09/19/10 - First Steelhead of the Fall

01/23/09 - Haiga Rice, Uni and Monkfish Liver

Haiga rice is a partially milled short grain rice, so it still has some of its husk or bran. This supposedly makes it a better rice for diabetics, and it also gives it a richer flavor and hearty texture. We followed the recipe from the Seattle Times which involved washing the rice, and then letting the wet rice sit for a half an hour before cooking it. It wasn't at all like brown rice. In fact, it was the best sushi rice we have tasted.

Ankimo has a subtle flavor. There is a mild livery note, but it is a lot like foie gras and unctuous. We served thin slices of it on our potato chips, which were a perfect complement. The sweet potato chips were best, but the combination was rich and delicious, sort of a foie gras Napoleon. Maybe that is reaching a bit, it was a great combination and we ate most of the ankimo in one sitting.

They are sold packed in little wooden boxes like the one shown on the right. Each box has its own little lid so that the boxes can be stacked without the delicate eggs getting crushed.

Our experiment was successful, and we actually got to use that bag of haiga rice. We'll be watching the member specials at Catalina Offshore Products to see if we can come up with any new ideas. If you are interested at all, you can sign up as a member pretty easily. You don't have to be running a restaurant. Hmm, the mackerel filets look kind of interesting, and we've never tasted geoduck clams. There's still plenty of room at the Kaleberg frontier.

08/05/07 - Black Douglas Cod - A Northwestern Treat

This dish was suggested by a dish we had at Coupage, a Korean fusion restaurant in Seattle. They served arctic char marinated in fir eau de vie, and it was quite good. This dish has a slightly stronger flavor, and the light green notes of the fir buds come across as rather bright and fruity. No, it doesn't taste like wood pulp.

You might want to check out Clear Creek Distillery, the folks who make the eau de vie, or check out the Washington State Liquor Board for availability.

04/01/07 - The Steelhead of the Soleduc

That's our friend, Bill Peet, on the left, with a friend of his, a three foot long steelhead he caught out on the Soleduc River. There hasn't been much fishing lately, what with the spring floods and fishing restrictions, so that's a pretty amazing catch for the first day the river was fishable. The Soleduc is pretty amazing, too. It's the only steelhead run in the lower 48, and it is in pretty good shape as you can see.

Being Kalebergs, we must note that steelhead has a milder flavor than salmon, but it has salmon's firm texture.

11/07/06 - Nash Huber's Farm Stand

We recently paid a visit to Nash Huber's farm stand in Sequim, not far from the old Dungeness School House. Farm stands are always at their prettiest in the autumn, which is, for us, the time to round up the usual vegetables. That is, the brussels sprouts are in, as are the lacinato kale, the collard greens, the mustard greens, the beets, the cauliflower and even the cabbages. There are some pictures of some of the goodies and one of all our loot down below.

Also noted was the new sign on the door announcing that Nash's farm is salmon friendly. That's a big thing out here since Clallam County is sort of fish crazy. There are signs with little fish on them along the road side, usually at bridges. They mean that someone is likely to brake hard, leap out of their car and throw in a line to try their luck, so you had better drive carefully. Salmon channels are important out here too, and not just the kind they carry on cable. The county recently rebuilt route 112 where it crosses Salt Creek to give the fish a better shot at spawning.

11/01/06 - Halloween Party at Kastle Kaleberg

We just could not resist. What is a Halloween party without properly ghoulish food? (And we don't mean transfats). On the right are our devil burgers made with Parker House rolls, buffalo burgers, sweet onion and pickles. The little devil horns are little diamond shaped chunks of red pepper, and don't they look good enough to eat?

We also wrapped up a bunch of sausage mummies, but the photographs just didn't do them justice. We used sausages from Sunrise Meats down on First Street, and we were quite pleased. The shop doesn't look like much, but they've got really good meat, and if you ask nicely, frozen fish.

The reckless eyeballs below and to the right are hollowed out tomatoes stuffed with arugula, mayonnaise, and bacon, and decorated with a black olive for the pupil. They're a bit messy to eat, but who can resist an inside out BLT?

07/06/06 - Amazing Yukon Salmon at Bella Italia

We just had dinner at Bella Italia, and we had some of the best salmon we've ever had, and living out here in Port Angeles, that's saying a lot. According to our usually reliable source, this was salmon from up in the Yukon, a bit expensive, but worth it every bite. It was rich and fatty, and cooked very simply. There were no left overs. According to another of our other usually reliable sources, what made this salmon so special was that it was summer salmon, all fattened up, but not very far up stream yet. That's the kind you almost never get in restaurants, let alone at the supermarket. But, we do get it out here in Port Angeles. The word is that this salmon will be on the menu for the next few weeks. If you are in town for the Lavender Festival, this is your big chance to see what salmon can be.

07/01/06 - The Sappho Maiden - Murder or Xylocide?

We were shocked to learn that the disappearance of the Sappho maiden was due to foul play! For years we had been fond of the wooden maiden as we drove past her near the junction of routes 101 and 113, but then the gas station at the well marked junction burned down, and then, one horrible day, the Sappho maiden was gone leaving only her plinth.

We had assumed that the story had to do with the decline of the Sappho junction, but we were enlightened by a recent email from a Mrs. O informing us that the Sappho maiden was only one of several victims of vandalism. How can people be such fiends! She wrote:

"I agree that it is sad that the maiden was removed, but worse yet is why. I live in the area and we were saddened by a series of chainsaw vandalism that occured about 6 months ago. I don't know which came first but a significant piece of the totem pole in Forks was cut out, making it necissary that it be removed until repairs were made. It has not yet been replaced. The sappho maiden was beheaded, so it was removed, I have no knowledge of whether the head was found or if repair plans have been made. I also believe that the running fish in Clallam Bay was damaged in some way, he too has been removed, but I think he was repaired already and replaced. Sorry to give bad news, but I figured I would answer your question"

So, there it is! Not only was the Sappho maiden DECAPITATED, but Fishboy, as we called him, long a fixture in Clallam Bay, was seriously assaulted, and the Forks totem pole nearly destroyed. Things have come to a sad pass. It is probably too much to hope that the chainsaw miscreants who did so much damage to our area pay for their crimes, but we can hope for a restoration of these damaged North Olympic icons.

UPDATE - 07/05 - Good news from Clallam Bay and Seiku. We still haven't gotten any pictures, but from the road Fishboy, the walking fish, AND Fishgirl, walking in her pink skirt, seemed to be in good shape. There is also good news from Beaver which, according to the Peninsula Daily News, has gotten a new giant wooden beaver mascot. We'll be looking for him (or is it her) on our next trip to the West End.

05/19/06 - Hull Family Shrimp

On our way back from Port Townsend we noticed a sign for shrimp not far from the casino in Blyn. We were soon following the twisty roads to The Hull Family Shrimp compound at 152 Thompson Road. They had shrimp, but only the smaller ones, and only cooked. They were most apologetic, but the big shrimp they said would not be available until June 15th. The smaller shrimp, sold cooked and with their heads on were fresh and delicious. We bought a couple of pounds at an excellent price and the very next morning woke up to a shrimp and garlic revuelto with lots of Tabasco sauce. What a morning!

We can hardly wait for big shrimp season. We'll give them a call at 360 683 6219, and make a special trip out to Blyn.

05/15/06 - Best Tuna Fish In The World

We rarely expect all that much from a can of tuna. Canned tuna is one of those products that can be good, or better, depending on how you use it, but we recently came across a can of Ventresca Bluefin tuna from an outfit called Gustiamo, and we were amazed. The flavor was rich and soft, almost like a perfect tuna confit, packed in olive oil. The texture was soft and silky. We made up a dish of the tuna with white beans, marjoram, nicoise olives, sweet onion and tomato. We ate it straight from the can. We had it on bread. We like Bumble Bee tuna well enough, but this is just in another class. The price is too. Yes, it is expensive, but we have never eaten tuna this good before.

04/24/06 - A Kaleberg Russian Easter

Every year Russian Easter comes to the Kaleberg household, and that means butter, and more butter, and even more butter. That's right, Russian Easter means butter, and fish eggs, and buckwheat pancakes and a sink full of champagne. Every year we make buckwheat pancakes, blini, and we make our own pork sausage with carroway seeds, and we drink quarts of champagne.

This year, we wanted to try something different, so we broke open our Kaleberg Russian Kookbook [sic] and found a few more authentic Russian recipes. To find out more, check out this Kaleberg special report.

04/09/06 - Update On Flying Fish

We were in Seattle the other day and had a really great meal. It had been a while, so we were pleased to find Flying Fish as good as ever, and now they are open for lunch.

Click here for our updated restaurant review of Flying Fish.

11/14/05 - Fresh Alaskan King Crab Legs

This is one of those dishes that one reads about, but that one never sees served in restaurants. Most Alaska king crab is frozen when it is caught, or as soon as the ship arrives in port. The only people who get fresh king crab legs are people who catch them for themselves.

One of the advantages of living in Washington State is that Alaska is sort of the next state to the north, if you don't count British Columbia and the like. This means that the folks at Bella Italia were able to snarf a some fresh Alaskan king crab legs from their friends to the north. We were trying to figure out what to do for dinner when we got the call. Dave Senters was cooking, the crab was in, and we were ready.

The dish pictured above is a plate of fresh Alaskan king crab meat with fried bread crumbs, fried garlic, baby potatoes, and fresh scallions in brown butter sauce with balsamic vinegar on angel hair pasta. We were quite impressed. The crab meat was richer in flavor than our own local Dungeness crab meat, and had a meaty, almost chunky texture. It was as sweet as local crab, but the chunks were larger. If you've ever had Alaskan kind crab legs at an upmarket brunch, you probably remember them as a bit bland and watery, perhaps even a bit stringy. There was none of this here. This crab had legs, and it stood up to a powerfully flavored pasta dish quite nicely.

We aren't sure if your local restaurant provides this kind of service, but if you do get a call saying that the fresh Alaskan king crab legs are in, don't wait. Even at 3AM it is worth scrambling down for a taste of this king of the crabmeats.

08/15/05 - Sea Stars

06/18/05 - Ivory King Seafood

03/23/05 - Fish and Nuts Recipe Generator

09/06/04 - Seattle Notes

08/03/04 - Salmon Off A Truck

07/09/04 - Stuffed Salmon, CostCo Style

05/19/04 - Copper River Salmon Has Arrived

Also, we've been thinking about the old computer game of Dazzle Darts. It was one of those rather simple games, like Pong, that came out of the 1970s, except that Dazzle Darts seems to have vanished.