FOODday

Food news, recipes, cooking tips, menu ideas and more

Sometimes the smallest thing can make the difference between a good dish and a great one. Here are some ingredients that do the trick for us.

Oregon's Choice Gourmet Micro-canned albacore tuna: Meaty, juicy, sweet -- this is canned tuna? It's sashimi-grade Pacific albacore to be exact, low in methylmercury and packed with omega-3 fatty acids. Oregon's Choice puts a piece of the fatty belly loin in every can (that's good fat, remember?), making it extra flavorful and juicy. Leslie Cole

More Than Gourmet Glace de Fruits de Mer Gold (seafood demi-glace): Usually homemade trumps store-bought, but in this case it's the reverse. My homemade seafood stock has never been this rich and flavorful. Even when diluted with water this stuff tastes like the pan drippings from seared scallops -- in other words, incredibly delicious. Use it to add depth of flavor to a seafood soup, stew, chowder or pan sauce. (morethangourmet.com) Danielle Centoni

Continue reading "What you'll find in our cupboards" »

Even minimalist cooks value good equipment, and some of us just love gadgets. Here are some new discoveries as well as confessions of loyalty to our old faithfuls.

If You Care large baking cups: Sorry, I'm a person, not a rodent, so I don't like having to nibble on muffin cup liners because half my breakfast is stuck to the paper. These baking cups may seem plain-Jane brown, but muffins and cupcakes slip right out and leave almost nothing behind. And since they're unbleached, they're eco-friendly to boot. Danielle Centoni Continue reading "What we reach for in the kitchen" »

Food sparks the best conversations, creates lively reading and gives us fun things to watch, on TV and online, including these books, blogs and broadcasts.

The movie "King Corn": When I heard about the movie "King Corn," I thought, "Great, another documentary about how screwed up our food system and our diets are ... why bother?" But Portland filmmaker Curt Ellis and his partner, Ian Cheney, made me care with their story about the lives of people tied to the corn industry. You will, too. (Now available on DVD) Kathleen Bauer

Continue reading "What we like to read, watch, click on" »

Nothing inspires a cook more than beautiful produce, and Oregon is graced with an abundance, including these delicious things we look for at our local markets.

Gnarly carrots from Gene Thiel: At first, you can't tell they're even carrots -- some are buff-colored, some deep ruby, only a few are orange and hardly any are carrot-shaped. Instead, you find fanciful, stubby twists that make you wonder what the heck was going on under that soil. But slice into one and their shockingly crisp-sweet character will make those orange cylinders of your past pale in comparison. (Prairie Creek Farm at Portland Farmers Market, Saturdays at PSU. Market resumes April 5.) Martha Holmberg Continue reading "What we love from the farms" »

It's hard to decide what's more enjoyable, playing in our own kitchens or enjoying what someone else has made for us. Here are some tasties that get us to put down our whisks.

Thin waffles: In a world of Belgians, the thin and crispy originals have their place -- particularly wrapped around maple syrup and sausages à la FlavourSpot's waffle sandwiches. You'll have to hit the upscale cookware shops to find a traditional waffle iron these days. Or just hit one of the two FlavourSpot carts in North Portland and let someone else make the magic. (flavourspot.com) Danielle Centoni

Continue reading "What we like to eat when we're not the ones cooking" »

When our spirits need a lift, these wines and crafty cocktails do the trick. If you're caught in a chardonnay rut, get ready to uncork some new discoveries.

The proliferation of delicious roses: Finally, the market has learned that "rose" isn't French for "white zinfandel!" Perfect in summer, rose's pretty darn good in the other three seasons, though the offerings on market shelves are a bit thinner. Some of my favorites: Provenza Italy Chiaretto, Rioja's Marques de Caceres, the J.K. Carriere "Glass" from Oregon pinot noir and Domaine Tempier from Bandol (for more of a splurge). Martha Holmberg

Gruner veltliner: Juicy, quaffable, bracing, plus a fantastic bargain -- for the moment, anyway, until it gets too popular -- especially the Berger, which is only about 12 bucks for a whole liter (not just a regular wine bottle's three-fourths of a liter). And those stripey Austrian eagle caps are super chic. MH

Continue reading "What we like to find in our glass" »

Sounds better than "miscellaneous," doesn't it? These items don't fit neatly into our other categories, but we wanted to share them anyway.

Berry picking: There is no more relaxing, quintessential Oregon activity than going to a local berry farm to pick our exquisite strawberries, marionberries or raspberries. And doing it with children makes it even sweeter. It's these sorts of simple pleasures that they'll always remember. Two of my favorite farms are West Union Gardens in Hillsboro and Kruger's on Sauvie Island. (westuniongardens.com, krugersfarmmarket.com) Katherine Miller Continue reading "The 'melange' of favorites" »

When it comes to shopping we vote with our money, and these restaurants, stores, causes and food destinations are some of our winners.

The Carlton Winemakers Studio: If you want to get a sense of what's hot in wine country, you can do it all under one roof at this winemakers' collective, where boutique producers like Hamacher Wines, Domaine Meriwether and Bryce Vineyard share space and equipment. And this is where you'll find syrahs and pinot noirs from Andrew Rich, one of the bona fide stars of Oregon's wine scene. (801 N. Scott St., Carlton; 503-852-6100) Grant Butler

Continue reading "Places we like to visit when we leave our own kitchens" »

WINE NOTES: Focus and refine the familiar with a 10-step process to approach your favorite drink

We all make the same fatal mistake when compiling our lists of New Year's resolutions: We raise the bar too high. Who has the time to learn a new language or the patience to pick up salsa dancing?

Better, I think, to focus on things we already enjoy doing and refine our technique. For example: We can be better wine drinkers.

Continue reading "An easy-to-keep resolution: Be a wiser wine consumer" »

It's an affirmation as well as a challenge to pick a short list of FOODday's best recipes of the year. After all, if we don't love a dish, its blueprint (and the leftovers) goes into the trash.

Yet select we must.

Our baker's dozen represents some themes that dominated our cooking this year. Five recipes offered delicious twists on dinnertime staples that were due for some new interpretations. Another five emphasized fresh and vibrant flavors, thanks to generous squeezes of citrus. The remaining three can be prepared lightning fast, though speed in no way compromises taste.

Who knows what we'll be cooking in the year ahead. We'll have to make room for new discoveries -- between bites of these new favorites.

Continue reading "The year's best recipes 2008" »

BEST SHORTCUT COOKING: Chicken Paprikash delivers on taste and as a comfort food

Every now and then a recipe sneaks up and surprises us. When test kitchen director Linda Faus came up with this recipe for chicken paprikash, we thought it was good, but not necessarily a standout. Then after it appeared in FOODday, colleagues wandered by and mentioned it. And then we got phone calls from readers. Who knew?

Recipe included with this story: Chicken Paprikash in a Pinch

Continue reading "Classic Hungarian dish has a most practical side, too" »

BEST FIT FOR DINNER: These treats that are both tasty and nutritious rise to must-have status after the big holiday meal

Any chef will tell you: Everything tastes better with plenty of butter, cream and salt. That's why coming up with recipes that are as healthful as they are delicious can be a challenge.

Recipe included with this story: Grilled Turkey Burgers

Continue reading "Moist turkey burgers meet dual challenge" »