22 Jul
Posted By: Annie
My week of roaming has come to an end, and what can I say? I had a blast. It was wonderful to reconnect with so many old friends, to visit them in their homes, and let them guide me to the best places from Seattle to Olympia to Portland. There were so many great stops along the way that I thought it unfair not to share a few of my favorites…
First stop, Seattle: I ate very well in Seattle. In fact, I don’t remember doing much of anything else. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I started right off with lunch at Emmer & Rye, then later that evening moved on to dinner at at Tilth — also a favorite for seasonal cuisine. We had duck burgers with homemade potato chips rendered in duck fat. Need I say more? Over the next two days, I visited the farmer’s market where I ate the largest snap pea I’d ever seen, tried my first cheese curd at Beechers, visited The Seafood Festival in Ballard and snacked on the most delicious garlic fries ever while watching the sun set as the Mariners actually BEAT the Yankees.
Then, Olympia: I spent most of my time in Olympia enjoying the view from my friend’s amazing cottage on the Sound. We ate raspberries from the garden, No Woman cheese we picked up at Beecher’s the day before and amazingly fresh salmon grilled on a wooden plank. The little time I spent in town, was mostly confined to little French pastry and coffee shop called The Bread Peddler. It reminded me of the little bakery around the corner from my place in NY, so I felt compelled to sample their coffee, pastries and a baguette (to go with the cheese, of course).
The final stop, Portland: The first thing I have to say about Portland — which is clear to anyone who has ever visited is that FOOD CARTS ROCK! These mini food havens allow for experimentation that has clearly led to a unique food culture — and a cult-like dedication among many of the locals. While I could have camped out behind Garden State eating their Chickpea Sandwiches my whole visit, I did venture out to see what the rest of the city had to offer. Here’s what I found: Pastaworks for amazing bread, cheese, salami, sweets and high-end packaged goods, Powell’s Books for Home and Garden (imagine Powell’s, then strip away all the stuff you’ll never read), Townshend’s Tea for a great respite from all the eating, The Meadow for the most incredible selection of salts imaginable (plus a healthy selection of chocolate..and flowers), Ruby Jewel for design-your-own ice cream sandwiches, and of course Pistils Nursery for all your urban farming needs. When I wasn’t eating, I was either drinking at one of the countless brew-pubs in the city or taking in one of Portland’s wacky evening adventures like Filmusik (take an animated film, remove the sound, then have local sound artists, voice actors, and musicians do the sound live…while you watch the movie).
Thanks again to everyone — it was a fantastic time!
Posted in At The Market, Buying Local, Cafes, Restaurants, Shops, Travel | No Comments »
20 Jul
Posted By: Carlin
My husband is doing an art residency in Johnson, Vermont at the Vermont Studio Center for the last two weeks of July. He called me the other night thrilled that there is a farmer’s market every Tuesday in Johnson. And the report was 100 % positive. He said it was amazing. A number of local, organic farms with kale, tomatoes, green beans, garlic and prepared foods using local ingredients, like tamales, burritos and wood-oven pizza.
One farmer from neighboring town, Jeffersonville, was making organic icies out of fruits he harvested from his farm. He would steam the berries, add a little organic sugar for sweetness and away he went. He had the black currant and said it was out of this world.
But his favorite thing was the kale. He cooked up our normal old way and had uncooked green beans on the side. He said it reminded him of home. Love that.
While he is in the making art in the hills of Vermont, I remain in sticky New York City making a refreshing salad from the beets I got from my CSA.
Roasted Beets with Pomegranate Cumin Vinaigrette
2 bunches of beets
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Trim the beet greens and reserve for another use. Place the beets unpeeled in a shallow pan with about ½ cup of water and cover with foil. Roast for about 45 minutes of longer if the beets are large. A pairing knife should be able to slip through without resistance.
Drain beets and peel under cool water. Cut into chunks, dice or slice thinly and toss with the vinaigrette.
Vinaigrette
1 garlic clove
1/3 cup pomegrante juice
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Combine all the ingredients up to the oil in a small bowl. Gently whisk in the oils and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Posted in At The Market, Buying Local, Farms and Farming, Recipes, Rural Life, Summer, Travel | No Comments »
16 Jul
Posted By: Annie
Portland is committed to living “green” in a way that no other city I have visited is. Nearly every café, restaurant or apartment building touts it’s green credentials. Meanwhile, a great number of these urban residents maintain their own gardens — either in their back yards, or right out along the sidewalk. I’m loving that Portland has a seemingly easy mix of city and country life. The residents of this town get the best of both worlds — great food, interesting art, a bit of culture, and the opportunity to have a little plot of their own.
I’ve been here for a couple of days now, and have had the chance to spend some quality time with my friend Cat, of Tampopo Post. Yesterday we stopped by the Mississippi neighborhood to check out Pistils Nursery. I had been warned about the free range chickens that wandered the store, but was still completely caught off guard by the poofy white hen that crossed my feet as we walked in. The store was bursting with beautiful plants, shrubs and trees — and seemed to be the place to go to get pretty much anything else you might need for your urban farm. Pistils also offers workshops on chicken and bee keeping, garden design, worm composting and vegetable gardening. It’s really a spectacular little place…definitely check it (and the city of Portland) out if you ever have the chance.
Posted in City Life, Gardening | No Comments »
12 Jul
Posted By: Annie
I was in Seattle over the weekend visiting friends and getting to know the city again after quite a few years away. My first stop was lunch at Emmer & Rye in Queen Anne with Anthony Nicalo, a chef and founder of Farmstead Wines. He’s as passionate about redefining the way we look at our food and food system as anybody I’ve ever met, and was full of fantastic ideas on how to better educate consumers and bring openness to the food system.
We had a lovely conversation (as expected), and a fantastic meal, but there was one menu item that piqued my interest in particular. Paired with the seared tuna and a gribiche sauce, sea beans struck me as the foreign entity amongst familiar west coast fare. The next day, they turned up again at the farmer’s market with a great little explanation (see photo above). I’ve come to think of them as the fiddlehead of the coast — a funny little green vegetable that is appreciated by a few dedicated locals and not really known far beyond their natural growing grounds. They are a bit like a salty asparagus, and are apparently common in salads along the coast this time of year.
If you’re interested in giving them a go, this recipe for Black Roasted Cod with Sea Beans and Oysters looked delicious. Chow Hound also has a list of other great uses. If you’re near the the coast, keep your eyes open for these quirky vegetables at your local market, otherwise you can order them any time here.
Posted in At The Market, Chew Something New, Travel | No Comments »
11 Jul
Posted By: Carlin
This past week my husband, his family and I traveled to the Mississippi Delta. We went for a celebration of the patrons of The Box Project, to which my husband’s family has been involved for the past 24 years.
We ate our way through the south, feasting on our share of fried catfish, shrimp and grits, dry rub ribs, coleslaw and plenty of sweet tea. Even though not always seasonal or healthy, it was delicious.
But when I visit a new place, the first thing I like to do is find the local farmer’s market. It is always where I am happiest. You can learn so much about a place by speaking to the farmers and seeing what is grown locally. When we hit two farmers’ markets, we were offered a glimpse of what is thriving in the south this time of year.
The little farmer’s market in Clarksdale, Mississippi had some of the most gorgeous and delicious tomatoes I have ever had. In fact, the farmer we spoke with said that he keeps a little shaker of salt in his truck to snack on his tomatoes. We bought a couple and moved onto the Health Crops stand run by students from the local high school. They are a part of a program where the local teenagers learn to garden. A bottle of Kool Aid pickles was the inspiration of one of the students and once you tasted it you knew exactly what the brining liquid contained!
Here is Dennis’ recipe for his inspired Kool Aid Pickles:
-White vinegar
-Cherry Kool Aid
-Cucumbers
Allow the cucumbers to sit in the brining liquid for about two weeks for the best flavor. Click here to see a video of Dennis’ own explanation.
Posted in At The Market, Buying Local, Farms and Farming, Food Preservation, Pickling, Summer, Travel | 1 Comment »
8 Jul
Posted By: Annie
Strawberries are ripening here in the Northwest, so my mom and I took the opportunity to take my niece out to her first ever strawberry pick. We discovered that she loves squishing strawberries almost as much as she likes eating them! Green Bluff is a collective of farmers in an area just outside Spokane that offers you-pick events for berries, peaches, apples and other fruits throughout the year. We were lucky to get a chance at this year’s crop as they lost nearly 60% to a late cold snap. Fortunately it was a hot day here (finally!), and the berries were perfect. We were able to scoop up a couple flats in time to keep the little picker from getting a sunburn.
Posted in Farms and Farming, Rural Life | No Comments »
6 Jul
Posted By: Annie
I came home to Idaho last week and finally got to check out the amazing gardens that Community Roots has been establishing on my parent’s property. I was truly blown away. In less than a year, they have transformed an empty piece of land into a beautiful series of gardens that will now work to provide food for Coeur d’Alene’s very first CSA.
A couple of days after I arrived, my mom and I woke early to join Kaleb and Corrin as they picked, washed, sorted and boxed-up vegetables for the season’s first pick-up that afternoon. It’s been chilly here in northern Idaho, so we were just able to bundle rhubarb, garlic scapes, lettuces, spinach, bok choy, green onions, radishes, and a couple of hearty herbs. Mom and I didn’t get to stick around for the arrival of the first customers, but reports were that the boxes were well received. This was such a wonderful thing to be involved in, and I’m so thrilled to know that my parents are playing an important role in the education of a community that is in need of a little inspiration when it comes to their local food resources.
Posted in Activism, Rural Life | No Comments »
30 Jun
Posted By: Carlin
Our good friend, Rob, hosted a reunion of sorts for eight of us at his house in East Hampton last weekend. It was filled with early morning surf sessions, tennis matches, midday naps, late afternoon world cup viewings and late night dinners.
On Saturday morning, Gemma offered me the amazing opportunity to pick vegetables with her at a farm called Quail Hill. I must’ve been the happiest human on the planet that day as the dirt filled my fingernails. I found myself surrounded by snap peas, fava beans, string beans, snow peas, english peas, garlic scapes, summer squash, zucchini flowers, radishes and many types of lettuce. Raspberries were on the cusp of ripeness, too.
On the way home we stopped and a fish market to round out the meal. It was such a treat to cook for a crowd and with the exception of lemons, olive oil and sea salt, we used only local, seasonal ingredients from the day. Rob even had an herb garden from which I nipped basil, mint, lavender, sage and dill to finish off the salad and the grilled fish. I’m including the recipe for the pesto we made with the basket of garlic scapes that we plucked from the farm.
Grilled Garlic Scape Pesto
A handful of garlic scapes (about 10)
1 cup of olive oil (some for coating the scapes before grilling)
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons sea salt
Toss the scapes in olive oil to coat and place on a hot grill. Grill until browned but not charred and remove from heat. (Alternatively, you can broil the scapes)
Chop and place in a food processor with toasted pine nuts and pulse. Drizzle in the olive oil and add water if necessary to desired texture. Season with sea salt.
Posted in Buying Local, Farms and Farming, Recipes, Summer | No Comments »
26 Jun
Posted By: Annie
My new favorite way to prepare vegetables is perfect for summer, and so fun that I keep thinking that if I were a kid, I think I’d have eaten my vegetables if I got to put them together this way.
It’s simple:
1. Cut up a few of your favorite vegetables into similar sized pieces. I picked a few of my seasonal favorites (garlic, spring onion, fingerling potatoes, summer squash, and mushrooms).
2. Get some tinfoil and a small bowl. Press the tinfoil into the bowl so you create a little area to throw in a few of each of your vegetables. Toss in enough veg to make a serving, but not so much that you won’t have enough foil to close the pack.
3. Season with salt, pepper, thyme, or any other herbs and spices you might want to try. Pour a couple glugs of olive oil over the whole mess and close it up nice and tight. Be gentle so you don’t poke any holes in your foil!
4. Toss it on the grill. The oil and natural moisture from the vegetables is enough liquid to keep everything from scorching.
I love this because you get such a wonderful surprise each time – as each vegetable combination creates a different infusion of flavors. I’ve had good luck with asparagus and tomatoes, but I’m sure there are many other options that would be absolutely delicious!
Posted in Recipes, Spring, Summer | No Comments »
21 Jun
Posted By: Annie
Growing up, there was always a big leafy bush of rhubarb growing somewhere in our back yard. Always the first sweet(ish) thing to pop up in the spring, I loved rhubarb simply for it’s position as the introduction to juicy spring foods. We almost always had more than we knew what to do with — and it seems that not much has changed. Like zucchini late in the summer, rhubarb must find it’s way into lots of dishes in order to live up to it’s potential as a prodigious plant. This season my mom reported several rhubarb-centric dishes, including the traditional rhubarb crisp, rhubarb muffins, and rhubarb syrup which she mixed with seltzer water for a refreshing after-gardening-all-day drink. Since Carlin posted a syrup recipe earlier, I’m passing along the crisp recipe that my mom said was the best she had ever tried. Thanks to the Farm Chicks, for such a tasty treat!
Farm Chicks’ “Grandma’s Rubarb Crunch”
4 cups chopped rhubarb (or rhubarb + strawberries, apple, etc.)
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
Chop rhubarb and set aside. Mix together the flour, oats, cinnamon, brown sugar and melted butter. Press one-half of crumb mixture into a buttered 7″x11″ or 8.5″x11″ baking dish.
Sugar Sauce:
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla
Whisk sugar, cornstarch and water together in a glass bowl. Microwave until thick, clear, and bubbly, approximately 3-5 minutes. Remove from microwave and whisk in vanilla. Add chopped rhubarb atop pressed-in crumb mixture in the baking dish. Pour sugar sauce evenly over rhubarb. Top with remaining crumb mixture. Bake at 350 degrees until edges are bubbling and crumb topping is browned, about 30-40 minutes.
Posted in Recipes, Summer | No Comments »
