The Great American Distiller's Festival 2011

A couple weekends ago I joined a couple friends for what has become a yearly tradition -

The Great Ameican Distiller's Festival

A gathering of distiller's great and small to present the latest and greatest product for the year . This year there was or so vendors , bartender"s contests , and so much more .

The most obvious trends this year were certified organic distilled spirits and small batch whisky . There was an overabundance of vodka both infused ( last years big trend ) and virgin . As usual there were a few welcome suprises so I'd like to take a second a share a few highlights of the show . Hope you enjoy .

Looking for something to brighten up your Bloody Mary ? Here it is ....

Skip Rock Vodka - washington's premium potato vodka

This is a Yukon Gold based potato flavor with all of the flavor of the potato including the earthy tones .
Whether brightening a drink or deglazing a pan for sauce this is truely unique .
Skip Rock Distillers is based in Snohomish , Wa and sources only local ingedients . Can be found in oregon soon at top liquor distibutors .
Skip Rock can be found on Facebook and http://www.skiprockdistillers.com/

Forget all your preconseptions of rocket fuel moonshine , this was the real deal and so tasty ....

Block and Tackle Moonshine satrted out with a butter flavor that transitioned into a true corn flavor and finished with a little kick . A nice balance of flavor and very pleasent to sip . This was a great presentation of the elements that make a solid whisky without the smokey chared oak flavor that come from the barrel , very clean .

Block and Tackle Sunshine is the next step up with more intense flavors and a punch at the end . This was my pick for the next bottle on my shelf . I felt this was the real deal and has a reasonable price point of about $30 .

This product is currently found in washington , available in vancouver and all over Washington .

5 oclock somewhere distillery is based in Cashmere , Washington and is complete with a tasting room .
http://www.5oclocksomewheredistillery.com/

What can i say , my next suprise was ...

Mezcal Don Amado
Unlike other Mezcals i have had I found layer upon layer of aromatic that was wonderfully complex . It congoured up images of shrimp tacos on a sunny day in Mexico . Well balance , tasty , and hard to put my finger exactly what flavors were present .

finally four roses

Now I was introduce to Four Roses bourbon this last year . This wasn't the typical bourbon but a bottle of Four Rose's Private selection for Pope House . Really love the warm comination of caramely flavors in this  Now in the Four Rose's lounge in the show they were showcasing one of this year's private selects that was sharper , deeper and richer . For me , I really liked it .

What ever your tastes and what ever you like , there is something for everyone at the Great American Distiller's Festival and I highly encourage you to discover what youj like when the show rolls around again .

Portland Greek Festival Oct 5,6,7 2012

This weekend the greek festival goes into full swing at 32nd and Glisan 

in Portland , Oregon  . Here are the highlights of my trip tonight .

You need to purchase Talents ( coins ) to pay for food at the front for a Dollar a piece .

Spanakopita ( spinach pie )

and

Tyropita ( cheese pie )

I am a big fan of Filo dough and just about anything :)

3 talents each

You buy at ticket and wonder until your lamb number is called .

While you are waiting the lamb is roasted on a spit to perfection

A great team of speialist dispact the beast into plates

 

And there you have it ,

Roast Lamb on a Spit - 8 talents  

Think your favorite pot roast only better

 

Greek Village Salad

5 talents

Loukoumades

Deep fired airy pillows covered in honey

Large - 4 talents  

One of my favoirte desserts of the night

2 talents

 

I am a custard junkie

love it

2 talents

Pasta Flora

Not too sweet and tangy apricot

2 Talents

 

and of course Baklava

2 talents

 

There is so much more food  available that we didn't even try ,vlaki

Souvlaki

So many desserts

and greek coffee

Frappe

They say it is strong .

 

They even host a sitdown dinner

( The only place you can get the domathas )

If you go , pick up a program and explore .
Be ready for big crowds with the good weather .
Besides the food , there is jewelry , cooking demos and so much more .

It was a great time and I have to thank my little greek girl for hopping in the car and showing me the amazing food of her people , again :)

A few of my favorite things - items from food crawl

Today I took a buddy out to try a few of my favorite foods in Portland .

To show him everything would take several weekends but today shared of few of my favorites .

Porchetta Sandwich from Lardo ,

$9

The pork fat on this sanwich melts in you mouth like butter .

One of my favorite sandwiches .

www.lardopdx.com

Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings from Pok Pok

$12.50

Totally unique , really like the marraige of flavors

I eat the mild ones .

www.pokpokpdx.com

 

Bulgogi Taco's from Bo Kwon's Koi Fusion

$2.50 each( 2 pictured )

www.koifusionpdx.com

I love the sweet and spicy of the pickled veggies with the meat :)

 

 

 

 The there was today new item discoveries

A Moscow Mule from Lardo

$8

Russian Standard , Lime Juice , Angostura Bitters , Ice , and Cock& Bull

Bitter . sweet, and refreshing

Crispy Pig's Ear Salad from Lardo

$8

fried egg , frisee , and bacon vinaigrette

really solid , bright flavor

 

A great lunch crawl with a friend :)

Hope to do another one soon with a few more friends .

Lardo ( update )

Lardo is now a restaurant , praise the lard !

They now rest at their permanant location at -

1212 S. E. Hawthorne in Portland , Oregon

For those of you who have been to the cart you will see familiar touches .

The same loving attention to awesome food has been transfered to their expanded menu .

The combination of flavors makes this one of the most satisfying places I eat .

Farm fresh and attention to detail spinkled with love for food .

Yes you can taste the difference .

Don't forget to praise the lard when you tip :)

This menu have expanded vastly . The porchetta is still there but not on the menu . As it takes time to prep you have to ask if they have it that day but the other offerings are just as good .

They now have a full bar to compliment your entree .

They also serve several beers as well .

Don't be afraid to ask for help from your bartender .

 

One of the things I really like about this location is ample setting both inside and out .

Whether inside , in the garden style area , or on the side walk you can still enjoy Portland .

The order counter is centrally located and next to the bar for easy access to everything .

This was a unique touch - wooden spoon numbers :)

This is a great spin on the BLT

Pork Belly , Lettuce , Tomato

Very flavorful - the lemon adds a very high bright note .

Served on bread from Fleur de Lis . 

Complimented by Lardo fries  with fresh herbs and parmesan .

The Bronx Bomber

This sandwich blew my mind !

Painted Hills Top Round , Provolone . Mama Lil's peppers , and carmelized onions

Explosive flavor :)

 

The owner Rick , one of the nicest guys , Really took his vision the the next level and delivered .

I can't say enough about his use of ingredents and flavor combinations .

 

If I had to choose a last meal is would be the Lardo Porchetta Sandwich .

I would die with a smile on my face and peace in my belly .

 

If you want to check these guys out head to

www.lardopdx.com

or head to 1212 S.E. Hawthorne in Portland , Oregon

 

A special thanks to Perry Perkins for sharing food with me today .

The look on his face as he ate was priceless .

I think he acheived bliss like me .

Check out what he thought at

www.perryatehere.com

 

Living in Portland we are surrounded by food ,

don't be afraid to step outside and take a bite .

You never know what you are going to find .

The Egg Carton- 52nd and Foster foodpod

This humble cart had it's soft openning this weekend and the food was excellent . Owned by a sweet couple from the Midwest they are specializing in farm fresh egg dishes .

There were a few diferent offerong for Bennie

Mine was a Andui Sausage Benedict

I am a big fan of the butter , satiny Hollindaise sauce

French toast with Bourbon Maple Syrup

Simosa - mock mimosa nwith fresh squeezed OJ

Hope you can take some time and visit Sarah at The Egg Carton- 52nd and Foster  

Her food is always enjoyable and I always look forward to it :)

another trip to the belmont food pod - 44th and belmont

hanging with a friend and it was explained to me that the food pod  was something that hadn't been experienced so we head to one i am most familiar with - belmont foodpod

First stop creme de la creme . my friend informed me this place has been on food network so i said why not ?

So we decided here we were craving soup and the choices were spot on . a delectible french onion soup and my choice that really fed the need , soup of the day - lobster bisque and yes it did desrve the honor of being on food network .

Next stop is a personal favotire of mine - LARDO

this is a place where fat is understood and is made into savory goodness from heaven

These are trims of porkschetta - a little pork belly and a trim of pork fat

makes me smile and dance just thinking about it

this is organic pork finish fed with hazelnuts - yes you can taste the difference

and in the hands of this chef amazing porky goodness

Now if that isn't good enough

slap that on a cheeseburger with special house sauce

that was a crazy good burger

so now you are wondering

what are the having for dessert

that's right folks creme brulee

oh yeah

four bucks gets you a mini crock freshly torched

sooooooo good .

so i am sure you are ready for the dirty pic

my centerfold of food porn for this episode

but sorry guys

we ate them so quick i forgot the pic

Got lost in the heat of the moment

but i promise we will revisit this tasty treat