Food & Drink

[June 21st, 2006]

^Sex & the Rosé City

How to have the perfect backyard party.

By Lisa Radon

Warmer afternoons and balmy evenings do not have to mean sunburns, brewskis and a smoke-belching barbecue. The ideal? A backyard party at which everyone feels fabulous, looks fabulous, and gets laid at the end of the night. Here's what you'll need:

GARB

The girls are in long, filmy vintage Ossie Clark dresses or the equivalent from Betsy's (1115 SE Division St., 236-5544), Avant Garden (2853 SE Stark St., 283-4184) or Lady Luck (2742 E Burnside St., 233-4041), and the boys wear linen pants and guayaberas, if they're witty.

SOUNDTRACK

The soundtrack slides in with João Gilberto and Françoise Hardy, moves into Prince's "Under the Cherry Moon," topping out at the NuYorican Funk Experience (Mongo Santamaria, et al.) and winding down with Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?"

EATS

The chef channels Cher in Mermaids who made nothing but finger food because it doesn't require much of a commitment.

AND (MOST IMPORTANTLY) DRINKS!

Vino: Bucking wine fashion, there will be rosé, and not least because it looks lovely in the glass. Try the irresistibly dry Winters Hill Vineyard Dry Rosé ($14, www.northwest-wine.com), the Chateau Routas Coteaux Varois Rosé 2005 ($10.99, Pastaworks, 3735 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 232-1010, 735 NW 21st Ave., 221-3002) or the intensely upscale Veuve Clicquot Ponsadrin Rosé ($60, E&R Wine Shop, 6141 SW Macadam Ave., Suite 104, 246-6101).

The Hard Stuff: For the character drinkers (you know, those who like to drink the part), there will be mojitos (if they're good enough for a die-hard martini drinker like James Bond in Die Another Day, well then...) and mint juleps in honor of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson at the Kentucky Derby.

Essential recipes for summer sipping:

Mojito

3 fresh mint sprigs

2 teaspoons sugar

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 1/2 ounces light rum

Club soda

In a tall thin glass, crush part of the mint with a fork to coat the inside. Add the sugar and lemon juice and stir. Top with ice. Add rum and mix. Top off with chilled club soda (or seltzer). Add a lemon slice and the remaining mint.

Mint Julep

2 ounces bourbon

5 to 6 mint leaves

1/2 ounce simple syrup

Place mint leaves and sugar syrup in a Collins glass. Mash with the back of a spoon. Add 1 ounce of bourbon. Fill with crushed ice. Add remaining bourbon. Stir. Garnish with a mint leaf.

^Das Barbecue

This summer heats up as globalization hits your backyard grill.

BY KELLY CLARKE

And you thought that summer began and ended with a Costco megapack of frozen burger patties. Listen up, American backyard barbecue warriors: The whole damn world savors the sizzle of a grill. And with temperatures and globalization ever on the rise, maybe it's time you found out how a few of your neighbors traditionally beef up their hot-weather eats.

KOREA

Yeah, they stereotypically dig kimchi, but most Koreans are also as obsessed with grilling meats as your average NASCAR fan. "All Koreans do it," shrugs Rio Kang, co-owner of local Asian fusion restaurant Sorabol (7901 SE Powell Blvd., 771-5842). He suggests giving your home barbecue an Asian flair by making bulgogi (traditional Korean "fire meat"). Hose beef tenderloin tips with a super soak of a tangy soy sauce, sugar, onion and garlic marinade. Let it sit for at least a day, then flash-grill it on skewers and serve it in thin, savory strips.

CENTRAL TEXAS (and kind of Germany)

Dude, put down that squeeze bottle of Bull's-Eye. According to Rodney Muirhead, co-founder of former Portland Farmers Market fave LOW BBQ , in Central Texas, it ain't about sauce—it's about smoke . And time. Seems Central Texas' 19th-century German-born butchers smoked inferior beef cuts for hours—sometimes days—in order to turn them into meltingly lush brisket. To get in the Texas spirit on a tighter time schedule, ditch your Kingsford charcoal for small chunks of wood . "You can get [wood chunks] at Home Depot or GI Joe's," Muirhead says. "Any hardwood will work—cedar, pecan...I like oak the best." Start a low fire with those wood chunks on one side of your grill and then plop a bone-in pork loin on the other side of the grill away from the fire. At 250 to 300 degrees, your loin should turn smoky-luscious in about three to four hours. You don't even need to season the damn thing beyond a little salt or pepper. Muirhead says that's what the wood smoke is for—duh! Gotta have your sauce? Our man keeps it real with a thin, tangy mix of ketchup, white and apple-cider vinegars, and Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces.

MIDDLE EAST

Tony and Emelin Karam, co-owners of local Lebanese eatery Karam (316 SW Stark St., 223-0830), support veggie power by sprinkling eggplant, zucchini, onions and roma tomatoes with black pepper and olive oil and then slappin' 'em directly on the grill. Once they're soft, Tony says, Emelin slops them with a freshly made pesto sauce (olive oil, fresh basil, garlic and pine nuts). "When you brush [the pesto] on, mmmm," moans Tony. "That is my favorite BBQ, by the way. I like it with some hummus." Another green tip? Marinate veggies with pomegranate, salt, pepper and olive oil for 10 to 15 minutes before grilling for a bright, lemony flavor. Tony has even come up with a way to bridge the U.S.-Middle East (barbecue) divide. A kefta burger. He suggests sandwiching the popular Lebanese ground beef dish kefta (a burger patty mixed with parsley, onion, pepper, salt and cinnamon) between two hamburger buns with all the fixin's.

BRAZIL

Brazilian cowboys, otherwise known as gauchos, perfected the art of slow-grillin' delish proteins rotisserie-style centuries ago. Vicki Scott, co-owner of Portland's first churrascaria, Brazil Grill (1201 SW 12th Ave., 222-0002), loves rotisserie pineapple smothered in cinnamon sugar. "It's hot and sweet and sooo good," she gushes. It's also simple: Peel a small pineapple and shove the whole damn thing on a skewer. (That's if your barbecue has a rotisserie attachment. If you're rockin' the old-school Weber, then cut your pineapple into smaller hunks and stick them on wood skewers.) Stucco the fruit with cinnamon sugar, then crank up the rotisserie and let the sugared fruit caramelize for 13 to 20 minutes—or longer, for the bigger pieces. As the skin of the fruit turns golden brown, carve off hot slices for hungry eaters. Then sprinkle the remaining fruit with more cin-sugar and repeat. Scott warns that Brazil Grill's pineapple rules because of the slow, constant heat of the rotisserie process (the restaurant has gone through as many as 50 pineapples in a single night). But Scott figures the treat would taste good heated directly on the grill, too.

^Portland Deep Fried

Nothing says sunshine like a big basket of grease.

By Ivy Manning

Summertime inevitably harks back to the good old days of childhood—days filled with cruising the neighborhood on your banana-seat bike, eating Popsicles until your lips turned green, and scarfing fried food in a time when the term "cholesterol" was heard only at the occasional spelling bee. To embrace summer fully, we recommend getting in touch with your inner child and digging into a basket of deep-fried fun.

Giant Drive-In 15840 Boones Ferry Road, 636-0255.

Giant is one of the last independent fast-food joints to remain in Portland, reason enough to haul all the way out to Lake O. Most folks are here for the burgers, and though the "nacho burger" smothered in cheese and jalapeños is pretty bitchin', the crisp 'n' puffy hand-dipped corn dogs are even better. The portions are ridiculously huge here; even the onion rings come with an extra two tablespoons of oil at the bottom of the basket, for dipping. Bring your own Wet Naps.

Reel 'M Inn 2430 SE Division St., 231-3880.

How the hell can a tiny dive bar decorated with greasy fishing paraphernalia possibly cook fried chicken so well? Don't ask, just order. For just $6.50 you can get a basket crammed with juicy (yes, really juicy) fried chicken pieces dressed up in batter so crisp it flies off in shards. Add to the fun jojos the size of your fist and sassy bartenders quick with the ice-cold beer distribution.

Scoreboard Sports Bar 4822 SE Division St., 233-2971.

When the temperature rises and your windshield begins to melt, the best move may be to retreat to a very dark hole in the wall. The Scoreboard is just the place. Dine by the soft glow of neon beer signs on novel fried stuff like mini corn dogs stuck with frilly toothpicks and PBR-battered onion rings so thick they're best described as savory doughnuts with an onion embedded in them.

Doris' Cafe 3606 N Williams Ave., 460-2595.

The chicken at this soul-food joint is hit or miss; some days it's Southern-fried glory, other times it's bone-dry. What never changes is its dead-on preparation of moist catfish fried in a salty cracker-meal crust with sides like tender collard greens and black-eyed peas. Don't miss the fried-okra appetizer; it's bizarre—in a good, fried sort of way.

Original Halibut's 2525 NE Alberta St., 808-9600.

A full order of the crispy fried halibut, salmon, catfish or cod laid on top of thick-cut fries at Halibut's is so big and so astonishingly good, it has the capacity to up your pants size in one sitting. The half order is more than enough for most folks, but don't count on the sides as part of the deal—the only way to get that "just off the Sysco truck" coleslaw taste out of your gob is to down a stiff gin and tonic in the adjoining bar.

The Original Elephant Ear Cart 108 W Burnside St.

This little cart in the Saturday Market food square has been turning out deep-fried ears of whole-wheat dough dipped in cinnamon sugar and slathered with marionberry jam, apple butter, honey, milk chocolate or strawberry cream cheese for decades. Don't fall for the other elephant ear cart in the Skidmore Fountain Market that charges 50 cents extra for a smear of jam—you want the Original.

^Super Size It

First a giant, rotating loaf of bread, now this.

By Shoshanna Cohen

If summer had a mascot, it would be the hot dog. It's yummy, it's cheap, it's portable, it's precooked. What's not to love? (All right, quiet in the Fast Food Nation peanut gallery.)

In celebration of summer and, more than that, Franz Bakery's centennial, the Portland institution is bringing us a 100-foot hot dog Thursday, July 6, just for an excuse to bake a 100-foot hot-dog bun. This larger-than-life feat, which will break the previous hot dog world record of 57 feet, will require punching a special exit hole in the bakery's famous Northeast 12th Avenue window for the bun to roll out as it passes through the petite 40-foot oven. A 400-pound Hill Meats hot dog wound onto a spool will then be unrolled into the giant bun.

Pending a parade permit, 50 to 60 hot-dog bearers will then carry the long frank Friday, July 7, to Pioneer Courthouse Square, where it will be on display next to a timeline of Franz's milestone events, like its historic invention of the round hamburger bun. Can't wait? Check out one of these top dog slingers. Don't forget the kraut!

Wicked Weenie Northwest 23rd Avenue and Lovejoy Street, and other locations, 381-3197. 10 am-2:30 pm Monday-Friday. $2.75-$4.50.

Heart surgeons at Providence enjoy both tastier lunch options and increased job security thanks to the Wicked Weenie cart that's rolled out for the warmer months. The huge Tillamook cheddar dog, accompanied by chips and a soda, is a heart attack in a paper boat. Yum.

New Seasons Market 5320 NE 33rd Ave., and other locations, 288-3838. Grill open 10 am-9 pm daily. $2.95.

This is a winner wiener for three reasons: It's butterflied and grilled, it's natural meat, and you can, um, beef it up with options from the "build your own sandwich" menu. Choose from five kinds of cheese, bread ranging from baguette to spelt, and even vegetables, but that would be a crime.

Altengartz German Bratwurst $4, Southwest 10th Avenue and Alder Street, 975-2549. 11:30 am-4:30 pm Monday-Friday. Southwest 3rd Avenue and Burnside Street, 11 pm-3 am Friday-Saturday. Northwest 3rd Avenue and Davis Street, 11 pm-3 am Thursday.

OK, these German sausages aren't technically hot dogs, but with casings so snappy and a filling so juicy, who cares? No longer available only from the downtown cart, these bad boys have been trotting into finer bars and cafeterias from Adidas to Slabtown. Or better yet, track them down weekend nights for the perfect booze mop.

The Dog House 2845 E Burnside St., 239-3647. 11 am-8 pm Sunday-Thursday, 11 am-9 pm Friday-Saturday. $3.05-$4.35.

After purchasing a cartful of organic edamame at Wild Oats, keep it real with a cheapo hot dog from the Dog House (which really looks like one) in the grocery store's parking lot.

Basta's Trattoria 410 NW 21st Ave., 274-1572. Cart open 11:30 am-3 pm Monday-Friday. $4.75.

This hip Italian restaurant has spawned its own streetside cart, serving up Italian-style pork, chicken and sometimes even duck sausages for a casual weekday lunch.