The Whole Dish: Southern Oregon Food Blog

This blog, for the past seven years and more than 650 entries, has been an extension of the Mail Tribune’s weekly food section.

Blogging also has provided coverage of local food news and events that don’t make it in A la Carte, whether for issues of space, timing or newsworthiness. It’s been a platform for some writing I probably wouldn’t have done otherwise, including blogging while on a food-centric vacation in the Mediterranean several years ago.

Most readers recognize that while not updated every day, The Whole Dish is updated regularly: at least weekly but, more often than not, several times per week. That’s about to change for a few months while I’m on family leave. The break hopefully will nurture my household with more time in the kitchen and garden.

In the meantime, I encourage you to use The Whole Dish as a resource, particularly for finding and preparing seasonal ingredients. Within these hundreds of posts are hundreds of recipes easily searchable by specific words entered in the field at the upper-righthand corner of this page. The archives are organized by month and year a bit lower down.

Last year’s April and May entries included recipes for asparagus, rhubarb, fava beans, a make-ahead Mothers Day breakfast, even soft cheese. Previous years’ spring entries featured recipes for lamb, homemade salad dressings and chocolate-dipped strawberries. On the more esoteric end, there’s a guide to natural sweeteners and ideas for using fiddleheads and green garlic, as well as making the most of trips to local farmers markets where these are found.

The area’s weekly farmers markets are on my family’s list for springtime outings. We hope to see you there!

To go with the deviled-egg recipes circulating in food publications and on websites around Easter, egg-salad recipes abound. It’s so predictable you’d think this holiday was the only time anyone hard-boiled eggs.

Of course, there are people (my husband being one) put off by what they perceive as the sulfurous smell of hard-boiled eggs. And then there are egg lovers like me who boil a batch about every week. I love them sliced in green salads, as a sandwich filling or all on their own as a snack. In fact, there are few foods so inexpensive, nutritious, satisfying or portable as a hard-boiled in its shell.

Speaking of eggshells, a recent Los Angeles Times piece confirmed what I already suspected and advocated in last week’s story for A la Carte. Chilling eggs — if need be in an ice-water bath — is key to peeling them easily. LA Times food writer Russ Parsons also tried cooking eggs in salted water and water with baking soda to see if those methods made peeling easier (they didn’t, he reported).

For really fresh eggs, which are hardest to peel, crack the shells first by rolling them around in the pan used to cook them after the water’s been drained off. When the shells are lightly crackled all over, transfer them to an ice-water bath.

Even if they don’t get cracked first, Parsons says that because eggshells are porous, ice water will seep into the egg given enough time. He let them soak for about 45 minutes and reported that peeling them was about as easy as when they were cracked.

But back to what to do with hard-boiled eggs. Almost peerless versatility is an attribute of eggs, of which I often take advantage. When it comes to my egg-salad sandwiches, though, I’m a traditionalist, using Best Foods mayonnaise, just a squirt of French’s mustard (more for color than flavor) and, depending on how I’m feeling and the season, a rotating cast of simple seasonings: usually granulated garlic, Old Bay, cayenne and curry powder but also dill and, this time of year, fresh chives.

I also like these ideas from the “Cowgirl Chef” Ellise Pierce, who writes for McClatchy News Service. The first would be ideal with a fresh-baked baguette. And the egg-salad tostada is one that never would have crossed my mind but perhaps could tempt even my husband.

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Egg Salad Frenchy

6 large eggs

10 French cornichons, chopped

1 heaping tablespoon Best Foods mayonnaise

1⁄2 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Pinch piment d’Espelette (optional; see note)

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

1 baguette, sliced

Put the eggs in a saucepan, cover with water by 2 inches, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. When water boils, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and time for 10 minutes. Carefully pour off hot water, then run cold water run over eggs until they’re cool enough to peel. Roughly chop eggs and put them in a bowl.

Add the cornichons, mayonnaise, mustard, piment d’Espelette and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving on toasted baguette with an additional sprinkle of piment d’Espelette for color.

Makes enough for 2 large or 4 regular-size sandwiches.

NOTE: Piment d’Espelette is a chili pepper from the Southwest of France, milder than cayenne and without the smokiness of chipotle or Spanish paprika. It can be found in specialty stores. As there is not an American equivalent, if you can’t find it, simply leave it out, and the egg salad still will be delicious.

Egg Salad Texy-Mexy

6 eggs

1 avocado, peeled, pitted and chopped

Small handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped (plus additional for serving)

1 chipotle chili (in adobo), finely chopped

Sea salt, to taste

4 corn tortillas

1 lime, cut into wedges (for serving)

Put the eggs in a saucepan, cover with water by 2 inches, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. When water boils, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and time for 10 minutes. Carefully pour off hot water, then run cold water run over eggs until they’re cool enough to peel. Roughly chop eggs and put them in a bowl.

Add the avocado, cilantro, chopped chipotle and salt to taste. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

To serve, preheat oven to broil. When hot, toast the tortillas by putting them directly on oven rack, making sure to flip them to other side after about a minute. Be sure to watch them carefully so they don’t burn. Spoon a quarter of egg salad on each tortilla and sprinkle with a little more cilantro. Serve with the lime wedges.

Makes enough for 4 tostadas.

Egg Salad Mediterraneo

6 eggs

6 cherry tomatoes, chopped

10 artichoke heart quarters (in oil), chopped

6 fresh basil leaves, chopped (with additional for serving)

8 Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

1 heaping tablespoon Best Foods mayonnaise

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Put the eggs in a saucepan, cover with water by 2 inches, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. When water boils, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and time for 10 minutes. Carefully pour off hot water, then run cold water run over eggs until they’re cool enough to peel. Roughly chop eggs and put them in a bowl.

Add the cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, basil, olives, mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving, preferably on toasted, grainy bread, open-faced, with a bit more chopped basil on top.

Makes enough for 4 sandwiches.

Egg Salad Fancy-Schmancy

6 eggs

Small handful fresh dill, chopped (plus more for serving)

1 tablespoon capers, chopped

1 heaping tablespoon Best Foods mayonnaise

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

1 (5.29-ounce) box of tiny toasts

3.5 ounces smoked salmon, sliced into small pieces

Put the eggs in a saucepan, cover with water by 2 inches, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. When water boils, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and time for 10 minutes. Carefully pour off hot water, then run cold water run over eggs until they’re cool enough to peel. Grate eggs and put them in a bowl.

Add the dill, capers, mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

When ready to serve, spoon egg salad on the toasts, top with a piece of the salmon and sprinkle a bit more dill on top.

Makes enough for about 2 dozen hors d’oeuvres-sized toasts.

It’s been a couple of years since this blog tackled the old lamb-or-ham-for-the-holiday question.

I’m confident it’s a common enough quandary as a co-worker cooking her first Easter brunch for family asked my opinion this week.

A staunch advocate of lamb, I had to hedge and admit that because she had so many other dishes to make, a ham that’s already fully cooked upon purchasing — basically requiring reheating in the oven — is easier. Plus, ham is a more forgiving meat that, even overcooked, goes over well with the majority of guests.

Make one misstep with lamb, and you’ve earned it another lifelong avoider. Despite some diners’ close-held aversion to lamb, the only thing that causes a bad odor or flavor in good-quality lamb is cooking it too hot or too long, as columnist Jan Roberts-Dominguez pointed out in this week’s A Fresh Approach.

But as my parents found out last week, cooking lamb can be catastrophic once an odd butchering mistake has been made. After her freezer went on the fritz, ruining about 30 pounds of Rogue Valley-raised lamb, my mom resorted to purchasing shanks from New Zealand. She said she thought the meat smelled sour — “skunky” — when she opened the vacauum-sealed package. But the meat’s appearance seemed fine.

So she started braising the shanks for dinner. As the hours wore on, a horrific stench filled the house, causing the cats to yowl in protest and my parents to escape onto the deck.

My dad’s theory, which seems likely, is that the animal’s scent gland was penetrated during butchering and spilled onto the meat, souring it past the point of consumption. With no hope of its salvage, even for cat food, the lamb went into the trash.

With the abundance of lambs raised right here in the Rogue Valley, there should be no reason to purchase imported lamb, which is deceivingly cheaper because the cuts are smaller. New Zealand sheep are about half the size of American counterparts, according to a recent Newsday story. Australian lambs can vary in size, from a little larger than New Zealand to almost as large as American. An American leg of lamb weighs about 10 pounds; Australian legs top out at around 8 pounds.

The biggest difference between domestic and imported lamb is flavor, directly related to the animals’ diet. Once sheep are weaned, they are set out to pasture. For the last two months of their 12- to 14-month lives, many American sheep are “finished” on grain to fatten them up like American cattle. In Australia and New Zealand, sheep graze exclusively, which lends their meat a distinctive, gamey taste and a leaner texture.

Many Rogue Valley ranchers, though, raise their lambs solely on pasture, producing a meat I personally find more tender and so mild that unsuspecting guests at my house often mistake it for beef. Unfortunately, my typical source for a whole lamb sold out this winter before I could claim one. So with only an entire, bone-in leg in the freezer (far too much meat to justify cooking for fewer than 10 people) and the half pig we purchased from friends still in the butcher’s meat locker, the lamb-or-ham debate is moot for this year’s holiday.

Yet I’ve learned after ordering several lambs over the years that the whole, bone-in leg is an undesirable cut unless you’re planning to spit-roast it outside a la “My Big, Fat Greek Wedding.” Now, I request half legs from my butcher.

Newsday sources concur, pointing out that the hip bone is big, irregularly shaped and nearly impossible to carve neatly around. A semiboned leg, in which the hip bone has been removed, but the lower shank bone has not, still makes for a dramatic presentation.

To carve a semiboned leg, cut the top (boneless) section crosswise (perpendicular to the shank bone) into 1⁄2-inch slices. When you reach the shank bone, cut along its length and then carefully cut the meat away from the bone, like removing a whole breast from a turkey or chicken. Cut the now-boneless meat crosswise into 1⁄2-inch slices.

Like Jan, Newsday writers also recommend a butterflied leg for broiling or grilling flat like a flank steak. Although a leg that’s been rolled and tied looks like a neat trick, it wreaks havoc with the meat’s natural grain, making it difficult to get uniformly tender slices.

For tenderness, of course, the rib chops can’t be beat. That’s why this cut is the most expensive, which can be mitigated a bit by buying a full rack of lamb and cutting the ribs apart. Pounding the meat flat ensures quick cooking in this recipe adapted by Newsday from “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking” by Marcella Hazan.

Pan-Fried Parmesan-Crusted Rib Chops

12 to 16 small single-rib lamb chops (about 2 pounds)

3⁄4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, spread onto a plate

2 large eggs, beaten lightly in a large, shallow bowl

3⁄4 cup fine, dry, unflavored breadcrumbs, spread onto a plate

Vegetable oil, as needed

Salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

With a meat pounder or small, heavy pot, gently pound meat of the chops so it doubles in area and is between 1⁄4 and 1⁄2 inch thick.

Dredge chops on both sides through the grated Parmesan, pressing cheese into chop so it adheres. Tap chops against plate to shake off excess cheese. Dip them into the egg, letting excess drip off. Then dredge chops through the breadcrumbs, coating both sides and tapping again to shake off excess.

Coat bottom of a large skillet over medium-high heat with some of the oil. When oil is hot, place as many chops into pan as will fit without crowding. It should take between 60 and 90 seconds for bottoms to form a nice, golden crust. When they do, sprinkle with the salt and pepper, turn chops and season other sides. As soon as second sides have formed a crust, transfer to a warm platter. Repeat with remaining chops. When all chops are done, serve promptly.

Makes 4 servings.

Every newspaper story about the genesis of that candy turned pop-culture phenomenon — Peeps — relate that the first marshmallow chicks were piped out by hand.

While it’s hard to imagine how that feat was ever accomplished on a commercial scale (even to meet 1950s levels of demand), piping a few marshmallow chicks in the home kitchen could constitute a fun springtime tradition. Pair that activity with our Peeps photo contest for an entry that is sure to stand out: Peeps piping more Peeps? See the photos already submitted. The deadline to enter is today.

Now that I’ve experimented with homemade marshmallows and deemed them very doable, I feel confident enough to try my hand at piping the mixture. Of course, cookie cutters also can be used with this recipe from the Los Angeles Times to produce Easter-themed shapes.

And making yellow Peeps at home would be the ideal occasion to try flavoring them with the lemon extract I just received as a sample from McCormick. With a taste of citrus redeeming the chicks, their piping could be less than perfect.

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Homemade Marshmallow Candies

2 (.25-ounce) packages plain gelatin

2 cups colored sugar

Butter for greasing baking sheet, if cutting out shapes

2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1⁄2 cup chocolate chips

In bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, sprinkle the gelatin over 1⁄4 cup water and let stand until gelatin is softened. If piping chick-shaped candies, fit a piping bag with a large, round tip (preferably 1⁄2-inch) and place the colored sugar in a bowl. If cutting out shapes, butter a baking sheet and line with parchment paper, then butter parchment paper.

In a large saucepan, combine 1⁄2 cup water with the sugar and corn syrup; cook until sugar reaches 245 F using a candy thermometer. Remove from heat.

With mixer running on low speed, slowly pour sugar syrup down side of mixer so it doesn’t splash against whisk. Slowly increase mixer speed to high and beat until marshmallow lightens in color, for about 6 minutes, then beat in the vanilla. For piped marshmallows, continue beating on high speed until marshmallow firms and stiffens in texture (similar to a stiff meringue); marshmallow should not be overly stringy and will have lost some of its sheen, and marshmallow should break off as beater is removed, after 10 to 16 minutes. For cut marshmallows, continue beating until marshmallow is fluffy and doubled in volume, for 8 to 10 minutes.

To pipe marshmallow chicks, start by piping the body: Hold piping bag over colored sugar and begin piping marshmallow out onto sugar so it is about 1 inch in diameter and approximately 1⁄2 inch thick. Continue piping body so it is about 21⁄2 inches in length, then slowly release tip from marshmallow, pushing marshmallow up to form a tail. To form chest and head, pipe on top of body, starting from front of body and piping over half of back. Continue piping, but reversing direction, to form head, slowly releasing tip to form beak. Spoon colored sugar over formed marshmallow to coat completely. Remove marshmallow to a parchment-lined baking sheet.

To form cuttable marshmallows, using a lightly greased, offset spatula, immediately spread mixture onto buttered parchment-lined sheet, spreading marshmallow so it covers pan in an even layer. Set aside, uncovered, for 2 to 4 hours to set. When marshmallow is set, cut out shapes using lightly greased cutters. Gently press marshmallows in colored sugar to evenly coat.

To form eyes, place the chocolate chips in a glass measuring cup or bowl and microwave in 10-second increments, stirring occasionally, until melted. Use a toothpick to dot melted chocolate over marshmallow candies to form eyes (and noses, for marshmallow bunnies).

Makes about 3 dozen candies, depending on size.

You don’t have to be kosher or celebrating Passover this week to have reason for trying recipes that could compose a traditional Jewish Seder.

Almonds, both ground as meal and slivered and toasted for garnish, are the main ingredient in several flourless, kosher desserts touted by food writers over the past week. Almonds, of course, also are a common ingredient in gluten-free desserts, which contain no wheat flour.

Cookbook author Pati Jinich describes the taste and texture of this cake “like a fluffy, smooth, tasty piece of marzipan that has turned into a cake to become a bigger, lighter and a longer lasting version of itself.” The combination of almonds and apricots gives this a particularly European flavor, too. Serve it as dessert topped with whipped cream or for breakfast with berries.

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Flourless Almond and Port Cake

2 cups slivered almonds

3⁄4 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

1⁄2 cup butter or shortening, at room temperature

1 tablespoon port (optional; may substitute a sweet kosher-for-Passover wine)

1⁄4 cup apricot preserves

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1⁄4 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted

Whipped cream (optional)

Grease a round 9- to 10-inch springform pan; cover bottom with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place the slivered almonds and sugar in a food processor; pulse until finely ground. Crack the eggs on top of mixture. Stir in the vanilla and port. Drop in the butter or shortening in chunks; process until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Place on a rack in middle of preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. Top will be nicely tanned, cake will feel springy to the touch and a toothpick should come out clean when inserted in cake. Note: It is a thin cake.

Remove cake from oven and let cake cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Run tip of a knife around edges of pan; release and remove sides of pan. Place a platter over cake and carefully invert cake onto platter. Remove pan’s bottom and parchment paper. Invert cake again onto another platter to have top of cake right-side up.

Mix the apricot preserves with the lime juice in a small saucepan. Set over medium heat and simmer until fully dissolved and liquid for 2 to 3 minutes. With a brush, spread apricot glaze on outer circumference of cake, a band about 1 to 2 inches wide. You also can add some in center. Sprinkle glazed area with the toasted, sliced almonds. Serve with the whipped cream on the side or on top of cake.

Makes 12 to 15 servings.

Asian greens, touted in Joy magazine’s March Season to Taste column, are among the first items of produce at local farmers markets.

Fresh vegetables are scarce, of course, because local farmers are relying on crops hardy enough to either overwinter in the fields or keep in cold storage. At least one farm, however, has less to sell after fermenting almost all of its cabbage for kraut and kimchi.

Whistling Duck’s Mary Alionis got turned onto fermentation from fellow Applegater Kirsten Shockey of Mellonia Farm, which was stocking Alionis’ farm stand with fermented foods for about a year. Alionis took a class and started experimenting to keep fermented foods at the fore when Shockey decided to scale back her production. Now Whistling Duck has jars of probiotic-rich, lacto-fermented veggies for $5 per half-pint, $8 per pint.

“I’m excited to have something new on the table,” says Alionis of her stall at Rogue Valley Growers & Crafters Markets and the new farmers market in Grants Pass.

“A lot more people know what it is now.”

In fact, fermentation is returning to the mainstream with advocates no less influential than first lady Michelle Obama, who released a recipe for the first White House kimchi. Restaurant trend magazine “Plate,” based in Chicago, recently devoted a whole issue to fermentation, acknowledging that chefs are looking to fermentation to preserve seasonally purchased foods and to produce uniquely flavored menu items.

The new, best-selling “The Art of Fermentation: An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes From Around the World,” by Sandor Katz notes that fermented foods — which include beer, olives, cheese, pickles, miso, yogurt, cured meats and sourdough bread — are nothing new or radical. In fact, they represent some of the highest achievements and oldest food traditions of their respective cultures.

Fairly new, however, is the notion that these foods are supposed to be made in a factory rather than our own homes. And, of course, many novices fear fermentation in the home kitchen because it doesn’t fit into widespread food-safety paradigms, such as never storing foods rich in microflora and fauna between 40 and 140 degrees. But as Katz notes, most fermented foods were developed precisely to stay safe at those temperatures.

“It was only 100 years ago that people even began to have the ability to keep food under 40 degrees,” he told the Chicago Tribune.

I’ve previously posted a recipe for traditional kimchi, but Katz’s is a looser approach to fermenting cabbage and other vegetables with whatever seasoning the cook desires, hence the hint of irreverence in its name.

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Kraut-Chi

Per quart:

2 pounds green and/or red cabbage (and/or other vegetables; process is very versatile)

Salt, as needed

Garlic, ginger, chili pepper, caraway, juniper berries and/or other seasonings (optional)

Chop the vegetables finely or coarsely, however you like it. Place in a large bowl. Lightly sprinkle with the salt as you go. Squeeze mixture with your hands until it releases its liquid. Taste and add more salt as necessary. If you are unable to squeeze vegetables or cannot get enough juice out of them, add a little dechlorinated water.

Stuff mixture a bit at a time into a large, wide-mouth jar, packing it down hard as you go. Make sure vegetables are submerged under liquid and leave space at top of jar for expansion. Close lid on jar.

Leave jar on counter or somewhere you will see it every day. Fermentation may take two days to four weeks. Pressure from carbon dioxide will build in jar, so unscrew top each day (for first several days) to release pressure; press down on layer that floats to top, in order to submerge it.

Taste kraut every day or every few days. Remove any surface growth that forms at top where vegetables might be exposed to air.

Depending on ambient temperature in your home, kraut will start to become tangy after a few days. Ferment until it tastes how you like. You can then store all of it in fridge in sealed jars or just scoop out a portion for refrigeration and let remaining continue to ferment.

Today’s Tempo dining review acknowledged that sushi is one of the fastest-growing restaurant genres in the Rogue Valley, likely mirroring a nationwide trend.

Diversity in dining options is never a bad thing, but it is too bad that local sushi establishments seem to be going the way of Chinese and Mexican eateries — all offering very similar menus of Americanized dishes. Traditional sushi’s focus on the freshest, highest-quality fish served simply but expertly is lost in most restaurants’ supersized maki rolls that apparently are even more appealing if deep-fried and slathered in thick sauces.

It doesn’t help that the fish itself may not be as purported, with the country’s sushi restaurants the biggest offenders, according to a February story that ran in the paper’s Sunday lifestyles section. Some specimens, including “red snapper” that is in fact tilapia farmed outside the United States, shouldn’t be considered suitable for raw consumption, sources say.

In addition to these seafood shenanigans, a lot of newcomers to Japanese fare have no idea what sushi actually is, one reader recently opined. His email to the paper echoed my own take on the topic, so I’m sharing these tips from the Dallas Morning News for enjoying sushi the way the Japanese do.

The first, appropriately, is don’t order “crazy rolls.” Start by asking the chef what’s great for sashimi (raw, sliced fish) that day and order some based on the reply. I’ll add my two cents here about patronizing sushi restaurants that do a brisk business, turning over their fish quicker, meaning it’s fresher. 

Continue your meal with nigiri (raw, sliced fish atop rice), then order a roll. Note that hand rolls not only are delicious but mark you as a pro. 

Here are more sushi pointers:

1. If sitting at the sushi bar, don’t order a slew of items at once. In Japan and Los Angeles (home to many of the world’s best sushi bars outside of Japan), it’s customary to order sushi one at a time. At its best, sushi is meant to be eaten immediately as it is prepared.

2. Know savvier seafood choices, like Spanish mackerel, uni, shad and abalone. If you have any sort of environmental consciousness, say no to bluefin tuna or bluefin toro. Most tuna served in U.S. sushi bars is bigeye tuna. Or go for Kumamoto oysters, a real treat and among the “greenest” seafood options, which I discussed in a previous post.

3. Ask for fresh wasabi. The best sushi bars offer paste from the actual horseradish root for an extra charge, about $2 to $6, but it’s well worth it. Whether or not you’ve ordered it fresh, the sushi chef should be putting a dab of wasabi inside the nigiri sushi, when appropriate. If you’d like more, put a dab of wasabi (using chopsticks) directly on top of the fish. Or you can mix a little in the soy.

4. Don’t fill that little dish with soy sauce. Just put in a little, enough to make a puddle about the size of a nickle or quarter. At the best sushi bars, the sushi chef will tell you which sushi items need sauce — he’ll be saucing many of them himself. If you do dip, do it upside down, seasoning the fish, never the rice.

5. Using your fingers is fine. In Japan, some people eat sushi with chopsticks; many others eat it with their fingers. In any sushi bar in that country, you’re given a hot towel once you’re seated, a custom followed by finer restaurants in the States. Note that sashimi, however, does require chopsticks.

It seems like every time a food-travel show features some segment on cheese, I can count on seeing one of Rogue Creamery’s flash across the screen.

The Rogue Valley’s hometown cheesemaker has been raking in awards, steadily gaining a foodie following and, after about a decade with David Gremmels and Cary Bryant at the helm, is on its way to being a household name.

The Creamery and its proprietors always have used their reputation and influence for the good of cheesemaking throughout the state, hosting the Oregon Cheese Festival as a fundraiser for the nonprofit Oregon Cheese Guild. For the ninth annual event this weekend in Central Point, the Creamery shares the bill with dozens of other culinary artisans, including at least 15 cheesemakers.

Set up in the style of a farmers market, the festival occupies a single, 10,000-square-foot tent on the Creamery’s Front Street property. In addition to all the food sampling participants can handle for the $15 entry fee, children’s activities include games and baby-cow petting.

Complementing the familiar format each year is a special guest. This time, it’s James Beard Award nominee Chester Hastings, author of “The Cheesemonger’s Kitchen.” Hastings is a chef at his family’s gourmet food emporium, Joan’s on Third in Los Angeles.

James Beard Award-winning author Laura Werlin headlined the festival in previous years. A companion to her “Grilled Cheese, Please!” is the new “Mac & Cheese Please!” If you thought you knew mac and cheese, this comfort food takes a bit more finesse than many home cooks realize.

So if you bring some really fine cheese home from the festival, follow these methods courtesy of the Chicago Tribune to prepare an equally fine mac and cheese.

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THE PASTA

You must undercook the pasta before baking the casserole because the pasta cooks more in the oven. Start with a dried pasta high in durum semolina, choosing short shapes (less than 2 inches). Werlin lists more than a dozen, but start with penne, gemelli, elbows or orecchiette. Skip expensive, artisan, imported varieties and spend your money on the cheese instead. Then cook the pasta in plenty of well-salted, boiling water until it begins to soften but is not yet al dente — about 1 minute short of the low end of the maker’s suggested cooking time. Taste to check doneness.

THE CHEESE

Go for quality. Go for complexity. Get the latter by using a combination of cheeses. The dominant player should be a cheese you would eat one its own: all forms of cheddar, Gruyere and Gouda. The supporting cast should have stronger flavors, like blue cheese or Parmesan. You’ll use less, but it’s amazing what a little can do. And skip pregrated cheeses, which already have lost much of their flavor

THE SAUCE

The key to a velvety-smooth cheese sauce that coats the pasta and other ingredients uniformly is a simple roux, which forms the base for bechamel sauce. Cook butter (or other fat) and flour together over low heat so the flour loses its uncooked taste; slowly whisk in the milk (warm it first) over medium heat to avoid lumps; cook gently until the sauce begins to thicken. Add the cheese gradually; otherwise the sauce will cool and the cheese may form a giant lump that won’t melt easily.

Here’s a one of Werlin’s recipes that the Tribune adapted. For many of her recipes, Werlin includes a sauce or other accompaniment to be served with the finished mac and cheese. Here she includes a tomatillo salsa. You could use a jarred version, though, or skip it altogether.

Fiery, South-of-the-Border Mac and Cheese

8 ounces tomatillos, husked and quartered

1 medium white onion, peeled and cut lengthwise into 6 pieces

1 serrano pepper, halved lengthwise, stemmed and seeded

4 tablespoons canola oil, divided

1 1⁄2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

3⁄4 cup coarsely chopped, fresh cilantro leaves, divided, plus sprigs for garnish

8 ounces small elbow macaroni

1⁄4 cup flour

2 1⁄2 cups 2-percent milk

12 ounces pepper jack cheese, coarsely grated, about 3 1⁄2 cups

1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen (no need to thaw if frozen)

2 whole pickled jalapenos, finely chopped

1⁄2 cup crushed tortilla chips

To make salsa, heat oven to 375 F. Put the tomatillos, onion and serrano pepper on a rimmed baking sheet. Toss with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Sprinkle with 1⁄2 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper to taste. Roast, stirring occasionally, until tomatillos have collapsed, for about 20 minutes. Let cool a bit. Transfer to a food processor or blender with 1⁄4 cup of the cilantro and 2 tablespoons water; process until smooth. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but firm; it should be short of al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water. Return pasta to pot.

Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Slowly whisk in the flour, stirring continuously until a paste forms, for about 30 to 45 seconds. Whisk until mixture starts to darken slightly and smell a bit nutty, for 1 to 2 minutes. Turn heat to medium-low. Slowly whisk in the milk and remaining salt; cook until mixture starts to thicken and is just beginning to bubble around edges, for 5 to 7 minutes. It should be thick enough to coat back of a wooden spoon. Add the cheese in handfuls, waiting until it melts before adding more.

Stir sauce into pasta to coat well; fold in the corn, jalapenos and remaining cilantro. Transfer to a buttered, 2-quart souffle dish and sprinkle with the crushed tortilla chips. Bake at 375 F until sauce is bubbly and top begins to brown, for 20 to 30 minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes before serving. Serve topped with tomatillo salsa.

Makes 6 servings.

Overindulgence could be the culprit behind the weeklong lapse in entries to this blog.

Regular readers probably recall that I served as a judge for last weekend’s Oregon Chocolate Festival in Ashland. If you haven’t already, check out my Facebook photo album of winners and courses served for the Chocolate Makers Dinner at Ashland Springs Hotel.

Forgive me if it sounds like whining to complain of a solid, two-hour tasting session of chocolate entries. I already disclosed that chocolate isn’t one of my favorite flavors, not that I don’t enjoy really good examples of cocoa. But if you eat enough of anything — chocolate included — in a short enough time period, it’s going to overwhelm the palate, and every bite starts to taste the same.

The weekend’s exception took home the prize for best use of chocolate in a baked good: SunStone Artisan Bakery’s chocolate-stuffed pretzel bread.

Sampled about halfway through our chocolate parade, this bread was a standout for so many reasons. It combines sweet and salty, a popular trend in desserts and candies. And the texture was impeccable: leathery like a great bagel on the outside, tender-crumbed on the inside with a filling of chocolate ganache.

I wanted to eat the whole roll but knew it would compromise my stomach capacity for more chocolate. I wondered if I could set it aside for later but figured that could come off a bit gauche. So in the end, I reluctantly relinquished the rest to our judging facilitator.

If I wasn’t already a fan of pretzel bread, this pastry would have made a distinct impression. SunStone has been baking plain pretzel bread for a couple of years but recently perfected the chocolate version.

AP photo

This centuries-old German bread has been steadily gaining in popularity across the American food scene for several years. I recall first tasting pretzel bread as a dinner roll with butter at a Las Vegas casino-hotel’s casual restaurant and didn’t have a better bite of food for the rest of the weekend.

Menus at more than 1,000 Blimpie restaurants feature pretzel bread as part of a turkey, bacon and cheddar sub sandwich, according to The Associated Press. Before that, the bread was a signature item at Corner Bakery Cafe, a Dallas-based restaurant chain, since the early 1990s.

Pairing the bread with deli meats and cheeses is a no-brainer because pretzels go so well with mustard, food-industry sources say. And while its soft interior is perfect for soaking up condiments, pretzel bread’s chewy exterior ensures it doesn’t go soggy. It’s far from a hard sell, either, considering Americans’ familiarity with pretzels as mainstays of fairs and sporting events.

Yet pretzel bread is different enough to pique people’s interest, says Tom Vaccaro, senior director of baking and pastries at the Culinary Institute of America, explaining that it simply has all the attributes of great bread.

We at the Chocolate Festival agreed and even awarded SunStone, an Ashland business, runner-up as overall best in show.

Now if they’d just make a cheese-stuffed pretzel bread. Hold on a minute, isn’t the Oregon Cheese Festival almost here?

In more than 10 years of reviewing restaurants and seven years of editing food pages for the newspaper, I’ve developed a reputation for somewhat unconventional tastes.

Rich meats like lamb and goat, bitter vegetables and herbs and most things funky and fermented just hit the right note on my palate. My enthusiasm for commonplace sweet and salty flavors is more reluctant.

The past eight months, I suspect, have only reinforced my reputation as a lover of oddball foods. Pregnant women can’t avoid being quizzed about food cravings, though they may point to the usual suspects — ice cream, cheeseburgers, potato chips, chocolate — guilty pleasures that incite cravings in most of us.

My craving? Dried sour cherries. I’ve eaten a handful pretty much every day since midsummer when little else tempted my appetite. I keep other dried fruits — apricots, cranberries, raisins, prunes — on hand, too, but none do the trick like tart cherries.

Of course, I get blank looks when I cite this food as my mainstay. But recently, I ran across an article that seemed to reinforce the actual physiological — not psychological — purpose for this craving.

Highlighted in the new book “The Best Things You Can Eat,” by David Grotto, tart cherries apparently are one of the best foods for improving sleep, fighting pain and inflammation and promoting muscle recovery, among other health benefits. More information is available at www.choosecherries.com.

Tart cherries are available year-round, frozen and as juice (which I also buy), in addition to dried. Here are some tips for incorporating them into your diet:

Grab a handful each of dried cherries and shelled walnuts about an hour before bedtime for a melatonin boost that helps regulate the sleep cycle.

Toss grilled salmon, dried cherries and a dash of turmeric with salad greens for heightened flavor and pain-fighting nutrients.

Blend low-fat chocolate milk, kefir or plain yogurt and frozen cherries for a quick boost before or after workouts.

Stir together a trail mix of dried cherries, ginger, cinnamon, almonds and whole-grain cereal for a heart-healthy snack.

Swap typical berries for dried, tart cherries on top of cereal, oatmeal, yogurt or pancakes.

Many of us who love cherries particularly love them with chocolate. I’m no exception, although I don’t consider myself a chocoholic.

This weekend, though, I’ll be serving as one of the judges at the Oregon Chocolate Festival in Ashland, so I’m psyching myself up for a marathon tasting session. My outlook is bolstered by the knowledge that dark chocolate, as most people know, is packed with antioxidants that promote heart health and may prevent many cardiovascular-related conditions. A recent study found that those consuming the highest levels of chocolate had a 37-percent reduction in cardiovascular disease and a 29-percent reduction in stroke compared with those with lower chocolate intakes. Additionally:

Chocolate may help with math. Flavonols, compounds in chocolate with antioxidant-like properties, are thought to improve circulation, including blood flow to the brain.

Chocolate fills you up. Researchers gave 16 participants 100 grams of either dark or milk chocolate and two hours later offered them pizza. Those who consumed the dark chocolate ate 15 percent fewer calories than those who had milk chocolate, and they were less interested in fatty, salty and sugary foods.

Chocolate makes you feel better because of phenethylamine, which triggers the release of endorphins. The reaction is similar to the one that people experience when they fall in love. Cocoa’s blend of sugar and caffeine produces a longer-lasting high, according to researchers.

Chocolate helps you relax. Studies have shown that chocolate contains the compound anandamide that activates the same brain receptors as marijuana.

Chocolate may help you live longer. One study’s participants who ate candy one to three times a month had the lowest mortality rates of the group, with research, suggesting this may be due to the antioxidants in chocolate. Another study also found that heart-attack survivors who ate chocolate were less likely to die than those who went without.

So why not infuse an entire meal with chocolate? That’s what Ashland Springs Hotel is doing Friday for the Chocolate Festival. I’ll be at the Chocolate Makers Dinner and will post Facebook and Twitter updates throughout the event and for the rest of the weekend.

And if I can’t get a chocolate-cherry fix, I’m putting this dessert recipe from the Detroit Free Press on my to-do list:

MCT photo

Chocolate-Cherry Cupcakes With Vanilla-Bean Frosting

1 cup dried cherries

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60-percent cacao), broken

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3⁄4 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

4 large eggs

1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 vanilla beans, split

1 (8-ounce) package reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), softened

1⁄2 cup plus 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 muffin pans with 16 paper liners.

In a small saucepan, combine the cherries and 1 cup water; bring to a boil. Transfer mixture (cherries and water) to a food processor. Add the cocoa, chocolate and butter and pulse until combined. Cool for 1 minute. Add the brown sugar, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt; puree until almost smooth.

Pulse in the eggs until well-combined. in a bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda and add to food processor. Pulse until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake in upper and lower thirds of preheated oven until tops are slightly domed and firm to touch, for 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool cupcakes in pans on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on a rack.

Scrape the vanilla-bean seeds into a bowl. Add the cream cheese and powdered sugar and beat well. Pipe or spread frosting onto cupcakes. Makes 16.

From Prevention magazine’s January 2012 issue.