We have had lots of interest in making creme fraiche so I am reposting an entry from April. If you didn’t try it then, this is a wonderful time to make up a batch to use in salad dressings or to have with berries for dessert.
Creme Fraiche is a beautiful, versatile ingredient you can make easily and use in any recipe that is begging for a tangy, creamy flavor. I started with heavy cream from Sea Breeze Farm. I was planning to buy their creme fraiche at the University Farmers Market but they were sold out and were nice enough to tell me how to make it.
Add 2-3 tablespoons buttermilk to 11/2 cups cream. Heat in a saucepan until it feels warm to the touch. Pour into a bowl, cover with a tea towel and let it sit on the counter for 24 hours or so, depending on the temperature in your kitchen. It will continue to thicken as it ages. Try not to disturb it until it looks thick enough to test. When it’s ready, store in the fridge for up to 10 days. Read the rest of this entry »
Making compost doesn’t have to be complicated. This video from Kitchen Gardens International gives you all you need to know to get started. King County offers some composting items at a discounted rate to residents to encourage waste reduction.
Who knew that a piece of wild Alaskan salmon and a yogurt raita from southern India, accompanied by a piece of naan, could land on the same plate and have a decent conversation.
Traditionally Indian and Greek condiments, raita and tzatziki use similar ingredients and are served with lamb or grilled veggies.We enjoyed the flair of something different and thought the carrot raita went well with salmon.
About the fish: We’re being careful with our salmon consumption these days, both for the causes of sustainability and for our pocketbooks.We often buy from Loki Fish where we know they’re committed to the survival of salmon; we eat it less often and in smaller amounts. A three-quarter pound piece made four hefty sandwiches. (Check out Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch for information on sustainable seafood choices.)
A local meal for summer: Salmon fromLoki Fish, carrots for the raita fromWillie Greens,Nancy’s plain yogurt, and pea shoots from the backyard or Whistling Train Farm. Add the shoots to a salad, or sauté slightly with a little oil and garlic, sort of like spinach says Shelley of WTF.
If you’re serious about eating from garden plot to plate, this is the dish for you. You can literally make this sauce while sitting at your picnic table, going inside only to cook the pasta. It’s that easy and brings out all the summery flavors of tomato, basil and garlic in a way that cooked sauce just can’t do.
First you need at least 4 large ripe tomatoes. I got mine from Billy’s last weekend at the University Farmers Market. Billy has a bin with “seconds” most of which are fine if you’re going to use them soon. He grows a very respectable beefstake-type tomato, even for a picky southern girl like me. It is hard to get enough heat here for ripened-on-the-vine tomatoes but Billy’s are as good as any in the northwest. He also has big bunches of basil so be sure to pick up one of those too. He specializes in all the favorite hot weather crops — tomatoes, peppers and eggplant along with luscious strawberries.
Making the rounds at the market, I got the rest of the necessary ingredients for my pasta. Alm Hill Gardens had garlic, not dried yet, mild and fresh-tasting. La Pasta makes many different kinds of pasta. I bought the spinach linguine, simple and yet distinct. Port Madison makes a wonderfully gentle goat cheese adding a creaminess to the sauce. The only ingredient I didn’t find at the market was brie cheese. If I had bought more chevre, I could have done without the brie but a mixture of the two is also nice. La Panzanella is back at the market so you may want to get a loaf of bread to dip in this addictive sauce. Read the rest of this entry »
A couple of months ago I posted a comment from Kurt Timmermeister of Kurtwood Farm on Vashon Island describing his thoughts about living locally. He said, among other things: I want to move from just eating locally to living life and doing business locally with a vision to what I want my community to look like. Whole Foods has some great products, but it is a large company, centered in Texas. The idea is every dollar spent is a vote for the businesses you believe in.
Elliott Bay Brew Pub is that kind of business. West Seattle and Burien patrons love their pub for its brew, delicious organic food, and comfy, friendly service, all the things we want in a neighborhood hangout. What we might not have known is that Elliott Bay Brewery is strongly committed to sustainable practices and has been for a long time. After years of quietly conducting business according to personal environmental imperatives, they’ve become leaders among local businesses in efforts toward sustainability. For example, it appears they’ve been the inspiration for other West Seattle restaurants’ recent change to composting.
The other day I talked with co-owner Todd Carden, general manager Liz Schroeder, and executive chef Kerry White about the brewery’s commitment to sustainability. Kerry described how the owners Todd Carden and Brent Norton implement business practices that make good sense to them, and create a working community that reflects a broader community they wish to be a part of.
While sitting at Elliott Bay Brew Pub with friends recently I read the table tent with its description of various brews and appetizers, and also a list of their sustainable practices. How often is that on the menu! We were impressed. Almost everything in my scrumptious Fajita Chicken salad was local and organic. Turns out they were just getting started and there was/is more going on in the background:
I wanted to love duck eggs. Really. I had seen Jamie Oliver using them on my favorite (and only) cooking show, Jamie at Home. He makes everything look healthy and delicious. (The fact that he is so adorable doesn’t hurt). He was dipping asparagus into a soft-boiled duck egg surrounded by his huge kitchen garden. It was all too perfect, yet something told me I might not like it as much as he seemed to. My resistance obviously needed to be overcome, it was just too irrational for someone who is willing to try almost anything.
The next week I bought a dozen at the Farmers Market from Rickman Gulch Farm. They were fresh, organic and big. I brought them home and had one for our usual Saturday morning breakfast after the market — poached eggs, toast made from fresh bread and loads of salad greens with olive oil. The first thing I noticed was the size of the egg. It barely fit in a poaching cup but I couldn’t hold that against it. I overcooked it slightly when I left it in too long to compensate for the size. Overall, my first experience was pretty good…. the shell was quite hard, the white only slightly rubbery, the yolk rich. I was encouraged… I thought I could handle duck eggs.
Later in the week, I went all out. I decided to try a vegetarian eggs benedict-type dish using duck eggs and asparagus. I bought a ciabatta roll from the Essential Baking Company instead of using an english muffin because I knew I was going to need more room to accommodate the generous size of the egg. Again, the egg was large in the poacher but I had my technique down the second time. Read the rest of this entry »
One reason that shopping at the Farmers Market is so satisfying, aside from the amazing variety of food available, is the familiarity that develops among farmers, vendors, and customers. Friends and acquaintances inevitably and unexpectedly appear. There’s time given for catching up, poking around, comparing notes.
We might not recognize it as the exotic ambiance we drool over in foreign flicks where local markets brim with colorful people, a vast array of produce and all kinds of drama. We want to travel there and have that experience. Doesn’t seem so exotic when it’s in our own backyard, but we are that movie. OK, I admit, that seems like a stretch, but you get my point.
Meet Shelley Verdi from Whistling Train Farm (Kent, WA.). As usual, I saw her Sunday morning, surrounded by customers perusing her piles of green: baby bok choy, pea shoots, mint, carrots, exotic lettuces, broccoli, onions and more. We don’t actually know each other, but she’s become a familiar part of my weekly marketing ritual. Always friendly and knowledgeable about her food, I look forward to seeing what pops up on her table each week. We consume lots of Whistling Train squash each fall and winter. She and her husband Mike Verdi grow organic food and sell some of it at Columbia City and West Seattle Farmers Markets, the University District Market part of the year. They also sell to restaurants and operate a CSA program.
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A few weeks ago Shelley had cardoons available, unusual fare for local farmers, and I couldn’t help but notice how excited the customer in front of me was at having scored an armful. She and I chatted about ways to fix cardoons, something you don’t cook that often. Part of their stated mission at Whistling Train Farm is to grow things that we might not find at the grocery store, in addition to produce we’re familiar with.
A camaradrie is felt with those we do a little business with week after week. They grow and then bring to us the seasonal products we need. Take a closer look at Whistling Train Farm whenever you visit the Columbia City or West Seattle Markets. Visit their website and read We, the Farmers which tells their story. It’s pretty cool. They have two kids, they’re practically neighbors, they grow our food.
The notion of a gardener and a seed bomb recipe is oxymoronic to the nth degree. Gardening and bombs aren’t that compatible, but this concept sheds new light on unimagined possibilities. Click on the link below and watch a video about the what, how and why of urban guerrilla gardening. Not as incendiary as you might think.
Chicken salad, a summer classic, is a good choice for a local meal to celebrate the summer solstice. This time of year I like to fix meals that take very little preparation and can be easily moved outdoors if the sun decides to break through the clouds and give us a few extra hours of sunshine. Besides, if we get a full day of sun, who wants to spend time indoors cooking?
The main ingredients you need for chicken salad is, of course, chicken and equally important, mayo. During the summer, mayo becomes its own “food group” in our house. You can make your own if you want to keep it local. The rest of the ingredients can be improvised from whatever you have in your fridge.
I had lots of fresh vegetables from the Farmers Market and this is a great way to use them. I included broccoli and baby bok choy from Willie Greens, hazelnuts from Holmquist Orchards, spinach and garlic scapes from Alm Hill Gardens and dill from Let Us Farm (Tolt Gardens). Read the rest of this entry »
Rhubarb jam on a piece of toast with a cup of java on the side, the way to begin a day.
Rhubarb is still in season so there’s definitely time to indulge in a few more pies and crisps, sauce, and this jam. Spread it on a piece of toast, a pancake, a waffle, a muffin, or stir some into a bowl of yogurt. It’s another good excuse to consume more rhubarb, and this jam practically makes itself, no pectin required, just rhubarb and honey.
And then there’s the coffee to go with the toast and jam. There are plenty of coffee shops around and I’m an occasional patron, but I love making my own in the morning. The daily ritual means at least as much to me as the java itself. The pouring of boiling water over freshly ground beans, followed by the experience of their steamy aroma and darkly iridescent bubbles - it’s a morning meditation. Using a battery-powered frother (aero latte), I whip warm milk until it’s silky, pour it on top of the strong coffee and have myself a handmade latte. I deliver a cuppa Joe to Bob and our day begins.
Creating the morning cup of coffee is, for me, a gratifying, meditative ritual that happens to also save a lot of paper coffee cups, rushed commuter java stops, and a few bucks. Take a thermos or travel mug with you when you head out if you want more. Could be another small action toward sustainability.
We have had lots of interest in making creme fraiche so I am reposting an entry from April. If you didn’t try it then, this is a wonderful time to make up a batch to use in salad dressings or to have with berries for dessert.
Traditionally Indian and Greek condiments, raita and tzatziki use similar ingredients and are served with lamb or grilled veggies.
A local meal for summer: Salmon from
While sitting at 
Friends and acquaintances inevitably and unexpectedly appear. There’s time given for catching up, poking around, comparing notes.
