Greenhouse Dinner at Local No. 98856

Ahhh, if only Twisp were closer to Seattle. Well, maybe the distant location is half of its appeal to me. Once I’m over the Cascade passes, the high desert hills, orchards, and fields of wheat seem to set my mind at ease. There is something about this landscape that lets me relax a bit easier, allows me to slow down my pace, and just lets me chill the f out.

It also doesn’t hurt the cause that some of the nicest, most genuine people I’ve even met are living over there. So last July, when I was visiting Sam and Brooke Lucy at Bluebird (in next town Winthrop), I was introduced to Tess Hoke, co-owner of Local No. 98856, an awesome roadside eatery (shout out also to Blue Star Coffee Roasters and Lost River Winery, too). Tess has a monthly guest chef dinner in the greenhouse at the back of her establishment. So, we looked at our calendars and figured out a date I could come back and cook dinner for the Twisp/Winthrop community. We set October 14 as the date and I spent all summer and fall looking forward to coming back to cook in Twisp.

When I arrived on Monday, Tess and I talked about the menu as she tended to the new secession of Tristar strawberries and picked the final brandywine tomatoes and dug out some gigantic leeks from the ground. A neighboring farm had put up some lamb earlier in the year and I scored some awesome fresh chevre from the folks at Pine Stump Farm. I had brought over some goodies that Jeremy Faber of Foraged and Found had procured for me in the Cascades earlier in the week – golden chanterelles, cauliflower mushrooms, fried chicken mushrooms, and hedgehog mushrooms. I had all of the makings for a fantastic farm dinner!

Before I get into the menu details, I’ll tell you I was excited by a sign I saw posted at Local on Monday afternoon. Scheduled for that evening at the Twisp River Pub (delicious fresh hopped IPA) was an event sponsored by the Methow Conservancy, a conservation and land-preservation group that cares greatly for the Methow Valley. The speaker was Mick Mueller, and ecologist and very knowledgeable mycologist from the US Fire Service. He gave a great presentation on the mushrooms found in Washington, the distinctions and classifications of the hundreds of varieties we can find when out for a walk/hike/ride through the woods. He brought about 15 examples of fungi as well as an in depth slideshow that enlightened the crowd of nearly 75 mushroom enthusiasts. Of course, I couldn’t resist showing him the goodies I’d brought over, and I wound up giving him a stray Matsutake that I had. He gave it a strong whiff and we both agreed that that mushroom isn’t for everyone. He had to leave the Valley the next day, so unfortunately, he wasn’t able to stay for the dinner at Local.

On Tuesday, I arrived at Local early and prepped by myself for most of the day. With some afternoon kitchen help from Amy (yes, my former sous chef, Amy!) and Linda, we cruised easily into the dinner hour and fed the 32 guests who had been sipping some fine Lost River Winery Merlot, Syrah and Community Red wines. The menu was as follows:

Appetizer
Cascade Mushrooms, Melted Leeks, Goat Cheese Croutons, Oven Roasted Tomatoes
Entrée
Leg of Lamb, Emmer Farro Fries, Braised Cabbage
Dessert
Roasted Seckel Pears, Local Honey, Concord Grape Sorbet

Yes, you read that correctly, I made farro fries for Twisp. You should have been there because they were the best ever! Amy made a really nice sorbet with the fresh grapes we had. And all in all, it was a successful local Local farm dinner. I can’t wait to come back next year!

Ritrovo Demo at Town & Country Market

As much as I attempt to limit my ingredient list geographically to the great PNW, I can’t get it all here. The great triumvirate of foodstuff that are not produced locally includes coffee, chocolate, and olive oil (I love bananas but I could do without them in the restaurant kitchen). Most of us in Seattle have no problem sourcing coffees from exotic sources that are benefiting from the roaster’s good conscience (i.e. Caffe Vita and Vivace). And lately, chocolate has been brought into the country by refiners who have met and approved of the methods and labors in a slew of worldly destinations. Look no further than Theo Chocolate for a gleaming example of a socially responsible international business.

But olive oil, a common cooking ingredient produced by many “first world” countries, has been coming to the US for over a century. Today, some very large producers produce huge quantities of varying qualities of olive oil. Although California has been able to produce small amounts of high quality oils, there rarely is enough of the good stuff to keep in the pantry on a regular basis.

Fortunately for the restaurant community in Seattle, and those foodies in the know, there is a great small company, Ritrovo. These committed educators painstakingly search the Italian countryside to find small, organic producers of highest quality oils, pastas, nuts, and grains. Founders Ron Post and Ilyse Rathet have brought their passion for the finest Italy has to the table for Seattle top restaurants. A conversation about the quality of the risotto (or chick peas, almonds, salts, or vinegars for that matter) they import versus the alternatives will have you convinced in no time, that the products with the Ritrovo endorsement are the ones you want to serve to your restaurant guests.

I’ve had the privilege of participating in cooking demonstrations for Ritrovo on a few occasions, and most recently, on Friday, I was on Bainbridge Island to create dishes for the customers of the Town & Country market near the ferry terminal. As an infrequent visitor to the islands, I was amazed that this small grocery chain invoked the spirit of a small town market where you know the clerks and other customers by name and greet them and ask “How have you been?” and actually care. While I was helping Ilyse and the store’s culinary coordinator, Sharen, to demo the Truffle and Salt and Fennel and Salt products, the grocery’s customers would stop by for a nibble and catch up on this week’s gossip.

I did manage to make a couple of tasting dishes that showed the salts versatility and range of applications. First, with a leg of Ellensburg lamb, I made a marinade of garlic, thyme, olive oil and Fennel and Salt. I then sliced a fennel bulb and sautéed it with chanterelle mushrooms and shallots, which then got a liberal season with black pepper and the Fennel and Salt. After grilling medallions of the lamb and placing it on the warm fennel slaw, I topped it with a fig and balsamic gastrique. For the second demo, I wanted to show how the simplest summer ingredients could benefit from the great flavor of the Truffle and Salt. I sliced some heirlooms tomatoes and a nice red Italian frying pepper and seasoned them with the salt and macerated them with olive oil and sherry vinegar. The fish guys gave me a nice rockfish filet that I seasoned with none other than the Truffle and Salt and I grilled small pieces. The fish was served atop the tomatoes and a drizzle of the tomato’s juices and a dash of the Truffle and Salt finished the tasting.