This thirty-five acres is part of a bigger story that puts Oregon and the nation at the forefront of hazelnut production globally. Oregon produces an average of 35,000 tons of hazelnuts annually, virtually all the nation’s crop, making the United States the second-largest producer of hazelnuts in the world behind Turkey, according to the Oregon Hazelnut Marketing Board.
Follow your nose through the Pinot Passage, the floodgate to the Willamette Valley wine country. Here’s a sip of history to pair with your next oenophile journey into Oregon’s Burgundian region.
Every morning, Shelley Curtiss hikes the hills outside Joseph and observes the ever-changing lakes, rivers, mountains, buttes and canyons. “This landscape feeds my creativity,” she says. “And I take those creative juices back to my studio and give them visual expression.”
When Lizzie and Dan Rubado bought their Portland house two years ago, the only thing that was green about it was the mold on the carpet. But with a tiny budget and help from their family and friends, the pair transformed a leaking, neglected house into the perfect Portland eco-crib.
Fresh salmon is something that played a big part in my childhood in Oregon. Every September, my father took the whole family to Nehalem Bay to camp for a week while he and his buddies fished over the Nehalem bar for salmon. We feasted nightly on salmon and freshly caught crab for the entire week, and if they caught more than their limit and we couldn’t eat it all, my father would take the surplus to the local cannery to be canned and eaten in the winter. My mom made salmon cakes, salmon loaf and giant nut-coated balls of salmon and cream cheese to spread on crackers. Not exactly haute cuisine, but great for kids. This recipe takes the combination of canned salmon and hazelnuts to a sublime level.
At Nostrana in Portland, chef Cathy Whims adds hazelnuts to bring an Oregonian flair to her pesto sauce, rich with Parmesan cheese, basil and extra virgin olive oil. Whims, who was a finalist this year for the prestigious James Beard Award for the best chef in the Northwest, said the hazelnut adds a lightly toasted nut flavor to her rustic Italian cuisine. “I like cooking with hazelnuts because they are such great local treasure,” says Whims. “Also they are a highly prized nut from my favorite region of Italy—Piemonte. They find their way into many traditional Piemontese dishes here at Nostrana such as Brutti e Buoni cookies (‘ugly and good’ hazelnut meringues); gianduja gelato (chocolate hazelnut); and salsa verde, a green nut sauce.” This recipe is a wonderful room-temperature sauce for salmon, halibut, tuna, chicken breasts and, of course, fettuccine and potato gnocchi. Ingredients: 2 cloves garlic, peeled 2…
Ingredients: 4 lemon quarters, cut in the middle of the flesh down to but not through the rind superfine sugar 1 cup vodka 1 ounce triple sec 1 ounce fresh lemon juice 1 ounce simple syrup 1 ounce marionberry puree Directions: Simple syrup: In a saucepan, heat 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water. Cover and simmer for 2 minutes, until sugar dissolves. When the syrup is cool, pour it into a glass jar with a lid. Keeps in refrigerator up to to 6 months. Prepare four 9-ounce martini glasses: Rub the cut lemon around the rims, moistening a 1-inch-wide band. Sprinkle the sugar on a small plate and coat the rims. Chill the glasses until serving time. Marionberry puree: 1 cup whole marionberries, fresh or thawed frozen. Process berries in food processor until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove seeds. Yields 1/2 cup puree. Can…
Serves 12Makes one 9X13-inch cake From Latin America, this moist cake melts in your mouth because it is soaked in three kinds of milk—tres leches. Our version uses heavy cream, sour cream, and whole milk. We could have added rum, which is traditional, but instead use a healthy dose of local Clear Creek Kirschwasser (cherry brandy), because we like how it perfumes the milk. This cake keeps well in the refrigerator for up to four days and only gets better with time. Chef’s Tip: Vitaly Paley I often use Clear Creak Distillery’s Kirschwasser and apple brandy for cooking. Their pear brandy is also superb. It feels fat in the mouth and is also rich with the essence of pear. I encourage you to check with your local liquor store as to the availability of these handcrafted brandies. Or contact Clear Creek to find out where it’s sold in your area….
When she sees duck on a menu, especially paired with a sweet and fruity sauce, chef Lisa Glickman looks no further. Try this easy recipe with two of Oregon’s most famous locals—marionberries and hazelnuts. ‘Most home chefs don’t use duck either because they think duck is an exotic ingredient, or that they can’t make it at home,’ states Glickman. It’s neither exotic nor tough to make in this easy recipe.
