports you to another planet. The naturally creamy-caramel taste of roasted squash translates nicely to frozen yumminess, and when mixed with the extra (subtle) carameliness of actual caramel the end result is just really deep and gorgeous and nuanced and unexpected. Ici does pints, and they're great to pick up to bring to a gathering because for one thing pretty much everyone loves ice cream, and then also the weird flavors get people talking and tasting and thinking.

Ici Ice Cream, 2948 College Avenue, Berkeley, 510.665.6054

photo shamelessly lifted from their website

Sherry!

2010-12-12T00:30:00.000-08:00

Sherry seriously needs to make a comeback. A lot of people view it as a grandma drink (not that there's anything wrong with that!) or think it is cloyingly sweet and gross. In fact, many sherries are dry and have a beautiful complexity on par with great precision cocktails, without having to bother mixing up a cocktail (plus you can buy it at grocery stores in Oregon). I don't know much about it but it's one of my favorite things to drink. I like amontillado sherry, a fairly dry style but not as bone-dry and sour as fino. Amontillados take seriously 30 seconds to unfold and progress through their notes on your palate, going through tart, raisiny, soft-butterscotchy, and sometimes a sort of savory curry-ish note. My favorite is Lustau Amontillado, mostly because it's readily available and I can never remember the names of any others. I gave a bottle to my mom and we had it for a late-night snack paired with onion-pear kugel, which was a good match and felt fabulously grandmotherish.

My Groceries, Myself

2010-12-08T22:09:00.000-08:00

Nine p.m. groceries: different from Sunday afternoon groceries. It's personal and it's just goofy. Everyone in line at New Seasons is who you'd see there on Sundays getting their Nancy's yogurts and heirloom apples - white, middle class, thirties, vaguely outdoorsy or creative, locavores. Here is what we are buying. The guy in front of me: fruity pebbles and a gallon of milk. The guy behind me: soppressata. Me: tube of Pillsbury cookie dough, tea, dried cranberries. Yeah, I don't know either.

Planned Parenthood Benefit at New Deal

2010-12-07T11:18:00.000-08:00

There's a benefit party tonight at New Deal Distillery for Planned Parenthood. They're calling it Sexy Tuesdays, which I think is simultaneously embarrassing and cute. The $20 entry price gets you food and drinks from Gilt, Teardrop Lounge, New Deal, Saint Cupcake and others. Fun and delicious! I'm curious to finally check out New Deal's space too.

Sexy Tuesdays 

Tuesday, December 7 

6:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. 

New Deal Distillery, 1311 SE 9th Ave., Portland

Winter Beers

2010-11-23T22:53:00.000-08:00

I've been having a really long cocktail moment but now it is undoubtedly time to welcome beer into one's life. Not the light and fizzy, down and dirty $2 tallboys of summer, but the heavy, creaky wooden ships: big-ass Belgians (that will give you a big ass), smoky Porters, stuff with coriander in it.

And yes, it's "holiday beer" time. Sometimes I don't really get what is so festive about the special releases other than their packaging and positioning, and a lot of brews that aren't marketed as "seasonal" say winter and holidays to me as much as anything (St. Bernardus ABT 12). More than anything though it's a good excuse to try something different which might end up being delicious, as happened last weekend at Spints, the ultimate setting for drinking winter beers. Here are my tasting notes that I took at the bar. Thanks Alyssa and Jacob for the research assistance.

Affligem Noel: A caramely winter warmer with a smooth body, brightened with a light carbonation around the edges and a surprisingly fresh-fruity-cherry nose. A high-ABV Belgian, it will fuck you up.

Heater Allen Seasonal Something or Other: Mostly marketing, a pleasant smokey-chocolate porter.

Then we continued the tasting at Victory.

Anchor Christmas Ale from 2009: Impressive for still existing, as well as for its remarkably mellow and blended flavor profile. A good argument for beer cellaring.

Central

2010-11-12T22:50:00.000-08:00

I was prepared to hate this place. First, it's owned by the people who own Perreira Creperie, where I once waited 45 minutes - for a sidewalk crepe - before finally asking for my money back. Second, the design is eye-rollingly trendy, with a mounted deer head, old windmill ceiling fan and laboratory stools. And finally, I thought the whole speakeasy thing was really pretentious. But someone told me they had good drinks so I checked it out.

And, they do have really good drinks, and good service, and those are pretty much the only two things I care about when I go out for cocktails. The bartender, Lydia, is fresh off a stint at PDT in NYC, and not only that but she's actually really nice and hospitable. There is a creative and well-executed cocktail list, respectable back bar, and of course crepes. It can be a cocktail geek bar if you want it to be, or it can be just somewhere you go for a drink with your friend or after work. And best of all, when I was there, there were no annoying people getting in the way of me enjoying my drink (a delicious flip with cognac, Benedictine, absinthe, orange bitters and nutmeg). All in all it's a great, laid-back but good-drink-producing place and I'm planning to go back. Exposed filament lightbulbs be damned.

220 SW Ankeny, Portland

Dinner: The Most Beautiful Word In The English Language

2010-09-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

I've been cooking delicious things again and I want to talk about it. It's not that fancy.

Dinner last night: Yogurt chicken with roasted turnips

Turnips:
Cut in big chunks, throw in a pan and drizzle with oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 450 until they start to brown (or throw them in to broil at the same time you do the chicken). Check on them and stir them around once or twice when you think about it.

Chicken:
Slather boneless/skinless chicken breasts with full-fat yogurt, cumin, paprika, coriander and a little salt. Don't be shy about the spices. Put it under the broiler for 10 minutes each side.

Dinner tonight: Lazy sausage, kale and corn

Heat up some olive oil in a big pot. Slice up a thing of kale and a package of precooked sausages. Especially chicken-apple or chicken-mango. Throw those in the pan with a package of frozen corn. Salt and pepper it. Put a lid on it so it steams in the liquid from the kale. You could also pour some beer in there and that would probably be really good, but it's really tasty without too. Give it a stir now and then. It's ready when the kale is not a total chore to eat.

Boar and Beer

2010-09-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

Chris Carriker, who's been head chef at Gilt Club for about a year, is having a lot of fun at work, as was evident in the all-out wild boar dinner he and Gilt owner Jamie Dunn hosted there on Wednesday. He got his hands on a whole 77-pound boar and made charcuterie, roasts and even dessert out of it, blowing the minds of a table full of chefs, food bloggers and their lucky plus-ones.

A seven-course spectacle of deliciously rich, salty, gamey wild boar interpretations gives lots of chances to toy around with drink pairings. I like pairing with this kind of food because it stands up to a lot without being overwhelmed. Whiskey drinks worked well - I had a Brooklyn and my arm candy had a Sazerac - but the Rodenbach Grand Cru Lucy and Tony brought and generously shared with us was even better.

Rodenbach is a Belgian sour beer (by way of Saraveza) with a lot of personality. It's fresh and funky sort of like a saison, and sour and fruity sort of like Duchesse de Bourgogne but without the sweetness. The combination of bold flavor and crisp tartness meant the beer shone articulately through the whole meal while also working to cleanse the palate. It was a great match for everything on the table - mellow but unbelievably flavorful boar loin and liver sausage, butter lettuce salad with snacky crisp boar ears and bacon, fatty trotters with foie gras and mushrooms, perfect gnocci with bits of melty slow-cooked boar, boar tenderloin roast with succulent succotash, some sort of boar something wrapped in chicken skin with more foie gras, and the so-wrong-it's-right boar liver creme caramel with figs and berries.

I've been reluctant to accept the coming autumn, but if it provides a suitable environment for sturdy, warming flavors like these, I think I can handle it. After a summer of delicious but direct food-as-fuel, I want to have fun with it too. Thanks guys.

Interesting Fact

2010-08-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

I've stopped blogging for the moment but I'm still obsessing about food and drinks. You can read about it on Twitter.

Delicious Thing of the Week: Eggs

2010-03-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

A hardboiled egg eaten over the sink, with salt, is one of my favorite kinds of minutes. Eggs are also necessary for matzoh brie.

Doner Kebab

2010-03-11T17:32:00.000-08:00

Shwarma, kebab, tandoori kebab, all of that kind of stuff. I like it. I like eating it on the street at night and I like eating it for lunch. The doner kebab version is really great. It is full of interesting, savory, balanced flavors and just saucy enough. Here the meat is turkey. (I think. The menu only refers to it vaguely as "kebab meat.") The pita is fluffy and toasty. Also, the fries are battered. And you can actually go inside and sit down. In their weird mall-like restaurant. And eat a doner kebab.

515 SW 4th, by Washington

Fog Cutter

2010-03-04T13:00:00.000-08:00

One thing I like about being an adult is that you can go out on a weeknight if you want to. On Tuesday I went with a friend to Thatch, which is one of those bars I love but hardly ever visit because it's more than 10 blocks from my apartment.

Thatch is a super gung-ho tiki bar, with a bunch of authentic, amazing decor from (I think) Trader Vic's and the Jasmine Tree. Mix blowfish lamps above the sunken bar, a giant clam shell holding paper towels in the bathroom, and dark, colorful lights with cheap vintage furniture and a small space, and you get an atmospheric but comfy and unpretentious... uh, beach hut? You can get fruity, tropical drinks and not be embarrassed, because that is the point, and classic tiki cocktails actually taste good. They have different kinds of rum and cherry heering and things like that. They will also fuck you up pretty good so take it slow - less drinking, more talking.

Recession Proof Eating

2010-02-24T20:37:00.000-08:00

Actually, I have a job. However, I spent all my money on clothes and liquor so I didn't go grocery shopping this week. But I have actually been eating really well with all the random stuff I had in the house that normally I am too lazy to cook, or that just sounds too boring to eat. None of it ended up being either boring or overly laborious, and I think I am going to make a lot of these things again next month so I can spend even more money on clothes and liquor.

Some highlights:

Lentils-
French green lentils cooked with garlic and pork neck (I violated my no shopping rule for the neck bones but it was possibly the best 50 cents I ever spent at New Seasons). Served with rapini from like two weeks ago that is miraculously still good, and some saltines left over from when I had swine flu.

Turkey chili-
I'd made some last week and frozen some. Never have defrosted leftovers been so exciting. I made the mistake of cooking it in cast iron so it ended up tasting like pan, but it was really good anyway. It had bell pepper, corn, and a bunch of spices Cook's Illustrated told me to use. Just enough meat to give it some nice texture.

Oatmeal-
With hella brown sugar, cinnamon, and some frozen blackberries I had around. With some nuts to make it last longer - they keep you full. But I like them on the side.

Corn omelettes-
Well more like a frittata. With frozen corn and seasoned with thyme. So delicious. I make these a lot. The perfect job for an 8-inch skillet.

Delicious Thing of the Week: Rice with Butter

2010-02-23T11:51:00.000-08:00

White rice with butter is so good. It is good next door to something with a bolder flavor, like chili and stir fried rapini. Especially jasmine rice or basmati rice. With a pat of salted butter melted over the top. Yum.

Better Stir-Fried Brocolli

2010-02-08T16:47:00.000-08:00

I am so into this recipe for "Better Stir-Fried Brocolli" from the current Cook's Illustrated, which makes this tender-crisp, lightly browned broccoli with a Chinese restaurant style tangy garlic sauce. Notice how in Cook's Illustrated everything is "better" or "improved" or "superior" or "reconsidered," or even "rescued" from banality. I reconsidered their recipe and have been making it with baby broccoli because I hate broccoli stem, but it's good with normal broccoli florets too. Another "kitchen note" is that this is gonna smoke, so open some windows or you will be the one who needs rescuing. But it is so good, it is worth the risk of asphyxiation.

Swedish Sushi

2010-01-21T16:18:00.000-08:00

Only brilliance can happen when you combine Clare Crespo and Swedish Fish. Via Not Martha.

Spanx HQ

2010-01-20T11:54:00.001-08:00

Why does my office not look like this?

The East Bay

2010-01-19T15:56:00.000-08:00

Pizzaiolo: yum. Rad paella at Cesar. And had brunch at home.

Recession Proof Mixology at Ten 01 - Tonight

2009-12-30T12:18:00.000-08:00

Things I like:

1. The kind of sandwiches that come wrapped in cellophane. For instance, you can get a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce, wrapped in cellophane, from the Elephants on Wheels window outside of Macy's.

2. Reading Kelley Swenson's cocktail menus. This list of tonight's Recession Proof Mixology drinks at Ten 01 is the most interesting thing I have read so far today. Also interesting is the fact that all of these cocktails are $5 at Ten 01 from 5:30 to 8pm. That is three hours from now.

Aperol Smash
Hand pressed green grapes and fresh local mint kissed with Medoyeff Vodka, Aperol Italian bitters, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and a touch of Simple Syrup to balance.

The Viking of Sixth Avenue

Hand pressed hothouse cucumber bathes in an ocean of Krogstad Aquavit, Yellow Chartreuse, freshly squeezed lime juice. Finished with an insightful whiskey whisper

The Jimmy Blanc Cocktail

Aviation Gin stirred swiftly clockwise for exactly 20 seconds with accents of Lillet Blanc and Dubonnet Rouge Made complete with a single magical dash of Regan’s No.6 Orange Bitters

The Last Word Cocktails

Aviation Gin, Green Chartreuse, Maraska Maraschino Liqueur, and freshly squeezed lime juice.

The Florodora

Hand pressed fresh raspberries drowned in Aviation Gin, freshly squeezed lime juice, ginger ale, and Angostura Bitters

Holiday Booze Bazaar - This Saturday

2009-12-10T10:13:00.000-08:00

A perfect thing to do on a winter Saturday is wander around Southeast Portland in a drunken haze. House Spirits is your enabler with these three events. The Booze Bazaar, in particular, is not to be missed. It's always fun, but this time there will be Korean tacos!

4th Annual Holiday Booze Bazaar & Whiskey Release!

Saturday, December 12th, 2009 From 12pm - 5pm

@ House Spirits Distillery

2025 SE 7th Ave, Portland, OR - FREE admission, 21+ in age

503.235.3174

we will be tasting and selling 3 different House Spirits Whiskeys

There will also be lots of vendors set up inside the distillery tasting and selling their wares:

Cellar Door Coffee Roasters

Joyas de Panama Cigars

Koi Fusion (outside food cart plus a heated tent!)

Rogue Creamery

Whiffies Fried Pies

Xocolatl de David

Saturday, December 12th, 2009 from 4pm - 6pm

@ Beaker & Flask

720 SE Sandy Blvd, Portland, OR

House Spirits Whiskey cocktail hours. Cocktails by Kevin Ludwig & Tim Davey (Beaker and Flask) and Christian Krogstad & Matt Mount (House Spirits)

Saturday, December 12th starting at 7pm

@ Simpatica Dining Hall

828 Southeast Ash Street

Portland, OR

(503) 235-1600 for reservations

$65 per person for dinner and cocktails, gratuity not included

Dinner by Scott Ketterman, cocktails by Evan Zimmerman (Laurelhurst Market) and Christian Krogstad & Matt Mount (House Spirits)

Each course will be paired with a House Spirits Whiskey Cocktail plus a Welcome Cocktail upon arrival

Cherrywood Smoked Duck Breast Carpaccio with Quince, Arugula and Olive Oil

Whiskey Flambéed Mushroom and Fennel Vol-au-Vent

Grilled Piedmontese Beef Ribeye with Glazed Cippolinni Onions and Pommes Rösti

Warm Chocolate Whiskey Cake with Hazelnut Ice Cream

Champagne and Chambolle at Scott Paul Wines

2009-11-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

Scott Paul is one of my favorite Oregon wineries. They both produce their own Oregon wines and import wines from France, so you can taste Bourgognes next to Pinot Noirs and so forth. Plus, the folks there are so nice and down-to-earth.

They are doing this Champagne and Chambolle event on the 21st - a great chance to slow down and get out of town with friends before holiday madness begins.

Here is some info:

Date: Saturday, Nov 21, 12 noon – 5 p.m.

Where: Scott Paul Wines, 128 S. Pine Street, Carlton OR, 503-852-7300, www.scottpaul.com

What: $10 tasting fee for 5 wines -- one Champagne, two of our Burgundy imports, specifically from Chambolle-Musigny, a celebrated village in Burgundy, and two of our Scott Paul Oregon Pinots. Tasting fee refundable with purchase.

Guests will be able to taste a lovely and vivacious Champagne from Marc Chauvet, two different wines from Chambolle-Musigny (from Domaine Anne and Hervé Sigaut), and two brand-new releases from Scott Paul Wines own production (2007 La Paulée Pinot Noir and our 2008 Audrey, of which we only make 200 cases). You can read more about the producers and tasting notes on our website at http://www.scottpaul.com/spselections/.

Spinach-Kale Turnovers

2009-11-09T17:44:00.000-08:00

I love foods that involve seasoned, mushed up spinach. For instance, the spinach pies at Basha's, Andre's mom's spanakopita, and saag anything are all delicious.

After realizing last week that I actually like spending time in the kitchen and don't, in fact, have that many things I'd rather be doing, I have suddenly become interested in the kinds of time-consuming recipes I used to always avoid. Yesterday afternoon I made these spinach and kale turnovers, which involve both dealing with large, unwieldy greens and forming things out of dough. But it was fun and I didn't care! They are a lot like something I would buy frozen to take to work. So I froze them to take to work.

I figured out that a good way to de-stalk kale is to grab the end of the stalk with one hand, grab the leaves on either side with the other hand close to the stalk, and pull down. The stalk strips off pretty easily.

I also used pre-made pizza dough. The recipe calls for those fun dinner roll tubes you hit on the counter, but the store didn't have any. Pizza dough handles a little differently. Here is a video of the process.

All in all though it wasn't that difficult or time-consuming. I would make this again, maybe with a different filling, or maybe just the filling on its own, as a side. The combination of the kale and spinach created such a deep, complex, woodsy flavor, and the feta provided a nice balancing tartness.

Outfits

2009-11-01T12:13:00.000-08:00

It feels like New Year's day. Hungover and camped out on the sofa with the cat, looking at the wardrobe remix feed on Flickr. It is one of the things that make me happy.

Yesterday I bought a new pair of boots and tried them on with all of my outfits. They look great with everything I own, including a Wonder Bread costume.

Top 5 Things About New York

2009-08-11T17:59:00.000-07:00

1. Kishke and chopped liver sandwiches at a Hasidic restaurant in Williamsburg
2. Chewy delicious ramen at some place in Manhattan
3. Hot Cuban sandwiches at any hour of the day or night
4. The Spotted Pig
5. Burger made by the guys from Frankies at a BBQ
6. Jim Beam on the roof

Here Comes Summer

2009-05-08T09:24:00.000-07:00

There is a time and a place for drinking Charles Shaw out of the bottle. First Thursday at the Goldsmith Building.

Taste of the Nation

2009-04-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Lance Mayhew for tix to Taste of the Nation, which I hit up with P-Co last night. There was so much great food from many of the best local restaurants, and fantastic wine and spirits. Also, I got to meet Lucy Brennan. It was all I could do not to ask for an autograph.

Some highlights:

Caprial’s Bistro
Pecan Blondies Layered with Chocolate Mousse and Topped with Sugar Honeycomb - I love blondies, and these were perfect and dense, with deep flavor from brown butter.

Clarklewis
Grilled Monterey Bay Calamari Salad with Poached Kingfisher Potatoes, Castelvetrano Olives, Wild Greens and Piment d’Espelette Oil - the calamari was uncommonly tender and flavorful, and the whole dish tasted so fresh and pretty - it made me get excited about squid again.

Fenouil
Salmon Tartare with Absinthe and Crème Fraiche - Absinthe is getting really trendy but its herbiness worked really well here.

Pazzo Ristorante
Fig Bellinis; Cold-Smoked Marlin-Wrapped Asparagus - Did you know Pazzo makes their own bitters? They were in the bellinis.

House Spirits
Corpse Reviver #2 - I love this drink. It makes me think of a bride rising from the dead.

Sake One
Moonstone Asian Pear sake (pictured) - I was skeptical but this is a well-executed sake. It's not sweet or cloying, and the pear melts into the creamy, round, mellow flavor of the sake creating a deep, complex yumminess.

P.S. Taste of the Nation is a benefit that fights hunger. You can also fight hunger for free by clicking at The Hunger Site.

The Aviation Blooms

2009-04-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

Violette, impossible to find not all that long ago, has been back for awhile, but for whatever reason I haven't crossed paths with it much - probably because whenever I'm at 50 Plates I feel compelled to order a daiquiri, and whenever I'm at Ten 01 I usually end up with something closer to brown.

All this by way of not embarrassing myself when I say that upon finally cozying up to a Violette-laced Aviation last week, I rediscovered one of my old favorite cocktails, in a completely new light. With Violette, the Aviation has all of the fresh-bitter complexity, with an added delicate prettiness creating a fuller, more decadent flavor profile. It's like hearing a new album by one of your favorite bands, or seeing a good friend dressed up fancy for the first time. And the cocktail turns the most exquisite color. Definitely worth the wait, and a reminder that I’ve really got to drink more often.

Beans and Rice

2009-03-04T18:23:00.000-08:00

I haven't been going out much, but I have been cooking a lot. Well, calling it "cooking" might be going a little far. Here is some of what I am excited to eat these days. And please, spare me the lecture about making beans from scratch and using fresh-grated parm. I don't care.

Spaghetti w/ Sausage

1. fry up 1 lb. bulk spicy Italian chicken sausage
2. add cheap pasta sauce from a jar
3. pour onto al dente linguine noodles
4. top with parmesan cheese from a green can

Beans and Rice

1. make some rice
2. open a can o' beans, rinse, heat up in a pot with some salt and crushed garlic, which may or may not come from a jar
3. optional: add shredded leftover chicken
4. top rice and beans with shredded pepper jack cheese, BBQ sauce, and/or sriracha

Intermission

2009-01-19T14:01:00.000-08:00

I don't have internet access at home. So this blog is on hold for now. Thanks for reading.

Recession Proof Mixology - Tonight!

2009-01-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

Ryan Magarian and the other House Spirits fellows are joining Kelley Swenson at Ten 01 for the first in the Recession Proof Mixology series, tonight from 5-7pm. Cocktails will be inexpensive and, most important, bound to be amazing. It looks like this is going to be a regular Wednesday night thing for House Spirits (rotating to different Portland bars), so whether you are trying to stretch your unemployment check or need to forget about the job you still have, these nights will give a nice little shot of decadence to your week.

Here's tonight's menu:

The Old Fashioned Gin Cocktail
Locally renowned as the “Oregon Fashioned”, our exact recreation of the original cocktail as noted on May 13th, 1806 in the Balance and Repository Newspaper of Hudson, NY
Aviation Gin carefully balanced with a note of sweetness and healthy dashes of Regan’s No.6 Orange and Peychaud Bitters.

The Cloister Cocktail
First spotted in the 1977 cocktail recipe encyclopedia, the Jones Bar Guide, this drinks is a complex and refreshing balance of Aviation Gin, Yellow Chartreuse, freshly squeezed lemon and grapefruit juices.

Botticelli
Medoyeff Vodka and Aperol Italian Bitters make sweet music with house made clover honey syrup and freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. Served up with a mere suggestion of prosecco and aromatized with a short burst of grapefruit oil.

Corleone
Hand pressed green grapes and fresh citrus bathe in an ocean of Aviation Gin and Clear Creek Distillery Grappa. Finished with a single magical dash of Regan’s No.6 Orange Bitters

The Trident Cocktail
Our good friend Robert Hess’ most notable contribution to the liquid arts.
Krogstad Aquavit carefully balanced with lengths Dry Sherry, Cynar, and Fee Brothers Peach Bitters

Local Liquor: Always Appreciated

2008-12-19T10:17:00.000-08:00

If you need to buy someone a present, nothing is more widely appreciated than a bottle of booze. And if you are going to give booze, get it from the source: House Spirits, one of my favorite local producers.

House Spirits makes Aviation gin as well as a handful of other small-batch artisan spirits. They just released a subtle and complex ouzo as part of their new Apothecary line, with other delights to follow, including a rum. If the unfinished rum I tasted at their workshop recently is any indication, this is going to be a really delicious product. My New Year's resolution is to drink more daiquiris. Anyway, here is the info:

The House Spirits Apothecary will be open this Saturday (tomorrow!), December 20th, from 11AM - 5PM for shopping and tasting, and every Saturday starting January 3rd, 2009:

HOUSE SPIRITS DISTILLERY & APOTHECARY
2025 SE 7th ave, Portland
Open from 11am-4pm
with tours at 12pm and 4pm
Tours limited to 20 ppl per tour
Please contact to hold a spot
tours@housespirits.com
503-235-3174

La Boucherie

2008-12-02T11:52:00.000-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving André's mom took us to la Boucherie, Sea Breeze Farm's new restaurant on Vashon. It was all anybody talked about for the rest of the weekend. Simply prepared meats so fresh they were practically still breathing, seasonal produce, and amazing wine also produced by the farm were presented in a tasting menu that included everything from "lamb scallops" to the best sirloin I have eaten in my life. If you live in or travel to the Seattle area you've got to check this place out.

Le Beaujolais nouveau

2008-11-23T16:37:00.001-08:00

So Friday night André and I attended the Beaujolais Nouveau celebration at the Heathman. It is apparently one of the biggest Beaujolais Nouveau parties in the country - who knew there were so many francophiles in Portland? I find it amusing that a culture with such supposedly high epicurean standards (France, not Portland) has produced an annual tradition based on a wine that nobody actually really likes. In any event, the Heathman party was pretty fun. We missed the suckling pig, but there was a bunch of really good cheese and crepes Suzette and macarons and a bunch of shrimps still with their eyes and whiskers. I love dressing up and hanging out in old-fashioned hotels for any reason, too. It makes me feel like Eloise at the Plaza, or a decadent, drunk old lady stepping on the hem of her evening gown.

Milking It

2008-11-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

The folks at Skyy have been pairing their vodka with milk. Not in a White Russian but Milk the movie, about Harvey Milk, who served on the SF Board of Supervisors and was the first openly gay man to be elected to major public office in the US. (And SEAN PENN plays him in the movie! And Gus Van Sant directs!) Skyy is launching a marketing campaign to go along with the movie, sort of like they did with Sex & the City. (You may have seen the big, pink ads.) I am less interested in what's in a "Talk of the Castro" cocktail or how many opening parties Skyy is promoting than that this partnership is happening, period.

Cynics may just see it as an attempt to cash in, but while Skyy may be doing just that, along the way they are also raising awareness, helping to mainstream gayness, and even making a difference financially. As part of the campaign, Skyy is making contributions to LGBT organizations, including the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

Companies are beginning to do this kind of thing more and more. Another example is Kimpton hotels, who have an active marketing & sales campaign targeting LGBT communities. Even though it's probably just numbers more than anything else - the product of a savvy market analysis and outreach plan - it still kinda warms my heart.

Weekend Report

2008-11-09T14:24:00.000-08:00

Friday night André and I hung out with our colleagues from the firm at 50 Plates. Highlights included an intriguing Algonquin, made from rye, dry vermouth and pineapple juice. They also have a great new drink called the Linda. Go in and ask Lance to make you one. Then run.

Saturday Autumn and I checked out the House Spirits open house, where Gwydion Stone's Absinthe Marteau debuted. Extraordinary. I also tasted the saffron vodka from Sub Rosa. It tasted kind of like curry - yummy, but I'm not sure what I would do with that. Any ideas?

Then that evening I made kasha varnishke for a friend's potluck. I am a West Coast, 21st century Jew. I go to work on the high holy days and I got my kasha varnishke recipe not from the matriarchs of my family but from Mark Bittman, aka The Minimalist, on nytimes.com. Well, that's how it goes. (Bittman, at least, is a fellow M.O.T.) It was still super good, and hopefully will keep my skinny goyish boyfriend from blowing away in the breeze.

Door 74 Opens

2008-11-02T13:53:00.001-08:00

Philip Duff, who has long been the face of Bols and Damrak gin, is striking out on his own with Door 74, a grown up bar with a reverence for history. After years as a brand ambassador, Philip finally gets to do exactly what he wants, putting his own stamp on Amsterdam's wonderfully, shamelessly stylish and romantic bar culture with classic cocktails, new creations, and an old-school attitude.

This excerpt from the bookish bar menu gives a taste of what to expect:

We do not have:

bad attitudes, a lack of patience, a door charge, a toilet charge, a wardrobe charge, any drinks companies paying us to stock crap brands, any products designed to appeal to the kind of people who watch more than one reality-TV show, untrained bartenders, energy drinks, low prices, loud music, tea or coffee, the policy of jamming as many people into the space as humanely possible, any problem with a beer and a shot of booze, any time for Paris Hilton*, too-small rocks glasses, too-large cocktail glasses, brandy snifters, sweetened cranberry juice, much vodka at all, neon straws (unless it’s Tiki Night), disco cocktails, small measures, any outstanding warrants for our arrest**, any desire to make non-alcoholic cocktails, or a bar mascot (although we’d quite like to have a sloth).

We do have:

Friendly staff, fast bartenders, double-frozen Hoshizaki ice for shaking and stirring, enormous globes of ice for liquor on the rocks, glassware freezers left, right and center, gorgeous liquor brands you’ll rarely see anywhere else (because they don’t have the money to buy their space on the back bar), faith in humanity, belief in the small of a woman’s back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, years and years and years of experience, a deep and abiding love of good liquor, great cocktails and lasting friendships, enough bitters to make Harry Johnson giggle like a fool, a tailor, owners who work almost every shift themselves, a belief that good drinks matter and grown-up people enjoy them, decent late-night snacks, excellent wines and beers, seats for everyone, late opening hours, a day off occasionally, and a lot of time for you. Thanks for coming.

*Except for Mr. Duff.
**Except for Mr. Duff, again

The initial cocktail list is a liquid biography of Charles Henry Baker, Jr (author of the classic Jigger, Beaker & Glass: The Gentleman’s Companion) with a Violette fizz, Remember the Maine, and other delights.

Unfortunately for me, this bar is in Amsterdam, but I am adding it to the long and growing list of things I absolutely must do if and when I make it back to Europe again. (I wonder if Bols has found a new brand ambassador...)

Door 74 is now open. While it is made for ladies and gentlemen, scoundrels, says Philip, are welcome. That means you. Please click here for more info. And for more than you ever wanted to know about Amsterdam's cocktail culture, you can read my story in Imbibe Magazine.

Proost!

Rosemary Toast

2008-10-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

Clarklewis has this thing on their happy hour menu that is like savory french toast with melted cheese in it. I tried to replicate it at home, and amazingly, it turned out awesome. Here is what I did:

1. Beat with a fork:
1 egg
a little milk
salt, pepper, garlic powder (the holy trinity of suburban food)
dried rosemary

2. Soak two slices of New Seasons's's whole wheat levain in the egg stuff
3. Heat butter in a skillet. Drop the bread in the skillet, pour remaining egg stuff over the bread slices
4. Fry on both sides, shred some mozzerella and melt it on top.

YUM! It was so savory, and not just in a "something that has salt in it" way but really, you know, umami-y. I had it with a Widmer Drop Top amber ale, which is a pretty whatever beer, but the French toast somehow brought out some nice fruity notes.

Forget the bars - next time, happy hour's at my place!

Photo: Rosemary French toast. Skillet: William Temple House thrift store. Avocado green 1970s stove courtesy of American Property Management.

Whiskey and Figs

2008-10-24T15:25:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night André and I made pizza for our friend Devin. For dessert, on Lance's suggestion, I paired the Eagle Rare bourbon I have been nursing since last Christmas (thanks Karen!) with fresh mission figs.

It was a good suggestion. I like the idea of pairing spirits or beers with simple desserts, but it's easy to overwhelm the sweetness and flavors of the drink with something too sugary like chocolate or baked things. As much as I love tooth-rottingly sweet things, this is the one case where I believe they are inappropriate. Once I thought Aventinus dopplebock would be great with oatmeal cookies, but to my palate the rich cookies made the beer taste flat and bland in comparison.

Something mildly sweet like bourbon (or probably Aventinus) is way better with something that's sweet enough to complement, but still lets the drink taste sweet and luscious when enjoyed alongside. Like these figs. Sweet but fresh. Delicious and weird. Voluptuously textured. The bourbon's buttery and vanilla-y qualities created a sort of pie crust effect, and the slow, thick mouthfeel contrasted with the clear, wateryness of the fruit in a way you wouldn't get when drinking whiskey with something containing butter or cream. Devin, please come back soon so we can do this again.

Tea at the Heathman

2008-10-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

I finally had the opportunity to check out the Heathman hotel's afternoon tea a couple of Saturdays ago. I have always been fascinated by old-school, continental-style luxury, partially because of all the complexities it stands for (or masks), and partially because it's fun and romantic when things are shamelessly, obviously elegant. I'm a big fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald for this reason; he does a good job of portraying both of these things in his stories.

Anyway, apparently tea at the Heathman is a Portland tradition; ladies bring their little girls for Christmas or Mothers' Day and everyone gets all dolled up and you get tiered platters with tiny crustless sandwiches. (I think there is even a special children's tea menu for finicky eaters - note the ants-on-a-log in the photo!) The tea room is full of brocade, velvet, 18th century-looking paintings in ornate frames, fresh flowers, gilt, and old woodwork. The table settings include tiny forks and cloth doilies.

They switch it up for holidays and special events, like last weekend, when Michael Recchiuti, an SF-based chocolatier, came in and chocolized the whole thing. (Michael also has a shop in SF's ferry building.)

Instead of tea we got a big cup of drinking chocolate (!!), and in addition to the deviled eggs, pate and scones there were all types of cocoa delights, like French-style macaroons made from cocoa nibs instead of almonds and an assortment of dark chocolates. The drinking chocolate was the best part, a Columbian varietal that had a surprising fruity brightness that balanced out the fatty richness for a very complex, full taste. I don't spend a lot of time tasting chocolates so I don't really know what I'm supposed to be looking for, but I could tell there was a lot going on in my cup.

With or without chocolate, the Heathman's fancy tea is a fantastic antidote to Saturday Sweatpants Syndrome, and all that sugar and caffeine are ample fuel for all kinds of additional frivolity.

Restaurant Guide

2008-10-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

Willamette Week's Restaurant Guide has arrived, nestled in this week's issue (also the endorsements issue - great cover BTW). Even if I hadn't contributed, I would still be urging you all to go out and snag a copy or two before they are gone next Wednesday, because it's a really well put together guide to Portland's dining scene. Despite being the supposed "expert" on dining out among my friends and family, every time someone asks me what "the best restaurant for (Indian/Thai/vegans/my parents) in Portland" is I draw a blank for some reason, and I find myself referring back to Restaurant Guide all the time. There are reviews of 100 of the city's best restaurants, and other goodies like Top 5 lists for lunches, outdoor dining, etc. Plus, in the last couple of years they have made it into a cool digest magazine style (with nice color photography and design), which is easier and more attractive to keep around than a newspaper section. And it doesn't cost you a dime. Get it while it's hot!

Drambuie

2008-10-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

Monday night I checked out the "Drambuie Den," a party and cocktail competition sponsored by Drambuie (of course) at the Doug Fir. Lance Mayhew of 50 Plates and My Life on the Rocks, Dave Shenaut of Teardrop, and Blair Reynolds of Trader Tiki and Acadia were competing, among others, and I wanted to see what they'd whip up.

Drambuie put together a pretty impressive event. The club was packed to capacity. Waitresses in saucy red getups passed trays of various Drambuie cocktails. I had a Drambuie Ginger, which was very sweet but showcased the liqueur's herbal layers surprisingly well.

What struck me more than anything was the day-to-night. Many of the guests were wearing some combination of well-cut but neutral business suit pieces, sexed up with a floaty camisole or the subtraction of a layer. I always see magazine pieces on "going from day to night," but I never have seen it applied so adeptly and so literally in real life.

Dave Shenaut won the mix-off with his High Plains Drifter (recipe below). I ended up having to jet before the shaking even started, but Lance and Dave filled me in later. "I had a great time," Dave says. "Mostly I enjoyed hanging with the 'Ladies of Imbibe.' Oh yeah, I got to pose for a photo (shitty time to decide to grow a sleazy Portlander beard I guess). And I'm getting my first non-flair trophy since Tball."

High Plains Drifter

1 ¼ parts Gin
¾ parts Drambuie
¾ parts lemon
½ parts rose bud infused honey syrup
Dash peychaud's bitters

For the syrup, bring one cup of water to a boil and remove from heat.
Steep edible roses in water for 4 min and strain off the buds. Stir in 2 cups of honey and let cool.
Combine all ingredients with cracked ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a dried rosebud.

I Heart Karl

2008-10-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry, this has nothing to do with cocktails, but I had to share. The man kind of fascinates me.

October Pairing Dinners

2008-09-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

The boys at House Spirits are at it again with a couple of awesome-sounding cocktail dinners. The Carafe event sounds particularly interesting. I love eating at Carafe but the cocktails on their regular menu can leave something to be desired. Here's what’s in store:

House Spirits & Clarklewis Pairing Dinner, with chef Dolan Lane
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at Clarklewis, 1001 SE Water Ave # 160, Portland, OR
Dinner starts at 7:30pm
$95 per person gratuity not included, limited seating
Contact Kurt Heilemann for reservations 503.235.2294

• Roasted autumn squash with sweet coppa; The Aviation Cocktail
• House Krogstad-cured salmon with peperonata and mint; Pepper Delicious #2
• Spaghetti with Pacific bay scallops, tarragon, fennel and citrus; Botticelli
• Hearth roasted Carlton pork shoulder with apple dumplings, braised red cabbage and cider jus; The Hearst
Cocktail
• Chocolate torte with dark chocolate ganache and raspberry coulis; The Raspberry Bramble Burn

House Spirits & Carafe Pairing Dinner, with chef Pascal Sauton
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 @ Carafe, 200 SW Market St., Portland, OR
Dinner starts at 6:30pm
$76 per person gratuity not included, limited seating
Contact Carafe for reservations 503.248.0004

• Gougères with Rabbit Pate, House Cornichons, Plum Compote; Breaded Escargots with Garlic & Parsley; French 75
• Foie Gras "Club", Foie au Torchon, Whole Roasted Foie, Roasted Riesling Grapes, Foie Chantilly; Christian's Ee-chem
• Butter Poached Dungeness Crab, Sauce Vierge, Viridian Farm's Peppers; Pepper Delicious #2
• Corn Crusted Sweetbreads, Crawfish Ragout, Sage Gnocchi; Lady Sage
• Braised Lamb Ribs, Heirloom Shell Beans "Cassoulet"; Trident
• Meredith's Treats; 30/20/1

By the way, I recently discovered that House Spirits lists a few recipes on their website, including their signature Pepper Delicious, a really fun application of Aviation gin.

California

2008-09-23T09:31:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a jaunt to the SF Bay Area. What a lovely place. Epicurean highlights of the trip included Tacubaya and Cantina.

Tacubaya is a Mexican restaurant on 4th Street in Berkeley that serves pretty standard stuff - enchiladas, tostadas, tortas - but the quality and freshness of the ingredients is exceptional, so even a basic dish can be extraordinary. I had this corn, black bean and zucchini tostada that kind of blew my mind. I don't even like tostadas.

Cantina is Duggan McDonnell's downtown San Francisco bar that specializes in complicated culinary cocktails. I had a fantastic Carmen Amaya, which involves rye, Cointreau and amontillado sherry. I love drinking amontillado sherry, and its complexity and tartness make it a great cocktail ingredient too.

Cantina also happens to be a block or two from the St. Francis Hotel, always good for a nauseating glass elevator ride or two.

In the House

2008-09-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

We paid a visit to Belly Timber Saturday night to see what Bradley Dawson has been cooking up. On offer was the Vesuvius, an intriguing concoction of smoked jasmine tea vodka and blood orange soda, an 1870 Sazerac with three types of bitters, and my favorite, the deliciously earthy beet margarita, made with fresh red beet juice with a golden beet salt rim. We hear there will be a new cocktail menu in the next couple of weeks, so stop in soon to be sure to try one of these.

We also sampled some snacks from the kitchen: sumptuous salmon mousse on cute toasts with beet chips, and a grilled peach with balsamic vinegar. Marvelous.

What's extra neat about the BT is that it's in an old Victorian house. The beautifully restored interior (left over from the building's previous tenants) makes one feel really old-fashioned and decadent, and Bradley with his atomizers and eye droppers evokes the era's ambitious inventors and scientists. It kind of makes me want to wear spats.

Bar Hopping: Actually Quite Economical

2008-09-12T08:39:00.000-07:00

Bad news: My student loans have gone into repayment. You want me to pay what? Are you kidding me? As it turns out, I am nowhere near as big a yuppie as I thought I had become, unfortunately. A gloom settles over me as I realize I might have to do without certain necessities, like pork belly.

Good news: Apparently I have resumed food and drink reviewing. As it turns out, decadence pays. Or at least, it pays for itself. Problem solved!

Photo: Happy hour Moscow mule and pimiento cheese toast at 50 Plates.

Unexpected Beers

2008-09-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

My sources tell me that Aventinus now graces Ten 01's newly revised beer menu, along with other new finds. Why I am not having one there right now, I am not really sure.

I love drinking beer at Ten 01 because it's not the kind of place you would necessarily go for a beer. Bar manager Kelley Swenson is better known for his delicious and fastidious classic cocktails (no garnish, please), but he pays the same close attention to the beer menu, resulting in a carefully chosen roster of winners. And it is really fun to perch among fancy ladies and drink a gnarly Belgian out of a delicate crystal glass the size of my head.

On the other side of things, have you ever BYOB'ed really nice beer to a house party? There is something really satisfying in showing up in a t-shirt on your bike and cracking open a beer that you swig out of the bottle, that happens to be St. Bernardus abt 12. Even if the party is just four guys sitting around on the porch, texting. Especially then.

Rum Dinner

2008-09-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

This is going to be amazing. Not only do these people make phenomenal cocktails and know way too much about spirits culture and history, they are also super fun and totally un-stuffy.
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On Sunday evening September 21, 2008 at the Cleaners event space in the Ace Hotel, there will be a Rum Dinner. There will be five courses, spirit pairings, cocktail parasols, Hawaiian shirts, and torches. Doors open at 6 pm. This is spirit dinner #6: Rum!-–a sneak peek at the developing chemistry of Beaker and Flask. Your chef will be Ben Bettinger of James John Cafe.

To make a reservation email spiritdinners at gmail.com. Please include the number of person(s) in your party and a phone number. We will confirm your reservation by phone and we ask that you provide a credit card number to hold your seat(s). The cost of this dinner is $65, not including gratuity. As before, payment for this dinner is cash/check only.

This menu is bright and playful-–the only way to confront the coming clouds. The cocktails will transport you. Enjoy our tiki-encrusted environment, flush with the aroma of cocoa butter, voodoo kitsch, and raffle tickets! Special guests include Robert Louis Stevenson. As always, we look forward to guiding you through this experience.

Chef: Ben Bettinger
Bar: Kevin Ludwig
Host: Timothy Davey

September 21, 2008
1014 SW Stark Ave
the Cleaners
6:00 pm doors open
$65 / person

Reservations: spiritdinners at gmail.com

Teardrop in the Bucket

2008-09-04T07:11:00.000-07:00

The best thing about Teardrop Lounge is that they have a really strong signature. Their bizarro ingredients and housemade concoctions combine in unusual cocktails that always have a lot going on. Fresh fruit, flavorful spirits and interesting spicy, sour or bitter elements are always meeting up in unexpected ways. It may seem a little shocking or fussy to classic cocktail loyalists, but I always appreciate the chance to taste a new recipe and learn a new way to enjoy my favorite spirits.

Teardrop is also a very comfortable spot for happy hour. Yesterday we enjoyed a beautiful September evening out on the sidewalk with an awesome Love in the Afternoon (rye, aprium®, lemon-basil-demerara soda - wow) and an intriguingly peppery-fruity-smoky something or other made with a canteloupe-cayenne gastrique and tequila. And also a super velvety Twilight at the Nacionale (Matusalem rum, apricot brandy, pomelo bitters, lime, and Teardrops' house specialty tepache. We snacked on yummy mushroom-cheese empanadas and squash-chevre croquettes with pine nuts on top. I feel like pine nuts were very much a part of the whole 90s gourmet thing (I remember getting them on Zachary's pizza in Berkeley) and not used so much anymore, which is why it is so exciting to eat them now again. Food trendiness is funny like that.

Then I convinced chef Alyssa to bike-pool back to Southeast, which was fun. It is always nice to ride home at 7 instead of 5. Especially when it is sunny and warm out. September is pretty nice.

Rum

2008-09-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

Lance shook up a delicious Pritchard's rum daiquiri at 50 Plates Saturday night. That rum is pretty tasty, huge butterscotch and vanilla. I want to soak a cake in it. Like a pineapple upside-down cake. Yum.

BTW Pritchard's is made by this guy in Tennessee whiskey land who was like, whatever, I'm gonna make rum! Imbibe ran a story on it in the July/August 08 issue. Rad.

Minty Fresh

2008-08-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year. The first hints at the change of season are so refreshing and exciting, and the magazines and shop windows are full of cute scarves and boots, but it isn't actually cold and miserable yet. Maybe it's the season but I have been a teeny bit obsessed with whiskey lately, and whiskey cocktails. There are some great ones on the menu at 50 Plates, and at other, lesser bars where cocktails tend to look better on the menu than they taste in the glass, bourbon and cola has become my can't-fuck-it-up standby.

After a decadent Tuesday night of cocktails at Mint/820 this week, I have a new favorite to add to my whiskey obsession collection: their Nutty Manhattan. It's just Jim Beam (!) and nocello, shaken and served with a gooey cherry, and the simple combination is perfect, showcasing each spirit's flavors and achieving just the right degree of sweetness. I love Mint because it's fancy and delicious yet the weird location makes it relatively free of annoying people. Also, going to a bar that isn't one of my usual haunts was tremendously fun.

Continental Breakfast

2008-08-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

I know the best way to enjoy a good coffee's full flavor profile is French pressed. I know that moka pots don't make the best coffee in the world, but I still kind of love them anyway because a) they are cute, b) you can put a lot of milk in your coffee and then you're halfway to breakfast, and c) at 6:30 a.m. flavor profiles are the last thing on my radar.

When I was in the suburbs last weekend with my Spanish family I would stay up late reading, then wake up late, drink milky moka pot coffee with cookies, and loaf around. Vacation was great.

Top 5 Things to Eat with Coffee
1. Thick, chewy sourdough toast with butter and jam
2. Homemade mandelbread
3. Biscotti from Ken's
4. Rolls with mustard, cumin gouda, and ham
5. Rolls with nutella and rainbow sprinkles

Devilish

2008-08-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

I am on a suburban safari visiting family in Rockville, Maryland. I have been drinking mostly water and eating a lot of excellent American home cooking. We had a party for the family and enjoyed, among other things, deviled eggs, brisket and an unexpectedly delicious chocolate-chocolate sheet cake from the Giant. I made the deviled eggs. It was fun to have a party and serve more than beers, bread and cheese. We had beers too though, Wild Goose oatmeal stout, which was difficult to distinguish from the chocolate cake.

Now I am watching Kiss Me Kate with my Ibizan cousins. Wunderbar!

Juniper-Flavored Vodka

2008-08-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

We checked out the new high-class Americana restaurant/bar 50 Plates (NW 13th and Flanders) on Friday night, and had a smashing time. Banker by day/writer, smartass and cocktailian extraordinaire by night Lance Mayhew (My Life on the Rocks) helms the bar Thursday through Saturday nights, crafting classic cocktails to please purists' palates as well as those of the Bridge and Tunnel crowd: In addition to the excellent Sazerac carried by blossomy-fresh lemon, not to mention the textbook-perfect Julep, there is a daily special "mojito of the moment," and we hear a bubblegum martini is in the works. The night we were there, a lady came in who professed to hate gin. Lance made her a Last Word ("It's made with juniper-flavored vodka," he said - what a jerk), she thought it was delicious, and then Lance got to the punch line and got to tell her about classic cocktails, obviously relishing every second of it.

The food menu is delightfully Betty Crocker-esque. We sampled prawns and grits with some sort of tangy red pepper tapenade type thing, fennel sausage manicotti with an uber-buttery cheese sauce, a mellow Green Goddess salad with shrimp and creamy avocado, and a perfectly balanced melon-prosciutto-blue cheese salad. Yum.

The contemporary-mod interior, with lots of dark wood and cream, low ceilings and lots of horizontal lines, achieves a nice balance of fancy and cozy, so you feel like you're having a nice night out without being on display. Smack dab in the middle of the Pearl, it's an equally great place for a post-work stiff one or a manicure-and-martini afternoon - the Aveda institute is right next door. In fact, the more I think about it, the more reasons there are to drop in for a drink. Somebody stop me. I'll see you there.

City Market

2008-08-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

I never really shopped much at City Market because usually if I was cooking at home the point was to save money. But actually, they have really good stuff, and I don't care if it is a couple bucks more than Fred Meyer because it's worth it. We went last night and bought the Italian dry pasta that comes in a blue box, some pancetta and greens sauce, and a couple beers. Dinner totally ruled. That sauce was so good. It was basically just tangy, pork-flavored greens with some other stuff thrown in. All we added was some butter on the pasta and grated parmesan on top. I think our dinner was equally cheap and fast as going to Laughing Planet, plus no annoying people to detract from our dining experience. Thumbs up for City Market!

Drink Locally

2008-08-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

We are having a heat wave in Portland. Yesterday evening I was returning from an epic bike ride (to Fred Meyer) and stopped at a new place in my neighborhood, this funky little local business I'd never seen before. It seemed to be family-owned, like the kids running the counter could afford to be idealistic and have less-than-professional service because Mom and Dad were bankrolling it. It was a tiny place with a hand-lettered sign, with just a walk-up window and not even any patio seating. I enjoyed a cooling, non-alcoholic citrus infusion, served up. It was very refreshing in the heat but I was surprised that a quaint little neighborhood cafe in Hosford-Abernethy would use paper cups. Still, the portion sizes were generous, and at 50 cents a pop, a tremendous bargain.

Toast

2008-08-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

Last night a friend of mine had his birthday dinner at Toast on 52nd Ave. They don't normally open for dinner but they were nice enough to arrange it for us, with picnic tables set up in the parking lot. Ever since Jebediah's memorable outdoor shrimp boil feast at Sckavone's, this is now my favorite kind of birthday party - casual outdoor dinners at friendly neighborhood restaurants.

Our dinner at Toast was amazing. They served this incredible creamy gazpacho with prawns, cilantro and basil. The tomatoes tasted super fresh and vibrant and the fresh herbs and prawns were a great match. I didn't know that gazpacho was something you could get excited about. Then they served a gigantic burger with sharp white cheddar and sweet caramelized onions. The burger was served on two huge slabs of toast, which was tasty and fresh and sopped up the burger juices and didn't get crumbly. I had it with a golden ale from Clinton St. Brewing. We also had a Toast with a cava that I don't remember what it was. For dessert, there was warm blackberry cobbler with ice cream and big, fat, fresh blackberries.

Then it was a warm summer evening and I had a nice ride back through Southeast.

BEERS

2008-08-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

Dude, Aventinus Dopplebock is hella good. It tastes so rich and fruity and delicious, and the mouthfeel is smooth and thick almost like a liqueur, but it's not cloying, just awesome. It would be really good with rich food. I tried drinking it with oatmeal cookies once, which seemed like it would be a great idea, but the cookies seemed to ruin my palate and the sweet deliciousness of the beer got lost.

We tasted a bunch of beers last night with some mediocre Thai takeout. (Mediocre isn't necessarily a bad thing for Thai takeout; sometimes with that sort of thing you just want it to be inoffensive. Last night's food from Beau Thai (I know, right) was inoffensive and tasty except for the refrigerated-tasting chicken.) I think Thai food is pretty awesome with basically any beer, the flavors go well together but there is enough contrast that the personality of whatever beer you are having still comes through really nicely without getting overwhelmed.

The beers we tried were all over the map. English porter, German dopplebock, Belgian golden ales, American farmhouse ale. It was really fun. Beer tasting is also really cheap, there were four of us and we ended up spending about $40 for all the beers and $40 for the food.

Hello!

2008-08-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Socktails. I enjoy cocktails. Also, I wear socks. I used to get paid to drink cocktails and write about it, which was pretty cool. Now I usually don't get paid for it, but I get to do it however I want. I also like to eat things. This blog will probably be about drinking and eating things in Portland, Oregon. Also maybe socks.