Jim Dixon

I stand corrected. I was referring to the original in downtown Portland (3rd and Burnside). The rest of these are in the 'burbs (except for the Jantzen Beach location, which is in a particularly horrible mall). I try to pretend that these sprawling, strip-mall-filled, SUV-infested, California-like suburbs just don't exist, and I avoid going to any of them at all cost (Beaverton, home of Intel and Nike, is really hideous....when out of town planners and other new city types rave about how great our land use planning and other livable city attributes are, I know they were kept out of Beaverton). So to julierico, who started this, I say this: Don't go out there! Especially not for for a dive, and probably not for any reason that's not life-threatening.

Steven...thanks for the email notice of this thread. Much as I would love to spend all day, every day, here at eGullet, I find that those other petty concerns (life, job, etc) keep getting in the way. okay, about storing that oil.... I'd just leave the stopper with the pouring spout in the bottle. That's how almost every bottle in my kitchen ends up, and while some of the spouts have some type of closure (my favorite has a counter balance that swings the cover out of the way when the bottle is tipped), several don't, and I don't think it really matters. The oil won't evaporate, and the aroma won't dimish significantly in the time it takes to use up a small bottle. The major threats to the quality of olive oil are light and air that can speed oxidation and rancidity. I doubt many here hoard their olive oil long enough for that to be a problem, but I'll emphasize a point I've made before: Olive oil doesn't improve with age, so once you open a bottle, use it up. The better oils, the ones made from olives picked early in the season when they are half-ripe, have high levels of polyphenols. Besides being beneficial antioxidants in terms of health, these compounds also act as a preservative and keep the oil tasting good longer. High polyphenol oils have that distinctive, peppery flavor that sort of catches at the back of the throat when you taste it straight. I often forget that others aren't as profligate with the stuff as I am. But my basic feeling is that if you haven't emptied the bottle in a month or two, you're just not using it enough. Don't put the bottle in the refrigerator. The cold can cause water to condense inside the bottle and drip down into the oil. You could make a little foil cap for the spout if you want, but otherwise just keep the bottle in a dark place that's not too hot (like not right over the refrigerator or stove). Jim

Steven, Chang's is no longer, altho' Dante's, the edgy dance club that now occupies the spot, still keeps a fire going in the barrel-sized 'Mongolian' grill. Another spot worth a mention, if only because I rarely get to type the words, is Hung Far Low. It's an old time 2nd floor walk up Chinese restaurant in our tiny version of Chinatown. I can't say much about the food since I haven't eaten there for years (but the last time I did it was spring, and I asked if they had any fresh asparagus and was served a big platter in black bean sauce). Hung Far Low (yes, that's really the name, and they have a great neon sign) is also widely known for cheap drinks. Jim

I just checked Chowhound, and that is where I posted a note about diners (the lack thereof, actually). It's an older thread, but there are a couple of good-sounding recommendations on this: Portland diner-like places on Chowhound Is that link to Chowhound an eGullet first? Jim

Yes, the Hot Cake House is still dishing out eggs and pancakes on Powell. Sorry, but I think the Church of Elvis is history. The local daily had a piece on it closing forever just last week. I can't remember if I posted about diners here or on Chowhound, but there are no diners, at least in the sense that east coast refugees think of them, in Portland. Or anywhere else around here. We used to have a close approximation that we called a coffee shop or cafe, but with the advent of Starbucks and other coffee places, that name has become blurred. But the type of palce where you can get everything from a hot turkey dinner to breakfast all day is getting harder to find. Waddles (I-5 north, Jantzen Beach exit just before you cross into Washington) comes close. Here's another great little spot that I wrote up for last year's WW cheap eats guide. Call first, because I don't get out to east county very often and can't say for sure if it's still open...but it was very good. Mama's Corner Cafe You almost need a shoehorn to get into the place, but the food served up at this sliver of a cafe makes the tight squeeze worthwhile. There are a few tables and one booth in the back, the only place for a group of four, but the best seats are at the counter. Perched on a stool you can watch chef and patriarch Pavel Shavlovsky cracking eggs, pouring pancake batter, and frying potatoes while the rest of the family takes orders and delivers plates. The menu includes all of the breakfast standards at below market prices, but check the board for specials like the buckwheat pancakes for only Ū.50. If you’re really hungry, get the Russian-style pork chops, a pair of boneless slices from the loin dipped in egg and seasoned flour, then grilled and served with a dollop of sour cream. Served with two eggs, homefries, and two thick slices of homemade bread for only ŭ.95, it’s one of the best deals for breakfast in town. 4035 SE Stark, 503-257-2753, breakfast and lunch Monday-Saturday

That's the only I'll cook Brussels sprouts anymore...I chop them coarsely, saute in olive oil (what else?), and squeeze lemon or lime juice over the top before serving (and if I don't have the citrus, a sprinkle of wine vinegar). Jim

Steven, Yeah, raw...I don't think it makes much diffence after it's dissolved, but again that teaspoon comparison pops up. I never measure, just toss some in, so I probably add less salt during cooking when I'm using kosher or grinding from the mill. I think you have to salt some dishes while cooking, but don't want to make them as salty as they might be when I eat them.

One part of the Post article stuck out at me: "Teaspoon for teaspoon, therefore, sea salt is actually less salty than shaker salt. Weight for weight, of course, they're identical, because any gram of sodium chloride is precisely as salty as any other. You can't cut down on salt by eating a different kind of salt." I had just heard or read somewhere else that 'shaker' salt was 50 times saltier than 'sea' salt, which is obviously not true but probably alludes to the 'teaspoon for teaspoon' comparison. The Post article also talks about how sea salt seems to be saltier because of its crystalline structure and the way it dissolves on your tongue. So I think what we (and others weighing on in saltiness) are really comparing is our perception of saltiness. We use a salt mill filled mostly with sea salt from Trapani on the west coast of Sicily (can't remember the brand name). It only costs about ū for what's probably about a pound and lasts several months. I also have some kind of gray French sea salt that's a little on the moist side. I traded some olive oil for several pounds at the Portland Farmers Market bread festival last summer. The French stuff doesn't seem to like the mill, so I often mix the two salts together. I also use Diamond kosher salt for cooking. I love salt, or rather love its flavor-enhancing qualities, and use it liberally. Our salt mill delivers a nice shower of relatively coarse flakes, and I'm pretty sure I experience what Wolke talks about here: "When sprinkled on relatively dry food such as asparagus or a slice of tomato just before serving, they deliver bright little explosions of saltiness as they hit the tongue and dissolve, or when they are crushed between the tongue and the hard palate or crunched between the teeth." Taste is pretty subjective, but I know I prefer the flavor of foods with coarse salt from the mill to the industrial stuff from the shaker. Jim

Adam, Just exactly what an American means when he or she says 'ribs' depends on where he or she comes from. For most of us, though, it means pork ribs, the part of the pig with the actual rib-bone still in it, most often sold and cooked as a solid slab of meat and bone. Anyone claiming to know the 'best' way to cook them is looking for trouble from the numerous opposing camps of barbecue cookery (not to mention the Texans, who insist that barbecue includes beef ribs). There are many, many sites (and books, etc) devoted to barbecue (and an entire section on my own site), so there's no need to get into that here. But I think you could approximate the flavor over there in sunny Scotland. Getting the ribs themselves shouldn't be too hard, since there are apparently lots of pigs around. Just make sure that you have one piece, rib bones intact. Make a rub from a half cup of salt, quarter cup of sugar, lots of black pepper, and maybe a touch of cayenne (but not too much). You can add other spices as well, but that's the basic formula. Rub it all over the ribs and let them sit for awhile. Make a mop from vegetable oil, worcestershire sauce, prepared mustard, and cider vinegar (about 2/3 oil, then toss in the rest). Ideally you'll cook this over a wood fire, not too hot and with lots of smoke. A covered outdoor grill (in America, the brand name Weber is synonymous) works best, but you can improvise (not sure how much the Scots are into barbecuing). Build the fire to one side of the cooking unit so that the meat isn't directly over the heat. Keep the fire low so the temperatures don't get much over 300F. Cook the ribs (the slab) for a few hours, mopping with the mop sauce and turning when you feel like it. Ribs are usually served with a tomato-based barbecue sauce (but again, this is subject to much regional variation). If you can't find one in the bottle, search the web for recipes. Eat the ribs with your hands. Wear a dark shirt. Drink lots of beer. Side dishes (aka 'sides') include beans, greens, cole slaw, and corn bread. The most common accompaniment at rib joints over here is a few slices of industrial white bread (aka Wonder Bread). Jim

I'm not sure how much demand there is out here in the Pacific northwest for kosher foods, so any kosher chickens may not be quite as fresh as the birds raised locally. At the competing 'natural' food stores here in Portland (Nature's vs New Seasons...that might be worth a thread right there) I find Rocky and Ranger brands, both touted as free-range, antibiotic-free, etc, etc...They do seem to taste better than the mainstream Fircrest Fryers, and they're not so 'wet,' which I guess means that less water (and its processing additives) is used at the slaughterhouse. I like the skin, too (#### the fat, it tastes good), and I like my chickens cooked until the meat falls off the bone. I've brined turkeys for the last few years, and have been tempted to try it with a whole chicken to see if you get the same moist breast meat. Anybody brined (or koshered) their own? Jim (just a country goy) ps...glad you liked the cauliflower...I sent the recipe to my friend Philip, the Wired corporate chef, and he wrote back that they think he's a god now...I can't really take much credit, since I think I first read about cooking it that way in the NYT.

Big City Produce, a great little neighborhood produce store in North Portland (near Jefferson HS), sells bagged greens with the best label I've ever seen: Mean Joe's Greens They're blends of mustard, turnip, & collards in various combos. I used to cook mostly collards, but lately have been using plain old kale for southern style greens (cooked with some kind of pork fat & onions, and eaten with vinegar and tabasco-style hot sauce). But my main green remains cavolo nero (usually sold as lacinato kale, sometimes dinosaur kale). I cook the dark green leaves with onion and olive oil, and they hold their shape and texture better than anything else.

I found those buttons to be incomprehensible, too. So I never use them. No matter how much bread I put in, I just push down the toaster lever (and what would you call that thing, anyway) and wait for it to pop.

When our last toaster died (and the ๖ unit didn't seem to last all that long, but we did have 4 teen-aged boys abusing it) I was tempted to spring for one these...but my wife said no way are we paying 跌 for a f**king toaster. I'm quite happy with the compromise, a 4-slice retro style Cuisinart that reminds me of the toaster I grew up with in the '50s.

I wasn't a big fan of cauliflower until I started making that. Usually it's steamed or boiled and gets too soggy, but roasting seems to keep more texture, and it gets sort of sweet. Here's another 'recipe' I came up with last night. Let's call it zuca in agrodolce (aka sweet and sour squash) Finely dice a medium onion and stalk of celery. Saute in olive oil until transluscent (about 5 minutes). Add a cubed, peeled winter squash. I like the oblong delicatas because they seem sweeter, but everyone says butternuts are easier to peel...your call. Cut in half and scrape out the seeds, then peel (I find a regular swivel blade peeler works fine) and cut into half-inch cubes. Splash in a little marsala (sweet or dry...substitute sherry or another white wine, but marsala tastes better with this...by a little I'm guessing a quarter to half cup). Cover and cook over low until squash is tender. Add a tablespoon each of sugar and white (or red) wine vinegar. Plain distilled vinegar is okay, but stronger, so use a little less. Stir and let cook, uncovered for a few minutes to reduce any juice to a sort of glaze-like consistency. Taste and adjust the sweet-sour ratio to your liking (ie, more sugar, more vinegar). Eat hot... Jim

I've got a bunch of simple vegetable recipes (I actually don't think of them as recipes, but more like cooking techniques) on my site. I cook this one about once a week, and it's really good... tossed a sliced head of cauliflower (trim base, set upright on cuttng board, and cut 1/4 inch slices...okay if pieces break up, actually better if they do) with a bit of your cooking grade extra virign olive oil and a little salt spread in single layer in baking dish (I like to use a cast iron skillet for this, but I use one for almost everything else, too) roast in hot oven (375-400F), stirring occasionally, until browned around the edges, about 20 minutes. drizzle with really good olive oil, more salt if like, and eat hot Two of us easily devour a single head, and when we have any boys home, I always cook two and there are never leftovers. Jim

Adam, The short answer is, "no." A meat purveyor explained to me long ago about the hypothalmus, and I just spent some time searching myself, with no concrete answer. (Actually, I was searching the web, not 'myself') The terms hypothalamus and thymus seem to be used interchangeably when talking about sweetbreads. To further confuse things, pig's pancreas are also referenced as sweetbreads. I haven't spent enough time with the brains of any species to say much on the subject with any authority. So, I may have been a little hasty with my earlier post. Jim

Adam, In November 2000 France banned sweetbreads because of the possible threat of BSE (aka Mad Cow Disease), and here in the US the use of ground up animal parts in livestock feed is no longer allowed. But as far as I can tell, there's no restriction on selling brain parts for human consumption. I believe that the theory is that BSE is actually spread by eating the livestock that have been fed the ground parts of other animals, not the actual brain tissue itself. And so far the USDA's not saying that BSE is a problem here, so any parts are okay. However, after reading Fast Food Nation I stick with meat that I know comes from a local producer, not one of the national packing houses where tissue from thousands of animals is blended together. There are other, more likely dangers from meat than BSE. Jim

Here in the US, what are sold as sweetbreads are the hypothalamus glands of calves (or veal). The gland disappears as the animal matures. Jim

I've never eaten at an Olive Garden and knew I never would the very first time I heard the name, which was during a ad on tv. One of the absolute truths about restaurants (at least for me) is: Never eat at a restaurant that advertises on television. Jim

Blue Heron, I liked 'Bone' and Bourdain's follow-up, 'Going Bamboo' (at least I think that's the title...got Bamboo in there anyway). Fulfilled my insatiable jones for crime fiction (note to James Lee Burke, Michael Dibdin, and ghost of Raymond Chandler: write faster) with nice tastes of food writing. Haven't gotten around to 'Kitchen Confidential,' but one of my kids is reading 'Tour,' so I may pick that up when he's done. Jim ps....if you haven't read any of Dibdin's books with Italian detective Aurelio Zen, they also have good food descriptions along with great plot and characters.

Out here (Oregon, and the western US in general), the terms ‘hash browns’ and ‘home fires’ are often used as if they were synonymous. I usually think of hash browns as the industrial breakfast spud, pre-cooked, grated, frozen, and mostly terrible, but the phrase is sometimes applied to the fried cubes of potato more commonly called home fries. When I was young, my mother and grandmother just called them ‘fried potatoes.’ We ate then often and not just for breakfast. Anyway, here’s how I like to make them... Russet potatoes have a higher sugar content, so they brown better than more waxy varieties. Peel or not, as you prefer, then cut into appx half-inch dice. Slices also work, but what’s important is a uniform thickness so they all cook evenly. In a heavy, preferably cast iron, skillet, heat enough olive oil (I use it for almost everything, and the flavor goes well with spuds) to cover the pan. When it’s pretty hot, carefully add the potatoes (they will sputter a bit, so watch out). Let them cook without stirring for a few minutes so the bottoms are seared and starting to brown, then turn over with a stiff spatula. Adjust the heat down a little, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until they’re evenly browned all around (and we like them pretty dark, which they will get by the time the insides are cooked, at least 20 minutes). You can eat them like this, but I like to season them a bit.... Drain off some of the excess oil, and add a few shakes of chile powder (I like the dark, smoky pasilla), some cumin, oregano, sage, and any other herbs or spices you like. Stir to coat the spuds, and let the spices cook with them for a bit. I often move the potatoes to one side of the skillet and fry a couple of eggs alongside. If you want onions, cook them separately and serve them with the potatoes.

I usually make Tex-Mex latkes. I've got more details on my site, but basically the're traditional latkes with cumin, chile powder, and a spice blend my sister sends me from Arizona called menudo mix (which I'm guessing includes a bit of oregano as well). You could serve these with salsa, but since I first stumbled onto what I later learned were latkes in a search for a quick fried potato substitue, I always eat them with ketchup. Our blended family includes a couple of culturally Jewish sons, and they report that even at the annual Chanuka latke feed they go to with their dad, there are always a few folks sneaking out to the kitchen for ketchup in lieu of the sour cream and apple sauce. Oy Jim

I've found the best stone for sharpening all my knives (Wusthof stainless and garage sale carbon steel blades alike) is a Japanese water stone. You soak it before using, and keep it wet while honing. Gets them very sharp quickly. Buck (of Buck Knives) used to sell a little thing you could clamp to a blade to keep it at the proper angle. Their hard stainless blades were notoriously difficult to sharpen, and this was part of sharpening kit. But it doesn't take too much practice to maintain the 20 degree or so angle. Jim

I own about a dozen vintage Griswold cast iron skillets and use them (well, not all of them, but at least one or two) every day. From my experience, it’s not really necessary to be too particular about how you season cast iron. All of the suggestions so far will work fine, with the essential elements being heat (it opens the pores of the metal) and oil (I use olive oil, but anything will work....stronger flavored oils will leave stronger flavors on the pan). My pans lose their seasoning on a regular basis. I have teen-aged boys who scramble eggs and then leave the skillet in a sink full of soapy water, and sometimes I’ll cook something acidic that strips away the layer of oil in the pores. I just heat up the pan on a burner and rub a little oil over the surface. For cleaning a really funky pan (like one you get at a garage sale that’s encrusted with old grease), the best bet is oven cleaner. Spray it on, put the pan in a plastic bag for awhile, then scrub it off. Season and use the pan to cook oily foods for awhile. Always make it’s dry before putting it away, bit if you get a little rust, just wipe it off and oil it up again. For regular cleaning, a little detergent doesn’t hurt, but don’t scrub too hard. It’s usually not necessary, since one of the beauties of well-seasoned cast iron is its no-stick quality. Jim

My problem is with the word “foodie.” I really don’t like it and make pains never to use it in anything I write. But I think the real distinction isn’t so much between high-end, white tablecloth, “fine dining” and cheaper but distinctive “chowhound” food as it is between passion and trend. To me, foodie implies trendy. Foodies only go to the hot new places or those with celebrity chefs. Foodies say things like, “Pasta is so over.” Foodies care about food as part of their image, not as something good to eat. I believe that if you are truly passionate about food, you can’t really be a foodie. If you have passion, you can appreciate both the Ů pad thai and the ษ entree. You don’t have to like everything or hew to some artificial standard of taste, but you’re curious about new food and generally willing to try anything (or almost anything) at least once. I’m fortunate enough to be paid to write about food (not too well, but paid nevertheless), and my editor picks up the tab when I eat at expensive restaurants. I’ve had transcendant meals and really awful ones at places that charge a lot, and the same goes for the cheaper restaurants, too. Jim www.realgoodfood.com