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Jim Dixon

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Everything posted by Jim Dixon

  1. There's a nice place in Mosier (between The Dalles and Hood River on the Oregon side) called the Wildflower Cafe (I think that's the name, but it's the only place to eat in Mosier). Serves good fresh food, uses Painted Hills beef, local fish, etc. In Hood River I think the best eating is up the hill from downtown at one of several taquerias. The old downtown has tarted up to service the upscale windsurfing crowd, but up the bluff it's more like the fruit-packing, salmon-canning town it used to be. Jim
  2. Jim Dixon

    Defining Barbecue

    I can't comment on the reaction of Texans or down-easters, but there are at least of a few of us here in the Beaver State that would do more than just stare. As for a definition, I don't think it'll ever be agreed on. It means one thing in NC, another in Kansas City, something else in Texas. My preferred meaning is "meat cooked slowly using a wood fire." Jim
  3. I've tried to ignore this thread, but it keeps coming back up like a bad piece of fish. Just for the record, I think I called it caramelized cauliflower, but I'd be happy if the vegetable and me were never mentioned in the same breath again (not that I won't keep cooking and recommending the dish...actually have some small purple heads in the reefer right now just waiting for the treatment). Anyway, I looked in Webster's and both 'baked' and 'roasted' are defined (and I'm paraphrasing here) as cooking in dry heat, as in an oven. There's no mention of covering or wrapping or any lack thereof. I don't think that a food that may generate some steam from its own juices while being baked or roasted is actually being steamed. To me, 'steaming' means cooking with the moisture and heat (240F, if I'm remembering correctly) of live steam. However, I'm sure there are at least a few other opinions out there. Jim
  4. Red, White, and Greens by Faith Willinger...Italian take on cooking vegetables Jim
  5. I'd read something about this place, but got an email from the pr flack today with directions to the noodlin' web site. The email states: (You'd think one of the first things they'd teach in pr school is that unique cannot be modified.) The Holland Inc is the corporate soul of Burgerville USA, recently touted as Portland's own In-n-Out by Jane and Michael Stern as noted here. I have to confess that I never eat at Burgerville, but the Stern's article and my own editor's love of the place may force me to check it out. The first restaurant is in the Beaverton Mall, and you can assume the folks in the dead zone that is our western 'burb will love it (It's so darned cute). A second store is planned for SE Hawthorne, slacker central and site of a recent failed attempt by McD's to place an outlet. The reception might not be so warm, but who knows. As the flack writes: I do like the macaroni people on the web site, though. Jim
  6. malawry, I have an old Griswold cast iron stove top waffle iron (an iron iron), and it makes great waffles. My standard recipe is adapted from the 1931 Joy recipe and I use it for both pancakes and waffles, but waffles get more added fat (melted butter) so they don't stick. It's about 2 cups flour (1 ea white and whole wheat), 2 eggs, separated, 1-2 cups milk (buttermilk is better...amount depends on how thick you like your cakes), salt...mix dry ingredients, mix egg yolks and milk (add 3-4 T melted butter for waffles), stir into dry, beat whites stiff and fold in. I still grease the iron, though. I used to to use spray-can oil, but it's disgusting, so now I use a misto pump sprayer (with olive oil...a mild one, but it's usually the only oil around...I'm used to the flavor, which is hardly noticeable after topping with yogurt and fruit). You might find one somewhere on the Griswold and Cast Iron Collector's site. My mother bought mine for a birthday aboout 25 years ago from Chuck Wafford, a Griswold collecting legend who lives in Oregon. Most of the collectors don't actually cook on their stuff, which is too bad, and the prices reflect condition and scarcity. We also have a cheap electric, which works okay, and a stove-top Belgian waffle unit. I also grill sandwiches on the stove in a cast iron pan, but my mom used to make us grilled chesse or tuna in her waffle iron (back in the '50s, long before the panini boom), and I loved the waffle pattern on the bread. Jim
  7. used cast iron skillets, $1-5, for cooking almost anything plastic pot scraper about the size of a match book, 25 cents box grater (w/straight sides, very iumportant) from restaurant supply, about $5, and, based on my years of experience with this grater, better and easier to use than a microplane various wooden bowls, 6-18 inch, Judith gets at garages sales, $1-3, used for eating, serving, fruit storage, etc dough scraper, about $5, used daily for picking up diced stuff, cleaning last bits off cutting board, but rarely for scraping dough Jim
  8. I just picked up both coffee and vanilla versions, 2 pints for $5, at what used to be Nature's but is now part of the Wild Oats chain (in Portland). Jim
  9. "Sit at dinner tables and socialize as long as you can, for these are the bonus times of your lives." al-Hasan bin Ali bin Abi-Talib, grandson of the prophet Muhammad, as quoted by Nawal Nasrallah in her book Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and History of the Iraqi Cuisine (the book is available online) Jim
  10. Don't make me stop the car.... trillium's dark side emerges at last. Jim
  11. ps.... Rogue Brewing is actually in Newport on the central coast, a long way from the Rogue River (or anything else named Rogue)...we don't have the same kind of appelation laws you do in California, but this is clearly a violation, especially since the Rogue valley is kind of hot and Mediterranean and Newport is cold, wet, and gray, even in the summer (but it does have other charms, including clam chowder). In Ashland, check out Caldera Brewing, conveniently located just off I-5. If you're driving up you could stop for a few cold ones and probably get some food tips from the brewers. Jim
  12. Rogue Creamery is in Central Point, just a bit north of Medford. you could swing out to Jacksonville and make a loop to get there. I'm sure that some of the type of food you're looking for exists in and around Medford, but can't point you directly at it. Clam chowder isn't likely to be more than canned clams and potatoes unless you head for the coast (and even there, it's often pretty bad). The Umpqua Dairy is in Roseburg but they seem to distribute ice cream all over the state....look for espresso madness in the grocery store. It only comes in half-gallons, at least up here in the big city, so be ready to eat. Good luck, Jim
  13. While it's the ancestral homeland, I haven't spent enough time down there lately to offer any specifics. Theater and college town Ashland will have more options for better food (and since it's small, easier to find, too). Jacksonville is kind of touristy but still off the beaten path...I'm sure there are at least one or two spots there. Talent and points east are beautiful, must be some burgers and beer on the road somewhere (you could drive as far the Union Creek Inn, which used to be very good). One good food pilgramage would be north to Rogue Creamery, makers of great blue cheese and founded by Ig Vella, part of the Sonoma cheese-making family. Jim
  14. I've been in a rut ever since discovering the Normandy apple bread from Ken's Artisan Bakery. It's made with a mix of rye and organic whole wheat flours and isn't really sweet, but has a few slices of apple scattered through. He only makes it on Saturday, so I either have to get a loaf at the farmers market or drive over the to bakery. If I forget I'm bummed all week. The standard weekday breakfast is an espresso with 2 slices and butter (plugra or, lately, Raven's creamery classique). If I've got some nice mild cheese, like the Willamette Valley gouda, that is an option. Last week I finished off the last of my Meyer lemon marmalade by spooning it over the bread spread with Oregon Gourmet Cheese's fromage blanc. Jim
  15. Steven, I think this applies to all sorts of kitchen stuff...beautiful kitchens full of high-end appliances, shiny matched sets of pots, global knives, etc...but the owners don't actually cook. As is often the case, especially here in America, the marketing of style trumps the joy of eating well. And I'd have a few steel skillets if I could bear to part with any of my cast iron. I'm more than happy to dump the calphalon (especially the skillet), so I'll commission Judith to keep a lookout at garage sales. Jim
  16. Nobody has mentioned Harvest Vine...I haven't eaten there, but wish I had last time I was in Seattle. Is it still good? Jim
  17. Saturday he'd switched to apricot, and the cake was just as deadly. Jim
  18. I'm tempted to have you substitute another equally handsome face, but in the interest of truth-in-labeling, go ahead and post it unretouched. Jim
  19. There's always (always being the 10 years or so the PFM's been around) been some tension between those who'd prefer a 'pure' farmers market with only local produce and those who see the market as a sort of cooks' resource to local food vendors. Here's the stated mission: The more detailed vendor rules (available here as a Word download) pretty much give the board complete discretion in picking vendors. So we end up with national restaurant chain Il Fornaio selling bread alongside small local bakers, and a few prepared food vendors, such as the kettle corn folks, that may seem a better fit for the county fair. Produce vendors are also allowed to sell some things they don't actually grow, but the amount is restricted...they can also sell some related items, like the goat cheese maker selling soap or the honey guy selling beeswax candles. There are several different farmers markets in Portland (and more in the suburbs), and they have slight variations in their rules. I know one guy who sells incredible wild mushrooms and other foraged products to most of the best restaurants in town, but the PFM won't let him in because he doesn't actually pick all the mushrooms himself (even though they had specifically asked him to be a vendor in the early years...he's a little bitter about the whole farmers market movement). I can offer all kinds of rationalizations for offering the olive oil at the market (purely agricultural product, produced by small farmers who just happen to be in Italy, compliments the produce, obvious demand based on my sales, etc), but the farmers market works for me because I can connect with the local food community (the best chefs all shop at the PFM), I can tell the story about the olive oils to new customers, and the shoppers there are willing to spend more for quality. And on the days I don't sell, I operate my own personal 'oil for food' program, trading olive oil for produce, cheese, fish, and meat. Jim
  20. K... Since I don't actually grow the olives (or evaporate the salt), I'm considered a broker and am restricted to one day per month. So I only sell on certain Saturdays (the dates are on my site). I'm usually at the Wed market, though, since I work a couple of blocks away. I usually don't go the Thursday market unless I'll be selling the following Sat. My low-budget marketing approach is handing out recipes that use seasonal produce and olive oil...and I've been known to carry a bottle or two with me just in case somebody needs one. But the Market board prefers that I not sell oil out of my pack, so I have to make the sale off-site. It's like....psst...wannna buy some oil? Jim
  21. I'll be selling olive oil and salt, the newest product in my mini-empire of imported foods (and, hopefully, an excuse to travel to Portugal as well as Italy), at the Portland Farmers Market this Saturday (6/28....PFM is in the Park Blocks near Portland State). The salt is Portuguese flor de sal (which is what the Portuguese call fleur de sel) and comes from the Slow Food award-winning company Necton. Necton is run by marine biologists working to restore coastal wetlands in Portugal's Algarve region. You can read more about the company and their salt ]in this article from the March 2002 Atlantic Monthly. A slightly different version of the same piece appears in Kummer's book about Slow Food. I'm usually next to Fred Carlo's sausage stand, so just follow your nose to the smell of frying pork, onions, and peppers. Jim edited to get the link to work
  22. I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous. I've recently been using a two-handed approach with desserts. Big spoon in right hand, wielded much like a knife, and fork in left. I use either to get the sweet stuff in my mouth depending on which seems more appropriate for any given bite. Jim
  23. Jim Dixon

    Pabst Blue Ribbon

    No, they're a full 11 or 12 oz beer...just short and squat, about the same size as a can. Jim
  24. Jim Dixon

    Pabst Blue Ribbon

    I was at a backyard barbecue last Friday where I skewed the average age considerably upwards, and I was giving one of the typical Portland hipsters some good-natured shit about drinking PBR (we drank that shit back in the 70s, it's still pisswater, etc). So I was happy to see our fair city in the Times as the forefront of another dubious trend. But the article didn't mention the real NW hipster beer, Olympia stubbies. They trigger another old fart diatribe about Oregon's bottle bill (the nation's first) and the beverage industry's claims that it would drive them out of business. I'll reminisce about the old days when all beer came in stubbies, and the bottles would often be cloudy from repeated trips through the bottling line (while the subject hipster is rolling his/her eyes and trying to slip away). I've drunk my share of the industrial domestic beers. Luke warm Oly was only slightly worse than ice cold Blitz, and the economy beer of choice back in the day was Bohemian (quarts, 3 for a buck). But I've reached the point in my life where, if I can't have a decent beer (and none of that crap with fruit flavor), I'd rather drink water. Jim
  25. Jim Dixon

    Roasting Peppers

    They're not... lump briquet = hardwood charcoal Jim
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