Jakob's Bowl

A Long Lost Tater

When I first saw these gnarly little potatoes in the Boistfort Valley Farm booth at the Ballard Farmers’ Market last fall, I actually thought they were some variety of Jerusalem Artichoke. The sign indicated "Ozette potatoes," and even though I still wasn’t sure about them I bought some two weeks running. They were some of the starchiest potatoes I’ve ever tasted, giving russets a run for their money. They weren’t good for mashing, but they were great for oven roasting – I mainly quarter them lengthwise, toss them in olive oil salt and pepper, put them on a rack and roast at 450-degrees. I think they would also be great for French frying.

This year Nature’s Last Stand brought some early Ozettes to the market a few weeks back, and the farmer gave me the low down. Apparently, they are classified as "fingerlings" - although by whom I do not know - and that they were placed on the Slow Food Ark of Taste a few years back. I’ve been buying them from him every week now. They are so very tasty, with a bit more flavor than most starchy potatoes I’ve eaten. All potatoes originated in South America and were take to Europe by the Spanish explorers, and eventually brought to North America. The Ozette was never taken to Europe, but was brought to the Pacific Northwest directly by the Spanish Explorers. When they abandoned their northern-most outpost, the Makah Indian tribe continued to cultivate the potatoes they left behind, and had been doing so for over 200 years. They were catalogued/discovered by outsiders in the late 1980s. Small scale farming of these buried gems has been building here in the Pacific Northwest, mainly through the efforts of Slow Food. Ask you local potato farmers to investigate the Makah Ozette.

Zebra & Tiger Galette Anyone?

I’ve long been on record about the decade-long infatuation over heirloom tomatoes – just because farmers can grow them, doesn’t mean they should grow them, especially if the soil and climate aren’t right to produce tasty tomatoes, or the farmer(s) aren’t prepared to wait until they’ve ripened to pick them. There is also the decade-long misunderstanding that if a tomato has a ‘name’ it must be an heirloom - this is not the case. And finally, there is the misunderstanding that all heirlooms are superior to all hybrids - remember, the “heirloom” designation is merely a convention, and most heirlooms started out as hybrids; indeed, there are many delicious, hybrid tomatoes out there that have been created over the last four or five decades. The Puget Sound is not the best place to grow tomatoes, given the variability of the weather, even during the best of summers, so I tend to stick with a few farms that are located in microclimates more suitable for tomatoes and whose farmers have a good feel for what to plant and when to pick.

Given all that, this has been a pretty good summer for tomatoes despite the atrocious weather up until early August here in Seattle. This past weekend there seemed to be a cornucopia of striped tomatoes in the Farmers’ Markets, and that’s where I got the inspiration for some Striped Tomato Galettes. I bought some Green Zebras and Red Zebras (hybrids), and some Striped Red Plum Tomatoes (aka, Tiger Striped Plum Tomatoes), and the even more rare Striped Yellow Plum Tomato (heirlooms). I used my favorite Cornmeal & Sour Cream Dough - with Ayers Creek Farm’s Roy’s Calais Flint coarse cornmeal. I also grated Black Sheep Creamery Pecorino on the dough before laying down the tomato slices, and then grated some Sardinian Pecorino on top after the galette came out of the oven. It made a marvelous starter for six.

Looking For A Few Frills?

When I first spied these frilly bunches at the Local Roots booth at the Farmer's Market several Sundays back, I thought they were just another member of the curly endive family, but I was oh, so wrong. Siri informed me that thy were bunches of Golden Frill mustard, and this was the first year they planted it. Apparently it is a recent, 10 to 12 years ago that is, cross between a Violet Moss Curled kale and Green Wave mustard. It gets its lacy/frilly structure from the kale, along with a nice touch of sweetness. It gets its spicyness, a moderate level of heat and a 'bright' mustard burst from the mustard. This makes for a delicious flavor profile - I was stunned on my first taste - and leaves that are on one hand tender enough to be used in salads, and strong enough to withstand a very quick stir fry without turning to mush. I've used it in salads and pasta to date, and for my next experiment I intend on using it to wrap a piece of rich/oily fish before cooking. What a pleasant spring find.

Spring Trolling Nets A No Beak Salad

With a month-long craving for octopus pushing me, I finally decided the past Sunday to make the time to see if there was any to be had in the local fish markets. I’m not talking about the bright burgundy-colored stuff you find in Japanese markets, already cleaned and partially cooked. No, I wanted the slimy grey stuff that may have been tenderized a bit or maybe not. I was resigned to the fact I might only find it frozen. I visited the Ballard Farmers’ Market first to see what was available. I had planned to go the Mediterranean route, so I was definitely interested in some potatoes. I perused several booths when I ran across the perfect match, Purple Viking Potatoes. Unlike Peruvian Purple potatoes, Purple Vikings have snow white flesh and purple skin with red mottling, when sliced they have a color pattern similar to octopus that has been cooked and sliced…perfect. I also picked up some eggs, Wall Rocket - aka, Wild Arugula – and a spicy salad mix composed primarily of Mizuna, Tatsoi, and Baby Red Mustard leaves. I then headed to the Pike Place Market, and as luck would have it, one of the three fish vendors had frozen octopus. They sold it in frozen one-kilo blocks, so I bout two and headed home to cook.

As with squid, you have two options in cooking octopus, and that’s the long and short of it…I decided to take the long slow route. My two babies had been partially cleaned - guts and beak removed - and so things went pretty quickly after I thawed them. KATZ Chef’s Pick organic California olive oil, garlic, thyme, a dried red Ayers Creek organic Sivri Aci chile, a touch of white wine and my octopi went into my Le Creuset Dutch Oven and into the oven at 300 degrees. After about 1-1/2 hours I removed my shrunken babies to cool - I reduced the liquid for use later. Later that afternoon I cut up the octopi and marinated them in olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt and pepper and a few splashes of KATZ Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc Agrodolce Vinegar.

The next day I sliced the potatoes and cooked them in a fry pan with water, olive oil, sea salt and pepper - you know the drill – just barely al dente with a touch of browning here and there. I dressed all of my greens with the KATZ Olive Oil and Agrodolce Vinegar, quartered a hard boiled egg, and voila, my take on a classic combination from the Mediterranean...Octopus and Potato Salad for two.

Pass The Pasilla Negro

I made a stop late last week to replenish my supply of crushed Ñora pepper, and some containers of ground Pasilla Negro Chile pepper caught my eye. I had bought and sold a lot of dried Pasilla Negro chiles in the past, but couldn't recall ever using them. The rich, dark reddish brown color was just too tempting to pass by. When I got home and opened the container, the intense aroma dried plums and raisins with hints of leather was revelatory. The flavor profile of the chile was just as rich and full-bodied, and it had no more heat than high quality black pepper. I had planned on making a meatloaf this weekend and I decided that it would be the perfect test for this chile powder. (Image to follow.)

I combined 1-1/2 pound of coarsely ground lamb stew meat that was fairly lean with one pound of coarsely ground Tails & Trotters pork shoulder that was fairly fatty. I then added two teaspoons of the Pasilla Negro chile powder and grated garlic (6 cloves) and set the mixture in the fridge for four hours. I then caramelized two large, coarsely chopped shallots to which I added one pound of coarsely chopped organic shitake mushrooms. After the mushrooms had thrown off most of their liquid I added 1/3 cup of white wine and continued to cook the mixture until it began to stick to the pan. I then cooked two coarsely chopped leeks in olive oil until they began to caramelize and added them to the mushroom mixture and allowed it to cool. The remaining ingredients included 1/2 cup of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, one cup of bread crumbs, two large eggs, 1/3 cup chopped cilantro, organic Japanese Tamari, organic Ketchup, more Pasilla Negro chile powder, and black bepper. After combining all of these ingredients with the meat mixture, I placed it in a rectangular ceramic baker and coated the top with a mixture of ketchup, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Pasilla Negro chile. I baked the loaf for 1-1/4 hour at 350-degrees. The result was truly amazing.

Sicilian Squidly Diddly

Despite being the home of a significant size fishing fleet, it can often be hard to find fresh squid here in Seattle, even during squid season. I was lucking enough to score 2-1/2 pounds of fresh young squid late last week to use with my California grown Sicilian Badda Beans. After soaking and then cooking the beans separately. I cleaned and cut up the squid and set it aside. I then prepped the Strianese tomatoes, Piquillo peppers, garlic, and fresh basil. The remaining ingredients included olive oil, white wine, salt and pepper. As all of these ingredients simmered in the pan I added the cooked beans, and a chiffonade of basil and continued to simmer. In a separate pan, I briefly - 10 seconds or so - sautéed the squid with olive oil and a touch of sea salt, and then added it to the simmering pan to cook for about three or four minutes more. I served the finished mixture with Linguine and more basil...yum.