 The Raccoon Lodge and Brew Pub in Southwest Portland has been rebranded to The Lodge at Cascade Brewing. A new neon sign debuted outside the building late last year. Photo courtesy of Cascade Brewing By Jim McLaren For the Oregon Beer Growler The sign was eye-popping. A stack of metal beer kegs holding up a neon raccoon’s head. The stack is still there on Southwest Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway in Portland. But the raccoon head is gone, now in storage. The name of the place is new, too. The Raccoon Lodge and Brew Pub has morphed into The Lodge at Cascade Brewing. Owner Art Larrance says the 19-year-old brewery had lost its identity. “Some people thought it was a family restaurant. Some people didn’t even know it was a brewery.” And that is befuddling, considering all Larrance is to beer in Oregon. He’s a founding member of the craft beer industry, he’s run the Oregon Brewers Festival and he’s introduced us all to the devilishly tasty sour beers at Portland’s Cascade Brewing Barrel House. In other words, the man has a lot of cred when it comes to beer. But he also knows a reputation won’t necessarily make you any money. And a brewery needs money like a brewer needs water. So, it was time for change. But cautiously. While the new name and sign are attention grabbers, the serious newness is subtle, comfortable. “There are positives that come with change, and I think when the whole team is behind it and looks forward to it, it makes the change easier,” said Michael Mathis, Cascade’s head brewer. “And when people come in, they realize it’s not a huge change, things haven’t been turned upside down.” One change is behind the bar. There are more sours on tap. For many beer fans, these are the flavors that define Cascade. For Mathis, the beers also have to blend into something else Cascade is doing: dressing up an already tasty menu. “A lot of it is education in knowing what beers are going to work best with food.” Alfredo Godinez is chef at The Lodge. He has two priorities. First, echoing Art Larrance, he says, “I look at what sells, what we don’t sell … whatever people come in and ask for, do I have that?”  Cascade Brewing uses its Portland Ale in the cheese sauce that covers a dish made up of chicken, bacon and macaroni. Photo by Jim McLaren Godinez knows to make sure Cascade has plenty of pizza and wings for folks shooting pool, watching sports or who just want to sit back and relax. But he is also creating dishes that complement the beer. “The day before I want to feature a dish, I sample the beer to make sure I’m going to get what I want the next day because we do everything from scratch. Nothing is pre-done.” The one-time wine country chef aims for the same love and care Mathis puts into his beer. Godinez emphasizes that quality is key. “You’ve got to give your customers the best,” he explained. “You’ve got to be fresh all the time. I don’t want to get frozen meat or frozen fish. I want something fresh and local. It can be tough. Produce is seasonal.” Making beer and making a meal have at least one thing in common — both involve cooking. Mathis appreciates what he’s learned from chefs: putting flavors together and applying that to brewing. Godinez also likes that challenge. For instance, how do you match fish and sour beer? “It is tough,” both Mathis and Godinez chuckle as the chef recalls using one of Cascade’s wild ales to go with salmon. “Flavor-wise, we have the honey salmon with chipotle, so it’s matched up with the honey, ginger and lime.” “So,” I ask while staring at the food in front of me, “what did you whip up for me today?” The three-course meal starts with Beer Cheese Chicken Bacon Macaroni. Godinez explains writing the recipe involved taste testing and two other beers were sampled before the kitchen settled on Portland Ale. That beer uses two different malts and hops to balance nicely with the cheese sauce covering the bacon and chicken. I usually think of mac and cheese as a soft dish, nothing crunchy. But the broccoli in the Cascade version adds snap. The Portland Ale has enough flavor to remind you it’s also in the cheese sauce while not overwhelming the dish.  The burger at The Lodge at Cascade Brewing is a monster stuffed with a fresh Angus beef patty, guacamole, bacon, onions and tomatoes. Photo by Jim McLaren The monster on a bun, sticking its bacon tongue out at me, is Godinez’s spin on a Cascade mainstay: the hamburger. He repeats his mantra by emphasizing the need for fresh Angus beef. Also between the upper and lower halves of a toasted brioche bun is … everything! So what could possibly stand up to the best-tasting burger I’ve taken a bite out of in some time? “Our 2016 Sang Royal,” Mathis says, beaming. For this creation, the brewer aged the sour beer on pinot noir grapes in oak barrels for more than 18 months. And the beer does what you want it to. Take a bite of burger and while your tongue tries to sort out the confusion of beef, guacamole, bacon, onions, tomatoes and dressing flavors, take a drink of Sang Royal. The acidity in the beer peels those flavors away and sets you up for another bite. Finishing off this remarkable lunch is another example of how beer makes all things better. Creme Brulee is another one of those dishes I think of as soft food. Yes, it does have a crunchy, caramelized crust, but inside it’s all eggy and creamy. But try it with Cascade’s Brews of a Feather. All of sudden your mouth is full of coffee and vanilla and sugar sweetness. There is something special happening at The Lodge at Cascade Brewing. It’s not just a new label on an old package. It’s another step up for a leader in Oregon’s signature industry. Beer Cheese Chicken Bacon Macaroni Paired with Cascade Brewing Portland Ale By Chef Alfredo Godinez INGREDIENTS 5 ounces grilled chicken breast 3 ounces smoked bacon 2 ounces broccoli 2 ounces fresh tomatoes 2 ounces parmesan cheese 6 ounces beer cheese sauce DIRECTIONS --Cook 1 1/2 cups macaroni in boiling salted water until tender; drain. --Melt cheese; add beer to taste. --Chop grilled chicken breast, smoked bacon, broccoli, tomatoes. --Mix macaroni with beer cheese sauce. --On plate, top macaroni with tomatoes, broccoli, bits of bacon and shaved parmesan.  Pairing a creme brulee with Cascade Brewing’s Brews of a Feather brings out notes of coffee and vanilla. Photo by Jim McLaren Guacamole Bacon Burger
Paired with Cascade Brewing Sang Royal 2016 By Chef Alfredo Godinez INGREDIENTS Brioche bun, toasted 2 ounces guacamole Smoked bacon 1/2 pound beef patty 2 slices tomato Red onion slices, to taste Leaf of lettuce Thousand Island dressing DIRECTIONS --Cook patty according to personal preference. --Layer patty and condiments on top of brioche bun. Creme Brulee Paired with Brews of a Feather By Chef Alfredo Godinez INGREDIENTS 2 cups heavy cream 4 large eggs 1 vanilla bean, split in half 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1/4 cup white sugar DIRECTIONS --Prepare custard mixing slightly beaten eggs with sugar and cream. --Cook over hot, but not boiling, water. Stir until mixture coats spoon. --Immediately cool. --Scrape in seeds from split vanilla bean. --Stir in vanilla extract. --Pour into individual ramekins; place in shallow pan of icy water. --Broil 8 inches from heat until top begins to bubble. The Lodge at Cascade Brewing 7424 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Highway, Portland 503-296-0110 lodgeatcascade.com
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 To add some robust flavor to a french onion soup, use a roasty porter like Deschutes Black Butte in your recipe. Photos by Ezra Johnson-Greenough By Ezra Johnson-Greenough For the Oregon Beer Growler When bringing craft beer into your holiday meal planning, it’s not as simple as grabbing a bottle of your favorite winter seasonal and a turkey leg. If you consider how flavors match up and even how beer can bring out hidden notes or enhance savory and sweet classics, then you’ll be handsomely rewarded. Porter French Onion Soup I love pairing Alaskan Brewing’s award-winning Smoked Porter with my turkey dinner each year, but what if I added it to the actual recipe instead? I recommend a not-too-bitter malty and roasty porter like Deschutes Black Butte in broths and sauces — or in this instance, a soul-warming French onion soup. Preparing this salty, beefy and satisfying classic with beer is easy, but taking the time to first slowly caramelize the onions with butter is worth it. This recipe for Porter French Onion Soup will make enough for at least six people. INGREDIENTS 2 pounds onions, preferably sweet onions with one white onion for pungency 2 garlic cloves 1 cube beef bouillon 4 bay leaves 1 12-ounce or 22-ounce bottle of porter 8 quarts beef broth 1 cup unsalted butter 2 fresh sprigs of thyme and/or rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce 1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon paprika 4 tablespoons flour DIRECTIONS --Add cup of unsalted butter to large pot, then add 2 pounds of onions sliced into thin half-circles. Keep heat at a simmer and make sure there’s plenty of oil from the butter or add a little olive or vegetable oil, if necessary. --Cook onions until they turn a deep golden brown. Add two finely chopped garlic cloves. Onions are ready when fully brown, but not burnt. When edges turn black, remove from heat and add broth. To prevent burning but still allowing to caramelize, add plenty of butter or oil, stirring every few minutes. --Once onions are caramelized, add 12-16 ounces of porter and all of beef broth. Chop bay leaves, slice garlic and add to pot. Add paprika and single cube or large tablespoon of beef bouillon. --Turn heat up to medium to reach low, steady boil. Once the carbonation is knocked out of the beer and everything is melding, add Worcestershire and black pepper. Tie together fresh sprigs of rosemary and thyme with twine and add to pot or sprinkle dried version of herbs. --Continue simmering and stirring every 5 minutes for 20-30 minutes as liquid begins to evaporate and flavors meld. Pull out spoonful and taste balance of spices. If needed, add salt. Slowly stir in four tablespoons of flour to thicken. --To serve, use oven-safe bowl. Toast French baguette or other small slice of bread with garlic butter and place on top of soup. Top that with slice of creamy cheese, such as provolone, gruyere or Munster and cook in oven until cheese melts and bread edges are crisp. Then, enjoy.  Don’t worry, mashed potatoes made with IPA won’t be too bitter. Be sure to use a beer with grassier hops that will add bright herbaceous notes. IPA Mashed Potatoes I could go the obvious route with my second holiday recipe and prepare a beer-brined turkey, but that’s been done to death. Instead, I’ll focus on the bedding of any holiday meal that’s arguably just as important as the main dish and that’s the mashed potatoes. If you’re worried the IPA will make your mashed potatoes too bitter, relax and have a homebrew. It will just make them brighter and more herbaceous. Since I just happened to have a bottle of Deschutes Sagefight IPA on hand, it made for the perfect choice. But if you don’t have that handy, I suggest using an IPA with greener/grassier hops, perhaps something with some garlicky Mosaic hops like Breakside Wanderlust IPA. INGREDIENTS 2 tablespoons olive oil 4 garlic cloves 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup IPA 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 bay leaves 4 sage leaves 1 sprig fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary 1 1/2 cups cream DIRECTIONS --Wash skin and poke holes in potatoes, then add to salted, boiling water until they soften and start to break down. Pour out liquid through pasta strainer, then add leftover potatoes to same pot with olive oil and butter. --Peel garlic skins and chop finely or push cloves through garlic press. Add to pot along with IPA. --Cook on low-to-medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring and gently mashing potatoes until softer. --Add cream and chopped/torn herbs or dried herbs. Also add black pepper and salt. Raise heat to just below medium and keep stirring to avoid burning potatoes at bottom of pot. Add salt and herbs to taste.  Vegan amber ale gravy is just as tasty as the meat-based stuff and it’s healthier. Vegan Amber Ale Gravy
I am a meat eater myself and if you are too, it’s hard to beat a gravy using real drippings from your holiday turkey. But this is a tasty, healthier alternative that’s better than anything you’d buy in the store. For beer selection you could go with a cheap macro lager, but for more flavor I recommend a sweet malty amber or spiced fall/winter seasonal like a pumpkin ale or even an Oktoberfest beer. INGREDIENTS 2 medium onions (I chose one yellow and one white) 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar 3/4 tablespoon herbes de Provence, dried 1 1/2 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon sea or kosher salt 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon black pepper 2 cups vegetable broth 1 tablespoon vegan butter 12 ounce amber ale or spiced fall/winter seasonal 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 sprig thyme leaves 1/2 teaspoon oregano, dried DIRECTIONS --Chop onions and add to medium-to-large pot with olive oil coating bottom. Chop or press garlic cloves and add to pot with herbes de Provence, Worcestershire, paprika, pepper and salt. --Cook over low-to-medium heat. As pot warms, pour beer over ingredients slowly, followed by 1 cup vegetable broth. --Bring heat up slowly to simmer. Stir frequently to keep onions from burning. Wait until they look soft, then turn off heat. --After it’s cooled a bit, pour all ingredients in blender and puree for 45 seconds. Pour puree back into pot and rinse with 1 cup vegetable broth, adding that to pot. --Turn up heat until puree reaches low boil. Add vegan butter, oregano, thyme, Worcestershire and brown sugar. Keep stirring to blend and prevent burning. Slowly stir in cornstarch. --Turn down heat to low simmer and cook for another 15 minutes or until gravy looks thick.  Stickmen Brewing's newest location in Tualatin has 16 varieties of pizza and will soon be home to a 30-barrel brewing system. Photos by Andi Prewitt // Oregon Beer Growler By Andi Prewitt Of the Oregon Beer Growler Tim Schoenheit likes variety. That’s while you’ll find anywhere from 16-20 of his beers on tap at either the Stickmen Tualatin Beer Hall or the original location in Lake Oswego. There are 16 varieties of pizza on the menu at the newer site. But if you’re still not convinced that Schoenheit craves change, just scroll through the list naming batches of Stickmen past. It’ll take you a while. There are dozens upon dozens of brews archived. “As many beers as we possibly put on, I like them to stand alone. If someone didn’t know, I’d like them to think that they could’ve all come from a different brewery,” Schoenheit explained. “Because that homogeneous flavor profile, I’m not really into. I like things to be different.” And different is what he hopes customers will enjoy when it comes to their wood-fired pizza experience at the Beer Hall, whether stopping in for a quick, post-work pint or staying for the long haul to watch Sunday football projected onto a towering white wall near the entrance. Pizza is serious business in the Portland area these days. Every shop is trying to stand out in a market crowded with chefs vying for a spot on a top 10 list. There’s heirloom-tomato this and Detroit-style- (I’m square-shaped!) that. Hell, even Chuck E. Cheese’s announced a while back that it was adding new toppings and an expanded alcohol selection to woo millennials. So what does Stickmen, a business that once focused on skewers, have to offer when it comes to the overpopulated world of pizza? Turns out, some authentic Italian-inspired flavor and a whole lot of choice. There’s a lot of room for growth in the hulking 26,000-square-foot warehouse situated in an industrial area of Tualatin. By early December, the 30-barrel system (Metalcraft Fabrication’s last full installation) should be up and running following electrical and plumbing work. For now, then, the focus of this space — the spirit and the warmth — is the oven. Its open hearth is enveloped by walls shaped like an igloo, hiding internal elements that were imported from Italy. Schoenheit didn’t stop there with the European influences. The styles of most of his pies are modeled after those he ate in northern Italy while living there with his family during graduate school. “This pizza just kind of emulates what we had there,” said Schoenheit. If that was his Eat, Study, Love saga — the last part took hold when he developed a passion for the cooking method. Schoenheit couldn’t go back to making a pizza without flames, so he sought to recreate the experience upon returning to Oregon. “When we moved back here, we remodeled the house and I put a wood-fired pizza oven in my kitchen. So I was doing a lot of these pizzas — we’d have pizza parties.”  Stickmen’s Red Kit has a slight smokiness that complements the savory pancetta atop its Affumicata pizza. Consider the Beer Hall a super-sized Schoenheit house party, then. One of his favorite varieties that Stickmen offers is the Varese, named for the town he stayed in while abroad. Layered with tomato sauce, mozzarella, gorgonzola and arugula — it was his family’s go-to order. A pie Stickmen makes with overlapping ingredients that’s a bit lighter is the Pear Gorgonzola. Olive oil replaces the red base and layered atop that is gooey mozzarella. You’ll find yourself searching for bites of gorgonzola dolce — its soft milkiness mingles with a tang that’s lulled by a slight sweetness. Thin slices of the cream-colored fruit introduce a brief pop of sugar and then fade. Three hop varieties in the Stickmen IPA provide citrus notes to cut through the rich cheese while offering a whisper of bitterness and a hint of pine to finish. A nest of vibrant green arugula adds sharpness when compared to the restrained hops — an appreciated brightness next to the dairy. Like sea salt on a caramel, the savory, thin crust adds counterbalance to the pear and gorgonzola. Another pairing was an homage, in a way, to the smoldering logs inside Schoenheit’s pizza oven. Red Kit is bold from the get go. Its smokiness and juicy hops build to a bonfire — the beer is warm and inviting but exciting enough to keep the party going after dark. The Affumicata adds kindling in the form of smoked mozzarella and pancetta. A mere one-to-two minutes in the 900-degree oven gives the dough a smattering char that’s enhanced by the Northwest-style red ale. There’s not a lot to this pizza, but it doesn’t need much to reach an elegant simplicity. The dry-cured ham comes out glistening and once you taste it you could easily envision the pale pink slices finding their way into a delicate Sunday morning brunch of eggs Benedict. You’re sure to order at least one pizza this football season. It’s a game-day staple. During Super Bowl alone, a well-known national chain sells more than 11 million slices to hungry fans. Schoenheit sums up why it’s such a solid food choice when playing the part of sports spectator: “Well, it’s sharable and you don’t need a plate. And you can eat it with one hand. Like with a sandwich, you might need two hands. So where are you going to put your beer?” Take that, sandwiches. It’s team pizza for the win. And now you can find a rustic slice of Italy in the form of wood-fired pies hidden in a Portland suburb.  The restrained bitterness of Stickmen IPA pairs well with the delicate pear notes and creamy gorgonzola on one of its wood-fired pizzas. Affumicata Pizza
Paired with Stickmen Brewing Company Red Kit Northwest Red Ale By Chef Robert Studer INGREDIENTS 8 ounces pizza dough 1 ounce extra virgin olive oil 3 ounces smoked mozzarella 2 ounces smoked pancetta 1/2 ounce parmesan reggiano DIRECTIONS -Place flour on flat surface and roll dough about 1/4 inch thick. -Place rolled out dough on pizza peel. -Brush dough with extra virgin olive oil. -Add smoked mozzarella. -Cook pizza until cheese is melted and dough is cooked all the way through. -Add pancetta and parmesan. Pear Gorgonzola Pizza Paired with Stickmen Brewing Company Stickmen IPA By Chef Robert Studer INGREDIENTS 8 ounces pizza dough 3 ounces shredded mozzarella 3 pears, fresh 1 1/2 ounces gorgonzola dolce 1/4 ounce extra virgin olive oil 1 ounce arugula DIRECTIONS -Place flour on flat surface and roll dough about 1/4 inch thick. -Place rolled out dough on pizza peel. -Brush dough with extra virgin olive oil. -Add shredded mozzarella. -Layer thinly sliced pears around pizza. -Add gorgonzola around pears. -Cook pizza until cheese is melted and dough is cooked all the way through. -Top with arugula to serve. Stickmen Brewing Company's Tualatin Beer Hall 19475 SW 118th Ave., Tualatin 503-486-7197 stickmenbeer.com/home-beer-hall  Three Creeks Firestorm Red Ale, with its balance of Munich malts and bitter kick, pairs well with the smoky Outlaw Barbecue Burger layered in caramelized onions, pickles and slabs of bacon. Photos by Andi Prewitt // Oregon Beer Growler By Andi Prewitt Of the Oregon Beer Growler “There’s nothing wrong with being familiar.” That assessment by Three Creeks head brewer Zach Beckwith is spot on in describing much of our daily existence. The familiar propels routines and gets the job done. It’s where we find comfort and relief. But in an industry where trends drive business and customers are willing to abandon what they know for the opportunity to try what they don’t, “familiar” might sound downright pejorative. “There’s so much now,” Beckwith said of beer selection and variety, “it’s almost seen as negative if you’re ‘the same.’ ” That’s not to say Three Creeks Brewing Company doesn’t experiment or release one-offs. But for Beckwith and his team of six, it’s all about fine-tuning rather than jumping on bandwagons. In other words, don’t expect any Orange Julius-style IPAs that have surged in popularity lately coming out of this Sisters brewery. You might just reframe its beer as “classic” instead of “familiar” if the latter sounds a tad dull. But when you’ve spent three hours in a cramped car on your way to Bend for a weekend vacation, it’s nice to have a reliable pit stop before the final 30 minutes of the journey. And Three Creeks is always there for the weary traveler who is looking for something familiar. With the Central Oregon summer tourist season having come to an end and the apres-ski crowd awaiting adequate snowpack, early fall might be an opportune time to visit Three Creeks. On Thursday, Nov. 2, the business will host its biannual Brewer’s Dinner, the highlight of which will be a pairing of complementary flavors found in Frontier Justice Coffee Stout — Beckwith’s favorite and a collaboration with Sisters Coffee Roasters — alongside braised short rib with a coffee rub. Even if you can’t make it to that event, there’s the filling and the familiar that spills across the rest of the menu, which must fill both hungry families in the rustic dining room as they pause while passing through town and locals at the coppertop bar after they clock out for the day. A dense burger would be ordered happily by either party, so it’s no wonder there is an array of five to choose from. But in Sisters, where every building looks like it’s been lifted from its foundation in Walt Disney’s Frontierland (if Frontierland had an old-timey Ray’s Food Place and McDonald’s), there’s one obvious sandwich to get: the Outlaw Barbecue Burger. It arrives with the top bun barely clinging to the back of the patty — resembling Pac-Man trying to gobble down a monster-sized pellet. This gives you a better view of what rests atop the ground chuck patty: melted Tillamook Pepper Jack Cheese, two strips of soft and chewy bacon arranged in an “X” marking the spot for a tumble of grilled onions — their caramelization melding with the sweet smokiness of a Hoodoo Voodoo IPA barbecue sauce. Beckwith’s Firestorm Red is a beer that embraces the smoldering notes of the Outlaw. Its copper hue may trick you into thinking it is sweet and heavy, but this is an ale that would have a typical Oregon IPA fan asking for another. It took Beckwith a few years to find just the right balance between the malt and hop character, but last year’s recipe made him happy and he’s stuck with it. The bitterness of the red is enhanced by the burger, though it never loses its backbone of Munich malts. Together, they resemble the essence of an autumn campfire in your mouth. For a departure from pub fare that’s still a warm hug for your stomach when the temperatures drop, look to the Thai Chicken Rice Bowl. Its flavors come at you like a South Pacific typhoon. The heat of red curry begins to tingle before a cooling coconut milk hits at just the right time. Both ingredients are combined in a creamy sauce that creates a bath for tender slabs of chicken breast, earthy mushrooms, green bell peppers and zucchini. A mountain of rice rises from the center of the dish; sprigs of cilantro and shredded carrot rest on its plateau. Don’t hesitate to dive into the pretty plating — topple the mound and mix everything together until well-coated in the sauce. There’s even fun to be had with the textural counterpoints of crunchy and soft, meaty and snappy. Crowdpleaser IPA is the best fit for the variety of ingredients in the Rice Bowl. Three Creeks gave the people what they wanted with this modernized take on the style: “sexy hops, higher alcohol,” said Beckwith. He added that Sorachi Ace hops bring out hints of lemon rind and dill in the beer, which play well with the citrus from Mosaics. The curry gets a kick after each sip of IPA while a bite with bright cilantro pushes back with a slight sweetness. So if this is what familiarity breeds — pub food with character and beers that are tinkered with until they reach as close to perfection as possible — there’s nothing to dismiss here. “To me, the mark of a great beer is if you have a pint and you want a second pint,” Beckwith said. Brewing fads will come and go, but Beckwith is working on the long game: making sure you want another round.  The hop profile in the Crowdpleaser IPA enhances the curry heat in Three Creeks’ Thai Chicken Rice Bowl, which also contains some cooling coconut milk. Outlaw Barbecue Burger
By Chef Mark Perry Paired with Three Creeks Firestorm Red Ale INGREDIENTS One 8-ounce burger patty 1 slice pepper jack cheese 2 ounces barbecue sauce 2 slices thick-sliced cooked bacon 1/4 cup caramelized onion DIRECTIONS --Precook bacon strips. --Caramelize sliced onions. --Cook burger on grill, then top with barbecue sauce, cheese, bacon and onions. --Continue cooking until cheese melts. Thai Chicken Rice Bowl By Chef Mark Perry Paired with Three Creeks Crowdpleaser IPA INGREDIENTS 1 ounce sesame oil 3 ounces sliced mushrooms 2 ounces zucchini 2 ounces bell pepper mix 8 ounces coconut curry sauce (see separate directions below) 6 ounces chicken breast 4 ounces rice 2 sprigs cilantro 1 ounces shredded carrot DIRECTIONS --Heat olive oil in saute pan and add vegetables. --Saute for 2 minutes and add coconut curry sauce. --Meanwhile, heat chicken on flat top. --Slice cooked chicken breast and toss with veg mix. --Pour chicken and veg mix into large soup bowl. --Place rice in center of bowl. --Garnish with cilantro and carrot. INGREDIENTS For the Coconut Curry Sauce: 2 tablespoons sesame oil 1/2 yellow onion 1 teaspoon chopped garlic 2 cups chicken stock 1 tablespoon chopped ginger 1 can coconut milk 1 tablespoon red curry paste 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 bunch chopped cilantro DIRECTIONS --Heat sesame oil in heavy pot. --Add onion and garlic and saute for 3 minutes over medium heat. --Stir in chicken stock with base. --Add ginger, coconut milk, curry paste and brown sugar. --Simmer for 10 minutes. --Add cilantro and simmer while stirring another 10 minutes. Three Creeks Brewing Company 721 S. Desperado Court, Sisters 541-549-1963 threecreeksbrewing.com  City Slickers food cart on Southeast Tacoma Street is one of several dozen eateries participating in Portland BLT Week, Oct. 1-8. Photos by Jim McLaren By Jim McLaren For the Oregon Beer Growler Let’s be honest. The best food you’ve ever eaten was cooked by your mother. Oh sure, maybe every meal wasn’t great — maybe not even all that edible — but there was at least one thing she could put together that had you drooling from the moment you caught a whiff of it coming from the kitchen. That’s comfort food. Perhaps it was cookies or homemade soup or mac and cheese (not the kind in the blue box). This was the stuff you’d want to light up a dark, dreary day or to warm your insides after confronting a chilly outside world. That’s the kind of eating Leah Tucker specializes in. “I do classic, Americana comfort food.” Leah, her hair pulled back by a red bandana, is grilling onions inside her mobile kitchen at the Piknik Park Food Cart Pod on Southeast Tacoma Street in Portland. Her business is called City Slickers. “The concept behind City Slickers is city-specific, iconic food. I do big-name foods that people should recognize: Philly cheesesteaks, Chicago Italian beef sandwiches, New York dirty water dogs, L.A. street dogs. And my current claim to fame is Cincinnati chili.” The onions are beginning to sizzle as Leah slices through a roll of pillowy soft bread. “So it’s these big flavors and foods that you grew up with and as a society, a culture, as a country we’ve grown up with. These are things that were introduced into our society decades ago and for whatever reason they have made a name for themselves and stuck with us. We still love them and we carry them with us wherever we go. We transplant from the Midwest or the East Coast or from California, to anywhere else, we want to see those foods. We want those foods — we crave them.” Despite how tasty and stomach-filling the beef sandwich is that Leah has handed me, it wasn’t what brought me to her food cart. There’s another menu item I’m curious about, and to learn more about that my first stop was actually at Portland’s StormBreaker Brewing. This was a day on which North Mississippi Avenue felt like the Mississippi Delta. It was hot and humid — the first day of the heart-stopping heatwave in August. But not even triple-digit heat could wilt Steven Shomler’s enthusiasm for what he has planned for cooler days in October — the first Portland BLT Week. “Celebrating the glory that is the BLT,” he said. “The BLT is actually my favorite sandwich.” For those who don’t know, Steven has written books, hosts a weekly program on the Portland Radio Project, produces podcasts on beer and food, and markets the stuffing out of anything having to do with Oregon food and drink. In August, he promoted Portland Burger Week. “I work hard to serve people, work hard to care for them. And I love to celebrate the things that I love.” The ex-corporate banker had just wrapped up a meeting with the owners of StormBreaker and was enjoying one of their beers as he explained how he began organizing Portland BLT Week in January. Of the 40 restaurants and food carts that asked to be included, Steven chose 30. But the menu doesn’t end there. A special beer and bacon confection are also on the menu courtesy of The Commons Brewery and Blue Star Donuts. Steven was talking to Salt & Straw about an event-themed ice cream as well. In some ways, Portland BLT Week is a DIY event. It won’t be held at one location. Like Portland Burger Week, it’s a mad dash to see how many sandwiches you can scarf down during a limited period of time. Here’s the thing, though, BLTs are like anything homemade. They are comfort food because they are familiar. The same three ingredients are a must. But there’s always room for variation, as Steven illustrates when asked how he takes them. “If I make one at home? I like cracked wheat sourdough. I like iceberg lettuce. I like Bests Foods Mayonnaise. I like sliced tomatoes and pepper bacon. Very simple. Maybe some avocado.” But are you a food adventurer? Will you dare go where your taste buds have not been before? Back at City Slickers, Leah Tucker thinks so. Because she understands a basic rule. “BLTs are classics. It’s like a grilled cheese. You can’t get any more classic than a BLT or a grilled cheese. It is a basic comfort, easy, and yet it translates across every season. There are very few people who wouldn’t eat bacon on a sandwich.” To that end, she will keep her BLT simple but with some adventure. A couple of other things to know about Portland BLT Week: The sandwiches will be modestly priced, so keep that in mind when you tip your server. Give them some extra comfort while you have some comfort food. For more details on the event, Oct. 1-8, check out the event page on Facebook.  Leah Tucker is seen here slicing bread for a sandwich inside her kitchen at the Piknik Park Food Cart Pod. During the first week of October, she’ll be slinging plenty of BLTs for the inaugural event named after that sandwich. Leah’s Bacon Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich
Paired With Laurelwood Brewery Free Range Red By Leah Tucker, City Slickers The Leah BLT starts with “a fabulous sauce. I make a mean garlic aioli, so that’s going to be my twist on the BLT. Instead of a standard mayonnaise, we’ll be using a garlic aioli.” The sauce comes with a secret ingredient that adds extra bite. Bread: Standard white bread, thick cut, toasted. It will stand up to the other ingredients. Tomatoes: The clean, sweet flavor of heirloom tomatoes will balance out the garlic aioli. Bacon: Applewood-smoked bacon. Leah wants to experiment with weaving the bacon strips into a mat to ensure there is bacon with each mouthful. Choosing Your Beer I am old fashioned. I go somewhere, order a beer and then decide what to eat. But Portland BLT Week is about a sandwich and you need to base your beer choice on the sandwich you’re having. The beer should complement the bacon. Leah Tucker likes a red because it balances lightness and depth with the smoked bacon. On the other hand, if you’re having a sandwich with a fatty slab, Breakside Brewery India Golden Ale has a crispness that could cut through the bacon heaviness. If you run into a Canadian bacon version, you might try a glass of Deschutes Brewery Black Butte Porter. The nutty flavors go well with the bacon sharpness. After visiting City Slickers, I had to try a homemade BLT. It was standard: basic bacon, a beefsteak tomato, lettuce on some toasted bread with bits of garlic in it. I paired with Fleur de Blanc from The Commons Brewery; the white farmhouse added a little tingle to each BLT bite. Portland BLT Week facebook.com/PortlandBLTWeek  Salem Ale Works Hootenanny Honey Basil cuts the heat of the South by Northwest nachos pictured here. Sauteed mushrooms, sweet potato and nopalitos (pickled cactus) fill in for the meat. Photos courtesy of Lizz Wells By Erica Tiffany-Brown Of the Oregon Beer Growler It’s been a big year for what once was a small Salem brewery. In February, Salem Ale Works took home the silver medal for their Cast Iron CDA at the Oregon Beer Awards. Then came the next big chapter: moving to a new location. While the journey was short (1,056 feet south, to be exact), the impact has been significant since their grand opening in June. More space, more beer, and equally as important — more food offerings from Prologue Pastries & Sandwich Library. After the original brewery opened in 2013, food options were scarce. Then, along came a jelly doughnut. SAW discovered a husband-and-wife team — Jonathan Jones and Maura Ryan — had created a doughnut made with one of their beers: Juniperus Vinifera, an IPA that had been aged in a pinot noir barrel. “It piqued our interest,” said SAW co-founder Jake Bonham, “So we reached out to them.” Prologue and SAW have been working together in a partnership capacity for about a year now, but started doing occasional events around two years ago. Fittingly, a beer and dessert pairing was their first. “It’s been really, really nice working with them. They’re fantastic people. It’s friendships, not just a business relationship,” said Jones. When it came time for SAW owners Bonham and Justin Ego to move into the new 5,400 square-foot space, it only made sense that Prologue brought their mobile kitchen along for the ride. “It’s 18-linear-feet of actual cook space — everyone has to really get along and communicate well,” said Jones. Jones, who is a photographer and writer by education, has been cooking professionally for six years. Ryan, who focuses on the baking side of the business, is a painter who majored in art history. “We sort of just took food to be our new medium. We treat everything that we do like art. We put our heart into it,” said Jones. “We have a saying in the truck and at home where we bake; to not be afraid to show the marks on your hands. So everything that we do is fairly rustic and nothing is designed to be polished or hide any of who we are or what we do. I feel like I can reach a broader audience with food than I can with any other art form.” Another way to reach a broad audience is with a diverse taplist. SAW’s new location is home to 14 taps in total, 12 of which are beers and two are guest ciders. While the brew system might appear larger than before, it’s still the same 3-barrel brewhouse — just in a roomier space. “When we were looking to add food service, we wanted the food to go well with the beer and make pairings and it was important that the kitchen used our beer in the menu as well. Prologue proved that was something they were interested in doing and were already actively doing,” said Bonham. Around 30 percent of Prologue’s menu utilizes SAW’s beer — whether it be in dipping sauces for their signature SAWft pretzels or braising liquid for bratwursts. But the real star of the show is Prologue’s Sandwich Library. One of Bonham’s favorites is aptly titled “Because We’re In Oregon” — featuring smoked wild chinook salmon, whipped cream cheese, pistachios, capers and a red onion jam tucked between two hearty slices of dark rye from Silver Falls Bread Company. The cold sandwich is a perfect match with the brewery’s Frisky Marmot Summer Ale on a hot August day — the citrus notes in the beer complement the salmon and help cut through the richness of the cream cheese, while its mild bitterness doesn’t have to compete with the earthy character of the bread. If sandwiches aren’t your thing, any sandwich (or salad or hash) can be turned into nachos by request, and any nacho dish can also be made into a salad. “That’s 100 percent John,” said Bonham. “That was his creative way of expanding the depth of this menu. He’s working out of a fairly small kitchen; and by giving patrons the flexibility of taking these different menu items and turning them into different types of items, it almost doubles the size of the menu and what you can order.” The South by Northwest nachos are a prime example of that menu versatility. Sauteed mushrooms, sweet potato and nopalitos (pickled cactus) are paired with the usual nacho fixings — pickled jalapenos, beans, cheddar, salsa and sour cream — on a bed of Juanita’s Tortilla Chips. Adding those first two ingredients to nachos might seem odd, but they give the dish such a rich earthiness that you won’t be asking, “Where’s the beef?” To counteract the spice from the salsa and jalapenos, Bonham recommends drinking Hootenanny Honey Basil, one of the lightest (and most unique) offerings from the brewery. “It’s a nice light blonde with a cooling effect,” said Bonham. Featuring fresh basil and local honey from a Salem apiary, the beer offers a touch of sweetness that helps rebalance the palate, with the finish being dry and crisp to play with the saltiness of the chips.  Because We’re In Oregon is a sandwich by Prologue Pastries & Sandwich Library that features smoked chinook salmon, whipped cream cheese, pistachios, capers and red onion jam tucked between two slices of dark rye. It’s a perfect match for Salem Ale Works Frisky Marmot Summer Ale on a hot day. No matter which way you order your food, you’ll discover the majority of the menu is served on wooden-looking plates with utensils to match. This unique place setting not only matches the lumber-inspired design of the brewery — from wooden saw blade taster trays to a tree slice accent wall — it’s also environmentally friendly. The plates, which are made from pressed palm leaf, break down in 10 days in a standard landfill. This sustainable approach even translates to the treatment of employees. Jones of Prologue emphasizes, “We want to pay them enough and have them be happy enough so that they can work for us, make enough money to live, but also have enough time to pursue their own interests. We don’t ever want their job with us to feel like a chore. “I think there’s a similar vibe from Jake and Justin. They keep the atmosphere here calm, pleasant and welcoming. And that’s what we’re trying to do with that kitchen out there. Just keep it pleasant. That really is one of our main goals — it’s not profit — we just want life to be pleasant,” said Jones. “We pride ourselves on being a local brewery; we try to be engaged with the community and source as much as we can locally on the brewing side,” said Bonham. Prologue also uses a plethora of local vendors and suppliers, and offers vegan, gluten-free and paleo items for those with dietary restrictions or who are simply looking for healthier options. On that note, although the following dessert might be gluten free, it’s not exactly healthy. But some things are just worth the extra calories. Prologue’s Hazelnut Dacquoise, while hard to pronounce, is certainly not hard to eat. This layer cake made with hazelnut meringue, dark chocolate and whipped cream isn’t as sweet as it is rich, which is a philosophy Jones and Ryan use for the majority of their pastries. The local hazelnuts and dark chocolate beautifully complement the roasted malts in the rich Sun’s Out Gun Stout — making this one of the most decadent pairings on the menu. Along with the four current mainstays, look for rotating, seasonal desserts in the future, along with a kid’s menu (minors are allowed daily until 9 p.m.). As for SAW, the brewery will not only be hosting a “Breakfast, Brew, and Eclipse View” party on Aug. 21, but this month also marks four years in business. “I’m so excited that Salem is at a point that it will support a venture like this, because it is a little different how we’re presenting things. We’ve lived here for three years, and in that short time, the town’s acceptance of new ideas and willingness to grow has been really amazing to watch and Maura and I are so excited to be a part of that,” Jones concluded. Whatever the next chapter holds for these two businesses, this is just the beginning of their story together. And to think, it all started with a jelly doughnut. --- Because We’re In Oregon Sandwich Paired with Salem Ale Works Frisky Marmot Summer Ale By Chef Jonathan Jones INGREDIENTS 2 slices dark rye bread (Prologue uses Silver Falls Bread Company) 2 tablespoons whipped cream cheese 1 teaspoon capers, rinsed and drained 1 tablespoon roasted salted pistachio kernels 2 tablespoons red onion jam ~ 1/4 cup smoked wild salmon DIRECTIONS · Spread cream cheese on both sides of bread. · On one side, spread capers and pistachios evenly. · Top with onion jam, then salmon.  Prologue Pastries & Sandwich Library has partnered with Salem Ale Works to provide food at the brewery’s new location. There are plenty of desserts on the menu, including this Hazelnut Dacquoise, which pairs well with Sun’s Out Gun Stout. South by Northwest Nachos
Paired with Salem Ale Works Hootenanny Honey Basil By Chef Jonathan Jones INGREDIENTS 9-inch pie pan, filled with Juanita’s Tortilla Chips 1/2 cup cheddar cheese 1/4 cup cooked and drained black beans 1/4 cup sauteed button mushrooms 8 pieces thinly sliced fresh jalapeno 8 strips nopalitos (pickled cactus) 1/4 cup roasted and diced yam Sour cream and salsa, to garnish DIRECTIONS · Layer all but sour cream and salsa together, making sure to top with cheese. · Bake in a 425-degree oven for 10 minutes. · Top with sour cream and salsa and serve immediately. Hazelnut Dacquoise Paired with Salem Ale Works Sun’s Out Gun Stout By Chef Maura Ryan Adapted from Deb Perelman’s Chocolate-Hazelnut Macaroon Torte INGREDIENTS For macaroons: Oil or butter for greasing parchment rounds 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 6 large egg whites 2 1/2 cups hazelnuts, toasted, then skinned as much as possible 1/4 teaspoon table salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract For chocolate filling: 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 1/4 cup water 1 teaspoon instant coffee or espresso granules (optional) For whipped frosting and filling: 1 1/2 cups chilled heavy or whipping cream 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 tablespoon Frangelico or another hazelnut liqueur or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract DIRECTIONS For macaroons: · Position oven racks in the top and lower thirds of oven and heat oven to 325 degrees. · Outline four 8-inch circles on individual pieces of parchment paper. · Turn each sheet of parchment over so ink or pencil lines don’t seep into macaroons. · Place each piece of parchment paper on large baking sheets. · Very lightly coat parchment with oil or butter. · Place hazelnuts, 1 cup sugar and salt in food processor and blend until finely ground. · Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in large, dry bowl with clean beaters until soft peaks form. · Drizzle in vanilla extract, then slowly add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Beat until stiff but not dry. · Fold nut mixture into egg whites in 1/3 increments. · Spread 1/4 of macaroon batter evenly within each circle, filling completely. · Bake macaroon layers until golden and dry to the touch — approximately 20-23 minutes. · Cool macaroons on their sheets on a cooling rack. For chocolate filling: · While meringues cool, heat half of chocolate, water and coffee (if using) in small heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring until smooth. · Off the heat, stir in second half of chocolate chunks until melted. · Spread thin layer of chocolate evenly over tops of meringue rounds. · Cool until chocolate is set, or until firm. For whipped frosting and filling: · Beat cream with sugar and liqueur or vanilla in bowl with cleaned beaters until it holds stiff peaks. To assemble dacquoise: · Gently peel parchment off back of each macaroon round. · Arrange first disc on cake serving plate. · Spread 1/3 cup whipped cream over it. Repeat with second and third macaroon rounds, then top with final round. · Frost top and side of dacquoise with whipped cream. · Decorate top of dacquoise with whole hazelnuts, if desired. · Serve immediately or store in fridge. Salem Ale Works/Prologue Pastries & Sandwich Library 2315 25th St. SE, Salem aleinsalem.com/home.html prologuepastries.com/sandwich-library  OP Wurst and Pok Pok collaborated on this dog, which is topped with pickled green papaya salad and red curry ketchup. You can try unique frankfurters throughout July at Oregon City Brewing in honor of National Hot Dog Month. Photos by Andi Prewitt // Oregon Beer Growler By Andi Prewitt Of the Oregon Beer Growler Few food sensations are as satisfying as the snap of a perfectly cooked hot dog when your teeth pierce the skin. The burst of meaty juice takes us back to nights around an open fire with brats blistering on sticks, long baseball games where wieners slathered in ketchup were sustenance for extra innings, and even those summer breaks where a dog of the Oscar Mayer variety was a good dinner when wrapped in a slice of white bread. While some childhood delicacies are eventually dropped from rotation, the hot dog remains. It’s tethered to barbecues, camping and the Fourth of July when the food is celebrated as part of the annual eating competition at Coney Island. While stomach-expanding feats of strength may not be the hot dog experience you’re looking for, you can find a palate-pleasing partnership with authentic sausages and quality beer thanks to two local businesses. Oregon City Brewing Company and Olympia Provisions found themselves in the perfect position to team up because both had a need the other could fulfill: the brewery was searching for a food vendor and the restaurant found itself eyeing other outlets in which to serve its in-demand dogs. Of course, Olympia Provisions is known first and foremost for its charcuterie. Its reputation for expertly cured meat is what caught the attention of the sous chef/kitchen manager at OP Wurst in OC Brewing to the Portland-based business to begin with. “The reason that I came here was because I know that they were making all their own charcuterie and all of their sausages pretty much the way that it’s meant to be made,” explained Mauricio Prado. “And so that’s kind of what excites me about it. I used to make my own charcuterie at home, and so when I learned about [founder] Eli and all of the things that he did, I really wanted to learn more about it.” All of that called to Prado, who at the age of 3 began to develop a taste for fine meats when he would ride all over town on the front of his uncle’s motorcycle touring shops and eateries with sausage and jerky. Those meat crawls led to professional training and a hobby that sometimes leaves his fridge full of hanging handmade bacon, much to the frustration of Prado’s wife. And for the last several years, he’s been engaged in Olympia Provisions’ techniques of proper butchering and slow-aging based on practices used for centuries in Europe. But it’s not all somber Old World traditions at Olympia Provisions. A weekly sausage party of sorts launched in 2012 that came to be known as Frankfurter Friday. It was an opportunity for chefs to tap into their inner Willy Wonka, piling dogs high with wildly imaginative topping combinations. In a way, the end-of-week practice was like giving a pastry chef at a four-star steakhouse the permission to pretend like he worked at Farrell’s — the longstanding Portland ice cream parlor that served basketball-sized sundaes bedecked with everything but fireworks. The creative sausages proved to be such a hit, Olympia Provisions decided to open locations that focused solely on the dogs. Thus, OC Brewing became the second of three homes to OP Wurst. It was a perfect fit since the brewery had to abandon its original plan to host food carts due to a city prohibition on mobile vendors. The restaurant operations began last fall not long after OC Brewing upgraded to a 7-barrel system from Practical Fusion. Despite the introduction of stable food service, business didn’t take off at a sprint. “So at first when we opened,” described Prado, “it was the end of summer, and the challenge for us was really letting people know that we were here. You know, once everybody starts going back to their routines, we kind of missed out on the big crowds on the patio. So the winter was a little bit rough. It was slow. The weather didn’t help.” But now that the sun is out and the umbrellas are up shading tables scattered across the brewery’s concrete pad out front, more customers are starting to appreciate how well the wursts complement brewmaster David Vohden’s German-style beers. For instance, the Provision Pilsner was crafted to pair with the OP Wurst menu. The light, crisp lager doesn’t overpower with bitterness, making it a good match for the simple Classic Frank. It’s a long, skinny ballpark-style wiener protruding from both sides of a lightly toasted Portland French Bakery bun, the beer pulling out the sweetness in both the meat and the bread. A generous drizzle of ketchup and zesty Dijon along with a coating of vibrant green relish adds some tangy zip to the humble dog. The bready, yet effervescent, pils cuts through the fatty meat and would be equally refreshing on a warm day outside. If pickles and mustard don’t challenge your taste buds, direct your focus to the section of the menu labeled “Creative” for condiments that veer toward the weird. There are hot dogs that are mashups with other meals, like mac and cheese, or even a wiener transformed into a Philly cheese sandwich. But sous chef Prado’s favorite is the Pok Pok Dog — the result of a collaboration with the popular Portland restaurant serving Southeast Asian street food. The bold sausage arrives under a colorful pickled green papaya salad — diced green onions, carrots and shallots are bursting from the bun. A coarser ground meat is used with this particular dog to more closely mirror Pok Pok’s recipe, resulting in juicy bites that mingle with a kicky red curry ketchup and a hint of lemongrass. The soft pineapple notes in OC Brewing’s Oberlinerweiss Sour draw out the citrus in the Thai-influenced flavors. And this isn’t the kind of beer where your pucker stops you three sips in. However, there’s enough tongue-tingling pop to enhance the pickled slaw and a brightness to push back against the spice. Just as Olympia Provisions improvised with hot dog recipes at its original locations, OP Wurst is experimenting now as well — this time with the type of meat situated between two buns. On Mondays, you can often find the Wurst Burger on the menu. A quarter-pound of Cascade Farms beef is placed on a hot dog bun, which means it may not look traditional. But the flavors are vintage diner hamburger with American-cheese capped patties sitting on a bed of shredded lettuce, red onions and bread-and-butter pickles. The brewery’s flagship Elevator IPA has a piney bitterness that stands up to the hefty sandwich. And if you’re feeling particularly ambitious, dig in to a gut-busting side of fries drizzled in Provision Pilsner beer cheese sauce and an array of chopped meats and veggies. Digging through the mound is a bit like a treasure hunt. You might come up with a tender sweet-and-salty pork belly in one bite or discover a fleshy, roasted red bell pepper in another. There’s an additional incentive to stuff your face with franks this summer. July is National Hot Dog Month and OP Wurst is introducing a limited-edition sausage made with a notable Portland chef each week (see info box for schedule). Ten percent of the proceeds from these collaborations will benefit dogs (and cats) of another kind at the Oregon Humane Society. Despite the toppings — timeless or crazy — the OP Wurst sous chef at OC Brewing ultimately wants customers to appreciate the authenticity of the meat. “So when people come, I’m hoping that they take away that that’s how a sausage is supposed to be made,” Prado said. “That that is really a traditional frankfurter or a real bratwurst you just had”. But he couldn’t leave out the obvious draw: those tricked-out dogs. “And also the creative side of things — I hope that they have fun with it.”  The Classic Frank and Wurst Fries partner well with Oregon City Brewing’s Provision Pilsner, which is a light, crisp lager brewed to complement OP Wurst food. Oregon City Brewing/OP Wurst National Hot Dog Month Schedule July 6-12 Adobo Dog — Carlo Lamagna, Clyde Common July 13-19 The Country Slammer — Maya Lovelace, Mae PDX July 20-26 Frankfurter Tonkatsu — Gregory Gourdet, Departure July 27 through Aug. 2 Shell Bean Curry Dog — Troy MacLarty, Bollywood Theater --- Classic Frank Paired with Oregon City Brewing Company Provision Pilsner By Sous Chef Mauricio Prado Uncured pork frankfurter (Olympia Provisions has beef now too) with the following: INGREDIENTS For Frankfurter: Pork Pork fat Dry milk powder Salt Dried vinegar Cultured dextrose Fresh garlic Dextrose Oregano Swiss chard powder Lactic acid culture Lamb casing Wurst Fries Paired with Oregon City Brewing Company Provision Pilsner By Sous Chef Mauricio Prado Large order of fries topped with a mix of OP Wurst sausage, fried sage, fried jalapenos and beer cheese sauce. INGREDIENTS Beer cheese sauce (makes roughly 1 quart, 10 ounces) 1 cup heavy cream 1 cup milk 1 cup beer (usually Provision Pilsner) 1 onion, small dice 3 tablespoons cornstarch Pinch of nutmeg 10 ounces American cheese, cut up 4 ounces white cheddar DIRECTIONS · In saucepan, heat heavy cream, milk, beer and onions. · Bring to boil, simmer for couple of minutes. · In separate bowl, mix cornstarch with enough hot liquid to make slurry. · Add slurry to saucepan. Bring back to boil to thicken. · Lower heat to simmer and cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. · Add American cheese and white cheddar in stages, let melt. Add pinch of nutmeg. · Strain through chinois and adjust seasoning.  OP Wurst doesn’t just make hot dogs; they’ve also got a special burger they often roll out on Mondays. Pair the sandwich with Oregon City Brewing’s flagship beer: Elevator IPA. Pok Pok Dog
Paired with Oregon City Brewing Company Oberlinerweiss Sour with Pineapple By Sous Chef Mauricio Prado Proprietary Olympia Provisions/Pok Pok sausage topped with curry ketchup, green papaya salad with equal parts shredded carrots, daikon radish and pickled papaya. INGREDIENTS For Curry Paste: 5 shallots 2 lemongrass stalks 5 garlic cloves 1/2 bunch cilantro stems 15 Thai chilies 6 kaffir lime leaves 15 dried chilies 1 can coconut milk DIRECTIONS · Break up lemongrass with spine of knife, cut into 1-inch pieces. · Cut shallots into small chunks and mix all ingredients together. · In small batches, puree all ingredients until broken down. · Mix with 1 can of coconut milk and ketchup to taste. INGREDIENTS For Green Papaya Salad: 2 green papayas, julienned 3 cups rice vinegar 1 cup water 1 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup salt DIRECTIONS · In medium saucepan, mix together vinegar, water, salt and sugar. · Bring brine to boil, let boil for 1 minute. · Pour over julienned green papaya. · Cover with parchment. · Let sit in brine for at least 12-24 hours. Wurst Burger Paired with Oregon City Brewing Company Elevator IPA By Sous Chef Mauricio Prado Cascade Farms beef, 1/4-pound, Reuben sauce, red onion, shredded lettuce, bread-and-butter pickles, American cheese. INGREDIENTS For Reuben Sauce: 8 ounces ketchup 4 ounces Dijon 4 ounces aioli (mayonnaise, olive oil, a little garlic) 13 ounces pickles, chopped 1 tablespoon caraway, toasted 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper DIRECTIONS · Mix ketchup, Dijon, aioli, pickles and toasted caraway in large mixing bowl. · Adjust seasoning as needed. Oregon City Brewing/OP Wurst 1401 Washington St., Oregon City 503-908-1948 ocbeerco.com  Wayfinder’s chef likes to pair his Bread Pudding with the dark and malty Bock since both feature caramel notes. Photos by Ezra Johnson-Greenough By Ezra Johnson-Greenough For the Oregon Beer Growler Not many breweries open with the bar set as high as the one Wayfinder Beer found itself facing. The Portland business was launched by Charlie Devereux, who co-founded Double Mountain Brewery, along with his partners Matt Jacobson, owner of the Sizzle Pie empire, and Rodney Muirhead, owner/chef at the acclaimed Podnah’s Pit. With that kind of pedigree, there is a lot to live up to. Fortunately, they’re joined by the capable hands of head brewer Kevin Davey (Chuckanut Brewery, Gordon Biersch Brewing Company, Firestone Walker Brewing Company) and chef Ryan Day (Podnah’s Pit). Wayfinder is a brick-and-wood beer hall nestled between warehouses and abandoned buildings huddled along the train tracks in Portland’s inner east waterfront. It’s a place that feels like old Portland holding on for dear life as sleek condos encroach. In the midst of this shifting neighborhood sits fermenting beer and the scent of meat being smoked leading to Wayfinder. Ryan Day learned the art of smoking meat while working at Podnah’s Pit for four years. And while he’s come to master Texas-style barbecue, his home state of Maryland still influences his cooking. Chesapeake Bay was at his disposal. “I fished, crabbed and went hunting for clams and oysters throughout my younger days.” Those experiences led to jobs in restaurants at age 21. Day hopped around to Idaho and Montana, finally landing in Portland where he rediscovered his love of fresh seafood and found new passion for the city’s world-class beer scene. Now at Wayfinder, his background helps shape the menu. “We wanted to utilize all the fresh ingredients that the West has to offer and bring things that I loved from the East Coast with me as well, making good simple foods from scratch.” says Day, adding “I love utilizing beer with foods.” Smart and passionate about the combination of beer and food, Day knows that a “good beer pairing can come to going with the food, but also picking beers that might be a good contrast to the food. Working in the brewery, I am always thinking how I can incorporate or pair beers with food.” Wayfinder serves a satisfying and healthy Grilled Vegetable Salad that puts to rest the notion that a salad without meat cannot be filling. A pile of crunchy and spicy arugula is tossed with grilled and slightly smoky asparagus, onions, sweet peppers, squash and onions drizzled in a tangy and creamy lemon vinaigrette. “I wanted to feature the Grilled Vegetable Salad for the summer because it makes me think of barbecues,” says Day. “I love a cold pils on a hot summer day, so I incorporated it in the lemon vinaigrette salad dressing that goes on this salad.” Day emulsifies mustard in olive oil with vinegar, spices and shallots with Wayfinder’s collaboration with Hopworks Urban Brewery: Tiny Bubbles, a hoppy, dry and crisp pilsner. Brewer Kevin Davey calls the pils “A happy fit of herbal and Noble hops that complement the lemon vinaigrette and keep the palate fresh.” Tapping into his Maryland fishing background, Day has Dungeness Crab Cakes on the menu with a hybridized vinegar and creamy mayo coleslaw salad. Dungeness crabs are different than the Blue Crabs from Maryland, but rather than try to import them at a higher cost and without the freshness, Day sources local. “The Crab Cakes is a recipe from my grandmother that is pretty typical for Maryland crab cakes: very little filler and using Old Bay Seasoning. The only difference is we are using Dungeness because it comes off the coast of Oregon.” Day and Davey pair the Crab Cakes with Snufflefluffagus — a take on the Northeastern/New England-style IPA that originated from the same region as the Crab Cakes. The beer is a collaboration with Zoiglhaus Brewing Company, but is a style that Wayfinder intends to continue to play with in their own brewhouse. Alone, the cakes are fishy and buttery, soft but firm. They are intense, but with the creamy and tangy coleslaw they become comfort food. Pairing Crab Cakes with a Northeast IPA was not just a personal East Coast throwback; Day says “It is good to have contrast from the fishiness of the crab and the strong, hoppy flavor from the IPA — more like a palate cleanser.” For dessert, Day makes a classic English-style Bread Pudding and pairs it with Wayfinder’s dark and malty Bock, which was a collaboration with Ancestry Brewing. Day says the pairing works for “the opposite reasons of the Crab Cakes. The sweetness of the dessert and the more evenness of the Bock go well together. The caramel notes in each are great together.” The bread used for the dish is a key ingredient. Wayfinder has tried all sorts of leftover bread from the kitchen, but found the hoagie rolls to be best. They stay together, but are not too dense for the mixture of milk, eggs and seasonings they soak in overnight. The soft nutmeg-y, milk-soaked bread is baked in a pan topped with raisins and the housemade Bourbon Creme Anglaise and Salted Caramel sauce they were soaked in. The goal with pairing Bock is to not wash out the caramel flavors but lengthen them, while the carbonation of the beer keeps it from becoming cloying.  This summer, Wayfinder is serving a satisfying and healthy Grilled Vegetable Salad. Chef Ryan Day said the dish make him think of barbecues, which are perfect for the season along with a lemon vinaigrette dressing that calls to mind a cold pils. Grilled Vegetable Salad Paired With Wayside Beer/Hopworks Urban Brewery Tiny Bubbles By Chef Ryan Day INGREDIENTS For Salad: 1/2 zucchini 1/2 yellow squash 1 portobello mushroom 4 stalks asparagus Wild baby arugula For Dressing: 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 1/4 cup Wayfinder Czech Pilsner 1/4 cup Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons fresh oregano 2 fresh garlic cloves Juice from 2 lemons (1/4 cup juice) 4 tablespoons white sugar DIRECTIONS For Salad: --Half zucchini and squash, long way. --Toss all vegetables except arugula with oil, salt and pepper and let sit while grill readies. --Grill vegetables until done. Put in bowl while preparing dressing. For Dressing: --Chop garlic and oregano very fine. --Add vinegar, beer, mustard, lemon juice, sugar and whisk well. While whisking, slowly add olive oil to emulsify. --Add salt and pepper to taste. To finish: --Once dressing is done, put aside. Cut all grilled vegetables into bite-sized pieces. --Add vegetables and desired amount of arugula into bowl and toss. --Add desired amount of dressing.  Tapping into his Maryland fishing background, Wayfinder chef Ryan Day has Dungeness Crab Cakes on the menu. They pair well with Snufflefluffagus — a take on the Northeastern/New England-style IPA. Dungeness Crab Cakes
Paired With Wayfinder Beer/Zoiglhaus Brewing Company Snufflefluffagus By Chef Ryan Day INGREDIENTS 1 pound Dungeness crab 1 cup white bread (no crust), torn into small pieces 2 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard 5 1/2 teaspoons mayonnaise 4 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley 1 egg DIRECTIONS --Drain crab of all excess water. --Combine bread, mustard, mayonnaise, Old Bay, parsley, egg and mix well until all incorporated. --Add crab to mixture and mix well. Push mixture into bowl, wrap with plastic wrap and let sit for at least two hours. --Preheat oven to 425 degrees. --Patty mixture by hand to desired size. --Butter pan and place crab cakes inside. Turn the oven to broil. --Cook cakes under broiler until golden brown. Bread Pudding Paired with Wayfinder Beer/Ancestry Brewing Bock By Chef Ryan Day INGREDIENTS For pudding: 1 1/2 pounds bread cut into 2-inch cubes (9 cups) 4 cups half-and-half 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter 1 cup packed light brown sugar 1/2 cup granulated sugar 3 tablespoons pure vanilla extract 5 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 cup raisins For Bourbon Creme Anglaise: 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tablespoons bourbon 1 cup powdered sugar 1/2 cup heavy cream For Salted Caramel: 1/2 cup water 1 cup white sugar 1 cup cream 2 tablespoons butter DIRECTIONS For Bread Pudding: --Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. --In medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Remove from heat, add brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla. Stir until well combined and smooth. --In medium bowl, whisk eggs, then add butter-sugar mixture, stirring until well combined and smooth. --Pour custard mixture over bread, tossing gently to incorporate until well combined. --Let bread sit in custard until soaked through, at least 20 minutes. --Pour bread mixture into prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle raisins over top and gently work into pudding. Make sure liquid covers bread. --Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 55 minutes. --Remove foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until bread pudding is golden brown. --Set pudding aside to prepare Salted Caramel and Creme Anglaise. For Bourbon Creme Anglaise: --Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. --Remove from heat and add bourbon and powdered sugar, stirring until incorporated. --Add cream and mix until smooth. For Salted Caramel: --Combine and warm cream and butter, set aside. --Combine water and sugar, cook on low-to-medium heat, stirring constantly until amber and right consistency. --Add warm cream and butter at end. --Pour Caramel and Creme Anglaise over top of bread pudding before serving. Wayfinder Beer 304 SE Second Ave., Portland 503-718-2337 wayfinder.beer  Burnside Brewing began serving brunch nearly two years ago. You can order one of their beers to go with a New York strip, crispy potatoes and sunny-side up eggs. Photos by Ezra Johnson-Greenough By Ezra Johnson-Greenough For the Oregon Beer Growler There is a famous saying that “beer is food,” which is kind of true. But it’s surprising that more breweries do not serve brunch, especially in brunch-crazy Portland. That guideline about not drinking before noon just does not apply to weekends, in my opinion. It’s like if you order a bloody mary or mimosa, that’s cool because it’s mostly vegetables or fruit — but if you order a beer it’s sacrilege. I call hogwash and recite another famous saying: “You can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning.” Besides, beer has been proven to have an incredible list of health benefits, carbs to power you through the rest of your day and goes better with food than liquor or wine. It’s on that premise that I ventured into Burnside Brewing Company to try the brunch menu. The medium-sized Portland brewery made it known right out of the gate that they would go above and beyond your typical pub grub menu — and the brunch offerings are no different. “If we are going through the process of creating multiple styles of beers then we should spend equal amount of time creating dishes that pair with them,” says co-owner/brewmaster Jason McAdam. Burnside started out serving dinner, then introduced lunch service and brunch joined the lineup on weekends nearly two years ago. Jay Gilbert, Burnside’s other owner, has found that giving staff some creative freedom with the menu has paid off. “We've taken an approach to hire talented folks both in the brewery and in the kitchen and let them create. It's worked well for us.” Chef Richard Watts is one of those folks. While he is not a big sharer when it comes to pairings and recipes, he puts his food where his mouth is. “I spent half my childhood on my grandparents’ farm. Everything we ate we grew and raised. Beef, pork, cucumbers, tomatoes. We spent weeks canning and preserving. This was the early ‘70s before the words ‘farm to table’ were ever spoken.” Brunch is still like the undiscovered country for breweries though — like fertile ground just waiting for the plow. Perhaps brunch food and brews are absent pairings from many a menu due to the challenge of matching savory and sweet dishes with beer. “Brunch is more demanding. Eggs are the hardest thing to cook right, and brunch guests let you know if it's wrong,” says Watts.  Burnside Brewing’s Sweet Heat pairs well with many of the dishes on the business’s brunch menu, including the pork belly eggs benedict. Can brunch food be that much more difficult to pair with beer when some of the standard accompaniments don’t apply? “Only as a mental roadblock,” says Gilbert. “The basics of accompanying flavors with similar flavors or counterpoints remain the same.” McAdam adds, “You are looking to pair with sweet, spicy, savory and so on. All of these are flavors that are found in brunch items.” Good thing that Burnside’s most well-known beer, Sweet Heat, is a brunch lover’s pairing dream. The low-alcohol wheat beer with apricots is as refreshing as fresh-squeezed juice with the slightly tart and acidic fruit dancing with hot Scotch bonnet peppers for a spicy bite. Both Gilbert and McAdam recommend versatile pairing all-star Sweet Heat with Burnside’s chilaquiles. “The flavors will awaken your taste buds” notes Gilbert. Chef Watts also adds: “A Sweet Heat michelada is perfect with the pork belly benedict.” The Sweet Heat even makes it into a house-made hot sauce, which is a key component of the aforementioned benedict. The rich, creamy buttermilk biscuits topped with hollandaise sauce that trades the usual tangy/spicy combo of lemon and cayenne pepper for the equally tangy/spicy Sweet Heat adds a new level of complexity to the dish. If you have more of a sweet tooth when it comes to brunch food, you cannot do any better than Burnside’s classic French toast topped with Stout caramel sauce that we have included the recipe for in this issue. “French toast should be French toast. Nutmeg, cinnamon, heavy custard,” says Watts adamantly. But he adds: “What sets ours apart is the mascarpone whip cream. It makes it savory and sweet. Total satisfaction.” But what to pair with it? Taking Gilbert’s advice: “Sweet items — I'd go with a counterpoint like a stout or something with some malt body” I ordered Burnside’s Stout. Approaching the pairing skeptically, I was afraid it would be sweet on sweet. However, Burnside Stout is on the lighter sessionable side at 5.4% ABV. While it does have a creamy, oatmeal texture and malty body, it’s not too sweet and the carbonation is low with a mildly roasty finish that goes well with the French toast’s caramel-y crunch exterior and buttery inside. Check out Burnside’s brunch menu or try your own. Just remember: malty with savory/salty, acidic or light with richness, crisp and bright with sweet, and never ever pair sweet beer with sweet food.  Burnside Brewing’s Chef Richard Watts says that what sets his French toast apart is the mascarpone whip cream. Sweet Heat Hollandaise
Paired with Burnside Sweet Heat By Chef Richard Watts INGREDIENTS 6 egg yolks 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 3 tablespoons water 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon Sweet Heat hot sauce DIRECTIONS --Slowly whisk in 3/4 pound melted butter over a double boiler with low heat. French Toast Paired with Burnside Stout By Chef Richard Watts INGREDIENTS For Stout Caramel Sauce 3 cups Stout 4 cups brown sugar 4 tablespoons butter 2 cups heavy cream 2 teaspoons vanilla DIRECTIONS For Stout Caramel Sauce --Cook to 235 degrees. --Remove from heat and add heavy cream, vanilla. INGREDIENTS For French Toast Batter 5 eggs 1 cup milk 1 cup heavy cream 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup brown sugar INGREDIENTS For Mascarpone Whip Cream 3 cups heavy cream 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese DIRECTIONS For Mascarpone Whip Cream --Whip all ingredients except mascarpone, then fold in mascarpone. Burnside Brewing 701 E. Burnside St., Portland 503-946-8151 burnsidebrewco.com  A warm Fressen Pretzel allows the potent and varied flavors to shine in Grain & Gristle’s Pub Cheese, which is garlic-y, slightly sweet and packs just a bit of heat thanks to Mama Lil’s Peppers. Upright’s Engelberg Pilsener is also in the cheese and cuts through its richness as a pairing. Photos by Andi Prewitt // Oregon Beer Growler By Andi Prewitt Of the Oregon Beer Growler Alex Ganum wasn’t sure what Grain & Gristle’s head chef wanted to do with the plastic bag of hops he’d brought him from Upright Brewing — but chances were good that those Columbian cones would find their way into an exciting experimental dish at the Northeast Portland gastropub. Turns out, Greg Smith did have grand plans for the hops. He was going to use them in a cold infusion of cream for a creme “brew”lee recipe he’d been working with for years. And that was just one creation on his ever-growing list of ideas that blend beer and food. There’s also beeramisu, wort barbecue sauce and beer-brined meat that he’ll get to at some point. So Ganum’s awe-inspired reaction to Smith’s efforts is understandable: “You guys are crazy in the kitchen, man.” And that’s a good thing for beer and food lovers in this town. Grain & Gristle is one of the best pubs you’re probably not going to. “We definitely are under the radar,” Smith said. But that could soon change as word spreads in the beer community that Grain & Gristle is undergoing a bit of a transition. These days, there are a lot more Upright beers on the handles and that’s not a coincidence. Grain & Gristle, owned in part by Upright founder and head brewer Ganum, has assumed the role of satellite taproom for the brewery. Smith is now using that reinforced bond to underscore the relationship between food and beer by cooking with Ganum’s brewing ingredients and beers in various stages of preparation. Initially, Ganum was reluctant to load up the tap list with his own beer because it meant he’d need to abandon his original goal for the space. The varied selection of brews had been shaped by the fact that Ganum was kind of pissed off — specifically at local beer drinkers. “As a brewer, I always felt like — well, fuck man. There’s all these really great beers that are being made year-round that are getting overlooked,” Ganum explained. “I was trying to sort of force people to re-appreciate those kinds of beers that are being made day in and day out that are really tasty.” He eventually embraced Grain & Gristle becoming a de facto Upright outpost when demand to visit the brewery exceeded its hours of availability to the public. “I felt bad turning those people away because they really wanted to come by,” Ganum said. “But during the week, we’re just really busy with our production stuff. We just can’t have visitors all the time. If we said yes to everybody, we wouldn’t be making any beer.” While you won’t see any changes to the name or branding of the pub, you will continue to taste more of Ganum’s beverages in menu items. One example of that during a recent visit was Smith’s pub cheese served with a Fressen pretzel. The yam-hued mound with specks of bright red peppers is made with Upright’s Engelberg Pilsener. The sassy character of the cheese just might startle you if you’re used to one-note salt bomb versions that are often partnered with baked, twisted dough. The bitter heat of the garlic hits first, mingling with the tang of the cream cheese, spicy Dijon mustard and Mama Lil’s Peppers. Bitterness is mirrored in the pils, which also cuts through the cheese’s multilayered flavors and fattiness. Smith broke down why beer and cheese just make sense together. “It’s the balance of fat and acid — you know, the acid being the pickled peppers and the beer and the fat being the two cheeses,” he said. Smith also successfully incorporates Upright beer in other ways. He beams when talking about the pub’s kielbasa. “The reason I’m so excited about this plate in particular is because it uses not only his beer, but the wort from the beer — the malt syrup that goes into defining how sweet [the beer is] and some of the characteristics of the beer itself,” Smith explained. And working with wort presents its own challenges. For one thing, Ganum doesn’t always supply Smith with the same liquid. Each batch varies in its minerality, sweetness and viscosity. Hidden flavors are also revealed when Smith reduces the wort. This all means that the beer cream that goes with the kielbasa isn’t something he can simply make on auto-pilot. It requires presence of mind and repeated tastings. “The one thing I’ve learned over the years is the food never lies,” Smith described. “Food never lies. It’s always right there. It shows where you’re at with your temperament, your mood, your palate, your attitude.” Upright Saison Vert is the reduction in the beer cream that’s like a gentle and muted maple syrup with hints of caramel that enhances the sweetness from the charred Old Salt Marketplace beef sausages. Thinly sliced cabbage brings crunch and contrast to the buttery soft spaetzle, which soaks up the sauce. Smith recommends pairing the kielbasa with the Saison Vert in order to experience the beer that helps define the dish. Its sweetness is amplified by the cream reduction, but there are also soft floral notes and a citrus character due to the use of black limes — fruit that’s soaked in salt brine and dried. More one-off, cask blends and small-batch brews will be tapped at Grain & Gristle, particularly now that Upright doubled its capacity for barrel aging by acquiring more room in the building it’s currently located in. Ganum described how they were practically tripping over barrels when making beer, so the additional storage was desperately needed. “Having this extra space is like a dream for us because it’s sort of reenergized us creatively to do new things,” Ganum said. You can check in on Smith's progress with his mental list of experimental dishes — including the creme “brew”lee — any old time at Grain & Gristle.  The Upright Saison Vert is an important component in Grain & Gristle’s Kielbasa with Spaetzle in Beer Cream. Both the wort and the finished beer are used to create a sweet sauce that mirrors the flavors from the char on the sausage. Pub Cheese With Fressen Pretzel
Paired with Upright Engelberg Pilsener By Chef Greg Smith INGREDIENTS 16 ounces Tillamook white cheddar 4 ounces cream cheese (temper) 1.5 tablespoons Worcestershire 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1 cup Upright Engelberg Pilsener 3 cloves garlic 1/2 cup Mama Lil’s Peppers DIRECTIONS —Combine garlic, Worcestershire, dijon, peppers and beer in food processor and blend until smooth, about 1 minute. —Add cream cheese in large chunks and then cheddar while the food processor is going. —Chill for 2 hours, then serve with warm Fressen pretzel, crostini or slabs of grilled bread. Kielbasa With Spaetzle in Beer Cream Paired with Upright Saison Vert INGREDIENTS For Spaetzle 28 ounces all-purpose flour 13 whole eggs 4 egg yolks 1 cup buttermilk 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup stone-ground mustard 1 tablespoon turmeric 3 tablespoons kosher salt DIRECTIONS For Spaetzle —Mix everything but flour until smooth and incorporated. —Add to flour in large mixing bowl. Mix with spatula for 3 minutes, developing stiff dough. —Bring kettle of water to 190 degrees, just below boiling. —Using perforated pan or spaetzle press, push dough in small amounts through and into water. —Dumplings will poach 45 seconds to 1 minute. They will float and be swollen when finished. —Pull out using a strainer and cool. INGREDIENTS For Beer Cream 1 quart wort 1 quart beer 1 quart heavy cream 1/2 cup dijon 3 bay leaves 3 allspice berries DIRECTIONS For Beer Cream —This is more of a method derived from reducing ingredients to a specific consistency and flavor. —Put wort in stainless steel sauce pot and reduce by half. —Add beer, bay and allspice and reduce by half. —Add heavy cream and reduce by half. —Sauce should be thick enough to coat back of spoon. —Cool and whisk in dijon. —Strain out bay and allspice. INGREDIENTS To Finish Dish 4 Old Salt Marketplace kielbasa sausages 1 head savoy cabbage 2 bunches green onion DIRECTIONS To Finish Dish —Have grill hot and ready to grill kielbasa. They can also be sauteed or roasted off in oven. —Cut cabbage and green onion thinly. —Fry spaetzle in hot, nonstick saute pan with butter. —When toasted and caramelized, move spatzle to one side of pan and add cabbage and green onion. —Add a big pinch of salt and cook until wilted. —Add beer cream and simmer until sauce reduces, becomes thicker and coats dumplings and vegetables. —Season with salt and pepper. —Serve sausages over spaetzle. Grain & Gristle 1473 NE Prescott St., Portland 503-288-4740 grainandgristle.com |
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