Alberts

Wow, the guys in the red coats at Goldberg's! I had forgotten all about that. When I was 9 or 10, my mom would drop me off to skate with my brothers while she had a "luncheon" with her friends overlooking the rink at the Alladin restaurant. (Does the word "luncheon" even exist anymore?) I remember going up there to see that they were eating things like chef's salads and open face tuna sandwiches, while we would go to Mr C's for burgers. Childhood, food, freedom. Can't separate them.

Yes, I agree. When it was open air, it was unique, certainly for the time. There was an "air lock" on the door at Meier and Frank, and fountains in the courtyards. The minute the roof went on, it became like any mall anywhere. Another sign of the generic times.

I think they have it at Lucky Labrador in Multnomah village...I think.

Wasn't it Morrow's Nut house, or House of Nuts. That seems to ring a bell. Also, do you remember the doughnut shop just as you entered at street level, near M and F, with the deep fat fryer in the window and the machine that dropped the dough into the fat? I assume that in those days, every food place was individually owned. Quite a change.

I was taking a walk down memory lane with my wife discussing the "old days" at Lloyd Center, back when there were actual restaurants in the mall, instead of the generic food court. I am certain I could still recognize the smell of walking into Goldberg's... some mixture of corned beef, lox and dill pickle. Do you remember the burgers at Mr C's Hippo? or the macaroni and cheese at Manning's? Thank god for Joe Brown's Caramel corn, still the same fully hydrogenated recipe as thirty years ago. Do any of you have any other memories to share? Put yourself 30 years back.

We like white (cannolini) beans with sage... sauteing whole leaves in butter, removing them, rolling the cooked beans in the the pan with the saged butter and returning the leaves, salt and pepper. Works with just about any kind of shell bean.

Another vote for the 'crostini with favas and mint' on the Realgoodfood web site. Outstanding.

Great suggestions Fresh in the market now are greens, spring onions, artichokes, mushrooms, carrots. I'm missing a few. I was taught, last year, to use raw artichoke hearts cut as thin as possible tossed in EVOO and lemon juice, with salt. It was a strange, crunchy, and delicious dish. I haven't found much in the way of organic artichokes available around here, though. Also, frittata with spring vegetables and parmigiana was great, but instead of cooking the herbs (taragon, basil, thyme) in with the eggs, the chef made a paste with EVOO and spread it on top of the cool frittata, called frittata d'estate. Both styles originate in Sicily. Man, is there anything that isn't good fresh with extra virgin olive oil?

Yes, I remember vaguely about "favism" from school. I don't remember the symptoms. I must have the disease though, if it is the uncontrollable desire to eat more and more favas. Regarding the leeks...poach to about what texture? Still some crunch?

Some suggestions out there? I went to the superwhites reception last weekend put on by the Portland Slowfoodies. One of the local restaurants, Mother's Bistro, had an appetizer: steamed spring peas pureed with roasted garlic, a little salt, spread on crostini and topped with grilled spears of asparagus. Simple, colorful, wonderful. Any other thoughts on simple spring antipasti using local ingredients?

alicehat sorry for the delay in reply, long holiday weekend, etc. I usually boil water on the middle burner of the DCS with an 8 quart calphalon pot. My usual saute pan is 12" which is nearly touching the middle pot. I will say, though, that even the lower BTU burners boil water quickly. So if I am using multiple other pans I will boil water on a side burner. Hasn't been a problem yet. I just didn't see a comparable range for price and versatility staying with 36 inches. Alberts

Met Mr Bourdain at the Farmer's market briefly on Saturday. Man, it's hard not to be ga ga when meeting such a personage. He was very complementary about our local produce and it seemed sincere. Anyway, he's quite a nice guy even aside from all the hype. Come back anytime, Tony. Portland is a great place to hang out, relax and eat.

In regard to the DCS stove, we just purchased the 5 burner cooktop for our new kitchen and are loving it. We bought it for the 17500 BTU center burner. The other ones are hot enough for searing, etc. The real advantage of the middle burner is for boiling water. A large pot of water comes to a boil in a few minutes and it returns to a boil after adding pasta almost instantly. The burner on high will cause any pot other than a heavy duty one to assume shapes suitable only for frat house kitchens.

Jim Unless I beat you to them. See you tomorrow. Mike

I too wondered why the espresso virtually anywhere in Italy was better than espresso here in the U.S. (even at Autogrills). When I asked a nice old woman making it at her bar she told me "l'acqua negli Stati Uniti e stanca." The water in the U.S. is "tired." I wonder what that means.

Although I have much respect for the list of Italian restaurants mentioned above, for me, the authentic Italian restaurant is the family trattoria...Nonna and Nonno cooking in the back, then meeting their customers out front. I'm sure there are some of these here in the states, but they are few and far between. Cooking for love and not (necessarily) for profit makes it authentic.

I haven't worked up to the classics yet. But a great overall review for the basic Italian cook is Regional Italian Cuisine (Barron's). Their versions of the standards, i.e. Ribollita, Melanzane parmigiana, etc., are excellent.