Kaleberg Archive for Keyword: nash huber, Page: 2

Dim Sun at the market.

We were at the farmers' market today, and the place was bustling. Nash Huber, Johnston Farms, Lazy J and Red Dog were among the regulars along with the honey people at Elwha Apiary. We also noticed that the Wild West oyster people were here, and this week they were selling shucked oysters as well as oysters and clams in the shell. (We have to get a picture of their stand). There was also a dim sun stand. We didn't get to try any of their dumplings, having eaten right before heading down to the market, but we might plan differently next week.

Keywords: farmers' market, farms, johnston farm, nash huber, oysters

Some of their rye bread

04/25/09 - Bell Street Bakery

Bell Street Bakery opened a while back in Sequim. We haven't made a visit yet, but we did get to try a couple of their loaves, and we've heard a bit from our friends. Their whole wheat sandwich bread was excellent, with a great grainy texture and a lot of whole wheat flavor. We made some simple sardine sandwiches, and the the bread was a perfect match. Their rye bread was also good, but being familiar with New York City style deli rye, we found it a bit sweet and lacking the sour tang of a real deli rye.

Our friends, based in Sequim, report that their root vegetable bread is great, and it uses root vegetables from Nash Huber's farm. We have to get out there and see what else is available, but so far, things look promising. The whole area is undergoing a bakery renaissance. Ever since Bonny's closed we've had to bring in fresh bread from elsewhere, but now Bell Street Bakery is open, Good To Go in Port Angeles has gotten the go ahead to fire up their oven, and there may be one or two other bakeries opening in Sequim in the near future. We live in exciting times.

Keywords: good to go, nash huber, new york city, port angeles, food

02/03/09 - Swan Amongst the Swine

If you've ever been down Towne Road in Dungness, you have probably noticed the swine at Delta Farm. These are what you get when you order a pig share from Nash Huber. On some days, you'll also see swans, usually in large flocks. They seem to enjoy grubbing around in the same fields as the swine. We haven't been able to photograph them together which has fed some speculation as to their secret identities, but we figured we'd point out that these magnificent birds are visiting our region. You might want to check out the area, the swans, the farms and maybe even the swine.

Some swans

They settled in great herds. They're too big for flocks.

The setting

Keywords: birds, dungeness, farms, nash huber

01/17/09 - Kim Chi Pancakes and the Port Angeles Farmers Market

The winter isn't a great time for the Port Angeles Farmers' Market. It is still held every Saturday in the Clallam County Courthouse parking lot from 10AM to 2PM, but there are only a few farmers and venders there. The regulars include Westwind Farm, Dry Creek Farm, Tuna Dan and Nash Huber.

Harley at Dry Creek Farm says his hens are laying through the winter thanks to his new henhouse and the new breed of hens he has. He sold 100 dozen eggs in perhaps an hour this last Saturday, so come early. Also, in February, he will be selling stewing hens. He says the new lot is not quite as fatty, and the birds are a bit smaller, but we know that there is nothing quite like a good old stewing hen, braised for a winter dish.

A new regular at the market is the Korean kim chi and garlic lady. We haven't gotten her name yet, but she sells great big heads of garlic which seem to be much stronger than a lot of local garlic. She also sells jars of kim chi, Korean spicy pickled cabbage, and kim chi pancakes. We haven't tried the kim chi proper, but the pancakes are delicious. No, they aren't horribly spicy, but they have a nice light burn.

We don't expect a lot of action at the market this time of year. We've been enjoying the steelhead from Tuna Dan, and we've been rounding up the usual vegetables at Westwind and Nash Huber's. Things may be a bit slow, but the market is open, and it is still worth a trip.

Keywords: dry creek farm, farmers' market, nash huber, port angeles, winter, westwind farm, birds

05/05/07 - Peashoots and Asparagus at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market

We are just back from the Farmers' Market, and we have to report that spring is moving along.

Westwind Farm has the most amazing asparagus. We've never tasted any this good before. Go for the big fat ones, if there are any left when you get their. When you get them home, peel them and steam them, or boil them. Also, this may be the last week they have their nettles, so hurry up if you want to dry making nettle soup or ravioli.

The Johnston Farm is selling pea shoots, a sure sign of the season. They also have their baby potatoes, lots of herbs, carrots and coriander.

Harley at Dry Creek Farm says that his salad greens are doing nothing, but he does have his eggs. His organic oats are also doing well, but the cold weather has slowed things.

Nash Huber has great looking Swiss chard and lots of little cauliflowers. We bought three bunches of the stuff, so we'll be making our Swiss chard and tuna spaghetti again real soon.

Keywords: farms, nash huber, dry creek farm, johnston farm, food, spring, farmers' market, westwind farm

02/10/07 - Nash Huber In Seeds Of Change Catalog

This is the time of year that those "colorless green ideas dream furiously", and we are scanning our seed and plant catalogs. We were browsing through the excellent organic Seeds of Change catalog, and we couldn't help noticing a familiar face. That's Nash Huber on page 25. For cabbage and kale seeds, he's their man.

Keywords: farms, nash huber

12/24/06 - The Dungeness Dike Trail

We were exhausted from all our Christmas preparations and just wanted a place to stretch our legs so we checked out the Dungeness Dike Trail off Towne Road. It is right near the Dungeness Valley Creamery and Nash Huber's farm stand, so we could get some exercise and do some shopping.

The trail is a little gem. We had seen cars parked at the dike access area, and we had heard that this was a good area for birding, but now we have discovered another little treasure. Read our report for more info.

Keywords: dungeness dike trail, farms, trails, christmas, dungeness, nash huber, shopping

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.

ncluding some Dungeness Valley Creamery milk and some Mount Townsend Creamery cheeses.

Another sign on the door - we have to check this out. There is nothing quite like FRESH King Crab meat.

Keywords: nash huber, farms, autumn, dungeness, fish, milk, salt creek, mount townsend creamery, salmon

Dungeness Valley Creamery

05/23/06 - Dungeness Valley Creamery In Action

Last month we mentioned that Dungeness Valley Creamery is selling their raw Jersey milk, and that it is wonderful. Apparently, the milk is selling well. Country Aire was sold out, but Good To Go, a new organic food shop up on Lauridsen Boulevard which we should discuss in greater detail, had a quart. We drank most of it, but we saved enough to make our favorite pork chop recipe from Marcella Hazan's The Classic Italian Cook Book. After all, we had just gotten our half Berkshire pig from Nash Huber so it was time to pig out.

Pork Chops Cooked in Milk

OUR VERSION OF THE RECIPE

6 pork chops - use the best pork you can get
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp pepper (or to taste)
2 - 3 cups of milk - use the best milk you can get

Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Brown and cook both sides of all the pork chops, turning them now and then so they get caramelized nicely. Lower the heat if the butter starts to brown.
Add salt and pepper. Pour in the milk gently, sloshing it around.
Lower the heat to a simmer and cook with the lid closed for about 45 minutes. Turn the chops now and then so that they simmer in the liquid.

The chops will get incredibly tender, and the flavors will be incredibly rich. Serve with the cooking liquid, and try not to fight over the milk curds that will form.

The Milk

Keywords: milk, dungeness, food, nash huber, recipe, good to go

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.

Keywords: food, nash huber, farms

10/16/05 - Home Cure: The Best Ham Ever

We just checked out our own home smoked Berkshire pig ham, and we were impressed. This is the second time we have bought a half a Berkshire pig from Nash Huber. The first time, we loved everything except for the ham. Unsmoked ham can be very dry, and roasting and braising just don't help very much. We managed to gret some of the ham down with sweet potatoes, Hawaiian style, but it was just not very good.

This year, we decided to brine and smoke our own ham, so we broke out our Alan Wong Hawaiian cookbook, from our luau, and found a recipe for pipikailua beef. We boiled up six quarts of water, 12 ounces of Kosher salt, three bay leaves, four tablespoons of light brown sugar, a tablespoon of black peppercorns, and a teaspooon of whole cloves. We let this cool, then chill in the refrigerator, then we dumped in the ham for 36 hours. We had a nice three inch thick slab of meat, so we figured that 24 hours might not be enough.

Then we fired up the classic Weber kettle grill with our Hasty-Bake hardwood charcoal and some of the old apple wood from a stump we had on our property. In went the ham, down came the lid. We poked at the coals every half hour or so, now and then adding a few more chunks of charcoal, but otherwise we just let the ham smoke. Sometimes the fire was a bit high. Sometimes it was a bit cool. With the lid down it averaged out just fine.

After three hours of smoking, we took out our ham. It had shrunk a bit, and it was brown and juicy looking. We cut off a bit. It was delicious. We let it sit on a plate in the refrigerator overnight to settle. This morning, it looked great and it was delicious. No, it didn't turn as pink as commercial cured hams. We didn't want to bother with curing salts. We just wanted to find a way to cook up our ham so we'd eat it, not preserve it for the winter. On the other hand, the wooly texture we associated with ham from the year before was gone. The meat was denser and moister. The flavor was rich and intense, without being too sweet or salty.

If you search the web for a ham recipe, you tend to get rather terse instructions, and they all call for curing salts. Think of this as a simple recipe for brined and smoked ham. With a little planning, you can make one yourself.

Keywords: food, luau, nash huber, winter, recipe

06/18/05 - Ivory King Seafood

We were out at Nash Huber's stand in Dungeness and since it was Saturday between 1 PM and 5 PM, we ran into Ivory King Seafood. The lady right ahead of us bought the last halibut, an awfully good looking fish. We went for one of the salmon, which was caught locally, by line.

We'll have to make our way out to Dungeness on Saturday or Sunday afternoons more often.

Keywords: fish, dungeness, nash huber, salmon

08/03/04 - Salmon Off A Truck

Yesterday, we took a hike along the Elwha River Trail. We didn't get really far, but we did get to our favorite overlook between the two canyons on the route to Lilian Camp. This might not have been much of a hike by some people's standards, but we were tired enough after two and a half hours on the trail and an overall climb of about 950 feet.

Needless to say, by we were hungry on the drive home, so we planned to drop by the Safeway and get ourselves the fixings for a steak hash. We turned down Lincoln and there we saw our answer, right in the Rite Aid / Goodwill parking lot.

The Rite Aid and the Goodwill thrift shop share a huge parking lot, and often there will be someone in a van or pickup truck selling stuff at the far end. Sometimes they are selling firewood. Others sell flowers or fruit, today, there was a group selling salmon.

"SALMON", the sign screamed at us. We slammed on the brakes and turned in.

"What kind of salmon do you have?", we asked.

The blue and green light of the Elwha River Trail is something special. It's like an Impressionist painting.

We decided to experiment with our Sebsoft Impressionist special effect for iMovie. Click on the picture above for the Quicktime movie.

"We've got some silvers and also some king."

"King salmon, we'll take some of that."

"We caught them yesterday out near Neah Bay."

The next thing you know we were poking around in the ice chest on the back of the truck and breathing in the salty scent of the sea. Fresh fish doesn't smell like fish. It smells like the sea.

"Wow, that's a big one", we remarked pointing at what seemed the Moby Dick of salmon.

"That's the one everybody is asking what it weighs."

"Let's find out."

It weighed in at 13 1/2 pounds. It was quite a fish. We paid up and raced home. Safeway could wait.

While the grill heated up we took the last three of Nash Huber's nectarines we had on the counter, all eight of our Shiro plums from our dwarf trees, a few of our pie cherries, two medium onions, chopped, a whole bunch of Nash's coriander, some salt, some pepper and a couple of teaspoons a five spice powder, and we stuffed them into the boned fish. (We removed the spine and most of the bones ourself. It's hard to bone a fish on the back of a truck).

We wrapped the fish in aluminum foil and popped it on a hot fire. We were worried that the fire might be too hot, but the fish could take it. The skin and flesh merged to form a sort of crackling layer which was absolutely scrumptious.

We flipped the fish over after 25 minutes. It was quite a struggle. It weighed at least ten pounds without the head and tail, but we did it. The fire was cooler now, so we let the fish cook another 40 minutes. It was perfectly done. Even the onions in the middle were cooked. It was amazingly good. There is nothing quite like fresh salmon and a tart fruit based stuffing.

We had it with New Zealand spinach from the Farmer's Market, but that's another story.

Keywords: elwha, trails, fish, movies, flowers, nash huber, salmon

06/16/04 - Nash Huber's Farm Stand

A couple of the regulars at Nash Huber's farm stand started a catering business, and since we like their attitudes towards food, and local food in particular, we told them we'd mention them on our web site if they gave us a card. It took a few trips to the Farmer's Market, and a lot of Nash's great coriander, before we got our card, but here is the poop on their catering business.

Keywords: food, nash huber

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