A Few of My Favorite (new) Things
September 27, 2007

During summer travels I discovered some fun new food ideas to share with hungry readers. We traveled to the Pacific Northwest to deliver Quinn to college in Portland, Oregon, and found ourselves in a foodie Mecca! These folks are particularly serious about tea, wine, and chocolate. Portland is a funky town filled with more than a dozen artisanal chocolate shops— fig and fennel truffles, anyone?  

45 minutes west of Portland is Dundee, smack in the heart of the Willamette Valley wine country. Over 100 area wineries produce pinot noir. We fell in love with the rich berry—chocolate pinots produced by Archery Summit (available in Vermont). We visited our favorite winemaker, Argyle, sampling their $25 Brut, which is the best sparkling wine available for the price point. The wine was fine, but our stay at The Black Walnut Inn was the highlight, accented by an incredible breakfast of Green Eggs & Ham. Organic eggs were tossed with a thin spinach puree and scrambled. They were served atop a soft brioche toast laden with slices of Canadian ham.
 
After breakfast, we had a nice Dr. Seuss day traveling to Cannon Beach, a savvy destination for surfing.  We worked up quite an appetite on the boards as we frolicked and dumped in the frigid water and sunshine. The Chef/Owner of The Nehalem Inn amazed us with simple yet exquisitely prepared local food. Try plating several quartered heirloom tomatoes of various colors on a platter of fresh arugula. Lightly drizzle on lemon vinaigrette, adding small pinches of sea salt. Top with crumbled Point Reyes Blue Cheese (available at Fresh Market) and fresh pepper. This salad is so gorgeous and delicious that we ate it three nights in a row. Coleslaw had very thin strips of ripe mango and a rice vinegar and sesame oil dressing. The fruit made this standard jump for joy with flavor. We ate lots of oysters, too. The fried oysters were especially scrumptious and we learned that the secret to a good batter is evaporated milk with a flour/cornmeal combination. 

Our afternoon refresher was simply iced coffee. But when it is made with fresh espresso, cream, and simple syrup— well, we got very selective, very quickly, about this afternoon treat. To replicate, I now just save a cup from my morning brew, but the simple syrup is essential: measure 4 cups of sugar into an easy–pour container. Add one–half cup of boiling water and stir with a chop sick. Add additional one–half cup boiling water, cap, shake well, and store in fridge. Need a little something to go with that coffee? Warm up a pan. Spread Nutella and soft goat cheese on the flip side of two buttered slices of baguette to make a grilled cheese sandwich that will blow your mind. I could go on– and I will– in my next column. Give these goodies a try for now!   

Kim Dannies is a graduate of La Varenne Cooking School in France. She lives in Williston, VT with her husband, Jeff, and three college–aged daughters who come and go. ©2008