Greens

Happy Easter!

By macallister on 4/10/09 3:46pm
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One of the things I love about the Northwest is that you don't have to stick too closely to the traditional way the rest of the country does things, unless you really want to. Life here is about freedom, health, and adventure. So let's consider Easter Dinner, Northwest-style. I grew up with a big, heavy, baked ham Easter dinner. Mashed potatoes and gravy, deviled eggs (you have to do something with all those left-over boiled eggs the kids spent so much time dying different colors) and maybe something green, broccoli or green beans, mostly for garnish.

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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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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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