Eating Well in the Northwest

Impromptu Seattle

2012-02-16T20:39:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it pays to plan out a trip, sometimes… At other times the beauty is to have no real plans and just wing it, go with the flow and see what develops. We recently completed one of the later with an impromptu jaunt to Seattle to meet up with our great friends.

Cocktails at Artusi in Seattle

We escaped a little early from work on a Friday afternoon, battled the hordes northward and finally made it to Seattle without too much loss of sanity or temper. Shortly after arriving we were whisked off to Artusi (http://artusibar.com/) on Capitol Hill and plied with cocktails and comfort food. The drinks were unique and I mean that in all the best senses. Take the Marinetti's Automobile: Bulleit Rye, Carpano Antica, Liquore strega, fig vinegar, Amarena Cherry & Cayenne or the Anti-fascist Aesthetic: Novo Fogo Cachaça, Imbue Vermouth, Maraschino, lime juice and bitters. A Love Bizarre: Wry Moon Unaged Whiskey, Clear Creek Blue Plum Brandy, Cocchi Vermut di Torino, Lime, Maraschino, Peychaud's Bitters and Joyous Young Pine: sparkling wine, juniper oil, Aviation Gin, sugar cube, lime bitters also made the cut. Each was delicious and memorable, and you probably start to see what I mean about unique. A common thread was top shelf ingredients, Northwest craft liquors, interesting bitters and some unconventional ingredients like Juniper oil and fig vinegar. In lesser hands this could have been a mess, but the mixologists at Artusi combined an artistic perception with a deft hand to create something grand. Oh yea, I mentioned the comfort food. Try their hearty Ribollita soup, braised pork shoulder, cassoulet, and (I’m told) excellent tripe. We also tried a celery root puree, which was one of our great takeaways. Where has this been all our lives? It doesn’t sound like a life changing event, but we’ve had to make it at least once per week ever since. Sated and chilled, we had a great time catching up until we finally had to call it a night.

D'Ambrosio Gelato in Rome.... Er... Ballard

The next morning, we toured around the neighborhoods and stopped to picked up some New York Cupcakes on Madison St. (http://newyorkcupcakes.com/) Back home one of the Maple Bacon cupcakes became an amuse bouche in anticipation of some hearty, homemade, whole wheat pancakes. After breakfast, we grabbed our coats and headed for Ballard, where we naturally stopped for a spot of pre-lunch gelato at D'Ambrosio Gelato. It was the real deal and made us feel like we were back in Rome for a moment. Well fortified, we wandered up and down the street, stopping in at Curtis Steiner (http://www.curtissteiner.com/index.html) which offered an array of antique and locally hand crafted jewelry in a fun and funky atmosphere. Be sure to visit the web site and check out the mind-blowing Curtis Steiner 1000 Blocks project - Click one of the links towards to top to start the video. We stopped in at Blackbirds, then around the corner to the Blackbird Apothecary and an herbalist shop. The area is interesting with a number of hip shops tucked into very vintage buildings. It was heartening to see a number of new enterprises opening up after the past few sour years (economically). At one point we had to stop and marvel at a 3 story deep construction pit dug precariously between two antique brick buildings. We wrapped up our visit to Ballard by heading over to the Ballard Locks where we toured the grounds and watched several boats get shunted from Puget Sound into Lake Union.

Charcuterie Plate at Dots, washed down with Normandy Cider

Our next stop was the Book Larder (http://www.booklarder.com/ ) a well curated community cookbook store on Fremont st. We killed some time browsing the shelves, chatting with the owner and sampling marmalade cake they had made in the shop earlier in the day. If you’re in the area, it is well worth a stop. The visit also led to the “Bitters” book (Thank you Gretchen!) the results of which will be in a future post. While you’re there, be sure to stop in to Dot’s Delicatessen (http://dotsdelicatessen.com/images/ ) a few doors down. We were 20 minutes early for dinner, so we sat back and snacked on an excellent local charcuterie plate and killed a bottle of Normandy cider while they finished preparations. I ended up having their cassoulet, which was fantastic and helped Betsy through a rib-eye steak sandwich with frites. It was all washed down with a nice red wine selected by Barry, who is infallible at picking good bottles. Dot’s is definitely on my “go back” list.

Dungenss crab on parade at Pike Place Market

The next morning we dug into Gretchen’s multi-grain cereal, which fortified us for our next adventure – the Pike Place Market. On our way, we stopped off to browse through Isadora's (http://isadoras.com/jewelry/), an antique jewelry shop that had some amazing art deco pieces. Next stop was the original Sur La Table store on Pine st. which was a cook’s mecca for gear, followed by the Beecher’s cheese plant/shop (http://beechershandmadecheese.com/). We sampled the curds and mac & cheese, and then sauntered over to the market where we browsed the produce and seafood shops of unimaginable bounty. If you were looking for Northwest Salmon, fresh steamed Dungeness Crab, Washington apples or forest mushrooms there was aplenty. We made our way through the market and came out on the street below where we ducked in to World Spice Merchants (https://www.worldspice.com/ ) and picked up a few necessaries. The weekend came to a close all too soon. The short time made us seize the moment and the spontaneity of just exploring took us places we wonderful places we wouldn’t have found if we’d spent days planning it. Add to that the pleasure of spending time with good friends and we couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend a weekend in Seattle.

I'm not a big cupcake guy, but these from New York Cupcakes
were to die for. The Maple Bacon ( front and center of course)
is fully endorsed by the Cult of Bacon

Ballard offers some great architecture

Carl Steiners shop in Ballard ( Photo taken with permission)

Bets & Gretchen at Hiram M. Chittenden Locksin Ballard

The King of Pike Place Market

Running with the Bull

2012-01-11T21:11:00.000-08:00

We ended 2011 on a high note, with a visit to Portland’s Bull Run Distillery. We arrived during a lull and had a chance to chat with co-founder Patrick Bernards, and talked him into stepping next door and showing off their two behemoth 800 gallon, custom built stainless stills and the tuns of rum currently in fermentation.

Medoyeff Vodka by Lee Medoff of Bull Run
Distilling in Portland Oregon

After we toured the distillery we stepped back to the tasting room where we were joined by a mix of neighbors and tasters from out of town. We started off with the Temperance Trader Bourbon, and a bottle would have followed me home... if someone hadn’t bought the last bottle 30 minutes earlier. That’s what I get for shopping for spirits on the day of New Years Eve.

Next up on the bar was Lee Meoff’s Medoyeff Vodka which is real treat. I’m normally pretty ambivalent to vodka, but this is truly sip-able. While the perfect vodka is technically tasteless except for the alcohol, there is a distinct, smooth, subtle mineral and grain flavor to this spirit. I’ll take artful imperfection that requires a lot of adjectives. It is beautiful ice cold and straight up and it mixes wonderfully too. According to Patrick “There is no cocktail culture in Eastern Europe. They drink their Vodka straight and therefore look for natural flavor and mouth feel from the raw vodka. It's with this in mind that we have created Medoyeff Vodka, the first Russian-American vodka.”

20 year old Soviet sparkling wine. Probably no
longer drinkable, but its a conversation piece

I know first hand that the Russians live for their vodka straight. When I was fishing to put myself through college, we worked directly with Soviet factory ships and I got a couple invites to dine with the soviet officers. The table was set with a large crystal water glass and a slightly smaller wine glass. The only twist was that the water glass was for wine and the wine glass was for vodka (nobody would touch the water). The Soviet issue Stolichnaya came in a 750 ml sized bottle, but had a pop bottle style cap instead of a cork or screw cap. The captain explained that there was no need for a screw cap because when you opened a bottle, you finished it, no need to save it. We drank toast after toast, sniffing the bread before each toast. Apparently that was a tribute to the stoic comrades during WWII when the head of the house would sniff the bread pass it on to his family because there wasn’t enough food to go around.

Medoyeff vodka is the real deal; Actually better than the real deal. I’m glad they did take the liberty of using a t-cork instead of a pop-top though.

The visit was a treat and I’m already planning another trip down. I’m also looking forward to the the launch of their new line of spirits, brewed from local ingredients, squeezed from those beautiful stills and aged to perfection under Oregon’s temperamental atmosphere. Stay tuned for great things to come.

Blue Mounain Estate Winesap Cider

2011-12-16T21:10:00.000-08:00

I was in Portland's Brooklyn neighborhood yesterday and stopped by Bushwhacker cider pub. It was a quiet on a weekday afternoon and bartender Katie walked me through some of the selections and I walked away with a bottle of Oregon's own Blue Mountain Cider's Estate Winesap Cider.

I haven't had Winesap cider in years, since my Dad and I would go over to family friends and help them make sweet cider from the various heirloom (just called old back then) apples that grew around their family farm. Winesaps were in the mix and I always loved the tart flavor and blush at the core. I recently ran across some at the farmer's markets, but many were different from what I remember and few specimens from different farms matched each other in character.

Blue Mountain turns out some great cider and I'll be back for more of this. It has a very pale color and is near dry, with a mild carbonation. There is a fair amount of acid, but it is well balanced and when combined with some of the pure apple notes that come through at the start, is reminiscent of fresh green apples.

It was great for sipping, and made a wonderful accompaniment to homemade chicken pot pie.

Pick up a bottle or two or three if you can find it, and be sure to check in with Portland's Bushwhacker if you get a chance.

Jewels from the Forest - Wild Huckleberries

2011-10-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

Three generations got together to pick
huckleberries in the shadow of Mt. Hood

The sun dapples through the trees at the edge of the clearing while the snow capped peak of Mt. Hood dominates the horizon. The scent of warm dust and pine float on the breeze. Below, hundreds of amethyst gems hide under green and red leaves all down the slope. Late summer in the high Cascades is huckleberry season.

Picking huckleberries is work. The best bushes are knee high, and it isn't uncommon to have only a few berries per bush. However, once you put your nose in the bucket and breath deep, the intoxicating scent makes it all worth while. While they look a little like blueberries, the taste is much more complex. In fact there are several varieties that grow in the same areas, but our favorite variety has a fairly large (for a huckleberry) dark purple to black berry on a low scraggly shrub. According to the International Wild HuckleBerry Association they are V. membranaceum and are commonly called mountain huckleberry, mountain bilberry, black huckleberry, tall huckleberry, big huckleberry, thin-leaved huckleberry, globe huckleberry, or Montana huckleberry.

Other varieties are more blueberry like in looks, habit and taste, but the berries are tiny and less flavorful. They tend to grow in the moister areas, towards the dry creek bed in the bottom of the ravine. Be sure to take a whistle and make a lot of noise while you pick, because we're not the only ones that love huckleberries

While we've made a lot of things from huckleberry pancakes and muffins to a wicked huckleberry port, one of my favorites is the huckleberry cream cheese pie Betsy makes every year with the first of the berries. This year, Claire took over the honors and did us proud, with a wonderful rendition. In contrast to picking the berries, this recipe is quick and easy.

This is as close as you'll get to a shot of the finished pie, as soon
as the whip cream was on, we dug right in.

Huckleberry Pie

Ingredients:
8" or 9" graham cracker crust

3 oz. cream cheese

1/2 Cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

2 Cups fresh huckleberries
1 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup water
3 Tbls. cornstarch

1/2 Pint whipping cream

Spreading the cream cheese mixture in the crust.

Beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla together, then spread over the bottom of the crust.

Combine the huckleberries, water, sugar and corn starch in a pan and heat to a boil and cook for a minute or two, until mixture thickens. Pour the berry mixture over the cream cheese layer and allow to cool.

When ready to serve, top the pie with fresh whipped cream.

To my mind, this is the quintessential huckleberry experience and I hope you give it a try.

Claire is measuring out homemade vanilla extract

Claire labeling jars of huckleberries for the freezer

A Few Shots From the Garden

2011-09-23T23:04:00.000-07:00

Betsy discovers Makai really likes green beans...

Roman Chicory in bloom

Drying a few peppers, hope more will ripen before the weather turns

We've been picking several bags of green beans every 3 or 4 days. Makai isn't the only one who enjoys green beans

A few of our onions

Scottish Oat Bread

2011-07-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

We went to the Portland Highland Games yesterday. For those you not of Scotts extraction, highland games are a sort of Scottish cultural gathering held all over the

world. They started when the Scotts were subjugated by the English (think Braveheart) and forbidden to carry implements of war. They took to lobbing heavy weights and other feats of strength in lieu of feats of military prowess. The modern Highland Games tend to revolve around the competitions and music, with a lot of kilts and a dash of Renaissance fair thrown in for spice.

When it comes to food, think sausage rolls, fish & chips, pasties and shortbread. It’s the fair food version of Scottish fare, but even so (please forgive me, particularly if you’re packing a claymore and dirk) there is a reason there aren’t Scottish restaurants on every corner. That said, do visit the Highland Stillhouse in Oregon City if you’re in the area. The food is good and their selection of beers and Scotch is excellent.

Imagine my surprise when, Betsy asked me to make my Scottish Oat Bread this morning. This is a recipe I created over the course of several years. It isn’t technically Scottish, but it has the right vibe and features Scottish style oatmeal from Bob’s Red Mill here in Portland. When I say recipe, I use the term loosely as I tend to make it from memory and approximate a lot of the measurements. It is slightly sweet, the oatmeal adds tooth and it goes great with soup. If you have any left over, it makes great croutons.

Scottish Oat Bread

Ingredients

3 cups unbleached bread flour (can substitute 1 cup whole wheat bread flour)

½ cup Scottish oats (Bob’s Red Mill)

2 Tbs. Vital Wheat Gluten (Bob’s Red Mill)

1 Tbs. quick rise bread yeast

2 Tbs. powdered milk

3 Tbs. brown sugar

2 Tbs. table sugar

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. molasses

2 tsp. salt

1 ½ cups warm water

Directions

Dissolve table sugar in water and stir in yeast. Allow to proof for 5-10 minutes allowing yeast to become active.

Place flour in the bowl of the stand mixer. Add oats, gluten, salt, brown sugar, and powdered milk. Stir to mix and add molasses. Add olive oil to water and yeast mixture.

With the mixer running with a dough hook, begin slowly pouring the liquid in. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl. Mix for about 5 minutes on slow/medium speed (4 on my Kitchenaid.) Slowly adjust mixture with warm water and flour as needed. The dough should clean the bowl but be sticky to the touch. Place the dough into a large ceramic bowl and place it to rise in a warm, still place.

After the dough has doubled in size, punch it down, split it into 2 loaves and place it into a bread pan or form to rise again. I like to use a double baguette pan, but have made it in traditional bread pan, or made a rustic loaf on a baking sheet.

Once they have risen back to loaf size, bake in a 350 degree oven until done. Be aware that with the sugar and molasses in the dough, the crust has a tendency to over-brown. I like the baguette pan because it is easier to get the bread cooked through without overcooking the crust.

Scottish Oat Bread and Fresh Strawberry Jam

Eating Close to Home

2011-07-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

Feels like summer may have finally arrived. The peas and greens had a very good run this year, but we picked the last of the peas and sent the vines to the compost pile. We've been eating snow peas until they are coming out our ears, fresh, in stir fries, in salads and most my favorite, briefly sauteed in butter, the drizzled with a bit of honey and a sprinkle of salt. On good days, we'd add a handful of thinly sliced carrot to the mix.

We grew collards for the first time and enjoyed them sauteed in a little olive oil, then dashed with sesame oil and garnished with toasted sesame seeds. This is how we were introduced to them in Brazil and it is still my favorite way to enjoy them.

We enjoyed a lot of salads as we had a bumper crop of mache which we combined with Oregon Dungeness crab and a light citrus dressing. The Mache was followed by Napa Cabbage that turned out to be Bok Choi, and a second batch that was actually Napa Cabbage, but really got pounded by the bugs and slugs.

While the slugs were busy gorging on cabbage, we had a nice crop of lettuce, including butter, romaine and red oak leaf, plus a nice patch of mixed baby greens. The lettuce in our home garden is gone, but we are still enjoying and sharing lettuce from our plot at Midnight Gardens Daylily Nursery. We also have a nice batch of artichokes and chicory from Rome Italy growing there along with a very assertive horse radish.

Our friend Robert Anderson owns and operate Midnight Garden Daylilies and has taken pity on our citified condition and shared a fallow plot with us. It's always a lot of fun gardening over there whether we're looking at the newest day lily seedlings in his hybridization program or sitting on the back porch sipping a local Pinot Noir after a hot day in the sun (ok, I'm exaggerating a little as we haven't really had any hot days in the sun this year, but with a sweatshirt you can pretend)

The green beans and edamame are off to a good start and we've planted some tomatoes and peppers in a leap of faith that we might get a few before fall sets in. With any luck we'll have tomatillos to add to our onions and peppers (again with the hopeful thinking) and we can make a few batches of salsa verde for the freezer.

Next weekend looks like a good candidate for making pickled beets as our spring crop is ready for harvest. Hope your gardens are doing well and if you aren't fortunate to have one, that you have gardening friends or a good farmer's market nearby.

It's been a while

2011-03-18T23:26:00.000-07:00

It's been a bit since my last post, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy. For food fun, we've been experimenting with various Chinese dumplings, seared Ahi and braising all sorts of things. We made a new batch of Limoncello and Agrumino, and spent a week eating our way around Maui.

The garden is showing the promise of life as lettuce, spinach, scallions and collards are poking up their first leaves and we just ran across some nice lettuce starts that will go into a protected part of the garden as soon as it stops raining. Sunday is in fact supposed to live up to it's name so fingers crossed.

On the work front, the whole team (Hey Denise - you know what I'm talking about) been heads down building out the new SavvyBoater.com site that we expect to take live in a few days. Sad to say, after a 12 hour day of cutting code, writing content and otherwise being enslaved to the computer, it's hard to come home and get excited about blogging, even if it is about food.

I've got a bunch of posts churning around in my head and I look forward to getting back to it shortly, and to a little natural light to aid the photography. Stay tuned.

Cider Update

2011-01-16T21:03:00.000-08:00

We pulled a bottle of cider today, chilled it and gave it a try. The amount of carbonation from the bottle ferment is spectacular. The taste is clean, but a little yeasty as there is still a haze from the bottle frement. It has gone to pretty (not perfectly) dry again, which I found refreshing, but Betsy was a little disappointed as she wanted some residual sweetness. I think this batch is going to be worth the effort with a nice acid balance and a sharp dry apple taste that lasts through the finish.

No pictures as we've mislaid the camera cable :?( and the Olympus chip is such an odd size it won't fit any of my card readers. New cable should be her in a few days.

Ensouplapedia – An alphabet of soups

2011-01-10T20:29:00.000-08:00

I’m not sure how many times I’ve seen the phrase “soup season” or some variation tossed out in the past month, but it was plenty to know we aren’t the only ones that feel that way. Something about the dark and gloom of post holiday winter. It’s like when the first exciting snowfall of the season turns into piles of gritty, icy snow in the back corners of parking lots. You’re just ready for Spring but it is still a couple months before any real semblance of spring will appear.
We tend to hole up and cook a lot more soups and stews. One recent stormy Sunday we were browsing the blogs looking for new recipes to try. Staggered by the volume of amazing soup recipes we uncovered, Ensouplapedia was born. Enjoy~

A – Armenian Red Kidney Bean Soup: Adelina’s (My Tasty Handbook’s) soup features kidney beans, carrots and celery simmered in a tomato and red pepper base, seasoned with parsley and cilantro. Accompanied by pita chips it looks like summer in a bowl.   Vegan and low carb it also looks like a great option after all the heavy holiday food we’ve consumed.

B – Bacon, Pumpkin, Leek and White Bean Soup : I know, you’re thinking “Wait a minute, that post starts with Pumpkin, How come its ‘B’?” If of course you are a proper adherent to the cult of bacon you’ll quickly realize that in any recipe containing bacon, bacon takes precedence by default. Gareth (Stumptown Savoury) blends the four titular ingredients with white wine, sage and an engaging voice to create a thick mouth watering soup.

C- Coconut Curry Chicken Soup: We love Thai curry so this soup from A Couple in the Kitchen seemed a winner for ‘C’. Coconut curry broth laced with shredded chicken, rice noodles and a cup of Cilantro comes together to make this tasty soup. I love cilantro almost (but not quite) as much as I love bacon.

D – Spicy Chicken with Ditalini and Basil Soup: Some letters you just know are going to be hard, take Q & X for example. Who’d have thought D would be a problem child? Fortunately we found this recipe by Molly and Connor McDonald posted by Boston Food Rules that looks divine and delicious (two more D words) so we were set. The recipe is fairly involved, roasting a chicken and making stock before we even get to the Ditalini soup part. Not a quick and easy, but it looks like it would be a worthy way to kill a dark winter day. This recipe is also in a New England Soup Competition, so you can stop by and vote for it if you have a spare moment.

E – Cream of Fava Bean and Edamame with Poached Quail Eggs: We like Edamame – munching them hot out of the bowl while swigging cold Nigori sake. They came to our rescue for the letter E too with this exquisite looking cream soup by Citronetvanille featuring edamame and fava beans pureed with onion, garlic and crème fraiche and garnished with tiny poached quail eggs.

F – Fennel and Winter Squash Soup: Isabelle’s (Mahna Mahna)writing style and her soup making style both resonate with me. This serendipitous melding of on-hand ingredients makes a warm and comforting looking soup and our entry for F.

G – Giouvarlakia: I always enjoy EatGreek’s post as they are very approachable, but usually something completely new to me. Giovarlakia, meatballs in an egg, lemon soup (or sauce – you be the judge) certainly fits that and has been added to my “need to try this” list.

H- Herbed croutons on Carrot & Leek Soup: The picture was one of the first things that grabbed me on this post by The Mom Chef. It just looks thick and rich and warm, with crunchy croutons crying out for attention. We love carrots and leeks together and often make creamed vegetable soups, so this was a natural to add to our list. Many of The Mom Chef’s posts glean interesting recipes from current cooking magazines, and give them a real world test.   This one she brings to us from the December 2010 / January 2011 issue of Fine Cooking.

I – Italian Cabbage, Ham and Potato Soup: This stew-like soup is cries out comfort, with a mix of root vegetables, cabbage and ham slow cooked in a crockpot. Like many of Claudia’s (Pegasuslegends) posts the recipe is accompanied by great pictures, a little background and lots of comments from her readers.

J- Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Sage Croutons: The actual title of this post by Victoria (Food Mission)is “This Soup Will Change Your Life”. A creamed soup of Jerusalem Artichoke, leek, fennel and celery seasoned with pancetta looks amazing. My wife was helping me pick recipes and when she ran across this one, she piped up, I’ve got J! – can we make it this weekend?

K- Korean Beansprout Soup with Clam 'Kong Na Mul Guk' : We’ve got a K in Korean and English for this soup. It caught my eye because of its simple elegance. Reading through Phoebe Chung’s post provides an illustrated step-by-step guide to making this dish. It also raises questions? How do the bean sprouts make the soup taste bad if you open the lid before it comes to a boil? I have no idea and I find that fascinating. Phoebe has also done a great video of the process also available on her post.

L- Lentil Sausage Soup: Liren of Kitchen Confidante makes an adaptation of Ina Garten’s lentil soup and it sounds like the perfect dish for a rainy day, whether you’re in San Francisco or Portland (or wherever). You can almost taste her photos.

M – Slow-cooked Minestrone: I knew we wanted to use a minestrone for M, so after browsing through a lot of great posts, we chose Cassie Marie’s version. In addition to a nice recipe, she has also offered tips for cooking it around a busy schedule.

N- Noodle Soup, Chicken : We couldn’t think of a more classic soup that chicken noodle. It’s the quintessential comfort soup. Luna’s unique Asian spin on this classic is both homey and exotic in the same bowl.

O- French Onion Soup: Onions and broth and a little cheesy goodness broiled on top. Priscilla – She’s Cooking does an excellent blog on this soup. She takes elegant looking recipes and makes them approachable enough that you wouldn’t mind tackling them on a week night. This recipe looks pretty straight forward, but the results look 4 star.

P- Parsnip and Sweet Potato Bisque: This hearty root bisque by Dish By Trish has garnered a lot of attention. Check it out and you’ll see why (and it’s not just the giveaway). Trish is a Registered Dietician and focuses on the winning combination of good nutrition, taste and presentation.

Q- Quinoa and Spinach Soup:   I thought it was going to be queso, but quinoa ruled the day. This was one of several soups from Vegetarian Times that Rockin The Stove tried and documented in this post.

R- Rustic Tomato Soup with Toasted Cumin and Mini Rajas: Betsy asked me “Rustic? Really? You’re kind of reaching there” but after she read the recipe, she agreed that this post by Christopher Ranch Garlic was a great add. The combination or tomatoes, chilies and spices looks enticing and rajas starts with R too. I’m just saying.

S- Spicy Curried Butternut Squash Soup: Going for the triple letter score here. This post by Taste With The Eyes looks yummy, but it was really the presentation that clinched it. I love to make soup and it usually get slopped into a bowl and consumed. I don’t have the patience or dinner ware for fancy delivery, but I really appreciate the artists that can take food to that next level with an elegant presentation.

T- Hearty Tuscan Soup:   As Mr. & Mrs. P point out, the right ingredients can transport you. Their Tuscan soup features Cannellini beans, Italian sausage, veggies and greens, spiced with sunny summer flavors of oregano, rosemary and lemon. Their post walks you through the preparation of this quick and hearty soup.

U- Thai Chicken Udon: This Asian inspired soup by Linda’s Yummies looks delish and exotic, the perfect thing on a gray, cold winter day. Daring spices, homey chicken, veggies, noodles and umami packed Shitake mushrooms, need I say more? If Asian noodle soups appeal to you, this is a post worth spending a few minutes on.

V- Vegetable Soup with Chorizo: Vegetable soup owns the letter V, the question is, which one would be the ambassador to the Ensouplapedia? The answer, WildeintheKitchen’s version featuring Chorizo. The first thing that grabbed me was that there is more stuff than soup and I find that admirable in a soup. The addition of the sausage also give it a unique spin so here it is.

W- Wonton Soup & My Mothers Wonton Soup:   Ok, I couldn’t decide between these two, so throw me a bone. I’m a huge fan of Asian dumplings in all their forms, wonton soup included. The first of these two offerings is by Ryan Boudreaux, Cajun Chef Ryan and while it isn’t recent, it features a great recipe and the friendly charm of all his posts. Joylicious offers a beautiful Wonton soup with a great back story and fantastic photos.

X- Sup Ca Chua Dau Xanh (Vietnamese Green Bean and Tomato Egg Drop Soup):   X was the hardest letter in our alphabet soup.   I don’t speak Vietnamese, so I have no idea what the Xanh stands for, but it is soup and it has a prominent X. This post by Wandering Chopsticks looks delicious. None of the ingredients are too exotic, but the outcome looks spectacular.

Y- Yummy Wild Mushroom Soup: OK, I was reaching on this one but if you’ve read my blog much, you’ve probably figured out that I love mushrooms, so I decided “y not”. Shirley (Blackswan) takes an interesting tack on cream of mushroom soup that looks yummy and could be easily tweaked depending on the mushrooms you have available.

Z- Zuppa di Porri: I always enjoy Frank’s (Franfajr)posts on Memorie di Angelina, and he came through with a perfect Z to wrap things up. Zuppa di Porri is a leek soup. Like so much great Italian cooking it focuses on bringing out the true essence of a few simple ingredients. We love leeks and grow several rows of them in our garden right next to the Roman Chicory. We’ve already finished off ours so I’ll be picking up a few more to try this recipe soon.

Hard Cider - America's Underdog Home Brew

2011-01-02T22:08:00.000-08:00

Hard cider is an underappreciated underdog in America. There was a time when it was a beverage of choice, going toe-to-toe with beer and outstripping wine. Our population was predominantly rural and everybody had apple trees around the place. It was a great way to save the harvest and produce a tasty drink that wasn’t liable to give you polio or dysentery the way the water of the time might.
I believe prohibition and the urbanization of the country were the 1-2 punch that set cider back. It is beginning a resurgence with the import of European labels and drafts and the growing number of artisanal ciderys springing up across the country. The biggest detractor is that many of the mass market ciders regularly available aren’t much more than apple flavored wine coolers.

Ciders come in a variety of styles from fully dry to very sweet, still or carbonated, and ranging from 2% to 12% alchohol. Like a wine, the cider is dependent on the fruit it is made from, but the finished product bears the signature of the maker, with the handling, choice of yeasts, decisions on oaking and aging all coming into play.

As a home project, cider is more forgiving than beer, and quicker than wine, and can yield a result that is imminently drinkable. Our biggest problem is that making it in 3-5 gallon batches, we are always running out.

This batch of cider started out on Thanksgiving weekend with 3 gallons of an acidic blend of unpasteurized cider grown in Zillah Washington, and pressed and bottled in Gervias, Oregon in the Willamette Valley. While it tasted refreshingly tart, there was enough sugar to reach 6% alcohol, but it was masked by the acidity. That’s a good thing, because without a strong acid backbone, cider tends to come out tasting insipid. Typically a 3-4 Ph is where you want to be.

We sterilized a 5 gallon food grade bucket, poured in the cider and added some sodium metabisulphate which “sterilizes” the cider, getting rid of any native yeasts that are present. We let it sit for 24 hours covered with a Tea towel allowing the sulphur compounds to dissipate. Apples are high in pectin which can lead to a cloudy finished product. Pasteurized cider is worse as the heat treatment changes the pectin causing it to be more likely to stay in suspension. I added Pectic Enzyme which will react with the pectin and cause it to precipitate more easily. I also added a touch of powdered tannin to boost the tannic mouth feel in the finished cider. Finally we added the yeast and let it go.

The yeast you choose has a surprising impact on the finished product. Ale yeasts produce something of a beery quality that I tend to equate to some of the English scrumpy style ciders. Use of a white wine yeast like Montrachet produces a more winey cider something like a Saxon Hausen Apfelwein from Germany. For this batch, we chose a Wyeast Laboratories Dry Mead yeast. Why? Because we’d never used it before and I wanted to see what it would do.

We let the primary ferment go for a week or so until it began to taper off. At that point we siphoned the cloudy juice off of the sludge of yeast and apple waste in the bottom of the bucket and into a 3 gallon glass carboy. Since I wasn’t making this in an oak barrel I added a tablespoon of toasted oak chips to the cider and let the slow ferment continued for another week. At that time obvious fermentation had stopped and we were totally dry, all of the sugar converted to alcohol and carbon dioxide.

At the end of December, the cider had cleared and was a beautiful amber-straw color. It was time to bottle.

As with all things fermenty, cleanliness is next to goodlyness. I picked out 30 12 oz. beer bottles, inspected them for cracks, chips or encrusted gook inside and then washed them in the dishwasher on sani-rinse. I then soaked them in an ammonia bath to further eradicate any unwanted microbes, then triple rinsed each bottle to get rid of any hint of ammonia or soap.

We siphoned the cider off the lees, the mat of expended yeast and pectin on the bottom of the jug, into a sterilized and triple rinsed 5 gallon bucket. We then tasted it and found that it had good balance, a nice apple component, a subtle vanilla-caramel aspect from the light oaking, and no off flavors. It was hard dry with no residual sugar. We decided to add apple cider concentrate to re-introduce a hint of sweetness which accentuates the apple and makes it more identifiable. It will also allow for a little secondary fermentation in the bottle to produce carbonation. We filled the bottles, capped them and I’ll leave them in the house where they are warm for a few days to help induce the secondary fermentation, then transfer them to a case in the garage which this time of year is about like a fridge. We’ll start checking them in a couple weeks and we’ll be enjoying a little bottled summer during the dark, wet days of February.

Infusing Adds Spice to Life

2010-12-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

The warm, inviting scents of the spices reach you before the taste. It just seems a natural part of the chocolate, and that’s the way we planned it.

In my earlier post on Espresso Mocha Truffles, I talked about controlling the texture of the centers and mentioned methods for getting the flavor in without disrupting the texture (both smoothness and firmness.) Our two spice truffles use two different approaches to accomplish these ends.

First off, we infuse the cream, using time and heat to pull essential oils out of the spices. We don’t like cinnamon oil because it gives you a fake, red-hot flavor, and ground cinnamon is subtle enough that it takes a lot to get the intensity we wanted for these truffles.

Our first step is to break four good quality cinnamon sticks into large pieces and add them to the cream, warm the mixture up and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. We then fish out the cinnamon bark, bring the cream to a simmer and proceed with the recipe. We do add ground cinnamon after the ganache has been mixed well. The key here is the quality of the cinnamon. We like the intensity of the Vietnamese cinnamon and use King Arthur Flour’s version which is fresh, pungent and very finely ground. If the grind is too large, even if it is perfect for baking or other traditional uses, it will come out with a grainy or sandy mouth feel in the finished ganache. After the truffles are coated, we add a dash of cinnamon to decorate them, and give you that initial burst of cinnamon flavor.

Our spice truffles change from year to year. This year we focused on cardamom, nutmeg and a little cinnamon. In this instance, infusing the cream was our only means of getting the spice flavor into the ganache. We use an ample amount of each spice, cutting the nutmeg into discs, cracking the cardamom pods and breaking the cinnamon sticks. The cream is heated to liquefy the butter fats and better extract the essential oils. Let it sit for 30 to 60 minutes, and use smell and taste to decide when it’s ready. One tip, we up the amount of cream significantly (like 1.5 to 2 times) as you lose a fair amount of the cream when you remove the spices. Bring to a simmer and measure the finished infused cream for the recipe. Any cream that is left over is great with coffee.

Both infusion and fine powders are good techniques to add to your repertoire. Once you get the simple techniques down and start to experiment, you’ll find it opens a whole range of flavors to you.

Di Vero Mocha Truffles

2010-12-16T21:50:00.000-08:00

Crack the crisp shell and the warmth of your mouth instantly melts the silky center, bathing your senses with a heady combination of flavors – The roasty, bitterness of espresso opens, quickly followed by the sharp yet sweet tang of the Bhorgetti espresso liqueur. The fats in the cream and chocolate coat your mouth, offering a buttery mouth feel, and that’s just in the first 10 seconds.

We like a truffle with a brilliant flavor that rises above the chocolate, and a smooth, creamy interior. The challenge with the flavorings is to find complimentary tastes that will stand up to the strength of the chocolate and deliver that flavor without compromising the texture. The challenge with the texture is to get just the perfect consistency by balancing the cream, chocolate and other flavorings. Not enough cream and the ganache will be stiff, hard to work and not as pleasant in the finished product. Too much cream or other liquids and the center will be too soft to work with. This is the point that requires some experimenting, based on your materials. The higher the percentage of cocoa solids, the firmer and crisper the chocolate and the more milk fat will be required to smooth it out. Using heavy whipping cream adds more fat and less liquid than regular whipping cream which can be a big benefit if you are adding additional liquids, like liqueurs, alcohol or juices.

Our mocha truffles consist of Medaglia d'Oro Espresso Powder added to the heavy whipping cream to form a smooth coffee colored paste. Heated just to boiling, it is mixed into the melted chocolate with a spatula, working it carefully to make certain it is thoroughly mixed. If you don’t get it fully mixed, you’ll get lenses of harder chocolate in the smooth ganache once it has cooled. Once the cream and chocolate are mixed, add the liqueur and mix it carefully, then let move the ganache to a covered bowl to set. In our experience, chilling it in the fridge comes out with a courser texture than allowing it to slowly cool to room temperature, usually 8 hours to overnight. Once the ganache has set, you can roll the centers into balls, loosely cover them with plastic wrap and let them “dry” overnight or until they get firm and the outer layer dries a little to the touch. Then they are ready to coat and finish.

These are great with a dark Italian roast coffee or a tall glass of cold milk and have been a favorite. Enjoy.

Christmas Treats - Hand Dipped Chocolates

2010-12-12T22:28:00.000-08:00

We started our Christmas chocolates this weekend with with the following recipes:

Mocha
Cinnamon
Spice (cardamom, nutmeg and cinnamon)
Agrumino (orange with homemade agrumino citrus liqueur)
Pear Brandy (boiled cider, brown sugar and Clear Creek Distillery Williams Pear Brandy)
Slow-burn Satay (coconut, peanut and chili)
Blackberry with blackberry gelee and blackberry ganache layers
Syrah
Maple Walnut Fudge

Many of our recipes and techniques have come out of Truffles, Candies and Confections: Elegant Candymaking in the Home by Carole Bloom, Making Artisan Chocolates: Flavor-Infused Chocolates, Truffles, and Confections by Andrew Schotts, and Truffles: 50 Deliciously Decadent Homemade Chocolate Treats by Dede Wilson. These books offer a nice selection of recipes from the basic to the more complicated and offer a great starting point. Even following a basic recipe, your creation will be unique based on your selection of chocolate. We prefer Guittard Ramona, which is roughly 55% for the base of most of out ganaches, and opt for a darker Guittard Bittersweet at about 65% for our couverture. We use a Guittard white for some of our centers like the Agrumino and Pear Brandy.

Once you get the hang of the materials you're using and techniques to get the flavors and textures you prefer, you're set to begin experimenting on your own. We typically try a couple new recipes each year. Some become regulars, some turn out good - but don't make the regular roster, and a few are just plain failures. Even the failures are a learning experience, so its not acomplete loss. We'll be looking at a few of our chocolates in more detail in the days to come. And if you've been thinking about making chocolates, now is a perfect time to try your hand.

Wine Country Wanderings

2010-12-08T21:43:00.000-08:00

Wish you were here

We have the fortune of living at the edge of Oregon’s wine country (part of it anyway.) We’re a 15-20 minute drive to two of our favorite wineries,Owen Roe, and Terra Vina but this isn’t about them. On Thanksgiving weekend, we often get together with good fiends and make a day of it, visiting new wineries. Sometimes we have a plan, sometimes we don’t. This year we knew we wanted to visit Bergstroms on Ribbon Ridge and end up at Chehalem in Newberg before heading to dinner. Our friends drove down from Seattle, and stayed at the Allison Inn and Spa in Newberg

The Allison Inn & Spa

The Allison is new, at about a year old and was designed to cater to wine country visitors. Texture and scent predominate with the beautiful open kitchen inside and herbs and olives making up most of the landscaping. Decorated inside and out with a variety of stones and wood panels the melange of textures are appealing, yet low key and allows it to sort of blend in with the hills. After a leisurely breakfast, we took off cross country towards Ribbon Ridge in the Chehalem Mountains AVA, wandering through oak savanna into the rounded hills overlooking the fertile Chehalem Valley. We climbed to the top of the ridge, where Bergstroms perches like a crown, looking off across the valley towards Penner Ash. We started off enjoying the Sigrid Chardonnay, then nearly choked on the $78 price tag. We wandered back through the stacks of oak kegs and stainless 55 gallon drums racked into walls and tagged with grease pencil notes on vineyards and characteristic. We tried several of the 2009 new release Pinot Noirs from the Shea, Old Stone and Bergstrom vineyards. As a whole they were OK, nice nose, strong start with cherries and a meatiness, and then... where did it go? I’d drink a bottle, but the $40 to $80 price points seemed kind of unwarranted to me.

Beaux Freres Winery

Our next stop was just down the hill at Beaux Freres where we were greeted by Otis, the chocolate lab. The winery itself is unpretentious and feels like it fits the countryside. The wines we were tasting were pre-release Pinots and in some cases hadn’t even been bottled yet. There was some promise there, but it’s like looking at a four year old and wondering what they will be like when they reach twenty four. I don’t think it was doing them a great service serving them up this soon. Our friends picked up a case and a wreath, we bid Otis adieu and pointed the M5 towards our next destination.

The view from Dundee Hills

We decided to check out Domain Drouhin to the south in the Dundee Hills AVA. We climbed to the top of the hill, only to find a locked gate with the winery closed for the holiday weekend, so we headed to Domain Serene, which was also closed (one of the hazards of winging it in your wine tour planning) so we finally settled on the Vista Hills Winery. The winery has a spectacular view and the sun broke through transforming the whole world in a golden glow of long autumn light and lingering fall leaves. They offered a nice selection of noshes and the amazing view. Oh, you noticed that I didn’t mention the wine? It was OK, but we didn’t bring any home. Maybe it was that it was the third winery of the day, maybe it was because there are several hundred wineries making good Pinots in the area and they can’t all be starting string.

Evaluating some of Chehalem's finest

After our visit to Vista Hills, we rolled back down the hill, through the charming but slightly schizophrenic town of Dundee. It can’t quite decide whether it is a chi-chi wine town or a down home farming community.

We made it back into Newberg just in time to visit the Chehalem Winery. They do a great job with whites and we tried a nice Riesling and brought home a few bottles of 2008 Stoller Vineyard Pinot Blanc and 2009 3 Vineyard Pinot Gris. Both are nice crisp whites that show off the Chehalem style.

The wood fired grill where chops and steaks become art

Next to spending some quality time with our friends, dinner at Jory at the Allison Inn and Spa was one of the highlights of the day. We sat at the counter watching over the crew busily whipping up delicacies. An amuse bouche of duck pastrami and cress, followed by a salad of confit of duck on a bed of black quinoa and Carlton pork chop fire grilled with shredded smoked pork and vegetables wrapped in Bok Choi. Nearly all the ingredients are local and they were expertly prepared along with the opportunity to chat with the chefs and watch them in action. If you ever find yourself in Newberg looking for a great place to eat, stop by Jory, we highly recommend it.

Open kitchen at Jory

Carlton Pork is the center of attention

Chehalem Winery Cellar

One More Use For Maitakes

2010-12-03T20:59:00.000-08:00

After writing about Maitakes, I received a few questions on how to prepare and use them. I usually inspect them, rinse them if required and then break the "feathers" off of the central core. The core often seems kind of fibrous, but you should be left with 80-85% of the mushroom in fans roughly the size of a quarter. I usually just fry them up in a little olive oil or butter.

This time I decided to cook up a risotto with chicken, sweet onion and Maitakes

Ingredients:

2 cups Arborio Rice
6 cups broth (give or take)
1 medium Maitake mushroom
1 boneless skinless chicken breast - roughly 6-8 oz. cut into ¼” cubes
3 Tbs. diced sweet onion
3 Tbs. olive oil
Italian flatleaf parsley for garnish

I prepared the Maitakes, cut a small boneless, skinless chicken breast into 1/4" cubes, and chopped the onion. I sauteed the chicken, onion and mushrooms in 2 Tbs. of olive oil. Once the chicken and mushrooms were lightly browned, I pushed the contents of the skillet to the edges, added another Tbsp. of olive oil and toasted the Arborio rice.

Once the rice was toasted I began adding broth 1/2 cup at a time and stiring until it was absorbed (see post Risotto with Chanterelles, Pear and Proscuitto for more details on making risotto.) As the rice cooked we seasoned it with a tsp. of fresh thyme leaves. When the rice was nearly done, we seasoned to taste with salt ad fresh ground black pepper. Serve garnished with Italian flat leaf parsley.

Grifola Frondosa, Maitake, King of Mushrooms, Hen of the Woods, Dancing Mushroom, Cloud Mushroom or in a word - Yum

2010-11-21T20:38:00.000-08:00

Today marked the pre-Thanksgiving weekend encore presentation of the Beaverton Farmers Market. It was cold and rainy and somewhat smaller than the regular season market, but many of our favorites were there. We stocked up on Skipanon smoked albacore, some heirloom apples and que drum roll.... Maitake Mushrooms! I love maitakes. They are not native in our area, and are hard to find in the grocery store, so I get my fix from Rainforest Mushroom.

Maitakes have a unique taste. They have the umami and earthiness common to many mushrooms, but the flavor is strong and truly not like anything else I've ever had. I wouldn't use them in place of more traditional mushrooms in recipes, but they are fairly dry and crisp up nicely sauteed in butter or olive oil and match with a nice rib eye steak, pork chops or broiled salmon. I also lke to add them to buttered noodles. This batch won't make the thanksgiving menu because, well, I don't want to share... If you happen to find some, do yourself a favor and overlook the price and give them a try.

P.S., I also found some awesome unpasturized cider at the farmers market that has started the transformation into what I hope will be a great hard cider.

Risotto with Chanterelles, Pear and Prosciutto

2010-11-13T16:48:00.000-08:00

Risotto is extremely versatile and it’s easy to dress it up or dress it down to fit the occasion. It readily takes on the nuances of its pot mates, but has enough strength of character to maintain its own creamy, toothsome identity. Risotto is also the quintessential comfort food, warm, filling and satisfying, and it seems like the perfect food on a drizzly autumn afternoon.

I don’t really follow a recipe for risotto, normally just winging it with what I have available. That said, the following version is a regular occurrence each October and November. It features a trio of foods that taste like fall to me; nutty chanterelles, crisp sweet pear and prosciutto. For your meatless Monday alternative, leave out the prosciutto and use vegetable broth.

Ingredients:

2 cups Arborio Rice

6 cups broth (give or take)
2 oz. diced prosciutto
1/2 pear, Bosc or Abbe Fetel (Pere Abate) peeled, cored and cut into ¼” cubes
1 cup sliced Chanterelles, roughly 5-6 medium sized (or substitute whatever mushrooms look good)
1 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. olive oil

In a large saucepan heat the broth to gentle simmer on a back burner. In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbs. oil over medium heat and sauté the prosciutto. When lightly browned, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add 1 Tbs. butter to the pan and sauté the mushrooms. If the mushrooms cook out large amounts of moisture, spoon it off and add it to the broth. When the mushrooms have lightly browned, push them to the sides of the pan, add the remaining Tbs. of olive oil to the pan and add the rice and stir, cooking for a couple minutes. Mix in the mushrooms and add the prosciutto back in, then add ½ cup of broth. Stir it in until it is absorbed, then add another ½ cup and repeat until 3/4 of the broth has been used. At that point the risotto should be al dente with a creamy “sauce” forming. Add the pear and continue adding broth and testing until the risotto reaches the consistency you like.

It’s that simple. It makes a great side dish and could easily hold its own on a thanksgiving table, but we usually treat it like a meal unto itself. This recipe serves 4 as a side or 2 as a main dish and any leftovers warm up nicely.

Localer

2010-11-10T20:33:00.000-08:00

I like to eat localer. That is, I like to eat local, but I’m not sure exactly what that means. For example, I like bananas, but nobody in my neighborhood seems to be growing them, so do I forgo or if I get them as close as possible is that local enough? While I like to eat local, I’m not hardcore about it because I enjoy a variety of foods that aren't available from our local area. So what’s a guy to do? Eat localer.

As I see it local is a spectrum starting at ground zero, our yard and garden. We tend to grow a lot of different things, eating them fresh, and preserving for later what we can. The gardening and preserving have given us a number of new areas to explore, and we add a few new techniques or recipes each year. Even with the preserving, we often end up with more than we can handle of any given item. 2009 was a great year for our garden, we used what we could, made a pile of pickles, salsa, tomato sauces and pastes, pesto, and so on. We “gifted” as much to friends as we could get away with, then took almost 300 lbs of produce to our local food pantry who shared it with families that were having a hard spell.

The next band in the spectrum are the things we don’t or can’t grow but that are available in our general area. The Beaverton Farmers' Market or the Lake Oswego Farmers' Market are our prime sources for mountains of sweet cherries, peaches, maitakes, local seafood, strawberries, pickling cukes and oh so much more.

The supermarkets are getting better at sourcing local meat and produce, and we can often select items grown in the region, even if they are from larger scale commercial producer. Whether it is potatoes grown just outside Portland, pears from Hood River, pork from Carlton or apples from Wenatchee. Our Whole Foods also brings in local seasonal produce form some of the same farms who sell their wares at our farmers' markets.

From here, the lines blur a little as we get farther afield. West Coast Trumps East, US beat the rest of the world and North America is the continent of choice, particularly as I’ve learned that many of the Mexican Growers are actually cutting edge in their growing techniques and the produce they bring to market is often some of the best quality you’ll find on the supermarket shelves. When it come to these broader circles, one of the biggest tricks is to even figure out where the produce comes from. Fortunately there are ways to learn more about where exactly your food comes from, but I’ll dive into that in a future post.

While I like to eat local, mainly I like to eat, so instead of feeling guilty, I just try to eat localer.

My main reasons for eating local are:

1. First and foremost, it usually tastes better

2. I like to support local businesses and keep my dollars flowing through our community

3. I like supporting farmers engaged in sustainable practices and growing more diverse crops

4. I like to reduce my carbon footprint to the extent I can

What are yours?

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

2010-11-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

We make a lot of soup in a variety of forms, and this is a favorite that we break out in October or November each year. The recipe is courtesy of our favorite purveyors of all things fungal, Rain Forest Mushroom Company of Eddyville, Oregon.

We always make a double batch, because it is great reheated and somehow, the family always senses that we've made it and so we have to share :?) The earthiness and umami of all those mushrooms, the deep warmth of the Hungarian paprika, the bite of the lemon juice and the freshness of the flat leaf parsley and dill all meld together to make a thick rich soup that just cries our for a hunk of crusty bread.

Rain Forest Mushroom's Hungarian Mushroom Soup

l lb. fresh assorted mushrooms

2 cups chopped onions
4 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 cup whole milk
1-2 tsp fresh dill
1 Tbsp Hungarian Paprika
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

ground pepper to taste

1/4 cup sour cream

Saute onions in 2 Tbsp butter and salt lightly. A few minutes later, add the mushrooms, 1 tsp dill, 1/2 cup stock, soy sauce and paprika. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Melt butter in a large saucepan, whisk in flour to form a roux and cook for a few moments while whisking. Add the milk; continue to cook, stirring frequently over low heat for about 10 minutes until thick. Stir this into the mushroom mixture and add the remaining stock. Cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Just before serving, add salt, pepper, lemon juice, sour cream and if desired additional dill. (we always do) Serve garnished with parsley.

Port in a Storm

2010-10-26T20:05:00.000-07:00

The first winter storm ripped through this weekend, sucking massive amounts of moisture from a typhoon far out in the Pacific. The deluge quickly washed away thoughts of any outdoor activities, so we decided to mix and bottle a batch of Huckleberry wine.

This project started out 3 years ago with a bumper crop of huckleberries. We had so many that we decided to dedicate almost 20 lbs to make a batch of wine. We fired it up and it proceeded to have the longest slowest ferment we’ve ever had with a fruit wine. It wasn’t stuck, just extremely sedate. After the first ferment, it was bottled in a carboy and racked off twice as it finished fermenting and began clearing. The result was a nice clean, bone-dry wine with distinct huckleberry flavors to it. I let it age in the carboy and checked it periodically, and it has progressed nicely. This weekend we decided to finally bottle it up.

The wine had nice flavor, but there is a reason most wine is made from grapes, not berries. The fruit flavor needed some sugar behind it and while it started off nicely fruit forward, it ended rather abruptly on the back end. It was drinkable, but not something I was likely to reach for a bottle of.

We have however had some good luck making port style berry wines in the past. We decided that all three gallons (yup, 20 lbs only produced 3 gallons of wine) would be fortified and bottled as port. I don’t really have a recipe for it, but we normally take a nice brandy or cognac and super saturated sugar syrup, then experiment with the blending until it tastes right. We generally start out at about 5 parts wine, 1 part cognac and 1 part syrup.

We chose Courvoisier VSOP as our cognac. When we’re working on a 3 year long food project, we didn’t want to scrimp on the ingredients, so we sprang for the best. Once we had all the ingredients together, we washed up a bunch of 1/5th and 1/10th bottles, cleaning then soaking them in a hot ammonia water bath, then triple rinsing them. A bottle washer makes this a must faster job, but it is still the longest part of the bottling process.
When all the bottles were ready we got the racking cane and siphoned the wine off the final sediment into a sterilized food grade bucket. This moved to the kitchen and we confirmed our mix at 5-1-1 and added the cognac and syrup, then mixed it with a sterilized stainless spoon. While Betsy was completing the stirring, I prepared a batch of ‘T” cork caps to seal the bottles with. As soon as the components were well mixed, we added the bottle filler to the racking cane and began filling and capping the bottles.

Betsy's alchemy, getting the proportions of wine, cognac and syrup just right.

Once the bottles were full, we added a sealing cap to finish them and put them away to age (well most of them anyway). We shared one small bottle with the family while we were carving pumpkins, just to test it out. It is quite drinkable, but I expect the flavors to marry as it ages for a few months. It should be just right come Christmas. If you are very good, there could be a bottle in your stocking.

The Port goes into the bottles

Hunter-Gatherers

2010-10-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

Somewhere in our past, our ancestors were all hunter-gatherers, living in the land, traveling with the seasons and available food. Whether it was following the migrations of bison or wildebeest, meeting the salmon runs at strategic places, or catching the berry crop at its peak, people were in tune with the rhythms of life around them. What was once a matter of life or death has now faded into a quaint and distant past.

Somewhere deep inside many of us, the old hunter-gatherer genes are still alive and well. You can see it in the jogger stopped by a roadside blackberry bush, filling her water bottle with berries, or the steelheader perched on the bank of a river in the freezing sleet and mist, waiting for a strike. One of our friends knows every neglected fruit tree and vine in her neighborhood and always seems to have a steady supply of grapes, quince, apples and pears as the season progresses.

While we often get odd looks, my wife and I are both avid gatherers, and our free time schedules seem to revolve around the changing seasons. In April, if the weather gods smile, we’re on the east side of the cascades, looking for Morel mushrooms, July starts the berry season with wild blackberries from the secret patches away from traffic, dust and spray while August is huckleberry season on the slopes of Mount Hood. September brings the walnuts and hazel nuts, not exactly wild, but kind of feral. The first rains of fall bring on a flush of meadow mushrooms, and October means trips to the coast range for Chanterelle mushrooms. Any time is a good time to head to the river or lake to dunk a line and we can’t pass the old chestnut tree on our evening walks without Betsy filling her pockets with nuts like a crow finding something shiny.

If you haven’t met your inner hunter-gather, take a moment in your travels to look around and you’ll find that there are amazing, edible treasures to be found all around the northwest in nearly every season.

Having Fun Smoking Stuff

2010-10-12T21:01:00.000-07:00

So far we haven't had the chance to go salmon fishing this fall, so I broke down and bought a nice little Silver from Whole Foods. I don't know if they are all like this, but I find the Whole Foods at Bridgeport consistantly has very good seafood. I'm kind of spoiled when it comes to fish, so I'm pretty picky about where I buy it. To be fair, the quality of seafood available in Portland is pretty good. Lambs Thriftway in Wilsonville ofen has decent fish and I've been impressed with New Seasons in Lake Oswego too. Of course I've already mentioned Skipanon at the Beaverton Farmers market and there are a couple other fisherman direct stalls there and at the Portland Farmers Market. Of course this is only covering a small swath of southwest Portland.

OK, back to the story. Whole Foods had a special on some nice looking salmon so I picked up one and they did the honors of filleting it for me. That evening I cut the fillets into pieces and packed them in rock salt, covered it in plastic wrap and packed it in the fridge overnight.

The next morning I pulled the fish out, rinsed it and soaked it in fresh water for about an hour, changing the water out every 10 minutes or so. If you forget this step, the fish will be extremely salty (Spoken with the sage expression of one who knows from experience). When it was done soaking, it had a slightly shriveled look and was stiff and leathery to the touch - (drool, drool)

While the salmon was soaking, Makai and I prepared the smoker. I have an old, hand me down Little Chief Electric Smoker it isn't pretty but it does a really nice job with the salmon. Our propane smoker is too hot and cooks the fish in short order. Tasty, but not really smoked salmon. The Little Chief is cool enough that even thin pieces of Silver fillet take hours to smoke.
We got the racks cleaned, put down fresh foil on the drip plate and started a pan of alder chips smoldering. I then loaded the racks with fish and place them in the tower and lowered it into the smoker. After that it just requires patiece. I checked the fish every couple hours, topped up the chips as necessary and waited until it was done.

How do you know when it is done? It's a matter of taste. I like a moderate smoke, not soft and soggy, but not fish jerky either. You can tell by the look and feel, or take a fork and tear into a piece and check it.

At just about the right time for a midnight snack, the salmon was done. We enjoyed some fresh and shared it with friends. The rest was canned in our Presto Pressure canner in 1/2 pint jars.

That was a first for us, although my parents used to can smoked fish all the time. While the outcome was OK, it is a little too salty and dry after being canned. Did a little trouble shooting research (after the fact of course) and found a number of references to smoking it slightly lighter than normal for canning as the canning process intensifies the sale and smoke. It will still be good for smoked salmon sandwiches where we can cut it a bit with celery, pickles and such. In the mean time, I now have a good excuse to try it again :?)

Farmer's Market Find - Abbe Fetel Pears

2010-10-09T20:24:00.000-07:00

At the Beaverton Farmer's market today we were looking for some Bosc pears, but came across a variety that is new to us. The Abbe Fetel or Pere Abate are very sweet and crisp. Apparently they have a short span as they soften up quickly. The variety hails from northern Italy and I've never noticed it before, but they are being grown locally. Our friends who recently returned from a year in Rome were telling us about the amazing crisp pears they had over there and I wonder if these might be the ones. They certainly meet both the crisp and the amazing.

They are fantastic to eat sliced, and did very well in one of our favorite fall dishes, risotto with chanterell mushrooms, prosceiutto and pear. We plan to pick a few more up next weekend, it may be the last chance for the year.

If you want to find some for yourself, visit the Beaverton Farmer's Market and look for the organic fruit stand very near the south east corner of the market

A Severe Beeting

2010-10-02T20:36:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun with this one, probably as much fun thinking up titles as actually doing the project.

This was a good year for beets in our garden which helps make up for lackluster performance on the part of tomatoes (You know who you are...). We picked roughly 40 lbs. in our final picking, gave some away, made beet salad, beet soup and decided to pickle some.

We chose two recipes from The Joy of Pickling: 250 Flavor-Packed Recipes for Vegetables and More from Garden or Market by Linda Ziedrich. Yup, she's another Oregonian, from Scio (sigh-oh) a little further south in the valley. One for a traditional pickled beet with cider vinegar, brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon and cloves. The other for Red Wine Pickled Beets featuring red wine vinegar, red wine and ginger. Both started with cooked, sliced beets, so we went to town with the pressure cooker, then peeled, trimmed and finally cut enough of them for 2 batches.

Once they were cut, I packed the sterilized jars while Betsy brewed up the brine mixtures, topped up the jars and prepared them for canning. We worked on the Red Wine Beets while the traditional recipe was canning.

In the end we had 31 half pints of beets split between the two recipes. We'll keep you posted on the results once they are ready to test in a few weeks. Enjoy the rest of the photos. They are a little macabre, but we had a partial bottle of Sinister Hand left over from dinner the night before. The wine label, the cutting implements,and beet juice just fueled my juvenile sense of humor and so I ran with it. It seems appropriate for October.

We are big fans of Owen Roe Wines and really like Sinister Hand. The label tends to start conversations but is soon forgotten after you taste it.

Apparently We're Not The Only Ones With Brine on The Brain

2010-09-17T20:30:00.000-07:00

I ran across an article in this month's Mix on Portland's burgeoning Pickle culture. Being something of pickle snobs, we've generally taken a DIY appraoch, but I've got a list on new places to go and things to try. Read the article for yourself at http://www.oregonlive.com/mix/index.ssf/how-to/portlanders-have-a-passion-for-pickling.html

Tomorrow we're going to pickle our bumper crop of peppers. It is one of the few summer crops that really did well this year.

Smokin' (Salmon)

2010-09-10T22:08:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, my Dad fished a dory out of Pacific City. That meant plenty of fresh salmon and tuna. We had a smoker made from an old refrigerator that turned out some of the best smoked salmon you’ve ever had. Just fish, salt and gentle cool alder or vine maple smoke. It had a purity of flavor that just can’t be matched. We would smoke up several big fish and can it for later.

A friend who still fishes a dory still follows this practice and when Christmas rolls around we are often blessed to find a jar or two in our stockings. However, it is hard to nurse a jar of smoked salmon through the whole year. Fortunately we found Skipanon Brand Seafood based on the Skipanaon River in Warrenton, Oregon with a booth at the Beaverton farmer’ market. They produce wonderful canned fish that brings back the old fridge smoker memories. I’m not sure that they will be excited to be compared to a manky old refrigerator, but I mean it with the utmost respect and I suspect they’ll understand.

Our current favorites are the smoked chinook and the smoked albacore, with the fancy albacore coming in a close third. Skipanon Brand is a small family run cannery that specializes in bringing you the finest fish you’ll find in a can. In addition to being tasty, the albacore meets the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch list of Great Choices and the salmon they use is on the Good Alternatives list.

If you can’t make the Beaverton Farmer’s market, you can order on-line directly from the cannery through their ecommerce site. It’s well worth the trouble to track it down, but be warned, once you’ve tried it you’ll be spoiled on normal store tuna forever more.

Laus Glorificus Caseus

2010-09-03T19:50:00.001-07:00

If making crisp pickles is like Voodoo, then making cheese is like Catholicism. It’s repetitive, contemplative, interspersed with Latin (lactococcus lactis cremoris, lactobacillus helveticus) and seems to go on and on. In the end the object of our adoration is laid in a crypt and some time later will rise, gloriously transformed.

It seems only fitting then that I’m making Montasio cheese, traditionally made in monasteries in the far northeast corner of Italy. I call it Montasio because that is what my recipe in “Home Cheese Making” calls it. It’s probably technically a psuedo-montasio as I am informed that Montasio is a DOC and can only officially be made in that region.

This adventure began, as so many of them do, with a trip to the farmers market. Our objective; three gallons of Garry’s Meadow Fresh Premium Jersey Whole Milk. It isn’t cheap, but it is pretty amazing stuff. Objective acquired, and wallet lightened, it was back to our metaphorical monastery.

The Cheese Ritual always begins with a cleansing. Sink, counters, tools and vessels are scrubbed with bleach, such that only the chosen bacteria will be admitted to the cheese.

The milk goes into the kettle and is warmed at low heat until it reaches 88° F. At 88°F degrees it comes off the stove and into a sink filled with hot tap water. The Mesophilic-A starter (Lactococcus Lactis operates most actively in “medium” temperatures like 68-102° F) Thermophilic Starter (Streptococcus Thermophilus operates at higher temperatures like 102°F to 128°F) and just for good measure a dose of Italian Starter (Lactobacillus Helveticus that gives many Italian cheeses like Parmesan, Romano and Provolone their distinctive flavors.) Now we let the milk ripen for an hour maintaining the temperature at 88° F. We regularly check the temperature and at the slightest sign of change, add hot or cool tap water to the sink until it stabilizes at 88° F. This sounds fussy and does require some attention, but there is a lot of specific heat in 3 gallons of milk and a sink full of water, so it doesn’t change that rapidly.

After the ripening beginith the curdling. We add liquid rennet and gently stir from bottom to top of the kettle for a couple minutes to fully disperse the rennet throughout the milk. Then it is back to monitoring the temperature for another half hour or so. At this point, the curd has formed, coagulating the solids out of the milk. It looks like thick yogurt and is solid enough it can be cut with a knife, forming little glistening cubes bathed in greenish whey (sounds yummy doesn’t it…) Cutting at an angle, then turning the kettle and doing it again results in fairly uniform ¼” cubes. We use a whisk and stir the mixture up.

Our next step is the slow heating of the curd and whey mixture to 102°F raising the temperature about 2° F every five minutes. Now the specific heat of the milk and water is working against us. I’ve got a big pan of water on the stove boiling and I add the pan and start another. By adding boiling water to the sink, I am able to get the slow temperature rise we need. We must stirith the curd with the whisk periodically or it all glues back together into a mat. There is now a lot more whey to curd as the curds contract and expel the whey trapped in the coagulated protein structure. The size of the curd cubes helps dictate how quickly and how much moisture is expelled.

Once we hit 102° F, we hold the temperature again for an hour and continue to stir the curds every few minutes. Now our Thermophilic bacteria is going to work along side the Mesophilic bacteria and they all go forth and multiply.

At the end of the hour, we pour off most of the whey, leaving just enough to bathe the remaining curd. If you are a good and thrifty person, you can save the whey and make Ricotta cheese, or feed it to animals (if you have them) or drink it (if you don’t mind drinking weird cloudy greenish fluids with little bits of rubbery white goo in it.) Being neither good nor thrifty, I often pour it out so I can get on with things.

We are then ready to add hot water to the curds and raise the temperature to 110° F and hold it for 10 minutes, stirring even more frequently as the higher temperature makes the curds want to mat even more. At the end of the 10 minutes, I drain the curds from the remaining whey and water in a colander, then pour them into a cheese press that is lined with good cheese cloth. Note, there needs to be enough cloth to line the mold and fold over the top before the follower is inserted, but if you have too much, the creases and folds will put odd divots in the cheese surface. We learned from experience that the smoother the exterior, the easier it is to keep the rind clean and mold free. Our first batch didn’t meld together nicely and had a pitted surface that looked a little like a brain. As it aged, it grew mold we couldn’t clean off down in the crevasse and fissures. It was an abomination and became known as the Ugly Hairy Green Cheese. It turned out to taste fantastic once we trimmed off the pitted moldy rind, but we lost 30% of the cheese in that process. This time we got it right and pressed it with 5 lbs pressure for 15 minutes. We then pulled it out of the press (here is where the cheese cloth is critical) carefully flipped it over and rewrapped it in cheese cloth and place the top side into the bottom of the press. Be really careful as it is easy to break or crack the cheese and then – see notes on Ugly Hairy Green Cheese above.

We press it at 5 lbs. for 30 minutes, flip it again, then press it at 10 lbs for 12 hours.
In the morning we prepare a saturated brine solution and soak the cheese in it for 6 hours. At lunch time, the cheese comes out of the brine onto a bleached cutting board covered with a cheese mat. It sits out covered with a cloth for the rest of the day, being flipped every few hours to keep moisture from accumulating on the bottom and allowing the rind to begin to dry out. Once it is dry and done weeping, it goes into the crypt for 2-3 months. We have a small “college” fridge in the garage with a special thermostat that allows the temperature to be kept cool, but warmer than a normal fridge will keep it. We set it for 55° F -60° F and let it rest. We’ll still need to check it daily for awhile and flip it, then check it every few days and rub off mold with a cloth soaked in salt water. During the aging we hope our cheese will dry out some and the starters will continue to live and thrive, converting milky goodness into glorious cheese. At 2-3 months this creates a table cheese, and it can theoretically be kept for a year or more to make a hard grating cheeses, but none of ours has ever lasted past about 3 months.

Crisp Pickle Voodoo

2010-08-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

To my mind, crisp dill pickles are the peak of excellence. The challenge is in maintaining the crispness of the product. Our quest for crisp dills took several years of experimentation and feels like ritual magic, but it works…usually. Here’s what we do:

Get the best cucumbers possible. If they are rubbery when you start, you can’t expect them to be crisp when they are done. It also seems like larger cucumbers get, the more likely they are to become soft as the seed cavity makes up a larger part of the flesh.

Trim off a small portion of the blossom end. Commercial studies in the 1950’s determined that a pectinolytic enzymes which cause softening were present in the blossom of the cucumber. If blossom material remained on the cucumber during brining the pickles would soften. This is apparently from yeast like fungus that lives on the blossom and can be present in the basal connection. Trimming the blossom end removes the possible enzyme containing portion of the cucumber. Does this enzyme remain active in raw pack pickles? I don’t know but, we’ve added the trimming of a small portion of the blossom end to our process. I think it also allows an easy entry point for the brine to enter the cucumber.

Chill the cucumbers. We fill a 70 qt. ice chest part way with ice and then enough water to cover the ice. The cucumbers are trimmed then submerged in the ice bath for several hours.

Pack the pickles and add a grape leaf on top. Folklore said that the grape leaf would keep the pickles crisp. It has been determined that tannins in the grape leaf actually counteract the pectinolytic enzymes, we talked about earlier. Since we are trying to eliminate the enzyme by cutting off the blossom end, this may be redundant, but we add it anyway.

Use an approved recipe and make sure your brine is properly acidic by using a proper vinegar. Process for the minimum time recommended by the recipe.

Generally we find that this gives us pretty crisp pickles. We’ve steered away from using agents like Alum, or food grade lime, as it just doesn’t sound appealing. We are planning to explore low temperature pasteurizing, using a recipe that processes at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Keeping the temperature below 185 degrees maintains the pectin structure and further preserves crispness.

Pickle Day 2010

2010-08-14T21:24:00.001-07:00

It seems only fitting to start this blog on eating great local food with one of our annual ventures- Binge Pickling. Yes, it started out innocently enough, putting up a few extra cucumbers for use later but it has become an annual obsession. To make it worse, we've corrupted many of our friends and relatives. "Go ahead, try it. Come on, don't be afraid, they won't hurt you" We've become pickle pushers and as a result have had to up our production to meet our needs and supply those who are now hooked.

Pickling day started off with a trip to the garden for onions (Walla Walla Sweet and Cipolini), shallots and the few peppers that were ripe this year. The next morning kicked off with a 7:00 AM trip to the Farmers Market for the cucumbers we needed. Searching high and low found 3 vendors among the masses with pickling cukes and we had out 40 pounds selected and bagged just as the bell rang to open the market. Stops by a few more popular stalls produced organic sweet bell peppers in red, orange and yellow as well as some sweet Italian red peppers with a little more punch. Three bunches of organic dill leaves and a couple bundles of dill seed heads and we were ready to roll.

We actually made two types of pickles, Dills which I'll touch on later - (stay tuned for "The Voodoo of Crisp Pickles".) The second type is a variation on Bread and Butters we created to match up with "Fire and Ice" pickles we originally had at a barbecue place.

These start out with the basic Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving Bread and Butter Pickle recipe. (This is kind of our basic bible for canning) During the salting and icing step, we add a sliced sweet bell peppers, some Hungarian, banana or what ever type of peppers are ripe. For fun we use a wavy edged knife to get the traditional wavy cut texture to the pickles. We use the larger cukes we had after sorting, Maybe 4" long and 1"-1.5" in diameter.

During the packing and brining stage, we add cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes to the brine and spices. This is really to taste, so spice them as you like them. We've also tried adding a little annanto powder (see your Hispanic grocer) to add a reddish hue to the brine. I'm not sure if it is worth the effort, but you can decide for yourself. To the right are the salted veggies before the ice is added. After standing for 1.5 hours, they are rinsed, drained and added to the boiling brine solution.

Below is a jar being packed, air bubbles removed and headspace checked. Below right is the finished (almost) product. They are now packed away in the pantry, soaking up spicy goodness that will warm you all over like a sunny August day.