Naomi Pomeroy Shares Some Secrets at the Market

Here's a secret straight from the chef of Beast, one of Portland's most carnivorous restaurants: In her her "real life, Naomi Pomeroy doesn't eat a whole lot of meat. A regular shopper at the market on Saturday mornings, Naomi is passionate about fresh, local ingredients, and claims that, while the "meat kind of just does its thing," the vegetables can certainly steal the spotlight. "It's when you put the two together," Naomi said with a smile, "that's where the alchemy is."

She certainly focused on the veggies this morning during one of the rowdier Chef in the Market demos I've ever hosted, whipping up a farro risotto with wild porcinis from Springwater and shelled peas from Viridian Farms. We chatted about her recent James Beard nomination, her ironic attraction to the foie gras protesters outside her restaurant, her naughty revelations in the Portland Mercury's food and sex issue, the awesome time she had shooting Iron Chef America, and her plans for a classy viewing party for the (currently unannounced) airing of the show. She even hinted that she'd love to start her own high-end vegetarian restaurant in town, which would certainly be news-worthy. If any region could support a fully vegetarian menu year-round, it's definitely our little corner of the Pacific Northwest.

Try your hand at some beast-less Beast cooking with this recipe, and come check out the rest of the season's star-studded lineup of Portland chefs in the middle of the PSU farmers' market, every Saturday morning at 10 a.m. See you there!

Beast Farro Risotto with English Peas and Wild Mushrooms

(Serves 4-6)

1 cup farro (You may also substitute another starchy grain, such as carnaroli rice, aborio rice, or wheat berry.)
8 cups simmering water (The grain chosen determines the amount of liquid used. You may not use all 8 cups)
1 cup dry white wine
4 oz farm fresh butter
2 sprigs thyme
½ cup spring onions, chopped
3 cups cleaned wild mushrooms – sliced and cleaned (Porcinis are the best, but any variety will be great!)
3 cups shelled English peas
6 oz mascarpone cheese or crème fraiche
3 oz grated parmesan or other hard pungent cheese

1. Melt the butter in a sauté pan on medium heat. Add the mushrooms, and cook them until tender. Season with salt and pepper.
2. In a short stockpot or something with high sides, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the spring onion and sauté until translucent. Season with salt and pepper, and add the picked thyme.
3. To the stockpot, add the farro and turn the heat up to medium-high. Cook the farro until it starts to brown slightly. Turn the heat down to medium, add the white wine, and stir constantly until all the wine is absorbed.
4. Add the hot water one ladle at a time, allowing the grain to completely absorb the liquid each time.
5. When the grain is almost tender, add the raw peas, cooked porcini, and the cheeses. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

* For make ahead preparation, follow steps 1-3. Spread the grain out on a shallow pan to allow quick cooling and to stop the farro from further cooking. When you are ready, melt a little more butter, add the farro, and continue with steps 4 and 5.

Risotto-Style Farro with Winter Squash and Aged Goat Cheese

Fall is here in Portland. Nowhere is this more evident than at the farmers market. What with the crisp breeze, the golden sunlight at a slightly new angle, and the smells of roasting peppers, not to mention all of the amazing new fall produce, everyone seemed to be in autumnal spirits. It's getting to be the time of year when scarves come out and hot apple cider seems like a great idea.

This morning I had the pleasure of doing a cooking demonstration with Grace Pae of Artemis Foods, an amazing Portland cafe and catering company that specializes in beautiful local, sustainable, and seasonal gourmet food. They've received a couple of awesome awards for their sustainability practices, and they only use the best local, organic, and whole ingredients, all while making really phenomenal food. Grace was a total sweetheart, and we couldn't have had more fun making a delicious dish of farro with butternut squash, fresh cannellini beans, and Fraga Farms Aged Rio Santiam Goat Cheese in a sort of risotto-style mush, if I'm allowed to call something so tasty and pretty a "mush".



Farro is totally making a comeback. Also known as emmer wheat, it's an ancient grain native to the Mediterranean and Near East, and some nutritional anthropologists think it ranks among the oldest domesticated foods. It fell out of favor after the fall of the Roman empire because new crops, like barley and spelt, were a lot easier to grow and had bigger yields. For thousands of years it's been a relic crop in the Mediterranean, but it's experiencing a bit of a revival thanks to the growing interest in heirloom foods, grains included. One of the healthiest grains around, it's related to wheat and spelt but has its own unique character. It has an amazing nuttiness and holds its shape really well in recipes that can tend to get mushy. A perfect example is this almost-risotto, that features my absolute favorite fall treat, butternut squash. Not to mention really awesome aged goat cheese and a good amount of butter!

We used organic farrow from Bluebird Grains with the hull on, which preserved its nutty flavor and chewy texture. You can find their stuff at Portland-area stores or online. I also got a great tip about peeling butternut squash. You know how it can get kind of sticky or slimy and start rolling around the cutting board? Grace says if you chill your squash it is a good deal easier to peel. I'll have to try that next time! Another great thing about this recipe is that it uses fresh beans, which are popping up all over at the markets these days. You can eat them raw, in salads, but in a hot preparation like this they get deliciously creamy and tender. The dish uses chicken stock, but you could totally replace that with veggie stock to make it veg-friendly.



I love doing chef demonstrations, and if I could make a living talking about delicious sustainable, seasonal food in front of an audience, I would be a very, very happy girl. Keep your ears open for an opening on the Food Network for me, ok?

Here are some shots from the market today. Gorgeous!

Farro with Butternut Squash, Fresh Cannellini Beans, and Aged Goat Cheese

Ingredients
8 oz. Farro, cooked in boiling salted water until tender, drained
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1-2 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup yellow onion, minced (you can use a food processor)
2 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced
2-3 teaspoons fresh thyme and.or sage, savory, or any combination
1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes
1-2 cups fresh, shelled cannellini or lima beans
1/2 cup dry white wine
1-2 cup chicken stock (or veggie stock)
4 cups cubed butternut squash, roasted (simply toss the cubed squash in olive oil, salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet in 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and tender, stirring a few times)
2-3 ounces Aged Goat Cheese

Directions
1. Prepare you ingredients first by cooking the farro in enough water that the grain can roll in the pot as it is cooking. For example, 8 ounces of farro will expand by 3 times in volume, so you will need a pot about 3 times bigger than that, or at least a 2.5 quart pot.
2. Have the squash cooked as well as the other listed ingredients.
3. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil together and add onions, garlic, herbs, and spices.
4. Sauté ingredients for 3-4 minutes or until onions are translucent and garlic and herbs have become aromatic. Do not let garlic brown.
5. Add the farro and the beans, the wine, and about a cup of stock and let the ingredients simmer together, stirring frequently for 3-4 minutes.
6. Add the butternut squash and heat through ust until hot. Add more stock as needed to maintain a moist consistency. Add the cheese and mix well.
7. Adjust for salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat. Garnish with shavings of cheese.

Eat well!

Shitake Quinoa Salad with Roasted Fennel, Asparagus, and Broccolini

Well, for as much as yesterday felt like summer, today feels like a cliche dreamscape of Portland rain. Reputable sources claim this is the only day of rain in the 10-day, but I have my suspicions. While the rain is bad news for my battle against rickets and pale skin, it is good news for the blog, as I was able to brave turning on the oven to roast some spring veggies, and my mint plants perked up in the downfall after a weekend of droopy herb syndrome.

Anyway, now that school is over, all I have to do all day is read, cook, and prepare for my Big Adventure. If you don't remember, I received an art grant to travel Oregon this summer, painting and tromping about in the wilderness with my golden retriever. Yes, life is hard. I've got to gather art and camping supplies, plan my route, and generally psych myself up for a few months on the road, all of which can be done, happily, in the rain. The psyching-up, not the actual camping. I can foresee a bit of a problem with plein-air watercolor paintings in a summer storm, but hey, I'm not there yet.

I spent this morning drooling over aisle after aisle of art supplies at Columbia Art & Drafting Supply on 15th and Burnside, and walked out with a bunch of shiny new brushes, papers, and fancy paint. Hey, that's what grants are for, right?

For lunch, I whipped up a tasty warm Quinoa salad, with roasted fennel, asparagus, broccoli (baby broccoli), with mint, feta, and gorgeous shitake mushrooms. I chopped and roasted the veggies (everything but the broccoli tops) in olive oil and salt at 380 degrees for about twenty minutes. While I cooked my quinoa, I sliced and sauteed the mushrooms with the broccoli heads and about a tablespoon of chopped mint in some butter, and mixed everything together, still warm, with some olive oil, salt and pepper, lemon juice, and more fresh mint. I finished it off with a sprinkle of feta.

As I was shooting these photos, my roommate Weasel walked down the stairs, heard the clicks of the camera, and said "I hear blogging." I served her a mouthful of the salad, and she smiled. My friends may tease me, but hey. It's my summer, they eat well, and I'm happy.

Until later!

Maple Oat Peanut Butter Cookies

A while back, my roommate Dragonfruit spent a crazy amount of money on some high quality maple syrup for a breakfast-for-dinner party. Some other friends brought another bottle of syrup, which was used first - presumably under the pretense of not wasting the "good stuff". Needless to say, we still have a big thing of syrup in the fridge. What is a "special occasion" for syrup?

Enough time elapsed without the syrup being opened that it was obvious it just had to be used. I whipped up these cookies, inspired by Ashley over at Sweet & Natural, and they were a hit! Baking with maple syrup is great when you just need something sweet, but don't want to load your body with empty calories. Loaded with fiber, these are great - no white flour, no refined sugar, vegan - and they taste great. The pickiest of my friends thought they were so fantastic, he kept sneaking to the kitchen for more. You don't need the fanciest, schmanciest maple syrup, but make sure it's actually syrup - trust me, you'll be able to tell the difference.

Just a tip, take these out of the oven a bit before you think they are done. These were meant to be on the soft side. Like me. ;)

Eat well!

Maple Oat Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or AP flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dry toasted oats

Preheat the oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, maple syrup, canola oil and vanilla extract until well blended. In a separate bowl, mix together whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, along with oats, and stir until just combined. Let sit for five minutes. Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls, flatten to about 1/3 of an inch and place onto cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Makes 18 cookies.

Cocoa Agave Banana Oat Nut Bread

Classes are almost over!

I came home today, cold and excited to be in my warm kitchen with a few hours of free time before finals really hit. I'd planned on cleaning up the house today, and in the process of tidying the kitchen, I came across a plastic bag with three very ripe bananas. We're always scrounging dollar bags of just-past-perfect bananas, which are perfect for baking. Especially when they are sitting behind the fruit bowl in a twenty-somethings' kitchen for a week. Right.

So in the pursuit of cleaning, and making the house smell fabulous whilst I do so, I decided to try a new banana bread recipe. I know I've posted a similar recipe before, but this time I decided to use 100% whole wheat flour, replace all of the sugar with agave, and use olive oil - I'm telling you, this was one healthy loaf of bread. Normally when I cook with these ingredients, it's something I whip up when I want something for myself. I'll pull out all the stops - butter, sugar, chocolate, cream - for my friends and family, but there's something really rewarding about cooking with whole foods that my body really craves.

I used olive oil, agave, two fresh, organic eggs, unsweetened cocoa powder, whole wheat flour, oats, almonds, and bananas. Three whole bananas, in fact, which I think made it possible to use less sweetener. The prep for this bread took all of five minutes, and it popped in the oven for an hour while I did all my cleaning. Soon, the smell of toasted nuts met me as I swept the living room, and I crept back into the kitchen to check on the oven. It looked great, and the smell was fantastic, so I figured, even if it tasted "super healthy", it'd be a success. Boy, did I underestimate this little guy.

Sweet and moist with a hint of cocoa and toasted nut crunchiness, I wouldn't think twice before serving this to my friends. Or, maybe giving mini-loaves to my professors. It couldn't hurt!

Eat well, stay warm, and enjoy your week!

Cocoa Agave Banana Oat Nut Bread

1/2 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
3 very ripe bananas
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whole oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chopped almonds, plus more for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 330
Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix in oats and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat oil and agave nectar. Add eggs one by one and mix well. Mix in bananas, cocoa and vanilla, making sure everything gets incorporated. Stir in flour/oat mixture and nuts. Grease a regular loaf pan, and pour batter in, spreading evenly.
Sprinkle with remaining chopped nuts.
Bake for 50-60 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy warm or wait a while for the flavors to blend.

Happy Birthday Muffins!

Today is my roommate Dragonfruit's birthday, a perfect morning mid-way through a long weekend, when we realize we still have two days of relaxation ahead of us. Why not spend a few minutes making warm, filling breakfast muffins for one of my best friends, simply because she deserves it. Oh, and because I still have a giant box of local apples sitting in my living room. 

I'm pretty sure everyone in my life is tired of sugary, apple-y baked goods. I know apples will last forever, but I can't justify buying more fruit until I've used up the box. The solution? Whole-wheat and multigrain spice apple muffins, made with nonfat yogurt and sweetened with a bit of agave. They were perfect, the apples were sweeter for the lack of sugar, and the oat crumble topping was deliciously crisp with a touch of salt. 

I had originally wanted to grate the apples, and I would really recommend it if you have the time or desire - it would distribute the sweetness throughout the muffin. To save time, using my trusty apple-peeler-corer-slicer, I chopped the apples into a small dice - little gems of fruit in the finished muffins. 

I used an organic whole multi-grain hot cereal blend from Trader Joe's - with barley, rye, oats, and wheat - and organic blue agave nectar. Try these when you want something wholesome and hearty - perfect for a cloudy late fall (fine, winter) morning with good friends and tea. 

Organic Multigrain Apple Muffins with Agave

Batter:
1 1/2 cups 100% whole wheat flour
1 cups organic multi-grain hot cereal blend (or steel cut oats)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil or non-hydrogenated margarine, melted
1/3 cup organic agave nectar
2 large organic eggs
1/2 cup milk (cow, soy, or almond all would work)
1/2 cup plain yogurt (any kind - I used non-fat)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups grated or diced apple pieces

Topping:
1 cup multigrain cereal or oats
2 tbsp agave nectar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp canola oil or melted margarine

Preheat oven to 325.

In a large bowl, whisk together grains, flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Stir in apple pieces. In a standing mixer or in a large bowl with a whisk combine the oil, agave, eggs, yogurt, milk, and vanilla. Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined. Mix together topping. Pour into muffin tins and sprinkle with topping.
Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown - these are best after they've had a chance to cool in the pan, as the flavors combine and they are much easier to remove. Enjoy!