The Dining Report – Indish Where’s Lassi When You Need Her?

The Dining Report – Indish Where’s Lassi When You Need Her? First of all, I hate to disappoint you all, but this will be a rare review, one where I can’t begin by going on and on and on infinitive about the history of the Indish, or its neighborhood, or the space it occupies, because  I really [...]

The Good Old Days!

Nel Centro transformed a dive into a modern food palace, but the good old days have a way of echoing back. by Patrick Alan Coleman THE LAST TIME I was in the space currently occupied by Nel Centro, it was an inner-city motel dive bar. I was visiting from out of town on "business," smoking heavily and stirring up an affair in a naugahyde booth. A man played a tinkling, jazzy melody on a small electric piano. The patrons were drunk, haggard, and old. Nothing was clean. Many years later—after a thorough scrubbing and fierce remodel—Nel Centro offers almost no clue of the lowbrow watering…

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Tabor Food Cart

I am really beginning to like PDX Gwailo's Philosophy on Hamburgers:

Hey, in my mind, if it’s cooked meat in a bun, it’s a burger.

Being as it was “National Schnitzel Day,” I went for the Schnitzelburger, ok, they call it a SchnitzelWICH, but it’s cooked meat in a bun, so it’s a burger to me.

A lightly fried (HUGE) breaded pork cutlet, on a ciabatta with generous toppings of lettuce, a unique paprika spread, sauteed onions and horseradish. Usually I order my sandwiches plain, so I can see what the meat of the matter tastes like, but today I went with it loaded up the way they sell it. And it was grand.

It was almost 11AM and the lines were already starting to form at the hunk of food carts that sits between Stark and Oak, so I am glad I was early, the first customer at Tabor, and the wich was cooked to order.

Tabor Food Cart
5th and Stark

Christopher Israel to stage preview dinners at his upcoming restaurant

One of Portland's most acclaimed chefs will offer intimate six-course dinners in December, a taste of the "alpine cooking" to come at his downtown restaurant, Gruner.

Thanksgiving Dinner Roundup 2009

Don't know where to go for Thanksgiving dinner this year? Here is our complete list from every press release I've gotten this year. I've also included some businesses selling turkeys, pies, etc.

Andina: This Thanksgiving, for the first time, Rodriguez de Platt and her family will honor the holiday with a prix fixe menu featuring celebrated favorites, as well as specials that speak fluently the language of two distinct cultures. Thanksgiving at Andina will be a truly special evening

The Sapphire Hotel

I owe this place. I've been wanting to blog it for months. I started at one point, then failed to finish. This post won't do it any justice at all, but (like I said) I owe, so I write.

The Sapphire Hotel (5008 SE Hawthorne) has been a fixture for a long time as a place to get drinks and have dinner. Over the last few months, however, they've become one of my main places to go for breakfast on the weekend.

What's good? First of all, the space is nice.



The service is great, too. The people there recognize you, since the breakfast is still somewhat undiscovered. This is followed by a fine beverage selection (I'm a fan of the Bloody Mick, a Bloody Mary garnished with bacon salt and a hunk of steak), though I've found working your way through the drink menu isn't a bad idea.



The food options are good. The Bistro Steak and Eggs (pictured) is forgettable and I'd recommend against it.



However, the Mediterranean Benedict is wonderful (and super-filling), and most everything else on the menu has great merit to it; I've found nothing else I'd warn against. The prices are fine as well.

This isn't a great review, because it wasn't written in the moment. However, I'm a huge fan of The Sapphire Grill for breakfast, and commend it to you for your own experience.

Mustard-glazed ham and browned cabbage

So, about a year ago, we posted a recipe for Spiced Apple Cider with Vodka and Vanilla which we had gotten from New Scandinavian Cooking with Tina Nordström. In that post, we mentioned that she also made a mustard glazed ham with browned cabbage, and that we'd probably post the recipe soon. Well, that was about ten and a half months ago, so I guess our idea of soon is a little different than most peoples'. To be honest, there aren't many meals I enjoy more than this one, and it's really simple, so for sure give it a try.

Ham

Ingredients

• 1 ham (or portion thereof)
• Stone-ground brown mustard
• Bread crumbs
• Thin ginger cookies, crushed into crumbs

Directions

1. Set oven to broil.
2. If ham is not cooked, boil it until done. If ham is cooked, good.
3. Coat outside of ham generously with stone-ground mustard.
4. Cover top of ham with bread crumbs and crushed ginger cookies.
5. Put ham in oven to broil for about 4-5 minutes, just until the mustard and bread crumbs form a nice crust on top.
6. Remove from oven, slice and serve.

Cabbage

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 head white cabbage, chopped roughly
• 1/2 cup Apple Cider
• 2-3 tbsp Honey
• 2-3 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a skillet, heat butter and olive oil, then add chopped cabbage.
2. Sautee cabbage about 10-15 minutes over medium to medium-high heat, until cabbage is moderately browned.
3. Add apple cider, honey and balsamic vinegar, and continue to sautee until most of the liquid evaporates.
4. Salt and pepper cabbage to taste.
5. Serve next to slices of ham.

Where an amateur drinker goes to a cider pairing dinner

A few weeks ago, I got an invitation to a dinner at Davis Street Tavern, showcasing Crispin Cider. It sounded good. And I thought, this will be a good opportunity to meet people and not say stupid things. And network. Since you are going to be unemployed like any minute. Also, to eat delicious food. Which is actually the highest priority. I mean, who cares if I ever work again, as long as I get to eat fabulous food. Right? I see you nodding your head and rubbing your belly. Of course right.

So when I got there, they were passing out cocktails - the Crispin Mule: vodka, lime, ginger and light hard apple cider. I held it in my hand, nervous to drink because 1. remember how I am a lightweight and not an expert drinker, or even really a drinker at all? 2. I hadn't really eaten all day 3. what if I get tipsy before dinner and say stupid things, which would defeat one of my major goals for the evening. So I took baby sips and chatted with some lovely people and I largely avoided saying anything stupid.

When we finally sat down, they brought out a big, tall, overwhelming glass of Crispin Brut cider and a plate of Kumamoto Oysters with apple mignonette and trout roe. The cider was very delicious and went with the oysters (oh and I was an oyster virgin before this dinner. I like them!) and the mignonette quite well. I took about two sips of the cider and set it aside with my nearly full cocktail. Around this time my head started buzzing just a bit. (Stop laughing. I'm not kidding. It can happen THAT fast. When you are like me.)

Next course: Pan Roasted Quail with quinoa and hazelnut stuffing, chestnut puree, sauteed escarole and marionberry gastrique. Oh. And another big, tall glass of cider. This time, it was the Original cider. I had never had quail before, but it was quite lovely and packed full of flavor. The chestnut puree was very hearty - I think I want to try to make it sometime. It added a bit of heft to the dainty course. Incredible flavors all merged together in my mouth and the cider was a perfect complement. Again, I set aside my nearly full cider glass next to the two other drinks by my plate. I was looking in awe at the people around me who were drinking all of their drinks. How do they do it? Ah well. Next.

Grilled pork loin with grilled figs, butternut squash and marcona almond puree. This was the star of the dinner - the juciest, most flavorful pork loin I have ever had, popped with a spicy, red-pepper flake spiked dish of butternut squash and the intense mellowness (it seems a contradiction, I know. But it's not. Just go with it, okay?) of the almond puree. Oh. And another big tall glass of cider. Honey Crisp. This cider made the biggest impression on me because I could really taste the honey and it was very nice with the pork. Very. Two sips, set aside.

My plate was now surrounded by three full glasses of cider and a cocktail. I was starting to feel bad. But I didn't want to get drunk and sloppy and unable to walk or drive just so I wouldn't hurt someone's feelings. That would be super bad form, right? I was thrilled when the waitress offered to remove my embarrassment. "It's a bit overwhelming, isn't it?" she said in an understanding voice, as she put the glasses on her tray.

At this point I was so full. So full. But dessert was next. I was enjoying listening to people around me and at some point, I started talking about Greece. But I was nervous, you know, talking to people, because that's scary and I think my voice got kind of loud and my face got red as I talked about how much I loved it. The girl next to me had traveled all over and she probably thought I was silly, getting all excited over Greece, because she talked about traveling through Europe as if it was a completely normal thing that everyone does and she clearly did not get four-year-old-giddy over it like I did, even though she was probably half my age. Okay, maybe not half. But something young. I wonder if I will ever be as nonchalant and sophisticated about traveling as she is. I'm going with NOT.

Oh and then, as I nibbled on the breathtaking soft ginger snaps with sage whipped cream, someone said something about my blog and I didn't quite hear it but I laughed anyway. Then I realized they might be waiting for a response, so I said, "I'm sorry, what did you say? I didn't quite hear you." She said: "I can't wait to read what you write about this dinner." Oh she was nice. I laughed as my face turned 40 shades of red and I filled my mouth with the cookie so I couldn't talk anymore. The drink they brought for dessert was like a hot buttered rum, but it was made with the Crispin Honey Crisp cider. One sip and I was done for. I could not eat or drink. One. More. Morsel.

A few people gave me their business cards. I had none. But I guess I should get some for my little blog, huh? Seeing as I'm going to be spending a lot more time with it in the coming months. So, I said thank you and good bye. What a delicious dinner. I will have to go back to Davis St. Tavern to taste their regular menu - the chef, who designed the dinner to go with the ciders, did an exceptional job.

**Disclaimer: Crispin Cider invited me to this dinner and paid for it. They did not tell me to write anything about it and I seriously doubt they expected me to write a big long blog post about how I'm not a good drinker. But thanks to them and Davis St. Tavern just the same.

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