Foodie Vacations

Tasting Table, together with Oregon Bounty, has put together an interactive list of some of Oregon's best farm-to-table vacations. From the Oregon Coast, to Portland, to the Willamette Valley, the list is broken out by region and provides seven short tasty itineraries for you to choose from.

The complete guide to "Oregon's Tastiest Trails" can be found here.

Walrus & The Carpenter No. 3

Today, a foodie friend of mine in Virginia sent me a link to bon appetit's Top 10 Best New Restaurants. It's an exciting new list of places to visit and of course, try. What impresses me most about this list is its variety. From urban to elegant and low country to open country, the list is truly an eclectic mix of kitchens that doesn't skew to one type of dining experience or another.
Of course, it comes as no surprise that Seattle's own Walrus & The Carpenter ranked No. 3. One of own favorites! Below is the complete list:

No. 1 - Husk; Charleston, SC
No. 2 - Mission Chinese Food; San Francisco
No. 3 - Walrus & The Carpenter; Seattle
No. 4 - Travail Kitchen and Amusements; Robbinsdale, MN.
No. 5 - Ruxbin; Chicago
No. 6 - Talula's Garden; Philadelphia
No. 7 - Son of a Gun; Los Angeles
No. 8 - M Wells; Long Island City, NY.
No. 9 - Congress; Austin, TX.
No. 10 - Bondir; Cambridge, MA.

Summer Camps for Foodies!

Send your kids to summer camp, but treat yourself to one of these decadent foodie camps this fall!

2011 Fall Camp Schramsberg, Sept.11-13

According to the agenda, Camp Schramsberg is a three-day sparkling wine adventure, led by Schramsberg's President and winemaker Hugh Davies and Chef/Enologist Holly Peterson. The Camp Schramsberg experience uncovers the mystery of how sparkling wines are born. Of course, meeting new friends and having fun is a part of it as well.

On Sunday Night, you will enjoy a sparkling wine reception and dinner in the historic J. Davies Vineyards, prepared by one of the Napa Valley's fine chefs. This is your Camp orientation and will prepare you for the two days ahead. On Monday, you will start with breakfast at Meadowood Napa Valley. Then it is off to the vineyards with Winemakers Hugh Davies, Keith Hock, and Sean Thompson, where you will harvest grapes that are literally "ripe for the picking". Learn how vineyard location, soil content, viticultural practices, and clonal selection play a critical part in creating the complex flavors in Schramsberg wines. You will also receive hands-on experience as you obtain an overview of the sparkling winemaking process - from harvest through bottling. For lunch, delicacies prepared by Meadowood Valley's chefs, will be used to illustrate how ingredients can complement and contrast wine flavors. A full afternoon of food and sparkling wine pairings follow, under the direction of Holly Peterson. Holly will guide you through basic to advanced component tastings, and will teach campers the art of sabering open a bottle of sparkling wine. Finish the day with an optional dinner at a local restaurant gem ($95 per person in addition to the camp fee). Tuesday starts with breakfast at Meadowood Napa Valley and is followed by a tour of Schramsberg's historic caves, a riddling demonstration, and working with the winemakers to create a personalized dosage for your own bottle of bubbly. Lunch, prepared by the Meadowood Napa Valley's culinary team, leads into a group sparkling wine menu creation contest. The program finishes with awards for the best menus and a chance to mingle with your fellow graduates. The fee for Camp Schramsberg is $1,200 per person (15% discount for wine club members). Lodging and travel to/from Napa is not included. A recommended lodging list is available by request and packages through Meadowood Napa Valley are available.



The Wine Harvest Camp, Oct., 17 - 21


Perfect for the person who loves food as much as wine. This four-day intensive camp offers a two-progned education. You'll spend part of your time in master cooking classes with master chefs, then head to nearby wineries like Scribe and Opus one to learn about growing grapes and pairing wines. The trip will culminate wiht a private dinner at renwoned French Laundry.

Summer in Season

Summer is here and so is berry season! Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries...you name it. And when they're this sweet, juicy, ripe and plentiful, they can also be fabulous in cocktails. Below is one of my favorite recipes from the Blackberry Farm in Tennessee. It's also very festive for your 4th of July festivities.

Stawberry Ginger Fizz:
For this cocktail it is best to use fresh ginger rather than making a syrup. We use a Champion Juicer to preserve the true ginger bite without adding that cooked quality. Add a nice Reposado Tequila like Corzo and the ginger serves to balance any of the typical Tequila earthiness. The rounded flavors of strawberry compliment the touch of oak from the Reposado as well. Pour over ice with fresh mint, top with club soda, stir, and you've got the refreshing Strawberry Ginger Fizz.

1.5oz Corzo Reposado Tequila
.5oz Fresh Ginger, juiced
1oz simple syrup
2 strawberries
1 lime wedge
Fresh Mint

Add the strawberries, lime wedge, and simple syrup to a shaker glass and muddle until the strawberry is broken down and the lime oils have been released. Then add the Tequila and fresh ginger, fill with ice and shake for 10 seconds. Double strain into an ice filled cocktail glass layered with a few pieces of fresh mint and top with club soda. Stir to incorporate.

GeekWires' Startup Spotlight features Corkz app

If you don't follow the tech media like I do, you may have missed GeekWire's Q&A with Corkz app founders Matt Kowalczyk, Brooks Talley and Jim Goodman. The app allows you instant access to CellarTracker's information on more than 750,000 bottles of wine. Scan in the bar code, or type in the name of the wine to find more than 1,000,00 notes and ratings from experts and the CellarTracker wine community.

It's a great app if you're a wine lover, by a great group of guys. Luke had the chance to meet Matt a few years ago when they climbed Mt. Rainer together for Climb for Kids, a non-profit organization whose primary goal is to raise money for fetal syndrome support organizations.

Below is the full article from GeekWire.com:
On a trip to China two weeks ago, Matt Kowalczyk ordered a top-notch bottle of wine from a fancy restaurant. But when the sommelier arrived with a different 2007 variety, the co-creator of the mobile wine application Corkz sprung into action.

“I laughed, opened Corkz on my phone and showed to him that both wines were indeed good and were for sale in China – however, the price between the years differed in China by $150 wholesale,” recalled Kowalczyk, who ended up receiving a 50 percent discount as a result of the confusion.

That’s the power of Corkz, a mobile app which the upstart says is “like having a sommelier in your pocket.” The $3.99 app — developed three years ago by Kowalczyk, Brooks Talley and Jim Goodman – is getting even better. A new version includes integration with FourSquare, so users can mark where they’ve tasted their favorite wines or see what other friends have liked at that location.

We chatted with Kowalczyk to learn about the company’s key partnership with CellarTracker and their very unique business model.

Explain what you do so our moms can understand it: Our mobile app provides instant access to information about 1,000,000+ wines from over 70,000 producers to help the average consumer become better educated about the wine they are about to enjoy. Over the last three years our app has become one of the best selling wine apps on iPhone, Android and soon to be Samsung (bada) platforms. Besides simply providing access to information, we also enable users to create and manage their own wine cellar too.

Inspiration hit us when: All three of us are friends and fellow wine geeks. We all have wine cellars and we each utilized Eric LeVine’s web service, CellarTracker, to track and learn about our wine. When the iPhone first came out, we saw a need to consume that information via a mobile device and voila, Corkz was born.

VC, Angel or Bootstrap: This has been completely bootstrapped, as we developed this app to fill a void in our own mobile experience. To that extent we haven’t needed funding because Apple has provided us with a lot of love (free marketing) by including us in a television commercial, running a three month advertising campaign in The New York Times and pushing our app in every Apple retail outlet.

The smartest move we’ve made so far: Partnering with (Seattle’s) Eric LeVine and CellarTracker. He has been a fantastic partner for us. We’ve also engineered our application so that we can manipulate the user interface without having to redistribute a new version of the app via the app store – that has saved us more than once.

The biggest mistake we’ve made so far: Waiting too long to update and promote the Android version of Corkz

Would you rather have Gates, Jobs, Zuckerberg or Bezos in your corner: None of those guys, really. OK, maybe Jobs — maybe he already is and we don’t know it. But for us, we’ve all been around the block a few times. We just want a slick app that helps us with our wine habit, and to that extent if it helps others too, that’s great.

Our world domination strategy starts when: We won’t dominate the world, we develop wine software. That’s good enough for us and helps us feed our wine addiction problem.

We are truly unique because: We are the only consumer wine app that provides total access to the biggest wine database available – CellarTracker. We are also probably the only company that trades promotional space for wine. We promote wineries and wine events in exchange for wine, not money. This is truly a labor of love.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to other entrepreneurs just starting out: Work on what you are passionate about. Solve a problem that is near and dear to your own heart.

Startup Spotlight is an occasional look at a Seattle area statup company. Have an interesting new venture you want spotlighted in GeekWire? Fill out the questions above, send a couple photos of the founder(s) and company logo to tips@geekwire.com. Past profiles can be found here.

Charleston Wine & Food Festival Kicks Off

Today kicks off the Charleston Wine & Food Festival. Celebrating regional flavors, this four-day event brings together some of the best culinary talents and wine professionals from all over the world.

Attendees get to see some "Top Chefs" in action. Six of the fan favorites from the popular television series "Top Chef" will be put to the test in a challenge using a low-country ingredient.

In addition to the grand tasting tents and winemaker's luncheons, special events will also include a Low-country Farm-to-Table Excursion, a Rose Champagne tasting of Prestige Cuvees, vertical tastings of Bordeaux Grand Cru Classes and a Sommelier Competition.

And the winner is....

You voted, and the results are in! Chef Jamie Bissonette of Coppa Enoteca in Boston has been named The People's Best New Chef by Food & Wine Magazine.

Coppa features small plates of Italian cuisine that are made with local, sustainable ingredients. Some of the local favorites include house-made charcuterie, pastas and "unique cordial-based cocktails."

The People's Best New Chef title was determined based on the high number of eligible votes received during Feb. 15, 2011 and march 1, 2011. Check out regional winners here!

Who is your choice for Best New Chef?

Food & Wine Magazine wants to know who you think is the best new chef in America. Editors are asking for people to visit The People's Best New Chef Website to vote for who they think are the best up and coming chefs from regions around the country and share their dining experiences.

The regional lists are comprised of some amazing talent, including some of DuecyPlate's favorites:

Chef Kyle Bailey of Birch & Barley
Chef Alex Pope of R Bar
Chef Brandon Sharp of Solbar

Chef Joseph Lenn of The Barn at Blackberry Farm

Chef Jenn Louis of Lincoln

Chef Dan Kuger of ABC Kitchen

Chef Anthony Martin of Tru

Let us know who you think should win!

The Walrus and the Carpenter

I LOVE oysters. So when I heard there was a restaurant in Ballard called The Walrus and the Carpenter, not only did images of the scheming Walrus from the Alice and Wonderland cartoon fable pop in my head, I phoned immediately to make a reservation. Unfortunately the restaurant doesn't take reservations, but don't let this deter you! Go early, put your name on the list and head to the bar at the vintage bicycle shop next door to wait. Your wait could be as long as two hours, but once you sit down at the marble topped tables and taste any number of the seasonal dishes - roasted brussel sprouts, kale gratin with hazelnuts, goose proscuitto, salmon belly, etc. - you'll soon know why this restaurant was included in GQ's 10 Best New Restaurants in America. The Walrus and the Carpenter is more than a fantastic oyster bar!!!

Perfect Brunch Quiche

I recently hosted brunch for a group of friends. This mushroom and goat cheese quiche was a hit!!! Not to mention it was super easy and fabulously flavorful.

The quiche, crust and all, may be prepared in the time it takes for the oven to heat up. Or you may prepare everything a day or two before, keeping the filling and crust separate, and bake it just before serving.

I use a basic pie crust recipe, adding freshly chopped thyme into the dough.

For the mushroom filling
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 red onion, peeled and diced (about 1/2 cup)
1 large clove garlic, peeled and minced
4 ounces mixed exotic mushrooms (oyster, cremini, portobello, or white button mushrooms), stemmed and sliced (about 2 cups)
8 whole egg
6 fresh basil leaves, chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano leaves
1/8 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 - 6 ounces goat cheese (depends on your taste) and 1/2 cup of jack cheese

Directions
Make the crust
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

2. Make your dough.

Make the filling
1. In a saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat and saute the onion and garlic for 2 minutes, stirring often. Add the mushrooms and continue to cook 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are soft and there is no liquid in the pan. Set aside to cool.

2. After the dough has rested, roll it out to fit a 9-inch spring form pan (kind used for cheese cakes). Gently press the crust into the pan.

3. Beat the eggs. The add the oregano, basil, nutmeg, white pepper, sea salt, and black pepper.

4. Place the pie tin on a baking sheet, spread the sauteed onions and mushrooms in the bottom of the crust, followed by the jack then the goat cheese. Then, pour the egg mixture over the filling.

5. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the quiche is slightly puffed, springy to the touch, and a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Blue Hill At Stone Barns

Mistral

The Mistral is usually a dry wind in France, and it's arrival almost always clears the skies and dries the air. This effect provides the Mistral a reputation of bringing good health! Indulge at the chef's table at Mistral and enjoy good health in dining. Below is the pairing menu we enjoyed:

• Oysters on the Half Shell (2 ways) with Blanc de Blanc Champagne
• Seared Hamachi with radishes, cucumber and arugula with Loire Valley Chenin Blanc
• Grilled sauteed zucchini terrine, mint and herb coulis with French Rose
• Seared Foie Gras with young Sauterne
• Seared Sea Bass with Chateauneuf du Pape
• Local grilled Lamb (rare) with 2005 Forman Cabernet Sauvignon
• Cocktail intermezzo (table side preparation)
• Local artisanal cheeses with Shiraz
• Two desserts

Walla Walla Wine Trip

Want to visit a wine region where the wine makers still pour in the tasting rooms even if they've been featured in popular food and wine magazines, or recognized by industry awards?

Where passion for wine isn't about being pretentious, but about experiencing the region through every sip in your glass and the food on your plate?

Then visit Walla Walla. We recently returned from a wine trip in Washington's Walla Walla region.

Below is list of some of the best places we found:

K Vintners - by far the best Syrah!

Brasserie Four - seasonally fresh with inventive wine menu!

Guests make their wine selection from the bottles on the shelf and fridge and take to their table!

Spring Valley - no denying the rich heritage of this spirited western family's consistently rated red wines


Woodward Canyon - social savvy, talk with the folks at woodward via twitter at @woodwardcanyon!



L'Ecole - committed to sustainable practices - and making yummy wine too!



Foundry Vineyards - where Squire Broel combines art and wine in a harmonious balance for the senses

Tomorrow - Tickets Go on Sale

If you missed the opportunity last year to secure your place at the table to one of the best farm to table experiences the get ready! Tomorrow, Saturday, March 20, tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. PDT/12 p.m. EDT for Outstanding in the Field.

Outstanding in the Field brings you together with local farmers, food artisans, chefs and winemakers to create an outdoor dining experience that provides the perfect connection of local bounty on your plate. Chef Laurie Riedeman of Elemental at Gasworks will be at Full Circle Farm and Chef Matt Dillon of The Corson Building will be at Oxbow Farm ; the two Washington farms featured this year. More than 50 farms across the U.S. will be participating this year. Find one near you!

Southern Chef Series

Having spent a good amount of my life in the South, I can truly say:

Ya'll, if you have the opportunity, sign up for the Southern Chef Series in events in Atlanta, which pair a top chefs from the region with a group of twelve guests, who work alongside the chef to create an intimate, multicourse meal.

The series kicked off this past October with Chef Nathalie Dupree and will be expanding in 2010. A few spots remain for the next dinner, January 24, with Atlanta Chef Linton Hopkins.

Not familiar with Chef Hopkins? He is the chef/owner of the fabulous Restaurant Eugene in Atlanta, has competed on The Food Network's "Iron Chef," is a two-time James Beard Award Nominee, and was named as one of Food and Wine magazine's Best New Chefs in 2009. He is also proprietor of Holeman & Finch and H&F Bread Co in Atlanta.

Along with dinner, the $425 package includes accommodations at the Inn at Serenbe, breakfast the following morning at the Blue Eyed Daisy Bakeshop, and a second lesson preparing lunch. Come hungry for knowledge. Come hungry to work. But most of all, come hungry.

Other instructors in the series include: Top Chef contestant Kevin Gillespie.

To register, contact the Inn at Serenbe: 770-463-2610, serenbeinn.com.

New Year's Herb Gougere

Gougere are the savory equivalent of profiteroles (cream puffs). They can be filled with purees, cheese, or any other savory ingredient you can think of. The recipe below is great for a New Years Eve get together, or impromptu cocktails because you don't fill them and the choux pastry must be kept frozen prior to baking; out of the freezer and into the oven. Voila!

Make them larger and served filled with chevre and chive soft scrambled eggs for a fabulous breakfast treat!

1 1/4 cup water

1 1/4 stocks unsalted butter (10 Tbsp)

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp salt

5 fresh eggs

1/4 cup grated good quality Parmesan (not found in canister!!!)

1 cup shredded gruyere

1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme

1/2 tsp finely chopped rosemary

Egg Wash:

1 large fresh egg beaten well with

2 tsp of cold water

In a medium saucepan, bring the water, butter and salt to boil.

Remove the pan from the heat and add in the flour.

Return the pan to the burner on medium-high heat.

Stir immediately until batter pulls away from the sides of the pan.

Next, scrape flour batter into the bowl of a standing mixer, and begin to add the eggs one-by-one. Each egg should be fully incorporated into the batter before adding the next. (If you don't have a standing mixer, it's okay to add the eggs one-by-one into the sauce pan and incorporate using a hand mixer. You can hand mix as well, but your arm will get tired!)

After all the eggs have been added, add the grated cheese and herbs. Beat until incorporated.

On a parchment-lined sheet pan, using a pastry bag pipe the batter into 2-inch rounds, 2-inches apart. A small melon scoop or table spoon may also be used.

Put your sheet pan with the pastry into the freezer and freeze savory puffs.

To bake, preheat the over to 450 degrees.

Prepare the egg wash.

Egg wash the puffs straight from the freezer.

Back for 20 minutes (rotating the pan once) and then reduce heat to 400 degrees and bake about 30 minutes more until puffed and golden.

Recipe makes 30 small savory puffs

Emma's Egg Nog

As always, the holidays have snuck up again. This Autumn was a blur that included travel to London, then Singapore and before I knew it temperatures were dropping and it was time for holiday shopping. There has been no shortage of discovering new places to eat, and I promise in the New Year I'll write about the restaurants I visited this fall.

But right now, I want to take a moment during the holiday frenzy to remember Christmas' past by sharing the recipe for Emma's Egg Nog.

The first time I tasted it was after a Christmas morning foxhunt. I had arrived at my best friend's home for her infamous English Christmas Dinner of smoked salmon, roasted potatoes, turkey, Yorkshire pudding, roasted parsnips...oh the menu goes on and on!!! Still dressed in my boots, breeches and hunt coat with my hair mashed down from riding cap, I was handed a punch cup straight away as I walked in the front door. It was full of the fluffy, rich, decadent, dessert goodness I came to know as Emma's Egg Nog. And just like the holidays, this recipe WILL sneak up on you!

1 pint Bourbon

1 pint Dark Rum

6 eggs separated

2 1/2 cups sugar

2 pints whipping cream

1 pint whole milk

nutmeg, cinnamon, all spice

Whisk egg yolks and sugar until fluffy. Slowly add alcohol. In a separate blow, whisk egg whites. In another bowl, whisk cream until fluffy. Fold all three bowls together, add spices to taste and milk. Sprinkle top with fresh grated nutmeg and Cinnamon.

La Boucherie

Strolling through colorful rows of just picked produce where the local soil still muddies the roots is a favorite weekend past time. Parking lots and streets are closed to traffic allowing friends and neighbors of each Seattle neighborhood to shop for the fresh ingredients Western Washington farms have to offer.

Sea Breeze Farm, located on Vashon Island, is one of those farms. Their farm raised meats, dairy, eggs, cheeses, wines and prepared foods are not only available at the multiple area farmer's markets, but in a farm to fork experience at La Boucherie.
A brief ferry ride from West Seattle to Vashon, then a quick jaunt up the main road brings hungry patrons to an unassuming and comfortable restaurant-butcher shop.

Restaurant Manager, Charcutier, and Winemaker Matt Lawrence, greeted us and led us to our outdoor table. For wine we ordered two of the farm's own wines, Sweetbread Cellars Cock's Red - a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petite Verdot, Malbec from Meek Vineyards - and the Sweetbread Cellars Fetish- a blend of Meek Vineyards Syrah and Klipsun Vineyards Syrah.

For our dinner, we asked for a chef's selection. We enjoyed two styles of the farm's pate and their accompaniments of smokey African inspired spreads, a chilled tomato consume - white not red in its colour - with a paper thin slice of lime, followed by the farm's lamb and pork with a side of gently sauteed country greens and pastry for dessert.

The dishes were simple, but not expected. The chef's innovative approach to a clean, comforting flavor progression not only showcased the farm's freshest of ingredients, but also showed fresh new thought in the farm to fork approach. Remember to phone for reservations if you want to guarantee yourself a table.

Find out more about the day-to-day life on Seabreeze farm and the latest dinner menu by visiting Matt's blog.