I recently reviewed Good Fish by Chef Becky Selengut for Book End Babes. Becky is an advocate for sustainable seafood and local, regional cuisine. The book is filled with wonderful recipes for a vast variety of seafood. I chose to prepare the Grilled Sockeye Salmon with Fennel two ways. Please take a moment to read the review and check out the recipe here.
Grilled Sockeye Salmon with Fennel two ways
EAT YOUR GREEN
For a the past few months, I have been writing as a contributor for the Oklahoma Gazette’s Food & Drink section. It is something that I have enjoyed doing, and now that section is available for me to share with you in the on-line edition.
April is Earth Month, and with Earth Day just around the corner, I was asked if I could write a piece featuring establishments with a green outlook. I was really excited about the places I found, and the people that I met and learned so much from, while writing this piece. You can read the article here, or click on the Gazette’s logo below to go their home page. I hope you take the time, to learn as much as you can, about living a greener lifestyle.
Earth Day is April 22nd. There are many events happening all around the world. How will you celebrate it?
At the end of February, I took a really wonderful trip to the Pacific Northwest. I was in Seattle for a few days. I spent time with some wonderful people and will share all of it with you here.
I have been blessed to finally meet several people, who have touched my heart, and won my respect.
Ron Zimmerman is one of those people. He is one of the first friends I made via twitter, and I have come to respect what he and his wife Carrie have accomplished at The Herbfarm in Woodinville, Washington.
On my second evening in Seattle, I made my way to Woodinville, to dine at The Herbfarm for A Taste of Trees, a special menu created by the chefs at the herbfarm, dedicated to what the surrounding woods have to offer. I was a little early for dinner and was able to meet Ron in the wine cellar. The Herbarm has two wine cellars that house approximately 26,000 wines. It was a real treat to see a little of their awe inspiring wine collection, which includes a few rare vintages.
What you don’t see in the above photo is the numbers 1 & 7 (sorry I couldn’t quite get an angle for it). For the wine enthusiasts out there, this bottle is a 1795 Madeira vinified from the rare Terrentez grape variety. This is an extremely rare treat, and those who are fortunate enough, can actually have a taste of this lovely wine at The Herbfarm.
Just before dinner, diners gathered around the Herbfarm’s stone fireplace, and Carrie shared with us a little of the Herbfarm’s history. The original farm was owned by Ron’s parents Bill and Lola Zimmerman, and was located just outside of Fall City, Washington about 30 miles east of Seattle.
Eventually Ron and Carrie joined the business and remodeled a portion of the home and garage, where they started the restaurant. They served a 6 course menu, utilizing what was grown on the farm and surrounding area, with Ron as the chef, and Carrie as host. The restaurant was a success and never had an empty seat. Over the next decade the restaurant grew and expanded to include a new kitchen, wine cellar, and dining space.
In January of 1997 an electrical fault caused a fire, and the herbfarm restaurant and offices were a total loss. Starting over in the same location was filled with challenges. In 2001, 4 years after the fire and 15 years to the day from the original restaurant opening, The Herbfarm dedicated it’s new location in Woodinville, Washington. The Herbfarm as it is today, houses The Herbfarm Restaurant, luxury suites, two wine cellars, an extensive garden, and an off-site farm approximately one mile from the restaurant.
It is truly a remarkable place. I hope that if you ever find yourself in the Pacific Northwest, that you take the opportunity to visit and dine at The Herbfarm.
A TASTE OF TREES
The menu for this dinner is a nine course tribute to the role of trees in food. Chef Chris Webber and sommelier Tyson Dutta, of The Herbfarm did an incredible job in the preparations and pairings for this perfect meal. For those who are not inclined to drink wine, The Herbfarm staff can prepare some incredible non-alchoholic elixirs for you to enjoy. A few of these photos were taken with the camera on my phone. I owe a debt of gratitude to Luke Wohlers, for not only a great wine service that night, but for running my failing batteries to a place where they could be re-charged 
Thank you Ron and Carrie, and all the staff, for such a wonderful evening.
When you enter the dining room, you can’t help but notice the attention to detail that goes into everything they do. The dining room is filled with antiques that Ron and Carrie have collected in their travels, and emits warmth and charm. I couldn’t help but smile when I was seated. When I first made the reservation, I intended to be at The Herbfarm for my birthday in January, and had to postpone my trip by a month. A little place card holder held my name, and a cute little frame held a card that said, Happy Birthday Vivian. Little details that went a long way to make me feel at home.
At Ron’s suggestion, I chose to sit at the European Common Table. When our group was seated, we each introduced ourself, sharing a little of ourselves, and what brought us to dinner at The Herbfarm. Such a great way to dine! I got to know a few really interesting people that I otherwise would not have met on this trip.
The first course of the evening was “Douglas Crab” Rare Bairdi Snow Crab with an Oregon Arbequina Olive Oil, Fresh Fennel and Onion Salad, and a Douglas Fir and Toasted Pumpkin Seed Gremolata. This was paired with Capitello Brut, and a choice of Noble Fir or Western Juniper Elixirs.
The second course for the evening was called “Egged On Nut” A slow cooked “This Morning’s Egg,” with Duchilly Hazelnuts, Apple, Leek, Cress, Celery Root Purée, and Oregon Black Truffle. Paired with 2007 Dr. Loosen-Chateau Ste. Michelle Eroica Reisling, Columbia Valley, WA.
The third course of the evening was “Cedar Walleye” A Hot Cedar Oil Splashed Columbia River Walleye Pike, with Spinach, Fresh Radish, and Kafir Lime Leaf Clam Broth. Served with a 2008 Abacela Albariño, Estate, Umpqua Valley, Oregon.
Our fourth course was “Spruced up Squab” Applewood Rotisserie Roasted Squab with Spruce Tip Syrup Glaze, Chicken Liver Mousse in Feuille de Brick, and Sauteed and Pickled Winter Mushroom Medley. This was accompanied by a 2007 Westrey Pinot Noir, Abbey Ridge Vineyard, Oregon.
Our fifth course was “A Duet for Frank” Whole-Roasted Leg of Barley-Fed Frank-the-Pig, with “Whole-Hog” Terrine from the Applewood Burning Oven. Accompanied by Prosciutto Bone Fond, Chip, Puree, and Piece of Beet, Carrot – Big Leaf Maple, and Wood-Smoked Potato.
I manage to sneak a little peek into the open kitchen, as the chefs were plating the next course. For those who have never experienced it, “The Dance” that lovely term that is used to describe the seamless service between the kitchen and the servers, to have things done so quietly and unobtrusively that everything seems to just appear before you, is very well done here. Knowing that it was an open kitchen, and that I can be kind of noisy when I cook, I just had to peek to see how it was all managed.
The sixth course of the evening was a cheese course “Elder Cheese” Ancient Heritage Scio Sheep Milk Cheese, with The Herbfarm’s Cascade Elder Flower Mustard, and Winter Greens, served with British Columbia Balsamico Vinaigrette, and Rye Toast.
Our seventh course of the evening was “Staves” a Syrah Wine Barrel Oak Stave Gelée & Froth, with Black Pepper Meringue. Just slightly sweet and spicy. I love this presentation Ok I love them all, but it’s this type of unexpected treat that always puts a smile on my face, and makes me want to grab my camera.
On to sweeter things. The eighth course of the evening was “Birch & Walnut” a Walnut Pain Perdu, with Wild Birch Sap Ice Cream, and Rosemary-Roasted Pears.
Our finale, the ninth course “Small Tree Treats” From the left, Dark Chocolate and Plum Tree Stump, Apricot Kernel-Milk Chocolate Ganache, Cherry-Lavender Pâté de Fruit, and Almond Macaron with Cinnamon-Basil Cream. I barely had room for this by then, but of course I had to exercise my sweet tooth
The last three courses were served with a variety of coffees and teas, and a 2008 Roxy Ann Winery “Night Harvest” Viognier, Rogue Valley, Oregon.
This was definitely a meal to remember.
One of my favorite things to make for dinner is roast chicken. I make this recipe at least once a week. The chicken is marinaded in a simple vinagraitte that adds so much flavor. Please check out the recipe at Book End Babes as well as the new books I will be reviewing in future posts.
I have much to post on this site. My intent was to start blogging about my recent trip to Seattle, and I will. Right now that all just seems so trivial in comparison to what is happening in the world today. My heart is completely broken for Japan and her people at this time. The above photo of a woman crying in the street brought tears to my eyes. I have a solemn desire to reach out and comfort her.
I remind myself that disaster can strike anywhere. These people are in serious need of aid. When I first saw the above photo of people stranded where they were, I was immediately reminded of times past, when my own island was hit by a storm leaving thousands without a home. Here in Oklahoma we are seasonally threatened by tornados. Not too long after I moved here one struck that left thousands of people homeless. We have long since recovered from those wounds, with the help of many who gave tirelessly.
The above photo of an elderly gentleman being rescued from the rubble had me thinking and praying for those who were helpless throughout this tragedy. An earthquake that tipped the richter scale at 8.9 is tragic enough, but for it to be accompanied by a Tsunami? I don’t even have words to appropriately describe that kind of tragedy.
I have decided to donate all advertising revenue generated from this site for the months of March and April to the Red Cross designated to Tsunami Relief for Japan. It is not much, but with your help it can be. I am going to ask you to do something that I never have asked before. Please click on the ads here, leave comments, and Tweet or Stumble this post. It costs you nothing to do, and you will be lending aid to a really worthy cause.
I will be putting up new posts from recent travels and recipes daily. Please check back for those too. Remember, no matter what posts you click ads on, all revenue from that will go to the Red Cross.
Thank you so much,
Vivian
*All photos from Japan posted here are from the Associated Press
For quite some time now, I and my good friend Chef Ryan Parrot have considered blogging about Charcuterie. We both suffered from severe cases of “Life Interrupted” in the year and a half since we first discussed it, but it is something that we still want to do. So when I mentioned this Charcuterie Challenge that I heard about on twitter to him , I wasn’t surprised when he said “Let’s do it!”
Charcutepalooza (shar-coo-ta-pa-loo-za) was initiated by Cathy Barrow of Mrs Wheelbarrow’s Kitchen and Kim Foster of The Yummy Mummy, and being overseen with the wisdom of Michael Ruhlman and Bob del Grosso. It is a 12 month charcuterie challenge. Every month there will be both an apprentice challenge, and a charcuterie challenge.
We will be using CHARCUTERIE: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing, by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn as our guide. For the February apprentice challenge we were asked to cure and roast a fresh bacon. For the apprentice challenge we could do pancetta, or guanciale. Well, needless to say we want to do it all
The first thing we had to do was source our pork belly (for the bacon and pancetta), and pork jowl (for the guanciale). It didn’t take long for us to find the pork belly, thanks to Dave the butcher at La Boucherie in OKC, who sourced pork belly from a Berkshire hog, that was raised on a local farm, for us. The jowl for guanciale is a little harder for us to find, but once we find one that we like we will do the guanciale too.
The pork belly we received weighed almost 9 lbs. Enough for us to cure both the bacon and the pancetta. I also found a small wine refrigerator to use as a curing cabinet for the pancetta. We started the cures first as instructed, leaving the meats in my refrigerator for a little over a week for the salt cure to work it’s magic.
We struggled at first trying to make regular kitchen twine work for us, but it kept breaking and we switched to a plastic twine for the pancetta. We will come back to this and re-roll a little bit tighter if we need to. We cut the belly prior to curing so we could use two thirds of it for the pancetta, and cut that in half to make 2 small pancettas that would fit into the curing cabinet. We cut the remainder in half to make 2 slabs of bacon.
Ryan took a slab of bacon to smoke, and I crusted the other half with crushed black black pepper and roasted it in my oven. I can’t even begin to tell you how satisfying it was to cut slices of bacon off a slab that I cured myself. It tasted better than any bacon that I have ever purchased. The texture is different from the average supermaket bacon, and when frying it holds up so much better and doesn’t melt away.
We are both so excited to be participating in Charcutepalooza. More than a hundred food bloggers signed up to participate in this, and there are even some really great prizes that will be awarded. The Grand Prize is a trip to France, sponsored by Trufflepig & Kate Hill’s Kitchen at Camont, for a wonderful Epicurean’s tour of Paris and a trip to Gascony for Kate’s five day course in meat. If you would like to follow along with this challenge you can look up the hashtag #charcutepalooza on twitter, or check out the charcutepalooza blog where Cathy will be posting the roundup on the 30th of each month.
Please check out my review of this wonderful little book by Patricia Healding on Book End Babes
Included with the review is a wonderful recipe for Intense Chocolate Brownies. Such a perfect treat for Valentines Day.
I hope you have a wonderful Valentines Day shared with someone special
I read through countless articles, tweets, and posts today all paying tribute to this wonderful man. The life he led brought hope to so many people. To say he fought a good fight is an understatement. He paved the way for many, including myself, to enjoy freedoms he would never personally partake of. I am humbled by his actions, and I am reminded of the type of person I want to be.
As I write this, I can’t help but think his struggle is still being fought. Not at the level it was at during his life. I still see lines of segregation in my own city. Lines drawn not necessarily by race, but by continued poverty. Sometimes I think I live either on the fringe, or in the middle of all that. I am neither white or black. I am neither rich or poor. There is still a way to go in this struggle. We are not quite up to his dream yet. I think his dream should continue to be OUR dream.
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
Not too long ago I reviewed Joanne Chang’s Flour for Book End Babes. Since then I can honestly say that I have garnered so many great recipes from this book. I have made her delightful Oreos and Pop Tarts (favorites), and still want to make her famous Sticky Sticky Buns, which she made on the Food Network show Throwdown with Bobby Flay, when she was challenged by Bobby, and won in her Boston bakery flour.
One of the first recipes that really grabbed my attention in this book was the Homemade Nutella Tart. I will tell you, there is nothing quite like homemade nutella, and I know I will find other uses for the hazelnut infused cream.
For those who are wondering, I am not failing in my resolutions for the New Year. I made this tart in particular as a birthday gift for my friend Nichole Moissant a special treat since the book I have coming to her is on back order (sign of a great book, flour has now gone into multiple printings). When I made this for her, I just couldn’t help but think that I needed to share this wonderful tart with you. I hope you will take the time to make and enjoy this tart, and by all means please check out this wondeful book, it is chock full of delightful treats
HOMEMADE NUTELLA TART
Ingredients:
Whole Natural Hazelnuts – 1 cup (140 grams)
Heavy Cream – 2 cups (480 grams)
Milk Chocolate (chopped) – 1 pound (454 grams)
Semi-sweet Chocolate – 2 ounces (56 grams)
Kosher Salt – 1/2 teaspoon
Vanilla Extract – 1/2 teaspoon
Pâte Sucrée - 10 inch tart shell (recipe follows)
Directions:
Position rack in the center of the oven, and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10 – 12 minutes, or until dark and fragrant. Transfer to a plate and allow to cool (If you are concerned about the skins, they can be rubbed off very easily with a clean dry towel at this point).
Set aside 16 – 20 hazelnuts for the garnish. In a food processor, pulse about half of the remaining hazelnuts until they are finely ground. Set aside. Roughly crush the remaining half by hand (place in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin), or by pulsing in a food processor. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, combine the cream and the finely ground nuts and scald over medium-high heat (bubbles will start to form around the edge, but do not let it come to a full boil).
Remove from the heat and let it sit for about an hour to infuse the cream. Strain the cream through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl or pitcher and set aside.
Place the milk chocolate and and semi-sweet chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl. Place the bowl over a saucepan with barely simmering water (do not allow the bowl to touch the water). Heat the chocolate stirring occasionally until it is completely melted and smooth. Remove from the heat.
Whisk the cream into the chocolate until fully combined. Add the crushed hazelnuts, salt, and vanilla, and whisk until combined.
Slide a cardboard circle or flat plate under the prepared tart shell, and carefully pour the chocolate-hazelnut mixture into the shell. It should fill to the rim of the shell. Carefully place the tart in the refrigerator for 3 – 4 hours, or until the filling has set.
Remove the tart from the refrigerator and garnish the edges with the reserved hazelnuts, pressing them gently into the filling.
The tart can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Pâte Sucrée (Sweet Tart Dough)
Ingredients:
Butter - 1/2 cup (1 stick)
Sugar - 1/4 cup (50 grams)
Kosher Salt – 1/2 teaspoon
Unbleached All-Purpose Flour – 1 cup (140 grams)
Egg Yolk – 1
Directions:
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and salt on medium speed for 2 – 3 minutes, or until the mixture is pale and light. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula. Add the flour and beat on low for about 30 seconds, or until the flour is just incorporated into the mixture. Add the egg yolk and continue to mix on low for about 30 seconds, or until the dough comes together.
Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for about 1 hour. At this point you can store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. If using from frozen, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
Line a baking sheet with parchment and place a 10 inch tart ring with insert on top. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it soften to room temp for about 30 minutes. Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough into a disk about 1/2 inch thick. Flour your work surface and the dough . Roll the dough out into a circle approximately 12 inches in diameter and just under 1/4 inch thick. Make sure that your work surface are both well floured, roll from the center outward, and gently rotate the disk after each roll to insure that the disk is evenly stretched in to a circle. Don’t worry if the dough breaks a little. You can easily patch when you line the pan.
Carefully roll the dough circle around the rolling pin, and unfurl it on top of the tart ring. Press the dough into the bottom and sides of the the tart ring. Use scraps to patch up any tears or holes. Make sure the interior is well covered with dough, then press one last time all the way around to make sure any holes have been patched. Trim the edge of the dough so it is even with the tart ring.
Refrigerate the shell for at least 30 minutes. The gluten needs to rest so that the pastry does not shrink in the oven. You may wrap tightly in plastic and store in the refrigerator for one day, or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Bake directly from the refrigerator or freezer.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and pre-heat to 350 degrees F. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack. Remove the tart ring and proceed as directed with the individual recipe.
I have been baking some really delicious cookies out of Alice Medrich’s new book CHEWY GOOEY CRISPY CRUNCHY. This book is filled with wonderful recipes and great tips and techniques.
I absolutely fell in love with the Toffee Bars, a shortbread bar topped with pecans, caramel, and chocolate. This recipe and my review is posted on Book End Babes. Please feel free to check it out here. I have baked a ton of these cookies to give as gifts this year and have received rave reviews from everyone. I hope you take the time to make and enjoy them.
