PORTLAND
FOODIE FINDS
FOODIE FINDS
An Evening of Foodportunity
By Andrea Slonecker
What happens when 300 of Portland’s restaurant and food industry insiders gather to talk shop? Find out on Monday, September 13th when Foodportunity makes its mark on the Portland food events scene. Dubbed a “networking party,” Foodportunity is an opportunity for chefs, farmers, artisan producers, food journalists, photographers, bloggers, and authors to gather and exchange information and ideas.
Event producer and founder, Keren Brown, launched Foodportunity in Seattle in July of 2009 as an arena for the food community to unite in that city. She believes that her concept will connect the Portland scene in the same way.
“Our Seattle event sells out every time and food professionals love the excuse to catch up with colleagues or meet someone new in the food community,” said Brown. “I am excited to host the event in Portland and bring some members of Seattle’s food community…a true meeting of the minds, and tastebuds!”
Chefs from restaurants such as Beaker and Flask, Clarklewis, and Nostrana will prepare hors d’oeuvres for sampling, while Chefs Philippe Boulot, Matt Lightner, Naomi Pomeroy, and Gabe Rucker participate in a tell-all question and answer session to the delight of Portland’s curious foodies. Toward the end of the event, man-about-town Byron Beck will host a “Speed Networking” event for a select few attendees to get one minute of face time—should be just long enough to exchange business cards and favorite restaurants.
The event will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Heathman Restaurant and Bar. Expect a no-host bar, but small bites and a selection of food products from local companies will be available to sample. Purchase tickets now at Brown Paper Tickets for $22, as they will increase to $30 closer to the event. Companies interested in showcasing their product may contact Keren Brown at kerenlovestocook@gmail.com.
Archived Blogs
Event producer and founder, Keren Brown, launched Foodportunity in Seattle in July of 2009 as an arena for the food community to unite in that city. She believes that her concept will connect the Portland scene in the same way.
“Our Seattle event sells out every time and food professionals love the excuse to catch up with colleagues or meet someone new in the food community,” said Brown. “I am excited to host the event in Portland and bring some members of Seattle’s food community…a true meeting of the minds, and tastebuds!”
Chefs from restaurants such as Beaker and Flask, Clarklewis, and Nostrana will prepare hors d’oeuvres for sampling, while Chefs Philippe Boulot, Matt Lightner, Naomi Pomeroy, and Gabe Rucker participate in a tell-all question and answer session to the delight of Portland’s curious foodies. Toward the end of the event, man-about-town Byron Beck will host a “Speed Networking” event for a select few attendees to get one minute of face time—should be just long enough to exchange business cards and favorite restaurants.
The event will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Heathman Restaurant and Bar. Expect a no-host bar, but small bites and a selection of food products from local companies will be available to sample. Purchase tickets now at Brown Paper Tickets for $22, as they will increase to $30 closer to the event. Companies interested in showcasing their product may contact Keren Brown at kerenlovestocook@gmail.com.
Archived Blogs
What's on My Plate Today
Pizza on the Grill
Grilled pizza is exciting to make. It takes some finesse, a little daring, definite organization of ingredients, and some critical tools. That said, it’s worth practicing and mastering the techniques, because grilled pizza is uniquely delicious, with a crack and snap to the crust and a smoky flavor beyond compare.
Many think grilled pizza originated in California—with all the sunny weather, warm days, and designer pizzas on restaurant menus, pizza from the grill seems a natural. However, the restaurant generally credited with inventing grilled pizza is Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island, owned by George Germon and Johanne Killeen. They started making grilled pizza in the early 1980s. I have eaten there on several occasions, and even took a class from George when he taught pizza on the grill to a group of food professionals during a conference in Providence.
The difference between grilled pizza and baking a pizza in the oven is that the dough for a grilled pizza is baked on one side before any toppings are added, whereas a pizza baked in the oven has all the toppings added before it is slid into the oven. This is why the organization of ingredients is important. Once the pizza dough is cooked on one side, the crust is flipped so the baked side with the grill marks is facing up. The toppings are added to this side, and then the pizza is slid back onto the grill to cook the underside of the crust and bake the toppings. Having the prepared ingredients ready right next to the grill is one of the keys to success.
I mentioned daring and finesse—I should also mention fun. If you have practiced sliding a pizza from a pizza peel onto a baking stone, then sliding a pizza onto a hot, well-oiled grill surface is similar. The difference is you have a hot live fire to deal with, and you want the dough to land in the right place. For your first time, try making smaller, individual pizzas by cutting the dough in half and rolling out two crusts. This way you’ll be sliding a smaller piece of dough onto the grill. Another trick is to make an extra batch of dough so you have a backup supply just in case the dough folds over on itself while you’re trying to slide it on the grill. Any extra dough can be frozen for later use.
There are a few special tools useful for making pizza on the grill, though I have seen many successful improvisations. Long tongs for moving the coals and sliding the pizza are very helpful, as are long oven mitts. For me, the one absolutely critical piece of equipment for pizza grilling is a pizza peel, for sliding the dough onto the grill grate and then transferring the finished pizza to a cutting board. A wooden pizza peel is charming, but for grilling pizzas, I’ve found a metal peel practical, as it won’t burn if it touches the grill grate.
Don’t wait to make pizza on the grill—it’s too much fun—but you might consider trying a few practice pizzas to get the hang of it before you invite friends to a grilled pizza party.
Diane
View archived blogs
Grilled pizza is exciting to make. It takes some finesse, a little daring, definite organization of ingredients, and some critical tools. That said, it’s worth practicing and mastering the techniques, because grilled pizza is uniquely delicious, with a crack and snap to the crust and a smoky flavor beyond compare.
Many think grilled pizza originated in California—with all the sunny weather, warm days, and designer pizzas on restaurant menus, pizza from the grill seems a natural. However, the restaurant generally credited with inventing grilled pizza is Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island, owned by George Germon and Johanne Killeen. They started making grilled pizza in the early 1980s. I have eaten there on several occasions, and even took a class from George when he taught pizza on the grill to a group of food professionals during a conference in Providence.
The difference between grilled pizza and baking a pizza in the oven is that the dough for a grilled pizza is baked on one side before any toppings are added, whereas a pizza baked in the oven has all the toppings added before it is slid into the oven. This is why the organization of ingredients is important. Once the pizza dough is cooked on one side, the crust is flipped so the baked side with the grill marks is facing up. The toppings are added to this side, and then the pizza is slid back onto the grill to cook the underside of the crust and bake the toppings. Having the prepared ingredients ready right next to the grill is one of the keys to success.
I mentioned daring and finesse—I should also mention fun. If you have practiced sliding a pizza from a pizza peel onto a baking stone, then sliding a pizza onto a hot, well-oiled grill surface is similar. The difference is you have a hot live fire to deal with, and you want the dough to land in the right place. For your first time, try making smaller, individual pizzas by cutting the dough in half and rolling out two crusts. This way you’ll be sliding a smaller piece of dough onto the grill. Another trick is to make an extra batch of dough so you have a backup supply just in case the dough folds over on itself while you’re trying to slide it on the grill. Any extra dough can be frozen for later use.
There are a few special tools useful for making pizza on the grill, though I have seen many successful improvisations. Long tongs for moving the coals and sliding the pizza are very helpful, as are long oven mitts. For me, the one absolutely critical piece of equipment for pizza grilling is a pizza peel, for sliding the dough onto the grill grate and then transferring the finished pizza to a cutting board. A wooden pizza peel is charming, but for grilling pizzas, I’ve found a metal peel practical, as it won’t burn if it touches the grill grate.
Don’t wait to make pizza on the grill—it’s too much fun—but you might consider trying a few practice pizzas to get the hang of it before you invite friends to a grilled pizza party.
Diane
View archived blogs
Grilled Pizza with Fig Jam,Prosciutto, Blue Cheese and Arugula
My featured recipe is all about making pizza right on the grill. It's a spectacular combination--a cracker-crisp edged pizza topped with warm fig jam and complimented by shaved prosciutto slices, crumbles of artisan-made blue cheese, and finished with a mound of fresh baby arugula on top.
View recipe
Pizza
Pizza is a cookbook for those who love pizza and yearn to try their hand at tossing and making pizza at home. Secrets are revealed by master pizzaioli, whether you desire Neapolitan-style pizza, Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, New York-style, and additional chapters full of other contemporary pizzas.
On Saturday, May 22, 2010 from 9am–3pm, Diane Morgan will present a recipe writing intensive workshop to be held at The Art Institute Culinary School in Portland.
This unique course is designed to enlighten and demystify the art and technical side of recipe writing. Topics to be covered include basic rules of recipe writing, formatting techniques, concisely defining an ingredient list, tailoring a recipe according to a publication’s specifications, and designing recipes that include sub-recipes and multiple steps. In addition, the class will cover writing creative headnotes and recipe titles.
This course is for writers, chefs, culinary students, and hobbyists wanting to refine and strengthen their recipe writing skills. Novice recipe writers will also benefit greatly from this intensive course.
Click here for more information and to register.
This unique course is designed to enlighten and demystify the art and technical side of recipe writing. Topics to be covered include basic rules of recipe writing, formatting techniques, concisely defining an ingredient list, tailoring a recipe according to a publication’s specifications, and designing recipes that include sub-recipes and multiple steps. In addition, the class will cover writing creative headnotes and recipe titles.
This course is for writers, chefs, culinary students, and hobbyists wanting to refine and strengthen their recipe writing skills. Novice recipe writers will also benefit greatly from this intensive course.
Click here for more information and to register.
The Art of Food Writing is a six-week course designed to take your thoughts, musings, insights, and experiences with food and translate them into marketable works for print. This course is for cooks, food aficionados, students, journalists and authors who would like to learn more about writing on food. Highlights of the course include a detailed examination of how to write a recipe, the process of creating a great story or book idea and the research skills involved in developing that idea, writing book proposals, pitching story ideas to newspapers and magazines, finding an agent, blogging, writing for the web, beginning a website, and other industry tips.
Click here for more information.
Diane has just completed her Winter 2010 The Art of Food Writing course. Please E-mail Diane if you are interested in her upcoming Workshop or future Food Writing Courses and be on the “first to know” list for these courses and workshops.
Click here for more information.
Diane has just completed her Winter 2010 The Art of Food Writing course. Please E-mail Diane if you are interested in her upcoming Workshop or future Food Writing Courses and be on the “first to know” list for these courses and workshops.
