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dining guide

inSide: BuY One geT One FRee OFFeRS And FOOd diSCOunTS.

new Menu

PO BOX 2324CORVALLiS, OR 97339eMAiL: shayne.m.m@gmail.com541-234-7022

PuBLiSHeR - SHAYne MORgAn

SALeS MAnAgeR - TOM WRigHT

COnTRiBuTing WRiTeRS: SHAYne MORgAn, TOM WRigHT,The Valley explorer is published monthly and distributed from Sweet Home to the Central Oregon Coast.

HAVe A STORY, Send iT TO THe eMAiL LiSTed ABOVe.

COPYRigHT 2011 THe VALLeY eXPLOReR, A LOCAL COMPAnY. We PRinT in STATe And PRACTiCe MARKeT SuSTAinABiLiTY.

Chris K. Wood, DDSGeneral Dentistry

CONVENIENT HOURS

EMERGENCY CARE

SAME DAY CROWNS (CEREC)

LASERS

INTRA-ORAL CAMERAS

DIGITAL X-RAYS

AMALGAM FREE

NITROUS OXIDE

PREVENTIVE CARE

MODERN STERILIZATION

INSURANCE BILLING

NEW PATIENTS WELCOME

Dixon Creek

541.757.1191www.chriswood-dixoncreekdental.com

1885 NW Kings Blvd. Corvallis

DENTAL CENTER

SAVE ON CAR INSURANCEBY ADDING A HOUSE.Combine your home and auto and save up to 20% on your premiums.

Allen & Associates Insurance, IncMike Allen

Allenm19@nationwide.com433 3rd St SE

Albany, OR 97321(541) 967-7283

©2006 Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and Affiliated Companies. Nationwide Life InsuranceCompany. Home office: Columbus, Ohio 43215-2220. Nationwide, the Nationwide Framemark and OnYour Side are federally registered service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Not availablein all states. Subject to underwriting guidelines, review and approval.

(Staff) - With winter approaching, appetites will soon be craving those big, hearty flavors that warm the soul. Imagine a fireside table topped with a succulent steak and a robust red wine. Think you need to make a reservation at the swankiest steakhouse in town? Think again. With a little effort, it’s easy to recreate a savory steakhouse experience at home.

A number of cattle ranchers are selling premium cuts of meat directly to consum-ers. Of course, sourcing the meat is only half the battle; the other half is selecting a wine that can hold its own up against a rich, flavorful meal. For the perfect pair-ing, look to the American West.

“The success of a steak dinner starts with the cut and quality of the beef, but ultimately rests with the preparation,” says Kristin Thornton of The Double R Ranch Co. “We take great pains to hand select and age our cuts of beef, so we also provide our customers with detailed cook-ing instructions to ensure a great dining experience.”

While there are many ways to prepare a steak, Thornton suggests using The Double R Ranch’s “steakhouse style” for a mouthwatering result. An ideal method for thicker cuts, the steakhouse style involves a quick sear in a cast iron skillet to trap the juices, followed by an oven finish to achieve the desired doneness. Not only does this method give home cooks the perfect steak, but it provides some additional time and space to finish up any side dishes.

The steakhouse method also provides ample time to open a bottle of red wine and let it breathe, and Thornton thinks you can’t go wrong with a big red from California. “Cabernet Sauvignon is a natu-ral complement to a decadent ribeye or tenderloin,” says Michael Martini, Master

winemaker at the longstanding Louis M. Martini(R) Winery in California’s Napa Valley. “Its full body stands up to the richness of the cut, and the simplicity of a quality steak provides a remarkable canvas for illustrating the wine’s com-plexities.”

California Cabernet Sauvignon is relatively easy to find in stores, and many wineries also ship direct to consumers. “The steakhouse experience doesn’t need to have a luxury price tag,” notes Martini, “and just the right Cabernet Sauvignon can cost less than $20 per bottle.”

The Louis M. Martini 2009 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon retails for around $18 and blends fruit from several prestigious vineyards. The result is a well-balanced, multilayered wine with aromas and tastes of red cherry, black cherry, blackberry and fresh sage. An underlying Dry Creek dustiness and subtle herbal notes are complemented by additional lay-ers of chocolate and vanilla, which make for a decidedly complex and food-friendly wine. It can also be used as a terrific sauce for your steak. Here’s how:

Ingredients:1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce1 cup Louis M. Martini Sonoma County Cabernet SauvignonKosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions: In a medium sized bowl, whisk together barbecue sauce, wine, salt and pepper and pour into a saucepot. On the stovetop, bring the mixture to a boil until it thick-ens. Serve on the side as a dipping sauce.

With the main attractions selected, it’s time to prepare some simple sides like baked potatoes and steamed veggies to accompany the meal. Then, break out the fine linens and china, light the fire or a few candles, and your steakhouse transfor-mation is complete.

How to turn your house into the finest steakhouse

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RESTORATION, REPAIR & PROFESSIONAL SET-UPOF ALL STRINGED INSTRUMENTS

GUITARS,VIOLINS,MANDOLINS & BANJOS FOR OVER 41 YEARSTROUBADOUR MUSIC CENTER

521 SW 2ND ST. CORVALLIS541-752-7720

WWW.TROUBADOURMUSICCENTER.COM

NEW INTERACTIVE GOLF COURSE SIMULATOR IS HERE NOW

12/31/2011

A TOP TASTe SAndWiCH

Editor’s Choice

www.Myspace.com/ParishGapFor booking or info, Phone: 541-829-9740

PARISH GAPClassy Classic & Art Rock

Wed. Nov. 23rd. Gobble Wobble pre-Thanksgiving party.

APPLEBEE'S, Corvallis. 9-11 PM

Fri. Nov. 25th. ALBUM/CD release party.

CLOUD 9, Corvallis. 9 PM-Midnight

Thur. Dec. 1st. APPLEBEE'S,

Salem Lancaster Mall. 9-11:30 PM

Sat. Dec. 3rd. APPLEBEE'S, Corvallis. 9-11 PM

BAGUETTEVietnamese sandwiches

121 SW 3rdCorvallis

541.752.9960 If your looking for something a little different and haven’t had a chance to try it, then you need to chow down on a hot sandwich from Baguette. I recently had the curry beef. The bread choices are white or wheat baguettes. The curry beef is sautéed with fresh onions and a light curry. Included on all sandwiches are shredded pickled carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, mayo, soy sauce and a mild garlic pepper sauce. As a

side, I ordered the shrimp salad roll; the standard order comes with two. They are made fresh as you order and each roll has 3 jumbo shrimp packed with rice vermicelli, shredded carrots, lettuce, mint, cilantro, and it’s served with a side of homemade peanut sauce. The flavors really come together with the fresh ingredients. They also offer a great vegetarian selection of sandwiches.

Cover Photo

Shayne Morgan

Riley’s Bar & Grill is under new ownership and with that comes a new menu. Head chef Ryan Skillingstad’s inspiration behind the new menu is to “Take classic grill items and add a twist”, he said. A couple of menu items you won’t see in many other pubs are the dry aged pork chop. This slab of pork is dry aged 60 days

and served with a baker and fresh seasonal veggies. If you enjoy fresh fish, try the grilled NW steelhead. On Friday nights you can chow down on Prime Rib for $9.95. New owner Wally Relf is serving up a comedy night on November 17th. There is no cover charge. Riley’s Bar & Grill has a newly renovated dining area. They serve children and families until 10pm. See you at Riley’s.

Riley’s Bar & grillBy Shayne Morgan

Peppercorn Crusted New York

2306 Heritage Way SE Albany, OR 97322

541.967.9488

An Escape from the OrdinaryPresent this coupon for

Mon-Thur, Dinner Only, Not valid with any other specials or offers.

www.novakshungarian.com

exp. 12/30/2011

$2 off Shepherd’s Combo or Hunter’s Platter

Serving the biggest and best steaks and breakfast in town. Home of the "Beaver Buster Breakfast", eat it all in under

an hour and it's FREE !!If you love bacon we have the best bacon around

(peppered and thick)!

BEST BREAKFAST

350 SW 4TH ST • CORVALLIS

BIGGEST STEAKS

BANQUET FACILITIES AVAILABLE

OPEN DAILY!

Buy any pizza at regular price and get a second pizza of

equal or lesser value FREE!Must present coupon with order. Expires 12/31/11

Buy any pizza at regular price and get a second pizza of equal or lesser

value FREE!Must present coupon with order. Expires 12/31/11

www.evergreenindianrestaurant.com

eVeRgReen indiAn CuiSine

CORVALLIS

136 SW 3rd St • Corvallis541.754.7944

Golfing is great exercise! Most people don’t think about it that way, but you definitely hike quite a few miles during a standard eighteen-hole game. I had never thought much about the exercise of actually swinging the club until my recent visit to Golf 365, testing out the new-fangled electronic analysis equipment at the year-round indoor golf practice facility on West Hills road in Corvallis. It was during a recent cold spell, so I thought I would keep my jacket on while I hit a few dozen balls at the driving range to warm up while waiting for the session to start. I hadn’t hit more than about ten shots before I was slipping out of the jacket because I was feeling too hot. All that upper body motion in rapid succession was definitely doing something to increase my metabolism. I had read about the new, electronic swing and launch analysis equipment on a previous visit. Being a somewhat tech-curious, if not tech-savvy individual by nature, and a golfer, I had to see what this was about. My session was with Jacquie Wirth, the resident PGA Golf Professional and instructor at Golf 365. Jacquie started out by showing me how the camera is set up to record your swing, and the tools on the video playback screen that help her figure out what you might be doing right, or wrong in your swing that effects the flight of the golf ball. She showed me some recordings of other players she had recently used the equipment on and explained what I was seeing and what it meant. I had never seen or heard anything like it before in all the years of coaching I had received from my golf fanatic father and his buddies. Her explanation of what I was seeing and how it could be used to improve my golf swing was fascinating and eye-opening. I wasn’t sure the process could help me play better, but was ready to give it a try. I stepped in front of the camera and reached for my driver to see how things looked. Jacquie told me that even though, for the purpose of this article, she was going to give me about five sessions rolled into one quick one, I was still no where near ready to be hitting a driver. She had me use a five iron. It was about that time that I realized the serious medicine here had more to do with Jacquie’s expertise, study, and many years of golf coaching than it did with the electronic gadgetry she had found to make things easier to understand and implement her advice by helping people be able to see, analyze, and correct what they were doing. The electronic part of the system is about lines that she uses the cursor to draw on the screen illustrating the position of the club from the time you are ready to start your swing, throughout the swing and up to the moment of contact with the ball. Jacquie is really good at explaining how the position of the line drawn along the shaft of the club during all of those phases of the swing effect both the power and trajectory of the ball. She has that

natural ability of all great teachers to gently coax you into trying the things she has determined you need to adjust while making the whole process fun. If you are having trouble making the changes, she works with you until you get it. When you do get it, she makes sure you can actually feel and hear the difference in the way the ball takes flight. Using the playback mode on the video helps you see clearly what is not quite right and Jacquie helps you get things adjusted until you can see the correction on the play-back. I was no longer skeptical. The system works. It is many times easier to make those kinds of adjustment with the play-back process. It helps you get your mind so focused on what you need to do that it becomes easier to accomplish. It also helps you see when you are not actually doing it, even when you thought you were trying to. That brings trial and error into your process of attempting to follow the instructions. Without the visual, you would have no real way of knowing exactly where you were going wrong, and doing it again until you can see that you are doing it right. Jacquie’s instruction didn’t stop with the video analysis. It immediately flowed into coaching on weight distribution and transfer from one leg to the other during the swing and the importance of the proper follow through. She knows how to help people play better. After each point she works on with you, you know you just became a better golfer. She taught me one more very important thing that I never would have thought of on my own. Playing golf is not practicing. After this experience, I understand why she says that hitting balls off the driving range is real practice. Only in that way can you get enough rapid repetition to improve what you are doing until you get into the new and correct groove you are trying to find. At Golf 365, you can do that all year long, rain or shine.

Article by Tom WrightgOLF 365 TeCH SuPPORT

6880 SW West Hills Rd.Corvallis

541.929.CHiP

BACK COVeRTO AdVeRTiSe On THe VALLeY eXPLOReR’S BACK COVeR CALL 234-7022

SHOP LOCAL. dine LOCAL. SuPPORT LOCAL.

THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING NOW THERE ARE THREE PLANETS ORBITING THE SOUTH

w w w. L AU G H I N G P L A N E T C A F E . c o m

OPEN 11AM – 10PM

EVERYDAY

CORVALLIS

127 NW 2ND ST. 541.286.4048

BLAIR BLVD

760 BLAIR BLVD 541.868.0668

29TH & WILLAMETTE

2864 WILLAMETTE ST. 541.505.5399

HAPPYHOLidAYS!