Jim Dixon

I like it because it's fast (the peppers don't cook so much as with the stovetop method), I don't need to take up valuable grill space and time (mmm, the grill space-time continuum...see that other thread above for discussion of the spatial and temporal pros and cons of lump briquet), and I get to use the heat that otherwise warms up my outdoor kitchen (or threatens to set my fence alight). The blowtorch has the same affect as far as minimal pepper cooking goes (I use my Bluet ski-waxing torch). tommy...I'm liking my relatively new Pentax Optio 330RS, a now-discontinued 3.3 MP unit. I made a little batch thing in Photoshop that automatically downsizes the pix to the eGullet-friendly 300 pixel width. I'm still a hack, photographically-speaking, but this camera takes pretty good shots. Here's one that didn't come so great... I'm holding the tongs with one hand and shooting with the other...a little too close for the auto-focus. JIm

They also used to serve it at County Cork on NE Fremont. Jim

I've roasted peppers with a blowtorch, on the gas burners of my stove, under the broiler, and on the grill. But I have to credit my friend Bob with coming up with my favorite new method: This is a load of lump briquet (as discussed recently here) getting started in the charcoal chimney. The heat comes out of this thing like a blast furnace, and Bob told me he'd been tossing in peppers while the coals got burning. Work great, and it's fast. Jim

I agree it can be a pain, but I regularly cook for several good eaters on my Weber. Last night I did a mixed grill for 8 (sausages, chicken thighs, pork tenderloin) using the banked coals method. I started the fire with a chimney, then dumped the burning coals on a pile of unlit ones. the fire lasted through the 45 minutes or so of cooking. I did in stages, browning foods over the hot spot, them moving to the cold one and cooking covered. I've also cooked as many as four whole chickens at one time (indirect heat both sides, line them up down the middle). If I need to add fuel, I use tongs and a glove to lift off the grill (important to male sure the food is balanced on it) and set in on top of the chimney. It would be a lot easier to have some way to crank it up, but I've been using a Weber for a long time and have learned to live with it. Jim

When I was growing up in Roseburg, the company my dad worked for was owned by one of Portland's old Jewish families. When we'd come up with him on a business trip, we often ate at Goldberg's. Roseburg was, and may still be, diversity-challenged, and one of my first real-life encounters with somebody who didn't look just like me was at the end of the Goldberg's buffet line. I started to lift my tray, loaded with a French dip sandwich and slice of cheesecake, when an elderly black man in a red coat gently took it and said, "I'll carry that, sir." I was about 6 or 7, and I protested that I could carry it myself. But he led me to the table where my parents were sitting, laid out my lunch, and slipped away. I don't really remember what happened when I tried to get the adults to explain exactly why that man carried my food, but I do know that I began to realize that there were a few other black men in red coats, all doing the same thing, and that was all they did. Jim

While I try to remain blissfully ignorant about wine (I'm in the 'I know what I like' camp, and in good company I discovered after finishing Jacque Pepin's The Apprentice last night), I also love ice wines and other late harvest, concentrated sugar, dessert-type wines (some of which go very well with non-dessert foods). My favorite local version is Andrew Rich's late harvest gewurztraminer, which most wine stores carry and runs about $20 I think. I typically buy wine at New Seasons while grocery shopping, but if I want something special or just happen by, I go into Great Wine Buys on NE Broadway and 15th. Another place with a good wine section, including quite a few dessert wines, is (man, I hate to say it) Fred Meyers, or at least the one off Broadway around NE 30th. I think FM pretty much sucks for food, but when I'm there (like to pick up a prescription), I'll usually check the wine section to see what's on sale. Jim

I'm also devoted to the old school Weber even with the fixed-height limitation. I typically bank the coals at one end so I have areas of higher, lower, and no direct heat. Suvir...go to any True Value hardware store and get lump briquet for cooking (if they don't have it in stock they can order it...it's a TV inventory item). It's real hardwood charcoal and is my favorite for fire cooking. Mesquite, to me, burns too hot and fast, so I only use it for some foods that I want seared quickly. Jim

That blurb I dropped is a little misleading. The 'trends' these mostly younger (I loved seeing Robert Reynolds, 61, in the mix with the kids) cooks are more about the relationship between cook and eater. Michael Hebb told me they didn't want to run a restaurant, but were looking for a better (at least for them) way to make the 'food for money' thing work. Most of the food that comes out these kitchens is well-grounded in classic preparation and reflects the long history of cuisine. And the small plates aren't really new, either, but reflect the economy to some extent, although even at $2, $5, or $8 a plate, you can drop $50 pretty quickly. Jim

I was surprised, too. They make really good shots. I went for the whole beans from Illy (saves me $17/month) but get pods from a co-worker who drinks less than I do. I'm tempted to switch....the ease of using the pods is holding me back so far. I find it a little too easy to make a second or third cup. I'm also lovin' my X5, but still feel a little bad about retiring my old Krups semi-commercial. I'm using it as a good reason to think about finding some land out in the gorge so we'll actually need a second espresso machine. Jim

The Oregonian's A & E cover story is about the "new approach from an emerging group of culinary talents who are rethinking what makes great food." Related articles include a review of Ripe's Family Supper and profiles of Navarre's John Taboada, Ripe's Tommy Habetz, Robert Reynolds, artisan baker Ken Forkish, Scott Dolich of the new Park Kitchen, one of Taboada's Navarre partners Alton Garcia, Leather Storrs from Noble Rot, dessert maven Mandy Groom Givler, Cheryl Wakerhauser from Pix, and Rolland Wesen of Rivers. Jim edited 8/11/03 to remove expired link

Wear gloves.... The simplest approach is to pick the leaves and boil them for a few minutes (I can't really say how long, but any Eull Gibbons-type food guide should tell you). The boiling neutralizes the chemical sting. I had some incredible nettle gnocchi at Bastas a couple o fweeks ago. The owner Marco saw one of his cooks wearing gloves and thought he was being wimpy...They don't sting that much back in tuscany, he said...but he grabbed a handful and was still a little tender the next day. I actually squatted on a stinging nettle when I was fishing on the Rogue at about age 10 (I had dropped my pants and was getting ready to...well, you get the idea). I learned right away how to identify them. Jim

This IPA from Bridgeport is my favorite warm weather beer. Incredibly hoppy (something like 95% of the world's hops are grown in the Pacific NW) and undergoes secondary fermentation in the bottle so it's got a nice creamy head. I'll be sucking one down shortly. Jim

Alfonso Iaccarino has always been as interested in art (he's an accomplished painter) as he is food. His two grown sons have been assuming more responsibility at the restaurant, Mario in the dining room, Ernesto in the kitchen and cellar. Jim

I like to pan-fry the leaves in just a bit of olive oil...start with the upper side of the leaf down in the oil, and after you turn it over, lay a shaving of Parmigiano on the leaf for a few seconds. You get a crispy sage leaf with slightly melted parm. Only make these when there are a few diners (or even better, by yourself). You can never make enough to satisfy more than a few eaters. Jim

One of my mottos: I live for cheese. If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, it would be cheese. A couple of weeks back the Oregonian ran this story on Oregon cheesemakers. It gives a nice rundown of the current artisinal producers, which doesn't include Tillamook. I like their aged cheddar fine, but my all-time favorite Oregon cheddar from Bandon Creamery just hasn't been the same since Tillamook bought them out. I've eaten many pounds of Juniper Grove's various goat cheese. The tomme was recognized by Slow Food and reminds me of the caprino we ate in Friuli. The cumin seed tomme is really good, as is the soft smoked chevre. A few weeks back I got one of the last rounds of the raw milk camembert from Oregon Gourmet Cheese, and last week at the farmers market brought them into my oil-for-food program...I traded a bottle of olive oil for camembert and fromage blanc. The fromage blanc is mild and crumbly, but I spread some on Ken's apple bread for breakfast this morning and discovered a new favorite. Sometimes they also have Oregonzola, an Italian-style blue first made by Tom Vella at Rogue Creamery. I normally prefer strong flavors, but the gouda and havarti from Willamette Valley (also at the PFM) are bringing me around to the subtle pleasures of cheese that tastes like the milk it was made from, in this case a herd of Jerseys. I was always envious when I'd see the cheesemakers at the Ferry Plaza market in SF. Oregon has always had lots of dairies, but only a couple of cheesemakers. But all of the artisinal cheesemakers say the same thing: Oregon has better milk to make cheese from because the cows can eat pasture grass all year long. Jim

I have to say up front that I have a business relationship with the Iaccarino family, owners and operators of Ristorante Don Alfonso 1890. I import the olive oil they make for the restaurant into the US. But I also consider them friends, and I've seen how hard they work. That colors my feelings about the restaurant a bit. The dining room decor is a little frilly, but the food deserves all your attention. Chef Alfonso Iaccarino (I think he's the 3rd or 4th Alfonso in the family) is dedicated to the flavors of southern Italy and sources as much as he can locally. He grows much of the produce at the family farm, le Peracciole, perched on the side of a hill overlooking Capri. The olives for the oil and lemons for the limoncello are also grown there. I'd recommend staying in one of the apartments above the restaurant. They're very nice and about the same price as a hotel in Positano. The Sorrentine Peninsula has great hiking trails, and you'll still be able to swim in the ocean in September. You can read more about Don Alfonso in these articles by Faith Willinger: This piece about eating tomatoes with RW 'Gianni' Apple first appeared in the NYT. This mini-review comes from her column on Epicurious. If you want more info about the apartments, visit DA web site. Jim

I prefer boring. Not to be confused with Boring, Oregon (really). NSM is right about smaller towns, altho' there's usually at least one place standing up to the chains clustered out by the freeway. Eugene has some great restaurants, and Bend even has a few good spots. There are also hidden pleasures, like the milkshakes made in Fields, a one-horse gas station-grocery store-cafe-motel (pop about 5) deep in the high desert of southeastern Oregon. Jim

This is almost as good as the Mac vs PC argument... I've lived in Oregon my entire life. I can't say I've traveled extensively, but I've been around, and I've never really wanted to live anywhere else. We actually like Seattle a lot (next visit most likely will be Bumbershoot, probably the best musical festival anywhere). It's got a much more urban feel to it, and we can drive up in a little more than 2 hours (raising the speed limit was one of the few good things we got out of the Republicans). The traffic is worse than ours, unless you drive out to Beaverton (our western suburb, proof that our much-touted land use laws aren't perfect...but when Uwijamaya came to townm, guess where they ended up?). But it's a great spot for a break and something a little different. And I have many friends there (well, maybe a few less now) that love it. I've long maintained that Portland will always be provincial, and that's what makes it a great place to live. We don't want a major league baseball team, more heavy industry, or even too many more people. We, or at least a voting majority for the time being, understand that there are limits to growth, and we think that rivers full of salmon, forests full of trees (at least between the clearcuts), and beaches open to anyone are much better than bumper-to-bumper traffic or even Krispy Kreme (it still pisses me off that Waddles is closing to accomodate hot fried dough). Aquitane... Yes, I did mean bicycling. I ride from our urban neighborhood in NE Portland about 3 miles to my day job downtown. About half the distance is on bike routes with no cars, including a new pedestrian-bike river crossing. I ride every day, all winter, and everybody is right about the misty quality of our rain (Austin, Texas actually gets about the same annual rainfall as Portland). The key to living here is staying close in. People realized this a few years ago, and housing prices in the urban neighborhoods closer to town are higher. But they are still affordable compared to a lot of other places (except for maybe the trendy Pearl district in inner NW Portland, where prices for condos continue to go up). Anyway, I'm a little biased. I love it here. Jim

just be careful when you come down here.... Jim ps...after writing these, I realized I had betrayed the ghost of Gov. Tom 'visit-but-don't-stay' McCall. So let me correct a couple of things. Portland sucks Oregon is a cultural wasteland Oregonians are backwater hicks

Come on...the annual rainfall may be close, but Seattle's winters are much more unrelentingly gray. (But will still seem like a tropical paradise after a winter in Chicago.) I ride to work all winter, and I don't get soaked all that often. Portland's got the coast range between us and the Pacific. Seattle gets those lovely maritime systems straight off the ocean thanks to Puget Sound. Jim

As any native Oregonian will tell you, Washington State isn't half as nice as Oregon, even though they think they're better. Of course, Oregon's schools' woes are the subject of Doonesberry, the budget cuts that are cutting off the meds to the mentally ill (and resulting in more than a few suicides) are fodder for the New York Times, and the unemployment rate continues to lead the nation (go Oregon!). But inventolux is right on about the food. Seattle may have the best public market, but ours would be better if we could ever get one built (if plans stay on track maybe by 2008). They've got those Safeco dogs and ballpark sushi, but our ineffectual mayor is working hard to lure the Expos to stumptown (because that $30 million we forked over to the Trailblazers for the Rose Garden is really paying off...especailly for those who want to find the real Rose Garden in Washington Park) and you know our stadium food would rock. Jim

I have a chef friend in SF who's worked a couple of dinners presided over by Alice Waters. He told me he spent several hours picking through bushels of favas in order to have a couple of cups' worth that were exactly the same size and perfect in every respect. While I can understand and appreciate what Robert Reynolds calls 'striving for perfection,' some times we get a little carried away. They're just beans. Jim

With a boff o'the briney brim to col klink, I've adopted the 1/4 cup kosher salt + 4 cups water formula as my basic brine. You get good results with chicken from a short soak (about 20-30 minutes) or a luxuriously long bath (a few days). I have a dim memory of brining a salmon filet last summer and seem to recall it came out nicely, too. Jim

I think it's in that first link Bux posted above, but take a look at Illy's offer of a Francis Francis X5 for basically wholesale ($175+$25 shipping) if you agree to buy coffee for a year. I've been using mine for a couple of months and am very happy with it. There is also, I think, a link to the wholelattelove site's review of the machine. Jim

trillium, I'm signed up for the 6/29 class at Ripe. Happy to hear that it was fun, but even more pleased for the pork products report. There are a couple of spots left, or were yesterday...if you want to come to Portland to cure pork (and get a great lunch) go the ripe web site. I'm still working the Niman Ranch guanciale. This weekend I crisped some up, tossed a handfull of sliced morels into the fat, added spring shallot from the garden, splash of Sardinian white, and finished with dollop of creme fraiche. Porky and delicious. Jim