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?

11/01/06 - Dry Creek Farm: The Chicken AND The Egg!

We had not been seeing Harley at the Farmers' Market so we dropped by the farm and checked out the farmstand. We didn't see Harley, but the farmstand was there, and someone was gathering the eggs, greens and other goodies. The eggs were as good as ever, and having loaded up on these wonderful certified organic eggs, we decided it was time to take one of our Dry Creek Farm stewing hens out of the freezer and cook Moroccan.

The dish you see on the right does not look like much. Yes, that is a later of eggs and herbs on top. The black things sticking out of it are kalamatas olives, and the yellow things are bits of pickled lemon. Underneath it all lies the savory cooked hen. We use the recipe in Paula Wolfert's immortal Couscous and Other Good Food From Morocco, but in some ways ours is more farm house authentic. After all, what sensible Moroccan house wife would serve up a hen who was still laying eggs. Sure, the local emir might serve up some spring chickens, but the real home recipe was probably a version adapted for stewing hens.

The secret is simple. Just ignore Paula Wolfert's timing and cook the hen until the meat is tender, about two hours in our case. We've adapted her recipe for Djej Masquid Bil Beid:

We rub our stewing hen with garlic and salt then put it in a big pot with 1 cup chopped parsley, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 cup grated onion, a pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp black pepper, 1/4 cup of butter, a pinch of saffron, and 3 cinnamon sticks. We fill with water to cover the bird and then bring it to a boil and simmer it forever, maybe two hours, maybe longer. The meat should be tender, taste it.

Then, we put the chicken in a deep baking dish, tossing any loose skin, bones and the cinnamon sticks and we cook down the boiling liquid while we crack and beat a dozen eggs and add two dozen split, pitted kalamatas olives, a couple of salt cured lemons and 1/2 cup of chopped parsley. When the liquid has cooked down perhaps by a factor of two, maybe a bit more, we pour it over the chicken and then pour on the egg mixture which will comprise the upper layer.

To finish, we put the casserole covered in a 350F oven with the lid on for about 20 minutes. Then we take off the lid and let the eggs brown, raising the oven temperature if we are in a hurry.

10/12/06 - Boarlets

We recently took advantage of Arianne's freezer sale at d'Artagnan to buy some wild boar miniroasts, as she calls them. We called them boarlets, and we bought two. We used the recipe from The D'Artagnan Cookbook, except we used Westwind Farm shallots instead of onions, and Westwind's excellent carrots. We cooked it in a Dutch oven in the oven instead of a casserole on the stove top. We left the bouquet garnis in the mix while it cooked, and we ate the vegetables.

So, how were the boarlets? Kaleberg Kitchens says that they were great, or as Variety would put it, Boarlets Boffo!

10/01/06 - BLTs and Fire

When there are good tomatoes, there are good BLTs. There is nothing like a well made bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. We at Kaleberg Research have been episodically tinkering and improving this good thing, and our latest product is a winner. In a recent breakthrough, we have applied our experience working with nature's perfect food, pizza, and produced what may be the perfect BLT.

Our grilled pizza experiments, building on the work of others, have demonstrated the superiority grilled pizza crust. Grilled pizza crust is just grilled flat bread, and with a topping of olive oil and chopped garlic, what could make a better base for a BLT? So, we made up a batch of pizza dough, fired up the charcoal grill, and set to work. The olive oil and garlic served as the traditional mayonaisse, comprising 2/3 of an aioli, and with fresh local salad greens, Sunny Farms' bacon and our own tomatoes, we produced the masterpiece on the right.

09/14/06 - Goan Spiced Shrimp With Summer Vegetables

We are making the most of the late season romano beans, and we've been craving spices as of late. In fact, we've been craving the spices of Goa, much as the Portuguese were when they took over the place over 400 years ago. So, we made up some white shrimp with Goan spices and romano beans, and we threw in some New Zealand spinach as well. For our recipe, and the results, click here.

08/23/06 - Summer Harvest - Johnston Farms

We were out at Johnston Farms today and decided to grab a few items that don't even make it as far as the Farmers' Market. To start with, we grabbed some pumpkin flowers, and we plan to fry them tempura style. We also grabbed their entire basket of Costoluto tomatoes, fresh from the greenhouse. These are a relatively dry, firm tomato, with an incredibly rich, summery flavor. We just had to fire up the grill and make pizza with minced garlic, olive oil, basil, Costoluto tomato slices and grated parmesan cheese. If you have never had a grilled pizza, you don't know the heights to which pizza, nature's perfect food, can ascend. We'd do an entire web page on these pizzas, but the fire is hot, and our hands are full grilling them. We couldn't resist. Check out our grilled pizza guide.

08/17/06 - A Summer Pork Chop Dinner

We have been terrible about posting this month. On the other hand, we have been eating well, and the pork chop dinner, shown on the left, was one of the triumphs. We have a page full of notes, recipes, and dime store philosophy, if you care to learn more.

07/20/06 - Mount Townsend Creamery's Seastack Cheese

We finally tasted the third cheese in Mount Townsend Creamery's trio, and we were quite impressed. Seastack is right up there with the great triple cremes like San Andre and Explorateur. We'll have to see how it ages. Unfortunately, the scientific Kaleberg testing procedures resulted in the complete ingestion of the cheese, so we'll have to drop by Dungeness Valley Creamery and get another one or two.

Read the Kaleberg review, and learn more about Mount Townsend Creamery and their local raw Jersey milk cheeses.

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.

06/17/06 - Dry Creek Farm Stewing Hens

While we were buying eggs at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market, Harley informed us that Dry Creek Farm will be selling stewing hens this coming Friday, June 23rd Monday, June 26th, after 3PM at the farm on Rife Road. These are tough old birds, literally, but properly braised they are amazingly flavorful. They also make wonderful chicken stock, so get one while you can.

04/26/06 - Dungeness Valley Creamery Is Open for Business

We just got word from Dungeness Valley Creamery (see their email below). They are open for business and selling raw milk. Apparently, they have taken the big jump and left the milk marketing co-op and are going it on their own. If you have never tasted raw, milk, drop by and try it. It is clearly the inspiration for ice cream, and it will make just about any other milk you have tasted seem washed out and watery.

Dear raw milk supporters,

Thank you so much for your patience! We know how
excited many of you are about finally getting access
to wholesome raw milk. We can now say we will open on
Wednesday, April 26th! Our hours are 7:30 am - 1:00
pm Monday through Saturday.

Dungeness Valley Creamery is now certified raw by the
state and the building has been checked off by the
county! This is a big step of faith for our family
and we invite you to be a part of it! Please come and
see our beautiful new Creamery and enjoy the view of
the Olympic Mountains from the front porch. Oh yeah,
and don't forget the fresh raw jersey milk on your way
out! We are offering quarts, half gallons, and
gallons ($2.25, $3.75, $6.75 respectively). Cash and
checks only. Other local products soon to come.

Look for our products soon in the Port Townsend Food
CO-OP, Sunny Farms, Good to Go, Country Aire, and
Marlenes in Tacoma and Federal Way. We have purchased
a refrigerated truck and are able to deliver.

Also, our milk is going to Mt. Townsend Creamery to be
made into wonderful cheese (which we have tasted and
love)! This too, will soon be availabe in our on farm
store.

Thanks again for all of your support!
Sarah Brown

Dungeness Valley Creamery
1915 Towne Rd.
Sequim, WA 98382
(360) 683-0716

 

For our earlier notes on Dungeness Valley Creamery,
click here.

For more farms and wineries in Clallam County,
click here.

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.

03/01/06 - Ugly Ripe and Delicious

We had heard about Ugly Ripe tomatoes, so called because of their wrinkled appearance. They are known for their taste and for being banned for export from the state of Florida where they are grown. We found these organically grown Ugly Ripes at Nash Huber's farm stand, and we have to admit that they are a bit ugly, but they are indeed delicious. They have a meaty texture and are nice and tart.

Apparently, being organic, they are not subject to the same export restrictions as regular tomatoes. Most tomatoes nowadays are genetically modified to taste better, and they do. Even inorganic tomatoes are much better than the old box car tomatoes developed in the 1950s to be safe from "anything but a direct hit". These Ugly Ripes are even better than the premium supermarket brand, so we are looking forward to seeing more of them during the off season.

12/23/05 - Fruitcake Is Illuminated - A Special Report

Wow, have we been busy. It is definitely time for an update. What have we been doing? Well, we illuminated our fruitcake. Read our special report for more on this. That's just a close up on the right.

We've also been decorating the cookie tree. We have some pictures of last year's cookie tree here.

12/13/05 - The Port Angeles Christmas Firetruck

Every year the Port Angeles fire department runs their collection for the local food banks, Operation Candy Cane. They deck out one of their trucks with lights and get Santa up on the top of the rig to hand out candy canes to all good boys and girls, and to those who give something for people short on food. You can't miss this food drive, what with the lights and sirens it's quite a spectacle. We always give cash, since we doubt that a bunch of lacinato kale is going to do as much good as a few leaves of lettuce.

The firemen may be back fighting fires now, but you can always find a local food drive or food bank if you want to be good.

11/22/05 - Too Many Turkeys

You may remember our quandary last year with regard to a surfeit of oysters closely followed by a surfeit of poultry. Well, it's that time of year again. We now officially have a surfeit of turkeys.

We innocently ordered one, make a note of that, one, large heritage breed turkey from Heritage Food USA. We were eagerly waiting in our doorway when the Federal Express truck arrived. We accepted our turkey in its white shipping carton and thanked the delivery man for getting us our bird. We were all set to sign off, but he told us that he wasn't done yet. We had three boxes.

Indeed, we had three turkeys, each in its own white shipping carton. There was a 21 pounder and two 18 pounders. That's 57 pounds of turkey for two people. Even we have to draw the line somewhere. We officially declared a surfeit, and scrambled madly for freezer space. One bird is for Thanksgiving, but, as you might expect, we have plans for the other two.

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.