Posts with tag oregonian
The Oregonian in 60 Seconds - 'Fresh Ham' for Easter, Dough 3 Ways and Lots More Bread
Olive Oil, Slow Food and Corned Beef - The Oregonian in 60 Seconds

- Have you ever found yourself in the grocery store, staring at all the bottles of olive oil, trying to determine which will give you the most flavor for your buck? The FoodDay staff sampled their way through 15 different varieties, in the hopes of finding the best of the lot.
- The Slow Food Movement is descending from its lofty perch to lobby in support of farm workers.
- For those of you lucky enough to live in the Rogue Valley, make sure to head to the Rogue Creamery this Saturday for the 5th annual Oregon Cheese Festival.
- Corn chowder made with Green Giant's 'Mexicorn,' shredded chicken and cumin is a quick, satisfying dinner.
- Confused by wine availability? Click here to learn more about wine's three-tiered distribution system.
- Tis the season for corned beef! Check your local grocery store for great deals and consider baking your beef instead of boiling it.
- Ivy Manning's three-cheese pizza with kale is a meatless meal that won't leave anyone hungry.
Best of 2008 and Sparkling Wines for NYE - The Oregonian in 60 Seconds

- FoodDay editors collaborated to come up with their favorite recipes from throughout 2008. They divided them into four classes: The best new twists, lightning fast, fresh and vibrant and the hall of famer (Sharon's Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits).
- While it wasn't a favorite of the editors, Chicken Paprikash was the readers' favorite FoodDay recipe from the past year.
- How to make moist turkey burgers while still keeping them healthful and delicious.
- Transform a salad into a full meal with the addition of sauteed chanterelle mushrooms and poached eggs.
- More staff favorite recipes (Lima Beans with Bacon sounds like a winner to me!).
- Fair trade wines are beginning to show up on the market in larger numbers, much to the delight of consumers.
- If real champagne is beyond your budget this New Year, there's a huge field of more affordable bubblies to consider.
- Need a way to use up leftover ham from Christmas dinner? Here's a recipe for Ham Tetrazzini and it's far better than the stuff you remember from you school cafeteria.
Baking Chocolate and Acorn Squash - The Oregonian in 60 Seconds
The FoodDay tests a variety of cooking chocolates, to determine whether the high priced ones are really the best. - Take acorn squash beyond the traditional roasted with butter and maple syrup treatment. Try this Acorn Squash, Sage and Portobello Mushroom Penne.
- A trip to Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Store in Milwaukie reveals far more than just grains. Try some of these whole grain recipes: Quinoa With Saffron, Spinach and Apples, Rosemary and Cheddar Multi-grain Crackers and Red Wine Braised Cranberry Beans With Smoked Pork.
- The holidays are a good time to hoist a pint. Check out this guide to seasonal brew fests.
- With lots of nutrients, it's time to give turnips a chance.
- An easy preparation for mussels lets their natural flavors shine.
- Tips for keeping your cookies in good shape for gifting and shipping.
- An assortment of tasty Trader Joe wines for under $10 a bottle (oh how I wish the Philadelphia liquor stores were allowed to sell beer and wine).
- Mexico meets Italy with this enchilada dish.
The Oregonian in 60 seconds: Green tomatoes, co-ops and Italian prunes
Exploring the wonders of green tomatoes. Recipes include Fried Green Tomatoes, Lemon-Basil Aioli, Warm Nectarine and Green Tomato Salad With Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette and Blue Cheese, Green Tomato and Zucchini Gratin With Feta Cheese and Oregano, Spaghetti With Green Tomato-Bacon Sauce and Green Tomato and Apple Hazelnut Crisp. - The grocery store co-op culture is beginning to take over Portland.
- Honeycrisp apples are winners in both flavor and texture.
- Italian prunes shine when you incorporate them into baked goods.
- Kathleen Bauer visits the Gresham Farmers Market.
- Now is the time to forage for nuts before the squirrels get to them.
- In the Market Basket, you'll find Pumpkin Seed Oil, Red Palm Oil and Walnut Butter with Cashews.
- Kosher cooking gets a new reputation.
- Substitute chicken for beef in your stroganoff for a lower fat treat. Check out the recipe: Chicken "Stroganoff" With Mushrooms, Sherry and Sage.
- Katherine Miller's chickens are definitely roosters. Very disappointing.
The Oregonian in 60 seconds: Local tuna, gadgets and Pat the chicken
Locavores in the Pacific Northwest are going crazy for fresh-caught albacore tuna. Use it to make Spaghetti With Tuna, Lemon and Olives, Lemony Tuna Melt Panini, Salad Nicoise With Warm Potatoes and Green Beans and Canned Albacore Tuna. - For Dinner Tonight, how about Penne with Fresh Tomatoes and Artichokes.
- Katherine Miller's search for a new home for Pat the Chicken continues.
- Interested in reviewing cookbooks for the Oregonian? Send them a note and sign up!
- Kathleen Bauer visits the Cedar Mill Farmers Market and finds a bustling market with bakery items and fresh produce.
- In the Gadget section, there's a Days Ago Digital Day Counter, Brown Sugar Softener, a Healthy Harvest Freshness Extender and a iSlice that makes it easy to open boxes.
- The new book, Eat This, Not That for Kids, helps parents make smart choices for their families.
- Local chef Ashley Brown goes to New Seasons with Matthew Card and helps him put together a quick and easy meal that includes Pan-Fried Pork Cutlets, Marinated Zucchini and Radish Salad and Wheatberry Pilaf With Lemon, Anchovy and Parsley.
- Hardy kiwis (also known as berry kiwis) are a healthy and tasty treat.
- For quick meals, make mini-meatloaves.
- Risotto croquettes are a delicious treat, all melting cheese and crisp fried rice.
The Oregonian in 60 seconds: Slow cookers, girl scouts and gala apples
When the weather gets too hot (and we've still got a few potentially hot weeks left before summer is officially over) pull out your slow cooker so that you can get dinner on the table without heating up your kitchen (it's also great for cooking down those summer fruit butters). - When shopping for a slow cooker, make sure to check out all the options before committing to a particular brand (the programmable ones are more expensive, but particularly useful).
- Girl Scout Mary Catherine Muniz spent her summer gathering and testing inexpensive, family-friendly recipes for her cookbook, Delectable Dishes for Less.
- Pete Peterson digs into the Pacific Northwest lineage of the sweet Gala apple (tracking a particular variety back to the Walla Walla Valley, near where I went to college).
- The Forest Grove farmers' market hums with Mexican foods and specialties.
- Fit for Dinner punches up a pork tenderloin with Chinese 5-Spice powder and orange juice.
- Turn to a cold noodle salad for a quick dinner on these hectic, back-to-school nights.
- Looking for a way to trim your food expenditures? Try packing a lunch instead of buying.
- Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for the PBS show, The Victory Garden. The newest season begins this weekend (check your local public television station for schedule times).
The Oregonian in 60 seconds: Fresh herbs, cooling drinks and an easy pasta salad

- The FoodDay staff create a culinary herb primer (although sadly, the guide seems to have lost all its formatting on the way to the internet) that tries to help the home cook use fresh herbs more effectively in their cooking.
- Once you know how the flavors of the herbs will complement your meals, you still might need help with storage, chopping and preserving. Once again, FoodDay steps in with helpful tips.
- Instead of turning to plain old lemonade to cool down this summer, try some of these cool herbal infusions. They've written recipes for Rosemary Lemonade, Basil Limeade and Watermelon Mint Cooler.
- Looking for a way to give your summer meals a quick kick? Herbal butters are a great way to go (really, how can you go wrong when butter is involved?). They've got seven recipes that utilize these compound butters and they'll keep your meals inspired for the rest of the season.
- The Vegetarian Flavors column offers up a Orecchiette With Green Beans, Potatoes and Basil that sounds filling and delicious (it also seems like it would make a great potluck dish).
The Oregonian's FoodDay in 60 seconds: Organic brews, grilled bread and quick dinners
Two brewers in Oregon have been trailblazers in the area of organic brewing and the movement is continuing to grow. - Grilling a slice of bread creates something slightly more transcendent than a mere piece of toast. Brushing it with olive oil prior to introducing it to the heat produces something that is wonderful under a tapanade or a spoonful of bruschetta.
- For a really special summer dessert, try this Pain au Chocolat made on the grill.
- Check out local bbq competitions, new grocery stores and fresh, local berries in today's In the Mix column.
- Early summer in Portland has more in common with November than July. Try these Crisp Polenta Cakes With Pinot Noir-Shiitake Gravy and Asparagus for a warming meal that incorporates all that is fresh and local.
- Need a protein-packed quick dinner? Look no further than the eggs in your fridge and whip up Herbed Vegetable and Goat Cheese Frittata.
The Oregonian in 60 seconds: Oregon cheese, barbecue and pork chops
Five Oregon cheeses that truly stand up above the crowd. - An Oregonian staffer tries her hand at making cheese. First comes a mozzarella class where she has mixed results, but an attempt at making chevre at home boosts her confidence and readies her for more cheesemaking accomplishments.
- Resources for the home cheesemaker. Once you've made the cheese, check out these recipes for ways to use it.
- The Market Basket's got tools of the barbecuing trade (perfect since the summer grilling season kicked off this weekend).
- Despite legal issues and a few health scares, people still want raw milk (and small dairies want to give it to them.
- Pork chops make for a quick, easy and delicious dinner. Pair them with some quickly cooked stone fruit (coming into season now) and you'll have yourself a tasty meal.
- Wine writer Alice Feiring is trying to stop the homogenization of wines, advocating instead a natural approach.
The Oregonian in 60 seconds: White asparagus, canned tomatoes and culinary multi-tasking

- White asparagus is a culinary world darling. It is grown so that the plants are shielded from the sun, never to develop chlorophyll, which would turn it green. Farmers harvest them under cover of darkness to preserve their creamy colorlessness.
- If you manage to get your hands on this delicacy, consider making Warm White Asparagus With Dungeness Crab, Poached Egg and Walnut Vinaigrette or Grilled White Asparagus With Pistachio "Pesto" and Balsamic Vinegar.
- Tomato season is still at least a month away, and so while you wait for the local ones to hit your markets, turn to canned whole peeled tomatoes. The FoodDay editors have done a taste test of some popular brands. Click here to check out the winners.
- Why are San Marzano tomatoes so darn special?
- Instead of calling for take-out midweek, do a little culinary multi-tasking on the weekend, to ensure that you have plenty of leftovers in the fridge all week long.
- We all know we should eat more whole grains, but when it comes to pasta, which tastes better? Whole wheat or whole grain?
Rising food prices impact everyone, not just the nuclear family

A couple of weeks ago, in my round-up of the Oregonian's FoodDay section, I linked to a story they ran about a budget eating challenge. In it, they asked four Portland-area families to reduce the amount of money they spent on food a week (without making mealtime a joyless experience) and document the experience.
At the time the story ran, I didn't think too much of the families that they chose to participate in the project, but soon after, it was pointed out to me by blogger and Slashfood reader Lelonopo (via twitter) that the Oregonian had only selected families that were white, straight and had children. As a lesbian woman without children, their selection made her feel invisible. Her comment got me thinking about how many different populations FoodDay had ignored when they selected their participants (and everyone has to eat, which would have made diversity in the pool an interesting and valuable thing).
She took her frustration and channeled it in a useful direction, penning a letter to the Oregonian (last one, on page two of the article) that was published today in an article that gathered an assortment of feedback about the article.
What do the rest of you think about the FoodDay's choice to only include white, hetersexual families with children? Who would you have liked to have seen?
The Oregonian in 60 seconds: Shopping on a budget and Lynne Rossetto Kasper

- A young mother finds a way to feed her family foods that are healthy, local and sustainable, all while lowering her food budget and reducing her environmental impact.
- A FoodDay staffer recalls her family's month in the low-budget challenge that was featured last week in the section. She saved more than $40 a week on groceries and discovered that her family was far more willing to try new foods than she ever thought before.
- Cookbook author and MPR cooking show host Lynne Rossetto Kasper sits down with FoodDay's Leslie Cole to talk about her favorite foods, her love of cooking and her new cookbook, How to Eat Supper.
- Fresh, young salad greens are starting to pop up and what better way to eat them than paired with mellow goat cheese.
- Fiddlehead ferns, nettles and broccoli rabe are starting to show up in the farmers markets.
- We know him as Jared, the man who lost an enormous amount of weight by only eating Subway sandwiches, but his accomplishment now is that he's kept the weight off for ten years.
The Oregonian in 60 seconds: Egg co-ops, breakfast for dinner and veggie biscuits and gravy

- Last year a local urban farm added an flock of hens to their land and started a co-op of neighborhood folks in order to have help taking care of the layers. The first year is almost up and it has been a huge success. (As I started reading this article, I realized with a small shock that the featured folks are long-time family friends. I love the smallness of the world some days).
- Local restaurants give a gourmet twist to the standard breakfast of bacon and eggs, serving them for dinner, and pairing them frisee or grilled bread for a gorgeous bruschetta.
- If you are feeling up for bacon and eggs, why not try your hand at biscuits and gravy? The FoodDay staff offers what they believe to be the best rendition of that class.
- We've all heard that nitrates aren't good for us, but we often don't know much more than that. Here's the well-researched story.
- In this meat-heavy section, they're offering some ways to shift the balance to lighter, vegetarian fare without losing the classic, comfort food qualities.
- Looking for a way to make chicken, that dinnertime standby, a little more interesting? J.M. Hirsch reviews Cook's Illustrated new cookbook devoted to the humble bird.
Local eating, soda bread and a Jewish quesadilla: Oregonian FoodDay in 60 seconds

- He thought he was heading towards Alice Waters' landmark restaurant, Chez Panisse, but instead Chef Marco Shaw of NE Portland's Fife Restaurant found himself captured by the relative ease and peace of Portland (not to mention a thriving restaurant scene).
- Rianne Buis lived in Portland for several years and found herself deeply addicted to the Irish Soda Bread from Grand Central Bakery. A move to Seattle left her without a soda bread source and so she determined to recreate Grand Central's version in her own kitchen.
- How best to use herbs in your cooking and keep them fresh in between uses.
- In the Mix offers info on local fundraiser, Take Back the Tap, on whether parenting styles can raise a child's risk of being obese and rounds up some happy hour deals.
- What could be better than using up your St. Paddy's Day leftovers in a corned beef quesadilla.
- Latkes are yummy but all the potato grating can cause bodily harm. Using spaghetti squash in place of the spuds saves your knuckles as well as your waistline.











