Blog Relocation!

Cowen Park Kitchen has moved!

Please visit the new home here: http://cowenparkkitchen.com
and update your readers and bookmarks.
See you there!

Hearty Wheat Berry Crackers

This recipe is for the true wheat lovers. I'm talking cream of wheat, Grape Nuts, whole grain bread, stone-ground flour eaters. Is that you? Hey wait, maybe I can convert you.

Roasted Garlic, Caper, and Sardine Spread

I'm trying not to make this into a billboard for sardines. But the sad reality is, I'm not sure I can avoid it. Okay, I'll put it plainly: sardines = delicious. If you have never tried them, you are truly missing out on an amazing food. Part of the American distaste for sardines and anchovies seems to have come from a common theme: poverty, and desire to avoid it. Sardines are cheap fishes, plentiful, and easily preserved. They are not steak-like, and are not necessarily glamorous. At a certain point, they became identified as "poor food" and the predominant judgement sadly remains.

Huckleberry Infused Vinegar

Yes, I've been on a huckleberry kick lately. Can you blame a girl in cloudy, cold January for wanting some berries her day? Nope. Don't even try.
This is the easiest recipe I have posted, next to that delicious Sour Cherry Extract, that is. Same idea: pick a delicious food, throw it in the desired medium, let it steep until best flavor happens. I'd love to inspire an infusion revolution, so I plan on continuing to post my own experiments and recommendations.

Fawn's Finds #3

Hello! Special edition of Fawn's Finds, focusing on Pacific NW food purveyors. I realize a lot of you won't find this particularly useful as you might not live in the region. I encourage you, however, to do one of the following: on your next trip to Seattle (which will be soon, right?), pay a visit to one or two of these vendors; or seek out similar options in your area of the world. I think it's vastly important to support your local people. You know the deal, I won't give you the long-story shtick: eating close to home is just a great idea.

1. Hama Hama Oyster Co., Lilliwaup, WA. At Farmer's Markets around Seattle. 

Shellfish! Fresh, sweet oysters, mussels, clams, crabs, canned and smoked oysters, oh, beauty galore! The products are fantastic and also very reasonably priced (expect about $10/dozen oysters and $6/# clams). The service is abundantly friendly. Really, there is not a reason if you are able that you shouldn't stop by a Seattle Farmer's Market and grab a bag of shellfish. An example: I picked up a bag of little, less-polished looking mussels a few months ago. They took a little loving (scrubbing, soaking in salty water) but ended up producing the most scrumptious broth with fennel and mushrooms. I could have drank the sauce straight. Actually, I might have.

2. Don and Joe's Meats, Seattle, WA. At the Pike Place Market. 

To the left of the salmon and to the right of the tea, cheese, and mini-donuts is Don and Joe's. Always reliable. If I'm feeling not up to making my own sausage or bacon, this is a great place to grab some. I'm a fan of their very reasonably priced "bacon ends" which essentially means, the odd-shaped pieces of cured bacon trimmed away. I made a great lentil soup with some of those bacon ends and pieces...that's the perfect use. 

3. Sea Breeze Farm, Vashon Island, WA. Around Farmer's Markets in Seattle.

These guys do so many things so well. Dairy, charcuterie, wine, meats...I've bought raw milk, wine, and sausage from them. Best of all, an overseas work colleague delivered a huge picnic basket of their goods to my office around Christmas, which included fabulous aged cheeses, wine, and a huge variety of pork products: pork belly rillettes, duck rilletes, pate de campagne (my favorite), and other meats in aspic. Lovely, lovely food. A little strange to be consuming such rich food at work, I will say. The moral of the story: having had the chance to sample their products has absolutely made me more adventurous and confident in my own kitchen. Don't you love it when that happens? 

4. Nash's Organic Produce, Dungeness Valley, WA. At Farmer's Markets in Seattle and via CSA.

Let's be frank. There is a lot of lovely produce at markets in Seattle. It's not like we are hurting for good fruits and vegetables. Nash's is the cream of the crop: their vegetable displays could drive a chef wild. Everything is glossy (but not in a waxy sort of way) and arranged beautifully. I could have just bought something around the corner and be drawn into Nash's. My favorite: big bags of carrots. Earthy, crisp, and oh-so-sweet, these bags keep for 1-2 months absolutely perfectly in the crisper. That, you might notice, is not how most supermarket carrots act. I was blown away by their staying power, and have been coming back to buy more and more carrots. Call it my winter staple vegetable, perhaps! 

5. Tails & Trotters, partnered with a farm in Ephrata, WA and finished in Newberg, OR. Can be found in Eugene, Portland, and Seattle. 

Hazelnut pigs. Seriously people, this is some amazing meat. I first tried some of their bacon when I lived in Portland, and it may have been a life-altering moment. Sweet, creamy, earthy, and rich. This is bacon for real bacon-lovers. Not the bacon-lovers who think "bacon makes everything better." This, friends, is for those lovers who think "good bacon makes life better." I'll leave you with that. If you can find them (they have a lot of vendors and restaurants who serve their products now), absolutely try some. You will not be sorry. 

Have you tried these products? Shopped at these vendors? Let me know what you think! 

Shaved Carrot Salad with Buttermilk Herb Dressing

I'll be the first to lament the lack of salad in the winter. Yes, you can find lettuce and greenery in all the stores, but they seem to be coming from Mexico, California, etc., and I'm trying hard this year to buy and eat what makes sense locally. If you are lucky enough to live in California, you have my blessing. Saladify your life as you see fit.
I've been majorly craving spring greens, though, and have bought a variety of both local and from-far-away greens and have been bitterly disappointed. Turns out things grown in greenhouses hundreds of miles away are lacking in flavor or storage capability. Surprising? No.
The most important thing to note here is this: it's cold, it's January, and spring mix doesn't taste good because it doesn't make sense. You may not share that sentiment, but what makes much more sense is this: storage crops, root vegetables, preserved meats, pickles. You coming along for this? I hope so.

Huckleberry Maple Breakfast Cake

This breakfast cake is divine. It is not decadent or rich, sugary or intensely flavored. It won't lie to you.
Instead, it is moist with a spongy crumb, balanced sweet and tart with a buzzing maple flavor in the background. The berries won't let you down, and should you find it in need of dressing up, the possibilities are quite endless. Syrup drizzled atop, honeyed Greek yogurt, vanilla bean cream cheese, perhaps a side of sweet tangerines. I however ate mine entirely plain and wouldn't have it any other way.

Herbes de Provence

It's been remarkably cold here in Seattle, which I don't mind terribly because it's brought a bout of blue skies and sunshine along. Anything that brings a little extra sun into Seattle winters is fine by me. I find I'm continually trying to lighten up the days of January, however I can — hot soups, spicy foods, walks in the sun, daydreams of beaches and warm breezes. Which leads me to this very unique spice mixture.

Homemade Bacon!

Hi!
I'm here to convince you to make your own bacon at home.

Don't look at me like that, like I'm probably asking you to do an impossible task that only butchers or professionals do. Really. I wouldn't be promoting this for you, dear reader if I didn't consider it 

a) not difficult in any way—really! 

b) not expensive—absolutely is cheaper than buying pre-made bacon. 

c) way more delicious than store-bought bacon—the truth is now I only want to eat my own bacon. Period. Come to the dark side...it's delicious.

Poppy Seed and Rosemary Soda Bread

I made my first batch of soda bread while living in a spacious though rather miserable basement (re: underground) apartment in Portland. We lived a long walk from the nearest store, and I suffered from a back injury over the spring and summer. So inspired utilization of whatever was in the cupboard that morning became an all-too-true philosophy.

Sour Cherry Extract

So. Looks like Valentine's Day, right? And it is...hardly January. Before you throw this recipe away, let me explain: it takes time. Fortunately, it takes so little effort, you might actually forget you did it.
Basically, locate some dried sour cherries (check out the bulk bins), add to a mild-tasting vodka (read: cheap is fine, but make sure you'll be alright using it in small amounts; the flavor and aroma of the liquor will still remain behind the fruit flavor), sit back and wait, then enjoy. Use as you would vanilla extract or almond extract, depending on the recipe. Homemade custard, ice cream, baked oatmeal, buttermilk pancakes, biscotti, and almond cookies would all be wonderful applications for this extract. Begin with 1/2 t. for most recipes, and if you feel it deserves more, up to 1-2 t. Cherries vary naturally in acid and sugar content, and though this extract is not meant to be sweet per se, your perception of the flavor will depend on your batch of cherries.

Balsamic Parsley Pesto with Walnuts

If there is anyone out there that can go through a whole bunch of parsley before it goes bad, please raise your hand. And then email me some recipes.
Okay, I could understand if you have a big family, or were cooking for a (Mediterranean?) dinner party, but for two people, a bunch is a fair amount to do justice to. So I'm frequently looking for ways to use large amounts of parsley and cilantro. Basil, when it's in season, doesn't challenge me. Because it's basil. Heavenly basil. 

Fawn's Finds #2 and an Announcement

Hello!
I hope you had a fantastic holiday. I had a lovely and delicious long weekend with friends and family. No snow, but that's not to be expected here! Instead we had some rain. I know, you must be surprised.

My announcement is that over the coming weeks, Cowen Park Kitchen will be revamped and moved to its own URL, www.cowenparkkitchen.com! Note: currently redirects back here. To avoid endless loops, hold off for the moment. Until then, please stay tuned for interim posts! Hurrah!

Starting with: a short showcase on a few products that I think you might enjoy. I realize the season of buying may be winding down, but perhaps you have in-laws still in town, or some holiday gift-cards to utilize? Returned gifts with credit (shhh)? All these things are delicious. Promise.

Please note again that I have no endorsement with these companies; I recommend them to you out of my own interest and tasting experience.
Here we go!

Almond Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodle. Doesn't the word sound like one of those strange intermixed dog breed names? As in "labradoodle"? My boyfriend once worked somewhere that necessitated the use of a tool called a "spoodle." (spoon + ladle). Yes, it sounds absolutely ridiculous. Luckily I didn't make a strange uptight shedding dog for you, nor did I make an oddly colored plastic measuring device. I made cookies, which are delicious with or without the silly name. 

Maple Oatflour Shortbread

I read recently that the original Scottish shortbread may have been made with oats instead of wheat. Of course we all know how much of a staple the great oat is and was to that part of the globe, and it makes sense to me. Shortbread is one of my favorite types of cookies because they are all about the rich crumbly buttery texture and much less about the sweetness.
What goes great with oats, I pondered...well, in my opinion, many things. But I won't bore you (again) by an ode to oats, which I love dearly. The answer I first came upon: maple syrup. Obviously not Scottish in origin, but a lovely flavor and undeniably (North) American. Long story short, unless I'm working with confections or chocolate, I basically only respect and enjoy sweeteners that also are used for their flavors (honey, molasses, dark brown sugar, etc.) so maple was a go with these babies.

Roasted Garlic and Carrot Soup with Buttermilk and Chicken Fat Croutons

I'm really enjoying a) rendering animal fat that would have otherwise been wasted and finding interesting things to do with it and b) roasting things in cast-iron skillets. 'Tis the season! And by that I mean (sigh) winter. No, we don't typically rack up snow here in Seattle, though it's been known to wreak havoc for several weeks a year, but we have this endless-feeling stretch of gray drizzle and dark mornings that can really get you down. And make you think about moving to Hawai'i. Sigh.

Blue Cornmeal-Buckwheat-Sunflower-Sweet Corn Pancakes

I'd like to apologize for the ungodly long title of these pretty pancakes. There isn't really a better way to explain how cool they are except to go ahead and give you the rundown on what they are bringing to the show. An adorable breakfast joint near my old apartment in Portland called Bumblekiss Cafe inspired me to make these. The funny thing is that I didn't order these: the boyfriend did, somehow stumbling right past the phrases "vegan" and "gluten-free" that preceded their description. We must have been extremely hungry, hungover, or both, because he usually eschews both those genres of food. Myself, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I like things to taste real, and usually go in for anything outside the box and I am admittedly a bit of a health nut. Sometimes that means I'm digging on a dish with no eggs and milk, or one with no wheat. But...if it has Xanthan gum and flax powder and soy margarine, I'm not interested. 

Thus while I really like the buckwheat flour in here, I knew the cakes would be more delicious with buttermilk and eggs. Oh, and a little bacon fat. But you know, your mileage may vary. 

Miso Roasted Winter Squash

One of the best things about winter is the availability of storage crops. I'm speaking about vegetables you can buy on a whim from the market, bring home, promptly forget about in the hinterland of your fridge, then rediscover with joy on a rainy afternoon when leaving the house seems like the most disgusting idea. 

I think I've mentioned that I used to abhor all squashes. My original judgement was based on a mushy, graceless squash experience, probably with brown sugar dropped on top like it was the only possible friendly flavor. But no! Now the doorway to squash flavors has been flung open for me. Limitations: minimal. 

Cranberry Walnut Granola

I'm excited to share this with you today, because it's a fun and easy way to use up Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. Yes, I still have cranberry sauce in the fridge, because I made a lot and didn't end up with turkey leftovers. It's been staring me down every time I open the door. 

So I realize everyone's cranberry sauce will be different. Mine is more sweet than tart, and syrup-like in consistency but with the occasional berry bit. Don't make this with canned gelatinous (loaf sauce!) jelly. That's gross. 

You could in theory use any preserve here, as long as it's balanced and spreadable. I love cranberries and walnuts together, and I can pretty much eat my own weight in granola (what! oats and nuts? like, my two favorite things) so this makes perfect sense. I hope someone out there agrees. 

Chile-Lime Carrot Slaw with Toasted Peanuts

All these wintery vegetables. Parsnips, potatoes, squash...they are fabulous. But I need a moment. Of escape, and denial that Seattle is solidly approaching the lack-of-sunshine blues low point of the winter/fall. And while yes, carrots are technically a root vegetable and storage crop, I'm going to transform them into a mini-vacation for your mouth, transporting you along with it to somewhere hot and humid. Let's think, Thailand? Yes please.