Penne with Bacon, Caramelized Onion, Wilted Radicchio and Gorgonzola

I had just gotten back from a booze filled Saturday night at the Oregon Coast and I was craving some comfort food. For 24 hours I had indulged my inner redneck and survived on a diet of Coors light, Ruffles, chicken thighs slathered in KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce and a 10 lb. Salmon that was cooked on a grill so rusty from salt air that it looked like it might crumble to a pile of dust before the salmon was ready to eat.
For fiber we had those plastic trays of pre-cut veggies and ranch dip (I tried to force down some broccoli so my colon wouldn't get completely packed with chip and chip by-products).
What is almost surreal is that in the middle of all this "crap" we were shoveling in, we also uncorked a rare Turley White Coat, a 1997 Ridge Pagani Zinfandel a 2005 Dusi Vineyard Zinfandel from Tobin James and a Four Graces Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (the first three wines were great, I only remember popping the cork for the last...I think I went for a nap about that time...in anticipation of playing blackjack all night at the Gearhart Fireman's Ball (think keg party, 70's cover band with blackjack and a homemade roulette wheel.

By the time I got home on Sunday I just wanted to cook something comforting.
You know, something that touches all of the taste senses- sweet, salty, savory, bitter, sour.
Tonight's dinner hit all but the sour component and it was only my lack of motivation for making a salad that made that not happen.
When I looked in the refrigerator tonight I had a head of radicchio, a little bacon, some Italian Parsley, Gorgonzola and I knew I had a sweet onion in the pantry. This is a pasta dish that I threw together on the fly and it is nice to see that I still had my wits about me after a Hunter Thompson-esque previous 24 hours
The next time you are contemplating fast food, take a quick look in your pantry, you might surprise yourself at what you have ready to go in the time it takes to boil the water for pasta.

Penne with Bacon, Caramelized Onion, Wilted Radicchio and Gorgonzola
Ingredients:
1 head Radicchio (thinly sliced)
1 sweet onion (thinly sliced)
4 garlic cloves (thinly sliced)
1/4 lb. bacon (1/2 dice)
Italian Parsley
1/2 cup Gorgonzola
1 lb Penne Pasta

Directions:
In a large pot add a splash of olive oil and cook the bacon (add some pepper flakes if you want some heat) until browned and crisp and then remove the bacon, reserve in a small bowl and throw in the onions and garlic to caramelize. When the onions are soft and brown pull them out of the pot and reserve in a small bowl as well.
When you pasta is done, crank the heat on the pot and throw in the radicchio to wilt, this will take just a minute or so. Toss back in the onions, bacon and penne w/ some pasta cooking water to combine everything. To serve, go ahead and place the pasta in warm bowls and sprinkle with the Italian Parsley and Gorgonzola crumbles.

Pair with some toasted garlic bread and a good Italian Chianti .
Buon Appetito'

I am the Bobby Flay of my Neighborhood

Anyone who is more than a passing viewer of the Food Network knows who Bobby Flay is. His style of cooking has taken French technique and combined it with regional cuisines (especially SW United States) to come up with dishes that are almost uniquely American. Fresh, seasonal and often cooked on a grill. What I appreciate about the dishes Bobby does is that when you look at your plate you can identify everything you are eating-tomatoes,corn, cilantro, red onion. He lets the food speak and his choice of seasoning is typically a spice rub or a marinade.
So, with that information in hand I just want to issue a "throw-down" and say:
" I am the Bobby Flay of my neighborhood" (minus the curly red hair and the hot blond ex-model wife). If you don't believe me ask my neighbors. They will tell you that I probably grill 150 days a year. Lamb, beef, pork, turkey, chicken, buffalo, quail, goat...basically anything that moo's, oink's, crows, chirps or bleets is fare for my table.
Clouds, rain, sunshine (I live in Portland so there is much of the first two and little of the third) I am outside getting my "Bobby Flay" on.
So, dinner last night:

Menu

Dry Spice Rub Grilled Chicken Thighs

Chopped Salad w/ Lime Vinaigrette

Grilled Asparagus & Grilled Red Onions &Garlic Toast

2002 Provenance Cabernet

These thighs are fantastic-moist, succulent and flavorful. While I cooked this bone-in, I think they actually are better boned (save the bones for stock). Make sure you cook the chicken just to the edge of the coals. If you want some grill char put over the coals directly and stick by the grill.

Spice Rub
1 Tbsp Coriander seed
1 Tbsp Yellow Mustard seeds
2 tsp Fennel seeds
3 Tbsp Spanish Paprika (pimention dulce)
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
2 tsp Black Pepper
2 tsp Kosher Salt

Grind all the seeds and add the remaining ingredients-you can easily scale this up to keep on hand in an airtight container.

Chopped Salad
1-2 cup Tomatoes-heirlooms, pear, cherry-coarse chop
1 cup Corn (in season you can grill the corn in the husk and then cut off the cob)
1/2 Red Onion chopped
1 can Pinto Beans (rinsed & drained)
1 handful cilantro -chopped
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
1 Lime juiced

Heirloom Tomato & Gorgonzola Bruschetta

Photo by: Mark Thomas


With Summer around the corner it is just a matter of time before this season's tomatoes are in the grocery stores and at the various Farmers Markets in our communities.
This is a recipe that I very loosely adapted from Bon Appetit. The use of heirloom tomatoes is well worth the trouble and expense of finding them (unless you are growing them in the backyard).

This is a tremendous dish and it can be served as a salad an appetizer or even a light dinner. The flavors work well together and the acidity of the tomatoes, the crunch of the onion and celery plus the creaminess of the cheese make this a dish that dances in your mouth. This is a big time favorite of mine

Ingredients
8 pieces of thickly sliced crusty bread
4 large garlic cloves
3 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (eyeball it and use more if it looks dry)
1 pint currant or grape tomatoes or halved cherry or pear tomatoes
4-5 chopped green onions

6-10 medium heirloom tomatoes of assorted colors & varieties, cored, & sliced- Mix it up: Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Green Zebra or Dad's Sunset...get what is fresh, interesting and in season! I think the salad looks better if the sliced tomatoes aren't too uniform in size.

1 small red onion, sliced paper-thin (it needs to be thin enough to read the print of this recipe...........kidding)
2 celery stalks, sliced thin on diagonal
1/2 chopped parsley
1 1/2 cups coarsely crumbled Gorgonzola blue cheese ( I love the creamy texture of this cheese and it is pungent, but without the smelly feet component of Roquefort...which I actually love, just not in this recipe)

Preparation
Prepare barbecue grill(medium-high heat)-you know the drill, use charcoal and for god's sake use a chimney charcoal starter (does anyone like the taste of charcoal starter?....rhetorical question) . Brush bread with olive oil. Combine remaining 1/3 cup oil, currant tomatoes, and green onions in medium bowl; toss to coat. Season with coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Overlap tomato slices in concentric circles on platter, alternating colors (or just put everything in a bowl and toss). Scatter onion and celery slices over tomatoes. Hit the mix with salt and pepper. Spoon tomato and green onion mixture over. Crumble the Gorgonzola over the mix and you are good to go.

Grill bread until golden (pay attention or you are going to have burnt toast), then pull off the grill and rub with the garlic cloves. Cut each slice diagonally in half; serve with salad.

Food for Thought

I feel a recipe is only a theme, which an intelligent cook can play
each time with a variation.
— Madame Benoit

FredFest 2008

This past Saturday I attended the 2008 FredFest here in Portland, Oregon. The festival celebrated the 82nd birthday of Fred Eckhardt. "He more than any other, influenced the beer scene in Oregon, encouraged its young brewers, helped educate beer drinkers to expect more from their beer and wrote about the resulting beers and the scene that was growing here in a way that made people want to join the party"-John Foyston-Oregonian.

A picture is worth a thousand words...........

I have been fortunate over the past 15 years to have met Fred at homebrew meetings (Oregon Brew Crew), beer/food pairing events (beer and ice cream anyone?) and at events all over the City of Portland.

Racantour.............. (extraordinaire)

If you looked up "Racantour" in the dictionary, you would see his face attached as an illustration. For anyone who hasn't heard; Portland is to beer in America as Munich is to beer in Germany. We have an amazing number of national, regional and teeny, tiny brewers in this great little city.
Fred was one of the earliest supporters of the drive for good beer here in Portland. Kind of like
a founding father....only for beer, think of him as the Benjamin Franklin of beer.

Fred Eckhardt & Norm

The event at Hair of the Dog had all of the charm of a Oregon Brew Crew meeting, in fact I would venture a guess that 75% of the people in the room either are or have been members of the OBC. This event was all about the beer and the crowd wasn't the U of O frat-boy/sorority-girl crowd that shows up for the Summer Beer Festival.

Happy Birthday to Fred

Drinking in and around brew kettles, grain bins, fermentation tanks and an array of hoses, pumps and other hazards lent a big dose of that "gritty" Portland edge that I am glad to see still exists.

This little festival/birthday for Fred featured an amazing array of beers brewed especially for this day, they included:

1 BridgePort Brewing Bourbon Barrel aged Old Knucklehead Firkin
2 Laurelwood Brewing Bourbon Barrel Aged Olde Reliable Barleywine
3 Widmer Brewing Altbier!!!
4 Lompoc Brewing Oak aged LSD
5 Deschutes Brewing Br. Abe Belgian ale
6 Rockbottom Brewing Oak aged IIPA
7 Cascade brewing 2006 Wild Blackberry ale ( Flanders red style)
8 Lucky Lab Brewing Double Alt
9 Hopworks Urban Brewery 2007 Kentucky Christmas
10 Hair of the Dog Cask Fred from the Wood
11 Full Sail Brewing Bourbon BBL aged 1998 Old Boilermaker
12 Rogue Brewing Brewer Ale
13 Roots Brewing 2006 Pinot Noir Oak aged Epic
14 Ninkasi Brewing Dry Hopped Cask Tricerahops
15 Firestone
16 Jim 2007 Holiday Ale Fest Collaboration with HOTD

I have to say that the festival was all imagined it would be. The atmosphere was festive and this really did seem like a wonderful (large) birthday party for Fred.
Personally I am an avowed "Hop Head" so all of these big, huge, gargantuan IPA's and Imperial IPA's were right up my alley.

Another highlight of the day was meeting my blog friend Heather Anderson (from Gild the Voodoolily) and her charming husband Scott. While Heather claimed that she was more of "girly" beer drinker, I can attest that any woman that can hammer down 10-12 Belgian ales, Barley wine and an Alt or two to boot, is part Viking (apparently she actually is).

Heather & Scott

Heather (representing) & Norm

Just in case they run out of beer-