These days, I stay home and watch my Far & Away DVD and make Irish soda bread, with only a smidgen of wistfulness.

Searching for recipes, I found that soda bread is something of a touchy subject, everyone seems to have their own variation, to which they’re very loyal. Going to the source is always a winning strategy when seeking an authentic formula, so I browsed flights to Dublin on Aer Lingus. Then I remembered I was out of vacation time, which squelched that dream, so I started poking around for a more local source. Did I know any Portland Irish?

I was standing in the refrigerator doorway, eating Jacobs Creamery chocolate pudding out of the container with a very large spoon and pondering my dilemma, when it dawned on me–Jacobs Creamery’s ebullient cheesemaker Lisa Jacobs not only makes amazing cheese, but she is also an honest-to-goodness Irish lassie.

I petitioned her for her family recipe, and to my delight, she consented to share it. It’s been handed down from her Irish ancestors but now has a local twist–Lisa makes this hardy bread with her own handchurned butter and buttermilk.

Lisa Jacobs Irish Soda Bread–the Unedited Version

I have some very lovely memories of the childhood summers and holidays I spent in Dublin with my grandmother, Nana. She is full of spirit and like a true Irishwoman, doesn’t take guff from anyone. She was inclined to stop the car to answer her mobile (no matter where we were), and she’d whip out some deadly red lipstick and write vitriolic messages on any car that dared to take her spot outside her apartment in Ballsbridge. When I visited, we would go to the shops, where she would buy me little scones with plump raisins, and then we’d go to a film, or spend the afternoon in a castle sipping tea.

One morning I was perched on the edge of the hearth with a delicate cup of tea, watching her do the ironing (she loves to iron), and we started chatting about boys. It was one of those girly conversations-I was telling her about the boys I was dating at the time. She wasn’t so amused with the fact that there was more than one, but I was quick to point out the unique attributes of each. “My little Lisa Shmisa,” she said, “One day you’re going to meet a very special boy and you’re not going to want him to go away, and when that happens make him this.”

With that she handed me a small piece of well-worn brown paper with a very delicate cursive script written on it, folded three times. Inside I found a recipe for my Nana’s Nana’s Irish soda bread. It was and still is a favorite of mine, and is best eaten with a pat of butter and a slice of lox.

To really get the best out of the recipe, it’s suggested (by me) that you get some hip hoppin’ Irish tunes going while you’re whipping up this magic in the kitchen. Favorites of mine are Cockles and Mussels, Danny Boy and It’s a Long Way to Tipperary.

I am still holding on to Nana’s original recipe, waiting for that hunk of a man that I don’t want to let go, and I have improved upon it by the only means possible–I use my own Jacobs Creamery butter in the recipe, and my very delectable buttermilk. It’s perfect – enjoy it with someone whom you don’t want to go away.

Ingredients
3 cups all purpose flour (I use Odlums cream flour, from Dublin)
3 cups whole wheat flour (or Odlums wholemeal flour)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup Jacobs Creamery butter, cold and cubed in 1/4-1/2 cubes
2 cups Jacobs Creamery buttermilk

Coat baking sheet in butter. Crank the oven up to 425˚F and place the rack in the middle of the oven.

1. Mix the flours together in a bowl with the baking soda and sugar. Use a whisk to mix them, it creates a fluffiness.

2. Add the butter and mix (use your hands to work the butter through the dry mixture) ’til the butter is pea- sized, then add the buttermilk (shake the buttermilk up before using it, but don’t create too many bubbles).

3. Knead the dough until it comes together. You can do this on the counter, dust it with white flour first. The bread can then be shaped – traditionally it is in round loaves anywhere between 6-8 inches in size. You will get two rounds out of this recipe. You can then put the dough on the baking sheet and sc0re the top with a half inch deep “x” and pop it in the oven.

4. It should bake for about 38-40 minutes, or until you have a nice deep brown color. Don’t overcook it or it sucks. And you can’t cut into this bread while it’s warm or it sucks. If you put a tea towel over it while it cools it keeps some of the moisture in, but you can do one with and one without and see if you see a difference.

–Recipe and tale courtesy of Lisa Jacobs and her Nana

I ate this fantastically dense and slightly sweet bread with honey yogurt for breakfast, and with a salmon salad for lunch. Something about its rustic look and texture made me crave stew, so I told ‘guy I don’t want to go away’ I would make Irish stew for dinner. It was a long day though, and I didn’t so much feel like cooking come supper time, so I stopped at Meat Cheese and Bread on the way home and bought two bowls of their deep, rich spicy beef stew. He didn’t mind.

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As delicious as it is with a hearty smear of good butter and a bit of marmalade, traditional soda bread is not always the most exciting stuff. For my next batch, I wanted a version with some pizazz. I remembered having seen a tray of unorthodox looking soda bread at Grand Central Bakery, so I went searching and sure enough, found it on their website.

The Grand Central Bakery version uses no wheat flour, more butter, and baking powder along with baking soda, and accents the bread with caraway, currants, and orange zest. The result is more scone than bread-like, but very savory nonetheless, so you don’t feel like you’re eating dessert, just a very flavorful bread. It’s a lovely twist on the classic, and you can find the recipe in the The Grand Central Baking Book: Breakfast Pastries, Cookies, Pies, and Satisfying Savories from the Pacific Northwest’s Celebrated Bakery, which I bought at Powell’s Home and Garden store on SE Hawthorne.

It turned out beautifully. I ate it with loads of butter and a cup ‘o tea.

I can’t promise that having a stay-at-home St. Patrick’s Day with freshly made soda bread slathered in butter, some Irish stew, a bottle of Knappogue Castle 1951, and your Far & Away screening will be quite as, erm, celebratory as those St. Patty’s days of your youth when you and your green tube top boarded the Barfly Bus and spent the night on a blarney and Jameson-filled adventure, but as the Irish say, “An old broom knows the dirty corners best” and “What butter and whiskey won’t cure, there is no cure for” and “God is good, but never dance in a small boat.” Remember that.

In the video clip below, Olympic Provisions sommelier Carly Laws demonstrates one of her favorite party tricks, a technique known as sabrage, which was apparently very popular with Napoleon Bonaparte’s crowd. Not one to need a fancy saber when a vintage cleaver will do, Carly deftly beheads a bottle of Prosecco with one swift slice, earning our eternal admiration. She also tells me a little bit about how she came to possess this talent in the below interview.

It goes without saying–don’t try this at home. And please excuse my less-than-skillful videography. It’s on my list of things to master.

Carly, where and why did you learn how to open a bottle of bubbly with a cleaver? Is this part of your sommelier training?

I first witnessed the “saberage” of a bottle of bubbly in Vancouver, B.B. at some schmancy restaurant. Only instead of handing us a cleaver in the back of the kitchen, they said, “Mr. Day, would you like to saber your bottle in the cave?” (I was there with a boy named Mr. Day.) And of course he said yes, so we paraded down into the “cave” (which was more like an opulent basement than a real cave) and they handed him a sword (or a saber) (definitely not a meat cleaver) and gave him some pointers as to how to avoid cutting off his hand and then voila! we had pink bubbly in one fell swoop. It was thrilling and delicious all at the same time. And since then I’ve been hooked, although the occasion to saber something is rare (but definitely becoming more common due to my predilection for all things sparkly these days).

From what I’ve read, the practice dates back to the time of Napoleon and his silly soldiers trying to open bottles of champs on horseback (which is apparently hard to do while holding reigns, a glass and a bottle).

I would imagine a lot of people are surprised to witness your unusual talent. How do people usually react?

To be honest, the only other people I’ve sabered a bottle in front of besides you and Michelle is Jason (Barwikowski, Olympic Provisions’ Executive Chef and Laws’ husband), our two cats Meatwad and Chub, and the three tweakers walking down the street when I did it in our front yard a Sunday or two ago. The cats weren’t impressed. The tweakers definitely were. They actually gave us a shout out.

Do you ever worry about missing the bottle and cutting off your hand and having to wear a metal hook on your wrist for the rest of your life, or is sabrage pretty foolproof once you’ve got the hang of it?

Metal hooks are hot. But it’s easy, so no worries there.

With summer coming up, I’m sure people will want to know–does this trick work on whites and roses, or just sparklies?

As Tyler demonstrated (see clip below) while trying to make us a rosé slushy the other night, it really only works on champagne-style bottles. These bottles are made with two separate pieces – the bottle and the collar of the bottle – and as you hit the collar of the bottle with the blade, it causes stress and the top (collar) wants to snap off in one piece. The pressure inside the bottle generally guarantees that no glass will fall into the wine, which is great and you can (carefully) drink from the rim with relatively little to no worries about gashing your mouth.

Of course, if you see me with a f***ed up mouth one day, you’ll know I did this poorly.

***

See Olympic Provisions’ co-owner Tyler Gaston’s questionable usage of the sabrage technique to liberate a bottle of frozen rose:

Put on by the Portland Chefs Collaborative and Friends of Family Farmers and sponsored by New Seasons Market, FoodHub, and Cascade Pacific, the event was both informative and inspirational. We were a bit late, rather ironically due to a distracting stop at New Seasons en route, so we missed the opening remarks by HOTLIPS Pizza co-owner David Yudkin and had to slink into seats at separate tables in the standing room-only auditorium.

We arrived in time to hear Keynote Speaker Nicolette Hahn Niman’s fascinating discourse about her work as an environmental attorney, activist and rancher, her experiences with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Waterkeeper Alliance, and her sweetly unexpected marriage to famous rancher Bill Niman of Niman Ranch. Nicolette’s passion is industrialized livestock production, and she just recently published her first book, Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms, which is part expose of the “factory farm” industry, part call to action, and part love story. If the book is anything like her talk, it will be a fascinating read. Apparently Michael Pollan thought so.

After Nicolette’s talk, we helped ourselves to fresh chewy wood-fired Tastebud bagels (Tastebud chef/owner Mark Doxtader brought two huge sacks and tubs of fresh cream cheese) and cups of Tao of Tea Jasmine Pearls green tea, and enjoyed the mid-morning mix ‘n mingle hour.

Next, everyone broke out into choose-your-own workshops, which were held directly before and after lunch. We attended Farmer-Chef Connection 101, a panel discussion with a half dozen farmers and chefs that included Carafe Bistro Executive Chef Pascal Sauton, Shari Sirkin of Dancing Roots Farm, David Knaus of Fresh Earth Gardens, and Anne Berblinger of Gales Meadow Farm. Through their freely given insights, we learned how farmers price their food and market their product to chefs, and how the two parties collaborate to cultivate strong, mutually-beneficial relationships.

And then there was lunch, which was the part I was the most excited about, I must confess. Nearly 50 local farmers, ranchers, growers, dairypersons, restaurants, markets, coffee and tea companies, and other purveyors volunteered their product and time to create fantastically fresh and delicious food. It felt like the sort meal you might get after a good old-fashioned barn-raising on a huge organic farm staffed by Le Cordon Bleu graduates. Everyone served themselves family-style in two long rows, and much exclaiming could be heard.

SuDan Lamb, Square Peg Farms, Lucy’s Table, Sauvie Island Organics, Oregon Culinary Institute, HOTLIPS, Random Order, Organic Valley, Delphina’s Bakery, Nostrana, New Seasons, The Brownie Farm, Daily Cafe, Genoa, Accanto and so many more donated to the lunch.

We left full, inspired, and looking forward to the next year’s event.

Last week Steve opened his straightforwardly-dubbed Cheese Bar at the corner of SE Belmont & 61st Avenue, where the wedge and wheel crowd can now flock for everything from creamy Bries and blues to odoriferous Langres, a full selection of charcuterie, specialty groceries, sandwiches, salads, soups, small plates, and happily, chocolate. If you’re thinking something’s missing, and that something is alcohol, fear not–on Tuesday, Cheese Bar begins serving beer and wine.

I took a long walk up Belmont yesterday to poke around.

Part cheesemonger, part cheese curator, soft-spoken Steve presides over a compact but impeccably stocked case, filled with everything from your wildest cheese dreams.

A Steve and his cheese

The narrow, neat-as-a-pin shop has cheese and charcuterie cases, a short bar, and a few tables that will likely be hard to come by when word gets out.

Ayers Creek preserves, Ames Farm single source honeys, and other specialty items grace the shelves separating the cheese and meat counters.

If you haven’t yet tasted super cute Olympic Provisions Meatman Elias Cairo’s charcuterie, well, I just feel awful for you. You should definitely buy a chub or two.

In the back of the store, you’ll find an array of picnic and pantry fodder, like fancy crackers, organic dried persimmons, various nuts, olives in their pressed and unpressed states, vinegars, dried pasta, sardines, and chocolate. As you can see, there is but one Xocolatl de Davíd Raleigh bar. I left it for you. You’re welcome. You can also stock up on fondue pots and cheese boards.

Below is a shot of the menu board, which clings to the wall behind the counter. Sandwiches, salads, and small plates are listed Noah’s Ark/Cat in the Hat-style–Sandwich One and Sandwich Two, Salad One and Salad Two, Cazuela One and Cazuela Two. We ordered Sandwich Number Two because it had pickles, and because we like the word stinky. In case you’re wondering what exactly a cazuela is–I was–it’s a burnt orange-colored clay dish popular in Spain, which is what the menu’s two warm dishes are served in.

We left Cheese Bar weighed down with honey, cheese and crackers, a stinky-good sandwich and a muscovado caramel-layered Zzang bar, which upon further examination was revealed to possess nearly 50 grams of sugar beneath its dark-chocolate crust. This explains why I spent most of the afternoon passed out on the couch dreaming about drowning in seas of stinky cheese. What the fudge, indeed.

Hello from Toro Bravo!

We would like to share with you some exciting news…

We are working on our next project: Tasty n Sons – a Portland brunch restaurant that will be located on 3808 N Williams, at the southern end of the building (in the old Nutshell / Anju space).

Those of you familiar with John’s brunch cooking from his Simpatica days should have some idea of what to expect… plus many more eclectic offerings that he has up his sleeve.

We expect the space to be ready around mid March for the Soft Opening run: Tuesdays through Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

After ironing out the opening kinks we will have a Grand Opening Party and thereafter will be open 7 days a week:
– Mon … Fri: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
– Sat & Sun: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Expect a follow-up mailer soon with dates for the soft opening and the grand opening party.

Kyle Prewitt, who has been with us at Toro Bravo for a long time, will be manning the stoves at Tasty n Sons, and will run the kitchen under John’s guidance, while John will continue as Executive Chef at Toro Bravo. Rebecca Finley, a 7-year veteran floor manager at Paley’s restaurant will manage the front of the house. Dori Prange, formerly of Toro Bravo and the Secret Society Lounge, will oversee the bar, with plenty of Bloody Mary selections to accompany the brunch.

We hope that this new project will contribute to the on-going evolution of Portland’s northeast neighborhood, which is home to John and many of our team members.

Until we set up our Tasty n Sons website, you can follow related announcements in the opening message of the Toro Bravo site at www.torobravopdx.com

See you at Toro Bravo and soon at Tasty n Sons…

John, Courtney, Ron, and the rest of the crew

120 NE Russell Street
Portland, OR 97212
503.281.4464
www.torobravopdx.com
inquiries@torobravopdx.com

Fortunately, you don’t have to do either. If you desperately need a date and some nookie, please see this new match.com ad that I am very fond of. If you desperately need an exquisitely fresh, pre-prepared Italian dinner that tastes and smells deliciously homemade (if you were channeling your Umbrian grandmother that is) please exit the Max train immediately and get to Taste Unique as quickly as possible.

Sandwiched in between Bar Avignon and Twill in the 2100 block of SE Division, Taste Unique is your new go-to destination in times of “It’s 6:30pm and I have no idea what to make for dinner nor the desire to so much as touch a cooking utensil” need.

Describing their venture as “somewhere between a bistro and a deli,” owners and husband & wife team Stefania Toscano and Lawrence McCormick offer strikingly authentic lasagnas, risottos, raviolis, pastas, sauces, canneloni, potato pie, polenta, soup and tiramisu. Stefania, who will charm you instantly with her delightful Italian accent and gracious manner, helms the kitchen, cooking the food she learned to make growing up in her native Perugia. Lawrence, who does not have an Italian accent but is very charming nonetheless, is the general manager.

Taste Unique allows you to procure beautiful Italian take-out that goes straight from your car/bike/knapsack into the oven. Items to be baked are packaged in disposable oven-safe cookware, with directions on the lid. Save the lid–IF you have leftovers, you can snap it back on and pop the container in the fridge for later. You can buy fresh pasta by the pound, and then purchase pancetta and hot pepper-laced Amatriciana sauce or creamy, sausage-laden Norcina sauce or summery Pesto Trapanese to swirl it with. You can buy a tray of dreamy tiramisu or a nutty Torta Mantovana cake, then plate it on fine china or eat it straight from the container.

The restaurant also serves lunch in its tiny 10-seat dining room, and you can find the daily specials on their Facebook page. Try not to drool on your keyboard reading them. Stefania and Lawrence will accommodate private dinner parties most nights with advance arrangements, and if you want to learn how to make your own Spaghetti alla Carbonara or Rigatoni Cacio & Pepe, take one of their weekly classes–attendance is capped at five, making for an intimate hands-on experience.

Allow me to give you an example of how Taste Unique works. Driving home from work Monday night, I suddenly remembered that I’d promised to make dinner for friends. I love to cook, but this particular night, in the wake of a grueling workday, what I really wanted to do was to go home, eat a box of Sahagun truffles and read my new In Style magazine while I waited for The Bachelor to start.

What to do?! I made a quick decision. Bypassing New Seasons, I zipped up to 22nd & SE Division to Taste Unique’s cozy, warm, lovely-smelling shop, where I selected a ready-to-bake Vegetarian Lasagna (they also have frozen for those of you whom can foresee these sorts of quandaries), a tray of homemade tiramisu, and a piece of soft, chewy Roman flatbread slathered with Nutella and neatly folded.

Back in the car, I ate the flatbread for strength, headed home, popped the lasagna in the oven, poured a glass of Barbera, cleverly transformed the entire contents of my refrigerator into a quick salad of butter lettuce, slightly withered fresh herbs, pomegranate seeds, and gruyere in a quite literal champagne vinaigrette, and let the house fill with the smells of Italy while I nibbled chocolate and read In Style.

Thirty-five minutes later, I pulled a hot, bubbling lasagna from the oven. Thin, tender sheets of fresh pasta layered with creamy béchamel sauce, fresh mozzarella,  mushrooms, zucchini, herbs, and smoked provolone. It sounds sinful, but the preparation is so light, you don’t feel guilty. If only this sensation of guilt-free decadence could be bottled and sold on the shelf alongside Taste Unique’s selection of Italian wines.

The doorbell rang and the next hour was a flurry of bechamel, wine, compliments to the “chef” (yes, I ‘fessed up, and my bait ‘n switch was widely praised) and stories about that one time at Ristorante Zeppelin in Orvieto when one of us fell in love with a boisterous Italian waiter named Stefan for like, 24 whole hours.

Our bellies were full, the few dishes produced were done in mere minutes, well before The Bachelor commenced, tiramisu firsts and seconds were served, and everyone’s clothing smelled faintly of bliss and Italy. That’s the magic of Taste Unique.

2134 SE Division St. * 503-206-7059 * www.tasteunique.com * Mon-Sat 10am-7pm, Lunch served Mon-Sat 12-2pm

**No disrespect to the mentally ill or smelly intended.