C’mon Get Happy

By Heather Caro

We love a girl who puts a little consideration into her martini.

That’s why, when reader Angela Wentz asked us for help finding the best outdoor happy hours in Yakima, we couldn’t turn her away. She had a serious list of criteria: great service was a must, an outdoor seating area, and, of course, good happy hour specials.  Said Angela, “Everyone knows that if you can get a discount it makes the fare that much better.”

We had our work cut out for us, but to make it easier, we enlisted Angela to help.  And many happy hours of research later, we developed a list of a few sunny spots we think are worthy of even more investigation.

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Edible Flower Recipes

LAVENDER- LEMON VERBENA CAKE

Makes 2 dozen muffins/cupcakes, one bundt cake or two 8” cake layers.

• 2½ cups cake flour
• 3½ tsp baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 TBSP fresh, finely chopped organic and unsprayed lemon verbena leaves, prepared according to instructions
• 2 TBSP fresh organic and unsprayed lavender flowers, prepared according to instructions
• 2/3 cup butter
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp lemon extract OR 1 TBSP real lemon juice
• zest of one lemon

Preheat oven to 350F. Choose your pans and prep with pan spray or use cupcake papers. Cream butter, sugar and herbs. Blend dry ingredients and add to sugar and butter. Whip juice, milk, eggs and extract and add to dry ingredients. Mix well until batter is really smooth. Bake 25 minutes for muffins, approximately 30 minutes for layer cake, 35 minutes for tube cake. Test cake center.

SUMMER SALAD

4 roasted red peppers

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, sliced

1 tsp coarse salt

freshly ground pepper

3 TBSP red wine vinegar

8 TBSP olive oil

choice of greens, including arugula, rocket, sorrel or chicory

3 tomatos, cut in bite-sized pieces

handful of blanched green beans

4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and quartered

Fresh organic and unsprayed herbs and herb flowers, including purslane, basil, chive    leaves and flowers, and nasturtium leaves and flowers

Peel and seed the peppers, slice them into strips, and place them with their juices in the bottom of a large salad bowl, along with the sliced onions.  Make the vinaigrette by mashing the garlic in a bowl with the salt and a few grinds of pepper.  The garlic should be completely pureed.  Add the vinegar and stir well, then stir in the oil.  Pour the dressing over the onions and peppers and let them marinate for 2-3 hours.  When ready to assemble the salad, add the washed and dried greens.  Arrange the tomatoes and eggs on top.  Then add basil leaves, the young leaves of purslane, finely chopped chive leaves, whole nasturtium leaves, and scatter the purple chive and orange nasturtium flowers on top.  Toss the salad at the table.

BERRIES WITH ROSE-SCENTED CRÈME ANGLAISE

2 highly fragrant organic unsprayed roses

1 cup heavy cream

3 large egg yolks

¼ cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 quart fresh berries

Prepare the flowers according to the directions above. Remove the white heel, which may add bitterness, from 24 rose petals with a pair of scissors.  Refrigerate the remaining petals.  In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, bring the cream and rose petals to a boil.  Remove from the heat and let steep for 10 minutes.  In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and salt.  Temper the egg mixture with a slow stream of the cream/rose mixture, then combine the remainder by pouring slowly through a strainer, whisking constantly.  Now return this mixture to a saucepan and cook over low heat until the mixture thickens and coats a spoon, 10-15 minutes.  Strain again to remove any lumps.  Cover and chill until ready to serve.  At serving time, pour some of the crème anglaise onto a dessert plate and scatter fresh berries over the cream.  Garnish with some of the remaining fresh rose petals, which are a beautiful, edible addition.

Farmers Market Eats!

By Robin Salts Beckett

Photos by Sara Gettys

Yakima’s Farmers Market on Yakima Avenue and Third Street has long been known as the place to find fresh, local fruit and vegetables for dinners at home, but it also offers a delicious array of food that’s ready-to-eat; in fact, it’s a veritable outdoor food plaza, with dishes like pad thai, lumpia and even the decadent and ever-so-French pain au chocolat beckoning hungry shoppers to stop and stay awhile. Visitors can follow their nose, grab a bite and find a nice place to sit and taste the flavor of the market right there on Third Street.

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Cherry Recipes We Adore

Life is just a bowl of cherries…especially when you live in the Yakima Valley!  Don’t let the season pass you by without enjoying sweet (or savory) treats made from cherries straight from the tree.

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Berry-Good Recipes

Spring showers bring green gardens – and plenty of berries -  if you live in the Yakima Valley.  Here are two of our favorite recipes for sweet treats that are good for you too!

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Don’t Forget the Baklava: One roadtrip’s best-kept secret

By Christina McCarthy

Photos by Patty Dirienzo

An hour from Yakima, tucked away under the trees just outside of Goldendale, is a land of milk and honey … and cinnamon and jam, and sweet Greek coffee. The St. John the Forerunner Greek Orthodox Monastery owns and operates this treasure, known to most as simply “the Greek Bakery.”

For the past seven years, the Greek Bakery has been a favorite stop for those who appreciate genuine Greek pastries and gyros. I’ve stopped there myself, but more out of curiosity rather than love of all things Greek and edible. However, my most recent visit — taken with the purpose of learning enough about the bakery to write a little article — has turned me into a fan of their sweet delights. I will be back.

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Red Wine and Chocolate 2010

All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt! -Lucy Van Pelt/Peanuts

Red Wine & Chocolates 2010

Wineries around the Valley will celebrate Valentine’s Day in a most delicious fashion during the Red Wine and Chocolate event Feb. 13-15.  Whether your weakness is a decadent brownie, rich truffles or triple-chocolate petit fours, you’ll find chocolate samplings paired with a variety of red wines at wineries throughout the Valley.

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Recipes from Behind Kitchen Doors

Brad Patterson – Gasperetti’s

Fedelini alla Carbonara

The Sauce:

1/2 cup of thickly sliced smoked bacon lardons

1 cup of crème fraiche

1 large egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

fine sea salt

2 tablespoons finely sliced chives (may substitute scallions)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

8 ounces dried fedelini or other pasta of your choice

Bring a large pot of water to a full boil over high heat with salt.

To make the sauce, sauté the bacon until crisp. Add the crème fraiche and bring just to a simmer.

Whisk the egg yolk into the sauce, add the black pepper and taste for salt. Reserve and keep warm.

When ready to serve, cook the pasta al dente. Drain the pasta.

Add the pasta to the sauce and lightly fold in the sliced chives and parmesan cheese.

Using a meat fork, twirl a quarter of the pasta and put in the center of each of four bowls. You may garnish with additional chives, bacon and parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

*Serves four first course portions.

Cooking notes:

Fedelini is a thinner version of spaghetti. We use exclusively the brand De Cecco from Italy. It is easily purchased at De Laurenti’s in Seattle’s Pike Place Market and occasionally the brand can be found in local grocery stores.

Lardon is a French term for thicker diced fried bacon, etc.

Crème Fraiche is a French-style sour cream that does not curdle when heated.

I find that dried pasta is preferable to fresh pasta as it produces a less “sticky” result.

“Al dente” is an Italian term for “to the tooth” meaning slightly underdone.

Carbonara is an Italian name referring to coal miners or the fact that it was originally cooked over charcoal. The dish gained popularity in the United States with returning soldiers from World War II.

Jaime Rincon – Antojitos Mexicanos

Camarones Al Mojo De Ajo

Jaime Rincon's Camarones Al De Ajo

Ingredients:

¾ cup butter

10 garlic cloves, thinly chopped

40 raw shrimp (21-25 count), deveined (peeled if like)

4 spoons of mayonnaise

Instructions:

In a small sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat; toss in shrimp.

Add a dash of seasoning salt when the shrimp are almost pink.

Add the fresh garlic and four spoons of mayonnaise once the shrimp turn fully pink in color.

Mix well and simmer until garlic turns light brown.

Divide the shrimp into four meals. Garnish with salad and Spanish rice.

Derrin Davis of Tony’s Steakhouse

Kurobuta Pork Chops

Serves 6

Brine:

1 quart water

¼ cup kosher salt

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup good quality honey

1 bay laurel leaf

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon mustard seed

1 quart ice to double the volume of the brine

Pork:

Six each double-bone Kurobuta pork rack with chine bone off and brined overnight or up to 24 hours. Have a qualified, reputable butcher cut and French your pork chops. When brining is complete, remove pork and pat dry with a paper towel. Place in a plastic container until ready for grilling and place in the cooler.

Method of Preparation:

Combine water, salt, sugar and honey in a 2-quart sauce pan and bring to a boil. Allow the sugar and salt to dissolve. When the sugar and salt have dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and add the other ingredients, except for the ice, in order and allow steeping (much like tea) for 10 minutes. Strain the liquid mixture and add the ice to double the volume. When the mixture is at 40 degrees, add the pork rack in a suitable container and allow to brine overnight or up to 24 hours.

Hash:

2.5 pounds sweet potatoes (not yams)

1 sweet onion

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons bacon renderings

Method of Preparation:

Wash sweet potatoes and place on a medium-size sheet pan. Cook sweet potatoes for 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees until skin begins to brown and outside begins to soften slightly. We still want the inside to be slightly firm to allow for extra cooking later. While potatoes are cooking, peel and cut onion into 1-inch pieces and set aside. Uniformity is not important in either the onion or the potato. Pick the thyme leaves, finely mince and set aside. Heat a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the bacon renderings and onion. Sautee until the onion becomes translucent and begins to brown slightly. Add the thyme to the onions and set aside to allow cool. When the potatoes are done, place directly into a cooler or refrigerator. This allows the skin to loosen from the potato and eases the peeling process. After the potatoes have had a chance to cool, peel the skin off and cut them into 1-inch pieces. Combine the onion mixture and the potatoes in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Spread the mixture on to a medium-size sheet pan lined with parchment paper to form a single, evenly spaced layer and cook at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until nicely browned. Store hot until ready for use.

Pre-heat a grill to medium-high heat (preferably a wood grill using apple or cherry wood). When grill is hot and coals have formed from the wood, place the pork chops on and cook, turning occasionally, until an internal temperature registers 135 to 140 degrees.

Place hash on the middle of the plate and place pork chop on top. Serve immediately.

Suggested accompaniments:  Tart Cherry Compote and Grilled Asparagus

Suggested wine pairing: 2006 Cultura 100% Cab Franc

Cooking notes:

For another version, one could replace the bacon with Italian prosciutto or even the wonderful smoked salmon bellies from the Pike Place Fish Market.

Not many of us have had the pleasure of experiencing the Kurobuta Pork. Raised here in the Pacific Northwest, in the same fashion that has delivered the increasingly popular American Kobe Beef, we have at our fingertips arguably the world’s best pork. Kurobuta pork is still technically Berkshire pork, however, being raised in the Japanese-style of Kobe, it delivers an amazing texture, color and flavor. Paired here with sweet potato and onion hash, roasted asparagus, Yakima Valley dried tart cherry compote and apple cider pan-sauce, this has become a staple on our menu and a favorite among our guests. Please, I implore you; understand that confirmed cases of trichinosis from pork in the U.S. have been less than 12 per year since 2001 and have lowered every year since. You actually have a greater chance of suffering from trichinosis by consuming wild game. It is safe to eat pork at medium to medium well. We no longer have to consume pork that tastes and feels like cardboard.

What is brine?

Historically, chefs around the world have used brine as a form of a preserve or cure in order to transport proteins without the risk of spoilage. Today, chefs use brine to flavor and tenderize meats. In this recipe, we will use a brine to tenderize and add flavor to our pork chops. Brine is a mixture of salt and water. There are many different theories as to what exactly brine does to meat. I believe that the brine passes through the cells of the meat and pulls the impurities out, slightly adjusting the structure of the cell itself, lending a superior piece of meat.

Birchfield Manor

OREGON PRAWN AND SHRIMP CAKES

1 red pepper, fine dice
1 green pepper, fine dice
8 green onions, fine dice
1 T garlic
1 T cajun seasoning
Saute together and add 1 C white wine

COOL MIXTURE

2 lbs shrimp meat (dry)
2 C bread crumbs
3/4 lb black tiger prawns pureed with 3 eggs
2 lbs sliced black tiger prawns

COMBINE INGREDIENTS

Form into cakes and roll in panko rice crumbs

Saute until crispy and golden brown

Finish in 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes.

ENJOY!

Food for the Next Generation: An Inside Look at YV Tech’s Culinary Program

By Sean Fitzgerald

Nestled comfortably just east of State Fair Park is a young and quickly growing culinary arts school. Even in the sleepy winter weather, the main dining hall at Yakima Valley Technical Skills Center is bright and spacious. Lit up by a towering glass wall, the new building highlights the dining area, just to the right of the main entrance. A beautiful view is in every direction.

In its first year at the new location, YV Tech’s Culinary Program is already home to more than 50 high school students. As tourism in the Yakima Valley grows, YV Tech is quietly filling a need by educating young people in culinary arts.

Behind the dining area, the learning begins. Commanding a kitchen full of youthful, exubarant and easily distracted students is no cakewalk, but Ned Walsh, head chef and owner of Yakima’s 901 Pasta, has complete control.

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Sip into Spring

By Robin Beckett

Photos by Sara Gettys

Roll out the barrels, Yakima…it’s time for some wine-tasting fun.

Around here, we don’t often need a good excuse to taste good wine. There are plenty of those: our proximity to some of the finest wines in the region if not the nation; the friendliness of local tasting-room staffs; the fact that it’s Friday.

But if you need a better excuse, Spring Barrel Tasting is mere weeks away. Come April 23-25, Valley wineries will offer samples of their newest vintages — sometimes straight from the barrel.

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