After returning from America’s burgeoning food mecca, Portland, Oregon, I was revitalized. It’s a town exploding with the latest food trends and farmer’s markets, shops selling the latest salts, pastry shops with artful pieces of sweets, and bakeries with crusty, flavorful breads. Throw in wines from Willamette Valley, seafood from the Pacific coast, and produce from nearby farms, you have the perfect mix and match of food nirvana. And don’t forget coffees and teas. It is now surpassing Seattle as the java capital of the Northwest. Roasters are flocking to this city to make a name for themselves as the next Howard Schultz.
And don’t forget food carts. Portland boasts the honor of having more than 400 carts around the city selling everything from cupcakes to Thai chicken over rice, to Greek souvlaki to Mexican lamb tacos. Going hungry in this town is just not possible. And food is reasonably priced. Food carts selling lunches for $6, and restaurants sell dinner for under $20 per entree. Glasses of wine are under $8 and the new wildly popular weekday Happy Hour rage from 4-6 pm allows you to have a glass of locally produced wine and 2 appetizers for under $12.00 found in most restaurants downtown, the Pearl and in the Southeast areas.
Restaurants are packed nightly, especially the more trendy spots. Breweries in the Pearl District are always a hot spot for late night bites and beers, along with doughnut shops open late where one stops for a thick ooey gooey cake or yeast delicacy.
It’s a dizzying array of ethnic cuisines. Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, Ethiopian, Italian, Cuban, Peruvian. It’s all here. All the time. And nowhere can you find the essence of Pacific Northwest cuisine and wines than in Portland’s finest eateries such as Higgins, The Heathman, Paley’s Place and Wildwood. A walk down NW 21st street is a maze of bakeries, pasta shops, breweries, coffee shops, and eateries. Twenty minute gentrified neighborhoods are popping up all over the four quadrants of the city. Twenty minute neighborhoods mean they are only 20 minutes from downtown, on a good day. Mississippi, Alameda, Belmont, Laurelhurst all boast their own prime restaurants, food carts and street markets.
And the farm to table concept is strong in this city. Restaurants that raise their own crops, restaurants that have a strong relationship with their growers and purveyors ask to have certain fruits and vegetables raised for their menus. It’s a close, symbiotic bonding for the farmer and the chef.
One such place is Ned Ludd’s. Simple decor. Simple menu. Simply prepared with their own produce and locally raised seafood and meats.
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| From blog |
It was a delightful afternoon of house made charcuterie, mixed greens and radishes from the back door garden,
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| From blog |
wood fired oven roasted pink trout with fresh fennel and leeks, and rhubarb cake.
Here is my version of the seafood with fennel and leeks. I made this dish with halibut this week, since fresh halibut is in season. It was ethereal. The light sauteeing of fish with the sauteed leeks and fennel created a dish ideal for spring entertaining. Easy, quick and can be made with a variety of fish - halibut, salmon, cod, sea bass. It’s a bit of the northwest on your plate.
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| From blog |
SEARED HALIBUT FILLETS WITH LEEKS AND FENNEL
1 pound halibut fillet, cut into 4 ounce servings
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teapsoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh fronds from fennel bulb
1 lemon, thinly sliced and then cut into quarters
Place the halibut fillets on work surface. In a bowl, combine the salt, pepper, oil, lemon juice and zest, and the fennel fronds.
Rub both sides of the halibut in the herb mixture. (Can be done hours ahead, then refrigerated.) Heat a large, nonstick skillet.
Place the halibut in the pan and sear both sides of fish for about 4-5 minutes per side. After turning the first time, top with the lemon slices and cover the skillet .
Serve at once with the vegetables on the bottom. Serves 4.
Note: Cook fish fillets for 8-10 minutes per 1″ thickness of each fillet. So a 1″ thick piece of fish takes about 8 minutes…don’t overcook.
VEGETABLES
2 tablespoons butter
2 leeks, white part only, cleaned and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 bulb fresh fennel, core removed and thinly sliced, fronds reserved
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
In a medium skillet, heat the butter. Saute the leeks, fennel, garlic, salt and pepper over low heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring often.
Vegetables should be soft. Serve the vegetables as a “bed” for the fish. Serves 4.
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| From blog |
