The spinach salad was served in a bowl-shaped crouton. It was tossed with a homemade raspberry vinaigrette. To finish we topped it with organic strawberries, creamy Rogue Blue cheese, slivered red onions and our homemade candied hazelnuts. It was sweet and savory with a little crunch from the hazelnuts. It was delicious!

 The main course was a trio plate of Painted Hills flat iron steak, Draper Valley chicken and a Pacific Ocean scallop.

First the Painted Hills beef was cooked to a perfect medium rare and sauced with a rich red wine demi- glaze. It was served with buttermilk mashed potatoes, then garnished with fried butternut squash.

Next was a roulade of Draper Valley chicken breast stuffed with house roasted tomatoes, red bell peppers and goat cheese. We served it on Anna potatoes and topped it with glace de poulet, a rich chicken sauce. It was garnished simply with chives.

Third was a Pacific ocean scallop wrapped in  applewood bacon. It was then seared. The tender scallop with the smokey bacon was amazing. What a combo! It was served on a bed of green pea risotto which was slightly sweet from the peas and savory from the Parmesean cheese we added to it. To finish, we topped it with shaved Pecorino Romano cheese.

Then to finish the plate we added fresh green beans tossed in a little butter, and garnished with a roasted French Horn mushroom. The crunchy beans and earthy mushrooms were a fantastic addition to this dish. The customers who ate it got a wide range of textures and flavors on one plate, yet they all complimented each other.  

Last course was a Marionberry- blue berry cobbler, which was served in a shallow dish. It was served with a side of Tillamook vanilla bean ice cream. The garnish was a shortbread cookie to dip in the cobbler if they wished and a chocolate drizzled piece of toffee. Each component was delicious on it’s own as well as together.

Great job culinary team!

Waffle station with fresh toppings

Saute station featuring cooked to order omelets.

Carving station featuring Pit Ham with a Five Spice and Honey Glaze, Cracked Pepper Roasted Striploinof Beef with rosemary demiglaze served with creamed horseradish, a variety of local mustards,and Artisan breads and rolls

Au Gratin Potatoes with Tillamook Cheddar Cheese

Rosemary Roasted Red Bliss and Hood River Yukon Gold Potatoes

Applewood Smoked Bacon and Sausage

Classic Eggs Benedict with Roasted Tomato Hollandaise

Cheese Blintzes  with Vanilla Cream and Marionberry Sauce

Tuscan Scrambled Eggs with Fresh Cilantro Pico, Grated Pepper jack cheese and Olives

Smoked Salmon Pasta with lobster cream, Oregon City zucchini, roasted tomatoes and sweet peppers

Chicken Scaloppini with artichokes, capers, fresh herbs, roasted red bell peppers and lemon buerre blanc

Stuffed Cod withcrab meat and bell peppers, coupled withsteamed mussels and clams and finished with Lobster Costa delSol sauce with fresh tomatoes and spring onions

House Smoked Seafood Display with Lox, Salmon, Trout, Traditional Accompaniments

Tossed Spring Greens with Soy roasted Pepitas, Sun Dried Cranberries and Rogue River Blue Cheese

Asian Soba Noodle salad with crisp vegetables, toasted almonds and bean sprouts

“Hoodorf” Salad- Hood River apples and pears tossed in Cranberry Vinaigrette with Northwest Cranberries

ZitiPasta salad with smoked chicken, gathered spinach, roasted tomatoes and country olives

Fruit display with Yogurt dipping sauce

Local Cheese boards featuring- Tillamook, Rogue River Creamery and Beecher Farms cheeses withdried Willamette Valley fruits and nuts–coupled with Artisan breads, crackers and an olive bar

Assortment of bakery fresh cakes and creamy cheese cakes, French pastries , iced cookies, gourmet breakfast pastries

Chocolate fountain with brownie bites, cheesecake squares, and fresh strawberries

Peel and eat Shrimp-Horseradish cocktail sauce and lemon wedges

Brunch will run 9:00am- 3:00pm Sunday May 9th

Adults $26.00

Senior $22.00

Child $12.00

For reservations call- 503-331-4923

Dungeness Crab and Wild Columbia River Salmon Cakes

The Executive Chef Steven Ward had the privilege of  being asked to do a demo at the Better Living Show at the Expo Center, and Sous Chef Michelle Girard went with him. Chef came up with the menu which was Dungeness Crab and Wild Columbia River Salmon Cakes served with wilted greens, corn relish and herb aioli. The feed back was very positive that most really liked the cake, which Chef had printed the recipe for, however they also wanted the recipe for the corn relish and aioli. So I put them together for you and here they are.

Corn Relish

4 ears of local sweet corn with the corn cut off the cobb

1/2 small sweet onion such as red or walla walla if available small dice

2 teaspoons freshly crushed garlic

1/2 small red bell pepper small dice

1/2 Jalapeno or a small amount of poblano pepper would be good too small dice

1 small bunch basil finely chopped

white wine just a splash

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon canola oil

Vinegar such as golden balsamic, apple cider, balsamic, what ever your favorite is for the show we used a specialty Sweet Moscatel Vinegar that can be found at specialty shops. to taste about 1 tablespoon or so

In a saute pan over medium high heat. Warm pan and pour in oil. When oil is warm add the onion and saute for a couple of minutes until onions began to get translucent. add the garlic and corn and continue to cook for three minutes throw in the bell pepper and jalapeno pepper and cook for another one minutes, now splash with a little bit of white wine about 1-2 tablespoons just to deglaze the pan. Pull off heat add the basil and season with the salt, pepper and vinegar. Can be served warm or made ahead and kept in the refrigerator.

 Herb Aioli

1 cup of mayo

1-2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

your favorite herbs we used basil 1 bunch chopped finely

1 tablespoon basil pesto, this is optional just add more of another kind of herb or even a tomato pesto

Put all ingredients in a bowl. using a stick blender blend until everything is well incorporated and smooth.

Executive Chef Steven Ward and Sous Chef Michelle Girard

 At Pacific Seafood they work with us to keep the freshest most sustainable seafood on the menu. The company has a great green Initiative that includes five major points; sustainability, traceability, fish byproducts, waste reduction, Marine Stewardship Council guidelines, and last of all, packaging. 

They believe that environmental responsibility and sustainability in the seafood industry is very important. They are always looking for new ways to keep seafood companies and local communities fishing and reduce their environmental impact. They work with different organizations to manage natural resources and address environmental issues.

 Organizations like Ocean Trust which is an ocean conservation foundation that promotes sustainability and coastal restoration, and MSC which is the Marine Stewardship Council which is a global program that certifies fisheries as sustainable. At Pacific Seafood, like us, they are always looking for new ways in which to have an even lower impact.

Traceability is important to keep track of where the seafood came from and where it goes. It is a way of making sure our food is safe. The system tracks fish from the boat to the processing plant then to the distribution facilities. This includes methods of record keeping and labeling. They not only meet industry standards but exceed them.

To reduce the amount of fish product going to the landfill Pacific Seafood works with BioOregon Protein up in Warrenton Or. There they convert fish waste into products like organic fertilizer and pet food ingredients. This is a much better way of using natural resources.

The Marine Stewardship Council is “an objective third party global fishery certification organization whose goal is to promote sustainability throughout the fishing industry. ” To be MSC certified, a fishery or seafood operation must meet certain standards. The guiding principles are:

 1) The fishery must maintain a level that is sustainable for that species

 2) The fishing operation must minimize the impact on the ecosystem

3) The operation must comply with all laws

 4) The fishery must have a system in place to make any necessary changes to maintain sustainability.

Pacific Seafood is currently certified in 24 species, like Pacific Halibut, Albacore Tuna, Oregon pink Shrimp and Alaskan Salmon.

Now, here at the hotel we do not accept any packaging of polystyrene foam base containers. If something comes in this packaging it is refused and sent back. However, we never get any from Pacific Seafood because they use other types of boxes. The boxes they use are a environmentally friendly Greenshield corrugated box made by Georgia Pacific. These are strong, moisture resistant and 100% recyclable. The boxes that we receive at the hotel are either re-used for storing Tribal wild Salmon that we get twice a year, in the spring and then again in the fall or recycled at the hotel in our compost bin.

Again, they are quick to emphasize the fact that they are always looking to improve for the future, an outlook that reminds us that there is never truly a beginning or an ending but always a journey.

We really appreciate working with a company that strives to protect the environment and looks for ways to harvest fish that leaves no impact. The main goal is to be able to protect the livelyhoods of fishing communities and fishermen so everyone will be able to make a living and enjoy seafood forever!

Chef Ward and Sarah Hart

The daily selection at Alma chocolates

First on my list for a pairing is Alma Chocolate, owned by Sarah Hart. She is such a sweet person who has absolutely wonderful products but her caramels and her toffee are to die for. The salted lavender caramel and habanero chili caramel are fantastic but we also love her Chevre (goat cheese) and black pepper. To be perfectly honest we have not tasted any thing that we do not like. One thing that originally attracted me to her company is her commitment to sustainability. She uses only fair trade chocolate and  local and organic products, which if you know any thing about us at the Doubletree is a perfect match. Sarah has a shop on S.E. 28th Ave. between Couch and Davis. Chef Ward and I took a trip over to her shop and she gave us the tour. One of her employees,Sabrina, created and made us a fantastic drink they call “chocolate cloud” which is similar to a cappuccino made with chocolate instead of espresso, absolute heaven. So if I was to pick a couple of her bonbons to use for a party it would have to be her salted lavender caramels, habenaro caramels and the Thai peanut butter cup ( so good). However,I would also have to get some of the peanutbutter/milk chocolate salt bark. Also I would grab some of her hazelnut toffee and mocha almond nibby which is a dark and slightly bitter bark. Check out her website www.almachocolate.com.

A new company that we just became aquainted with is Wingnut Confections, owned by David Beer. I met him at the Hollywood farmer’s market on one of my many visits and tried one of his habanero mole truffles. Delicious. So when I had another party come up I thought of him. His truffles are a completely different creature from Sarah’s so I believe they go well together. His are a more traditional ganache filled, so rich and decadent. He uses all local ingredients, fair trade chocolate, and they are even all vegan! I ordered the peppermint , Marion berry and the Pendleton rum hazelnut which had the perfect amount of rum to balance with the nuts. Absolutely wonderful! All of his truffles were very popular and my guests loved them. Wingnut Confections are available in a couple of  places like Whole Foods and The Barefoot Sage or check out his website at www.wingnutconfections.com.  

David Beer delivering Wingnut Confection truffles on his bicycle.

The company’s motto is “candy with a conscience” and he proves it here. He even delivers all the truffles on his bicycle!

So, last but not least we get to the wine! I have been using this one company called Troon from the very inception of these parties. They are a great vineyard in Applegate Valley. This company fell right in with our beliefs and practices. They are “Dedicated to Sustainable Farming and Environmental Stewardship” and are even “Salmon Safe”. So when I found out about them I thought “fantastic, this is just the right company”.

One sunny day I was driving back from the coast with my mother along highway 18 and what did I see in Carlton, Oregon, buy a sandwich board for a Troon tasting room. I was so excited! I thought I would have to go to Grants Pass to get to taste all the Troon wines! So I  went in and met a sweet girl, Joni Johnson, who knows so much about her craft. I learned a lot from her just in that hour that we were there.

They have a wine called “Druid’s Fluid” that is fantastic. It is a table wine that is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet, Zinfandel and Syrah. It goes perfectly with these bonbons and truffles. I love serving this wine with it’s cute name and it’s great story which is that in 2000 there was a nitrogen deficiency in the soil which grew grapes that were not good, so they mixed them and it has sold great every year since. They also have a fantastic Insomniacs Port that goes well with chocolate. The sweetness of the Port holds up to the sweetness of the chocolate.

If you have the chance go out to Carlton Oregon, it’s only an hour away out highway 18. It’s a beautiful drive and there is a ton of tasting rooms. It would be a well spent day. The website to go the tasting room and to visit Joni is www.troonvineyard.com.

So of all the parties I have done I admit I have had only one lady that did not like these selections, mainly because she did not like any thing sweet. I served her a glass of local Pinot Noir and and gave her the dark chocolate nibby bark from Alma and she was still very happy. I hope you try some of these companies and like them as much as I do. I have never had any one yet disappointed.

Keep trying something new, and happy eating!

Michelle Girard- Sous Chef

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This is Mahendra Prasad, one of our line cooks, taking some of the just delivered chanterelles to work with on the line. He uses them in a Marsala sauce on top of a beautiful airline chicken breast in the Multnomah Grille. We also love to use them in our butternut squash ravioli.

One can find chanterelle mushrooms in some grocery stores but they are best and freshest when you get them fresh from a forager. You could find one at a farmers market.

Don’t forget to not submerge your mushrooms in water to clean, you just wipe them off with a damp cloth. The act like a sponge and you will have soggy mushrooms when you cook them.

Enjoy them while they’re in season!! They aren’t available for very long………..

If you need somebody to cook ‘em up for you let us know!!!!

We get quite a bit of produce from Deep Roots farm, a great organic farm that grows beautiful produce. They have been growing roma tomatoes in a green house that are fantastic. So we have been able to buy them about 100 pounds at a time to roast. We just toss them with a little olive oil and garlic and leave them in a low oven for a few hours. They come out fantastic! We use them in dishes such as pastas, salads, and sauces.

This is Anastasia Puzur one of our fantastic cooks. Here she is tossing the romas in the olive oil mix. She cut up 100 pounds of tomatoes and the finished product we ended with put only 10 quarts in the freezer. Not a lot of yield but, worth every bit of work we all put into it.