Smoked Salmon

By lisala on 3/11/09 5:50pm
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It's fairly easy these days to find good quality smoked salmon, especially here in the Pacific Image of smoked salad and fresh salad greens.Northwest. If you don't have your own smoker or just aren't a smoke-it-yourself sort of person, it's more than likely you can buy excellent smoked salmon locally at your grocer's meat counter or deli, and there's always online; I note that the Pike's Place Fish Market has a nicely done online store with a wide variety of smoked salmon packages. You don't even have to fight the crowds downtown at the Market in person, to get the authentic Pike's Place goods.

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Kale!

By macallister on 2/15/09 7:55pm
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Let's talk about kale.

One of the things I love most about the Northwest is that I can find fresh organic leafy greens, year-round. Kale, especially, is readily available in your local market from mid-winter through early spring. This time of year kale is especially sweet and tender. I came fairly late to kale, as a cook. It wasn't one of the greens I remember my mom cooking, when I was growing up in Montana.

Kale and collard greens are old plants, cultivated in kitchen-gardens for nearly as long as we have records. Described by 1st century writers, the Romans and Greeks grew greens very similar to modern kale and collard. Either the Romans or the Celts introduced "coles" to Britain.

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Valentine's Day in the Northwest

By lisala on 2/9/09 7:19pm
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Saturday is Valentine's Day. It's still five days away though, so you've got a bit of time to make sure you haven't forgotten your best beloved this year. Here in the Northwest, we all have unique opportunities to enjoy the beauty and style of Northwest style and living, while we celebrate this holiday with someone we love. Even if you've never made a big deal about Valentine's Day before, and don't intend to this year, either—it's never a bad idea to make any day a special and romantic day with someone you care about.

Skagit tulip field

Valentine's Day doesn't have to cost a lot to be memorable. In fact, the personal touches that don't cost anything but your time, thought, and a little extra attention and effort? Those touches are what will make your Valentine's Day with your beloved a special day. Don't be shy about being unabashedly sentimental, either . . . That's what Valentine's Day is really all about. But moreover, that's what love is all about.

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Planked Salmon

By lisala on 1/27/09 8:48pm
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Planked salmon is one of those things that seems to be very much a feature of Northwest cuisine. I remember a Washington resident friend telling me, in tones of absolute Imaged of thyme-grilled salmon on a plate.gustatory delight, about the preparation rituals; selecting the plank of alder, soaking it in water or wine for at least two hours, then grilling the fresh wild salmon on the plank, so that that the salmon picked up some of the slightly smoky flavor of the wood. I'm not sure about who, when, or where the planking tradition begin; I'd assumed it was something from the native First Nation peoples, and the tradition was adopted by settlers. It's a salmon-cooking method favored in British Columbia, Washington, and Alaska.

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Wines on the Cheap

By lisala on 1/13/09 11:01pm
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When I moved to the Northwest from California, I deliberately looked for and bought "local" wines. Before I moved, most of the wines I bought were California, Australian, or South African, with a smattering of Image of grapes during the ripeining stage, showing three colors on one bunch.German and Italian wines. Consequently, I thought it would be fun to try Northwest wines, so I have been assiduously buying and thoroughly enjoying lots of Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Shiraz, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. I have a confession to make: my wine purchases are typically under $15 a bottle. Mostly, they're under $10 a bottle. And I'm not buying the Gallo Rhinegarten or Riunite Lambrusco I grew up with as "table wines." I'm buying local Washington, Oregon, and Idaho wines.

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Northwest Sparkling Wines

By lisala on 1/10/09 11:45am
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You'll note that that title reads "Sparkling Wines," not "Champagne." There's a reason for that; the appellation "Champagne" is mostly reserved by law, and international treaty, for sparkling wines produced in the Champagne region of France. There are some exceptions, in the U.S., but generally, you'll see Champagne reserved for French imports.

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Let's talk about vinegar

By lisala on 12/29/08 7:55pm
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Vinegar is as old as civilization. Records of humans using vinegar reach back to at least 5000 B.C. when the Babylonians were making wine—and vinegar—from dates. We've used vinegar for thousands of years, as a preservative, a pickling agent, a flavoring, and as medicine.

We still love the stuff. We use it on pasta and veggies, in marinades and dressings. Here in the Northwest, we have access to good local wine and excellent local cider, with which to make our own vinegars (for the adventurous) image of vinegar in a bottle with oreganoand any number of locally grown fruits, herbs, and other seasonings, to infuse otherwise ordinary grocery-store vinegar with some extra flavor and beauty.

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Hazelnuts

By lisala on 12/27/08 2:05am
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Hazelnuts are one of the better known products of Washington and Oregon. The two states between them grow about 3% of the world's hazelnuts (Turkey is the hazelnut king), with Oregon accounting for most hazelnuts in the shell and shelledof those, and Washington growing a mere 3%. There are two native species of hazelnut (or filbert; the nut's the same) in North America; the Beaked Hazelnut, Corylus cornuta is a native of the Pacific Northwest, though it's rarely used for human consumption these days, in its time it was a staple for native Americans. Tukwila, six miles south of Seattle, was named by the Duwamish for the prominence of large native hazel groves.

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Cranberry Sauce

By lisala on 12/22/08 7:14pm
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I grew up with cranberry sauce out of a can, and there's not a thing wrong with it. I actually like it quite a lot, especially on turkey sandwiches, the day after a holiday feast. But there are other ways to use cranberries, as well. And we should use cranberrries, really, because they grow here, they're extremely good for you, and it's fun.

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Welcome!

By lisala on 12/16/08 8:04pm
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When you ask people about food and the Northwest, they almost always think first of salmon, then possibly oysters, clams, chanterelles, or specialty cheeses. Some might be aware of the many apple, cherry, and berry orchards, the amazing local specialty potatoes and onions, the wineries and micro breweries, or the popularity of wild huckleberries, blackberries and mushrooms. But there's far more to Northwest Specialties than that— we'll be talking about all of those, but also, many others, including locally grown hazelnuts and walnuts, and grape seed oil, artisan bakers, millers, wineries and breweries— including mead and cider brewers, and locally grown beef and organic poultry, vegetables, fruit and greens.

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