Pie Harder – Deep Dish Pizza of PDX

I tend to have mixed feelings about Willamette Weekly – sometimes it seems to a draw for trolls, other times they legitimately spotlight great local stories, including food. Earlier this year they highlighted my favorite type of pizza, deep dish or pan pizza with their article “Detroit Style Pizza is the New Hotness. We Found the Best in Portland” which ignited passionate discussion on the definition of Detroit Pizza and other regional pizzas and who has the authentic deep dish pizza of PDX. That’s probably not really a reflection of WW and more about people’s love for pizza. They followed that article up this past summer with Pie Harder, a food festival devoted to the deep dish pizza of PDX.

Ranch Pizza made my dreams come true with a mac and cheese pizza served with ranch sauce at Pie Harder 2017

Six pizza places showed off their version of deep dish pizza with sample slices of their pizza, and I ate them all. I think there were some dessert pies also available at the fest as part of Pie Harder but I had to tap out after only the savory pizza pies. If they do this event again, I would recommend it but be prepared with stretchy pants.
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Cookbook Gift Ideas from Local Female Portland Authors

Recently I highlighted some great food gift ideas created by women makers here in Portland. Today I wanted to highlight some awesome local female cookbook authors who recently have released cookbooks.

Easy Soups from Scratch with Quick Breads to Match

This cookbook Easy Soups from Scratch with Quick Breads to Match by Ivy Manning boasts 70 recipes that pairs together soups and breads. The book offers a lot of recipes, with inspirations from all over the world to really open new flavors in soup and bread combinations for your table. For instance, consider South Indian Sambar, or Spicy Ethiopian Red Lentil Soup, or Persian Yogurt, Lentil, and Bulgar Soup with Browned Herb Butter.

Easy Soups from Scratch with Quick Breads to Match by Ivy Manning Easy Soups from Scratch with Quick Breads to Match by Ivy Manning

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Impossible Burger Comes to Portland

I have heard so many good things about Impossible Burger, which is a genetically engineered burger patty that is completely vegan – basically “meat” from plants, and been curious for quite a while. With vegetarian F, I’ve tasted many a vegetarian burger, and it is usually a sad, mushy, dry, not much flavor state of affairs. Impossible Burger though, is different – it’s supported by multiple fine dining restaurants in food meccas like New York, Las Vegas, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and even Texas at high caliber restaurants like Momofuku, Saxon + Parole, Umami Burger, and more. And now Impossible Burger has comes to Portland. Here’s a list of where and my thoughts on the Impossible Burger

Impossible Burger - meat from plants, a vegan plant based burger to replace meat Impossible Burger - meat from plants, a vegan plant based burger to replace meat

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Expatriate Brunch

Brunch at Expatriate, despite being highlighted a few times in the food media here, still seems to be a hidden secret. But this is fine with me, as it means the vibe is laid back and uncrowded and unhurried. It’s available only on the weekend on both Saturday, Sunday 10 AM – 2 PM. It’s easy to find parking a few blocks away, even on a Sunday – and no line! Here’s a look at some highlights of their brunch menu.
Expatriate Brunch Expatriate Brunch, Rice Waffle with Black Sesame Ice Cream, Smothered and Covered Expatriate Hash Browns and Expatriate Congee

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Nightwood Society’s Farm 2 Turntable

Have you heard of The Nightwood Society? They are a Portland collective of women makers – artists, bakers, butchers, chefs, cocktail mixologists, event directors, farmers, food photographers and stylists and more. Nightwood Society has taken over the space on NE Broadway that was previously Chesa and is using it as a women-owned and operated event space and creative studio. They’ve been holding private events for its members and supporters in the industry as a community and class space, but recently started scheduling events open to the public as well. One of these first events was Nightwood Society’s Farm 2 Turntable, promising farm to table food and dancing beats.

Nightwood Society's Farm 2 Turntable event Nightwood Society's Farm 2 Turntable event, bountiful farm to table board of cheeses and vegetables
I loved how the vegetable and cheese board instead of all fresh raw vegetables also included roasted Cauliflowers and Broccolis and squash. Purple Cauliflower added an extra unusual color to the spread, and if you look carefully you can see they used both regular and romanesco broccoli.

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