“If you want to understand what’s going on in the restaurants,” says Heidi Yorkshire, “go to the market.”
A former food journalist and current wedding officiant, she’s my escort at the premier Portland Farmers Market on the lush grounds of Portland State University on a sunny Saturday morning in summer. (Portland counts more than 20 farmers markets just in the city; plans are underway to open an indoor, waterfront James Beard Public Market, complete with conference center, as early as 2018.)
Few other markets in the country give a shopper such a sense of place as this grazer’s Eden of berries, including the complex marionberry, a hybrid test-grown in nearby Marion County; of mushrooms such as lion’s mane, its flavor reminiscent of lobster; of walk-away crab cocktails; of hazelnuts that make me feel as if I’m eating the nut for the first time.
Heirloom rhubarb, anyone? Say si to the fresh corn tortillas distributed as samples at Three Sisters Nixtamal, and be sure to drop by Chop Butchery &Charcuterie for a taste of spicy porkstrami. If you don’t mind the wait to warm them in a mobile brick oven, the bagels plied with cherry jam, peppery greens and crisp bacon at Tastebud, yet another draw at the outdoor market, make a supreme hand-held breakfast.
Speaking of which, no other city in the country takes its morning meal as seriously as Portland, whose hopping weekday breakfast scene could pass for Saturday night on the town just about anywhere else.
Sweedeedee opens with the possibility of pie (home in on a slice of the honey), while the Southern-minded Screen Door makes a specialty of fried chicken and waffles. On weekends, 500 customers on average gravitate to Screen Door, says co-owner David Mouton, who has seen block-long lines outside the destination, where a voicemail prompt thoughtfully shares wait times.
Within minutes of opening its doors for brunch, Navarre finds a full house and patrons scribbling what they want on sheets of paper, based on dozens of French, Spanish or Italian choices. No one save me seems bothered that the food — a crimson salad of cherries and beets, pleasing crab cakes with red-pepper jelly and duck with strawberry sauce — takes more than an hour to get from the tiny kitchen to its recipients. Portlanders are a patient bunch.
The obsession with breakfast and brunch, Mouton theorizes, stems from the area’s many non-traditional and self-employed workers and their appreciation of small businesses. Compared with dinner, “there’s an affordability about breakfast and brunch,” says Brooks, the critic. “People spin an event out of it.” Lines and waits, which encourage conversation among strangers, turn the first meal of the day into “an outdoor party,” she says.
Screen Door breakfast hush puppies
Hush puppies
About 8 ounces bacon
1 extra-large or jumbo egg, lightly beaten
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons regular or low-fat buttermilk
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons cornmeal
3/4 cup plus 1 rounded tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
11/4 teaspoons baking soda
Scant 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 cup 1/2-inch cubes smoked cheddar cheese
2 quarts canola oil, for frying
Glaze
3/4 cup Steen’s 100 percent Pure Cane Syrup (see note)
1 tablespoon honey
Small pinch ground cayenne pepper
Small pinch freshly ground black pepper
This dish is one of the many reasons diners stand in line at Screen Door. Crack open the hush puppies, and you’ll find smoked cheddar and bacon in the fluffy centers. They’re drizzled with a spicy syrup.
Note: The recipe calls for Steen’s cane syrup, a Lousiana specialty, which can be ordered via Amazon. Lyle’s Golden Syrup, available at Giant, Safeway, Harris Teeter and Wegmans stores, may be substituted.
You’ll need a thermometer for monitoring the oil.
Make ahead: The bacon can be cooked and refrigerated a day or two in advance. The batter can be refrigerated up to a day in advance.
For the hush puppies, line a plate with paper towels.
Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-low heat, allowing the fat to render completely, until crisped and browned. Transfer to the paper-towel-lined plate to drain and cool. Cut into 1/4-inch slices to yield 1/2 packed cup.
Meanwhile, whisk together the egg and buttermilk in a mixing bowl. Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and the black and cayenne peppers in a medium bowl. Gradually stir the cornmeal mixture into the buttermilk mixture to form a thick batter. Fold in the bacon and cheddar until evenly distributed.
(At this point, the batter can be covered with plastic wrap directly on the surface and refrigerated for up to 1 day in advance.)
Line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels, then place an ovenproof wire cooling rack on top. Place on the middle oven rack; preheat to 350 degrees. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat, to 350 degrees.
Drop rounded, generous tablespoon-size scoops of batter into the oil, 4 or 5 at a time. Fry for 4 to 6 minutes, until crisp, brown and cooked through. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them to the oven to keep warm. Repeat to use all the batter.
For the glaze: Stir together the syrup, the honey and the cayenne and black peppers in a medium bowl until well incorporated.
Serve the hush puppies while they are hot, drizzled with glaze.
Make 4 to 5 servings (about 20 pieces).
Portland dining
In a new series, Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema explores the best food cities in the United States and what makes them great. The fourth installment focuses on Portland, Oregon. Read more on Sietsema’s visit in Saturday’s Venture page.
If you go
PSU Portland Farmers Market: SW Park &SW Montgomery (approximately 1717 SW Park Ave.), 503-241-0032, www.portlandfarmersmarket.org
One of the top farmers markets in the country, this year-round, 140-stall draw unfolds on Saturdays on the lush grounds of Portland State University. Buy hazelnuts from Freddy Guys, charcuterie from Chop Butchery &Charcuterie, corn tortillas from Three Sisters Nixtamal and mushrooms — porcinis, morels, lion’s mane — from Springwater Farm.
Screen Door: 2337 E. Burnside St., 503-542-0880, www.screendoorrestaurant.com
If you have time for only one breakfast, make it this convivial Southern charmer, easy to spot due to the inevitable line out the door. The rewards are cayenne-spiked hush puppies; tender omelets packed with smoked mushrooms, goat cheese and kale; and buttermilk fried chicken stacked on a sweet potato waffle.
Sweedeedee: 5202 N. Albina Ave., 503-946-8087, www.sweedeedee.com
Ten bucks buys a breakfast plate for the memory books: a perfect fried egg, a raft of brioche, crisp bacon, seasonal fruit and lightly dressed lettuce leaves. Pies, such as the custardy honey pie made with a crackle of salt, are divine. Throw in overhead vines, strong coffee and service that’s all smiles, and you’ve got a full house every a.m.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
