Texas State Fair

I went last year, and was disappointed at the selections of foods available …. State Fairs were started as showcases for local farmers; in fact, Oregon’s was started iin 1959 by the Oregon Fruitgrowers Association. So in my humble opinion, a State Fair should highlight the best of the region, unique and/or innovative twists on local favorites.

But during my visit last year, I saw nothing beyond ordinary carny food, your hot dogs, churros, burgers(1), cotton candy, etc., etc., ad nauseum. This may well be a restriction placed on the fair by the carnival rides company (2) – maybe they get the foods concession as well. If that’s the case, the fair committee should seek a new rides company.

Oregon is blessed with abundant natural resources, and creative growers, distributors, manufacturers, chefs. One need only attend any summer event at Waterfront Park, street fair, or food cart pod to experience this.

The Oregon State Fair, if it isn’t courageous enough to go with an entirely “new plan”, might consider at least carving out a portion of the fair ground for nothing but local food carts. Why? Because the carts and their owners tend to source locally, and their excellent products give out of the area visitors to the fair a chance to sample some of Oregon’s home grown bounty, and become regular consumers of such products in the future.

The Minnesota State Fair (and Texas as well) are two fairs I have attended over the years that do a great job of showcasing local products with innovative flair. Everything from local ‘fish on a stick’, to local sausages stuffed with local produce. Or the “All the Milk You Can Drink for a Buck” booth, as Minnesota is a dairy state (as is Oregon).

Here’s a short video of Minnesota fair-goers talking about their favorite food finds. I noted with some irony that one of the most often mentioned items is an Oregon invention – the Pronto Pup!

Fair Food from Steve De Jong on Vimeo.

(1) Want to know what’s in your Oregon State Fair burger? Here’s their requirements: Hamburgers: No less than 5 patties to the pound (pre-cooked weight). No more than 20% fat, 8% water, and 4% texturized protein. Beef must be USDA approved. Served on a bun no smaller than 4 inches diameter, sesame seeds are optional. Must be cooked to 160 degrees.

(2) The Oregon Fair’s policy on food vendors is on their website, and I just read it.  A portion of the vendors ARE in fact from the carny company, with the rest being put out to bid.  So why aren’t there more local, unique, and small operators?   Probably the financial restrictions – the fair takes 22-30% of the vendor’s gross (that probably eliminates most small operators and food carts), and requires a $1,000,000 insurance policy and up-front deposit of $2500- $7,000 (which eliminates everyone else that wasn’t eliminated by the first requirement.)  There are a couple dozen other restrictions that would tend to limit innovation.  I fully understand the need to control safety and sanitation, but the Fair committee might consider easing up on some of the other points.   We have one of the most unique food cultures in the nation – let’s showcase it for the world to see and taste!

Hummus Stop

Well, this is a strange review. A non-review. For “The Hummus Stop” at Capitol Hwy and Pomona (across the street from an apparent, established competitor, Baba Fresh) is not open. Oh, they’ve been working on it. Since January, I believe. Neighbors in the strip mall said they hear H.S. would open July 4. Obviously not. The exterior signage went up this week, but peeking inside the door reveals not much in place except the conveyor oven from the two former Domino’s franchisees that occupied this space, and both folded. An auspicious (non) start for a new venture?

(Clucking his tongue). Well I said that about next door neighbor, Baristador’s, as well, when they had just opened. The took the space that another coffee shop had occupied, a ghost town of a coffee shop, with never any customers. I felt sorry for the Baristador’s guys, but boy, have they proven me wrong! They are alive, thriving, and expanding!

These people, these merchants, are my neighborhood “peeps”. I live close by, and frequently stop in (almost daily) at least one of the merchants. On this corner, we have 7-Eleven (go see Apu, a big fan of burgers), a Pho restaurant, a vegetarian Chinese place, Baba Fresh (Mediterranean, don’t let the lack of customers fool you, this guy is a huge wholesaler), a Subway (blech), a nice tail/tan place (say hi to Lee, she’s great!), the coffee shop, two dry cleaners, and an independent mini mart, Capitol Hill, which has a grand selection of low end wines, and multiple beer coolers, run by one of the nicest families you will ever meet).

But I am waiting for the opening of the Hummus Stop. On the surface, it would seem like a good idea to locate here, with Baba Fresh across the street, and another Middle Eastern type restaurant up across from the PCC entrance, in the same center as Walter Mitty’s. Why? Because we have a large section of Middle-Eastern origin people living in the immediate area, as well as a Mosque a couple blocks off Capitol. But oddly, I never see any of these people patronizing these ethno-centric businesses.

What can the Hummus Stop offer? Mrs. BDB opined maybe I should take a tiny pink spoon from home, as they might offer 31 flavors of hummus to try? Upon further investigation (online, as I never see anybody at the shop), it APPEARS this might be the effort of a Hillsboro company by the same name, who apparently has been selling such wares at Farmer’s markets for some time. (See this one review), which talks about his 16 flavors (not 31?!?!) of hummus, and other offerings.

How can he compete? Baba Fresh (previously reviewed) is pretty damned good, and the owner is very personable. You can catch him outside grilling lamb some days, and tho I’m not a lamb lover, his is very tasty. Mrs. BDB and I order a variety of his appetizers for take out on occasion, and dip and slurp the afternoon or evening away with chunks of fresh pita.

So Hummus Stop, where art thou? When will you open? And please, just for me, as long as you keep that Dominos conveyor oven, please whip up some of my favorite Turkish Pizzas?

This is an easy to prepare oven roasted chicken dish, that’s a bit different, is very flavorful, and bound to please most eaters.  Mrs. BDB and I prepared it last night, I was hoping for a knock-off of Versaille’s Garlic Chicken (Los Angeles), and while this was extremely good, it didn’t come close to the L.A. version.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

40 cloves of peeled garlic

2 cups of  EVOO

10 sprigs of fresh thyme

paprika, salt & pepper

Preheat over to 350

Heat a cast iron skillet to medium high on the stove top, and put 1/2 c EVOO in it.  Liberally sprinkle your chicken with paprika, salt, and pepper.  You can leave the skin on, or remove it, as suits your taste.  Brown the pieces in the hot skilled, turning each piece rapidly until the exterior takes on a nice color.

Remove the skillet from the burner, stir in 1 1/2 c EVOO with the garlic cloves and thyme.  Mix the ingredients around in the pan.  Cover w/ foil, bake 1 hour in the 350 oven, removing the foil for the last ten minutes.

Serve with fresh salad, garden vegetables, and/or rice, with brown and serve dinner rolls to mop up the garlic juice.

40 Clove Garlic Chicken

Bandito Taco

It took a bit of internet detective work to figure out “Bandito Catering” was connected to “Bandito Taco.” The only sign at the event we attended had the Bandito name and logo, but no phone, or URL, so I scoured the internet until I found that the caterer and the taco shop had identical logos. Voila!

So Mrs. BDB and I were at this event, hanging around waiting for the food, natch, which was a bit delayed — I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, and blame “airshow traffic.”

As I watched the guy set up, I was fairly impressed with his “meticulousness.” He was attending to the smallest of details at his two tables, prepping the chafing dishes and other crap getting ready to lay out his spread. We had been told it was to be a “burrito bar of sorts”, and I watched him set out nine chafing dishes and wondered? Hmmmm, 1) tortillas, 2) beans, 3) beef, 4) chicken, 5) rice, 6) vegetables — what would go in the other 3?

The attendant place large bowls of salsa, and surrounded them with corn chips place directly on the table cloth.

Finally, all was in place, plates and cutlery out, and people started to queue up for the

Bandito Taco Salsa

food, helping themselves to chips and salsa first, before moving on to the hot chafing dishes. I was only right on one guess – the first tray had rice in it – the second, a layered enchilada dish, corn tortillas, chicken, peppers, cheese……what lies ahead, I wondered? Dish 3: layered enchilade dish. Dish 4: layered enchilada dish. Dish 5: layered enchilada dish. Dish 6: layered enchilada dish. Dish 7 (drum roll, please…….) layered enchilada dish. They all looked the same, and there was no signage to show any differentiation. Some people in the line opined that some were plain cheese, and some were chicken, but you wouldn’t be able to tell from just looking at them.

I took the “chicken”, and sat down at the table to bite into this Mexican version of lasagna.

Ugh.  It was really dry.  Some recipes call for a dousing of the layers with sauce, but this one didn’t, and it was corn tortilla chewy, the chicken was dry, and it was for the most part, flavorless.

I was more impressed with the salsa, but I would guess he used canned diced tomatoes.   Nice cilantro flavor, tho.

In the course of researching this online, people generally have fairly good things to say about the restaurant, at least for what it is, Americanized inexpensive Mexican food.    And I suppose that a safe thing to have at a catered event.

But if I want quality, flavorful, authentic Mexican fare in Portland, I’ll have to look elsewhere.  Andelay!  Andelay!

Bandito Taco Catered Plate

OK, the title of the post is a joke.   The local owner of my neighborhood 7-Eleven has put a couple tables out front, and sez he is now “a bistro.”    The ‘cuisine” reference is to the point that 7-Eleven sandwiches, at least in my neighborhood, are made by LSG Sky Chefs, the catering divsion of Lufthansa.

It was a weird food day for me, I had a list of potential burger joints to check out, but I just couldn’t get motivated to try something new today, and I wasn’t in the mood to wander, so I just ambled over to see Apu at the 7-Eleven, and had a leisurely lunch of sandwich, chips, cola, and a newspaper. Just north of $5 for all, that beats fast food, and the “Italian Baguette” was really pretty good, the bread fresh, the contents (ham, salami, pepperoni, Italian dressing and pepperoncini, ample. I would have preferred more of the dressing, and less of the peppers, but for the price, coming in at about a foot long, sure beats anything available at the Subway across the street.

So I hate my sandwich, chips, drank my cola, and read the paper, marveled at the genius of Allen Neuharth, who created USA Today. A non working lunch, I guess. Someday even Burgerdogboy can’t look at one more burger. But tomorrow’s another day.

Here’s a pic of my sandwich, as well as a video commercial from LSG Sky Chefs.

7-Eleven Italian Baguette Sandwich

(Guest columnist William Duval, Portland business attorney,  and frequent BurgerDogBoy burger companion, turns in this report):

During my Match.com days – the ones after my divorce – I made a point to be filthy informed and up to date on the epicurean landscape of my fairly miserable city.  I knew where the creamiest crepe could be found, the meatiest rattlesnake, the spiciest enchiladas – - I could even identify the venerable vegan joints (because as an eternal opportunist, I never lost my thing about hippie-chicks).  This period, mind you, was a mere ten years past, when low-carb was gospel, organic was in its infancy, and the only gluten-free choice for food was relegated to the bottom shelves of the end of isle four at the first and only (at that time) New Seasons Market.  I doubt I had seen a gluten-free bakery or even gluten-free menu items back then, or, for that matter, met a rational person who actually eschewed gluten by choice.

Flash-forward to these happy days of monogamy: the restaurant scene has moved on without me.  I have no idea who serves what, where; and why would I?  My Newlywed Forever makes the best of everything, and if she doesn’t feel like cooking I can always come here and be told where to find the very best beef in a bun.   But I do know this about local restaurants in 2010: one nowadays just as easily finds Portland-area menus with gluten-free choices as one finds clueless bicyclists fucking up traffic 24/7.  (Make your own correlation.)  The Neilson Company confirms a trend is in the works: sales of gluten-free items in the U.S. rose 74% from 2004 to 2009 with sales expecting to top $2.6M in two years.  Bob saw it coming by adding five new Red Mills to pump out gluten-free products some nine years back.  And similar to blogs devoted to pleasures of the burger, there are website/blogs devoted to gluten-free shit in Portland you can see here http://www.glutenfreeportland.org and here http://www.glutenfreechoice.com.

The challenge, as you know may know, is finding a gluten-free anything that is as palatable and tasty as its gluten-laden ancestor. Sure, there’s gluten-free pizza at the PSU Pizzacato on Thursday nights, but have you tried it?  Or how about those $5 frozen bricks labeled “Bread” at Whole Foods?  After laboring five minutes to hacksaw off a slice just try to brown it in a toaster.  Double-down: now eat it.  Making edible gluten-free anything is hard. Making it taste familiar is even harder. My beautiful Match is on a gluten-free bender approaching six months now; I know that of which I speak.

But followers of the adventures of BurgerDogBoy will be simply fascinated, I am sure, to know a very juicy little tidbit concerning our anonymous Maximum Burger Director.

This past Friday evening, he and the ever-gracious Mrs. BurgerDogBoy invited us into their home, a place where by rumor we believed we would receive a most satisfactory well-cooked homemade meal.  Did we ever!  While I most assuredly don’t know the half of it, Mr. and Mrs. BurgerDogBoy really know how to cook.  I can state this with absolute certainty.  Yet this is not the juicy piece of which I taunt

Mr. and Mrs. BDB laid out a divine assortment of olives, roasted garlic, lasagna, pizza, salad and cookies.  And what do you know – irony of ironies – BurgerDogBoy makes THE best – you saw this coming – gluten-free pizza, gluten-free lasagna and gluten-free cookies one will ever hope to find anywhere, I am sure.

Each was presented in two varieties: Gluten free for my own lovely gluten-free adventurer and other guests on a similar journey; and for the rest of us – wholesome, thick, rich gluten maximus served up without reserve.  The results were spectacular; there was little difference to be perceived in each instance.  The sauces for the Italian choices were splendid – a sweeter, tomatoey mix for the pizzas, and a hearty, meaty blend to put my Aunt Sally on notice that her lasagna Florentine trade secret is in jeopardy.  BurgerDogBoy used at least three different meats for both forms of lasagna, the leftovers of which I enjoyed two days later.  As I am fully cognizant that this venue at which we all loiter is burgersdogspizza.com and not burgersdogslasagna.com I shall tarry only briefly off topic: Each version had plenty of ricotta, nice firm noodles, just the right sized layer of spinach and a scrumptious cheese baked golden brown and yellow on top…. it really was perfection. (Editor’s note:  Mrs. BDB’s recipes for lasagna are so secret, she won’t even tell ME what’s in them!)

As for the pizza – both versions offered the type of NY style crust I crave: thin and tasty, hand shaped and cooked over hot briquettes.  What was remarkable was the virtual similarity between each version of pizza.  Each contained a healthy variety of meats (salami, sausage and pepperoni i.e. heaven) laid atop the aforementioned slightly sweet, perfectly spiced tomato sauce. Only a slightly different taste made evident that the ingredients in the dough must necessarily have varied. Save for a minor few forgivable black burns on a portion of the crust’s bottom, the gluten-free version was far better than anything I’ve ever paid for.  This was seriously good pizza made and presented by our very knowledgeable hosts.

So it can be done; proven this very night by BurgerDogBoy himself -connoisseur of all food pleasing, tasty, and properly prepared.  But this really begs the question and laysdown the challenge:  for if BurgerDogBoy can give the gluten-free treatment to lasagna, cookies and pizza without sacrificing any of the attributes we’ve come to expect from some of our favorite foods then what potential there must be for a perfect gluten-free burger.   But the challenge is heretofore issued: You make the buns, and on my own grill our beef shall sizzle.

(The closely-attuned reader will no doubt call attention to the fact I neglected to speak of the cookies.  I am Mr.Cookie.  I love all cookies and eat cookies all day, so in saying that I thought the cookies were wonderful, little is really said.)

(Ed Note:  Readers, if you are looking for gluten free hamburger buns, you’ll find them in the BurgersDogsPizza.com online store!)

William and Victoria Duval

Once upon a time, “fine dining” in Two Harbors meant a visit to Dairy Queen. These days, with a smattering of posh resorts for the ‘visit Lake Superior’ and ‘get away for a night Duluthian’ crowds, dining has been elevated to an entirely new level.

The Ledge Rock Grill is the house restaurant for the Larsmont Cottages, a 40 acre enclave on the shores of Lake Superior, “inspired by a Scandinavian fishing village”. The Ledge is open for lunch and dinner seven days, as well as breakfast on the weekends, and is open to the public at all times (in other words, you do not have to be a guest of the cottages to partake).

Ledge Rock Grill

Serving “modern American”, chef Todd Torricer, who has Hawaiian roots, also offers monthly special menus, and the August theme features “inspired by the sea”.

Minnesota lead Burger Reporter Kawikamedia took a couple nights off from burgers, to check out a few menu items at the Ledge. Having lived in Hawaii, his intention was to check out the Huli Huli chicken, but alas, it was not offered the night of his first visit.

He started with the smoked shrimp appetizer with a dried cherry balsamic, and then went with the Kobe flatiron, served with parsnip mashed and asparagus, a bargain at $31.

His second visit was more successful, and described the seared Ahi, from the special August menu, as “out of this world”. The plate was Fresh Pacific Ahi Tuna pan seared and paired with avocado puree, sushi rice tater tots and finished off with a wasabi-soy butter sauce.

The Huli Huli chicken was very good, (if you don’t know Huli Huli, it is a traditional Hawaiian barbecued chicken, with a sauce made from soy sauce and ketchup, sweeting with brown sugar and a bit of sherry.)

He didn’t care for the side mash that night, which he described as “must have been doused in liquid smoke.”

Kawikamedia highly recommends the Ledge, despite the fact there is no burger on the dinner menu!

(All fotos in this post copyright Kawikamedia, 2010, and cannot be used w/o permission).


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Smoked Shrimp Starter

Huli Huli Chicken

Kobe Flatiron Steak w/ Parsnip Mashed

Marco's Cafe Portland

A nooner of a different color – I love the days when Mrs. Burgerdogboy calls from the road and says “wanna go to lunch?” Oh yeah, sez I.

We wanted something tasty and nearby, and she had talked about Marco’s Cafe in Multnomah Village before, so we headed over there. There was a slight wait for a table, but that was fine, we caught up on what each other had been doing for the morning.

Seated, we were promptly offered menus, including the day’s specials, and our drink orders were taken. Marco’s has a fairly standard breakfast and lunch cafe menu, with all the favorites, and works hard at the sustainable/local aspect popular with restaurants these days.

It was tough deciding what to have: I had my selection narrowed down to a) breakfast, b) club sandwich, c) French dip…….and that was before I even noticed they had burgers!

Mrs. BDB went with a half sandwich (grilled cheese for grown ups) and a half salad (some wild thing with dried cherries), and I went with the French dip, fries on the side. Another side option is house-made chips, a mixture of regular and sweet taters.

The food arrived and we dug in, Mrs. BDB was “starving”, and I was….hungry. The dip was on a very nice, crusty, toasted French roll, ample in size, melted mild cheese, REAL roast beef, (not pressed, chopped, and formed), and a good size bowl of au jus which I will assume was made in house as well – it didn’t have that undercurrent of flour taste the package mixes have, and it was noticeably pleasantly peppery. The fresh cut fries were dandy as well.

I’m guessing we’ll make Marco’s a regular stop…..it’ll be for breakfast next time. Prices were more than fair, as well.

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French Dip and Fries

French Dip and Fries