Thanks to everyone who came out to the Sagebrush Classic this weekend. It was a blast, and $80,000 was distributed to Central Oregon charities that benefit children and families.
Archive for July, 2009
A big thank you!
Monday, July 20th, 2009Chef Tom Fleming: Exclusive Interview
Thursday, July 16th, 2009Chef Tom Fleming has been featured in Bon Appétit, Southern Living, Gourmet, Esquire, and USA Today, and won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant for his first restaurant, Brasserie Jo. Chef Fleming has cooked simple, perfect food at restaurants in Chicago, Texas and France. He’s now executive chef for Preferred Restaurant Services in Dallas, where his hearty regional American menu evolves with the seasons to feature the freshest seafood, wild game, local produce and a selection of steaks, and chicken, pork, and game items that are enhanced by slow cooking on an exhibition rotisserie. Fleming regularly flies in fresh ingredients from across the country to heighten the authenticity of the menu.
Dallas Chef Tom Fleming
Is it fun being a chef?
Yes. The best part is no two days are ever the same.
Give three adjectives to describe the Sagebrush Classic.
Sunny, ultra-cool, down-to-earth!
What is your least favorite fruit and why?
Ugli fruit… because it’s ugli!
You’ve been framed for murder by a vicious rival. What do you choose for your last meal?
Seared foie gras to start, followed by rack of lamb, than a cheese course.
What made you want to take part in the Sagebrush Classic Feast?
First it was the thought of going to Bend, Oregon! Then I met the people involved, and the great work they are doing for the various charities. And did I mention Bend, Oregon?
Beer and Food Pairing Tip #5: Match flavors in the beer
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009Chef Jen Jasinski is a Food Network competitor and the rockstar culinary brain behind Denver’s smash success restaurant Rioja. We like her advice for pairing beer with food — you need to really get to know your beer.
“Drink, drink, drink,” says Chef Jen Jasinski, when asked about the best way to pair great beer with tasty food.
“Try to pick out specific flavors and replicate them in your food,” she says. “Maybe there’s a citrus aftertaste. Then you can do something with tangerine – like that.”
Winner of the beer haiku contest announced!
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009The winning haiku was submitted by Karen, who has won two tickets to the Sagebrush Classic Feast on Saturday!
Willamette hops taste
like summer: green flowers bright
and sharp as sunlight
Chef Cathy Whims: Exclusive Interview
Friday, July 10th, 2009As chef and co-owner of Nostrana, an Italian restaurant in Portland, Oregon, Cathy Whims has won numerous awards for her work, including two Restaurant of the Year awards and a nomination from the James Beard Foundation for “Best Chef in the Northwest” — pretty impressive for an Italian chef who is not actually Italian. Her cooking career began at Genoa, another Italian restaurant in Portland, where she flourished for 20 years and eventually became a co-owner. After leaving Genoa, she and three partners opened Nostrana, where the menu is dedicated to the simplicity and purity of regional Italian cooking. Whims always makes sure her food is nutritious, local, and sustainable.
Portland Chef Cathy Whims of Nostrana
What exciting new creations are you working on?
A ‘La Cucina Povera’ menu highlighting the rustic and thrifty dishes
of Italian cuisine.
Sounds recession-friendly. What about three adjectives to describe the Sagebrush Classic?
Delicious, sporty and viniferous.
You have had some amazing accolades — including recently being nominated for James Beard Best Chef in the Northwest — what’s the secret to your success and the success of Nostrana?
Having an incredible team of cooks, waiters and managers working together to promote Nostrana. I think it is indicative of our style that ‘Nostrana’ actually means ours in Italian.
Radicchio-caesar salad at Nostrana
What are some of the most overrated — and underrated — seasonings?
Overrated is truffle oil. Most of it is fake!
Is there a food you just can’t bring yourself to like?
Deep fried grasshoppers, Oaxaca style.
A rival was so incensed by your recent accolades from the James Beard Foundation that they framed you for murder. What’s your last meal?
Bucatini amatriciana, lamb scottaditto and Roman-style deep fried artichokes.
What made you want to take part in the Sagebrush Classic Feast?
Are you kidding – it’s a blast!
What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done in a restaurant kitchen?
Dropped a 5 gallon container of yogurt all over my head.
Recipe: Slow Baked Salmon With Chardonnay Butter Sauce
Thursday, July 9th, 2009This year, The Compound (Santa Fe) Chef Mark Kiffin plans to prepare seared diver scallops, with summer asparagus, peas and baby onions, charred tomato pearl cous cous, and basil-mint pesto. This tantalizing dish will be paired with Sagebrush Classic Pilsner, a traditional German-style Pilsner using only the finest Pilsner malts, Czech Saaz hops and German lager yeast. Cold fermentation and a long laagering period ensue smooth malt taste and crisp hop bitterness. (Original Gravity 1.048, ABV 5.1%)
Here is another famous recipe of Chef Kiffin’s for…
Slow Baked Salmon With Chardonnay Butter Sauce
Ingredients:
-2 salmon fillets, pin boned, skin on and portioned to approx 8 oz.
-2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
-1 celery root, peeled and diced
-1 bulb fennel, no green tops, diced
-2 white onions, peeled, and diced
-1 bunch fresh thyme
-1 bunch flat leaf parsley
-1/2 bunch fresh basil
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 175, 250 if convection. Season fillets with salt and pepper. Mix the carrots, celery root, fennel and onion. In a baking dish just big enough for the fish, layer the vegetables on the bottom, the fish fillets on top, trying not to have ends touching. Lay the fresh herbs over the top of the fish, covering it as much as possible. Cover the dish with foil and place in the oven approximately for 45 minutes to cook completely through, less if more medium or medium rare is preferred. Serve with Chardonnay butter sauce or chill and cut up for salmon salad.
Yield: 4 servings
Beer and Food Pairing Tip: Pairing with dissidents
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
The Dissident, from Deschutes Brewery's Reserve Series.
Fermented for more than 18 months in isolation from the rest of the beers, The Dissident is a distinctive Flanders-style sour brown ale from Deschutes Brewery, with a fruity aroma and flavor.
If you’re lucky enough to get your hands on a bottle, the fruit and acidity in The Dissident make it ideal for pairing with a wide variety of dishes. The high acidity is perfect for cutting creamy dishes or cooling spicy ones. Because of the fruity characteristics derived from the cherries, the beer also pairs well with chocolate.
Deschutes Brewery President and Founder Gary Fish recommends pairing The Dissident with anything chocolate — the darker the better — soft cheeses like Brie, and creamy dishes like spaghetti carbonara or macaroni and cheese.
Chef Matt Neltner: Exclusive Interview
Monday, July 6th, 2009Few people realize that Chef Matt Neltner uses beer in almost every item on the menu at the Deschutes Brewery pub in Bend. Chef Neltner’s emphasis is on fresh and handcrafted products with everything possible made on premise including the sausage, breads and mustard. Even the burgers come from freshly-ground, locally-farmed Borlen Cattle Company beef raised on Deschutes Brewery’s spent grain and hops.
Matt Neltner is executive chef at the Deschutes Brewery pub in Bend.
What’s the best part of working at Deschutes Brewery?
The best part of working at Deschutes Brewery is the people. The folks that I work with are a wonderful group of people who are dedicated to the craftsmanship of beer and food.
What exciting new creations are you working on?
I am putting out a new spring and summer menu with lots of fresh fish and salads with some fun beer-infused salad dressings. We are also getting ready for our 2nd Annual Chocolate Beer dinner, where all the food and all the beer are made with chocolate.
Give three adjectives to describe the Sagebrush Classic.
Delicious, gratifying, and inspiring.
Favorite Deschutes Brewery beer and why.
Mirror Pond Pale Ale. I love its balance. It pairs well with many types of food. Nostalgia… It is the first Deschutes beer I really got to know.
What made you want to take part in the Sagebrush Classic Feast?
The Sagebrush Classic offers an opportunity to work with some of the country’s most creative chefs in an environment that benefits the community that I live in and love dearly.
Most embarrassing moment as a chef?
My most embarrassing moment probably came when I left a message for my beef order on my seafood purveyor’s machine and my seafood order on my beef purveyor’s. I did not find out that I did this until several weeks later. Both purveyors were familiar with each other so they called each other and straightened out my order without my being the wiser.
Silent Auction: Breedlove Pro C25/CR
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
One of the items available for auction at the Sagebrush Classic is a Breedlove Pro C25/CR guitar.
The Breedlove Guitar Company has carved out a unique position in the modern acoustic market with a line of guitars that are readily identifiable both by looks and sound. Breedlove’s distinctive custom instruments have found their way into the hands of performers as diverse as Ed Gerhard and Madonna, and they have a reputation as a high-end boutique brand.
Breedlove donated this beautiful guitar from its Pro Series for the Sagebrush Classic silent auction on July 18. The C25/CR Herringbone is a concert-size guitar, with a beautiful dark cedar top and deep, rich rosewood back and sides. From the distinctive headstock shape to the sloped soft cutaway, and the dramatic winged, pinless bridge, the C25/CR Herringbone is instantly recognizable as a Breedlove. This is a gorgeous instrument that retails for $1,700. Special thanks to Breedlove for donating it to support children and families in Central Oregon.