Celebrate Your Rhubarb, Alaska

ShareWritten by Jennifer Kehoe Times are a changin’ in Southcentral Alaska. April Fools’

Salmon Delight

ShareWritten by Tikaan Galbreath As the end of winter draws near I open the chest freezer to find it

Hermit Hill Farm, Fairbanks Alaska

Share Written by Kate Powers Many Alaskans will head to the grocery store or unpack their freezers f

 

Celebrate Your Rhubarb, Alaska

May 11, 2012 in Alaska, Uncategorized

Written by Jennifer Kehoe

Times are a changin’ in Southcentral Alaska. April Fools’ Day, no joke, won’t happen again for another 300-some odd days. The sun shines long enough to make me miss my bedtime already and the Glenn is dotted with lovely looking mounds of trash. Remember, if you ski out to Portage Glacier on a bluebird afternoon in April, please wear sunscreen.

Yes, it seem to be that time. The trees are budding with green and we are in the midst of waiting for the glory of summer in Alaska. And what a better way to pass the time during the end of Breakup than to eat something fresh, colorful, and unique. May I present, last harvest’s rhubarb!

Rhubarb really is quite diverse. It resembles a pinkish celery stalk. It bakes into pies. The leaves are toxic for human consumption. In the garden it has two faces- a vegetable, perceived as a fruit. In the front yard, it blends in as random greenery (“what’s up edible yard?”). In Latin terms, it is the ‘root of the barbarians’. The Chinese grew it and the Romans thought the Chinese were barbaric, simple as that. The plant was used medicinally throughout the ages and apparently there is even a movie named after it. Rhubarb: The Millionaire Cat. The plot speaks of rich people and baseball teams and no, I have not seen it although maybe I should. Any takers?

In Alaska, rhubarb is one of the crops that grows with a pretty high success rate. The yield is excellent, it is a perennial- that means it grows every year-, and harvesting the stalks is absolutely satisfying. After grabbing hold of one down near the root, pull up gently whilst twisting. The stalk comes right out, clean and ready for consumption. Some people pull a shaker of salt out of their pocket at this moment, cover the stalk, and chomp the entire thing. The root area should look a bit like a spoon made out of soft, white meat. Again, don’t eat the toxic leaf (beware of the oxalic acid), and make sure to follow a rhubarb-growing guide. The plant is very easy to harvest, produces season-long, and requires no maintenance, but in order to ensure that it becomes healthy and abundant there a few practices one should look into as you nuture it into an adult.

Frozen treats, such as cranberries, watermelon berries, crowberries, blueberries, and rhubarb, have kept my winter culinary expeditions lively, sweet, and tart. Rhubarb is a nostalgic food for me; my mother made rhubarb sauce, which is very similar to apple sauce, and rhubarb pie countless times throughout my childhood. I always thought that people who made rhubarb strawberry pie instead were weak, as they couldn’t handle the taste of rhubarb on its own. Unless sugar is added, rhubarb can be torturous in my opinion. Picture all of the enamel violently stripped from your teeth, ouch. Yet, in all honestly, rhubarb is just charming. A fun Plain Jane plant with a lot to offer the palate.  If you have a bag of chopped rhubarb stalks in your freezer, you already know the pleasure of whipping up a rhubarb coffeecake. If you don’t, I propose you cut and paste some rhubarb into your yard this spring and watch the magic unfold. If your housing situation does not allow you to grow your own food on location, but you do have transportation, check out Pyrah’s Pioneer Peak Farm in Palmer. For $1.50 per pound you can do one of the most wonderful activities that exists in this world: Pick-Your-Own! They accept cash, credit, WIC, and Senior coupons as payment.

Either way, when the kitchen counter is clear and the taste buds await the kiss that turns winter into Breakup and Breakup into our beloved summer, celebrate your rhubarb. When I party with it, who knows what will happen?

Rhubarb Leather: You need a dehydrator. Cook rhubarb stalk chunks with water and sugar. Add something strange, like fresh shaved nutmeg. Pour the mixture onto parchment paper and lay on dehydrator screen. Follow dehydrator directions and let the machine pull all of the water out, leaving you with a chewy, sour, scrumptious hiking/camping snack.

Rhubarb-Blueberry-Cayenne Compote: Throw 1 bag of frozen or fresh rhubarb and a few cups of your Alaskan blueberries into a pot. Turn the heat to medium and make sure the bottom doesn’t burn. After the contents start to melt there will be plenty of water. Add brown sugar to taste and a few dashes of cayenne, maybe a pinch of salt too. Heat until nice and gooey and serve on yogurt, ice cream, pancakes, oatmeal, bread and cheese, even meat, etc. or be brave and eat it plain.

Baked Rhubarb Desserts: Following your favorite baked good recipe, just throw some fresh or frozen rhubarb into the batter. You can also use a dehydrator to dry small pieces of rhubarb and those too can be thrown into batter. My favorite, in addition to rhubarb pie, is rhubarb crowberry coffeecake. For crowberries, just head into your backyard of the Chugach mountains late summer into fall for some picking.

Rhubarb Juice and Rhubeena-in-a-Rhubarbarita: Yes, a rhubarbarita is a rhubarb-flavored margarita. Cook chopped up rhubarb in a pot with a few cups of water. When the juice is good and pink and strong, strain the liquid out. This rhubarb juice is called rhubeena. Add some sugar perhaps. Then to make the rhubarbarita,  follow an excellent margarita recipe and just add the rhubeena to taste. Yum! Hello midnight sunset! Courtesy of hungrytigress.com and localkitchenblog.com.

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Salmon Delight

March 26, 2012 in Alaska

Written by Tikaan Galbreath

As the end of winter draws near I open the chest freezer to find it mostly empty. It is a sight that stirs both sadness due to a diminished food stash and excited anticipation for how to best fill it again in these imminent summer months. A freezer full of locally grown and wild harvested food is no small task. With March here, it is time to start blocking out the weekends to ensure that we are in the right place at the right time for the many seasonal wild foods available in Alaska. Without a successful hunt last fall, a major staple in my kitchen this winter has been the Copper River salmon caught dip netting last summer. 17 hours, 90 fish, and 3 freezers filled for the winter. My father and I met in Chitna mid-July at the peak of the red run. Fishing out of that region holds an appeal not only because of the fish -Copper River salmon is the best in the world- but also the fact that it brings me to the original fishing grounds of my ancestors. To engage with this ancient tradition of the fish harvest speaks to so many levels of my being and my relations. After a 36 hour round trip ‘suicide run’, my father and I returned to Fairbanks to join the awaiting family with our newly acquired bounty. The following morning I found myself a part of a processing chain; cleaning, fileting, wrapping, and ‘putting on ice’ is a family affair when faced with the task of turning 90 fish into 180 filets.

 

For a household of two, 60 filets is a hefty amount of fish, and with a market price of $10 a filet it’s significant savings as well. With 52 weeks in a year, after sharing the filets with family we were still left with just under one filet a week and the many salmon spines we saved. While there are many delicious, elaborate, and fancy recipes out there, this winter I consistently tried to accomplish three things. When I prepared the salmon I wanted the recipe to be easy and intuitive, to taste the fish, and a quick preparation time. That said, I never used an established recipe, or measured quantities, but below are some of the combinations.

If using salmon spines, 4 spines roughly equate to one filet worth of meat. Prepare the spines by boiling them. After the meat is tender and flakes off the bones, remove them from the water. Once the spines have cooled enough to handle, remove meat from bones and use in desired recipe. This flaked meat is good for recipes that don’t require a whole filet, such as salmon dips, chowders, and cakes.

 

Yummy, messy skillet salmon chowder.

 

Asian Zest

Ginger

Soy Sauce

Garlic

Mustard powder

Sesame Seeds

Blend all ingredients, except for sesame seeds, until well combined; pour half of sauce over salmon. Sprinkle on whole sesame seeds. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes, the pour second half of sauce on salmon. Bake another 4-8 minutes depending on size/thickness of filet (fish keeps cooking after it’s out of the oven).

Note: This was the foundation for many variations. The addition of other ingredients, such as cilantro, cayenne, maple syrup, and honey, adds to the dish depending on what it is being paired with.

 

 

Lemon Fresh

Capers

Dill

Lemon Juice

Salted Butter

Pour lemon juice and spread capers evenly onto filet. Cube butter and place on filet (helps keep salmon from becoming dry and adds some salt, but is not necessary). Bake at 350 for 12-16 minutes depending on size/thickness of filet (fish keeps cooking after it’s out of the oven). Chop dill finely and add once filet is out of the oven.

 

Salmon Dip

Salt and pepper

Lemon juice

Onion

Liquid smoke

Cream cheese

Cooked flaked salmon

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, blend, and serve with crudité and bread or crackers.

 

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Hermit Hill Farm, Fairbanks Alaska

November 24, 2011 in Uncategorized

Hermit Hill Farms, Fairbanks Alaska

Nick Williams, age 16, of Hermit Hill Farm raised free range turkeys for his community this year.

Written by Kate Powers

Many Alaskans will head to the grocery store or unpack their freezers full of harvested summer goods to prepare the staples of their holiday meal: cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy and of course, turkey. Most of us will prepare our traditional family turkey recipes with turkeys that come from large scale farms in the Midwest. These turkeys come to Alaska on barges or on planes, however some Alaskans will be lucky enough to have a turkey from Nick Williams’ Hermit Hill Farms just north of Fairbanks. All the way past the Fox General Store, and past Hilltop Restaurant & Truckstop in the historic mining districts of Fox and Chatinika, sits this microcosm of Alaska Grown at it’s finest. In a lot of ways Nick Williams is a normal Alaskan teenager, but with more responsibility. He loves his snow machine and hanging out with friends, but he also has to check on his goats year round and make sure his turkey and calf are doing well on his 16 acre farm. This past year Nick raised a Black Angus young beef and two goats along with his usual turkeys. During the summer the turkeys run through the green grass of the yard, and into the birch and spruce trees surrounding Hermit Hill Farm and the Williams Home.

Nick is proud of all of the animals he raises, and the Black Angus was auctioned off at a live auction at the Tanana State Fair as part of the 4H program. The live auction was full of local Fairbanksans bidding on locally raised rabbits, turkeys, cows and chickens. The auction has become more popular in recent years due to a growing interest in local sustainable food sources, even in Alaska.

Nick’s families goats are milk goats. For Nick  Kate, Hazel and Lawfanda are a fun hobby that provides a sense of responsibility. Nick likes to check on the goats in the barn. Nick is drawn to farming because he wants to provide fresh, locally raised free range turkeys for Alaskans.

Whether you and your family get your turkey from a local farmer that you know, celebrate your Japanese heritage with sukiyaki as your holiday meal, or cook pirogis together every Christmas Eve, we want to hear stories!  The Food Mosaic’s favorite Holiday Story will win a $50 gift card to Bear Tooth for the holidays!

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Wild Low-Bush Cranberries, Village of Mentasta Lake, AK

November 22, 2011 in Alaska

Part 2: Adventures and Reflections:  Wild Harvesting Alaskan Cranberries
The humble wanna-be homesteaders, Jennifer and Tikaan.

With a gift certificate in hand, I head out to peruse the designer racks at an Anchorage boutique. It’s the peak and prime of the fall season in the city. Taking a moment of time to stroll the downtown area beckoned me to appreciate the beauty of this particular Saturday from an urban perspective; I typically prefer to venture into the wild with a backpack, a bottle of wanderlust and basic survival gear. Back on the sidewalk, a crisp wind kisses my cheeks, nose and mitten-covered hands, stirs through my curly tresses and finally charges my spirit with a sense of New England nostalgia. Nostalgic but happy and content to be experiencing my most favorite season of all in a new state. As a co-worker recently wrote, not a month is as fat as September. Comfort foods start to make a common appearance at the dinner table as cold bouts of elongated nighttime skies roll around. However, this co-worker of mine, he was referring not to calories but to the abundance of food- both plants and animals- ready for harvest, the sustenance of life up here in the Great North. In the Last Frontier we know that hibernation during months of subzero temperatures and daylong darkness is just a phase of life; it comes every year. But yet we are still human and find ourselves craving color amidst the whiteness of frosted spruce tips and deep snow drifts. For me, this color is the presence of good, hearty, healthy, nourishing food.  With a creative mind and a few kitchen tools, I put together edible pieces of art, history and science that invite the attendance of all five senses and an encore of delicious applause. Although I miss the rolling hills of small organic farms in Massachusetts, farmers picking bushels of late legumes, orchards pressing cider from the fruits of their labor and a ground laden with purple, red and orange maple leaves, autumn in Alaska is also spectacular. The leaves still transform and paint a new landscape; one can still buy a pumpkin spice latte; the air still sneaks up on you, reminding that it’s chilly outside even when the sun is shining. A Saturday in the city during the best time of year turns out to be quite the joyous occasion.

Winter waves a brief hello and the hills wear a changing color.

I feel most like my true self when fall hits. The colors, the settling down, the coziness, all wrapping around your life like that perfectly comfortable wool sweater you excitedly anticipate pulling out of a winter-clothing box. I remember this as I look for a new pair of jeans, gift certificate still in hand. September began with berry picking and ended with berry processing. I headed out north into Alaska’s pristine wilderness up the Glenn Highway with family and friends over Labor Day weekend. Prepared to pick berries, or at least hoping to find a few here and there, I made sure a big bucket was stowed in the back of the vehicle in case I was to return to Anchorage with a ripe, tart bounty. The weekend was heart-wrenchingly glorious- beautiful, sunny, fresh, one for the books. On a mid-afternoon canoe trip I spotted two swans, warm bodies of immaculate white feathers roaming the lake in proud strokes, taking in their panoramic scenery. There were moose, bear and wolf tracks along the river bank and kids running around the cabin playing with rusted toy trucks. I sat in an old steam house and allowed the tension of the work week to leave my mind through beads of sweat.  With every splash of water on the fire-soaked stones came a calming sizzle that would take over any conversation being had. We paused to let the moist air warm our skin and open our lungs.

This old steam house is a treasure for relaxation after a day of berry picking.

Born and raised on the East Coast, moving to Alaska resembled the act of prepping vegetables. I shed insecurities, pretentiousness, conservative social habits- characters of life I never even realized existed in my liberal bubble of Western Massachusetts. Like peeling a carrot, an onion, an artichoke, a potato, (even a grape if you enjoy the appeal of slime), something so natural began to emerge from beneath the dirt, the shell, the protection. As the holidays approach and snow settles across the land, expressing my gratefulness and thankfulness for all that I have been through and all that I have learned is of sure importance. I am a food lover, from foreign spices to contemporary culinary crazes, from dense wormy soil to guilty sweet treats, and the winter season, although typically void of green growth, is a time when food is celebrated, cherished and shared.  Perhaps this is why I stumbled upon acres of berries. In every direction my eyes could take me there were cranberries, dark, bright, bursting with a readiness for their flavors to be enjoyed. Wild harvesting became my main activity, filling the bucket as quickly as fingers can manage. I took off on my own for a couple hours each day, plopped down on a soft piece of tundra and ended up with 5 gallons of ripe low-bush cranberries by Sunday morning. I pictured village members, ancestors, squatting to pick from the same plants years ago and realized that no one ever planted these cranberries. The earth takes care of them and no human intervention is required for their success. How strange, how refreshing, that in this populated, structured world some things just take care of themselves without us. I was immersed in natural bounty- the food of the earth, the animals and the people; for that immersion I am grateful; for that feeling of gratefulness I am thankful.

I encourage everyone to take a few moments this season to think about the abundance that is present in their lives, whatever it may be, about where they are and what they are doing when they feel most like their true self, and finally, to reflect on the idea that it is all connected. This week I will enjoy cooking up a batch of my frozen berries to share with family and friends for the holiday. Over Labor Day weekend, as I willingly wild harvested, my partner took off in a camouflage baseball hat with a rifle on his back. As quiet and in tune with his surroundings as he is, he came out of his first moose hunting adventure empty-handed. The animals seemed to be following him instead, a humor of the natural world that we gladly accepted in exchange for Thanksgiving cranberry sauce.

***

Gift certificate still in hand, I mosey around the boutique, looking for a perfect pair of replacement jeans.  A weekend of cranberry picking left a few too many purple and red stains on the backside.

Happy Holidays, happy thinking and most of all, happy eating!

Local beef, garden potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, mulled mead and fall leaves.

Wild Alaskan Low-Bush Cranberry Sauce for the Holidays

What you need:

  • ·         For a nice sized bowl of sauce, 4 cups of cranberries
  • ·         A cup or so of water or juice so the berries don’t burn
  • ·         A pot, stove and mixing utensil
  • ·         Sweetener to taste and fun additional flavorings
  • ·         Hungry tummy

Mix the cranberries and the water/juice in the pot and set over a medium heat. Stir frequently and make sure that the berries are not burning on the bottom of the pot. The longer the berries cook the more jam-like they will become. I like a good thick sauce and therefore let the cranberries cook for about half an hour, or until all the extra water has evaporated out. The berries will start to pop and mush together, a lovely swirl of autumn fragrance in the kitchen air. When the berries reach your desired consistency, the cooking is complete. Cranberry sauce is very easy to make, full of antioxidants and amazingly strong in taste. The berries are also an easy ingredient to be creative with; try adding some of the following flavor mixes into your sauce-

  • ·         Honey and fresh rosemary (honey produces a runnier sauce because it is a dense sweetener and it does not gel the fruit as nicely as sugar does due to a difference in reaction with the natural pectin).
  • ·         Brown sugar, 3 cloves, a few chunks of fresh ginger and an apple or pear chopped into small pieces (sugar will make sauce more jam-like).
  • ·         Maple syrup and a whole orange, peel included, chopped into small pieces, a dash of cinnamon.
  • ·         A substantial amount of ground cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon and clove (plus brown sugar as the sweetener) results in a subtle but distinct chai-flavor. If you enjoy looking for needles in haystacks, throw whole cardamom pods and cloves into the sauce and fish them out when the cooking is suffice. Using whole nutmegs and a small grater also provides for better aromatic and taste bud properties.

Voila! Enjoy the sauce with local cheese, spread over artisan bread or as a glaze on your favorite dinner meat. To preserve the cranberry concoctions for the long haul, check out the canning directions and safety tips from University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extensive Services. The recipe above will last for a little while in the refrigerator, about a week; to ‘put up’ the sauce, or preserve it like the jam and jelly found in grocery stores, food products must be processed in a hot water bath or a pressure cooker to kill potential harmful bacteria.

http://www.uaf.edu/ces/preservingalaskasbounty/index.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Wild Low-Bush Cranberries, Village of Mentasta Lake, AK

November 18, 2011 in Uncategorized

Part 1: FUN with Cranberries
Autumn Is The Time To Harvest & FALL Head Over Heels For Delicious Seasonal Foods!
By Jennifer Kehoe, Wildharvesting & Subsistence Contributor

A small sprinkle of high-bush cranberries in the autumn Interior sunshine.

When bright green Alaska foliage starts to turn yellow, the pumpkins orange and the rolling tundra a deep rosy pink, we know that summer has come to an end. Fall has now passed us by as well, and judging by the snow-capped mountains in Anchorage and sub-zero temperatures, winter is swiftly on the horizon. Let us cozy up to the fire with friends and family, enjoy the glorious golden sunshine as it recedes into darkness and prepare our favorite autumn foods as we begin our yearly hibernation: Moose, caribou, lingering garden greens and herbs, salmon, pumpkins and wild berries!

Low-bush cranberry galore, and as fresh as they come.

Chutneys, sauces, jams and other acidic fruit preserves are a refreshingly tart way to brighten up a winter meal. I happened to find myself with 5 gallons of low-bush cranberries, handpicked and straight from the Interior. Check out one of my favorite ways to prepare the berries and then try your own experiments. Whether polka-dotted in a sourdough pancake mix or pressed into a potent juice of phytonutrients, fresh Alaskan wildharvested low-bush cranberries are a culinary delight.

Recipe: White Chocolate Chip & Alaska Cranberry Gluten-Free Pancakes

Good Morning Alaska, your food awaits you.

 

Have ready…
-white chocolate chips and AK cranberries to your liking
-butter on the cast iron pan, medium heat
-REAL Maple Syrup (or Birch) and some plain yogurt for dipping
-A cold (brrr!) weekend brunch appetite

 Mix wet ingredients in a medium-sized bowl
-1 Tablespoon pure, real vanilla extract (maybe you like almond extract, agave nectar or coconut oil better?)
-A pinch or two or three of brown sugar (to your liking, but if you already know you are going to drench the pancakes in syrup this may not be necessary)
-2 eggs
-2 cups total, of milk, plain yogurt, soy milk, etc. I used 1.5 cups of milk and .5 cups of yogurt

Whisk by hand until mixture begins to get light and airy, fluffy and bubbly; we want soft pancakes!

Add in dry ingredients while mixing batter until smooth. But not too much because remember, we want soft pancakes! Over mixing may strengthen your arm muscles but it also makes the batter tough.
- 3/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill brown rice flour
- 3/4 cup Mochiko sweet rice flour
- 1/3 cup Bob’s Red Mill tapioca starch
- 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour (yes, it tastes like fresh bean sprouts)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt, to your liking
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

Have your cast iron or griddle heated up on medium heat with some butter melted onto it; if you drop a spoonful of batter onto the pan and it sizzles, the pan is ready!

Drop 1/4 to 1/2 cup amounts of batter onto pan, depending on desired pancake size. They will spread out a little bit. If the batter is too thick and doesn’t move, add a little extra milk or water to the mixing bowl.

Cook for a few minutes on the first side, until bubbles start to form around the edges of the pancake. Decorate the uncooked side with white chocolate chips and AK cranberries.

Flip over, cook for a few minutes on side #2. You don’t want to overcook pancakes because they will become tough! You can always pull one off the pan and break it open to check to see if the inside is cooked and then base your cooking times off of that. A golden brown outside probably means a nice fluffy white inside.

Enjoy on the couch on a weekend morning with more butter, real maple/birch syrup and some yogurt. The white chocolate chips add some non-caffeinated sweetness, the cranberries give your mouth a burst of fruity tartness and the gluten-free flours create a pancake that is surely fine-tasting on the palate, very neutral and pleasant. These specific flours give the pancakes a bit more substance; the inside is still light but the outside is nice and crispy, like good artisan bread. The flours also provide your body and brain with good protein and carbs, for energy and smooth digestion! Sorry wheat, you just don’t offer that…

 

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Wild Meat Stew, Norway

November 4, 2011 in Uncategorized

Anna Barnwell and Øistein Berget are two Alaskans slash Norwegians that cannot get enough of either location. Anna – a born and raised Anchorageite – first lived in small town Norway as an exchange student, but has since returned multiple times both to visit her partner Øistein and most recently for grad school. Øistein has also visited Alaska through the years and enjoys being in the Alaskan outdoors and grabbing a great bite to eat either at home or in Anchorage afterwards. They are currently living in Norway, but hope to someday return to Alaska.

 

Although generally speaking, they miss Alaskan food more than they love Norwegian food culture, there are some highlights of Norwegian cuisine which they love. Norwegians have a rich tradition of using local food from their own ecosystem. So called “traditional” foods in Norway consist largely of foods that they were able to grow here prior to the globalized food market (Wild meat, sheep and cow meat from the farm, fish, potatoes, and basic vegetables). In addition, berries (berry sauces and desserts  made of salmonberries, lingonberries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries) are dear to the heart. Norwegians are good a maintaining local traditions through local foods, something we can all learn from.

 

Norway and Alaska share a similar climate and love for fishing and hunting. This dish is a wild meat dish. In Norway, elk (or moose, but the Norwegian moose are smaller than Alaskan moose), deer, and reindeer are hunted. This is a primarily reindeer dish. Reindeer can be hunted wild or herded by the local indigenous population called the Sami. The dish they are sharing can be called “Finnish Beef” or “Wild Stew” in local terms. The dish works well for Alaskans who manage to find any type of wild meat around, even though it works best with reindeer. You can also use normal beef, but Anna prefers wild and local meats if she is going to eat meat at all. In Norway, this dish is associated with winter and autumn, and is perceived as a traditional dish that one could eat on a special occasion or a winter holiday. It is quite heavy!

Wild Meat Stew with Potatoes and Broccoli

Recipe serves 6 

27 ounces (or 1.6 lb) of Moose, Caribou, Reindeer, or Beef. The meat should be sliced THINLY (appx 0.5 cm thick)
0.8 lb of Mushrooms, or half the amount of the meat
1 Onion
1 spring onion
1 cup of water
2 cups of cream
8 crushed Juniper berries (or more, if you like it!)
Salt and pepper to taste
*to reduce the “wild flavor” of the meat you can add beef soup stock.
Process
Heat a pan with butter. Saute the meat, onion, and mushrooms on strong heat. Saute until the meat is browned.
Move the mix to a large pot. Make sure to save the juice from the meat and veggies.
Add water to the pot and let it simmer for 10 minutes or more (up to 35).
The spring onions should be cut in thick ovular pieces, using the entire spring onion.
Add the cream, the crushed juniper, and spring onions to the mixture and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
Taste and add salt and pepper.
On the Side:
Boiled Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes or Rice. (But in traditional Norwegian culture it is boiled potatoes).
Steamed Broccoli
Lingonberry Jam
Lingonberry Jam:
This is a typical side sauce to Scandinavian meat dishes. In the US one can find a version of this at IKEA (!!!), but you can also substitute with homemade bitter/sour jams of choice. The jam should not be sweet with sugar and not too sour either. Cranberry sauce or jam is also a suitable substitute.

 

 

 

 

 

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Wild Edibles & Italy in Alaska

September 28, 2011 in Uncategorized

Written by Jennifer Kehoe, Subsistence & Wildharvesting Contributor

Earlier this summer my wonderful boyfriend and I headed out to wildharvest delicious Alaskan greens for dinner; devil’s club from calm lake trails, fiddleheads from dense mossy soil and spruce tips from aromatic trees. Luck was with us and we walked home after a nice daylong hike to prepare the meal, bags full. It was to be gourmet, from the earth and it would probably have to pose for pictures. I have the exciting (yet sometimes annoying) habit of photographing the food I create, cook, grow, find, buy, eat, etc. A recent hand-me-down (professional camera) has only increased the obsession. This story goes to show that one shouldn’t apologize for what brings them joy.

One hungry night, Tikaan and I began to create fresh spinach and mushroom ravioli with marinara sauce together. In preparation of a rich and uncommon side dish, we drizzled olive oil into one of our treasured cast iron skillets and let a few pieces of butter melt and swirl around. When the long strips of onion appeared translucent from sautéing, we added blanched devil’s club, fiddleheads and spruce tips. A pinch of course ground sea salt and a grind of black pepper topped off the comforting arrangement of food.

The judges tasted how satisfying our rustic, wild ravioli dinner had been. They too could imagine themselves in soft light, drinking cool wine and enjoying a night out at a special café, definitely somewhere romantic. I know this because my entry won the photograph portion of the contest, a photograph of the gourmet summer wildharvest meal we had cooked a few weeks back. I happily picked up my winnings- a gift basket of goodies from Anzilotti’s Tuscan Market, Anchorage’s Finest in Genuine Italian Beverages and Foods- feeling as if life was about to get even better than it already was. 

My involvement with Anchorage Food Mosaic began with the photo and recipe contest co-sponsored by Spenard Farmer’s Market. After a long two-week work-free adventure in August (my family from Massachusetts had been visiting Alaska for the first time) I realized the deadline was approaching. Still determined to keep my word, enter a handful of photos and make an effort at connecting with the awesome people of the local food scene in Anchorage, I emailed my submission at the last minute.


Eager to enjoy the items Anzilotti’s donated to AFM and SFM, I attempted to use as many as I could in one big recipe without going overboard on taste. Below are photos of my first dip into the Tuscan treats. Pepper and garlic spread on a loaf with butter, baked in oven. Sautéed & steamed side vegetables. Rose petal infused pasta. The whole plate, topped off with goat cheese, olive & tomato tapenade and globe basil from the garden.

As usual, a bottle of wine was opened and we sat down to eat. One of the small rose bushes that are scattered throughout our home was in full bloom, bearing a deep velvet-red hue. The petals felt like a perfect combination of flannel and silk; it was as if we were on a dreamy European vacation.

Before indulging in the meal I snapped a few candlelit shots of our plates, just to make sure I documented the journey we have been taking through the food system together. The meal was exquisite and decadent, so simple, fresh, local and real.

As we had previously experienced after a day of wildharvesting, our exciting Italian meal showed us again that food is an act of community and sharing, of artistic creativity, of culture and history, and of appreciation for the access, bounty and health we are gifted with every day. In hopes of another date in the kitchen and delicious meal on the table, we decided to save the little Italian candies, apricot spread, whole preserved garlic and marinated zucchini for another hungry night in Alaska.


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Homegrown Veggies, Alaska

August 24, 2011 in Uncategorized


Stockwell Farm- Naturally-Grown Vegetables for Every Tastebud
By Rachel Kenley, Local Food Contributor

Vern Stockwell, of Stockwell Farm, lives on a beautiful, secluded piece of property out by the Butte.  He settled in Alaska in 2001, after being raised on a farm in South Dakota and attending South Dakota State University.  Although he majored in cartography and urban planning, Stockwell ended up farming, he says, because “gardening was in my blood!”

“Being out here in the country is quiet and peaceful,” Stockwell says, taking a deep breath and looking around at his crops as if to commit his surroundings to memory.  “It’s a good lifestyle, but it’s becoming a rare thing.  I feel privileged to be able to be here, and to do this.”

Stockwell focuses on producing a large variety of different crops on his 7 acres, and doing it without using commercial fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides.  Instead, Stockwell relies heavily on natural fishbone meal from Kodiak island.  His vision for the future is bright: he wants to increase productivity.  When asked what his business strategy is, Stockwell humbly replies, “I just want to get as much produce to as many people as I can.”

While Stockwell provides his customers with the usual Alaskan vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces, cucumbers, his trademark larger-than-life onions, and seventeen varieties of potatoes, he also grows crops that may be unfamiliar to some.  However, they are staples to some diets, and Stockwell maintains his variety to be able to fully serve what he describes as his “melting pot of customers.”

Here are just a few of the interesting items you can find at the Stockwell Farm stand:

Bok Choy- A popular oriental vegetable.  This elongated leafy crop is a member of the cabbage family.  It works well chopped in cabbage salads or in stir fries with meat or other vegetables.

Kale- This plant is one of the most nutrient dense on Earth!  It is chalk-full of vitamins and anti-oxidants, which you can get by eating it in a stir fry or tossing it into a salad in its raw form.

Collard Greens- Unlike most greens, collards are best when they are cooked.  Stockwell recommends you braise, steam, or boil them.  Stew them until their tender and you’ll have a great, classic Southern dish for dinner.

Kohlrabi- If you’ve never seen one before, look for a vegetable that looks like a bright green or purple softball-sized alien.  Despite it’s strange look, kohlrabi is delicious when peeled and eaten raw or steamed with butter and salt and pepper.  It is one of Stockwell’s most popular crops- customers rave that his kohlrabi is always sweet and juicy.

Stockwell sells at the South Anchorage Farmers Market and the Northway Mall Farmers Market on Wednesdays and at the Anchorage and South Anchorage Farmers Markets on Saturdays.  He plans to sell at the Northway Mall until December.

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Grandma’s Chicken Soup, Germany

August 18, 2011 in Uncategorized

Grandma’s Chicken Soup Recipe:

-2 liters chicken broth (if canned, add water)
-Meatballs: 1 lb hamburger meat, add pepper and salt to taste. Form little balls (1/2 inch). Bring water to boil, and add meatballs. Cook on low heat for 15 minutes. Take meatballs out. Pour water through strainer into chicken broth.
-Cauliflower: cook in salted water, take out and add some of the water to the chicken broth.
-White Asparagus: boil, if fresh. If canned, don’t do any extra preparation before adding to chicken broth.
-Egg Dumpling (Eirstich): 6 eggs, 24 tablespoons milk, salt.  Beat together and cook in waterbath (double boiler) for 20 minutes. Poke with fork to see if stiff. Cut into cubes.

-Add meatballs, cauliflower, asparagus, and eirstich to chicken broth and bring to boil. Done! Guten Appetit!

Extra: cook some tiny noodles and add to the finished soup.

 

 

 

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Baba Ghannouj & Peasant Flatbread, Syria/Germany

August 1, 2011 in Uncategorized

Camilla Hussein grew up between Germany and Syria; her Dad is from the Syrian Golan Heights and her mom is Bavarian. She is a German national, but has been in the United States for over 23 years. Camilla came to Alaska four years ago because her then husband opened a pathology lab and she wanted her three home schooled daughters to be closer to their dad. She says, “we stayed because Alaska provided us a great community feeling that we never really enjoyed before in all the other states that we lived in. Good schools, nice people, and a great food culture.”

Camilla has always loved cooking for friends and family, and even catered her own wedding! She is a self taught chef who has been called the “female Alton Brown” and teaches cooking classes at Allen & Petersen. Last fall Camilla started her own business called Aubergine Catering, which provides catering, private cooking classes and sometimes dietary consultations. Her plan is to go back to college to earn a degree in Nutrition at UAA. She tells us, “As you can see by the name of my catering business, I love eggplants. I couldn’t stand them while I was growing up in Syria, but once I left home there wasn’t anything that would remind me more of home than the eggplant dishes and how much it reminded me of my dad’s crazy cooking. The flat bread recipe and the smell while baking it reminds me of my Syrian childhood; nowadays everybody just buys the pita bread and nobody bakes anymore...I thought it would be neat to cherish and keep the lost craft of making home baked peasant bread…”

Peasant Bread Recipe
“This is our #1 snack food all around Syria and Lebanon, adding sesame and nijella seeds give the bread a distinct flavour.  It is a sort of pizza dough although a little bit softer and more chewy than the Italian version.  I tested numerous bread doughs, in all sorts of ovens and on all sorts of baking sheets, if you have a well seasoned pizza stone use it…i use a nonstick flat cookie sheet because all my stones are still back in Florida…time to get my AK stone…”
Ingredients:
2 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon dried yeast ( make sure it is at room temperature, and fresh)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoons sugar
3/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
- Preheat the oven the the highest temperature, ( around 550F) and leave the cookie sheet or the pizza dough in the oven.
- Dissolve the yeast and the sugar in the warm water…giving that yeast the environment to multiply.
- Sift the flour in a bowl add the yeast mix knead until you get a sticky dough…stickiness depends on what flour you are using…I always bake breads with unbleached flour.
- Add flour if necessary, but never more than 1/2 cup
- Add the olive oil
-Knead until the dough turns smooth and silky, this is a great opportunity to look into the therapeutic advantages to kneading dough..( unless you have a kitchen machine and you just use the dough hook attachment, works great if you are in a hurry !)
- Lightly oil the ball of dough and put it into a bowl
- Cover and leave in a warm place to rise for 2 hours, until doubled in size
- Knock the air out of the dough, cut into 12 portions, lightly flour each one and put them on a tray, covered, for another 10 minutes.
- When ready to cook roll each portion out to about 6 inches, or if you want bigger rounds just portion out 6 pieces and rill out to 12 inches.
- Be very careful witht he hot stone/sheet when you place the dough on it…
- Bake for about 3-7 minutes, until you see the dough blistering..
- Promptly remove from oven and cool off on a rack, and cover with a kitchen towel…the baked bread hardens easily if exposed to the air.
*Note: cool off completely before you put the bread into the ziplock bags if you are using them,  when placed in there while still warm it takes on the zip lock bag flavour…and who wants that?

Vegan Baba Ghannouj Recipe:
Ingredients
2 globe eggplants, whole
2-3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and medium diced
2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley, basil, or cilantro ( optional)
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses, or good quality thick balsamic vinegar ( you need the sweet sour ), or just juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon allspice
salt, pepper, cayenne( optional) to taste
Directions:
- Roast the eggplants over an open flame or under the broiler, piercing through the veggie to release stem and juices..its messy over a stove top, but oh so worth it…like charring a bell pepper, and you need that smokey flavour.
- Don’t worry about the flesh burning if the skin is charred, this is why a lot of people undercook the eggplant.
- Place in an airtight container, glass bowl with a plate works well.
- Cool off at room temperature and peel off the charred skin.
- Process in food processor or mush with a fork.
-Add all the other ingredients…balance the salty and sweet sour..
*Note: for regular vegetarian Baba Ghannouj, just add a cup of whole plain Nancy’s yogurt and 1/4 cup Tahini.
Enjoy with the peasant bread….

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Wild Caught Salmon, Alaska

August 1, 2011 in Uncategorized

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Bao, Vietnam

June 21, 2011 in Uncategorized

Bao (Steamed Bun) Recipe submitted by Nat Wilson. Nat grew up in Anchorage and has memories of this tasty snack. He says, “my mother used to make it occasionally to go along with dinner or as a snack, and I learned last year that my grandmother used to make it to. I hadn’t had it for a long time (probably since middle school), but I found the recipe in one of my mother’s books a couple of years ago, and have made it a few times since.”

Bánh bao (literally “covering cake”) is a steamed bun that often has ground pork, sausage, or chicken and vegetables inside.

Ingredients:

1.5 tsp dry yeast

1/4 c warm water

3 tbsp sugar

4 c flour

1 tsp salt

1 c warm milk

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

Dissolve yeast, adding a pinch of the sugar, in water. Add half of the flour, milk, oil, sugar, and salt, beating with a spoon. Work more of the dry ingredients in by hand until everything sticks together. Let it sit and autolyze for 10 minutes, then knead. Allow to double, knead, and allow to double again.

Divide into 1 or 2 dozen balls, and flatten. Add a filling, pinch closed, and place on a piece of parchment paper. Allow to rise a bit more, and then steam for about 10 minutes above boiling water. I usually do them in groups of three or four, but it depends on how large you made them.

Filling options (just a few possibilities):

-bean paste

-chopped sausage with celery, onion, spices, and cornstarch

-potatoes with celery, pickles, spices


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Chicken Adobo, Philippines

June 17, 2011 in Uncategorized

Submitted by Blessie Lochman, Filipino-American, Marketing Manager for the U.S. Postal Service

Ingredients:

Cut up chicken
Fresh garlic  5 cloves (crushed)
3 Onions (sliced)
Whole bay leaf (4)
Black pepper
Soy sauce ( half a cup)
Water (half a cup)
Olive oil
Method:
Sauté the garlic and onions add the chicken, and the rest of the ingredients cover let it come to a boil and then lower to medium heat. When chicken is tender add a little olive oil and season to taste. You can more soy sauce and black pepper.  Add your soy sauce sparingly.

Serve over white rice.


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Ghormeh Sabzi, Iran

June 16, 2011 in Uncategorized

Written by Kate Powers, Food Mosaic International Contributer.

When Samuel Bayani Neek arrived to Alaska in November 2009, the Alaskan winter seemed tough “At first it was really cold, and I didn’t have any friends. I did not know anyone.” He left as a refugee from his native country of Iran. He lived in Turkey before coming to Anchorage. He did not know a single person in Alaska when he arrived.

After a couple months, Samuel easily connected to the small Persian community in Anchorage. Now, he is always busy. He takes English classes in the morning, and works every afternoon. He hardly has a day off. Samuel has Persian friends, but he also has American friends and friends from other countries. He likes to go hiking and fishing, and get together to cook Persian food. “Now I like Alaska. I love Alaska. Country is country, people is people. It’s a good place”

Sam says that there are many different communities that live in Iran including Turkish, Kurdish, Azeri, and Baloch. Approximately half of the population speaks Persian and or a related dialect as their primary language, while others speak Turkic or Semetic languages.

Samuel has adapted to American culture and will always maintain pride in his home country. “The Persian community is the friendliest to other people, and has the best food.” One of the typical dishes that Samuel prepares when he gets together with friends is Ghormeh sabzi, which means “meat and vegetable stew.” This dish is often served when family members return after being away and is thought of by many as the national Iranian dish.

 

Ghormeh Sabzi Recipe

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless lamb stewing meat, cut into cubes

1 large onion, finely chopped

1/3 cup cooking oil

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

3/4 cup kidney beans

1 large potato, diced

1 cup green onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups spinach, finely chopped

1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped

1/4 cup garlic chives, finely chopped (also known as chinese leeks, or tareh)

1/4 cup fenugreek seeds, finely chopped (also called shanbelileh)

 

Directions:

Trim meat and cut into 3/4″ cubes.

Fry onion over medium heat in half of the oil until golden.

Add turmeric and fry for 2 more minutes.

Increase heat, add meat cubes and stir over high heat until meat changes color and begins to turn brown.

Reduce heat.

Add water, drained kidney beans, salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and simmer gently for about an hour or until meat is tender.

Fry potatoes over high heat in the remaining oil until lightly browned.

Add to sauce, leaving oil in the pan.

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add prepared vegetables to frying pan and fry over medium heat until wilted.

Add to sauce, add lime juice, cover and simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes.

Adjust seasoning and serve with white rice.

 

 

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Thai Basil

June 16, 2011 in Uncategorized

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Ugali, Kenya

May 16, 2011 in Uncategorized

Written by Max Treinen, Food Mosaic UAA Contributor.

I meet Paul Rottich in the Student Union at UAA. He is hunched over one of the several monstrous textbooks lying open on his table, studying for his Statistics class. A native of Kenya, Paul was one of the first in the slew of the Kenyans recruited by the Seawolves’ coach Michael Friess to run for the University. He has just returned from Yakima, WA, where he helped the Seawolves to their conference victory with his eighteenth-place finish in the 5 mile race. After four years on the XC Running Team, Paul is now in his final semester of studies, finishing his degree in Finance.

Despite being hard at work, Paul is happy to take the time to chat with me about life in Kenya and to record a recipe for their staple dish: ugali.

“We eat it every day,” he tells me.

In elemental terms, ugali is cornmeal and water. But Paul notes that it is often served with vegetables, such as kale, cabbage, spinach, or beets, and milk.

“We used to have a goat, but now my family owns a cow, so we get more milk,” Paul tells me.

To make ugali, follow this simple recipe:

Ingredients:
(1) Cornmeal
(2) Water

Tools:
(1) Cooking stick
(2) Cooking pot

Procedure:
(1) Pour water into pot and boil
(2) Add cornmeal
(3) Reduce heat
(4) Stir with cooking stick until it thickens
(5) Turn off heat, cover with a plate, and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes
(6) Serve it
(7) No spices

Quotes:
“Ugali is an African meal made by mixing cornmeal and water only.” “Mix it until you can smell it. It usually has a smell that indicates it’s almost ready.”

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Real Shrimp Have Heads

May 15, 2011 in Uncategorized

Fresh Wild-Caught Shrimp from the Prince William Sound….YUM!

 

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Caribou and Shrimp Shu Mai, China

May 15, 2011 in Uncategorized

Caribou and Shrimp Shu Mai Recipe

Submitted by Amy Lee

Amy grew up in Minnesota working in her parents Chinese restaurant. She is a teacher at Pacific Northern Academy.

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice wine

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1/2 tsp granulated sugar

1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (fresh from Prince William Sound at the farmers markets)

1/2 pound ground caribou

1/2 to 3/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1 green onion

10 to 12 round dumpling skins (found at Carrs or Fred Meyers)

Juice of 1 lime.

 

Method:

1. Combine the soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, sugar, and ginger in a bowl. Put half the shrimp, half the cilantro and all the green onions in a food processor and pulse; add just enough of the soy mixture to create a smooth paste, about 1 to 2 tablespoons. Transfer to a bowl. Roughly chop the remaining shrimp and cilantro, add them to the bowl and stir to combine. Add ground caribou.

2. Place a dumpling skin on a work surface, moisten the edges with water, and put 1 teaspoon of the filling in the center. Gather the edges of the wrapper up around the filling, squeezing gently, to pleat the sides; some of the filling should remain exposed. Repeat with the remaining dumpling skins and filling, keeping the dumpling wrappers and dumplings covered with damp towels while you work.

3. Rig a steamer in a large pot over an inch of water; bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Meanwhile, add the lime juice to the remaining soy mixture to make a dipping sauce.

4. Put as many dumplings in the steamer as you can fit in a single layer and cover the pot. Cook until the exposed filling turns pink and the wrappers are tender, 4 to 6 minutes, then transfer the dumplings to a serving platter. Repeat with the remaining dumplings. Serve with the dipping sauce.

Yield: 10 to 12 dumplings.

 

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Recipes! Photos! We Want ‘Em!

May 15, 2011 in Uncategorized

The Anchorage Food Mosaic will contain recipes from all the amazing people that make up our community. Now more than ever we need to come together and celebrate our incredible diversity (there are 91 languages spoken in the Anchorage School District). And what better way to do that than food? Let us cook each others cultural foods, and share our stories with one another.

This Recipe Blog will contain photos of each person and the story behind their cultural food, as well as tips on where to buy ingredients, and local sourcing. 

Please email recipe submissions to akfoodmosaic(at)gmail.com

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